Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/144

 io6 Outlines of European History Joseph. These tales, preserved to us in the Old Testament, are among the noblest literature which has survived from the past.^ Other men were not content merely to tell tales of the good old days. Amos, a simple herdsman, who came from the south, entered the towns of the wealthy north and denounced their luxury and corruption. The God whom the people once thought of only as a leader in the fierce tribal wars of the wilderness, Amos now announced as a God of mercy and kindness in the social struggles of the touni. Thus these social and religious reformers, like Amos, whom we call prophets, were gaining a larger vision of God as they watched the struggles of men. By this time the Hebrews had learned to write. They were now abandoning the clay tablet which the Canaanites had re- ceived from Babylonia (p. 67), and they wrote on sheepskin and papyrus (p. 22) in long strips, which were rolled up when not in use. They used the Egyptian pen and ink, and the alpha- bet they employed came to them from the Phoenician merchants (p. 139). The "rolls" containing the tales of the patriarchs and the teachings of such men as Amos were the first books which the Hebrews produced — their first literature. Litera- ture was the only art the Hebrew possessed. He had no painting, sculpture, or architecture, and if he needed these things he borrowed from his great neighbors, Egypt, Phoenicia, Damascus, or Assyria. While the Hebrews were deeply stirred by their own affairs at home, they were now rudely aroused to dangers coming from beyond their own borders. Assyria first swept away Damascus (p. 72). The kingdom of Israel, thus left exposed, was the next victim, and Samaria, its capital, was taken by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. (p. 72). Many of the unhappy people were carried away as captives. The feeble little kingdom of Judah survived for something over a century and a quarter more. During this time it beheld and rejoiced over the destruction of Nineveh (p. 79). 1 The student should read these tales, especially Gen. xxiv, xxvii, xxviii, xxxvii, xxxix-xlvii, 12.