With the enthronement of the Seljûks the old world faded rapidly from view. No conquest in all the history of the Hittite lands had been so thorough and so enduring. Previously we had seen old institutions surviving under a new system that grew up around them; but now a new language and new forms of government, with new administrative districts, were imposed by the conquerors; while the devastation of the earlier stages of the conquest, followed by the repeated incursions of nomad peoples, profoundly modified the racial stock of the population. With them the modern Turkey-in-Asia was born. III MONUMENTS OF THE HITTITES PRELIMINARY: CHRONOLOGY—CLASSIFICATION—DISPOSITION With this outline of the chief historical phases of Asia Minor before us, we pass from the remains of mediæval and classical antiquity to a consideration of those more ancient monuments which bear witness to Hittite handiwork. Notwithstanding the progress of historical research, these remain the surest basis for the study of our subject, giving us an insight into the Hittite civilisation, which is rendered more valuable and more intelligible by the light thrown upon Hittite chronology by recent excavation. Their nature and intrinsic details are material evidence of Hittite arts, which, in the lack of internal literary documents, no other sources can satisfactorily supply; while their disposition defines for us the Hittite lands in a manner more reliable and more substantial than theories based on vague and difficult references in oriental history. A reasonable consideration of the environment of these monuments, also, may help us to appreciate something of that which is most difficult to realise but all-important, namely the circumstances of the life of those whose hands produced them.[126] [Illustration: PLATE XXX EPHESUS: REMAINS OF THE ‘LIBRARY OF CELSUS,’ RECENTLY UNCOVERED (_See p. 71._)]