Early European History. Hutton Webster
In both Egypt and Babylonia the cloudless skies and still, warm nights early led to astronomical research. At a remote period, perhaps before 4000 B.C., the Egyptians framed a solar calendar, [19] consisting of twelve months, each thirty days in length, with five extra days at the end of the year. This calendar was taken over by the Romans, [20] who added the system of leap years. The Babylonians made noteworthy progress in some branches of astronomy. They were able to trace the course of the sun through the twelve constellations of the zodiac and to distinguish five of the planets from the fixed stars. The successful prediction of eclipses formed another Babylonian achievement. Such astronomical discoveries must have required much patient and accurate observation.
GEOGRAPHY
Geographical ideas for a long time were very crude. An ancient map, scratched on clay, indicates that about eight centuries before Christ the Babylonians had gained some knowledge, not only of their own land, but even of regions beyond the Mediterranean. The chief increase in man's knowledge of the world in ancient times was due to the Phoenicians. [21]
PRACTICAL SCIENCES
The skill of Oriental peoples as mechanics and engineers is proved by their success as builders. The great pyramids exactly face the points of the compass. The principle of the round arch was known in Babylonia at a remote period The transportation of colossal stone monuments exhibits a knowledge of the lever, pulley, and inclined plane. [22] Babylonian inventions were the sundial and the water clock, the one to register the passage of the hours by day, the other by night. The Egyptians and Babylonians also made some progress in the practice of medicine.
[Illustration: A BABYLONIAN MAP OF THE WORLD A tablet of dark brown clay, much injured, dating from the 8th or 7th century B.C. The two large concentric circles indicate the ocean or, as it is called in the cuneiform writing between the circles, the 'Briny Flood.' Beyond the ocean are seven successive projections of land, represented by triangles. Perhaps they refer to the countries existing beyond the Black Sea and the Red Sea. The two parallel lines within the inner circle represent the Euphrates. The little rings stand for the Babylonian cities in this region.]
THE TEMPLE SCHOOL
The schools, in both Egypt and Babylonia, were attached to the temples and were conducted by the priests. Writing was the chief subject of instruction. It took many years of patient study to master the cuneiform symbols or the even more difficult hieroglyphics. "He who would excel in the school of the scribes," ran an ancient maxim, "must rise with the dawn." Writing was learned by imitating the examples supplied in copy- books. Some of the model letters studied by Egyptian boys of the twentieth century B.C. have come down to us. Reading, too, was an art not easy to learn. Dictionaries and grammars were written to aid the beginner. A little instruction was also provided in counting and calculating.
[Illustration: AN EGYPTIAN SCRIBE (Louvre, Paris)]
THE SCRIBES
Having learned to read and write, the pupil was ready to enter on the coveted career of a scribe. In a community where nearly every one was illiterate, the scribes naturally held an honorable place. They conducted the correspondence of the time. When a man wished to send a letter, he had a scribe write it, signing it himself by affixing his seal. When he received a letter, he usually employed a scribe to read it to him. The scribes were also kept busy copying books on the papyrus paper or clay tablets which served as writing materials.
THE TEMPLE LIBRARY
Every large city of Babylonia possessed a collection of books. Several of the larger libraries have been discovered. At Nippur, in Babylonia, thirty thousand clay tablets were found. Another great collection of books was unearthed in a royal palace at Nineveh. This Assyrian library seems to have been open for the general use of the king's subjects. The Egyptians also had their libraries, usually as adjuncts to the temples, and hence under priestly control.
WIDESPREAD POPULAR IGNORANCE
Learning and education were so closely limited to a few individuals that the mass of the people were sunk in deepest ignorance. Men could not pursue knowledge for themselves, but had to accept every thing on authority. Hence the inhabitants of Oriental lands remained a conservative folk, slow to abandon their time-honored beliefs and very unwilling to adopt a new custom even when clearly better than the old. This absence of popular education, more than anything else, made Oriental civilization unprogressive.
[Illustration: EXCAVATION AT NIPPUR Nippur was the ancient "Calneh in the land of Shinar" (Genesis, x, 10) Excavations here were conducted by the University of Pennsylvania during 1889–1900 A.D. The city contained an imposing temple, a library, a school, and even a little museum of antiquities.]
STUDIES
1. What was the origin of the "divine right" of kings?
2. Explain what is meant by despotism; by autocracy.
3. What European state comes nearest to being a pure despotism? What European monarch styles himself as an autocrat?
4. What do the illustrations on pages 38, 43 tell about the pomp of Oriental kings?
5. Why did the existence of numerous slaves in Egypt and Babylonia tend to keep low the wages of free workmen? Why is it true that civilization may be said to have begun "with the cracking of the slave whip"?
6. What light is thrown on the beginnings of money in ancient Egypt by the illustration on page 47?
7. Name some objects which, in place of the metals, are used by primitive peoples as money.
8. Interest in Babylonia was usually at the rate of 20% a year. Why is it so much lower in modern countries?
9. On the map, page 48, indicate the trade routes between eastern and western Asia which met in Mesopotamia.
10. The Phoenicians have been called "the English of antiquity." Can you give any reason for this characterization?
11. Why should the Phoenicians have been called the "colossal peddlers" of the ancient world?
12. What books of the Bible contain the laws of Israel?
13. What reasons can you suggest for the universal worship of the sun?
14. Define polytheism and monotheism, giving examples of each.
15. Describe the Egyptian conception of the judgment of the dead (illustration, page 56).
16. How many "books" are there in the Old Testament?
17. What is the Apocrypha?
18. How are the pyramids proof of an advanced civilization among the Egyptians?
19. What is a bas-relief? Select some examples from the illustrations.
20. From what Oriental peoples do we get the oldest true arch? the first coined money? the earliest legal code? the most ancient book?
21. Enumerate the most important contributions to civilization made in Oriental antiquity.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Webster, Readings in Ancient History, chapter 1, "Three Oriental Peoples as Described by Herodotus."
[2] See page 25.
[3] See page 6.
[4] See page 37.
[5] For illustrations of Oriental coins see the plate facing page 134.
[6] See page 4.
[7] See page 5.
[8] "Tyrian purple" was a dye secured from a species of shellfish found along the Phoenician coast and in Greek waters.
[9]