On the Antiquity of the Chemical Art | Page 7

(the
elements earth, air, and water, or all nature).
"But the Brahmins taught him the greater part of his philosophy--what
are the rules and principles of the understanding; what the functions of
the body; how many the faculties of the soul; how many the mutations
of life; what torments or rewards devolve upon the souls of the dead,
according to their respective deserts."
There is ample evidence, therefore, that the Greeks had communication
with, and borrowed the philosophy of, both Persia and India at a very
early date.
That there was intimate intercourse with India in very ancient times
there can be no doubt. In addition to the classical sources of
information collected chiefly by the officers of Alexander the Great,
Seleucus and the Ptolemies, and which was condensed and reduced to
consistent shape by Diodorus, Strabo, Pliny, and Arrian, within the first
century before and the first century after Christ, we have the further
proof of the fact by the constant finds of innumerable Greek coins over
a large portion of north-western India, and even at Cabul. These, so far
as yet known, commence with the third of the Seleucidæ, and run on
for many centuries, the inscriptions showing that the Greek characters
were used in the provinces of Cabul and the Punjab even so late as the
fourth century A.D. The consideration of these coins of the
Græco-Persian empire of the Seleucidæ naturally leads us to the
consideration of the Persians.
I have already shown that the Greeks and Persians held intimate
relations with each other as early as the fourth century B.C., and from
the speech of Demosthenes against a proposed war with Persia,

delivered in 354 B.C, we may well believe that they had already had a
long and intimate connection with each other. The passage rends thus:-
"All Greeks know that, so long as they regarded Persia as their
common enemy, they were at peace with each other, and enjoyed much
prosperity, but since they have looked upon the King (of Persia) as a
friend, and quarrelled about disputes with each other, they have
suffered worse calamities than any one could possibly imprecate upon
them."
The Persian empire was founded by Cyrus, about B.C. 560, and rapidly
rose to be perhaps the greatest power of the world of that age. The rise
of the Persian empire is not unlike that of the Arabian power in regard
to the wide range of conquest achieved in a very limited period. Its
actual existence, from the foundation of the empire by Cyrus in B.C.
560 to the death of Darius III., was barely two centuries and a half.
Previous to the Persian empire there existed three principal powers in
Asia--the Medes, the Chaldæans or Babylonish, and the Lydian. Of
these the Medes and Chaldæans were the most ancient, and their joint
power would seem to have extended eastward as far as the Oxus and
Indus.
Of these nations the Babylonians were the most highly civilized, and,
did time permit, we might find much that would interest and instruct in
examining the various facts relating to the arts and sciences amongst
these nations. We know that arts and sciences must have been
diligently cultivated amongst them, and that magic and astrology were
held in high repute.
That the Persians were well acquainted with other nations is shown
clearly from the remains of their great city of Persepolis, where the
sculptured figures represent many types of mankind--the negro, with
thick lips and flat nose, and with his crisp, wooly hair, clearly cut; and
the half-naked Indian, with his distinguishing features, being easily
singled out from many others.
Persia held sway over a huge district of India--the limits of this are not

known; but, in addition, they were well acquainted with a large portion
of the north-western part of India.
The traditions and historical records of the Persians are contained in the
famous series of writings culled the Zend-avesta. These writings are, it
is thought, of an age even before the Persian dynasty was established;
and it has been shown by the researches of M. Anguetil and Sir W.
Jones that there is indeed a great probability of the Zend having been a
dialect of the ancient Sanscrit language. In the vocabulary attached to
M. Anguetil's great work on the Zend-avesta no less than 60 to 70 per
cent. of the words are said to be pure Sanscrit.
As the oldest known language of Persia was Chaldæic, we are again
thrown back on Indian sources for the origin of the great book of the
ancient Persians. Even the name of the priests of the Persian religion of
Zoroaster, Mag or Magi, is of Sanscrit derivation.
The Persians kept up an enormous army, which was spread through all
the various provinces and Satrapies, and