traits. The
consequent multiplication of tribes, and the gradual pressure
exercised by the constant stream of immigrants from Arabia and Asia
Minor, must have kept this part of Western Asia in a constant state of
unrest. Fresh migrations of the surplus stock were evidently propelled
towards Egypt in one direction, and the valleys of the Tigris and
Euphrates in another. The Semites of Akkad were probably the
conquerors of the more highly civilized Sumerians, who must have
previously occupied that area. It is possible that they owed their
success to the possession of superior weapons. Professor Elliot Smith
suggests in this connection that the Arabians had become familiar with
the use of copper as a result of contact with the Egyptians in Sinai.
There is no evidence, however, that the Sumerians were attacked before
they had begun to make metal weapons. It is more probable that the
invading nomads had superior military organization and considerable
experience in waging war against detached tribal units. They may have
also found some of the northern Sumerian city states at war with one
another and taken advantage of their unpreparedness to resist a common
enemy. The rough Dorians who overran Greece and the fierce Goths who
shattered the power of Rome were similarly in a lower state of
civilization than the peoples whom they subdued.

The Sumerians, however, ultimately achieved an intellectual conquest
of their conquerors. Although the leaders of invasion may have formed
military aristocracies in the cities which they occupied, it was
necessary for the great majority of the nomads to engage their
activities in new directions after settlement. The Semitic Akkadians,
therefore, adopted Sumerian habits of life which were best suited for
the needs of the country, and they consequently came under the spell
of Sumerian modes of thought. This is shown by the fact that the
native speech of ancient Sumer continued long after the dawn of
history to be the language of Babylonian religion and culture, like
Latin in Europe during the Middle Ages. For centuries the mingling
peoples must have been bilingual, as are many of the inhabitants of
Ireland, Wales, and the Scottish Highlands in the present age, but
ultimately the language of the Semites became the prevailing speech in
Sumer and Akkad. This change was the direct result of the conquests
and the political supremacy achieved by the northern people. A
considerable period elapsed, howe