HISTORY OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATION ***
Produced by Thierry Alberto, Jeannie Howse and the Online Distributed Proofreaders Europe at http://dp.rastko.net.
* * * * *
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Transcriber's Note: | | | | Bolded text is distinguished by ='s at start and finish. | | Italicized text is distinguished by _'s at start and finish. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
HISTORY OF
ANCIENT CIVILIZATION
BY
CHARLES SEIGNOBOS
DOCTOR OF LETTERS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS
LONDON T. FISHER UNWIN ADELPHI TERRACE MCMVII
(_All rights reserved_)
EDITOR'S NOTE
In preparing this volume, the Editor has used both the three-volume edition and the two-volume edition of the "Histoire de la Civilisation." He has usually preferred the order of topics of the two-volume edition, but has supplemented the material therein with other matter drawn from the three-volume edition.
A few corrections to the text have been given in foot-notes. These notes are always clearly distinguished from the elucidations of the author.
A.H.W.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PREHISTORIC TIMES. Prehistoric archæology--Prehistoric remains; their antiquity--Prehistoric science--The four ages.
THE ROUGH STONE AGE. Remains found in the gravels--The cave-men.
THE POLISHED STONE AGE. Lake-villages--Megalithic monuments.
THE BRONZE AGE. Bronze--Bronze objects.
THE IRON AGE. Iron--Iron weapons--Epochs of the Iron Age.
Conclusions: How the four ages are to be conceived; uncertainties; solved questions.
CHAPTER II
HISTORY AND THE DOCUMENTS. History--Legends--History in general--Great divisions of history--Ancient history--Modern history--The Middle Ages.
SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS. Books--Monuments--Inscriptions--Languages--Lacunæ.
RACES AND PEOPLES. Anthropology--The races--Civilized peoples--Aryans and Semites.
CHAPTER III
THE EGYPTIANS. Egypt--The country--The Nile--Fertility of the soil--The accounts of Herodotus--Champollion--Egyptologists--Discoveries.
THE EGYPTIAN EMPIRE. Antiquity of the Egyptian people--Memphis and the pyramids--Egyptian civilization--Thebes--The Pharaoh--The subjects--Despotism--Isolation of the Egyptians.
RELIGION OF THE EGYPTIANS. The gods--Osiris--Ammon-râ--Gods with animal heads--Sacred animals--The bull Apis--Worship of the dead--Judgment of the soul--Mummies--Book of the Dead--The arts--Industry-- Architecture--Tombs--Temples--Sculpture--Painting--Literature-- Destinies of the Egyptian civilization.
CHAPTER IV
THE ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS. Chaldea--The land--The people--The cities.
THE ASSYRIANS--Assyria--Origins--Ancient accounts--Modern discoveries-- Inscriptions on bricks--Cuneiform writing--The Assyrian people--The king--Fall of the Assyrian Empire.
