Part 4
2454(?)--First dynasty of kings begins to reign at Babylon with Su-mu-abi. Eleven kings reigning 2454 to 2151(?). 2400 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
During the middle kingdom, 2900-1570 B.C. Thebes was capital until about 2000 B.C. The dates are very uncertain, but between 2500 and 2000 B.C. the kingdom declined. 12th Dynasty 2500-2300.
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2280(?)--Hammurabi (Amraphel(?)) (Gen. 14), sixth king of the first dynasty reigning at Babylon. He conquered many states, established a code of laws, and may be regarded as founder of the early Babylonian Empire. 2300 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
2150(?)--Second dynasty of kings at Babylon begins with An-ma-an. (According to records, not certain, it lasted until 1783 B.C.)
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About 2000 B.C. Lower Egypt fell under the power of invaders from the desert, who were called Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings. Their capital was Tanis, or Zoan. Very little is known of their history, and their names cannot be given with certainty, as their memory was hated by the rulers that followed them, and their inscriptions may have been obliterated. They ruled Egypt until about 1570 B.C.(?), though the dates both of their conquest and their departure are 2000--Ishkibal, fourth king of uncertain. second dynasty, reigning at Babylon. 2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ About 1570 the war of liberation from the Hyksos began under Dynasty XVIII., and the New Kingdom opened. 1570-1320(?)--Dynasty XVIII. 1800--An Assyrian Kingdom in reigning (Amosis, Amenophis, existence, but subject to Queen Hatasu, Thutmosis (or Babylon. Asshur, its capital. Thotmes) III., Amenophis II., Amenophis III., Amenophis 1782--Third dynasty of kings of IV.). A period of conquest. Babylon, beginning with Egyptian invasion of Syria Gandish, reigning 1782-1767. about 1490(?) (Thutmosis III.). This dynasty, known as Battle of Esdraelon in Canaan. Kassites, came from Elam, Tell-el-Amarna letters written conquered Babylonia, and in reigns of Amenophis III. held rule until 1207. Not and IV. much is known of Babylonian history during this period; but the kingdom was declining.
1500-1207--Kassite dynasty 1500 still reigning at Babylon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1430--Assur-nadin-akhi. King of Assyria. (From this reign, regular lists of Assyrian kings; and their kingdom grows in power.) 1400 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1359(?)--Dynasty XIX. begins. Seti I. powerful ruler and conqueror. Rameses II., "Pharaoh of the Oppression"(?). Merenepthah, "Pharaoh of the Exodus"(?). Decline of Egyptian power. Rameses III., date unknown.
1300(?)--Shalmaneser I., King of Assyria, begins conquests. 1300 Calah becomes capital. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1290(?)--Tukulti-ninib, King of Assyria, conquers Babylon; but it soon regains its independence. Babylonian Kingdom declining in power.
1207-1075--Dynasty of Isin in Babylon; wars between Assyria and Babylonia; continued decline of Babylonia and rise 1200 of Assyria. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
1120-1090--Tiglath-pileser I., the first great king of Assyria, conqueror over many lands. THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE 1100 begins. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1089(?)--Dynasty XXI. begins; a line of kings of foreign race who obtained control in Egypt.
1000 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
925--Shishak, King of Egypt, invades Judah, and takes many cities.
900(?)--Zerah, the Ethiopian (Osorkon II.), 900 invades Egypt. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 885-860--Assur-nazir-pal, King of Assyria.
860-825--Shalmaneser II., King. 854--Victory of Shalmaneser over Syrians and Israelites (under King Ahab) at Karkar. 842--Jehu, King of Israel, pays tribute to Shalmaneser.
800--Babylon under Assyrian 800 control. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
745-727--Tiglath-pileser III., King of Assyria; great conqueror; receives tribute from Menahem, King of Israel. 732--Damascus taken.
725--Hoshea, King of Israel, in 727-722--Shalmaneser IV., King. Alliance with So (or Sabakon), 725--Siege of Samaria begun. King of Egypt. 722-705--Sargon II., King of Assyria. 704-687--Sennacherib, King. 701--Defeat of Tirkahah by Nineveh made capital. 700 Sennacherib, King of Assyria. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 674--Invasion of Egypt by 680-668--Esar-haddon, King. Esar-haddon, King of Assyria. 674--Egypt invaded by 665--Destruction of Thebes by Assyrians. Empire of Assyria the Assyrians. at its culmination. 668-626--Assur-bani-pal, King. Decline of Assyrian Empire begins. 625-604--Nabopolassar, King of Babylon, founder of Chaldean Empire. 609--FALL OF ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. Nineveh destroyed by the Medes. 608--Victory of Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopolassar, over Necho, King of Egypt, at 606--Necho, King of Egypt, Carchemish. CHALDEAN EMPIRE defeated at Carchemish by begins (606-536). Nebuchadnezzar. 604-562--Nebuchadnezzar, King 600 of Babylon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 586--Jerusalem taken and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. 567--Egypt invaded by 585-573--Siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar, but not held. Nebuchadnezzar. 562--Rapid decline of Chaldean power after death of Nebuchadnezzar. 558-536--Nabonidus, last king of Babylon. He associates his son Belshazzar in the government. 553--Cyrus, the Persian, conquers the Medes. Beginning of Persian power. 536--Babylon taken by Cyrus. 525--Egypt conquered by Persians End of Chaldean Empire. under Cambyses and annexed to 530-330--THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. the Persian empire. From that 529-521--Cambyses, King of time until 332 Egypt was under Persia. Egypt conquered. Persian rule. 521-486--Darius, King of 500 Persia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 491--Darius, King of Persia, invades Greece. 490--Battle of Marathon. Greeks victorious over Persians. 486-466--Xerxes (Ahasuerus in book of Esther), King of Persia. 481--Expedition of Xerxes into Greece. 480--Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis. 466-425--Artaxerxes Longimanus, King of Persia. Empire declining in power. 425--Xerxes II., King of Persia. 400 424-404--Darius II., King. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
361--Artaxerxes (or Darius) Ochus, King of Persia.
336--Darius Codomannus, last king of Persia. 332--Alexander the Great receives the submission of Egypt. 330--Persian Empire conquered by Alexander the Great 328--Ptolemy Soter establishes (Battle of Arbela.) the Greek kingdom of Egypt. 323--Alexander the Great dies at Babylon. 301--Alexander's empire divided among his four generals Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, 300 Lysimachus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 286--The Alexandrian library and Museum began by King Ptolemy II., Philadelphus. 247-225--Reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, ablest and most powerful of the Ptolemies.
200 205-182--Reign of Ptolemy V. Epiphanes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 187--Seleucus IV., Philopator, King of Syria. 175--Antiochus IV., Epiphanes, King of Syria. 165--The Roman senate intervenes in Egypt. 162--Demetrius I., Soter, 100 King of Syria. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 69--Syria and Armenia conquered by Romans. 52-30--Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt.
30--Egypt becomes a Roman province. 27--Syria made an imperial A.D. province of Roman empire. ------------------------------------------------------------------------
100 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
B.C. VII. VIII. THE ORIENTAL EMPIRES. THE WORLD IN GENERAL. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Dates earlier than 700 B.C. traditional and uncertain.
2850--China founded by Fu-hi. 2500 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
2400 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
2357--Lao reigning in China.
2300 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2280 B.C. +-----------------+ | | 2205--Chinese history begins. 2200 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | | | | 2100 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | EARLY | | | 2000 | | 2000--Aryan migration to India(?). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 1920--Gold and silver first mentioned as | | money. | | | | | | 1556--Athens founded. (traditional.) | | 1546--Traditional founding of Troy. | | | | 1507--Court of Areopagus founded at Athens. | | | | 1500--Thebes founded. Greek alphabet | | introduced by Cadmus. | | | | c. 1500--Hittite migration to southern 1500 | | Asia Minor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | BABYLONIAN | | | | | 1400--Rise of Hittite Kingdom in Asia 1400 | | Minor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | | | | | | | | 1300 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | | | EMPIRE. | | | | | 1235--Theseus, King of Athens. | | 1233--Carthage founded. | | | | 1200 | | 1200--Dorian migration into Greece. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 1193--Trojan war begins. | | | | | | 1122--Chow dynasty reigning in China. | 1120 B.C. | +-----------------+ 1100 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 1070--Codrus, last king of Athens. | ASSYRIAN EMPIRE | | | | | | | | | 1015--Minos gives laws in Crete. 1000 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | ASSYRIAN | | | | | 900 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 886--Homeric Poems brought into Greece. | | | | | | | | | | 850--Lycurgus, lawgiver of Sparta. | | 800 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | EMPIRE. | | | | | 753--Traditional founding of Rome by | | Romulus. | | 750--Syracuse in Sicily founded by | | Corinthians. | | | | | | | | | | 708--Median Kingdom begins under Deioces. 700 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | | 660--Japanese History begins with Jimmu | 626 B.C. | Tenno whose descendants have reigned +-----------------+ since without intermission. | | 658--Byzantium founded by Byzas. 640--Media | | independent of Assyria. | | 621--Laws of Draco in Athens. | | | | |CHALDEAN EMPIRE | | | 600 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 583--Laws of Solon in Athens. | | 578--Money coined in Rome. | | 560--Pisistratus usurps rule at Athens. | | 557--Buddha born in India. | | 550--Confucius born. Laocius and Mencius, | | the other Chinese sages, lived in same | 536 B.C. | century. 546--Cyrus overthrows empire of +-----------------+ Croesus. | | 510--Romans abolish royalty; Government by | | Consuls begins. | | 510--Africa first circumnavigated. 500 | | 500--Pythagoras teaching in Greece. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | PERSIAN | 490--Battle of Lake Regillus in Italy. | | 490--Battle of Marathon in Greece. | | | | | | | | | | | | | EMPIRE. | | | 418--Battle of Mantinea in Greece. 400 | | 400--Retreat of the Ten Thousand in Persia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 399--Death of Socrates. | | | | | | | | | 330 B.C. | +-----------------+ | | | | 300 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | KINGDOMS | | | 264--First Punic war begun by Rome. | | | | 216--Battle of Cannae; overthrow of | | Hannibal. | | 211--Wall of China completed. 200 | OF ALEXANDER'S | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | | | | | | | | | SUCCESSORS. | 123--The Gracchi in Rome. | | 100 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | | | | 60 B.C. | +-----------------+ 41--Assassination of Julius Caesar. | | | | 27--Augustus, Emperor of Roman World. | | A.D. | ROMAN EMPIRE. | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | 14 A.D.--Tiberius, Emperor. | | | | 41--Claudius, Emperor. | | | | 54--Nero, Emperor. | | | | 79--Titus, Emperor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 100 A.D. | 100 A.D. | +-----------------+
VII. =The Oriental Empires= are indicated upon the seventh column of the chart. While they follow in regular succession, there were brief periods of anarchy and confusion between them, which cannot be indicated. (1.) The Early Babylonian Empire, 2280-1120 B.C. Much of the time this was not an empire, but rather the leading state in the oriental world. (2.) The Assyrian Empire, 1120-626 B.C.; its capital at Nineveh on the Tigris River, its people fierce warriors, but not able rulers. (3.) The Chaldean Empire, 606-536 B.C., established by Nebuchadnezzar, and passing away soon after his death. (4.) The Persian Empire, 536-330, founded by Cyrus, and ruling over all the Old Testament lands. (5.) The Kingdoms (not empire) of Alexander's Successors, 330-60 B.C. The empire of Alexander the Great lasted only seven years (330-323), and was followed by war until 301, when the four generals of Alexander made a division of his conquests. (6.) The Roman Empire became dominant in the east about 60 B.C., and continued supreme until after the New Testament period.
VIII. =The World in General.= We arrange on the last column events showing the general progress of the world outside of the Bible lands. The student will note that Bible History antedates the annals of Greece and Rome by many centuries.
[Illustration: THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE.]
THE OLD TESTAMENT WORLD.
I. =Extent.= The Old Testament World embraces the seas and lands between 30° and 54° east longitude, or from the mouth of the Nile to that of the Persian Gulf; and between 27° and 40° north latitude, from the parallel south of Mount Sinai to that north of Mount Ararat. The total extent of territory is about 1,400 miles from east to west and 900 miles from north to south, aggregating 1,260,000 square miles. Deducting from this the space occupied by the Mediterranean Sea and other large bodies of water, the land will include about 1,110,000 square miles, or one-third the extent of the United States, excluding Alaska. Unlike the United States, however, nearly two-thirds of this extent is a vast desert, and uninhabitable, so that the portion actually occupied by man is less than an eighth of that included in the American Union.
[Illustration: COMPARATIVE VIEW OF UNITED STATES AND OLD TESTAMENT WORLD.]
II. =Seas.= This world of the Old Testament embraces several large bodies of water. 1. The _Caspian Sea_, the largest body of water surrounded by land on the globe, occupies its northeastern corner. 2. The _Persian Gulf_, the outlet of the great rivers of the Old Testament history, is in its southeastern border. 3. The two arms of the northern end of the _Red Sea_, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Akaba, are on its southwestern side. 4. The _Mediterranean Sea_, "the great sea toward the going down of the sun" (Josh. 1:4), forms a part of its western boundary. These are its largest seas; but besides these may be named three others, all salt lakes, imbedded in its mountain system. 5. The _Dead Sea_, called in the Bible "Sea of the Plain," and "Salt Sea," lying 1,290 feet below the Mediterranean, and situated in the land of Palestine; 6. _Lake Van_, anciently Arsissa, in Armenia; and 7. _Lake Urumiyeh_, in Media. Neither of the last two are referred to in the Bible.
III. =Mountain Ranges.= The nucleus of the mountain system is found in the land of Armenia, on the north of the map. Here five great ranges of mountains have their origin. 1. The _Ararat Mountains_ are lofty masses, lying between the Caspian Sea and Asia Minor. They are arranged in three sections, nearly parallel: Mount Masius, on the south; Mount Niphates, north of Lake Van; and Mount Abus, still farther north. One of the peaks of this latter section is the traditional resting place of the ark (Gen. 8:4), and is the summit of the group, 17,750 feet high. 2. The _Caspian Mountains_, branching from Ararat, bend around the southern end of the Caspian Sea and extend eastward, forming the northern boundary of Media. 3. The _Zagros Mountains_ also start from Ararat, and follow a direction generally southeast, to the northern shore of the Persian Gulf. They form the eastern watershed of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. 4. The _Lebanon Range_ starts from the western side of the Ararat group, and follows the Mediterranean coast through Syria and Palestine, then down the Sinaitic peninsula. Its general direction is west of south. In Syria and Palestine it is divided into two parallel branches, Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, the latter on the east. Its highest peak is Mount Hermon, about 9,000 feet above the sea. South of Palestine it forms the remarkable Sinaitic group of mountains, upon one of which the Law was given. 5. The last range is _Mount Taurus_, which also branches from Ararat, in a westerly direction, and forms the southern coast line of Asia Minor.
[Illustration: COMPARATIVE HEIGHT OF BIBLE MOUNTAINS.]
[Illustration: THE OLD TESTAMENT WORLD.]
IV. =Rivers.= Passing by many unimportant streams, we notice the following, the largest of which have their rise in the mountain system of Armenia. 1. The _Araxes_, not named in the Bible, but important as a boundary, rises in the northern section of the Ararat Range, and flows, in a general direction, eastward into the Caspian Sea. 2. The _Tigris_, called in the Bible Hiddekel, rises in Mount Niphates, of the Ararat Range, and flows in a southeasterly direction, following the line of Mount Zagros, unites with the Euphrates, and thence flows into the Persian Gulf. Its length to the union with the Euphrates is 1,146 miles; beyond the union to the gulf, at present, 100 miles, though anciently much less; and at a time within the limits of history the two rivers discharged by separate mouths. Their united stream is now called the _Shaat el Arab_. 3. _The Euphrates_, or the _Frat_ (a word meaning "abounding"), is the great river of the Bible world. It has two important sources, both in Armenia: one at a place called _Domli_; the other, the more distant and true source, at _Diyadin_, at the foot of a mountain called _Ala Tagh_, 20 miles west of Mount Ararat. It flows westward 400 miles, then southward about as far, then in a southeasterly direction 1,000 miles, uniting at last with the Tigris to form the _Shaat el Arab_. It is navigable for 1,100 miles, and has in all ages formed the principal means of travel between Eastern and Western Asia. At Babylon, it is nearly a mile in width, though for 800 miles it does not receive a single tributary, as it flows through a desert. It overflows its banks every year, rising as high as twelve feet. 4. The _Orontes_ rises in Mount Lebanon, and flows northward parallel with the Mediterranean until, just before reaching Asia Minor, it breaks through the mountains and empties into the sea. 5. The _Jordan_, least yet most important of all, flows southward from the foot of Mount Hermon into the Dead Sea. It will be described in connection with the Physical Map of Palestine. 6. The _Nile_, the great river of Africa, rises in the centre of the continent and flows northward into the Mediterranean Sea, turning the desert through which it passes into a garden.
V. =The Lands.= These are not easy to determine since their boundaries and names varied at different periods of the history. Yet their locations may be given, and their natural limits are generally known. They may be classified as follows: 1. Lands of the Mountain System, all north and east of the Zagros chain of mountains: Armenia, Media, and Persia. 2. Lands of the Plain: Assyria, Elam, Mesopotamia, Chaldea, Arabia. 3. Lands of the Mediterranean: Asia Minor, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, The Wilderness, Egypt.
[Illustration: MOUNT ARARAT.]
I. LANDS OF THE MOUNTAIN SYSTEM.
1. =Armenia= is a name nowhere used in the original Scriptures, but in our version is a translation of the word "Ararat," which word properly appears in place of "Armenia" in the Revised Version. The province embraces the lofty plateau and mountain group between the Caspian and Black Seas, and north of Mesopotamia and Assyria, the source of four great rivers, the Araxes, Tigris, Euphrates, and Acampsis, the latter pouring into the Black Sea. Its boundaries are: upon the north, the Caucasus Mountains; on the east, Media and the Caspian Sea; on the south, Media, from which it is separated by the Araxes, and Assyria, from which it is divided by Mount Masius; and on the west, the Euphrates, separating it from Asia Minor. Tradition states that it was settled by Haïk, a grandson of Japhet; and the earliest history names it as tributary to Assyria. Excepting the resting of Noah's ark upon one of its mountains, few events of Scripture are associated with it.
2. =Media= is in the original the same word as Madai, the son of Japhet. (Gen. 10:2.) Its boundaries are the river Araxes and the Caspian Sea on the north, the great salt desert of Iram on the east, Persia on the south, and the Zagros Mountains, separating it from Assyria and Armenia. A branch of the Zagros Mountains, running eastward, divides it into two portions, anciently known as Media Atropatene (the one northward) and Media Magna. In each of these provinces the principal city was called Ecbatana. The Medes were of the Aryan or Japhetic stock, and were always a warlike and independent people. Though conquered by Assyria, their land was never formally annexed to the Assyrian empire. In B.C. 633 the Median kingdom was established, and soon became supreme over Assyria, Armenia, and Persia, and formed the Medo-Persian empire, which succeeded to the power of Babylon in the East, B.C. 536. After that date the history of Media is lost in that of Persia.
3. =Persia= was originally a small province on the Persian Gulf, still known as _Fars_. But Persia Proper included, besides the sandy plain on the gulf, a mountainous plateau north of it, and was bounded by Media on the north, by Carmania on the east, by the Persian Gulf on the south, and by Elam on the west. Its people were of the Aryan race, and at first subject to the Medes. They revolted under Cyrus the Great, and became the controlling power in the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar's dominion. The Persian empire arose to greatness at the fall of Babylon, B.C. 536, conquered and ruled over all the lands from India to Ethiopia, and was by far the greatest of the great Oriental monarchies. It was subjected by Alexander the Great, B.C. 330. The capital of the Persian empire was Susa, called in the Bible "Shushan the Palace" (Esther 1:2); which was, however, situated not in Persia Proper, but in Elam. The most important places in the province were Persepolis (its capital at one period), Pasargada, and Mesambria, none of which are named in the Bible.
II. LANDS OF THE PLAIN.
Of these, two are situated mainly between the Zagros chain of mountains and the Tigris river, Assyria and Elam; two are between the Tigris and Euphrates, Mesopotamia and Chaldea; and one is the vast Arabian desert.
1. =Assyria=, in the Hebrew everywhere Asshur, was properly the province now called _Kurdistan_, lying on the western slope of the Zagros Mountains, and extending across the Tigris to the Sinjar hills and the border of the Mesopotamian desert. The mountains separate it from Armenia; and the line of division from Elam, on the southeast, was near the place where the Tigris and Euphrates approach nearest before their separation. The land was occupied by people of various races, of which the Semitic were predominant. The earliest city was at Asshur, supposed to be _Kileh Sherghat_, where a dynasty of kings began to rule about 1800 B.C., while the Israelite tribes were in Egypt. The seat of government was afterward transferred to Calah, or Halah (_Nimrud_), north of Asshur; and finally a permanent location of the capital was made at Nineveh, which became the centre of the great Assyrian empire. This will be described more fully with the map of that empire, on page 91. The Assyrian kingdom was long in its duration, but passed through many vicissitudes, several times ruling all the lands of the Euphrates, and again, in a feeble condition. Its principal cities, besides Nineveh, were Calah, Resen (which may have been at _Selamiyeh_, three miles south of Nineveh), and Rehoboth. There is reason to believe that all the four cities named in Gen. 10:11, 12, were combined in the walls of Nineveh.
2. =Elam=, called Susiana by the Greeks, lay southeast of Assyria and west of Persia Proper, between the Zagros chain of mountains and the Tigris river. It included both a mountainous and a lowland tract, the latter very fertile. Shushan (Susa), the capital of the Persian empire, lay within this province, and was its principal city. The earliest conqueror named in the Bible, Amraphel, was the king of Elam, and held dominion over most of the lands as far west as Canaan. (See the map of his empire, on page 34.) This kingdom was not of long continuance as an independent state, but soon fell under the power of Assyria, though maintaining its own organization as a vassal state until the Persian period, when it became a province of the empire.