a history of science-1-第13章

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e　efforts　of　the　Babylonians　and　Assyrians　chiefly　centred　about　the　subjects　of　astrology　and　magic。　With　the　records　of　their　ghost…haunted　science　fresh　in　mind；　one　might　be　forgiven　for　a　momentary　desire　to　take　issue　with　Canon　Rawlinson's　words。　We　are　assured　that　the　scientific　attainments　of　Europe　are　almost　solely　to　be　credited　to　Babylonia　and　not　to　Egypt；　but　we　should　not　forget　that　Plato；　the　greatest　of　the　Greek　thinkers；　went　to　Egypt　and　not　to　Babylonia　to　pursue　his　studies　when　he　wished　to　penetrate　the　secrets　of　Oriental　science　and　philosophy。　Clearly；　then；　classical　Greece　did　not　consider　Babylonia　as　having　a　monopoly　of　scientific　knowledge；　and　we　of　to…day；　when　we　attempt　to　weigh　the　new　evidence　that　has　come　to　us　in　recent　generations　with　the　Babylonian　records　themselves；　find　that　some；　at　least；　of　the　heritages　for　which　Babylonia　has　been　praised　are　of　more　than　doubtful　value。　Babylonia；　for　example；　gave　us　our　seven…day　week　and　our　system　of　computing　by　twelves。　But　surely　the　world　could　have　got　on　as　well　without　that　magic　number　seven；　and　after　some　hundreds　of　generations　we　are　coming　to　feel　that　the　decimal　system　of　the　Egyptians　has　advantages　over　the　duodecimal　system　of　the　Babylonians。　Again；　the　Babylonians　did　not　invent　the　alphabet；　they　did　not　even　accept　it　when　all　the　rest　of　the　world　had　recognized　its　value。　In　grammar　and　arithmetic；　as　with　astronomy；　they　seemed　not　to　have　advanced　greatly；　if　at　all；　upon　the　Egyptians。　One　field　in　which　they　stand　out　in　startling　pre…　eminence　is　the　field　of　astrology；　but　this；　in　the　estimate　of　modern　thought；　is　the　very　negation　of　science。　Babylonia　impressed　her　superstitions　on　the　Western　world；　and　when　we　consider　the　baleful　influence　of　these　superstitions；　we　may　almost　question　whether　we　might　not　reverse　Canon　Rawlinson's　estimate　and　say　that　perhaps　but　for　Babylonia　real　civilization；　based　on　the　application　of　true　science；　might　have　dawned　upon　the　earth　a　score　of　centuries　before　it　did。　Yet；　after　all；　perhaps　this　estimate　is　unjust。　Society；　like　an　individual　organism；　must　creep　before　it　can　walk；　and　perhaps　the　Babylonian　experiments　in　astrology　and　magic；　which　European　civilization　was　destined　to　copy　for　some　three　or　four　thousand　years；　must　have　been　made　a　part　of　the　necessary　evolution　of　our　race　in　one　place　or　in　another。　That　thought；　however；　need　not　blind　us　to　the　essential　fact；　which　the　historian　of　science　must　needs　admit；　that　for　the　Babylonian；　despite　his　boasted　culture；　science　spelled　superstition。

IV。　THE　DEVELOPMENT　OF　THE　ALPHABET　Before　we　turn　specifically　to　the　new　world　of　the　west；　it　remains　to　take　note　of　what　may　perhaps　be　regarded　as　the　very　greatest　achievement　of　ancient　science。　This　was　the　analysis　of　speech　sounds；　and　the　resulting　development　of　a　system　of　alphabetical　writing。　To　comprehend　the　series　of　scientific　inductions　which　led　to　this　result；　we　must　go　back　in　imagination　and　trace　briefly　the　development　of　the　methods　of　recording　thought　by　means　of　graphic　symbols。　In　other　words；　we　must　trace　the　evolution　of　the　art　of　writing。　In　doing　so　we　cannot　hold　to　national　lines　as　we　have　done　in　the　preceding　two　chapters；　though　the　efforts　of　the　two　great　scientific　nations　just　considered　will　enter　prominently　into　the　story。　The　familiar　Greek　legend　assures　us　that　a　Phoenician　named　Kadmus　was　the　first　to　bring　a　knowledge　of　letters　into　Europe。　An　elaboration　of　the　story；　current　throughout　classical　times；　offered　the　further　explanation　that　the　Phoenicians　had　in　turn　acquired　the　art　of　writing　from　the　Egyptians　or　Babylonians。　Knowledge　as　to　the　true　origin　and　development　of　the　art　of　writing　did　not　extend　in　antiquity　beyond　such　vagaries　as　these。　Nineteenth…century　studies　gave　the　first　real　clews　to　an　understanding　of　the　subject。　These　studies　tended　to　authenticate　the　essential　fact　on　which　the　legend　of　Kadmus　was　founded；　to　the　extent；　at　least；　of　making　it　probable　that　the　later　Grecian　alphabet　was　introduced　from　Phoeniciathough　not；　of　course；　by　any　individual　named　Kadmus；　the　latter　being；　indeed；　a　name　of　purely　Greek　origin。　Further　studies　of　the　past　generation　tended　to　corroborate　the　ancient　belief　as　to　the　original　source　of　the　Phoenician　alphabet；　but　divided　scholars　between　two　opinions：　the　one　contending　that　the　Egyptian　hieroglyphics　were　the　source　upon　which　the　Phoenicians　drew；　and　the　other　contending　with　equal　fervor　that　the　Babylonian　wedge　character　must　be　conceded　that　honor。　But；　as　has　often　happened　in　other　fields　after　years　of　acrimonious　controversy；　a　new　discovery　or　two　may　suffice　to　show　that　neither　contestant　was　right。　After　the　Egyptologists　of　the　school　of　De　Rouge＇1＇　thought　they　had　demonstrated　that　the　familiar　symbols　of　the　Phoenician　alphabet　had　been　copied　from　that　modified　form　of　Egyptian　hieroglyphics　known　as　the　hieratic　writing；　the　Assyriologists　came　forward　to　prove　that　certain　characters　of　the　Babylonian　syllabary　also　show　a　likeness　to　the　alphabetical　characters　that　seemingly　could　not　be　due　to　chance。　And　then；　when　a　settlement　of　the　dispute　seemed　almost　hopeless；　it　was　shown　through　the　Egyptian　excavations　that　characters　even　more　closely　resembling　those　in　dispute　had　been　in　use　all　about　the　shores　of　the　Mediterranean；　quite　independently　of　either　Egyptian　or　Assyrian　writings；　from　periods　so　ancient　as　to　be　virtually　prehistoric。　Coupled　with　this　disconcerting　discovery　are　the　revelations　brought　to　light　by　the　excavations　at　the　sites　of　Knossos　and　other　long…buried　cities　of　the　island　of　Crete。＇2＇　These　excavations；　which　are　still　in　progress；　show　that　the　art　of　writing　was　known　and　practised　independently　in　Crete　before　that　cataclysmic　overthrow　of　the　early　Greek　civilization　which　archaeologists　are　accustomed　to　ascribe　to　the　hypothetical　invasion　of　the　Dorians。　The　significance　of　this　is　that　the　art　of　writing　was　known　in　Europe　long　before　the　advent　of　the　mythical　Kadmus。　But　since　the　early　Cretan　scripts　are　not　to　be　identified　with　the　scripts　used　in　Greece　in　historical　times；　whereas　the　latter　are　undoubtedly　of　lineal　descent　from　the　Phoenician　alphabet；　the　validity　of　the　Kadmus　legend；　in　a　modified　form；　must　still　be　admitted。　As　has　just　been　suggested；　the　new　knowledge；　particularly　that　which　related　to　the　great　antiquity　of　characters　similar　to　the　Phoenician　alphabetical　signs；　is　somewhat　disconcerting。　Its　general　trend；　however；　is　quite　in　the　same　direction　with　most　of　the　new　archaeological　knowledge　of　recent　decades…that　is　to　say；　it　tends　to　emphasize　the　idea　that　human　civilization　in　most　of　its　important　elaborations　is　vastly　older　than　has　hitherto　been　supposed。　It　may　be　added；　however；　that　no　definite　clews　are　as　yet　available　that　enable　us　to　fix　even　an　approximate　date　for　the　origin　of　the　Phoenician　alphabet。　The　signs；　to　which　reference　has　been　made；　may　well　have　been　in　existence　for　thousands　of　years；　utilized　merely　as　property　marks；　symbols　for　counting　and　the　like；　before　the　idea　of　setting　them　aside　as　phonetic　symbols　was　ever　conceived。　Nothing　is　more　certain；　in　the　judgment　of　the　present…day　investigator；　than　that　man　learned　to　write　by　slow　and　painful　stages。　It　is　probable　that　the　conception　of　such　an　analysis　of　speech　sounds　as　would　make　the　idea　of　an　alphabet　possible　came　at　a　very　late　stage　of　social　evolution；　and　as　the　culminating　achievement　of　a　long　series　of　improvements　in　the　art　of　writing。　The　precise　steps　that　marked　this　path　of　intellectual　development　can　for　the　most　part　be　known　only　by　inference；　yet　it　is　probable　that　the　main　chapters　of　the　story　may　be　reproduced　with　essential　accuracy。

FIRST　STEPS　For　the　very　first　chapters　of　the　story　we　must　go　back　in　imagination　to　the　prehistoric　period。　Even　barbaric　man　feels　the　need　of　self…expression；　and　strives　to　make　his　ideas　manifest　to　other　men　by　pictorial　signs。　The　cave…dwellers　scratched　pictures　of　men　and　animals　on　the　surface　of　a　reindeer　horn　or　mammoth　tusk　as　mementos　of　his　prowess。　The　American　Indian　does　essentially　the　same　thing　to…day；　making　pictures　that　crudely　record　his　successes　in　war　and　the　chase。　The　Northern　Indian　had　got　no　farther　than　this　when　the　white　man　discovered　America；　but　the　Aztecs　of　the　Southwest　and　the　Maya　people　of　Yucatan　had　carried　their　picture…　making　to　a　much　higher　state　of　elaboration。＇3＇　They　had　developed　systems　of　pictographs　or　hieroglyphics　that　would　doubtless　in　the　course　of　generations　have　been　elaborated　into　alphabetical　systems；　had　not　the　Europeans　cut　off　the　civilization　of　which　they　were　the　highest　exponents。　What　the　Aztec　and　Maya　were　striving　towards　in　the　sixteenth　century　A。D。；　various　Oriental　nations　had　attained　at　least　five　or　six　thousand　years　earlier。　In　Egypt　at　the　time　of　the　pyramid…builders；　and　in　Babylonia　at　the　same　epoch；　the　people　had　developed　systems　of　writing　that　enabled　them　not　merely　to　present　a　limited　range　of　ideas　pictorially；　but　to　express　in　full　elaboration　and　with　finer　shades　of　meaning　all　the　ideas　that　pertain　to　highly　cultured　existence。　The　man　of　that　time　made　records　of　military　achievements；　recorded　the　transactions　of　every…day　business　life；　and　gave　expression　to　his　moral　and　spiritual　aspirations　in　a　way　strangely　comparable　to　the　manner　of　our　own　time。　He　had　perfected　highly　elaborate　systems　of　writing。

EGYPTIAN　WRITING　Of　the　two　ancient　systems　of　writing　just　referred　to　as　being　in　vogue　at　the　so…called　dawnings　of　history；　the　more　picturesque　and　suggestive　was　the　hieroglyphic　system　of　the　Egyptians。　This　is　a　curiously　conglomerate　system　of　writing；　made　up　in　part　of　symbols　reminiscent　of　the　crudest　stages　of　picture…writing；　in　part　of　symbols　having　the　phonetic　value　of　syllables；　and　in　part　of　true　alphabetical　letters。　In　a　word；　the　Egyptian　writing　represents　in　itself　the　elements　of　the　various　stages　through　which　the　art　of　writing　has　developed。＇4＇　We　must　conceive　that　new　features　were　from　time　to　time　added　to　it；　while　the　old　features；　curiously　enough；　were　not　given　up。　Here；　for　example；　in　the　midst　of　unintelligible　lines　and　pot…hooks；　are　various　pictures　that　are　instantly　recognizable　as　representations　of　hawks；　lions；　ibises；　and　the　like。　It　can　hardly　be　questioned　that　when　these　pictures　were　first　used　calligraphically　they　were　meant　to　represent　the　idea　of　a　bird　or　animal。　In　other　words；　the　first　stage　of　picture…writing　did　not　go　beyond　the　mere　representation　of　an　eagle　by　the　picture　of　an　eagle。　But　this；　obviously；　would　confine　the　presentation　of　ideas　within　very　narrow　limits。　In　due　course　some　inventive　genius　conceived　the　thought　of　symbolizing　a　picture。　To　him　the　outline　of　an　eagle　might　represent　not　merely　an　actual　bird；　but　the　thought　of　strength；　of　courage；　or　of　swift　progress。　Such　a　use　of　symbols　obviously　extends　the　range　of　utility　of　a　nascent　art　of　writing。　Then　in　due　course　some　wonderful　psychologistor　perhaps　the　joint　efforts　of　many　generations　of