APPENDICES

[54]See Burrows, "The Discoveries in Crete," p. 9.

[55]Op. cit., p. 134.

[56]See Sayce, "Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions," p. 181, Burrows, "The Discoveries in Crete," p. 139, and Hall, "Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch.," XXXI., p. 225.

[57]For the evolution of Minoan writing, see Evans, "Scripta Minoa," I., pp. 19 ff., 28 ff.

[58]The clay disk stamped with hieroglyphic characters, which has been discovered by Prof. Halbherr at Phaestos, may be cited in support of this view. From a scrutiny of the characters upon it, Dr. Evans concludes that the original home of its peculiar non-Cretan form of writing is to be sought in the South-West coast-lands of Asia Minor, or in an island in close contact with the mainland. The disk belongs to a period when the linear form of script had succeeded the hieroglyphic in Crete itself (see "Scripta Minoa," I., pp. 22 ff., 273 ff.).

[59]It is also through a Hittite medium that we may possibly trace a connection between the composite monsters of Babylonian and Minoan art; see Sayce,op. cit., p. 180. It should be noted, however, that, although the idea underlying the designs upon the Zakro sealings may be of foreign origin, the development of the variant types of many of the monster forms was purely local and confined to a single period (cf. Hogarth, "Journal of Hellenic Studies," Vol. XXII., p. 91). Moreover, the bull-monsters, or "Minotaurs," of Aegean art were obviously derived from the local cult of Knossos; in the winged and bird-like types Cappadocian influence is more probable.

[60]See Burrows, "Discoveries in Crete," p. 149.

[61]In this respect it forms a striking contrast to the clay cylinder from the sepulchral deposit of Hagios Onuphrios near Phaestos. The latter is unperforated and the designs are cut at each end of the seal; it is thus no true cylinder, but merely a double-button seal (see Evans, "Cretan Pictographs," pp. 105, 107).

[62]The figures engraved upon the seal consist of a lion-headed demon and two female figures, possibly with the heads of animals; they are arranged across the field of the cylinder from edge to edge. The seal is of soft, black stone, much worn (see Bosanquet, "The Annual of the British School at Athens," No. VIII., p. 302).

[63]See "Ionia and the East," p. 96 f.

[64]See above, p.334f.

[65]Cf. Hogarth, "Ionia and the East," p. 47 f.

I.—Recent Explorations in Turkestan in their Relation to the Sumerian Problem.

II.—A Chronological List of the Kings and Rulers of Sumer and Akkad.

In the second chapter of this volume the opinion was expressed that, in spite of the unsoundness of certain arguments in favour of the theory, the original home of the Sumerians was to be sought beyond the mountains to the east of the Babylonian plain.[1]The arrival of the Sumerians on the banks of the Euphrates would thus have been a single episode in a series of similar migrations from the east, which, during the historical period, are known to have made their appearance in that quarter of Western Asia. Until recently it was only possible to suggest that such migratory movements were to be traced to racial unrest in more distant regions, and few data were available for supporting any detailed theory as to the causes of this occasional pressure westwards. Important evidence, which has both a direct and an indirect bearing on the problem, has, however, been obtained as a result of recent explorations in Russian and Chinese Turkestan.

The two expeditions conducted by Mr. Raphael Pumpelly, on behalf of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, in 1903 and 1904, the results of which have now been fully published, were occupied mainly with work in the Transcaspian province of Russian Turkestan. The physiographical observations collected by the first Pumpelly Expedition were supplemented during the second of them by archaeological evidence, obtained by excavations at Anau near Askhabad, and in the Merv Oasis, under the direction of Dr. Hubert Schmidt, of Berlin, who joined the staff of the expedition for that purpose. Both classes of evidence have a direct bearing upon the problem under discussion.

Of more remote interest, in the present connection, are the explorations and excavations carried out by Dr. Stein in Chinese Turkestan, on behalf of the Indian Government, during his journeys of 1900-1 and 1906-8. Lying in the Tarim basin to the east of the Pamirs, the principal scene of his labours is far removed from those regions of Western and Central Asia from which direct light may be expected upon the Sumerian problem. But the Khotan oases and the Taklamakan Desertpresent in many respects an interesting parallel to the conditions prevailing in the southern districts of the Russian province; and they illustrate, during more recent historical periods, a climatic and geological process of which far earlier traces have been noted in the latter region. The investigation of the archaeological remains, till lately buried in Khotan, has also demonstrated the comparatively short period of time required for extensive physical changes to have taken place. Finally, the physiographical researches of Mr. Ellsworth Huntington, who accompanied the first Pumpelly expedition, have been extended during 1905-7 into the region of Dr. Stein's travels, along the southern and eastern borders of the Taklamakan Desert, and have resulted in obtaining corroborative evidence of theories already deduced from observations in Russian Turkestan.

It has already been remarked that the work of the Pumpelly Expeditions was of a twofold character. On the one hand, the majority of the members devoted themselves to the collection of material bearing on the physiography of the Central Asian deserts and oases; and, as a result of their labours, they have produced a valuable series of monographs, illustrating climatic and physical changes which have taken place in that region of the world. On the other hand, the excavations conducted at Anau by Dr. Schmidt have been followed by a careful presentment of the archaeological material, including a very complete ceramic record. The general discussion of the results was undertaken by Mr. Raphael Pumpelly, the leader of the expeditions, who has given an able and suggestive summary of what he conceives to be their general bearing, not only from the geological side, but also in their relation to the early history of Western Asiatic, and even of North African culture.[2]At the outset it should be mentioned that, on the archaeological side, several of Mr. Pumpelly's generalizations appear to be too far reaching, and he seems to push some of his conclusions beyond the limit of his evidence. But this does not detract in any way from the value of the new data, which he has been largely instrumental in acquiring.

I.—THE NORTH KURGAN AT ANAU AND THE CAMP OF THE PUMPELLY EXPEDITION. II.—THE SOUTH KURGAN AT ANAU, SHOWING EXCAVATIONS IN PROGRESS.—From Pumpelly, Expl. in Turk. 1, p. 17, Figs. 5 and 6

TERRA-COTTA FIGURINES FROM THE SOUTH KURGAN AT ANAU. —From Pumpelly, Expl. in Turk., 1, pl. 46, Figs. 9-17

We are not here concerned with details of the earlier geological evidence, except in so far as they illustrate or explain the physical changes in the character of the country during more recent times. It has long been recognized that the deserts of Central Asia owe their existence to a process ofdesiccation that has taken place since the Glacial epoch,[3]and recent investigations have shown that the contrast to present conditions was even more marked than was previously supposed. The members of the first Pumpelly Expedition have noted that glaciers existed on a greatly extended scale throughout the mountains bordering the great basins of Central Asia on the south and east, and they have proved the existence of several great glacial expansions, each of which naturally reacted on the climate of the central region. During the sub-glacial period there was a general trend towards desolation, and the dried silts of seas and rivers were carried by the wind across the surface of the ground. The lightest material was carried farthest, and, wherever the scanty vegetation could hold it, it was deposited in beds of "loess," the extraordinarily fine and fertile soil which covers a great part of Northern China and Turkestan, and extends in a continuous zone from North of the Caspian to Central Europe.[4]The heavier silts in the shape of sands moved more slowly under the pressure of the wind, and they formed great deserts of sand-dunes, heaped in places more than a hundred feet high. It is to the shifting or formation of such sand-deserts in historic times that we owe the burial of the cities in the Khotan region, which have been so successfully excavated by Dr. Stein for the Indian Government.[5]

Although it is clear that since Glacial times there has been a general trend towards the present arid condition of Central Asia, there is reason to believe that, as in the Glacial epoch, the subsequent climatic changes have not been uniform. Periods of extreme aridity have occurred in which the condition of certain regions may have been more desolate than it is to-day. But these appear to have alternated with more humid periods, when the tracts which were deserted may again have been rendered capable of sustaining life. Already in the prehistoric period, however, the sea of sand-dunes had encroached upon the fertile plains of loess, and it is mainly in the delta-oases, formed by streams emerging from the mountains, or at points where large rivers lose themselves in the plain, as at Merv, that traces of man's handiwork have been discovered.

Throughout the region of the oases in Southern Turkestan, to the north of the Kopet Dagh, the Pumpelly Expedition constantly noted the sites of former habitations in regions which are now desolate. Not only are there traces of occupation where villages exist to-day, but there are also large areas which must once have been densely peopled, although they are now deserted. The present supply of water in the region could support but a small proportion of its former inhabitants, and it is necessary to suppose either that there was a greater rainfall, or that evaporation was less rapid owing to a lower temperature. Similar evidence has been collected with regard to the former condition of Chinese Turkestan,[6]and it is clear that extensive tracts in Central Asia, which are now abandoned to the desert, at one time supported a considerable population. The evidence points to a change in climatic conditions, which has reacted on the character of the country in such a way as to cause racial migrations.[7]

In the hope of throwing light on the character of the former dwellers in the deserted regions of Russian Turkestan, the second Pumpelly Expedition undertook excavations at selected sites. At Ghiaur Kala in the Merv Oasis it was ascertained that the earliest period of occupation was not older than a few centuries B.C., though it is probable that among the greatnumber of mounds in the oasis some are of a considerably earlier date. Far more important were the results obtained by excavations in the region below the northern slopes of the Kopet Dagh. It was at one of the delta-oases, at Anau, near Askhabad, some three hundred miles east of the Caspian, that the Pumpelly Expedition found traces of prehistoric cultures, and obtained its principal material for archaeological study.

Near the middle of the Anau oasis, and about a mile apart, are two hills with rounded contours, rising some forty and fifty feet above the plain, and marking the sites of long-forgotten cities. The structure of the North Kurgan, or tumulus, had already been exposed by a trench cut in it some twenty-five years ago by General Komorof, which showed stratified remains, including bones of animals and potsherds of plain and painted wares. It was this trench that first directed Mr. Pumpelly's attention to the mound during his first expedition, and his subsequent excavations, both here and in the South Kurgan, exposed the same stratified structure.

Fig. 68. Designs on painted potsherds of the Neolithic period (Culture I.) from the North Kurgan at Anau.—From Pumpelly,Expl. in Turk., I., p. 128, Nos. 67-73.

The strata represented successive occupations of the site, and, as its inhabitants lived in houses built of sun-dried bricks, the hills gradually rose in height. Of the two hills, the North Kurgan was of earliest formation, its earlier strata containing the remains of a stone-age culture, and its upper culture representing an aeneolithic stage of civilization. The third culture, that of the lowest strata in the South Kurgan, dates from a copper age. The archaeological part of the work was directed by Dr. Schmidt, and to his admirable method of noting the precise spot and level of every object recovered we owe the possibility of tracing the gradual development of culture during the successive periods of settlement. Moreover, the Transcaspian railway passes little more than half a mile to the north of the northern mound, or Kurgan. Hence there was nodifficulty and little risk involved in the conveyance to Europe of all the archaeological material obtained. The collection of animal bones from the North Kurgan weighed nearly half a ton, but they were despatched without difficulty to Dr. Duerst of Zurich, who contributed a report on them to the record of the second expedition.

Fig. 69. Designs on painted potsherds of the Aeneolithic period (Culture II.) from the North Kurgan at Anau.—From Pumpelly,Expl. in Turk., I., p. 133, Nos. 106-113.

The cultural progress of the three periods is, however, most clearly revealed by the pottery, which exhibits a gradual evolution in form, technique, and decoration. Although the vessels of the first two cultures are hand-made, and the wheel was not introduced until Culture III., yet the vessels of both earlier epochs are excellent ceramic productions. It has already been noted that many of the geometric designs occurring on pottery of the earlier periods from the North Kurgan bear a certain resemblance to similar pottery found by MM. Gautier and Lampre at Mussian, and by M. de Morgan at Susa. This may well point to some connection between the stone and early metal-using cultures of Transcaspia and Elam; while the baked clay figurines from the copper culture of the South Kurgan may be held to prove some early cultural contact with the Sumerians.[8]

Mr. Pumpelly himself would regard the Central Asian oases as the fountain-head of Western Asiatic culture. According to his theory, they were isolated from Europe and Africa from the Glacial period onwards, and their cultural requirements were evolved in complete independence. Changes in climatic conditions, however, took place, under which the early civilizations in these regions tended to disappear, and these gave rise to extensive migrations, which reacted in turn on the outside world. In support of his theory he would trace the early appearance of wheat and barley both in Egypt and Babylonia, and the presence of certain breeds of domestic animals, to their first establishment in the Transcaspian oases. But, in addition to differences in their ceramics, the total absence of any form of writing in the mounds at Anau tells against any theory necessitating a very close racial connection between the early inhabitants of the oases and the Sumerians of Babylonia.

The evidence, in fact, does not justify us in placing the original home of the Sumerians at Anau, nor indeed in any particular spot in Central Asia or Iran that has yet been examined. But it serves to indicate the region of the world in which we may expect that future excavations will reveal data of a more conclusive character. It may be that the ruined sites of Seistan and the Kirman province will exhibit closer parallels with the civilizations of Elam and Sumer. Meanwhile it is clear that some contact must have taken place between the early peoples of the latter countries and the settlements to the north of the Kopet Dagh. We may thus picture the Sumerians before their arrival in Babylonia as inhabitants of some district to the east of the Euphrates valley, where they evolved the elements of their culture, which is already found in a comparatively advanced stage of development on the earliest of South Babylonian sites.

A further result of the recent explorations in Turkestan is that an adequate explanation is afforded of the unrest in Central Asia, which gave rise to the Sumerian immigration and to similar racial movements westward. It may now be regarded as established that periods of desiccation and extreme aridity have led to the abandonment of extensive tracts of country, with the result that their former inhabitants have, from time to time, been forced to seek sanctuary in more favoured districts. While nomad tribes in their search for fresh pasturage might drift over the broad steppes to the north and west of Turkestan, the agricultural peoples on its southern border would be forcedto turn south of the Caspian. The bleak uplands of the Iranian plateau offer small attractions for permanent settlement, and the routes of the migrant tribes would naturally lead in the direction of Asia Minor and the Mesopotamian plain. Such a condition of unrest in Central Asia would naturally react on peoples at a considerable distance, and this fact explains the periodical invasions to which Babylonia has been subjected from the east. It may be added that the immigration of Semitic tribes into Syria and Northern Babylonia should possibly be traced to physical causes of a like nature. Periods of aridity may have occurred in the central portions of the Arabian continent, and may have given rise to the Semitic invasions of prehistoric and historic times.

Thus it is possible that the two races, which we find in possession of Sumer and Akkad during the earliest historical periods, though they arrived from opposite quarters, were forced into the region of the Euphrates by causes of a precisely similar character. As the Semites, on their way northwards from Arabia, colonized the Syrian coast-lands through which they passed, so the Sumerian race may well have left permanent traces of its presence in the valleys and more fertile oases of Iran. There are already indications that work on Syrian and West Mesopotamian sites will throw a flood of light upon the problems of early Semitic history, and it may perhaps fall to the lot of a fortunate excavator, in some region east of the Euphrates valley, to recover the cult-images of primitive Sumerian gods, and to bring to light examples of the picture-writing from which the early cuneiform characters were derived.

[1]See above, p.53f.

[2]Accounts of the first expedition were published under the title "Explorations in Turkestan," as Publication No. 26 of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (1905). The various monographs on the results of the second expedition are published in two volumes, entitled "Explorations in Turkestan; Expedition of 1904," as Publication No. 73 (1908) of the same institution. Both works were edited by Mr. Raphael Pumpelly, who in 1906 had already summarized his conclusions in his Presidential Address before the Geological Society of America (see "Bulletin of the Geol. Soc. of Amer.," Vol. 17, pp. 637 ff.). In a separate volume, entitled "The Pulse of Asia," Mr. Huntington has given an account of his more recent journey.

[3]Cf. Geikie, "The Great Ice Age and its Relation to the Antiquity of Man," 3rd ed., pp. 694, 698. In 1894, Prof. James Geikie had noted the probability that glacial phenomena were more extensively developed in the mountains and tablelands of Asia than he felt justified in representing in his Glacial Map of Asia. In it he incorporated only the results of previous observations, at the same time emphasizing its "necessarily unsatisfactory character" (op. cit., p. 831, PI. xiii.). This lack of evidence has now in great measure been remedied.

[4]Loess was formerly regarded as simply a deposit of glacial or fluvial origin, but Richthofen's theory that its subsequent distribution was largely due to wind-transport (cf. "China," Bd. I., pp. 56 ff.) is now generally accepted. The fact that it is found heaped up against the sides of mountains and contains land, and not water, shells, is unanswerable evidence. For its general character and distribution, see Sir Archibald Geikie's "Text-book of Geology," 4th ed., I., pp. 439 f.; II., p. 1351. It may be noted that the formation of loess-beds and sand-deserts is a continuous process at the present day, under the strong winds which prevail in certain seasons in Central Asia; and even when there is little wind the air is often thick with fine dust. The reverse of the process is visible in the effects of wind-erosion, very striking instances of which have been described by Dr. Stein; cp.e.g."Ruins of Khotan," p. 189 f., and "Ancient Khotan." I., p. 107.

[5]It should be noted that the substance of the dunes around Khotan is to be distinguished from the true drifting sand of other Central Asian deserts. For Prof. de Lóczy has shown by analysis that there is almost complete uniformity in composition between the recently formed fertile loess of Yotkan (the site of the ancient capital of Khotan) and the moving "sand" now surrounding and covering the ancient sites in the desert; cf. "Ancient Khotan," I., pp. 127 f., 199, 242. The thickness of pure loess above the culture stratum at Yotkan was no less than from nine to eleven feet, a fact which had led earlier European visitors to suppose that some catastrophe, such as a great flood, had overwhelmed the old town. It is merely a striking example of the manner in which vegetation, under irrigation, catches and retains the floating loess-dust.

[6]After his recent journey Dr. Stein writes of the Khotan region that it appears to him certain that "the water-supply at present available in the Yurung-kash could under no system whatever be made to suffice for the irrigation of the whole of the large tracts now abandoned to the desert, and for this broad fact desiccation alone supplies an adequate explanation"; see the "Geographical Journal," vol. xxxiv. (1909), p. 17.

[7]For a discussion of the modern theories as to the laws governing climatic changes and the possibility of their cyclical recurrence, see Huntington, "The Pulse of Asia," pp. 365 ff. It seems most probable that the changes are of solar origin, the variations being caused by varying forms of heat and other energy received from the sun. Such changes would be more intensely felt in mid-continental areas, where high mountains tend to intercept moisture from the sea, which is precipitated without hindrance in the peripheral or coastal regions.

[8]See above, pp.340ff. For photographic reproductions of clay figurines from the South Kurgan, see the plate facing p. 352. It will be noted that the figurines are clearly of the Babylonian type. The resemblance may be emphasized by contrast with the terra-cotta figurines of a very much later date discovered by Dr. Stein at Yotkan; see "Ruins of Khotan," p. 261. Moreover, lapis-lazuli is already found in the second culture of the North Kurgan. This points to commercial intercourse with regions still further east on the part of the Anau settlements; but the employment of lapis-lazuli by the Sumerians may be cited as further evidence in favour of some early cultural connection on their part with Anau.

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EXPLANATORY NOTE.—p. = patesi; k. = king; a comma after a ruler's name indicates that he was succeeded by his son. A dotted line (......) joins the names of rulers who are proved to have been contemporaries; the position of names within parentheses is conjectural. In Table I., Col. II. the rulers belong to Kish, and in Col. IV. to Umma, unless otherwise stated. In Table III. (see p.362) the figures which follow the name of a king represent the number of years he ruled.

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INDEX

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