Jews in the history of early civilizations

Author's name: Gustave Le Bon

The rise of states and nationalisms was a warning bell for Jewish communities in Europe. Modern states were built on an ethnic basis, and Jews, who lived isolated in the "Jewish ghetto," failed to comprehend this. A state of intense hatred toward Jews prevailed in Western Europe, leading a great thinker like Max Weber to consider them the root of all evil in the world. Hegel, on the other hand, asserted that the Jewish national spirit failed to grasp the ideals of freedom and reason, and that its rituals were primitive and irrational. Gustave Le Bon followed the approach of European thinkers in their attitude toward Jews during that era, formulating his book "The Jews in the History of the First Civilizations" from this perspective. He leveled accusations against them, describing them with the most abhorrent descriptions, and denying any role for them in the emergence of ancient civilizations. Thus, this book represents a pattern of thought that prevailed in Europe from the Middle Ages until the mid-twentieth century.