=11.= The study of GEOGRAPHY is more intimately connected with that of History than may at first appear. The growth and character of nations are greatly influenced, if not determined, by soil and climate, the position of mountains, and the course of rivers. NOTE.—It is recommended to Teachers that the Geographical sections which precede Parts 1 and 2 of Book I, Book III, and Book V, be read aloud in the class, each pupil having his or her eye upon the map, and pronouncing the name of each locality mentioned, _only when it is found_. By this means the names will become familiar, and questions upon the peculiarities of each country can be afterward combined with the lessons. Many details necessarily omitted from maps I., II., IV., and VI., will be found on maps III. and V. Pupils are strongly urged to study History with the map before them; if possible, even a larger and fuller map than can be given in this book. Any little effort which this may cost, will be more than repaid in the ease with which the lesson will be remembered, when the places where events have occurred are clearly in the mind. BOOK I. NATIONS OF ASIA AND AFRICA FROM THE DISPERSION AT BABEL TO THE FOUNDATION OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. B. C. (ABOUT) 2700-558. PART I. ASIATIC NATIONS. VIEW OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF ASIA. =12.= ASIA, the largest division of the Eastern Hemisphere, possesses the greatest variety of soil, climate, and products. Its central and principal portion is a vast table-land, surrounded by the highest mountain chains in the world, on whose northern, eastern, and southern inclinations great rivers have their rise. Of these, the best known to the ancients were the Tigris and Euphra´tes, the Indus, Etyman´der, Arius, Oxus, Jaxar´tes, and Jordan. =13.= NORTHERN ASIA, north of the great table-land and the Altai range, is a low, grassy plain, destitute of trees, and unproductive, but intersected by many rivers abounding in fish. It was known to the Greeks under the general name of Scythia. From the most ancient times to the present, it has been inhabited by wandering tribes, who subsisted mainly upon the milk and flesh of their animals. =14.= CENTRAL ASIA, lying between the Altai on the north, and the Elburz, Hindu Kûsh, and Himala´ya Mountains on the south, has little connection with ancient History. Three countries in its western part are of some importance: _Choras´mia_, between the Caspian and the Sea of Aral; _Sogdia´na_ to the east, and _Bac´tria_ to the south of that province. The modern Sam´arcand is Maracan´da, the ancient capital of Sogdiana. Bactra, now Balkh, was probably the first great city of the Aryan race.