We are prepared to
find civilisation developing wherever the situation of a people
exposes it to sufficient stimulation, and we do find advance made
among many peoples apart from contact with the great southern
empires. It is uncertain whether the use of bronze is due first
to the southern nations or to some European people, but the
invention of iron weapons is most probably due to European
initiative. Again, it is now not believed that the alphabets of
Europe are derived from the hieroglyphics of Egypt, though it is
an open question whether they were not derived, through
Phoenicia, from certain signs which we find on ancient Egyptian
pottery.
If we take first a broad view of the later course of civilisation
we see at a glance the general relation of east and west. Some
difficulty would arise, if we pressed, as to the exact stage in
which a nation may be said to become "civilised," but we may
follow the general usage of archaeologists and historians. They
tell us, then, that civilisation first appears in Egypt about
8000 B.C. (settled civilisation about 6000 B.C.), and in the
Mesopotamian region about 6000 B.C. We next find Neolithic
culture passing into what may be called civilisation in Crete and
the neighbouring islands some time between 4000 and 3000 B.
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