The Story of Mankind [15]
within
the domain of the Kings of Babylonia. They had been driven
away by the royal soldiers and they had moved westward
looking for a little piece of unoccupied territory where they
might set up their tents.
This tribe of shepherds was known as the Hebrews or, as
we call them, the Jews. They had wandered far and wide,
and after many years of dreary peregrinations they had been
given shelter in Egypt. For more than five centuries they
had dwelt among the Egyptians and when their adopted country
had been overrun by the Hyksos marauders (as I told
you in the story of Egypt) they had managed to make themselves
useful to the foreign invader and had been left in the
undisturbed possession of their grazing fields. But after a
long war of independence the Egyptians had driven the
Hyksos out of the valley of the Nile and then the Jews had
come upon evil times for they had been degraded to the rank
of common slaves and they had been forced to work on the
royal roads and on the Pyramids. And as the frontiers were
guarded by the Egyptian soldiers it had been impossible for
the Jews to escape.
After many years of suffering they were saved from their
miserable fate by a young Jew, called Moses, who for a long
time had dwelt in the desert and there had learned to appreciate
the simple virtues of his earliest ancestors, who had kept
away from cities and city-life and had refused to let themselves
be corrupted by the ease and the luxury of a foreign
civilisation.
Moses decided to bring his people back to a love of the ways
of the patriarchs. He succeeded in evading the Egyptian
troops that were sent after him and led his fellow tribesmen
into the heart of the plain at the foot of Mount Sinai. During
his long and lonely life in the desert, he had learned to
revere the strength of the great God of the Thunder and the
Storm, who ruled the high heavens and upon whom the shepherds
depended for life and light and breath. This God, one
of the many divinities who were widely worshipped in western
Asia, was called Jehovah, and through the teaching of Moses,
he became the sole Master of the Hebrew race.
One day, Moses disappeared from the camp of the Jews.
It was whispered that he had gone away carrying two tablets
of rough-hewn stone. That afternoon, the top of the mountain
was lost to sight. The darkness of a terrible storm hid it from
the eye of man. But when Moses returned, behold! there stood
engraved upon the tablets the words which Jehovah had spoken
unto the people of Israel amidst the crash of his thunder and
the blinding flashes of his lightning. And from that moment,
Jehovah was recognised by all the Jews as the Highest Master
of their Fate, the only True God, who had taught them how
to live holy lives when he bade them to follow the wise lessons
of his Ten Commandments.
They followed Moses when he bade them continue their
journey through the desert. They obeyed him when he told
them what to eat and drink and what to avoid that they might
keep well in the hot climate. And finally after many years of
wandering they came to a land which seemed pleasant and
prosperous. It was called Palestine, which means the country
of the ``Pilistu'' the Philistines, a small tribe of Cretans who
had settled along the coast after they had been driven away
from their own island. Unfortunately, the mainland, Palestine,
was already inhabited by another Semitic race, called the
Canaanites. But the Jews forced their way into the valleys
and built themselves cities and constructed a mighty temple
in a town which they named Jerusalem, the Home of Peace.
As for Moses, he was no longer the leader of his people. He
had been allowed to see the mountain ridges of Palestine from
afar. Then he had closed his tired eyes for all time. He had
worked faithfully and hard to please Jehovah. Not only had
he guided his brethren out of foreign slavery into
the domain of the Kings of Babylonia. They had been driven
away by the royal soldiers and they had moved westward
looking for a little piece of unoccupied territory where they
might set up their tents.
This tribe of shepherds was known as the Hebrews or, as
we call them, the Jews. They had wandered far and wide,
and after many years of dreary peregrinations they had been
given shelter in Egypt. For more than five centuries they
had dwelt among the Egyptians and when their adopted country
had been overrun by the Hyksos marauders (as I told
you in the story of Egypt) they had managed to make themselves
useful to the foreign invader and had been left in the
undisturbed possession of their grazing fields. But after a
long war of independence the Egyptians had driven the
Hyksos out of the valley of the Nile and then the Jews had
come upon evil times for they had been degraded to the rank
of common slaves and they had been forced to work on the
royal roads and on the Pyramids. And as the frontiers were
guarded by the Egyptian soldiers it had been impossible for
the Jews to escape.
After many years of suffering they were saved from their
miserable fate by a young Jew, called Moses, who for a long
time had dwelt in the desert and there had learned to appreciate
the simple virtues of his earliest ancestors, who had kept
away from cities and city-life and had refused to let themselves
be corrupted by the ease and the luxury of a foreign
civilisation.
Moses decided to bring his people back to a love of the ways
of the patriarchs. He succeeded in evading the Egyptian
troops that were sent after him and led his fellow tribesmen
into the heart of the plain at the foot of Mount Sinai. During
his long and lonely life in the desert, he had learned to
revere the strength of the great God of the Thunder and the
Storm, who ruled the high heavens and upon whom the shepherds
depended for life and light and breath. This God, one
of the many divinities who were widely worshipped in western
Asia, was called Jehovah, and through the teaching of Moses,
he became the sole Master of the Hebrew race.
One day, Moses disappeared from the camp of the Jews.
It was whispered that he had gone away carrying two tablets
of rough-hewn stone. That afternoon, the top of the mountain
was lost to sight. The darkness of a terrible storm hid it from
the eye of man. But when Moses returned, behold! there stood
engraved upon the tablets the words which Jehovah had spoken
unto the people of Israel amidst the crash of his thunder and
the blinding flashes of his lightning. And from that moment,
Jehovah was recognised by all the Jews as the Highest Master
of their Fate, the only True God, who had taught them how
to live holy lives when he bade them to follow the wise lessons
of his Ten Commandments.
They followed Moses when he bade them continue their
journey through the desert. They obeyed him when he told
them what to eat and drink and what to avoid that they might
keep well in the hot climate. And finally after many years of
wandering they came to a land which seemed pleasant and
prosperous. It was called Palestine, which means the country
of the ``Pilistu'' the Philistines, a small tribe of Cretans who
had settled along the coast after they had been driven away
from their own island. Unfortunately, the mainland, Palestine,
was already inhabited by another Semitic race, called the
Canaanites. But the Jews forced their way into the valleys
and built themselves cities and constructed a mighty temple
in a town which they named Jerusalem, the Home of Peace.
As for Moses, he was no longer the leader of his people. He
had been allowed to see the mountain ridges of Palestine from
afar. Then he had closed his tired eyes for all time. He had
worked faithfully and hard to please Jehovah. Not only had
he guided his brethren out of foreign slavery into