Page:A Short History of the World.djvu/140

 120 A Short History of The World held together and consohdated out of heterogeneous elements by nothing but the power of the written word. And this mental welding of the Jews was neither planned nor foreseen nor done by either priests or statesmen. Not only a new kind of community but a new kind of man comes into history with the development of the Jews. In the days of Solomon the Hebrews looked like becoming a little people just like any other little people of that time clustering around court and temple, ruled by the wisdom of the priest and led by the ambition of the king. But already, the reader may learn from the Bible, this new sort of man of which we speak, the Prophet, was in evidence. As troubles thicken round the divided Hebrews the importance of these Prophets increases. What were these Prophets ? They were men of the most diverse origins. The Prophet Ezekiel was of the priestly caste and the Pro- phet Amos wore the goatskin mantle of a shepherd, but all had this in common, that they gave allegiance to no one but to the God of Righteousness and that they spoke directly to the people. They came without licence or consecration. " Now the word of the Lord came unto me " ; that was the formula. They were intensely political. They exhorted the people against Egypt, " that broken reed," or against Assyria or Babylon ; they denounced the indolence PANEL OF THE BLACK OBELISK OF SHALMANESER II This obelisk (in the British Museum) of the King of Assyria mentions, in cuneitorm, "Jehu the son of Orari," Panel showing Jewish captives bringing tribute