Chapter 3

THE LANDS AND PEOPLES OF THE EAST TO ABOUT 600 B.C. [1]

7. PHYSICAL ASIA

GRAND DIVISIONS OF ASIA

Ancient history begins in the East--in Asia and in that part of Africa called Egypt, which the peoples of antiquity always regarded as belonging to Asia. If we look at a physical map of Asia, we see at once that it consists of two very unequal divisions separated by an almost continuous mass of mountains and deserts. These two divisions are Farther and Nearer, or Eastern and Western, Asia.

FARTHER ASIA

Farther Asia begins at the center of the continent with a series of elevated table-lands which rise into the lofty plateaus, known as the "Roof of the World." Here two tremendous mountain chains diverge. The Altai range runs out to the northeast and reaches the shores of the Pacific near Bering Strait. The Himalaya range extends southeast to the Malay peninsula. In the angle formed by their intersection lies the cold and barren region of East Turkestan and Tibet, the height of which, in some places, is ten thousand feet above the sea. From these mountains and plateaus the ground sinks gradually toward the north into the lowlands of West Turkestan and Siberia, toward the east and south into the plains of China and India.

CHINA

The fertile territory of central China, watered by the two streams, Yangtse and Hoangho, was settled at a remote period by barbarous tribes. The civilization which they slowly developed in antiquity has endured with little change until the present day. The inhabitants of neighboring countries, Korea, Japan, and Indo-China, owe much to this civilization. It has exerted slight influence on the other peoples of Asia because the Chinese have always occupied a distant corner of the continent, cut off by deserts and mountains from the lands on the west. As if these barriers were not enough, they raised the Great Wall to protect their country from invasion.

Behind this mighty rampart the Chinese have lived secluded and aloof from the progress of our western world. In ancient times China was a land of mystery.

INDIA

India was better known than China, especially its two great rivers, the Indus and the Ganges, which flow to the southwest and southeast, respectively, and make this part of the peninsula one of the most fertile territories on the globe. Such a land attracted immigrants. The region now known as the Punjab, where the Indus receives the waters of five great streams, was settled by light-skinned Indo-Europeans [2] perhaps as early as 2000 B.C. Then they occupied the valley of the Ganges and so brought all northern India under their control.

INDIA AND THE WEST

India did not remain entirely isolated from the rest of Asia, The Punjab was twice conquered by invaders from the West; by the Persians in the sixth century B.C., [3] and about two hundred years later by the Greeks. [4] After the end of foreign rule India continued to be of importance through its commerce, which introduced such luxuries as precious stones, spices, and ivory among the western peoples.

NEARER ASIA

Nearer, or Western Asia, the smaller of the two grand divisions of the Asiatic continent, is bounded by the Black and Caspian seas on the north, by the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean on the south, eastward by the Indus River, and westward by the Mediterranean and the Nile. Almost all the countries within this area played a part in the ancient history of the Orient.

COUNTRIES OF NEARER ASIA

The lofty plateaus of central Asia decline on the west into the lower but still elevated region of Iran. The western part of Iran was occupied in antiquity by the kindred people known as Medes and Persians. Armenia, a wild and mountainous region, is an extension to the northwest of the Iranian table-land. Beyond Armenia we cross into the peninsula of Asia Minor, a natural link between Asia and Europe. Southward from Asia Minor we pass along the Mediterranean coast through Syria to Arabia. The Arabian peninsula may be regarded as the link between Asia and Africa.

INFLUENCE OF GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS

These five countries of Nearer Asia were not well fitted to become centers of early civilization. They possessed no great rivers which help to bring people together, and no broad, fertile plains which support a large population. Armenia, Asia Minor, and Syria were broken up into small districts by chains of mountains. Iran and Arabia were chiefly barren deserts. But two other divisions of Nearer Asia resembled distant India and China in the possession of a warm climate, a fruitful soil, and an extensive river system. These lands were Babylonia and Egypt, the first homes of civilized man.

8. BABYLONIA AND EGYPT

THE TIGRIS AND THE EUPHRATES

Two famous rivers rise in the remote fastnesses of Armenia--the Tigris and the Euphrates. As they flow southward, the twin streams approach each other to form a common valley, and then proceed in parallel channels for the greater part of their course. In antiquity each river emptied into the Persian Gulf by a separate mouth. This Tigris-Euphrates valley was called by the Greeks Mesopotamia, "the land between the rivers."

PRODUCTIONS OF BABYLONIA

Babylonia is a remarkably productive country. The annual inundation of the rivers has covered its once rocky bottom with deposits of rich silt. Crops planted in such a soil, under the influence of a blazing sun, ripen with great rapidity and yield abundant harvests. "Of all the countries that we know," says an old Greek traveler, "there is no other so fruitful in grain." [5] Wheat and barley were perhaps first domesticated in this part of the world. [6] Wheat still grows wild there. Though Babylonia possessed no forests, it had the date palm, which needed scarcely any cultivation. If the alluvial soil yielded little stone, clay, on the other hand, was everywhere. Molded into brick and afterwards dried in the sun, the clay became _adobe_, the cheapest building material imaginable.

BABYLONIA AN EARLY CENTER OF CIVILIZATION

In Babylonia Nature seems to have done her utmost to make it easy for People to gain a living. We can understand, therefore, why from prehistoric times men have been attracted to this region, and why it is here that we must look for one of the earliest seats of civilization. [7]

LOWER AND UPPER EGYPT

Egypt may be described as the valley of the Nile. Rising in the Nyanza lakes of central Africa, that mighty stream, before entering Egypt, receives the waters of the Blue Nile near the modern town of Khartum. From this point the course of the river is broken by a series of five rocky rapids, misnamed cataracts, which can be shot by boats. The cataracts cease near the island of Philae, and Upper Egypt begins. This is a strip of fertile territory, about five hundred miles in length but averaging only eight miles in width. Not far from modern Cairo the hills inclosing the valley fall away, the Nile divides into numerous branches, and Lower Egypt, or the Delta, begins. The sluggish stream passes through a region of mingled swamp and plain, and at length by three principal mouths empties its waters into the Mediterranean.

EGYPT THE GIFT OF THE NILE

Egypt owes her existence to the Nile. All Lower Egypt is a creation of the river by the gradual accumulation of sediment at its mouths. Upper Egypt has been dug out of the desert sand and underlying rock by a process of erosion centuries long. Once the Nile filled all the space between the hills that line its sides. Now it flows through a thick layer of alluvial mud deposited by the yearly inundation.

ANNUAL INUNDATION OF THE NILE

The Nile begins to rise in June, when the snow melts on the Abyssinian mountains. High-water mark, some thirty feet above the ordinary level, is reached in September. The inhabitants then make haste to cut the confining dikes and to spread the fertilizing water over their fields. Egypt takes on the appearance of a turbid lake, dotted here and there with island villages and crossed in every direction by highways elevated above the flood. Late in October the river begins to subside and by December has returned to its normal level. As the water recedes, it deposits that dressing of fertile vegetable mold which makes the soil of Egypt perhaps the richest in the world. [8]

EGYPT AN EARLY CENTER OF CIVILIZATION

It was by no accident that Egypt, like Babylonia, became one of the first homes of civilized men. Here, as there, every condition made it easy for people to live and thrive. Food was cheap, for it was easily produced. The peasant needed only to spread his seed broadcast over the muddy fields to be sure of an abundant return. The warm, dry climate enabled him to get along with little shelter and clothing. Hence the inhabitants of this favored region rapidly increased in number and gathered in populous towns and cities. At a time when most of their neighbors were still in the darkness of the prehistoric age, the Egyptians had entered the light of history.

9. THE BABYLONIANS AND THE EGYPTIANS

INHABITANTS OF BABYLONIA

The earliest inhabitants of Babylonia of whom we know anything were a people called Sumerians. They entered the Babylonian plain through the passes of the eastern mountains, three or four thousand years before the Christian era. Here they formed a number of independent states, each with its capital city, its patron god, and its king. After them came Semitic tribes from the deserts of northern Arabia. The Semites mingled with the Sumerians and adopted Sumerian civilization.

HAMMURABI, KING OF BABYLONIA, ABOUT 2000 B.C.

Of all the early Babylonian kings the most famous was Hammurabi. Some inscriptions still remain to tell how he freed his country from foreign invaders and made his native Babylon the capital of the entire land. This city became henceforth the real center of the Euphrates valley, to which, indeed, it gave its name. Hammurabi was also an able statesman, who sought to develop the territories his sword had won. He dug great canals to distribute the waters of the Euphrates and built huge granaries to store the wheat against a time of famine. In Babylon he raised splendid temples and palaces. For all his kingdom he published a code of laws, the oldest in the world. [9] Thus Hammurabi, by making Babylonia so strong and flourishing, was able to extend her influence in every direction. Her only important rival was Egypt.

The origin of the Egyptians is not known with certainty. In physical characteristics they resembled the native tribes of northern and inhabitants eastern Africa. Their language, however, shows of Egypt close kinship to the Semitic tongues of western Asia and Arabia. It is probable that the Egyptians, like the Babylonians, arose from the mingling of several peoples.

MENES, KING OF EGYPT, ABOUT 3400 B.C.

The history of Egypt commences with the union of the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt under Menes. An ancient tradition made him the builder of Memphis, near the head of the Delta, and the founder of the Egyptian monarchy. Scholars once doubted these exploits and even regarded Menes himself as mythical. Recently, however, his tomb has been discovered. In the gray dawn of history Menes appears as a real personage, the first of that line of kings, or "Pharaohs," who for nearly three thousand years ruled over Egypt.

THE PYRAMID KINGS, ABOUT 3000-2500 B.C.

Several centuries after Menes we reach the age of the kings who raised the pyramids. Probably no other rulers have ever stamped their memory so indelibly on the pages of history as the builders of these mighty structures. The most celebrated monarch of this line was the Pharaoh whom the Greeks called Cheops. The Great Pyramid near Memphis, erected for his tomb, remains a lasting witness to his power.

AFTER THE PYRAMID KINGS

For a long time after the epoch of the pyramid kings the annals of Egypt furnish a record of quiet and peaceful progress. The old city of Memphis gradually declined in importance and Thebes in Upper Egypt became the capital. The vigorous civilization growing up in Egypt was destined, however, to suffer a sudden eclipse. About 1800 B.C. barbarous tribes from western Asia burst into the country, through the isthmus of Suez, and settled in the Delta. The Hyksos, as they are usually called, extended their sway over all Egypt. At first they ruled harshly, plundering the cities and enslaving the inhabitants, but in course of time the invaders adopted Egyptian culture and their kings reigned like native Pharaohs. The Hyksos are said to have introduced the horse and military chariot into Egypt. A successful revolt at length expelled the intruders and set a new line of Theban monarchs on the throne.

THE EGYPTIAN EMPIRE

The overthrow of the Hyksos marked a new era in the history of Egypt. From a home-loving and peaceful people the Egyptians became a warlike race, ambitious for glory. The Pharaohs raised powerful armies and by extensive conquests created an Egyptian Empire, reaching from the Nile to the Euphrates.

IMPERIAL SPLENDOR OF EGYPT

This period of the imperial greatness of Egypt is the most splendid in its history. An extensive trade with Cyprus, Crete, and other Mediterranean Islands introduced many foreign luxuries. The conquered territories in Syria paid a heavy tribute of the precious metals, merchandise, and slaves. The forced labor of thousands of war captives enabled the Pharaohs to build public works in every part on their realm. Even the ruins of these stupendous structures are enough to indicate the majesty and power of ancient Egypt.

RAMESES II, ABOUT 1292-1225 B.C.

Of all the conquering Pharaohs none won more fame than Rameses II, who ruled for nearly seventy years. His campaigns in Syria were mainly against the Hittites, a warlike people who had moved southward from their home in Asia Minor and sought to establish themselves in the Syrian lands. Rameses does not appear to have been entirely successful against his foes. We find him at length entering into an alliance with "the great king of the Hittites," by which their dominion over northern Syria was recognized. In the arts of peace Rameses achieved a more enduring renown. He erected many statues and temples in various parts of Egypt and made Thebes, his capital, the most magnificent city of the age.

DECLINE OF THE EGYPTIAN POWER

Rameses II was the last of the great Pharaohs. After his death the empire steadily declined in strength. The Asiatic possessions fell away, never to be recovered. By 1100 B.C. Egypt had been restricted to her former boundaries in the Nile valley. The Persians, in the sixth century, brought the country within their own vast empire.

10. THE PHOENICIANS AND THE HEBREWS

THE PHOENICIANS

The Phoenicians were the first Syrian people to assume importance. Their country was a narrow stretch of coast, about one hundred and twenty miles in length, seldom more than twelve miles in width, between the Lebanon Mountains and the sea. This tiny land could not support a large population. As the Phoenicians increased in numbers, they were obliged to betake themselves to the sea. The Lebanon cedars furnished soft, white wood for shipbuilding, and the deeply indented coast offered excellent harbors. Thus the Phoenicians became preeminently a race of sailors. Their great cities, Sidon and Tyre, established colonies throughout the Mediterranean and had an extensive commerce with every region of the known world.

THE HEBREWS

The Hebrews lived south of Phoenicia in the land of Canaan, west of the Jordan River Their history begins with the emigration of twelve Hebrew tribes (called Israelites) from northern Arabia to Canaan. In their new home the Israelites gave up the life of wandering shepherds and became farmers. They learned from the Canaanites to till the soil and to dwell in towns and cities.

PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

The thorough conquest of Canaan proved to be no easy task. At first the twelve Israelitish tribes formed only a loose and weak confederacy without a common head. "In those days there was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in his own eyes." [10] The sole authority was that held by valiant chieftains and law-givers, such as Samson, Gideon, and Samuel, who served as judges between the tribes and often led them in successful attacks upon their foes. Among these were the warlike Philistines, who occupied the southwestern coast of Canaan. To resist the Philistines with success it was necessary to have a king who could bring all the scattered tribes under his firm, well-ordered rule.

REIGNS OF SAUL AND DAVID

In Saul, "a young man and a goodly," the warriors of Israel found a leader to unite them against their enemies. His reign was passed in constant struggles with the Philistines. David, who followed him, utterly destroyed the Philistine power and by further conquests extended the boundaries of the new state. For a capital city he selected the ancient fortress of Jerusalem. Here David built himself a royal palace and here he fixed the Ark, the sanctuary of Jehovah. Jerusalem became to the Israelites their dearest possession and the center of their national life.

REIGN OF SOLOMON, ABOUT 955-925 B.C.

The reign of Solomon, the son and successor of David, was the most splendid period in Hebrew history. His kingdom stretched from the Red Sea and the peninsula of Sinai northward to the Lebanon Mountains and the Euphrates. With the surrounding peoples Solomon was on terms of friendship and alliance. He married an Egyptian princess, a daughter of the reigning Pharaoh. He joined with Hiram, king of Tyre, in trading expeditions on the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. The same Phoenician monarch supplied him with the "cedars of Lebanon," with which he erected at Jerusalem a famous temple for the worship of Jehovah. A great builder, a wise administrator and governor, Solomon takes his place as a typical Oriental despot, the most powerful monarch of the age.

SECESSION OF THE TEN TRIBES, ABOUT 925 B.C.

But the political greatness of the Hebrews was not destined to endure. The people were not ready to bear the burdens of empire. They objected to the standing army, to the forced labor on public buildings, and especially to the heavy taxes. The ten northern tribes seceded shortly after Solomon's death and established the independent kingdom of Israel, with its capital at Samaria. The two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, formed the kingdom of Judea, and remained loyal to the successors of Solomon.

DECLINE OF THE HEBREW POWER

The two small Hebrew kingdoms could not resist their powerful neighbors. About two centuries after the secession of the Ten Tribes, the Assyrians overran Israel. Judea was subsequently conquered by the Babylonians. Both countries in the end became a part of the Persian Empire.

11. THE ASSYRIANS

GREATNESS OF ASSYRIA, 745-626 B.C.

Assyria, lying east of the Tigris River, was colonized at an early date by emigrants from Babylonia. After the Assyrians freed themselves from Babylonian control, they entered upon a series of sweeping conquests. Every Asiatic state felt their heavy hand. The Assyrian kings created a huge empire stretching from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean, and the Nile. For the first time in Oriental history Mesopotamia and Egypt, with the intervening territory, were brought under one government.

CHARACTER OF ASSYRIAN RULE

This unification of the Orient was accomplished only at a fearful cost. The records of Assyria are full of terrible deeds--of towns and cities without number given to the flames, of the devastation of fertile fields and orchards, of the slaughter of men, women, and children, of the enslavement of entire nations. Assyrian monarchs, in numerous inscriptions, boast of the wreck and ruin they brought to many flourishing lands.

SARGON II, 722-705 B.C.

The treatment of conquered peoples by the Assyrian rulers is well illustrated by their dealings with the Hebrews. One of the mightiest monarchs was an usurper, who ascended the throne as Sargon II. Shortly after his succession he turned his attention to the kingdom of Israel, which had revolted. Sargon in punishment took its capital city of Samaria (722 B.C.) and led away many thousands of the leading citizens into a lifelong captivity in distant Assyria. The Ten Tribes mingled with the population of that region and henceforth disappeared from history.

SENNACHERIB, 705-681 B.C.

Sargon's son, Sennacherib, though not the greatest, is the best known of Assyrian kings. His name is familiar from the many references to him in Old Testament writings. An inscription by Sennacherib describes an expedition against Hezekiah, king of Judea, who was shut up "like a caged bird in his royal city of Jerusalem." Sennacherib, however, did not capture the place. His troops were swept away by a pestilence. The ancient Hebrew writer conceives it as the visitation of a destroying angel: "It came to pass that night that the angel of Jehovah went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies." [11] So Sennacherib departed, and returned with a shattered army to Nineveh, his capital.

DOWNFALL OF ASSYRIA, 606 B.C.

Although Assyria recovered from this disaster, its empire rested on unstable foundations. The subject races were attached to their oppressive masters by no ties save those of force. When Assyria grew exhausted by its career of conquest, they were quick to strike a blow for freedom. By the middle of the seventh century Egypt had secured her independence, and many other provinces were ready to revolt. Meanwhile, beyond the eastern mountains, the Medes were gathering ominously on the Assyrian frontier. The storm broke when the Median monarch, in alliance with the king of Babylon, moved upon Nineveh and captured it. The city was utterly destroyed.

PARTITION OF ASSYRIA

After the conquest of the Assyrian Empire the victors proceeded to divide the spoils. The share of Media was Assyria itself, together with the long stretch of mountain country extending from the Persian Gulf to Asia Minor. Babylonia obtained the western half of the Assyrian domains, including the Euphrates valley and Syria. Under its famous king, Nebuchadnezzar (604-561 B.C.), Babylonia became a great power in the Orient. It was Nebuchadnezzar who brought the kingdom of Judea to an end. He captured Jerusalem in 586 B.C., burned the Temple, and carried away many Jews into captivity. The day of their deliverance, when Babylon itself should bow to a foreign foe, was still far distant.

12. THE WORLD EMPIRE OF PERSIA

CYRUS THE GREAT, 553-529 B.C.

Not much earlier than the break-up of the Assyrian Empire, we find a new and vigorous people pressing into western Iran. They were the Persians, near kinsmen of the Medes. Subjects at first of Assyria, and then of Media, they regained their independence and secured imperial power under a conquering king whom history knows as Cyrus the Great. In 553 B.C. Cyrus revolted against the Median monarch and three years later captured the royal city of Ecbatana. The Medes and Persians formed henceforth a united people.

CONQUEST OF LYDIA BY CYRUS, 546 B.C.

The conquest of Media was soon followed by a war with the Lydians, who had been allies of the Medes. The throne of Lydia, a state in the western part of Asia Minor, was at this time held by Croesus, the last and most famous of his line. The king grew so wealthy from the tribute paid by Lydian subjects and from his gold mines that his name has passed into the proverb, "rich as Croesus." He viewed with alarm the rising power of Cyrus and rashly offered battle to the Persian monarch. Defeated in the open field, Croesus shut himself up in Sardis, his capital. The city was soon taken, however, and with its capture the Lydian kingdom came to an end.

CAPTURE OF BABYLON, 539 B.C.

The downfall of Lydia prepared the way for a Persian attack on Babylonia. The conquest of that country proved unexpectedly easy. In 539 B.C. the great city of Babylon opened its gates to the Persian host. Shortly afterwards Cyrus issued a decree allowing the Jewish exiles there to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple, which Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed. With the surrender of Babylon the last Semitic empire in the East came to an end. The Medes and Persians, an Indo-European people, henceforth ruled over a wider realm than ever before had been formed in Oriental lands.

CAMBYSES, 529-522 B.C.

Cyrus was followed by his son, Cambyses, a cruel but stronghanded despot. Cambyses determined to add Egypt to the Persian dominions. His land army was supported by a powerful fleet, to which the Phoenicians and the Greeks of Cyprus contributed ships. A single battle sufficed to overthrow the Egyptian power and to bring the long rule of the Pharaohs to a close. [12]

DARIUS THE GREAT, 521-485 B.C.

The reign of Darius, the successor of Cambyses, was marked by further extensions of the frontiers. An expedition to the distant East added to the empire the region of the Punjab, [13] along the upper waters of the Indus. Another expedition against the wild Scythian tribes along the Danube led to conquests in Europe and brought the Persian dominions close to those of the Greeks. Not without reason could Darius describe himself in an inscription which still survives, as "the great king, king of kings, king of countries, king of all men."

ORGANIZATION OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

It was the work of Darius to provide for his dominions a stable government which should preserve what the sword had won. The problem was difficult. The empire was a collection of many peoples widely different in race, language, customs, and religion. Darius did not attempt to weld the conquered nations into unity. As long as the subjects of Persia paid tribute and furnished troops for the royal army, they were allowed to conduct their own affairs with little interference from the Great King.

THE SATRAPAL SYSTEM

The entire empire, excluding Persia proper, was divided into twenty satrapies, or provinces, each one with its civil governor, or satrap. The satraps carried out the laws and collected the heavy tribute annually levied throughout the empire. In most of the provinces there were also military governors who commanded the army and reported directly to the king. This device of intrusting the civil and military functions to separate officials lessened the danger of revolts against the Persian authority. As an additional precaution Darius provided special agents whose business it was to travel from province to province and investigate the conduct of his officials. It became a proverb that "the king has many eyes and many ears."

PERSIAN ROADS

Darius also established a system of military roads throughout the Persian dominions. The roads were provided at frequent intervals with inns, where postmen stood always in readiness to take up a letter and carry it to the next station. The Royal Road from Susa, the Persian capital, to Sardis in Lydia was over fifteen hundred miles long; but government couriers, using relays of fresh horses, could cover the distance within a week. An old Greek writer declares with admiration that "there is nothing mortal more swift than these messengers." [14]

UNION OF THE EAST UNDER PERSIA

The political history of the East fitly ends with the three Persian conquerors, Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, who thus brought into their huge empire every great state of Oriental antiquity. Medes and Persians, Babylonians and Assyrians, Lydians, Syrians, and Egyptians--all were at length united under a single dominion. In the reign of Darius this united Orient first comes into contact with the rising power of the Greek states of Europe. So we may leave its history here, resuming our narrative when we discuss the momentous conflict between Persia and Greece, which was to affect the course, not alone of Persian or Greek, but of all European history. [15]

STUDIES

1. On the map Physical Map of Asia, section 7. Physical Asia, topic Grand Divisions of Asia, see what regions of Asia are less than 500 feet above sea level; less than 3000 feet; less than 9000 feet; less than 15,000 feet; over 15,000 feet.

2. On an outline map of the Orient indicate eight important rivers, two gulfs, three inland seas, the great plateaus and plains, the principal mountain ranges, two important passes, and the various countries and cities mentioned in this chapter.

3. On an outline map draw the boundaries of the Persian Empire under Darius, showing what parts were conquered by Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, respectively.

4. For what were the following places noted: Jerusalem; Thebes; Tyre; Nineveh; and Babylon?

5. For what were the following persons famous: Hammurabi; Rameses II; Solomon; Cyrus; Nebuchadnezzar; and Darius?

6. Define and illustrate these terms: empire, kingdom, province, tributary state, satrapy.

7. Identity these dates: 606 B.C.; 539 B.C.; and 540 B.C.

8. Why was India better known in ancient times than China?

9. What modern countries are included within the limits of ancient Iran?

10. Why was a canal through the isthmus of Suez less needed in ancient times than to-day?

11. Can you suggest any reasons why the sources of the Nile remained unknown until late in the nineteenth century?

12. What is the origin of the name _Delta_ applied to such a region as Lower Egypt?

13. Comment on the statement: "Egypt as a geographical expression is two things--the Desert and the Nile. As a habitable country it is only one thing--the Nile."

14. Why did the Greek traveler, Herodotus, call Egypt "the gift of the Nile"?

15. Distinguish between Syria and Assyria.

16. What is the exact meaning of the words, _Hebrew_, _Israelite_, and _Jew_? Describe some features of Assyrian warfare (illustration, page 35).

17. What modern countries are included within the limits of the Persian Empire under Darius?

18. Trace on the map facing page 40 the course of the Royal Road, noting the countries through which it passed.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, _Readings in Ancient History_, chapter ii, "The Founders of the Persian Empire: Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius."

[2] See page 16.

[3] See page 39.

[4] See page 125.

[5] Herodotus, i, 193.

[6] See page 8.

[7] It is interesting to note that Hebrew tradition (_Genesis_, ii, 8-15) places Paradise, the garden of God and original home of man, in southern Babylonia. The ancient name for this district was Edin (Eden).

[8] The problem of regulating the Nile inundation so as to distribute the water for irrigation when and where it is most needed has been solved by the building of the Assuan dam. It lies across the head of the first cataract for a distance of a mile and a quarter, and creates a lake two hundred and forty miles in length. This great work was completed in 1912 A.D. by the British officials who now control Egypt.

[9] See page 50.

[10] Judges, xvii, 6.

[11] 2 _Kings_, xix, 35. See Byron's poem, _The Destruction of Sennacherib_.

[12] See page 29.

[13] See page 21.

[14] Herodotus, viii, 98.

[15] See chapter v.