History Of Ancient Civilization Part 7

=Influence of the Phnicians.=--It is certain that the Phnicians in founding their trading stations cared only for their own interest. But it came to pa.s.s that their colonies contributed to civilization. The barbarians of the West received the cloths, the jewels, the utensils of the peoples of the East who were more civilized, and, receiving them, learned to imitate them. For a long time the Greeks had only vases, jewels, and idols brought by the Phnicians, and these served them as models. The Phnicians brought simultaneously from Egypt and from a.s.syria industry and commodities.

=The Alphabet.=--At the same time they exported their alphabet. The Phnicians did not invent writing. The Egyptians knew how to write many centuries before them, they even made use of letters each of which expressed its own sound, as in our alphabet. But their alphabet was still enc.u.mbered with ancient signs which represented, some a syllable, others an entire word. Doubtless the Phnicians had need of a simpler system for their books of commerce. They rejected all the syllabic signs and ideographs, preserving only twenty-two letters, each of which marks a sound (or rather an articulation of the language). The other peoples imitated this alphabet of twenty-two letters. Some, like the Jews, wrote from right to left just as the Phnicians themselves did; others, like the Greeks, from left to right. All have slightly changed the form of the letters, but the Phnician alphabet is found at the basis of all the alphabets--Hebrew, Lycian, Greek, Italian, Etruscan, Iberian, perhaps even in the runes of the Norse. It is the Phnicians that taught the world how to write.

FOOTNOTES:

[37] Renan ("Mission de Phenicio," p. 818) says, "I noticed at Tripolis a sarcophagus serving as a public fountain and the sculptured face of it was turned to the wall. I was told that a governor had placed it thus so as not to provide distractions for the inhabitants."

[38] See ch. xxiii.

[39] See chs. xxvi., xxvii., xxviii.

[40] These idols, one of their princ.i.p.al exports, are found wherever the Phnicians traded.

CHAPTER VIII

THE HEBREWS

ORIGIN OF THE HEBREW PEOPLE

=The Bible.=--The Jews united all their sacred books into a single aggregation which we call by a Greek name the Bible, that is to say, the Book. It is the Book par excellence. The sacred book of the Jews became also the sacred book of the Christians. The Bible is at the same time the history of the Jewish nation, and all that we know of the sacred people we owe to the sacred books.

=The Hebrews.=--When the Semites had descended from the mountains of Armenia into the plains of the Euphrates, one of their tribes, at the time of the first Chaldean empire, withdrew to the west, crossed the Euphrates, the desert, and Syria and came to the country of the Jordan beyond Phnicia. This tribe was called the Hebrews, that is to say, the people from beyond the river. Like the majority of the Semites they were a race of nomadic shepherds. They did not till the soil and had no houses; they moved from place to place with their herds of cattle, sheep, and camels, seeking pasturage and living in tents as the Arabs of the desert do to this day. In the book of Genesis one has a glimpse of this nomad life.

=The Patriarchs.=--The tribe was like a great family; it was composed of the chief, his wives, his children, and his servants. The chief had absolute authority over all; for the tribe he was father, priest, judge, and king. We call these tribal chiefs patriarchs. The princ.i.p.al ones were Abraham and Jacob; the former the father of the Hebrews, the latter of the Israelites. The Bible represents both of them as designed by G.o.d to be the scions of a sacred people. Abraham made a covenant with G.o.d that he and his descendants would obey him; G.o.d promised to Abraham a posterity more numerous than the stars of heaven. Jacob received from G.o.d the a.s.surance that a great nation should issue from himself.

=The Israelites.=--Moved by a vision Jacob took the name of Israel (contender with G.o.d). His tribe was called Beni-Israel (sons of Israel) or Israelites. The Bible records that, driven by famine, Jacob abandoned the Jordan country to settle with all his house on the eastern frontier of Egypt, to which Joseph, one of his sons who had become minister of a Pharaoh, invited him. There the sons of Israel abode for several centuries. Coming hither but seventy in number, they multiplied, according to the Bible, until they became six hundred thousand men, without counting women and children.

=The Call of Moses.=--The king of Egypt began to oppress them, compelling them to make mortar and bricks for the construction of his strong cities. It was then that one of them, Moses, received from G.o.d the mission to deliver them. One day while he was keeping his herds on the mountain, an angel appeared to him in the midst of a burning bush, and he heard these words: "I am the G.o.d of Abraham, the G.o.d of Isaac, the G.o.d of Jacob. I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, I have heard their cry against their oppressors, I know their sorrows. And I am come down to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians and to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites.... Come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."[41] The Israelites under the guidance of Moses fled from Egypt (the Exodus); they journeyed to the foot of Mount Sinai, where they received the law of G.o.d, and for an entire generation wandered in the deserts to the south of Syria.

=Israel in the Desert.=--Often the Israelites wished to turn back. "We remember," said they, "the fish which we ate in Egypt, the cuc.u.mbers, melons, leeks, and onions. Let us appoint a chief who will lead us back to Egypt." Moses, however, held them to obedience. At last they reached the land promised by G.o.d to their race.

=The Promised Land.=--It was called the land of Canaan or Palestine; the Jews named it the land of Israel, later Judea. Christians have termed it =the= Holy Land. It is an arid country, burning with heat in the summer, but a country of mountains. The Bible describes it thus: "Jehovah thy G.o.d bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills, a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive and honey, wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it." The Israelites according to their estimate were then 601,700 men capable of bearing arms, divided among twelve tribes, ten descended from Jacob, two from Joseph; this enumeration does not include the Levites or priests to the number of 23,000. The land was occupied by several small peoples who were called Canaanites. The Israelites exterminated them and at last occupied their territory.

THE RELIGION OF ISRAEL

=One G.o.d.=--The other ancient peoples adored many G.o.ds; the Israelites believed in but one G.o.d, immaterial, who made the world and governs it. "In the beginning," says the book of Genesis, "G.o.d created the heavens and the earth." He created plants and animals, he "created man in his own image." All men are the handiwork of G.o.d.

=The People of G.o.d.=--But among all mankind G.o.d has chosen the children of Israel to make of them "his people." He called Abraham and said to him, "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after me ... to be a G.o.d unto thee and to thy seed." He appeared to Jacob: "I am G.o.d," said he to him, "the G.o.d of thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will make of thee there a great nation."

When Moses asks his name, he replies, "Thou shalt say to the children of Israel, The Lord, the G.o.d of thy fathers, the G.o.d of Abraham, the G.o.d of Isaac, the G.o.d of Jacob hath sent me unto you. This is my name forever."

=The Covenant.=--There is, then, a covenant between the Israelites and G.o.d. Jehovah (the Eternal) loves and protects the Israelites, they are "a holy nation," "his most precious jewel among all the nations." He promises to make them mighty and happy. In return, the Israelites swear to worship him, to serve him, to obey him in everything as a lawgiver, a judge, and a sovereign.

=The Ten Commandments.=--Jehovah, lawgiver of the Israelites, dictated his precepts to Moses on Mount Sinai amidst lightnings and thunderings. They were inscribed on two tables, the Tables of the Law, in these terms:

"Hear, O Israel, I am Jehovah, thy G.o.d, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the land of bondage." (Then follow the ten commandments to be found in the twentieth chapter of the book of Exodus.)

=The Law.=--Beside the ten commandments, the Israelites are required to obey many other divine ordinances. These are all delivered to them in the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, and const.i.tute the Law of Israel. The Law regulates the ceremonies of religion, establishes the feasts--including the Sabbath every seven days, the Pa.s.sover in memory of the escape from Egypt, the week of harvest, the feast of Tabernacles during the vintage; it organizes marriage, the family, property, government, fixes the penalty of crimes, indicates even foods and remedies. It is a code at once religious, political, civil and penal. G.o.d the ruler of the Israelites has the right to regulate all the details of their lives.

=Religion has made the Jewish People.=--The Israelites did not receive with docility the government of G.o.d. Moses on his death-bed could say to the Levites in delivering to them the book of the law, "Take this book that it may be a witness against you, Israel, for I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck" (Deut. x.x.xi. 27). "During my life you have been rebellious against the Lord, and how much more after my death." During these centuries some of the Israelites, often the majority of the nation, had been idolaters. They became similar to the other Semites of Syria. Only the Israelites who remained faithful to G.o.d formed the Jewish people. It is the religion of Jehovah which has transformed an obscure tribe into the holy nation, a small nation, but one of the most significant in the history of the world.

THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL

=The Judges.=--Once established in Palestine the Hebrews remained divided for several centuries. "In those days," says the Bible, "there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Often the Israelites forgot Jehovah and served the G.o.ds of neighboring tribes. Then "the anger of the Lord was kindled against the Israelites, and he delivered them into the hands of their enemies." When they had repented and had humbled themselves, "the Lord raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them." "But it came to pa.s.s that at the death of the judge they corrupted themselves anew ... bowing themselves to other G.o.ds."

These judges--Gideon, Jephthah, Samson--were warriors who came in the name of Jehovah to free the people. Then they fell at once into idolatry again and their servitude was repeated.

=The Kings.=--At last the Israelites were wearied and asked of Samuel, the high-priest, that he would give them a king. Samuel unwillingly placed Saul at their head. This king should have been the ready servant of the will of G.o.d; he dared to disobey him, upon which the high-priest said to him, "Thou hast rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel." A war-chief, David, was set in his place. He defeated all the enemies of Israel, captured from them Mount Zion, and transferred his capital thither.

This was Jerusalem.

=Jerusalem.=--Compared with Babylon or Thebes, Jerusalem was a poor capital. The Hebrews were not builders; their religion prevented them from raising temples; the houses of individuals were shaped like cubes of rock which may be seen today on the sides of Lebanon in the midst of vines and fig-trees. But Jerusalem was the holy city of the Hebrews. The king had his palace there--the palace of Solomon, who astonished the Hebrews with his throne of ivory; Jehovah had his temple there, the first Hebrew temple.

=The Tabernacle.=--The emblem of the covenant between G.o.d and Israel was a great chest of cedar-wood furnished with rings of gold, which contained the tables of the Law. This was borne before the people on high feast-days; it was the Ark of the Covenant. To preserve this ark and necessary objects of worship, Moses is said to have made the Tabernacle--a pavilion of wood covered with skins and hangings. It was a portable temple which the Hebrews carried with them until they could erect a true temple in the promised land.

=The Temple.=--The Temple of Jerusalem, built at last under Solomon, was divided into three parts:

1.--To the rear, the Holy of Holies, in which rested the ark of the covenant; the high-priest only had the right to enter here, and that but once a year.

2.--In the middle, the Holy Place, in which were kept the altar of incense, the candle-stick with the seven arms, the table of shew-bread; the priests entered to burn incense and to present the offerings.

3.--At the front, the Court open to the people, where the victims were sacrificed on the great altar.

The Temple of Jerusalem was from the first the centre of the nation; from all Palestine the people came to be present at the ceremonies.

The high-priest who directed the worship was a person sometimes of greater power than the king.

THE PROPHETS

=Disasters of Israel.=--Solomon was the last king who enjoyed great power. After him ten tribes separated themselves and const.i.tuted the kingdom of Israel, whose inhabitants worshipped the golden calves and the G.o.ds of the Phnicians. Two tribes only remained faithful to Jehovah and to the king at Jerusalem; these formed the kingdom of Judah (977).[42] The two kingdoms exhausted their energies in making war on each other. Then came the armies of the Eastern conquerors; Israel was destroyed by Sargon, king of a.s.syria (722); Judah, by Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchadrezzar), king of Chaldea (586).

=Sentiments of the Israelites.=--Faithful Israelites regarded these woes as a chastis.e.m.e.nt: G.o.d was punishing his people for their disobedience; as before, he delivered them from their conquerors. "The children of Israel had sinned against Jehovah, their G.o.d, they had built them high places in every city, they imitated the nations around them, although the Lord had forbidden them to do like them; they made them idols of bra.s.s; they bowed themselves before all the host of heaven [the stars], they worshipped Baal. It is for this that Jehovah rejected all the race of Israel, he afflicted them and delivered them into the hands of those that plundered them."

=The Prophets.=--Then appeared the prophets, or as they were called, the Seers: Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel. Usually they came from the desert where they had fasted, prayed, and given themselves to meditation. They came in the name of Jehovah, not as warriors in judgment, but as preachers. They called the Israelites to repent, to overthrow their idols, to return to Jehovah; they foretold all the woes that would come upon them if they did not reconcile themselves to him. They preached and uttered prophecies at the same time.

=The New Teaching.=--These men on fire with the divine spirit found the official religion at Jerusalem mean and cold. Why should they, like the idolaters, slaughter cattle and burn incense to the honor of G.o.d? "Hear the word of Jehovah," says Isaiah: "To what purpose is the mult.i.tude of your sacrifices? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and of the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.... Bring no more vain oblations, your incense is an abomination to me.... When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you ... for your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean ... cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.... Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." In place of sacrifices, the prophets would set justice and good works.

=The Messiah.=--Israel deserved its afflictions, but there would be a limit to the chastis.e.m.e.nt. "O my people," says Isaiah in the name of Jehovah, "be not afraid of the a.s.syrian: he shall smite thee with a rod ... after the manner of Egypt ... for yet a very little while and the indignation shall cease ... and the burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder." The prophets taught the people to look for the coming of Him who should deliver them; they prepared the way for the Messiah.

THE JEWISH PEOPLE

=Return to Jerusalem.=--The children of Judah, removed to the plain of the Euphrates, did not forget their country, but sang of it in their chants: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof, for there they that carried us away required a song ...

saying, 'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" After seventy years of captivity, Cyrus, victor over Babylon, allowed the Israelites to return to Palestine. They rebuilt Jerusalem, reconstructed the temple, restored the feasts, and recovered the sacred books. As a sign that they were again the people of Jehovah they renewed the covenant with him; it was a formal treaty, written and signed by the chiefs of the people.