Title: History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 4 (of 12)
Author: G. Maspero
Editor: A. H. Sayce
Translator: M. L. McClure
Release date: December 16, 2005 [eBook #17324]
Most recently updated: December 13, 2020
Language: English
Credits: Produced by David Widger
THE FIRST CHALDEAN EMPIRE AND THE HYKSÔS IN EGYPT
SYRIA: THE PART PLAYED BY IT IN THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD— BABYLON AND THE FIRST CHALDÆAN EMPIRE—THE DOMINION OF THE HYKSÔS: ÂHMOSIS.
Syria, owing to its geographical position, condemned to be subject to neighbouring powers-Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, the valley of the Orontes and of the Litâny, and surrounding regions: the northern table-land, the country about Damascus, the Mediterranean coast, the Jordan and the Dead Sea-Civilization and primitive inhabitants, Semites and Asiatics: the almost entire absence of Egyptian influence, the predominance of that of Chaldæa.
Babylon, its ruins and its environs—It extends its rule over Mesopotamia; its earliest dynasty and its struggle with Central Chaldæa-Elam, its geographical position, its peoples; Kutur-Nakhunta conquers Larsam-Bimsin (Eri-Aku); Khammurabi founds the first Babylonian empire; Ids victories, his buildings, his canals—The Elamites in Syria: Kudurlagamar—Syria recognizes the authority of Hammurabi and his successors.
The Hyksôs conquer Egypt at the end of the XIVth dynasty; the founding of Avaris—Uncertainty both of ancients and moderns with regard to the origin of the Hyksôs: probability of their being the Khati—Their kings adopt the manners and civilization of the Egyptians: the monuments of Khiani and of Apôphis I. and II—The XVth dynasty.
Semitic incursions following the Hyksôs—The migration of the Phoenicians and the Israelites into Syria: Terah, Abraham and his sojourn in the land of Canaan—Isaac, Jacob, Joseph: the Israelites go down into Egypt and settle in the land of Goshen.
Thébes revolts against the Hyksôs: popular traditions as to the origin of the war, the romance of Apôphis and Saquinri—The Theban princesses and the last Icings of the XVIIth dynasty: Tiûdqni Kamosis, Ahmosis I.—The lords of El-Kab, and the part they played during the war of independence—The taking of Avaris and the expulsion of the Ilylcsôs.
The reorganization of Egypt—Ahmosis I. and his Nubian wars, the reopening of the quarries of Turah—Amenôthes I. and his mother Nofrîtari: the jewellery of Queen Âhhotpû—The wars of Amenôthes I., the apotheosis of Nofrîtari—The accession of Thûtmosis I. and the re-generation of Egypt.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I—THE FIRST CHALDÆAN EMPIRE AND THE HYKSÔS IN EGYPT
CHAPTER II—SYRIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EGYPTIAN CONQUEST
CHAPTER III—THE EIGHTEENTH THEBAN DYNASTY
List of Illustrations
014.jpg the Most Northern Source of The Jordan, The Naiir-el-hasbany
017.jpg One of the Reaches Of The Jordan
018.jpg the Dead Sea and The Mountains of Moab, Seen Fkom The Heights of Engedi
023.jpg Asiatic Women from the Tomb of KhnÛmhotpÛ
024.jpg Two Asiatics Fkom the Tomb of KhnÛmhoptÛ.
030.jpg Plan of the Ruins Of Babylon
032.jpg the Kask Seen from The South
033.jpg the Tell of Borsippa, The Present Birs-nimrud
036.jpg the Banks of The Euphrates at Zuleibeh
045.jpg Map of ChaldÆa and Elam.
046.jpg an Ancient Susian of Negretic Race
047.jpg Native of Mixed Negritic Race from Susiana
048.jpg the Tumulus of Susa, As It Appeared Towards The Middle of the Xixth Century
057.jpg Head of a Sceptre in Copper, Bearing the Name Of Kham-murabi
079.jpg Pallate of HyksÔs Scribe
080.jpg a HyksÔs Prisoner Guiding the Plough, at El-kab
082.jpg Table of Offerings Bearing the Name Of ApÔti ÂqnÛnrÎ
084.jpg Broken Statue of Khiani
093.jpg the Traditional Oak of Abraham at Hebron
109.jpg NofrÎtari, from Tue Wooden Statuette in the Turin Museum
113.jpg the Small Gold Votive Barque of Pharaoh KamosÛ, In the GÎzeh Museum.
116.jpg the Walls of El-kab Seen from The Tomb Of Pihiri
116a.jpg Collection of Vases Modelled and Painted in The Grand Temple. Philae Island.
119.jpg the Ruins of The Pyramid Of QÛlah, Near Mohammerieh
122.jpg the Tombs of The Princes Of NekhabÎt, in The Hillside Above El-kab
130.jpg Painting in Tomb of the Kings Thebes
132.jpg a Convoy of TÛrah Quarrymen Drawing Stone
135.jpg Coffin of Ahmosis in the GÎzeh Museum
136.jpg Nofritari, Hie Black-skinned Goddess
137.jpg the Jewels and Weapons of Queen ÂhhhotpÛ I. In The GÎzeh Museum
144.jpg Statue of AmenÔthes I. In the Turin Museum
147.jpg the Coffin and Mummy of Amenothes
150.jpg ThÛtmosis I., from a Statue in the GÎzeh Museum
155.jpg Signs, Arms and Instruments
177.jpg the Fortress and Bridge of Zalu
184.jpg the Canaanite Fortresses
185.jpg the Walled City of DapÛr, in Galilee
187.jpg the Migdol of Ramses Iii. At Thebes, in The Temple of Medinet-abul
189.jpg the Modern Village of BeÎtÎn (ancient Bethel), Seen from the South-west.
196.jpg the Evergreen Oaks Between Joppa and Carmel
197.jpg Acre and the Fringe of Reefs Sheltering The Ancient Port
202.jpg the Tyrian Ladder at Ras El-abiad
206.jpg the Dyke at Baiik El-kades in Its Present Condition
212.jpg the Tell of Jerabis in Its Present Condition
215.jpg the Heads of Three Amorite Captives
216.jpg Mixture of Syrian Races
218.jpg a Caricature of the Syrian Type
220.jpg Syrians Dressed in the Loin-cloth and Double Shawl
226.jpg LotanÛ Women and Children from the Tomb Of RakhmieÎ
238.jpg a Cromlech in the Neighbourhood of Hesban, In The Country of Moab
240.jpg a Corner of the Phoenician Neckropolis at Adlun
241.jpg Valley of the Tomb Of The Kings
256a.jpg the Amphitheatre of Aphaka and The Source Of The Nahh-ibrahim
269.jpg Tyre and Its Suburbs on the Mainland
273.jpg the Sculptured Rocks of Hanaweh
282.jpg One of the KafÎti from The Tomb Of RakhmirÎ
288.jpg an Egyptian Trading Vessel of the First Half Of The Xviiith Dynasty
299.jpg One of the Daggers Discovered at MycenÆ, Showing An Imitation of Egyptian Decoration
311.jpg a Platoon (troop) of Egyptian Spearmen at DeÎr El-baharÎ
313.jpg a Platoon of Egyptian Archers at DeÎr El-baharÎ
314.jpg the Egyptian Chariot Preserved in The Florence Museum
315.jpg the King Charging on his Chariot
318.jpg an Egyptian Learning to Ride, from a Bas-relief In the Bologna Museum
319.jpg the War-dance of The Timihu at DeÎr El-baharÎ
321.jpg a Column of Troops on the March, Chariots And Infantry
322.jpg an Egyptian Fortified Camp, Forced by the Enemy
322b.jpg Two Companies on the March
325.jpg Scenes from Military Life in an Egyptian Camp
327.jpg Encounter Between Egyptian and Asiatic Chariots
336.jpg a City of Modern Nubia—the Ancient Dongola
338.jpg Arrival of an Ethiopian Queen Bringing Tribute To The Viceroy of KÛsii
341.jpg Gold Epergne Representing Scenes from Ethiopian Life
344.jpg Portrait of the Queen Âhmasi
345.jpg Queen MÛtnofrÎt in the GÎzeh Museum
346.jpg Queen HÂtshopsÎtÛ in Male Costume
347.jpg Bust of Queen HÂtshopsÎtÛ
348.jpg Painting on the Tomb of The Kings
350.jpg the Amphitheatre at DeÎr El-baharÎ, As It Appeared Bepoee Naville’s Excavations
351.jpg the Northern Collonade
353.jpg Head of the Mummy Of ThÛtmosis I.
354.jpg Head of the Mummy Of ThÛtmosis Ii.
356.jpg the Coffin of Thûtmosis I.
356b Avenue of Rams and Pylon at Karnak
361.jpg an Inhabitant of the Land Of PÛanÎt
363.jpg a Village on the Bank of The River, With Ladders Of Incense
365.jpg Prince ParihÛ and the Princess of PuanÎt
366.jpg the Embarkation of The Incense Sycomores On Board the Egyptian Fleet
369.jpg Some of the Incense Trees Brought from PÛanÎt To DeÎr El-baiiakÎ
372.jpg Thutmosis Iii., from his Statue in the Turin Museum
378.jpg an Egyptian Encampment Before a Besieged Town
380.jpg Some of the Plants and Animals Brought Back From PuanÎt
381.jpg Part of the Triumphal Lists Of Thutmosis Iii.
384.jpg Some of the Objects Carried in Tribute to The Syrians
Syria: the part played by it in the ancient world—Babylon and the first Chaldæan empire—The dominion of the Hyksôs: Âhmosis.
Some countries seem destined from their origin to become the battle-fields of the contending nations which environ them. Into such regions, and to their cost, neighbouring peoples come from century to century to settle their quarrels and bring to an issue the questions of supremacy which disturb their little corner of the world. The nations around are eager for the possession of a country thus situated; it is seized upon bit by bit, and in the strife dismembered and trodden underfoot: at best the only course open to its inhabitants is to join forces with one of its invaders, and while helping the intruder to overcome the rest, to secure for themselves a position of permanent servitude. Should some unlooked-for chance relieve them from the presence of their foreign lord, they will probably be quite incapable of profiting by the respite which fortune puts in their way, or of making any effectual attempt to organize themselves in view of future attacks. They tend to become split up into numerous rival communities, of which even the pettiest will aim at autonomy, keeping up a perpetual frontier war for the sake of becoming possessed of or of retaining a glorious sovereignty over a few acres of corn in the plains, or some wooded ravines in the mountains. Year after year there will be scenes of bloody conflict, in which petty armies will fight petty battles on behalf of petty interests, but so fiercely, and with such furious animosity, that the country will suffer from the strife as much as, or even more than, from an invasion. There will be no truce to their struggles until they all fall under the sway of a foreign master, and, except in the interval between two conquests, they will have no national existence, their history being almost entirely merged in that of other nations.
From remote antiquity Syria was in the condition just described, and thus destined to become subject to foreign rule. Chaldæa, Egypt, Assyria, and Persia presided in turn over its destinies, while Macedonia and the empires of the West were only waiting their opportunity to lay hold of it. By its position it formed a kind of meeting-place where most of the military nations of the ancient world were bound sooner or later to come violently into collision. Confined between the sea and the desert, Syria offers the only route of easy access to an army marching northwards from Africa into Asia, and all conquerors, whether attracted to Mesopotamia or to Egypt by the accumulated riches on the banks of the Euphrates or the Nile, were obliged to pass through it in order to reach the object of their cupidity. It might, perhaps, have escaped this fatal consequence of its position, had the formation of the country permitted its tribes to mass themselves together, and oppose a compact body to the invading hosts; but the range of mountains which forms its backbone subdivides it into isolated districts, and by thus restricting each tribe to a narrow existence maintained among them a mutual antagonism. The twin chains, the Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon, which divide the country down the centre, are composed of the same kind of calcareous rocks and sandstone, while the same sort of reddish clay has been deposited on their slopes by the glaciers of the same geological period.*
Arid and bare on the northern side, they sent out towards the south featureless monotonous ridges, furrowed here and there by short narrow valleys, hollowed out in places into basins or funnel-shaped ravines, which are widened year by year by the down-rush of torrents. These ridges, as they proceed southwards, become clothed with verdure and offer a more varied outline, the ravines being more thickly wooded, and the summits less uniform in contour and colouring. Lebanon becomes white and ice-crowned in winter, but none of its peaks rises to the altitude of perpetual snows: the highest of them, Mount Timarun, reaches 10,526 feet, while only three others exceed 9000.* Anti-Lebanon is, speaking generally, 1000 or 1300 feet lower than its neighbour: it becomes higher, however, towards the south, where the triple peak of Mount Hermon rises to a height of 9184 feet. The Orontes and the Litâny drain the intermediate space. The Orontes rising on the west side of the Anti-Lebanon, near the ruins of Baalbek, rushes northwards in such a violent manner, that the dwellers on its banks call it the rebel—Nahr el-Asi.** About a third of the way towards its mouth it enters a depression, which ancient dykes help to transform into a lake; it flows thence, almost parallel to the sea-coast, as far as the 36th degree of latitude. There it meets the last spurs of the Amanos, but, failing to cut its way through them, it turns abruptly to the west, and then to the south, falling into the Mediterranean after having received an increase to its volume from the waters of the Afrîn.
The Litâny rises a short distance from the Orontes; it flows at first through a wide and fertile plain, which soon contracts, however, and forces it into a channel between the spurs of the Lebanon and the Galilæan hills. The water thence makes its way between two cliffs of perpendicular rock, the ravine being in several places so narrow that the branches of the trees on the opposite sides interlace, and an active man could readily leap across it. Near Yakhmur some detached rocks appear to have been arrested in their fall, and, leaning like flying buttresses against the mountain face, constitute a natural bridge over the torrent. The basins of the two rivers lie in one valley, extending eighty leagues in length, divided by an almost imperceptible watershed into two beds of unequal slope. The central part of the valley is given up to marshes. It is only towards the south that we find cornfields, vineyards, plantations of mulberry and olive trees, spread out over the plain, or disposed in terraces on the hillsides. Towards the north, the alluvial deposits of, the Orontes have gradually formed a black and fertile soil, upon which grow luxuriant crops of cereals and other produce. Cole-Syria, after having generously nourished the Oriental empires which had preyed upon her, became one of the granaries of the Roman world, under the capable rule of the Cæsars.
Syria is surrounded on all sides by countries of varying aspect and soil. That to the north, flanked by the Amanos, is a gloomy mountainous region, with its greatest elevation on the seaboard: it slopes gradually towards the interior, spreading out into chalky table-lands, dotted over with bare and rounded hills, and seamed with tortuous valleys which open out to the Euphrates, the Orontes, or the desert. Vast, slightly undulating plains succeed the table-lands: the soil is dry and stony, the streams are few in number and contain but little water. The Sajur flows into the Euphrates, the Afrîn and the Karasu when united yield their tribute to the Orontes, while the others for the most part pour their waters into enclosed basins. The Khalus of the Greeks sluggishly pursues its course southward, and after reluctantly leaving the gardens of Aleppo, finally loses itself on the borders of the desert in a small salt lake full of islets: about halfway between the Khalus and the Euphrates a second salt lake receives the Nahr ed-Dahab, the “golden river.” The climate is mild, and the temperature tolerably uniform. The sea-breeze which rises every afternoon tempers the summer heat: the cold in winter is never piercing, except when the south wind blows which comes from the mountains, and the snow rarely lies on the ground for more than twenty-four hours. It seldom rains during the autumn and winter months, but frequent showers fall in the early days of spring. Vegetation then awakes again, and the soil lends itself to cultivation in the hollows of the valleys and on the table-lands wherever irrigation is possible. The ancients dotted these now all but desert spaces with wells and cisterns; they intersected them with canals, and covered them with farms and villages, with fortresses and populous cities. Primæval forests clothed the slopes of the Amanos, and pinewood from this region was famous both at Babylon and in the towns of Lower Chaldæa. The plains produced barley and wheat in enormous quantities, the vine throve there, the gardens teemed with flowers and fruit, and pistachio and olive trees grew on every slope. The desert was always threatening to invade the plain, and gained rapidly upon it whenever a prolonged war disturbed cultivation, or when the negligence of the inhabitants slackened the work of defence: beyond the lakes and salt marshes it had obtained a secure hold. At the present time the greater part of the country between the Orontes and the Euphrates is nothing but a rocky table-land, ridged with low hills and dotted over with some impoverished oases, excepting at the foot of Anti-Lebanon, where two rivers, fed by innumerable streams, have served to create a garden of marvellous beauty. The Barada, dashing from cascade to cascade, flows for some distance through gorges before emerging on the plain: scarcely has it reached level ground than it widens out, divides, and forms around Damascus a miniature delta, into which a thousand interlacing channels carry refreshment and fertility. Below the town these streams rejoin the river, which, after having flowed merrily along for a day’s journey, is swallowed up in a kind of elongated chasm from whence it never again emerges. At the melting of the snows a regular lake is formed here, whose blue waters are surrounded by wide grassy margins “like a sapphire set in emeralds.” This lake dries up almost completely in summer, and is converted into swampy meadows, filled with gigantic rushes, among which the birds build their nests, and multiply as unmolested as in the marshes of Chaldæa. The Awaj, unfed by any tributary, fills a second deeper though smaller basin, while to the south two other lesser depressions receive the waters of the Anti-Lebanon and the Hauran. Syria is protected from the encroachments of the desert by a continuous barrier of pools and beds of reeds: towards the east the space reclaimed resembles a verdant promontory thrust boldly out into an ocean of sand. The extent of the cultivated area is limited on the west by the narrow strip of rock and clay which forms the littoral. From the mouth of the Litâny to that of the Orontes, the coast presents a rugged, precipitous, and inhospitable appearance. There are no ports, and merely a few ill-protected harbours, or narrow beaches lying under formidable headlands. One river, the Nahr el-Kebir, which elsewhere would not attract the traveller’s attention, is here noticeable as being the only stream whose waters flow constantly and with tolerable regularity; the others, the Leon, the Adonis,* and the Nahr el-Kelb,* can scarcely even be called torrents, being precipitated as it were in one leap from the Lebanon to the Mediterranean. Olives, vines, and corn cover the maritime plain, while in ancient times the heights were clothed with impenetrable forests of oak, pine, larch, cypress, spruce, and cedar. The mountain range drops in altitude towards the centre of the country and becomes merely a line of low hills, connecting Gebel Ansarieh with the Lebanon proper; beyond the latter it continues without interruption, till at length, above the narrow Phoenician coast road, it rises in the form of an almost insurmountable wall. Near to the termination of Coele-Syria, but separated from it by a range of hills, there opens out on the western slopes of Hermon a valley unlike any other in the world. At this point the surface of the earth has been rent in prehistoric times by volcanic action, leaving a chasm which has never since closed up. A river, unique in character—the Jordan—flows down this gigantic crevasse, fertilizing the valley formed by it from end to end.***