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diff --git a/24654.txt b/24654.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c0d494 --- /dev/null +++ b/24654.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10097 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Chaldea, by Zénaďde A. Ragozin + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Chaldea + From the Earliest Times to the Rise of Assyria + + +Author: Zénaďde A. Ragozin + + + +Release Date: February 20, 2008 [eBook #24654] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHALDEA*** + + +E-text prepared by Thierry Alberto, Brownfox, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Sec.Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 24654-h.htm or 24654-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/5/24654/24654-h/24654-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/5/24654/24654-h.zip) + + + + + +CHALDEA + +From the Earliest Times to the Rise of Assyria + +(Treated As a General Introduction to the Study of Ancient History) + +by + +ZENAIDE A. RAGOZIN + +Member of the "Societe Ethnologique" of Paris; of the "American +Oriental Society"; Corresponding Member of the "Athenee +Oriental" of Paris; Author of "Assyria," "Media," Etc. + +"He (Carlyle) says it is part of his creed that history is +poetry, could we tell it right."--EMERSON. + +Fourth Edition + + + + + + + +[Illustration: SHAMASH THE SUN-GOD. (From the Sun Temple at Sippar.)] + + + +London +T. Fisher Unwin +Paternoster Square + +New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons + +MDCCCXCIII + + + + + TO THE MEMBERS OF + + THE CLASS, + + IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE OF MANY HAPPY HOURS, THIS + VOLUME AND THE FOLLOWING ONES ARE AFFECTIONATELY + INSCRIBED BY THEIR FRIEND. + + THE AUTHOR. + + IDLEWILD PLANTATION, + SAN ANTONIO, + + + + + CLASSIFIED CONTENTS. + + INTRODUCTION. + + + I. + PAGE +MESOPOTAMIA.--THE MOUNDS.--THE FIRST SEARCHERS 1-18 + + Sec. 1. Complete destruction of Nineveh.--Secs. 2-4. Xenophon and + the "Retreat of the Ten Thousand." The Greeks pass the ruins of + Calah and Nineveh, and know them not.--Sec. 5. Alexander's passage + through Mesopotamia.--Sec. 6. The Arab invasion and rule.--Sec. 7. + Turkish rule and mismanagement.--Sec. 8. Peculiar natural + conditions of Mesopotamia.--Sec. 9. Actual desolate state of the + country.--Sec. 10. The plains studded with Mounds. Their curious + aspect.--Sec. 11. Fragments of works of art amidst the + rubbish.--Sec. 12. Indifference and superstition of the Turks and + Arabs.--Sec. 13. Exclusive absorption of European scholars in + Classical Antiquity.--Sec. 14. Forbidding aspect of the Mounds, + compared with other ruins.--Sec. 15. Rich, the first explorer.--Sec. + 16. Botta's work and want of success.--Sec. 17. Botta's great + discovery.--Sec. 18. Great sensation created by it.--Sec. 19. + Layard's first expedition. + + II. + +LAYARD AND HIS WORK 19-35 + + Sec. 1. Layard's arrival at Nimrud. His excitement and + dreams.--Sec. 2. Beginning of difficulties. The Ogre-like Pasha of + Mossul.--Sec. 3. Opposition from the Pasha. His malice and + cunning.--Sec. 4. Discovery of the gigantic head. Fright of the + Arabs, who declare it to be Nimrod.--Sec. 5. Strange ideas of the + Arabs about the sculptures.--Sec. 6. Layard's life in the + desert.--Sec. 7. Terrible heat of summer.--Sec. 8. Sand-storms and + hot hurricanes.--Sec. 9. Layard's wretched dwelling.--Sec. 10. + Unsuccessful attempts at improvement.--Sec. 11. In what the task + of the explorer consists.--Sec. 12. Different modes of carrying on + the work of excavation. + + III. + +THE RUINS 36-93 + + Sec. 1. Every country's culture and art determined by its + geographical conditions.--Sec. 2. Chaldea's absolute deficiency in + wood and stone.--Sec. 3. Great abundance of mud fit for the + fabrication of bricks; hence the peculiar architecture of + Mesopotamia. Ancient ruins still used as quarries of bricks for + building. Trade of ancient bricks at Hillah.--Sec. 4. Various + cements used.--Sec. 5. Construction of artificial platforms.--Sec. 6. + Ruins of Ziggurats; peculiar shape, and uses of this sort of + buildings.--Sec. 7. Figures showing the immense amount of labor + used on these constructions.--Sec. 8. Chaldean architecture + adopted unchanged by the Assyrians.--Sec. 9. Stone used for + ornament and casing of walls. Water transport in old and modern + times.--Sec. 10. Imposing aspect of the palaces.--Sec. 11. + Restoration of Sennacherib's palace by Fergusson.--Sec. 12. + Pavements of palace halls.--Sec. 13. Gateways and sculptured slabs + along the walls. Friezes in painted tiles.--Sec. 14. Proportions + of palace halls and roofing.--Sec. 15. Lighting of halls.--Sec. 16. + Causes of the kings' passion for building.--Sec. 17. Drainage of + palaces and platforms.--Sec. 18. Modes of destruction.--Sec. 19. The + Mounds a protection to the ruins they contain. Refilling the + excavations.--Sec. 20. Absence of ancient tombs in Assyria.--Sec. 21. + Abundance and vastness of cemeteries in Chaldea.--Sec. 22. Warka + (Erech) the great Necropolis. Loftus' description.--Sec. 23. + "Jar-coffins."--Sec. 24. "Dish-cover" coffins.--Sec. 25. Sepulchral + vaults.--Sec. 26. "Slipper-shaped" coffins.--Sec. 27. Drainage of + sepulchral mounds.--Sec. 28. Decoration of walls in painted + clay-cones.--Sec. 29. De Sarzec's discoveries at Tell-Loh. + + IV. + +THE BOOK OF THE PAST.--THE LIBRARY OF NINEVEH 94-115 + + Sec. 1. Object of making books.--Sec. 2. Books not always of + paper.--Sec. 3. Universal craving for an immortal name.--Sec. 4. + Insufficiency of records on various writing materials. + Universal longing for knowledge of the remotest past.--Sec. 5. + Monumental records.--Sec. 6. Ruins of palaces and temples, tombs + and caves--the Book of the Past.--Secs. 7-8. Discovery by Layard + of the Royal Library at Nineveh.--Sec. 9. George Smith's work at + the British Museum.--Sec. 10. His expeditions to Nineveh, his + success and death.--Sec. 11. Value of the Library.--Secs. 12-13. + Contents of the Library.--Sec. 14. The Tablets.--Sec. 15. The + cylinders and foundation-tablets. + + + CHALDEA. + + I. + +NOMADS AND SETTLERS.--THE FOUR STAGES OF CULTURE. 116-126 + + Sec. 1. Nomads.--Sec. 2. First migrations.--Sec. 3. Pastoral life--the + second stage.--Sec. 4. Agricultural life; beginnings of the + State.--Sec. 5. City-building; royalty.--Sec. 6. Successive + migrations and their causes.--Sec. 7. Formation of nations. + + II. + +THE GREAT RACES.--CHAPTER X. OF GENESIS 127-142 + + Sec. 1. Shinar.--Sec. 2. Berosus.--Sec. 3. Who were the settlers in + Shinar?--Sec. 4. The Flood probably not universal.--Secs. 5-6. The + blessed race and the accursed, according to Genesis.--Sec. 7. + Genealogical form of Chap. X. of Genesis.--Sec. 8. Eponyms.--Sec. 9. + Omission of some white races from Chap. X.--Sec. 10. Omission of + the Black Race.--Sec. 11. Omission of the Yellow Race. + Characteristics of the Turanians.--Sec. 12. The Chinese.--Sec. 13. + Who were the Turanians? What became of the Cainites?--Sec. 14. + Possible identity of both.--Sec. 15. The settlers in + Shinar--Turanians. + + III. + +TURANIAN CHALDEA--SHUMIR AND ACCAD.--THE BEGINNINGS OF +RELIGION 146-181 + + Sec. 1. Shumir and Accad.--Sec. 2. Language and name.--Sec. 3. + Turanian migrations and traditions.--Sec. 4. Collection of sacred + texts.--Sec. 5. "Religiosity"--a distinctively human characteristic. + Its first promptings and manifestations.--Sec. 6. The Magic Collection + and the work of Fr. Lenormant.--Sec. 7. The Shumiro-Accads' theory + of the world, and their elementary spirits.--Sec. 8. The + incantation of the Seven Maskim.--Sec. 9. The evil spirits.--Sec. 10. + The Arali.--Sec. 11. The sorcerers.--Sec. 12. Conjuring and + conjurers.--Sec. 13. The beneficent Spirits, Ea.--Sec. 14. + Meridug.--Sec. 15. A charm against an evil spell.--Sec. 16. Diseases + considered as evil demons.--Sec. 17. Talismans. _The + Kerubim._--Sec. 18. More talismans.--Sec. 19. The demon of the + South-West Wind.--Sec. 20. The first gods.--Sec. 21. _Ud_, the + Sun.--Sec. 22. _Nin dar_, the nightly Sun.--Sec. 23. _Gibil_, + Fire.--Sec. 24. Dawn of moral consciousness.--Sec. 25. Man's + Conscience divinized.--Secs. 26-28. Penitential Psalms.--Sec. 29. + General character of Turanian religions. + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III. 181-183 + + Professor L. Dyer's poetical version of the Incantation against + the Seven Maskim. + + IV. + +CUSHITES AND SEMITES--EARLY CHALDEAN HISTORY 184-228 + + Sec. 1. Oannes.--Sec. 2. Were the second settlers Cushites or + Semites?--Sec. 3. Cushite hypothesis. Earliest migrations.--Sec. 4. + The Ethiopians and the Egyptians.--Sec. 5. The Canaanites.--Sec. 6. + Possible Cushite station on the islets of the Persian + Gulf.--Sec. 7. Colonization of Chaldea possibly by Cushites.--Sec. 8. + Vagueness of very ancient chronology.--Sec. 9. Early dates.--Sec. 10. + Exorbitant figures of Berosus.--Sec. 11. Early Chaldea--a nursery + of nations.--Sec. 12. Nomadic Semitic tribes.--Sec. 13. The tribe of + Arphaxad.--Sec. 14. Ur of the Chaldees.--Sec. 15. Scholars divided + between the Cushite and Semitic theories.--Sec. 16. History + commences with Semitic culture.--Sec. 17. Priestly rule. The + _patesis_.--Secs. 18-19. Sharrukin I. (Sargon I) of Agade.--Secs. + 20-21. The second Sargon's literary labors.--Secs. 22-23. Chaldean + folk-lore, maxims and songs.--Sec. 24. Discovery of the elder + Sargon's date--3800 B.C.--Sec. 25. Gudea of Sir-gulla and Ur-ea of + Ur.--Sec. 26. Predominance of Shumir. Ur-ea and his son Dungi + first kings of "Shumir and Accad."--Sec. 27. Their inscriptions + and buildings. The Elamite invasion.--Sec. 28. Elam.--Secs. 29-31. + Khudur-Lagamar and Abraham.--Sec. 32. Hardness of the Elamite + rule.--Sec. 33. Rise of Babylon.--Sec. 34. Hammurabi.--Sec. 35. + Invasion of the Kasshi. + + V. + +BABYLONIAN RELIGION 229-257 + + Sec. 1. Babylonian calendar.--Sec. 2. Astronomy conducive to + religious feeling.--Sec. 3. Sabeism.--Sec. 4. Priestcraft and + astrology.--Sec. 5. Transformation of the old religion.--Sec. 6. + Vague dawning of the monotheistic idea. Divine emanations.--Sec. 7. + The Supreme Triad.--Sec. 8. The Second Triad.--Sec. 9. The five + Planetary deities.--Secs. 10-11. Duality of nature. Masculine and + feminine principles. The goddesses.--Sec. 12. The twelve Great + Gods and their Temples.--Sec. 13. The temple of Shamash at Sippar + and Mr. Rassam's discovery.--Sec. 14. Survival of the old Turanian + superstitions.--Sec. 15. Divination, a branch of Chaldean + "Science."--Secs. 16-17. Collection of one hundred tablets on + divination. Specimens.--Sec. 18. The three classes of "wise men." + "Chaldeans," in later times, a by-word for "magician," and + "astrologer."--Sec. 19. Our inheritance from the Chaldeans: the + sun-dial, the week, the calendar, the Sabbath. + + VI. + +LEGENDS AND STORIES 258-293 + + Sec. 1. The Cosmogonies of different nations.--Sec. 2. The antiquity + of the Sacred Books of Babylonia.--Sec. 3. The legend of Oannes, + told by Berosus. Discovery, by Geo. Smith, of the Creation + Tablets and the Deluge Tablet.--Secs. 4-5. Chaldean account of the + Creation.--Sec. 6. The Cylinder with the human couple, tree and + serpent.--Sec. 7. Berosus' account of the creation.--Sec. 8. The + Sacred Tree. Sacredness of the Symbol.--Sec. 9. Signification of + the Tree-Symbol. The Cosmic Tree.--Sec. 10. Connection of the + Tree-Symbol and of Ziggurats with the legend of Paradise.--Sec. 11. + The Ziggurat of Borsippa.--Sec. 12. It is identified with the + Tower of Babel.--Secs. 13-14. Peculiar Orientation of the + Ziggurats.--Sec. 15. Traces of legends about a sacred grove or + garden.--Sec. 16. Mummu-Tiamat, the enemy of the gods. Battle of + Bel and Tiamat.--Sec. 17. The Rebellion of the seven evil spirits, + originally messengers of the gods.--Sec. 18. The great Tower and + the Confusion of Tongues. + + VII. + +MYTHS.--HEROES AND THE MYTHICAL EPOS 294-330 + + Sec. 1. Definition of the word Myth.--Sec. 2. The Heroes.--Sec. 3. The + Heroic Ages and Heroic Myths. The National Epos.--Sec. 4. The + oldest known Epic.--Sec. 5. Berosus' account of the Flood.--Sec. 6. + Geo. Smith's discovery of the original Chaldean narrative.--Sec. 7. + The Epic divided into books or Tablets.--Sec. 8. Izdubar the + Hero of the Epic.--Sec. 9. Erech's humiliation under the Elamite + Conquest. Izdubar's dream.--Sec. 10. Eabani the Seer. Izdubar's + invitation and promises to him.--Sec. 11. Message sent to Eabani + by Ishtar's handmaidens. His arrival at Erech.--Sec. 12. Izdubar + and Eabani's victory over the tyrant Khumbaba.--Sec. 13. Ishtar's + love message. Her rejection and wrath. The two friends' victory + over the Bull sent by her.--Sec. 14. Ishtar's vengeance. Izdubar's + journey to the Mouth of the Rivers.--Sec. 15. Izdubar sails the + Waters of Death and is healed by his immortal ancestor + Hasisadra.--Sec. 16. Izdubar's return to Erech and lament over + Eabani. The seer is translated among the gods.--Sec. 17. The + Deluge narrative in the Eleventh Tablet of the Izdubar + Epic.--Secs. 18-21. Mythic and solar character of the Epic + analyzed.--Sec. 22. Sun-Myth of the Beautiful Youth, his early + death and resurrection.--Secs. 23-24. Dumuzi-Tammuz, the husband + of Ishtar. The festival of Dumuzi in June.--Sec. 25. Ishtar's + Descent to the Land of the Dead.--Sec. 26. Universality of the + Solar and Chthonic Myths. + + VIII. + +RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY.--IDOLATRY AND ANTHROPOMORPHISM.--THE +CHALDEAN LEGENDS AND THE BOOK OF GENESIS.--RETROSPECT 331-336 + + Sec. 1. Definition of Mythology and Religion, as distinct from + each other.--Secs. 2-3. Instances of pure religious feeling in the + poetry of Shumir and Accad.--Sec. 4. Religion often stifled by + Mythology.--Secs. 5-6. The conception of the immortality of the + soul suggested by the sun's career.--Sec. 7. This expressed in the + Solar and Chthonic Myths.--Sec. 8. Idolatry.--Sec. 9. The Hebrews, + originally polytheists and idolators, reclaimed by their + leaders to Monotheism.--Sec. 10. Their intercourse with the tribes + of Canaan conducive to relapses.--Sec. 11. Intermarriage severely + forbidden for this reason.--Sec. 12. Striking similarity between + the Book of Genesis and the ancient Chaldean legends.--Sec. 13. + Parallel between the two accounts of the creation.--Sec. 14. + Anthropomorphism, different from polytheism and idolatry, but + conducive to both.--Secs. 15-17. Parallel continued.--Secs. 18-19. + Retrospect. + + + + +PRINCIPAL WORKS READ OR CONSULTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS VOLUME. + + +BAER, Wilhelm. DER VORGESCHICHTLICHE MENSCH. 1 vol., Leipzig: 1874. + +BAUDISSIN, W. von. STUDIEN ZUR SEMITISCHEN RELIGIONSGESCHICHTE. 2 vols. + +BUDGE, E. A. Wallis. BABYLONIAN LIFE AND HISTORY. ("Bypaths of Bible +Knowledge" Series, V.) 1884. London: The Religious Tract Society. 1 vol. + +---- HISTORY OF ESARHADDON. 1 vol. + +BUNSEN, Chr. Carl Jos. GOTT IN DER GESCHICHTE, oder Der Fortschritt des +Glaubens an eine sittliche Weltordnung. 3 vols. Leipzig: 1857. + +CASTREN, Alexander. KLEINERE SCHRIFTEN. St. Petersburg: 1862. 1 vol. + +CORY. ANCIENT FRAGMENTS. London: 1876. 1 vol. + +DELITZSCH, Dr. Friedrich. WO LAG DAS PARADIES? eine +Biblisch-Assyriologische Studie. Leipzig: 1881. 1 vol. + +---- DIE SPRACHE DER KOSSAEER. Leipzig: 1885 (or 1884?). 1 vol. + +DUNCKER, Max. GESCHICHTE DES ALTERTHUMS. Leipzig: 1878. Vol. 1st. + +FERGUSSON, James. PALACES OF NINEVEH AND PERSEPOLIS RESTORED. 1 vol. + +HAPPEL, Julius. DIE ALTCHINESISCHE REICHSRELIGION, vom Standpunkte der +Vergleichenden Religionsgeschichte. 46 pages, Leipzig: 1882. + +HAUPT, Paul. DER KEILINSCHRIFTLICHE SINTFLUTBERICHT, eine Episode des +Babylonischen Nimrodepos. 36 pages. Goettingen: 1881. + +HOMMEL, Dr. Fritz. GESCHICHTE BABYLONIENS UND ASSYRIENS (first +instalment, 160 pp., 1885; and second instalment, 160 pp., 1886). +(Allgemeine Geschichte in einzelnen Darstellungen, Abtheilung 95 und +117.) + +---- DIE VORSEMITISCHEN KULTUREN IN AEGYPTEN UND BABYLONIEN. Leipzig: +1882 and 1883. + +LAYARD, Austen H. DISCOVERIES AMONG THE RUINS OF NINEVEH AND BABYLON. +(American Edition.) New York: 1853. 1 vol. + +---- NINEVEH AND ITS REMAINS. London: 1849. 2 vols. + +LENORMANT, Francois. LES PREMIERES CIVILISATIONS. Etudes d'Histoire et +d'Archeologie. 1874. Paris: Maisonneuve et Cie. 2 vols. + +---- LES ORIGINES DE L'HISTOIRE, d'apres la Bible et les Traditions des +Peuples Orientaux. Paris: Maisonneuve et Cie. 3 vol. 1er vol. 1880; 2e +vol. 1882; 3e vol. 1884. + +---- LA GENESE. Traduction d'apres l'Hebreu. Paris: 1883. 1 vol. + +---- DIE MAGIE UND WAHRSAGEKUNST DER CHALDAEER. Jena, 1878. 1 vol. + +---- IL MITO DI ADONE-TAMMUZ nei Documenti cuneiformi. 32 pages. +Firenze: 1879. + +---- SUR LE NOM DE TAMMOUZ. (Extrait des Memoires du Congres +international des Orientalistes.) 17 pages. Paris: 1873. + +---- A MANUAL OF THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE EAST. Translated by E. +Chevallier. American Edition. Philadelphia: 1871. 2 vols. + +LOFTUS. CHALDEA AND SUSIANA. 1 vol. London: 1857. + +LOTZ, Guilelmus. QUAESTIONES DE HISTORIA SABBATI. Lipsiae: 1883. + +MAURY, Alfred L. F. LA MAGIE ET L'ASTROLOGIE dans l'antiquite et en +Moyen Age. Paris: 1877. 1 vol. Quatrieme edition. + +MASPERO, G. HISTOIRE ANCIENNE DES PEUPLES DE L'ORIENT. 3e edition, 1878. +Paris: Hachette & Cie. 1 vol. + +MENANT, Joachim. LA BIBLIOTHEQUE DU PALAIS DE NINIVE. 1 vol. +(Bibliotheque Orientale Elzevirienne.) Paris: 1880. + +MEYER, Eduard. GESCHICHTE DES ALTERTHUMS. Stuttgart: 1884. Vol. 1st. + +MUeLLER, Max. LECTURES ON THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE. 2 vols. American +edition. New York: 1875. + +MUeRDTER, F. KURZGEFASSTE GESCHICHTE BABYLONIENS UND ASSYRIENS, mit +besonderer Beruecksichtigung des Alten Testaments. Mit Vorwort und +Beigaben von Friedrich Delitzsch. Stuttgart: 1882. 1 vol. + +OPPERT, Jules. L'IMMORTALITE DE L'AME CHEZ LES CHALDEENS. 28 pages. +(Extrait des Annales de Philosophie Chretienne, 1874.) Perrot et +Chipiez. + +QUATREFAGES, A. de. L'ESPECE HUMAINE. Sixieme edition. 1 vol. Paris: +1880. + +RAWLINSON, George. THE FIVE GREAT MONARCHIES OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN +WORLD. London: 1865. 1st and 2d vols. + +RECORDS OF THE PAST. Published under the sanction of the Society of +Biblical Archaeology. Volumes I. III. V. VII. IX. XI. + +SAYCE, A. H. FRESH LIGHT FROM ANCIENT MONUMENTS. ("By-Paths of Bible +Knowledge" Series, II.) 3d edition, 1885. London: 1 vol. + +---- THE ANCIENT EMPIRES OF THE EAST. 1 vol. London, 1884. + +---- BABYLONIAN LITERATURE. 1 vol. London, 1884. + +SCHRADER, Eberhard. KEILINSCHRIFTEN und Geschichtsforschung. Giessen: +1878. 1 vol. + +---- DIE KEILINSCHRIFTEN und das Alte Testament. Giessen: 1883. 1 vol. + +---- ISTAR'S HOELLENFAHRT. 1 vol. Giessen: 1874. + +---- ZUR FRAGE NACH DEM URSPRUNG DER ALTBABYLONISCHEN KULTUR. Berlin: +1884. + +SMITH, George. ASSYRIA from the Earliest Times to the Fall of Nineveh. +("Ancient History from the Monuments" Series.) London: 1 vol. + +TYLOR, Edward B. PRIMITIVE CULTURE. Second American Edition. 2 vols. New +York: 1877. + +ZIMMERN, Heinrich. BABYLONISCHE BUSSPSALMEN, umschrieben, uebersetzt und +erklaert. 17 pages, 4to. Leipzig: 1885. + +Numerous Essays by Sir Henry Rawlinson, Friedr. Delitzsch, E. Schrader +and others, in Mr. Geo. Rawlinson's translation of Herodotus, in the +Calwer Bibellexikon, and in various periodicals, such as "Proceedings" +and "Transactions" of the "Society of Biblical Archaeology," "Jahrbuecher +fuer Protestantische Theologie," "Zeitschrift fuer Keilschriftforschung," +"Gazette Archeologique," and others. + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + PAGE +SHAMASH THE SUN-GOD. + _From a tablet in the British Museum._ _Frontispiece._ +1. CUNEIFORM CHARACTERS _Menant._ 10 +2. TEMPLE OF EA AT ERIDHU _Hommel._ 23 +3. VIEW OF EUPHRATES NEAR BABYLON _Babelon._ 31 +4. MOUND OF BABIL _Oppert._ 33 +5. BRONZE DISH _Perrot and Chipiez._ 35 +6. BRONZE DISH (RUG PATTERN) _Perrot and Chipiez._ 37 +7. SECTION OF BRONZE DISH _Perrot and Chipiez._ 39 +8. VIEW OF NEBBI-YUNUS _Babelon._ 41 +9. BUILDING IN BAKED BRICK. _Perrot and Chipiez._ 43 +10. MOUND OF NINEVEH _Hommel._ 45 +11. MOUND OF MUGHEIR (ANCIENT UR) _Taylor._ 47 +12. TERRACE WALL AT KHORSABAD _Perrot and Chipiez._ 49 +13. RAFT BUOYED BY INFLATED SKINS (ANCIENT) _Kaulen._ 51 +14. RAFT BUOYED BY INFLATED SKINS (MODERN) _Kaulen._ 51 +15. EXCAVATIONS AT MUGHEIR (UR) _Hommel._ 53 +16. WARRIORS SWIMMING ON INFLATED SKINS _Babelon._ 55 +17. VIEW OF KOYUNJIK _Hommel._ 57 +18. STONE LION AT ENTRANCE OF A TEMPLE _Perrot and Chipiez._ 59 +19. COURT OF HAREM AT KHORSABAD. RESTORED _Perrot and Chipiez._ 61 +20. CIRCULAR PILLAR BASE _Perrot and Chipiez._ 63 +21. INTERIOR VIEW OF HAREM CHAMBER _Perrot and Chipiez._ 65 +22, 23. COLORED FRIEZE IN ENAMELLED TILES _Perrot and Chipiez._ 67 +24. PAVEMENT SLAB _Perrot and Chipiez._ 69 +25. SECTION OF ORNAMENTAL DOORWAY, KHORSABAD _Perrot and Chipiez._ 71 +26. WINGED LION WITH HUMAN HEAD _Perrot and Chipiez._ 73 +27. WINGED BULL _Perrot and Chipiez._ 75 +28. MAN-LION _Perrot and Chipiez._ 77 +29. FRAGMENT OF ENAMELLED BRICK _Perrot and Chipiez._ 79 +30. RAM'S HEAD IN ALABASTER _British Museum._ 81 +31. EBONY COMB _Perrot and Chipiez._ 81 +32. BRONZE FORK AND SPOON _Perrot and Chipiez._ 81 +33. ARMENIAN LOUVRE _Botta._ 83 +34, 35. VAULTED DRAINS _Perrot and Chipiez._ 84 +36. CHALDEAN JAR-COFFIN _Taylor._ 85 +37. "DISH-COVER" TOMB AT MUGHEIR _Taylor._ 87 +38. "DISH-COVER" TOMB _Taylor._ 87 +39. SEPULCHRAL VAULT AT MUGHEIR _Taylor._ 89 +40. STONE JARS FROM GRAVES _Hommel._ 89 +41. DRAIN IN MOUND _Perrot and Chipiez._ 90 +42. WALL WITH DESIGNS IN TERRA-COTTA _Loftus._ 91 +43. TERRA-COTTA CONE _Loftus._ 91 +44. HEAD OF ANCIENT CHALDEAN _Perrot and Chipiez._ 101 +45. SAME, PROFILE VIEW _Perrot and Chipiez._ 101 +46. CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTION _Perrot and Chipiez._ 107 +47. INSCRIBED CLAY TABLET _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 109 +48. CLAY TABLET IN ITS CASE _Hommel._ 111 +49. ANTIQUE BRONZE SETTING OF CYLINDER _Perrot and Chipiez._ 112 +50. CHALDEAN CYLINDER AND IMPRESSION _Perrot and Chipiez._ 113 +51. ASSYRIAN CYLINDER 113 +52. PRISM OF SENNACHERIB _British Museum._ 115 +53. INSCRIBED CYLINDER FROM BORSIP _Menant._ 117 +54. DEMONS FIGHTING _British Museum._ 165 +55. DEMON OF THE SOUTH-WEST WIND _Perrot and Chipiez._ 169 +56. HEAD OF DEMON _British Museum._ 170 +57. OANNES _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 187 +58. CYLINDER OF SARGON FROM AGADE _Hommel._ 207 +59. STATUE OF GUDEA _Hommel._ 217 +60. BUST INSCRIBED WITH NAME OF NEBO _British Museum._ 243 +61. BACK OF TABLET WITH ACCOUNT OF FLOOD _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 262 +62. BABYLONIAN CYLINDER _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 266 +63. FEMALE WINGED FIGURES AND SACRED TREES _British Museum._ 269 +64. WINGED SPIRITS BEFORE SACRED TREE _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 270 +65. SARGON OF ASSYRIA BEFORE SACRED TREE _Perrot and Chipiez._ 271 +66. EAGLE-HEADED FIGURE BEFORE SACRED TREE _Perrot and Chipiez._ 273 +67. FOUR-WINGED HUMAN FIGURE + BEFORE SACRED TREE _Perrot and Chipiez._ 275 +68. TEMPLE AND HANGING GARDENS AT KOYUNJIK _British Museum._ 277 +69. PLAN OF A ZIGGURAT _Perrot and Chipiez._ 278 +70. "ZIGGURAT" RESTORED _Perrot and Chipiez._ 279 +71. BIRS-NIMRUD _Perrot and Chipiez._ 281 +72, 73. BEL FIGHTS DRAGON _Perrot and Chipiez._ 289 +74. BATTLE BETWEEN BEL AND DRAGON _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 291 +75. IZDUBAR AND LION _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 306 +76. IZDUBAR AND LION _British Museum._ 307 +77. IZDUBAR AND EABANI _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 309 +78. IZDUBAR AND LION _Perrot and Chipiez._ 310 +79. SCORPION-MAN _Smith's Chald. Gen._ 311 +80. STONE OBJECT FOUND AT ABU-HABBA 312 + +[Illustration: THE COUNTRIES ABOUT CHALDEA.] + + + + + INTRODUCTION. + + I. + + MESOPOTAMIA.--THE MOUNDS.--THE FIRST SEARCHERS. + + +1. In or about the year before Christ 606, Nineveh, the great city, was +destroyed. For many hundred years had she stood in arrogant splendor, +her palaces towering above the Tigris and mirrored in its swift waters; +army after army had gone forth from her gates and returned laden with +the spoils of conquered countries; her monarchs had ridden to the high +place of sacrifice in chariots drawn by captive kings. But her time came +at last. The nations assembled and encompassed her around. Popular +tradition tells how over two years lasted the siege; how the very river +rose and battered her walls; till one day a vast flame rose up to +heaven; how the last of a mighty line of kings, too proud to surrender, +thus saved himself, his treasures and his capital from the shame of +bondage. Never was city to rise again where Nineveh had been. + +2. Two hundred years went by. Great changes had passed over the land. +The Persian kings now held the rule of Asia. But their greatness also +was leaning towards its decline and family discords undermined their +power. A young prince had rebelled against his elder brother and +resolved to tear the crown from him by main force. To accomplish this, +he had raised an army and called in the help of Grecian hirelings. They +came, 13,000 in number, led by brave and renowned generals, and did +their duty by him; but their valor could not save him from defeat and +death. Their own leader fell into an ambush, and they commenced their +retreat under the most disastrous circumstances and with little hope of +escape. + +3. Yet they accomplished it. Surrounded by open enemies and false +friends, tracked and pursued, through sandy wastes and pathless +mountains, now parched with heat, now numbed with cold, they at last +reached the sunny and friendly Hellespont. It was a long and weary march +from Babylon on the Euphrates, near which city the great battle had been +fought. They might not have succeeded had they not chosen a great and +brave commander, Xenophon, a noble Athenian, whose fame as scholar and +writer equals his renown as soldier and general. Few books are more +interesting than the lively relation he has left of his and his +companions' toils and sufferings in this expedition, known in history as +"The Retreat of the Ten Thousand"--for to that number had the original +13,000 been reduced by battles, privations and disease. So cultivated a +man could not fail, even in the midst of danger and weighed down by +care, to observe whatever was noteworthy in the strange lands which he +traversed. So he tells us how one day his little army, after a forced +march in the early morning hours and an engagement with some light +troops of pursuers, having repelled the attack and thereby secured a +short interval of safety, travelled on till they came to the banks of +the Tigris. On that spot, he goes on, there was a vast desert city. Its +wall was twenty-five feet wide, one hundred feet high and nearly seven +miles in circuit. It was built of brick with a basement, twenty feet +high, of stone. Close by the city there stood a stone pyramid, one +hundred feet in width, and two hundred in height. Xenophon adds that +this city's name was Larissa and that it had anciently been inhabited by +Medes; that the king of Persia, when he took the sovereignty away from +the Medes, besieged it, but could not in any way get possession of it, +until, a cloud having obscured the sun, the inhabitants forsook the city +and thus it was taken. + +4. Some eighteen miles further on (a day's march) the Greeks came to +another great deserted city, which Xenophon calls Mespila. It had a +similar but still higher wall. This city, he tells us, had also been +inhabited by Medes, and taken by the king of Persia. Now these curious +ruins were all that was left of Kalah and Nineveh, the two Assyrian +capitals. In the short space of two hundred years, men had surely not +yet lost the memory of Nineveh's existence and rule, yet they trod the +very site where it had stood and knew it not, and called its ruins by a +meaningless Greek name, handing down concerning it a tradition absurdly +made up of true and fictitious details, jumbled into inextricable +confusion. For Nineveh had been the capital of the Assyrian Empire, +while the Medes were one of the nations who attacked and destroyed it. +And though an eclipse of the sun--(the obscuring cloud could mean +nothing else)--did occur, created great confusion and produced important +results, it was at a later period and on an entirely different occasion. +As to "the king of Persia," no such personage had anything whatever to +do with the catastrophe of Nineveh, since the Persians had not yet been +heard of at that time as a powerful people, and their country was only a +small and insignificant principality, tributary to Media. So effectually +had the haughty city been swept from the face of the earth! + +5. Another hundred years brought on other and even greater changes. The +Persian monarchy had followed in the wake of the empires that had gone +before it and fallen before Alexander, the youthful hero of Macedon. As +the conqueror's fleet of light-built Grecian ships descended the +Euphrates towards Babylon, they were often hindered in their progress by +huge dams of stone built across the river. The Greeks, with great labor, +removed several, to make navigation more easy. They did the same on +several other rivers,--nor knew that they were destroying the last +remaining vestige of a great people's civilization,--for these dams had +been used to save the water and distribute it into the numerous canals, +which covered the arid country with their fertilizing network. They may +have been told what travellers are told in our own days by the +Arabs--that these dams had been constructed once upon a time by Nimrod, +the Hunter-King. For some of them remain even still, showing their huge, +square stones, strongly united by iron cramps, above the water before +the river is swollen with the winter rains. + +6. More than one-and-twenty centuries have rolled since then over the +immense valley so well named Mesopotamia--"the Land between the +Rivers,"--and each brought to it more changes, more wars, more +disasters, with rare intervals of rest and prosperity. Its position +between the East and the West, on the very high-road of marching armies +and wandering tribes, has always made it one of the great battle grounds +of the world. About one thousand years after Alexander's rapid invasion +and short-lived conquest, the Arabs overran the country, and settled +there, bringing with them a new civilization and the new religion given +them by their prophet Mohammed, which they thought it their mission to +carry, by force of word or sword, to the bounds of the earth. They even +founded there one of the principal seats of their sovereignty, and +Baghdad yielded not greatly in magnificence and power to Babylon of old. + +7. Order, laws, and learning now flourished for a few hundred years, +when new hordes of barbarous people came pouring in from the East, and +one of them, the Turks, at last established itself in the land and +stayed. They rule there now. The valley of the Tigris and Euphrates is +a province of the Ottoman or Turkish Empire, which has its capital in +Constantinople; it is governed by pashas, officials sent by the Turkish +government, or the "Sublime Porte," as it is usually called, and the +ignorant, oppressive, grinding treatment to which it has now been +subjected for several hundred years has reduced it to the lowest depth +of desolation. Its wealth is exhausted, its industry destroyed, its +prosperous cities have disappeared or dwindled into insignificance. Even +Mossul, built by the Arabs on the right bank of the Tigris, opposite the +spot where Nineveh once stood, one of their finest cities, famous for +the manufacturing of the delicate cotton tissue to which it gave its +name--(_muslin_, _mousseline_)--would have lost all importance, had it +not the honor to be the chief town of a Turkish district and to harbor a +pasha. And Baghdad, although still the capital of the whole province, is +scarcely more than the shadow of her former glorious self; and her looms +no longer supply the markets of the world with wonderful shawls and +carpets, and gold and silver tissues of marvellous designs. + +8. Mesopotamia is a region which must suffer under neglect and +misgovernment even more than others; for, though richly endowed by +nature, it is of a peculiar formation, requiring constant care and +intelligent management to yield all the return of which it is capable. +That care must chiefly consist in distributing the waters of the two +great rivers and their affluents over all the land by means of an +intricate system of canals, regulated by a complete and well-kept set +of dams and sluices, with other simpler arrangements for the remoter and +smaller branches. The yearly inundations caused by the Tigris and +Euphrates, which overflow their banks in spring, are not sufficient; +only a narrow strip of land on each side is benefited by them. In the +lowlands towards the Persian Gulf there is another inconvenience: the +country there being perfectly flat, the waters accumulate and stagnate, +forming vast pestilential swamps where rich pastures and wheat-fields +should be--and have been in ancient times. In short, if left to itself, +Upper Mesopotamia, (ancient Assyria), is unproductive from the +barrenness of its soil, and Lower Mesopotamia, (ancient Chaldea and +Babylonia), runs to waste, notwithstanding its extraordinary fertility, +from want of drainage. + +9. Such is actually the condition of the once populous and flourishing +valley, owing to the principles on which the Turkish rulers carry on +their government. They look on their remoter provinces as mere sources +of revenue for the state and its officials. But even admitting this as +their avowed and chief object, they pursue it in an altogether +wrong-headed and short-sighted way. The people are simply and openly +plundered, and no portion of what is taken from them is applied to any +uses of local public utility, as roads, irrigation, encouragement of +commerce and industry and the like; what is not sent home to the Sultan +goes into the private pouches of the pasha and his many subaltern +officials. This is like taking the milk and omitting to feed the cow. +The consequence is, the people lose their interest in work of any kind, +leave off striving for an increase of property which they will not be +permitted to enjoy, and resign themselves to utter destitution with a +stolid apathy most painful to witness. The land has been brought to such +a degree of impoverishment that it is actually no longer capable of +producing crops sufficient for a settled population. It is cultivated +only in patches along the rivers, where the soil is rendered so fertile +by the yearly inundations as to yield moderate returns almost unasked, +and that mostly by wandering tribes of Arabs or of Kurds from the +mountains to the north, who raise their tents and leave the spot the +moment they have gathered in their little harvest--if it has not been +appropriated first by some of the pasha's tax-collectors or by roving +parties of Bedouins--robber-tribes from the adjoining Syrian and Arabian +deserts, who, mounted on their own matchless horses, are carried across +the open border with as much facility as the drifts of desert sand so +much dreaded by travellers. The rest of the country is left to nature's +own devices and, wherever it is not cut up by mountains or rocky ranges, +offers the well-known twofold character of steppe-land: luxuriant grassy +vegetation during one-third of the year and a parched, arid waste the +rest of the time, except during the winter rains and spring floods. + +10. A wild and desolate scene! Imposing too in its sorrowful grandeur, +and well suited to a land which may be called a graveyard of empires and +nations. The monotony of the landscape would be unbroken, but for +certain elevations and hillocks of strange and varied shapes, which +spring up, as it were, from the plain in every direction; some are high +and conical or pyramidal in form, others are quite extensive and rather +flat on the summit, others again long and low, and all curiously +unconnected with each other or any ridge of hills or mountains. This is +doubly striking in Lower Mesopotamia or Babylonia, proverbial for its +excessive flatness. The few permanent villages, composed of mud-huts or +plaited reed-cabins, are generally built on these eminences, others are +used as burying-grounds, and a mosque, the Mohammedan house of prayer, +sometimes rises on one or the other. They are pleasing objects in the +beautiful spring season, when corn-fields wave on their summits, and +their slopes, as well as all the surrounding plains, are clothed with +the densest and greenest of herbage, enlivened with countless flowers of +every hue, till the surface of the earth looks, from a distance or from +a height, as gorgeous as the richest Persian carpet. But, on approaching +nearer to these hillocks or mounds, an unprepared traveller would be +struck by some peculiar features. Their substance being rather soft and +yielding, and the winter rains pouring down with exceeding violence, +their sides are furrowed in many places with ravines, dug by the rushing +streams of rain-water. These streams of course wash down much of the +substance itself and carry it far into the plain, where it lies +scattered on the surface quite distinct from the soil. These washings +are found to consist not of earth or sand, but of rubbish, something +like that which lies in heaps wherever a house is being built or +demolished, and to contain innumerable fragments of bricks, pottery, +stone evidently worked by the hand and chisel; many of these fragments +moreover bearing inscriptions in complicated characters composed of one +curious figure shaped like the head of an arrow, and used in every +possible position and combination,--like this: + +[Illustration: 1.--CUNEIFORM CHARACTERS.] + +11. In the crevices or ravines themselves, the waters having cleared +away masses of this loose rubbish, have laid bare whole sides of walls +of solid brick-work, sometimes even a piece of a human head or limb, or +a corner of sculptured stone-slab, always of colossal size and bold, +striking execution. All this tells its own tale and the conclusion is +self-apparent: that these elevations are not natural hillocks or knolls, +but artificial mounds, heaps of earth and building materials which have +been at some time placed there by men, then, collapsing and crumbling to +rubbish from neglect, have concealed within their ample sides all that +remains of those ancient structures and works of art, clothed themselves +in verdure, and deceitfully assumed all the outward signs of natural +hills. + +12. The Arabs never thought of exploring these curious heaps. Mohammedan +nations, as a rule, take little interest in relics of antiquity; +moreover they are very superstitious, and, as their religious law +strictly forbids them to represent the human form either in painting or +sculpture lest such reproduction might lead ignorant and misguided +people back to the abominations of idolatry, so they look on relics of +ancient statuary with suspicion amounting to fear and connect them with +magic and witchcraft. It is, therefore, with awe not devoid of horror +that they tell travellers that the mounds contain underground passages +which are haunted not only by wild beasts, but by evil spirits--for have +not sometimes strange figures carved in stone been dimly perceived in +the crevices? Better instructed foreigners have long ago assumed that +within these mounds must be entombed whatever ruins may be preserved of +the great cities of yore. Their number formed no objection, for it was +well known how populous the valley had been in the days of its splendor, +and that, besides several famous cities, it could boast no end of +smaller ones, often separated from each other by a distance of only a +few miles. The long low mounds were rightly supposed to represent the +ancient walls, and the higher and vaster ones to have been the site of +the palaces and temples. The Arabs, though utterly ignorant of history +of any kind, have preserved in their religion some traditions from the +Bible, and so it happens that out of these wrecks of ages some biblical +names still survive. Almost everything of which they do not know the +origin, they ascribe to Nimrod; and the smaller of the two mounds +opposite Mosul, which mark the spot where Nineveh itself once stood, +they call "Jonah's Mound," and stoutly believe the mosque which crowns +it, surrounded by a comparatively prosperous village, to contain the +tomb of Jonah himself, the prophet who was sent to rebuke and warn the +wicked city. As the Mohammedans honor the Hebrew prophets, the whole +mound is sacred in their eyes in consequence. + +13. If travellers had for some time been aware of these general facts +concerning the Mounds, it was many years before their curiosity and +interest were so far aroused as to make them go to the trouble and +expense of digging into them, in order to find out what they really +contained. Until within the last hundred years or so, not only the +general public, but even highly cultivated men and distinguished +scholars, under the words "study of antiquity," understood no more than +the study of so-called "_Classical_ Antiquity," i.e., of the language, +history and literature of the Greeks and Romans, together with the +ruins, works of art, and remains of all sorts left by these two nations. +Their knowledge of other empires and people they took from the Greek and +Roman historians and writers, without doubting or questioning their +statements, or--as we say now--without subjecting their statements to +any criticism. Moreover, European students in their absorption in and +devotion to classical studies, were too apt to follow the example of +their favorite authors and to class the entire rest of the world, as far +as it was known in ancient times, under the sweeping and somewhat +contemptuous by-name of "Barbarians," thus allowing them but a secondary +importance and an inferior claim to attention. + +14. Things began greatly to change towards the end of the last century. +Yet the mounds of Assyria and Babylonia were still suffered to keep +their secret unrevealed. This want of interest may be in part explained +by their peculiar nature. They are so different from other ruins. A row +of massive pillars or of stately columns cut out on the clear blue sky, +with the desert around or the sea at their feet,--a broken arch or +battered tombstone clothed with ivy and hanging creepers, with the blue +and purple mountains for a background, are striking objects which first +take the eye by their beauty, then invite inspection by the easy +approach they offer. But these huge, shapeless heaps! What labor to +remove even a small portion of them! And when that is done, who knows +whether their contents will at all repay the effort and expense? + +15. The first European whose love of learning was strong enough to make +him disregard all such doubts and difficulties, was Mr. Rich, an +Englishman. He was not particularly successful, nor were his researches +very extensive, being carried on entirely with his private means; yet +his name will always be honorably remembered, for he was _the first_ who +went to work with pickaxe and shovel, who hired men to dig, who measured +and described some of the principal mounds on the Euphrates, thus laying +down the groundwork of all later and more fruitful explorations in that +region. It was in 1820 and Mr. Rich was then political resident or +representative of the East India Company at Baghdad. He also tried the +larger of the two mounds opposite Mosul, encouraged by the report that, +a short time before he arrived there, a sculpture representing men and +animals had been disclosed to view. Unfortunately he could not procure +even a fragment of this treasure, for the people of Mosul, influenced by +their _ulema_--(doctor of the law)--who had declared these sculptures to +be "idols of the infidels," had walked across the river from the city in +a body and piously shattered them to atoms. Mr. Rich had not the good +luck to come across any such find himself, and after some further +efforts, left the place rather disheartened. He carried home to England +the few relics he had been able to obtain. In the absence of more +important ones, they were very interesting, consisting in fragments of +inscriptions, of pottery, in engraved stone, bricks and pieces of +bricks. After his death all these articles were placed in the British +Museum, where they formed the foundation of the present noble +Chaldea-Assyrian collection of that great institution. Nothing more was +undertaken for years, so that it could be said with literal truth that, +up to 1842, "a case three feet square inclosed all that remained, not +only of the great city Nineveh, but of Babylon itself!"[A] + +16. The next in the field was Mr. Botta, appointed French Consul at +Mosul in 1842. He began to dig at the end of the same year, and +naturally attached himself specially to the larger of the two mounds +opposite Mosul, named KOYUNJIK, after a small village at its base. This +mound is the Mespila of Xenophon. He began enthusiastically, and worked +on for over three months, but repeated disappointments were beginning to +produce discouragement, when one day a peasant from a distant village +happened to be looking on at the small party of workmen. He was much +amused on observing that every--to him utterly worthless--fragment of +alabaster, brick or pottery, was carefully picked out of the rubbish, +most tenderly handled and laid aside, and laughingly remarked that they +might be better repaid for their trouble, if they would try the mound on +which his village was built, for that lots of such rubbish had kept +continually turning up, when they were digging the foundations of their +houses. + +17. Mr. Botta had by this time fallen into a rather hopeless mood; yet +he did not dare to neglect the hint, and sent a few men to the mound +which had been pointed out to him, and which, as well as the village on +the top of it, bore the name of KHORSABAD. His agent began operations +from the top. A well was sunk into the mound, and very soon brought the +workmen to the top of a wall, which, on further digging, was found to be +lined along its base with sculptured slabs of some soft substance much +like gypsum or limestone. This discovery quickly brought Mr. Botta to +the spot, in a fever of excitement. He now took the direction of the +works himself, had a trench dug from the outside straight into the +mound, wide and deep, towards the place already laid open from above. +What was his astonishment on finding that he had entered a hall entirely +lined all round, except where interruptions indicated the place of +doorways leading into other rooms, with sculptured slabs similar to the +one first discovered, and representing scenes of battles, sieges and the +like. He walked as in a dream. It was a new and wonderful world suddenly +opened. For these sculptures evidently recorded the deeds of the +builder, some powerful conqueror and king. And those long and close +lines engraved in the stone, all along the slabs, in the same peculiar +character as the short inscriptions on the bricks that lay scattered on +the plain--they must surely contain the text to these sculptured +illustrations. But who is to read them? They are not like any known +writing in the world and may remain a sealed book forever. Who, then, +was the builder? To what age belong these structures? Which of the wars +we read about are here portrayed? None of these questions, which must +have strangely agitated him, could Mr. Botta have answered at the time. +But not the less to him remains the glory of having, first of living +men, entered the palace of an Assyrian king. + +18. Mr. Botta henceforth devoted himself exclusively to the mound of +Khorsabad. His discovery created an immense sensation in Europe. +Scholarly indifference was not proof against so unlooked-for a shock; +the revulsion was complete and the spirit of research and enterprise was +effectually aroused, not to slumber again. The French consul was +supplied by his government with ample means to carry on excavations on a +large scale. If the first success may be considered as merely a great +piece of good fortune, the following ones were certainly due to +intelligent, untiring labor and ingenuous scholarship. We see the +results in Botta's voluminous work "Monuments de Ninive"[B] and in the +fine Assyrian collection of the Louvre, in the first room of which is +placed, as is but just, the portrait of the man to whose efforts and +devotion it is due. + +19. The great English investigator Layard, then a young and enthusiastic +scholar on his Eastern travels, passing through Mosul in 1842, found Mr. +Botta engaged on his first and unpromising attempts at Koyunjik, and +subsequently wrote to him from Constantinople exhorting him to persist +and not give up his hopes of success. He was one of the first to hear of +the astounding news from Khorsabad, and immediately determined to carry +out a long-cherished project of his own, that of exploring a large mound +known among the Arabs under the name of NIMRUD, and situated somewhat +lower on the Tigris, near that river's junction with one of its chief +tributaries, the Zab. The difficulty lay in procuring the necessary +funds. Neither the trustees of the British Museum nor the English +Government were at first willing to incur such considerable expense on +what was still looked upon as very uncertain chances. It was a private +gentleman, Sir Stratford Canning, then English minister at +Constantinople, who generously came forward, and announced himself +willing to meet the outlay within certain limits, while authorities at +home were to be solicited and worked upon. So Mr. Layard was enabled to +begin operations on the mound which he had specially selected for +himself in the autumn of 1845, the year after that in which the building +of Khorsabad was finally laid open by Botta. The results of his +expedition were so startlingly vast and important, and the particulars +of his work on the Assyrian plains are so interesting and picturesque, +that they will furnish ample materials for a separate chapter. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] Layard's "Discoveries at Nineveh," Introduction. + +[B] In five huge folio volumes, one of text, two of inscriptions, and +two of illustrations. The title shows that Botta erroneously imagined +the ruins he had discovered to be those of Nineveh itself. + + + + + II. + + LAYARD AND HIS WORK. + + +1. In the first part of November, 1845, we find the enthusiastic and +enterprising young scholar on the scene of his future exertions and +triumphs. His first night in the wilderness, in a ruinous Arab village +amidst the smaller mounds of Nimrud, is vividly described by him:--"I +slept little during the night. The hovel in which we had taken shelter, +and its inmates, did not invite slumber; but such scenes and companions +were not new to me; they could have been forgotten, had my brain been +less excited. Hopes, long-cherished, were now to be realized, or were to +end in disappointment. Visions of palaces underground, of gigantic +monsters, of sculptured figures, and endless inscriptions floated before +me. After forming plan after plan for removing the earth, and +extricating these treasures, I fancied myself wandering in a maze of +chambers from which I could find no outlet. Then again, all was +reburied, and I was standing on the grass-covered mound." + +2. Although not doomed to disappointment in the end, these hopes were +yet to be thwarted in many ways before the visions of that night became +reality. For many and various were the difficulties which Layard had to +contend with during the following months as well as during his second +expedition in 1848. The material hardships of perpetual camping out in +an uncongenial climate, without any of the simplest conveniences of +life, and the fevers and sickness repeatedly brought on by exposure to +winter rains and summer heat, should perhaps be counted among the least +of them, for they had their compensations. Not so the ignorant and +ill-natured opposition, open or covert, of the Turkish authorities. That +was an evil to which no amount of philosophy could ever fully reconcile +him. His experiences in that line form an amusing collection. Luckily, +the first was also the worst. The pasha whom he found installed at Mosul +was, in appearance and temper, more like an ogre than a man. He was the +terror of the country. His cruelty and rapacity knew no bounds. When he +sent his tax-collectors on their dreaded round, he used to dismiss them +with this short and pithy instruction: "Go, destroy, eat!" (i.e. +"plunder"), and for his own profit had revived several kinds of +contributions which had been suffered to fall into disuse, especially +one called "tooth-money,"--"a compensation in money, levied upon all +villages in which a man of such rank is entertained, for the wear and +tear of his teeth in masticating the food he condescends to receive from +the inhabitants." + +3. The letters with which Layard was provided secured him a gracious +reception from this amiable personage, who allowed him to begin +operations on the great mound of Nimrud with the party of Arab workmen +whom he had hired for the purpose. Some time after, it came to the +Pasha's knowledge that a few fragments of gold leaf had been found in +the rubbish and he even procured a small particle as sample. He +immediately concluded, as the Arab chief had done, that the English +traveller was digging for hidden treasure--an object far more +intelligible to them than that of disinterring and carrying home a +quantity of old broken stones. This incident, by arousing the great +man's rapacity, might have caused him to put a stop to all further +search, had not Layard, who well knew that treasure of this kind was not +likely to be plentiful in the ruins, immediately proposed that his +Excellency should keep an agent at the mound, to take charge of all the +precious metals which might be discovered there in the course of the +excavations. The Pasha raised no objections at the moment, but a few +days later announced to Layard that, to his great regret, he felt it his +duty to forbid the continuation of the work, since he had just learned +that the diggers were disturbing a Mussulman burying-ground. As the +tombs of true believers are held very sacred and inviolable by +Mohammedans, this would have been a fatal obstacle, had not one of the +Pasha's own officers confidentially disclosed to Layard that the tombs +were _sham ones_, that he and his men had been secretly employed to +fabricate them, and for two nights had been bringing stones for the +purpose from the surrounding villages. "We have destroyed more tombs of +true believers," said the Aga,--(officer)--"in making sham ones, than +ever you could have defiled. We have killed our horses and ourselves in +carrying those accursed stones." Fortunately the Pasha, whose misdeeds +could not be tolerated even by a Turkish government, was recalled about +Christmas, and succeeded by an official of an entirely different stamp, +a man whose reputation for justice and mildness had preceded him, and +whose arrival was accordingly greeted with public rejoicings. Operations +at the mound now proceeded for some time rapidly and successfully. But +this very success at one time raised new difficulties for our explorers. + +4. One day, as Layard was returning to the mound from an excursion, he +was met on the way by two Arabs who had ridden out to meet him at full +speed, and from a distance shouted to him in the wildest excitement: +"Hasten, O Bey! hasten to the diggers! for they have found Nimrod +himself. It is wonderful, but it is true! we have seen him with our +eyes. There is no God but God!" Greatly puzzled, he hurried on and, +descending into the trench, found that the workmen had uncovered a +gigantic head, the body to which was still imbedded in earth and +rubbish. This head, beautifully sculptured in the alabaster furnished by +the neighboring hills, surpassed in height the tallest man present. The +great shapely features, in their majestic repose, seemed to guard some +mighty secret and to defy the bustling curiosity of those who gazed on +them in wonder and fear. "One of the workmen, on catching the first +glimpse of the monster, had thrown down his basket and run off toward +Mossul as fast as his legs could carry him." + +[Illustration: 2.--TEMPLE OF EA AT ERIDHU (ABU-SHAHREIN). BACK-STAIRS. +(Hommel.)] + +5. The Arabs came in crowds from the surrounding encampments; they could +scarcely be persuaded that the image was of stone, and contended that it +was not the work of men's hands, but of infidel giants of olden times. +The commotion soon spread to Mosul, where the terrified workman, +"entering breathless into the bazars, announced to every one he met +that Nimrod had appeared." The authorities of the town were alarmed, put +their heads together and decided that such idolatrous proceedings were +an outrage to religion. The consequence was that Layard was requested by +his friend Ismail-Pasha to suspend operations for awhile, until the +excitement should have subsided, a request with which he thought it +wisest to comply without remonstrance, lest the people of Mosul might +come out in force and deal with his precious find as they had done with +the sculptured figure at Koyunjik in Rich's time. The alarm, however, +did not last long. Both Arabs and Turks soon became familiar with the +strange creations which kept emerging out of the earth, and learned to +discuss them with great calm and gravity. The colossal bulls and lions +with wings and human heads, of which several pairs were discovered, some +of them in a state of perfect preservation, were especially the objects +of wonder and conjectures, which generally ended in a curse "on all +infidels and their works," the conclusion arrived at being that "the +idols" were to be sent to England, to form gateways to the palace of the +Queen. And when some of these giants, now in the British Museum, were +actually removed, with infinite pains and labor, to be dragged down to +the Tigris, and floated down the river on rafts, there was no end to the +astonishment of Layard's simple friends. On one such occasion an Arab +Sheikh, or chieftain, whose tribe had engaged to assist in moving one of +the winged bulls, opened his heart to him. "In the name of the Most +High," said he, "tell me, O Bey, what you are going to do with these +stones. So many thousands of purses spent on such things! Can it be, as +you say, that your people learn wisdom from them? or is it as his +reverence the Cadi declares, that they are to go to the palace of your +Queen, who, with the rest of the unbelievers, worships these idols? As +for wisdom, these figures will not teach you to make any better knives, +or scissors, or chintzes, and it is in the making of these things that +the English show their wisdom." + +6. Such was the view very generally taken of Layard's work by both Turks +and Arabs, from the Pasha down to the humblest digger in his band of +laborers, and he seldom felt called upon to play the missionary of +science, knowing as he did that all such efforts would be but wasted +breath. This want of intellectual sympathy did not prevent the best +understanding from existing between himself and these rangers of the +desert. The primitive life which he led amongst them for so many months, +the kindly hospitality which he invariably experienced at their hands +during the excursions made and the visits he paid to different Bedouin +tribes in the intervals of recreation which he was compelled to allow +himself from time to time--these are among the most pleasurable memories +of those wonderful, dreamlike years. He lingers on them lovingly and +retraces them through many a page of both his books[C]--pages which, for +their picturesque vividness, must be perused with delight even by such +as are but slightly interested in the discovery of buried palaces and +winged bulls. One longs to have been with him through some of those +peerless evenings when, after a long day's work, he sat before his cabin +in the cool starlight, watching the dances with which those +indefatigable Arabs, men and women, solaced themselves deep into the +night, while the encampment was lively with the hum of voices, and the +fires lit to prepare the simple meal. One longs to have shared in some +of those brisk rides across plains so thickly enamelled with flowers, +that it seemed a patchwork of many colors, and "the dogs, as they +returned from hunting, issued from the long grass dyed red, yellow, or +blue, according to the flowers through which they had last forced their +way,"--the joy of the Arab's soul, which made the chief, Layard's +friend, continually exclaim, "rioting in the luxuriant herbage and +scented air, as his mare waded through the flowers:--'What delight has +God given us equal to this? It is the only thing worth living for. What +do the dwellers in cities know of true happiness? They never have seen +grass or flowers! May God have pity on them!'" How glorious to watch the +face of the desert changing its colors almost from day to day, white +succeeding to pale straw color, red to white, blue to red, lilac to +blue, and bright gold to that, according to the flowers with which it +decked itself! Out of sight stretches the gorgeous carpet, dotted with +the black camel's-hair tents of the Arabs, enlivened with flocks of +sheep and camels, and whole studs of horses of noble breed which are +brought out from Mosul and left to graze at liberty, in the days of +healthy breezes and fragrant pastures. + +7. So much for spring. A beautiful, a perfect season, but unfortunately +as brief as it is lovely, and too soon succeeded by the terrible heat +and long drought of summer, which sometimes set in so suddenly as hardly +to give the few villagers time to gather in their crops. Chaldea or +Lower Mesopotamia is in this respect even worse off than the higher +plains of Assyria. A temperature of 120 deg. in the shade is no unusual +occurrence in Baghdad; true, it can be reduced to 100 deg. in the cellars +of the houses by carefully excluding the faintest ray of light, and it is +there that the inhabitants mostly spend their days in summer. The +oppression is such that Europeans are entirely unmanned and unfitted for +any kind of activity. "Camels sicken, and birds are so distressed by the +high temperature, that they sit in the date-trees about Baghdad, with +their mouths open, panting for fresh air."[D] + +8. But the most frightful feature of a Mesopotamian summer is the +frequent and violent sand-storms, during which travellers, in addition +to all the dangers offered by snow-storms--being buried alive and losing +their way--are exposed to that of suffocation not only from the +furnace-like heat of the desert-wind, but from the impalpable sand, +which is whirled and driven before it, and fills the eyes, mouth and +nostrils of horse and rider. The three miles' ride from Layard's +encampment to the mound of Nimrud must have been something more than +pleasant morning exercise in such a season, and though the deep trenches +and wells afforded a comparatively cool and delightful retreat, he soon +found that fever was the price to be paid for the indulgence, and was +repeatedly laid up with it. "The verdure of the plain," he says in one +place, "had perished almost in a day. Hot winds, coming from the desert, +had burnt up and carried away the shrubs; flights of locusts, darkening +the air, had destroyed the few patches of cultivation, and had completed +the havoc commenced by the heat of the sun.... Violent whirlwinds +occasionally swept over the face of the country. They could be seen as +they advanced from the desert, carrying along with them clouds of dust +and sand. Almost utter darkness prevailed during their passage, which +lasted generally about an hour, and nothing could resist their fury. On +returning home one afternoon after a tempest of the kind, I found no +traces of my dwellings; they had been completely carried away. Ponderous +wooden frame-works had been borne over the bank and hurled some hundred +yards distant; the tents had disappeared, and my furniture was scattered +over the plain." + +9. Fortunately it would not require much labor to restore the wooden +frames to their proper place and reconstruct the reed-plaited, +mud-plastered walls as well as the roof composed of reeds and +boughs--such being the sumptuous residences of which Layard shared the +largest with various domestic animals, from whose immediate +companionship he was saved by a thin partition, the other hovels being +devoted to the wives, children and poultry of his host, to his own +servants and different household uses. But the time came when not even +this accommodation, poor as it was, could be enjoyed with any degree of +comfort. When the summer heat set in in earnest, the huts became +uninhabitable from their closeness and the vermin with which they +swarmed, while a canvas tent, though far preferable in the way of +airiness and cleanliness, did not afford sufficient shelter. + +10. "In this dilemma," says Layard, "I ordered a recess to be cut into +the bank of the river where it rose perpendicularly from the water's +edge. By screening the front with reeds and boughs of trees, and +covering the whole with similar materials, a small room was formed. I +was much troubled, however, with scorpions and other reptiles, which +issued from the earth forming the walls of my apartment; and later in +the summer by the gnats and sandflies which hovered on a calm night over +the river." It is difficult to decide between the respective merits of +this novel summer retreat and of the winter dwelling, ambitiously +constructed of mud bricks dried in the sun, and roofed with solid wooden +beams. This imposing residence, in which Layard spent the last months of +his first winter in Assyria, would have been sufficient protection +against wind and weather, after it had been duly coated with mud. +Unfortunately a heavy shower fell before it was quite completed, and so +saturated the bricks that they did not dry again before the following +spring. "The consequence was," he pleasantly remarks, "that the only +verdure on which my eyes were permitted to feast before my return to +Europe, was furnished by my own property--the walls in the interior of +the rooms being continually clothed with a crop of grass." + +[Illustration: 3.--VIEW OF EUPHRATES NEAR THE RUINS OF BABYLON. +(Babelon.)] + +11. These few indications are sufficient to give a tolerably clear idea +of what might be called "Pleasures and hardships of an explorer's life +in the desert." As for the work itself, it is simple enough in the +telling, although it must have been extremely wearisome and laborious in +the performance. The simplest way to get at the contents of a mound, +would be to remove all the earth and rubbish by carting it away,--a +piece of work which our searchers might no doubt have accomplished with +great facility, had they had at their disposal a few scores of thousands +of slaves and captives, as had the ancient kings who built the huge +constructions the ruins of which had now to be disinterred. With a +hundred or two of hired workmen and very limited funds, the case was +slightly different. The task really amounted to this: to achieve the +greatest possible results at the least possible expense of labor and +time, and this is how such excavations are carried out on a plan +uniformly followed everywhere as the most practical and direct: + +12. Trenches, more or less wide, are conducted from different sides +towards the centre of the mound. This is obviously the surest and +shortest way to arrive at whatever remains of walls may be imbedded in +it. But even this preliminary operation has to be carried out with some +judgment and discernment. It is known that the Chaldeans and Assyrians +constructed their palaces and temples not upon the level, natural soil, +but upon an artificial platform of brick and earth, at least thirty feet +high. This platform was faced on all sides with a strong wall of solid +burned brick, often moreover cased with stone. A trench dug straight +from the plain into the lower part of the mound would consequently be +wasted labor, since it could never bring to anything but that same blind +wall, behind which there is only the solid mass of the platform. Digging +therefore begins in the slope of the mound, at a height corresponding to +the supposed height of the platform, and is carried on straight across +its surface until a wall is reached,--a wall belonging to one of the +palaces or temples. This wall has then to be followed, till a break in +it is found, indicating an entrance or doorway.[E] The burrowing process +becomes more and more complicated, and sometimes dangerous. Shafts have +to be sunk from above at frequent intervals to introduce air and light +into the long and narrow corridor; the sides and vault have to be +propped by beams to prevent the soft earthy mass from falling in and +crushing the diggers. Every shovelful of earth cleared away is removed +in baskets which are passed from hand to hand till they are emptied +outside the trench, or else lowered empty and sent up full, through the +shafts by means of ropes and pulleys, to be emptied on the top. When a +doorway is reached, it is cleared all through the thickness of the +wall, which is very great; then a similar tunnel is conducted all along +the inside of the wall, the greatest care being needed not to damage the +sculptures which generally line it, and which, as it is, are more or +less injured and cracked, their upper parts sometimes entirely destroyed +by the action of fire. When the tunnel has been carried along the four +sides, every doorway or portal carefully noted and cleared, it is seen +from the measurements,--especially the width--whether the space explored +be an inner court, a hall or a chamber. If the latter, it is sometimes +entirely cleared from above, when the rubbish frequently yields valuable +finds in the shape of various small articles. One such chamber, +uncovered by Layard, at Koyunjik, proved a perfect mine of treasures. +The most curious relics were brought to light in it: quantities of studs +and small rosettes in mother-of-pearl, ivory and metal, (such as were +used to ornament the harness of the war-horses), bowls, cups and dishes +of bronze,[F] besides caldrons, shields and other items of armor, even +glass bowls, lastly fragments of a royal throne--possibly the very +throne on which King Sennacherib sat to give audience or pronounce +judgments, for the palace at Koyunjik where these objects were found was +built by that monarch so long familiar to us only from the Bible, and +the sculptures and inscriptions which cover its walls are the annals of +his conquests abroad and his rule at home. + +[Illustration: 4.--MOUND OF BABIL. (RUINS OF BABYLON.) (Oppert.)] + +A description of the removal of the colossal bulls and lions which were +shipped to England and now are safely housed in the British Museum, +ought by rights to form the close of a chapter devoted to "Layard and +his work." But the reference must suffice; the vivid and entertaining +narrative should be read in the original, as the passages are too long +for transcription, and would be marred by quoting. + +[Illustration 5.--BRONZE DISH.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[C] "Nineveh and its Remains," and "Discoveries in Nineveh and Babylon." + +[D] Rawlinson's "Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient World," Vol. I., +Chap. II. + +[E] See Figure 15, on p. 53. + +[F] See Figures 5, 6, and 7. + + + + + III. + + THE RUINS. + + "And they said to one another, Go to, let us make brick, and + burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and slime + for mortar."--_Gen._ xi. 3. + + +1. It is a principle, long ago laid down and universally recognized, +that every country _makes_ its own people. That is, the mode of life and +the intellectual culture of a people are shaped by the characteristic +features of the land in which it dwells; or, in other words, men can +live only in a manner suited to the peculiarities of their native +country. Men settled along the sea-shore will lead a different life, +will develop different qualities of mind and body from the owners of +vast inland pasture-grounds or the holders of rugged mountain +fastnesses. They will all dress differently, eat different food, follow +different pursuits. Their very dwellings and public buildings will +present an entirely different aspect, according to the material which +they will have at hand in the greatest abundance, be it stone, wood or +any other substance suitable for the purpose. Thus every country will +create its own peculiar style of art, determined chiefly by its own +natural productions. On these, architecture, the art of the builder, +will be even more dependent than any other. + +[Illustration: 6.--BRONZE DISH (RUG-PATTERN).] + +2. It would seem as though Chaldea or Lower Mesopotamia, regarded from +this point of view, could never have originated any architecture at all, +for it is, at first sight, absolutely deficient in building materials of +any sort. The whole land is alluvial, that is, formed, gradually, +through thousands of years, of the rich mud deposited by the two +rivers, as they spread into vast marshy flats towards the end of their +course. Such soil, when hardened into sufficient consistency, is the +finest of all for cultivation, and a greater source of wealth than mines +of the most precious ore; but it bears no trees and contains no stone. +The people who were first tempted to settle in the lowlands towards the +Persian Gulf by the extraordinary fertility of that region, found +nothing at all available to construct their simple dwellings--nothing +but reeds of enormous size, which grew there, as they do now, in the +greatest profusion. These reeds "cover the marshes in the summer-time, +rising often to the height of fourteen or fifteen feet. The Arabs of the +marsh region form their houses of this material, binding the stems +together and bending them into arches, to make the skeletons of their +buildings; while, to form the walls, they stretch across from arch to +arch mats made of the leaves."[G] + +[Illustration: 7.--SECTION OF BRONZE DISH.] + +3. There can be no doubt that of such habitations consisted the villages +and towns of those first settlers. They gave quite sufficient shelter in +the very mild winters of that region, and, when coated with a layer of +mud which soon dried and hardened in the sun, could exclude even the +violent rains of that season. But they were in no way fitted for more +ambitious and dignified purposes. Neither the palaces of the kings nor +the temples of the gods could be constructed out of bent reeds. +Something more durable must be found, some material that would lend +itself to constructions of any size or shape. The mud coating of the +cabins naturally suggested such a material. Could not this same mud or +clay, of which an inexhaustible supply was always on hand, be moulded +into cakes of even size, and after being left to dry in the sun, be +piled into walls of the required height and thickness? And so men began +to make bricks. It was found that the clay gained much in consistency +when mixed with finely chopped straw--another article of which the +country, abounding in wheat and other grains, yielded unlimited +quantities. But even with this improvement the sun-dried bricks could +not withstand the continued action of many rainy seasons, or many +torrid summers, but had a tendency to crumble away when parched too dry, +or to soak and dissolve back into mud, when too long exposed to rain. +All these defects were removed by the simple expedient of baking the +bricks in kilns or ovens, a process which gives them the hardness and +solidity of stone. But as the cost of kiln-dried bricks is naturally +very much greater than that of the original crude article, so the latter +continued to be used in far greater quantities; the walls were made +entirely of them and only protected by an outward casing of the hard +baked bricks. These being so much more expensive, and calculated to last +forever, great care was bestowed on their preparation; the best clay was +selected and they were stamped with the names and titles of the king by +whose order the palace or temple was built, for which they were to be +used. This has been of great service in identifying the various ruins +and assigning them dates, at least approximately. As is to be expected, +there is a notable difference in the specimens of different periods. +While on some bricks bearing the name of a king who lived about 3000 +B.C. the inscription is uncouth and scarcely legible, and even their +shape is rude and the material very inferior, those of the later +Babylonian period (600 B.C.) are handsome and neatly made. As to the +quality, all explorers agree in saying it is fully equal to that of the +best modern English bricks. The excellence of these bricks for building +purposes is a fact so well known that for now two thousand years--ever +since the destruction of Babylon--its walls, temples and palaces have +been used as quarries for the construction of cities and villages. The +little town of HILLAH, situated nearest to the site of the ancient +capital, is built almost entirely with bricks from one single mound, +that of KASR--once the gorgeous and far-famed palace of Nebuchadnezzar, +whose name and titles thus grace the walls of the most lowly Arab and +Turkish dwellings. All the other mounds are similarly used, and so far +is the valuable mine from being exhausted, that it furnishes forth, to +this day, a brisk and flourishing trade. While a party of workmen is +continually employed in digging for the available bricks, another is +busy conveying them to Hillah; there they are shipped on the Euphrates +and carried to any place where building materials are in demand, often +even loaded on donkeys at this or that landing-place and sent miles away +inland; some are taken as far as Baghdad, where they have been used for +ages. The same thing is done wherever there are mounds and ruins. Both +Layard and his successors had to allow their Arab workmen to build their +own temporary houses out of ancient bricks, only watching them narrowly, +lest they should break some valuable relic in the process or use some of +the handsomest and best-preserved specimens. + +[Illustration: 8.--VIEW OF NEBBI YUNUS] + +4. No construction of bricks, either crude or kiln-dried, could have +sufficient solidity without the help of some kind of cement, to make +them adhere firmly together. This also the lowlands of Chaldea and +Babylonia yield in sufficient quantity and of various qualities. While +in the early structures a kind of sticky red clay or loam is used, mixed +with chopped straw, bitumen or pitch is substituted at a later period, +which substance, being applied hot, adheres so firmly to the bricks, +that pieces of these are broken off when an attempt is made to procure a +fragment of the cement. This valuable article was brought down by water +from IS on the Euphrates (now called HIT), where abundant springs of +bitumen are to this day in activity. Calcareous earth--i.e., earth +strongly mixed with lime--being very plentiful to the west of the lower +Euphrates, towards the Arabian frontier, the Babylonians of the latest +times learned to make of it a white mortar which, for lightness and +strength, has never been surpassed. + +[Illustration: 9.--BUILDING IN BAKED BRICK (MODERN). (Perrot and +Chipiez.)] + +5. All the essential materials for plain but durable constructions being +thus procurable on the spot or in the immediate neighborhood, the next +important point was the selection of proper sites for raising these +constructions, which were to serve purposes of defence as well as of +worship and royal majesty. A rocky eminence, inaccessible on one or +several sides, or at least a hill, a knoll somewhat elevated above the +surrounding plain, have usually been chosen wherever such existed. But +this was not the case in Chaldea. There, as far as eye can see, not the +slightest undulation breaks the dead flatness of the land. Yet there, +more than anywhere else, an elevated position was desirable, if only as +a protection from the unhealthy exhalations of a vast tract of swamps, +and from the intolerable nuisance of swarms of aggressive and venomous +insects, which infest the entire river region during the long summer +season. Safety from the attacks of the numerous roaming tribes which +ranged the country in every direction before it was definitely settled +and organized, was also not among the last considerations. So, what +nature had refused, the cunning and labor of man had to supply. +Artificial hills or platforms were constructed, of enormous size and +great height--from thirty to fifty, even sixty feet, and on their flat +summits the buildings were raised. These platforms sometimes supported +only one palace, sometimes, as in the case of the immense mounds of +Koyunjik and Nimrud in Assyria, their surface had room for several, +built by successive kings. Of course such huge piles could not be +entirely executed in solid masonry, even of crude bricks. These were +generally mixed with earth and rubbish of all kinds, in more or less +regular, alternate layers, the bricks being laid in clay. But the +outward facing was in all cases of baked brick. The platform of the +principal mound which marks the place of ancient UR, (now called +MUGHEIR),[H] is faced with a wall ten feet thick, of red kiln-dried +bricks, cemented with bitumen. In Assyria, where stone was not scarce, +the sides of the platform were even more frequently "protected by +massive stone-masonry, carried perpendicularly from the natural ground +to a height somewhat exceeding that of the platform, and either made +plain at the top, or else crowned into stone battlements cut into +gradines."[I] + +[Illustration: 10.--MOUND OF NIMRUD. (Hommel.)] + +6. Some mounds are considerably higher than the others and of a peculiar +shape, almost like a pyramid, that is, ending in a point from which it +slopes down rapidly on all sides. Such is the pyramidal mound of Nimrud, +which Layard describes as being so striking and picturesque an object as +you approach the ruins from any point of the plain.[J] Such also is the +still more picturesque mound of BORSIP (now BIRS NIMRUD) near Babylon, +the largest of this kind.[K] These mounds are the remains of peculiar +constructions, called ZIGGURATS, composed of several platforms piled one +on the other, each square in shape and somewhat smaller than the +preceding one; the topmost platform supported a temple or sanctuary, +which by these means was raised far above the dwellings of men, a +constant reminder not less eloquent than the exhortation in some of our +religious services: "Lift up your hearts!" Of these heavenward pointing +towers, which were also used as observatories by the Chaldeans, great +lovers of the starry heavens, that of Borsip, once composed of seven +stages, is the loftiest; it measures over 150 feet in perpendicular +height. + +[Illustration: 11.--MOUND OF MUGHEIR (ANCIENT UR).] + +7. It is evident that these artificial hills could have been erected +only at an incredible cost of labor. The careful measurements which have +been taken of several of the principal mounds have enabled explorers to +make an accurate calculation of the exact amount of labor employed on +each. The result is startling, even though one is prepared for something +enormous. The great mound of Koyunjik--which represents the palaces of +Nineveh itself--covers an area of one hundred acres, and reaches an +elevation of 95 feet at its highest point. To heap up such a pile of +brick and earth "would require the united exertions of 10,000 men for +twelve years, or of 20,000 men for six years."[L] Then only could the +construction of the palaces begin. The mound of Nebbi-Yunus, which has +not yet been excavated, covers an area of forty acres and is loftier and +steeper than its neighbor: "its erection would have given full +employment to 10,000 men for the space of five years and a half." +Clearly, none but conquering monarchs, who yearly took thousands of +prisoners in battles and drove home into captivity a part of the +population of every country they subdued, could have employed such hosts +of workmen on their buildings--not once, but continually, for it seems +to have been a point of honor with the Assyrian kings that each should +build a new palace for himself. + +[Illustration: 12.--TERRACE WALL AT KHORSABAD. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +8. When one considers the character of the land along the upper course +of the Tigris, where the Assyrians dwelt, one cannot help wondering why +they went on building mounds and using nothing but bricks in their +constructions. There is no reason for it in the nature of the country. +The cities of Assyria--NINEVEH (Koyunjik), KALAH (Nimrud), ARBELA, +DUR-SHARRUKIN (Khorsabad) were built in the midst of a hilly region +abounding in many varieties of stone, from soft limestone to hard +basalt; some of them actually stood on rocky ground, their moats being +in part cut through the rock. Had they wanted stone of better quality, +they had only to get it from the Zagros range of mountains, which skirts +all Assyria to the East, separating it from Media. Yet they never +availed themselves of these resources, which must have led to great +improvements in their architecture, and almost entirely reserved the use +of stone for ornamental purposes. This would tend to show, at all +events, that the Assyrians were not distinguished for inventive genius. +They had wandered northward from the lowlands, where they had dwelt for +centuries as a portion of the Chaldean nation. When they separated from +it and went off to found cities for themselves, they took with them +certain arts and tricks of handicraft learned in the old home, and never +thought of making any change in them. It does not even seem to have +occurred to them that by selecting a natural rocky elevation for their +buildings they would avoid the necessity of an artificial platform and +save vast amount of labor and time. + +[Illustration: 13.--RAFT BUOYED BY INFLATED SKINS. (ANCIENT.) (Kaulen.)] + +[Illustration: 14.--RAFT BUOYED BY INFLATED SKINS. (MODERN.) (Kaulen.)] + +9. That they did put stone to one practical use--the outward casing of +their walls and platforms--we have already seen. The blocks must have +been cut in the Zagros mountains and brought by water--rafted down the +Zab, or some other of the rivers which, springing from those mountains, +flow into the Tigris. The process is represented with perfect clearness +on some of the sculptures. That reproduced in Fig. 13 is of great +interest, as showing a peculiar mode of transport,--rafts floated on +inflated skins--which is at the present moment in as general and +constant use as it appears to have been in the same parts three thousand +years ago and probably more. When Layard wished to send off the bulls +and lions which he had moved from Nimrud and Koyunjik down the Tigris to +Baghdad and Busrah, (or Bassorah), there to be embarked for Europe, he +had recourse to this conveyance, as no other is known for similar +purposes. This is how he describes the primitive, but ingenious +contrivance: "The skins of full-grown sheep and goats, taken off with as +few incisions as possible, are dried and prepared, one aperture being +left, through which the air is forced by the lungs. A framework of +poplar beams, branches of trees, and reeds, having been constructed of +the size of the intended raft, the inflated skins are tied to it by +osier twigs. The raft is then complete and is moved to the water and +launched. Care is taken to place the skins with their mouths upward, +that, in case any should burst or require refilling, they can be easily +reached. Upon the framework are piled bales of goods, and property +belonging to merchants and travellers.... The raftmen impel these rude +vessels by long poles, to the ends of which are fastened a few pieces of +split cane. (See Fig. 14.) ... During the floods in spring, or after +heavy rains, small rafts may float from Mosul to Baghdad in about +eighty-four hours; but the larger are generally six or seven days in +performing the voyage. In summer, and when the river is low, they are +frequently nearly a month in reaching their destination. When they have +been unloaded, they are broken up, and the beams, wood and twigs, sold +at considerable profit. The skins are washed and afterward rubbed with a +preparation, to keep them from cracking and rotting. They are then +brought back, either on the shoulders of the raftmen or upon donkeys, to +Mossul and Tekrit, where the men engaged in the navigation of the Tigris +usually reside." Numerous sculptures show us that similar skins were +also used by swimmers, who rode upon them in the water, probably when +they intended to swim a greater distance than they could have +accomplished by their unassisted efforts. (See Figure 16.) + +[Illustration: 15.--EXCAVATIONS AT MUGHEIR (UR).] + +10. Our imagination longs to reconstruct those gigantic piles as they +must have struck the beholder in their towering hugeness, approached +from the plain probably by several stairways and by at least one ascent +of a slope gentle enough to offer a convenient access to horses and +chariots. What an imposing object must have been, for instance, the +palace of Sennacherib, on the edge of its battlemented platform (mound +of Koyunjik), rising directly above the waters of the Tigris,--named in +the ancient language "the Arrow" from the swiftness of its current--into +the golden and crimson glory of an Eastern sunset! Although the sameness +and unwieldy nature of the material used must have put architectural +beauty of outline out of the question, the general effect must have been +one of massive grandeur and majesty, aided as it was by the elaborate +ornamentation lavished on every portion of the building. Unfortunately +the work of reconstruction is left almost entirely to imagination, which +derives but little help from the shapeless heaps into which time has +converted those ancient, mighty halls. + +[Illustration: 16.--WARRIORS SWIMMING ON INFLATED SKINS. (Babelon.)] + +11. Fergusson, an English explorer and scholar whose works on subjects +connected with art and especially architecture hold a high place, has +attempted to restore the palace of Sennacherib such as he imagines it to +have been, from the hints furnished by the excavations. He has produced +a striking and most effective picture, of which, however, an entire half +is simply guesswork. The whole nether part--the stone-cased, +battlemented platform wall, the broad stairs, the esplanade handsomely +paved with patterned slabs, and the lower part of the palace with its +casing of sculptured slabs and portals guarded by winged bulls--is +strictly according to the positive facts supplied by the excavations. +For the rest, there is no authority whatever. We do not even positively +know whether there was any second story to Assyrian palaces at all. At +all events, no traces of inside staircases have been found, and the +upper part of the walls of even the ground-floor has regularly been +either demolished or destroyed by fire. As to columns, it is impossible +to ascertain how far they may have been used and in what way. Such as +were used could have been, as a rule, only of wood--trunks of great +trees hewn and smoothed--and consequently every vestige of them has +disappeared, though some round column bases in stone have been found.[M] +The same remarks apply to the restoration of an Assyrian palace court, +also after Fergusson, while that of a palace hall, after Layard, is not +open to the same reproach and gives simply the result of actual +discoveries. Without, therefore, stopping long to consider conjectures +more or less unsupported, let us rather try to reproduce in our minds a +clear perception of what the audience hall of an Assyrian king looked +like from what we may term positive knowledge. We shall find that our +materials will go far towards creating for us a vivid and authentic +picture. + +[Illustration: 17.--VIEW OF KOYUNJIK. (Hommel.)] + +12. On entering such a hall the first thing to strike us would probably +be the pavement, either of large alabaster slabs delicately carved in +graceful patterns, as also the arched doorways leading into the adjacent +rooms (see Figs. 24 and 25, pp. 69 and 71), or else covered with rows of +inscriptions, the characters being deeply engraven and afterwards filled +with a molten metallic substance, like brass or bronze, which would give +the entire floor the appearance of being covered with inscriptions in +gilt characters, the strange forms of cuneiform writing making the whole +look like an intricate and fanciful design. + +[Illustration: 18.--STONE LION AT THE ENTRANCE OF A TEMPLE. NIMRUD. +(Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +13. Our gaze would next be fascinated by the colossal human-headed +winged bulls and lions keeping their silent watch in pairs at each of +the portals, and we should notice with astonishment that the artists had +allowed them each an extra leg, making the entire number five instead of +four. This was not done at random, but with a very well-calculated +artistic object--that of giving the monster the right number of legs, +whether the spectator beheld it in front or in profile, as in both cases +one of the three front legs is concealed by the others. The front view +shows the animal standing, while it appears to be striding when viewed +from the side. (See Figures 18 and 27, pp. 59 and 75.) The walls were +worthy of these majestic door-keepers. The crude brick masonry +disappeared up to a height of twelve to fifteen feet from the ground +under the sculptured slabs of soft grayish alabaster which were solidly +applied to the wall, and held together by strong iron cramps. Sometimes +one subject or one gigantic figure of king or deity was represented on +one slab; often the same subject occupied several slabs, and not +unfrequently was carried on along an entire wall. In this case the lines +begun on one slab were continued on the next with such perfect +smoothness, so absolutely without a break, as to warrant the conclusion +that the slabs were sculptured _after_ they had been put in their +places, not before. Traces of paint show that color was to a certain +extent employed to enliven these representations, probably not over +plentifully and with some discrimination. Thus color is found in many +places on the eyes, brows, hair, sandals, the draperies, the mitre or +high headdress of the kings, on the harness of horses and portions of +the chariots, on the flowers carried by attendants, and sometimes on +trees. Where a siege is portrayed, the flames which issue out of windows +and roofs seem always to have been painted red. There is reason to +believe, however, that color was but sparingly bestowed on the +sculptures, and therefore they must have presented a pleasing contrast +with the richness of the ornamentation which ran along the walls +immediately above, and which consisted of hard baked bricks of large +size, painted and glazed in the fire, forming a continuous frieze from +three to five feet wide. Sometimes the painting represented human +figures and various scenes, sometimes also winged figures of deities or +fantastic animals,--in which case it was usually confined above and +below by a simple but graceful running pattern; or it would consist +wholly of a more or less elaborate continuous pattern like Fig. 22, +23, or 25, these last symbolical compositions with a religious +signification. (See also Fig. 21, "Interior view," etc.) Curiously +enough the remains--mostly very trifling fragments--which have been +discovered in various ruins, show that these handsomely finished glazed +tiles exhibited the very same colors which are nowadays in such high +favor with ourselves for all sorts of decorative purposes: those used +most frequently were a dark and a pale yellow, white and cream-color, a +delicate pale green, occasionally orange and a pale lilac, very little +blue and red; olive-green and brown are favorite colors for grounds. +"Now and then an intense blue and a bright red occur, generally +together; but these positive hues are rare, and the taste of the +Assyrians seems to have led them to prefer, for their patterned walls, +pale and dull hues.... The general tone of their coloring is quiet, not +to say sombre. There is no striving after brilliant effects. The +Assyrian artist seeks to please by the elegance of his forms and the +harmony of his hues, not to startle by a display of bright and strongly +contrasted colors.[N]" + +[Illustration: 19.--COURT OF HAREM AT KHORSABAD. (RESTORED.) (Perrot and +Chipiez.)] + +[Illustration: 20.--CIRCULAR PILLAR-BASE.] + +14. It has been asked: how were those halls roofed and how were they +lighted? questions which have given rise to much discussion and which +can scarcely ever be answered in a positive way, since in no single +instance has the upper part of the walls or any part whatever of the +roofing been preserved. Still, the peculiar shape and dimensions of the +principal palace halls goes far towards establishing a sort of +circumstantial evidence in the case. They are invariably long and +narrow, the proportions in some being so striking as to have made them +more like corridors than apartments--a feature, by the by, which must +have greatly impaired their architectural beauty: they were three or +four times as long as they were wide, and even more. The great hall of +the palace of Asshur-nazir-pal on the platform of the Nimrud mound +(excavated by Layard, who calls it, from its position, "the North-West +palace") is 160 feet long by not quite 40 wide. Of the five halls in the +Khorsabad palace the largest measures 116 ft. by 33, the smallest 87 by +25, while the most imposing in size of all yet laid open, the great hall +of Sennacherib at Koyunjik, shows a length of fully 180 ft. with a width +of 40. It is scarcely probable that the old builders, who in other +points have shown so much artistic taste, should have selected this +uniform and unsatisfactory shape for their state apartments, unless they +were forcibly held to it by some insuperable imperfection in the means +at their disposal. That they knew how to use proportions more pleasing +in their general effect, we see from the inner open courts, of which +there were several in every palace, and which, in shape and dimensions +are very much like those in our own castles and palaces,--nearly square, +(about 180 ft. or 120 ft. each way) or slightly oblong: 93 ft. by 84, +124 ft. by 90, 150 ft. by 125. Only two courts have been found to lean +towards the long-and-narrow shape, one being 250 ft. by 150, and the +other 220 by 100. But even this is very different from those +passage-like galleries. The only thing which entirely explains this +awkward feature of all the royal halls, is the difficulty of providing +them with a roof. It is impossible to make a flat roof of nothing but +bricks, and although the Assyrians knew how to construct arches, they +used them only for very narrow vaults or over gateways and doors, and +could not have carried out the principle on any very extensive scale. +The only obvious expedient consisted in simply spanning the width of the +hall with wooden beams or rafters. Now no tree, not even the lofty cedar +of Lebanon or the tall cypress of the East, will give a rafter, of equal +thickness from end to end, more than 40 ft. in length, few even that. +There was no getting over or around this necessity, and so the matter +was settled for the artists quite aside from their own wishes. This +also explains the great value which was attached by all the Assyrian +conquerors to fine timber. It was often demanded as tribute, nothing +could be more acceptable as a gift, and expeditions were frequently +undertaken into the distant mountainous regions of the Lebanon on +purpose to cut some. The difficulty about roofing would naturally fall +away in the smaller rooms, used probably as sleeping and dwelling +apartments, and accordingly they vary freely from oblong to square; the +latter being generally about 25 ft. each way, sometimes less, but never +more. There were a great many such chambers in a palace; as many as +sixty-eight have been discovered in Sennacherib's palace at Koyunjik, +and a large portion of the building, be it remembered, is not yet fully +explored. Some were as highly decorated as the great halls, some faced +with plain slabs or plastered, and some had no ornaments at all and +showed the crude brick. These differences probably indicate the +difference of rank in the royal household of the persons to whom the +apartments were assigned. + +[Illustration: 21.--INTERIOR VIEW OF ONE OF THE CHAMBERS OF THE HAREM AT +KHORSABAD. (RESTORED.) (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +15. The question of light has been discussed by eminent +explorers--Layard, Botta, Fergusson--at even greater length and with a +greater display of ingenuity than that of roofing. The results of the +learned discussion may be shortly summed up as follows: We may take it +for granted that the halls were sufficiently lighted, for the builders +would not have bestowed on them such lavish artistic labor had they not +meant their work to be seen in all its details and to the best +advantage. This could be effected only in one of three ways, or in two +combined: either by means of numerous small windows pierced at regular +intervals above the frieze of enamelled bricks, between that and the +roof,--or by means of one large opening in the roof of woodwork, as +proposed by Layard in his own restoration, or by smaller openings placed +at more frequent intervals. This latter contrivance is in general use +now in Armenian houses, and Botta, who calls it a _louvre_, gives a +drawing of it.[O] It is very ingenious, and would have the advantage of +not admitting too great a mass of sunlight and heat, and of being easily +covered with carpets or thick felt rugs to exclude the rain. The second +method, though much the grandest in point of effect, would present none +of these advantages and would be objectionable chiefly on account of the +rain, which, pouring down in torrents--as it does, for weeks at a time, +in those countries--must very soon damage the flooring where it is of +brick, and eventually convert it into mud, not to speak of the +inconvenience of making the state apartments unfit for use for an +indefinite period. The small side windows just below the roof would +scarcely give sufficient light by themselves. Who knows but they may +have been combined with the _louvre_ system, and thus something very +satisfactory finally obtained. + +[Illustration: 22.--COLORED FRIEZE IN ENAMELLED TILES.] + +[Illustration: 23.--COLORED FRIEZE IN ENAMELLED TILES.] + +16. The kings of Chaldea, Babylonia and Assyria seem to have been +absolutely possessed with a mania for building. Scarcely one of them but +left inscriptions telling how he raised this or that palace, this or +that temple in one or other city, often in many cities. Few contented +themselves with repairing the buildings left by their predecessors. This +is easy to be ascertained, for they always mention all they did in that +line. Vanity, which seems to have been, together with the love of booty, +almost their ruling passion, of course accounts for this in a great +measure. But there are also other causes, of which the principal one was +the very perishable nature of the constructions, all their heavy +massiveness notwithstanding. Being made of comparatively soft and +yielding material, their very weight would cause the mounds to settle +and bulge out at the sides in some places, producing crevices in others, +and of course disturbing the balance of the thick but loose masonry of +the walls constructed on top of them. These accidents could not be +guarded against by the outer casing of stone or burnt brick, or even by +the strong buttresses which were used from a very early period to prop +up the unwieldy piles: the pressure from within was too great to be +resisted. + +[Illustration: 24.--PAVEMENT SLAB.] + +17. An outer agent, too, was at work, surely and steadily destructive: +the long, heavy winter rains. Crude brick, when exposed to moisture, +easily dissolves into its original element--mud; even burned brick is +not proof against very long exposure to violent wettings; and we know +that the mounds were half composed of loose rubbish. Once thoroughly +permeated with moisture, nothing could keep these huge masses from +dissolution. The builders were well aware of the danger and struggled +against it to the best of their ability by a very artfully contrived and +admirably executed system of drainage, carried through the mounds in all +directions and pouring the accumulated waters into the plain out of +mouths beautifully constructed in the shape of arched vaults.[P] Under +the flooring of most of the halls have been found drains, running along +the centre, then bending off towards a conduit in one of the corners, +which carried the contents down into one of the principal channels. + +[Illustration: 25.--SECTION OF ORNAMENTAL DOORWAY (ENAMELLED BRICK OR +TILES). KHORSABAD. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +18. But all these precautions were, in the long run, of little avail, so +that it was frequently a simpler and less expensive proceeding for a +king to build a new palace, than to keep repairing and propping up an +old one which crumbled to pieces, so to speak, under the workmen's +hands. It is not astonishing that sometimes, when they had to give up an +old mansion as hopeless, they proceeded to demolish it, in order to +carry away the stone and use it in structures of their own, probably not +so much as a matter of thrift, as with a view to quickening the work, +stone-cutting in the quarries and transport down the river always being +a lengthy operation. This explains why, in some later palaces, slabs +were found with their sculptured face turned to the crude brick wall, +and the other smoothed and prepared for the artist, or with the +sculptures half erased, or piled up against the wall, ready to be put in +place. The nature of the injuries which caused the ancient buildings to +decay and lose all shape, is very faithfully described in an inscription +of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, in which he relates how he +constructed the Ziggurat of Borsip on the site of an ancient +construction, which he repaired, as far as it went. This is what he +says: "The temple of the Seven Spheres, the Tower of Borsip which a +former king had built ... but had not finished its upper part, from +remote days had fallen into decay. The channels for drawing off the +water had not been properly provided; rain and tempest had washed away +its bricks; the bricks of the roof were cracked; the bricks of the +building were washed away into heaps of rubbish." All this sufficiently +accounts for the peculiar aspect offered by the Mesopotamian ruins. +Whatever process of destruction the buildings underwent, whether natural +or violent, by conquerors' hands, whether through exposure to fire or to +stress of weather, the upper part would be the first to suffer, but it +would not disappear, from the nature of the material, which is not +combustible. The crude bricks all through the enormous thickness of the +walls, once thoroughly loosened, dislodged, dried up or soaked +through, would lose their consistency and tumble down into the courts +and halls, choking them up with the soft rubbish into which they +crumbled, the surplus rolling down the sides and forming those even +slopes which, from a distance, so deceivingly imitate natural hills. +Time, accumulating the drift-sand from the desert and particles of +fertile earth, does the rest, and clothes the mounds with the verdant +and flowery garment which is the delight of the Arab's eyes. + +[Illustration: 26.--WINGED LION WITH HUMAN HEAD. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +19. It is to this mode of destruction the Assyrian kings allude in their +annals by the continually recurring phrase: "I destroyed their cities, I +overwhelmed them, I burned them in the fire, _I made heaps of them_." +However difficult it is to get at the treasures imbedded in these +"heaps," we ought not to repine at the labor, since they owe their +preservation entirely to the soft masses of earth, sand and loose +rubbish which have protected them on all sides from the contact with +air, rain and ignorant plunderers, keeping them as safely--if not as +transparently--housed as a walnut in its lump of candied sugar. The +explorers know this so well, that when they leave the ruins, after +completing their work for the time, they make it a point to fill all the +excavated spaces with the very rubbish that has been taken out of them +at the cost of so much labor and time. There is something impressive and +reverent in thus re-burying the relics of those dead ages and nations, +whom the mysterious gloom of their self-erected tombs becomes better +than the glare of the broad, curious daylight. When Layard, before his +departure, after once more wandering with some friends through all the +trenches, tunnels and passages of the Nimrud mound, to gaze for the last +time on the wonders on which no man had looked before him, found himself +once more on the naked platform and ordered the workmen to cover them up +again, he was strongly moved by the contrast: "We look around in vain," +says he, "for any traces of the wonderful remains we have just seen, and +are half inclined to believe that we have dreamed a dream, or have been +listening to some tale of Eastern romance. Some, who may hereafter +tread on the spot when the grass again grows over the Assyrian palaces, +may indeed suspect that I have been relating a vision." + +[Illustration: 27.--WINGED BULL. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +20. It is a curious fact that in Assyria the ruins speak to us only of +the living, and that of the dead there are no traces whatever. One might +think people never died there at all. Yet it is well known that all +nations have bestowed as much care on the interment of their dead and +the adornment of their last resting-place as on the construction of +their dwellings--nay, some even more, for instance, the Egyptians. To +this loving veneration for the dead history owes half its discoveries; +indeed we should have almost no reliable information at all on the very +oldest races, who lived before the invention of writing, were it not for +their tombs and the things we find in them. It is very strange, +therefore, that nothing of the kind should be found in Assyria, a +country which stood so high in culture. For the sepulchres which are +found in such numbers in some mounds down to a certain depth, belong, as +is shown by their very position, to later races, mostly even to the +modern Turks and Arabs. This peculiarity is so puzzling that scholars +almost incline to suppose that the Assyrians either made away with their +dead in some manner unknown to us, or else took them somewhere to bury. +The latter conjecture, though not entirely devoid of foundation, as we +shall see, is unsupported by any positive facts, and therefore was never +seriously discussed. The question is simply left open, until something +happens to shed light on it. + +[Illustration: 28.--MAN-LION. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +21. It is just the contrary in Babylonia. It can boast few handsome +ruins or sculptures. The platforms and main walls of many palaces and +temples have been known from the names stamped on the bricks and the +cylinders found in the foundations, but they present only shapeless +masses, from which all traces of artistic work have disappeared. In +compensation, there is no country in the world where so many and such +vast cemeteries have been discovered. It appears that the land of +Chaldea,--perhaps because it was the cradle of nations which afterwards +grew to greatness, as the Assyrians and the Hebrews--was regarded as a +place of peculiar holiness by its own inhabitants, and probably also by +neighboring countries, which would explain the mania that seems to have +prevailed through so many ages, for burying the dead there in unheard of +numbers. Strangely enough, some portions of it even now are held sacred +in the same sense. There are shrines in Kerbela and Nedjif (somewhat to +the west of Babylon) where every caravan of pilgrims brings from Persia +hundreds of dead bodies in their felt-covered coffins, for burial. They +are brought on camels and horses. On each side of the animal swings a +coffin, unceremoniously thumped by the rider's bare heels. These coffins +are, like merchandise, unladen for the night--and sometimes for days +too--in the khans or caravanseries (the enclosed halting-places), where +men and beasts take their rest together. Under that tropical clime, it +is easy to imagine the results. It is in part to this disgusting custom +that the great mortality in the caravans is to be attributed, one fifth +of which leave their bones in the desert in _healthy_ seasons. However +that may be, the gigantic proportions of the Chaldean burying-grounds +struck even the ancient Greek travellers with astonishment, and some of +them positively asserted that the Assyrian kings used to be buried in +Chaldea. If the kings, why not the nobler and wealthier of their +subjects? The transport down the rivers presented no difficulties. +Still, as already remarked, all this is mere conjecture. + +[Illustration: 29.--FRAGMENT OF ENAMELLED BRICK. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +22. Among the Chaldeans cities ERECH (now WARKA) was considered from +very old times one of the holiest. It had many extremely ancient temples +and a college of learned priests, and around it gradually formed an +immense "city of the dead" or Necropolis. The English explorer, Loftus, +in 1854-5, specially turned his attention to it and his account is +astounding. First of all, he was struck by the majestic desolation of +the place. Warka and a few other mounds are raised on a slightly +elevated tract of the desert, above the level of the yearly inundations, +and accessible only from November to March, as all the rest of the time +the surrounding plain is either a lake or a swamp. "The desolation and +solitude of Warka," says Loftus, "are even more striking than the scene +which is presented at Babylon itself. There is no life for miles around. +No river glides in grandeur at the base of its mounds; no green date +groves flourish near its ruins. The jackal and the hyaena appear to shun +the dull aspect of its tombs. The king of birds never hovers over the +deserted waste. A blade of grass or an insect finds no existence there. +The shrivelled lichen alone, clinging to the weathered surface of the +broken brick, seems to glory in its universal dominion over those barren +walls. Of all the desolate pictures I have ever seen that of Warka +incomparably surpasses all." Surely in this case it cannot be said that +appearances are deceitful; for all that space, and much more, is a +cemetery, and what a cemetery! "It is difficult," again says Loftus, "to +convey anything like a correct idea of the piles upon piles of human +remains which there utterly astound the beholder. Excepting only the +triangular space between the three principal ruins, the whole remainder +of the platform, the whole space between the walls and an unknown extent +of desert beyond them, are everywhere filled with the bones and +sepulchres of the dead. There is probably no other site in the world +which can compare with Warka in this respect." It must be added that the +coffins do not simply lie one next to the other, but in layers, down to +a depth of 30-60 feet. Different epochs show different modes of burial, +among which the following four are the most remarkable. + +[Illustration: 30.--RAM'S HEAD IN ALABASTER. (British Museum.)] + +[Illustration: 31.--EBONY COMB. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +[Illustration: 32.--BRONZE FORK AND SPOON. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +23. Perhaps the queerest coffin shape of all is that composed of two +earthen jars (_a_ and _b_), which accurately fit together, or one +slightly fits into the other, the juncture being made air-tight by a +coating of bitumen (_d_, _d_). The body can be placed in such a coffin +only with slightly bent knees. At one end (_c_) there is an air-hole, +left for the escape of the gases which form during the decomposition of +the body and which might otherwise burst the jars--a precaution probably +suggested by experience (fig. 36). Sometimes there is only one jar of +much larger size, but of the same shape, with a similar cover, also made +fast with bitumen, or else the mouth is closed with bricks. This is an +essentially national mode of burial, perhaps the most ancient of all, +yet it remained in use to a very late period. It is to be noted that +this is the exact shape of the water jars now carried about the streets +of Baghdad and familiar to every traveller. + +[Illustration: 33.--ARMENIAN LOUVRE. (Botta.)] + +24. Not much less original is the so-called "dish-cover coffin," also +very ancient and national. The illustrations sufficiently show its shape +and arrangement.[Q] In these coffins two skeletons are sometimes found, +showing that when a widow or widower died, it was opened, to lay the +newly dead by the side of the one who had gone before. The cover is all +of one piece--a very respectable achievement of the potter's art. In +Mugheir (ancient Ur), a mound was found, entirely filled with this kind +of coffins. + +[Illustration: 34.--VAULTED DRAINS. (KHORSABAD.) (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +[Illustration: 35.--VAULTED DRAIN. (KHORSABAD.) (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +25. Much more elaborate, and consequently, probably reserved for the +noble and wealthy, is the sepulchral vault in brick, of nearly a man's +height.[R] In these sepulchres, as in the preceding ones, the skeleton +is always found lying in the same position, evidently dictated by some +religious ideas. The head is pillowed on a large brick, commonly covered +with a piece of stuff or a rug. In the tattered rags which sometimes +still exist, costly embroideries and fringed golden tissue have more +than once been recognized, while some female skeletons still showed +handsome heads of hair gathered into fine nets. The body lies on a reed +mat, on its left side, the right hand stretched out so as to reach with +the tips of the fingers a bowl, generally of copper or bronze, and +sometimes of fine workmanship, usually placed on the palm of the left +hand. Around are placed various articles--dishes, in some of which +remnants of food are found, such as date stones,--jars for water, lamps, +etc. Some skeletons wear gold and silver bangles on their wrists and +ankles. These vaults were evidently family sepulchres, for several +skeletons are generally found in them; in one there were no less than +eleven. (Fig. 39, p. 89.) + +[Illustration: 36.--CHALDEAN JAR-COFFIN. (Taylor.)] + +26. All these modes of burial are very old and peculiarly Chaldean. But +there is still another, which belongs to more recent times, even as late +as the first centuries after Christ, and was used by a different and +foreign race, the Parthians, one of those who came in turns and +conquered the country, stayed there awhile, then disappeared. These +coffins are, from their curious form, known under the name of +"slipper-shaped." They are glazed, green on the outside and blue on the +inside, but of very inferior make: poor clay, mixed with straw, and only +half baked, therefore very brittle. It is thought that they were put in +their place empty, then the body was laid in, the lid put down, and the +care of covering them with sand left to the winds. The lid is fastened +with the same mortar which is used in the brick masonry surrounding the +coffin, where such a receptacle has been made for it; but they more +usually lie pell-mell, separated only by thin layers of loose sand. +There are mounds which are, as one may say, larded with them: wherever +you begin to dig a trench, the narrow ends stick out from both sides. In +these coffins also various articles were buried with the dead, sometimes +valuable ones. The Arabs know this; they dig in the sand with their +hands, break the coffins open with their spears, and grope in them for +booty. The consequence is that it is extremely difficult to procure an +entire coffin. Loftus succeeded, however, in sending some to the British +Museum, having first pasted around them several layers of thick paper, +without which precaution they could not have borne the transport. + +[Illustration: 37.--"DISH-COVER" TOMB AT MUGHEIR. (Taylor.)] + +[Illustration: 38.--"DISH-COVER" TOMB. (Taylor.)] + +27. On the whole, the ancient Chaldean sepulchres of the three first +kinds are distinguished by greater care and tidiness. They are not only +separated by brick partitions on the sides, and also above and below +by a thin layer of brick masonry, but the greatest care was taken to +protect them against dampness. The sepulchral mounds are pierced through +and through, from top to bottom, by drainage pipes or shafts, consisting +of a series of rings, solidly joined together with bitumen, about one +foot in diameter. These rings are made of baked clay. The top one is +shaped somewhat like a funnel, of which the end is inserted in +perforated bricks, and which is provided with small holes, to receive +any infiltration of moisture. Besides all this the shafts, which are +sunk in pairs, are surrounded with broken pottery. How ingenious and +practical this system was, we see from the fact that both the coffins +and their contents are found in a state of perfect dryness and +preservation. (Fig. 41, p. 90.) + +[Illustration: 39.--SEPULCHRAL VAULT AT MUGHEIR. (Taylor.)] + +[Illustration: 40.--STONE JARS FROM GRAVES. (LARSAM.) (Hommel.)] + +28. In fact the Chaldeans, if they could not reach such perfection as +the Assyrians in slab-sculpture, on account of not having stone either +at home or within easy reach, seem to have derived a greater variety of +architectural ornaments from that inexhaustible material of +theirs--baked clay or terra-cotta. We see an instance of it in +remnants--unfortunately very small ones, of some walls belonging to that +same city of Erech. On one of the mounds Loftus was puzzled by the large +quantity of small terra-cotta cones, whole and in fragments, lying about +on the ground. The thick flat end of them was painted red, black or +white. What was his amazement when he stumbled on a piece of wall (some +seven feet in height and not more than thirty in length), which showed +him what their use had been. They were grouped into a variety of +patterns to decorate the entire wall, being stuck with their thin end +into a layer of soft clay with which it was coated for the purpose. +Still more original and even rather incomprehensible is a wall +decoration consisting of several bands, composed each of three rows of +small pots or cups--about four inches in diameter--stuck into the soft +clay coating in the same manner, with the mouth turned outward of +course! Loftus found such a wall, but unfortunately has given no design +of it. (Figures 43 and 44.) + +[Illustration: 41.--DRAIN IN MOUND. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +29. As to the ancient Babylonian, or rather Chaldean, art in sculpture, +the last word has by no means been said on that subject. Discoveries +crowd in every year, constantly leading to the most unexpected +conclusions. Thus, it was long an accepted fact that Assyria had very +few statues and Babylonia none at all, when a few years ago (1881), +what should a French explorer, Mr. E. De Sarzec, French consul in Basra, +bring home but nine magnificent statues made of a dark, nearly black +stone as hard as granite, called diorite.[S] Unfortunately they are all +headless; but, as though to make up for this mutilation, one head was +found separate,--a shaved and turbaned head beautifully preserved and of +remarkable workmanship, the very pattern of the turban being plain +enough to be reproduced by any modern loom.[T] These large prizes were +accompanied by a quantity of small works of art representing both men +and animals, of a highly artistic design and some of them of exquisite +finish of execution. This astounding find, the result of several years' +indefatigable work, now gracing the Assyrian rooms of the Louvre in +Paris, comes from one of the Babylonian mounds which had not been opened +before, the ruins of a mighty temple at a place now called TELL-LOH, and +supposed to be the site of SIR-BURLA, or SIR-GULLA, one of the most +ancient cities of Chaldea. This "Sarzec-collection," as it has come to +be generally called, not only entirely upsets the ideas which had been +formed on Old-Chaldean art, but is of immense historical importance from +the inscriptions which cover the back of every statue, (not to speak of +the cylinders and other small objects,) and which, in connection with +the monuments of other ruins, enable scholars to fix, at least +approximately, the date at which flourished the city and rulers who have +left such extraordinary memorials of their artistic gifts. Some place +them at about 4500 B.C., others about 4000. However overwhelming such a +valuation may be at first sight, it is not an unsupported fancy, but +proofs concur from many sides to show that the builders and sculptors of +Sir-gulla could in no case have lived and worked much later than 4000 +B.C. It is impossible to indicate in a few lines all the points, the +conjectures, the vexed questions, on which this discovery sheds light +more or less directly, more or less decisively; they come up continually +as the study of those remote ages proceeds, and it will be years before +the materials supplied by the Sarzec-Collection are exhausted in all +their bearings. + +[Illustration: 42.--WALL WITH DESIGNS IN TERRA-COTTA CONES, AT WARKA +(ERECH). (Loftus.)] + +[Illustration: 43.--TERRA-COTTA CONE, NATURAL SIZE. (Loftus.)] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[G] Rawlinson's "Five Monarchies," Vol. I., p. 46. + +[H] Ur of the Chaldees, from which Abraham went forth. + +[I] Rawlinson's "Five Monarchies," Vol. I., p. 349. + +[J] Figure 10. + +[K] Figure 71, p. 281. + +[L] Rawlinson's "Five Monarchies," Vol. I., pp. 317 and 318. + +[M] See Fig. 20, p. 63. There is but one exception, in the case of a +recent exploration, during which one solitary broken column-shaft was +discovered. + +[N] G. Rawlinson's "Five Monarchies," Vol. I., pp. 467, 468. + +[O] See Fig. 33, p. 83. + +[P] Figures 34 and 35, p. 84. + +[Q] Figs. 37 and 38, p. 87. + +[R] Fig. 39, p. 89. + +[S] See Fig. 59, p. 217. + +[T] See Figs. 44 and 45, p. 101. + + + + + IV. + + THE BOOK OF THE PAST.--THE LIBRARY OF NINEVEH. + + +1. When we wish to learn the great deeds of past ages, and of mighty men +long dead, we open a book and read. When we wish to leave to the +generations who will come long after us a record of the things that were +done by ourselves or in our own times, we take pen, ink and paper, and +write a book. What we have written is then printed, published in several +hundreds--or thousands--of copies, as the case may be, and quickly finds +its way to all the countries of the world inhabited by people who are +trained from childhood to thought and study. So that we have the +satisfaction of knowing that the information which we have labored to +preserve will be obtainable any number of years or centuries after we +shall have ceased to exist, at no greater trouble than procuring the +book from the shelves of a bookstore, a public or a private library. It +is all very simple. And there is not a small child who does not +perfectly know a book by its looks, and even has not a pretty correct +idea of how a book is made and what it is good for. + +2. But books are not always of the shape and material so familiar to us. +Metal, stone, brick, walls and pillars, nay, the very rocks of nature's +own making, can be books, conveying information as plainly as our +volumes of paper sheets covered with written or printed lines. It only +needs to know how to read them, and the necessary knowledge and skill +may be acquired by processes as simple as the art of ordinary reading +and writing, though at the cost of a somewhat greater amount of time and +pains. + +3. There are two natural cravings, which assert themselves strongly in +every mind not entirely absorbed by the daily work for bread and by the +anxious care how to procure that work: these are the wish, on the one +hand, to learn how the people who came before us lived and what they +did, on the other--to transmit our own names and the memory of our deeds +to those who will come after us. We are not content with our present +life; we want to stretch it both backward and forward--to live both in +the past and the future, as it were. This curiosity and this ambition +are but parts of the longing for immortality which was never absent from +any human soul. In our own age they are satisfied mainly by books; +indeed they were originally the principal causes why books began to be +made at all. And how easy to satisfy these cravings in our time, when +writing materials have become as common as food and far cheaper, and +reading may be had for nothing or next to nothing! For, a very few +dollars will supply a writer with as much paper as he can possibly use +up in a year, while the public libraries, the circulating and college +libraries and the reading-rooms make study a matter more of love and +perseverance than of money. + +4. Yet if the papermill and the printing press were the only material +aid to our researches into the past, these researches would stop +short very soon, seeing that printing was invented in Europe scarce +four hundred years ago, and paper has not been manufactured for more +than six hundred years at the outside. True, other materials have +been used to write on before paper: bark of trees, skins of +animals--(parchment)--cunningly worked fibres of plants--(papyrus, +byblos)--even wooden tablets covered with a thin layer of wax, on +which characters were engraved with a pointed instrument or +"style,"--and these contrivances have preserved for us records which +reach back many hundreds of years beyond the introduction of paper. +But our curiosity, when once aroused, is insatiable, and an area of +some twenty, or thirty, or forty centuries seems to it but a narrow +field. Looking back as far as that--and no kind of manuscript +information takes us much further--we behold the world wondrously +like what it is now. With some differences in garb, in manners, and a +much greater one in the range of knowledge, we find men living very +nearly as we do and enacting very nearly the same scenes: nations +live in families clustered within cities, are governed by laws, or +ruled by monarchs, carry on commerce and wars, extend their limits by +conquest, excel in all sorts of useful and ornamental arts. Only we +notice that larger regions are unknown, vaster portions of the +earth, with their populations, are unexplored, than in our days. The +conclusion is clearly forced on us, that so complicated and perfect +an organization of public and private life, a condition of society +implying so many discoveries and so long a practice in thought and +handicraft, could not have been an early stage of existence. Long +vistas are dimly visible into a past far vaster than the span as yet +laid open to our view, and we long to pierce the tantalizing gloom. +There, in that gloom, lurk the beginnings of the races whose high +achievements we admire, emulate, and in many ways surpass; there, if +we could but send a ray of light into the darkness of ages, we must +find the solution of numberless questions which suggest themselves as +we go: Whence come those races? What was the earlier history of other +races with which we find them contending, treating, trading? When did +they learn their arts, their songs, their forms of worship? But here +our faithful guide, manuscript literature, forsakes us; we enter on a +period when none of the ancient substitutes for paper were yet +invented. But then, there were the stones. _They_ did not need to be +invented--only hewn and smoothed for the chisel. + +5. Fortunately for us, men, twenty-five, and forty, and fifty centuries +ago, were actuated by the same feelings, the same aspirations as they +are now, and of these aspirations, the passionate wish of perpetuating +their names and the memory of their deeds has always been one of the +most powerful. This wish they connected with and made subservient to +the two things which were great and holy in their eyes: their religion +and the power of their kings. So they built, in brick and stone, at an +almost incalculable expense of time, human labor and human life, palaces +and temples. On these huge piles they lavished treasures untold, as also +all the resources of their invention and their skill in art and +ornament; they looked on them with exulting pride, not only because they +thought them, by their vastness and gorgeousness, fit places for public +worship and dwellings worthy of their kings, but because these +constructions, in their towering grandeur, their massive solidity, bid +fair to defy time and outlast the nations which raised them, and which +thus felt assured of leaving behind them traces of their existence, +memorials of their greatness. That a few defaced, dismantled, moss-grown +or sand-choked fragments of these mighty buildings would one day be the +_only_ trace, the sole memorial of a rule and of nations that would then +have past away forever, even into nothingness and oblivion, scarcely was +anticipated by the haughty conquerors who filled those halls with their +despotic presence, and entered those consecrated gates in the pomp of +triumph to render thanks for bloody victories and warlike exploits which +elated their souls in pride till they felt themselves half divine. +Nothing doubting but that those walls, those pillars, those gateways +would stand down to the latest ages, they confided to them that which +was most precious to their ambition, the record of their deeds, the +praises of their names, thus using those stony surfaces as so many +blank pages, which they covered with row after row of wondrous +characters, carefully engraved or chiselled, and even with painted or +sculptured representations of their own persons and of the scenes, in +war or peace, in which they had been leaders and actors. + +6. Thus it is that on all the points of the globe where sometime great +and flourishing nations have held their place, then yielded to other +nations or to absolute devastation--in Egypt, in India, in Persia, in +the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, in the sandy, now desert plains +of Syria, in the once more populous haunts of ancient Rome and +Greece--the traveller meets clusters of great ruins, lofty still in +their utter abandonment, with a strange, stern beauty hovering around +their weather-beaten, gigantic shafts and cornices, wrapt in the +pathetic silence of desolation, and yet not dumb--for their pictured +faces eloquently proclaim the tale of buoyant life and action entrusted +to them many thousands of years ago. Sometimes, it is a natural rock, +cut and smoothed down at a height sufficient to protect it from the +wantonly destructive hand of scoffing invaders, on which a king of a +deeper turn of thought, more mindful than others of the law which dooms +all the works of men to decay, has caused a relation of the principal +events of his reign to be engraved in those curious characters which +have for centuries been a puzzle and an enigma. Many tombs also, besides +the remains of the renowned or wealthy dead, for whom they have been +erected at a cost as extravagant and with art as elaborate as the +abodes of the living, contain the full description of their inmate's +lineage, his life, his habits and pursuits, with prayers and invocations +to the divinities of his race and descriptions or portrayed +representations of religious ceremonies. Or, the walls of caves, either +natural, or cut in the rock for purposes of shelter or concealment, +yield to the explorer some more chapters out of the old, old story, in +which our interest never slackens. This story man has himself been +writing, patiently, laboriously, on every surface on which he could +trace words and lines, ever since he has been familiar with the art of +expressing his thoughts in visible signs,--and so each such surviving +memorial may truly be called a stray leaf, half miraculously preserved +to us, out of the great Book of the Past, which it has been the task of +scholars through ages, and especially during the last eighty years, to +decipher and teach others how to read. + +[Illustration: 44.--HEAD OF ANCIENT CHALDEAN. FROM TELL-LOH (SIR-GULLA). +SARZEC COLLECTION. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +[Illustration: 45.--SAME, PROFILE VIEW.] + +7. Of this venerable book the walls of the Assyrian palaces, with their +endless rows of inscriptions, telling year for year through centuries +the history of the kings who built them, are so many invaluable pages, +while the sculptures which accompany these annals are the illustrations, +lending life and reality to what would otherwise be a string of dry and +unattractive records. But a greater wonder has been brought to light +from amidst the rubbish and dust of twenty-five centuries: a collection +of literary and scientific works, of religious treatises, of private and +public documents, deposited in rooms constructed on purpose to contain +them, arranged in admirable order, in short--a LIBRARY. Truly and +literally a library, in the sense in which we use the word. Not the only +one either, nor the first by many hundred years, although the volumes +are of singular make and little like those we are used to. + +8. When Layard was at work for the second time amidst the ruins along +the Tigris, he devoted much of his labor to the great mound of Koyunjik, +in which the remains of two sumptuous palaces were distinctly discerned, +one of them the royal residence of Sennacherib, the other that of his +grandson Asshurbanipal, who lived some 650 years before Christ--two of +the mightiest conquerors and most magnificent sovereigns of the Eastern +world. In the latter palace he came upon two comparatively small +chambers, the floor of which was entirely littered with fragments--some +of considerable size, some very small--of bricks, or rather baked-clay +tablets, covered on both sides with cuneiform writing. It was a layer +more than a foot in height which must have been formed by the falling in +of the upper part of the edifice. The tablets, piled in good order along +the walls, perhaps in an upper story--if, as many think, there was +one--must have been precipitated promiscuously into the apartment and +shattered by the fall. Yet, incredible as it may appear, several were +found entire. Layard filled many cases with the fragments and sent them +off to the British Museum, fully aware of their probable historical +value. + +9. There they lay for years, heaped up at random, a mine of treasures +which made the mouths of scholars water, but appalled them by the +amount of labor, nay, actual drudgery, needful only to sift and sort +them, even before any study of their contents could be begun. At length +a young and ambitious archaeologist, attached to the British Museum, +George Smith, undertook the long and wearisome task. He was not +originally a scholar, but an engraver, and was employed to engrave on +wood cuneiform texts for the magnificent atlas edited by the British +Museum under the title of "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia." +Being endowed with a quick and enquiring mind, Smith did not content +himself, like most of his colleagues, with a conscientious and artistic, +but merely technical reproduction; he wished to know _what_ he was doing +and he learned the language of the inscriptions. When he took on himself +the sorting of the fragments, it was in the hope of distinguishing +himself in this new field, and of rendering a substantial service to the +science which had fascinated him. Nor was he deceived in this hope. He +succeeded in finding and uniting a large quantity of fragments belonging +together, and thus restoring pages of writing, with here and there a +damaged line, a word effaced, a broken corner, often a larger portion +missing, but still enough left to form continuous and readable texts. In +some cases it was found that there was more than one copy of this or +that work or document, and then sometimes the parts which were +hopelessly injured in one copy, would be found whole or nearly so in +another. + +10. The results accomplished by this patient mechanical process were +something astonishing. And when he at length restored in this manner a +series of twelve tablets containing an entire poem of the greatest +antiquity and highest interest, the occasion seemed important enough to +warrant the enterprising owners of the London _Daily Telegraph_ in +sending the young student to resume excavations and try to complete some +missing links. For of some of the tablets restored by him only portions +could be found among the fragments of the British Museum. Of course he +made his way straight to the Archive Chambers at Koyunjik, had them +opened again and cleared them of another large instalment of their +valuable contents, among which he had the inconceivable good fortune to +find some of the very pieces which were missing in his collection. +Joyfully he returned to England twice with his treasures, and hopefully +set out on a third expedition of the same kind. He had reason to feel +buoyant; he had already made his name famous by several works which +greatly enriched the science he loved, and had he not half a lifetime +before him to continue the work which few could do as well? Alas, he +little knew that his career was to be cut short suddenly by a loathsome +and brutal foe: he died of the plague in Syria, in 1876--just thirty-six +years old. He was faithful to the end. His diary, in which he made some +entries even within a very few days before his death, shows that at the +last, when he knew his danger and was fast losing hope, his mind was +equally divided between thoughts of his family and of his work. The +following lines, almost the last intelligible ones he wrote, are deeply +touching in their simple, single-minded earnestness:--"Not so well. If +Doctor present, I should recover, but he has not come, very doubtful +case; if fatal farewell to ... _My work has been entirely for the +science I study...._ There is a large field of study in my collection. I +intended to work it out, but desire now that my antiquities and notes +may be thrown open to all students. I have done my duty thoroughly. I do +not fear the change but desire to live for my family. Perhaps all may be +well yet."--George Smith's death was a great loss, which his +brother-scholars of all countries have not ceased to deplore. But the +work now proceeds vigorously and skilfully. The precious texts are +sorted, pieced, and classified, and a collection of them, carefully +selected, is reproduced by the aid of the photographer and the engraver, +so that, should the originals ever be lost or destroyed, (not a very +probable event), the Museum indeed would lose one of its most precious +rarities, but science would lose nothing. + +11. An eminent French scholar and assyriologist, Joachim Menant, has the +following picturesque lines in his charming little book "_La +Bibliotheque du Palais de Ninive_": "When we reflect that these records +have been traced on a substance which neither fire nor water could +destroy, we can easily comprehend how those who wrote them thus thirty +or forty centuries ago, believed the monuments of their history to be +safe for all future times,--much safer than the frail sheets which +printing scatters with such prodigious fertility.... Of all the nations +who have bequeathed to us written records of their past life, we may +assert that none has left monuments more imperishable than Assyria and +Chaldea. Their number is already considerable; it is daily increased by +new discoveries. It is not possible to foresee what the future has in +store for us in this respect; but we can even now make a valuation of +the entire material which we possess.... The number of the tablets from +the Nineveh Library alone passes ten thousand.... If we compare these +texts with those left us by other nations, we can easily become +convinced that the history of the Assyro-Chaldean civilization will soon +be one of the best known of antiquity. It has a powerful attraction for +us, for we know that the life of the Jewish people is mixed up with the +history of Nineveh and Babylon...." + +[Illustration: 46.--CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTION. (ARCHAIC CHARACTERS.) (Perrot +and Chipiez.)] + +12. It will be seen from this that throughout the following pages we +shall continually have to refer to the contents of Asshurbanipal's royal +library. We must therefore dispense in this place with any details +concerning the books, more than a general survey of the subjects they +treated. Of these, religion and science were the chief. Under "science" +we must understand principally mathematics and astronomy, two branches +in which the old Chaldeans reached great perfection and left us many of +our own most fundamental notions and practices, as we shall see later +on. Among the scientific works must also be counted those on astrology, +i.e., on the influence which the heavenly bodies were supposed to +exert on the fate of men, according to their positions and combinations, +for astrology was considered a real science, not only by the Chaldeans, +but by much later nations too; also hand-books of geography, really only +lists of the seas, mountains and rivers, nations and cities then known, +lastly lists of plants and animals with a very rude and defective +attempt at some sort of classification. History is but scantily +represented; it appears to have been mostly confined to the great wall +inscriptions and some other objects, of which more hereafter. But--what +we should least expect--grammars, dictionaries, school reading-books, +occupy a prominent place. The reason is that, when this library was +founded, the language in which the venerable books of ancient sages were +written not only was not spoken any longer, but had for centuries been +forgotten by all but the priests and those who made scholarship their +chief pursuit, so that it had to be taught in the same way that the +so-called "dead languages," Latin and Greek, are taught at our colleges. +This was the more necessary as the prayers had to be recited in the old +language called the Accadian, that being considered more holy--just as, +in Catholic countries, the common people are even now made to learn and +say their prayers in Latin, though they understand not a word of the +language. The ancient Accadian texts were mostly copied with a modern +Assyrian translation, either interlinear or facing it, which has been of +immense service to those who now decipher the tablets. + +[Illustration: 47.--INSCRIBED CLAY TABLET. (Smith's "Assyria.")] + +13. So much for what may be called the classical and reference +department of the library. Important as it is, it is scarcely more so +than the documentary department or Archive proper, where documents and +deeds of all kinds, both public and private, were deposited for safe +keeping. Here by the side of treatises, royal decrees and despatches, +lists of tribute, reports from generals and governors, also those daily +sent in by the superintendents of the royal observatories,--we find +innumerable private documents: deeds of sale duly signed, witnessed and +sealed, for land, houses, slaves--any kind of property,--of money lent, +of mortgages, with the rate of interest, contracts of all sorts. The +most remarkable of private documents is one which has been called the +"will of King Sennacherib," by which he entrusts some valuable personal +property to the priests of the temple of Nebo, to be kept for his +favorite son,--whether to be delivered after his (the king's) death or +at another time is not stated. + +[Illustration: 48.--CLAY TABLET IN ITS CASE. (Hommel.)] + +14. It requires some effort to bear in mind the nature and looks of the +things which we must represent to ourselves when we talk of Assyrian +"_books_." The above (Fig. 47) is the portrait of a "_volume_" in +perfect condition. But it is seldom indeed that one such is found. +Layard, in his first description of his startling "find," says: "They +(the tablets) were of different sizes; the largest were flat, and +measured nine inches by six and a half; the smaller were slightly +convex, and some were not more than an inch long, with but one or two +lines of writing. The cuneiform characters on most of them were +singularly sharp and well-defined, but so minute in some instances as to +be illegible without a magnifying glass." Most curiously, glass lenses +have been found among the ruins; which may have been used for the +purpose. Specimens have also been found of the very instruments which +were employed to trace the cuneiform characters, and their form +sufficiently accounts for the peculiar shape of these characters which +was imitated by the engravers on stone. It is a little iron rod--(or +_style_, as the ancients used to call such implements)--not sharp, but +_triangular_ at the end: [open triangle]. By slightly pressing this end +on the cake of soft moist clay held in the left hand no other shape of +sign could be obtained than a wedge, [closed triangle], the direction +being determined by a turn of the wrist, presenting the instrument in +different positions. When one side of the tablet was full, the other was +to be filled. If it was small, it was sufficient to turn it over, +continuing to hold the edges between the thumb and third finger of the +left hand. But if the tablet was large and had to be laid on a table to +be written on, the face that was finished would be pressed to the hard +surface, and the clay being soft, the writing would be effaced. This was +guarded against by a contrivance as ingenious as it was simple. Empty +places were left here and there in the lines, in which were stuck small +pegs, like matches. On these the tablet was supported when turned over, +and also while baking in the oven. On many of the tablets that have +been preserved are to be seen little holes or dints, where the pegs have +been stuck. Still, it should be mentioned that these holes are not +confined to the large tablets and not found on all large tablets. When +the tablet was full, it was allowed to dry, then generally, but not +always, baked. Within the last few years several thousands unbaked +tablets have been found in Babylonia; they crumbled into dust under the +finders' fingers. It was then proposed to bake such of them as could at +all bear handling. The experiment was successful, and numbers of +valuable documents were thus preserved and transported to the great +repository of the British Museum. The tablets are covered with writing +on both sides and most accurately classed and numbered, when they form +part of a series, in which case they are all of the same shape and size. +The poem discovered by George Smith is written out on twelve tablets, +each of which is a separate book or chapter of the whole. There is an +astronomical work in over seventy tablets. The first of them begins with +the words: "_When the gods Anu and ..._" These words are taken as the +title of the entire series. Each tablet bears the notice: First, second, +third tablet of "_When the gods Anu and ..._" To guard against all +chance of confusion, the last line of one tablet is repeated as the +first line of the following one--a fashion which we still see in old +books, where the last word or two at the bottom of a page is repeated at +the top of the next. + +[Illustration: 49.--ANTIQUE BRONZE SETTING OF CYLINDER. (Perrot and +Chipiez.)] + +[Illustration: 50.--CHALDEAN CYLINDER AND IMPRESSION.(Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +[Illustration: 51.--ASSYRIAN CYLINDER. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +15. The clay tablets of the ancient Chaldeans are distinguished from the +Assyrian ones by a curious peculiarity: they are sometimes enclosed in a +case of the same material, with exactly the same inscription and seals +as on the inner tablet, even more carefully executed.[U] It is evidently +a sort of duplicate document, made in the prevision that the outer one +might be injured, when the inner record would remain. Rows of figures +across the tablet are impressed on it with seals called from their shape +cylinders, which were rolled over the soft moist clay. These cylinders +were generally of some valuable, hard stone--jasper, amethyst, +cornelian, onyx, agate, etc.,--and were used as signet rings were later +and are still. They are found in great numbers, being from their +hardness well-nigh indestructible. They were generally bored through, +and through the hole was passed either a string to wear them on, or a +metal axis, to roll them more easily.[V] There is a large and most +valuable collection of seal cylinders at the British Museum. Their size +ranges from a quarter of an inch to two inches or a little more. But +cylinders were also made of baked clay and larger size, and then served +a different purpose, that of historical documents. These are found in +the foundations of palaces and temples, mostly in the four corners, in +small niches or chambers, generally produced by leaving out one or more +bricks. These tiny monuments range from a couple of inches to half a +foot in height, seldom more; they are sometimes shaped like a prism with +several faces (mostly six), sometimes like a barrel, and covered with +that compact and minute writing which it often requires a magnifying +glass to make out. Owing to their sheltered position, these singular +records are generally very well preserved. Although their original +destination is only to tell by whom and for what purpose the building +has been erected, they frequently proceed to give a full though +condensed account of the respective kings' reigns, so that, should the +upper structure with its engraved annals be destroyed by the +vicissitudes of war or in the course of natural decay, some memorial of +their deeds should still be preserved--a prevision which, in several +cases, has been literally fulfilled. Sometimes the manner and material +of these records were still more fanciful. At Khorsabad, at the very +interior part of the construction, was found a large stone chest, which +enclosed several inscribed plates in various materials. "... In this only +extant specimen of an Assyrian foundation stone were found one little +golden tablet, one of silver, others of copper, lead and tin; a sixth +text was engraved on alabaster, and the seventh document was written on +the chest itself."[W] Unfortunately the heavier portion of this +remarkable find was sent with a collection which foundered on the Tigris +and was lost. Only the small plates,--gold, silver, copper and tin +(antimonium scholars now think it to be)--survived, and the inscriptions +on them have been read and translated. They all commemorate, in very +nearly the same terms, the foundation and erection of a new city and +palace by a very famous king and conqueror, generally (though not +correctly) called Sargon, and three of them end with a request to the +kings his successors to keep the building in good repair, with a prayer +for their welfare if they do and a heavy curse if they fail in this +duty: "Whoever alters the works of my hand, destroys my constructions, +pulls down the walls which I have raised,--may Asshur, Nineb, Raman and +the great gods who dwell there, pluck his name and seed from the land +and let him sit bound at the feet of his foe." Most inscriptions end +with invocations of the same kind, for, in the words of Menant: "it was +not mere whim which impelled the kings of Assyria to build so +assiduously. Palaces had in those times a destination which they have no +longer in ours. Not only was the palace indeed _the dwelling of +royalty_, as the inscriptions have it,--it was also the BOOK, which each +sovereign began at his accession to the throne and in which he was to +record the history of his reign."[X] + +[Illustration: 52.--PRISM OF SENNACHERIB. ALSO CALLED "TAYLOR +CYLINDER."] + +[Illustration: 53.--INSCRIBED CYLINDER FROM BORSIP.] + +And each such book of brick and stone we can with perfect truth call a +chapter--or a volume--of the great Book of the Past whose leaves are +scattered over the face of the earth. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[U] See Fig. 48, p. 111. + +[V] See above, Figs. 49 and 50. + +[W] Dr. Julius Oppert, "Records of the Past," Vol. XI., p. 31. + +[X] "Les Ecritures Cuneiformes," of Joachim Menant: page 198 (2d +edition, 1864). + + + + +[Illustration: CHALDEA AND NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES] + + THE STORY OF CHALDEA. + + I. + + NOMADS AND SETTLERS.--THE FOUR STAGES OF CULTURE. + + +1. Men, whatever their pursuit or business, can live only in one of two +ways: they can stay where they are, or they can go from one place to +another. In the present state of the world, we generally do a little of +both. There is some place--city, village, or farm--where we have our +home and our work. But from time to time we go to other places, on +visits or on business, or travel for a certain length of time to great +distances and many places, for instruction and pleasure. Still, there is +usually some place which we think of as home and to which we return. +Wandering or roving is not our natural or permanent condition. But there +are races for whom it is. The Bedouin Arabs are the principal and best +known of such races. Who has not read with delight accounts of their +wild life in the deserts of Arabia and Northern Africa, so full of +adventure and romance,--of their wonderful, priceless horses who are to +them as their own children,--of their noble qualities, bravery, +hospitality, generosity, so strangely blended with love of booty and a +passion for robbing expeditions? They are indeed a noble race, and it is +not their choice, but their country which has made them robbers and +rovers--Nomads, as such wandering races are called in history and +geography. They cannot build cities on the sand of the desert, and the +small patches of pasture and palm groves, kept fresh and green by +solitary springs and called "oases," are too far apart, too distant from +permanently peopled regions to admit of comfortable settlement. In the +south of Arabia and along the sea-shore, where the land is fertile and +inviting, they live much as other nations do, and when, a thousand years +ago, Arabs conquered vast and wealthy countries both in Europe and Asia, +and in Africa too, they not only became model husbandmen, but built some +of the finest cities in the world, had wise and strictly enforced laws +and took the lead in literature and science. Very different are the +scattered nomadic tribes which still roam the steppes of Eastern Russia, +of Siberia and Central Asia. They are not as gifted by far as the Arabs, +yet would probably quickly settle down to farming, were it not that +their wealth consists in flocks of sheep and studs of horses, which +require the pasture yielded so abundantly by the grassy steppes, and +with which they have to move from one place, when it is browsed bare, to +another, and still another, carrying their felt-tents and simple +utensils with them, living on the milk of their mares and the meat of +their sheep. The Red Indian tribes of the far West present still another +aspect of nomadic life--that of the hunter, fierce and entirely untamed, +the simplest and wildest of all. + +2. On the whole, however, nomadic life is at the present day the +exception. Most of the nations that are not savages live in houses, not +in portable tents, in cities, not encampments, and form compact, solidly +bound communities, not loose sets of tribes, now friendly, now hostile +to one another. But it has not always been so. There have been times +when settled life was the exception and nomadic life the rule. And the +older the times, the fewer were the permanent communities, the more +numerous the roving tribes. For wandering in search of better places +must have been among the first impulses of intelligent humanity. Even +when men had no shelter but caves, no pursuit but hunting the animals, +whose flesh was their food and in whose skins they clothed themselves, +they must frequently have gone forth, in families or detachments, either +to escape from a neighborhood too much infested with the gigantic wild +beasts which at one time peopled the earth more thickly than men, or +simply because the numbers of the original cave-dwellers had become too +great for the cave to hold them. The latter must have been a very usual +occurrence: families stayed together until they had no longer room +enough, or quarrelled, when they separated. Those who went never saw +again the place and kindred they left, although they carried with them +memories of both, the few simple arts they had learned there and the +customs in which they had been trained. They would stop at some +congenial halting-place, when, after a time, the same process would be +repeated--and so again and again. + +3. How was the first horse conquered, the first wild-dog tamed and +conciliated? How were cattle first enticed to give man their milk, to +depend on his care and follow his movements? Who shall tell? However +that may have happened, it is certain that the transition from a +hunter's wild, irregular and almost necessarily lawless existence to the +gentler pursuits of pastoral life must have been attended by a great +change in manners and character. The feeling of ownership too, one of +the principal promoters of a well-regulated state of society, must have +quickly developed with the possession of rapidly increasing wealth in +sheep and horses,--the principal property of nomadic races. But it was +not a kind of property which encouraged to settling, or uniting in close +communities; quite the contrary. Large flocks need vast pasture-grounds. +Besides, it is desirable to keep them apart in order to avoid confusion +and disputes about wells and springs, those rare treasures of the +steppes, which are liable to exhaustion or drying up, and which, +therefore, one flock-owner is not likely to share with another, though +that other were of his own race and kin. The Book of Genesis, which +gives us so faithful and lively a picture of this nomadic pastoral life +of ancient nations, in the account of the wanderings of Abraham and the +other Hebrew patriarchs, has preserved such an incident in the quarrel +between the herdsmen of Abraham and his nephew Lot, which led to their +separation. This is what Abraham said to Lot: "Is not the whole land +before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take +the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the +right hand, then I will go to the left."[Y] So also it is said of Esau +that he "went into the country from the face of his brother Jacob: for +their riches were more than they might dwell together, and the land +wherein they were strangers could not bear them because of their +cattle."[Z] This was a facility offered by those immense plains, +unclaimed as yet by any one people in particular, and which must +oft-times have averted strife and bloodshed, but which ceased from the +moment that some one tribe, tired of wandering or tempted by some more +than usually engaging spot, settled down on it, marking that and the +country around it, as far as its power reached, for its own. There is +even now in the East something very similar to this mode of occupation. +In the Turkish Empire, which is, in many places, thinly peopled, there +are large tracts of waste land, sometimes very fertile, accounted as +nobody's property, and acknowledged to belong, legally and forever, to +the first man who takes possession of them, provided he cultivates them. +The government asks no purchase price for the land, but demands taxes +from it as soon as it has found an owner and begins to yield crops. + +4. The pastoral nomad's life is, like the hunter's, a singularly free +one,--free both from restraint, and, comparatively, from toil. For +watching and tending flocks is not a laborious occupation, and no +authority can always reach or weigh very heavily on people who are here +to-day and elsewhere to-morrow. Therefore, it is only with the third +stage of human existence, the agricultural one, that civilization, which +cannot subsist without permanent homes and authority, really commences. +The farmer's homestead is the beginning of the State, as the hearth or +fireplace was the beginning of the family. The different labors of the +fields, the house, and the dairy require a great number of hands and a +well-regulated distribution of the work, and so keep several generations +of the settler's family together, on the same farm. Life in common makes +it absolutely necessary to have a set of simple rules for home +government, to prevent disputes, keep up order and harmony, and settle +questions of mutual rights and duties. Who should set down and enforce +these rules but the head of the family, the founder of the race--the +patriarch? And when the family has become too numerous for the original +homestead to hold it, and part of it has to leave it, to found a new +home for itself, it does not, as in the primitive nomadic times, wander +off at random and break all ties, but settles close by on a portion of +the family land, or takes possession of a new piece of ground somewhat +further off, but still within easy reach. In the first case the land +which had been common property gets broken up into lots, which, though +belonging more particularly to the members who separate from the old +stock, are not for that withdrawn from the authority of the patriarch. +There are several homesteads now, which form a village, and, later on, +several villages; but the bond of kindred, of tradition and custom is +religiously preserved, as well as subordination to the common head of +the race, whose power keeps increasing as the community grows in numbers +and extent of land, as the greater complications of relationships, +property, inheritance, demand more laws and a stricter rule,--until he +becomes not so much Father as King. Then naturally come collisions with +neighboring similar settlements, friendly or hostile, which result in +alliances or quarrels, trade or war, and herewith we have the State +complete, with inner organization and foreign policy. + +5. This stage of culture, in its higher development, combines with the +fourth and last--city-building, and city-life, when men of the same +race, and conscious of a common origin, but practically strangers to +each other, form settlements on a large scale, which, being enclosed in +walls, become places of refuge and defence, centres of commerce, +industry and government. For, when a community has become very numerous, +with wants multiplied by continual improvements and increasing culture, +each family can no longer make all the things it needs, and a portion of +the population devotes itself to manufacture and arts, occupations best +pursued in cities, while the other goes on cultivating the land and +raising cattle, the two sets of produces--those of nature and those of +the cunning hand and brain--being bartered one for the other, or, when +coin is invented, exchanged through that more convenient medium. In the +same manner, the task of government having become too manifold and +complicated for one man, the former Patriarch, now King, is obliged to +surround himself with assistants--either the elders of the race, or +persons of his own choice,--and send others to different places, to rule +in his name and under his authority. The city in which the King and his +immediate ministers and officers reside, naturally becomes the most +important one--the Capital of the State. + +6. It does not follow by any means that a people, once settled, never +stirred from its adopted country. The migratory or wandering instinct +never quite died out--our own love of travelling sufficiently proves +that--and it was no unfrequent occurrence in very ancient times for +large tribes, even portions of nations, to start off again in search of +new homes and to found new cities, compelled thereto either by the +gradual overcrowding of the old country, or by intestine discords, or by +the invasion of new nomadic tribes of a different race who drove the old +settlers before them to take possession of their settlements, massacred +them if they resisted and reduced those who remained to an irksome +subjection. Such invasions, of course, might also be perpetrated with +the same results by regular armies, led by kings and generals from some +other settled and organized country. The alternative between bondage +and emigration must have been frequently offered, and the choice in +favor of the latter was helped not a little by the spirit of adventure +inborn in man, tempted by so many unexplored regions as there were in +those remote ages. + +7. Such have been the beginnings of all nations. There can be no other. +And there is one more observation which will scarcely ever prove wrong. +It is that, however far we may go back into the past, the people whom we +find inhabiting any country at the very dawn of tradition, can always be +shown to have come from somewhere else, and not to have been the first +either. Every swarm of nomads or adventurers who either pass through a +country or stop and settle there, always find it occupied already. Now +the older population was hardly ever entirely destroyed or dislodged by +the newcomers. A portion at least remained, as an inferior or subject +race, but in time came to mix with them, mostly in the way of +intermarriage. Then again, if the newcomers were peaceable and there was +room enough--which there generally was in very early times--they would +frequently be suffered to form separate settlements, and dwell in the +land; when they would either remain in a subordinate condition, or, if +they were the finer and better gifted race, they would quickly take the +upper hand, teach the old settlers their own arts and ideas, their +manners and their laws. If the new settlement was effected by conquest, +the arrangement was short and simple: the conquerors, though less +numerous, at once established themselves as masters and formed a ruling +nobility, an aristocracy, while the old owners of the land, those at +least that did not choose to emigrate, became what may be called "the +common people," bound to do service and pay tribute or taxes to their +self-instituted masters. Every country has generally experienced, at +various times, all these modes of invasion, so that each nation may be +said to have been formed gradually, in successive layers, as it were, +and often of very different elements, which either finally amalgamated +or kept apart, according to circumstances. + +The early history of Chaldea is a particularly good illustration of all +that has just been said. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[Y] Genesis, xiii. 7-11. + +[Z] Genesis, xxxvi. 6-7. + + + + + II. + + THE GREAT RACES.--CHAPTER X. OF GENESIS. + + +1. The Bible says (Genesis xi. 2): "And it came to pass, as they +journeyed in the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; +and they dwelt there." + +Shinar--or, more correctly, Shinear--is what may be called Babylonia +proper, that part of Mesopotamia where Babylon was, and south of it, +almost to the Gulf. "They" are descendants of Noah, long after the +Flood. They found the plain and dwelt there, but they did not find the +whole land desert; it had been occupied long before them. How long? For +such remote ages an exact valuation of time in years is not to be +thought of. + +2. What people were those whom the descendants of Noah found in the land +to which they came from the East? It seems a simple question, yet no +answer could have been given to it even as lately as fifteen or sixteen +years ago, and when the answer was first suggested by unexpected +discoveries made in the Royal Library at Nineveh, it startled the +discoverers extremely. The only indication on the subject then known was +this, from a Chaldean writer of a late period: "There was originally at +Babylon" (i.e., in the land of Babylon, not the city alone) "a multitude +of men of foreign race who had settled in Chaldea." This is told by +Berosus, a learned priest of Babylon, who lived immediately after +Alexander the Great had conquered the country, and when the Greeks ruled +it (somewhat after 300 B.C.). He wrote a history of it from the most +ancient times, in which he gave an account of the oldest traditions +concerning its beginnings. As he wrote his book in Greek, it is probable +that his object was to acquaint the new masters with the history and +religion of the land and people whom they had come to rule. +Unfortunately the work was lost--as so many valuable works have been, as +long as there was no printing, and books existed only in a few +manuscript copies--and we know of it only some short fragments, quoted +by later writers, in whose time Berosus' history was still accessible. +The above lines are contained in one such fragment, and naturally led to +the question: who were these men of foreign race who came from somewhere +else and settled in Chaldea in immemorial times? + +3. One thing appears clear: they belonged to none of the races classed +in the Bible as descended from Noah, but probably to one far older, +which had not been included in the Flood. + +4. For it begins to be pretty generally understood nowadays that the +Flood may not have been absolutely universal, but have extended over the +countries _which the Hebrews knew_, which made _their_ world, and that +not literally all living beings except those who are reported to have +been in the Ark may have perished in it. From a negligent habit of +reading Chap. VI.-IX. of Genesis without reference to the texts of other +chapters of the same Book, it has become a general habit to understand +it in this literal manner. Yet the evidence is by no means so positive. +The question was considered an open one by profounder students even in +antiquity, and freely discussed both among the Jews themselves and the +Fathers of the early Christian Church. The following are the statements +given in the Book of Genesis; we have only to take them out of their +several places and connect them. + +5. When Cain had killed his brother Abel, God banished him from the +_earth_ which had received his brother's blood and laid a curse on him: +"a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the _earth_"--using another +word than the first time, one which means earth in general (_erec_), in +opposition to _the_ earth (_adamah_), or fruitful land to the east of +Eden, in which Adam and Eve dwelt after their expulsion. Then Cain went +forth, still further East, and dwelt in a land which was called "the +land of Nod," _i.e._, "of wandering" or "exile." He had a son, Enoch, +after whom he named the city which he built,--the first city,--and +descendants. Of these the fifth, Lamech, a fierce and lawless man, had +three sons, two of whom, Jabal and Jubal, led a pastoral and nomadic +life; but the third, Tubalcain, invented the use of metals: he was "the +forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron." This is what the +Chap. IV. of Genesis tells of Cain, his crime, his exile and immediate +posterity. After that they are heard of no more. Adam, meanwhile, has a +third son, born after he had lost the first two and whom he calls Seth +(more correctly _Sheth_). The descendants of this son are enumerated in +Chap. V.; the list ends with Noah. These are the parallel races: the +accursed and the blest, the proscribed of God and the loved of God, the +one that "goes out of the presence of the Lord" and the one that "calls +on the name of the Lord," and "walks with God." Of the latter race the +last-named, Noah, is "a just man, perfect in his generation," and "finds +grace in the eyes of the Lord." + +6. Then comes the narrative of the Flood (Chap. VI.-VIII.), the covenant +of God with Noah and re-peopling of the earth by his posterity (Chap. +IX.). Lastly Chap. X. gives us the list of the generations of Noah's +three sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet;--"of these were the nations divided in +the earth after the flood." + +7. Now this tenth chapter of Genesis is the oldest and most important +document in existence concerning the origins of races and nations, and +comprises all those with whom the Jews, in the course of their early +history, have had any dealings, at least all those who belonged to the +great white division of mankind. But in order properly to understand it +and appreciate its value and bearing, it must not be forgotten that EACH +NAME IN THE LIST IS THAT OF A RACE, A PEOPLE OR A TRIBE, NOT THAT OF A +MAN. It was a common fashion among the Orientals--a fashion adopted also +by ancient European nations--to express in this manner the kindred +connections of nations among themselves and their differences. Both for +brevity and clearness, such historical genealogies are very convenient. +They must have been suggested by a proceeding most natural in ages of +ignorance, and which consists in a tribe's explaining its own name by +taking it for granted that it was that of its founder. Thus the name of +the Assyrians is really Asshur. Why? Clearly, they would answer, if +asked the question, because their kingdom was founded by one whose name +was Asshur. Another famous nation, the Aramaeans, are supposed to be so +called because the name of their founder was Aram; the Hebrews name +themselves from a similarly supposed ancestor, Heber. These three +nations,--and several more, the Arabs among others--spoke languages so +much alike that they could easily understand each other, and had +generally many common features in looks and character. How account for +that? By making their founders, Asshur, and Aram, and Heber, etc., sons +or descendants of one great head or progenitor, Shem, a son of Noah. It +is a kind of parable which is extremely clear once one has the key to +it, when nothing is easier than to translate it into our own sober, +positive forms of speech. The above bit of genealogy would read thus: A +large portion of humanity is distinguished by certain features more or +less peculiar to itself; it is one of several great races, and has been +called for more than a hundred years the Semitic, (better Shemitic) +race, the race of Shem. This race is composed of many different tribes +and nations, who have gone each its own way, have each its own name and +history, speak dialects of the same original language, and have +preserved many common ideas, customs and traits of character,--which all +shows that the race was once united and dwelt together, then, as it +increased in numbers, broke up into fractions, of which some rose to be +great and famous nations and some remained comparatively insignificant +tribes. The same applies to the subdivisions of the great white race +(the whitest of all) to which nearly all the European nations belong, +and which is personified in the Bible under the name of Japhet, third +son of Noah,--and to those of a third great race, also originally white, +which is broken up into very many fractions, both great nations and +scattered tribes, all exhibiting a decided likeness to each other. The +Bible gives the names of all these most carefully, and sums up the whole +of them under the name of the second son of Noah, Ham, whom it calls +their common progenitor. + +8. That the genealogies of Chap. X. of Genesis should be understood in +this sense, has long been admitted by scientists and churchmen. St. +Augustine, one of the greatest among the Fathers of the early church, +pointedly says that the names in it represent "nations, not men."[AA] On +the other hand there is also literal truth in them, in this way, that, +if all mankind is descended from one human couple, every fraction of it +must necessarily have had some one particular father or ancestor, only +in so remote a past that his individuality or actual name cannot +possibly have been remembered, when every people, as has been remarked +above, naturally gave him its own name. Of these names many show by +their very nature that they could not have belonged to individuals. Some +are plural, like MIZRAIM, "the Egyptians;" some have the article: "_the_ +AMORITE, _the_ HIVITE;" one even is the name of a city: SIDON is called +"the first-born of Canaan;" now Sidon was long the greatest maritime +city of the Canaanites, who held an undisputed supremacy over the rest, +and therefore "the first-born." The name means "fisheries"--an +appropriate one for a city on the sea, which must of course have been at +first a settlement of fishermen. "CANAAN" really is the name of a vast +region, inhabited by a great many nations and tribes, all differing from +each other in many ways, yet manifestly of one race, wherefore they are +called "the sons of Canaan," Canaan being personified in a common +ancestor, given as one of the four sons of Ham. Modern science has, for +convenience' sake, adopted a special word for such imaginary personages, +invented to account for a nation's, tribe's, or city's name, while +summing up, so to speak, its individuality: they are called EPONYMS. The +word is Greek, and means "one from whom or for whom somebody or +something is named," a "namesake." It is not too much to say that, while +popular tradition always claims that the eponymous ancestor or +city-founder gave his name to his family, race, or city, the contrary is +in reality invariably the case, the name of the race or city being +transferred to him. Or, in other words, the eponym is really only that +name, transformed into a traditional person by a bold and vivid poetical +figure of speech, which, if taken for what it is, makes the beginnings +of political history wonderfully plain and easy to grasp and classify. + +9. Yet, complete and correct as is the list of Chap. X., within the +limits which the writer has set to himself, it by no means exhausts the +nations of the earth. The reason of the omissions, however, is easily +seen. Among the posterity of Japhet the Greeks indeed are mentioned, +(under the name of JAVAN, which should be pronounced _Yawan_, and some +of his sons), but not a single one of the other ancient peoples of +Europe,--Germans, Italians, Celts, etc.,--who also belonged to that +race, as we, their descendants, do. But then, at the time Chap. X. was +written, these countries, from their remoteness, were outside of the +world in which the Hebrews moved, beyond their horizon, so to speak. +They either did not know them at all, or, having nothing to do with +them, did not take them into consideration. In neither case would they +have been given a place in the great list. The same may be said of +another large portion of the same race, which dwelt to the far East and +South of the Hebrews--the Hindoos, (the white conquerors of India), and +the Persians. There came a time indeed, when the latter not only came +into contact with the Jews, but were their masters; but either that was +after Chap. X. was written or the Persians were identified by the +writers with a kindred nation, the Persians' near neighbor, who had +flourished much earlier and reacted in many ways on the countries +westward of it; this nation was the MEDES, who, under the name of MADAI, +are mentioned as one of the sons of Japhet, with Javan the Greek. + +10. More noticeable and more significant than these partial omissions is +the determination with which the authors of Chap. X. consistently ignore +all those divisions of mankind which do not belong to one of the three +great _white_ races. Neither the Black nor the Yellow races are +mentioned at all; they are left without the pale of the Hebrew +brotherhood of nations. Yet the Jews, who staid three or four hundred +years in Egypt, surely learned there to know the real negro, for the +Egyptians were continually fighting with pure-blood black tribes in the +south and south-west, and bringing in thousands of black captives, who +were made to work at their great buildings and in their stone-quarries. +But these people were too utterly barbarous and devoid of all culture or +political importance to be taken into account. Besides, the Jews could +not be aware of the vast extent of the earth occupied by the black race, +since the greater part of Africa was then unknown to the world, and so +were the islands to the south of India, also Australia and its +islands--all seats of different sections of that race. + +11. The same could not be said of the Yellow Race. True, its principal +representatives, the nations of the far East of Asia--the Chinese, the +Mongols and the Mandchous,--could not be known to the Hebrews at any +time of antiquity, but there were more than enough representatives of +it who could not be _un_known to them.[AB] For it was both a very old +and extremely numerous race, which early spread over the greater part of +the earth and at one time probably equalled in numbers the rest of +mankind. It seems always to have been broken up into a great many tribes +and peoples, whom it has been found convenient to gather under the +general designation of TURANIANS, from a very ancient name,--TUR or +TURA--which was given them by the white population of Persia and Central +Asia, and which is still preserved in that of one of their principal +surviving branches, the TURKS. All the different members of this great +family have had very striking features in common,--the most +extraordinary being an incapability of reaching the highest culture, of +progressing indefinitely, improving continually. A strange law of their +being seems to have condemned them to stop short, when they had attained +a certain, not very advanced, stage. Thus their speech has remained +extremely imperfect. They spoke, and such Turanian nations as now exist +still speak, languages, which, however they may differ, all have this +peculiarity, that they are composed either entirely of monosyllables, +(the most rudimentary form of speech), or of monosyllables pieced into +words in the stiffest, most unwieldy manner, stuck together, as it +were, with nothing to join them, wherefore this kind of language has +been called _agglutinative_. Chinese belongs to the former class of +languages, the "monosyllabic," Turkish to the latter, the +"agglutinative." Further, the Turanians were probably the first to +invent writing, but never went in that art beyond having one particular +sign for every single word--(such is Chinese writing with its forty +thousand signs or thereabouts, as many as words in the language)--or at +most a sign for every syllable. They had beautiful beginnings of poetry, +but in that also never went beyond beginnings. They were also probably +the first who built cities, but were wanting in the qualities necessary +to organize a society, establish a state on solid and lasting +foundations. At one time they covered the whole of Western Asia, dwelt +there for ages before any other race occupied it,--fifteen hundred +years, according to a very trustworthy tradition,--and were called by +the ancients "the oldest of men;" but they vanish and are not heard of +any more the moment that white invaders come into the land; these drive +the Turanians before them, or bring them into complete subjection, or +mix with them, but, by force of their own superiorly gifted nature, +retain the dominant position, so that the others lose all separate +existence. Thus it was everywhere. For wherever tribes of the three +Biblical races came, they mostly found Turanian populations who had +preceded them. There are now a great number of Turanian tribes, more or +less numerous--Kirghizes, Bashkirs, Ostiaks, Tunguzes, etc., +etc.--scattered over the vast expanse of Siberia and Eastern Russia, +where they roam at will with their flocks and herds of horses, +occasionally settling down,--fragmentary remnants of a race which, to +this latest time, has preserved its original peculiarities and +imperfections, whose day is done, which has long ceased to improve, +unless it assimilates with the higher white race and adopts their +culture, when all that it lacked is supplied by the nobler element which +mixes with it, as in the case of the Hungarians, one of the most +high-spirited and talented nations of Europe, originally of Turanian +stock. The same may be said, in a lesser degree, of the Finns--the +native inhabitants of the Russian principality of Finland. + +12. All this by no means goes to show that the Yellow Race has ever been +devoid of fine faculties and original genius. Quite the contrary; for, +if white races everywhere stepped in, took the work of civilization out +of their hands and carried it on to a perfection of which they were +incapable, still they, the Turanians, had everywhere _begun_ that work, +it was their inventions which the others took up and improved: and we +must remember that it is very much easier to improve than to invent. +Only there is that strange limitation to their power of progress and +that want of natural refinement, which are as a wall that encloses them +around. Even the Chinese, who, at first sight, are a brilliant +exception, are not so on a closer inspection. True, they have founded +and organized a great empire which still endures; they have a vast +literature, they have made most important inventions--printing, +manufacturing paper out of rags, the use of the compass, +gunpowder--centuries before European nations made them in their turn. +Yet the latter do all those things far better; they have improved these, +to them, new inventions more in a couple of hundred years than the +Chinese in a thousand. In fact it is a good many centuries since the +Chinese have ceased to improve anything at all. Their language and +writing are childishly imperfect, though the oldest in existence. In +government, in the forms of social life, in their ideas generally, they +follow rules laid down for them three thousand years ago or more and +from which to swerve a hair's breadth were blasphemy. As they have +always stubbornly resisted foreign influences, and gone the length of +trying actually to erect material walls between themselves and the rest +of the world, their empire is a perfectly fair specimen of what the +Yellow Race can do, if left entirely to itself, and quite as much of +what it can_not_ do, and now they have for centuries presented that +unique phenomenon--a great nation at a standstill. + +13. All this obviously leads us to a very interesting and suggestive +question: what is this great race which we find everywhere at the very +roots of history, so that not only ancient tradition calls them "the +oldest of men," but modern science more and more inclines to the same +opinion? Whence came it? How is it not included in the great family of +nations, of which Chap. X. of Genesis gives so clear and comprehensive a +scheme? Parallel to this question arises another: what became of Cain's +posterity? What, above all, of the descendants of those three sons of +Lamech, whom the writer of Genesis clearly places before us as heads of +nations and thinks of sufficient importance to specify what their +occupations were? (See Genesis iv. 19-22.) Why do we never hear any more +of this entire half of humanity, severed in the very beginning from the +other half--the lineage of the accursed son from that of the blest and +favored son? And may not the answer to this series of questions be the +answer to the first series also? + +14. With regard to the second series this answer is plain and decisive. +The descendants of Cain were necessarily out of the pale of the Hebrew +world. The curse of God, in consequence of which their forefather is +said to have gone "out of the presence of the Lord," at once and forever +separated them from the posterity of the pious son, from those who +"walked with God." The writer of Genesis tells us that they lived in the +"Land of Exile" and multiplied, then dismisses them. For what could the +elect, the people of God, or even those other nations who went astray, +who were repeatedly chastised, but whose family bond with the righteous +race was never entirely severed--what could they have in common with the +banished, the castaway, the irretrievably accursed? These did not count, +they were not of humanity. What more probable, therefore, than that, +being excluded from all the other narratives, they should not be +included in that of the Flood? And in that case, who should they be but +that most ancient race, set apart by its color and several striking +peculiarities, which everywhere preceded their white brethren, but were +invariably supplanted by them and not destined to supremacy on the +earth? This supposition has been hazarded by men of great genius, and if +bold, still has much to support it; if confirmed it would solve many +puzzles, throw strong and unexpected light on many obscure points. The +very antiquity of the Yellow Race tallies admirably with the Biblical +narrative, for of the two Biblical brothers Cain was the eldest. And the +doom laid on the race, "a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be on the +earth," has not been revoked through all ages. Wherever pure Turanians +are--they are nomads. And when, fifteen hundred years ago and later, +countless swarms of barbarous people flooded Europe, coming from the +east, and swept all before them, the Turanian hordes could be known +chiefly by this, that they destroyed, burned, laid waste--and passed, +vanished: whereas the others, after treating a country quite as +savagely, usually settled in it and founded states, most of which exist +even now--for, French, German, English, Russian, we are all descended +from some of those barbarous invaders. And this also would fully explain +how it came to pass that, although the Hebrews and their +forefathers--let us say the Semites generally--everywhere found +Turanians on their way, nay, dwelt in the same lands with them, the +sacred historian ignores them completely, as in Gen. xi. 2. + +15. For they were Turanians, arrived at a, for them, really high state +of culture, who peopled the land of Shinar, when "_they_"--descendants +of Noah,--journeying in the East, found that plain where they dwelt for +many years. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[AA] "_Gentes non homines._" (_De Civitate Dei_, XVII., 3.) + +[AB] If, as has been suggested, the "land of Sinim" in Isaiah xlix., 12, +is meant for China, such a solitary, incidental and unspecified mention +of a country the name of which may have been vaguely used to express the +remotest East, cannot invalidate the scheme so evidently and +persistently pursued in the composition of Chap. X. + + + + + III. + + TURANIAN CHALDEA.--SHUMIR AND ACCAD.--THE BEGINNINGS OF RELIGION. + + +1. It is not Berosus alone who speaks of the "multitudes of men of +foreign race" who colonized Chaldea "in the beginning." It was a +universally admitted fact throughout antiquity that the population of +the country had always been a mixed one, but a fact known vaguely, +without particulars. On this subject, as on so many others, the +discoveries made in the royal library of Nineveh shed an unexpected and +most welcome light. The very first, so to speak preliminary, study of +the tablets showed that there were amongst them documents in two +entirely different languages, of which one evidently was that of an +older population of Chaldea. The other and later language, usually +called Assyrian, because it was spoken also by the Assyrians, being very +like Hebrew, an understanding of it was arrived at with comparative +ease. As to the older language there was absolutely no clue. The only +conjecture which could be made with any certainty was, that it must have +been spoken by a double people, called the people of Shumir and Accad, +because later kings of Babylon, in their inscriptions, always gave +themselves the title of "Kings of Shumir and Accad," a title which the +Assyrian sovereigns, who at times conquered Chaldea, did not fail to +take also. But who and what were these people might never have been +cleared up, but for the most fortunate discovery of dictionaries and +grammars, which, the texts being supplied with Assyrian translations, +served our modern scholars, just as they did Assyrian students 3000 +years ago, to decipher and learn to understand the oldest language of +Chaldea. Of course, it was a colossal piece of work, beset with +difficulties which it required an almost fierce determination and +superhuman patience to master. But every step made was so amply repaid +by the results obtained, that the zeal of the laborers was never +suffered to flag, and the effected reconstruction, though far from +complete even now, already enables us to conjure a very suggestive and +life-like picture of those first settlers of the Mesopotamian Lowlands, +their character, religion and pursuits. + +2. The language thus strangely brought to light was very soon perceived +to be distinctly of that peculiar and primitive type--partly +monosyllables, partly words rudely pieced together,--which has been +described in a preceding chapter as characteristic of the Turanian race, +and which is known in science by the general name of _agglutinative_, +i.e., "glued or stuck together," without change in the words, either by +declension or conjugation. The people of Shumir and Accad, therefore, +were one and the same Turanian nation, the difference in the name being +merely a geographical one. SHUMIR is Southern or Lower Chaldea, the +country towards and around the Persian Gulf,--that very land of Shinar +which is mentioned in Genesis xi. 2. Indeed "Shinar" is only the way in +which the Hebrews pronounced and spelt the ancient name of Lower +Chaldea. ACCAD is Northern or Upper Chaldea. The most correct way, and +the safest from all misunderstanding, is to name the people the +Shumiro-Accads and their language, the Shumiro-Accadian; but for +brevity's sake, the first name is frequently dropped, and many say +simply "the Accads" and "the Accadian language." It is clear, however, +that the royal title must needs unite both names, which together +represented the entire country of Chaldea. Of late it has been +discovered that the Shumiro-Accads spoke two slightly differing dialects +of the same language, that of Shumir being most probably the older of +the two, as culture and conquest seem to have been carried steadily +northward from the Gulf. + +3. That the Accads themselves came from somewhere else, is plain from +several circumstances, although there is not the faintest symptom or +trace of any people whom they may have found in the country. They +brought into it the very first and most essential rudiments of +civilization, the art of writing, and that of working metals; it was +probably also they who began to dig those canals without which the land, +notwithstanding its fabulous fertility, must always be a marshy waste, +and who began to make bricks and construct buildings out of them. There +is ground to conclude that they came down from mountains in the fact +that the name "Accad" means "Mountains" or "Highlands," a name which +they could not possibly have taken in the dead flats of Lower Chaldea, +but must have retained as a relic of an older home. It is quite possible +that this home may have been in the neighboring wild and mountainous +land of SHUSHAN (Susiana on the maps), whose first known population was +also Turanian. These guesses take us into a past, where not a speck of +positive fact can be discerned. Yet even that must have been only a +station in this race's migration from a far more northern centre. Their +written language, even after they had lived for centuries in an almost +tropical country, where palms grew in vast groves, almost forests, and +lions were common game, as plentiful as tigers in the jungles of Bengal, +contained no sign to designate either the one or the other, while it was +well stocked with the signs of metals,--of which there is no vestige, of +course, in Chaldea,--and all that belongs to the working thereof. As the +ALTAI range, the great Siberian chain, has always been famous for its +rich mines of every possible metal ore, and as the valleys of the Altai +are known to be the nests from which innumerable Turanian tribes +scattered to the north and south, and in which many dwell to this day +after their own nomadic fashion, there is no extravagance in supposing +that _there_ may have been our Accads' original point of departure. +Indeed the Altai is so indissolubly connected with the origin of most +Turanian nations, that many scientists prefer to call the entire Yellow +Race, with all its gradations of color, "the Altaic." Their own +traditions point the same way. Several of them have a pretty legend of a +sort of paradise, a secluded valley somewhere in the Altai, pleasant and +watered by many streams, where their forefathers either dwelt in the +first place or whither they were providentially conducted to be saved +from a general massacre. The valley was entirely enclosed with high +rocks, steep and pathless, so that when, after several hundred years, it +could no longer hold the number of its inhabitants, these began to +search for an issue and found none. Then one among them, who was a +smith, discovered that the rocks were almost entirely of iron. By his +advice, a huge fire was made and a great many mighty bellows were +brought into play, by which means a path was _melted_ through the rocks. +A tradition, by the by, which, while confirming the remark that the +invention of metallurgy belongs originally to the Yellow Race in its +earliest stages of development, is strangely in accordance with the name +of the Biblical Tubalcain, "the forger of every cutting instrument of +brass and iron." That the Accads were possessed of this distinctive +accomplishment of their race is moreover made very probable by the +various articles and ornaments in gold, brass and iron which are +continually found in the very oldest tombs. + +4. But infinitely the most precious acquisition secured to us by the +unexpected revelation of this stage of remotest antiquity is a +wonderfully extensive collection of prayers, invocations and other +sacred texts, from which we can reconstruct, with much probability, the +most primitive religion in the world--for such undoubtedly was that of +the Accads. As a clear and authentic insight into the first +manifestation of the religious instinct in man was just what was wanting +until now, in order to enable us to follow its development from the +first, crudest attempts at expression to the highest aspirations and +noblest forms of worship, the value of this discovery can never be +overrated. It introduces us moreover into so strange and fantastical a +world as not the most imaginative of fictions can surpass. + +5. The instinct of religion--"religiosity," as it has been called--is +inborn to man; like the faculty of speech, it belongs to man, and to man +only, of all living beings. So much so, that modern science is coming to +acknowledge these two faculties as _the_ distinctive characteristics +which mark man as a being apart from and above the rest of creation. +Whereas the division of all that exists upon the earth has of old been +into three great classes or realms--the "mineral realm," the "vegetable +realm" and the "animal realm," in which latter man was included--it is +now proposed to erect the human race with all its varieties into a +separate "realm," for this very reason: that man has all that animals +have, and two things more which they have not--speech and religiosity, +which assume a faculty of abstract thinking, observing and drawing +general conclusions, solely and distinctively human. Now the very first +observations of man in the most primitive stage of his existence must +necessarily have awakened in him a twofold consciousness--that of power +and that of helplessness. He could do many things. Small in size, weak +in strength, destitute of natural clothing and weapons, acutely +sensitive to pain and atmospheric changes as all higher natures are, he +could kill and tame the huge and powerful animals which had the +advantage of him in all these things, whose numbers and fierceness +threatened him at every turn with destruction, from which his only +escape would seem to have been constant cowering and hiding. He could +compel the earth to bear for him choicer food than for the other beings +who lived on her gifts. He could command the service of fire, the dread +visitor from heaven. Stepping victoriously from one achievement to +another, ever widening his sphere of action, of invention, man could not +but be filled with legitimate pride. But on the other hand, he saw +himself surrounded with things which he could neither account for nor +subdue, which had the greatest influence on his well-being, either +favorable or hostile, but which were utterly beyond his comprehension or +control. The same sun which ripened his crop sometimes scorched it; the +rain which cooled and fertilized his field, sometimes swamped it; the +hot winds parched him and his cattle; in the marshes lurked disease and +death. All these and many, many more, were evidently POWERS, and could +do him great good or work him great harm, while he was unable to do +either to them. These things existed, he felt their action every day of +his life, consequently they were to him living Beings, alive in the same +way that he was, possessed of will, for good or for evil. In short, to +primitive man everything in nature was alive with an individual life, as +it is to the very young child, who would not beat the chair against +which he has knocked himself, and then kiss it to make friends, did he +not think that it is a living and feeling being like himself. The +feeling of dependence and absolute helplessness thus created must have +more than balanced that of pride and self-reliance. Man felt himself +placed in a world where he was suffered to live and have his share of +what good things he could get, but which was not ruled by him,--in a +spirit-world. Spirits around him, above him, below him,--what could he +do but humble himself, confess his dependence, and pray to be spared? +For surely, if those spirits existed and took enough interest in him to +do him good or evil, they could hear him and might be moved by +supplication. To establish a distinction between such spirits which did +only harm, were evil in themselves, and those whose action was generally +beneficial and only on rare occasions destructive, was the next natural +step, which led as naturally to a perception of divine displeasure as +the cause of such terrible manifestations and a seeking of means to +avert or propitiate it. While fear and loathing were the portion of the +former spirits, the essentially evil ones, love and gratitude, were the +predominant feelings inspired by the latter,--feelings which, together +with the ever present consciousness of dependence, are the very essence +of religion, just as praise and worship are the attempts to express them +in a tangible form. + +6. It is this most primitive, material and unquestioning stage in the +growth of religious feeling, which a large portion of the +Shumiro-Accadian documents from the Royal Library at Nineveh brings +before us with a force and completeness which, however much room there +may still be for uncertainty in details, on the whole really amounts to +more than conjecture. Much will, doubtless, be discovered yet, much will +be done, but it will only serve to fill in a sketch, of which the +outlines are already now tolerably fixed and authentic. The materials +for this most important reconstruction are almost entirely contained in +a vast collection of two hundred tablets, forming one consecutive work +in three books, over fifty of which have been sifted out of the heap of +rubbish at the British Museum and first deciphered by Sir Henry +Rawlinson, one of the greatest, as he was the first discoverer in this +field, and George Smith, whose achievements and too early death have +been mentioned in a former chapter. Of the three books into which the +collection is divided, one treats "of evil spirits," another of +diseases, and the third contains hymns and prayers--the latter +collection showing signs of a later and higher development. Out of these +materials the lately deceased French scholar, Mr. Francois Lenormant, +whose name has for the last fifteen years or so of his life stood in the +very front of this branch of Oriental research, has been the first to +reconstruct an entire picture in a book not very voluminous indeed, but +which must always remain a corner-stone in the history of human culture. +This book shall be our guide in the strange world we now enter.[AC] + +7. To the people of Shumir and Accad, then, the universe was peopled +with Spirits, whom they distributed according to its different spheres +and regions. For they had formed a very elaborate and clever, if +peculiar idea of what they supposed the world to be like. According to +the ingenious expression of a Greek writer of the 1st century A.D. they +imagined it to have the shape of an inverted round boat or bowl, the +thickness of which would represent the mixture of land and water +(_ki-a_) which we call the crust of the earth, while the hollow beneath +this inhabitable crust was fancied as a bottomless pit or abyss (_ge_), +in which dwelt many powers. Above the convex surface of the earth +(_ki-a_) spread the sky (_ana_), itself divided into two regions:--the +highest heaven or firmament, which, with the fixed stars immovably +attached to it, revolved, as round an axis or pivot, around an immensely +high mountain, which joined it to the earth as a pillar, and was +situated somewhere in the far North-East--some say North--and the lower +heaven, where the planets--a sort of resplendent animals, seven in +number, of beneficent nature--wandered forever on their appointed path. +To these were opposed seven evil demons, sometimes called "the Seven +Fiery Phantoms." But above all these, higher in rank and greater in +power, is the Spirit (_Zi_) of heaven (_ana_), ZI-ANA, or, as often, +simply ANA--"Heaven." Between the lower heaven and the surface of the +earth is the atmospheric region, the realm of IM or MERMER, the Wind, +where he drives the clouds, rouses the storms, and whence he pours down +the rain, which is stored in the great reservoir of Ana, in the heavenly +Ocean. As to the earthly Ocean, it is fancied as a broad river, or +watery rim, flowing all round the edge of the imaginary inverted bowl; +in its waters dwells EA (whose name means "the House of Waters"), the +great Spirit of the Earth and Waters (_Zi-ki-a_), either in the form of +a fish, whence he is frequently called "Ea the fish," or "the Exalted +Fish," or on a magnificent ship, with which he travels round the earth, +guarding and protecting it. The minor spirits of earth (_Anunnaki_) are +not much spoken of except in a body, as a sort of host or legion. All +the more terrible are the seven spirits of the abyss, the MASKIM, of +whom it is said that, although their seat is in the depths of the earth, +yet their voice resounds on the heights also: they reside at will in the +immensity of space, "not enjoying a good name either in heaven or on +earth." Their greatest delight is to subvert the orderly course of +nature, to cause earthquakes, inundations, ravaging tempests. Although +the Abyss is their birth-place and proper sphere, they are not +submissive to its lord and ruler MUL-GE ("Lord of the Abyss"). In that +they are like their brethren of the lower heaven who do not acknowledge +Ana's supremacy, in fact are called "spirits of rebellion," because, +being originally Ana's messengers, they once "secretly plotted a wicked +deed," rose against the heavenly powers, obscured the Moon, and all but +hurled him from his seat. But the Maskim are ever more feared and +hated, as appears from the following description, which has become +celebrated for its real poetical force: + +8. "They are seven! they are seven!--Seven they are in the depths of +Ocean,--seven they are, disturbers of the face of Heaven.--They arise +from the depths of Ocean, from hidden lurking-places.--They spread like +snares.--Male they are not, female they are not.--Wives they have not, +children are not born to them.--Order they know not, nor +beneficence;--prayers and supplication they hear not.--Vermin grown in +the bowels of the mountains--foes of Ea--they are the throne-bearers of +the gods--they sit in the roads and make them unsafe.--The fiends! the +fiends!--They are seven, they are seven, seven they are! + +"Spirit of Heaven (_Zi-ana, Ana_), be they conjured! + +"Spirit of Earth (_Zi-ki-a, Ea_), be they conjured!" + +9. Besides these regular sets of evil spirits in sevens--seven being a +mysterious and consecrated number--there are the hosts untold of demons +which assail man in every possible form, which are always on the watch +to do him harm, not only bodily, but moral in the way of civil broils +and family dissensions; confusion is their work; it is they who "steal +the child from the father's knee," who "drive the son from his father's +house," who withhold from the wife the blessing of children; they have +stolen days from heaven, which they have made evil days, that bring +nothing but ill-luck and misfortune,--and nothing can keep them out: +"They fall as rain from the sky, they spring from the earth,--they steal +from house to house,--doors do not stop them,--bolts do not shut them +out,--they creep in at the doors like serpents,--they blow in at the +roof like winds." Various are their haunts: the tops of mountains, the +pestilential marshes by the sea, but especially the desert. Diseases are +among the most dreaded of this terrible band, and first among these +NAMTAR or DIBBARA, the demon of Pestilence, IDPA (Fever), and a certain +mysterious disease of the head, which must be insanity, of which it is +said that it oppresses the head and holds it tight like a tiara (a heavy +headdress) or "like a dark prison," and makes it confused, that "it is +like a violent tempest; no one knows whence it comes, nor what is its +object." + +10. All these evil beings are very properly classed together under the +general name of "creations of the Abyss," births of the nether world, +the world of the dead. For the unseen world below the habitable earth +was naturally conceived as the dwelling place of the departed spirits +after death. It is very remarkable as characteristic of the low standard +of moral conception which the Shumiro-Accads had attained at this stage +of their development, that, although they never admitted that those who +died ceased to exist altogether, there is very little to show that they +imagined any happy state for them after death, not even as a reward for +a righteous life, nor, on the other hand, looked to a future state for +punishment of wrongs committed in this world, but promiscuously +consigned their dead to the ARALI, a most dismal region which is called +the "support of chaos," or, in phrase no less vague and full of +mysterious awe, "the Great Land" (_Ki-gal_), "the Great City" +(_Urugal_), "the spacious dwelling," "where they wander in the dark,"--a +region ruled by a female divinity called by different names, but most +frequently "Lady of the Great Land" (_Nin-ki-gal_), or "Lady of the +Abyss" (_Nin-ge_), who may then rather be understood as Death +personified, that Namtar (Pestilence) is her chief minister. The +Shumiro-Accads seem to have dimly fancied that association with so many +evil beings whose proper home the Arali was, must convert even the human +spirits into beings almost as noxious, for one or two passages appear to +imply that they were afraid of ghosts, at least on one occasion it is +threatened to send the dead back into the upper world, as the direst +calamity that can be inflicted. + +11. As if all these terrors were not sufficient to make life a burden, +the Shumiro-Accads believed in sorcerers, wicked men who knew how to +compel the powers of evil to do their bidding and thus could inflict +death, sickness or disasters at their pleasure. This could be done in +many ways--by a look, by uttering certain words, by drinks made of herbs +prepared under certain conditions and ceremonies. Nay, the power of +doing harm sometimes fatally belonged even to innocent persons, who +inflicted it unintentionally by their look--for the effect of "the evil +eye" did not always depend on a person's own will. + +12. Existence under such conditions must have been as unendurable as +that of poor children who have been terrified by silly nurses into a +belief in ogres and a fear of dark rooms, had there not existed real or +imaginary defences against this array of horrible beings always ready to +fall on unfortunate humanity in all sorts of inexplicable ways and for +no other reason but their own detestable delight in doing evil. These +defences could not consist in rational measures dictated by a knowledge +of the laws of physical nature, since they had no notion of such laws; +nor in prayers and propitiatory offerings, since one of the demons' most +execrable qualities was, as we have seen, that they "knew not +beneficence" and "heard not prayer and supplication." Then, if they +cannot be coaxed, they must be compelled. This seems a very presumptuous +assumption, but it is strictly in accordance with human instinct. It has +been very truly said[AD] that "man was so conscious of being called to +exercise empire over the powers of nature, that, the moment he entered +into any relations with them, it was to try and subject them to his +will. Only instead of studying the phenomena, in order to grasp their +laws and apply them to his needs, he fancied he could, by means of +peculiar practices and consecrated forms, compel the physical agents of +nature to serve his wishes and purposes.... This pretension had its root +in the notion which antiquity had formed of the natural phenomena. It +did not see in them the consequence of unchangeable and necessary laws, +always active and always to be calculated upon, but fancied them to +depend on the arbitrary and varying will of the spirits and deities it +had put in the place of physical agents." It follows that in a religion +which peoples the universe with spirits of which the greater part are +evil, magic--i.e., conjuring with words and rites, incantations, +spells--must take the place of worship, and the ministers of such a +religion are not priests, but conjurers and enchanters. This is exactly +the state of things revealed by the great collection of texts discovered +by Sir H. Rawlinson and G. Smith. They contain forms for conjuring all +the different kinds of demons, even to evil dreams and nightmares, the +object of most such invocations being to drive them away from the +habitations of men and back to where they properly belong--the depth of +the desert, the inaccessible mountain tops, and all remote, waste and +uninhabited places generally, where they can range at will, and find +nobody to harm. + +13. Yet there are also prayers for protection and help addressed to +beings conceived as essentially good and beneficent--a step marking a +great advance in the moral feeling and religious consciousness of the +people. Such beings--gods, in fact--were, above all, Ana and Ea, whom +we saw invoked in the incantation of the Seven Maskim as "Spirit of +Heaven," and "Spirit of Earth." The latter especially is appealed to as +an unfailing refuge to ill-used and terrified mortals. He is imagined as +possessed of all knowledge and wisdom, which he uses only to befriend +and protect. His usual residence is the deep,--(hence his name, _E-a_, +"the House of Waters")--but he sometimes travels round the earth in a +magnificent ship. His very name is a terror to the evil ones. He knows +the words, the spells that will break their power and compel their +obedience. To him, therefore, the people looked in their need with +infinite trust. Unable to cope with the mysterious dangers and snares +which, as they fancied, beset them on all sides, ignorant of the means +of defeating the wicked beings who, they thought, pursued them with +abominable malice and gratuitous hatred, they turned to Ea. _He_ would +know. _He_ must be asked, and he would tell. + +14. But, as though bethinking themselves that Ea was a being too mighty +and exalted to be lightly addressed and often disturbed, the +Shumiro-Accads imagined a beneficent spirit, MERIDUG (more correctly +MIRRI-DUGGA), called son of Ea and DAMKINA, (a name of Earth). Meridug's +only office is to act as mediator between his father and suffering +mankind. It is he who bears to Ea the suppliant's request, exposes his +need sometimes in very moving words, and requests to know the remedy--if +illness be the trouble--or the counter-spell, if the victim be held in +the toils of witchcraft. Ea tells his son, who is then supposed to +reveal the secret to the chosen instrument of assistance--of course the +conjuring priest, or better, soothsayer. As most incantations are +conceived on this principle, they are very monotonous in form, though +frequently enlivened by the supposed dialogue between the father and +son. Here is one of the more entertaining specimens. It occupies an +entire tablet, but unfortunately many lines have been hopelessly +injured, and have to be omitted. The text begins: + + "The Disease of the Head has issued from the Abyss, from the + dwelling of the Lord of the Abyss." + +Then follow the symptoms and the description of the sufferer's inability +to help himself. Then "Meridug has looked on his misery. He has entered +the dwelling of his father Ea, and has spoken unto him: + + "'My father, the Disease of the Head has issued from the + Abyss.' + +"A second time he has spoken unto him: + + "'What he must do against it the man knows not. How shall he + find healing?' + +"Ea has replied to his son Meridug: + + "'My son, how dost thou not know? What should I teach thee? + What I know, thou also knowest. But come hither, my son + Meridug. Take a bucket, fill it with water from the mouth of + the rivers; impart to this water thy exalted magic power; + sprinkle with it the man, son of his god, ... wrap up his head, + ... and on the highway pour it out. May insanity be dispelled! + that the disease of his head vanish like a phantom of the + night. May Ea's word drive it out! May Damkina heal him.'" + +15. Another dialogue of the same sort, in which Ea is consulted as to +the means of breaking the power of the Maskim, ends by his revealing +that + + "The white cedar is the tree which breaks the Maskim's noxious + might." + +In fact the white cedar was considered an infallible defence against all +spells and evil powers. Any action or ceremony described in the +conjuration must of course be performed even as the words are spoken. +Then there is a long one, perhaps the best preserved of all, to be +recited by the sufferer, who is supposed to be under the effects of an +evil spell, and from which it is evident that the words are to accompany +actions performed by the conjurer. It is divided into parallel verses, +of which the first runs thus: + + "As this onion is being peeled of its skins, thus shall it be + of the spell. The burning fire shall consume it; it shall no + more be planted in a row, ... the ground shall not receive its + root, its head shall contain no seed and the sun shall not take + care of it;--it shall not be offered at the feast of a god or a + king.--The man who has cast the evil spell, his eldest son, his + wife,--the spell, the lamentations, the transgressions, the + written spells, the blasphemies, the sins,--the evil which is + in my body, in my flesh, in my sores,--may they all be + destroyed as this onion, and may the burning fire consume them + this day! May the evil spell go far away, and may I see the + light again!" + +Then the destruction of a date is similarly described: + + "It shall not return to the bough from which it has been + plucked." + +The untying of a knot: + + "Its threads shall not return to the stem which has produced + them." + +The tearing up of some wool: + + "It shall not return to the back of its sheep." + +The tearing of some stuff, and after each act the second verse: + + "The man who has cast the spell," etc. + +is repeated. + +16. It is devoutly to be hoped, for the patients' sake, that treatments +like these took effect on the disease, for they got no other. Diseases +being conceived as personal demons who entered a man's body of their own +accord or under compulsion from powerful sorcerers, and illness being +consequently considered as a kind of possession, clearly the only thing +to do was to drive out the demon or break the spell with the aid of the +beneficent Ea and his son. If this intervention was of no avail, nothing +remained for the patient but to get well as he could, or to die. This is +why there never was a science of medicine in the proper sense in +Chaldea, even as late as three or four hundred years B.C., and the Greek +travellers who then visited Babylon must have been not a little shocked +at the custom they found there of bringing desperately sick persons out +of the houses with their beds and exposing them in the streets, when any +passer-by could approach them, inquire into the disease and suggest some +remedy--which was sure to be tried as a last chance. This extraordinary +experiment was of course not resorted to until all known forms of +conjuration had been gone through and had proved inefficient. + +17. The belief that certain words and imprecations could break the +power of demons or sorcerers must have naturally led to the notion that +to wear such imprecations, written on some substance or article, always +about one's person must be a continual defence against them; while on +the other hand, words of invocation to the beneficent spirits and images +representing them, worn in the same way, must draw down on the wearer +those spirits' protection and blessing. Hence the passion for talismans. +They were of various kinds: strips of stuff, with the magic words +written on them, to be fastened to the body, or the clothes, or articles +of household furniture, were much used; but small articles of clay or +hard stone were in greater favor on account of their durability. As +houses could be possessed by evil spirits just as well as individuals, +talismans were placed in different parts of them for protection, and +this belief was so enduring that small clay figures of gods were found +in Assyrian palaces under thresholds--as in the palace of Khorsabad, by +Botta--placed there "to keep from it fiends and enemies." It has been +discovered in this manner that many of the sculptures which adorned the +Assyrian palaces and temples were of talismanic nature. Thus the winged +bulls placed at the gateways were nothing but representations of an +Accadian class of guardian spirits,--the _Kirubu_, Hebrew _Kerubim_, of +which we have made _Cherub_, _Cherubim_--who were supposed to keep watch +at entrances, even at that of the Arali, while some sculptures on which +demons, in the shape of hideous monsters, are seen fighting each +other, are, so to speak, imprecations in stone, which, if translated +into words, would mean: "May the evil demons stay outside, may they +assail and fight each other,"--as, in that case, they would clearly have +no leisure to assail the inhabitants of the dwelling. That these +sculptures really were regarded as talismans and expected to guard the +inmates from harm, is abundantly shown by the manner in which they are +mentioned in several inscriptions, down to a very late date. Thus +Esarhaddon, one of the last kings of Assyria (about 700 B.C.), says, +after describing a very sumptuous palace which he had built:--"I placed +in its gates bulls and colossi, who, according to their fixed command, +against the wicked turn themselves; they protect the footsteps, making +peace to be upon the path of the king their creator." + +[Illustration: 54.--DEMONS FIGHTING. (From the British Museum.)] + +18. The cylinder seals with their inscriptions and engraved figures were +mostly also talismans of like nature; which must be the reason why so +many are found in graves, tied to the dead person's wrist by a +string--evidently as a protection against the fiends which the departed +spirit was expected to meet. The magic power was of course conferred on +all talismans by the words which the conjurer spoke over them with the +necessary ceremonies. One such long incantation is preserved entire. It +is designed to impart to the talisman the power of keeping the demons +from all parts of the dwelling, which are singly enumerated, with the +consequences to the demons who would dare to trespass: those who steal +into gutters, remove bolts or hinges, shall be broken like an earthen +jug, crushed like clay; those who overstep the wooden frame of the house +shall be clipped of their wings; those who stretch their neck in at the +window, the window shall descend and cut their throat. The most original +in this class of superstitions was that which, according to Lenormant, +consisted in the notion that all these demons were of so unutterably +ugly a form and countenance, that they must fly away terrified if they +only beheld their own likeness. As an illustration of this principle he +gives an incantation against "the wicked Namtar." It begins with a +highly graphic description of the terrible demon, who is said to "take +man captive like an enemy," to "burn him like a flame," to "double him +up like a bundle," to "assail man, although having neither hand nor +foot, like a noose." Then follows the usual dialogue between Ea and +Meridug, (in the identical words given above), and Ea at length reveals +the prescription: "Come hither, my son Meridug. Take mud of the Ocean +and knead out of it a likeness of him, (the Namtar.) Lay down the man, +after thou hast purified him; lay the image on his bare abdomen, impart +to it my magic power and turn its face westward, that the wicked Namtar, +who dwells in his body, may take up some other abode. Amen." The idea is +that the Namtar, on beholding his own likeness, will flee from it in +dismay! + +[Illustration: 55.--DEMON OF THE SOUTH-WEST WIND. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +19. To this same class belongs a small bronze statuette, which is to be +seen in the Louvre. Mr. Lenormant thus describes it: "It is the image of +a horrible demon, standing, with the body of a dog, the talons of an +eagle, arms ending in a lion's paws, the tail of a scorpion, the head of +a skeleton, but with eyes, and a goat's horns, and with four large wings +at the back, unfolded. A ring placed at the back of the head served to +hang the figure up. Along the back is an inscription in the Accadian +language, informing us that this pretty creature is the Demon of the +South-west Wind, and is to be placed at the door or window. For in +Chaldea the South-west Wind comes from the deserts of Arabia, its +burning breath consumes everything and produces the same ravages as the +Simoon in Africa. Therefore this particular talisman is most frequently +met with. Our museums contain many other figures of demons, used as +talismans to frighten away the evil spirits they were supposed to +represent. One has the head of a goat on a disproportionately long neck; +another shows a hyena's head, with huge open mouth, on a bear's body +with lion's paws." On the principle that possession is best guarded +against by the presence of beneficent spirits, the exorcisms--i.e., +forms of conjuring designed to drive the evil demons out of a man or +dwelling--are usually accompanied with a request to good spirits to +enter the one or the other, instead of the wicked ones who have been +ejected. The supreme power which breaks that of all incantations, +talismans, conjuring rites whatever, is, it would appear, supposed to +reside in a great, divine name,--possibly a name of Ea himself. At all +events, it is Ea's own secret. For even in his dialogues with Meridug, +when entreated for this supreme aid in desperate cases, he is only +supposed to impart it to his son to use against the obdurate demons and +thereby crush their power, but it is not given, so that the demons are +only threatened with it, but it is not actually uttered in the course of +the incantations. + +[Illustration: 56.--HEAD OF DEMON] + +20. Not entirely unassisted did Ea pursue his gigantic task of +protection and healing. Along with him invocations are often addressed +to several other spirits conceived as essentially good divine beings, +whose beneficent influence is felt in many ways. Such was Im, the +Storm-Wind, with its accompanying vivifying showers; such are the +purifying and wholesome Waters, the Rivers and Springs which feed the +earth; above all, such were the Sun and Fire, also the Moon, objects of +double reverence and gratitude because they dispel the darkness of +night, which the Shumiro-Accads loathed and feared excessively, as the +time when the wicked demons are strongest and the power of bad men for +weaving deadly spells is greatest. The third Book of the Collection of +Magic Texts is composed almost entirely of hymns to these deities--as +well as to Ea and Meridug--which betray a somewhat later stage in the +nation's religious development, by the poetical beauty of some of the +fragments, and especially by a purer feeling of adoration and a higher +perception of moral goodness, which are absent from the oldest +incantations. + +21. At noon, when the sun has reached the highest point in its heavenly +course, the earth lies before it without a shadow; all things, good or +bad, are manifest; its beams, after dispelling the unfriendly gloom, +pierce into every nook and cranny, bringing into light all ugly things +that hide and lurk; the evil-doer cowers and shuns its all-revealing +splendor, and, to perform his accursed deeds, waits the return of his +dark accomplice, night. What wonder then that to the Shumiro-Accads UD, +the Sun in all its midday glory, was a very hero of protection, the +source of truth and justice, the "supreme judge in Heaven and on earth," +who "knows lie from truth," who knows the truth that is in the soul of +man. The hymns to Ud that have been deciphered are full of beautiful +images. Take for instance the following:-- + + "O Sun,[AE] I have called unto thee in the bright heavens. In + the shadow of the cedar art thou;" (i.e., it is thou who makest + the cedar to cast its shadow, holy and auspicious as the tree + itself.) "Thy feet are on the summits.... The countries have + wished for thee, they have longed for thy coming, O Lord! Thy + radiant light illumines all countries.... Thou makest lies to + vanish, thou destroyest the noxious influence of portents, + omens, spells, dreams and evil apparitions; thou turnest wicked + plots to a happy issue...." + +This is both true and finely expressed. For what most inveterate +believer in ghosts and apparitions ever feared them by daylight? and the +last touch shows much moral sense and observation of the mysterious +workings of a beneficent power which often not merely defeats evil but +even turns it into good. There is splendid poetry in the following +fragment describing the glory of sunrise:-- + + "O Sun! thou hast stepped forth from the background of heaven, + thou hast pushed back the bolts of the brilliant heaven,--yea, + the gate of heaven. O Sun! above the land thou hast raised thy + head! O Sun! thou hast covered the immeasurable space of heaven + and countries!" + +Another hymn describes how, at the Sun's appearance in the brilliant +portals of the heavens, and during his progress to their highest point, +all the great gods turn to his light, all the good spirits of heaven and +earth gaze up to his face, surround him joyfully and reverently, and +escort him in solemn procession. It needs only to put all these +fragments into fine verse to make out of them a poem which will be held +beautiful even in our day, when from our very childhood we learn to know +the difference between good and poor poetry, growing up, as we do, on +the best of all ages and all countries. + +22. When the sun disappeared in the West, sinking rapidly, and diving, +as it were, into the very midst of darkness, the Shumiro-Accads did not +fancy him as either asleep or inactive, but on the contrary as still +engaged in his everlasting work. Under the name of NIN-DAR, he travels +through the dreary regions ruled by Mul-ge and, his essence being +_light_, he combats the powers of darkness in their own home, till He +comes out of it, a triumphant hero, in the morning. Nin-dar is also the +keeper of the hidden treasures of the earth--its metals and precious +stones, because, according to Mr. Lenormant's ingenious remark, "they +only wait, like him, the moment of emerging out of the earth, to emit a +bright radiancy." This radiancy of precious stones, which is like a +concentration of light in its purest form, was probably the reason why +they were in such general use as talismans, quite as much as their +hardness and durability. + +23. But while the Sun accomplishes his nightly underground journey, men +would be left a prey to mortal terrors in the upper world, deprived of +light, their chief defence against the evil brood of darkness, were it +not for his substitute, Fire, who is by nature also a being of light, +and, as such, the friend of men, from whose paths and dwellings he +scares not only wild beasts and foes armed with open violence, but the +far more dangerous hosts of unseen enemies, both demons and spells cast +by wicked sorcerers. It is in this capacity of protector that the god +GIBIL (Fire) is chiefly invoked. In one very complete hymn he is +addressed thus:-- + + "Thou who drivest away the evil Maskim, who furtherest the + well-being of life, who strikest the breast of the wicked with + terror,--Fire, the destroyer of foes, dread weapon which + drivest away Pestilence." + +This last attribute would show that the Shumiro-Accads had noticed the +hygienic properties of fire, which does indeed help to dispel miasmas +on account of the strong ventilation which a great blaze sets going. +Thus at a comparatively late epoch, some 400 years B.C., a terrible +plague broke out at Athens, the Greek city, and Hippocrates, a physician +of great genius and renown, who has been called "the Father of +Medicine," tried to diminish the contagion by keeping huge fires +continually blazing at different points of the city. It is the same very +correct idea which made men invoke Gibil as he who purifies the works of +man. He is also frequently called "the protector of the dwelling, of the +family," and praised for "creating light in the house of darkness," and +for bringing peace to all creation. Over and above these claims to +gratitude, Gibil had a special importance in the life of a people given +to the works of metallurgy, of which fire is the chief agent: "It is +thou," says one hymn, "who mixest tin and copper, it is thou who +purifiest silver and gold." Now the mixture of tin and copper produces +bronze, the first metal which has been used to make weapons and tools +of, in most cases long before iron, which is much more difficult to +work, and as the quality of the metal depends on the proper mixture of +the two ingredients, it is but natural that the aid of the god Fire +should have been specially invoked for the operation. But Fire is not +only a great power on earth, it is also, in the shape of Lightning, one +of the dreadest and most mysterious powers of the skies, and as such +sometimes called son of Ana (Heaven), or, in a more roundabout way, "the +Hero, son of the Ocean"--meaning the celestial Ocean, the great +reservoir of rains, from which the lightning seems to spring, as it +flashes through the heavy showers of a Southern thunder storm. In +whatever shape he appear, and whatever his functions, Gibil is hailed as +an invariably beneficent and friendly being. + +24. When the feeling of helplessness forced on man by his position in +the midst of nature takes the form of a reverence for and dependence on +beings whom he conceives of as essentially good, a far nobler religion +and far higher moral tone are the immediate consequence. This conception +of absolute goodness sprang from the observation that certain beings or +spirits--like the Sun, Fire, the Thunderstorm--though possessing the +power of doing both good and harm, used it almost exclusively for the +benefit of men. This position once firmly established, the conclusion +naturally followed, that if these good beings once in awhile sent down a +catastrophe or calamity,--if the Sun scorched the fields or the +Thunderstorm swamped them, if the wholesome North Wind swept away the +huts and broke down the trees--it must be in anger, as a mark of +displeasure--in punishment. By what could man provoke the displeasure of +kind and beneficent beings? Clearly by not being like them, by doing not +good, but evil. And what is evil? That which is contrary to the nature +of the good spirits: doing wrong and harm to men; committing sins and +wicked actions. To avoid, therefore, provoking the anger of those good +but powerful spirits, so terrible in its manifestations, it is +necessary to try to please them, and that can be done only by being +like them,--good, or at least striving to be so, and, when temptation, +ignorance, passion or weakness of will have betrayed man into a +transgression, to confess it, express regret for the offence and an +intention not to offend again, in order to obtain forgiveness and be +spared. A righteous life, then, prayer and repentance are the proper +means of securing divine favor or mercy. It is evident that a religion +from which such lessons naturally spring is a great improvement on a +belief in beings who do good or evil indiscriminately, indeed prefer +doing evil, a belief which cannot teach a distinction between moral +right and wrong, or a rational distribution of rewards or punishment, +nor consequently inculcate the feeling of duty and responsibility, +without which goodness as a matter of principle is impossible and a +reliable state of society unattainable. + +25. This higher and therefore later stage of moral and religious +development is very perceptible in the third book of the Magic +Collection. With the appreciation of absolute goodness, conscience has +awakened, and speaks with such insistence and authority that the +Shumiro-Accad, in the simplicity of his mind, has earnestly imagined it +to be the voice of a personal and separate deity, a guardian spirit +belonging to each man, dwelling within him and living his life. It is a +god--sometimes even a divine couple, both "god and goddess, pure +spirits"--who protects him from his birth, yet is not proof against the +spells of sorcerers and the attacks of the demons, and even can be +compelled to work evil in the person committed to its care, and +frequently called therefore "the son of his god," as we saw above, in +the incantation against the Disease of the Head. The conjuration or +exorcism which drives out the demon, of course restores the guardian +spirit to its own beneficent nature, and the patient not only to bodily +well-being, but also to peace of mind. That is what is desired, when a +prayer for the cure of a sick or possessed person ends with the words: +"May he be placed again in the gracious hands of his god!" When +therefore a man is represented as speaking to "his god" and confessing +to him his sin and distress, it is only a way of expressing that silent +self-communing of the soul, in which it reviews its own deficiencies, +forms good resolutions and prays to be released from the intolerable +burden of sin. There are some most beautiful prayers of this sort in the +collection. They have been called "the Penitential Psalms," from their +striking likeness to some of those psalms in which King David confesses +his iniquities and humbles himself before the Lord. The likeness extends +to both spirit and form, almost to words. If the older poet, in his +spiritual groping, addresses "his god and goddess," the higher, better +self which he feels within him and feels to be divine--his Conscience, +instead of the One God and Lord, his feeling is not less earnest, his +appeal not less pure and confiding. He confesses his transgression, but +pleads ignorance and sues for mercy. Here are some of the principal +verses, of which each is repeated twice, once addressed to "my god," +and the second time to "my goddess." The title of the Psalm is: "The +complaints of the repentant heart. Sixty-five verses in all." + + 26. "My Lord, may the anger of his heart be allayed! May the + fool attain understanding! The god who knows the unknown, may + he be conciliated! The goddess who knows the unknown, may she + be conciliated!--I eat the food of wrath and drink the waters + of anguish.... O my god, my transgressions are very great, very + great my sins.... I transgress, and know it not. I sin, and + know it not. I feed on transgressions, and know it not. I + wander on wrong paths, and know it not.--The Lord, in the wrath + of his heart, has overwhelmed me with confusion.... I lie on + the ground, and none reaches a hand to me. I am silent and in + tears, and none takes me by the hand. I cry out, and there is + none that hears me. I am exhausted, oppressed, and none + releases me.... My god, who knowest the unknown, be + merciful!... My goddess, who knowest the unknown, be + merciful!... How long, O my god?... How long, O my goddess?... + Lord, thou wilt not repulse thy servant. In the midst of the + stormy waters, come to my assistance, take me by the hand! I + commit sins--turn them into blessedness! I commit + transgressions--let the wind sweep them away! My blasphemies + are very many--rend them like a garment!... God who knowest the + unknown,[AF] my sins are seven times seven,--forgive my + sins!..." + +27. The religious feeling once roused to this extent, it is not to be +wondered at that in some invocations the distress or disease which had +formerly been taken as a gratuitous visitation, begins to be considered +in the light of a divine punishment, even though the afflicted person be +the king himself. This is very evident from the concluding passage of a +hymn to the Sun, in which it is the conjurer who speaks on behalf of the +patient, while presenting an offering:-- + + "O Sun, leave not my uplifted hands unregarded!--Eat his food, + refuse not his sacrifice, bring back his god to him, to be a + support unto his hand!--May his sin, at thy behest, be forgiven + him, his misdeed be forgotten!--May his trouble leave him! May + he recover from his illness!--Give to the king new vital + strength.... Escort the king, who lies at thy feet!--Also me, + the conjurer, thy respectful servant!" + +28. There is another hymn of the same kind, not less remarkable for its +artistic and regular construction than for its beauty of feeling and +diction. The penitent speaks five double lines, and the priest adds two +more, as though endorsing the prayer and supporting it with the weight +of his own sacred character. This gives very regular strophes, of which, +unfortunately, only two have been well preserved:-- + + _Penitent._--"I, thy servant, full of sighs, I call to thee. + Whoever is beset with sin, his ardent supplication thou + acceptest. If thou lookest on a man with pity, that man liveth. + Ruler of all, mistress of mankind! Merciful one, to whom it is + good to turn, who dost receive sighs!" _Priest._--"While his + god and his goddess are wroth with him he calls on thee. Thy + countenance turn on him, take hold of his hand." + + _Penitent._--"Besides thee there is no deity to lead in + righteousness. Kindly look on me, accept my sighs. Speak: how + long? and let thine heart be appeased. When, O Lady, will thy + countenance turn on me? Even like doves I moan, I feed on + sighs." _Priest._--"His heart is full of woe and trouble, and + full of sighs. Tears he sheds and breaks out into + lamentation."[AG] + +29. Such is a not incomplete outline of this strange and primitive +religion, the religion of a people whose existence was not suspected +twenty-five years ago, yet which claims, with the Egyptians and the +Chinese, the distinction of being one of the oldest on earth, and in all +probability was older than both. This discovery is one of the most +important conquests of modern science, not only from its being highly +interesting in itself, but from the light it throws on innumerable +hitherto obscure points in the history of the ancient world, nay, on +many curious facts which reach down to our own time. Thus, the numerous +Turanian tribes which exist in a wholly or half nomadic condition in the +immense plains of Eastern and South-eastern Russia, in the forests and +wastes of Siberia, on the steppes and highlands of Central Asia, have no +other religion now than this of the old Shumiro-Accads, in its earliest +and most material shape. Everything to them is a spirit or has a spirit +of its own; they have no worship, no moral teaching, but only conjuring, +sorcerers, not priests. These men are called _Shamans_ and have great +influence among the tribes. The more advanced and cultivated Turanians, +like the Mongols and Mandchous, accord to one great Spirit the supremacy +over all others and call that Spirit which they conceive as absolutely +good, merciful and just, "Heaven," just as the Shumiro-Accads invoked +"Ana." This has been and still is the oldest national religion of the +Chinese. They say "Heaven" wherever we would say "God," and with the +same idea of loving adoration and reverent dread, which does not prevent +them from invoking the spirit of every hill, river, wind or forest, and +numbering among this host also the souls of the deceased. This clearly +corresponds to the second and higher stage of the Accadian religion, and +marks the utmost limit which the Yellow Race have been able to attain in +spiritual life. True, the greater part of the Chinese now have another +religion; they are Buddhists; while the Turks and the great majority of +the Tatars, Mongols and Mandchous, not to speak of other less important +divisions, are Mussulmans. But both Buddhism and Mahometanism are +foreign religions, which they have borrowed, adopted, not worked out for +themselves. Here then we are also met by that fatal law of limitation, +which through all ages seems to have said to the men of yellow skin and +high cheek-bones, "Thus far shalt thou go, and no further." Thus it was +in Chaldea. The work of civilization and spiritual development begun by +the people of Shumir and Accad was soon taken out of their hands and +carried on by newcomers from the east, those descendants of Noah, who +"found a plain in the land of Shinar and dwelt there." + + + APPENDIX TO CHAPTER III. + +Professor Louis Dyer, of Harvard University, has attempted a rendering +into English verse of the famous incantation of the Seven Maskim. The +result of the experiment is a translation most faithful in the spirit +and main features, if not always literal; and which, by his kind +permission, we here offer to our readers. + + + A CHARM. + + I. + + Seven are they, they are seven; + In the caverns of ocean they dwell, + They are clothed in the lightnings of heaven, + Of their growth the deep waters can tell; + Seven are they, they are seven. + + II. + + Broad is their way and their course is wide, + Where the seeds of destruction they sow, + O'er the tops of the hills where they stride, + To lay waste the smooth highways below,-- + Broad is their way and their course is wide. + + III. + + Man they are not, nor womankind, + For in fury they sweep from the main, + And have wedded no wife but the wind, + And no child have begotten but pain,-- + Man they are not, nor womankind. + + IV. + + Fear is not in them, not awe; + Supplication they heed not, nor prayer, + For they know no compassion nor law, + And are deaf to the cries of despair,-- + Fear is not in them, not awe. + + V. + + Cursed they are, they are cursed, + They are foes to wise Ea's great name; + By the whirlwind are all things dispersed + On the paths of the flash of their flame,-- + Cursed they are, they are cursed. + + VI. + + Spirit of Heaven, oh, help! Help, oh, Spirit of Earth! + They are seven, thrice said they are seven; + For the gods they are Bearers of Thrones, + But for men they are Breeders of Dearth + And the authors of sorrows and moans. + They are seven, thrice said they are seven. + Spirit of Heaven, oh, help! Help, oh, Spirit of Earth! + +FOOTNOTES: + +[AC] "La Magie et la Divination chez les Chaldeens," 1874-5. German +translation of it, 1878. + +[AD] Alfred Maury, "La Magie et l'Astrologie dans l'Antiquite et au +Moyen-age." Introduction, p. 1. + +[AE] "UD" not being a proper name, but the name of the sun in the +language of Shumir and Accad, it can be rendered in translation by +"Sun," with a capital. + +[AF] Another and more recent translator renders this line: "God who +knowest I knew not." Whichever rendering is right, the thought is +beautiful and profound. + +[AG] This hymn is given by H. Zimmern, as the text to a dissertation on +the language and grammar. + + + + + IV. + + CUSHITES AND SEMITES.--EARLY CHALDEAN HISTORY. + + +1. We have just seen that the hymns and prayers which compose the third +part of the great Magic Collection really mark a later and higher stage +in the religious conceptions of the Turanian settlers of Chaldea, the +people of Shumir and Accad. This improvement was not entirely due to a +process of natural development, but in a great measure to the influence +of that other and nobler race, who came from the East. When the priestly +historian of Babylon, Berosus, calls the older population "men of +foreign race," it is because he belonged himself to that second race, +who remained in the land, introduced their own superior culture, and +asserted their supremacy to the end of Babylon. The national legends +have preserved the memory of this important event, which they represent +as a direct divine revelation. Ea, the all-wise himself, it was +believed, had appeared to men and taught them things human and divine. +Berosus faithfully reports the legend, but seems to have given the God's +name "Ea-Han" ("Ea the Fish") under the corrupted Greek form of OANNES. +This is the narrative, of which we already know the first line: + +"There was originally at Babylon a multitude of men of foreign race who +had colonized Chaldea, and they lived without order, like animals. But +in the first year" (meaning the first year of the new order of things, +the new dispensation) "there appeared, from out of the Erythrean Sea +(the ancient Greek name for the Persian Gulf) where it borders upon +Babylonia, an animal endowed with reason, who was called OANNES. The +whole body of the animal was that of a fish, but under the fish's head +he had another head, and also feet below, growing out of his fish's +tail, similar to those of a man; also human speech, and his image is +preserved to this day. This being used to spend the whole day amidst +men, without taking any food, and he gave them an insight into letters, +and sciences, and every kind of art; he taught them how to found cities, +to construct temples, to introduce laws and to measure land; he showed +them how to sow seeds and gather in crops; in short, he instructed them +in everything that softens manners and makes up civilization, so that +from that time no one has invented anything new. Then, when the sun went +down, this monstrous Oannes used to plunge back into the sea and spend +the night in the midst of the boundless waves, for he was amphibious." + +2. The question, _Who_ were the bringers of this advanced civilization? +has caused much division among the most eminent scholars. Two solutions +are offered. Both being based on many and serious grounds and supported +by illustrious names, and the point being far from settled yet, it is +but fair to state them both. The two greatest of German assyriologists, +Professors Eberhard Schrader and Friedrich Delitzsch, and the German +school which acknowledges them as leaders, hold that the bringers of the +new and more perfect civilization were Semites--descendants of Shem, +i.e., people of the same race as the Hebrews--while the late Francois +Lenormant and his followers contend that they were Cushites in the first +instance,--i.e., belonged to that important family of nations which we +find grouped, in Chapter X. of Genesis, under the name of Cush, himself +a son of Ham--and that the Semitic immigration came second. As the +latter hypothesis puts forward, among other arguments, the authority of +the Biblical historians, and moreover involves the destinies of a very +numerous and vastly important branch of ancient humanity, we will yield +to it the right of precedence. + +[Illustration: 57.--OANNES. (Smith's "Chaldean Genesis.")] + +3. The name "HAM" signifies "brown, dark" (not "black"). Therefore, to +speak of certain nations as "sons of Ham," is to say that they belonged +to "the Dark Race." Yet, originally, this great section of Noah's +posterity was as white of color as the other two. It seems to have first +existed as a separate race in a region not very distant from the high +table-land of Central Asia, the probable first cradle of mankind. That +division of this great section which again separated and became the race +of Cush, appears to have been drawn southwards by reasons which it is, +of course, impossible to ascertain. It is easier to guess at the route +they must have taken along the HINDU CUSH,[AH] a range of mountains +which must have been to it a barrier in the west, and which joins the +western end of the Himalaya, the mightiest mountain-chain in the world. +The break between the Hindu-Cush and the Himalaya forms a mountain pass, +just at the spot where the river INDUS (most probably the PISCHON of +Gen., Ch. II.) turns abruptly to the south, to water the rich plains of +India. Through this pass, and following the course of the river, further +Cushite detachments must have penetrated into that vast and attractive +peninsula, even to the south of it, where they found a population mostly +belonging to the Black branch of humanity, so persistently ignored by +the writer of Chap. X. Hundreds of years spent under a tropical clime +and intermarriage with the Negro natives altered not only the color of +their skin, but also the shape of their features. So that when Cushite +tribes, with the restless migratory spirit so characteristic of all +early ages, began to work their way back again to the north, then to the +west, along the shores of the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, they +were both dark-skinned and thick-lipped, with a decided tendency towards +the Negro type, lesser or greater according to the degree of mixture +with the inferior race. That this type was foreign to them is proved by +the facility with which their features resumed the nobler cast of the +white races wherever they stayed long enough among these, as was the +case in Chaldea, in Arabia, in the countries of Canaan, whither many of +these tribes wandered at various times. + +4. Some Cushite detachments, who reached the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, +crossed over into Africa, and settling there amidst the barbarous native +negro tribes, formed a nation which became known to its northern +neighbors, the Egyptians, to the Hebrews, and throughout the ancient +East under its own proper name of CUSH, and whose outward +characteristics came, in the course of time, so near to the pure Negro +type as to be scarcely recognizable from it. This is the same nation +which, to us moderns, is better known under the name of ETHIOPIANS, +given to it by the Greeks, as well as to the eastern division of the +same race. The Egyptians themselves were another branch of the same +great section of humanity, represented in the genealogy of Chap. X. by +the name of MIZRAIM, second son of Ham. These must have come from the +east along the Persian Gulf, then across Northern Arabia and the Isthmus +of Suez. In the color and features of the Egyptians the mixture with +black races is also noticeable, but not enough to destroy the beauty and +expressiveness of the original type, at all events far less than in +their southern neighbors, the Ethiopians, with whom, moreover, they were +throughout on the worst of terms, whom they loathed and invariably +designated under the name of "vile Cush." + +5. A third and very important branch of the Hamite family, the +CANAANITES, after reaching the Persian Gulf, and probably sojourning +there some time, spread, not to the south, but to the west, across the +plains of Syria, across the mountain chain of LEBANON and to the very +edge of the Mediterranean Sea, occupying all the land which later became +Palestine, also to the north-west, as far as the mountain chain of +TAURUS. This group was very numerous, and broken up into a great many +peoples, as we can judge from the list of nations given in Chap. X. (v. +15-18) as "sons of Canaan." In its migrations over this comparatively +northern region, Canaan found and displaced not black natives, but +Turanian nomadic tribes, who roamed at large over grassy wildernesses +and sandy wastes and are possibly to be accounted as the representatives +of that portion of the race which the biblical historian embodies in the +pastoral names of Jabal and Jubal--(Gen. iv., 20-22)--"The father of +such as dwell in tents and have cattle," and "the father of all such as +handle the harp and pipe." In which case the Turanian settlers and +builders of cities would answer to Tubalcain, the smith and artificer. +The Canaanites, therefore, are those among the Hamites who, in point of +color and features, have least differed from their kindred white races, +though still sufficiently bronzed to be entitled to the name of "sons of +Ham," i.e., "belonging to the dark-skinned race." + +6. Migrating races do not traverse continents with the same rapidity as +marching armies. The progress is slow, the stations are many. Every +station becomes a settlement, sometimes the beginning of a new +nation--so many landmarks along the way. And the distance between the +starting-point and the furthest point reached by the race is measured +not only by thousands of miles, but also by hundreds and hundreds of +years; only the space can be actually measured; while the time can be +computed merely by conjecture. The route from the south of India, along +the shore of Malabar, the Persian Gulf, across the Arabian deserts, then +down along the Red Sea and across the straits into Africa, is of such +tremendous length that the settlements which the Cushite race left +scattered along it must have been more than usually numerous. According +to the upholders of a Cushite colonization of Chaldea, one important +detachment appears to have taken possession of the small islands along +the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf and to have stayed there for +several centuries, probably choosing these island homes on account of +their seclusion and safety from invasion. There, unmolested and +undisturbed, they could develop a certain spirit of abstract speculation +to which their natural bent inclined them. They were great star-gazers +and calculators--two tastes which go well together, for Astronomy cannot +exist without Mathematics. But star-gazing is also favorable to +dreaming, and the Cushite islanders had time for dreams. Thoughts of +heavenly things occupied them much; they worked out a religion beautiful +in many ways and full of deep sense; their priests dwelt in communities +or colleges, probably one on every island, and spent their time not only +in scientific study and religious contemplation, but also in the more +practical art of government, for there do not appear as yet to have +been any kings among them. + +7. But there came a time when the small islands were overcrowded with +the increased population, and detachments began to cross the water and +land at the furthest point of the Gulf, in the land of the great rivers. +Here they found a people not unpractised in several primitive arts, and +possessed of some important fundamental inventions--writing, irrigation +by means of canals--but deplorably deficient in spiritual development, +and positively barbarous in the presence of an altogether higher +culture. The Cushites rapidly spread through the land of Shumir and +Accad, and taught the people with whom they afterwards, as usual, +intermarried, until both formed but one nation--with this difference, +that towards the north of Chaldea the Cushite element became +predominant, while in the south numbers remained on the side of the +Turanians. Whether this result was attained altogether peacefully or was +preceded by a period of resistance and fighting, we have no means of +ascertaining. If there was such a period, it cannot have lasted long, +for intellect was on the side of the newcomers, and that is a power +which soon wins the day. At all events the final fusion must have been +complete and friendly, since the old national legend reported by Berosus +cleverly combines the two elements, by attributing the part of teacher +and revealer to the Shumiro-Accad's own favorite divine being Ea, while +it is not impossible that it alludes to the coming of the Cushites in +making the amphibious Oannes rise out of the Persian Gulf, "where it +borders on Chaldea." The legend goes on to say that Oannes set down his +revelations in books which he consigned into the keeping of men, and +that several more divine animals of the same kind continued to appear at +long intervals. Who knows but the latter strange detail may have been +meant to allude fantastically to the arrival of successive Cushite +colonies? In the long run of time, of course all such meaning would be +forgotten and the legend remain as a miraculous and inexplicable +incident. + +8. It would be vain to attempt to fix any dates for events which took +place in such remote antiquity, in the absence of any evidence or +document that might be grasped. Yet, by close study of facts, by +laborious and ingenious comparing of later texts, of every scrap of +evidence furnished by monuments, of information contained in the +fragments of Berosus and of other writers, mostly Greek, it has been +possible, with due caution, to arrive at some approximative dates, +which, after all, are all that is needed to classify things in an order +intelligible and correct in the main. Even should further discoveries +and researches arrive at more exact results, the gain will be +comparatively small. At such a distance, differences of a couple of +centuries do not matter much. When we look down a long line of houses or +trees, the more distant ones appear to run together, and we do not +always see where it ends--yet we can perfectly well pursue its +direction. The same with the so-called double stars in astronomy: they +are stars which, though really separated by thousands of miles, appear +as one on account of the immense distance between them and our eye, and +only the strongest telescope lenses show them to be separate bodies, +though still close together. Yet this is sufficient to assign them their +place so correctly on the map of the heavens, that they do not disturb +the calculations in which they are included. The same kind of +perspective applies to the history of remote antiquity. As the gloom +which has covered it so long slowly rolls back before the light of +scientific research, we begin to discern outlines and landmarks, at +first so dim and wavering as rather to mislead than to instruct; but +soon the searcher's eye, sharpened by practice, fixes them sufficiently +to bring them into connection with the later and more fully illumined +portions of the eternally unrolling picture. Chance, to which all +discoverers are so much indebted, frequently supplies such a landmark, +and now and then one so firm and distinct as to become a trustworthy +centre for a whole group. + +9. The annals of the Assyrian king Asshurbanipal (the founder of the +great Library at Nineveh) have established beyond a doubt the first +positive date that has been secured for the History of Chaldea. That +king was for a long time at war with the neighboring kingdom of ELAM, +and ended by conquering and destroying its capital, SHUSHAN (Susa), +after carrying away all the riches from the royal palace and all the +statues from the great temple. This happened in the year 645 B.C. In the +inscriptions in which he records this event, the king informs us that in +that temple he found a statue of the Chaldean goddess NANA, which had +been carried away from her own temple in the city of URUKH (Erech, now +Warka) by a king of Elam of the name of KHUDUR-NANKHUNDI, who invaded +the land of Accad 1635 years before, and that he, Asshurbanipal, by the +goddess's own express command, took her from where she had dwelt in +Elam, "a place not appointed her," and reinstated her in her own +sanctuary "which she had delighted in." 1635 added to 645 make 2280, a +date not to be disputed. Now if a successful Elamite invasion in 2280 +found in Chaldea famous sanctuaries to desecrate, the religion to which +these sanctuaries belonged, that of the Cushite, or Semitic colonists, +must have been established in the country already for several, if not +many, centuries. Indeed, quite recent discoveries show that it had been +so considerably over a thousand years, so that we cannot possibly accept +a date later than 4000 B.C. for the foreign immigration. The +Shumiro-Accadian culture was too firmly rooted then and too completely +worked out--as far as it went--to allow less than about 1000 years for +its establishment. This takes us as far back as 5000 B.C.--a pretty +respectable figure, especially when we think of the vista of time which +opens behind it, and for which calculation fairly fails us. For if the +Turanian settlers brought the rudiments of that culture from the +highlands of Elam, how long had they sojourned there before they +descended into the plains? And how long had it taken them to reach that +station on their way from the race's mountain home in the far +Northeast, in the Altai valleys? + +10. However that may be, 5000 B.C. is a moderate and probable date. But +ancient nations were not content with such, when they tried to locate +and classify their own beginnings. These being necessarily obscure and +only vaguely shadowed out in traditions which gained in fancifulness and +lost in probability with every succeeding generation that received them +and handed them down to the next, they loved to magnify them by +enshrouding them in the mystery of innumerable ages. The more appalling +the figures, the greater the glory. Thus we gather from some fragments +of Berosus that, according to the national Chaldean tradition, there was +an interval of over 259,000 years between the first appearance of Oannes +and the first king. Then come ten successive kings, each of whom reigns +a no less extravagant number of years (one 36,000, another 43,000, even +64,000; 10,800 being the most modest figure), till the aggregate of all +these different periods makes up the pretty sum total of 691,200 years, +supposed to have elapsed from the first appearance of Oannes to the +Deluge. It is so impossible to imagine so prodigious a number of years +or couple with it anything at all real, that we might just as well +substitute for such a figure the simpler "very, very long ago," or still +better, the approved fairy tale beginning, "There was once upon a time, +..." It conveys quite as definite a notion, and would, in such a case, +be the more appropriate, that all a nation's most marvellous +traditions, most fabulous legends, are naturally placed in those +stupendously remote ages which no record could reach, no experience +control. Although these traditions and legends generally had a certain +body of actual truth and dimly remembered fact in them, which might +still be apparent to the learned and the cultivated few, the ignorant +masses of the people swallowed the thing whole, as real history, and +found things acknowledged as impossible easy to believe, for the simple +reason that "it was so very long ago!" A Chaldean of Alexander's time +certainly did not expect to meet a divine Man-Fish in his walks along +the sea-shore, but--there was no knowing what might or might not have +happened seven hundred thousand years ago! In the legend of the six +successive apparitions under the first ten long-lived kings, he would +not have descried the simple sense so lucidly set forth by Mr. Maspero, +one of the most distinguished of French Orientalists:--"The times +preceding the Deluge represented an experimental period, during which +mankind, being as yet barbarous, had need of divine assistance to +overcome the difficulties with which it was surrounded. Those times were +filled up with six manifestations of the deity, doubtless answering to +the number of sacred books in which the priests saw the most complete +expression of revealed law."[AI] This presents another and more probable +explanation of the legend than the one suggested above, (end of Sec. 7); +but there is no more actual _proof_ of the one than of the other being +the correct one. + +11. If Chaldea was in after times a battle-ground of nations, it was in +the beginning a very nursery and hive of peoples. The various races in +their migrations must necessarily have been attracted and arrested by +the exceeding fertility of its soil, which it is said, in the times of +its highest prosperity and under proper conditions of irrigation, +yielded two hundredfold return for the grain it received. Settlement +must have followed settlement in rapid succession. But the nomadic +element was for a long time still very prevalent, and side by side with +the builders of cities and tillers of fields, shepherd tribes roamed +peacefully over the face of the land, tolerated and unmolested by the +permanent population, with which they mixed but warily, occasionally +settling down temporarily, and shifting their settlements as safety or +advantage required it,--or wandering off altogether from that common +halting-place, to the north, and west, and south-west. This makes it +very plain why Chaldea is given as the land where the tongues became +confused and the second separation of races took place. + +12. Of those principally nomadic tribes the greatest part did not +belong, like the Cushites or Canaanites, to the descendants of Ham, "the +Dark," but to those of SHEM, whose name, signifying "Glory, Renown," +stamps him as the eponymous ancestor of that race which has always +firmly believed itself to be the chosen one of God. They were Semites. +When they arrived on the plains of Chaldea, they were inferior in +civilization to the people among whom they came to dwell. They knew +nothing of city arts and had all to learn. They did learn, for superior +culture always asserts its power,--even to the language of the Cushite +settlers, which the latter were rapidly substituting for the rude and +poor Turanian idiom of Shumir and Accad. This language, or rather +various dialects of it, were common to most Hamitic and Semitic tribes, +among whom that from which the Hebrews sprang brought it to its greatest +perfection. The others worked it into different kindred dialects--the +Assyrian, the Aramaic or Syrian, the Arabic--according to their several +peculiarities. The Phoenicians of the sea-shore, and all the Canaanite +nations, also spoke languages belonging to the same family, and +therefore classed among the so-called Semitic tongues. Thus it has come +to pass that philology,--or the Science of Languages,--adopted a wrong +name for that entire group, calling the languages belonging to it, +"Semitic," while, in reality, they are originally "Hamitic." The reason +is that the Hamitic origin of those important languages which have been +called Semitic these hundred years had not been discovered until very +lately, and to change the name now would produce considerable confusion. + +13. Most of the Semitic tribes who dwelt in Chaldea adopted not only the +Cushite language, but the Cushite culture and religion. Asshur carried +all three northward, where the Assyrian kingdom arose out of a few +Babylonian colonies, and Aram westward to the land which was afterwards +called Southern Syria, and where the great city of Damascus long +flourished and still exists. But there was one tribe of higher spiritual +gifts than the others. It was not numerous, for through many generations +it consisted of only one great family governed by its own eldest chief +or patriarch. It is true that such a family, with the patriarch's own +children and children's children, its wealth of horses, camels, flocks +of sheep, its host of servants and slaves, male and female, represented +quite a respectable force; Abraham could muster three hundred eighteen +armed and _trained_ servants who had been born in his own household. +This particular tribe seems to have wandered for some time on the +outskirts of Chaldea and in the land itself, as indicated by the name +given to its eponym in Chap. X.: ARPHAXAD (more correctly ARPHAKSHAD), +corrupted from AREPH-KASDIM, which means, "bordering on the Chaldeans," +or perhaps "boundaries"--in the sense of "land"--of the Chaldeans. +Generation after generation pushed further westward, traversed the land +of Shinar, crossed the Euphrates and reached the city of Ur, in or near +which the tribe dwelt many years. + +14. Ur was then the greatest city of Southern Chaldea. The earliest +known kings of Shumir resided in it, and besides that, it was the +principal commercial mart of the country. For, strange as it may appear +when we look on a modern map, Ur, the ruins of which are now 150 miles +from the sea, was then a maritime city, with harbor and ship docks. The +waters of the Gulf reached much further inland than they do now. There +was then a distance of many miles between the mouths of the Tigris and +Euphrates, and Ur lay very near the mouth of the latter river. Like all +commercial and maritime cities, it was the resort not only of all the +different races which dwelt in the land itself, but also of foreign +traders. The active intellectual life of a capital, too, which was at +the same time a great religious centre and the seat of a powerful +priesthood, must of necessity have favored interchange of ideas, and +have exerted an influence on that Semitic tribe of whom the Bible tells +us that it "went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of +Canaan," led by the patriarch Terah and his son Abraham (Genesis xi. +31). The historian of Genesis here, as throughout the narrative, does +not mention any date whatever for the event he relates; nor does he hint +at the cause of this removal. On the first of these points the study of +Chaldean cuneiform monuments throws considerable light, while the latter +does not admit of more than guesses--of which something hereafter. + +15. Such is a broad and cursory outline of the theory according to which +Cushite immigrations preceded the arrival of the Semites in the land of +Shumir and Accad. Those who uphold it give several reasons for their +opinion, such as that the Bible several times mentions a Cush located in +the East and evidently different from the Cush which has been identified +as Ethiopia; that, in Chap. X. of Genesis (8-12), Nimrod, the legendary +hero, whose empire at first was in "the land of Shinar," and who is +said to have "gone forth out of that land into Assyria," is called a son +of Cush; that the most ancient Greek poets knew of "Ethiopians" in the +far East as opposed to those of the South--and several more. Those +scholars who oppose this theory dismiss it wholesale. They will not +admit the existence of a Cushite element or migration in the East at +all, and put down the expressions in the Bible as simple mistakes, +either of the writers or copyists. According to them, there was only one +immigration in the land of Shumir and Accad, that of the Semites, +achieved through many ages and in numerous instalments. The language +which superseded the ancient Shumiro-Accadian idiom is to them a Semitic +one in the directest and most exclusive sense; the culture grafted on +that of the earlier population is by them called purely "Semitic;" while +their opponents frequently use the compound designation of +"Cushito-Semitic," to indicate the two distinct elements of which, to +them, it appears composed. It must be owned that the anti-Cushite +opinion is gaining ground. Yet the Cushite theory cannot be considered +as disposed of, only "not proven,"--or not sufficiently so, and +therefore in abeyance and fallen into some disfavor. With this proviso +we shall adopt the word "Semitic," as the simpler and more generally +used. + +16. It is only with the rise of Semitic culture in Southern Mesopotamia +that we enter on a period which, however remote, misty, and full of +blanks, may still be called, in a measure, "historical," because there +is a certain number of facts, of which contemporary monuments give +positive evidence. True, the connection between those facts is often not +apparent; their causes and effects are frequently not to be made out +save by more or less daring conjectures; still there are numerous +landmarks of proven fact, and with these real history begins. No matter +if broad gaps have to be left open or temporarily filled with guesses. +New discoveries are almost daily turning up, inscriptions, texts, which +unexpectedly here supply a missing link, there confirm or demolish a +conjecture, establish or correct dates which had long been puzzles or +suggested on insufficient foundations. In short, details may be supplied +as yet brokenly and sparingly, but the general outline of the condition +of Chaldea may be made out as far back as forty centuries before Christ. + +17. Of one thing there can be no doubt: that our earliest glimpse of the +political condition of Chaldea shows us the country divided into +numerous small states, each headed by a great city, made famous and +powerful by the sanctuary or temple of some particular deity, and ruled +by a _patesi_, a title which is now thought to mean _priest-king_, i.e., +priest and king in one. There can be little doubt that the beginning of +the city was everywhere the temple, with its college of ministering +priests, and that the surrounding settlement was gradually formed by +pilgrims and worshippers. That royalty developed out of the priesthood +is also more than probable, and consequently must have been, in its +first stage, a form of priestly rule, and, in a great measure, +subordinate to priestly influence. There comes a time when for the title +of _patesi_ is substituted that of "king" simply--a change which very +possibly indicates the assumption by the kings of a more independent +attitude towards the class from which their power originally sprang. It +is noticeable that the distinction between the Semitic newcomers and the +indigenous Shumiro-Accadians continues long to be traceable in the names +of the royal temple-builders, even after the new Semitic idiom, which we +call the Assyrian, had entirely ousted the old language--a process which +must have taken considerable time, for it appears, and indeed stands to +reason, that the newcomers, in order to secure the wished for influence +and propagate their own culture, at first not only learned to understand +but actually used themselves the language of the people among whom they +came, at least in their public documents. This it is that explains the +fact that so many inscriptions and tablets, while written in the dialect +of Shumir or Accad, are Semitic in spirit and in the grade of culture +they betray. Furthermore, even superficial observation shows that the +old language and the old names survive longest in Shumir,--the South. +From this fact it is to be inferred with little chance of mistake that +the North,--the land of Accad,--was earlier Semitized, that the Semitic +immigrants established their first headquarters in that part of the +country, that their power and influence thence spread to the South. + +18. Fully in accordance with these indications, the first grand +historical figure that meets us at the threshold of Chaldean history, +dim with the mists of ages and fabulous traditions, yet unmistakably +real, is that of the Semite SHARRUKIN, king of Accad--or AGADE, as the +great Northern city came to be called--more generally known in history +under the corrupt modern reading of SARGON, and called Sargon I., "the +First," to distinguish him from another monarch of the same name who was +found to have reigned many centuries later. As to the city of Agade, it +is no other than the city of Accad mentioned in Genesis x., 10. It was +situated close to the Euphrates on a wide canal just opposite Sippar, so +that in time the two cities came to be considered as one double city, +and the Hebrews always called it "the two Sippars"--SEPHARVAIM, which is +often spoken of in the Bible. It was there that Sharrukin established +his rule, and a statue was afterwards raised to him there, the +inscription on which, making him speak, as usual, in the first person, +begins with the proud declaration: "Sharrukin, the mighty king, the king +of Agade, am I." Yet, although his reforms and conquests were of lasting +importance, and himself remained one of the favorite heroes of Chaldean +tradition, he appears to have been an adventurer and usurper. Perhaps he +was, for this very reason, all the dearer to the popular fancy, which, +in the absence of positive facts concerning his birth and origin, wove +around them a halo of romance, and told of him a story which must be +nearly as old as mankind, for it has been told over and over again, in +different countries and ages, of a great many famous kings and heroes. +This of Sharrukin is the oldest known version of it, and the inscription +on his statue puts it into the king's own mouth. It makes him say that +he knew not his father, and that his mother, a princess, gave him birth +in a hiding-place, (or "an inaccessible place"), near the Euphrates, but +that his family were the rulers of the land. "She placed me in a basket +of rushes," the king is further made to say; "with bitumen the door of +my ark she closed. She launched me on the river, which drowned me not. +The river bore me along; to Akki, the water-carrier, it brought me. +Akki, the water-carrier, in the tenderness of his heart lifted me up. +Akki, the water-carrier, as his own child brought me up. Akki, the +water-carrier, made me his gardener. And in my gardenership the goddess +Ishtar loved me...." + +19. Whatever his origin and however he came by the royal power, Sargon +was a great monarch. It is said that he undertook successful expeditions +into Syria, and a campaign into Elam; that with captives of the +conquered races he partly peopled his new capital, Agade, where he built +a palace and a magnificent temple; that on one occasion he was absent +three years, during which time he advanced to the very shores of the +Mediterranean, which he calls "the sea of the setting sun," and where he +left memorial records of his deeds, and returned home in triumph, +bringing with him immense spoils. The inscription contains only the +following very moderate mention of his military career: "For forty-five +years the kingdom I have ruled. And the black-head race (Accadian) I +have governed. In multitudes of bronze chariots I rode over rugged +lands. I governed the upper countries. Three times to the coast of the +(Persian) sea I advanced...."[AJ] + +[Illustration: 58.--CYLINDER OF SARGON, FROM AGADE. (Hommel, "Gesch. +Babyloniens u. Assyriens.")] + +20. This Sharrukin must not be confounded with another king of the same +name, who reigned also in Agade, some 1800 years later (about 2000 +B.C.), and in whose time was completed and brought into definite shape a +vast religious reform which had been slowly working itself out ever +since the Semitic and Accadian elements began to mix in matters of +spiritual speculation and worship. What was the result of the +amalgamation will form the subject of the next chapter. Suffice it here +to say that the religion of Chaldea in the form which it assumed under +the second Sharrukin remained fixed forever, and when Babylonian +religion is spoken of, it is that which is understood by that name. The +great theological work demanded a literary undertaking no less great. +The incantations and magic forms of the first, purely Turanian, period +had to be collected and put in order, as well as the hymns and prayers +of the second period, composed under the influence of a higher and more +spiritual religious feeling. But all this literature was in the language +of the older population, while the ruling class--the royal houses and +the priesthood--were becoming almost exclusively Semitic. It was +necessary, therefore, that they should study the old language and learn +it so thoroughly as not only to understand and read it, but to be able +to use it, in speaking and writing. For that purpose Sargon not only +ordered the ancient texts, when collected and sorted, to be copied on +clay tablets with the translation--either between the lines, or on +opposite columns--into the now generally used modern Semitic language, +which we may as well begin to call by its usual name, Assyrian, but gave +directions for the compilation of grammars and vocabularies,--the very +works which have enabled the scholars of the present day to arrive at +the understanding of that prodigiously ancient tongue which, without +such assistance, must have remained a sealed book forever. + +21. Such is the origin of the great collection in three books and two +hundred tablets, the contents of which made the subject of the preceding +chapter. To this must be added another great work, in seventy tablets, +in Assyrian, on astrology, i.e., the supposed influence of the heavenly +bodies, according to their positions and conjunctions, on the fate of +nations and individuals and on the course of things on earth +generally--an influence which was firmly believed in; and probably yet a +third work, on omens, prodigies and divination. To carry out these +extensive literary labors, to treasure the results worthily and safely, +Sargon II. either founded or greatly enlarged the library of the +priestly college at Urukh (Erech), so that this city came to be called +"the City of Books." This repository became the most important one in +all Chaldea, and when, fourteen centuries later, the Assyrian +Asshurbanipal sent his scribes all over the country, to collect copies +of the ancient, sacred and scientific texts for his own royal library at +Nineveh, it was at Erech that they gathered their most abundant harvest, +being specially favored there by the priests, who were on excellent +terms with the king after he had brought back from Shushan and restored +to them the statue of their goddess Nana. Agade thus became the +headquarters, as it were, of the Semitic influence and reform, which +spread thence towards the South, forming a counter-current to the +culture of Shumir, which had steadily progressed from the Gulf +northward. + +22. It is just possible that Sargon's collection may have also comprised +literature of a lighter nature than those ponderous works on magic and +astrology. At least, a work on agriculture has been found, which is +thought to have been compiled for the same king's library,[AK] and which +contains bits of popular poetry (maxims, riddles, short peasant songs) +of the kind that is now called "folk-lore." Of the correctness of the +supposition there is, as yet, no absolute proof, but as some of these +fragments, of which unfortunately but few could be recovered, are very +interesting and pretty in their way, this is perhaps the best place to +insert them. The following four may be called "Maxims," and the first is +singularly pithy and powerfully expressed. + + 1. Like an oven that is old + Against thy foes be hard and strong. + + 2. May he suffer vengeance, + May it be returned to him, + Who gives the provocation. + + 3. If evil thou doest, + To the everlasting sea + Thou shalt surely go. + + 4. Thou wentest, thou spoiledst + The land of the foe, + For the foe came and spoiled + Thy land, even thine. + +23. It will be noticed that No. 3 alone expresses moral feeling of a +high standard, and is distinctively Semitic in spirit, the same spirit +which is expressed in a loftier and purely religious vein, and a more +poetical form in one of the "Penitential Psalms," where it says: + + Whoso fears not his god--will be cut off even like a reed. + Whoso honors not the goddess--his bodily strength shall waste away; + Like a star of heaven, his light shall wane; like waters of the night + he shall disappear. + +Some fragments can be well imagined as being sung by the peasant at work +to his ploughing team, in whose person he sometimes speaks: + + 5. A heifer am I,--to the cow I am yoked; + The plough handle is strong--lift it up! lift it up! + + 6. My knees are marching--my feet are not resting; + With no wealth of thy own--grain thou makest for me.[AL] + +24. A great deal of additional interest in the elder Sargon of Agade has +lately been excited by an extraordinary discovery connected with him, +which produced a startling revolution in the hitherto accepted Chaldean +chronology. This question of dates is always a most intricate and +puzzling one in dealing with ancient Oriental nations, because they did +not date their years from some particular event, as we do, and as did +the Mohammedans, the Greeks and the Romans. In the inscriptions things +are said to have happened in the year so-and-so of such a king's reign. +Where to place that king is the next question--unanswerable, unless, as +fortunately is mostly the case, some clue is supplied, to borrow a legal +term, by circumstantial evidence. Thus, if an eclipse is mentioned, the +time can easily be determined by the help of astronomy, which can +calculate backward as well as forward. Or else, an event or a person +belonging to another country is alluded to, and if they are known to us +from other sources, that is a great help. Such a coincidence (which is +called a SYNCHRONISM) is most valuable, and dates established by +synchronisms are generally reliable. Then, luckily for us, Assyrian and +Babylonian kings of a late period, whose dates are fixed and proved +beyond a doubt, were much in the habit, in their historical +inscriptions, of mentioning events that had taken place before their +time and specifying the number of years elapsed, often also the king +under whose reign the event, whatever it was, had taken place. This is +the most precious clue of all, as it is infallible, and besides +ascertaining one point, gives a firm foothold, whereby to arrive at many +others. The famous memorandum of Asshurbanipal, already so often +referred to, about the carrying away of the goddess Nana, (i.e., her +statue) from her temple at Erech is evidence of this kind. Any dates +suggested without any of these clues as basis are of necessity +untrustworthy, and no true scholar dreams of offering any such date, +except as a temporary suggestion, awaiting confirmation or abolition +from subsequent researches. So it was with Sargon I. of Agade. There was +no positive indication of the time at which he lived, except that he +could not possibly have lived later than 2000 B.C. Scholars therefore +agreed to assign that date to him, approximatively--a little more or +less--thinking they could not go very far wrong in so doing. Great +therefore was the commotion produced by the discovery of a cylinder of +Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon (whose date is 550 B.C.), wherein he +speaks of repairs he made in the great Sun-temple at Sippar, and +declares having dug deep in its foundations for the cylinders of the +founder, thus describing his success: "Shamash (the Sun-god), the great +lord ... suffered me to behold the foundation-cylinder of NARAM-SIN, the +son of Sharrukin, which for thrice thousand and twice hundred years none +of the kings that lived before me had seen." The simple addition 3200 + +550 gives 3750 B.C. as the date of Naram-Sin, and 3800 as that of his +father Sargon, allowing for the latter's long reign! A scene-shifting of +1800 years at one slide seemed something so startling that there was +much hesitation in accepting the evidence, unanswerable as it seemed, +and the possibility of an error of the engraver was seriously +considered. Some other documents, however, were found independently of +each other and in different places, corroborating the statement on +Nabonidus' cylinder, and the tremendously ancient date of 3800 B.C. is +now generally accepted the elder Sargon of Agade--perhaps the remotest +_authentic_ date yet arrived at in history. + +25. When we survey and attempt to grasp and classify the materials we +have for an early "History of Chaldea," it appears almost presumptuous +to grace so necessarily lame an attempt with so ambitious a name. The +landmarks are so few and far between, so unconnected as yet, and there +is so much uncertainty about them, especially about placing them. The +experience with Sargon of Agade has not been encouraging to conjectural +chronology; yet with such we must in many cases be content until more +lucky finds turn up to set us right. What, for instance, is the proper +place of GUDEA, the _patesi_ of SIR-BURLA (also read SIR-GULLA or +SIRTILLA, and, lately, ZIRLABA), whose magnificent statues Mr. de Sarzec +found in the principal hall of the temple of which the bricks bear his +stamp? (See p. 217.) The title of _patesi_, (not "king"), points to +great antiquity, and he is pretty generally understood to have lived +somewhere between 4000 and 3000 B.C. That he was not a Semite, but an +Accadian prince, is to be concluded not only from the language of his +inscriptions and the writing, which is of the most archaic--i.e., +ancient and old-fashioned--character, but from the fact that the head, +which was found with the statues, is strikingly Turanian in form and +features, shaved, too, and turbaned after a fashion still used in +Central Asia. Altogether it might easily be taken for that of a modern +Mongolian or Tatar.[AM] The discovery of this builder and patron of art +has greatly eclipsed the glory of a somewhat later ruler, UR-EA, King +of Ur,[AN] who had long enjoyed the reputation of being the earliest +known temple-builder. He remains at all events the first powerful +monarch we read of in Southern Chaldea, of which Ur appears to have been +in some measure the capital, at least in so far as to have a certain +supremacy over the other great cities of Shumir. + +26. Of these Shumir had many, even more venerable for their age and +holiness than those of Accad. For the South was the home of the old race +and most ancient culture, and thence both had advanced northward. Hence +it was that the old stock was hardier there and endured longer in its +language, religion and nationality, and was slower in yielding to the +Semitic counter-current of race and culture, which, as a natural +consequence, obtained an earlier and stronger hold in the North, and +from there radiated over the whole of Mesopotamia. There was ERIDHU, by +the sea "at the mouth of the Rivers," the immemorial sanctuary of Ea; +there was SIR-GULLA, so lately unknown, now the most promising mine for +research; there was LARSAM, famous with the glories of its "House of the +Sun" (_E-Babbara_ in the old language), the rival of Ur, the city of the +Moon-god, whose kings UR-EA and his son DUNGI were, it appears, the +first to take the ambitious title of "Kings of Shumir and Accad" and +"Kings of the Four Regions." As for Babylon, proud Babylon, which we +have so long been accustomed to think of as the very beginning of state +life and political rule in Chaldea, it was perhaps not yet built at all, +or only modestly beginning its existence under its Accadian name of +TIN-TIR-KI ("the Place of Life"), or, somewhat later, KA-DIMIRRA ("Gate +of God"), when already the above named cities, and several more, had +each its famous temple with ministering college of priests, and, +probably, library, and each its king. But political power was for a long +time centred at Ur. The first kings of Ur authentically known to us are +Ur-ea and his son Dungi, who have left abundant traces of their +existence in the numerous temples they built, not in Ur alone, but in +most other cities too. Their bricks have been identified at Larsam +(Senkereh), and, it appears, at Sir-burla (Tel-Loh), at Nipur (Niffer) +and at Urukh (Erech, Warka), and as the two latter cities belonged to +Accad, they seem to have ruled at least part of that country and thus to +have been justified in assuming their high-sounding title. + +[Illustration: 59.--STATUE OF GUDEA, WITH INSCRIPTION; FROM TELL-LOH, +(SIR-BURLA OR SIR-GULLA). SARZEC COLLECTION. (Hommel).] + +27. It has been noticed that the bricks bearing the name of Ur-ea "are +found in a lower position than any others, at the very foundation of +buildings;" that "they are of a rude and coarse make, of many sizes and +ill-fitted together;" that baked bricks are rare among them; that they +are held together by the oldest substitutes for mortar--mud and +bitumen--and that the writing upon them is curiously rude and +imperfect.[AO] But whatever King Ur-ea's architectural efforts may lack +in perfection, they certainly make up in size and number. Those that he +did not complete, his son Dungi continued after him. It is remarkable +that these great builders seem to have devoted their energies +exclusively to religious purposes; also that, while their names are +Shumiro-Accadian, and their inscriptions are often in that language, the +temples they constructed were dedicated to various deities of the new, +or rather reformed religion. When we see the princes of the South, +according to an ingenious remark of Mr. Lenormant, thus begin a sort of +practical preaching of the Semitized religion, we may take it as a sign +of the times, as an unmistakable proof of the influence of the North, +political as well as religious. A very curious relic of King Ur-ea was +found--his own signet cylinder--which was lost by an accident, then +turned up again and is now in the British Museum. It represents the +Moon-god seated on a throne,--as is but meet for the king of the +Moon-god's special city--with priests presenting worshippers. No +definite date is of course assignable to Ur-ea and the important epoch +of Chaldean history which he represents. But a very probable +approximative one can be arrived at, thanks to a clue supplied by the +same Nabonidus, last King of Babylon, who settled the Sargon question +for us so unexpectedly. That monarch was as zealous a repairer of +temples as his predecessors had been zealous builders. He had reasons of +his own to court popularity, and could think of nothing better than to +restore the time-honored sanctuaries of the land. Among others he +repaired the Sun-temple (E-Babbara) at Larsam, whereof we are duly +informed by a special cylinder. In it he tells posterity that he found a +cylinder of King Hammurabi intact in its chamber under the +corner-stone, which cylinder states that the temple was founded 700 +years before Hammurabi's time; as Ur-ea was the founder, it only remains +to determine the latter king's date in order to know that of the earlier +one.[AP] Here unfortunately scholars differ, not having as yet any +decisive authority to build upon. Some place Hammurabi _before_ 2000 +B.C., others a little later. It is perhaps safest, therefore, to assume +that Ur-ea can scarcely have lived much earlier than 2800 or much later +than 2500 B.C. At all events, he must necessarily have lived somewhat +before 2300 B.C., for about this latter year took place the Elamite +invasion recorded by Asshurbanipal, an invasion which, as this King +expressly mentions, laid waste the land of Accad and desecrated its +temples--evidently the same ones which Ur-ea and Dungi so piously +constructed. Nor was this a passing inroad or raid of booty-seeking +mountaineers. It was a real conquest. Khudur-Nankhundi and his +successors remained in Southern Chaldea, called themselves kings of the +country, and reigned, several of them in succession, so that this series +of foreign rulers has become known in history as "the Elamite dynasty." +There was no room then for a powerful and temple-building national +dynasty like that of the kings of Ur. + +28. This is the first time we meet authentic monumental records of a +country which was destined through the next sixteen centuries to be in +continual contact, mostly hostile, with both Babylonia and her northern +rival Assyria, until its final annihilation by the latter. Its capital +was SHUSHAN, (afterwards pronounced by foreigners "Susa"), and its own +original name SHUSHINAK. Its people were of Turanian stock, its language +was nearly akin to that of Shumir and Accad. But at some time or other +Semites came and settled in Shushinak. Though too few in number to +change the country's language or customs, the superiority of their race +asserted itself. They became the nobility of the land, the ruling +aristocracy from which the kings were taken, the generals and the high +functionaries. That the Turanian mass of the population was kept in +subjection and looked down upon, and that the Semitic nobility avoided +intermarrying with them is highly probable; and it would be difficult +otherwise to explain the difference of type between the two classes, as +shown in the representations of captives and warriors belonging to both +on the Assyrian sculptures. The common herd of prisoners employed on +public labor and driven by overseers brandishing sticks have an +unmistakably Turanian type of features--high cheek-bones, broad, +flattened face, etc., while the generals, ministers and nobles have all +the dignity and beauty of the handsomest Jewish type. "Elam," the name +under which the country is best known both from the Bible and later +monuments, is a Turanian word, which means, like "Accad," "Highlands." +It is the only name under which the historian of Chap. X. of Genesis +admits it into his list of nations, and, consistently following out his +system of ignoring all members of the great yellow race, he takes into +consideration only the Semitic aristocracy, and makes of Elam a son of +Shem, a brother of Asshur and Arphakhshad. (Gen. x. 22.) + +29. One of Khudur-Nankhundi's next successors, KHUDUR-LAGAMAR, was not +content with the addition of Chaldea to his kingdom of Elam. He had the +ambition of a born conqueror and the generalship of one. The Chap. XIV. +of Genesis--which calls him Chedorlaomer--is the only document we have +descriptive of this king's warlike career, and a very striking picture +it gives of it, sufficient to show us that we have to do with a very +remarkable character. Supported by three allied and probably tributary +kings, that of Shumir (Shinear), of Larsam, (Ellassar) and of the GOIM, +(in the unrevised translation of the Bible "king of nations") i.e., the +nomadic tribes which roamed on the outskirts and in the yet unsettled, +more distant portions of Chaldea, Khudur-Lagamar marched an army 1200 +miles across the desert into the fertile, wealthy and populous valleys +of the Jordan and the lake or sea of Siddim, afterwards called the Dead +Sea, where five great cities--Sodom, Gomorrah, and three others--were +governed by as many kings. Not only did he subdue these kings and impose +his rule on them, but contrived, even after he returned to the Persian +Gulf, to keep on them so firm a hand, that for twelve years they +"served" him, i.e., paid him tribute regularly, and only in the +thirteenth year, encouraged by his prolonged absence, ventured to +rebel. But they had underrated Khudur-Lagamar's vigilance and activity. +The very next year he was among them again, together with his three +faithful allies, encountered them in the vale of Siddim and beat them, +so that they all fled. This was the battle of the "four kings with +five." As to the treatment to which the victor subjected the conquered +country it is very briefly but clearly described: "And they took all the +goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their +way." + +30. Now there dwelt in Sodom a man of foreign race and great wealth, +Lot, the nephew of Abraham. For Abraham and his tribe no longer lived at +Chaldean Ur. The change of masters, and very probably the harsher rule, +if not positive oppression, consequent on the Elamite conquest, had +driven them thence. It was then they went forth into the land of Canaan, +led by Terah and his son Abraham, and when Terah died, Abraham became +the patriarch and chief of the tribe, which from this time begins to be +called in the Bible "Hebrews," from an eponymous ancestor, Heber or +Eber, whose name alludes to the passing of the Euphrates, or, perhaps, +in a wider sense, to the passage of the tribe through the land of +Chaldea.[AQ] For years the tribe travelled without dividing, from +pasture to pasture, over the vast land where dwelt the Canaanites, well +seen and even favored of them, into Egypt and out of it again, until the +quarrel occurred between Abraham's herdsmen and Lot's, (see Genesis, +Chap. XIII.), and the separation, when Lot chose the plain of the Jordan +and pitched his tent toward Sodom, while Abraham dwelt in the land of +Canaan as heretofore, with his family, servants and cattle, in the plain +of Mamre. It was while dwelling there, in friendship and close alliance +with the princes of the land, that one who had escaped from the battle +in the vale of Siddim, came to Abraham and told him how that among the +captives whom Khudur-Lagamar had taken from Sodom, was Lot, his +brother's son, with all his goods. Then Abraham armed his trained +servants, born in his own household, three hundred and eighteen, took +with him his friends, Mamre and his brothers, with their young men, and +starting in hot pursuit of the victorious army, which was now carelessly +marching home towards the desert with its long train of captives and +booty, overtook it near Damascus in the night, when his own small +numbers could not be detected, and produced such a panic by a sudden and +vigorous onslaught that he put it to flight, and not only rescued his +nephew Lot with his goods and women, but brought back all the captured +goods and the people too. And the King of Sodom came out to meet him on +his return, and thanked him, and wanted him to keep all the goods for +himself, only restoring the persons. Abraham consented that a proper +share of the rescued goods should be given to his friends and their +young men, but refused all presents offered to himself, with the haughty +words: "I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the +possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread, even to a +shoe-latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou +shouldest say, I have made Abraham rich." + +31. Khudur-Lagamar, of whom the spirited Biblical narrative gives us so +life-like a sketch, lived, according to the most probable calculations, +about 2200 B.C. Among the few vague forms whose blurred outlines loom +out of the twilight of those dim and doubtful ages, he is the second +with any flesh-and-blood reality about him, probably the first conqueror +of whom the world has any authentic record. For Egypt, the only country +which rivals in antiquity the primitive states of Mesopotamia, although +it had at this time already reached the height of its culture and +prosperity, was as yet confined by its rulers strictly to the valley of +the Nile, and had not entered on that career of foreign wars and +conquests which, some thousand years later, made it a terror from the +Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. + +32. The Elamitic invasion was not a passing raid. It was a real +conquest, and established a heavy foreign rule in a highly prosperous +and flourishing land--a rule which endured, it would appear, about three +hundred years. That the people chafed under it, and were either gloomily +despondent or angrily rebellious as long as it lasted, there is plenty +of evidence in their later literature. It is even thought, and with +great moral probability, that the special branch of religious poetry +which has been called "Penitential Psalms" has arisen out of the +sufferings of this long period of national bondage and humiliation, and +if, as seems to be proved by some lately discovered interesting +fragments of texts, these psalms were sung centuries later in Assyrian +temples on mournful or very solemn public occasions, they must have +perpetuated the memory of the great national calamity that fell on the +mother-country as indelibly as the Hebrew psalms, of which they were the +models, have perpetuated that of King David's wanderings and Israel's +tribulations. + +33. But there seems to have been one Semitic royal house which preserved +a certain independence and quietly gathered power against better days. +To do this they must have dissembled and done as much homage to the +victorious barbarians as would ensure their safety and serve as a blind +while they strengthened their home rule. This dynasty, destined to the +glorious task of restoring the country's independence and founding a new +national monarchy, was that of Tin-tir-ki, or Ka-dimirra--a name now +already translated into the Semitic BAB-ILU, ("the Gate of God"); they +reigned over the large and important district of KARDUNYASH, important +from its central position, and from the fact that it seems to have +belonged neither to Accad, nor to Shumir, but to have been politically +independent, since it is always mentioned by itself. Still, to the +Hebrews, Babylon lay in the land of Shinar, and it is strongly supposed +that the "Amraphel king of Shinar" who marched with Khudur-Lagamar, as +his ally, against the five kings of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, was no +other than a king of Babylon, one of whose names has been read AMARPAL, +while "Ariokh of Ellassar" was an Elamite, ERI-AKU, brother or cousin of +Khudur-Lagamar, and King of Larsam, where the conquerors had established +a powerful dynasty, closely allied by blood to the principal one, which +had made the venerable Ur its headquarters. This Amarpal, more +frequently mentioned under his other name of SIN-MUBALLIT, is thought to +have been the father of HAMMURABI, the deliverer of Chaldea and the +founder of the new empire. + +34. The inscriptions which Hammurabi left are numerous, and afford us +ample means of judging of his greatness as warrior, statesman and +administrator. In his long reign of fifty-five years he had, indeed, +time to achieve much, but what he did achieve _was_ much even for so +long a reign. In what manner he drove out the foreigners we are not +told, but so much is clear that the decisive victory was that which he +gained over the Elamite king of Larsam. It was probably by expelling the +hated race by turns from every district they occupied, that Hammurabi +gathered the entire land into his own hands and was enabled to keep it +together and weld it into one united empire, including both Accad and +Shumir, with all their time-honored cities and sanctuaries, making his +own ancestral city, Babylon, the head and capital of them all. This king +was in every respect a great and wise ruler, for, after freeing and +uniting the country, he was very careful of its good and watchful of its +agricultural interests. Like all the other kings, he restored many +temples and built several new ones. But he also devoted much energy to +public works of a more generally useful kind. During the first part of +his reign inundations seem to have been frequent and disastrous, +possibly in consequence of the canals and waterworks having been +neglected under the oppressive foreign rule. The inscriptions speak of a +city having been destroyed "by a great flood," and mention "a great wall +along the Tigris"--probably an embankment, as having been built by +Hammurabi for protection against the river. But probably finding the +remedy inadequate, he undertook and completed one of the greatest public +works that have ever been carried out in any country: the excavation of +a gigantic canal, which he called by his own name, but which was +afterwards famous under that of "Royal Canal of Babylon." From this +canal innumerable branches carried the fertilizing waters through the +country. It was and remained the greatest work of the kind, and was, +fifteen centuries later, the wonder of the foreigners who visited +Babylon. Its constructor did not overrate the benefit he had conferred +when he wrote in an inscription which can scarcely be called boastful: +"I have caused to be dug the Nahr-Hammurabi, a benediction for the +people of Shumir and Accad. I have directed the waters of its branches +over the desert plains; I have caused them to run in the dry channels +and thus given unfailing waters to the people.... I have changed desert +plains into well-watered lands. I have given them fertility and plenty, +and made them the abode of happiness." + +35. There are inscriptions of Hammurabi's son. But after him a new +catastrophe seems to have overtaken Chaldea. He is succeeded by a line +of foreign kings, who must have obtained possession of the country by +conquest. They were princes of a fierce and warlike mountain race, the +KASSHI, who lived in the highlands that occupy the whole north-western +portion of Elam, where they probably began to feel cramped for room. +This same people has been called by the later Greek geographers COSSAEANS +or CISSIANS, and is better known under either of these names. Their +language, of which very few specimens have survived, is not yet +understood; but so much is plain, that it is very different both from +the Semitic language of Babylon and that of Shumir and Accad, so that +the names of the Kasshi princes are easily distinguishable from all +others. No dismemberment of the empire followed this conquest, however, +if conquest there was. The kings of the new dynasty seem to have +succeeded each other peacefully enough in Babylon. But the conquering +days of Chaldea were over. We read no more of expeditions into the +plains of Syria and to the "Sea of the Setting Sun." For a power was +rising in the North-West, which quickly grew into a formidable rival: +through many centuries Assyria kept the rulers of the Southern kingdom +too busy guarding their frontiers and repelling inroads to allow them to +think of foreign conquests. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[AH] Names are often deceptive. That of the Hindu-Cush is now thought to +mean "Killers of Hindus," probably in allusion to robber tribes of the +mountains, and to have nothing to do with the Cushite race. + +[AI] "Histoire Ancienne des Peuples de l'Orient," 1878, p. 160. + +[AJ] Translation of Professor A. H. Sayce. + +[AK] A. H. Sayce. + +[AL] Translated by A. H. Sayce, in his paper "Babylonian Folk-lore" in +the "Folk-lore Journal," Vol. I., Jan., 1883. + +[AM] See Figs. 44 and 45, p. 101. + +[AN] This name was at first read Urukh, then Likbabi, then Likbagash, +then Urbagash, then Urba'u, and now Professor Friedr. Delitzsch +announces that the final and correct reading is in all probability +either Ur-ea or Arad-ea. + +[AO] Geo. Rawlinson, "Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern +World" (1862), Vol. I., pp. 198 and ff. + +[AP] Geo. Smith, in "Records of the Past," Vol. V., p. 75. Fritz Hommel, +"Die Semiten," p. 210 and note 101. + +[AQ] It should be mentioned, however, that scholars have of late been +inclined to see in this name an allusion to the passage of the Jordan at +the time of the conquest of Canaan by Israel, after the Egyptian +bondage. + + + + + V. + + BABYLONIAN RELIGION. + + +1. In relating the legend of the Divine Man-Fish, who came out of the +Gulf, and was followed, at intervals, by several more similar beings, +Berosus assures us, that he "taught the people all the things that make +up civilization," so that "nothing new was invented after that any +more." But if, as is suggested, "this monstrous Oannes" is really a +personification of the strangers who came into the land, and, being +possessed of a higher culture, began to teach the Turanian population, +the first part of this statement is as manifestly an exaggeration as the +second. A people who had invented writing, who knew how to build, to +make canals, to work metals, and who had passed out of the first and +grossest stage of religious conceptions, might have much to learn, but +certainly not _everything_. What the newcomers--whether Cushites or +Semites--did teach them, was a more orderly way of organizing society +and ruling it by means of laws and an established government, and, above +all, astronomy and mathematics--sciences in which the Shumiro-Accads +were little proficient, while the later and mixed nation, the Chaldeans, +attained in them a very high perfection, so that many of their +discoveries and the first principles laid down by them have come down to +us as finally adopted facts, confirmed by later science. Thus, the +division of the year into twelve months corresponding to as many +constellations, known as "the twelve signs of the Zodiac," was familiar +to them. They had also found out the division of the year into twelve +months, only all their months had thirty days. So they were obliged to +add an extra month--an intercalary month, as the scientific term +is--every six years, to start even with the sun again, for they knew +where the error in their reckoning lay. These things the strangers +probably taught the Shumiro-Accads, but at the same time borrowed from +them their way of counting. The Turanian races to this day have this +peculiarity, that they do not care for the decimal system in arithmetic, +but count by dozens and sixties, preferring numbers that can be divided +by twelve and sixty. The Chinese even now do not measure time by +centuries or periods of a hundred years, but by a cycle or period of +sixty years. This was probably the origin of the division, adopted in +Babylonia, of the sun's course into 360 equal parts or degrees, and of +the day into twelve "_kasbus_" or double hours, since the kasbu answered +to two of our hours, and was divided into sixty parts, which we might +thus call "double minutes," while these again were composed of sixty +"double seconds." The natural division of the year into twelve months +made this so-called "docenal" and "sexagesimal" system of calculation +particularly convenient, and it was applied to everything--measures of +weight, distance, capacity and size as well as time. + +2. Astronomy is a strangely fascinating science, with two widely +different and seemingly contradictory aspects, equally apt to develop +habits of hard thinking and of dreamy speculation. For, if on one hand +the study of mathematics, without which astronomy cannot subsist, +disciplines the mind and trains it to exact and complicated operations, +on the other hand, star-gazing, in the solitude and silence of a +southern night, irresistibly draws it into a higher world, where +poetical aspirations, guesses and dreams take the place of figures with +their demonstrations and proofs. It is probably to these habitual +contemplations that the later Chaldeans owed the higher tone of +religious thought which distinguished them from their Turanian +predecessors. They looked for the deity in heaven, not on earth. They +did not cower and tremble before a host of wicked goblins, the creation +of a terrified fancy. The spirits whom they worshipped inhabited and +ruled those beautiful bright worlds, whose harmonious, concerted +movements they watched admiringly, reverently, and could calculate +correctly, but without understanding them. The stars generally became to +them the visible manifestations and agents of divine power, especially +the seven most conspicuous heavenly bodies: the Moon, whom they +particularly honored, as the ruler of night and the measurer of time, +the Sun and the five planets then known, those which we call Saturn, +Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury. It is but just to the Shumiro-Accads +to say that the perception of the divine in the beauty of the stars was +not foreign to them. This is amply proved by the fact that in their +oldest writing the sign of a star is used to express the idea not of any +particular god or goddess, but of the divine principle, the deity +generally. The name of every divinity is preceded by the star, meaning +"the god so-and-so." When used in this manner, the sign was read in the +old language "Dingir"--"god, deity." The Semitic language of Babylonia +which we call "Assyrian," while adapting the ancient writing to its own +needs, retained this use of the sign "star," and read it _ilu_, "god." +This word--ILU or EL--we find in all Semitic languages, either ancient +or modern, in the names they give to God, in the Arabic ALLAH as well as +in the Hebrew ELOHIM. + +3. This religion, based and centred on the worship of the heavenly +bodies, has been called _Sabeism_, and was common to most Semitic races, +whose primitive nomadic life in the desert and wide, flat +pasture-tracts, with the nightly watches required by the tending of vast +flocks, inclined them to contemplation and star-gazing. It is to be +noticed that the Semites gave the first place to the Sun, and not, like +the Shumiro-Accads, to the Moon, possibly from a feeling akin to terror, +experiencing as they did his destructive power, in the frequent droughts +and consuming heat of the desert.[AR] + +4. A very prominent feature of the new order of things was the great +power and importance of the priesthood. A successful pursuit of science +requires two things: intellectual superiority and leisure to study, +i.e., freedom from the daily care how to procure the necessaries of +life. In very ancient times people in general were quite willing to +acknowledge the superiority of those men who knew more than they did, +who could teach them and help them with wise advice; they were willing +also to support such men by voluntary contributions, in order to give +them the necessary leisure. That a race with whom science and religion +were one should honor the men thus set apart and learned in heavenly +things and allow them great influence in private and public affairs, +believing them, as they did, to stand in direct communion with the +divine powers, was but natural; and from this to letting them take to +themselves the entire government of the country as the established +rulers thereof, was but one step. There was another circumstance which +helped to bring about this result. The Chaldeans were devout believers +in astrology, a form of superstition into which an astronomical religion +like Sabeism is very apt to degenerate. For once it is taken for granted +that the stars are divine beings, possessed of intelligence, and will, +and power, what more natural than to imagine that they can rule and +shape the destinies of men by a mysterious influence? This influence was +supposed to depend on their movements, their position in the sky, their +ever changing combinations and relations to each other; under this +supposition every movement of a star--its rising, its setting, or +crossing the path of another--every slightest change in the aspect of +the heavens, every unusual phenomenon--an eclipse, for instance--must be +possessed of some weighty sense, boding good or evil to men, whose +destiny must constantly be as clearly written in the blue sky as in a +book. If only one could learn the language, read the characters! Such +knowledge was thought to be within the reach of men, but only to be +acquired by the exceptionally gifted and learned few, and those whom +they might think worthy of having it imparted to them. That these few +must be priests was self-evident. They were themselves fervent believers +in astrology, which they considered quite as much a real science as +astronomy, and to which they devoted themselves as assiduously. They +thus became the acknowledged interpreters of the divine will, partakers, +so to speak, of the secret councils of heaven. Of course such a position +added greatly to their power, and that they should never abuse it to +strengthen their hold on the public mind and to favor their own +ambitious views, was not in human nature. Moreover, being the clever and +learned ones of the nation, they really were at the time the fittest to +rule it--and rule it they did. When the Semitic culture spread over +Shumir, whither it gradually extended from the North, i.e., the land +of Accad, there arose in each great city--Ur, Eridhu, Larsam, Erech,--a +mighty temple, with its priests, its library, its _Ziggurat_ or +observatory. The cities and the tracts of country belonging to them +were governed by their respective colleges. And when in progress of +time, the power became centred in the hands of single men, they still +were priest-kings, _patesis_, whose royalty must have been greatly +hampered and limited by the authority of their priestly colleagues. Such +a form of government is known under the name of _theocracy_, composed of +two Greek words and meaning "divine government." + +5. This religious reform represents a complete though probably peaceable +revolution in the condition of the "Land between the Rivers." The new +and higher culture had thoroughly asserted itself as predominant in both +its great provinces, and in nothing as much as in the national religion, +which, coming in contact with the conceptions of the Semites, was +affected by a certain nobler spiritual strain, a purer moral feeling, +which seems to have been more peculiarly Semitic, though destined to be +carried to its highest perfection only in the Hebrew branch of the race. +Moral tone is a subtle influence, and will work its way into men's +hearts and thoughts far more surely and irresistibly than any amount of +preaching and commanding, for men are naturally drawn to what is good +and beautiful when it is placed before them. Thus the old settlers of +the land, the Shumiro-Accads, to whom their gross and dismal goblin +creed could not be of much comfort, were not slow in feeling this +ennobling and beneficent influence, and it is assuredly to that we owe +the beautiful prayers and hymns which mark the higher stage of their +religion. The consciousness of sin, the feeling of contrition, of +dependence on an offended yet merciful divine power, so strikingly +conspicuous in the so-called "Penitential Psalms" (see p. 178), the fine +poetry in some of the later hymns, for instance those to the Sun (see p. +171), are features so distinctively Semitic, that they startle us by +their resemblance to certain portions of the Bible. On the other hand, a +nation never forgets or quite gives up its own native creed and +religious practices. The wise priestly rulers of Shumir and Accad did +not attempt to compel the people to do so, but even while introducing +and propagating the new religion, suffered them to go on believing in +their hosts of evil spirits and their few beneficent ones, in their +conjuring, soothsaying, casting and breaking of spells and charms. Nay, +more. As time went on and the learned priests studied more closely the +older creed and ideas, they were struck with the beauty of some few of +their conceptions--especially that of the ever benevolent, ever watchful +Spirit of Earth, Ea, and his son Meridug, the mediator, the friend of +men. These conceptions, these and some other favorite national +divinities, they thought worthy of being adopted by them and worked into +their own religious system, which was growing more complicated, more +elaborate every day, while the large bulk of spirits and demons they +also allowed a place in it, in the rank of inferior "Spirits of heaven" +and "Spirits of earth," which were lightly classed together and counted +by hundreds. By the time a thousand years had passed, the fusion had +become so complete that there really was both a new religion and a new +nation, the result of a long work of amalgamation. The Shumiro-Accads of +pure yet low race were no longer, nor did the Semites preserve a +separate existence; they had become merged into one nation of mixed +races, which at a later period became known under the general name of +Chaldeans, whose religion, regarded with awe for its prodigious +antiquity, yet was comparatively recent, being the outcome of the +combination of two infinitely older creeds, as we have just seen. When +Hammurabi established his residence at Babel, a city which had but +lately risen to importance, he made it the capital of the empire first +completely united under his rule (see p. 226), hence the name of +Babylonia is given by ancient writers to the old land of Shumir and +Accad, even more frequently than that of Chaldea, and the state religion +is called indifferently the Babylonian or Chaldean, and not unfrequently +Chaldeo-Babylonian. + +6. This religion, as it was definitely established and handed down +unchanged through a succession of twenty centuries and more, had a +twofold character, which must be well grasped in order to understand its +general drift and sense. On the one hand, as it admitted the existence +of many divine powers, who shared between them the government of the +world, it was decidedly POLYTHEISTIC--"a religion of many gods." On the +other hand, a dim perception had already been arrived at, perhaps +through observation of the strictly regulated movements of the stars, of +the presence of One supreme ruling and directing Power. For a class of +men given to the study of astronomy could not but perceive that all +those bright Beings which they thought so divine and powerful, were not +absolutely independent; that their movements and combinations were too +regular, too strictly timed, too identical in their ever recurring +repetition, to be entirely voluntary; that, consequently, they +_obeyed_--obeyed a Law, a Power above and beyond them, beyond heaven +itself, invisible, unfathomable, unattainable by human thought or eyes. +Such a perception was, of course, a step in the right direction, towards +MONOTHEISM, i.e., the belief in only one God. But the perception was too +vague and remote to be fully realized and consistently carried out. The +priests who, from long training in abstract thought and contemplation, +probably could look deeper and come nearer the truth than other people, +strove to express their meaning in language and images which, in the +end, obscured the original idea and almost hid it out of sight, instead +of making it clearer. Besides, they did not imagine the world as +_created_ by God, made by an act of his will, but as being a form of +him, a manifestation, part of himself, of his own substance. Therefore, +in the great all of the universe, and in each of its portions, in the +mysterious forces at work in it--light and heat and life and +growth--they admired and adored not the power of God, but his very +presence; one of the innumerable and infinitely varied forms in which he +makes himself known and visible to men, manifests himself to them--in +short, _an emanation of God_. The word "emanation" has been adopted as +the only one which to a certain extent conveys this very subtle and +complicated idea. An emanation is not quite a thing itself, but it is a +portion of it, which comes out of it and separates itself from it, yet +cannot exist without it. So the fragrance of a flower is not the flower, +nor is it a growth or development of it, yet the flower gives it forth +and it cannot exist by itself without the flower--it is an emanation of +the flower. The same can be said of the mist which visibly rises from +the warm earth in low and moist places on a summer evening--it is an +emanation of the earth. + +7. The Chaldeo-Babylonian priests knew of many such divine emanations, +which, by giving them names and attributing to them definite functions, +they made into so many separate divine persons. Of these some ranked +higher and some lower, a relation which was sometimes expressed by the +human one of "father and son." They were ordered in groups, very +scientifically arranged. Above the rest were placed two TRIADS or +"groups of three." The first triad comprised ANU, EA and BEL, the +supreme gods of all--all three retained from the old Shumiro-Accadian +list of divinities. ANU is ANA, "Heaven," and the surnames or epithets, +which are given him in different texts, sufficiently show what +conception had been formed of him: he is called "the Lord of the starry +heavens," "the Lord of Darkness," "the first-born, the oldest, the +Father of the Gods." EA, retaining his ancient attributions as "Lord of +the Deep," the pre-eminently wise and beneficent spirit, represents the +Divine Intelligence, the founder and maintainer of order and harmony, +while the actual task of separating the elements of chaos and shaping +them into the forms which make up the world as we know it, as well as +that of ordering the heavenly bodies, appointing them their path and +directing them thereon, was devolved on the third person of the triad, +BEL, the son of EA. Bel is a Semitic name, which means simply "the +lord." + +8. From its nature and attributions, it is clear that to this triad must +have attached a certain vagueness and remoteness. Not so the second +triad, in which the Deity manifested itself as standing in the nearest +and most direct relation to man as most immediately influencing him in +his daily life. The persons of this triad were the Moon, the Sun, and +the Power of the Atmosphere,--SIN, SHAMASH, and RAMAN, the Semitic names +for the Shumiro-Accadian URU-KI or NANNAR, UD or BABBAR, and IM or +MERMER. Very characteristically, Sin is frequently called "the god +Thirty," in allusion to his functions as the measurer of time presiding +over the month. Of the feelings with which the Sun was regarded and the +beneficent and splendid qualities attributed to him, we know enough from +the beautiful hymns quoted in Chap. III. (see p. 172). As to the god +RAMAN, frequently represented on tablets and cylinders by his +characteristic sign, the double or triple-forked lightning-bolt--his +importance as the dispenser of rain, the lord of the whirlwind and +tempest, made him very popular, an object as much of dread as of +gratitude; and as the crops depended on the supply of water from the +canals, and these again could not be full without abundant rains, it is +not astonishing that he should have been particularly entitled +"protector or lord of canals," giver of abundance and "lord of +fruitfulness." In his more terrible capacity, he is thus described: "His +standard titles are the minister of heaven and earth," "the lord of the +air," "he who makes the tempest to rage." He is regarded as the +destroyer of crops, the rooter-up of trees, the scatterer of the +harvest. Famine, scarcity, and even their consequence, pestilence, are +assigned to him. He is said to have in his hand a "flaming sword" with +which he effects his works of destruction, and this "flaming sword, +which probably represents lightning, becomes his emblem upon the tablets +and cylinders."[AS] + +9. The astronomical tendencies of the new religion fully assert +themselves in the third group of divinities. They are simply the five +planets then known and identified with various deities of the old creed, +to whom they are, so to speak, assigned as their own particular +provinces. Thus NIN-DAR (also called NINIP or NINEB), originally another +name or form of the Sun (see p. 172), becomes the ruler of the most +distant planet, the one we now call Saturn; the old favorite, Meridug, +under the Semitized name of MARDUK, rules the planet Jupiter. It is he +whom later Hebrew writers have called MERODACH, the name we find in the +Bible. The planet Mars belongs to NERGAL, the warrior-god, and Mercury +to NEBO, more properly NABU, the "messenger of the gods" and the special +patron of astronomy, while the planet Venus is under the sway of a +feminine deity, the goddess ISHTAR, one of the most important and +popular on the list. But of her more anon. She leads us to the +consideration of a very essential and characteristic feature of the +Chaldeo-Babylonian religion, common, moreover, to all Oriental heathen +religions, especially the Semitic ones. + +10. There is a distinction--the distinction of sex--which runs through +the whole of animated nature, dividing all things that have life into +two separate halves--male and female--halves most different in their +qualities, often opposite, almost hostile, yet eternally dependent on +each other, neither being complete or perfect, or indeed able to exist +without the other. Separated by contrast, yet drawn together by an +irresistible sympathy which results in the closest union, that of love +and affection, the two sexes still go through life together, together do +the work of the world. What the one has not or has in an insufficient +degree it finds in its counterpart, and it is only their union which +makes of the world a whole thing, full, rounded, harmonious. The +masculine nature, active, strong, and somewhat stern, even when merciful +and bounteous, inclined to boisterousness and violence and often to +cruelty, is well set off, or rather completed and moderated, by the +feminine nature, not less active, but more quietly so, dispensing +gentle influences, open to milder moods, more uniformly soft in feeling +and manner. + +[Illustration: 60.--A BUST INSCRIBED WITH THE NAME OF NEBO. (British +Museum.)] + +11. In no relation of life is the difference, yet harmony, of masculine +and feminine action so plain as in that between husband and wife, father +and mother. It requires no very great effort of imagination to carry the +distinction beyond the bounds of animated nature, into the world at +large. To men for whom every portion or force of the universe was +endowed with a particle of the divine nature and power, many were the +things which seemed to be paired in a contrasting, yet joint action +similar to that of the sexes. If the great and distant Heaven appeared +to them as the universal ruler and lord, the source of all things--the +Father of the Gods, as they put it--surely the beautiful Earth, kind +nurse, nourisher and preserver of all things that have life, could be +called the universal Mother. If the fierce summer and noonday sun could +be looked on as the resistless conqueror, the dread King of the world, +holding death and disease in his hand, was not the quiet, lovely moon, +of mild and soothing light, bringing the rest of coolness and healing +dews, its gentle Queen? In short, there is not a power or a phenomenon +of nature which does not present to a poetical imagination a twofold +aspect, answering to the standard masculine and feminine qualities and +peculiarities. The ancient thinkers--priests--who framed the vague +guesses of the groping, dreaming mind into schemes and systems of +profound meaning, expressed this sense of the twofold nature of things +by worshipping a double divine being or principle, masculine and +feminine. Thus every god was supplied with a wife, through the entire +series of divine emanations and manifestations. And as all the gods were +in reality only different names and forms of the Supreme and +Unfathomable ONE, so all the goddesses represent only BELIT, the great +feminine principle of nature--productiveness, maternity, +tenderness--also contained, like everything else, in that ONE, and +emanating from it in endless succession. Hence it comes that the +goddesses of the Chaldeo-Babylonian religion, though different in name +and apparently in attributions, become wonderfully alike when looked at +closer. They are all more or less repetitions of BELIT, the wife of BEL. +Her name--which is only the feminine form of the god's, meaning "the +Lady," as Bel means "the Lord,"--sufficiently shows that the two are +really one. Of the other goddesses the most conspicuous are ANAT or NANA +(Earth), the wife of Anu (Heaven), ANUNIT (the Moon), wife of Shamash +(the Sun), and lastly ISHTAR, the ruler of the planet Venus in her own +right, and by far the most attractive and interesting of the list. She +was a great favorite, worshipped as the Queen of Love and Beauty, and +also as the Warrior-Queen, who rouses men to deeds of bravery, inspirits +and protects them in battle--perhaps because men have often fought and +made war for the love of women, and also probably because the planet +Venus, her own star, appears not only in the evening, close after +sunset, but also immediately before daybreak, and so seems to summon the +human race to renewed efforts and activity. Ishtar could not be an +exception to the general principle and remain unmated. But her husband, +DUMUZ (a name for the Sun), stands to her in an entirely subordinate +position, and, indeed, would be but little known were it not for a +beautiful story that was told of them in a very old poem, and which will +find its place among many more in one of the next chapters. + +12. It would be tedious and unnecessary to recite here more names of gods +and goddesses, though there are quite a number, and more come to light +all the time as new tablets are discovered and read. Most of them are in +reality only different names for the same conceptions, and the +Chaldeo-Babylonian pantheon--or assembly of divine persons--is very +sufficiently represented by the so-called "twelve great gods," who were +universally acknowledged to be at its head, and of whom we will here +repeat the names: ANU, EA and BEL, SIN, SHAMASH and RAMAN, NIN-DAR, +MARUDUK, NERGAL, NEBO, BELIT and ISHTAR. Each had numerous temples all +over the country. But every great city had its favorite whose temple was +the oldest, largest and most sumptuous, to whose worship it was +especially devoted from immemorial times. Ea, the most beloved god of old +Shumir, had his chief sanctuary, which he shared with his son Meridug, at +ERIDHU (now Abu-Shahrein), the most southern and almost the most ancient +city of Shumir, situated near the mouth of the Euphrates, since the +Persian Gulf reached quite as far inland in the year 4000 B.C., and this +was assuredly an appropriate station for the great "lord of the deep," +the Fish-god Oannes, who emerged from the waters to instruct mankind. UR, +as we have seen, was the time-honored seat of the Moon-god. At ERECH Anu +and Anat or Nana--Heaven and Earth--were specially honored from the +remotest antiquity, being jointly worshipped in the temple called "the +House of Heaven." This may have been the reason of the particular +sacredness attributed to the ground all around Erech, as witnessed by the +exceeding persistency with which people strove for ages to bury their +dead in it, as though under the immediate protection of the goddess of +Earth[AT] (see Ch. III. of Introduction). Larsam paid especial homage to +Shamash and was famous for its very ancient "House of the Sun." The Sun +and Moon--Shamash and Anunit--had their rival sanctuaries at SIPPAR on +the "Royal Canal," which ran nearly parallel to the Euphrates, and AGADE, +the city of Sargon, situated just opposite on the other bank of the +canal. The name of Agade was lost in the lapse of time, and both cities +became one, the two portions being distinguished only by the addition +"Sippar of the Sun" and "Sippar of Anunit." The Hebrews called the united +city "The two Sippars"--SEPHARVAIM, the name we find in the Bible. + +13. The site of this important city was long doubtful; but in 1881 one +of the most skilful and indefatigable searchers, Mr. Hormuzd Rassam, a +gentleman who began his career as assistant to Layard, made a discovery +which set the question at rest. He was digging in a mound known to the +Arabs by the name of Abu-Habba, and had made his way into the apartments +of a vast structure which he knew to be a temple. From room to room he +passed until he came to a smaller chamber, paved with asphalt, which he +at once surmised to be the archive-room of the temple. "Heretofore," +says Mr. Rassam in his report, "all Assyrian and Babylonian structures +were found to be paved generally either with stone or brick, +consequently this novel discovery led me to have the asphalt broken into +and examined. On doing so we found, buried in a corner of the chamber, +about three feet below the surface, an inscribed earthenware coffer, +inside which was deposited a stone tablet...." Rassam had indeed +stumbled on the archive of the famous Sun-temple, as was proved not only +by the tablet, but by the numerous documents which accompanied it, and +which gave the names of the builders and restorers of the temple. As to +the tablet, it is the finest and best preserved work of art of the kind +which has yet been found. It was deposited about the year 880 B.C. on +occasion of a restoration and represents the god himself, seated on a +throne, receiving the homage of worshippers, while above him the +sun-disc is held suspended from heaven on two strong cords, like a +gigantic lamp, by two ministering beings, who may very probably belong +to the host of Igigi or spirits of heaven. The inscription, in +beautifully clear and perfectly preserved characters, informs us that +this is "The image of Shamash, the great lord, who dwells in the 'House +of the Sun,' (_E-Babbara_) which is within the city of Sippar."[AU] (See +Frontispiece.) This was a truly magnificent find, and who knows but +something as unexpected and as conclusive may turn up to fix for us the +exact place of the temple of Anunit, and consequently of the venerable +city of Agade. As to BABYLON, it was originally placed under divine +protection generally, as shown by its proper Semitic name, BAB-ILU, +which means, as we have already seen, "the Gate of God," and exactly +answers to the Shumiro-Accadian name of the city (KA-DINGIRRA, or +KA-DIMIRRA); but later on it elected a special protector in the person +of MARUDUK, the old favorite, Meridug. When Babylon became the capital +of the united monarchy of Shumir and Accad, its patron divinity, under +the name of BEL-MARUDUK, ("the Lord Maruduk") rose to a higher rank than +he had before occupied; his temple outshone all others and became a +wonder of the world for its wealth and splendor. He had another, +scarcely less splendid, and founded by Hammurabi himself in Borsip. In +this way religion was closely allied to politics. For in the days before +the reunion of the great cities under the rule of Hammurabi, whichever +of them was the most powerful at the time, its priests naturally claimed +the pre-eminence for their local deity even beyond their own boundaries. +So that the fact of the old Kings of Ur, Ur-ea and his descendants, not +limiting themselves to the worship of their national Moon-god, but +building temples in many places and to many gods, was perhaps a sign of +a conciliating general policy as much as of liberal religious feeling. + +14. One would think that so very perfect a system of religion, based too +on so high and noble an order of ideas, should have entirely superseded +the coarse materialism and conjuring practices of the goblin-creed of +the primitive Turanian settlers. Such, however, was far from being the +case. We saw that the new religion made room, somewhat contemptuously +perhaps, for the spirits of the old creed, carelessly massing them +wholesale into a sort of regiment, composed of the three hundred IGIGI, +or spirits of heaven, and the six hundred ANUNNAKI, or spirits of earth. +The conjurers and sorcerers of old were even admitted into the +priesthood in an inferior capacity, as a sort of lower order, probably +more tolerated than encouraged--tolerated from necessity, because the +people clung to their ancient beliefs and practices. But if their +official position as a priestly class were subordinate, their real power +was not the less great, for the public favor and credulity were on their +side, and they were assuredly more generally popular than the learned +and solemn priests, the counsellors and almost the equals of the kings, +whose thoughts dwelt among the stars, who reverently searched the +heavens for revelations of the divine will and wisdom, and who, by +pursuing accurate observation and mathematical calculation together with +the wildest dreams, made astronomy and astrology the inextricable tangle +of scientific truth and fantastic speculation that we see it in the +great work (in seventy tablets) prepared for the library of Sargon II. +at Agade. That the ancient system of conjuring and incantations remained +in full force and general use, is sufficiently proved by the contents of +the first two parts of the great collection in two hundred tablets +compiled in the reign of the same king, and from the care with which +the work was copied and recopied, commented on and translated in later +ages, as we see from the copy made for the Royal Library at Nineveh, the +one which has reached us. + +15. There was still a third branch of so-called "science," which greatly +occupied the minds of the Chaldeo-Babylonians from their earliest times +down to the latest days of their existence: it was the art of +Divination, i.e., of divining and foretelling future events from signs +and omens, a superstition born of the old belief in every object of +inanimate nature being possessed or inhabited by a spirit, and the later +belief in a higher power ruling the world and human affairs to the +smallest detail, and constantly manifesting itself through all things in +nature as through secondary agents, so that nothing whatever could occur +without some deeper significance, which might be discovered and +expounded by specially trained and favored individuals. In the case of +atmospheric prophecies concerning weather and crops, as connected with +the appearance of clouds, sky and moon, the force and direction of +winds, etc., there may have been some real observation to found them on. +But it is very clear that such a conception, if carried out consistently +to extreme lengths and applied indiscriminately to _everything_, must +result in arrant folly. Such was assuredly the case with the +Chaldeo-Babylonians, who not only carefully noted and explained dreams, +drew lots in doubtful cases by means of inscribed arrows, interpreted +the rustle of trees, the plashing of fountains and murmur of streams, +the direction and form of lightnings, not only fancied that they could +see things in bowls of water and in the shifting forms assumed by the +flame which consumed sacrifices, and the smoke which rose therefrom, and +that they could raise and question the spirits of the dead, but drew +presages and omens, for good or evil, from the flight of birds, the +appearance of the liver, lungs, heart and bowels of the animals offered +in sacrifice and opened for inspection, from the natural defects or +monstrosities of babies or the young of animals--in short, from any and +everything that they could possibly subject to observation. + +16. This idlest of all kinds of speculation was reduced to a most minute +and apparently scientific system quite as early as astrology and +incantation, and forms the subject of a third collection, in about one +hundred tablets, and probably compiled by those same indefatigable +priests of Agade for Sargon, who was evidently of a most methodical turn +of mind, and determined to have all the traditions and the results of +centuries of observation and practical experiences connected with any +branch of religious science fixed forever in the shape of thoroughly +classified rules, for the guidance of priests for all coming ages. This +collection has come to us in an even more incomplete and mutilated +condition than the others; but enough has been preserved to show us that +a right-thinking and religiously-given Chaldeo-Babylonian must have +spent his life taking notes of the absurdest trifles, and questioning +the diviners and priests about them, in order not to get into scrapes by +misinterpreting the signs and taking that to be a favorable omen which +boded dire calamity--or the other way, and thus doing things or leaving +them undone at the wrong moment and in the wrong way. What excites, +perhaps, even greater wonder, is the utter absurdity of some of the +incidents gravely set down as affecting the welfare, not only of +individuals, but of the whole country. What shall we say, for instance, +of the importance attached to the proceedings of stray dogs? Here are +some of the items as given by Mr. Fr. Lenormant in his most valuable and +entertaining book on Chaldean Divination:-- + +"If a gray dog enter the palace, the latter will be consumed by +flames.--If a yellow dog enter the palace, the latter will perish in a +violent catastrophe.--If a tawny dog enter the palace, peace will be +concluded with the enemies.--If a dog enter the palace and be not +killed, the peace of the palace will be disturbed.--If a dog enter the +temple, the gods will have no mercy on the land.--If a white dog enter +the temple, its foundations will subsist.--If a black dog enter the +temple, its foundations will be shaken.--If a gray dog enter the temple, +the latter will lose its possessions.... If dogs assemble in troops and +enter the temple, no one will remain in authority.... If a dog vomits in +a house, the master of that house will die." + +17. The chapter on monstrous births is extensive. Not only is every +possible anomaly registered, from an extra finger or toe to an ear +smaller than the other, with its corresponding presage of good or evil +to the country, the king, the army, but the most impossible +monstrosities are seriously enumerated, with the political conditions of +which they are supposed to be the signs. For instance:--"If a woman give +birth to a child with lion's ears, a mighty king will rule the land ... +with a bird's beak, there will be peace in the land.... If a queen give +birth to a child with a lion's face, the king will have no rival ... if +to a snake, the king will be mighty.... If a mare give birth to a foal +with a lion's mane, the lord of the land will annihilate his enemies ... +with a dog's paws, the land will be diminished ... with a lion's paws, +the land will be increased.... If a sheep give birth to a lion, there +will be war, the king will have no rival.... If a mare give birth to a +dog, there will be disaster and famine." + +18. The three great branches of religious science--astrology, +incantation and divination--were represented by three corresponding +classes of "wise men," all belonging, in different degrees, to the +priesthood: the star-gazers or astrologers, the magicians or sorcerers, +and the soothsayers or fortune-tellers. The latter, again, were divided +into many smaller classes according to the particular kind of divination +which they practised. Some specially devoted themselves to the +interpretation of dreams, others to that of the flight of birds, or of +the signs of the atmosphere, or of casual signs and omens generally. All +were in continual demand, consulted alike by kings and private persons, +and all proceeded in strict accordance with the rules and principles +laid down in the three great works of King Sargon's time. When the +Babylonian empire ceased to exist and the Chaldeans were no longer a +nation, these secret arts continued to be practised by them, and the +name "Chaldean" became a by-word, a synonym for "a wise man of the +East,"--astrologer, magician or soothsayer. They dispersed all over the +world, carrying their delusive science with them, practising and +teaching it, welcomed everywhere by the credulous and superstitious, +often highly honored and always richly paid. Thus it is from the +Chaldeans and their predecessors the Shumiro-Accads that the belief in +astrology, witchcraft and every kind of fortune-telling has been handed +down to the nations of Europe, together with the practices belonging +thereto, many of which we find lingering even to our day among the less +educated classes. The very words "magic" and "magician" are probably an +inheritance of that remotest of antiquities. One of the words for +"priest" in the old Turanian tongue of Shumir was _imga_, which, in the +later Semitic language, became _mag_. The _Rab-mag_--"great priest," or +perhaps "chief conjurer," was a high functionary at the court of the +Assyrian kings. Hence "magus," "magic," "magician," in all the European +languages, from Latin downward. + +19. There can be no doubt that we have little reason to be grateful for +such an heirloom as this mass of superstitions, which have produced so +much evil in the world and still occasionally do mischief enough. But we +must not forget to set off against it the many excellent things, most +important discoveries in the province of astronomy and mathematics +which have come to us from the same distant source. To the ancient +Chaldeo-Babylonians we owe not only our division of time, but the +invention of the sun-dial, and the week of seven days, dedicated in +succession to the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets--an arrangement +which is still maintained, the names of our days being merely +translations of the Chaldean ones. And more than that; there were days +set apart and kept holy, as days of rest, as far back as the time of +Sargon of Agade; it was from the Semites of Babylonia--perhaps the +Chaldeans of Ur--that both the name and the observance passed to the +Hebrew branch of the race, the tribe of Abraham. George Smith found an +Assyrian calendar where the day called _Sabattu_ or _Sabattuv_ is +explained to mean "completion of work, a day of rest for the soul." On +this day, it appears it was not lawful to cook food, to change one's +dress, to offer a sacrifice; the king was forbidden to speak in public, +to ride in a chariot, to perform any kind of military or civil duty, +even to take medicine.[AV] This, surely, is a keeping of the Sabbath as +strict as the most orthodox Jew could well desire. There are, however, +essential differences between the two. In the first place, the +Babylonians kept _five_ Sabbath days every month, which made more than +one a week; in the second place, they came round on certain dates of +each month, independently of the day of the week: on the 7th, 14th, +19th, 21st and 28th. The custom appears to have passed to the Assyrians, +and there are indications which encourage the supposition that it was +shared by other nations connected with the Jews, the Babylonians and +Assyrians, for instance, by the Phoenicians. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[AR] See A. H. Sayce, "The Ancient Empires of the East" (1883), p. 389. + +[AS] Rawlinson's "Five Monarchies," Vol. I., p. 164. + +[AT] It was the statue of this very goddess Nana which was carried away +by the Elamite conqueror, Khudur-Nankhundi in 2280 B.C. and restored to +its place by Asshurbanipal in 645 B.C. + +[AU] The three circles above the god represent the Moon-god, the +Sun-god, and Ishtar. So we are informed by the two lines of writing +which ran above the roof. + +[AV] Friedrich Delitzsch, "Beigaben" to the German translat. of Smith's +"Chaldean Genesis" (1876), p. 300. A. H. Sayce, "The Ancient Empires of +the East" (1883), p. 402. W. Lotz, "Quaestiones de Historia Sabbati." + + + + + VI. + + LEGENDS AND STORIES. + + +1. In every child's life there comes a moment when it ceases to take the +world and all it holds as a matter of course, when it begins to wonder +and to question. The first, the great question naturally is--"Who made +it all? The sun, the stars, the sea, the rivers, the flowers, and the +trees--whence come they? who made them?" And to this question we are +very ready with our answer:--"God made it all. The One, the Almighty God +created the world, and all that is in it, by His own sovereign will." +When the child further asks: "_How_ did He do it?" we read to it the +story of the Creation which is the beginning of the Bible, our Sacred +Book, either without any remarks upon it, or with the warning, that, for +a full and proper understanding of it, years are needed and knowledge of +many kinds. Now, these same questions have been asked, by children and +men, in all ages. Ever since man has existed upon the earth, ever since +he began, in the intervals of rest, in the hard labor and struggle for +life and limb, for food and warmth, to raise his head and look abroad, +and take in the wonders that surrounded him, he has thus pondered and +questioned. And to this questioning, each nation, after its own lights, +has framed very much the same answer; the same in substance and spirit +(because the only possible one), acknowledging the agency of a Divine +Power, in filling the world with life, and ordaining the laws of +nature,--but often very different in form, since, almost every creed +having stopped short of the higher religious conception, that of One +Deity, indivisible and all-powerful, the great act was attributed to +many gods--"the gods,"--not to God. This of course opened the way to +innumerable, more or less ingenious, fancies and vagaries as to the part +played in it by this or that particular divinity. Thus all races, +nations, even tribes have worked out for themselves their own COSMOGONY, +i.e., their own ideas on the Origin of the World. The greatest number, +not having reached a very high stage of culture or attained literary +skill, preserved the teachings of their priests in their memory, and +transmitted them orally from father to son; such is the case even now +with many more peoples than we think of--with all the native tribes of +Africa, the islanders of Australia and the Pacific, and several others. +But the nations who advanced intellectually to the front of mankind and +influenced the long series of coming races by their thoughts and +teachings, recorded in books the conclusions they had arrived at on the +great questions which have always stirred the heart and mind of man; +these were carefully preserved and recopied from time to time, for the +instruction of each rising generation. Thus many great nations of olden +times have possessed Sacred Books, which, having been written in remote +antiquity by their best and wisest men, were reverenced as something not +only holy, but, beyond the unassisted powers of the human intellect, +something imparted, revealed directly by the deity itself, and therefore +to be accepted, undisputed, as absolute truth. It is clear that it was +in the interest of the priests, the keepers and teachers of all +religious knowledge, to encourage and maintain in the people at large +this unquestioning belief. + +2. Of all such books that have become known to us, there are none of +greater interest and importance than the sacred books of Ancient +Babylonia. Not merely because they are the oldest known, having been +treasured in the priestly libraries of Agade, Sippar, Cutha, etc., at an +incredibly early date, but principally because the ancestors of the +Hebrews, during their long station in the land of Shinar, learned the +legends and stories they contained, and working them over after their +own superior religious lights, remodelled them into the narrative which +was written down many centuries later as part of the Book of Genesis. + +3. The original sacred books were attributed to the god Ea himself, the +impersonation of the Divine Intelligence, and the teacher of mankind in +the shape of the first Man-Fish, Oannes--(the name being only a Greek +corruption of the Accadian EA-HAN, "Ea the Fish")[AW] So Berosus informs +us. After describing Oannes and his proceedings (see p. 185), he adds +that "he wrote a Book on the Origin of things and the beginnings of +civilization, and gave it to men." The "origin of things" is the history +of the Creation of the world, Cosmogony. Accordingly, this is what +Berosus proceeds to expound, quoting directly from the Book, for he +begins:--"There was a time, _says he_, (meaning Oannes) when all was +darkness and water." Then follows a very valuable fragment, but +unfortunately only a fragment, one of the few preserved by later Greek +writers who quoted the old priest of Babylon for their own purposes, +while the work itself was, in some way, destroyed and lost. True, these +fragments contain short sketches of several of the most important +legends; still, precious as they are, they convey only second-hand +information, compiled, indeed, from original sources by a learned and +conscientious writer, but for the use of a foreign race, extremely +compressed, and, besides, with the names all altered to suit that race's +language. So long as the "original sources" were missing, there was a +gap in the study both of the Bible and the religion of Babylon, which no +ingenuity could fill. Great, therefore, were the delight and excitement, +both of Assyriologists and Bible scholars, when George Smith, while +sorting the thousands of tablet-fragments which for years had littered +the floor of certain remote chambers of the British Museum, accidentally +stumbled on some which were evidently portions of the original sacred +legends partly rendered by Berosus. To search for all available +fragments of the precious documents and piece them together became the +task of Smith's life. And as nearly all that he found belonged to copies +from the Royal Library at Nineveh, it was chiefly in order to enlarge +the collection that he undertook his first expedition to the Assyrian +mounds, from which he had the good fortune to bring back many missing +fragments, belonging also to different copies, so that one frequently +completes the other. Thus the oldest Chaldean legends were in a great +measure restored to us, though unfortunately very few tablets are in a +sufficiently well preserved condition to allow of making out an entirely +intelligible and uninterrupted narrative. Not only are many parts still +missing altogether, but of those which have been found, pieced and +collected, there is not one of which one or more columns have not been +injured in such a way that either the beginning or the end of all the +lines are gone, or whole lines broken out or erased, with only a few +words left here and there. How hopeless the task must sometimes have +seemed to the patient workers may be judged from the foregoing specimen +pieced together of sixteen bits, which Geo. Smith gives in his book. +This is one of the so-called "Deluge-tablets," i.e., of those which +contain the Chaldean version of the story of the Deluge. Luckily more +copies have been found of this story than of any of the others, or we +should have had to be content still with the short sketch of it given by +Berosus. + +[Illustration: 61.--BACK OF TABLET WITH ACCOUNT OF FLOOD. (Smith's +"Chaldean Genesis.")] + +4. If, therefore, the ancient Babylonian legends of the beginnings of +the world will be given here in a connected form, for the sake of +convenience and plainness, it must be clearly understood that they were +not preserved for us in such a form, but are the result of a long and +patient work of research and restoration, a work which still continues; +and every year, almost every month, brings to light some new materials, +some addition, some correction to the old ones. Yet even as the work now +stands, it justifies us in asserting that our knowledge of this +marvellous antiquity is fuller and more authentic than that we have of +many a period and people not half so remote from us in point of place +and distance. + +5. The cosmogonic narrative which forms the first part of what Geo. +Smith has very aptly called "the Chaldean Genesis" is contained in a +number of tablets. As it begins by the words "_When above_," they are +all numbered as No. 1, or 3, or 5 "of the series WHEN ABOVE. _The +property of Asshurbanipal, king of nations, king of Assyria._" The first +lines are intact:--"When the heaven above and the earth below were as +yet unnamed,"--(i.e., according to Semitic ideas, _did not exist_)--APSU +(the "Abyss") and MUMMU-TIAMAT (the "billowy Sea") were the beginning of +all things; their waters mingled and flowed together; that was the +Primeval Chaos; it contained the germs of life but "the darkness was not +lifted" from the waters, and therefore nothing sprouted or grew--(for no +growth or life is possible without light). The gods also were not; "they +were as yet unnamed and did not rule the destinies." Then the great gods +came into being, and the divine hosts of heaven and earth (the Spirits +of Heaven and Earth). "And the days stretched themselves out, and the +god Anu (Heaven.) ..." Here the text breaks off abruptly; it is +probable, however, that it told how, after a long lapse of time, the +gods Anu, Ea and Bel, the first and supreme triad, came into being. The +next fragment, which is sufficiently well preserved to allow of a +connected translation, tells of the establishment of the heavenly +bodies: "He" (Anu, whose particular dominion the highest heavens were, +hence frequently called "the heaven of Anu") "he appointed the mansions +of the great gods" (signs of the Zodiac), established the stars, ordered +the months and the year, and limited the beginning and end thereof; +established the planets, so that none should swerve from its allotted +track; "he appointed the mansions of Bel and Ea with his own; he also +opened the great gates of heaven, fastening their bolts firmly to the +right and to the left" (east and west); he made Nannar (the Moon) to +shine and allotted the night to him, determining the time of his +quarters which measure the days, and saying to him "rise and set, and be +subject to this law." Another tablet, of which only the beginning is +intelligible, tells how the gods (in the plural this time) created the +living beings which people the earth, the cattle of the field and the +city, and the wild beasts of the field, and the things that creep in the +field and in the city, in short all the living creatures. + +[Illustration: 62.--BABYLONIAN CYLINDER, SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT THE +TEMPTATION AND FALL.] + +6. There are some tablets which have been supposed to treat of the +creation of man and perhaps to give a story of his disobedience and +fall, answering to that in Genesis; but unfortunately they are in too +mutilated a condition to admit of certainty, and no other copies have as +yet come to light. However, the probability that such was really the +case is very great, and is much enhanced by a cylinder of very ancient +Babylonian workmanship, now in the British Museum, and too important not +to be reproduced here. The tree in the middle, the human couple +stretching out their hands for the fruit, the serpent standing _behind +the woman_ in--one might almost say--a whispering attitude, all this +tells its own tale. And the authority of this artistic presentation, +which so strangely fits in to fill the blank in the written narrative, +is doubled by the fact that the engravings on the cylinders are +invariably taken from subjects connected with religion, or at least +religious beliefs and traditions. As to the creation of man, we may +partly eke out the missing details from the fragment of Berosus already +quoted. He there tells us--and so well-informed a writer must have +spoken on good authority--that Bel gave his own blood to be kneaded with +the clay out of which men were formed, and that is why they are endowed +with reason and have a share of the divine nature in them--certainly a +most ingenious way of expressing the blending of the earthly and the +divine elements which has made human nature so deep and puzzling a +problem to the profounder thinkers of all ages. + +7. For the rest of the creation, Berosus' account (quoted from the book +said to have been given men by the fabulous Oannes), agrees with what we +find in the original texts, even imperfect as we have them. He says that +in the midst of Chaos--at the time when all was darkness and water--the +principle of life which it contained, restlessly working, but without +order, took shape in numberless monstrous formations: there were beings +like men, some winged, with two heads, some with the legs and horns of +goats, others with the hind part of horses; also bulls with human heads, +dogs with four bodies and a fish's tail, horses with the heads of dogs, +in short, every hideous and fantastical combination of animal forms, +before the Divine Will had separated them, and sorted them into harmony +and order. All these monstrous beings perished the moment Bel separated +the heavens from the earth creating light,--for they were births of +darkness and lawlessness and could not stand the new reign of light and +law and divine reason. In memory of this destruction of the old chaotic +world and production of the new, harmonious and beautiful one, the walls +of the famous temple of Bel-Mardouk at Babylon were covered with +paintings representing the infinite variety of monstrous and mixed +shapes with which an exuberant fancy had peopled the primeval chaos; +Berosus was a priest of this temple and he speaks of those paintings as +still existing. Though nothing has remained of them in the ruins of the +temple, we have representations of the same kind on many of the +cylinders which, used as seals, did duty both as personal badges--(one +is almost tempted to say "coats of arms")--and as talismans, as proved +by the fact of such cylinders being so frequently found on the wrists of +the dead in the sepulchres. + +[Illustration: 63.--FEMALE WINGED FIGURES BEFORE THE SACRED TREE. (From +a photograph in the British Museum.)] + +8. The remarkable cylinder with the human couple and the serpent leads +us to the consideration of a most important object in the ancient +Babylonian or Chaldean religion--the Sacred Tree, the Tree of Life. That +it was a very holy symbol is clear from its being so continually +reproduced on cylinders and on sculptures. In this particular cylinder, +rude as the design is, it bears an unmistakable likeness to a real +tree--of some coniferous species, cypress or fir. But art soon took hold +of it and began to load it with symmetrical embellishments, until it +produced a tree of entirely conventional design, as shown by the +following specimens, of which the first leans more to the palm, while +the second seems rather of the coniferous type. (Figs. No. 63 and 65.) +It is probable that such artificial trees, made up of boughs--perhaps of +the palm and cypress--tied together and intertwined with ribbons +(something like our Maypoles of old), were set up in the temples as +reminders of the sacred symbol, and thus gave rise to the fixed type +which remains invariable both in such Babylonian works of art as we +possess and on the Assyrian sculptures, where the tree, or a portion of +it, appears not only in the running ornaments on the walls but on seal +cylinders and even in the embroidery on the robes of kings. In the +latter case indeed, it is almost certain, from the belief in talismans +which the Assyrians had inherited, along with the whole of their +religion from the Chaldean mother country, that this ornament was +selected not only as appropriate to the sacredness of the royal person, +but as a consecration and protection. The holiness of the symbol is +further evidenced by the kneeling posture of the animals which sometimes +accompany it (see Fig. 22, page 67), and the attitude of adoration of +the human figures, or winged spirits attending it, by the prevalence of +the sacred number seven in its component parts, and by the fact that it +is reproduced on a great many of those glazed earthenware coffins which +are so plentiful at Warka (ancient Erech). This latter fact clearly +shows that the tree-symbol not only meant life in general, life on +earth, but a hope of life eternal, beyond the grave, or why should it +have been given to the dead? These coffins at Warka belong, it is true, +to a late period, some as late as a couple of hundred years after +Christ, but the ancient traditions and their meaning had, beyond a +doubt, been preserved. Another significant detail is that the cone is +frequently seen in the hands of men or spirits, and always in a way +connected with worship or auspicious protection; sometimes it is held to +the king's nostrils by his attendant protecting spirits, (known by their +wings); a gesture of unmistakable significancy, since in ancient +languages "the breath of the nostrils" is synonymous with "the breath of +life." + +[Illustration: 64.--WINGED SPIRITS BEFORE THE SACRED TREE. (Smith's +"Chaldea.")] + +[Illustration: 65.--SARGON OF ASSYRIA BEFORE THE SACRED TREE. (Perrot +and Chipiez.)] + +9. There can be no association of ideas more natural than that of +vegetation, as represented by a tree, with life. By its perpetual growth +and development, its wealth of branches and foliage, its blossoming and +fruit-bearing, it is a noble and striking illustration of the world in +the widest sense--the Universe, the Cosmos, while the sap which courses +equally through the trunk and through the veins of the smallest leaflet, +drawn by an incomprehensible process through invisible roots from the +nourishing earth, still more forcibly suggests that mysterious +principle, Life, which we _think_ we understand because we see its +effects and feel it in ourselves, but the sources of which will never be +reached, as the problem of it will never be solved, either by the prying +of experimental science or the musings of contemplative speculation; +life eternal, also,--for the workings of nature _are_ eternal,--and the +tree that is black and lifeless to-day, we know from long experience is +not dead, but will revive in the fulness of time, and bud, and grow and +bear again. All these things _we_ know are the effects of laws; but the +ancients attributed them to living Powers,--the CHTHONIC POWERS (from +the Greek word CHTHON, "earth, soil"), which have by some later and +dreamy thinkers been called weirdly but not unaptly, "the Mothers," +mysteriously at work in the depths of silence and darkness, unseen, +unreachable, and inexhaustibly productive. Of these powers again, what +more perfect symbol or representative than the Tree, as standing for +vegetation, one for all, the part for the whole? It lies so near that, +in later times, it was enlarged, so as to embrace the whole universe, in +the majestic conception of the Cosmic Tree which has its roots on earth +and heaven for its crown, while its fruit are the golden apples--the +stars, and Fire,--the red lightning. + +[Illustration: 66.--EAGLE-HEADED FIGURE BEFORE THE SACRED TREE. (Smith's +"Chaldea.")] + +[Illustration: 67.--FOUR-WINGED HUMAN FIGURE BEFORE THE SACRED TREE. +(Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +10. All these suggestive and poetical fancies would in themselves +suffice to make the tree-symbol a favorite one among so thoughtful and +profound a people as the old Chaldeans. But there is something more. It +is intimately connected with another tradition, common, in some form or +other, to all nations who have attained a sufficiently high grade of +culture to make their mark in the world--that of an original ancestral +abode, beautiful, happy, and remote, a Paradise. It is usually imagined +as a great mountain, watered by springs which become great rivers, +bearing one or more trees of wonderful properties and sacred character, +and is considered as the principal residence of the gods. Each nation +locates it according to its own knowledge of geography and vague, +half-obliterated memories. Many texts, both in the old Accadian and the +Assyrian languages, abundantly prove that the Chaldean religion +preserved a distinct and reverent conception of such a mountain, and +placed it in the far north or north-east, calling it the "Father of +Countries," plainly an allusion to the original abode of man--the +"Mountain of Countries," (i.e., "Chief Mountain of the World") and also +ARALLU, because there, where the gods dwelt, they also imagined the +entrance to the Arali to be the Land of the Dead. There, too, the heroes +and great men were to dwell forever after their death. There is the land +with a sky of silver, a soil which produces crops without being +cultivated, where blessings are for food and rejoicing, which it is +hoped the king will obtain as a reward for his piety after having +enjoyed all earthly goods during his life.[AX] In an old Accadian hymn, +the sacred mount, which is identical with that imagined as the pillar +joining heaven and earth, the pillar around which the heavenly spheres +revolve, (see page 153)--is called "the mountain of Bel, in the east, +whose double head reaches unto the skies; which is like to a mighty +buffalo at rest, whose double horn sparkles as a sunbeam, as a star." So +vivid was the conception in the popular mind, and so great the reverence +entertained for it, that it was attempted to reproduce the type of the +holy mountain in the palaces of their kings and the temples of their +gods. That is one of the reasons why they built both on artificial +hills. There is in the British Museum a sculpture from Koyunjik, +representing such a temple, or perhaps palace, on the summit of a mound, +converted into a garden and watered by a stream which issues from the +"hanging garden" on the right, the latter being laid out on a platform +of masonry raised on arches; the water was brought up by machinery. It +is a perfect specimen of a "Paradise," as these artificial parks were +called by the Greeks, who took the word (meaning "park" or "garden") +from the Persians, who, in their turn, had borrowed the thing from the +Assyrians and Babylonians, when they conquered the latter's empire. The +_Ziggurat_, or pyramidal construction in stages, with the temple or +shrine on the top, also owed its peculiar shape to the same original +conception: as the gods dwelt on the summit of the Mountain of the +World, so their shrines should occupy a position as much like their +residence as the feeble means of man would permit. That this is no idle +fancy is proved by the very name of "Ziggurat," which means "_mountain +peak_," and also by the names of some of these temples: one of the +oldest and most famous indeed, in the city of Asshur, was named "the +House of the Mountain of Countries." An excellent representation of a +Ziggurat, as it must have looked with its surrounding palm grove by a +river, is given us on a sculptured slab, also from Koyunjik. The +original is evidently a small one, of probably five stages besides the +platform on which it is built, with its two symmetrical paths up the +ascent. Some, like the great temple at Ur, had only three stages, others +again seven--always one of the three sacred numbers: three, +corresponding to the divine Triad; five, to the five planets; seven, to +the planets, sun and moon. The famous Temple of the Seven Spheres at +Borsip (the Birs-Nimrud), often mentioned already, and rebuilt by +Nebuchadnezzar about 600 B.C. from a far older structure, as he explains +in his inscription (see p. 72), was probably the most gorgeous, as it +was the largest; besides, it is the only one of which we have detailed +and reliable descriptions and measurements, which may best be given in +this place, almost entirely in the words of George Rawlinson:[AY] + +[Illustration: 68.--TEMPLE AND HANGING GARDENS AT KOYUNJIK. (British +Museum.)] + +[Illustration: 69.--PLAN OF A ZIGGURAT. (Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +11. The temple is raised on a platform exceptionally low--only a few +feet above the level of the plain; the entire height, including the +platform, was 156 feet in a perpendicular line. The stages--of which the +four upper were lower than the first three--receded equally on three +sides, but doubly as much on the fourth, probably in order to present a +more imposing front from the plain, and an easier ascent. "The +ornamentation of the edifice was chiefly by means of color. The seven +Stages represented the Seven Spheres, in which moved, according to +ancient Chaldean astronomy, the seven planets. To each planet fancy, +partly grounding itself upon fact, had from of old assigned a peculiar +tint or hue. The Sun (Shamash) was golden; the Moon (Sin or Nannar), +silver; the distant Saturn (Adar), almost beyond the region of light, +was black; Jupiter (Marduk) was orange; the fiery Mars (Nergal) was red; +Venus (Ishtar) was a pale yellow; Mercury (Nebo or Nabu, whose shrine +stood on the top stage), a deep blue. The seven stages of the tower gave +a visible embodiment to these fancies. The basement stage, assigned to +Saturn, was blackened by means of a coating of bitumen spread over the +face of the masonry; the second stage, assigned to Jupiter, obtained the +appropriate orange color by means of a facing of burnt bricks of that +hue; the third stage, that of Mars, was made blood-red by the use of +half-burnt bricks formed of a bright-red clay; the fourth stage, +assigned to the Sun, appears to have been actually covered with thin +plates of gold; the fifth, the stage of Venus, received a pale yellow +tint from the employment of bricks of that hue; the sixth, the sphere of +Mercury, was given an azure tint by vitrifaction, the whole stage having +been subjected to an intense heat after it was erected, whereby the +bricks composing it were converted into a mass of blue slag; the seventh +stage, that of the moon, was probably, like the fourth, coated with +actual plates of metal. Thus the building rose up in stripes of varied +color, arranged almost as nature's cunning hand arranges hues in the +rainbow, tones of red coming first, succeeded by a broad stripe of +yellow, the yellow being followed by blue. Above this the glowing +silvery summit melted into the bright sheen of the sky.... The Tower is +to be regarded as fronting the north-east, the coolest side, and that +least exposed to the sun's rays from the time that they become +oppressive in Babylonia. On this side was the ascent, which consisted +probably of a broad staircase extending along the whole front of the +building. The side platforms, at any rate of the first and second +stages, probably of all, were occupied by a series of chambers.... In +these were doubtless lodged the priests and other attendants upon the +temple service...." + +[Illustration: 70.--"ZIGGURAT" RESTORED. ACCORDING TO PROBABILITIES. +(Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +12. The interest attaching to this temple, wonderful as it is in itself, +is greatly enhanced by the circumstance that its ruins have through many +centuries been considered as those of the identical Tower of Babel of +the Bible. Jewish literary men who travelled over the country in the +Middle Ages started this idea, which quickly spread to the West. It is +conjectured that it was suggested by the vitrified fragments of the +outer coating of the sixth, blue, stage, (that of Mercury or Nebo), the +condition of which was attributed to lightning having struck the +building. + +[Illustration: 71.--BIRS-NIMRUD. (ANCIENT BORSIP.) (Perrot and +Chipiez.)] + +13. That the Ziggurats of Chaldea should have been used not only as +pedestals to uphold shrines, but as observatories by the priestly +astronomers and astrologers, was quite in accordance with the strong +mixture of star-worship grafted on the older religion, and with the +power ascribed to the heavenly bodies over the acts and destinies of +men. These constructions, therefore, were fitted for astronomical uses +by being very carefully placed with their corners pointing exactly to +the four cardinal points--North, South, East and West. Only two +exceptions have been found to this rule, one in Babylon, and the +Assyrian Ziggurat at Kalah, (Nimrud) explored by Layard, of which the +sides, not the corners, face the cardinal points. For the Assyrians, who +carried their entire culture and religion northward from their ancient +home, also retained this consecrated form of architecture, with the +difference that with them the Ziggurats were not temple and observatory +in one, but only observatories attached to the temples, which were built +on more independent principles and a larger scale, often covering as +much ground as a palace. + +14. The singular orientation of the Chaldean Ziggurats (subsequently +retained by the Assyrians),--i.e., the manner in which they are placed, +turned to the cardinal points with their angles, and not with their +faces, as are the Egyptian pyramids, with only one exception,--has long +been a puzzle which no astronomical considerations were sufficient to +solve. But quite lately, in 1883, Mr. Pinches, Geo. Smith's successor in +the British Museum, found a small tablet, giving lists of signs, +eclipses, etc., affecting the various countries, and containing the +following short geographical notice, in illustration of the position +assigned to the cardinal points: "The South is Elam, the North is Accad, +the East is Suedin and Gutium, the West is Phoenicia. On the right is +Accad, on the left is Elam, in front is Phoenicia, behind are Suedin +and Gutium." In order to appreciate the bearing of this bit of +topography on the question in hand, we must examine an ancient map, when +we shall at once perceive that the direction given by the tablet to the +_South_ (Elam) answers to our _South-East;_ that given to the _North_ +(Accad) answers to our _North-West;_ while _West_ (Phoenicia, i.e., +the coast-land of the Mediterranean, down almost to Egypt) stands for +our _South-West_, and _East_ (Gutium, the highlands where the Armenian +mountains join the Zagros, now Kurdish Mountains,) for our _North-East_. +If we turn the map so that the Persian Gulf shall come in a +perpendicular line under Babylon, we shall produce the desired effect, +and then it will strike us that the Ziggurats _did_ face the cardinal +points, according to Chaldean geography, _with their sides_, and that +the discovery of the small tablet, as was remarked on the production of +it, "settles the difficult question of the difference in orientation +between the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments." It was further suggested +that "the two systems of cardinal points originated no doubt from two +different races, and their determination was due probably _to the +geographical position of the primitive home of each race._" Now the +South-West is called "the front," "and the migrations of the people +_therefore_ must have been from North-East to South-West."[AZ] This +beautifully tallies with the hypothesis, or conjecture, concerning the +direction from which the Shumiro-Accads descended into the lowlands by +the Gulf (see pp. 146-8), and, moreover, leads us to the question +whether the fact of the great Ziggurat of the Seven Spheres at Borsip +facing the North-East with its front may not have some connection with +the holiness ascribed to that region as the original home of the race +and the seat of that sacred mountain so often mentioned as "the Great +Mountain of Countries" (see p. 280), doubly sacred, as the meeting-place +of the gods and the place of entrance to the "Arallu" or Lower +World.[BA] + +15. It is to be noted that the conception of the divine grove or garden +with its sacred tree of life was sometimes separated from that of the +holy primeval mountain and transferred by tradition to a more immediate +and accessible neighborhood. That the city and district of Babylon may +have been the centre of such a tradition is possibly shown by the most +ancient Accadian name of the former--TIN-TIR-KI meaning "the Place of +Life," while the latter was called GAN-DUNYASH or KAR-DUNYASH--"the +garden of the god Dunyash," (probably one of the names of the god +Ea)--an appellation which this district, although situated in the land +of Accad or Upper Chaldea, preserved to the latest times as +distinctively its own. Another sacred grove is spoken of as situated in +Eridhu. This city, altogether the most ancient we have any mention of, +was situated at the then mouth of the Euphrates, in the deepest and +flattest of lowlands, a sort of borderland between earth and sea, and +therefore very appropriately consecrated to the great spirit of both, +the god Ea, the amphibious Oannes. It was so much identified with him, +that in the Shumirian hymns and conjurings his son Meridug is often +simply invoked as "Son of Eridhu." It must have been the oldest seat of +that spirit-worship and sorcerer-priesthood which we find crystallized +in the earliest Shumiro-Accadian sacred books. This prodigious antiquity +carries us to something like 5000 years B.C., which explains the fact +that the ruins of the place, near the modern Arab village of +Abu-Shahrein, are now so far removed from the sea, being a considerable +distance even from the junction of the two rivers where they form the +Shat-el-arab. The sacred grove of Eridhu is frequently referred to, and +that it was connected with the tradition of the tree of life we see from +a fragment of a most ancient hymn, which tells of "a black pine, growing +at Eridhu, sprung up in a pure place, with roots of lustrous crystal +extending downwards, even into the deep, marking the centre of the +earth, in the dark forest into the heart whereof man hath not +penetrated." Might not this be the reason why the wood of the pine was +so much used in charms and conjuring, as the surest safeguard against +evil influences, and its very shadow was held wholesome and sacred? But +we return to the legends of the Creation and primeval world. + +[Illustration: 72.--BEL FIGHTS THE DRAGON--TIAMAT (ASSYRIAN CYLINDER.) +(Perrot and Chipiez.)] + +16. Mummu-Tiamat, the impersonation of chaos, the power of darkness and +lawlessness, does not vanish from the scene when Bel puts an end to her +reign, destroys, by the sheer force of light and order, her hideous +progeny of monsters and frees from her confusion the germs and +rudimental forms of life, which, under the new and divine dispensation, +are to expand and combine into the beautifully varied, yet harmonious +world we live in. Tiamat becomes the sworn enemy of the gods and their +creation, the great principle of opposition and destruction. When the +missing texts come to light,--if ever they do--it will probably be found +that the serpent who tempts the woman in the famous cylinder, is none +other than a form of the rebellious and vindictive Tiamat, who is called +now a "Dragon," now "the Great Serpent." At last the hostility cannot be +ignored, and things come to a deadly issue. It is determined in the +council of the gods that one of them must fight the wicked dragon; a +complete suit of armor is made and exhibited by Anu himself, of which +the sickle-shaped sword and the beautifully bent bow are the principal +features. It is Bel who dares the venture and goes forth on a matchless +war chariot, armed with the sword, and the bow, and his great weapon, +the thunderbolt, sending the lightning before him and scattering arrows +around. Tiamat, the Dragon of the Sea, came out to meet him, stretching +her immense body along, bearing death and destruction, and attended by +her followers. The god rushed on the monster with such violence that he +threw her down and was already fastening fetters on her limbs, when she +uttered a great shout and started up and attacked the righteous leader +of the gods, while banners were raised on both sides as at a pitched +battle. Meridug drew his sword and wounded her; at the same time a +violent wind struck against her face. She opened her jaws to swallow up +Meridug, but before she could close them he bade the wind to enter into +her body. It entered and filled her with its violence, shook her heart +and tore her entrails and subdued her courage. Then the god bound her, +and put an end to her works, while her followers stood amazed, then +broke their lines and fled, full of fear, seeing that Tiamat, their +leader, was conquered. There she lay, her weapons broken, herself like a +sword thrown down on the ground, in the dark and bound, conscious of her +bondage and in great grief, her might suddenly broken by fear. + +[Illustration: 73.--BEL FIGHTS THE DRAGON--TIAMAT (BABYLONIAN +CYLINDER).] + +17. The battle of Bel-Marduk and the Dragon was a favorite incident in +the cycle of Chaldean tradition, if we judge from the number of +representations we have of it on Babylonian cylinders, and even on +Assyrian wall-sculptures. The texts which relate to it are, however, in +a frightful state of mutilation, and only the last fragment, describing +the final combat, can be read and translated with anything like +completeness. With it ends the series treating of the Cosmogony or +Beginnings of the World. But it may be completed by a few more legends +of the same primitive character and preserved on detached tablets, in +double text, as usual--Accadian and Assyrian. To these belongs a poem +narrating the rebellion, already alluded to, (see p. 182,) of the seven +evil spirits, originally the messengers and throne-bearers of the gods, +and their war against the moon, the whole being evidently a fanciful +rendering of an eclipse. "Those wicked gods, the rebel spirits," of +whom one is likened to a leopard, and one to a serpent, and the rest to +other animals--suggesting the fanciful shapes of storm-clouds--while one +is said to be the raging south wind, began the attack "with evil +tempest, baleful wind," and "from the foundations of the heavens like +the lightning they darted." The lower region of the sky was reduced to +its primeval chaos, and the gods sat in anxious council. The moon-god +(Sin), the sun-god (Shamash), and the goddess Ishtar had been appointed +to sway in close harmony the lower sky and to command the hosts of +heaven; but when the moon-god was attacked by the seven spirits of evil, +his companions basely forsook him, the sun-god retreating to his place +and Ishtar taking refuge in the highest heaven (the heaven of Anu). Nebo +is despatched to Ea, who sends his son Meridug with this +instruction:--"Go, my son Meridug! The light of the sky, my son, even +the moon-god, is grievously darkened in heaven, and in eclipse from +heaven is vanishing. Those seven wicked gods, the serpents of death who +fear not, are waging unequal war with the laboring moon." Meridug obeys +his father's bidding, and overthrows the seven powers of darkness.[BB] + +[Illustration: 74.--BATTLE BETWEEN BEL AND THE DRAGON (TIAMAT). (Smith's +"Chaldea.")] + +18. There is one more detached legend known from the surviving fragments +of Berosus, also supposed to be derived from ancient Accadian texts: it +is that of the great tower and the confusion of tongues. One such text +has indeed been found by the indefatigable George Smith, but there is +just enough left of it to be very tantalizing and very unsatisfactory. +The narrative in Berosus amounts to this: that men having grown beyond +measure proud and arrogant, so as to deem themselves superior even to +the gods, undertook to build an immense tower, to scale the sky; that +the gods, offended with this presumption, sent violent winds to +overthrow the construction when it had already reached a great height, +and at the same time caused men to speak different languages,--probably +to sow dissension among them, and prevent their ever again uniting in a +common enterprise so daring and impious. The site was identified with +that of Babylon itself, and so strong was the belief attaching to the +legend that the Jews later on adopted it unchanged, and centuries +afterwards, as we saw above, fixed on the ruins of the hugest of all +Ziggurats, that of Borsip, as those of the great Tower of the Confusion +of Tongues. Certain it is, that the tradition, under all its fanciful +apparel, contains a very evident vein of historical fact, since it was +indeed from the plains of Chaldea that many of the principal nations of +the ancient East, various in race and speech, dispersed to the north, +the west, and the south, after having dwelt there for centuries as in a +common cradle, side by side, and indeed to a great extent as one +people. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[AW] See Fr. Lenormant, "Die Magie und Wahrsagekunst der Chaldaeer," p. +377. + +[AX] Francois Lenormant, "Origines de l'Histoire," Vol. II., p. 130. + +[AY] "Five Monarchies," Vol. III., pp. 380-387. + +[AZ] See "Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology," Feb., +1883, pp. 74-76, and "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," Vol. XVI., +1884, p. 302. + +[BA] The one exception to the above rule of orientation among the +Ziggurats of Chaldea is that of the temple of Bel, in Babylon, +(E-SAGGILA in the old language,) which is oriented in the usual way--its +sides facing the _real_ North, South, East and West. + +[BB] See A. H. Sayce, "Babylonian Literature," p. 35. + + + + + VII. + + MYTHS.--HEROES AND THE MYTHICAL EPOS. + + +1. The stories by which a nation attempts to account for the mysteries +of creation, to explain the Origin of the World, are called, in +scientific language, COSMOGONIC MYTHS. The word Myth is constantly used +in conversation, but so loosely and incorrectly, that it is most +important once for all to define its proper meaning. It means simply _a +phenomenon of nature presented not as the result of a law but as the act +of divine or at least superhuman persons, good or evil powers_--(for +instance, the eclipse of the Moon described as the war against the gods +of the seven rebellious spirits). Further reading and practice will show +that there are many kinds of myths, of various origins; but there is +none, which, if properly taken to pieces, thoroughly traced and +cornered, will not be covered by this definition. A Myth has also been +defined as a legend connected more or less closely with some religious +belief, and, in its main outlines, handed down from prehistoric times. +There are only two things which can prevent the contemplation of nature +and speculation on its mysteries from running into mythology: a +knowledge of the physical laws of nature, as supplied by modern +experimental science, and a strict, unswerving belief in the unity of +God, absolute and undivided, as affirmed and defined by the Hebrews in +so many places of their sacred books: "The Lord he is God, there is none +else beside him." "The Lord he is God, in Heaven above and upon the +earth beneath there is none else." "I am the Lord, and there is none +else, there is no God beside me." "I am God and there is none else." But +experimental science is a very modern thing indeed, scarcely a few +hundred years old, and Monotheism, until the propagation of +Christianity, was professed by only one small nation, the Jews, though +the chosen thinkers of other nations have risen to the same conception +in many lands and many ages. The great mass of mankind has always +believed in the personal individuality of all the forces of nature, +i.e., in many gods; everything that went on in the world was to them the +manifestation of the feelings, the will, the acts of these gods--hence +the myths. The earlier the times, the more unquestioning the belief and, +as a necessary consequence, the more exuberant the creation of myths. + +2. But gods and spirits are not the only actors in myths. Side by side +with its sacred traditions on the Origin of things, every nation +treasures fond but vague memories of its own beginnings--vague, both +from their remoteness and from their not being fixed in writing, and +being therefore liable to the alterations and enlargements which a story +invariably undergoes when told many times to and by different people, +i.e., when it is transmitted from generation to generation by oral +tradition. These memories generally centre around a few great names, the +names of the oldest national heroes, of the first rulers, lawgivers and +conquerors of the nation, the men who by their genius _made_ it a nation +out of a loose collection of tribes or large families, who gave it +social order and useful arts, and safety from its neighbors, or, +perhaps, freed it from foreign oppressors. In their grateful admiration +for these heroes, whose doings naturally became more and more marvellous +with each generation that told of them, men could not believe that they +should have been mere imperfect mortals like themselves, but insisted on +considering them as directly inspired by the deity in some one of the +thousand shapes they invested it with, or as half-divine of their own +nature. The consciousness of the imperfection inherent to ordinary +humanity, and the limited powers awarded to it, has always prompted this +explanation of the achievements of extraordinarily gifted individuals, +in whatever line of action their exceptional gifts displayed themselves. +Besides, if there is something repugnant to human vanity in having to +submit to the dictates of superior reason and the rule of superior power +as embodied in mere men of flesh and blood, there is on the contrary +something very flattering and soothing to that same vanity in the idea +of having been specially singled out as the object of the protection and +solicitude of the divine powers; this idea at all events takes the +galling sting from the constraint of obedience. Hence every nation has +very jealously insisted on and devoutly believed in the divine origin of +its rulers and the divine institution of its laws and customs. Once it +was implicitly admitted that the world teemed with spirits and gods, +who, not content with attending to their particular spheres and +departments, came and went at their pleasure, had walked the earth and +directly interfered with human affairs, there was no reason to +disbelieve _any_ occurrence, however marvellous--provided it had +happened very, very long ago. (See p. 197.) + +3. Thus, in the traditions of every ancient nation, there is a vast and +misty tract of time, expressed, if at all, in figures of appalling +magnitude--hundreds of thousands, nay, millions of years--between the +unpierceable gloom of an eternal past and the broad daylight of +remembered, recorded history. There, all is shadowy, gigantic, +superhuman. There, gods move, dim yet visible, shrouded in a golden +cloud of mystery and awe; there, by their side, loom other shapes, as +dim but more familiar, human yet more than human--the Heroes, Fathers of +races, founders of nations, the companions, the beloved of gods and +goddesses, nay, their own children, mortal themselves, yet doing deeds +of daring and might such as only the immortals could inspire and favor, +the connecting link between these and ordinary humanity--as that +gloaming, uncertain, shifting, but not altogether unreal streak of time +is the borderland between Heaven and Earth, the very hot-bed of myth, +fiction and romance. For of their favorite heroes, people began to tell +the same stories as of their gods, in modified forms, transferred to +their own surroundings and familiar scenes. To take one of the most +common transformations: if the Sun-god waged war against the demons of +darkness and destroyed them in heaven (see p. 171), the hero hunted wild +beasts and monsters on earth, of course always victoriously. This one +theme could be varied by the national poets in a thousand ways and woven +into a thousand different stories, which come with full right under the +head of "myths." Thus arose a number of so-called HEROIC MYTHS, which, +by dint of being repeated, settled into a certain defined traditional +shape, like the well-known fairy-tales of our nurseries, which are the +same everywhere and told in every country with scarcely any changes. As +soon as the art of writing came into general use, these favorite and +time-honored stories, which the mass of the people probably still +received as literal truth, were taken down, and, as the work naturally +devolved on priests and clerks, i.e., men of education and more or less +literary skill, often themselves poets, they were worked over in the +process, connected, and remodelled into a continuous whole. The separate +myths, or adventures of one or more particular heroes, formerly recited +severally, somewhat after the manner of the old songs and ballads, +frequently became so many chapters or books in a long, well-ordered +poem, in which they were introduced and distributed, often with +consummate art, and told with great poetical beauty. Such poems, of +which several have come down to us, are called EPIC POEMS, or simply +EPICS. The entire mass of fragmentary materials out of which they are +composed in the course of time, blending almost inextricably historical +reality with mythical fiction, is the NATIONAL EPOS of a race, its +greatest intellectual treasure, from which all its late poetry and much +of its political and religious feeling draws its food ever after. A race +that has no national epos is one devoid of great memories, incapable of +high culture and political development, and no such has taken a place +among the leading races of the world. All those that have occupied such +a place at any period of the world's history, have had their Mythic and +Heroic Ages, brimful of wonders and fanciful creations. + +4. From these remarks it will be clear that the preceding two or three +chapters have been treating of what may properly be called the Religious +and Cosmogonic Myths of the Shumiro-Accads and the Babylonians. The +present chapter will be devoted to their Heroic Myths or Mythic Epos, as +embodied in an Epic which has been in great part preserved, and which is +the oldest known in the world, dating certainly from 2000 years B.C., +and probably more. + +5. Of this poem the few fragments we have of Berosus contain no +indication. They only tell of a great deluge which took place under the +last of that fabulous line of ten kings which is said to have begun +259,000 years after the apparition of the divine Man-Fish, Oannes, and +to have reigned in the aggregate a period of 432,000 years. The +description has always excited great interest from its extraordinary +resemblance to that given by the Bible. Berosus tells how XISUTHROS, the +last of the ten fabulous kings, had a dream in which the deity announced +to him that on a certain day all men should perish in a deluge of +waters, and ordered him to take all the sacred writings and bury them at +Sippar, the City of the Sun, then to build a ship, provide it with ample +stores of food and drink and enter it with his family and his dearest +friends, also animals, both birds and quadrupeds of every kind. +Xisuthros did as he had been bidden. When the flood began to abate, on +the third day after the rain had ceased to fall, he sent out some birds, +to see whether they would find any land, but the birds, having found +neither food nor place to rest upon, returned to the ship. A few days +later, Xisuthros once more sent the birds out; but they again came back +to him, this time with muddy feet. On being sent out a third time, they +did not return at all. Xisuthros then knew that the land was uncovered; +made an opening in the roof of the ship and saw that it was stranded on +the top of a mountain. He came out of the ship with his wife, daughter +and pilot, built an altar and sacrificed to the gods, after which he +disappeared together with these. When his companions came out to seek +him they did not see him, but a voice from heaven informed them that he +had been translated among the gods to live forever, as a reward for his +piety and righteousness. The voice went on to command the survivors to +return to Babylonia, unearth the sacred writings and make them known to +men. They obeyed and, moreover, built many cities and restored Babylon. + +6. However interesting this account, it was received at second-hand and +therefore felt to need confirmation and ampler development. Besides which, +as it stood, it lacked all indication that could throw light on the +important question which of the two traditions--that reproduced by Berosus +or the Biblical one--was to be considered as the oldest. Here again it was +George Smith who had the good fortune to discover the original narrative +(in 1872), while engaged in sifting and sorting the tablet-fragments at +the British Museum. This is how it happened:[BC]--"Smith found one-half of +a whitish-yellow clay tablet, which, to all appearance, had been divided +on each face into three columns. In the third column of the obverse or +front side he read the words: 'On the mount Nizir the ship stood still. +Then I took a dove and let her fly. The dove flew hither and thither, but +finding no resting-place, returned to the ship.' Smith at once knew that +he had discovered a fragment of the cuneiform narrative of the Deluge. +With indefatigable perseverance he set to work to search the thousands of +Assyrian tablet-fragments heaped up in the British Museum, for more +pieces. His efforts were crowned with success. He did not indeed find a +piece completing the half of the tablet first discovered, but he found +instead fragments of two more copies of the narrative, which completed the +text in the most felicitous manner and supplied several very important +variations of it. One of these duplicates, which has been pieced out of +sixteen little bits (see illustration on p. 262), bore the usual +inscription at the bottom: 'The property of Asshurbanipal, King of hosts, +King of the land of Asshur,' and contained the information that the +Deluge-narrative was the eleventh tablet of a series, several fragments of +which, Smith had already come across. With infinite pains he put all these +fragments together and found that the story of the Deluge was only an +incident in a great Heroic Epic, a poem written in twelve books, making in +all about three thousand lines, which celebrated the deeds of an ancient +king of Erech." + +7. Each book or chapter naturally occupied a separate tablet. All are by +no means equally well preserved. Some parts, indeed, are missing, while +several are so mutilated as to cause serious gaps and breaks in the +narrative, and the first tablet has not yet been found at all. Yet, with +all these drawbacks it is quite possible to build up a very intelligible +outline of the whole story, while the eleventh tablet, owing to various +fortunate additions that came to light from time to time, has been +restored almost completely. + +8. The epic carries us back to the time when Erech was the capital of +Shumir, and when the land was under the dominion of the Elamite +conquerors, not passive or content, but striving manfully for +deliverance. We may imagine the struggle to have been shared and headed +by the native kings, whose memory would be gratefully treasured by later +generations, and whose exploits would naturally become the theme of +household tradition and poets' recitations. So much for the bare +historical groundwork of the poem. It is easily to be distinguished from +the rich by-play of fiction and wonderful adventure gradually woven into +it from the ample fund of national myths and legends, which have +gathered around the name of one hero-king, GISDHUBAR or IZDUBAR,[BD] +said to be a native of the ancient city of MARAD and a direct descendant +of the last antediluvian king HASISADRA, the same whom Berosus calls +Xisuthros. + +9. It is unfortunate that the first tablet and the top part of the +second are missing, for thus we lose the opening of the poem, which +would probably give us valuable historical indications. What there is of +the second tablet shows the city of Erech groaning under the tyranny of +the Elamite conquerors. Erech had been governed by the divine Dumuzi, +the husband of the goddess Ishtar. He had met an untimely and tragic +death, and been succeeded by Ishtar, who had not been able, however, to +make a stand against the foreign invaders, or, as the text picturesquely +expresses it, "to hold up her head against the foe." Izdubar, as yet +known to fame only as a powerful and indefatigable huntsman, then dwelt +at Erech, where he had a singular dream. It seemed to him that the stars +of heaven fell down and struck him on the back in their fall, while over +him stood a terrible being, with fierce, threatening countenance and +claws like a lion's, the sight of whom paralyzed him with fear. + +10. Deeply impressed with this dream, which appeared to him to portend +strange things, Izdubar sent forth to all the most famous seers and wise +men, promising the most princely rewards to whoever would interpret it +for him: he should be ennobled with his family; he should take the high +seat of honor at the royal feasts; he should be clothed in jewels and +gold; he should have seven beautiful wives and enjoy every kind of +distinction. But there was none found of wisdom equal to the task of +reading the vision. At length he heard of a wonderful sage, named +EABANI, far-famed for "his wisdom in all things and his knowledge of all +that is either visible or concealed," but who dwelt apart from mankind, +in a distant wilderness, in a cave, amidst the beasts of the forest. + + "With the gazelles he ate his food at night, with the beasts of + the field he associated in the daytime, with the living things + of the waters his heart rejoiced." + +This strange being is always represented on the Babylonian cylinders as +a Man-Bull, with horns on his head and a bull's feet and tail. He was +not easily accessible, nor to be persuaded to come to Erech, even +though the Sun-god, Shamash, himself "opened his lips and spoke to him +from heaven," making great promises on Izdubar's behalf:-- + + "They shall clothe thee in royal robes, they shall make thee + great; and Izdubar shall become thy friend, and he shall place + thee in a luxurious seat at his left hand; the kings of the + earth shall kiss thy feet; he shall enrich thee and make the + men of Erech keep silence before thee." + +The hermit was proof against ambition and refused to leave his +wilderness. Then a follower of Izdubar, ZAIDU, the huntsman, was sent to +bring him; but he returned alone and reported that, when he had +approached the seer's cave, he had been seized with fear and had not +entered it, but had crawled back, climbing the steep bank on his hands +and feet. + +[Illustration: 75.--IZDUBAR AND THE LION (BAS-RELIEF FROM KHORSABAD). +(Smith's "Chaldea.")] + +11. At last Izdubar bethought him to send out Ishtar's handmaidens, +SHAMHATU ("Grace") and HARIMTU ("Persuasion"), and they started for the +wilderness under the escort of Zaidu. Shamhatu was the first to approach +the hermit, but he heeded her little; he turned to her companion, and +sat down at her feet; and when Harimtu ("Persuasion") spoke, bending her +face towards him, he listened and was attentive. And she said to him: + + "Famous art thou, Eabani, even like a god; why then associate + with the wild things of the desert? Thy place is in the midst + of Erech, the great city, in the temple, the seat of Anu and + Ishtar, in the palace of Izdubar, the man of might, who towers + amidst the leaders as a bull." "She spoke to him, and before + her words the wisdom of his heart fled and vanished." + +He answered: + + "I will go to Erech, to the temple, the seat of Anu and Ishtar, + to the palace of Izdubar, the man of might, who towers amidst + the leaders as a bull. I will meet him and see his might. But I + shall bring to Erech a lion--let Izdubar destroy him if he can. + He is bred in the wilderness and of great strength." + +[Illustration: 76.--IZDUBAR AND THE LION. (British Museum.)] + +So Zaidu and the two women went back to Erech, and Eabani went with +them, leading his lion. The chiefs of the city received him with great +honors and gave a splendid entertainment in sign of rejoicing. + +12. It is evidently on this occasion that Izdubar conquers the seer's +esteem by fighting and killing the lion, after which the hero and the +sage enter into a solemn covenant of friendship. But the third tablet, +which contains this part of the story, is so much mutilated as to leave +much of the substance to conjecture, while all the details, and the +interpretation of the dream which is probably given, are lost. The same +is unfortunately the case with the fourth and fifth tablets, from which +we can only gather that Izdubar and Eabani, who have become inseparable, +start on an expedition against the Elamite tyrant, KHUMBABA, who holds +his court in a gloomy forest of cedars and cypresses, enter his palace, +fall upon him unawares and kill him, leaving his body to be torn and +devoured by the birds of prey, after which exploit Izdubar, as his +friend had predicted to him, is proclaimed king in Erech. The sixth +tablet is far better preserved, and gives us one of the most interesting +incidents almost complete. + +13. After Izdubar's victory, his glory and power were great, and the +goddess Ishtar looked on him with favor and wished for his love. + + "Izdubar," she said, "be my husband and I will be thy wife: + pledge thy troth to me. Thou shalt drive a chariot of gold and + precious stones, thy days shall be marked with conquests; + kings, princes and lords shall be subject to thee and kiss thy + feet; they shall bring thee tribute from mountain and valley, + thy herds and flocks shall multiply doubly, thy mules shall be + fleet, and thy oxen strong under the yoke. Thou shalt have no + rival." + +But Izdubar, in his pride, rejected the love of the goddess; he insulted +her and taunted her with having loved Dumuzi and others before him. +Great was the wrath of Ishtar; she ascended to heaven and stood before +her father Anu: + + "My father, Izdubar has insulted me. Izdubar scorns my beauty + and spurns my love." + +[Illustration: 77.--IZDUBAR AND EABANI FIGHT THE BULL OF +ISHTAR.--IZDUBAR FIGHTS EABANI'S LION (BABYLONIAN CYLINDER). (Smith's +"Chaldea.")] + +She demanded satisfaction, and Anu, at her request, created a monstrous +bull, which he sent against the city of Erech. But Izdubar and his +friend went out to fight the bull, and killed him. Eabani took hold of +his tail and horns, and Izdubar gave him his deathblow. They drew the +heart out of his body and offered it to Shamash. Then Ishtar ascended +the wall of the city, and standing there cursed Izdubar. She gathered +her handmaidens around her and they raised loud lamentations over the +death of the divine bull. But Izdubar called together his people and +bade them lift up the body and carry it to the altar of Shamash and lay +it before the god. Then they washed their hands in the Euphrates and +returned to the city, where they made a feast of rejoicing and revelled +deep into the night, while in the streets a proclamation to the people +of Erech was called out, which began with the triumphant words: + + "Who is skilled among leaders? Who is great among men? Izdubar + is skilled among leaders; Izdubar is great among men." + +[Illustration: 78.--IZDUBAR AND EABANI (BABYLONIAN CYLINDER). (Perrot +and Chipiez.)] + +14. But the vengeance of the offended goddess was not to be so easily +defeated. It now fell on the hero in a more direct and personal way. +Ishtar's mother, the goddess Anatu, smote Eabani with sudden death and +Izdubar with a dire disease, a sort of leprosy, it would appear. +Mourning for his friend, deprived of strength and tortured with +intolerable pains, he saw visions and dreams which oppressed and +terrified him, and there was now no wise, familiar voice to soothe and +counsel him. At length he decided to consult his ancestor, Hasisadra, +who dwelt far away, "at the mouth of the rivers," and was immortal, and +to ask of him how he might find healing and strength. He started on his +way alone and came to a strange country, where he met gigantic, +monstrous beings, half men, half scorpions: their feet were below the +earth, while their heads touched the gates of heaven; they were the +warders of the sun and kept their watch over its rising and setting. +They said one to another: "Who is this that comes to us with the mark of +the divine wrath on his body?" Izdubar made his person and errand known +to them; then they gave him directions how to reach the land of the +blessed at the mouth of the rivers, but warned him that the way was long +and full of hardships. He set out again and crossed a vast tract of +country, where there was nothing but sand, not one cultivated field; and +he walked on and on, never looking behind him, until he came to a +beautiful grove by the seaside, where the trees bore fruits of emerald +and other precious stones; this grove was guarded by two beautiful +maidens, SIDURI and SABITU, but they looked with mistrust on the +stranger with the mark of the gods on his body, and closed their +dwelling against him. + +[Illustration: 79.--SCORPION-MEN. (Smith's "Chaldea.")] + +15. And now Izdubar stood by the shore of the Waters of Death, which are +wide and deep, and separate the land of the living from that of the +blessed and immortal dead. Here he encountered the ferryman URUBEL; to +him he opened his heart and spoke of the friend whom he had loved and +lost, and Urubel took him into his ship. For one month and fifteen days +they sailed on the Waters of Death, until they reached that distant land +by the mouth of the rivers, where Izdubar at length met his renowned +ancestor face to face, and, even while he prayed for his advice and +assistance, a very natural feeling of curiosity prompted him to ask "how +he came to be translated alive into the assembly of the gods." +Hasisadra, with great complaisance, answered his descendant's question +and gave him a full account of the Deluge and his own share in that +event, after which he informed him in what way he could be freed from +the curse laid on him by the gods. Then turning to the ferryman: + + "Urubel, the man whom thou hast brought hither, behold, disease + has covered his body, sickness has destroyed the strength of + his limbs. Take him with thee, Urubel, and purify him in the + waters, that his disease may be changed into beauty, that he + may throw off his sickness and the waters carry it away, that + health may cover his skin, and the hair of his head be restored + and descend in flowing locks down to his garment, that he may + go his way and return to his own country." + +[Illustration: 80.--STONE OBJECT FOUND AT ABU-HABBA (SIPPAR) BY MR. H. +RASSAM, SHOWING, AMONG OTHER MYTHICAL DESIGNS, SHAMASH AND HIS WARDER, +THE SCORPION-MAN.] + +16. When all had been done according to Hasisadra's instruction, +Izdubar, restored to health and vigor, took leave of his ancestor, and +entering the ship once more was carried back to the shore of the living +by the friendly Urubel, who accompanied him all the way to Erech. But as +they approached the city tears flowed down the hero's face and his heart +was heavy within him for his lost friend, and he once more raised his +voice in lamentation for him: + + "Thou takest no part in the noble feast; to the assembly they + call thee not; thou liftest not the bow from the ground; what + is hit by the bow is not for thee; thy hand grasps not the + club and strikes not the prey, nor stretches thy foeman dead on + the earth. The wife thou lovest thou kissest not; the wife thou + hatest thou strikest not. The child thou lovest thou kissest + not; the child thou hatest thou strikest not. The might of the + earth has swallowed thee. O Darkness, Darkness, Mother + Darkness! thou enfoldest him like a mantle; like a deep well + thou enclosest him!" + +Thus Izdubar mourned for his friend, and went into the temple of Bel, +and ceased not from lamenting and crying to the gods, till Ea mercifully +inclined to his prayer and sent his son Meridug to bring Eabani's spirit +out of the dark world of shades into the land of the blessed, there to +live forever among the heroes of old, reclining on luxurious couches and +drinking the pure water of eternal springs. The poem ends with a vivid +description of a warrior's funeral: + + "I see him who has been slain in battle. His father and mother + hold his head; his wife weeps over him; his friends stand + around; his prey lies on the ground uncovered and unheeded. The + vanquished captives follow; the food provided in the tents is + consumed." + +17. The incident of the Deluge, which has been merely mentioned above, +not to interrupt the narrative by its disproportionate length, (the +eleventh tablet being the best preserved of all), is too important not +to be given in full.[BE] + + "I will tell thee, Izdubar, how I was saved from the flood," + begins Hasisadra, in answer to his descendant's question, "also + will I impart to thee the decree of the great gods. Thou + knowest Surippak, the city that is by the Euphrates. This city + was already very ancient when the gods were moved in their + hearts to ordain a great deluge, all of them, their father + Anu, their councillor the warlike Bel, their throne-bearer + Ninib, their leader Ennugi. The lord of inscrutable wisdom, the + god Ea, was with them and imparted to me their decision. + 'Listen,' he said, 'and attend! Man of Surippak, son of + Ubaratutu,[BF] go out of thy house and build thee a ship. They + are willed to destroy the seed of life; but thou preserve it + and bring into the ship seed of every kind of life. The ship + which thou shalt build let it be ... in length, and ... in + width and height,[BG] and cover it also with a deck.' When I + heard this I spoke to Ea, my lord: 'If I construct the ship as + thou biddest me, O lord, the people and their elders will laugh + at me.' But Ea opened his lips once more and spoke to me his + servant: 'Men have rebelled against me, and I will do judgment + on them, high and low. But do thou close the door of the ship + when the time comes and I tell thee of it. Then enter the ship + and bring into it thy store of grain, all thy property, thy + family, thy men-servants and thy women-servants, and also thy + next of kin. The cattle of the fields, the wild beasts of the + fields, I shall send to thee myself, that they may be safe + behind thy door.'--Then I built the ship and provided it with + stores of food and drink; I divided the interior into ... + compartments.[BG] I saw to the chinks and filled them; I poured + bitumen over its outer side and over its inner side. All that I + possessed I brought together and stowed it in the ship; all + that I had of gold, of silver, of the seed of life of every + kind; all my men-servants and my women-servants, the cattle of + the field, the wild beasts of the field, and also my nearest + friends. Then, when Shamash brought round the appointed time, a + voice spoke to me:--'This evening the heavens will rain + destruction, wherefore go thou into the ship and close thy + door. The appointed time has come,' spoke the voice, 'this + evening the heavens will rain destruction.' And greatly I + feared the sunset of that day, the day on which I was to begin + my voyage. I was sore afraid. Yet I entered into the ship and + closed the door behind me, to shut off the ship. And I confided + the great ship to the pilot, with all its freight.--Then a + great black cloud rises from the depths of the heavens, and + Raman thunders in the midst of it, while Nebo and Nergal + encounter each other, and the Throne-bearers walk over + mountains and vales. The mighty god of Pestilence lets loose + the whirlwinds; Ninib unceasingly makes the canals to + overflow; the Anunnaki bring up floods from the depths of the + earth, which quakes at their violence. Raman's mass of waters + rises even to heaven; light is changed into darkness. Confusion + and devastation fills the earth. Brother looks not after + brother, men have no thought for one another. In the heavens + the very gods are afraid; they seek a refuge in the highest + heaven of Anu; as a dog in its lair, the gods crouch by the + railing of heaven. Ishtar cries aloud with sorrow: 'Behold, all + is turned into mud, as I foretold to the gods! I prophesied + this disaster and the extermination of my creatures--men. But I + do not give them birth that they may fill the sea like the + brood of fishes.' Then the gods wept with her and sat lamenting + on one spot. For six days and seven nights wind, flood and + storm reigned supreme; but at dawn of the seventh day the + tempest decreased, the waters, which had battled like a mighty + host, abated their violence; the sea retired, and storm and + flood both ceased. I steered about the sea, lamenting that the + homesteads of men were changed into mud. The corpses drifted + about like logs. I opened a port-hole, and when the light of + day fell on my face I shivered and sat down and wept. I steered + over the countries which now were a terrible sea. Then a piece + of land rose out of the waters. The ship steered towards the + land Nizir. The mountain of the land Nizir held fast the ship + and did not let it go. Thus it was on the first and on the + second day, on the third and the fourth, also on the fifth and + sixth days. At dawn of the seventh day I took out a dove and + sent it forth. The dove went forth to and fro, but found no + resting-place and returned. Then I took out a swallow and sent + it forth. The swallow went forth, to and fro, but found no + resting-place and returned. Then I took out a raven and sent it + forth. The raven went forth, and when it saw that the waters + had abated, it came near again, cautiously wading through the + water, but did not return. Then I let out all the animals, to + the four winds of heaven, and offered a sacrifice. I raised an + altar on the highest summit of the mountain, placed the sacred + vessels on it seven by seven, and spread reeds, cedar-wood and + sweet herbs under them. The gods smelled a savor; the gods + smelled a sweet savor; like flies they swarmed around the + sacrifice. And when the goddess Ishtar came, she spread out on + high the great bows of her father Anu:--'By the necklace of my + neck,' she said, 'I shall be mindful of these days, never shall + I lose the memory of them! May all the gods come to the altar; + Bel alone shall not come, for that he controlled not his wrath, + and brought on the deluge, and gave up my men to destruction.' + When after that Bel came nigh and saw the ship, he was + perplexed, and his heart was filled with anger against the gods + and against the spirits of Heaven:--'Not a soul shall escape,' + he cried; 'not one man shall come alive out of destruction!' + Then the god Ninib opened his lips and spoke, addressing the + warlike Bel:--'Who but Ea can have done this? Ea knew, and + informed him of everything.' Then Ea opened his lips and spoke, + addressing the warlike Bel:--'Thou art the mighty leader of the + gods: but why hast thou acted thus recklessly and brought on + this deluge? Let the sinner suffer for his sin and the + evil-doer for his misdeeds; but to this man be gracious that he + may not be destroyed, and incline towards him favorably, that + he may be preserved. And instead of bringing on another deluge, + let lions and hyenas come and take from the number of men; send + a famine to unpeople the earth; let the god of Pestilence lay + men low. I have not imparted to Hasisadra the decision of the + great gods: I only sent him a dream, and he understood the + warning.'--Then Bel came to his senses. He entered the ship, + took hold of my hand and lifted me up; he also lifted up my + wife and laid her hand in mine. Then he turned towards us, + stood between us and spoke this blessing on us:--'Until now + Hasisadra was only human: but now he shall be raised to be + equal with the gods, together with his wife. He shall dwell in + the distant land, by the mouth of the rivers.' Then they took + me and translated me to the distant land by the mouth of the + rivers." + +18. Such is the great Chaldean Epic, the discovery of which produced so +profound a sensation, not to say excitement, not only among special +scholars, but in the reading world generally, while the full importance +of it in the history of human culture cannot yet be realized at this +early stage of our historical studies, but will appear more and more +clearly as their course takes us to later nations and other lands. We +will here linger over the poem only long enough to justify and explain +the name given to it in the title of this chapter, of "Mythical Epos." + +19. Were the hero Izdubar a purely human person, it would be a matter of +much wonder how the small nucleus of historical fact which the story of +his adventures contains should have become entwined and overgrown with +such a disproportionate quantity of the most extravagant fiction, +oftentimes downright monstrous in its fancifulness. But the story is one +far older than that of any mere human hero and relates to one far +mightier: it is the story of the Sun in his progress through the year, +retracing his career of increasing splendor as the spring advances to +midsummer, the height of his power when he reaches the month represented +in the Zodiac by the sign of the Lion, then the decay of his strength as +he pales and sickens in the autumn, and at last his restoration to youth +and vigor after he has passed the Waters of Death--Winter, the death of +the year, the season of nature's deathlike torpor, out of which the sun +has not strength sufficient to rouse her, until spring comes back and +the circle begins again. An examination of the Accadian calendar, +adopted by the more scientifically inclined Semites, shows that the +names of most of the months and the signs by which they were represented +on the maps of the corresponding constellations of the Zodiac, directly +answer to various incidents of the poem, following, too, in the same +order, which is that of the respective seasons of the year,--which, be +it noted, began with the spring, in the middle of our month of March. If +we compare the calendar months with the tablets of the poem we will find +that they, in almost every case, correspond. As the first tablet is +unfortunately still missing, we cannot judge how far it may have +answered to the name of the first month--"the Altar of Bel." But the +second month, called that of "the Propitious Bull," or the "Friendly +Bull," very well corresponds to the second tablet which ends with +Izdubar's sending for the seer Eabani, half bull half man, while the +name and sign of the third, "the Twins," clearly alludes to the bond of +friendship concluded between the two heroes, who became inseparable. +Their victory over the tyrant Khumbaba in the fifth tablet is symbolized +by the sign representing the victory of the Lion over the Bull, often +abbreviated into that of the Lion alone, a sign plainly enough +interpreted by the name "Month of Fire," so appropriate to the hottest +and driest of seasons even in moderate climes--July-August. What makes +this interpretation absolutely conclusive is the fact that in the +symbolical imagery of all the poetry of the East, the Lion represents +the principle of heat, of fire. The seventh tablet, containing the +wooing of the hero by the goddess Ishtar, is too plainly reproduced in +the name of the corresponding month, "the Month of the Message of +Ishtar," to need explanation. The sign, too, is that of a woman with a +bow, the usual mode of representing the goddess. The sign of the eighth +month, "the Scorpion," commemorates the gigantic Warders of the Sun, +half men half scorpions, whom Izdubar encounters when he starts on his +journey to the land of the dead. The ninth month is called "the Cloudy," +surely a meet name for November-December, and in no way inconsistent +with the contents of the ninth tablet, which shows Izdubar navigating +the "Waters of Death." In the tenth month (December-January), the sun +reaches his very lowest point, that of the winter solstice with its +shortest days, whence the name "Month of the Cavern of the Setting Sun," +and the tenth tablet tells how Izdubar reached the goal of his journey, +the land of the illustrious dead, to which his great ancestor has been +translated. To the eleventh month, "the Month of the Curse of Rain," +with the sign of the Waterman,--(January-February being in the low lands +of the two rivers the time of the most violent and continuous +rains)--answers the eleventh tablet with the account of the Deluge. The +"Fishes of Ea" accompany the sun in the twelfth month, the last of the +dark season, as he emerges, purified and invigorated, to resume his +triumphant career with the beginning of the new year. From the context +and sequence of the myth, it would appear that the name of the first +month, "the Altar of Bel," must have had something to do with the +reconciliation of the god after the Deluge, from which humanity may be +said to take a new beginning, which would make the name a most +auspicious one for the new year, while the sign--a Ram--might allude to +the animal sacrificed on the altar. Each month being placed under the +protection of some particular deity it is worthy of notice that Anu and +Bel are the patrons of the first month, Ea of the second, (in connection +with the wisdom of Eabani, who is called "the creature of Ea,") while +Ishtar presides over the sixth, ("Message of Ishtar,") and Raman, the +god of the atmosphere, of rain and storm and thunder, over the eleventh, +("the Curse of Rain"). + +20. The solar nature of the adventurous career attributed to the +favorite national hero of Chaldea, now universally admitted, was first +pointed out by Sir Henry Rawlinson: but it was Francois Lenormant who +followed it out and established it in its details. His conclusions on +the subject are given in such clear and forcible language, that it is a +pleasure to reproduce them:[BH]--"1st. The Chaldeans and Babylonians +had, concerning the twelve months of the year, myths for the most part +belonging to the series of traditions anterior to the separation of the +great races of mankind which descended from the highlands of Pamir, +since we find analogous myths among the pure Semites and other nations. +As early as the time when they dwelt on the plains of the Tigris and +Euphrates, they connected these myths with the different epochs of the +year, not with a view to agricultural occupations, but in connection +with the great periodical phenomena of the atmosphere and the different +stations in the sun's yearly course, as they occurred in that particular +region; hence the signs characterizing the twelve solar mansions in the +Zodiac and the symbolical names given to the months by the Accads.--2d. +It was those myths, strung together in their successive order, which +served as foundation to the epic story of Izdubar, the fiery and solar +hero, and in the poem which was copied at Erech by Asshurbanipal's order +each of them formed the subject of one of the twelve tablets, making up +the number of twelve separate books or chapters answering the twelve +months of the year."--Even though the evidence is apparently so complete +as not to need further confirmation, it is curious to note that the +signs which compose the name of Izdubar convey the meaning "mass of +fire," while Hasisadra's Accadian name means "the sun of life," "the +morning sun," and his father's name, Ubaratutu, is translated "the glow +of sunset." + +21. George Smith indignantly repudiated this mythic interpretation of +the hero's exploits, and claimed for them a strictly historical +character. But we have seen that the two are by no means incompatible, +since history, when handed down through centuries by mere oral +tradition, is liable to many vicissitudes in the telling and retelling, +and people are sure to arrange their favorite and most familiar stories, +the mythical signification of which has long been forgotten, around the +central figure of the heroes they love best, around the most important +but vaguely recollected events in their national life. Hence it came to +pass that identically the same stories, with but slight local +variations, were told of heroes in different nations and countries; for +the stock of original, or, as one may say, primary myths is +comparatively small and the same for all, dating back to a time when +mankind was not yet divided. In the course of ages and migrations it +has been altered, like a rich hereditary robe, to fit and adorn many and +very different persons. + +22. One of the prettiest, oldest, and most universally favorite solar +myths is the one which represents the Sun as a divine being, youthful +and of surpassing beauty, beloved by or wedded to an equally powerful +goddess, but meeting a premature death by accident and descending into +the dark land of shades, from which, however, after a time he returns as +glorious and beautiful as before. In this poetical fancy, the land of +shades symbolizes the numb and lifeless period of winter as aptly as the +Waters of Death in the Izdubar Epic, while the seeming death of the +young god answers to the sickening of the hero at that declining season +of the year when the sun's rays lose their vigor and are overcome by the +powers of darkness and cold. The goddess who loves the fair young god, +and mourns him with passionate grief, until her wailings and prayers +recall him from his deathlike trance, is Nature herself, loving, +bountiful, ever productive, but pale, and bare, and powerless in her +widowhood, while the sun-god, the spring of life whence she draws her +very being, lies captive in the bonds of their common foe, grim Winter, +which is but a form of Death itself. Their reunion at the god's +resurrection in spring is the great wedding-feast, the revel and +holiday-time of the world. + +23. This simple and perfectly transparent myth has been worked out more +or less elaborately in all the countries of the East, and has found its +way in some form or other into all the nations of the three great white +races--of Japhet, Shem, and Ham--yet here again the precedence in point +of time seems due to the older and more primitive--the Yellow or +Turanian race; for the most ancient, and probably original form of it is +the one which was inherited by the Semitic settlers of Chaldea from +their Shumiro-Accadian predecessors, as shown by the Accadian name of +the young solar god, DUMUZI, "the unfortunate husband of the goddess +Ishtar," as he is called in the sixth tablet of the Izdubar epic. The +name has been translated "Divine Offspring," but in later times lost all +signification, being corrupted into TAMMUZ. In some Accadian hymns he is +invoked as "the Shepherd, the lord Dumuzi, the lover of Ishtar." Well +could a nomadic and pastoral people poetically liken the sun to a +shepherd, whose flocks were the fleecy clouds as they speed across the +vast plains of heaven or the bright, innumerable stars. This comparison, +as pretty as it is natural, kept its hold in all ages and nations on the +popular fancy, which played on it an infinite variety of ingenious +changes, but it is only cuneiform science which has proved that it could +be traced back to the very earliest race whose culture has left its mark +on the world. + +24. Of Dumuzi's tragic death no text deciphered until now unfortunately +gives the details. Only the remarkable fragment about the black pine of +Eridhu, "marking the centre of the earth, in the dark forest, into the +heart whereof man hath not penetrated," (see p. 287) tantalizingly ends +with these suggestive words: "Within it Dumuzi...." Scholars have found +reason for conjecturing that this fragment was the beginning of a +mythical narrative recounting Dumuzi's death, which must have been +represented as taking place in that dark and sacred forest of +Eridhu,--probably through the agency of a wild beast sent against him by +a jealous and hostile power, just as the bull created by Anu was sent +against Izdubar.[BI] One thing, however, is sure, that both in the +earlier (Turanian) and in the later (Semitic) calendary of Chaldea, +there was a month set apart in honor and for the festival of Dumuzi. It +was the month of June-July, beginning at the summer solstice, when the +days begin to shorten, and the sun to decline towards its lower winter +point--a retrograde movement, ingeniously indicated by the Zodiacal sign +of that month, the Cancer or Crab. The festival of Dumuzi lasted during +the six first days of the month, with processions and ceremonies bearing +two distinct characters. The worshippers at first assembled in the guise +of mourners, with lamentations and loud wailings, tearing of clothes and +of hair, as though celebrating the young god's funeral, while on the +sixth day his resurrection and reunion to Ishtar was commemorated with +the noisiest, most extravagant demonstrations of rejoicing. This custom +is alluded to in Izdubar's scornful answer to Ishtar's love-message, +when he says to her: "Thou lovedst Dumuzi, _for whom they mourn year +after year_," and was witnessed by the Jews when they were carried +prisoners to Babylon as late as 600 B.C., as expressly mentioned by +Ezekiel, the prophet of the Captivity:--"Then he brought me to the door +of the Lord's house which was towards the north; _and behold, there sat +the women weeping for Tammuz_." (Ezekiel, iii. 14.) + +25. A favorite version of Dumuzi's resurrection was that which told how +Ishtar herself followed him into the Lower World, to claim him from +their common foe, and thus yielded herself for a time into the power of +her rival, the dread Queen of the Dead, who held her captive, and would +not have released her but for the direct interference of the great gods. +This was a rich mine of epic material, from which songs and stories must +have flowed plentifully. We are lucky enough to possess a short epic on +the subject, in one tablet, one of the chief gems of the indefatigable +George Smith's discoveries,--a poem of great literary beauty, and nearly +complete to within a few lines of the end, which are badly injured and +scarcely legible. It is known under the name of "THE DESCENT OF ISHTAR," +as it relates only this one incident of the myth. The opening lines are +unsurpassed for splendid poetry and sombre grandeur in any, even the +most advanced literature. + + 26. "Towards the land whence there is no return, towards the + house of corruption, Ishtar, the daughter of Sin, has turned + her mind ... towards the dwelling that has an entrance but no + exit, towards the road that may be travelled but not retraced, + towards the hall from which the light of day is shut out, + where hunger feeds on dust and mud, where light is never seen, + where the shades of the dead dwell in the dark, clothed with + wings like birds. On the lintel of the gate and in the lock + dust lies accumulated.--Ishtar, when she reached the land + whence there is no return, to the keeper of the gate signified + her command: 'Keeper, open thy gate that I may pass. If thou + openest not and I may not enter, I will smite the gate, and + break the lock, I will demolish the threshold and enter by + force; then will I let loose the dead to return to the earth, + that they may live and eat again; I will make the risen dead + more numerous than the living.' The gate-keeper opened his lips + and spoke:--'Be appeased, O Lady, and let me go and report thy + name to Allat the Queen.'" + +Here follow a few much injured lines, the sense of which could not be +restored in its entirety. The substance is that the gate-keeper +announces to Allat that her sister Ishtar has come for the Water of +Life, which is kept concealed in a distant nook of her dominions, and +Allat is greatly disturbed at the news. But Ishtar announces that she +comes in sorrow, not enmity:-- + + "I wish to weep over the heroes who have left their wives. I + wish to weep over the wives who have been taken from their + husbands' arms. I wish to weep over the Only Son--(a name of + Dumuzi)--who has been taken away before his time." + +Then Allat commands the keeper to open the gates and take Ishtar through +the sevenfold enclosure, dealing by her as by all who come to those +gates, that is, stripping her of her garments according to ancient +custom. + + "The keeper went and opened the gate: 'Enter, O Lady, and may + the halls of the Land whence there is no return be gladdened by + thy presence.' At the first gate he bade her enter and laid his + hand on her; he took the high headdress from her head: 'Why, O + keeper, takest thou the high headdress from my head?'--'Enter, + O Lady; such is Allat's command.'" + +The same scene is repeated at each of the seven gates; the keeper at +each strips Ishtar of some article of her attire--her earrings, her +necklace, her jewelled girdle, the bracelets on her arms and the bangles +at her ankles, and lastly her long flowing garment. On each occasion the +same words are repeated by both. When Ishtar entered the presence of +Allat, the queen looked at her and taunted her to her face: then Ishtar +could not control her anger and cursed her. Allat turned to her chief +minister Namtar, the god of Pestilence--meet servant of the queen of the +dead!--who is also the god of Fate, and ordered him to lead Ishtar away +and afflict her with sixty dire diseases,--to strike her head and her +heart, and her eyes, her hands and her feet, and all her limbs. So the +goddess was led away and kept in durance and in misery. Meanwhile her +absence was attended with most disastrous consequences to the upper +world. With her, life and love had gone out of it; there were no +marriages any more, no births, either among men or animals; nature was +at a standstill. Great was the commotion among the gods. They sent a +messenger to Ea to expose the state of affairs to him, and, as usual, to +invoke his advice and assistance. Ea, in his fathomless wisdom, revolved +a scheme. He created a phantom, Uddusunamir. + + "'Go,' he said to him; 'towards the Land whence there is no + return direct thy face; the seven gates of the Arallu will open + before thee. Allat shall see thee and rejoice at thy coming, + her heart shall grow calm and her wrath shall vanish. Conjure + her with the name of the great gods, stiffen thy neck and keep + thy mind on the Spring of Life. Let the Lady (Ishtar) gain + access to the Spring of Life and drink of its waters.'--Allat, + when she heard these things, beat her breast and bit her + fingers with rage. Consenting, sore against her will, she + spoke:--'Go, Uddusunamir! May the great jailer place thee in + durance! May the foulness of the city ditches be thy food, the + waters of the city sewers thy drink! A dark dungeon be thy + dwelling, a sharp pole thy seat!'" + +Then she ordered Namtar to let Ishtar drink of the Spring of Life and to +bear her from her sight. Namtar fulfilled her command and took the +goddess through the seven enclosures, at each gate restoring to her the +article of her attire that had been taken at her entrance. At the last +gate he said to her: + + "Thou hast paid no ransom to Allat for thy deliverance; so now + return to Dumuzi, the lover of thy youth; sprinkle over him the + sacred waters, clothe him in splendid garments, adorn him with + gems." + +26. The last lines are so badly mutilated that no efforts have as yet +availed to make their sense anything but obscure, and so it must remain, +unless new copies come to light. Yet so much is, at all events, evident, +that they bore on the reunion of Ishtar and her young lover. The poem is +thus complete in itself; but some think that it was introduced into the +Izdubar epic as an independent episode, after the fashion of the Deluge +narrative, and, if so, it is supposed to have been part of the seventh +tablet. Whether such were really the case or no, matters little in +comparison with the great importance these two poems possess as being +the most ancient presentations, in a finished literary form, of the two +most significant and universal nature-myths--the Solar and the Chthonic +(see p. 272), the poetical fancies in which primitive mankind clothed +the wonders of the heavens and the mystery of the earth, being content +to admire and imagine where it could not comprehend and explain. We +shall be led back continually to these, in very truth, _primary_ myths, +for they not only served as groundwork to much of the most beautiful +poetry of the world but suggested some of its loftiest and most +cherished religious conceptions. + +[For a metrical version by Prof. Dyer of the story of +"Ishtar's Descent," see Appendix, p. 367.] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[BC] Paul Haupt, "Der Keilinschriftliche Suendfluthbericht," 1881. + +[BD] There are difficulties in the way of reading this name, and +scholars are not sure that this is the right pronunciation of it; but +they retain it, until some new discovery helps to settle the question. + +[BE] Translated from the German version of Paul Haupt, "Der +Keilinschriftliche Suendfluthbericht." + +[BF] The ninth king in the fabulous list of ten. + +[BG] The figures unfortunately obliterated. + +[BH] "Les Premieres Civilisations," Vol. II., pp. 78 ff. + +[BI] A. H. Sayce, "Babylonian Literature," p. 39; Fr. Lenormant, "Il +Mito di Adone-Tammuz," pp. 12-13. + + + + + VIII. + +RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY.--IDOLATRY AND ANTHROPOMORPHISM.--THE CHALDEAN + LEGENDS AND THE BOOK OF GENESIS.--RETROSPECT. + + +1. In speaking of ancient nations, the words "Religion" and "Mythology" +are generally used indiscriminately and convertibly. Yet the conceptions +they express are essentially and radically different. The broadest +difference, and the one from which all others flow, is that the +one--Religion--is a thing of the feelings, while the other--Mythology--is +a thing of the imagination. In other words, Religion comes from +WITHIN--from that consciousness of limited power, that inborn need of +superior help and guidance, forbearance and forgiveness, from that +longing for absolute goodness and perfection, which make up the +distinctively human attribute of "religiosity," that attribute which, +together with the faculty of articulate speech, sets Man apart from and +above all the rest of animated creation. (See p. 149.) Mythology, on the +other hand, comes wholly from WITHOUT. It embodies impressions received +by the senses from the outer world and transformed by the poetical +faculty into images and stories. (See definition of "Myth" on p. 294.) +Professor Max Mueller of Oxford has been the first, in his standard work +"The Science of Language," clearly to define this radical difference +between the two conceptions, which he has never since ceased to sound as +a keynote through the long series of his works devoted to the study of +the religions and mythologies of various nations. A few illustrations +from the one nation with which we have as yet become familiar will help +once for all to establish a thorough understanding on this point, most +essential as it is to the comprehension of the workings of the human mind +and soul throughout the long roll of struggles, errors and triumphs, +achievements and failures which we call the history of mankind. + +2. There is no need to repeat here instances of the Shumiro-Accadian and +Chaldean myths; the last three or four chapters have been filled with +them. But the instances of religious feeling, though scattered in the +same field, have to be carefully gleaned out and exhibited, for they +belong to that undercurrent of the soul which pursues its way +unobtrusively and is often apparently lost beneath the brilliant play of +poetical fancies. But it is there nevertheless, and every now and then +forces its way to the surface shining forth with a startling purity and +beauty. When the Accadian poet invokes the Lord "who knows lie from +truth," "who knows the truth that is in the soul of man," who "maketh +lies to vanish," who "turneth wicked plots to a happy issue"--this is +religion, not mythology, for this is not _a story_, it is the expression +of _a feeling_. That "the Lord" whose divine omniscience and goodness +is thus glorified is really the Sun, makes no difference; _that_ is an +error of judgment, a want of knowledge, but the religious feeling is +splendidly manifest in the invocation. But when, in the same hymn, the +Sun is described as "stepping forth from the background of the skies, +pushing back the bolts and opening the gate of the brilliant heaven, and +raising his head above the land," etc., (see p. 172) that is only a very +beautiful, imaginative description of a glorious natural +phenomenon--sunrise; it is magnificent poetry, religious in so far as +the sun is considered as a Being, a Divine Person, the object of an +intensely devout and grateful feeling; still this is not religion, it is +mythology, for it presents a material image to the mind, and one that +can be easily turned into narrative, into _a story_,--which, in fact, +_suggests_ a hero, a king, and a story. Take, again, the so-called +"Penitential Psalms." To the specimen given on p. 178, let us add, for +greater completeness, the following three remarkable fragments: + + I. "God, my creator, take hold of my arms! Direct the breath of + my mouth, my hands direct, O lord of light." + + II. "Lord, let not thy servant sink! Amidst the tumultuous + waters take hold of his hand!" + + III. "He who fears not his God, will be cut off even like a + reed. He who honors not his goddess, his bodily strength will + waste away; like to a star of heaven, his splendor will pale; + he will vanish like to the waters of the night." + +3. All this is religion, of the purest, loftiest kind; fruitful, too, of +good, the only real test of true religion. The deep humility, the +trustful appeal, the feeling of dependence, the consciousness of +weakness, of sin, and the longing for deliverance from them--these are +all very different from the pompous phrases of empty praise and sterile +admiration; they are things which flow from the heart, not the fancy, +which lighten its weight of sorrow and self-reproach, brighten it with +hope and good resolutions, in short, make it happier and better--what no +mere imaginative poetry, however fine, can do. + +4. The radical distinction, then, between religious feeling and the +poetical faculty of mythical creation, is easy to establish and follow +out. On the other hand, the two are so constantly blended, so almost +inextricably interwoven in the sacred poetry of the ancients, in their +views of life and the world, and in their worship, that it is no wonder +they should be so generally confused. The most correct way of putting +the case would be, perhaps, to say that the ancient Religions--meaning +by the word the whole body of sacred poetry and legends as well as the +national forms of worship--were made up originally in about equal parts +of religious feeling and of mythology. In many cases the exuberance of +the imagination gained the upper hand, and there was such a riotous +growth of mythical imagery and stories that the religious feeling was +almost stifled under them. In others, again, the myths themselves +suggested religious ideas of the deepest import and loftiest sublimity. +Such was particularly the case with the solar and Chthonic Myths--the +poetical presentation of the career of the Sun and the Earth--as +connected with the doctrine of the soul's immortality. + +5. A curious and significant observation has been made in excavating the +most ancient graves in the world, those of the so-called Mound-builders. +This name is not that of any particular race or nation, but is given +indiscriminately to all those peoples who lived, on any part of the +globe, long before the earliest beginnings of even the remotest times +which have been made historical by preserved monuments or inscriptions +of any kind. All we know of those peoples is that they used to bury +their dead--at least those of special renown or high rank--in deep and +spacious stone-lined chambers dug in the ground, with a similar gallery +leading to them, and covered by a mound of earth, sometimes of gigantic +dimensions--a very hill. Hence the name. Of their life, their degree of +civilization, what they thought and believed, we have no idea except in +so far as the contents of the graves give us some indications. For, like +the later, historical races, of which we find the graves in Chaldea and +every other country of the ancient world, they used to bury along with +the dead a multitude of things: vessels, containing food and drink; +weapons, ornaments, household implements. The greater the power or +renown of the dead man, the fuller and more luxurious his funeral +outfit. It is indeed by no means rare to find the skeleton of a great +chief surrounded by those of several women, and, at a respectful +distance, more skeletons--evidently those of slaves--whose fractured +skulls more than suggest the ghastly custom of killing wives and +servants to do honor to an illustrious dead and to keep him company in +his narrow underground mansion. Nothing but a belief in the continuation +of existence after death could have prompted these practices. For what +was the sense of giving him wives and slaves, and domestic articles of +all kinds, food and weapons, unless it were for his service and use on +his journey to the unknown land where he was to enter on a new stage of +existence, which the survivors could not but imagine to be a +reproduction, in its simple conditions and needs, of the one he was +leaving? There is no race of men, however primitive, however untutored, +in which this belief in immortality is not found deeply rooted, +positive, unquestioning. The _belief_ is implanted in man by the _wish_; +it answers one of the most imperative, unsilenceable longings of human +nature. For, in proportion as life is pleasant and precious, death is +hideous and repellent. The idea of utter destruction, of ceasing to be, +is intolerable to the mind; indeed, the senses revolt against it, the +mind refuses to grasp and admit it. Yet death is very real, and it is +inevitable; and all human beings that come into the world have to learn +to face the thought of it, and the reality too, in others, before they +lie down and accept it for themselves. But what if death be _not_ +destruction? If it be but a passage from this into another +world,--distant, unknown and perforce mysterious, but certain +nevertheless, a world on the threshold of which the earthly body is +dropped as an unnecessary garment? Then were death shorn of half its +terrors. Indeed, the only unpleasantness about it would be, for him who +goes, the momentary pang and the uncertainty as to what he is going to; +and, for those who remain, the separation and the loathsome details--the +disfigurement, the corruption. But these are soon gotten over, while the +separation is only for a time; for all must go the same way, and the +late-comers will find, will join their lost ones gone before. Surely it +must be so! It were too horrible if it were not; it _must be_--it _is_! +The process of feeling which arrived at this conclusion and hardened it +into absolute faith, is very plain, and we can easily, each of us, +reproduce it in our own souls, independently of the teachings we receive +from childhood. But the mind is naturally inquiring, and involuntarily +the question presents itself: this solution, so beautiful, so +acceptable, so universal,--but so abstract--what suggested it? What +analogy first led up to it from the material world of the senses? To +this question we find no reply in so many words, for it is one of those +that go to the very roots of our being, and such generally remain +unanswered. But the graves dug by those old Mound-Builders present a +singular feature, which almost seems to point to the answer. The tenant +of the funereal chamber is most frequently found deposited in a +crouching attitude, his back leaning against the stone-lined wall, and +_with his face turned towards the West, in the direction of the setting +sun_.... Here, then, is the suggestion, the analogy! The career of the +sun is very like that of man. His rising in the east is like the birth +of man. During the hours of his power, which we call the Day, he does +his allotted work, of giving light and warmth to the world, now riding +radiant and triumphant across an azure sky, now obscured by clouds, +struggling through mists, or overwhelmed by tempests. How like the +vicissitudes that checker the somewhat greater number of hours--or +days--of which the sum makes up a human life! Then when his appointed +time expires, he sinks down,--lower, lower--and disappears into +darkness,--dies. So does man. What is this night, death? Is it +destruction, or only a rest, or an absence? It is at all events _not_ +destruction. For as surely as we see the sun vanish in the west this +evening, feeble and beamless, so surely shall we behold him to-morrow +morning rise again in the east, glorious, vigorous and young. What +happens to him in the interval? Who knows? Perhaps he sleeps, perhaps he +travels through countries we know not of and does other work there; but +one thing is sure: that he is not dead, for he will be up again +to-morrow. Why should not man, whose career so much resembles the sun's +in other respects, resemble him in this? Let the dead, then, be placed +with their faces to the west, in token that theirs is but a setting like +the sun's, to be followed by another rising, a renewed existence, though +in another and unknown world. + +6. All this is sheer poetry and mythology. But how great its beauty, how +obvious its hopeful suggestiveness, if it could appeal to the groping +minds of those primitive men, the old Mound-Builders, and there lay the +seed of a faith which has been more and more clung to, as mankind +progressed in spiritual culture! For all the noblest races have +cherished and worked out the myth of the setting sun in the most +manifold ways, as the symbol of the soul's immortality. The poets of +ancient India, some three thousand years ago, made the Sun the leader +and king of the dead, who, as they said, followed where he had gone +first, "showing the way to many." The Egyptians, perhaps the wisest and +most spiritual of all ancient nations, came to make this myth the +keystone of their entire religion, and placed all their burying-places +in the west, amidst or beyond the Libyan ridge of hills behind which the +sun vanished from the eyes of those who dwelt in the valley of the Nile. +The Greeks imagined a happy residence for their bravest and wisest, +which they called the Islands of the Blest, and placed in the furthest +West, amidst the waters of the ocean into which the sun descends for his +nightly rest. + +7. But the sun's course is twofold. If it is complete--beginning and +ending--within the given number of hours which makes the day, it is +repeated on a larger scale through the cycle of months which makes the +year. The alternations of youth and age, triumph and decline, power and +feebleness, are there represented and are regularly brought around by +the different seasons. But the moral, the symbol, is still the same as +regards final immortality. For if summer answers to the heyday of noon, +autumn to the milder glow and the extinction of evening, and winter to +the joyless dreariness of night, spring, like the morning, ever brings +back the god, the hero, in the perfect splendor of a glorious +resurrection. It was the solar-year myth with its magnificent +accompaniment of astronomical pageantry, which took the greater hold on +the fancy of the scientifically inclined Chaldeans, and which we find +embodied with such admirable completeness in their great epic. We shall +see, later on, more exclusively imaginative and poetical races showing a +marked preference for the career of the sun as the hero of a day, and +making the several incidents of the solar-day myth the subject of an +infinite variety of stories, brilliant or pathetic, tender or heroic. +But there is in nature another order of phenomena, intimately connected +with and dependent on the phases of the sun, that is, the seasons, yet +very different in their individual character, though pointing the same +way as regards the suggestion of resurrection and immortality--the +phenomena of the Earth and the Seed. These may in a more general way be +described as Nature's productive power paralyzed during the numbed +trance of winter, which is as the sleep of death, when the seed lies in +the ground hid from sight and cold, even as a dead thing, but awaking to +new life in the good time of spring, when the seed, in which life was +never extinct but only dormant, bursts its bonds and breaks into verdant +loveliness and bountiful crops. This is the essence and meaning of the +Chthonic or Earth-myth, as universal as the Sun-myth, but of which +different features have also been unequally developed by different +races according to their individual tendencies. In the Chaldean version, +the "Descent of Ishtar," the particular incident of the seed is quite +wanting, unless the name of Dumuzi's month, "The Boon of the Seed" ("_Le +Bienfait de la Semence._" Lenormant), may be considered as alluding to +it. It is her fair young bridegroom, the beautiful Sun-god, whom the +widowed goddess of Nature mourns and descends to seek among the dead. +This aspect of the myth is almost exclusively developed in the religions +of most Canaanitic and Semitic nations of the East, where we shall meet +with it often and often. And here it may be remarked, without digressing +or anticipating too far, that throughout the ancient world, the Solar +and Chthonic cycles of myths have been the most universal and important, +the very centre and groundwork of many of the ancient mythic religions, +and used as vehicles for more or less sublime religious conceptions, +according to the higher or lower spiritual level of the worshipping +nations. + +8. It must be confessed that, amidst the nations of Western Asia, this +level was, on the whole, not a very lofty one. Both the Hamitic and +Semitic races were, as a rule, of a naturally sensuous disposition; the +former being, moreover, distinguished by a very decidedly material turn +of mind. The Kushites, of whom a branch perhaps formed an important +portion of the mixed population of Lower Mesopotamia, and especially the +Canaanites, who spread themselves over all the country between the +great rivers and the Western Sea--the Mediterranean--were no exception +to this rule. If their priests--their professed thinkers, the men +trained through generations for intellectual pursuits--had groped their +way to the perception of One Divine Power ruling the world, they kept it +to themselves, or, at least, out of sight, behind a complicated array of +cosmogonic myths, nature-myths, symbols and parables, resulting in +Chaldea in the highly artificial system which has been sketched +above--(see Chapters V. and VI.)--a system singularly beautiful and +deeply significant, but of which the mass of the people did not care to +unravel the subtle intricacies, being quite content to accept it entire, +in the most literal spirit, elementary nature-gods, astronomical +abstractions, cosmogonical fables and all--questioning nothing, at peace +in their mind and righteously self-conscious if they sacrificed at the +various time-honored local shrines, and conformed to the prescribed +forms and ceremonies. To these they privately added those innumerable +practices of conjuring and rites of witchcraft, the heirloom of the +older lords of the soil, which we saw the colleges of learned priests +compelled, as strangers and comparative newcomers, to tolerate and even +sanction by giving them a place, though an inferior one, in their own +nobler system (see p. 250). Thus it was that, if a glimmer of Truth did +feebly illumine the sanctuary and its immediate ministers, the people at +large dwelt in the outer darkness of hopeless polytheism and, worse +still, of idolatry. For, in bowing before the altars of their temples +and the images in wood, stone or metal in which art strove to express +what the sacred writings taught, the unlearned worshippers did not stop +to consider that these were but pieces of human workmanship, deriving +their sacredness solely from the subjects they treated and the place +they adorned, nor did they strive to keep their thoughts intent on the +invisible Beings represented by the images. It was so much simpler, +easier and more comfortable to address their adoration to what was +visible and near, to the shapes that were so closely within reach of +their senses, that seemed so directly to receive their offerings and +prayers, that became so dearly familiar from long associations. The bulk +of the Chaldean nation for a long time remained Turanian, and the +materialistic grossness of the original Shumiro-Accadian religion +greatly fostered its idolatrous tendencies. The old belief in the +talismanic virtues of all images (see p. 162) continued to assert +itself, and was easily transferred to those representing the divinities +of the later and more elaborate worship. Some portion of the divine +substance or spirit was supposed somehow to pass into the material +representation and reside therein. This is very clear from the way in +which the inscriptions speak of the statues of gods, as though they were +persons. Thus the famous cylinder of the Assyrian conqueror +Asshurbanipal tells how he brought back "the goddess Nana," (i.e., her +statue) who at the time of the great Elamite invasion, "had gone and +dwelt in Elam, a place not appointed for her," and now spoke to him the +king, saying: "From the midst of Elam bring me out and cause me to +enter into Bitanna"--her own old sanctuary at Erech, "which she had +delighted in." Then again the Assyrian conquerors take especial pride in +carrying off with them the statues of the gods of the nations they +subdue, and never fail to record the fact in these words: "I carried +away _their gods_," beyond a doubt with the idea that, in so doing, they +put it out of their enemies' power to procure the assistance of their +divine protectors. + +9. In the population of Chaldea the Semitic element was strongly +represented. It is probable that tribes of Semites came into the country +at intervals, in successive bands, and for a long time wandered +unhindered with their flocks, then gradually amalgamated with the +settlers they found in possession, and whose culture they adopted, or +else formed separate settlements of their own, not even then, however, +quite losing their pastoral habits. Thus the Hebrew tribe, when it left +Ur under Terah and Abraham (see page 121), seems to have resumed its +nomadic life with the greatest willingness and ease, after dwelling a +long time in or near that popular city, the principal capital of Shumir, +the then dominant South. Whether this tribe were driven out of Ur, as +some will have it,[BJ] or left of their own accord, it is perhaps not +too bold to conjecture that the causes of their departure were partly +connected with religious motives. For, alone among the Chaldeans and all +the surrounding nations, this handful of Semites had disentangled the +conception of monotheism from the obscuring wealth of Chaldean +mythology, and had grasped it firmly. At least their leaders and elders, +the patriarchs, had arrived at the conviction that the One living God +was He whom they called "the Lord," and they strove to inspire their +people with the same faith, and to detach them from the mythical +beliefs, the idolatrous practices which they had adopted from those +among whom they lived, and to which they clung with the tenacity of +spiritual blindness and long habit. The later Hebrews themselves kept a +clear remembrance of their ancestors having been heathen polytheists, +and their own historians, writing more than a thousand years after +Abraham's times, distinctly state the fact. In a long exhortation to the +assembled tribes of Israel, which they put in the mouth of Joshua, the +successor of Moses, they make him say:--"Your fathers dwelt on the other +side of the flood" (i.e., the Euphrates, or perhaps the Jordan) "in old +time, even Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nachor, _and +they served other gods_." And further on: "... Put away _the gods which +your fathers served on the other side of the flood_ and in Egypt, and +serve ye the Lord.... Choose you this day whom you will serve, whether +the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the +flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; as for me +and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua, xxiv. 2, 14, 15.) What +more probable than that the patriarchs, Terah and Abraham, should have +led their people out of the midst of the Chaldeans, away from their +great capital Ur, which held some of the oldest and most renowned +Chaldean sanctuaries, and forth into the wilderness, partly with the +object of removing them from corrupting associations. At all events that +branch of the Hebrew tribe which remained in Mesopotamia with Nahor, +Abraham's brother (see Gen. xxiv. xxix. and ff.), continued heathen and +idolatrous, as we see from the detailed narrative in Genesis xxxi., of +how Rachel "had stolen _the images that were her father's_" (xxxi. 19), +when Jacob fled from Laban's house with his family, his cattle and all +his goods. No doubt as to the value and meaning attached to these +"images" is left when we see Laban, after having overtaken the +fugitives, reprove Jacob in these words:--"And now, though thou wouldst +needs be gone, because thou sore longedst for thy father's house, yet +wherefore hast thou stolen _my gods_?" (xxxi. 30), to which Jacob, who +knows nothing of Rachel's theft, replies:--"With whomsoever _thou +findest thy gods_, let him not live" (xxxi. 32). But "Rachel had taken +the images and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And +Laban searched all the tent, but found them not" (xxxi. 34). Now what +could have induced Rachel to commit so dishonorable and, moreover, +dangerous an action, but the idea that, in carrying away these images, +her family's household "gods," she would insure a blessing and +prosperity to herself and her house? That by so doing, she would, +according to the heathens' notion, rob her father and old home of what +she wished to secure herself (see page 344), does not seem to have +disturbed her. It is clear from this that, even after she was wedded to +Jacob the monotheist, she remained a heathen and idolater, though she +concealed the fact from him. + +10. On the other hand, wholesale emigration was not sufficient to remove +the evil. Had it indeed been a wilderness, unsettled in all its extent, +into which the patriarchs led forth their people, they might have +succeeded in weaning them completely from the old influences. But, +scattered over it and already in possession, were numerous Canaanite +tribes, wealthy and powerful under their chiefs--Amorites, and Hivites, +and Hittites, and many more. In the pithy and picturesque Biblical +language, "the Canaanite was in the land" (Genesis, xii. 6), and the +Hebrews constantly came into contact with them, indeed were dependent on +their tolerance and large hospitality for the freedom with which they +were suffered to enjoy the pastures of "the land wherein they were +strangers," as the vast region over which they ranged is frequently and +pointedly called. Being but a handful of men, they had to be cautious in +their dealings and to keep on good terms with the people among whom they +were brought. "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you," admits +Abraham, "bowing himself down before the people of the land," (a tribe +of Hittites near Hebron, west of the Dead Sea), when he offers to buy of +them a field, there to institute a family burying-place for himself and +his race; for he had no legal right to any of the land, not so much as +would yield a sepulchre to his dead, even though the "children of Heth" +treat him with high honor, and, in speaking to him, say, "My lord," and +"thou art a mighty prince among us" (Genesis, xxiii.). This transaction, +conducted on both sides in a spirit of great courtesy and liberality, is +not the only instance of the friendliness with which the Canaanite +owners of the soil regarded the strangers, both in Abraham's lifetime +and long after his death. His grandson, the patriarch Jacob, and his +sons find the same tolerance among the Hivites of Shalem, who thus +commune among themselves concerning them:--"These men are peaceable with +us; therefore let them dwell in the land and trade therein; for the +land, behold it is large enough for them; let us take their daughters +for wives, and let us give them our daughters." And the Hivite prince +speaks in this sense to the Hebrew chief:--"The soul of my son longeth +for your daughter: I pray you, give her him to wife. And make ye +marriages with us, and give your daughters unto us and take our +daughters unto you. And ye shall dwell with us, and the land shall be +before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions +therein." + +11. But this question of intermarriage was always a most grievous one; +the question of all others at which the Hebrew leaders strictly drew the +line of intercourse and good-fellowship; the more stubbornly that their +people were naturally much inclined to such unions, since they came and +went freely among their hosts, and their daughters went out, unhindered, +"to see the daughters of the land." Now all the race of Canaan followed +religions very similar to that of Chaldea, only grosser still in their +details and forms of worship. Therefore, that the old idolatrous habits +might not return strongly upon them under the influence of a heathen +household, the patriarchs forbade marriage with the women of the +countries through which they passed and repassed with their tents and +flocks, and themselves abstained from it. Thus we see Abraham sending +his steward all the way back to Mesopotamia to seek a wife for his son +Isaac from among his own kinsfolk who had stayed there with his brother +Nahor, and makes the old servant solemnly swear "by the Lord, the God of +heaven and the God of earth": "Thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of +the daughters of the Canaanites among whom I dwell." And when Esau, +Isaac's son, took two wives from among the Hittite women, it is +expressly said that they were "a grief of mind unto Isaac and Rebekah;" +and Isaac's most solemn charge to his other son, Jacob, as he sends him +from him with his blessing, is: "Thou shalt not take a wife of the +daughters of Canaan." Whithersoever the Hebrews came in the course of +their long wanderings, which lasted many centuries, the same twofold +prohibition was laid on them: of marrying with native women--"for +surely," they are told, "they will turn away your heart after their +gods," and of following idolatrous religions, a prohibition enforced by +the severest penalties, even to that of death. But nothing could keep +them long from breaking the law in both respects. The very frequency +and emphasis with which the command is repeated, the violence of the +denunciations against offenders, the terrible punishments threatened and +often actually inflicted, sufficiently show how imperfectly and +unwillingly it was obeyed. Indeed the entire Old Testament is one +continuous illustration of the unslackening zeal with which the wise and +enlightened men of Israel--its lawgivers, leaders, priests and +prophets--pursued their arduous and often almost hopeless task, of +keeping their people pure from worships and practices which to them, who +had realized the fallacy of a belief in many gods, were the most +pernicious abominations. In this spirit and to this end they preached, +they fought, they promised, threatened, punished, and in this spirit, in +later ages, they wrote. + +12. It is not until a nation is well established and enjoys a certain +measure of prosperity, security and the leisure which accompanies them, +that it begins to collect its own traditions and memories and set them +down in order, into a continuous narrative. So it was with the Hebrews. +The small tribe became a nation, which ceased from its wanderings and +conquered for itself a permanent place on the face of the earth. But to +do this took many hundred years, years of memorable adventures and +vicissitudes, so that the materials which accumulated for the future +historians, in stories, traditions, songs, were ample and varied. Much, +too, must have been written down at a comparatively early period. _How_ +early must remain uncertain, since there is unfortunately nothing to +show at what time the Hebrews learned the art of writing and their +characters thought, like other alphabets, to be borrowed from those of +the Phoenicians. However that may be, one thing is sure: that the +different books which compose the body of the Hebrew Sacred Scriptures, +which we call "the Old Testament," were collected from several and +different sources, and put into the shape in which they have descended +to us at a very late period, some almost as late as the birth of Christ. +The first book of all, that of Genesis, describing the beginnings of the +Jewish people,--("_Genesis_" is a Greek word, which means +"Origin")--belongs at all events to a somewhat earlier date. It is put +together mainly of two narratives, distinct and often different in point +of spirit and even fact. The later compiler who had both sources before +him to work into a final form, looked on both with too much respect to +alter either, and generally contented himself with giving them side by +side, (as in the story of Hagar, which is told twice and differently, in +Chap. XVI. and Chap. XXI.), or intermixing them throughout, so that it +takes much attention and pains to separate them, (as in the story of the +Flood, Chap. VI.-VIII.). This latter story is almost identical with the +Chaldean Deluge-legend included in the great Izdubar epic, of which it +forms the eleventh tablet. (See Chap. VII.) Indeed, every child can see, +by comparing the Chaldean cosmogonic and mythical legends with the first +chapters of the Book of Genesis, those which relate to the beginnings +not so much of the Hebrew people as of the human race and the world in +general, that both must originally have flowed from one and the same +spring of tradition and priestly lore. The resemblances are too staring, +close, continuous, not to exclude all rational surmises as to casual +coincidences. The differences are such as most strikingly illustrate the +transformation which the same material can undergo when treated by two +races of different moral standards and spiritual tendencies. Let us +briefly examine both, side by side. + +13. To begin with the Creation. The description of the primeval chaos--a +waste of waters, from which "the darkness was not lifted," (see p. +261)--answers very well to that in Genesis, i. 2: "And the earth was +without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The +establishment of the heavenly bodies and the creation of the animals +also correspond remarkably in both accounts, and even come in the same +order (see p. 264, and Genesis, i. 14-22). The famous cylinder of the +British Museum (see No. 62, p. 266) is strong presumption in favor of +the identity of the Chaldean version of the first couple's disobedience +with the Biblical one. We have seen the important position occupied in +the Chaldean religion by the symbol of the Sacred Tree, which surely +corresponds to the Tree of Life in Eden (see p. 268), and probably also +to that of Knowledge, and the different passages and names ingeniously +collected and confronted by scholars leave no doubt as to the Chaldeans +having had the legend of an Eden, a garden of God (see p. 274). A better +preserved copy of the Creation tablets with the now missing passages may +be recovered any day, and there is no reason to doubt that they will be +found as closely parallel to the Biblical narrative as those that have +been recovered until now. But even as we have them at present it is very +evident that the groundwork, the material, is the same in both. It is +the manner, the spirit, which differs. In the Chaldean account, +polytheism runs riot. Every element, every power of nature--Heaven, +Earth, the Abyss, Atmosphere, etc.--has been personified into an +individual divine being actively and severely engaged in the great work. +The Hebrew narrative is severely monotheistic. In it GOD does all that +"the gods" between them do in the other. Every poetical or allegorical +turn of phrase is carefully avoided, lest it lead into the evil errors +of the sister-nation. The symbolical myths--such as that of Bel's mixing +his own blood with the clay out of which he fashions man,(see p. +266)--are sternly discarded, for the same reason. One only is retained: +the temptation by the Serpent. But the Serpent being manifestly the +personification of the Evil Principle which is forever busy in the soul +of man, there was no danger of its being deified and worshipped; and as, +moreover, the tale told in this manner very picturesquely and strikingly +points a great moral lesson, the Oriental love of parable and allegory +could in this instance be allowed free scope. Besides, the Hebrew +writers of the sacred books were not beyond or above the superstitions +of their country and age; indeed they retained all of these that did not +appear to them incompatible with monotheism. Thus throughout the Books +of the Old Testament the Chaldean belief in witchcraft, divination from +dreams and other signs is retained and openly professed, and astrology +itself is not condemned, since among the destinations of the stars is +mentioned that of serving to men "for signs": "And God said, let there +be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the +night; and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and +years" (Genesis, i. 14). Even more explicit is the passage in the +triumphal song of Deborah the prophetess, where celebrating the victory +of Israel over Sisera, she says: "They fought from heaven: the stars in +their courses fought against Sisera" (Judges, v. 20). But a belief in +astrology by no means implies the admission of several gods. In one or +two passages, indeed, we do find an expression which seems to have +slipped in unawares, as an involuntary reminiscence of an original +polytheism; it is where God, communing with himself on Adam's trespass, +says: "Behold, the man is become _as one of us_, to know good and evil" +(Gen. iii. 22). An even clearer trace confronts us in one of the two +names that are given to God. These names are "Jehovah," (more correctly +"Yahveh") and "Elohim." Now the latter name is the plural of _El_, +"god," and so really means "the gods." If the sacred writers retained +it, it was certainly not from carelessness or inadvertence. As they use +it, it becomes in itself almost a profession of faith. It seems to +proclaim the God of their religion as "the One God who is all the +gods," in whom all the forces of the universe are contained and merged. + +14. There is one feature in the Biblical narrative, which, at first +sight, wears the appearance of mythical treatment: it is the familiar +way in which God is represented as coming and going, speaking and +acting, after the manner of men, especially in such passages as these: +"And they heard the voice of the Lord God _walking in the garden in the +cool of the day_" (Gen. iii. 8); or, "Unto Adam also and to his wife did +the Lord God _make coats of skins and he clothed them_" (Gen. iii. 21). +But such a judgment would be a serious error. There is nothing mythical +in this; only the tendency, common to all mankind, of endowing the Deity +with human attributes of form, speech and action, whenever the attempt +was made to bring it very closely within the reach of their imagination. +This tendency is so universal, that it has been classed, under a special +name, among the distinctive features of the human mind. It has been +called ANTHROPOMORPHISM, (from two Greek words _Anthropos_, "man," and +_morphe_, "form,") and can never be got rid of, because it is part and +parcel of our very nature. Man's spiritual longings are infinite, his +perceptive faculties are limited. His spirit has wings of flame that +would lift him up and bear him even beyond the endlessness of space into +pure abstraction; his senses have soles of lead that ever weigh him +down, back to the earth, of which he is and to which he must needs +cling, to exist at all. He can _conceive_, by a great effort, an +abstract idea, eluding the grasp of senses, unclothed in matter; but he +can _realize_, _imagine_, only by using such appliances as the senses +supply him with. Therefore, the more fervently he grasps an idea, the +more closely he assimilates it, the more it becomes materialized in his +grasp, and when he attempts to reproduce it out of himself--behold! it +has assumed the likeness of himself or something he has seen, heard, +touched--the spirituality of it has become weighted with flesh, even as +it is in himself. It is as it were a reproduction, in the intellectual +world, of the eternal strife, in physical nature, between the two +opposed forces of attraction and repulsion, the centrifugal and +centripetal, of which the final result is to keep each body in its +place, with a well-defined and limited range of motion allotted to it. +Thus, however pure and spiritual the conception of the Deity may be, +man, in making it real to himself, in bringing it down within his reach +and ken, within the shrine of his heart, _will_, and _must_ perforce +make of it a Being, human not only in shape, but also in thought and +feeling. How otherwise could he grasp it at all? And the accessories +with which he will surround it will necessarily be suggested by his own +experience, copied from those among which he moves habitually himself. +"Walking in the garden in the cool of the day" is an essentially +Oriental and Southern recreation, and came quite naturally to the mind +of a writer living in a land steeped in sunshine and sultriness. Had the +writer been a Northerner, a denizen of snow-clad plains and ice-bound +rivers, the Lord might probably have been represented as coming in a +swift, fur-lined sleigh. Anthropomorphism, then, is in itself neither +mythology nor idolatry; but it is very clear that it can with the utmost +ease glide into either or both, with just a little help from poetry and, +especially, from art, in its innocent endeavor to fix in tangible form +the vague imaginings and gropings, of which words often are but a +fleeting and feeble rendering. Hence the banishment of all material +symbols, the absolute prohibition of any images whatever as an accessory +of religious worship, which, next to the recognition of One only God, is +the keystone of the Hebrew law:--"Thou shalt have no other gods before +me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of +anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or +that is in the water under the earth.--Thou shalt not bow down thyself +to them, nor serve them" (Exodus, xx. 3-5). + +But, to continue our parallel. + +15. The ten antediluvian kings of Berosus, who succeed the apparition of +the divine Man-Fish, Ea-Oannes (see p. 196), have their exact +counterpart in the ten antediluvian patriarchs of Genesis, v. Like the +Chaldean kings, the patriarchs live an unnatural number of years. Only +the extravagant figures of the Chaldean tradition are considerably +reduced in the Hebrew version. While the former allots to its kings +reigns of tens of thousands of years (see p. 196); the latter cuts them +down to hundreds, and the utmost that it allows to any of its +patriarchs is nine hundred and sixty-nine years of life (Methuselah). + +16. The resemblances between the two Deluge narratives are so obvious +and continuous, that it is not these, but the differences that need +pointing out. Here again the sober, severely monotheistic character of +the Hebrew narrative contrasts most strikingly with the exuberant +polytheism of the Chaldean one, in which Heaven, Sun, Storm, Sea, even +Rain are personified, deified, and consistently act their several +appropriate and most dramatic parts in the great cataclysm, while Nature +herself, as the Great Mother of beings and fosterer of life, is +represented, in the person of Ishtar, lamenting the slaughter of men +(see p. 327). Apart from this fundamental difference in spirit, the +identity in all the essential points of fact is amazing, and variations +occur only in lesser details. The most characteristic one is that, while +the Chaldean version describes the building and furnishing of a _ship_, +with all the accuracy of much seafaring knowledge, and does not forget +even to name the pilot, the Hebrew writer, with the clumsiness and +ignorance of nautical matters natural to an inland people unfamiliar +with the sea or the appearance of ships, speaks only of an _ark_ or +_chest_. The greatest discrepancy is in the duration of the flood, which +is much shorter in the Chaldean text than in the Hebrew. On the seventh +day already, Hasisadra sends out the dove (see p. 316). But then in the +Biblical narrative itself, made up, as was remarked above, of two +parallel texts joined together, this same point is given differently in +different places. According to Genesis, vii. 12, "the rain was upon the +earth forty days and forty nights," while verse 24 of the same chapter +tells us that "the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty +days." Again, the number of the saved is far larger in the Chaldean +account: Hasisadra takes with him into the ship all his men-servants, +his women-servants, and even his "nearest friends," while Noah is +allowed to save only his own immediate family, "his sons, and his wife, +and his sons' wives" (Genesis, vi. 18). Then, the incident of the birds +is differently told: Hasisadra sends out three birds, the dove, the +swallow, and the raven; Noah only two--first the raven, then three times +in succession the dove. But it is startling to find both narratives more +than once using the same words. Thus the Hebrew writer tells how Noah +"sent forth a raven, which went to and fro," and how "the dove found no +rest for the sole of her foot and returned." Hasisadra relates: "I took +out a dove and sent it forth. The dove went forth, to and fro, but found +no resting-place and returned." And further, when Hasisadra describes +the sacrifice he offered on the top of Mount Nizir, after he came forth +from the ship, he says: "The gods smelled a savor; the gods smelled a +sweet savor." "And the Lord smelled a sweet savor," says Genesis,--viii. +21--of Noah's burnt-offering. These few hints must suffice to show how +instructive and entertaining is a parallel study of the two narratives; +it can be best done by attentively reading both alternately, and +comparing them together, paragraph by paragraph. + +17. The legend of the Tower of Languages (see above, p. 293, and +Genesis, xi. 3-9), is the last in the series of parallel Chaldean and +Hebrew traditions. In the Bible it is immediately followed by the +detailed genealogy of the Hebrews from Shem to Abraham. Therewith +evidently ends the connection between the two people, who are severed +for all time from the moment that Abraham goes forth with his tribe from +Ur of the Chaldees, probably in the reign of Amarpal (father of +Hammurabi), whom the Bible calls Amraphel, king of Shinear. The reign of +Hammurabi was, as we have already seen (see p. 219), a prosperous and +brilliant one. He was originally king of Tintir (the oldest name of +Babylon), and when he united all the cities and local rulers of Chaldea +under his supremacy, he assorted the pre-eminence among them for his own +city, which he began to call by its new name, KA-DIMIRRA (Accadian for +"Gate of God," which was translated into the Semitic BAB-IL). This king +in every respect opens a new chapter in the history of Chaldea. +Moreover, a great movement was taking place in all the region between +the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf; nations were forming and +growing, and Chaldea's most formidable rival and future conqueror, +Assyria, was gradually gathering strength in the north, a fierce young +lion-cub. By this newcomer among nations our attention will henceforth +mainly be claimed. Let us, therefore, pause on the high place to which +we have now arrived, and, casting a glance backward, take a rapid survey +of the ground we have covered. + +18. Looking with strained eyes into a past dim and gray with the +scarce-lifting mists of unnumbered ages, we behold our starting-point, +the low land by the Gulf, Shumir, taking shape and color under the rule +of Turanian settlers, the oldest known nation in the world. They drain +and till the land, they make bricks and build cities, and prosper +materially. But the spirit in them is dark and lives in cowering terror +of self-created demons and evil things, which they yet believe they can +control and compel. So their religion is one, not of worship and +thanksgiving, but of dire conjuring and incantation, inconceivable +superstition and witchcraft, an unutterable dreariness hardly lightened +by the glimmering of a nobler faith, in the conception of the wise and +beneficent Ea and his ever benevolently busy son, Meridug. But gradually +there comes a change. Shumir lifts its gaze upward, and as it takes in +more the beauty and the goodness of the world--in Sun and Moon and +Stars, in the wholesome Waters and the purifying serviceable Fire, the +good and divine Powers--the Gods multiply and the host of elementary +spirits, mostly evil, becomes secondary. This change is greatly helped +by the arrival of the meditative, star-gazing strangers, who take hold +of the nature-worship and the nature-myths they find among the people to +which they have come--a higher and more advanced race--and weave these, +with their own star-worship and astrological lore, into a new faith, a +religious system most ingeniously combined, elaborately harmonized, and +full of profoundest meaning. The new religion is preached not only in +words, but in brick and stone: temples arise all over the land, erected +by the _patesis_--the priest-kings of the different cities--and +libraries in which the priestly colleges reverently treasure both their +own works and the older religious lore of the country. The ancient +Turanian names of the gods are gradually translated into the new +Cushito-Semitic language; yet the prayers and hymns, as well as the +incantations, are still preserved in the original tongue, for the people +of Turanian Shumir are the more numerous, and must be ruled and +conciliated, not alienated. The more northern region, Accad, is, indeed, +more thinly peopled; there the tribes of Semites, who now arrive in +frequent instalments, spread rapidly and unhindered. The cities of Accad +with their temples soon rival those of Shumir and strive to eclipse +them, and their _patesis_ labor to predominate politically over those of +the South. And it is with the North that the victory at first remains; +its pre-eminence is asserted in the time of Sharrukin of Agade, about +3800 B.C., but is resumed by the South some thousand years later, when a +powerful dynasty (that to which belong Ur-ea and his son Dungi) +establishes itself in Ur, while Tintir, the future head and centre of +the united land of Chaldea, the great Babylon, if existing at all, is +not yet heard of. It is these kings of Ur who first take the +significant title "kings of Shumir and Accad." Meanwhile new and higher +moral influences have been at work; the Semitic immigration has +quickened the half mythical, half astronomical religion with a more +spiritual element--of fervent adoration, of prayerful trust, of +passionate contrition and self-humiliation in the bitter consciousness +of sin, hitherto foreign to it, and has produced a new and beautiful +religious literature, which marks its third and last stage. To this +stage belong the often mentioned "Penitential Psalms," Semitic, nay, +rather Hebrew in spirit, although still written in the old Turanian +language (but in the northern dialect of Accad, a fact that in itself +bears witness to their comparative lateness and the locality in which +they sprang up), and too strikingly identical with similar songs of the +golden age of Hebrew poetry in substance and form, not to have been the +models from which the latter, by a sort of unconscious heredity, drew +its inspirations. Then comes the great Elamitic invasion, with its +plundering of cities, desecration of temples and sanctuaries, followed +probably by several more through a period of at least three hundred +years. The last, that of Khudur Lagamar, since it brings prominently +forward the founder of the Hebrew nation, deserves to be particularly +mentioned by that nation's historians, and, inasmuch as it coincides +with the reign of Amarpal, king of Tintir and father of Hammurabi, +serves to establish an important landmark in the history both of the +Jews and of Chaldea. When we reach this comparatively recent date the +mists have in great part rolled aside, and as we turn from the ages we +have just surveyed to those that still lie before us, history guides us +with a bolder step and shows us the landscape in a twilight which, +though still dim and sometimes misleading, is yet that of breaking day, +not of descending night. + +19. When we attempt to realize the prodigious vastness and remoteness of +the horizon thus opened before us, a feeling akin to awe overcomes us. +Until within a very few years, Egypt gloried in the undisputed boast of +being the oldest country in the world, i.e., of reaching back, by its +annals and monuments, to an earlier date than any other. But the +discoveries that are continually being made in the valley of the two +great rivers have forever silenced that boast. Chaldea points to a +monumentally recorded date nearly 4000 B.C. This is more than Egypt can +do. Her oldest authentic monuments,--her great Pyramids, are +considerably later. Mr. F. Hommel, one of the leaders of Assyriology, +forcibly expresses this feeling of wonder in a recent publication:[BK] +"If," he says, "the Semites were already settled in Northern Babylonia +(Accad) in the beginning of the fourth thousand B.C., in possession of +the fully developed Shumiro-Accadian culture adopted by them,--a +culture, moreover, which appears to have sprouted in Accad as a cutting +from Shumir--then the latter must naturally be far, far older still, +and have existed in its completed form IN THE FIFTH THOUSAND B.C.--an +age to which I now unhesitatingly ascribe the South-Babylonian +incantations." This would give our mental vision a sweep of full six +thousand years, a pretty respectable figure! But when we remember that +these first known settlers of Shumir came from somewhere else, and that +they brought with them more than the rudiments of civilization, we are +at once thrown back at least a couple of thousands of years more. For it +must have taken all of that and more for men to pass from a life spent +in caves and hunting the wild beasts to a stage of culture comprising +the invention of a complete system of writing, the knowledge and working +of metals, even to the mixing of copper and tin into bronze, and an +expertness in agriculture equal not only to tilling, but to draining +land. If we further pursue humanity--losing at last all count of time in +years or even centuries--back to its original separation, to its first +appearance on the earth,--if we go further still and try to think of the +ages upon ages during which man existed not at all, yet the earth did, +and was beautiful to look upon--(_had_ there been any to look on it), +and good for the creatures who had it all to themselves--a dizziness +comes over our senses, before the infinity of time, and we draw back, +faint and awed, as we do when astronomy launches us, on a slender thread +of figures, into the infinity of space. The six ages of a thousand years +each which are all that our mind can firmly grasp then come to seem to +us a very poor and puny fraction of eternity, to which we are tempted +to apply almost scornfully the words spoken by the poet of as many +years: "Six ages! six little ages! six drops of time!"[BL] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[BJ] Maspero, "Histoire Ancienne," p. 173. + +[BK] Ztschr. fuer Keilschriftforschung, "Zur altbabylonischen +Chronologie," Heft I. + +[BL] Matthew Arnold, in "Mycerinus": + + "Six years! six little years! six drops of time!" + + + + +APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VII. + + +Professor Louis Dyer has devoted some time to preparing a free metrical +translation of "Ishtar's Descent." Unfortunately, owing to his many +occupations, only the first part of the poem is as yet finished. This he +most kindly has placed at our disposal, authorizing us to present it to +our readers. + +ISHTAR IN URUGAL. + + Along the gloomy avenue of death + To seek the dread abysm of Urugal, + In everlasting Dark whence none returns, + Ishtar, the Moon-god's daughter, made resolve, + And that way, sick with sorrow, turned her face. + A road leads downward, but no road leads back + From Darkness' realm. There is Irkalla queen, + Named also Ninkigal, mother of pains. + Her portals close forever on her guests + And exit there is none, but all who enter, + To daylight strangers, and of joy unknown, + Within her sunless gates restrained must stay. + And there the only food vouchsafed is dust, + For slime they live on, who on earth have died. + Day's golden beam greets none and darkness reigns + Where hurtling bat-like forms of feathered men + Or human-fashioned birds imprisoned flit. + Close and with dust o'erstrewn, the dungeon doors + Are held by bolts with gathering mould o'ersealed. + By love distracted, though the queen of love, + Pale Ishtar downward flashed toward death's domain, + And swift approached these gates of Urugal, + Then paused impatient at its portals grim; + For love, whose strength no earthly bars restrain, + Gives not the key to open Darkness' Doors. + By service from all living men made proud, + Ishtar brooked not resistance from the dead. + She called the jailer, then to anger changed + The love that sped her on her breathless way, + And from her parted lips incontinent + Swept speech that made the unyielding warder quail. + "Quick, turnkey of the pit! swing wide these doors, + And fling them swiftly open. Tarry not! + For I will pass, even I will enter in. + Dare no denial, thou, bar not my way, + Else will I burst thy bolts and rend thy gates, + This lintel shatter else and wreck these doors. + The pent-up dead I else will loose, and lead + Back the departed to the lands they left, + Else bid the famished dwellers in the pit + Rise up to live and eat their fill once more. + Dead myriads then shall burden groaning earth, + Sore tasked without them by her living throngs." + Love's mistress, mastered by strong hate, + The warder heard, and wondered first, then feared + The angered goddess Ishtar what she spake, + Then answering said to Ishtar's wrathful might: + "O princess, stay thy hand; rend not the door, + But tarry here, while unto Ninkigal + I go, and tell thy glorious name to her." + + +ISHTAR'S LAMENT. + + "All love from earthly life with me departed, + With me to tarry in the gates of death; + In heaven's sun no warmth is longer hearted, + And chilled shall cheerless men now draw slow breath. + + "I left in sadness life which I had given, + I turned from gladness and I walked with woe, + Toward living death by grief untimely driven, + I search for Thammuz whom harsh fate laid low + + "The darkling pathway o'er the restless waters + Of seven seas that circle Death's domain + I trod, and followed after earth's sad daughters + Torn from their loved ones and ne'er seen again. + + "Here must I enter in, here make my dwelling + With Thammuz in the mansion of the dead, + Driven to Famine's house by love compelling + And hunger for the sight of that dear head. + + "O'er husbands will I weep, whom death has taken, + Whom fate in manhood's strength from life has swept, + Leaving on earth their living wives forsaken,-- + O'er them with groans shall bitter tears be wept. + + "And I will weep o'er wives, whose short day ended + Ere in glad offspring joyed their husbands' eyes; + Snatched from loved arms they left their lords untended,-- + O'er them shall tearful lamentations rise. + + "And I will weep o'er babes who left no brothers, + Young lives to the ills of age by hope opposed, + The sons of saddened sires and tearful mothers, + One moment's life by death eternal closed." + + +NINKIGAL'S COMMAND TO THE WARDER. + + "Leave thou this presence, slave, open the gate; + Since power is hers to force an entrance here, + Let her come in as come from life the dead, + Submissive to the laws of Death's domain. + Do unto her what unto all thou doest." + +Want of space bids us limit ourselves to these few fragments--surely +sufficient to make our readers wish that Professor Dyer might spare some +time to the completion of his task. + + + + + INDEX. + + + A. + + Abel, killed by Cain, 129. + + Abraham, wealthy and powerful chief, 200; + goes forth from Ur, 201; + his victory over Khudur-Lagamar, 222-224. + + Abu-Habba, see Sippar. + + Abu-Shahrein, see Eridhu. + + Accad, Northern or Upper Chaldea, 145; + meaning of the word, ib.; + headquarters of Semitism, 204-205. + + Accads, see Shumiro-Accads. + + Accadian language, see Shumiro-Accadian. + + Agade, capital of Accad, 205. + + Agglutinative languages, meaning of the word, 136-137; + characteristic of Turanian nations, ib.; + spoken by the people of Shumir and Accad, 144. + + Agricultural life, third stage of culture, first beginning of real + civilization, 122. + + Akki, the water-carrier, see Sharrukin of Agade. + + Alexander of Macedon conquers Babylon, 4; + his soldiers destroy the dams of the Euphrates, 5. + + Allah, Arabic for "God," see Ilu. + + Allat, queen of the Dead, 327-329. + + Altai, the great Siberian mountain chain, 146; + probable cradle of the Turanian race, 147. + + Altaic, another name for the Turanian or Yellow Race, 147. + + Amarpal, also Sin-Muballit, king of Babylon, perhaps Amraphel, King of + Shinar, 226. + + Amorite, the, a tribe of Canaan, 133. + + Amraphel, see Amarpal. + + Ana, or Zi-ana--"Heaven," or "Spirit of Heaven," p. 154. + + Anatu, goddess, mother of Ishtar, smites Eabani with death and Izdubar + with leprosy, 310. + + Anthropomorphism, meaning of the word, 355; + definition and causes of, 355-357. + + Anu, first god of the first Babylonian Triad, same as Ana, 240; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246. + + Anunnaki, minor spirits of earth, 154, 250. + + Anunit (the Moon), wife of Shamash, 245. + + Apsu (the Abyss), 264. + + Arali, or Arallu, the Land of the Dead, 157; + its connection with the Sacred Mountain, 276. + + Arallu, see Arali. + + Aram, a son of Shem, eponymous ancestor of the Aramaeans in Gen. + x., 131. + + Arabs, their conquest and prosperous rule in Mesopotamia, 5; + Baghdad, their capital, 5; + nomads in Mesopotamia, 8; + their superstitious horror of the ruins and sculptures, 11; + they take the gigantic head for Nimrod, 22-24; + their strange ideas about the colossal winged bulls and lions and + their destination, 24-25; + their habit of plundering ancient tombs at Warka, 86; + their conquests and high culture in Asia and Africa, 118. + + Arbela, city of Assyria, built in hilly region, 50. + + Architecture, Chaldean, created by local conditions, 37-39; + Assyrian, borrowed from Chaldea, 50. + + Areph-Kasdim, see Arphaxad, meaning of the word, 200. + + Arphaxad, eldest son of Shem, 200. + + Arphakshad, see Arphaxad. + + Asshur, a son of Shem, eponymous ancestor of the Assyrians in Genesis + x., 131. + + Asshurbanipal, King of Assyria, his Library, 100-112; + conquers Elam, destroys Shushan, and restores the statue of the + goddess Nana to Erech, 194-195. + + Asshur-nazir-pal, King of Assyria, size of hall in his palace at Calah + (Nimrud), 63. + + Assyria, the same as Upper Mesopotamia, 7; + rise of, 228. + + Astrology, meaning of the word, 106; + a corruption of astronomy, 234; + the special study of priests, ib. + + Astronomy, the ancient Chaldeans' proficiency in, 230; + fascination of, 231; + conducive to religious speculation, 232; + degenerates into astrology, 234; + the god Nebo, the patron of, 242. + + + B. + + Babbar, see Ud. + + Babel, same as Babylon, 237. + + Bab-el-Mandeb, Straits of, 189. + + Bab-ilu, Semitic name of Babylon; meaning of the name, 225, 249. + + Babylonia, a part of Lower Mesopotamia, 7; + excessive flatness of, 9; + later name for "Shumir and Accad" and for "Chaldea," 237. + + Baghdad, capital of the Arabs' empire in Mesopotamia, 5; + its decay, 6. + + Bassorah, see Busrah. + + Bedouins, robber tribes of, 8; + distinctively a nomadic people, 116-118. + + Bel, third god of the first Babylonian Triad, 239; + meaning of the name, 240; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246; + his battle with Tiamat, 288-290. + + Belit, the wife of Bel, the feminine principle of nature, 244-245; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246. + + Bel-Maruduk, see Marduk. + + Berosus, Babylonian priest; his History of Chaldea, 128; + his version of the legend of Oannes, 184-185; + his account of the Chaldean Cosmogony, 260-261, 267; + his account of the great tower and the confusion of tongues, 292-293; + his account of the Deluge, 299-301. + + Birs-Nimrud or Birs-i-Nimrud, see Borsippa. + + Books, not always of paper, 93; + stones and bricks used as books, 97; + walls and rocks, ib., 97-99. + + Borsippa (Mound of Birs-Nimrud), its peculiar shape, 47; + Nebuchadnezzar's inscription found at, 72; + identified with the Tower of Babel, 293. + + Botta begins excavations at Koyunjik, 14; + his disappointment, 15; + his great discovery at Khorsabad, 15-16. + + Bricks, how men came to make, 39; + sun-dried or raw, and kiln-dried or baked, 40; + ancient bricks from the ruins used for modern constructions; trade + with ancient bricks at Hillah, 42. + + British Museum, Rich's collection presented to, 14. + + Busrah, or Bassorah, bulls and lions shipped to, down the Tigris, 52. + + Byblos, ancient writing material, 94. + + + C. + + Ca-Dimirra (or Ka-Dimirra), second name of Babylon; meaning of the + name, 216, 249. + + Cain, his crime, banishment, and posterity, 129. + + Calah, or Kalah, one of the Assyrian capitals, the Larissa of + Xenophon, 3. + + Calendar, Chaldean, 230, 318-321, 325. + + Canaan, son of Ham, eponymous ancestor of many nations, 134. + + Canaanites, migrations of, 190. + + Cement, various qualities of, 44. + + Chaldea, the same as Lower Mesopotamia, 7; + alluvial formation of, 37-38; + its extraordinary abundance in cemeteries, 78; + a nursery of nations, 198; + more often called by the ancients "Babylonia," 237. + + Chaldeans, in the sense of "wise men of the East," astrologer, + magician, soothsayer,--a separate class of the priesthood, + 254-255. + + Charm against evil spells, 162. + + Cherub, Cherubim, see Kirubu. + + China, possibly mentioned in Isaiah, 136, note. + + Chinese speak a monosyllabic language, 137; + their genius and its limitations, 138, 139; + oldest national religion of, 180, 181; + their "docenal" and "sexagesimal" system of counting, 230-231. + + Chronology, vagueness of ancient, 193-194; + extravagant figures of, 196-197; + difficulty of establishing, 211-212. + + Chthon, meaning of the word, 272. + + Chthonic Powers, 272, 273. + + Chthonic Myths, see Myths. + + Cissians, see Kasshi. + + Cities, building of, fourth stage of culture, 123, 124. + + Classical Antiquity, meaning of the term; too exclusive study of, 12. + + Coffins, ancient Chaldean, found at Warka: "jar-coffins," 82; + "dish-cover" coffins, 84; + "slipper-shaped" coffin (comparatively modern), 84-86. + + Conjuring, against demons and sorcerers, 158-159; + admitted into the later reformed religion, 236. + + Conjurors, admitted into the Babylonian priesthood, 250. + + Cossaeans, see Kasshi. + + Cosmogonic Myths, see Myths. + + Cosmogony, meaning of the word, 259; + Chaldean, imparted by Berosus, 260-261; + original tablets discovered by Geo. Smith, 261-263; + their contents, 264 and ff.; + Berosus again, 267. + + Cosmos, meaning of the word, 272. + + Cuneiform writing, shape and specimen of, 10; + introduced into Chaldea by the Shumiro-Accads, 145. + + Cush, or Kush, eldest son of Ham, 186; + probable early migrations of, 188; + ancient name of Ethiopia, 189. + + Cushites, colonization of Turanian Chaldea by, 192. + + Cylinders: seal cylinders in hard stones, 113-114; + foundation-cylinders, 114; + seal-cylinders worn as talismans, 166; + Babylonian cylinder, supposed to represent the Temptation and + Fall, 266. + + + D. + + Damkina, goddess, wife of Ea, mother of Meridug, 160. + + Decoration: of palaces, 58-62; + of walls at Warka, 87-88. + + Delitzsch, Friedrich, eminent Assyriologist, favors the Semitic + theory, 186. + + Deluge, Berosus' account of, 299-301; + cuneiform account, in the 11th tablet of the Izdubar Epic, 314-317. + + Demon of the South-West Wind, 168. + + Diseases conceived as demons, 163. + + Divination, a branch of Chaldean "science," in what it + consists, 251-252; + collection of texts on, in one hundred tablets, 252-253; + specimens of, 253-254. + + Draining of palace mounds, 70; + of sepulchral mounds at Warka, 86-87. + + Dumuzi, the husband of the goddess Ishtar, 303; + the hero of a solar Myth, 323-326. + + Dur-Sharrukin, (see Khorsabad), + built in hilly region, 50. + + + E. + + Ea, sometimes Zi-ki-a, the Spirit of the Earth and Waters, 154; + protector against evil spirits and men, 160; + his chief sanctuary at Eridhu, 215; + second god of the first Babylonian Triad, 239; + his attributions, 240; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246. + + Eabani, the seer, 304; + invited by Izdubar, 304-305; + becomes Izdubar's friend, 307; + vanquishes with him the Elamite tyrant Khumbaba, 308; + smitten by Ishtar and Anatu, 310; + restored to life by the gods, 314. + + E-Babbara, "House of the Sun," 215, 248. + + Eber, see Heber. + + El, see Ilu. + + Elam, kingdom of, conquered by Asshurbanipal, 194; + meaning of the name, 220. + + Elamite conquest of Chaldea, 219-221, 224-225. + + Elohim, one of the Hebrew names for God, a plural of El, 354. + See Ilu. + + Emanations, theory of divine, 238-239; + meaning of the word, 239. + + Enoch, son of Cain, 129. + + Enoch, the first city, built by Cain, 129. + + Epic Poems, or Epics, 298-299. + + Epic-Chaldaean, oldest known in the world, 299; + its division into tablets, 302. + + Eponym, meaning of the word, 133. + + Eponymous genealogies in Genesis X., 132-134. + + Epos, national, meaning of the word, 299. + + Erech (now Mound of Warka), oldest name Urukh, immense burying-grounds + around, 80-82; + plundered by Khudur-Nankhundi, king of Elam, 195; + library of, 209. + + Eri-Aku (Ariokh of Ellassar), Elamite king of Larsam, 226. + + Eridhu (modern Abu-Shahrein), the most ancient city of Shumir, 215; + specially sacred to Ea, 215, 246, 287. + + Ethiopians, see Cush. + + Excavations, how carried on, 30-34. + + + F. + + Fergusson, Jas., English explorer and writer on art subjects, 56. + + Finns, a nation of Turanian stock, 138. + + Flood, or Deluge, possibly not universal, 128-129. + + + G. + + Gan-Dunyash, or Kar-Dunyash, most ancient name of Babylonia + proper, 225, 286. + + Genesis, first book of the Pentateuch, 127-129; + Chapter X. of, 130-142; + meaning of the word, 353. + + Gibil, Fire, 173; + hymn to, 16; + his friendliness, 174; + invoked to prosper the fabrication of bronze, 16. + + Gisdhubar, see Izdubar. + + Gudea, _patesi_ of Sir-burla, 214. + + + H. + + Ham, second son of Noah, 130; + meaning of the name, 186. + + Hammurabi, king of Babylon and all Chaldea, 226; + his long and glorious reign, ib.; + his public works and the "Royal Canal," 227. + + Harimtu ("Persuasion"), one of the handmaidens of Ishtar, 305. + + Hasisadra, same as Xisuthros, 303; + gives Izdubar an account of the great Flood, 314-317. + + Heber, a descendant of Shem, eponymous ancestor of the Hebrews in + Genesis X., 131, 222. + + Heroes, 296-298. + + Heroic Ages, 299. + + Heroic Myths, see Myths. + + Hillah, built of bricks from the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, carries on + trade with ancient bricks, 42. + + Himalaya Mountains, 188. + + Hindu-Cush (or Kush) Mountains, 188. + + Hit, ancient Is, on the Euphrates, springs of bitumen at, 44. + + Hivite, the, a tribe of Canaan, 133. + + Hungarians, a nation of Turanian stock, 138. + + + I. + + Idpa, the Demon of Fever, 156. + + Igigi, three hundred, spirits of heaven, 250. + + Ilu, or El, Semitic name for "god," 232. + + Im, or Mermer, "Wind," 154. + + India, 188. + + Indus, the great river of India, 188. + + Intercalary months, introduced by the Chaldeans to correct the + reckoning of their year, 230. + + Is, see Hit. + + Ishtar, the goddess of the planet Venus, 242; + the Warrior-Queen and Queen of Love, 245; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246; + offers her love to Izdubar, 308; + is rejected and sends a monstrous bull against him, 309; + causes Eabani's death and Izdubar's illness, 310; + descent of, into the land of shades, 326-330. + + Izdubar, the hero of the great Chaldean Epic, 303; + his dream at Erech, 304; + invites Eabani, 304-305; + vanquishes with his help Khumbaba, the Elamite tyrant of Erech, 308; + offends Ishtar, 308; + vanquishes the divine Bull, with Eabani's help, 309; + is smitten with leprosy, 310; + travels to "the mouth of the great rivers" to consult his immortal + ancestor Hasisadra, 310-313; + is purified and healed, 313; + returns to Erech; his lament over Eabani's death, 313-314; + solar character of the Epic, 318-322. + + + J. + + Jabal and Jubal, sons of Lamech, descendants of Cain, 129. + + Japhet, third son of Noah, 130. + + Javan, a son of Japhet, eponymous ancestor of the Ionian Greeks, 134. + + "Jonah's Mound," see Nebbi-Yunus. + + Jubal, see Jabal and Jubal. + + + K. + + Ka-Dingirra, see Ca-Dimirra. + + Kar-Dunyash, see Gan-Dunyash. + + Kasbu, the Chaldean double hour, 230. + + Kasr, Mound of, ruins of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, 42. + + Kasshi (Cossaeans or Cissians), conquer Chaldea, 228. + + Kerbela and Nedjif, goal of pilgrim-caravans from Persia, 78. + + Kerubim, see Kirubu. + + Khorsabad, Mound of, Botta's excavations and brilliant discovery + at, 15-16. + + Khudur-Lagamar (Chedorlaomer), king of Elam and Chaldea, his + conquests, 221; + plunders Sodom and Gomorrah with his allies, 222; + is overtaken by Abraham and routed, 223; + his probable date, 224. + + Khudur-Nankhundi, king of Elam, invades Chaldea and carries the statue + of the goddess Nana away from Erech, 195. + + Khumbaba, the Elamite tyrant of Erech vanquished by Izdubar and + Eabani, 308. + + Kirubu, name of the Winged Bulls, 164. + + Koyunjik, Mound of Xenophon's Mespila, 14; + Botta's unsuccessful exploration of, 15; + valuable find of small articles in a chamber at, in the palace of + Sennacherib, 34. + + Kurds, nomadic tribes of, 8. + + + L. + + Lamech, fifth descendant of Cain, 129. + + Larissa, ruins of ancient Calah, seen by Xenophon, 3. + + Larsam (now Senkereh), city of Shumir, 215. + + Layard meets Botta at Mossul in 1842, 17; + undertakes the exploration of Nimrud, 17-18; + his work and life in the East, 19-32; + discovers the Royal Library at Nineveh (Koyunjik), 100. + + Lebanon Mountains, 190. + + Lenormant, Francois, eminent French Orientalist; his work on the + religion of the Shumiro-Accads, 152-3; + favors the Cushite theory, 186. + + Library of Asshurbanipal in his palace at Nineveh (Koyunjik); + discovered by Layard, 100; + re-opened by George Smith, 103; + contents and importance of, for modern scholarship, 106-109; + of Erech, 209. + + Loftus, English explorer; his visit to Warka in 1854-5, 80-82; + procures slipper-shaped coffins for the British Museum, 36. + + Louvre, Assyrian Collection at the, 17; + "Sarzec collection" added, 89. + + Louvre, Armenian contrivance for lighting houses, 68. + + + M. + + Madai, a son of Japhet, eponymous ancestor of the Medes, 135. + + Magician, derivation of the word, 255. + + Marad, ancient city of Chaldea, 303. + + Marduk, or Maruduk (Hebrew Merodach), god of the planet Jupiter, 241; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246; + special patron of Babylon, 249. + + Maskim, the seven, evil spirits, 154; + incantation against the, 155; + the same, poetical version, 182. + + Maspero, G., eminent French Orientalist, 197. + + Medes, Xenophon's erroneous account of, 3-4; + mentioned under the name of Madai in Genesis X., 135. + + Media, divided from Assyria by the Zagros chain, 50. + + Menant, Joachim, French Assyriologist; his little book on the Royal + Library at Nineveh, 105. + + Meridug, son of Ea, the Mediator, 160; + his dialogues with Ea, 161-162. + + Mermer, see Im. + + Merodach, see Marduk. + + Mesopotamia, meaning of the name, 5; + peculiar formation of, 6; + division of, into Upper and Lower, 7. + + Mespila, ruins of Nineveh; seen by Xenophon, 3; + now Mound of Koyunjik, 14. + + Migrations of tribes, nations, races; probable first causes of + prehistoric migrations, 119; + caused by invasions and conquests, 125; + of the Turanian races, 146-147; + of the Cushites, 188; + of the Canaanites, 190. + + Mizraim ("the Egyptians"), a son of Ham, eponymous ancestor of the + Egyptians, 133; + opposed to Cush, 189. + + Monosyllabic languages--Chinese, 136-137. + + Monotheism, meaning of the word, 238; + as conceived by the Hebrews, 344-345. + + Mosul, the residence of a Turkish Pasha; origin of the name, 6; + the wicked Pasha of, 20-23. + + Mound-Builders, their tombs, 335-338. + + Mounds, their appearance, 9-10; + their contents, 11; + formation of, 72; + their usefulness in protecting the ruins and works of art, 74; + sepulchral mounds at Warka, 79-87. + + Mugheir, see Ur. + + Mul-ge, "Lord of the Abyss," 154. + + Mummu-Tiamat (the "Billowy Sea"), 264; + her hostility to the gods, 288; + her fight with Bel, 288-290. + + Mythology, definition of, 331; + distinction from Religion, 331-334. + + Myths, meaning of the word, 294; + Cosmogonic, 294; + Heroic, 297-298; + Solar, 322, 339-340; + Chthonic, 330, 340-341. + + + N. + + Nabonidus, last king of Babylon, discovers Naram-sin's cylinder, 213; + discovers Hammurabi's cylinder at Larsam, 218-219. + + Namtar, the Demon of Pestilence, 156, 157; + incantation against, 167; + Minister of Allat, Queen of the Dead, 328, 329. + + Nana, Chaldean goddess, her statue restored by Asshurbanipal, + 195, 343-344; + wife of Anu, 245. + + Nannar, see Uru-Ki. + + Naram-Sin, son of Sargon I. of Agade; + his cylinder discovered by Nabonidus, 213. + + Nations, gradual formation of, 125-126. + + Nebbi-Yunus, Mound of, its sacredness, 11; + its size, 49. + + Nebo, or Nabu, the god of the planet Mercury, 242; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246. + + Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; + his palace, now Mound of Kasr, 42; + his inscription of Borsippa, 72. + + Nedjif, see Kerbela. + + Nergal, the god of the planet Mars, and of War, 242; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246. + + Niffer, see Nippur. + + Nimrod, dams on the Euphrates attributed to, by the Arabs, 5; + his name preserved, and many ruins called by it, 11; + gigantic head declared by the Arabs to be the head of, 22-24. + + Nimrud, Mound of, Layard undertakes the exploration of, 17. + + Nin-dar, the nightly sun, 175. + + Nineveh, greatness and utter destruction of, 1; + ruins of, seen by Xenophon, called by him Mespila, 3; + site of, opposite Mossul, 11. + + Nin-ge, see Nin-ki-gal. + + Ninib, or Nineb, the god of the planet Saturn, 241; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246. + + Nin-ki-gal, or Nin-ge, "the Lady of the Abyss," 157. + + Nippur (now Niffer), city of Accad, 216. + + Nizir, Mount, the mountain on which Hasisadra's ship stood still, 301; + land and Mount, 316 + + Noah and his three sons, 130. + + Nod, land of ("Land of Exile," or "of Wanderings"), 129. + + Nomads, meaning of the word, and causes of nomadic life in modern + times, 118. + + + O. + + Oannes, legend of, told by Berosus, 185. + + Oasis, meaning of the word, 118. + + + P. + + Palaces, their imposing aspect, 54; + palace of Sennacherib restored by Fergusson, 56; + ornamentation of palaces, 58; + winged Bulls and Lions at gateways of, 58; + sculptured slabs along the walls of, 58-60; + painted tiles used for the friezes of, 60-62; + proportions of halls, 63; + roofing of, 62-66; + lighting of, 66-68. + + Papyrus, ancient writing material, 94. + + Paradise, Chaldean legend of, see Sacred Tree and Ziggurat. + Meaning of the word, 277. + + Parallel between the Book of Genesis and the Chaldean legends, 350-360. + + Pastoral life, second stage of culture, 120; + necessarily nomadic, 121. + + Patesis, meaning of the word, 203; + first form of royalty in Chaldean cities, ib., 235. + + Patriarchal authority, first form of government, 123; + the tribe, or enlarged family, first form of the State, 123. + + Penitential Psalms, Chaldean, 177-179. + + Persian Gulf, flatness and marshiness of the region around, 7; + reached further inland than now, 201. + + Persians, rule in Asia, 2; + the war between two royal brothers, 2; + Persian monarchy conquered by Alexander, 4; + not named in Genesis X., 134. + + Platforms, artificial, 46-49. + + Polytheism, meaning of the word, 237; + tendency to, of the Hebrews, combated by their leaders, 345-350. + + Priesthood, Chaldean, causes of its power and influence, 233-234. + + + R. + + Races, Nations, and Tribes represented in antiquity under the name of a + man, an ancestor, 130-134; + black race and yellow race omitted from the list in Genesis X., + 134-142; + probable reasons for the omission, 135, 140. + + Raman, third god of the second Babylonian Triad, his attributions, + 240-241; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246. + + Rassam, Hormuzd, explorer, 247, 248. + + Rawlinson, Sir Henry, his work at the British Museum, 152. + + Religion of the Shumiro-Accads the most primitive in the world, 148; + characteristics of Turanian religions, 180, 181; + definition of, as distinguished from Mythology, 331-334. + + Religiosity, distinctively human characteristic, 148; + its awakening and development, 149-152. + + Rich, the first explorer, 13; + his disappointment at Mossul, 14. + + + S. + + Sabattuv, the Babylonian and Assyrian "Sabbath," 256. + + Sabeism, the worship of the heavenly bodies, + a Semitic form of religion, 232; + fostered by a pastoral and nomadic life, ib. + + Sabitu, one of the maidens in the magic grove, 311. + + Sacred Tree, sacredness of the Symbol, 268; + its conventional appearance on sculptures and cylinders, 268-270; + its signification, 272-274; + its connection with the legend of Paradise, 274-276. + + Sargon of Agade, see Sharrukin. + + Sarzec, E. de, French explorer; + his great find at Tell-Loh, 88-90; + statues found by him, 214. + + Scorpion-men, the Warders of the Sun, 311. + + Schrader, Eberhard, eminent Assyriologist, + favors the Semitic theory, 186. + + Semites (more correctly Shemites), + one of the three great races given in Genesis X.; + named from its eponymous ancestor, Shem, 131. + + Semitic language, 199; + culture, the beginning of historical times in Chaldea, 202, 203. + + Sennacherib, king of Assyria, his palace at Koyunjik, 34; + Fergusson's restoration of his palace, 56; + his "Will" in the library of Nineveh, 109. + + Senkereh, see Larsam. + + Sepharvaim, see Sippar. + + Seth (more correctly Sheth), third son of Adam, 131. + + Shamash, the Sun-god, + second god of the Second Babylonian Triad, 240; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246; + his temple at Sippar discovered by H. Rassam, 247, 248. + + Shamhatu ("Grace"), one of the handmaidens of Ishtar, 305. + + Sharrukin I. of Agade (Sargon I.), 205; + legend about his birth, 206; + his glorious reign, 206; + Sharrukin II. of Agade (Sargon II.), 205; + his religious reform and literary labors, 207, 208; + probable founder of the library at Erech, 209; + date of, lately discovered, 213. + + Shem, eldest son of Noah, 130; + meaning of the name, 198. + + Shinar, or Shinear, geographical position of, 127. + + Shumir, Southern or Lower Chaldea, 145. + + Shumir and Accad, oldest name for Chaldea, 143, 144. + + Shumiro-Accadian, oldest language of Chaldea, 108; + Agglutinative, 145. + + Shumiro-Accads, oldest population of Chaldea, + of Turanian race, 144; + their language agglutinative, 145; + introduce into Chaldea cuneiform writing, metallurgy and + irrigation, ib.; + their probable migration, 146; + their theory of the world, 153. + + Shushan (Susa), capital of Elam, destroyed by Asshurbanipal, 194. + + Siddim, battle in the veil of, 221, 222. + + Sidon, a Phoenician city, meaning of the name, 133; + the "first-born" son of Canaan, eponymous ancestor of the city in + Genesis X., ib. + + Siduri, one of the maidens in the magic grove, 311. + + Sin, the Moon-god, first god of the Second Babylonian Triad, 240; + one of the "twelve great gods," 246; + attacked by the seven rebellious spirits, 291. + + Sin-Muballit, see Amarpal. + + Sippar, sister city of Agade, 205; + Temple of Shamash at, excavated by H. Rassam, 247, 248. + + Sir-burla (also Sir-gulla, or Sir-tella, or Zirbab), ancient city of + Chaldea, now Mound of Tell-Loh; discoveries at, by Sarzec, 88-90. + + Sir-gulla, see Sir-burla. + + Smith, George, English explorer; + his work at the British Museum, 102; + his expeditions to Nineveh, 103; + his success, and his death, 104; + his discovery of the Deluge Tablets, 301. + + Sorcerers believed in, 157. + + Spirits, belief in good and evil, the first beginning of religion, 150; + elementary, in the primitive Shumiro-Accadian religion, 153-155; + evil, 155-157; + allowed an inferior place in the later reformed religion, 236, 250; + rebellion of the seven evil, their attack against the Moon-god, + 290, 291. + + Statues found at Tell-Loh, 88, 214. + + Style, ancient writing instrument, 94, 109. + + Synchronism, meaning of the word, 212. + + + T. + + Tablets, in baked or unbaked clay, used as books, 109; + their shapes and sizes, 109; + mode of writing on, 109-110; + baking of, 110; + great numbers of, deposited in the British Museum, 110-112; + Chaldean tablets in clay cases, 112; + tablets found under the foundation stone at Khorsabad, 113, 114; + "Shamash tablet," 248. + + Talismans, worn on the person or placed in buildings, 164. + + Tammuz, see Dumuzi. + + Taurus Mountains, 190. + + Tell-Loh (also Tello), see Sir-burla. + + Temples of Ea and Meridug at Eridhu, 246; + of the Moon-god at Ur, ib.; + of Anu and Nana at Erech, ib.; + of Shamash and Anunit at Sippar and Agade, 247; + of Bel Maruduk at Babylon and Borsippa, 249. + + Theocracy, meaning of the word, 235. + + Tiamat, see Mummu-Tiamat. + + Tin-tir-ki, oldest name of Babylon, meaning of the name, 216. + + Triads in Babylonian religion, and meaning of the word, 239-240. + + Tubalcain, son of Lamech, descendant of Cain, the inventor of + metallurgy, 129. + + Turanians, collective name for the whole Yellow Race, 136; + origin of the name, ib.; + the limitations of their genius, 136-139; + their imperfect forms of speech, monosyllabic and agglutinative, + 136, 137; + "the oldest of men," 137; + everywhere precede the white races, 138; + omitted in Genesis X., 135, 139; + possibly represent the discarded Cainites or posterity of Cain, + 140-142; + their tradition of a Paradise in the Altai, 147; + characteristics of Turanian religions, 180-181. + + Turks, their misrule in Mesopotamia, 5-6; + greed and oppressiveness of their officials, 7-8; + one of the principal modern representatives of the Turanian + race, 136. + + + U. + + Ubaratutu, father of Hasisadra, 322. + + Ud, or Babbar, the midday Sun, 171; + hymns to, 171, 172; + temple of, at Sippar, 247-248. + + Uddusunamir, phantom created by Ea, and sent to Allat, to rescue + Ishtar, 328, 329. + + Ur (Mound of Mugheir), + construction of its platform, 46; + earliest known capital of Shumir, maritime and commercial, 200; + Terah and Abraham go forth from, 201. + + Ur-ea, king of Ur, 215; + his buildings, 216-218; + his signet cylinder, 218. + + Urubel, the ferryman on the Waters of Death, 311; + purifies Izdubar and returns with him to Erech, 313. + + Urukh, see Erech. + + Uru-ki, or Nannar, the Shumiro-Accadian Moon-god, 240. + + + V. + + Vaults, of drains, 70; + sepulchral, at Warka, 83, 85. + + + W. + + Warka, see Erech. + + + X. + + Xenophon leads the Retreat of the Ten Thousand, 2; + passes by the runs of Calah and Nineveh, which he calls Larissa and + Mespila, 3. + + Xisuthros, the king of, Berosus' Deluge-narrative, 300. + See Hasisadra. + + + Y. + + Yahveh, the correct form of "Jehovah," one of the Hebrew names for + God, 354. + + + Z. + + Zab, river, tributary of the Tigris, 17. + + Zagros, mountain range of, divides Assyria from Media, 50; + stone quarried in, and transported down the Zab, 50, 51. + + Zaidu, the huntsman, sent to Eabani, 305. + + Zi-ana, see Ana. + + Ziggurats, their peculiar shape and uses, 48; + used as observatories attached to temples, 234; + meaning of the word, 278; + their connection with the legend of Paradise, 278-280; + their singular orientation and its causes, 284-286; + Ziggurat of Birs-Nimrud (Borsippa), 280-283; + identified with the Tower of Babel, 293. + + Zi-ki-a, see Ea. + + Zirlab, see Sir-burla. + + Zodiac, twelve signs of, familiar to the Chaldeans, 230; + signs of, established by Anu, 265; + represented in the twelve books of the Izdubar Epic, 318-321. + + + + + * * * * * * + + + + +TRANSCRIBERS' NOTES + +Page vii Introduction Chapter 4: Corrected to start at page 94 + +Pages ix, 92, 93, 214, 215, Illustrations 44, 59: + Sirgulla standardised to Sir-gulla + +Page xi: Contents Chapter VIII: Added Sec. marker for section 12 + +Page xiii: Full-stop (period) added after sittliche Weltordnung + +Pages xiii-xv Principal works: Normalised small caps in author names + +Page xiv: Menant standardised to Menant + +Page 36: Throughly corrected to thoroughly + +Illustration 9: Chippiez standardised to Chipiez + +Page 60: head-dress standardised to headdress + +Page 64: gate-ways standardised to gateways + +Page 68: Sufficent corrected to sufficient + +Illustration 33: Full stop (period) added to caption after louvre + +Page 104: life-time standardised to lifetime + +Page 105: Bibliotheque standardised to Bibliotheque + +Page 116: Double-quote added before ... In this + +Page 126: new-comers standardised to newcomers + +Pages 131, 375: Japheth standardised to Japhet + +Pages 147, 196, 371: Altai standardised as Altai + +Pages 154, 397, 404: Zi-ki-a standardised as Zi-ki-a + +Page 154: Anunna-ki standardised to Anunnaki + +Page 157: Uru-gal standardised as Urugal + +Page 157: 'who may the rather' rendered as 'who may then rather' + +Page 160: Meri-dug standardised to Meridug + +Page 163: Apostrophe added to patients + +Page 172: Mulge standardised to Mul-ge + +Page 210: Hyphen added to countercurrent + +Pages 214, 215, 375 Illustration 59: Sirburla standardised as Sir-burla + +Page 218: Dovoted corrected to devoted + +Pages 221, 360, 379: Shinear standardised to Shinear + +Page 225: Kadimirra standardised to Ka-dimirra + +Page 228: Cossaeans standardised to Cossaeans + +Footnote AN: Ur-ea as in original (not standardised to Ur-ea) + +Page 234: Full-stop (period) removed after "from the North" + +Page 234: Italics removed from i.e. to conform with other usages + +Pages 241, 246: Nindar standardised to Nin-dar + +Page 249: Babilu standardised to Bab-ilu + +Page 254: Double quote added after For instance:-- + +Footnote AT: Asshurbanipal standardised to Assurbanipal + +Illustration 70: Illustration number added to illustration. + +Page 297: border-land standardised to borderland + +Page 302: Double quote added at the end of paragraph 6 + +Illustration 77: EABANI'S replaced with EABANI'S. + +Page 323: death-like standardised to deathlike + +Footnote BE: Suendflutbericht standardised to Suendfluthbericht. Note that + the correct modern form is Der keilinschriftliche Sintfluthbericht + +Page 372: Asshurnazirpal standardised to Asshur-nazir-pal + +Page 372: Bab-el-Mander standardised to Bab-el-Mandeb + +Page 374: Arioch standardised to Ariokh + +Page 374: Abu-Shahreiin standardised to Abu-Shahrein + +Page 375: Himalaya standardised to Himalaya + +Page 376: Page number 42 added for index entry Kasr + +Page 379: Page number 131 added for index entry Seth + +General: Inconsistent spelling of Mosul/Mossul retained + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHALDEA*** + + +******* This file should be named 24654.txt or 24654.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/5/24654 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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