The Historians' History of the World 01

The reference letters are used in two ways: they are either (1) placed at the end of a sentence, in which case they designate an actual quotation, or (2) they are placed against the name of an author, in which case they designate an authority cited but not necessarily quoted. Each reference letter at the end of a sentence refers to all the matter that precedes it back to the last similarly placed reference letter. The quotation thus designated may be of any length,—a few sentences or many pages. This quotation may contain reference letters of the second type just explained, but, if so, these may be altogether disregarded in determining the limits of the quotation; the context will make it clear that there is no change of authorship. On the other hand, however continuous the narrative may seem, a reference letter at the end of a sentence must always be understood to divide one quotation from another.

All this may seem a trifle complex as told here, but it will be found admirably simple and effective in practice. The reader has but to make the experiment, to find that he can trace the authorship of every line of the work without the slightest difficulty. It may be well to add, however, that the reference letter a is reserved for editorial matter, and that, very exceptionally, this letter is used in combination with another letter, as ab, ac, ad, to give credit for matter that has been editorially adapted, but not quoted verbatim. It is perhaps hardly necessary to explain that direct quotations, such as go to make up the bulk of our work, are often given in an abbreviated form through the omission of matter that is redundant or, for any reason, inadmissible. The necessity for such change is obvious, since otherwise the varied materials could not possibly be made to harmonise or to meet the needs of our space. But, beyond this, no liberty whatever is taken with matter presented as a direct quotation. Where editorial modification is thought necessary, the use of reference letters makes such modification feasible without introducing the slightest ambiguity. We repeat that every line of the work is ascribed to its proper source with the utmost fidelity. Any matter not otherwise accredited—as, for example, various introductions, chronologies, bibliographies, and the like—will be understood to be editorial. Brackets also indicate editorial matter.

CONTENTS

VOLUME I

PART I. PROLEGOMENA

BOOK I. HISTORY, HISTORIANS, AND THE WRITING OF HISTORIES

PAGE

CHAPTER I

Some General Considerations

1

The oriental period,

2

. The classical historians,

3

. The mediæval and modern histories,

4

.

CHAPTER II

Materials for the Writing of History

5

CHAPTER III

The Methods of the Historians

9

CHAPTER IV

World Histories

13

CHAPTER V

The Present History

22

BOOK II. A GLIMPSE INTO THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD

CHAPTER I

Introductory

32

CHAPTER II

Cosmogony—Ancient and Modern Ideas as to the Origin of the World

33

CHAPTER III

Cosmology and Geography—Ancient and Modern Ideas

38

CHAPTER IV

The Antiquity of the Earth and of Man

40

CHAPTER V

The Races of Man and the Aryan Question

43

CHAPTER VI

On Prehistoric Culture

45

Language,

44

. Clothing and housing of prehistoric man,

46

. The use of fire,

46

. Implements of peace and war,

47

. The domestication of animals,

47

. Agriculture,

48

. Government,

49

. The arts of painting, sculpture, and decorative architecture,

50

. The art of writing,

50

.

PART II. EGYPT

Introductory Essay. Egypt as a World Influence.

By Dr. Adolf Erman

57

Egyptian History in Outline

(4400-332

B.C.

)

65

CHAPTER I

The Egyptian Race and its Origin

77

The country and its inhabitants,

81

. Prehistoric Egypt,

88

.

CHAPTER II

The Old Memphis Kingdom

(

ca.

4400-2700

B.C.

)

90

The first dynasty,

90

. The second dynasty,

92

. The third dynasty,

92

. The pyramid dynasty,

93

. A modern account of the pyramids,

95

. The builders of the pyramids,

98

. The beautiful Nitocris,

104

.

CHAPTER III

The Old Theban Kingdom

(

ca.

2700-1635

B.C.

)

106

The eleventh dynasty,

106

. The voyage to Punt,

108

. The twelfth dynasty,

110

. Monuments of the twelfth dynasty; a classical view,

113

. The ruins of Karnak,

115

. The fall of the Theban kingdom,

117

. The foreign rule,

118

. The Hyksos rule; the seventeenth dynasty,

121

.

CHAPTER IV

The Restoration

(

ca.

1635-1365

B.C.

)

126

Eighteenth dynasty,

126

. The Hyksos expulsion: Aahmes and his successors,

127

. Tehutimes II; Queen Hatshepsu,

133

. Triumphs of Tehutimes III; his successors,

136

.

CHAPTER V

The Nineteenth Dynasty

(

ca.

1365-1285

B.C.

)

141

King Seti,

142

. Ramses (II) the Great,

144

. The war-poem of Pentaur,

148

. The kingdom of the Kheta and the nineteenth dynasty,

150

. Death of Ramses II,

153

.

CHAPTER VI

The Finding of the Royal Mummies

155

How came these monarchs here?

157

.

CHAPTER VII

The Period of Decay

(

Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties

:

ca.

1285-655

B.C.

)

162

Meneptah,

162

. From Setnekht to Ramses VIII and Meri-Amen Meri-Tmu,

166

. The sorrows of a soldier,

170

. Egypt under the dominion of mercenaries,

171

. The Ethiopian conquest,

174

. Table of contemporaneous dynasties,

179

.

CHAPTER VIII

The Closing Scenes

(

Twenty-sixth To Thirty-first Dynasties