Babylonta and Assyria,
with the yellow sand of the desert and the red granite of the
rocks and ruins is very striking. So unlike all the rest of the
world was Egypt, that the mere names of things found there,
and there alone, or there in hugest or in strangest form, call up
the image of the whole strange land. "Ihe pyramids, the
Sphinx, the obelisks—some standing now, incongruous to be-
hold, in Rome, in Paris, and by the Thames; the mummy,
scarabsus, hieroglyphics, papyrus—these were the products of
the region where the Pharaohs reigned, where Moses grew
tom birth to manhood, and whence the chosen people went
Out into the wilderness towards the promised land.
CHAPTER HI.
THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS.
ı. INTRODUCTION.
t. In the basin of the Euphrates and the Tigris arose a civili-
zation almost or quite as ancient as that of Egypt. Antiquity of
Some authorities even regard it as more anclent, Babylonian
and believe that the civilization of Egypt was really YiTza#99-
derived from South-western Asia, It is to this region, accord-
ing to the Hebrew Scriptures, that we must look for the very
beginning of the history of mankind. And to this region
belong the well-known names of Babylonia, Assyria, Chaldea,
and Mesopotamia, the last signifying the land between the rivers,
that is the district lying between the Tigris and Euphrates. For
the geography we may refer back to chapter 1.
2. Modern research has thrown a great flood of light on
the ancient history of these countries. Between
t811 and 1820 investigations were made by Mr.
Rich, who brought home antiquities dug up at a
Babylon and Nineveh, including the first cuneiform Inscrip-
tions brought to Europe. Important excavations were after-
wards carried out, especially by Sir X. Zayard, at Nineveh, who
was rewarded with brilliant success. Like Success rewarded
similar researches made on the site of‘ ancient Babylon ‚by
Rawlinson, Rassam, Smith, Budge, and others, Long-buried
palaces have thus been laid bare, and from these and elsewhere
have come innumerable objects covered with wedge-shaped
