burnt
brick. Thus the race of Ham led the way in the arts in Chaldea as in
Egypt, and soon fell into idolatry. We know nothing, with certainty, of
this ancient monarchy, which lasted, it is supposed, two hundred and
fifty-eight years, from B.C. 2234 to 1976. It was not established until
after the dispersion of the races. The dynasty of which Nimrod was the
founder came to an end during the early years of Abraham.

(M161) The first king of the new dynasty is supposed to be Chedorlaomer,
though Josephus represents him as a general of the Chaldean king who
extended the Chaldean conquests to Palestine. His encounters with the
kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, and others in the vale of Siddim, tributary
princes, and his slaughter by Abraham's servants, are recounted in the
fourteenth chapter of Genesis, and put an end to Chaldean conquests beyond
the Syrian desert. From his alliance, however, with the Tidal, king of
nations; Amrapher, king of Shinar; and Arioch, king of Ellasar, we infer
that other races, besides the Hamite, composed the population of Chaldea,
of which the subjects of Chedorlaomer were pre-eminent.

His empire was subverted by Arabs from the desert, B.C. 1518; and an
Arabian dynasty is supposed to have reigned for two hundred and forty-five
years.

(M162) This came to an end in consequence of a grand irruption of
Assyrians--of Semitic origin. "Asshur (Gen. 10, 11), the son of Shem, built
Nineveh," which was on the Tigris. The name Assyria came to be extended to
the whole of Upper Mesopotamia, from the Euphrates to the Tagros
mountains. This country consisted of undulating pastures, diversified by
woodlands, and watered by streams running into the Tigris. Its valleys
were rich, its hills were beautiful, and its climate was cooler than the
Chaldean plain.

(M163) It would seem from the traditions preserved by the Greeks, that
Nineveh was ruled by a viceroy of the Babylonian king. This corresponds
with the book of Genesis, which makes the dynasty Chaldean, while the
people were Semitic, since the kingdom of Asshur was derived from that of
Nimrod. "Ninus, the viceroy," says Smith, "having revolted from the king
of Babylon, overruns Armenia, Asia Minor, and the shores of the Euxine, as
far as Tanais, subdues the Medes and Persians, and makes war upon the
Bactrians. Semiramis, the wife of one of the chief nobles, coming to the
camp before Bactria, takes the city by a bold stroke. Her courage wins the
love of Ninus, a