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the story of mankind-第7章

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busy carrying the necessary stones from the other side of the

riverferrying them across the Nile (how they ever managed

to do this; we do not understand); dragging them in many instances

a long distance across the desert and finally hoisting

them into their correct position。 But so well did the King's

architects and engineers perform their task that the narrow

passage…way which leads to the royal tomb in the heart of the

stone monster has never yet been pushed out of shape by the

weight of those thousands of tons of stone which press upon

it from all sides。







THE STORY OF EGYPT



THE RISE AND FALL OF EGYPT





THE river Nile was a kind friend but occasionally it was

a hard taskmaster。 It taught the people who lived along its

banks the noble art of ‘‘team…work。'' They depended upon

each other to build their irrigation trenches and keep their

dikes in repair。 In this way they learned how to get along

with their neighbours and their mutual…benefit…association quite

easily developed into an organised state。



Then one man grew more powerful than most of his neighbours

and he became the leader of the community and their

commander…in…chief when the envious neighbours of western

Asia invaded the prosperous valley。 In due course of time

he became their King and ruled all the land from the Mediterranean

to the mountains of the west。



But these political adventures of the old Pharaohs (the

word meant ‘‘the Man who lived in the Big House'') rarely

interested the patient and toiling peasant of the grain fields。

Provided he was not obliged to pay more taxes to his King

than he thought just; he accepted the rule of Pharaoh as he

accepted the rule of Mighty Osiris。



It was different however when a foreign invader came

and robbed him of his possessions。 After twenty centuries of

independent life; a savage Arab tribe of shepherds; called the

Hyksos; attacked Egypt and for five hundred years they were

the masters of the valley of the Nile。 They were highly un…

popular and great hate was also felt for the Hebrews who

came to the land of Goshen to find a shelter after their long

wandering through the desert and who helped the foreign

usurper by acting as his tax…gatherers and his civil servants。



But shortly after the year 1700 B。C。 the people of Thebes

began a revolution and after a long struggle the Hyksos were

driven out of the country and Egypt was free once more。



A thousand years later; when Assyria conquered all of

western Asia; Egypt became part of the empire of Sardanapalus。

In the seventh century B。C。 it became once more an

independent state which obeyed the rule of a king who lived in

the city of Sais in the Delta of the Nile。 But in the year 525

B。C。; Cambyses; the king of the Persians; took possession of

Egypt and in the fourth century B。C。; when Persia was conquered

by Alexander the Great; Egypt too became a Macedonian

province。 It regained a semblance of independence

when one of Alexander's generals set himself up as king of a

new Egyptian state and founded the dynasty of the Ptolemies;

who resided in the newly built city of Alexandria。



Finally; in the year 89 B。C。; the Romans came。 The last

Egyptian queen; Cleopatra; tried her best to save the country。

Her beauty and charm were more dangerous to the Roman

generals than half a dozen Egyptian army corps。 Twice she

was successful in her attacks upon the hearts of her Roman

conquerors。 But in the year 30 B。C。; Augustus; the nephew

and heir of Caesar; landed in Alexandria。 He did not share

his late uncle's admiration for the lovely princess。 He destroyed

her armies; but spared her life that he might make her

march in his triumph as part of the spoils of war。 When

Cleopatra heard of this plan; she killed herself by taking poison。

And Egypt became a Roman province。







MESOPOTAMIA



MESOPOTAMIATHE SECOND CENTRE OF

EASTERN CIVILISATION





I AM going to take you to the top of the highest pyramid

and I am going to ask that you imagine yourself possessed

of the eyes of a hawk。 Way; way off; in the distance; far

beyond the yellow sands of the desert; you will see something

green and shimmering。 It is a valley situated between two

rivers。 It is the Paradise of the Old Testament。 It is the

land of mystery and wonder which the Greeks called Mesopotamia

the ‘‘country between the rivers。''



The names of the two rivers are the Euphrates (which the

Babylonians called the Purattu) and the Tigris (which was

known as the Diklat)。 They begin their course amidst the

snows of the mountains of Armenia where Noah's Ark found

a resting place and slowly they flow through the southern

plain until they reach the muddy banks of the Persian gulf。

They perform a very useful service。 They turn the arid

regions of western Asia into a fertile garden。



The valley of the Nile had attracted people because it had

offered them food upon fairly easy terms。 The ‘‘land between

the rivers'' was popular for the same reason。 It was a

country full of promise and both the inhabitants of the northern

mountains and the tribes which roamed through the

southern deserts tried to claim this territory as their own and

most exclusive possession。 The constant rivalry between the

mountaineers and the desert…nomads led to endless warfare。

Only the strongest and the bravest could hope to survive and

that will explain why Mesopotamia became the home of a very

strong race of men who were capable of creating a civilisation

which was in every respect as important as that of Egypt。







THE SUMERIANS



THE SUMERIAN NAIL WRITERS; WHOSE CLAY

TABLETS TELL US THE STORY OF ASSYRIA

AND BABYLONIA; THE GREAT SEMITIC

MELTING…POT





THE fifteenth century was an age of great discoveries。

Columbus tried to find a way to the island of Kathay and

stumbled upon a new and unsuspected continent。 An Austrian

bishop equipped an expedition which was to travel eastward

and find the home of the Grand Duke of Muscovy; a

voyage which led to complete failure; for Moscow was not

visited by western men until a generation later。 Meanwhile

a certain Venetian by the name of Barbero had explored the

ruins of western Asia and had brought back reports of a most

curious language which he had found carved in the rocks of

the temples of Shiraz and engraved upon endless pieces of

baked clay。



But Europe was busy with many other things and it was

not until the end of the eighteenth century that the first

‘‘cuneiform inscriptions'' (so…called because the letters were

wedge…shaped and wedge is called ‘‘Cuneus'' in Latin) were

brought to Europe by a Danish surveyor; named Niebuhr。

Then it took thirty years before a patient German school…

master by the name of Grotefend had deciphered the first four

letters; the D; the A; the R and the SH; the name of the Persian

King Darius。 And another twenty years had to go by

until a British officer; Henry Rawlinson; who found the famous

inscription of Behistun; gave us a workable key to the nail…

writing of western Asia。



Compared to the problem of deciphering these nail…writings;

the job of Champollion had been an easy one。 The

Egyptians used pictures。 But the Sumerians; the earliest

inhabitants of Mesopotamia; who had hit upon the idea of

scratching their words in tablets of clay; had discarded pictures

entirely and had evolved a system of V…shaped figures which

showed little connection with the pictures out of which they

had been developed。 A few examples will show you what I

mean。 In the beginning a star; when drawn with a nail into

a brick looked as follows: {illust。} This sign however was too

cumbersome and after a short while when the meaning of

‘‘heaven'' was added to that of star the picture was simplified

in this way {illust。} which made it even more of a puzzle。

In the same way an ox changed from {illust} into {illust。}

and a fish changed from {illust。} in

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