Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/852

* SEMIRYETCHENSK. 774 SEMIRYETCHENSK, sAinC-rye-chensk'. A tiiritoiy of Jtiisi-ia in Cciitial Asia, belonging ailniinistrativdy to the Governor-Generalship of Kussian Turkestan. Area, over 155,000 square miles (Map: Asia, G 4). It is divided accord- ing to the formation of its surface into two parts, of which the southeastern is mountainous, bfin^' traversed by offshoots of the Tian-Slian iMountains (q.v.)."and the northwestern belongs to the region of tlic steppes, with sandy stretches along I.ake lialkhash. The rivers rise mostly in the rian-81i!in Mountains and How into Lake Jialkhash. The chief of them is the Hi, which is also the principal navigal)le waterway of the territory. The principal lakes are Balkhash (q.v.) and Issik-kul (q.v.). The climate is con- tinental. The winter is extremely cold and the summer, which follows a brief spring, is hot and dry. In the mountainous portions are found gold, salt, and alabaster. Much of the lower part of the territory is fertile agricultural land which becomes very productive when irrigated. The crops in the northwest consist mainly of wheat, oats, and oleaginous plants. Agriculture, how- ever, is as yet of secondary importance, as the nomadic Kirghizes, the predominating element of the population, are engaged almost exclusively in stock-raising. Population, in 1897, 990,107, of whom the Kirghizes constitute three-fourths. Capital, Vyerny (q.v.). SEMITES. A name used to designate a cer- tain group of peoples whose close kinship is re- vealed by man.v physical and mental character- istics, but especially by language and religion. The term is derived from the table of nations in Genesis x., in which the eponym heroes of some Mediterranean peoples known to the authors are represented as descendants of the three sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and .Japhet (qq.v.). But, as a matter of fact, all the nations here grouped under Shem are not akin ; some of the peoples ar- ranged under Ham are evidently kinsmen of the leading nations reckoned as descendants of Shem, and some peoples are mentioned under both Shem and Ham. Historical and geographical reasons seem to some extent to have prevailed in the arrangement. But in spite of the inexact classification in Genesis x., the term 'Semites' has been retained for the sake of convenience in preference to other designations which have been proposed, such as 'Syro-Arabians' or simply 'Arabs.' As it is now used, it indicates Baby- lonians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans; Phcenicians, Carthaginians, and other Canaanites ; Israelites, Edomites, Moabites. and Ammonites ; Ara- means; Arabians and Ethiopians. As to the original home of these Semitic peo- ples there is a preponderance of opinion in favor of Arabia or Africa. On the other hand, re- cent discoveries have tended to revive the idea of a Babylonian origin. Certain customs, pos- sessions, and achievements of the early Egyp- tians exhibit a marked similarity to those" of their contemporaries in Babylonia. Some schol- ars find it most natural to explain the intro- duction of metals, domestic animals, a peculiar mode of burial, and the use of brick in a land where stone is found in plenty, by the immigra- tion into the Nile Valley of a Semitic race that once lived in Babylonia. Closer examination, however, has shown the identity of the Neolithic race in Egypt with the dynastic Egyptians. The SEMITES. close allinity ethnologically between the Egyp- tians and the other so-called Hamitic peoples, such as the Libyans, the Berbers, the Cushites, the Gallas, the Danakils, and the Somali, renders it improbable that the Egyptians were immi- grants from Asia. Nevei'theless, the kinship of the North African languages with the Semitic speecli is unmislakably shown in numerals and prepositions, noun formation and verb inflection, syntax, and morphology. (See Semitic Lan- GUAGE.s.) Some scholars have therefore drawn the conclusion that the Semites are likely to have lived originally in Africa, though not as diiTerentiated Semites, and to have crossed into Arabia b.v Bab el-Mandeb or Suez, where in new surroundings and seclusion their characteristic j)eculiarities ma.y have developed. From Arabia succeeding waves of emigration sent Semitic nomads into Babylonia, Mesopotamia, and Syria. The invasion of Babylonia must have occurred yej-y early, since already in the fifth millennium B.C. the influence of the Semitic speech is seen in the Sumerian language (q.v.) and the re- ligious conceptions of Babylonia in the fourth millennium reflect conditions of society no longer prevalent in the time of the ilina>an Empire. ( See MiN.EANS. ) It is impossible to date with certainty the invasion of S.vria, but there is a tradition that brings the foundation of some Phoenician cities back to the first half of the third millennium B.C. (see Phcenicia), and there is no reason to doubt that Palestine at- tracted the Semitic nomads even at an earlier time. How soon the tribes subsequentlv devel- oping into the nations of Israel, Edom, Mo.ab, and Amnion drifted into Syria cannot be determined. Some passages in the Amarna letters written about B.C. 1400 mentioning the Habiri, possibly a cuneiform equivalent of Ibiri, Hebrews, seem to refer to them. Arameans had settled in Meso- potamia and Babylonia at least as early as the thirteenth century B.C., and Chaldteans are found in the neighborhood of the Persian Gulf not much later. Semites speaking a decidedly Sabsean dialect seem to have lived in Abj'ssinia in the seventh century B.C. and probably long before that time. See Ethiopia. The Semites belong to the white Caucasian race. Physically, the Semitic type has probabl.y maintained itself most pure in Arabia. In Baby- lonia it is likely to have been modified by the Sumerians, in Assyria by the Gutians, in Meso- potamia by the Mitanians and Hittites. in Syria bv the non-Semitic aborigines, in Abvssinia by Hamitic tribes, in Carthage by the Berbers. Dur- ing the period of the caliphs the Arabs in the conquered lands intermarried with the nations and the mixture of blood was increased by the harem life. Nevertheless, there are certain un- mistakable physical characteristics of the Semitic race, such as a tendencv to prognathism, fullness of lip, an aquiline nose, and wavy or curly hair. It is widely held that the Semitic mind is analytical rather than svTithetical, practical rather than speculative, inclined to occupy itself with details rather than with generalizations; the race excels in commerce and industry rather than in warfare and statecraft, in morals and religion rather than in science and art. In the main this estimate is probably fair. There are not wanting scholars, however, who look upon it as a one-sided characterization. In order to reach a comprehensive and well-balanced judg-