The Ancient History of the East - Earliest Times to Alexander the Great

668 Pages·2010·55.65 MB·English

by  Smith, Philip, 1817-1885

LIBRARY

The Student's Ancient History.
THE ANCIENT HISTORY
OF
THE
EAST.
FROM TilE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE CONQUEST BY
ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
INCLUDING EGYPT, ASSYRIA, BABYLONIx\, MEDIA, PERSIiV
ASIA .MINOR, AND PIICENICIA.
By PHILIP smith, B.A.,
AUTJIOK OF TUE "uiBTOliY OF TUE WOELD."
Early AssyrianChariot.
Illustrated by Engravings on Wood.
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
NEW YORK AND LONDON,
1899.
AssyrianCylinder.
PREFACE
A KNOWLEDGE ofthe Histoiy ofthe East is indispensable
to the student of Classical Literature. In the earliest rec-
—
ords,he meets with doubt—ful traditions and further study
reveals undoubted signs of older forms of civilization,
which helped to determine those of Greece and Rome.
Egypt and Phoenicia loom up, however vaguely,in what he
learns of the origin of Greek society, arts, and letters. The
earliest and noblest poetry of Greece and ofthe world, as
well as the legend of Rome's original,bring him at once in
contact with an Asiatic kingdom, of whose real existence
even he is left in doubt. As his first reading ofGreek poet-
ry excites his curiosity about Troy,so his earliest lessons in
Greek prose plunge him into the midst of the history of
Persia,and into the heart ofthe region ofthe great Eastern
empires. His first guide to the history of Greece is an au-
—
thor who with a wise prescience of that method of study
—
which we have only learned oflate carries him at once to
Assyria and Babylon,Egypt and Libya,Lydia and Persia,
that, in the light of the knOAvledge of the East, he may see
the true meaning of the victories which form the glory of
the history of Greece. And, at every succeeding step, he
finds himself in contact with Oriental forms of government
and civilization,and he learns that the victories of Alexan-
der, Scipio, and Augustus were the decisive steps in the
great conflict between E?^t^i;i] ^lOil Western principles of
'^ ill} it
social life.
PKEFACE.
viii
Clearly, therefore,he has learned but halfthe lesson ofan
cient history, so long as he sees the Oriental element only in
that background which is all that can be allotted to it in
the special histories of Greece and Rome. To present the
other halfis the object of the present work, which is design-
ed to be at once a necessary supplement to those histories,
and a sketch of the Oriental states which deserve study for
their own intrinsic interest.
That interest has been immeasurably increased, within the
period of one generation,by those wonderful discoveries in
—
hieroglyphic and cuneiform literature which at least in the
principles of interpretation and in a large mass of positive
—
results have outlived the stage ofincredulity,and become
a recognized branch of ancient learning. That the results
thus gained may be made more clear and interesting, the
present work contains some account of the processes ofdis-
covery. How much the interest of these discoveries is en-
hanced by the light they throw upon Scripture history, will
be apr^&rent to every reader ofthe following pages.
—
The diversities of interpretation though based on the
sawie essential ])rinciples,and leading to results for the most
—
part wonderfully consistent have given rise to what may
be almost called two schools of cuneiform scholarship the
:
English, headed by Sir Henry C. Raavlinson, and the
French,headed by M. Jules Oppert. The authorities quot-
ed in the following pages will show the desire of the writer
to use the best results of the labors of both schools. The
—
nature of these inquiries so novel, and still in a state so
—
progressive has made it necessary to give authorities and
explanatory notes more fully than in other volumes ofthis
series. The advanced student, for whom this work is de-
signed,will thus be aided to distinguish certain from doubt-
ful results, and will see the lines along which his further
studies should be directed.
The work is based on an independent study ofthe ancient
writers, and a careful use of the best modern authorities.
Great advantage has,ofcourse, been derived from the inval-