“548. THE PERSIANS—ISAIAH 41”
The Persians—Isaiah 41
In this chapter begins a series of most interesting and remarkable prophecies respecting the Persians, and Cyrus, their great king. To these, we mean to give special attention, not only on account of their intrinsic importance, and their special adaptation to our mode of illustration, but because their prominent reference to an eminent character in history, imparts to them a sort of biographical interest, well suited to engage the attention of our readers.
The fact that the great Cyrus, his name, his history, his exploits, and his character, are set forth by the prophet long before he was born, has often engaged admiring observation and comment. But it has been less noticed that the very nation to which, under him, was given the commission to avenge the Lord’s controversy with Babylon, and to inherit for its reward, the spoil of many realms, had scarcely any existence, and certainly no prominent existence as a nation, at the time the prophecy was delivered. To show this, and at the same time to furnish a suitable introduction to our further statements, it is desirable to give this evening to the consideration of the origin of this people, and of their condition at the time that Isaiah wrote, and at the time when Cyrus appeared.
From the best accounts to which we have now access, it would appear that the Persians belonged originally to that widely dispersed people who occupied the countries between the Tigris and the Indus in one direction, and between the Oxus and the shores of the Indian Ocean on the other.
Their aspect as represented in the fine old sculptures at Persepolis, distinguishes them from their Mongol neighbors in the north; and their complexion, as shown at this day in their descendants, from the Hindus to the south-east, in a manner too decided to suffer any idea of their consanguinity to either, to be entertained. At the same time, their language proves them to have been equally independent of the Semitic or Syro-Arabian tribes on the west; for the languages spoken in the regions west of the Tigris were altogether different in character and construction from those used to the east of that river.
Head of Persian, from Persepolis
It thus appears that the various races that necessarily had dominion in those parts, all belonged to the same original stock. The most ancient of these ruling nations were the Medes, Bactrians, and Persians. That the Medes were not of a distinct stock from the Persians, is evidenced not only by their history, but by the similarity of their language.
The ancient traditions of the race refer their origin to a region called Eriene-Veedjo, which we can discover to have been the mountainous tracts on the borders of Bucharia, as far as the confines of Hindustan, and northward to the neighborhood of the Altai mountains. Hence by successive migrations they made their way, until they eventually established themselves permanently within the precincts of that territory, which has preserved to the present day the name of Iran—the nation carrying with them in their migrations, the name of Eriene, which is obviously the same as Iran.
When this people quitted their original abodes, it appears that they were, like the Israelites of old, a nation of herdsmen and shepherds, acquainted with no other species of property than their herds of camels, horses, oxen, and sheep. A change of residence, however, was necessarily, as also in the case of the Hebrews, attended with a change of habits. The earliest of their kings or chiefs, named Jemsheed, is celebrated in their legends as the first who introduced into the land of Iran a knowledge of agriculture, tillage, and cattle-breeding. He was also the legislator of the race, and instructed them in the policies of civil life; having been, as they believed, appointed to that office by Ormuzd, whom they worshipped as the source of all good; and he therefore, in their view, bore nearly the same relation to themselves as Moses did to the Israelites. The country to which they gave the name of Iran was, previously to their arrival, unoccupied, save by wild animals. The nature of the country did not, however, admit of all the new settlers devoting themselves to the same pursuits. It was but a comparatively small number who gave themselves to agriculture and occupied settled habitations; by far the greater part continuing of necessity to follow their old occupations as shepherds and herdsmen. In this manner, rather by the variety of their pursuits than by any diversity in their origin, the nation was necessarily split into a number of distinct tribes, of which some, like the Medes, acquired by agriculture and the improvement of commerce, wealth and power; while others, shut up in steppes and mountains, continued true to their original habits, which their situation may be said to have prescribed.
To this latter class belonged the Persians—the portion of the race to which our present attention is to be confined. Their original abode in Iran can be determined with certainty; for the general voice of all antiquity proves them to have been a race of mountaineers, inhabiting the wild and hilly region which is still known by the name of Fars, or Farsistan, whence Paras, which is the Hebrew name of the country; and whence also the Persis of the Greeks and Romans, from which comes our Persia. The names “Persia” and “Persians” are names applied by foreigners, and are, and probably were, wholly unknown to the natives as designations for their country and for themselves. With them Fars is but the name of a province of their empire; and they call their country Iran, and themselves Iranees.
We are, then, to regard the Persians as having been originally a nation of shepherds and herdsmen, inhabiting the rude country of Fars, or Persis proper, such as naturally fosters a hardy race of people, capable of supporting both cold and watching, and of enduring, when called upon, the severest toils of war. It appears, however, that although this region formed the central seat of the race, that race was by no means confined to it; for the names borne by some of the tribes, into which the nation was divided, bear evidence that their occupation extended over the steppes of Carmania (Kerman) southward, and northward to the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Agreeably to what has always been the case among the great nomade races, the Persians were divided into several hordes or tribes. Such, as we all know, was likewise the case among the Israelites, whose analogous division into tribes arose while they were under a similar condition of life. Among the Persians, the number of these tribes was ten; and they were no less distinguished from each other by their differences of rank, than by their modes of life. Three of these were accounted noble, the Pasargadæ, the Maraphians, and the Maspians; and of these the first was the noblest of all, as it included the family of the Achæmenidæ, to which the reigning dynasty belonged. Three of the other tribes were agricultural; and the remaining four retained the nomadic habits of their ancestors; but they are occasionally mentioned as contributing hardy bands of cavalry to the Persian armies. The extensive salt deserts which divide Persia from Media, as well as the plains of southern Persia, afforded inexhaustible pastures for the cattle of these tribes, whenever they thought proper to descend from their mountains. This division of the nation into tribes, a large proportion of whom are tent-dwelling shepherds, still prevails in the same country.
Such being the case, we must discard the idea that the Persian nation, even at the most brilliant period of its history, was universally and equally civilized. A part of the nation ruled the remainder; and this portion alone had attained a certain degree of civilization by its acquaintance with the arts of peace and luxury. The other tribes continued in their original barbarism, and partook but little, if at all, in the improvement of the race. The Persian history, as it has come down to us, is therefore not so much the history of the whole nation as that of certain tribes, and possibly only of the most noble tribe—that of the Pasargadæ. These composed the court, and it appears that, almost without exception, all that was distinguished among the Persians proceeded from them.
From the above particulars, we shall also be led to conclude, that in a country so constituted, everything would depend upon descent and upon tribal distinctions. As the tribes were distinguished by a greater or lesser degree of nobleness, so there was also a gradation in the different families of which each tribe was composed. As already intimated, the most noble family of the most noble race was that of the Achæmenidæ, from which exclusively the kings of Persia were always taken.
The authentic history of the Persians commences, both in sacred and profane history, with Cyrus, whom the Scripture honors with many honors, such as are in no instance bestowed upon a foreign prince. At the commencement of his career, the Persians were under tribute to the kindred nation of the Medes, whose king was the grandfather of Cyrus by the mother’s side. But Cyrus not only delivered his nation from that yoke, but reduced all the known kingdoms of Asia under his sway.
Autor: JOHN KITTO