[Illustration: TYPES OF EARLY ALPHABETS] [Sidenote: =Phoenicians helped to advance learning=] The Phoenicians were akin to the Jews. They lived near the Jews on the Mediterranean and were a sea-going people, the traders of that early time. In their ships, driven by oar and sail, they braved the dangers of the Atlantic and reached Spain and England. To these people must be given the credit of carrying to the Greeks and Romans much of the learning of Egypt and Asia. To the Phoenicians also belongs the honor and fame of inventing an alphabet much like the one we have to-day, although with fewer letters. SUGGESTIONS INTENDED TO HELP THE PUPIL =The Leading Facts.= _1._ The first settlers in America came from old and well-established countries in Europe. _2._ Their ways of living were very different from ours. _3._ The classes of people were very different from those we have. _4._ Egypt the oldest nation. _5._ What the Nile does for Egypt. _6._ What Egypt taught the world. _7._ Babylon and Nineveh, the early cities of Asia. _8._ How they differed from Egypt. _9._ How Egypt, Babylon, and Nineveh recorded their deeds. _10._ What the Jews were noted for. _11._ Who were great among them? _12._ How the World War has changed the hope of some Jews. _13._ The Phoenicians were celebrated for carrying trade and learning. _14._ They also invented the alphabet. =Study Questions.= _1._ Name the different classes of people in Europe. _2._ What would have happened if a great lord had carried his people to America in an early day? _3._ Make a list of useful things that the Egyptians knew. _4._ How do you imagine we know about the ancient cities of Babylon and Nineveh? _5._ Why did they use brick? _6._ Why is it better to use letters than pictures in writing? =Suggested Readings.= Dopp, _The Tree Dwellers_; _The Early Cave-men_; _The Later Cave-men_; _The Early Sea People_; _Stories of Ancient Peoples_; Ragozin, _A History of the World_, Vol. I. Earliest Peoples; Retold from _St. Nicholas_, Stories of the Ancient World, 3-52, 69-77, 92-124; Mace-Tanner, _Old Europe and Young America_, 14-24. GREECE, THE LAND OF ART AND FREEDOM =260. Greece, a Beautiful Land.= Among the countries of the ancient world Greece was the one bright spot where men had the right to think and act for themselves. [Sidenote: =The geography of Greece=] Greece is a small peninsula in southeastern Europe cut up by many deep gulfs and bays and crossed by rugged mountains. The colors of its landscape have been thus described: "Against a deep blue sky, its bold hills and mountains, often powdered with snow, stand out in clear outline, and its fertile valleys please the eye with their green vineyards and groves of silver-gray olive trees." [Illustration: MOUNT OLYMPUS, IN GREEK MYTH THE HOME OF THE GODS]