The Origin of Laws, Arts, and Sciences: And Their Progress Among the Most Ancient of Nations, Volume 1 |
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Æneid afcribed Afia againſt alfo almoſt alſo ancient antiquity apud Befides book of Job Chap Chedorlaomer Chineſe confequence confiderable confifted conftellations Coreal countries cuſtoms defigned Diod Diodorus diſcover diſcovery édif Egypt Egyptians eſtabliſhed Eufeb exprefs facred faid fame favages fcripture fect feem feveral fhall figns filver fimple firft firſt ages fociety fome foon fpeak ftars ftate ftill ftones fubject fuch fufficient furniſhed greateſt Greeks Herod Herodotus Hift hiftorians hiftory himſelf Ibid Incas inftruments inhabitants invention kind kings laft laws Lettr mankind manner meaſures metals Mofes moft moſt muft muſt nations neceffary neceffity Ninus obferved occafion origin perfons Phoenicians Plin Plut practice prefent preferved progrefs purpoſe reafon refpect repreſent Sanchoniatho ſay ſciences ſeems Semiramis ſeveral ſhall ſome ſpeak ſtars ſtate ſtill Strabo ſtudy ſuch Syncell thefe themſelves theſe firſt thofe thoſe tions uſe veffels Voyag word writing
Popular passages
Page 89 - For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs : "But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven...
Page 2 - ... of which is confirmed by modern relations. Travellers inform us, that even at this day, in some parts of the world, they meet with men who are strangers to all social intercourse, of a character so cruel and ferocious, that they live in perpetual war, destroying, and even devouring each other. These wretched people, void of all the principles of humanity, without laws, polity, or government, live in dens and caverns, and differ but very little from the brute creation. Their food consists of some...
Page 153 - Arms, tools for hufbandry and the mechanic arts, were all of copper for many ages. The writings of Homer leave us no room to doubt of this. We fee, that, at the time of the Trojan war, iron was very little ufed.
Page 157 - ... stones, of iron. To make the blades of swords and knives, they must have known the arts of tempering and turning iron into steel. These facts seem to me sufficient to prove that the discovery of iron, and the arts of working it, were extremely ancient in Egypt and Palestine.
Page 26 - It was long before mankind knew the art of writing ; but they very early invented several methods to supply, in a good measure, that want. The method most commonly used was, to compose their histories in verse, and sing them. Legislators made use of this expedient to consign and hand down to posterity their regulations. The first laws of all nations were composed in verse, and sung.
Page 224 - We find, from time immemorial, the use of this period among all nations, without any variation in the form of it. The Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians, Indians, Arabians, and, in a word, all the nations of the East, have in all ages made use of a week, consisting of seven days. We find the same custom among the ancient Romans, Gauls, Britons, Germans, the nations of the North, and of America.
Page 152 - We ought particularly to take notice, that they are almoft all pierced with a round hole in the place moft proper for receiving a handle ; and this hole is made in fuch a manner, that the handle being once forced in, will not come out again but with great difficulty, as it is with our hammers. It is evident from, infpe&ion alone, that thefe ftones have been thus wrought by the hands of men.
Page 137 - The savages set before us a striking picture of the ignorance of the ancient world, and the practices of primitive times.
Page 139 - ... more difficult to explain how they arrived at the art of working them. It is only by means of fire that we can prepare metals for our use.
Page 211 - Aun</r«/s, tens of hundreds, thousands, and so on ; still from ten to ten. We can discover no reason why the number ten should be chosen rather than any other for the term of numeration, except this primitive practice of counting by the fingers.