The World's Great Events (Volume 1); An Indexed History of the World from B.C. 4004 to A.D. 1908 (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE FOUNDING OF CHALDEA (B.C. 2250) GEORGE RAWLINSOM THE establishment of a Cushite kingdom in Lower Babylonia dates probably from (at least) the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth century before our era. Greek traditions assigned to the city of Babylon an antiquity nearly as remote; and the native historian, Berosus, spoke of a Chaldean dynasty as bearing rule anterior to B.C. 2250. Unfortunately the works of this great authority have been lost; and even the general outline of his chronological scheme, whereof some writers have left us an account, is to a certain extent imperfect; so that, in order to obtain a definite chronology for the early times, we are forced to have recourse, in some degree, to conjecture. Berosus declared that six dynasties had reigned in Chaldea since the great flood of Xisusthrus, or Noah. To the first, which consisted of 86 kings, he allowed the extravagant period of 34,080 years. Evechous, the founder of the dynasty, had enjoyed the royal dignity for 2,400 years, and Chomasbelus, his son and successor, had reigned 300years longerthan his father. The other 84 monarchs had filled up the remaining space of 28,980 From the ... . Years ? their reigns thus averaging 345 years apiece. It is clear that these numbers are un- historic; and though it would be easy to reduce them within the limits of credibility by arbitrary suppositions ? as, for instance, that the years of the narrative represent months or 'days ? yet it may reasonably be doubted whether we should in this way be doing any service to the cause of historic truth. The names Evechous and Chomasbelus seem mythic veloped in J rather than real; they represent personages in the Babylonian Pantheon, and can scarcely have been borne by men. It is likely that the entire series of names p...