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Chaldea. the Greeks Were the Discoverers, Or Inventors, of Beauty

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Chaldea. the Greeks Were the Discoverers, Or Inventors, of Beauty Chaldea. I propose in these lectures reviewing the fine arts of those nations whose civilizations have in any way, immediately or remotely, contributed to the civilizations of modern times. This limitation ex- cludes the arts of Japan and China and those of Central and South Amer- ica. The arts of both Japan and China are having; an effect on modern taste, but they had no effect in creating it. There is as yet no Japanese or Chinese element in modern European and American civiliza- tion. The Greeks were the discoverers, or inventors, of beauty as we understand and appreciate it. Other principles of art, sublimity, grandeur, dignity, order, repose and action were understood by their predecessors, the Egyptians, and by the inhabitants of the valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris; but there is no beauty in plastic art until the birthday of the Greek people is reached- The arts of the Orient, of the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, the Medes and the Persians are of particular interest to the theologian because they seem to reveal the secular side of the Bible, while their preserved records disclose the origin of traditions that must have been known to the patriarchs. Moses was learned in the Wisdom of the Egyptians. Egyptian monuments explain, in a measure, what that wisdom was and show a people whose religion was founded upon an unquestioning and active, belief in the immortality of the soul. Modern faith accepts the belief that God -2- revealed himself directly to Abraham and to Moses. But the descendants of Abraham and the followers of Moses in ordering and establishing the wor- ship of Jehovah must have made use of the methods and customs of the nations among whom they dwelt. The contemporaneous monuments of these nations show iat these methods and customs of worship were, and indicate to what extent these nations believed in one omnipotent, omniscient, ever- lasting and omnipresent God. :"he actual images of the gods whom Baby- lonians and Assyrians worshipped have not been discovered in sufficient numbers to fix their appearances. These images were probably small, and revered more on account of antiquity than on account of particular form or resemblance. So far as discoveries have gone, portraiture was unknown along the Tigris and the Euphrates. You will be disappointed if you expect to find in these lec- tures discussions about the philosophy of art, its origin, its nature, its sources, etc. etc., questions that appertain to metaphysics rather than to art itself. Not that such questions may not be interesting and valuable, but they belong tc the study of the sentiments and the emotions. The study of art should not be limited to an acquaintance with the chief facts in the history of art, though to know and to dis- tinguish the names, works and schools of the greatest artists and to understand the special characteristics of the greatest art periods is a proper part of modern education" To study specific and long ap- -3- proved works of art with the idea of imbibing their beauty, making it a very part of one's self and thus cultivating, purifying, and strength- ening the artistic sense, is one of the most delightful and beneficial of exerciese, and is best accomplished by artistic practices with pencil and paint. I would have every one who intends following these lectures and hopes to be benefited by them commence at once practical work in some art. This was the advice given by such teachers as Taine of Paris and Friederichs of Berlin. Friederichs was not inclined to admit to his private instruction those who would not supplement his teaching by work "in an art school, and Taine always asserted that to understand painting you must have your fingers in the paint pot. Per- haps the strongest appeal art can make to a University is as an illus- trator of history and literature. History and literature must join with art in order to present full and accurate accounts of people and periods. The lacunae of the one are supplied by the fullness of the others. No one is complete in its own presentations. Each should supplement the others. In university work the arts are moreover closely allied to archaeology. Art and archaeology should work to- gether. Art needs the help of archaeology for facts and order; archaeology needs art to give it life and spirit and to keep it from degenerating into mere observation, investigation and classification. l Without further introduction we will at once commence our special work. There stretches across Africa and Asia a vast connec- tion of deserts. These deserts have existed ever since the surface of the earth received its present confo nnati on. That man existed be- fore the present conformation and when the deserts of Africa were open seas, and when such of the deserts of Asia as are below the surface of the today's ocean were also open seas, is assumed, if nct proved, by geologists. It is also assumed that the vast tracts of northern country from which man has been driven by the cold were formerly warm and inhabited by vast populations who were driven downward and westward by decreasing temperatures. The overwhelming herds who began their westward migrations centuries before Christ and kept them up until the fifth century after Christ must have come from somewhere and have started with no intention of return. The map at which you are looking is supposed to represent the surface of Europe and Asia as they were when man first made his appearance. You will observe that America was united to Asia, Japan to Corea, the north of Africa to Spain, and Great Britain to Prance. The Black Sea and the Caspian were one with outlet to the north. Water covered large portions of Europe and Asia which are. now dry land. NTotice, however, that the valleys of the Tile and of the Euphrates were substantially as they are at present. Modem geology shows no changes in these valleys except those made by receding waters; history, none -5- but those made by alluvial deposits. 2 The next map shows portions of Europe, Africa and Asia as they are today and as they probably will remain until the next grand catastrophe renders the earth umfit for human habitation. With the exception of the valleys of the bile and of the Euphrates, vast deserts stretch from the Atlantic over the north of Africa, Arabia, and unin- terruptedly in a northeast direction to the Pacific Ocean. To the east of the Ganges the deserts are no longer on, or below, the level of the ocean, but from two, to three thousand feet above it. The valley of the Nile and the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris have points in common. They each break the deserts with their waters and with watered oases of fertility. The waters of all these rivers overflow at stated times and need artificial control. The valleys have also points of difference. The Nile flows north: the Euphrates and Tigris flow south. The Nile is about as long as the other two put together. The Nile valley is bounded by rocke hills full of excellent material for building. There are no, rocky hills near the Euphrates; so that Chaldean and Assyrian building was of perishable bricks which have tumbled and crumbled, leaving only vast mounds and ground outlines where were temples and palaces. By common consent of archaeologists civilization commenced along the Mile or along the Euphrates. Though Biblical history and oriental tradition give the -6- Euphrates the precedence, Egyptologists still claim that Nile civili- zation is the earlier. The partisans of each river are pushing back the origin of things at a rate to stagger the intellect of the ordi- nary layman. The latest statement I have seen is In an article by Y. Oppert, a distinguished French oriental scholar, who speaks with apparent approval of the Chaldean claim that the flocd took place 41,697 years before the birth of Christ and that kings were reigning in Chaldea 432,000 years before the flood. That ?:gyptologists will put up against this stupendous claim remains to be seen. So far as these lectures are concerned the priority will be accorded to Asia. Sunday school teaching must not and can not be forgotten. Until Noah and his ark are demonstrated out of existence let them remain with mt. Ararat and the Tower of Babel as historic verities, and let all civilized nations continue to trace their descent back to Shem, Ham and Japhet. It is odd that as yet no Egyptian tra- dition of the flood has been found. But the Egyptians cared little for their past. They were filled with the deeds of the present, while their speculations and cogitations were given to the future. In Chaldean literature, on the other hand, there are accounts of the origin of things which accord marvelously with those of the Bible. Heaven, hell, the spirit of evil, the creation and the fall of man, the flood, the confusion of languages and the dispersion of races, are told as -7- graphically and as creditably as in Genesis. The differences between the two accounts are only of detail and of nomenclature. So let the Euphrates enjoy its superior antiquity in peace. 3 The next map is from Goodspeed's history of the Babylonians and Assyrians- Though the very latest archaeology may find fault with it, it will serve to give you a general idea of the country under consideration. Following the rivers up from the Persian Gulf in the lower right hand corner, you can trace the Juphrates to its sources, along the northern slope of the Taurus Mountains of modern Armenia.
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