"E'PP""'S l!'t'SWJMWS 'Zir'!!!'MMX' WMWW'It 1 Q :Th·e ·nome·Uni~~rs"ftY. Library . ·····.: ~~ ~, .•: •.-._: .. The Value .of THE HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY LTHOUGH many chea Abooks have been issued sin its first appearance, The Hom University Library easily mait tains its pre-eminence. It wa as the Daily Mail ·says, "u:~ doubtedly the pioneer in suppl "ing serious literature for a l!l\tt section of the public who are interested in the liberal educa­ tion. of the State." The value of The Home Uni- . versity Library lies in the fact · that each volume brings with· in the reach of all the abl~sl statement of a certain i!"portan field of knowledge, a revie written by an expert of the ver first rank, and yet so broad\· .generalised as to be interestir/ to· every intelligent reader. The Home Unh·ersity Libr't succe~ds because it ~rovides bes! and only the best. THE HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE LATEST YOLUMES• SPR.(l'fG 1928 No.18& A HISTORY OF ENGLAND, xSxs-1918; •By J. R. M. BUTLER, M.A., M.V.O., O.B.E., Fellow and Lecturer of Trinity College, Cambridge. · lllo. 188 . THE BRITISH EMPIRE. By BASIL WILLIAMS, M.A., O.B.E., Professor of History at Edinburgh University. AUTUMN 1928 No. 1ST RAILWAYS. By Sir JOSIAH STAM'P, G.B.E., Hon. D.Sc. (Oxford, Cambridge and LondonJ, F.B.A., and W. V. WOOD. No. lSI THE LIFE OF THE CELL. By D. LANDSBOROUGH THOMSON, M.A., B.Sc. (Aberdeen); Ph.D. (Cambridge). SPRING 1929 -·-···JESUS 189 OF NAZARETH. By the Rt. Rev. CHARLES GORE, M.A., D.D., Hon. D.C.L., Hon. LL.D., formerly Bishop'of Oxford. Other Volumes in preparation •. TIIORNTON BUTTe,RWOR1H, . LIMITED 15. BEDFORD STR'EET, LONDON, W.C Z HOMI! UNIVE!l.SITY L!Bll.ARY OF MODERN KNOWLEDGE VOL. 29. THE DAWN OF HISTORY BY J. L. MYRES, M.A. LONDON WILLIAMS & NORGATE, LTD. HENRY HOLT & Co., NEw Yonx · CANADA: RYERSON PRESS, ToRONTO INDIA: BURNS, OATES & WASHBOURNE, LTD, HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OP MODERN KNOWLEDGE Editor" RT, HON. H. A, L. FIS:W:ER, M.A. PROF, GILBERT MURRAY, D.LITT• LL.D.,. F.B.A. PROF, 1, ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A. PROP. WILLIAM T, BREWSTER, M.A. (CoLUYIJ.rA. UJUV&lliin', U.S.A.) NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY THE DAWN OF HISTORY BT J. L. MYRES, M.A. WYXZJIAiof PII:OJ'F.SSO'' OP AJO'CllrMT IIISTORYr Oli:POKD; lt.UTHOit OJ' "A HIS'tOR!t l' RO$!£ ~.,. &'I'C. LONDON WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, LTD. First Printed, Autumn, 1911 Reprinted, August, 1915 Reprinted, December, 1918 Reprinted, September, 1920 Reprtnted, May, 1923 Reprinted, OrtobeY, 1924 lt.epruz&r.:u October, 1920. lt.eprinted., August, 1927 PRHlTRD TN CRF.A1' BRITAIN BY THR tO!fDt'N AND NORWICII l'RI;SS, LUUTEU1 ST. GILES' WORKS, NORWICH CONTENTS OB.l.PTt'l.. p,uu- !NTRODUOTION • • 7 I l'!m PEOPLES wmcn HAVE NO HtsTOnY 13 II TnF. DRAMA oB HISTORY: ITs S·r.,os AND AOTOI<S 2U III THE DAWN 011' HisTORY IN EGYPT •• 45 IV THE Dt.. WN Oil' HisTORY IN BADYLO!UA 81 v lltB CoMING 0]' THE SEMITES JQ.J VI THE 'UPLAND NEIOIIDOUU.S OF BABYLO~IA 119 VII THE DAWN ALoNG THE LAND-Bn.IDOES 136 VIII THE DAWN IN THE EASTERN MEDI'l'.E:!.RANEAY 162 IX Tn:m CoMING OJJ' THE NoRTH ISO x; TnE DAWN OF HISTORY IN ITALY 218 XI TnB DAWN IN CENTRAL AND NoRTHERN Eum>PB 238 NoTB oN BooKS • • • 253 INDEX 255 • ~ • ~ ~ ' ~ ' INTRODUCTION HisTORY, in the widest usage of the word, is the study of events, the discovery and record of what happens; when we speak of Natural History, for example, we mean nothing less than the study of what goes on in Nature, the world about us. In a rather narrower sense, the " historical " sciences are those in which we cannot make experiments, but are limited to studying what goes on, in that order of time in which things happen to occur. When we describe things, therefore, in their " historical " order, we are stating their distribution in time ; just as we give their geographical order when we describe their distribution in space. In this sense, therefore, History is a sister­ science to Geography. Both deal with the arrangement of events, together with the causes and effects of this arrangement. But usually, when we speak of history, we mean not Natural History, but the record of the doings of Man. Even so, however, man does many things of which historians take little account, unless they happen to be writing 7 8 I~"TRODUCTION the special history of those particular achieve­ ments, such as writing or music or war. Even the general history of the human race is commonly resigned to another science, Anthro- . pology; and the behaviour of man-in-groups, to another department again, which is properly Ethnology (or a chief part of it), but commonly has the barbarous and awk­ ward title of Sociology. To draw a dividing line between History and these other studies is not easy. It is useful however to remember that when we wish to express a historical fact most briefly, we reduce it to a name and a date. The fact of the Norman Conquest, for example, is as conveniently expressed by the formula " William I., 1066," as the facts about the composition of water by the chemical formula H 20. In neither case does acquaintance with the formula convey much information about the facts, least of all is it any substitute for knowledge of them, and it is mainly because some people treat names and dates as a substitute for historical knowledge, instead of a mere historical notation, that many beginners find history dull. At the same time, without dates, more or less accurately determined, how can we be sure of the order in which events occurred, the length of the intervals between them, or the dur;l.tion of perioqs ? And without names, of INTRODUCTION 9 peoples, places, and (above all) of individuals, how should we know what it was that hap­ pened at any given " date " ? who did it ? and where? and what other people joined in it, or felt its effects ? Now it is common knowledge that in ordinary history the names and doings of individuals are among the most important of its facts ; so much so, that history has even been described as the study of the influence of great men. We know well, also, that the greater part of history is the record not of things immutable, but of change; and that the reason why we pay so much attention to great men, is because they are the agents by whom, or through whose means, great changes are wrought. It is less commonly realized, on the other hand, that it is among savage and barbarous peoples that there is the least room for change in their way of life. There, nearly everything is fixed and ordained by rigid ~ustom : innovation is feared, and innovators are detested and suppressed. In savage society, therefore, there is almost as little room , for a " great man," as there would be among gorillas for a " great ape." Such groups of men, though their members individually . are quite rational beings, are trained by their surroundings, and their elders, to conformity with a way of living which seems only to change as the habits of 10 INTRODUCTION animals change, in response to changes In their surroundings, and above all in the way · they get their food. Such people as these can hardly be said to have any history, except in the wide sense of " Natural History " with which we began ; for that includes the doings of all animals alike. Further, we commonly speak of "pre­ historic " times ; and in doing so we admit that there are early stages of the development . even of " historical " peoples, which are beyond our direct knowledge, through the simple fact that the ancestors of these people have not left any record intelligible to us. For the study of these " prehistoric " times we are reduced to what we can discover indirectly by the study of such ancient implements, habitations, or works of art, as have lasted down to the present : and though we can often make out the order i:ri which inventions, improvements, or other changes occurred, we are usually very far from being able to discover either names or dates. · But when people pass from " prehistoric " . times, with primitive-almost animal-uni­ formity of behaviour, into a "historic" existence, with successive changes of habits and institutions brought about at ascertain­ able dates, and more and more usually, as times goes on, through the influence and agency of " historical characters," they gener- INTRODUCTION 11 ally do so not suddenly, but by degrees. Frequently, for example, we know a good deal about the art, the trade, and the manu­ factures of a people, before we know much about their language or their institutions. At the same time, most of the peoples who have played a great part in history, have as a matter of fact started their " historical " period with something of a crisis, and period _of rapid change. It is in this sense that we may speak of a "Dawn of History " as a subject of scientific study ; and it is the object of this book to answer the question, how, when, and where, each of the peoples whose doings have most affected the course of human history made its first historical appearance ; and also, as far as we can, the reason why they made their appearance in this particular way.