The Historians' History of the World 01

Of all the revelations regarding the Mesopotamian civilisation which the researches of Botta and Layard and their followers have brought to light, none perhaps are more interesting than those that showed the position which art had attained in those far-off and forgotten times. It had all along been remembered that powerful political empires had risen and fallen here, however vaguely the details of the history may have been preserved. It was recalled, too, that these peoples possessed religions with the same fundamental elements as the Jewish creeds; but that they had developed an artistic spirit and artistic craftsmanship far beyond that of any other people of their time, had been entirely forgotten. Yet, as we have seen, the most striking and conspicuous of the monuments restored by the explorations were works of art. We have obtained many glimpses of these in the preceding pages, and it will not be necessary here to treat them in very great detail; indeed, it would be quite impossible to do so within the necessary bounds of space. Our concern is with the historic relations of the Mesopotamian art development rather than with the details of the art itself. Nevertheless, something more than incidental references will be made to some features of the subject.a

The origin of Babylonian-Assyrian civilisation is lost in the darkness of prehistoric times, like that of the Egyptians and Chinese. We shall see that even their oldest monuments display a high grade of artistic ability and presuppose a long development. The texts on the oldest monuments are already written in cuneiform; the picture writing in which this must have originated was already out of use, which shows a great progress in civilisation. As to the origin of this culture various suppositions have been made. According to the one which has made most headway, it was borrowed by the Babylonians from a non-Semitic race who inhabited the country before them, and then spread gradually from the Persian Gulf, where it originated or whither it was brought from without, towards the north.

It is pure supposition to say that civilisation in Babylonia started out from the shores of the Persian Gulf and spread from there towards the north, but it is a supposition which has a high degree of probability. In this direction points the old legend of the Babylonians, as Berossus relates it, which describes the origin of civilisation—the legend of the divine fish-man Oannes, who came up in the morning from the Erythræan Sea, instructed the inhabitants of Chaldea, who were still living like animals, in the arts and sciences, and then in the evening disappeared again under the waves. This fish-god has long since been recognised as the god who is so frequently depicted on Babylonian and Assyrian monuments, and it can now hardly be longer doubted that he, the god of the waters, or rather the source of light and fire in the waters, is the god Ea. This god with his circle is without doubt indigenous to southern Chaldea. The oldest and most important centre of his cult is Eridu, situated close to the sea. His son Marduk, and the god connected with him whom the Semites call Nabu, is especially honoured on the islands and coast of the Persian Gulf. Thus if legend traces the culture of the Chaldeans from the instruction of this god, this is the origin of the tradition that his worshippers, who must have been mariners and dwellers on the sea coast, introduced this civilisation into Chaldea.

In agreement with this is the fact that the decrees of Ea and the magic formulæ of Eridu, his chief city situated near the sea, are repeatedly designated as being very holy and powerful, and as very ancient; also that the oldest sayings and traditions which are known to us in the Gisdubas (Gilgamesh) epic, are located precisely in places on the sea coast or not far distant from it. These were also the centres of powerful states, as also of the kingdom of Ur, and the oldest monuments of Chaldean civilisation which have yet become known to us were found in southern Babylonia at Telloh.

However, wherever its origin may have been, the great age of Babylonian culture, of which the Assyrian is only a later branch, stands beyond doubt. The cylinders of Sargon I as well as the statues found at Telloh show a high grade of development and presuppose an art which already has a long past behind it. That the Egyptian culture is younger and even derived from the Babylonian, and that the latter is thus the oldest in the world, and at the same time was the mother of all other civilisations of antiquity, as has been claimed (Hommel), can naturally not be proved and is still doubtful; but it is not impossible. And the most remarkable fact is, that at least the plastic art could never again reach the heights it had already attained in such a gray antiquity.