Part 10

The Hittites conquered Northern Syria and overran Mitannia when the Egyptian Asian empire went to pieces. Assyria then became powerful and independent again, the first great king of its new age being Ashur-uballit, who was strong enough to interfere with Babylonia's domestic politics. Shalmaneser I of Assyria (_c._ 1300 B.C.) conquered the whole of the Mitanni kingdom and extended the Assyrian empire westward across the Babylonian caravan road to North Syria. He built a new capital at Kalah (Nimrud). His son, Tulkulti--Nineb I--(_c._ 1275 B.C.), conquered Babylonia and reigned over it for seven years. In the end he was murdered by political conspirators, with whom his son was associated. Civil war ensued, and Assyria's history is found to be obscure for a century afterwards. In Babylon the Kassite dynasty, under which trade flourished, came to an end as a result of an Elamite invasion about 1185 B.C. A new Babylonian dynasty then arose, and the third king, Nebuchadnezzar I, revived the old empire and waged war against Assyria. But the future lay with Assyria, which was organized as a military State. It did not have Babylonia's natural resources, and could only exist as a great Power by imposing tribute on weaker States. A standing army was the basis of its strength. The national god was Ashur, who was symbolized by a winged disk, an adaptation of the Egyptian winged disk of Horus. It was carried to battle with the king, so that wherever the king was, there was the national god of war. The heavily-bearded Assyrians were a fiercer and more war-like people than the mild shaven Babylonians, who were ever influenced by Sumerian modes of thought. The Assyrian temperament is reflected in its art, which at its best is characterized by vigorous realism and brilliant ferocity. Much of it is harsh, exaggerated, and pompous. A sharp contrast is presented by the calmer and more idealistic art of the Sumero-Babylonians. The records of Assyrian monarchs deal mainly with extensive conquests. They did their utmost to set up a reign of terror in Western Asia, and when subject States revolted the chief men in them were flayed alive or impaled on stakes. The wholesale destruction of trading city States and the massacres of thousands of innocents were fit subjects for an Assyrian conqueror to boast of in his inscriptions. Hittites, North Syrians, Babylonians, and Urartians (Armenians), were time and again plundered and subjected. A great conqueror of the Middle Period was Tiglath-Pileser I (_c._ 1100 B.C.), and other monarchs of the same name repeated his conquests and atrocities during the last century of Assyria's existence. The military glory of such a monarch as Ashur-natsir-pal III (885-860 B.C.), whose armies swept through western Asia like cyclones, has a lurid background of savage cruelty and oppression. He fought for no greater cause than plunder and the maintenance of Assyria's ability to wring tribute from the oppressed. His son, Shalmaneser III, extended the empire but died under a cloud of internal revolt. Subsequent rulers dominated Babylonia, and one, Adad-nirari IV (810-782 B.C.), married the Babylonian princess, Sammurammat, the Semiramis of tradition. Tiglath-Pileser IV (745-727 B.C.) was overlord of Babylon, and, indeed, Babylonia was more or less under Assyrian sway for the next century. Sargon II ('Sargon the later') did his utmost to break the national spirit in subject States by transporting whole communities from one to another. He removed a portion of the 'ten lost tribes' to the Median hills, and dispatched Babylonians from Kutha to Samaria, where they made Nergal their chief god. His campaigns extended to Phoenicia, Cilicia, and Armenia. Sennacherib, his son, defeated Egypt and her allies in Palestine and besieged Hezekiah in Jerusalem. A revolution in Babylonia broke out, and he swept into it and devastated Babylon, so that Nineveh might become the chief city in Mesopotamia. But Babylon had to be rebuilt by his son Esarhaddon, so that its dislocated trade might be restored. Esarhaddon, recognizing that the great commercial rival of Babylonia was Egypt, and that Egypt instigated the Palestinian and Syrian revolts against Assyria, invaded the Nile valley and captured and sacked Memphis. Ashur-bani-pal (668-626 B.C.), the next Assyrian emperor, punished the Egyptian rebels by sweeping southwards and capturing and sacking Thebes, which is referred to as No (Nu-Amon) in the Bible (_Nahum_, iii, 8-10): "Populous No ... Yet was she carried away ... her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets: and they (the Assyrians) cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains". Egypt became for a time an Assyrian province. Elam was similarly dealt with, the great capital Susa being treated like Thebes. On the north and east Assyrian power was established with characteristic Assyrian ferocity and thoroughness. The result was that the predatory nomadic tribes of Scythians and Medes were able to sweep through the devastated territories and strike at the very heart of the empire. Ashur-bani-pal was the last great monarch of Assyria. In private life he was cultured and scholarly, and his library, which contained copies of many ancient records and literary works, is one of the sources of Mesopotamian history. Although the Sardanapulus of Greek tradition, he was not the actual monarch who perished when Nineveh was captured and sacked about 606 B.C. by the fiery hillmen from the east. The Assyrian military organization collapsed and Assyria ceased to be. The factors that led to the downfall of Assyria can only be guessed at. It may be that its many wars of conquest had left it in a state of exhaustion. It is also possible that the new generation of the aristocratic class that grew up in wealth and luxury was disorganized by intrigues and corruption. After Ashur-bani-pal died, no great leader arose, and the vast unwieldy empire suffered from internal decay. Babylonia was the first to foster organized revolt. It was overrun by the Chaldeans from the south, who, two years after Ashur-bani-pal's death, set on the throne at Babylon their leader, King Nabopolassar. With him began the Neo-Babylonian dynasty which lasted for 86 years. He had an ambitious and capable son named Nebuchadnezzar, who set out, as soon as Nineveh fell, to seize the western portion of the Assyrian Empire--the Medes, with whom the Chaldeans had an agreement, being content to retain north-eastern Mesopotamia. The Egyptians, having overcome the Assyrian garrisons in the Nile valley, were by this time moving northward through Palestine with the idea of re-establishing their ancient empire in Asia. Memphis and Babylon were rival trading centres, and the struggle that ensued was one which was to decide which should have preeminence on the western Asian trade-routes, and especially the 'clearing-houses' of North Syria. In 604 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar met and defeated Pharaoh Necho's Egyptian army at Carchemish. The Egyptians retreated in confusion and were pursued to their frontier. Nabopolassar's death in Babylon caused Nebuchadnezzar to return home and ascend the throne. Eight years later, [Illustration] however, he was back in Palestine again. Judah had been plotting with Egypt, its ally, and the Babylonian monarch besieged and captured Jerusalem. Thousands of Jews were carried off as captives to Babylonia. In 587 B.C. Egypt involved Judah in a second revolt. Nebuchadnezzar II again captured Jerusalem. This time he destroyed the city and carried away the greater part of the remnant of the Jewish people to serve his artisans and agriculturists "by Babel's streams". Babylon was triumphant as a political and trading centre, and, during Nebuchadnezzar's long reign of 42 years, prospered greatly. Its products and its culture were carried far and wide, and Chaldean astrologers as well as merchants became known in Egypt and Greece. Babylonia was the birthplace of the science of astronomy, which developed from astrology. Nebuchadnezzar was a great builder. It is the ruins of his Babylon that have been excavated in our own day. Although Greek descriptions of the city have been found to be somewhat exaggerated, it was yet made very strong and impressive. The royal palace was rebuilt, and the Hanging Garden on its terraced platform became one of the seven wonders of the world. Trade flourished in the capital, and a harbour was built at the head of the Persian Gulf to promote sea traffic. In 539 B.C. Cyrus, the Persian conqueror, having defeated the Babylonian army, entered Babylon in state and was welcomed by the priests, Nabo-nidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian empire, having made them his enemies. The independence of Babylonia then came to an end, but the importance of its capital as a trading centre did not suffer sudden decline. When it was captured by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. it had been much damaged in consequence of revolts against Persia. The Macedonian conqueror resolved to make it his capital, but his early death, and subsequent political developments, hastened its decay. The Greeks had removed the rocks that blocked the Tigris, which then could be navigated by vessels from the Persian Gulf. Seleucus built the new capital of Seleucia on the right bank of the Tigris, and the traders followed the officials to the new Babylon. In time Ctesiphon arose on the left bank, and after the fall of the Parthian empire it was the principal city of the province. The Moslem conquest of Mesopotamia in the seventh century of our era brought about the rise of Bagdad, a few miles to the north of Ctesiphon. It will be noted that all these cities are strategically situated in the neck of land, between the rivers, which is crossed by the caravan roads leading east and west. During the reign of the famous Harun al Rashid (786-809) Bagdad was at the height of its splendour. A portion of this ruler's great palace still remains, and the tomb of Zobiede, his queen, is a prominent feature on the outskirts of the city. Bagdad declined as a trading centre after Vasco da Gama discovered the sea-route to India, and diverted the merchandise previously carried to Europe across the overland routes across Persia and through Mesopotamia and Asia Minor. Bagdad afterwards depended chiefly on the traffic caused by pilgrim caravans to and from Mecca. The disastrous neglect of Babylonia's irrigation system occurred under Turkish rule. Towards the close of the nineteenth century Germany obtained concessions from the Turks and planned the Bagdad railway, so as to reopen the ancient overland trade-route for Indo-Persian trade. British interests in the Persian Gulf were seriously threatened by this scheme. When war broke out in 1914, a British force landed in ancient Chaldea and pushed northward. Bagdad, the modern Babylon, was captured in 1917, and Mosul (Nineveh) was occupied in 1918. The Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Turkey placed Mesopotamia under the protection of Great Britain, which thus secured control of the Bagdad railway. An extensive irrigation scheme in the southern alluvial valley promises to restore ancient Babylonia to its importance as one of the great grain-yielding areas of the world.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: R. W. Rogers, _History of Babylonia and Assyria_; H. Winckler, _History of Babylonia and Assyria_; L. W. King and H. R. H. Hall, _Egypt and Western Asia in the Light of recent Discoveries_; P. S. P. Handcock, _The Latest Light on Bible Lands_; L. W. King, _History of Babylon_; D. A. Mackenzie, _Myths of Babylonia and Assyria_; T. G. Pinches, _The Religion of Babylon and Assyria_; _The Old Testament in the Light of the Records of Assyria and Babylonia_; A. H. Sayce, _Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia_; M. Jastrow, _Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia and Assyria_; R. Koldeweg, _The Excavations of Babylon_.

BABYROUSSA (bab-i-r[u:]s'a; a Malay word signifying stag-hog), a species of wild hog (_Sus_ or _Porcus Babyrussa_), a native of the Indian Archipelago. From the outside of the upper jaw spring two teeth 12 inches long, curving upwards and backwards like horns, and almost touching the forehead. The tusks of the lower jaw also appear externally, though they are not so long as those of the upper jaw. Along the back are some weak bristles, and on the rest of the body only a sort of wool. These animals live in herds, feed on herbage, are sometimes tamed, and their flesh is well flavoured.

BAC'CARAT, a gambling card game of French origin, played by any number of players, or rather betters, and a banker. The latter deals two cards to each player and two to himself, and covers the stakes of each with an equal sum. The cards are then examined, and according to the scores made the players take their own stake and the banker's, or the latter takes all or a certain number of the stakes.

BACCARAT (b[.a]k-[.a]-rae), a town of France, about 15 miles south-east of Luneville, department Meurthe-et-Moselle, on the River Meurthe, with a handsome new church, and one of the largest works for plate-glass and crystal in France. Pop. 7277.

BACCHANA'LIA, or DIONYSIA, feasts in honour of Bacchus or Dionysus, characterized by licentiousness and revelry, and celebrated in ancient Athens. In the processions were bands of Bacchantes of both sexes, who, inspired by real or feigned intoxication, wandered about rioting and dancing. They were clothed in fawn-skins, crowned with ivy, and bore in their hands _thyrsi_, that is spears entwined with ivy, or having a pine-cone stuck on the point. These feasts passed from the Greeks to the Romans, who celebrated them with still greater dissoluteness till the Senate abolished them, 187 B.C.

BACCHANTE (bak-an'te), a person taking part in revels in honour of Bacchus. See _Bacchanalia_.

BACCHIGLIONE (b[.a]k-kil'y[=o]-n[=a]), a river of Northern Italy, rises in the Alps, passes through the towns of Vicenza and Padua, and enters the Adriatic near Chioggia, after a course of about 90 miles.

BACCHUS (bak'us; in Greek, generally _Dion[)y]sus_), the god of wine, son of Zeus (Jupiter) and S[)e]m[)e]l[=e]. He first taught the cultivation of the vine and the preparation of wine. To spread the knowledge of his invention he travelled over various countries and received in every quarter divine honours. Drawn by lions (some say panthers, tigers, or lynxes), he began his march, which resembled a triumphal procession. Those who opposed him were severely punished, but on those who received him hospitably he bestowed rewards. His love was shared by several; but Ariadne, whom he found deserted upon Naxos, alone was elevated to the dignity of a wife, and became a sharer of his immortality. In art he is represented with the round, soft, and graceful form of a maiden rather than with that of a young man. His long waving hair is knitted behind in a knot, and wreathed with sprigs of ivy and vine leaves. He is usually naked; sometimes he has a loose mantle hung negligently round his shoulders; sometimes a fawn-skin hangs across his breast. He is often accompanied by Silenus, Bacchantes, Satyrs, &c. See _Bacchanalia_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Farnell, _Cults of the Greek States_; J. E. Harrison, _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion_; Sir J. G. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_.

BACCHYLIDES (bak-kil'i-d[=e]z), born in the Island of Cos, about the middle of the fifth century B.C., the last of the great lyric poets of Greece, a nephew of Simonides and a contemporary of Pindar. The extant remains of his odes, hymns, paeans, &c., were augmented in 1897 by papyrus discoveries.

BACCIOCCHI (b[.a]t-chok'[=e]), Maria Anne Eliza Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon, born at Ajaccio, 1777, died near Trieste, 1820; a great patroness of literature and art. She married Captain Bacciocchi, who in 1805 was created Prince of Lucca and Piombino. She virtually ruled these principalities herself, and as Grand-Duchess of Tuscany she enacted the part of a queen. She fell with the Empire.

BACCIO DELIA PORTA (b[.a]ch'[=o]). See _Bartolommeo_.

BACH (ba_h_), Johann Sebastian, one of the greatest of German musicians, born in 1685 at Eisenach, died in 1750 at Leipzig. Being the son of a musician he was early trained in the art, and soon distinguished himself. In 1703 he was engaged as a player at the Court of Weimar, and subsequently he was musical director to the Duke of Anhalt-Koethen, and afterwards held an appointment at Leipzig. He paid a visit to Potsdam on the invitation of Frederick the Great. As a player on the harpsichord and organ he had no equal among his contemporaries; but it was not till a century after his death that his greatness as a composer was fully recognized. His compositions, many of which are pieces of sacred music, show great originality. They include pieces, vocal and instrumental, for the organ, piano, stringed and keyed instruments; church cantatas, oratorios, masses, passion music, &c. More than fifty musical performers have proceeded from this family. Sebastian himself had eleven sons, all distinguished as musicians. The most renowned were the following:--Wilhelm Friedemann, born in 1710 at Weimar, died at Berlin in 1784. He was one of the most scientific harmonists and most skilful organists.--Karl Philipp Emmanuel, born in 1714 at Weimar, died in 1788 at Hamburg. He composed mostly for the piano, and published melodies for Gellert's hymns; he also wrote _The True Manner of Playing the Harpsichord_.--Johann Christoph Friedrich, born at Weimar, 1732, died in 1795, a great organist, is known also by the music he published.--Johann Christian, born in 1735 at Leipzig, died in London, 1782, was a favourite composer and conductor with the English public.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: P. Spitta, _Johann Sebastian Bach_; A. Pirro, _L'Esthetique de Jean Sebastian Bach_.

BACHARACH (b[.a]_h_'[.a]-r[.a]_h_), a small place of 2000 inhabitants on the Rhine, 12 miles S. of Coblenz. The vicinity produces excellent wine, which was once highly esteemed. The view from the ruins of the castle is one of the sublimest on the Rhine.

BACH'ELOR, a term applied anciently to a person in the first or probationary stage of knighthood who had not yet raised his standard in the field. It also denotes a person who has taken the first degree in the liberal arts and sciences, or in divinity, law, or medicine, at a college or university; or a man of any age who has not been married.--A _knight bachelor_ is one who has been raised to the dignity of a knight without being made a member of any of the orders of chivalry such as the Garter, the Thistle, or the Bath.

BACHELOR'S BUTTONS, the double-flowering buttercup (_Ranunculus acris_), with white or yellow blossoms, common in gardens.

BACHIAN (b[.a]ch'[.a]n), one of the Molucca Islands, immediately S. of the equator, S.W. of Gilolo; area, 800 sq. miles. It is ruled by a native sultan under the Dutch.

BACHMUT (b[.a]_h_-moet'), a town in the Ukraine, government of Ekaterinoslav, with a trade in cattle, tallow, &c., and coal and rock-salt mines. Pop. 20,000.

BACILLA'RIA, a genus of microscopic algae, belonging to the class Diatomaceae, the siliceous remains of which abound in cretaceous, tertiary, and more recent geological deposits.

BACIL'LUS. See _Bacteria_.

BACK, Admiral Sir George, eminent English Arctic discoverer, born 1796, died 1878. He accompanied Franklin and Richardson in their northern expeditions, and in 1833-4 headed an expedition to the Arctic Ocean through the Hudson Bay Company's territory, on which occasion he wintered at the Great Slave Lake, and discovered the Back or Great Fish River.

BACKERGUNGE. See _Bakarganj_.

BACKGAM'MON, a game played by two persons upon a table or board made for the purpose, with pieces or men, dice-boxes, and dice. The table is in two parts, on which are twenty-four black and white spaces called points. Each player has fifteen men of different colours for the purpose of distinction. The movements of the men are made in accordance with the numbers turned up by the dice.

BACKHAUS, Wilhelm, one of the greatest living pianists, born at Leipzig in 1884. At the age of twenty-one he was appointed a professor at the Royal College of Music, Manchester. This position, however, he soon gave up, and since 1905 has devoted his time to concert tours.

BACKHUYSEN (b[.a]k'hoi-zn), Ludolf, a painter of the Dutch school, particularly celebrated for sea pieces, born in 1631, died 1709. His most famous picture is a sea piece which the burgomasters of Amsterdam commissioned him to paint as a present to Louis XVI. It is still at Paris.

BACKWARDA'TION, a stock exchange term signifying the rate paid by a speculative seller of stock for the privilege of carrying over or continuing a bargain from one fortnightly account to another, instead of closing it on the appointed day.

BACNINH, a town of Tongking, on the Red River, fortified and containing a French garrison, being in an important strategic position. Pop. 7000.

BA'CON, Anthony, elder brother of the celebrated Lord Chancellor, was born in 1558 and died in 1601. He was a skilful politician, and much devoted to learned pursuits. He became personally acquainted with most of the foreign literati of the day, and gained the friendship of Henri IV of France. Francis Bacon dedicated to him the first edition of the _Essays_.