d his institutions welded in the
fires of adversity. But, disciplined by laws, which fostered
humanitarian ideals, Neolithic man, especially of the Mediterranean
race, had reached a comparatively high state of civilization long ages
before the earliest traces of his activities can be obtained. When
this type of mankind is portrayed in Ancient Sumeria, Ancient Egypt,
and Ancient Crete we find that the faces are refined and intellectual
and often quite modern in aspect. The skulls show that in the Late
Stone Age the human brain was fully developed and that the racial
types were fixed. In every country in Europe we still find the direct
descendants of the ancient Mediterranean race, as well as the
descendants of the less highly cultured conquerors who swept westward
out of Asia at the dawn of the Bronze Age; and everywhere there are
evidences of crossment of types in varying degrees. Even the influence
of Neolithic intellectual life still remains. The comparative study of
mythology and folk beliefs reveals that we have inherited certain
modes of thought from our remote ancestors, who were the congeners of
the Ancient Sumerians and the Ancient Egyptians. In this connection it
is of interest, therefore, to refer to the social ideals of the early
peoples who met and mingled on the southern plains of the Tigris and
Euphrates, and especially the position occupied by women, which is
engaging so much attention at the present day.

It would appear that among the Semites and other nomadic peoples woman
was regarded as the helpmate rather than the companion and equal of
man. The birth of a son was hailed with joy; it was "miserable to have
a daughter", as a Hindu sage reflected; in various countries it was
the custom to expose female children after birth and leave them to
die. A wife had no rights other than those accorded to her by her
husband, who exercised over her the power of life and death. Sons
inherited family possessions; the daughters had no share allotted to
them, and could be sold by fathers and brothers. Among the peoples who
observed "male right", social life was reflected in the conception of
controlling male deities, accompanied by shadowy goddesses who were
often little else than figures of speech.

The Ancient Sumerians, on the other hand, like the Mediterranean
peoples of Egypt and Crete, reverenced and exalted motherhood in
social and religious life. Women were accorded a legal status and
marriage laws were pro