THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS.
The civilization which claims our attention next after that of Egypt had its seat in the countries bordering on the Euphrates and the Tigris, whence it gradually spread over the larger part of Western Asia, embracing within its influence most of the tribes and nations belong ing to the Semitic race, and affecting indirectly members of other races. It is, however, especially associated with the history of Babylonia and Assyria. The former country comprised the lower valley of the Euphrates, including the region between the two rivers from the point where they approach each other to where they originally emptied, by separate chan nels, into the Persian Gulf; while the latter lay beyond the Tigris, having this river for its western boundary, and stretching eastward to the table land of Iran and northward to the highlands of Armenia.
The existence at a very early period of a Babylonian monarchy is known to ns from ancient writings and on the evidence of recently-dis covered relics and inscriptions. This kingdom is now commonly spoken of as that of the Chaltheans,' or old Babylonians, and its origin is ascribed to a period between 3000 and 400o B. C. It was by the people of this state that the first advances were made in agriculture—for which the exu berant fertility of the soil offered the best opportunities—in astronomy, in writing (by means of the cuneiform system), and in many of the arts and handicrafts that betoken a condition of regular and diversified industry.' The religion commonly known as the worship of Baal had the same origin, and in a debased and perverted form—which sanctioned the practice of sensual and revolting rites and customs—spread westward to the shores of the Mediterranean, exerting its corrupting influence over the Jewish nation, from which it was with difficulty expelled, as well as among the Greeks, especially those of Asia Minor, and even the Romans.
Assyria is supposed to have been colonized from Babylonia about 190o B. c. The identity of race is, at all events, indisputable, as well as the general similarity of manners, customs, and ideas. But the perpetual conflicts of the Assyrians with the tribes of the table-land and mountain regions developed a warlike spirit and martial aptitude of which there had been no previous example. From an early period Assyria maintained a long struggle with Babylonia, which asserted a right to overlordship, and in the thirteenth century B. c. it achieved complete independence. Thenceforth it entered on a career of military expeditions in which the acquisition of spoils and the extortion of tribute were more conspicuous features than the actual subjugation of foreign states and territories. The period, however, best known to us—beginning in the tenth century B. C. was one of constant expansion, culminating in the conquest and absorp tion of Babylonia (731-710 B. c.) and the establishment of a dominion that
extended from the Caspian to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and included for a time even Egypt. But the empire thus constructed had no real organization, and lacked all the elements of stability. Enervation and exhaustion supervened, ending in a revolt of the Babylonians and the Medes, and the complete collapse of the Assyrian monarchy, toward the close of the seventh century B. C.
A new Babylonian kingdom succeeded to the supremacy, and under the greatest monarch of the dynasty, Nebuchadnezzar (Nabil-kuthir-ussur), attained a high degree of power and magnificence through foreign con quests, the enlargement and adornment of the capital, and the construc tion of viaducts and other public works. It lasted till 538 B. c., when Babylon was captured by Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire.
The regions watered by the Euphrates and the Tigris, once among the most populous and highly cultivated on the globe, present at the present day a general aspect of desolation. Except in certain localities the land has become a desert, inhabited, if at all, only by nomadic bands of Arabs and Kurds. Scattered over the country are numerous mounds, termed by the natives ids, in which the ruins of ancient cities have lain buried for ages. It is from the explorations among these, carried on at intervals during the last half-century, that our knowledge of the civilization that has so utterly perished is mainly derived. Innumerable relies have been found, which are now deposited in the British Museum and other great collections. They include, besides the works of art and other articles hereafter noticed, a vast number of clay cylinders covered with inscrip tions in the cuneiform characters, recounting the exploits of successive monarchs, and thus correcting as well as amplifying the details given by ancient writers. Hitherto the work of excavation has been prosecuted chiefly among the Assyrian ruins, but the discoveries throw almost equal light on both the nations whose kindred origin and blended history entitle us to consider them as one people.' Dress.—Plate 15 exhibits the nations now under consideration. The Semitic type can be recognized at once. The climate, varying from hot summers to cold winters, especially in the north in the vicinity of Nin eveh, necessitated more complete dress than that which we found among the Egyptians. Instead of the loin-cloth, the Assyrians wore a longer gown-like garment (figs. 1, 2), which was of the same form for both sexes and to which the common people were mainly limited. These gar ments varied in length, and were sometimes fastened with a girdle at the waist. The sleeves scarcely reached to the elbows. Over-garments were a prerogative of the highest classes until in course of time the severity of the general regulation was overcome by wealthy individuals.