Part 8

This was about 4000 B. C. But previous to him the ancient Egyptian priests claimed some 25,000 years of occupation under various gods and demi-gods; and the general accuracy of their claim I am not prepared to dispute.[77] Certainly the culture of lower Egypt must have been at a high level for thousands of years before the date of Mena, or he could never have established the state which we know he did. From all that archæology has yet taught us, we must place the beginnings of Egyptian civilization earlier than that in the valley of the Yang tse Kiang, earlier by far than any other on the globe. Its streams have permeated all the lands to which the Eurafrican race have extended; fecund as the waters of its own Nile, its elements have nourished and developed the best intellectual powers of the race through all subsequent ages; to it we owe the seeds of our arts, the germs of our sciences, the forms of our religion, the schemes of our literatures, and the inestimable boon of our written language. Look where you will among the most ancient remains of the Old World culture, you find the impress of Egypt’s Land and mind--in Etruscan tombs, in Guanche mummy caves, in treasure houses of Mycenæ, in Cypriote vaults, in Assyrian mounds, under Carthagenian foundations.[78] The species Man owes nowhere else such gratitude as to these African nations of the Eurafrican race.

The Egyptian presents the best known and complete type of the psychical traits of the Hamitic stock. Unideal, laborious, utilitarian, he was devoted to material progress and the gross animal enjoyments of life. His preferred employment was agriculture, his favorite art the huge in architecture, his religion was a polytheism with numberless images and pictures, his pleasures were those of the appetite, his hopes of immortality were bound up with the preservation of the present body.

_3. The East African Group._

The singular uniformity of the Egyptian type does not allow us to divide it into several branches, and on account of its segregated position, it does not seem to have had much intercourse with the east African group of the Hamitic stock, living to the south of it.

At present this east African group of the Hamites includes the Bedjas and Bilins between the Nile and the Red Sea, the Afars or Danakils near the mouth of the Red Sea, Gallas and Somalis between the gulf of Aden and the Indian ocean, and the adjacent tribes of the Agaouas, Adals, Khamirs, and others. In appearance these peoples are usually reddish brown in color, with dark wavy hair, of moderate stature and symmetrical form, the face oval and the skull moderately long, the nose aquiline and the chin well shaped, and heavier built than the Egyptians.

Their life is principally nomadic, living in tents of skin, and governed by chiefs who rule over small communities. The descent is reckoned and property passes on the female side. Some are Mahommedans, but hold the faith lightly, and like the Kabyles, attach more importance to the customs of their clan than to the precepts of the Prophet. In many parts they betray admixture with the Negro tribes to whom they are neighbors, and from whom they have always obtained slaves.

Thus the Danakils are described as sooty black, with scanty beards, thin calves, and thick lips, but with features and hair in other respects quite European, their faces rarely prognathic, and their bodies symmetrical.[79] The Somalis are lighter in color, but like the Danakils, do not cultivate the soil nor establish fixed abodes.

II. THE SEMITIC STOCK.

Owing to the unreasoning acceptance of myths as history, it is generally believed that the Semites originated in Asia. From what I have already said you will appreciate that such an opinion is quite inconsistent with modern research. We may, at the most, concede that the peculiar form of their language and certain physical traits were developed during their long residence in the peninsula of Arabia, where history first finds them. But that they entered Arabia in remote pre-historic times from Africa, and not from Asia, is now acknowledged by an increasing number of learned and unprejudiced writers.[80]

There is a difference of opinion whether this immigration was by the way of the Isthmus of Suez or the Straits of Bab el Mandeb, but the course of their wanderings in Arabia seems to have been from north to south, the Ethiopian Semites being distinctly emigrants from the other side of the Red Sea. Hence the probability is that the ancestors of the ancient Arabians wandered from the Libyan plateau, or the eastern Atlas, through the Delta into the region of the Sinaitic mountains, whence they spread south and east, forming several distinct groups.[81]

_1. The Arabian Group._

The first of these included the Arabians proper. At a very early period they became divided into a northern and southern portion, the former represented by the Ishmaelites and Bedawins, the latter by the ancient Himyarites, Sabeans and Nabotheans, and the modern Ehkili and kindred clans. The Himyaritic nations had important cities, and possessed a written literature at least 700 B. C., and probably much earlier.[82] The Queen of Sheba, who paid a memorable visit to King Solomon, came from one of these cities, and her journey is strong testimony to the admiration for learning which prevailed in her land, and which she so evidently fostered.

At that time, and for centuries afterwards, there were few parts of the world more favored than the southern portions of the peninsula. It was known as “Arabia felix,” Araby the Blest, and was famed for its abundant products, its spices and perfumes, and the wealth and luxury of its inhabitants. Some change of climate apparently, and the inroads of the Ishmaelitic hordes, quite destroyed this happy condition about the fifth century, A. D. The Himyaritic language disappeared, the cities were laid waste, many of the people migrated to Africa or sank into despised outcasts, as the present Ehkili of the Hadramaut. In this manner the whole of the great peninsula fell under the control of the true Arab.

It is he who preserves in his language the oldest and purest form of Semitic speech, and in mind and body its most pronounced mental and physical type. He is rather tall (1.65), his face oval, the nose straight or aquiline, the features sometimes singularly noble and prepossessing, the skull long (index 73°-75°), the complexion ruddy rather than brown, when due allowance is made for the tan, and the hair slightly wavy or straight. Crisp hair is looked upon with disapproval, as indicating mixed and ignoble blood.[83] In temperament the Arab is abstemious, and his powers of physical endurance are phenomenal. His mental temperament is that of an idealist; he has added nothing to the grand creations of plastic art, nothing to inventions of utility in life, nothing to the marvels of architecture or the beauties that appeal to the senses; he cares neither for history nor the drama. In his dreams he conquers the world, and it falls at his feet; in fact, his greatest states have been ephemeral bubbles.

Yet his dreams have been realized. The Semite has conquered the world, and it is at his feet. Twice have arisen among his people majestic forms, before whom all civilized nations bow, Jesus and Mahomet.

The religious idealism which led the Semite in the days of Moses to reject the images of stone and wood and proclaim that God is one, overawed in its later expressions the whole of the white race, and now extends its sway to the farthest seas.

Though the Aryan to-day may dislike the Semite and doubt of the God whom he preached, let him not forget that the first vivid impression of such a great idea came from the Semitic stock. If in his marts, his diplomacy and his learned professions, he finds the Semites still pressing him aside, let him remember that this is the people whose destiny seems to be to own no country, but to rule all.

_2. The Abyssinian Group_

Of tribes is evidently descended from fugitives from the Arabian peninsula. The Ethiopians, or Geez (a word meaning emigrants), speak a dialect the nearest related to the Himyaritic of the inscriptions. It has a literature and an ancient alphabet of its own. The Tigre, the Massawa, the Amhara, and, further to the south, the Harrari, are Semitic dialects, more or less akin to the Ethiopic.

The period when this migration took place is not precisely known, but it was at a calculable period before the beginning of our era. Quite likely it was about the time of the dissolution of the Joktanide monarchy in the Hadramaut. There can be no question but that the course of migration at this point was from Arabia into Africa.

The Tigre is the predominant nation of North Abyssinia, the Amhara in the south of that region. The Harrari extends into the land of the Somalis. All these are of Himyaritic descent, but near them are a number of later Arab tribes who speak dialects of the modern Arabic. These are the Jalin about Khartoum, and others near Senaar and Baqqara, west of the Nile. There are also many Jews, who have inhabited the country from the early centuries of our era.

An infusion of negro blood is visible in much of the population. Their color is dark brown, the hair is crisp, and the features are negroid. Where this mingling is absent, the color is a light or bright brown, the face oval, the nose thin, lips not at all thick, and the hair wavy and straight. In other words, the features are truly European, framed in a brown setting.

The Abyssinians proper have always been an agricultural, pastoral and manufacturing people. The soil is fertile and the climate temperate, but there are no large rivers, and communication is difficult. The crops are barley, dates, millet, sugar-cane, etc. Formerly the country was under one ruler, who was called the Grand Negus. The late “Negus,” Theodoras, could put in the field over fifty thousand fighting men, and made himself so obnoxious to Europeans that the English sent an expedition against him in 1868, and he perished under the ruins of his capital, Magdala.

From the fourth century the principal religion in Abyssinia has been Christianity, but in a corrupt form, mixed with the ancient heathen observances, such as ceremonies at the rise of certain stars, and veneration of holy stones and springs. The clergy are numerous, estimated at about 72,000, and exert a leading influence in the state. There are many monks and nuns living in cloisters, and possessing extensive holdings. The church service is conducted with an effort at pomp, and there is a considerable sacred literature, of very little value. The influence of the religious teaching on the people is scarcely visible except in making them fanatical, superstitious and averse to enlightenment. Abyssinia thus presents the picture of a country which for more than 1500 years has been a Christian state, and where Christianity has wholly failed to render the people moral, intelligent or pure.

_3. The Chaldean Group._

The third group of the Semites was the Chaldean, including the Syrians and Arameans, the later Assyrians and Babylonians, the Israelites, Samaritans and Jews. All these were from early times deeply tinged with other blood. The Syrians and Chaldeans removed first from the Arabian peninsula, and their dialects depart the furthest from the pure stock. Abraham, the traditional ancestor of the Israelites, left northeastern Arabia for Mesopotamia about 2000 B. C., to dwell in “Ur of the Chaldees,” a city near the mouth of the Euphrates. Already the Chaldees had secured from the older Hamitic settlers a portion of Mesopotamia, and gradually extended their conquests.

Many of the Syrians united with the Hamitic residents on the coast, so that the Phœnicians became largely Semitized. All these nations were in constant intercourse with the highly developed civilization of Egypt, as is shown by the Mosaic books, and from that source derived most of the germs of their intellectual growth. In spite of their love of travel and commerce, in spite of their dispersion over the earth, this group has retained a striking individuality. Many ethnographers charge it against the Jews that the presence of blondes among them, and of brachycephalic heads, proves a crossing of the blood. This is not the case. The Semitic stock is a markedly white type of the race, and in all ages fair complexion, light eyes and hair, have been admired as especially beautiful. This is repeatedly referred to in the Hebrew Scriptures, and is shown by observation among these people at the present day.[84]

The physical type of the Jew is well known and unmistakable; wavy hair, dark or blonde, full beard, eyes soft, nose prominent, rather heavy, with an accentuated and peculiar outline, lips full, face oval, skull medium or long. Nor are his mental traits less familiar; a pliant, supple disposition, a distaste for physical labor or the toil of the pioneer or soldier; deficiency in personal courage; subtlety in monetary transactions; quickness in applying social or individual weaknesses to his own benefit; industry in intellectual pursuits; love of display and of position; strong devotion to family ties.

This is the Jew as we know him in the tussle of modern life, a character prominent in all European and American cities, without a nationality, in conflict with the prevailing religion, suspected and disliked, but wielding an influence out of all proportion to the numerical strength of his people. It may be regarded as continuing in his person that remarkable intellectual superiority which the South Mediterranean Branch of the white race has from the earliest time exerted on the history of man.

_Scheme of the Eurafrican Race.--North Mediterranean Branch._

(Tribes in _italics_ are extinct.)

I. Euscaric Stock. 1. Euscaric group. {Euscaldonac, Basques, _Sards_, _Siculi_, _Aquitanians_, { _Picts_ (?), _Ligurians_ (?), _Cantabrians_.

{_Gauls_, Highland Scotch, Irish, Welsh, Manx, {1. Celtic group. { Bretons, _Celtiberians_, _Cymri_. { {_Latins_, _Umbrians_, _Oscans_, _Sabines_, Italians, French, {2. Italic group. { Spanish, Portuguese, Roumanians, Wallachians. {3. Illyric group. ._Illyrians_, Albanians, _Thracians_,_Japyges_ (?). {4. Hellenic group. ._Pelasgi_, _Phrygians_, _Lydians_, _Macedonians_, Greeks. II. Aryac Stock. {5. Lettic group. .Letts, Lithuanians, _Old Prussians_. {6. Teutonic {_Goths_, _Vandals_, _Franks_, _Angles_, _Saxons_, _Suevi_, { group. { Scandinavians, Germans, Danes, Dutch, English, Anglo-Americans. {7. Slavonic {Russians, Poles, Czechs, Servians, Croatians, { group. { Wends, Bulgarians, Montenegrins. {8. Indo-Eranic {Armenians, Persians, _Bactrians_, Hindoos, { group. { Kafirs, Dards, Beluchis, Hunzas, Gypsies.

{1. Lesghic group. .Avars, Laks, Udes, Kurins. III. Caucasic {2. Circassic group. .Circassians, Abkhasians. Stock. {3. Kistic group. .Tush, Karaboulaks. {4. Georgic group. .Georgians, Mingrelians, Lazs.

LECTURE V.

THE EURAFRICAN RACE: NORTH MEDITERRANEAN BRANCH.

CONTENTS.--_B._--THE NORTH MEDITERRANEAN BRANCH.

I. THE EUSKARIC STOCK. Basques and their congeners. Physical type. Language.

II. THE ARYAC STOCK. Synonyms. Origin of the Aryans. Supposed Asiatic origin now doubted. The Aryac physical type. The proto-Aryac language. Culture of proto-Aryans. The “proto-Aryo-Semitic” tongue. Development of inflections. Proto-Aryac migrations. Southern and northern streams. Approximate dates. Scheme of Aryac migrations. Divisions. 1. The Celtic Peoples. Members and location. Physical and mental traits. 2. The Italic Peoples. Ancient and modern members. Physical traits. The modern Romance nations. Mental traits. 3. The Illyric Peoples. Members and physical traits. 4. The Hellenic Peoples. Ancient and modern Greeks. Physical type. Influence of Greek culture. 5. Lettic Peoples. Position and language. 6. The Teutonic Peoples. Ancient and modern members. Mental character. Recent progress. 7. The Slavonic Peoples. Ancient and modern Members. Physical traits. Recent expansion. Character. Relations to Asiatic Aryans. 8. The Indo-Eranic Peoples. Arrival in Asia. Location. Members. Indian Aryans. Appearance. Mental aptitude.

III. THE CAUCASIC STOCK. Its languages. Various groups and members. Physical types. Error of supposing that the white race came from the Caucasus.

In my previous lectures I have shown with as much detail as my time permits, that the original home of the white race was in that portion of the Atlantic seaboard which I have called _Eurafrica_, and which includes the present areas of northwestern Africa and southwestern Europe. From this region, I have pointed out, the race divided into two branches, the one moving eastward, south of the Mediterranean sea, the other in the same direction, north of this separating stream. To-day we shall consider the ethnic history of the latter.

B. THE NORTH MEDITERRANEAN BRANCH.

Unlike the South Mediterranean Branch, whose languages present everywhere some degree of resemblance, sufficient to predicate for them a remote common origin, the North Mediterranean Branch includes several stocks fundamentally diverse. They are the Euskaric, the Aryac, and the Caucasic stocks. The second of these is by far the most extended and important; but, as I have previously observed, it does not bear the impress of the highest antiquity, nor yet is its location that where we should look for the most ancient members of this branch. Both these conditions are fulfilled by

_1. The Euskaric Stock._

At present this contains but one group, the Basques, residing in the valleys of the Pyrenees, on both the Spanish and French frontiers. There is little doubt from the linguistic studies of Humboldt and from the researches of archæologists that the Basques once extended widely throughout the present area of Spain and Portugal; but I am not inclined to identify them with the Iberians of the classical geographers, for reasons given in my last lecture. There is a great deal of evidence that in proto-historic times they occupied central and southern France, portions of Italy, Corsica, Sardinia, perhaps Sicily, and some southern tracts of England. Many believe that the ancient Aquitanians and Ligurians, the Picts and Cantabrians, were of this stock, as well as the pre-Aryac tribes of Greece.[85]

I described in my last lecture the Basques as representatives of one of the dark types of the white race, with a peculiarly shaped skull, elongated posteriorly.[86] The face is oval, the chin pointed and weak. The general aspect indeed of a Basque cranium conveys the impression of a feeble character, and such the history of the people shows them to have been. They never contributed anything to the advance of the race, and from their earliest appearance in history have been retiring before the pressure of sturdier nationalities. At present they do not number over three hundred thousand, and in a few generations will be merged in the neighboring Spaniards and French.

The Basque language belongs to one of those primitive forms of human speech such as we find among the Negroes of Central Africa, or the savage tribes of Siberia. It is of that type called agglutinative and polysynthetic, and in some points has the incorporative tendency of American tongues. It is the speech of a people whose ideas remained confined to objective material relations. According to the latest students, it is absolutely without connection with any of the so-called Turanian (Ural-Altaic) languages, and is equally remote from the Hamitic group.[87]

I now turn to

_2. The Aryac Stock_

of peoples and languages. It is sometimes called the “Indo-European,” or “Indo-Germanic,” or “Celt-Indic”[88] stock, and embraces the principal historic nations of Europe, and in Asia the Armenians, Persians and Hindostanees.

_Origin of the Aryans._--No ethnographic question of late years has led to keener discussion than the origin and affinities of these peoples. The theory derived from the Hebrew myth of the Deluge, that they migrated into Europe from Asia, was long accepted without question, and seemed to be strengthened by the discovery that Sanscrit, the classical language of India, and Zend, the ancient tongue of Persia, are related to Greek, Latin and German.

But reflection and extended observation led to other results. It was perceived that the majority of the Aryac peoples had lived in Europe from the remotest historic times, and only a small minority in Asia; that some of the Aryac tongues of Europe retain more ancient forms than either Sanscrit or Zend; that the oldest traditions point to migrations from Europe into Asia, and not the reverse; that these traditions are supported by the Indian Aryans, who distinctly claim that their ancestors migrated from the north into India, and by the Persians, whose sacred book, the Avesta, declares they were not the original owners of Iran, and finally by an examination of the arts of the pre-historic Europeans,[89] and an exhaustive analysis of the words common to all the dialects of Aryac speech, which indicate that the ancestral tribe must have lived in geographic surroundings not to be found in the Aryac districts of Asia, but answering in all points to the regions of central or western Europe.

I constantly see it stated in works on ethnology and linguistics that the scientist who first advanced this opinion was the Englishman, Dr. Robert G. Latham. Nothing is more erroneous. For a score of years before he introduced it to the English public, this view had been repeatedly and ably defended by the eminent Belgian naturalist, d’Omalius d’Halloy. He lost no opportunity of showing that the ancestors of the modern Europeans did not come from Asia, but belonged originally to the continent they now inhabit.[90]

Since his first promulgation of this theory in 1839, the evidence in its favor has been slowly but steadily accumulating, until now it numbers among its adherents practically all the ethnologists of the day who do not feel committed by their previous writings, or by their creeds, to the Asian hypothesis. Among the English writers who have recently treated the subject with marked ability and much more fullness than is possible for me at present, I mention Canon Isaac Taylor and Professor A. W. Sayce; in Germany, O. Schrader, Karl Penka, Theodor Pösche, L. Geiger, and in France, M. de Lapouge, etc.

I shall not enter into a recital of these arguments, for I believe the debate is so nearly terminated that the conclusion may be accepted that the Aryac peoples originated in Western Europe and migrated easterly. This you will observe is in accord with the general theory of the origin and distribution of the white race which I laid before you, and is a potent argument in its support.

_The Aryac Physical Type._--When we endeavor to fix more precisely the home of that tribe which was the lineal Aryac progenitor, several considerations must be carefully weighed. The physical types of the Aryac people differ markedly, as I stated in my last lecture, and some writers (Penka, Lapouge, etc.) have claimed that the Teutonic, the tall blonde type, is peculiar to the Aryans, and must have been the original character. But it is found with just as great purity among the Libyans of Africa, so that the assumption is vain.