450 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. xm. 



Sardinia and Etruria, which may have derived their 

 names, like England, from their conquerors. It seems, 

 however, more probable that they were already in pos- 

 session of those regions, since the influence of Egypt 

 is proved to have extended as far to the west as Sar- 

 dinia, by the scara-bsei and other remains found in the 

 tombs. The extent to which the Etruskans are in- 

 debted to Egyptian art is only to be realised by an 

 examination of their tombs and of the various Italian 

 museums. The discoveries at Cyprus and Mykene, and 

 elsewhere in Greece, show that the influence of Egypt 

 was directly felt among the ancient inhabitants of the 

 Peloponnese, and the islands of the Archipelago, as was 

 the universal opinion of the early writers of Greece and 

 Eome. It may therefore be said to have pervaded the 

 whole of the Mediterranean area in the fifteenth century 

 B.C., and for how long a time before we' have as yet no 

 evidence. 



We must now review the position of the great rival, 

 and ultimately the conqueror, of Egypt Assyria. 



The Influence of Assyria. 



The great seats of empire on the banks of the 

 Euphrates and Tigris, like Egypt, have their origin con- 

 cealed in the darkness of the ages ; but their first 

 authentic record is the conquest of Chaldeea, in 2280 B.C. 1 

 From that time forward Babylon and Nineveh extended 

 their dominions, and ultimately became one power, 

 advancing as far north as the Caucasus, taking posses- 

 sion of the copper-mines in the country of the Medes, 

 and probably, also, of the tin mines in KhoraL,,n, and 



1 Sayce, Endop. Brit., Art. " Babylonia," p. 185. 



