Maria Monk - "Awful Disclosures"

Nehemiah Adams - "Bertha and Her Baptism"

Arthur Weir - "Fleurs de lys and other poems"

Susanna Moodie - "Life in the Backwoods"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

H >> HUTTON WEBSTER >> EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY





ORIENTAL HISTORY

Baikie, James. _The Story of the Pharaohs_ (N. Y., 1908, Macmillan,
$2.00). A popular work; well illustrated.

* Ball, C. J. _Light from the East_ (London, 1899, Eyre and Spottiswoode,
15s.). An account of Oriental archaeology, with special reference to the
Old Testament.

Banks, E. G. _The Bible and the Spade_ (N. Y., 1913, Association Press,
$1.00). A popular presentation of Oriental archaeology.

* Breasted, J. H. _A History of Egypt from the Earliest Times to the
Persian Conquest_ (2d ed., N. Y., 1909, Scribner, $5.00). The standard
work on Egyptian history.

Clay, A. T. _Light on the East from Babel_ (4th ed., Philadelphia, 1915,
Sunday School Times Co., $2.00).

* Erman, Asolf. _Life in Ancient Egypt_ (N. Y., 1894, Macmillan, $6.00).

* Handcock, P. S. P. _Mesopotamian Archaeology_ (N. Y. 1912, Putnam,
$3.50).

Hogarth, D. G. _The Ancient East_ (N. Y., 1915, Holt, 50 cents). "Home
University Library."

* Jastrow, Morris, Jr. _The Civilization of Babylonia and Assyria_
(Philadelphia, 1915, Lippincott, $6.00). A finely illustrated work by a
great scholar.

Macalister, R. A. S. _A History of Civilization in Palestine_ (N. Y.,
1912, Putnam, 35 cents). "Cambridge Manuals."

Maspero, (Sir) Gaston. _Life in Ancient Egypt and Assyria_ (N.Y., 1892,
Appleton, $1.50). Fascinating and authoritative.

Ragozin, Zenaide A. _Earliest Peoples_ (N. Y., 1899, Harison, 60 cents). A
well-written, fully-illustrated account of prehistoric man and the
beginnings of history in Babylonia.

------ _Early Egypt_ (N. Y., 1900, Harison, 60 cents).


GREEK AND ROMAN HISTORY

Abbott, Evelyn. _Pericles and the Golden Age of Athens_ (N. Y., 1891,
Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations."

Baikie, James. _The Sea-Kings of Crete_ (2d ed., N. Y., 1912, Macmillan,
$1.75). A clear and vivid summary of Cretan archaeology.

Bluemner, Hugo. _The Home Life of the Ancient Greeks_, translated by Alice
Zimmern (3d ed., N. Y., 1910, Funk and Wagnalls Co., $2.00).

Bulley, Margaret H. _Ancient and Medieval Art_ (N. Y., 1914, Macmillan,
$1.75). An elementary treatment, particularly designed for schools.

Church, A. J., and Gilman, Arthur. _The Story of Carthage_ (N. Y., 1886,
Putnam, $1.50). "Story of the Nations"

Davis, W. S. _The Influence of Wealth in Imperial Rome_ (N. Y., 1910,
Macmillan, $2.00). An interesting treatment of an important theme.

------ _A Day in Old Athens_ (Boston, 1914, Allyn and Bacon, $1.00).

------ _An Outline History of the Roman Empire_ (N. Y., 1909, Macmillan,
65 cents). Covers the period 44 B.C.-378 A.D.

* Dennie, John. _Rome of To-day and Yesterday; the Pagan City_ (5th ed.,
N. Y., 1909, Putnam, $3.50).

Fowler, W. W. _Rome_ (N. Y., 1912, Holt, 50 cents).

------ _The City-State of the Greeks and Romans_ (N. Y., 1893, Macmillan,
$1.00). The only constitutional history of the classical peoples
intelligible to elementary students.

------ _Social Life at Rome in the Age of Cicero_ (N. Y., 1909, Macmillan,
50 cents). In every way admirable.

------ _Julius Caesar and the Foundation of the Roman Imperial System_ (2d
ed., N. Y., 1897, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations."

* Gardner, E. A. _Ancient Athens_ (N. Y., 1902, Macmillan, $3.50).

Gayley, C. M. _The Classic Myths in English Literature and in Art_ (2d
ed., Boston, 1911, Ginn, $1.60). Of special importance for the
illustrations.

Goodyear, W. H. _Roman and Medieval Art_ (2d ed., N. Y., 1897, Macmillan,
$1.00).

Grant, A. J. _Greece in the Age of Pericles_ (N. Y., 1893, Scribner,
$1.25).

Gulick, C. B. _The Life of the Ancient Greeks_ (N. Y., 1902, Appleton,
$1.40).

* Hall, H. R. _Aegean Archeology_ (N. Y., 1915, Putnam, $3.75). A well-
written and well-illustrated volume.

Hawes, C. H., and Hawes, HARRIET B. _Crete, the Forerunner of Greece_ (N.
Y., 1909, Harper, 75 cents).

How, W. W. _Hannibal and the Great War between Rome and Carthage_ (London,
1899, Seeley, 2_s_.).

Jones, H. S. _The Roman Empire, B.C. 29-A.D. 476_ (N. Y., 1908, Putnam,
$1.50). "Story of the Nations."

* Lanciani, Rudolfo. _The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome_ (Boston,
1898, Houghton Mifflin Co., $4.00).

Mahaffy, J. P. _Old Greek Life_ (N. Y., 1876, American Book Co., 35
cents).

------ _What have the Greeks done for Modern Civilization?_ (N. Y., 1909,
Putnam, $1.50).

Mahaffy, J. P., and Gilman, Arthur. _The Story of Alexander's Empire_ (N.
Y., 1887, Putnam, $1.50). The only concise narrative of the Hellenistic
period.

* Mau, August. _Pompeii: its Life and Art_, translated by F. W. Kelsey (N.
Y., 1899, Macmillan, $2.50).

Morris, W. O'C. _Hannibal and the Crisis of the Struggle between Carthage
and Rome_ (N. Y., 1897, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations."

Oman, Charles. _Seven Roman Statesmen of the Later Republic_ (N. Y., 1902,
Longmans, Green, and Co., $1.60). A biographical presentation of Roman
history.

Pellison, Maurice. _Roman Life in Pliny's Time_, translated by Maud
Wilkinson (Philadelphia, 1897, Jacobs, $1.00).

Pickard-Cambridge, A. W. _Demosthenes and the Last Days of Greek Freedom_
(N. Y., 1914, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations."

Powers, H. H. _The Message of Greek Art_ (N. Y., 1913, Macmillan, 50
cents).

Preston, Harriet W., and Dodge, Louise. _The Private Life of the Romans_
(N. Y., 1893, Sanborn, $1.05).

Robinson, C. E. _The Days of Alcibiades_ (N. Y., 1916, Longmans, Green,
and Co., $1.50), A picture of Greek life and culture in the Age of
Pericles.

* Seymour, T. D. _Life in the Homeric Age_ (N. Y., 1907, Macmillan,
$4.00).

* Stobart, J. C. _The Glory that was Greece: a Survey of Hellenic Culture
and Civilization_ (Philadelphia, 1911, Lippincott, $7.50).

------ _The Grandeur that was Rome: a Survey of Roman Culture and
Civilization_ (Philadelphia, 1912, Lippincott, $7.50).

Strachan-Davidson, J. S. _Cicero and the Fall of the Roman Republic_ (N.
Y., 1894, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations."

Tarbell, F. B. _A History of Greek Art_ (2d ed., N. Y., 1905, Macmillan,
$1.00).

Tozer, H. F. _Classical Geography_ (N. Y., 1883, American Book Co., 35
cents). A standard manual.

Tucker, T. G. _Life in Ancient Athens_ (N. Y., 1906, Macmillan, $1.25).
The most attractive treatment of the subject.

------ _Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul_ (N. Y., 1910,
Macmillan, $2.50).

* Walters, H. B. _The Art of the Greeks_ (N. Y., 1900, Macmillan, $6.00).

* ------ _The Art of the Romans_ (N. Y., 1911, Macmillan, $5.00).

* Weller, C. H. _Athens and its Monuments_ (N. Y., 1913, Macmillan,
$4.00).

Wheeler, B.I. _Alexander the Great and the Merging of East and West into
Universal History_ (N. Y., 1900, Putnam, $1.50). "Heroes of the Nations."

Wilkins, A. S. _Roman Antiquities_ (N. Y., 1884, American Book Co., 35
cents).


MEDIEVAL HISTORY

Adams, G. B. _The Growth of the French Nation_ (N. Y., 1896, Macmillan,
$1.25). The best short history of France.

Archer, T. A., and Kingsford, C. L. _The Crusades_ (N. Y., 1894, Putnam,
$1.50).

Baring-Gould, Sabine. _Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_ (N. Y., 1869,
Longmans, Green, and Co., $1.25).

Bateson, Mary. _Medieval England_ (N. Y., 1903, Putnam, $1.50). Deals with
social and economic life. "Story of the Nations."

Cheyney, E. P. _An Introduction to the Industrial and Social History of
England_ (N. Y., 1901, Macmillan, $1.40). The best brief work on the
subject.

Church, R. W. _The Beginning of the Middle Ages_ (N. Y., 1877, Scribner,
$1.00).

Cutts, E. L. _Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages_ (London, 1872, De
La More Press, 7s. 6d.). An almost indispensable book; illustrated.

Davis, H. W. C. Medieval Europe (N. Y., 1911, Holt, 50 cents).

------ _Charlemagne, the Hero of Two Nations_ (N. Y., 1899, Putnam,
$1.50). "Heroes of the Nations."

Emerton, Ephraim. _An Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages_
(Boston, 1888, Ginn, $1.10). The most satisfactory short account, and of
special value to beginners.

Foord, Edward. _The Byzantine Empire_ (N. Y., 1911, Macmillan, $2.00). The
most convenient short treatment; lavishly illustrated.

* Gibbon, Edward. _The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire_, edited by J. B. Bury (N. Y., 1914, Macmillan, 7 vols., $25.00).
The best edition, illustrated and provided with maps, of this standard
work.

* Green, J. R. _Short History of the English People_, edited by Mrs. J. R.
Green and Miss Kate Norgate (N. Y., 1893-1895, Harper, 4 vols., $20.00). A
beautifully illustrated edition of this standard work.

Guerber, H. A. _Legends of the Middle Ages_ (N. Y., 1896, American Book
Co., $1.50).

Haskins, C. H. _The Normans in European History_ (Boston, 1915, Houghton
Mifflin Co., $2.00).

Hodgkin, Thomas. _The Dynasty of Theodosius_ (N. Y., 1899, Oxford
University Press, American Branch, $1.50). Popular lectures summarizing
the author's extensive studies.

Jessopp, Augustus. _The Coming of the Friars, and Other Historic Essays_
(N. Y., 1888, Putnam, $1.25). A book of great interest.

* Lacroix, Paul. _Science and Literature in the Middle Ages and at the
Period of the Renaissance_ (London, 1880, Bickers and Son, out of print).

Lawrence, W. W. _Medieval Story_ (N. Y., 1911, Columbia University Press,
$i.50). Discusses the great literary productions of the Middle Ages.

Mawer, Allen. _The Vikings_ (N. Y, 1913, Putnam, 35 cents).

Munro, D. C., and Sellery, G. C _Medieval Civilization_ (2d ed., N. Y.,
1907, Century Co., $2.00). Translated selections from standard works by
French and German scholars.

Rait, R. S. _Life in the Medieval University_ (N. Y., 1912, Putnam, 35
cents). "Cambridge Manuals."

Synge, M. B. _A Short History of Social Life in England_ (N. Y., 1906,
Barnes, $1.50).

Tappan, Eva M. _When Knights were Bold_ (Boston, 1912, Houghton Mifflin
Co., $2.00). An economic and social study of the Feudal Age; charmingly
written.

Tickner, F. W. _A Social and Industrial History of England_ (N. Y., 1915,
Longmans, Green, and Co., $1.00). Very simply written and well
illustrated.

* Wright, Thomas. _The Homes of Other Days_ (London, 1871, Truebner, out of
print). Valuable for both text and illustrations.


TRANSITION TO MODERN TIMES

Cheyney, E. P. _European Background of American History, 1300-1600_ (N.
Y., 1904, Harper, $2.00).

Creighton, Mandell. _The Age of Elizabeth_ (13th ed., N. Y., 1897,
Scribner, $ 1.00). "Epochs of Modern History."

Fiske, John. _The Discovery and Colonization of North America_ (Boston,
1905, Ginn, 90 cents).

Gardiner, S. R. _The Thirty Years' War_ (N. Y., 1874, Scribner, $1.00).

Goodyear, W. H. _Renaissance and Modern Art_ (N. Y., 1894, Macmillan,
$1.00).

Hudson, W. H. _The Story of the Renaissance_ (N. Y., 1912, Cassell,
$1.50). A well-written volume.

Hulme, E. M. _The Renaissance, the Protestant Revolution, and the Catholic
Reformation in Continental Europe_ (rev. ed., N. Y., 1915, Century Co.,
$2.50). The best work on the subject by an American scholar.

* Joyce, T. A. _Mexican Archaeology_ (N. Y., 1914, Putnam, $4.00).

------ _South American Archaeology_ (N. Y., 1912, Putnam, $3.50).

Kerr, P. H., and Kerr, A. C. _The Growth of the British Empire_ (N. Y.,
1911, Longmans, Green, and Co., 50 cents).

Oldham, J. B. _The Renaissance_ (N. Y., 1912, Dutton, 35 cents).

Seebohm, Frederic. _The Era of the Protestant Revolution_ (N. Y., 1875,
Scribner, $1.00). "Epochs of Modern History."




CHAPTER I

THE AGES BEFORE HISTORY


1. THE STUDY OF HISTORY

SUBJECT MATTER OF HISTORY

History is the narrative of what civilized man has done. It deals with
those social groups called states and nations. Just as biography describes
the life of individuals, so history relates the rise, progress, and
decline of human societies.

MANUSCRIPTS AND BOOKS

History cannot go back of written records. These alone will preserve a
full and accurate account of man's achievements. Manuscripts and books
form one class of written records. The old Babylonians used tablets of
soft clay, on which signs were impressed with a metal instrument. The
tablets were then baked hard in an oven. The Egyptians made a kind of
paper out of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley. The Greeks
and Romans at first used papyrus, but later they employed the more lasting
parchment prepared from sheepskin. Paper seems to have been a Chinese
invention. It was introduced into Europe by the Arabs during the twelfth
century of our era.

[Illustration: THE DISK OF PHAESTUS
Found in 1908 A.D. in the palace at Phaestus, Crete. The disk is of
refined clay on which the figures were stamped in relief with punches.
Both sides of the disk are covered with characters. The side seen in the
illustration contains 31 sign groups (123 signs) separated from one
another by incised lines. The other side contains 30 sign groups (118
signs). The inscription dates from about 1800 B.C.]

[Illustration: A PAPYRUS MANUSCRIPT
The pith of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley, was cut into
slices, which were then pressed together and dried in the sun. Several of
the paper sheets thus formed were glued together at their edges to form a
roll. From _papyros_ and _byblos_, the two Greek names of this plant, have
come our own words, "paper" and "Bible." The illustration shows a
manuscript discovered in Egypt in 1890 A.D. It is supposed to be a
treatise, hitherto lost, on the Athenian constitution by the Greek
philosopher Aristotle.]

INSCRIPTIONS AND REMAINS

A second class of written records consists of inscriptions. These are
usually cut in stone, but sometimes we find them painted over the surface
of a wall, stamped on coins, or impressed upon metal tablets. The
historian also makes use of remains, such as statues, ornaments, weapons,
tools, and utensils. Monuments of various sorts, including palaces, tombs,
fortresses, bridges, temples, and churches, form a very important class of
remains.

BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY

History, based on written records, begins in different countries at
varying dates. A few manuscripts and inscriptions found in Egypt date back
three or four thousand years before Christ. The annals of Babylonia are
scarcely less ancient. Trustworthy records in China and India do not
extend beyond 1000 B.C. For the Greeks and Romans the commencement of the
historic period must be placed about 750 B.C. The inhabitants of northern
Europe did not come into the light of history until about the opening of
the Christian era.


2. PREHISTORIC PEOPLES

THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD

In studying the historic period our chief concern is with those peoples
whose ideas or whose deeds have aided human progress and the spread of
civilization. Six-sevenths of the earth's inhabitants now belong to
civilized countries, and these countries include the best and largest
regions of the globe. At the beginning of historic times, however,
civilization was confined within a narrow area--the river valleys of
western Asia and Egypt. The uncounted centuries before the dawn of history
make up the prehistoric period, when savagery and barbarism prevailed
throughout the world. Our knowledge of it is derived from the examination
of the objects found in caves, refuse mounds, graves, and other sites.
Various European countries, including England, France, Denmark,
Switzerland, and Italy, are particularly rich in prehistoric remains.

[Illustration: A PREHISTORIC EGYPTIAN GRAVE
The skeleton lay on the left side, with knees drawn up and hands raised to
the head. About it were various articles of food and vessels of pottery.]

THE TWO AGES

The prehistoric period is commonly divided, according to the character of
the materials used for tools and weapons, into the Age of Stone and the
Age of Metals. The one is the age of savagery; the other is the age of
barbarism or semicivilization.

THE STONE AGE

Man's earliest implements were those that lay ready to his hand. A branch
from a tree served as a spear; a thick stick in his strong arms became a
powerful club. Later, perhaps, came the use of a hard stone such as flint,
which could be chipped into the forms of arrowheads, axes, and spear tips.
The first stone implements were so rude in shape that it is difficult to
believe them of human workmanship. They may have been made several hundred
thousand years ago. After countless centuries of slow advance, savages
learned to fasten wooden handles to their stone tools and weapons and also
to use such materials as jade and granite, which could be ground and
polished into a variety of forms. Stone implements continued to be made
during the greater part of the prehistoric period. Every region of the
world has had a Stone Age. [1] Its length is reckoned, not by centuries,
but by milleniums.

[Illustration: A HATCHET OF THE EARLY STONE AGE
A hatchet of flint, probably used without a helve and intended to fit the
hand. Similar implements have been found all over the world, except in
Australia.]

[Illustration: ARROWHEADS OF THE LATER STONE AGE
Different forms from Europe, Africa, and North America.]

THE AGE OF METALS

The Age of Metals, compared with its predecessor, covers a brief expanse
of time. The use of metals came in not much before the dawn of history.
The earliest civilized peoples, the Babylonians and Egyptians, when we
first become acquainted with them, appear to be passing from the use of
stone implements to those of metal.

COPPER

Copper was the first metal in common use. The credit for the invention of
copper tools seems to belong to the Egyptians. At a very early date they
were working the copper mines on the peninsula of Sinai. The Babylonians
probably obtained their copper from the same region. Another source of
this metal was the island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean. The
Greek name of the island means "copper."

BRONZE

But copper tools were soft and would not keep an edge. Some ancient smith,
more ingenious than his fellows, discovered that the addition of a small
part of tin to the copper produced a new metal--bronze--harder than the
old, yet capable of being molded into a variety of forms. At least as
early as 3000 B.C. we find bronze taking the place of copper in both Egypt
and Babylonia. Somewhat later bronze was introduced into the island of
Crete, then along the eastern coast of Greece, and afterwards into other
European countries.

IRON

The introduction of iron occurred in comparatively recent times. At first
it was a scarce, and therefore a very precious, metal. The Egyptians seem
to have made little use of iron before 1500 B.C. They called it "the metal
of heaven," as if they obtained it from meteorites. In the Greek Homeric
poems, composed about 900 B.C. or later, we find iron considered so
valuable that a lump of it is one of the chief prizes at athletic games.
In the first five books of the Bible iron is mentioned only thirteen
times, though copper and bronze are referred to forty-four times. Iron is
more difficult to work than either copper or bronze, but it is vastly
superior to those metals in hardness and durability. Hence it gradually
displaced them throughout the greater part of the Old World. [2]

FIRST STEPS TOWARD CIVILIZATION

During the prehistoric period early man came to be widely scattered
throughout the world. Here and there, slowly, and with utmost difficulty,
he began to take the first steps toward civilization. The tools and
weapons which he left behind him afford some evidence of his advance. We
may now single out some of his other great achievements and follow their
development to the dawn of history.


3. DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS

HUNTING AND FISHING STAGE

Prehistoric man lived at first chiefly on wild berries, nuts, roots, and
herbs. As his implements improved and his skill increased, he became
hunter, trapper, and fisher. A tribe of hunters, however, requires an
extensive territory and a constant supply of game. When the wild animals
are all killed or seriously reduced in number, privation and hardship
result. It was a forward step, therefore, when man began to tame animals
as well as to kill them.

DOMESTICATION OF THE DOG

The dog was man's first conquest over the animal kingdom. As early as the
Age of Metals various breeds appear, such as deerhounds, sheep dogs, and
mastiffs. The dog soon showed how useful he could be. He tracked game,
guarded the camp, and later, in the pastoral stage, protected flocks and
herds against their enemies.

THE COW

The cow also was domesticated at a remote period. No other animal has been
more useful to mankind. The cow's flesh and milk supply food: the skin
provides clothing; the sinews, bones, and horns yield materials for
implements. The ox was early trained to bear the yoke and draw the plow,
as we may learn from ancient Egyptian paintings. [3] Cattle have also been
commonly used as a kind of money. The early Greeks, whose wealth consisted
chiefly of their herds, priced a slave at twenty oxen, a suit of armor at
one hundred oxen, and so on. The early Romans reckoned values in cattle
(one ox being equivalent to ten sheep). Our English word "pecuniary" goes
back to the Latin _pecus_, or "herd" of cattle.

[Illustration: EARLY ROMAN BAR MONEY
A bar of copper marked with the figure of a bull. Dates from the fourth
century B.C.]

THE HORSE

The domestication of the horse came much later than that of the cow. In
the early Stone Age the horse ran wild over western Europe and formed an
important source of food for primitive men. This prehistoric horse, as
some ancient drawings show, [4] was a small animal with a shaggy mane and
tail. It resembled the wild pony still found on the steppes of Mongolia.
The domesticated horse does not appear in Egypt and western Asia much
before 1500 B.C. For a long time after the horse was tamed, the more
manageable ox continued to be used as the beast of burden. The horse was
kept for chariots of war, as among the Egyptians, or ridden bareback in
races, as by the early Greeks.

OTHER ANIMALS DOMESTICATED

At the close of prehistoric times in the Old World nearly all the domestic
animals of to-day were known. Besides those just mentioned, the goat,
sheep, ass, and hog had become man's useful servants. [5]

PASTORAL STAGE

The domestication of animals made possible an advance from the hunting and
fishing stage to the pastoral stage. Herds of cattle and sheep would now
furnish more certain and abundant supplies of food than the chase could
ever yield. We find in some parts of the world, as on the great Asiatic
plains, the herdsman succeeding the hunter and fisher. But even in this
stage much land for grazing is required. With the exhaustion of the
pasturage the sheep or cattle must be driven to new fields. Hence pastoral
peoples, as well as hunting and fishing folk, remained nomads without
fixed homes. Before permanent settlements were possible, another onward
step became necessary. This was the domestication of plants.

AGRICULTURAL STAGE

The domestication of plants marked almost as wonderful an advance as the
domestication of animals. When wild seedgrasses and plants had been
transformed into the great cereals--wheat, oats, barley, and rice--people
could raise them for food, and so could pass from the life of wandering
hunters or shepherds to the life of settled farmers. There is evidence
that during the Stone Age some of the inhabitants of Europe were familiar
with various cultivated plants, but agriculture on a large scale seems to
have begun in the fertile regions of Egypt and western Asia. [6] Here
first arose populous communities with leisure to develop the arts of life.
Here, as has been already seen, [7] we must look for the beginnings of
history.


4. WRITING AND THE ALPHABET

PICTURE WRITING

Though history is always based on written records, the first steps toward
writing are prehistoric. We start with the pictures or rough drawings
which have been found among the remains of the early Stone Age. [8]
Primitive man, however, could not rest satisfied with portraying objects.

[Illustration: VARIOUS SIGNS OF SYMBOLIC PICTURE WRITING
1, "war" (Dakota Indian); 2, "morning" (Ojibwa Indian); 3, "nothing"
(Ojibwa Indian); 4 and 5, "to eat" (Indian, Mexican, Egyptian, etc.).]

He wanted to record thoughts and actions, and so his pictures tended to
become symbols of ideas. The figure of an arrow might be made to
represent, not a real object, but the idea of an "enemy." A "fight" could
then be shown simply by drawing two arrows directed against each other.
Many uncivilized tribes still employ picture writing of this sort. The
American Indians developed it in most elaborate fashion. On rolls of birch
bark or the skins of animals they wrote messages, hunting stories, and
songs, and even preserved tribal annals extending over a century.

SOUND WRITING; THE REBUS

A new stage in the development of writing was reached when the picture
represented, not an actual object or an idea, but a sound of the human
voice. This difficult but all-important step appears to have been taken
through the use of the rebus, that is, writing words by pictures of
objects which stand for sounds. Such rebuses are found in prehistoric
Egyptian writing; for example, the Egyptian words for "sun" and "goose"
were so nearly alike that the royal title, "Son of the Sun," could be
suggested by grouping the pictures of the sun and a goose. Rebus making is
still a common game among children, but to primitive men it must have been
a serious occupation.

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