The Phoenician cities were confederated together under hereditary kings, whose power was limited by the lay and priestly aristocracy. The common people, many of whom were skilled artisans, made themselves felt in some degree in public affairs. The mercantile cla.s.s were influential. Thus there was developed a germinant munic.i.p.al feeling and organization. The "strong city," Tyre, is mentioned in _Joshua_ xix. 29. In _Isaiah_ xxiii., Tyre is described as "the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth." "He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms." The fate of Babylon is pointed at by the Prophet, to show what Tyre had to expect from a.s.syria. Later, before the conquest by Nebuchadnezzar, _Ezekiel_ thus speaks of Tyre (chap, xxvii.): "They have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee." "Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars." "Tarshish was thy merchant."
RELIGION AND LETTERS.--A very prominent feature of the religion of the Phaenicians is the local character of their divinities. The word _baal_("lord" or "G.o.d") was not used in Phaenicia as the proper name of any one G.o.d. But such names as _Baal-sidon_, "Lord of Sidon," _Baal-libanon_, "G.o.d of Lebanon," etc., are common. _Astarte_ was the most common name for the local female divinities. The G.o.ds were often thought of as dwelling in stones, trees, and other objects; the worship of stone-pillars and sacred poles (_ashera_; translated "grove" in the English Bible) was especially common in Phaenicia. On the other hand, a "G.o.d of heaven"
and a "G.o.ddess of heaven" were worshiped. In the religion of the Phaenicians, the more elevated ingredients of the Semitic heathenism are in the background. The sensual features of it are more prominent, and savage elements are introduced. It was more adapted to foster than to check l.u.s.t and cruelty. To Astarte, maidens sacrifice their chast.i.ty. There was the same double ritual, made up of gross sensuality on the one hand, and of ascetic practices by the priesthood on the other, that belonged to the service of Mylitta at Babylon. Human sacrifice by fire was another horrible feature. Children, especially, were offered to _El _("G.o.d"; possibly also called _Melek_ (Moloch), "the king," as among the Hebrews). To appease him at Tyre and Carthage, girls and boys, sometimes in large numbers, and of the highest families, were cast into the flames; while the wailing of their relatives, if it was not stifled by themselves at the supposed demand of piety, was drowned by the sound of musical instruments. As late as 310 B.C., when Agathocles was besieging Carthage, and had reduced the city to the direst straits, we are told that the people laid two hundred boys of their n.o.blest families upon the arms of the brazen image of the G.o.d, whence they were allowed to fall into the fire beneath. On similar occasions, even the head of the state sometimes offered himself as a sacrifice. _Hamilcar_, the Carthaginian, son of Hanno, in Sicily, when the tide of battle was turning against him, threw himself into the fire (480 B.C.). Juba, king of Numidia, prepared to do the same after the battle of Thapsus. Large and costly temples were built, generally in the Egyptian style. Such were the temples of _Melkart_ at Tyre and Cadiz, of _Eshmun_ at Sidon, and of "the Lady of Byblos" at that city. Nature--as dying in the autumn, and again reviving in the spring--is figured as the G.o.d _Adonisz_, who is honored first by a protracted season of mourning, and then by a joyous festival.
The Phoenicians were not a literary people. Their alphabet (invented by them?) was the old Semitic alphabet. Every character represented a sound. From the Phaenicians it spread, and became the mother of most of the graphic systems now existing. Cadmus, however, by whom it was said to be carried to the Greeks, is a fabulous person. The alleged history of _Sanchuniathon_, which was published in Greek by _Philo_ of Byblus, in the second century A.D., is now generally believed to be the work of Philo himself.
HISTORICAL EVENTS.--In the struggles against the Mesopotamian empires, the Phaenicians defended themselves with valor and perseverance. When _Sargon_ (722-705 B.C.) had subjugated their cities on the mainland, insular Tyre for five years repelled his a.s.saults, although the conduits bringing fresh water from the sh.o.r.e were cut off, and the besieged were obliged to content themselves with the scanty supply to be gained from wells dug with great labor. Soon the Tyrian fleets regained their mastery on the sea. When Nebuchadnezzar captured old Tyre, and a mult.i.tude of its inhabitants shared the lot of the Jews, and were dragged off by the conqueror to the Euphrates, the island city withstood his attack for thirteen years, and did not yield until it extorted from him a treaty. But the power of resistance was weakened by the repeated invasions and domination of Nineveh and Babylon. Tyre submitted to Persia after the downfall of the Babylonian monarchy, and added her fleet to the Persian forces; although to the Phoenician towns was left a degree of freedom and their local government. Sidon, Tyre, and Arados had a council of their own, which met with their respective kings and senators at Tripolis, for the regulation of matters of common interest. Manufactures and commerce continued to flourish. Under the Persian supremacy, Sidon once more became the chief city. In the middle of the fourth century B.C., it revolted against the tyranny of the foreign governors. The Persian king, _Ochus_, ordered that the n.o.blest citizens should be put to death; whereupon the inhabitants set the city on fire, and destroyed themselves and their treasures in the flames. Tyre remained, but ventured to resist _Alexander the Great_, after his conquest of the Persians, and by him was captured and partly demolished (332 B.C.). After the death of Alexander, the Phoenicians fell under the sway of the _Seleucidae_ at Antioch, and, for a time, of the Egyptian _Ptolemies_. Both Tyre and Sidon were rebuilt, and flourished anew. It is probably to the third century B.C. that we should a.s.sign the native Sidonian dynasty which included the Kings _Eshmunazar I., Sedek-yaton, Tabnit, Bodashtart_, and _Eshmunazar II._, whose names are known to us from inscriptions.
In the time of the last-named king, the cities Dor and Joppa, with the plain of Sharon, belonged to Sidon.
CARTHAGINIAN HISTORY.--The most prominent of all the Phoenician settlements was Carthage. It had remarkable advantages of situation. Its harbor was sufficient for the anchorage of the largest vessels, and it had a fertile territory around it. These circ.u.mstances, in conjunction with the energy of its inhabitants, placed it at the head of the Phoenician colonies. In Carthage, there was no middle cla.s.s. There were the rich landholders and merchants, and the common people. The government was practically an oligarchy. There were two kings or judges (_Shofetes_), with little power, and a _council_ or _senate_; possibly a second council also. But the senate and magistrates were subordinate to an aristocratic body, the _hundred judges_. The bulk of the citizens had little more than a nominal influence in public affairs.
ASCENDENCY OF CARTHAGE.-When the Greeks (about 600 B.C.) spread their colonies, the rivals of the Phoenician settlements, in the west of the Mediterranean, Carthage was moved to deviate from the policy of the parent cities, and to make herself the champion, protector, and mistress of the Phoenician dependencies in all that region. Thus she became the head of a North-African empire, which a.s.serted its supremacy against its Greek adversaries in Sicily and Spain, as well as in Lybia. When Tyre was subjugated by Persia, Carthage was strengthened by the immigration of many of the best Tyrian families. As the Tyrian strength waned, the Carthaginian power increased. _Syracuse_, in Sicily, became the first Greek naval power, and the foremost antagonist of the Carthaginian dominion. In 480 B.C., Carthage made war upon the Greek cities in Sicily. The contest was renewed from time to time. In the conflicts between 439-409 B.C., she confirmed her sway over the western half of the island. In later conflicts (317-275 B.C.), in which _Agathocles_, tyrant of Syracuse, was a noted leader of the Greeks, and, after his death, _Pyrrhus_, king of Epirus, was their ally, Carthage alternately lost and regained her Sicilian cities. But the result of the war was to establish her maritime ascendency.
LITERATURE.--Works mentioned on pp. 16, 42: Pietschmann, _Geschichte der Phonizier_ (1889); Rawlinson, _History of Phoenicia_ (1889); E. Meycr, Art. _Phoenicia_ in the _Encycl. Bibl._; Perrot & Chipiez, _History of Art in Phoenicia and Cyprus_, 2 vols.; Renan, _Mission de Phenicie_ (1874); Meltzer, _Geschichte der Karthager_; F. W. Newman"s _Defense of Carthage_.
CHAPTER IV. THE HEBREWS.
PECULIARITY OF THE HEBREWS.--While the rest of the nations worshiped "G.o.ds many and lords many," whom they confounded with the motions of the heavenly bodies, or with other aspects of nature, there was one people which attained to a faith in one G.o.d, the Creator and Preserver of the universe, who is exalted above nature, and whom it was deemed impious to represent by any material image. More than is true of any other people, religion was consciously the one end and aim of their being. To bring the true religion to its perfection, and to give it a world-wide diffusion and sway, was felt by them to be their heaven-appointed mission. The peculiarity of their faith made them stand alone, and rendered them exclusive, and intolerant of the surrounding idolatries. The mountainous character of their land, separated by Lebanon from Phoenicia, and by the desert from the nations on the East and South, was well adapted to the work which they had to fulfill in the course of history.
THE PATRIARCHAL AGE.--The Israelites traced their descent from _Abraham_, who, to escape the infection of idolatry, left his home, which was in _Ur_ on the lower Euphrates, and came into the land of Canaan, where he led a wandering life, but became the father of a group of nations. According to the popular narrative, _Isaac_, his son by _Sarah_, was recognized as the next chief of the family; while _Ishmael_, Abraham"s son by _Hagar_, became the progenitor of the _Arabians_. Of the two sons of Isaac, _Esau_, who was a huntsman, married a daughter of the native people: from him sprung the _Edomites_. _Jacob_ kept up the occupation of a herdsman. Of his twelve sons, _Joseph_ was an object of jealousy to the other eleven, by whom he was sold to a caravan of merchants on their way to Egypt. There, through his skill in interpreting dreams, he rose to high dignities and honors in the court of Pharaoh; and, by his agency, the entire family were allowed to settle oh the pasture-lands of _Goshen_ in northern Egypt (p. 40). Here in the neighborhood of _Heliopolis_, for several centuries, they fed their flocks. From Israel, the name given to Jacob, they were commonly called _Israelites_. The name _Hebrews_ was apparently derived from a word signifying "across the river" (Euphrates); but the original application is quite uncertain.
THE EXODUS (see p. 41).--The time came when the Israelites were no longer well treated. A new Egyptian dynasty was on the throne. Their numbers were an occasion of apprehension. An Egyptian princess saved _Moses_ from being a victim of a barbarous edict issued against them. He grew to manhood in Pharaoh"s court, but became the champion of his people. Compelled to flee, he received in the lonely region of _Mount Sinai_ that sublime disclosure of the only living G.o.d which qualified him to be the leader and deliverer of his brethren. A "strong east wind," parting the Red Sea, opened a pa.s.sage for the Israelites, whom a succession of calamities, inflicted upon their oppressors by the Almighty, had driven Pharaoh (Menephthah?) to permit to depart in a body; but the returning waves ingulfed the pursuing Egyptian army. "The sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters." For a long period _Moses_ led the people about in the wilderness. They were trained by this experience to habits of order and military discipline. At _h.o.r.eb_, the Decalogue, the kernel, so to speak, of the Hebrew codes, the foundation of the religious and social life of the people, was given them under circ.u.mstances fitted to awaken the deepest awe. They placed themselves under Jehovah as the Ruler and Protector of the nation in a special sense. The worship of other divinities, every form of idolatry, was to be a treasonable offense. The laws of Jehovah were to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant, in the "Tabernacle," which was the sanctuary, and was transported from place to place. The priesthood was devolved on _Aaron_ and his successors, at the side of whom were their a.s.sistants, the _Levites_. The civil authority in each tribe was placed in the hands of the patriarchal chief and the "elders," the right of approval or of veto being left to the whole tribe gathered in an a.s.sembly. The heads of the tribes, with seventy representative elders, together with Aaron and Moses, formed a supreme council or standing committee. On particular occasions a congregation of all the tribes might be summoned. The ritual was made up of sacrifices and solemn festivals. The _Sabbath_ was the great weekly commemoration, a day of rest for the slave as well as for the master, for the toiling beast as well as for man. Every seventh year and every fiftieth year were sabbaths, when great inequalities of condition, which might spring up in the intervals, respecting the possession of land, servitude consequent on debts, etc., were removed.
Hebrew Laws.--The Israelites, in virtue of their covenant with Jehovah, were to be a holy people, a nation of priests. They were thus to maintain fraternal equality. There was to be no enslaving of one another, save that which was voluntary and for a limited time. Only prisoners not of their race, or purchased foreigners, could be held as slaves. Every fiftieth year, land was to revert to its original possessor. In the sabbatical years the land was not to be tilled. What then grew wild might be gathered by all. There were careful provisions for the benefit of the poor.
HEADS OF TRIBES.--The progenitors of the tribes, the sons of Jacob, as given in _Exodus_, were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph, and Benjamin.
THE HEBREW RELIGION--Such, in brief, were the beginnings of a religion as unique as it was elevated in its character,--a religion which stood from the outset in mortal antagonism to the Egyptian worship of sun-G.o.ds, and to the star-worship, the service of Baal, and of sensual or savage divinities joined with him,--to that service which was diffused through the Semitic nations of western Asia. A people was const.i.tuted to be the guardian of this light, kindled in the midst of the surrounding darkness, to carry it down to later ages, and to make it finally, in its perfected form, the heritage of mankind.
THE PROPHETS.--_Moses_ was not only a military leader and a legislator: he stands at the head of the _prophets_, the cla.s.s of men who at different times, especially in seasons of national peril and temptation, along the whole course of Israelitish history, were raised up to declare the will of Jehovah, to utter the lessons proper to the hour, to warn evil-doers, and to comfort the desponding.
CONQUEST OF CANAAN: THE ERA OF THE JUDGES.--Moses himself did not enter "the promised land," where the patriarchs were buried, and which the Israelites were to conquer. According to Deut. vii. 2, a war of extermination was commanded. The reason given for the command was that the people must avoid the contagion of idolatry, that it was the fit reward of the nation which they were bidden to dispossess.
The word _"Canaanite"_ was used especially to designate the inhabitants of the coast region of Palestine. It was applied, however, to all the tribes, who were under thirty-one kings or chiefs, in the time of Joshua, There were six princ.i.p.al tribes,--the _Hitt.i.tes_, _Hivites_, _Amorites_, _Jebusites_, _Perizzites_, and _Girgas.h.i.tes_. These, with the exception of the _Hitt.i.tes_, and possibly the _Amtorites_, were Semitic in their language. The Canaanites had houses and vineyards. From them the Israelites learned agriculture. "They were in possession of fortified towns, treasures of bra.s.s, iron, gold, and foreign merchandise" Their religious rites were brutal and debasing,--"human sacrifice, licentious orgies, the worship of a host of divinities."
On the death of Moses, _Joshua_ succeeded to the post of a leader. He defeated the _Amontes_ and other tribes on the east of the Jordan. After the first victories of Joshua, each tribe carried on for itself the struggle with Canaanites, victory over them being often followed by indiscriminate slaughter. It is plain, however, especially from the account in the first chapter of the Book of Judges, that there was a process of a.s.similation as well as one of conquest. The actual settlement was effected by peaceful as well as by warlike methods. Resistance was stubborn, and the progress of occupation slow. It was not until David"s time, centuries after the invasion, that _Jebus_, the site of Jerusalem, was captured. This delay was due largely to a lack of union, not to a lack of valor. The strength of the Israelites was in their infantry. Hence they preferred to fight upon the hills, rather than to cope with hors.e.m.e.n and chariots on the plains below.
THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES.--The era of the Judges extends from about 1300 B.C. over at least two centuries. Powerful tribes--as _Moabites_, _Midianites_, _Ammonites_, _Philistines_--were unsubdued. The land was desolated by constant war. It was one sure sign of the prevailing disorder and anarchy, that "the highways were unoccupied, and the travelers walked through byways" (Judg. v. 6). Not unfrequently the people forgot Jehovah, and fell into idolatrous practices. In this period of degeneracy and confusion, men full of sacred enthusiasm and of heroic courage arose to smite the enemies of Israel, and to restore the observance of the law. Of these heroic leaders, _Deborah_, _Gideon_, _Jepththa_, and _Samson_ were the most famous. There remains the song of Deborah on the defeat and death of _Sisera_ (Judg. v.).
The _Philistines_, on the western coast, captured the sacred ark,--an act that spread dismay among the Israelites. Then they pushed on their conquests as far as the Jordan, took away from the Israelites their weapons, and grievously oppressed them. The _Ammonites_ threatened the tribes on the east of the Jordan with a like fate. At this juncture, an effective leader and reformer appeared, in the person of _Samuel_, who had been consecrated from his youth up to the service of the sanctuary, and whose devotion to the law was mingled with an ardent patriotism. He roused the courage of the people, and recalled them to the service of Jehovah. In the "schools of the prophets" he taught the young the law, trained them in music and song, and thus prepared a cla.s.s of inspiring teachers and guides to co-operate with the priesthood in upholding the cause of religion.
THE MONARCHY: SAMUEL AND SAUL.--In the distracted condition of the country, the people demanded a king, to unite them, and lead them to victory, and to administer justice. They felt that their lack of compact organization and defined leadership placed them at a disadvantage in comparison with the tribes about. This demand _Samuel_ resisted, as springing out of a distrust of Jehovah, and as involving a rejection of Him. He depicted the burdens which regal government would bring upon them. Later history verified his prediction. A strong, centralized authority was not in harmony with the family and tribal government which was the peculiarity of their system. It brought in, by the side of the prophetic order, another authority less sacred in its claims to respect. Collisions between the two must inevitably result. But, whatever might be the ideal political system, the exigency was such that Samuel yielded to the persistent call of the people. He himself chose and anointed for the office a tall, brave, and experienced soldier, _Saul_. Successful in combat, the king soon fell into a conflict with the prophet, by failing to comply with the divine law, and by sparing, contrary to the injunction laid upon him, prisoners and cattle that he had captured. Thereupon Samuel secretly anointed _David_, a young shepherd of the tribe of Judah; thus designating him for the throne. The envy of Saul at the achievements of David, and at his growing popularity, coupled with secret suspicion of what higher honors might be in store for the valiant youth, embittered the king against him. David was befriended and shielded by _Jonathan_, Saul"s son, who might naturally be looked upon as his suitable successor. The memorials of the friendship of these two youths, in the annals of that troublous time, are like a star in the darkest night. David was obliged to take refuge among the Philistines, where he led a band of free lances, whom the Philistines did not trust as auxiliaries, but who were inured by their daring combats for the struggles that came afterwards. Saul and Jonathan were slain, Saul by his own hand. For six years David was king in _Hebron_, over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The other tribes were ruled by Saul"s son, _Ishbaal_ ("Ishbosheth"). At length David was recognized as king by all the tribes. Saul"s family were exterminated.
CHRONOLOGY.--There is much difficulty in settling the chronology in the early centuries of the regal period of Hebrew history. Apart from the questions which arise in comparing the biblical data, the information derived from Egyptian and especially from a.s.syrian sources has to be taken into account. Hence the dates given below must be regarded as open to revision as our knowledge increases.
a.s.syriologists find that Shalmaneser II. received tribute from _Ahab_, King of Israel, 854 B.C., and from _Jehu_, 842 B.C.; that _Tiglath-Pileser III_ (745-727 B.C.) received tribute from _Menahem_ in 738 B.C. and that Samaria fell in 722 B.C. a.s.syriology, on the basis of its data, _as at present ascertained_, would make out a chronology something like the following: Era of the judges, 1300-1020; Saul, 1020-1000; David, 1000-960; Solomon, 960-930; Reho-boam, 930-914 (Jeroboam I., 930-910); Jehoshaphat, 870+-850 (Ahab, 875-853); Azanah (or Uzziah), 779-740 (Jehu, 842-815); (Jeroboam II., 783-743); (Menahem, 744-738).
DAVID AND SOLOMON.--David"s reign (about 1000-970 B.C.) is the period of Israel"s greatest power. He extended his sway as far as the Red Sea and the Euphrates; he overcame Damascus, and broke down the power of the Philistines; he subdued the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites; he conquered the Jebusites, and made Jerusalem his capital and the center of national worship. A poet himself, he enriched the religious service, which he organized, by lyrics--some of them composed by himself--of unrivaled devotional depth and poetic beauty. He organized his military force as well, and established an orderly civil administration. His favorite son, _Absalom_, led away by ambition, availed himself of disaffection among the people to head a revolt against his father, but perished in the attempt. David left his crown to _Solomon_ at the close of a checkered life, marked by great victories, and by flagrant misdeeds done under the pressure of temptation.
CHARACTERS OF SOLOMON"S REIGN.--Solomon"s reign (about 970-933 B.C.) was the era of luxury and splendor. He sought to emulate the other great monarchs of the time. With the help of _Hiram_, king of Tyre, who furnished materials and artisans, he erected a magnificent temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. He built costly palaces. He brought horses from Egypt, and organized a standing army, with its cavalry and chariots. He established a harem, bringing into it women from the heathen countries, whom he allowed in their idolatrous rites. He was even seduced to take part in them himself. Renowned for his knowledge and for his wisdom--which was admired by the _Queen of Saba_ (Sheba), who came to visit him from the Arabian coast--famous as the author of wise aphorisms, he nevertheless entailed disasters on his country. He established a sort of Oriental despotism, which exhausted its resources, provoked discontent, and tended to undermine morality as well as religion.
THE DIVIDED KINGDOM.--The bad effect of Solomon"s magnificence soon appeared. Before his death a revolt was made under the lead of _Jeroboam_, which was put down. Of _Rehoboam_, the successor of Solomon, the ten tribes north of Judah required pledges that their burdens should be lightened. In the room of the heads and elders of the tribes, the late king"s officers had come in to oppress them with their hard exactions. The haughty young king spurned the demand for redress. The tribes cast off his rule, and made _Jeroboam I._ their king (about 933 B.C.). The temple was left in the hands of _Judah_ and _Benjamin_. The division of the kingdom into two, insured the downfall of both. The rising power of the Mesopotamian Empire could not be met without union. On the other hand, the concentration of worship at Jerusalem, under the auspices of the two southern tribes, may have averted dangers that would have arisen from the wider diffusion, and consequent exposure to corruption, of the religious system. The development and promotion of the true religion--the one great historical part appointed for the Hebrews--may have been performed not less effectively, on the whole, for the separation.
HEATHEN RITES.--From this time the energetic and prolonged contest of the prophets with idolatry is a conspicuous feature, especially in the history of Israel, the northern kingdom. _Jeroboam_ set up golden calves at _Dan_ and _Bethel_, ancient seats of the worship of Jehovah. Wars with Judah and Damascus weakened the strength of Israel. The Egyptian king, _Shishak_, captured Jerusalem, and bore away the treasures collected by Solomon (p. 41). Under _Jehoshaphat_ (about 873-849 B.C.) the heathen altars were demolished and prosperity returned.
STRUGGLE WITH IDOLATRY: ELIHAH AND ELISHA.--The contemporary of Jehoshaphat in the northern kingdom was _Ahab_ (about 876-854 B.C.). He expended his power and wealth in the building up of Baal-worship, at the instigation of the Tyrian princess, _Jezebel_, whom he had married. At Samaria, his capital, he raised a temple to Baal, where four hundred and fifty of his priests ministered. The priests of Jehovah who withstood these measures were driven out of the land, or into hiding-places. The austere and intrepid prophet _Elijah_ found refuge in _Mount Carmel_. The people, on the occasion of a famine, which he declared to be a divine judgment, rose in their wrath, and slew the priests of Baal. In a war--the third of a series--which Ahab waged against _Syria_, he still fought in his chariot, after he had received a mortal wound, until he fell dead. He had previously thrown the prophet _Micaiah_ into prison for predicting this result. By the marriage of _Athalia_, a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, with Jehoshaphat"s son, Baal-worship was introduced into Jerusalem. _Joram_ succeeded Ahab. The prophet _Elisha_, who followed in the steps of Elijah, anointed _Jehu_ "captain of the host of Joram." He undertook, with fierce and unsparing energy, to destroy Baal-worship, and to extirpate the house of Ahab, root and branch. The two kings of Israel and of Judah he slew with his own hand. The priests and servants of Baal were put to the sword. These conflicts reduced the strength of Israel, which fell a prey to Syria, until its power was revived by _Jeroboam II_. (783-743 B.C.). The death of _Athalia_ brought on the expulsion of the Phoenician idolatry from Jerusalem. The southern kingdom suffered from internal strife, and from wars with Israel, until _Uzziah_ (779-740 B.C.) restored its military strength, and caused agriculture and trade once more to flourish.
THE a.s.sYRIAN CAPTIVITY.--The two kingdoms, in the ninth and eighth centuries, instead of standing together against the threatening might of a.s.syria, sought heathen alliances, and wasted their strength in mutual contention. Against these hopeless alliances, and against the idolatry and the formalism which debased the people, the prophets contended with intense earnestness and unflinching courage. _Amos_, called from feeding his flocks, inveighed against frivolity and vice, misgovernment and fraud, in Israel. _Hosea_ warned _Menahem_ (743-737 B.C.) against invoking the help of a.s.syria against Damascus, but in vain. He was terribly punished by what he suffered from the a.s.syrians; but Jotham (740-736 B.C.) and Ahaz (736-728 B.C.), the Judaean kings, successively followed his example. _Tiglath-Pileser_ made Judaea tributary. The a.s.syrian rites were brought into the temple of Jehovah. The service of Canaanitish deities was introduced. The one incorruptible witness for the cause of Jehovah was the fearless and eloquent prophet, _Isaiah_. Hosea, king of Israel, by his alliance with Egypt against _Sargon_, so incensed this most warlike of the a.s.syrian monarchs, that, when he had subdued the Phoenician cities, he laid siege to Samaria; and, having captured it at the end of a siege of three years, he led away the king and the larger part of his subjects as captives, to the Euphrates and the Tigris, and replaced them by subjects of his own (722 B.C.). The later Samaritans were the descendants of this mixed population.
The Babylonian Captivity.--When _Sargon_, the object of general dread, died, _Hezekiah_, king of Judah (727-699 B.C.), flattered himself that it was safe to disregard the warnings of Isaiah, and, in the hope of throwing off the a.s.syrian yoke, made a treaty of alliance with the king of Egypt, and fortified Jerusalem. He abolished, however, the heathen worship in "the high places."
_Sennacherib_, Sargon"s successor, was compelled to raise the siege (p. 46). _Mana.s.seh_ (698-643 B.C.), in defiance of the prophets, fostered the idolatrous and sensual worship, against which they never ceased to lift their voices. _Josiah_ (640-609 B.C.) was a reformer. As a tributary of Babylon, he sought to prevent _Necho_, king of Egypt, from crossing his territory, but was vanquished and slain at _Megiddo_, on the plain of Esdraelon. _Nebuchadnezzar"s_ victory over Necho, at _Carchemish_, enabled the Babylonian king to tread in the footsteps of the a.s.syrian conquerors. The revolt of _Zedekiah_, which the prophet _Jeremiah_ was unable to prevent, and his alliance with Egypt, led to the Babylonian captivity of the Jews. In this period of national ruin, the prophetic spirit found a voice through _Jeremiah_ and _Ezekiel_. It was during the era of a.s.syrian and Babylonian invasion that the predictions of a MESSIAH, a great Deliverer and righteous Ruler who was to come, a.s.sumed a more definite expression. The spiritual character of _Isaiah"s_ teaching has given him the name of "the evangelical prophet."
_Cyrus_, the conqueror of Babylon, opened the way (538 B.C.) for the return of the exiles. A small part first came back under _Zerubbabel_, head of the tribe of Judah, who was made Persian governor. They began to rebuild the temple, which was finished in 516 B.C. Later (458 B.C.) _Ezra_ "the scribe" and _Nehemiah_ led home a larger body. The newly returned Jews were fired with a zeal for the observance of the Mosaic ritual,--a zeal which had been sharpened in the persecutions and sorrows of exile. The era of the _"hagiocracy,"_ of the supreme influence of the priesthood and the rigid adherence to the law, with an inflexible hostility to heathen customs, ensued. The spirit of which prophecy had been the stimulant, and partially the fruit, declined. The political independence of the land was gone for ever. The day of freedom under the _Maccabees_, after the insurrection (168 B.C.) led by that family against the Syrian successors of Alexander, was short. But Israel "had been thrown into the stream of nations." Its religious influence was to expand as its political strength dwindled. Its subjugation and all its terrible misfortunes were to serve as a means of spreading the leavening influence of its monotheistic faith.
In the year 63 B.C., _Pompeius_ made the Jews tributary to the Romans. In the year 40 B.C., _Herod_ began to reign as a dependent king under Rome.
_Hebrew Literature_.--The literature of the Hebrews is essentially religious in its whole motive and spirit. This is true even of their historical writings. The marks of the one defining characteristic of their national life--faith in Jehovah and in his sovereign and righteous control--are everywhere seen. Hebrew poetry is mainly lyrical. Relics of old songs are scattered through the historical books. In the _Psalms_, an anthology of sacred lyrics, the spirit of Hebrew poesy attains to its highest flight. Examples of didactic poetry are the Book of _Job_, and books like the _Proverbs_, composed mainly of pithy sayings or gnomes. Nowhere, save in the Psalms, does the spirit of the Hebrew religion and the genius of the people find an expression so grand and moving as in the _Prophets_, of whom _Isaiah_ is the chief.
ART.--In art the Hebrews did not excel. The plastic arts were generally developed in connection with religion. But the religion of the Hebrews excluded all visible representations of deity. Nor were they proficients in science. "Israel was the vessel in which the water of life was inclosed, in which it was kept cool and pure, that it might thereafter refresh the world."
The HISTORICAL BOOKS of the Old Testament comprise, first, the _Pentateuch_, which describes the origin of the Hebrew people, the exodus from Egypt, and the Sinaitic legislation. Questions pertaining to the date and authorship of these five books, and of the materials at the basis of them, are still debated among historical critics. It may be regarded as certain, however, that materials belonging to nearly every period of Hebrew literature, from the earliest times, are here combined. The early part of Genesis is designed to explain the genealogy of the Hebrews, and to show how, step by step, they were sundered from other peoples. The narratives in the first ten chapters--as the story of the creation, the flood, etc.--so strikingly resemble legends of other Semitic nations, especially the _Babylonians_and _Phoenicians_, as to make it plain that all these groups of accounts are historically connected with one another. But the Genesis narratives are distinguished by their freedom from the polytheistic ingredients which disfigure the corresponding narratives elsewhere. They are on the elevated plane of that pure theism which is the kernel of the Hebrew faith. This whole subject is elucidated by Lenormant, in _The Beginnings of History_ (1882). The Book of _Joshua_ relates the history of the conquest of Canaan; _Judges_, the tale of the heroic age of Israel prior to the monarchy; the Books of _Samuel_ and of _Kings_, of the monarchy in its glory and its decline; the Books of _Chronicles_ treat of parts of the same era, more from the point of view of the priesthood; _Ruth_ is an idyl of the narrative type; _Ezra_, _Nehemiah_, and _Esther_ have to do with the return of the Jews from exile, and the events next following.
The POETIC WRITINGS include the _Psalter_, by many authors; the _Proverbs_ of Solomon and others; _Ecclesiastes_, which gives the sombre reflections of one who had tasted to the full the pleasures and honors of life; the _Canticles_, or _Song of Solomon_, which depicts a young woman"s love in its constancy, and victory over temptation.
The PROPHETS are divided into four cla.s.ses: i. Those of the early period from the twelfth to the ninth century, including _Samuel_, _Elijah_, _Eliska_, etc, who have left no prophetical writings. 2. The prophets of the a.s.syrian age (800-700 B.C.), where belong _Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah,_ and _Nahum_. 3. The prophets of the Babylonian age, _Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Ezekiel_. Here some scholars would place a part of _Isaiah_. 4. The post-exilian prophets, _Haggai, Zachariah, Malackt, Jonah., Daniel, Joel, Obadiah_, and considerable portions of _Isaiah_ and _Jeremiah_.
The APOCRYPHAL BOOKS belong between the closing of the Old-Testament canon and the New Testament. They are instructive as to that intermediate period. The _first_ Book of _Maccabees_ is specially important for its historical matter; the Books of _Wisdom_ and the _Son of Sirach_ for their moral reflections and precepts.
WORKS RELATING TO HEBREW HISTORY.--EWALD, _History of the Israelitish People_ (Eng. trans., 5 vols.); Milman, _History of the Jews_ (3 vols.); Stade, _Geschichte des Volkes Israel_ (2 vols., 1889); Renan, _History of the People of Israel_ (Eng. trans., 1896); Wellhausen. _Israelitische und judische Geschichte_ (3d ed., 1897); Kent, _History of the Hebrew People_ (1898); Guthe, _Geschichte des Volkes Israel_ (1899); the Art. _Israel_ by Wellhausen, in the _Encycl. Brit_., and the one by Guthe in the _Encycl. Bibl._ The historical works of Jewish scholars, Herzfeld, Jost, Zunz, Graetz, DERENBOURG, etc., are valuable.
CHAPTER V. THE PERSIANS.
In the western part of the plateau of Iran, which extends from the Suleiman Mountains to the plains of Mesopotamia, were the _Medes_. On the southern border of the same plateau, along the Persian Gulf, were the _Persians_. Both were offshoots of the Aryan family, and had migrated westward from the region of the upper Oxus, from Bactria, the original seat of their religion.
RELIGION.--The ancient religion of the Iranians, including the Medes and Persians, was reduced to a system by the Bactrian sage, _Zoroaster_ (or Zarathustra), who, in the absence of authentic knowledge respecting him, may be conjecturally placed at about 1000 B.C. The _Zendavesta_, the sacred book of the Pa.r.s.ees, the adherents of this religion, is composed of parts belonging to very different dates. It is the fragment of a more extensive literature no longer extant. The Bactrian religion differed from that of their Sanskrit-speaking kindred on the Indus, in being a form of dualism. It grew out of a belief in good demons or spirits, and in evil spirits, making up two hosts perpetually in conflict with each other. At the head of the host of good spirits, in the Zoroastrian creed, was _Ormuzd_, the creator, and the G.o.d of light; at the head of the evil host, was _Ahriman_, the G.o.d of darkness. The one made the world good, the other laid in it all that is evil. The one is disposed to bless man, the other to do him harm. The conflict of virtue and vice in man is a contest for control on the part of these antagonistic powers. In order to keep off the spirits of evil, one must avoid what is morally or ceremonially unclean. He who lived pure, went up at death to the spirits of light. The evil soul departed to consort with evil spirits in the region of darkness. _Mithra_, the sun-G.o.d in the Zoroastrian system, is the equal, though the creature, of _Ormuzd_. Mithra is the conqueror of darkness, and so the enemy of falsehood. The Medes and Persians were fire-worshipers. To the good spirits, they ascribed life, the fruitful earth, the refreshing waters, fountains and rivers, the tilled ground, pastures and trees, the l.u.s.trous metals, also truth and the pure deed. To the evil spirits belonged darkness, disease, death, the desert, cold, filth, sin, and falsehood. The animals were divided between the two realms. All that live in holes, all that hurt the trees and the crops, rats and mice, reptiles of all sorts, turtles, lizards, vermin, and noxious insects, were hateful creatures of _Ahriman_. To kill any of these was a merit. The dog was held sacred; as was also the c.o.c.k, who announces the break of day. In the system of worship, sacrifices were less prominent than in India. Prayers, and the iteration of prayers, were of great moment.
THE MAGI.--The Zoroastrian religion was not the same at all times and in every place. The primitive Iranian emigrants were monotheistic in their tendencies. In their western abodes, they came into contact with worshipers of the elements,--fire, air, earth, and water. It is thought by many scholars, that the _Magian_ system, with its more defined dualism and sacerdotal sway, was ingrafted on the native religion of the Iranians through the influence of tribes with whom they mingled in Media. The Magi, according to one account, were charged by Darius with corrupting the Zoroastrian faith and worship. Whatever may have been their origin, they became the leaders in worship, and privy-counselors to the sovereign. They were likewise astrologers, and interpreters of dreams. They were not so distinct a cla.s.s as the priests in India. A hereditary order, they might still bring new members into their ranks. From the Medes, they were introduced among the Persians.
PERSIAN RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS.--Peculiar customs existed among the Medes in disposing of the dead. They were not to be cast into the fire or the water, or buried in the earth, for this would bring pollution to what was sacred; but their bodies were to be exposed in the high rocks, where the beasts and birds could devour them. Sacrifices were offered on hill-tops. Salutations of homage were made to the rising sun. On some occasions, boys were buried alive, as an offering to the divinities. In early times, there were no images of the G.o.ds. As far as they were introduced in later times, it was through the influence of surrounding nations. In the supremacy and the final victory, which, in the later form of Zoroastrianism, were accorded to _Ormuzd_, there was again an approach to monotheism. Hostility to deception of all sorts, and thus to stealing, was a Persian trait. _Herodotus_ says that the Persians taught their children to ride, to shoot the bow, and to speak the truth. To prize the pursuits of agriculture and horticulture, was a part of their religion. They allowed a plurality of wives, and concubines with them; but there was one wife to whom precedence belonged. Voluntary celibacy in man or woman was counted a flagrant sin.
HISTORY.--The first authentic notice that we have of the MEDES shows them under a.s.syrian power. This is in the time of _Shalmaneser II._, 840 B.C. Their rise is coincident with the fall of a.s.syria. _Phraortes_ (647-625 B.C.) began the Median struggle for independence; although the name of _Deioces_ is given by _Herodotus_ as a previous king, and the builder of _Ecbatana_ the capital. It was reserved for _Cyaxares_ (625-585 B.C.), having delivered his land from the Scythian marauders (p. 47), to complete, in conjunction with the Babylonian king, _Nabopola.s.sar_, the work of breaking down the a.s.syrian empire (p. 48). He brought under his rule the _Bactrians_, and the _Persians_ about _Pasargadae_ and _Persepolis_, and made the _Halys_, dividing Asia Minor, the limit of his kingdom. His effeminate son, _Astyages_, lost what his father had won. The Persian branch of the Iranians gained the supremacy. _Cyrus_, the leader of the Persian revolt, by whom _Astyages_ was defeated, is described as related to him; but this story, as well as the account of his being rescued from death and brought up among shepherds, is probably a fiction.