fter age, century after century, witnessed the building of these
temples, palaces, and tombs. It is said that the palace of Karnak, the
most wonderful structure of ancient or modern times, was more than five
hundred years in the process of building, and it is unknown how many
hundreds of thousands of men spent their lives for this purpose.

So, too, the mighty sphinxes and colossal statues excite the wonder and
admiration of the world. Especially to be mentioned in this connection
are the colossi of Thebes, which are forty-seven feet high, each hewn
from a single block of granite. Upon the solitary plain these mute
figures sat, serene and vigilant, keeping their untiring watch through
the passage of the centuries.

_The Coming of the Semites_.--While the ancient civilization at the
mouth of the Euphrates had its origin in primitive peoples from the
mountains eastward beyond the Euphrates, and the ancient Egyptian
civilization received its impetus from a Caucasian tribe of northern
Africa, the great civilization from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus
River was developed by the Semites. Westward from the Euphrates, over
Arabia, and through Syria to the Mediterranean coast were wandering
tribes of Arabs. Perhaps the most typical ancient type of the Semitic
race is found in Arabia. In these desert lands swarms of people have
passed from time to time over the known world. Their early life was
pastoral and nomadic; hence they necessarily occupied a large territory
and were continually on the move. The country appears to have been,
from the earliest historic records, gradually growing drier--having
less regular rainfall.

So these people were forced at times to the mountain valleys and the
grasslands of the north, and as far as the agricultural lands in the
river valleys, hovering around the settled districts for food supplies
for themselves and their herds. After {161} the early settlement of
Sumer and Akkad, these Semitic tribes moved into the valley of the
Euphrates, and under Sargon I conquered ancient Babylonia at Akkad and
afterward extended the conquest south over Sumer. They found two main
cities to the west of the Euphrates, Ur and Eridu. Having invaded this
territory, they adopted the arts and industries already established,
but brought in the dominant power and language of the conquerors. Four
successive invasions of these people into this territory eventually
changed the whole life into Semitic civil