~ FROM THE PHARAOHS TO ALFRED THE GREAT. ~ Lavistity wiusraaren, meticulously ‘escarched and clearly written, FORTY CENTURIES: From the Pharaohs to Aifed the Great presents a panoramic sweep of more than 4,000 years of istry. Within the pages of this magnificent book, the reader wll relive the dramaand excitement of bygone civilizations He will moct warriors, kings, mysties—the men and women who shaped their times —Alexander the Great, who conquered half the known world; Hammurabi, who gave Babylon the world’s first, legal code; Charlemagne, who attempted to ebuild the empire of ancient Rome; Cleopatra, for whom Mare Antony’ gambled —and lost—an empire; Buddha, who proposed unique solution 10 men’s suffering; Alfed, who ‘established a new idea of nationhood “The sory ofthe rise and fall the achievements and setbacks af these vanished peoplesis told in this volume, through detailed look at twenty- four major events cach a “milestone” in its Jmpact on its contemporary world and its continuing elect om the modera world. From the creation of the frst politcal tate in Egypt in 30008C to the capture of London by King Alfred of Wessex in 42 886—the reader will learn about significant moments in the history ofman, Well-known events—the Exodus of the Jews, Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps, the “rucifxion of Jesus the crowning of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor—have ‘been approached with fresh viewpoints and penetrating interpretations. The chapters on less familar events—che Aryan invasion of India,the Japanese renaissance from Chinese cultural ‘domination—have been writen in a mannet ‘that dramatically reveals why they are turning. points in man’s development, Linking each “milestone” to the next isa two-page section that gives the reader a summary of other Important historial trends, Supplementing the text are more than 400 ‘magnificent illustrations—one-fourth in fall color—that capture the spirit of the times. [Numerous maps, charts and diagrams are included to highlight the narrative. On almost ‘every page, modern photographs are juxtaposed with ilustrations of monuments, coins, gems, paintings, statuary, ruins, mosaics, pottery. (continued on back fl) 120 full-colour and 380 black and whit illustrations ey PasiDigitized by the Internet Archive in 2018 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/fortycenturiesfro000branFORTY CENTURIES FROM THE PHARAOHS TO ALFRED THE GREATFORTY FROM 'THE PHARAOHSCENTURIES TO ALFRED THE GREAT Edited by S.G.E Brandon and Friedrich HeerLibrary of Congress Cataloy Card No. 72-87235, © Geo All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in ‘retrieval system or transtnited, in any form or by any ‘ieans, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording for otherseise sithout the prior permission of the eopyright owner. se Weideneld & Nicolson Lad 1970, 1972 Manufactured in Italy ‘This edition s published by The Britannia Society, 1973, in association with the Navteeat Book Division, sun oBsz20-270-1page 9 22 51 38 Contents Introduction S. G. F. Brandon Gift of the Nile Leonard Cotsrelt ‘The lands of the Delta and the lands ofthe cataracts ate united to form the frst, political state 3000 B.C. The First Law Code jean Bortéro ‘Hammurabi the Babylonian gives man a comprehensive system of laws 1750 The Eruption of Santorin .8.F. Hood A voleanic explosion off the coast of Crete brings destruction to the towns and cities of the flourishing Minoan or Cretan civilization 1450 The Aryan Invasion of India fre 1. siarpe 1400 Bee oie woh ataaticors Let my People go. james Parke 1280 TI aaa costae ah se i ay he Pied hoe Ramses m defeats the Sea Peoples ster! Brion 1191 ‘A wave of invaders from the north is repelled by Pharaoh Ramses 1 The Prophet of the East trevor Ling ‘The Buddha begins hi ministry and founds one of the world's greatest religions Victorious Athens Peter Green At the Battle of Salamis Greek civilization wins the time to grow and blessom8; The Death of Alexander the Great George Woodcock 323 Alexander's untimely death, seth but half the known lands conquered, robbed the world ofone ofits most favorable apportsnities for unity o¢ Building the Great Wall of China. Hoard Smith 221 The first universal emperor, Shih Huang-ti ofthe Ch'in dynasty, builds the Great Wall of China and establishes the boundaries of his empire es Hannibal challenges Rome. Gitte Gharle-Picand 217 Hannibal erosses the Alps to launch the Second Punic War, which endsin the destruction of Carthage, Rome's great Mediterranean rival, and clears the way to imperial power 12 The Slaves’ Revolt jack Lindsay 73 Rome crushes the revolt ofthe slaves, led by Spartacus, ane hunclreds are crucified as the Republic totters tots end ut The Battle of Actium Michael Gran 31 The Battle of Actiumn confirms the supremacy of Octavian atthe heacl ofthe Roman Empire and marks the end of Egypt asa force in world affirs 130 Arminius, Liberator of Germany Michae! Grant AD.Q Arminius defeats the Romans in the Battle ofthe Teutoburg Forest, ‘and so ends Augustus’ plan to conquer all of Germany 0 Jesus of Nazareth, Savior God of a New Religion. 5.c.F-runion 30 TThe crucifixion ofan obscure Nazarene has unaccountable consequences in the ris of a new world religion 146 The Destruction of Zion GF Brandon 70 ‘The Temple at Jerusalem is destroyed anel the Jews are scattered throughout the known world157 In This Sign Shalt Thou Conquer. fvler roonine 312 Constantine's vitory at the Milvian Bridge ensures the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Enipire 167 Mission to Ireland Nore Chadwick 432 St. Patrick undertakes the Christianization of Ireland; a lights kept burning in the West during the dark years ahead 175. The Scourge of God jean Fasicr 4 The last Roman nobleman, Aetins, faces Atila the Hun on a plain in Gaul; the invader is halted but Roman greatness is past 182 The Rule of St. Benedict David Knowles 520 Si. Benediet founcl Monte Casino, with incaleulable benefits for the preservation of learning and the fatute progtess of evilization in Europe ior The Flight to Medina 5.41. Siem 622 Mohammed's Hegira, or emigration to Medina, heralds the appearance ofa powerful new religion in the Middle East 200 Japanese Renaissance Geoffrey Hindley 794 ‘The Japanese capital is moved to Heian (mod imitation of China to native inspiration Kyoto), marking: cultural cansition fiom 20) A Crown for Charlemagne fieisch Heer 800 At St. Peter's basilica in Rome, Pope Leo t startles the King of the Franks by crowning him Holy Roman Emperor as England for the English ject Lindsay 886 gland beset by Norse invaders finds champion in Alfved the Great; the heroie warrior takes and creates a new nationIntroduction What is History? Many answers have been given to this question. To most people it is undoubtedly the record of past events. But a moment's reflection will show that it is not a record of everything that has happened, whether the subject be the history of mankind as a whole, or of a nation, a city, a religion or institution. History, as itis recorded by chroniclers or presented by historians, inevitably involves the selection of certain events as being especially signifi- cant among all that happened within a specific area of the past. And selection also implies criteria of inter- pretation by which events are considered significant. Tn other words, out of the complex of past happenings certain events are chosen as being “historical.”” This process of selection and interpretation is a very complicated one, and it has been going on ever since man first began to record his past--about the begin- ning of the third millennium ».c. Selecting an “historical” event also involves a process of abstraction and concretion that is funda- mentally artificial, yet instinctive to man and a basic factor of his rationality. It presupposes that the pass- age of time is made up of a series of “events,” each distinct and identifiable, But, on analysis, this pre= ion is very difficult to justify. What we call is essentially mysterious; it is one of the main categories of our consciousness, and we cannot get outside it and assess it objectively. Time presents itself to us primarily in the ever-changing pattern of ‘our experience; if we were not conscious of such change, itis difficult to see how we should be aware of Time. But, although our apprehension of temporal change is continuous when we are conscious, some phenomena affect us more than others and we natur~ ally endow them with especial significance; we abstract from a continuous sequence some specific section, and isolate it as a decisive “event.” The sec- tion which we thus choose may extend over a period of some years as, for example, the French Revolution is designated a decisive event in French history; but generally our instinct is to select some more sharply defined happening that we can invest with definite significance as, for example, the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 is said to constitute the beginning of the French Revolution—in other words, as being a “milestone” in French history. ‘The great German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886) defined the historian’s task as being that, of describing the past ‘as it really happened” (zie es eigentlich gewesen). His definition will doubtless always stand as the ideal of scientifically objective history. and as a warning against the writing of history as propaganda or apologia for some nationalist, political or religious end. But it has come to be realized that this represents an ideal that can never be wholly achieved. As already noted, History inevitably implies selection and interpretation of the facts con- sidered to be relevant. Both activities ultimately depend upon human minds, which are conditioned by many factors such as education, religion and nationality, quite apart from personal interests and consciously conceived aims. Throughout all ancient Hebrew historiography, for instance, runs the basic, conviction that Time is a linear process in which the providence of Yahweh, the god of Isracl, was being progressively revealed as History on behalf of his, chosen people, the ‘children of Israel”. By contrast, according to both the Hindu and Buddhist views, the empirical world is not reality but an illusory process, of phenomena that moves unceasingly in repetitive cycles, so History can have no ultimate signi Nevertheless, even though von Ranke’s ideal of History is beyond practical attainment, and all our records of the past contain an irreducible factor of personal evaluation, the conviction remains deep- rooted that History is important and worthy of studyIntroduction Ic is so regarded partly because it attests that man is an effective agent in the working-out of his destiny For, even though the Marxist view of History as the inevitable fulfillment of fundamental economic is now widely recognized as logical, a realistic asses ment of the evidence warns us against accepting our past and present as merely the result of economic predestination. We have all seen enough during the six decades of this century to be convinced that imponderable factors, as well as economic ones, oper- ate to prevent the future pattern of History being forecast, as astronomers can forecast the future posi= tion ofthe planets. Thus, although it might have been predicted that a second world war would have resulted from the European situation after World War 1, no one could have foreseen the part that Adolf Hitler was to play in the 1920s, or even in the first years of the 1930s. Several events of World War 11, where History tumed on the personal equation, might well have produced vastly different conse- quences for all concemed: what would have resulted if the Battle of Britain in 1940 had been won by Nazi Germany, or the Battle of Stalingrad had gone the other way in 1942-43, or the first atomie bomb had been completed in Germany instead of America? All these events, seen in retrospect, can rightly be called milestones of History Any philosophical definition of historical fact or of History itself must surely admit that some happenings in the story of man have been more critical or dec for his destiny than others. Hence, a sequential study of such milestones of History will provide, as it were, a synoptic chart of the past of our race, rather as anatomical charts show the synapses or nerve centers, of the human body. By linking each milestone with essays to show the connection of each historical synapse with those before and after, an account of human culture and civilization should emerge that is both dramatic and instructive, recording some of the factors that have shaped our situation today. This volume deals with a sequence of twenty- four milestones, ranging in time from c.3000 B.C. to A.D. 885. Limitation of space has inevitably pre~ cluded many that would have merited inclusion in a larger volume; but reference will be made to these in the linking essays. The selection of the first milestone constituted a problem, because recorded History started about the same time in Egypt and Sumer— indeed, a famous Sumerologist, Profesor S. N. Kramer, has written a book entitled History Begins at ‘Sumer, thus advocating the priority of the civilization in which he specializes. A good case can, indeed, be made out for the chronological primacy of Sumer; Dut, whereas the Sumerians had established small city-states in Lower Mesopotamia by the end of the fourth millennium n.c., it was in Egypt that the first national state, with a centralized government, was set up about gooo #.c. From then on, the cultural achievement of Egypt equaled, if it did not excel, that of Sumer. However, the establishment of these first civilized states in the Valley of the Nile and the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates was preceded by millennia of gradual cultural development of the human race, And, although no written records exist to inform us of decisive milestones, some of the basic discoveries made during that long, remoteperiod laid the foundations for the later achievements of, lization he earliest skeletal remains of homo sapiens re- vealed by archeology, together with relics of his culture, date from about thirty thousand years ago. From this evidence itis clear that certain fundamen tal discoveries had already been made. The usc of fire can, indeed, be traced back to 300,000 B.c.; indications ofits use were found in the rock shelters at Chou K‘ou Tien, which had been inhabited by theso-called “Peking Man”, a remote hominian precursor of homo sapiens. How this ability, never achieved by the other animals, was first acquired by the sub-men who, preceded the first ancestors of our race is unknown; but it was basic to man’s conquest of his natural environment. The ability to make tools and weapons, has, similarly, a long unknown ancestry. Although some animals are accustomed to employ materials for purposes beyond the range of their own physical endowment (e.g., the dam-building of beavers), man alone has had the talent continuously to improve his, tools and weapons, giving him an increasing mastery ‘over animals stronger and swifter than himself. During the Old Stone Age, man also became an artist, as the painted cavesin France, Spain and else- where impressively show. This art seems to have been inspired not by esthetic ideas but by magical beliefs. Indeed, many other Palaeolithic practices show that already man was aware of problems, both natural and supernatural, which he sought to solve by religio- magical means. Thus he felt that the dead needed special tending: he carefully buried them with food, tools and ornaments, suggesting belief in some kind of post-mortem existence, He carved figurines repre- senting women, with the maternal attributes grosly exaggerated and the faces left blank; and at Laussel, in the Dordogne area of France, he has left behind ‘one such figure that, from its position, suggests a cult- object, deifying the Mother as the source of fertility and life. Man in the Old Stone Age was a food-gatherer, who obtained his food chiefly by hunting. During the New Stone Age (c. 8000 8.¢.), he became a foox-pro- ducer. Agriculture began, although how and where remains unknown to us. But what has aptly been called the “Neolithic Revolution’ laid the founda- tions of civilization. With the development of agricul- ture went the domestication of animals, and the in- vention of pottery and weaving. Soon the first agrarian settlements were founded, with stone-built houses and defenses: at Jericho and Gatal Hiiyuk in Anatolia, they date back to the seventh millennium n.c. A fertility religion also developed, centered on a mother goddess and the virility of the bull. The complexity of this Neolithic culture presupposes the elaboration of language as a means of communication. How and when language first began is beyond our knowing, but such complex undertakings as cave-art suggest that it must surely have existed in some form in the Palaeolithic era ‘Through these long and dim corridors of Time, before human thought and action began to be re= corded in writing, there were doubtless many occa- sions which were truly milestones in the evolution of man, Who sowed the first seedcorn, made the first earthen pot, worked the first metal, sailed the first boat, wrought the first wheel, must remain forever unknown. Yet these acts, involving new concepts and the technical skill to translate them into practical realities, initiated the long technological development which made possible all later achievements of civilized living. Hence we must recognize that, though their exact date is unknown, there were many great milestones in the story of man long before History, as such, began.Gift of the Nile On the long road to civilization, the emergence of the national state—particularly in the context of the world in which we live—is of paramount importance. Although other counties, and in particular Mesopotamia, the modern Iraq, developed some of the arts of civilization earlier, Egypt mas the first country to draw itself together with a national identity. The docwonents that survive from the period are few, and therefore itis all the more remarkable that we know as much as we do about the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt The insvention of writing occurred in Egypt shortly before the event, but there is no written history on which to rely. However, the significance of the event is plain for all to see. Under successive dynasties of pharaohs the country prospered and its civilization flourished. The brilliance of the Egyptian achievement and its continuity have inspired and influenced mankind profoundly. If you travel south from Cairo, along the west bank of the Nile, you will sce on your left « narrow strip of bright” green vegetation, sometimes shadowed by palm groves and ending suddenly in the broad, slow-moving, mud-brown river. On your right the vegetation ends abruptly, and beyond it the Western Desett begins, a ridge of golden, wind-blown sand, with here and there eroded rocks that look as if they had been baked and split by the fierce «un, ‘The road swings to the right and climbs the desert ridge, and suddenly you sce before you a mighty pyramid buile in steps, surrounded by a high wall enclosing a large courtyard ; and not only this, but many other pyramids rising out of a pl eau of billowing sand that stretches endlessly tothe ‘west, as sterile and hostile as it was in the days of the pharaohs. You have arrived at the five-thousand- year-old cemetery of Saqqara, burial place of gen- erations of kings, noblemen and high offcils for ‘more than a thousand years ‘The Step Pyramid, built for the Pharaoh Djoser (. 2800 wc.) is the oldest large stone monument in the world, but it is far from being the oldest tomb at Sagqqara. A litle to the north of it are the ruins of a series of large mud-brick structures called mastebas— the Arabic word for bench. One Of these, prosaically known to archaeologists as ‘Tomb 9357, once contained the funerary equip- ment, and probably the body, of the first pharach of the First Dynasty, a ruler who preceded Djoser by at least four hundred years. His tomb or enotaph-it is not certain which—has been variously dated as somewhere between 4200 and 33000 Bc, One of his names (for the pharaohs bore several) was Hor-Aha, and he was the first pharaoh to rule over a united Egypt Hor-Aha’s reign, and that of his predecessor, Narmer, mark a momentous turning point in history, the point at which Egypt, until then an agglomeration of petty states loosely federated into two kingdoms, became one truly united state under ‘one divine ruler, the pharaoh. The conquest sas probably achieved mainly by Narmer, who came from southern or Upper Egypt, but the unification was advanced by Hor-Aha, one of whose names was Min or Men, Its significant that the historians of Greek classical times, who had access to Egyptian temple records long since destroyed, state that the founder af Egypt was Meus, which seems to be the classical Greek form of Men ot Min till some controversy among Bgyptolos whether Menes was Hor-Aha or Narmer. Peshaps the ewe kings had become fused in folk memory as fone man, What is certain is that Hor-Aha was the first pharach of the First Dynasty and that he ruled at some time between 5200 and 3000 8.c, after the conquests of his predecessor, Narmer, had laid the foundations of unification, Te is important to remember that we are dealing with a period before the beginnings of writen history, and the invention of writing seems «0 have occurred in Egypt only shortly before Narmer’s conquest. The documents that have survived are thus few and rudimentary, and a great deal of speculation is involved Narmer’s original capital was probably: Hier akonpolisin the south. Unlike Lower (ie. northern) Egypt, which consisted mainly of the flat, highly fertile Nile Delta, Upper (ie. southern} Eaypt covered more rugged land and probably bred a hardier race of people. Already hy’ about g200 2. the inhabitants of both Upper and Lower Egypt were at a fairly advanced state of civilization They could make copper as well as stone weapons They could write. They were capable of producing works of art such as the Slate Palette of Narmer ‘and the famous ivory Mace-head of Hierakonpolis, both of which are carved with scenes apparently depicting Narmer’s conquest of Lower Egypt. The Slate Palette of Narmer found at Hier- akonpolis is one of the most important historical There is 3 Diover. roma chapel adjoining the Step Pyramid hstomb Opposite Tre Step Pyame Tester frome 2800 8 Cand ‘nash ihouse the dead Proraoh DjoeerThe unification of Egypt ‘group ofmother andi heads fom Herakanpoe nom inthe Ashmolean Museum In Osta apts documents discovered in Egypt. On one side there is'a scene showing Narmer walking in procession, preceded by hi nel are ows of eecapitated corpses of his enemies. Another section on the same side of the palette shows the Pharaoh, in the form of a bull, demolishing an fenemy fortress. On the reverse side, Narmer is shown in an attitade typical of that’ adopted by later pharaohs, with one hand grasping the hait ‘of a kneeling captive, the other holding a club. Beneath this the king’s enemies are shown in flight The date of the palette is hetween 3200 and 3000 nc. and the primitive hieroglyphs on the stone spell ot the name Nar-Mer The Mace-head of Narmer is equally important Ik shows Narmer seated on a throne and wearing the "Red Crown” of Lower Bgypt. Above him hovers the vulture-goddess Nekhbet of Hierakon- polis; before him march the standard-bearers of his Conquering army. There is also a litle figure of a woman seated beneath a palanguin, This figure is believed to represent a princess of the conquered kingdom of Lower Egypt whom Narmer subse quently married—probably Queen Nitchotep, whose lavish tomb was discovered at Nagadeh, The primitive hieroglyphic signs clearly depict the name Nar-Mer (within a rectangular structure called the serekh, probably representing the panel led fagade of his palace) and various numerals that 2.009 men, 40,00 oe aNd 142,000 Narmer was a mighty conqueror is B without doubt; yet no large monuments of his period have yet been found north of Tarkhan, and his queen was buried at Nagadch. A. somewhat insignificant tomb, No, Bio, at Abydos, also in the south, has been identified as his. But since the kings of this and later periods had two tombs, one in the south and another in the north (symbolizing their dominion over the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt), itis posible thatthe teal tomb fof Narmer all awaits discovery Hor-Aha, Natmet's successor and the frst ruler of a united Egypt, bore a name that means “fighting hawk’ This was his Hons name, as ruler of Upper Egypt, but to symbolize his rile over Lower Egypt, he used the Nebti name of Men (or Min) signifying “Established.” The co f relation of these two names was proved when an ivory plaque bearing them both was discovered in the tomb of Queen Nit-hotep. This ivory label Bako depices a most important scene commemora- ting the unification of the two lands THor-Aha fought successil campaigns against the Nubians beyond the First Calaact, atl no doubt had to engage in other Srontier wars, but, by ight-of both conquest_and_ inheritance, he he first ruler of a united Egypt His greatest Achievement as the foundation ofa new eapla Called by the Greeks Memphis, near the point at Which the two main branches of the Nile divide, aTitle south of meslern Caito, Thi chosen as the natural frontier b south. In order to create it Hore the course of the Nile (as Herodotus tells us) and drain the | wot a hnge dike Beye Leeeral it of tich fertilizing mud and the abundance of wild game near its banks, had arrived some 2, yeats before Hor-Aha's time, Unlike their wander= ‘and amid the palm cer of muc-brick ¢ ten miles along t modern palace and the villas of the nobles and high offal the temples of their g ficent. All were built aus at this time Jn stone, We kr«Egyptian civilization forges ahead xd like because they are crudely the ivory tables and slate pales | Unification of Egypt buildings represcated Dynasties ough they were alm influenced by the civilization that had that in. Narmerin the building of the pyramids, tombs, and temples of hewn stone. Carpentry, gold work and copper work make it clear that even at this remote period, before the first pyramid was built, Egypt was on the threshold of a long period of cultural expansion For the first few centuries after Hor-Aha. (or Menes) the emphasis was on internal unification and the creation of an immense monolithic stat The tribal divisions became ach with its own chief city. Agriculture flourished as the Egyptians Ieamed how to cantrol the flood ing of their great river to produce an incvea abundance of food and provide for an increas Population. A large standing army was created. An laborate hierarchy of olficials controlled the kingdom. Expeditions were sent south into Nubia, partly for expansion and partly for trade, and also into Libya, in the Western Desert, Writing, one of man’s greatest developed swilily and soon became very sophisti- cated. Seribal schools were set up, adjacent to the temples, and a new class of literate priests and theie followers provided a body of tax collectors, civil servants and other officials who ran the economy of the newly united kingdom. In about 2700 mc the Pharaoh Khufi (or Cheops, to give him his Greek cognemen} built a monument of stone—the Great Pyramid so enormous that it has been said to contain enough stone to teach two-thirds of the way round the world at the Equator. Similar pyramids were erected by Khufi's saccessors, notably at Saqqara, Abusiry and Dahshur, all intended to preserve for eternity the bodies of their royal builders, After a period of civil war ancl internal disrup: tion, the chuses of which are unknown, the country revived under a new dynasty of pharaohs, chose o! led Middle Kingdom the so 2100-1700 B. The rising power of the nomarchs— governors of the romes ot provinces—was held in check, but dis: Left Sestod figure ofa arb showing how aol pays ‘washed nthe let hand a ‘redualy uvoled muse Below Egyptian nero avons Thess weWooden pane carved inolit ‘one of Pharaoh Djoser’s Sica (e 2000 BC) Ths forces threatened the central authority and A group of ruptiv ‘weakened the power of the pharaohs tuibes from western Asia, known to later the Hyksor or “Shepherd Kings,” opportunity to occupy parts of Lower Egypt. Ther Ie themselves up a= pharaohs, #0 that at ‘one period there were two pharaohs, a Hyksos interloper ruling from Avaris, in the Delta, and a native Egyptian pharaoh ruling from Thebes in Upper Egypt The tradition of national unity established by Narmer and Hor-Aha, however, was so strong that in the end a new dynasty of pharaohs, the Eight tenth, sueceeded in driving out the invaders and Creating the New Kingdom (1570-1085 B.,), the first three centuries of which marked the most ilustrious period of Egyptian power and influence This was the period of imperial expansion. that eventually led to Egyptian armies penetrating not ‘only into Lebanon, Palestine and Syria but even fs far ax what is now northern Traq. Egyptian Colonies were set up along the Mediterranean coast tau at strategie pointsin the hinterland, each under In later years the innate conservatism of the Egyptians hindered. their development in com= parison with other peoples. For example, they learned to use the horse and chariot in warfare only after the Hyksos bad beaten them with this ‘weapon in about 1720 #.¢. They continued to depend on bronze weapons when iton was rapidly coming into use in other lands, and even in Piolemaic times (from the fourth century me they continued to follow their ancient customs although the hieroglyphic inscriptions on temple walls reveal many etror, indications that the engravers had little or no knowledge of the eatly writings and had become mete copyists. This may be taken as symbolic of Egyptian culture as a whole. Great and splendid though it was in its ‘generation tended to follow an their remote prime, every accepted pattern laid down by ancestors. Even when, in the first century Rc Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, the Cacsars were represented on temple walls in the traditional dress, and performing the traditional ceremonies, of pharaohs just like Narmer and Hor-Aha. And to the very end of their civilization, which survived down to Greek and Roman times, they preserved the fiction of the Two Kingdoms of the South and North that had existed before the conquests of Narmer and Hor-Aha, The pharaoh The King of Upper and was always known as Lower Egypt. Yer the debt awed to Egypt by western Asia and eastern Europe i ancient Greeks, probably the most intelligent race that has ever lived, acknowledged this debt freely. From the time’ when their merchants began seting up wading posts in Egypt in the seventh and sisth centuries B.c, they were fascinated by Egypt, as fone can tell from the pages of Herodotus and Diodorus, Archaic Greek art was clearly influenced by Egyptian sculpnure, which at it best has few ‘equals anywhere in the world, The Greeks copied Eayprian medicine and surgery and in many other fields of knowledge looked upon the Egyptian 2s theit mentors. As one Egyptian said to ‘Greek, “You Greeks are like children, everlastingly asking questions.” One may be sure that they would not have asked questions had they not expected useful and illuminating replies, Narmnet and bringing the resourees of the whole country under the control3000-1750 B.c. In Mesopotamia—the land between the archeology give us much help. Te Teter eceted ee ie templestower characteristic of Sumerian citiesthe sigenrt i wat called ie evidence that the Sumerians once worshiped ther gods on the tope of mountains Perhaps many stands were intr The ancieut Egyptians can be crops and the date palin and vine said wo have been the fi ancient were cukivated. Fish abounded, Another ancient people, however, food a0 ala were sheep and goat, an elaim privity over the Eayp: of which there were many varies {Sans in the invention of some of BUC the Fiver, whove annual food the ars of cvilzation and in the brought lie to the fells of the evelopment of urban He, These Sumerians, were also a constant swore the inhabitane Af ancient threat ta bev saety. Trait woven to mnake the labre of the Mewpotamis, now called Iraq, preserved the memory of » dae: Cciization. There may have been the land through which the Tigre tous flood which had once all bat 4 Semitic element in the papa fad Eaphestes the Twein Rivers, wiped cat mankind; the hero ion of Mesopotamia from early flow, Thesouthern partofthisland Zivwudra, who escaped in a boat times—cevtainly in the north at the inhabitanis called Sumer. Ex- of bitumen and reed built at the Mar, for the prince of Mai bore Cavations have shown that a¢ a behest ofthe god Enki, the waters redynase ctpranic et Semitic names, though they wore time when the Egyptians were til god, was the protlype af Noah the sheepskin “skirts and Teather imple fahermen living in wattle SEES WESEES eet aes tnd dan huts, sing int tools and speed with the slanting edge of & {hexane material cilization. And teed mys became wedgeshaped, "wax" Serie, a man called there were people ving inthe or cunciorm. This writng stem — Sharrukin, or Sargon, wh became valley of the Euphrates who a evolved to such an extent that pteayer to the King of Kish eady ied seo some sph abort idea could be expresed. ‘gear Hila) and nally steed Cation, in walled towne, wich rere in that iy, In a sein {cnce shit i rentive tem ony) Sumerian origins "brane campaigns, “Sargon scemay cll is They ad Bult wrested the hegemony of Sumer impasing towers and temple Rr rm from the lading city of the Gime, Storing) their" grain. in. bashes, ‘The Sumerian language f quite ‘mucbrick, omamented with mosaic ales ‘Umma, establishing his new eapt Ad fresco, ad had achieved cone Aifeene in structure and vocabu- tal at Agade in AK, not fat Siderable technological mastery in ongemodaofmuie rune choot ‘AFF fom any other known lam from" Kish, in about 2370, Me onecutting, metallurgy and the guage of the ancient world, and flenceferward he was to rule as potter's craft. The most remark —_«e_\" eps derive the Sumerians King of Sumer and Akad. His able evidence of this urban culture from an original home in the successors claimed the ttle "Kit ead of the Fenian Gull, which vas the site of ancient Uruk the Biblical Erech, But similar ve. rains, dating to the mile ofthe Fourth millessium me, have been Found at Ur, Nippur, Erland Lagath, and! many ether ster in Samer, ail ale farther merth at Mari, on the Euphrates near it junction with the Khabus, and st ‘TellBrak oni headwater, Life in Sumer fe canoe Agricuture and dairy farming |» Earpeen on Age Sie were the basesof fein Sumer The |® Cutie nite alluvium brought down by the |@ Cilid2n raion, Fiver is very fete and the pro- [2 Sliet10008.6'~A, 200 ‘uctivty of the land remarkable harley and wheat west the staplerivers—another civilization is already far advanced ‘Sioa of Akad ‘hich is shonght tobe te sland of Baten, and further south to the lands of Magan and Melukhkha Magan, which may be the Makran coast af Persia, perhaps chided tlko the coast af’ Oman on. the Sete ceca, «land Tieh in copper and stone. For ‘Magan furnished the Sumerians ‘withthe hard black stone for their Stauues, copper are, and lumps of lapis lazuli the valuable blue Sone used in inlay and jewelry ‘which came many hundreds of Thies (tom the tines in Afghani tan. Melukhkha lay even farther fway many scholar believe this ie the Sumerian name for Tndia Indus Valley Civitization Tn de northwat comer of te continent of India at this Gime a at evillzation had grown up in fhe basin ofthe fndus River Krewe ‘hie citi, ealled today Mobenjo- Daro and Harappa, lay some fve hundred miles apart. Each was a matterpiec of own-planning, ith Tectangular blocks of houses divided one trom the other by = rimctos of streets broad enough to take the sold-whecled on-carts Houses and public buildings were of burnt brick—a nccesity ina land of monsoon ran, whereas un Daked rick suficed in Sumer and there was an elaborate and Skifilly planned drainage system to carey away both sewage and Fainwater, More will be saidof ti Inds Valley” Cislzation, oF Harappan Calare, 48 it s some times called, in a later chapter sulice st here to say that ample fidence has recently been di Covered of the esitence at this time of Indian ports and erading ations in the Gulf of Gamay and fom the Pakistan coast north of IKitiehiand yen or dhe rout coast of Makran tl, Seale and bother objects of Indus Valley work tmanship found by excavators on Mesopotamian sites of the Aka dian period are evidence of com tact between Sumer and the Indus Valley, and some scholars are inlined o think thatthe ci tion of | Mohenjo-Daro and Horappa was either directly based ‘on, or che inspired by, that of Sumer at an earlier period. There are, however, many essential ferences betwecn the two and the Picteeraphie stip of the Tia Valley ottes nothing, so far as we can see (the language is unknown, for itis as yet undeciphered), 0 the cuneiform of Mes its pletographie prototype. More ‘oer, the animals on the beaut fully ewe steatte seals are entirely those of the Indian fauna-—the PE sae eNclechent coal ce inccerus, none’ of which was Known in Sumer, While it cannot be denied that there was contac, cher direct or indirect, betwen the twoareas perhaps over along ped, till the time of the First Dynasty of Babylon—the inspir- ‘tion beind the chvlization ofthe Indus Valley has yet to be ace Defeat of Naram-Sin Tn Moopommis, Sumerian was gradually replaced in oficial doe fentsby Semitic Akkadian, ough Sumerian waa retined in. the temples The administration of the ingdom was centralized. and the old citizen army of the Sumerian ates was replaced by a profes Sonal edly trained in mountain warfare, The need for such an semy began to prest in upon the king dom of Agade. Naram-Sin himeel ‘met with deleat from 2 coalition of ‘mountain chieftain in the worth of his realm, ane though, his str cesiors managed for a time to stave off disaster, in about 2200 2c. the Gutlans, invader from the Zagros mountains to the north fast of Trg, captured Agade and took ever the country Ta the south ofthe country, how ever, the old Sumerian cites seem fo have been little affected Gutlan rule and it was in thee ancient centers of cilcation Uruk and Ur, that the peope finally combined forces to drive atelectasis Urea etl fue of the Third Dynasty of Ur prosperity returned, Elam was Inade subject, and profitable trade with the interior of Tra was iver roteared sk terse tee own the Persian Gul, and among the weasures they brought back werecarved ivory iguresan pea! This wat the golden age of Sumerian ciiization. Temples than ever before, among them the reat rgguratat Ur, which becare S landmark for ‘miler around Literature flourished under rosal patronage, anda system of lw was Codified cule let not enly in ts aguity tnd intrinsic achievement, but in that twas adopted, and adap- ted, by the Akkadians and their racers, the Babylonians and AAsyrians They adapted the pat theon of Sumerian tods and ad justed eto accommadate their own ods of desert and sky. They took ver Sumerian seipt, adapting it to their own language, and kept Sumerian asthe language of This after the collapse of the Ur Aynasty. the ancient traditions con Geet fire pected Ee fasion, the sity-states regrouped Spare eee Sh Amorites, a Semiie people fem Recetas meatal eed of Mesopotaniia atid gradually fee cerca tae Babylon was the tent of one of eee ee ceiceel tees surabi it Rig. Aerie testes capable administer, Hamm SSG ee predecenor a modert Kingdom entered around che smal called Babsl, or Babylon. E his reign he achieved but he had to wait thirty years i great victories, If one Kenstiers the sgtheance At hi feign in ters of human nected with one remarkable doce tment The dacunent, and its fr ng significance, isto be the xt chapter. fbject of1750 BC. on'ahich the Coda ot Hamre sien, oleabout 1200 B.C Oppaste Reb one sole ft ammmurab Tho king Sonding before a ciinty, lho is probably Shamash, the The First Law Code 4s the political state evolved, the problem ofits administration exotved too. The territory ruled over by Hammurabi of Babylon was composed not simply of two adjacent areas with similar character= istics—as in Narmer’s Es ypt—but of former independent states with very different traditions. Hammurabi had extended his territory by conquest, but as overlord he proved a conscientious ruler, dedicated to reform, and possibly the greatest tribute paid to him by his subjects was the comment, preserved in the chronicles of the country : “He established justice in the land.” Inscribed ‘om a stone, the memorial of his justice mas providentially preserved for alltime, despite its being carried off to usa by an Elamite king carly in the twelfth century B.C. Regardless of the fact that Hammurabi’s immediate successors were unable to hold on to the territory he had won, his legacy to mankind constitutes a momentous milestone in the progress of human achievement. Sometime toward the end of his reign, the great Babylonian king Hammurabi («. 179271750 86) iseribed a code of “laws” on a tall stele of hard stone, Twas neither the fist nor the last document fof ite type in Mesopotamia: at least half a dozen Similar codes are known, of which the oldest dates from the end of the third millennium. But none of them s0 deserves to be considered the clas ofits kind: no other is so. broad in its scope and of such intellectual and literary perfection The Code of Hammurabi, in fact, provides booh a briePhistary of, and a triumphant monument to, hie reign. Its only toward the end of his life that a monarch feels the need to draw up an honors list of his successes and to give a summary of his fexperience and wisdom in order to inspire emula tion as well as admiration. We know that the Babylonian empite as it appears in this code existed only during the great King’s final years: in the prologue to the code, Hammurabi mentions vietories that he did not win until the thirty-fifth or even the thirey-cighth year of his forty-vear reign Tis because thar teign marks one of the eulminat- ing points in the history of ancient Mesopotamia, a civilization that lasted for at least three or four thownand years, that the code it so important as documentary evidence. Tn the 1,500 years before Hammurabi’s reign, the “Land Between the Two Rivers” and above all the southern part of that territory, between present-day Baghdad and the Persian Gull, had become the location of what one can eal, ‘com= pared with other minor prehistoric cultures, the dliest civilization in the world, Mesopotamian society was based on the systematic exploitation of land: the soil was cultivated intensively, and its natural productivity, already. considerable, was increased by the establishment of a geeat system of canals that ensured effective irrigation, In those areas that had not been taken for agriculture or the cultivation of palm «ees, stock raising flourished, chiefly sheep and goats but also donkeys, cattle, Pigs and other livestock. This work was carried out by the greater part of the population, both urban and rural. Its administration led to the establish rent of a borly of highly specialized civil servants, who preferred to live in the city near the palace land the temples; for it was there that the Teal rulers, the gods and their representative the king, had their headquarters The earth and all its produce belonged to the gods, a8 did the workers, who were their servants. Hence the harvest and the erops and the produce from herds (notably wool and skins) were brought for sale to the temples and stored in their ware- houses, Once enough had been redistributed to meet the requirements of all citizens, according to their social standing, the rest was used as capital and as credit for huge commercial enterprises ‘Since earliest times trade had been conducted with all the surrounding countries, and even farther afieldfrom the Lebanon and Asia Minor to Persia, both along the coast and in the moun- tainous interior, and. as fat as the westem borders of India. Trade sas vital to Mesopotamia because although it had a surplus of grain and animal products it completely Incked certain raw materials that were necessary for civilized life. The soil pro vided only clay, bitumen and reeds; there was no timber whatever, no stone and no metal, although technicians had developed since at least the fourth millennium a technique of bronze work. Imported materials were worked by a host of skilled, often highly artistic craftsmen, who provided not only tools for farmers and stock breeders but also furnishings and works of art for the temples and palaces, These finished goods often found their way. Abroad as exports. One can see from this how well ‘organized, how active and expanding the Mes: potamian economy was, and how systematized and Drderly was its society The vast amount of accountancy that suchHammurabi brings order to his kingdom ‘operations entailed had been considerably simplic fied about 2800 nc. by what was virtually a stroke of genius: the invention of a system of ‘writing. The system was still very complicated and \was to remain o for a long period. Only specialists could understand and operate it, but they were to treate the environment for the development of a truly intellectual culture. This writing was first used exclusively for keeping the accountancy records of the temples, but it was scon simplified tnd mace more flexible and was then used for the compilation of dictionaries of signs and words, ‘comprising all the symbols, Next it was used to record the deeds and exploits of kings, religious rites, and myths dhat the philosophers and theo Togians of the time had constructed to explain the ‘great eternal problems of human existence and destiny. Finally it was used to express a certain number of scientific ideas and theories, the result ‘of persistent observation and a profound desire 10 see the universe as orderly according to a particular perspective: divination, mathematics, medicine and jurisprudence. ‘This high degree of civilization, already estab- lished by the third millennium, was the product of nosey tem tbe easy Sth tempenthe solar's ome town: The Code Sa ieicel erie ee Song ommcsramatnces ‘or cay cd te et oer feel ee ie and Sumerians, The fonmer belooged to an az Ser ali coxiable ee df arian em ‘sony on Since the dawn of history have lived on the fringes 3 aad othe grest Syria Arab eee ‘Ofisnes ‘whom a certain number have always been attracted ed one Ty town ic sad ievenciied He: hes me ee ec provenance wnknown bat who probaby Ve arrived from the east or the southeast by the fourth RUE E SMM ritcnniven a tc ines, soem to have severed all ties with their former home and their insmen: in Breas covered | Mesopotamia they never received that infusion of bythe laws new blood that has perpetually nourished and ate strengthened the Semitic part of the populati wae BP Consequenly, while in the frst halt of Mesopo- fie ere tamian history, up to the end of the third sreiure millennium, the Sumerians appear to be the active, ermal ing inventive and creative fore inthe development of ‘ico! king chilzation and at fint_more important inthe gs anata political field, they” were to. find themselves eee fradually supplanted by the Semites, wigan Politically the country was divided into certain ea mem” number of small states, each grouped around 4 Shing city, wth a majority of Semites inthe north. These teat ones city-states sometimes allied with each other, some- Viet ves times fought against each other al were sometimes combined into larger kingdoms by the pre- dominance of one oF other among them. By the third millennium ie was the Semites who seemed fo have the advantage of the biggest alliances: first, at an early stage, around the city of Kish; and second, toward ago hc. and for the following century and a hall around the city of Agade- At the beginning of the second millennium another Semitic dynasty, which scems to have. been dominated by immigeants from the west, made Babylon their seat of power for three centuries nicer Fight The Cod of Haren {3d notcoverall the aubjcts, ‘hat would now be dealt th (CAE SUC UG ET SOT SUT AR EES A ETE IE ACTA