THE BEGINNINGS OF KNOWLEDGE 13 



there was a long period in which they made small 

 progress and during which they were passed by other 

 races. 



The rise of one of these, the Greek, is marked in 

 its early stages by contributions from the Semitic race, 

 of which the Babylonians and Egyptians were both 

 members. The Island of Crete first received the 

 culture of the Semites from the Egyptian, Assyrian, 

 and Phoenician sailors and merchants. But the Greeks 

 also were intrepid sailors and shrewd merchants, and 

 they were shortly to be found in the older centers of 

 learning. With one of these Greeks, an Ionian of 

 Phoenician descent, Thales of the Island of Miletus, 

 science as well as Greek philosophy is considered to 

 have begun. This was about 585 B.C. 



