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Presented  to  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 
LIBRARY 

by  the 

ONTARIO  LEGISLATIVE 
LIBRARY 

1980 


THE    RISE    OF    MAN 


V    THE  RISE  OF 


\**- 

V'-^'    ^ 
BY    COL.    C.    R.    CONDER 

LL.D.,   M.R.A.S.         tftf?-^^ 


s«i^» 


That  God  which  ever  lives  and  loves : 
One  God,  one  law,  one  element, 
And  one  far-off  divine  event 

To  which  the  whole  creation  moves. 

In  Memoriam. 


MICE-       -^D  BY 
UNIV£  F  TORONTO 

L  ,Y 

MASTER  NEGATIVE  NO.: 


LONDON 

JOHN  ^MURRAY,  ALBEMARLE  STREE 

*.+*••'      TA.  ^i*t* 

\  1908 


c? 


PRINTED  BY 

MAXELL,  WATSON  AMD  VINEY,  LD.» 
LONDON  AND  AYI.ESBURV. 


PREFACE 

THE  subject  of  this  volume  is  the  Social  History 
of  mankind,  studied  by  aid  of  the  results  of  science 
and  research  which  have  accumulated  so  rapidly 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  present  generation.  The 
customs  and  beliefs  of  men  form  the  basis  of  such 
inquiry;  and  the  ideas  of  natural  growth,  and  of 
guidance,  lead  us  to  look  forward  to  the  "  far-off 
divine  event,"  by  showing  us  the  purpose  which 
we  can  discern  in  the  past,  if  we  study  the  rise 
of  man  from  the  beginning  of  history  in  Asia. 


CONTENTS 


I.    PURPOSE      . 
II.    SCIENCE 


CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTORY 


TACK 
I 


CHAPTER   II 

EARLY   MAN 


I.   NATURAL    . 
II.    PREHISTORIC   REMAINS 

III.  LANGUAGE 

IV.  RACE 


26 

29 
38 

49 


CHAPTER   III 

CIVILISATION 


I.  ANCIENT  . 
II.  MEDLEVAL  . 
III.  MODERN 


81 
118 


viii  CONTENTS 

.  /* 
CHAPTER  IV 

HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

PACE 

I.   ANIMISM '  .           .           .           •  15° 

II.    EGYPT           .                                   l6l 

III.  THE   AKKADIANS l^ 

IV.  BABYLONIA l8o 

V.   THE   WEST   ARYANS 187 

VI.   PERSIA 197 

VII.    INDIA 209 

VIII.    CHINA   AND   JAPAN *            .  22O 

IK.    AMERICA 226 

X.    ISLAM 233 

CHAPTER  V 

THE   HEBREWS 

I.   HISTORY 251 

II.   THE   BIBLE             .            .            .            ..    ,       .            .            .            .  264 

III.    LATER    BOOKS      .           .           .           .           .           .           .           .  287 

CHAPTER  VI 

HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

I.   ORIGINAL    .           .           .'        ,           .         V    '      .  293 

II.    PRIMITIVE  .......  303 

III.  MEDIEVAL            .           .           .           .  ,36 

IV.  MODERN      .          f                  -i.           .  •        /  ,42 

CHAPTER  VII 

CONCLUSIONS  .          .          .          .          .          ,          ,  .353 

INDEX        ...  359 


THE  RISE  OF  MAN 


CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTORY 

i.  Purpose. — To  Lucretius,  and  to  his  master, 
Epikouros,  the  universe  seemed  as  sand  blown  by 
the  wind  and  falling  into  new  heaps  mechanically.  If 
this  were  true  there  would  be  no  meaning  in  the 
study  of  human  history.  We  should  say  with  the 
Preacher,  "  There  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun," 
failing  to  recognise  the  purpose  which,  through  count- 
less ages,  has  directed  the  growth  of  higher  things 
from  lower  forms.  But  the  increase  of  true  knowledge 
enables  us  now  to  scan  spaces  of  time  of  which  the 
ancients  had  no  conception,  and  to  trace  the  purpose 
running  through  the  ages  which  they  so  often  denied. 
Human  history  in  its  widest  sense,  studied  on  the 
basis  of  such  principles,  becomes  one  of  the  most 
fascinating  of  studies  ;  and  the  key  to  history  is  found 
in  knowledge  of  the  social  customs  of  men,  and  of  the 
beliefs  as  to  the  future  on  which  those  customs  were 
founded. 

We  enter  with  the  twentieth  century  on  a  new 
period  of  intense  activity — an  age  when  old  ideas  are 
losing  their  influence,  and  when  men  are  striving  to 
digest  the  new  knowledge  which  has  increased  so 
rapidly  in  the  last  two  centuries.  To  the  timid  it 

i 


2  INTRODUCTORY 

seems  that  general  scepticism  will  be  the  final  out- 
come, but  a  study  of  the  past  should  reassure  us  as 
to  the  future. 

Take,  for  instance,  two  periods  of  European  history 
when  the  conditions  were  not  unlike  those  of  our  own 
time — the  second  and  the  sixteenth  centuries  of  the 
Christian  Era.  In  each  case  the  western  nations  had 
gradually  been  educated  by  a  wider  intercourse  with 
the  rest  of  the  known  world,  and  were  shaking  them- 
selves free  from  the  prejudices  of  their  old  narrow 
barbarism.  Towards  the  close  of  the  second  century 
all  the  conflicting  forces  which  still  struggle  in  our 
midst  were  in  play.  Scepticism  and  philosophy,  mys- 
ticism and  hypnotism,  superstition  and  popular  belief, 
seemed  about  to  lead  men  to  general  indifference  and 
despair.  Yet  the  actual  outcome  was  the  rapid  spread 
and  final  victory  of  the  Christian  faith.  So  again  in 
the  sixteenth  century  a  new  Europe  had  been  created 
by  the  spread  of  Asiatic  education  among  the  wild 
Teutons  and  Norsemen,  and  the  same  features  of 
conflicting  tendencies  appeared  on  a  larger  and  higher 
scale.  New  knowledge  spread  north  and  west  from 
Italy,  and  while  some  predicted  a  return  to  the  ancient 
paganism,  and  others  a  final  triumph  of  unbelief,  the 
actual  outcome  was  the  birth  of  a  purer  Protestant 
faith. 

So  too  now,  when  the  increase  of  science,  and  of 
intercourse  with  far  lands,  has  broken  down  the 
narrow  walls  of  ancient  prejudice,  we  may  expect  that 
the  outcome  of  the  same  forces  will  be  the  triumph  of 
a  yet  purer  and  higher  faith.  No  one  can  read  the 
current  literature  of  the  day  without  perceiving  that 
among  all  classes,  from  the  learned  of  our  universities 
to  the  popular  novelist,  men  are  busy  in  the  attempt 
to  separate  reality  from  error,  to  preserve  vital  truths 
while  discarding  ancient  superstitions,  and  to  attain 
some  form  of  belief  that  shall  satisfy  both  the  head 


SUPERSTITION  3 

and  the  heart.  Those  whose  trust  in  purpose  is 
founded  on  knowledge  of  history — the  history  of  earth 
and  the  history  of  man — will  not  share  the  fears  which 
this  great  conflict  creates.  They  will  not  regard  the 
steady  advance  of  man  as  being  due  to  accident,  and 
they  will  still  see  before  them  hope — that  is  something 
to  "  grasp  " — in  the  future. 

One  of  the  most  notable  features  of  human  history, 
indeed,  has  been  the  steady  growth  of  hope,  and  the 
gradual  loss  of  fear.  Man  became  stronger  as  he 
learned  more  of  the  world  and  of  the  great  natural 
forces  which  first  terrified  his  imagination.  He  con- 
quered the  intense  sadness  and  despair  with  which  he 
once  looked  on  death,  and  on  the  unknown  future ; 
and  he  has  discovered  that  the  ancient  enthralling 
superstitions  are  vain  fears  due  to  want  of  trust  in  the 
eternal  purpose.  Living  in  countries  where  all  can 
read  and  write,  we  can  hardly  appreciate  the  paralysing 
effect  of  such  superstitions,  or  the  timidity  of  mankind 
when  ignorant  of  the  realities  which  he  strives  to 
explain.  Those  who  have  lived  long  among  the 
peasantry  of  half-civilised  countries  will  know  how 
much  happier  and  less  anxious  we  now  are — in  spite 
of  all  the  great  evils  in  our  midst — than  are  the 
ignorant,  or  the  savage,  or  than  were  the  ancients 
according  to  their  own  recorded  words.  The  Moslem 
peasant  is  not  a  savage.  He  has  long  been  under  the 
influence  of  a  most  ancient  civilisation,  but  he  has 
been  unable,  through  ignorance,  to  free  himself  from 
the  terrors  which  were  once  felt  by  all.  He  lives  in 
an  atmosphere  of  miracle,  in  constant  dread  of  evil 
spirits,  and  ghosts  of  the  wicked  dead.  If  his  horse 
kneels  down  it  is  because  it  sees  a  spirit.  If  he  falls 
ill  it  is  because  the  local  Neby  has  smitten  him  in 
anger.  Every  unexpected  event  is  an  omen  of  evil. 
His  only  reliance  is  placed  on  charms  and  lucky 
emblems,  which  he  carries  hidden  under  his  shirt. 


4  INTRODUCTORY 

I  have  seen  the  whole  village  of  Gibeon  convulsed 
with  terror,  by  the  smoke  of  a  magnesium  torch  in  the 
cave  of  its  spring — for  was  it  not  evident  that  the 
Neby  had  come  down  in  cloud  and  in  wrath  ?  The 
prophet,  or  the  holy  man  who  works  miracles,  wanders 
from  village  to  village,  preceded  by  drum  and  pipe, 
as  of  old,  working  himself  into  ecstasy,  healing  or 
smiting,  predicting  the  future,  repelling  evil  demons. 
Men  pass  their  lives  in  continual  fear  of  misfortune, 
of  ghosts,  sickness,  wild  beasts,  darkness,  thunder, 
witches,  the  evil  eye,  the  ghoul,  and  the  secret  curse 
of  the  wronged. 

What  is  true  of  Asia  is  equally  true  of  the  ignorant 
in  Europe.  The  Italian  peasant  who  believes  in  the 
Madonna  and  in  his  patron  saint,  believes  yet  more 
in  the  "  stregha "  or  witch,  in  the  "  monicelli "  or 
hooded  gnomes  of  the  valleys,  in  the  "  folletti "  or 
fairies,  who  still  in  Tuscany  retain  the  names  and  the 
characters  of  the  old  Etruscan  gods.  The  belief  in 
ghosts  and  fairies  still  prevails  also  in  Ireland,  where 
men  naturally  brave  are  afraid  to  go  out  in  the  dark. 
We  are  inclined  to  think  of  ancient  superstition 
in  its  romantic  aspect,  as  something  beautiful  and 
poetic ;  but  life  among  such  peasantry,  like  the  study 
of  ancient  records,  will  convince  us  how  ugly,  savage, 
and  hateful  the  beliefs  of  the  past  really  were.  Terrible 
crimes  have  been  due,  in  Ireland  and  elsewhere,  in 
quite  recent  times,  to  such  superstitions.  The  nymphs 
in  Roman  belief  were  evil  beings  who  stole  children, 
and  not  merely  beautiful  guardians  of  the  springs. 
The  gods  of  the  Athenians  demanded  every  year  two 
human  victims.  The  dark  places  of  the  earth  were 
and  are  full  of  cruelty. 

An  intense  sadness,  surviving  to  our  middle  ages, 
was  created  by  the  fear  of  death,  which  still  creates 
despair  among  such  peasantry.  Heaven,  they  think, 
is  for  the  few  who  know  how  to  win  favour.  The 


FEAR  5 

ordinary  ghost  haunts  the  tomb,  and  women  visit  the 
cemetery  once  a  week  to  tell  the  dead  what  the  living 
are  doing,  lest  they  should  come  forth  to  see  for 
themselves.  There  is  no  hope  for  the  many  of  any 
future  beyond  the  weary,  empty  existence  of  ghost- 
land.  And  so  it  was  in  the  past,  as  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  see  later.  The  ever-broadening  hope  of 
immortality  was  of  very  late  origin  among  men,  and 
so  dear  has  it  become  to  them,  as  a  consolation  in 
trouble,  that  their  greatest  fear  now  is  lest  it  should 
be  taken  from  them.  This  fear  lies  at  the  root  of  all 
prejudice  against  the  growth  of  actual  knowledge  ; 
and — irrational  though  it  be — it  is  an  impediment 
to  happiness  and  progress.  The  study  of  history 
and  of  science — little  as  this  is  generally  expected— 
does  more  to  remove  such  fear  than  anything  else. 
Faith  that  is  not  in  accord  with  knowledge  may  lead 
men  far  astray,  as  we  willingly  admit  in  studying 
the  great  religions  of  the  past.  Knowledge  leads  to 
humility,  but  it  also  leads  to  a  stronger  trust  in  eternal 
purpose,  which  is  the  essence  of  reasonable  faith. 

This  is  not  the  conclusion,  it  is  true,  at  which  timid 
minds  have  arrived.  They  see  no  hopeful  outcome 
in  science,  but  rather  the  negation  of  faith.  Men 
point  to  such  a  writer  as  Haeckel  in  Germany,  and 
assert  that — as  the  result  of  scientific  study — he  no 
longer  believes  in  God  or  in  the  soul.  But  great 
leaders  like  Darwin  perceived  that  science  was  in- 
jured by  making  it  the  basis  of  speculations  which 
are  not  scientific.  Science  is  accurate  knowledge  of 
such  things  as  are  within  the  limits  of  our  experience 
and  of  our  understanding.  The  deductions  may  be 
true  or  false,  but  when  they  cannot  be  verified  by 
experience  they  are  not  scientific.  Such  knowledge 
had  no  existence  in  500  B.C.,  when  Xenophanes,  or  a 
century  later  when  Democritus,  asserted  that  the  soul 
dies  with  the  body.  It  is  well  to  avoid  terms  to 


6  INTRODUCTORY 

which  a  false  meaning  has  come  to  be  attached,  but 
Agnosticism  in  its  true  sense  meets  us  in  the  Bible 
as  much  as  in  science.  The  Hebrew  Psalmist  who 
exclaimed,  "  Such  knowledge  is  too  wonderful  for 
me :  I  cannot  attain  to  it,"  gave  expression  to  the 
humility  of  thought  which  has  always  characterised 
the  reverent  East.  Paul  himself  might  be  charged 
with  Agnosticism  when  he  says  (adapting  the  words 
of  the  Hebrew  prophet),  "  Eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear 
heard  .  .  .  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared." 
But  when  Agnosticism  becomes  dogmatic,  and  de- 
clares that  the  limits  of  knowledge  have  been  reached, 
we  remember  that  Comte  said  the  same  of  the  stars, 
and  that  Irenaeus  declared  certain  things  to  be  beyond 
human  understanding,  including  the  phases  of  the 
moon  and  the  source  of  the  Nile. 

The  great  error  of  the  Idealists,  and  of  Hegel  as 
a  child  of  Plato,  is  said  to  be  that  they  confused  the 
existence  of  realities  with  the  existence  of  our  per- 
ception of  realities,  just  as  Kant  is  said  by  Fichte  to 
confuse  the  description  of  the  methods  by  which  the 
mind  receives  impressions  with  proof  of  immortal 
individuality.  Many  of  our  doubts  and  confusions 
are  due  to  the  fact  that  we  are  not  as  careful  as 
Aristotle  was  in  defining  what  we  mean  by  words. 
Even  when  we  know  what  the  original  meaning  was — 
which  is  not  the  case  with  many  important  words — 
we  are  still  liable  to  take  the  simplest  terms  in  more 
than  one  sense  at  the  same  time.  For  words  are 
subject  to  change,  to  decay,  and  to  varying  import ; 
and  the  ideas  conveyed  to  us  by  such  terms  as  God, 
soul,  conscience,  instinct,  intuition,  will,  and  immor- 
tality, differ  not  only  from  those  of  early  times,  but 
differ  according  to  their  use  by  the  educated  and  the 
ignorant  in  all  ages.  It  is  difficult  to  think  that 
Haeckel  can  justly  be  charged  with  Atheism  when  he 
says,  "  The  will  of  God  is  at  work  in  every  falling 


SPIRIT  AND   MATTER  7 

drop  of  rain  and  every  growing  crystal,  in  the  scent 
of  the  rose  and  the  spirit  of  man."  If  this  be 
Pantheism,  such  as  was  taught  by  Greek  and  Indian 
philosophers  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago,  what 
are  we  to  say  of  Paul's  belief  in  a  God  "  who  is  above 
all  and  through  all  and  in  all,"  "in  whom  we  live 
and  move  and  have  our  being  "  ?  The  first  Christian 
philosopher  and  the  modern  man  of  science  teach  us 
apparently  the  same  truth. 

So,  too,  with  words  like  Materialism  and  Monism : 
very  different  ideas  are  conveyed  to  different  minds 
by  the  terms.  If  we  believe  that  God  is  the  Soul  of 
the  Universe,  we  believe  that  the  Universe  is  one  and 
indivisible.  To  think  of  the  Eternal  Energy  in  matter 
as  being  some  other  kind  of  matter  is  mere  confusion 
in  the  use  of  terms.  Goethe  no  doubt  put  the  true 
thought  in  the  fewest  words  when  he  said  that  "  there 
is  no  matter  without  spirit  and  no  spirit  without 
matter."  But  if  we  go  back  to  the  remote  ages  of 
Asiatic  civilisation  we  find  that  such  ideas  of  energy 
and  matter  had  not  been  conceived  as  yet.  God  and 
the  soul  alike  were  material  and  limited  beings ;  and 
far  from  its  being  true  that  man  has  become  material- 
istic in  his  ideas,  we  find  that  the  old  beliefs  were  less 
spiritual  than  are  those  of  our  own  age,  and  that  in 
times  of  ignorance  assertion  was  dogmatic,  while  under 
the  influence  of  greater  knowledge  man  becomes  more 
willing  to  admit  his  limited  powers  of  understanding 
great  mysteries  beyond  his  experience. 

Such  reflections  are  the  natural  outcome  of  the  study 
of  human  history.  But  to  illustrate  and  verify  the 
ideas  it  is  necessary  to  examine  them  in  detail  by  the 
light  of  modern  discoveries.  For  history  has  become 
something  very  different  from  what  it  used  to  be. 
We  are  no  longer  satisfied  with  knowledge  of  great 
persons  and  of  great  events,  or  with  the  presentation 
of  such  subjects  by  ancient  writers,  who  were  some- 


8  INTRODUCTORY 

times  ignorant,  sometimes  prejudiced  and  untruthful. 
History  so  related  is  full  of  insincerities,  and  some- 
times of  calumnies,  and  it  gives  us  little  opportunity 
of  studying  the  great  causes  of  events  which  appear 
to  be  mere  accidents  without  purpose.1  We  desire 
to  know  what  were  the  customs,  thoughts,  and  inter- 
ests of  mankind  in  general  which  led  inevitably  to 
certain  results,  and  which  caused  certain  great  men 
to  succeed  where  others  equally  great  had  failed 
before.  We  learn  these  things  not  from  political 
histories,  but  by  painful  study  of  the  ancient  records 
of  events,  of  manners,  and  of  beliefs  which  impelled 
men  to  certain  actions.  The  wider  and  deeper  our 
knowledge  of  such  causes  the  surer  will  be  our  de- 
ductions as  to  the  purpose  and  meaning  of  events. 
The  surer  also  will  be  our  conviction  that  what  we 
regard  as  evil  has  its  reason  and  its  good  purpose, 
and  our  hope  that  as  in  the  past  so  in  the  future  the 
very  passions  and  errors  of  men  will  be  guided  to 
the  furtherance  of  general  good. 

ii.  Science. — To  appreciate  the  difference  in  our 
attitude  to  history  we  must  first  remember  how  recent 
is  the  birth  of  true  science,  or  knowledge.  There 
is  nothing  that  shows  us  better  how  false  were  the 
conceptions  of  the  past  than  such  study.  The  Preacher, 
who  believed  that  "the  thing  that  hath  been  is  that 
which  shall  be,"  may  have  learned  all  the  knowledge 
of  his  own  age,  but  he  had  no  conception  of  things 
which  as  yet  had  never  been,  or  of  knowledge  which 
was  not  attainable  when  he  wrote. 

The  Greeks  in  their  best  age  (the  fifth  and  fourth 
centuries  B.C.)  seem  to  have  attained  an  accuracy  of 
observation  superior  to  that  of  the  older  civilised  races 

"  History  is  not  a  mere  succession  of  events  connected  only  by 
chronology.  It  is  a  chain  of  causes  and  effects."— Lecky,  "  History 
of  European  Morals,"  1894,  i.  p.  332. 


MATHEMATICS  9 

of  Asia.  It  is  visible  in  their  art  not  less  than  in 
their  thought.  They  looked  with  fresh  eyes  on 
Asiatic  philosophy  and  science,  and  advanced  far 
beyond  their  teachers.  Thus  the  names  of  the  old 
as  well  as  of  newer  sciences  have  always  been  Greek, 
and  the  Arabs  when  they  adopted  and  developed 
Greek  ideas  sometimes  used  Greek  names  for  their 
studies.  The  science  of  mathematics,  which  is  the 
only  absolutely  exact  science — for,  as  De  Morgan  said, 
you  cannot  have  a  plausible  solution  of  a  mathe- 
matical problem — owed  its  first  solid  foundation  to 
the  Greeks.  The  Babylonians  had  made  tables  of 
the  squares  and  cubes  of  numbers  for  easy  reference, 
probably  by  aid  of  some  kind  of  abacus  or  counter. 
The  Egyptians  in  their  later  age  had  investigated  the 
areas  of  triangles  and  circles,  by  means  of  the  very 
clumsy  arithmetic  which  we  can  study  in  existing 
documents.  Arithmetic  indeed  is  said  to  have  been 
introduced  into  Greece  from  Egypt  by  Thales  about 
600  B.C.  ;  but  geometry  was  still  a  controversial  subject 
when  Euclid  arose,  after  the  death  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  and  the  study  of  conic  sections  traces  back  to 
Apollonius  in  240  B.C.  Even  algebra  ("  the  power  "), 
though  known  to  us  by  an  Arab  name,  was  attributed 
by  the  Arabs  themselves  to  the  Greek  Diophantos. 
The  power  of  arithmetical  calculation  was  limited  by 
the  clumsy  notation  of  numerals  among  all  the  ancients, 
until  the  value  of  place  was  adopted  by  the  Indian 
mathematicians,  resulting  from  the  simpler  notation 
which  represented  the  first  nine  numerals  by  the 
initials  of  their  Sanskrit  names  in  the  characters  of 
the  Indo-Bactrian  alphabet.  The  importance  of  this 
system  for  the  rapid  calculation  of  large  sums  was 
evident  to  the  Arab  traders ;  but  while  the  new 
numerals  were  used  in  India  as  early  as  500  A.D., 
and  by  the  Arabs  five  centuries  later,  they  only 
reached  Europe  from  the  Moslems  of  Spain  and  Syria 


io  INTRODUCTORY 

.   X 

in  the  twelfth  century,  algebra  being  introduced  yet 
later,  after  the  Crusades.  The  gradual  diffusion  of 
knowledge  as  to  what  we  now  call  the  lower  mathe- 
matics thus  required  no  less  than  a  thousand  years 
for  its  accomplishment,  while  the  higher  mathematics 
are  scarcely  three  centuries  old.  Slow  indeed  there- 
fore was  man  in  learning  his  first  mathema  or  "  lesson," 
and  in  advance  from  his  ten  fingers  to  the  triumphs 
of  algebraic  proof. 

The  practical  Babylonians  were  the  founders  of 
astronomical  observation,  though  unable  to  explain 
aright  the  phenomena  which  were  all-important  in 
their  eyes.  We  go  back  to  an  age  when  man  was  in 
fear  lest  the  sun  might  fail  to  rise  or  the  summer  to 
return,  when  he  regarded  sun,  moon,  and  planets  as 
the  bodies  of  immortal  gods  of  various  characters,  and 
eclipses  as  due  to  a  dragon  of  darkness  endeavour- 
ing to  swallow  the  friendly  orbs.  The  shepherd 
watching  for  the  sun  on  the  horizon  must  very  early 
have  discovered  that  each  day  it  rose  farther  to  the 
left  as  the  days  lengthened,  or  to  the  right  as  they 
shortened.  The  limits  of  change  at  the  two  solstices 
were  first  marked,  by  stones,  and  the  central  line  for 
the  equinoxes  was  drawn  later.  As  early  as  the 
eleventh  century  B.C.,  the  Kassite  sign  for  the  spring 
equinox  is  the  segment  of  a  circle  with  its  arc  divided 
into  degrees.  Eclipses  of  the  moon  were  watched  by 
Babylonian  priests  at  least  as  early  as  the  seventh 
century  B.C.  and  the  Greeks  believed  that  they  had 
been  recorded  in  Babylon  from  the  time  of  its  founda- 
tion in  2250  B.C.  The  accumulation  of  records  led  to 
the  discovery  of  a  regular  cycle  of  such  eclipses,  but 
the  calculation  sometimes  failed  in  exactitude,  as  we 
know  from  an  extant  Babylonian  report ;  and  though 
Thales  predicted  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  on  May  17, 
603  B.C.,  the  Cycle  of  Meton  connecting  the  solar  and 
lunar  years  was  not  older  than  432  B.C. 


ASTRONOMY  11 

To  the  agriculturist  the  determination  of  the  seasons 
was  important,  and  the  observation  that  certain  stars 
rose  at  certain  seasons  must  have  been  very  ancient. 
The  Pleiades  are  said  to  have  been  so  observed  in 
Greece  as  early  as  850  B.C.  The  Zodiac  (according  to 
the  latest  scientific  view)  originated  in  Armenia  about 
3000  B.C.,  but  the  signs  are  not  known  to  us  as  having 
been  definitely  fixed  till  after  the  Christian  era,  while  the 
artificial  division  into  twelve  equal  arcs  is  still  later ; 
and  the  discovery  of  precession  was  a  very  slow  and 
painful  result  of  long  ages,  and  endless  observations 
by  puzzled  astronomers,  although  the  equinox  was 
correctly  observed  in  Babylon  as  early  as  the  seventh 
century  B.C.  The  earliest  rude  measurement  (which 
we  find  in  the  Hebrew  Flood  story)  made  the  year  to 
consist  of  twelve  months,  each  of  thirty  days.  The 
Egyptians  soon  found  it  necessary  to  add  five  days 
more,  and  then  discovered  that  another  quarter-day 
was  still  necessary.  The  Babylonians  found  that  the 
lunar  month  was  less  than  thirty  days,  and  introduced 
the  clumsy  method  of  adding  from  time  to  time  a 
thirteenth  month  to  keep  the  lunar  festivals  roughly 
in  place  with  the  seasons.  This  intercalation  was 
not  calculated,  but  decreed  in  consequence  of  actual 
observations.  It  had  the  one  merit  of  not  involving 
an  accumulating  error.  All  the  early  Greek  calendars 
were  taken  from  the  Asiatics,  and  months  of  thirty 
days  gradually  gave  place  to  true  lunar  months,  and 
to  intercalation,  through  Phoenician  or  Babylonian 
influence. 

But  this  rude  science,  not  based  on  any  true  under- 
standing or  scientific  calculation,  gave  place  to  more 
accurate  ideas  when  the  Greeks  began  to  think  for 
themselves,  though  they  were  still  hampered  by  the 
false  assumption  that  the  earth  was  the  immovable 
centre  of  the  universe.  Eratosthenes  taught  that  the 
world  is  a  sphere  as  early  as  240  B.C.  Hipparchus,  in 


12  INTRODUCTORY 

140  B.C.,  used  latitude  and  longitude,  and  understood 
something  of  precession  and  of  the  ecliptic.  But  the 
new  astronomy  met  with  the  most  bitter  opposition 
from  the  first.  Pliny  had  described  the  earth  as  a 
sphere  nearly  three  centuries  before  Augustine,  who 
objected  that  men  at  the  antipodes  would  not  be  able 
to  see  Christ  descend  from  heaven.  Chrysostom  in 
like  manner  ridicules  in  one  of  his  sermons  the  belief 
that  the  earth  turns  on  its  axis.1  So  slow  is  the 
progress  of  thought  among  mankind  that  it  required 
some  fifteen  hundred  years  of  observation  and  of 
argument  before  they  were  able  to  form  a  true  idea  of 
the  relation  of  their  planet  to  the  rest  of  the  universe, 
counting  from  the  earliest  age  of  true  astronomical 
observation.  They  could  not  even  believe  that  the 
earth  was  round  till  it  was  actually  proved  to  them  by 
Magellan's  circumnavigation  in  1520.  It  is  little  more 
than  three  centuries  since  the  invention  of  the  telescope 
made  it  possible  to  improve  on  the  rude  observations 
of  the  ancients,  and  led  a  century  later  to  the  great 
discoveries  of  Newton.  The  knowledge  so  painfully 
acquired  has  done  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other 
science  to  revolutionise  thought,  not  only  by  teaching 
us  our  true  position  as  dwellers  on  a  small  satellite 
revolving  round  one  among  countless  suns,  but  yet 
more  in  proving  that  the  whole  universe  of  matter  is 
continuous,  and  full  of  one  energy,  and  that  the  stars 
themselves  are  no  more  eternal  or  unchangeable 
than  are  the  fleeting  organisms  of  earth. 

Yet  even  the  genius  of  Newton  could  not  rise  to 
the  abstract  idea  of  energy  in  matter.  The  undulatory 
theory  of  light  was  established  four  generations  later, 
and  "  corpuscles  "  became  as  obsolete  as  the  phlogiston 
of  Aristotle's  age.  Half  a  century  before  Young 
we  find  Voltaire  puzzled  by  Newton's  doubts  as  to 
whether  rays  of  light  were  corporeal,  and  declaring 
1  "  In  Tit.  Homil.,"  iii.  3. 


GEOGRAPHY  13 

that  these  "sparks"  could  not  be  "  ordinary  matter." 
Light,  heat,  sound,  electricity,  are,  as  we  now  know, 
various  vibrations  of  matter,  various  forms  of  the  one 
energy  as  measured  by  our  limited  organs  and  our 
imperfect  instruments ;  but  as  we  look  on  the  rays 
which  left  some  distant  star  when  Herod  was  king,  we 
learn  that  the  matter  so  vibrating  extends  continuously 
to  the  utmost  distances  that  our  senses  enable  us  to 
observe.  Knowledge  increases  not  only  on  account 
of  increased  intelligence  and  experience,  but  yet  more 
through  the  invention  of  new  aids  to  our  senses.  The 
prism  shows  us  that  the  rainbow  depends  on  the  eye, 
and  the  bow  in  the  cloud  ceases  to  be  the  narrow 
bridge  to  a  firmament  above.  The  man  who  first 
discovered  the  use  of  a  lens  did  more  for  us  than 
Plato.  We  do  not  know  who  he  was,  and  the  date  of 
the  lens  found  at  Nineveh  is  uncertain,  but  in  Greece 
Aristophanes1  knew  of  its  use  in  420  B.C.,  or  two 
centuries  before  Archimedes ;  yet  the  microscope 
which  reveals  to  us  the  infinitely  little,  like  the  tele- 
scope revealing  the  infinitely  distant,  was  not  invented 
till  two  thousand  years  later.  Men  are  still  staggered 
by  the  immensities  so  recently  revealed  to  their 
senses ;  for  three  centuries  represent  a  very  short 
space  of  time  in  the  history  of  slowly  acquired  per- 
ceptions of  truth. 

Even  of  the  earth  on  which  they  dwelt,  mankind,  as 
they  spread  from  the  first  centre  of  the  most  ancient 
civilisations,  knew  little  till  long  after.  The  old 
Babylonian  geography  continued  to  be  taught  in 
Persia  many  centuries  after  the  invasion  of  India. 
The  Babylonian  naturally  regarded  the  world  as  a 
plain  with  an  encircling  mountain  wall,  beyond  which 
was  the  surrounding  ocean.  Though  the  Akkadians 
sailed  down  the  Persian  Gulf  and  up  the  Red  Sea  as 
early  as  2800  B.C.,  their  conceptions  do  not  seem  to  have 
1  "  Clouds,"  764. 


i4  INTRODUCTORY 

been  materially  altered.  Even  when  the  Homeric 
poems  were  first  sung,  the  lands  beyond  Italy  were 
regions  of  mystery,  and  the  far  northern  ocean  coasts 
were  the  abode  of  ghosts.  The  Phoenicians  and  the 
Greek  islanders  discovered  the  end  of  earth  when  they 
entered  the  Atlantic,  and  about  600  B.C.  Phoenician 
sailors  circumnavigated  Africa.  Herodotus  is  thus 
aware  that  the  world  is  much  larger  than  the  Asiatics 
had  supposed  before  the  time  of  Persian  empire.  By 
the  second  century  after  Christ,  Roman  knowledge  of 
the  Old  World  had  so  much  increased  that  Marco  Polo 
added  little  to  it  in  extent  even  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  The  bold  traders  who  steered  by  the  pole- 
star,  or  who  under  Augustus  reached  India  by  aid  of 
the  monsoon,  enabled  Ptolemy  to  describe  India,  and 
Central  Asia,  and  the  Arab  settlements  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Zambesi.  Japan,  however,  had  not  been  heard  of 
in  Europe  before  Marco  Polo,  and  the  New  World 
was  unimagined  in  the  West,  though  it  had  been 
discovered  by  the  Chinese  a  thousand  years  before 
the  advent  of  Columbus.  The  use  of  the  compass  was 
adopted  by  Europe  through  Arab  influence  in  the 
twelfth  century,  and  was  known  yet  earlier  in  China. 
The  final  triumphs  of  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards 
over  distance  and  ocean  were  won  some  four  thousand 
years  after  the  first  sailors  had  ventured  to  coast 
along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  and  of  the 
Indian  Ocean. 

The  importance  of  geographical  knowledge  with 
reference  to  history  cannot  be  overrated.  The  latest 
distribution  of  land  and  water  is  such  as  to  give 
to  mankind  a  large  proportion  of  land  in  temperate 
climes,  which  appear  best  suited  to  his  improvement. 
The  great  rivers  of  the  Old  World  were  natural  high- 
ways leading  from  the  Asiatic  cradle  to  fertile  valleys. 
The  deserts  were  fitted  by  their  dry  invigorating  air 
to  breed  hardy  stocks,  ever  anxious,  when  their 


CHEMISTRY  15 

numbers  increased,  to  gain  rich  lands,  thus  securing 
a  constant  migration  and  mixture  of  human  breeds ; 
while  the  small  corrugations  of  the  earth's  crust, 
which  to  us  are  mighty  mountains,  formed  barriers 
behind  which  various  tribes  developed  peculiarities 
that  became  valuable  for  the  progress  of  later  races. 
Pressure  of  population  has  been  the  main  cause  of 
civilisation,  and  mankind  was  irresistibly  impelled  to 
crowd  into  the  better  lands  near  the  ocean,  so  that  a 
quarter  of  the  race  is  now  confined  to  the  com- 
paratively small  area  of  Europe,  and  another  quarter 
to  India  and  China.  Where  no  such  pressure  existed, 
and  the  small  tribes  spread  over  boundless  regions  in 
Africa  and  America,  the  progress  of  the  weaker  stocks, 
driven  out  of  better  lands,  was  very  slow.  Great 
islands  also  have  proved  specially  fitted,  on  account 
of  their  difficult  access,  for  the  higher  development  of 
the  daring  mariners  who  reached  them  from  continents 
not  too  far  away,  and  who,  defended  by  stormy  seas, 
could  peaceably  evolve  freedom  amid  the  ever-shifting 
conditions  of  continental  life.  Geographical  and 
climatic  conditions  have  thus  been  prime  factors  in 
the  history  of  human  progress,  and  over  these  man 
has  practically  no  control. 

Chemistry  is  another  of  the  great  sciences  which 
owes  its  origin  to  the  Greeks.  Their  early  philo- 
sophers began,  it  is  true,  with  very  false  conceptions 
of  matter.  They  spoke  of  water,  air,  and  fire,  as 
"  elements  "—not  knowing  that  the  first  was  a  chemi- 
cal and  the  second  a  mechanical  compound,  and  that 
fire  was  not  matter  but  a  vibration.  They  had  no 
idea  of  the  cell,  and  organic  chemistry  was  conse- 
quently unattainable  by  them ;  but  Heraclitus  (about 
510  B.C.)  and  Euripides  perceived  the  constant  flux 
of  matter,  whilst  Democritus,  and  Empedocles  in 
Sicily,  maintained  the  great  idea  of  atoms  following 
definite  laws  of  combination.  The  Arabs  took  from 


16  INTRODUCTORY 

the  Greeks  the  name  as  well'  as  the  knowledge  of 
11  mixtures,"  and  Al-kemiah  or  Alchemy  was  a  Greek 
word  with  an  Arab,  definite  article  prefixed.  These 
early  students  were  not  intent,  like  later  Europeans, 
solely  on  discovering  the  "philosopher's  stone"  and 
the  "  water  of  life."  They  attempted  a  general 
philosophy  of  existence,  like  their  Greek  masters,  and 
Dhu-en-Nun  in  Egypt  (about  800  A.D.)  was  a  religious 
mystic  as  well  as  an  alchemist.  Chemistry  and 
distillation  were  introduced  into  Europe  by  Spanish 
Moslems  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  Roger  Bacon 
the  Franciscan — one  of  the  most  enlightened  men  of 
his  age — based  his  chemistry,  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  on  the  teaching  of  the  Greek  and 
Arab  philosophers.  To  them  also  Cornelius  Agrippa 
in  the  fifteenth  century  and  Paracelsus  in  the  sixteenth 
were  deeply  indebted.  Much  vain  research  was  devoted 
to  the  transmutation  of  metals,  which  Pliny  mentions 
in  our  first  century,  and  which  Diocletian  forbade  in 
296  A.D.  But  unconsciously  men  were  led,  by  an 
enthusiasm  often  of  ignorance,  to  discoveries  far  more 
valuable  than  gold.  After  studies  pursued  for  more 
than  two  thousand  years,  the  doctrine  of  the  con- 
servation of  matter  was  established  at  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  before  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  Mayer  declared  the  principle  of  the  con- 
servation of  force.  Progress  in  chemistry,  like  that 
in  other  sciences,  has  depended  on  the  improvement 
of  instruments,  from  the  early  thermometer  of  Galileo 
down  to  the  countless  machines  for  measuring  tem- 
peratures inconceivably  extreme,  or  for  determining 
electric  volumes  and  densities,  which,  since  the  seven- 
teenth century,  have  gradually  increased  in  delicacy 
of  construction.  But  perhaps  the  greatest  result  of 
chemical  and  physical  study  has  been  the  escape 
from  the  old  fallacy  which  distinguished  "  dead 
matter  " — the  inorganic — from  organic  or  "  living 


NATURAL  HISTORY  17 

matter."  We  have  learnt  that  there  is  no  matter  in 
the  universe  which  is  devoid  of  energy,  and  this 
discovery  renders  easier  the  conception  of  the  origin 
of  life,  by  breaking  down  the  barrier  between  the 
organic  and  the  inorganic.  We  learn  also,  by  the 
use  of  the  spectroscope,  that — as  far  as  we  may 
judge— the  materials  of  which  the  most  distant  stars 
are  composed  are  the  same  as  those  known  to  us 
on  our  own  planet ;  and  we  perceive  that  matter — 
indestructible  but  ever  changing — is  instinct  with  an 
eternal  energy,  for  ever  acting  on  new  combinations 
of  atoms.  Whether  we  are  content  with  the  old 
chemical  unit,  or  subdivide  it  into  electrons  infinitely 
minute,  we  still  are  forced  to  admit  that  no  single 
unit  can  exist  save  in  connection  with  the  whole,  and 
that  (as  Goethe  perceived)  there  is  no  matter  without 
spirit,  and  no  spirit  that  is  not  an  energy  thrilling 
some  form  of  matter,  whether  perceptible  to  our 
senses,  or  imperceptible  and  thus  unknown. 

The  study  of  organic  beings,  to  which  we  give  the 
name  of  Natural  History,  has  always  been  very 
slowly  pursued,  and  the  beginnings  were  due  to 
the  curiosity  of  Asiatics.  The  Assyrians  in  the 
seventh  century  B.C.  made  lists  of  plants  and  animals, 
as  Solomon  is  said  to  have  done  a  few  centuries 
earlier.  Their  conquests  made  them  acquainted  with 
new  and  strange  forms.  Even  the  kings  of  the 
eighteenth  Egyptian  dynasty,  more  than  five  centuries 
before  Solomon,  collected  rare  beasts  and  birds. 
Alexander  sent  home  to  Aristotle,  who  may  be 
regarded  as  the  father  of  natural  science,  the  new 
animals  that  he  found  in  the  East ;  and  the  interest 
taken  by  the  Ptolemies  in  this  great  subject  is  shown, 
not  only  by  the  strange  monsters  from  Africa  which 
they  paraded  in  the  streets  of  Alexandria,  but  by  the 
paintings  on  Greek  tombs  of  the  Ptolemaic  age, 
recently  found  in  the  south  of  Palestine,  where  each 

2 


18  INTRODUCTORY 

beast — such    as  the    porcupine  or    the  rhinoceros — 
bears  its  name  above  it  in  Greek. 

The  writings  of  Aristotle,  of  Pliny,  and  of  the  early 
Christian  philosophers,  are  full,  it  is  true,  of  strange 
superstitions  due  to  imperfect  observation  of  the  habits 
of  animals.  The  belief  in  omens,  and  in  transmigra- 
tion, served  to  maintain  ancient  interest  in  the  science, 
and  botany  was  studied  for  medical  purposes  from 
the  time  of  Dioscorides,  or  about  50  A.D.  In  the 
thirteenth  century  we  find  Jacques  de  Vitry  as  much 
interested  in  Syrian  fauna  and  flora  as  was  Abu  el 
Faraj,  who  wrote  on  the  nature  of  birds,  beasts,  fishes, 
and  reptiles,  or  Kaswini  the  Arab  Linnaeus,  who 
examined  the  Lebanon  flora.  Henry  I.  of  England 
collected  a  menagerie  from  abroad  as  early  as  1 1 15  A.D., 
and  the  "  Bestiaries  "  of  the  middle  ages  described  the 
characters  of  animals  long  before  Pierre  Belon,  under 
Edward  VI.,  of  England,  printed  his  researches  in 
Mediterranean  lands,  with  spirited  woodcuts  repre- 
senting various  beasts.  Even  he  is  unable  to  escape 
the  ancient  superstitions,  and  gives  us  a  drawing  of 
the  flying  serpents  of  Sinai ;  but  in  these  early 
attempts  we  find  the  germ  of  the  great  science  which 
has  so  rapidly  developed  during  the  last  hundred 
years. 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  three 
distinct  lines  of  research  had  been  undertaken — the 
study  of  anatomy  by  Cuvier,  that  of  the  embryo  by 
Von  Baer,  and  that  of  geology  by  Lyell ;  but  although 
Lamarck,  in  1809,  taught  the  gradual  growth  of  species 
from  primitive  forms,  it  is  admitted  by  all  that  the 
year  1859,  when  Darwin  published  his  "  Origin  of 
Species,"  marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  natural  science. 
A  theory  is  confirmed  when  it  is  shown  to  agree  with 
an  entirely  independent  result  based  on  a  separate 
line  of  study  ;  it  is  verified  when  a  third  line  of  induc- 
tion is  shown  to  lead  to  the  same  conclusion.  The 


EVOLUTION  19 

strength  of  the  doctrine  of  evolution  lies  in  the  co- 
incidence of  the  deductions  drawn  from  the  studies 
of  geology,  embryology,  ,and  comparative  anatomy. 
Darwin  was  concerned,  not  with  speculative  philo- 
sophy nor  with  religious  belief,  but  with  the  legitimate 
conclusions  to  be  deduced  from  an  immense  accumu- 
lation of  facts,  due  to  patient  study,  in  each  of  the 
three  mutually  helpful  lines  of  research.  The  great 
principles  which  he  deduced,  as  to  the  slow  and  imper- 
ceptible change  of  form  in  living  organisms,  due  to 
the  surrounding  circumstances  beyond  their  control, 
as  to  the  struggle  for  existence,  heredity,  preference, 
reversion,  the  extinction  of  some  kinds  and  the  rapid 
spread  of  others  more  adaptable,  were  principles  not 
confined  to  the  history  of  species,  but  found  applicable 
to  the  whole  question  of  growth  and  decay,  bodily  and 
mental,  to  human  beliefs  and  institutions  not  less  than 
to  the  gradual  and  orderly  development  of  living 
things.1  The  speculations  of  the  ancients  were  thus 
judged  according  to  results  based  on  a  deeper  and 
more  accurate  knowledge  of  nature.  The  microscope 
especially  served  to  establish  the  growth  of  all 
organisms,  animal  or  vegetable,  from  the  microscopic 
cells  unknown  to  Greek  philosophers,  which  Matthias 
Schlieden  first  observed  in  1838.  The  conclusions  of 
Huxley  (in  1863)  and  of  Darwin  (in  1871)  as  to  man's 
place  in  nature,  and  as  to  his  gradual  rise  from  earlier 
apelike  ancestors,  have  not  only  never  as  yet  been 
shown  to  be  false,  but  they  have  been  confirmed  by 
new  discoveries,  such  as  those  due  to  the  study  of  the 
placenta,  as  noted  by  Haeckel,  or  of  the  blood  of  man 
and  the  apes  studied  by  Friedenthal  in  1902.  Natural 

1  The  term  "evolution"  was  used  as  early  as  about  1677,  in  Rale's 
"  Origin  of  Mankind,"  pp.  33,  63.  See  Skeat,  "  Dictionary,"  1888,  s.v. 
"  Evolve."  Herbert  Spencer,  in  his  autobiography,  honestly  admits 
that  he  did  not  perceive  the  general  application  of  the  idea  of  evolu- 
tion till  after  1859. 


20  INTRODUCTORY 

history  was  originally  studied  from  motives  of  curiosity 
or  of  superstition,  but  man  has  been  led  thereby  to  a 
truer  conception  of  his  place  in  the  universe,  and  to 
the  appreciation  of  the  infinite  patience,  order,  and 
variety  in  which  we  may  perceive  the  purpose  working 
throughout  the  ages. 

There  are  three  sciences  which  may  be  regarded  as 
quite  modern  and  unknown  to  the  ancients,  but  which 
are  all  of  high  value  in  the  study  of  history — namely, 
Geology,  Archaeology,  and  Philology — as  to  which  a 
few  words  may  be  added.  Xenophanes,  and  Pliny  six 
centuries  later,  had  observed  fossils  in  the  rocks,  but 
such  remains  were  generally  regarded  as  those  of 
former  giants  and  dragons,  and  created  only  a  vague 
curiosity  concerning  their  relation  to  the  legends  and 
myths  of  the  poets.  Voltaire,  in  1764,  laughs  at 
11  systems  founded  on  shells,"  and  at  the  reindeer 
and  hippopotamus  discovered  at  Estampes.  He  was 
willing  to  admit  that  many  ages  were  required  to 
account  for  proved  revolutions  in  the  condition  of  the 
earth,  but  his  ignorance  of  the  new  science,  and  his 
attempts  to  explain  away  the  early  observations  on 
which  it  was  founded,  now  strike  us  with  astonishment 
at  his  prejudice.  The  Geological  Society  of  London 
was,  however,  not  founded  till  1807,  and  that  of  France 
dates  only  from  1830,  when  Lyell  had  become  the 
first  exponent  of  modern  principles  in  the  study  of 
geology. 

As  astronomy  has  accustomed  us  to  the  ideas  of 
almost  inconceivable  distance  and  size,  or  chemistry 
to  equally  immense  ranges  of  cold  and  heat,  so  the 
study  of  the  rocks  accustoms  us  to  the  conception  of 
immense  lapse  of  time.  Whether  we  calculate  the 
deposit  of  sediment  to  have  averaged  only  about  an 
inch  in  a  century,  or  whether  we  suppose  that  in  the 
earlier  ages  of  terrific  storms  and  extreme  tempera- 
tures, of  torrential  rains  and  huge  floods,  the  sedi- 


GEOLOGY  21 

mentary  action  was  more  rapid  and  the  volcanic  forces 
more  active,  we   are  still  forced  to  admit   that  many 
millions  of  years  must  have  been  necessary  for  the 
deposit  of  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  feet  of  strata 
covering  the  ancient  volcanic  crust  of  earth.     During 
about  half  this  time  the  organisms  existing  on  land  or 
in  the  sea  were  simple  and  lowly  forms,  and  vertebrate 
animals  had  not  as  yet  appeared.     The  gradual  pro- 
gress from    early  fishes    to    the   amphibia,   reptiles, 
marsupials,  and  other  later  mammals,  seems  to  have 
been  accelerated  as  time  went  on,  till  we  reach  the 
period  when  huge  land  and  water  beasts,  with  small 
brains,  seem  to  have  been  useful  during  ages  of  storm 
in  preparing  the  rough  surfaces,  the  great  forests  and 
swamps,  for  the  appearance  of  man.     Gradually  they 
were  superseded  by  animals  with  larger  brains,  and 
perished  for  lack  of  the  immense  quantities  of  food 
which  they  must  have  required.     Not  that  they  alone 
were  the  denizens  of  ancient  earth,  for  the  butterfly 
and  the   dragon-fly  are  found  in  the  coal  measures, 
while  delicate    shells    have    survived    other    species 
apparently  far  stronger  and  of   much  greater  size. 
The  utility  of  some  of  these  monsters,  and  the  reasons 
why  some  species  perished  while    others    survived 
from  an  immense  antiquity,  are  still  obscure  to  our 
understanding ;    but  the  purpose  which   continually 
produced  higher  forms  from  older  and  simpler  animals 
is  clearly  proved  by  science,  and  forbids  us  to  suppose 
that  such  progress  was  either  accidental  or  unintelli- 
gent.    Conclusions  as   to   age  founded  on  imperfect 
information   may  be   modified    by    further    research. 
The   mylodon   sloth,  in  Patagonia,  is  found   to   have 
survived    to    a    quite    recent   historic    period.      The 
Siberian  mammoth  may  have  existed  also  very  late, 
the  Irish  elk  roamed  in  Britain  in  the  time  of  Caesar, 
as  did  the  reindeer  and  the  aurochs  in  the  German 
forests ;    but  such   modifications  will    not    serve    to 


22  INTRODUCTORY 

.   / 

support  the  belief  that  man  suddenly  appeared  on 
earth  only  about  six  thousand  years  ago.  Human 
history  cannot,  it  is  true,  be  studied  earlier  than  that 
time,  because  there  is  no  true  history  before  the 
appearance  of  written  records ;  but  long  prehistoric 
ages  must  have  preceded  the  invention  of  writing. 
The  first  chapter  of  the  Hebrew  Book  of  Genesis 
contains  no  indication  of  the  age  when  man  was 
believed  to  have  first  appeared  as  "  male  and  female." 
The  ideas  of  our  fathers  were  founded  on  a  single 
sentence,  and  the  Babylonians,  with  whom  the 
Hebrews  so  closely  agreed  in  traditionary  beliefs, 
supposed  immense  periods  of  unknown  human  history 
to  have  preceded  that  of  the  first  civilised  race. 
Their  calculations  were  entirely  speculative,  and  even 
now  our  knowledge  of  early  man  is  very  defective ;  but 
his  existence  before  land  and  water  had  reached  their 
present  levels  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  im- 
probable by  students  of  science. 

Archaeology  is  the  study  of  man  in  the  past,  and  it 
becomes  a  science  only  when  studied  on  scientific 
principles.  It  stands  in  the  same  relation  to  literary 
criticism  that  is  held  by  natural  science  with  regard  to 
early  philosophic  speculation.  But  so  recent  is  the 
birth  of  this  line  of  research  that  the  importance  of  the 
change  has  even  now  not  been  generally  recognised. 
Ancient  remains  have  always  been  interesting  to  culti- 
vated men,  and  Assur-bani-pal  of  Assyria  was  a  great 
collector  of  old  records,  cylinders,  and  medals ;  but 
his  objects  were  political  and  religious  rather  than 
historical.  Raphael  was  placed  in  charge  of  Roman 
antiquities,  and  got  drawings  of  others  from  Italy, 
Greece,  and  Turkey,  but  Leo  X.  was  mainly  inter- 
ested in  classic  antiques  from  an  artistic  standpoint. 
Scientific  archaeology  depends  on  the  decipherment 
of  forgotten  scripts,  and  may,  perhaps,  be  said 
to  date  from  the  discovery  of  a  bilingual  in  Greek 


ARCHAEOLOGY  23 

and  Phoenician  by  the  famous  Abbe  Barthelemy 
in  1758. 

Our  first  Antiquarian  Society  was  founded  in  1770  ; 
but  dilettanti  had  even  then  no  conception  of  the  stores 
of  information  buried  in  the  earth  in  Asia,  Egypt, 
Italy,  Greece,  or  Western  Europe.  Voltaire  considered 
the  early  history  of  Egypt  to  be  permanently  lost ;  for 
the  great  discoveries  of  Champollion  date  only  from 
1820,  while  Rawlinson's  first  memoir  on  the  Persian 
cuneiform  was  not  published  till  1836.  In  1825  only 
about  a  hundred  archaic  Greek  texts  were  known, 
while  the  corpus  of  Greek  inscriptions,  including  ten 
thousand,  is  now  far  behind  actual  discoveries  of  later 
years.  Progress  in  such  research  has  gone  on  with 
ever-increasing  rapidity,  as  thousands  of  brick  tablets 
pour  annually  into  the  museums,  while  Egypt  yields  the 
contents  of  its  tombs  and  the  torn  papyri  once  cast 
aside  as  rubbish.  The  important  Safa  alphabet  was 
not  deciphered  till  1877,  and  the  Sabean  texts  began  to 
be  published  two  years  later.  The  Cypriote  characters 
were  read  by  George  Smith  in  1880,  and  became  the 
foundation  of  a  new  branch  of  palaeography — the  study 
of  a  script  used  by  Greeks  in  Crete  and  in  Spain,  as 
well  as  in  Asia  Minor  and  at  Mycenae,  based  on  the 
old  hieroglyphics  of  the  Syrian  Hittites,  and  develop- 
ing into  the  Phoenician  and  other  alphabets  which 
still  need  further  examination. 

The  literary  study  of  Oriental  books  is  equally 
modern  as  a  branch  of  science.  Researches  in  Arabic, 
and  the  reading  of  the  Koran,  were  discouraged  by 
the  Popes,  and  Roger  Bacon  in  the  thirteenth  century 
said  that  there  were  not  five  men  in  Europe  who  could 
read  Arabic.  Hyde  attempted  the  study  of  Persian 
antiquities  as  early  as  1700,  but  Anquetil  Duperron 
was  condemned,  when  he  presented  the  Zendavesta 
to  Europe  in  1771,  by  scholars  who  were  some- 
thing more  than  mere  pedants ;  and  ill-informed 


24  INTRODUCTORY 

controversies  continued  until  the  genuineness  and 
antiquity  of  these  books  were  proved  by  the  dis- 
coveries of  Rawlinson.  The  study  of  Sanskrit,  and  of 
the  laws  and  philosophies  of  India,  has  been  equally 
accelerated  since  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  as  yet  the  local  alphabets  and  dialects 
of  that  great  country  were  unknown  in  Europe.  The 
outcome  of  all  such  patient  research  has  been  the 
foundation  of  a  comparative  study  of  religions  which 
even  now  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  and  which  is  destined 
to  produce  results  of  the  highest  importance. 

Philology,  or  "  word-love,"  is  also  a  science  of  modern 
origin,  and  of  an  importance  to  history  as  yet  not  fully 
appreciated.  Voltaire  satirised  the  attempts  at  com- 
parative research  made  in  his  own  time.  Sir  William 
Jones  studied  the  connection  of  Greek,  Latin,  and 
Sanskrit  as  early  as  1770,  but  when  Bopp  first  pub- 
lished his  "Comparative  Grammar"  of  the  Aryan 
languages,  his  work  was  received  with  ridicule  and 
scorn,  by  scholars,  as  late  as  1833.  Grimm's  laws  of 
pronunciation,  in  related  languages  of  Europe  growing 
out  of  early  dialects,  have  become  the  basis  of  scientific 
study.  The  labours  of  Donner,  Castren,  Bohtlingk, 
and  Vambery,  have  shown  the  connection  of  widely- 
separated  Turanian  tongues  springing  from  the 
ancient  Akkadian;  but  even  as  late  as  1883,  when 
F.  Delitzsch  wrote  on  the  results  of  Rawlinson's  dis- 
coveries, the  value  of  Assyrian  for  comparative  study 
of  Semitic  languages  was  little  recognised,  while  the 
further  advance  to  general  comparison  of  the  historic 
languages — Egyptian,  Semitic,  Turanian,  and  Aryan- 
is  still  regarded  with  the  same  suspicion  with  which 
the  discoveries  of  Bopp  were  received.  These  ques- 
tions will  demand  detailed  consideration  in  tracing  the 
migrations  of  prehistoric  man,  for  it  is  by  language 
alone  that  we  are  able  to  arrive  at  any  true  conclu- 
sions as  to  the  facts  of  his  dispersion  over  earth. 


THE  CAVE  25 

These,  then,  are  the  great  sciences  which  have  slowly 
developed  from  the  rude  observations  of  the  early 
Asiatics,  and  which  are  all-important  to  the  study  of 
the  rise  of  man.  If  we  are  content  to  draw  deductions 
from  known  facts,  not  attempting  to  twist  the  facts  in 
support  of  preconceived  theories  and  prejudices,  we 
may  hope  to  attain  to  truths  unsuspected  in  the  ages 
when  such  knowledge  had  not  yet  been  acquired. 
Human  reason  is  limited  by  the  imperfections  of  the 
human  understanding;  and  not  even  the  science  of 
mathematics  can  be  regarded  as  perfectly  understood. 
The  information  in  other  cases — such  as  geology  or 
archaeology — is  fragmentary,  and  often  difficult  to 
understand ;  but  those  who  turn  their  backs  to  the 
light,  and — as  in  Plato's  famous  simile — insist  on  con- 
jectures founded  on  the  shadows  cast  on  the  walls  of 
their  cave,  when  they  might  stand  up  and  face  the 
realities  behind  them,  can  never  hope  to  be  guided  to 
knowledge  of  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  II 

EARLY  MAN 

i.  Natural. — We  look  out  on  the  universe  as  it  were 
from  behind  prison  bars,  with  knowledge  limited  by 
our  imperfect  senses.  There  are  rays  of  light  which 
the  eye  cannot  see,  and  sounds  which  the  ear  cannot 
hear.  We  are  surrounded  with  matter — the  air  we 
breathe — that  is  imperceptible  to  any  of  our  senses. 
It  is  only  by  the  use  of  aids  to  our  organs  that  we 
attain  to  more  accurate  knowledge  of  facts.  Philo- 
sophers, from  the  first  Greeks  to  the  latest  Europeans, 
have  discussed  the  "  mind "  without  any  true  under- 
standing of  the  machine  which  receives  impressions 
from  without,  and  which  records  them  as  experiences 
within.  We  speak  of  thought  as  a  function  of  the 
brain,  forgetting  that  its  nerve  centres  are  powerless 
if  disconnected  from  the  corresponding  centres  of 
the  spinal  cord.  The  invention  of  a  new  stain,  and  a 
few  experiments  on  living  monkeys,  have  done  more 
to  explain  to  us  the  true  nature  of  thought  than  all 
the  logic  of  the  philosophers  ;  and  it  is  not  more  than 
thirty  years  since  such  researches  commenced,  and 
since  Ferrier's  "  Functions  of  the  Brain  "  was  written. 
Even  now  there  are  large  tracts  of  this  organ  of  which 
the  exact  use  remains  unknown. 

As  far  as  we  know  now,  much  of  the  brain  is  devoted 
to  mechanical  action — the  upper  part  to  the  movement 
of  the  limbs,  the  front  central  part  to  that  of  the  eyes, 
mouth,  and  tongue.  In  front  of  this  extend  the  lobes 

26 


CONSCIOUSNESS  27 

which  receive  the  vibrations  which  we  recognise  as 
odours.  At  the  sides  of  the  brain  the  vibrations  of 
sound  are  taken  in,  and  at  the  back  are  recorded  those 
of  vision  received  from  the  retina-curtain  of  the  eye. 
All  these  vibrations  are  recorded  and  balanced  near 
the  cerebellum,  which  contains  the  delicate  batteries 
on  which  memory  depends.  Each  experience  consists 
of  a  particular  combination  of  impressions  due  to 
sight,  sound,  odour,  and  other  vibrations,  and  when 
this  combination  is  repeated  the  original  experience 
is  recalled. 

Consciousness  of  that  which  is  without  the  individual 
organism,  and  action  due  to  such  consciousness,  are 
thus  dependent  on  the  healthy  action  of  these  nerve 
centres  in  the  body;  and  to  say  that  consciousness 
ceases  with  death  is  only  to  say  that  the  body  ceases 
to  be  the  material  organ  in  which  the  energy  which 
has  thrilled  it  for  a  time  can  act.  But  to  identify  this 
energy  with  the  consciousness  which  it  produced  is 
a  logical  fallacy,  and  to  suppose  that  it  begins  to  exist 
when  the  new  organism  is  produced,  or  that  it  ceases 
to  exist  when  the  organism  is  worn  out,  is  directly 
contrary  to  the  scientific  law  of  the  conservation  of 
energy.  The  electric  lamp  grows  dimmer  and  is 
broken  while  the  electric  force  remains  constant. 
The  lamp  goes  out,  and  the  force  is  sent  into  another 
or  into  other  lamps;  but  though  we  may  not  know 
where  it  is  acting  we  know  that  it  has  not  ceased  to 
thrill  some  other  machine,  or  some  other  form  of 
matter.  Science  is  silent  at  death,  because  science 
is  but  the  accurate  study  of  experience.  It  does  not 
claim  to  explain  to  us  the  great  mystery  of  that  which 
follows. 

But  that  the  energy  of  life  is  constant  we  are  well 
assured.  When  the  organism  has  reached  its  fullest 
development,  and  is  at  its  best,  we  see  this  energy 
in  its  most  harmonious  action.  Worn  by  the  count- 


28  EARLY   MAN 

.   X 

less  impressions  from  without,  the  body  becomes  less 
capable,  and  the  friction  increases  until  the  machine 
breaks  down  ;  but  this  material  individuality  is  not 
the  energy  which  acts  therein.  That  the  stored 
memories  cease  with  death  is  evident,  for  they  become 
exhausted  even  in  life  when  not  revived  by  repetition. 
We  have  but  to  read  the  letters  of  twenty  years  ago 
to  find  how  much  we  have  forgotten,  and  the  constant 
flux  of  matter  involves  a  constant  change  of  conscious- 
ness. But  from  the  moment  when  the  two  parent 
cells  unite  to  infuse  a  double  dose  of  life  into  the  new 
cell  then  produced,  the  energy  within  works  with  a 
positive  fury  of  action,  which,  in  a  few  months,  whirls 
the  individual  through  an  ancestral  experience  of 
millions  of  years,  producing  all  those  inherited 
peculiarities  which  we  call  instincts,  and  innate  (or 
according  to  Aristotle  intuitive)  ideas.  The  new  being 
created  from  living  cells  receives  a  shock  at  birth 
which  retards  the  rapidity  of  such  development.  It 
begins  at  once  to  receive  countless  external  im- 
pressions from  its  surroundings ;  and  its  character 
depends  henceforth,  yet  more  than  while  still  attached 
to  the  parent  organism,  on  the  surrounding  circum- 
stances which  form  its  experience.  It  is  incapable 
of  knowing  or  understanding  anything  which  does 
not  reach  it  by  its  organs  of  sense,  and  imagination 
is  only  the  revival  of  its  actual  experiences.  Locke 
truly  perceived  that  "there  is  nothing  in  the  intellect 
that  has  not  first  been  in  the  sense  " — or  experience 
of  the  individual.  Of  forces,  and  of  forms  of  matter, 
which  cannot  be  measured  by  the  nerve  centres  the 
organism  can  know  nothing.  Yet  we  learn,  when 
increasing  our  powers  by  mechanical  aids,  that  the 
universe  is  full  of  both  matter  and  energy  not  per- 
ceptible by  our  natural  organs.  The  brain  itself 
testifies  to  former  conditions  which  have  become 
obsolete,  by  its  preservation  of  the  pineal  gland  which 


THE  MIND  29 

is  now  apparently  useless,  which  in  existing  lizards 
is  a  blind  eye,  and  which  in  the  plesiosaurus  seems 
to  have  been  actually  a  third  organ  of  vision. 

The  "  mind,"  therefore,  is  clearly  the  aggregate  of  all 
the  experiences  of  the  individual  organism,  including 
those  which  it  derives  from  its  ancestral  history,  and 
from  the  education  which  begins  at  the  moment  of 
birth.  But  ideas  which  we  regard  as  innate  are  more 
often  the  results  of  the  customs  and  beliefs  that 
surround  us ;  and  the  experience  of  thousands  of 
years  of  human  history  is  bestowed  on  the  new 
individual  in  its  latest  quintessence.  It  is  not  only 
man  who  thus  profits  from  the  past :  even  animals 
whose  brains  are  less  developed,  and  less  widely 
sensitive,  appear  to  have  increased  in  intelligence 
since  the  times  of  the  early  monsters  whose  brains 
were  so  small  compared  with  their  bulk.  Broca 
calculated l  that  even  between  the  twelfth  and  the 
nineteenth  centuries  the  size  of  the  average  adult 
brain  in  France  had  perceptibly  increased,  and  the 
intelligence  of  a  race  is  found  in  all  cases  to  depend  on 
the  development  of  the  head,  and  on  the  increase  of 
surface  in  all  parts  of  the  brain  due  to  the  depth  of  its 
corrugations.  Man  has  thus  gradually  increased  not 
only  in  experience  and  knowledge,  but  also  in 
capacity  for  understanding  the  realities  with  which  he 
is  surrounded.  The  main  duty  of  the  individual  is 
the  transmission  to  its  offspring  of  experience,  but  the 
effect  of  such  experience  on  the  eternal  energy  itself 
is  the  great  secret  which  science  cannot  tell  us. 

ii.  Prehistoric  Remains. — It  is  remarkable  that,  as 
yet,  we  know  less  of  the  early  history  of  mankind 
from  discovery  of  fossil,  or  semi-fossilised,  remains 
than  we  do  of  the  development  of  some  other  animals. 
The  evolution  of  the  elephant's  trunk  is  traced  (by 
1  Darwin,  "  Descent  of  Man,"  i.  p.  240. 


30  EARLY  MAN 

aid  of  recent  discoveries  In  Egypt  and  elsewhere) 
through  countless  years  from  the  snout  of  the  earliest 
pig-like  ancestor ;  the  pedigree  of  the  horse,  from  the 
little  four-toed  progenitor  that  ran  among  the  reeds, 
is  as  clearly  followed  out  by  naturalists ;  but  of  man 
we  have  only  a  few  scattered  relics  on  which  to 
found  ideas  of  his  origin  and  growth.  America  has 
not  furnished  any  generally  accepted  evidence  of 
man's  existence  at  an  early  geologic  age,  nor  have 
remains  been  discovered  in  Africa  of  human  fossil 
bones.  In  Western  Asia  there  are  bone  caves  with 
stalagmitic  floors  still  unbroken  to  be  examined,  but 
so  far  the  results  of  Asiatic  exploration  have  been 
practically  useless  in  the  caves  where  beasts  now 
extinct  have  been  found.  Actual  skulls  of  prehistoric 
man  are  as  yet  only  known  in  the  west  of  Europe, 
and  all  these  belong  to  the  neolithic  age,  when  polished 
stone  weapons  were  in  use.  As  regards  the  un- 
polished flints  of  the  palaeolithic  ages,  on  which 
theories  as  to  the  immense  antiquity  of  the  race 
depend,  there  are  many  difficulties  to  be  overcome  : 
for  the  eoliths,  which  some  men  of  science  regard  as 
evidence  of  human  activity,  are  by  others  supposed — 
in  some  cases  at  least — to  have  been  formed  by 
natural  causes.  The  use  of  rude  flint  weapons  is  not 
in  itself  a  mark  of  high  antiquity.  Tribes  have 
coexisted  whose  stone  instruments  were  of  very 
various  finish.  Not  only  had  the  Canaanites  in  the 
sixteenth  century  B.C.  stone  axes  long  after  all  the 
metals  were  known  in  Asia,  but  the  Ethiopians  in  the 
army  of  Xerxes  had  arrows  tipped  with  stone  in  480 
B.C.,1  while  the  jade  axes  of  Australians  and  Poly- 
nesians are  still  in  use.  Europe  remained  savage  long 
after  Asia  was  civilised,  and  bronze  was  introduced 
by  the  Mediterranean  traders  and  unknown  (except  in 
Greece)  till  about  1500  B.C.,  while  it  probably  did  not 

1  Herodotus,  vii.  69. 


BRONZE  31 

reach  Britain  till  about  600  B.C.  at  earliest.  For 
bronze  was  gradually  improved  by  the  addition  of  an 
increasing  percentage  of  tin  to  the  copper,  and  did 
not  reach  its  final  proportions  till  about  the  seventh 
century  B.C.,  as  has  been  shown  by  the  study  of  dated 
samples.  In  India,  in  Spain,  and  in  Italy  pure  copper 
was  used  before  bronze,  and  the  bronze  of  our  round 
barrows  cannot  be  regarded  as  either  very  early  or  as 
of  native  manufacture.  Shortly  before  the  Christian 
era  an  overland  trade  with  Marseilles  l  brought  the 
Cornish  tin  to  Italy,  and  from  such  traders  bronze 
weapons  and  vessels  were  apparently  obtained  by 
Britons.  The  distinction  between  "  ages "  of  rough 
stone,  polished  stone,  and  bronze  weapons  is  thus  not 
chronological,  but  local ;  and  represents  the  gradual 
progress  of  races  which  were  prehistoric  only  because 
they  were  still  savage,  those  with  the  best  weapons 
driving  out  the  less  civilised  to  worse  or  more  distant 
regions. 

Rude  stone  axes  and  knives  show  therefore  a  rude 
race,  but  other  circumstances  are  to  be  considered 
before  we  can  determine  the  age  of  such  remains. 
With  the  exception  of  worked  flints,  we  have  no  sound 
argument  to  show  the  presence  of  man  till  some  time 
after  the  latest  glacial  period  in  Europe.  Our 
information  is  almost  entirely  confined  to  western 
Europe,2  and  it  is  still  of  a  most  imperfect  and 
fragmentary  character.  In  1891  Du  Bois  discovered, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Bengawan  river,  in  Java,  a  small 
human  skull,  very  flat,  and  with  strongly  marked 
brow  ridges.  In  capacity  it  is  about  half-way 
between  that  of  an  ape  and  that  of  a  European  of 

1  Diodorus,  V.  ii.  Max  Miiller  (see  his  "  Life  and  Letters,"  1902, 
ii.  pp.  289-292)  notes  the  value  of  Wibel's  study  of  bronze  in  1892. 
Asiatic  bronze  of  various  ages  has  been  analysed  by  Dr.  Gladstone. 

1  See  Taylor,  "  Origin.of  the  Aryans  "  ;  Beddoe,  "  Rhind  Lectures"  ; 
Denniker,  "  Races  of  Man  "  ;  Darwin,  "  Descent  of  Man  "  ;  Hutchin- 
son,  "  Living  Races  of  Mankind/' 


32  EARLY   MAN 

the  present  time.  It  lay  among  volcanic  lapilli ;  and 
within  twenty  yards  of  the  spot  were  found  a  human 
femur  which  apparently  had  belonged  to  a  much 
larger  individual,  and  two  human  teeth.  Considering 
how  many  bones  of  early  animals  were  here  dis- 
covered, it  is  remarkable  that  the  human  remains 
recovered  were  so  few;  and  the  age  to  which  they 
are  to  be  attributed  remains  uncertain.  In  West 
Asia  the  earliest  known  skull— that  of  a  short-headed 
girl  in  the  lower  strata  of  Troy — belongs  to  a  time 
when  men  had  already  learned  to  build  with  stone. 
The  Canaanite  skulls  from  Gezer,  which  denote  a 
Semitic  race,  are  probably  not  older  than  about 
2000  B.C.  The  lake  villages  of  Switzerland  and 
North  Italy  were  still  inhabited  as  late  as  1500  B.C.; 
and  Herodotus  speaks  of  such  a  village  at  Lake 
Prasias  in  Thrace,  while  those  of  Ireland  come  down 
to  a  time  when  iron  was  known,  and  iron  was  not 
used  even  in  Gaul  before  400  B.C.  Our  earlier 
information  has  been  mainly  due  to  French  researches, 
and  it  was  not  till  1847  that  McEnery  found  a 
human  jawbone,  accompanying  the  relics  of  extinct 
animals,  under  the  upper  stalagmite  floor  of  Kent's 
Cavern. 

But  as  early  as  1700  A.D.  a  flat-headed  skull  was 
discovered  at  Canstadt,  near  Stuttgardt,  and  was  said 
to  be  associated  with  bones  of  the  mammoth  ;  and 
since  1774,  when  Esper  explored  the  Gailenreuth 
caves  in  Bavaria,  the  number  of  such  early  remains 
has  steadily  increased.  We  cannot,  however,  suppose 
that  early  savages  shared  their  caves  with  the  bear, 
the  hyena,  or  the  tiger;  and  though  found  buried  at 
a  depth  of  five  feet  at  Engis  (by  Schmerling  in  1873), 
the  human  bones  showed  no  marks  of  having  been 
gnawed.  There  is  no  doubt  that  man  not  only  lived 
in  ages  when  the  mammoth  was  still  to  be  found  in 
northern  Europe,  and  when  the  reindeer  existed  in 


CAVE  MEN  33 

France,   but  that   he    had    attained    to    a  degree  of 
intelligence  which  enabled  him  to  sketch  the  outlines 
of  these  beasts  recognisably  on  bones  of  the  mammoth 
and  horns  of  the  deer,  as  is  shown  by  the  examples 
from  the  Dordogne  Valley— the  caves  of  Le  Moustier 
and  La  Madeleine.      But  the  interesting  point,   still 
to  be  proved,  is  whether  such   conditions  may  not 
have  existed  in  a  comparatively  late  age.     In  Russia 
the  actual  flesh,  hide,  and  red  hair  of  mammoths  have 
been  found  more  than  once  preserved  in  the  ice.     The 
European  bison,  and  the  reindeer,1  were  still  to  be 
found  in  German  forests  in  the  time  of  Caesar ;  and 
increased  civilisation,  or  ruthless  hunting,  may  have 
led  to  the  extermination  of  such  beasts,  rather  than 
any  great  change   in   climatic  conditions.      Students 
of  the  subject  suppose  that  Neolithic  man — as  repre- 
sented by  remains  in  caves,  in  river  gravels,  in  lake 
villages,  and  in  the  shell  mounds  of  Denmark — may 
be  traced   back  for  ten    thousand    or    even    twenty 
thousand    years.      As    to    his    predecessors    of    the 
Palaeolithic  age,   whom    Mortillet    thought    to    have 
existed  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  years  ago, 
we  have  no  information  at  all,  since  not  a  single  skull 
or  bone  has  been  found,  and  the  only  evidence  is  that 
of   rude  flints,   which,   in    some  cases  at    least,  are 
now  supposed   not   to   have   been  shaped  by  human 
hands. 

The  prehistoric  types  of  European  men  in  the 
Neolithic  stage  include  four  or  five  distinct  classes, 
usually  regarded  as  belonging  to  different  races.  The 
remains  are  few,  and  the  skull  cannot  tell  us  what 
language  the  man  spoke,  or  what  was  the  colour  of 
his  hair  and  of  his  skin.  It  is  only  by  tracing  the 
survival  of  such  types  in  the  later  dolmen  graves, 
and  in  the  living  races  of  our  own  times,  that  any 
further  information  is  to  be  gained ;  and  it  is  only 
1  Caesar,  "  De  Bello  Gallico,"  vi.  23. 

3 


34  EARLY  MAN 

in  a  very  few  cases  that  ttie  comparative  antiquity  of 
the  types  can  be  studied.  The  first  type  represents 
a  tall  race  with  a  remarkably  flat  skull — long  and 
receding — once  supposed  to  indicate  a  very  inferior 
intelligence.  It  includes  the  famous  Neanderthal 
specimen  (found  near  Diisseldorf  in  1857),  with  those 
of  Spy  and  Canstadt,  and  that  found  near  Colmar  in 
Alsace,  in  1867,  in  connection  with  mammoth  bones. 
The  Spy  type  occurs  also  in  French,  English,  and 
Irish  dolmen  chambers,  and  is  known  in  the  Pyrenees, 
Bohemia,  Moravia,  and  North  Italy.  The  modern 
type  to  which  it  corresponds  is  that  of  the  tall  fair 
Scandinavian  race.  The  flat  head  also  characterises 
the  race  which  built  the  Guernsey  dolmens  ;  and  they 
not  only  possessed  beautifully  polished  weapons  of 
stone  brought  to  the  island  from  Spain,  but  also 
pottery,  which  they  ornamented  rudely  with  patterns. 

Even  in  the  caves,  remains  of  beads  show  that  this 
race  was  not  altogether  without  intelligence,  and  the 
type  survived  down  to  the  middle  ages.  The  skull 
of  Saint  Mansuel,  apostle  to  the  Belgic  Gauls  and 
bishop  of  Toul  in  Lorraine,  is  quite  as  flat,  and 
presents  quite  the  outline  of  the  Neanderthal  skull. 
Robert  Bruce  appears  also  to  have  inherited  this 
Norman  type  of  head ;  and  indeed  in  the  twelfth 
century  a  large  round  head  seems  to  have  been 
exceptional  among  Norman  nobles.  Henry  II.  of 
England  (according  to  Peter  of  Blois)  was  considered 
remarkable  because  "  his  head  was  round  as  in  token 
of  great  wit." 

The  second  type,  apparently  connected  with  the 
first,  presents  a  somewhat  higher  cranium,  the  race 
being  tall  and  long-headed.  It  was  discovered  at 
Engis  (in  1833),  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Meuse,  eight 
miles  south-west  of  Liege,  together  with  remains  of 
the  mammoth  and  reindeer,  and  with  a  fragment  of 
pottery.  This  specimen  belongs  to  the  same  region 


THE  FIVE  TYPES  35 

that  was  occupied  by  the  first  type,  since  Engis  is 
only  seventy  miles  south-west  of  Neanderthal.  An- 
other tall  long-headed  people  is  represented  by  the 
Cromagnon  remains,  and  those  of  Aurignac  and 
other  caves.  They  were  somewhat  prognathous  (like 
negroes  and  some  Mongols),  and  the  head  was  fairly 
high.  They  were  fishers  and  hunters,  using  bone 
needles  probably  to  sew  skins  as  clothing.  They 
adorned  themselves  with  collars  and  bracelets  of 
shells.  They  were  acquainted  with  fire,  and  appear 
to  have  buried  the  dead  with  care,  placing  food  and 
weapons  beside  them,  like  the  Guernsey  flat-headed 
people,  who,  in  their  cemeteries,  put  fish  and  meat  in 
pottery  vessels,  beside  the  carefully  stacked  corpses 
of  men,  women,  and  children  of  the  tribe.  The  tall 
races  seem  to  have  belonged  mainly  to  Northern 
Europe,  though  a  skeleton  measuring  5  ft.  9  in.  in 
height  was  found  by  Dr.  Riviere  at  Mentone,  buried 
to  a  depth  of  twenty  feet,  with  unpolished  flint 
implements  and  remains  of  extinct  animals. 

The  third  type  occurs  at  Crenelle,  near  Paris,  in  the 
gravels  of  the  Seine.  The  oldest  population  at  this  site 
was  of  the  Scandinavian  or  first  type.  These  savages 
were  followed  by  others  of  the  Cromagnon  race,  and 
yet  later  by  a  small,  sturdy,  short-headed  people,  who 
have  been  compared  to  the  Lapps  and  Finns.  They 
may  have  separated  from  the  main  stock,  and  may 
have  been  driven  west  by  the  stronger  races.  The 
skull  resembles  that  of  the  oldest  skeleton  at  Troy. 
The  race  appears  to  have  spread  over  part  of  France, 
and  to  have  existed  in  Auvergne.  It  may  reasonably 
be  supposed  to  have  been  that  of  the  ancestors  of  the 
true,  or  pure,  short-headed  Basques. 

The  fourth  type  is  probably  later,  and  represents  a 
southern  race  along  the  north  shores  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, gradually  moving  north,  and  crossing  into 
Britain  from  France.  This  type,  found  at  Troy  later 


36  EARLY   MAN 

than  the  short-headed  people,  and  in  the  Genista  cave 
of  Gibraltar,  as  well  as  in  the  English  "  long  barrows," 
which  were  made  by  a  people  unacquainted  with  the 
use  of  metals,  presents  a  delicate  frame,  a  long  head, 
and  a  stature  of  about  5  ft.  5  in. — or  two  inches  more 
than  the  Lapp-like  race  of  Auvergne.  The  small  dark 
Welshman,  and  some  natives  of  Kerry  and  of  the 
Hebrides,  present  this  fourth  type,  which  occurs  also 
in  France,  Belgium  and  Spain.  The  Lapp-like  people 
are  unknown  in  Britain,  but  the  "  long  barrow  "  race 
are  found  from  Wiltshire  to  Caithness,  and  they  appear 
to  be  connected  with  a  Keltic  stock  in  all  cases. 

The   fifth   type   belongs   to   historic  times,   at    the 
beginning  of  the  bronze  age  in  Britain.     It  represents 
a  tall,  powerful  people  with  short  heads,  who  may 
be  the  Belgae  of  Caesar's  time — a  vigorous,  fair,  light- 
haired  race,  akin  to  the  Germans  who  were  noted 
by  the  Romans  for  stature  and  yellow  or  red   hair. 
To  the  present  day  the  prevailing  type  of  central 
Europe  is  short-headed,  and  some  of  the  fair  Danes 
are  remarkably  so.     The  Belgic  race  in  Britain  drove 
the  feebler  "  long  barrow "  people  westwards,   and 
spread  to  Scotland  as  Caledonians.     It  is  possible  that 
this  vigorous  stock  was  a  mixed  race,  springing  from 
the  older  short  and   long-headed   races   of    Europe. 
Slavs  in   Russia,    and   the  Teutons,    within  historic 
times,   have   mingled  with   Turanian   stocks — Tartar 
and  Ugric,  Finnic  and  Basque — and  the  ancient  Belgae 
may  in  like  manner  have  mingled  with  the  Lapp-like 
race,  which  seems  once  to  have  been  widely  spread 
in  Europe,  and  which  they  drove  before  them  to  the 
west.     Early  skulls  in  Portugal  belong  to  the  short- 
headed   Finnic   race,   and   the  modern    Basques    are 
believed  to  show  the   mixture  of  Kelts   and  Latins 
with  an  original  Finnic  stock,  still  represented  among 
them  by  a  short-headed  type. 
The  evidence  thus  available  is  almost  entirely  con- 


SHAPE  OF  THE   HEAD  37 

fined  to  Europe,  where  sparse  populations  existed 
very  early.  It  throws  little  light  on  the  question  of 
the  original  home  and  original  type  of  man.  In  the 
future,  when  the  bone  caves  of  Armenia  and  Syria 
have  been  explored  like  those  of  Europe,  evidence 
may  be  gathered  which  may  profoundly  affect  racial 
questions.  The  great  geological  discoveries  in  the 
Fayyum  have  given  no  indication  of  the  existence  of 
man  at  a  very  early  period.  Africa  and  America 
alike  seem  to  have  been  empty  of  human  beings  in 
such  ages.  Dr.  Lund,  in  1842,  examined  eight  hundred 
caves  in  Brazil,  and  in  six  cases  only  were  human 
bones  found,  the  type  being  similar  to  that  of  the 
American  Indians  :  even  in  the  one  case  where  remains 
of  extinct  animals  were  found  in  the  cave,  the  strata 
were  disturbed,  and  the  burial  of  the  human  skeleton 
appears  to  have  occurred  at  a  later  period. 

The  shape  of  the  head  is  generally  regarded  as  being 
one  of  the  most  invariable  characteristics  of  race.  It 
is  said  to  depend  on  the  shape  of  the  pelvis  of  the 
mother,  which  in  turn  would  depend  on  the  conditions 
of  existence.  It  is  clear  that  the  skull  is  sometimes 
gradually  modified  from  a  medium  measurement  to 
extremes  of  length,  breadth,  and  height.  In  the 
coldest  regions  of  the  north  and  of  the  south  alike  we 
find  abnormally  long  heads — among  Esquimaux  and 
Patagonians.  The  Australian  savages  have  the  longest 
heads  of  all,  while  the  Negritos  and  Malays  have  very 
short  ones,  like  the  Lapps  in  the  far  north  of  Europe. 
The  negro  generally  is  long-headed,  while  the  ancient 
Egyptian,  the  Semitic,  and  the  South  Aryan  races 
approach  more  closely  to  the  medium  measurement. 
The  European  skull  has  an  average  capacity  of  more 
than  a  tenth  in  excess  of  that  of  the  Australian  savage. 
The  Asiatic  and  the  American  Indian  are  intermediate 
between  these  extremes  of  92*3  and  81*9  cubic  inches. 
But  the  average  European  skull  of  the  twelfth  century 


38  EARLY   MAN 

.   X 

in  France  appears  to  have  been  smaller  than  that 
of  the  modern  Asiatic.  These  indications  seem  to 
point  to  the  divergence  of  the  various  types  of  head 
from  an  originally  medium  type  in  a  central  position- 
er in  the  more  temperate  regions  of  Asia.  In  the 
absence,  however,  of  any  very  definite  indications  to 
be  gathered  from  prehistoric  remains  or  from  the 
study  of  the  mixed  races  of  the  modern  world,  we  may 
turn  to  those  deductions  which  may  legitimately  follow 
a  study  of  human  language. 

iii.  Language. — Infant  attempts  at  speech  consist  of 
imitative  cries  accompanied  by  gestures  ;  and  when 
we  find  ourselves  among  a  people  whose  language  is 
unknown,  we  are  at  once  reduced  to  the  same  methods 
of  communication.  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt 
that  the  origin  of  all  human  speech  was  of  this  nature  : 
for  gesture  and  dramatic  action  still  play  an  important 
part  in  conversation  among  savages.  The  Bushman 
in  South  Africa,  whose  vocabulary  is  meagre,  is 
remarkable  for  dramatic  powers ;  the  Akka  dwarfs  are 
said  to  be  unable  to  converse  with  one  another  in  the 
dark,  when  gestures  cannot  be  seen ;  the  Italians 
will  conduct  a  conversation  entirely  by  sign-language, 
without  uttering  a  word  ;  and  the  Arabs  also  use  well- 
known  signs  to  enforce  their  meaning.  By  aid  of 
gesture  the  particular  meaning  of  the  imitative  sound 
was  thus  made  more  clearly  intelligible. 

In  the  oldest  languages  such  imitation  of  natural 
sounds  is  most  clearly  recognisable.  The  Egyptians 
called  the  sheep  ba,  the  dog  fufu  (or  "  bow-wow  "), 
and  the  wind  shu.  But  the  occurrence  of  such  words 
in  various  languages  is  not  certain  evidence  of  the 
common  origin  of  all  speech.  When  we  find  that  the 
Egyptian  and  the  Chinese  alike  call  the  cat  mau,  we 
may  think  that  these  nations — never  in  contact  with 
one  another — independently  imitated  the  cat's  "mew," 


COMPARATIVE   PHILOLOGY  39 

The  study  of  nouns,  in  even  the  oldest  speech,  will 
not  lead  to  any  certain  conclusions,  because  even  the 
oldest  known  languages — Egyptian  and  Babylonian — 
are  full  of  words  borrowed  from  other  tongues.  But 
all  languages  are  derived  from  simple  syllables  which 
we  call  "  roots,"  and  which  represent  the  original 
exclamation  or  imitative  cry ;  and  if  it  can  be  proved 
that  these  roots — from  each  of  which,  by  combination 
of  two  or  more,  endless  words  were  formed — are  really 
the  same  in  the  various  known  languages,  and  especi- 
ally in  the  oldest,  we  have  a  safe  foundation  for 
comparative  study. 

The  Aryan  languages  were  the  first  to  be  compared, 
and  were  reduced  by  Fick  to  about  four  hundred 
and  fifty  original  roots.  But  Max  M tiller  observed 
that  these  include  so  many  which  have  a  common 
origin  that  Aryan  speech  can  be  simplified  to  a 
list  of  not  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  or  two 
hundred  original  monosyllabic  roots.  The  Turanian 
languages  have  also  been  reduced  by  Donner,  Vam- 
bery,  Castren,1  and  other  scholars,  to  about  two 
hundred  original  stems ;  and  it  is  very  important  to 
observe  that  the  greater  part  of  these  are  to  be  found 
in  Akkadian — the  oldest  language  of  Mesopotamia — 
and,  moreover,  that  the  simple  original  roots  are  the 
same  in  Aryan  and  Turanian  speech,  so  that  the 
original  unity  of  these  two  families  of  language  has 
already  been  admitted  by  Anderson,  Cuno,  and  Isaac 
Taylor. 

Comparisons  between  Semitic  and  Aryan  roots 
were  made  by  Gesenius  and  by  F.  Delitzsch ;  but  it 
has  always  been  thought  doubtful  if  the  "  triliteral " 
Semitic  roots  could  be  regarded  as  of  the  same 
nature  with  the  monosyllabic  roots  of  the  northern 
tongues.  A  careful  study  of  the  fifteen  hundred 

1  Donner,  "  Finnisch-Ugrischen  Sprachen,"  1874 ;  VamWry, 
"  Turko-Tatarischen  Sprachen,"  1874. 


40  EARLY  MAN 

roots  found  in  Hebrew  and  Assyrian  alike  shows, 
however,  that  only  about  five  hundred  are  "  per- 
fect " — that  is  to  say,  formed  by  three  consonants— 
and  that  these  are  in  fact  double  roots,  used  (just 
as  in  Chinese)  to  make  the  meaning  more  certain. 
The  remainder — called  "  defective,"  "  quiescent,"  and 
"double" — may  easily  be  shown  to  have  been  origin- 
ally monosyllables,  especially  by  the  imperative  of  the 
verbs,  which  represents  the  original  exclamation. 
Semitic  languages  still  contain  a  large  proportion  of 
monosyllabic  words  ;  and  a  comparison  with  Egyptian, 
which  is  admitted  to  have  had  a  common  origin  with 
Semitic  speech,1  proves  to  us  that  the  southern 
languages  also  were  developed  from  monosyllabic 
roots,  while  these  again  are  found  to  be  the  same  in 
the  majority  of  cases  which  have  been  established 
for  the  northern  family.  Detailed  examination  thus 
proves  the  fact  that  some  two  hundred  stems  are 
common  to  all  Asiatic  speech,  and  discoverable  in 
the  earliest  known  tongues — Egyptian  and  Akkadian. 

But  the  comparison  may  be  extended  even  further ; 
and  about  fifty  simple  roots  will  be  found  to  run 
through  the  whole  known  languages  of  the  world, 
being  common  not  only  to  Egyptian  and  Akkadian, 
to  Aryan,  Semitic,  and  Turanian  speech,  but  also 
traceable  in  the  American  and  African  tongues,  in 
Malay,  Dravidian,  and  Polynesian  speech.2 

From  such  comparisons  we  obtain  some  interesting 
indications  of  the  earliest  condition  of  man.  Most  of 
the  words  really  common  to  all  races  refer  to  natural 
objects  and  actions.  Man  had  already  some  conception 

1  As  is  shown  by  syntax  and  by  vocabulary,  especially  in  the  case 
of  the  names  of  colours,  which  represent  a  very  characteristic 
peculiarity  in  any  language. 

1  See  R.  P.  Greg,  "Comparative  Philology,"  1893.  His 
vocabularies  sometimes  require  correction,  but  are  reliable  as  a 
whole. 


EARLY  WORDS  41 

of  "  spirits  "  connected  with  the  breath :  he  seems  to 
have  had  flocks  or  herds  kept  in  enclosures,  and  to 
have  used  boats  made  out  of  trees :  his  tools  and 
weapons  were  of  stone :  he  dwelt  by  rivers  among 
woods,  and  probably  ate  fish,  and  dreaded  snakes. 
As  regards  other  animals,  however,  we  can  reach 
no  conclusions  of  value.  The  ass,  for  instance,  has 
a  common  name  (a-a  in  Egyptian),  derived  from  its 
bray ;  but  the  home  of  the  ass  is  in  South  Asia  and 
Africa,  and  it  was  not  introduced  into  Europe  till 
the  bronze  age.  Names  for  the  lion  seem  also  to  have 
been  borrowed  from  Semitic  speech,  and  names  of 
birds,  such  as  the  cuckoo,  may  have  been  independ- 
ently taken  from  the  distinctive  call. 

The  oldest  exclamations  seem  to  have  been  formed 
only  by  one  part  of  the  mouth,  and  (as  among  animals) 
these  cries  were  recognisable  by  tone  as  denoting 
satisfaction  or  distress.  But  man,  whose  advance 
has  been  due  to  that  imitative  faculty  which  also 
led  him  so  early  to  scratch  rude  sketches  of  various 
objects  (and  later  enabled  him  to  draw  the  mammoth) 
aided  his  exclamations  by  signs,  and  increased  his 
vocabulary  by  double  roots,  apparently  before  the 
separation  of  the  various  families  or  tribes  whence 
nations  sprang.  True  speech  may  be  said  to  appear 
when  double  cries,  formed  in  different  parts  of  the 
mouth,  have  been  combined  into  one  sound ;  and  no 
animal  (not  even  the  parrot  or  the  magpie)  has  the 
power  of  uttering  such  sounds.  The  old  roots  may 
be  classified  under  a  few  heads,  all  apparently  imita- 
tive of  natural  noises.  The  simplest  sound,  au,  not 
only  denotes  grief,  but  also  the  howling  of  the  wind, 
as  surviving  in  the  Babylonian ;  while  ha  or  ah  was 
an  exclamation  calling  attention,  and  developed  early 
words  for  "  behold."  Thus  the  Arab  to-day,  indicating 
some  distant  object,  points  to  it  and  utters  the 
reduplicated  exclamation  "  ha-ha-ha."  The  third 


42  EARLY   MAN 

vowel-sound,  eh  or  he,  very  generally  occurs  as  a 
grunt  of  interrogation.  A  hissing  sound,  es  or  se,  was 
also  used  to  call  attention,  and  represents  in  early 
speech  the  hissing  of  the  breath,  of  wind,  water,  or 
fire.  Tapping  noises,  represented  by  the  dental  to, 
include  roots  for  striking,  stamping,  and  falling,  while 
sharp  cries  are  indicated  by  the  guttural  ka,  and 
choking  noises  by  gha.  The  puffing  sounds  denote 
the  idea  of  breathing  and  inflation,  and  from  them 
are  derived  words  for  being,  growth,  and  wind. 
Bleating  and  bellowing  sounds,  such  as  ba  and  bu, 
not  only  signify  sheep  and  cows,  but  are  also  ex- 
tended to  mean  "  speech  " ;  and  roaring  sounds,  such 
as  ar,  not  only  imitate  the  growl  of  the  dog,  the  roar 
of  the  lion,  the  sounds  of  rushing  water  and  flames, 
but  thence  come  to  apply  to  angry  or  powerful  men, 
and  to  strength  or  bigness  ;  while  on  the  other  hand 
a  liquid  sound,  It  or  ri,  denotes  the  trickle  of  water, 
and  is  extended  to  ideas  of  weakness.  The  common 
words  pa  and  ma,  for  father  and  mother,  may  be 
regarded  merely  as  baby  cries ;  but  a  root  mu  or  vu 
seems  to  originate  in  sucking  sounds,  and  was  ex- 
tended to  mean  life  and  growth.  The  oldest 
secondary  roots  seem  to  include  tak  for  "  stone," 
derived  from  its  ringing  sound,  vap  for  bird — "  the 
flapper" — and  pat  for  the  patter  of  feet  and  the 
stamping  of  clay.  Thus  some  twelve  distinct  sounds 
not  only  served — by  aid  of  signs — to  denote  every- 
thing that  is  perceptible  by  the  ear,  but  also  ideas 
of  sight  and  of  size,  in  cases  where  there  was  no  sound 
at  all. 

Very  curious  interchanges  of  sounds  which  to  us 
appear  very  distinct  are  to  be  traced  in  all  languages : 
these  became  distinctive  of  the  early  dialects  whence 
languages  developed,  and  they  thus  form  a  valuable 
guide  in  the  comparative  study  of  related  families  of 
speech.  Delicate  distinctions  of  sound  increased  with 


CHANGES  OF  SOUND  43 

increasing  brain-power,  and  the  oldest  languages  have 
the  fewest  of  such  distinctions.  To  the  present  day 
the  Bechuana  are  unable  to  distinguish  d  from  /  and  r, 
and  in  Egyptian  the  two  latter  are  denoted  by  one 
letter.  The  Chinese  /  is  the  Japanese  r,  and  the 
Turkish  /  is  the  Finnish  /,  while  even  in  early  Aryan 
speech  d  takes  the  place  of  both  /  and  r.  The  Hebrew 
h  becomes  the  Assyrian  5,  and  the  Hebrew  sh  the 
Aramean  th.  The  Greek  and  Persian  h  is  also  the 
Latin  and  Sanskrit  initial  s,  while  the  th  of  some  Aryan 
languages  becomes  /  in  others.  The  Arab  is  unable 
to  pronounce  the  letter  p  otherwise  than  as  b,  and  the 
sounds  b,  #,  and  m  are  little  distinguished  in  any 
known  form  of  early  speech.  It  is  still  more  re- 
markable that  the  k  of  some  Aryan  dialects  becomes  p 
in  others,  as  the  Latin  quinque  ("  five  ")  is  the  Greek 
penfe,  or  the  Latin  columba,  and  palumba,  "  dove." 
The  Goidel  Kelts  also  used  k  where  the  Brythonic 
Kelts  used  p,  and  Aryan  roots  with  a  guttural  first 
letter  have  the  same  meaning  as  others  beginning 
with  b.  These  well-known  changes  all  seem  to  indi- 
cate that  early  man  spoke  very  indistinctly,  and  that 
his  ear  and  tongue  were  gradually  trained  to  greater 
delicacy  of  perception  and  of  expression. 

When  the  original  roots  came  to  be  combined 
agglutinative  languages  were  formed,  and  the  roots 
which  were  first  put  together  were  those  which  could 
most  easily  be  pronounced  in  conjunction.  Hence 
arose  in  Turanian  speech  a  "  vowel  harmony,"  which 
we  find  not  only  in  Akkadian  but  also  in  modern 
Turanian  tongues,  and  even  a  law  by  which  strong 
consonants  appear  together,  and  weak  ones  together, 
in  words  more  or  less  emphatic  respectively.  Nor 
is  this  law  confined  to  Turanian  languages,  for  the 
"  vowel  harmony "  occurs  in  Keltic  speech,  and  the 
modification  of  consonants  in  Irish  and  in  ancient 
Persian.  It  may  also  be  faintly  traced  even  in  Semitic 


44  EARLY   MAN 

.  / 

dialects ;  but  these  modifications  tend  to  die  out  in 
more  advanced  languages.  Roots  were  reduplicated, 
and  in  all  languages  the  reduplication  signified  a 
continued  action,  or  one  that  was  intense  and  obliga- 
tory. Hence  the  causative  is  also  often  denoted  by 
reduplication. 

Language  when  not  fixed  by  literature  was  subject, 
as  it  still  is,  to  very  rapid  changes.  The  Bechuana 
tribes,  which  are  separated  from  each  other  by  the 
great  distances  between  the  springs  and  rivers,  diverge 
so  quickly  in  dialect  that  in  a  generation  or  two  tribes 
of  one  original  stock  are  unable  to  understand  each 
other.  The  clipping  of  words,  due  to  haste  and  to 
constant  use,  has  produced  all  the  inflections  of 
modern  speech ;  and  even  in  a  slowly  changing 
language  like  Chinese  the  grinding  down  of  words 
goes  on,  and  new  monosyllables  are  thus  formed, 
as  any  one  who  has  studied  the  old  Cantonese 
dialect  in  comparison  with  the  modern  Mandarin 
vocabulary  will  have  observed.1  Syntax  is  much 
more  constant  than  vocabulary,  but  even  syntax  is 
affected  by  foreign  influences.  The  Chinese  adjective 
now  precedes  the  noun,  but  in  the  oldest  Turanian 
speech  it  followed.  Not  only  did  all  languages 
advance  from  the  agglutinative — or  "  stuck-together  "- 
stage  to  inflections,  which  are  only  decayed  agglutina- 
tions, or  words  melted  and  worn  down,  but  some  of 
the  more  advanced  languages  have  discarded  their 
old  inflexions  as  useless.  This  happens  when  two 
languages  used  in  one  country  have  very  different 
rules  of  grammar,  as  in  English,  French,  Italian, 
Bulgarian,  or  Persian.  The  Hebrew  has  lost  the 
noun  cases,  the  aorist  tense,  and  several  voices  of  the 
verb,  which  can  be  traced  very  early  in  Babylonian. 
The  cause  of  this  advance  in  Hebrew  seems  to  be 

1  See    Chalmers'    Cantonese    Dictionary,    1878,    and    Doolittle's 
Mandarin  Dictionary,  1872. 


THE  TURANIANS  45 

that,  for  centuries,  the  race  lived  in  Egypt,  where  a 
much  simpler  language  was  in  use.  The  decay  of 
words,  in  other  cases,  produced  confusion,  from  which 
the  Chinese  escape  by  the  tones  of  utterance  which 
have  gradually  increased  in  notation  since  the  days  of 
Confucius.  Thus  all  speech  appears  to  follow  the 
same  laws  of  growth,  though  with  increasing  differ- 
ences of  structure  and  meaning,  as  new  words  come 
into  use,  and  new  rules  are  followed  in  writing.  The 
finest  races  are  created  by  the  mixture  of  nations  of 
kindred  origin,  and  the  simplest  yet  most  definite 
languages  are  the  result  of  such  mixture.  Gender  in 
nouns  arose  from  old  suffixes  denoting  the  female, 
and  in  some  cases  gender  is  extended  to  the  verb. 
In  the  latest  stage  gender  is  superseded  by  new 
compounds,  and  new  auxiliaries  take  the  place  of  the 
forms  which  are  decayed  survivals  of  older  ones. 
The  words  used  by  men  and  by  women  are  naturally 
often  different  in  many  languages. 

The  great  historic  races  of  Asia — Turanian,  Semitic 
and  Aryan — sprang  from  older  stocks,  and  were 
improved  probably  by  intermixture  and  by  better 
food.  The  oldest  known  Turanian  race  is  the  Akkadian, 
which  had  its  home  in  Kurdistan  and  Armenia,  where 
— according  to  astronomers — it  invented  the  Zodiac. 
A  study  of  this  language  shows  l  that  it  was  very  like 
the  pure  Turkish  of  Central  Asia.  The  original 
speakers  knew  the  bear  and  the  wolf,  but  apparently 
did  not  know  the  lion,  which  they  called  the  "  great 
dog "  (ur-makh)  when  they  encountered  it  later  in 
Chaldea.  They  seem  also  to  have  then  named  the 
camel  gam-el  or  "  humped  beast,"  and  the  vine  giz- 
tin  or  "  tree  of  life."  The  study  of  the  early  civilisation 
of  Turkish  tribes,  by  Vambery,  leads  to  the  same 

1  See  my  paper  on  Akkadian  Journal  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  October 
1893,  and  Vdmbery,  "  Die  Primitive  Cultur  des  Turko-Tatarischen 
Volkes,"  1879. 


46  EARLY  MAN 

conclusions  as  to  their  cradle  in  temperate  regions, 
where  wild  fruits  were  to  be  found. 

The  Semitic  languages  developed  early  a  very 
perfect  inflectional  grammar,  whereas  the  cognate 
Egyptian  remained  in  a  simple  condition,  distinguish- 
ing gender  only  in  nouns,  but  possessing  a  causative 
voice  for  verbs.  The  Egyptian  was  crystallised  by  the 
early  use  of  writing,  like  the  Chinese,  whereas  the 
Semitic  people  borrowed  the  art  from  the  Akkadians 
somewhat  later,  after  which  acquisition  their  speech 
developed  very  slowly.  The  undivided  Semitic 
ancestors  lived  in  a  country  where  frost  and  snow 
were  known,  and  named  the  bear,  which  is  still  found 
on  Mount  Hermon,  and  the  lion,  of  which  the  bones 
have  been  discovered  in  the  gravel  beds  of  the  Jordan, 
and  which  ranged  over  Asia  Minor  and  Mesopotamia, 
being  still  found  even  as  late  as  the  days  of  Herodotus 
in  Thrace.  They  also  knew  the  olive,  the  fig,  and  the 
vine ;  but  it  is  very  doubtful  if  they  knew  the  ostrich, 
which  roams  even  as  far  north  as  Damascus,  or  the 
camel  (for  which  they  adopted  a  Turanian  name), 
which  has  its  home  in  Central  Asia  and  in  Arabia. 
Nor  do  they  seem  to  have  had  a  common  name  for 
the  palm.  It  is  natural,  therefore,  to  suppose  that  the 
Semitic  stock  had  its  original  home  in  North  Syria, 
or  on  the  Aramean  mountains  farther  east,  while 
neither  Africa  nor  Arabia  can  be  supposed  to  be 
represented  by  the  linguistic  indications.1 

The  undivided  Aryans  must  have  had  their  cradle 
farther  north,  in  colder  lands.  The  controversies 
which  raged  twenty  years  ago  on  this  subject  seem  to 
have  resulted  in  general  consent  that  this  home  is  to 
be  sought  in  the  Caucasian  regions,  and  on  the  Volga 
north  of  the  Caspian.2  The  fauna  and  flora  known  to 

1  See     Von     Kremer,    "Semitische    Culturenlehnungen,"    1875  ; 
Hommel,  "  Die  Namen  der  Saugetiere,"  1879. 
1  See  O.  Schrader,  "  Prehistoric  Antiquities  of  Aryan  Nations,"  1890. 


THE  ARYANS  47 

the  undivided  Aryans  included  the  seal,  which  is  found 
in  the  Caspian  and  Black  seas,  the  salmon,  which 
occurs  in  the  Volga,  and  the  beech,  which  grows  as 
far  east  as  the  Caucasus,  but  which  is  not  found  in 
Central  Asia.  They  were  not  acquainted  with  the 
olive,  fig,  or  vine,  or  soon  forgot  the  names  of  such 
trees,  which  do  not  grow  in  South  Russia ;  nor  did 
they  name  the  ape  or  the  elephant,  which  would  seem, 
however,  to  have  been  very  early  known  to  mankind, 
since  their  names  are  the  same  in  Tamil  and  in 
Egyptian.1  The  ape  was  brought  by  foreigners  to 
Assyria  in  the  ninth  century  B.C.,  and  then  called 
udumu ;  the  elephant  had  once  a  much  wider  range 
in  Asia  than  it  now  has,  and  existed  in  herds  on  the 
Euphrates  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century  B.C.  But 
the  Semitic  race  adopted  the  Egyptian  or  the  Indian 
names  for  both  these  beasts,  and  the  Europeans  called 
them  by  words  borrowed  apparently  from  Semitic 
speech. 

The  general  result  of  such  inquiries  shows  us  that 
the  three  great  historic  stocks  developed  their  distinc- 
tions of  language  in  cradle  lands  which  were  not  far 
apart.  A  circle  with  a  radius  of  five  hundred  miles 
would  cover  the  whole  region,2  and  the  centre  would 
be  somewhere  in  Armenia,  near  the  sources  of  the  four 
great  rivers  which,  according  to  the  Bible,  flowed  from 
the  "  garden  of  delight,"  which  was  the  primitive  home 
of  man,  these  rivers  being  apparently  the  Araxes  and 
the  Pyramus,  the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates.  Even 
before  the  separation  of  the  three  races  some  advance 
in  civilisation  had  been  made,  as  is  shown  by  simple 
words  common  to  the  three  families  of  speech,  and 
found  also  in  Egyptian.  These  include  a  name  (han) 
for  the  dog,  taken  from  its  bark,  and  probably  one  (ats) 

1  Kapi  for  "  ape  "  and  eb  for  "  elephant." 

*  See  my  paper  on  "Comparison  of  Asiatic  Languages,"  Victoria 
Institute,  1893. 


48  EARLY   MAN 

for  the  goat.  There  was  a  common  term  for  seed 
and  sowing  (se),  which  may  have  been  derived  from 
the  hissing  sound  which  is  to  be  heard  when  corn 
seed  is  scattered  in  the  furrows.  Dress  also  must 
have  consisted  of  woven  stuff,  and  was  not  merely 
sewn  together  from  skins,  though  there  were  tribes 
west  of  the  Caspian  even  in  the  time  of  Herodotus  l 
who  were  clothed  in  seal-skins,  and  ate  raw  fish ;  for 
besides  the  root  su,  "  to  join,"  we  have  the  common 
root  wab,  "  to  weave."  They  not  only  knew  fire  but 
apparently  cooked  meat,  as  shown  by  the  word  bak, 
and  they  moulded  clay  (tok\  and  lived  not  only  in  caves 
(ub),  but  also  in  some  kind  of  hut  (var),  covered 
probably  by  a  roof  (dag)  or  thatch,  while  cattle  were 
housed  in  some  enclosure  (kaf),  the  term  being  also 
used  for  a  field.  But  these  early  Asiatics  knew  as 
yet  no  metals,  and  their  tools  and  weapons  were 
still  made  of  wood  and  stone,  or  of  the  sharp  horns 
of  deer.  The  art  of  drawing,  whence  the  first  rude 
picture  signs  were  derived,  from  which  the  various 
hieroglyphic  systems  grew,  seems  to  have  been  also 
known  before  the  separation  of  the  races ;  but  the 
later  Aryans  used  the  word  skri,  "  to  scratch,"  while 
the  Egyptians,  Turanians,  and  Semitic  tribes  alike 
used  the  more  primitive  term  sor,  which  has  the 
same  meaning. 

The  earliest  separation  seems  to  have  been  that 
between  a  southern  and  a  northern  race.  The  first 
offshoot  of  the  former  was  the  tribe  which  entered 
Lower  Egypt  and  spoke  a  language  of  which  Semitic 
speech  may  be  considered  to  be  a  later  development. 
The  northern  race  was  Turanian,  and  its  offshoot  was 
the  Aryan  family,  which  wandered  far  north.  Turanian 
speech  was  arrested  by  the  early  use  of  letters,  but 
the  language  of  the  illiterate  Aryans  developed 
rapidly  into  various  inflectional  dialects.  The  two 
1  Herodotus,  i.  202. 


RACE  49 

great  classes  are  distinguished  especially  by  syntax, 
for  while  in  the  north  such  a  compound  as  "  cow- 
herd "  is  regular  and  usual  (the  defining  word  pre- 
ceding), in  Egyptian  and  Semitic  speech  the  invariable 
rule  is  the  reverse,  and  the  compound  always  stands 
as  "  herd-cow."  This  division  into  two  classes,  each 
of  two  species,  may  be  due  to  a  yet  older  division 
between  the  small  races  which  preceded  the  historic 
stocks  thus  considered.  The  evidence  of  language 
seems  to  show  that  man  first  appeared  in  the  temper- 
ate regions  of  Western  Asia,  where  a  healthy  climate, 
many  rivers,  wild  corn  and  fruits  existed,  and  where 
game  and  fish  abounded  ;  and  it  is  from  such  a  centre 
that  we  may  trace  the  migrations  of  man  over  the 
whole  world. 

iv.  Race. — The  stature  of  mankind  in  the  average 
varies  between  about  four  and  six  feet.  It  does  not 
apparently  depend  on  climate,  though  the  tallest 
races  (in  Scotland,  Sweden,  and  Patagonia)  are  found 
in  cold  climates ;  for  the  Lapps  and  the  Esquimaux, 
who  represent  the  shortest  of  European  and  American 
tribes,  are  also  found  in  the  extreme  north.  The 
Abyssinians  are  tall,  while  the  dwarf  races  of  Africa 
extend  from  the  Congo  forests  to  the  foot  of  the 
Abyssinian  mountains,  and  appear  as  Bushmen  far 
south.  Food  may  have  more  to  do  than  climate  with 
increased  stature,  and  the  tall  men  drove  out  the 
dwarfs  to  worse  lands,  where  they  were  often  obliged 
to  subsist  on  shell-fish  and  insects,  or  on  wild  roots, 
until  they  learned  from  more  advanced  races  the  use 
of  weapons.  In  the  early  savage  state  men  fed  on 
dead  carcases,  and  devoured  one  another.  But  the 
teeth  and  the  stomach  of  man  alike  show  that  he  was, 
from  the  first,  neither  an  exclusively  vegetarian  nor 
an  entirely  flesh-eating  animal.  A  diet  of  fresh  meat, 
and  of  grain  or  pulse,  together  with  a  temperate 

4 


50  EARLY   MAN 

climate,  seems  always  to / have  produced  the  most 
energetic  and  powerful  races. 

Although  tall  men  are  found  occasionally  at  an 
early  period,  it  would  seem  that  the  oldest  races  were 
as  a  rule  of  moderate  height,  or  perhaps  even  short. 
Early  standards  of  measurement  point  to  such  a 
conclusion,  as  do  remains  of  early  armour ;  and  the 
pygmies  of  Africa1  were  known  to  the  Libyans— 
apparently  on  the  Upper  Niger — in  the  fifth  century 
B.C.,  while  the  Negrito  race  of  Punt  (Somali-land), 
visited  by  the  Egyptians  in  the  sixteenth  century  B.C., 
was  also  of  diminutive  size. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  negro  type 
was  that  of  original  man.  Even  the  prognathic  jaw, 
which  gives  an  apelike  appearance  to  the  negro  skull, 
and  which  occurs  also  among  the  more  savage 
Mongols  of  Siberia,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  the 
original  type  ;  and  blubber  lips — among  negroes  and 
Mongols — may  have  developed  from  exclusive  eating 
of  flesh.  As  regards  colour,  it  is  not  only  indisputable 
that  men  are  blackest  on  the  equator  and  fairest  in  the 
extreme  north — which  points  to  the  heat  of  the  sun  as 
the  main  cause  of  difference — but  (as  Darwin  has  shown 
in  detail)  the  young  of  man,  like  the  young  of  other 
animals,  tend  to  revert  to  the  colour  of  the  remote 
ancestor ;  and  while  the  babes  of  Europeans  are  darker, 
and  those  of  the  yellow  and  red  races  fairer  than  the 
adults,  the  negro  baby  is  less  black,  and  has  blue  eyes, 
with  a  dusky  skin  scarcely  darker  in  colour  than  that 
of  some  Aryan  infants.2  The  shape  of  the  head  also 
seems  to  tend  to  extremes  under  hard  conditions  of 
life,  and  the  hair  becomes  more  curly  in  hot  damp 
climates,  and  straighter  in  cold  countries.  The  differ- 
ence depends  on  difference  in  the  cross-section  of 
each  hair  itself,  and  it  was  a  very  early  mark  of  race 

1  Herodotus,  ii.  32. 

1  Darwin,  "Descent  of  Man,"  i.  p.  318. 


THE  EARLIEST  RACES  51 

Herodotus  notices  that  the  dark  Indians  had  straight 
hair — as  they  still  have l — while  the  Libyans  had 
curly  hair,  like  the  negroes  represented  on  the  earliest 
Egyptian  slate  carvings.  But  the  tendency  to  extremes 
may  have  gradually  increased  in  northern  and  tropical 
climes. 

It  seems  probable,  therefore,  that  the  earliest  human 
race  may  have  been  of  small  stature  and  medium 
measurement  of  the  head,  of  brown  colour  with  wavy 
hair ;  and  the  ancient  Egyptians — though  representing 
an  improved  stock — seem  to  come  nearest  to  this 
description.  The  division  into  two  families — the 
northern  and  the  southern — led  to  the  dispersal  of  a 
race  perhaps  about  4  ft.  4  in.  high,  not  only  through- 
out Africa,  but  also  in  Southern  Asia.  It  was  driven 
later  to  the  Melanesian  islands,  where  the  Negritos 
still  show  a  similarity  of  type  and  speech  to  the 
Negrillos  of  the  Dark  Continent;  and  in  these  hot 
steamy  regions  the  southern  dwarfs  perhaps  became 
darker  and  finally  black,  and  developed  the  larger  and 
stronger  negro  races,  which  drove  the  pygmies  to 
deserts  and  forests.  The  northern  race,  which  was 
no  taller  than  the  southern,  spread  over  Europe  and 
Northern  Asia,  and  was  driven  yet  farther  from  the 
centre  by  the  improved  Aryo-Turanian  stock.  It 
survives  among  the  Lapps,  though  they  have  been  par- 
tially improved,  and  now  average  about  4  ft.  1 1  in.  in 
height.  It  is  found  very  early  (and  of  less  stature)  in 
France  and  Switzerland,  and  as  far  west  as  Portugal, 
but  never  in  Britain.  The  Turkish  tribes  drove  these 
short  Mongolic-featured  people  eastwards  in  Siberia, 
and  they  still  survive  in  Japan,  and  among  the 
Esquimaux,  who  in  spite  of  their  long  heads  are 
recognisably  Turanian  in  their  features. 

The  Basques  of  the  Biscay  provinces,  in  France 
and  in  Spain,  are  a  mixed  people.  Some  are  fair  and 
1  Herodotus,  vii.  70. 


52  EARLY   MAN 

.   X 

long-headed,  others  dark,  short-headed,  and  more  like 
the  Auvergnat  type.  They  speak  many  dialects  of 
their  peculiar  language,  which  is  nearest  akin  to  the 
Finnish.  It  is  agglutinative,  and  uses  suffixes,  and 
has  no  genders.1  The  numerals  are  non-Aryan,  and 
several  of  them  are  very  close  to  those  of  the  Akka- 
dians. The  words  for  "  dog "  (or)  and  "  copper " 
(uraidd)  are  also  the  same  as  in  the  Akkadian  ;  and 
out  of  a  hundred  Basque  words  for  the  commonest 
objects  and  actions  two-thirds  are  to  be  found  in 
Finnish  and  other  Turanian  languages,  and  of  these 
about  half  are  known  in  Akkadian,  which  is  the  oldest 
language  of  the  Turanian  family.  These  words  in- 
clude names  for  "boat,"  "bow,"  "arrow,"  "God," 
"ox,"  "goat,"  "cow,"  and  "horse";  for  "fire"  and 
"  copper,"  "  tribe,"  "father,"  "  mother,"  "  brother,"  and 
"  son,"  with  personal  pronouns.  The  original  Basques 
appear  to  have  been  herdsmen,  and  may  have  known 
the  horse  as  a  wild  animal ;  for  in  the  Neolithic  age 
the  ponies  which  roamed  over  Europe  were  exten- 
sively hunted,  and  eaten  by  early  savages.  Though 
the  name  for  "  copper "  is  original,  those  for  other 
metals  are  borrowed  from  Latin ;  and  out  of  the 
hundred  words  eighteen  at  least  have  been  so  bor- 
rowed from  Keltic,  Latin,  French,  and  Italian.  These 
"  culture  terms  "  include  words  for  "  house,"  "  tower," 
"pot,"  "pig,"  "ass,"  "lion,"  "cheese,"  "gold,"  "silver," 
and  "  bronze,"  and  they  show  clearly  that  the  later 
civilisation  of  the  race  was  due  to  admixture  with 
the  Keltic  and  Latin  elements  in  French  and  Spanish 
lands. 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  Iberians,2  who  mingled 
with  the  Kelts  in  Spain,  were  of  this  non-Aryan  race 
which  never  reached  Britain.  The  Basques  have 
retained  the  strange  custom  of  the  couvade,  or  "  hatch- 

1  See  W.  J.  Van  Eys,  "  The  Basque  Language,"  1883. 

2  See  Diodorus  V.  ii.,  and  for  Corsica  V.  i. 


THE   IBERIANS  53 

ing,"  which  obliges  the  father  to  nurse  the  baby  in 
bed  for  some  days  after  its  birth.  Diodorus  mentions 
this  custom  in  Corsica,  and  Strabo  among  the  Tibareni 
of  Asia  Minor.  It  appears  to  be  a  distinctively 
Turanian  custom,  noticed  by  Marco  Polo  in  China, 
and  known  in  Japan,  Greenland,  and  California,  as 
also  among  the  Dravidians  in  India. 

As  regards  the  Iberians  various  rather  vague 
theories  exist.  There  were  Iberians  in  Asia  Minor, 
whom  Josephus  connects  with  the  Turanian  tribe 
of  Tubal  often  mentioned  in  Assyrian  texts.1  The 
Greeks  called  Spain  "  Iberia,"  and  Tacitus  says  that 
it  was  believed  that  Iberians  from  Spain  were  repulsed 
by  the  Silures  in  Cornwall.  Some  scholars  see  such 
a  Spanish  element  also  in  Ireland,  where,  however, 
it  may  be  due  to  the  Spanish  colonies  of  the  time  of 
the  Tudors.  The  term  Iberian  (used  of  the  Georgians 
in  the  middle  ages)  seems  to  be  Aryan,  and  to  mean 
nothing  more  than  "  Westerns."  It  cannot  be  truly 
used  as  a  racial  name.  Broca  unfortunately  saw  a 
resemblance  between  the  Cromagnon  skulls  and  those 
of  the  Guanchos  in  the  Canary  Islands ;  but  more 
accurate  observations  have  shown  that  these  types 
differ,  and  especially  so  in  the  form  of  the  nose.  The 
Guanchos  were  a  Berber  people,  speaking  a  language 
which  is  connected  by  grammar  and  vocabulary  with 
Egyptian.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  Spaniards 
found  them  still  making  mummies,  which  they  called 
by  the  old  name  (khd)  used  in  Egypt.2  It  may  be 
confidently  said  that  neither  the  Berber  type  nor  the 
Berber  language,  which  is  so  peculiar  in  its  grammar 
and  vocabulary,  has  ever  been  found  to  have  spread 

1  Josephus,  "Antiq.,"  I. vi.  i.  Tacitus  ("Agricola,"  u),  says:  "Silurum 
colorati  vultus  torti  plerumque  crines,  et  posita  contra  Hispania, 
Iberos  veteres  trajecisse,  casque  sedes  occupasse,  fidem  faciunt." 

J  See  my  paper  on  "The  Canary  Islanders,"  Scottish  Review^  April 
1892. 


54  EARLY   MAN 

to  ancient  Europe.  The  Portuguese,  the  Maltese,  and 
perhaps  the  Neapolitans,  present  a  type  which  sug- 
gests the  admixture  of  Berber  blood ;  but  this  is  not 
represented  in  any  early  statues,  and  is  no  doubt  due 
to  the  invasion  of  Spain,  and  of  the  Mediterranean 
islands,  by  the  mixed  Arabs  and  Berbers  of  Africa 
after  the  triumph  of  Islam  in  Egypt.  The  theory  of 
a  "  Mediterranean  race,"  based  on  the  mistake  of  Broca 
and  on  the  modern  mixed  Portuguese  type,  has  been 
further  developed  into  the  supposition  that  this  race 
should  be  called  Iberian,  and  that  it  spread  to  Britain. 
But  this  cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  idea  that  the 
Basques  were  Iberians ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  at 
all  that  any  Berber,  or  that  any  Turanian  race,  ever 
entered  the  British  Isles.  The  term  Iberian  leads  to 
nothing  but  confusion. 

The  African  languages  are  very  difficult  to  trace, 
on  account  of  the  rapid  changes  of  speech  among 
savages,  and  because  of  later  Aryan  and  Semitic 
admixture;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Cham- 
pollion  was  right  in  connecting  the  Libyan  or  Berber 
languages  of  the  north  coast  of  Africa  with  the  ancient 
Egyptian  ;  and  many  widely  spread  and  simple  words 
— especially  those  for  fire — seem  to  connect  the 
Nubian  and  the  Bantu  dialects  with  the  same  ancient 
language  of  the  north-east.  In  Libya  there  were  suc- 
cessive invasions  by  early  Greeks,  and  later  Romans 
and  Vandals  (which  account  for  the  fair  complexion 
and  blue  eyes  still  found  among  Berbers),  as  well  as 
Semitic  invasions  by  Phoenicians  and  Arabs.  The 
Abyssinian  type,  which  often  presents  aquiline  features 
with  coal-black  colour,  is  due  to  the  presence  of  the 
Habash  or  "mixed"  population  springing  from  the 
intrusion  of  Sabean  Arabs,  which  we  trace  by  in- 
scriptions back  to  the  third  century  B.C.  At  the 
present  time  the  Arabs  from  the  east  and  from  the 
north  have  penetrated  over  nearly  the  whole  of 


AFRICAN   RACES  55 

the  dark  Continent,  and  have  profoundly  affected  the 
type  and  the  language  of  Negro  and  Bantu  races. 
But  the  earlier  Egyptian  influence  is  traceable  not 
only  in  the  Nile  valley  but  yet  farther  south.  The 
Zulu  wooden  pillow  is  exactly  like  that  used  in 
ancient  Egypt,  and  the  Bushmen  not  only  possess  a 
power  of  drawing  and  painting  which  may  be  thought 
to  be  a  survival  of  Egyptian  art,  but  also  a  peculiar 
physical  conformation  (the  "  tablier  £gyptien,"  or 
"  Hottentot  apron  "V  which  may  also  connect  them 
with  the  old  race  of  the  Nile  delta.2  The  Bantu 
traditions  all  point  to  the  north-east  as  the  home 
of  ancestral  tribes,  but  even  as  early  as  the  time  of 
the  first  dynasty  we  have  representations  of  Negrillos, 
as  attacked  by  Asiatic  conquerors  resembling  in  type 
the  Cappadocians,  and  bearing  the  double  axe,  which 
was  a  distinctive  weapon  of  the  early  Turanians  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  is  not  found  in  use  among  later 
Egyptians.  The  head  of  the  earlier  Egyptian  race 
is  also  thought,  by  Virchow,  to  have  been  rounder 
than  that  of  the  mummies  belonging  to  the  fifth 
dynasty.  The  racial  history  of  Africa  seems  therefore 
to  be  that  of  an  originally  diminutive  stock,  spreading 
from  the  Nile  and  developing  into  the  stronger  Nubian 
negro.  They  were  followed  by  Turanian,  Semitic, 
and  Aryan  conquerors,  who  drove  them  to  the  south. 

In  this  history  the  Hottentots,  however  (in  South 
Africa),  present  a  peculiar  problem.  They  are  in  many 
respects  akin  to  the  Bushmen,  but  their  slanting  eyes 
and  high  cheek-bones  give  them  so  Mongolic  an 
appearance  that  the  Dutch  called  them  "  Chinamen." 
After  personal  study  of  Koranna  tribes  and  Bushmen, 

1  The  formation  is  very  rare  except  in  tropical  regions,  being  due 
to  the  presence  in  the  blood  of  the  Filaria  (a  parasite  of  the  mosquito) 
which  is  found  in  stagnant  water. 

f  C.  Bertin,  "  The  Bushmen  and  their  Language,"  Journal  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,  XVIII.  i. 


56  EARLY   MAN 

I  was  led  to  the  conclusion'  that  the  Hottentots 
represent  a  mixed  race  in  which  a  Malay  element 
must  be  recognised.  The  Hovas  of  Madagascar  are 
acknowledged  to  present  such  an  admixture,  on  account 
not  only  of  type,  but  also  because  their  language  is 
Malay,  as  is  especially  shown  by  the  numerals.  The 
Hovas,  however,  have  some  resemblance  to  the 
Siamese,  who  represent  the  admixture  of  Malays 
and  Hindus  ;  and  some  of  their  words  (such  as  Rana, 
"  queen  ")  are  Hindu  and  not  Malay.  In  the  middle 
ages  the  Malays — after  the  appearance  of  the  Hindus 
among  them — were  bold  sailors  who  visited  the  islands 
of  the  Melanesian  archipelago ;  and  their  appearance 
in  Madagascar  probably  dates  from  this  later  period. 
There  is  still  a  large  Malay  population  of  Moslems  in 
Cape  Town,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  the  mediaeval 
Malays  should  not  also  have  settled  as  traders  on  the 
South  African  shores.  We  are  thus  able  to  explain 
the  existence  among  Hottentots  and  Bushmen  of 
myths  and  fables  which  suggest  an  Asiatic  connection. 
Some  of  the  fables  may  be  African,  and  the  negroes 
deported  to  America  preserve  similar  stories  ;  but  the 
legends  which  refer  to  the  Magellan  clouds,  and 
the  star  Arcturus,  were  more  probably  taken  from  the 
Malays. 

The  Turanians  were  the  first  civilisers  of  Western 
Asia  and  perhaps  of  Egypt  as  well.  There  is  a  recognis- 
able connection  between  their  earliest  hieroglyphics 
and  those  of  Egypt,  but  the  two  systems  must  have 
separated  at  a  very  early  period  when  little  more  than 
"picture  writing"  existed,  and  they  developed  inde- 
pendently in  accord  with  the  necessities  of  languages 
of  very  different  structure  and  of  distinct  vocabularies. 
The  Turanian  type  in  Chaldea  resembles  that  of 
the  Tartars  rather  than  that  of  the  Eastern  Mongols, 
presenting  a  round  head  with  a  receding  fore- 
head and  a  hairless  face.  The  nose  is  sometimes 


THE   HITTITES  57 

aquiline  (as  among  Tartars),  sometimes  thick  and 
straight  as  among  Turks,  and  the  jaw  is  powerful 
and  determined.  The  lamb's-wool  cap  now  worn 
by  Turkoman  tribes  is  represented  at  Tell  Loh, 
in  Chaldea,  as  early  as  2800  B.C.  The  Hittites,  as 
known  from  their  own  monuments  and  by  coloured 
Egyptian  pictures  from  the  sixteenth  to  the  thirteenth 
centuries  B.C.,  present  the  same  Tartar  type,  being 
yellowish  in  complexion,  with  black  hair.  They  wear 
the  Tartar  pigtail  which  the  Manchus  of  our  seven- 
teenth century  imposed  on  the  Chinese,  and  the 
conical  headdress  which  the  Turks  were  still  wearing 
in  the  eighteenth  century  A.D.,  as  well  as  the  curled 
slipper  still  worn  in  the  East,  both  of  which  also 
distinguish  the  Etruscans  in  Italy.  The  Turanian 
race  spread  early  from  its  Armenian  home  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Euphrates,  and  on  the  west  it  is  traced 
by  monuments  of  most  archaic  character  to  the  shores 
of  Ionia.  It  also  spread  early  through  Syria  to  Egypt. 
A  Hittite  seal  of  the  sixteenth  century  B.C.  has  been 
found  at  Lachish  in  Philistia,  and  after  the  Hyksos 
period  in  Egypt  we  not  only  find  pottery  marked  with 
the  later  forms  of  the  Hittite  hieroglyphics,  but  the 
Egyptian  language  presents  many  words  which  seem 
to  be  borrowed  from  the  Akkadian,  including  terms 
for  "father,"  "chief,"  "judge,"  "month,"  and  others.1 
In  the  same  age  the  Egyptians  also  borrowed  Semitic 
terms  for  "  iron  "  and  "  gold,"  "  horse  "  and  "  chariot," 
"chief,"  "lord,"  "noble,"  "officer,"  "well,"  "town," 
"  vineyard,"  "  oil,"  "  honey,"  "  tamarisk,"  "  acacia," 
"cypress,"  "pillar,"  and  "wall,"  with  the  name  of  the 
camel,  which  may  have  been  taken  from  the  Syrians 
though  originally  Turanian.  The  invasion  of  Egypt 
by  the  mixed  Turanian  and  Semitic  population  of 
Babylonia  and  Canaan,  beginning  about  2200  B.C.,  is 

1  Ab,  "month,"  aba,  "judge,"  ata,  "chief,"  ntr,  "  chief,"  at,  "  father," 
for  instance.    There  appear  to  be  about  a  hundred  such  words  in  all. 


58  EARLY  MAN 

thus  attested  by  the  recovery  of  words  which  do  not 
belong  to  the  original  Egyptian  language,  but  which 
represent  a  borrowed  culture. 

The  Turanians,  though  finally  subdued  by  the 
Assyrians  and  Persians,  were  never  exterminated. 
There  were  Hittite  chiefs  in  Syria  as  late  as  600  B.C., 
and  the  Kati  of  Cappadocia — who  spoke  a  Hittite 
dialect — seem  even  to  have  been  ruled  by  a  Turanian 
chief  (Tarkondemos)  in  the  time  of  Pompey.  In 
Armenia  itself  the  Turanian  Minni  were  exterminated 
later  by  the  Medes  and  Assyrians,  but  were  powerful 
in  the  sixteenth  century  B.C.,  and  spoke  a  tongue  akin 
to  Hittite  and  Akkadian :  farther  east  we  find  that 
similar  dialects  were  still  spoken  about  500  B.C.  by 
the  inhabitants  of  Susa,  east  of  the  Tigris,  and  two 
hundred  miles  farther  north  at  Behistan,  in  southern 
Media,  forming  a  third  element  of  population,  ac- 
cording to  the  cuneiform  texts,  with  the  Assyrian 
and  the  Persian. 

The  Lydians,  who,  according  to  Herodotus,1  sailed 
to  Italy  about  1000  B.C.,  were  probably  of  this  same 
Turanian  stock,  as  we  learn  from  the  sarcophagi, 
statues,  tomb  frescoes,  and  inscriptions  of  Etruria. 
Dionysius2  states  that  the  Etruscan  language  was 
unlike  any  other.  Rawlinson  and  Sir  C.  T.  Newton 
regard  the  type  as  Turanian,3  and  Isaac  Taylor  shows 
that  the  eight  Etruscan  numerals,  on  the  Toscanella 
dice,  are  like  the  Turanian  numerals,  as  are  all  the 
known  Etruscan  words,  and  as  the  agglutinative 
character  of  their  grammar  also  indicates.  The 
question  has  been  complicated  by  the  assumption 
that  certain  long  texts — such  as  the  Eugubian  tablets 4 

1  Herodotus,  i.  94. 

1  Dionysius,  i.  30. 

8  Rawlinson's  "  Herodotus,"  i.  p.  702  ;  Dennis,  "Etruria,"  i.  p.  281  ; 
Isaac  Taylor,  "Etruscan  Researches,"  1874,  "The  Etruscan 
Language,"  1876. 

«  Sir  W.  Betham,  "Etruria  Celtica,"  1842,  i.  p.  89, 


THE   ETRUSCANS  59 

—are  Etruscan,  whereas  they  appear  to  be  really 
Keltic,  or  akin  to  Latin,  as  are  also  the  Oscan  bronze 
tablets.  But  the  Etruscan  alphabet  differs  from  that 
of  the  Umbrians  and  Oscans,  and  the  short  funerary 
texts  of  Etruscan  tombs  are  apparently  non-Aryan. 
The  race  presents  the  well-known  Mongolic  type, 
with  yellow  face,  black  hair,  and  slanting  eyes.  The 
lady  whose  coloured  statue  is  found  on  the  great 
pottery  sarcophagus  from  Caere  might  be  taken  to 
represent  a  Chinese  woman.  The  first  Etruscans 
from  Lydia  were  highly  civilised.  Their  costume 
was  like  that  of  Hittites,  and  they  used  the  double  axe 
which  was  used  by  Hittites,  Lycians,  and  Cretans. 
The  sexual  immorality  of  the  Lydians  also  character- 
ised the  Etruscans,  and  they  brought  with  them  an 
early  Asiatic  alphabet,  and  used  polygonal  masonry 
such  as  is  found  in  various  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  as 
well  as  pottery  of  the  same  derivation.  Their  symbols 
included  the  swastica  and  the  sphinx,  both  of  which 
were  known  to  the  Hittites ;  and  the  presence  of  a 
Turanian  population  in  Lydia  is  shown  by  the  re- 
covery of  Hittite  seal  cylinders  and  bas-reliefs.  The 
Etruscan  title  Tarkon  (found  in  their  texts)  is  the 
Hittite  Tarkhan — a  word  still  used  in  Turkish  for  a 
"  tribal  chief." 

As  regards  the  Etruscan  language  itself,  the  com- 
monest words  in  funerary  texts  are  clearly  Turanian,1 
and  so  are  other  words  mentioned  by  Latin  authors,2 
as  well  as  the  names  of  the  gods.  The  Roman  race 
sprang  from  an  admixture  of  Etruscan  and  Latin 
blood;  and  the  Roman  skull,  which  has  remained 
almost  unchanged  to  the  present  day,  was  shorter 
and  rounder  than  that  of  the  purely  Aryan  Greeks. 

1  Such  as  klan,  "  son,"  seek,  "  child," puia,  "  child,"  avil,  "  life,"  leine, 
"  he  lived,"  aut,  "  son,"  kulmo,  "  grave,"  and  the  suffix  na,  "  of." 

1  Ausel,  "  dawn,"  carex,  "  reed,"  agalletora,  "  small  boy,"  damnus, 
"  horse,"  air,  "day,"  itus,  " month,"/*/a, "  hill,"  toria, "  sky,"  Ais,  "  God.' 


60  EARLY   MAN 

The  great  characteristic  of  Che  Turanian  races  is  their 
stolid  determination  or  slow  courage,  which  made 
them  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  the  masters 
of  other  races  in  Western  Asia,  and  which  still  dis- 
tinguishes the  dogged  Turk  and  the  Chinese  Mongol. 
An  infusion  of  Turanian  blood  into  the  veins  of 
Keltic  and  Teutonic  Aryans  has  thus  produced  some 
of  the  strongest  ruling  races  of  the  West.  The 
Etruscans  were  "masters  of  the  sea"  (according  to 
Diodorus)  in  early  times,  and  so  persistent  was  their 
influence  that  the  "folletti  "  of  Tuscan  mythology  still 
preserve  the  names  and  characters,  not  of  Latin,  but 
of  Etruscan  gods.  The  race  presented  a  distinct 
character  among  the  Greek,  Keltic,  Latin,  and  Teu- 
tonic tribes  of  Italy,  long  after  the  conquest  of  all 
other  peoples  by  the  mixed  Roman  stock. 

But  the  Turanian  populations  of  Europe  are  now 
scattered  remnants  of  the  original  races.  The  Lapps 
appear  to  have  been  driven  far  north  by  the  early 
Aryans.  The  Finns  and  Esthonians  have  been  ex- 
tensively Aryanised,  and  are  now  often  fair,  tall,  and 
blue-eyed,  though  their  language — which  is  full  of 
Aryan  culture  terms — preserves  its  ancient  grammar, 
and  is  recognisably  connected  with  the  Akkadian. 
The  Hungarian  represents  the  later  admixture  of 
Finns  with  the  Mongol  Huns  of  the  fifth  century  A.D. 
The  Basques  are  (as  we  have  seen)  an  isolated  tribe 
of  Finnic  origin.  The  remaining  tribes  in  the  south- 
east of  Russia  include  Tartars,  whose  invasion  dates 
only  from  the  thirteenth  century  of  our  era.  It  is  in 
Asia  that  the  chief  spread  of  the  Turanians  from 
Media  has  occurred,  and  the  Bactrian  Turks  are 
nearest  in  type  and  speech  to  the  original  Akkadians. 
It  is  not  impossible  that  the  Khitai,  who  dominated 
Central  Asia  in  the  ninth  century  A.D.,  and  who  spoke 
a  Turko-Mongol  dialect,  may  be  connected  by  name 
with  the  ancient  Kheta  or  Hittites  of  North  Syria, 


THE   DRAVIDIANS  61 

who  were  deported  to  the  east  by  the  Assyrians. 
The  word  itself  is  Mongolia,  and  appears  to  signify 
"  allies  "  or  "  relatives."  The  Chinese  are  still  called 
Khitai  by  Mongols  and  Russians,  and  the  mediaeval 
Cathay  is  a  term  derived  from  this  tribal  name. 

The  Turanians  of  Bactria  separated  as  they  went 
east  into  two  main  families,  the  Mongols  on  the  north 
and  the  Himalayans  on  the  south.  The  Chinese  tribes 
were  Mongol,  and  the  Chinese  language  is  still 
recognisably  connected  with  the  Mongolic,  of  which 
the  Buriat  dialect  is  said  to  be  the  oldest.  But  the 
Mongol  language,  spoken  over  so  large  an  area  of 
Northern  Asia,  is  closely  connected  with  Turkish.1 
The  Kols  and  the  Dravidians  are  Turanians  who 
entered  India  from  the  north  and  north-west,  and  who 
remain  still  in  a  very  savage  state  except  where 
civilised  by  the  Aryan  Hindus.  They  mingled  with 
the  original  Negrito  stock,  whom  they  drove  south- 
wards, and  who  are  still  represented  by  forest  dwarfs 
and  by  the  Veddahs  of  Ceylon.  According  to  Huxley 
even  the  degraded  Australians,  who  represent  one  of 
the  lowest  human  types,  are  connected  racially  with 
this  mixed  Negrito-Dravidian  stock.  The  Turanians 
also  advanced  south  through  Burma  to  the  Malay 
peninsula,  mingling  no  doubt  with  earlier  small  races, 
and  presenting  a  less  powerful  type  than  that  of  the 
Mongols.  Some  of  the  southern  Chinese  present  this 
Malay  type,  while  the  tall  and  powerful  peasant  of 
North  China  is  more  purely  Mongol. 

The  Malay  influence  in  Polynesia  probably  did  not 
begin  to  be  felt  till  our  middle  ages,  but  is  notable  in 
many  myths  and  customs.  The  head-hunting  of  the 
Maoris  recalls  that  of  the  Malays,  and  their  Levirate 
custom  (or  marriage  to  a  brother's  widow)  has  appar- 
ently the  same  origin,  as  also  their  rude  astronomy. 

1  See  Castren,  "  Burjatischen  Sprachlehre,"  1857,  and  Bohtlingk, 
"  Die  Sprache  der  Jakuten,"  1851. 


62  EARLY  MAN 

Not  only  in  New  Zealana  and  in  Australia,  which 
were  peopled  from  the  North,  do  we  find  stories  of  the 
lost  Pleiad,  the  belt  of  Orion,  and  the  Milky  Way, 
which  seem  to  be  clearly  Asiatic,  but  even  the  Papuan 
Negritos  present  crosses  with  the  Malay,  and  took 
the  use  of  jade  and  of  the  blowpipe  (or  air-gun)  from 
this  more  civilised  Turanian  stock.  The  fine  brown 
Polynesian  type  appears  to  have  been  due  to  admix- 
ture of  Malay  and  Negrito  races.  The  Polynesian  and 
Australian  numerals  are  alike  of  Malay  origin.  As 
regards  language  generally,  more  than  fifty  simple 
words  may  be  cited  which  are  recognisably  the  same 
in  Malay,  Polynesian,  and  Australian  speech.  These 
include  not  only  pronouns  and  verbs,  but  words  for 
"stone,"  "house,"  "boat,"  "pig,"  "fish,"  "snake," 
"  milk,"  "  egg,"  "  bow,"  "  axe,"  "  brother,"  "  son," 
"fire,"  "sun,"  "moon,"  "star,"  and  "sea":  indicating 
the  diffusion  of  these  races  (in  a  very  primitive 
condition  of  civilisation)  by  canoes  which  passed 
from  island  to  island.  The  Polynesians  were  venture- 
some mariners,  and  the  New  Zealand  Maoris  have 
been  known  to  undertake  voyages  of  fifteen  hundred 
miles  in  their  canoes. 

In  North-Eastern  Asia  there  appears  to  have  been 
an  early  long-headed  type,  still  to  be  found  among  the 
Chinese,  the  Ainos,  and  some  Japanese,  but  which 
was  either  Turanian  or  mixed  with  the  Mongolic 
stock.  From  this  race  the  long-headed  Esquimaux 
and  the  American  Indian  appear  to  be  derived.  In 
spite  of  the  difference  in  head  measurement,  the 
Esquimaux  type  is  so  clearly  Mongolic  that  Sir 
William  Flower  pronounces  them  to  be  "a  branch 
of  the  typical  North  Asiatic  Mongols " :  they  are 
compared  by  Baron  Nordenskiold  with  the  Chukchis 
and  Koryaks  of  Siberia,  though  these  tribes  are  short- 
headed.  The  Esquimaux  still  pass  backwards  and 
forwards  between  America  and  Asia  in  their  canoes. 


THE  RED  INDIANS  63 

Their  language  also,  in  grammar  and  in  vocabulary, 
compares  with  the  Mongolic. 

Since  the  time  of  Humboldt  it  has  been  recognised 
that  the  American  Indians,  though  long-headed,  are 
in  type  similar  to  the  Tartar  race.  The  faces  of  the 
Hittites  on  the  monuments  are  often  very  like  those 
of  Red  Indians,  and  customs  such  as  the  couvade  (in 
California  and  in  South  America)  indicate  a  Turanian 
connection,  as  do  beliefs  in  the  heavenly  bridge,  the 
four  ages  of  the  world,  the  flood  story,  and  that  of  the 
virgin  mother.  America  is  practically  occupied  by  a 
single  native  race  coming  from  high  latitudes  in  the 
north,1  and  the  American  languages  (excepting  per- 
haps the  Chinese-like  Otomi)  present  the  same 
structure  throughout.  These  languages  are  described 
as  "  incorporating,"  because  of  their  use  of  long  com- 
pounds, and  some  scholars  suppose  that  they  are  thus 
to  be  distinguished  from  Turanian  languages.  But 
the  Mongolian  shows  a  very  similar  "incorporating" 
structure,  and  such  compounds  are  not  unknown  even 
in  Teutonic  speech.  A  comparative  study  of  American 
dialects  shows  that  the  words  for  simple  objects,  and 
actions,  are  the  same  in  the  north,  the  central,  and 
the  south  regions  of  America  ;  and  it  shows  also  very 
clearly  that  these  words  are  to  be  found  in  Mongol 
speech.  The  North  American  numerals  present 
striking  parallels  with  those  of  Ugric  speech,  and  the 
Quichuan  in  South  America  are  also  like  the  Turanian. 
About  a  hundred  and  forty  simple  monosyllables, 
common  to  many  American  languages,  are  closely 
similar  to  Mongolic  roots ;  and  some  of  these  words 
are  of  great  interest  as  indicating  the  derivation  of  the 
Red  Indian  stock :  they  include  terms  for  "  boat " 
(kayak),  "axe"  (taka\  "knife"  (kiai\  "arrow"  (aka\ 
"fish"  (kan\  "dog"  (ku\  "bear"  (mat  or  mar), 
"snow"  (tek\  "fire"  (taik\  and  "the  sea"  (oat), 

1  See  Brinton's  "  Myths  of  the  New  World,"  1876,  p.  35. 


64  EARLY   MAN 

which  are  all  very  old  Turanian  words,  and  the  pro- 
nouns and  suffixes  belong  to  the  same  class.  We 
may  probably  conclude  that  the  first  migrants  into 
America  came  over  in  boats,  and  brought  dogs  for 
hunting,  but  did  not  bring  any  cattle.  They  knew 
the  bear,  and  were  familiar  with  snow  and  ice : 
their  word  for  the  sea  was  distinctively  Asiatic. 
They  were  hunters  who  as  yet  used  no  metals,  and 
their  ideas  of  writing  did  not  extend  beyond  the 
simplest  picture  records.  The  sporadic  civilisations 
of  Mexico  and  Peru  were  apparently  of  much  later 
Asiatic  derivation — as  will  be  noted  subsequently — 
but  by  crossing  the  narrow  Behring  Straits  the 
Siberians  were  able  to  reach  the  New  World,  over 
which  they  spread  at  some  unknown  early  period. 

From  the  preceding  sketch  of  various  migrations  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  whole  earth  could  be  populated 
from  the  Asiatic  centre  without  crossing  any  great 
stretch  of  ocean.  But  if  we  could  have  seen  the  world 
five  thousand  years  ago,  when  the  populations  were 
very  small  and  separated  by  considerable  distances, 
we  should  perhaps  have  found  that  the  continents  and 
islands  far  from  the  first  cradle  of  his  birth  were  as 
yet  unreached  by  man.  Such  seems  to  be  the  natural 
deduction  from  the  absence  of  fossil  remains  in 
America  and  Africa,  while  the  Polynesian  islands  were 
perhaps  reached  in  boats  at  quite  a  late  date.  Even 
the  Americans,  before  they  left  Asia,  had  some  ideas 
of  gods  and  of  the  family,  and  used  Turanian  words 
for  "deity,"  "father,"  "mother,"  and  "son":  they 
used  pottery,  and  not  impossibly  knew  of  corn  (per- 
haps wild),  and  hunted  (or  domesticated)  pigs  as  well 
as  deer.  They  had  original  words  even  for  some  kind 
of  hut  or  tent. 

The  extension  of  the  Semitic  race  was  chiefly  to  the 
south  and  the  west — to  Arabia,  Egypt,  and  Africa,  and 
among  the  Mediterranean  islands,  as  well  as  to  the 


SEMITIC  RACES  65 

south  shores  of  Asia  Minor.  The  Babylonians  appear 
somewhat  suddenly  on  the  scene,  about  2200  B.C.,  as 
traders,  mingling  with  an  Akkadian  population  under 
Turanian  rulers,  and  adopting  Akkadian  letters  and 
civilisation.  They  existed  quite  as  early  in  Nineveh 
and  in  Palestine,  and  migrated  to  Cappadocia  and  to 
Egypt.  Semitic  traders  also  had  fleets  on  the 
Mediterranean  as  early  as  1500  B.C.,  and  the  Phoeni- 
cians spread  to  the  Greek  islands  and  to  Greece  itself. 
After  the  foundation  of  Carthage  (about  850  B.C.)  they 
sailed  yet  farther  west,  and  settled  at  Marseilles  and 
at  Cadiz  in  Spain,  but  we  have  no  indication  of  their 
presence  in  the  far  north,  or  in  the  British  Isles.1 

There  is  not  only  no  evidence  that  the  Semitic 
home  is  to  be  sought  in  Arabia,  but  the  evidence  of 
languages  excludes  this  supposition.  The  East  Arab 
dialects — according  to  inscriptions — were  more  like 
the  Assyrian,  while  the  West  Arab  dialects  are  nearer 
to  the  Aramaic.  The  Sabean  presents  many  ancient 
words  and  forms,  but  is  substantially  Aramean,  and 
it  appears  clear  that  Arabia  was  colonised  by  two 
Semitic  families  along  its  eastern  and  western  coasts. 
Our  first  acquaintance  with  Arabia  is  due  to  the 
inscriptions  and  bas-reliefs  of  Tiglath-pileser,  who 
invaded  the  Nabatheans  in  734  B.C.  They  were  then 
nomads,  riding  on  camels.  None  of  the  inscriptions 
of  Arabia  appear  to  be  older  than  about  500  B.C.,  and 
the  antiquity  of  some  texts  has  been  greatly  overrated. 

1  The  Semitic  languages  gradually  separated  into  two  families — 
the  Aramaic  of  Syria  and  the  Babylonian  of  Mesopotamia.  To  the 
former  class  belong  the  Palmyrene  and  Syriac  dialects,  the  Nabathean 
of  North-West  Arabia,  and  the  Hebrew,  which  (as  already  noted) 
was  modified  by  contact  with  Egyptian.  Our  earliest  monumental 
knowledge  of  pure  Hebrew  is  based  on  the  Siloam  text  of  about 
728  B.C.  The  Moabite  of  900  B.C.  was  a  dialect  presenting  affinities 
to  the  early  Aramaic  found  at  Samala  about  800  B.C.,  and  it  differed, 
especially  in  its  Aramaic  masculine  plural,  from  Hebrew.  The 
Phoenician  belongs  to  the  same  class. 

5 


66  EARLY  MAN 

We  practically  know  nothing  about  Arabia  before  the 
Assyrian  conquest,  but  the  Arabs  of  Hadramaut 
adored  Assyrian  gods  (such  as  Istar,  Sin,  and  Nebo), 
and  built  a  stepped  pyramid  at  Ghumdan  like  those 
of  Babylonia.  The  Sabean  alphabet  may  have  been 
derived  (perhaps  as  early  as  1000  B.C.)  from  the 
Phoenician,  or  from  the  Greek  (about  600  B.C.),  but 
the  extant  texts  date  only  from  about  300  B.C.  at 
earliest.  These  Sabeans  invaded  Abyssinia,  and  ruled 
Yemen  down  to  the  time  of  Justinian,  or  later.  There 
is  reason  to  suppose  that  they  had  reached  the  mouths 
of  the  Zambesi  as  early  as  the  second  century  A.D.,1 
but  the  ruined  Zimbabwes  (or  "  stone  walls ")  of 
Mashonaland,  which  represent  the  fortresses  of  gold 
miners,  thought  to  have  been  early  pagan  Arabs, 
have  so  far  given  no  indications  of  early  date,  the 
clearly  foreign  remains  consisting  of  Chinese  porce- 
lain of  the  seventeenth  century  A.D.  The  Arabs  be- 
came great  sailors,  reaching  India  and  China,  but  even 
in  the  greatest  age  of  Islam  they  did  not  penetrate  as 
conquerors  into  the  far  East.  The  Semitic  traders,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  the  fifteenth  century  B.C.,  communi- 
cated by  sea  with  Egypt,  and  the  Babylonian  language 
was  then  spoken  and  written,  not  only  in  Syria  but  in 
Elishah,  somewhere  on  the  coasts  of  Asia  Minor.  The 
Punic  alphabet  spread  to  Spain ;  and  the  Numidian 
inscriptions  (of  which  about  two  hundred  are  known 
belonging  to  the  Roman  age)  are  written  in  a  script 
clearly  connected  with  the  Sabean.  It  would  seem, 
therefore,  that  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies 
the  Arabs  may  have  followed  the  Phoenicians  along  the 
north  shores  of  Africa.  The  dispersion  of  the  Jews  led 
to  their  appearance  in  South  Russia  after  the  Christian 
era,  and  they  became  numerous  and  powerful  in 
Persia  and  in  Bactria,  penetrating  far  south  in  India. 
They  also,  yet  earlier,  appeared  in  Abyssinia  as 
1  H.  E.  O'Neill,  Scottish  Geographical  Society,  February  1886. 


ARYAN   RACES  67 

Falashas  or  "  emigrants  " ;  and,  as  they  spread  over 
Europe  and  Asia,  they  mingled  at  times  with  other 
races,  so  that  we  find  fair  blue-eyed  Jews  in  Poland, 
and  black  Jews  in  India  and  in  Africa,  while  those  of 
Morocco  and  Spain  also  approximate  to  native  types. 
The  Afghans  of  the  higher  classes  are  often  very 
Semitic  in  appearance,  resembling  the  ancient 
Assyrians.  There  may  be  some  late  Jewish  admixture 
in  this  case,  but  the  type  is  more  probably  Aramaic, 
and  due  both  to  the  Assyrian  influence  and  to  the 
Moslem  invasion.  The  Persian  language  became  full 
of  Aramaic  words  (in  the  Pehlevi  dialect),  and  is  now 
full  of  Arabic  nouns,  though  its  main  stock  is  Aryan. 
In  like  manner  the  Bactrians  were  mainly  of  mixed 
Turano-Aryan  race,  but  may  early  have  included  a 
Semitic  element  of  population.  The  Semitic  centre  is 
in  Western  Asia,  and  their  main  outlet  has  always 
been  found  from  the  earliest  ages  in  Africa. 

The  extension  of  the  early  Aryans  from  the  Volga 
was  mainly  through  South  Russia,  though  the  Aryan 
Medes  had  reached  the  Assyrian  borders  as  early  as 
850  B.C.,  while  the  Persians  about  the  same  time 
appeared  to  the  south-east.  The  history  of  the 
Iranian  extension  to  India  belongs  to  historic  times. 
The  Scythians  of  Herodotus  were  a  mixed  people,1 
some  of  them  being  flat-nosed,  and  apparently 
Turanian.  They  spoke  seven  dialects,  and  all  the 
known  Scythian  words  appear  to  be  Aryan.2  The 
word  itself  seems  to  mean  a  "horde"  (Scath),  and 
reappears  far  west  among  the  North-Irish  Scots. 
The  Scythian  name  for  the  earth  (apid)  is  found  in 
the  Georgian  obi,  as  well  as  in  the  Latin  ops.  The 
Georgian 3  is  only  known  to  us  through  religious 
writings  of  the  middle  ages,  and  appears  to  have 

1  Herodotus,  iv.  23,  24. 

*  Rawlinson's  "  Herodotus,"  iii.  p.  190. 

1  Brosset,  "  Elements  de  la  Langue  Ge"orgienne,"  1837,  p.  v. 


68  EARLY  MAN 

X 

absorbed  Armenian  and  Iranian  words ;  but,  as  the 
Aryan  noun-cases  (both  in  singular  and  plural)  appear 
in  Georgian,  we  are  perhaps  justified  in  regarding  it 
as  the  survival  of  a  Scythian  dialect. 

Among  the  oldest  migrants  to  the  West  appear  to 
have  been  the  Thracians,  who  preserved  the  custom 
of  burning  the  dead  and  that  of  Satit  or  self-sacrifice 
of  the  widow,  both  of  which  are  distinctively  Aryan.1 
They  dwelt  in  the  lake  villages  of  Lake  Prasias,  and 
penetrated  later  into  north-western  Asia  Minor  as 
Phrygians,  from  whom  the  Armenians  were  descended.2 
Modern  Armenian  is  a  fairly  pure  Aryan  language, 
with  some  admixture  of  Turkish  and  Arabic  words. 
A  comparison  with  Armenian  of  about  a  dozen  words 
found  on  Phrygian  texts  indicates  a  connection ;  and 
the  Phrygian  words  mentioned  by  classic  writers 
appear  to  be  all  Aryan,  while  Plato  held  that  this 
language  was  akin  to  Greek,  and  Strabo  and  Pliny 
that  the  Phrygians  came  from  Thrace.3  Although  the 
Phrygian  texts  are  still  unread,  and  only  number 
about  a  dozen  in  all,  it  is  clear  that  the  language  is 
Aryan,  and  presents  some  distant  resemblance  also  to 
Greek.  The  Lycian  language  of  the  fifth  century  B.C. 
is,  on  the  other  hand,  Iranian,  and  represents  the 
spread  of  the  Medic  tongue  (which  is  first  found  in 
Vannic  texts)  to  the  Lycian  shores  after  their  conquest 
by  Harpagus,  the  general  of  Cyrus.4 

The  earliest  inhabitants  of  Greece  and  Italy  were 
called  Pelasgi  by  the  Hellenes,  but  the  word  may 
mean  nothing  more  than  "  neighbours  "  or  "  inhabit- 
ants." We  know  practically  nothing  about  these 

1  Herodotus,  v.  4,  5,  8,  16. 
*  Idem,  ii.  2,  vii.  73. 

3  Strabo,  X.  iii.  16 ;  Pliny,  "  H.  N.,"  v.  41  ;  Plato,  "  Cratylus."    The 
known   words  include   bekos,  "  bread,"  kimeros,  "  chamber,"  bagaios, 
"god"  (as  among  Slavs  and  Iranians),  balin,  "king,"  and  g/ouros,"  gold." 

4  See  my  paper  on   the   Lycian,  Journal  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 
October  1891. 


THE  PELASGI  69 

Pelasgi  except  that  they  did  not  apparently  speak 
Greek ;  but  the  island  of  Lemnos  is  said  to  have 
long  preserved  a  Pelasgic  population.1  An  ancient 
inscribed  bas-relief  was  discovered  in  Lemnos  by 
MM.  Cousin  and  Durbach,  the  alphabet  being  of 
the  oldest  Greek  type.  The  spearman  represented 
has  Aryan  features :  the  accompanying  texts,  though 
as  yet  unread,  seem  to  be  clearly  in  an  Aryan  dialect : 
they  possibly  mention  the  neighbouring  regions  of 
Phocaea  and  ^Eolia  in  Asia  Minor,  and  they  may 
perhaps  represent  a  "  Pelasgic  "  dialect  which  was  not 
unlike  the  Phrygian.  The  pictures  found  at  Knossos 
in  Crete  (accompanying  ancient  texts  which  seem 
probably  to  be  written  in  Greek)  represent  a  long- 
headed type  with  black  hair,  and  such  a  type  is  still 
very  common  in  Greece  and  in  the  Levant.  It  is 
clearly  Aryan,  but  very  different  from  that  of  the 
Hellenes  or  "  bright "  people,  who  had  blue  eyes 
and  red  or  golden  hair — this  type  also  surviving,  it 
is  said,  among  Greek  peasants.  The  typical  Aryan 
(still  represented  by  the  Ossetes  of  the  Caucasus) 
had  red  hair  and  blue  or  hazel  eyes,  and  the  oldest 
known  statue  at  Athens  has  the  hair  coloured  red. 
But  a  pale-faced  people,  with  blue  or  dark  eyes  and 
black  hair,  appears  to  have  spread  along  the  north 
shores  of  the  Mediterranean  in  early  times,  and  either 
mixed  with  the  Neolithic  race  already  described 
(which  was  of  medium  stature  with  a  long  head  and 
somewhat  feeble  physical  powers),  or  else  was  identical 
with  that  race  which  is  represented  in  the  English 
"  long  barrows."  The  older  Keltic  swarm,  speaking 
the  Goidel  dialects  (Gaelic  and  Irish),  presents  the 
dark-haired  type,  with  a  pale  complexion  and  blue 
or  brown  eyes.  It  is  to  be  found  in  North  Wales 
and  in  the  Hebrides,  while  in  Ireland  it  is  character- 
istic of  the  Irish-speaking  peasantry,  especially  in 
1  Herodotus,  v.  26,  vi.  138. 


7o  EARLY  MAN 

X 

the  Connemara  mountains  west  of  Loch  Mask.  This 
Goidel  race  was  followed  by  the  red-haired  Kelts, 
who  speak  Brythonic  dialects  and  who  are  found  in 
Bretagne,  Cornwall,  Devon,  and  South  Wales.  They 
appear  to  have  burned  the  dead,  and  have  left  tumuli 
with  cists  for  the  ashes.  The  two  types  may  repre- 
sent the  Dubh-Gael  ("  black  strangers ")  and  the 
Fionn-Gael  ("  fair  strangers  ")  of  Irish  tradition,  and 
the  red-haired  Kelt  is  still  to  be  found  in  Clare  and 
Limerick.  But  Irish  populations  are  now  quite  as 
mixed  as  those  of  Great  Britain,  presenting  Danish, 
Norman,  and  Teutonic  types,  with  later  Dutch  and 
Walloon  settlers,  and  perhaps  some  Spanish  blood 
in  the  south. 

The  Kelts,  as  known  to  Herodotus  and  Diodorus,1 
followed  the  southern  banks  of  the  Danube  and 
spread  over  France  and  into  Spain,  mingling  in  the 
far  West  with  the  Basques.  The  Keltic  dialects 
present  many  very  archaic  features  of  speech,  but 
are  nearest  to  the  Latin  languages  and  the  Greek. 
The  fair  or  ruddy  type  .probably  followed  the 
"  Pelasgi"  into  Greece,  and  passed  into  Italy  either 
from  the  north  or  across  the  Adriatic  from  the 
Illyrian  shores.  The  Oscans,  Latini,  and  Sabini, 
would  seem  to  have  been  offshoots  of  the  original 
Kelto- Latin  stock;  but  Italy  was  always  subject  to 
the  inroads  of  the  short-headed  Teutons  on  the  north, 
while  in  the  south  and  east  there  was  a  large  Greek 
population,  which  survived  till  the  sixth  century  A.D., 
and  which,  indeed,  is  still  traceable  among  the  beautiful 
mountain  peasantry  of  Apulia. 

The  undivided  Aryans  possessed  the  rudiments  of 
civilisation  either  before  they  separated  from  the 
Turanians,  or  in  consequence  of  later  borrowings 
from  Asiatic  civilisation.  They  are  believed  to  have 
travelled  in  two-wheeled  ox-waggons,2  such  as  are 

1  Herodotus,  iv.  49  ;  Diodorus,  V.  ii.  *  Herodotus,  iv.  121. 


EUROPEAN  ARYANS  71 

represented  on  Thracian  coins ;  and  such  ox-carts, 
with  solid  wooden  wheels,  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the 
south  of  Italy  and  in  Spain.  But  the  Aryans  never 
developed  any  higher  culture  of  their  own  before 
the  Greeks  came  in  contact  (perhaps  as  early  as 
1500  B.C.)  with  the  civilised  Turanian  and  Semitic 
inhabitants  of  Asia  Minor,  from  whom  they  took  their 
alphabets  and  syllabaries,  weights  and  measures,  and 
many  figures  of  their  mythology,  as  well  as  words 
for  metals  and  for  foreign  articles  of  trade.  The 
Slavs  and  the  Teutons,  who  penetrated  into  Central 
Europe  from  Russia,  mingled  with  the  Finnic  popu- 
lations. The  German  "  row  graves "  are  held  to 
represent  a  long-headed  type  of  rulers  among  a  short- 
headed  population,  but  gradually  the  general  type 
became  distinctively  short-headed,  especially  among 
the  South  Germans  and  the  Swiss.  In  the  far  north 
the  Aryans  mixed  with  the  old  flat-headed  race  of 
Scandinavia,  and  produced  the  fine  Norse  type,  also 
recognisable  among  Frisians  and  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Zuider  Zee  according  to  Virchow.  The 
Normans  were  tall,  with  fair  or  brown  hair,  repre- 
senting the  mixture  of  this  Scandinavian  stock  with 
the  Franks  who  were  Teutonic,  and  with  the  Kelts 
of  France.  These  mixed  Aryan  types  represent  some 
of  the  most  powerful  of  historic  races  in  Europe.  No 
very  great  lapse  of  time  is  required  to  account  for 
the  divergence  of  European  dialects,  considering  that 
the  tribes  were  probably  small  and  entirely  illiterate, 
separated  by  great  distances  from  each  other,  and 
separating  to  conquer  the  aborigines  by  superior 
strength  and  better  weapons.  Their  dispersion  may 
have  begun  not  earlier  than  about  2000  B.C.,  and 
their  separation  from  the  Asiatics  a  thousand  years 
earlier. 

The  older  populations,  represented  by  skulls  from 
dolmen  tombs,  seem   to  have  belonged  to  all  these 


72  EARLY   MAN 

types — Pelasgic  or  Keltic,  Teutonic  and  Scandinavian  ; 
and  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  all  rude  stone 
monuments  in  Europe  and  in  Asia  were  the  work 
of  one  age  or  of  one  race.  Stones  were  piled  up  for 
various  purposes — for  altars,  or  in  circles,  for  monu- 
ments, or  to  form  tribal  cemeteries  as  in  Guernsey. 
In  Palestine  (as  shown  by  the  excavations  at  Gezer 
and  at  Gath)  such  monumental  stones  and  altars  were 
erected  by  Canaanites  (who  were  probably  Semitic) 
about  2000  B.C.  The  Arabs  erected  dolmens,  and  still 
do  so.  The  hill-sides  east  of  Jordan  are  covered  with 
them.  They  are  also  still  erected  in  connection  with 
menhirs  and  sacred  circles  by  Dravidians  in  India. 
They  were  set  up  by  some  early  race  in  North  Africa. 
In  Europe  they  are  often  of  Keltic  origin,  but  some- 
times Scandinavian  and  Danish  in  Scotland  and 
Ireland.  They  have  been  found  to  contain  Roman 
coins  of  the  fourth  century  A.o.1 

By  thus  tracing  the  migrations  of  man,  we  are  able 
to  see  that  the  great  purpose  was  the  same  which— 
working  through  long  ages — had  prepared  the  horse 
and  the  elephant  for  his  use.  The  separate  tribes 
developed  peculiarities  useful  for  the  general  advance 
of  culture.  They  produced  more  vigorous  mixed  races 
when  nations  in  the  same  stage  of  civilisation,  and  not 
too  distantly  related,  mingled  together.  The  serious- 
ness of  the  Mongol,  the  imagination  of  the  Kelt,  and 
the  energy  of  the  Semitic  race,  contributed  alike  to 
the  formation  of  ruling  races  in  Europe  and  Asia. 
Even  the  lower  and  more  primitive  peoples,  driven 

1  Fergusson,  "  Rude  Stone  Monuments,"  1872,  p.  11.  The  attempt 
to  prove  a  remote  date  for  Stonehenge  by  astronomical  arguments 
connected  with  the  exact  bearing  of  the  "  Friar's  Heel "  or  pointer 
stone  outside  the  circle,  is  vitiated  by  the  evident  fact  that  the  stone 
has  settled  on  its  foundations,  and  is  no  longer  quite  vertical.  It 
supposes  also  an  exactitude  of  observation  among  ancient  Druids 
which  is  contrary  to  all  that  we  know  of  the  rude  orientation  of  early 
Babylonian  and  Egyptian  buildings. 


RACE  AND  SPEECH  73 

from  the  centre,  were  forced  in  time  to  adopt  the 
culture  of  their  conquerors,  and  were  improved  by 
a  new  strain  of  the  foreign  blood  of  the  victors.  Had 
man  been  able  to  live  in  a  soft  climate,  and  to  subsist 
on  bananas  and  game,  he  would  never  have  been 
trained  by  hardship  and  want  in  the  inventions  which 
necessity  produced,  and  would  have  remained  in  his 
original  savage  condition.  New  thought  was  created 
when  ancient  civilisation  was  regarded  with  fresh 
eyes  by  new  races,  who  adopted  the  culture  of  neigh- 
bours, and  who  learned  from  foreign  traders  the  arts 
of  their  homes.  The  strongest  stocks,  speaking  lan- 
guages full  of  foreign  words,  were  produced  by  mixture. 
The  old  languages  died  out  when  the  old  stock  was 
absorbed,  and  new  languages  of  greater  power  and 
simplicity  grew  out  of  the  dialects  spoken  by  those 
elements  which  combined  to  form  the  new  nation. 
Substantially,  since  the  beginning  of  history  proper, 
the  tongues  which  then  distinguished  the  three  Asiatic 
races  have  prevailed  in  the  same  regions  where  they 
are  first  found ;  but  in  no  part  of  the  world  is  it 
possible  to  find  either  a  pure  race  or  a  pure  language  ; 
nor  do  we  find  such  even  at  the  dawn  of  history.  Causes 
beyond  human  control— climatic  and  geographical- 
drove  the  increasing  hordes  to  further  lands,  as 
pressure  of  population  increased.  Indolence,  and  love 
of  the  familiar,  would  otherwise  have  prevented  the 
discovery  of  new  and  fairer  regions. 

Although  pride  of  race  has  often  made  the  nobler 
stocks  unwilling  to  mix  with  strangers,  whom  they 
regarded  as  their  inferiors,  the  admiration  of  strange 
beauty  lured  the  hearts  not  only  of  the  Hebrews  but 
of  many  other  conquering  peoples.  Woman  was  re- 
garded by  savages  as  a  slave,  and  when  the  men  of 
a  conquered  tribe  were  slain  the  girls  were  saved  as 
spoil.  Raids  were  indeed  often  undertaken  in  order 
to  win  wives ;  and  though  many  customs  thought  to 


74  EARLY   MAN 

symbolise  an  ancient  "  marriage  by  capture  "  are  better 
explained,  in  later  ages,  by  ideas  of  reluctance  and 
modesty — especially  among  Semitic  peoples — yet  it  is 
clear  that  there  was  a  general  tendency  to  prefer  wives 
of  another  tribe ;  which  may  perhaps  have  been  due 
to   early  observation  of  the  dangers  of  in-breeding. 
The  family  was   older  than   the  tribe ;  and   natural 
jealousy  must  from  the  first  have  fostered  the  exclusive 
conjugal  tie;  for  the  names  for  "  brother"  and  "  son" 
go  back  to  the  earliest  ages.     In  days  of  constant  war, 
when  men  were  slain  and  women  captured,  polygamy 
was  a  natural  result,  and  appears  to  have  been  the 
general  condition.      New  colonies  formed  by  young 
unmarried  men  (as  among  the  Zulus)  were  reduced 
either  to  capture  wives,  or  (when  that  was  impossible) 
in  some  cases  to  polyandry,  the  wife  being  recognised 
(as  among  the  Indian  hill  tribes  or  in  ancient  Arabia) 
as  having  several  husbands — generally  related  to  one 
another.     The  belief  that  a  man  who  had  no  son  to 
care  for  his  corpse  haunted    the  tribe  as  a  ghost, 
originated  the  Levirate  custom — that  of  marrying  the 
brother's  widow — the  first  son  being  regarded  as  that 
of  the  dead  husband.     This  we  find  early  among  the 
Hebrews,  but  the  custom  is  widely  spread  among  the 
southern  races,  and  is   known   in   Polynesia  and  in 
South  Africa  alike. 

It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that  among  savage 
tribes  the  marriage  tie  has  always  been  very  easily 
dissolved;  and  at  seasons  of  public  rejoicing  it  was 
— and  still  is — quite  disregarded.  The  orgies  of  the 
Australians  and  Polynesians,  and  those  of  the  Bantu 
tribes,  though  sanctioned  by  religious  customs, 
represent  the  survival  of  savage  licence,  such  as  was 
permitted  at  the  Bacchanalia,  or  characterises  the 
Sakti  worshippers  of  India.  Men,  if  believed  to  be 
of  divine  origin,  have  also  been  granted  special  privi- 
leges (as  in  India  or  among  the  Moslems),  on  account 


MARRIAGE  75 

of  the  anxiety  of  the  tribe  to  possess  as  many  divine 
children  as  possible.  The  Australian  orgies  are  con- 
nected with  rites  of  initiation  of  the  young  which 
were  also  common,  and  which  are  traced  among 
Aryans  as  well  as  in  Africa,  the  initiation  being 
extended  to  grown  girls  as  well  as  grown  boys. 
Circumcision  rites  were  naturally  connected  with  this 
initiation ;  and,  although  the  Hebrews  circumcised 
infants,  the  older  rule  (as  among  Arabs  and  Australians 
or  Zulus)  appears  to  have  been  to  perform  the  rite 
on  boys  about  thirteen  years  of  age  or  more.  This 
strange  custom  appears  to  distinguish  the  original 
southern  race.  It  prevailed  in  Egypt,  and  among  the 
Colchians,  who  were  said  to  be  Egyptian  colonists, 
as  well  as  among  Phoenicians,  Arabs,  Copts,  or  Zulus 
and  other  Bantus.  In  Africa  it  may  sometimes  have 
been  imposed  by  Moslems  on  their  converts,  but  this 
does  not  apply  to  the  Australians,  who  never  came 
under  Moslem  influence.  Among  the  northern  races 
circumcision  was  apparently  never  practised. 

Temporary  marriages  and  other  abnormal  conditions 
also  mark  the  early  savage  state.  The  former  prevailed 
among  Aryans  in  Persia,  and  among  early  Arabs. 
The  marriage  of  a  slave  or  captive  was  less  honour- 
able than  that  of  a  free  woman,  and  the  son  of  the 
concubine  took  rank  below  that  of  the  dowered  wife, 
though  he  was  not  a  slave,  nor  could  his  mother  be 
sold  as  such.  The  dower  was  a  fund  held  in  trust 
by  the  father  of  a  free  woman,  as  a  provision  against 
desertion  or  caprice  on  the  part  of  the  bridegroom 
who  paid  it.  No  nation  which  preserves  this  arrange- 
ment (which  we  trace  early  among  Babylonians  and 
Hebrews)  regards  it  as  a  selling  of  the  bride ;  and 
even  among  those  who  most  insist  on  the  parental 
right  to  arrange  marriages,  some  consent  on  the  part 
of  the  girl  has  always  been  demanded. 

Among  Turanian,  Semitic,  and  Aryan  races  alike, 


76  EARLY   MAN 

it  was  also  not  regarded  as  disgraceful  that  women 
consecrated  to  some  god,  as  temple  dancers,  should 
dispose  of  themselves  as  they  pleased.  In  India  the 
Basevi  lives  in  her  father's  house,  after  his  vow  for 
her  consecration  has  been  fulfilled  in  the  temple,  and 
chooses  her  lovers  at  will.  In  cases  where  she  has 
no  brother,  her  son  is  regarded  as  the  son  of  her 
father,  and  performs  his  funereal  rites.  But  this  does 
not  appear  to  have  originated  the  custom,  which  we 
find  not  only  in  India,  but  in  Japan  and  China,  among 
Babylonians,  Phoenicians,  and  Canaanites,  and  in 
Corinth  and  Sicily,  as  well  as  at  Carthage.  The 
Lycians,1  like  the  negroes  of  West  Africa,  traced 
descent  through  the  mother — "  in  which,"  says 
Herodotus,  "  they  differ  from  all  other  nations."  Such 
a  custom,  no  doubt,  originated  in  cases  where — as 
among  the  Basevis  and  the  polyandrous  Kols — the 
paternity  of  the  child  could  not  be  established.  But 
the  "  matriarchate "  appears  to  be  a  modern  theory, 
based  on  misunderstanding,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
suppose  that  among  early  races,  who  regarded  women 
as  inferior  to  men,  it  could  have  been  a  general 
custom  to  obey  female  rulers,  or  to  regard  the  mother 
as  more  important  than  the  father.  Turanian  races 
especially  have  developed  such  extraordinary  ideas 
of  hospitality  that  the  Tartar  still  offers  wife  and 
daughters  to  his  guests  ;  and  the  custom  also  prevailed 
till  quite  recently  in  Egypt,2  and  among  the  Bedouin 
according  to  Burckhardt. 

Customs  connected  with  birth  (like  that  of  the 
Couvade  already  noticed)  seem  to 'be  based  on  anxiety 
lest  the  infant  should  die,  and  lest  the  evil  eye  of  the 
envious  should  fall  on  it,  and  the  witch  or  the  wicked 
demons  should  injure  or  steal  it.  The  child's  name, 

1  Herodotus,  i.   173.     See  Forlong's  "  Faiths  of  Man,"  1906,  s.-v. 
Basevi. 
*  Lane,  "  Modern  Egyptians,"  1871,  i.  p.  365. 


BIRTH  AND  DEATH  77 

among  all  nations,  was  taken  from  the  first  propitious 
exclamation  of  thankfulness  by  a  pious  parent,  or  from 
some  peculiar  occurrence  at  the  time  of  birth.  Parents 
regarded  their  children  as  property  over  which  they 
had  absolute  rights ;  and,  unless  the  father  acknow- 
ledged the  infant  and  desired  to  rear  it,  it  was 
customary  to  expose  it  as  a  prey  to  savage  beasts, 
or  to  set  it  afloat  in  its  cradle  on  the  river :  in  which 
customs  many  legends  originate,  such  as  that  of 
Romulus  and  Remus,  which  occurs  also  in  Mongol 
mythology,1  or  the  tales  of  Sargina,  Perseus,  and 
Darab. 

Infanticide  continued  to  be  common  among  the 
Romans  in  our  second  century,  and  the  Arabs  buried 
daughters  alive  as  sacrifices  to  their  goddess  down  to 
the  time  of  Muhammad.  But  those  who  exposed  their 
infants,  instead  of  killing  them,  consoled  themselves 
with  the  belief  that  the  gods  would  preserve  the  child 
if  it  were  destined  to  a  great  fortune  in  later  life. 

Customs  connected  with  death  spring  from  the  fear 
of  the  ghost,  which  we  trace  among  the  earliest  known 
races.  Pestilence  due  to  leaving  corpses  unburied 
was  attributed  to  the  anger  of  the  dead  ;  and  in  order 
to  appease  them,  and  to  prevent  their  spirits  from 
haunting  the  living,  various  precautions  were  taken. 
In  very  early  times  the  corpse  was  given  to  the 
dogs,  and  the  Persians  preserved  this  savage  custom 
very  late.  In  Mongolia  and  Tibet  it  is  still  regarded 
as  an  honourable  form  of  burial,  and  dogs  are  kept 
at  the  lama  monasteries  for  the  purpose.  But  the 
commonest  custom — even  among  Neolithic  tribes — 
was  burial  under  a  solid  mound,  sometimes  at  great 
depth.  The  Goths  turned  the  course  of  a  river  over 
such  mounds;  and  in  other  cases  the  body  was  dissected, 
with  the  idea  of  preventing  its  reanimation.  We  find 
cases  of  this  in  Egypt,  where,  perhaps,  the  persons 

1  De  Gubernatis,  "Zoological  Mythology,"  1872,  ii.  p.  144. 


78  EARLY   MAN 

whose  bones  have  been  carefully  separated  may  have 
been  regarded  as  witches.  The  suicide — whose  ghost 
was  specially  malignant — was  buried  with  a  stake 
through  the  body,  in  the  middle  ages,  for  the  same 
reason. 

The  ghost  was  thought  to  haunt  the  tomb,  and  to  be 
satisfied  when  the  body  was  found  in  good  condition. 
It  was  well,  therefore,  to  appease  it  by  pious  care 
of  the  corpse,  which  was  mummified  by  Egyptians, 
Guanchos,  Palmyrenes,  Abyssinians,  and  others— 
though  the  removal  of  the  brain  and  entrails  seems  to 
suggest  that  resurrection  was  neither  expected  nor 
desired.  In  dolmen  tombs,  as  well  as  in  the  pyra- 
mids, a  narrow  air-passage  from  the  chamber  to  the 
outside  of  the  monument  allowed  free  passage  for  the 
flitting  ghost.  Everything  that  the  dead  man  could 
need  in  the  other  world  was  placed  in  the  tomb,  that 
the  ghosts  of  his  wives,  slaves,  horses,  weapons,  and 
tools  might  accompany  him.  In  later  times,  among 
the  Chinese,  paper  imitations  were  considered  suf- 
ficient; but  not  only  did  such  murderous  rites  exist 
among  Scythians,  as  described  by  Herodotus,  but  we 
also  find  slaves  to  have  been  so  slain  at  the  tomb  of 
Amenophis  II.,  while  the  Indian  widow-burning  has 
the  same  origin.  The  ancient  tomb  at  Jewurgi,  in 
Western  India,  is  an  example — the  pit  being  full  of 
bodies,  sometimes  with  the  heads  cut  off,  lying  above 
the  cist  in  which  two  corpses  were  carefully  laid.1 
In  the  earliest  tombs  of  Europe  and  Asia  alike  the 
dead  are  placed  in  a  contracted  attitude,  with  the 
knees  bent  up  in  front.  In  other  cases — as  among 
the  Polynesians — the  corpse  was  tightly  bound,  and 
sometimes  it  was  nailed  to  its  coffin.  Food  was  laid 
beside  it,  and  children's  tombs  contain  toys  in  Egypt 
and  alphabets  in  Etruria.  In  all  cases  the  object 

1  Herodotus,  iv.  72  ;  Fergusson,  "  Rude  Stone  Monuments,"  1872, 
p.  471. 


BURNING  AND   BURIAL  79 

appears  to  be  to  render  the  spirit  content  with  its 
condition,  and  to  prevent  the  return  of  the  ghost.  The 
coffin  was,  indeed,  sometimes  turned  round  and  round 
on  the  way  to  the  cemetery,  to  confuse  the  ghost  and 
prevent  its  remembering  the  way  home ;  or  the 
cemetery  was  placed  beyond  a  river,  or  on  an  island, 
for  the  same  reason. 

Burning  the  corpse  appears  to  be  a  later  practice 
than  burial ;  and,  as  it  was  expensive  and  tedious,  was 
generally  confined  to  the  upper  class  of  chiefs  and  rich 
men.  The  early  Greeks  at  Mycenae  appear  to  have 
burned  the  body  in  the  tomb,  as  the  Japanese  still  do. 
In  Palestine,  and  at  Susa,  bodies  of  infants  and  of 
grown  persons  have  been  found  which  were  cremated 
inside  clay  or  pottery  coffins.  The  funeral  pyre  is 
distinctive  of  Aryan  races  both  in  Britain  and  in  India. 
The  ashes  were  carefully  preserved,  and  even  the 
Persians,  who  gave  the  dead  to  dogs  and  vultures, 
gathered  the  bones  afterwards  l — just  as  the  Iron  tribes 
of  the  Caucasus  still  expose  the  dead,  and  afterwards 
gather  the  bones  in  bags.  But  these  tribes  appear  to 
have  a  belief  in  resurrection  of  the  body  from  the 
bones,  which  belongs  to  a  later  age.  The  Semitic 
people  regarded  burning  the  corpse  with  horror,  and 
the  Akkadians  also  buried  the  dead  under  mounds. 
The  preservation  of  bodies  in  wax  is  mentioned  by 
Herodotus;  and  the  Babylonians  and  Hebrews  pre- 
served it  in  honey,  or  more  probably  covered  it  with 
honeycombs — a  custom  noticed  in  the  book  of  Job.2 
Spiced  unguents  finally  represented  among  the  Jews 
the  only  trace  of  older  attempts  to  preserve  the  body. 

The  customs  thus  described  are  so  widely  spread 
that  they  indicate  a  very  early  origin  ;  showing  us  that 
man,  even  from  the  first,  had  some  dim  ethical  ideas 
and  some  vague  religious  conceptions.  As  far  as  we 

1  Herodotus,  i.  140. 

*  Job  xxi.  33  :  "  the  bee-clods  are  sweet  on  him." 


80  EARLY   MAN 

can  trace  him  back  in  caves,  dolmens,  and  tombs,  we 
find  a  belief  in  spirits  which  is  also  traceable  in  his 
earliest  speech.  He  was  something  more  than  a  beast, 
though  thought  and  arts  were  still  in  their  infancy. 
The  more  we  inquire  into  savage  customs,  even  among 
Negrillos,  the  more  do  we  find  that  there  is  no  race 
which  is  entirely  without  belief  in  spirits,  though  they 
may  not  have  risen  to  the  conception  of  order  and 
guidance  in  the  universe.  The  same  lesson  which  we 
learn  from  the  history  of  species,  and  from  the  history 
of  early  man,  is,  however,  yet  more  clearly  taught  by 
the  course  of  his  progress  in  the  five  or  six  thousand 
years  which  embrace  the  whole  of  actual  history  from 
the  dawn  of  Asiatic  civilisation. 


CHAPTER    III 

CIVILISATION 

i.    Ancient    History  (3000   B.C.  to  300  A.D.). — The 

history  of  man  is  like  the  history  of  the  earth  on  which 
he  dwells.  It  has  its  times  of  sunshine  and  of  storm, 
its  great  floods  and  ebbs,  its  volcanic  outbursts  and 
its  slow  imperceptible  secular  changes.  Nations  are 
born  and  grow  old,  like  men  ;  and,  as  in  geological  so 
in  historical  progress,  the  earliest  ages  are  the  longest 
and  the  least  complex  in  development.  We  are  apt  to 
regard  history  from  an  exclusively  European  stand- 
point, and  to  fix  our  attention  solely  on  later  events 
which  affected  our  own  destiny.  To  understand  aright 
the  origin  of  civilisation  we  must  turn  to  Asia,  where 
we  find  Akkadian  dominance  for  at  least  a  thousand 
years  to  be  the  most  important  feature.  That  age  was 
followed  by  fifteen  hundred  years  of  Semitic  progress, 
before  the  time  when — for  five  centuries — Persia  and 
Greece  occupy  the  scene.  Five  more  centuries  repre- 
sent Roman  empire,  followed  by  a  thousand  years 
during  which  Europe  was  struggling  for  mastery.  It 
is  only  during  the  last  four  hundred  years  that  the 
centre  of  civilisation  has  shifted  from  the  old  home 
of  its  birth  to  the  new  home  in  Western  Europe. 
We  have  no  history  before  the  appearance  of  written 
records  in  Asia,  and  no  chronology  before  the  founda- 
tion of  Babylon  in  2250  B.C.  We  should  be  careful  to 
distinguish  what  is  actually  proved  from  that  which 
is  conjectured,  and  contemporary  evidence  from  the 

81  6 


82  CIVILISATION 

beliefs  of  later  writers.  If  we  are  to  believe  the 
Babylonians  of  the  sixth  century  B.C.,  the  ancient 
Akkadian  civilisation  endured  for  some  two  thousand 
years  before  the  growth  of  any  Semitic  power.  But 
Sargina,  "  the  founder  king,"  who  ruled  from  Persia 
to  the  Mediterranean,  is  only  a  dim  traditional  figure.1 
The  Akkadian  empire  may  have  endured  for  a  third 
of  the  whole  period  of  human  civilisation,  but  the 
estimated  age  may  on  the  other  hand  have  been  ex- 
aggerated by  tradition.  In  Egypt  we  have  no  ancient 
chronology  at  all,  but  a  moderate  estimate  from  the 
lists  of  kings  on  monuments  would  indicate  that 
the  pyramids  were  built  about  3000  B.C.  These  lists 
unfortunately  do  not  even  give  us  the  length  of  the 
reigns,  or  any  other  chronological  data. 

In  Egypt  civilisation  appears  so  suddenly,  and  so 
completely  developed,  as  to  suggest  that  it  was  im- 
ported from  Asia.  The  civilisers  were  not  of  necessity 
of  the  original  race  which  spoke  the  Egyptian  lan- 
guage. They  resemble  (as  portrayed  on  the  ancient 
slate  bas-reliefs)  the  non-Semitic  race  of  Western  Asia ; 
but  the  accompanying  hieroglyphs  are  already  dis- 
tinctively Egyptian  in  form  and  in  language.  The 
discovery  of  flint  instruments,  and  of  a  rude  art  (like 
that  of  later  Libyans)  in  Egypt  does  not  of  necessity 
indicate  any  remote  age;  for  flint  continued  to  be 
used  side  by  side  with  metals  imported  from  Asia, 
and  rude  cheap  art  is  everywhere  found  side  by  side 
with  more  careful  and  expensive  work,  thus  represent- 
ing the  difference  between  the  productions  of  great 
artists  and  those  of  their  humbler  imitators  who  sold 
to  the  poor. 

In  the  lower  valley  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris — 
the  plain  of  the  "  Kaldi "  as  they  are  called  in  inscrip- 

1  A  very  archaic  votive  text,  from  Nippur,  records  the  conquests  of 
a  king  (lugal)  whose  name  has  been  very  doubtfully  read  as  Zaggisi, 
but  is  more  probably  Sargin.  Its  date  is  quite  unknown. 


GUDEA  83 

tions — the  first  distinct  figure  is  that  of  Gudea,  prince 
of  Zirgul,  under  Dungi,  King  of  Uru.1  The  later 
Babylonians  believed  him  to  have  lived  about  2800  B.C., 
and  the  texts  on  his  great  granite  statues  are  written  in 
the  Akkadian  language,  while  the  type  of  his  portraits 
is  very  clearly  Mongolic  and  not  Semitic.  Zirgul 
(now  Tell  Loh)  was  a  city  west  of  the  Tigris,  and 
east  of  Babylon,  near  the  great  canal  which  ran  from 
the  Tigris  to  the  Euphrates.  The  citadel  of  burnt 
brick,  set  in  bitumen,  included  one  of  those  stepped 
pyramids,  with  angles  facing  the  four  points  of  the 
compass,  which  may  have  been  the  prototypes  of  the 
Egyptian  tombs,  but  which,  in  Chaldea,  led  to  a  shrine 
or  observatory  on  the  summit.  The  eight  statues  of 
Gudea  are  of  Sinaitic  granite,  and  one  of  the  texts 
informs  us  that  this  stone  was  brought  in  a  ship  from 
Magan  ("  ship-port "),  a  region  which  later  Assyrian 
texts  place  near  to  Egypt.  Gudea  also  brought  gold 
dust  from  Melukha,  which  was  the  Assyrian  name  for 
Upper  Egypt  in  later  ages,  so  that  it  seems  clear  that 
the  Akkadians  were  then  able  to  coast  round  Arabia, 
and  up  the  Red  Sea  to  Suez  or  to  some  such  port  near 
Sinai  and  Egypt.  The  records  of  this  prince  inform 
us  that  he  ruled  from  Ansan — near  Susa,  east  of  the 
Tigris — to  Martu  or  Syria,  and  from  the  lower  sea 
(perhaps  the  Caspian)  to  the  upper  sea  or  Persian  Gulf. 
The  inscriptions  speak  of  silver,  gold,  bronze,  and 
copper,  and  of  trees  (no  doubt  cedars)  brought  from 
Amanus  or  the  Northern  Lebanon.  The  materials 
actually  found  at  the  site  include  marble  and  alabaster, 
with  cylinders  of  lapis  lazuli.  Even  iron  knives  with 
bone  handles  are  found.  The  primitive  art  of  the 
statues  and  bas-reliefs  shows  a  considerable  civilisation. 
The  harp  was  already  an  instrument  of  music,  and  the 
hieroglyphic  signs  include  sketches  of  bow,  ship,  sail, 
chariot,  throne,  and  pyramid.  Endowments  of  temples 
1  E.  De  Sarzec,  "  D<kouvertes  en  Chalttee,"  1887. 


84  CIVILISATION 

are  recorded  in  these  texts,  and  Prince  Gudea  prides 
himself  on  the  happiness  and  safety  of  those  who 
willingly  offered  contributions  to  the  building  of  his 
city  and  shrine.  It  may  be  noted  that,  according  to 
the  Phoenician  priests,  the  great  city  of  Tyre  was  first 
founded  about  the  same  time,1  and  we  cannot  doubt 
that  already  about  four  thousand  seven  hundred  years 
ago  the  tribal  princes  who  reigned  in  various  towns  of 
Mesopotamia  had  confederated  themselves  under  the 
Kings  of  Uru — near  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates — and 
were  in  peaceful  trading  relations  with  Phoenicia, 
Palestine,  and  Egypt. 

We  have  a  great  many  Akkadian  inscriptions  which 
were  copied  and  translated  by  the  Assyrians  of  the 
seventh  century  B.C.,2  and  which  give  us  clear  in- 
formation as  to  their  customs  and  beliefs ;  but  these 
are  undated,  and  the  originals  may  have  belonged 
to  a  time  many  centuries  later  than  that  of  Gudea. 
One  such  fragment  gives  us  the  rude  Draconic  laws 
of  this  stern  practical  race.  The  rebellious  son  was 
branded  and  sold  as  a  slave,  the  rebellious  wife  was 
drowned  in  the  river,  and  the  husband  who  denied 
his  marriage  was  heavily  fined.  The  Chaldean  rulers, 
however,  prided  themselves  not  only  on  justice,  but 
on  their  piety  and  care  for  the  oppressed. 

The  ships  of  Gudea,  anchoring  in  the  Gulf  of 
Suez,  enabled  the  Akkadians  to  communicate  with 
Egyptians,  who  already  were  working  mines  of  "  blue 
stone "  and  copper  in  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula ;  for 
Senefru,  the  last  king  of  the  third  Egyptian  dynasty, 
set  up  his  record  at  Wady  el  Magharah  (the  "  Valley 

1  Herodotus,  ii.  44. 

*  See  Lenormant,  "Etudes  Accadiennes,"  6  vols.  1873-80  ;  "  Baby- 
lonian Expedition  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  "  (to  Nippur), 
Prof.  Hilprecht,  10  vols.  1888-96  ;  Chantre,  "  Mission  en  Cappadoce," 
1890  ;  De  Morgan,  "Fouilles  k  Suse,"  1897-99  ;  Humann  and  Puch- 
stein,  "Reisen,"  1890. 


EGYPTIAN   ETHICS  85 

of  the  Cave"),  as  did  also  Khufu,  the  builder  of  the 
first  pyramid,  his  successor,  and  founder  of  the  fourth 
dynasty.  Towards  the  close  of  the  pre-Semitic  age 
the  Egyptian  power  appears  to  have  increased  con- 
siderably under  the  great  twelfth  dynasty,  and  the 
land  of  Punt  (probably  Somali-land)  was  known, 
while  part  of  Southern  Palestine  was  also  under 
Egyptian  influence,  judging  from  the  scarabs  which 
have  been  unearthed  in  the  ruins  of  Gezer.  Under 
the  second  king  of  this  dynasty  (Usertasen  I.),  we 
find  it  stated,  by  the  refugee  Saneha,  that  the  Pharaohs 
"  did  not  covet  the  lands  of  the  north,"  but  they  were 
pushing  up  the  Nile  to  Coptos.  The  inscription  of 
Ameni l  shows  us  that  Egyptian  officials  then  ac- 
knowledged a  high  ethical  standard  of  conduct.  He 
was  "a  prince  who  loved  his  town,"  and  tells  us 
that  while  highly  praised  by  his  master  for  his 
activity,  "  I  never  afflicted  the  child  of  the  poor ;  I 
have  not  ill-treated  the  widow  :  I  never  disturbed  the 
owner  of  the  land  :  I  never  drove  away  the  herds- 
man." "There  were  none  wretched  in  my  time,  the 
hungry  did  not  exist  in  my  time,  even  when  there 
were  years  of  famine."  "  I  did  not  prefer  a  great 
person  to  a  humble  man  in  all  that  I  gave  away." 
The  indications  of  peaceful  rule  and  trade,  of  piety 
and  justice,  in  this  early  age  of  civilisation,  are  thus 
to  be  found  in  Asia  and  in  Egypt  alike. 

The  kings  of  Uru,  who  conquered  the  Susian 
region  east  of  the  Tigris,  appear  to  have  been 
succeeded  by  kings  of  the  same  race  whose  capital 
was  at  Susa.  They  ruled  not  only  in  Sinim  (or 
Elam),  which  was  the  "  high  land "  or  plateau  of 
Western  Persia,  but  also  in  Martu  or  "  the  West," 
according  to  a  text  which  records  the  invasion  of 
Chaldea  shortly  before  the  foundation  of  Babylon, 
and  another  which  prays  for  the  life  of  the  Elamite 
1  Brugsch,  "History  of  Egypt,"  1879,  '•  P-  '35- 


86  CIVILISATION 

v 

king,  father  of  Arioch  prince  of  Larsa,  who  is  termed 
"  Chief  of  the  West"  But  to  the  north  of  the  new 
capital  on  the  Euphrates  lay  the  land  of  the  Kassites 
(or  "smiters"),  who  were  also  of  Turanian  race. 
Their  civilisation  was  very  similar  to  that  of  Uru, 
but  the  names  of  their  gods  are  distinct,  and  their 
hieroglyphic  system,  though  closely  connected  with 
that  of  Gudea's  texts,  was  also  distinctive.1  This 
system,  popularly  known  as  Hittite,  is  found  on  a 
very  archaic  bas-relief  at  Babylon  itself,2  as  well  as 
in  Syria  and  Cappadocia,  and  throughout  Asia  Minor 
to  the  shores  of  Ionia.  It  was  the  foundation  of 
that  syllabary  from  which,  a  thousand  years  later, 
the  Phoenician  alphabet  developed,  and  which  was 
the  earliest  script  used  by  the  Greeks,  surviving  to  a 
late  period  in  Cyprus,  Crete,  Egypt,  and  even  on  the 
coins  of  Kelt-Iberian  regions  in  Spain.  The  pottery 
which  has  been  dug  up  in  Cappadocian  ruins,  where 
Hittite  texts  and  sculptures  are  found,  is  not  only 
similar  to  that  of  early  Canaanites,  but  was  also 
carried  by  trade  to  Troy,  Mycenae,  and  Egypt.  In 
a  later  age  it  reached  Italy  as  well,  after  the  Etruscan 
emigration  from  Lydia.  The  art  of  this  Hittite  or 
Kassite  race  was  practically  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Akkadians.  The  winged  sphinx,  which  appears  in 
Egypt  after  the  time  of  the  twelfth  dynasty,  was  a 
Hittite  and  a  Chaldean  emblem,  as  was  also  the 
double-headed  eagle  found  at  Pterium  as  well  as  at 
Zirgul.  This  art  was  destined  profoundly  to  affect 
the  Aryans,  when  the  Greeks  began  to  copy  the 
Lydians  and  the  Romans  adopted  the  Etruscan 
culture. 

The  winged  sun  was  another  symbol  common  to 
Egyptians,  Hittites,  and  Akkadians,  and  besides  these 
emblems  others  which  gradually  spread  over  the 

1  See  my  "  Hittites  and  their  Language,"  1898,  pp.  216-47. 
1  See  Koldewey,  "  Die  Hettitische  Inschrift,"  1900. 


'AMMURABI  87 

whole  world  were  of  Turanian  origin,  including 
the  lucky  hand,  the  cross,  the  swastika,  the  caduceus, 
the  trident,  and  the  crescent  with  the  star.1  The 
system  of  weights  and  measures  adopted  by  the 
Semitic  Babylonians,  and  by  the  Phoenicians,  lies  at 
the  base  of  all  European  metrology,  and  finds  its 
origin  not  in  Egypt — where,  however,  it  was  apparently 
adopted — but  among  the  Akkadians  and  Hittites, 
whose  trade  extended  to  the  Delta  and  to  the  shores 
of  Greece. 

The  foundation  of  Babylon  in  2250  B.C.  marks  a  new 
era  in  Asiatic  civilisation.  A  damaged  chronicle 
of  the  first  dynasty  written  in  Akkadian  has  been 
recovered,  showing  that  the  first  king — Sumuabi — 
extended  his  conquests  to  Aleppo.  The  Akkadian 
language  continues  to  be  used  in  texts  of  'Ammurabi, 
the  famous  sixth  king  of  Babylon,2  and  down  to  the 
end  of  the  dynasty ;  but  we  have  no  historic  texts  of 
the  first  five  kings,  though  their  names  occur  in 
chronicles  and  as  dating  Semitic  tablets  connected 
with  commerce  and  property.  The  family  may  have 
been  Kassite,  and  the  earlier  kings  may  have  used  the 
northern  or  Hittite  script,  but  the  Semitic  race  was 
now  coming  rapidly  to  the  front  as  a  trading  class, 
and  a  mixed  nation  showed  a  vigour  and  activity 
which  surpassed  that  of  their  Elamite  overlords. 
'Ammurabi  (who  is  generally  held  to  have  been  the 
Amraphel  of  the  book  of  Genesis)  reigned  in  Babylon 
for  forty-five  years,  and  appears  to  have  mainly 
depended  on  his  Semitic  subjects  when  striving  to 
shake  off  the  Elamite  yoke.  His  chronicle,  un- 
fortunately, is  much  damaged,  especially  in  the  middle 

1  Count  Goblet  D'Alviella,  "  Migration  of  Symbols"  (English  trans- 
lation), 1894. 

1  This  seems  a  more  correct  rendering  of  the  name  than  either 
Hammurabi  or  Khammurabi.  It  has  also  been  found  spelt 
Ammurapi. 


88  CIVILISATION 

\ 

part.     He    began    by    peaceful    development    of   his 

kingdom,  and  in  his  ninth  year  he  dug  the  famous 

canal    which    bore    his    name.      No   doubt,   like    his 

predecessors,  he  carried  his  arms  to  the  West,  for  in 

his    time    the    mixed   hordes   of   Asia  were  already 

invading  the  Egyptian  Delta ;  but  it  was  only  in  the 

thirtieth  year  of  'Ammurabi's  reign  that  the  Elamites 

were  conquered,  and  Babylon  became  the  capital  of 

a  new  empire.     We  know  from  an  Akkadian  text  that 

this  great  statesman  and  victorious  warrior  subdued 

Susa  itself.     He  defeated  Eriaku,  son  of  the  Elamite 

king,  at  Larsa  in  Chaldea.     This  monarch  (of  whom 

several    texts    exist)  was    apparently  the  Arioch   of 

Ellasar  noticed    in    Genesis    as    a    contemporary  of 

Amraphel  before  the  time  of  the  Elamite  war.     On 

the  destruction  of  his  power,  Sinidinnam — a  Semitic 

prince — was  set  up  as  governor  of  the  south  and  west 

by  the  conqueror,  'Ammurabi,  and  we  possess  no  less 

than  forty-seven  letters  in  Semitic-Babylonian  written 

to  this  governor  by  'Ammurabi  himself.     These  give 

us  a  clear  picture  of  the  civilisation  of  the  age,  and 

of  the  centralised   government  which   this   energetic 

monarch   established.      They  refer  not   only   to   the 

cultivation  of  corn,  sesame  and  dates,  to  oil  and  wine, 

to  cattle  and  sheep,  canals  and  ships,  trade,  money, 

and  mortgages,  but  even  to  the  proclamation  of  the 

intercalary  month,  showing  the  calendar  to  have  been 

finally  settled.     They  refer  also  to  laws  against  bribery 

of  officials,  who  were  severely  punished  for  fraud  or 

rebellion,  and  they  show  the  power  of  Babylon   to 

have  extended  over  Assyria  as  well  as  Elam. 

Among  other  records  of  this  great  reign  is  a  bilingual 
poem,  in  Akkadian  and  Semitic  speech,  which  relates 
in  a  hundred  and  twenty-six  lines  (on  a  black  stone) 
the  glories  of  'Ammurabi,  his  courage  and  piety,  and 
the  vastness  of  his  empire,  covering  the  greater  part 
of  Wsstern  Asia.  Still  more  remarkable,  however,  is 


BABYLONIAN   LAWS  89 

his  great  stela  of  about  two  hundred  and  eighty  laws, 
recently  discovered  by  De  Morgan  at  Susa.  The  bas- 
relief  at  the  top  represents  the  king  worshipping  the 
sun-god.  The  type  of  his  face  is  not  distinctively 
Semitic ;  though  (as  also  in  another  of  his  portraits)  he 
has  a  long  beard  such  as  is  rarely  found  in  Akkadian 
statues.  The  laws  are  declared  to  have  had  divine 
sanction  by  the  formula  "  Thus  God  has  commanded 
us  " ;  but  the  enumeration  of  temples,  and  of  deities, 
shows  clearly  that  'Ammurabi  worshipped  many  gods. 
The  cities  mentioned  include  not  only  Babylon, 
Sippara,  Erech,  Borsippa,  Zirgul,  and  Agade,  but 
also  Nineveh,  in  the  land  of  Ausar,  which  is  inde- 
pendently known  to  have  been  the  old  name  of 
Assyria.  The  laws  themselves1  have  reference  to  a 
wide  range  of  subjects,  beginning  with  the  suppres- 
sion of  witchcraft,  and  the  rights  of  property  and 
women  :  they  treat  of  assaults  and  damages,  and  are 
remarkable  for  the  severity  of  the  punishments  and  for 
the  ancient  principle  of  "  an  eye  for  an  eye."  They 
refer  to  slaves  and  tenants,  irrigation,  grazing  and 
gardens,  to  merchants  and  their  agents,  to  women 
keeping  wineshops,  to  trusts,  debts,  and  storage.  They 
regulate  divorce,  and  questions  of  immorality,  breach 
of  promise  of  marriage,  inheritance,  and  adoption  : 
they  lay  down  the  fees  of  doctors  and  their  responsi- 
bilities :  they  treat  questions  of  branding  slaves,  boat- 
building, and  the  wages  of  herdsmen,  damages  by  or 
to  cattle,  trespass,  and  the  price  of  slaves.  In  all  cases 
rights  were  proved  by  the  production  of  tablets  of 
agreement  duly  signed  and  witnessed.  The  Baby- 
lonian traders  penetrated  at  this  time  to  Cappadocia 
and  the  west,  where  their  agents  purchased  metals, 
cloth,  mules,  and  horses.  Houses,  gardens,  and 
date-groves  were  rented  and  mortgaged,  and  special 
privileges  were  ordained  for  royal  messengers  and 
1  Johns,  "  Oldest  Code  of  Laws  in  the  World,"  1903. 


90  CIVILISATION 

officials,  or  for  soldiers  absent  on  service,  as  well  as 
for  the  temple  women  and  priests.  The  reign  of 
'Ammurabi  (2139-2094  B.C.)  was  remembered  ever 
after  by  Babylonians  as  the  brightest  age  of  their 
civilisation  and  empire.  At  a  time  when  the  Hebrews 
were  represented  by  a  small  family  of  wandering 
shepherds,  the  arms  and  trade  of  a  great  Semitic 
empire  extended  from  Persia  to  Cappadocia,  and  from 
Nineveh  to  the  Nile. 

The  power  of  the  Akkadians  and  of  the  Babylonians 
alike  appears  to  have  been  due  in  great  measure 
to  their  use  of  horses  and  chariots.  In  Egypt  and 
Edom  the  ass  alone  is  found  in  use  down  to  the 
time  of  the  twelfth  dynasty,  and  the  names  for 
"horse"  and  "chariot,"  which  appear  in  Egyptian 
after  the  invasion  of  the  Delta  by  Asiatic  Hyksos, 
are  both  borrowed  from  Semitic  speech.  The  Hyksos 
themselves  appear  to  have  been  non-Semitic  (as 
indicated  by  the  names  of  their  kings),  and  they 
worshipped  the  Hittite  god  Sutekh,  or  Sut,  according 
to  the  records  of  the  reign  of  Apepi ;  but  the  mixed 
population  of  Canaan,  which  overflowed  the  limits 
of  the  Babylonian  Empire  and  established  non- 
Egyptian  dynasties  at  Zoan,  Xois,  and  other  cities, 
appears  to  have  included  a  large  Semitic  element. 
Babylonian  power  remained  without  a  rival  down  to 
the  end  of  the  first  dynasty  in  1957  B.C.,  and  even 
a  century  later  we  find  Ismi-Dagon,  ruler  of  Assyria 
(and  probably  of  part  of  Chaldea),  to  be  still  a  prince 
subordinate  to  the  Babylonian  suzerain.  About  1 700 B.C., 
however,  Belkapkapu  appears  as  King  of  Assyria, 
and  the  second  dynasty  of  Babylon  (whose  names 
are  still  Turanian)  decreased  in  power  just  about 
the  time  when  the  energetic  eighteenth  dynasty  at 
Thebes  began  to  push  its  conquests  northwards,  and 
to  expel  the  Asiatics  from  the  Delta.  The  third 
dynasty  of  Babylon  (1589  to  1500  B.C.)  was  Kassite, 


THOTHMES   III.  91 

but  its  kings  seem  to  have  been  of  small  importance, 
while  the  power  of  Nineveh  was  steadily  increasing 
under  Semitic  rulers.  The  loss  of  Syria,  which  the 
Egyptians  conquered,  was  thus  apparently  due  to 
the  struggle  between  Babylon  and  Nineveh,  which 
was  that  of  the  decaying  Kassites  against  the  vigorous 
Semitic  race  of  Assyria. 

The  Egyptians,  adopting  war-chariots  and  drilling 
their  forces,  conquered  the  trade  route  to  Meso- 
potamia under  Thothmes  I.  His  younger  son, 
Thothmes  III.,  was  perhaps  the  greatest  of  the 
Pharaohs.  Small  and  slight,  with  delicate  features, 
he  was  yet  a  hardy  soldier,  who,  after  his  great 
victory  at  Megiddo,  continued  for  twenty  years  to 
exact  tribute  in  Canaan,  establishing  military  stations 
where  his  troops  were  regularly  rationed  by  the 
Syrians.  The  native  population  in  Palestine  was 
Semitic,  but  in  North  Syria  the  town-names  indicate 
that  it  was  partly  Turanian  or  Hittite.  The  art  and 
civilisation  of  Syria — as  shown  by  spoil-lists,  pictures, 
and  cuneiform  tablets — were  similar  to  those  of  the 
old  Babylonian  Empire.  The  trade  route  led  through 
Philistia  and  across  Central  Palestine  to  Damascus, 
and  thence  by  the  valley  of  the  Orontes  to  Aleppo, 
and  to  Carchemish,  the  Hittite  capital,  at  the  ford  of 
the  Euphrates.  It  was  held — with  intervals  of  revolt — 
by  Egypt  for  five  centuries,  and  even  after  1200  B.C. 
Syria  and  Palestine  continued  to  look  to  Egypt  for 
support  against  the  gradual  extension  of  Assyrian 
power. 

The  Babylonian  Empire  broke  up  into  rival  states. 
Elam  became  independent  under  non-Semitic  kings. 
In  Babylonia  the  Kassites  struggled  against  Nineveh 
until,  about  1440  B.C.,  Burnaburias — the  contemporary 
of  Amenophis  IV. — married  a  daughter  of  the  Assyrian 
king  Assur-uballid  and  settled  a  boundary  on  the 
River  Zab  between  their  dominions.  In  Armenia 


92  CIVILISATION 

the  Minyan  kings  of  Matiene  were  of  the  same 
Kassite  race,  and  claimed  suzerainty  over  the  Hittite 
tribes  of  Syria.  The  Pharaohs  were  allied  by  marriage 
with  these  Minyans,  who  had  ruled  in  the  Delta 
during  the  Hyksos  age,1  and  in  three  successive 
generations  Thothmes  IV.,  Amenophis  III.,  and 
Amenophis  IV.,  wedded  Armenian  wives.  These 
monarchs  were  also  intermarried  with  the  Kassites 
of  Babylon ;  and  a  peaceful  trading  intercourse  was 
established  between  Egypt  and  Asia  under  the  pro- 
tection of  these  politic  alliances.  Even  the  famous 
Queen  Teie,  mother  of  Amenophis  IV.,  would  seem 
to  have  been  related  to  Dusratta,  king  of  Matiene, 
whose  sister  Gilukhepa  had  been  the  first  bride  of 
Amenophis  III.  The  mummies  of  Yuao  and  Tuao, 
the  parents  of  Teie,  have  quite  recently  been  found 
in  Egypt,  and  their  faces  indicate  their  non-Egyptian 
race.  Under  the  influence  of  these  Asiatic  queens 
Babylonian  religion  began  to  spread  in  the  Egyptian 
court.  Tablets  relating  Semitic  myths  are  included 
in  the  Amarna  correspondence,  and  Amenophis  IV. 
adored  the  sun-god  of  his  mother,  although  his 
Asiatic  correspondents  address  him  as  a  worshipper 
of  the  Egyptian  god  Amen,  whose  name  he  bore.2 

In  the  reign  of  this  prince  the  rebellion  of  Syria, 
which  began  in  the  closing  years  of  his  father's  peaceful 
rule,  proved  successful,  and  led  to  the  ruin  of  the 
eighteenth  dynasty.  The  Hittites  attacked  the  Semitic 
Amorites  in  the  far  north,  and  the  latter,  under  Aziru, 
invaded  Phoenicia  and  captured  the  great  trading 
cities,  Simyra,  Gebal,  Beirut,  and  Sidon.  Aided  by 
a  fleet  from  Arvad  they  besieged  Tyre,  and  they 
spread  all  over  Bashan  and  Gilead.  In  the  south 

1  See  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  i.  pp.  233,  236. 

*  The  tomb  of  Teie  is  supposed  to  have  been  found  in  1907  near 
Thebes,  but  the  mummy  is  that  of  Amenophis  IV.  His  name, 
Khu-en-Aten,  has  been  purposely  defaced. 


THE   HEBREWS  93 

the  fierce  'Abiri,  or  Hebrews,  broke  in  from  Seir, 
and  exterminated  the  Canaanite  kings,  who  wrote 
in  vain  to  Egypt  for  help.  They  conquered  Lachish 
and  Askelon,  and  the  Egyptian  archers  were  with- 
drawn from  Jerusalem.1  The  reconquest  of  the  trade 
route  by  the  nineteenth  dynasty  had  to  be  begun  from 
the  extreme  south,  and  though  Seti  I.  has  left  us  a 
tablet  in  Bashan,  and  Rameses  II.  carried  his  arms 
to  Aleppo,  the  Hittites,  who  had  become  independent 
rulers  as  far  south  as  Kadesh  on  the  Orontes,  were 
strong  enough  to  exact  a  treaty  of  equal  rights  from 
this  great  conqueror.  In  his  time  the  blue-eyed,  fair 
races  of  Asia  Minor — Dardani  and  other  Aryans — 
began  to  press  down  on  Syria,  and  in  the  reign  of 
Merenptah  (Mineptah),  his  son,  they  even  invaded 
Egypt  by  sea  and  land,  in  alliance  with  the  fair 
Libyans,  who  appear  to  have  been  early  Greek 
colonists  from  Ionia  and  Crete.  Merenptah  was  allied 
to  the  Hittites,  and  may  possibly  have  been  the  son  of 
the  Hittite  princess  whom  his  father  married  some 
thirty  years  before  death.  He  repelled  the  invaders 
and  recovered  the  trade  route,  and  he  tells  us  that 
"  the  people  of  Israel "  were  ruined  by  his  destruction 
of  their  corn.  The  Hebrews  were  driven  to  their 
mountains,  and  even  as  late  as  1200  B.C.  Rameses  III. 
was  powerful  in  Sinai,  and  along  the  Syrian  coasts 
as  far  north  as  Carchemish. 

The  struggle  between  Nineveh  and  Babylon  con- 
tinued. In  1154  B.C.  a  powerful  Semitic  monarch— 
Nabu-cudur-usur — ruling  Babylon,  claimed  victories 
in  Syria,  before  he  was  defeated  by  Tiglath-pileser 
of  Assyria.  On  the  death  of  Nabu-cudur-usur,  in 
1128  B.C.,  his  dominions  were  divided  between  his 
two  sons.  Marduk-nadin-akhi  acceded  in  Babylon 
and  defeated  Tiglath-pileser,  while  the  parallel 
Chaldean  dynasties  begin  with  the  name  of  Bel-nadin- 

1  See  my  "Tell  Amarna  Tablets,"  2nd  edit.  1894. 


94  CIVILISATION 

ablu,  the  younger  son  of  Nabu-cudur-usur.  The 
Kassites,  however,  recovered  power  in  Babylon  during 
this  age  of  struggle,  and  Kassite  names  occur  in  the 
lists  down  to  the  time  of  the  Assyrian  conquest  (in 
1010  B.C.)  of  all  Mesopotamia. 

The  power  of  Egypt  steadily  decayed  after  1200  B.C., 
and  Rameses  III.  was  the  last  of  the  great  Pharaohs, 
rescuing  his  country  from  anarchy,  and  from  the  rule 
of  a  Semitic  Phoenician  named  Hareth.  During  the 
age  of  decay  which  followed  we  have  few  records  in 
either  Egypt  or  Assyria  ;  but  it  appears  that  a  tempo- 
rary peace  with  Babylon  was  established  by  Assur- 
bel-kala  of  Assyria  about,  noo  B.C.,  after  his  defeat  by 
Kadasman  Burias,  the  Kassite,  and  about  the  same 
time  we  find  that  an  Assyrian  prince,  Naram-addu, 
son  of  Sheshonk,  the  "great  king  of  Assyria,"  was 
buried  at  Abydos  in  Egypt  i1  so  that  the  old  policy 
of  marriage  alliance  with  Asiatics  seems  still  to 
have  prevailed,  for  Naram-addu  was  the  son  of  the 
Egyptian  princess  Mehet-en-usekh,  who  was  probably 
a  daughter  of  Rameses  XIV.  The  decay  of  the  great 
ruling  races  was  the  opportunity  for  the  Hebrews,  and 
the  kingdom  of  Solomon  extended  to  the  Euphrates  at 
a  time  when  Egypt  was  weak  and  Assyria  still  engaged 
with  the  Kassites.  After  Solomon's  death  a  new 
dynasty  of  kings,  descended  from  Naram-addu,  arose 
in  Egypt,  and  Sheshonk  (or  Shishak)  pillaged  Jeru- 
salem and  conquered  Galilee,  as  we  know  from  his 
list  of  towns  ravaged  in  Palestine.  But  this  revival  of 
Egyptian  power  over  the  small  princes  of  Judah  and 
of  Israel  did  not  long  endure  when  Assyria  became 
supreme  east  of  the  Euphrates.  Year  after  year  the 
great  cloud  from  the  north  spread  terror  in  Syria. 
The  Hittites  were  conquered,  and  Damascus  was 
attacked  when  Jehu — about  840  B.C. — gave  tribute  to 
Shalmaneser  II.  In  732  B.C.  Tiglath-pileser  III.  finally 
1  See  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  ii.  p.  199. 


ASSYRIAN  CONQUESTS  95 

annexed  Syria,  and  raided  Philistia  and  Northern 
Arabia,  while  ten  years  later  Samaria  fell  to  Sargon, 
the  first  king  of  a  new  Assyrian  dynasty.  Judah  gave 
tribute  to  Sennacherib  and  to  his  successors,  and 
in  670  B.C.  the  Nubian  king  Tirhakah  was  pursued 
by  Esarhaddon  from  Memphis  to  Thebes,  and  was 
led  captive  with  a  ring  through  his  lip,  as  repre- 
sented on  the  stela  of  victory  found  at  Samala  in 
North  Syria.  Thus,  with  the  accession  of  Assur- 
bani-pal  in  668  B.C.,  we  reach  the  summit  of  Assyrian 
power.  During  his  reign  Susa  was  again  conquered, 
and  rebellion  in  Babylon — in  spite  of  alliance  with 
Judah,  Arabia,  and  Egypt — was  put  down,  the  king  of 
Nineveh  becoming  the  suzerain  of  nearly  the  whole  of 
Western  Asia,  and  establishing  Assyrian  governors  in 
various  cities  of  Egypt. 

Assyrian  tyranny  may  have  been  one  cause  of  the 
extension  of  Phoenician  trade  with  the  West ;  for  the 
kings  of  Sidon  fled  before  these  invaders  to  Cyprus, 
while  Tyre  established  a  new  centre  at  Carthage  about 
850  B.C.  It  is  true  that  Phoenician  fleets  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean are  noticed  as  early  as  1500  B.C.,  and  Sidonians 
and  Arvadites  established  colonies  in  all  the  Greek 
islands  long  before  the  "  new  city  "  of  Carthage  came 
into  existence  ;  but  from  this  western  base  the  Tyrians 
extended  their  trade  to  Sicily  and  South  Italy,  to 
Marseilles  in  France,  and  to  Cadiz  in  Spain.  The 
Semitic  influence  followed  that  of  the  Turanians  of 
Asia  Minor  in  Greece,  and  the  wild  Aryan  tribes  of  the 
Mediterranean  coast  began  to  trade  with  Phoenicians 
and  with  Greek  islanders,  who  gradually  took  from 
the  Etruscans  the  mastery  of  the  sea. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  empire  of  Assyria  collapsed 
suddenly  after  the  death  of  Assur-bani-pal,  which 
occurred  about  625  B.C.,  but  the  causes  of  this  collapse 
are  not  difficult  to  find.  The  "bloody  city"  of 
Nineveh  was  justly  hated,  for  the  Assyrians  were  a 


96  CIVILISATION 

cruel  race,  and  their  policy  of  transplanting  whole 
populations  from  their  homes — though  for  a  time 
successful — led  to  general  discontent  throughout  the 
empire.  Assur-bani-pal  appears  to  have  been 
personally  a  very  remarkable  statesman.  His  political 
correspondence  still  exists,  and  shows  that  he  was 
capable  of  conciliating  his  subjects  by  his  clemency 
and  accessibility,  while — like  'Ammurabi — he  concen- 
trated the  whole  government  of  the  empire  in  his 
own  hands,  at  Nineveh  or  at  Babylon  according  as 
his  presence  was  most  needed.  But  the  bas-reliefs 
which  represent  his  Elamite  captives  being  flayed 
alive,  and  having  their  tongues  pulled  out,  or  that 
which  shows  him  seated  with  his  queen  on  a  throne  in 
his  garden,  drinking  wine,  and  gazing  at  the  salted 
head  of  Te-Umman,  the  defeated  king  of  Elam,  hanging 
in  a  tree,  show  us  that,  in  spite  of  literature,  art, 
and  religion,  which  all  flourished  especially  during 
his  reign,  the  Assyrian  was  still  a  savage  at  heart. 
Babylon,  Syria,  and  Egypt  alike  detested  the  rule  of 
Nineveh,  and  a  new  force  appeared  in  Asia  in  the 
growing  power  of  the  Medes  and  Persians. 

As  early  as  about  820  B.C.  Shamash  Rimmon  of 
Assyria  came  into  contact  with  the  Aryan  Medes, 
who  dominated  the  old  Turanian  tribes  to  the  north 
and  north-east  of  his  empire,  west  of  the  Caspian. 
These  long-robed  and  long-haired  warriors,  with 
painted  faces,1  continued  to  threaten  the  border  for 
two  centuries,  and  some  tribes  seem  even  to  have 
settled  in  Commagene,  far  west.  About  800  B.C. 
Rimmon  Nirari  set  up  a  bilingual  text  in  Assyrian 
and  Medic,  to  record  his  capture  of  the  Medic  king 
Ispuinis;  and  in  714  Sargon,  in  a  similar  bilingual, 
records  the  capture  of  King  Urzana.  From  these 
inscriptions  we  learn  that  the  Medes  spoke  an  Iranian 
dialect  closely  connected  with  Sanskrit,  and  with  the 

1  See  Plutarch,  "  Crassus,"  and  the  Behistan  bas-reliefs. 


THE  SCYTHIAN   RAID  97 

language  of  the  Lycian  texts  after  the  conquest  of  the 
West  by  Harpagus.1  The  names  of  Medic  kings  are 
known  from  the  ninth  century  down  to  the  time  of 
Cyrus,2  and  they  appear  to  have  adopted  the  civilisation 
of  Assyria,  and  even  perhaps  the  cuneiform  script. 
The  Aryans  had  thus  settled  south  of  the  Caucasus 
about  the  same  time  that  they  began  to  spread  east 
over  Bactria,  and  over  the  Persian  plateau,  where 
they  dominated  the  Turanians,  whose  power  was 
destroyed  finally  by  Assur-bani-pal.  About  700  B.C. 
the  pressure  of  population  in  South  Russia  had 
led  to  further  inroads,  and  the  Scythians  drove  the 
Cimmerians  into  Armenia.  The  latter  attacked  Gugu 
(Gyges),  the  founder  of  a  new  Aryan  dynasty  in  Lydia 
having  its  capital  at  Sardis.  They  were  only  finally 
repelled  by  his  successors,  Ardys  and  Halyattes 
(689  to  628  B.C.)  ;  and  hardly  had  they  settled 
down  on  the  shores  of  Pontus  when  the  Scythian 
cavalry  burst  into  Assyria,  probably  on  the  death 
of  Assur-bani-pal.3  These  hordes  carried  confusion 
throughout  the  empire  to  the  borders  of  Egypt,  but  on 
their  retreat  (perhaps  about  595  B.C.)  were  destroyed 
by  the  treachery  of  their  Medic  cousins,  who  mean- 
while, in  alliance  with  the  revolted  governor  of 
Babylon,  had  taken  Nineveh  (about  610  B.C.),  and 
thus  put  an  end  to  Assyrian  power.  The  empire 
was  divided  between  Medes  on  the  north-east,  Lydians 
—under  Croesus,  who  ruled  Asia  Minor  west  of  the 

1  Kustasp  of  Commagene,  in  734  B.C.,  bears  a  Medic  name.  The 
language  of  the  Vannic  texts  was  recognised  as  Aryan  by  Hinks.  It 
is  still  little  understood,  but  some  fifty  known  words  on  the  bilinguals 
are  Aryan,  and  half  of  these  are  comparable  with  Sanskrit.  For  the 
bilinguals  see  Journal  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  July  1906,  p.  612. 

*  Seduris  (833  B.C.),  Ispuinis,  Menuas,  Argistis  (781  B.C.),  Sarduris 
(743  B.C.),  and  Urzana  (714  B.C.),  precede  Daiukku  (about  710  B.C.), 
Fravatish  (657  B.C.),  who  was  killed  by  Assur-bani-pal,  Kuakshares 
(636  B.C.),  and  Astuvegu  or  Astyages  (595-552  B.C.),  defeated  by  Cyrus. 

3  Herodotus,  i.  15,  16,  iv.  12. 

7 


98  CIVILISATION 

River  Halys — and  Babylonians  under  Nebuchadnezzar, 
whose  kingdom  included  the  Semitic  regions  and 
Egypt.  But  the  old  policy  of  Assyria  was  still  pur- 
sued by  the  Babylonians,  and  the  transportation  of 
subject  races  still  bred  a  deep  hatred  against  them. 
The  partition  of  West  Asia  lasted  little  more  than 
half  a  century,  until  the  defeat  of  Astyages  by  Cyrus 
in  552  B.C.,  and  his  subsequent  conquest  of  Croesus. 
After  seventy  years  of  Babylonian  tyranny  (607  to 
538  B.C.)  the  great  city  fell  to  the  Persian  conqueror, 
who  thus  became  supreme  from  India  to  the 
Mediterranean. 

The  great  Persian  family  founded  by  Hakamanish, 
about  700  B.C.,  extended  its  rule  to  Ansan  and  Susa ; 
and  two  branches  of  the  family  gave  to  Persia 
successive  kings,  of  whom  Cyrus  was  the  seventh.1 
These  kings  were  famous  for  their  tolerance  and  love 
of  truth,  and  they  reversed  the  Assyrian  policy. 
Cyrus  allowed  the  Jews  to  return  home ;  Cambyses, 
in  527  B.C.,  treated  the  temple  of  Neith  in  Egypt  with 
reverence ;  Darius  sent  an  Egyptian  from  Persia  to 
rebuild  the  native  shrines  and  to  reinstate  the 
Egyptian  priests.2  Persian  rule  was  thus  very 
willingly  accepted  by  all  the  subject  races.  It 
encouraged  Semitic  trade,  and  the  Persians  adopted 
Babylonian  art  and  civilisation.  They  soon,  indeed, 
began  to  intermarry  with  the  Babylonians,3  and 
Semitic  influences  became  strong  in  the  empire. 
Although  the  original  justice  of  the  Persians  began 
to  give  place  to  cruelty  and  tyranny  under  Xerxes, 
and  although  rebellions,  fomented  by  the  Greeks, 
occurred  later  in  Phoenicia  and  in  Egypt,  the  Persian 

1  Rawlinson,  Journal  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  XII.  i.  1880;  Spiegel, 
"  Alt-Persischen  Keil-Inschriften,"  1881  ;  Oppert,  "Les  Medes,"  1879. 

1  Brugsch,  "History  of  Egypt,"  ii.  pp.  293-6. 

3  Hilprecht,  "  Babylonian  Expedition  of  the  University  of  Pennsyl 
vania,"  ix.  p.  28,  "Texts  of  Artaxerxes  I."  (465-425  B.C.). 


INDIA  99 

empire  remained  unshaken  for  two  centuries,  until 
the  appearance  of  Alexander  of  Macedon.  In  wealth, 
in  religion,  and  in  organisation,  it  excelled  that  of 
Assyria,  and  in  extent  it  became  greater  when,  after 
516  B.C.,  Darius  I.  added  to  his  dominions  a  new 
province  in  the  Panjab. 

When  the  Greeks  became  acquainted  with  India, 
after  326  B.C.,  they  discovered  a  native  civilisation 
equal  to  that  of  Persia,  and  apparently  of  Persian 
origin.1  It  may  be  that  trade  had  already  extended 
from  Babylon  to  India  much  earlier ;  for  the  elephant 
and  the  rhinoceros  appear  on  the  "Black  Obelisk" 
of  Shalmaneser  in  840  B.C.  But  no  traces  of  cunei- 
form writing  have  been  found  east  of  the  Indus,  and 
the  oldest  alphabet  of  North  India  was  derived  from 
the  Aramaic  letters  not  earlier  than  about  500  B.C. 
In  the  south  another  alphabet  was  in  use,  perhaps 
quite  as  early,  and  appears  to  have  been  due  to  the 
Sabean  Arab  traders  who  came  by  sea.2  Some 
elements  of  civilisation  may  have  existed  among 
Dravidian  tribes,  who  were  remotely  akin  to  the 
Akkadians,  but  the  history  of  India  begins  with  the 
appearance  of  Aryans,  who  were  an  outlying  detach- 
ment of  the  Iranian  stock. 

The  great  Maurya  dynasty,  with  its  capital  at 
Patna,  was  founded  by  Chandra-Gupta  about  321  B.C. 
His  grandson  Asoka  (272  to  232  B.C.)  ruled  all  India 
except  a  small  region  in  the  extreme  south.  These 
emperors  commanded  an  army  of  nearly  a  million 

1  Vincent  Smith,  "  Early  History  of  India,"  p.  116. 

1  The  Kharoshthi  alphabet  of  the  North — written  from  right  to  left — 
is  generally  admitted  to  be  of  Aramaic  origin.  The  South  Asoka 
script  compares  best  with  the  Sabean  or  South  Arab  character, 
especially  with  the  early  Safa  forms  (Isaac  Taylor,  "Alphabet,"  ii. 
pp.  258,  320).  This  South  Indian  script  was  deciphered  by  Princep 
(Journal  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  vol.  vi.),  and  is  written  from  left 
to  right.  It  is  notable  that  the  Safa  texts — from  near  Damascus — 
differ  from  other  alphabetic  Semitic  inscriptions  by  being  also  some- 
times written  thus. 


ioo  CIVILISATION 

men.  Their  government  included  departments  regu- 
lating industries,  and  the  rights  of  foreigners,  the 
registration  of  births  and  deaths,  trade  licences  to 
merchants,  manufactures,  and  the  tithing  of  lands. 
Irrigation  was  as  carefully  regulated  as  that  of 
Mesopotamia  had  been  by  'Ammurabi.  The  Indians 
were  as  famous  for  honesty  as  their  Persian  cousins, 
and  the  ethical  edicts  of  Asoka  surpass  in  tone  any 
known  earlier  pronouncements  even  in  Persia.  Asoka 
was  in  communication  with  his  Greek  contemporaries 
in  Syria,  Egypt,  Cyrene,  Macedonia,  and  Epirus,  and 
his  missionaries  were  received  in  Ceylon  and  perhaps 
in  Burma.  Throughout  his  empire  the  roads  were 
marked  every  two  thousand  yards  by  milestones, 
while  wells  were  dug,  rest-houses  built,  and  doctors 
and  drugs  provided.  Alms  were  given  to  the  monks 
of  all  sects  :  duty  was  taught  on  set  days  by  provincial 
rulers ;  censors  were  appointed  to  regulate  morals ; 
and  cruelty  to  animals  was  forbidden.1  Thirty  edicts, 
in  various  dialects  and  in  several  alphabets,  record 
this  civilisation  from  Mysore  to  the  Himalayas, 
and  from  the  Bay  of  Bengal  to  the  Bombay  coast, 
all  over  an  empire  stretching  twelve  hundred  miles 
east  and  west,  by  eighteen  hundred  miles  north  and 
south — an  area  larger  than  that  of  the  old  Assyrian 
dominions. 

Although  this  empire  fell  in  184  B.C.,  and  was 
divided  among  Hindus  on  the  north-east,  Greco- 
Parthians  and  Tartars  on  the  north-west,  and 
Dravidians  on  the  south,  and  although  the  later 
history  of  India  is  one  of  slow  native  decay  and  of 
foreign  invasion,  yet  this  new  centre  of  civilisation, 
which  was  due  to  Persian  expansion  towards  the  east, 
became  that  from  which  the  Hindus  civilised  Eastern 
Asia,  dominating  Burma  and  Siam,  deeply  influencing 
Central  Asia,  China,  and  finally  Japan,  through  which, 
1  Asoka's  "  Rock  Edicts,"  ii.,  v.,  xii. ;  "  Pillar  Edict,"  vii. 


CHINA  101 

and  through  the  south,  they  even  left  their  mark  in 
later  times  in  both  Mexico  and  Peru. 

We  have,  unfortunately,  in  China  no  early  historic 
inscriptions  on  which  to  base  a  true  account  of  her 
civilisation,  such  as  we  have  in  India.  Ssu-ma-ch'ien, 
the  "father  of  history,"  dates  only  from  100  B.C. 
Accurate  chronology  is  supposed  to  begin  with  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun  on  August  29,  776  B.C.  ;  but  the 
book-burning  edict  of  221  B.C.,  though  it  was  probably 
not  carried  out  entirely,  yet  casts  much  doubt  on 
Chinese  assertions  as  to  their  traditional  history.  In 
the  time  of  Confucius  (551  to  478  B.C.)  China  consisted 
of  various  independent  kingdoms,  and  even  in  that  of 
Mencius  (371-288  B.C.)  there  appears  to  have  been  no 
consolidated  empire.  The  West  Han  dynasty  (205  B.C. 
to  24  A.D.)  marks  the  commencement  of  a  new  period 
of  prosperity,  and  under  their  successors  of  the 
East  Han  family  (24  to  421  A.D.)  the  power  of  China 
grew  so  great  in  Central  Asia  that  it  extended  even  to 
the  Caspian,  and  included  Afghanistan  as  a  province. 
The  Chinese  were  indeed  never  entirely  cut  off  from  the 
west  of  Asia,  and  it  is  believed  that  Assyrian  trade 
extended  far  into  Bactria,  whence  jade  was  brought  to 
Babylonia.  But  we  have  as  yet  no  records  to  show 
the  origin  of  Chinese  civilisation,  though  their  religious 
beliefs,  their  astronomy,  their  highly  developed  system 
of  irrigation,  and  probably  their  script,  seem  to  show 
that  the  Chinese  were  emigrants  who  took  to  the  far 
East  the  civilisation  of  the  kindred  Akkadians  who 
first  founded  it  in  Mesopotamia. 

The  oldest  known  Chinese  texts,  on  stone  drums 
recording  hunting  adventures,  are  attributed  to  the 
Chow  dynasty  (827  to  782  B.C.),  and  they  show  that  the 
art  of  writing  had  then  been  long  in  use.1  But 
the  Chinese  system  can  only  be  completely  studied  in 
the  Shwoh-wan,  about  100  B.C.,  and  there  is  a  gap  of 

1  See  Journal  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  N.  China  Branch,  viii.  p.  133. 


102  CIVILISATION 

at  least  a  thousand  years  between  the  oldest  texts  and 
those  of  the  Akkadians  and  Kassites.1  The  immense 
total  of  forty  thousand  characters,  derived  from  the 
nine  thousand  five  hundred  emblems  of  the  Shwoh- 
wan,  has  been  further  reduced  to  an  original  list  of 
not  more  than  three  hundred  signs.  When  these  are 
compared  with  the  Hittite  and  the  Akkadian  hiero- 
glyphics the  emblems  are  found  to  be  the  same  in 
about  forty  cases,  but  the  sounds  attached  to  them  are 
different.  Hence  it  appears  that,  although  the  Chinese 
may  have  founded  their  characters  on  those  of  Meso- 
potamia perhaps  as  early  as  2000  B.C.,  yet  long  ages  of 
separate  development  must  have  followed.  Many  of 
their  oldest  signs  are  peculiar  to  themselves  (including 
those  for  numerals),  and  are  never  found  in  the 
hieroglyphic  systems  of  the  West.  The  same  remark 
applies  to  the  Chinese  language,  which  has  gradually 
changed  in  the  course  of  ages.  It  is  not  difficult  to 
show  that  it  is  connected  with  Mongolian,  and  thus 
ultimately  with  the  Akkadian ;  but  it  developed  as  a 
distinct  tongue  which  can  only  be  regarded  as  having 
a  very  remote  relation  to  the  original  speech  of  the 
civilised  Turanians  of  Chaldea. 

The  history  of  Japan  is  intimately  connected  with 
that  of  China.  The  mixed  Japanese  race  appears 
originally  to  have  come  from  Korea,  and  to  have 
been  akin  to  the  Samoyed  Turanians,  who  mingled 
with  Aino  aborigines  and  with  Malays  from  the 
South.  But  tradition  goes  back  only  to  660  B.C.  for 
the  arrival  of  the  first  divine  Emperor,  Jimmu  Tennu. 
The  civilisation  of  Japan  is  almost  entirely  of  Chinese 
origin,  and  though  Sanskrit  texts  of  Buddhist  writings 
have  been  found,  they  date  only  from  252  A.D.2  The 
script  of  Japan,  in  like  manner,  was  a  syllabary  de- 
rived from  the  Chinese  characters ;  but  the  language 

1  See  Chalmers,  "Structure  of  Chinese  Characters,"  1882,  p.  v. 
*  Max  Miiller,  "Selected  Essays,"  1881,  vol.  ii.  p.  341. 


THE   EARLY  GREEKS  103 

of  the  Nipon  Islands  was  not  Chinese,  although  it  was 
also  a  Turanian  agglutinative  tongue. 

When  we  turn  from  this  great  story  of  a  civilisation 
in  Asia,  which  grew  and  spread  east  and  west  from 
the   Euphrates  during  a  period   of   more  than   two 
thousand  years,  to  consider  the  contemporary  history 
of  Europe,  we  are  plunged  at  first   into   barbarism 
among  the  illiterate  Aryans,  who  swarmed  from  their 
home  on  the  Volga,  and  reached  Greece  and  Italy, 
perhaps  as  early  as  2000  B.C.     It  is  quite  possible  that 
the  Trojan  war  took  place  about   1200  B.C.,  and  the 
Dorian  invasion  a  century  later,  for  we  know  that 
Aryan   tribes  were   invading  Asia  Minor  and  Syria 
about  that   time,   including    Danai  and    Dardani,   as 
recorded  by  Rameses  II.  and  Rameses  III.     But  the 
early  civilisation  of  Troy  and  Mycenae  was  Asiatic, 
and  the  first  race  at  Troy  is  non-Aryan  and  appar- 
ently Turanian.     The  long-headed  people  of  Schlie- 
mann's  "  third  city "  were  probably  Aryans,  and  the 
Trojans  were  akin  to  the  Phrygians,  and  perhaps — 
judging  from  the  black  hair  of  Hector,  who  had  a 
Phrygian  mother — to  the  dark  race  of  Crete.     The 
great  walls  of  Mycenae,  however,  were  traditionally 
said   to  have  been  built   by  a  "  round-faced  "  people 
from  Lycia,1  and  the  art  of  the  treasures  there  found 
is  similar  to  that  of  the  Turanians  of  Asia  Minor,  as 
described    on    the    dowry    list    of    Tadukhepa,    the 
daughter  of  Dusratta  the  Minyan  king,  in  the  fifteenth 
century  B.C.,  and  as  discovered  in  the  Hittite  ruins 
of  Cappadocia.     All  the  art  of  the  Greek  islands  in 
early  times  is  equally  Asiatic  in  character.    At  Troy, 
in  the  first  city,  jade  is  found,  which  must  have  been 
brought  by  traders  from  Central  Asia,  and  Egyptian 
porcelain   occurs   in   the  third   or   burnt    city  about 
1 200  B.C.     But  the  Aryans,  then  adopting  foreign  art, 
seem  to  have  been  still  illiterate.     Only  a  few  short 

1  Strabo,  viii.  6.    See  Schliemann,  "  Mycenae,"  1878  ;  "  Ilios,"  1880. 


104  CIVILISATION 

texts  in  the  old  syllabary  of  the  Hittite  tribes  are 
found  early,  at  either  Troy  or  Mycenae,  and  the 
weights  are  also  uninscribed,  though  referable  to  a 
Babylonian  unit.  The  use  of  brick  at  Troy,  and 
among  the  Lydians,  is  another  indication  of  this 
Eastern  influence.  The  first  dated  Aryan  texts  in 
alphabetic  script  are  those  of  the  Ionian  and  Carian 
mercenaries,  who  went  up  the  Nile  about  600  B.C., 
and  scrawled  their  record  and  names  on  the  legs 
of  the  colossal  statue  of  Amenophis  III. ;  but  the 
Phrygian  inscriptions  are  thought  to  have  been 
earlier.  The  use  of  the  old  syllabary  continued 
among  Arcadian  Greeks  in  Cyprus  as  late  as  the 
fourth  century  B.C.  ;  and  though  the  clay  tablets  found 
by  Mr.  Evans  at  Knossos,  in  Crete,  resemble  those 
used  much  earlier  by  Cappadocian  Hittites,  yet  the 
script  is  so  clearly  connected  with  that  of  Cyprus 
that  these  texts  may  also  have  been  written  very 
late.1 

The  art  of  Crete  is  distinctively  Greek,  and,  as 
in  Cyprus,  the  syllabic  texts  are  probably  written  in 
Greek.  The  oldest  remains  may  go  back  to  1 500  B.C., 
but  the  masonry  at  Knossos  seems  to  be  later  than 
that  of  Mycenae.  The  appearance  of  an  ancient  statue 
stolen  from  Egypt  gives  no  indication  of  date,  and  on 
the  other  hand  the  plumes  of  the  peacock  are  painted 
in  one  fresco — a  bird  which  seems  not  to  have  been 
known  in  the  West  till  the  Persian  age,  though  it  had 
perhaps  been  brought  to  Solomon  by  traders  from 
Tarsus  as  early  as  1000  B.C.2  The  broken  text  on  a 
libation  table,  in  the  Diktaian  cave  on  Mount  Ida, 

1  See  my  "  First  Bible,"  1902,  p.  215. 

*  See  "Annual,  British  School  of  Athens,"  1899-1900  ;  "Journal  of 
Hellenic  Studies,"  XIV.  ii.  1894  ;  "  Further  Discoveries  of  Cretan 
and  ./Egean  Script,"  by  A.  J.  Evans,  1898.  The  representation  of  the 
cock  on  the  gems,  the  use  of  swords,  and  of  the  fibula,  all  indicate 
a  late  age.  See  my  letter  on  the  Cretan  texts,  Times,  April  16, 
1901. 


CRETE  105 

appears  to  read  in  Greek  (He  tou  topou  hiera — "the 
goddess  of  the  place "),  and  the  monetary  texts  on 
the  clay  tablets  can  also  be  rendered  in  Greek.  But 
Cretan  civilisation  owed  much  to  foreign  trade.  The 
camel  occurs  on  a  gem ;  lapis  lazuli  came  no  doubt 
from  Asia,  as  did  the  obsidian  for  knives ;  and  amber 
reached  Crete  from  Sicily ;  but  none  of  these  indica- 
tions tell  us  anything  about  the  age  of  the  remains. 
The  art  of  the  gems  is  archaic,  but  that  of  the  Greeks 
in  Lycia  and  Cyprus  was  equally  archaic  in  the  fifth 
century  B.C.  It  was  only  about  430  B.C.  that  Pheidias 
and  Zeuxis  became  famous  in  Greece  itself,  and 
Praxiteles  dates  yet  later,  about  350  B.C.  The  Greeks 
took  the  idea  of  a  coinage  from  Lydians  and  Persians, 
but  the  beauty  of  their  coins  dates  back  only  to 
those  of  Alexander.  The  Hellenes  far  surpassed 
their  old  masters  in  painting,  sculpture,  and  science, 
but  they  served  a  long  apprenticeship  before  they 
threw  aside  the  old  conventions ;  and  the  progress 
of  outlying  islands  was  naturally  slower  than  that 
of  Athens. 

When  Lycurgus  gave  laws  to  Sparta,  about  850  B.C., 
the  Lacedemonians  had  initiatory  rites  for  boys,  and 
lent  their  wives  like  Australian  savages ;  and  even 
when  Solon  became  archon  in  Athens  (in  594  B.C.) 
human  sacrifice  was  a  Greek  custom.1  The  Greeks 
in  character  closely  resembled  the  Kelts.  They 
possessed  the  same  poetic  genius.  The  Aryan  love 
of  freedom,  and  the  passionate  artistic  disposition 
rendered  them  as  quarrelsome,  treacherous,  and 
jealous  as  the  Keltic  peoples  also  were.  When  we 
consider  that  the  small  Greek  cities  of  Thebes,  Athens, 
Corinth,  Argos,  and  Sparta  lay  within  a  peninsula 
measuring  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
north  to  south,  we  can  but  regard  their  endless  and 
bootless  wars  as  resembling  those  of  Highland  clans 
1  Plutarch,  "  Theseus  »  and  "  Solon." 


io6  CIVILISATION 

or  of  Irish  kings.  Even  for  a  deadly  struggle  against 
Xerxes  they  could  hardly  trust  one  another's  aid  in 
480  B.C.  ;  half  a  century  later  they  were  allying  them- 
selves against  themselves  with  Persian  satraps ;  and 
as  mercenaries  they  served  any  master  who  would  pay 
them.  Treachery  still  characterised  them  in  415  B.C., 
when  Alcibiades  betrayed  to  Sparta  the  Athenian 
scheme  for  the  conquest  of  Sicily.1  The  half-century 
that  followed  the  defeat  of  Xerxes  includes  nearly  all 
the  great  names  of  the  glorious  period  of  Athenian 
prosperity — the  age  of  Pericles,  when  Homer  was 
studied,  and  when  philosophy  and  the  drama  flourished. 
After  this  came  plague  and  war,  the  capture  of  Athens 
by  the  Spartans,  the  days  when  the  mob  laughed  with 
Aristophanes,  and  poisoned  Socrates — denounced,  like 
others  before  him,  as  an  atheist,  because  he  did  not 
credit  the  savage  mythology  of  the  Homeric  poems. 
Themistocles  had  taught  the  hardy  Greek  sailors  that 
those  "  whose  navies  hold  the  sluices  of  the  sea " 
(as  Andrew  Marvel  sang)  are  masters  also  of  the 
land,  and  Mardonius  fell  fighting  at  Plataea  after 
the  Phoenician  navy  of  his  master,  Xerxes,  was 
scattered.  But  though  Persia  failed  to  reduce  Greece 
to  a  province,  the  Persian  diplomacy  guarded  her 
empire  for  a  century  and  a  half.  Agesilaos  of  Sparta, 
invading  Asia  Minor  for  six  years,  might  have  rivalled 
Alexander;  but  the  gold  of  Pharnabasus  bribed 
Argos,  Athens,  Corinth,  and  Thebes  against  him,  and 
led  to  the  disgraceful  peace  of  Antalkidas  in  387  B.C. 
The  Persian  alliance  with  Sparta,  a  quarter  of  a 
century  earlier,  had  been  equally  fatal  to  Athens, 
when  her  power  was  supreme.  Like  the  Hebrews, 
the  Greeks  were  the  inhabitants  of  a  small  country, 
and  they  played  only  a  minor  part  in  history  before 
500  B.C.  But,  like  the  Hebrews  also,  they  have 
conquered  the  world  by  the  power  of  their  highest 
1  Thucydides,  vi.  90,  91, 


THE  MACEDONIANS  107 

thought.  The  ordinary  Athenian  hated  philosophy 
and  science,  which — like  the  Englishman  of  half  a 
century  ago — he  thought  subversive  of  religion.  The 
men  whom  Greece  persecuted  and  exiled  were  those 
on  whom  her  fame  now  rests.  The  eager  minds  of 
her  great  thinkers  were  not  content  with  the  vague 
ideas  of  older  Asiatics,  and  their  inquiries  into 
nature  laid  the  basis  of  modern  science,  and  perme- 
ated the  thought  of  Asia  and  Europe  from  India  to 
Rome. 

But  it  was  not  till  the  Macedonians  conquered 
Greece  that  the  extension  of  her  influence  began  to 
be  felt,  after  Alexander  had  captured  the  whole 
Persian  empire  by  military  genius,  and  by  a  states- 
manship which  he  owed  to  the  intelligence  of  his 
father  in  selecting  Aristotle  as  a  tutor  for  his  son. 
The  long  spears  of  the  Greeks  had  defended  Ther- 
mopylae ;  the  yet  longer  sarissa  of  the  Macedonian 
phalanx,  and  the  long  lance  of  their  cavalry,  secured 
victory  against  the  cumbersome  chariots  and  elephants 
of  Darius.  The  courage  of  the  deep-drinking  Mace- 
donians, the  audacity  and  rapidity  of  their  great 
leader,  and  the  tolerance  of  his  rule,  won  empire  in 
four  great  battles,  and  .preserved  it  for  more  than 
a  century.  It  was  then  that  the  influence  of  Greek 
art,  drama,  poetry,  and  philosophy,  spread  far  and 
wide  in  Egypt,  Syria,  Parthia,  and  the  Panjab. 

The  premature  death  of  Alexander  at  Babylon,  in 
323  B.C.,  was  followed  by  twenty  years  of  confusion 
among  seventeen  provincial  rulers,  till  these  were 
reduced  to  four  after  the  battle  of  Ipsus  in  301  B.C. 
Ptolemy  in  Egypt  and  Syria,  and  Seleucus  at  Babylon, 
were  worthy  successors  of  their  great  master,  and  a 
brilliant  Greek  century  in  Egypt  lasted  till  the  death 
of  Ptolemy  III.  in  222  B.C.  But  the  old  Greek  spirit 
of  dissension  brought  an  age  of  futile  wars  after  the 
murder  of  Seleucus  in  280  B.C.  ;  and  thirty  years  later 


io8  CIVILISATION 

Bactria  and  Persia  became  free.  Rome  was  the  pro- 
tector of  Egypt  after  205  B.C.,  and  defeated  the  last 
of  the  great  Seleucidae  (Antiochus  III.)  fifteen  years 
later.  The  ruin  brought  on  Asia  by  the  Greeks  led 
the  subject  races  to  look  with  hope  towards  the  new 
conquerors  of  Carthage,  and  even  Judas  Maccabaeus, 
in  168  B.C.,  after  freeing  Palestine  from  the  tyranny  of 
Antiochus  IV.  made  a  treaty  with  Rome. 

The  number  of  the  Macedonians  led  into  Asia  by 
Alexander  had  never  been  large,  and  it  was  his  policy 
to  intermarry  Greeks  and  Persians,  although  under 
the  first  Ptolemy  the  Macedonians  of  the  Fayyum 
colony  brought  their  wives  with  them  to  Egypt.1 
The  mixed  Greco-Persian  race  which  ruled  to  the 
borders  of  India,  and  sometimes  also  in  the  Panjab, 
retained  its  Greek  civilisation  for  nearly  four  cen- 
turies after  Alexander's  retreat ;  and  even  the  Tartar 
kings  of  North- West  India — the  Kushans — inscribed 
their  coins  in  Greek  yet  later.  The  Saka  (or  Scythian) 
satraps  of  Taxila,  east  of  the  Indus,  were  apparently 
subject  to  the  Parthians,  and  after  190  B.C.  the 
Bactrian  coins  bear  native  Indian  legends  on  the 
reverse  of  the  Greek  medal.  But  the  Parthians  them- 
selves retained  Greek  civilisation  as  late  as  the  time 
when  the  head  of  the  miserable  Crassus  (in  53  B.C.) 
was  brought  before  Orodes,  while  witnessing  a  per- 
formance of  the  "  Bacchae  "  of  Euripides ;  and  Parthian 
coins  also  bear  Greek  legends.  The  architecture  of 
North- West  India  was  influenced  by  Greek  art ;  the 
Hindu  Zodiac  is  of  Greek  origin ;  and  it  seems  pro- 
bable that  Hindu  philosophy  was  equally  indebted 
to  the  Platonism  of  the  Bactrian  Greeks.  Mithra- 
dates  I.  .(174  to  136  B.C.)  was  a  "  king  of  kings"  from 
India  to  Armenia;  and  the  new  kingdom  of  Pontus 
spread  Persian  influence  once  more  to  the  shores 

1  Mahaffy,  "The  Silver  Age  of  the  Greek  World,"  1906,  p.  42, 


THE   EARLY   ROMANS  109 

of  the  Aegean,  and  cost  the  Romans,  for  twenty-five 
years,  far  greater  trouble  than  did  the  degenerate 
Greeks,  till  Pompey  reached  the  Caucasus. 

To  this  later  age  belong  the  remarkable  monuments 
of  the  Nimrud  Dagh  in  Commagene,1  which  bear 
witness  to  the  Persian  influence  over  the  degenerate 
scion  of  the  Seleucidae  who  submitted  to  Pompey  in 
65  B.C.  He  calls  himself  in  his  long  Greek  inscriptions, 
accompanying  gigantic  statues  of  his  gods,  "  the  great 
king  Antiochus  Theos,  lover  of  Rome,  lover  of 
Greece."  He  identifies  Greek  gods  with  those  of 
Persia,2  and  the  art  of  his  bas-reliefs  shows  the  same 
curious  mixture  of  late  Greek  and  Persian  styles. 

Such  was  the  Asiatic  world  when  Rome  began  first 
to  meddle  in  its  affairs.  The  Roman  era  was  nearly 
the  same  as  that  of  Greece.3  The  Roman  civilisation, 
her  arts,  alphabets,  weights  and  measures,  came  from 
the  two  sources — Etruscan  and  Greek — which  formed 
the  early  Italian  population.  The  Roman  mixed  race 
sprang  from  Latins,  Sabines  and  Etruscans,  and  was 
characterised  on  the  one  hand  by  the  Aryan  love  of 
self-government  and  of  freedom,  and  steadied  on  the 
other  by  the  Turanian  practical  stolidity,  and  love 
of  law.  Of  the  seven  centuries  preceding  Augustus 
two  and  a  half  passed  under  the  rule  of  tribal  kings, 
Sabine,  Latin,  and  Etruscan,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  in  sturdy  struggles  to  create  a  constitution,  to 
repel  Gauls  on  the  north  and  Greco-Italians  on  the 
south.  The  conquest  of  Italy  was  effected  in  the 
next  eighty  years,  and  then,  for  another  century  and 
a  half,  Rome  was  engaged  in  the  great  struggle  with 
Carthage  which,  beginning  as  a  fight  for  freedom, 
developed  finally  into  a  wider  policy  which  made  the 

1  Humann  and  Puchstein,  "  Reisen,"  1890,  p.  280. 

*  Zeus  with  Ahura-mazda,  Apollo  with  Mithra,  and  Herakles  with 
Verethragna. 

*  Foundation  of  Rome,  753  B.C.  (Varro)  ;  first  Olympiad,  776  B.C. 


no  CIVILISATION 

Mediterranean  an  Italian  lake.  The  mastery  at  sea, 
for  which  the  Etruscan,  the  Phoenician,  and  the  Greek 
alike  had  striven,  was  gained  by  a  new  and  more 
masterful  people.  When  Pyrrhus  of  Epirus  (281  to 
275  B.C.)  was  driven  out  of  southern  Italy  in  spite 
of  his  elephants,  the  Greek  sea  power  decayed  :  when 
the  jealous  rulers  of  Carthage,  after  three  centuries 
of  struggle  in  Sicily,  failed  to  support  the  mighty  raid 
of  Hannibal  (lasting  from  218  to  204  B.C.),  the  fate 
of  the  great  Tyrian  city  in  Africa  was  sealed ;  and 
the  Romans,  who  had  begun  with  only  fifty  ships, 
learning  to  ram  the  Carthaginian  galleys  and  forming 
a  sufficient  fleet,  left  to  Carthage  only  ten  triremes 
when  Scipio  made  the  second  peace,  in  202  B.C. 

But  extension  of  power  to  foreign  lands  disorganised 
the  old  Roman  constitution,  and  entailed  on  Italy  the 
evils  of  civil  war  for  ninety  years.  When  the  Cimbri 
slid  down  the  Alps  on  their  shields  l  Marius  saved 
his  country.  When  eighty  thousand  Roman  citizens 
were  slain  by  Mithradates  of  Pontus,  Pompey's 
dictatorship  in  Asia  became  inevitable.  But  Marius 
and  Sulla  proved  bloodthirsty  tyrants ;  Pompey  and 
Antony  were  as  venal  as  Marlborough.  Caesar  alone 
seems  to  have  risen  above  the  vulgar  ambition  of 
the  ordinary  general ;  but  it  was  to  the  practical 
wisdom  of  Augustus  that  Rome  owed  two  centuries 
of  increasing  prosperity  and  power,  marred  only  by 
the  evil  days  of  Nero's  reign. 

Two  ideals  were  then  striving  against  each  other  in 
Italy,  as  they  have  continued  ever  since  to  struggle 
in  Europe — the  Aryan  ideal  of  government  by  consent, 
and  the  Asiatic  ideal  of  the  priest-king  or  divine  ruler. 
It  was  a  general  and  sincere  belief  that  genius  and 
power  marked  the  children  of  the  gods.  The 
Akkadian  and  Etruscan  kings  were  priests :  the 
Pharaohs,  and  the  kings  of  Assyria,  are  addressed 

1  Plutarch,  "  Marius." 


THE  ROMAN   EMPIRE  in 

on  the  tablets  as  "  my  God  " :  the  heroes  were  born 
of  divine  fathers  by  human  mothers  ;  and  such  divine 
incarnations  are  still  common  in  India.  The  emperors 
of  China  and  Japan  had  been  held  to  be  of  divine 
descent  long  before  Augustus ;  to  Alexander  a  like 
origin  was  ascribed,  as  well  as  to  the  Incas  of  Peru 
in  later  ages.  Even  the  kings  of  Pessinus,  and  of 
Hittite  Comana,  were  priests,  and  Antiochus  of 
Commagene  was  enthroned  among  the  great  gods. 
So  too  Augustus *  was  to  return  to  the  heaven  whence 
he  came  ;  and  writing  to  the  Cnidians  he  calls  himself 
"  Autocrator,  Caesar,  son  of  God,  Augustus  the  high 
priest." 2  But  he  was  a  statesman  who  combined  both 
ideals  in  one,  and  who  curbed  alike  the  power  of  a 
plutocracy  which  grew  out  of  the  old  Patrician  order, 
the  lawlessness  of  the  Plebeians,  and  the  insolence 
of  the  army ;  who  gave  over  to  the  Senate  every 
settled  province,  and  only  ruled  by  martial  law  the 
lands  where  wild  tribes  were  yet  untamed,  or  where 
the  Semitic  hatred  of  Rome  still  threatened  trouble. 
Insane  emperors  like  Caligula  might  insist  on  the 
Persian  custom  of  kissing  the  monarch's  foot;  but 
the  able  rulers  who  maintained  the  traditions  of 
Augustus,  from  Vespasian  down  to  Marcus  Aurelius, 
recognised  that  the  imperator  was  only  the  "com- 
mander "  of ;  armies  including  most  of  the  Roman 
citizens,  whose  right  it  was  to  elect  the  head  of  the 
state.  The  boundaries  of  the  Empire,  formed  by  the 
Euphrates  and  the  Danube,  the  Rhine  and  the  ocean, 
were  the  natural  limits  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
Augustus,  sufficed  to  make  Italy  safe,  and  the  only 
permanent  addition  was  made  when  Britain  was 
conquered  for  Domitian  by  Agricola.  The  early 
provincial  rulers,  of  whom  Cicero  complains,  were 
often  greedy  and  unjust ;  but  gradually  the  Romans 

1  See  Horace,  "Odes,"  I.  ii.  45. 

1  Mahaffy,  "  Silver  Age  of  the  Greek  World,"  1906,  p.  457. 


ii2  CIVILISATION 

learned  the  great  art  of  tolerant  rule,  and  the  Roman 
peace  descended  on  a  war-worn  world. 

Already,  however,  under  Augustus  the  seeds  of 
internal  decay  had  been  sown  which  were  to  prove 
fatal  to  Italy  five  centuries  later.  The  sturdy  yeo- 
manry, who  had  conquered  every  race  they  met  except 
the  Germans,  were  practically  exiled  to  other  lands. 
The  veteran  married  and  settled  in  a  civil  or  military 
colony  abroad,  or  came  home  to  find  his  farm  bought 
up  by  some  Patrician  plutocrat.  Horace  was  the  son 
of  a  freedman,  and  the  owner  of  a  farm.  He  foresaw 
the  evils  that  must  come  when  the  vines  and  olives 
were  replaced  by  turf,  by  flower  gardens  and  orna- 
mental grounds,  as  the  villa  extended  and  the  "  coloni " 
were  evicted.1  The  Patrician  may  have  been  glad  to 
see  his  turbulent  Plebeian  opponent  employed  abroad, 
and  to  substitute  an  army  of  slaves  for  the  old  yeomen ; 
but  Horace  reminded  him  that  it  was  not  by  such  that 
victory  was  won  in  the  days  of  "  unshorn  Cato,"  and 
he  prepared  a  rod  for  his  own  back  as  surely  as  did 
the  French  nobles  of  later  times.  Sicily  had  been 
a  rich  corn  land  before  the  introduction  of  slave 
labour,  but  Strabo  found  it  only  a  region  of  stock- 
breeders and  shepherds ;  and  in  Greece  also  the 
spread  of  large  properties  led,  in  our  first  century, 
to  the  same  ruin  of  agriculture,  which  was  general 
in  Italy  after  the  fourth  century.2  The  vigour  of  the 
race  was  transferred  to  the  provinces ;  and  the  ruling 
class  was  ruined  by  vulgar  and  material  luxury,  till 
they  no  more  produced  statesmen,  but  only  gamblers, 
horse-racers,  quail-fighters,  and  feasters  whose  obscene 
talk  and  licentious  deeds  were  not  even  concealed 
from  their  young  children :  too  proud  to  trade,  too 
indolent  to  undertake  the  hardships  of  war,  they  were 
yet  not  above  enriching  themselves  by  corruption  and 

1  Horace,  "  Odes,"  II.  xv.,  xviii. 

*  Mahaffy,  "  Silver  Age,"  pp.  256,  298  :  see  Gibbon,  chap.  xvii. 


ROMAN   DECAY  113 

usury.  In  time  they  found  no  defenders,  when  the 
bulk  of  the  population  consisted  of  Greek,  Syrian,  or 
Gaulish  slaves,  working  in  chains  and  sleeping  in 
dungeons,  hating  the  master  who  perhaps  owned 
twenty  thousand  of  such  human  cattle,  who  had 
sometimes  been  free  princes  at  home,  and  whose 
condition  was  far  beneath  that  of  the  slave  in  Babylon 
six  centuries  earlier.  Hadrian  and  the  Antonines 
strove  to  protect  them  by  law,  but  nothing  could 
replace  the  old  native  yeomen  who  loved  their 
country.  The  lower  class,  untaxed  in  Italy,  living  on 
the  corn l  tribute  of  Egypt,  with  free  rations  of  bread 
and  wine,  but  without  land  or  employment,  caring 
only,  even  under  Augustus,  for  "  bread  and  games," 
were  mingled  with  the  scum  of  Asia — the  Chaldean 
soothsayer,  the  Jewish  pedlar,  and  the  Syrian  usurer — 
in  the  hovels  of  crowded  Rome.  Their  lawless 
clamour  demanded  from  the  rich  a  "munificence" 
shown  by  public  spectacles,  and  donations,  which  in 
time  became  so  ruinous  that  men  were  condemned 
to  public  office  in  revenge  by  their  enemies.  The 
ancient  piety  was  in  a  measure  restored  by  Augustus, 
who  found  crumbling  temples  and  smoke-begrimed 
statues,  and  is  said  to  have  rebuilt  more  than  three 
hundred  of  such  fanes.2  But  Roman  superstition  was 
savage  and  degrading,  and  with  it  mingled  all  the 
new  rites  of  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor,  and  all  the 
most  archaic  beliefs  of  Asiatic  magicians.  Intense 
ignorance  pervaded  every  class,  and  the  average 
Roman  hated  philosophy  as  much  as  the  average 
Athenian. 

The  Roman  thought  of  the   Greeks   much  as  the 
Saxon  thinks  of  the   Kelts.     He   regarded   them  as 

1  These  rations  were  evolved  from  the  old  law  of  Caius  Gracchus 
(630  B.C.)  :  see  Lecky,  "  European  Morals,"  nth  edit.,  ii.  p.  74. 

-  Horace,  "Odes,"  III.  ii.  30,  vi.  1-47  ;  Vergil,  "^neid,"  vi.  716  ; 
Ovid,  "  Fasti,"  ii.  63. 

8 


ii4  CIVILISATION 

clever,  but  quite  unreliable.  Cicero  called  them  liars, 
but  we  may  well  doubt  if  the  Romans  were  really 
more  truthful,  though  they  prided  themselves  on 
"  seriousness,"  and  condemned  Greek  "  levity." 
Vergil  represents  all  that  is  most  worthy  in  Roman 
manners,  and  describes  a  rural  life  such  as  survives 
almost  unchanged  in  Italy  to-day  ;  but  what  are  we  to 
think  of  the  dark  figures  of  Gyges  and  Ligurinus  in 
Horace  l  ?  The  vice  of  Rome  was  as  vile  as  that  of 
any  Eastern  city,  though  the  Romans  may  have  been 
no  worse  than  the  older  nations  in  morals.  Roman 
cruelty  was  perhaps  not  as  savage  as  that  of  the 
Assyrians,  and  even  Darius  delights  in  relating  how 
he  put  out  the  eyes  of  his  enemies  and  mutilated 
them ;  but  torture  at  trials  was  not  an  invention  of 
the  middle  ages,  as  we  see  from  the  horrible  Roman 
Equuleus  or  "  pony." 2  Crucifixion  had  long  been 
a  punishment  among  Greeks,  Carthaginians,  and  Jews 
alike  ;  but  the  Romans  impaled  men  like  the  Assyrians. 
Human  sacrifice  continued  to  be  common  even  after 
240  B.C.,  and  was  not  put  down  till  Trajan's  time.3 
It  remained  a  Semitic  practice  till  400  A.D.,  though 
Asoka  had  forbidden  even  the  sacrifice  of  beasts  in 
India  two  centuries  before  Augustus.  The  fiendish 
tortures  inflicted  by  Christian  emperors  of  Byzantium 
exceeded  anything  that  is  recorded  of  Tiberius  or  of 
Herod. 

We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  Rome  as  ruling  all 
the  civilised  world  ;  but  her  real  mission  was  to  intro- 
duce the  elements  of  civilisation  among  wild  tribes 
in  Africa,  Spain,  Gaul,  and  Britain.  In  Asia  she  did 
little  more  than  keep  the  peace  among  races  of  culture 

1  Horace,  "  Odes,"  II.  v.  20,  IV.  i.  33,  x.  5. 

*  See  illustration  in  Rich.,  "  Diet.,"  s.v.  p.  265,  3rd  edit.  1873.  He 
quotes  Cicero,  "  Mil.,"  21,  and  Quint.  Curt,  vi.  10. 

3  Plutarch,    "  Marcellus " ;    Renan,    "  Eglise    Chre'tienne,"    p.    3, 

1879- 


ROME  AND  ASIA  115 

equal  or  superior  to  her  own.  She  imposed  the  Latin 
language  on  the  West,  but  in  the  East  Greek  remained 
dominant.  The  great  decrees  of  Augustus  at  Angora 
are  in  both  languages ;  but,  except  on  milestones  and 
beside  roads,  Latin  texts  are  few  in  Asia  as  compared 
with  Greek.  Romans  even  inscribed  their  tombstones 
in  the  latter  language,  which,  all  over  the  civilised 
provinces  of  the  empire,  remained  (like  Latin  in 
the  middle  ages)  the  common  tongue  for  literature, 
science,  and  diplomacy.  The  Roman  Empire  covered 
a  million  and  a  half  of  square  miles.  In  six  weeks 
from  Rome  Britain  could  be  reached,  in  six  days  by 
sea  Alexandria,  and  thence  in  forty  days  southern 
India.  The  density  of  population  was  a  third  of  that 
of  modern  Europe.  But  the  Persian  Empire  was 
larger  than  the  Roman,  and  its  Greco-Parthian 
civilisation  was  quite  as  advanced  as  that  of  the  West. 
The  contemporary  Empire  of  China  was  immensely 
more  extensive  than  either  of  the  others,  and  in  art, 
philosophy,  and  organisation  it  was  perhaps  more 
civilised. 

The  enmity  between  Rome  and  the  Semitic  race  was 
undying.  Jerusalem  met  the  fate  of  Carthage,  but 
Arabia  remained  unconquered,  and  the  Arabs  were 
the  great  traders  of  the  empire,  extending  their 
influence  to  Numidia  on  the  west,  and  to  India  on 
the  east.1  Roman  gold  coins  of  Tiberius  and  Nero 
are  so  numerous  in  southern  India  that  one  find,  on 
the  Malabar  coast,  amounted  to  five  coolie  loads ;  and 
small  copper  coins  down  to  400  A.D.  are  so  common  as 
to  suggest  a  Roman  settlement.  This  gold  poured  in 
to  purchase  silks  and  spices,  gems,  pepper,  and  dyed 
stuffs ;  and  at  Angora  Augustus  records  the  embassies 
sent  by  Indian  kings  of  whom  the  Romans  had  never 

1  For  the  derivation  of  the  Numidian  alphabet  see  my  "  First 
Bible,"  p.  9.  See  also  Vincent  Smith,  "Early  History  of  India," 
pp.  221,  337. 


ii6  CIVILISATION 

heard  before.  One  of  these  came  by  sea  from  the 
South,  another  was  sent  to  Trajan,  after  99  A.D.,  by 
the  Tartar  ruler  of  the  north-west — Kadphises  II. 
The  wealth  of  Rome  in  our  second  century  must  have 
exceeded  that  of  Persia  under  Xerxes. 

But  this  material  prosperity  was  not  accompanied 
by  exceptional  culture  among  Romans.  They  were 
great  road-makers,  and  erected  fine  bridges,  though 
they  do  not  seem  to  have  known  that  water  will  run 
uphill  in  a  pipe,  and  so  wasted  much  money  on  their 
aqueducts.  They  copied  Greek  art  rather  clumsily ; 
and  the  great  cities  which  sprang  up  in  Asia  under 
Hadrian  and  his  successors — such  as  Gerasa,  Baalbek, 
and  Palmyra,  in  Syria — are  Greek  rather  than  Roman. 
Augustus  boasted  that  he  found  Rome  of  brick  and 
left  it  of  marble  ;  but  the  cities  of  the  West,  as  a  rule, 
were  small  and  mean,  compared  with  those  of  Egypt, 
Asia,  and  Africa,  where  Greek,  Punic,  and  Persian 
civilisations  were  already  ancient.  The  Roman  who 
did  not  know  Greek  got  his  ideas  of  philosophy  from 
Cicero  for  the  Platonic,  Lucretius  for  the  Epicurean, 
and  Seneca  for  the  Stoic  systems.  But  the  Roman 
mind  was  not  speculative,  and  Latin  literature  includes 
only  a  few  great  names,  together  with  those  of  a  host  of 
bad  and  degrading  authors.  We  should  not  now  allow 
an  epitaph  to  be  set  up  which  said,  "baths,  wine,  and 
women,  spoil  our  lives,  but  make  up  life  " ;  yet  it  was 
very  true  of  Rome  as  a  whole.1  The  Romans  never 
understood  Epikouros,  though  Stoic  ethics  were 
accepted  by  their  best  emperors.  They  were  attracted 
by  the  mysticism  of  the  East,  and  they  believed  in 
Chaldean  amulets  and  Babylonian  fortune-tellers,2  but 
they  contributed  little  that  was  new  to  the  higher 
thought  of  the  world — their  delight  was  rather  in  the 

1  Bigg,  "The  Church's  Task  under  the  Roman  Empire,"  1905,  p.  97, 
quoting  "Corp.  Inscript.  Lat,"  vi.  3,  15258. 
*  Plutarch,  "  Marius";  Horace,  "  Odes,"  I.  xi.  2. 


THE  PROVINCIALS  117 

slaughter  of  the  arena,  and  the  fights  of  gladiators, 
unknown  to  Greeks. 

After  the  death  of  Marcus  Aurelius  the  decay  of 
Rome    began    to    be  evident,   under  Commodus,   in 
1 80  A.D.     The    provinces    began   to  feel    their   own 
power.     The  rich  Roman  hated  to  travel  and  to  put 
up  at  wretched  extortionate  inns.     It  was   no  light 
task  to  visit  all  the  frontiers,  and  to  keep  in  touch 
with    the  legions,   as  emperors  were   bound   to  do. 
Hence,   after   Pertinax  was    killed,   in    193  A.D.,   few 
emperors  came  from  Rome.     Septimius  Severus  was 
a  native  of  Africa,  wedded  to  a  Syrian,  and  to  her 
were  related  his  successors,  including  the  high  priest 
of  Ela-gabal  ("  the  mountain  god  ")  at  Emesa,  and  his 
cousin  Alexander  Severus,  born  at  Area  in  Phoenicia. 
Maximin  was  a  Gothic  giant ;  Philip  Arabs  came  from 
Bostra,  in  Bashan:  Claudius  II.,  Aurelian,  and  Probus 
were    Illyrians ;    Diocletian    was    a    Dalmatian,   and 
Constantius  a  Dacian.     Gallienus,  in  253  A.D.,  took  as 
his  colleague  Odenathus  of  Palmyra,  who  had  repulsed 
the  Parthians,  and  whose  widow,  Zenobia,  for  a  few 
years  (267  to   273   A.D.)  was  queen  of  western  Asia 
from   Bithynia  to    Egypt :    she  seemed   destined    to 
restore  the  Semitic  empire  till  Aurelian  defeated  her. 
Eastern  fashions  began  to  prevail  even  in  the  West, 
and  Diocletian's  court — where  prostration  before  the 
emperor  was  ordained — was  no  longer  Roman.     Men 
began  to  ask  why  Italy,  which  did  nothing  for  the 
provinces,   should    live    at    their   expense,   and  why 
Palmyrene  archers  must  serve  at  North  Shields,  even 
if  married  to  British  wives l  (as  a  well-known   text 
records),  in  order  that  Rome  might  exact  tribute  of 
all  the  West.     The  old  danger  of  army  tyranny — 
against  which   since   Cromwell's    time  we    have    so 
jealously  guarded  the  state — was  never  quite   over- 
come by  the  Romans ;  and  constant  wars  of  succession 
1  "  Trans.  Bib.  Arch.  Soc.,"  vi.  p.  436. 


ii8  CIVILISATION 

among  emperors  chosen  by  the  legions  in  far  lands, 
or  buying  their  title  from  the  insolent  Pretorians  at 
home,  suggested  that  the  hereditary  principle — so 
odious  to  Romans — was  better  for  the  world  than 
contested  elections.  Diocletian  endeavoured  to  estab- 
lish a  compromise  by  which  two  Augusti — in  East 
and  West — should  always  be  succeeded  by  two 
Caesars,  trained  by  themselves  in  statesmanship. 
Constantine  more  boldly  adopted  the  hereditary 
principle ;  but  to  carry  out  successfully  such  a  revo- 
lution it  was  first  necessary  to  remove  the  capital 
from  Rome.  The  change  had  been  dreaded  ever 
since  the  time  of  Caesar,  but  the  consequences  were 
not  foreseen.  The  master  of  Byzantium  has  never 
long  been  the  master  of  a  great  empire ;  and  though 
the  position  of  the  city,  as  the  key  to  the  East,  was 
important,  the  interests  of  Rome  itself  led  to  the 
division  of  the  empire  on  Constantine's  death,  and 
East  and  West  insensibly  drew  apart  and  became 
once  more  rivals.  The  old  Consular  authority  became 
an  empty  name :  a  new  religion — that  of  the  most 
powerful  Church  of  the  age — was  established  for 
purely  political  reasons ;  and  while  the  Eastern 
Empire  became  an  ordinary  Oriental  tyranny,  the 
Western  Empire  was  ruined  by  events  over  which 
Rome  had  no  'control.  Italy  was  forced  to  look  for  a 
protector  in  future  to  the  barbarians  whom  she  had 
civilised.  Her  work  in  Asia  was  done;  but,  in  the 
West,  she  still  remained — even  in  her  humiliation — 
the  one  representative  of  civilisation  for  another  five 
hundred  years. 

ii.  Mediaeval  History,  300-1500  A.D. — To  the  summer- 
time of  the  second  century  of  our  era  the  storms  of 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  succeeded,  and  both 
Europe  and  Asia,  for  a  thousand  years,  were  shaken 
by  the  great  racial  movements  of  the  dark  ages. 


THE  HUNS  119 

Mediaeval  history  covers  less  than  half  the  duration  of 
the  ancient  ages  of  civilisation,  but  its  changes  were 
more  rapid  and  its  development  more  complex.  The 
old  culture  had  to  be  transmitted  to  new  and  vigorous 
races  before  a  further  advance  in  the  progress  of  the 
world  in  general  became  possible.  The  barbarian 
flood  covered  the  settled  lands  of  the  south,  and  swept 
away  the  corrupt  and  effete  races  of  Italy  and  Greece. 
Huns,  Goths,  Arabs,  and  Turks,  were  in  turn  the 
ministers  of  wrath  before  a  new  and  wider  civilisation 
rose  from  the  ruins  of  the  past.  The  old  systems 
might,  however,  have  long  lingered  but  for  events 
which  no  statesman  could  have  foreseen,  due  to 
natural  causes  over  which  they  had  no  control — to  the 
teeming  of  hardy  stocks  in  barren  lands,  and  to  the  rise 
of  a  powerful  empire  in  China.  Constantine's  bold 
effort  to  reconstitute  the  Roman  state  in  accordance 
with  the  conditions  of  his  age  produced  no  permanent 
effects.  Seventy  years  after  the  foundation  of  his  new 
capital  the  sons  of  the  fanatical  Spanish  emperor 
Theodosius  divided  the  heritage,  and  while  the  East 
was  retained  by  the  elder  brother,  Arcadius,  the  West 
fell  to  the  younger,  Honorius,  but  was  only  retained 
by  his  successors  for  eighty  years.  The  power  of 
Byzantium,  gradually  decaying  in  Europe,  was  pre- 
served by  transmission  to  rulers  who  were  of  Gothic 
or  of  Persian  and  Armenian  origin,  until  destroyed 
after  three  centuries  from  its  foundation  by  Arabs  and 
Turks. 

These  great  revolutions  were  due  to  causes  which  we 
trace  back  to  the  second  century  B.C.,  when  the  Huns 
in  Mongolia,  north  of  China,  were  repelled  by  the 
Han  emperor  Wu-Ti.  They  were  driven  to  the  west, 
and  drove  before  them  the  Tartars  of  Turkestan,  who 
were  pressed  south  to  India  and  west  towards 
Russia.  The  Hans  followed  them  in  73  A.D.,  and 
extended  the  Chinese  Empire  to  the  Caspian,  but  in 


120  CIVILISATION 

the  second  century  the  Huns  subdued  the  Turkish 
tribes  of  Central  Asia,  and  gradually  formed  a  con- 
federation, which  grew  into  a  Mongol  empire  larger 
than  that  of  Rome,  but  extending  over  less  fertile 
lands.  By  376  A.D.  they  had  subdued  the  Khozar 
Turks  on  the  Volga,  and  had  driven  the  Goths  from 
Hungary ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  century  they 
were  ravaging  Armenia  and  Persia.  The  White  Huns 
fixed  their  capital  at  Herat,  and  penetrated  into  India 
nearly  to  Patna.  They  attained  their  greatest  expan- 
sion under  the  terrible  Attila — who  is  described  as 
purely  Mongol  in  personal  type — ruling  from  the 
borders  of  China  to  the  Rhine,  and  from  Armenia  to 
the  Baltic,  and  fixing  his  new  capital  near  Tokay,  in 
Hungary. 

It  was  not  the  policy  of  Attila  to  destroy  the 
great  trade  which  enriched  Europe  and  Asia  in  his 
days,  and  his  hardy  horsemen  were  indeed  not  fitted 
to  undertake  the  siege  of  walled  cities  protected  by 
Roman  engines  of  war.  He  was  content  to  take 
tribute  of  Constantinople  and  of  Rome,  and  to  spread 
the  terror  of  his  name  to  Antioch,  and  even  to  Egypt. 
The  civilisation  of  the  Huns  was  primitive,  and  the 
spoils  which  they  took  from  civilised  lands  formed  a 
strange  contrast  with  the  wooden  houses  in  which 
they  dwelt.  Attila  allied  himself  with  the  Vandals  of 
Africa,  and  endeavoured  to  form  a  marriage  alliance 
with  the  proud  but  effete  successor  of  Constantine  in 
Italy.  He  reserved  his  main  effort  for  the  conquest  of 
France,  and  after  his  defeat  at  Chalons,  in  451  A.D., 
following  the  unsuccessful  siege  of  Orleans,  his  power 
waned,  and  his  empire  crumbled  at  his  death.  In  the 
East  the  Huns,  who  had  destroyed  the  great  Gupta 
dynasty  of  Patna,  were  finally  subdued  by  the  alliance 
of  Persians  and  Turks  in  565  A.D.  In  the  west  they 
were  driven  out  of  Hungary  by  the  Gothic  Gepidae  as 
early  as  495  A.D. 


THE   HUNGARIANS  121 

But  though  the  Mongols  and  Turks  failed  to  estab- 
lish themselves  as  rulers  of  the  West,  the  Turanian 
expansion  into  South  Russia  was  permanent  for  a 
thousand  years.  The  Uigur  Turks,  from  the  south  of 
Lake  Balkash,  ruled  along  the  Oxus  in  the  sixth 
century,  and  by  1000  A.D.  they  had  adopted  an  alphabet 
of  Persian  origin  which  spread  to  Siberia  and  Man- 
churia :  they  had  been  influenced  by  the  Buddhist 
thought  of  India  as  well  as  by  Islam  and  by  Nestorian 
Christianity.1  The  Avars,  who  were  a  branch  of  the 
same  race,  succeeded  the  Huns  at  Tokay,  and  in 
610  A.D.  besieged  Constantinople.  They  were  not 
finally  driven  back  till  Charlemagne  defeated  them 
in  796  A.D.  Within  a  century  they  were  replaced  by 
Hungarians,  who  crossed  the  Volga  in  884  A.D.,  and 
continued  to  trouble  Europe  till  subdued  by  Otho  I. 
in  934  A.D.,  when  they  settled  down  in  Hungary,  and 
became  Christians  soon  after.  The  Khozars,  whose 
capital  was  on  the  Volga,  are  said  to  have  been  ruled  by 
Jewish  kings  after  the  conversion  of  their  chief  by 
Isaac  of  Sinjar  in  740  A.D.  and  the  Arab  writers  of  the 
tenth  century  describe  the  strange  mixture  of  races 
and  religions  in  this  region,  to  which  the  oppressed 
fled  from  Persians  and  Moslems.2  The  Khitai,  and 
other  Turkish  peoples  of  Eastern  Turkestan,  were  also 
civilised  by  India  and  Persia.  The  Chinese  were 
determined  to  retain  the  great  trade  route  by  which 
their  silk  was  carried  to  Constantinople  and  Rome, 
and  which  led  from  Antioch  through  Persia  and 
Kashgar.  Tai-tsong,  the  second  Tang  emperor,  sub- 
jected the  Turks  in  630  A.D.  ;  and,  in  spite  of  the 
Moslems,  Afghanistan  was  a  Chinese  province  as  late 
as  747  A.D.,  when  the  Khitai  began  to  invade  China 
proper,  followed  by  Kin  Tartars  in  1114  A.D.,  and  thus 

1  Vambery,  "History  of  Bokhara,"  1873,  p.  73 ;  Taylor,  "Alpha- 
bet," i.  p.  300. 

*  Carmoly,  "  Itineraires  de  la  Terre  Sainte,"  1847,  pp.  i-no. 


122  CIVILISATION 

preparing  the  way  for  the  great  Mongol  conquerors  of 
our  thirteenth  century.  Europe  knew  little  of  this 
Turanian  civilisation  in  Asia,  which  finally  rivalled 
her  own,  and  Huns  and  Turks  were  judged  by  the 
savage  cruelty  of  their  fighting  men,  and  as  enemies  of 
the  Christian  faith. 

Mongol  expansion  was  thus  the  main  cause  of  the 
destruction  of  the  Roman  Empire  in  the  West.  The 
enemies  against  whom  the  Romans  had  successfully 
fought  were  of  Keltic  race,  from  the  time  when  the 
first  Brennus  sacked  Rome,  in  390  B.C.,  to  that  of  the 
second  Brennus,  who  invaded  Macedon  and  Greece, 
and  was  repulsed  by  Antiochus  I.,  and  whose  kinsmen 
the  Romans  found  settled  in  Galatia.  The  Cimbri, 
who  reached  Gaul  by  500  B.C.,  were  driven  from  Italy 
by  Marius  in  101  B.C.,  and  subjugated  later  by  Caesar. 
The  Teutonic  tribes  only  became  formidable  to  the 
empire  when  they  were  driven  from  their  homes  by 
the  Huns. 

The  Goths,  like  the  Huns,  are  described  as  bar- 
barians by  Roman  writers,  being  enemies  of  the 
Catholic  Church ;  but  their  civilisation,  which  was  of 
Greek  origin,  may  have  been  of  considerable  antiquity. 
The  Greek  traders  of  Olbia  (near  Kiev)  penetrated 
up  the  Dniester  river  at  least  as  early  as  the  time 
when  Greeks  from  Sinope  were  sent  by  Mithradates 
of  Pontus  to  the  Crimea l ;  and  the  "  runes  "  of  the 
Goths  were  the  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet.  Gothic 
art  spread  north  even  to  Scandinavia,  and  was  brought 
west  by  the  Danes  even  to  Ireland,  where  the  Greek 
origin  of  Danish  ornaments  is  distinguishable  still,  as 
well  as  in  the  Orkneys.  The  Goths  became  Arian 
Christians  in  the  fourth  century,  and  Byzantine 
influence  on  the  Eastern  Teutons  continued  long  after, 
so  that  even  in  the  later  middle  ages  the  coinage 

1  Mahaffy,  "  Silver  Age,"  p.  113. 
?  Gibbon,  chap,  x.,  xi.,  xxvi.,  xxx, 


GOTHS  AND  VANDALS  123 

of  East  Europe  is  based  not  on  a  Roman,  but  on  a 
Greek  unit.  Swarming  south  from  Prussia,  the 
Goths,  who  defeated  Decius  in  the  third  century  A.D., 
had  fleets  of  ships  which  sailed  to  the  east  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea,  and  down  the  ^Egean,  from  the 
Danube.  They  invaded  Athens,  and  they  destroyed 
the  temple  of  Ephesus,  but  when  they  were  settled — 
by  agreement  with  Aurelian — on  the  north  bank  of  the 
great  river,  they  became  faithful  allies  who  formed  a 
strong  barrier  against  the  inroads  of  wilder  Teutonic 
tribes  on  their  north.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth 
century  they  suffered  cruelly,  when  they  were  obliged 
to  seek  shelter  south  of  the  Danube,  until  Theodosius 
settled  them  in  Thrace,  Phrygia,  and  Lydia.  On  his 
death  (in  395  A.D.)  they  revolted  under  Alaric,  who 
had  received  a  Byzantine  education,  and  whom 
Arcadius  was  forced  to  recognise  as  master  general 
of  Eastern  Illyricum.  The  weakness  of  the  empire 
was  evident  to  one  who  had,  from  youth,  dwelt  in  its 
capital ;  and  Alaric,  crossing  the  icebound  Danube 
to  demand  payment  of  the  subsidy  accorded  by  Theo- 
dosius, held  Athens  to  ransom,  and  might  have  taken 
Constantinople  but  for  Roman  aid.  Pressing  west 
after  this  check,  he  conquered  Aquitaine,  and  his 
mixed  horde  of  Huns  and  Goths  finally  sacked  Rome 
in  410  A.D.  Britain,  cut  off  and  abandoned,  fell  a  prey 
to  pagan  Saxons  forty  years  later,  and  no  sooner  did 
the  news  of  the  great  catastrophe  spread  over  Gaul 
than  the  wilder  pagan  Teutons  poured  over  the 
Rhine  as  Franks,  Germans,  Burgundians,  and  Suevi. 
The  Vandals  were  cousins  of  the  Goths  and  Arian 
Christians.  They  swarmed  into  Spain,  and  within 
twenty  years  had  established  themselves  in  Carthage, 
so  that  Rome  was  surrounded  by  her  foes.  The  rich 
defenceless  city  was  again  sacked  by  the  Vandal 
pirates  under  Genseric  in  455  A.D.,  and  yet  a  third 
time  by  Ricimer  in  472  A.D.  Four  years  later  Odoacer 


124  CIVILISATION 

became  the  first  Gothic  king  of  Italy,  and  a  second 
swarm  of  East  Goths,  conquered  in  turn  under 
Theodoric  twenty  years  after. 

Yet,  while  Rome  itself  was  ruined,  Italy  generally 
prospered  under  the  just  Gothic  rule l  in  the  fifth 
century,  though  the  Catholic  Church  was  only 
tolerated,  and  the  Latin  civilisation  despised ;  for 
agriculture  revived  when  the  Patricians  and  their 
slaves  were  replaced  by  the  hardy  soldiers  to  whom 
lands  were  assigned.  The  conquests  of  the  Franks, 
under  the  converted  Clovis,  also  drove  the  West 
Goths  to  Spain,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  later 
civilisation  in  the  peninsula.  It  was  indeed  an  evil 
and  a  corrupt  plutocracy  which  Alaric  destroyed.  The 
rich  Romans  (as  described  by  Ammianus  Marcellinus) 
were  clothed  in  embroidered  robes  of  silk  and  purple  : 
they  drove  in  their  carriages  surrounded  by  slaves 
who  kissed  their  knees,  and  under  the  shade  of  gilded 
umbrellas  like  the  Persians.  They  busied  themselves 
in  gaming  and  hunting,  they  read  only  the  satires  of 
Juvenal.  They  were  usurers  who  cast  their  wretched 
creditors  into  prison ;  nominal  Christians  who  believed 
only  in  witchcraft  and  astrology,  and  who  in  their 
extremity  trusted  in  sacrifices  and  spells.  A  popula- 
tion of  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  was  crowded 
into  the  splendid  city  built  by  the  Romans  three 
centuries  before,  and  of  these  forty  thousand  were 
slaves,  who  at  length  wreaked  their  vengeance  on 
their  masters.  Plague,  famine,  and  rapine,  decimated 
Rome,  and  she  sank  to  the  lowest  ebb  of  her 
fortunes,  while  the  Gothic  capital  was  still  established 
at  Ravenna. 

But  Gothic  success  was  not  confined  to  the  West. 

Constantinople  was  surrounded  by  a  settled   Gothic 

population  in  both  Europe  and  Asia.     It  was  natural, 

therefore,  that  her  ruler  also  should  be  at  length  a 

1  Gibbon,  chap,  xxxix. 


JUSTINIAN  125 

Goth.  Justinian  is  regarded  as  the  last  great  Roman 
emperor,  but  he  was  descended  from  a  Gothic  family 
in  Thrace.  The  languages  of  his  court  were  Latin 
and  Greek,  but  his  subjects  were  Goths,  Armenians, 
Persians,  Turks,  Syrians,  and  Egyptians.  He  sup- 
pressed the  schools  of  Athens,  and  the  consulship  in 
Rome.  His  laws  were  admired  by  those  who  had 
never  heard  of  'Ammurabi,  or  of  Asoka,  but  they  are 
often  the  laws  of  an  ignorant,  corrupt,  and  barbarous 
age — though  they  formed  the  foundation  of  later 
European  law  in  the  West.  The  civilisation  of  the 
provincial  emperors  had  been  inferior  to  that  of  the 
best  Roman  age.  The  architecture  and  the  coinage 
of  Constantine  were  both  very  inferior  in  art  to  the 
works  of  the  Antonines.  With  Justinian  we  find 
fully  developed  that  stiff  and  conventional  style  which 
we  call  Byzantine — as  primitive  as  that  of  the  Hittites, 
or  of  Saxons  and  Franks  in  the  dark  ages.  The 
buildings  of  Justinian — such  as  the  Golden  Gate  at 
Jerusalem — are  often  massive,  though  the  ornament 
is  debased  in  style  and  over-elaborate.  The  Hagia 
Sophia  makes  us  giddy  by  its  size,  as  we  gaze  from 
its  galleries  at  the  mighty  dome;  but  it  has  not  the 
sincerity  and  solidity  of  the  huge  masonry  of  Baalbek. 
The  brick  walls  are  covered  with  marbles,  shamming 
Roman  realities  :  the  tracery  mingles  Persian  types 
with  debased  Greek  art ;  and,  like  the  work  of 
Norman  cathedrals,  it  denotes  the  shallowness  which 
characterised  Gothic  civilisation.  Justinian  himself 
was  a  great  ruler,  who  not  only  drove  the  Goths 
from  Italy  and  the  Vandals  from  Carthage,  but  also 
allied  himself  with  the  Turks  on  the  north-east,  and 
the  Christian  Abyssinians  south  of  Egypt,  to  keep  the 
Persians — under  his  great  Sassanian  contemporary 
Chosroes  Nushirvan — in  check.  He  ruled  from  the 
Caucasus  to  Rome,  and  from  the  Danube  to  Egypt. 
He  brought  the  silkworm  to  Syria,  and  reopened  the 


126  CIVILISATION 

sea  route  from  Alexandria  to  India  and  China;  but 
his  empire  was  dissolved  in  a  century,  and  the  later 
rulers  of  Byzantium — after  the  Persian  and  the  Arab 
conquered  Asia — were  no  longer  of  either  Roman, 
Greek,  or  Gothic  derivation.  Leo  the  Isaurian,  in 
the  eighth  century,  belonged  to  the  Persian  stock  of 
Cappadocia.  The  so-called  Macedonian  emperors 
traced  descent  from  Parthian  Arsacidae.  John  Zimisces 
was  an  Armenian.  Justinian  II.  had  a  Khozar  wife, 
as  also  had  Leo  IV.,  whose  son,  Constantine  VI.,  was 
thus  half  a  Turk.  The  civilisation  of  Byzantium 
became  more  and  more  Oriental,  and  its  government 
a  very  evil  Oriental  despotism,  till  the  Comneni,  who 
claimed  Roman  origin,  restored  some  measure  of 
prosperity,  and  a  civilisation  seeking  alliance  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  with  the  new  Europe  of  the 
Normans. 

In  Italy  the  conquests  of  Justinian  were  partly  lost 
four  years  after  his  death ;  and  the  Lombards — akin 
to  the  Goths — divided  the  peninsula  with  the  Greek 
exarchs  of  Ravenna  for  nearly  two  centuries,  during 
which  the  Catholics  were  forced  to  rely  on  the 
detested  Byzantines,  and  the  Romans  on  their  bishops, 
who  gradually  assumed  temporal  power  over  the 
estates  of  the  Church.  The  final  success  of  that 
Church  was  due  to  the  zeal  of  her  missionaries  among 
the  wild  Franks,  and  to  the  Catholic  convictions  of 
Pepin,  when  he  founded  the  new  empire  at  Cologne, 
and  freed  Italy  from  the  Lombards  after  their  defeat 
of  the  exarchs.  The  Popes  were  glad  to  submit  to 
his  great  son ;  the  privileges  conferred  by  Charle- 
magne restored  Roman  Catholic  power,  and  led 
immediately  to  their  schism  with  the  Greeks.  But 
the  degradation  of  the  Church,  under  bishops 
nominated  by  Charlemagne's  successors,  continued 
till  the  reformation  which  Hildebrand  effected  when 
he  set  free  the  Roman  Church  from  the  dominance 


THE  MOSLEMS  127 

of  German  emperors   by  alliance  with   the   Norman 
princes  of  Southern  Italy. 

While  Roman  civilisation,  thus  overwhelmed,  slowly 
created  a  new  Europe  in  the  ages  of  Gothic  ignorance, 
Asia  enjoyed  a  culture  and  prosperity  greater  than 
she  had  ever  known  before.  The  storms  which  swept 
west  from  the  Gobi  deserts  were  followed  by  those 
which  swept  north  from  the  barren  lands  of  Arabia. 
The  Yemen  and  the  Hejaz,  which  had  resisted  Rome, 
were  conquered  by  Persia,  and  in  the  "year  of  the 
elephant "  (570  A.D.),  when  Muhammad  was  born,  the 
Christian  king  of  Abyssinia  raided  as  far  as  Mecca. 
Thus  for  several  centuries  Arabia  had  been  under 
foreign  influences,  and  it  was  filled  with  Jewish 
traders.  Persian  legends  were  well  known  to  the 
opponents  of  the  new  prophet,  Gnostic  Christians 
had  fled  from  the  Catholics  of  Syria  and  Chaldea ; 
and  the  more  educated  Arabs  (called  Hanifi  or  "con- 
verts") were  dissatisfied  with  the  barbarous  super- 
stitions of  their  own  race.  Asia,  indeed,  had  long  been 
striving  to  reconcile  the  ideas  of  rival  faiths,  and 
found  expression  at  length  in  the  simple  cry,  "  There 
is  but  one  God,  and  Muhammad  is  His  messenger." 
The  personal  influence  of  the  Prophet  depended  on 
a  character  which  represented  the  very  ideal  of  the 
free  Semitic  races  from  the  time  of  Job.  His  faithful- 
ness and  piety,  his  modesty  and  kindliness,  his  fervid 
eloquence  and  sincere  belief  in  his  own  inspiration, 
were  equally  admirable  in  the  eyes  of  all  Arabs.  He 
alone  could  unite  the  jealous  tribes,  and  inspire  them 
with  a  zeal  and  hope  of  Paradise  which  made  them 
careless  of  death.  Mecca  was  forced  to  submit,  in 
630  A.D.,  to  the  exile  she  had  driven  forth  eight  years 
before ;  for  the  guardians  of  the  Ka'aba  were  starved 
into  obedience  when  their  trade  with  the  north  was 
cut  off,  and  lost  all  their  influence  when  the  red 
sandstone  idol  of  Hobal  fell,  scattering  the  arrows 


128  CIVILISATION 

of  fate  from  its  golden  hand,  after  the  black-robed 
Moslems  had  solemnly  danced  round  the  square 
shrine,  whose  red  veil — swayed  by  the  breath  of  the 
jinns — remained  unrent,  and  no  thunderbolt  from 
heaven  fell  on  the  great  iconoclast.  In  that  same 
year  the  Christians  were  prostrating  themselves  before 
the  recovered  cross  in  Jerusalem.  The  Buddhists, 
like  them,  were  adoring  the  relics  and  footprints  of 
a  deified  master,  the  Jews  and  Persians  were  sunk 
in  formalism,  and  Byzantine  Christianity  had  become 
a  scandal  to  the  world.  Muhammad  knew  well  the 
corruption  of  Syrian  and  Persian  faiths,  and  he 
proclaimed  a  religion  which — as  he  said— had  been 
that  of  all  true  prophets  since  the  beginning  of  time. 
He  lived  only  two  years  after  his  triumph,  to  see 
Arabia  united  under  him,  and  to  bless  the  Moslem 
leaders  who  were  about  to  conquer  the  Byzantines 
in  Syria. 

The  conquests  of  the  Moslems  were  more  rapid 
than  those  of  the  Goths,  for  the  Byzantines  and 
Persians  had  been  alike  weakened  by  luxury  and  by 
wars  between  themselves.  Muhammad  had  watched 
them,  and  rightly  predicted  the  victories  of  Heraclius,1 
if  we  may  trust  the  present  text  of  the  Koran.  Four 
years  after  the  Prophet's  death  the  Sassanian  power 
was  wrecked  at  Kadasiah ;  and  the  Moslem  forces, 
which  overran  Syria  as  far  as  Laodicea,  retreating 
before  Heraclius,  at  length  were  able  to  show  on 
the  banks  of  the  Yermuk — south-east  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee — that  they  were  invincible  even  by  the  so- 
called  Romans.  The  daring  march  of  Khaled  over 
the  Syrian  desert  to  join  the  western  army  turned 
the  day  in  favour  of  Islam,  and  Jerusalem  capitulated 
to  Omar  in  637  A.D.  Egypt  was  conquered  a  year 
later;  Kairwan  was  founded  in  647  A.D.  ;  Carthage 
fell  half  a  century  later ;  and  Spain  was  conquered 

1    Koran,  xxx.  i. 


MOSLEM  CONQUESTS  129 

from  the  Goths  by  714  A.D.  On  the  north  the  Arab 
fleets  raided  Cyprus,  Rhodes,  and  the  Greek  islands, 
and  the  Arabs  twice  attempted  to  take  Constantinople, 
in  668  and  716  A.D.  On  the  east  they  reached  Bactria, 
and  raided  India  in  710  A.D.  But  here  they  were 
opposed,  as  early  as  664  A.D.,  by  successors  of  Harsha, 
the  great  descendant  of  the  Guptas ;  and  on  the  west 
a  limit  was  placed  on  their  expansion  by  their  defeat 
in  732  A.D.  at  Tours,  when  Charles  Martell  became 
the  hero  of  Christendom.  All  their  greatest  victories 
were  won  under  the  hereditary  Khalifs  of  Damascus, 
descendants  of  the  elder  branch  of  the  Koreish, 
who  became  supreme  after  'Ali,  the  fourth  Khalif, 
had  been  murdered  by  the  Khareji  (or  "  anarchists  "), 
and  his  son  had  abdicated  in  661  A.D.  The  first 
enthusiasm  died  out  as  this  Ommeya  house  decayed  ; 
and  when  it  was  succeeded  by  the  descendants  of 
'Abbas,  the  Prophet's  uncle,  in  750  A.D.,  Spain  at 
once  threw  off  allegiance  to  the  Khalif  of  Baghdad, 
and  was  soon  imitated  by  the  governors  of  Morocco 
and  of  Kairwan,  while  the  Fatemites — claiming 
descent  from  Muhammad's  daughter — became  inde- 
pendent in  Egypt  in  916  A.D.  Meantime  the  African 
Moslems  attacked  Sicily  and  the  Mediterranean 
islands  in  730  A.D.,  and  established  themselves  at 
Bari,  in  Italy.  In  846  they  appeared  on  the  Tiber, 
and  they  were  not  finally  expelled  from  the  mainland 
till  Italy,  Germany,  and  Greece  united  against  them 
in  890,  and  a  Greek  Katapan  (or  "  plenipotentiary  ") 
replaced  them  at  Bari. 

When  we  stand  in  the  beautiful  chapel  of  the  Dome 
of  the  Rock  at  Jerusalem  we  seem  to  see  an  epitome 
of  the  great  age  of  Arab  civilisation,  lasting  from  the 
seventh  to  the  ninth  centuries  of  our  era.  It  was 
completed  in  the  seventy-second  year  after  the  Hejirah 
(692  A.D.)  by  'Abd  el  Melek,  the  fourth  Khalif  of 
Damascus.  The  date  is  recorded  in  gold  mosaic  letters 

9 


130  CIVILISATION 

on  a  blue  ground  above  the  arches  of  its  octagonal 
arcade.  The  alphabet  in  use  (commonly  called  Kufic) 
was  that  of  the  Arab  Christians  of  Bashan  before  the 
Moslem  invasion,1  and  was  derived  from  the  Palmy- 
rene  script  of  the  third  century.  The  supporting 
pillars  of  this  arcade  were  torn  from  some  Christian 
church,  together  with  those  of  the  inner  circle  sup- 
porting the  dome.  To  this  building  the  outer  wall, 
with  its  Persian  parapet  of  round  arches  resting  on 
coupled  dwarf  pillars,  was  added  by  the  great  Abbaside 
Khalif  el  Mamun  in  831  A.D.,  according  to  the  date 
on  the  fine  bronze  gates.  The  wooden  painted  dome, 
destroyed  by  earthquake,  was  restored  (as  its  texts 
record)  in  1022,  and  now  bears  also  the  name  and 
titles  of  Saladin.  The  iron  grille  reminds  us  of  a 
century  of  Norman  conquest :  the  beautiful  Persian 
tiles,  and  the  coloured  glass  windows,  tell  of  yet 
later  renovations  by  Moslems  down  to  our  fifteenth 
century.  But  the  most  interesting  feature  of  the 
texts  is  the  appearance  of  extracts  from  the  Koran, 
dating  from  the  first  foundation  of  the  building ;  and 
no  other  faith  can  show  monumental  records  of  its 
scriptures  so  nearly  approaching  the  original  date  of 
composition.  These  declare  the  belief  of  Muhammad 
that  Jesus  was  the  Word  of  God ;  but  the  expression 
"  Messiah,"  found  in  the  present  text  of  the  Koran,  is 
omitted.2 

The  Arabs  had  little  native  civilisation,  though  they 
could  write  more  than  a  thousand  years  before 
Muhammad.  The  first  Khalifs  were  simple  in  dress 
and  frugal  in  diet,  and  under  the  Damascus  Khalifs 

1  See  Waddington,  "  Inscriptions  Grecques  et  Latines,"  No.  2464  : 
Arab  text  on   a  chapel   of  John   the  Baptist  at    Harran,  south   of 
Damascus,  with  a  date  equivalent  to  568  A.D. 

2  Sura,  xvii.  in,  xix.  34-37,  Ivii.  2,  iv.  168,  169.    The  latter  reads  : 
"  Jesus  son  of  Mary  is  an  apostle  of  God,  and  His  Word  which  he 
conveyed  into  Mary,  and  a  Spirit  from  Himself." 


ARAB  CULTURE  131 

the  Moslems  still  remained  intent  on  the  study  of 
the  Koran  alone.  But,  gradually,  they  adopted  the 
culture  of  Syria  and  Persia,  and  employed  Christian 
Greeks  to  build  for  them,  while  their  earliest  coins — 
inscribed  in  Kufic — have  a  very  Byzantine  character. 
The  distinctive  Saracenic  style  developed  from  that 
of  Sassanian  Persia,  as  is  very  plain  when  we 
compare  the  Dome  of  the  Rock,  or  the  beautiful 
kiosque  at  'Amman  in  Gilead,  with  earlier  Persian 
buildings.  Under  the  Abbasides,  as  the  Moslems  be- 
came acquainted  with  the  science  and  philosophy  of 
Greece  (preserved  by  the  Asiatic  Christians),  and  with 
the  mysticism  of  India,  the  old  zeal  and  orthodoxy 
decayed,  and  with  it  the  old  enthusiasm  for  conquest. 
But  if  we  compare  the  court  of  Harun-er-Rashid 
with  that  of  his  great  contemporary  Charlemagne,  or 
recall  the  astronomy,  botany,  mathematics,  geography, 
and  medicine,  the  poetry  and  philosophy  of  the  palmy 
days  of  El  Mamun,  we  have  to  confess  that  the 
Emperor  of  the  West — though  he  brought  Alcuin 
from  England  to  his  court — was  little  better  than  an 
illiterate  barbarian,  who  was  busy  for  thirty  years 
fighting  pagan  Saxons  and  putting  down  human 
sacrifices. 

The  Arabs  in  the  ages  of  their  power  continued  to 
be  great  travellers,  and  traders  with  the  East.  Mas'udi, 
about  943  A.D.,  visited  Multan,  Ceylon,  and  Madagascar 
from  Baghdad.  Yakut  in  the  thirteenth  century  de- 
scribed countries  between  Bactria  and  Spain.  The 
ubiquitous  Ibn  Batuta  was  to  outrival  them  all  in  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  Christian  century,  travelling 
in  Afghanistan  and  Russia,  in  India  to  Delhi,  by  sea 
to  the  Maldives,  Ceylon,  Sumatra,  and  China,  and  in 
the  West  to  Morocco,  Spain,  and  Timbuctoo,  which 
had  just  been  conquered  by  the  Arabs.  The  Arab 
trade  in  the  Indian  Ocean  dated  from  the  Ptolemaic 
age,  long  before  the  caravans  of  Palmyra  crossed  the 


132  CIVILISATION 

Euphrates.1  Hippalus  is  said  to  have  discovered  the 
monsoon  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  and  Ibn  Khordadbih 
knew  of  the  two  monsoons  in  our  ninth  century ; 
while  Cosmas  in  the  time  of  Justinian  describes  the 
old  land  route  to  India,  as  well  as  that  by  sea.  In 
336  A.D.  another  Indian  embassy  bore  gems  and  strange 
beasts  to  Constantinople.  The  Arabs  visited  Canton 
in  the  eighth  century,  and  down  to  1086  A.D.  In  the 
twelfth  century  there  were  Chinese  junks  in  the  Red 
Sea,  and  Chinese  porcelain  in  Syria ;  but  Indian 
wares  were  common  in  Egypt  as  early  as  375  A.D.2 
Nestorian  Christians  were  found  in  Ceylon  in  the 
sixth  century,  in  China  as  early  as  636  A.D.,  and  (as 
recorded  in  the  Singanfu  tablet)  they  were  still  there 
in  781  A.D.  It  was  by  their  aid  that  Justinian  brought 
the  silkworms  to  the  West.  We  no  longer  wonder 
at  the  travels  of  Marco  Polo,  who  returned  from 
Canton  in  1292  A.D.  by  the  sea  route,  past  Tonquin, 
Malacca,  Sumatra,  Ceylon,  the  Nicobar  and  Maldive 
Islands.3 

The  decay  of  Arab  civilisation  was  due  to  the 
conversion  of  the  Turks,  whose  power  rapidly  in- 
creased in  the  ninth  century.  In  the  eleventh,  under 
Mahmud  of  Ghuzni,  they  carried  the  faith  of  Islam 
into  the  Panjab ;  and  the  family  of  Seljuk— trained 
under  this  warrior — became  the  protectors  of  the  Arab 
Khalifs  of  Baghdad,  and  under  Alp  Arslan  they  wrested 
Asia  Minor  from  the  Byzantines.  His  son  Melek  Shah 
became  the  founder  of  a  Turkish  empire  embracing 
yet  wider  limits  in  Asia  than  that  of  the  Persians 
under  Darius.  But  these  new  converts  were  neither 


1  Palmyrene   caravans    are   recorded  in    142    A.D.— Waddington, 
"  Inscriptions  Grecques  et  Latines,"  No.  2589. 

*  Epiphanius,  "  Haeres,"  xlvi. 

*  Even  as  early  as  20  B.C.  Diodorus  knew  of  an  alphabet  in  Ceylon 
written  vertically  like  the  Chinese  and   the  Mongolian. — Diodorus, 
II.  iv. 


THE  NORMANS  133 

as  highly  educated  nor  as  tolerant  as  the  Arabs, 
among  whom  secret  scepticism  had  long  been  spread- 
ing, whereas  the  Turks  were  fanatical  Moslems. 
Hence  after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  in  1077  the 
Eastern  Christians  and  the  Western  pilgrims  suffered 
a  persecution  unknown  before,  and  the  trade  of  the 
Lombard  republics  and  of  the  merchants  of  Amalfi 
was  obstructed.  Turkish  power  was  a  very  imminent 
danger  to  Europe,  and  while  it  brought  misery  on 
Asia  it  obliged  the  West  once  more  to  unite  its  forces 
to  protect  Mediterranean  commerce  by  the  conquest 
of  Syria,  with  results  little  expected  by  the  Popes 
and  the  Normans  to  whom  the  Crusades  were  mainly 
due. 

A  new  race  had  spread  in  Europe  in  the  ninth 
century — the  Norsemen,  descended  from  the  old 
flat-headed  Scandinavian  stock.  They  appeared  as 
Vikings  or  "  men  from  the  bays  "  in  the  northern  seas, 
and  as  Varangers  or  "  corsairs  "  in  the  Euxine.  How 
widely  these  daring  seamen  ranged,  after  the  tenth 
century,  we  may  judge  from  the  discovery  of  one  of 
their  hoards  in  the  Island  of  Skye  where,  in  1891,  were 
found  not  only  coins  of  Athelstane,  but  also  silver 
coins  of  the  Moslem  rulers  of  Bokhara  inscribed  in 
Arabic.  These  belonged  to  the  Saman  family  ruling 
Bactria  in  the  tenth  century.  The  Norsemen  were 
not  without  a  rude  civilisation  of  Greek  origin,  as 
is  witnessed  by  the  contents  of  the  dolmen  tombs  in 
Norway,  but  they  were  worshippers  of  Odin  and 
Thor  when  they  reached  Normandy ;  and  the  con- 
version of  Rollo  in  912  A.D.  was  perhaps  one  of  the 
most  important  events  in  European  history.  They 
took  Christian  wives  from  the  Franks  and  Kelts  ;  and 
from  this  mixture  of  races  sprang  the  Norman  stock, 
which  was  soon  the  most  powerful  and  adventurous 
race  in  the  West.  Even  before  Duke  William  con- 
quered England,  Norman  mercenaries  had  begun  to 


134  CIVILISATION 

offer  their  services  to  the  small  Greek  republics  under 
the  Byzantine  emperors  in  South  Italy ;  and  his 
contemporary  Robert  Guiscard  ("  the  wily ")  con- 
quered all  the  lands  lying  south  of  the  estates  of  the 
Roman  Church,  while  Robert's  brother  Roger  sub- 
dued Sicily.  They  were  sons  of  a  valvassour  or 
gentleman  of  Hauteville  in  Lower  Normandy,  and 
Robert  died  fighting  for  the  conquest  of  Greece. 
Pope  Leo  IX.  found  it  necessary  to  submit  to  Norman 
power,  and  by  its  aid  Hildebrand  was  able  to  shake 
off  the  suzerainty  of  the  German  Emperor,  and  to 
found  the  new  policy  whereby  the  Pope  was  to  be- 
come the  legitimate  successor  of  the  Augusti,  and 
Europe  was  to  acknowledge  a  feudal  supremacy  of 
Rome  intended  to  unite  Christendom  under  the 
Pontiff. 

The  romantic  character  of  the  Normans  renders 
this  period  of  history  of  peculiar  fascination,  and 
great  figures  such  as  Godfrey,  Richard,  Saladin, 
St.  Louis,  or  Francis  of  Assisi  also  shine  out  amid 
the  general  gloom  of  narrow  fanaticism  and  savage 
ignorance.  The  ideal  of  the  Christian  knight — brave, 
modest,  faithful,  courteous,  and  just — is  distinctively 
Norman.  The  feudal  system  was  based  on  the  idea 
that  every  rank  had  its  duties  as  well  as  its  rights ; 
but  it  was  hampered  by  the  belief  in  caste,  which 
was  not  confined  to  Europe.  The  proud  nobles  and 
Brahmans  of  India  were  equally  exclusive  in  the 
same  age,  and  Japan  also  was  passing  through  the 
same  feudal  stage.  The  rule  of  the  baron  and 
the  bishop,  like  that  of  the  Brahman  and  the  Kshatra, 
tended  to  tyranny  when  their  tenants  were  heavily 
taxed,  their  peasants  reduced  to  slavery  or  to  serfdom, 
and  their  strong  castles  and  cathedral  towers  sur- 
rounded only  by  walled  villages  of  hovels.  Tolls 
and  guarded  bridges  every  twenty  miles,  with  the 
persecution  of  Jewish  creditors  and  Moslem  merchants, 


THE  CRUSADES  135 

obstructed  trade ;  and  from  such  narrow  tyranny 
Europe  was  only  set  free  by  the  Crusades. 

The  Crusades1  have  been  variously  regarded  ac- 
cording as  the  glamour  of  enthusiasm  for  mediaeval 
faith,  or  the  dullness  of  utilitarian  prejudice,  has 
affected  the  student.  The  sincerity  of  popular  belief 
is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  it  was  guided  not  only  by 
Papal  policy  but  by  Norman  ambition,  and  Italian 
trading  interests.  Europe  was  fighting  against  a 
very  real  danger,  and  the  possession  of  Palestine  by 
the  Franks,  for  two  centuries,  protected  the  ancient 
trade  routes  and  enriched  the  West.  The  power 
of  the  Papacy  was  immensely  increased  when  the 
princes  of  South  Italy,  and  of  Syria,  owned  the 
Pope  as  their  feudal  lord.  The  decline  of  the  Church 
dates  from  the  fall  of  Acre,  in  1292  A.D.,  although  at 
his  jubilee  in  1300  Boniface  VIII.  still  had  carried 
before  him  the  two  swords — temporal  and  spiritual — 
and  appeared  in  Imperial  robes.  It  was  a  very  poor, 
wild,  and  ignorant  Europe  that  wrested  the  Holy 
Land  from  the  Turk ;  but  the  civilisation  that  resulted 
in  the  thirteenth  century  destroyed  both  the  Papal 
power  and  the  feudal  system.  It  is  represented  by 
the  brilliant  Swabian  emperor  Frederic  II.,  and  by 
the  enlightened  Sultan  of  Egypt  with  whom  he  cor- 
responded on  science  and  philosophy,  and  from 
whom — in  spite  of  the  Popes — he  regained  peaceful 
possession  of  the  Holy  City  for  a  time. 

The  immediate  results  of  Frank  rule  in  Syria  and 
Palestine  appear  in  the  foundation  of  universities, 
in  the  growth  of  large  free  cities  in  Italy,  and  in 
the  extension  of  Genoese  and  Venetian  trade  with 
the  East.  Education  had  died  out  with  the  fall  of 
Rome.  The  Latin  tongue  had  become  unintelligible, 
and  Greek  was  scarcely  known  at  all  in  the  West. 
In  the  tenth  century  hardly  a  scholar  was  to  be  found 

1  See  my  volume  "The  Latin  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem,"  1897. 


i36  CIVILISATION 

in  Rome  who  knew  even  the  rudiments  of  letters, 
and  King  Alfred  complained  that  his  priests  did  not 
understand  the  prayers,  and  could  not  translate  Latin. 
The  complaint  against  clerical  ignorance  continues 
among  all  the  leading  spirits  of  the  age  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  and  down  to  the  Reformation ;  but 
in  the  East  the  Europeans  recovered  the  works  of 
Aristotle  and  Plato,  and  learned  the  old  education 
preserved  by  a  few  scholars  in  Byzantium.  The 
14  seven  arts "  did  not,  it  is  true,  include  much  more 
than  was  known  to  Seneca,  but  with  Rhetoric,  Logic, 
and  Grammar  they  included  Arithmetic,  Astronomy, 
Music,  and  Geometry.  Much  was  learned  from  the 
Jews  and  Moslems  of  Spain,  and  from  the  Arabs  of 
Syria ;  but  the  Popes  placed  their  veto  on  translations 
of  the  Koran,  which  first  appeared  in  the  twelfth 
century.  The  influence  of  the  Syrian  and  Nestorian 
monks,  who  had  preserved  Greek  literature  in  their 
colleges  and  monasteries,  was  probably  greater  than 
that  of  non-Christian  scholars  ;  and  after  the  Norman 
conquest  of  Constantinople,  in  1217  A.D.,  Byzantine 
teachers  began  to  find  their  way  to  Italian  univer- 
sities. 

The  medical  school  of  Salerno  was  famous  even 
before  the  first  Crusade,1  and  Bologna  had  guilds 
of  foreign  students  in  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century. 
It  was  encouraged  by  Frederic  I.,  and  by  Frederic  II. 
who  founded  the  University  of  Naples.  Paris  had 
a  university  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century, 
and  its  "  four  nations  "  were  recognised  by  the  Pope 
in  1231  A.D.  Oxford  owed  its  development  to  the 
return  of  English  students  from  Paris  during  the 
wars  with  France.  Salamanca  in  Spain,  and  Cam- 
bridge, were  constituted  only  in  the  early  part  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  and  few  German  universities 
are  older  than  the  Reformation,  though  Geneva  and 
1  Rashdall,  "  Universities  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  3  vols.  1895. 


PROGRESS  IN   EUROPE  137 

Pesth  trace  to  the  fourteenth,  Wurzburg,  Leipzig, 
and  Basle  to  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century. 
Tubingen  dates  only  from  1487  A.D.,  and  Luther's 
University  of  Wittemburg  from  1502  A.D.  The  con- 
quest of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks  drove  many 
scholars  to  Italy,  but  education  traces  back  to  the  first 
intercourse  between  mediaeval  Europe  and  Asia,  and 
to  the  foundation  of  the  Latin  kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 

Material  prosperity  in  Europe  was  also  due  to  the 
conquest  of  Syria.  The  small  feudal  towns  were  but 
villages  compared  with  Byzantium,  Damascus,  and 
Baghdad.  Rome  was  in  ruins ;  and  the  castles  and 
churches  of  Syria,  in  the  twelfth  century,  rivalled 
those  which  rose  in  Europe  in  the  fifteenth,  when 
the  art  of  the  Italian  Normans — founded  on  the 
Romanesque — spread  to  the  North.  The  poor  nobles 
who  sought  fortunes  in  Asia  were  forced  to  sell 
municipal  rights  to  the  burghers,  when  raising  funds 
to  support  their  knights  ;  and  the  "  new  and  detestable 
communes  "  spread  from  Italy  to  France  in  the  time 
of  St.  Louis.  In  the  twelfth  century  Milan  was  much 
larger  than  the  capitals  of  the  North,  and,  though 
reduced  to  ruins  by  the  Germans  in  1162  A.D.,  it  was 
as  large  as  Damascus  in  1288  A.D.  For  the  emperors 
of  Germany  found  it  impossible  to  subdue  the  free 
republics  of  Lombardy,  which  finally  accepted  the 
rule  of  an  elected  Podesta,  or  of  a  native  Signore. 

The  trade  of  the  great  republics  steadily  increased 
after  uoo  A.D.,  when  the  fleets  of  Pisa,  Genoa,  and 
Venice  brought  succour  to  the  Crusaders,  whose  well- 
drilled  army,  clad  in  better  mail  than  the  Turks,  with 
longer  spears  and  long  bows  that  shot  farther  than 
the  Byzantine  cross-bow  or  the  Turkish  bow  of  horn, 
had  forced  their  way  over  the  barren  plateau  of  Asia 
Minor  to  Antioch.  But  when  the  pride  and  corruption 
of  a  rapacious  Church  roused  general  discontent  in 
Europe,  and  Syria  was  lost  in  consequence  of  the 


138  CIVILISATION 

fatal  struggle  between  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor,  the 
Italians  protected  their  trade  by  agreements  with 
Moslem  rulers.  The  shrewd  Venetians — forced  to 
relinquish  the  Black  Sea  route  to  their  Genoese  rivals, 
who  soon  found  it  obstructed  by  the  Mongols — 
enriched  themselves  by  developing  the  Indian  trade 
through  Egypt.  The  agents  of  these  great  cities  pene- 
trated to  Central  Asia,  brought  furs  from  Siberia  even 
in  the  twelfth  century,  and  enriched  Italy  at  a  time 
when  England  had  only  just  discovered  coal,  and  had 
only  a  small  trade  in  wool  with  the  Continent. 

But  while  civilisation  was  thus  spreading  from 
Italy,  Asia  also  advanced  under  the  Mongols  of  far 
Karakorum.  Mongol  races  have  never  been  unwilling 
to  adopt  any  new  idea  which  has  appeared  useful  to 
themselves.  The  Khitai  of  Central  Asia  used  the 
"  Greek  fire  "  (petroleum)  which  the  Byzantines  taught 
the  Franks  to  employ  in  war ;  they  also  used  the 
Nestorian  and  Indian  alphabets,  and  possessed  a 
considerable  education  when  they  invaded  China  in 
916  A.o.1  The  defeat  of  the  Khitan  Gur-khan  (or 
"  world  lord ")  named  Ong-Khan,  by  Tchengiz  the 
Mongol,  in  1206  A.D.,  transferred  his  power  to  the 
great  family  which  ruled  from  Pekin  to  Moscow,  and 
from  Siberia  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  Their  civilisation  was  described  to  Europe 
by  Rubruquis  the  Franciscan  in  1253  A.D.,  and  by 
Marco  Polo  forty  years  later.  At  the  court  oi 
Mengku,  grandson  of  Tchengiz,  the  former  traveller 
found  the  Christian,  Moslem,  and  Buddhist  faiths 
equally  tolerated,  but  the  Khans  themselves  were 
educated  in  the  ethics  of  Confucius.  The  empire  was 
connected  by  a  great  system  of  posts  similar  to  that  of 
the  Persians,  as  described  by  Herodotus.  French 
goldsmiths,  and  captives  from  Armenia,  brought  their 

1  See  Howorth,  in  Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  XIII.  ii. 
pp.  155-176 ;  and  Kingsmill,  in  N.  China  Branch  Journal,  1886, 


THE  MONGOLS  139 

arts  to  the  capital ;  and  the  great  Khan  was  eager  to 
inform  himself  as  to  the  politics  and  culture  of  Europe. 
Kublai,  the  son  of  Mengku,  added  South  China  to 
the  empire  in  1279  A.D.,  though  his  armada  failed  to 
conquer  Japan  in  1281  A.D.  Even  when  the  Mongol 
power  declined,  at  the  end  of  the  century,  China 
retained  its  high  civilisation  under  the  Ming  dynasty, 
which  resisted  Timur.  The  fame  of  this  Oriental 
empire  reached  Europe,  where  Ong-Khan  was  known 
as  Prester  John  (having  apparently  been  converted 
by  the  Nestorians),  and  when  Tchengiz  became  the 
bold  Cambuscan  of  Chaucer1  who,  as  the  friend  of 
Petrarch  (visiting  Padua  in  1373),  became  acquainted 
not  only  with  the  name  of  Aristotle  but  also  with  the 
book  of  Marco  Polo.  Timur  the  Tartar  (1359-1405) 
had  then  restored  the  glory  of  the  empire,  as  a  pious 
Moslem  who  effected  the  conquest  of  North  India, 
though  he  failed  to  recover  China.  He  is  remembered 
in  Europe  mainly  on  account  of  the  cruelties  his  army 
perpetrated  in  Armenia ;  but  the  civilisation  of  his 
great  capital  at  Samarkand,  the  glorious  architecture 
of  its  mosques,  and  the  learning  of  its  literary  men, 
perhaps  surpassed  anything  then  to  be  found  in 
England  or  France ;  while  his  merchants  traded  not 
only  with  the  whole  of  Asia,  but,  through  Moscow, 
with  the  Hanseatic  towns,  and  by  sea  with  the  Italian 
cities.  His  victory  at  Angora,  in  1402,  delayed  the 
fall  of  Constantinople  to  the  Turks  by  half  a  century, 
and  probably  thus  had  far-reaching  consequences  in 
Europe. 

After  the  Papal  attempts  to  enlist  the  Mongols  in 
favour  of  Christendom,  or  to  convert  the  sultans  of 
Iconium,  had  failed,  and  after  Acre  was  taken,  there 
was  no  longer  any  question  of  Crusades  for  the 
recovery  of  Syria  from  the  Egyptians,  but  rather  a 

1  Chaucer,  "  The  Squieres  Tale,"  266-670  ;  Spenser,  "  Fairie 
Queen,"  IV.  ii.  31. 


140  CIVILISATION 

pressing  need  to  protect  Europe  from  the  inroads  of 
the  Turks,  when,  in  1300  A.D.,  the  house  of  Othman 
succeeded  to  the  power  of  the  Seljuks  in  Asia  Minor, 
and  their  fleets  ravaged  the  Mediterranean,  appearing 
even  at  Nice  as  early  as  1330  A.D.  They  crossed  into 
Europe  twenty  years  later,  and  Asia  was  divided 
between  Mongols  on  the  East  and  Turks  on  the 
West,  between  Moslems  and  Confucians,  under  con- 
ditions which — as  far  as  native  civilisation  is  concerned 
—have  not  materially  changed  since  the  fifteenth 
century.  When  the  Osmanlis  recovered  from  the 
anarchy  consequent  on  their  defeat  at  Angora,  Europe 
was  soon  astounded  by  the  Varna  victory,  and  by  the 
extinction  of  the  Greek  Empire  on  the  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople in  1453.  The  great  Suleiman  was  repulsed 
from  the  walls  of  Vienna  in  1529,  but  his  predecessor 
Selim  had  compensated  himself  for  his  defeat  by  the 
Sufi  dynasty  in  Persia  by  the  conquest  of  Syria  and 
Egypt  in  1517  A.D.  Asia  under  Turanian  rule  made 
no  further  progress  in  civilisation  ;  but  the  terror  of 
the  Turk  forced  on  Charles  V.  the  toleration  of  the 
Protestants  in  Germany. 

How  much  we  owe  in  England  to  the  Crusades, 
after  Edward  III.  had  made  peace  with  Bibars  at  Acre 
in  1272,  and  Edward  III.  his  commercial  treaty  with 
Venice  in  1325,  is  still  witnessed  by  many  Arab  words 
which  have  become  a  part  of  our  language.1  The 
shalot  came  from  Ascalon,  and  the  damson  from 
Damascus  ;  the  oriental  plane  was  brought  to  Ribston 
by  the  Templars.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the  silk 
of  Tarse  was  known  to  the  author  of  "  Piers  Plough- 
man " ;  and  a  dispassionate  account  of  the  religion  of 
Muhammad  appears  in  the  book  of  Sir  John  Maunde- 
ville.  Under  our  great  Plantagenets,  who  ruled 

1  See  Skeat,  Dictionary,  1888,  p.  760:  admiral,  alcali,  artichoke, 
barberry,  camlet,  cipher,  civet,  lute,  mattress,  mohair,  monsoon, 
saffron,  tabby,  talc,  tariff. 


ENGLISH   PROGRESS  141 

western  France  as  well  as  Great  Britain,  the  nation 
began  to  develop  its  own  civilisation,  and  formed  its 
own  English  language  till,  with  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  Wyclif  founded  the  Reformation 
at  Oxford.  This  progress  was  delayed  for  a  century 
by  the  reaction  that  followed  under  the  Lancastrians, 
and  by  the  dying  struggles  of  feudalism,  before  the 
full  influence  of  the  Renaissance  was  felt  under  the 
Tudors;  but  it  traces  back  even  to  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century,  when  Richard  I.  settled  the  Eastern 
question  with  Saladin  and  saved  Palestine  for  Europe. 

In  France  also,  from  the  days  of  St.  Louis,  the  same 
civilising  influences  were  equally  felt.  The  feudal 
militia  failed  to  face  the  paid  mercenaries  who  became 
the  curse  of  Italy  after  the  peace  of  Bretigny  in  1360. 
The  struggle  against  feudalism  continued  till  it  was 
practically  extinguished  by  Louis  XL,  before  the  close 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  which  is  marked  throughout 
Europe  by  gradual  consolidation  into  kingdoms  opposed 
to  the  Papal  power.  In  Germany,  under  the  descendants 
of  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg  after  1273  A.D.,  the  ancient 
confederation  of  states  was  maintained,  and  the  ancient 
independent  spirit.  In  1330  Schwartz,  however,  gave 
to  Europe  the  doubtful  gift  of  gunpowder,  which 
Venice  first  used  in  the  field  of  battle,  which  finally 
made  armour  obsolete,  and  gave  Constantinople  a 
prey  to  Muhammad  II.1  On  the  other  hand,  we  must 
remember  that  to  Germany  we  also  owe  the  invention 
of  printing,  by  means  of  movable  blocks  such  as  had 
been  used  in  China  and  Korea  several  centuries 
before. 

As  early  as  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  Philip 
Augustus,  the  greatest  king  of  France  since  Charle- 

1  Gunpowder  is  said  to  have  been  known  to  Moslems  in  the  thir- 
teenth, and  even  in  the  eleventh  century  (Lecky's  "  European 
Morals,"  nth  edit.  1894,  ii.  p.  210).  It  is  also  said  to  have  been 
made  by  Roger  Bacon  about  1270  A.D. 


142  CIVILISATION 

magne,  had  bidden  Innocent  III.,  in  the  very  height  of 
Papal  power,  "  not  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  princes." 
While  the  fallen  successors  of  this  supreme  pontiff 
were  exiles  at  Avignon  (from  1305  to  1378  A.D.)  the 
Swedish  Saint  Bridget  declared  that  the  Pope  flayed 
the  flock  of  Christ,  and  had  changed  all  the  ten 
Commandments  to  one — "  Money,  money  !  "  Soon 
after,  Europe  was  confounded  by  the  great  schism 
(1378  to  1418  A.D.)  and  by  the  wars  of  the  Bohemian 
Reformation,  until  some  peace  was  restored  to  the 
Church  at  Constance,  and  the  Pope  was  taught  that 
he  was  no  longer  to  be  above  all  human  law — as 
Innocent  III.  openly  claimed  to  be — but  subject  to  a 
General  Council.  Yet  even  at  Constance  (in  1415)  all 
thinking  men  were  disgusted  at  the  decay  of  feudal 
belief  in  the  sanctity  of  a  promise,  when  Sigismund 
betrayed  the  learned  Hus  to  his  priestly  foes,  and  by  the 
decision  to  defer  the  question  of  reforming  the  Church 
to  another  Council,  which  failed  to  meet  till  it  was  too 
late  to  prevent  the  great  rupture  between  the  Teutonic 
and  Latin  races.  Meanwhile,  however,  Italy  herself 
was  steadily  advancing  in  culture  and  wealth  towards 
the  great  days  of  the  Renaissance.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  her  art — founded  on  the  stiff  Gothic  style  of 
Byzantium,  which  Cimabue  imitated — was  slowly 
casting  aside  its  conventions  to  attain  its  full  flower  in 
the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  Renais- 
sance was  the  transference  to  the  Italianised  Goths 
of  the  ancient  culture  of  Greece  and  Asia.  We  are 
puzzled,  in  reading  its  literature,  whether  most  to 
admire  the  brilliance  of  its  art  and  education,  or  to 
detest  the  cynical  selfishness  of  its  ruling  class.  The 
idea  of  Plato  that  education  should  be  equal  for  the 
two  sexes  found  expression  in  the  fifteenth  century,  as 
we  know  from  the  charming  letters  of  the  great  ladies 
of  the  age  ;  but  the  savage  immorality  of  the  Borgias, 
and  the  treachery  of  the  ruling  nobles,  show  us  also 


THE  RENAISSANCE  143 

that  the  picture  of  a  prince  drawn  by  Macchiavelli  was 
regarded  as  one  which  any  wise  man  of  the  world 
could  admire.  We  are  attracted  and  repelled  alter- 
nately by  Catherine  of  Siena  in  the  fourteenth  century 
and  Boccacio  in  the  fifteenth ;  but  if  we  would  see 
summed  up  in  one  work  the  glory  and  the  shame  of 
the  Renaissance,  we  may  find  them  both  in  the  frank 
memoirs  of  Benvenuto  Cellini  as  late  as  the  sixteenth. 

The  general  tendency  to  consolidate  into  nations, 
under  native  kings,  made  Spain  also  a  great  country 
on  the  marriage  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  after 
the  conquest  of  Granada,  in  1492,  when  the  last 
Moslem  power  in  Europe  was  destroyed.  But  it  was 
to  Arab  civilisation  that  Spain  also  owed  the  know- 
ledge of  geography  and  astronomy  which  enabled 
Columbus  to  convince  Boccacio  as  to  the  reality  of  his 
great  idea  of  a  new  unknown  world,  and  which, 
moreover,  led  Portugal,  five  years  after  Columbus 
(in  1492  A.D.)  started  west,  to  explore  the  eastern 
route,  which  Vasco  da  Gama  found  for  his  country, 
past  the  Cape  to  India,  on  seas  where  neither  the 
Venetian  nor  the  Turk  had  power.  Portugal  showed 
the  way  to  the  English  adventurers  who  so  soon 
followed.  By  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  all 
those  elements  of  civilisation  which  have  developed  so 
rapidly  since  were  thus  to  be  found  in  the  germ 
throughout  the  whole  of  Western  Europe. 

ill  Modern  History,  1500-1900  A.D. — The  third 
period  of  civilisation  is  only  as  yet  one-third  as  long 
as  that  of  the  mediaeval  ages,  but  the  development  has 
been  yet  more  rapid  and  complex.  In  Asia  the 
change  was  slow,  and  depended  chiefly  on  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Portuguese,  Dutch,  and  English,  until 
the  rise,  in  1868,  of  a  new  native  centre  of  progress  in 
Japan,  whose  history,  after  her  defeat  of  the  armada 
of  Kublai  Khan,  was  very  similar  to  that  of  the  other 


144  CIVILISATION 

island-kingdom  in  the  West  after  the  scattering  of  the 
Spanish  Armada  by  English  seamen.  Like  earlier 
Mongols,  Japan  took  from  the  West  all  ideas  that 
could  be  useful  to  herself.  Like  us,  she  has  refused  to 
allow  to  the  foreigner  any  share  in  the  government  of 
her  home.  The  courtesy,  modesty,  and  kindliness 
of  Japanese  manners  are  based  on  the  precepts  of 
Confucius ;  and  the  boastful  insolence  of  Western 
nations  is  as  contemptible  in  their  eyes  as  it  was  when 
they  expelled  the  arrogant  Jesuits,  and  the  rapacious 
Portuguese  and  Dutch,  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Sea  power,  and  a  sea  home,  have  nursed  freedom  in 
the  great  islands  of  the  Far  East,  as  well  as  in  the  Far 
West.  Chinese  civilisation  decayed  when  the  less 
cultured  Manchus  conquered  the  empire  in  1640 ;  but 
when  we  accuse  the  Chinese  of  narrow  conceit  and 
prejudice,  we  should  remember  that  they  know  the 
civilisation  offered  to  them  at  home  not  to  be  the 
highest  type  of  European  progress.  Taught  by 
Japanese  example,  China  also  in  time  will  develop 
her  native  faculties.  The  Mongols  of  India  were  more 
nearly  in  touch  with  the  West,  and  Aurungzebe — the 
greatest  of  the  philosophic  Moslem  emperors — per- 
mitted the  settlement  of  English  traders  at  Bombay 
and  Calcutta  at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
with  results  which,  though  fatal  to  his  declining  house, 
were  of  lasting  benefit  to  his  country. 

Passing  west,  we  find  little  to  admire  in  the  empire 
of  Turkey.  Even  in  1432  the  Burgundian  knight, 
Bertrandon  de  la  Brocquiere,  who  was  an  honest  and 
sympathetic  observer  of  manners,  gives  a  gloomy 
account  of  the  drunkenness  and  vice  of  the  Turk. 
Pierre  Belon  in  the  sixteenth  century  found  agriculture 
decaying  in  Syria  and  Anatolia.  Zuallardo  tells  us  of 
the  intense  suspicion  of  Europe  felt  in  the  Turkish 
Empire,  of  the  number  of  spies,  and  of  the  cruel 
fate  of  a  Spanish  lady  who  tried  to  convert  Moslem 


ITALY  145 

women,  and  who  was  burned  head  downwards  at  a 
stake  before  the  south  doors  of  the  Cathedral  at 
Jerusalem.1  Yet  we  cannot  say  that  the  Turks  were 
entirely  unprogressive.  They  not  only  had  gun- 
powder in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  adopted  coffee 
by  the  end  of  the  sixteenth,  and  tobacco  soon  after. 

Modern  history  in  Italy  begins  with  the  savage 
French  invasions,  and  with  the  new  troubles  of  the 
Church.  Her  wealth  made  her  the  prey  of  the  North, 
and  of  Spain,  till  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
when  she  was  robbed  by  Jewish  Massena  and  rapa- 
cious Murat.  The  etiquette  of  Spanish  usurpers  in  the 
South  survived  under  Bourbons  till  Italy  was  united 
under  the  house  of  Savoy,  but  even  now  she  has  failed 
as  yet  to  find  freedom  from  social  and  religious 
corruption,  and  looks  back  sadly  to  the  days  of 
Tasso  and  Raphael,  Savonarola,  Bruno,  and  Galileo. 
Throughout  Europe,  in  the  four  centuries  of  modern 
history,  we  trace  the  same  contrast  between  the 
highest  and  the  lowest,  the  thought  and  science  of  the 
few,  and  the  ignorant  prejudice  of  the  masses.  Spain, 
when  at  the  height  of  her  power  under  Charles  V.  and 
his  son,  was  notorious  for  her  cruelties  in  America 
and  the  Canaries,  as  well  as  in  the  Netherlands,  for 
a  detestable  Inquisition,  and  savage  bullfights.  Yet 
even  the  declining  days  of  the  early  seventeenth 
century  are  distinguished  by  the  names  of  Cervantes, 
Velazquez,  and  Murillo.  Spain  was  enriched  by  the 
spoils  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  which  the  Dutch  absorbed, 
and  which  English  pirates  took  from  her ;  but  though 
we  condemn  her  barbarity  to  the  civilised  natives  of 
America,  we  hardly  pity  them  when  we  read  of  the 
wholesale  human  sacrifices  in  their  temples.  The 
Mexican  priests  had  learned  the  highest  ideas  of 

1  See  Bohn's  "Early  Travels  in  Palestine,"  1848,  p.  348;  Pierre 
Belon,  "Observations,"  1555,  ii.  15;  Zuallardo,  "  Divotissimo 
Viaggio,"  1586,  i.  pp.  36,  59. 

10 


i46  CIVILISATION 

Buddhist  ethics,  yet  they  tore  out  the  hearts  of 
thousands  of  living  victims.  The  Incas  of  Peru,  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  had  introduced  Mongol  civilisa- 
tion and  the  Indian  calendar.  Like  the  Mongols  they 
had  an  Imperial  postal  service,  suspension  bridges, 
well-made  roads,  quilted  armour  (the  mediaeval  gambi- 
son),  aqueducts,  and  statues  of  gold  ;  but  they  too 
celebrated  the  most  cruel  sacrifices  of  boys  and  girls. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  Germany  led  the  way  in 
reformation  of  mediaeval  abuses.  She  has  her  own 
great  names  in  science  and  art,  from  Kepler  and 
Leibnitz  to  Goethe,  yet  she  was  the  last  civilised 
nation  of  Europe  to  shake  off  the  bonds  of  feudal 
caste.  In  France  we  find  the  same  story  of  civilisa- 
tion struggling  with  savage  passions.  Montaigne l 
tells  us  that  the  French  nobles  attributed  the  success 
of  Charles  VIII.  to  the  over-education  of  Italians. 
We  can  well  believe  that  the  French  nobles  were  not 
very  polished  when  we  remember  that,  in  1527,  the 
Imperialists,  under  the  Constable  of  Bourbon,  after 
sacking  Rome,  paraded  the  cardinals  naked  through  the 
streets,  mounted  on  asses  with  their  faces  to  the  tails. 
Montaigne,  however,  is  silent  as  to  the  French  disaster 
at  Pavia.  He  was  no  doubt  right  in  preferring  Plato 
and  Vergil  to  Boccacio  and  Rabelais ;  and  his  learning 
and  humour  are  the  glory  of  early  French  civilisation. 
He  tells  us  that  he  could  not  have  believed,  if  he  had 
not  himself  seen  it,  the  delight  in  murder  and  torture 
which  characterised  the  warriors  of  his  own  times. 
He  himself  thought  (like  Asoka)  that  we  should  have 
some  regard  to  the  sufferings  even  of  beasts. 

Unfortunately  for  France,  the  general  character  of 
her  nobles  did  not  much  improve.  When  Louis  XIII. 
died,  a  rapacious  nobility  was  still  striving  to  resist 
the  consolidation  of  the  kingdom ;  and  the  good 
Oratorians  failed  to  redeem  a  corrupt  Church,  whose 

1  Montaigne,  1580:  "  Of  Pedantry  "j  "Of  Books  ';  "  Of  Cruelty." 


FRANCE  147 

bishops  did  not  even  consider  it  necessary,  in  some 
cases,  to  take  holy  orders,  and  married  in  spite 
of  Rome.  The  life  of  "  La  Grande  Mademoiselle" 
presents  to  us  still  a  picture  of  mediaeval  barbarism. 
French  "  Memoirs,"  from  Saint  Simon  down  to 
Mercy  d'Argenteau,  show  us  how  savage  were  the 
manners  of  well-dressed  courtiers,  who  were  yet 
dirty  and  superstitious,  down  to  the  days  of 
Louis  XVI.,  when  French  science  and  thought  were 
dominating  Europe.  The  triumph  of  the  Jesuits 
when  Louis  XIV.  was  still  the  terror  of  Europe 
resulted  in  the  driving  forth  to  other  lands  of 
thousands  of  his  best  subjects.  The  Patrician  and 
the  starving  mob  were  left  face  to  face;  and  liberty, 
thus  repressed,  produced  an  explosion  which  shook 
Europe  for  fifteen  years,  till  the  great  Napoleonic 
storms  had  cleared  the  air.  But  France  was  taught 
in  the  school  of  adversity  for  sixty  years  after 
Waterloo,  before  she  was  able  to  take  her  place  once 
more  in  the  van  of  human  progress.  The  savage 
Russia  of  Peter  the  Great  is  now  passing  through  the 
same  fearful  experience  a  century  later  than  France. 
The  country  of  "  Anna  Karenina  "  began  her  new  birth 
by  military  disaster,  as  France  did  after  Blenheim ; 
and  even  if  her  struggle  be  not  prolonged,  it  is  more 
terrible  than  the  three  years  of  the  Terror  in  Paris. 

The  England  which  Erasmus  so  heartily  admired 
was  the  England  of  Moore's  "  Utopia,"  and  of  the 
highly  educated  prince  who  was  to  become  the 
enemy  of  the  Reformation  as  Henry  VIII.  But  the 
real  Renaissance  of  Britain  dates  from  the  days  of 
Elizabeth,  whose  wisdom  was  schooled  by  early 
adversity.  No  patriotic  ruler  ever  understood  better 
the  needs  and  temper  of  a  free  people  than  did 
Elizabeth.  Yet  when  we  think  of  poor  Mary — the 
victim  of  the  Catholic  League — among  her  wild 
Scottish  subjects,  whose  suspicions  were  roused  by 


148  CIVILISATION 

French  intrigue  threatening  the  very  life  of  the 
nation,  a  prisoner  in  that  little  gloomy  palace  of 
Holyrood,  which  we  contrast  with  the  houses  of  the 
Dorias,  we  see  how  slowly  civilisation  spread  to 
the  far  North.  It  was  a  time  when  savage  executions, 
assassination,  and  forgery  were  regarded — as  in  Italy 
— as  being  necessities  of  statecraft.  The  aged  Eliza- 
beth showed  the  Spanish  ambassador  three  hundred 
heads  of  traitors  on  London  Bridge.  But  the  better 
influences  of  Italian  culture  were  equally  felt.  The 
Roman  characters  replaced  the  German  black-letter. 
Spenser  does  not  scruple  to  translate  whole  stanzas 
of  Tasso  in  his  "  Fairie  Queen."  Shakespeare  knew 
not  only  Italian  literature,  but  even  the  name  of  the 
South  American  god  Setebos.  Elizabeth  herself  was 
educated  beyond  the  average  of  Englishwomen  to-day. 
She  could  not  only  speak  French  and  Italian,  and 
read  Latin  and  Greek,  but  she  had  studied  Cicero, 
Livy,  and  Demosthenes,  and  knew  the  Gospels  in  the 
original  tongue.  In  her  reign,  besides  the  corsair 
Drake,  and  Hawkins  who  sold  black  slaves  to 
Spaniards  in  collusion  with  London  aldermen,  there 
were  sober  traders  in  the  Levant  and  in  India  whom 
Elizabeth  encouraged,  and  finally,  in  1 599,  she  granted  a 
charter  to  the  East  India  Company,  recognising  a  trade 
which  was  even  then  more  than  half  a  century  old. 
Yet  Elizabeth  also  consulted  the  magician,  Dr.  Dee. 

We  may  pursue  such  contrasts  to  our  own  times. 
The  age  of  Bacon  was  one  in  which  witch-burning 
became  a  mania.  The  Renaissance  continued  under 
James  I. ;  but  his  son  and  grandsons,  unfortunately 
for  themselves,  inherited  the  strangely  perverse 
character  of  Anne  of  Denmark  rather  than  the  shrewd- 
ness of  her  husband.  Much  that  was  admirable  in 
English  social  life  disappeared  in  the  struggle  for 
freedom,  and  when  Charles  II.  brought  in  the  evil 
manners  of  the  French  Court.  Even  if  we  do  not 


ENGLAND  149 

believe  the  revelations  of  savagery  in  Gramont's 
memoirs,  we  must  accept  the  frank  confessions  of 
corruption  by  Pepys.  But  this,  too,  was  the  time 
of  Locke  and  Newton :  it  was  the  age  of  Penn,  as 
well  as  that  in  which  the  disgraceful  African  Company 
was  sanctioned.  The  times  of  Walpole,  when  cor- 
ruption in  public  life  was  at  its  height,  the  days  of 
the  South  Sea  Bubble  and  of  Law's  Scheme,  were 
those  of  the  society  depicted  in  "  Evelina,"  yet  the 
age  of  Johnson  and  Reynolds;  the  year  1799,  which 
witnessed  the  savage  cruelties  of  revenge  in  Ireland, 
was  that  of  Jenner's  great  discovery ;  and  Watt's 
steam-engine  was  then  seventeen  years  old.  Even 
when  the  great  Victorian  age  opened,  our  laws  were 
still  savage,  and  our  population  less  than  half  what 
it  now  is.  The  wars  of  the  Continent  were  our 
opportunities  for  industrial  conquests,  from  the  time 
when  we  founded  the  China  trade  during  the  Thirty 
Years'  War,  or  took  Delhi  during  the  Seven  Years' 
War.  Yet  the  struggle  for  civilisation  and  freedom  is 
still  unending,  and  must  remain  so  while  corruption, 
superstition,  and  ignorance  exist.  Those  who  use 
civilised  inventions  call  themselves  civilised,  though 
they  may  be  still  plunged  in  Gothic  barbarism. 

Looking  back  over  the  five  thousand  years  of 
growing  civilisation,  we  perceive  how  natural  causes — 
over  which  man  had  no  control — brought  about  the 
great  changes  which  resulted  in  the  spread  of  know- 
ledge, and  in  the  taming  of  wild  tribes.  Pressing 
needs  alone  stirred  men  to  improvement.  They  were 
driven  along  strange  paths  by  the  rod.  Their  passions 
and  follies  were  the  means  by  which  new  conditions 
were  established ;  their  policies  and  dogmas  led  to 
things  quite  unexpected ;  and  out  of  the  evil  of  one 
generation  sprang  the  good  of  the  next.  Can  we 
doubt  that  an  eternal  purpose  has  guided  man  to 
higher  things  by  dark,  mysterious  ways? 


CHAPTER   IV 

HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

i.  Animism. — Religion  is  born  of  Fear  and  Love. 
The  great  fact  which  filled  the  thoughts  of  man  from 
the  first  was  the  fact  of  death.  What  was  that 
unknown  power  which  broke  the  tyrant's  arm  by 
some  unforeseen  death  when  his  might  seemed  resist- 
less? What  was  that  fluttering  thing  within  which 
ceased  to  heave  the  breast  of  the  beloved  ?  How 
could  man  soothe  the  wrath  of  the  unseen  powers 
bringing  sickness  and  sorrow  on  the  tribe  ?  How 
could  he  bring  to  his  aid  against  the  foe  those  kindly 
beings  whose  help  had  made  him  happy  and  prosper- 
ous ?  Such  were  the  thoughts  roused  in  the  mind 
by  man's  knowledge  of  his  own  helplessness  and 
ignorance :  thoughts  about  God  and  the  soul,  about 
good  and  evil,  about  the  past,  present,  and  future. 

The  age  in  which  man  as  yet  had  not  learned  the 
necessity  of  law  was  that  in  which  he  regarded 
the  world  as  full  of  individual  spirits  doing  what  they 
would.  Mutual  help  was  felt  needful  from  the  first, 
for  even  beasts  unite  to  help  each  other  against  their 
foes ;  and  thus,  when  man  divided  all  the  unseen 
spirits  into  two  classes — the  kindly  and  the  hostile — 
he  sought  to  please  such  as  would  help  him,  and  to 
restrain  bad  spirits  by  fear.  The  terror  of  darkness 
caused  him  to  regard  all  evil  beings  as  belonging  to 
the  dark,  and  all  good  beings  as  belonging  to  light, 
and  to  life-giving  warmth,  as  contrasted  with  the  cold 

'5° 


RELIGION  AND  MAGIC  151 

of  death.  Everything  that  moved,  man  regarded  as 
being  alive.  The  fire  and  the  stream  were  living 
snakes ;  the  sun  and  moon  were  great  birds,  and 
the  little  stars  were  their  children.  The  storm  was 
a  warrior  armed  with  thunderbolts.  The  breeze  was 
an  invisible  swift  messenger  who  was  felt  to  pass  by, 
or  a  clever  thief  who  stole  light  things,  or  the  faithful 
dog  who  drove  the  cloud-cows  from  the  den  of  the 
detaining  monster.  There  was  no  "  problem  of  evil  " 
as  yet,  because  man  thought  it  natural  that — like  him- 
self— evil  beings  should  do  harm  to  those  whom  they 
hated.  He  only  doubted  whether  to  rely  on  the  trusty 
spirits  as  more  powerful  than  the  demons  of  darkness, 
or  whether  to  enter  into  alliance  with  these.  Hence, 
from  the  first,  Religion  and  Magic  were  opposed  ;  and, 
just  as  men  hated  the  selfish  for  their  deceit  and 
violence,  so  also  they  hated  the  witch  leagued  with 
powers  of  evil.  The  gods  were  kindly  and  immortal 
beings  :  they  were  not  ghosts,  nor  were  they  devils. 
The  natural  fear  of  darkness,  which  is  due  to  nervous 
uncertainty  about  the  unseen,  peopled  the  night  with 
spectres ;  but  the  gods  were  visible  in  the  shining 
heavens  above  as  very  real  and  substantial  beings — 
the  bright  orbs,  and  the  light  of  dawn.  They  were 
also  the  spirits  which  animated  the  trees  and  springs. 
Heaven  was  married  to  Earth,  and  from  this  pair 
sprang  all  other  immortal  beings.  The  divine  family 
resembled  the  human,  and  the  devils  also  were 
children  of  an  evil  pair — gods  of  darkness  and 
death. 

As  civilisation  increased,  and  ideas  of  law  began 
to  develop,  the  independent  spirits,  who  could  be 
conjured  even  to  dwell  in  stones  or  in  houses,  were 
grouped  under  a  few  great  rulers  obedient  to  the 
primeval  pair.  The  pantheons  of  all  the  early 
civilised  races  consist  of  the  same  beings  under 
various  names.  They  include  the  spirits  of  Heaven 


152  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

and  Earth,  Sun  and  Moon,  Sky,  Water,  and  Fire, 
with  the  Wind.  Or  otherwise  these  children  of  the 
universe  are  represented  as  ruled  by  the  three  great 
kings  of  Heaven,  Ocean,  and  Hell.  In  no  instance 
was  the  early  conception  that  of  disembodied  beings  : 
the  gods  were  material  and  limited  individuals.  Yet, 
as  the  perception  of  order  in  the  universe  became 
clearer,  even  the  great  gods  became  subject  to  some 
unknown  control,  and  were  said  to  be  ruled  by 
Fate. 

The  belief  in  a  single  and  consistent  Will,  ordering 
all    events    wisely  and  inevitably,   led,   however,   to 
man's    becoming    puzzled    at    length    by    evil.      He 
conceived  that  evil  ought  not  to  exist,   because   he 
felt  its  repulsion ;  and  he  asked,  therefore,  was  this 
Will   not  good,   or  was   it   not  all-powerful  ?    Why 
should  not  happiness  be  eternal  and  general  ?    What 
was    the    use    of   sorrow    and    sickness  ?    The  evil 
demons    were    recognised  as   servants  of   the  good 
God  of  Heaven  ;  but  why  did  He  afflict  men  by  their 
means?    The  answer, which  the  Akkadian  gave  was 
humble  and  simple  :  "God  is  not  understood  by  men." 
It  was  the  answer  also  of  the  Hebrew,  who  accepted 
evil  as  well  as  good  from   the  God  who  sent   both. 
But  other  nations  sought  to  excuse  God  from   the 
imputation  of  being  either  not  good  or  not  almighty. 
The  Buddhist  said  that  evil  was  one  of  the  effects  of 
illusion— which    was    not  comforting    to  those  who 
suffered.     The  Greek  said  that  man  was  responsible, 
because  he  had   the  free  choice  between  doing  what 
he  should  and  neglecting  so  to  do.     But  man  knew  very 
well  that  evil  had  nothing  to  do  with  his  intentions. 
In  all  early  languages  he  recognised  "  sin  "  as  some- 
thing in  which  he  had  failed  to  do  what  was  for  his 
own  good,  and  had  thus  displeased  God.     But  in  the 
Akkadian    and    Vedic    prayers    alike    we    find    man 
making  excuse  for  his  error ;   and  words  for  "  sin  " 


THE  SOUL  153 

signify  weakness,  failure,  misunderstanding,  and 
unintended  slips.  Man  was  guided  in  the  way  by  the 
rod,  and  shrank  from  it.  He  thought  his  will  to  be 
free,  though  he  knew  that  every  deed  was  inevitable ; 
because  he  failed  to  perceive  guidance  by  the  eternal 
and  consistent  will  of  a  universal  Intelligence.  The 
Greek  atheist  denied  such  Intelligence,  and  said  that 
all  things  followed  mechanical  law,  like  the  planets 
wheeling  round  the  sun ;  for  he  knew  nothing  of  the 
slow  changes  which  even  they  are  undergoing,  or  of 
the  eternal  purpose  which  we  recognise  in  Evolution 
as  the  witness  of  Eternal  Will.  The  influence  of 
Greece  still  blinds  the  modern  philosopher;  and 
Blake  almost  alone  had  the  courage  to  say  that  to 
God  all  things  are  good.  The  study  of  nature 
teaches  us  many  lessons.  In  the  American  plains 
there  grows  a  poisonous  shrub,  covering  great  spaces 
which  neither  man  nor  any  beast  of  prey  can  pass. 
What  use  could  a  good  being  have  intended  to  result 
from  such  an  evil  growth  ?  The  answer  is  that  the 
antelope  stamps  with  her  armoured  hoofs  a  nest  in  the 
midst,  where  she  may  safely  lay  her  young. 

The  Burmese  say  that  the  soul  is  a  butterfly  which 
lives  in  the  blood — you  feel  it  fluttering  in  the  heart, 
pulse,  or  lungs.  So,  too,  in  the  West,  Psyche  (the 
soul)  has  butterflies'  wings,  and  the  emblem  of  future 
life  was  the  butterfly  coming  out  of  the  chrysalis 
buried  in  earth.  Malebranche,  indeed,  seems  to  have 
thought  that  this  metamorphosis  was  a  proof  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul.  Mankind  did  not  get  their 
ideas  of  a  spirit  from  dreams— though  dreams  were 
thought  to  show  that  the  soul  was  not  always  in 
the  body — but  from  the  evidence  of  their  senses, 
which  showed  them  that  life  depended  on  some 
energy  within.  It  was  thought — as  savages  still 
think — that  the  soul  was  a  little  being  of  some  kind 
living  inside  man  and  beast.  It  might  creep  out  of 


154  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

a  man's  mouth  as  a  mouse  when  he  slept,  and  return 
before  he  woke.  It  might  fly  away  as  a  small  bird 
or  a  butterfly.  It  might  be  of  the  form  of  a  child. 
But  always  it  was  regarded  as  having  a  body  of  its 
own,  though  that  body  might  be  of  airy  consistency, 
hardly  to  be  seen  and  not  to  be  felt.  This  idea  of 
the  soul  survived  even  among  civilised  nations  such 
as  the  Greeks,  and  it  still  is  universally  believed  by 
savages.  But  the  life  of  man  was  also  thought  to 
extend  to  the  shadow  and  the  reflection;  and  thus, 
in  China  and  Egypt  alike,  man  had  three  souls  or 
spirits,  as  to  which  many  vague  and  confused  ideas 
existed.  Plato  calls  the  soul  "  the  child  within." 
Aristotle  says  that  it  is  "small  in  size."  Irenaeus 
and  Tertullian,  no  less  than  Origen,  regarded  the 
soul  as  corporeal.  It  is  not  indeed  till  the  time  of 
Descartes  that  the  conception  of  a  "  disembodied 
spirit "  appears  to  have  arisen  in  Europe,  and  it  is 
not  very  clear  what  he  meant  by  the  term.  The 
Persians  said  that  the  soul  existed  before  the  body 
to  which  it  gave  activity.1  The  Buddhists  said  it 
was  as  small  as  a  grain  of  corn.  The  later  Hindu 
philosophers,  however,  following  Plato,  long  before 
Descartes,  declared  that  the  soul  is  "imperishable, 
perpetual,  unchanging,  immovable,  without  begin- 
ning .  .  .  immaterial,  passing  all  thought,  and  im- 
mutable." 2 

Among  uncivilised  races  the  soul  was  not  regarded 
as  immortal.  It  could  be  killed,  and  it  was  starved 
unless  pious  descendants  provided  it  with  spirit  food 
by  offerings  at  the  tomb.  When  these  ceased  the 
spirit  faded  away.  When  leaving  one  body  it  found 
a  home  in  another,  and  lived  a  long  series  of  lives 
not  only  in  man  or  beast  but  even  in  plants  or  in 

1  Bundahish,  xv.  4. 

J  "  Institutes  of  Vishnu,"  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  vii.  p.  82  ; 
Plato,  "  Republic,"  bk.  x. 


CATCH-WORDS  155 

stones.  This  idea  of  transmigration  we  meet  in  all 
religions  from  the  first ;  and  "  Animism,"  or  the  belief 
in  airy  beings  inhabiting  every  object  that  moved, 
was  a  feature  of  all  religions.  Many  terms  which 
have  been  used  to  express  this  idea  are  but  partial 
explanations  of  the  general  conception.  Fetishism 
is  only  a  rude  idolatry,  based  on  the  belief  that  a 
soul  could  be  imprisoned  in  some  particular  object. 
It  was  not  the  stock  or  stone,  but  the  spirit  within 
it,  which  was  adored.  Totemism  (by  a  singular 
blunder)  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  original 
faith  of  mankind,  but  it  is  only  a  rude  form  of  the 
general  idea  of  transmigration.  Ancestor  worship 
is  not  an  original  feature  of  belief,  for  man  feared 
ghosts  in  general  long  before  it  became  a  pious  duty 
to  please  the  spirit  of  the  parent  who  was  thought 
able  to  help  his  offspring.  The  belief  in  spirits 
existed  when  the  dead  were  still  hidden  away  in 
the  forest,  or  given  to  the  vultures  and  the  dogs.1 

There  are  three  lines  of  modern  research  into  the 
origin  and  nature  of  religion  which  have  been 
separately  followed.  Students  of  savage  belief,  and 
of  peasant  folk-lore,  have  collected  a  mass  of  material 
as  to  the  confused  and  constantly  changing  ideas  of 
the  ignorant.  But  these  are  not  only  often  very 
hard  to  understand  :  they  are  vague,  and  are  also 
only  decayed  survivals  of  ancient  beliefs,  mingled 
with  many  new  thoughts  taken  from  the  teaching 
of  the  historic  religions.  Theories  solely  founded 

1  Fetish  is  the  Portuguese  feiti$o,  "  a  charm  " — a  term  used  by 
President  De  Brosses  in  1760.  Totem  is  a  mistake  for  the  Algonquin 
word  Ote,  for  which  Long  in  1 792  appears  to  be  responsible.  Recent 
researches  in  Australia  show  very  clearly  the  connection  of  the  Totem 
with  the  general  belief  in  metempsychosis  (see  Frazer  in  Fortnightly 
Review,  May  1899,  on  the  researches  of  Spencer  and  Gillen).  Taboo 
is  a  Polynesian  term  for  anything  "  set  apart,"  "  consecrated,"  or 
"forbidden."  It  is  quite  unnecessary  to  use  any  of  these  terms,  since 
natural  ideas  can  be  expressed  in  English. 


156  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

on  such  data  are  liable  to  become  very  misleading, 
unless  checked  by  actual  knowledge  of  the  oldest 
records  of  human  belief.  The  study  of  sacred  books 
is  also,  by  itself,  an  imperfect  means  of  attaining  to 
real  knowledge  of  the  past.  We  have  to  rely  on 
copies  which,  in  all  cases,  are  late;  and  we  can,  as 
a  rule,  only  conjecture  the  alterations  and  additions 
made  by  generations  of  scribes.  The  book  religion 
of  any  people  does  not  represent  that  of  the  illiterate 
peasant,  though  it  generally  includes  survivals  of 
prehistoric  beliefs.  The  third  line  of  research  requires 
a  very  special  knowledge  of  languages  and  scripts 
which  as  yet  are  studied  by  few ;  but  in  the  contem- 
porary records  of  ancient  times,  in  the  symbolism  and 
art,  the  funerary  and  other  customs,  illustrated  by 
excavation  of  temples  and  tombs,  we  find  generally 
the  earliest  and  clearest  indications  of  the  growth 
of  religion.  It  is  from  such  sources  that  we  may 
endeavour  to  trace  the  development  of  historic  faiths ; 
and  by  actual  knowledge  of  the  past  we  can  best 
understand  savage  customs,  found  whether  in  Europe 
or  in  Australia  to-day. 

The  belief  in  spirits  lies  then  at  the  root  of  all  faiths. 
The  immortality  of  the  soul  was  a  very  ancient  idea 
among  civilised  races,  but  the  soul  was  material  and  it 
survived  by  entering  some  other  body.  The  idea  of 
resurrection  of  the  body  itself  is  usually  a  much  later 
conception,  and  is  one  not  generally  held,  and  which 
has  always  been  denied  by  some  even  among  races 
who  accepted  it.  The  bones  were  supposed  to  be 
imperishable,  and  the  new  body  was  conceived  to 
grow  from  them,  or  from  some  particular  bone — such 
as  the  os  coccygis  according  to  the  Rabbis.1  That  the 
soul  should  either  return  to  earth  in  a  new  incarnation, 
or  that  it  should  live  with  the  immortal  gods  on  high, 
were  not  original  beliefs  of  mankind.  It  went  to  the 
1  Bereshith,  "  Kabbah,"  28. 


SHEOL  157 

hollow  caverns  under  earth,  where  it  either  abode  for 
ever  as  a  shade,  or,  when  discontented  and  escaping 
its  prison,  it  haunted  the  tomb,  or  the  house  of  its 
impious  descendants.  The  Egyptians  do  not  appear 
to  have  believed  in  resurrection,  though  they  did 
believe  in  transmigration.  The  Akkadians,  it  is  true, 
spoke  of  Marduk  (the  sun)  as  "  giving  life  to  the 
dead,"  but  they  called  Sheol  "  the  land  without  return," 
and  they  dreaded  the  return  of  ghosts  to  "  the  land  of 
the  living."  Homer x  speaks  of  "  meadows  of  asphodel 
where  dwell  souls  the  images  of  the  dead  " ;  but  he 
draws  a  fearful  picture  of  the  hungry  spectres  in  the 
far  north,  lamenting  their  fate,  and  striving  to  return 
to  life  by  drinking  blood  from  the  sacrificial  trench. 
Horace2  is  equally  hopeless  when  he  thinks  of  fate, 
and  of  the  river  of  hell  that  he  must  pass  to  "  Pluto's 
ghostly  house,"  although  he  scoffs  at  "the  fabled 
manes."  Even  the  Persians  only  believed  in  resur- 
rection of  the  pious,  which  the  later  Jews  held  to  be 
taught  in  their  Law.3  The  Valhalla  of  the  Norse  was 
a  "heroes'  hall"  only  reached  by  those  whom  the 
Valkyries  (or  "  hero-choosers  ")  carried  thither.  For 
men  in  general  there  was  no  hope  of  any  future  life 
save  in  the  weary  Hades  beneath,  till  Hindu  philo- 
sophers began  to  teach  a  development  of  the  old 
idea  of  transmigration,  and  declared  that  neither  the 
Hells  nor  the  Heavens  were  eternal. 

Prayer  was  the  natural  cry  of  the  child  in  darkness 
and  trouble ;  sacrifice  was  the  attempt  to  feed  spirits 
with  the  soul-food  from  the  slain  victim  ;  the  idol  was 
to  man  what  the  doll  is  to  the  child — a  form  half 
believed  to  be  alive.  Hence  these  features  of  religion 
meet  us  everywhere  from  the  earliest  known  times. 
Myths  have  been  regarded  as  poetry,  or  have  been 

1  "  Odyssey,"  xxiv.  12-14  5   see  xi.  489. 
3  Horace,  "  Odes,"  I.  iv.,  xxxv.,  II.  xiv.,  III.  xxiv. 
.  3  Mishnah,  "  Sanhedrin,"  XI.  i. 


158  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

said  to  be  due  to  "  disease  of  language,"  but  they  seem 
rather  to  represent  the  childlike  philosophy  of  man,  in 
ages  when  abstract  ideas  had  no  existence,  and  his 
attempts  to  explain  the  nature  of  the  phenomena 
which  puzzled  him.  Myths  also  are  common  to  every 
race,  and  some  are  so  ancient  that  they  appear  to  have 
become  "  sayings "  long  before  the  historic  nations 
separated  from  each  other  in  Asia. 

As  religions  grew,  and  created  sacred  writings, 
they  became  subject  to  two  forms  of  disease  or  excess  : 
to  formalism  and  ritual  on  the  one  hand,  and  to 
mysticism  on  the  other.  Scribes  who  pored  over 
sacred  books  wrote  commentaries  which,  like  their 
texts,  came  in  time  to  be  also  regarded  as  divinely 
inspired.  The  desire  to  obey  and  to  please  the  gods 
caused  steady  increase  in  ritual,  and  a  constant 
increase  in  the  cost  of  sacrifice.  The  commentaries  on 
the  Vedas,  on  the  Zendavesta,  and  on  the  Koran,  are 
as  voluminous  as  the  Talmud,  or  as  the  writings  of 
Christian  fathers.  The  spirit  of  the  original  faith  was 
thus  generally  lost  when  overgrown  by  the  accretions 
of  later  comment.  But  mysticism  has  perhaps  been 
yet  more  dangerous  to  true  religion  by  obscuring  the 
truth.  Man  from  the  earliest  times  has  sought  to 
escape  from  the  natural  limitations  of  his  existence  in 
the  body,  and  has  found  proof — as  he  supposes — of 
immortality  in  the  illusions  due  to  abuse  of  the  senses. 

Spiritualism  and  hypnotism  are  thus  as  old  as 
history.  The  impressions  caused  by  the  revival  of 
former  experiences  of  the  brain  are  often  as  real  as 
those  originally  due  to  an  actual  event.  Dreams, 
visions,  and  ghosts  alike,  are  caused  by  such  revival  of 
recorded  vibrations.  The  only  obscure  question  still 
to  be  studied  is  the  cause  of  such  revivals  of  sensation  : 
whether  due  solely  to  some  reflex  action  of  the  nerves, 
or  brought  about  by  some  really  external  influence. 
Hypnotism  is  no  new  discovery,  but  a  natural  result 


HYPNOTISM  159 

of  abuse  of  the  brain  which  has  been  practised  from 
the  earliest  known  ages.  It  is  akin  to  sleep-walking 
and  to  epilepsy,  and  its  final  outcome  is  madness,  or 
the  incapacity  for  distinguishing  between  the  real  and 
the  imagined.  The  hypnotic  condition  is  not  produced 
by  the  will  of  another,  but  by  the  paralysis  which 
results  from  staring  long  and  intently  at  some  par- 
ticular object.  The  dazed  brain  strives  to  recover  its 
powers,  and  the  victim  thus  willingly  accepts  sugges- 
tions from  without  which  may  aid  it  to  return  to 
consciousness  of  reality.  Not  only  do  Indian  Yogis 
hypnotise  themselves  by  staring  at  their  noses,  but  the 
bird  is  hypnotised  by  staring  at  the  dreaded  snake, 
and  the  mouse  paralysed  by  looking  at  the  cat.  It 
will  in  time  come  to  be  recognised  that  all  who  thus 
abuse  the  sense  of  sight  are  as  much  to  be  blamed  as 
those  who  excite  the  brain  by  abuse  of  alcohol  or  of 
narcotic  drugs.  The  great  harm  to  religion  which 
hypnotism  has  always  wrought  lies  in  the  belief,  held 
by  mystics  of  all  ages,  that  by  such  ecstasy  they 
were  able  to  "  stand  out  "  of  their  bodies,  and  to  attain 
communion  with  the  great  soul  of  whom  their  souls 
were  but  parts  imprisoned  in  material  forms. 

Such  mysticism  has  run  to  two  very  opposite 
extremes.  On  the  one  hand  the  hypnotic  condition 
has  been  found  to  be  more  easily  attained  when  the 
body  is  weakened  by  austerities;  and  the  ascetic  is 
led  to  despise  and  to  abuse  his  body,  thus  starving 
the  diseased  brain.  On  the  other  hand  the  hypnotic 
condition  is  closely  connected  with  hysteric  passion, 
and  has  been  held  to  sanction  a  licence  which  carries 
the  worshippers  back  to  the  age  of  savage  orgies. 
The  monks  of  Mount  Athos  in  our  eleventh  century,1 
who  saw  the  "light  of  Tabor"  after  staring  long  at 
their  stomachs,  induced  the  hypnotic  state  by  the 
same  methods  which  Yogis  in  India  adopt.  The 

1  Gibbon,  chap.  Ixiii. 


160  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Montanists  in  Phrygia  in  the  second  century  held 
"  revivalist "  meetings  exactly  like  those  of  the  Welsh 
to-day,  or  of  the  Moslems  in  Persia,  and  the  negroes 
in  America.  The  immoral  meetings  of  the  Adamites, 
among  Christians,  are  indistinguishable  from  the 
Bacchic  orgies  which  were  forbidden  by  horror- 
stricken  Romans  in  186  B.C.,  or  from  the  vile  rites  of 
existing  Sakti  sects  in  India.  The  "  black  mass  "  may 
have  been  imagined  by  Jesuits  in  the  time  of 
Louis  XIV.,  when  the  dangerous  Quietest  movement 
of  Miguel  Molinos  revived  the  doctrine  of  love  which 
the  Gnostic  Carpocrates  taught  as  well  as  the 
Krishnaic  mystics  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  such  secret 
orgies  have  always  been  practised,  as  they  were  by 
the  Katzerie  of  Germany,  or  the  Paturini  of  Milan  in 
the  middle  ages.  Such  mystic  and  hysterical  excesses 
have  characterised  the  religions  of  all  races.  Whole 
congregations  in  Italy  are  still  said  to  hypnotise 
themselves  by  staring  at  the  altar  or  at  the  priest. 
Spiritualistic  seances  have  been  held  in  all  ages,  and 
have  always  been  accompanied  by  impudent  frauds  ; 
as  when  the  Gnostic  Marcus  exhibited  his  effervescing 
Eucharist,  or  Alexander  Abnotichos  was  famous  as 
a  medium.  Spirit  rappings  are  recorded  all  over 
the  world,  and  were  the  rage  in  France  in  1534,  as 
Voltaire  relates.  Spiritual  marriages  are  not  an 
American  invention,  but  were  practised  by  the  Mar- 
cosians  in  our  second  century.  Tertullian  admits 
that  ecstasy  is  akin  to  madness.  Porphyry  and  his 
master  Plotinus,  in  the  same  age,  were  mystics  who 
believed  that  they  could  attain  to  union  with  the 
Deity  while  yet  in  the  body,  like  the  Saniyasis  of 
India,  or  the  Sufis  of  Islam.  It  is  a  question  whether 
religion  on  the  whole  has  suffered  most  from  the 
dull  commentator  and  the  ignorant  priest,  or  from 
the  mystic  who  deludes  himself  and  his  victims 
alike. 


EGYPT  161 

When  from  the  superstitions  of  the  past  the 
Assyrians  and  the  Persians  attained  to  the  conception 
of  a  supreme  god  ruling  all  the  others,  they  still 
drew  him  as  a  human  being  with  the  wings  and  tail 
of  an  eagle — as  we  see  him  represented,  not  only  at 
Nineveh,  but  on  the  tomb  of  Darius,  where  this  form 
represents  Ahura-mazda  the  Creator.  So  too,  when 
the  Byzantines  broke  away  from  the  earlier  law  of 
the  Church,  they  pictured  the  Pantokrator  (or  "  ruler 
of  all ")  as  an  aged  king  on  his  throne.  The  daring 
of  Italian  artists,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  represented 
Him  as  a  robed  giant  striding  in  space,  and  measuring 
the  world  with  a  compass.  Such  pagan  ideas  un- 
consciously influence  many  yet :  so  hard  is  it  for  man 
to  escape  from  the  old  savage  conception  of  a  large 
man  in  the  clouds.  Even  the  pantheists  of  Greece 
and  India  thought  of  God  as  a  personality  outside 
the  world,  and  entering  only  into  those  things  which 
were  greatest  or  best.  Plato  vaguely  conceived  the 
idea,  which  Paul  more  clearly  declared,  of  an  infinite 
personality — an  energy  animating  the  universe  of 
matter,  an  intelligence  and  will  which  we  recognise 
in  the  eternal  purpose  revealed  by  the  study  of  nature, 
a  God  "  in  whom  "  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being. 

ii.  Egypt. — The  Egyptian  loved  life  and  feared 
death,  like  others,  and  believed  in  countless  spirits 
animating  men  and  beasts  and  all  phenomena  of 
nature.  The  hieroglyphic  for  the  Ka — genius  or 
spirit — consists  of  the  sign  of  the  phallus  (which, 
among  all  rude  and  primitive  races,  was  the  emblem 
of  life)  joined  to  the  sign  of  two  arms  raised  in 
invocation,  to  which  the  sound  ka,  "  to  cry,"  attached. 
It  was  vaguely  supposed  that  the  life  of  man  depended 
not  only  on  a  soul  (Ba)  within,  but  also  on  a  genius 
or  double  (Ka),  and  that  it  moreover  animated  the 

ii 


162  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

shade  or  shadow  (To)  which  reappeared  as  a  ghost. 
Thus  the  Ka  dwelt  in  the  statue  placed  in  the  ante- 
chamber of  the  tomb,  and  to  it  were  offered  the  gifts 
of  descendants,  whose  duty  it  was  to  insure  the 
happiness  of  the  departed  soul  during  its  long  journey 
to  join  the  gods,  or  when  it  fluttered  as  a  human- 
headed  bird  down  the  air-shaft  to  look  at  the  em- 
balmed body,  while  the  shade  remained  in  Hades. 

The  earliest  features  of  Egyptian  belief  included 
the  worship  of  immortal  gods,  and  the  propitiation  of 
all  good  spirits,  whether  of  the  dead  or  of  the  undying. 
The  beast  worship  of  the  separate  tribes,  at  various 
cities,  was  exactly  similar  to  that  of  African  savages 
to-day.1  Each  tribe  had  its  sacred  animal,  and  believed 
that  the  souls  of  great  men  migrated  into  such.  Hence 
the  bodies  of  bulls,  crocodiles,  cats,  etc.,  were  em- 
balmed like  those  of  men,  to  please  the  departed  spirit 
by  reverent  care  of  the  corpse.  The  belief  in  trans- 
migration is  evidenced  by  the  renewal  of  the  Apis,  or 
sacred  black  bull,  whenever  it  died,  the  soul  passing 
into  the  newly  discovered  beast2;  and  Herodotus  is 
thus  correct  in  saying  that  the  Egyptians  believed 
"  that  the  soul  of  man  is  immortal,  and  that  when  the 
body  perishes  it  enters  into  some  other  animal."  In 
the  well-known  "  Tale  of  Two  Brothers  "  (Anpu  or 
Anubis,  and  Ba-ta,  "the  earth-soul"),  the  younger, 
who  leaves  his  heart  on  the  cedar  and  marries  a  fair 
witch,  is  reborn  each  time  that  he  is  killed,  as  a  bull,  a 
tree,  or  a  babe.  In  the  magic  "  Book  of  the  Dead  "  we 
find  the  soul  assuming  various  shapes  in  Hades,  by 

1  See  my  paper  on  "  Native  Tribes  of  Bechuanaland,"  Journal  of 
Anthropological  Institute,  1886.  Personal  research,  while  in  Africa 
in  1884,  is  the  basis.  The  Zulus  believe  the  souls  of  chiefs  to  pass 
into  snakes  :  so  do  the  Matabele  as  to  the  hippopotamus.  The  sacred 
beasts  include  the  lion  (Barotse),  antelope  (Bamanguato),  monkey 
(Bakatla),  wilde-beest  (Bangwaketse),  crocodile  (Baquena),  and  fish 
(Batlapin),  etc. 

*  Herodotus,  iii.  28,  ii.  123. 


HUMAN  SACRIFICE  163 

aid  of  various  words  of  power,  in  order  to  escape  its 
foes ;  but  this  is  a  later  development  of  the  old  idea 
which  seems  to  have  been  based,  among  all  savages, 
on  fear  of  savage  beasts,  and  on  admiration  of  those 
that  were  strong  and  useful  to  man. 

In  addition  to  these  beliefs,  which  are  traceable 
from  the  earliest  known  times,  the  Egyptians  had 
other  savage  superstitions  like  those  of  modern 
Africans.  They  dreaded  wizards,  and  used  charms, 
offered  sacrifices,  and  had,  no  doubt,  ordeals,  and 
initiatory  ceremonies,  like  those  of  the  Bechuana 
tribes  to-day.  That  they  offered  human  sacrifices  at 
the  tomb  is  shown  by  the  discovery,  in  1898,  of  the 
sepulchre  of  Amenophis  II.,  who  reigned  in  the 
sixteenth  century  B.C.  In  the  ante-chamber  M.  Loret 
found  a  dried  body  bound  to  a  richly  painted  boat :  it 
had  been  gagged,  and  wounded  in  the  breast  and 
head.  In  the  next  chamber  were  bodies  of  a  man,  a 
woman,  and  a  boy,  who  had  also  been  slain.  In  the 
inmost  chamber,  with  its  dark  blue  roof  studded  with 
golden  stars,  the  king  lay  in  a  rose-coloured  sandstone 
sarcophagus,  the  mummy  having  wreaths  round  the 
neck  and  the  feet.1  There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
slaves  had  thus  been  killed,  in  order  that  their  ghosts 
might  accompany  that  of  their  master.  The  tomb  was 
used  to  hide  the  mummies  of  seven  later  kings,2  and 
Amenophis  II.  is  the  only  Pharaoh  whose  mummy 
has  been  found  reposing  in  its  original  sepulchre. 

Belief  in  witchcraft  is  also  witnessed  by  the  monu- 
ments as  late  as  the  reign  of  Rameses  III,3  when  the 
traitor  Penhi  obtained  a  scroll  from  among  the  books 
of  the  king,  and  "  formed  human  figures  of  wax,"  or, 
as  otherwise  related  in  the  Rollin  papyrus,  "  made 

1  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  April  14,  1898. 

*  Thothmes  IV.,  Amenophis  III.,  Set-nakht,  Seti  II.,  Rameses  IV., 
VI.,  VIII. 
3  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  1879,  ii.  p.  163. 


164  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

some  magic  writings  to  ward  off  ill  luck  ;  he  had  made 
some  gods  of  wax,  and  some  human  figures  to  paralyse 
the  limbs  of  a  man."  Magic,  indeed,  is  hardly  to  be 
distinguished  from  religion  in  Egypt,  except  by  the 
distinction  between  white  (or  beneficent)  and  black 
(or  malevolent)  sorcery.  The  famous  collections  of 
ancient  texts,  from  sarcophagi  of  early  date,  to  which 
the  name  Peri-em-hru  (or  "  going  forth  from  day ") 
was  given — now  known  as  the  Book,  or  Ritual,  of  the 
Dead — consist,  indeed,  of  nothing  but  charms  of  the 
most  primitive  description,  whereby  the  soul  was 
fortified  against  its  demon  foes,  appearing  as  snakes 
or  crocodiles  in  Hades,  and  passed  the  pits  of  flame, 
and  the  closed  gates  of  various  regions,  to  reach  the 
judgment  hall  of  Osiris,  where  the  heart  was  weighed 
before  the  Council  of  the  gods.  The  wicked  soul  was 
then  condemned  to  "  second  death,"  and  given  to  the 
devourer — a  monster  waiting  outside  for  his  prey. 
The  soul  of  the  righteous  was  admitted  to  the  com- 
pany of  the  gods.  It  could  ride  with  them  in  the 
sacred  bark :  it  might  even  be  absorbed  as  an  Osiris  in 
Osiris,  or  it  might  live  happily  as  on  earth,  surrounded 
by  wives,  relatives,  and  friends,  tilling  the  fields  of 
Aalu,  where  grew  gigantic  corn,  smelling  sweet 
flowers,  refreshed  with  water  of  life  poured  by  a 
goddess  from  the  sacred  Persea  tree,  hunting,  feasting, 
and  playing  draughts.  The  objects  buried  in  tombs 
included  not  only  images  of  guardian  gods,  but  tools, 
weapons,  dresses,  wigs,  and  even  children's  toys, 
often  broken,  that  the  soul  of  the  object  might  go  with 
the  dead. 

The  official  religion  of  the  divine  king,  and  of  his 
priests,  while  recognising  the  ancient  family  and  city 
cults,  added  the  worship  of  the  immortal  gods  of  the 
capital.  The  word  Nuter  signified  a  "  power "  or 
"  smiter,"  symbolised  by  a  stone  axe.  It  included  not 
only  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  but  the  immortals,  who— 


EGYPTIAN   GODS  165 

under  various  names  in  the  different  great  cities — were 
recognised  in  the  sun,  moon,  and  wind,  in  the  life- 
giving  Nile,  and  in  the  dawn,  as  the  rulers  of  all  spirits 
found  in  man,  beast,  spring,  or  tree,  and  as  children  of 
the  original  pair — Nut,  the  heaven-mother  brooding 
above,  or  symbolised  as  the  divine  cow  with  stars  on 
its  belly,  and  Seb,  the  earth-father,  also  symbolised  as 
the  goose  that  lays  each  day  an  egg  of  gold  and  an  egg 
of  silver,  which  are  the  sun  and  moon.  The  enemies 
of  these  gods  are  demons,  under  Set,  the  god  of  dark- 
ness and  fire,  the  foe  of  the  sun,  and  the  seducer  of 
Neb-hat  (Nephthys)  goddess  of  sunset.  These  evil  gods 
also  appear  as  Bes,  the  dwarf  demon  with  grinning 
mask,  and  as  his  consort  Bast,  the  hell-goddess  with 
lion's  head.1  The  mythical  texts  say  that  all  good 
things  were  created  by  Osiris,  and  all  evil  things  from 
the  sweat  of  his  brother  and  foe,  Set. 

The  sun  had  four  forms  in  all.  Horus,  or  the  rising 
infant  sun,  Ra  the  midday,  called  Kheper  or  "  creating  " 
heat,  and  Tmu  the  sunset,  are  followed  by  the  old 
dead  sun,  Osiris,  whose  mummy  is  carried  from 
west  to  east  under  earth,  attended  by  his  wives, 
Nephthys,  the  sunset  (the  false  mistress  of  Set)  and 
Isis,  the  dawn — mother  of  Horus,  who  is  born  anew 
each  day.  Hades  is  called  the  "  land  of  the  living," 
because  peopled  only  by  those  who  do  not  suffer 
"  second  death  " ;  and  Osiris,  though  daily  slain,  lives 
also  again  as  Horus  issuing  to  fight  the  dark  foe. 
Thus  in  various  texts 2  Horus  is  implored  "  to  restore 
his  father  to  life,"  and  Osiris  says,  "  I  am  yesterday, 
and  I  know  the  morrow  which  is;  Ra."  I  am  Tmu 

1  Set  or  Sut  means  apparently  "  fire  "  :  Neb-hat,  "  mistress  of  the 
abode  "  :  Bes  and  Bast  (fem.)  "  flame."  See  Pierret,  "  Vocabulaire," 
1875,  s.v.  The  Greeks  called  Bes  the  "  god  of  fate."  Sekhet,  an- 
other form  of  Bast,  was  goddess  of  "destruction."  She  drank  the 
blood  of  men  slain  by  Ra,  the  god  of  "  light  and  heat." 

*  See  Renouf,  "Trans.  Bib.  Arch.  Soc.,"  ix.  ii.  p.  283;  "Pro- 
ceedings, B.A.S.,"  June  1896. 


166  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

(the  setting  sun)  and  Un  ("  the  upspringing  ")  :  the  One 
alone,  or  Ra  at  his  rising :  the  Lord  of  Amenti,  or 
Hades.  The  gods  had  many  names  in  different  towns, 
but  their  characters  were  the  same.  They  included 
Amen  or  Ptah,  the  "  creating "  sun  :  Aah  or  Thoth, 
the  moon  god  ;  Hapi,  the  Nile  ;  Shu,  the  atmosphere  or 
air ;  Tefnut,  his  bride,  the  dew ;  and  the  dog-headed 
Anubis,  messenger  of  the  gods,  who  seems  to  answer 
to  Hermes,  and  to  the  faithful  Sarama  dog  of  the  Vedas 
—the  "  swift "  wind. 

The  preservation  of  the  mummy  has  led  to  the  sup- 
position that  the  Egyptians  believed  in  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  ;  yet  not  only  do  the  known  texts  not 
mention  such  resurrection  on  earth,  but  the  removal 
of  the  brain  and  intestines  also  seems  to  suggest  that 
the  corpse  was  only  preserved  through  some  vague 
idea  of  pleasing  and  honouring  the  ghost.  We  read 
such  texts  as  the  following :  "  Remember  the  day 
when  you  too  will  leave  for  the  land  to  which  one 
goes,  not  to  return  thence,"  and  the  pathetic  lament  of 
an  Egyptian  lady  desiring  happiness  for  her  husband 
after  her  own  death  :  "  For  Amenti  is  the  land  of 
heavy  slumber  and  of  darkness,  an  abode  of  sorrow 
for  those  who  dwell  there.  They  sleep  in  their 
forms ;  they  wake  not  any  more  to  see  their 
brethren :  they  know  not  their  father  and  their 
mother;  their  heart  cares  not  for  their  wife  and 
children.  .  .  .  For  the  god  there — '  Death  absolute '  is 
his  name.  He  calls  all,  and  all  come  to  obey  him, 
trembling  with  fear  before  him.  With  him  there  is 
no  respect  for  gods  or  men,  to  him  the  great  are  as 
the  little.  One  fears  to  pray  to  him,  for  he  hears  not. 
None  come  to  invoke  him,  for  he  is  not  kind  to  those 
who  adore  him  :  he  considers  not  any  offering  made 
to  him."  l 

1  See  Sharpe,  "Egyptian  Inscriptions,"!,  pi.  4;  Renouf,  "  Hibbert 
Lectures,"  1879,  pp.  71,  242. 


EGYPTIAN   MYTHS  167 

In  addition  to  many  myths  connected  with  Amenti 
(Hades),  and  with  the  gods,  the  Egyptians  had  stories 
bearing  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  those  of  Asia 
and  Europe,  which  have  come  down  to  us  as  popular 
fairy  tales.  In  the  story  of  the  "  Doomed  Prince,"  and 
in  that  of  the  "  Two  Brothers,"  the  seven  Hathors 
answer  to  the  fairy  godmothers,  but  predict  evil.  In 
the  latter  tale  Bata  leaves  his  heart  on  the  cedar  tree, 
reminding  us  l  of  the  giant  in  Norse  and  Indian  tales  ; 
and  the  scented  lock  of  hair  belonging  to  the  witch 
which  is  washed  by  the  sea  to  Egypt,  and  enchants 
the  king,  is  an  incident  in  one  of  the  Bengali  tales  of 
Lal-Bahari-Dey.  The  horseman  who  climbs  a  tower 
to  visit  an  imprisoned  princess  recalls  Rapunzel's 
lover,  and  the  tale  is  found  in  the  Talmud  and  in  the 
Babylonian  myth  of  Gilgamas.  It  has  been  doubted  if 
these  tales  originated  in  Egypt,  and  we  know  in  two 
cases  that  foreign  myths  were  accepted;  for  they 
occur  in  two  cuneiform  tablets,  and  are  clearly  Baby- 
lonian.2 In  another  instance,3  an  Egyptian  going  by 
sea  to  the  mines  is  wrecked  on  an  island  of  fruit 
trees,  guarded  by  a  good  serpent,  who  speaks  with 
human  voice,  and  gives  wealth  to  the  lucky  sailor. 
This  recalls  the  Babylonian  legend  of  the  magic 
garden  under  the  sea,  guarded  (like  the  Greek  garden 
of  the  Hesperides)  by  monsters,  and  visited  by 
Gilgamas ;  as  well  as  countless  Hindu  and  European 
tales  of  Nagas  and  dragons  guarding  treasures. 
Such  stories  were  probably  very  ancient  in  Asia, 
and  spread  to  Egypt  as  well  as  to  the  West,  and 
to  India. 

In  contrast  with  such  popular  mythology  we  must 
not  forget  the  higher  philosophy  of  some  Egyptian 
writings.  They  attained  to  vague  ideas  of  a  supreme 

1  Cox,  "  Mythology  of  the  Aryan  Nations,"  1882,  pp.  77-9. 
*  See  my  "  Tell  Amarna  Tablets,"  2nd  edit.  1894,  pp.  220-24. 
3  Golenisheff,  "Sur  un  ancien  Conte  Egyptien,"  1881. 


1 68  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

deity,  and  to  a  primitive  kind  of  Pantheism,  perhaps 
as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century  B.C.,  under  the  great 
eighteenth  Dynasty.1  We  read  of  "  the  Almighty,  the 
self-existent,  who  made  heaven  and  earth,"  and  of 
Amen-Ra,  "father  of  the  gods  .  .  .  whose  shrine  is 
hidden.  .  .  .  Deliverer  of  the  timid  man  from  the 
violent,  judging  the  poor,  the  poor  and  oppressed. 
Lord  of  wisdom  whose  precepts  are  wise  .  .  .  the 
One  alone  with  many  hands,  waking  when  all  men 
sleep,  to  seek  the  good  of  his  creatures — Amen  the  all- 
sustainer."  Again  we  read  of  Amen  as  Ptah  the 
creator  :  "  thou  art  youth  and  age  ;  thou  givest  life  to 
earth  by  thy  stream  :  thou  art  heaven,  thou  art  earth, 
thou  art  fire,  thou  art  water,  thou  art  air,  and  what- 
ever is  within  them." 

The  religion  of  Egypt  was  much  influenced  by  Asia, 
especially  under  the  eighteenth  dynasty,  when  three 
generations  of  kings — Thothmes  IV.,  Amenophis  III., 
and  Amenophis  IV. — married  princesses  from  Armenia 
and  from  Babylon.  The  last-named  king  has  even 
been  called  a  "  heretic,"  because  certain  texts  had  the 
name  of  Amen  erased  from  them  apparently  in  his 
time.  He,  however,  was  always  addressed,  by  the 
foreign  kings  who  wrote  to  him,  as  a  worshipper  of 
Amen;  and  parts  of  the  ritual  appear  on  his  coffin. 
Pa-Aten  seems  to  have  been  a  title  of  Amen,  and  this 
king's  mother  (Teie)  adored  Aten  or  the  "  sun  disk." 
One  of  his  officials  wrote  a  hymn  to  Aten  in  which  he 
says,  "  The  whole  land  of  Egypt  and  all  peoples 
repeat  all  thy  names  at  thy  rising."2  The  ancients 
generally  recognised  that  the  gods  were  the  same  in 
every  system,  though  the  names  differed,  as  Plutarch 
says  that,  in  all  lands,  they  represent  the  sun  and 
moon,  the  heaven,  earth,  and  sea.3  A  text  of 

1  Renouf,  "  Hibbert  Lectures,"  1879,  PP-  218-32. 

2  See  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  i.  pp.  446,  449,  450,  455. 

3  See  Mahaffy,  "Silver  Age,"  p.  361. 


EGYPTIAN   ETHICS  169 

Amenophis  IV.  identifies  Aten  as  the  Theban  name 
for  Hor-makhu,  "the  shining  sun." 

In  spite  of  the  primitive  and  often  savage  nature  of 
their  beliefs,  and  in  spite  of  the  eternal  duration  of 
Amenti,  the  ethics  of  the  Egyptians  were  highly 
developed  from  a  very  early  period.  The  soul  brought 
before  Osiris  pleads  its  innocency  of  life.  "  I  have 
come  to  the  city  of  those  who  dwell  in  eternity.  I 
have  done  good  on  earth ;  I  have  done  no  wrong ; 
I  have  done  no  crime ;  I  have  approved  of  nothing 
base  or  evil,  but  have  taken  pleasure  in  speaking  the 
truth.  .  .  .  There  is  no  lowly  person  whom  I  have 
oppressed.  .  .  .  The  sincerity  and  goodness  that  were 
in  the  heart  of  my  mother  and  father  my  love  re- 
turned. .  .  .  Though  great  I  have  done  as  though 
little.  ...  I  have  repeated  what  I  heard  just  as  it  was 
told  me."  "  I  was  bread  to  the  hungry,  water  to  the 
thirsty,  clothes  to  the  naked,  a  refuge  to  him  that  was 
in  want ;  that  which  I  did  to  him  the  great  God  has 
done  to  me."  "  I  received  those  on  the  road,  my  doors 
were  open  to  those  who  came  from  without."  "My 
heart  inclined  me  to  the  Right  while  I  was  yet  a 
child  .  .  .  and  God  rewarded  me  for  this,  making  me 
glad  with  the  happiness  which  he  granted  me  for 
walking  after  his  way." 

The  maxims  of  Ptah-hotep  are  said  to  be  as  old  as 
the  fifth  Dynasty,  and  in  them  we  read :  "  If  any  one 
bears  himself  proudly  he  will  be  humbled  by  God  who 
makes  him  strong.  If  you  are  wise  bring  up  your  son 
in  the  love  of  God  .  .  .  God  loves  the  obedient  and 
hates  the  disobedient."  In  the  maxims  of  Ani  (about 
the  fourteenth  century  B.C.)  we  find  :  "  Pray  humbly 
with  a  loving  heart  all  the  words  of  which  are  uttered 
in  secret.  He  will  protect  you  in  your  affairs ;  He 
will  listen  to  your  words  :  He  will  accept  your  offer- 
ings. ...  It  is  He  who  smites  him  who  is  smitten."1 
1  Renouf,  "  Hibbert  Lectures,"  1879,  PP-  73~5>  100-3. 


1 70  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Thus  from  very  early  days,  in  Egypt  as  well  as  in 
Asia,  a  simple  piety  bore  fruit  in  kindliness,  truthful- 
ness, gratitude,  humility,  and  all  other  virtues ;  and  a 
vague  Monotheism  existed  already  at  the  time  when 
Israel  dwelt  in  the  delta  of  the  Nile.  But  such  ethics, 
and  even  some  approach  to  the  conception  of  a  single 
Creator,  were  equally  ancient  also  among  the  civilised 
Akkadians  of  Chaldea. 

iii.  The  Akkadians. — The  Greeks  and  Romans  were 
very  ignorant  about  the  true  history  of  Babylonia  and 
Assyria,  and  they  knew  nothing  of  the  early  Turanian 
population  in  times  when  it  was  subject  to  the  Semitic, 
to  which  alone  they  usually  refer.  Herodotus  knew 
the  Babylonians  under  the  Persians.  Diodorus  has 
collected  misunderstood  traditions,  and  his  work  is 
entirely  worthless  as  to  early  conditions.  It  is  on 
tablets,  and  texts  from  walls  and  statues,  that  we 
depend  entirely  for  true  knowledge  of  the  question. 
The  old  Mongol  race,  which  spread  east  and  west 
from  Chaldea,  is  called  by  some  scholars  Akkadian, 
and  by  some  Sumerian,  but  neither  word  is  really 
the  name  of  a  people.  The  great  monarchs  of 
Mesopotamia,  from  'Ammurabi  down,  claimed  to  be 
supreme  over  Sumer  and  Akkad,  that  is  to  say,  "  the 
river  plains  and  the  highlands  " ;  and,  since  the  cradle 
of  the  race  was  in  Kurdistan,  the  title  Akkadian  is 
perhaps  the  best  to  use,  in  distinguishing  the  Mongolic 
founders  of  civilisation  from  the  Semitic  race.  It  is  to 
Assur-bani-pal  (about  650  B.C.)  that  we  owe  the 
preservation  of  the  Akkadian  language  and  of  Akkadian 
religious  beliefs.  He  sought  out  what  he  calls  "  the 
ancient  tablets  of  the  heroes  of  Assyria  and  Akkad," 
and  had  them  copied,  and  translated  into  Semitic 
speech.  They  were  catalogued  and  stored  in  the 
library  at  Nineveh,  but  the  originals  have  not  been 
found,  and  the  age  to  which  they  belonged  is  doubtful. 


AKKADIAN    BELIEFS  171 

One  tablet  in  the  collection  refers  to  the  foundation  of 
Babylon,  and  is  therefore  not  older  than  2250  B.C. 
Generally  speaking  this  collection  seems  to  represent 
the  religion  of  the  early  Kassite  civilisation,  from  the 
twenty-second  to  the  fourteenth  centuries  before  our 
era.  The  Assyrians  had  a  great  veneration  for  these 
ancient  records  of  ritual  and  religion,  though  they 
belonged  to  quite  another  race,  just  as  the  Romans 
venerated  the  Etruscan  books,  on  which  their  beliefs 
were  mainly  based,  as  those  of  the  Assyrians  were  on 
the  Akkadian  literature.1 

The  Akkadian  beliefs  were,  generally  speaking, 
much  the  same  as  the  Egyptian  concerning  countless 
spirits,  good  and  bad,  ghosts  of  the  dead,  and  im- 
mortal gods  of  heaven  and  earth,  sun,  moon,  sky, 
ocean,  hell,  and  the  wind.  They  believed  in  an  eternal 
abode  beneath  sea  and  earth,  where  the  dead  were 
judged  :  they  had  myths  and  legends,  and  their  ethical 
code  was  equal  to  that  of  Egypt,  though  we  do  not 
find  in  such  early  records  the  monotheism,  pantheism, 
and  philosophy  of  later  times,  while  on  the  other 
hand  we  appear  to  discover  the  practice  of  human 
sacrifice  more  distinctly  inculcated  than  it  is  in 
Egyptian  records. 

The  Akkadians2  considered  it  a  great  misfortune 
not  to  be  buried,  and  the  discontented  ghost  haunted 
the  living.  One  fragment  refers  to  those  who  were 
drowned  at  sea,  unburied,  having  none  to  care  for 
them,  no  "  holy  place,"  no  libation,  and  no  record  of 
name.  Another  broken  tablet  (bilingual  like  the  pre- 
ceding) bears  the  title  at  the  end  (the  titles  are  never 

1  Most  of  the  tablets  quoted  are  given  by  Lenormant  ("  Etudes 
Accadiennes,"  vol.  iv.  1874,  vol.  v.  1879).  These  belong  to  the  K 
collection  of  the  British  Museum  as  a  rule.  My  translations  from 
the  cuneiform  text  somewhat  differ  in  places  from  those  of  Lenormant, 
who  is,  however,  one  of  the  few  leading  students  of  Akkadian. 

1  See  Boissier  in  "  Proc.  Bib.  Arch.  Soc.,"  January  1903,  p.  24 ; 
and  Pinches,  "  Proc.  B.  A.  S.,"  May  1901,  p.  205. 


172 

at  the  beginning)  stating  it  to  be  a  "  charm  to  secure 
men  from  the  spirit  of  a  ghost,"  with  the  note  in 
Assyrian — "  written  and  engraved  like  the  original." 
The  unbroken  part  of  the  text  may  be  thus  rendered  : 
"  Down  to  earth  !  Spirit,  ghost,  down  !  Comer  back, 
down  !  It  is  void,  the  place  is  empty.  It  is  void,  the 
pit  is  empty,  the  place  in  earth  is  empty.  For  a  ghost 
coming  back  it  is  empty.  Like  a  tree  cut  down  he 
will  bend  his  face  to  earth.  Ea  has  seen  this  man.1 
Food  has  been  placed  at  his  head  ;  food  was  placed 
for  his  corpse.  The  prayer  for  life  was  prayed.  O 
ghost,  you  are  a  son  of  your  god,  let  the  food  placed 
at  the  head,  food  for  the  corpse,  propitiate  you.  May 
your  fury  pass.  Live,  let  your  foot  leave  the  land 
of  the  living.  O  ghost,  you  are  a  son  of  your  god, 
an  angry  eye  watches  you,  an  evil  eye  watches  you. 
.  .  .  May  the  tomb  god  smite  with  the  rod  :  may  Gula 
bind  with  the  great  cord.  May  Ea,  lord  of  the  deep, 
drive  you  to  your  corpse.  End  of  charm."  Thus  the 
ghost  is  both  coaxed  and  threatened,  and  no  ancient 
account  gives  a  clearer  idea  of  the  early  conceptions 
on  which  all  the  conjurations  of  later  times  were 
founded.  The  exorcisms  of  Babylonians,  Jews,  Finns, 
Shamans,  and  mediaeval  enchanters,  are  all  of  the 
same  character,  invoking  powerful  spirits  to  control 
ghosts. 

But  ghosts  were  not  the  only  spirits  feared,  for 
many  demons  had  no  connection  with  dead  men. 
They  were  spirits  of  evil,  sickness,  and  accident,  sent 
from  the  abyss  as  messengers  of  angry  gods.  There 
were  seven  especially  who  made  war  on  the  im- 
mortals, and  who  were  driven  back  by  the  gods  of 
sun  and  moon.  "  They  are  seven  kings  of  the  mes- 
sengers of  heaven,"  and  they  assumed  the  forms  of 
savage  beasts  and  tempests.  One  litany  against  them 

1  That  is,  Ea  (the  god  judging  the  dead)  has  judged  this  ghost. 


AKKADIAN   DEMONS  173 

runs  thus  : 1  "  They  are  seven.  They  are  seven.  In 
the  hollow  of  the  abyss  they  are  seven.  The  troublers 
of  heaven  are  seven.  In  the  hollow  of  the  abyss  they 
grew  up  in  hiding.  The  abyss  multiplied  them,  being 
neither  male  nor  female.  They  have  no  wife  and 
bear  no  child,  know  no  order  or  goodness,  hear  no 
prayer.  They  grew  up  as  wanderers  in  the  mountain, 
enemies  of  Ea,  robbers  of  the  gods,  making  stumbling- 
blocks  in  the  way :  they  are  bad,  they  are  bad :  they 
are  seven,  they  are  seven. — Spirit  of  Heaven  remember, 
Spirit  of  Earth  remember." 

Regarding  demons  in  general  we  read  :2  "They  go 
from  house  to  house;  the  door  stops  them  not,  the 
lock  does  not  keep  them  back.  They  slip  in  as 
snakes,  they  blow  through  the  roof  as  winds.  They 
keep  the  wife  from  her  husband's  arms,  they  take 
the  child  from  a  man's  knees.  They  send  the  free 
woman  from  her  happy  home.  They  are  the  voice 
of  cursing  that  follows  men."  Again  we  read : 3 
"  They  make  one  country  assail  another.  They  make 
the  slave  woman  rebel,  they  drive  the  free  woman 
from  home.  They  banish  the  son  from  his  father's 
house.  They  make  the  dove  leave  its  cot.  They 
make  the  locust  fly  forth  :  they  make  the  swallow 
leave  its  nest :  they  make  the  cattle  and  sheep  run 
away.  Every  day  the  evil  demons  are  chasing." 
For  they  are  themselves  wandering  spirits  of  dis- 
order and  misfortune.  A  long  litany4  describes  all 
kinds  of  demons,  with  the  refrain  for  each  class, 
"  Spirit  of  Heaven  remember,  Spirit  of  Earth  re- 
member." These  include  the  Utuk  of  deserts,  moun- 
tains, seas,  and  marshes ;  the  Gigim  (or  "  troubler "), 

1  Lenormant,  "Etudes,"  v.  pp.  122  and  81  ;  "  W.  A.  I.,"  iv.  5  and 
iv.  2. 
»  Ibid.  p.  79;  "W.  A.  I.,"iv.  I. 

3  K.  4938. 

4  Oppert,  in  Journal  A siatique,  January  1873;  "  W.  A.  I.,"  ii.  17 
and  18. 


174  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

who  is  "  the  wind  of  evil "  troubling  the  body ;  the 
demon  who  "  possesses  "  a  man  and  makes  him  do 
evil,  making  the  innocent  impious,  and  the  soldier  a 
coward.  They  include  demons  of  sores  and  pains, 
and  those  who  send  bad  dreams,  or  who  cause  the 
wizard  to  "  make  an  image  to  get  hold  of  any  one." 
Theirs  is  the  power  of  the  evil  face,  evil  eye,  evil 
mouth,  tongue,  lip,  and  fatal  sorcery.  They  poison 
the  breasts  of  the  nurse,  and  cause  miscarriage.  They 
cause  fever,  plague,  liver  disease,  consumption,  boils, 
indigestion,  and  poisoning,  as  well  as  frost  and  heat 
and  thirst.  They  make  men  die  of  hunger  and  thirst 
in  the  desert,  and  trouble  the  widow  (slave  or  free) 
who  has  no  husband,  the  forgotten  dead,  and  the 
famishing.  Good  spirits  are  invoked  against  them, 
and  charms  are  to  be  bound  to  the  couch,  the  walls, 
and  the  hands  of  the  sick.  These  protect  also  against 
ghosts — male  or  female — and  against  poison  and 
philtres.  The  spirit  who  is  a  "  son  of  heaven  re- 
membered by  the  gods"  is  invoked,  with  others,  to 
send  these  demons  back  to  a  desert,  or  to  the  sea, 
to  the  Euphrates  or  Tigris,  or  to  the  "dark  mountain 
of  the  East  with  slippery  sides  and  chasms."  The 
Hell  Goddess  is  besought  to  make  them  come  out 
of  the  body  of  the  possessed,  quarrelling  with  one 
another  as  they  depart  The  wise  god  (Ak)  is  in- 
voked to  enter  the  head,  and  man  is  exhorted  to 
"  seek  peace  by  sacrifice."  The  Sun,  "  eldest  child 
of  Ocean,"  is  finally  invoked  to  "  confirm  the  auguries, 
— Spirit  of  Heaven  remember,  Spirit  of  Earth  re- 
member." l 

The  power  of  a  curse  is  the  subject  of  another 
tablet2 — the  curse  of  some  one  unintentionally 
wronged  bringing  misfortune — "  an  evil  cry  cleaves 

1  Two    copies  of  another  text  (K.   3121,  3255)  conjure   similar 
demons  to  "  leave  the  man  who  is  a  son  of  his  god." 
'  K.  65. 


TALISMANS  175 

to  him  :  the  curse  is  a  curse  of  sickness.  The  curse 
slays  a  man  like  a  sheep.  It  makes  his  god  punish 
his  body.  His  mother  goddess  makes  him  sad.  The 
voice  that  cries  cloaks  him  as  a  garment,  and  strangles 
him."  It  can  only  be  removed  through  discovery 
of  the  cause,  by  intercession  of  the  sun  god  with  his 
all-wise  father  Ea.  The  sun  is  called  "  the  protecting 
hero,"  l  and  is  described  as  the  "  merciful  one "  who 
"raises  the  dead  alive"  (in  the  other  world) — a 
"saviour"  from  demons.  From  the  earliest  age  (that 
of  Gudea)  down  to  the  time  of  Darius  curses  were 
inscribed  on  monuments  to  preserve  them  from  any 
future  mutilation  or  alteration.  Talismanic  images, 
and  written  charms,  were  also  commonly  used  to 
protect  buildings  and  men  from  evil  spirits.2  Figures 
of  heroes  fighting  demons  were  carved  inside  door- 
ways to  frighten  away  fiends,  or  on  the  sides  of  a 
throne  demons  were  represented  quarrelling,  while 
images  under  couches  or  doorsills  defended  the  living 
from  the  dead.  Such  images  (like  Roman  Penates) 
were  invoked  with  libations  and  offered  meats,  with 
the  words,  "  Eat  and  drink,  children  of  Ea  born  of 
Ocean,  for  your  preservation.  Let  no  evil  enter." 
We  read  also  in  another  talismanic  text  :3  "Fate.  Fate. 
The  bond  not  taken  away  :  the  bond  of  the  gods  never 
overthrown :  the  bond  of  heaven  and  earth  which 
changes  not.  God  alone  is  not  changed.  God  does 
not  let  man  understand.  A  snare  not  to  be  escaped 
is  set  against  the  wicked ;  an  unchanging  decree  is 
against  the  wicked,  whether  evil  spirit,  demon,  troubler, 
evil  fiend,  or  evil  god,  the  lurker,  the  ghost,  the  spectre, 
the  vampire,  the  male  or  female  shade,  the  fairy,  the 
plague,  fever,  or  bad  sickness  which  is  repelled  by 
sprinkling  the  water  of  Ea."  Thus  devils  are  con- 

1  "  Silik  Mulu  Dug."    "  W.  A.  I.,"  iv.  29  (i). 

1  K.  3197. 

8  K.  5015.    The  Sagba  or  Mamitu — "what  is  decreed." 


1 76  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

jured  with  holy  water,  and  the  tablet  goes  on  to 
detail  curses  against  each  kind  of  fiend  according  to 
the  evil  that  it  does.  The  plague  is  elsewhere  exor- 
cised l  by  placing  an  image  of  the  plague-god  on  the 
stomach  of  the  sufferer,  with  the  words  "  The  por- 
trait-image is  powerful." 

The  great  gods  included,  besides  the  Spirit  of  Heaven 
and  the  Spirit  of  Earth  (who  were  the  father  and 
mother  of  all),  their  children,  the  sun,  moon,  ocean, 
sky,  and  wind,  with  the  terrible  god  of  death.  The 
dead  were  judged  under  ocean  by  Ea,  the  god  of  the 
deep  and  of  deep  wisdom.  The  sun  gave  life  to  them 
in  Hades — the  "land  of  no  return" — and  the  pious 
soul  is  always  called  a  "  son  of  his  god."  One  hymn 
is  addressed  to  the  Fire  God  2 — "  the  power  of  famous 
name  proclaiming  fate.  You  mingle  copper  and  tin, 
you  purify  gold  and  silver,  you  are  the  comrade  of 
the  crescent  lady,  you  frighten  the  wicked  by  night. 
May  you  enlighten  the  deeds  of  the  man  who  is  a 
son  of  his  god,  may  he  shine  as  heaven,  may  he  be 
pure  as  earth,  may  he  be  bright  as  the  heart  of  heaven." 
Again  we  find  Ak  ("  the  wise "),  who  became  the 
Semitic  Nebo — god  of  the  wind — addressed  in  a  hymn 
as  "  the  great  messenger,  bringing  all  secrets  to  light ; 
the  scribe  of  all  that  happens,  holding  the  great  pen  ; 
setting  the  world  in  order;  completing  a  record  of 
all  that  is  decided  for  his  land."  In  another  litany 
the  danger  of  a  flood  is  exorcised:2  "The  river  god 
rushes  with  fate  before  him  fierce  as  a  lion  .  .  .  against 
all  the  land.  May  the  rising  sun  dispel  the  darkness, 
may  it  never  reach  the  house,  may  the  fate  go  to  the 
desert  of  the  highlands.  Spirit  of  Heaven  remember 
the  fate,  Spirit  of  Earth  remember."  It  is  a  common 
feature  of  these  hymns  and  chants  that — as  in  later 
magic  also — evils  are  conjured  away  to  other  places, 
as  when,  for  instance,  headache  is  bidden  to  depart 

1  K.  1284.  *  K.  44. 


AKKADIAN   LITANIES  177 

to  the  lizards  in  their  holes,  to  the  grasshoppers,  and 
the  birds.1 

The  Akkadians  appear  to  have  had  human  sacrifices 
of  the  first-born,2  probably  in  times  of  great  trouble ; 
and  regarded  all  misfortune  as  sent  by  angry  gods. 
Thus  we  read : 3  "  There  is  fasting  in  thy  great  city 
of  Erech.  In  the  house  of  star-gazing,  the  house  of 
thine  oracle,  blood  has  been  poured  out  like  water. 
Fire  rises  in  all  thy  lands  red  as  the  victim.  Lady, 
I  have  put  the  evil  man  under  the  yoke.  Thy  hand 
breaks  the  power  of  the  foe  like  a  reed.  I  wrest  not 
the  law.  I  do  not  boast  of  myself.  Day  and  night 
I  wither  like  a  flower.  I  am  thy  servant,  remembering 
thee."  The  confession  of  sin  is  also  found  in  long 
litanies,  of  which  one  bears  the  title,  "  Lament  of  a 
Contrite  Heart." 4  In  this  we  have  the  following 
passages :  "  How  long,  O  Mother  Istar,  knowing  the 
unknown,  will  thy  heart  be  wroth  with  me,  making 
a  narrow  way  for  men  that  none  can  know  ?  "  "  O 
Lord,  thou  wilt  not  reject  thy  servant.  Vouchsafe  to 
take  his  hand  in  the  waters  of  the  tempest.  Turn 
away  in  mercy  the  sin  I  sinned.  Let  the  wind  bear 
away  the  fault  I  committed.  Wring  out  as  a  cloth 
my  great  shame."  These  litanies,  or  penitential 
psalms,  as  they  have  been  called,  are  very  long  and 
wearisome,  and  are  addressed  to  a  god  and  a  goddess. 
There  is,  indeed,  no  true  Monotheism  to  be  discovered 
in  Akkadian  literature,  but  only  what  Max  Miiller 
calls  "  Henotheism,"  or  the  selection  of  one  god  out 
of  the  pantheon.  In  such  cases  he  is  praised  as  the 
greatest,  and  the  singer  asks,  "  Who  is  like  thee 
among  gods  ?  "  but  the  deity  so  invoked  is  not  always 
the  same. 

The  oldest  Akkadian  texts,  probably  before  3000  B.C., 
are  votive  tablets  and  objects,  given  to  the  temples 


1  K.  3169.  »  K.  5139.  *  K.  4608. 

4  "  W.  A.  I.,"  iv.  10,  lines  25  to  31  and  35  to  44. 


12 


1 78  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

in  recognition  of  the  "  preservation  alive "  of  some 
monarch.  These  often  contain  historic  information. 
Others,  at  Tell  Loh,  date  from  about  2800  B.C.,  and 
record  the  endowments  of  the  temples  by  various 
successive  kings.  In  a  text  by  Gudea  we  also  learn 
that  this  shrine  was  set  up  on  ground  that  had  never 
been  defiled  by  a  dead  body.  We  have  thus  very 
early  evidences  of  the  rites  and  enrichment  of  temples 
and  priests,  and  of  the  vestments  worn  by  the  latter, 
which  are  of  great  importance  for  comparative  study. 

The  Akkadians  also  had  many  mythical  stories. 
Though  now  only  known  in  Semitic  translation,  there 
is  little  doubt  that  the  story  of  Sargina  ("  the  founder 
king  ")  floating  in  his  ark  on  the  Euphrates,  like  Moses 
on  the  Nile,  or  like  Perseus  in  Greece,  Darab  in 
Persia,  and  the  twins — Romulus  and  Remus — in 
Rome,  is  of  Akkadian  origin,  as  are  the  legends  of 
Gilgamas,  "  the  sun  hero,"  or  Babylonian  Hercules. 
Another  fragment1  refers  to  a  luck  child  "who  had 
neither  father  nor  mother;  who  knew  neither  his 
father  nor  his  mother.  He  drank,  quenching  his 
thirst  in  the  street  gutter ;  he  snatched  food  from 
the  dogs  and  crows."  A  wise  man  adopted  him,  and 
made  a  seal  mark  on  the  soles  of  his  feet :  he  was 
educated  as  a  scribe,  and  (in  the  end  which  is  lost) 
no  doubt  became  a  famous  hero. 

This  Akkadian  religion,  with  its'  ghosts,  fiends, 
gods,  and  heroes,  its  magic  and  its  psalms,  was  not 
confined  to  Chaldea.  The  Hittite  bas-reliefs  show  us 
similar  beliefs  in  Syria  and  Asia  Minor  at  a  very 
early  age.  The  basalt  texts  of  Hamath  seem  clearly 
to  be  votive  inscriptions  "  for  the  life  "2  of  some  king. 
At  Mer'ash,  in  Syria,  we  have  a  rude  bas-relief  cut 
in  rock  representing  the  mother  goddess  and  child- 
like Isis  and  Horus — and  this  is  perhaps  the  oldest 

1  "  W.  A.  I.,"  ii.  9,  col.  2. 

*  Til-fca,  "for  life,"  in  Hittite. 


HITTITE  GODS  179 

Madonna  group  in  the  world.  At  Babylon  itself  a 
Hittite  text  accompanies  the  pigtailed  thunder  god 
with  hammer  and  thunderbolts.  At  Ibreez,  in  Lycaonia, 
we  have  a  gigantic  deity  holding  corn  and  grapes,  and 
the  robes  of  the  worshipper  are  adorned  with  the 
familiar  Swastica  symbol.  At  Carchemish  we  find 
the  winged,  naked  Istar.  At  Boghaz  Keui  (Pterium), 
in  Pontus,  the  rock  shrine  is  guarded  by  demon 
figures  like  those  of  Japanese  temple  doors,  and  the 
walls  are  carved  with  a  great  procession  of  gods  and 
genii.  To  the  left  the  heaven  god  stands  on  men's 
shoulders  with  a  band  of  male  figures  behind  him. 
He  meets  the  procession  of  the  Earth  goddess  (Ma), 
who  stands  facing  him  to  the  right,  on  the  back  of  a 
lion.  Behind  her  are  the  twins  (Sun  and  Moon),  on 
a  double-headed  eagle,  and  the  sun  god  on  a  lion, 
while  females  complete  the  second  procession.  These 
most  archaic  sculptures  are  prototypes  of  the  later 
Assyrian  representations  (at  Bavian  and  Samala)  of 
gods  standing  on  beasts  like  the  Indian  deities.1 
Even  far  west  in  Lydia  we  have  a  seal  with  figures 
of  gods,  one  of  whom  is  two-headed  like  Janus, 
presenting  a  cross  to  his  worshippers  and  a  flail  to 
the  wicked  in  Hades,  and  thus  explaining  the  double 
aspect  of  the  Etruscan  god  of  peace  and  war.  In 
Etruria  itself  one  of  the  most  remarkable  figures  is 
that  of  Charon  ("the  evil  god"),  who  is  always 
pictured  with  the  grinning  mask  which  belongs  to 
Bes  in  Egypt,  and  to  all  demons  in  Chaldea.  This 
widespread  Mongol  religion  has  been  noticed  in 
considerable  detail,  because  it  represents  the  oldest 
known  Asiatic  system,  and  appears  to  lie  at  the  root 
of  later  beliefs,  not  only  in  Babylonia,  Assyria,  and 

1  In  the  treaty  with  Rameses  II.,  the  Hittites  invoke  Set  (or  Sutekh) 
as  "  ruler  of  heaven,"  with  "  a  thousand  gods  and  goddesses  of  the 
land  of  the  Hittites,"  and  with  gods  of  "  hills  and  rivers,"  "  the  great 
sea,  the  winds,  and  the  clouds.' 


1 8o  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

Persia,  but  also  in  Etruria  and  in  Greece,  where 
many  Akkadian  figures  and  legends  were  adopted 
later.  Akkadian  magic  also  seems  to  form  the  basis 
of  the  mediaeval  sorcery  which  claimed  a  Babylonian 
origin. 

iv.  Babylonia. — The  religion  of  the  Semitic  race  in 
Babylonia,  Assyria,  Canaan,  and  Phoenicia  alike, 
was  founded  on  that  of  the  Akkadians.  In  some 
cases  the  Akkadian  names  for  the  gods  were  re- 
tained, and  though  in  others  Semitic  terms  were 
substituted,  the  characters  of  the  deities  were  un- 
changed.1 The  Assyrians  in  time  came  to  regard 
Assur  ("the  most  blessed  "),  who  was  their  national  god, 
as  supreme  over  others ;  but  he  was  represented  as 
an  archer,  with  eagle's  wings  and  tail,  in  a  circle — the 
old  emblem  of  the  sun-god  in  Egypt,  Phoenicia,  and 
Chaldea,  and  among  the  Hittites,  having  been  the 
winged  sun.  The  contrast  between  the  lowest  super- 
stitious belief  in  ghosts,  demons,  wizards,  and  charms 
on  the  one  hand,  or  conceptions  of  duty,  sin,  and 
punishment  by  immortal  gods  on  the  other,  is  observ- 
able in  early  Semitic  systems  just  as  it  is  in  Akkadian 
texts.  It  is  not  till  about  the  seventh  century  B.C.  that 
the  old  deities  of  nature  are  formed  into  a  regular 
pantheon,  and  regarded  as  rulers  of  the  planets,  by 
the  Assyrians.  In  the  west  the  local  names  of  the 
gods  are  distinctive,  but  the  characters  of  the  great 
rulers  of  heaven,  hell,  and  ocean,  of  sun,  moon,  sky, 
earth,  and  the  wind  are  the  same.  Even  in  Syria  we 
find  the  Akkadian  names  of  Tamzi,  Istar,  Nergal,  and 

1  Anu,  "  heaven,"  Istaru,  "  light-maker,"  Nirgalu,  "  King  death," 
Namtarti,  "  fate,"  Marduku,  "  sun  disk,"  Ea,  "  ocean  spirit,"  are 
Akkadian  names  with  the  Semitic  nominative  in  u  added.  //«,  "  god," 
Ilatu,  "goddess,"  Behi,  "lord,"  Beltu,  "  lady," JRi mmunu, "  sky,"  Samsu, 
"  sun,"  Stnu,  "  moon,"  Nabu,  "  swelling "  or  "  wind,"  are  Semitic 
names. 


BABYLONIAN   CHARMS  181 

Dagon  still  surviving.1  The  only  new  feature  that 
has  been  discovered  in  excavating  Canaanite  cities  has 
been  the  use  of  phallic  emblems  at  a  very  early  period, 
and  these  appear  also  to  have  been  common  in  Chaldea 
among  Akkadians. 

The  Semitic  tablets  which  record  magical  formulae 
are  very  numerous  in  the  museums.  One  of  these 
gives  a  series  of  charms  2  to  repel  ghosts.  A  sort  of 
sour  gruel  is  to  be  poured  from  the  hoof  of  a  black  ox 
with  the  words :  "  O  dead  ones  whose  dwellings  are 
the  mounds  .  .  .  why  do  you  appear  to  me  ?  I  have  not 
gone  to  Cutha  to  choose  a  ghost.  Why  do  you  haunt 
me?  The  queen  of  destruction,  Allatu,  queen  of 
heaven's  peak,  is  the  scribe  of  the  gods,  her  pen  is 
of  lapis  and  sapphire."  Or,  otherwise,  lead  rolls  with 
spells  on  them  may  be  buried,  or  a  knotted  rope 
bound  round  the  brow  of  the  ghost-seer,  the  knots 
sprinkled  with  dust  from  an  old  tomb,  an  anthill,  etc. 
Or  you  may  make  an  image  of  a  living  man  of  clay, 
and  wash  it  in  pure  water  and  anoint  it,  making 
also  an  image  of  a  dead  man,  and  burying  it  under 
the  shade  of  a  tree.  The  former  is  laid  in  the 
sun  with  the  words,  "Light  is  on  thee,  O  shadow, 
the  buried  one  is  gone  to  his  place."  Another 
formula  is  potent  against  a  witch,3  including  the 
words,  "  May  Sinu  (the  moon-god)  destroy  thy  body, 
and  may  he  cast  thee  into  the  lake  of  water  and  fire." 
Charms  to  cure  sickness  are  also  very  numerous,  or 
what  is  called  "  sympathetic  magic,"  which  is  only  a 
kind  of  dumb  show  representing  the  wishes  of  the 

1  Nergal  is  noticed  in  a  Phoenician  text,  Dagon  was  the  Akkadian 
Da-gan  (probably  "man-fish").  The  Syrian  Gods  included  El, 
"heaven,"  Baalalh,  "earth,"  Shainash,  "sun,"  Yerekh,  "moon," 
Resheph  (or  Hadad),  "  the  sky,"  Dagon,  "  ocean,"  Nergal,  "  hell,"  and 
Nebo,  "  wind,"  with  'Ashtoreth  or  Istar,  the  moon  and  mother. 

*  See  R.  Campbell  Thompson,  in  "  Proc.  Bib.  Arch.  Soc.,"  Novem- 
ber 1906,  pp.  219-27. 

3  "  British  Museum  Guide,"  1900,  p.  64. 


i82  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

victim.  These  spells  have  survived  to  quite  recent 
times  in  Europe ;  and  the  idea  that  when  a  body 
remains  unburied  (in  some  place  unknown  or  that 
cannot  be  reached),  and  the  ghost  in  consequence 
haunts  the  living,  it  can  be  laid  by  burying  an  image, 
was  common  in  Scotland  a  few  centuries  ago ;  for 
miniature  coffins,  with  dolls  in  them,  have  been  found 
buried  in  consecrated  ground  at  the  ruined  chapel  of 
St.  Antony,  on  Arthur's  Seat,  and  are  said  to  have 
represented  sailors  drowned  at  sea. 

Equally  numerous  are  omen  tablets  of  every  kind, 
the  omens  being  taken  from  the  flight  of  birds,  or 
doings  of  dogs,  pigs,  snakes,  scorpions;  from  monstrous 
births,  entrails  of  sacrifices,  astrological  aspects,  the 
weather,  lots,  accidents,  etc.,  just  as  among  the  Etrus- 
cans and  Romans.  Miraculous  interventions  of  the 
gods  were  firmly  credited,  as  we  see  from  a  poem  in 
regular  metre  which  refers  to  an  Elamite  invasion 
(probably  about  650  B.C.),  when  the  impious  desecrator 
of  a  temple  was  slain  by  the  god  Bel,  who  appeared  in 
glory.  Visions  were  also  ascribed  to  divine  sugges- 
tions, and  the  seer  and  the  prophet  are  noticed  in  the 
earliest  historic  texts.  The  following  psalm  or  prayer 
refers  to  such  belief: l 

"  Lord  God,  let  my  lamentations  be  quieted.  (Hear) 
from  (heaven)  merciful  Lord  of  comfort.  Bring  me 
safety  on  the  day  appointed  for  death.  Be  gracious  to 
me,  O  my  Goddess,  and  hear  my  lament.  May  my 
fault,  my  wickedness,  my  error,  my  sin,  be  forgiven. 
May  the  weight  be  taken  from  me.  May  the  seven 
winds  carry  away  my  groans.  May  I  break  from  sin. 
May  the  bird  fly  forth  in  heaven.  May  the  fish  escape 
the  net;  may  the  river  carry  it  away.  .  .  .  Make  my 
face  to  shine  as  gold  ...  let  me  lay  thine  offerings  in 
the  court  of  thine  altar.  Forgive  my  sin  and  watch 
over  me.  Be  above  me,  and  may  a  happy  dream  come  : 
1  Lenormant,  "  Etudes  Accadiennes,"  v.  p.  162;  "  W.  A.  I.,"iv.  66.  2. 


GILGAMAS  183 

may  the  dream  I  dream  be  happy ;  may  the  dream  I 
dream  be  true ;  make  the  dream  I  dream  a  good  omen. 
Let  Makhir,  god  of  dreams,  stand  over  my  head.  Let 
me  also  enter  the  high  house,  the  temple  of  the  gods, 
the  abode  of  the  Lord.  Let  me  join  Marduk  the  merci- 
ful, for  happiness,  the  happiness  in  his  hands,  to  thy 
glory.  Let  me  praise  thy  god-ship.  Let  the  men  of 
my  city  celebrate  thy  great  deeds." 

Fragments  of  the  sacred  poems  and  legends  of 
Babylonia  show  us  the  Semitic  ideas  as  to  creation, 
and  concerning  mythology,  all  apparently  of  Akkadian 
origin.  A  set  of  seven  tablets  described  the  creation 
by  Anu  (god  of  heaven)  of  the  gods,  the  earth,  stars, 
moon,  and  living  creatures,  and  probably  (as  Alexander 
Polyhistor  relates)  of  man  compounded  of  clay  and  of 
the  blood  of  Bel,  the  earth  god.1  This  cosmogony 
appears  to  be  very  ancient,  since  the  six  days  of 
creation  were  known  also  to  the  Etruscans.  The 
Flood  story  occurs  in  the  legend  of  the  twelve  labours 
of  Gilgamas  ("  the  sun  hero  "),  and  this  was  borrowed 
by  the  Greeks  from  a  Semitic  source  ;  Deucalion — the 
Greek  Noah — bearing  apparently  a  Semitic  name 
meaning  "  lord  of  the  ship."  Out  of  these  twelve 
tablets,  the  first,  fourth,  and  fifth  are  lost ;  but  the 
story  of  Gilgamas  given  by  ALlian  probably  repre- 
sents the  account  of  his  birth  in  the  first  lost  tablet, 
while  the  representation  of  the  hero  slaying  the  lion 
(common  on  cylinders)  indicates  the  subject  of  the 
fourth  or  fifth  episode.  The  whole  legend  gives  us 
clearly  the  originals  of  various  well-known  myths, 
which  the  Greeks  took  probably  from  the  civilised 
tribes  of  Asia  Minor.  Gilgamas  was  the  child  of  a 
princess  shut  up  (like  Danae)  in  a  tower.  He  was 
exposed  on  a  mountain,2  and  an  eagle  carried  him  to  a 

1  Lenormant,  "Origines  de  PHistoire,"  1880,  pp.  494-506. 
1  jtlian,  "Hist.  Anim.,"  xii.  2.     See  "Records  of  the  Past,"  1891, 
vol.  v. 


1 84  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

gardener,  who  brought  him  up.  He  became  king  of 
Erech  in  Chaldea,  and  was  troubled  by  a  terrible  vision 
which  could  only  be  explained  by  Ea-bani  ("  Ea's 
spirit "),  a  man-bull  living  in  the  forest,  who  becomes 
his  comrade,  but  is  mortal,  like  the  dark  Twin  Brother 
of  Greek  mythology.1  In  the  sixth  tablet  we  find  Istar 
wooing  the  hero — as  in  the  Greek  borrowed  legend  of 
Adonis — and  he  reminds  her  of  the  fate  of  former 
lovers,  including  Tabulu,  whose  own  dogs  tore  him— 
as  in  the  story  of  Actaeon.  The  angry  Istar  sends  a 
monster  bull,  whom  Gilgamas  and  Ea-bani  slay.  The 
hero  goes  forth  to  seek  immortality,  and  reaches  a 
magic  garden  in  the  sea — like  that  of  the  Hesperides — 
where  jewelled  forests  are  guarded  by  scorpion  men 
and  giants.  He  slays  a  giant  in  an  eastern  forest,  and 
goes  over  the  desert  in  search  of  Ea-bani,  who  has 
been  slain  by  the  gadfly.  Gilgamas  becomes  leprous, 
and  his  hairs  (or  rays)  fall  off:  he  is  ferried  over  the 
"  waters  of  death  "  by  the  "servant  of  Ea,"  and  reaches 
the  abode  of  Tamzi  ("the  sun  spirit"),  where  he  is 
told  the  story  of  the  Flood,  and  then  bathed  in  the 
"  water  of  life."  Finally  the  ghost  of  Ea-bani  is  sent 
to  him  after  agonised  supplications  for  his  life,  and  the 
pair  return  from  the  underworld  to  the  city  of  Erech. 

No  less  famous  is  the  legend  of  the  descent  of  Istar 
to  Hades,  which  begins  thus :  "  To  the  Land  of  No 
Return,  the  region  below,  Istar,  daughter  of  the  moon, 
set  her  mind :  the  daughter  of  the  moon  determined 
to  go  to  the  house  of  corruption,  the  dwelling  of  the 
great  devourer,  to  the  house  whose  entry  has  no  exit, 
to  the  road  whose  way  has  no  return,  to  the  place 
whose  entrance  shuts  out  the  light,  where  they  eat 
dust,  and  devour  mud  :  its  light  is  unseen  in  darkness ; 
the  ghosts  like  birds  flap  their  wings ;  door  and  bolt 
are  thick  with  dust."  Such  is  the  picture  of  Sheol, 

1  The  friendly  man-bull  in  a  forest,  and  descending  a  well,  is  found 
in  a  Calmuc  tale.    Gubernatis,  "  Zoological  Mythology,"  1872,  i.  p.  129. 


MYTHS  AND   FABLES  185 

where  Istar  is  deprived  of  all  her  jewels  given  to  her 
by  Tammuz  (the  sun)  on  her  wedding  day,  but  is 
finally  washed  in  the  water  of  life,  and  restored  to  glory 
— a  clear  myth  of  the  twenty-eight  days  of  the  early 
lunar  month.  Other  legends  include  that  of  Etana, 
carried — like  Ganymede — by  an  eagle  to  heaven,  and 
of  the  god  Zu  ("  the  learned  "),  who  stole  the  tablet  of 
fate  from  heaven,  just  as  the  Veda  is  stolen  in  Indian 
mythology.  In  addition  to  these  myths  we  also  find, 
in  later  times,  fables  like  those  of  ^Esop,  on  tablets 
from  Nineveh,  including  those  of  the  Fox  and  the  Sun, 
the  Eagle  and  the  Serpent,  with  that  of  the  Horse  and 
the  Bull — a  poem  in  metre  contrasting  the  lives  of  the 
soldier  and  the  farmer. 

The  official  religion  of  the  temples  is  represented  by 
records  of  ritual,  of  sacrifices,  and  endowments,  fasts 
and  feasts.  The  fifteenth  day  of  the  month  was  a 
"  Sabbath,"  or  "  day  of  rest  indoors,"  when  all  business 
was  forbidden.  The  hymns  and  prayers  were  regularly 
prescribed :  incense  and  libations  were  customary 
features  of  the  services.  Holy  water  from  the  temple 
at  Sippara  was  purchased  by  pilgrims  ;  but  the  temples 
also  contained  Kedeshoth  or  "  consecrated  women," 
like  those  of  India  and  Greece ;  while  in  days  of  great 
trouble  human  sacrifices  were  offered,  as  by  all 
Semitic  peoples  down  to  late  times.  The  king  was 
regarded  as  a  divine  personage,  and  was  the  high 
priest  of  the  gods :  the  superstitious  character  of 
Assyrian  beliefs  is  witnessed  by  the  famous  prayer 
of  Assur-bani-pal,  which  is  thus  rendered  :l  "  O 
Rimmon,  prince  of  heaven  and  earth,  by  whose 
command  men  were  created,  speak  the  word  and  let 
the  gods  aid  thee.  Try  thou  my  cause,  and  grant  me 
a  favourable  judgment.  For  I,  Assur-bani-pal,  am 
thy  servant,  and  the  son  of  my  god  Assur  and  of  my 

1  See  "  British  Museum  Guide,"  1900,  p.  66,  K.  2808 +  K.  9490. 


1 86  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

goddess  'Ashtoreth.  I  make  my  petition  to  thee,  and 
ascribe  praise  to  thee,  because  of  evil  after  an  eclipse 
of  the  moon,  and  the  hostility  of  the  powers  of  heaven, 
and  evil  portents  in  my  palace  and  in  my  land : 
because  of  evil  bewitchment,  and  unclean  disease, 
transgression  and  iniquity,  and  sin  in  my  body ; 
and  because  of  an  evil  spectre  that  haunts  me.  Accept 
thou  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  :  heed  my  prayer ; 
set  me  free  from  the  spell  that  binds  me ;  do  away 
with  my  sin ;  let  any  evil  threatening  my  life  be 
averted.  Let  a  good  spirit  be  ever  at  my  head. 
May  the  god  and  goddess  of  mankind  be  gracious 
to  me.  Let  me  live  by  thy  command.  Let  me  bow 
down  and  extol  thy  greatness." 

This  faith,  however  primitive  and  ignorant,  yet 
inculcated  an  ethical  system  in  which  truth  and  justice 
are  regarded  as  duties.1  The  king  is  bidden  to  rule 
according  to  law,  and  to  heed  his  counsellors  and  the 
commands  of  the  gods,  while  all  who  take  bribes  are 
to  be  cast  into  prison.  From  the  days  of  'Ammurabi 
to  those  of  Assur-bani-pal,  the  just  and  loyal  govern- 
ment of  the  empire  was  maintained  by  all  great  kings 
of  Babylon  or  of  Assyria.  The  religious  ideas  and 
customs  remained  unchanged  for  more  than  two 
thousand  years,  and  the  later  Phoenician  texts  show 
similar  beliefs  in  Syria.  Thus  Yehumelek  (perhaps  as 
early  as  600  B.C.)  built  a  temple  to  his  goddess,  and 
says  on  the  dedication  stone,  "  Because  she  heard  my 
voice  and  did  me  good,  therefore  I  call  on  her.  May 
Baalath  of  Gebal  bless  Yehumelek,  and  grant  him 
life,  and  make  his  days  and  years  many  in  Gebal,  for 
that  he  is  a  just  king;  and  may  the  Lady  Baalath 
of  Gebal  grant  him  favour  in  the  eyes  of  the  Elohim, 
and  of  the  people  of  the  land."  Yet  later  (in  the 
third  century  B.C.)  the  coffin  of  Eshmunazar  of  Sidon 

1  «'  British  Museum  Guide,"  p.  48,  Tablet  of  Precepts,  D.  T.  i. 


ARYAN    MYTHS  187 

is  inscribed  with  a  curse  against  the  desecrator,  and 
declares  the  ancient  belief  in  Sheol,  and  in  the 
Rephaim  or  ghosts.  Belief  thus  crystallised,  among 
nations  who  adored  many  gods  even  if  they  regarded 
one  as  supreme,  had  attained  a  permanence  that 
excluded  higher  ideas,  for  which  we  must  look  in 
Greece,  in  India,  and  among  the  Hebrews. 

v.  The  West  Aryans. — From  the  primitive  ideas 
of  the  Turanian  and  Semitic  races  we  may  turn  to 
consider  those  of  the  early  Aryans,  concerning  which 
there  has  been  much  difference  of  opinion.  We  may 
regard  it  as  certain  that  they  held  the  animistic 
beliefs  which  are  common  to  all  mankind,  long  before 
they  separated  from  each  other  (East  and  West)  and 
even  before  they  migrated  North  from  the  Asiatic 
cradle  of  the  three  great  stocks.  As  among  the 
Semitic  and  Mongolic  races,  so  also  among  Aryans, 
the  local  names  of  the  gods  are  very  various ;  and 
little  help  is  found  in  comparing  those  of  the  various 
Aryan  nations,  the  principal  comparison  being  be- 
tween the  Vedic  and  Greek  deities,  or  between  those 
nations  which  were  nearest  to  each  other.  These, 
however,  indicate  the  common  origin  of  beliefs  among 
eastern  and  .western  Aryans,1  while  certain  very 
ancient  myths  are  not  only  common  to  all  branches 
of  the  Aryans,  but  often  also  to  the  Turanian  and 
Semitic  races  as  well.  The  sun  as  a  dragon-slayer 
is  found  in  all  Aryan  countries,  and  Marduk  in 
Babylon  slays  the  griffin  Tiamat,  the  mother  of 

1  The  most  apparent  parallels  include  the  Greek  Zeus  (Sk.  Diausfy, 
Eos  (Usha\  Orpheus  (Arbhu\  Hestia  (Vasu\  Argynnis  (Atjuna\ 
Echidna  (Ahi\  Hephaistos  ( Yavishtha),  Phoroneus  (Bhuranyu), 
Prometheus  (Pramdtha),  Helios  (Surya),  Euruphassa  (Urvasi), 
Arktos  (Arksha),  Triton  (Trita\  Ouranos  (Varuna) :  the  Latin  Mars 
(Marut) :  the  Scandinavian  Frey  (Prithivi\  who  is  the  Latin 
Priapus,  god  of  "  fruitfulness  "  :  the  Slav  Perkunas  (Parjanya\  the 
thunderer. 


1 88  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

storms.  The  story  of  the  child  exposed  to  beasts, 
or  on  the  river,  is  again  Babylonian,  though  found 
in  Rome,  in  Japan,  and  in  Persia.1  The  world  tree,  in 
a  paradise  of  the  sea,  is  equally  ancient.  In  Persia 
it  grows  in  ocean,  and  is  guarded  by  the  Kar-fish 
—a  gigantic  sturgeon.  Among  the  Indians  it  is  one  of 
the  "  trees  of  life  "  on  a  Paradise  mountain — as  also  in 
China.  In  Scandinavia  it  is  the  world-tree  Iggdrasil— 
a  gigantic  ash  whose  roots  are  in  hell,  and  its  top- 
most branches  in  heaven :  on  them  rests  the  eagle, 
which  is  the  emblem  of  Zeus,  who  sits  on  the  heaven 
tree  as  represented  on  an  Etruscan  mirror.  Other 
ideas,  more  distinctively  Aryan,  include  the  rainbow 
bridge  to  heaven,  found  among  the  Norse  and  in 
Persia ;  the  heavenly  maidens  (or  white  clouds) 
common  to  the  same  two  mythologies ;  also  the 
conception  of  a  good  god  opposed  to  an  evil  spirit 
(as  in  Egypt)  which  we  find  in  the  Bielbog  ("  white 
god ")  and  Zernebog  ("  black  god ")  among  Slavs, 
as  well  as  in  Ahura  Mazda  ("  the  most  wise 
lord ")  and  Angro-mainyus  ("  the  angry  mind  ")  in 
Persia.  The  idea  of  successive  ages  of  world  history 
is  again  common  to  Greeks  and  Hindus,  as  is  that 
of  gods  or  heroes  born  of  virgin  mothers  by  divine 
fathers,  which  we  also  find  among  Mongols.  The 
belief  in  a  reincarnate  hero  is  common  to  East  and 
West,  as  represented  by  Zoroaster  in  Persia,  and  by 
many  Hindu  legends,  as  well  as  by  the  Norse  Baldur, 
the  Keltic  Arthur,  or  the  Teutonic  Frederic  Red- 
beard,  and  Holger  Danske  in  Denmark.  This 
Messianic  expectation  is  indeed  traceable  earlier 
among  the  Persians  than  it  is  among  the  Hebrews. 
These  comparisons  seem  to  show  that  mythology,  as 
well  as  animism,  was  developed  before  the  division 
of  the  two  great  Aryan  families ;  but  on  the  other 
hand  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  Greeks  borrowed 
1  See  Chap.  II.  p.  77. 


ETRUSCAN   GODS  189 

myths  from  both  Turanian  and  Semitic  peoples  in 
Asia  Minor,  and  the  Romans  from  the  Turanian 
Etruscans  in  Italy.1 

The  Etruscan  gods,  bearing  Mongol  names,  survive 
as  "  folletti "  in  Tuscany  still,2  mingled  with  other 
(Aryan)  figures,  mainly  Roman,  but  sometimes  per- 
haps Gothic,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Dusio,  or  "  deuce,"  an 
evil  demon.  The  frescoes  in  Etruscan  tombs  show 
good  spirits  painted  red,  and  evil  ones  (under  Charon, 
the  "  god  of  evil")  painted  black.  The  ghost  is  taken 
to  Hades  on  a  "  death  horse,"  which  is  also  the 
supporter  of  the  hell  goddess,  according  to  the 
Babylonian  system,  as  represented  on  a  well-known 
bronze  tablet  from  Palmyra.  The  Etruscan3  cos- 
mogony, representing  a  creation  in  six  days  each  of  a 
thousand  years,  is  similar  to  that  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  of  the  later  Persians,  as  well  as  of  the  Babylonians. 
Cicero  also4  compares  Etruscan  auguries  with  those 
of  the  Chaldeans.  The  Romans  took  many  myths 
from  the  Etruscans,  and  the  word  "  Lars  "  is  probably 
non-Aryan  ; 6  but  other  legends  are  apparently  Aryan, 
such  as  that  of  Cacus  detaining  the  herds  of  Hercules 
in  his  cavern,  which  recalls  the  story  of  Indra  (in  the 
Veda),  whose  cattle  were  stolen  by  the  Panis.  Roman 
beliefs  are  very  similar  to  those  already  described, 
including  ghosts,  demons,  hell,  the  feeding  of  the  dead 
at  the  Lemuralia  with  black  beans,  the  drowning  of 

1  In  Greek,  Herakles  is  perhaps  the  Akkadian  Er-gal,  "big  man  "  : 
Kentaur  the  Mongol  Kan-tor,  "  man-beast  "  :  Amazon  the  Akkadian 
Ama-zun,  "woman  warrior."  The  Greek  loans  from  Semitic  speech 
include  Melikertes,  (Phoenician  Melkarth\  Kadmos  (Kedem,  "east"), 
Europa (-£>!?£,  "west"),  the  Kabiri  (Babylonian  Kabiri,  "great  ones"), 
and  several  others  which  are  less  certain.  Adonis  was  mourned  in 
Athens  just  as  he  was  in  Syria  (Plutarch,  "  Nicias ").  See  my 
"  Syrian  Stone  Lore,"  1896,  p.  148. 

1  Leland,  "Etruscan  Roman  Remains,"  1892. 

s  Suidas,  s.v.  "  Tyrrhenia." 

4  Cicero,  "  De  Divinat.,"  i. 

*  Lar,  "  lord,"  as  in  Kassite. 


190  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

wicker  images  thrown  from  the  Sublician  bridge,  the 
omens,  leaden  tablets,  magic  papyri,  and  philtres,  with 
other  well-known  superstitions.  Like  all  Aryans,  the 
Romans  worshipped  the  sacred  fire,  guarded  by  the 
girl  priests  of  Vesta ;  and  the  priests  at  Soracte 
walked  unharmed  over  glowing  embers  like  modern 
Dervishes.  We  find  no  new  features  in  their  beliefs 
till  later  times,  when  the  Greek  Plutarch  taught 1  that 
all  demons — good  and  bad — were  the  ministers  of  the 
supreme  god.  After  the  foundation  of  the  empire 
many  foreign  cults  entered  Italy,  especially  that  of 
Isis  and  Serapis  from  Egypt,  and  the  debased  worship 
of  Mithra  from  Pontus.  Much  of  the  early  Roman 
cultus  was  derived  from  the  Greeks  of  southern 
Italy ;  and  the  Greek  orgies  were  also  celebrated 
in  Rome. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enter  deeply  into  the  mythology 
and  folk-lore  of  the  Slavs,  Teutons,  or  Scandinavians. 
Their  beliefs  are  of  the  same  general  character;  but 
the  Norse  Eddas  are  only  known  in  a  very  late  form 
after  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  and  the  Keltic 
legends  are  equally  subject  to  suspicion  of  corruption 
by  borrowing  from  the  Bible — especially  as  regards 
the  Flood  story.  The  folk-lore  of  Europe,  to  which  so 
much  attention  has  been  given,  presents  confused 
survivals — among  Christianised  peasants — of  the  old 
pagan  superstitions ;  and,  by  tracing  such  to  their  origin 
in  Babylonia,  we  escape  from  the  later  perversions, 
and  go  back  to  much  older  and  more  reliable  sources.2 

In  Greece  we  have  the  same  mingling  of  original 
Aryan  mythology  with  legends  borrowed  from  Asia ; 
the  same  early  superstitions,  and  later  belief  in  a 
supreme  god ;  and  the  same  secret  rites — or  mysteries 

1  Like  Maximus  the  Platonist. 

*  For  Aryan  folk-lore  see  Forlong's  "  Faiths  of  Man,"  3  vols.  1906  ; 
Cox,  "  Mythology  of  the  Aryan  Nations,"  1882  ;  or  Frazer's  "  Golden 
Bough,"  1890—33  far  as  his  facts  are  concerned. 


GREEK  RITES  191 

— which  are  found  among  all  savage  nations.  At 
Athens,  on  the  seventh  day  of  Thargelion  (the  mid- 
summer month),  a  man  and  a  woman — usually  slaves 
or  captives — were  annually  sacrificed  as  human  scape- 
goats, just  as  in  Mexico  or  Peru.  The  sacrifice  of 
Iphigeneia  is  possibly  as  historic  as  that  of  Jephthah's 
daughter,  since  children  were  offered  by  all  early 
races  in  times  of  great  trouble.  The  great  Eleusis 
mysteries  celebrated  the  rape  and  restoration  of 
Persephone  ("the  seed  in  the  furrow"),  who  answered 
to  the  Indian  Sita.  We  do  not  know  certainly  what 
the  secret  teaching  at  these  rites  really  was.  Christians 
who  were  initiated  say  that  the  emblem  shown  was  a 
phallus,  and  it  seems  probable  that  the  initiated 
renounced  all  popular  belief  in  the  old  gods,  and  were 
taught  that  the  only  realities  were  the  male  and 
female  principles  in  nature,  in  which  the  Hindu, 
Chinese,  and  Japanese  philosophers  equally  believed. 
But  Cicero  says  that  the  teaching  was  comforting 
both  as  regards  this  life  and  regarding  the  hereafter. 
Most  mysteries  have  always  either  referred  to  matters 
which  it  was  not  decent  to  explain  in  public,  or  to 
secret  sceptical  views  which  it  was  dangerous  to  avow 
in  face  of  an  ignorant  and  fanatical  popular  creed. 
The  real  contribution  of  Greece  to  human  progress 
consisted  neither  in  her  mythology  nor  in  her 
mysteries,  but  in  the  search  for  "  wisdom  "  and  real 
knowledge  by  her  famous  philosophers.  Yet  among 
these  also  we  must  recognise,  when  studying  them 
by  the  light  of  modern  science,  limitations  of  the  most 
marked  character,  due  to  preconceptions  as  to  nature 
which  were  entirely  misleading. 

The  Greek  looked  on  the  ancient  beliefs  of  Asia 
with  fresh  eyes.  Greek  sages,  in  the  sixth  century 
B.C.,  and  for  nearly  a  thousand  years  after,  enlarged 
their  experience  by  travel  abroad ;  and  the  first 
philosophers,  while  they  discovered  that  under  many 


i92  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

names  the  gods  of  all  lands  were  ever  the  same,  and 
the  savage  superstitions  of  the  barbarians  the  same  as 
those  of  their  own  peasantry,  became  aware  that  the 
popular  ideas  had  no  sound  foundation  in  facts,  and 
that  the  realities  of  existence  were  yet  unknown. 
They  endeavoured  to  understand  "  being  and  beings  " 
(as  Aristotle  says),  but  their  ignorance  of  physics,  and 
their  unconscious  prejudices  due  to  education,  made 
it  impossible  for  them  to  advance  beyond  very  crude 
conceptions  of  nature.  Thales  and  his  disciples 
sought  to  find  the  origin  of  matter  and  of  life  in  an 
element,  or  in  elements,  such  as  water  and  heat,  or 
air,  or  fire,  but  knew  nothing  of  the  real  nature  of 
these  substances  and  forces,  though  they  dimly  per- 
ceived that  the  universe  was  a  single  and  infinite 
substance,  animated  by  a  single  will.  The  great 
foreign  religions,  which  they  found  to  have  created 
ideas  far  in  advance  of  their  own,  were  that  of  Persia 
(spreading  to  Ionia  in  the  sixth  century  B.C.)  and  that 
of  Egypt.  From  the  former  they  may  have  learned 
the  idea  of  immortality,  from  the  latter  they  might 
take  (as  we  have  already  seen)  the  doctrines  of  trans- 
migration, and  pantheism.  But  the  fresh  mind  placed 
a  new  complexion  on  the  ancient  dogmas ;  and  gradu- 
ally the  Greek  sages  came  to  think  that,  while  Reason 
was  the  best  guide,  yet — as  it  depended  on  imperfect 
senses — it  was  impossible  for  man  to  understand  even 
the  world  in  which  he  dwelt,  and  still  less  the 
mysteries  of  the  beginning  and  the  end.  Our  know- 
ledge of  the  early  philosophers  often  depends  on  the 
statements  of  much  later  writers.  Pythagoras  of 
Samos,  who  formed  the  school  of  Crotona  in  Italy, 
may  have  been  the  first  teacher  of  the  West  (about  530 
B.C.),  and  an  ascetic  who  believed  in  the  Infinite  Unity, 
and  in  transmigration.  But  it  is  possible  that  lam- 
blikhos  attributed  to  him— some  nine  hundred  years 
after — the  ideas  of  a  latter  Indian  Budha-guru,  or 


PLATO  193 

"  teacher  of  wisdom."  The  new  ideas,  however, 
culminated  in  the  teaching  of  Plato  and  of  Aristotle, 
and  the  earlier  attempts  are  less  important.  The 
grandfather  of  Pythagoras  is  said  to  have  been 
drowned  because  his  book  on  the  "  Mystic  Reason  " 
was  judged  to  be  atheistic ;  but  the  idea  of  a  Logos 
continued  to  be  studied  by  others.  To  Pythagoras  it 
was  Light :  to  Parmenides  it  was  Divine  Reason  :  to 
Herakleitos  it  was  Heat.  In  the  fifth  century  B.C.  the 
belief  in  indestructible  and  eternal  matter  following 
immutable  laws  was  proclaimed  :  in  the  fourth  the 
extreme  of  scepticism  was  reached  by  Pyrrho,  and  a 
hundred  years  later  the  Stoics  began  to  abandon 
speculations  as  to  the  unknown,  and  confined  them- 
selves to  the  teaching  of  better  ethics. 

On  Plato  and  Aristotle  the  later  philosophies  of 
Europe  are  founded,  and  neither  Hume  nor  Kant  (who 
was  his  disciple)  added  any  really  new  facts.  On  Hume 
and  Kant  modern  pre-scientific  speculations  are  based, 
and  Schopenhauer  adds  only  a  perverted  form  of  the 
later  Buddhist  pessimism.  The  enthusiasm  for  the 
two  greatest  of  the  Greeks,  which  was  roused  in 
the  Renaissance  age  by  the  study  of  their  works,  still 
dominates  the  thoughts  of  those  to  whom  science  is 
little  known,  but  more  advanced  thinkers  have  already 
perceived  that  Plato  and  Aristotle  alike  are  subject  to 
limitations  of  a  very  serious  character,  due  to  ignor- 
ance and  preconceived  opinions  natural  to  their  age 
and  from  which  they  sought  in  vain  to  escape. 

In  Plato  especially  we  find  the  higher  thought  of 
Socrates — the  first  cynic  or  street  preacher  of  Greece 
—struggling  with  the  old  conceptions  of  transmigra- 
tion and  a  corporeal  soul.  He  discarded  the  popular 
superstitions,  and  thought  that  the  fear  of  Hades,  and 
the  savage  mythology  of  Homer,  should  not  be  taught 
to  the  young.1  He  believed  that  God  is  the  Universal 
1  "Republic,"  Book  I II. 


i94  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

Intelligence,  and  that  the  soul  freed  from  the  body 
"stands  up"  immortal.  But  the  soul  is  still  "the 
child  within  "  1 ;  and,  since  God  causes  only  what  is 
good,  Plato  is  forced  to  suppose  that  man,  after 
punishment  for  his  sins  in  hell,  is  allowed  a  second 
life  on  earth,  and  is  alone  responsible  for  the  choice 
he  then  makes  after  the  experience  of  his  first 
existence — as  we  learn  from  the  parable  which  closes 
the  "  Republic."  Plato  desires  to  take  a  general  view 
of  every  subject,  and  the  "  idea  "  (or  class)  he  regards 
as  real  and  enduring,  while  the  "  phenomena "  are 
transient  incidents — God  being  the  eternal  thinker  of 
passing  thoughts.  But  when  he  endeavours  to  prove 
that  the  soul  is  immortal  because  it  is  not  destroyed 
by  evil 2  (which  is  that  which  causes  dissolution),  we 
see  that  his  argument  is  based  on  assumptions,  and 
hampered  by  the  conception  of  the  corporeal  nature 
of  the  soul ;  and  we  are  inclined  to  agree  with  Cicero's 
suspicion  that  Plato  did  not  really  understand  what 
he  meant.  His  assertion  that  the  human  soul  retains 
its  consciousness  was  as  incapable  of  actual  proof  as 
was  the  assertion  of  Demokritos  that  the  soul  dies 
with  the  body.  His  arguments  from  the  general  to 
the  particular  could  only  be  sound  if  his  knowledge  of 
the  particulars  on  which  to  generalise  was  accurate 
and  true.  Much  as  we  may  admire  the  ideas  which 
he  attributes  to  Socrates,  we  can  never  regard  Plato 
as  either  a  man  of  science  or  a  man  of  practical 
experience.  His  ideal  Republic  would — he  thought- 
become  practicable  in  time,  but  it  never  became  so,  and 
it  was  founded  on  an  entirely  unnatural  basis  repre- 
senting the  ethics  of  a  savage.  He  proposes  to  delude 
the  ignorant  masses  by  outward  show  of  religion, 
and  to  breed  a  ruling  class  like  cattle,  extinguishing 
selfishness  and  jealousy  by  permitting  wives  to  be 
common  to  all  of  the  caste.  He  thus  involves  himself 
1  Phaedo.  •  "  Republic,"  Book  X. 


ARISTOTLE  195 

in  clumsy  attempts  to  define  the  limits  of  relationship, 
and  Aristotle  practically  upsets  the  whole  of  this 
absurd  reversion  to  barbarism  by  his  remark  that  it  is 
natural  to  man  and  beast  alike  to  pair,1  and  jealously 
to  keep  their  own  offspring  to  themselves.  Plato  was 
not  a  man  of  practical  experience,  any  more  than  he 
was  a  clearly  logical  thinker  like  his  great  disciple. 
His  patriotism  extended  to  the  conception  of  a  united 
Greece,  but  he  still  regarded  it  as  a  duty  to  hate  the 
Persian  barbarians.2  He  thought  that  the  ideal  state 
would  be  one  ruled  by  philosophers  who  accepted  his 
visionary  and  reactionary  proposals ;  but  it  is  clear  to 
us  now  that  Plato's  Republic  would  have  gone  to 
pieces  in  a  year,  in  spite  of  the  education  of  both 
sexes  in  science,  music,  and  dialectic.  He  conceives 
no  other  escape  from  alternations  of  tyranny  and 
anarchy  such  as  he  witnessed  in  the  contemporary 
states  of  Greece ;  but  the  state  which  he  proposed  to 
create  has  no  claim  to  the  character  of  good  wool, 
dyed  with  a  fast  colour,  to  which  he  likens  it.  The 
soul,  he  says,  fastens  on  truth  as  something  seen 
clearly  in  a  bright  light,  and  remains  uncertain  of  that 
which  is  only  seen  in  dimness.  But  the  light  may 
sometimes  be  only  deceptive  mirage,  or  coloured  by 
the  prism  of  prejudice. 

Aristotle,  though  the  pupil  of  Plato,  had  no  doubt 
much  better  opportunities  of  studying  actual  science, 
and  statesmanship,  after  he  had  been  made  the  tutor 
of  Alexander  the  Great  by  Philip  of  Macedon ;  and, 
as  his  interests  lay  more  in  the  actual  study  of  men 
and  of  nature  than  in  speculation  on  the  mysteries  of 
existence,  he  became  the  real  father  of  Greek  science. 
His  logical  power,  and  careful  definition  of  the  meaning 
that  he  attached  to  words,  led  to  clearer  thought, 
though  he  too  starts  with  assumptions  many  of  which 

1  "  Ethics,"  VIII.  vii. ;  Plato,  "  Republic,"  V. 
1  "  Republic,"  V. 


196  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

are  now  discarded,  or  shown  to  be  doubtful.  Thus 
he  supposes  that  animals  have  no  reasoning  powers 
at  all,  and  he  still  regards  the  soul  as  corporeal,  though 
"small  in  size."1  God  is  the  Universal  Intelligence: 
the  soul  includes  a  reasoning  and  an  unreasoning 
element,  and  has  feeling,  intelligence,  and  appetites. 
Its  intelligence  is  both  active  and  passive ;  and  truth 
is  the  outcome  of  its  logical  powers.  On  such 
postulates  he  founds  his  study  of  "  being  and  beings," 
matter  and  forms,  the  origin  of  motion,  reason  and 
right,  energy  and  purpose,  seeking  to  answer  the 
question  "What  is  Being?"2  He  regards  heredity 
as  only  an  excuse  brought  forward  by  those  who 
fail  in  duty.3  He  teaches  free  will,  and  regards  man 
(when  not  incapacitated  by  dense  ignorance  or  disease) 
as  solely  responsible  for  his  future.  Thus  his  Ethics 
are  founded  on  the  sternest  teaching  of  justice— the 
law  of  the  due  share — while  pity  and  love  are  regarded 
as  passions  only,  and  as  inferior  to  the  virtues  which 
are,  in  each  case,  the  mean  between  defect  and  excess.4 
He  says  that  no  man  can  make  a  friend  of  his  slave; 
and  he  can  find  no  Greek  words  to  express  virtues 
which  we  call  modesty,  gentleness,  and  courtesy.  He 
insists  on  intuitive  ideas,  not  regarding  these  as  due 
to  heredity;  and  he  makes  a  strange  triple  division 
of  substance,6  as  immortal,  mortal,  and  active — that  is, 
possessed  of  power,  energy,  and  purpose.  For  he 
knew  not  that  no  form  of  matter  is  durable  for  ever, 
and  the  idea  of  energy  is  confused  by  the  belief  that 
the  soul  itself  is  substance  or  matter.  He  supposes 
that  the  dead  remain  conscious  of  the  lives  of  their 
friends,6  but  that  they  can  only  contemplate  these 

1  "  Nicomachian  Ethics,"  X.  vii.  10. 

1  "Metaphysics,"  VII.  i. 

3  "Ethics,"  VII.  vi.  6. 

«  Ibid.  II.  iv.,  v.  ;  VII.  xi.  6. 

*  "  Metaphysics,"  XII.  vi.,  vii. ;  IX.  viii. 

6  "  Ethics,"  I.  xi. 


PERSIAN   TEXTS  197 

without  power  to  interfere.  Happiness,  he  says,  is  the 
aim  of  ethics  and  politics,  but  it  must  be  the  calm 
happiness  of  the  soul,  and  of  the  man  who — free  from 
actual  needs — lives  calmly  contemplative,  unswayed 
by  passion  though  not  possessing  the  "  blessedness  " 
of  the  gods.  "  Each,"  he  says,  "  wishes  for  good  for 
himself  more  than  for  the  good  of  others."  "  Each 
desires  to  be  loved  rather  than  to  love,"  and  desires 
to  be  honoured  by  the  powerful  "  because  of  hope." l 
The  great  compassion  of  the  Buddha,  and  the  infinite 
love  of  Jesus,  thus  seem  to  be  entirely  unimagined  by 
the  greatest  mind  among  the  Greeks. 

vi.  Persia. — Our  first  authentic  information  as  to 
Persian  religion  is  derived  from  the  cuneiform  records 
of  the  successors  of  Cyrus,  which  are  written  in  three 
languages  (Persian,  Babylonian,  and  Turanian),  and 
in  three  different  varieties  of  the  script.  The  Turanians 
of  West  Persia,  and  the  Aryan  Persians  alike,  derived 
their  characters  from  Babylon — and  not  apparently 
from  Assyria — and  the  Persians  simplified  the  Baby- 
lonian syllabary  (as  early  as  520  B.C.  at  least),  reducing 
it  to  a  rude  alphabet  of  forty-four  signs  in  all. 

The  descendants  of  Hakamanish,  as  already  related,* 
were  distinguished  for  their  tolerance  of  the  various 
religions  of  their  subjects.  We  know  nothing  definite 
of  the  religion  of  Cyrus  himself.  The  Babylonians 
claimed  that  he  was  a  worshipper  of  Bel,  Marduk,  and 
Nebo,  and  that  he  restored  to  their  shrines  certain 
gods  of  Sumir  and  Akkad  whose  images  the  last  king 
of  Babylon  (Nabu-nahid)  had  removed.3  The  monu- 
ment 4  which  was  erected  close  to  the  tomb  of  Cyrus 

1  "Ethics,"  VI II.  vii.,  viii. 
1  Chap.  III.,  p.  98. 

1  "  Cylinder  Text  of  Cyrus."     See  "Trans.  Bib.  Arch.  Soc.,"  1879, 
ii.  p.  148  ;  "Records  of  the  Past,"  New  Series,  v.  p.  164. 
*  Jackson,  "  Persia  Past  and  Present,"  1906,  p.  281. 


198  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

(at  Pasargadae),  and  on  which  some  later  king  inscribed 
the  words,  "  I  am  Cyrus  the  king,  descendant  of 
Hakamanish,"  represents  a  four-winged  god — like  the 
Assyrian  bas-reliefs — but  the  head-dress  is  like  that 
of  Egyptian  deities.  The  carved  stylobates,  and 
doorways,  at  Persepolis  also  show  the  strong  Semitic 
influence  that  permeated  Persia  in  the  time  of  Darius  I. 
and  of  his  successors.  Commercial  tablets  of  the 
reign  of  Artaxerxes  I.,  and  of  later  monarchs,  show 
not  only  the  prosperity  of  a  mixed  Persian-Babylonian 
race,  but  also  the  common  use  of  the  Aramaic  alphabet 
from  which  the  later  Parthian,  and  Pehlevi,  letters 
were  derived.  Darius  I.,  as  we  have  seen,  rebuilt  the 
temples  of  Egypt,  and  in  his  inscriptions  we  find  no 
notice  of  a  sacred  law  (or  Avesta) l ;  while  he  became, 
as  we  know,  the  enemy  of  an  usurping  Magus  in 
whose  time  (522  B.C.)  the  temples  were  destroyed 
by  the  fanaticism  of  this  priestly  class  in  its  last 
attempt  at  rebellion  against  the  growing  influences  of 
foreign  civilisation. 

The  inscriptions  of  Darius  show  us  a  very  simple 
belief  in  Ahura-mazda  ("  the  all-wise  Lord ")  as  the 
greatest  of  the  gods — "the  Aryan  god" — with  insis- 
tence on  "the  right  way,"  and  on  the  duty  of  telling 
the  truth,  and  detestation  of  the  "  lie  "  (Draugd)  or 
"  falsehood."  They  do  not  contain  any  allusion  to 

1  The  question  whether  the  Avesta  (Abastam,  "  law  ")  is  noticed  by 
Darius  I .  depends  on  the  absence  of  a  single  stroke  in  a  single  sign  ; 
and  Professor  Jackson  ("  Persia,"  p.  205)  appears  to  have  settled  the 
true  reading  to  be  arstam,  "  right."  Dr.  Oppert  ("  Langue  des  Medes," 
1879,  p.  155)  has  read  into  the  Turanian  version  of  the  Behistan  text 
of  Darius  I.  a  reference  to  both  the  Avesta  and  the  Zend  (or 
"  comment ") ;  but  the  passage  seems  to  be  better  translated  thus : 
"  I  made  other  Aryan  texts,  which  was  not  done  before,  both  for 
record  and  information,  and  for  prayer ;  also  translations,  which  I 
composed  and  wrote.  I  had  tablets  made,  and  I  restored  old  tablets, 
in  all  countries,  that  the  inhabitants  might  understand."  This  we  see 
from  the  existing  texts  to  be  true.  The  "  prayers  "  noticed  are  no 
doubt  those  for  prosperity  which  occur  in  the  extant  inscriptions. 


THE  MAGI  199 

Ahriman  (Angro-mainyus),  or  to  Zoroaster  (Zara- 
thustra),  or  to  any  of  the  distinctive  beliefs  and 
customs  of  the  Persians.1  Darius  says  that  after 
Gomatta  the  Magus  "  had  seduced  both  the  Persians 
and  the  Medes,"  "  Ahura-mazda  (Ormuzd)  gave  me 
the  kingdom";  and  again,  "the  great  Ahura-mazda 
is  the  greatest  of  gods  " ;  "  who  created  this  earth, 
who  created  this  heaven,  who  created  man,  who  gave 
good  things  to  man,  who  made  Darius  king."  "  O 
man,  think  not  the  command  of  Ahura-mazda  to  be 
evil,  leave  not  the  right  way,  be  not  a  sinner." 
"  Ahura-mazda  and  the  other  gods  helped  me  because 
I  was  not  malignant,  not  a  liar,  not  wicked."  "  If  you 
do  not  transgress  this  edict  may  Ahura-mazda  be  your 
friend,  may  your  family  be  numerous,  and  your  life 
long."  There  is  nothing  said  about  resurrection  or 
immortality,  about  the  Haoma  drink  or  the  angels. 
But  when  Artaxerxes  II.  (after  405  B.C.)  repeats  the 
ancient  formula  above  quoted  as  to  the  Creator,  he 
adds  the  names  of  Mithra  and  Anahita  to  that  of 
Ahura-mazda,  saying,  "  I  have  placed  Anahita  and 
Mithra  in  this  palace.  May  Ahura-mazda,  Anahita  and 
Mithra  guard  me."  Thus  it  would  seem  that  the 
royal  religion  gradually  became  more  formal,  and  that 
the  Magi  gradually  attained  to  a  priestly  dominance 
which  was  not  recognised  in  the  times  of  Cyrus  and 
Darius,  a  century  before. 

The  religion  of  the  Magi,  or  "great  ones,"  who 
were  the  Persian  priests,  appears  to  have  been  that 
common  also  to  the  Aryan  shepherds  2  whose  poets 
composed  the  ancient  hymns  of  the  Rig-veda  or 
"teaching  of  praise."  But,  as  these  Eastern  tribes 
pushed  on  towards  India,  while  the  Persians  pushed 
west  and  came  under  the  influence  of  the  Mongols 

1  Spiegel,    "Die    Altpersischen    Keilinschriften,"    1881.       Recent 
corrections  refer  only  to  small  details. 
1  Haug,  "  Essays,"  1862. 


200  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

of  Elam  and  (later)  of  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians, 
divergences  of  language  and  belief  naturally  arose. 
The  East  Aryans  called  a  god  a  "  Deva,"  while  the 
Persians  used  the  word  "  Bagha  "  like  the  Medes,  and 
applied  the  former  term  to  demons,  and  finally  to 
devils.  But  many  names  and  sacerdotal  terms  re- 
mained common  to  both  branches  of  the  Iranian  race 
who  called  themselves  Aryans  or  "strong  men."1 
Both  alike  believed  that  the  righteous  would  enjoy 
eternal  life  in  heaven  with  the  gods.  Even  the  Persian 
practice  of  giving  the  dead  to  dogs  and  vultures — 
which  was  common  to  the  Mongols  of  Central  Asia — 
finds  an  echo  in  the  Hindu  custom  of  feeding  the 
crows  with  rice  after  a  funeral.  Many  of  these  ideas 
were  of  great  antiquity  among  Aryans  generally  ;  and 
the  Haoma  or  Soma  drink  was  like  the  Scandinavian 
"  mead,"  the  drink  of  the  gods,  or  "  immortal  "  ambrosia 
of  Greeks.  The  legend  of  Indra's  cows  stolen  by  the 
Panis  appears  (in  Persia)  in  the  great  hymn  to  Mithra, 
whose  cows  cried,  "  When  will  he  turn  us  back  to  the 
right  way  from  the  den  of  the  fiend  where  we  were 
driven  ?  " 

Such  apparently  was  the  faith  of  the  Magi  when 
Zoroaster  appeared.  Persian  traditions  differ  as  to 
whether  he  was  born  in  Media,  or  came  west  from 
Balkh,  but  the  later  Persians  held  that  he  first 

1  The  Persian  Ahura  is  the  Sanskrit  A  sura,  "  Lord  "  or  "  God  "  ; 
and  Haug  adds  the  following  :  Mithra  (Mttra\  "  sun"  (Rigveda  III. 
lix.)  ;  Airyaman  (Aryaman) ;  Baga  (Bagha) ;  Armaiti  (Aramati] ; 
Nairyo-qanha  (Nara-cansa\  "  praised  by  men  "  ;  Vayu  ( Vayu} ; 
Verethraghna  (Vrit-raha\  "dragon-slayer"  ;  and  the  thirty-three 
Ratus,  with  Yima-Khshaeta  (  Yama-rdja)  or  Jamshid,  son  of  Vivanghat 
(Vivasvaf) ;  Thrita  or  Thraetona  (Trita  or  Traitana}  the  hero  Feridun, 
son  of  Athwyo  (Aptya,  "  waters ").  These  terms  closely  connect 
Persian  and  Vedic  mythology,  though  Indra  becomes  a  fiend  in 
Persia.  The  titles  for  priests  are  the  same  in  both  systems,  and  such 
words  as  Haoma  (Soma),  with  the  use  of  sacred  twigs  or  grass,  of 
cow's  urine,  the  sacred  necklace,  the  holy  mountain,  and  the  seven 
regions  of  earth. 


ZOROASTER  201 

preached  his  reformed  creed  in  the  thirtieth  year  of 
King  Vistasp — father  of  Darius  I.  and  predecessor 
of  Cyrus — or  two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  years  before 
the  coming  of  Alexander  the  Great.1  This  "  most 
white  high  priest  "  (Zarathustra  Spitama)  thus  preached 
in  588  B.C.  ;  and  we  can  hardly  regard  it  as  an  acci- 
dental circumstance  that  he  was  nearly  contemporary 
with  Buddha  in  India,  and  with  Confucius  in  China. 
A  great  wave  of  ethical  progress  was  passing  over 
Asia  in  the  sixth  century  B.C.  ;  and  the  appearance 
of  these  three  great  reformers,  and  of  their  contem- 
poraries Maha-vira  and  Laotze,  may  have  been  due 
to  the  teaching  of  one  of  the  older  Buddhas  (such 
as  Kasyapa)  in  the  north  of  India.  As  to  the  teaching 
of  Zoroaster,  we  may  confine  our  attention  to  the  two 
ancient  hymns  (or  Gathas)  in  which  he  is  made  to 
speak  in  person.  Nearly  all  the  other  Persian 
scriptures  are  later  in  language,  and  never  claim  to 
be  the  utterances  of  the  prophet  himself.  The  teaching 
of  the  two  oldest  Gathas  also  coincides  more  closely 
with  that  of  the  inscriptions  of  Darius  I.  than  does 
that  of  any  of  the  later  priestly  writings. 

The  Persians,  like  the  Assyrians,  Hebrews  and  Vedic 
poets,  wrote  hymns  in  regular  metre.  The  first  Gatha 
(or  "  song  "),  which  was  probably  handed  down  orally, 
is  in  such  metre ;  but  it  is  a  disjointed  composition 
with  additions  by  one  or  other  of  Zoroaster's  three 
disciples.3  The  prophet  himself  addresses  his  race : 
"  Ye  offspring  of  renowned  ancestors,  awake  and  join 
us."  "  In  the  beginning  there  was  a  twin  pair,  two 
spirits  each  of  his  own  nature :  the  good  and  the 
bad  in  thought,  word,  and  deed.  Choose  one  of  these 
two  spirits — the  good  and  not  the  bad.  These  two 
spirits  together  first  created,  the  one  that  which  is 

1  Bundahish,  xxxiv.  78. 

1  Haug,  "Essays,"  pp.  136-61.  Darmesteter  dates  even  the  oldest 
Gathas  much  later. 


202  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

real,  the  other  the  unreal.  The  existence  of  liars 
will  become  bad,  while  he  who  believes  in  the  true 
God  will  prosper."  The  old  dualism  is  thus  taught ; 
but  the  later  Persians,  at  least,  considered  (like  the 
Hindus  and  Japanese)  that  the  creating  and  destroying 
spirits  were  but  two  aspects  of  one  God ;  and  even 
in  Egypt  we  have  the  two-headed  god — as  among 
Hittites  and  Etruscans — who  (as  Set-Hor)  represents 
a  pair  of  twin  brothers,  or  a  god  who  sends  both 
evil  and  good.  The  Gatha  does  not  distinctly  pro- 
claim any  resurrection,  but,  as  in  the  older  religions, 
it  teaches  that  the  wicked  perish.  "  Let  us  be  such 
as  help  the  life  of  the  future  :  the  immortal  spirits 
maintain  it.  The  prudent  man  desires  only  to  be 
there  where  Wisdom  has  its  home :  Wisdom  is  the 
refuge  from  lies,  and  the  annihilation  of  the  destroying 
spirit."  The  singer  claims  to  have  received  such 
wisdom  from  the  good  spirit.  "  When  mine  eyes 
beheld  thee,  O  source  of  truth,  Creator  of  life,  manifest 
in  thy  works,  then  I  knew  thee  to  be  the  primeval 
spirit,  O  Wise  One  high  in  mind,  creating  the  world, 
the  father  of  good  will." 

The  second  Gatha  is  a  more  formal  and  orderly 
composition,  beginning  with  a  prayer  for  happiness 
and  for  a  good  will  or  mind.  Ahura-mazda  is  here 
called  the  "source  of  light,"  creating  all  good  things 
by  the  power  of  his  good  mind.  This  philosophy 
may  have  influenced  the  Greek  conception  of  the 
Logos,  as  already  described.  "  I  am  Zarathustra," 
says  the  singer,  "  I  will  show  myself  a  destroyer  of 
liars  and  a  comforter  of  the  pious  "  :  "  Standing  at  thy 
fire,  among  thy  worshippers  who  pray  to  thee,  I  will 
remember  the  truth  as  long  as  I  am  able  " :  "I  will 
ask  for  both  of  us  all  that  thou  mayest  be  asked.  For 
the  King  will— as  only  mighty  men  are  allowed — make 
thee  for  thine  answers  a  mighty  fire."  The  speaker 
continues  to  claim  that  he  is  inspired  by  the  good 


THE  GATHAS  203 

mind  revealed  to  him  by  Sraosha,  the  angel  of  prayer, 
and  he  prays  for  "  a  long  life,"  and  for  the  destruction 
of  "  the  liar,"  or  evil  spirit.  "  My  heart  desires,"  he 
says,  "  that  I  may  know  thee,  thou  Wise  One,"  and 
"  how  I  may  come  to  the  dwelling  of  God  and  angels 
to  hear  you  sing."  He  offers  the  most  costly  of 
sacrifices — the  royal  "horse  sacrifice,"  as  in  India — 
and  denounces  "  the  priest  and  the  prophet  of  the 
idols."  He  addresses  those  who  have  come  "  from 
far  and  near,"  teaching  that  the  liar  cannot  destroy 
"  the  second  life."  "  Health  and  immortality  are, 
through  the  power  of  the  good  mind,  in  the  keeping 
of  the  Wise  One."  "  Him  whom  I  desire  to  worship, 
and  to  celebrate  with  my  hymns,  mine  eyes  have  just 
beheld."  "  Let  us  therefore  lay  our  gifts  of  praise 
in  the  dwelling  of  the  singers"— that  is,  let  our 
prayers  go  up  to  heaven.  But  as  yet  the  new  faith 
is  struggling  for  its  life.  "  Whither,"  he  continues, 
"  shall  I  go  ?  What  land  shelters  the  master  and 
his  comrade?  Neither  subjects  nor  wicked  rulers 
reverence  me " :  "  the  wicked  man  enjoys  the  fields 
of  the  angel  of  truth.  .  .  .  Who  drives  him  from  his 
dominion,  O  Wise  One  ?  He  who  goes  forth  in  the 
paths  of  good  understanding."  "  Those  who  gather 
round  me  to  adore,  all  these  I  will  lead  over  the 
Bridge  of  the  Gatherer."  "  The  sway  is  given  into 
the  hands  of  priests  and  prophets  of  idols."  "O 
Zarathustra,  who  is  thy  true  friend  in  the  great  work  ? 
Who  will  proclaim  it  in  public  ?  King  Vistasp  is  the 
very  man  who  will  do  so."  In  this  poem,  therefore, 
we  find  a  faith  which  answers  closely  to  that  pro- 
claimed on  the  monuments  of  Darius. 

But  the  power  of  the  Magi  was  not  altogether 
destroyed  by  the  reformer,  and  as  time  went  on  the 
faith  became  encrusted  with  ancient  superstitions, 
and  its  Buddhist-like  insistence  on  "good  thought, 
word  and  deed,"  was  converted  into  a  priestly  cultus. 


204  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

Even  in  the  three  later  Gathas,  which  are  still  written 
in  the  oldest  dialect,  we  read  that  "  Zarathustra 
assigned  in  times  of  yore,  as  a  reward  to  the  Magi, 
the  Paradise  to  which  the  Wise  One  first  had  gone  " ; 
and  they  claimed  that  Zoroaster  and  his  three  disciples 
belonged  to  "  the  party  of  all  the  ancient  fire-priests 
who  were  pious  and  spread  the  truth."  It  is  re- 
markable, however,  that  in  the  third  Gatha  we  read : 
"  When  wilt  thou  appear,  O  Wise  One,  with  men  of 
strength  and  courage,  to  pollute  the  intoxicating 
liquor — the  devil's  art  that  makes  the  idol  priests 
insolent,  and  increases  the  evil  spirit's  power  in  the 
lands  ?  "  Thus  the  Haoma  drink  was  not  apparently 
prescribed  by  Zoroaster,  but  was  the  survival  of  old 
Magian  rites — a  sacred  intoxicant  (the  Indian  soma\ 
which  seems  to  have  been  probably  a  kind  of  beer, 
as  it  still  is  among  the  Iron  tribes  of  the  Caucasus, 
offered  with  sacred  loaves  of  bread  (darun\  as  among 
the  Aryans  of  India.  Nor  was  this  rite  peculiar  to 
Aryans,  for  even  in  Egypt  we  find  the  sacred  cup  of 
wine  offered  with  sacred  cakes ;  and,  among  all  early 
races,  the  effect  of  alcohol  on  the  brain  was  mistaken 
for  possession  by  a  living  spirit  whose  material  body 
was  this  "  water  of  life  " — the  Amrita  or  ambrosia. 

Other  ancient  works  of  ritual  have  survived,  in  a 
dialect  rather  later  than  that  of  the  monumental  texts, 
and  appear  not  to  be  older  than  about  400  B.C.1  The 
first  of  these  is  the  Vendidad,  or  "  Law  for  fiends  " — a 
very  disjointed  prose  work,  including  ancient  metrical 
fragments,  and  primitive  legends.  It  relates  the 
preservation  of  Yima,  the  first  man,  during  a  fearful 
winter  in  the  far  northern  "Aryan  home."  Its 
geography  includes  the  Bactrian  regions,  and  the 
Tigris  is  the  western  boundary.  It  speaks  of  the 
"  three  races  "  of  Media,  which  were  no  doubt  those 

1  Vendidad,  see  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  vol.  iv.,  by  Darmesteter, 
1880  ;   Yashts,  see  vol.  xxiii.  of  the  same  work,  1883. 


THE  VENDIDAD  205 

for  whom  Darius  wrote  in  three  languages.  It  pre- 
serves an  ancient  rite  of  human  sacrifice  as  cruel  as 
were  the  punishments  meted  out  by  Darius  to  his 
foes.  It  exhorts  the  tribesmen  to  till  the  earth,  and 
denounces  celibacy,  quoting  an  ancient  song.  Its 
language  is  still  free  from  foreign  Semitic  words, 
and  the  use  of  money  seems  still  to  be  unknown, 
while  contracts  are  as  yet  only  verbal.  It  mentions 
ordeal  by  brimstoned  water,  and  speaks  of  evil  spirits 
(even  in  sacred  fire  and  water)  causing  death.  It 
prescribes  the  rites  for  giving  the  corpse  to  dogs  and 
birds,  and  those  of  Haoma  libations.  Its  laws  as  to 
doctors  recall  those  of  'Ammurabi.  The  sacred  dog 
is  already  noticed  as  the  guard  who  takes  the  dead 
man  to  the  bridge  of  heaven.  Its  magic  rites  of 
purification,  with  their  circles  and  cup-hollows,  belong 
to  the  prehistoric  age ;  and  the  spells  recall  those  of 
the  Akkadians.  It  includes  an  ancient  metrical  frag- 
ment describing  the  temptation  of  Zoroaster,  by  the 
evil  spirit,  while  yet  an  infant,  and  his  conquest  of 
the  fiend  by  aid  of  the  Word  given  to  him  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  the  "  boundless  time."  The  later 
commentators  suppose  this  book  also  to  refer  to 
Zoroaster's  receiving  the  Law  from  God  on  the  "  mount 
of  questions,"  and  he  is  represented  approaching  the 
sacred  tree  (the  tamarisk),  as  he  invokes  the  elemental 
gods.  We  are  told  that  the  dead  are  led  over  the 
Bridge  of  the  Gatherer  by  a  maiden  angel  accom- 
panied by  her  dogs,  and  a  later  writer  explains  that 
she  is  the  dead  man's  good  conscience  created  by 
his  good  thought,  word,  and  deed.1  The  pious  thus 
reach  the  "  house  of  hymns  "  where  they  are  "  gathered 
together."  For  the  evil  man— as  taught  in  other 
works — is  blown  away  by  an  evil  wind,  to  dwell  in 
darkness  with  the  fiend. 

1  See  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  xxiii.  ;  Vistasp  Yasht,  viii.  56-64, 
PP-  343,  345- 


206  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

The  Yashts,  or  hymns  to  the  gods,  who  became 
later  only  angels  under  Ahura-mazda,  appear  to  belong 
to  the  age  of  Artaxerxes  II.  at  earliest ;  and  we  have 
seen  that  he  first  adds  the  name  of  Anahita  ("  the 
undefiled  "  goddess  of  living  waters),  and  of  Mithra 
("  the  shiner "),  who  was  the  god  of  day,  to  that  of 
Ahura-mazda.  Ahura  himself  is  even  said  to  have 
offered  sacrifice  to  Anahita,  as  did  all  the  ancient  heroes 
whom  she  aided  to  overcome  monsters,  and  to  cross 
rivers  dryshod.  For  her,  too,  God  made  four  horses, 
"  the  wind,  the  rain,  the  cloud,  and  the  sleet."  Mithra 
is  the  "friend"  and  the  god  of  truth.  "  He  takes  out 
of  distress  and  from  death  the  man  who  has  not  lied 
to  him,"  and  confounds  the  liars.  But  the  "  man 
without  light"  grieves  him  by  saying  in  his  heart, 
"  Careless  Mithra  does  not  see  all  the  evil  done,  nor 
all  the  lies  that  are  told."  Another  of  these  nineteen 
hymns  is  devoted  to  Sraosha,  the  angel  of  prayer,  who 
.  "  the  Incarnate  Word,"  the  sleepless  protector  of 
the  poor;  and  the  longest  Yasht  is  a  litany  com- 
memorating all  the  Fravashis,  or  good  genii  of 
•creation,  and  those  of  all  holy  men  in  the  past,  with 
the  spirits  of  those  who  will  accompany  Sosiosh — the 
Persian  Messiah — and  his  two  forerunners,  who  will 
all  three  be  born  of  virgin  mothers  in  the  future.  It 
includes  an  allusion  to  Gautama  Buddha  as  "  the 
heretic."  It  commemorates  "  the  holy  king  Vistasp,  the 
gallant  one,  who  was  the  Incarnate  Word,"  and  the  holy 
men  of  Turanian  countries  even  as  far  as  China.  These 
writings,  therefore,  present  to  us  the  Zoroastrian  creed 
as  it  existed  when  Alexander  conquered  Persia. 

Of  the  religious  history  during  the  next  five  centuries, 
while  Greek  influence  was  strong  in  Western  Asia, 
we  have  only  a  few  fragmentary  indications  from  the 
monuments  of  Commagene  and  of  Asia  Minor. 
Antiochus  of  Commagene1  identifies  Ahura-mazda 
1  See  Chap.  III.  p.  109. 


MITHRA  207 

with  Zeus,  Mithra  with  Apollo,  and  Verethragna, 
"the  victorious,"  with  Herakles.  He  expects  as  a 
reward  for  piety  that,  after  a  long  life,  his  "  god- 
beloved  soul  will  be  sent  to  the  heavenly  throne  of 
Zeus-Oromazdes,  to  rest  for  endless  ages."  He  speaks 
of  the  "  sacred  law,"  and  of  "  royal  spirits,"  and  he 
endowed  priests  wearing  the  Persian  vestments  who 
were  to  sacrifice  at  his  shrine  on  "  the  top  of  the 
passes  of  the  Taurus."  He  invokes  all  the  "  paternal 
gods — Persian  and  Macedonian — of  the  land  of 
Commagene,  and  every  household  god."  Thus  the 
mixed  Greco-Parthian  creed  was  founded  apparently 
on  that  of  the  Persian  kings  who  preceded  Alexander. 
This  creed  spread  to  the  shores  of  Ionia ;  and  in 
Phrygia  we  find  a  text  of  "  Mithradates,  high  priest 
of  Asia,"  while  a  little  farther  north  we  have  a  bas- 
relief  of  Mithra  accompanied  by  his  dog,1  belonging 
to  about  the  first  century  A.D.  In  the  second  century 
Pausanias2  found  Magi  in  Lydia  singing  hymns  out 
of  a  book.  In  Cappadocia  there  was  a  strong  Persian 
element,  and  the  calendar  was  that  of  the  later 
Persian  age,3  which  was  quite  different  from  the 
calendar  of  Darius  I.  In  60  B.C.  the  Roman  soldiers 
of  Pompey's  army  brought  to  Rome  the  worship  of 
Mithra,  which  became  fashionable  all  over  the  empire 
in  our  second  century.  It  included  the  offering  of 
the  sacred  cakes  and  sacred  Haoma  drink,  together 
with  secret  rites,  in  the  cave  chapels,  which  apparently 
formed  no  part  of  the  original  faith  of  Zoroaster. 
Mithra  with  his  dog  is  commonly  represented,  in 
Roman  sculpture,  slaying  the  "  earth  bull,"  according 
to  the  very  ancient  legend  of  the  primeval  beast  cut 
up  for  the  benefit  of  men,  which  appears  to  be  an 
agricultural  myth,  connected  with  the  inculcation  of 

1  Hamilton,  "Asia  Minor,"  1842,  i  :  text  No.  160,  ii.  p.  140. 

1  V.  xxvii.  3. 

s  As  in  "  Bundahish,"  xxv.  20. 


208  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

agricultural  duty  even  in  the  first  Gatha.1  Ritual  and 
mysticism  thus  spread  over  Western  Europe  from 
Persia,  but  we  have  nothing  to  show  us  that  this  was 
accompanied  by  the  teaching  of  "  good  thought,  word, 
and  deed." 

The  establishment  of  the  faith  by  the  first  Sassanian 
kings,  after  226  A.D.,  produced  a  large  literature 
founded  on  the  Avesta,  but  written  in  Pehlevi — a 
later  Persian  dialect  full  of  words  borrowed  from  the 
Aramaic  language  of  the  Semitic  race.  This  includes 
the  Bundahish,  or  "original  creation,"  which  attempts 
to  sum  up  the  science  and  philosophy  of  the  age; 
with  the  Bahman  Yasht — an  apocalyptic  work — and 
the  treatise  on  the  "  Proper  and  Improper,"  which 
is  to  the  Persian  faith  what  the  Mishnah  is  to  the 
Jewish.  These  works,  as  we  now  have  them,2  belong 
to  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  Arab  conquest, 
but  they  contain  much  that  was  evidently  borrowed 
by  the  earlier  Persians  from  the  crude  science  and 
mythology  of  Babylonia.  The  Bundahish  treats  of 
the  six  days  of  creation,  and  of  the  fall  of  man  through 
disobedience.  It  contains  a  legend  of  the  child 
abandoned  on  the  river,  and  it  adheres  to  old  Baby- 
lonian ideas  as  to  geography  and  astronomy.  It  also 
treats  of  the  resurrection,  when  those  in  whom  the 
fire  of  immortality  exists  will  rise  from  their  tombs  to 
heaven,  the  wicked  also  rising,  to  be  judged  and  cast 
into  hell.  Sosiosh  (the  Messiah)  will  feast  the  pious 
on  the  primeval  ox  (as  in  the  Talmud),  and  they  will 
live  for  ever,  but  beget  no  more  children.  The  same 
Messianic  expectation  of  a  millennium  following  a  time 
of  trouble  is  also  the  subject  of  the  Pehlevi  Bahman 
Yasht.  These  doctrines,  however,  as  we  have  seen, 
probably  existed  in  a  less  developed  form  even  as 
early  as  400  B.C.  ;  and  the  Jews,  during  their  subjection 

1  Haug,  "Essays,"  p.  140. 

1  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  v.  1880,  by  West. 


INDIA  209 

to  Persia,  thus  appear  to  have  become  acquainted  with 
the  Persian  doctrines  of  resurrection,  and  of  a  future 
reincarnate  prophet  or  king.  The  Moslems  also 
adapted  these  Persian  ideas  in  their  later  legends 
about  the  end  of  the  world. 

vii.  India. — Our  first  contemporary  information 
about  Indian  religion  (as  distinguished  from  late 
copies  of  sacred  books)  is  derived  from  the  monu- 
mental decrees  of  Asoka,  in  the  third  century  B.C.  In 
his  time  there  was  already  a  marked  distinction 
between  the  superstitions  of  the  ignorant  masses,  the 
creed  of  kings  and  Brahmans,  and  the  philosophy  of 
the  higher  thinkers.  We  trace  this  distinction  earlier 
perhaps  in  Persia,  and  back  to  a  remote  age  in  Egypt, 
but  in  India  it  is  specially  marked  throughout  actual 
history.  The  first  inhabitants  of  whom  we  know  any- 
thing were  Dravidians,  of  Turanian  race ;  and  their 
savage  superstitions  are  still  preserved,  though  the 
names  given  to  the  village  godlings  are  now  more  often 
of  Aryan  than  of  Turanian  origin.  Even  the  terrible 
rites  of  human  sacrifice  are  hardly  extinct  among  the 
Khonds,  and  all  the  Akkadian  sorcery  survives  in  the 
peasant  faith.1  The  three  great  gods  of  the  Hindu 
system — Brahma,  Siva,  and  Vishnu  —  bear  Aryan 
names,  but  in  character  they  answer  exactly  to  An, 
Enlil,  and  Ea,  among  the  Akkadians — deities  of  heaven, 
hell,  and  ocean.  The  savage  consort  of  Siva  in  his 
aspect  of  destroyer,  bears  the  names  Durga  and  Kali, 
which  answer  to  those  of  the  Akkadian  hell  goddess, 
signifying  "  fate  "  and  "  death."  The  religion  of  the 
Puranas,  or  "  traditions  "  (some  of  which  are  believed 
to  have  existed  as  early  as  our  second  century),  is 
quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  Vedic  bards,  though  the 

1  See  Forlong,  "  Faiths  of  Man,"  1906,  s.v.  Khonds,  Sacrifice, 
etc.  ;  and  Crooke,  "  Popular  Religion  and  Folk  Lore  of  North  India," 
1894- 

14 


210  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

Hindu  gods  are  noticed  in  the  later  Vedas,  after  the 
Aryans  had  settled  in  Northern  India.  It  seems  to  be 
founded,  not  on  any  Aryan  basis,  but  on  the  older 
Turanian  beliefs,  and  it  is  specially  notable  for  its 
phallic  symbolism,  which  was  detestable  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Vedic  poets.  The  Purana  pantheon,  with  its 
mythology,  offers  otherwise  no  features  that  distin- 
guish it  from  the  older  gross  superstitions  of  Western 
Asia,  as  to  which  enough  has  already  been  said. 

The  Rig-Veda,  or  "  Praise-knowledge,"  l  contains 
the  rude  hymns  of  the  free  nomads  of  Bactria — the 
Aryans  who  gradually  migrated  into  the  Panjab, 
where  apparently  they  found  a  settled  and  civilised 
Turanian  population.  Their  numbers  must  have  in- 
creased at  the  time  when  Darius  I.  added  an  Indian 
province  to  his  empire ;  and  their  mythology,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  intimately  connected  with  that  of  the 
Magi.  Such  hymns  may  be  of  great  antiquity,  and  the 
Vedic  language  is  archaic,  but  the  Rig- Veda  contains 
no  allusions  to  writing,  and  it  is  generally  admitted 
that  the  songs  cannot  have  been  reduced  to  writing 
before  about  500  B.C.,  when  the  Aramean  alphabet 
was  introduced  into  North  India  by  the  Persians. 
The  Brahmanas,  which  comment  on  the  Vedas 
after  they  have  become  sacred  and  are  regarded 
as  inspired,  are  yet  later,  and  the  philosophy  of  the 
Upanishads,  or  "sessions,"  is  perhaps  not  as  old  as 
the  time  of  Alexander's  attack  on  the  Panjab.  Max 
Muller  devoted  his  life  to  the  study  of  the  Vedas,  but 
he  confesses  that  they  contain  "  a  great  deal  of  what 
is  childish  and  foolish.  .  .  .Many  hymns  are  utterly 
unmeaning  and  insipid."  They  represent  the  praises 
of  elemental  gods,  such  as  Varuna,  "heaven,"  Diaush, 
"  day,"  Indra,"  the  rainer,"  Aditi,  the  "  boundless,"  and 
the  Maruts  or  "  storms."  Only  here  and  there  do  we 

1  See  Max  Muller,  "  Lecture  on  the   Vedas,"  in  Selected  Essays, 
1881,  ii.  pp.  109-59. 


THE  VEDAS  211 

find  even  the  germs  of  higher  thought,  as  when  we 
read,1  "They  call  him  Indra,  Mitra,  Varuna,  Agni,  or 
he  is  the  well-winged  heavenly  Garutmat :  that  which 
is  One  the  wise  call  in  divers  manners."  The  hymns 
often  recall  those  of  the  Akkadians,  and  the  singer 
excuses  his  sins  *  in  the  manner  which  we  have 
already  studied,  as  being  unintended  errors.  "  Let 
me  not  yet,  O  Varuna,  enter  into  the  house  of  earth  : 
have  mercy,  almighty,  have  mercy ! "  "  Whenever 
we  mortals,  O  Varuna,  commit  an  offence  before  the 
heavenly  host,  whenever  we  break  the  law  through 
thoughtlessness,  punish  us  not,  O  God,  for  that 
offence."  "Absolve  us  from  the  sins  of  our  fathers 
and  from  those  committed  in  our  own  bodies." 

The  Vedic  poets  believed  that  the  pious  would 
live  for  ever  in  heaven,  and  say  nothing  about  trans- 
migration of  the  soul.  They  say  that  "  he  who  gives 
alms  goes  to  the  highest  place  in  heaven,"  "  the  kind 
man  is  greater  than  the  great  in  heaven."  They  pray 
for  "  a  strong  son  .  .  .  through  whom  we  may  cross  the 
waters  on  our  way  to  the  happy  abode,"  preserving 
the  old  belief  in  the  necessity  of  feeding  the  ghost. 
They  invoke  Soma  (god  of  the  "immortal"  drink) 
to  take  them  to  the  third  heaven,  and  speak  of  the 
hell  dogs  of  Yama  (god  of  the  underworld),  and  of 
the  "  pit "  into  which  the  lawless  are  cast  by  Indra 
if  they  offer  no  sacrifice :  "  Those  who  break  the 
commandments  of  Varuna,  and  who  speak  lies,  are 
born  for  that  deep  place."  They,  however,  advance 
to  the  idea  of  an  "  unborn  Being  "  who  "  established 
the  six  worlds,"3  the  germ  that  produced  all  from 
chaos  "  by  the  power  of  heat  "  4 ;  but  they  add,  "  who 

1  Rig- Veda,  i.  164,  46. 
'  Hymn  to  Varuna,  Rig-Veda,  vii.  89. 

8  "Rig- Veda,"  i.  164,  6.      See  Max  Muller,  "  Hibbert  Lectures," 
1878,  p.  315. 
4  "  Rig-Veda,"  x.  129,  2. 


212  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

knows  the  secret  ?  ...  the  most  high  seer  that  is 
in  the  highest  heaven  knows  it,  or  perchance  even 
he  knows  not."  It  is  not  till  we  reach  the  later  age 
of  philosophic  discussion l — perhaps  due  to  the  in- 
fluence of  Plato  and  of  the  Bactrian  Greeks— that 
we  find  the  nature  of  the  soul  studied ;  and,  after  it 
has  been  shown  not  to  be  the  reflection  in  the  eye 
or  in  water,  nor  a  dream-spirit,  it  is  defined  at  last 
as  the  "  self  that  is  immortal  and  without  body,"  like 
the  wind — "the  serene  soul  rising  out  of  the  body," 
to  appear  in  its  "  own  form,"  retaining  its  conscious- 
ness, and  still  regarded  as  corporeal  though  of  airy 
nature.  It  springs  up  again  like  corn  from  the  seed : 
"  it  is  not  born,  it  dies  not."  "  The  Self  is  smaller 
than  small ;  greater  than  great ;  hidden  in  the  heart 
of  the  creature."  It  is  but  part  of  the  Universal  Soul 
— a  spark  of  the  divine  fire — for  "  there  is  one  eternal 
thinker  thinking  non-eternal  thoughts."  "  When  all 
desires  that  dwell  in  the  heart  cease,  then  the  mortal 
becomes  immortal  and  obtains  Brahma."  Immortality 
is  thus  finally  regarded  as  the  loss  of  individuality,  and 
as  union  with  God,  just  as  in  Egypt.  The  Buddhist 
philosophy  is  indistinguishable  from  that  of  the  Brah- 
mans,  and  even  in  the  great  epic  of  the  Mahabharata 
the  law  of  love  is  taught,  while  in  the  Hindu  laws  as 
early  perhaps  as  200  B.C.  we  find  the  ethical  command, 
"  Let  no  man  do  to  others  what  is  painful  to  himself." 
The  Hindu  philosophy  of  the  third  century  B.C.  is 
elaborated  in  well-known  episodes  inserted  in  the 
old  epic  which  is  devoted  to  the  mythical  wars  of 
Kurus  and  Pandus.  These  episodes  include  the 
Bhagavad-gita  (or  "divine  lay"),  and  the  Anu-gita 
or  "  spirit  song." s  In  the  first  of  these  we  find  the 
four  Hindu  castes  fully  established,  and  the  philo- 
sopher says  that  "  the  wise  man  should  not  shake  the 

1  "  Hibbert  Lectures,"  1878,  pp.  318-27,  333-5,  354. 
•  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  viii.,  by  K.  T.  Telang, 


THE  GITAS  213 

convictions  of  the  ignorant."  He  desires  the  welfare 
of  all  beings,  and  offers  only  spiritual  sacrifice. 
He  teaches  two  ways,  the  one  being  that  of  know- 
ledge or  philosophy,  and  the  other  that  of  Yoga  or 
mystic  trance.  He  believes  the  soul  to  be  pre-existent 
from  eternity,  and  eternal.  He  converts  the  popular 
incarnation  of  Vishnu,  known  as  Krishna,  into  a 
pantheistic  deity  in  whom  all  exist.  Krishna  says  in 
his  long  talk  with  the  hero  Arjuna :  "  I  am  life :  I 
am  love " :  "  I  am  not  in  them,  but  they  are  in  me " : 
"  I  am  the  sacrifice  " :  "I  am  the  beginning,  the  middle, 
and  the  end " :  "I  am  the  letter  A "  :  " To  me  none  is 
hateful,  none  dear":  "I  am  death":  "I  will  release 
you  from  all  sins.  Be  not  grieved."  In  the  Anugita 
this  mysticism  is  further  developed,  and  while  the 
eternal  results  of  conduct  (Karma)  are  proclaimed, 
the  doctrine  of  transmigration  is  taught.  The  "  unity 
in  variety  "  here  noticed  recalls  the  doctrine  of  Plato, 
but  the  Hindu  belief  in  ecstasy  transcending  the  senses 
is  added,  and  reminds  us  of  the  later  Greek  mystic 
Plotinus.  The  phenomena  of  nature  are  not  only 
transient,  but  are  regarded  as  not  really  existent — 
"  inconstant,  and  their  name  is  delusion."  Thus  the 
ascetic,  self-hypnotised,  becomes  deluded  by  the  belief 
that  the  unreal  is  real,  and  the  real  unreal,  finally 
becoming  incapable  of  distinguishing  the  two,  and 
approaching  the  border-line  of  madness. 

The  Vishnu-Sutra,1  as  edited  in  our  third  or  fourth 
century,  is  a  code  of  strictly  Brahman  law,  represent- 
ing the  final  decay  of  Indian  religion,  and  full  of  caste 
prejudices  and  superstitious  rites,  like  those  of  the 
Talmud,  or  of  the  Laws  of  Manu  in  the  second 
century  B.C.  Vishnu  is  here  supposed  to  speak,  and 
is  described — the  Soma  drink  being  his  blood.  The 
doctrine  of  transmigration  is  fully  taught,  and  the 

1  "  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  vii.  :  "  The  Institutes  of  Vishnu," 
1880,  by  Jolly. 


2i4  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

heavens  and  hells  are  not  regarded  as  eternal  abodes 
for  any  soul.  The  retreat  of  the  ascetic  to  a  forest 
is  customary,  and  the  method  of  inducing  a  condition 
of  hypnotic  ecstasy  is  minutely  described.  "  Those 
who  are  born  must  die,  and  those  who  die  must  live 
again.  This  is  inevitable,  and  no  comrade  can  follow 
a  man "  (in  death).  "  Virtue  alone  will  follow  him 
wherever  he  may  go,  therefore  do  your  duty  unflinch- 
ingly in  this  wretched  world."  Such  is  the  final 
conclusion  reached  by  the  Hindu  mind  in  the  long 
course  of  advance  from  Vedic  times. 

When  we  turn  back  from  such  pessimism  to  the 
inscriptions  of  Asoka  we  emerge  into  the  light  of 
day.  He  is  traditionally  supposed  to  have  been 
converted  to  Buddhism  in  250  B.C.  ;  and  he  erected 
an  inscribed  pillar  on  the  exact  spot  where  Gautama 
Buddha  was  supposed  to  have  been  born  :  he  describes 
himself  also,  in  242  B.C.,  as  devoted  to  "the  former 
Buddhas."  But,  out  of  thirty  edicts l  which  are  found 
repeated  in  various  parts  of  his  empire,  only  one — 
addressed  to  the  monks — can  be  regarded  as  really 
Buddhist ;  this  dates  about  232  B.C.,  and  includes 
seven  passages  from  Buddhist  scriptures  for  edifica- 
tion of  monks,  nuns,  and  the  male  and  female  laity. 
About  256  B.C.  (the  sixteenth  year  of  his  reign)  Asoka 
was  sending  out  missionaries  to  the  contemporary 
Greek  kings  of  the  West,  and  some  fourteen  years 
later  his  humane  views  led  him  to  forbid,  not  only 
bloody  sacrifices,  but  even  the  use  of  animal  food. 
But  as  a  whole  his  proclamations  attest  only  that 
wide  toleration  for  religious  differences,  and  that  high 
ethical  code,  which  were  common  also  to  the  Persians. 

1  See  Vincent  Smith,  "  Early  History  of  India,"  1904,  p.  146.  These 
include  the  seven  Rock  Edicts  (257  B.C.)  ;  the  two  Kalinga  Edicts 
(256) ;  three  Cave  Texts  (257-250) ;  twoTarai  Pillars  (249)  ;  six  Pillars 
with  seven  Edicts  (243)  ;  two  Delhi  Pillars  (240) ;  seven  Minor  Rock 
Edicts  (252  B.C.)  ;  and  the  Bhabra  Boulder  of  about  the  same  date. 


ASOKA  215 

One  edict l  is  thus  rendered  :  "  Thus  says  his  Majesty. 
Father  and  mother  must  be  obeyed,  respect  for  living 
creatures  must  likewise  be  enforced,  truth  must  be 
spoken ;  these  are  the  virtues  of  the  Law  of  Duty 
(Dharma)  which  must  be  practised.  Likewise  the 
teacher  must  be  reverenced  by  the  pupil,  and  a  proper 
courtesy  must  be  shown  to  relations.  This  is  the 
ancient  standard  of  duty :  this  leads  to  length  of 
days;  and  according  to  this  men  must  act."  Again, 
he  says :  "  There  is  no  such  charity  as  the  charitable 
gift  of  the  Law  of  Duty :  no  such  distribution  as  the 
distribution  of  duty."  "  Of  the  two  means,  pious 
regulations  are  of  small  account,  whereas  meditation 
is  of  greater  value." 2 

Asoka's  advice  to  the  various  sects  is  a  model  that 
might  well  be  set  before  all  Churches  to-day.  He 
"  desires  that  all  the  sects  should  dwell  in  all  places. 
They  all  indeed  seek  after  subjugation  and  purity 
of  heart.  .  .  .  Let  every  one,  whether  he  receives 
abundant  alms  or  not,  have  self-control,  purity  of 
heart,  thankfulness,  and  firmness  of  love.  That  is 
always  excellent."  "  King  Piyadasi,  beloved  of  the 
gods,  honours  all  sects,  both  recluses  and  laymen.  .  .  . 
But  this  is  the  foundation  of  all — moderation  in 
speech :  that  there  should  be  no  praising  of  one's 
own  sect  and  decrying  of  other  sects  ;  that  there 
should  be  no  depreciation  without  cause,  but  rather 
a  rendering  of  honour  to  other  sects  for  whatever 
cause  honour  is  due.  .  .  .  Whoever  exalts  his  own 
sect,  by  decrying  others,  doubtless  does  so  out  of 
love  for  his  own  sect,  thinking  to  spread  the  fame 
thereof.  But  on  the  contrary  he  inflicts  the  more 
an  injury  on  his  own  sect.  Therefore  is  concord  best, 
in  that  all  should  hear,  and  love  to  hear,  the  Duties 
of  each  other :  .  .  .  the  beloved  of  the  gods  attaches 
less  weight  to  alms,  and  to  honours,  than  to  the  desire 

1  Minor  Rock  Edict  II.         >  Rock  Edict  XI. ;  Pillar  Edict  VII. 


216  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

that  the  good  name,  and  moral  virtues,  which  are  the 
essential  part  of  the  teaching  of  all  sects  may  increase. 
To  this  end  ministers  of  religion  everywhere  strive, 
and  the  officers  placed  over  women,  and  the  inspectors, 
and  other  officials.  And  this  is  the  fruit  thereof, 
namely  the  prosperity  of  one's  own  sect,  and  the 
exaltation  of  religion  generally." 1 

Of  Gautama  the  Buddha,  whose  influence  is  traceable 
in  Asoka's  ethical  teaching,  we  really  know  but  little. 
He  was  the  son  of  the  Raja  of  Kapila-vastu,  north 
of  Patna.  The  date  of  his  death  is  disputed  within 
several  centuries,  but  appears  according  to  Asoka's 
calculation3  to  have  occurred  about  488  or  487  B.C., 
when  he  was  eighty  years  old  (according  to  the 
account  of  his  death  in  Buddhist  scripture) :  so  that 
he  was  born  twenty  years  after  the  time  when 
Zoroaster  began  to  preach.  Unlike  his  predecessors, 
"  the  former  Buddhas,"  he  was  of  Brahman  caste, 
educated  in  the  knowledge  of  Vedic  religion  and 
philosophy.  Like  all  good  Hindus,  he  retreated  to 
the  forest  for  meditation,  but  his  genius  enabled  him 
to  perceive  the  unreality  of  the  usual  aspirations  and 
beliefs,  and  to  reject  the  pretensions  of  his  own  caste. 
It  was  not  through  pessimistic  philosophy,  mysticism, 
or  pious  observances,  that  Gautama  became  a  master 
of  men.  In  the  eyes  of  disciples  who  had  long  admired 
his  ascetic  practices  he  cast  aside  the  means  of  salvation 
for  himself;  he  rose  from  his  tree  and  went  forth 
again-^-despised  and  rejected  as  a  backslider — to  the 
world  of  men.  It  was  by  love  that  he  conquered  in 
the  end,  and  love  still  makes  his  name  beloved  by 
three  hundred  millions  who  yet  do  not  understand 
him.  His  long  life  enabled  him  to  win  again  the 
veneration  of  all,  and  the  acceptance  of  the  new 

1  See  "  Hibbert  Lectures,"  1881,  ".Indian  Buddhism,"  Rhys  Davids, 
p.  230. 
»  "  Minor  Rock  Edicts." 


THE  BUDDHA  217 

11  Path  "  that  he  preached.  For,  to  the  teaching  of 
moral  duty  and  justice  which  Aristotle  combined  with 
a  broad  toleration,  he  added  the  nobler  teaching  of 
the  law  of  love.  He  taught  that  "  hate  is  never  over- 
come by  hate,  but  only  by  love " :  that  men  should 
not  only  subdue  all  their  evil  passions,  but  should 
"  strive  to  the  end  "  for  the  good  of  others.  He  created 
an  order  charged  to  preach  this  law  to  all  mankind. 
He  laid  down  no  dogmas  for  his  Church,  but  bade 
each  man  to  be  "  a  light  to  himself."  He  taught  no 
secret  doctrines  to  the  wise,  but  openly  addressed  all 
men,  however  simple.  And  herein,  like  all  the  greatest 
teachers  of  mankind,  he  is  distinguished  from  lesser 
men  by  breadth  of  sympathy  and  true  understanding. 

The  followers  of  Gautama  the  Buddha  (or  "  en- 
lightened one ")  were  to  strive  to  be  "  full  of  con- 
fidence, modest  in  heart,  ashamed  of  wrong,  strong 
in  energy,  active  in  mind,  and  full  of  learning " : 
"  living  in  the  practice,  both  in  public  and  in  private, 
of  those  virtues  which,  when  unbroken,  intact,  un- 
spotted, and  unblemished,  make  men  free,  and  which 
are  untarnished  by  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  any  outward 
acts  of  ritual  or  ceremony,  by  any  hopes  as  to  some 
kind  of  future  life."  He  taught  the  law  of  Duty,  and 
he  proclaimed  that  the  results  of  conduct  (Karma) 
were  inevitable  and  eternal :  that  goodness  would 
bring  the  peace  and  rest  which  men  then  sought  by 
the  "going  out"  (Nirvana),  from  among  their  fellows, 
to  a  deceptive  tranquillity  in  solitude. 

The  voluminous  literature  of  Buddha's  disciples  was 
arranged  (probably  in  the  time  of  Asoka)  in  the  great 
Canon  of  Scripture  which  was  divided  into  three 
Pitakas  or  "  baskets,"  including  works  of  various  age 
between  350  and  200  B.C.1  These  Scriptures  include 

1  See  Max  Miiller  in  "Selected  Essays,"  1881,  ii.  p.  177.  These 
three  Pitakas  are  :  the  "  Vinaya,"  five  books  on  sins,  etc.  ;  the 
"  Sutta,"  five  works  on  law,  praise,  legends,  and  parables  ;  the  "  Abhi- 


218  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

much  that  is  valueless — obsolete  philosophy,  and 
useless  asceticism,  such  as  Gautama  himself  probably 
never  taught — but  the  underlying  idea  is  described 
as  "  Love  far-reaching,  grown  great,  and  beyond 
measure."  The  later  Buddhist  dogma  of  transmigra- 
tion— a  reversion  to  superstition — is  not  found  in  the 
Pitakas  at  all.1  Nor  do  they  teach  apathy  or  pessimism, 
but  only  the  subjection  of  evil  desires,  and  a  ceaseless 
striving  for  the  good  of  all.  The  legend  of  Buddha, 
which  relates  his  miraculous  birth,  his  temptation  by 
the  fiend  under  the  tree,  his  transfiguration,  and  final 
ascension  to  heaven,  is  only  traceable  some  six 
hundred  years  after  his  death.2  Buddha  had  probably 
no  belief  in  such  marvels ;  but  the  history  of  his 
Order  is  one  of  gradual  decay,  and  reversion  to 
prejudice  and  superstition,  till  finally  the  teaching  of 
duty  and  love  was  superseded  by  that  of  blind  faith, 
and  men  were  bidden  to  repeat  incessantly  the  sacred 
name  Amitabha,  whereby — and  not  by  their  deeds — 
they  would  be  saved.  The  good  master  became  a 
God  of  Mercy,  one  "  looking  down " 3  on  man,  and 
hearing  prayer.  In  the  time  of  Kanishka — the  Mongol 
ruler  of  North-West  India — or  some  six  centuries  after 
Gautama's  death,  the  newer  school,  called  that  of 
the  "  higher  means,"  superseded  the  older  Buddhism 
of  the  "  lower  means,"  which  gradually  was  confined 
to  Ceylon,  and  spread  thence  to  Burma  and  Siam. 
The  new  school  of  "  High  Church "  Buddhism 
developed  both  ritual  and  mysticism.  It  became  a 
religion  of  idle  monks,  of  forms  and  ceremonies,  of 
vestments,  litanies,  idols,  and  rosaries,  bells  and 


dhamma,"  seven  works  on  more  advanced  philosophy.  The  second 
Pitaka  includes  the  "  Book  of  the  Great  Departure,"  relating  Buddha's 
last  sayings  and  death. 

1  Rhys  Davids,  "  Hibbert  Lectures,"  1881,  p.  91. 

*  See  Beal,  "  Romantic  History  of  Buddha,"  1875,  P-  v»>- 

*  Avalo-kit  fsvara,  the  "  down-looking  being." 


LATER  BUDDHISM  219 

praying-wheels,  of  blind  faith  in  deities  derived  from 
Indian  polytheism,  and  not  from  any  teaching  of 
Buddha.  Nirvana  was  now  understood  to  be,  not  a 
going  forth  to  solitude,  but  a  leaving  of  this  world 
(just  as  we  speak  of  the  "  departed")  for  some  peaceful 
future  which  none  could  define;  and,  since  many 
meanings  were  given  to  the  word  because  ideas  of  the 
future  differed  greatly  among  various  sects,  the  term 
Nirvana  continues  to  be  a  subject  of  controversy  among 
scholars  in  Europe  also.1  When  we  come  down  to  the 
seventh  century  we  find  the  biography  of  the  Chinese 
pilgrim  Hiuen-Tsiang  (who  visited  India  in  630  A.D., 
and  travelled  fourteen  years  in  all  in  order  to  bring 
back  to  China  true  copies  of  the  original  Buddhist 
scriptures)  to  be  full  of  superstitions  similar  to  those 
of  the  contemporary  Byzantine  Christians.2  We  read 
of  miraculous  images  and  lights,  sacred  trees  and  foot- 
prints, legends,  and  naked  ascetics,  and  of  Buddha's 
tooth,  which  was  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  ever  emitting 
a  sparkling  light.  Buddhism  finally  disappeared  in 
India  after  about  800  A.D.,  being  absorbed  by  the 
Brahmans,  who  made  Buddha  the  ninth  incarnation 
of  Vishnu.  The  substitution  of  a  flower,  or  a  fruit, 
for  the  old  bloody  sacrifices  in  the  temples  was  the 
only  gain  when  the  caste  tyranny  was  once  more  fully 
established. 

In  the  West,  Buddhism  appeared  on  the  Syrian 
coasts  as  early  at  least  as  250  B.C.3  It  influenced  the 
Stoics  in  Greece,  the  Essenes  (or  "  recluses ")  in 
Palestine,  and  the  Therapeutai  (or  "  ministrants  ")  in 

1  See  "  Hibbert  Lectures,"  1881,  pp.  161,  254. 

1  "Life  of  Hiuen-Tsiang,"  Beal,  1888,  pp.  1 1,  66,  67,  103,  120, 
161,  181. 

3  Calanus,  who  burnt  himself  in  presence  of  Alexander,  according 
to  Strabo  and  Plutarch,  was  an  Indian  ascetic  who  may  have  been  a 
Buddhist,  as  his  ideas  of  caste  did  not  prevent  his  travelling.  The 
same  authorities  also  notice  Sraman-acharya,  who  burnt  himself  in 
Athens  about  23  A.D.  See  Plutarch,  "Alexander,"  iii. 


220  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Egypt.  It  was  an  element  in  Gnosticism  in  our 
second  and  third  centuries.  The  legend  of  Buddha's 
virgin  birth  was  known  to  Jerome,  and  the  yellow- 
robed  ascetic  to  Chrysostom.  In  the  East,  Ceylon 
was  converted  during  Asoka's  reign,  and  thence  the 
"lesser  means"  were  preached  in  Burma  and  Siam. 
China  is  said  to  have  accepted  the  "greater  means  "  as 
early  as  65  A.D.,  and  this  corrupt  sacerdotalism  reached 
Japan  from  Korea  in  552  A.D.,  and  penetrated  among 
the  devil-worshippers  of  Tibet  a  century  later.  Tura- 
nian Buddhism  was  little  better  than  the  old  sorceries, 
and,  save  among  a  few  true  disciples,  the  fogs  of 
superstition  have  entirely  obscured  the  light  of  truth 
and  love,  which  burns  dimly  among  them. 

viii.  China  and  Japan. — The  religion  of  the  Far  East 
may  be  more  briefly  treated,  since  it  shows  no  new 
features,  and  is  for  the  most  part  derived  from  older 
sources  in  West  Asia.  The  literature  concerned  is 
very  voluminous,  but  not  very  ancient ;  while  the  great 
book-burning  edict  of  the  Tsin  dynasty,  issued  in  221, 
was  only  repealed  by  the  Hans  in  191  B.C.,  which 
makes  it  very  doubtful  whether  we  can  suppose  any 
ancient  writings  to  have  survived,  though  some  are 
said  to  have  been  hidden ;  for  scholars  who  did  not 
obey  the  edict  were  buried  alive,  according  to  Chinese 
accounts.  The  "  Five  Classics  "  which  Confucius  ad- 
mired do  not  appear  to  be  older  than  about  650  B.C., 
and  the  Yi-King,  or  "  book  of  changes,"  which  is  the 
first  of  them,  is  a  magical  work  very  difficult  to  under- 
stand. The  second  book  (Shu-King)  contains  legendary 
history ;  the  third  (Shin-King)  poetry ;  the  fourth 
(Li-ki-King)  rites  and  ethics ;  while  the  fifth  (Kun- 
khin-King),  or  "spring  and  autumn,"  is  ascribed  to 
Confucius  himself  early  in  the  fifth  century  B.C.  These 
works,  now  translated  by  Dr.  Legge,  are  of  a  very 
primitive  and  almost  childish  nature ;  and  we  have 


CHINESE   BELIEFS  221 

unfortunately  no  early  inscriptions  on  which  to  form 
a  really  sound  estimate  of  early  Chinese  beliefs. 

The  modern  religion  of  China,  however,  compares 
with  the  very  oldest  Akkadian  superstitions,  with  an 
admixture  of  later  philosophy  and  mysticism,  intro- 
duced from  India  after  the  beginning  of  the  sixth 
century  B.C.  The  Jin-Tao,  or  "  way  of  spirits,"  is  but 
the  old  animism  of  prehistoric  ages,  with  all  the  usual 
beliefs  in  immortal  spirits,  ghosts,  and  demons ;  while 
the  ancestor  worship  of  the  Chinese  has  become  a 
tyranny  of  the  dead  greater  than  that  of  the  Pitris  or 
"  paternal "  spirits  in  India,  or  of  the  Penates  in  Italy. 
The  Emperor  of  China  is  the  "  son  of  heaven,"  like  the 
Akkadian  En-anna-du  or  "heaven-born  prince."  He 
is  supreme  not  only  over  man  but  over  gods,  spirits, 
and  manes  also.  The  imperial  gods  are  the  two  spirits 
of  heaven  and  earth  so  often  invoked  in  Akkadian 
litanies.  The  three  kings  of  heaven,  ocean,  and  hell, 
correspond  exactly  to  those  already  described  in 
Chaldea ;  and  all  customs  of  divination,  augury,  lots, 
and  spells,  are  of  equal  antiquity.  The  Chinese 
believe,  like  the  Egyptians,  that  each  human  being  has 
three  souls.  Their  myth  of  Pan-ku,1  from  whose  body 
all  things  were  produced,  recalls  not  only  the  story 
of  Brahma's  egg  in  India,  or  that  of  Gayo-mard,  the 
"  bull-man  "  in  Persia,  but  yet  older  legends  of  Baby- 
lonia and  Phoenicia,  according  to  which  man  and  other 
creatures  were  produced  from  the  blood  of  a  god,  who 
sacrificed  himself  to  himself,  like  Odin  among  the 
Norse.  The  Kuen-lun  Paradise,2  in  the  West,  with 
its  jewelled  peach-tree,  is  the  same  that  we  find 
described  in  the  myth  of  Gilgamas.  The  mythical  five 
emperors,  each  born  of  a  virgin,  recall  the  incarnations 
of  Vishnu,  and  even  the  Manchu  dynasty  traces  to  a 
tree-born  ancestor  whose  legend  is  the  same  as  that  of 

1  See  Williams,  "Middle  Kingdom,"  ii.  p.  139. 
1  "Chinese  Recorder,"  vii.  pp.  357,  369. 


222  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Adonis.  Chinese  philosophy,  like  that  of  the  Indian 
11  Dualists,"  teaches  that  all  things  originate  in  Yan 
and  Yin — the  "  male "  and  "  female  "  elements  in 
nature,  thus  going  back  to  the  ancient  phallic  symbol- 
ism which  is  so  common  in  India,  and  which  among 
the  Greeks  was  connected  with  the  worship  of 
Dionusos  (the  god  of  heat  and  fruit),  and  with  the 
secret  mysteries  of  Eleusis. 

This  primeval  faith  was,  however,  modified  by  the 
introduction  of  Indian  mysticism,  when  Lao-tze  (605- 
515  B.C.)  began  to  teach  a  mystic  philosophy  concern- 
ing the  Tao  or  "  way  " — the  cause  of  all  (though  not 
the  original  Unborn  Spirit),  and  the  "  great  mother " 
or  female  emanation,  like  the  Wisdom  of  the  Bible. 
Union  with  the  Tao  was  to  be  the  object  of  the  sage 
in  ecstasy,  and  we  may  well  suppose  that  this  teacher 
derived  his  ideas  from  some  Indian  mystic,  whether 
one  of  the  "  former  Buddhas,"  or  perhaps  Maha-vira, 
the  great  Jain  ascetic,  who  was  contemporary  (598- 
528  B.C.)  with  Lao-tze,  in  India.  But  mysticism  was 
not  congenial  to  the  Chinese  character,  and  though 
this  teacher— or  his  disciples — condemned  Confucius 
for  his  hard  practical  teaching  of  "  propriety,"  and  for 
his  silence  as  to  beliefs  about  the  future,  yet  the 
ethics  of  the  "  Learned  Kung "  have  been  far  more 
influential  in  China  than  the  "  third  religion  "  of  the 
Tao.  Confucius  was  the  younger  man  (551-478  B.C.), 
and  is  said  to  have  listened  in  modest  silence  to  the 
rhapsodies  of  Lao-tze.  His  own  teaching  was  purely 
ethical,  and  was  summed  up  in  the  Golden  Rule, 
"  What  you  do  not  wish  others  to  do  to  you,  do  not 
to  them."  He  also  may  perhaps  have  learned  some- 
thing from  India,  but  his  moral  teaching  is  the  same 
which  we  find  in  earlier  times  all  over  Asia.  "  Study," 
he  said,  "self-control,  modesty,  forbearance,  patience, 
kindness,  order,  inoffensiveness :  subdue  passion ;  be 
studious,  mild,  dutiful,  neighbourly,  faithful,  upright, 


JAPANESE  BELIEFS  223 

moderate,  polite,  well-mannered ;  and  cultivate  intelli- 
gence and  alertness,  but  avoid  extremes."  Such  is  the 
teaching  which  has  moulded  the  ideas  and  customs 
of  China  and  Japan  for  over  twenty-five  centuries. 
Regarding  rites  and  beliefs,  Confucius,  like  the  later 
Asoka,  considered  them  of  secondary  importance; 
and  he  was  loth  to  offend  the  superstitious  masses 
of  his  fellow-countrymen,  to  rob  them  of  their  hopes  of 
future  life,  or  to  break  down  the  ancient  customs 
of  filial  piety.  Mencius  ("teacher  Mang"),  the  great 
disciple  of  Confucius  (371-288  B.C.),  was  a  statesman 
who  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  wars  should 
cease;  for  "the  human  heart  possesses  in  itself  the 
germs  of  perfect  virtue  and  wisdom."  He  taught  that 
the  king  whose  power  was  given  by  heaven  should 
resemble  heaven  in  justice  and  goodness.  He  was 
violently  opposed  by  pessimists  and  mystics,  but  only 
retorted,  "  Let  their  stories  spread  if  only  they  teach 
sound  principles."  "  He  who  delights  in  heaven  will 
influence  a  whole  empire  by  his  love  and  protection." 
The  Buddhism  which  was  recognised  as  the  "  second 
religion  "  in  China  was  a  corrupt  monkish  formalism, 
preserving  little  of  the  spirit  of  Gautama;  but  the 
teaching  of  Confucius  was  the  guiding  star  not  only 
of  Chinese  rulers,  from  the  Hans  downwards,  but 
also  of  the  great  tolerant  Khans,  whose  sway,  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  extended  over  nearly  the  whole 
of  Asia. 

The  original  faith  of  the  Japanese  race,  who  came 
from  Korea  in  660  B.C.,  with  Jimmu-Tennu,  fifth  in 
descent  from  Amaterasu-no-kami,  the  sun  goddess,  is 
now  known  as  Shin-to,  from  the  Chinese  Jin-tao,  or 
"  spirit  way,"  translated  in  Japanese  as  Kami-no-michi, 
"  the  way  of  the  gods."  It  is  an  animism  of  the  same 
kind  before  described,  though  some  of  its  symbols — 
such  as  the  sacred  mirror,  and  the  sacred  sword — are 
peculiar.  The  demon  figures  which  flank  the  sacred 


224  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

gateways  of  Japan  are  the  same  fearful  guardians 
who,  as  we  have  seen,  defended  houses  and  temples 
among  the  Hittites  and  Akkadians  in  the  West,  and 
who  are  supposed  to  be  controlled  by  Shamans  in 
Tibet  and  Mongolia,  being  made  subject  by  spells  to 
the  wizard  priest,  and  compelled  to  frighten  lesser 
fiends  away.  The  first  inhabitants  of  Japan  were 
cannibals,  and  the  rites  of  human  sacrifice  at  tombs 
were  not  finally  abolished  till  646  A.D.  But  after 
552  A.D.  the  manners  of  the  Japanese  were  softened 
by  the  influence  of  Confucian  ethics,  and  of  Buddhism, 
which — though  in  a  very  corrupt  form — was  intro- 
duced in  that  year  from  China.  Shin-to  is  now  a 
mild  belief  in  countless  spirits  and  ghosts,  propitiated 
by  simple  offerings  and  short  invocations.  The  family 
shrine  contains  the  Penates  of  the  tribe,  the  ancestral 
tablets,  and  the  "  spirit  sticks,"  which  are  reverenced 
each  day  at  sunrise.  But  the  peasant  believes  that 
he  is  better  prayed  for  by  the  divine  Mikado,  who 
has  been  born  a  descendant  of  the  sun  goddess  as  a 
reward  for  all  his  merits  in  former  lives  on  earth.1 

Japanese  sacred  literature  dates  only  from  the  eighth 
century  A.D.,S  and  contains  many  graceful  and  some 
terrible  legends  of  the  gods.  The  story  of  the  babe 
abandoned  in  his  cradle  on  the  waters  meets  us  again, 
and  the  myth  of  Persephone,  or  Eurydice,  is  recalled 
by  that  of  Izanagi  and  his  lost  wife  Isanami  in  Hades. 
The  philosophy  of  the  Yan-yin  was  also  introduced 
from  China,  and  the  Japanese  teach  that  God  has 
three  spirits  or  aspects — gentle,  stern,  and  munificent 
— while  man  has  two  only — the  gentle  and  the  rough. 
In  this  we  may  see  the  three  aspects  of  the  Indian 
Siva  as  creator,  preserver,  and  destroyer.  In  Japan 

1  Lafcadio  Hearn,  "Japan,"  1905,  pp.  45,  46,  50,  124,  140,  144,  159, 
167,  204. 

*  The  Ko-ji-ki,  or  "  Records  of  Ancient  Matters,"  712  A.D.,  and  the 
Nihongi,  or  "  Chronicles  of  Japan,"  720  A.D. 


JAPANESE  TOLERANCE  225 

also  we  find  the  temple  women  regarded  as  brides 
of  God,  just  as  in  China,  in  India,  or  in  Chaldea. 
We  find  ascetics  and  diviners  as  elsewhere ;  and  the 
mingling  of  Buddhist  and  Shinto  beliefs  produced 
the  Ryobu-Shinto,  or  "twofold  religion,"  about 
800  A.D.  The  Japanese,  however,  have  always  shown 
great  suspicion  of  priestcraft ;  and  when  Buddhist 
abbots  began  to  assume  temporal  power,  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  they  were  massacred  by  the  able 
usurper  Oda  Nobunaga.  In  the  next  century  also, 
when  the  Jesuits  attempted  to  secure  a  position  in 
Japan  like  that  which  they  then  held  in  France,  they 
were  exiled  by  Hideyoshi.  They  had  been  admitted 
with  Xavier  in  1549  A.D.,  under  the  impression  that 
they  were  Buddhists  ;  and  the  worship  of  Mary  might 
well  be  mistaken  for  that  of  the  Chinese  "  Mother  of 
Mercy" — the  goddess  Kwan-yin.  The  only  results 
of  Jesuit  efforts  were  the  expulsion  of  all  Christians 
in  1606  (when  the  less  politic  Spanish  Franciscans 
began  to  denounce  Shin-to  beliefs),  and  the  subse- 
quent revolts  and  massacres  of  1636  A.D.,  when  Japan 
was  closed  to  foreigners  for  more  than  two  centuries. 

At  the  present  day,  when  Japan  is  conspicuous  for 
its  toleration  (Buddhism  having  been  disendowed  and 
disestablished  in  1867),  we  find  strange  elements 
conflicting  with  each  other  in  her  midst.  The  fanatical 
Shin-shus,  preaching  blind  faith  in  a  Buddha,  are  to 
be  seen  side  by  side  with  Salvationists  preaching  sal- 
vation through  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  peasant 
worshipper  of  ghosts  is  ruled  by  the  educated  states- 
man who  has  read  the  works  of  Darwin  and  Herbert 
Spencer,  of  Mill  and  Huxley.  Whether  all  that  is 
delightful  in  the  ancient  art  and  chivalry  of  feudal 
Japan  is  destined  to  be  destroyed,  by  the  greed  and 
vulgarity  of  Western  civilisation  ;  whether  the  loyalty 
to  a  divine  emperor  will  in  time  be  replaced  by 
democratic  independence,  rough  manners,  and  the 

15 


226  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

insistence  on  rights,  where  now  we  find  courtesy, 
cheerful  fortitude,  and  gentle  love  ;  or  whether  Japan 
is  destined  to  lead  Asia  on  the  old  paths,  to  a  faith 
that  will  satisfy  heart  and  head  not  only  in  the  East, 
but  over  all  the  world  :  these  are  the  questions  which 
the  future  will  solve.  The  Japanese  nature  is  recep- 
tive, and  their  intellect  is  acute ;  but  some  of  their 
own  leaders  have  (expressed  a  doubt  whether  it  is 
original ;  and  the  faith  of  the  world  in  the  future 
may  perhaps  first  come  to  Japan  from  the  West. 

ix.  America. — The  natives  of  America  generally  are 
connected,  as  we  have  seen,  by  language  and  type 
with  the  Turanians  of  North-east  Asia.  Nor  are  they 
less  clearly  connected  by  religious  customs  and  beliefs.1 
The  pantheon  is  much  the  same  as  in  ancient  Asia, 
including  the  "  old  man  above  "  or  "  soul  of  the  sky  " 
with  the  sun,  moon,  wind,  and  the  god  of  death  and 
hell.  The  tribal  sacred  beasts  resemble  not  only 
those  of  Australia  and  Africa,  but  also  those  of 
Siberia,  where  (as  among  the  Ainus  of  Japan)  the 
bear  is  propitiated.  Thunder  was  said  in  America 
to  be  due  to  the  flapping  wings  of  the  heavenly 
eagle,  whom  we  find  in  the  West  holding  the  bolts 
of  Jove ;  and  the  Caribs  suppose  the  lightning  to  be 
shot  from  a  celestial  blow-tube — indicating  the  use 
of  this  Malay  weapon— while  otherwise  it  is  a 
"  crooked  serpent,"  as  in  Hebrew  poetry.  The  owl 
is  the  sacred  bird  of  death,  after  whom  the  heaven- 
bridge  is  named,  and  owl  superstitions  are  common 
in  Asia  generally.  The  dog  also  is  sacred  in  Peru, 
and  this  reminds  us  not  only  of  Persian  ideas  but 
of  the  sacred  dogs  in  Central  Asia  and  Tibet  who 
devour  the  dead.  The  god  of  light  (Michabo)  is  a 
hare,  which  was  the  sign  of  the  rising  sun  in  Egypt, 
and  remains  the  emblem  of  the  moon  in  China  and 
1  See  Brinton,  "  Myths  of  the  New  World,"  1876. 


AMERICAN   BELIEFS  227 

Japan.  The  Couvade  custom  (already  described)1  is 
found  in  Brazil  as  well  as  in  China.  The  phallic 
symbolism  of  India  is  also  known  in  North  America 
and  in  Yucatan,  and  the  licentious  orgies  of  the 
Iroquois  recall  those  of  Polynesia  and  Australia,  of 
Africa  and  Asia.  The  virgin  mother  of  god  is  also 
common  to  the  Indians  of  Peru  and  Paraguay,  and 
to  the  Mongols,  Chinese,  and  Hindus.  The  bright 
and  dark  brothers  (the  Greek  Dioscuroi)  who  repre- 
sent day  and  night  were  born  of  a  virgin  according 
to  the  Hurons.  The  Iroquois  speak  of  the  tortoise 
who  supports  the  world  just  like  the  Hindus  and 
Chinese.  The  Quiche  account  of  creation  from  chaos 
is  like  that  of  the  Akkadians.  The  Algonquins  say 
that  man  has  two  souls,  and  the  Dakota  tribes  say 
he  has  four,  as  the  Chinese  say  he  has  three.  All 
Americans  believe  in  the  soul's  journey  to  another 
world,  and  some  speak  of  the  bridge  leading  to  heaven, 
and  others  of  the  Milky  Way  as  the  path  of  souls. 
The  custom  of  removing  the  corpse  by  a  special 
door,  found  among  the  Algonquins,  is  ancient  in 
China  and  Tibet,  and  was  once  well  known  in  Europe 
also.  The  dog  slain  at  the  tomb  becomes  the  guide 
of  the  soul,  as  in  Persia.  The  belief  in  transmigration 
is  also  found  in  America,  as  is  that  of  a  second  life 
on  earth.  The  bones  of  the  dead  are  preserved 
in  order  to  secure  the  seed  of  a  future  body,  as  in 
Asia. 

Such  parallels  cannot  be  accidental,  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  American  wizard  priests  answers  exactly 
to  that  of  Mongol  Shamans.  They  expel  demons, 
and  make  small  images  of  such,  which  they  destroy 
like  the  Akkadians.  They  walk  on  fire,  and  gash 
themselves  with  knives :  they  hold  stances,  and 
hypnotise  themselves,  like  the  Asiatic  magicians ; 
and  when  seized  with  frenzy  they  slay  all  whom 
1  Chap.  II.  p.  52. 


228  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

they  meet  like  Malays.  They  see  visions,  fall  into 
epileptic  trances,  change  themselves  into  beasts  and 
birds  like  other  wizards,  and  fly  to  heaven  like  Indian 
Yogis  or  Jewish  Rabbis.  They  are  believed  to  control 
all  the  phenomena  of  nature,  and  to  be  able  to  raise 
the  dead.  They  also  cast  horoscopes  like  the  Baby- 
lonians, and  observe  all  kinds  of  omens.  They  form 
a  sacred  caste  as  in  India,  while  in  Central  America 
men  used  to  slay  themselves  in  order  to  accompany 
a  dead  chief,  just  as  they  did  in  mediaeval  Japan. 
They  sacrificed  their  children  at  the  bidding  of  their 
wizards,  like  all  Asiatics,  and  the  Peruvian  widow 
slew  herself  to  accompany  her  lord,  just  as  in  India, 
Scythia,  or  Thrace.  The  first  Americans,  crossing 
over  from  Siberia,  thus  appear  to  have  brought  with 
them  all  the  superstitions  which  we  find  common 
among  Turanians  from  the  earliest  known  age. 

But  America  has  no  history  as  a  whole,  because 
these  emigrants  brought  with  them  nothing  but  the 
rudest  system  of  picture-writing.  When  the  Spaniards 
arrived  in  the  sixteenth  century  they  found  estab- 
lished, it  is  true,  two  distinct  yet  cognate  civilisations 
of  considerable  antiquity ;  but  these  were  confined 
to  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  in  each  case  there  are  clear 
indications  that  these  civilisations  were  directly  im- 
ported from  Eastern  Asia  in  comparatively  late 
historic  times.1  In  Mexico  it  is  reported  that  actual 
remains  of  Chinese  temples,  with  inscriptions  perhaps 
as  old  as  300  A.D.,  were  found  in  1897  in  the  Magdalen 
district  of  Sonora;  and  a  Japanese  manuscript  de- 
scribes the  discovery  of  Fusang  about  500  A.D.  (by 
the  Buddhist  traveller  Hwai-Shin,  who  set  out  from 

1  See  ReVille,  " Hibbert  Lectures,"  1884;  Vining,  "An  Inglorious 
Columbus,"  1885;  Charnay,  "Ancient  Cities  of  the  New  World," 
1887,  with  Prescott's  "  Conquest  of  Mexico  "  and  "  Conquest  of  Peru  "  ; 
Humboldt's  "  Vues  des  Corderillas,"  and  the  works  of  Brinton,  Kings- 
borough,  Nadaillac,  Schoolcraft,  Stephens,  and  Bancroft. 


BUDDHIST  AZTECS  229 

Bactria  and  China)  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  no 
reasonable  doubt  that  he  reached  Mexico  from  the 
Aleutian  Islands.  Spanish  accounts  of  Aztec  customs 
and  beliefs  in  Mexico  fully  confirm  this  notice  of  the 
first  discovery  of  America  of  which  we  know  any- 
thing. The  Aztecs  used  quilted  cotton  armour,  like 
the  mediaeval  Mongols.  Their  folded  books,  printed 
with  movable  blocks,  and  the  vertical  arrangement 
of  their  hieroglyphics  in  certain  texts,  seem  clearly 
of  Chinese  origin.  They  knew  the  Tartar  cycle  of 
fifty-two  years.  They  used  lacquer  and  stucco,  and 
they  had  posting  houses  along  their  roads.  Hum- 
boldt  points  also  to  the  Mexican  dragon  standard, 
to  their  Japanese-like  heraldry,  marriage  customs,  and 
punishment  by  the  wooden  "  kangue  "  collar,  as  con- 
necting the  Aztecs  with  the  Chinese.  In  language 
and  type  there  is  indeed  no  immediate  connection, 
though  the  Otomi  "  wanderers  "  in  Central  America 
speak  an  ancient  tongue  which  appears  to  have 
Chinese  affinities,  while  there  is  a  considerable  Malay 
admixture — perhaps  recent — on  the  west  coasts  of  the 
New  World.  But  the  similarities  of  custom,  and 
especially  of  religion,  seem  such  as  to  compel  us  to 
suppose  that  foreign  civilisation  was  brought  to  the 
savage  Aztecs  by  Chinese  Buddhists  a  thousand  years 
before  the  coming  of  Columbus. 

The  religion  thus  introduced  could  not  have  been 
the  purer  Buddhism  of  Ceylon,  but  resembled  the 
degraded  superstition  of  Tibet  and  China.  It  included 
the  asceticism  of  monks  and  nuns  living  in  monasteries, 
with  penances,  ablutions,  the  begging  of  alms,  pilgrim- 
ages, and  sacred  relics.  The  Mexican  temples  resemble 
those  of  Burma  and  China.  At  Cholula  the  Indian 
elephant  is  carved,  and  a  god  seated  on  a  "  lion 
throne"  closely  resembles  Asiatic  figures  of  Buddha. 
Baptism  was  an  Aztec  rite  of  "  second  birth."  The 
shaven  crown,  and  the  use  of  masks,  are  also  Buddhist. 


23o  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Hospitals  were  established,  as  in  India.  Auricular 
confession  was  inculcated.  The  highest  teaching  bade 
men  to  "  clothe  the  naked  and  to  feed  the  hungry,"  to 
"cherish  the  sick,  for  they  are  the  image  of  God." 
The  neophyte  was  vowed  to  chastity  and  poverty, 
and  might  not  drink  strong  drink.  The  superior 
wore  the  same  coarse  dress  worn  by  the  humblest 
monk.  The  nuns  were  called  "  maids  of  penance," 
and  ministered  in  the  temples.  But  this  asceticism 
was  accompanied  by  savage  superstitions.  The 
Mexicans  had  a  rite  of  "  eating  God  " — a  communion 
in  which  a  dough  image  of  the  deity  was  torn  in 
pieces  by  the  worshippers,  just  as  it  still  is  by  so- 
called  Buddhists  in  Tibet.  They  buried  a  green  gem 
in  the  grave  as  the  Chinese  bury  a  piece  of  jade,  and 
placed  paper  charms  on  the  corpse.  They  believed 
in  heaven  and  hell,  and  in  the  journey  of  the  soul. 
They  sacrificed  slaves  at  the  tomb,  as  in  Japan.  They 
taught  the  Indian  belief  that  material  phenomena  are 
but  illusory  shadows.1  They  spoke  of  a  Deluge,  and 
of  successive  destructions  of  the  world  by  water,  wind, 
earthquake,  and  fire — recalling  the  Indian  Kalpas  or 
"ages."  They  spoke  of  a  virgin  mother,  and  of  a 
hero  who  is  to  return  in  the  future.  They  used 
incense,  and  the  Cross  was  their  emblem  for  the  "  tree 
of  life."  They  believed  their  emperor  to  be  the  child 
of  the  sun.  They  had  a  terrible  ordeal,2  as  described 
by  Sahagun  and  as  shown  on  an  extant  Aztec  bas- 
relief,  in  which  the  ascetic  drew  a  barbed  cord  through 
his  tongue  in  honour  of  a  god  armed  with  a  "  spirit- 
stick."  To  these  Asiatic  superstitions  they  added  the 
primeval  cruelties  of  human  sacrifice,  such  as  the 
Khonds  in  India  practised  till  quite  recent  times,  with 

1  According  to  J.  F.  Hewitt  ("  Primitive  Traditional  History," 
chap,  viii.)  the  Aztec  year  of  eighteen  months,  each  of  twenty  days, 
also  comes  from  India,  and  is  noticed  in  the  Maha-Bharata. 

*  Charnay,  "Ancient  Cities  of  the  New  World,"  1887,  p.  450. 


THE  PERUVIANS  231 

rites  of  new  fire,  and  a  feast  of  the  dead,  which  are 
alike  prehistoric.  But  though  they  believed  in  a 
Paradise,  they  held  the  Buddhist  view  that  its  happi- 
ness was  not  eternal,  and  that  souls  returned  to  earth. 
Their  prayers  recall  those  of  the  Akkadians — "O 
merciful  Lord,  let  this  chastisement  with  which  Thou 
hast  visited  us,  Thy  people,  be  as  those  which  a  father 
or  mother  inflicts  on  a  child,  not  out  of  anger,  but  to 
the  end  that  he  may  be  free  of  follies  and  vices."  But 
similar  prayers  are  found  among  the  Khonds. 

The  civilisation  of  Peru  may  have  been  distinct 
from  that  of  Central  America,  but  in  many  particulars 
it  was  similar.  The  Inca  chiefs  were  a  short-headed 
race,  ruling  subjects  who  were  long-headed  like  other 
Americans.  They  are  said  to  have  spoken  a  language 
different  from  that  of  their  subjects,  though  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  this  was  more  than  a  dialectic  difference. 
The  temple  services  were  thus  conducted  in  a  tongue 
not  understood  by  the  people.  There  had  been  only 
thirteen  successive  Incas1  before  Pizarro  appeared, 
in  1524,  so  that  the  dynasty  may  have  been  founded 
in  the  thirteenth  century  at  earliest.  Ranking,  indeed, 
in  1827,  supposed  that  Manco-capac,  the  first  Inca,  w*as 
a  son  of  the  Mongol  emperor  Kublai  Khan.  The 
Inca  tombs  include  statues  of  gold,  with  vessels  of 
gold  and  silver,  porphyry  and  granite,  fine  clay  and 
copper.  The  pottery  is  marked  with  the  familiar  sign 
of  the  swastika,  commonly  used  by  Buddhists.  The 
bodies  are  roughly  mummified.  The  Peruvians  had 
(like  the  Aztecs)  quilted  armour,  and  a  postal  system 
like  that  of  Mongol  Khans.  Their  messengers  bore 
"  quipus,"  or  knotted  cords  of  conventional  meaning, 
and  the  use  of  such  cords  was  not  only  very  ancient 
in  China,  but  is  said  to  have  continued  even  to  our 
twelfth  century.  The  Peruvians  had  also  a  system 

1  See  ReVille,  "  Hibbert  Lectures,"  1884,  p.  160, 


232  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

of  hieroglyphics,1  a  specimen  of  which  exists  in  the 
Cuzco  Museum.  There  are  about  a  hundred  different 
signs,  and  when  the  commonest  of  these  are  compared 
with  early  Chinese  signs  the  resemblances  are  often 
very  striking. 

Nor  are  the  parallels  in  science,  religious  custom 
and  belief  less  suggestive.  The  Peruvian  Zodiac 
was  the  same  that  India  received  from  the  Greeks, 
and  the  Peruvian  youth  was  endued  with  a  sacred 
girdle  like  the  Brahman.  The  divine  emperor  each 
year  ploughed  the  first  field  with  a  gold  plough,  like 
Chinese  emperors.  Peruvian  philosophy  spoke  of 
a  female  principle,  or  double,  as  in  the  Chinese 
Yan-yin  philosophy.  The  widow  of  the  Inca  sacri- 
ficed herself  at  his  death,  and  his  subjects  offered 
their  children  as  vicarious  sacrifices  for  his  life.  The 
Peruvian  gods  Yamo  and  Yama  recall  the  Hindu 
Yama  and  Yami.  The  Peruvians  also  had  ceremonies 
of  lighting  new  fire,  vestal  virgins,  and  human  sacrifices. 
They  had  a  Deluge  legend,  and  believed  the  soul  to 
be  immortal :  they  taught  resurrection,  and  punish- 
ment in  hell.  The  teacher  of  South  America  was 
a  stranger  from  the  East  (perhaps  from  Yucatan) 
named  Bochica,  which  is  perhaps  the  Buddhist  term 
Pachcheko  or  "saint."  The  Peruvians  ate  the  flesh 
of  the  children  whom  they  sacrificed,  and  they  had 
a  baptismal  rite.  They  also  believed  in  the  successive 
destructions  of  the  world  by  famine  and  flood.  The 
whole  system  of  Inca  government  and  religion  is 
easily  explained  on  the  supposition  that  a  Mongol, 
or  Malay,  colony  of  Buddhist  rulers  was  established 
among  the  natives  of  Peru.  The  wide  influence  of 
the  Malays  in  Polynesia  is  traceable  by  both  myths 
and  customs,  and  the  rude  statues  of  Easter  Island — 
not  far  west  of  the  Peruvian  coast — show  the  possi- 
bility of  reaching  South  America  from  the  Malay 
1  Elsworthy,  "The  Evil  Eye,"  1895,  P-  28z.  Se3- 


ISLAM  233 

peninsula.  The  general  result  of  an  inquiry  into 
these  two  American  civilisations  seems  thus  to  show 
that  their  origin  is  to  be  sought  in  the  later  Buddhist 
system  of  Asia,  between  500  and  1200  A.D.  ;  but  the 
Americans  generally  brought  prehistoric  superstitions 
from  Asia  at  some  much  earlier  though  unknown  time. 
No  doubt  the  borrowed  civilisation  had  developed 
peculiarities  of  its  own  in  America  long  before  the 
Spaniards  appeared,  but  its  origin  seems  to  have  been 
Asiatic. 

x.  Islam. — Islam  means  "  salvation,"  peace  with 
God,  and  resignation  to  His  will.  Muhammad  taught, 
like  the  later  Rabbis,  that  every  race  had  its  prophet ; 
that  there  was  but  one  religion  since  the  days  of 
Abraham  ;  and  he  said  truly  that  Christians,  Jews,  and 
Magians  alike  had  corrupted  the  truth,  by  teaching  the 
traditions  of  men.  We  are  still  too  much  under  the 
influence  of  mediaeval  prejudice  in  judging  his  teach- 
ing, and  ancient  calumnies  are  still  revived  by  scholars 
who  have  not  lived  in  Moslem  countries.  Islam  was 
a  revolt  from  contemporary  superstition.  It  taught 
nothing  new ;  but  it  discarded  much  that  was  due  to 
reversion  towards  primitive  errors.  It  triumphed 
because  it  united  men  of  all  creeds,  by  insisting  on 
beliefs  common  to  all ;  and  because  its  author  was 
sincere  and  simple-hearted,  and  addressed  all  openly, 
teaching  no  secret  doctrine  to  a  few  initiates.  Like 
other  faiths,  it  has  been  corrupted  by  superstition ; 
but  it  destroyed  ecclesiasticism,  and  has  maintained 
the  truth  that  religion  is  a  question  for  the  individual 
conscience,  and  that  man  needs  no  priest  to  intercede 
for  him  with  God. 

Muhammad  was  born  at  Mecca  in  the  "year  of  the 
elephant "  (570  A.D.),  when  Abraha,the  Christian  viceroy 
of  Yemen,  advanced  against  the  city  with  a  force  sup- 
ported by  thirteen  elephants,  but  was  repulsed  by  the 


234  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Koreish,  among  whom  'Abd-el-Muttalib  (Muhammad's 
grandfather)  was  a  leader.  'Abd-Allah,  the  father  of 
this  great  religious  genius,  died  before  he  was  born, 
and  though  of  good  family  was  a  poor  man.  His 
widow  Amina  also  died  soon  after  her  son  was  born, 
and  he  was  brought  up  by  his  grandfather,  and  by  his 
uncle  Abu-Taleb.  The  boy  was  delicate  (some  say 
epileptic)  and  highly  imaginative — a  true  poet,  whose 
love  of  nature  is  shown  by  similies  which  occur  even 
in  his  latest  compositions.  He  was  sent  for  his  health 
to  tend  goats  among  the  Bedawin,  and  grew  strong 
in  the  dry  desert  air.  He  accompanied  his  uncle  to 
Bostra,  in  Bashan,  on  trading  journeys,  and  afterwards 
gained  the  title  Amm  ("  faithful ")  as  the  agent  of  his 
rich  cousin  Khadijah,  whom  he  married,  though  she 
was  twenty  years  his  senior,  and  to  whom  he  remained 
faithful,  and  grateful  to  the  end  of  his  life.  For  in  later 
years,  when  the  young  'Aisha  asked  whether  he  did 
not  love  her  more  than  old  dead  Khadijah,  he  exclaimed 
"  No,  by  God !  For  she  believed  in  me  when  none 
else  did."  During  these  journeys  Muhammad's  experi- 
ence was  enlarged  by  converse  with  Jews,  Christians, 
and  Persians ;  and  as  he  was  always  intensely  inter- 
ested in  religion  he  appears  to  have  talked  freely  with 
them  all.  In  Arabia  also  there  were  many  Jews  and 
Christians,  and  Persian  traders,  from  whom  he 
gathered  the  legends  and  beliefs  of  all  Western  Asia. 
But,  like  the  Buddha,  his  clear  mind  saw  that  the  under- 
lying truths  of  their  religions  were  crusted  over  with 
later  corrupt  additions. 

At  the  age  of  forty  Muhammad  was  a  handsome 
black-haired  man,  "  with  teeth  like  hailstones "  (as 
'Aisha  said),  loved  by  his  friends  for  his  simplicity  of 
manner,  his  courage,  courtesy,  faithfulness,  piety,  and 
modesty  ;  and  respected  by  all  the  Koreish  tribe.  He 
lived  quietly  with  his  one  good  wife,  and  remembered 
with  gratitude  the  care  of  God  in  the  past.  The  man 


MUHAMMAD  235 

who  could  express  this  gratitude  as  he  has  done  could 
not  have  been  a  religious  impostor  or  scheming 
politician. 

"By  the  noonday  brightness.     By  the  night  when  dark, 
Thy  Lord  has  not  forsaken  :  He  has  not  hated  thee. 
And  surely  shall  the  future  be  better  still  for  thee. 
Thy  Lord  shall  prosper  thee :  thou  shalt  be  satisfied. 
Did  not  He  find  thee  orphan,  and  give  to  thee  a  home? 
He  found  thee  straying,  and  He  guided  thee. 
He  found  thee  needy,  and  He  made  thee  rich. 
Therefore,  the  orphan,  thou  shalt  never  rob, 
Shalt  never  chide  the  man  that  begs  of  thee. 
Shalt  tell  abroad  the  mercies  of  thy  Lord." 1 

Muhammad  calls  himself  a  Hanlf,  or  "  convert,"  an 
Ammi,  or  "  illiterate,"  and  finally  a  Moslem,  or  one 
"saved."8  Like  other  pious  Arabs,  he  used  to  retire 
to  the  desert  to  fast  and  pray,  during  the  month  of 
Ramadan.  It  was  while  exhausted  by  such  austerities, 
in  the  cave  of  Hira,  that  (in  the  year  610  A.D.)  voices 
and  visions  haunted  him  and  made  him  afraid.  "  Cry 
aloud,"  said  the  voice,  "  in  the  name  of  thy  Creator  " ;  * 
and  the  "  messenger "  was  seen  "  on  the  clear  hori- 
zon "4 — "  the  Spirit  sent  with  a  revelation." 

"  By  the  stars  when  they  are  setting 
Your  kinsman  errs  not,  and  is  not  astray. 
This  truly  is  no  other  than  revealed  revelation, 
Taught  him  by  One  awful  in  power,  full  of  wisdom. 
Erect  in  form  he  stood  on  the  horizon  summit. 
Then  he  came  nearer  and  approached  more  nigh. 
Two  bowshots  off,  or  even  nearer  still, 
Revealing  to  his  servant  what  he  did  reveal. 
His  heart  mistook  not  what  he  saw. 
Will  you  dispute  with  him  of  what  he  saw  ? 

1  Koran,  chap,  xciii. 

1  Chaps,  xvi.  124,  vii.  156,  Hi.  60. 

3  xcvi.  i. 

4  Ixxxi.  23,  xlii.  51,  liii.  1-21.    Allat,  Al'Uzzah,  Manat,  were  the 
three  goddesses  of  Mecca,  "the  strong,"  "the  mighty,"  and  "the 
lucky." 


236  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

Again  he  saw  him  by  the  boundary  thorn, 
Near  which  there  is  a  garden  of  abode. 
When  that  which  hid  the  thorn-tree  covered  it 
His  gaze  turned  not  aside,  and  wandered  not. 
He  saw  the  greatest  of  his  Master's  signs. 
How  now  of  Allat,  Al'Uzzah,  Manat  the  third? 
Shall  ye  have  sons,  and  God  have  daughters  only? 
That  would  in  sooth  not  be  a  fair  division  ! 
These  are  mere  names  you  and  your  fathers  gave." 

But  at  first  Muhammad  doubted  his  visions — like 
Joan  Dare — and  feared  that  he  was  mad,  or  possessed 
by  Satan.  He  went  home  and  folded  himself  in  his 
mantle  to  sleep — as  all  Arabs  do — trembling  with 
ague.  But  the  voice  pursued  him  still : 

"O  thou  enwrapped,  arise  and  warn." 

"  O  thou  enfolded,  stand  all  night 

With  measured  voice  chant  forth  the  Cry." l 

Khadijah  comforted  him,  believing  him  inspired,  and 
the  message  broke  forth  in  verses,  at  first  only  half 
articulate — the  experience  of  his  life — the  chants 
which  still  ring  over  Moslem  cities  in  the  noonday  still- 
ness, when  the  Muedhdhin  calls  to  prayer  from  the 
Madhneh  tower  of  a  mosque.  In  later  times  there 
was  one  who  more  resembled  Muhammad  in  simple- 
hearted  piety  than  any  others,  and  to  whom  the 
scripture  was  read  as  he  was  dying.2  His  faithful 
secretary  tells  us  what  Abu  J'afer  the  reader  reported. 
"  I  came  to  the  words  '  He  is  the  God  beside  whom 
there  is  no  god.  He  knows  the  seen  and  the  unseen,1 
and  I  heard  him  utter  the  words  '  It  is  true,'  and  this 
just  as  he  was  passing  away — it  was  a  sign  of  God's 
favour:  thank  God  for  it."  Such,  then,  was  the 

1  Chaps.  Ixxiv.  i,  Ixxiii.  I,  4. 

*  Beha  ed  Din,  "Life  of  Salah-ed-Dm,"  ii.  172-82;  Koran,  chap. 

lix.  22. 


THE  KOREISH  237 

message  of  Muhammad,  which  he  and  Saladin  alike 
believed. 

"  Praise  be  to  God  the  Lord  of  worlds, 
The  merciful,  the  pitying, 

The  King  of  Doom's  Day,  merciful  and  pitying. 
Thee  we  adore,  and  Thee  we  ask  for  help. 
Show  us  the  way  that  is  made  straight, 
The  way  of  those  on  whom  is  grace, 
No  wrath  on  them,  nor  do  they  stray."1 

But  this  simple  creed  was  not  accepted  by  the 
Koreish.  The  guardians  of  the  Ka'abah,  or  "  square  " 
sanctuary  of  Allat,  with  its  wooden  dove,  its  stone 
circle,  its  sandstone  image  of  Hobal  holding  the  arrows 
of  fate  in  a  hand  of  gold,  its  sacred  well,  and  sacred 
black  stone,  feared — like  other  priests — that  their 
power  was  about  to  be  undermined,  and  that  men 
would  no  longer  come  as  pilgrims  to  Mecca.  Abu 
Sofian,  the  head  of  the  elder  branch  of  that  family  to 
which  Muhammad  also  belonged,  denounced  the  new 
teacher  as  a  madman,  a  sorcerer,  a  dreamer  possessed 
by  the  devil,  a  mere  poet,  a  retailer  of  old  fables,  a  man 
whose  compositions  were  all  borrowed  from  others. 
For  Muhammad  had  a  good  memory — as  he  tells  us — 
and  his  verses  (not  yet  written  down)  included  refer- 
ences to  many  things  he  had  heard.  The  Koreish  said 
that  the  Persian  story  of  Rustem  was  better  than  any 
of  his.  But  they  could  not  silence  him,  for  all  those 
who  knew  him  best  believed. 

"  What  think  you  of  him  who  makes  doom's  day  a  lie  ? 
'Tis  he  who  thrusts  aside  the  orphan, 
And  urges  none  to  feed  the  poor. 
Woe  then  to  those  who  pray  indeed, 
But  who  are  careless  of  their  prayers, 
Who  make  a  show  of  faith,  but  never  help."  8 

1  The  Fathah,  or  chap.  i. 

1  Koran,  chaps,  cvii.,  xlii.  35,  cix.  1-6. 


238  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Muhammad  wished  to  leave  his  enemies  alone.  He 
said  that  believers  "  when  they  are  angered,  forgive." 
The  voice  said  to  him  : 

"Say.     O  ye  unbelievers,  my  worship  is  not  yours. 
Your  worship  is  not  mine.     I  worship  not  what  you  do. 
Your  worship  is  not  mine.     To  you  your  faith ;  to  me  my 
faith." 

But  six  years  after  the  first  vision  Khadijah  died, 
and  when  her  influence  ceased  the  believers  were 
strictly  banned,  and  had  to  fly  from  Mecca  to  the 
north  and  to  Abyssinia.  Muhammad  also  fled  to  the 
cave  of  Mount  Thaur  on  June  20,  622  A.D.  (the  era  of 
the  Hejirah  or  "  flight "),  and  reached  Medina  a  week 
later.  For  already  twelve  merchants  of  the  rival  city 
had  sworn,  at  the  'Akabah  (or  "  ascent ")  of  Mecca,  to 
worship  one  God,  to  refrain  from  theft,  fornication, 
child  sacrifices,  and  slander,  and  to  obey  the  "  messen- 
ger "  of  God.  They  welcomed  him ;  and  seventy- 
three  men,  with  two  women,  now  joined  him  and 
swore  to  defend  his  life.  He  built  a  little  "  praying* 
place  "  of  mud  and  palm-tree  posts,  and  married  the 
young  'Aisha,  daughter  of  his  old  friend  Abu  Bekr. 
He  also  wedded  the  widow  of  a  convert  who  had  gone 
to  Abyssinia,  and  his  life  continued  to  be  simple  and 
kindly.  He  patched  his  own  clothes,  and  helped  his 
wives  in  household  work.  He  did  not  desire  to  fight, 
until  the  Koreish  attacked  the  northern  city,  which 
now  cut  off  their  trade  with  Syria.  But  his  courage 
secured  victory  in  wars  which  lasted  eight  years  ;  and 
when  the  Meccans  demanded  a  miracle,  as  a  sign  of 
his  inspiration,  he  told  them  that  the  victory  of  Bedr 
was  such  a  sign.1  The  people  of  Medina  exiled  the 
Hebrews  who  would  not  believe,  and  Muhammad's 

1  Koran,  iii.  II,  viii.  42.  Bedr  was  a  victory  in  December  623; 
Ohod  a  defeat  in  February  625  ;  the  battle  of  the  ditch  a  defence 
in  March  627.  The  Peace  of  Hodaibiya  (March  628)  was  broken. 


THE  HURIS  239 

name  was  stained  by  the  cruel  slaughter  of  Jews  at 
Khaibar ;  but  at  length  he  gained  the  right  to  visit 
Mecca  with  two  thousand  men ;  and  though  the  Beni 
Khoza  broke  the  truce  in  March  629,  he  finally  entered 
unopposed  into  his  native  city  with  ten  thousand 
believers  in  January  630  A.D.,  when  he  destroyed  the 
idols  of  the  Ka'abah.  Two  years  later  he  died  in  the 
arms  of  'Aisha  at  Medina,  murmuring  broken  words 
about  Paradise  and  the  "  blessed  company  on  high."  He 
had  become  a  law-giver  whose  commands  (obeyed  all 
over  Arabia)  were  summed  up  in  inculcation  of  mono- 
theism, prayer,  alms,  fasting,  and  pilgrimage.  At  the 
age  of  sixty-two  he  was  worn  out  by  twenty-two 
years  of  struggle.  He  commanded  that  his  tomb 
should  not  be  made  a  place  of  worship,  because  he 
was  "  a  man  like  others,"  and  was  buried  in  his  house 
close  to  the  mosque  he  had  built. 

Muhammad  knew  nothing  of  Greek  philosophy, 
which  had  been  suppressed  by  the  Christians  and  was 
equally  hated  by  the  Jews.  He  did  not  know  that  a 
thousand  years  before  his  time  men  had  discovered 
that  this  earth  is  a  globe  turning  on  its  axis.  He 
thought  it  was  a  flat  plain,  surrounded  by  a  mountain 
wall,  with  the  ocean  beyond :  that  there  were  seven 
heavens  above  the  firmament,  and  seven  hells  beneath 
the  world.  Such  were  the  usual  beliefs  of  all  Asiatics 
in  his  time.  His  imagination  was  full  of  the  glories 
of  the  heavenly  paradise,  and  of  the  terrors  of  hell, 
from  which  he  believed  himself  and  those  who  followed 
him  to  be  saved.  Paradise  he  pictured  as  a  shady 
garden,  where  there  was  neither  heat  nor  cold,  and 
where  the  Hiiris  or  "  bright  ones  "  were  hidden  in 
tents.  These  heavenly  maidens  were  not  first  imagined 
by  himself.  They  are  noticed  in  the  Persian  hymns, 
much  earlier,1  as  meeting  the  pious :  they  are  the 

1  M  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  xxiii. ;  "  Yasht,"  xxii.,  and  "  Vistasp 
Yasht,"  pp.  314-21,  342-5. 


240  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Apsaras  (or  "  water-movers  ")  of  the  great  Indian  epic, 
who  wed  heroes  in  heaven ;  the  Valkyries  ("  hero- 
choosers"),  and  swan  maidens,  of  the  Norse,  which 
were  the  white  clouds.  The  "bright"  or  "white" 
ones  thus  also  meet  the  heroes  who  die  for  Islam.1  In 
later  years  Muhammad  speaks  of  them  no  more,  but 
says  that  the  faithful  "  shall  enter  with  the  just  of  their 
fathers  and  their  wives  and  offspring"  :  "the  believing 
men  and  the  believing  women,  in  gardens  where  the 
rivers  flow,  dwelling  for  ever."  Hell,  on  the  contrary, 
is  a  land  where  flames  arch  over  the  heads  of  the 
damned  ;  where  boiling  water  scalds  them  ;  where  the 
only  food  is  the  bitter  fruit  of  the  thorn  tree.2  The 
dread  day  of  doom  will  for  ever  decide  the  fate  of 
each,  following  the  resurrection,  when  "  the  girl  that 
has  been  buried  alive  shall  be  asked  for  what  crime 
she  was  put  to  death,"  and  when  the  "  Rain  of 
the  Resurrection "  shall  quicken  the  dead — an  idea 
borrowed,  with  many  others,  from  the  teachings  of 
Jewish  Rabbis,  versed  in  the  Talmud.3  From  Persia  also 
Muhammad  took  the  conception — which  the  Rabbis, 
too,  had  borrowed — of  the  terrible  angels  Munker  and 
Naklr,  who  examine  the  dead  in  the  tomb.4 

Muhammad  only  claimed  to  confirm  the  religion  of 
"  the  Books  of  old,"  when  "  men  were  of  one  faith  " : 
for  "  every  people  had  its  apostle."  But  this  "  religion 
of  Abraham  "  had  been  corrupted.8  God  gave  Jesus 
the  gospel  (Injif) :  "  We  put  into  the  hearts  of  those 
who  followed  him  kindness  and  compassion,  but  as  to 
the  monkish  life,  they  invented  it  themselves  "  :  "  Nor 
have  We  sent  any  apostle  or  prophet,  before  thee, 
among  whose  aims  Satan  did  not  cast  an  aim " : 

1  Koran,  Ivi.  10-39,  xiii.  23,  xlviii.  5. 

*  Ibid.  Ixxxviii.  4-6,  Ivi.  52. 

8  Ibid.  Ixxxi.  8,  civ.  8,  Ixxv.  I,  xxxv.  10. 

*  Ibid.  Ixxix.  i,  1.  16-18. 

6  Ibid.  Ixxxvii.  18,  x.  20,  xxxv.  28,  x.  48, 


TALMUDIC  TALES  241 

"  Moreover  the  Jews  say  Ezra  is  a  Son  of  God,  and 
the  Christians  say  the  Messiah  is  a  Son  of  God." l 

"  Say,  He  is  one  God  :   God  everlasting : 
Begetting  not,  and  not  begotten ; 
And  there  is  none  like  Him."2 

The  tales  which  make  up  nearly  half  of  the  Koran 
appear  to  us  to  be  wearisome  and  foolish ;  but  the 
Arab  loves  to  listen  to  such  stories ;  and  to  most  of 
Muhammad's  hearers  they  were  new.  Those  which 
treat  of  Adam,  Cain,  Noah,  Abraham,  Joseph,  Moses 
and  Aaron,  Jethro,  Saul,  David,  Solomon,  Jonah, 
Ezekiel,  and  Elias,  have  been  easily  traced  in  the 
Talmud.  The  stories  of  the  prophets  Hud  and  Saleh 
were  native ;  those  about  Christ  and  Mary,  John  the 
Baptist  and  the  Apostles,  were  not  taken  from  the 
New  Testament,  but  from  the  Apocryphal  Gospels, 
which  were  then  popular  as  tending  to  exalt  the 
worship  of  the  Virgin,  and  to  support  the  dogma  of 
her  perpetual  virginity.  Stories  about  Gog  and 
Magog,  Alexander  of  the  two  horns,  and  the  mys- 
terious "  green  one "  (El  Khidr),  seem  to  be  Persian. 
Muhammad  speaks  also  of  Lokman — the  Arab  ./Esop — 
and  had  heard  the  Byzantine  legend  of  the  Seven 
Sleepers  of  Ephesus.  In  every  instance  the  intention 
of  the  story  is  to  show  the  punishment  that  fell  on 
those  who  rejected  former  prophets ;  and  most  of 
these  tales  belong  to  the  twelve  years  when  he  was 
disputing,  with  the  Koreish  at  Mecca,  his  claim  to  be 
regarded  as  an  inspired  messenger  of  God.  His  con- 
ception of  Jesus  was  that  of  the  Gnostics — He  was 
the  Incarnate  Word,  yet  man,  eating  and  drinking, 
but  not  really  crucified  ;  dying  and  rising  again  :  yet — 

"Praise  be  to  God.     He  has  no  son. 
He  shares  not  the  rule  of  the  universe. 
He  needs  no  helper.     Proclaim  His  greatness."8 

1  Koran,  Ivii.  27,  xxii.  51,  ix.  30.  *  Ibid.  cxii. 

1  Ibid.  xvii.  112.    As  written  in  the  Dome  of  the  Rock  at  Jerusalem. 

16 


242  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Muhammad  utterly  denied  the  dogma  of  the  Trinity, 
yet  believed  that  Jesus  sent  down  a  table  out  of 
heaven — if  we  may  hold  that  the  Koran  was  entirely 
his  work,  and  that  nothing  was  added  by  others. 

The  legend  of  Muhammad  grew  apace  after  his 
death,  and  many  superstitions  were  based  on  short 
obscure  references.  Thus  he  spoke  of  the  "  night  of 
Power  .  .  .  when  all  is  peace  till  dawn,"  and  of  "  the 
far-off  sanctuary,"  by  which  he  meant,  probably, 
Medina.1  But  Moslem  legends  tell  of  his  flying  to 
Jerusalem  on  the  "  lightning "  cherub,  adoring  God 
with  the  dead  prophets  of  the  past  in  the  cave  of  the 
holy  rock,  and  flying  through  its  roof  to  the  seventh 
heaven,  where  nought  is  seen  and  nought  heard,  save 
the  creaking  of  the  pen  that  writes  men's  fates  on  the 
night  of  Power  each  year.  They  show  Muhammad's 
footprint,  and  the  print  of  Gabriel's  fingers  when  he 
held  back  the  sacred  rock  which  would  fain  have 
followed  the  ascending  prophet.  Muhammad  also 
spoke  of  a  "  monster  " 2  who  is  to  come  out  of  earth 
in  the  last  days — the  Beast  of  more  than  one  Jewish 
Apocalypse — and  on  this  illusion  is  founded  a  long 
eschatological  legend,  which  borrows  from  Persian  as 
well  as  from  Jewish  and  Christian  sources.  But, 
though  much  was  thus  added  to  his  teaching, 
Muhammad  had  a  firm  belief  in  the  "stoned  Satan" 
(a  Persian  idea),  and  in  demons  and  jinns  who  steal 
the  secrets  of  heaven,  listening  behind  the  veil — a 
Talmudic  fancy. 

Muhammad  says  distinctly  that  the  Koran  was  not 
a  parchment  dropped  from  heaven  ;  but  he  regarded 
the  outbursts  of  a  wild  poetic  imagination,  fed  by  all 
that  he  had  heard,  as  inspired.  He  spoke  of  the 
11  mother  of  the  book  " 3 — its  source  which  was  with 

1  Koran,  xcvii.  1-4,  xliv.  i,  xvii.  I. 

*  Ibid,  xxvii.  84.     See  Sale's  "  Koran,"  Introduction. 

»  Ibid.  xv.  17-18. 


THE  KORAN  243 

God — but  he  regarded  it  as  an  Arab  version  of  ancient 
truths,  "  made  plain "  in  Arabic  for  the  ignorant,  by 
an  "unlettered"  messenger.1  The  early  poems  were 
learned  by  heart,  and  some,  it  seems,  were  not  written 
down  till  after  his  death.  Ninety  were  composed  at 
Mecca  before  the  flight :  twenty-four  were  added  later 
at  Medina.  In  634  A.D.  Abu  Bekr,  the  first  Khalifah 
(or  "  successor"),  collected  all  of  them,  and  Zaid  Ibn 
Thabit  wrote  them  out  from  palm-leaves,  tablets, 
sheep's  blade-bones — penned  by  the  scribes — or  took 
them  in  other  cases  from  "  the  minds  of  men."  Those 
thought  most  important  were  set  first,  and  thus — just 
as  we  place  the  Gospels  before  the  Epistles — the 
historic  sequence,  though  preserved  by  tradition,  was 
obscured.  Small  glosses  and  alterations  crept  in 
before  the  final  text  was  settled,  and  these  are  often 
easy  to  trace.  But  as  a  whole  the  Koran  bears  the 
stamp  of  one  mind,  though  the  poet  gradually  becomes 
the  lawgiver  and  teacher.  No  attempt  was  made  to 
suppress  discordant  passages,  for  Muhammad  himself 
taught  that  new  revelation  was  granted  him  under 
altered  circumstances.  The  authorised  text  was  finally 
approved  by  the  Khalifah  Othman,  about  twenty  years 
after  the  prophet's  death. 

Intolerance  of  other  religions  was  not  natural  to 
Muhammad.  "  To  its  own  Book,"  he  said,  "  shall 
every  nation  be  summoned " :  "  Muslims  and  Jews 
and  Christians  and  Sabiun  ('  baptists '),  who  believe 
in  God  and  in  the  last  day,  and  do  what  is  right,  shall 
have  their  reward  from  their  Lord " :  "  Jews  and 
Sabiun  and  Christians  and  Magians,  and  those  who 
join  other  gods  to  God,  truly  God  will  decide  between 
in  the  day  of  Resurrection."  The  choice  between  the 
Koran  and  the  sword  was  only  offered  by  later 
fanatics  (Persian  or  Turkish) ;  and  persecution  of 
Christians  is  contrary  to  the  original  teaching.  At 

1  Koran,  xliii.  2,  xiii.  39. 


244  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

first  Muhammad  spoke  kindly  of  the  Jews :  "  Dispute 
not  save  in  kindness  with  the  people  of  the  Book  " ; 
and  later,  when  he  bade  his  followers  not  to  be 
intimate  with  unbelievers,  he  still  had  a  good  word  to 
say  even  of  monks.1  "  You  will  certainly  find  the 
Jews,  and  those  who  add  gods  to  God,  the  most  bitter 
haters  of  those  who  believe,  and  will  surely  find  to 
be  nearest  in  affection  those  who  say  '  We  are 
Christians ' :  for  some  such,  though  priests  and 
monks,  are  free  from  pride." 

Islam  not  only  proclaimed  a  pure  theism,  and 
a  simple  piety  (teaching  the  fortitude  and  patient 
submission  to  the  will  of  God  which  distinguish 
Moslems),  but  it  did  much  also  for  Arab  ethics.  The 
Moslem  prays  by  himself  or  with  others,  but  has  no 
priest  as  mediator  with  heaven.  He  speaks  of  the 
Kismah,  or  "  lot "  appointed  to  him,  but  disputes  about 
free  will  and  fate  like  the  Christian.  He  is  forbidden 
to  drink  wine  or  to  gamble,  and  bidden  to  fast,  pray, 
and  go  as  a  pilgrim  to  the  old  centre  which,  under 
Muhammad,  made  the  Arabs  "one  people."  The 
prophet  did  not  make  any  sweeping  social  changes. 
If  he  allowed  slaves,  so  did  Christians  till  less  than  a 
century  ago,  and  they  quoted  the  Bible  in  defence.  If 
he  permitted  polygamy,  yet  he  did  much  to  secure  the 
rights  of  wives  and  daughters ;  and  Christian  Europe 
was  also  polygamous,  though  it  only  recognised  one 
wife  by  law.  Muhammad  bade  men  treat  slaves  kindly, 
and  he  set  free  some  of  his  own.  Most  of  his  later 
wives  (when  he  was  over  fifty)  were  widows,  to  whom 
he  gave  a  home  when  left  destitute.  Polygamy  is  a 
great  evil,  but  the  collection  of  women  in  a  Harim 
was  unknown  to  free  Arabs,  and  women  still  hold  a 
position  among  them  not  unlike  that  of  their  European 
sisters.  They  were  bidden  to  be  modest  in  public, 
but  were  not  imprisoned  at  home.  Seclusion,  indeed, 
1  Koran,  xlv.  27,  ii.  59,  xxii.  17,  v.  85. 


MOSLEM   LAWS  245 

has  nothing  to  do  with  religion :  it  is  a  difference  of 
racial  custom  between  Semitic  and  Aryan  peoples. 
Moslem  women  go  out  to  the  shops  even  when  they 
are  of  high  rank,  and  it  is  only  among  the  rich  that  a 
man  can  afford  more  than  one  wife.  Like  the  Baby- 
lonians, he  takes  a  second  when  he  has  no  children  by 
the  first ;  but  Moslem  women  view  with  disgust  the 
free  mingling  of  the  sexes,  which  was  always  an 
Aryan  custom.  The  characteristic  of  good  Moslem 
society  is  the  simple  sincerity  with  which  their  faith 
is  expressed  by  word  and  deed  in  daily  life,  and  they 
have  not  learned,  as  we  have,  to  hide  religion  in  the 
heart. 

The  laws  of  Muhammad  developed  gradually,  as 
his  power  and  influence  grew.  His  first  anxiety  was 
to  put  an  end  to  the  cruel  practice  of  burying  girls 
alive,  either  as  sacrifices  to  the  "  mothers  " — the  three 
goddesses  of  Mecca — or  because  of  poverty.1  He  also 
inculcated  kindness  to  parents,  duty  to  kinsmen,  to 
the  poor,  and  to  wayfarers.  He  denounced  adultery, 
and  murder,  and  the  wronging  of  orphans.  He  bade 
men  "  weigh  with  a  just  balance,"  and  "  not  to  walk 
proudly  on  earth,"  but  to  "pray  at  sunset."2  At 
Medina  his  position  was  that  of  an  accepted  leader ; 
and  in  the  Medina  surahs  (or  "chapters")  he  is  called 
not  only  the  "  messenger "  (Rasuf),  or  apostle,  but 
also  the  Neby  or  "  inspired  one  "  ;  as  such  he  claimed 
to  be  respected  by  the  faithful,  yet  he  says  :  "  Mu- 
hammad is  only  a  messenger ;  other  messengers  have 
passed  away  before  him ;  if  then  he  die  or  be  slain, 
will  you  turn  back  ?  "  He  is  the  "  seal  of  the  prophets," 
predicted  of  old  as  the  one  "  praised  by  the  nations." 3 
His  later  laws  appear  to  have  political  objects,  con- 

1  Koran,  Ixxxi.  8,  xvii.  33,  vi.  152. 
1  Ibid.  xvii.  20-39,  81. 

1  Ibid.  iii.  138,  xxxiii.  I,  viii.  65,  xxxiii.  40,  xxiv.  63,  Ixi.  6 ; 
Haggai  ii.  7. 


246  HISTORIC   RELIGIONS 

ciliating  the  Koreish  and  uniting  the  tribes.  He  had 
no  belief  in  turning  to  pray  in  any  particular  direction, 
for  "  the  East  and  the  West  are  God's  "  ;  yet  he  allowed 
the  faithful  to  face  towards  the  "  station  of  Abraham" 
(the  Kiblah)  at  Mecca,  and  to  regard  the  hills  of  Safa, 
Marwa,  and  'Arafat  as  sanctuaries.  He  retained  the 
old  fast  of  Ramadan,  the  pilgrimage,  and  even  the 
ancient  sacrifices — though  "  by  no  means  can  their 
flesh  reach  God,  nor  their  blood."  He  also  sanctioned 
the  blood-feud,  and  claimed  the  right  to  apportion  the 
spoils  of  war.  He  made  it  obligatory  to  arrange  loans 
by  written  agreement — like  the  Babylonians — and 
exhorted  his  followers  "  to  fight  in  the  path  of  God." 
He  allowed  four  wives,  and  settled  the  rights  of 
women  generally ;  and  finally  he  made  a  very  ignorant 
decision  as  to  the  Calendar,  going  back  to  a  lunar 
year.1  But  while  we  see  clearly  the  limitations  of 
Islam,  and  the  simplicity  of  Muhammad,  we  feel  the 
more  astonishment  that  such  reformation  should  have 
come  from  the  desert.  It  was  the  outcome  of  ancient 
civilisation  as  seen  by  genius  with  fresh  eyes. 

Within  two  centuries  after  Muhammad  died  great 
changes  occurred  in  the  belief  of  the  more  cultivated 
Moslems.  They  became  acquainted  first  with  Greek 
philosophy,  and  afterwards  with  Hindu  mysticism, 
and  the  result  was  the  appearance  of  the  Sufis  or 
"wise  men"  (the  Greek  Sophoi)  in  Persia.2  The  name 
at  first  only  denoted  one  who  studied  Greek  science 
and  philosophy,  but  by  800  A.D.  it  applied  to  those  who 
discarded  the  popular  theology,  and  accepted  the 
wisdom  of  the  Buddhists  of  Bactria,  and  of  Hindu 
Brahmans  and  Yogis.  The  Sufi  was  one  "  content," 
and  "  longing  for  God."  They  wrote  poems  of  a  most 
extraordinary  nature — divine  love-songs  like  those 

1  Koran,  ii.,  xxii.,  Ivii.,  iv.,  ix.  36. 

1  See  Nicholson,  in  Journal  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  April  1906, 
PP.  303-48. 


THE  ASSASSINS  247 

of  the  worshippers  of  Krishna.  They  practised  the 
ancient  hypnotism,  and  believed  that  they  attained 
to  union  with  deity.  They  founded  orders,  with 
novices  and  initiates,  teaching  absolute  obedience  to 
the  chief.  In  the  tenth  century  A.D.  Bayazid  of  Bistam 
was  a  Moslem  pantheist,  believing  in  self-annihilation 
(Fana),  and  apparently  mad  with  ecstasy.  "  I  went," 
he  said,  "  from  god  to  god  till  they  cried  from  me  in 
me  'O  Thou  I1";  "I  am  God";  "I  am  Love,  the 
throne,  the  tablet,  the  pen " ;  "I  made  my  heart  a 
mirror ;  for  a  year  I  gazed ;  I  saw  all  created  things 
dead ;  by  God's  aid  I  attained  to  God." 

From  this  diseased  mysticism  there  was  then  a 
natural  reversion  to  pure  scepticism.  In  the  reign 
of  Melek  Shah,  the  Turkish  emperor,  the  Batanln  or 
"  inner "  sects  flourished.  They  founded  their  re- 
jection of  Moslem  beliefs  on  a  single  passage  in  the 
Koran,  where  we  read :  "  He  sent  down  to  thee  the 
Book.  Some  of  its  signs  are  clear — these  are  the 
Mother  of  the  Book — and  others  are  figurative."  * 
They  revived  the  old  Gnostic  and  Platonic  teaching — 
that  of  the  Greek  mysteries — and  held  that  the  wise, 
while  not  believing,  should  outwardly  conform  to  the 
creed  of  the  ignorant.  Three  famous  sceptics  made 
friends  on  this  basis.  Nizam-el-Mulk,  the  vizier  of 
Melek  Shah,  Omar  Khayyam,  the  well-known  poet, 
and  Hasan  el  Homeiri,  the  founder  of  the  notorious 
sect  of  the  Hashshashm,  or  smokers  of  Indian  hemp. 
In  1090  the  last-named  was  disgraced,  and  retired  to 
the  fortress  of  Alamut  ("  eagle's  nest "),  near  Kasbin, 
in  Irak,  where  he  gathered  followers  who  vowed 
implicit  obedience.  Whether  the  story  of  the  earthly 
paradise,  to  which  he  admitted  youthful  enthusiasts 
for  a  few  days,  be  true  or  legendary,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  he  succeeded  in  establishing  a  most  dangerous 
secret  society.  Two  years  later  Melek  Shah  and 
1  Koran,  iii.  5. 


248  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

Nizam-el-Mulk  fell  victims  to  the  daggers  of  the 
assassins ;  and  in  the  twelfth  century  we  find  the  sect 
in  the  Lebanon — where  a  few  still  remain.  Their 
chiefs  terrorised  Moslems  and  Christians  alike.  They 
attempted  the  life  of  Saladin  and  of  Edward  I. :  for, 
in  the  latter  case,  the  unscrupulous  Sultan  Bibars 
was  in  alliance  with  them.  They  were  finally  put 
down  in  the  East  by  Mengku  Khan. 

This  political  conspiracy  was  not  the  only  result 
of  Moslem  scepticism,  and  many  other  sects  appeared, 
all  teaching  secret  doctrines  and  public  dogmas.  The 
most  famous  and  influential  of  these  were  the  Druzes,1 
or  Muwahhadm  ("  uniters "),  who  appeared  in  Egypt 
under  the  mad  Khalif  Hakim  about  1014  A.D.  The 
higher  initiates  were  sceptics  who  attempted  to  unite 
Moslems,  Jews,  Christians,  Magians,  and  Buddhists 
by  teaching  a  system  of  "emanations"  in  which  they 
had  no  real  belief.  The  secret  teaching  of  Hamzah — 
the  Druze  leader — is  contained  in  the  "  Book  of 
Concealed  Destruction,"  which  substitutes  for  Moslem 
laws  the  seven  rules  of  Truth,  Secrecy,  Mutual  Aid, 
the  Renunciation  of  Dogma,  the  Oneness  of  God,  Sub- 
mission, and  Resignation.  In  the  twelfth  century  this 
sect  spread  from  Constantinople  to  India,  and  from 
Syria  to  Egypt  and  Arabia. 

The  Dervish  orders  of  the  present  day8  represent 
the  survival  of  such  secret  societies.  They  arose  in 
Bactria  and  Persia  in  the  middle  ages,  and  always 
consist  of  a  lower  and  higher  class  of  initiates.  Those 
who  see  the  naked  ascetic  treading  on  fire,  or  eating 
scorpions ;  or  watch  the  more  dignified  Malawiyeh 
performing  their  stately  dance ;  or  hear  the  Zikr 
cries,  when  the  hypnotised  fanatics  repeat  the 
name  of  Allah  till  they  foam  at  the  mouth  and  bark 

1  For  details  see  my  "Latin   Kingdom  of  Jerusalem,"  1897,  pp. 
229-37. 
1  See  Lane,  "  Modern  Egyptians,"  1871,  i.  p.  305. 


THE  SUFIS  249 

like  dogs,  do  not  always  understand  that  behind  all 
this  mysticism  lies  the  policy  of  cool-headed  leaders, 
who  have  no  religious  belief  beyond  some  vague 
form  of  pantheism,  but  who — like  the  Jesuits  of  the 
West — use  the  abject  obedience  of  their  ignorant 
devotees  for  purposes  of  state,  supporting  or  opposing 
sultans  and  kings  according  to  their  conceptions  of 
interest  or  statecraft.  It  is  on  these  subtle  influences 
that  the  power  of  the  Turkish  Khalifah — himself  an 
initiate — really  rests. 

In  India  the  development  of  Islam  produced  equally 
remarkable  results.  The  difference  between  the  Shiah 
(or  "sectarian"),  and  the  Sunni  (or  follower  of 
"  tradition "),  was  ancient  and  originally  political, 
according  as  the  believer  accepted  'AH  (the  Prophet's 
son-in-law)  and  his  descendants,  or  acknowledged  the 
Khalifah  of  Damascus.  In  time  the  Shiah,  or  Persian 
Moslems,  became  mystical  and  superstitious.  Their 
weeping  for  Hasan  and  Hosein — whose  real  history 
was  quite  unlike  their  legend — became  a  form  of 
hysterical  revivalism  of  the  most  terrible  brutality, 
based  on  the  ancient  Babylonian  weeping  for  Tammuz, 
which  survived  among  the  peasantry  till  our  ninth 
century.  But  the  influence  of  Indian  philosophy  on 
the  Moslem  Sufis,  and  of  the  Sufis  on  the  Hindus, 
had  its  outcome  in  various  attempts  to  develop  a 
universal  religion  which  might  unite  all  mankind. 
Nanak,1  the  prophet  of  the  Sikhs  (or  "  disciples "), 
was  influenced  both  by  Moslem  ascetics  and  by  the 
Hindu  mystics  of  Benares.  About  1520  A.D.,  as  the 
result  of  a  trance,  he  proclaimed  that  "  there  is  no 
Hindu,  and  no  Moslem,  but  one  God  the  Father  of 
all."  He  succeeded  in  converting  many  of  both 
faiths  to  this  simple  belief;  but  he  added  Sufi  ideas, 
saying :  "  Thou  art  I ;  I  am  Thou."  Arjun,  the  fourth 
successor  of  Nanak,  completed  the  older  Granth,  which 
1  See  Forlong,  "  Faiths  of  Man,"  1906,  iii.  p.  291  :  s.v.  Sikhs. 


250  HISTORIC  RELIGIONS 

is  the  latest  of  the  world's  Bibles,  in  1600,  while 
a  second  Granth  was  added  a  century  later  by  Govind- 
Singh,  the  founder  of  the  warlike  Sikh  kingdom  in 
Scinde. 

Moslem  sects  are  innumerable,  and  as  much  divided 
as  are  Christians.  The  latest  recrudescence  of  the 
old  mysticism  appeared  in  Persia,  where  the  leader, 
called  the  Bab  (or  "door"),  was  born  in  1820.  He 
proclaimed  his  inspiration  in  1844,  and  after  a  futile 
miracle  was  shot  in  1850.  Two  years  later  the  Babis 
fled  to  Constantinople,  and  split  into  two  sects — the 
Ezeli,  who  were  exiled  to  Cyprus,  and  the  followers  of 
Beha -Allah,  who  died  in  prison  at  Acre  in  1892.  The 
latter  regard  his  son  Abbas  Efendi  as  the  present 
incarnation  of  deity.  The  only  real  attempt  at  reform 
in  Islam  was  that  of  the  Puritanical  Wahhabis 1  in 
Arabia,  whose  founder  ('Abd  el  Wahhab)  died  in  1787. 
Their  brave  leader  'Abd-Allah  was  treacherously 
beheaded  at  Constantinople  in  1818;  but  the  sect, 
which  aims  at  restoring  the  primitive  austerity  of 
Muhammad's  age,  is  still  powerful  in  Arabia,  and 
spread  to  India  in  1812.  Its  teaching  is  too  strict  for 
general  acceptance ;  but  much  good  has  been  done 
in  Gujerat  by  Wahhabi  reforms. 

Our  survey  of  historic  religions  is  thus  brought 
down  to  our  own  times  through  five  thousand  years 
of  recorded  beliefs.  Each  faith  was  founded,  as  we 
see,  on  that  which  went  before — as  our  own  faith 
is  founded  on  that  of  the  Hebrews.  From  savage 
superstition  man  rose  slowly  to  the  conception  of  an 
infinite  Intelligence  animating  the  universe.  Buddhism 
first  taught  the  Law  of  Love:  Islam  has  taught  the 
priestless  faith.  The  former  fails  to  understand 
Providence :  the  latter  fails  in  sympathy.  Something 
yet  greater  remained  for  man  to  learn  ;  and  to  this  we 
now  must  turn  at  last. 

1  See  Lane,  "  Modern  Egyptians,"  i.  p.  137. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   HEBREWS 

i.  History. — Pride  of  race,  and  pride  in  faith,  have 
made  the  Hebrews  a  separate  people  from  the  days 
when  the  daughters  of  Heth  were  a  "  grief  of  mind  " 
to  Isaac  and  Rebecca,  and  still  keep  them  separate 
as  a  nation  even  without  a  land  of  their  own.  Hence 
their  history  and  their  religion  may  be  treated 
separately,  and  we  now  possess  means  of  independent 
study  which  did  not  exist  half  a  century  ago. 

The  first  contemporary  notices  of  the  Hebrews  are 
probably  found  in  five  of  the  six  letters  of  a  king  of 
Jerusalem,  in  the  fifteenth  century  B.C.,  which  belong 
to  the  Amarna  collection  at  Berlin.1  His  name  is 
doubtful,3  but  that  of  the  city  is  certain.  The  date 
is  about  the  time  when  Joshua  invaded  Palestine, 
according  to  the  Bible.  The  people  called  'Abiri 
(Hebrews)  in  these  letters  are  only  mentioned  in  the 
south  of  Palestine,  and  are  not  named  by  any  writer 
except  this  king.  The  important  passages  may  be 
rendered  as  follows  : 3 

"  To  the  King  my  Lord  thus  says  'Abd-tsadik  thy 

1  This  name  appears  clearly  to  be  geographical.  The  doubts  cast 
on  the  identification  with  the  Hebrews,  by  some  scholars,  are  mainly 
due  to  the  old  theory — founded  on  Manetho — which  would  make  the 
Exodus  occur  later  than  the  time  mentioned  in  the  Bible. 

1  Berlin  Collection,  Nos.  102,  103,  104,  106,  199.  The  king's  name 
is  written  UR-KHI-BA,  to  be  read  probably  either  ^Abd-tsadik,  or 
Adoni-tsadik  :  "  Servant  of  the  just,"  or  "  My  lord  is  just." 

1  Berlin,  No.  102. 

251 


252  THE  HEBREWS 

servant :  at  the  feet  of  my  Lord  the  King  I  bow  seven 
times,  and  seven  times.  What  have  I  done  to  the 
King  my  Lord  ?  They  have  prevailed  with  you  to 
seize  the  guilty  one.  An  enemy  says,  in  the  presence 
of  the  King  of  kings,  that  'Abd-tsadik  has  rebelled 
against  the  King  his  Lord.  Behold,  as  for  me,  I  have 
no  father  and  no  friends  to  support  me  in  this  place. 
They  rebel,  great  King,  striving  with  me  for  my 
father's  house.  Why  should  I  sin  against  the  King 
of  kings  ?  Behold,  O  King  my  Lord,  I  swear  I  said 
to  the  chief  (Paca) l  of  the  King  of  kings,  '  Why  are 
ye  afraid  of  the  Hebrews,  and  the  rulers  afraid  to  go 
out  ? '  And  so  they  have  sent  to  the  presence  of  the 
King  my  Lord.  Lo,  I  say  the  lands  of  the  King  my 
Lord  are  ruined,  as  they  sent  to  the  King  my  Lord. 
And  let  the  King  my  Lord  know.  Lo,  the  King  my 
Lord  has  decided  that  the  garrison  should  go  :  the 
garrison  (has  gone)  to  his  land.  The  lands  of  the 
King  of  kings  have  revolted;  all  that  Ilimelech  has 
wasted  of  the  King's  land :  and  let  the  King  guard 
his  land.  I  speak  pleading  this  with  the  King  my 
Lord,  and  let  the  King  my  Lord  regard  these  laments. 
And  the  wars  are  mighty  against  me,  and  I  have 
received  no  letter  from  the  King  my  Lord,  or  com- 
mands commanded  in  presence  of  the  King  my  Lord. 
Let  him  give  orders  for  a  garrison,  and  let  him  be 
friendly,  and  let  him  regard  lamentations.  O  King 
my  Lord,  King  of  kings,  arise.  Lo,  they  have 
expelled  the  chief.  I  say  the  lands  of  the  King  my 
Lord  are  ruined.  Will  not  you  hear  me?  They 
have  destroyed  all  the  rulers  :  there  is  no  ruler  for 
the  King  my  Lord.  Let  the  King  give  countenance 
to  the  governors,  and  order  bowmen.2  O  King  my 
Lord,  not  one  is  in  the  lands  of  the  King.  The 

1  An  Egyptian  word,  "  chief  man." 

*  Pitati,  the  Egyptian  pet,  "  bow  "  ;  or  otherwise  "  infantry,"  from 
pet,  "foot." 


THE  ABIRI  253 

Hebrew  has  plundered  all  the  King's  lands.  When 
the  bowmen  went  away  this  year,  quitting  the  lands 
of  the  King-Lord,  and  when  there  was  not  one 
bowman,  the  lands  of  the  King  my  Lord  were  ruined. 
To  the  scribe  of  the  King  my  Lord  thus  says 
'Abd-tsadik :  this  is  my  plea  for  soldiers :  the  lands 
of  the  King  my  Lord  are  plundered." 

Again  we  read  1  of  "  that  which  Milcilu  and  Suardatu 
have  done  as  to  the  land  of  the  King  my  Lord.  They 
hired  soldiers  of  Gezer,  and  soldiers  of  Gimtu.  They 
seized  the  city  Rabbah.  The  King's  land  has  revolted 
to  the  Hebrews,  and  now  against  the  chief  city 
Jerusalem  the  city  called  Beth  Baal  has  revolted, 
and  has  (ordered  ?)  the  men  of  Keilah."  Yet  again 
an  urgent  request  for  soldiers  is  sent  to  Egypt,2  with 
the  following  protest :  "  Lo,  the  King  my  Lord  has 
established  his  fame  from  the  rising  to  the  setting 
of  the  sun.  The  slander  against  me  is  false.  Lo, 
am  not  I  a  ruler,  one  near  to  the  King  my  Lord,  and 
I  have  sent  tribute  ?  As  for  me,  no  one  joins  me,  no 
one  is  my  friend,  standing  steady  for  the  great  King 
in  this  Beth  Amil "  (or  "  palace  ").  "  I  have  sent  ten 
slaves  to  Suta,  the  King's  chief,  as  he  demanded  of 
me,  twenty-one  female  slaves,  twenty  prisoners  of 
ours  left  in  the  hands  of  Suta  to  be  led  captive  to 
the  King,  as  the  King  commanded  his  land.  All  the 
land  taken  from  me  in  wars  against  me  is  ruined. 
They  have  gathered  from  the  lands  of  Seir  to  the 
city  Hareth  Carmel,  to  all  the  rulers,  and  have  fought 
against  me."  "  They  fight  against  me  persistently. 
Lo,  a  ship  is  prepared  in  the  sea.  O  mighty  King, 
you  marched  to  Naharaim  and  Casib,  and  lo  they 
are  fortresses  of  the  King.  You  will  march  on  the 
Hebrews.  There  is  not  a  single  ruler  for  the  King 
my  Lord ;  they  have  destroyed  them  all.  Behold, 
they  have  cut  off  Turbazu  in  the  city  Zilu;  and 
1  Berlin,  106.  '  Ibid.  104. 


254  THE  HEBREWS 

Zimrida,  of  the  city  Lachish,  the  slaves  wore  out 
and  put  to  death."  No  answer  seems  to  have  been 
made  to  these  entreaties,  and  a  letter  apparently  sent 
later  appeals  to  the  king's  scribe  not  to  keep  back 
the  news.1  "  They  war  against  all  lands  that  have 
been  at  peace  with  me.  Let  the  King  guard  his  land. 
Lo,  the  land  of  Gezer,  the  land  of  Ashkelon,  and  the 
land  of  Lachish,  have  given  them  corn  and  oil  and 
all  else ;  and  they  have  carried  much  away.  Let 
bowmen  be  sent  against  men  who  have  sinned  against 
the  King  my  Lord.  If  bowmen  go  out  this  year,  and 
go  out  to  the  lands,  the  ruler  will  be  for  the  King 
my  Lord.  If  there  are  no  bowmen,  no  city  and  no 
rulers  will  be  for  the  King.  Behold  this  city  of 
Jerusalem :  neither  chief  nor  people  support  me, 
or  prepare  to  support  me.  Lo,  it  is  done  to  me 
as  to  Milcilu,  and  the  sons  of  Labaya,  who  gave 
the  King's  land  to  the  Hebrews.  Behold,  the 
King  my  Lord  will  be  just  to  me,  for  the  men  are 
sorcerers.  Let  the  King  ask  the  chiefs  (Pacas); 
behold,  they  are  strong,  and  many,  and  violent  in  all 
sin,  destroying  property,  and  dealing  death  " :  "  they 
took  from  the  lands  of  the  city  Ashkelon — let  the 
King  ask  them — much  corn  and  oil :  they  revolted 
as  far  as  the  government  of  Pauru,  the  King's  chief 
for  the  city  Jerusalem":  "men  have  been  sent  along 
the  roads  .  .  .  they  have  wasted  the  city  of  Ajalon — 
let  the  King  my  Lord  know."  "  To  the  scribe  of  the 
King  my  Lord  thus  says  'Abd-tsadik  thy  servant.  I 
bow  at  thy  feet.  I  am  thy  servant.  Translate  the 
messages  well  to  the  King  my  Lord.  O  scribe  of  the 
King,  I  am  afflicted,  great  is  my  affliction,  and  you 
do  what  is  not  loyal  to  the  men  of  Cush."  The  last 
letter  is  now  in  the  Gizeh  museum,2  and  gives  further 
details  of  the  invasion.  "  Now  the  city  of  Jerusalem 
has  been  faithful  to  the  King  since  they  left  these 

1  Berlin,  103.  *  Ibid.  199. 


THE  MOABITE  STONE  255 

lands.  The  city  of  Gaza  has  stuck  to  the  King. 
Behold  the  land  of  Hareth  Carmel,  belonging  to  Tagi, 
and  the  chief  of  Keilah,  are  smitten  " :  "  Milcilu  sent 
to  the  Hebrews  for  tribute,  and  the  fellows  said,  '  Is 
it  not  to  be  paid  to  us  ? '  They  did  their  will  with 
the  people  of  Keilah,  and  will  the  city  of  Jerusalem 
escape  ?  The  men  of  the  garrison,  whom  you  ordered, 
are  in  fear  of  this  fellow,  whom  I  fear.  .  .  .  Addasi  has 
remained  in  his  house  in  the  city  of  Gaza  (sending) 
the  women  to  the  land  of  Egypt  (to  the  care)  of  the 
King.  Give  this  to  the  King." 

After  these  important  notices  of  the  Hebrew  con- 
quest of  southern  Palestine,  we  find  a  casual  allusion 
to  Israel  in  the  records  of  Mineptah  (Merenptah),  the 
son  of  Rameses  II.,  who  repulsed  the  Aryan  invaders 
of  Syria  about  1270  B.C.  He  says,  "  The  people  of 
Israel  is  spoiled,  it  has  no  seed." l  Again  we  find 
a  record  of  the  cities  taken  by  Shishak,  on  the  death 
of  Solomon,  about  960  B.C.2  But  still  more  important 
is  the  testimony  of  the  Moabite  Stone,  found  at  Dibon 
in  1868,  representing  the  Moabite  version  of  the 
conquests  of  King  Mesha,  in  alphabetic  writing,  and 
in  a  dialect  which,  though  very  close  to  Hebrew,  is 
yet  marked  by  Aramaic  forms.3 

"  I  am  Mesha,  son  of  Chemosh-Melech,  king  of  Moab, 
the  Dibonite.  My  father  was  king  over  Moab  thirty 
years,  and  I  have  reigned  after  my  father,  and  have 
made  this  monument  for  Chemosh  in  Kirhah  for  the 
saving  of  Mesha.  Because  he  has  saved  me  from  all 

1  Published  by  Dr.  F.  Petrie  in  Contemporary  Review,  May  1896. 

1  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  ii.  p.  208.  There  were  about  a 
hundred  and  thirty-three  towns  taken,  including  Taanach  and 
Haphraim  in  Galilee,  with  Gibeon,  Beth-horon,  Ajalon,  Makkedah, 
Jehud,  Alemeth,  Socoh,  Beth  Tappuah,  Adoraim,  Arad,  and  Beth 
Anoth,  in  the  south.  The  last  broken  name  (fur  .  .  .)  may  have 
been  that  of  Jerusalem  itself. 

3  Such  as  the  masculine  plural  in  n,  instead  of  the  Hebrew  m, 
with  a  voice  of  the  verb  known  in  Assyrian  but  not  in  Hebrew. 


256  THE  HEBREWS 

the  kings,  and  because  he  has  made  me  look  down  on 
all  my  foes.  Omri  was  king  of  Israel,  and  oppressed 
Moab  many  days;  for  Chemosh  was  wroth  with  his 
land.  And  his  son  succeeded  him,  and  said  also, 
1  Lo  !  I  will  oppress  Moab.'  In  my  day  he  said  thus, 
and  I  looked  on  him,  and  on  his  house,  and  Israel 
has  perished,  perished  for  ever.  And  Omri  possessed 
all  the  land  of  Medeba  and  dwelt  therein :  his  day  and 
half  the  days  of  his  son  were  forty  years.  And 
Chemosh  restored  it  in  my  day.  And  I  have  built 
Baal-meon,  and  made  its  ditch,  and  have  built  Kiria- 
thain.  And  the  men  of  Gad  dwelt  in  the  land  of 
'Ataroth  from  of  old,  and  the  king  of  Israel  built  'Ataroth 
for  them,  and  I  attacked  the  fort  and  took  it,  and  slew 
all  the  people  in  the  fort  in  sight  of  Chemosh  and 
Moab.  And  I  took  thence  the  champion  Dodah, 
and  destroyed  him  in  the  sight  of  Chemosh  in  Kerith, 
and  I  took  there  the  men  of  the  plain,  and  another 
people.  And  Chemosh  said  to  me,  '  Go,  take  Nebo 
from  Israel/  and  I  went  by  night  and  fought  there 
from  daybreak  to  noon  and  took  it,  and  I  slew  them 
all,  seven  thousand,  strong  men  and  boys,  women  and 
maidens  and  girls  :  for  to  'Astar-Chemosh  I  devoted 
it.  And  I  took  thence  the  champions  of  Jehovah,  and 
destroyed  them  in  sight  of  Chemosh.  And  the  king 
of  Israel  built  Yahaz,  and  dwelt  there  in  the  wars 
with  me ;  and  Chemosh  drove  him  out  from  before 
me,  and  I  took  of  Moab  two  hundred  men  in  all,  and 
led  to  Yahaz  and  took  it,  that  I  might  join  it  to  Dibon. 
And  I  have  built  Kirhah,  the  outer  wall,  and  the  wall 
of  the  mound,  and  I  have  built  its  gates,  and  I  have 
built  its  towers,  and  I  have  built  the  king's  house, 
and  I  have  made  the  vessels  of  the  excavations  within 
the  fort.  And  there  was  no  well  in  the  fort  at 
Kirhah,  and  I  said  to  all  the  people,  '  Make  you  every 
man  a  well  in  his  house.'  And  I  have  cut  the  scarps 
of  Kirhah  as  defences  from  Israel.  And  I  have  built 


JEHU  257 

Aroer,  and  I  have  made  the  ascent  at  Arnon,  and  I 
have  built  Beth  Bamoth  which  was  ruined.  Lo ! 
1  have  built  Bezer,  prepared  as  a  spring  for  Dibon. 
For  all  Dibon  is  obedient.  And  I  have  reigned  in  a 
hundred  cities,  which  I  have  added  to  the  land.  And 
I  have  built  Medeba,  and  Beth  Diblathain,  and  Beth 
Baal-meon,  and  made  sheepfolds  there  in  the  land. 
And  in  Horonain  dwelt  Ben  Dedan.  .  .  .  And  Chemosh 
said  to  me,  '  Go  fight  with  Horonain/  and  I  turned 
and  fought." 

The  last  lines  are  broken  ;  but  the  monument  refers 
clearly  to  the  revolt  of  Moab  in  the  time  of  Ahab  and 
after  his  death.1  We  learn  from  it  that  the  cruelty 
of  the  Moabites  was  as  great  as  that  of  the  early 
Hebrews,  and  that  Jehovah  was  already  regarded  as 
the  national  God  of  Israel.  We  see  that  alphabetic 
writing  was  already  in  use  for  monuments  as  early 
as  about  900  B.C.,  and  that  Moabite  was  already  a 
dialect  distinct  from  Hebrew.  The  whole  style  of 
the  text  reminds  us  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  the 
Moabites  adored  more  than  one  god,  and  boasted 
of  the  destruction  of  Israel,  which  other  monuments 
show  us  not  to  have  been  as  complete  as  Mesha 
pretends.  The  notice  of  Gad  agrees  exactly  with 
the  Bible,  and  so  does  that  of  sheep,  for  Mesha  was 
a  "  sheep-master."  2 

The  confirmations  of  Biblical  notices  by  Assyrian 
texts  are  well  known.  In  840  B.C.  Jehu  gave  tribute 
to  Shalmaneser,  and  Azariah  of  Judah  to  Tiglath- 
pileser  a  century  later.  He  is  noticed  as  having  stirred 
up  rebellion  in  Hamath,  or  Syria,  which  agrees  also 
with  the  Bible.3  The  names  of  Menahem,  Pekah,  and 
Hoshea,  as  kings  of  Israel,  are  mentioned  by  Tiglath- 
pileser,  with  those  of  Azariah  and  Ahaz  of  Judah. 
The  destruction  of  Samaria  by  Sargon  is  also  recorded 

1  2  Kings  iii.  4-27.  *  Num.  xxxii.  34  ;  2  Kings  iii.  4. 

3  2  Kings  xiv.  28. 

17 


258  THE   HEBREWS 

by  that  invader,  in  722  B.C.  ;  but  the  most  important 
Assyrian  notice  is  that  of  Hezekiah,  in  702  B.C.  "  As 
for  Kha-za-ki-yahu  (Hezekiah),  of  the  land  Ya-hu-da 
(Judah),  who  did  not  submit  to  my  yoke  :  forty-six  of 
his  cities,  strong  forts,  and  villages  in  their  limits, 
of  unknown  name,  I  took  by  destroying  ramparts, 
and  by  open  attack,  fighting  on  foot,  hewing  in  pieces, 
casting  down.  I  took  200,150  males  and  females: 
horses,  mules,  camels,  oxen,  and  flocks  unnumbered, 
I  took  as  spoil.  He  himself  like  a  bird  in  a  snare 
shut  himself  up  in  Jerusalem,  his  royal  city.  He 
erected  fortifications  for  himself:  he  was  forced  to 
close  the  exit  of  the  gate  of  his  city.  .  .  .  Beyond  the 
former  tribute  their  yearly  gift  I  imposed  on  them 
a  gift  of  subjection  to  my  government  in  addition. 
Fear  of  the  glory  of  my  rule  overpowered  this 
Hezekiah.  The  priests,  the  trusty  warriors  whom 
they  had  brought  in  to  defend  Jerusalem  his  royal 
city,  gave  tribute.  Thirty  talents  of  gold,  eight 
hundred  talents  of  molten  silver,  many  rubies  and 
sapphires,  thrones  of  ivory,  high  seats  of  ivory,  skins 
of  wild  bulls,  horns  of  wild  bulls,  weapons  of  all 
kinds — a  mighty  treasure — and  women  of  his  palace, 
slaves  and  handmaids,  he  caused  to  be  sent  after  me 
to  Nineveh  my  royal  city ;  and  he  sent  his  envoy  to 
make  submission."  Sennacherib  thus  testifies  to  the 
wealth  and  courage  of  Hezekiah,  but  forgets  to  explain 
why  he  himself  returned  so  suddenly  to  Nineveh 
without  taking  the  capital  of  Judah. 

The  inscription  found  by  a  Jewish  boy,  in  1880, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  rock  tunnel  which  leads  from 
Gihon  to  Siloam,  and  which  was  cut,  we  are  told,  by 
Hezekiah,1  was  carved  on  a  smooth  rock  face  in  letters 
of  the  ancient  Hebrew  alphabet,  which  differ  slightly 
in  some  forms  from  those  of  the  Moabite  stone,  but 
which  are  certainly  early.  The  contents  of  the  text 

1  2  Kings  xx.  20  ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  30. 


HEZEKIAH  259 

are  not  very  important,  but  the  fact  of  its  existence 
is  most  instructive.  "  The  cutting.  And  this  was  the 
method  of  the  cutting :  while  .  .  .  the  pick  towards 
each  other  three  cubits  still  .  .  .  one  calling  to  an- 
other; for  there  was  an  excess  of  rock  to  the  right 
...  in  the  day  of  cutting.  They  hewed  this  mine 
each  towards  the  other,  pick  to  pick.  And  the  waters 
flowed  from  the  spring  to  the  pool  for  twelve  hundred 
cubits ;  and  one  hundred  cubits  was  the  height  above 
this  mine."  My  own  researches  in  the  tunnel  when 
surveying  it  and  taking  the  first  correct  copy  of  the 
text,  in  1 88 1,  showed  that  it  was  cut  by  two  parties 
working  from  the  spring  and  from  the  pool ;  and  I 
found  that  at  the  point  of  junction  the  two  mines  were 
out  of  line  by  about  three  cubits,  at  a  point  where 
they  were  joined  by  a  short  cross-cut  east  and  west. 
This  discovery  makes  the  meaning  of  the  text  clear. 
Its  importance  lies  in  its  testimony  to  -the  use  of 
the  alphabet  at  Jerusalem,  and  of  a  pure  Hebrew 
language,  about  700  B.C.  Taken  in  conjunction  with 
Sennacherib's  account  of  Hezekiah's  wealth,  it  shows 
us  that  Hebrew  civilisation  was,  in  that  age,  equal 
to  that  of  surrounding  nations.  It  is  the  last  monu- 
mental record  as  yet  known— with  exception  of  the 
passing  allusion  by  Assur-bani-pal  to  Manasseh  as  a 
tributary — that  refers  to  the  Hebrews  before  the 
Babylonian  captivity. 

There  are,  however,  other  remains  of  the  same  age 
which  cast  further  light  on  this  civilisation.  Weights, 
inscribed  in  the  same  letters  used  at  Siloam,  show  us 
that  the  Hebrew  shekel  (of  320  grains)  differed  from 
that  of  Babylon,  though  commensurate.  Seals  dis- 
covered in  Jerusalem  give  names  compounded  with 
that  of  Jehovah,  some  of  which  are  apparently  older 
than  the  Captivity.  In  one  case  the  influence  of  sur- 
rounding symbolism  is  shown  by  the  winged  sun 
engraved  above  and  below  the  name,  but  generally 


26o  THE   HEBREWS 

speaking  these  seals  are  remarkable  for  the  absence 
of  those  mythological  figures  which  are  common  on 
Phoenician  and  Assyrian  seals  and  seal  cylinders.1  In 
like  manner  the  rude  stone  monuments  of  the  Canaan- 
ites,  which  are  so  common  on  the  surface  in  Moab, 
are  found  west  of  Jordan  only  in  remote  corners  of 
Galilee,  or  deep  down  at  the  foundations  of  such  towns 
as  Gezer  and  Gath.  It  seems  clear  that  they  were 
destroyed  in  the  west  by  the  Hebrews.  Nor  do  we 
find  in  Palestine  any  bas-reliefs  which  represent 
Canaanite  deities,  though  they  occur  at  Damascus 
and  in  Phoenicia.  It  is  only  at  the  bottom  of  exca- 
vations that  Canaanite  cylinder  seals,  phallic  emblems, 
and  small  idols  of  bronze  and  of  pottery,  occur — 
representing  the  remains  of  pre-Hebrew  ages.  The 
Canaanites,  we  know,  wrote  in  cuneiform  characters 
on  clay  tablets,  and  the  recent  discovery  of  two  such 
tablets  at  Gezer,  bearing  Hebrew  names  and  dated 
by  the  Assyrian  date  answering  to  649  B.C.,  proves 
to  us  that  this  character  continued  to  be  used,  at 
least  for  purposes  of  trade  with  Assyria,  by  natives 
of  Palestine  some  centuries  after  the  introduction  of 
the  alphabet — a  fact  which  is  of  great  importance  for 
Bible  criticism.  The  survival  of  Canaanite  super- 
stition among  the  peasantry,  down  to  about  the  same 
age,  is  also  proved  by  the  recovery  of  jar  handles 
with  dedicatory  words — the  names  of  the  various 
local  Molochs  of  the  chief  towns,  and  that  of  Moloch- 
Mamshath,  "  the  ruler  of  that  which  is  drawn  forth." 
These  no  doubt,  in  the  belief  of  the  peasants,  pro- 
tected the  pitcher  from  being  broken  when  lowered 
by  such  a  handle  into  the  well. 

1  Perrot  and  Chipiez,  "  Histoire  de  1'Art,"  iv.  p.  439  seal  of 
Shebnaiah  son  of  'Azziu.  The  same  work  gives  also  the  seal  of 
Shem'a-yahu  son  of  'Azar-yahu  with  the  figure  of  a  bull,  and  that 
of  Nathan-yahu,  son  of  'Abd-yahu  with  two  goats.  These  also  appear 
to  be  Hebrew,  and  the  characters  are  earlv. 


HEBREW  TRADERS  261 

The  sack  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar  has  not 
as  yet  been  found  noticed  in  any  of  his  records,  though 
his  advance  on  Palestine  is  witnessed  by  texts  in  the 
Lebanon  and  at  Beirut.  But  the  presence  of  the 
Hebrews  in  Chaldea  as  traders,  during  the  later 
Babylonian  age  and  down  to  the  time  of  Artaxerxes  II., 
is  clearly  shown  by  tablets  including  distinctive 
Hebrew  names  such  as  Abraham  and  Jacob,  or  (in 
the  later  reign)  Yahu-lacim  and  Yahu-lunu.1  The 
monuments  are  otherwise  silent  as  to  Israel,  when 
dispersed  and  subject  to  Babylonians  and  Persians, 
and  it  is  not  until  the  second  century  B.C.  that  we  as 
yet  have  further  evidence  of  Hebrew  history.  The 
oldest  known  Hebrew  building  is  the  palace  which 
was  erected  by  a  priest  named  Hyrcanus,  at  Tyrus 
in  Gilead,  beside  a  cliff  in  which  he  excavated  cave 
dwellings  and  stables.  He  lived  there  for  seven  years, 
and — out  of  fear  when  Antiochus  the  Great  invaded 
this  region — he  slew  himself  in  176  B.C.  The  description 
given  by  Josephus2  of  these  works  agrees  with  the 
existing  remains  at  'Arak  el  Emir — a  cliff  beside  a 
fine  torrent  flanked  by  tall  oleander  bushes.  The 
palace  was  built  of  huge  masonry,  and  lions  are  rudely 
carved  at  the  angles.  The  roof  was  supported  on 
pillars  with  peculiar  capitals,  but  the  drafted  masonry, 
and  the  details  of  cornices,  show  that  Greek  influence 
was  already  strong  among  the  Jews.  A  short  text 
in  letters  like  those  of  the  earlier  Jewish  coins  flanks 
the  entrance  to  the  caves,  and  appears  to  read 
'"Aurith"  or  "Watchfulness."3  The  coins  of  the 

1  Hilprecht  (''Babylonian  Expedition,"  1898,  ix.  p.  27)  gives  forty- 
three  such  names.  The  name  of  Yahu  (Jehovah)  was  already  known 
to  the  Assyrians,  as  well  as  to  the  Moabites,  as  early  as  900  B.C. 
Pinches,  in  "  Proc.  Bib.  Arch.  Soc.,"  November  1885,  p.  28,  and 
November  1892. 

1  "Antiq.,"XII.  iv.  II. 

3  See  details  in  my  "  Memoir  of  the  Survey  of  Eastern  Palestine," 
1889,  pp.  65-87, 


262  THE   HEBREWS 

Jews  begin  with  those  of  Simon,  brother  of  Judas 
Maccabaeus,  and  continue  till  the  time  of  the  Pro- 
curators. The  most  remarkable  fact  illustrated  by 
them  is  the  restored  Greek  influence  on  the  rulers 
of  the  nation  after  105  B.C.  For  while  the  first  coins 
are  inscribed  in  Hebrew  only,  those  of  Alexander 
Jannaeus  bear  also  in  Greek  the  name  "Alexander 
the  King,"  while  after  his  death  in  78  B.C.  the  coins 
of  his  widow  were  inscribed  in  Greek  alone,  "  Queen 
Alexandra."  Antigonus,  the  last  of  this  great  Hasmo- 
nean  family  who  united  the  two  offices  of  High  Priest 
and  King,  has  left  coins  also  which  bear  the  Hebrew 
legend  "  Mattathiah  the  High  Priest  and  the  Jewish 
confederacy,"  while  on  the  reverse  we  find  in  Greek, 
"  Of  King  Antigonos." l 

Ruins,  coins,  and  texts  of  the  Herodian  age  are 
numerous,  and  serve  again  to  show  a  strong  Greek 
influence.  The  mighty  outer  walls  of  Herod's  temple 
at  Jerusalem  are  still  standing ;  and,  though  the  huge 
stones  are  marked  with  Hebrew  letters,  the  style  of 
the  masonry — resembling  that  already  mentioned  at 
Tyrus — was  copied  from  that  of  the  Acropolis  at 
Athens.  Herod  also  built  a  temple  to  Baal-samin 
at  Sia,  in  Bashan,  the  ruins  of  which  still  remain  with 
the  altar  before  its  gate.  It  resembled  the  Jerusalem 
temple  in  having  an  outer  court,  and  a  vine  carved 
round  its  door;  but  the  bust  of  the  god  above  the 
plinth,  and  the  figures  of  lions,  horses,  and  gazelles, 
with  the  eagle  of  the  lintel  stone,  are  evidence  that 
Herod — who  built  temples  to  Augustus  at  Caesarea 
and  Samaria — was  not  a  follower  of  the  "  law  of 
Moses."  To  the  same  Herodian  age  are  to  be 
attributed  the  Greco-Jewish  tombs  of  the  Kidron 
valley,  one  of  which  bears  the  names  of  the  Beni 
Hezir  family  of  priests  ;  and  this  long  text  proves  that 
the  usual  characters  for  writing  Hebrew  were  then 
1  See  Madden,  "Jewish  Coinage,"  1864,  p.  63. 


THE  JEWS  AND   ROME  263 

early  forms  of  what  we  now  know  as  "  square 
Hebrew,"  the  ancient  alphabet  having  been  gradually 
abandoned  about  a  century  before.  The  famous 
Greek  text  forbidding  strangers  to  enter  the  inner 
court  at  Jerusalem,  with  others  from  Bashan  and  from 
Philistia,  show  us  that  in  the  time  of  our  Lord  there 
was  a  Greek-speaking  population  in  Palestine.  The 
medals  struck  by  Vespasian,  and  the  representation 
of  the  seven-branched  lamp  and  table  of  shew-bread 
on  the  Arch  of  Titus  at  Rome,  are  the  witnesses  of 
the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  A  text  of  the  time 
of  Trajan  proves  that  about  100  A.D.  Serapis  was 
publicly  worshipped  at  Jerusalem— that  strange  "  King 
of  the  Sea"  from  Pontus,  who  deposed  Osiris  in 
Egypt,  and  was  adored  as  the  supreme  deity  even 
in  Rome. 

The  scarped  cliffs  of  the  village  of  Bether,  near 
Jerusalem  on  the  south-west,  witnessed  the  last 
desperate  struggle  of  the  Jews  for  faith  and  freedom 
in  135  A.D.  But  after  this  massacre  Hadrian  rebuilt 
Jerusalem  as  the  "  Colony  of  ALlia  " ;  and  his  arch  of 
triumph  still  stands  north-west  of  the  temple ;  while 
in  the  later  masonry  of  the  time  of  Justinian,  on  its 
south  wall,  an  inscription  bearing  Hadrian's  name  has 
been  built  in  upside  down,  proving  that  he  placed  in 
the  temple  his  own  statue,  of  which  the  head  has  been 
found  cast  among  the  stones  of  the  north  road,  close  to 
Calvary.  After  135  A.D.  the  Sanhedrin  was  removed 
to  Galilee,  and  the  Jews  prospered  under  the  tolerant 
Antonine  emperors.  To  this  age  belong  the  ruined 
synagogues  with  late  Hebrew  texts ;  they  are  mainly 
remarkable  for  the  representation  of  animal  life  in 
their  decoration — showing  that  even  the  Rabbis  were 
not  strict  in  following  the  prohibitions  of  the  Law  in 
that  age.  The  dispersion  of  the  race  is  shown  also  by 
the  Jewish  catacombs  of  Rome  and  Naples,  and  by  the 
Karaite  tombstones  in  South  Russia,  which  date  from 


264  THE   HEBREWS 

our  second  century.  The  degradation  of  the  Jews, 
when  oppressed  by  the  Catholic  Church  in  our  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries,  is  also  witnessed  by  numerous 
magic  bowls,  with  late  Hebrew  spells  written  inside, 
which  have  been  discovered  in  Chaldea. 

Thus,  basing  our  inquiry  on  monumental  evidence 
alone,  we  are  able  to  prove  the  antiquity  of  Hebrew 
civilisation,  and — in  general  outline — the  genuine 
character  of  that  history  which  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  in  the  later  account  by 
Josephus.  We  see  that  the  wild  tribesmen  burst  into 
Palestine  from  Seir  in  the  fifteenth  century  B.C.  That 
they  gradually  adopted  the  civilisation  of  the  Canaanites, 
which  was  of  Babylonian  origin.  That  they  were  con- 
quered by  Assyria,  but  had  become  powerful  and  rich 
under  Hezekiah.  That  they  worshipped  Jehovah, 
and  destroyed  the  idols  of  Canaan.  That  they  were 
finally  subdued  by  Rome,  after  a  short  century  of  inde- 
pendence under  the  Hasmonean  kings ;  and  that  they 
were  finally  dispersed  all  over  the  earth,  but  not  perse- 
cuted by  the  Roman  emperors  until  the  triumph  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  which  oppressed  them  till  it  fell  in 
turn  before  the  sword  of  Islam.  We  may  turn,  there- 
fore, to  the  question  of  Hebrew  literature,  as  now 
affected  by  a  true  knowledge  of  monumental  records. 

ii.  The  Bible. — The  Hebrew  Scriptures  represent  a 
literature  extending  over  at  least  a  thousand  years. 
The  later  Jews  divided  them  into  three  classes — the 
Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Writings — in  the  supposed 
order  of  their  antiquity;  and,  roughly  speaking,  the 
order  appears  to  be  correct.1 

The  Law  has  always  stood  alone  in  Hebrew  estima- 

1  (i)  The  Torah,  or  "  Law,"  is  the  Pentateuch  :  (ii)  the  Nabaim  or 
"Prophets"  (including  the  twelve  minor  prophets  counted  as  one 
book)  comprise  eight  works :  Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel,  and  Kings 
being  counted  as  four  :  (iii)  the  Cethubim,  or  "  writings,"  include  Job, 


THE   PENTATEUCH  265 

tion,  and  the  Samaritans  when  they  separated  from 
the  Jews, — about  450  B.C. — while  they  accepted  the 
Pentateuch,  took  no  other  part  of  the  Scriptures. 
Both  Jews  and  Samaritans  in  later  times  attributed 
all  the  law  to  Moses,  though  the  Pentateuch  contains 
no  declaration  that  he  was  its  author.  We  know 
nothing  about  him  but  what  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Bible ;  but  there  is  no  improbability  in  a  great  leader 
having  guided  the  Hebrews  to  the  desert  at  the  time 
when  the  Egyptians  were  expelling  Asiatics,  while  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  have  entered  Palestine 
(strongly  held  by  the  Egyptians)  till  after  the  revolu- 
tion which  we  know  to  have  happened  in  the  fifteenth 
century  B.C.  We  know  also  that  cuneiform  writings 
were  numerous,  and  tablets  commonly  used  by 
Canaanites  and  others,  in  this  age ;  and  there  is 
nothing  improbable  in  the  early  writing  down  of 
simple  tribal  laws  on  tablets  of  stone  in  the  desert. 
Nor  is  there  any  reason  why  the  worship  of  one 
national  god  by  the  Hebrews  should  not  have  been 
equally  ancient,  considering  that  Monotheism  of  a 
vague  kind  already  existed  in  Egypt. 

A  new  light  has  been  cast  on  this  subject  by  the 
discovery  of  the  laws  of  'Ammurabi,  which  are  more 
than  five  hundred  years  older  than  any  law  of  Moses 
could  be.  A  very  careful  comparison  of  this  code  of 
about  two  hundred  and  eighty  Babylonian  laws  with 
those  of  the  Pentateuch  is  instructive.  'Ammurabi's 
laws  do  not  include  any  Decalogue,  or  any  laying 
down  of  general  principles.  They  are  all  decisions  as 
to  special  cases,  and  they  represent  a  highly  developed 
civilisation,  and  trading  conditions  quite  different 
from  those  of  the  early  Hebrew  tribes  of  herdsmen, 

the  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  Song  of  Songs,  Daniel,  the  Book 
of  Chronicles,  Ezra  Nehemiah,  and  Esther— nine  in  all.  The  total 
is  thus  made  to  coincide  with  the  twenty-two  letters  of  the  Hebrew 
alphabet. 


266  THE   HEBREWS 

and  farmers,  for  whom  the  Ten  Commandments 
were  laid  down.  There  is  no  evidence  of  literary 
borrowing  by  the  Hebrews  from  these  older  laws : 
there  is  only  that  similarity  of  custom  which  is  natural 
if  we  suppose  that  the  Hebrews — like  the  Canaanites 
— came  originally  from  Haran  and  Babylonia,  and 
were  subject  to  such  kings  as  'Ammurabi,  who 
evidently  ruled  the  west,  and  whose  name,  and  that 
of  Eriaku  his  contemporary,  were  very  naturally 
identified  by  Rawlinson  with  those  of  Amraphel  and 
Arioch  of  Genesis1 — a  view  which  has  never  been 
shown  to  be  incorrect.  Out  of  the  two  hundred  and 
eighty  laws  of  'Ammurabi  only  sixty  are  the  same  as 
those  of  the  Hebrews,  and  in  sixteen  other  cases  the 
Babylonian  law  is  different  from,  or  even  opposite  to, 
the  Hebrew.  To  all  the  remaining  decrees  that  treat  of 
trade,  and  of  special  cases,  the  Pentateuch  contains  no 
parallel  at  all.  The  Babylonian  punishments  are  more 
severe  than  those  of  the  Hebrews.  Stoning  was  a 
natural  mode  of  execution  in  the  desert.  In  Babylon 
it  is  replaced  by  drowning,  or  impaling.  The  principle 
of  the  "lex  talionis" — eye  for  eye  and  tooth  for 
tooth — is  the  same ;  but  as  regards  slaves  the  Hebrew 
law  is  more  merciful,  while  it  is  more  strict  in  ques- 
tions of  morals.  Both  codes  command  that  wizards 
should  be  killed,  both  protect  from  the  goring  ox ;  but 
the  thief  in  Babylon  must  restore  tenfold  instead  of 
fivefold,  and  sixty  stripes  are  decreed  instead  of 
thirty-nine,  as  among  Hebrews.  The  Babylonian  was 
punished  for  not  restoring  a  fugitive  slave  to  his 
master,  the  Hebrew  was  bidden  later  to  protect  him. 
The  command  "  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself"2  has  no  parallel  in  'Ammurabi's  legislation, 
nor  is  it  concerned  with  any  religious  beliefs,  being 
purely  secular,  and  mostly  in  favour  of  the  rich  and 
powerful.3 

1  Gen.  xiv.        *  Lev,  xix.  18.        3  See  Chap.  III.  pp.  87-90. 


HEBREW  TRADITIONS  267 

The  picture  of  civilisation  in  Genesis  is  one  which, 
as  we  now  know,  applies  to  the  age  of  'Ammurabi, 
and  which  incidentally  points  to  the  Babylonian 
origin  of  the  Hebrews.  The  position  of  Hagar  and 
her  son  is  illustrated  by  'Ammurabi's  laws ; l  and  so  is 
Abraham's  bargain  with  the  Hittites  in  presence  of 
witnesses.2  The  presents  given  to  Rebekah's  family, 
and  the  terms  on  which  Jacob  became  Laban's  herd, 
are  other  instances.3  The  stories  of  Creation,  Eden, 
and  the  Flood,  in  Genesis,  present — as  is  well  known 
— remarkable  parallels  to  those  found  in  Assyrian 
copies  of  old  Akkadian  stories.  There  is  no  evidence 
of  direct  borrowing,  nor  is  it  necessary  to  suppose 
that  these  traditions  were  learned  by  the  Hebrews  in 
the  later  age  of  captivity ;  for  not  only  the  Assyrians, 
but  the  early  Akkadians  also,  believed  in  an  orderly 
creation  by  the  god  of  heaven ;  and  an  early 
Babylonian  seal  represents  a  man — or  a  deity — pluck- 
ing the  fruit  of  a  tree,  while  behind  the  female  figure 
that  confronts  him  a  serpent  rises  erect.  But  the 
Babylonian  legends  are  part  of  a  purely  mythical 
cycle,  and  the  Hebrew  version  is  distinguished  by  the 
absence  of  any  allusion  to  the  polytheistic  ideas  which 
characterise  all  Babylonian  religious  records.  That 
Babylonian  myths  were  known  even  in  Egypt  in  the 
time  of  Moses  has  been  clearly  proved  by  tablets 
found  at  Amarna. 

The  geography  of  Genesis,  in  like  manner,  represents 
acquaintance  with  all  parts  of  Western  Asia,  and  a 
distinction  of  three  races,  which  we  find  monumentally 
to  have  been  possible  in  the  time  of  Moses.  There 
is,  however,  one  important  indication  of  somewhat 
later  date  to  be  recognised  in  the  notice  of  the  city 

1  Laws  147  and  170  :  Gen.  xvi.  2,  6,  xxi.  10. 
*  Law  10  :  Gen.  xxiii.  16-18. 

3  Law  159:  Gen.  xxiv.  53.  Laws  261,  266:  Gen.  xxx.  28, 
xxxi.  39-41. 


268  THE   HEBREWS 

Rameses l :  for  though  Zoan — the  Hebrew  centre  in 
the  Delta — was  certainly  as  old  as  the  time  of  Jacob, 
it  did  not  receive  the  name  Pa-Ramessu  till  the 
time  of  Rameses  II.,  or  more  than  two  centuries 
after  the  probable  date  of  the  Exodus.  The  story 
of  Joseph  would  thus  appear  not  to  have  been  written 
till  1300  B.C.,  at  earliest.  The  notices  of  Hebrew  kings, 
and  the  allusions  to  the  Canaanites  as  a  former  popula- 
tion, would  also  (if  these  are  not  later  glosses)  bring 
down  the  composition  of  Genesis  to  the  time  of  Saul 
at  least. 

The  collection  of  distinct  episodes  in  this  ancient 
book  suggests  that  the  original  documents  were  a 
collection  of  separate  tablets  afterwards  written  out 
as  one  work.  The  careful  collection  of  such  tablets 
by  the  Assyrians  in  the  seventh  century  B.C.  has  been 
described,  and  the  writing  out  of  the  Koran  also  from 
separate  documents.  There  are  reasons  for  supposing 
that  the  original  tablets  of  Genesis  were  written  in 
cuneiform,2  and  they  may  have  been  preserved  to 
a  comparatively  late  age.  We  do  not,  of  course, 
know  when  such  tablets  were  written  out  on  scrolls 
in  alphabetic  characters,  but  it  would  probably  not 
have  been  done  till  the  time  of  Solomon,  and  may 
have  happened  as  late  as  the  time  of  Hezekiah's 
reformation :  for  tablets  were  still  in  use  in  the  days 
of  Isaiah,  and  even  as  late  as  600  B.C.,  while  on  the 
other  hand  scrolls  written  in  ink  are  noticed  in  the 
time  of  Jeremiah.3  The  same  method  of  compilation 
may  apply  to  other  Hebrew  books,  and — if  we  may 
trust  the  titles  in  the  Greek  version — it  appears  that 
some  of  the  older  psalms  were  also  transcribed  from 
ancient  tablets. 

1  Gen.  xlvii.  n  ;  Exod.  i.  n  ;  Psalm  Ixxviii.  12  ;  Num.  xiii.  22. 
*  See    my   volumes,    "  Bible  and    the    East,"    1896,    pp.    62-67, 
"  First  Bible,"  1902,  pp.  83-95. 
3  Isa.  xxx.  8  ;  Hab.  ii.  2  ;  Jer.  xxxvi.  23  ;  Prov.  xxv.  i, 


HEBREW  CULTURE  269 

Many  of  the  oldest  laws  in  the  Pentateuch  refer  to 
agricultural  life,  and  could  not  have  been  needed  till 
Israel  had  at  least  settled  down  in  the  lands  beyond 
Jordan.  The  description  of  the  tabernacle,  in  Exodus, 
would  also  seem  more  probably  to  represent  the 
semi-permanent  structure  at  Shiloh  than  the  original 
"  tent  of  meeting "  in  the  desert.  But  tents  with 
pillars  of  gold  are  noticed  among  the  Canaanites  by 
Thothmes  III.  long  before  Moses1 ;  and  the  engraving 
of  gems,  the  use  of  vestments  and  incense  by  priests, 
the  offering  of  precious  vessels  and  of  regular  sacrifices 
in  temples,  were  features  of  Akkadian  religion  from 
the  earliest  known  age.  The  Hebrews  were  not  the 
only  ancient  people  who  feared  defilement  by  the 
dead :  not  only  were  the  Persians  and  the  Hindus  in 
constant  dread  of  such  pollution,  but  the  Akkadians 
also,  as  early  as  2800  B.C.  The  sacrifice  of  the  first- 
born, and  the  letting  loose  of  a  scape-goat,  or  other 
victim,  carrying  away  the  sins  of  the  people,  are  very 
early  and  widespread  customs  in  Asia.  The  Levirate 
marriage  (or  wedding  of  the  brother's  widow),  like  the 
custom  of  circumcision,  we  have  seen  to  be  equally 
general  and  early.  The  Hebrew  rites  connected  with 
the  cleansing  of  the  leper  recall  Akkadian  charms. 
Arks,  and  altars,  and  symbolic  cherubs,  we  find  very 
early  in  both  Egypt  and  Chaldea.  The  institution  of 
a  Sabbath,  or  day  of  rest,  was  also  Babylonian,  though 
not  connected  with  a  week  of  seven  days,  as  among 
the  Hebrews.  The  laws  against  witchcraft  and  the 
eating  of  blood  are  said  to  have  been  known  to  Saul, 
as  well  as  the  ancient  curse  against  Amalek.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  priestly  code  of  the  Pentateuch  to 
suggest  a  late  age,  or  that  does  not  find  very  ancient 
parallels  in  the  customs  of  surrounding  nations  even 
before  the  time  of  Moses.  The  Hebrews  are  dis- 
tinguished only  by  the  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  by 

1  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  1879,  i.  p.  326. 


270  THE   HEBREWS 

the  detestation  of  idols  which  was  recorded  in  their 
oldest  tablets — the  Ten  Commandments.  It  is  not 
natural  to  suppose  that  elaborate  ritual  would  have 
been  regulated  during  the  age  of  captivity,  when  the 
temple  was  in  ruins  and  the  priests  were  scattered. 
Nor  can  we  ascribe  this  ritual  properly  to  the  age  of 
Ezra ;  for  the  language  of  the  Pentateuch  throughout 
is  ancient,  and  free  from  the  Persian  words  which 
appear  in  books  written  after  the  return  from  cap- 
tivity. There  is,  in  short,  nothing  in  this  ritual  that 
may  not  have  been  practised  under  Solomon  and 
Hezekiah,  and  the  fact  that  the  Law  was  forgotten 
does  not  prove  its  non-existence,  for  it  was  broken 
equally  by  the  Jews  of  our  second  century,  as  we  see 
by  the  representation  of  living  forms  sculptured  on 
the  synagogues  of  Galilee.  The  table  of  races  in 
Genesis  makes  no  mention  of  the  Persians,  who  were 
known  to  the  Assyrians  in  Hezekiah's  time,  but 
represents  the  inhabitants  of  Elam  to  be  Semitic, 
which  we  now  know  them  to  have  been  in  early 
times,  as  shown  by  the  ancient  texts  recently  found 
at  Susa.  The  existence  of  a  written  law  in  the  eighth 
century  B.C.  is  clearly  declared  by  a  prophet  of  that 
age.1 

The  Law  is  summed  up  in  the  impassioned  declama- 
tions of  Deuteronomy — a  work  which  lays  down 
various  changes  of  practice  that  became  necessary 
when  the  tribes  had  spread  all  over  Palestine,  to 
regions  remote  from  the  central  sanctuary.  There  are 
probably  few  now  left  who  believe  that  Moses  wrote 
the  account  of  his  own  death  ;  and  it  would  seem  more 
natural  to  suppose  that  the  law  of  the  kingdom  was 
laid  down  after  the  Hebrews  had  become  subject  to  a 
king.2  All  that  we  really  know  as  to  the  history  of 
this  noble  book  is  to  be  found  in  the  Book  of  Kings. 

1  Hosea  viii.  12.     See  2  Chron.  xvii.  9. 
*  Deut.  xvii.  14-20,  xxxiv.  1-12. 


BIBLE  MANUSCRIPTS  271 

One  of  its  peculiar  decisions  is  said  to  have  been 
obeyed  by  a  king  as  early  as  about  826  B.C.1  It  thus 
apparently  formed  part  of  that  ancient  "  Book  of  the 
Law "  which  was  found  forgotten  in  the  temple  two 
centuries  later. 

The  oldest  known  manuscript  of  any  part  of  the 
Law  is  a  copy  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  belonging 
to  a  synagogue  service  of  our  second  century,  and 
quite  recently  found  in  Egypt.2  The  oldest  dated 
Hebrew  manuscript  of  importance  is  that  of  the 
Prophets,  at  St.  Petersburg,  which  goes  back  only  to 
916  A.D.,  though  "  unpointed  "  fragments  of  the  Law, 
and  of  other  parts  of  the  Bible,  are  no  doubt  earlier. 
We  are  thus  unable  to  study  any  complete  and  ancient 
Hebrew  text,  or  to  determine  what  glosses  and  cor- 
ruptions may,  in  the  course  of  ages,  have  occurred. 
That  such  corruptions,  though  small,  are  often  very 
misleading,  we  see  from  an  actual  instance.  In  one 
passage  of  Judges3  we  find,  in  our  present  Hebrew 
text  and  in  the  Greek  version  as  well,  the  words 
"  captivity  of  the  land,"  which  would  make  the  date 
of  the  passage  not  earlier  than  720  B.C.  But  in  the 
St.  Petersburg  manuscript  we  find  this  to  read  "  cap- 
tivity of  the  ark,"  and  the  context  in  the  next  verse 
shows  that  this  is  more  probably  the  true  reading. 
Hence  what  might  be  taken  as  a  mark  of  date  dis- 
appears as  the  error  of  some  scribe  at  a  late  historic 
period.  This  instance  should  make  us  very  cautious 
in  critical  deductions  from  single  words,  or  sentences, 
which  may  have  been  only  the  errors,  or  the  intentional 
alterations,  of  copyists  who  were  well-meaning,  but 
ignorant  or  careless. 

When,  however,  we  compare  the  Hebrew  text  with 
that  of  the  Greek  version,  as  represented  by  manu- 

1  2  Kings  xiv.  6  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  16  :  see  2  Kings  xxii.  8. 

1  S.  A.  Cook,  in  "  Proc.  Bib.  Arch.  Soc."  January  1903,  p.  34  seq. 

3  Judg.  xviii.  30  ;  see  verse  31. 


272  THE   HEBREWS 

scripts  of  our  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  or  with 
the  Samaritan  version,  of  which  the  mos-t  ancient 
copy  at  Shechem  may  be  equally  old,  we  find  clear 
evidence  of  the  jealous  care  with  which  the  Law  was 
copied  and  translated,  carrying  us  back  to  the  time 
of  the  first  translation  into  Greek,  about  250  B.C. 
There  are  passages  in  Exodus,  it  is  true,  which  are 
transposed  in  the  Greek,  and  there  are  numerous 
differences  of  reading  which  are  important  to  a  minute 
textual  study.  But  substantially  it  appears  that  the 
Pentateuch  as  now  known  is  the  same  work  that 
existed  in  the  days  of  the  Ptolemies.  The  study  of 
Assyrian  tablets,  and  especially  of  duplicate  copies, 
proves  to  us  the  careful  and  conscientious  spirit  in 
which  the  ancient  scribes  of  civilised  Asia  treated  their 
original  sources.  The  discrepancies,  which  were  as 
well  known  to  the  early  rabbis  as  they  are  to  modern 
critics,  are  also  valuable  evidence  of  respect  for  the 
text  by  generations  of  scribes,  who  have  preserved 
them  even  when  they  could  not  explain  them;  and 
some  of  these  discrepancies  are  now  found  to  be  only 
apparent,  while  others  seem  to  be  due  to  variations  in 
the  transcription  of  documents  originally  written 
in  the  indefinite  cuneiform  character.  The  respect  for 
ancient  writings  which  was  so  conspicuous  in  Baby- 
lonia was  no  dcfubt  equally  felt  by  Hebrew  scribes; 
and  it  is  very  improbable  that  Ezra,  who  was  "  a 
ready  scribe  in  the  law  of  Moses,"  would  have  dared 
to  edit  or  to  alter  the  Scriptures  of  his  race,  in  face  of 
the  twice-repeated  command  in  Deuteronomy  (a  work 
admitted  by  all  to  have  existed  centuries  before  his 
time) — "  thou  shalt  not  add  thereto  nor  diminish  from 
it." *  The  later  Hebrew  Scriptures — the  Prophets  and 
the  Writings — were  either  badly  copied  in  Greek  from 
imperfect  Hebrew  manuscripts,  or  else  the  Hebrew 
text  itself  was  less  jealously  guarded  than  that  of  the 

1  Deut.  iv.  2,  xii.  32. 


MIRACLES  273 

Law.  The  variations  are  in  these  cases  more  important, 
especially  in  the  Books  of  Samuel  and  Jeremiah,  where 
additions  as  well  as  large  omissions  occur  ;  and  the 
Egyptian  Jews  seem  to  have  been  often  quite  unable 
to  understand  the  meaning  of  terse  expressions  and 
peculiar  words  in  the  Book  of  Job.  But  the  venera- 
tion for  the  Law  was  so  great  that  even  the  alteration 
of  a  letter  was  a  matter  for  serious  consideration,  and 
we  may  well  believe  that  the  Pentateuch,  as  we  now 
have  it,  was  the  work  known  as  the  "  commandments 
of  Moses  "  in  Solomon's  age,  when  also  the  original 
tablets  of  the  Decalogue  existed,  stored  in  the  ark.1 

The  Pentateuch  itself  quotes  from  ancient  sources 
that  have  perished  ;  2  and  later  writers,  when  using 
ancient  sources,  were  equally  careful  to  state  their 
authority,  whether  it  were  some  early  Hebrew  song, 
or  some  official  chronicle  like  those  to  which  the 
authors  of  the  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles  refer 
as  extant  in  their  days.  The  Book  of  Joshua  was 
evidently  not  composed  till  some  five  centuries  after 
the  conquest,  at  earliest,3  and  the  writer  alludes  to 
an  ancient  couplet  on  which  he  bases  his  belief  in  a 
great  miracle  : 

"  Be  dark  4  on  Gibeon,  Sun, 
And  Moon  in  Vale  of  Ayalun." 

The  Hebrews  were  not  the  only  ancient  people  to 
suppose  that  the  sun  could  be  made  to  stand  still  in 
heaven  at  the  command  of  a  divinely  aided  hero,  or 
that  the  waters  of  a  river  should  be  parted  to  "  leave 
a  dry  passage."  8  The  Persians,  and  no  doubt  the 
Babylonians  —  who  related  equally  great  miracles  — 

1  2  Chron.  viii.  13  ;  I  Kings  viii.  9. 

*  See  Num.  xxi.  14. 

*  Joshua  x.  13  ;  2  Sam.  i.  18  ;  the  "  Book  of  Jasher." 

4  Compare  the  Arabic  damm  and  Assyrian  damu,  "  to  be  obscured  " 
or  "  smeared  over,"  Josh.  x.  13. 
4  See  Pehlevi  Bahman  Yasht,  iii.  33  ;  Aban  Yasht,  xix.  78. 

,8      ,^  fr 

&  r-  ••' 


274  THE   HEBREWS 

held  the  same  belief  in  wonders  with  the  Hebrews. 
A  miracle  was  an  occurrence  of  which  the  cause  was 
not  understood  in  an  age  of  ignorance,  but  which 
was  manifestly  opportune.  In  many  cases  we  may 
suppose  that  natural  phenomena  were  misunderstood, 
and  that  tradition  magnified  the  actual  facts.  The  old 
couplet  in  the  Book  of  Jasher,  if  more  than  a  poetic 
figure,  may  have  referred  to  an  eclipse,  and  may  have 
been  misunderstood ; l  but  the  belief  in  miracles  was 
common  to  all  the  ancients,  and  remains  common  all 
over  the  East.  Those  who  have  lived  in  countries 
where  science  is  unknown  will  often  be  able  to  under- 
stand how  easily  unusual  events  come  to  be  regarded 
as  special  acts  of  divine  interposition,  and  how  the 
story  of  the  past  was  always  loaded  with  wonders  in 
popular  tradition. 

When  on  the  other  hand  we  turn  to  consider  the 
geography  of  the  Book  of  Joshua,  we  see  at  once  that 
the  author  had  an  intimate  knowledge  of  Palestine, 
and  that  it  could  not  have  been  so  described  by  a 
priest  either  during  or  after  the  Captivity.  The 
fragmentary  history  in  the  Book  of  Judges  contains 
many  similar  allusions  to  topography  which  prove  its 
genuine  character,  although,  in  consequence  of  the 
connection  of  his  name  with  that  of  the  sun,  the  story 
of  Samson  appears  to  have  been  overgrown  with 
legends  like  those  of  the  Babylonian  Gilgamas  and  of 
the  Phoenician  Melkarth.  The  chronicle  known  as 
the  Book  of  Samuel  is  free  from  such  marvels,  and 
appears  (unless  we  are  again  misled  by  a  gloss 2)  to 
have  been  composed  after  the  death  of  Solomon.  The 

1  Mr.  E.  W.  Maunder  (of  Greenwich  Observatory)  kindly  had 
calculated  for  me  in  1904  that  eclipses  of  the  sun  were  visible  at 
Gibeon  in  June  1479,  September  1476,  and  August  1464  B.C.  The 
latter  was  the  most  important,  and  was  annular  at  11.45  a-m- 
time.  The  others  were  partial  eclipses  only. 

*  I  Sam.  xxvii.  6,  "  kings  of  Judah." 


THE  PSALMS  275 

honesty  of  its  account  of  David's  sin,  and  the  vividness 
of  its  narrative ;  the  accuracy  of  its  topographical 
notices,  and  the  archaisms  of  its  style,  combine  to 
make  it  one  of  the  most  valuable  accounts  of  Hebrew 
life  in  the  Bible,  belonging  to  a  time  of  increasing 
power  and  civilisation  of  which  we  have  no  record  in 
monuments  of  other  nations,  because  they  had  no 
victories  over  Israel  to  record.  The  Book  of  Kings, 
which  was  completed  not  earlier  than  562  B.C.,1  though 
based  on  official  records  in  part,  is  a  far  less  spon- 
taneous chronicle,  and  its  account  of  the  prophets 
Elijah  and  Elisha,  being  written  three  centuries  after 
they  lived,  contains  much  that  can  only  have  been 
derived  from  popular  tradition.  The  most  valuable 
information  as  to  Hebrew  beliefs  and  customs,  from 
the  ninth  to  the  fifth  centuries  B.C.,  must  always  be 
derived  from  the  writings  of  the  Nabaim,  or  "  inspired  " 
men,  who  maintained  the  worship  of  Jehovah  among 
the  idolatrous  Hebrews. 

The  Hebrew  "Cethubim" — the  third  class  of 
"  writings  " — include  the  beautiful  Book  of  Job,  which 
was  perhaps  written  about  600  B.C.,  or  later.  The 
Psalms  were  divided  into  five  books,  of  which  the  two 
last  include  the  hymns  of  exile  and  of  restoration :  the 
third  book  (especially  in  the  psalms  by  Asaph  and 
Ethan)  refers  to  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  the 
separation  of  Israel  and  Judah,  and  Assyrian  attacks 
on  Palestine.  These  psalms  could  therefore  not  be 
earlier  than  from  960  to  730  B.C.,2  and  others  by  Asaph 
in  the  second  book  would  also  be  later  than  the  time 
of  David.  Psalms  with  the  title  "for  David"  are 
indeed  sometimes  clearly  written  in  his  honour,  like 
that  which  ends  "  God  save  the  king :  hear  us  when 
we  call."3  But  the  recovery  of  the  great  psalm  of 

1  2  Kings  xxv.  27, 

1  See  Psalms  Ixxiv.,  Ixxix,  Ixxviii,  Ixxxii.  8,  Ixxxix,  38-51. 

3  Psalm  xx.  9. 


276  THE   HEBREWS 

Thothmes  III.,1  and  of  the  Akkadian  hymns,  shows 
us  that  there  is  no  improbability  in  the  Hebrew  state- 
ments which  make  David  the  "  sweet  singer  of  Israel," 
and  no  one  known  to  us  is  more  likely  to  have 
composed  the  beautiful  Psalm  xxiii. — "  The  Lord  is 
my  shepherd."  The  early  psalms  of  the  first  book 
are  songs  of  the  triumph  of  Jehovah — "  Kiss  the 
ground  lest  He  be  angry" — and  of  victory  over  the 
heathen.  They  speak  of  a  "  tabernacle  "  as  well  as 
of  a  temple,  and  of  mingled  trouble  and  prosperity.2 
The  differences  of  language,  style,  and  subject, 
between  these  early  psalms  and  those  of  the  second 
temple  are  sufficient  evidence  of  their  antiquity. 

If  Hebrew  genius  rises  to  its  greatest  height  in 
Job,  and  in  some  of  the  psalms,  it  also  shows  its  most 
poetic  form  in  the  beautiful  "  Song  of  Songs  for 
Solomon."  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  language  of 
this  bridal  ode  is  very  ancient,3  and  it  compares  with 
early  Egyptian  love-songs  as  well  as  with  those  of 
the  Arabs.  The  love  of  nature,  and  the  passion  of 
the  song,  together  make  it  one  of  the  most  notable 
works  in  the  Old  Testament.  Bride  and  bridegroom 
— the  princess  from  Lebanon  and  her  royal  mate — 
answer  one  another  in  turn ;  and  the  ode  used  to  be 
sung  at  Passover  by  choirs  of  men  and  women,  just 
as  such  songs  are  now  sung  at  weddings  in  Palestine. 
The  Book  of  Proverbs  contains  two  collections  of  the 
pithy  sayings  attributed  to  Solomon;  and  in  the 
second — which  the  "  men  of  Hezekiah  copied  out " — 
some  of  these  sayings  are  repeated,  while  the  later 

1  Brugsch,  "  History  of  Egypt,"  1879,  i.  pp.  37°-373- 

*  Psalm  ii.  12,  ix.  15,  20,  xviii.  43,  50,  xxvii.  4,  5. 

3  The  two  words  supposed  to  show  late  date  are,  Pardes  in  iv.  13, 
for  "  Paradise  "  (perhaps  a  mistake  for  Pardath  "  seed  "),  and  Apirion 
in  iii.  9,  for  "  litter"  (as  in  Syriac),  which  may  be  old.  Foreign  words 
due  to  trade  may  easily  be  as  old  as  1000  B.C.,  and  Egoz  ("nut  "),  in 
vi.  n,  is  not  Persian.  Aramaisms  are  no  mark  of  late  date,  as  we 
learn  from  the  Moabite  Stone  and  the  Samala  texts. 


DANIEL  277 

proverbs  of  Agur  are  added,  and  the  beautiful  alpha- 
betic poem  in  honour  of  the  good  wife,  placed  in 
the  mouth  of  a  royal  mother.  But  language  alone  is 
sufficient  to  prove  that  the  "Preacher,"  though  speaking 
in  the  name  of  Solomon,  must  have  lived  in  the  later 
age  of  Persian  rule ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  regard 
the  Book  of  Esther  as  very  strictly  historical,  or  as 
being  certainly  of  contemporary  date. 

The  Jews  have  never  reckoned  Daniel  among  the 
ancient  prophets.  The  book  is  classed  with  later 
works,  and  it  has  been  considered  that  the  Hebrew 
chapters  were  written  not  earlier  than  164  B.C. — by 
critics  who,  as  early  as  our  third  century,  noted  its 
detailed  description  of  the  history  of  the  Seleucidae 
down  to  the  death  in  Elam  of  Antiochus  IV.  These 
chapters  are  now  separated  by  a  long  Aramaic  Targum 
which,  on  account  of  its  allusions  to  Rome,  might  be 
thought  to  be  yet  later.1  But  the  Hebrew  author  had 
evidently  a  very  good  knowledge  of  Babylonian  titles 
and  words  as  well  as  of  Persian,  and  the  later  kings 
of  Assyria  really  kept  caged  lions  in  their  park  to  which 
prisoners  were  thrown,  while  the  names  of  certain 
musical  instruments,  though  known  to  the  Greeks, 
were  not  of  Greek  origin,  but  only  borrowed  words. 

The  three  remaining  books  once  formed  a  single 
chronicle,  which  cannot  have  been  completed  before 
about  330  B.C.2  This  contained  not  only  a  priestly 
history  based  on  the  older  Scriptures,  and  on  docu- 
ments which  are  now  lost,  but  also  the  memoirs  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  (which  are  distinguishable  as 
fragments  by  the  use  of  the  first  person  singular),  with 
quotations  in  Aramaic  apparently  copied  from  royal 
decrees  written  in  cuneiform.  The  latest  books 

1  Dan.  ii.  4,  to  vii.  28.  This  begins  at  the  word  Aramith  "  Aramaic." 
See  also  Ezra  iv.  7,  where  we  read  the  note:  "The  letter  was  in 
Aramean  writing  (probably  cuneiform),  and  the  Targum  is  Aramean." 

1  See  Neh.  xii.  22. 


278  THE   HEBREWS 

admitted  into  the  Jewish  canon  thus  appear  to  be 
compilations  from  old  materials.  But  the  distinction 
between  the  narrative  of  the  later  scribe  and  the 
sources  which  he  quotes  is  clear,  and  no  attempt  is 
made  to  represent  the  work  as  of  more  ancient  date. 
The  language  is  that  of  his  own  age,  and  this  enables 
us  to  show  that  the  Hebrew  of  Solomon's  time  was 
not  that  of  Ezra's  day. 

The  Bible  has  been  severely  criticised  for  nearly 
two  thousand  years.  It  is  the  fate  of  all  the  greatest 
books  in  the  world  to  be  misunderstood  and  con- 
demned by  later  readers  ;  yet  they  remain  as  a  delight 
to  mankind.  Homer  has  been  torn  to  pieces,  but 
Achilles,  Ulysses,  and  Thersites  are  still  alive :  the 
excavations  at  Troy  became  the  grave  of  unscientific 
criticism ;  and  the  papyrus  fragments  of  the  Iliad 
unearthed  in  Egypt  do  not  tend  to  confirm  the  views 
of  Wolf  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Dante  and  Shake- 
speare are  also  the  subjects  of  study  which  is  often 
pedantic ;  and  each  generation  gives  a  new  mis- 
interpretation. But  the  masters  of  mankind  are 
immortal.  It  is  the  same  with  the  Bible,  which  has 
spread  all  over  the  world,  translated  into  every  human 
tongue.  A  sacred  literature  which  is  not  criticised  is 
usually  one  not  read,  or  which  has  become  little  better 
than  a  fetish.  But  each  critic  writes  at  his  own  peril, 
and  is  subject  to  destruction  as  knowledge  increases. 
He  is  gathered  to  his  fathers  on  the  dusty  shelf,  while 
the  great  book  still  remains  unharmed,  and  becomes 
better  understood. 

If  we  go  back  to  the  second  century  we  find  that 
the  Jews  then  denied  that  the  virgin  birth  of  the 
Messiah  was  ever  mentioned  by  Isaiah;1 'and  Jerome 

1  The  word  ^Almah  ("young  woman"  in  Hebrew)  is  rendered 
"virgin"  in  the  Greek,  as  it  now  stands,  in  Isa.  vii.  14.  See  Justin 
Martyr,  "Trypho,"  Ixvii :  Irenaeus,  "  H acres,"  III.  xxi.  i;  Cyril, 
"  Catech.  Lect."  xii.  31;  from  150  to  348  A.D. 


CRITICISM  279 

tells  us  that  Porphyry,  about  250  A.D.,  denied  that 
the  Book  of  Daniel  could  be  older  than  the  age  of 
Antiochus  IV.  The  Rabbis  of  the  second  and  fourth 
centuries  A.D.,  poring  over  their  Scriptures,  were  often 
troubled  by  discrepancies  which  they  dared  not  emend, 
and  had  grave  doubts  whether  the  Song  of  Songs 
and  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  should  be  admitted  into 
the  canon,  and  whether  Ezekiel's  description  of  the 
cherubim  did  not  tend  to  idolatry.1  In  the  West,  after 
the  Gothic  invasion,  Greek  and  Hebrew  were  un- 
studied, and  Latin  gradually  became  a  dead  language. 
The  learning  of  Jerome  had  supplied  an  improved 
Latin  version  of  the  Bible  in  the  fourth  century, 
though  the  Vulgate  was  not  adopted  by  the  Church 
till  about  looo  A.D.,  and  was  afterwards  corrupted 
by  monkish  scribes.  When  the  Bible  was  unread, 
because  no  one  knew  even  Latin  enough  to  read  it, 
criticism  naturally  slept.  But  Saxons  and  Germans, 
from  700  A.D.  downwards,  constantly  attempted  to 
render  parts  at  least  of  the  Scriptures  into  the  vulgar 
tongue ;  and  when  at  length  printed  Bibles  appeared 
the  voice  of  criticism  was  again  heard — a  result  which 
the  Roman  Church  always  foresaw  to  be  inevitable. 
Grotius2  in  the  seventeenth  century  wrote  on  the 
truth  of  Christianity,  but  he  condemned  the  Song  of 
Solomon,  like  many  of  his  predecessors,  and  considered 
that  Ecclesiastes  was  written  after  the  return  from 
captivity.  A  century  later  the  Bible  was  attacked 
by  Voltaire,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  criticisms 
which  are  often  supposed  to  be  quite  recent  dis- 
coveries. Voltaire  was  the  foe  of  the  superstition 
and  priestcraft  of  an  age  of  tyranny,  but  he  tells  us 
that  he  accepted  Christ  as  his  only  Master.  He  had, 
however,  a  deep  prejudice  against  the  Jews,  and  he 
imagined  that  the  Hebrews,  before  the  Persian  age, 

1  Mishnah,  Yadaim,  in.  5 ;  Tal.  Bab.  Sabbath,  13,  b. 
*  Grotius,  "  De  Veritate  Religionis  Christianae,"  1636. 


28o  THE   HEBREWS 

were  only  ignorant  bandits  without  either  laws  or 
letters.1  He  quotes  with  approbation  the  criticism  of 
David's  sins  published  by  Bayle  in  1696 ;  he  says— 
quite  wrongly — that  the  Jews  themselves  stated  the 
Pentateuch  not  to  have  been  known  till  the  time  of 
king  Josiah,  and  believes  that  Deuteronomy  must  have 
been  written  late.  He  tells  us  that  Newton  and 
Leclerc  believed  the  Pentateuch  to  be  the  work  of 
Samuel,  "  when  the  Jews  had  a  little  knowledge  of 
reading  and  writing ;  and  that  all  these  histories  are 
imitations  of  Syrian  fables."  He  anticipates  the 
numerical  difficulties  of  Colenso;  he  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  ideas  of  Astruc,  and  with  the  absurd 
theory  of  Jacobi  (published  in  1771)  about  the  Song 
of  Songs,  which  was  derived  from  observations  by 
Ibn  Ezra  in  our  twelfth  century,  and  has  since  been 
elaborated  by  Renan,  Ewald,  and  Delitzsch,  but  which 
showed  an  entire  want  of  acquaintance  with  Hebrew 
customs,  substituting  an  European  drama  for  a  Semitic 
bridal  ode. 

Jean  Astruc  was  a  well-known  French  physician, 
the  son  of  a  converted  Protestant  minister,  and  born 
at  Sauve,  in  Languedoc,  on  March  19,  1684.  His 
famous  "  Conjectures "  on  the  Pentateuch,2  published 
at  Paris  in  1753,  were  hurriedly  withdrawn  six  years 
later,  as  likely  to  compromise  Silhouette,  the  son-in-law 
of  Astruc,  when  about  to  be  made  Controleur  General 
by  Louis  XV.  All  copies  of  the  work  that  could  be 
found  were  burnt  by  the  author,  and  it  is  therefore 
now  very  rare.  Astruc  was  the  first  to  see  that  the 
various  episodes  in  Genesis  can  be  distinguished  by 
the  use  of  the  divine  names  Elohim  and  Jehovah  ; 
but  he  assumed  (consciously  or  not)  that  these  should 
be  taken  as  given  in  the  modern  Hebrew  text.  Any 

1  "Dictionnaire  Philosophique,"  published  1764. 
*  Conjectures  sur  les  Memoires  originaux  dont  il  parait  que  Moyse 
s'est  servi  pour  composer  le  livre  de  la  Genese,  1753. 


EICHHORN  281 

theorist  who  now  desired  to  elaborate  a  new  view 
might  obtain  quite  different  results  by  following  the 
Greek  of  the  Septuagint ;  for  there  is  perhaps  no 
point  in  which  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  Genesis 
differ  more  often  than  in  the  use  of  these  words. 
We  see,  therefore,  that  modern  criticism  of  the  Old 
Testament  first  arose  among  those  who  formed,  with 
Diderot  and  others,  the  party  of  the  Encyclopedic, 
which  was  then  (1751  to  1765)  just  beginning  to 
appear.  French  criticism  was  adopted  later  by  the 
German  universities,  but  it  originated  with  Voltaire 
and  Astruc  as  disciples  of  Bayle. 

Astruc's  theory  was  adopted  by  Johann  Gottfried 
Eichhorn,  the  learned  professor  of  Oriental  languages 
at  Gottingen,  in  1787  ;l  and  about  the  same  time 
Gesenius,  at  Halle,  was  advocating  critical  views, 
such  as  the  distinction  of  a  second  author  in  the  Book 
of  Isaiah.  Both  scholars  possessed  a  really  profound 
knowledge  of  text  and  language,  but  it  is  instructive 
to  read  the  work  of  Eichhorn — now  so  obsolete — since 
we  see  that  a  tendency  to  dogmatise  on  very  doubtful 
premises. is  accompanied  by  that  entire  ignorance  of 
Eastern  antiquities  which  was  inevitable  in  his  days. 
He  admits  that  Asia  is  "little  known  to  us,"  and 
thinks  that  the  "  entire  literature"  of  Egypt,  Phoenicia, 
and  Babylon  had  perished.  He  speaks  of  the  "  general 
reading  of  the  people,"  and  of  a  Hebrew  "popular 
text-book,"  being  apparently  unaware  that  only  a 
very  special  class  of  scribes  could  then  read  or  write 
at  all.  The  determination  of  date  and  authorship  he 
makes  to  depend  on  the  "  finest  operations  of  the 
higher  criticism."  Many  of  these  errors  survive  in 
the  criticism  of  to-day,  and  the  presumption  of  the 
first  critics — a  century  and  a  half  ago — is  still  to  be 
marked  in  the  tone  of  academic  assertions.  Eichhorn 
knew  nothing  of  archaeology  as  now  studied.  He 
1  "Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament,"  1787. 


282  THE   HEBREWS 

thought  that  the  oldest  documents  must  have  been 
scrolls  of  linen  or  of  skins :  "  For  all  other  writing 
materials  besides  these  were  either  unknown  to  the 
old  world,  or  of  use  only  in  other  lands  too  remote 
from  Palestine."  Thus  he  tignores  all  the  allusions 
to  tablets  of  clay  and  of  stone  which  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Old  Testament.  He  doubts  whether  Moses 
wrote  in  square  Hebrew,  or  in  an  alphabet  like  that 
of  the  Jewish  coins  of  the  second  century  B.C.,  which 
were  the  oldest  characters  then  known.  He  says 
that  Jerome  "  imagined  "  the  letter  Tau  to  have  had 
the  shape  of  a  cross  among  the  Samaritans.  But 
Jerome  knew  the  fact,  and  Eichhorn  did  not.  He 
asserts  that  the  ancients  wrote  without  any  division 
between  words,  whereas  the  Moabite  Stone,  and  the 
Siloam  Inscription,  divide  each  word  from  the  next 
by  dots. 

The  older  critical  school  supposed  the  Pentateuch 
to  consist  of  four  or  five  documents  by  different 
authors,  and  claimed  that  these  could  be  easily 
distinguished.  But  a  deeper  examination  showed 
connections  that  were  at  first  overlooked,  and  the 
clash  of  opinions  gradually  led  to  the  abandonment 
of  Astruc's  criterion,  and  to  the  supposition  that  the 
ancient  fragments  incorporated  by  a  later  compiler 
could  not  always  be  separated  with  certainty.  The 
idea  that  the  supposed  marks  of  date,  and  dis- 
crepancies, might  be  due  to  small  glosses  and  altera- 
tions by  generations  of  scribes  down  to  the  seventh 
century  A.D.,  does  not  seem  to  have  suggested  itself 
to  the  advocates  of  a  theory  of  "  editing  "  which  is 
quite  contrary  to  anything  that  we  know  of  the  habits 
of  the  more  ancient  copyists,  in  the  times  when 
documents  were  of  a  more  durable  nature  than  later 
parchment  scrolls.  An  instance  has  been  already 
given  where  a  false  theory  of  date  has  been  founded 
on  the  blunder  of  a  copyist,  writing  after  the  establish- 


CRITICAL  ERRORS  283 

ment  of  a  standard  text  by  the  Rabbis  of  Palestine 
whom  Jerome  consulted. 

Even  the  more  recent  schools  of  criticism  have 
failed  to  appreciate  the  revolution  that  has  been 
brought  about  by  antiquarian  discoveries  in  the  East 
They  repeat  the  old  theories  of  a  prescientific  age, 
and  they  are  often  misled  by  taking  their  information 
second-hand  from  popular  works  on  archaeology. 
The  criticism  of  the  last  century  and  a  half  has 
naturally  suffered  from  several  disabilities.  In  the 
first  place,  there  are  no  ancient  manuscripts,  or  other 
documents,  known  to  exist  to  guide  the  student  of 
the  text.  Hence  there  is  no  curb  that  can  be  placed 
on  speculation  as  to  the  original  reading.  In  the 
second  place,  the  critical  writers  have,  as  a  rule,  had 
no  personal  acquaintance  with  Eastern  life.  In  the 
third,  they  have  had  no  special  knowledge  of  modern 
archaeology,  or  of  the  reading  of  Egyptian  and  cunei- 
form texts;  and  finally,  they  have  been  unable  to 
escape  from  the  atmosphere  of  prejudice  and  suspicion 
which  was  created  by  the  ignorance  of  the  French 
school,  who  always  attributed  to  the  Hebrew  writers 
the  same  vices,  of  motive,  and  of  priestcraft,  which 
influenced  the  corrupt  Church  against  which  they 
fought.  Future  criticism,  while  accepting  fully  the 
results  of  actual  discovery,  is  likely  to  be  far  less 
dogmatic,  and  far  more  sympathetic.  At  its  best 
criticism  is,  at  present,  speculative,  and  has  no  claim 
to  be  regarded  as  truly  scientific ;  while  at  its  worst 
it  has  become  pedantic,  and  appeals  to  authority  and 
reputation  rather  than  to  logical  argument. 

But  we  do  not  read  the  Bible  with  the  object  of 
picking  holes  in  it,  or  of  discrediting  its  claims  to  our 
affection  and  admiration.  The  truths  that  it  proclaims 
are  so  simple  that  the  least  learned  can  understand  all 
that  is  most  worth  learning  from  its  pages.  It  is  not 
a  book  for  specialists  or  for  priests,  but  one  which 


284  THE   HEBREWS 

appeals  throughout  to  the  human  heart  and  under- 
standing. 

It  matters  little  to  us  now  who  were  the  actual 
authors.  We  are  not  interested  in  the  exact  dates,  or 
in  the  petty  wars  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  ; 
but  only  in  the  ruin  which  the  Hebrews  suffered 
because  they  would  not  listen  to  their  great  teachers. 
We  have  ceased  to  care  about  the  sacrifices,  and  are 
only  appreciative  of  the  higher  teaching  of  prophets 
and  psalmists  who  held  sacrifice  to  be  vain.  The 
Hebrews  had  a  gift  of  vivid  and  simple  narrative 
which  is  not  equalled  by  even  the  best  Babylonian 
literature  ;  and  Genesis  will  always  remain  a  fascinat- 
ing picture  of  early  Eastern  life ;  while  the  beautiful 
story  of  Joseph  would  suffice  by  itself  to  make  the 
Book  immortal,  as  would  the  narrative  of  Samuel's 
childhood,  or  the  simple  idyll  of  Ruth.  The  story  of 
the  Shunamite  mother,  in  Kings,  might  be  a  description 
of  peasant  life  in  the  Palestine  of  to-day.  The  Psalms 
have  perhaps  had  more  power  over  human  hearts  than 
anything  that  was  ever  written  by  man.  The  Book  of 
Job  teaches  us  the  humble  trust  in  Providence  which 
distinguished  the  Hebrew  :  and  the  "  Preacher,"  who 
commends  to  us  the  simple  joys  of  home,  and  exhorts 
us  to  remember  God  in  the  days  of  our  youth,  was 
not  the  weary  worldling  that  those  who  suppress  his 
moral  would  have  us  suppose.  It  is  for  the  sake 
of  these  things  that  men  read  the  English  Bible. 

The  Bible  teaching  as  to  God,  the  soul,  the  resurrec- 
tion, and  the  Messiah,  requires  to  be  studied  in  the 
Old  Testament  if  we  are  to  understand  what  the  Jews 
believed  in  the  time  of  our  Lord.  We  may  well 
suppose  that  to  the  average  Hebrew,  before  the  Cap- 
tivity, Jehovah  was  little  more  than  the  national  Baal 
— a  sun  god  adored  with  the  image  of  a  calf.  But 
it  is  with  the  belief  of  the  great  prophets  who 
denounced  an  idolatrous  nation  that  we  are  really 


EVIL  285 

concerned ;  and  we  look  in  vain  to  either  Egypt,  or 
Babylonia,  for  Monotheism  like  that  of  the  Decalogue 
and  of  the  poetic  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  The 
command,  "  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  god  before  Me," 
develops  into  the  definite  declaration  that  there  is 
no  other  God :  "  for  there  is  no  saviour  beside  Me." 
"  There  is  none  else,  no  god  beside  Me."  "  I  form  the 
light  and  create  darkness,  I  make  peace  and  create 
evil." l  "  Shall  there  be  evil  in  a  city  and  Jehovah 
hath  not  done  it?"  "Whom  Jehovah  loveth  He 
correcteth."  "  Jehovah  hath  made  all  for  Himself,  yea, 
even  the  wicked  for  the  day  of  evil."  "  The  lot  is  cast 
into  the  lap,  but  the  whole  disposing  thereof  is  of 
Jehovah." 3  "  The  fear  of  Adonai,  that  is  Wisdom." 
"  The  Almighty,  we  cannot  find  Him  out " ;  "  such 
knowledge  is  too  wonderful  for  me  "  ;  yet — "  Like  as  a 
father  pitieth  his  children,  so  Jehovah  pitieth  them 
that  fear  Him." 3 

In  the  days  of  Saul  and  of  Ahab  the  evil  spirit  was 
said  to  have  been  sent  by  God  as  well  as  the  good 
spirit ;  and  when,  in  later  times,  the  name  of  the  Satan 
or  "  enemy "  appears,4  it  is  as  a  recording  angel  that 
he  enters  the  council  on  high,  to  report  of  Job  that  he 
is  "  naked  to  the  skin — yet  all  that  a  man  hath  will  he 
give  for  his  life."  The  mediaeval  devil  was  not  the 
Satan  of  the  Bible.  He  was  the  Norse  Loki,  the 
mischievous  god  of  "  fire,"  and  of  hell,  the  Slav  Zerne- 
bog  or  "  black  god,"  who  was  the  Persian  Angro- 
mainyus  or  "  angry  mind."  Europe  in  the  dark  ages 
lived  in  fear  of  an  arch  fiend  whom  the  later  Gnostics 
had  identified  with  Jehovah.  But  such  superstition, 
though  found  also  among  the  Jews  when  infected  by 

1  Hos.  xiii.  4  ;  Isa.  xlv.  5-7. 

1  Amos  iii.  6  ;  Isa.  xlv.  7 ;  Prov.  Hi.   12,  xvi.  4,  33. 

3  Job  xxviii.  28,  xxxvii.  23  ;  Psalm  cxxxix.  6,  ciii.  13. 

4  i  Sam.  xviii.    10;    i  Kings  xxii.  21;   Zech.    iii.    I  ;    Job   ii.   4; 
i  Chron.  xxi.  i. 


286  THE   HEBREWS 

Babylonian  sorcery,  is  not  the  teaching  of  the  great 
writers  of  Israel. 

The  Hebrews,  like  all  their  contemporaries,  believed 
in  a  Hades  which  was  a  land  of  shades — a  Sheol  or 
"  hollow  place,"  which  was  not  a  place  of  torment 
save  for  the  wicked  who  were  judged  under  the  ocean  : 
"for  their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall  their  fire 
be  quenched  "  "  Small  and  great  are  there  "  ;  but 
"  there  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  there  the 
weary  are  at  rest."  To  Sheol  the  powerful  must 
descend  as  Rephaim  or  ghosts — "  all  the  he  goats  on 
earth  " — and  ancient  heroes  sleep,  as  "  they  have  laid 
their  swords  under  their  heads  "  :  for  death  and  Sheol 
are  insatiable.1  But  even  in  Isaiah  the  idea  of  immor- 
tality also  appears,  and  Job's  despair  gradually  gives 
place  to  hope.  "  For  there  is  hope  of  a  tree  that  is 
pruned  .  .  .  through  the  smell  of  water  it  will  bud, 
and  bring  forth  boughs  as  a  plant.  ...  If  a  strong 
man  die  shall  he  live  ?  All  my  allotted  days  will  I 
wait  till  my  change  come."  "  I  know  my  champion 
is  living,  and  will  stand  up  hereafter  over  the  dust; 
and  this  after  they  have  destroyed  my  body ;  also 
from  my  flesh  I  shall  gaze  on  God."  But  the  wicked 
is  not  "  gathered  " ;  he  is  blown  away  by  the  tempest 
(as  the  Persians  taught),  while  the  righteous  "shall 
be  satisfied,"  beholding  God's  face.2 

According  to  the  ancient  belief  each  soul  was  judged 
when  it  died,  and  the  expectation  of  a  future  judgment 
day  is  found  only  after  the  Hebrews  came  in  contact 
with  the  Persians.  The  ancient  belief  in  the  "  branch  " 
of  the  house  of  David,  and  in  the  prophet  to  come  in 
future,  also  changed  gradually,  under  the  same  in- 

1  Gen.  xxxvii.  35  ;  Num.  xvi.  30;  Job  xxvi.  5,  6,  xxxvi.  30-31  ;  Isa. 
Ixvi.  24;  Job  iii.  17;  Isa.  v.  14,  xiv.  9-11;  Ezek.  xxxii.  18-31; 
Hab.  ii.  5. 

*  Isa.  xxvi.  19  ;  Job  xiv.  7-15,  xix.  26,  xxvii.  19  ;  Psalm  i.  4, 
xvii.  15  ;  Dan.  xii.  2  ;  Joel  iii.  2-14. 


JOB  287 

fluence,  into  the  expectation  of  the  mysterious  Messiah 
or  "  anointed  one."  The  Prince  Messiah  was  cut  off 
when  the  Idumaean  Antipater  usurped  the  power  of 
the  Hasmonean  priest-king ;  but  Israel  did  not  cease 
to  hope  for  the  coming  of  a  Son  of  Man  with  the 
clouds  of  heaven,  and  for  a  future  kingdom  of  God 
after  a  time  of  trouble.1 

iii.  Later  Books. — The  Jews  considered  that  their 
inspired  books  ceased  with  the  last  prophets  in  the 
time  of  Ezra ;  and  though,  when  they  fixed  the  canon 
of  Scripture  at  Tiberias  after  the  fall  of  Bether  in 
135  A.D.,  they  admitted  some  works  that  were  con- 
siderably later,  they  excluded  many  others  (written  in 
Aramaic  or  in  Greek)  which  belong  to  the  Greek  and 
Herodian  ages.  Some  of  these,  however,  are  of  high 
importance  to  an  understanding  of  Jewish  thought 
and  history  about  the  Christian  Era. 

Hebrew  philosophy  may  be  said  to  begin  with  the 
Book  of  Job ;  and  the  beautiful  passage  in  which 
Wisdom  is  personified  was  the  germ  of  a  large 
literature.  The  problem  of  evil  is  solved  in  this  noble 
work  by  resignation  to  God's  will.  Neither  Job  nor 
any  of  his  friends  can  understand  his  chastisement, 
nor  does  Jehovah  reveal  the  reason  ;  but  we  are  asked 
whether  He  whose  Providence  extends  to  the  hinds 
of  the  desert  and  the  ravens;  whose  power  controls 
the  mightiest  beasts  dreaded  by  man,  and  created  the 
stars  of  old,  will  without  reason  afflict  an  humble 
servant,  or  unjustly  smite  the  innocent.  God  is  silent : 
and  it  is  man  who  boasts  and  babbles  in  vain.  When, 
however,  we  turn  to  the  Book  of  Wisdom,  which  was 
written  perhaps  in  the  second  century  B.C.,  we  see  that 
a  work  so  deeply  influenced  by  Persian  and  Greek 

1  Isa.  iv.  2;  Jer.  xxiii.  5;  Zech.  iii.  8,  vi.  12;  Isa.  xlv.  i; 
Mai.  iii.  i,  iv.  5  ;  Dan.  ix.  26  (giving  probably  a  date  47  B.C.) ; 
Dan.  vii.  13. 


288  THE  HEBREWS 

philosophy  was  not  likely  to  have  been  included  in 
the  Canon  of  Palestine,  but  belongs  rather  to  the 
school  of  Philo.  Even  the  earlier  work  of  Jesus  Ben 
Sira  (perhaps  written  in  210  B.C.),  while  imitating  Job 
in  the  personification  of  Wisdom,  includes  a  peculiar 
doctrine  of  creation  "  in  general "  which  suggests  the 
"  ideas "  of  Plato.1  It  is  still  a  subject  of  dispute 
whether  the  Hebrew  original  of  Ecclesiasticus  has 
been  recovered ;  but,  even  if  written  in  Hebrew,  such 
a  doctrine  is  foreign,  and  recalls  the  Persian  belief  in 
prototypes  which  we  also  find  in  India. 

In  the  Book  of  Wisdom  we  find  adopted  the  Persian 
dualism2 — though  not  very  consistently — and  the 
Persian  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  just  (who  are 
called  "  sons  of  God  "  after  the  old  Babylonian  manner) 
is  contrasted  with  Greek  scepticism.3  "  Their  going 
from  us  is  a  disaster ;  but  they  are  at  peace."  The 
idea  of  probation,  whereby  they  are  "  soon  perfected," 4 
recalls  at  once  Buddhist  philosophy  and  that  of  the 
Republic ;  but  the  fate  of  the  wicked  is  to  be  blown 
away  by  the  tempest — an  ancient  Persian  idea.  The 
doctrine  of  the  soul  imprisoned  in  a  corruptible  body, 
and  that  of  the  Spirit  of  God  "  in  all,"  remind  us  of 
Plato ;  but  the  writer's  claim  to  have  studied  "  the 
power  of  spirits  "  takes  us  back  to  Akkadian  magic.8 
Like  Philo,  he  allegorises  the  Old  Testament,  and 
introduces  the  idea  of  "  types  "  which  still  survives. 
But  he  rises  to  the  noble  thought  that  true  Wisdom  is 
Love.6 

Another  work  which  is  yet  more  deeply  influenced 
by  Persian  ideas  is  the  Book  of  Enoch,  which  was 
probably  compiled  as  early  as  the  time  of  Herod  the 
Great.  The  introductory  chapters,  and  the  first  vision, 
include  accounts  of  natural  phenomena,  of  the  war  in 

1  Ecclus.  i.  5,  xxiv.  3,  xviii.  i.       4  Wisdom  iv.  5, 13, 1 6,  v.  23,  viii.  20. 
*  Wisdom  i.  13,  ii.  24,  xviii.  16.     5  Ibid.  ix.  15,  xii.  I,  vii.  20. 
3  Ibid.  ii.  1-24,  iii.  2,  3.  6  Ibid,  xviii.  24,  i.  6,  vi.  17,  18. 


THE  APOCRYPHA  289 

heaven,  of  guardian  genii,  and  of  a  sacred  tree,  which 
find  their  counterparts  in  the  Bundahish.1  The 
Messianic  belief  in  a  "  Son  of  Man  " — concealed  and  to 
come  in  the  last  days — may  be  founded  on  Daniel,  but 
closely  resembles  Persian  expectations  as  to  Sosiosh.2 
The  statement  that  the  longest  day  is  double  the 
length  of  the  shortest  night  seems  to  be  directly 
borrowed  from  the  Bundahish 3 ;  and  Satan 4  is  no 
longer  the  recording  angel  but  the  evil  god  of  the 
Persians.  To  the  same  age  belong  some  of  the 
Sibylline  Oracles,  the  Psalms  of  Solomon,  and  other 
works,  in  which  the  Messianic  conceptions  of  various 
schools  are  elaborated.6  The  vision  of  Esdras,  though 
perhaps  touched  up  by  a  Christian  copyist,  apparently 
represents  Jewish  belief  about  100  A.D.  This  work 
also  is  throughout  clearly  influenced  by  Persian  ex- 
pectations as  to  the  future,  and  by  Persian  ideas  of 
science.  Though  worthless  as  history  it  has  influenced 
Christian  thought  more  than  might  be  supposed ;  and 
the  legend  of  the  ten  tribes,  with  the  dogma  of  the 
fall,  are  perhaps  first  traceable  in  its  pages.6  Another 
work  which  is  influenced  by  Persia  is  the  legend  of 
of  Tobit;  and  Asmodeus  (the  Ashmedai  of  the 
Talmud)  is  the  Persian  Aeshma-deva  or  "  demon  of 
wrath." 7  This  introduction  of  foreign  ideas,  which 
distinguishes  Hebrew  literature  during  the  Persian 
and  Greek  ages,  is  equally  notable  in  the  writings  of 
the  Pharisees  and  of  Philo.  The  Sadducee  was  the 
orthodox  Jew,  whose  beliefs  were  founded  on  the  Law 
and  Prophets ;  but  the  Pharisee's  imagination  was 
powerfully  excited  by  Persian  mythology ;  while  the 

Enoch  i.-xxxvi. 

Ibid,  xlv.-xlix. 

Ibid.  Ixxii.  14  ;  Bundahish,  xxv.  4. 

Ibid.  liv.  6,  xl.  7. 

See  Drummond,  "Jewish  Messiah,"  1877. 

2  Esdras  iii.  21,  xiii.  40. 

Tobit  iii.  17  ;  Tal.  Bab.,  Gittin,  68,  a,  b. 

'9 


290  THE  HEBREWS 

philosophic  Jews  of  Egypt  are  represented  by  Philo, 
who  sought  to  reconcile  the  Hebrew  personification  of 
Wisdom  with  the  Greek  Logos.  Thus,  in  our  second 
century,  we  find  Judaism  developing  in  two  directions, 
as  well  as  crystallising  into  Rabbinical  formalism 
which  presents  an  exact  parallel  to  that  of  the  later 
Persian  priests.  In  Palestine  the  severity  of  the  Law 
is  tempered  by  Pharisaic  belief  in  immortality,  and  the 
vast  wilderness  of  the  Talmud  preserves  superstitions 
which  revert  to  the  old  Babylonian  magic,  though 
noble  thoughts  and  tender  sayings  shine  here  and 
there  as  gems  amid  the  rubbish  heaps  of  corruption. 
In  Egypt,  on  the  other  hand,  Judaism  becomes 
broader  and  more  philosophic,  developing  the  school 
which  Maimonides  represented  in  our  thirteenth 
century,  and  which  culminates  in  the  Theism  of 
Spinoza. 

The  Mishnah,  or  "  Second  Law,"  was  the  last 
Hebrew  book — compiled  by  the  Rabbis  of  Tiberias 
in  our  second  century.1  It  came  to  be  regarded  two 
centuries  later  as  an  inspired  work,  but  its  original 
intention  was  to  "  make  a  hedge  about  the  Torah." 
Its  language  is  full  of  Greek  and  Latin  words,  which 
show  us  that  the  Jews  were  not  only  living  under 
Roman  governors,  and  influenced  by  foreign  law, 
science,  and  medicine,  but  were  also  trading  with 
Gentiles,  and  observing  their  Law  under  great  diffi- 
culties, surrounded  as  they  were  by  Paganism,  both 
Syrian  and  Greek.  Their  detestation  of  Greek  philo- 
sophy was  especially  roused  by  the  Epicurean 
sceptics.2  Many  strange  superstitions  were  creeping 
in ;  and  the  egg  of  a  locust,  the  tooth  of  a  fox,  or  the 
nail  of  one  crucified,  were  used  as  charms3;  but  on 

1  See  the  edition  of  Surenhuse  in  3  vols.  folio,  Hebrew  and  Latin, 
with  the  commentaries  of  Maimonides  and  Bartenora,  1698. 
s  Sanhedrin,  xi.  I ;  Beracoth,  ix.  5. 
1  Sabbath,  vi.  10. 


THE  MISHNAH  291 

the  other  hand  many  noble  words  are  preserved  in  the 
"  Sayings  of  the  Fathers."  The  Hebrew  still  spoke  of 
his  "  Father  in  heaven " ;  and  Antigonus  of  Socho 
(about  270  B.C.)  was  remembered  still  as  having  said, 
"  Be  not  as  servants  who  serve  their  master  for  sake 
of  reward."  Rabbi  Jose  said,  "  Let  thy  house  be  wide 
open,  and  let  the  poor  be  thy  children."  The  great 
Hillel  commanded  the  Jews  to  "love  mankind";  and 
Rabbi  Tarphon,  the  antagonist  of  Justin  Martyr  (about 
135  A.D.),  warned  them  that  "the  day  is  short;  the 
labour  vast ;  but  the  labourers  slothful :  the  reward 
is  great,  and  the  Master  of  the  House  presses  for 
despatch."1 

The  Mishnah  was  commented  on  at  Jerusalem  in 
the  fourth  century,  and  at  Babylon  later.2  The 
Babylonian  Talmud,  especially,  is  remarkable  for  the 
strange  superstitions  which  infected  Judaism  under 
the  influence  of  the  ancient  animistic  beliefs  of 
surrounding  nations.  It  is  true  that  much  of  the 
ancient  spirit  of  gentle  piety  still  survived  among 
Jews  who  were  becoming  degraded  by  oppression. 
The  petitions  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  find  their  counter- 
part in  this  Aramaic  commentary  on  the  Mishnah 3 — 
"  Pardon  and  redeem  us,  and  take  us  out  of  trouble  "  ; 
"  Thy  will  be  done  in  heaven  above  " :  these  are  the 
petitions  of  the  Jews  to  their  "  Father  who  is  in 
heaven."  But  side  by  side  with  these  we  find  the  old 
Persian  beliefs :  the  soul  sits  on  the  grave  for  a  month 
after  death4;  the  doctrine  of  transmigration  is  taught6; 
legends  are  borrowed  and  applied  to  Hebrew  heroes  ; 
Samson's  stride  recalls  that  of  Vishnu ;  Adam  is 
bisexual,  like  the  Persian  first  being.6  The  terrible 

1  Sotah,  viii.  15  ;  Pirke  Aboth,  i.  3,  5,  12,  ii.  15. 
1  "Talmud  de  Babylone,"  Chiarini,  1831. 

*  Ibid.  Beracoth,  29,  a,  £,  35,  b. 
4  Founded  on  Job  xiv.  22. 

4  Tal.  Bab.,  Baba  Kama,  16,  a  ;  Sanhedrin,  67,  b. 

*  Ibid.  Sotah)  9,  b  ;  Erubin>  18,  a  ;   Yebamoth,  63,  a. 


292  THE   HEBREWS 

Lilith,  who  devours  infants,  is  the  Babylonian  Lilitu — 
a  word  derived  from  the  Akkadian  lil,  "ghost."  The 
Jew  must  bury  his  nail-parings  just  like  the  Persian, 
lest  they  should  be  used  to  harm  him  by  witches.1 
The  ubiquity  and  malignity  of  demons  is  a  subject  of 
constant  discussion.  They  are  winged,  and  listen 
behind  the  veil  to  the  secrets  of  heaven ;  they  eat, 
drink,  and  are  born  and  die  like  men.  The  ashes  of  a 
black  cat  rubbed  on  the  eyes  make  them  visible. 
They  have  the  claws  of  birds  like  Akkadian  devils.2 
The  old  superstition  of  the  evil  eye  is  credited 3 ;  and 
the  dead  are  supposed  conscious  of  all  that  the  living 
do,  and  may  be  heard  talking  in  their  graves,  whence 
they  issue  if  not  buried  in  matting.4  The  Rabbis  fly 
to  heaven  by  aid  of  the  power  they  possess  as  know- 
ing the  Name  of  God.5  Many  Aryan  legends  are 
adopted,  and  fables  of  ^Esop  appear  in  Jewish  garb — 
the  old  and  young  wife,  the  fox  and  the  wolf,  the  ring 
swallowed  by  a  fish,  and  the  fox's  advice  to  the  fishes, 
are  among  them.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  such 
literature  belongs  to  the  same  people  who  produced 
Judah  Halevi,  the  poet  and  pilgrim  of  the  eleventh 
century,  and  Spinoza,  the  disciple  of  Maimonides  in 
the  seventeenth — the  humble  optician  cast  out  of  the 
synagogue,  whose  thought  still  influences  Europe,  but 
whose  God  is  the  God  of  the  Book  of  Wisdom,  of 
Philo,  and  of  Paul.  In  studying  the  religion  of  any 
race  we  must  remember  the  highest  ideals  attained 
as  well  as  the  lowest  depths  to  which  it  may  sink. 
To  us  the  faith  of  the  Hebrews  is  of  primary  im- 
portance, because  on  it  is  founded  the  faith  of 
Christendom. 

1  Tal.  Bab.,  Moed  Katon,  18,  a. 

*  Ibid.  Hagiga,  16,  a  ;  Beracoth,  6,  a. 

9  Ibid.  Beracoth,  35,  b.        4  Ibid.  18,  b.        5  Ibid.  51,  a. 


CHAPTER  VI 

HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

i.  Original. — Simplicity  is  the  seal  of  truth  ;  and 
Christianity  is  the  simplest  of  faiths.  It  teaches  us 
trust  in  Providence,  and  good-will  to  men.  Philo- 
sophers from  Cicero  to  Herbert  Spencer  have 
grumbled  because  the  rain  fell  into  the  sea  and  not 
on  the  desert,  and  because  certain  animals  feed  on 
others.  "  Love  your  enemies "  is  a  hard  saying  to 
ignorant  and  half-savage  man,  though  Buddha  also 
said  that  hate  is  not  overcome  by  hate  but  only  by 
love.  Yet  all  that  is  best  in  the  progress  of  the  world 
has  been  due  to  true  Christianity. 

But  the  history  of  Christianity  closely  resembles 
that  of  Buddhism,  and  after  two  centuries  of  growth 
long  ages  of  corruption  followed.  What  is  called 
"  development "  is  often  only  reversion  to  old  super- 
stition. The  brilliant  hues  of  the  sunset  are  more 
splendid  than  the  pure  light  of  noonday ;  but  they 
herald  the  night  that  is  to  follow.  Christianity,  how- 
ever, has  shown  a  power  of  re-formation,  and 
expansion,  in  accord  with  the  increase  of  true  know- 
ledge, which  Buddhism  has  not  shown  itself  to  possess. 
The  teaching  of  Jesus  was  not  an  esoteric  philosophy 
for  the  few,  but  a  religion  that  appealed  to  the 
simplest  and  the  wisest  alike.  In  the  south  of  Pales- 
tine, among  the  "Jews"  or  Judeans,  the  creed  of 
priests  and  rulers  was  symbolised  by  the  huge  half- 
Greek  fane  at  Jerusalem,  with  its  sacrifices  and  tithes, 

293 


294  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

its  anointed  pontiff,  and  sacred  caste  of  Levites.     But 
Christianity  rose  from  the  deep  lake  among  barren 
crags  in  the  north,  and  its  voice  was  like  the  croon 
of  the  doves  in  the  oak  woods  of  Galilee.     Its  first 
apostles  were  humble  fishermen  who — as  the  Gospels 
tell  us— were  unable  to  understand  even  the  simplest 
parables  till  explained   to  them.      "  There    standeth 
one  among  you  whom  ye  know  not"1  was  as  true 
when   spoken   by  the   Baptist   as  it   still  is.     When 
Jesus  said   "  the  damsel  is    not  dead  but  sleepeth," 
they  laughed   Him  to   scorn.2     He  forbade  them  to 
announce  that  He  was  the  Messiah,  yet  they  continued 
to  believe  that  He  would  become  a  king,  and  carried 
Him  to  the  temple  in  triumph.     He  laid  down  His 
life  for  His  friends  saying,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  age."    They  believed   that  the  day  of  triumph 
had  come,  though  He  told  them  that  all  would  forsake 
Him  on  the  morrow.     They  expected  that  He  would 
be  accepted  by  all,  though  He  said  that  His  teaching 
would  grow  as  the  tree  grows  from  a  seed,  and  that 
it  would  be  like  the  corn,  with  tares  among  it,  to  the 
end.      Most  of   our  difficulties    are  created    by  the 
greatness  of  the  Master  not  being  truly  understood 
by  those  who  loved  Him  as  their  friend.     He  foresaw 
that  His  teaching  must  bring  "  not  peace,  but  a  sword," 
because  it  was  to  "  overcome  evil  with  good."    When 
we  analyse  that  teaching  we  find  it  to  be  expressed 
in  not  more  than  eighty  parables,  short  sayings,  and 
poetic    symbols.      Yet    these   have  sunk  into  men's 
hearts  till  they  have  overcome  the  world.     Many  were 
not    new — for    the    good    householder    brings    forth 
"things    new  and    old  "—and   the    golden    rule,   the 
narrow  path,  the  Father  in  heaven,  were  known  to 
Hillel  before  our  Lord  was  born.     But  a  faith  fit  for 
all  mankind  could  not  spring  from  the  limitations  of 
the  Law  as  understood  at  Jerusalem.    The  mother 
1  John  i.  26.  *  Mark  v.  39. 


PAUL  295 

of  Jesus  was  the  cousin  of  a  priest's  wife ;  and  His 
knowledge  of  Hebrew,  and  of  the  Scriptures,  can  only 
have  been  gained  by  lessons  of  which  we  have  no 
record.  But  in  the  mountain  home  of  the  north  He 
learned  the  spirit  of  the  ancient  Law,  unfettered  by 
the  "  traditions  of  men  "  that  made  it  of  no  effect.  He 
did  not  command  men  to  break  with  their  religion,  or 
to  rebel  against  Caesar ;  but  to  those  who  heard  the 
word,  and  forgot  the  law  of  love,  He  said,  as  He  says 
now  :  "  Why  call  ye  Me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the 
things  which  I  say  ? "  "  If  ye  love  Me,  keep  My 
commandments."1 

The  first  witness  of  Christianity,  the  first  missionary 
to  spread  the  law  of  love  beyond  the  narrow  borders 
of  Palestine,  the  first  to  preach  it  among  the  Gentiles, 
was  Paul  of  Tarsus.  He  was  brought  up  as  a  Pharisee ; 
but  there  were  many  schools  among  that  sect,  and 
Paul  was  educated  by  the  most  enlightened  and  liberal 
of  Rabbis — Gamaliel,  the  son  of  Simeon  and  grandson 
of  Hillel.  Tarsus  was  a  centre  of  Greek  philosophy, 
and  a  school  of  rhetoric  ;  but  it  was  not  likely  that 
a  youth  destined  to  be  a  Rabbi  would  have  been  much 
influenced  by  the  teaching  of  its  academy.  Gamaliel 
knew  Greek,2  and  is  even  said  to  have  bathed  in  the 
"  bath  of  Aphrodite  "  at  Accho ;  while  he  admitted  an 
Ammonite  into  the  congregation.3  He  belonged  to 
that  philosophic  school  to  which  Philo  in  Egypt  was 
an  authority,  and  to  which  Josephus  the  Jewish 
historian  also  belonged  later — the  school  which  sought 
to  reconcile  Judaism  with  Plato,  to  allegorise  the 
ancient  stories  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  (as  Paul 
often  does),  and  to  identify  the  Greek  Logos  with  the 
Hebrew  Wisdom,  which,  as  the  Word  of  God,  created 

1  Luke  vi.  46  ;  John  xiv.  15. 

*  Renan,  "Les  Apotres,"  1883,  pp.    165,   172.      Mishnah,  Bera- 
coth,  ii.  6.     Gamaliel  uses  the  Greek  word  asthenes. 
3  Mishnah,  Abodah  Zara,  iii.  5  ;  Ketuboth,  iv.  3. 


296  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

all  things.  The  Rabbinical  rhetoric  of  many  passages 
in  Paul's  Epistles  can  only  be  understood  aright 
through  acquaintance  with  such  Jewish  philosophy; 
•and  Paul  was  never  able  to  regard  the  first  apostles 
as  his  equals.  The  man  brought  up  among  rulers  of 
his  nation,  and  educated  thinkers,  could  not  but 
perceive  that  the  poor  fishermen  of  Galilee,  who  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  were  unable  to  understand 
their  Master,  though  they  had  heard  His  words,  and 
Paul  had  never  known  Him  while  on  earth. 

Paul  tells  us  that  it  was  not  from  them,  nor  from 
any  man,  that  his  belief  in  Jesus  was  taken.1  It  was 
his  own  vision  when  he  fell  in  the  dust  on  the  weary 
road  to  Damascus,  and  heard  the  gentle  voice  that 
asked,  "Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me?"  it 
was  his  trance  when  he  found  himself  carried  to 
heaven,  that  convinced  him  of  his  blindness;  and 
henceforth  he  believed  in  Jesus  as  the  incarnation  of 
divine  Wisdom,  such  as  he  had  learned  to  expect 
from  his  teachers,  who  were  not  believers  in  the 
popular  idea  of  a  King  Messiah.  He  believed,  too, 
that  such  visions  had  been  seen  by  Cephas  and  others 
before  him.2  But  he  says  nothing  of  the  open  tomb, 
of  the  miraculous  birth,  or  of  the  Temptation,  Trans- 
figuration, and  Ascension.  He  never  mentions  the 
mother  of  Jesus  by  name,  but  says  only  that  He  was 
descended  from  David.  He  tells  us  nothing  of  our 
Lord's  life  save  that  He  instituted  the  memorial 
supper,  that  He  was  betrayed  and  crucified,  and  that 
He  "  was  declared  Son  of  God  by  resurrection." 3 
What  he  meant  by  the  Resurrection  was  not  what 
most  Rabbis  taught.  Like  his  Master,  he  said  that 
the  future  life  was  one  in  spiritual  bodies,  and  he 
repeated  the  old  simile  of  the  corn  growing  from  the 

1  Gal.  i.  11-24,  ii.  1-16. 

1  I  Cor.  ix.  i  ;  2  Cor.  xii.  2  ;  i  Cor.  xv.  5-8. 

8  I  Cor.  xi.  23-26  ;  Gal.  iv.  4 ;  Rom.  i.  3,  4. 


SONS  OF  GOD  297 

seed  :  "  For  there  is  a  physical  body,  and  there  is 
a  spirit  body."  "  But  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath 
pleased  Him."  The  Anastasis,  or  "standing  up"  of 
the  soul,  free  from  the  material  body,  was  to  Paul  and 
to  Philo  the  Resurrection,  as  it  was  also  to  Plato.1 

Paul  uses  the  title  "Son  of  God"  in  the  true  and 
ancient  Semitic  sense,  known — as  we  have  seen — 
even  to  the  Babylonians,  and  not  in  the  sense  it  had 
among  Greeks  and  Romans  in  his  own  time  and  long 
before.  All  true  believers  are  "  children  of  God,"  but 
especially  Jesus  as  the  "  perfect  man."  He  speaks 
often  of  "the  God  and  Father  of  Christ,"2  who  is  the 
Father  also  of  all  His  servants  who,  "  though  he  was 
crucified  through  weakness,  yet  he  liveth  by  the 
power  of  God  " :  "  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many 
be  made  righteous":  "obedient  to  death,  even  the 
death  of  the  cross;  wherefore  God  also  hath  highly 
exalted  him."3 

But  though  Paul  taught  the  duties  of  Christians 
to  be  those  commanded  by  Jesus;  though  he  speaks 
of  the  "meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ,"  and 
contrasts  "  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ "  with  the 
limitations  of  "another  gospel,"  yet  the  education 
which  made  him  the  founder  of  Christian  philosophy 
never  quite  allowed  him  to  reach  that  true  simplicity 
which  we  find  in  the  Epistle  ascribed  to  James  the 
Lord's  brother.  "  Pure  religion  and  undefiled  before 
the  God  and  Father  is  this :  To  visit  the  fatherless 
and  widows  in  their  affliction ;  to  keep  himself  un- 
spotted from  the  world.  My  brethren,  have  not  the 
faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  the  Christ  of  glory,  with 
respect  of  persons."4  Nevertheless,  without  Paul 

1  i  Cor.  xv.  35-57.    See  Matt.  xxii.  30. 
1  The  Logos  was  "  the  anointed  one,"  according  to  Philo. 
8  Gal.   iv.    5-7;    Ephes.    iv.    13;   2   Cor.    xiii.  4;    Rom.   v.    19; 
Phil.  ii.  8-1 1,  15. 
4  2  Cor.  x.  i,  xi.  3  ;  James  i.  27,  ii.  i. 


298  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

Christianity  would  perhaps  not  have  become  the 
universal  faith  of  the  West ;  and  it  would  never  have 
been  known  to  us  fully  in  its  original  form  but  for 
his  writings.  He  disappears  from  our  ken  at  Rome 
shortly  before  the  great  fire  of  64  A.D.,  and  may  have 
perished  in  Nero's  cruel  persecution  of  Jews  which 
followed  immediately  after.  His  epistles  represent 
not  more  than  one  treatise  for  each  year  of  his  career, 
and  no  doubt  there  was  much  oral  teaching  of  the 
little  Churches  that  he  founded  in  Asia  Minor  and 
Greece.  But  the  general  expectation  of  the  immediate 
end  of  the  world,  among  the  Hebrews,  rendered  the 
Christians  indifferent  to  any  other  thought  than  that 
of  the  return  of  the  beloved  Master  whom  they  saw 
so  often  in  vision. 

Six  years  after  their  first  persecution,  within  the 
lifetime  of  the  first  generation,  the  end  actually  came. 
It  was  not  the  end  that  they  expected;  but  it  was 
none  the  less  the  beginning  of  a  new  world,  for  them 
and  for  others,  in  Palestine  and  in  Italy.  When  the 
great  temple  fell  amid  blood  and  flames,  and  Rome 
under  Titus  stamped  out  the  last  resistance  to  its 
suzerainty  in  70  A.D.,  all  those  preoccupations  as  to 
Christian  relations  with  Hebrew  ritual,  and  as  to 
the  authority  of  the  Law,  which  filled  the  mind  of 
Paul  and  of  the  unknown  author  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  ceased  to  be  of  present  importance. 
There  were  no  more  sacrifices  or  purifications 
possible ;  no  more  priests  or  Levites ;  no  barrier  of 
caste  to  separate  Christian  Jew  and  Gentile.  The 
broader  conceptions  of  Paul  gained  way  against  the 
strictly  Hebrew  faith  -  of  Peter  and  James ;  and 
the  Palestine  school  shrank  into  the  little  Ebionite 
sect  of  Bashan,  while  the  Christianity  of  Paul  spread 
far  and  wide  in  the  West. 

Our  difficulties  as  to  the  Gospels  seem  to  be  due 
to  four  main  causes.  The  first  disciples  themselves 


THE  GOSPELS  299 

did  not  fully  understand  their  Master.  Their  memories 
of  His  short  life  were  handed  down  orally,  and  the 
necessity  of  written  records  did  not  become  apparent 
till  the  first  generation  began  to  die  out  before  the 
coming  of  the  end.  The  traditions  which  we  possess 
as  to  the  date  and  authorship  of  those  four  oldest 
gospels  which  were  accepted,  by  all  the  Churches, 
from  among  many  that  have  been  allowed  to  perish, 
are  mostly  late  second-hand  statements ;  and  the  text 
of  the  Christian  Fathers  of  the  second  century  has 
been  so  much  corrupted,  by  later  scribes,  that  we 
can  feel  little  confidence  in  any  particular  statement. 
Finally,  we  have  a  fourth  difficulty  in  the  lateness  of 
extant  manuscripts.  A  fragment  of  the  first  gospel 
has  been  found  in  Egypt  which  may  be  as  old  as  the 
second  century ;  but  all  the  complete  (or  nearly  com- 
plete) Greek  manuscripts  are  later  than  the  time  of 
the  establishment  of  the  Church  by  Constantine,  and 
they  prove  that  small,  but  significant,  alterations  in  the 
text  had  already  been  made,  and  that  others  were  also 
made  in  and  after  the  fourth  century. 

It  appears  to  have  been  believed  in  the  second 
century  that  Matthew,  who  was  the  only  one  among 
the  apostles  likely  to  have  been  able  to  write,  had 
written  a  gospel  in  Hebrew,  or  in  Aramaic,  which 
was  translated  later  into  Greek.1  This  document  has 
not  been  recovered.  The  Hebrew  Matthew  is  said 
to  have  been  used  by  the  Ebionite  Christians  of 
Bashan  down  to  the  fourth  century ;  and  Jerome  tells 
us  that  he  translated  the  "  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews  " ; 
but  whether  this  was  the  Hebrew  Matthew,  which 
Irenaeus2  said  that  the  Ebionites  used,  is  extremely 
doubtful.  We  have  only  the  Greek  gospels ;  and  it 
was  natural  that  writers  who  appealed  to  the  Roman 

1  Irenaeus,  "Against  Heresies,"  III.  i.  (a  passage  much  corrupted) ; 
Origen,  "Against  Celsus,"  v.  61 ;  Eusebius,  "Hist.  Eccles."  iii.  27,  vi.  17. 
1  Irenaeus,  "  Against  Heresies,"  I.  xxvi. 


300  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

world  should  write  in  Greek.  Josephus  wrote  first 
in  Aramaic,  but  his  later  history  of  "  Antiquities " 
was  in  Greek,  and  Greek  was  also  well  understood 
among  many  of  the  Jews  even  in  Palestine. 

The  main  authority  followed  by  Eusebius  as  to  the 
age  and  authorship  of  the  four  gospels,  was  Papias, 
who  had  talked  with  those  who  knew  the  apostles. 
But  Eusebius  himself  is  a  very  unreliable  author,  and 
he  appears  to  have  had  a  poor  opinion  of  Papias, 
though  the  latter  said  that  he  depended  more  on  what 
he  learned  orally  about  the  apostles,  John  the  Elder, 
and  Aristion,  than  on  any  books.  He  said  that 
Matthew's  gospel  was  translated,  and  that  Mark  was 
"the  interpreter  of  Peter"  (writing  after  Peter's 
death) ;  but  whether  he  referred  to  the  first  and  second 
gospels  as  now  extant  we  have  of  course  no  means 
of  knowing.1  Criticism  of  the  gospels  began  in  the 
second  century,  and  many  apologetic  passages  occur 
in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers.2  The  discrepancies 
between  the  four  great  gospels  (which  are  given  their 
present  names  in  the  Canon  of  Muratori  about  180  A.D.) 
were  known  and  written  about  yet  earlier.  They  are 
not  matters  of  primary  importance,  for  in  all  four  we 
see  (perhaps  dimly)  the  same  great  and  loving  figure, 
and  if  there  were  no  variations  of  the  account  there 
would  be  only  one  gospel.  The  Christians  of  the 
second  century  collected  all  they  considered  genuine, 
and  rejected  the  corrupted  gospels  of  the  Gnostics. 
They  thought  like  Chaucer : 

"  As  thus :  ye  wot  that  every  Evangelist 
That  telleth  us  the  pain  of  Jesu  Christ 
Ne  saith  not  all  thing  as  his  fellow  doth 
But  not  the  less  their  sentence  is  all  sooth."3 

1  See  quotations  by  Renan,  "L'^glise  Chre'tienne,"  pp.  125-35. 
'  Irenseus,  "Against  Heresies,"  III.  i.  i,  xi.  8  ;  Eusebius,  H.E.  II. 
xv.,  VI.  xiv.,  III.  xxiv. 
3  Chaucer,  "  Sir  Thopas,"  2133-2136,  the  spelling  being  modernised. 


THE  FOURTH  GOSPEL  301 

Modern  criticism  can  appeal  only  to  internal 
evidence,  comparison,  and  the  study  of  late  manu- 
scripts. It  must  therefore  be  speculative  at  best.  It 
is  not  likely  that  the  return  of  Christ  within  the  life- 
time of  the  first  generation  would  have  been  insisted 
on  if  all  that  generation  had  died,1  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  author  of  the  fourth  gospel,  though  appealing 
to  the  evidence  of  an  eye-witness — apparently  the 
beloved  disciple — must  have  written  after  the  death 
of  John,  unless  we  are  misled  by  a  later  gloss.2  The 
apostles  were  unlettered  men,  forced  to  employ  scribes, 
like  the  majority  of  the  nation.  Their  Master,  though 
He  read  Hebrew,  never  wrote  down  His  sayings ; 
and  the  memories  of  the  Galilean  fishers — who  were 
not  likely  to  know  anything  of  Greek  or  of  Jewish 
philosophy — were  preserved  by  converts  of  the  second 
generation.  The  general  opinion  appears  now  to  be 
that  the  oldest  extant  gospel  is  that  of  Mark,  beginning 
with  the  Baptism  of  Jesus.  The  first  and  third  gospels 
repeat  nearly  all  that  is  found  in  the  second.  They 
also  have  in  common  fourteen  sayings  of  Jesus,  in 
addition  to  ten  which  are  in  Mark ;  but  as  a  rule  they 
differ  from  one  another  when  they  are  not  founded 
on  the  older  gospel.  All  three  of  these  gospels  are 
of  one  class — representing  Hebrew  beliefs  as  to  Jesus 
which  had  developed  during  half  a  century  or  more 
after  His  death;  but  the  fourth  gospel  belongs  to  a 
distinct  literature,  and  develops  the  Pauline  philosophy 
concerning  the  Word.  Yet  it  breathes  also  the  true 
spirit  when  it  tells  us  of  the  words  of  Jesus.  It 
contains  no  parables,  yet  its  similes  have  become 
equally  dear.  Jesus  is  the  Light  of  the  World,  the 
Door,  the  Vine,  the  Bread  from  Heaven,  the  good 
Shepherd ;  and  His  new  commandment  is  Love — for 
14  God  is  Love  " — while  His  care  for  His  mother,  when 

1  Matt.  xxiv.  34  ;  Mark  xiii.  30  ;  Luke  xxi.  32. 
1  John  xix.  35,  xx.  3,  xxi.  23-25. 


302  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

hanging  on  the  Cross,  has  perhaps  done  more  for 
Christianity — as  recorded  in  the  fourth  gospel — than 
any  parable  even,  or  doctrine.  The  writer  was 
acquainted  with  Hebrew,  and  he  had  an  original 
knowledge  of  Palestine  geography.1  It  is  not  to  be 
concluded  that  he  was  not  a  Hebrew  because  he 
speaks  of  the  "  Judeans,"  whom  he  distinguishes  from 
the  Galileans,  and  whom  he  condemns.  Much  of 
what  we  most  care  for  in  Christianity  would  have 
been  lost  if  the  early  Church  had  cast  aside  the  Gospel 
and  Epistles  "  after  John."  But  we  cannot  suppose 
that  the  author  of  these  books  was  the  same  John 
whose  rugged  Greek  is  found  in  that  Apocalypse 
which  won  its  way  with  such  difficulty  into  the 
Christian  canon,  and  which  (like  others  noticed 
already)  is  based — even  to  its  smallest  details — on  the 
Persian  beliefs  as  to  the  end  of  the  world.  If  the  one 
writer  has  added  grace  and  sweetness  to  the  Christian 
character,  the  other  has  been  responsible  for  most  of 
the  misery  that  has  been  caused  by  blind  belief  and 
mystic  exaltation. 

When  we  turn  to  consider  the  question  of  text, 
which  is  so  important  to  the  study  of  the  gospels,  we 
find  that  Celsus  was  not  altogether  wrong  in  saying 
that  the  Christians  had  altered  them.  The  three 
great  "  uncial "  manuscripts  of  the  fourth  and  fifth 
centuries  (the  Sinaitic,  Vatican,  and  Alexandrian) 
are  themselves  at  variance,  and  on  the  other  hand 
agree  in  excluding  many  of  those  "  harmonising " 
alterations  which  crept  in  later.  Most  of  the  dis- 
crepancies are  of  very  small  importance ;  but  some 
are  significant.  The  Sinaitic  manuscript  was  the 
work  of  a  very  ignorant  scribe.  He  knew  no  Hebrew, 
or  he  would  not  have  written  Talitha  cum  for  Talitha 
cumi3;  and  he  has  confused  the  topography  by  his 
emendations.  But  from  the  uncials  we  learn  that 
1  John  xxi.  2  :  I,  28,  iii.  23,  iv.  5.  *  Mark  v.  41. 


TEXTUAL  CHANGES  303 

the  last  page  of  the  Gospel  of  Mark  was  lost,  and 
a  new  end  written  to  it  later l ;  that  some  scribe 
added  the  angel  to  the  story  of  the  pool  of  Bethesda 2 : 
that  another  cut  out  the  words  "  His  parents,"  referring 
to  Joseph  and  Mary.1  In  the  first  Epistle  of  John 
a  whole  clause  was  added,  and  even  our  English  Bible 
regards  another  verse  as  doubtful.4  Such  corruptions 
of  the  text  are  not  matters  of  opinion,  but  of 
knowledge;  and,  since  already  in  the  fourth  century 
there  were  variations,  we  cannot  feel  certain  that 
yet  more  important  additions  may  not  have  been 
made  to  the  early  gospels.  The  Ebionite  Gospel 
contained  no  allusion  to  the  Virgin  Birth  of  Christ. 
Marcion's  gospel  followed  Luke,  but  equally  omitted 
the  first  chapters.  They  may  have  been  cut  out 
because  not  credited  by  these  schools  of  Christian 
doctrine;  but  at  least  we  see  clearly  that  the  belief 
in  this  wondrous  birth — to  which  Paul  never  refers — 
was  not  universal  in  the  earliest  age  of  Christianity, 
any  more  than  it  is  to-day.  There  were,  from  early 
days,  two  schools  of  belief:  that  of  the  Palestine 
Church,  believing  Jesus  to  have  been  the  son  of 
Joseph  and  Mary  inspired  with  the  Holy  Spirit  at 
baptism ;  and  that  of  Paul,  to  whom  Jesus  was  the 
incarnation  of  the  divine  Wisdom  whereby  the  world 
was  created  at  first.  From  the  first  school  sprang 
the  simple  Christianity  of  the  second  century,  but 
afterwards  an  asceticism  which  was  self-destructive : 
from  the  second  arose  the  mysticism  of  the  Gnostics, 
who  denied  to  Jesus  any  human  body  at  all.  The 
creed  of  the  Catholic  Church  was  the  final  harmonising 
of  antagonistic  views. 

ii.  Primitive. — The  first   Christians  were  poor  and 
humble,  and  could  not  afford  to  build  great  churches, 

1  Mark  xvi.  9-20.       *  Luke  ii.  43,  see  verse  41,  where  it  is  left  in. 
'  John  v.  4.  *  i  John  v.  7-8,  ii.  23. 


304 

or  to  set  up  inscriptions.  We  have  therefore  very 
little  monumental  evidence  of  the  earliest  age.  Tacitus, 
who  is  bitter  against  them,  hardly  distinguishes  them 
from  other  Jews  who  believed  in  the  Messiah,  and  of 
whom  Suetonius  speaks  as  having  been  expelled  by 
the  Emperor  Claudius,  because  they  "  made  frequent 
tumults  excited  by  Chrestus"1  about  45  A.D.  Pliny 
the  younger,  writing  from  Pontus  to  Trajan  in  1 13  A.D.,2 
about  the  spread  of  the  new  "  superstition  "  in  towns, 
villages,  and  country  places,  among  many  of  all  ages 
and  conditions,  is  glad  to  report  that  "the  temples 
which  were  almost  abandoned  have  begun  to  be  again 
frequented,"  and  that  the  sacrifices  "  which  found  few 
buyers "  are  again  exposed  for  sale.  He  hesitates 
therefore  to  punish  the  poor  converts,  who  said  "  that 
their  only  fault  was  to  meet  habitually  on  fixed  days 
before  sunrise,  to  sing  in  turns  a  hymn  to  Christus  as 
to  a  god,  and  to  vow — not  such  and  such  crimes,  but 
not  to  steal,  or  rob,  or  commit  adultery,  not  to  fail  in 
sworn  faith,  not  to  deny  a  trust  asked  back ;  that 
then  they  used  to  retire  and  meet  again  to  take  a  meal 
together — an  ordinary  and  quite  innocent  meal ;  and 
that  even  this  they  had  ceased  to  do  since  the  edict 
.  .  .  forbidding  heresies." 

In  Palestine  itself,  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  this  simple  Christianity  is  described  by 
Justin  Martyr.  The  little  churches  were  modelled 
on  the  synagogue  system,  not  on  that  of  the  temple. 
They  had  their  elders,  and  their  ministers  or  servants. 
Like  the  apostles,  the  converts  were  peasants  or 
artisans ;  and  this  priestless  congregation  was  led 
by  some  "  presiding  brother,"  as  the  Moslem  prayers 
to-day  are  led  by  some  respected  elder.  Those  who 
assembled  were  mostly  relations,  or  neighbours  who 
had  long  known  one  another.  The  "  Kiss  of  Peace  " 

1  Tacitus,  "Annals,"  xv.  44  ;  Suetonius,  "Claudius,"  25. 
»  Pliny,  "  Epist."  x. 


THE  COMMUNION  305 

was  thus  a  natural  and  harmless  salutation,  not  as  yet 
a  cause  of  scandal.  Justin  Martyr,1  himself  born 
near  Shechem,  describes  the  meetings  for  first  com- 
munion of  the  newly  baptized  or  "  enlightened,"  in 
Palestine,  and  the  weekly  services.  "  On  the  day 
called  after  the  sun  those  who  live  in  the  towns  and 
country  meet  in  one  place,  and  read  the  memoirs  of 
the  apostles,  or  the  writings  of  the  prophets,  as  long 
as  time  allows.  When  the  reader  has  finished,  the 
presiding  brother  addresses  to  those  present  words  of 
admonition  and  exhortation,  urging  them  to  follow 
such  good  teaching.  Then  we  all  rise  together  and 
send  our  prayers  up  to  heaven ;  and,  as  we  have 
already  said,  the  prayers  ended,  the  bread,  the  wine 
and  the  water  are  sent  round ;  the  president  to  his 
utmost  uttering  prayers  and  thanksgivings,  and  the 
people  assenting  by  saying  Amen.  The  offerings  for 
which  thanks  are  given  are  then  distributed :  each 
receives  his  share ;  and  they  are  sent  to  the  absent 
by  ministrants  (or  deacons).  Those  who  are  pros- 
perous, and  desire  to  give,  give  what  they  like,  each 
according  as  he  decides.  The  product  of  the  collection 
is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  president,  who  helps  the 
orphans,  and  widows,  and  those  in  distress  from  sick- 
ness or  other  cause,  those  in  chains,  and  the  strangers 
who  come.  He  has,  in  short,  the  care  of  all  those 
who  are  in  need." 

As  late  as  200  A.D.  rites  equally  simple  are  described 
by  Tertullian 2  at  Carthage,  when  the  numbers  of  the 
Christians  had  greatly  increased  in  the  West.  He 
speaks  of  a  first  prayer  before  reclining  (at  the  common 
meal),  and  of  washing  the  hands  after  eating.  Each 
was  then  asked  to  sing  a  hymn  to  God,  and  a  final 
prayer  followed.  But  the  recovery  of  the  celebrated 
"  Didache  " — the  oldest  Christian  manual  in  existence — 

1  Justin  Martyr,  "  Apol."  i.  65-7. 
1  Tertullian,  "  Apol."  39. 

2O 


306  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

shows  that  even  as  early  as  about  100  A.D.  the  teaching 
and  rites  of  Christians  were  of  the  same  character. 
The  original  work  seems  to  have  been  called  "  The 
Two  Ways  " 1  including  only  six  chapters,  but  it  was 
early  expanded  into  the  <(  Teaching  of  the  Lord  to  the 
Twelve  Apostles."  This  tract  recalls  the  teaching  of 
Justin  Martyr,  and  of  Irenaeus,  in  their  protests 
against  the  sins  and  superstitions  of  their  age.  The 
Two  Ways  are  those  of  life  and  death,  the  narrow 
path  and  the  broad.  The  Christian  is  to  love  God 
and  his  neighbour,  to  bless  his  enemies,  to  fast  and 
give  alms  in  secret.  He  must  not  practise  witchcraft, 
or  infanticide,  or  duplicity ;  he  must  not  be  an  augur, 
or  use  charms  or  astrological  emblems,  or  sacrifices ; 
nor  may  he  lie  or  steal ;  he  must  be  meek,  and 
reverence  holy  men,  and  help  the  poor.  If  a  slave, 
he  must  obey  his  master.  He  must  publicly  confess 
his  sins  in  the  congregation.  "  If  thou  art  able  to 
bear  the  whole  yoke  of  the  Lord  thou  shalt  be  perfect ; 
but  if  thou  art  not  able,  do  what  thou  canst."  The 
Christian  may  not  "  give  orders  in  bitterness  "  to  his 
servant  or  handmaid,  and  must  abstain  especially 
from  offerings  to  idols,  "  for  it  is  a  service  of  dead 
gods." 

The  second  part  contains  directions  for  Christian 
rites,  and  concludes  with  the  description  of  the  Last 
Day.  Baptism  is  to  be  in  running  water  after  fasting ; 
and  two  weekly  fast-days  are  established  (in  the  Greek 
version) :  the  prayer  thrice  a  day  is  to  be  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  "  as  the  Lord  commanded  in  His  gospels." 
The  "  Prayer  of  the  Cup  "  was  that  used  at  the  Com- 

1  The  Greek  text  was  found  by  Bryennios,  in  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
Monastery  of  the  Fanar  Quarter  at  Constantinople,  in  1873.  The 
Latin  text,  De  Duabus  Viis  (see  Offord  in  "  Proc.  Bib.  Arch.  Soc." 
March  1904),  omits  the  notice  of  public  confession,  and  adds  a 
Trinitarian  gloria.  Other  variations  occur  in  the  short  Coptic 
version  and  the  Arabic  translation.  The  tract  forms  the  basis  of 
"  Apostolic  Canons  "  from  the  fourth  to  the  ninth  centuries. 


THE  PRAYER  OF  THE  CUP  307 

munion  :  "  We  thank  thee,  O  Father,  for  the  holy  vine 
of  David  Thy  servant,  which  Thou  madest  known  to 
us  by  Jesus  Thy  servant,1  for  the  broken  bread.      We 
thank  Thee,  our  Father,  for  the  life  and   knowledge 
which  Thou  madest  known  to  us  by  Jesus  Thy  servant. 
To  Thee  be  glory  for  ever.     As  this  broken  bread  was 
scattered  on  the   mountains,  and  being  brought  to- 
gether became  one,  so  let  Thy  Church   be  gathered 
together  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  into  Thy  kingdom. 
For  Thine  is  the  glory  and  the  power,  by  Jesus  Christ 
for  ever."     But  none  may  eat  or  drink  this  Eucharist 
who  are  not  baptized  into  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and 
"  after  being  satisfied  "  a  second  prayer  of  thanksgiving 
is  to  be  said :  "  We  thank  Thee,  O  Holy  Father,  for 
Thy  holy  name,  which  Thou  hast  enshrined  in  our 
hearts,   and  for  the  knowledge,   and  faith,   and    im- 
mortality, which  Thou  hast   made  known   to  us   by 
Jesus  Thy  servant.     To  Thee  be  glory  for  ever  .  .  . 
Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David  .  .  .  Maranatha  (Come, 
O  Lord).     But  permit  the  prophets  to  give  thanks  as 
much  as  they  wish."    Thus  extemporary  prayer  was 
not  forbidden.    The  Church  recognised  apostles,  and 
prophets,    as    well    as    bishops    (or    overseers)    and 
deacons  (or  ministrants).2  They  must  be  "  meek  men," 
honoured  with   prophets   and    teachers,   "  as   in   the 
Gospel  of  our  God."      The  apostle  3    who    remains 
a    guest    for    three   days  is  a  false  prophet :    "  any 
prophet  who  speaks  in  the  spirit  ye  shall  not  try  or 
test,  for  every  sin  shall  be  forgiven,  but  his  sin  shall 
not  be  forgiven.    Any  prophet  who  orders  a  table 
shall  not  eat  thereof.      Any  approved   true  prophet 
who  makes  assemblies  for  a  worldly  mystery,    but 
does  not  teach  others  to  do  what  he  does,  shall  not  be 
judged  by  you.     For  his  judgment  is  in  the  hands  of 
God."      He  is  a   "Christ  trafficker";    but   the  true 

1  Didache,  ix.     In  three  cases  Pat's,  that  is  "  servant,"  or  "  child." 
'  Ibid,  x.,  xi.,  xv.  *  Ibid,  xi.-xvi. 


308  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

prophet  is  to  receive  first  fruits ;  and  if  there  be  no 
prophet  they  are  to  be  given  to  the  poor.  For  there 
will  be  false  prophets  in  the  last  days,  when  the  "  world 
deceiver  "  comes,  and  when  after  many  signs  the  saints 
shall  fly  forth  in  heaven  at  the  voice  of  the  trumpet,  on 
the  day  of  their  resurrection. 

Such  was  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  days  of  its 
early  simplicity.     But  there  were  tares   among  the 
wheat  —  differences    of    belief,    growing    asceticism, 
sacerdotalism,  and  mysticism,  which  developed  further 
in  the  third  century,  even  before  the  deluge  of  cor- 
ruption which  overwhelmed  the  Church,  when  crowds 
of  superstitious  and  self-seeking  men  followed  the  new 
cult  adopted  by  the  "  divine  Emperor,"  who  claimed  to 
have  been  inspired  to  discover  the  tomb  of  Christ 
under    the  Venus    temple    at    Jerusalem.     The    old 
tolerance  was  lost  when  the  officers  of  the  Church 
became  really  the  nominees  of  the  Emperor— though 
the  form  of  popular  election  was  still  retained.    Justin 
Martyr1  believed  in  the  millennium,  but  shows  the 
true  Christian  spirit  when   he  says  that  "  many  who 
belong  to  the  pure  and   pious  faith,  and    are   true 
Christians,   think  otherwise."     Irenaeus,   the  founder 
of  Christianity  in  Gaul,  did  good  service  to  the  faith 
when  he  persuaded  Victor,  bishop  of  Rome,  not  to 
cause  schism  on  the   question   of  the  calculation   of 
Easter  about  196  A.D.2    The  Council  of  Trent  appealed 
to  the  "  unanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers,"  but  it  is 
doubtful  if  any  of  them  would  have  escaped  the  stake 
in  the  twelfth  century.     We  study  their  works  under 
great  difficulties,  because  we  have  only  late  manu- 
scripts or  copies,  and  these  have  been  corrupted  by 
monkish  scribes.     But  even  as  they  now  are  we  find 
many  differences  of  belief  and  custom  among  them. 
Justin  Martyr  seems  to  have  believed  that  the  Jordan 

1  "  Trypho,"  Ixxx. 

1  See  Renan,  "  Marc  Aurfcle,"  1882,  pp.  199-203. 


THE  FATHERS  309 

was  in  flames  when  Jesus  was  baptized.  Irenaeus 
seems  to  have  held  that  Christ  lived  to  the  age  of  fifty 
years.  Clement  of  Alexandria  (though  his  editor, 
Cassiodorus,  avowedly  altered  the  text  when  he 
thought  it  unorthodox)  is  still  found  to  have  believed 
that  Christ  felt  no  sufferings,  and  that  His  body 
required  no  food,  even  if  he  did  not  credit  the  per- 
petual virginity  of  Mary.  Tertullian  denied  the  latter 
dogma,  but  (like  Origen)  he  believed  the  soul  to  be 
corporeal,  and  he  finally  joined  the  wild  revivalists  of 
Phrygia,  and  credited  the  statements  of  a  Montanist 
sister  who  had  seen  a  soul — "  the  densified  breath  of 
God  in  man."  He  also,  like  all  his  contemporaries, 
firmly  believed  in  demons  and  exorcism.1  The  great 
Origen,  who  understood  Greek  and  Jewish  philosophy, 
was  proclaimed  a  heretic  by  the  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople, in  553  A.D.,  because  he  held  that  pre-existent 
souls  were  imprisoned  in  bodies  for  punishment ;  that 
Christ's  human  soul  was  pre-existent,  and  united  with 
the  divine  soul  before  the  Incarnation ;  that  mortal 
bodies  become  aetherial  at  the  resurrection ;  and  that 
all  men,  and  all  demons,  will  finally  be  saved  by  the 
mediation  of  Christ.  The  Catholicity  of  the  second 
and  third  centuries  permitted,  therefore,  a  wide  range 
of  opinion.  It  was  not  yet  restricted  by  the  creeds 
which  bound  the  Church  with  iron  bands.  Tertullian 
was  the  first  to  formulate  his  beliefs.  The  great 
schism  of  Nicea  was  produced  by  a  creed  from  which 
that  known  as  the  "  Apostles' "  developed  about  390  A.D. 
Whatever  we  may  think  of  the  necessity  of  creeds,  we 
find  that  they  have  too  often  tended  to  produce  schism 
among  those  who  forgot  the  commandment,  "judge 
not,"  which  the  early  writer  of  the  Didache  observes. 

1  Justin,  "Trypho,"  Ixxxviii.  ;  Irenseus,  "  Hares,"  II.  xxii.  5-6; 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  "  Strom,"  VI.  ix ;  Tertullian,  "  De  Carne 
Christi,"  xxiii.,  xxxv.  ;  "  De  Anima,"  ix.,  xlvi.  Origen,  see  Clark's 
"Antenicene  Library,"  1869,  vol.  x.  p.  vii. 


310  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

It  was  not  through  any  such  dogmas  that  Christianity 
won  its  way  throughout  the  Roman  empire,  but  by 
the  kindly  and  quiet  life  of  many  whose  names  are 
not  mentioned  in  history.  It  is  believed  that  texts 
of  senators  and  soldiers,  in  the  third  century,  in  Asia 
Minor,  are  Christian,  but  the  most  certain  seem  to 
have  been  carved  for  humble  folk.  "I,  Aurelia 
Domna,  with  my  son  Konon,  and  my  son-in-law  Peter, 
place  this  for  the  sake  of  the  memory  of  my  sweetest 
husband,  John,  the  presbyter,"  is  a  badly  spelt  example. 
In  North  Syria,  just  after  the  establishment  of 
Christianity,  we  find  the  cross  still  absent,  and  the 
spelling  Chrestos  ("good")  for  Christos,  still  used. 
"  Help,  good  Jesus.  God  is  One.  Thalasis  set  it  up. 
As  thou  sayest,  dear,  and  be  it  double  to  thee.  Year 
380  (of  Antioch).  Come,  O  Christ." l  In  Italy  many 
inscriptions  in  the  catacombs,  and  perhaps  some 
pictures,  date  back  to  the  third  century.  Many  of  the 
short  texts  breathe  the  spirit  of  family  love :  "  My 
most  sweet  child,"  "  My  most  sweet  wife,"  "  My  most 
dear  husband,"  "  My  innocent  dove,"  "  My  worthy 
father,"  "  My  worthy  mother,"  "  Innocent  lamb,"  "  They 
lived  together  without  any  quarrel  or  complaint,  with- 
out taking  or  giving  offence."  These  words  occur  in 
catacombs  where  Christians  hid  their  faith  under 
pagan  emblems,  when  the  good  shepherd  might  stand 
for  the  lamb-bearing  Apollo,  and  the  divine  love  for 
the  soul  was  symbolised  by  Cupid  and  Psyche.  The 
Old  Testament  designs  are  often  quite  as  indefinite, 
though  including  supposed  representations  of  Jonah, 
Daniel,  and  Moses,  or  of  Noah  in  his  ark,  mingled 
with  figures  of  Orpheus.  The  dates  of  these  pictures, 
and  of  those  representing  priests,  and  "  Orantes,"  or 

1  Hamilton,  "  Researches  in  Asia  Minor,"  1842,  ii.  ;  No.  393  from 
Kadun  Khana.  Ramsay,  "  The  Church  in  the  Roman  Empire," 
1893,  p.  434.  Waddington,  "  Inscriptions  Grecques  et  Latines  de  la 
Syrie,"  1870  ;  No.  2704,  dating  331  A.D.,  at  Khatura. 


THE  HERMITS  311 

the  Agape  supper,  are  for  the  most  part  unfortunately 
unknown.1 

This  simple  Christianity  did  not  satisfy  the  various 
sects  whose  heresies,  or  "  private  opinions,"  were  so 
numerous  in  the  second  century,  and  even  after  the 
establishment  of  the  Church.  The  Ebionites  (or 
"  needy  ")  were  originally  the  followers  of  the  apostles 
who  fled  (before  70  A.D.)  to  Pella  in  the  Jordan  valley, 
and  to  Kaukabah  in  Bashan.  But  Ebionites,  and 
Gnostics  *  (or  "  wise  ones  "),  developed  many  strange 
ascetic  customs  and  mystic  beliefs  which  were  not 
Christian,  but  borrowed  from  the  philosophy  and 
superstition  of  Greece,  Persia,  and  India.  Our  Lord, 
though  He  fasted,  as  did  pious  Hebrews,  was  not  an 
ascetic.  He  went  to  the  Pharisee's  dinner,  and  to 
the  wedding  feast  at  Kanah.  He  loved  little  children, 
and  bade  us  rejoice  with  those  who  rejoice,  as  well  as 
weep  with  those  who  weep.  But  Buddhist  asceticism 
had  influenced  many  hermits  in  Syria,  and  Palestine, 
two  centuries  or  more  before  He  was  born.  The 
Essenes  (Hasaya  or  "  hermits  ")  were  an  order  having 
many  ideas  borrowed  from  the  hermits  of  India.  The 
Therapeutai  (or  "  ministrants  ")  of  Egypt,  said  to  have 
been  described  by  Philo,  were  of  the  same  class.  The 
Christian  hermits,  like  Hilarion  in  the  Gaza  desert,  or 
Paul  and  Antony  in  upper  Egypt,  retired  from  the 
world  to  indulge  in  hypnotic  trances,  and  saw  visions 
of  angels  and  devils,  centaurs  and  seductive  fair  ones, 
in  and  after  the  third  century ;  they  sought  that 
union  with  deity  which  the  pagan  Plotinus,  and 
Porphyry  his  disciple,  equally  strove  to  attain  in  the 
same  age.  Round  these  holy  men  gathered  disciples, 

1  Lundy,  "Monumental  Christianity,"  1876,  p.  108 ;  Stanley, 
"  Christian  Institutions,"  1881,  p.  261  ;  Renan,  "  Marc  Aurele,"  1882, 
pp.  536,  542 

'  King,  "Gnostics,"  2nd  edit.  1887;  Mansell,  "  Gnostic  Heresies," 
1875. 


312  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

male  and  female,  who  lived  in  caves  and  huts,  and,  as 
their  numbers  increased,  in  monasteries,  at  the  site  of 
the  hermit's  cell.  They  invaded  Rome  in  the  fourth 
century,  and  they  were  then  numerous  in  Asia.  You 
may  still  visit  the  caves  of  Greek  hermits  in  Palestine, 
and  see  the  solitary  pillars  on  which  they  stood,  even 
in  the  middle  ages,  in  imitation  of  Simon  Stylites  the 
Syrian  ascetic  of  the  fifth  century.  These  monks 
increased  in  numbers  until  they  became  a  dominant 
force  in  the  Church,  and  their  extravagances  increased 
constantly,  while  their  ignorant  fanaticism  became 
a  danger  to  Church  and  State  alike.  They  accepted 
the  later  Buddhist  pessimism,  which  made  matter  evil 
and  delusive.  They  tortured  their  bodies  like  Hindu 
Yogis,  to  emancipate  their  souls.  They  not  only 
murdered  the  innocent  Hypatia  at  Alexandria  in 
415  A.D.  ;  but  they  terrorised  the  second  council  of 
Ephesus  in  448  A.D.,  when  Flavian,  patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, fell  under  the  clubs  of  the  Syrian  monks 
following  Barsumas.  The  spread  of  monasticism  is 
said  by  Lecky  to  have  been  one  of  the  causes  which 
led  to  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire.  Asceticism  was 
one  of  the  earliest  diseases  from  which  the  pure  faith 
suffered  in  East  and  West  alike.  Such  practices  also 
led,  as  in  India,  to  a  contrary  extreme ;  and  revivalists 
like  the  Montanists  of  Phrygia,  at  the  end  of  the 
second  century,  went  from  hysterical  exaltation  to 
lengths  of  passion  which — as  in  later  cases — resulted 
in  licence  and  immorality.  The  Kiss  of  Peace,  and 
the  Love  Feast,  were  abused  as  congregations  in- 
creased, till  the  resulting  scandals  were  put  down 
by  law;  and  the  relations  of  monks  to  their  sister 
nuns  were  severely  reprobated  by  Chrysostom. 

Ebionite  views  are  supposed  to  have  spread  even  to 
Rome ;  and  the  Clementine  Homilies l  were  based  on 

1  Homily  xiv.   u,  Peter's  eucharist  of  bread  and  salt  ;  in  viii.  15, 
abstinence  from  flesh  is  commanded. 


GNOSTIC   BOOKS  313 

the  Didache,  while  the  novel  called  the  "  Clementine 
Recognitions,"  which  Renan  (following  the  pre- 
scientific  views  of  Baur)  imagined  to  represent  a  real 
account  of  a  conflict  between  Peter  and  Paul,  develops 
Ebionite  ideas  at  the  beginning  of  the  third  century. 
In  the  Homilies  we  find  that,  while  the  early 
patriarchs  are  extolled,  the  later  Hebrew  prophets  are 
renounced,  which  marks  the  growth  of  anti-Jewish 
ideas  among  the  ascetics  of  the  East.1  In  the  Re- 
cognitions James  alone  is  regarded  as  the  true  apostle. 
From  the  Ebionites  came  later  sects  of  baptists,  who 
spread  over  Babylonia,  and  were  known  to  Muhammad 
as  Sabiun  or  "  baptisers,"  while  among  these  a  strange 
Gnosticism  also  developed,  which  is  still  represented 
by  the  ideas  of  surviving  Mendaites.2 

Of  the  Gnostics,  or  "wise  ones,"  we  know  very 
little  from  their  own  writings,  or  from  monuments, 
and  we  depend  chiefly  on  the  accounts  given  by  the 
Fathers.  Many  very  different  ideas  are  included  under 
the  term,  ranging  from  philosophical  mysticism  and 
allegory  to  gross  superstition  and  conscious  fraud. 
But  the  leading  principle  of  real  Gnostics  appears  to 
have  been  the  attempt  to  reconcile  science  and  faith — 
or  rather  the  pseudo-science  and  pseudo-religion  of 
the  age.  They  accepted  Christian  beliefs,  and  mingled 
them  with  Platonic  philosophy,  with  Eleusinian 
mysteries,  or  with  more  ancient  superstitions,  and 
finally  with  Persian  and  Indian  ideas.  Among  sur- 
viving Gnostic  books  the  "  Poemandres,"  or  "  Shepherd 
of  Men,"  is  a  worthless  attempt  to  Platonise  the 
religion  of  "  the  cup."  3  The  Oxyrhynchus  Logoi,  or 
sayings  attributed  to  Christ  found  recently  in  an 

1  Clem.  Horn.  iii.  20,  xvii.  9,  10,  xviii.  14  ;  Clem.  Recog.  IV.  xxxv. 

*  See  Forlong,  "Faiths  of  Man,"  1906,  s.  v.  Mandaeans,  and 
Sabians. 

3  See  Chambers,  "  Hermes  Trismegistus,"  1882.  "  Poemandres," 
iv.  4. 


314  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

Egyptian  papyrus,  appear  also  to  be  the  work  of  a 
Gnostic  of  the  third  century,  holding  strong  Ebionite 
views  as  to  the  Sabbath.  The  Pistis  Sophia,  discovered 
by  Bruce  in  1842,  is  equally  curious  and  worthless,1 
but  is  the  only  work  of  the  Valentinian  Gnostics  that 
has  survived,  excepting  the  epitaph  discovered  on  the 
Via  Latina,3  written  in  Greek  by  a  sad  husband  whose 
wife  is  taken  to  "  the  light  of  the  Father,"  "  the  pure, 
incorruptible  myrrh  of  Christos,"  "  the  divine  faces  of 
the  ^Eons." 

The  numerous  gems  with  Hebrew  texts,  or  with 
Hebrew  words  written  in  Greek,  were  amulets  which 
may  in  some  cases  (when  the  names  are  such  as  are 
known  to  have  been  used  by  certain  sects)  be 
rightly  called  Gnostic.  But  Origen  himself  believed 
in  "  words  of  power,"  such  as  the  Hebrew  names 
Sabaoth  and  Adonai 3 :  and  many  like  charms  were 
sold  by  Jewish  wizards,  while  others  are  Mithraic  or 
pagan. 

There  were  two  great  schools  of  Gnosticism,  the 
Syrian  and  the  Egyptian ;  but  there  were  many  other 
superstitious  sects,  and  popular  impostors.  The 
Ophites,  or  "  serpent  worshippers,"  distinguished  the 
supreme  God  of  Wisdom  from  the  Demiurge,  or 
"  creator  of  common  men  "  not  born  of  the  Spirit.  The 
latter  was  identified  with  Jehovah  as  a  cruel  and 
ignorant  deity.  To  this  Persian  dualism  they  added 

1  "  Koptisch  Gnostische  Schriften,"  C.  Schmidt,  1905  ;  and 
Harnack  on  "  Pistis  Sophia "  in  "  Texte  und  Untersuchungen  zur 
Geschichte  der  Altchristlichen  Literatur,"  vol.  vii.  part  2. 

*  Renan,  "  Marc  Aurele,"  1882,  p.  147. 

1  Origen,  "  Against  Celsus,"  I.  xxiv.  The  word  Abraxas  on  gems  is 
Gnostic  and  probably  Hebrew  (Adra6-s-esA,  "  I  bless  what  happens  "), 
like  Abracadabra  (Abrak-ha-dabray  "  1  bless  the  deed  "),  or  Ablatha- 
nabla  (Ablat-ha-nabla,  "  I  give  life  to  the  corpse  ").  The  figures  of 
the  Agathodaimon  serpent,  and  of  Khnuphis,  and  Harpocrates, 
indicate  the  influence  of  Egyptian  superstition  ;  while  the  name  lao 
preserves  the  old  pronunciation  of  Yahu  or  Jehovah ;  and  Horus 
on  the  lotus  is  called  Semes  Ailam  or  the  "  Eternal  Sun." 


GNOSTIC  SECTS  315 

the  mysteries  of  Eleusis,  the  orgies  of  Cybele,  Adonis, 
and  Osiris,  the  Babylonian  astrology,  and  Platonic 
philosophy ;  yet  believed  in  a  mystic  Christos  and 
Sophia  (or  Wisdom),  using  the  Pauline  epistles.1 
The  Cainites  reversed  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
alike,  and  their  "  Gospel  of  Judas  "  commended  the 
traitor  as  an  agent  for  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy. 
The  later  Adamites  worshipped  naked  in  synagogues, 
teaching  a  licentious  doctrine.  But  the  most  notorious 
Gnostic  was  Marcus,  whose  gospel  contained  the  story 
of  Christ  at  school,  which  seems  to  have  been  borrowed 
from  the  legend  of  Buddha.  His  Eucharist  was  poured 
by  a  woman  from  a  small  cup  into  a  larger  one  held 
by  the  priest,  and  effervesced  to  overflow.  He  devoted 
himself  to  ladies  "well-bred  and  elegantly  attired,  and 
of  great  wealth,"  and  talked  no  doubt  to  them  of  Plato 
and  love  as  glibly  as  any  modern  impostor.  He 
anticipated  American  mystics  in  performing  "  Spiritual 
Marriages  " :  he  gave  philtres  and  love  potions ;  and 
among  his  followers  hysterical  prophesying  led  to 
vice.  They  said  that,  being  "  perfected  "  in  experience, 
they  would  not  be  reincarnate — a  Buddhist  idea. 
Others  again  had  pictures  and  statues  of  Christ  which 
they  crowned,  and  set  up  with  those  of  Pythagoras, 
Plato,  and  Aristotle,  like  modern  followers  of  Comte.2 
Every  modern  folly,  down  to  Mrs.  Eddy's,  appears  to 
have  its  parallel  among  Gnostics. 

The  Samaritan  Gnosis 3  begins  with  Simon  Magus, 
who  claimed  to  be  a  divine  incarnation.  He  was 
a  native  of  Gitta  (Jeff)  in  Samaria  ;  and  Menander  his 
disciple — who  also  claimed  to  be  divine— was  a  yet 
greater  magician,  and  administered  a  baptism  which 
was  to  prevent  death.  Saturninus  of  Antioch  followed 
Menander,  and  was  a  rigid  ascetic.  He  spoke  of  a 

1  "  Hippolytus,"  v.  7. 

1  Irenaeus,  "  Haeres,"  I.  xiii.,  xx.,  xxi.,  xxvi. 

*  Acts  viii.  5,  9-10  ;  Justin  Martyr,  "  Apol."  I.  xxvL 


316  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

phantom  Christ,  and  mingled  Persian  dualism  with 
the  Indian  prohibition  of  animal  food — like  Tatian  and 
the  Encratites,  or  "  abstainers,"  who  did  not  allow 
wine  even  for  the  Eucharist.1  Bardesanes,  born  near 
Edessa,  also  held  "  Docetic "  views,  believing  Christ's 
sufferings  to  have  been  only  apparent,  and  His  body 
spiritual :  the  hymns  of  his  son  Harmonius  were  used 
in  Syria  till  superseded  by  those  of  St.  Ephraem.2 
These  men  taught  free  will  like  Aristotle,  and  de- 
nounced Chaldean  superstitions.  The  second  great 
school  was  that  of  Basilides  and  Valentinus  in  Egypt, 
which  claimed — about  the  middle  of  the  second  century 
— to  be  based  on  a  secret  teaching  of  Christ  to  Matthew,3 
but  which  was  founded  on  Greek  and  Indian  philo- 
sophy. The  strange  allegories  of  the  ALons  ("  ages,"  or 
"  emanations  "),  and  of  a  ghostly  Christ,  and  spiritual 
believers,  developing  the  mysticism  of  the  fourth 
gospel,  has  no  interest  for  us  now ;  but  these  teach- 
ings were  a  formidable  hindrance  to  Catholic 
Christianity  in  their  day.  In  276  A.D.  appeared 
Manes,4  who  was  skinned  alive  by  the  Magi  in  Persia, 
but  whose  gigantic  system  still  prospered  in  the 
fourth  century,  and  spread  to  Gaul  and  Spain,  where 
it  survived  a  thousand  years.  Terebinthus,  the  disciple 
of  Manes,  died  in  Judea.  He  called  himself  a  Buddha, 
and  Manes  claimed  to  be  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  the 
attempt  to  create  an  universal  religion  of  secret 
scepticism  failed,  though  it  was  revived  by  Moslem 
heretics. 

Irenaeus  was  justified  in  saying  of  the  Gnostics 
"  they  speak  like  the  Church,  but  they  think  other- 
wise." Cerinthus  in  Syria  was  said  to  have  lived 

1  Harnack,  "  Brod  und  Wasser,"  1891. 

f  Eusebius,  "  Hist.  Eccles."  iv.  30 ;  Sozomen,  "  Hist.  Eccles." 
iii.  1 6. 

8  "  Hippolytus,"  vii.  20. 
4  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  "  Catech.  Lect"  vi.  12-13. 


GNOSTIC  GOSPELS  317 

before  100  A.D.,  and  the  fourth  gospel  was  written  to 
oppose  his  doctrine  that  Christ  (the  divine  Wisdom) 
descended  on  the  human  Jesus  at  baptism  and  left 
Him  at  the  crucifixion  (as  Muhammad  also  believed) : 
Carpocrates — called  the  "  first  Gnostic  " — held  the 
same  belief,  which  survived  even  in  the  fifth  century. 
He  pretended  that  Christ  taught  a  secret  doctrine  of 
faith  and  love,  all  else  being  mere  human  opinion. 
His  followers  became  licentious  like  Prodicus  and  the 
Adamites,  and  Prodicus  produced  "  secret  books  of 
Zoroaster."  Elxai  under  Trajan,  was  an  Essene,  or 
an  Ebionite,  rejecting  Paul,  and  insisting  on  baptism. 
He  compelled  marriage,  but  forbade  the  use  of  flesh.1 
These  various  sects  had  their  own  gospels ;  and  two 
of  them  survive,  belonging  to  the  Docetae,  who  believed 
Christ  to  have  been  a  phantom.  One  of  these  is  the 
"  Gospel  of  Thomas,"  known  in  Syriac,  Greek,  and 
Latin ;  the  other  is  represented  by  the  fragment  of 
the  worthless  "  Gospel  of  Peter  "  recently  discovered. 
Clement  of  Alexandria  speaks  of  the  "  Gospel  of  the 
Egyptians," a  which  contained  mystic  sayings  attributed 
to  Jesus,  but  evidently  spurious.  The  "Gospel  of  the 
Hebrews "  was  also  a  legendary  work,  which  has 
happily  been  lost.  These  were  the  germs  of 
apocryphal  gospels  of  the  fifth  century;  and  the 
"  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,"  supposed  to  be  ancient,  was 
given  a  prologue  and  an  appendix  in  this  later  age  of 
superstition. 

There  was  thus  plenty  to  cause  the  enemy  to 
blaspheme  even  in  the  first  century,  when  the  pagan 
priests  calumniated  the  Church,  and  abused  Christians 
as  haters  of  mankind,  "  a  third  race,"  who  refused  to 
burn  incense  to  Caesar  till  compelled,  and  who  would 
not  serve  the  state  as  soldiers :  they  were  eaters  of 

1  Irenaeus, "  Haeres,"  i.  2,  iii.  1 1 ;  Clement  of  Alexandria,  "  Stromata," 
I.  iii.  4,  vii.  7  ;  "Hippolytus,"  ix.  13,  15,  16. 
1  "  Stromata,"  III.  iii.  9,  13. 


3i8  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

babies,  secretly  addicted  to  horrible  immorality,  a 
pestilent  sect  of  atheists,  worshipping  the  "  ass-priest," 
or  the  cross.  The  bad  emperors  were  incited  to 
persecute  them,  but  the  great  Antonines  tolerated  all.1 
About  1 80  A.D.  the  Church  had  won  its  way  from 
Greece  to  Gaul,  and  from  Rome  to  Carthage,  and  its 
importance  was  such  as  to  merit  the  attention  and  the 
severe  criticism  even  of  philosophers  like  Celsus. 
Hadrian  is  believed 2  to  have  written  to  Servianus  in 
131  A.D.  about  Christianity  in  Egypt:  "there  those 
who  adore  Serapis  are  also  Christians,  and  those  who 
call  themselves  bishops  of  the  Christ  are  devotees  of 
Serapis.  There  is  not  a  president  of  a  synagogue, 
Jew,  or  Samaritan,  or  Christian  priest,  who  does  not 
add  to  his  functions  those  of  an  astrologer,  diviner, 
and  impostor.  The  patriarch  himself  when  he  comes 
to  Egypt  is  forced  by  some  to  worship  Serapis,  by 
others  to  adore  Christ."  "  Their  only  god  is  money  : 
that  is  the  deity  that  Christians,  Jews,  and  all  others 
adore." 

Celsus  in  his  "  True  Account "  attacked  the  whole 
Bible,  and  was  the  predecessor  of  Strauss.  He  said,3 
"  It  is  only  foolish  low  persons  void  of  insight,  slaves, 
women,  children,  of  whom  the  teachers  of  the  Divine 
Word  wish  to  make  converts."  "  Those  who  perform 
most  disgraceful  tricks  in  the  market  place,  and  gather 
crowds  round  them,  would  never  approach  a  meeting 
of  wise  men,  or  dare  to  exhibit  their  arts  among  them, 
but  wherever  they  see  young  men,  or  a  mob  of  slaves, 
or  a  gathering  of  stupid  people,  there  they  thrust  them- 
selves in  and  show  themselves  off."  "  We  see  indeed 
in  private  houses  wool-workers,  leather  makers,  and 
fullers,  persons  quite  uneducated  and  of  rustic  character, 
not  venturing  to  utter  a  word  in  presence  of  their 

1  Tertullian,  "  Apol."  5. 

1  Renan,  "  L'figlise  Chrdtienne,"  1879,  p.  189. 

8  Origen,  "Against  Celsus,"  iii.  49,  50,  55,  59,  73. 


CELSUS  319 

elders  and  wise  masters ;  but  when  they  get  hold  of 
the  children  privately,  and  of  certain  women  as  ignorant 
as  themselves,  they  pour  forth  wonderful  assertions 
to  the  effect  that  these  ought  not  to  give  heed  to  their 
father  or  to  their  teachers,  but  should  obey  them  :  that 
the  former  are  foolish  and  stupid,  and  can  neither 
know  nor  do  any  really  good  thing,  being  busy  about 
empty  trifles :  that  they  alone  know  how  men  ought 
to  live ;  and  that  if  the  children  obey  them  they  will 
both  be  happy  themselves,  and  will  make  their  home 
happy  also."  "  Any  sinner,  any  one  without  sense, 
any  feeble-minded  person,  in  short  any  one  who  is 
miserable,  may  come,  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  for 
him."  "  No  wise  man  believes  the  Gospel,  for  he  is 
driven  away  by  the  multitude  who  cleave  thereto." 
It  is  thus  that  the  philosopher  condemns  the  poor 
street  preachers,  and  the  slaves  in  great  houses,  to 
whom  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  brought  comfort. 
"  Why,"  he  says,  "  do  they  prefer  sinners  ?  "  They 
remind  him  "  of  a  crowd  of  bats,  of  ants  coming  out  of 
their  hole,  or  of  frogs  in  a  marsh,  or  worms  " :  they 
despise  constituted  authority,  and  the  Oracle  of 
Dodona,  and  others  credited  by  the  Peripatetics. 
They  believe  in  angels,  but  not  in  the  demons  who 
are  the  ministers  of  God  Almighty,  and  who  ought  to 
be  propitiated  by  sacrifices.  He  refers  to  the  Ophites. 
He  asks  why  only  Mary  witnessed  the  Resurrection  ; 
and  thinks  the  earthquake  and  darkness  at  the 
Crucifixion  to  be  mere  legends.  He  disbelieves  the 
Virgin  Birth,  but  he  credits  the  Jewish  calumny  which 
made  Jesus  the  son  of  the  soldier  Pantherus ;  for  "  No 
god,  or  son  of  a  god  has  come  down  or  will  come 
down." l  Origen,  when  he  replied  to  this  "  True 
Account "  later,  admitted  much  which  we  now  deny, 

1  "Against  Celsus,"  iii.  62,  iv.  23,  viii.  55-66,  vii.  3,  25,  31,  vi.  24-31, 
vii  53,  ii.  53,  i.  28-38,  v.  2,  31,  40.  Tal.  Bab.  Sanhedrin,  107  b. 
Sabbath  104  b. 


320  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

and  said  that  demons  were  evil  beings,  and  Old 
Testament  stories  only  allegories ;  but  his  quotation 
from  Plutarch  was  true — "  the  mills  of  God  grind 
slowly."  The  Church  was  not  an  Ophite  sect,  but 
was  struggling  against  the  fashionable  Mithra  worship, 
and  Isis  worship  of  the  age,  which  infected  the  Gnostic 
systems  and  finally  corrupted  Christianity  itself.  In- 
cense and  idols,  transubstantiation,  and  holy  water,1 
were  still  peculiar  to  paganism  ;  and  Celsus  the  critic 
was  as  credulous  about  beliefs  in  which  he  had  grown 
up  as  any  of  the  simplest  Christians. 

From  such  criticism  we  may  turn  to  the  actual 
development  of  Christian  rites,  and  organisation,  as 
known  from  monuments  or  from  the  writings  of  the 
Fathers.  Our  Lord  commanded  men  to  pray  in 
private ;  but  when  pious  meetings  of  Christians 
became  usual,  a  "  presiding  brother "  was  needed, 
and  became  the  treasurer  of  the  congregation.  Paul 
called  himself  both  an  apostle,  or  "messenger,"  and 
a  minister  (diakonos)  or  "  servant."  He  speaks,  in  his 
great  epistles,  of  prophets  or  "  preachers,"  of  "  leaders," 
"  teachers,"  "  pastors,"  and  "  evangelists,"  ministering 
to  the  holy  people.  The  apostles  of  Palestine  did 
not  expect  to  have  any  successors,  for  they  believed 
that  the  End  would  come  in  their  own  lifetime.  But 
after  70  A.D.,  the  Pauline  congregations  were  further 
organised,  and  the  elders  began  to  elect  permanent 
"  overseers "  (episkopot)  who  were  aided  by  the 
ministrants,  or  deacons.  Such  an  overseer  must 
be  a  staid  married  man,  known  to  be  sincere,  and 
not  a  new  convert  who  might  desire  to  become  a 
"lord  over  the  inheritance."2 

The  term  Episkopos  (bishop)  was  an  ancient  and 
well-known  civil  title.  The  Greeks  had  such  "  over- 

1  Tertullian,  "  De  Baptismo,"  5. 

1  2  Cor.  xi.  23  ;  Col.  i.  25  ;  Rom.  xii.  6-8 ;  I  Thess.  v.  12  ;  Ephes. 
iv.  II  ;  Phil.  i.  I  ;  i  Tim.  iii.,  iv.,  v. ;  James  v.  14. 


BISHOPS  321 

seers  "  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  Peloponnesian  war, 
and  the  term  is  often  used,  in  the  Bashan  inscriptions, 
of  magistrates.1  Thus  at  Salkhad  we  find  a  pagan 
text  dated  252  A.D.  beginning  with  the  pagan  invocation 
"  good  luck,"  and  recording  the  names  of  four  Episkopoi 
which  are  clearly  not  Christian.1  Even  in  the  time  of 
Tertullian — about  200  A.D. — when  the  word  "  Sacerdos  " 
begins  to  creep  in,  and  the  "  Ordo "  is  superior  in 
honour  to  the  "  Plebs,"  we  still  find  it  stated  that 
"where  there  is  no  arrangement  for  the  meeting  of 
the  congregation  you  both  offer,  and  dip,  and  are 
a  Sacerdos  to  yourself  alone."  2  Half  a  century  later 
the  Sacerdos  claimed  to  be  the  successor  of  the  Levite 
and  entitled  to  tithes  :  the  bishop  was  no  longer  to  be 
a  farmer  or  trader  and  received  a  stipend.  But  as 
men  of  patrician  rank  began  to  join  the  Church  the 
old  objection  to  the  neophyte  was  discarded.  Cyprian 3 
was  elected  by  popular  suffrage,  with  the  consent  of 
other  bishops,  while  still  a  recent  convert.  Even  in 
the  latter  years  of  the  fourth  century  Ambrose  of 
Milan  became  bishop,  by  popular  acclamation,  while 
yet  a  layman4;  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia 
was  not  even  baptized ;  and  other  cases  are  known 
where  an  important  leader  became  bishop  at  once  on 
conversion.  But  this  gradual  growth  of  sacerdotalism 
led  to  the  "  Ecclesia "  being  regarded  as  consisting 
only  of  the  clergy,  though  the  word — as  used  in  the 
Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament — meant 
properly  the  "  congregation." 

Tertullian  called  the  Holy  Spirit  the  "  vicar  of 
Christ " ;  he  says  sarcastically,  "  No  doubt  he  is  a 

1  Waddington,  "  Inscript.  Grecques  et  Lat.  de  la  Syrie,"  1876, 
p.  474,  No  1990  :  see  also  No.  2298. 

1  Tertullian,  "  De  Exhort.  Cast,"  7  ;  "  De  Virg.  Veland,"  9;  "  De 
Prescript  Haer."  n. 

3  Benson,  "  Cyprian,"  1897. 

4  Paulinus,  "  Vita,"  iii. 

21 


322  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

Pontifex  Maximus  who  calls  himself  a  bishop  of 
bishops."  He  knew  not  that  mediaeval  Popes  would 
usurp  such  titles,  and  that  the  priest-king,  as  successor 
of  the  divine  Augusti,  would  assume  the  office  of  the 
old  Roman  pontiff  who  "  made  the  bridge  "  leading  to 
heaven.1  In  his  time  confession  of  sin  was  made 
publicly  in  the  congregation ;  and  even  in  the  fourth 
century  Chrysostom  is  strong  against  that  auricular 
confession  which  was  to  become  so  terrible  an  engine 
of  priestly  tyranny.2  Cyprian,  about  254  A.D.,  stoutly 
opposed  the  pretensions  of  Stephen,  bishop  of  Rome, 
to  authority  outside  Italy,  and  wrote  to  him  as  a 
"  brother "  and  equal,  denying  the  primacy  of  Peter. 
"  Our  colleague  Stephen,"  he  says  (as  to  a  case  in 
Spain),  "  was  a  long  way  off  and  ignorant  of  the  facts." 3 
Firmilian,  bishop  of  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  wrote  to 
Cyprian  to  say :  "  That  the  Roman  Church  does  not 
in  all  things  observe  the  primitive  tradition,  and 
alleges  the  authority  of  the  Apostles  in  vain,  any  one 
may  know  seeing  that,  about  the  celebration  of  Easter, 
and  many  other  sacraments  of  religion,  there  are  some 
diversities  among  them,  and  all  things  are  not  observed 
in  the  same  way  they  are  observed  in  Jerusalem.  So 
too  in  many  other  provinces  many  things  are  varied 
to  suit  local  and  human  differences,  and  yet  the  peace 
and  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church  have  not  been  de- 
parted from  as  Stephen  has  now  dared  to  do."  * 

Every  bishop  was  called  a  pope  in  the  third  century, 
as  every  priest  is  still  called  in  the  East — a  "  papa  "  or 
"  father."  It  was  Hildebrand,  in  the  eleventh  century, 
who  announced  that  there  was  only  one  Pope 5 ;  but 

1  Tertullian,  "  De  Virg.  Veland,"  i  ;  "De  Pudicit,"  i. 

*  Tertullian,  "  De  Penitent,"  9  ;  Chrysostom,  "  Horn."  v. 

*  Cyprian,  "  Epit."  Ixvii.  5. 

4  Benson's  "  Cyprian,"  p.  385. 

4  Paul  I.  in  757  A.D.  was,  however,  called  "  Universal  Pope"  by  the 
Romans.  See  Gregorovius,  "  Hist,  of  City  of  Rome,"  English  trans., 
1894,  ii.  p.  308. 


THE  EUCHARIST  323 

the  pretensions  of  Rome  were  never  tolerated  in  Asia 
or  in  Egypt.  Yet  even  in  the  third  century,  when 
each  bishop  was  equal  in  his  own  see,  they  together 
formed  a  powerful  federation  which  demanded  govern- 
ment recognition  after  the  Decian  persecution. 
"Authority  loves  authority,"  and  the  sacerdotal 
Church  was  gradually  approaching  its  compact  with 
an  empire  which  was  tending  to  the  establishment  of 
the  hereditary  principle. 

The  "  cup  of  blessing "  was  as  much  a  part  of  the 
Passover  rite,  in  the  time  of  our  Lord,  as  was  the 
custom  of  "  reclining  at  ease  "  to  eat  the  unleavened 
bread.  The  apostles  who  saw  their  living  Master 
break  that  bread  and  drink  from  that  cup,  could  not 
have  attached  a  material  meaning  to  His  symbolic 
words.  He  was  the  victim  of  that  fatal  Passover,  and 
bade  them  "  Remember  Me "  henceforth,  as  other 
anniversaries  came  round.  Even  the  mystic  language 
of  the  fourth  gospel  is  guarded  by  the  warning:  "The 
words  that  I  speak  to  you  are  spirit." l  The  Corinthians, 
who  looked  on  the  Supper  as  a  communal  meal,  like 
those  of  the  Spartans  and  Cretans,  were  condemned 
by  Paul  for  forgetting  that  it  was  a  sacred  memorial 
rite.  The  scandals  thus  arising  led  to  the  weekly 
Communion  (on  Saturday  or  on  Sunday)  being 
gradually  divorced  from  the  Love  Feast,  till  in  the 
third  century  it  became  a  formal  symbol  by  itself,  an 
Eucharist  daily  celebrated  fasting,  before  sunrise,  and 
not  an  actual  supper  after  sunset  consecrated  by  a 
final  rite.  Had  it  been  preserved  like  the  Passover,  as 
a  family  feast,  the  character  of  the  Supper  might  have 
remained  purely  memorial.  Home  communion  was 
still  practised  in  Cyprian's  age,  but  now  only  survives 
in  grace  after  meat.  The  Christians  in  Cyprian's  time 
often  took  home  their  portions  of  bread  and  wine,  and 
reserved  them  to  eat  before  their  first  meal.  But  he 

1  I  Cor.  x.  16,  xi.  27  ;  Mishnah,  Pesakhim,  x.  2,  7  ;  John  vi.  63. 


324  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

did  not  regard  this  as  a  true  Eucharist ;  and  new 
scandals  arose  on  account  of  the  superstitious  ignor- 
ance of  the  converts.  Basil,  in  the  fourth  century, 
says  that  in  Egypt  "  for  the  most  part  every  one  had 
the  Communion  in  his  own  house."  Augustin,  in 
430  A.D.,  says  that  some  even  made  a  poultice  of  the 
sacred  bread  to  cure  sickness,  so  that  the  idea  of  a 
magical  charm  attached  to  the  elements  among  the 
ignorant,  even  in  the  fifth  century.  But  reservation  of 
the  elements  in  churches  was  not  practised  till  four 
hundred  years  later.1 

The  language  of  the  Christian  Fathers  on  this 
subject  is  based  on  that  of  Paul  and  of  the  Gospels, 
and  we  cannot  be  certain  that  allusions  to  transub- 
stantiation  in  works  by  Origen,  Justin,  or  Irenaeus 
may  not  be  corruptions  of  the  text.  Cyril  of  Jeru- 
salem, however,  in  the  fourth  century,  says  that  the 
"spiritual  sacrifice"  is  "transformed"2;  but  even 
he  calls  the  elements  an  "  antitype."  The  "  Real 
Presence"  was  denied  by  Berengarius  in  1045,  long 
before  Wyclif  (in  1381)  denied  the  dogma  of  tran- 
substantiation,  which  Innocent  III.  imposed  on  the 
Church  in  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.  Yet  the 
idea  of  a  communion  with  deity  through  sacred  loaves 
and  sacred  drink  was  very  ancient  and  wide-spread— 
found  in  Egypt  and  Persia,  and  extant  still  in  Tibet, 
where  the  dough  image  of  a  three-headed  person  is 
distributed  among  the  so-called  Buddhist  worshippers.3 
In  India  the  Soma  drink  is  the  blood  of  Vishnu ;  and 
just  as  the  pagan  material  conception  of  the  Son  of 
God  was  brought  into  the  Church  by  converts,  so 
was  the  mysticism  of  pagan  Rome  brought  into  the 
rite  of  the  Memorial  Supper.  The  worship  of  Mithra 

1  Tertullian,  "  De  Orat."  19  ;  "Ad  Uxorem,"  ii.  5  ;  Basil,  "Epit."  39; 
Augustin — see  Smith's  "  Diet.  Christian  Antiq."  s.v.  Reservation. 
*  Origen,  "Against  Celsus,"  viii.  ;  Cyril,  "  Catech.  Lect."  v.  20-22. 
3  Waddell,  "  Buddhism  in  Tibet,"  1895,  p.  528. 


THE  HAOMA  325 

was  common  in  Rome  in  the  second  century.  It 
included  the  rite  in  which  sacred  loaves,  and  the 
sacred  Haoma  drink,  were  offered  to  the  god  of  day. 
Justin  Martyr  and  Tertullian  alike  regarded  this  rite  as 
resembling  the  Christian  Eucharist.  The  former  says: 
"  Which  wicked  devils  have  imitated  in  the  mysteries 
of  Mithra,  commanding  the  same  thing  to  be  done. 
For  that  bread  and  a  cup  of  water  are  used,  with 
certain  incantations,  in  the  mystic  rites  for  one  about 
to  be  initiated,  you  either  know  or  can  learn."  Tran- 
substantiation  was  a  feature  of  this  rite.  The  ancient 
Yashts  or  "  hymns "  of  Persia  (400  B.C.)  celebrate  the 
Haoma,  both  as  a  sacrifice  and  as  a  god  whose  spirit 
was  communicated  by  the  sacred  drink  to  those  who 
offered  it  to  the  gods.1  We  can  therefore  understand 
that  converts  who  had  been  Mithraic  initiates  retained 
their  old  beliefs  as  to  such  communion  with  deity, 
even  when  partaking  of  the  Memorial  Supper  ;  and  as 
the  Church  became  corrupted  by  paganism,  after  its 
compact  with  the  empire,  the  strange  doctrine  to 
which  Rome  still  adheres  gradually  became  the 
general  belief. 

The  primitive  age  of  the  Church,  strictly  speaking, 
came  to  an  end  in  325  A.D.  ;  and  after  this  date 
Christianity  became  the  victim — not  the  cause — of 
the  dark  ages.  From  about  180  A.D.  the  Churches 
shared  the  general  decay  of  Roman  civilisation,  due 
to  the  gross  materialism  which  was  produced  by 
wealth  and  luxury.  The  light  which  had  shone  in 
the  darkness  when  the  darkness  "  could  not  compass 
it,"  burned  dim  and  dimmer  in  the  fogs  of  the  world, 
as  the  empire  was  gradually  transferred  to  the 
provincials,  and  as  philosophy  gave  place  to  barbarous 
Gothic  superstitions.  The  Churches,  organised  under 
their  bishops,  represented,  it  is  true,  a  minority  still, 

1  Justin  Martyr,  "Apol."  66 ;  Tertullian,  "  De  Corona,"  15  ;  Yashts, 
"Sacred  Books  of  the  East,"  1883,  vol.  xxiii.  pp.  102,  114,  142. 


326  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

but  it  was  a  strong  minority,  and  Christianity  had 
a  hold  on  the  masses  that  no  other  cult  could  claim. 
A  sacerdotal  Church  was  also  an  institution  very 
different  to  deal  with  from  the  early  Church  of  the 
poor.  It  was  more  willing  to  regard  expediency,  and 
to  burn  incense  to  Caesar  than  of  old.  In  the  third 
century  Christians  were  allowed  to  use  the  civil 
basilicas  of  Rome  for  their  rites.  After  the  abdication 
of  Diocletian  a  new  policy  was  brought  in,  and  the 
fourth  century  opened  with  the  decree  of  the  dying 
emperor  Galerius,  whose  edict,  published  in  305,  gave 
public  recognition  to  the  Church.1  "  We  were  par- 
ticularly desirous  of  reclaiming  into  the  way  of  reason 
and  nature  the  deluded  Christians  who  had  renounced 
the  religion  and  ceremonies  instituted  by  their  fathers." 
"  The  edicts  which  we  have  published  to  enforce  the 
worship  of  the  gods  having  exposed  many  of  the 
Christians  to  danger  and  distress,  many  having 
suffered  death,  and  many  more  who  still  persist  in 
their  impious  folly  being  left  destitute  of  any  public 
exercise  of  religion,  we  are  disposed  to  extend  to 
these  unhappy  men  the  effects  of  our  wonted  clemency. 
We  permit  them  therefore  freely  to  profess  their 
private  opinions,  and  to  assemble  in  their  conventicles 
without  fear  or  molestation,  provided  always  that 
they  preserve  a  due  respect  to  the  established  laws 
and  government.  By  another  rescript  we  shall  signify 
our  intentions  to  the  judges  and  magistrates  ;  and  we 
hope  that  our  indulgence  will  engage  the  Christians 
to  offer  up  their  prayers  to  the  god  whom  they  adore 
for  our  safety,  and  prosperity :  for  their  own  :  and 
for  that  of  the  republic."  This  was  the  first  proclama- 
tion of  peace,  and  the  Charter  of  the  Church.  The 
Edict  of  Milan  (in  313),  issued  by  Constantine,  was 
also  one  of  general  toleration,  restoring  to  Christians 

1  Lactantius  (in  Caecilius,  "  De  Mort.  Persec,"  chap.  34),  Gibbon, 
chap.  xvi. 


THE  OFFICIAL  CHURCH  327 

civil  and  religious  rights,  and  the  places  of  worship 
and  lands  of  which  the  Church  had  been  deprived 
during  the  struggle  for  power  which,  at  length,  left 
him  sole  emperor  in  324,  when  he  announced  his 
adoption  of  Christianity  as  the  Imperial  cult,  and 
called  next  year  the  Council  of  Nicea,  where  he 
presided  as  "  bishop  of  bishops,"  and  secured  the 
actual  nomination  of  the  Christian  leaders. 

Thus  Christianity  became  the  court  religion ;  and 
the  thousand  bishops  of  the  East,  with  eight  hundred 
in  the  West,  became  Imperial  officials.  Christianity 
was  now  the  road  to  worldly  success,  and  the  Church 
was  immediately  swamped  by  the  flood  of  ignorant 
and  superstitious  converts  who  followed  the  "  divine 
emperor"  in  adopting  the  approved  cultus.  Hence- 
forth her  task  was  more  difficult  than  ever.  Sincere 
differences  of  belief  had  not  disturbed  the  unity  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  but  these  were  now  seized  on 
by  ambitious  prelates,  and  became  the  battle  cries 
of  party.  The  question  was,  how  to  deal  with  such 
worldliness,  with  the  turbulence  of  monkish  fanatics 
incited  by  crafty  leaders,  with  the  customs  and 
superstitions  of  the  crowds  who  demanded  baptism, 
yet  believed  in  all  the  old  peasant  animistic  ideas. 
The  official  Church  was  called  on  to  define  its  creed ; 
and  for  two  centuries  it  continued  to  seek  a  Via 
Media,  until  at  length  there  was  no  longer  a  Catholic 
Church,  but  schism  or  "splitting  apart,"  which  left 
six  or  seven  Churches,  each  arrogating  to  itself  the 
ancient  title,  and  denying  it  to  the  rest.  The  Church 
was  dragged  down  to  the  level  of  the  masses.  Its 
priests  were,  as  a  rule,  neither  better  educated  nor 
more  spiritual  that  their  flocks.  They  sprang  from 
the  people,  and  shared  its  ideas ;  and,  when  the  empire 
was  overrun  by  Goths  and  Vandals,  the  ancient  civili- 
sation died  out,  and  the  Church  offices  were  filled  by 
ignorant  and  degraded  nominees  of  the  State, 


328  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

Official  religion  became  mainly  a  question  of  dogmas 
and  rites,  of  vestments  and  money.  The  sudden 
change  is  shown  by  the  numerous  Christian  in- 
scriptions of  Syria,  which  begin  immediately  after 
325  A.D.  They  are  marked  by  the  cross,  and  they 
testify  to  the  growing  organisation  under  metro- 
politans and  archimandrites,  and  to  the  increasing 
power  and  pride  of  bishops,  who  soon  claimed  to  be 
the  representatives  of  God  on  earth,  or,  as  the  Emperor 
Charles  the  Bald  called  them,  in  876  A.D.,  "  the  thrones 
of  God  in  which  God  sitteth."  Stately  basilicas  rose 
at  once,  not  only  in  Rome,  but  at  Jerusalem  over  the 
cave  of  the  Venus  temple,  and  at  Bethlehem  over 
the  cave  which  Justin  Martyr  and  Origen  believed  to 
have  been  the  stable  of  the  Nativity,  but  which 
Constantine  found  in  use  as  a  temple  of  Adonis.1 
As  late  as  515  A.D.  we  find  a  church  of  St.  George 
at  Zorava  built  on  the  site  of  a  temple  of  Theandrites,2 
and  others  occur  at  Gerasa  and  Baalbek,  just  as  the 
basilica  of  St.  Clement  at  Rome  covers  an  ancient 
cave  of  Mithra.3  Paganism  did  not  die  out  at  once, 
nor  did  Gnosticism. 

Theandrites  had  still  a  temple  in  394  A.D.,  and  a  new 
shrine  to  Aumo  was  erected  as  late  as  320  A.D.  But 

1  A  Greek  text  at  Gerasa  (see  my  "Palestine,"  1889,  p.  181) 
commemorates  the  conversion  of  a  temple  into  a  church.  The  same 
is  found  to  have  happened  in  Rome,  as  recorded  in  texts  after  408  A.D. 
See  Gregorovius,  "  History  of  the  City  of  Rome,"  English  trans.,  1894, 
i.  p.  74,  and  Renan,  "  Marc  Aurele,"  1882,  p.  578,  quoting  de  Rossi 
for  the  Mithraeum  of  St.  Clement. 

*  Waddington,  "  Inscript.  Grecques  et  Latines  de  la  Syrie,"  1870, 
Nos.  2498,  2558,  2046,  2393;  Psalm  quotations,  Nos.  2391,  24130, 
2551  c,  2648,  2650-2654,  2661,  2672-2677. 

3  Perhaps  the  oldest  known  Christian  building  in  the  world  is  the 
synagogue  of  the  Marcionites  at  Lebaba  (Deir  ^Aly]  thirty  miles 
south  of  Damascus,  with  a  text  of  318  A.D.  :  "The  synagogue  of  the 
Marcionites  of  the  village  Lebaba,  to  the  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
the  Good,  by  the  care  of  Paul  the  presbyter  Year  630"  (of  the 
Seleucidae). 


DECAY  OF  THE  CHURCH  329 

the  signs  of  the  fish  and  the  cross  now  mark  Christian 
texts,  and  quotations  from  the  Psalms  are  written 
over  the  doors  of  churches  and  of  private  houses 
alike. 

All  the  great  men  of  the  fourth  century  deplored 
the  degradation  of  the  newly  established  Church.1 
Gregory  of  Nyssa,  about  370  A.D.,  was  indignant  at 
the  follies  and  scandals  of  the  pilgrims.  The  other 
Gregory  published  in  verse  a  diatribe  against  the 
bishops  as  hypocrites,  ignorant  illiterate  peasants, 
deserters,  and  timeservers.  Chrysostom  draws  a 
gloomy  picture  of  the  worldliness  and  superstition  of 
Antioch,  of  the  use  of  the  gospels  as  amulets,  and 
of  Jew  hatred,  and  the  fear  and  savage  punishment 
of  witchcraft.  He  compared  the  Church  to  a  "  faded 
beauty,"  seeking  to  restore  her  charms  with  cosmetics. 
He  condemned  the  growing  worship  of  saints  and 
angels,  and  the  evil  lives  of  "  subintroduced  sisters." 
He  was  utilised  as  a  popular  Patriarch,  and  then 
flung  aside  to  die  in  the  deserts  of  Armenia  in 
407  A.D. 

Jerome  has  drawn  a  well-known  picture  of  the 
manners  of  fashionable  prelates  in  Rome.  He  had 
been  encouraged  in  his  great  work  of  translating  the 
Bible  into  Latin  by  Pope  Damasus,  but  after  his 
death  in  384  A.D.  the  Dalmatian  monk,  so  much  hated 
by  his  Roman  rivals,  retired  to  Bethlehem,  where  the 
pious  Paula,  and  her  devotee  daughter  Eustochium, 
joined  him.  Paula  died  in  404,  and  Jerome,  after 
suffering  from  the  controversies  of  the  age,  passed 
away  in  420  A.D.,  leaving  a  noble  monument  of  learning 
behind  him.  He  says2  that  Paula  witnessed  strange 

1  Stanley,  "Christian  Instil."  1881,  pp.  305-312.  Chrysostom,  "Horn." 
(on  i  Corinthians)  xxxvi.  5.  Dean  Spence- Jones,  "  The  Golden  Age 
of  the  Church,"  1906,  p.  39. 

1  Jerome,  "Pilgrimage  of  Paula  "(Pal.  Pil.  Text  Soc.  1887,  p.  13). 
"  Paula  and  Eustochium  "  (same  series),  pp.  10-13. 


330  HISTORIC   CHRISTIANITY 

scenes  at  Samaria,  visiting  the  supposed  tomb  of  John 
the  Baptist.  "  For  she  beheld  demons  roaring  in 
various  torments;  and,  before  the  sepulchres  of  the 
saints,  men  who  howled  like  wolves,  barked  with 
the  voices  of  dogs,  roared  with  those  of  lions,  hissed 
like  serpents,  bellowed  like  bulls ;  while  others 
turned  round  their  heads  and  touched  the  ground 
behind  their  backs  with  the  crown  of  their  heads,  and 
women  hung  by  their  feet  with  their  clothes  flowing 
over  their  faces.  She  pitied  them  all,  and  having  shed 
tears  for  each,  begged  the  mercy  of  Christ."  It  was 
an  exhibition  of  hypnotism  such  as  has  been  witnessed 
at  revival  meetings  in  all  ages,  or  in  French  hospitals 
of  modern  times.  She  went  on,  "  forgetful  of  her  sex 
and  of  the  weakness  of  her  frame,  desiring  to  dwell 
with  her  maidens  among  so  many  thousands  of 
monks." 

Writing  for  Paula  in  his  own  characteristic  style, 
Jerome  further  says  :  "  Indeed,  the  company  of  monks 
and  nuns  is  a  flower,  and  a  jewel  of  great  price,  among 
the  ornaments  of  the  Church.  The  first  men  in  Gaul 
hasten  hither.  The  Briton  separated  from  our  world, 
if  he  has  made  any  progress  in  religion,  leaves  the 
setting  sun  and  seeks  a  place  known  to  him  only  by 
fame  and  Scripture  narratives."  "  Behold  in  this  little 
nook  the  Founder  of  the  heavens  was  born."  "This 
place  I  conceive  is  holier  than  the  Tarpeian  Rock." 
"  Read  the  Revelation  of  John,  and  consider  what  he 
says  of  the  scarlet  woman,  and  the  blasphemies  written 
on  her  brow  ;  of  the  seven  hills  ;  of  the  many  waters  ; 
of  the  fall  of  Babylon."  "  There  is  the  Holy  Church  .  .  . 
but  worldliness,  authority,  the  life  of  a  great  city, 
meetings,  and  exchanges  of  salutations,  praise  and 
blame  of  one  another,  listening  to  others  or  talking 
to  them,  or  even  against  one's  will  beholding  so  great 
a  congregation  of  people,  is  foreign  to  the  ideal  set 
before  monks  in  their  quiet  seclusion  ;  for  if  we  see 


THE  CHURCH   IN   ROME  331 

those  who  visit  us  we  lose  our  quiet,  and  if  we  do  not 
see  them  we  are  accused  of  pride.  Sometimes  also, 
that  we  may  return  the  calls  of  our  visitors,  we  proceed 
to  the  doors  of  proud  houses,  and  amid  the  sneering 
remarks  of  the  servants,  enter  their  gilded  portals." 
Such  was  Jerome's  experience  of  Rome  under 
Damasus,  which  led  him  to  be  the  first  to  condemn 
the  "Scarlet  Woman,"  as  roundly  as  Wyclif  or  any 
later  Puritan.  Pilgrimage  was  no  new  custom.  It 
was  a  widely  spread  and  ancient  practice  in  Egypt, 
India,  Mexico,  as  well  as  among  Greeks  and  Latins ; 
but  the  sites  now  visited  were  in  Palestine ;  and  the 
relics,  footprints,  fragments  of  the  cross,  and  holy 
places,  grew  ever  more  numerous  after  330  A.D.  The 
Lupercalia  was  still  celebrated  down  to  the  end  of  the 
fifth  century  in  Rome,  though  transformed  into  a  feast 
of  the  Purification  of  Mary ;  and  the  cave  of  Faunus, 
and  of  the  Roman  she-wolf,  was  dedicated  to  Saint 
Stephen.1 

The  Church  perhaps  was  not  to  be  blamed  in  its 
attempts  to  deal  with  the  superstitions  of  the  converts ; 
but  her  policy  was  fatal  to  pure  Christianity.  Gregory 
of  Nyssa  says  of  Gregory  the  Wonderworker  * : 
"  Having  observed  that  the  childish  and  uneducated 
masses  were  held  fast  to  idolatry  by  bodily  delights : 
in  order  that  the  main  principle — the  habit  of  looking 
to  God  rather  than  to  the  vain  objects  of  worship — 
might  be  established  in  them,  he  suffered  them  to 
delight  themselves  in  the  memorials  of  the  holy 
martyrs,  and  to  make  merry  and  exult,  thinking  that 
their  life  would  gradually  be  changed  into  a  more 
virtuous  and  scrupulous  pattern."  But  he  was  wrong. 
Nocturnal  orgies  at  the  tombs  of  saints  and  martyrs 
became  a  scandal,  and  the  worship  of  Bacchus  and 

1  Gregorovius,  English  trans,  i.  p.  262. 

*  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  vol.  iii.  (see  Bigg,  "The  Church's  Task,"  1905, 
p.  84). 


332  HISTORIC   CHRISTIANITY 

Venus  was  thinly  veiled  by  pretended  Christianity. 
Chrysostom  at  Constantinople,  condemned  ;  Ambrose, 
at  Milan,  suppressed  these  festivals,  and  the  dances 
round  sepulchres  of  saints.  Augustin  at  Hippo 
spoke  of  revels  and  drunkenness  at  such  meetings  :  for 
the  Agapae,  forbidden  in  churches,  were  held  in 
cemeteries,  and  women  were  forbidden  to  pass  the 
night  in  them  in  the  seventh  century.1  But  the  same 
policy  of  persuasion — and  of  salving  conscience — was 
pursued  in  other  matters  much  later.  Gregory  the 
Great,2  about  600  A.D.,  writing  to  the  abbot  Millitus 
when  on  a  mission  to  England,  defends  such  a  policy 
on  the  ground  that  perfection  is  only  to  be  attained 
step  by  step.  Idols  are  to  be  destroyed,  but  not  the 
temples — or  stone  circles — where  they  were  adored. 
"  Let  holy  water  be  made,  and  sprinkled  over  them. 
Let  altars  be  constructed,  and  relics  placed  on  them ; 
insomuch  as  these  temples  are  well  made  it  is 
necessary  that  they  should  be  converted  from  the 
worship  of  demons  to  the  service  of  the  true  God  ;  so 
that  the  people,  seeing  that  their  temples  are  not 
destroyed,  may  put  away  error  from  their  hearts,  and 
acknowledge  the  true  God,  and,  adoring  Him,  may  the 
more  willingly  assemble  in  the  places  where  they  are 
accustomed  to  meet."  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we 
find  crosses  cut  on  old  menhir  stones,  and  dolmens 
in  churchyards  and  crypts.  The  same  was  done  in 
Egypt,  where  the  old  temples  were  used  as  churches 
very  early.  But  as  we  have  seen,  this  led  to 
confusion  between  the  worship  of  Serapis  and  that 
of  Christ. 

The  question  of  allowing  images  and  pictures  was 
treated  in  like  manner.  In  the  fourth  century,  and 

1  Lundy,  "Monumental  Christianity,"  1876,  p.  355. 

*  Gregory  I.,  Epist.  xi.  76 ;  Bede,  "  Hist.  Eccles."  i.  30.  The  word 
"  church,"  though  said  (see  Skeat,  Diet,  s.v.)  to  come  from  Kuriake 
("  of  the  Lord  "),  is  held  to  be  more  probably  from  Kerk,  "  a  circle," 


IMAGES  333 

down  to  a  later  date  than  431  A.D.,  no  decorations  of 
the  kind  were  allowed  in  churches.  Only  the  cross 
was  to  be  painted  on  the  walls.  The  Fathers  were 
unanimous,  down  to  Augustin  of  Hippo,  in  forbidding 
images.  The  Iconoclasts  at  Constantinople  made  the 
last  attempt  to  prevent  idolatry  and  to  reform  the 
Eastern  Church.  They  strove  for  more  than  a  century 
(730  to  842  A.D.),  but  popular  superstition  was  too 
strong  for  them.  Gregory  the  Great  took  the  side  of 
the  masses,1  and  thought  that  pictures  and  statues, 
which  had  already  appeared  in  the  basilica  at  Ravenna 
in  the  fifth  century,  were  allowable — "  not  for  adora- 
tion, but  as  the  only  means  of  instructing  the  minds  of 
the  ignorant."  John  of  Damascus  who,  as  el  Mansur, 
had  been  an  official  of  the  Khalif,  died  as  a  monk,  in 
in  756,  or  later,  at  Mar  Saba,  south  of  Jerusalem, 
where  his  tomb  still  exists,  and  where  he  wrote  the 
hymn  "  Art  thou  weary  ?  "  He  composed  three  orations 
against  those  who  rejected  the  holy  "icons,"  and  he 
demanded  the  right  of  "  worshipping,  kissing,  and 
embracing  the  image  both  with  lips  and  heart "  as  a 
likeness  of  the  Incarnate  God,  or  of  His  mother,  or 
the  saints.  Leo  the  Isaurian,2  in  726,  had  decreed 
that  none  might  kiss  the  images.  The  Empress 
Theodora  finally  restored  them  in  842  ;  and  the  Greek 
Church  allowed  pictures  but  forbade  statues  in  future, 
while  the  Popes  allowed  both.  Thus  you  may  perhaps 
still  see  the  ancient  fresco  of  the  Madonna  which,  half 
a  century  ago,  was  to  be  found  on  a  pier  of  the  north 
aisle  of  the  Cathedral  at  Sorrento — black  with  the 
kisses  of  generations  of  peasants  who  believed  in  its 
wonder-working  powers. 

The  dogmas  of  the  Church  developed  slowly  after 
its  establishment,  and  its  rites  and  symbols  became 
more  numerous,  and  differed  in  East  and  West  until 

1  Gregory  I.,  "  Epist."  ix.  9  ;  John  of  Damascus,  "  Oral."  ii.  10. 
1  See  Smith's  "  Diet.  Christian  Antiq."  1875,  s-v-  Images. 


334  HISTORIC   CHRISTIANITY 

Rome  presented  a  distinct  variety,  or  even  species,  of 
Christianity,  as  compared  with  Eastern  Churches. 
The  Arians  and  Catholics  were  also  at  first  pretty 
evenly  matched  in  numbers,  as  Athanasius  learned 
to  his  cost  by  twenty  years  of  exile.  They  were 
obliged  to  combine  in  opposing  the  reactionary 
paganism  of  Julian,  but  not  until  the  accession  of  the 
fanatical  Spanish  emperor,  Theodosius  (in  379  A.D.), 
was  the  cause  of  Arius  lost  at  Constantinople.  In  787 
the  Greeks  and  Romans  decided  in  favour  of  images, 
and  held  their  last  council  together,  all  the  Asiatic 
Churches  having  seceded  already  between  431  and 
680  A.D. 

The  question  of  Easter,  that  of  the  use  of  unleavened 
bread,  and  that  of  a  peculiar  tonsure,  seem  of  them- 
selves to  be  small  causes  of  rupture;  but  they  were 
connected  with  each  other,  and  with  important 
questions  of  belief,  such  as  the  dogmas  newly  intro- 
duced by  Rome  concerning  the  procession  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  the  temporary  pains  of  Purgatory. 
The  East  had  always  followed  the  fourth  gospel  in 
believing  that  Jesus  was  crucified  on  the  day  of  the 
Passover.  The  West  followed  the  other  three  gospels 
in  believing  that  the  Last  Supper  was  the  Passover, 
and  they  consequently  used  unleavened  bread,  while 
the  Greeks  used  leavened.  When  Augustin  was 
sent  as  a  missionary  to  the  pagan  Saxons,  he  found 
a  British  Church  celebrating  the  Greek  Easter  and 
using  the  Greek  tonsure.  It  must  have  been  an 
offshoot  of  the  Church  of  Lyons  founded  by  Irenaeus, 
who  was  a  Greek.  But  Augustin  cannot  have  been 
the  first  Latin  missionary  in  England,  if  the  ancient 
basilica  at  Silchester  was  a  church,  and  not  a  civil 
building  of  Romans,  before  400  A.D.  ;  for  here,  two 
centuries  before  Augustin  was  sent  from  Rome,  we 
find  the  apse  on  the  west — as  in  Roman  basilicas — 
and  not  on  the  east,  as  it  nearly  always  was  in  Asia. 


THE  MASS  335 

The  new  missionary  made  no  concessions  ;  for  though 
weak  Churches  seek  union,  as  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
did  in  times  of  trouble,  strong  Churches  love  inde- 
pendence. The  power  of  the  Roman  Church,  even 
when  oppressed,  was  due  to  the  zeal  of  her  first 
missionaries,  who  carried  the  Catholic  faith  to  south 
Britain,  in  the  fourth  century  or  earlier,  and  thence 
to  Ireland  and  Scotland,  while  in  the  eighth  century 
Boniface,  from  England,  extended  her  sway  over 
Germany,  though  the  Prussians  remained  pagans 
even  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  increasingly  wide  belief  in  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  naturally  led  to  the  adoration  of  His  mother, 
as  the  Virgin  Mother  of  God,  in  the  fifth  century, 
after  the  expulsion  of  Nestorius,  who  refused  her 
that  title.  New  apocryphal  gospels  were  then  written, 
based  sometimes  on  earlier  works,  transferring  to 
Christ  the  legends  of  Buddha  and  of  Krishna,  and 
those  of  Maya,  and  Devaki,  to  Mary.  Paganism  still 
survived,  though  it  was  put  down  by  Theodosius  in 
388.  It  was  transformed,  by  the  policy  of  the  Church, 
in  East  and  West  alike.  The  ancient  belief  in  sacred 
footprints,  in  relics  such  as  Leda's  egg,  in  ex-votos 
hung  up  in  temples,  which  we  find  in  Pausanias,  was 
changed  but  yet  the  same.  The  cross  itself  was  an 
ancient  emblem  of  "  life  "  in  Babylonia,  hung  to  the 
necks  of  kings.  The  Missa,  or  "  Mass,"  took  its  name 
either  from  the  Aryan  word  for  a  cake,  or  from  the 
Hebrew  Massoth  or  unleavened  bread.  In  the  fourth 
century,  the  birthday  of  Mithra,  "  the  unconquered 
sun,"  was  celebrated  in  Rome  as  the  birthday  of  Christ, 
on  December  25 ;  but  Chrysostom  regarded  it  as  a 
new  custom,  unknown  in  Antioch.  Relics  began 
to  be  adored  in  the  fourth  century.  Bells  were  then 
introduced  in  the  West,  and  the  earliest  liturgies 
belong  to  the  same  age.  In  the  fifth  century  incense 
and  lights  were  first  used  by  Christians,  and  the 


336  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

crucifix  began  to  be  known  in  the  West :  in  the 
sixth,  sacerdotal  vestments  began  to  be  distinguishable 
by  the  survival  of  ancient  patrician  and  sacred  robes ; 
holy  water  was  used,  and  miraculous  images  were 
adored.  In  the  seventh  century  the  Host  or  "  Victim  " 
was  worshipped ;  in  the  eighth  elaborate  processions, 
like  those  of  the  pagans,  became  usual;  in  the  ninth 
the  mitre  was  adopted — the  ancient  headdress  of 
Persian  Magi — with  the  crozier,  which  was  like  the 
old  lituus  of  the  augurs.  By  the  twelfth  century 
Latin  rites  differed  greatly  from  those  of  the  East, 
where  most  bishops  wore  crowns,  and  where  the 
swinging  censer,  the  crucifix,  and  the  font  were 
unknown — baptism  being  by  immersion,  as  it  still  is. 
The  table  of  the  Supper  became  an  altar,  even  in 
the  third  century,  when  the  Eucharist  was  separated 
from  the  Agape.  But  in  the  dark  ages  it  was  con- 
secrated by  the  presence  of  a  relic. 

Celibacy  of  the  clergy  was  also  a  custom  which 
distinguished  the  Roman  Church  from  all  others  after 
443  A.D.  We  have  epitaphs  of  a  Roman  married 
deacon  dating  295  A.D.,  of  a  married  Roman  priest 
in  389,  and  of  a  "  Levite's  wife "  even  as  late  as 
472  A.D.  The  Council  of  Elvira,  in  305,  had  vainly 
attempted  to  introduce  celibacy;  and  Leo  the  Great 
permitted  priests  already  married  to  keep  their  wives. 
Gregory  the  Great  (about  600  A.D.)  forbade  such 
marriages,  and  Hildebrand,  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
eleventh  century,  waged  war  on  the  married  clergy ; 
but  though  asceticism  thus  prevailed  in  the  West, 
all  the  ancient  evils  relating  to  "  sub-introduced 
sisters"  were  thus  perpetuated. 

iii.  Mediaeval. — The  separation  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  began  in  Charlemagne's  time,  about  774  A.D., 
and  the  Western  Church — rescued  from  the  Lombards 
— crowned  him  emperor  in  800  A.D.  Leo  the  Great,  in 


HILDEBRAND  337 

452,  had  taken  a  leading  position  in  Italy  when  he 
negotiated  with  Attila.  Gregory  the  Great  in  590 
was  the  first  to  extend  the  power  of  the  Roman  bishop 
beyond  the  borders  of  the  peninsula ;  and  already,  by 
742,  the  "  pallium  "  was  received  by  bishops  of  Great 
Britain  and  Germany  from  the  Pope.  As  the  German 
empire  became  weak  the  power  of  the  Pontiff  in- 
creased, and  John  VIII.  in  872  claimed  the  right  to 
choose  the  emperor.  The  quarrel  between  Germany 
and  Italy,  between  sacerdotal  and  civil  power,  be- 
tween the  Latin  and  the  Teutonic  races  then  began, 
and  in  spite  of  many  vicissitudes  it  never  was  settled 
until  the  two  opposing  principles — the  authority  of 
the  priest-king  and  the  liberty  of  the  people — led  to 
the  final  breach  at  the  Reformation.  Leo  IX.  ex- 
communicated the  Greek  Patriarch  in  1054,  and  the 
schism  was  rendered  more  bitter  when,  during  the 
two  centuries  of  Latin  power  in  Palestine,  the  Roman 
bishops  usurped  the  sees  of  the  Greeks,  whom  they 
would  at  most  only  acknowledge  as  suffragans.  The 
attempts  to  dominate  Asiatic  Churches  failed,  and  only 
the  Maronites  finally  submitted,  giving  up  their 
peculiar  dogma,  but  retaining — in  return  for  their 
submission  to  the  Pope — their  married  clergy.  During 
the  twelve  years  of  Hildebrand's  pontificate  (1073  to 
1085)  he  contended  for  two  principles  :  first,  that  the 
Pope  should  not  be  nominated  by  the  Emperor  but 
elected  by  the  Cardinals ;  and  secondly,  that  the 
Empire  was  a  fief  of  Rome.  By  his  alliance  with  the 
Countess  Matilda  and  the  Normans,  he  forced  Henry 
IV.  to  do  penance  at  Canossa ;  and  in  1122  Henry  V. 
agreed  to  a  compromise  with  Calixtus  II.,  whereby 
bishops  held  their  sees  from  the  Pope,  and  their 
temporal  possessions  from  the  Emperor.  Hildebrand 
was  the  true  founder  of  feudal  Papacy,  which  was 
further  strengthened  when  Urban  II.  aided  Peter  the 
Hermit  to  rouse  Western  Europe  for  the  redemption 

22 


338  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

of  Palestine  from  the  Turk.  Hildebrand  had  been  the 
first  to  propose  a  Crusade,  and  the  first  to  use  the 
terrible  weapon  of  the  interdict  on  a  great  scale. 
Urban  was  the  first  to  offer  indulgences — which  were 
considered  "  new  "  and  "  dangerous  "  in  747  A.D. — to 
those  who  took  the  Cross,  and  to  claim  the  power  to 
remit  (for  money  paid  or  service  rendered)  the  in- 
evitable results  of  Conduct,  over  which  no  man  has 
control,  and  which  India  had  recognised  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years  as  eternally  fatal.  During  the 
twelfth  century  the  Papal  tyranny  reached  its  culmina- 
tion, and  Innocent  III.  (1198-1216)  set  himself  above 
all  laws,  as  the  feudal  head  of  Europe,  to  whom  King 
John  submitted  in  England.  He  imposed  the  dogma 
of  Transubstantiation  on  the  Church,  and  founded  the 
terrible  Inquisition.  But  Urban  II.  did  not  know  that 
he  was  the  agent  of  an  Eternal  Purpose  which  was 
sending  fresh  light  from  the  East;  and  Innocent  III. 
did  not  know  that  the  Universities  of  the  thirteenth 
century  would,  in  time,  deal  the  death-blow  to 
feudalism  and  sacerdotal  supremacy.  The  ruined 
empire  of  Constantinople  sought  union  with  the 
West  under  Michael  Palaeologus  in  1278,  but  his  son 
dissolved  the  alliance  three  years  later.  With  the  fall 
of  Acre  in  1292  the  real  power  of  the  Papacy  began  to 
decay,  though  it  maintained  a  hollow  appearance  of 
supremacy.  From  1060  to  1300  this  power  lay  in 
the  appeal  from  a  native  bishop  to  Rome ;  but  the 
Popes  at  Avignon  (1305  to  1378)  had  little  real 
authority,  and  immediately  after  the  return  of  Gregory 
XL  to  Rome,  the  great  schism  broke  out,  lasting  till 
1418  A.D.  John  Palaeologus  (1425  to  1448)  made  a  last 
attempt  to  reconcile  the  Latins  and  Greeks ;  but  the 
fall  of  Constantinople  in  1453  put  an  end  to  all  such 
negotiations  between  a  discredited  Papacy  and  a 
ruined  Greek  empire. 

Orders    of   monks  were  unknown    in    the    fourth 


MONKS  AND   FRIARS  339 

century,  though  Eastern  ascetics  followed  the  "  rule 
of  St.  Basil,"  after  358  A.D.,  and  Westerns  that  of  St. 
Benedict,  after  about  529  A.D.  The  four  new  orders  of 
the  West  appeared  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  were 
used  by  the  Popes  to  control  the  power  of  foreign 
bishops.  The  Dominicans,  or  black  monks,  were 
organised  in  1216;  the  Minorites,  or  "little  brothers 
of  the  poor,"  were  founded  by  Francis  of  Assisi  seven 
years  later,  and  known  as  "  grey  friars."  The  White 
Carmelites  belong  to  the  same  age,  with  the  "pyed 
monks,"  or  Augustinians,  wearing  black  and  white. 
Francis  of  Assisi  was  a  true  Christian  and  a  brave 
man.  In  1218  he  went  to  Egypt  to  convert  the  Sultan 
Melek  el  Kamil,  who  listened  to  his  preaching,  and 
sent  him  safely  away.  But  in  1226  he  died,  dis- 
appointed by  the  development  of  the  order  he 
created ;  and,  though  they  showed  much  devotion  in 
Palestine,  and  were  sent  by  the  Pope  in  1232  to 
convert  Melek  el  Ashraf  of  Damascus,  and  the  Sultan 
of  Iconium,  yet  the  first  enthusiasm  soon  died  out, 
and  by  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  all  the 
great  orders  had  begun  to  decay,  and  the  rich 
monasteries  became  the  homes  of  superstition,  sloth, 
and  ignorance,  in  too  many  cases.  Temporal  power 
always  depended  on  wealth  and  possession  of  lands. 
The  Emperor  Valentinian  had  forbidden  Pope  Damasus 
to  receive  legacies,  though  the  Church  already  held 
property  under  Constantine.  Donations  were  often 
made  of  unoccupied  lands,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
twelfth  century  the  Church  held  half  the  land  in 
England,  and  an  even  larger  proportion  on  the 
Continent.  Charlemagne's  concessions  placed  the 
clergy  beyond  the  civil  laws  of  his  rude  empire,  and 
they  gradually  absorbed  all  the  professions,  and  much 
of  the  trade  of  their  countries ;  the  "  remonstrance  of 
the  English,"  in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
urged  that  Italian  priests  were  drawing,  in  tithes  and 


340  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

dues,   far   more   money  than  the  total   of  the  royal 
revenue. 

Such  was  the  world  on  which  the  monk  of  Malvern 
looked  out  when  he  wrote  his  "  Vision  of  Piers 
Ploughman."  Satires  on  the  clergy  are  traced  back 
as  early  as  the  twelfth  century.1  Chaucer's  wit 
played  round  the  worldly  abbess,  the  pardoners,  and 
summoners,  and  the  "  loller "  or  "  luller," 2  singing 
hymns  in  the  street  as  in  the  age  of  Celsus.  But 
Langland  (if  that  was  his  name)  goes  deeper,  and  asks 
the  remedy  for  the  evils  of  his  time.  He  draws  the 
picture  of  rapacious  nobles  and  tyrannous  prelates,  of 
corruption  at  court,  fraud  in  trade,  ignorance  and 
drunkenness  among  peasants — sins  scourged  by  the 
great  pestilences  of  1348  and  1361,  and  by  the  mighty 
wind  of  1362  A.D.  He  tells  us  of  bishops  as  chan- 
cellors spending  money  on  jesters  and  not  on  the 
poor,  keeping  hounds  and  riding  on  expensive  palfreys. 
He  denounces  the  priests  for  their  simony :  the  paid 
confessors,  the  sale  of  masses,  clerical  immorality  and 
pride,  recalling  the  words  of  Saint  Augustin.  He 
speaks  of  the  four  orders  of  monks,  of  their  wealth 
and  political  power,  their  greed,  their  hypocrisy,  their 
sins,  and  their  intrusion  into  houses  and  family  life. 
He  describes  the  pardoner  with  his  bulls,  the  limitor 
licensed  to  beg  within  certain  limits,  the  hermits — not 
like  those  of  old — the  palmer  with  false  relics,  the 
pilgrimages  to  Rome,  to  Compostella,  Walsingham, 
Bromholm,  or  Chester,  and  the  wonder-working  roods 
at  the  English  shrines.  Then  he  turns  to  the  sim- 
plicity of  Christ,  and  to  Piers  Ploughman — human 
nature  glorified  at  length  as  the  humanity  of  Jesus. 
In  Piers  Ploughman's  Creed  (whoever  wrote  it)  we 
find  the  four  orders  denouncing  each  other — the  Grey 
Friars  (Franciscans),  the  Black  Dominicans,  White 

1  Jusserand,  "Literary  History  of  the  English  People,"  1895,  p.  178. 
f  Chaucer,  "Shipman's  Prologue,"  1173,  1177. 


WYCLIF  34i 

Carmelites,   and   "  Freres    of   the    Pye,"   all    equally 
ignorant  and  greedy. 

"Wytnes  on  Wyclif 
That  warned  hem  with  treuthe."1 

Wyclif  was  supported  by  king,  nobles,  and  commons, 
alike  disgusted  with  the  Roman  Church,  when  the 
Reformation  was  born  at  Oxford  in  1360,  and  declared 
heresy  at  St.  Paul's  in  1377.  He  thus  escaped  the 
"  bishop's  prison " ;  and  the  priests  were  reduced  to 
the  poor  revenge  of  burning  his  bones  thirty  years 
after  his  death.  To  him  the  Pope  was  Antichrist,2 
and  the  King  the  true  head  of  the  Church  of  England. 
He  refused  tribute  to  Rome,  denied  transubstantiation, 
denounced  pardons,  indulgences,  absolutions,  pil- 
grimages, the  worship  of  images  and  saints ;  but  he 
spoke  of  "  the  sinful  city  of  Avignon,"  like  the  British 
Parliament — the  "good  Parliament"  of  1376.  He 
wrote  bad  Latin ;  but  he  and  his  students  produced, 
in  nervous  English,  our  first  complete  Bible  in  the 
vulgar  tongue.  Men  could  now  read  for  themselves 
the  words  of  Jesus — "  Love  your  enemies,"  in  an  age 
of  war ;  "  Judge  not,"  in  an  age  when  men  were  being 
burned  for  their  faith;  "Call  no  man  father,"  when 
every  celibate  priest  or  monk  demanded  the  title. 
They  saw — and  never  forgot — that  the  teaching  of 
their  Lord  was  not  that  of  a  corrupted  Church.  The 
bold  words  of  Wyclif  were  studied  by  Johann  Hus  in 

1  Wright,  "Vision  and  Creed  of  Piers  Ploughman,"  1856,  ii.  p.  482  ; 
"Creed,"  105 1. 

1  Wyclif's  twelve  reasons  were  :  (i)  Christ  is  truth,  the  Pope  false  ; 
(2)  the  Pope  is  rich  ;  (3)  proud  ;  (4)  has  added  cruel  laws  ;  (5)  does 
not  "  go  and  preach,"  but  sits  in  a  palace  ;  (6)  loves  temporal  power  ; 
(7)  opposes  Caesar  ;  (8)  makes  twelve  cardinals  instead  of  disciples  ; 
(9)  makes  wars;  (10)  intrudes  in  other  countries;  (n)  loves  pomp 
instead  of  humility;  (12)  seeks  fame  and  gold.  He  is,  therefore,  in 
all  respects,  the  reverse  of  Christ,  and  is  thus  Antichrist. — Creighton, 
"The  Papacy,"  1892,  I.  p.  106. 


342  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

1391,  and  he  became  Rector  of  the  University  of 
Prague  in  1409.  Thus,  as  England  had  christianised 
Germany  in  the  eighth  century,  she  made  Bohemia 
Protestant  in  the  fifteenth.  The  memory  of  Wyclif 
was  kept  alive  by  the  poor  "  lullers"  or  "  lollards"- 
street  "  singers "  and  preachers — for  more  than  a 
century.  The  treacherous  surrender  of  Hus  to  his 
foes  at  Constance,  in  1415,  rang  the  knell  of  Papal 
supremacy ;  and  the  German  Reformation  sprang 
from  his  ashes. 

iv.  Modern. — Pope  Leo  X.  was  highly  cultivated, 
but  he  was  not  a  great  man.  He  failed  to  read  the 
signs  of  the  times,  and  mistook  revolution  for  a  mere 
quarrel  between  a  Dominican  and  an  Augustinian 
monk.  He  was  the  second  son  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
and  became  a  cardinal  at  the  age  of  thirteen.1  He 
inherited  the  love  of  art  and  philosophy  of  the  great 
house  from  which  he  sprang,  but  his  extravagance 
ruined  the  Church.  He  was  fond  of  hunting  and 
fowling,  and  of  quiet  games  of  chess  and  cards  with 
other  cardinals.  He  represents  the  better  side  of  the 
Renaissance,  and  great  hopes  were  felt  when  he 
became  Pope  in  1513.  He  caused  the  Psalms  to  be 
translated  into  four  languages,  and  even  permitted  the 
issue  of  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  by 
Erasmus.  The  two  Borgia  Popes,  Alphonso  (or 
Calixtus  III.)»  and  his  nephew,  Roderigo  (Alex- 
ander VI.),  had  represented  the  savage  side  of  the 
Renaissance  movement.  The  latter  was  accused  of 
gaining  his  election  by  bribes ;  and  the  unscrupulous 
violence  of  his  son  Caesar  may  be  judged  by  the 
history  of  Catherine  Sforza.  Savonarola  was  burned 
during  the  Papacy  of  Alexander  VI.,  and  the  Italian 

1  See  Roscoe,  "Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  X.,"  1846;  Buckley, 
"  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,"  1852  ;  Froude,  "  Life  and  Letters 
of  Erasmus,"  1894. 


LUTHER  343 

Reformation  was  stamped  out.  Leo  X.  failed  to  unite 
Europe  against  the  Turks,  and  his  bull  was  burned  in 
1520  by  Luther,  as  that  of  John  XXIII.  had  been,  more 
than  a  century  earlier  by  Hus.  He  failed  to  appreciate 
Luther's  warning :  "  In  these  our  days  Germany 
flourishes  in  erudition,  reason,  and  genius  "  ;  or,  even 
if  he  understood,  he  may  have  been  powerless  to 
control  the  Curia ;  and  Luther  was  probably  quite  in 
earnest  when  he  compared  Leo  to  Daniel  in  the  den  of 
lions.  In  1517  Cardinal  Petrucci  and  others  were 
tried  for  attempting  to  poison  the  Pope,  and  Leo  X. 
actually  died  of  poison  on  December  i,  1521. 

The  condition  of  Italy,  and  of  the  Roman  Church,  in 
this  age  was  described  about  a  century  later  by  the 
Jesuit  Cardinal  Bellarmino.  "  A  few  years  before 
the  heresies  of  Luther  and  Calvin  there  was,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  contemporary  writers,  neither 
justice  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  nor  discipline  in 
the  morals  of  the  clergy,  nor  knowledge  of  sacred 
things,  nor  respect  for  holy  things :  in  short,  there 
was  scarcely  any  religion  left."  Leo  X.  did  much  to 
aid  the  spread  of  learning  and  the  use  of  printing  ; 
but  the  recovery  of  the  classics  seemed  about  to 
restore  paganism.  Pontano  Sanazzaro,  and  other 
Latin  writers  of  the  age,  introduced  pagan  mythology 
into  sacred  subjects,  as  Tasso  had  done  earlier. 
Marullus  wrote  hymns  full  of  fervour  in  honour  of 
the  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Plato's  reference  to 
the  good  man  crucified  was  applied  to  Christ.  Prierio 
said  that  the  Bible  owed  its  authority  to  the  Pope. 
The  tyranny  and  rapacity  of  the  clergy,  and  their 
interference  with  private  life,  their  intrusion  into 
houses,  and  their  use  of  the  confessional,  roused 
general  indignation.  But  the  tolerance  of  concubines 
was  perhaps  the  greatest  cause  of  popular  disgust. 
Leo  X.,  writing  to  Ferdinand  of  Aragon  in  favour  of 
Innocenzio  Cibo,  recommended  him  to  be  made  a 


344  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

cardinal,  as  being  "the  son  of  my  sister,  and  the 
grandson  of  Pope  Innocent  VIII."  One  of  the  com- 
plaints to  be  found  in  the  "  Centum  Gravamina "  of 
1532  was  the  exaction  of  the  tax  on  concubines, 
levied  on  priests  who  had  none,  on  the  plea  that  they 
could  keep  them  if  they  chose.1  Voltaire  gives  the 
tariff  of  1514,  printed  at  Rome  by  order  of  Leo  X., 
and  called  the  "Taxes  of  the  Holy  and  Apostolic 
Chancery  and  Penitentiary,"  the  Paris  edition  being 
a  quarto  of  1520.  It  includes  absolution  for  revealing 
confessions  of  a  penitent,  and  for  the  priest  who 
keeps  a  concubine.  The  work  was  placed  on  the 
Index  Expurgatorius  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  on 
the  plea  that  it  had  been  corrupted  by  heretics.  But 
of  the  existence  of  such  a  tax  there  seems  to  be  no 
doubt,  and  a  similar  tariff  of  absolution  was  pro- 
mulgated in  France  in  1691  A.D. 

The  foundation  of  the  new  Cathedral  of  St.  Peter 
in  Rome,  and  the  enlargement  and  beautifying  of 
the  Vatican,  entailed  an  enormous  expenditure  in 
the  time  of  Leo  X.  The  Church  was  certainly 
unfortunate  in  sending  a  mountebank  like  Tetzel  to 
collect  money  in  Germany  by  the  sale  of  the  new 
indulgences.  Luther  asked,  "Why  does  not  the 
Pope,  out  of  his  most  holy  charity,  empty  Purgatory, 
in  which  are  so  many  souls  in  punishment?  This 
would  be  a  worthier  exercise  of  his  power  than  freeing 
souls  for  money — this  money  brings  misfortune — and 
to  put  to  what  use?  To  build  a  church."  "This 
pains  me  and  turns  me  sick.  .  .  .  They  fancy  their 

1  The  political  object  of  Hildebrand  in  enforcing  celibacy,  while 
concubines  were  allowed,  appears  to  have  been  to  prevent  the  growth 
of  a  hereditary  priesthood.  A  Council  of  Toledo  recognised  the 
concubine  if  there  was  no  wife,  and  if  the  communicant  remained 
faithful  to  one  woman  (Lecky,  "European  Morals"  (nth  edit.), 
ii.  pp.  330,  350,  note  2).  The  concubine  by  Roman,  as  by  Babylonian 
law,  was  recognised  as  an  inferior  wife— a  freed  woman  marrying  a 
free  man. 


ERASMUS  345 

souls  will  be  delivered  from  Purgatory  as  soon  as 
the  money  clinks  in  the  coffer."  But  Luther  was 
denounced  by  the  emperor,  Charles  V.,  as,  "  not  a 
man,  but  Satan  himself."  Leo  was  perhaps  as  helpless 
to  control  the  conduct  of  a  greedy  prelacy  as  any 
Sultan,  Czar,  or  Dalai  Lama,  who  has  become  a  mere 
figurehead  controlled  by  others.  But  Charles  V. 
found  that,  unless  he  tolerated  the  Protestants,  his 
empire  would  in  the  end  fall  to  the  Turks.  The 
spread  of  the  new  learning,  the  printing  of  the  Bible, 
and  the  follies  of  Tetzel,  together  tended  to  set  free 
nations  who  would  not  tolerate  the  old  idea  that 
the  provinces  should  be  taxed  in  order  that  Italy 
might  have  the  monopoly  of  power  and  wealth.  The 
study  of  Hebrew  and  Greek  was  looked  upon  with 
growing  suspicion  by  the  Curia.  Reuchlin's  "  Rudi- 
menta  Hebraica "  was  published  in  1 506,  and  he  was 
summoned  before  the  Inquisition  at  Mentz,  and  in 
great  danger  of  being  burnt  as  a  Judaiser.  Leo  X. 
stopped  the  proceedings,  however,  in  1516  A.D.  In 
1513  the  New  Testament  of  Erasmus  was  published, 
with  its  severe  notes  and  prefaces  concerning  monks 
and  bishops,  and  its  attack  on  the  pedantry  of  the 
schoolmen. 

Erasmus  was  the  wonder  and  delight  of  Europe, 
on  account  of  his  learning  and  wit.  The  new  study 
of  Greek  was  then  as  little  known  as  is  the  study  of 
cuneiform  to-day.  Princes  welcomed  the  great  scholar, 
who  was  finally  buried  in  state  in  the  cathedral  at 
Bale  in  1536  A.D.  But  the  knowledge  of  the  world 
which  he  thus  attained  rendered  Erasmus — who 
desired  reformation  and  not  revolution — unwilling  to 
aid  in  producing  a  schism,  though  also  unwilling  to 
condemn  Luther,  whom  he  regarded  as  a  good  man. 
He  hesitated,  and  was  only  persuaded  to  embark  in 
a  barren  controversy  concerning  Free  Will,  in  which 
he  took  the  view  of  Aristotle,  while  Luther  cited 


346  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

Paul's  spiritual  struggles — for  neither  could  find  the 
theory  in  the  Bible,  which  speaks  only  of  the  Will 
of  God.  "  The  world,"  says  Erasmus,  "  cannot  over- 
come the  world."  Yes ;  but  the  world  could  overcome 
Erasmus,  and  it  could  not  overcome  Luther.  We 
may  regret  his  speaking  of  his  opponent  as  an 
"exasperated  viper"  in  1524,  but  we  must  all  admire 
the  sincerity  of  his  great  defence  at  Worms  three 
years  before.  "  I  cannot  submit  my  faith  either  to 
Pope  or  Councils,  since  it  is  as  clear  as  day  that  they 
have  often  fallen  into  error,  and  even  into  great 
contradictions  with  themselves.  If,  then,  I  am  not 
convinced  by  testimonies  of  Scripture,  or  by  evident 
reasons ;  if  I  am  not  persuaded  by  the  very  passages 
I  have  cited ;  and  if  my  conscience  is  not  made 
captive  by  the  Word  of  God,  I  can  and  will  retract 
nothing.  For  it  is  not  safe  for  a  Christian  to  speak 
against  his  conscience."  And  then — breaking  into 
his  native  German  from  the  Latin — "  Here  stand  I. 
I  can  no  other.  God  help  me.  Amen." 

Luther  died  early  in  1546,  having  lived  to  see  the 
Council  he  desired  convened  ;  but  it  was  not  attended 
by  any  Protestant  or  any  Oriental  Church.  It  was 
solely  Roman  Catholic ;  and,  after  dragging  on  at 
Trent  and  elsewhere  under  eight  Popes  for  nineteen 
years,  it  failed  to  reform  the  Church,  or  to  secure 
reunion.  Don  Francisco  Vargos — a  good  Catholic — 
said :  "  Words  and  persuasions  do  signify  but  little 
in  this  place,  and  I  suppose  are  not  of  much  greater 
force  at  Rome,  these  people  having  shut  their  eyes 
with  a  resolution,  notwithstanding  all  things  should 
go  rack,  not  to  understand  anything  that  does  not 
suit  with  their  interests."  The  decisions  of  this 
Council  were  not  to  be  interpreted  without  Papal 
authority,  and,  as  embodied  in  the  Creed  of  Pius  IV., 
they  finally  separated  the  Roman  Church  from  all 
others.  For  the  proud  boast,  "Quod  semper,  quod 


MATTHEW'S   BIBLE  347 

ubique,  quod  ab  omnibus,"  had  been  examined  by 
those  learned  in  the  Fathers ;  and  "  always."  was  found 
to  mean  only  two  centuries  and  a  half;  "  everywhere" 
only  the  south-west  of  Europe ;  and  "  by  all "  a 
minority  which,  in  our  own  times,  nominally  represents 
about  ten  per  cent,  of  mankind. 

From  Germany  the  Reformation  spread  again  to 
its  original  birthplace  in  England.  It  is  true  that 
Henry  VIII.  utilised  the  public  opinion  of  the  day 
for  his  own  ends,  and  enriched  his  courtiers  with 
the  spoil  of  the  monasteries.  It  is  no  doubt  true 
that  the  bishop  of  Reformation  times  was  not  unlike 
his  predecessors  under  the  Popes.  But  the  true  Re- 
formation was  not  brought  about  by  king  or  bishop : 
it  spread  among  the  respectable  classes  of  the 
country  in  consequence  of  Bible-reading  at  home. 
To  the  end  of  his  life  Henry  persecuted  those  who 
denied  the  six  articles— transubstantiation,  the  refusal 
of  the  cup  to  the  laity,  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  vows 
of  chastity,  private  masses,  and  confession  to  a  priest. 
In  1530  he  issued  a  proclamation  against  heretical 
books.  The  "  kynges  hignes  (sic)  by  his  incomparable 
wysedome,"  decided  that  none  should  "  kepe  or  have 
the  newe  testament  or  the  olde  in  the  englisshe 
tonge,  or  in  the  frenche  or  duche  tonge,  excepte  suche 
persones  as  be  appoynted  by  the  kinges  highnes, 
and  the  bisshops  of  this  his  realme,  for  the  correction 
or  amending  of  the  said  translation."  Seven  years 
later,  after  the  monasteries  had  been  dissolved  and 
the  wonder-working  roods  destroyed,  Henry  sanctioned 
the  first  licensed  version,  by  John  Rogers,  who  be- 
came the  first  martyr  burned  by  Mary.1 

The  marginal  notes  of  this  version  (published  under 
the  assumed  name  of  Thomas  Matthew)  are  very 

1  Rogers  completed  the  work  of  Tyndale  and  Coverdale,  which 
Henry  VIII.  forbade  to  be  read.  His  notes  were  crossed  out  by 
order  of  Parliament,  as  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  copy  here  used. 


348  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

remarkable,  not  only  for  their  learning,  and  boldness 
on  points  not  touching  the  six  articles,  but  also  for 
their  total  silence  on  the  institution  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.  Rogers  quotes  Hebrew  and  Greek  and 
Chaldee,  and  refers  to  the  works  of  Josephus,  Augustin, 
Origen,  Chrysostom,  Jerome,  and  Ambrose  :  also  to 
Rabbi  Kimhi  and  Ibn  Ezra,  to  Pliny,  Strabo,  Ma- 
crobius,  Tertullian,  Cyprian,  Hilarius,  Frontonius, 
Eusebius,  and  Theophilactus.  But  above  all,  his  great 
modern  authority  is  Erasmus.  He  says  (on  Isaiah  iii.): 
"  Now  priests,  and  such  as  falsely  boast  themselves 
to  be  spiritual,  are  justly  called  '  exactors,'  inasmuch 
as  they  require  these  rights  (as  they  call  them)  more 
by  men's  tradition  than  by  the  Word  of  God,  and  do 
not  so  seek  souls  to  God  as  money  for  themselves." 
"  Whether  children  be  christened,  or  marriages  made, 
or  men  come  to  the  table  of  the  Lord  ;  whether  the 
sick  be  visited,  or  the  dead  buried,  there  is  ever  some- 
what required."  Still  more  curious  is  the  note  in 
Ezekiel  (xviii.) :  "  Sophisters  say  God  forgives  the 
sin  but  not  the  punishment."  "  By  this  sophistry 
might  the  King  give  a  man  pardon  for  theft,  and 
after  hang  him  up.  For  he  might  say,  Sir,  I  forgave 
you  your  theft  but  not  your  hanging,  which  is  due 
to  your  theft.  Such  pardon  would  they  be  loth  to 
have  that  first  imagined  it."  "  But  hereof  will  I  now 
speak  no  more,  lest  ye  should  haply  smell  that  this 
solution  were  imagined  to  pick  men's  purses,  through 
mass  pence,  dirige-groats,  etc."  Again,  on  Matthew 
(xxiii.):  "And  even  now  haply  must  a  bishop  be 
heard  that  doth  truly  teach  the  Gospel,  though  he 
live  skant  Gospel-like.  But  who  can  suffer  them, 
against  Christ's  doctrine,  for  their  own  profits,  to 
make  and  unmake  laws,  exercising  on  the  people 
plain  tyranny,  and  measuring  all  things  for  their 
own  advantage  and  authority  ?  They  that,  with  tradi- 
tions imagined  for  their  own  lucre  and  tyranny,  do 


THE  PROTESTANTS  349 

hamper  the  people,  do  not  sit  in  the  chair  of  the 
Gospel,  but  in  the  chair  of  Simon  Magus,  and 
Caiaphas.  These  are  the  very  words  of  Erasmus 
on  this  place."  Finally,  in  the  first  epistle  of  Timothy 
(ii.),  a  bishop  is  defined  as  an  overseer:  "which  when 
he  desireth  to  feed  Christ's  flock  with  the  food  of 
health — that  is,  with  His  holy  word,  as  the  bishops 
did  in  Paul's  time — desireth  a  good  work,  and  the 
very  office  of  a  bishop.  But  he  that  desireth  honours, 
gapeth  for  lucre,  trusteth  great  rents,  seeketh  pre- 
eminence, pomp,  dominion,  coveteth  abundance  of  all 
things,  without  want ;  rest  and  heartsease — castles, 
parks,  lordships,  earldoms — desireth  not  a  work,  much 
less  a  good  work,  and  is  nothing  less  than  a  bishop 
as  St.  Paul  here  understandeth  a  bishop." 

The  great  compromises  of  Elizabeth,  which  satisfied 
England  till  recently,  did  not  satisfy  Scotland.  She 
may  have  been  well  advised  to  refuse  permission  to 
Knox  to  enter  her  kingdom  ;  and  Calvin,  the  teacher 
of  the  great  Scotsman,  cannot  be  called  a  true  Christian 
when  we  remember  Servetus  ;  but  the  Scottish  mind 
was  ever  more  serious  and  logical  than  that  of  the 
English,  and  their  Reformation  was  therefore  more 
complete.  The  statecraft  of  Elizabeth,  however, 
shielded  the  Protestantism  of  north  and  south  alike, 
while  in  France  the  anti-German  policy  of  kings,  and 
the  rule  of  the  great  cardinals,  led  to  the  ruin  of  the 
Huguenot  cause.  What  our  forefathers  thought  of 
their  Reformation  we  learn  from  that  strange,  re- 
pulsive work  which,  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  was 
read  in  every  home,  and  chained  beside  the  chained 
Bibles  in  the  churches.1  It  tells  us  how  the  move- 
ment against  ancient  superstitions  began  among  the 
people  before  Henry  VIII.  quarrelled  with  the  Pope 
about  his  divorce — as  in  the  story  of  the  "  Rood  of 

1  John  Foxe,  "Acts  and  Monuments  of  Martyrs,"  Revised  Edition, 
1597,  PP.  940,  1949. 


350  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

Dovercourt "  in  Suffolk,  destroyed  by  poor  j^ouths, 
of  whom  three  were  hanged  in  chains  in  1532.  "  For 
at  that  time  there  was  a  great  roumour  blown  abroad 
amongst  the  ignorant  folke,  that  the  power  of  the  idoll 
of  Dovercourt  was  so  great  that  no  man  had  power 
to  shut  the  church  door."  So,  finding  it  open,  "  they 
tooke  the  idoll  from  his  shrine,  and  carried  him  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  place  where  he  stood, 
without  any  resistance  of  the  said  idoll.  Whereupon 
they  strake  fire  with  a  flint  stone,  and  sodainly  set 
him  on  fire,  who  burned  out  so  brim  that  he  lighted 
them  homeward  one  good  mile  of  the  ten."  The 
belief  of  the  nation  is  symbolised  by  the  rude  cut 
in  the  same  work,  showing  Truth  with  bandaged 
eyes  holding  the  balance.  On  the  one  side  it  is 
weighed  down  by  the  Word  of  God  watched  by 
apostles  and  prophets :  the  other  scale  flies  up, 
though  popes  and  bishops  pour  into  it  their  rosaries 
and  crosses,  wafers  and  triple  crown,  while  the  devil, 
with  his  wings,  horns,  hoofs,  and  tail  complete,  hangs 
on  beneath.  The  axe  fell  on  the  short  neck  of  Laud 
because  he  desired  to  go  back  to  the  Church  of 
Henry  VIII. ,  and  did  not  understand  the  temper 
of  the  English,  and  still  less  of  the  Scottish  people. 

One  final  feature  of  the  great  changes  thus  brought 
about  was  new  to  Christianity,  but  ancient  in  Asia — 
the  institution  of  the  Order  of  Jesuits,  whose  founder 
was  Ignatius  Loyola.  The  Church  of  Rome,  having 
lost  its  power,  was  forced  to  rely  on  persuasion  and 
diplomacy.  Secret  societies  we  find  in  all  ages,  and 
in  all  countries;  but  until  the  bull  of  1540  they  had 
been  more  characteristic  of  later  Moslems  than  of 
Christians.  The  idea  of  absolute  obedience  to  a 
superior  was  put  into  practice  by  the  Assassins,  and 
continues  still  among  the  Dervishes.  Loyola  had 
travelled  in  Palestine,  and  may  have  known  some- 
thing of  the  power  of  such  sects.  More  probably 


THE  JESUITS  351 

he  recalled  the  Templars  of  the  thirteenth  century ; 
but  they  also  had  been  influenced  by  Moslems.  The 
new  Order,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  vows  of 
chastity,  poverty,  and  obedience,  took  a  fourth  vow, 
of  devotion  to  the  Pope.  The  Institutes  suggested 
were  disapproved  by  Pope  Paul  III.  in  1523,  before 
Loyola  set  out  for  Jerusalem.  Five  years  later  he 
was  imprisoned  by  the  Inquisition.  With  Lainez 
and  others  he  founded  the  famous  Order  on  August  1 5, 
1534,  but  the  numbers  were  restricted  to  sixty  at 
first — a  restriction  only  removed  by  the  second  bull 
of  1543,  or  shortly  before  the  Assembly  of  the  Council 
of  Trent.  The  Popes  appear  to  have  looked  with 
suspicion  on  the  movement,  though  Lainez  as  general 
of  the  Order  took  part  in  the  Council,  and  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries were  employed  in  England  by  Gregory  XIII. 
in  1580.  The  Jesuits  at  first  appear  to  have  encour- 
aged the  Freemasons,  whose  Grand  Lodge  at  York 
was  broken  up  by  Elizabeth  in  1561,  but  they  became 
declared  enemies  of  this  secret  fraternity  when  it  was 
supposed  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Deists.  In  the  old 
age  of  Louis  XIV.  Madame  de  Maintenon  favoured  the 
Order,  and  their  power  was  shown  by  Le  Tellier's 
destruction  of  Port  Royal  in  1709.  The  first  blow 
to  it  was,  however,  struck  at  Blenheim  five  years 
earlier.  In  1719  Madame  de  Maintenon  died ;  but 
the  Order  continued  its  persecution  of  Jansenists  and 
Protestants,  till  they  found  an  enemy  in  Madame  de 
Pompadour.  The  French  Parliament  decreed  their 
expulsion  in  1762,  and  Madame  de  Pompadour  died 
of  poison  in  the  year  of  final  confiscation,  her  body 
being  removed  from  the  palace  in  a  wheelbarrow  on 
April  14,  1764.  General  expulsions  followed  in  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Naples,  and  the  Order  was  suppressed 
by  Clement  XIV.  on  July  21,  1773,  after  escaping  in 
1769,  on  account  of  the  death  of  Clement  XIII.  on 
the  very  night  when  he  was  to  have  signed  the  decree 


352  HISTORIC  CHRISTIANITY 

against  them.      Voltaire   says   quite  justly  that    the 
Jesuits  fell  through  pride. 

The  Order  was  not,  however,  dead,  and  revived  with 
the  reaction  following  the  fall  of  Napoleon.  It  was 
re-established  by  Pius  VII.  on  August  7,  1814;  but 
it  never  regained  its  old  power.  From  the  first  the 
Jesuits  fought  for  a  lost  cause — the  re-establishment 
of  Papal  supremacy.  No  amount  of  learning,  ability, 
or  patience  suffices  to  win  final  success  when  the 
general  opinion  of  mankind — based  on  experience — 
remains  hostile.  "  Reserve,"  and  "  economy  of  Truth," 
must  always  excite  suspicion  against  those  who  shun 
the  light,  and  men  must  always  think  that  a  secret 
purpose  is  not  one  tending  to  the  general  good.  "  He 
who  desires  the  end  desires  the  means  "  ;  but  we  judge 
the  end  now  by  observing  what  the  means  are.  It 
is  in  vain  to  devote  study  (as  Jesuits  now  do)  to 
Evolution,  and  to  Cuneiform,  if  the  intention  be- 
not  to  be  led  by  knowledge  of  facts,  but  to  reconcile 
facts  to  theory.  Men  of  science  do  not  accept  a 
presentation  of  Evolution  as  being  merely  a  new 
statement  of  the  cosmogony  of  Genesis.  Nor  do 
they  accept  a  translation  which  finds  the  name  of 
Chedorlaomer  in  one  of  'Ammurabi's  letters.  The 
fine-spun  diplomacy  of  the  Jesuits  was  very  roughly 
answered  at  Sadowa  and  Sedan.  Their  careful  edu- 
cation of  the  French  army  produced  only  a  Boulanger, 
and  resulted  in  the  Dreyfus  affair.  It  has  now  led 
to  further  expulsions.  The  final  success  of  the  Order 
could  only  come  about  if  mankind  lost  its  love  of 
freedom.  As  it  is,  we  now  see  the  two  great  opposing 
powers,  which  were  used  by  the  Eternal  Purpose  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  become  mere  ghosts  of  the 
past :  the  Turk  losing  steadily  province  after  pro- 
vince, and  the  Roman  Church  country  after  country. 


CHAPTER  VII 

CONCLUSIONS 

AN  Eternal  Purpose  working  through  the  ages  is  the 
lesson  to  be  learned  from  the  social  history  of  man. 
Great  as  has  been  the  steady  advance  from  the  savage 
to  the  civilised  condition,  we  must  recognise  that  the 
history  of  six  thousand  years  is  but  the  beginning  of 
an  evolution  which  will  bring  forth  yet  greater  things 
in  the  future.  Archbishop  Temple  and  Dr.  Martineau l 
alike  saw  that  evolution  is  the  new  argument  of  design 
— a  better  argument  than  Paley's,  because  it  deals, 
not  with  machines  but  with  living  beings.  Science 
is  accurate  knowledge,  and  truth  is  the  white  light 
now,  as  it  was  to  Plato.  There  must  always  be  a 
hazy  atmosphere  of  conjecture  and  imagination  sur- 
rounding it,  and  necessary  for  the  further  spread  of 
that  light ;  but  to  this  the  name  of  science  or  know- 
ledge must  not  be  given.  The  old  philosophies  were 
useful  in  their  days,  but  science  supersedes  their 
conjectures  by  actual  discovery.  Kant  could  not  be 
truly  informed  as  to  the  nature  of  the  mind  since,  in 
his  time,  the  structure  and  functions  of  the  brain  were 
still  unknown — hence  his  paradox  proves  unsound, 
when  he  teaches  that  we  perceive  facts  by  the  senses, 
yet  are  able  to  know  what  the  senses  do  not  perceive : 
an  error  into  which  Locke  did  not  fall.  Between  true 
science  and  reasonable  faith  there  is  no  real  conflict, 

1  "Life    and    Letters 'of  James    Martineau,"   Drummond,   1902, 
p.  436. 

353  23 


354  CONCLUSIONS 

for  the  one  deals  with  actual  experience,  and  the  other 
trusts  the  Providence  which  has  never  failed  in  the 
past  to  bring  good  out  of  evil.  It  is  only  between 
the  speculations  of  those  who  misuse  the  term  science, 
and  the  ancient  misconceptions  of  the  past,  that  any 
discrepancy  occurs. 

Our  great  difficulty  lies  in  our  ignorance,  and  in 
the  very  slow  acceptance  of  new  facts  by  the  majority, 
whose  ideas  are  hampered  by  the  influences  of  ancient 
methods  of  education.  To  the  professional  class,  and 
to  the  skilled  artisan,  science  is  now  a  necessity  for 
success  in  life.  The  level  of  attainment  is  as  yet  not 
high,  but  their  education  is  far  in  advance  of  that 
given  to  either  higher  or  lower  social  grades.  Dr. 
Temple  no  doubt  made  the  best  defence  possible  for  the 
ancient  classical  teaching,  which  remains  much  what 
it  became  four  centuries  ago.  The  reading  of  Latin 
and  Greek  does,  no  doubt,  give  us  "  intercourse  with 
other  minds,"1  but  so  does  the  greater  literature  which 
exists  in  modern  languages ;  and  we  are  not  now 
living  in  the  age  when  Greek  was  a  new  study,  or 
when  Latin  was  the  common  means  of  communication 
between  scholars  ignorant  of  continental  languages. 
Many  of  the  prejudices  and  deficiencies  of  our 
governing  classes  are  due  to  their  want  of  scientific 
knowledge,  and  to  the  inordinate  importance  attached 
to  classical  training,  and  to  physical  exercise.  A 
wiser  education  is  the  first  requisite  for  further 
advance  of  the  race. 

Below  the  scientific  class  a  vast  mass  of  semi- 
educated  population  has  now  been  created  by  national 
education.  Civilised,  as  compared  with  the  brutal 
mob  of  two  centuries  ago,  they  are  yet  unable  to  do 
much  more  than  to  write  and  read.  They  are  still 
the  prey  of  impostors  as  ignorant  as  themselves,  and 
of  a  cheap  daily  press  as  pretentious  as  it  is  ill- 
1  "Frederic  Temple,"  1906,  i.  p.  169. 


ETHICS  AND   FAITH  355 

informed.  Our  first  duty  to  these  classes  is  to  provide 
them  with  a  better  education,  fitting  them  for  the 
duties  of  their  lives.  The  idea  of  general  education 
is  still  so  recent,  that  we  cannot  wonder  at  the 
mistakes  that  have  been  made  in  the  attempt  to  apply 
it  to  the  whole  nation.  Time  and  good-will  must, 
however,  in  the  end  produce  a  higher  level  of  under- 
standing, and  when  we  look  back  even  a  century  we 
find  cause  for  encouragement  in  the  advance  that  has 
been  actually  made. 

Religion  still  plays  the  most  important  part  in 
civilised  history,  and  must  always  include  Faith  as 
well  as  Ethics.  For  ethics  are  the  results  of  human 
experience,  and  deal  with  the  present  and  with  this 
world ;  but  man  can  never  be  prevented  from  seeking 
to  understand  the  future,  and  will  always  need  Hope, 
and  Trust,  to  comfort  him  in  his  troubles.  Marcus 
Aurelius  is  a  charming  character  in  history,  and  his 
wise  sayings  on  ethical  questions  remain  as  true  now 
as  when  he  wrote  his  twelve  short  books  of  "  Medita- 
tions." But  he  has  not  become  a  master  of  the  world, 
nor  is  he  ever  likely  to  influence  the  many,  because 
he  deals  only  with  actual  experience,  and  has  no 
steadfast  trust  as  to  the  future.  The  "religion  of  the 
future,"  in  any  age,  is  the  religion  of  the  present 
among  those  whose  minds  are  clearest,  and  whose 
character  stands  highest.  Whatever  may  happen  in 
the  Far  East,  we  cannot  expect  that  Islam,  or  Budd- 
hism, or  any  of  the  great  religions  of  Asia,  will  ever 
have  a  general  influence  on  the  West.  The  names 
of  Muhammad  and  of  Gautama  are  not  household 
words  to  us  as  they  are  to  the  masses  in  Asia,  and 
the  majority  of  men  in  civilised  Europe  know  practi- 
cally nothing  about  these  great  leaders  of  thought  in 
the  East.  Nor  can  we  expect  that  any  of  the  existing 
Christian  Churches  is  destined  to  triumph  over  all 
the  rest.  They  all  alike  have  added  something  of 


356  CONCLUSIONS 

their  own  to  the  "  simplicity  of  Christ."  The  Chris- 
tianity fitted  to  "  overcome  the  world  "  cannot  be  that 
of  the  dark  ages,  or  of  the  stormy  days  of  Reformation. 
It  cannot  even  be  that  of  the  Fathers  or  of  the  Apostles, 
though  it  will  be  that  of  Saint  Francis  and  of  Penn. 
It  will  be  the  faith  of  the  Master,  the  religion  of  trust 
in  Providence  and  of  good-will  to  men.  It  will  not 
concern  itself  with  Greek  philosophy,  or  with  the 
Greek  dogma  of  free  will,  but  only  with  that  con- 
sistency which  some  call  the  "law  of  nature,"  but 
which — if  we  believe  in  one  Will  directing  all — it  is 
better  to  call  by  the  old  name,  "  the  will  of  God." 

We  are  told  that  such  expectations  are  unpractical ; 
and  that  while  human  nature  remains  unchanged  war 
and  poverty  must  continue  for  ever.  But  this  assumes 
that  there  has  been  no  change  in  humanity  in  the  past, 
which  is  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  lessons  of 
history.  The  Norman  baron,  no  doubt,  could  not 
have  imagined  a  time  when  nobles  would  not  live  in 
castles,  wear  armour,  fight  a  neighbour  twenty  miles 
away  to  maintain  "  the  right  of  private  war,"  and 
tax  the  trader  at  every  gate  or  bridge.  The  abolition 
of  war  in  the  future  will  not  present  greater  difficulties 
than  the  abolition  of  slavery  did  a  century  ago. 
Those  who  suppose  that  war  produces  hardy  virtues 
have  never  seen  what  it  is  really  like ;  and  greater 
courage  is  daily  shown  on  our  seas,  and  in  our  mines, 
than  is  needed  on  the  field  of  battle.  As  long  as 
man  stands  face  to  face  with  death  the  need  for 
courage  will  remain  unchanged,  however  peaceful 
may  be  his  future  existence  in  a  more  civilised 
condition  of  society.  All  that  is  best  in  our  present 
conditions  we  owe  to  the  pure  Christianity  which 
never  quite  died  out  even  in  the  dark  ages. 

Let  us  remember  then  that  the  world  is  still  young, 
and  that  Asia  as  well  as  Europe  is  still  advancing  to 
conditions  which  we  can  as  yet  only  foresee  vaguely, 


PROVIDENCE  357 

but  which  will — as  we  learn  from  experience  of  the 
past — be  higher  and  better  than  anything  we  now 
know.  The  ripple  of  the  stream  is  a  mighty  wave 
to  those  who  venture  on  it  in  frail  cockle-boats  to-day, 
and  the  swirl  of  the  backwater  is  often  mistaken  for 
the  tide.  But  the  Wisdom  which  we  do  not  under- 
stand is  the  great  current,  which  sweeps  us  on  its 
breast  to  shining  summer  seas.  The  simple  things 
are  the  greatest,  and  our  common  joys  and  sorrows 
are  our  true  discipline.  We  are  surrounded  by  great 
mysteries,  of  which  the  wisest  among  us  knows  no 
more  than  the  simplest,  and  by  great  facts  which  are 
entirely  unaffected  by  the  babble  of  men. 


INDEX 


Aalu,  fields  of,  164 

Abbaside,  Khalifs,  130,  131 

'Abd-tsadik,  King,  252 

'Abiri  =  Hebrews,  93,  251-3 

Abu  el  Faraj,  18 

Abyssinians,  54,  125,  127 

Acre,  city,  135,  139 

^Eons,  314,  316 

Afghans,  67 

African  languages,  54 

Agape  Love  Feast,  312,  323,  332, 

336 

Agesilaos,  106 
Agglutination,  43 
Agnosticism,  6 
Agrippa,  Cornelius,  16 
Ahura-mazda  (Ormuzd),  198-9 
Ainos  of  Japan,  62,  102 
Ajalon,  254,  273 
Ak  =  Nebo,  174,  176 
Akka  dwarfs,  38 
Akkadian  language,  57-8,  83 

—  people,  40, 45, 83-4,  267 

—  religion,  170-78 

—  texts,  84 
Alabaster,  83 
Alaric,  the  Goth,  123 
Alchemy,  16 
Alcibiades,  106 

Alexander  the  Great,  107,  195 
Alfred,  King,  136 

Algebra,  9,  10 

'Ali,  the  Khalif,  129,  249 

Alp  Arslan,  132 

Alphabets,  66,  69,  71,  86,  99,  121, 

130,  258,  268 

Amarna  Letters,  93,  251-5 
Ambrose,  bishop,  321,  332 
Ambrosia,  200 
Amen,  the  god,  92 
Amenophis  II.,  163 

—  III.  and  IV..  92 
Amenti  or  Hades,  166 


America,  143-5 
American  language,  63 

—  religion,  226-33 
Amitabha,  218 
'Ammurabi  (Amraphel),  87-90 

205,  265-7 
Amorites,  92 

Anahita,  goddess,  199,  206 
Ancestor  worship,  155,  221 
Angora,  115,  139,  140 
Ani,  maxims  of,  169 
Animism,  150-61 
Anquetil  Duperron,  23 
Ansan  in  Persia,  83,  98 
Anubis,  the  god,  166 
Apes,  19,  47 
Apocalypse,  302 

Apocryphal  Gospels,  315,  317,  335 
Apsara  nymphs,  240 
Arabia,  65 
Arabic,  23,  243 
Arabs,  The,  65,  66,  127-33,  233- 

47.  276 

Aramaic  language,  65,  99 
Archaeology,  22-4 
Archimedes,  13 
Architecture,  129-31,  137 
Arian  heresy,  122-3,  334 
Arioch  (Eriaku),  86,  88 
Aristophanes,  13,  106 
Aristotle,  17,  18,  107,  195 
Arks,  269,  271,  273 
Armenians,  68 
Art  in  Italy,  142 
Arthur,  King,  188 
Aryan  languages,  39,  47 

—  race,  37,  45,  46,  67 

—  religions,  187-91 
Asceticism,  216,  303,  312,  336 
Asmodeus,  demon,  289 
Asoka,  Emperor,  99,  100,  214-6 
Ass,  41,  90 

Assassins,  the,  248,  350 


359 


INDEX 


Assur-bani-pal,  22,95,96,  185,  259 
Assur-bel-kala,  94 
Assur-uballid,  91 
Assyria,  88,  90,  94-5,  97 
Assyrian  language,  24 
Astronomy,  10-13,  229-30,  232 
Astruc,  Jean,  280 
'Ataroth,  town,  256 
Aten,  the  god,  168 
Atheism,  6 
Attila,  120,  337 
Augustin,  12,  334 
Augustus,  Emperor,  1 10 
Aurochs,  bull,  21 
Aurungzebe,  Emperor,  144 
Ausar  =  Assyria,  89 
Australians,  37,  61,  62 
Avalo-kit  Isvara,  218 
Avignon,  Popes  at,  142,  338,  341 
Azariah,  King,  257 
Aztecs  in  Mexico,  229 

Ba  =  soul,  161 
Bab,  The,  250 
Babylon,  87-90 
Babylonian  laws,  89,  265-7 

—  religion,  180-7 
Bacon,  Roger,  16,  23 

—  Lord,  148 
Bagha  =  "  god,"  200 
Bantu  race,  54-5 
Basevis  in  India,  76 
Basque  race,  36,  51-2 
Basilicas,  326,  328,  334 
Bechuana  race,  44,  162 
Beech,  The,  47 
Belgae,  The,  36 
Belkapkapu,  90 
Bel-nadin-ablu,  93 
Belon,  Pierre,  18 
Bells,  335 

Berber  race,  5  3-4 

Bes,  the  god,  165 

Bestiaries,  18 

Bible,  The,  264-87,  341,  347-9 

Birth  customs,  76-77 

Bishops,  320-1,  328,  347-8 

Black  obelisk.  The,  99 

—  races,  160 
Boccacio,  143,  146 

Bohemian  Reformation,  The,  142 

Bohtlingk,  24,  61 

Bones,  156,  227 

Books,  Jewish,  287-92 

Bopp,  on  language,  24 

Bow,  83,  252 

Brahma,  the  god,  209,  221 


Brahmanas,  210 

Brain,  The,  26-7 

Brazil,  caves,  37 

Brennus,  the  Gaul,  122 

Bretigny,  peace  of,  141 

Bridge  to  heaven,  188,  203,  205, 

226,  322 

Bridget,  Saint,  142 
Britain,  in,  123,  335 
Broca,  29,  53 
Bronze,  31,  83 
Brythons,  43 

Buddha,  The,  214,216-7,229,  316 
Buddhism,  214,  217-20,  229 
Buddhist  writings,  102 
Bundahish,  The,  208 
Burial  customs,  77 
Burnaburias,  91 
Burning  bodies,  79 
Bushmen,  The,  38,  55 
Butterfly  soul,  The,  153 
Byzantine  Emperors,  126 

Cacus,  myth  of,  189 

Calanus,  ascetic,  219 

Caledonians,  36 

Calendars  (see  Zodiac),  n,  246 

Caligula,  Emperor,  1 1 1 

Cambuscan,  139 

Cambyses,  98 

Camel,  name  of  the,  45 

Canaanites,  30,  32,  251-5,  260 

Canstadt,  skull  at,  32,  34 

Capacity  of  skulls,  29,  37 

Cappadocia,  65,  86,  89,  103,  207 

Carians,  104 

Carthage,  95,  109 

Caste,  134 

Castren,  24,  61 

Catacombs,  263,  310 

Cathay,  61 

Catholic  Church.The,  308-9,325-7 

Cave,  simile  of,  25 

Cavemen,  32-6 

Cedar,  83 

Celibacy,  336,  344 

Cells,  microscopic,  19 

Celsus,  302,  318-9 

Ceylon,  132 

Chaldea,  83,  84-5,  93 

Champollion,  23,  54 

Chandra-Gupta,  99 

Chariots,  90,  91 

Charlemagne,  126,  131 

Charles  V.,  Emperor,  140,  145 

Charles  Martell,  129 

Charms,  181,  290,  314 


INDEX 


Charon,  the  god,  179,  189 
Chaucer,  139,  300 
Chemistry,  15 
Chemosh,  the  god,  256 
China,  101,  138-9,  144,  222-3 
Chinese  language,  44,  102 

—  religion,  221 

—  writing,  101-2 
Chivalry,  134 
Chosroes  of  Persia,  125 
Chrestos  =  "  good,"  304,  310 
Christmas,  335 
Chrysostom,  12,  329 
Church=Kerk,  332 
Cimbri,  no,  122 
Cimmerians,  97 
Circumcision,  75,  269 
Classics,  The,  343,  354 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  309 
Clovis,  124 

Coins,  105,  108,  115,  125,  261 

Coloni  evicted,  112 

Colour  of  skin,  50 

Columbus,  143 

Commagene,  region,  109,  206 

Commentaries,  158 

Communion,  The,   303-7,    323-4, 

325.  334 

Comparative  Philology,  24,  39 
Compass,  The,  14 
Concubines,  344 
Confucius,  101,  138,  220,  222 
Consciousness,  27,  28 
Constance,  Council  of,  142 
Constantine,  118,  326-7 
Constantinople,  in,  137,  140,  149, 

338 

Contrasts,  147,  149 
Copper,  31,  83 

Councils,  308,  327,  334,  336,  346 
Couvade,  custom,  52,  63,  76,  227 
Creation,  183,  189,  227,  267 
Creeds,  309,  346 
Cremation,  79 
Crete,  23,  69,  86,  104-5 
Criticism,  of  Bible,  278-83,   301, 

318-9 
Croesus,  97 

Cromagnon,  skull  at,  35,  53 
Crosier,  336 
Cross,  230,  318,  335 
Crucifixion,  114,  290 
Crusades,  135,  137,  140,  338 
Culture,  Hebrew,  269 
Cuneiform  script,  265,  268 
Curses,  174-5,  l%7 
Cuvier,  18 


Cyprian,  321-3 
Cypriote  script,  23 
Cyprus,  104-5 
Cyrus,  98,  197-8 

Dagon,  the  god,  181 
Danai,  The,  103 
Daniel,  277 
Darab,  legend  of,  77 
Dardani,  The,  93,  103 
Darius  I.,  98,  198 
Darwin,  5,  18,  19,  29,  50 
Death,  77-80,  150 
Death  horse,  The,  189 
Delitzsch,  24 
Democritus,  5,  15 
Demiurge,  The,  314 
Demons,  172-5,  292,  309,  320 
Dervishes,  248 
Deuteronomy,  270 
Deva  =  "  god,"  200 
Dhu  en  Nun,  16 
Dibon,  city,  256 
Didache,  The,  305-7,  313 
Diophantos,  9 
Dioscorides,  18 
Dogs,  77,  200,  207,  226-7 
Dolmens,  33,  34,  78 
Dome  of  the  Rock,  129-30 
Donner,  on  Finnish,  24 
Doom's  Day,  237,  308 
Dorians,  The,  103 
Double  axe,  The,  55,  59 
Dravidians,  The,  61,  99,  209 
Dreams,  153,  182-3 
Druzes,  The,  248 
Du  Bois,  31 
Durga,  goddess,  209 
Dutch,  The,  143-5 
Dwarfs,  49 

Ea,  the  god,  180 

Ea-bani,  man-bull,  184 

Early  words,  40-2 

Earth  bull,  The,  207 

East  India  Company,  144,  148 

Easter,  308,  322,  334 

Ebionite  sect,  299,  312-3 

Ecclesia  =  "  congregation,"  321 

Ecclesiastes,  Book  of,  284 

Ecclesiasticus,  Book  of,  288 

Eclipses,  10,  274 

Ecstacy,  160 

Eddas,  The,  190 

Eden,  47,  267 

Education,  136,  355 

Egypt,  140 


362 


INDEX 


Egyptian  conquests,  128 

—  ethics,  85 

—  language,  40,  57 

—  religion,  161-70 
Egyptians,  The,  55 
Eichhorn,  281 

Elam,  country,  85,  91,  96 

Elements,  supposed,  15 

Elephants,  29,  47,  99,  229,  233 

Eleusis,  mysteries  of,  191 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  147-8 

Elishah,  land  of,  66 

Elk,  The,  21 

Embalming,  79 

Emblems,  86,    335 

Embryology,  18 

Empedocles,  15 

Engis,  skull  at,  32,  34 

English  progress,  140 

Enoch,  Book  of,  288-9 

Epikouros,  i,  116 

Epicureans,  116,  290 

Equinox,  The,  10 

Erasmus,  147,  345-6,  348 

Eratosthenes,  u 

Esarhaddon,  95 

Esdras,  Vision  of,  289 

Eshmunazar,  186 

Esquimaux,  37,  49,  51,  62 

Essenes,  The,  219,  311 

Esther,  Book  of,  277 

Etana,  Legend  of,  185 

Ethics,    169,    186,    196,  215,   222, 

244,  355 

Etruscans,  The,  4,  57-9,  189 
Eucharist,    The,    305,    307,    316, 

323-4,  334 
Euclid,  9 
Euripides,  15 
Evil,  152-3,  285 
Evolution,  18-9,  352,  353 
Exorcism,  172,  181 
Ezra,  Book  of,  272 

Fables,  185,  292 

Fatemite  Khalifs,  129 

Fathers,  The  Christian,  308-9,313 

Ferrier,  on  the  brain,  26 

Fetish,  155 

Feudal  system,  The,  134 

Fig,  The,  46,  47 

Finns,  The,  36,  52,  60 

Fire,  sacred,  190,  231 

First  civilisation,  47-8 

Fleets,  65-6,  84,  95,  no,  137,  140 

Flint  tools,  30,  82 

Flood,  183-4,  190,  230,  232,  267 


Folk-lore,  155,  190 

Folletti,  spirits,  4,  60,  189 

Food,  49 

France,  History  of,  146-7 

Francis  of  Assisi,  339 

Franks,  The,  124,  126,  133,  135 

Frederic  I.,  Emperor,  136 

Frederic  II.,  Emperor,  135,  136 

Free  will,  196,  244,  345-6 

Fried  enthal,  19 

Gailenreuth  caves,  32 

Galerius,  Decree  of,  326 

Galileo,  16 

Gamaliel,  295 

Gathas  =  "  hymns,"  201-3 

Gautama,  The  Buddha,  214,  216-7 

Gayo-mard  =  "  bull-man,"  221 

Gebal,  186 

Gender  of  nouns,  45 

Genii  =  Fravashis,  206 

Genista,  cave,  36 

Genoese,  The,  135  137,  138 

Genseric,  123 

Geography,  13-5,  267,  274 

Geology,  18-22 

Germany,  137,  141,  146 

Ghosts,  5,  78,  171 

Gibeon,  4,  255,  273 

Gigim,  demons,  173 

Gilgamas,  178,  183-4 

Gilukhepa,  Queen,  92 

Gitas  =  "  hymns,"  212-3 

Gnostics,  313-8 

Gods,  The,  151,  152,  168,  178,  180, 

209 

Goethe,  7,  17 
Goidels,  43,  69 
Gospels,  298-303,  315 
Goths,  122-7 
Granth  of  Sikhs,  249 
Greek  gods,  187 

—  language,  299 

—  sages,  191-7 

Greeks,  The,  71,  102-9,  "4 
Grenelle,  skulls  at,  35 
Grotius,  279 
Guancho  race,  5  3 
Gudea,  prince,  83-4 
Guernsey,  dolmens,  34-5 
Gunpowder,  141 
Gyges,  97 

Hades,  157,  164-6,  189,  286 
Hadrian,  263,  318 
Haeckel,  5,  6,  19 
Hair,  50 


INDEX 


363 


Hakamanish,  98,  197 

Hanlf  =  "  convert,"  127,  235 

Hans  in  China,  The,  101,  119 

Haoma  drink,  204,  207,  325 

Harp,  83 

Harsha,  Emperor,  129 

Head,  Shape  of  the,  50 

Hebrews,  The,  65,  93,  251-92,  298 

Hegel,  6 

Hejirah,  Era,  238 

Hell  (see  Hades),  240 

Hellenes,  The,  68-9 

Henotheism,  177 

Henry  VIII.,  347,  349 

Heraclitus,  15 

Herakles  =  Hercules,  189 

Hermits,  311 

Herod,  262 

Herodotus,  14,  30,  48,  50,  51,  58, 

67-70,  76,  78-9,  84,  162 
Hezekiah,  258-9 
Hildebrand,  Pope,  126,  134,  322, 

337 

Hillel,  294-5 
Hindu  gods,  209 
Hipparchus,  n 
History,  7,  8,  81 
Hittite  religion,  178-9 
—  syllabary,  86 

Hittites,  The,  23,  57,  91-4,  103-4 
Hiuen-Tsiang,  219 
Hobal,  the  god,  127,  237 
Holger  Danske,  188 
Holy  water,  175,  332 
Horse,  The,  52,  57,  90 
Horus,  the  god,  165 
Hospitals,  100,  230 
Hottentots,  The,  55 
Hovas,  The,  56 
Human  sacrifice,    163,    177,    191, 

224,  230,  232 
Hungarians,  The,  60,  121 
Huns,  The,  60,  119-20 
Huris  =  "  bright  ones,"  239 
Hus,  Johann,  142,  341-3 
Huxley,  19 
Hyde,  23 
Hypatia,  312 
Hypnotism,    159,    160,    214,    311, 

330 
Hyrcanus,  261 

Iberians,  The,  52,  53,  86 
Ibn  Batuta,  131 
Iconium,  139 
Iconoclasts,  The,  333 
Icons,  333 


Idols,  157,  332 

Images,  333 

Immortality,  5,  156 

Incas  of  Peru,  The,  146,  231 

Incense,  269,  335 

India,  99,  100,  115 

Indian  religion,  209-20 

Indra,  210-11 

Indulgences,  338,  344 

Infanticide,  77 

Innocent  III.,  Pope,  142 

lonians,  The,  104 

Irenaeus,  308,  316 

Irish  race.  The,  69,  70 

Iron,  metal,  32,  83 

Iron  =  Iranians,  79,  204 

Islam,  233-50 

Islands,  15,  144 

Ismi-Dagon,  90 

Israel,  255,  257 

Istar,  the  goddess,  177,  180,  184 

Italy,  109,  124,  137,  142,  145 

Ivory  (see  Elephant),  258 

Japan,  14,  102,  139,  143,  227 

Japanese  race,  51,  62 

—  religion,  223 

Jacques  de  Vitry,  18 

Jasher,  Book  of,  273 

Java,  skull  in,  3 1 

Jehovah  (see  Yahu),  314 

Jehu,  94,  257 

Jerome,  329-31 

Jerusalem,  253-4,  298,  351 

Jesuits,  The,  147,  350-2 

Jews  =  Judeans,  66-7,  239,  244 

Jimmu  Tennu,  102,  223 

Job,  Book  of,  287 

John  of  Damascus,  333 

John,  Gospel  of,  301 

Joshua,  Book  of,  273 

Judah,  258 

Judah  Halevi,  292 

Justin  Martyr,  304,  308,  325 

Justinian,  Emperor,  125-6 

Ka,  =  genius,  161 
Ka'aba,  The,  127,  237 
Kabiri,  gods,  189 
Kadasman  Burias,  94 
Kaldi  =  Chaldeans,  82 
Kanishka,  Emperor,  218 
Kant,  philosopher,  6,  193,  353 
Kassites,  The,  10,  90,  92,  94 
Kaswini,  botanist,  18 
Katapan    =    "  plenipotentiary," 
129 


364  INDEX 

Kedeshoth,  185 
Kelts,  The.  52,  59,  69,  70,  86 
Kent's  cavern,  32 
Khadijah,  234,  236,  238 
Khitai,  tribe,  60,  121,  138 
Khonds,  tribe,  209,  231 
Khozars,  tribe,  120-1 
Khufu  =  Cheops,  85 
Kiblah,  The,  246 
Kings,  Book  of,  275 
Kismah  =  "  lot,"  244 
Kiss  of  Peace,  The,  304,  312 
Knox,  John,  349 
Koran,  The,  23,  136,  241-3 
Koranna  tribe,  55 
Krishna,  the  god,  213,  247 
Kublai  Khan,  139,  143 
Kulic  alphabet,  1 30,  131 
Kushan,  dynasty,  108 


Lake  dwellings,  32,  33,  68 

Lamarck,  18 

Lancastrian  Kings,  141 

Language,  38-49 

Lao-tze,  222 

Lapp  race,  36,  37,  49,  51,  60 

Lapis  lazuli,  83,  105, 

Lars  =  "  chief,"  189 

Latin,  116,  135 

Laws,  89,  125,  245  265-6 

Legends,  178,  183,  242,  291,  335 

Lemnos  language,  69 

Lens,  The,  13 

Leo  X.,  Pope,  22,  342 

Levirate  marriage,  61,  74,  269 

Libyans,  The,  54,  82,  93 

Light,  12-3,  193 

Lilith  =  "  ghost,"  292 

Lion,  The,  46,  277 

Liturgies,  335 

Logoi,  Christian,  313 

Logos,  The,  193,  297,  301 

Lollards,  The,  340,  342 

Lombards,  The,  126,  133 

Long  barrows,  36,  69 

Louis  XL,  King,  141 

Louis  XIII.,  King,  146 

Louis  XIV.  and  XVI.,  147 

Loyola,  350-1 

Lucretius,  i,  116 

Luther,  344-6 

Lycians,  The,  68,  76,  103 

Lycurgus,  105 

Lydians,  The,   58,  59,  97,   104-5 

207 
Lyell,  1 8 


Ma,  the  goddess,  179 
Macedonians,  The,  107,  126 
Magan,  country,  83 
Magi,  The,  198-9,  207 
Magic,  151,  163-4,  174-6,  181 
Magellan,  12 
Mahmud  of  Ghuzni,  132 
Maimonides,  290,  292 
Malays,  The,  37,  56,  61,  232 
Mamun,  El,  131 
Mammoth,  The,  21,  32,  33 
Manasseh,  King,  259 
Manchus,  The,  144,  221 
Manes,  The  heretic,  316 
Manuscripts,  Bible,  271-2,  302-3 
Maori  race,  61 
Marcionites,  The,  303,  328 
Marco  Polo,  14,  132,  138-9 
Marcus,  the  Gnostic,  315 
Marcus  Aurelius,  355 
Marduk,  the  god,  157,  180 
Marduk-nadin-akhi,  93 
Marius,  no 
Mark,  Gospel  of,  300-1 
Marriage  customs,  73,  75 
Martu  =  "  the  west,"  85 
Mary  Stuart,  147 
Mashonaland,  ruins,  66 
Masons,  The,  351 
Mass,  The,  335 
Mas'udi,  131 
Materalism,  7 
Mathematics,  9,  10 
Matriarchate,  The,  76 
Matthew,  Gospel  of,  299 
Matthew's  Bible,  347-9 
Maurya,  dynasty,  99 
Maundeville,  Sir  John,  140 
Mayer,  16 

Mecca,  127-8,  237,  239 
Medes,  The,  96,  97,  200 
Melek  Shah,  132 
Melukha,  country,  83 
Mencius,  101,  223 
Mengku  Khan,  138,  139 
Mesha,  of  Moab,  255-7 
Messiahs,  188,  206,  208,  278,  284 
Metals,  transmutation  of,  16 
Meton,  cycle  of,  10 
Mexico,  228-31 
Microscope,  The,  13,  19 
Mind,  The,  26-9 
Ming,  dynasty,  139 
Mineptah,  93,  255 
Minyan  race,  92,  103 
Miracles,  273-4 
Mishnah,  The,  290-1 


INDEX 


365 


Mithra,  the  god,  199,  20x3,  206-7, 

324,  328,  335 

Mithradates,  no,  122,  207 
Mitre,  origin  of,  336 
Moabite  language,  65 
—  stone,  255 

Mongols,  The,  50,  56,  63,  138,  144 
Monicelli,  gnomes,  4 
Monism,  7 
Monks,  230,  244,  312,  327,  338-9, 

340 

Monotheism,  168,  241,  265,  285 
Monsoon,  The,  132 
Montaigne,  146 
Montanists,  sect,  309,  312 
Moses,  265 

Moslems,  The,  127-33,  235,  243 
Muhammad,  127,  130,  233-42 
Muhammad  II.,  Sultan,  141 
Mummies,  163,  166 
Mycenae,  103 
Mylodon,  sloth,  21 
Mysticism,  158-9,  249 
Mysteries,  191 
Myths,    151,    167,    178,  224,  226, 

241-2 


Nabu-cudur-usur,  93 

Nanak,  in  India,  249 

Naram-addu,  94 

Natural  History,  17-20 

Neanderthal,  skull  at,  34 

Nebo,  the  god,  176,  180 

—  the  town,  256 

Nebuchadnezzar,  98 

Negro  race,  50,  55 

Negrillos,  51 

Negritos,  37,  50,  51,  61 

Neolithic  remains,  30.  33 

Nephthys,  the  goddess,  165 

Nergal,  the  god,  180,  181 

Nestorians,  The,  132,  136,  139 

Nestorius,  335 

Newton,  12 

New  Zealand,  62 

Nimrud  Dagh,  109 

Nineveh,  89,  95 

Nirvana,  219 

Normans,  The,  34,  71,  133,  136 

Norsemen,  The,  71,  133 

Nubians,  The,  54 

Numerals,  9 

Numidians,  The,  66 

Nuns  in  America,  229,  230 

Nut,  the  goddess,  165 

Nuter  =  "  power,"  164 


Odoacer,  123 

Olive,  The,  46,  47 

Omens,  182,  190 

Ommeya  Khalifs,  129 

Omri,  of  Israel,  256 

Ong-Khan  =  Prester  John,  138-9- 

Ophites,  sect  of,  314,  319 

Orgies,  160,  331 

Origen,  309,  314,  319 

Oscans,  70 

Osiris,  the  god,  164-5 

Ossetes,  tribe,  69 

Ox-waggons,  70 

Paca  =  "  chief,"  252,  254 
Palaeolithic  remains,  30 
Palestine,  135,  141 
Palmyra,  117,  131 
Pan  jab,  The,  99,  107 
Panis,  demons,  189,  200 
Pantheism,  7,  161 
Papias,  on  Gospels,  300 
Paracelsus,  16 
Paradise,  221,  239-40,  276 
Parthians,  The,  100,  108,  207 
Patagonians,  The,  37,  49 
Patna,  in  India,  99,  120 
Paul  of  Tarsus,  295-8 
Pelasgi,  race  of,  68,  69 
Pentateuch,  The,  265-70,  282 
Pepin,  King,  126 
Perseus,  Legend  of,  77 
Persia,  140 
Persians,  98,  106 
Persian  gods,  200 
—  religion,  197-209 
Peru,  231 

Pharisees,  The,  289,  295 
Philip  Augustus,  King,  141 

Philology,  24,  38-49 

Philosophers,  191-7,  293 

Phoenicians,  The,  95 

Phrygians,  The,  68,  103 

Picture  writing,  56,  228 

Piers  Ploughman,  140,  340-1 

Pigtails,  57 

Pineal  gland,  the,  28 

Pisans,  The,  137 

Pistis  Sophia,  book,  314 

Pitakas,  Buddhist,  217-8 

Plantagenets,  The,  140 

Plato,  193-5 

Pliny,  12,  1 8,  20,  304 

Plutarch,  no,  114,  116,  168,  190 

Podesta,  The,  137 

Poemandres,  book,  313 

Pollution  by  dead,  269 


366 


INDEX 


Polgamy,  244,  246 

Polynesians,  62 

Pompey,  108-9 

Pontifex  Maximus,  The,  322 

Popes,  The,    126,   135,    138,   322, 

341-3.  35i 
Portugal,  143,  144 
Postal  systems,  138,  146 
Prasias,  lake,  32,  68 
Prester  John,  139 
Priest-kings,  no-i 
Printing,  141 
Prognathic  jaws,  35,  50 
Protestants,  The,  140,  341,  345- 

50 

Proverbs,  Book  of,  276 
Providence,  293,  356,  357 
Provincials,  The,  117 
Psalms,  The,  268,  275-6,  329,  342 
Ptah-hotep,  Maxims  of,  169 
Ptolemy,  the  geographer,  14 
Ptolemies,  The,  107 
Punt,  land  of,  50,  85 
Purgatory,  334,  345 
Pygmies,  The,  50 
Pythagoras,  192 

Quietests,  The,  160 

Ra,  the  god,  165-6 

Rabelais,  146 

Races  of  mankind,  48-73 

Rameses  II.  and  III.,  93,  94 

Rameses,  city,  268 

Raphael,  the  painter,  22 

Rawlinson,  Sir  H.,  23,  24 

Red  Indians,  The,  37,  63-4 

Reformation,  The,  141,  341-350 

Rhinoceros,  The,  99 

Reindeer,  The,  21,  32,  33 

Relics,  335-6 

Renaissance,    The,     141-2,     147, 

342-3 

Republic  of  Plato  the,  194 
Resheph,  the  god,  181 
Resurrection,  The,  157,  202,  284, 

286,  296-7 
Reuchlin,  345 
Revivalism,  160,  312,  330 
Richard  I.,  King,  141 
Ricimer,  123 
Rig- Veda,  199,  210 
Rimmon,  the  god,  185 
Rimmon  Nirari,  96 
Robert  Guiscard,  1 34 
Rogers,  John,  347 
Rollo,  133 


Roman  Church,  The,  322,   331-8, 
343,  346 

—  Empire,  111-5 

—  superstitions,  189-90 
Romans,  The,  111-14 
Romulus,  Legend  of,  77 
Roods,  340,  349-50 
Roots  of  speech,  39-40 
Rubruquis  the  Franciscan,  1 38 
Rude  stone  monuments,  72 
Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  141 
Runes,  origin  of,  122 
Russia,  147 

Sabbath,  The,  185,  269 

Sabean  Arabs,  The,  54,  66,  99 

Sabiun  =  "  baptists,"  243,  313 

Sacerdos,  321 

Sacred  beasts,  162,  226 

Sadducees,  The,  289 

Sakas,  The,  108 

Saladin,  130,  141,  237 

Salmon  in  the  Volga,  47 

Samaritan  Pentateuch,  272 

Samarkand,  139 

Samson,  274 

Sanhedrin,  The,  263 

Saracenic  architecture,  131 

Sargina  =  "  founder    king,"  77, 

82,  178 

Sargon,  95,  96 
Sassanians,  The,  125,  208 
Satan,  240,  242 
Sati  =  suttee,  68,  228,  232 
Savonarola,  342 
Saxons,  The,  123,  131 
Scandinavians,  The,  34,  35,  71 
Scape-goat,  The,  269 
Sceptics,  193,  247-8 
Schisms,  327,  337 
Schlieden,  19 
Schliemann,  103 
Science,  5,  8-25,  353,  354 
Scotland,  147-8 
Scots,  The,  49,  349,  350 
Scythians,  The,  67,  97 
Seal,  habitat  of,  47 
Seals,  Hebrew,  260 
Seb,  the  god,  165 
Seclusion  of  women,  245 
Seir.  mount,  253 
Seleucus,  107 
Selim,  Sultan,  140 
Seljuks,  The,  132,  140 
Semitic  home,  The,  46,  65 

—  languages,  39-40,  46,  65 

—  myths,  92 


INDEX 


367 


Semitic  races,  64 

—  words  in  Greece,  189 

Senefru,  in  Egypt,  84 

Sennacherib,  95.  258 

Septuagint.  The,  271 

Serapis,  263 

Set  or  Sut,  the  god,  90,  165,  179 

Seti  I.  in  Egypt,  93 

Shalmaneser  I.,  99 

Shalmaneser  II.,  94 

Shamash  Rimmon,  96 

Shell  mounds,  33 

Sheol   =   Hades,    157,    176,    184, 

286 

Shiah,  sect,  249 
Shin-to,  religion,  223-4 
Shishak,  94,  255 
Sicily,  95,  105 
Sidon,  city,  95 
Sigismund,  Emperor,  142 
Sign  language,  38 
Sikhs,  The,  249 
Silk,  121,  124,  132 
Siloam  text,  258 
Simon  Magus,  315 
Sin,  152,  177,  182 
Sinai,  mines  in,  84 
Sinim,  land  of,  85 
Siva,  the  god,  209 
Slaves,  113,  244 
Slav  race,  The,  7 1 
Smith,  George,  23 
Solomon,  94 
Solon,  105 

Soma  drink,  The,  200, 204,  243,  324 
Song  of  Songs,  The,  276,  279-80 
Sons  of  God,  174,  176,  297,  319 
Sosiosh,  in  Persia,  206,  208 
Soul,  The,   153-5,  :62,   164,  212, 

227,  309 

Sound,  changes  of,  42-3 
Spain,  51,  52,  143,  145 
Spells,  182 
Spencer,  Herbert,  19 
Spenser,  139,  148 
Sphinx,  The,  59 
Spinoza,  292 
Spirits,  80,  150 
Spiritualism,  160 
Spiritual  marriages  315, 
Spy,  Skull  at,  34 
Stature  of  mankind,  49 
Stoics,  The,  116,  193 
Stomach,  human,  49 
Stonehenge,  72 
Stregha  ==  "  witch,"  4 
Stuarts,  The,  148 


Subintroduced  sisters,  329 

Sufi  dynasty,  140 

Sufis  in  Islam,  160,  246,  249 

Suleiman,  Sultan,  140 

Sunni,  sect,  249 

Superstitions,  2,  219,  290-2 

Susa,  discoveries  at,  89,  270 

Sutekh,  the  god,  90,  179 

Swastika,  emblem,  59,87, 179,231 

Swedes,  The,  49 

Synagogues  in  Palestine,  263 

Syntax,  44 

Syrian  civilisation,  9 


Ta  =  "  shade,"  162 

Tabernacle,  The,  269 

Tablets,  268,  272-3 

Tablier  ^gyptien,  55 

Taboo,  155 

Talmud,  The,  291 

Tammuz,  the  god,  180,  184-5,  249 

Tarkon  =  "  chief,"  59 

Tarsus,  104 

Tchengiz  Khan,  138 

Tefnut,  the  goddess,  166 

Teie,  Queen,  93 

Telescope,  The,  12 

Tell  Loh,  83 

Templars,  The,  140,  351 

Ten    Commandments,    The,    266, 

270,  271-2 

Tertullian,  305,  309,  325 
Te-Umman,  King,  96 
Teutons,  The,  71 
Thales,  9,  192 
Theandrites,  deity,  328 
Therapeutai,  The,  219,  311 
Thermometer,  The,  16 
Thothmes  I.,  III.,  and  IV.,  91,  92 
Thracians,  The,  68 
Tiglath-pileser,  I.  and  III.,  93, 94, 

257 

Timur  the  Tartar,  139 
Tin,  31 

Tobit,  Book  of,  289 
Tones,  Chinese,  45 
Torture,  114 
Totems,  155,  162,  226 
Trade,  101,  115,  131,  133-5,  137-8, 

139,  148,  149,  261 
Transubstantiation,  324,  338 
Trent,  Council  of,  308,  346-7 
Trinity,  Dogma  of,  242 
Troy,  Discoveries  at,  32,  35,  103 
Travellers,  Arab,  131 
Turanians.  The,  39,  45,  56-64 


368 


INDEX 


Turks,  The,  45,  51,  57,  126,  133, 

139-40,  144 
Tyre,  city,  84,  95 

Uigurs,  people,  121 
Universities,  136-7 
Upanishads,  210 
Usertasen  I.,  in  Egypt,  85 
Utuk,  demon,  173 

Valhalla,  157 

Valkyries,  The,  157,  240 

Vambery,  24,  39,  45 

Vandals,  The,  54,  120 

Varangers,  The,  133 

Varuna,  the  god,  187,  211 

Vasco  da  Gama,  143 

Vedas,  The,  210-12 

Vendidad,  The,  204-5 

Venetians,  The,  135,  138 

Vikings,  The,  133 

Vine,  The,  45,  47,  307 

Virgin  mothers,  63,  in,  221,  227, 

230,  278,  303,  319,  335 
Vishnu,  the  god,  209,  213,  291 
Vistasp  =  Hystaspes,  203,  206 
Voltaire,  12,  20,  23,  279,  344 
Vowel  harmony,  43 
Von  Baer,  18 


Wahhabis,  sect  of,  250 
War,  356 

Weights,  Hebrew,  259 
Wisdom,  Book  of,  287-8 
World  tree,  The,  188 
Wyclif,  141,  324,  341 

Xenophanes,  5,  20 

Yahu  =  Jehovah,  258,  261,  314 
Yakut,  traveller,  131 
Yama,  the  god,  211,  232 
Yan-yin,  theory,  222  224,  232 
Yashts,  hymns,  206 
Yehumelek  of  Gebal,  186 
Yogis  in  India,  159 
Young,  12 

Zaggisi,  King,  82 

Zendavesta,  The,  23 

Zenobia,  117 

Zirgul  =  Tell  Loh,  83 

Zoan,  city,  268 

Zodiac,  The,  u,  45,  108,  232 

Zoroaster,  200-4,  3*7 

Zu,  the  god,  185 

Zulus,  The,  55,  74,  162 


BY   THE    SAME  AUTHOR 


Tent  Work  in  Palestine     . 

Handbook  to  the  Bible     . 

Judas  Maccabaeus 

Heth  and  Moab 

Primer  of  Bible  Geography 

Syrian  Stone  Lore 

Altaic  Hieroglyphs     . 

Palestine     ..... 

Tell  Amarna  Tablets 

The  Bible  and  the  East    . 

The  Latin  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem 

The  Hittites  and  their  Languages 

The  Hebrew  Tragedy 

The  First  Bible 

Critics  and  the  Law  . 


Printed  by  Hasell,  IVatson  &  Vinty,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbury. 


19 


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CB       Conder,  Claude  Rcignier 

67         The  rise  of  man 
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