HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY.

FR OM T H E GERMAN

PROFES SOR MAX DUNCKER,

EVELYN A BBO T T ,M .A . ,

L L.D . ,

PI LLOW A N D T UTO R O I BA LLIOL OOLLEGE. OXFORD.

VO L. I II .

LO N DO N

BEN T LEY SO N , N EW BU RLI N GTO N

yublishm in O rbit i n g to ’ ¢t Q ujmg the Q n tm.

1879.

S u mCLAY A X! ) TAY LO R , Pn rxflu .

C O N T E N T S .

BO O K IV.

A S S YR IA . I S RA EL . EGYPT . BABYLON . L YDIA .

CHAPTER I .

T H E CA I PMO N S O F T IO LA'

I‘

H PILBBAB II

CHA PTER II .

TB ! PRO PH E‘

I‘B O F IS R AEL

CHAPTER III .

T H E PH ARAOH S O P TAN I S , BU BAB'

I'

IB, A N D N A PA T A

CHAPTER IV.

T H ! CO LLIS ION O P AS S Y R IA A N D EG Y PT

CHAPTER V .

w a rm IN T H E 821038 0? BARGO N A N D BBN N A O H ZR IB

CHAPTER VI.

SM A CBKR IB IN S Y R I A

CHAPTER VI I .

Q WM A DDO N

CO NT ENTS .

CHAPTER IX.

flu : ooxsm'rm ox, m y , m I n o r m mam /ms

CHAPTER X.

JUDA H UNDER “ NAMES AND JOS IAH

CHAPTER XI .

T I] ! NATIO N S 07 THE NO RTH

CHAPTER XII .

T H E T A LL O P AS SY RIA

CHAPTER XI II .

EGY PT U NDER PSAW ET I OII U S AND N EGR O

CHAPT ER XIV.

T H E RESTO RATI O N O I? BABY LO N

CHAPTER XV.

N EBU CHA DXBZZAB AND H IS S U GGES S O RS

CHAPTER XVI .

EG Y PT U N DER THE LAS T PHA RAO HS

CHAPT ER XVII .

TH ! O VKRT IIBOW 0? TH E H ER A O LEIDS IN LY D IA

LY D IA UNDER m I R W A DB

A S S Y R I A .

CHAPTER I .

THE CAMPA IGNS OF T IGLATH PILES A R I I .

IN t h e cou rse of the ninth centu ry the power ofAssyria had made considerable progress . In additionto the ancient dependencies on the u pper Zab andthe u pper Tigris, in Armenia and Mesopotamia, theprincipal ities and cities on the middle Eu ph r ates hadbeen red u ced

,t h e region of the Amanns had been

won. Cil icia had been trodden by Assyrian armies ,Damascus was humbled, Syria had fel t the weigh tof t h e arms of Assyr ia in a number of campaignsthe kin gdom of Israel and the cities of the Pheniciansh ad repea tedly brought their tribu te to the warl ikeprinces of N ineveh ; at length even t h e ci ti es of thePhil isti nes and the Edomi t es cou ld not escape as imilar payment. T ig la t h Pil e sa r I. had seen thegre a t sea of the West, the Mediterranean ; threecentu ries later Bin-n ir ar I I I. received the tr ibu te ofal l t h e harbou r cities of t h e Syrian coast, th e greatcen t r es of trade o n this sea. Nor was i t t o the Westonly t ha t the power of the Assyrians advanced . Shalmane sar I I. an d Bin -nimr I l l . gained the su premacyover Babylon , the ancient mo t h e r ~co u n t ry of Assyria.Each offered sacrifices at Babylon, Bo r sippa , and K u t h a ;

VO L. I I I . B

z A SS Y IIIA .

while to the North-west t h e power of Assy i i a extendedbeyond Medi a as far as the shores of the Caspian Se a .

The su ccessors of Bin -n i r ar II I. were n o t able tosu s ta in their power at this height . S h a lman esa r I I I .

(78 1—771 had again to fight against Damascu sand Hadrach (in t h e neighbour hood of Damascu s

‘)

in his short reign of ten years he marched six timesagainst the land of Ararat (U r ar t i ) . Assu r-dan il I I I.

(771—753 the su ccessor of Shalmanese r I I I . ,also fought against Hadrach and A rpad (now TelErrad , near Hamat h He had ,moreover , to su ppressdistu rbances which had broken ou t on the u pperZab in A r r apa e h i t is (A r aph a ), and in t h e land ofGu zan (Gau zan i t is) on the Ch ab o r as. In the re ignof Assu r-n i r a r I I . (753— 745 there were risingsin Assyria, even in Chalah , the metropolis .8 Bu t theprin ce who su cceeded Assu r-n ir ar I I . on the thr one ofA ssyria, T ig la t h Pil e sa r I I .

, was able not merely tora ise the k in gdom to the position which it had occu piedu nder S h alman e sar I I . and Bin -n i rar I I I . , b u t to makei t a predominant power over a stil l wider circu it.The armies of S h alman e sa r I I . had invaded Med ia ;

among the tribu te brought to h im by the land ofMu sh r i we fou nd camels wi th two humps, bu ffaloes,(yaks) and elephants . After a su ccessfu l campaignagainst Babylon , which he u ndert ook immedi amafte r h is accession, T ig la t h Pil e sa r led his army to thet able-land of I ran , and forced his way to the East. ‘

T h e o lde r Zacha r iah me n tion s t h e lan d of Hadrach be d de Dama scus an d Hama th , Ze e h . ix. 1 , 2.

F ifte e n miles to t h e n o r th-west o f Aleppo t h e r u in -hea ps a t T e l

Br fad ma rk t h e si te o f t h e an ci e n t A rpad ; Kie pe r t , “Z . D .M. G.

”26 , 666.

A docume n t h as be e n pr e se rved fr om t h e r e ign o f A ssn r -a ir a r ,be lon gin g to t h e yea r 7-17 D. O . , r ega rdi n g t h e leas e o f a piece of lan d ;O ppe r t e t Men an t , Doe um. Jur idi q.

” p . 161 .

T h e li st e f r u le rs r epr e sen ts h im as ma rch in g

CAMPAIGNS OF T IGLAT II PI LES AR I I.

A ta blet d iscovered at Chal ah, which gives a summaryof fig la t h Pil esar

'

s achievements from the first to t h eseve nte enth year of h i s rei gn, mentions the districtssu bjugated in this direction . I t is a long list, beginni ng wi th the land of Namri. ‘ The di stricts of Parsu a,Zikr u t i , Nisas , an d A r aku t tu are mentioned,2 and theen umeration conclu des wi t h districts i n the w ilds ofM edia. 3 The king defeated the numerous warriors ofthis region ; of their people, chi l dren , horses,asses, mu les, oxen , and sheep withou t number I carriedaway.

” Su ch are t h e words of the inscription , whichproce eds : “ I took possession of the land of Namrianew, and t h e land of Parsu a.

” With these regionsthi rteen district s already mentioned are again e n ume ra ted. “

Zikr u t i in rugged Media I added to the lan d ofAssyria ; the ci tie s I bu ilt up anew ; in them I placedwarriors of Asshu r,my lord, and people whommy handhad taken capti ve. I rece ived the tribu te of Medi a, ofEll ip, and al l t h e princes of the mou ntain s to Bikn i ;hor ses, asses, mu les, oxen ,

sheep wi t hou t number. Mygeneral , Assurdain an i , I sent into rugged Media towardsthe rising of the sun . He brought b ack 5000 horses,oxen , sheep withou t number.

” 5

Accordin g to th is inscrip t ion T ig la t h Pil esar , on h is

to t h e Euph n taq immedia te ly aft er h is ace essionmn d afte rwa rds to t h o

h nd of N amr i , 6. 0. to t h e n r us.

G . Smi th m ds Zimr i .N iu i in G . Smith, “ Disc.” p. 260. h u t in frng . ( Nisan .

Ll . 20—33 in O . Smith, “ Disc." p. 260 ; Méua n t . “ An n e l.H 3.

34—42, in 0. Smith, " Disc. p. 261 ; mum, ax. ci t. 143.

T h o ' or ds “ I pon e-ed an ew" m m t i n g i n O . Smith ; cl . Le n o r

m n t . Z. E g ypt . S pr l o h o ."1870, s. 48 a. T h e st a t emen t abo u t t h e

su bju ga t io n of Bi t H amh e n an d t h e re gion . which fo llow. II. 84—37.ta u pe-t ed in t h e in ee r ipt i o n in I‘ M pp. I7. 18 . I. I7 ; in Ménan t .lo t . T h e ata tmn en t s bou t t h e cempfign of m r da in a n i u

W in in g -l , p. 271 in 0. 81n i th , lo t . ci t .

1 . A SS Y RIA .

first campaign against I ran , which we may place , o nt h e au t hori ty of t h e l ist of ru lers, in t h e year 745 or744 though he failed to reach Bactria and th e

Indus, forced his way into the easte rn regions of Iranas fa r as the furt her shore of lake IIamu n . Themeanin g of t h e names N isaa ,

Zikr u t i , an d A raku t t u

is hardly doubtfu l . Nisan mu st denot e t h e regionor district of N isaea in t h e eas t of Media . Zikr u t i ,

2

which is mentioned together with Nissen , may be thename of the S ag ar t ian s of Herodotu s, the A cagar t a oft h e inscr ipt ions of t h e Achaemenids, a race mentionedby l l e rodo t u s among t h e t ribes of the Persians ; theywere set tled or wandered to the cast of the latter.A r aku t t u gives u s t h e Semi tic form of the nameof the H a r a uvat i of t h e Persian inscriptions, theH ar ava

’

i t i of the Avesta, the A r ae h o t i of the Greeks.The A r ae h o t i were set t led in the river-valley of t h eA rae h o t u s (now Arghandab), which fal ls into lakeI Iamun

,to the east of the river. Bu t T ig la t h Pil esar

did not maintain his su premacy on t h e table-land ofIran to this ex te nt. In the enumeration of the co nqu ered dis t ricts of the second campaign the namesN isaa and A r aku t t u are wanting, while Zikr u t i , Par an a ,and Madai (Media) , and the tribu te of Media, whichmu st therefore have been obtained by a new campaignof t h e general of T ig la t h Pil esar , are brought in t oprominence. The second campaign of the k ing wast herefore l imite d to the western regions of Iran . At alat er time

,in the n inth year of h is reign (737 he

once more marched into the land of Media.

3 A secondinscr iption says

,in summary, that T ig la t h Pi l e sar

This gives 71 5—744 s o : Bilda n i l . T o t h e la n d of Namr i ; cf.

fr ag. 3 i n G. Smi th, D isc.

" p. 269 .

Men a n t tr a n sla te s, city o f Zikr u t i ; G . Smith’s r e n de r in g does

n o t give this descri pti o n i n this passage (p. b u t o n p. 27 1 .

G . Smith, Ioc. cit . p. 279 ; Men a n t , loc. ci t . p. 146.

CAMPAIGNS OF T IGLAT H PILES A R I I. 0 o

imposed tribu te on the“ land of Parsu a and the

city of Zikr u t i ,” which was dependent on the land of

the.Med ea, and on the princes of th e land of Media as

far as the lan d of Bikn i . 1

When T ig la th Pi lesa r ascended the th rone Nabonassar

(747—734 had been king of Babylon for two years,accord in g to the canon of P tolemy. Babylonia n o

longer posses sed the extent of coun t ry once given toher by Hammu rabi , and which we may ascribe to herdu ring the numerou s wars carried o n with Assyriafrom the middl e of the fift eenth centu ry, and evenat the date of S h alman esar I I . an d Bin -n ir a r I I I .

Either th rough the preponderance which Assyria h a dobtained over Babylon aft er the middle of the n inthcentu ry, or from other cau ses, we find several indepen dent principal ities on the lower cou rse of theEuphrate s after t h e middle of the eight h centu ry t h e

Assyrian in scriptions mention as su ch , Bit Sahal la, BitSilan , Bit Dakku r, Bit Amukan, a n d Bit Yakin at themou th of the Euphrates, on the shore of the PersianG u lf. So far as we can discover from themonuments,T ig la th Pil esa r was at war with Babylonia in t h e veryfir s t year of his reign .

’ Du r K u r igalz u , t h e old borderfortress of Babylon against A ssyria, S ippa r a , and otherci ti es of the land of Kard u n ias on the river or canalU kn i , aremen t ioned , and the priests of Bi t S agga t u orBit Zida

,i . e . of t h e chief t emples of Babylon and Bo r

sippa , to gether with the priest of Nergal , who b r in gg ifts to T igla t h Pi lesar ; we hear of 10 talents of gold ,an d 1000 ta l ents of silver, received by T ig la t h Pi les a ri n the fi rst year of his reign .

3 In the summary of hisachievemen ts (on t h e ta blet of Chalah) t h e king saysthat he h as taken Dur K u n

’

ga lz u , that he has offered

L. I? in Mén a n t . fo r. c“. p. I89 . Above . p. 2. n ode 4.En g . 1

,2 in 0 . Smith. “ Dine . pp. 2011. 267.

ASSYR IA.

sacrifice at Sippars , N ipu r , Babylon , Bors ippa , K u t h a ,

and Ur, that in the beginning of his reign b e ru ledfromDu r K ur iga lz u to N ipu r .

l The king of Babylon ,against whom he fought an d whom b e compelled toopen the gate s of h is fortresses and of Babylon , is notmentioned by T ig la t h Pil esa r . We must assume , fromthe canon of Ptolemy, that i t was N a h o n assar whobowed himself before the weight of the arms ofAssyria. Yet the obedience of Babylon was notsecu red. Fragments of the detailed annals of T ig la t hPil e sar in form us that his general again fought aga ins tt h e Babyl on iau s , that he h imself again conqu ered aci ty which the Babylonians had taken , that in theregion of Tel Assu r he sacrificed to Merodach the godof Tel Assu r .’ An inscription of Chalah narrates thatT ig la t h Pil e sa r laid waste Bit Amu kan and Bit Sahalla,and took their kings Nabu -sabz i and Zah ira pri soners ;that he besieged king K in zir u in S apiya (Sape ), hiscapital , and added to Assyria Pi ll u tu on the border ofAssyria and Elam; that he received the tribu tes of thekings of the Ch a ld te an s, of Balasu , the son of Dakku r i ,of Nadin of La r r ak, and Merodach Baladan, t h e son ofYakin , the king of the sea coas t. 3 The large tablet te llsu s more at length. Pill u t u on the borders of ElamI added to Assyria ; the Chaldaeans I removed fromthence and placed in the midst of Assyria. The warriors of Nabu -sabzi , the son of Silani, I defeated u ndert h e walls of his city of Sar r apan i , and I cru cified h imbefore the great gate of his city. Five thou sand fivehundr ed of his people I took captive ; his sons, h isdaughters , his gods I carried away : his city and the

Men a n t, Ioc. ci t . p. 139.

T h e list o f r u le rs in se rts a seco n d campaign o f T i g la t h Pile sa r t o

t h e la n d o f t h e s tr e am in t h e ye ar 737 fr ag. 8. II. 1 8, 19, 52—65 i nG . Smi th , b e . ci t. pp . 277, 260, 281 .

LL 12—1 9 i n G . Smith, Disc. pp . 265 , 256.

CAMPA IGNS OF T IO LA T II PILES AR 1 1.

ci ties rou nd abou t i t I destroyed an d bu rn t. Zaki r u,

the so n of Sa h al li , and his chieftains I captu red ; I

pu t them 111 irons and brought them to Assyria ; 5400of the people of Bit Sahal la I captu red ; I laidwaste a ll the d istricts of Bit Sahall a and u ni ted themto Assyria. The numerous army of K in z ir u , the so nof Amukan , l defea te d before the great gate of hiscity, Sapiya ; I besieged h im an d overthrew all h isci ties. Bit Sil an , Bit Amu kan , Bit Sahalla, I havelaid waste throu ghou t their whole extent ; I receivedthe tribu te of Balas u , the son of Dakku r i , and of Nadinof Lar rak ; Merodach Baladan, the son of Yakin , theking of the sea-coast , was overcome by the fear ofAsshu r, my lord : he came to Sapiya and kissed myfeet, an d I received his tribu te .

” 1

The ca non of Pto lemy represents N adi us as su cceedi ng Nabon assar of Babylon in the year 733 Is t h eNabu-sabzi of Bit Si lan whom T ig la t h Pi lesa r defea tsnear the ci ty of S ar r apa n i the king N adi us of thecanon and ought his name to be al tered in t h e canonto N ab ius ? According to the canon Nadina r e ignedonly two years (733, 732 the campaign of Tigla th Pi lesa r , which ended in the conqu est and es sention of Nahu -sabzi , mu st therefore have taken place i nthe year 732 Afte r the conqu est of Nabu -s abz i,as the inscriptions told u s , T ig la t h Pilesa r subjugat esK in z iru of Bit Amukan , when he had besieged Sapiya ,his capi tal ; i n this city he receives the homage ofMerodach Baladan . The l ist of ru lers places t h e

campaign against S apiya in the year 731 In t h e

canon of Ptolemy, Na dine is su cceeded by a jointru l e : from the year 731 to 727 Ch in z ir us andPoru s re ign over Babylon . Is the K in z i ru of BitAmukan the Ch in z ir us of th e canon ?

L l . 1 1—28 in O . Smith, Di sc. pp. 258—260.

o ASS YR IA.

Af t er t h e subj ugation of Mero dach Baladan , king ofthe sea-coast, i . e . the coast of t h e Persian G u lf, T ig la t hPi le sa r

’

s domin ion extended over the whole region ofthe Euphrates. He assu res us that he laid was t e theland of Chaldaea throughou t its whole extent,

”

andreceived tribu te from all the Ch a ld te an s that hepossessed t h e whole land of Ka rdun ias (Babylonia),a n d was lord over it and wi t h perfect tru th , for aninscription of king Sargon tells u s , t hat Bit Amukan ,Bit Dakku r

,Bit Silan

,Bit Sah alla, Bit Yakin form the

whole of t h e land of the Ch aldze a n s .

2 T ig la t h Pi l e sar

calls himself king of Asshu r, ki ng of Babylon , kingof Sumir and Accad ; he claims t h e ful l titl e of t h ekings of Babylon . The names of the principal i t iesof Ch aldse a are obviou sly taken from their dynasties .Nabu -sabz i is called t h e son of Silan , and his land BitSilan Merodach Baladan is the son of Yakin , and hisland is Bit Yakin. S h alman e sar I I . , as we saw (Vol .I I. p. spoke of Israel as Bit Omri, i . e . the hou se ofOmri . The Ch in z ir u s of the canon of Ptolemy enablesu s to assume that T ig la t h Pi le sar afte r the defeat ofK in z ir u of Bit Amukan placed this Ki n z ir u as a vassalking or viceroy over Ba bylon , a proceeding whichrecu rs often enough in t h e proceedings of the kings ofAsshu r towards conqu ered principali t ies and lan ds.The canon of Ptolemy do e s n o t make Ch inz i r u s the

sole king of Babylon . From 731 to 727 B. C. C h i nzir as and Poru s are sa id to have reigned together— a

j oint sovereignty , of which this is the only instancein the canon . Strikingly enough their two reigns endin the same year, and this, 727 is the very yeari n which , according to the Assyrian canon , T ig la t h Pilesar

’

s reign is brought to a close. In the excerpt from

G. Smith, loo. ci t . pp. 256 258 .

O ppe r t ,“D u r Sa rkn yan , p. 20; Mén an t,

“ An n a l. ” pp. 160, 181 .

CAMPA IGNS O l"T IGLAT II PILES AB I I. a

Berosu s' l ist of the kings ofBabylon ,given by Polyh istor

,

of which Eusebius h as preserved some very scantythe 45 kings who reign ed over Babylon forare followed by a kin g of the Chaldaeans

,

whose name was Phul. “ If the Babylonians namedT ig la th Pil esar Phu l in their li st of kings, and if Porusin the ca non of Ptolemy is a mistake for Polu s (Pal ),t h e Babylon ians , in order to conceal their dependenceo n Assyria, must have placed their cou ntryman beforet h e stran ger, the vassal king before the real kin g intheir series of ru lers.The Hebrew Scrip tu res tell u s that Phu l of Asshu r

marched against Israel Menahem of Israel paid Phu la tribu te of 1000 talen ts of silver, and the king ofA ssyria retu rned into his land. Then Ah az of Ju dahsent messengers to king T ig la t h Pil esar of Asshu r tosave h imo u t of the hand of Rczin , king of Damascu s,and Pekah

,kin g of Israel . Pekah had pu t to death

Pekahi ah , the so n of Menahem, after a reign of twoyears, and seate d himself on the throne. T ig la t h Pil esar

l ist ened to Ah az and came and carried away a part ofthe Isr aeli tes to Assyria, and Hoshea set on fe e t a conspir acy and slew Pekah and became king in h i s place .

“

The inscriptions of T ig la t h Pil e sa r mention among theprinces who brought h im tribu te Min i h immi (Menah em) of Samir in a and also “Jau h az i (Ahaz)of Judah a fragment informs us that T ig la th Pile sa rrea ched the borders of Bit Omri , i . e . of Israel (Vol . I I.p . Paka h a (Pcka h ) their king t h ey had slain ;so T ig la t h Pil esa r continu es in this fragment,

“ I pu tHusi ( l l osh ea ) to be king over them.

” The inscription

Vo l . II . p. 27 ; Bu s ch . Ch i-o n . l . p. 26, ed . Sche rzo.2 King! xv. 1 9 . 20 ; xvi . 7—9 ; 1 Chro n . v. 20.

O . Smith . Mao ." p. 277.

‘ O . Smith, (or . ci t p. 28rl .

t o ASSYR IA.

also speaks, in t his place , of sending or carrying awayto Assyria, b u t i t is i n such a mu t ila ted condition t h a tmore accu rate knowledge is impossible . S t ill i t isabundantly clear from this fragment tha t the king ofAssyr ia, who received tribu te fromMenahem of Israela n d then marched against Israel when Pekah hadascended the th rone, was one and the same prince,T ig la t h Pil esar . We might assume a double paymentof tribu te on t h e part of Menahem, a payment toPhu l and a second payment to T ig la t h Pil esar , b u tt his is me t by the fact that the monumen ts ofAssyria know no king of the name of Phu l , andthe continu ity of t h e l ists of Assyrian Eponymsdoes not allow u s to insert a king of the name ofPhu l between T ig la t h Pi l e sa r and his predecessorAssu r-n ir ar I I. The error of t h e Book of Kings inascribing the first campaign against Menahem ofIsrael to Phu l, and the second, in support of Ahazagain st Pekah of Israel , to T ig la t h Pi lesa r , is mosteas ily explained , i f we admi t the hypo t hesis givenabove

,

1 that the Babylonians gave t h e name Phu l toT ig la t h Pi l e sa r as their supreme king.

T ig la t h Pil esa r held the western regions of the tableland of Iran i n dependence. He ru led as king overBab y lon ia , ove r the whole region of t h e Eu phrates downto the borders of Elam and the shore of the PersianG u lf a n d in the North a lso he led the armies of Assyriato vict oriou s campaigns. His tablets tell u s that heincorporated with Assyria the land of Nairi

, i . e . theregi on between the u pper Zab and t h e u pper Tigris

,

that he defeated kin g Sardu ar r i of Ararat (U rar t i) , whohad rebelled against h im, took his camp and besiegedh im i n his city of Tu t u apa that he set u p an image ofhis majesty there

,

’

and laid was te the land of Ar ar at

I t is du e to E . Schmd er .

CAMPA IGNS OF TIGLA T U PILES A B I I . I I

far and wide . 1 Afterwards Sarduar r i and S u lumal ofMi l id (Melitene) and K us taspi of K ummukh (Gumathene) , each tru sting to the powe r

'

o f the other, rebelledthese b e defeat ed , and took captives to the number of

me n . In the middle of the battle Sardu ar r irode away he (T ig la t h Pi l esar ) took the seal fromhisneck

,his neck-band, his royal chariot, and h is couch ,

an d dedica te d them to Istar of Nineveh.

’ The in scr iption s fu rther inform us that Ku s t aspi of K ummukh ,S a l uma l ofMili d , and Vassu rmi of Tu bal gave tribu teto T ig la th Pil esar , and when Vassu rmi was negligentin the se rvice of Assyria and did not appear before h isface, T ig la t h Pi lesar sent his chief captain against h imand set u p Ch u l l i to be kin g of Tu bal in Vas su rmi

’

s

place. ’ The l ist of rul ers pu ts the fir st war of T igla t hPi le sar in t h e year 743 the second campaignagainst Ararat and the princes leagu ed with h im in

the year 735Of the successes of T ig la th Pil e sa r in Syria we shall

b ear bel ow. When he received the tribu te of Hamath ,Byb lus, and Israe l before the ni n th year of his re ign , i . e .

in the year 738 Zab ib ie h , the qu een of the Arabs,also paid tribu te .

‘ When he had overthrown Damascu s,Israel

,and t h e Phi l is tines (732 he fought against

S ams ie h , the qu een of the Arabians, in the region ofSaba

,

“as we are told in a fragment of his annals, and

to ok from her camels , and oxen. In

the inscriptions which sum u p the ach ievements of theki ng we are told that he subjugated the N ab a t u (who

Frag . 4 . i t 12—23 i n G . Smith .

“ Dino. pp. 27 1 , 272.

Fu g . 6 in G . Smith , lot . ci t . p . 272, 273.

T h e large in scr ipt ion , lin e 67—69, 64 , 06 in 0. Smith , lac. c“.203.pPu g . 8 , l . 33 in 0. Smith , lac. ci t . p . 279.

F ra g. 13, cf. L l O in 0. 8mith,385 . 23°

A SS Y IU A .

mu st be sought to the sou th on t h e lower Eu phrates) ,the I Iag a r a n u (the I l ag a r i t e s), the Pe ku du (Pekod) ;

1

that the distant tribes of Tema ( t h e Temanites) andSaba (the Sabaeans) , on t h e borders of the setting su n ,

heard of his power, and su bmitted to h im,brou ght gold

,

silver,and camels

,and kis sed h is feet. ’ A fragment

of the annals repeats this statement on the borders ofthe land of the set t ing su n they heard of his power andh is victories and su bmitted to h im.

3 Hence it was notonly migratory tribes in t h e neighbou rhood of Syriaand the lower Euphrates

,like the Pekod and Hagarites ,

whomTig la t h Pi l e sar forced to recognise his su premacyan d pay tribu te h is armiesmu st have advanced fromSyria and the lower Eu phrates to the interior of Arabia

,

i f th e Temanites (I . 324 ) and the tribes of the Sou th ,on the borders of the settin g su n

,

”i . c. the tribes of

the Sou th-west,the Sabaeans

,in “ fear of h is power

and his victories,

” sent h im tribu te .If the armies of Assyria reached no fu rther than

Dcr ae a h in t h e interior of A rabia,it was still a vast

stret ch of cou ntry which they traversed in the eighteenyear s in which T ig la t h Pil e sa r sat o n the throne . Yetthey also reached Lake Hamu n and the land of theA r a e h o t i in t h e East on the fu r ther side of the PersianG u l f. On the terrace of Chalah which supported theroyal citadels T ig la t h Pi l e sa r bu ilt h imself a palace tothe sou th of the hou se of S h alman e sa r I I . I t is thecentral palace of t h e explorers. The great inscriptionon one of the marble slabs fou nd in the floor in t h e

ru ins tells u s that he bu il t his royal abode in themidstof Chalah for his glory ; that he pla ced it higher abovet h e bed of t h e Tigri s t han the palaces of his predecess

Table t o f Cha lah, l . 6 i n G. Smith, p . 254 ; s to n e o f Cha lah ,

11. 13, p. 254 .

Ston e o f Chalah , ll . 63—65 in G . Smith , 10a ci t p . 262.

Fr ag. 13, Ice . ci t . p. 286.

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N ASSYR IA.

h im, ca u sed the slabs on which T ig la t h Pile sar haddepicte d his campaigns and victories together wi t h theexplanatory inscriptions above them, to be taken away,in order to have themsmoo t hed , and placed when filledwi th pictu res of his own achievements in the hou sewhich he bu i lt in the sou th-west corner of the te rraceof Ch a lah . This su ccessor died du ring the bu ilding ofh i s hou se . This is clear from the fact that slabs andi nscriptions of the pal ace of T ig la t h Pil esa r , in tendedfor the new structu re, have been fou nd partly in theremains of the old bu ilding and partly in the newstru ctu re, with the defacement partia l ly carried ou t .

1

T h e thr ee pr iva te documen ts on th e sa le o f a slave , t h e loa n o n th e

mor tgage o f a fie ld, a n d t h e in te r est a n d se cu r ity fo r an advan ce , whicha r e placed in t h e t ime o f T ig la th Prl esa r I II . , ar e g ive n in O ppe r t o t

Men an t, Doeum. Jun'

di q.

” p . 163 cqq.

CHAPTER I I .

THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL .

T HE ove rthrow of the hou se of Omri had not raisedthe power of the kin gdom of Isr ael . Je h u , i t is tru e,sen t tri bu te to S h alman esa r I I. ki ng of Assyria (842

Bu t in spite of th is subj ection to the greatkin g on the Tigris, nei t he r Jch u nor his son Jehoahazwas in a position to repel the attacks of the princes ofDamascu s, Hazael and Benhadad II I . ; t h e wholeregion to t h e East of the Jordan , the land of Gilead ,had to be conceded to Damascu s after the most cru eldevasta tion of that district and of all I srael . I t wast h e dist ress into whi ch Bin -a irar III . of Asshu r brou ghtDamascu s which first afforded respite to Israel in t h elast years of Jehoahaz, though tri bu te for thi s servicealso had to be paid to Assyria (503 II is suc

cessor, kin g Joash (798— 790 was now able tome e t from Damascu s at leas t t h e se ci ties which hisfather h ad lost, and the son of Joash , Jeroboam I I.

(790—749 the fourth sovereign of t h e hou seof Jehu , su cceeded in gaining the u pper hand overDamascu s, in completely reconqu ering th e land ofG ilead , and infli cting heavy blows on H ams t h . Theland which b e conqu ered from Hamath b e retainedthe Books of Kings mention the br ave deeds of Jerob oam II. , how

“ he set up again the borders of Israel ,

16 ISRAEL

from the land of Hamath to the sea of the plai n .

Du ring h is long and powerfu l reign— h e sat on t h e

throne for 4 1 years 1—agricu l tu re was developed,trad e

became again active, and , as i t seems, very lu cra t ive .I n Samaria, t h e metropo lis, there were splendid hou ses,the inhabitan ts of which lived in mag nificence andlu xu ry .

2

In Judah the reign of Je ash , whom the high -priestJehoia da placed on the throne in the year 837again fu lly established the worshi p of Jehovah in oppos i t io n to t h e favou r which his grandmother A thal iahhad shown to the worship of Baal . Amaz iah

,the son of

Joash , ma intained his throne agai ns t t h e mhrde re rs ofh is fat her ; his arms were su ccessfu l against the Edemi tes, b u t failed against Israel. t e n he also was slainby conspirators, the people, in the year 792 raisedhis son Uzziah (Azariah) to the throne. Uzziah wasonly 1 6 years of age at the time of his access ion

,b u t

1 2 Kin gs x iv. 23; Amos vi .Amos i i i . 1 1 ; vi . 4—8 ; Hose a xi i . 9. Tha t th e commen ceme n t o f

Jo h n a n d A t h a li rih must b e placed a t t h e ye a r 843 s . c. , h as be e n shownVo l . II . p . 234 . T h e Books o f K i n g s give 165 yea r s fr om t h e acce ss io no f A t h a h a h to t h e fa ll o f Sama r ia , an d 143 yea r s fr om t h e acce ss io n o f

Joh n to t h e same t ime . He n ce th e syn chr on ism which they obse rve fo rco r r e spo n din g r e ign s i n Isr ae l a n d Ju dah ca n n o t b e co r r e ct a t an y r a te

fo r t h e last ha l f-ce n t u r y o f this time , an d va ryi n g s ta teme n t s with r e fe re n ce to these r e ign s show tha t this fact was kn own to those wh o madethese obse rva t io n s . Mo r e ove r , t h e ca n on o f t h e Assyr ia n s pu ts t h e fa llo f Sama r ia in t h e yea r 722 fr omwhich i t fo ll ows (843- 722tha t 44 yea r s i n excess fo r Ju dah . a n d 22 fo r I sra e l, have be e n added.Thus we ar e dr iven to hypothese s fo r t h e pe r iod fr om 843 to 722 as

we ll as fo r t h e per iod 953—843. I n t h e t r adit io n al n umbe r s a t lea st i no n e r e ign the r e h as be e n abbrevia t io n , n o t exte n sion , as in t h e previo u spe r iod. Sama r ia was taken in t h e n in th yea r o f Hoshe a , t h e seve n tho f Hezekiah (2Ki n gs xvii . 6 xviii. Hoshea the r e fo r e asce n dedt h e thr o n e in 730, Heze kiah 1 a 728 Bu t t h e facts n a r r a te d in a

fr agme n t o f t h e a n n a ls o f T ig l a t h Filace r , tha t h e r eached t h e bo r de r so f Bi t Omr i, tha t h e co n qu e red Gaza a n d made Hoshea kin g (frag . 1 1 , i n

G . Smith, D isc . p . 11111, acco rdin g to t h e li s t o f r u ler s , in t h eye a r 734 H o sh ea

’

s acce ssio n mu st , ther e fo r e , b e placed i n t h e

THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL. s 17

young as he was he learned well how to ru le, and thelength of h is reign allowed h im to see the fru it of h is

yeas 734 H osh ea’s predecessor , Pekah, is ss id to h avc r e ig n ed 20

yea rs . If Hoshea ascen ded t h e th ron e i n 734 Pekah, acco rd in g tothis st at emen t ,mu st have ascen de d i t i n 754 an d Pekahiah, t h e sono fMon ah em, wh o on ly r e ign ed two year s, i n 766. Bu t t h e fr agmen t oft h e ca n a ls o f T ig la t h Pi l esa r , which men t ion s t h e paymen t of t ri bu tebyMe n n h em, pu ts this pa ymen t immedia te l y be fo re t h e n in th yea r o f

T ig la th Pilesa r , si c. be fo re t h e yea r 737 fr ag. 8, i n G . Smith, Inc. ci t .I n 738 . the re fo re , Me nahem wa s s t ill on th e thro n e ; an d h is de a thcan n o t have ta ken place befo re this yea r . Thus t h e iii tea'va l be twe e nMe n a h em'

s dea th an d Hoshea ’

s accew on , which t h e Books o f Kin gsr e cko n s t 22yea rs , is r edu ced t o fo u r yea r s ; Pekah can n o t have r e ign ed20, b u t on l y two or thr ee yea r s. Me n a h em’

s dea th i n 738 fixe s t h eb efin n in g of h is re ign , which laste d 10years, a t 748 Be fo r e h im,

Za cha r iah, t h e so n of Jo ro bocm, an d Sha llum, r e ign ed seve n mo n ths .Je roboam'

s r e ign mus t , ther e fo r e , have e n ded i n 749 I t las te d 4 1yea r s, an d mus t . the r e fo r e , ha ve begu n in 790 Thu s of t h e 82yea r san d seve n mo n ths , which t h e Bo oks o f Kin gs r ecko n fo r Is r ae l fr om t h eacce ssio n o f Je ro boam to t h e ca ptu re o f Samar ia , 68 o n ly remai n . We

mu s t place Jer o b osm fr om 790 t o 749, Zacha r ia h a n d Sha llum in 749 ,H e n n h em'

s se cessio n i n 748 , h is de a th i n 738 ; Pekahiah fr om 738 to

736, Pekah from 736 to 734, i n which yea r h e is su cce eded by H osh ca .

I n t h e list of t h e kin gs o f Ju dah . 90 yea rs a re en umer a ted from[Isai ah’

s (Amria h‘

s ) ace emion t o t h e fa ll o f Sama r ia . Be fo re H eze ki ah,whose acce ssio n as a lr e ady obse rved is to b e pu t i n 728 comes A h a:

with 16yea r s : be fo re Ahaz, Jo t h nma lso with 16 year s. He n ce Jo t h a n i ‘swcde e u n or , Uzziah-Aza r iah, died i n 760, an d Ahaz began to r e ign in744 . Bu t th e e ighth fr agme n t o f t h e a n na ls of Ti g la th Pil esa r , a l r ead yme n t io n ed , pu ts t h e def ect io n o f t h e 19 dis t r icts o f t h e la n d o f Hama thto Amr ia h n o t lo n g be fo r e t h e yea r 738 3. c. ; o the r fragmen ts me n tio ncon tacts with Amr iah , which, acco rdin g t o t h e l ist o f r u le r s , b e l o n g tot h e yea r s 742o r 740 He n ce Azar iah wa s a live a t a n y r a te as la te

as 740 th e in te rva l give n by t h e Bo oks o f Kings be twee n UzziahA n r ia h snd t h e nccessi o n om ki a h is r edu ccd fr om32 t0 12yea rs .

T h e re ig n s of do th sm snd Ah az mu st th e r e fo re b e r edu ced fr om 16

yesu cs e h to six yes n each ; an d th e 90 year s fr om U zz ia h’

s access io n

to t h e fa l l cs rn s r is tc'

IO yea r s T h e pa r a l le l ismvr i t h t h e r e ig n s i n

Isr ae l rema in s u n dist u rbed. Jo th sm re ign ed from 740 to 734, Ah a :

from 7'

34 to 728. I n t h e ye s r 734 A h az is s t tacked by Poka h , wh o , as

wa h s ve se en , r e ign ed fr om736 to 734. an d be fo r e t h e se eessi on o f A h s sh ad a t tacked h is pr edece s sor Jo tham(2 Kin gs xv. T h e cara pa ig n

of Tig la t h Pil e u r s gn iM Peks h t ook plumacco rdi n g to t h e l is t o t t h e

ru le r s, in t h e ye ar 734 n o. T h e same lis t pu ts t h o ws r of T ig la t h

Pil esar sg s i n st Dsms se us in t h c ycs n 733 and 732 1 0. T h o gr ea t

ipse r ipt ion o f T ig la th Piloca r which narra tes h is de eds down to th e

VO L. 11 1. 0

18 ISRAEL.

labou rs. The Chronicles say of h im : He loved h u sbandry ; he had h u sba n dmcn and vinedressers i n themountain s, and dug many wells in the desert, for hehad many cattle i n the low cou ntry and i n the plain .

” 1

Uzz iah was also a brave warrior. Against the Phil istines he obtained greater su ccesses than fel l to the lotof any of his predecessors, includin g even Sau l andDavid , greater than those won by any of his su ccessors.He took Gath, the prince of which David had onceserved ; he gained Jab n e h and conqu ered Ashdod , anddestroyed the walls of this city. The loss of Gath andAshdod limi ted the leagu e of the cities of the Phi l is

seve n te e n th yea r o f h is r e ign ,e . down to 729 B.0. , me n t ion s sho r tly

be fo r e t h e close t h e t r ibu t e o f Ja u h az i o f Judah (in G . Smith, Ioc. ci t .

p. a n d t h e Books o f Ki n gs (II . x vi . 10, me n t io n t h e jo u r n ey o fAims to Damascus t o pay homage the r e to T ig la th Pi l esa r . This mu s t ,the r e fo r e , have take n pla ce in 732 T h e syn chr o n ism of Je r ob oama n d U zziah. which is a lso always ma rked a t th e commen ceme n t of t h e

pr o phe tic wri t in gs r e fe r r in g to them, is n o t a lte r ed by ou r a ssumption s .U zziah , wh o asce n ded t h e thr on e a t 1 6 yea r s o f ag e , r e ign ed fr om 792

to 740 Je r ob oam fr om 790 to 749 . F r om Uzziah’s acce ssio n u p to th e

acce ssio n o f A tha liah , t h e Books o f Kin gs give 75 yea r s ; t h e in te rva lbe twee n 843 an d 792gives u s 61 ye ar s ; so tha t the re mu s t have be e na n abbr evia tio n . This ca n be assumed mos t co n ve n ien t ly i n t h e r e i gno f Amaziah, which las t ed fo r 29 ye ar s , an d in cludes t h e ye a r s fr om797 to 792. I n t h e r e ign o f h is fa the r Joas h we kn ow tha t ther e was alo n g mi n o r ity, a n d t h e t we n ty-thir d yea r o f this r e ign is me n t io n ed.

O f Amaziah’

s acts , th e subj uga tion o f Edom, which h e did n o t comple te ,

comes a fte r t h e yea r 803 Edom’

e t r ibu te is me n t io n ed u n de rBin - n imr o f Assyr ia (I I . Jus t as lit tle is t h e pa r a lle lism o f

Amaziahwith Jo ash o f Isr ae l a lte r ed by ou r assumpt ion . A s 61 ye a r s ,al e . e ight yea r s to o ma n y, we r e give n fo r Isr ae l fr om t h e accesd o n o f

Je r ob o am (790) u p to Je h u’s acce ssio n , e ight yea r s mu s t be ta ke n fr om

t h e r e ign o f Jca sh , a n d fo r h is r e ign , the r e fo r e , e ight yea r s a r e left in st eado f 16, al e . t h e e ight yea r s fr om 798 to 790. Vio le n t as these assumpt io n s se em as compa r e d with th e t r adit io n a l n umbe r s o f t h e Books ofKin gs , the y ar e me r e ly give n a s a fo rced hypo the sis , an d a t an y r a te

lea ve t h e t r adi tio n a l facts u n dist ur bed , whi le t h e co in cide n ce , whichmay b e obta in ed by ass umin g jo in t r e ge n cies , a fir st a n d secon d r e igno f Je r oboam II . , a fir st a n d se co n d Me n ahem, a fir st an d secon d r e igno f Pekah, fo r t h e lis t s o f Ju dah an d Isr ae l , alte r s t h e tr adit io n witho u tbr in g in g t h e agre eme n t in to ha rmon y with th e list of e po n yms.

2Chr o n . xxvi . 10.

T UB PROPHETS OF ISRAEL. I9

tines to Ekron , Asca lon , and Gaza ; Uzziah bu il tJewish citi es in t h e conqu ered districts,

‘ he forced theAmmonite s to pay tribu te, he completed the su bjugation of the Edomi tes which his father Amaziah h a dbegun , and h i s fame reached even to Egypt.

2 Herebu il t the harbou r-city of Elath on t h e Red Sea ,

which the rebel lion of the Edomi t es again st Judah had

N es ted from king Jehoram abou t the year 8425 a c.

(I I . placed Jews there, and apparently restoredthe Ophir trade of Solomon.

3 He was marvellouslyhelped

,say the Chron icles, till he became strong.

Amid such su ccesses Uzziah did not forget that chan geswou l d occu r, that other times wou ld come. I n these co nd half of his reign 4 he strengthened the wall s ofJeru sa lem wi t h towers at the corner-gate

,ti e . at the

north -west corner, of the city wall , at the va lley gate ,

and a t the corner, i . e . where the wal l of the u pper ci tyadvance s to t h e west, and cau sed engines invented bycunningme n to be on the towers and u pon the bu lwarkso f t h e wal ls, to th row arrows and great stones withal .

” 5

The levy of the people was pu t in order ; t h e fightingme n were entered on a register ; Uzziah “ preparedfor the whole army shields and spears , coats of mailan d helmets, bows and slinging stones .

” And

20h r on . xxvi . 6 ; Ze ch . ix . 6. A s Amos men tion s t h o captu re o f

Ga t h (vi . 2), and Juda h is st i l l t o con qu e r t h e remn an t o f Edom (Amos

ix . l 2). th e m agn in st t h e l’h il ist i n es must be re ga rded as on e o f

U n i n h'

s de eds in arms .2 Kin gs xiv. 22. The r e -con qu est o f t h o Judeean se tt leme n t an d

har bou r ci ty . wh ie h h ad be e n de l tmyed b y t h o Edomi te o in t h e i r r e VO l tfromJudah u nde r Jebo r a n (I I. mi n have h ad n o o the r object thanw re stn ro t h e tu de eon n ee t ion s on t h e Bed S e a . Be a i dn i t is expmu lysame (2 Kin gs xvi . “ A t t h e same t ime (730 o ne ) , Be n in aga inga in ed Ela th fo r 8yr ia , an d drvve t h o Jews o u t o f Kie th . an d theS yfim a me w lfla tman d dwe l t th em to th i-day .

"

Th is fo llows from t h o fae t t h a t Amoo cpe ah of th o ru in ed ta be r

0 ‘ 2Chro n . u vi . 16. 20mm. n vi. t l—H .

0 2

20 ISRAEL .

Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of Jehovah asAmazi ah his father had do n e

,save that the people st ill

sacrificed and offered incense on the high places —se

we ar e told in the Books of Kings. The Chroniclesadd that he sought God as long as the prophet Zachari ah lived . l Afterwards he had a quarrel with thepriests of the temple becau se he sacrificed with h isown hands in the great space of the temple, the holyplace (before the Holy of R e li e s) , on the altar in thatspace intended for incense. David and Solomon hadoffered incense t here before h im ; the priesthood iatended therefore to make good their exclu sive claimto every kind of sacrifice as against Uzziah .

2 Uzziahsu cceeded in raising Judah to the highest point ofpower and impor tance, which it reached after thedefection of Israel .Thu s after severe tempests the reigns of Je r ob e am

I I . and Uzziah brought to Israel a n d Ju dah therestoration of order

,power and prosperity . The

flou r ishin g condit ion of agricu ltu re and trade increasedthe wel l-being of the people, and produ ced profi tswhich led the weal t hy classes into a misu se of theirwealt h , into extravagance and lu xu ry. This mode ofl ife

,which seldom, in t h e East especial ly, fails to

accompany gain s easily got, was attacked in bothk ingdoms by a merciless cri t icism. In Israel and inJudah a careless enjoyment of l ife was connected notu nfrequ ently with a certain inclination towards therites of the Syrians . From the time that the hous e

of Jehu ru led in Israel,and Joash as cended the th rone

of Judah , the favou rable feel ing towards Syrian ri tes

A n olde r pr ophe t o f this n ame , dist in ct fr om t h e so n o f Je h oiada h ,a n d pe rhaps also dist in ct fr om t h e so n o f Be r-ech iah (Isa . viii. bu t

ide n t i ca l with this Zacha r iah,if t h e wo rds o f t h e Chr o n icle s ma y b e

expla in ed to mea n . So lo n g as h e (Uzziah) list en ed to Zacha r iah."

‘ 2 K31183 xv. ;3 2 Ch r on . xxvi . 6—2l ; l K in gs ix . 25 .

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22 ISRAEL .

within her borders since t h e set t lemen t of t h e Israeli t esi n Canaan , as i f to secu re space a n d freedom for t h edevelopment of Israel . Only once in the cou rse offive centu ries was this rest broken by t h e campaign ofthe Pharaoh Shishak

, a n d t h e n in a very transitorymanner. Bu t half a centu ry after this campaign a n

other opponent arose far to the Eas t on t h e banks ofthe Tigris

,who now had secu red a firm footing on t h e

Euphrates,whose armies first trod the north of Syria,

and tried their strength in repeated campaigns againstDamascu s . Ahab of Israel in leagu e with Damascu sa n d other princes of t h e Syrians su cceeded in beatingo ff the first attack ; b u t aft er h im Je h u and Jehoahaz ofIsrael paid tribu te to the kings of Asshu r, a n d thought h e su ccessors of Bin-n i t ar I I I . had to fight in A r r apachitis and Gau zan i t is , they repeatedly led their armiesagainst Northern Syria, against Arpad and Hadrach .

However secu re me n might feel in Israel and Judahin the posses sion of the position recently obta in edu nder Jeroboam and Uzziah , i t cou ld not escape akeener eye that a power had forced its way to theEu phrates

,and every moment threatened a renewed

att ack on S vr ia which Israel and Judah were not in aposi t ion to resist, even in t h e favou rable posi t ion inwhich for a moment they were situ ated . Even i f Israe land Judah u nited their forces

,which for the moment

were excellently arranged,i t was scarce ly conceivable

that t h ey cou ld make any stand against t h e su premacyof Assyria

,i f this were expressly dir ected agai nst

Syria . Only in t h e event of a hearty combination ofa l l t h e states and tribes of Syr ia, t h e Phil istines andt h e Phenicians

,Hamath and Damas cu s, Israel and

Ju dah ; only by t h e u nion of a ll Syria u nder onepower, cou ld a su fficient cou nterpoise be provided tothe As syr ian power. Bu t the feel ing and tendencies

T U E PROPHETS OF ISRAEL. 23

of the se states were different, as also was t h e state ofcivil isation and rel igiou s life and t h e thought of su chan u n ion never arose among them. Even if i t had i tcou ld hardly be real ised here, or elsewhere i n t h e East,in any other way than by establishing o n e despoticmonarch. Such a form of u nion wou ld at any ratehave requ ired that Israel shou ld give the best she had .

Instead of a pol i t ical impu lse which wou ld have u nite dIsrael and Judah with Damascu s and Hamath , t h ePhen icians and Phil istines, t h e internal circums tancesof Israel and Judah , the opposition to the renewede n er oae hme n t s

'

of the Canaani t ish worship,combined

wi th the threaten ing position of Assyria, gave a new,

pecu liar, and lofty flight to the religiou s developmentof the Isra eli te s .In its struggles against the hou se of Omri the pro

ph e t ic power was inwardly ripened and strengthened .

Wi t h the relaxation of persecu tion t h e inte nsity andecstacy of the prophets must have been relaxed. Inthe place of t h e passionate strife came a more peaceful t o n e , greater calmness, more earnest introspection .

Yet the prophetic power was not merely purified,i t

was also deepened. By degrees, e lements which hadbeen dcc O pe d in other spheres exercised an influ enceo n the prophet ic work, o n the reflection on the natu rean d will of Jehovah , and the e ffo r t to be absorbedi n h im. The expression and ou tlet wh ich religiou sfeel ing had fou nd in religiou s songs, i n invoca tions,a n d hymn s of thanksgiving, praise a nd penit ence,su ppli ed to the prophetic feeling a fu ller, broader andmore variable backgrou nd . To t h e oldest account ofthe fortunes of Israel , which arose i n priestly circles ,and of the covenan t which his God had once mad ewith h im, t o the col lection and establ ishment of thelaw which formed the conte nts of th is covenant, was

24 ISRAEL.

soon added the second text,which described in a more

l ively manner t h e manifestations of the tribal God,

his gu idance of the patriarchs an d forefathers of thenation, and, like t h e older text, i t was for a long timein the hands of t h e prophets . Even before Joel

,at

the time when the high -priest Jehoiada was regentfor king Joash in Judah (I I . u rged t h e nation torepentance a nd introspection , the hand of a prophet h adu nit ed those two texts . Penetrat ed by their con te nts ,he had, as might be expecte d from his point of view,

laid t h e main stress on the promises and prophecies, ont h e relation ofman to God , o n the natu re of man ,

andh is du ty in life. In this form the books of t h e fortu nesof t h e patriarchs

,of t h e covenant of Jehovah and Israel ,

of t h e promise of protection and blessing in retu rn forthe observation of t his covenant, mu st have exercisedan especial influ ence on the circle of the prophets ;t h ey showed them the past in the closest relation to thepresent t h ey strengthened their convict ion th at t h eexternal relation was insu fficient, that the essen t ia lpoint was the inte rna l relation of ma n to his God .

As a fact the people of Israel h ad experienceda pecu liar fortu ne . Of the same origin as a part oft h e Arabian and Syrian tribes and closely al l ied tothem, the Israeli tes had not followed the same path ofdevelopment. Branching o ff fr om those nearest

,and

t hen from their older tribesmen, with whom they hadpreviou sly pastu red their flocks , they grew u p into anation on t h e borders of Egypt and u nder Egyptiansupremacy a nation in which nomadic simplici ty me twi t h certain influences d u e to Egyptian cu ltu re. Forcedback u pon their feeling of national independence bythe oppression of the Egypt ians, the ch ildr en of Jacobhad eman cipat ed themsel ves from Egyptian dominion,an d h ad embraced with renewed vigou r the worship

THE PBO PIIETS OF ISRAEL . 25

of their tribal God , and at lengt h had won by fo rceof arms an abode among the kindr ed tribes, to wh ichthey now stood opposed as enemi es. The tribes ofSyria were far before them in cu l tur e of every kind, inwea l th and adornment of life ; the tribes of the dese rt,the closely related neighbou rs on the east of the Jordan ,did not cease to attack and plu nder t h e cantons of theIsrael i tes t heir neighbou rs on the sou th coast soughtw ith persi stence to subju g ate them. Thu s the nationalcontr ast remained in force , and the fixi ty of i t wasfavou red by t h e natu re of the mou ntai n cou ntry, t h eseclu sion of many val leys and heights posse ssed bythe Isr ael ites, while these same natu ral conditionsre ndered impossible su ch a thorough entrance into thelife of the maritime cities , an d the life of Damascu sa n d Hamath , as cou ld lead to t h e dissolu tion of thenati onality . The fact that Israel , at the time of Davidan d Solomon

,obta in ed the preponderance over their

neighbou rs , te nded , together with the n ational pride,to strengthen t h e contrast inste ad of weakening it

,and

mainta ined the consciou sness of national ity as a gr eatmemory. Even from this point of view

,starting from

the nat ional feel ing and consciou sne ss, the prophetsco u ld not b u t oppose the Syrian tribes and their rites

,

and in th is Opposition they fou nd the more readyacceptance in Israel , the more thoroughly the conse i o usn ess was aroused that the land had been wo n an d

ma in tained in conflict wi th the tribes to whom t hisworship belonged . Bu t the conception of the natu reof t h e national deity was far more powerfu l in the

prophets th an the sen se of nationali ty . In contrastto the lascivious worship of the powers of natu re

, t h e

God of Israel was originally conceived as a dei ty wh owas ali en and opposed to the creative powers of nature.la the sense of this co ntrast Jehovah was regarded as

26 ISRAEL.

an exalte d and terrible deity, to look on whom broughtd eath ; in this feeling t h e simple conception , whichcannot forego the sensu ou s clemen t, saw Jehovah

’sman ifestation in flame, in t h e destroying b u t pu ri fyingglow of fire . The aversion to a l l sensu ou s natu re nowrises to its fu llest power in the mind of the prophetsin opposition to t h e Syrian rites ; their su pernatu ra lpoint of view, forced onward by the struggle and thecontrast

,disrobed t h e idea of God of every mate rial

element which stil l adhered to i t. How cou ld thissupra-terrestrial power, before which a l l that is earthl yis du st and mire, dwel l in a frail image made byhuman hands ? The temple at Jeru salem had noimage

,the greater part of the old places of sacrifice

were withou t any, and among the Hebrews it waswell known that the worship of Jehovah withou timages was t h e traditional mode of worshi p . Neitherthe bu ll images of Jehovah , which had been se t

u p at the time of the division of the kingdom inIsrael

,in contrast to the images of the Syrian gods ,

thou gh to lerated by the prophets at the t ime ofAhab and Jchoram,

nor any other image of t h e god ,ou ght to be worshipped . I f the divine power is notonly su pernatu ral b u t also pu rely spiritu al , beyondnatu re and ru l ing over it ; i f it is withou t manifestation in the world of sense ; there can be no qu es tionof the worshi p or d e ifica t ion of element ary powers , orthe personification of ph ysical processes ; the worshipof these is nothing b u t deception and senseless ri tes.Moreover, the power before which all natu re qu akescan be b u t one. Thu s, to the propheticmind, Jehovahfrom being the tribal God of Israel, beside whom othergods defended their nations, thou gh not so mi ghty ashe , becomes the one and only God . And to them th isGod is no longer merely the power whi ch ru les over

T II E PROPHETS OF ISRAEL .

na ture , no longer mer ely the jealou s and severe God ofh is nation fromwhomthe firs t -bornmust be pu rchased

,

wh o mu st be worshipped with many sacrifices,and

plea sant odou rs—to the inward emotion , the inwardcertai nty, and con science of the prophets he is atthe same time the highest ethical power. Whate verthey in their enligh tenment and in their hearts feltto be the j ust, the good, the hi g hest, is Jehovah

’snatu re. I n h im were concen trated the moral elemen ts as conceived by the pr eph e t s, and natu re isno more than t h e footsto ol u nder h is fe et. He isnow t h e one su pernatu ral, sp iritu al and moral power,which ru l es t h e world, before which earth and manki nd disappear. H e is pu re, holy and sublime he hatesinj ust ice , violence, exaction , avarice, deceit, and oppress ion of kindred, and looks not on wickedness wi thfavou r . His will is ju st, he will requ ite every o n e

according to his action s, and wil l not forget the evil oft h e evil-doer. What ca n the holy and j ust Lord inhea ven care for offerings of food , fr an kin ce n sc, anddrink ? The l ips and the heart mu st be elevated tohis grea tness, his commands mu st be kept, and me nmus t make themselves holy as he is holy . The onlyservice of the holy God is a holy and righteou s l ife .Sacrifice is not requ i red , b u t recognition of God,simli l ic ity , chastity , and moderation .

If fr om this poin t of view, to which their own

concepti on h ad laboriously risen—they had learnedto know the ancient God of Israel i n his tru enatu re - and following the lead of th e sacred Scriptu res , the pr0ph e ts cast a glance on the fortu nesand achievemen ts of their nation ,—had not Jehovahalready ann ounced himself to their forefathers I Had henot by Moses comman ded and established th e tru ewor ship ? Had he not done grea t thin gs for his

28 ISRAEL.

people ? Had he not led them ou t of Egypt andgiven them t his beau tifu l land for a possession ? Bu t

had Israel been gratefu l for t his —had he made anyretu rn — had he kept the covenant which Jehovah hadmade with h im, and his law ? At t h e best sacrificeswere offered at Jeru salem, p rayer was made to bu llimages at Dan and B e t h cl . Bu t how many were therewho worshipped Baal , Astarte , and A s h e r a l I l owregardless of t heir du ties were t h e rich , and t h e judges,h ow lu xu riou s and dissolu te in thei r l ives ! Was thist h e way to fu lfil t h e commands of t h e ju st and holy God?From th is arose a pecu l iar cl ass of ideas . Jehovah

had chosen Israel for h is people before other na t ions.I Ie desires to protect h im and grant h im his favou r.Bu t how ca n he, the pu re and holy God , gran t prot e ct io n and defence, if h is people live an impu re andu nholy l ife ? To protect sinners wou ld be against hisown natu re. Jehovah was a severe an d j ealou s Godwas he not to pu nish the defection from his service,the faithlessness and ingratitu de of t h e nation

,with

grievou s pu nishment ? Must he not visit t hese wrong-s

doers wi t h a heavy penal ty ? The Assyrians were onthe Eu phrates . From t hese suppositions, and the co nel usion that Jehovah , accordin g to his pu re and holybeing as well as his severe natu re, mu st pu n ish theerror of the people ; that he cou ld not allow the breachof t h e ancient covenan t , the defection, t h e worship ofidols

,t h e inju st ice , and t h e lu xu ry to remain u nvisited ,

grew u p the idea of a great sentence abou t to be execu tedon Israel and Judah . Among the prophets th is h ecame a settled conviction . Bu t according to theirconception

,Jehovah is raised far above the weakness

and the anger of me n . If h is people retu rn to h im,

amend the ir conversation,and serve h im with their

lips and their heart,he will in h is mercy pardon

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30 ISRAEL.

place not far from Jeru salem, prophesied in Israe l inthe first decad es of the reign of J e r obo am, between 790and 700 s o . He calls h imself neither a prophet, northe so n of a prophet ;

” he as su res u s that he was nota disciple of the prophets, and di d not wear the u su algarb of a prophet

,i . e . a poor coarse clothing . He

adds that he was a herdsman and a planter of aycamores : “ Jehovah took me from fol lowing the flock ,and said to me ; Go a n d

‘

pr oph e sy to my people inIsrael. ” From these prophecies, which he afterwardswrote down, it is plain that the Holy Scriptu res, i nthe form i n which the two texts had been u nited andrevised by the hand of a prophet

,were famil iar to h im

a n d present before h im; that the prophecies of Joe lwere known to h im.

2 It was in Bethe],the chief place

of sacrifice in Israel , that he came forward. There,at

the place of the bu ll- image, he proclaimed the wickedness of this worship, and branded in stil l stronger termsthe moral corru ption of the land . I n vain hadJehovah u ttered warn ings by his prophets ; the lawwas not regarded ; j u stice was crooked ; the weak wereAmos i . 2; iv. 9.

T h e da te o f Amos is fixed n o t on ly by th e su per scr ipt io n , b u t by th eme n t io n o f t h e house o f Je r oboam in h is pr ophecies. Mo r e ove r , t h edeso la tio n cause d by th e Dama sce n os in I sr ae l, t h e campaign s o f t h e

Phil is t in es again s t Ju dah (II . appea r to b e i n r e ce n t r emembra n ce .

I f th e fa lle n tabe r n acle o f David, t h e br eaches in i ts wa ll ,” a r e alsomen tio n ed (ix . l l , i t is cle a r tha t Uzzia h, wh o came to t h e thr o n ei n t h e yea r 792 a t an ag e o f 16 year s , h ad n o t comple te ly res to r edJudah, tha t h e h ad n o t r e cove r ed Ela th. O n th e o ther ha n d, i t is cle a rtha t Ga th was a lr e ady ta ke n . H e n ce Amos ca n n o t have come for war dbe fo r e t h e t e n th o r twe lfth yea r o f Uzziah , i

'

. e . be fo r e 782o r 780, acco rdi n g to ou r compu ta tion (p. 18, n ote ) . T h e ca n on o f t h e As syr ia

ns

agr e es with this in pu t t in g t h e campa ign o f Bin -h ir e r to t h e coa st in

t h e yea r 803 an d a fte rwards r e co rds t h e la s t campa ign o f t h e

Assyr ia n s to Damascu s be fo re t h e t ime o f T ig la th Pi l e sa r I I . in t h e

y ea r 773 n .c. a fte r which t imc on ly con te s t s aga in s t II ad rach (772765 ) an d again st Ar pad a r e me n t io n ed (p. which T ig la t h Pi le sa rt h e n r e sumee in t h e ye ar fl3 n uc In Amos t h e A ssy r ian s ar e st il l

i n t h e b ack-groun d.

THE PBO PIIETS OF ISRAEL. 31

oppressed. No doubt Amos exaggerated h is r eproach cs ,b u t we cannot doubt that the fau l ts he attacked we r ein e xi stence. The careless he threa tened with thede struction which wou ld soon bu rst u pon them if theyremained withou t repentance or improvement. Thenwou ld the h igh places of Isaa c be laid waste, and theshrines of Israel destroyed , and Jehovah wou ld rise upwi t h the sword against the h ou se of Je r o boam. Thepri est s of Israe l cou l d not endu re to hear su ch u tteran ce s. The high priest at Bethel, Amaziah , said toAmos See r, go flee thee away into the land of Ju dah

,

an d there eat bread and prophesy. Prophesy notagai n any more at Bethel for i t is the king’s chapel

,

an d the king's cou rt .” Amos answered : Thou sayest,Prophecy n o t again st Israel , and drop not thy wordagainst the house of Isaac. Therefore thu s saithJehovah . Thy wife shal l be an harlot i n t h e city

,and

thy sons and thy da ughters shall fall by the sword,and

thy land shall be di vided by a line ; and thou shal tdie in pol lu te d land : and Israel shal l su r e ly go intocapti vity forth of his land Then Amaziah the

prie st sent to king Jeroboam : Amos hath conspiredagainst thee i n t h e midst of the house of Israel ; theland is not able to bear a l l h is words ; for he saith ,By the sword shall Jeroboam die, and Israel shallbe led captive ou t of h is land.

"

The proclamations of Amos were not dir ec tedagainst Israel alone. He threa ten s the Damasce n csand the Ammonites with vengeance for the devas t at ib n s they had cau sed m G ilead (I I . the Pln ttines beca use they had carried away captives fromJudah and sold them (I I. t h e city of Tyrebecause she pu t the mpti ves of Judah in the hands ofthe Edomites ; the Edomi tes beca use they pu rsuedthe ir brothers (the Judaeans) wi th the sword (II.

32 ISRAEL.

Nor does he even spare the kingdom of Ju dah eventhere the law of Jehovah is despised

,and his ordi

nances are not kept. Bu t the j udgment of Jehovahwill descend only o n the gu ilty, and when the day ofj udgment is over Jehovah wil l aga in pu rify Israel andset up Zion .

Did I not brin g you u p from Egy pt ?” so Amos

represen t s Jehovah as saying ; “Did I not lead you fortyyears in the wilderness

,to possess the land of the

Amori t es ? Did I not destr oy the Amori t es before yo u ,

who were tall as cedars, and strong as oaks Did I n o traise u p prophets from you r sons, an d Nazari tes fromyou r you ng me n Hear t his word

,ye who oppress

the weak and trample u nderfoot the poor ; 2 ye whostretch you rselves beside the al t ar on garments takenin pledge

,and drink the wine of the condemned in t h e

hou se of you r gods ; ye who overpower the ju st, andmake the poor bow down at the gate ; 3 who pu rchasethe th irsty for silver, and t h e helpless for a pair ofshoes who

,father and son together

,go to onemistress ,

a n d say : When is the new moon over that we maysell grain

,and the day of rest that we may set forth

wheat, makin g the ephah small , and the shekel great,

and falsifying t h e balance for deception . Do me n hu ntthe horse on the rocks, and plough the stone with oxen ,that ye may tu rn ju stice into poison , and the fru itof righteou sness in to heml ock 5 Becau se ye trampledown the weak , and oppress themwith bu rdens, ye haveplante d pleas ant vineyards, and bu il t houses of hewnstone. ‘ 0 ye that are at ease in Zion , ye careless onesi n the mou nt of Samaria, who imagine that the day ofdestru ction is far o ff, and draw near the seat of violencewho li e on beds of ivory , and stretch you rselves o n

Amos 1 1. 9—12. Amos viii. 4 ; Amos ii. 6, 7.Amos viii. 6. Ame s vi. 12. Amos v. 1 1 .

THE PBOPIIE‘

I‘

S OF ISRAEL. 33

coach es ; who eat up the lambs of the fl ock and thecalves of the stal l : who chant to-the sound of t h eharp; in order t o mve n t in struments of mu sic likeDavi d who empty you r win e cu ps, and anoint you rselves with the chief o il , and tr ou ble not you rselvesfor t h e affl ict ion of Joseph ye shal l not dwel l in you rhou ses, and drink the wine ou t of you r pleasa ntgarde ns : ye shall go forth into misery, with the firstt hat go capti ve. 2 Go to Bethel

,and transgress ; to

Gilgal , and mu l ti ply transgression . Brin g you r sacrifice s every morn in g, and you r tithes on the third dayburn than k-offerings

,and publ ish the free will offerings. 3

Seek me not at Bethel,and go not to Gilgal an d

Beersheba. I hate you r festivals, and will not tasteyou r offerin gs

,or look on the thank-offering of you r

stall ed calves . Take fromme the noise of you r songs,and le t me not hear the sound of the harp.

‘ Letju dgmen t r u n down as waters

,and righteou sness as a

mighty stream. Seek good,and not evil , that ye may

live : es tablish ju dgment i n the gate ; i t may be thatJehovah will have mercy 011 the remnant of Joseph .

Hat e the evil , and love the good, so wil l Jehovah , th eGod of hosts

,be with yo u .

”

Bu t they mu ltiply in ju sti ce and robbery in theirpa laces. The end of my people Israel draws nearl will not overlook i t longer i n h im. [will changeyou r fes tivals into lamentation , and all you r songs intomourning, and wil l bring sackcloth abou t you r loins.The enemy comes rou nd the land , and te ars down thepowe r of Israel, and h is palaces are plu ndered .

“ Goto Calneh , and see , and from thence pass to Hamatht h e grea t (I I . 31 7, u p r . p. and go down to O a t h

‘ Amos viJ—7.

‘ Amos vd l .

‘ Amos ivu l 6.

‘ Amos v. 21—23.

I Amoa v. 24.

VO L I I I. 0

34 ISRAEL.

(p. are ye better than these kingdoms, or is yourland greater ? I raise against you a n ati on which wil lforce you from H a i n a t h u nto the river of the plain .

1

At the time when I avenge the evil of Israel u ponh im, an d the altars of Bethel , the horns of the a l tarwill fall to the grou nd . I will smite the winter hou seand the summer hou se the hou ses of ivory shall fallto the ground.

2 The fl ight shall perish fromthe swiftthe bowman sha ll not stand

, t h e horseman shall notdeliver himself, and the most cou rageou s among themighty shall flee away naked on that day.

3 A l l thesinners of my people shall die by the sword , whichsay : The evil shall not overtake u s. ‘ Bu t I wil l notu tterly destroy the hou se of Jacob. I will shake themas a man shaketh a sieve

,and not a grain shall fall

to the ground. The days come when the ploughmanshall overtake the. reaper, and the tr eader of grapesh im that soweth seed

,and the mou ntains shal l drop

sweet wine, and I will bring again the capti vi ty ofmy people Israel , and they shall bu ild the waste cities,and inhabit them, and I will plant them fast in theland , which I have given to them,

that they be nomore pu l led o u t . ”

Amos had not deceived himself as to the want ofinward cohesion in the circumstances of Israel. Thedays of Jeroboam I I . were comin g to an end . Thepower which he h ad gained for his kingdom, the orderhe had given to it, were n o t so firmly fixed that t h eyou tl ived the fou nders. His son Zachariah

,who

ascended the throne in 749 B.C. , remain e d on it forhalf a yea r only . He was mu rdered “ before thepeople by a man of the name of Shallum,

the sonof Jabesh , who placed hims el f at the head of a

Amos vi . 14. Amos ii i . 14, 16.Amo s ii. 14—16. Am05 ix. 10.

THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL. 35

conspiracy, and with h im the house of Jehu came toa n end in the fou rth generation. Shallum seized thethron e, b u t maintained it only amonth . Menahem, theson of Gadi , rebel led against h imin Tirzah , defeated andslew h im, and took his place on the throne (748 B.c.

He me t wi th resistan ce in the land ; in ternal st rifedistra cted Israe l , and loosed a l l the bonds of order. “Theidols have spoken vanity,

” so we find i t in the olderZachari ah ; and the diviners have seen a l i e , and havetold false dreams ; they comfort in vain ; ther eforethey went their way as a flock ; they were trou bled ,became they had no shepherd. Mine anger waski ndled against the shepherds

,and I will pu ni sh the

goats.2 I will no more pity the inhabitants of thela nd, sa i th Jehovah ; b u t 10 ! I wi ll deliver the me n ,

eve ry man in to his neighbour’s han d,and into t h e

hand of h is king, and they shal l smi te the land , ando u t of thei r hand I wil l not deliver t hem. Threeshepherds also I cu t o ff in one month ; 3 an d my sou lloathed them ; and I said , I will not feed you : thatwhich die th

,let it die and that which is to be cu t

a ll, let it be cu t o ff , and let the rest ea t every one theflesh of an other . For 10 l I w ill raise u p a shepherd inthe land which shall not visit those that be cu t off, norseek the str ayed one, nor heal that wh ich is wou ndedbu t he sha ll ea t the flesh of the fat. Woe to the worthle ss sheph er d that leaveth the flock l the sword shall beupon his right arm, and u pon his right eye . His armshall be clean dried u p, and his right eye darken ed .

‘

Open thy doors, 0 Lebanon , that the ti re may devou rthy cedars ! Howl , cypress, for the cedar is fallen ; forthe heights aremad e desolate b owl , 0 oaks of Bashan‘ 2 Ki n g n xv . 8—16.

‘ Kin g b ch afia h an d t h cn Sh a l l um: t h o t h i r d is th o oppon on t ol

“an t h emwh o oou g h t to ma in tn in h imn lf in'r ip ach cru nach fl.

M I L OJ IJJ,2D

36 ISRAEL.

for the ste ep forest s in ke t h l Listen to the howling ofthe shepherds for their glory is spoiled liste n to theroaring of lions, for the pride of Jordan is deso la tc .

‘

The bu rden descends on Hadrach,and on Damascu s on

l l ama t h that shall border thereby on Tyre and Sidon ,though it be very wise . Tyre bu il t herself a stronghold , a u d heaped u p silver as the du st, and fine gold as

the mire of the streets . Behold,the Lord wil l t ake

her, an d cast her wal ls in to t h e sea, and she shall beconsumed by fire . Ascal on shall se e it, and fear ; Gaza ,and be very sorrowfu l

,and Ekron

,for her expectation

shall be ashamed ; and the ki n g shall perish fromGaza ,and Ascalon is u ninhabited. A strange race sha lldwell in Ashdod

,and I wil l destroy the pride of t h e

Ph il is t in cs .

2 And I wil l cu t off the chariot fromEphraim, an d horses from Jeru salem. Bu t Jehovahshal l save them in that day as the flock of his peoplethey are the stones of a crown lifted up u pon h island .

” 3

Even earlier,in the last years of the reign of

Jeroboam,or the begin ning of t h e reign of his son

Zachariah,Hosea

, t h e son of Beeri , had received theword . Yet a l ittle time,

” su ch is the word of Jehovahin his lips

,

“an d I wil l avenge the bloodgu ilt iness of

c reel on the hou se of Je h u (t h e mu rder of Jehoramand Jezebel by Jehu

,I I . and pu t an end to the

kingdom of the hou se of Israe l an d at t h e same t imeI will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezr'eel . ” 4

When Zachariah fell before Shal l um, and Jehu’

s hou sewas destroyed

,we find in Hosea,

“ They chose kingswithou t me (Jehovah) , captains of whom I knewn othing .

“ I will give thee a king in my anger, andtake h im away in wrath . A l l you r kings shall fall ,

’ Ze e h . i x . l—6.

16.‘ H ose a H J.

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ISRAEL.

steal ing, and adu l tery, and violence ; the priests com

mi t mu rder on the way to Shechem; t h ey practi seall in iqu ity in Gilgal , and bloodgu il ti ness is join ed tobloodgu iltiness . ’ They slay flesh for sacrifice, and eati t .

2 I desire not sacrifice b u t mercy ; and the knowledge of God more than bu rnt ofl'e r in gs .

8 Thereforei n my own time I wil l take b ack my corn I will tea raway my wool and my flax from t h e harlot Israel ;and make an end to her festivals, her new moons , hersabbat hs , and avenge on her the days of Baal , whenshe offered incense to themwhich placed their nosering and ornamen t s u pon her, and went after herlovers

,and loved the hire of t h e harlot at every

th rashing floor,b u t forgat me .

"4

“ Israel hath forgotte n his creator, and bu il t palaces,and Ju dah hath mu l tipl ied h is fortified ci t ies

,

” 5 saysthe prophet in regard to the fortresses bu il t by Uzziah

(p . They tru sted to the number of thy warriors ,b u t Israel’s king passes away like a morning clou d .

Ephraim is as a silly dove ; they call on Egyp t theygo to Assyria to bring whoredom. Ephraim goes aft erAs shu r, and sends to the ki ng for help. Ephraim willhu nt after the wind, and strai n after the East wind,that t h ey may make a covenan t with Assyria, andcarry oil to Egypt " The Deliverer king wil l n o t

heal you . The East will come ; a win d of Jehovahwill rise o u t of t h e desert, which will plu nder t h etreasu re of cost ly furni tu re, and Samaria will repen t .The calf of Bethaven hou se of Evil ,— thu s theprophet al te rs the name of Bethel hou se of God

,

the chief place of worship in the kin gdom of Israel)will be carried to Assyria

,as a gift to the k ing, the

Hosea iv. 2. Ho sea viii . 13.

3 Ho se a vi . 6. Ho se a ii . 9—13; ix . 1 .H ose a vi i i . l l . H osea xn . 2.

T U B PROPHETS OF ISRAEL. 39

Deliver e r ; Asshu r shall be their king, for they willnot amend. The days of punishment

,of vengeance

wi ll come ; as to the people, so shal l i t happen to thepries ts. Israel

'

8 pride sha ll be bowed down,and Ju dah

shall fall with h im. They shall not remain in the landof Jehovah ; Ephraim shall retu rn to Egypt, and eatun cle an thin gs in Assyria. They are gone becau se ofd estru cti on Egypt shall gather them up, and Memphisshall bu ry th em.

1 The high places of Bethaven shal lbe destroyed ; thorns and thistles shall come u p ontheir al tars , and they shall say to themou ntains, Coveru s ; and to the hills, Fal l o n u s.

”

“ What shal l I do to thee,Ephraim? how shall I

deal with thee Shall I destroy thee saith Jehovah .

Bu t my heart is tu rned, my repenti ngs are kindled Iw ill not execu te the fie r ee n ess ofmy wrath ; I amGodan d not man as the Holy One I will not come in toan ger. ’ I will pu nish them til l t h ey repent , and inthei r affl iction they will seek me early.

‘ I w ill allurethem in to the wilderness ; I w i ll speak to the ir hearts,that Israel may sing again as in the days of his you th ,and on the day when he came o u t of Egypt ; an d thename of Baal I will remove ou t of h ismou th .

ls R etu rn ,0 Israel . to Jehovah thy God . Speak ye to h im ;

Take away iniqu ity, and rece ive us , that we offer thesacr ifice of ou r l ips . Assyria shall not save u s ; wewi l l not ride on horses ; the work of ou r ha nds shallbe call ed ou r gods no more .‘ Then , saith Jehovah :I will hear Eph raim

,and look with favour u pon h im.

I wil l heal their backsli ding, and come and love themfre ely my anger is turned away, and I wi ll let themdwel l in their houses. I will be as dew u pon Israe l ;

H ou ixJ —O N 'J S : vi i ";‘ Ho-oa L S . ‘ H oooa xi fl. ‘ H oe oa vJ é.

{ Hawa ii 1 1—17. Hose-xi v. “

40 ISRA EL.

Israel shall grow as a l ily, and cast forth his roo tsas Lebanon and I wil l be t roth thee u nto me for ever ;I will betro th thee in righteou sness and in j udgment,in loving-kind ness

,gentleness

,and mercies. "

The words of Hosea leave no doubt that Mena hem,

k ing of Israe l , sought aid from Assyria in order tomaintain himself on the th rone . With this the Booksof Kin gs agree. They te l l u s : Menahem gave to thek ing of Assyria 1000 kikkar of silver (according tothe Babylonian standard abou t that thekin g might join h im i n establishing t h e ki ngdom inh is hand. The payment of the money was imposedby Menahem on a l l the me n of substance i n Israel ;fifty shekels of sil ver on every man . According toth is the king of Israel was himsel f withou t means , b u tthe land mus t have been in a position to pay su ch aconsiderable tribu te, so large a sum. There mu st,according to this statement. have been at th is time

families in Israel who were in a position to paya min a each (abou t The monumen ts of Assyriainform u s that in the year 742 s o . T ig la t h Pil esar

marched against northern Syria and Arpad (T e lErfad (p . that he conqu ered Arpad after a siegeof three years

,or after thr ee campaigns again st the

ci ty.

2 In the city of Arpad— so we are to ld in a fragment of his annals— h e received the tribu te of Re z inof Damascu s ; 1 8 kikkar of gold, 3000kikkar of silver,200 kikka r of copper and the tribu te of K u s taspi ofK ummukh

, of Hiram of Tyre , of Pis ir is of Karehemish .

3 This mu st, therefore , have t aken place i n theyear 740 or 730 He received the tribu te ofMenah em immedi ately before the n inth year of his

Ho se a x iv. 5—9 ; ii. 19.

L i sts o f r u lers , 742—740.

“ du r in g thr e e ye a r s b e con qu e r e dAr pad. ” F r ag. 6, in G. Smith , p .

'27i .

T l l E PRO PII BT S O P ISRAEL . Cl

r eign (787 Bid ), i . e . in the year 738 He te l ls usthat at that time he received tribu te fromK us taspi ofKummukh , R e s in of Damascu s, Menahem of Samaria ,Hiram of Tyre , S ib i t t ib al of Gebal (Byb lus) , U r ikki ofK a i (Ci licia) , Pisi r is of K a rch emish , En iol of Hamath ,T a rch u lar of Gamguma , S ul umal ofMil id, Vassu rmi ofTu bal , and Zab ib ie h , the qu een of the Arabs . Menahem,

ther e fore, sought to purchase the help of T ig la t h Pil esarby o ffe r in g tribu te soon after the fall of Arpad . Hencein these years the king of Assyria held a posi tionwhi ch in cluded northern and central Syria, and governedtho se countries immedi ately from the crossi n g of theEu phrates at Karch emish , and fromArpad . Passin gbeyond Hamath and Damascu s, beyond Bybl os andTyre , he was now ru ler over the k ingdom of Samariaalso. From t h e Sou th east a princess of the Arabs,fr om the North-west the prince of the Cili cians

,sen t

t ribu te . Menahem of Israel mu st have died soon afte rt h e payment of tribu te the subjection ‘ to Assyriaappea rs to have established his power so far that his sonPekah iah could su cceed h im on th e throne (738Bu t in the seco nd year of his reign Pekah iah wasmurd er ed in the palace at Samaria by Pekah , the so nof Remal iah , who now ascended the throne of Israe l

(736 Pekah combined with R esin , king ofDama scu s, for a u n ite d attack on the kingdomof Judah .

Judah did not remain u ntou ched by the establ ishment an d ex te nsive ad vances of the Assyrian powerin Syria We saw in what successfu l struggles UzziahAzariah had ext ended the territory of Judah in hislong reign ; how agricul tu re and t rade developed underh im. T h e advance of T ig la t h Pil esar in t h e last yearsof the reig n of Uzziah ca lled th ese successes in qu esti ononce more. It did n o t find Un iah wholly u nprepare d .

He h ad fortified Jerusalem more strongly ; b e h ad

42 I SRAEL .

provided for the arming of his forces , and arranged thelevy of the me n of mil ita ry age. A very mu til atedfragment of the annals of T ig la th Pi lesa r mentionstwice the lan d of Judah , and three times the secondha l f of the name of Azariah , i . e . the name by whi chUzziah is named in the Books of Kings . ‘ Anotherfragment, which deals with the events in Syria whichto ok place before the payment of tribu te to Menahem,

again mentions Azariah (Uzz iah ) i t informs u s thatMou nt Lebanon, the land of Baalz ephon ,2 the land ofAmman a (the region of the Aman u s the city ofHadrach had been subju gated ; that the king addedto the land of Assyria n ineteen d istricts of Hamath ,situ ated on the sea of the setting su n , together wi t hthe cities in their land, which had revolte d to Azariahin faithl ess rebellion , and had placed h is officers andviceroys over them.

” 3 The districts of Hamath herementioned mu st be sou ght between the Orontes an dthe sea

,immediately north of A r adu s . The occu r

rence no dou bt took place in the time when T ig la t hPi l esa r fought against or besieged Arpad, i . e . i n theyears from 742 to 740. From th is we mu st concl ude that Az ariah (Uzziah) of Judah (neither he northe kin gdomof Judah ismentioned among the tr ibu tarystat es i n these fragments) assumed a hosti le positionto wards T ig la t h Pi l e sa r ; that du ring the struggle forArpad he attempted to u ni te some of the states andtribes of Syria against the ad vance of Assyria Th isO pposition of Ju dah may have formed another motivefor Menahem to place himself u nder the su premacy,and at the same time u nder the protection

,of T ig la t h

Pi l esar . As vassals of T ig la t h Pi l e sa r,Rezin of

Ebe rha rd Schr ade r , Jah r b . pr o te st . Theo log.

”1 876, s . 374.

A difl'e r e n t Baa lzephon fr om tha t on th e R e d S e a ; Exod x iv. 2, 9 .

Schr ade r , Ioc. ci t. s . 376 R odwe ll, Reco r ds o f t h e Past ,” 6, 46 ;G . Smith, Disc.

” p . 277.

THE PROPHETS OF ISRAEL.043

Damm s and Pekah of Israel may have fel t themsel ves more justi fied in at tacking the sou thern neighbou r-sta te, the ki ngdom of Judah , whi ch would notsubmi t to the domin ion of Assyria.Uzziah was nomore when Pekah obtai ned the throne

of Israel . He had died four years previously (740a n ) , and was bu ried in the sepu lchres of the kings atJe r umlem. His son Jotham, who h ad al ready sharedi n the ru le du ring the last years of his father’s re ign

,

sa t on the th rone of Ju dah . He withstood the attackof the combin ed Israel ites and Damascen e s. l Bu t hisson Ahaz, who su cceeded h im in the year 734 s o was

r educed by this war to the greatest distress . T h e

Philistines whom Uzziah had repelled and punishedseverely, the Edomites whom he had su bjugated, r ebel led. Peka h

'

s warriors laid Judah waste,and carried

rich booty and numerou s prisoners to Samaria ; Rezi npr essed forward to the sou th to aid the Edomites

,

expel l ed the Ju dze an s from Elath, and there establishedh imself on the Red Sea. The hostile armies marchedon Jerusalem. Ahaz “made his son to go through thefire " to avert the threatened ru in . At last he fou ndno oth er means of rescu e than to pay homage toAssyria, and entreat the protection of T ig la t h Pil esar .

In the last years of Uzziah , and in the reign ofJotham, Isaiah, the son of Amoz, had received thewor d at Jerusalem. Like Amos and Hosea

,Isaiah eon

t en d ed against the luxu ry and di ssolu te ness of the rich,

the in j ustice of the elders, the corruption of the judges,the idolatry in t h e land. He attacked the false secu rityin wh ich me n reposed in the possession of horse s andchariot s of war ; he announced t h e coming vengea ncewi t h even more vehement emphasis than his prede~ce sso rs . If for them the gods of the other nations

44 ISRAEL.

have al ready disappea red bes ide the One Je h ovah ,l sa ia h

represents t h e approaching destru ction as breaking o u t

not only over Israel and Ju dah , b u t over all nations,beca u se they go afte r false gods . Their evil deed swill also be pu nished ; no power on the earth ca n

stand before Jehovah . Bu t behind this judgment;the horror of which will tu rn al l me n to Jehovah ,Isaiah also exhibits the restoration of Israe l andJudah , the resto ration of the whole renewed world,in the most glowing colou rs . That was Jehovah ’spu rpose since the days of old .

“ The land is fu l l of horses,

” so Isaiah spake, andthere is no end of its chariots .

” As we have seen ,Uzz iah had amas sed mu ni t ions of war , and arrangedexcel lently the mil itary power (p. b u t thelan d is also fu ll of idols, and they worship the work oftheir own hands. Every man O ppresses his neighbou r ; the you ng man behaves prou dly against theold

,and the bas e against the honou rable. Thy chiefs ,

0 Jeru salem, are faithless me n ,the companions of

th ieves 1‘ Every one loves bribery,and seeks afte r

gain. They do no j ustice to the orphan , and regardnot the ca u se of the widow . Woe to them that decreerighteou s decree s, and to the scribes who write

qu i ty , to tu rn aside the needy from ju dgment, andto take away t h e right from t h e poor Woe to themwho ju stify the wicked for reward

,and take away the

right of the ju st l 3 Woe to them that join hou se tohou se, and field to field , till t h ey alone are possessorsof the land l ‘ What mean ye to beat my peoplei n pieces, saith Jehovah , and grind the faces of thepoor ? 5 Woe to them that rise u p early in the

Isa . 11 . 7. T h e mor a l pr ecepts o f Isa iah a r e co llecte d i n th e textwitho u t r ega rd to t h e chr o n ology. I sa . x . 1 , 2.

‘ Isa v. 23.“ Isa i ii l 4 , 1 5 .

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48 ISRAEL.

that it shou ld bring forth grapes,brought it forth wild

grapes ? Ye have tu rned my vineyard into a pastu re ;the spoil of the poor is in you r hou ses . Now I willtake away the hedg e, and pu ll down the walls, that i tmay be trodden down .

1 I w i ll come to ju dgmentwith you r elders and chiefs, and I will deal marvellou slywith this people ; t h e wisdom of their wise me n , a n d

the u nderstanding of the pru dent shall be b id .

" 2

After Isai ah had depicted the terrors of the day ofjudgment, t h e quaking of the earth , the creeping awayand the death of sin ners, in l ively colou rs, he r epr e

sen ts the pe ople as crying o u t : Who of us shal l dwellwi th the devou ring fire, and the everlasting flame ?

and then answers “ He that walketh righte ou sly, andspeaketh u prightly ; who despiseth the gain of oppr e ssions ; that tu rneth his hands from holdi ng of bribes,and stoppeth his car s from hearin g of blood

,a n d

shu tteth his eyes from seein g evil ; who taketh ju sti cefor h is measu ring l ine and righte ou sness for hisbal ance : he shal l dwell on high ; h i s place of defenceshal l be the mu nition s of the rock, and his wate rsshall not be dried up. Though you r sins be red l ikescarlet, they shall be white as snow

,if ye obey

Je h ovah .

” 3

With the death of Jotham the distress increas ed .

Isaiah warns his people not to seek aid from Assyria .

Wickedn ess, he cries, bu rneth as fir e ; no manshall spare his fell ow. He shall snatch on the righthand and be hu ngry ; and eat on the left hand and beu n satisfied . Manasseh shal l eat Ephraim

,and Ephra im

Manasseh , and both together shal l fall u pon Judah.

” 4

Fear not,” he says to king Ahaz, neither be faint

hearte d, for the two tails of these smoking fir eb r an ds

‘ I sa x xi x . 14.

Isa . xxxiii. 14—16 ; i. 18, 19. I sa . ix . 1 7—20.

T II E PROPHETS O I"ISRAEL. 47

for the fierce an ger of Re sin and the son of Remaliahthey shall not break open Jerusalem, and the land ,before whose kings thou art afraid , shall soon be maded esolate .‘ Bu t with the razor that is hire d beyond theriver (Eu phrates) the Lord will shear off thy head , andthe hair of thy feet, an d thy beard.

“ A n d whenAhaz refu sed to be restrai ned, Isa iah proclaimedBecau se Isr ael rejoices in R e sin and the son ofBema l iah , the Lord wil l bring u pon them the waters ofthe river strong and many. The str eam shall come u pover all his channels, and go over all his banks theriches of Damascu s and t h e spoil of Samaria shall beta ken away before the king of Assyria. Bu t the streamshall pass through Ju dah ; it shall overflow and go overti ll i t reaches even to the neck .

Ahaz sent messengers to T ig la t h Pil esa r , kin g ofAssyria,

"so the Books of Kings tell us, “ sayin g, I

thy servant and thy so n ; come u p and save me ou t

of the hands of the k ing of Aram (of Damascus ) andthe kin g of Israe l . And Ahaz took the silver andgol d that was fou nd in the hou se of Jehovah , and inthe treasures of the king’s house , and sent a present tothe king of Assyria Then the king of Assyria gavee ar to h im. He marched o u t against Damascu s andtook it, and carried away the inhabitants to Kir, andslew Res in . A n d in I srael T ig la t h Pil esar took Ij onand Abel -be th -Maach ah, and Jan oh a , and Kede sh , andHazor, and Gil ead, t he whole land of Naphtal i, andled them away to Assyria And Hoseas , the son ofElah, se t o n fe e t a conspiracy aga inst Pekah , anddefea ted h im, and slew h im,

and was kin g i n his place.Bu t Ahaz went to Damascu s to meet king T ig la t hFll esar .

”

‘ In vii zo.

Ia vii iJ —S . 2 Ki n g i xv. 29 , 30 ; t r i o- IO .

43 ISRAEL.

The Assyrian l ist of ru lers mentions for t h e year734 B.C. a campaign of T igla t h Pil esar against theland of t h e Philistin es, and for the years 733 and 732

campaigns of t h e king against Damascu s . Afragment of t h e annals informs u s that the army ofDamas cu s was defeated ; that their k ing Rezin (Rasu nn u ) fled to the great gate of his city ; that his capti vegenerals were crucified that the city was besieged ; thatHadar a

,the hou se of the father of Rezin , was taken ;

that 591 places in 1 6 districts of the ki ngdom ofDamascu s (Imir isu ) were laid waste .

1 A fu rtherfragment informs u s that T ig la t h Pi l esar mad e himsel fmaster of t h e cities of Hadrach , Zemar , and Arka (t h etwo ancient cities of the Ph e n ie ian s on the coas t,already known to u s) that he reached the borders ofthe land of Omri (Israel) that Han no, king of Gaza ,fled to Egypt before the face of the warrior Ti g l a t hPi le sar . Afterwards the fragmen t mentions the landof Omri , speaks of a sendi ng or carrying away toAssyria

,and continu es : “ Pekah (Paka h a ) their king

they had slain . I l oseas (Hu si) I made king overthem.

”2 The inscription,which comprises the deed s

of T igla t h Pi le sa r down to the last year of h is reig n;mentions towards the end the princes of Assyria, whobrought h im tribu te : S ib i t t ib al of Byb l ns , En ie l ofHamath

,Mat t an b al of Arvad , Sanib of Ammon (Bit

Ammans i) , Salman of Moab,Mi t in t i of Ascalon , Ahazof Judah (Jan h az i , Jah u da i ), K osma lak of Edom,

Hanno (Hanun) of Gaza.8

The attempt of Rez in of Damascu s and Pekah of

F rag. 10, in G . Smi th , D isc.

” p. 282; E. Schr ade r , K. A . T.

s. 1 5 1 .

F rag. 1 2, i n G . Smith, p . 224 , 225 ; R odwe ll , “ Re co r ds of th e

Pa st ,” 5 , 52; E . Schrade r , “ K. A. T.

”8. 1 4a ,

Ll. 57—62, i n G . Smith,

‘ Disc.” p. 262, 263 ; E . Schr ader , 105. ci t .

s. H 7.

T II R PROPHETS OF ISRAEL. 49

Isr ael to break the rise of the Ph il ist ines and Edomi tes,and the power of the ki n gdom of Ju dah , fort ified asit was and stre ngthened by Uzz iah , led to importa ntconsequ ences, to the subjugation of Syria to Assyriathro ughou t its whole ex t en t When Ahaz cal led forhelp , l i g la t h Pi lesar tu rned agai nst the enemies ofJudah. The kingdom of Damascu s, which for 120yea rs had so powerft withstood the Assyrians

,

su ccumbed afte r a st ruggle of two years. Tyre andByb l us had long paid tri bu te to T igla t h Pil esar , andn ow A r ad u s was compell ed to recognise the su premacyof As syria ; Israe l was overrun : the inhabitants of thenorthern to wns— Ijon , Abel -beth-maacha, Hazor andKedesh , and the dwellers in the land of Naphtali onthe lakes of Merom and Genezareth, and of the landof G ilead—were carri ed away to Assy ria. The easternneighbour s of Israel and of the land of Gilead, theAmmonit es and Moabites, were driven to submit likethe Edomi tes the cities of the Phili stines wereconqu ered. With the subjugati on of Ascalon andGaza the Assyrian kingdom became the neighbou r ofEgyp t

VO L I I I.

CHAPTER I I I .

THE PHARAOHS OF TANI S,BUBA S T IS , A N D NAPA

'I‘A .

A T the close of the fou rteenth centu ry B.C. Ramses I I I .h ad secu red Egypt against the attacks of the Libyans,Syrians

,and Ara bians. H i s su ccessors of the same

n ame remain ed peaceful ly within the borders of theirland . Nei ther tradition nor monuments tell u s oftheir campaigns. Two or three sepu lchres in therocks of Biban cl Moluk and some inscriptions giveu s their names, and i nform u s that these Ramessi dsbu il t at the temple of Ch e n at Thebes, that theyma in tained the dominion of Thebes up the Nil e as faras Mt . Barkal down to the year 1 100 B.C.

l Of moreimportance is the fact that u nder the su ccessors ofRams es VI . , the la st ru lers of t h e name of Ramses, whosat on the throne from the year 1200 to 1074 B. C.

, t h e

high-priests of Thebes ob tained a position which formeda strong cou nterpoise to the power of the k ings, and a tlength t hrew i t in to the back-grou nd , if it did notal toget her remove it. In inscriptions in t h e te mple ofCh o u , H e r h o r , the h igh-priest at the time of RamsesXI II . , receives the title of prince (s i e a ten ,

king’s son)of Cu sh , a title borne by the viceroys of Napu ta sinceRamses I I . They call h im Commander-ia -chie f ofthe army in Upper and Lower Egypt ; and finally

,

1 Vol . i. 1 79.

PHA RA O IIS or r ams, s ue asr xs, a r e e ar n s . a:

Si-Amun and Si-R a ,” and wi th these ti tl es, which

were borne by the Pharaohs, H e rh or receives also thesymbo ls of the king. I t is also thought that the i nscr ipt io ns speak of tribu te of the Re t e n n u , i . e . theSyrians, whi ch he received 1 I t may be that H e r h o rrose to the t h ron e after the death of Ramses XIII ,

ort hat he reigned du ring his l ifetime, or that he absolu telydeposed h im. Pian ch i , the son of IIe r h or , is call ed int h e monumen ts High-priest of Ammon , Prophet ofMu t , Commander of the caval ry of the king of Upperand Lower Egypt b u t the king, whose ofli ce r Pian ch iwas, is not men tioned . O n the othe r hand, Pin o t em,

t h e so n of this Pian ch i, like I l e r h or , bears on themonuments the addition of a divine name Miamu n ,

”

a fter the man ner of the Pharaohs, and royal symbols.A memorial stone of Thebes tell s u s that Me n ch epe rRa, general-ia -chief of the army of Upper and LowerEgypt

,son of kin g Miamu n Pi n o t em,

marche d o u t

in the twenty-fif t h year, i . e . in the twenty-fif t h yearof t h e reign of Pin o tem,

to Fatores, i . e . Upper

Egypt, in order to“ restore pea ce in the lan d and

puni sh t h e enemy . The fami lies of Thebes receivedh im with songs of joy ; on the fou rth intercalaryday

, o n the feast of the bir t h of Isis, the majesty ofAmmon , the king of the gods, was brought forth inproces sion ; Me uch e pe r -Ra implored the sanction ofAmmon, that the bani shed—there were myriads ofthem—might be brought back . and the god gave h issa nction . It seems then that the supremacy of t h efamily of H er h o r me t with a violen t resistance , andthat Pin o temnevert heless fou nd himself strong enoughin t h e twenty-fift h year of his reign to publ ish an act

of amnesty . Whether Pin o tem'

s son , Me n ch epe r -Ra ,

Imp rin t , “ A b h . Bur l. A h d. 1866, s . 268 ; Brugsch, “ Ii i-t. of

Bgypt l p. 193.

52 KGY PT .

came to the thr one, whether and how the race of t h eRamessids became extinct, we do not know.

1 Bu t theperiod of the ext inct ion of the Ramessids and of thepriests of Thebes who contended with them for power,or shared it wi th them,

we may place abou t the year1074 s o .

In Manetho’s l ist the Ramessids are su cceeded by adynas ty of seven princes, who belonged to t h e can ton ofTanis (Zoan) . Together they are said to have reignedover Egypt 1 14 years. The fi rst prince of t his hou se ,Sme n d es ,mu st have ascended the throne abou t 20yearsbefore the time when the people of Israel raised u p Sau lto be king. The chronology of t h e Hebrews allows u sto establish the fact that t h e last prince of this hou semu st have come to an end at least ten years before t h emiddle of the ten th centu ry .

” From th is point (960the per iod alreadymentioned as the lengt h of the

dynas ty of t h e Tanites, carries u s back to the year1 074 for the date of the accession of Sme n de s.Since the expu lsion of the Hyksos the central point

of t h e kingdom had remain ed for more than 500yearsat Thebes . Wit h the accession of the Tani t es it wasremoved to the Delta . Hencefort h it was neverrestored to Upper Egypt or to Thebes. Aft er a reignof 26 years Sme n d e s was su cceede d by Psu se n n cs

,who

sat on t h e throne for 46 year s ( 1048— 1002 If

i t was Psu se n n cs , who took into his protection t h e

young son of the ki ng of Edom,who was saved from

David and Joab by the servants of his father,and

gave h im t h e sister of his wife in marriage,

3 i t is thedaughter of Ame n oph t is , the fou rt h prince of thishou se (998— 989 whi ch Solomon took to wife

,

whom he honou red above his other wives,and for

I I t e n ds i n Br u gsch, Ioc. ci t . II . 1 98, with Ramse s XVI .II . 229, n o te. I I. 1 65 .

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54 EGYPT .

Scr a ma t , i . c. sovereign ; at an y rate he is so namedby his so n Ss h e sh on k on a gran i te block at Abydus,which enumerates the fu nds su pplied by the so n for thel ibations pou red t o his father who is bu ried hereu nl ess we have rather to recognise in t hi s ti t le as wellas in t h e addition to it, prince of princes,

” titles ofd istinction subsequ ently transferred from the so n tothe father. ‘ In anot her inscription the same S sh e sh o n kcalls h is predecessor Psu se nn cs I I . ki ng of UpperEgypt ; 2 a memorial stone of S cls il is mention s adou b le acces sion of S sh e sh o nk ; t h e inscription on astatu e of t h e Nile in the Bri t ish Mu seum states thatking H e r Psi u n ch a married his daughter Rakama t t oU se rke n , t h e so n of S sh e sh o n k.

3 Hence we mayassume that S sh e sh o n k, t h e so n of N emr u t , became arival for t h e throne ; t hat Psu se n n cs I I . was perhapscompel led to retire to Upper Egypt, whither S sh esh o n kcou l d n o t penetrate ; that a compromise took placewith Psu se n n cs, the possessor of t h e throne, by meansof t his marriage, which secu red the su ccession toS sh e sh on k and his family ; and that S sh esh o n k su b sequ ently described h i s rebellion as his first accession

,

and his accession aft er the death of Psus e n n cs I I . ashis scce n d .

‘

I n t h e u n published in scr ipt io n o f Abydu s i n Br u gsch ,

“ Hist . ofEgypt ,” I I . p. 199 . B r u gsch , Iuc . ci t . I I . p . 204 .

3 Acco rdin g to Br u gsch,Ba h ama t, e r Ka r ama t, wa s n o t t h e wife of

O so r ke n , b u t o f S s h e sh o n k , lot . a t , p. 204.

T o make Pi t h u t , Ss h esh o n k, N emr u t . an d Ssh es h o n k as we ll asPame e h n e s o r Pa l las h -N isu , kin gs o f Assyri a , a n d place a co n qu e st o fEgypt by As syr ia a t t h e e n d o f t h e twe n ty-fir s t dyn asty (Br u gsch,H is t . o f Egypt ." II . p. be ca u se N emr n t o r N ema r o t h is called

o n t h e s to n e o f Abydu s S er a ma t,

”an d pr in ce o f pr in ce s,” appe a r s

t ome abso lu te ly impo ss ible . H ow co u ld on e o f t h e kin gs o f Asshu r,

wh o,i n t h e se rvice o f Asshu r , Samas, an d Bin , ove r thr ew t h e

n a t i o n s , a llow himse lf t o b e bu r ied n ea r Osi r is o f Abydu s — h 0w co u ldh is so n pe rf o rmEgypti an fu n e r al r ite s fo r h im the r e T h e Bo oks of t h eH e br ews mu s t have pr e s e rved some kn owledge o f a co n qu es t of Egypti n t h e t ime o f David an d So lomo n , in t h e fir st ha lf of th e te n th ce n tu r y

PHARAOHS or r ams, s usasr rs, A N D n a r ar a . 35

However this may be, whether S sh es h o nk in t h e

first insta nce obtai ned the power over Lowe r Egyptonly, wheth er he afterwards lost it, or whether he didnot obtain the su premacy till afte r the death of H e rPs i unch a,

‘ he to ok up a different pod t i e n to wards theki n gdom of Judah from that occupied by the dynastyof Tanis since the accession ofAme n oph t is . When flyingfrom Solomon , Jeroboam fou nd refuge and prote ctionwith Ssh esh onk. When after Solomon’s dea th the tentri be smade Jer e boam their ki ng

,as against Rehoboam,

Ssh es h o nk in the year 949 u ndertook the campaignagainst Judah whi ch secu red Jeroboam; b e confirmedthe division , carried away spoil from Ju dah , and exh i b i ted Isr ael in dependence on Egypt. The resu l ts ofthis campaign Ssh es h onk cau sed to be set fo r t h in themost sple ndi d manner o n the walls of the temple ofKamak, westward of the bu ilding which Ramses I II .h ad here erecte d in the circu it -wall, (I. The pictu redisplays the victo riou s Pharaoh , and the taxed places asbound figure s in a long row (II . Over the r owof van qu ished place s we r ead that the good god (theking) returned in peace, afte r defeatin g the nation s ofthe N or th and Sou th that he led heme captive nation s

- h ov cou 1d t h o armie s e f An yr ia h s vo oome to Egypt e xeept thr o u ghSyr ia ? T ig la t h Pil esa r L , abo u t 1 100 to u ched n or t he r n Syr iaman ly i n pn-in g ; a o t t il l t h e n in th cen tu r y did Asmmu irps l sg a in

m o u h r u fle u n t Am nm an d t h e omst of t h e Ph e n i cia nma n d S h id

man eaar u fa r u Damm-eu n. A h u n dre d yea r s la to r'l‘ig la t h l

’ i lesa r I I .M ph n t ed aflrm loo t in Syr is . T h e S emi t ic QMh u w ta o f t h e name s

o l t h o win oes o f t h e tv e n ty-soeon d dyn u t y , wh o m dmdis t t ng u i sh oda n ge r vmt h ippeu o l t h e gods on ypk u we l l u t h e S emi ti e n a t io nal i ty o l t h o uix or d g h t sen anmwh q w eo rdi n g to t h o ston o o h t byd ug

m aflo t t ed t o t h o pl o ts of g ro u n d fe r t h o fu n o n l n r vio e o f h l emm t h

s t A bydug m mfld e n t l y cxph in od by v h s t ve know o l t h o min gl in gd fiomflsfim h fio WM Dd h md of o t h er S omifio influe nm

‘ 1 t oug ht pe rhaps tn b e o bservod t h at Sh ish Ak ( l K in gnMa l t h m h bu t Molok l ixn im.

56 EGYPT.

who had never seen Egypt, that b e spread the t e r r o rof h is name as far as the fo u r pill ars of the heavens .”

Amme n says to the king My heart is glad , that Ihave seen thy victories. I have granted that thenations of the Sou th shall be defeated and come tothee

,and t h e nation s of the North shall be subject to

the greatness of thy name . Their kin gs thre w t hemselves on the belly

,for they are stricken t o the grou nd

in their val l ies. I have known the splendou r of thythoughts t h ou has t carried ou t the wo rk of my templeat Thebes

,the bril liant place , which my heart l ove s ;

thou hast begu n to bu ild in Hermonthis and Heliope l is . ” 1 We see what achievements the inscriptions oft h e Pharaohs can make o u t of a plu ndering excu rsioninto the sou th of Syria t h e nations of the North andof t h e Sou th are overcome the terror of S sh esh onk issprea d t o the pil lars of the sky.

Besides this pictu re of his victories on the ou te r

wa ll , S sh e sh on k erected a kind of entrance po r ch tothe sou thern cou rt of the great temple at Karnak.

The in scription s on t h e architrave of this pe r ch tell u sthat S sh e sh on k had give n command t o enlarge thetemple of Ammon that he h ad made the city of Thebesto l ive again .

’ On a memorial stone in the qu arriesof S e ls i l i s, t h e goddess Mu t places the king, the grea tco n qu e r or of al l nat ions, accompanied by h is sonA upe t h ,

’ before Ammen of Thebes, R a -H armach u ofHel iopolis, and Ptah of Memphis . The inscriptionsays : That is the divin e benefactor ; Ra wears h i sshape ; he is the image of H armach u . Amme n hasplaced h im on the t h r o n e , in o rde r t o complete wh athe had begu n, in the occupation of Egypt for thesecond time. Th is is king S sh e sh onk ; he cau sed a

I l r u gsch , His t . d ’

Egypte , p. 227.

Br u gsch, “ His t . d 'Eg yp te ," p. 222.

3 O ther s r ead Sh u pu t .

PHARAO IIS OF TANIS, BUBA S T IS , AND NAPA'I‘A. 57

new quarry to be opened for the beginn ing of astru cture. Of such a natu re is th e’ kindness wh ich heh as sh own to his father, Ammon Ra .

” Then Ss h esh on khimself says : “ I t is a bea u tifu l thing to wo rk fo rAmmon . Gran t me a long reign for that which Iha ve don e . I have caused a new qu arry to be openedfor h im fo r the begin ning of a work . The high priestof Ammon has carried it ou t , A upo t h the highestca pt a in of the most famous army, the first of al l thewarrior s of Pa to res , the son of Ssh esh on k.

”T h e

archite ct also, who had to erect the portico, H oremsaf,men tions t his task in an inscripti on at Se ls il is. In thetwe nty-first year, i . e . in the twenty-fir st yea r of t h ereign ,

’ Ssh e sh o nk h ad commanded h im to obtain thebes t stones of S e ls il is , in order t o erect bu ildi ngs for t h eking of t h e gods, and to su rrou nd themwith a s t r o n gwa ll . ’

Ssh esh o nk was su cceeded by his son O se rkon , t h e

hu sband of the daughter of Psu se n n cs I I . , the last kingof t h e precedin g dynasty. I t is su pposed that in h imwemay discover the Cushi te Serach , who, according tothe Books of Chronicl es, invaded the kingdomof Ju dahin t h e fifte enth year e f kin g Asa , i . e . in 9183 0” but wasdefea te d by h im at Maresa (I I . The monumentsof Egypt only men tion to u s the names of the twowives of O se rko n . O se rko n was fo l lowed by T ake le t h ,O se rko n II . , Ssh esh o nk I I. , T ake lo th I I S sh esh o n k

I IL, Pimai, and Ssh es h on k IV. No monuments ofthese kings have come down to us except memorialstones in t h e tombs of the Apis on the plate a u ofMemphis. These memoria ls show that the regu lationsof S sh e sh o nk I . to give to one of h is so n s the office of

Br ug sch . H int . of Egypt," 11 . 212.

Acco rd ing to Ma n e tho '

s list , Sm a sh i re ign ed 2l mBrug sch. l o t . a". II . p. 198 .

68 EGYPT.

high priest at Thebes, and wi t h this office to combinethe command of divisions of the army, and t o pu tother division s of t h e army in the hands of o t hermembers of the royal house—regu lations obviouslyintended to strengthen the power of t h e throne—wereobserved by his su ccessors . We fin d the sons of hissu ccessors as high pries ts of Thebes and Memphis

,as

commanders of the troops of Thebes, Hermopol is, andHer acleopoli s, as princes (i . e . leaders) of the Mash awasha.

” l We remember the st ruggles which the earlies tsu ccessors of Ramse s I I . had to carry on against theLibyans

,especiallyagainst theMas h awash a

,orMaxyi an s.

From the time of Ramses I I I . the body-guard of thePharao hs seems t o have consisted main ly of Libyans

,

especially ofMas h awash a the warrior cas t e of Egyptappea rs to have been chi efly kept up an d supplementedby Libyans. The fat her of S sh esh o n k was, as observed ,the captain of the Mash awas h a . S sh e sh on k, the so n ofO se rko n I I . (aft erwar ds S sh esh onk as high pries tof Memphis bu ried in t h e twenty-thi rd year of the reignof h i s father an Apis , who had d ied in that year . Takeloth

,the son of this S sh e sh on k I I . (afterwards T ake lo t h

IL) , was high priest of Ammon of Thebes. In the fift e e n t h year of t h e reign of his father a rebell ion brokeo u t in the cantons of t h e Sou th and North . He foughtwithou t ceasin g formany years at the side of his father,and gained victo ries ove r the rebels.2 Accordi ng t o theApis-ste n es , S sh e sh onk I I I . reigned more than 50years.In the twen t y-eigh th vear of his reign an Apis was born

,

which lived 26 years, and was bu ried in the second yearof king Pimai u nder the su perintendence of Petiso , theso n of the high priest of Memphis, T ake lo t h , and t h eroyal princess T h isbas t i r . The su ccessor of this A pia,which was discovered in the same year of king Pimai,S cr a en maah uch . Chabas , “Méla n ges , S er . 2, pp. 73—107.

PHABA OIIS O P TAN IS , BUBAS '

I'

IS , A ND N A PATA . 60

died in the fourth year of Ssh es h o nk IV. , a th ird in theeleven th, and a fourth in the t h i rty-seventh yea r of these in e reign. lAccording to Manetho’s li st, the nine princes of this

dynasty of Bubas ti s reigned altogether 120years ; b u tthe sum of t h e reigns, accord ing to the i tems in the lis t,only reaches 1 16 years. The years of the reigns givenon special occasi ons, on themonuments mentioned, giveat least 1 50 years for six alon e of these n ine princes .If we mai ntain the assertion of Manetho, the dynastyo f the Bubastite s reigned from the year 960s o. to theyear 840 i f we calcu late the length of the ru leof t his dynasty accord ing to the generations of theprinces, then , even if the length of each generation istaken only at 20year s, theymu st at least have reigned1 80 years, L e . from 960 to 780 That the ru l eof the Bubasti tes ended abou t the year 780 at anyrate in the minds of the chronographers who havepreserved Manetho’s l ist in t h e excerpt

,fol lows from the

fact that o ur excerpts pu t the celebration of the firstOlympian festival in the reign of Pe t ubas t is , the princewh o immediatel y su cceeds the Bubasti tes . We maytherefore assume that the . Bubastite s reigned overEgypt from the year 960 to abou t the year 780 s o.

The su ccessors of Pe tu bas t is of Tan is, whose datethus falls abou t the year 775 B.C.

, are, accordin g to

Manetho, O se rkon (t h e third of t hi s name) , Psammu s,an d Ze t . Bie derns te ll s us of a T n eph ae h t us , kingof Egypt, who ca rried on war wi t h t h e Arabs. Oneday , when in the des ert, there was a lack of the meansof su bs iste nce, and T n eph ach t u s afte r a day of fasti ng

‘ IA pl i u l .“ A b h . Bur l. Akad. Phil . Hist . KIM " 1866, 0. 26-1 .

Ma r ie t t e , Bu ll . A r oh éo log . A then . Frau d"1866, pp. 93. 98—100.

Op Von O u tsehmfl, “ Br it t-( ge m O u ch ioh tc de s a l ton O r ie n tc,”

J. 101 . “77 .

60 EGYPT .

enjoyed so highly a scan ty meal , that he abominatedlu xu ry, an d cu rsed t h e king who first introduced it.So earnest was he wi t h this cu rse that he had it e n

graved in sacred characters i n the temple of Zeu s atThebes. ‘ Plu tarch also t el ls u s : On a campaign again stt h e Arabs t h e baggage was left beh ind . and T e ch n ae t is

(Pn eph ach t u s) gladly sat isfied himself wi t h the foodwhich was at hand , and when he su bse qu ently fell intoa deep sleep on the straw

,he was so pleased with this

simple mode of life that he cu rsed Menes wh o firstsedu ced t h e Egyptians from a simple and parsimoniou smod e of life, an d cau sed this cu rse to be engraved ona memorial stone , with the sanction of t h e priests . ’

The so n of th is T n cph ach t u s is called Be cch o r is byD ie de r u s and Plu tarch ; Manetho

’s list pu ts a k in gBe cch o r is after Zet, and describes h im as belonging t othe district of Sais. The date of Be cch o r is is fixed bythe fact that the seventh celebrati on of t h e Olympiangames

,i . e . the year 752, occu rred du ring h is reign .

3 IfPe t u b as t is reigned, as we saw,

abou t t h e year 775 B.C.,

and Be cch o ri s ascended the throne abou t 753 B. C.,the

date of h is father T n cph ach t u s , who is not mentionedin Manetho’s li st (he mu st h e meant by t h e Zet of t h el is t ) , will fall in t h e period between 770and 753 B.C.

We can only assume that T n cph ach t u s , in t h e timeof Pe t u b as t is or O se rko n I I I . who su cceeded Pe t u b as t is

,

rebelled agai nst t h e reigning Pharaoh,and obtained t h e

power, and that the li st of Manetho has passed h im overas the O pponent of the legitimate prin ces. As a fac twe sh al l find that other u su rpers beside T n cph ach t u srose up beside and against Pe t u b as t is and O se rko n ;that O se rko n was restricted t o Bu b as t is , and as the

Died . 1, 46.

Plu t . do Isid. c. 8 ; cf . A t h e n aau s , p. 4 18.

3 Jose ph. c. A pio n em,

”2. 2, 6.

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62 E0Y PT .

to his supremacy. He succeeded in forcin g kingO se rko n and t h e chiefs of Upper Egypt into obedicn ce they recognised in h im their superior ; and heattempte d to make even the princes of Upper Egypt,i . e . the Begs of t h e Mamelukes in that region , hisvassals.T h e Amcn emh a and Scsu r te scn had once carried the

sou thern border of Egypt to S cmn c and K umn e . Afte rthem the T u t hmos is and Amenophis forced their wayas far as Mount Barkal Lower as well as Upper Nubiabecame a provin ce of Egypt. The Ramess ids hadmaintained this province , and governed it by viceroys.Amenophis I II . and Ramses I I . fil led Nubia as far asMou nt Barkal with their temples ; thu s the worshipobser ved in Egypt became dominant i n Nubia also,especiall y t h e worsh ip of t h e god Ammon , whomUpperEgypt and the Pharaohs of Thebes regarded as theh ighest deity. With the religiou s worship, and thegovernment of Egyptian magis t rates, the langu age ,alphabet

,and manners of Egypt became cu rrent in

Nubia, al though the people retained their ancienttongu e. After a continu ance of 500 yea rs, when t h eEgyptian power began t o sin k u nder the later Ramessids

,and the high priests of Ammon at Thebes

rose against them,—before t h e year 1 100 the

supremacy of Egypt over the Sou th became e x t in

gu ish e d . The high pri est H e r h o r is the last whobears the title of Ki n g’s son of Cu sh ; u nderthe Tanites, Smen de s and his su ccessors, t h e me numents no longer mention any viceroy of Cu sh .

l Wemay , therefore, assume that Nubia was an in depe n dent stat e from the year 1 100B.C. onwards. Yet thelong continu ance of the Egyptian ru l e had cau sed thes tyle and civil isation of Egypt to strike firm roots

Ma r ie t t e , R evu e A r ch éo l og . 1 865,12, 178.

PRA BA O HS o r r u n s, s usasr rs, A ND s u m .

°

sa

he re. The city, which was adorned by Amenoph isI II . and Ramses I I . with splen did bu ildings ; the Neb

(Nspa te.) of the hieroglyphics, the Merua or Be r na of thenative language, was the sea t of the princes of the newstate , in which, befor e as after , the style, worshi p, andwriti ng of Egy pt was predomi n ant ; the language also,whi ch the newmonarchy u sed in its documen t s, was thelangu age of Eg pt . The name of the fir st independentruler of N apa ta , the kin g of Ethiopia, as the Greekscal l h im, whom we know, is mentioned in thememorialsto ne already spoken of. The name and attribu te areEgyptian Pian ch i Minman. ‘ In the twenty-fir s tyear of h is reign , in the month Thot, so the memorialte l ls u s, it was annou nced to king Pian ch i that T n e

pbach tu s of Sa is and Memphis had possessed h imsel fof the whole of the land of t h e West . “ The princesand lor ds of the ci tie s are like dogs before h is fee t .A l l princes who recogn ise his power, these he allows toremai n

, ea ch in his own canto n , as lords and prin cesof the ci ti e s. The princes i n Upper Egypt who weren o t yet su bject to T afn e ch t , sen t to Fianchi messagescontinually, whether he also wou ld wish to knownot hing of the land of the Sou th ,

"i . e . whether he also

was incl ined to abandon Upper Egypt to T afn ech t .The condition of Egypt was thu s invi ti ng enough to

indu ce a power, strongly established in the Sou th , toextend its dominion to the North , a t least over UpperEgypt. Upper Egypt was natu rally from an ancien tpe riod in closer relation to Nub ia and N apa ta thanLower Egypt. The removal of the residence and centreof the ki ngdom to Lo wer Egypt at the time of the

‘ I’ian eh i h d n mlh d th o m o f t h o h ig b pfied flu bor Q JU.

Bu t t h in oo in eidea oo doa n ot eompe l us to oxph in th o ki n p of h lape ta

u dmw n dm to of t h s t H e r h or wh o live d 400 yo‘ r l b e l o re Ph an eh i o fN Q t t t .

64 EGYPT .

Tanites and Bubastite s mu st have contribu ted toawaken anew t h e old opposi t ion between t h e u pper andlower land : and in its t u rn , when T a fn e e h t had gott h e u pper hand in Lower Egypt , and forced his way toUpper Egypt, this opposi t ion strengthened t h e wish tose ek support and protection on the u pper Nil e

,before

submi tt ing to a Saite , a prince of Lower Egypt.K i ng Fianch i sen t h is army to aid t h e princes of

Upper Egypt. According to the memorial stoneT a fn cch t , who with h is vassals awai ted the E thiopiansat Ch n cn su (Heracleopolis major) , was defeated . TheEthiopians then tu rned u pon Ashmu nein

,which was

defended against them by its prince, N emr u t . Here,

however,as the stone admi t s, t h ey su ffered a severe

defeat. At the beginn in g of the next year, Pisa chihimself set forth , celebrate d the festival of Ammonat Thebes

,commenced the regul ar siege of Ashmu nein

by throwing u p a wall of circumvallation, and thenfor three days bombarded the ci ty . Then N emru tbesought Pie nchi to receive h im among his servan t sa n d accept his tribu te . Fianchimarched in to t h e city

,

sacrificed to the god and lord of t h e city, to his fatherThot

,

” bu l ls, calves, and bir ds ; and the people of Ashmu nein sang : Beau t ifu l is the Horu s, who dwells inhis city, t h e son of Ra, F ianchi ; and Pia n ch i repairedto the hou se of king N emr u t , to his treasu ry and thehou se of h i s possessions .

” When N emr u t had su r

rendered to Fianchi , Pe fab as t of O b u onsu al so appearedwith gift s, with gold, silver, preciou s stones, and horses,threw himsel f on the grou nd before Pian ch i , and saidHail to thee

,Horus , mighty Bu ll ! I am su nken i n

darkness give clearness to my countenance I w ill bea servant together with my subjects, who will brin gpresents .” When four other cities had opened theirgates

,Pian ch i appeared with his ships before Memphis,

PHARAOHS O P TAN IS, BUBA ST IS , A ND N APA TA . 0 63

and promised to spare t h e inhabitants of t h e citythe ch ildren shou ld not weep ” if they opened the

gate s to h im ; he wou ld merely sac'

r ifice to Ptah andthe gods of Memphis. T afn ech t threw 8000 of h iswarriors into the city . Yet F ianch i su cceed ed in takin gthe ci ty from t h e harbour in open battle man y wereslain ,many captu red alive Fianchi cau sed the templesto be protected ; pu rified h imself, and offered a greatsacri fice “ to h is father Pta h.

” Then A upo t h and allt h e princes of Lower Egypt submi tted, and Pi an ch imar ched to On (Heliopol is) and on the height n ear On ,in t h e sight of Ra at h i s rising, he offered a great sacrifice, an d went in to the temple t o behold the god in theBenben chamber. He was alone ; he u ndid the bars,an d opened the doors, and beheld h is father Ba , andthe mornin g barqu e of Ba, and the evenin g barqu e ofT um. Then b e closed the doors and scaled them.

”

Afte r thi s,'

O so rkon (of Bu bas t is) and Pe t ise (of A t hr ih is ) su bmi t ted . T a fn ech t h imself sent a messengerto Pis a chi ; he cou ld not stand before his fire ; Pis a ch imay receive his possessions for h is treasu ry. Fia nchio n h is part sent the “ lead er of the prayers and h i schi ef ca pta in , and T a fn ech t to ok t h e oath he woul dnot transgress Pian ch i

'

s commands, nor disregard hiswords ; h e wou ld do no harm to any prince again st hiswi ll ; he wou ld do accord in g to the words of Fianch i.

”

Then the sh ips were lad en with silver, gold , copper,and o ther good thi ngs of Lower Egypt, an d Fianchiwen t up the st ream, and the dwellers on t h e bank sang0 royal conqu eror, thou h ast come , an d hast smittenLower Egypt ; thou makes t the me n to be women .

T h y work will continu e, thou king an d friend ofT h e bea

’”

‘ Do Rouge ,“ Memo i r s m u n o in ael 'ipt. do M kh i ;

”Brup e h .

m a m “m a ma s“ .

701. I l l .

66 EGYPT.

This campaign of Pian ch i from N apa ta , t h e firstattempt of a ruler of Ethiopia to possess himself ofEgypt, must be placed abou t the year 760 Weca n hardly contest the su ccesses which the memoria lstone ascribes to Fianchi . Pian ch i as a fact tookCh n cn su and Memphis he reached Heliopolis most ofthe vassals of T ncph ach t us paid homage to h im. Bu t

Pian ch i’

s own narrative does not mai ntain that he tookSais

,and that T n cph ach t us appeared before h im. He

makes a treaty with T n cph ach tu s he is contente dthat T n cph ach t u s recognises his supremacy, an d at oncetu rns b ack to Ethiopia with the presents or tribu te oft h e vas sals of T n cph ach t u s. From this it follows thatT n cph ach t u smaintained the Lower Delta that Pia n ch iei ther made no vigorou s attempt to conqu er this distriet

,or was u nable to conqu er it ; that he did not

believe that he cou ldmaintain h is position permanent]yin Egypt

,and therefore was content with a recogni tion

of his su premacy. In an y case, after Pian ch i’

s reti rement, T n cph ach t u s r e -established his power over theprinces of these di stricts he mu st even have extended it fu rt her to the sou th , than was the case beforePian ch i

’

s campaign , if, as D ie d e r u s state s, he set upinscriptions i n the temple of Zeu s z e . of Ammon, atThebes, and cou ld bequ eath the sovereignty over Egyptto his son. The position which Manetho’s list and theI have shown above tha t Pe t u bmt is came to t h e thron e abou t th e

ye a r 775 an d Boce h o r i s, t h e son o f T n cph ach tu s , abou t 763T n cph ach t us , ther e fo r e , mu st b e placed i n t h e t ime be tween 770—763

Thus t h e t ime o f t h e campa ign o f Pian ch i is fixed . T o thr owb ack t h e campa ign n ea r ly 100 yea r s i s n o t possible , ow ing t o th emen ti o n o f O se r ko n , t h e n ame s of N emr u t , S sh es h onk , Pe t ise , whichbe lo n g to t h e ho u se o f t h e Bu bas t ite s , an d t h e da te o f T n cph ach tu s .

If t h e lis t s o f Assu r ban ipa lme n t ion a S sh e sh o nk o f Bu sir is , a T afn ech t—n o t o f Sa is , b u t o f Bu n i o r Da n u bu ; a Pe fabast , n ot of Ch n cn su b u to f Zoa n—t h e r eappear an ce o f these n ames ca n b e expl ain ed by t h e

E thi opian s (p .

PHARAOHS OF TAN IS, BUBAST IS , A N D N APATA .

accoun ts of Weste rn nations give to h is son Bocch o r is ,is in favou r of the as serti on , that. T n cph ach tu s su c

ce eded in su bjugating all Egypt to his power. I t iseasily conceivable that to su ch a vigorous and indomitable warrior the ceremonial and the splendou r of t h ePharaohs’ ta ble and ki tchen , the royal bed-chambersand cou ches, were highl y distast efu l .Of Bocch o r is, the son of Tu eph ach tu s , the wise, the

celebr ate d in song,” who su cceeded his father in the yea r

753 B. O . , A t h e naau s tell s us that he li ved as simply ash is fathe r. ‘ Di ed e r us narrate s that he was of a veryweak body, b u t su rpassed all his forefathers in ae u te n essof mind h i s dec isions were so excellent that man ywe re qu oted even in his day. The Egyptians reckonedthe wise Bocch o r is as the ir fou rth law-g iver ; he fou ndedthe laws of the monarchy, and from h improceeded t h eru les abou t debt and contract .’ Any one who borrowedmone y withou t a wri tt en contract was to be free of thedebt if he swore that he owed noth in g any one whoadvanced money on a writte n document cou ld notrecei ve back more than the capita l and an equ a l valu ein in te res t. Only the property, not the person , of t h edebt or cou ld b e claimed by the creditor.3 A decisionof Bocch o r is is preserved in Plu tarch . An Egyptianyo ut h was se ized wi t h love for the courtesan The nia,wh o demanded a grea t sumofmoney. Then he dreamtthat h e had enjoyed her love , and his desire ceased ;bu t sh e cla imed t h e h i re agreed u pon before a cou rt oflaw. When Bocch o ri s hear d the plain t he orde red thede fen dant to pu t the sum of money demande d into a

jar , to take th is in his hand, an d carry it backward s andfo rwards. T h e co u r te san was to cl ing to the shadow :

fan cy was the shad ow of rea li ty .

‘ In another W e

Die d. Pl a t . “ Den ia l-fie. 27.

1 2

( is EGYPT.

Plu tarch narrates that when Bocch or is was in an angrymood , Isis sent h im an adder, that he might w ind i trou nd his hea d, and when overshadowed by i t , gi vej u st j udgment ; an anecdote which obviously con tainsthe explanation given by the Greeks of the U r ze u sdiadem of the Pharaohs ; though the connection of thesto ry wi t h Be cche ria speaks for h is fame as a j udge , afame which he enjoyed among the Greeks, evenat t h e time of Alexander, on the grou nd of Egyptiantradition . All these statements show that the mu chsu ng” Bocch o r is 1 was in t h e recollection of theEgyptiansa ru ler who again restore d the royal power, fixed itscondi t ions and preserved themby his ju dicial decisions ;who brought abou t order and j ustice in all the transactions o f li fe du ring a period of distu rbance and confu sion . This descrip t ion is not belied by the statementwhich is also made, that he was covetou s of money .

2

The crown was certainly n o t in a position to dispensewith means

,when mercenaries had become of su ch

prime importance in Egypt .\Ve know n ot hing of any deeds of Bocch o r is in war.

We only find that he looked inactively on t h e greatchange which took place in Syria in t h e last decade ofh is reign . When A sssy r i a plante d her foot evermorefi rmly in Syria (p . the eyes of Israel were directedto Egypt . When Gaza, the most sou thern fortress ofPalestine, fell in to the hands of the Egyptians, and theprince sought protection in Egypt (p. we hearnothin g of any arrangements of Bocch o r is . No dou bthe fou nd himself threatened by a neighbou r n earer andmore dangerou s . There are no monuments ofBocch o r isin existence

,with th e exception of the sarco phagus of an

A p ia, which sto od in the same chamber in which was

1 E li sa . Hist . An .

"12, 3.

Biod. 1 , 94 .

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70 EGYPT.

to be thrown up r ound t h e cities, according to themeasure of the offence, and thu s the cities of Egyptbecame far higher ; and highest of all, inmy opinion ,

”

Herodotu s adds , was t h e ci ty of Bub as t is .

" l Thoughby birth an Ethiopian, says Diodo ru s of Sahakon , hesurpas sed h is predecessors in piety and gentleness . Ofth is i t is su fficient proof that he did away wi t h theseverest penalty

,t h e penalty of dea th , and caused

those who were condemned to death to perform taskwork in chains in the ci ties, since he was of opinionthat the r edu ction of t h e punishment would n o t onlybe an advantag e to the condemned persons, b u t alsob r in g great advantage to t h e cities .

" By these tasklabou rer s b e cau sed many dams to be raised , and manyneedfu l canals to be cu t . ’2 With the gen tleness ofS ab akon , thu s praised by Herodotu s and Diodo r u s ,the statement of Manetho, that he bu rnt Bocch o r isalive

,and t h e statement of Herodotu s, that he pu t to

death N cch o of Sais, do not very well agree.The last Bubastites, Pe t u b as t is and O se rkon , had

not been able to maintain the power of the crownagainst the lords of the districts, and the brave andskil fu l attempt to restore t h e power of the Pharaohsmade by T n cph ach t u s and Bocch o ri s was wrecked .

Afte r Be cche rie succumbed to t h e Ethiopians in t h eyear 730 Egypt obeyed a foreign ru ler. The

He r od. 2. 137— 14 1 . Biod. 1 , 46, 66.

I have a lmady be e n ab l e to fix t h e en d o f t h e Ramessids , t h e da teo f t h e Ta n ites an d Bubast ite s , by t h e da t e o f t h e acce ssion o f Shishaki n t h e He br ew r ecko n in g ; t h e len gt h of t h e dyn ast y o f t h e Tan ite s inMa n e tho ; an d t h e le n gth o f t h e Bu ba sti te s as co r r ect ed by t h e mon ume n ts , a nd t h e syn chr o n ism o f t h e fir st Olympiad for Pet u basti s. For

th e pe r iod fr om t h e en d o f th e Bubas tite s to t h e acce ssio n o f Sab akon ,

t h e impo r tan t po in ts ar e t h e seven th Olympiad fo r Bocch or is , an d t h esar cO ph ag u s o f t h e A pia o f Boken ra n e f. If Bocch o ri s came to t h e

thr on e i n th e yea r 763 D.C . , S s h e sh o n k IV. died i n t h e yea r 780 if

this was t h e thi r t y-seve n th o r thir t y-e ighth o f h is r e ign , t h e su ccessor of

r e ass e ss or r ams. s treams. AN D sw am 71

king ofl

lj apa ta f was also the Pharaoh of EgyptEy pt and Meroe were united. T h e chief importanceof the change thu s accomplished lay in the fact thatthe valley of th e Nil e, from the mon t h s as far as

Br e to t h c year 748. t h e six th year of Bocch oa-is acco rdi n g to myre cko n in g. I t is d fo r Sa bako n

’

s accession in Egypt tha t Hosheao f l a acl u ndou b t edly ascen dcd th e t h r on e in 734 n£ (p .

wh e n h o h sd disccver ed t h c con spi r scy o fflosh ea wi th c eh (Sab akon ,a w). H osh ea must t h emfom h ave n egofia tcd wi th Seveh i n

'

l N a O.

a t th c h M md probs b ly ear l icr . S abakcn mn st h ave bcen pr eviou slyu h h h s h cd on t h c t h r on c on ypt . H e can n ot t h er e fo r e h ave con

qua e d Egypt la te r t h a n wO mc. Bocch or is t h ere t ore r ei g ncd‘zti ye a n

(763i s too sh or t for t h c compl e t ion of h is lefisls t i on an d th c st ta inmen t o!t h a t fnmc ss s lcg isla tor wh ich h e le ft b e h i n d h im. accon l in g to t h c

acoou n t of tt r e eks. T h a t 'fir h sks r e ig n ed ove r h i eme an d Eg ypt

in t h c yu r 702s t t h c h t e st i s pmved by t h e ba t t l e o fmt eke h , wh ichU Sevea wh o n cgo t is tsd wi th H osh ea ,

is mppo-ed to c A ba takg t h c con qu e st on ypt by S abakon mu s t b e

pu t in t h o yca r 789 . T h o A pis disoovcr ed in t h e twcn ty-s ix t h ycar of

T h h aka sn d bu r iod in t h c twcn ti et h yca r of h mmet iohm sh ows t h a t

sccmdh i g t o t h e ch l ou ology of th a t pcri od , Pssmme t ich u s was reg-arded

u th c immedia t e succcs sor o f’fir h aka . A cco rdin g to t h e re ig n o f ct

yea r-a ll o tte d to h imby H cr odo t us an d Man e tho, Psamme t ich u s beginsin t o ! n e , sin cc h is de s th is fixcd wi th cer ta in ty in 610a c. I I Ti r h a h

’

s

ufig n over Egypt b cg s n i n t h c yea r 703 a c. , t h e yea r 678 wo u ld bo t h c

twe n ty-s ix t h of h is re ig n ; t h e A pis li vcd down to t h c twen t i e t h yoa r

d mc rd g n d a cfichm t a do n wwc ym mb —con soqmfly wm m ag e (t h e n umb er on t h e in scr iptio n is i l lsg ib lo ).wh iah cvoo s lcn u rcfu l ly tcn ded bu l l mig h t M in . T i rh aks r ei g n cd

from '

I Oflto OG U t h e l ist s of mn ct h a scco rd in gt o ou r u ca p h s l lov h im oa ly w yea n myn ccl l as g im zo) , t h is isobvb ud y dm h t h c fict th st mo rd gm d swph in sm ti cdmpms.d cohmv h o omh t to rh nd sidc by uide v i t h Ti r h s h wi th ssven .

“ a n d d g h t m t a v i t h flym in d h m dcd uctcd fr om th c

fi g n d fir h s h in a du to ph co t h cso t hmc pr i nces d t er h im. To

t h o wd m d M Sab skou and Bob i oh n g h h ncth o s l lmncig h t sn d fomt ccn ym m mon umcn ts offlgypt sh ov t h a t swakon

T h e A-ydm mo n ummh sh ov tM Sobakon foug h t wi th

m u n-ph h h th c ya r 7mm . snd h is succcu or n eg ofis tcdn o ,

md th a t h o m at m vi th h u rbaa ipd abou t t h o ycar MO a c.

72 EGYPT.

Dongola,was u nited into one state ; that the warl ike

power of Egypt , which had become extinct u nder thelater Ramessids, and then was replaced by Libyanmercenaries to the ru in of Egypt, was now replaced byt h e u nspent vigou r of the Ethiopians ; and t h e com

bination of the latter with the rich means and re

sou rces of Egypt availed to strengthen the cou ntryconsiderably, and restore her to her previou s positi on .

For t h e internal condition of Egypt the new sovereigntybrought h ardly any other change than this, that theru lers now fou nd a st rong point of support in theirown land . The dynasties which , so far as we can se e ,T n cph ach t u s and Be cche rie overcame or removed, wefin d again at the head of their di stricts u nder t h eE t hiopian s. I t is possible that oppressed or expelledfamil ies amon g these invite d or supported S abako n

’

s

invasion of Egypt, ju st as in the preced ing generationthe pri nces of Upper Egypt summoned Pian ch i tosu pport them agai nst the father of Bocch or is. Thatsovereigns and hereditary lords were at the headof t h e districts of Egypt u nder Sabaka and his succe ssor s of Mcr o e is beyond a dou bt . Thu s the ru l eof Sahakon and his Ethiopian su ccessors might appearas a restorat ion of the old state of affairs in contr ast tot h e innovations of T n cph ach t u s and Bocch o r is , an dthe more so, as t hese ru lers jealou sly adopted t h e

national worshi p . We saw how earnes t Fianchi wasin visiting t h e temples of Egypt ; how he offeredsacrifice to his father Thot, his father Ptah , his fatherBa , and saw the last in his sh rine at IIe l iopo l is thememorial stone even assu res u s that of t h e princeswho su bmitted to h im he all owed those only to comein to h is presence at that time who had eaten no fish

,

i . e . who strictly observed t h e ru les of pu rification . I twas the reverence of the priests

,the participation in

PU A RA O H S OF TANKS, BUBA ST IS , A N D N APA TA .

the worship, the correct behaviou r, . ia which Sahakonand his E thiopian su ccesso rs come-forward as genu inefollowers of the Pharaohs

,which appear to have won

for Sabako n—who is to the Greeks the representa tiveof the Ethiopian dynasty— that repu tation for gentleness and ju sti ce which Herodotu s and Bie de rns repeatfrom the trad iti on of the Egypt ians. At the templesat Memphi s, l at Luxor, and Kamak, Sahakon u ndertookworks of restoration . His name and title here areBan eferka S h abaka . On the pi l lars of the main gateway at Kamak the goddess Hathor embraces h im ; theinscription on thi s gate describes h im as the goodgod , t h e giver of l ife for ever, like the su n ,

and dcclares that he has received the tribu te of the negroe s ,and the tribu te of the Chalu , al e . the inhabitan t s ofPalestine. How the latter sta tement is to be explainedwil l become clear afterwards ; we shall see that Sab akonhad mu ch bette r reason to be si lent abou t the even tsin Syria than to boast of them.

Sahakon died in the year 7 17 and left theempire over N apa ta and Egypt to his own son Se b ich u s,

Goodwin in Ch ah u ,

-t

m a c), n emfia beo i sml l e tl Seve h (So ) . Sa r ge n ’s inse r ipt io n s n ame th e

oppon e n t aga in st whomh e fo ught at Bn ph ia i n th e ye a r 720 Sabhi,Su r e l t h e ln n d of h l n zn r .

”an d a lso “ 8e b h i S i l tu n n u ol

'

h l u zu r .

"Th e

in scr ipt ion o f Ke r-n a h give S e bekon’

a (Sh a bake’s) t we lfth yea r ; we

must . thou-emu . althou gh Ma n e t h o '

n li st a llows h im on ly ei ght year s ,m e t h a t S s bakon m t h e oppe n e n t e l Sa rg e n at Be phmu mwdin n pce oedin g n ot e . U Sc bake n died immed ia t e l y ane r h is twemhyou , h o d iod ix: T h e mle r o t Egypt wh o paye t r ib u to t e

Ba ge n tn th e yw 716. u r epea tcd ly ed led by t h e As y r-u n mscn p

Sa r e l h l uz u r .

” 80 in t h e oy l in de r 01 0.

Smith Dino." p. t h e r u l er on ypt . wh o u n i te o wi th Ashdod i nthe m ?" pr in cewh o defim q m wh en i t h u bm monfio n od t h a t Y aman ficdbe yo e d Egypt in te t h e b o rd e r h nd o l hmqh h iJ s mll ed by Su go n“ Sa r Mi l n t '

T h e Ph AM h ,&r Mnmr , whmn v e fin d on t h o t h r e n on pt in

'

I l O to'

l l l

u n en ly bo Sh sbau h a-Se biohm t h o mcem or of SabaRm

74 E0YP'I‘.

as Man e t h e calls h im S h aba taka as the name is giveno n monuments at Memph is. ‘ His successor wasT ir h aka , the Tabarka of the monuments. The list ofMa n e t h e describes h im as not being the son of his predecessor . We do not know in what way he came tothe throne of Egypt ; it appears that he got the crownby force ; we can only establ ish the fact that he o b

t a in ed the sovereign power in the year 703 Cons ide r ab le relics of his bu ildings remain in his nati ve landat N apa ta . Among them are especially prominent theru in s of a great temple

,ju st as all t h e bu ild ings there are

wholly in Egyptian style.8 I n Egypt T ir h aka

'

s nameoccu rs frequ ently on the walls of Kamak. On t h e porta lsof the temple of Medinet Habu ,

we see h im beforethe face of Ammon brandishing his war-club over tenbearded forms. T h e inscription te l ls u s that he e vercame the black land (Kemi , Egypt) , and the red landon a memorial stone of Dongola t h e names of theregions and tribes are given , which he su bju gate dt here in the distant sou th names qu ite u nknown andinexpli cable to u s .

‘ With Meg as t h cn cs it is theEthiopian T e a rko n (T ir h aka) , a mighty warrior, whosu bju gated Libya, advanced as far as the Pil lars ofHercu les, and even crossed into Eu rope.

5 We shallsee tha t as soon as he ascended the thr one his attention

Mar ie tt e , Mon umen ts ," pl. 29 e .

N o t mu ch we ight cou ld b e laid on t h e obse rva t ion i n t h e Pala t in ecode x o f Hie r on ymu s (Je r ome ) ; T ar ach u s (ab E thiopia du xi t e x e rci tum) , S e bioo i n te r fe e t o E g yp t i is r e g n avi t an n is u . ; b u t in t h e

in scr ipti o n of Medin e t Habu T i r h aka ca l ls himse l f con qu er o r of Kemi ,e . o f Egypt .Le psiu s, Br ie fs , 8. 239, 276.

Br u gsch, Ge o g r .

” l , 163.

St r abo , p . 61 , 686, 687. Bu di n ge r’s view (“E gypt Fo rschu n g.

H e r odo 2, tha t we mu st re cogn ise T i r h aka i n t h e E te a rch u so f He r odo t us might b e adopte d if t h e n a r r a t ive did n o t t oo de fin i te lypo in t o u t t r ave l lin g Cy r e n aea n s as t h e so u r ce ; a n d t h e fou n di n g of

Cyrcn e ca n n o t b e ca r r ied h ack to t h e t ime o f T i r h aka .

PHARAOHS OF TAN IS, BUBAST IS , A N D N APATA . 75

was occupied in the East, an d that he fought with su ccessin Syria at th is time. What he may have afterwardsaccbmplish ed aga inst the D eg re e s , and perhaps againsttribe s of Libya, in almost thirt y years we can not asce rtain accu rately. The severest struggles awai ted h imin the last decad e of his reign, in which a mightyopponent rose u p against h im, with whom he wrest ledstu bbornly bu t wi thou t su ccess .

CHAPTER IV.

THE F IRST COLL IS ION OF ASSYR IA A N D EGY PT .

WHEN T ig la t h Pi le sa r ascended t h e throne of Assyria,he first compelled Babylonia to recognise his su premacy ; aft er that b e advanced into t h e table land ofI ran

,as far as A r ae h osia , and there at the least main

t a i n ed his su premacy far and wide over the Me de a.To the North he fought against Nairi and U r a r t i,

against K ummu kh and Tu ba l (743 s o . ) even theu nion into which the d istressed princes of that regionentered against h im did not protect them ; afte r asecond su bjugation the Tu bal , i . e . the T ib a re n es ,received a prince from the hand of T ig la t h Pil e sar

(735 Meanwhile he had already overthr ownAr pad in the West

,which had resisted his predecessors

so vigorou sly in a struggle which continu ed for threeyears ; received tribu te from K ar ch cmis h

, Damascu s,a n d Tyre and placed the region of Amanns, Lebanon ,Hadrach

,and several district s of Hamath u nder

A ssyrian viceroys (742— 740 Two years aft erwards the princes o f Cilicia, of Hamath , of Byb lu s,Menahemking of Israel

,and Zab ib i e h , the qu een of the

Arabs, su bmit ted (738 The appeal of Ahaz forhelp brought h imagain in to Syria afte r a strugg le ofthree years Damas cu s was overthrown

,Israe l deprived

of a po rt ion of her popu lation , and given to ano therprince, t h e ci t ies of t h e Phil istines conqu ered, the

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78 ASSYR IA.

homage to Tig la t h Pilesa r at Damascu s. When Ali assaw the altar which was at Damas cu s,

” so we are to ldby the Books of Kings,

“ he sent a patte rn of it toUriah the priest

,and Uriah bu i l t the al tar after this

patte rn , and when Ahaz came fromDamascu s he sacrificed on this al tar, and offered bu rnt offerings an d

meat offerings,and pou red ou t his drink offering, and

sprinkl ed the blood of his than k offering on the altar.T h e iron al tar, which stood before Jehovah , he removed ,and the iron sea he took from t h e oxen and placed it011 the pavement (I I . And Ahaz bade Uriahoffer the bu rnt offerin g in the morn ing, and t h e

meat offering i n the evening, and t h e bu rnt andmeat offering of the king, and all the sacrifices ofthe whole people of the land, on the new al tar, and theking's entry he tu rned to the hou se of Jehovah for theking of A ssyria . According to this A haz , in orderto prove his su bmission to his sovereign , alte red thealtar and arrangements of the temple at Jeru salemafte r the pattern of an altar on which he h ad seenT ig la t h Pil e sar sacrifice to his gods at Damascu s, andthe ritu a l there observed .

’ The high priest Uriah su b

mitted. He not onl y all owed the ki ng to sacrifice inperson , against which t h e pr iesthood had contended i nt h e case of Uzziah , b u t he alte red the service of thetemple according to the wishes of the kin g.

Ju dah was laid was te through her length and bread th.The Damascenes an d the Israel ites

,t h e Phil is tines and

the Ed omites, h ad got the whole land into their poweras far as the metropolis . Even from this heavy blowJu dah wou ld learn nothin g . Instead of tu rni ng

l 2Kin gs xvi . 10—18.

N o o n e ca n se r ious lymai n ta in tha t Ahaz imita te d th e r itu a l of t h echie f e n emy o f A ssyr ia a n d Ju dah, t h e altar an d wor ship of Bezin , wh o

was mor eove r n ew ove r thr own .

THE F IRST COLLISION OF ASSYR IA AND EGYPT.

t han kfu l ly to Jehovah for rescu e from su ch di stress,

the a lta rs of the temples were al tered after an Assyrianpatte rn. Isaiah saw th is movement with the deepestind ignati on. Your cou ntry is desolate ; you r citiesar e burned with fire ; you r land, st rangers devou r it inyour pr esen ce. A n d the da ughte r of Zion is left as acot tage in a vineyard , as a lodge in a garden of e ncumber s. Had not Jehovah left to u s a smal l remnant,we h ad been as Sodom and Gomorrah . From the soleof the foot to the head ther e is no sou ndness in u s,

bu t wou nds and bru ises and pu trefyin g sores they haven o t been pre ssed o u t , nor bou nd up, nor mo l lified withoin tment. Why shou ld ye be stri cken any more , andrevolt any more ? They are replenish ed from the cast

,

and are soothsayers l ike the Ph il istines, and agree withthe children of strangers . The e x knoweth his owner

,and

t h e ass his maste r’s crib, b u t Israel kn ows h im not."

Isr ael su ffered still more than Ju dah by the carryingaway of the popu lation of the northern and eas te rndistrict s, the land of Nephtali , and t h e land of Gilead .

Hoshea reigned over the remainder from t h e year 734

(p. According to the Books of Kings he se t o n'

fe e t a conspiracy, slew Pekah , and be came king in hisplace according to the inscripti ons of T ig la t h Pi lesar ,T ig la t h made h im king over Israel. These statemen tsar e not con t rad icto ry. Pekah had been in leagu ewith Re sin of Damascu s, the opponent of Assyria andJudah why shou ld not T ig la t h Pil esar recognise andest abl ish as king of Israel the ma n who had mmovedthe opponent of Assyria 9 Hoshea sent h is tribu t eyearly to t h e king of Assyria. ’ Bu t when the dreaded

In L S , 6—9 :T h e Book of Ki n gn nma n ly v r

-on g in repam n ti n g floah en u fiu tsu bje ct , an d pa ying t r i bu te . to Sh a lman esar IV. (xvii.

2Ki n g! xvii. 4.

ASSYR IA.

warrior prince of Asshu r—when T ig l a th Pi le sa r died ,there awoke i n the Phil istines, the Phenicians, and abovea l l in Bu l i n u s, king of Tyr e, and Hoshea, king of Israel,the hope of wi thdrawing themselves from the yoke ofAssyria . I f Hoshea had risen as a parti san of Assyria,he dete rmined now that he was in possession of thethrone to break loose from that empire . The hope oflib eration reste d not only on the fact that T ig la t hP il esa r was no more it received a still stronger pointof su pport in the change which had taken place inEgypt in the last years of T ig la t h Pi le sar . Menahemof Israel h ad already thought of secu ring the ass istanceof Egypt before he sent his tribu te to Assyria (p.

and t h e same thought mu st have occu rred to Uzz iahin his last years . Hanno of Gaza had taken refugein Egypt from T ig la t h Pil e sa r (p . The prudentBocch o r is had left, or been compelled to leave

,Syria

u ntou ched. Bu t since his reign S ab ako n had u ni te dt h e forces of Dongola, Nu bia, and Egypt in to astrong power. Wh en T ig la t h Pi le sa r had extended thedominion of Assyria as far as Gaza and El ath , and avictoriou s aggressive power of great strength stoodon the borders of Egypt

,the attack of Assyria might

be expected there . A far-seeing ru ler of Egypt,

secu re of hismil itary power, mu st endeavou r to antici

pate this attack ; he mu st prevent it by u niting t h ee l eme n ts of resistance existing in Syria. If the issu ewere favou rable

,t h e dominion of Assyria over Syria

wou ld thu s be removed in any case Egypt wou ld haveal lies in Syria for the war against Assyria .

“Hoshease n t messengers to Seveh (S ab ako n ) king of Egypt,

” sothe Hebrews tell u s, an d brou ght the king of Assyriano present more as formerly.

” I t is this attempt togain assistance

,and probably the presents which aecom

pan i ed i t—perhaps also gifts from Hanno at Gaza, the

ms masr comasrou o r asar a ra A ND se ver .

prin ces ofTyre, Zemar ,an d Hamath (see below) -whichSahakon, o n the walls of Karnak, describes as tribu tere ce ived from the inhabitants of Palesti ne (p.Isaiah foresaw very plainly what wou ld be the issu e

of this u ndertakin g whi ch to h im appeared mad nessan d into xica tion . He annou nced destru ction and ru into the Phi listin es, the kingdom of Israel , and thePh e n ie ian s , The carrying away into captivity alreadysen t by Jehovah u pon Israel

,in pu nishment of her

offen ces,and the war agai nst Judah had brough t abou t

no improvement, no reformation ; the severe lessonteachi n g them to remain at rest, wh ich the sons ofIsrael had then received

,is disregarded ; they are

ca l lin g down u pon themselves a st ill heavier judgment.Isaiah spoke the more strongly as he was desirou s topreven t Judah also, where Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz,ascended the throne in 728 B. C.

,from j oining in this

attempt. In reference to the death of T igla t h Pi l esa rhe cries to t h e cities of the Ph il is t in cs : Rejoice not,whole Philistia

,beca u se t h e rod is broken which smote

thee. For o u t of the serpent’s root shall come fort h a

cocka trice , an d his fru i t is a flying serpent. From thenort h cometh a smoke. ” 1 To the cities of Tyre andSidon

,he cries : Howl

,ye ships of Tarshish , for Tyre

is laid waste there is no hou se more, no ente ring in .

Be st ill , ye in h abita nts of the coas t, which the me rchants of Sidon that pass over the sea replen ished . Bydistant waters the seed of the Nile

,the harvest of the

river, was their revenue, and she was t h e mart ofnati ons. Be thou ashamed, Sidon , for the sea hathspo ken the strength of the sea thu s : I travailed not,and brought not forth ; I brought u p no young me nand maiden s . Pass ye over to Tarsh ish howl , ye iahabitants of the coas t ! Is this your joyous city , whose

1 11a xiv. 29—31 .VOL I".

82 ASSYR IA .

antiqu ity is of ancient days ? Her own feet shal l carryher afar off to sojou rn . Who hath taken this cou n selagainst Tyre, the crownin g city, whose merchants areprinces, whose t r afli cke r s ar e the honourable of theearth ? Jehovah the Lord of Hosts hath pu rposed it.Jehovah gave command over Canaa n to des troy herfortresses

,and said Thou shal t no more rejoice , thou

oppressed vi rgin , dau ghter of S ido n l Pass over toC h ittim (the Cyprians, I I . There also thou shal thave no rest. When t h e report comes to Egypt

,they

shall be sorely pained at the report of Tyre .Isaiah d irects h is most severe warning to those of

h is own race, the kingdom of Israel.“ Woe to the

prou d crown of the dru nken Ephraim, the fade d flowero n the head of the fat vall ey of those possessed bywine,

” he cries . “ Priests and prophets have erredth rou gh strong dri nk

,and are overcome with wi ne .

Jehovah will speak to this people with an al ientongu e

,to whomhe said Give ye rest to the weary ;

t his is the way of salvation . Bu t they wou ld notl isten . To whom shall he t each knowledge ? whomshall he make to u nders tand doctrine — them thatare weaned from the milk , and removed from themother

'

s breast ? Behold,a stron ger and mightier

shall come from the Lord, as a tempest of bail , and adestr oying sto rm ; as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, he shall cast them with violence to the eart h.He will trample it u nder foot, the prou d crown of thedru nken Ephraim ; the fad ed flower on the head ofthe fat val ley wil l disappear like early fru it before th egathering.

”

S h alman esar the king of Assyria,

" so the Books ofK in gs tell u s

,di scovered a conspiracy in Hoshea, that

he had sent messengers to Seveh (So) , the king of

Isa . xxiii . 1—12. Isa . xxviii. 1—6 .

THE FIRST COLLIS ION OF ASSYR IA A N D EGYPT .

Egypt, and brought h im no more a present as before .He went up a

gainst Hoshea, seized h im, and pu t h im

i n chains i n prison , and marched over the whole land ,an d against Samaria, and besieged the city threeyea rs.

" Josephu s te lls us : I t was to ld S h a lman esart hat Hoshea had secretly invite d Egypt to a comb in ed struggle. In h is anger he march ed ou t againstSamaria, besieged the city for three years, an d tookHoshea pri soner." But the kin g of Assyria foughtaga inst the wh ole of Syria and Ph oan i e ia . He marchedaga inst Tyre wh ile Elu lae u s reigned there. Menan der,who h as drawn up the annal s and translate d t h e

archives of the Tyrians in to the G reek langu age,vouches for this when he says : Elu lae us reigned 36

years ; when the Ci t ian s revol ted, he sailed thi theran d aga in redu ced th em to su bj ection . The king ofAssyria sent an expedition against these, overra n all

t n icia with war, made peace wi th them all , andre turned. Sidon , and Acco, and old Tyre, and man yo the r cities revolte d from the Tyrians ; b u t as theTyr ians themselves did not submi t, the kin g turnedagain u pon them, and t h e Phenicians manned 60shipsfor h im, and placed u pon them 8000 rowers .

‘ Againstthes e the Tyr ian e se t sail with 1 2shi ps destroyed t h evw e ls of t h e enemy, an d mad e abou t 500 prisoners.But the king of Assyria placed guards on the river, andon t h e condu i ts, to preven t the Tyrian s fromdr awingwate r. and retur n ed home. The Tyrians endured thisfo r five years, during which they drank water fromwe l ls t ha t they h ad dug. T h is is wh a t is sta te d in therecor ds of the Tyri ans abou t S h alman esar , the kin g oft h e Amyr ian s.

“

Accord ing to these in dica tions and st a temen ts we

.

‘ 80 mu-t v o rcnd tor 800; 60 pcn tcce n t en n qu iu d

h i r cmu at leu t SOOO rewen 3

0 2

84 ASSYR I A.

may assume the cou rse of affairs to have been something o f the following k ind . The cities of the Phen ie ian s , and of the Phil istines, and the kingdom ofIsrael hope for the ass istance of the king of Meroeand Egypt

,of Sahakon , whom t h e Hebrews call Seveh ,

and t h e inscr ipti ons of t h e Assyrians, Sabhi . Sh almanesar overru ns Syria

,before the assistance from

Egypt h as arrived there (726 B e )? Hoshea is eithert aken by su rprise and overcome, or in h i s terror attemptsto appease the kin g of Asshu r by submission . He iscarried away to prison

,and S h a lman e sa r tu rns to wards

the coast. T h e cities of the Phenicians su bmit ; on lythe island city of Tyre resists (I I. The cities

,

which had su bmitted, were now compelled to fu rnishships to Sha lmanese r for the conqu est of Cyprus , andthe blockade of the island city, which was carried onfrom the mainl and also, since old Tyr e was garrisonedthere

,and the in habitants of the island city were

prevented from dr awin g water on the coast. It isremarkable that the Tyrians are said to have me tt h e 60 ships of the blockade with 12ships only. Yetthis is no dou b t no more than a mere sally of thebesieged . The ships of the inh abitants of the mainl andmay not have taken a vigorou s part in the fightin g ;and the blockade may not have been carried on verystrictly . Tyre may very well have been able to endu rea somewhat lax investment for five years . The resistance of the Tyrians appears to have inspired cou rag ein the Israeli tes and the metropol is of Israel

,so that

they defied the arms of the Assyrians even after thecarrying away of Hoshea. In the year 724S h a lman esa r tu rned from the coas t, agains t Samaria .The Israelites defended their city most stubbornly.

A s Sama r ia was be sieged 724—722B.C. , we may P1309 th e b e g in n in go f th e Assyr ia n wa r in 726.

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”6 ASSYR IA .

annals of Sargon , that other inhabi tants were se ttledin Israel He caused people to come from Bab el andfromH u tha, from Sepharvaim, Ava, and Hamath ,

” andplaced them i n the ci ties of Samaria in the room ofthe ch ildren of Israel. 1 Sargon’s own accou nt confirmsthis statement ; h i s inscriptions show u s fu rther towhat stock these settlers belonged . I n t h e year 721B.C.

, very soon aft er the captu re of Samaria, b e transplanted people fromBabylonia to the land of the Chatti

,

al e . to Syria .

2 We are also told t hat people wereremoved from the fou r districts of Armenia to Syria,to t h e coast ; 3 and finally, that people of Arabiandescent, of T h ammu d , Ma rs iman , Ch ayapa, and t h e

land of Bari,were settled in the city of Samaria .

The strengthening of the al ien element in Samaria wascau sed by the fact that the Israel ites, in spite of t h esevere pu nishment which they had u ndergone

,had

nevertheless attempted to rebel once more againstAssyria.

‘

The carrying away of the inhabitants of Naphtal iand Gilead

,which T igla t h Pil esar had execu ted, t h e

removal into a new environment, which Sargon n ow

carried o u t twelve years after the former deportation,were blows fromwhich the ten tribes coul d not againrecover. Not that the existe n ce of the people wasannihilated ; many, no dou bt, perished in the conqu estof the land and metropolis, yet it was by no meansthe whole remnant that was carri ed away. I t wasonly a part of the popu lation on whom that severe lotdescended . Isaiah tells us Jehovah pu nished the people by measu re, and allowed a remnant to remain . ls

The number of those who remained was su fficien t to

2Kin gs xvn . 6, 24.

“ T h e An n a ls o f Be rge n ,

” O ppe r t ,“ Recor ds of t h e Past ," 7, 29 .

a O ppo r t , Ioc. ci t . 7 , 30. G . Smith, Assyr . Can on ,” p. 125 , 126.

Isa xi. 6—8 ; xxxiv. 0.

THE FIRST COLLISIO N OF ASSYR IA AND EGYPT. 87

ga in the preponder ance in a popu lation so stronglymixed wi th foreign settlers. ‘ Y e t thi s admixtu recapped the national vigour at the core . In the inscr ipt i o n s of the Assyrians we hear no more of theland of Omri, bu t only of Samaria ; from them wese e that kings remained at the head of the land theymen tion a second Menahem and an A b ibaal as kingsof Samaria . The commu ni ty over wh ich t h e descendants o f David ruled was , in the first place, onl yanxiou s for t h e preservation of t h e national l ife an d

faith . Judah rema ined obedient to Assyria. Hezekiahof Judah looked on at the long siege of Samaria, t h edeath-struggle of Israe l, and the carrying away of hiskindred wi t hou t movin g . He mu st have paid h ist ribu te regu larly. An inscription of Sar

gon, b elonging

t o t h e first years of his reign, enumerates t h e distantJ udah among t h e subject lands .’

The subjugation of t h e Phen icians , t h e pun ishmen tof Israel for her defection , did not break the hopeswhich the Syrians reposed in Egypt . Two years aft e rt h e fal l of Samaria, Egypt may have been better prepa red fo r war, for a mar ch in to Syria, than at t h e t imeof S h a lman esa r ’s campaign against Hoshea and thePh e n i e ian s. Egypt’s power appeared nearer at han d ;Sargon h ad to advance from t h e Tigris. Hamat hrebelled aga in st Assyria. “ Il u b id possm d h imselfo f the crown of Hamath , so we are told in the iascr ipt i o ns of Sargon ;

“ he took t h e city of Karkar,a n d rouse d the ci t ies of Arpad , Damascus, Zemar

(S imyr a ), and Samaria against me . I besieged h imand his warriors in the ci ty of Karkar." T h e city of

2King s xvii. 26 8 .

M pfim d N imM in l snmt h ex p m ; in E Sch n dcr ,loa f

“ A n n 0.

as ASSYR IA .

Karkar,near which

,130 years before , Benhadad of

Damascu s and Ahab of Israel had fought against Sh almanesar I I . , was taken ; Il u b id was captu red , andSargon cau sed h im to beflayed— a relief in t h e palaceof Sargon exhibits the execu tion of this sentence .

‘

The memorial stone of Larnaka says : Ilub id ofHamath rebelled ; I fou ght against h im,

and covere dthe land of Hamath with ru ins. ” Sixty - th ree thousand people wcr e transplanted fromAssyria into theland of Hamath .

’

Bu t Sargon su cceeded in becoming master of amightier opponent, in maintaining Syria against Egypt .Sahakon hadmarched through the desert with the forcesof Ethiopia an d Egypt ; Hanno of Gaza, who onceretired to Egypt before T ig la t h Pi le sar , joined h imwi th h is warriors. Sargon wen t to meet them. Thearmies me t at Ra phia (now Refah, between El Arishand Gaza, where at a later period Ptolemy Ph ilopa to rof Egypt overcame Ant iochu s the Great) .

“ Sabhitru sted in his forces

,

” so the annals of Sargon te ll u s ,and came to meet me to offer me bat tle . I ca ll e d

u pon the grea t god Asshu r, my lord ; I smo t e them.

Sabhi fled with a shepherd,who kept the sheep

,and

escaped . H an n a I took prisoner . All that he possessedI carried away to Assyri a. I laid was te and destroyedhis ci ties , and bu rned them with fire. I carried away9033me n with their possessions." 3 The introdu ctionto the annals and the inscripti on on the bu lls saybriefly : The armies of the land of Mu zu r (Egypt) he

(Sargon) defeated near the city of Raphia (Kapih) .

I n t h e gr ea t ha ll N o . 8, in Be tta . Men a n t , p . 182.

3 Memo r ia l s to n e o f La r n aka , i n Men a n t , p . 207 ; G. Smi th , Assyr .

Ca n o n ,

” p. 127.3 O ppor t ,

“ Re co rds of th e Past , 7, 29 ; E. Schr ader , “ K. A. T .

”

238 ; Mén a n t , Ioc. ci t . p . 161 .

r n s r rasr oor t rs ros or ASSYRIA w e n eve r . so

Hanno,the king of Gaza , he brought into slavery)

"1

The inscription of the cyli nder says : Near the ci ty ofBaphia I de fea ted the ki ng of Muzu r ; the king of th eland of Gaza I t ook prisoner and carried to Assyria. ”

The Fasti of Sargon inform u s :“ Hanno, king of

Gaza, marched with Sabhi, the sulta n of Egypt (sil la n n amama

-r) , to meet me near the city of Raphia, to ofl'e r

me ba t tle and confli ct. I pu t them to flight. Sabhiwas se ized wi th fea r of the mi g h t o f my arms ; he fled ,a n d n o t a trace of h im was seen . Hanno, the king ofGaza

,I to ok captive wi th my own hand .

” 3

Sargon 's contests in Syria did not end with thebattle at Ra phi a (720 After the inscription onthe bu lls has narrate d the victo ry over the army ofEgypt, it continu es immediately :

“ I fou ght again stthe tri be s of the T h ammu d , Ib ad id , Marsiman , an d

Ch ayapa , who h ad invaded t h e land of Bit Omri , i . e .

I srael. ” 3 On the other hand, the an nals tell us , u n derSa rgon

’s seven th yea r (7 16 a c. )“ I marched agai nst

t h e tribes of T as id , Ib adi d , Mar s iman , and Ch ayapa ;aga inst the dis t ant dwellers in the land of Bari, whichthe scholars an d the wise knew not . None of t h ekings my forefathers h ad heard thi s name. I compelledt hem to obey Asshu r

,and t h emwho remained I dr ove

o u t of their dwel lings, an d placed them in the city ofSamaria ” On th is campaign Sargon must have advan ced into the peninsu la of Sinai , and fa r in to Arab ia,fo r the annals continu e : Pharaoh (Pirha ) , the kingof n pt (Muzur) , Sams ie h the queen of the Arabs,Ia t h ami r t h e Subman , are kin gs from the distantcoast of t h e se a and from the land (chasm). Astheir tribu t e I received her bs of the East of variou s

“t a un t , lot . ci t . p. 169 , 102.E rich -dot . lo t . «1 a m .

‘ 0ppor t .“ Il ooon h of th o M

90 ASSYR IA.

kinds,metals. hors es, an d camels.” The Fasti

,which

compress events , have the following words afte r t h ea ccount of t h e battle of Raph ia : I received the tribu te

of Pharaoh the kin g of Egypt, of Samsi e h the qu ee nof the Arabs, of Ia t h ami r the S ab re an ; gold , herbs ,horses

,camels.“ We remember that S amsi e h , like

the Sabmans , had already paid tribu te to T ig la t h

The stubborn obsti nacy of t h e Syrians was n o t

broken even by the desolation of Hamath and the batt lea t Raphia. Bu il ding on the assis tance of S h ah a taka ofMeroe and Egypt, the son and su cce ssor of Sahakon ,As hdod, the city of the Ph i listines , revolte d in thee leventh year of Sargon , i . e . in the year 7 l l Thehope in Egypt was shared by their ne ighbou rs inJu dah , Edom, and Moab . Bu t Ashdod was sooninvested by the Assyrians and taken , and theinvas ion of Egypt by the Assyrians was expected inJudah . In Isaiah we are told : “ In the year in whi chTartan

, i . e . the Assyrian general - in -chief, came u ntoAshdod

,when Sargon sent h im, and be sieged Ashdod

and took it,at tha t time spoke Jehovah : Go and loose

the sackcloth from thy loins, and pu t ofl' the shoesfrom thy feet and Isai ah di d so, and walked naked andbarefoot. Then spake Jehovah : Asmy servant Isaiahh as wa lked naked an d barefoot th ree years for a signand wonder u pon Egypt and Ethi opia (Ca sh ), so shallthe king of Assyria lead the Egyptians prisoners,and the Ethiopians captives, you ng and old, nakedand barefoot, with their nakedness u ncovered , tothe shame of Egypt. Then shall they be as hamed ofEthiopia their expectati on , an d of Egypt their glory.

And the inhabitants of these coas ts said on the same

Commu n ica tion fr om E. Schr ader .

E Sch r ader ,

m rmsr oot t rsros or sssr nu s sn sem .

'

n

day : Behold, such is ou r expec tati on , whi ther wefled fo r h d g w h e deh ver ed fiom t h e kin g of Amyr

-ia

h ow sh al l we eswpe l“

Sa rgo n'

:s an n als t e ll u s “Az ur h t h e kin g of A sh

dod , lift ed up h is spi ri t to disobe die n ce, so as to

to Assyr ia t o h is n e igh bon rs. I h e t h ou gh t me of

ven geance, and put an othe r mlm'

over h i s la n d. Ira ised his mo the r Ach imi t t o th e t h r om b n t t h e

pe ople of t h e Ch ew? in clined t o re bell ion, md wer ev ea ry of t h e r e ign of A ch imi t , an d r aimd t o t h e

t h ron e Y amm wh o h ad no r-ig h t to i t . Ia t h am i

o f my h ear t l march ed wi t h my wm’ors w ins t

Ashdod. I h a m I t oo kM M md Gimt -Aedodim ; with th e gods wh imin h abi t thw e sid es I to okt h e go ld , t h e si lve r , an d al l t h a t wm in h is pa la ee .

Then I W r ad t hese cifim ; I place d maple whomI had su bjap t ed in them I pu t my vicero y ove r

e n t .” TM much injur e d ima 'ipfio n of a cyli nde r

in forms us t h at “ Sa rgon , in t h e n in th year of h is re ig n

(7 13 whe n h e h ad come to t h e shore of t h e gre a t

h e h ad hard h is h w t to pay.

tn'

b u te no longer , andh ad sent to th e kin gs, t h e cuen im of Be fo ret h e faee o f Am I exa l t ed h is bro the r A ch imi t , an dla id ta xes an d h i ha ts on h im se e n the ki ngs r o un dabout h im. Bu t t h e pe ople would n o t pay t e rm an d

t r ib ute , re be lle d aga in s t h im, an d dro ve h imou t fo r t h e

good th a t h e Md do n e them. Y amamwh o h ad h e

fl . t to t h e thr on e , they m de the ir lo rd , an d m m!

an d fo rt ifie d the ir cit ies fo r war .

”Th e n an

'

on s of

l a . n . 1fl.

‘ O ppu t k d l‘

IJ O ; “semin a l“ ; d l md h iw i pfim“ W he n-h w y !“

ASSYR IA.

Ph il istma ,Judah , Edom, and Moab, though they

brought their tribu te and presents to t h e god Asshu r,spoke tr eachery like the ir evil kings ; in order to fightagainst me , they sent g ifts to Pharaoh , the kin g ofEgypt

,a prince who co u ld not save them, and besought

h is all iance .” “ I preserved t h e honou r of Asshu r ; Icrossed the Tigris and Euphrates in the height of theflood . Wh en Yaman heard ofmy campaign againstthe land of the Chatti , the fear of A sshu r, my lord ,overcame h im. He fled to the borders of Egypt, tothe border-land of Meroe (Mi lu h h i) ; to a distant placehe fled

,and his hiding-place was not di scovered .

”

The introdu ction to the an nals of Sargon te lls u s :

Yaman had misj udged my power ; he fled to theborders of the land of Meroe .” In the Fas ti ofSargon we learn : Yaman heard of the approach ofmy army ; he fled to a region of Egyp t which lies onthe border of Meroe not a t race of h imwas seen . Ib e s i eg ed , I took Ashdod and G imt—A sdodim : his gods

,

h is consort, his sons , his treasu res, possessions, the costlythings of his palace, and all the inhabitants of his landI destin ed to captivity The annals tell u s at thevery begin ning : Yaman of Ashdod

,who despised

my power, fled into t h e lands of the Sou th , to theborders of Meroe. The king of Meroe was overcomeby the fear of Asshu r ; he bound his (Y aman

’

s) handsand feet with iron chains, and sent his messengersbefore my face to Assyria .

” 3 The Fas ti say :“ The

kin g of Meroe, in a desolate region , whose fathers hadnot sent ambassadors to my royal forefathers to entreatfor peace— the power of Merodach , a mighty terror ,overcame h im ; fear seized h im. He pu t h im (Yaman)i n iron chai ns he gu ided his steps to Assyria

,and he

1 G . Smith’s Cylin der , Disc.

” p. 289 fi. Men an t , p . 1 69.

O ppor t ,“ Recor ds o f t h e Pas t , 7, 26.

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94 ASSYRIA.

su bmitte d like the other citi es of the Ph en ie ians . Hencethe princes of Cypru s might consider i t ad vi sable topay homage to the king, unless perhaps t h ey sought inh im a point of support against Tyre . As a symbol ofh is dominion over Cypru s, Sargon cau sed his image tobe engraved on a memorial stone in the u su al manner,and set it u p at Citium in the midst of the island ; i tis now in the Berli n Mu seum. The inscription givesthe extent of the domini on of Sargon ; relates themost important events of h is reign mentions thetemples he h as bu ilt, the ofl

'

e r in g of the tribu te of theseven princes of the land of Y a t n an at Babylon—th enthe erection of the image—and thr eatens with cu rsesand an nihilation those who al te r the tablet and changeSargon’s name or anything else written on the tablet :if any one attempts su ch a thing, Nebo and the godswho dwell in the middle of t h e wi de sea wil l destroyh im and his race. 1

1 Mén an t , p . 1 89, 206—208. Tha t th e sto n e can n ot have b e en se t u p

i n Babylon be fo r e t h e pa yme n t o f t r ibu te i n 709 B.C. , is pr oved by t h eme n t io n o f t h e t r ibu te u po n i t . Op . 0. Smith, “ Z. E gypt . Spr ache,"1 869, 8. l 09 ; 1870, s. 70, 71 .

CHAPTER V.

ASSYR I A IN THE REIGNS O l ’ SARGON A N D SENNACHER IB

In h is inscriptions Sargon spea ks of the kings whoru led over Asshur before h im, b u t he mentions neitherh is father nor his grandfather, though these are regula r ly mentioned by all the other kin gs of Assyria whoasce nded the throne in direct su ccession. I t foll owsthat he was neither the son nor the grandson of Shalma nesar IV . nevertheless he was one of themighti est,most victo rious, and powerfu l of the ru lers of Assyria.Nor did the u ninterru pted series of h is campaignspr event h im from u ndertakin g and carryi ng o u t grea tbu ildings. To the two ancien t chief ci ties of Assyria—Asshu r and Nineveh—S h a lman esar I . had addedChalah , which was subsequ ently adorned by Assu rn as irpa l , S h a lman esar IL and T ig la t h Pil esar I I . withtemples and palaces . S argon buil t a new residence inthe neighbou rhood of Nin eveh . On t h e course of theKh osr

, which flows through ancient Nineveh into theTigris, ten miles up the stre am, he bu il t a new royalabode , which be ca l led after h is name Dur Sar r u kin ,

i . c. fortre ss of Sargon . The new ci ty (Khe rsabad)fo rmed, as the remain s of the ou te r wal ls show, a rectangle , each of the shorte r sides of whi ch mea su resmoret han 5000, and each of t h e longer s ides 5500 feet. ‘

H andin g im th o b n g and sh or t ddn of th o m tan g lo dou b l ed at

6m m ; th e irn er ipt iou v h ie h roekon s in th o wh olo ci rcu i t th e

no ASSY R IA .

In the north-west front of t h e ou ter wall the palace,

su rrounded by a separate wall , rose above the rec tangle o f the new city. The ou ter walls of the city were45 feet in th ickness they were bu il t u p in brick , on abasis of st on e ; t h e ou ter wall of t h e palace, whichflanked as a fortress the north -western side of thecity wall , was entirely eased wi th stone .

‘ T h e entranceto t h e main stru ctu re of t h e royal fortress was gu ardedby two human -headed bu l ls. The halls were adornedwith reliefs

,which exhibit the exploits of the k ing .

I Here was to be seen t h e execu tion of Il u b id , kin g ofHamath (p. the besieging and storming of cities .Over the rel iefs, beginning from the entrance in theform of a broad frieze, an inscription ru ns toward theleft round the hall, which explains the pictu res on thereliefs and ends on the Opposite side of the entrance .I n some halls this frieze forms a con nected narrative,which relates the acts of t h e king in su ccessionaccording to the years of the reign (the se -ea ll ed

Annals). In the great gallery and t h e chambers abu tting o n i t the i nscriptions are shorter : here theyare content with bringin g into prominence the mostimportant acts of the kin g (the se -called Fasti) . Thetwo bu l ls at the entran ce of the palace are a lso coveredwith inscriptions. I n the fou ndations of the palacewas fou n d a stone chest, in which lay seven plates ofgold , silver, tin, copper, lead , alabast er, and marble, onwh ich are inscriptions as well as on the clay cyl indersfou nd in the ru ins . On the bricks of the palace weread : Pal ace of Sar r ukin the viceroy of Bel

,Pati s

of Asshur (I I . the mighty king,king of the

nations, king of Asshu r ."

A n d on the gold platebu i ldi ng o f t h e pa lace which j u te ou t fr om t h e m , a t cu bits(amma t ) . T h e Babylo n ian an d Assyri an cu bits ar e bo th 625 millime t r e s ; Le psiu s, A h h . Be r l. Akad. ” 1863 ; Mon a ts-Be r ichte De r s .

”

1 877. Vo l . I . p . 306. Rawlin so n ,

“Mon a r ch ,

”l ’, 32! fl.

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98 ASSYR IA.

this Merodach Baladan was no other than the princeof Bit Yak in , i . e . of Sou th Ch a ldze a , who had su b

mi t te d te n years before to T ig la t h Pi lesa r at Sapiya

(731 He mu st have availed himself of the deceaseof S h a lman e sa r , and the occupation of the A ssyr iarmy in Syria, which was detained before Samaria, tomake h imself mas ter of Babylon from the Sou th, andu nite the whole region of Babylonia u nder his ru l e. Assoon as Samaria fell

,Sargon tu rned against h im. In

the Annals, the accou nt of the captu re of Samari a isfol lowed

,in the very first year of Sargon (722— 721

by a campaign aga inst H umb an igas , the kingof Elam

,who

,as the Fasti say, was defeated in

the plains of K al a .

” The Annals then continu e :“Merodach Baladan

,who had made himsel f lord of

the kingdom of Babylon against the wi l l of the gods. "

The destruction of the remainder of the narrative hasleft only a few words legible

,from which we may

gather that Sargon fought against Meroda ch Baladan ,

that he removed people fr om Babylonia to the land ofthe Chatti

,al e . to Syria : according to the Books of

Kings these were inhabitants of Sepharvaim and Ku tba

(p . Whatever losses Merodach Balad an su ffered,

i n thi s way b e reta ined Babylon and the throne . Theastronomical canon represents h im as reigning from721 to 710 B.C. Clay tablets in the shape oflentil s

,fou nd in the ru ins of Sargon ’s palace at Khorsa

bad (they were brou ght there, no dou bt, as booty fr omBabylonia) , bear the date of the ni nth , t e n t h , andeleventh years of Mardu k h ab al iddin ,

king of Babylon

(ea r Ba bzl a even Sar gon ’s An nal s represent MerodachBaladan as ru ling over Sumi r and Accad for twelveyears (1 . e . from 721 to 709

I n Mén a n t , loc. ci t . p . 1 81 .

O ppe r t , Do u r Sa r h uyan , p . 27, 28 ; Oppe r t e t Men a n t , Doc

ju r idiqu es ,” p . 1 68.

SAM ON AND SEN N A OHERIB. 99

Aft er the war against H umban igas and MerodachBa ladan , against Elam and Babyloni a, Sargon, as wesaw,

‘marched to Syria in order to su bjugate Hamathand Gaza, and to defeat at Ra phi a (720 the armyo f the Egyptians and Ethi opians led by Sahakon . Inthe next yea rs Sargon fought in the north against thepeople of Van, who had shaken off the dominion ofImn zu , an adherent of Assyria, and agai nst U r za ofArarat ; the inhabitants of the four cantons in Armeniahe removed to the land of Chatti , an d the land ofAch a r r i, i . e . to Syria and the Syrian coast .

‘ Afterthis, in the year 71 7 B.C. , Pisi r is of Karch emish , whohad pu d tri bu te to Tig la t h Pil esar , was redu ced.

Ka r ch emish was t aken , Pisi r is pu t in chains, the rebelscarried to Assyria, and Assyrians placedmKa rch emi sh .

From the booty of Ka r e h emish 1 1 talents of gold, 21 00tale nts and 24 minm of silver were brought into thetreasur y at Chalah .

” U r za of Ararat and prince Bagadatti of Mou nt Mi ldis (perhaps the region of Meli te ne,Malatia) excite d t h e people of Van to rebellion , asSa rgon says ; Aza , the prin ce of Van , was slain . Sargo nte rrified the rebels in to submission, cau sed Bagada t t ito be flayed at the same place where Aza was slain , andplaced Ull usun , the brother of AM , on the throne ofVan . Bu t Ul lusu n u n ite d with U r za of Ararat and theprinces ofKa ralla and A l labu r . When Sargon ad vanc ed,U llusu n submitte d Sargon allowed h im to remain onthe thron e on conditi on that he paid heavier tribu te ;the prince of Kami la was driven ou t , the people ofA l labu r carried to Hamath (71 5 in Ararat, U rzama in tained h is pos i t ion. Vassu rmi, t h e king of the

n ame .

" A n n aL’ 162. mom s.“M ol th e l ’u t .

t h e tou r t h cnn te n i-ea l lod l’appa . A bovt . p. 86.‘ l nwfipfim d N immd in h fénm a d t p m Ho m e-two

h h h wminmof go ld : 0. 8mi th ru ds l l ta le a tn of go ld.

100 ASSYR I A.

Tabal,the T iba r e n e s , had been dethroned by T igla th

Pil esa r , an d O hu l li pu t in his place (p. Sargonal lowed Ambris to su cceed his father in the gove rnmentof the Tabal

,gave h im his own daughter to wife

,and

intru ste d h imwith the government of the Cil icians i na ddition to the Tabal. Ambris abu sed th is confidence .

He u nited with Mita , the kin g of t h e Moschi, withUrzana of Mussas i r (whi ch mu st, no doubt, be soughton Lake Van ) , a n d U r za of Arar at against Assyria .

Ambris was defeated and taken prisoner, and carried toAssyria with h is chief adherents. Mita su bmitted , l ikethe Cilicians : Mu ssasir , the city of Urzana, was takenb y storm : U r za of Ararat, whose resist ance had bee nthe longest and most stu bborn, wandered abou t as afugi t ive, and took his own l ife (7 14The armies of Shalmanese r I I . were the first tomake

an advance on the table-land of Iran . As alreadyremarked

,they tr od the plains of Media in 835 B. O .

Ninety years later,T ig la t h Pil esar I I . su bjugated the

lan d of N isaa (the region of N isae a in Media) and thenthe cities of Media, on his first

,second

,and ninth

campaigns ; he imposed tribu te on the princes of theland of Media . Sar gon te lls u s that in h is sixth year

(7 16 he fought against the land of Karkhar,which

we mu st se ek in t h e Zag r us (perhaps it is a part ofthe vall ey of the K e rkh a) ; that he named a cit y thereKar Sargon . He received considerable tribu t e from25 princes of t h e Medes, and set u p his image in themids t of their places . 12 In the next year

,when Urze

of Ar arat conspir ed with U ll usun of Van , and Ullusu n with Dayaukka , the overseer of Van I took22 fortresses,

” so the Annals say, and carried awayDayaukka and his tribu te with me , and restored pea ce

O ppe r t , Re co rds o f th e Past, 7, 35 , 36, 37. Vo l. I . , p. 520.

An n a ls in Mén a n t , lac. cit . p. 164 .

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102 ASSYR IA .

Wh en Syria h ad been reduced, Egypt repell ed ,the North brought in to obedience, and Media madetribu tary, Sargon u ndertook to restore the su premacyof Assyria over Babylonia. Merodach Ba lad an

’

s ru lemust be removed . The dominion of Assyria mu st beagain resto red as it was in the time of T ig lat h Pi lesa r .For twelve years

,

” so the Fasti of Sargon tell u s ,Mer odach Baladan had rou sed up the land of Sumirand Accad . I resolved to march against the inhabitantsof the land of Kaldi (Ch a ldeea) . Merodach Bal adanheard of t h e approach of my army ; he left Babylon ,beto ok himself t o Du r Yakin , strengthened the wallsthere, and cal led u pon the tribes of Gembu l , Pekod ,Tumu n , Ru hu a, and Chinde r . My warriors defeatedthe enemy. The migratory tribesfled after thi s defeat .Merodach Baladan left h i s tent, the insigni a of his royaldignity, h is chariot and adornments behind h im, andfled away in the night . I besieged and took the ci tyof Dar Yakin . His wife

, h is sons, h is daughters, hispalace

,and a ll t hat was there in

,I took. I bu rnt the

city, and threw down the old walls. I permitted theinhabitants of S ippar a , of N ipu r , of Babylonia, andBo r sippa to conti nu e thei r occu pations . To the citiesof Arak (Erech) and La r sam (Se nke r e h ) I gave backthe gods which dwell there , and restored t h e temples .

”

The An n als give a more detailed accou nt, b u t in thenarrative of these events the text is interru pted bygreat lacu nae . In the introdu ction we have : “ Merodach Bala dan showed the greates t violence against thewill of the gods of Babylon ; my han d reached h im ;

I took from h im a l l his land .

” Then follows the narre tive of the occu rrence u nder the twel fth year of t h eking (710

“ Merodach Baladan refu sed to paytribu te . He had conclu ded an a ll iance with Sa tru k

1 In M6n an t , b e. at. p. 188.

se ason AND sss s scn s aw . 103

N an ch un d i , t h e kin g of Elam, and arou sed all the tribeso f Aram (Mesopotamia) against me . He strengthenedhis fo rtr esses and assembled his troops. I took captive

me n .

” Afte r an enumerati on of the citieswh ich Sa rgon took, and the narrative of the su bjectionof the Pekod, we are told : Th e rest of the inhabitan tsof the land of Aram had pu t their hopes in MerodachBa ladan and S u tr uk N an ch u n di, and gathered on theriver Ukn i. I put them to flight.” After this Sargontakes several citi es of Elam Sa truk N an ch u n di retiresbefor e h im into the mountai ns . Merodach Baladanhea rd th is in his palace at Babylon ; he left the cityat n ight wi th his warriors, directed his steps to theland of Elam, an d sent a considerable weight of silverto Sa tr uk N an ch u n d i, to indu ce h im to send aid .

“ Imarched at once to Babylon , sacrificed to the gods ,an d set up my power in the midst of the pal ace ofMerodach Baladan .

" In the thirteenth year of myr e ign , Merodach Baladan compelled the cities of Urand Lar sam to pay h im tribu te, collected his forces atDu r Yaki n , and t here fort ified himself. I went boldlyagainst h im, threw h i s warriors and horses into conftmio n ; I cu t down the people of the Pekod andMa rsima n , and to ok t h e symbols of their ki ngdom.

And Merodach Baladan acknowledged h is weaknessb e abandoned the sceptre and throne, and kissed theearth in the presence of my emissary. I summonedh im, an d rece ived h im in to favou r. Dur Yakin Ibu rnt ; I laid regu lar tribu te o n the u pper and lowerland of Bit Yakin . While I pu n ished the Ch aldma nsan d Ammze an s , and made my power felt by theElamite s , my vice roy, in the land of Ku i (Cil icia) ,in t h e regions of t h e setting su n , attacked Mi te , theMosch ian , to ok two fortresses an d 2400me n , freemenan d slaves. To complete his subjugation , Mi te sent

104 ASSYR IA.

h is envoy with his t r i b u te as far as t h e coas t of theEaste rn sea

,and acknowledged t h e power of t h e god

Asshu r. The seven kings of Yataan (Cypru s) a lsobrought their tribu te into my presence at Babylon ;gold, silver, and the produ cts of their land, and kissedmy fee t.

”

These accou nts show that Sargon’s war againstMerodach Baladan occu pied two years (710 and 700

In the first campaign the Babylonians weredefeate d in the field ; the Ar amaeans dispersed ; theElami tes, among whom t h e sovereignty had be e n

meanwh ile transferred from H umb an igas to Su tra kN a n ch u n di

,driven b ack, and t h e cities of Babylonia

taken . Merodach Baladan abandons Babylon, an d

retires to the lower Eu phrate s,to t h e land of his nation .

Sargon ascends the throne of Babylon,and t akes the

title, King of Babel , of Sumir and Accad ,” which

T ig la t h Pi lesa r had borne before h im. The secondcampaign ends wit h the captu re and destru ction ofDu r Yakin , with the su bjugation of the whole regionof the Eu phrates as far as the shore of the PersianG u lf, and the receiving of Merodach Baladan in tofavou r. According to the as tronomical canon , A rke an u sascended the throne of Babylon in the year 709 B. C.

A rke an u s can only be Sargon (S a r r ukin ) . O n e ofthe tablets, which conta ins contracts abou t the saleof parcels of land

,slaves

,and loans

,fr om t h e time

of Sargon,bear s the date Month Sebat

,year of

Mu t ta kkil-Assu r, viceroy of Gozan ; fifte enth yearof Sargon , king of Asshu r, third year of his reignin Babylon .

” 2 As Sargon certainl y cannot haveascended the thr one of Babylon later than the year709 B.C .

, the year 707— 706 wou ld be the third

Above , p . 93 ; O ppe r t,“ Re co rds of t h e Past ," 7, 46—61 .

Men a n t , " Bab y lo n eflp . 167.

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106 ASSYR IA.

mus t h ave commenced them at the beginning of hisreign . The inscription on a cyl inder (Bellino) , bearing the date of the th ird year of Sennacherib

,gives

the dimensions of a palace of Scn n ach e r ib at Nineveh ,and describes the ar chi tectu re and adornment . Thekings

,his fathers

,had bu il t this palace, b u t had not

completed i ts splendou r the waves of the Tigris h adinju red the fou ndations he altered the cou rse of theTigris , strengthened t h e dams, bu il t t h e palace afresh ,and cau sed l ions and bu lls to be hewn o u t of greatstones . l The remai ns of th is structu re li e on the si teof the ancient Nineveh , immediately to the northof the Kh ost , whi ch flowed throu gh the city, on theold bed of the Tigris, near t h e modern village ofK u yu n dsh ik. The dimensions give this palace thefirst place among the cas tles of the kings of Asshu r .I t rose on a terrace of more than 80 feet in height

,

close by the Tigris. The great porticoes were from1 50to 1 80feet in length , and abou t 40feet in bread ththe great gal lery was 21 8 feet in len gth , and 25 feetin breadth . Abou t 70 chambers have been disco veredin this bu ilding.

2 The main front lay to the northwest ; two great winged bu ll s wi t h human headsgu arded the entrance . At the entrance of the northeas t fr ont also were two bu l ls of th is kind . In thegreat portico behind this entrance, and t h e galleryabu tting u pon it

,the process of bu i lding is r epr e

sented on t h e reliefs on the walls . We see the claypits , the workmen carryin g baskets filled with clayand bricks , the great blocks inte nded for the images ofthe lions and bu lls comi n g u p t h e Tigris, and broughtt o the elevati on on shore by ropes drawn by hu ndr edsof hands. This is done by means of sli ps u nder which

Cylin de r Be llin o in Mena n t , An n a l .” p . 229 .

G . Rawlinson , Mon arch ," 1 79, n . 5 .

BABOON AND SEN N ACIIEBIB. 107

are pl aced wooden roll er s. A lion , a lready finished,

standin g u pright and su rrou nded by a wooden case,

an d held up by workmen with ropes and forked poles,is dr awn along i n thi s mann er ; the hi nder end of theslip is then raised by a lever placed on wedges inorder to facili tate the elevation . The over seer standsbe tween the for e-feet of the colossu s, and directs bythe movement of h is hands the efforts of the workmen . Sen nacherib himsel f from his chariot watchesthe ad vance of th is sta tu e . In the same way afinished human-headed bu ll is d rawn along by fou rlon g rows of workmen . In another chamber we se erows of servants, who carry apples and grapes, pastryand other food in baskets . The reliefs of t h e nextporticoes and halls exhibit the warlike acts of Senn ach er ib ; the e r omin g of rivers, sieges, sto rmings ofciti es in the mou nta in co u ntry, in the plain, in themarsh. Unfortunate ly the inscriptions over thesehave almo st entirely perished along with t h e u pperpart of the walls only a few words are legible. Theinscription of the th i rd year of Sen n acherib (703s o . )concludes the accoun t of th is bu ilding with thewords : To h im among my sons, whom Asshu r inthe cour se of the days shall summon to be lord overland and people

,I say this : This palace will grow old

and fall to pieces. May he se t i t u p, resto re the inscr ipt i on s and the writing of my name, and clean theimages , may he ofi

‘

e r sacrifice , and pu t everythin g i n

i ts place ; so shal l Asshu r hear h is prayer Theinscription s on slabs between the thighs of the twohu lls b efore t h e north-west entrance give a detail edacco unt of the dimen sions and manner of the buildingof this palace .

’

Mea n t , lo t . ci t.

Mea n t. (or. ci t . p. 212.

108 ASSYR IA.

In the inscription on the cyl inder, Sennacheribboasts that he made a canal from t h e K h os r thr oughthe city ; that he renovat ed Nineveh, the city of l s tar ,and made it brill iant as t h e sun t h e prisoners, Chaldwans, Aramaeans, captives fromVan and Cilicia, wereemployed on t hese works . 1 The adornment of Nineveh ,t h e strengthening of its walls, ar e mentioned on i n scr iption s on slabs in t h e palace itself. ’ Another cyl inder

(Smith ) from the n inth year of the reign of S e n n ae h er i b

(697 alsoment ions the bu ildings which the kingu ndertook for the restoration of Nineveh the prisonersof his campaigns worked a t them Phi lis tines andTyrians are here added to Chaldaeans, A r amze a n s,Armenians, and Cil icians . ‘ Late r documents in formu s

that Sen nacherib bu il t t emples to Nebo and Merodachat Nin e ve h .

5 A third cyl inder (Taylor) has been pre‘

served fromthe fifteen t h year of the reign of Sennacherib

(691 which tell s u s of a second great bu ildi ng ofh is at Nineveh . By the kings

,h is fat hers, a hou se had

been erected for the preservation of t h e treasu re ; forthe horses and troops. This bu ildin g had becomedamaged ; he cau sed the old hou se to be removed , andbu ilt u p again on a larger sca l e .

“ The remains of thisbu ilding lie to the sou th of the conflu ence of theK h osr and Tigris n ea r t h e modern Nebbi Yu nu s. A o

cording to the evidence of t h e ru ins it was of smallerdimensions than the palace at K uy u n dsh i k. To thenorth-eas t of Nineveh , near the modern Bavian , theimage of S e n n a e h e r ib is hewn in t h e rocks. Thein scription on this imag e in forms u s in detail whatSennacherib had done for the irrigation of the land ofAssyria : among other things i t is mentioned

,that he

M6n an t , lac. ci t . p . 228, 229 . Men an t , Zoe . ci t . p. 21 1 .

Y ear o f N ab u du r u ssu r . G . Smith,D isc.

” p . 308 .

G. Smith, “ Assu rban ipa l, p . 318. Mén an t , Ioc. ci t . p . 224 .

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1 10 ASSYR IA .

A r ke an u s (Sargon) from 709 to 705 B.C.,the as

t ro n omica l canon gives an in terregnum for the years704 and 703 after this comes the reign ofBe l i h u s,which lasted th ree years, from 702 B.C . to 700

Be li b us was su cceeded by A pa ra n ad iu s, who reignedsix years (699— 694 I f we attempt to uni tethese statements with the qu otation from Polyhi sto r,S e n n ae h e r ib , immediately on his accession , made h isbrother king and viceroy of Babylon, b u t he was u nableto maintain h i s position ; a rebel , A kise s, seized thethrone

,and was in h i s tu rn overthr own by Merodach

Baladan,whose reign over Babylon only laste d six

months . The two years after Sargon’s death,which

were occupied by thi s regency and these u su rpations,

aremarked in the as tronomical canon as an interregnum.

As t h e las t half year of this period was occupied withthe u su rpation of Merodach Baladan , and the precedi ngmonth by A kise s, S e n n ae h e r ib

’

s brother mu st havereigned over Babylon 1 7 month s after Sargon’s death,or a li ttle longer (t h e canon gives t h e las t year of eachreign entirely to the king who di ed in it). Towardsthe close of these two years the Eli bus of Polyhisto r,the Be l i b us of t h e canon , overthr ew Merodach Ba ladan ,and reigned till 700B.C. ,

in which year Sennacheribmarched against Babylonia, defeated Elibu s, took h imprisoner, an d placed his son A so rdan e s as king overBabylon . The A pa r an adi u s of the canon mu st be the

A so rdan es of Polyhisto r.S e n n ae h e r ib

’

s inscripti ons show that the events to okplace near ly b u t not qu i te in this manner. Hisarchi ves say nothing of t h e regency of a brother inBabylon ; they do not exclu de su ch a regency, b u t theyshow clear ly that Merodach Bal adan was in possession

of the thr one of Babylon in 704 B.C. Is this MerodachBaladan t h e Merodach Baladan of Bit Yakin

,of Sou th

SARGON A ND SEN N ACl l ER IB. 1 1 1

Ch a ldaaa , who paid homage to T ig la t h Pil esar I l . atSapiya in the year 731 B. C. , and who after the death ofS h alman esar IV .

,in the year 721 B.C. , possessed himsel f

of the throne of Babylon—whomSargon fought againstat that time, b u t did not overthr ow—whomhe deprivedof all his land in the years 7 10 and 709 B.C. , and thenreceived into favou r ? The man who possessed h imself of Babylon in t h e year 704 belongs wi thou t adoubt to the princely house of Bit Yaki n ; we findh im retiring before Sen nacherib from Babylon to BitYakin , as he had previously reti red before Sargon.The Merodach Baladan of Sennacherib can thereforeon ly be the Merodach Baladan of T igla t h Pil esar , andSargon

,or a son of the same n ame .‘ As the inscr ip

ti on s give the name simmy withou t any addi ti on,we have in h im no doubt the same prince of BitYakin who submitted to T ig la t h Pil esar and wasdefeated by Sargon . That Merodach Baladan was inpossessi on of Babylon at leas t sixmonths, as Polyhistorsta te s , is proved by the combin ations in to which , aocording to S e n n ae h e r i b

’

s in scriptions, he entered withthe king of Elam

,the tribe s of Mesopotamia

,and

tribes of the Arabians, before S en n ae h e r ib att ackedh im by the fact that S e n n ae h er ib found the troops ofElam u ni ted with those of Babylon ; and by theembassy of Merodach to Hezekiah, king of Judah,u rging h im to make common cau se with h im againstAssyria

,which is men tioned in the Hebrew Scriptu res .

He certain ly had time to make exte nsive preparationsagainst S e n n ae h er ib .

Mer odach Baladan must therefore have obtain ed thethrone of Babylon not long after the accession ofS e n n a e h e r i b . Sennacherib's first campaign was di rectedagain st h im in order to resto re the authority of Assyria

1 12 ASSYR I A.

over Babylon ia . T h e inscription of Nebbi Yu nus tellsu s at t h e very beginning : “ In a great battle I co n

qu ered Merodach Baladan and the nations of Ch a ldze aand Ar am t h e army of Elamwhich h ad come to t heirassistance. Fou r other narratives in g reate r detai lhave been preserved relatin g to this campaign ; onefrom the thi rd year of Sennacherib (703 B.C .

,the

cylinder Bel l ino, already mentioned), the second fromthe n inth year of Sennacherib (697 B.O . , t h e cylinderSmith, al so al ready menti oned), the third date s fromthe fif te enth year of Sen nacherib (691 B. C. ,

thecylinder Taylor) , t h e fou rth is given in the in scr iption on a slab between the thighs of the bu lls at theentrance to t h e great palace of Sennacherib at K u yun dshik . This last accou nt, which is u n in ju red

,does not

go back beyond the fou rth year of Sennacherib. Theoldest accou nt tells u s At the beginning of myreign I inflicte d a defeat on Merodach Baladan , t h ekin g of K ar du n i as (Babylon) , together with the armyof Elam,

before the city of H is . In the middle oft h e battle he escaped al one, and fled to t h e land ofGu zuman ,

into the mar shes. The chariots, horses ,mu l es, and camels, which he left on the field of bat t le

,

fell into my hands . His palace in Babylon I enteredfu ll of joy . I opened his treas u ry ; I carried awaygold

,silver

,golden and silver vessels, preciou s stones ;

his wife,and the women of the palace . I sent my

soldiers to pu rsu e h im to Gu zuman , to the marshes .

They pur su ed h im five days, b u t no trace of h imwas

seen . In the strength of Asshu r, my lord, I took 89fortified cities and fortresses in the land of Kaldi,and 820 smaller places . The Aramae ans and Chaldaea n s , who formed garrisons in Erech, N ipu r , K i s,Chalanne

,and K u t h a , I carried away with the rebell iou s

In Mén an t , “ An n a l. p. 231 .

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1 14 ASSYR I A.

Aramaeans) , S e n n ae h e r ib , as we saw above, employed inbu ilding h is new palace and his bu ildings at N ineveh.After this S e n n ae h e r ib tu rned against Ispab ar a , king ofEll ip, whom Sargon had ass isted to the throne againsthis brother (p. Ispab a r a escaped, the lan d waslaid waste , 34 places were taken , the chief city I l in zasreceived a new name, Kar S e n n ae h e r ib . At myretu rn ,

” so we find it stated with complete agreement i nall the fou r narratives ,

“ I received the great tribu te ofthe distant land of Media, and su bjugated that landto my dominion .

”

Merodach Baladan had been compelled to retire fromBabylonia. He had maintained himself in h is nativeland in sou th Ch aldze a . When in Syria

,Sidon and As

calon, Ekr on and Ju dah took up arms, and S e n n ae h e r i bwas compelled to march thi ther, Merodach Baladancou ld att empt to regain what he had lost. He wassoon again in all iance with the king of Elam, or ratherhe remained in al l iance with h im. The Elami tes reconqu ered two cities which Sargon h ad taken from them.

I n Babylonia a reb ell i on broke ou t , at the head ofwhich stood a man of the name of S u zu b . Be li b us

appears to have been u nable tomaintain h imself againsth im

,against Sou th Chaldaea u nder Merodach Baladan

,

and Elam. T h e as tronomical canon pu ts the end ofhis reign in 700 The later in scriptions of Senn ae h e r ib , as already observed, make no mention ofBe li b u s, b u t they tell u s of a campaign which Senn ach e r ib on his retu rn from the Syrian war

,in which

at the close, as we shall soon see, he gai ned no su ccess,u ndertook again st S u zu b and Sou th Ch al dze a .

“ Inmy fourth campaign ,

” so S e n n ae h e r ib relates on the

Cylin de r Be lli n o, i n Mén an t , p. 228 Cylin de r G. Smith, Disc.

p. 302 Cylin de r Taylo r in Menan t, p . 227 ; Reco rds of t h e Past ,7 , 61 .

SARGON AND SBN N ACHEBIB. 1 15

cyli nders Smi th and Taylor,

“ I collected my armyI bade it go against the land o f Bit Yakin . In thecoarse of th is e n t e rpr ise I brought abou t the overthr owof Sasub the Ch a ldaaan , who dwelt in the marshes ; here ti red. Merodach Baladan , whom I h ad thrown to theground on my former campaign , whose war-like forcesI h ad scattered, retired fromthe approach ofmy migh tywarriors, and the blow of my violent att ack ; he pu tthe gods

,who rule in his land, on board shi p, and fled

li ke a bi rd to N agi t ir akki, which l ies in the midst ofthe sea . His brothers, the scions of the hou se of h isfather, whom he left behi n d on the coas t, and the r emaindar of his nation in the lakes an dmarshes I broughtou t and took pri soners . I tu rned back and destr oyedh is ci tie s. I stru ck t error into his al ly, the kin g of Elam.

At my re turn I pu t A ssumadi n ,my eldest son , on thethrone of his dominion , and entru sted h im with t h ewhole extent of the land of Sumir and Accad .

” Thestone slabs on the bu ll s of K uyu n dsh ik also mentiont h e establishment of Assumadi n in Babylon .

‘

From thi s accou nt we ga ther that Babylon , i f it wasnot lost, wavered that t h e chief of the rebels in Babylon ia retired before t h e approach of S e n n ae h e r ib intothe marshes. The e stablishment of A ssu r n ad in as

mgen t of Babylonia by S e n n ae h e r ib did not take placetil l Mer odach Baladan was driven ou t of Bit Yakin .

T h e inscriptions do not menti on Se n nae h e r ib ’s en t rancein to Babylon. Apm n ad ius , whose reign the e stre nomica l canon re prese nts as begin ning with the year 609

can only be Assu rnad in , t h e so n of S e n n ae h e rib .

p. 219."Be oo rde o t

t h e Pu t ."

‘ T h o fwflh mmpd gn d h nmh u i h t h om blh hmw t o l A-arn ad i n on n n o t h e h m th nn t h o yu r OOS l a . sin oo th e Oy lindor Smith.v h b h da ta M a t h e ya r w'

l n amo n e l ndu v i t h thos e eve n ts. an d

l

1 16 ASSYR IA.

The expu lsion of Mero dach Baladan ou t of Sou thCh al dma the establishment of the su ccessor to thethrone of Assyria as regent of Babylon

,had no more

lasting resu l ts than t h e establishment of B e l ibu s thr eeyears before . S u z u b , who had retired into themarshesbefore Sennacherib, was again at the head of Babylon ia.The tribes of Bit Yakin,

” so Sennacherib tel ls us onthe cyl inder Taylor

,despised my ru le they settled in

the city of Nag i tt i , in the land of Elam. Sennacheribd irected his sixth campaign against them (t h e fifth wasdi rected against the land of N ipu r ) .

“ On my six thcampaign (696 I attacked Elam

,and carried the

people of Bit Yakin with t h e people of Elam into capt ivi ty . At my retu rn, S u zu b , a child of Babylonia,whom the rebelliou s people in the land of Sumir andAccad had raised u p , came to offer me battle . I conqu ered h im he fell intomy h and ; I gave h im h is l ife ,and cau sed h im to be taken into Assyria . T h e

'

ki'

n gof Elam

,who came to h is assistance

,I pu t toflight.

” 1

The i nscription of Nebbi Yunu s gives u s a fu lleraccou nt . I t narrates the carry in g away of the peopleof Elam

,l ike the cylinder, and then continu es After

th is (4) t h e leading inhabitants of Babylonia,who

were rou nd Merodach Baladan, escaped and cal led onthe king of Elam for help, who placed S u zu b , the sonof Gated

,on the throne . I sent my warriors against

the kin g of Elam; they slewmany of his people theymade themselves masters of the gods who dwel l i nAr ak (Erech) , of Samas , Bilit, l star , Nergal , an d theirendl ess treasu res . S u z ub , the ki ng of Babylon, whowas taken prisoner after a great battle, they brought toNineveh i nto my presence .

” We see that i n spite ofthe regency of A ssu r n adi n

,which wou ld not be weak,

i n spite of the attack of Sennacherib on Elam,the

I n Men an t , loc. ci t . p . 220, 221 . I n Ménan t , p. 232.

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1 18 ASSYR IA .

importan t and severe than any preced in g . S u zu b , whomS e n n ae h e r ib had taken captive in 696 escaped o u t

of imprisonment. and again appeared as king at thehead of Babylonia. Merodach Baladan is nomore , b u this son u nit es with S u z ub al l Ch a ldze a rises ; and byi ts side the Elami tes, A r amzean s , and several tribe s ofArabia. This gr eat rebellion ends with the captu re an ddestr u ction of Babylon . The da te of these events, whichtook place in the eighth campaign of S e n n ae h e r ib , canonly be defined by t h e fact that they belong to theperiod after the year 696 B.C.

, and before the year 692The cyl inder which narrates them bears the date

of the beginn ing of the year of Be ls imian i , i . e . of theyear 691 The events of the eighth campaignconnected, and follow immediamon each other theclose was the conqu est of Babylon and second captu reof S u zu b , as the introdu ctory words to th is campaignon the cylin der prove : In my eighth campaign thedominion of S u zu b came to an end. After the conqu est o f Babel , thi s inscription only mentions theerection of the bu ilding at Nebbi Yunu s (p.“Te must, therefore, pu t the beginn ing of the newstruggle in the year 695 B.C. , the destruct ion of Baby loni n the year 694The Babylonians— s e ou r inscription continu es after

the retu rn of Sennacherib from Elam—had closed thegreat gates of t heir ci ty ; Sa s u b, who had escaped ou tof capti vity to Elam, and had retu rned from thenceto Babylon

,was placed on the throne of Sumir and

Accad . He opened the treasu re of Bit Sagga t u , i . e .

of the great temple of Merodach (I . and sent thesacred gold and silver to the king of Elam. Ku du rN an ch u n di died thre e months afte r the campaign ofSennache rib against Elam ; he was su cceeded byh i s brother, Umman Minunu , who was ready to give

SARGON AND S EN N ACBEBIB. n o

amista n ce . Nabu - labar - isku n , a son of MerodachBaladan . joined S u zu b ; the Ch aldie an regions of BitAdi n .

Bit Amukan , Bit Sahal la, took his side . T h e

Parana, the land of Ell ip, finally the tribes of the Pekod ,Gambu l, Rahu a, and Ch in dar . rebelled and marched toBabel to S uzu b , whomthey call ed kin g of Babylon .

” 1

The kin g of Elam, the lands of Parsu a and Ell ip, thewhole of Chaldaea, all the tribes of Aram, were u nite dwi th the king of Babylon.

“ O n the banks of theTigris

,near the city of Ch al ul i , they offered ba ttle

to Se n nae h e r ib , 1 50,000 strong. Sennacherib conqu er ed ; Nabu - labar isku n was ca ptu red UmmanMin a n u and S uzu b escaped . I gran ted their lives tothose who su bmitted

,and acknowledged my domin ion.

”

With th e se words the accou nt of the eigh t h campaignof Se n n ae h e r ib closes on t h e cyl inder Taylor . Afterthe de scripti on of the battle of Ch a lu li the inscription

.'o f Bavian conti nu es : T h e whole land of Elam Istruck wi th terror ; the warriors fled before me to thehighest mo un tains . A second time I tu rned againstBabylo n ; I wo n the city ; I spared not t h e me n ,

thechildren , o r t h e slave s. S uzu b , the king of Babylon ,wh o fel l intomy h ands, I carried away and his kindr ed .

Th e g ods of the city of Hekali , Bin and Sala, whichMarduk nadin-akh

,king of Accad , h ad taken from

T ig la th Bilesu r and ca rried t o Babylon 4 18 years previo u s ly , I t ook away from Babylon ; I pu t them u paga i n in the ir place in the city o f Hekali . The citie sand th e ir palace s I have destroyed from t h e fou ndation

Cy lindcr'

h ylo t in “t aun t . p. 232, 233 ; Talbo t . Reco rds o f t h ePa st ."

‘ 1n-nt iptio n o f N eb h i Y un us in Mém t lm ci p . 232. A n in scr ipt io n of Eu r h nddo n r e pa t t h c eve n ts o f this war : S uz u b ,

“o f

ba ki n g ; Umma n u i nan u m gn in od b y t h e t tm m of l i i t sagg l tu ;

120 ASSYR IA .

to the summit ; the wa lls, a l tar, temples, and towers ,I have laid waste .

The statements of the as tronomical canon do notagree with these inscriptions. With the canon , thisperiod , di stracte d by contests in which for t h e mostpart S u zub is at the head of Babylon and the city ofBabel is not in the power of Se n n ae h e r ib , was the reignof Aparan adi u s, o r , as we su pposed , ofA ssuma d in , whichin the canon lasts from 699 to 694 B. C. The year 693is given to R ege b e lu s , who is su cceeded by Me se s imo rdakua from the year 692 to 688 After this thecanon places an in terregnum of eight years (688—680

If we are to attempt to harmon ise the tw o,

R eg eb e l u s and Mese s imo rdakus may be regarded asviceroys

,to whom, after the captu re of Babylon ia,

Sennach erib entru sted the ru le of the cou ntry in thoseyears. T he interregnum which fol lows wou ld then beexplained by the fact that Sennach erib reign ed overBabylonia withou t a viceroy from the year 688Bu t in none of the inscriptions preserved does Sennach e r ib name h imself in his title

,king of Sumir an d

Accad, or king of Babel . The astronomical canon gaveu s the name of Sargon at the time when b e ru leddi r ectly over Babylon why is not Sennacherib’s n amementioned in a similar posit ion ? I t is not impossiblethat new rebell ions followed the captu re of Babylon ,i n which R egeb e l u s and Me se simo rdaku s were lead ersb u t it is certain that Babylonia, if not Sou th Chaldaea ,was u nder the domin ion of Assyria at the death ofSennacherib.

Bodwe ll, Re co rds o f t h e Pas t ,"9, 27, 28 ; Men an t , Bab y lon e ,

p . 166. Vo l. I I . p. 40.

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122 SYR IA.

requ est of Merodach Bala dan to make common cau sewith h im, which rea ched Hezekiah in the year 704

did not fin d Judah u nprepared. Since Ahaz hadpu rchased the safety of his kingdom before the combinod forces of Damascu s and Israel , by su bmission tothe domin ion of Assyria, Judah had been at peace .

In nearly th irty years of peace , which had elapsedsince that time , the kingdom h ad been able to recoverher position . The long siege of Samaria

,the fall of

the kingdom of Israe l , were seen by Hezeki ah wi t hou tany movement. Bu t the thought of shaking o ff oneday the yoke of As syria was not new to h im. Sargonhas already told u s

,that at t h e t ime when Ashdod t e

bell ed u nder Yaman (7 1 1 the Philistines,Edom

,

Moab and Ju dah , di d in deed pay their tribu te, b u tthey thought of treachery, and had sent presents tothe king of Egyp t (at that time S h ab a t aka, p .

Hezekiah had provided armou r,weapons and shields

in abu ndance ; he cou ld now no dou bt show a wellfu rnished armou r-hou se to the envoys of MerodachBal adan ’ The ne ighbou rs of Judah

,t h e ci ties of the

Ph il istines, a n d Sidon among the Phenicians, wereprepared to make common cau se with Hezekiah . In

the deepest secrecy he formed connections withT ir h aka the su ccessor of S h ab a t aka in Egypt andMeroe, and sent h im valu abl e presents .

3 BesideBabylonia

,Hezekiah cou ld reckon on Egypt ; it was

mu ch to the interest of Egypt to nou rish the resist

Me rodach Balad an was , as h as be e n shown (p . dr ive n ou t o f

Babylon i n t h e yea r 703 i t is ce r ta in tha t h e wa s r ul e r the r e in704 If t h e Books o f t h e Kin gs do n o t me n t io n h is emba ssy t oH eze kiah t ill afte r t h e sie ge o f Je r u sa lem by t h e Ass yri a n s , they showby t h e an n ou n ceme n t o f I sa iah to H eze kiah , which they pu t a fte r t h eemb assy o f Me r oda ch Ba ladan thu s “ H e will b e saved ou t o f theha n d o f t h e A ssy r ia n s ” (2, xx . t h at t h e embassy was a t Je r u sa lembe fo r e t h e campa ign o f Sen n ache r ib ; cf. Isa . m ix .

SENNACHER IB I N SYR IA .

ance of Sy ria again st Assyria, an d to su pport the Syrian sagainst S e n n ae h e r ib as soon as they to ok u p arms.Isa iahmost earnest ly warned the king and t h e people

o f Judah against su ch a rash enterprise—how couldan y on e ho pe to withstan d the crushing pow er of theAmyr ian s ?

“ Woe to the rebel lious children ,

” is thecry of th e prophet to the king and h is cou nsellors,“t hat t ake counsel withou t Jeh ovah , and make covenan ts , not in Jehovah

’s spirit, that they may add sinto sin ; who go down to Egypt and en qu ir e not at themou t h of Jehovah , to protect themselves wi th t h e

pro t ection of Pharaoh , and trust in the shad ow ofEgypt ! The prote ct i on of Pharaoh shall be you rshame , and the trust in Egyp t your confu sion. Theywil l ca rry thei r riches on the backs of asses, and theirt r ea su r e s upon t h e b un ch e s of came l s to a pe opl e t h a t

shall n o t profit them. Egypt’s hel p i s vain and void.I ca l l Eg ypt a tempest, which sits still . Woe to themthat go down to Egypt for help

,and stay on horses

and on chariots because t hey are many, b u t look n o t

unt o Jehovah ! The Egyptians are me n , and notGod and their horses are flesh , and not spir i t . Thepr o t ecto r stumbles , and the protected falls to earth .

‘

Bu t ye ar e a re bell io us people , lying ch ildr en, an d wi lln o t hear t h e command of Jehovah . Ye say to these ars, Se e not ; and to the pr e ph e ts , Proph e sy notun t o us true th ings, spea k u n t o us smooth things,pro ph e sy deceit.’ Beware that you r h a n ds h e n o t

made str onge r.’ Say not, The overflowi ng scou rge

shal l n o t come to us , for we have made li es o u r refuge ,and under decei t we h ave hid ours e l ves .

‘ T h e over

‘ l ‘ q I—a‘ I‘ n fii lfl.‘m xvi ii. 15. T bo doe s i t is n o do ub t t o bs exph imd by th om y o‘ t h o aog o t iafiou v i th h

‘

g ypt

121 SYR IA .

flowing sco urge shall tread you down . The LordJehovah , the Holy One of Israe l sa id , In repentanceand rest ye shall be saved in qu ietness and con fidenceshall be you r strength . Bu t ye said, No ; for wewill flee u pon horses, we wil l ride u pon the swift .

‘

Becau se ye tru st in oppression and pcrvcrse n css you riniqu ity shall be as a watercou rse breaking o u t againsta high wall, whose breaking cometh in an in stant. ’

I have heard from Jehovah God of hosts, of a consumpti on, even determined u pon the whole earth .

” 3

Add ye year to year, let the feas ts go rou nd, forI will distress Jeru salem,

saith Jehovah,and encamp

against thee rou nd abou t , and will lay siege againstthee with a moun t, and ra ise forts against thee . ‘ Theenemy is come to Aiath

,he is pas sed to Migron ; at

Michmash he hath laid u p his carriages . They aregone over the passage ; they have taken u p theirlodging at Geba ; Ramah is afraid ; Gibeah of Sau l isfled. Lift u p thy voice, 0 dau ghter of Gall im ; cau sei t to be heard u nto Lai sh , 0 poor A n a t h o t h l Madmenah is removed, and Geb im

’

s inhabitants flee .

This day they shall remain in Nob ; t hen he shallshake his hand against the mou nt of the daughte r ofZion

,the hill of Je r u sa lem.

‘i What aileth t hee nowthat thou art wholly gone u p to the hou se -tops

,thou

that art fu ll of stirs, a tumul tu ou s city , a joyou s city ?

Elam bears the qu iver, with chariots ofme n and horseme n , and Kir u ncovers the shield . Thy choicestvalleys are fu ll of chariots, and the horsemen shall setthemselves in array against the gate . The walls arebroken down , and there is a sou nd of cry ing to themou ntains. "

Isa . xxx . 16, 16. I sa . xxx. 12, 13.

3 I sa . xxviii. 22. I sa . xxix . 1 .

6 Isa . x . 28—32.

‘ Isa . xx i . —7.

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126 SYR IA .

al l the ki ngs of t h e West land, brought their cost lypresents and th ings of price to me

,and kissed my

feet . Bu t Zidka of Ascalon , who h ad not bowed tomy yoke, the gods of the hou se of his fathers, thetreasu res, his wi fe, his sons, his daughters I broughtto Assyria . S ar l uda r i , the son of R ukib t i , theirformer king, I placed over the people of Ascalon. Iimposed u pon h im the payment of tribu te , as thesymbol of su bjection to my ru le, and he renderedobedience . I n continu ing my campaign I marchedagainst the cities of Zidka , Beth Dagon

,Yapps

(Joppa), Bene Barak, Azor (Yasu r) , which h ad notsu bmitted to my service, I besieged them. I tookthem and led away their prisoners . The chiefs an d

the nation of Ekron , who h ad pu t Padi their ki ng,who remai ned tru e and fait hfu l to A ssyr ia ,

l into ironbonds

,and had handed h im over to Hezekiah (Chaza

kiyabu ) of Ju dah , my enemy. Their heart was afraid,

for the evil deed which they had done . In the neighb o u r h ood of Eltekeh (Al taku ) , the battle was dr awno u t against me they encou raged their warriors to thecon t est . In the service of Asshu r I fought againstthem and overpowered them. The charioteers and son sof the king of Egypt

,together with the charioteers

of the king of Meroe, my hand took prisoners inthe midst of the fight . Eltekeh and Timnath

(T aamn a) I attacked , I took , I carried their prisonersaway. I marched agai nst the city of Ekron . Thepriests,

’ the chiefs, who had cau sed the rebell ion , I

pu t to death ; I set their bodies on stakes on the ou terwall of the city (the inscription of the bu lls saysI smote them with the The in habitants o fthe city who had exercised oppression and violence

,I

x Cylin de r-Smith, “ Disc. p . 304.

G . Smith , Disc. p . 304.

S EN N A CIIER IB I N SYR IA . 127

se t apart to be carried away ; to the rest of theinhabitants who had not been guilty of faithlessnessand rebellion I proclaimed forgiveness. I brough ti t abou t that Padi their king cou ld lea ve Jeru salem,

installed h im on his throne of dominion over them,

and laid u pon h im the tribu te of my ru l e. Hezekiahof Judah who did not su bmit—46 of h is fortifiedci ti es, and innumerable fortr esses and small places rnh is kingdom I besieged and took. Two hu ndred thousa nd one hun dred and fifty captives, male and female,ho r ses, mu l es, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep withou tnumbe r, I took ou t from them, and declared to bebooty of war . Hezekiah h imse lf I shu t u p like a birdin a cag e i n Jeru salem (U rsa l imma) , his royal city.

I threw up fortifications and towers against the city ; Ibroke t hrough the exit of the great gate. His ci tie swhich I laid waste I separa t ed from his land

,and

gave them to Mi t in t i the king of Ashdod,and Padi

the king of Ekron , and Ismi b il the king of Gaza,

and t hus I dimin ished his land. He (Hezekiah) wasovercome wi th fear before my power, and the Urbi (I)and the brave warriors whom he had brought up toJe rusalem for defence in cl ined to submission. Heagreed to pay tribu te .

‘ Thirty talents of gold, 800

ta lents of si lver , preciou s stones , chairs of ivory, skinsan d horns of Amsi , great treasu res , his daughter s, theservants of his palace , women and me n , he sent toN ineveh , my royal abode, and his envoy to pay t h etribute and promise submission .

"

The accoun t of S en n ae h er ib shows that Sidon andJuda h sto od at t h e head of the risi ng in Syria

,that

the popu lation of t h e ci ties of the Ph ilistines was moreeager than their princes for war with Assyria. T h e

‘ In scr i pt ion ot th e bu l ls in EWSOh r-ade r ma r .

"

0. 8mm.

" Disc.

Re dwol l . Records oflh o l ‘u t ,

128 SYRI A.

me n of Ascalon had either deposed their prince,who

adhered to Assyria, or raised up Zidka, after h im,to

oppose Assyria. When Padi,the prince of Ekron

,

wou ld not j oin the rebellion against Assyria,the chiefs,

the pries ts, and a part of the popu lation of t h e city,took h im prisoner, an d handed h im over to Hezekiah .

\Ve have already seen from t h e statements of t h eHebrews, that Hezekiah had made bette r preparationsfor the contest than Hoshea of Israel 25 years before .

Not only were weapons and armou r rea dy for the peoplethe towers an d walls of Jeru salem had been improvedand strengthened. The defensive work between Zionand t h e city, Millo, had been secu red by new fortifica t ion s , a copiou s condu i t brou ght in to the city .

When t h e danger came, the str eams and sprin gs rou ndthe city were filled up, and an ou ter wal l was carriedrou nd the city as a fir st line of defence . In order toobtain t h e materials for this

,a number of hou ses were

pu l l ed down in the city . lThe Books of Kings tell u s that Sennacherib , ki n g

of Assyria,came u p against all the fortified cities of

Ju dah and took them. Then Hezekiah sent to thek in g of Assyria to Lachish , and said : I have sinned ,depart from me ; what t h e n layest u pon me I wil lbear. Then the kin g of Assyria lai d u pon Hezekiah300 talents of silver and 30 tal ents of gold . AndHezekiah gave al l the sil ver that was in the hou se ofJehovah, an d in the treasu res of the king

’s hou se, andcu t down the doors and posts of the temple of Jehovah ,which he had overlaid, and gave it to the king ofAsshu r. Bu t the kin g of Assyr ia sent Tartan an d

Rabsaris an d Rabshakeh from Lachish with a greatarmy against Jeru salem,

and when they were come u p,they hal ted by the condu it of the u pper pool which

Isa . xxn . 9, 10, l l .

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Ia n SYR IA .

This accoun t of the Hebrews is confirme d, and su ppleme n t ed by t h e inscriptions of Se n n ae h e r ib , givenabove . They te ll u s that the king of Assyria directedhis arms first against Sidon . He takes the smallercities of the coast belonging to Sidon , Zarephath ,Achaih, Akko . King Elu laeus retires to Cypru s. Sidonopens her gate s, and r eceives a new prince , I t h oba l

(Tu bal) , at the hands of Sennacherib. Aradas andHybla s bring tribu te . I t mu st have been at the timeof this campaign in Syria that S ennacherib cau sed h isimage to be engraved on the rocks at the mou th ofthe Nahr e l K clb , beside t h e rel iefs which Ramses I I .had cau sed to be cu t theremore than 660years before .The pictu re represents h im in the u su al manner ofAssyrian ru lers, with the kidar is on his head, the righthand rai sed , and inscriptions in cu neiform letters besidethe h icr og lyph s of Ramses . The cu neiform inscriptionis destroyed to su ch a degree that only the name ofS e n n ae h e r ib can be read. From the coast of thePhenicians S e n n ae h e r i b marches to the Sou th , alongthe sea , aga inst the cities of the Philis t ines . Fi rst, t h eplaces su bject to Ascalon , Japho, Beth Dagon , BeneBarak, Yas u r, are besieged and taken. Ma t in t i , theprince ofAshdod , pays tribu te to S e n n ae h e r ib . Ascalonher self appears to have opened her gate s while Zidkaescaped , for the inscription only men t ions the carryi n g away of his wife , h is sons an d daughters. Sarludari, the son of R ukib t i , who had previou sly re ignedin Ascalon , and remained loyal to Assyria, was placedon the throne. T h e prince of Samaria, Menahem I I . ,

t h e princes°

o f Moab and Edom,bring tr ibu te. Senna

e h e r ib turns against Ekron : as already remarked ;t h e Ekronites had deposed their p rince, Padi , andgiven h im u p as a prisoner to Hezekiah . BesideEkron only Judah remai ns i n arms agai n st Assyria .

SENNACHER IB I N SYR IA. m

Th e accou nt of the Hebrews says that Sen n ae h e r i btook al l the fortified cities in J tidah . S e n n a e h e r ib

’

s

account says that he took 46 fort ified places , smallplaces wi thou t number, and carried awayme n and women . Then , according to the accou nt oft h e Hebrews, Hezek iah sent to the kin g of Assyriaat Lachish to ente r into negotiati ons.Hezekiah was te rrified by the overthrow of the

cities of the Ph e n ie ia n s and Philistines, t h e subjugation of t h e remaining princes , and the invasion of hisland. As the army of T ir h aka was not yet in Syria,he despaired u nder such circumstances of maintainingh is position , and paid t h e tribu te which S e n n ae h e r ibr equ i red—30 talents of gold , and 300talen t s of silver,accord ing to the Hebrew account. The statement ofS e n n ae h e r ib gives 30 talents of gold, and 800 talentsof silver. The difference is explaine d if we may assumetha t the amou nt given by Sennacherib is founded o n

the light Babylonian tal ent, that of the Hebrews o nthe hea vy Syrian talent ; 300heavy Syrian talents ar ee qu ivalent to 800 l ight Babylonian ta lents .

‘ If Senn a e h e r i b state s fu rther that he brought Padi ou t ofJer usalem”

(p. he , no doubt, required and obtainedt h e su rrender of Padi be sides t h e tribu te i n thisn egotia t ion with Hezekiah . Bu t S e n n ae h e r i b was notconte nt wi t h this demand. I t is clear that when t h etribu te h ad been paid , and Pa di given up, he ma det h e fu rther requ est to open the gates of Jeru salem.

This Hezekiah refu sed . The siege of Jeru salem, whichHezekiah h ad sought to avert , commenced .

“ I shu th im u p,

” says S e n n ae h e r ib , in Jerusalem, l ike a bir din a cage .

"

A s t h e account of the Hebrews shows, Sennae h e r ib did not appear himself in person at Jeru salem.

Ba n dit , “Mi l n zm . i . OR .

182 SYR IA.

H ezekiah’s envoys find h im at Lach ish,in the sou th

of Judah. A reli ef of the palace of Sennacherib atK uyu n dsh ik (p. 100) shows u s the king in the campat Lachi sh. With two arrows in the right, a n d thebow in the left hand, he sits in t h e tent, on a higha n d richly-adorned chair ; two eunu chs with fans ar ebehind h im, fannin g h im before h im is a general , andbehind the latter, cu rly-haired and bearded prisoners,a n d women among them.

‘ The u pper in scripti onsays “ Tent of S e n n ae h e r ib , king of the land ofAsshu r. The lower inscription says : S e n n ae h e r ib ,

kin g of t h e nations, king of the land of Asshu r, sits onan exal ted throne, to receive the booty fromLachish.

”

As we gathered from his inscriptions, S e n n ae h e r ib

marched along the coas t from Sidon to the sou th hehad passed beyond Japho, when the resistance ofEkr on checked h im. In order to bring Ashdod andAscalon to obedience, and to await t h e approach ofT ir h aka, S e n n a e h e r ib encamped at Lachish , to coverthe siege of Ekron

,and beat back the Egyptians and

Ethiopians who, according to h is accou nt, marched tot h e aid of Ekron . In order to avoid having anyenemy in the rear at the time of T i rh aka ’s arrival , hesends h is commander-in -chief

,Tartan

,with a part of

h is army, to invad e Ju dah . He was so far su ccessfu l that Hezekiah paid tribu te and su rrendered Padi.The su rrender of Jeru sal em did not t ake place . Henow cau sed Jeru salem to be invested . Under thesecircumstances the approach of the Assyrians did nott ake place , as Isai ah h ad annou nced

,fr om the nort h ,

through the pass of Michmash , b u t from the sou th .

When ar rived before Jeru salem,the leaders of the

Assyrians begin to negotiate they deman d therender of the ci ty, t h e hope in Egypt is vain .

” Asi R o om 36, in Layar d. z E . Schr ade r , “ K. A. T.

”s . i i o.

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If“ SYR I A.

n e w and tru e religion for all, a n ew l ife i n t h e fear ofGod a nd i n piety, in righte ousness and peace .

“ Theday of t h e Lord of hosts,

" he says , shall be u pon everything t hat is prou d and lofty , and u pon every thingthat is l ift ed u p ; and it shall be brought low ; andu pon all t h e cedars of Lebanon , and all the oaks ofBashan , u pon al l the high mou ntains, and lofty towers ,a n d u pon every fenced wall, and u pon a l l t h e ships ofTarshish

,and all costly pictu res . T h e loft iness ofma n

shall be bowed down,and the haughtiness of me n , and

t heir idols of silver and gold they shall cast down tothe moles and the bats , an d Jehovah alone shall beexal ted i n that day.

” 1 Thu s Egypt and E thiopiaalso will be smitten

,and at length the l ine will

reach e ven t h e scou rge with which Jehovah. has

pu nished the sins of t h e others, even the Assyrians.Th is great day of judgment,

“ which avenges theirmisdeeds on the inhabita nts of t h e earth ,

” is fol lowedby the restoration

,for Jehovah “ smites an d heals.

As the exiles of Israel shall retur n from As shu r andt h e lost from Egypt (the Israelites who had fledthither before Sargon) , and Israel

’s power sh all b erestored, so will Assyria and Egypt be restored, andJehovah w i ll say : “ Blessed be Egypt my people,and Assyria, the work of my hands, and Israel myinheritan ce .

“ The standard of Jehovah will beplanted '

o n t h e hill of Zion , and u nder this ban nerthe people shall assemble .

“ A ll.n a t ion s shall come

t o the mount of Jehovah to learn the way ofJehovah , and walk in his paths, for o u t of Zionshal l go forth the law, and t h e word of Jehovah fromJeru salem. Then will Jehovah judge among t h e

nat ions, and t h e work of righteou sness is peace, andthe fru it of righte ou sness is res t

,so that the n ations

1 I an . i t 124 22.1 Isa . xix . 22.

3 Isa. xix. 25 .

SEN N ACIIERI B I N SYR I A. u s

w il l beat their swords in to ploughshares, and theirspea rs into prun ing hooks. Nation shall not raise upsword against nation , nor shall they learn war anymore. 1 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, andthe leopard shall lie down with the kid . The cow

an d the lioness shall feed together the lion shall ea tstraw like the ox ; the su cking ch ild sh all play on thehole of t h e asp

" ? Bu t i n order that this happy time,“ which shal l be fu ll of the knowledge of Jehovahas the water s cover the sea,

”may be brought on ,

Je hovah’

s worshi p must be maintain ed by a remnantof t h e people which he h as chosen , to which he an

n oun ced his will since the days of the patriar chs .Isaiah was, ther efore, firmly convinced that Zion andthe temme of Jehovah , “ i n which he had fou nded a

preciou s co rn e r o s to n e ," cou ld not perish —that from

Jerusalem a remnant wou ld go forth , and the ransomedfr om Mou nt Zion. " A s Jehovah h ad pu nished Israelonly in measure ’ by carrying the people away intocaptivi ty, b u t had tu rned asi de the complete annih ila tion of the people, so Isa iah firmly bel ieved thatin the pre sent instance also Judah would not been ti r ely destr oyed , t ha t Jerusalemwou ld not be taken ,and t h e j udgment of Jehovah would be accompl ished

‘ q i . H ; ci xxv. 0—12; xxxv. 5—10. T h o idcaa of t h o

h am fu tnmm no t qu i te e on uis ten t in l nfia h . H in on e plae s h o

“ fin d-t h e paaeo o f t h e wor ld down to th o b ea su o t pr ea Mh om u t h o n n o r e d kh gdomd bm t t h o u n i te d ls

‘

ph n im e nd

JM u‘wppn -i u t h ci r opm ” “ Juda h wi l l bo a t armr

-vi l l "floo t o t lw m o n t h o

of t h e l 'h il ist i n e or t h e y wi l l pl un de r t h e son s o f th o

mbj uga to Edd a , H ) . l a t h e

m n y th o nw ki n g d th o m d l h fit wh o wfll t h e n mlo,app s -Wh ima t ouo thm gincd wi th t h o me n g t h ot D-vid . aad io

m in dm’

b u l u pu fici pa t in g in t h omviu o n a t um an d pam in to

W W d t h o h appy h m '

‘ Im m ii d .

136 SYR IA .

by the harrying a n d devas tation o f t h e whole land bythe Assyrians, a n d t h e capture of the remaining cities.This hope was in h im the more su rely fou n ded asHezekiah worshipped Jehovah with zeal a nd earnestn css .

Though t h e cities of Judah were lost,and Sen

n ach e r ib lay i n the sou th of Judah with a mightyarmy, though hu ndr eds of thou sands h ad been carriedaway

,and Jeru salem itself was n ow shu t u p, Isaiah

was nevertheless more zealou s and earnest i n u rgingthe people and the king to resistance than he had

previou sly been in advising them to desist from theu ndertaking . The l i n e of destru ction wou ld soon reachthe Assyrians, they wou ld not march into Jeru sal emJehovah woul d rescu e the remnant of Ju dah .

“ Lo !the Assyrian

,

” thu s Isaiah represents Jehovah as saying

,the rod of mine anger and the staff of mine

i ndignation is in his hand . Agains t the people of myw rath I will send h im to take the spoi l, and to treadthem down l ike the mire of the street . ‘ Bu t i t sh al lcome to pass that when the Lord hath performed hiswhole work u pon Mount Zion an d on Jeru salem, Iw ill pu n ish the fru it of the stou t heart of the k ing ofAssyr ia

,and the glory of his high looks . For he

sai th : I have removed the boun ds of the people, andhave robbed their treasu res, and I have pu t down theprinces like a val iant man . My hand hath fou nd as

a nest the riches of the people, and as one gatheretheggs that are left, have I gathered a l l the earth therewas none that moved the wing, or opened the mou th ,

or peeped. By the strength of my hand I have donei t

,and by my wisdom, for I am pru dent. Shall I not,

as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do toJerusalem and her idols ? Shall the axe boas t again st

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SYR I A.

to pass . I w ill break the Assyrian in my land , andtread h im u nder foot. ‘ Lo 1 a noise of many nat ions ,which make a noise l ike the sou nd of migh t y waters .

Bu t Jehovah shall rebuke them, and they shall flee faro ff

,and shall be chased as the whirl ing ( l ust before

t h e wind . And behold at evening trouble, and before .

t h e morning they are not. This is the portion of themthat spoil u s , and the lot of them that robNo doubt t he Assyrians threw up trenches and bes ieg

i ng towers rou nd the city no doubt they endeavou redto destroy the wal ls and gates . Bu t Jeru salem wassaved . The army of T i r h aka , though it appearedvery late i n Syria , did not fail t o come . Sennacheribhad time to bring the siege of Ekron t o an end

,to

execu te t h e leaders of the rebellion , to ca rry away apart of the popu lation, and set up Pad i again as t h e

prin ce of Ekron (p. before the Egyptians and

Ethiopians came . He retired before their approachfrom Libnah to Timnath and El tekeh , in order , nodoubt, to be nearer the part of h is army which wasbesiegin g Jeru salem, and to be able t o withdrawtroops from it for t h e decisive battle. Of th is battl e,which took place nea r Eltekeh , he tells u s that he wasv ictoriou s in it ; that he took captive charioteers andsons of the princes of Egypt, and charioteers of theki ng of Meroe in the confl ict . Bu t while in othercases the hostile king is invariably mentioned byname, T ir h aka

’

s name is wanting ; Sennacherib speaksqu ite vagu ely of the k ings of Egypt (su r r am

’

ma t

Al satian ) and the king of Meroe (ea r ma t fil tl llA/l i ), whocame to aid Ekron , of sons of the kings of Egypt, ofcharioteers of the kings of Meroe, whom he captu redcaptive sons of princes are also mentioned elsewherein t h e i nscriptions. F urther, Se n n ae h e r i b doe s not te l l

I sa . x iv. 24—27. Isa . 1 m . 12- 14.

SEN N ACIIER IB IN SYR IA. 139

us,as is u su al el sewhere, h ow many of the enemy

were kil led , how many pri soners'

he took, that theen emy fled , an d that he pu rsu ed them. I f we add toth is that the siege of Jerusalem ends su ddenly according to the acco u nt of the Hebrews, that Se n n ae h er ib

’

s

army did not appear afterwards in Syria, although hesat for 20 yea rs on the t hrone of Assyria afte r thisbattle

,we cannot fai l to see that S e n n ae h er ib , if n ot

complet ely defea ted at El teke h, must have sufl'e r edthe seve r es t losses—losses of

'

such weight that theycompelle d h im to retire immediately aft er the ba ttle ,and break o ff the siege of Jeru salem on the spot .This re su l t S en n ae h e r ib

’

s i nscriptions conce al byspeaking very vagu ely of t h e enemy, and brin ginginto prominence some captures , which may have beeneffect ed eve n by the defeate d side in the battl e . Thisconcea lment was aided by t h e fact that the rul ers whorose again in the dist ricts of Egy pt u nder Sahakon-the hereditary lords,

" who mai nta in ed th emselvesu nder S e bakou’a successors— cou ld be described askings , wh ile their sovereign , T i r h aka , could be kept int h e backgrou nd, and mad e to appea r as the king ofMer oe . Of more importance is the att empt in theann als to give the appearance of a favou rable issu e tothe campa ign i n Syria, by al tering t h e chmn o logy of theeven ts . They represent that, which took place beforet h e ba ttle of Eltekeh , as taking place after i t ; t h e

in vasion of Ju dah , the negotiations with Heze kiah , his

paymen t of tribu t e , which accordin g to the accou nt oft h e Hebrews took place before the battle at Eltekeh ,when Se n n a e h e r i b was at Lachish, they pu t aft er t h ebatt le, so that Se n n ae h e r ib

'

s campaign appears to closewi th the submiss ion of Heze kiah . T h e inscri ptions

do not give any false facts : they even men tion t h e

attempt to seduce the so ldiers of Hez ekiah , saying that

1 40 SYRIA.

the good warriors , whomhe h a dbrought to Jerusalemfor defence, were incl ined to su bmission ; they on lyalte r the order, and represent the captu re of Ekron ,the shu tting u p and siege of Jerusalem, the divisionof the land in the sou th of Ju d ah among Ashdod ,Ekron , and Gaza, and, finally , the payment of tribu teby Hezekiah

,as coming afte r the battle of Eltekeh ,

whereas t hese events preceded it ; and in their u su almanner they exaggerate the payments of Hezekiah ,when they represent h im as sending “ his daughtersto Nineveh. That the inscription of Nebbi Yu nu smentions the su bjugation of the land of Judah

(Je h u da) and its king Hezekiah (Ch azakiya h u ) , besidethe dethronement of Lu l i of S ido n ,

l has no basisbeyond the tribu te of 330 talents .To the Hebrews the rescu e from the most grievou s

di st ress, t h e su dden departu r e of the Assyrian s fromthe wal ls of Jeru salem

,cou ld appear only as a decree

of Jehovah,as the work of his mighty arm. When

Isaiah annou nced to Hezeki ah the word of Jehovah :“ I will protect thi s city, and save it for my own andmy servant David

's sake — the Books of the Ki ngscontinu e It came to pass in the selfsame night thatthe angel of Jehovah weh t ou t , and slew in the camp ofthe Assyrians me n .

’ And when they arosei n the morning, behold, they were al l dead corpses.Then S e n n ae h e r ib departed, and went and retu rned ,and dwelt in Nineveh .

” In most complete contrast toh is father Ahaz, who had sacr ificed his son to Moloch,and altered the arrangements of the temple at Jerusal em af te r an Assyri an model (p. Hezekiah wassincerely devoted to the worshi p of Jehovah. Hehad removed the high places

,broken the pill ars

,and

destroyed the As tartes ; he had made thorough regu1 I n Men an t , “ An n al . ” p . 231 . 2Ki n gs xix. 35 , 36.

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I t ! SYR IA.

fin d when on t h e next morning they fled away withou tarms, many of them were slain .

“ And now thisk ing,

"so Herodotu s concludes his narrative ,

“ standsin stone in the temple of H e ph re s t u s (of Ptah), with amou se in his hand , and says by his inscription Lookon me , and be piou s.

’ Neither the l is t ofManethonor the monuments mention or know a priest Bethe aof Memphis, who ruled over Egyp t in the days ofSennacherib . The O pponent of S e n n ae h e r ib from theN ile, whose name is passed over in h is inscriptions,was T ir h aka , the king of Napu ta and Egypt, as theHebrews te l l u s , and the statement h as been alreadyconfirmed by the monuments of Egypt.

He rod . 2, H I .

CHAPTER VII .

ES AR HADDON.

Sm acnn nm had been compelled t o retire fromSyria before the Egyptians and Ethiopians, before thea rmy o f T ir h aka. I f he did not seek t o compensateth is failu re by new campaigns to Syria, if he omittedto attempt the subj uga tion of Syria a second time,the reason obviou sly lay in the fact, that his armswer e occupi ed nearer home by the rebell ion of Babylonia, the attitude of Merodach Baladan in Sou thCh a ldwa , and his combination with Elam. We areacquainte dwit h t h e series of rebel l ions and stru g

gles

w h ich Sen nacherib h ad to mee t here , till in theye ar 004 he fin ally su ccee ded in overcomin g theconfed erate s leagu ed against h im in a great battle,and capt u ring the city of Babylon (p. Yet evena fter these important su ccesses , Sennacherib

's armies,so far as we see, never appeared again in Syria . TheBooks of the Hebrews te ll us nothing of any fu rthera ttacks of S e n na e h e r i b on Judah : they mere ly say :

S e n n ae h e r ib after wards remained in N ineveh . Theaccoun ts preserved in the inscriptions of the cam

pa ign s of S e n n ae h e r ib do not go beyond the captu reof Babylon t h e accou nt which rea che s fu rt hest downis da t e d001 Of the next ten years, du ring wh ichS e n nae h er ib continu ed to si t o n the th rone of Assyria ,.we have no connected information. Even t h e inscr ip

144 ASSYR IA .

tions which coll ect the acts of S e n n ae h e r ib,the in scr ip

t i on of Nebbi Yu nu s, and the inscription of Bavian ,end their accou nt of his mil ita ry deeds with the batt leof Ch al ul i and the c aptu re of Babylon . Indica tionslead to the conclu sion that S e n n ae h e r ib , even in th islast decade o f his reign , was so actively engaged incontests on t h e lower Eu phrates and again st Elam,

that he was compell ed to leave Syria to her fate . Thefragment of an inscription speaks of Sennacherib’swars again st a qu een of the Arabs ; in an inscripti onof h i s su ccessor also we hear of a conqu est of Senn ae h e r ib in Arabia. ‘ T ig la t h Pil esar had foughtagainst S amsie h

,the qu een of the Arabs

,Sargon had

received tribu te from her, and Sargon and T ig la t hPil esar had also received t h e tribu te of t h e S ab se an s .

’

Herodotu s,as we saw (p . ca ll s Sennacherib the

ki ng of “ the Ar abians an d Assyrians,” from wh ich

we may conclu de t hat in the tradi tion of Egypt, onwhi ch this accou n t given by Herodotu s of Sennach e r ib was based

,he was a ru ler to whom a co n

s ide r a b l e part of Arabia was subject . In the in scr iptions of the su ccessor of S e n n ae h e r ib , we find at h isaccession N ab u z ir , a son of Merodach Balad an , inpossession of Bi t Yakin , the land of the sea , the olddomain of his race .” He mu st, therefore, have woni t back in Sennacherib

’

s time,and though he may

have had to pay tribu te he mu st have main tained hisconqu est. Lastly, we hear that H al ludu s, the su c

cessor of Uman Min an u of Elam,made a vigorous

resistance t o Se n n ae h e r ib , and that S e n n ae h e r i b wonfrom h imBit lmbi

,a border fortress . ‘

G . Smith , “ Assyr . Can on , p . 139. T h e fragmen t must speak o f

eve n ts su bsequ e n t to th e yea r 691 B. C. , sin ce t h e cylin de r T aylo r ,wh i ch da te s fr om this yea r , doe s n o t me n t ion this war .

3 Above , p. 1 1 . 3 E . Schr ade r , K. A . T s . 227.G . Smi th , Assu rba n ipal ,”p. 207, 247. Men an t , An n a l. ” p. 29 1 .

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N 6 A SS Y R IA .

After an eventfu l reign of 24 years , S e nn ae h e r i bcame to an end even more miserable than t h e end of hisfather (631 When S e n n ae h e r i b was worshipping in the hou se of Nisroch h i s god ,

” so we find inthe Books of Kings, his sons Adramelech and Nerga lSar e ze r slew h imwith the sword . They escaped in tothe land of Ararat

,and Esarhaddon his son reigned in

his stead .

“ According to Polyhistor,A rdumuzan e s,

the son of Se n n ae h e r ib , was the treacherou s assassin ofhis father in A byde n u s N e rg il us su cceeds Senn ae h e r ib ; N e rg i lus was slain by his son A dr ame les ,who was kil l ed by his brother A xe r di s , and his armydriven back to the city of Biz ana (in Thecanon of the Assyrians merely mentions at the year681 B.C .

, Assu r-akh-iddin (Esarhaddon) ascends thethrone .

“ Sennacherib’s inscripti ons told us thatafter the campaign in which he had driven MerodachBaladan ou t of Bit Yakin ,

he had placed h is eldestson , A ssumad in

,as regent over Babylon (p . O f

this A ssu r n ad in we on ly kn ow this fact : we hearnothi ng of his later fortu nes. On a tablet, Senn ach e r ib states that he has set apart golden chai ns,ivory, and preciou s stones, a mina and a half inweight

,for his son Esarhaddon .

“ Esarhaddon , there

Schan e . For templumA th en i e n si um, i t is obviou s tha t we must re ad

Pr iva te documen ts fr om th e r e ign o f Sen n ache r ib on t h e sa le of

hou ses , vin eyar ds , slaves , debts , ar e in existe n ce fr om t h e year s 699 ,695 , 694 , 692, 687, 683, Oppe r t e t Men an t , Doe . j u r i diq .

” p . 1 69 fi.

2 Ki n gs xix . 37. T h e sta teme n t o f Jose phu s An ti q. 10, i. 6)re sts o n ly on thi s passage . In ca llin g A dr ame l ech u s an d Sa r asems

t h e e lder so n s of S en n a e h er ib , an d r epr e se n t in g them asfle e in g be for et h e Assyri an s to Armen ia , h e can sca r ce ly have an y other a u thor itytha n this passage , although immedi a t e ly be fore h e qu o te s a passage of

3 Bizan a is a 00a of Von Gu tse hmi d fo r i n Byzan ti n oruml G. Smith , “ Assyr . Can on , p. 39 .

Sayce . “ Records of the Past ,” 7, 138 .

ESARHADDON . M7

fore, a fourth so n of S en n ae h er ib , wrested from h is

bro thers, Adrame lech and Nergal Sare ze r , themu rderersof h is father, the fruit of the ir evil deeds, and becameS en n ae h e r ib

'

s su ccessor.The acts of Esarhaddon show that he was a prince

of en ergy, and kn ew how to gu ide the re ins with astr o ng hand. His father ’s reign had not been poor inre su l ts , bu t stil l he had not been able to mai ntain thedominion of Sargon in its fu l l extent : he had beencompe lled to give u p Syria. Esarhaddon was noto u ly ab le to r ecover t h is loss, h e r a ise d As syr ia t o a

he igh t which sh e had never attained before. Shalmm ar I I . had tro dden Syria, received the tribu te ofIsra el , and reduce d the west of Iran to submission ;T ig la t h Pil esar I I. had seen A raeh osia , received thehomage of Ju dah, and ru led over Babylon ia ; Sargonh ad h eld sway over Syria and Babylon ia, Cilicia andMedia ; Esa rhaddon kept the west of Iran in su b

miss ion ; h e not only ex tended t h e dominion ofAssyria further to the north than any of h is predscmsors ; he redu ced Babylon to certain obedience ,his armi es passed far beyond the border s of Syria, andof Asia to wards the sou th-west.A ccording to a cyl inder found at K uyu n dsh ik and

much inju red at the begin ning, Esarhaddon wi t h hisarmy hast ened to N ineveh ; Asshur, Samas , Bel,Neb o, an d l s ta r , h ad fortu nate l y placed h im o n thethro ne of h is fa ther. In Nineveh he heard thatNabu -zir, the so n of Merodach Balad an , the lord ofBit Y aki u , h ad at tacked the fai t h fu l overseer of Ur

(Mugheir ) , had smi t te n h im with t h e sword , andrefuse d homage . Fa ar h addo n sends h is tro ops againstNabu -z ir , wh o fli es before them to Elam : NahidMer odach , the brother of Nabu -zir, comes from Elamto pay homage to Esarhaddo n ; h e receives the land

1. 2

H S ASSYR IA

of the sea-coas t,the inheritance of his brother.

“Withou t fail ,” we are further told,

“ he came eachyear to Nineveh

,wi t h rich presents to kiss my fee t .

“

The inscription of a second cylinder, found at NebbiYunu s, mentions the same event. Nabu -z ir,

" we aretold

,

“ tr u sted in Elam, b u t he did not by that meanssave his l ife . I requ ested his brother Nahid Merodachto do homage to me . He has tened fr om Elam toNineveh

,and kissed my feet ; the whole of the sea

coas t I gave to h im.

”3 “ Samas- ibni , prince of Bi tDakku r in Chaldaea, took land in possession wh ichbelonged to the sons of Babylon and Bo r sippa . Igave it b ack to them,

and pu t Nabu -Sal l im, the son ofBal as u

,on the thr one, who became my servant.

" O n

a third cylinder (Aberdeen) Esarhaddon says : Atthe beginni ng of my reign , on my fir st warl ike ente rprise, I established myself firmly on the seat of mydomin ion .

” He marches to Babylon , makes prisoners,assembles the warriors, and a ll the tribes of the inhab i tan t s of K ardu n ias , assumes the crown , and bids thechiefs prostrate themselves before h im.

‘ That Esarhaddon bore the crown of Babylon is to ld u s in thecu rrent title of his inscriptions : “

Ki ng of Asshu r,

k ing of Babel, kin g of Sumir and Accad (king ofK a rd u n i as) Accordi n g to the astronomi cal canon

,

A sar i di n u s (As su r-akh- iddi n ) reigns over Babylonfrom the begi nn ing of the year 680 to the end oft h e year 668 Over Assyria Esarhaddon reignedfrom 681 to 668Esarhaddon appears to have adopted a difl'er e n t

method from h i s fathers for secu ring his domi nionover Babylonia. So far as we can see

,he attempted

Talbo t, Re cords of th e Pas t ,” 3, 104—106.

Talbo t , le t . off . 3, 1 14.

3 Ta lbo t , loc. ci t Men a n t , “ An n a l.” p. 243.

Mén a n t , loo. ci t . p . 248.

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150 ASSYR I A.

Of Esar h addon '

s relations to Elam, the inscriptionsonly tell u s th at he strongly fortified a border-ci tyagainst Elam.

‘ The tribes of the Arabs were redu cedfar and wide . The cylinder of Nebbi Yu nus mentionsthe city of Adumu , the fortress of the Arabs, whichSennacherib took he, Esarhaddon , made Tabu a, aWoman brought up in his palace , qu een of the Arabs,an d increas ed by 65 camels the tribu te paid to h i sfather. When Hazae l, the prince of an other Arabiantribe

,died

,Esarhaddon pu t his so n Y ah l u on the

throne,and raised the tribu te paid by Hazael by 10

min es of gold, 50 camels, and payments of otherkinds .‘ The distant land of Bazu had been troddenby none of his forefathers ; he advanced thither ; sixprinces of this region, Ki su ,

Akbar u , Mausah u ,

H ab iz u , N iar u , H aban amr u , and two qu eens, Yapahand Bailu

,he slew ; their gods, their possessions, and

their people, he carried ofl' to Assyria ; the ki n g ofthe Gembu l , who dwelt in the marshes and waters

(in the region at the mou th of the Euphrates) ,submi tted, and brought presents and tribu te .

‘

I n the Eas t, Esarhaddon kept the tribes of t h eMede a in su bjection . The cylinder of Nebbi Yunu ssays “ The land of Pa tu sar ra , a region in the neighbo u r h ood of in the midst of the dist ant land ofMedia, on the border of the land of Bikn i , of thecopper-mou n tain s—this land none of the kings

, myforefat hers

,had su bjugated . S i t irpar n a and Ipar n a ,

the princes of the strong places, had not bowed beforeme ; I carried them to Assyria, with their subjects,horses, char iots, oxen , sheep, as ses, as rich booty .

”

A r pis , Za n asan a , Ramat iya, the princes of the cities

Talbot , Ioc. ci t . p. 1 1 8.

G . Smith, Assyr . Ca n on , p. 137.

Talbo t , Re co rds ," 3, 1 1 6. Talbo t , Ioc. ci t. p . 106, 1 16, 1 17 .

ZRSABHADDO N . 15 1

of Par takka , Par tn kka, and Uraka -Zabarna in the landof Media

,the pos ition of whi ch was di sta nt, who in

the days of the kin gs ,my forefath ers, had not troddent h e soil of Assyria.— the fear of Asshu r my lord thr ewt h em down ; they brought for me to my chi ef city,Nineveh, their grea t beasts, copper ( l ), the produ cto f th e ir mines, bowed themselves with folded handsbefore me , and be sought my favou r. I placed myviceroys over them, who u nite d the inhabitan ts ofthose reg ions with my kin gdom; I laid upon themburdens, and a fixed tribu te .

”l

Of Esar h addon '

s acts in the North, we learn that hedr ove ou t t h e in habit ants of the land of Van fromtheir dwel lin gs, that he trod down the inhabitan ts oft h e land of Chilaki (Cilicia ) , and the Duha whodwe l t in the forests of the land of Tabal. Twenty-onefortre sses, and the small places rou nd them, he tookan d bu rnt down ; an d carried away the inhabitants .Tinapa of the land of Gimir a i (Cimmeria) , wh ich layin the fa r dista nce , submitted to h im.

’

The most important achievements of Esarhaddonwere accomplished in the West. On the cylinderof K uyu n ds h ik, the expulsion of Nabu air

, and thee s tabl ishment of Nahid Merodach his brother m BitYakin

, to which the cyl inder of Nebbi Yunus addsthe subjug ation of Bit Dakkur, is followed by a cam

pa ig n of Fe a r h addo n to Syria, which mu st, therefore,fa l l in the year 679 or 678 Se n n ae h e r ib haddethron ed Klu lams of Sidon in the year 701 and

pu t l t h o h a l in his place (p . l t h obal was nolonge r at the h ead in Sidon . Esarhaddon te l ls u s ,that A bdimilku t of Sidon , and San duarr i , a kin g int h e mounta in -land (therefore, n o doubt, a prin ce of

‘ 80 E 80h u de r tn a sh tu .

M an n h d t p m

153 ASSYR I A.

Lebanon) , united against h im. A bdimi lku t tru sted inh is posi t ion by the great sea, and th rew o ff my yoke.

" 1

The great city of Sidon ," so we a r e told on a cylinder

of Nebbi Yu nu s, which lies on the sea, I attacked ;all the ir places

,fort res ses and dwell ings, I destroyed

I threw them into the sea . A bd imi lku t , who had fledbefore the face of my warriors in t o the middl e of thesea

,I seized li ke a fish , a n d cu t o ff his head . H i s

possessions,gold, sil ver, and precious stones, the

treasu res of his pal ace , his innumerable people, oxen ,sheep

,and asses, I carried away to Assyr ia . The

princes of the land of Chatti (Syr ia) I collected . Icau sed a new ci ty t o be bu il t, and cal led it the city ofEsarhaddon . The people whi ch my bow had taken inthe lands and on the sea of the risin g sun (i . e . thei nhabi tants carried away from Bit Yaki n) , I se tt ledthere, and placed my viceroys over them. I caughtS an d uar r i l ike a bird in the midst of the mou ntai ns,and cau sed his head t o be cu t o ff . The heads ofS an du ar r i and A b d imi lku t I hu ng up beside the headsof their chi efs, and marched to Nineveh.

"2

The overthr ow of Sidon , and the terrible examplewhich Esarhaddon had made by th is execu tion of theconqu ered princes, appears to have frighte ned allSyria into obedience . To this

,at any rate, the assem

bli ng of all the princes of Syria, of which the cylinderspeaks, points ; and we learn fu rther, withou t anymention of new contests in Syria, that the princesof Cypru s paid homage to Esarhaddon . Af ter t h ecylinder has narrate d t h e achievements of Esarhaddonagainst the Arabs, the Medes, and the Cilicians, whichhe accompl ished down to the close of t h e year 674

( t h e cylinder bears the date of the year of A tar il u

Ta lbo t , “ Re co rds ," 3, 106.

G . Smi th ,

“ Assyr ian Can on , p . 137 , 1 38.

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15 4 ASSYR IA .

Bu t in spite of this obedi ence of the princes ofSyria and Cypru s, Esarhaddon had to u ndergo co n

tests in Syria aft er this time, i . 8 . after the year674 B. C .

,which brought h im beyond the borders of

Syria. In the year 697 a c. Manasses su cceeded hisfather Hezekiah in Judah ; he was then a boy of 12years of age .

‘ Bu t when he came of age he did notfollow in the steps of his piou s father ; therefore, weare told in the Ch ron icles, Jehovah cau sed the captainsof the army of the king of Assyria to come u ponh im ; they took Manasses prisoner with thorns, an dbou nd h im in chains, and carried h im to Babel . Andwhen he was in dis tress he besought Jehovah

,and

humbled h imself before the God of h is fathers, andJehovah heard h is prayer, and cau sed h im to retu rnto Jeru salem, to his kingdom.

’ The Books of theHebrews fu rther tel l u s that Esarhaddon

,king of

Assyria,settled people from Persia, Erech and Babel,

from Su sa and Elam, in Samaria .

” The carryi ng awayof Manasses, and strengtheni ng of the foreign popa lation i n Israel , can only have been cau sed by attemptsat rebell ion in the kin gdom of Ju dah an d land ofIsrael . These attempts mu st have taken place after674 B.C.

,with which year the cylinders close, which

narrate the deeds of Esarhaddon down to th is point,

wi thou t any mention of such rebellions ; on the con

t r a ry , we saw that these cylin ders at the close of th isepoch describe Manasses of Ju dah and A b ibaa l ofSamaria as among the obedient and tr ibu tary vassals

‘ 1 T h e ye ar 697 is ob ta in ed fo r t h e acce ss ion of Man asses, b y ca l

cu la ti n g t h e r e i g n s o f t h e kin g s of Juda h from th e da te o f t h e takin go f Je r u sa lem by Nebu chadn ezza r , i . c. fr om t h e yea r 686 A s

H ezekiah mu st have ascen ded t h e thr on e in 728 (p. 1 7, a ), h er e ign ed n o dou bt two year s lon ge r than t h e Books of Ki n gs allow,

which a llo t to h im a r e ign o f 29 year s .

2Chr o n . xxxiii . 1 1—13. Ezr a iv. 2, 9.

ESARHADDON. 155

of Es arhaddon . The fra gment of an inscri ption ofEsar haddon, wh ich narrates the events of his tenthcampa ign, an d which we cannot place before the year673 as there is no menti on of the campaign inthe inscriptions date d from that year , informs us of arebellion of Baal, kin g of Tyre, who was mentioned atthe close of the inscriptions previou sly qu oted at thehead of the vassa ls of Esarhaddon in Syria. We canas sume the more certam that Ju dah and Samariajoined this rebellion, as the fragment adds : KingBaal of Tyr e “ threw 03 the yoke of Assyria, trusti ngin king Tarku (T i r h aka ) of Cu sh .

” l

I t must have Me n the interference of Egypt, thehope in Egypt and Ethiopia, which urged a portionof the Syrians to renewed att empts at rebelli on. Tirhaka, as we have seen, fought against Esa r h ad don

’

s

father in the year 701 B.C. , by no means withou tsu cce ss, at El tekeh ; afte r the battle Sennacheribabandoned Syria . The restoration of the su premacyof Amyr in , which took place after the overth row ofA bdimilku t of Sidon , was cal cu lated to drive theru ler of Egypt an d Ethiopia to an attempt to preven tt h e es t ab l ishme n t of Assyria on his borders. In thehepe of such assistance , Tyre, which sto od at the headof Phoenicia, after the defeat of Sidon ,may have takenu p arms ; Ju dah and Samaria may have joined her.The fragment of another inscription of Esarh addont e lls us that he sent ou t his forces “ to fight agains tTarku , the king of Cush, again st the me n of Egypt,and the a llies of Tarku e . no doubt, against TJudah and Samaria) . The Assyrian army won thevictory . Tarku fl ed a The re turn of T ir h aka wasfollowed by the su bjugati on of Judah and Samaria

,

0. Smith. “ Disc."9. 212.

0. Smith. Assn . Canon . p .

133 ASSYR IA.

t h e carry ing away of Manasses to Babel (Esarhaddonbu il t, as we saw, at Babel , and then , no doubt, residedthere) , and the settlement of in h ab i ta n ts fr om theEast i n Samaria, in order to secu re the obedience ofthis land . We may pu t these events in the year673 As Tyre on her island continu ed h e r resis tance

,Esarhaddon marched to break this down , on his

te nth campaign, in t h e early spring, in the month ofNisan

, crossed the swollen wat ers of the Eu phratesand Tigris, cau sed fortifications to be thrown u pagainst Tyre

, cu t them o ff, as he says, fromwater andfood

,an d directed his march against Mu zu r (Egypt)

and Milu h h i (N apa t a) . From Aphek in Samaria heset ou t sou thwards against Raphia (Refah n e ar Gaza),where his grandfather Sargon had defeated Sab ako n

(Seveh) of Et hiopia and Egypt nearly 50years before

(p . On the ma r ch through the desert the armysu ffered from want of water ; b u t Merodach came tothe aid of Esa r h addon '

s warriors, and saved their l ives ,— ns the inscription tel ls u s , which breaks o ff at thepoint where it is tell ing of t h e first confl ict with theenemy. Afte r the in d ub i ta b l e su ccesses of Esarhaddonagainst T i r h aka , Tyre submitted : the king Baal waspardoned ; we find h im again at the head of the cityu nder Esar h addo n ’

s su cce ssor. In t h e same way, afterthe subjection of Tyre

,or some time later, when no

one in Syria cou ld any longer fou nd hopes on Egypt,Manasses again became king of Ju dah , as t h e Hebrewssta te . In the l ist of the su bject princes of Syria aft erthe death of Esarhad don

,the king of Ju dah follows

immediately after Baal of Tyre ; u n fortu nately then ame (in any case Manasses) is broken o ff.Eit her on the campaign

,of which the first in cidents

have been al ready relat ed in the fragment lastmentioned, or on a campaign immedi ately following,

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158 ASSYR IA.

dominion of the Ethiopians , mu st have recogn ised thedominion of Esarhaddon in the place of the domin ionof T i r h aka , and pas sed from vassalage to h im in tovassalage to Assyria Bu t not all . Many of themmay have shar ed T i r h aka

'

s fortu nes . In the place ofthose who did not adapt themselves to the new rule,came others who thought to ris e as adherents ofAssyria The prince who received from Esarhad donthe regions of Sais and Memphis, and consequ entlythe most important position , Niku (Necho) , wast a in ly a man who had vigorou sly su pported the newgovernment. 1 S ar ludar i is sai d to have governed thecanto n of Zi t in u ; Pakr u r u , the land of Pisaptn ;Pu tu b as ti , the land of Tan is (Zanu , Zoan ) ; H ar si e suadmini stered the land of Zab n u t i (S e be n n yt u s) ;T apn ach t i (T n eph ach t us) , the canton of Bu n u b u ;S u sh in qu , the land of Bu siris (Pu sir u ) ; Ziha, theland of Sin t ; Lamin t u , the land of Chimu ni ; Ispima tn ,

the land of Taini (Thi ai s) ; Mu n t imi an e h e , the landof Thebes (Niha).

2 According to this, Esarhaddonmade those princes of t h e districts in Egy pt who,thou gh they had hitherto obeyed T ir h aka ,

were wi l l ingto su bmi t to h im, his vassals, so far as he did n o t

Psamme t i ch u s begin s to r e ign i n th e yea r 664, acco rdin g to t h eEgypt ia n r e cko n in g, as will b e shown be low. T h e li st o f Man e thoa l lo ts e ight yea r s t o h is fa the r N echo . N echo , the r e for e , be ga n t o

r e ign in 672 B.C. , i . e . in t h e ye a r i n which Esa r haddon con qu er e dEgypt . N ech epsu s an d S te ph i n a te s , whom Man e tho places si x an d

seve n ye a r s be fo r e N echo , be lo n g to t h e family o f Psamme t ich us.Pe rhaps they we r e a t t h e head o f Isis , u n der T i r h aks then N e cho ,t h e so n o f N ech epsu s , wou ld have made himse lf n o ticed by Esa rhaddo n by go in g ove r t o h im.

G . Smith, “ Assu r ban ipa l, p. 20fl. Ha igh, “ Zu r aog . Spr ae h e ,”

1 871 ; s . 7 1 fl. T h e Mu n t imi a n ch e o f Thebe s may be t h e Mon th-em-h a

o f t h e in scr ipti on o f t h e temple o f Ma t a t Thebe s , th e piou s fou n dst io n s o f which i t en ume r a te s ; in a slab fo un d in this temple h e isca lled : “ He r edita r y lor d, pr in ce o f Pato r e s, pr ophet of Ammon .

Br ugsch, His t. of Egypt ," I I . 270.

ESARH ADDON . 159

replace themby Egyptians, whom he considered moretrus tworthy, and here and there by Assyrians . ToNecho he handed over or continu ed the importantdistricts of Memph is and Sais. As N ee h o of Saiscame to the throne, according to the statement ofManetho

,eight years before Psamme t ich u s , and Peam

me t ich us , accordi ng to the date of the Egyptians,Mcame king in 664 B.C. , Necho

’s accession falls in672B. C. , and the conqu est of Egypt by Esarhaddonmay be placed in this yea r . The conqu est of Cu sh ,i . e . of the land of the Sou th , is du e to the exaggerationof Esarhaddon we find T i r h aka soon after in possession of Nape ta. The slabs of reliefs which Esarhaddonca u sed to be mad e for the adornment of the newpalace which he began to bu ild at Chalah after theconqu est of Egypt, bear on the reverse the in scriptionPalace of Esarhaddon , king of Asshu r and Babel, kingof Muzu r (Lower Egypt) , king of Pe trus (Fatores,Upper Egypt) , of the land of Mi luh h i (Meroe), and ofthe land of Ca sh.

"1

This new palace at Chalah was bu il t by Esarhaddonin the sou th-west corner of the terrace on which risethe royal fortresses of th is city, to the west of thebu il di ng of T ig la t h Pil esa r I I . In exte nt i t comesnearest to the palace of A ssu rn asi rpa l in the north-westcorner (I I. Bu t it was not completed

,though

Esarhaddon did not hesitate to take the reliefs fromthe palace of Tigla t h Pil esar and use them for his newbu ildi ng (p . A broad sta ircase lead s to thesou t h front, to a double portico gu arded by lions a ndsph inxes. The sph inxes are recumbent lion -bodies

,

wi th win gs t h e human head bears t h e Assyrian tiarasu rrounded by h ome . These forms. not elsewherefound in Syria , prove a certain imi ta tion of Egyptian

moun t .“ An s e l . p. m.

130 ASSYRIA.

models, which the Assyrians must have become firstacqu ainted wi th on the Nile .3

Pr iva te docume n ts o n t h e sa le o f lan ds , slave s, on lo a n s fr om t h e

t ime o f Esarhaddon , ar e in exis te n ce , be lo n gin g to t h e ye a r s 680,677, 676, 674 , 671 . O ppe r t e t Mém t ,

“ Do e um. ja r id." CL 0.

Smith. Disc.” p .41 16fi.

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162 ASSY 11111 .

the th ree last states of Syria, fou nd in t h e list ofEsarhaddon

,Samaria, Ammon, and Ashdod , are also

wanting here. Then follow the kings of Cypru s , inwhich the cities and the persons are those of the l is tof Esarhaddon only the th ree fi rst are wantin g. Bu t

as the whole number is again pu t at 22princes of t h el and of the coast and the sea, we may conclude wi thcertainty that from the year 672 l i e — since therebellion and r e o i n s t all a t io n of Baa l of Tyre, andMa n asscs of Ju dah, there had been no movements andchanges in Syria.Assu rban ipal informs u s that he went down from

Syria to Egypt ; at K ar b an i t he me t the army ofT ir h aka , and drove it ou t of the field . When Tirhaka heard of th is at Memphis, he retired to Thebes.Assu rbanipal pu rsu ed h im, took the ci ty, and cau sedh is army to encamp i n it b e restored the 20princes towhom his father had given the districts of Egypt, leftbehi nd a portion of h i s army, and retu rned to Ninevehwith rich booty (668 T ir h aka was again forcedback to N apa ta ,

2 b u t the domin ion of Assyri a was n o t

yet firmly establ ished i n Egypt. Assu rbanipal mayhave imposed heavier du ties o n the rul ers of the di st r icts ; the conti nu ed stay of As syrian troops in Egyptmay have appeared too bu rdensome and oppressive .Whatever the motive, some of these vassals enteredinto secret commu nication with T i r h aka at their headwas Necho

,t h e chief of the most important d istricts,

Memphi s and Sais, and with h im S ar luda r i of Zinia n ,and Pakru r u of Pisap t u . They inte nded to retur nfrom the vas salage of Assyria to the vassalage ofN apa t a ; they invite d T i r h aka to retur n to Egypt1 G . Smi th , Disc. p. 322.

Assu rban ipal, i t is t r ue , sa ys tha t h e h as con qu e r ed Muzu r an d

Cu sh (G . Smith, Ioc. ci t . p. which is ce rtai n ly an exagge r a tionu n less Uppe r Egypt is mea n t by Ou sh .

A SS UBBANIPAL'S WARS AND VICTOR IES. 163

an d again seize the sovereign power. The co nditi onwould without doubt be that T ir h dka shou ld continu ethem i n their rule over the citi es a n d districts whichEsa rhaddon and Assu rbanipal had given over to them.

But the lead ers of the Assyrian troops captured theirmamenger, caused Nacho, Sa r l udar i , and Pakr u ru tobe arreste d , pu t them i n chains , and sent them toNineveh. The Assyrians took Memphis , Mendes (Be ndidi) , an d Tanis (Zanu , Zoan) , cu t down the inhabitants who resisted

,and broke t h e towers on their wa lls.

T i rh aka re tired before the Assyrian troops to N apa ta .

I t appears that As su r ban ipal attempte d to giveo ther supports than mere force of arms to his ru leover the distant Egypt. He released N ach o from hisbonds, resto red to h im the government of Sais, andga ve to his son N e bosh ezban the government of thecan to n of Athribis : “ I continued to extend tothem,

” he tells us ,“ the kindness and favou r wh ich

my fa ther had shown them.

” Even these mea nswere soon found to be insufficient. T ir h aka

’

s dayscame t o an an d. He was succeeded on the th rone ofN apa ta by U rdaman c, whom Assu rbanipal calls a sonof Sahakon (Sabaku ). He se t out to restore thedomini on of Eth iopia over Egypt ; he won Thebes,defeated the Assyrian troops before Memphis , shu tu p the defeated army in Memph is, and to ok thempriso ners. A mess enger went in haste to Nineveh ”

to br ing to t h e king t h e in telligence of these grievou sd isa st ers .

‘

Assurbanipal se t ou t for Egypt in person , to makegood the blow which the arms of Assyria had r e

ce ived , to resto re the pre stige an d dread of his poww .

When he h ad cro ssed the borders of Egypt,U rdama n e

left Memphis in order t o return to Thebes .

“ The' 0. Smith, le t . al l . p.m

164 ASSYR I A.

princes a n d viceroys whom I had placed over Egypt,came before my face and kissed my feet,

” so Assu rba n ipal tel ls u s .

“ I pu rsued U rdaman e and came t oThebes ; he fled at the approach of my mightyarmy. I to ok the city of Thebes ; silver, gold,preciou s stones, the treas u res of the palace , me n andwomen

,two great obelisks , which stood before the

gates of the t emple,engraved with beau tif ul scu lp

tu res ; a great and in numerable booty I carried awayfr om Thebes (Niha) to Assyria . I made my warriorsmarch over Egypt and Cush , and won glory .

” 1 NoAmmon (Thebes) was situ ate among the rivers, -ao

the prophet Nahum describes t h e captu r e an d desolation of Thebes by Assu rbanipal and the Assyrians

,

with waters rou nd abou t her, whose rampart was

th e stream,and her walls the stream. Ethiopia (Cu sh)

mighty in numbers, and Egyptians endl ess in mu l t itude, Phu t (Arabians) and Libyan s (Lu bim) were herhelpers. Yet she went forth into mi sery and capt ivi ty ; her ch ildren were das hed to pieces at t h e topsof all the streets. They cas t lots for her honou rableme n , and al l her great me n were bou nd in chains . ” 2

The repeated attempts of T i r h aka and his su ccessorto r c-establish the government over Egypt fr omN apa tawere wrecked. Aft er the captu re and sack of Thebes

,

which we can place i n the year 663 B.C.,

3Assur banipalsought fu rther to secu re the obedience of Egypt bysettlers, whomhe brought there fromconqu ered lands .

4

G . Smith , loc . ci t . pp. 328, 329. Nahum iii. 8—10.

T h e Apia-pil la r fr omt h e twe n ty-fir st y ear o f Psamme t ich u s pr ove stha t t h e Egypt ia n s pu t h im immedia te ly afte r T ir h aka . A s theymaket h e r e ign o f Psamme ti ch u s comme n ce with t h e y ea r 664 t h e de a tho f T i r h aka mu s t fall in this yea r , an d t h e war o f U rdaman e in t h e n ext .In habita n ts o f Ka r b i t, i n t h e lan d o f H a la h a sta , we r e br o u ght

he r e ; compa r e Cyl. B . i n Mén a n t , A n n .

" p . 291 . If t h e kin g o f t h ememo r ial st o n e o f t h e mi n e o f t h e temple o f Ammo n a t N apata ,whose n ame is r ead with much u n ce r ta in ty as Nu a t -Mi (amu n ) , o r

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163 ASSYR IA .

obedience , now took up arms anew ,t e n years aft er h is

first rebellion . A ssu rban ipal’

s thi rd war was directe dagainst Tyre and A rad u s . He te ll s u s that the fortresses of king Baal were taken , that he cu t o ff all exi tfromTyre

,and compel led the in habitants to drink the

wate r of the sea, that he brought abou t their submissionby a close investment. When Baal had given u p hisson , his daughters, and the dau ghters of h is brot h ers ,with a considerable tribu te , he was again replaced i nh is dominion .

‘ The king of Arvad, also Y akin l u , whodwel t in the sea (t h e city of Arvad lay on a n islan do ff t h e coast, I I. was compell ed to su bmithe sent his daughter wi t h many presents to Ninevehfor the harem of the king, and kissed A ssur b an ipa l

’

s

feet ; aft er h is death the government of Arvad wasentru ste d to A z i b aal , a son of Y akin lu .

A ssu rb an ipal’

s power and su premacy reached far tothe west beyond Syria . He tells u s that Mugallu ,t h e king of the T ib ar e n e s , and S an dasa rmi of C i licia,who h ad not obeyed h is predecessors , sent theirdaughte rs to Nineveh , and k issed his feet. Gyges

(Gu gu ) also , the king of Lydia, a land , the nameof which my father had not heard , says Assu rbanipal ,sent a message to Nin eveh . Gyges h ad obtain ed thet h rone of Lydia by violence ; he was opposed by astrong party who adhered to the old royal familywhich he had overthrown and it was not in domesticmatters only that he fou nd himself in difficu lties . The(‘

imme r ian s who had in vaded Asia Minor and weresettled there on t h e lower H al ys , who, as Esar haddontold u s, recognised his su premacy (p. had forcedt heir way from thence to Phrygia and Lydia . Gygesobviou sly sought support in Assyria, the strong neighbou r of t h c Cimmerians, as soon as and as long as

t G. Smi th ,» A ssu rban ipu l ,” a 62, 63.

ASS UBBA N IPAL’S WARS AND Vi OTO Bl ES . 107

Tubal an d Cilicia obeyed the king of Asshu r. Theinscriptions of Assurbanipal tell us that Gyges pr omised obedien ce to h im and brought tribu te .

‘ Thu sthe su premacy of Assyria reached the west of AsiaMi nor, the coasts of the E gean Sea (abou t 660The next cammig n s of the kin g were directed to the

north. A ch sh er i, kin g of Minn i , had kept back h ist ribute . The Assyrians traversed and desolated h isla nd in two su ccessive invasions ; A ch sh e r i

’

s ownsu bje cts rose against h im, and sl ow h im ; his son Ual lisu bmi t te d , sent his daughter to N ineveh, and paid t h etribu te which had been kept back, and which Assu rb an i pa l incre ased by 30 horses .

3 Sardu ri, king of theneighbou rin g Ararat (U rar t i) , sen t rich prese nts, andacknowledged the su premacy of As syria . The rebell ionof Bir izch ad r i, a ch ief of the Medes, and of the twosons of Gagi, a chi ef of the Sacae (Sachi) , Sariti andPariza was defea te d ; 75 fortified place s were t ake n ;the three rebe ls were taken prisoners an d carri ed toNineveh .

s

Amu r ban ipal bes to wed especial attenti on on Babylon ia, the gove rnment of which he had entruste dto his younger brother Samu l-sum-ukin (Samuges inA byd e n us, Saosduch in us in t h e can on ofHe te l ls u s that here also he had continu ed thebuilding of the temples which h is father had begu n,t h at he bu ilt at Bit S agga t u at Babel , and erected fou rs ilver bu lls a t t h e ga te of t h e temple of Bit Zida atBo rsi ppa , that h e had ad orned t h e abodes of Bel andBil i t . A brick foun d at Babylon bears the inscription ,to the god Me r odach, my lord , Assurbanipal , king

ci t .

1N .

ms ASSYR IA.

of Assyria, king of Babylon . When U r taki , kin gof Elam (he had succee ded his brother Umman aldas I .on t h e throne there) , invaded Babylonia, Samu l-sumu kin cal led on h is bro ther for assistance the Elami teswere already encamped before the walls of Babylon .

’

To prote ct Be] and Nebo, my gods, whom I served ,says Assu rbani pal

,

“ I gathered t ogether my warriors .The Elami tes were driven b ack to their borders . No tlong afte r th is failu re U t taki , kin g of Elam, di ed , andthe third brother ofUmman al das and Ut t aki , T e umma n ,

ascended the t hrone. T h e sons of the two elder bro thers,the sons of Umman aldas

,and the sons of U r t aki (t h e

latter were called Umman igas and T ammar it u ) wereafraid that T e umman wou ld cau se them to be removedo u t of his way, in order to se cu re the su ccession for hisown sons, and fled to Assyria. 3 T e umman demandedt hat t h ey shou ld be given u p . Assu rbanipal refu sedand when in consequ ence Teamman declared war an dinvaded Assyria, Assu rbanipal sacrifi ced to the wargoddess Istar at her abode in Arbela

,the city of t h e

j oy of her heart,” and prayed : “ O thou godde ss of

goddesses, dreadfu l in battle, goddess of war, qu een oft h e gods, rejoice the heart of As shu r ; strike downT e umman and destroy h im. And the goddess heardmy prayer and said Fear not ; I will grant theefavou r.” Bu t in that nig ht Istar appeared in a. dreamt o the seer, with her bow i n her hand, and an nou ncedthat the enemy wou ld not remain ; in the midstof the battle she wou ld protect the kin g of Asshu r. ‘

Assu rbani pal went against Elam in his fift h war,

wh ich he led in person . T e umman retired before the

1 G . Smith, D isc.

” p. 380.

G . Smi th, “ A ssu r b .

” p. 103. Men an t , “ An n a l. ” p. 282.

G . Smi th, loo. ci t . p. 107, 1 17.

Cyl in de r B . in G . Smi th, loo. ci t . p. 120fi.

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170 AS S Y R l A .

of Babylon forgot the favou r shown to them,says

Assu rbanipal , t h e temples which he had restored an d

a dorned with silver and gold ; the inhabita n ts ofSippars , B abylon , Bo rs ippa , K u t h a disregarded theirbrotherhood, and took u p arms against h im. Thesignal given by the king’s own brot her was foll owedby the A rabians , Syrians, and Lydians . That fai t hless brother, Samu l -sum-u kin , led as t ray the inhabitants o f Acca d , of Ch al dsea , of A r um, and of the seacoast, my t ribu tary subjects , to rebel again st me . Theprinces (mm) of t h e land of Gu ti, of t h e land ofthe West (ma ! a cfia r r i ), of Mi lu h h i , which my han dsbrou ght in to submission, all these he sedu ce d to fal lfrom me , they took h i s side such is the statementof A ssu r ban ipa l .

l

This rising was all the more dangerou s, as some ofthe ve sse l-princes of Egypt thought it a favou rablemoment for th rowing o ff the yoke of Assyria. Theso n of t h e Necho , whom i n spite of his conspiracywith T i r h aka Assu rbanipal had a second time madeprince of Sais, N e bo sh e zban , who was t hen ru ler ofthe can ton of Athribis, and aft er the death of h isfather Necho, whi ch occu rred in the mean t ime

(Necho died shortly before, or in , the year 664su cceeded h im as prince of Sais, was at the head ofthis movement. Assu rbanipal tells us that Gygesof Lydia sent aid to Pisami lki , the prince (S a r ) ofMu zu r, who had cast o ff the yoke of his ru le .3 In1 G . Smith, loc. ci t . p . 1 54 , 1 5 5 , 169 , 201 . Disc.

”

p . 838.

Above , p. 163. I t is ce r t a in tha t Psamme t i ch u s’s r e ign e nds in t h eyea r 610 Bo e okh , Man e tho ,”Ze i tse h r . fur s. 716

U n gor , Man e tho ,” s. 280. Her odo t u s an d Ma n e t h e allo t 64 yea r s t ot h e r e ign o f Psamme t ich u s , an d an Apis-pil lar te lls u s tha t a n ew Apiswas in sta lled i n t h e mo n th A th yr o f t h e 54th year o f t h e r e ign of

Psammct i ch u s . N echo t h e r e for e died be for e , or in th e year 664610

G . Smith, “ A ssur b . p. 66 ;“ Disc. p. 332. I n t h e compu tat ion

ASS UM A N IPAU S WARS AND Vl CT O R l ES . 17 1

this Pisamilki we may recognise the Psamme t i ch usof the Greeks, the Psamt ik of the Egyptians, the so nof N echo of Sais, t h e same person whomAssur banipal,when he mentions the restoration of N e ch c and h isson , ca l ls by the Assyrian name of N e bosh e zban .

o f ficrodotm, t h e accesaicn of Gyge s o f Lydis take s plae e in 719 0r

take s plsce in 68 1 0r 678 a c. I n th e oa n on of Euse bi ua on t h e samedstmh c is ecmpu te d w h ave asce n ded t h e th r on e in M O r GQGJ n d to

h ave re ig n od t i l l 663 0r 660. I n t h e list of Lydi an ki n gs ai u se b .

686, u td r sig n e d tc 663 0r 660 8 .o. T h e la t te r da te s must be ace epte di f Gyge s sen t he lp t o Psamme t ich us. Samu l-sum-ukin wou l d n o t

h ave fou n d i t nee essn r y to in vit e t h e pr in ce o r pri n ces o f Mi l u h h i tc

H i l u h h i mu st t h e n bo u sed o n t h e cy l in der in s wide r se n se fcr

Egypt sn d Me r cc—an d Gyge s cou ld n o t se n d an y he l p t o Psamme tieh n a i f h e was n ct h

‘

n g h imse l f. We are n ot in a poait icn tc fix

wee n t e ly th e ds t e cf t h e mb e l licn ct Samu l -sum-uki n , si ncc t h e l is t

of t h e A-yr ia n r u l e r s b re aks oflwi th t h e ye a r wo nc Th e fact th a t

i t is th e six t h war cf A ssux-bs n ips l i n wh i eh h e march es aga in st h is

b ro tb esu - I e n umsr a te t h e wa rs acco rdin g to Cy l in dcr A—e n l y provest h a t tb e wa r cs n n o t h sve ts ke n plsce be fo ro 660 n u I n t h e astmn omina l oa no n t h e r e ig u of Saosdu ch in u s e n ds wi th t h o yoar Gi S a m;s nd wo ma y t h ere fom assume wi th ce r ta in ty t h a t th e over t h r ow of

sm ukin wok u p a rmg wo dc n ct kn ow ; h e may ve ry wel l h ave dcn eso in t h e yoa r wz a c. Fo r t h e r eb e l l ion was n ot b ro u g h t to s clcsc

t il l s ft er a lon g si oge of Bab ylcn : or t h e r eb e l l i cn may h avo oom.

m e ed eve n ea r l ie r . so t h a t Gyge s oou l d u n dou b tedly h ave se n t h e lp t o

Pm me t ich n s in t h e la st ye u s o f h is mig u . T h e cyfin dm wh ioh

n nm t e t h e h isto r y of t h e war s c f A ssu r ba n ipa l , da to fr om t h e ycar o fGm s sda in s n i , wh o in Cy l in dcr A is ca l le d vice r oy o fA emd . and on th e

o t hm viosmy os b e l . We are n ot i n a pce i t icn to flx defin i te ly t h eplace cf th i s ymr . A mb lct of Ere o h b ears th o da tc e f N N isa n of t h c

twe n t ie t h ye s r of A ssu r b a n ips l i n Babe lA s A-u r bs n ipd must h s ve dn t ed h is mlo in Bs by lo n b om t h e ovor s

m a u . 8smu l-sum-ukin'

s doa t h mu st have t ake n plaoc s t leas t

b d ow tu c tw . O no

th o oyl in de rs and on t h o re l ie fs iu h is paln ce a t

Baby lon is n b r iek s l r esdy me n t ion od h o cs l ls h imsolf ki n g of Babol . itfo l lows t h s t th cso imer ipti ou s b e lo n g to th o pon

'

od sftcr th o wu wi tbp.

172 ASSYR IA .

When the failu r e of that attempt had made Nechoand h is son captives of Assyria, t h e importa nt poin twas to give pledges to the king of Assyria that thefidelity of his vassals wou ld not again be broken .

The Egyptian tradition of the rise of Psamme t ich us ,preserved for u s by Herodotu s and Diodo ru s , oughtnot to have more weight than th at As syrian nameagainst t h e identi ty of Pisamil ki and Psamme t ich us .

That tradition knows of nothi ng b u t conte sts ofPsamme t ich u s with his fellow-princes, not with theAssyrians ; l ike Manet ho

’s l ist of kings, it is absoluwsilen t abou t the Assyrians, beca u se it wishes t o concealthe fact that the Assyrians ever had dominion overEgypt. The tradition of Egypt imagin es a volu nta ryre t irement of the king of Ethiopia, or his abdicationof the government of Egypt, and then represents theEgyptians as setting . up 12princes in the place of onewe have already seen t hat 20 were set u p by Esarhaddon , and retained by Assu rbanipa l. Manetho

’s l istsays nothing either of the Assyrian domin ion

,or of the

twelve ; in it the ru le of the last E thi opian is foll owedby t h e dynasty of the Saites, two forefathers of N echo,and then by Necho and Psamme t ich us . The se pu l

chres of the Apis show,that as a fact, the date s were

d ifferent ly fixed in the seventh centur y B. C. in Egypt.Even then t h e kings of Assyria were disregarded thereign of the Ethiopian T i r h aka is foll owed immediate lyby the reign of Psamme t ich u s. The stru ggles whichPsamme t ich u s had to u ndergo with his fell ow-princes,of which Herodotu s, D iodo r u s , and Strabo tell u s , were,as a fact, contests with those among the princes whoadhered to Assyria, who wou ld not follow the lead ofPsamme t ich u s against Assyria, and submit to his ru leover Egypt .The rebel l ion of Samul -sum-ukin appeared to te ar

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174 ABS YBIA .

sum-akin, h is garments, h is wives, h is chariots, h iscaptains, his warriors, and his slaves to be broughtbefore h im.

1

Afte r t hus su ppressing the rising of the Babylonians,As su rbanipal directed the whole of his forces to t h e

subjugation of Elam. The domestic condition of Elamseemed to promise su ccess to a vigorou s attack . In dabigas experienced the fate which he had prepared forT ammar i t u he was driven from the throne by a manof the name of Umman a ldas , the son of A t tami t u .

2

This rebel did not find u niversal recogn i t ion ; Pachet a in cd a part of the lan d against h im. Under

su ch circumstances t h e victory cou ld not be verydifficu l t. Assu r banipal sent troops u nder Bal i b n iagainst the la nd of Bit Yakin , which was governedby N ab u be l z ikr i , a grandson of Merodach Baladan ,

as a tribu tary prince (perha ps t h e son of NahidMerodach , p . who appear s to have taken partin the rebell ion of Samu l-sum-uk in , and t hen to haveesca ped to Elam. Assur ban ipal had already demandedhis su rrender from In dah igas , and he repeated thedemand after the r ise of Umman aldas , who alsorefu sed it. The Assyrian army led by Assu rbanipalto h i s seventh war crossed t h e borders of Elam.

Umman aldas abandoned h is metropol is,Mad akt u , and

fled into the mountains . Assu rbanipal placed T ammaritu on the throne at Su sa, b u t soon retu rned

,

either from fear of his disobedience or becau se hehad heard of it, to Elam, dethr oned T ammar i t u , andcarried h im prisoner to Assyria ; marched th roughthe whole land , devastatin g it, and to ok 30 ci ties,which are enumerate d in t h e inscription . N eve r t h e

l ess, after h is departu re, Umman a ldas again obtai ned1 G . Smith, “ A ssu r b .

” p. 1 99 ; Men an t , loc. ci t . p. 288 .

Mén an t , lac. ci t . p . 293; G . Smi th , lac. ci t . p. 165—168, 181 .

AS S UBBA N l PAL'

S WARS AND VICTOR I ES. 175

power over Elam , Assur ban ipd was compelled toma rch ag a in st the country once me re . This was hise ighth war. He obtained the most complete su ccess ;Madaktu and Su sa fell in to his hand.

“ I openedt heir treasure-houses ,

” says Assu rbanipal I took t h et reasure s, whi ch the earlier kin gs of Elam and thoseof the se days h ad collected. No enemy beside myselfh ad laid hands u pon th em. The silve r and gold whichthe earli er and later kings of Sumir and Accad , andof Kard un ias , had sent to Elam, which earli er ki ngsand Sm a l-sum-ukin had paid for the hel p of Elam ;

robe s, arms, chariots , I carried to Assyria. I b r okedown the tower of Susa ; S us in ak, the god of th eiroracle, whose image no man had seen , and theremaini ng gods (eighteen gods and goddesses ar e

menti on ed) wi t h their treasu re s, priests, and servants,I ca rried to Assyria. Thirty-two images of the kingsi n si lver , go ld, brass , and stone, I carried away fromSusa, Madakt u , and H ur ad i , and in addition an imageof H umba n ig as (p . of Istar-Nandi, of H al l udus(p an d t h e you nger T ammar i tu . I broke t h ewinged lions and ba l ls , whi ch gu arded the temples, t h ewinged bu lls before the temple gates of Elam, and se n ttheir gods and goddesses into captivi ty : I des tr oycd

the pala ces of their kings, the earlier and the la ter , theoppon ents of my father ; the rulers and inhabitants ofthei r citie s, the people great and small, I carried awaywi th the ir flocks ; thei r war riors I divided throughou tthe land ofmy kin gdom (645In spi te of this savage destruction

, Umman al dascou ld retu rn from the mou ntains, and aga in takepossess ion of the ru ins of Madakt u . He was now

, as

O . Smith. “ Disc." p. 349 If. I f Babylon fe l l i n t h e sixth v ar .

“Q u e. . t h o ded r u ct ion of 8u ss s t t h e e n d of t h o e ig h th war cs n n o t

h ave h h e n plm ear lier t h an in th e ye ar oi a s o.

176 ASSYR IA .

i t appea rs, prepared to accede to A ss u rb an ipa l'

s t e

newa l requ est to give u p the grandson of MerodachBaladan . T h e lat t er anticipate d h i s su rrender, i nasmu ch as h e and his armou r-bearer mu tu ally slew eachot her. Umman aldas gave up t h e corpse

,and Assur

b an i pal had t h e head cu t o ff . Thu s died t h e last scionof Merodach Bala dan of whom we hear : so ended t h erace whi ch for 80years, with incredible endu ran ce andstubbornness, had asserted the independence o f Sou thCh aldsea and Babyloni a against Assyria . Af ter th isUmman aldas h ad to give way to Pache , who receiveda part of Elam. Bu t Pache cou ld not stand beforethe Assyrian army, or did not ven tur e to resist it .He was taken prisoner ; Umman aldas also was captu rod, like a raven ,

” in t h e mou ntains,in to wh ich

he had fled for refuge. T ammar i tu ,Pache

,and

Umman aldas , who ru l ed over Elam in su ccession,I

brought them beneath my yoke, wi t h U ai t i , the kingof the Arabs

,whom I brou ght o u t of his land to

Assyria . I h ad them bou nd to th e yoke of my warchariot ; they drew it to the gate of t h e temple ofBil it

,the famed wife of Asshu r, the mother of the

great gods.”

Ancien t Elam, the oldest power in the region ofthe Euphrates and Tigris, and in all hi ther Asia

,

which once , before the times of Hammu rabi ofBabylon , before the year 2000 B.C. ,

had held swayover the states of the lower Eu phrates

,whose armi es

in those days had seen Syria, was fallen, never to r iseagain . In the midst of hell ,

” says the prophetEzekiel, “ is Elam, and al l her mu l titu de abou t hergrave ; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, whichare gone down u ncircumcised into the nether parts

i G . Smith , D isc. p. 371 ;“ A ssu rb .

” p. 237, 241 , 243, 304 , 306 ;h i én an t, loc. ci t . p. 29 1 .

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178 ASSYR IA .

A b iya te h was set u p in his place . Scarcely had h ebeen set u p, when b e u nited with N ad n u , t h e princeof the N cbaiyo t h , against Assyria . On his n in t hcampaign , Assu rbanipal marched over t h e Tigris a ndEuphrates in to the des erts of Syria . As he tells us,b e defeated t h e servants of the deity of Atar-Samainan d the N e ba iyo t h , to ok both princes prisoners inthe battle , and cau sed their flocks to be driven ofi

'

far and wide. “ I divided camels l ike sheep,

” hesays ; they fetched half a shekel of si lver at thegate . On my retu rn I took Hosah , which lies on

. t h e shore of the sea, wh ich was disobed ient, and didnot pay tribu te , and carried the people to AssyriaThe people of Akko, who did not obey, I destroyedthe remnant I carried to Assyr ia. ”

Not only the Arabian tribes between the Eu phratesand the Jordan

,not only the princes of Syria

, b u t

the land of Ararat also , as Assu rbanipal expresslydeclares,

’ and Cil icia and the East of Asia weresu bj ect. This follows, withou t a doubt, from thecircumstance that Ardys, king of Lydi a, who su c

ce e de d h is father Gyges on t h e throne in the year653 B. C.

,soon aft er recognised anew the supremacy of

Assu rbanipal,in order to obtain his aid against the

Cimmerians, who again heavily O ppressed Lyd ia fromt h e H a lys . Assu rbanipal had not only maintainedthe ki n gdom against the revolt of Samu l -sum-u kin ,

he had strengthened it by the overthrow of Elam,

establ ished the supremacy of Assyria in Hit herA s ia, and exte nded it to the west of Asia Mino r.We do not hear anyth in g of an attempt to renewt h e vassalage of Egypt , though the war against theNabataeans a nd Kedari t es brou ght Ass u rbanipa l tothe borders of Egypt. We may suppose that the

G . Smi th, D isc.

” p. 370. G . Smith, Ioc. ci t . p . 370.

AS SUBBAN IPAU S WARS AN D VICTO RTES .

m um of t h e reg ion s o f Akko an d H osah ao

the sou t h ot Tyre‘) possi bly re ste d on t h e expectation

of Egyptian assistance. Bu t the inscriptions of Assu rh an ipa l en d wi t h t h e war aga in s t t h e Amb ian s ;

The st r ugg e s of Assurbanipal wi th the N eba iyo than d t h e K eda r it es on the bo rde rs of Ammon an d

Mbah t h e r educt io n of A kko , are the las t acts of t h eA ssyr ims in Syria, of which we h ave any defin i te

b e fo re t h e ye ar 640 n o . I t wi ll b e seen fu r t h er on

t h a t A ssin b an ipa l aft e r th is t ime was e n gaged in t h e

Th e Hebrew Scriptu res also know nothing of anyin t erfe r en e e of A ssyr ia in t h e fo r tu n e s o f t h ei r r ace

s it s t h e re ign of Mm es of Judah , which ended i nt h e yen 642a c. A st atement of Herodotu s, whichis in de e d very obscu r a makes it possible t o eon clude

Egypt . H e says : “ Psamme t ich us besieged Ashdod

(A no t us ) , a larg e ci ty o f S yr ia, for 29 years, till h et ook it. " This city,

” Herodotus adds , en dure d thelon g est sieg e of any that we know .

”2 Psamme tich uscou ld n o t bes ieg e th e Philist ine ci ty of Ashdod , u ntilt h e sou t h e r n fortresses of the Philis tines , Ra ph ia, Gazaan d Ascalon we re in h is h an ds . His obj ect in t h e

a t t ack u pon these ci ties cou ld on ly be t o r e n der t h e

mmh o f t h e Assy r ian armie s to h is lan d mo re difficu l t . Th ese armi es would have to collect in thesou th of Philis t ia , an d provide th emselves with s to nes ,especially wa t er, befor e they could beg in the marchthro ugh t h e dese rt . In t h e b eg in n in g of t h is war , atany ra te , it cou ld not have b e e n merely the forces oft h e Ph ilis t in cs which Psamme t ich us h ad to contend

Joshua xix, 29 . He r od. 2. 167.

180 ASSYR IA .

with here ; there mu st have been Assyrian garrison sand Assyrian troops in the cit ies. Diodo ru s a lso tellsu s of the mode in which Psamme t ich u s dr ew ou t h is

forces in t h e battles which he fought in Syria .

‘ Thatthe siege of a city shou ld last 29 years is in i tsel fin conceivable ; we can onl y accept the statement ofHerodotu s as meaning that the war for the possessionof the cities of the Philistines on the coas t lasted 29years . If we calcu late this time fr om the irru ption ofthe Sct in to Syria, which in any case pu t a n

end to this war, i . e . from the year 625 B C Psamme

t ich u s rebelled against Assyria in the year 654 or 653B.C. , and immediate ly afterwards desired to establishhimself on the borders of Syria beyond the de sert. IfAssu rbanipal was fighting against Arabian tribes

,on the

borders of Edom, j u st before the year 640 D. C. ,and

took Akko, the n arrative of this campaign ou ght alsoto speak of a coll ision with the Egyptian army, ifPsamme t ich u s was carrying on war again st Ashdod asearly as this date . We saw above t hat Psammet ich u s

’

s rebellion agai nst Assyria in Egypt coul d nottake place later than the year 653As su rbanipal begin s t h e accou nt of his bu ildings

with a statement of what he had done for the templesof Babylon ;

’ he conclu des it with a description ofh i s works at Nineveh . The wal ls with which Senn ae h e r i b had su r rou nded that city had been inju redby heavy falls of rain which Bin sent down . A ssu rb an ipa l strengthened the su bstru ctu re, and resto redthem from the fou ndations to the pin nacles. ’ Herestored, extended, and adorned the palace of hisgrandfather S e n n ae h e r ib , in which he had grown up

Die d. 1 , 67.

Be gin n in g o f Cy lin de r C . in G . Smith, “ Disc.

" p . 377.

Above , p. 108 . G . Smith,

“ A ssu r b .

” p. 308 .

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CHAPTER IX.

THE CONST ITUT ION, ARMY , A N D A R T OF THE A SS Y IU A N S .

Assmm was a cedar in Lebanon , so the prophetEzekiel te ll s u s “ a shadon thicket, and of a tallstatu re, wi t h fair branches, and his to p was amongthe thick b o n gh s. The waters made h im gr eat, theflood set h im u p on high ; with her str eam she wentrou nd abou t his plants

,and sent her condu i ts u nto

all the trees of the field . Therefore h i s height wasexalted above all the tre es of the field, and h i s boughswere great

,and his branches became strong becau se of

the mul ti tu de of waters, and spread themsel ves o u t .

A l l the fowls of heaven made their nests in h i sboughs , and unde r h i s branches did al l the beas ts ofthe field brin g forth their you ng, and u nder h i sshadow dwelt all great nations . Then was he fairin his greatness, in the length of his branches. Thecedars in the garden of God cou ld not hide h im ;

the cypresses were not l ike h i s boughs,and the

planes were not like h is branches. No tree in thegarden of God was like to h im in beau ty . I

(Jehovah) have made h im fair by the mu l titu de ofh i s branches

,and all the trees of Eden envied h im.

”

Babylon and Asshu r are two stems sprin ging ou t ofthe same root. The you nger cou l d borrow from the

‘ Fa ek xx i . 3—9.

CONSTITUTIO N, ARMY, A N D ART. 388

e lder her religion , h e r ri tu al , her models in art andand finally her writing ; and along with

tions, by no means con

t empt ibl e , which had be en made o n the Euphrates.The peculiar characteristi c of the you n ger branchr e sts on i t s warlike power, which (nu rtu red in thoselon g struggles in the Zag r us and in the Armeni anmo u nta ins) a t las t far exceeded the power of the

Ther e is no state in the ancien t East, which ,be ginning from a reign so small in proportion , andpr ov ided with su ch scanty material means, rose soh igh as Assyria—which from su ch a bas is attained toa wider su premacy, or maintained it so long and sovigoro u sly . By slow and laboriou s steps this kingdomworked i ts way u pward in frequ en t and severe conflie ts bes ide Babylonia . To redu ce and kee p in obedie nce t h e region rou nd the sou rces of the Eu ph ratesand the Tigris, the land of Van and Ararat, to subj ugate the territory of the Moschi and T ibar e n e s, r e

quire d the most severe struggles . The att empt ofTig la t h Pilesar I . to reach the North of Syria and theMedi te rranean was a su ccess, yet i t remained wi thou tany lasti n g resu lts . Not till the begin ning of theni nth centu ry does the dominion of Assyria obta inmo re important dimensions , not in the North only,bu t also in t h e Wes t and East . A ss ur n as i rpa l reachedMount Amanns, t h e Orontes , Mou nt Le banon ; hereceived the tribu te of t h e Ph e n i e ian cities . Shalmanesar l l . directe d his most vigorous cfl'o r ts againstHamath an d Damascus , while at the same time here du ced the Cil icians . as well as t h e na tions of t h eWeste rn table -land of Iran . t o pay tribute. At t h edi vision of the ninth and eighth centuriesBin -ai rar l l 1. held sway from t h e shore of the Red

184 ASSYR IA.

Sea over Edom, on t h e shore of the Mediterraneanover the Ph il istines and Israel , in the East over Mou ntZag r us and the Medes . Then aft er t h e mi ddle of t h eeighth centu ry T ig la t h Pi lesa r l l . forced his way as faras Ar ae h o s ia , and a t the leastmainta i ned his domin ionover the tribes of t h e Medes ; i n t h e West hehumbled Hamath, Damascu s, Samaria ; Judah paidhomage with the Ph ilist ines and a ll the princes ofSyria with the distant tribes of the Arabians, to thegreat king of Asshu r. He first completely su bjugatedBabylonia

,and forced even Sou thern Chaldaea t o

recognise his supremacy. Sargon , after h im, maint ai n ed Syria even against t h e arms of Egypt, andadded the crown of Babylon to the crown of Asshur :Cypru s as well as the islands of the Persian Gu lf payhomage to h im. Sennacherib maintains the dominionover Babylonia against themost stubborn rebellions, aswell as agai nst the Elamites, and also the su premacyover Media ; and if he was not able to maintainSyria agai nst Egypt, he still retained the u pper handin the eastern hal f of Asia Minor . Esarhaddon ru l edover Asshu r and Babel ; he restored the domi nionover Syria ; he conqu ered Egypt. The armies of h issu ccessor not only march Victoriou sly into the gatesof Memphis, Thebes, and Babylon , b u t even into thegates of Su sa . In repeated campaigns he ann ihi latesthe ancient kin gdom of Elam

,and receives from the

West the homage of Lydi a .

No other kin gdom can di splay so long a series ofwarl ike and active princes, u nwearied in confl ict

,as

Assyria. They believed that they were fighti ng notfor dominion only, or glory, b u t also for their gods,for Asshu r, Sin and Samas, for Istar, Bin andAdar, against the nations who di d not worshi p thesedeities . I t is this extraordinary activity o f. the

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186 ASSY R IA.

and princes remain o n the throne i n the moreextensive lands, and over the great er nations, as inthe ci t ies an d principal i t ies of Syria . Sometimes anattempt is made to secu re the submission of princesby al l iance with the royal hou se of Assyria. OverBabylon ia al one were sons and brothers of the kingrepeate dly placed , and not always with a happyresul t. If Esarhaddon , instead of transferring thegovernment of Egypt, u nder his su premacy, to oneprince

,divides it among 20

,this organisation was

not an Assyrian invention ; in all essentials it was atransference of the lor ds of the d istricts from vassalage to the king of N apa ta to vassalage to the k ing ofAssyria. The chief means of the kin gs of Assyriafor secu ring the obedience of the vanqu ished forthe fu t u re consisted at all times in carrying awayand transplanting parts of t h e conqu ered popu lati on.The national ities of Hither Asia, as far as the tableland of Iran

,u nderwent considerable in termixtu re in

con sequ ence of this system,b u t this means coul d only

work t horough ly in the smaller regions and com

mu n i t i es— for the kingdom of Israe l , for Hamath , andthe Ar abian tribes.In su ch a defective organisation of the empire ,

wh ile limite d to su ch elementary, and a t the sametime su ch u nprodu ctive, means, i t wou ld be moreinteresting to find an answer to the qu estion , how thekings of As syria were ab le to keep their own nationwill ing to u ndertake these endless wars ; how fromtheir nati ve land, of no great exte nt, they cou ldobtain the me n and the means for such bu rdensomeefforts— and in any cris is th is was the only powerthey cou ld rely u pon— how the au thority of the crowncou ld be main t ained in spite of su ch heavy requ isitionson their subjects —di d o ur kn owledge al low u s to

CONST ITUT ION , ARMY, AN D AR T . 18?

give even an approximate explanati on. An heredi tarysuccessi on , in te rru pted far less than i s u su al elsewherein t h e East, appears to have rendered these taskseasier to the kings of Asshu r, to have been favou rablet o the con t inu ance of the kingdom, an d to have assiste dthe rulers in exte ndi ng their su premacy . T ig la t h

Pile sar I . mentions fou r of h is ancestors in u nbrokensuccessi on on the thr one (I I . The kings alwaysde scribe themselves as sons and grandsons of preced ingr u le rs . Down to the time of Sargon we hear nothi ngof t h e mu rder of kings, and onl y of one attempt atrebell ion on t h e part of a king’s so n . With Sargona n ew dyn asty seems to have ascended the thr oneh e n e i t h e r ca l ls h imse l f a son of h i s pr edecesso r

(Sh alman esar nor does he mention any other oft h e ea rl ier ru lers as his progenitor. Bu t his race, ini ts tu rn , se ems to have held the throne till the fall ofthe ki ngdom, thou gh he and his son Sen nacherib fellby m i nati on, though Esarhaddon only acqu iredt h e thr one after a con fl ict wi th the two brothers whoh ad slain their father, and Assu rbanipal had to defendit aga in st the rebell ion of a brother . That the powerexercised by the kin gs of Assyria was u n l imi te d evenin the i r own territory is beyond a dou bt. The kingis the su preme ju dge, the general in chief, the highprie st. He ascertains the will of the gods, who revealt hemselves to h im, who send h im dreams , assu re h imo f their assistance . It is the gods, their lords, whooverthrow t h e enemy and the rebel lious princes beforethem. The kin gs offer sacrifice and pou r l iba t ions inperson , not t h e priests . In his palace at K uyun dsh ik

(p. 1 8 1 ) Se n n ae h e r ib pou rs a drink-offering over fou rl ions which he has slain i n hu n t ing, an d wh ich li ebefore the al tar. Other monuments exhibit the k ing,with a bowl in his hand containin g gifts for the gods,

188 ASSYR IA .

or holding up a pine-apple . At the sacrifices the kin gwears a pecu l iar priest ly robe : smal l pictu res of t h esu n and moon , with a horned cap, a pi tcher, and a twopronged fork , hang from his neck in his hand he hasa short staff . The priests serve at his side ; behi ndt h e form of the king on the monuments stand wingedspirits, in expecta t ion or protection , at the sacrifices.Only the kin g wears the u pright tiara or t ida l-is ; atall conical cap

,flatte ned at the top . He alone speaks

in the inscription s. He frequ ently relates the deedsof his generals as performed immediately by himself.Service abou t the person of the kin g is entru s ted to

eu nu chs, who are distingu ished on the monumentsby corpu lence , flat cheeks, beardless ch in a, and lankhair— whil e a ll others wear long hair cu rl ing at theend

,and long, carefu lly-trimmed beards. Eu nu chs

carry the paras ol and the fan of the ki ng ; they ar e

his bu tlers, and condu ct into his presence those whocome to pay homage or tribu te ; they also performthe du ties of t h e royal scribes . We find t hem equ allyactive as magistrates of the state and finally we seethem on wa r chariots as commanders of divisions ofthe troops.On the organ isation of the government we h ave

very scanty information . The prophet Nahum speaksof the leaders an d mighty me n of the king of Asshu r

,

of the crowned of the Assyrians who are numerou sas the locu sts, and the captains whom he compares toa swarm of gras shoppers. ‘ Ezekiel mentions thecaptains and ru lers of As syria gorgeou sly clothed inblu e pu rple, horsemen riding u pon horses , all of themdesirable you ng me n .

”2 From t h e chronicle of t h eAssyrian kingdom preserved to u s from the beginningof t h e n inth centu ry , we find that the years were

Nahum i i i . 1 7, 18 . Ezek. xxiii. 6, 12.

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190 ASSYRIA.

rul e refers to t h e deta iled commu nications which t h emessengers wil l make. There is also preserved afragment of the diplomatic correspondence betweenAssyria and Elam, a letter of Umma n a ldas I I . of Elamconcern ing the descendant of Merodach Baladan , whofled to h im (p. and a proclamation of Assu rba n ipa l to t h e su bjects of this N ab u be lz ikr i , th at hehad taken t hem u nder his protec tion

,and made

Ba li b n i a viceroy over them.

‘

As to the acti vi ty, the forethought, and the re su l tsof t h e regu lar government, we only learn from theinscriptions of the kin gs abou t their bu ild ings, t hatstorehou ses were in existence and kept up for t h ebooty taken in war, an d the tribu te ; that horsesan d bea sts of bu rden were kept for the army . Ifwe may conclude from these list s of the years andofli ce r s, these i ndications and hints, that the government of the native land was du ly arranged and discharged its functions regu larly , the fact that t h earmy and siege apparatu s were perpetual ly i n r ead i

ness leads us to as sume an active and carefulmi li tary government. The army no dou bt occu piedthe first place in the attention of the kings. The irwarlike activity, su pporte d by a force always inreadi ness, was the only fou ndation of their powerbeyond t h e borders of Asshu r . Of the warriors ofAssyria Isaiah says : “ They shall come with speedfrom the ends of the earth ; none shal l be weary norstumble among them ; none shall slumber n o r sleep ;neither shall t h e girdle of their loins be loosed , n ort h e latchet of their shoes be broken ; whose arrowsare sharp and all their bows bent ; the ir horses

’ hoofsshall be cou nted like fli nt, an d their chariots li ke a

whirlwind. They shall roar like you ng lions, and layl G . Smith, “ A ssu r b .

” p . 252.

CONST ITUT ION, ARMY , A N D ART. 191

hold o f the prey, and sha ll carry it away safe , andnone shall del iver i t . ” 1 A ccord in g t o the description ofHerodotus

,the Assyrians wore brazen helmet s worked

i n a pecu liar way ; cuirasses of lin en, lan ce s, andsh ields an d swo rds l ike the Egyptians ; and besidesthe se, war-clu bs wi th ir on heads .s From the evidenceof the monuments the Assyrian infantry were dividedin t o tro ops, distingu ished by the ir clothin g and armou r.Th e heavy-armed had coni cal he lmet s or rou nd capswi th a high ridge and ch eekmiece s , armou r coats,provided with plates or rings of swe l on the brea st, or

cu ir asses of scale armou r in the place of these platesan d rings, greaves exte nding from t h e knee to thenud e , or scale-armou r hose. Beside t h is they coverthemselves wi th rou nd or oval shields. Their weaponsof atta ck ar e the lance , an d a short sword, str aig htcro oked

,which was carried in the belt. In addi tion to

th is hea vy in fan try there were the lig ht troops ; bowmenand sl ingers. The first were occasionall y accompaniedby sh ield-bear ers, who carried shields of the height o fa man

,an d plante d them before the bowmen .

The kin gs fought from thei r chariots with bow andarrows . Thi s was the mode of fighti ng of the princesand captai n s t hroughou t the Semitic warl ike state s .

T h e kings of Elam and Ur and those of Erech andBabe l were no dou bt the first to take the field wi thwar-char iots afte r them the kings of Damascu s a ndHama t h , an d the princes of the Phil istines. FromtheSyrian s t h e Ph arao hs borr owed the ir royal war-chariotsand t h e chariot s for t heir army . So long as the Hebrewswere h u sban d rn cn and breed ers of cat t le, t hey fou ghtsimply on foot ; when t hey est abl ished a mon archy wesaw t hat the first car e of t h e new princes was toprovide themselves with chariots of war. From t h e

‘ In is h v. 26—29.

192 ASSYR IA.

Semites th is mode of fighting spread westward,not

only to Egypt b u t also to Asia Minor and Hel las , andeastwards to the Indians on the Ganges . T h e commanders of the Assyrian army also fought from theirchari ots, which at t h e same t ime carried the standardsof their d ivisions. T h e mass of chariots formed aspecial portion of the Assyrian army . Beside the twopole-horses , which are yoked , they are, as a ru le, prov ided wi t h a third or su bsidiary horse on the chariot

,

as a ru le , are three me n , a chariote er, an d an archer,besides a sh ield-bearer, provided with coats of ma i lwhich leave only the arms free, and scale-armou r fort h e legs . Occasionally t h e charioteer, as well as thearcher

,has a sh ield-bearer behind h im. Cavalry was

not wanting in the armies of Assyria any more thanin the armies of the Pharaohs . We see numerou s troopsof cavalr y with well -trained horses, partly armed withthe lan es and partly with the bow ; partly sittingwithou t any saddle on the bare back of the horse ,and partly provided with pack saddles. Pictu res ofparade-du ty are not u ncommon . In these t h e lanceis held free in the right hand , the shield is carriedu nder the left a rm. In t h e camp the rows of ten tsare separated by a broad gangway

,in which rises the

great te nt of t h e kin g . lVe have already seen theking seated even in t h e camp on a high seat

,with h is

bow i n one hand and his arrow in the other. I n t h espaciou s tents , the warriors kindle fire between stone sand place pots thereon, while in others the wou ndedare bein g tended on beds . We se e the Assyriana rmy crossing a river ; the kin g, the chariots and thebaggage are rowed over in boats ; the horses and t h eme n swim,

the latter with t h e aid of inflate d bladders,

as is still the cu stom in Mesopotamia Other pictu resexhibit ships with two rows of oars . In the battle we

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I t “ ASSYR I A.

co vered by the skins of an imals, or they were placed inthe lower story of a moveable wooden to wer, t h e u pperpart of which is occu pied by archers ; and the whole isthen moved up o n wheels to the wa l l . Machines forthrowing stones are also to be seen on the monumen t s .When a breach is made, the in fantry advance towar dsit u nder the protection of the tortoise .

”If an

attempt is made to scale t h e wal ls by ladders, thebowmen , where possible, from a covered posi tion

,

su ch as a wood near the wall s, keep up a lively fireu pon the tu rrets of the wall , in order to di stressthe defenders and dr ive them from the breastwork ,whi le the heavy-armed plant their ladders. Thebesieged then attempt to meet the storm by ashower of arrows, by throwi ng down stones and fir ebrands . When the walls are scaled we see thebesieged pledgin g submission by raising their hands,the women escaping on mu les or camels, or kneelingand praying for mercy. The victors collect the bootyarms , tripods, vessels, beds, sto ols ; guards are setover these

,whil e others bring to their commanders

the heads of the sl ain , the number of which is takendown by the scribes . The flocks and herds of thevanqu ished, camels , sheep, and goats, are driven awaythe prisoners are pu t in fett ers and led before the ki ng,who h as ascended the throne . Here they appear

,some

with heavy irons on their hands and feet, some wi tht h e hands tied, some led by ropes , which are drawnthrou gh holes in their lips and noses , sometimes tiedin pairs, sometimes in troops, driven forward wi t hblows by t h e soldiers in charge . The ki ng plants hisfoot on the neck of a captive prince he pu ts ou t theeyes of another with his lance ; others are impal ed.Then follows the victoriou s retu rn ; soldiers andmu sic go before the k ing

’s chariot,before which, as

CONST ITUTION, ARMY, A N D ART. 195

we alre ady know, the heads of th e slain or execu te d

prin ce s of the enemy were occasionally carried.

The stre ngth of the chief citi es formed in the lastresort the su pport of the kingdom. The walls of thesethe kings of Asshur cannot have neglected to renew andst re ngthen. In the inscriptions only the bu ildin gs ofS en n ae h er ib and Assu rbanipal at the walls of Ninevehar e mention ed. Accordi ng to the statements of Ctesias ,pr e served in Di odo r us , the city of Nineveh formed along r ect angle of 480 stades (60miles) in the circu it.T h e walls wh ich inclose d this space were 100feet high ,and were overto pped by 1 500 towers of double theheigh t. ‘ A writi n g of t h e Hebrews, which , however,is n o t earli er than the fou rth centu ry B.C. , maintainsthat the ci rcui t of Nineveh was three days’ j ou rney ;120,000 in habi tants lived m the city, who could notdis tingu ish the right hand and the left, i . e . childrenin the ea rli e st years of life . More important is theevidence of Nahum, from the middle of the seventhcen t ury that “ Nineveh is fu ll ofmen as a pool isfu ll of wate r ; her merchan ts ar e more numerous thanthe star s in heaven .

“ The positi on of Nineveh isma rked by the ru ins of Kuyn n ds h ik and Nebbi Yu nu s ,opposite Mosul ; and the remains of the ou ter wall allowus to fix, with to lerable accu racy, the circu i t which i trea lly h ad . As a fact it formed a long rectan gle, somewhamo u t of the square On the west the course ofthe Tigris covered the ci ty ; the wall o n th is side ofthe ci ty extende d along the ancient bed of the riverfor feet ; the wall of the longer easte rn sidemeasu re s feet ; the wall of the nort h side isexact ly 7000 feet ; th at on the short sou th side is onlyha lf this length ; 3 so t hat the whole circu it of the city

O . Ka i t lin-on , “a n ar chic-l,“ P . p. 2M 8 .

196 ASS Y R l A .

does not reach ten miles,i . e . does not reach a six t h

part of the exte nt g iven to i t by t s ias . Even if wea dd to this t h e ci rcu it of the strong ou te r rampartswhi ch r u n in a dou ble and sometimes in a quadru plel in e, on the eas t side, from the point where the Kh osrflows into t h e city

,as far as the stream which

,empty

ing into the Tigris,covered the sou thern front of Nine

veh—e ven if we reckon in the city of Sargon (Khorsabad) , whi ch lay ten good miles to the nort h-eas t ofNineveh , on the left bank of the Kh osr (p . thecircu it of both cities taken together does not amou ntto more than 1 5 mil es. Xenophon

,who was on the

spot,and saw the wall s of Nineveh sti l l standing

,

gives them a circu it of six parasan gs,i . e . of 20miles.

Accordi n g to this, either the fortresses of Khorsabad and Nineveh were connected, and thi s circu i t isactu ally given,—o r Xenophon assumes that they oncewere in co n nection . We are hardly ju sti fied inexclu ding t h e first hypothesis. The lower part of thewalls

,so Xenophon tells u s, was bu i l t of smoothed

shell-stone 1 the thickness was abou t 50 feet, and theheight also 50 feet. On this substru ctu re is raisedthe wa l l of bricks, wh ich also is 50 feet thick , b u t 1 00feet h igh. Hence these walls were standi ng 200yearsafter the fall of Nineveh with the walls of Khe rsabad ,

though broken by wide breaches, they were sti ll to betraced thr ough a circu i t of 20 mil es , and reached theas tou ndi ng height of 1 50 feet, i . e . higher than C t esiaspu ts t hem. The remai ns of the walls of K h o r sabadpossess to this day a thickn ess of 45 feet, which agreeswith Xenophon ’s meas u re ; in the walls of Nineveh t h esu bstru ctu re of well -hewn l imestone ca n be traced, b u tthe remains of the wall s do not rise more than 46 fee tabove the present su rface of the grou nd . I f we are to

1 Lyell , “Elemen t s o f Ge o logy, ’ ed. 3. p . 368.

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198 ASSYRIA .

plain as far as the di strict of Khe rsabad. I t is possiblethat the l in e of these forts formed an ou te r system ofdefence for Nin eveh and Chalah, and that it l ies atthe bottom of the story of t h e 00 miles of circu itof Nineveh . The same circu it is given by Herode tna for the city of Babylon (cf. Chap. Ofthe th ird chief city

,Asshu r, which stood in ancien t

t imes, as we have seen , not only before Chalah, b u talso before Nineveh , nothin g is left b u t heaps ofrefu se , ou t of wh ich rises a conical h i l l . The ru insare of brick, among wh ich here and there are seensome sto nes . The line of the old walls can stil l betraced. This city also formed a squ are, not less, b u trather longer, in ci rcu it than Ch al ab .

l

I t seems th at t h e kings of As syria laid less weighton the fortification of the city of Asshu r

,than on the

strengthen ing of Chalah and Nineveh. They sawdanger in the west onl y, fi°

om the lower Eu phrate s.The city of Assh u r, on the western bank of the Th g r is ,was exposed to attacks from the west ; Chalah andNineveh were covered in this di rection by the Ti gris ,which the enemy had to cross. To make the twocities so covered impregnable from the eas tern sidealso was t h e object of the kin gs of Assyri a, especial lyof Sargon , S e n n ae h e r ib , and Assu rbani pal . The thickness given to the walls of Nineveh

,K h o r sab ad , and

Chal ah (25 to 50 feet), was su fficient to defy thebatte ring-r am—the tu rrets, raised to t h e elevation of120 to 1 50 feet, were so high that the stones of thesli ngers and the arrows of the bowmen cou ld not reachthem with effect, and no scal ing - ladder or besiegingtower cou ld be set u p whi ch wou ld carryme n to thesetu rrets.What Babylon possessed or acqu ired in science and

Layard, Nin eveh an d i ts Remain s ,"2, 44 .

CONST ITUT ION , ARMY , A N D ART. 199

poe try, Assyria did not fail to appropri ate, j ust as sheused h e r divisi ons of the heaven s a n d the year, her

measu res , her st andar d of coinage, andh e r writi ng fr om al l antiqui ty. In the ru ins ofK uyundsh ik a gr eat number of tablets have been dugup,

‘ copies of old Babylonian originals, whi ch havepr eser ved for us the story of the Babylonians abou tCh as isat h ra (Xisu t h r u s) and the great flood , abou t thede sce nt of Istar to the u nder world, and othe r narrat ives of a mythica l character. In ad di tion to th is arepr ayers and poems, with fragments apparently on cosmo gon ica l su bj ects, very difficu l t of in terpretati on,an d hard ly to be referred to an y defin i te date . Ofespecial valu e for the deci phering of the Babylonianand Assyrian cu neiform writin g are the clay tabletsd iscovere d here

,on which the cu nei form symbols are

expla in ed by placin g beside them the phonetic valu eof t h e words and inflecti ons, first of the Accadian , thatlangua ge u nkn own to u s , and then of BabylonianAssyrian. ’ The use of writi ng was not less exte nsive inBabylonia and Assyria than i n Egypt. The cepiousappl ica tion of it for the purposes of governmen t andlegal business h as be en al ready mentioned. We arein de bte d to this for the remains of the li st of yea r s an dru lers , t h e syn chronistic tablets of the kings of As shurand Babel, and a long series of private documents fromthe time of Bin-a irar I I I . down to the overthrow of theempi re . These documents, an d the ambition of thelu ngs to reta in the ir names in the buildin gs whicht hey ere cte d , to se t u p thei r images wherever thei rarmies or their domin ion advanced, to transfer to

The se-ca l lsd Amh ivo of A-u r h an ips l in ch ambm w an d ( 1 on

La ysfll’

s plan .

3, p 67 11 . ; E Soh n de r ,Jon . Li t . Z.

"l lb Apr il, 1871 .

200 ASSYR I A .

the wa lls of the bu ildings whi ch t h ey erected theirach ievements writ t en on cyl inders or stone slabs

, to

adorn the wall s of t heir palaces with pictu res of theirhunts, their sieges, their victories and triumphs, aecompaniad by written explanations, have enabled us torestore

,at least in its main lines, the lost history of

As syria—a histo ry of which the Greeks have left andcou ld onl y leave to us the fact that a kingdom of th isname existe d , and was the foremost power i n HitherAsia

,along with echoes of Mode -Persian songs abou t

Ninu s, Semi ramis, and Sardanapal u s— from wh ich theHebrews have retained no more than t h e names and theacts of the ru l ers whomade their in flu encemost deeplyfelt in the fortu nes of Israel . Yet even the in scr iptions of the kin gs of Asshur do not give u s the historyof Assyria u n defil e d . Bu t whatever care they took torepresent their su ccesses in the most bril liant l ightpossible—here and there we are driven to the at temptto bring b ack these accou nts to the fact—they are farremoved from the extravagance and the volu ble assertions of the inscriptions of the Pharaohs . The farmore real istic and hi storical sense of the Assyrians isstamped in their monuments and inscripti ons . Asthey allow u s to see, year by year, the activity,the u ntiring perseverance, and warl ike skill of theAssyrian nation and its princes, even though theymagni fy thei r su ccesses— se too the reverse side ofthese qu al ities is brought in to prominence ; the fiercecru elty, the bloody savagery which the conqu ered hadto u ndergo. The kin gs constantly boas t of the pu ni shments they have in flicted, and appear more than onceto exaggerate them.

The rivalry o f the long series of the ru lers of Assyriain bu ild ing temples and palaces

,whi ch begins with

the oldest period of the realm, after the pattern of

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202 ASSYR IA.

pointed cap is on h is head ; his robe fal ls, not from theshou lders , bu t only from the hips down to his un cl es .

The moon god Sin is seen on Assyrian cyl inders in along robe , with a long beard, standing on a half-moon ;a second half-moon rises above the tall coverin g of h ishead. In a figure swimmi ng in water, with a roundhorned cap on the head , and endi n g in the body of afi sh from the hips downwards , we may no dou btrecogn ise Dag on . The cylinders most frequ entlyexhibit a su n 's disk by the side of the images ofAsshu r, the crescent and seven stars. l On theslabs of sto ne which exhibit to u s the forms of thekings

,symbolical indications of the chief deities are

vi sible to the left of the kings we see the su n ,the

moon , a horned cap, and a wi nged disk, perhaps thesymbol of the god Asshu r. In the reliefs wingeddemons ar e ofte n to be seen. They wear the h ig hrou nd cap , ou t of which rise fou r u n ited bu l l

’s hornsoccasional ly the head is u ncovered, an d then it is surrou nded merely wi th the narrow fillet o f the prieststhe arms and thigh s are always u ncovered . Theseforms also are frequ ently fou nd in pa irs, gu ardin g theentran ce to rooms ; at times standing or kn eeli ng in anattitu de of blessing or prayer, on both sides of awonderfu lly-shaped and adorned tr ee. In the sameway two eagle-headed genu ofte n st and oppositeeach other. Human figur es, clothed in royal attir e ,with the head and wings of an eagle

,are often fou nd .

Walking figu res of lions with eagle heads and win gs,or the back of a man on the legs of a bir d su rmou ntedby a lion’s head , are fou nd . The gates of the templesand palaces are gu arded by winged bu ll s and lionswith human heads . These ar e always placed i n pairs .

G . Ra wlin so n , “ Mo n archies ,” 16, 1 7 ; Laya rd, “Mon .

" PI.69 n ote

,45 , 47 , 48.

CONST ITUTION , ARMY , A N D ART. 2118

The height of these images ranges from 10 to 1 8

feet. At the point where t h e long, richly-workedwings

,which are thrown far back, are joined to the

shou lders , rises a grave an d solemn countenance , witha strong beard , sometimes wearing a cap, sometimes atall tiar a, round which wind fou r bu ll

's horns . Thesefigu res stand at times enti rely detached before theen tran ce ; in others the fore part and fore legs aloneare fr ee from the pilasters of the doors, and the figu reis con tinu ed in relief on the side of the pilaster.Plas t ic art in Assyria is less forced and typical in

the lines , forms , and figures, than plas ti c art on theNile : it is not fe t tered by the u nchangeable lawsof Egyptian art ; i t is less solemn , and free from thetiresome parallel ism of the Egyptian forms . Thescu lptu re of Assyria rs more signi ficant and vigorou s .Not tie d down by the h ieratic style, like the Egypti an ,i t also works for the most part in the softer materialof l imestone, while the Egyptians prefer granite , thehard e st of a l l materials. The Assyr ians do not striveafte r t h e gigan ti c and colossal forms of Egypt : thedimension s even of the colossa l bull s and lions ar e o n

a more moderate scale . Far more naive, they conceiveof life more fre shly, fu lly, and powerfu l ly, and a imfar more at a true representation of li fe than theEgyptian. Egypt prefers the sunk , Assyria the raisedpicture . On the Nile the ou tl ine is t h e chief object :in Assyria t h e forms are a lways modelled fu ll , strong,and round, wi th energetic expression of the limbs,and muscu lar to an excess. The movement is morevigorous and fu ll of expression than in Egypt, withou t,however, sacrificing repose and fixed n ess , and wi thou tdestroyin g dign i ty in the representa tion of ceremon ies .

T h e feet of the figures exhibit t h e Egyptian positioni n profi le , bu t the u pper part of the body is full ,

204 ASSYR IA.

roun ded , an d closely compressed The tall and thinforms of Egypt are not to be fou nd in the monumentsof Assyria. The clothin g is heavy the posi t ion andexpression of the face is far more varied than inEgypt. The animals are represented plump and fu llof l ife, often with startling tru th even in the mostrapid motion ; though not u n frequ ently wi t h grea texaggeration in the mu scles . The great gu ardians ofthe portals exhi bit a beau ti fu l efl'e e t in the contrastof their mighty animal energy, and the qu iet dign i tyof their human faces . Great practice in the treatment of the forms can hardly be mistaken anywhere ;in spite of the dimension s, often colossal

,the prope r

t ions are correctly preserved ; and the larger pictu resof camps

,bat tles

,andmarches, if not better than those

of Egypt, are more var iou s and free in compositi on.

Within the sphere of Assyrian art we are in a position to establi sh a certain distinction , a progress ofsome importance. The figu res in t h e palaces of Assu rn as i rpa l and S h alman esar I I . , the two great princes ofthe ninth centu ry B.C.

,are stronger and thicker

, morecoarse

,violent, and exaggerated than the rel iefs in the

bu il din gs of Sargon . In the centu ry which passed sincethat time the plas tic art of Assyria obviou sly madetechnical advances, and attained a more del icate treatment and greater regu larity in the exposition . Laterstill

,at the height of i ts development, Assyrian art

is seen in the figu res of the great palace of Nineveh

(Ku yu n dsh i k), which Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, andAssu rbanipal bu i l t in su ccession (p.

The ar chitectu re of Assyria was not essentiallydifl'e r e n t from that of Babylonia. The Assyrians hadbrought with them from the lower Eu phrates the habitof bu ilding in bricks, and co ntin u ed to u se this style

,

though harder material lay at a less distance from

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206 A S S Y IIIA .

they did not make way for window lights,were decked

with bu rnt and glazed til es, sometimes colou red andenamel led ; the beams of the roofs were adorned wi t hcarved work of wood and ivory , with plates of goldand silver

,and preciou s stones .

1 The ou ter walls of thepalace s mu st also have been cased with slabs of stone .The weal t h of Nineveh is called endless by the pro

phet Nahum. Hemention s the abu ndance of carved andmolte n images, of costly vessels in the hou se of theirgod . Themonuments exhibit not only the carvedimages ; beside many actual remains, they prove thatcostly fu rnitu re was i n extensive use in the temples, atthe cou rt, and among the great oflice rs of Assyria. Thetables

,stools , seats, dr inking-vessels , vases, harness

and bridles of horses, shown in the rel iefs of the palace ,are wrought with great delicacy and with good tas te.The yokes of the chariot s, the bows and bow-covers

,

exhibit very del icate carved work . On the robes ofthe kings we see grou ps of wild animals inwoven

,

partly rea l in form, as l ions, partly myt hical , l ikescenes of hu n ting and war. The ear—drops, which thekin gs and other persons of disti nction wear, the bandsrou nd the arms and wrists, are of artistic work, andgenerally closed by t h e heads of lions , rams, andbu lls the weapons also, the handles and sheaths ofthe swords and daggers, mu st have been finished withgreat care and neatn ess, and in a n excellent style.The not in eo n s ide r ab l e numbe r of vessels of copperand bronz e , of pit chers, stai ned glass, ivory articles,necklaces

,armringe , and eardr ops, which have been

preserved in the ru ins , prove that the monumentsrepresent the possession of the Assyrians, withou texaggeration of their beau ty, that Assyria, besi deswhat was brought to her by trade, possessed a school

Layar d , for . ci t . p . 327 , 328.

CONST ITUTION , ARMY, A N D ART. 207

of artisans long train ed in th e art, and excellentlyn aght, withou t which su ch great and exce l lent worksin architectu re and scu lptu re woul d have been impossible Of the t ombs of the Ass yrian s few havebe en opened as yet . The cofli n s , l ike those in theBabylon ian sepu lchres, narrow and small, andonly contain skeleto ns, with bands on the arms andn eck, and some simple clay vessels beside the coflin s.

‘

b ya rd, loc. ci t . p . 304.

CHAPTER X .

JUDAH U NDER MANASSES A N D JOS IAH .

OTH ER cares and other efl'o r ts than the maintenanceof a wide domin ion , the erection of splendid palace s ,the restoration of impressive works of art, the preparation of magnificent fu rnitu re , occupied a small regionwhich obeyed the lords of that mi l itary power, andthose palaces

,— the kings of As shu r . The kingdom of

Israel,though not annihilated by the arms of Assyria ,

was thorou ghly broken by them. Twenty years afte r,Judah escaped the same di sas ter, b u t not withou t theseverest wou nds . I t was laid waste at that timethroughou t its whole extent ; the cities were taken orgarrisoned of t h e inhabitan ts were carriedaway . Only the metr opol is was maintained and saved .

Afterwards,in the las t years of Hezekiah

,and u nder

the reign of his son Manasses (he as cended the thronein 697 the land remained u nmolested by theAssyrians for more than 20 years, til l Esarhaddonu ndertook to su bjugate Syria ag ain to the domin ionof Assyria, which his father had given u p after raisingthe siege of Jeru salem. Some years after this Manassesj oined the at tempt of Tyre to resist the king of Asshu rwith the help of T i r h aka (p . We do not knowwhat Judah had to safle r for th is attempt of the kingwe only learn from the Hebrews that Manasses was

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210 JUI‘A II .

to be put to death he is said to have filled Jerusalemfromone end to the other with innocent blood . L ikea destroying l ie n , says Jeremi ah , the sword devou redyou r prophets. ” l The death of Manasses and the accession of his son Ame n brought no improvement. Hed id that wh ich was evil , and walked in the way of h isfather, and served the idols which his father served.

”

The more energetically the prophets condemnedthe religion of t h e Syrians, the more strongly theycontended against all cu stoms and sacrifices, agains tsensu ality, lu xu ry, and debau chery, so mu ch the mor eclosely did t h e elements thu s attacked an d almostovercome combine together ; the mor e stu bbornly didthe opposite party cl ing to the rites of the neighbou rs,the more eagerly did they collect a l l the Syrian deitiesi n and rou nd Jeru salem. The highest and the lowestreligiou s conceptions,— the worship of the one h o ly Go di n heaven , and the rite s of sensu al ity andmu ti lati onstrove once more with each other with al l their forcein the o n e case with t h e deepest certain ty and co n

vict ion , in the other with the fierce impu lse of thepassions, and the support of the crown . The lastten years of the long reign of Man asses seem to havebrought the severest persecu tion u pon the priestsand prophets of Jehovah which they ever experienced .

And when Ame n , after two years, was sl ain in theking’s hou se by a conspiracy of h i s servan t s (640and the people of the land slew all who had conspiredagain st Ame n , and raised h is son Josiah , a boy ofeight years old, t o the throne, it was natu ral to thecircle of the priests and prophets to guard against therecu rrence of su ch oppression of their faith an d livesas had taken place u nder Manasses an d Ame n. This

2Kin gs xxi. 3—16 ; xxiii . 4—14, 26 ; xxiv. 3. Jer . n . 30; m .

31 ; viii. xv. 4 ; xix. 4, 6.

JUDAB UNDER “ W ES AND JOS IAH. 21 1

was only possible if the religio n wh ich they professed,an d fo r which they suffer ed , finally obtaine d a dec isivevictory, and became the exclusi ve rel igion of Judah.If t h e persecu tion ceased i n the minority of the king

,

the Syrian rite s conti nu ed to exist ; and if the you ngkin g, when he came of age, should join Ma t side, thet ime s of Manasses wou ld recur. Neither the organisation of the priesthood of the temple, nor their rel igiou sinflu ence, was sufficient to retain the kin gs i n the fai t hof Jehovah , and prevent them from reformations andpersecu ti ons in t h e interest of the Syrian rite s. Whatthe infl uence and au thority of the prie sts failed toaccomplis h , the mighty rel igiou s u tter ance of the pro

ph e t s in the fulne ss of their faith was also u nable toavert.T h e te ndencie s of the priests and prophets were

alr e ady rega rd ed as in a pr ecess of assimila t i on . T h e

views of the prophets were n o t withou t influenceon th e habits and usages of the pries ts. The pro

ph e t ic word h ad al ready begu n to penetrat e t h e oldn arrow views of the tri ba l god of Israel , holding aplace be side other gods , the rigid ru le of exte rnalse rvice, the tradi tions of the pries thood , with itspowerful myst icism, inwardn ess, and deeper idea ofGod ; while, o n the o t h e r hand. t h e prophe ts co u ldbor ro w from the pri ests clear and established forms,an d the reby felt themselves impelled to fix the relat ion of inspired rel igion to t h e rims of worship .

T h e pe r se cu ti ons of Manasses had brought th ese twodire ctions in wh ich the religiou s life of Judah haddeveloped more closely together than at any previous time. In this u nion men fel t themselvess t r o n ge r than before. If the crown could h e atta ch ed

w the worship of Jehovah , if the lasting support ofr oyal au thori ty could be secu red fo r i t, if th e worsh ip

r 2

212 JUDA II .

of Jehovah cou ld be elevate d to the posi t ion of alega lly establ ished state-religion

,— if by th is means

i t became possible to apply the penal t ies of the lawa n d religious influence with equ al force in favou rof t h e national religion

,the hope might be enter

ta in ed that the religion cou ld be strictly enforced ,that the u tterances of priests and prophets

,natu rally

support ing each other, and expressed in a popu larform, wou ld secu re a las t ing victory— that the worship o f Jehovah cou ld be grea t ly stren gthened

, t h e

Syrian ri t es for ever excluded , the posit ion of thepriesthood secu red, and fu tu re dangers tu rned asidefrom it.The chief a imwas to fil l the hearts of the king and

the people with mor e li vely faith to attach the kingand nation more closely to the worsh ip of Jehovah

,

and , if possible, to pledge them defin itely to su pporti t to gain the power of the state and the force of t h elaw for the maintenance of th is worship . The ancien twritings of t h e priests contained

,as we saw, in addi tion

to the accou nt of t h e fortunes of the people in ancienttimes, the ritu al , the rubrics for t h e priests , t h e ru lesof pu rification , the most ancient legal sentences andcanons of blood-vengeance and fami ly law

,toget her

with all t h e u sages of j u s t ice . The contents of thesewritings formed a cod e for the priests rather thanthe lai ty ; t his fact, and t h e connection in which theseregu lations stood with the histori cal narrative

,as well

as the exte nt of the whole, made these books i lladapted for presen t in g to the kin g and the n ation asynopsis of the mos t essential du ties, and for impressing these du ties u pon them. The detail ed ru les fort h e priests mu st be removed a law ~book for the laitywas requ ir ed . For this pu rpose the regu lations scatt e r ed through the old books were collected and arran ged

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21 ! JUDA II .

chamberlain . The prophetess declared the words ofthe volume to be Jehovah’s words . Then the king

(i t was i n the year (522 assembled the elders ofJudah and all the people in the hou se of Jehovah , andread in their ears a l l the words of the book, whichwas fou nd in the house of Je h o vah .

” 1

According to this book—the second law—Moses,aft er the giving of the law on Sinai , had once more, i nt h e land of Moab, on the borders of Can aan , shortlybefore h is deat h, pr ocLa ime d the law of Jehovah , andrenewed the covenant of Jehovah with Israel . Thein t rodu ction t o t h e book is a speech of Moses, which ,a ft er t h e manner of the prophets, is d irectly addressedto the Israelit es, a n d gat hers together the kindnesseswhich Jehovah had shown to his people in Egypt, andaft er the exodu s from that land . The lofty styleof this description, compared with the compositi onof the older law, is evidence of the effect su bsequ entlyexercised by the pr e ph e t ic mode of concepti on andexpression . Bu t not the form only, the contents alsoof t h e new law are determined in essential points by t h eidea of God developed in the circles of the prophets

(p. Jehovah , who has create d earth and heaven 9

whose is t h e heaven and the heaven of a ll heaven s,

t h e God ofgods and Lord of lords,

”3 who al one is tru ebeing, wh ile al l besides is t ransi tory appearance , whogu ides natu re and me n accordin g t o his wor d and wi ll

,

who does j u st ice to the widow and the orph an, andregards the pe r so n of no ma n ,

” remains in the newlaw, as in the old , a j ealou s God , who dips his arrowsin the blood of his enemi es b u t in th is law he is also

,

1 2Kin gs xxii . 3—20; De n t . xxxi . 9—13. T h e less we ight will b egive n t o t h e somewha t cir cumsta n t ia l accou n t o f t h e discove r y giveni n Chr o n icle s as compa r e d with t h e Books o f Kin gs be cau se t h e de t a ilsa r e o n ly a de ve lopme n t o f wha t Hil kiah sa ys to Ze pha n .

3 De n t . iv. 32.3 De n t. x. 14, 17. Dcu t . x. 18.

JUDA II UNDER MANASSES AND JOS IAH. 215

as the pr ophets taught, a mer ciful God who has nopleasure i n the pun ishment of evil doo r s, b u t in theirame ndme nt ; who, i t is true,

“ visi ts the sins of thefa t hers upon the ch ildren to the th ird and fou rthgen e r ation , bu t also has mercy on thousands who lovehim.

” l This God may not be worshipped u nder animage ; for, as t h e book of the law expresses itselfin an argument drawn from h isto ry Ye saw noman ne r of simili tude on the day when the Lo rd spoketo yo u fr omHoreb, o u t of the midst of the fire .

"2

I f the pro phets raised their eyes beyond and abovethe relati on of th is one Lord of heaven and earth tothe people of Israel to the concepti on of a divine

gove r nment of the world ; i f Isaia h had spoken of the

pla n according to which Jehovah had arranged t h efortu nes of the nations and lands since the begin n ing ofdays ; the law is natu ral ly con fined to the relation ofJeho vah to Is rae l. Bu t this relation is conce ivedchi efly in the feeling of the prophet s. We saw howthe pr ophets had be e n led by the conception of thepecu liar fortunes experienced by the Israeli tes tor econ struct the relati on of the tribal god in such aman ner that the one Almighty Lord of heaven wasr egarded as havin g ch ose n Israe l as his people : are la tion wh ich is brought forward by the prophe ts int h e most variou s applications. Owing to th is pecu l iarre lation Jehovah gave Canaan to the Israel ite s ; forth is re ason he chose Sion for h is mountain , Jeru salemfo r h is dwell ing-place, and t h e temple for his house ;M ic reason Jehovah was, to the prophets, th e rea lking of Isr ael. Like the old, t h e new book of thelaw re gards the re la tion of Jehovah to the Israel i t esas a covenant, a t reaty between two parties, each ofwhom can stan d on h is rights ; Jehovah on h is

‘ De ut v. 0. ‘ Dou t ivd c.

216 JUBA II .

worship Israel o n the services rendered in retu rn byJehovah , on the land gran ted to h im for the service ofJehovah , on the enjoyment of his fields an d vineyards,on peace and secu rity against enemies, on the increas eof his race and prosperity. Jehovah is the master,and Israe l the servant ; the servant must serve, b u tthe master cannot keep back the wages. Jehovah hasannou nced his commands to Israel the Israel ite s havepledged themselves to fu lfil them

,and so long as they

perform their obligation,Jehovah will not shorten the

reward of their service . I f on the grou nd of such acovenant the prophets regard all the evil which e vert akes Israel as a consequ ence of the breach of it ; ift h e strife between Jehovah and Israel concern ingthe observation and non-observation of the contr actis a cu rrent idea wi th them

,with which is connected

the annou ncement of a day of ju dgment, and oft h e severe pu n ishment which Jehovah will execu te onthose who transgress the covenant (p. the bookof the law is here marked by someth ing of thepriestly character

,inasmu ch as it conclu des with the

blessing which will attend the maintenance of thecovenant, and the cu rse which will foll ow u pon thebreach of it to which Moses ad ds ; he knows that theIsraelites will do evil after his death .

”I n the first

case the frui t of the womb will be blessed in Israel ,the fru i t of t h e fields

,the increase of t h e kin s , and

t h e lambs of the sheep, the basket, and the kneadingtrough

,

” and “ Israe l wil l lend to many nati ons andborrow of none "3 in the second cas e Jehovah wil l visitthem with the scab

,with boils of Egyp t on the knees

and thighs, from the top of the head to the sole of thefoot with fever

,pest il ence

,consumpti on, inflammation

with blindness,madness

,and asto nishment of heart ;

De u t . xxxi . 27.

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213 JUBA II .

mu ch to serve for the sake of the h ire, as that theworship of Jehovah wou ld have this reward as i tsimmediate consequ ence. Bu t if at the same time t h erecompense for service was brought more strongly intoprominence among the Jews than among any o thern ati on, if in no other people this legal state of therelation between God and man is establ ished so mu chin the form of a compact, the prophets had alreadygiven an inward and moral meaning to the simpler elation of contract between Jehovah and Israel . T h eylooked on i t as a marri age (p . a n d consequ entlythey did not merely reprove the breach of the contractas an ou trage on righ t , b u t branded i t as faithlessness .The Book of the Law also does not remain at the poin tof themere contract. The Book asks Whether su cha mighty thing was ever done or heard of on the earth ,as that a God had attempted to take a people to h imse lf o u t of the mids t of the n ations by signs , and wonders

,and war, and a strong hand and an ou tstretched

arm,by great and wonderfu l deeds.” 1 Bu t we are

fu rther told,“ Jehovah h as not incl ined to you , and

chosen you ,because ye we re more than a ll nations—y e

were the least of the nations— b u t becau se Jehovahloved you .

”2 “.I t is the grace of Jehovah that he h as

incl ined to the fathers of Isr ae l , ,an d to them onl y, to

lea d t hem.

” If the relation of the protecti ng lord toh is people thu s passes into a relation of free choice andl ove , the Book of the Law , on the other hand, requ iresfrom the Israelites something more than an ex t ernalworsh ip of Jehovah by gifts and sacrifices . Thecommand which I give thee is n o t hidden fr om thee,nor is it far o ff , that thou shou l dst say, Who will go u pto heaven and bring it down , or who will go over the

De n t . iv. 32—34. De n t . vn . 7, 8.

3 De n t . x. 14, 15 ; iv. 37.

JUBA II UN DER ”A N A S SES A N D JOSIAH. 219

sea and annou nce it to u s ? The word is very n igh u ntot hee , i n th y mou th , and in thy heart .

” l Circumci sethe fore sk in of you r heart, and be no longer stiffnecked.

“ Ye wil l find Je h ovah if ye see k h imwithall you r heart, and a l l you r soul .

”8 “What does Jehovahre quire of thee That thou shou ldst love h imwith a l l

thy str en gth , and walk in h is ways.“ Love Jehovah,

thy God , with a ll thy hea rt, and al l thy sou l , and keeph is charge , and h is statu tes , and his judgmen ts, andhis commandments a lway .

” ti

If t h e new law seeks to give a valu e to inwardness,

to l ift ing u p the heart, and love to God ; if it recognisest h e mor al natu re of Jehovah in the heart of man

,and

in this point is fu ll y in harmony with t h e requirementsof the prophets ; yet at the same time, in accordancewi th th e view of the priests, the whole sacrificial servicewas retained , wi th the re gu lati ons for pu rifica t ion .

Even if the priests had been able to ad opt t h e point ofvi ew of the prophets—the conception of pu rely inwardelevation , and se rvice with the heart—how could thisha ve bee n brought into force , and establ ished among t h epeople , or wi th the kings, who fou nd it no easy task tokeep up the ritual of the service of Jehovah be side thesen sual Syrian ri tes ? The ritual for the priests , there gu lat ions for their rights and du ties , were in existence ; the n ew law was not intended to instruct theprie sts , i t was e ssentially a ru le of l ife for the laity.

Hen ce i n this re spect the new law had only to work itsway as a su pplemen t, t o impress more definitely on t h epe ople u nity of the worship , and its concentra t ion int h e temple at Jerusa lem. Thus it was decisively comme nded th at the Passover also shou ld be kept by a l l

Israel ites in Jerusalem (I I. In order fin al ly to

Den t. t u n —H . Dou t x l c. ‘ Don t iv. 29.

- 0.

220 J UDAH .

pu t an end to the ancient cu stom of worshippingJehovah “ in t h e high places,

” the ru le was en forcedthat all sacrifices shou ld be offered in the temple a tJerusalem : every ot her place of sacrifice was expre sslyforbidden, and every sacrifice which was not presentedby the priests of the temple . On the other hand , inother departments , t h e new law exhibits greate rmoderation . At the festival of the new bread i twas enough i f every one offered freew i l l-offeringsaccording to the measu re in which Jehovah h asblessed h im ; b u t the Israeli t e was not to appearbefore Jehovah with u tterly empty hands . 1 The n ewlaw moderated the demands for giving the tithe to theLevites. The tithe of the harvest was st ill to be offer edaccording to ancient cu stom as a than k-offering forJehovah in t h e temple ; b u t it was permitted to redeemthe ti t he in kind and exchange it for money : finally,the law declared itself content if the tithe were du lypaid at least in each third year.2 The tithe of cattlewas entirely dropped in the Book of the Law ; onlythe claim of the priests to the male fir st -born ofan imals was retained : “ With such oxen ye shall notplough : su ch sheep shall not be shorn ; they shal l beeaten before Jehovah year by year. ”3 The new l awprovided a compensation for the diminu t ion of theti the, by allowing the Levites, l ike the priests , to havea share in t h e sacrifices, if they di d service in thetemple, and by the ru le that the Israel it es shou ld invi tet h e Levites to t h e sac rificial feas ts at the thank-ofi

'

e r

ings and fest ivals . ‘ O ther requ irements of the oldlaw— that a part of the spoils of war shou ld be givento the priest s— that in enumerations and levies of the

De n t . m ; xvi . 16.

De n t . xv . 19, 20; iv. 22—29 ; xxvi. 12—1 5 .

D e n t . xii. 6, 1 1 , 17 ; xi v. 27—29 . De n t. xviii. 6—8.

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fl? JUBA II .

prophets, who incited to the worship of other gods , evenif they did signs and wonders, were pu t to death .

‘ If

thy brother,”t h e Book continu es ,

“ or thy son , or thydaughter, or the wife of t h y bosom, or thy friend,which is as thy own sou l , entice thee to serve othergods, thou shalt not spar e h im; thy hand sh al l be thefirst u pon h im to stone h im to death .

“ If a ci typractises idolatry, the inhabitants and every l ivethin g in the city, even t h e cattle, are to be “

cu rsed ”

and pu t to the edge of the sword ; all fu rnitu re andproperty is to be brought in to the market-place andbu rnt as a bu rnt-offering for Jehovah. Then thehou ses are to be destroyed with fire and never rebu il t .3

The Book of the Law sou ght to avoid the greatestdanger of all , by the provision that the people shou ldn o t choose any str anger to be king. How cou ld astranger be king in Israel when no stranger s were tobe admi t ted in to the people ? The king of t h e peoplewhich Jehovah chose mu st be long to the chosen race .Bu t the new law also adds, that the people are “ tomakeh im king whom Jehovah shall choose,

” a regu lationwhich , in so far as it recognises a n d sancti ons the o ldright of election , must h e in t ended to guard agai nstthe influ ence of the priests on the possession of t h ethrone, and their decis ion. For the kin g himself t h eBook lays down the ru le not to mu l tiply horses andwives to himself, that his heart turn not away, as hadbeen the case with Solomon and Ahab, and not togreatly mu l tiply to himself silver and gold. He isal so to make a copy of the law when he sits u pon t h ethrone of his kingdom, that it may be with h im,

andhe may read therein all the days of h is life, th at hemay learn to fear Jehovah , and observe al l the words

1 De n t . xiii. 1—5 . De n t . xiii. 6—1 1 .3 De n t . xii i. 12—1 7. Cf. Exod . xxi i. 18 , 20.

JUDAB UNDER MAN AGSES AND JOSIAH.

of the law,and t hat his heart be not lifte d up above

his brethren.”

Th e old law gave the rul es of blood-rig ht, andfamily-right, and in addit ion canons on the rights oft h e person

,and the prote ction of property. In t h e

new law the main obj ect was to secu re the carryingo u t and appl icati on of these ru les of ju stice in the

M oe of the tribun al . For this obj ect a defini teinflu ence of the priests o n the tribu nal was requ ired.

In pr inciple the Book declares; that“ every sentence

shall be given after the decision of the priests andLevite s,

” 3 for practice it is contente d to prescribe, thatjudges and overseers wer e t o be placed at al l t h e ga te s ;and t h en adds :

“ If t h er e ar ise a ma t t er too h ard forthee in judgmen t between blood and blood

,and

bet wee n plea and plea, and stroke an d stroke in thegate s, then .

thou shalt arise and get thee to.

the placewhich Jehovah sh a ll choose (the temple), and come tothe priests and Le vite s an d the ju dge, who shall bethere, and do accordin g to the sentence which theypronounce for thee .

” The man who wil l not l isten tothe priest who stands there to min iste r before Jehovahis to be pu t to dea th .

”

In the ju dicial process the new law lays emphas ison t h e rul e that o n ly the testimony of two or threewrt n em is to be sufficie n t ,‘ an d that the tes timony isto be strict ly proved. The ju dges are to inqu ire, and“ if the wi t ness is a false witness , and h as spokenfalsely against h i s br other, ye sh a l l do to h im as hethought to do to h is brother.”5 Like the old law,

then ewwarns the j udge to have no respect of persons

,

”

an d sdds t h a t h e is to take n o g ift , th a t h e is n eve r to

De n t . xvii. 14- 20. De n t. xxi. 6.‘ De u t xvt s—u ; xix. 17 ; m . 13.

‘ Don t xix w.

224 JUBA II .

give crooked j udgments ; l eas t of all , in the case ofwidows and orphans. Cu rsed is he that perverteththe judgment of the fa t h e r lcss and widow.

” lIn the canons of law, as i n the regu lations abou t

t h e tithes , the new code makes changes only with aview to the carrying o u t of the law in practice . I tgoes decided ly beyond the old in the regu lations ,institu ted even in the old law, for the diminu tion ofthe severity of the law of debt, and in regard for theoppressed and poor ( I I . T h e arrangements abou tthe years of Sabbath and of Jubil ee are dropped asimpracticable in t h e new law

,and are red uced to the

mu ch simpler rul e, that in every seventh year, i . e . in

the year of Sabbath, an acqu itment is to be made ,”

i . (3. every u npaid loan , made before th is year, is to becancelled, with the income u pon it . Feel ing the evilconsequ ences which might spring from this regu lation ,the Book of the Law at the same time gives warni ngthat no one is to be misled in to refusing loans to t h epoor from the fear that he cou ld not cou nt on repayment after t h e year of acqu itment .2 The older lawrequ i res , as has been al ready remarked , t hat in lending to the poor no intere st shou ld be taken ; 3 the n e wlaw went fu rther : interest is not to be taken fromany Israe li te , b u t only from strangers (i . e . Phenician

Bu t here also it is added, t hat no o n e

for t his reason “ is to harden his heart,and close his

hand before his poor brother ; thou shalt lend to h imon a pledge (i . e . on su fficient secu rity) , what is requ isi tefor his need , and Jehovah will bless thee in a l l t h e

work of thy hands . ” 6 Thu s in Israel money was, infact, only lent on pledge. The old law forbids to take

1 D e n t . xvi. 19 ; xxvii. 1 9. De n t . xv.

‘ Deu t xv. 6 ; xxiii. 20; xxviii. 12.5 De n t . xv. 7—1 1 .

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228 JUDAH.

towards them. At the harvest there is to be noglean ing. The scattered ca rs are not to be ga t h e i cdan y more t han the fallen berries in the vineyard .

Hast thou forgotten a sheaf in the field,thou shal t

not retu rn to take it ; this sheaf shall be, like thegleanings , for the stranger, the widow an d theorphan .

"l Strictly as the new law maintained t h e

e xcl u s ivcn css of Israel towards the neighbou rs (p .

it is equ ally emphatic in takin g the part of theindividu al u nprotecte d stranger who dwell s in Israe l .“ Cu rsed is he who perverts the judgment of thestranger.” The law forbids the mocking of afflic t edpersons owing to in firmi t ies of body ; the dumb manis not to be reviled, nor a s t umb l i n gb lock to be placedin the way of the bl ind ; the man is accu rsed whocau ses a blin d man to go o u t of his way.

3 A

shall not see the ox or sheep of h i s brother go as traywi t hou t leading it back

,or keepin g i t , if the owner

is u nknown to h im ; and the same shall be donewith all lost property.

‘ Only the you ng ones areto be taken from the nest of the bird, and not themother wit h them.

5 Fru i t trees are to be spared evenin the land of an enemy .

“ The mou th of the th rashi n g

-cx is not to be tied, a nd even animals mu st reston the Sabbat h .

’

When king Josiah had read th i s book before theassembly of t h e elders and the people in the hou se ofJehovah (p. he vowed that he wou ld tu rn afterJehovah, an d keep his ordinances and commands

,and

fu lfil with al l his heart and so n ] t h e words of t h ecovenant writt en in the book. A n d all the peopleentered in to the coven ant. ” The ki ng went vigorously

Den t . n iv. 19—22. Den t. xxvn . 19.

De n t . xxvii . 18. O f. Levit . xix. 1 4.

De n t . xxi. 6. De n t . xx. 1 9 , 20.

7 De n t . xxv. 4.

JUDA II U NDER MAN ASS ES AND JOSIAH. 21 7

to work to destroy the altars , statu es, and symbolsof for eign rites which remained in Jerusalem, in theneighbourhood, and the whole cou ntry , from the timeof Man asses and a yet earlier date . The image ofAstarte (p . 209) was removed from the temple, andburnt o n the brook Kidron the al tars on the roof ofthe king’s palace , which Ahaz h ad made, as wel l asthose which Manasses h ad se t up in the cou rt of t h etemple, were torn down ; the place for offering bu rntofi

'

e r ings to Moloch in the val ley of Ben Hi nnom ; theal ta rs of Milcom and Camu s, which since Solomon

’stime had exi sted on the high places near Jerusalem

( II . were pu rified, that no one shou ld any moremake his son or his daughter to pass through the fire. ”

A ll the ve ssels of t h e worshi p of Baal and t h e stargods were removed, and the hou ses of the male worshipper s th rown down . When t h e king proceeded .to

pu t an en d to the ancien t worship of Jehovah on theheights, he foun d grea te r resistance th an in the removalof these foreign ri tes and their priests. He comman deda ll the pries ts of the ci ties of Ju dah to come to Jerusa lem, and pu rified t h e h igh places “ from Ge h a toBeersheba,

” even the places at Be thel which Je r obo amII. h ad se t up, against which Amos and Hosea haddeclaimed.

‘ T h e priests who did not obey, and con~tinned to sacrifice at the old places of sacrifice , an d o n

the h igh places , b e ca u sed to be slain as sacrifices at theal tars wh ich th ey refu sed to desert . Then t h e Pas soverwas celebrated accord in g to t h e regu lations of t h e lawas never before u nder the kin gs of Israel and Ju dah

,

and t r ad i ti on prou dly declares of Josiah that beforeh im then : arose n o king l ike unto h im, nor after h im.

“

A b ove , p. 31 .‘ 1 Ki n g mi n—u . 2 Ch romn x im xxxv. 1—0. Jea n s“

CHAPTER XI .

THE NAT IONS 01' THE NORTH .

FA R fr om the centres of power and civil isation inHither As ia, beyond the Cau cas u s and the Black Sea ,dwelt wandering t ribes who

,in the accou nts of the

Greeks, were generally denoted by the common nameof S cyt h e . It was known at an early time

,among

the Greeks , that these tribes which dwelt to then orth of the Th racian s lived on their herds, e spe ci

ally o n the milk of their mares . Even the Homericpoems make mention of the ‘ horse-mil kers,

’ of t h eThracians

,

’ who live poorly on milk, the most ju st ofme n .

” The name “ Scyth ians ” is first fou nd i n

Hesiod , who cal ls them horse-mi l king eaters of milk,who live on waggons. ” [Esch y lu s says that the hordesof wandering Scythians live in desolate plai ns, on theshore of Oceanu s, at the farthest, pathless end of theearth , on t h e lake Maeo t is (sea of Azof), and to the eastof i t ; they dwell in woven tents, which move onwheels, they eat the cheese of mares

,and are armed

wi t h far-shootin g bows.” lThe nations of the North come ou t more plamin

the hi sto ry of Herodotu s, who was far better informedabou t the Nort h than many later au thoriti es. TheCas pian S ea , he tells u s ,

“ is an isola ted sea, fift e en

Ili ad ,

”13, 6, G. S tr aLo , p . 300, 302. A ’l sch . Pr om. 11 l . 2. 4 16

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210 SCY T l l l A .

of the Don , above t h e lower Volga, perhaps as far asthe Yaik .

The Scythians, who called themselves Sco l o t i , as

Herodotu s fu rt her tells u s , had previou sly dwelt int h e east, and afterwards marched to t h e west, u ndert h e pressu re of t h e Massag e t aa. Bu t Aristeas relate dthat the Massaget te had not driven ou t t h e Scythians,b u t the Arimaspians had driven t h e Issedones o u t oft heir land

,and then the Issedones had expelled t h e

Scy thians. The S co lo t i dwelt to the west of theland of the Sarmatian s, on the western bank of theT an a is . Their te rrito ry extended along the shore ofthe Mae o t is and Pontu s, as far as the mou ths of theIster (Danu be). This

, t h e larges t of al l rivers whi chwe know

,

” was said to flow down from the Celts,the

nation in the extreme west, through the whole ofEu rope, t ill it finally reached t h e land of the Scyt h ian s, where it ran in to the Pontu s by five months .

1

The peninsu l a on the west side of the Mae o t is,i . e . the

Crimea, also belonged, so far as it was level , to theScyt hs ; b u t the Tau ri dwelt on the mou ntains in thesou th-west. The reach from the mou th of the Don asfar as the mou ths of the Danu be is the length of t h eland of the Scythi ans the bread th Herodot u s pu ts attwenty days’ j ou rney, i . e . 500miles, i f you go fromthe Pontu s into the mai n-land t o the north .

According to this the t errito ry of the S co lo t i extended from the sea u pwards in the east abou t as faras the bend of the Don to t h e sou th , and on t h e

Dnieper as far as the rapids in this river ; i . e . i tcomprised the land of the Cossacks on the west of theDon , and the steppe, and fu rther to the west the plainsof Moldavia, as far as the Carpathian range. ’ Like

Her od . 4, 47—50.

N e uma n n , Di e He llen en im Scyt h en lan de , s . 202, 216.

THE NATIONS OF THE NORTH . 231

the land of the Sarmatians, the langi of the Sco l o t i was

o n e vast plain , withou t trees, wit the exception of astrip of fore st which ex tended from the sea on the leftba nk of the Bo rys t h e n es (Dniepe r) from three to fou rdays’ j ou rney up the river, b u t rich in grass, as it waswa tered by large rivers . ‘ To the west of the T an a isthe fir st river was the Bo ryst h e n e s , the larges t of theScyth ian rivers, flowing down through the land andthe soil by the river was so good

,that when sown it

pr odu ced the best corn , and where it was not sownt h ere stood tall grass . Fu rther to the west t h eHypan is (Bug ) flowed ou t of a lake , rou nd whichpastu red white horses, through Scythia to the Pontu s ;th is river had a cou rse of on ly n ine days’ jou rney (225miles) , whi le the Bo rys t h e n es was navigable for fou rtee n days’ jou rney from t h e mou th.

’ Still fu rther toth e wes t was the Tyras (Dniester), which also flowedo u t of a lake ; by these lakes are dou btless meant themarshes in t h e u pper cou rse of t h e Bug and Dniester.To t h e north, beyond the Sco lo t i, twenty days

’ j ou rney,according to Herodotus, fromthe land of the Tau ri , onthe wes t bank of the Te n ais , dwelt theMe lan ch laan iso ca ll ed from t h e black garments which they we r e ;t h e y h ad Scythi an manners, b u t were not a tribe of theScythians . To the west of these l ived migratorytribes , withou t law or j ustice, of far ru der mannerstha n the Sco lo t i ; they were the only tribes whi ch atehuman flesh , an d were in con sequ ence ca ll ed Andr ophagi. A n d further yet to t h e west beside the Androphagi dwelt the Neu ri , northwards of the lake fromwh ich the Tyras (Dn ie ster) springs , a nation ofScythian manners. Like the Sco lo ti , t h e Neu ri werethe eastern neighbours of t h e Aga t h yr s i , throughwhose land the Maris (t h e Theiss with the Mams h )

‘ Il crorL -l ,-l 7. ‘ Hcrod t J iL

232 SCYTH IA .

l lowcd down in to t h e Danu be .

‘ Bu t who dwel tbeyond the Neu ri , t h e A n d r oph ag i , and the Me lan chl ro n i , and fu rther to the east beyond t h e A rg ipze a n s ,who dwelt to the north of the Iyrcae , at t h e foot oflofty mountains (u p to these the land was level) , andwore S cythian clothing

,and l ived on t h e fru i ts of trees,

and of the Issedones , in the north—o f this, Herodotu sassu res u s, no one knew anything more than theaccou nts given by the Issedones

,the A rg ipae an s , and

t h e Scy thians. ” T h e Issedones related that beyondthem dwelt t h e A r imaspi , one- eyed me n , who tookt h e gold from the g r ifii n s which were again furtherto t h e nort h . A rist eas of Pr e co n n esu s (550wh o professed to have been among the Issedones

,

had celebrated the A r imaspi in verse . He said thatbeyond the nation of the Issedones

,rejoicing in long

hair,towards the nort h, dwelt the A r imaspi , rich i n

horses,sheep, and oxen, the mightiest me n of al l , b u t

each in his fu ll face had b u t one eye su rrou nded withthick hair .” fEsch y lus cal ls the A r ismaspi, one' eyedriders of horses by the gold-flowin g s t ream besidethem are the g r iflin s , “ the sharp-mou thed,mu te bou n dsof Zeu s. ” Oceanu s, the god of the water su rrou nding the earth

,E sch y lus represents as passing through

the air of the north, on a g r ifli n the fou r-leggedbird .

”a

According to Herodotu s,the Sarmati ans and the

Sco l o t i spoke the same langu age, b u t the Sarmatiansspoke it badly . Beyond this remark and the statements abou t themascu li ne l ife of the Sarmatian women,he gives u s no fu rther information abou t this people .

He rod. 4 , 1 8, 100, 106, 107, 125 .

Tze tzes , “ Chil . 7, 144 , 1 63.

Pr om. 285 , 802. Y e t E sch y l u s appe ar s to place t h e A r imaspii n t h e No r th-we s t , a n d n o t i n t h e No r th-east .

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em SCY T II IA .

provided with a cover of fel t,was at the same time

t en t and hou se .

‘ The clothing of t h e Sco lo t i consistedof sk ins ; beside the u pper garment of leather theyh ad wide breeches of the same material. These garments , so astonishing to the Greeks, they wore, as

Herodotu s says , on accou nt of t h e cold,” and in

addition a girdle rou nd the body, which they drewtight when they h a d had nothing to eat for a longtime . The horse was the most importa nt animal forthe Sco lo t i ; they l ived i n part on horse-fle sh ; theywere fond ofmare’smilk, an d t h e prepara tion of acidala ted ma t e ’

s milk (koumyss) was known to them.

“

The nation was made u p of a number of tribes .A ccordin g to Herodotu s, t h e land was di vided intocantons

,each of whi ch had its own chief

,and a place

where he pronou nced ju stice ; in each canton , besidesthe residence of the chi ef, was a place sacred to thegod of war, from which it follows that at the timepresu pposed in the description of Herodotu s the tribesof the Sco lo t i no longer marched at will through thewhole district. Thi s original state was not merelyabandoned owing to the settlements in the ag r icu l

tu ral districts ; even the habit of wanderi ng u p anddown

,the search for pastu re and for water

, an d hun ting, were limited among the migratory tribes to a part icu lar district, within which the tribe chan ged itsencampment according to the chan ge of the seasons

,

and the produ ctiveness of the hu nting and pastu rage .Moreover, the nomadic habit was also so far aband on e d that the head of the tribe h ad a definite placeof abode in the can ton , an d there was a sacred placein each canto n . The ru lers of the cantons in Hero

H e r od. 4, 75 . H ippocr .“De A cr e , p . 92, ed . Co r e y. Str abo ,

p . 307 .

Ne uman n , loc. ci t . s. 278 fi.

THE NATIONS 01’ THE NORTH . 236

do tus were u ndoubtedly the princes of the tribes; thech iefs of the oldest family, or of t h e family which onceru led the tribe . Even among the trib es themselve sthere was an order of pre cedence, which the legend ofthe Sco lo t i does not carry back to difference of age b u tt o the favou r of heaven . The t r ibe wh ich held thefor emost place among the S colo t i was, accordin g toHer odotu s , the tribe call ed the Royal Scythians .

”

Th is tribe fu rnished the chief of the whole nation, orra ther the chief of this tribe was also the ru ler of all theo ther tribes—the kin g of all the prin ces of the tribes .Here also , in this su bord inati on of the chieftai ns andtribes u n der one l iege lord—in this one ru ler of thewhole nati on—we see plainly that the Sco lo t i had leftfar beh ind the stage of pu rely nomadic life. We cane stablish i t as a fact that this monarchy was in existence among t h e Sco lo t i in the first half of t h e seventhce ntu ry B. C .

, and apparen t ly i t existe d far earlier . TheRoyal Scythi ans,

”i . e . the tribe to which the royal

house belonged , dwelt, according to the st atement ofHerodotu s, on the Bo ryst h e n es , in the district ofGe r r h us, fourt e en days

’ j ou rney fromthemou th of thisr iver. Hence the pastures of the royal horde must besought on the rapids of the Dnieper.

Before a l l gods, the Sco lo t i worshipped the sky

god, Papwu s , and Hestia, i . e . the geniu s of t h ehe arth , whom they call ed Tahiti , “ the qu een of theS co lo t i ,

"as Herodotu s says ; and beside these two, the

god of l ight, ( Eto syr us , and the earth-goddess, thespouse o f t h e sky

-

god , who was called Apia. ‘ TheSco lo t i had no images or al tars. Only the war-god ,to whom t hey offered more sacr ifices t h an to al l the res t

' Barod. i,127 . Hu n do tu s n pru mb l dau t h ym s u n yin g .

“ A s

my b r dn l aekn ov ledg o on ls u Mw sky-god ). my fomfa t h e r , andH a fig t h o qum of th o scyt h im

”

236 SCY T l l l A .

of the gods, had a sanctu ary at the place of assemblyfor each canto n . This was a great heap of bu ndles ofbru shwood

,three stad es in lengt h and bread th

,and

flat on the top (e ach yea r 1 50waggon-loads of bru shwood were added), in whi ch an iron sword thesymbol of t h e god — stood erect. To these swordssacrifices were offered yearly , chiefly of horses, thoughot her animals were u sed . When the Scythians sacrifice dthe ir prisoners to the war-god (p . they pou redwine on their heads

,and slew them at the bas e of t h e

heap of bru shwood, so that the blood r an in to a skin,

and the blood was then pou red u pon the erect sword .

Af ter this the right a rm was hewn from the corpse ofthe victiman d thrown into the air ; it was all owed toremain where it fell . 1

The S co lo t i derived the orig in of their nation fromthe gods— fromPapze u s , the god of the sky . Thi s godbegot T arg i taeu s with the daughter of the river Boryst h e n es . T arg i t aeu s had thr ee sons, Lipoxa is , A rpoxais ,and Colaxais. In their days a golden cup , a goldenba t tle-axe, a golden yoke , and a golden plough fel ldown from heaven . When L ipoxa i s attempted to takethe gold it bu rned ; and in the samemanner it escapedA r poxa is. Bu t the you ngest brother was able to takeit . So he became king, and from h im arose the royaltr ibe ; from the two others sprang the other tribes . ’

These gift s of heaven were carefu lly gu arded by theki ngs, and each year the S co lo t i assembled to offer

He rod. 4 , 59.

He r od . 4 , 5 . T h e se r ies o f Scythi a n kin gs which can b e co llecte dfr om He r odo t us is : Pr o to t h yas , abo u t 650 Madyr as , abou t630 S au l i u s , abo u t 550 I da n t h y r su s , abo u t 500

H e r od. 1 , 103 ; 4 , 76. Be side this su ccessio n o f ki n gs we may pl acet h e pedigr ee o f A n ach ar sis , wh o came to He llas abo u t 580B.C. , an d

mu s t , the re fo r e , have be e n bo r n abou t 610 H is fa the r , Gn u r n s ,was , the r e fo r e , bo r n a t t h e la te st in 630 h i s gr an dfa the r , Lyon s,i n 650 an d h is gr ea t -gr an dfa ther , Spa r g ape i t h es, i n 670

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SCYTH I A.

If the king died , his body was embalmed , and carriedround through all the hordes. At all the places to wh ichthe body came, the Sco lo t i shaved o ff their hair in signof mou rning, and cu t o u t a piece from the car . Theyalso wou nded themselves in t h e brow and the nose

,

an d pu shed an arrow through the left hand . Then,

in t h e land of Ge r r h u s, t h e district of the royal tribeon the Bo rys t h e n es , a great, squ are sepu lchre wasexcavated, and the dead king placed in the bottom ofit, on a bed of bru shwood. Lances were t hrust in tothe grou nd close at hand, and wicker-work placed u ponth em. One of the wives of the king, his maste r of thehorse

,h is bu tler, cook , body-servant, and herald were

strangled,and the ir corpses placed in the gra ve beside

the corpse of the kin g. The horses of the king alsowere killed

,and thrown with other equ ipments in to

the grave . Then the grave was filled u p, and a tumulu s raised above it to as great a height as possible .Bu t aft er a year

’

s interval fifty you ng servants wereselected from the retinu e of the dead , and fifty horse sof the k in g . These were ki lled in order to serve asgu ard ians rou nd the tomb of the king . When t h e

soft parts had been removed from the bodies of thehorses

,and replaced by ch afi

'

, the carcas es were setu pright by means of poles driven into the eart h . In

the same way the dead you th s were fixed u pon thehorses by poles thru st throu gh the spine. 1

With the Scol o t i war was the most honou rableoccu pation ; t hose who pu rsu ed a handicraft were notheld in su ch respect as the rest the weal thi er menhad numerou s slaves to look after their flocks, and dothe work i n their tents. The Sco l o t i u su all y fought asb owmen on horseback . Their bows were of pecu liar

H er od . 4, 71 , 72. He r od. 2, 167.

THE NAT IONS OF THE NORTH . 239

form and cu rvatu re t h e copper points of their ar rowsar e e aid to ha ve been po isoned beside the h ow theycarried a battle-axe, sabre , dagger , and lance, wit h awhip .

’ Their corslets and shields are said to havebeen made of elk

’

s skin . No man escapes them,

"

Herodotu s says ;“ and no man can overtake them

and bring them to hand-co nflict , if they do not wishto be overtaken , and their rivers help t hem. Whena Sco lo te slays an enemy for the first time, he d rinkso f h is blood he who has slain no enemy receives nowine at the banqu et which the chief of the canton givesonce in each year

,b u t must sit neglected in a corner ;

he who has sl ain many enemies , drin ks ou t of twogoblets at once . ’ The Sco lo t i take the scalps fromtheir slain enemies and hang themon the bridles of thehors es, and he who h as most of these scalps passes fort h e br avest . Some ta ke the skins from the dead , andmake of them covers for their qu ivers . Any one whowou ld have a share in the booty must bring to t h ekin g the heads of the enemies he h as slain .

o Theysacrifice every hundredth man among the prisoners ,an d keep t h e rest as slaves . If a Soci e te h as a qu arrelwi th another

,and receives h im from the king to pu t

to death , he preserves his skul l , even though he maybe a near relation. The poorer people cover thesesku l ls with e x-hide ; the weal t hier have them gilded ,and use them as d rinking-vessels if a stranger comesamong them, they exh ibit these sku l ls , and boast ofthem.

’

A cco rdi ng to th is descripti on the Scolo t i were apeople

,who, by the pu rsu it of agricu l tu r e at the

mou ths of their rivers , by some ha ndi craft , by di vidi ng

‘ Of. Cart ie r . E li sa .

“ N a t . An im.

”2, 16 ;

He ro d. 4 . a. 70. Hero d . 4 .m.

‘ He rod. ‘ H crod.

240 SCYTH IA.

the land in to cantons, by fixing sacred places in thecantons

,and by a mon archy governing all t h e tribes ,

had advanced beyond t h e nomadic stage . Harden edby l ife in the steppes, accu stomed to bear hardships

,and content wi th lit t le, t h e Sco lo t i are excel

lent riders,and soldiers of great endu rance . T h e

pictu re which Herodotus has given of their mannersdisplays a certain carelessness, kindliness, and sociab i l i ty , b u t these qu alities are accompani ed by traitsof horrid barbarism, cru elty, and blood - t hirst iness.They can endu re hu nger and t hirst ; they take pleasu re in banqu ets and drinking. The head of the tribeassembles his tribe each year for a feast , at whichthe brave me n drink o u t of two goblets at once . Thenearest relatives place thebody of the dead on a waggon

,

and carry it rou nd among their fri ends , each of whomprovides a banqu et, at which food is placed for thedead as wel l as for the living. Vt n forty dayshave been spent in th is manner, the dead person isbur ied .

‘ When the Hellenes in trodu ced wine amongthe Scyths—the introdu ct ion perhaps took place afte rthe beginnin g of the seven th centu ry— me n andwomen drank immoderately of it beside their mare

’smi lk, and became violently intoxicated.

“ They al solived in great u ncleanl iness . The want of water i ntheir steppes mad e cleanl iness difficu l t, b u t that wasno reason for never was h ing themselves at a l l

,which

Herodotu s tel ls u s was the habit of the S co lo t i . Onlythe wealthier sort among the S co lo t i had more thanone wife ; the women were withou t rights, and belongedto their hu sbands in ju st the same way as any head oftheir catt le : this right of property in the wife evendescended to the sons, who had an hereditary claim and

He rod. 4 , 73.

He r od. 6, 84 ; H ippocr . ,

" De H e rb 4 , 13. De Le g . p. 637.

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212 SCYTH I A .

t h e Sco lo t i as driven to the west by t h e Mas sage HE ,who dwelt in the east

,a tribe which we shall have t o

seek on the Jaxarte s. In this way t h e S co lo t i comein to the land of the Cimmerians, who inhabit the northshore of the Black Sea

,and the Cimmerians fly before

them to Asia Minor. I t was shown above that t h eCimmerians appeared at the mou ths of the H alysabou t t h e year 750 B.C and that soon after the year700 they traversed Phrygia, and in the firstdecade of the seven t h centu ry came into coll ision w itht h e Assyrians and the Lydians (I . 546 Hi ) . I f we ca nnot contest the fact with Herodotu s, that the S co lo tiformerly came from the cas t into the ste ppes abovet h e Black Sea, his narrative of their actu al irru ptioninto the land of the Cimmerians is self-contradictory .

When the Sco lo t i came from the east, the Cimmeriansdebated on the Tyras, i . e . on the Dniester

,whether

they shou ld resist or give way they determi ned to g iveway, an d fled from thi s land—not westward to theDanube, b u t eastward along the shore of the BlackSea to Asia. If they wished

,when assembled on the

Dniester,to retir e before the enemy coming from the

eas t, they mu st go to the west Herodotu s repre sent sthem as going from the Dni ester to the east directlyin the teeth of the advancing enemy in order to reachAsia Minor rou nd the north and eas t shores of theBlack Sea . From this contradi cti on we may gatherthat the Sco lo t i dwelt for a long time in the steppe tothe north of the land of the Cimmerians—i . e . to thenorth of the shore of the Pontu s ; that they pressedtoward the sea, from a desire to possess themselves ofthe fru itfu l region to the sou th of the forest-tract at t h emou ths of the Dn iester, Bu g and Dn ieper ; and finallyovercame the Cimmerians, the ancient popu lati on oft h e coast, and compelled them to seek other dwellin g

THE NATIONS OF THE NORTH. 243

pl aces. Only the mounta inous dist rict of the Crimeawas maintained by the Tau ri (p . a tribe of theCimmerians,—and h e n ce the whole peninsu la reta insthe name Crimea afte r this nation—while the Sco lo t iacqu ired the better land on the coast, abou t the middleof the eighth centu ry, and became an agricu l tu ral

pe opl e, soon after this t ime, at the mou ths of the riversand on the plains of the Cr imes. The exiled Cimmerians wo n new abodcs on the sou th shore of the BlackSea

,at the mou th of the H a lys , and from this po int, in

repea te d predatory campaigns extending through acen tu ry, they laid waste As ia Minor as far as the westcoast—(what the legends of t h e Greeks and Herodotu stell u s of the manners of t h e Tau ri represent to u s

the Cimmerians as crafty barbarians) u ntil theyfinal ly su ccumbed to the arms of the Lydians

,and

ama lgama ted with the native tribes of the region in tothe nation of the Cappadocians (I .Of what origin , of what tribe were the Sarmati ans,

the Sco lo t i, and the people living above them to thenorth

, t h e Neuri , the A n dr oph ag i , and Me lan ch lze n i ?According to Aristeas, i t was the “ one-eyed Arimaspians,

" who had given the impu lse to the movement ofthe n orthern tribe s to the west. Herodotus maintainsthat the name Arimaspians mea ns the one-eyed inthe langu age of the Sco lo t i . ‘ The explanation is false .T h e word ce rt ainly belongs to the we ste rn branch oft h e Aryan langu age, cl e . to the family of langu agepre vail in g o n t h e table-land of Iran and t h e regionsbo rd erin g o n it ; it mean s those who have obedien thorses If th is was the name by whichthe Ar imaspi ca lled themselves, they were a nationof the Aryan race ; if it was t h e name by which theSarma t ians and Sco lo t i named t h e na t ion to t h e eas t

1 Ha nd. <1 , 27.

2M SCYTH IA .

of them, the Sarmatians and Sco lo ti mu st have spokenan Aryan language. Herodotus fu rther main ta insthat the Sco lo t i cal led the Ama zons O io rpa ta ,

and thatth is name meant slayers of me n .

” 1 This explanationalso is false . In Old Ar ian (Old Bac trian) O io rpa tawou ld appear as Vayap a tz

’

Vay ap a t i does not meant h e slayers, b u t it doesmean the lords, ofmen .

2 I t wast h e mascu l ine employment of the Sarmatian womentheir rid in g, their parti cipation in hu nting and warfare ,which gained for the women of the Sarmati ans the nameof lords of me n among their neighbou rs

,the Sco l o t i ,

with whom women were in a very su bordinate position.

I t was indeed th is position and these habits of the Sarmatian women which cau sed the Greeks to u n i te theSarmatians and the Amazons

,and make the latter the

mothers of the Sarmatian race. Thu s, for the Greeks ,the Amazons who disappeared on the T h e rmodo n cou ldarise to a new life on the steppes of the Don (I . 557 ff ).The names of the progen itors of t h e Sco lo t i, of

the three sons of T ar g i tmu s ; L ipoxa is, Ar poxais , andColaxais (p. appear to contain i n the second partof the words the old Arian word kskay a , z

'

. e . prince .The two older brothers strive in vain to win the shi ninggifts whi ch fell fr om heaven—t h e golden goblet, thegolden battle-axe, the golden yoke, and the goldenplough : i t is only the you ngest who can take them.

In the Avesta the splendou r of majesty recedes threetimes before Yima the first timeMi thr a seizes it, thenT h r ae tao n a , then K e r eeacpa : the kings of the Avestasacrifice in order that the mighty royal majestymay u n ite with them.

” The Tu ran ian Fr an gh areiangrasps th re e times in vain after the splendou r of themajesty of the Arian lands . ”3 Accord ing to the state

‘ Her od . 4 , 1 10.

Mu ll e n h ofl, “ Mo n a tsb e r . R A . 1866, s. 665 H, 576.

3 Zamyad Y asch t , 66 fl .

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246 SCYTH I A.

Scythians , corresponds to the worship of the hearthamong the Aryans in I ran

,as well as on the Indus.

At the same time the di fferent name, the female formof the latte r, the names of the other deities in Herodo t us

,the barbarou s worship of the war-god (p .

show that the Sco lo t i mu st have separated themselvesfrom the commu ni ty of the Aryan s before t h e easte rnbranch were in possession of the Pu njab, and themiddlebranch in possession of I ran , and there arrived at t h ereligiou s conceptions expressed in the hymn s of theRigveda, and in the creed of Iran , as it existed beforeZar a t h r u st ra . As it was the Sco lo t i who gave namesfrom their langu age to the rivers which flowed throughtheir steppes

,they mu st have pas tu red their flocks on

themfrom an early period. Not less than these names,and the legend of the Sco lo ti abou t the anti qu ity oftheir nation and i ts origin from the Bo rys th e n es ,does the comparison of the Iran ian langu ages su pportthe conclu sion that the Sarmatians and the Sco lo t imu st have broken o ff from the tribes of I ran at a veryearly period

,

1 and the Sco lo t i, who are situated fu rtherto the west on th is side of the Don, earlier thanthe Sarmatians . If

,therefore

,we mu st recognise in

the Sco lo t ian s and Sarmatians people of A ryan stockand character, their neighbou rs in the north, theNeu ri , the A n dr oph ag i , and the Me lan ch l te n i , mu stcount as the fathers of the Sclaves .’

Mn ll e n h ofl’, loo. ci t . s. 562. Mu l l en h o ff, lac. ci t . s . 667 .

CHAPTER XI I.

THE FALL OF ASSY RIA .

Fac t s modest beginnings , with a land of moderateextent

,Assyria

,after passing thro ugh a trai nin g of

sev er e warfare again st the immediate neighbou rs,slowly raised her self by un wearied efi

'

o r t s, and exte nded wider and wider the circle of her domin ion .

T h e en d of the twelfth century, the course and closeof the nin th cen tury , denote the epochs and the haltsin th is advance , which are followed in tu rn by periodsof de cl ine. With the middl e of the eighth centu ry,with the acce ss ion of T ig la t h Pil e sa r I I .

, As syria , by thesu bjugati on of Babyloni a and complete overthrow ofSyria , and by redu cing Med ia to a regu lar payment oftribu t e, passed beyond any height previously attained .

Sargon , Es a rhaddon , an d Assurbani pal raised Assyriayet higher. She ru l ed over the land of the Euphrate sas far as the mou th of the ri ver ; the east of AsiaMino r and Cypru s bring tri bu te ; Lydia seeks hersu pport ; the pride of Babylon is at last brokenEgypt is conqu ered and maintained by repeated co n

qu ests ; Thebes h a s been pi llaged , Susa destroyed ,and Elam anni hilated.Hardly fifty years after t h e fu ll tide of these sn o

ceases—forty years after the overthrow of the str ongopponent on the lower Tigris, the ancien t Elam

248 ASSYRI A.

Nineveh had fall en . No slow decl in e, no gradualextin ction after a long period of ripenin g, du ring whichshe grew u p to the wide extent. of her dominion , wasthe fortune of A ssyr ia z— this iron city of war an d

conqu est, of cru el desolation and bloody pu nishments ,collapsed su ddenly . I t seems as if the ceaseless effortsof the last centu ry had overstrained and exhau sted thepower of the State ; at any rate, t h e most thoroughestabl ishment of this power in the first half of the reignof Assu rbanipal—perhaps the most energetic

,and ce r

t a i n ly t h e most fierce and bloody,rul er of Assyria

was qu ickly followed by its relaxation and fall .The monuments of Assyria natu rally give u s no

information on the fall of the kingdom ; and it is noteasy to as certain the tru e facts from the Western writerswho narrate the extinction of Assyria. The accou n twhi ch Ctesias and Nicolau s of Damascu s have preservedof thematt er is as follows Sardanapalu s was the thi rtysixth ru ler of Assyria after Ninu s . He neit her car riedweapons like his forefathers

,nor went to the chas e,

b u t he su rpas sed a l l his predecessors i n luxu ry andefi

'

emin acy . He was never seen ou tside the palace.He pas sed his l ife with the women , shaved h is beard ,smoot hed his skin by ru bbing it with pumice-stone

,

so that it became whi ter than mi lk , painted himsel fwith white lead

, colou red his eyes and eyebrows, pu to n female apparel

,and vied with his concubines in

adornment,in dressing his hair, and a l l the art s of

cou r te zans, and l ived as effemi nately as a woman .

He sat among the women, with his legs stretched o u t

before h im,wove pu rple wool with them, imitate d the

voice of a woman,delighted h imself continu ally wi t h

the food and drin k most adapte d to excite sens u aldesire, and pu rsu ed withou t shame the pleasu res ofeither sex .

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250 ASSYR IA.

Bu t i f, continu ed t h e other,“ Sardanapalu s mad e

y o u satrap of all Babylonia, what wou ld yo u give methen ?" Cease t o annoy me ,

” answered A r bace s“ I am a Mode, and not to h e seemed by a Babylo n i an .

” By the great Belus,” answered Be l e sys, I

do not say this in mockery, b u t instructe d by sign s .

”

Then A r baces repli ed : “ I f I were satrap of Babylonia, I woul d make yo u u nder-governor of the wholesatrapy.

”Be l e sys continu ed Bu t if you weremad e

king of the whole empire whi ch Sardanapalu s nowpossesses, what wou ld you do ?

” “ Wretch I” saidA rb ace s ;

“ if Sardanapa lu s were to hear thi s , yo u andI wou ld perish miserably ; how comes it in to you rmind to ta lk such nonsense 7 Bu t Be le sys seized h ishand

,an d said : By this right hand

,which is dear to

me,and the great Belu s, I am not speaki ng in j est

b u t becau se I know accu rately the th ings divine .

Then A rb ace s replied : I wou ld give you Babyloniato ru le over, as long as you live, withou t tribu te .

”

And when Be l esys requ ired h im to join hands overthe promise , he gladly gave h im h i s right hand ;whereu pon Be le sys answered : Be assu red , you shallcertainly be king .

” When they had conclu ded th is,they went back to the gate of the king to performtheir ordin ary service . When su bsequ ently A r bacesbecame acqu a inte d with Spar ame iz e s, one of the mosttru sted eu nu chs of the king, he besought h im to allowh im to see the king—h e desir ed eagerly to approachhis master to see how he l ived. When the eu nu chreplied that this was impossible

,and never permitted ,

A r b ace s at fir st desisted ; b u t aft er a few days her epe a t ed h is requ es t more u rgently, and added that hewou ld requ ite the favou r with mu ch gold and silver.The eu nu ch, who was of an easy di sposition, wasovercome

,and promised to think of the matter at a

THE FALL OF ASSYR IA. 231

conveni en t opportunity . A rbaces.presente d h im with

a golden goblet . Sparame izes conver sed with the ki ng,and the latter permitte d the requ est. Then A r bacessa w Sardanapalus si tting among the women , spinningpu rple wool with them, and pu tting white u pon h iseyes. 1 A r baces now kn ew accurate ly what the kingwas , and was more inclin ed than before to real ise the

pro spect which the Chaldaean had opened to h im.

He entered into a league wi th the captains of theother nati ons, and by entertainmen ts and persu as ionswon the fri endsh ip of each . At length he agreedwi th Be lesys that he shou ld h imself excite the Med eaand Persians to rebell ion , while Be lesys prepared theBabylon ians for a simil ar attempt, and persu aded thech iefs of the Ar abs, with whom he was on friendlyterms , to ta ke part in t h e u ndertaking, When theyear of se rvice was over, and the new troops came in ,the troops which had finished service retu rned as u su alto th eir countries. On th is occas ion , A r baces su e

ce eded in persu adi ng the Med ea to rebel against theki ng, and in gai ning the Persians for the same obj ect,on condi tion that they shou ld remai n free for thefu tu re. In the same way Be lesys indu ced the Babylonians to rise for their freedom, and by ambassadorsprepa red the chiefs of the Arabians to join in theu ndert aking. When the year was past they coll ec t edthe mu l t i tude of their warriors to gether, and marchedwi th their whole fo rce to Nineveh , in order, as theygave o u t , to se t themselves free , b u t in real ity todes t roy the empire of the Assyrians. From the fou rnations mentioned , abou t men were in all

co llected , an d when these were u n ite d . the leadersconsu lte d what was to be done . When Sardanapalu s

o r ece ived the inte l l ige nce of their defection , he led the

Nico l. Du n . Fu g . 9. ed. Mulle r . A thenia n s. p. 529 . Died. 2, 24.

252 AS SYR IA .

forces of the remain ing nations against them. Abattle took place in the plain the rebels were defeate dthey lost many me n , and were pu rsu ed as far as themou ntains , which lie at a distance of 70 stades fromNineveh ; and when they came down a second timeinto the plain to battle, Sardanapalu s drew ou t h i s

army ag ainst them,and sent heralds to proclaim

that he wou ld give 200 talents of gold t o the manwho slew A r b aces the Mede ; the man who broughth im a l ive shou ld receive dou ble th is sum, and inaddition the satrapy of Media . The same promisewas made to any one who shou ld slay Be l esys, or brin gh im al ive. These messages remained withou t effect ;Sardanapalu s attacked , again slew a number of therebels

,and pu rsu ed the remainder as far as the camp

on the mou ntains. The rebels, di sheartened by twodefeats

,as sembled rou nd A r b ace s for consu l tation ;

the majority were of opinion that every one shou ldret u rn to h is own land, occu py fortified places ,

andprovide everything necessary for war : b u t Be l e sys

said,that the signs of the gods annou nced t hat they

wou ld attain their object by toil and di saster, andthu s persu aded them al l to persist in the dangerou su ndertaking . In this way it came to a third battle

,

in which Sardanapalu s was again victoriou s,took the

camp of the enemy, and pu rsu ed them to the h e rders of Babylonia. A r b ace s fought with the u tmostbravery

,and slew many of the Assyrians

,b u t was

wou nded . After so many losses and these repeateddefeats

,the rebels abandoned a ll hope , and set them

selves to withdraw to thei r several homes. Be l e sys, whoh ad kept watch in that n i ght, and observed the stars,told the dejecte d host that if they wou ld only persistfor five days

,help wou ld come to them spontaneou sly

,

and a great change for the bette r take place . He was

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ASSYR IA.

nations revolted to the rebels in order to acqu ire theirfreedom. Sardanapalu s saw that t h e kingdom was inthe grea test danger ; he sent h i s three sons and twodaugh ters, wi t h mu ch treasu re , to Co t tas , the vice royof Paphlagonia, who was the most loyal of his viceroys,and gave with them3000talents of gold .

1 At the sametime , by sending o u t messengers with scribes, he gaveorders to a l l his subj e cts to send forces to his as sistan ce

,

wh i le he prepared a l l that was necessary for t h e siege.He had received an oracle from his forefathers

, t hatN ineveh wou ld never be taken t ill the river becamea n enemy to the city. Since this wou ld never happen ,he hoped to be able to maintain the city, and waitedfor the troops sent by his viceroys . The rebels carriedon the siege with vigou r, b u t cou ld not do any harmowin g to the strength of the wal ls , and , thanks to thecare of the king, the in habitants of the city had everythin g that they requ ir ed in abu ndance . Hence theonly resu l t obtained by two years of siege was t hat noone left the city . Bu t in the thi rd year it happen edthat t h e Tigris, swollen by constant rains

,ove rflowed

a pa rt of the city, and tore away the walls for a spaceof 20 stades . Then the ki ng knew that the river wasan enemy of the city, and abandoned all hope ofresistance and rescu e. 2 In order not to fall in to thehands of h i s enemies, he cau sed an enormou s pyre,abou t 400 feet high , to be bu il t in the royal citadel.Upon this was erected a chamber of beams 100 feet inlength and breadth. Into this chamber were brou ght1 50 golden cou ches with cu shions, and an equ alnumber of golden tables . Then 1 0mill ion tal ents ofgold, and 100mi lli on talents of silver, and a quanti tyof robes of all kinds, of mantles and pu rple st u ffs,were placed on the pyre . Then Sar danapalu s took

A then ia n s , p . 528 . Died. 2, 24—27.

THE FALL OF ASSYR IA .

his place in the chamber on on e of the co ach es

wit h his wife, and on the rest were his concubines.The chamber was roofed wi th long and massivebeams, an d when wood had been placed in grea tquantities roun d it, so that no one cou ld pass ou t , t h eking gave command to l ight the pile of wood . I tburned for 1 5 days. The people in the city wondar ed at the smoke ris ing from the royal citadelb u t they bel ieved that the king was sacrifici ng, foron ly t h e eun u chs knew the circumsta nce s. Thu sSard anapalus bu rnt himself, with all who were i nt h e royal citadel

,and, after indu lgi ng in pleas u re

beyond measu re , brought his l ife to a noble end . lWhen the rebel s became acqu ainted with the deathof t h e kin g, th ey to ok the city by forc ing their waythrough the breach in the wall , arrayed A rbaces inthe royal robe, salu te d h im as king, and gave h imau thority over all . To t h e captains who had foughtwi th h im he gave gift s accordin g to their services

,

an d made them viceroys over the nations. Be lesys

reminded the kin g of his services, and the promise tomake h im rul er over Babylonia. He had also mad e avow to Bo lus in the perils of war, that after the conque st of Sardanapalu s an d the bu rn in g of his royalcita del , he wou ld ca rry the ashes to Babylon , andmake a hea p of them near the temple of Belu s, on thesh o r e of the Euphr ates , which shou ld be to all whonavigated the Eu phrates an imperishable memorialof the ma n wh o had overthrown t h e empire of the

Assy rians. He had ascertain ed from a eunu ch ofSardana palus how much gold and si lver was in t h e

ashes of the citad el . A r bace s, who kn ew nothing of

this, be cause a l l besides were burn t with the kin g,

allowed the ashes to be ca rried away,and gave Be l esys

‘ A tbm p m.

236 ASSYRI A .

Babylonia free of tribu te . Bu t when the theft waskn own t o the king

,he made the captains of the army

with whom he h a d fought against Sardanapalu s, thej udges . Be l esys acknowledged his fau l t, and thecou rt condemned h im to death . Bu t t h e ki ng, whowas magnanimou s, and wished to d istingu ish thebeginning of h i s reign, not on ly forgave Be lesy s thepenalty

, b u t allowed h im to keep the gold and sil ver,which h ad been already conveyed to Babylon ; he didnot even take from h im the government of Babylon ,saying t hat h i s former services were greater than h isrecent fau l t . When this condu ct became known , itbrought not only good-will

,b u t glory

,to A r bace s among

the nations,for all ju dged h im to be worthy of the

kingdom who treate d those who had served in su ch amanner. He was also gentle in his treatment of theinhabitants of Nineveh . They were divided intovillages, it is tru e, b u t each retained his possessions :t h e city he levelled to the grou nd . Bu t the gold andsilver of the pyre whi ch stil l remained and itamou nted to many talents—h e cau sed to be carried toEcbatana in Media. 1 After this A r b aces reigned 28years , and was su cceeded in the kin gdom over theMedes by his son Me ndaces

,who was fol lowed by

S o sarmu s , A r tyca s , A r b i en es , A r t aau s , A r tyn es , As tibaras , and Aspadas. Aspadas was conqu ered byCyru s the Persian , an d the dominion pas sed to thePersians .

’

The accou nt given by Herodotu s of the fal l of theAssyrian kingdom is different : When the Assyrianshad reigned over Upper Asia for 520years the Medeswer e the first to revolt from them

,and

,as they fought

bravely against the Assyrian s,they obtained their free

dom. After themthe other nations did what theMedea’ Die d. 2, 32- 34 .

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263 ASSYR IA.

lake Mze o tis to the Phasis and the Colchians it is, foran active man , a jou rney of th irty days : b u t from theColchians to Medi a the jou rney is an easy matter , forthere is only one nation between the two—the Saspi r es—when these are crossed you are in Media. Bu t theScythians did not ente r by t his rou te ; they took bymi stake the u pper rou te , wh ich is far longer, and hast h e Cau casu s o n the right hand . Then t h e Mede a andthe Scyt hians encou ntered each other ; and the Mede awere defeated in the battle, and lost their dominion theScythian s traversed al l Asia, and then tu rned towardsEgypt. When they had reached Palestine, Psammet ich u s, the king of Egypt, came to meet them, and bypresents and entreaties indu ced them to come nofu rther. They retu rned and came to Ascalon . Thegreater part of the Scythians pas sed withou t doing anyharm

,b u t the camp-follower s plu ndered the shrine of

Aphr odite Urania. These the goddess pu ni shed witha loss of their manhood, and not them onl y b u t theirdescendants after them. For 28 year s the Scyth ianswere mas t e r s in As ia

,an d overtu rned everything in

their arrogance and contempt . Bes ide the tribu tewhich t h ey imposed on all , and what they extorte d inaddition

,they wandered to and fro steal ing whate ver

an y one possesse d . The grea ter number were massacred by Cyaxar es and the Mede a, after they had ente rt a in ed them and made them in toxicated. Thus theMed e a won back their domin i on, and ru led agai n overthose over whom they h ad ru led previou sly

,and

qu ered N i n eve h— how they conqu ered the city I shallrelate i n another accou nt— andmade the Assyr ians theirsu bjects , as far as Babylonia.

” 1 Bu t t h e Scythians ,wh o afte r 28 years retu rned to their land

,were me t by

a disaster not less than t hat cau sed by theMed ea. In

He r od. 1 , 95, 96.

THE FALL OF ASSYR IA. 259

the long period du ring which t h ei r .h u sb an ds had beenabsent, the Scythian women had lived with their

slaves, and from th is inte rcou rse a you ng generationhad grown up, who oppo sed those who retu rned fromMedi a. Where the Tau ric Chersonese abu ts on LakeMwo t is, at the point where the lake is broad e st, theyra ised a large dyke, to mark o ff their terri tory .

When the Scythians wished to enter the terri torythey e n cammd opposite them an d fought. Theba ttles were many, an d the Scythians cou ld not gainthe upper h an d , ti ll one of them said :

‘ O u r numbersbecome less in the strugg le with ou r slaves if wefa l l, and if we continu e to slay them we shall havefewer persons to rul e over . Let u s abandon thejavelins and arrows, and ta ke every man his whip, an d

go against them. So long as they see us in arms theythink that t h ey are o u r equ als , an d of equ al b ir t h ;they will t hen know that they ar e ou r slaves, and willnot sta nd their grou nd .

’ When t h is was don e theothers were te rrified , abandoned the struggle, and fled .

In this way the Scythians, afte r they had governedAsia

,and had then been agai n driven ou t by theMedea ,

came back in to their own land.

“ Of the nomadicScythians,

” so we ar e further told i n another passageof Herodotu s,

“ one tribe separate d from the res t,and

came into the Median territo ry, and asked for proteotio n, and Cyaxar e s received themwel l , and held th emin high estimation—pu tting boys in their care to whomt h ey were to te ach the ir language , and t h e u se of theh ow . The Scyt h ia n s went o u t to the chase , and alwaysbrought someth ing b ack. Bu t i t happened once thatthey found nothing, and retu rned with empty hands .Then who was qu ick of temper, as the incide nt shows, received themhar shly and with co ntempt.

‘ Hcr od l , 1—4 .

260 ASSYR IA .

Enraged at the u nmeri ted treatment t hey receivedthe Scy thians resolved to cu t in pieces one of theboys given in to their charge for edu cation , and, afterpreparin g h im as they were accustomed to prepareveni son

,to set h im before Cyaxa r e s as the spoils of

the chase, and at once to fly to Sard is to A lyattes.This was done . Cyaxa rcs and those who were attable with h im ate of this flesh . When Cyaxar e s

demanded their su rrender, an d Alyattes refu sed it,the re su l t was a war between the Lydians and Medes,which continu ed five years . In th is war the Medeswere ofte n victoriou s

,and also the Lydians one battle

was fought even by night . In the si xth year, whenthe armies me t , and were alr eady engaged, it happenedthat the day su ddenly changed into night. When thenight su ddenly came u pon them in the daytime , theMedes and Lydians des isted from the batt le. On bothsides there was an incl ination to peace . Bu t those whobrought abou t a reconcil iation were Syen n e s is theCil ician , and Labyn e tu s the Babyloni an . Throu ghtheir instrumental ity a peace was set on foot, an d anintermarriage to ok place : they arran ged t hat Alyattesshou ld give his dau ghter A r yan i s to wife to A styag es ,the son of Cyaxar e s, for Withou t some binding necessitytreaties were not wont to continu e .”1 Cyaxar es wassu cceeded by A s tyag e s on the thr one of the Medes .When he had reigned 35 years he was defeated byCyru s the Persian, and the dominion passed to the Persians after the Medes h ad reigned over Asia 1 28 years,beside the period during which the Scythian s ru led.

2

We need not point ou t h ow Widely these accoun tsof Ctes ias and Herodotu s differ from each other. I n

Ctesias the As syr ian kin gdom i s in the fu lness ofvigou r, with an u nbroken organisation. I t is an

t He r od. 1 , 73, 74. Her od. 1 , 130.

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“262 ASSYR IA .

Cyaxar e s, the conqu eror of Nineveh , reigns 40 yea rs ,his son A styag e s 35 years. As the latter was defeate dby Cyrus in 558 B C .

,the reign of Cyaxar e s, an d t h e

invasi on and conqu est of the Scythi ans, the t e establ ishme n t of the Median kingdom, the war with theLydian s

,the marriage of A s tyag es with the daughter

of the king of Lydia, the conqu est of Nin eveh , mu stfall in the period between 633 and 593 B. C. On theother hand

,according to the dates which Ctesias gives

for Aspadas and his predecessors, u p to the rebe ll ion

of A r b ace s, A r b ace s destroyed the kingdom and met r opo l is of As syria in the year 878 B. o .

‘

Let u s first examine each of the two accou ntsseparately. In Ctesias the motives of t h e actors ,the interpretations of dreams and constellations, al lthe incidents and occu rrences, are known . He isacqu a inted with the conversations which A r b aces an dBe l e sys carry on at the gate of the palace at Nineveh,an d in their walks on the banks of the Tigris—andknows how they inte nd to divide the l ion ’s ski n beforeit is won . The efi

'

emi n a t e l ife and natu re of the ki ngof Asshu r are described in the strongest traits andwith the most minu te detail . Yet this efi

'

emin a t e

man has a lawfu l wife,with whom he ends his exist

ence, three sons and two daughters, whom,in h i s care

for their lives,he sends away before Nineveh is shu t

u p . After a life passed i n the harem,an efi

'

emin a t e

ru ler, su ch as this accou nt describes the last kin g ofAssyria to have been

,might , u nder the pressu re of

great dan ger, pe rhaps pu t himself to death ; b u t hecou ld hardly have the resolu tion and the capaci tyt o stru ggle for three years, with heroic cour age andobstinacy, for his kin gdom and throne . In the

O r , as i n Ct e s ias t h e victo r y o f Cy r us ove r A sty ag e s is placed in664 n . c.

—even in t h e yea r 883 Cf. Vo l. p. 26.

THE FALL OF ASSYR IA. 253

narrat i ve of Cte sias th is efl'emin a te k ing three timesvanqu ish es his opponents in great battles. The latte r arealready resolved to abandon their u ndertaking, whent h e une x

pecte d desertion of the Bactrians to the enemy

aga in raises the ir cou rage. This desertion,the su c

cessfu l su rprise of the Assyrian camp , an d the overflowand floods of the Ti gris, decide against Sardanapalu s,who n ow, as Cte sias himself says, ends his l ife ina n oble manner. This end takes place i n a mostremarkable way . I n a cou ntry without wood, in abes ieged city, a wooden mou ntain 400 feet i n heightis emo ted , whi ch must have towered high above al l

the wal ls and towers, and have been seen from far byfriend an d fe e . Least of a ll cou ld the inhabitants ofN ineveh , who saw the pyre bu il ding, be astonished atthe ris in g smoke, as the n arrative relates (p .

The n arrati ve allows the pyre to go on bu rnin g forfift een days u nd isturbed, and though the breach isopen ed befor e the bu il ding and lighting of t h e pyre,the besi eger s quietly wait till i t is bu rned down beforefor cing their way into the city.

All these contrad icti ons and marvels, combined witht h e deta il ed and lively deli neati on of t h e l ife of theking among his women , the full accou nt of the relati ono f A r baces and Be lesys, their characteristic traits , andthe dr amati c description of the battle, where victo ryhan gs by a hair

,and the preparations for self-incre

mation , show us tha t Ctesias has followed a poeticalau thority in describing the en d , no less than the b e

g in nin g o f the Assyrian kingd om—e u au thori ty ofthe same kind as that which could give u s su chaccurate information abou t the origin , ch aracte r, andfortunes of Semiramis , an d the war wi th the Indians.The qu estion about the origin of th is authori ty iseas ier to answe r h e re t h an in rega rd t e t h e fo rmer

264 ASSYR I A.

descriptions. I t is a Mcde who is brought to honou r,whose force and vigou r ca n overthrow a great kingdom,

whose cou rage an d bravery are marked in compari sonwith the ru ler of Assyria, no less than h is honesty andgentleness pu ts to shame the treachery and avarice ofh is Babylonian accomplice. On h im,

the skilfu l hu nter,the brave warrior, when in his service at the gate hehears of t h e kin g’s eflemin a t e l ife , the thought forcesi tself, that there is need of a brave ma n . The dr eamof the horse

,which lets ch afl' fall on A r b ace s, belongs

decidedl y to the conceptions of the Irani an nations ,the Medes and Persi ans. The in terpreter ski l led inthe stars, the Babylonian , knows at once what is thesignificance of the dr eam

,and has tens to secu re his

shar e of the spoil , the satrapy of Babylon ia, by asolemn promise taken from A r b aces . The sight of theking in female adornment, pain ting himself, whichA r b aces finally obtains by bribing S par ame iz es , decides his resolve. He gain s the captains of the tr oopsstationed wi th h im at Nineveh. The war commences.The rebels are defeated even in the thi rd battle, inspite of the heroic deeds of A rb ace s and the numberof the Assyrians slain by h im. He is wou nded ; thearmy is compelled to retire as far as the borders ofBabylonia . The Babylonian

,who

,after the second

battle, has kept u p the cou rage of the confederatesby his astr ology, adju res them to remain b u t fivedays. In thi s space of time A r b aces , who goesboldl y to meet the Bactrians, su cceeds in winningthem

,in su rprisin g the Assyrian camp, in defeatin g

S alarmen es , and destroying the Assyrian army in thet hir d battle before the gates. The rebels have lostthree battles

, n ew they win thr ee . The old oracle isfu lfil led : t h e river becomes h ost il e t o t h e city . A r b aces

takes the place of Sardanapal u s . The su btil ty and

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266 ASSYR IA .

women ’s garments ( l . Bu t if t h e god placed bythe side of Istar as sumed the natu re of the woman , asIstar assumed the natu re of the man , the mascu l inenatu re was not wholly lost to h im. Thu s themins trelscou ld represent Sardanapalu s as taki ng u p arms at theapproach of the danger

,and fightin g bravely. It is no

doubt du e to this interchange of the mascu l ine andfeminine natu re that H e l lan icus and Ca ll is t h e n es

maintained that there were two princes of the name ofSardanapalu s ; the one was noble and active ; theother sought h is happiness in debau chery.

‘ Evenin the description of t h e death of Sardan apalu sincidents in the worship of the Syrian goddess seemto have given the type to the Median minstrels. Atthe great festivals vast pyres were bu ilt to the su ngod of the Syrians ; a number of preciou s goods wereheaped u pon them

,which were set on fire together with

an image of the god placed u pon the pyre, who wassu pposed to renew his you th in the co nflag r a t io n .

2

Lu cian’s statement that a stat u e of Sar dan apalu sstood beside that of Semiramis in the temple atHi erapolis can only support the conclu sion that traitsof the god u nited with Istar

,and of his worship, were

employed in the description of Sardanapalu s .To the Greeks Sardan apal u s became a prophet of

the philosophy which teaches u s to exhau st l ife inenjoyment, becau se it is short, and nothin g remains toaman beyond what the body has enjoyed . Aristobu lu s,the companion of Al exander, n arrates

“Nea r An chi ale,where the camp was pitched, is a monument of Sardan apal us, on which stands a bronze figu re, pressing

H e l lan . F rag . 1 58. Ca ll i st h . Fr ag. 32, ed . Muller .

Move r s, “ Re lig. de r t n i ke r ,”s. 1 54. 394 , 465 , 496, 612. T h e

pyr e whi ch Al exan de r cau se d t o b e er ecte d in Babylo n to H eph aast i o n ,

aft e r t h e Semit ic pa t te r n , was fou r st ades in cir cu it an d 200 fee t inhei ght . Died. 1 7, 1 1 5 .

THE FA LL OF ASSYR IA. 267

t ogether the fin gers of the righ t han d, as thoughsnappi n g them , the inscription says , 1n Assyrianlet t er s : ‘ Sardanapa lus, the son of A n akyn daraxes ,built Anchiale and Tarsu s i n a single day . Eat

,

drink, be mer ry, t h e rest is not wor th so much ,’

i . e .

a sn ap of the fin ge rs.“ These wor ds were workedou t more fu l ly arne ng the Greeks, embodied i n verse,and given ou t as an epitaph composed by Sardanapal u sfor h is tomb, and to be fou nd either at An chiale orNineveh .

’

In the narrative of He rodotu s also there is morethan one d ifii cu l ty . I t is intended , as i t states, toshow how the nations of Asia, after this libe rationfrom t h e Assyrians , again came u n der one maste r.The Medea, as brave warriors, l iberate themselves fromthe Assyrians, b u t after th is liberation they are fou ndin a conditi on of u tter lawlessn ess . Withou t combi nat i on of their powers, withou t u nion un der onestron g leader, cou ld the Med ea have su cceeded inwith drawin g themselves from a power so gr ea t as theAssyrian power was , even in the description of Herode tna .

7 This lawlessness is brought to an end , not bya mighty warrior, b u t by a clever, amb itiou s villagejudge , who by his decisi ons so gains the afi

'

ect ion s ofthe Medea, that they elect h im to be ki ng. Whencho sen he kn ows how to lead them by cu nnin g, orra ther to infatu ate them into givin g h im a body-gu ardand bu ilding h im a palace. Then he compels them tol ive to geth er in one ci ty, and , in the cou rse of a longre ign , esta blishes t h e despotic system of Asia to i tsfu ll ext ent, with all its appl iance s, among the Med ea .

Fr om th is es tablishment of monarch y among theMedea, r e-e stabl ishment of t h e despotic governmen t

A r i-t ab . Fr ag . 6. «t h i nne r . ( Y. above . p. 145 , 116.a g . Diod . 2. 2-l ; Amyn h s in A thm m p bw.

268 ASSYR IA .

spreads over all Asia . Ph r ao r t e s , t h e son of De ioce s,su bj ugates t h e Persians , and then all the nations whichobeyed the Assyrians

,in order finall y to tu rn u pon

the latter. Cou ld the Assyrians, who, according tothe narrative of Herodotus , were abandoned by theiralli es, b u t otherwise in a good state , at the timewhen Herodotu s attacked them,

have looked on at thesuccesses of Ph rao r t es , and qu ietly wai ted til l theywere reached in the series ? Wou ld they not ratherhave att empted in good time to meet the rise of theMedea, which occu rred close u pon their borders

,and

thr eatened them fir st of all'

2 Ph r ao r te s , with thegreater part of his army

,is slain . To revenge his

death , his son Cyaxar es invests Nineveh . Bu t theSco lo t i have missed their way ; they come u pon theMedea inst ead of the Cimmerians, whom they arepu rsu ing ; none the less they begin battle with them,

overcome them, and obtain the domi nion over Asia—which they never desired—fi-cm Media to Egypt .After a part of them had su ffered pu n ishment fromthe goddess of As calon

,they al low themselves to be

made drunk by Cyaxa r e s . They are massacr ed inpart, and when t hey have retu rned to their own land— o f which we are not to ld whether they ever possessed it before— they have to u ndergo a severe contest with the sons whom their wives have in the meantime brou ght forth to their slaves. These sons donot meet them on the Don

, i . e . on the border whichHerodotus fixes for the land of t h e Scolo t i , b u t on theCrimea. The retu rnin g host bring thi s struggle, inwhich they cou ld not conqu er by force of arms

,to a

happy end by raising their whips . After the depart u reof the Scyt hians, Cyaxar es agai n obtains the domi nionover the nations which h i s father previou sly su bju gate d

,

and conqu ers Nin eveh . Whether the war of Cyaxar es

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270 ASS YR IA .

B .C. (p. and set u p the domini on of himselfand his descendants , the kings of Med ia, i n the placeof the domin ion of the Assyrians. Bu t we fou ndabove that A ssur n as i rpal , t h e son of T ig la t h Adar,as cended the throne of Assyr ia i n 883 — that h iscampaigns reached the coasts of Syria, that at h i stime Med ia was not yet su bject to t h e Assyr ian kingdom

,that with h im the long series of royal princes

begin s who raised Assyria to t h e height of her power,

and that it was the army of his immediate su ccessorswhich firs t trod the land of MediaHerodotu s represents the kings of the Me de a as

reigni ng over Asia for 128 years, dedu cting the timedu rin g which the Scythians ru led .

” 1 His figu resfor the reigns of t h e Median kings

,fr om De icces

to Ph r ao r t e s, give 1 50 years from the beginningof De icces down to the overthrow of A sty age s.

”

The overthrow of A stya g e s t o ok place in the year5 58 B.C.

,and , therefore, De icce s began to reign in

708 How long before th is t h e Me dea li berate dthemselves from the dominion of Assyri a, how longthey l ived in their free b u t lawless condition beforeelecting De icce s king, Her odot us does not state .Enough that the Med e a mu st, according to h is statement , have l iberate d themselves in the second hal fof the eighth centu ry

“Bu t at this very time

T ig la t h Pil esar I I . and Sargon ru led over Assyria ;1 If we assume tha t t h e 28 yea r s o f t h e Scythi a n domin io n have

a lr ead y be en deducte d fr om t h e 128 yea r s , a n d mu st ther e for e b eadded tc t h em, 7 14 11 0. 558 l 56) is t h e b eg in n i n g

'

.c f t h e Mediandomin ion . I n t h e o the r case this mu st have comme n ce d i n t h e yea r658 (558 100) Sin ce He r odo tu s r epr e sen ts Ph r ao r te s as fir stco n qu e r in g As ia , an d r epr e sen ts h im as asce n din g t h e thr on e in655 D.C. , t h e du r a t ion o f t h e Median empi r e is n o t eve n 100, b u t on ly79 year s . We sha ll soo n se e tha t i t was eve n sho r te r .

D e icces r e ign ed 58 yea r s, Ph r ao r te s 22, Oyaxar e s 40, A styag es35 . Each pair of r u l er smakes u p a tc taq

'

Ic year s.

THE FALL OF ASSYR IA. 27 1

a t thi s time the first advanced to A r ae h osia , repeate dlyimposed tribu te o n the chiefs and cities of the land ofMedia (p. while Sargon receives tribu te from 22,

then fr om28, and finally from45 , chi efs of theMedea

(p . He boas ts to be ru ler over Medi a as far ast h e distant ci ty of S imaspa t i , in the East ; and theHebrew Scriptu res told u s that the Israe l ites carriedaway

‘

after the capture of Samaria (722 weresett l ed in the citi es of the Medea (p . Bu t notonly did the kings of Asshu r receive or compel acts ofobedience from the tribes of the Med ea at the timewhen, according to Herodotu s' statement, De iccesascen ded the throne of Medi a ; Sennacherib (705—681a c. ) imposes tr ibu te on the d istant regions of Medi a ;Esarhaddon removes di st ant tribes of Media, with theirflocks

,to Assyria, and su bj ugates ci ti es which, as he

mainta ins, l i e far away in the land of Media (p. 1 50)and even the inscriptions of Assu rbanipal , from theperiod befor e the ye ar 650 speak of a captive chiefof theMedea (p. Froma l l th is i t is clear that thel iberation of theMed ea took place later than Herodotu sstates. In his accou nt, therefore, we can only retainthe facts that Cyaxar es , who, accordi ng to his statement, ascended the throne in the year 633 B.C. ,

foughtwith su cces s against the Assyrians—that the in vas iono f the Scythians

,an d their expu lsion , the fall of

Assyria . t h e grea t war with the Lydians, and, fina lly,the ca ptu re of Nineveh, to ok place in his reign , i . e . inthe period from 633 to 593 (p.

Most remarkable is t h e sudden incur sion of theScy thians into Media, t h e ground for which is apurs u it wholly withou t any reason (p. and themissing of t h e proper rou te . Let us examine t h empa ra te statements about this invasion, i n order tocome, i f possible, neare r to t h e actual facts . The

272 ASSYR IA .

incu rsion of northern nations into Hither Asia at thetime stated by Herodotu s, {. c. in the second half ofthe seventh centu ry, is a fact . I n the reign ofJosiah

,king of Ju dah (640—609 the prophet

Zephaniah ' ann ou nces a great judgment, whi ch wi l lcome n o t only on Judah , Gaza and Ascal on , Ashdodand Ekron

,Moab and Ammon , Egypt and Ethiopia,

b u t also on Nineveh . Hence the prophet cannot havein h is eye a pu nishment coming on Syria and EgyptfromAssyria . From the earnest manner in which theprophet exhorts to repentance and improvement, tot h e pu rification of the sanctu ary, and removal of theremnant of Baal , the servants of Baa l , it foll ows thatth is annou ncement of a coming ju dgment belongs tothe period in the reign of Josiah

,which lies before the

reform of the worship and the pu bli cati on of the newlaw, 11 6. to the period from 640 to 622 (p .

Jeremiah speaks more defin i te ly in t h e thirteenth yearof Josiah ’ or soon after

,i . e . i n or immedi ately after

the year 628 B.C. I will bring evil from t h e north,

and great destru ction . The l ie n is come u p from thethicket, and the destr oyer of the nations is on h isway.

” “ Evi l appeareth ou t of the north , and greatdest ru ction .

” 3 Le ! a people cometh from the nort h,

and a great nation riseth from the u ttermost end of th eearth . I t is a mighty n ation

,whose langu age thou

kn owest not, neither u n de r sta n des t what they say.

They come on li ke clou ds, like a wh irlwind are theirchariots ; their horses are swif ter than eagles . Theyshall lay hold on bow and spear ; they ar e cru el

,and

have no mercy ; their voice roareth as the sea,and

they ride on horses set in array as me n of war againstthee . Their qu iver is an open sepu lchre

,they are all

mighty me n . Jehovah called the families of the‘ Ze ph i l . 3.

’ Jerem. iv. 6.

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274 ASSYR I A .

name Scythopolis, given by t h e Greeks to Be t hshan ,

is in any way con necte d wi th this in cu rsion ofS eyt h ian s .

1 T h e only other au thor who knows of thisincu rsion of Scythians into Asia is Pompe iu s T r og u s .

With h im it is their thir d invasion . In the first, whichthey made before the time of Ninu s of Assyria , themarshes prevente d them from invading Egypt ; ontheir retu rn fromthese they spent fifteen years i n subj ugating Asia and imposing a moderate tribu te u pon t h eland

,the payment of which was brought to an end by

Ninus . T h e second invasion was mad e in aid of theAmazons, when hard pressed by Heracles and Theseus ,at their entreaty . On the third campaign againstAsia they were absent eight years, and on their retu rnh ad to ca rry on war against their slaves in this theyfinally got t h e v ictory by their rods and whi ps , anda l l the slaves whom they cou ld captu re were cru cified .

’

T h e chronology which can be dedu ced from the datafou nd in the annou ncements of the two prophets givesu s the period from 640 to 625 B.C. for the invasion ofHi ther Asia by t h e Scythians

,and this complet ely

agrees wi t h the sta tements of Herodot u s . In order toavenge the death of his father Ph r ao r te s, who fell ,with the greater part of his army, before the Assyrians,Cyaxar e s , accordi ng to Herodotu s, immedi ately afterhis accession , ti e . in the year 633 B.C. , set ou t againstNineveh . Du ring h is siege of Nineveh

,the incu rsion

of the Scythians into Media took place . Accordingto th is

,Herodotu s placed the commencement of the

in vasion of Medi a by the Scyt hians in the year 633D. C . or 632 B. C. The chronographers, Eu sebiu s andHieron ymu s, pu t the invasion at t h e same time ; theyobserve

,the first at the year 632B .C. , the second at the

1 2Ma cca b . xn . 29. Str abo , p. 763 Jose ph. An t iq .

”5 , 1 , 22, e tc.

Plin y, Hi st . N a t .” 5 , 16 S taph . Byzan t. M r om.

Jus t in , 1 , 2—5 .

T HE FALL OF ASSYR IA. a

year 634 B.C. , that the Scythians forced their way asfar as Pales ti ne. ” Syncellus gives onl y the generalsta t emen t, that in the days of king Josiah , Palestinewas overrun by t h e Scythians, and the ci tv of Bethsha n taken by them, whence i ts name .

1

The name Scyt hians, as has been already remarked ,was applied by the Greeks and Roman s in a widersense to a ll the nomadic and equ estrian t ribes of theNorth ; it was a comprehensive ti tle for almost all thewhole complex of the northern nations. To whichnati on of t h e Scythians, we may ask, did these hor desbelong, which in t h e perio d ju st fixed

,i . e . between

632and 625 invaded and laid waste Hi ther Asia,from t h e Cau casus to Egypt ? According to Herodo t u s, they wer e the ancestors of the Scyth ians betwee nthe Danube and the Don

, t h e Sco lo t i . Herodotu sre pre sents them as invad in g Asia in their pu rsu it of

0 the Cimmeria ns. Bu t what reason was there for the

pur su it, when t h e Cimmerians had volun tarily abandou ed the land which the Sco lo t i desired ? Besides

,

for more than a centu ry before t h e date at whichHerodotus repre sents them as flyi ng to Asia before theScyth ians , the Cimmerians were se ttl ed on the Halya,and mu st have be en well known to t h e n ations ofAsia Minor ; and ever since the emigration of theCimmeri an s, i

’

. e . fo r an equ al period , the Sco lo ti had

pomessed the old abod e s of the Cimmerians on thePontu s What cou ld have indu ced t he Sco lo t i tou ndertake su ch a pu rsu it a good hu ndred years later ?What mad e themmiss the way, and come in to Med iainstead of Cappadocin l Herodotus te lls us tha t theSco lo t i had taken a fa r longer rou te than that whichl ed past Co l e h is , to Asia, so that they came out inMed ia

,with the Cau casus on the righ t hand . By this

Synod ]. “ Ohms .

" p . 406. 0d . Bo nn .

276 ASSYRIA.

u pper way,the pass of Derbend , on the Caspian

S ea, may be meant, which wou ld have brought the

hordes of the North into Media through the lan d oft h e Cadu sian s , who were hostile to t h e Med ea ; b u t i fwe measu re from t h e banks of the Don , where, according to Herodotu s’ narrative, we have to conceive theS co lo t i as situ ated in their advance upon the Cimmerians from the East

,th is rou te cou ld har dly be

described as mu ch longer than that by Colchis . Bythe u pper rou te Herodotu s apparently means the rou terou nd the Caspian Sea. The supposed error in theproper rou te may lead u s in to the right path , if weassume that the hordes which then invaded Med ia an di nu ndated As ia were not mou nted nomads from t h e

steppes above the Black Sea,on the u pper cou rse of

the Don,b u t nomads dwelli ng beyond the Caspian , i n

the steppes on the Oxu s and Jaxa r t e s . The legendarypoetr y of East Iran is filled with long and mightystruggles of the ancient heroes with t h e se nations andCtesias te lls u s, again , withou t dou bt, following theminstrelsy of West Iran , of the severe and dou btfu lwars which the predecessor of A s tyages of Media , whomhe calls A r tae us , and Herodotu s Cyaxar e s, carried onagainst the S ae ee , the neighbou rs of the Parthians andHyrcanians in the steppes on the Oxu s. I t was theseSacae who, fou r centu ries after the invasion of Mediaby Herodotu s’ Scythians, bu rst through Parthi a andHyrcania, possessed themselves of the va lleys of theH ilme n d, t h e best region in the east of Ir an , and gaveto this region the name of S ikas h t an ,

i . e . land of theS aeae , now S eds h e s tan . On the ear lier occas ion theS acze may have made t h e same attempt to break in toI ran . If nations on the steppes on the Oxu s had overpowered Media

,if they had al so established themselve s

in Hither Asia, you thfu l bands of Sarmati an s and

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278 ASSYR IA .

and most famou s t empl e was at Asca lon , in Syria.Hippocrates says that this diseas e showed itsel f amongthe wealthiest famil ies of t h e Sco lo t i , and not amongt h e poor, becau se the former were al ways on horseback accordi ng to Aristo tle the diseas e was heredi ta ry in t h e royal family of the Scythians .

’ Lastly,a story of t h e slaves of t h e Scythi ans, who, in t h ei bscn ce of theirmasters

,had made themselves masters,

helped to attribu te t h e invas ion of Asia to thi s nationof the Scythians . The basis of the story

,which

obviou sly belongs to the Crimea, l ies in the fact thatafter the S co lo t i had forced the Tau ri

,the ancient

inhabi tants of t h e Crimea, in to the mou ntains of thispeninsul a, and had su bj ugated and mad e slaves ofthose who remain ed behind in the plains

,both the

one and the other mu st have seized a favou rableO pportuni ty to make thems elves agai n masters of thepen insu la, and close it against th e Sco lo ti by mean s ofa trench . The su pposed effect of the whips is d u e , nodoubt

,to t h e Hellenes in Scythia

,who thu s marked

t h e natu re and t h e existence of slavery .

The l iberation of t h e Mode s from the domin ion ofthe Assyrians mu st not only have taken place later,b u t in a different man ner from that narrated byHerodotus . T h e inscriptions of the kin gs of Asshu rshowed u s that t h e tribes of the Medes whom Herode cus call s A r iz an tes , Bu sze , S t r u ch a t ae , Bu dman s , andl ’a rae ta ccn i , lived separately, u nder a number of princes .No t long aft er the settlement of the Israe lites in t h ecities of the Modes

,in the year 7 1 5 B. C. ,

Sargon r epr esents a prince Dayaukka as carried away captive withhis people ; and i n 7 13 B .C. he takes the field againstBit Dayau ku ,

and receives tribu te from 45 princes ofthe Medes (p . Hence among the regions of

H ippocr . De sore ,”c. 22. Ethic. N icom. 7, 7

THE FALL OF ASSYRI A. 279

the chiefta ins of Media, there was a n region which t h eAssyrian s called the land or house of Dayauku , j u stas wi th them Israe l was Bit Omri. Dei cces, the pri ncefrom whom Bit Dayan ku received its name, who, i nHer odotu s, is a son of Ph r ao r t es , mu st in con sequ encehave fou nded a sovereign ty in Media, or at any r a tehave be e n a t the head of a sovereignty derived fromhis father , abou t the year 720B.C. at the lowest . Wemay wi thou t hesita tion look for th is region in the landof Ecbatana, b u t at that time it cannot have taken upa large part of Media. Neither t h e inscription s ofSargon , n o r those of h is successors, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, an d As su rbanipal, mention De icces or hisland e i ther in the payment of tribu te by the Mod e s ,or in the con qu est of the sepa rate tribes. Nothingis said of any cen tral monarchy among the Modes , orof a kingdom of the Mod es. If Media had beenu ni te d an d free at the time of S en n ae h e r ib and Esarhaddon , S e n n ae h e r ib wou ld not have marched againstSyria and Cil icia, nor Esarhaddon again st Egyptthey wou ld not an d co u ld not have left in t h e roar, i nthe most threate n in g proximity, the most dangerou se nemy. I f we nevertheless assume that du ring thesway of S en n ae h e r ib and Esarhaddon over Assyriat h e infl u ence of De ioccs stead ily increased , we mu stconcede to Herodotus that this higher pod t io n was

gained not by martial deeds, b u t by craft and adviceu rgin g u nion . Then Ph r ao r tes , who, accor ding t o

He rodotu s, su cceeded his fa ther Dc ioces in the year055 D.C. ,mu st have been able forma lly to assemble t h etribe s of theMod es rou nd Bit Dayanka , and to organ isethem it was he who u nite dMe dia u nder his dominion .

Bu t we ca nnot place this u nion ea rlier than the periodat which Assu rbanipal des troyed Elam, and direc tedh is arms against Arabia (p. i s . i t must come

2m ASSYR IA.

after t h e year 645 B.C. Assurbanipal cou ld notposs ibly employ his troops in repeated campaigns forthe maintenance of Egyp t , the rccon qu es t of Babylon ,t h e destru ction of Elam, an d t h e pu n ishment of t h eArabians

,if a strong and compact force stood beh ind

the passes of the Zag r u s stil l less cou ld he look idl yon while Ph rao r t e s subjugated the Persians

,and then

one nation after another in Asia, as He rodotu s su pposes

,wi t h t h o view of throwing himself on Assyri a

i f he cou ld prevent it . The more probable cou rse ofevents is, that Ph rao r t es , as soon as b e accompl ishedt h e u nion of t h e Median tribes, had to await and repelt h e attack of Assyria— that the tribes of t h e Persiansamong whom, precisely abou t this t ime, A e h zome n esobtained the first place,

1 b e in g threatened by t h e

extension of t h e dominion of Assyria over Elam on

their borders, combined with Ph r aor t os for common

defence,and consented to be led by t h e stronger

nation . T h e tradi t ion of the Mode s, and their poems ,on which t h e statements of Herodotu s rest

,woul d

natu rally antedate t h e l iberation of their nati on , andwou ld place it in t h e times before De icces they wou lde ve n ascribe conqu ests to Ph r ao r t e s , and represent h imas fall ing in an attack on Nin eveh . It ag rees witht h e position of affair s and t h e relation of the powers,that Ph r ao rt cs shou ld have fallen with the greaterpart of h i s army, as Herodotu s says, in repu lsi ngAssyria and Assu rbanipal in the year 633 B. O . T h e

first du ty of his son Cyaxar os mu st h ave been to avertfrom Media the consequ ences of the heavy defea twhich destroyed his father . That Cyaxar es , and notPh r ao r t es

, a centu ry af t er the death of the latt er,passed in t h e nation of the Modes as the fou nder ofthe Median su premacy , is clear from the fact that

Vo l . V. , chap. 3.

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282 ASSYR IA.

The lion, so we find it in Nahum,

“ did tear inpieces enough for h is whelps

,and strangled for his

lionesses, and filled h is holes with prey, and his den swith ravin. I am against thee , saith Jehovah ofHosts

,an d I will bu rn thy chariots in t h e smoke, an d

the sword sha ll devou r thy young lions ; and I willcu t off thy prey from the earth , and the voice of thymessenger shall no more be heard. I will discovert h y skir t s u pon thy face, and I will show the nationsthy nakedness , and the kingdoms thy shame. I willcas t abominable filth u pon t hee, and make thee vile .Woe to the wel l -favou red harlot, t h e mistress of witchcraft ; woe to the bloody city ; it is ful l of lies and robbery ; the prey departet h not. The noise of the whip,and of the ratt l in g of the wheels

,and of the prancing

horses, and of the j umping chariots ; the horsema ncomet h on, the bright sword and glitterin g Spear. ”

“ A r t thou better than No-Ammon (Thebes) that wassitu ate by the N i le ?“ “ The destroyer is come u pbefore thee, Nineveh ; keep the mu nition , watch theway

,gird thy loins , fortify thyselfmightily. Draw thee

water for t h e siege , fortify thy strongholds ; go intoclay, and tread the mortar,make strong the brick-kiln .

Thy mighty me n hasten to the walls, b u t they stumblein their walk . The covering shall be prepared for thebesiegers . All thy strongholds sha ll be fig -trees withthe first ripe figs ; if they be shaken t h ey sha ll fall eveninto the mou th of t h e eate r. Fire shall devour thee,and the sword shall cu t thee o ff .” 2 “With an overrun ning flood Jehovah will make an u tter end of herhabita t ions the gates of the river shall be opened

,

and the pal ace di ssolved . Behold,thy people are

women for thy enemies ; t h e gates of thy land shall beset wide open thefir e shal l devou r thy bars . Nineveh

1 Nahum iii . 8 . Nahum n . 13, 14 ; iii. 1—5 , 12

THE FALL OF ASSYR IA. 283

was ful l ofme n while she sto od , but theyflee . Halt !halt ! Yet no one turneth her maids sigh like doves

,

and be at the breast. Take the spoil of silver, take thespoil of gold ; there is no end of the sto re ; abundanceof a l l kinds of costly vessels. She is empty, and void,and waste , and the heart mel te th , and the knees smitet ogether , and a mu l titu de of slain , and a great numberof carea se s ; there is no end of their co rpses . Theystumble on the corpses . Thy captain s fly, 0 king ofAssyria, thy mighty men slumber, thy people issca ttered on the mou ntains, and no man gathereththem Where is the dwell ing of the l ions, an d thefeedi ng-place of the you ng lions, where the l ion, andthe lioness, and the l ion

’s whelp walked and nonemad e them afraid ? No more of thy n ame shal l besown there is no healing of thy bru ise thy wou nd isgrievou s. All tha t look on thee shall flee from theean d say, Nin eveh is la id was te ; al l that hear of theeshal l clap their hands over thee, for u pon whom h as

not thy wickedness passed continu allyHow fa r t h e su ccesses which Cya xar e s obtain e d

soon aft er h is access ion (633 B.C. ) in repelling andattacki ng Assyria and Assu rbanipal carried h imwhe ther e ve n then the army of the Modes advanced tot h e walls of Nineveh , as Herodotus state s, ca n not beascertained , and cannot be den ied . Whatever advantag e Media may have obtained at that t ime it was notonly lost, b u t the Media n empire coll apsed , whenCyaxa re s had vainly attempted t o r epul se the Sacra

These Se em, however, were n o t conte ntwith the posse ssion of Med ia they descended fromt h etable-land of I ran into the valley of t h e Tigris and theEu phrates , and spread over Hither Asia . We saw howclearly the prophet Zephaniah announced i n those

‘ Nahum i. iii. 7—12; iii. 7, 13.

231 ASSY II IA .

days (about 630B.C. ) the great judgments that wouldcome u pon N ineveh and J udah , on Gaza and Ascalon ,on Ashdod , and Ekron , and Ethiopia. Jehovah

,he

says, wi ll stretch o u t his hand against t h e North , anddestroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation ,and dry l ike a wilderness . And flocks shall lie downin t h e mids t of h e r , all the beas ts of t h e nations t h e

pelican and the bitt ern shall lodge in the lintels of itt h e birds shal l sing i n the windows of it ; desolationshall be on the th resholds . T h e cedar work is torndown . A ll who go by shall hiss and wag the hand .

This is the rejoicing city which dwel t carelessly,that

said in her heart, I am and t h e r e is none beside me !How is she become a desolation , a place for beasts tolie down in l”

Assu rbanipal , as we saw, ascended t h e throne ofAssyria in the year 668 B.C.

, and he retained it till theyear 626 B.C. Though we have no evidence fromAssyrian inscriptions to fix t h e e n d of his reign, thecanon of Ptolemy pu ts the end of the domin ion ofS aosdu e h in (by whom is meant Samu l-sum-u ki n) in theyear 648 D .C. , z

'

. e . in the ye ar in which Assu rbanipalcru shed his rebellion and took Babylon . We also possess a n Assyrian tablet which da te s from the twentie t h

y e ar of Assu rbanipal in Babylon , and con sequ entlyextends h is reign in the city fr om 648 B. C. to 628 B.C.

Fu rther,t h e canon of Ptolemy represent s a new reign

as commencing in Babylon in t h e ye ar 625 B.C. ,and

therefore we are certain that Assu rbanipal remainedon t h e throne for 42 years, down to 626 B.C.

2 Thefirst half of his reign was fi lled with the most brill iantsu ccesses ; his armies marched to Thebes , Babylon ,

1 Ze ph . ii . 13—1 5 .

I n Polyhisto r Sa rdan apalus re ign s ove r t h e Chaldae an s for 21yea r s a fte r Samu ges .

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296 ASSYR IA.

N ab u ch odo n osso r , and rebelled against S a rae us andNineveh.

‘ Hence in A byde n us and Polyhistor, thesuccessor of Assur banipal on the throne of Assyriawas Sa racu s. Against host s who came from the sea

,

i . 0. against t h e hosts of the S acse comi ng u p from t h e

Casp ian S e a, or marchin g, on their ret u rn from Syria ,i . e . from the Medi terranean , against Babylon , he sendsthe general whom A byde n u s call s Bu salosso r u s, an d

Polyhistor N ab opo lassa r . Accordin g to t h e canon ofPtolemy, the reign of Nabopo lassar in Babylon begin sin the year 625 This prince, t h e Nabopo lassar ofthe canon and Polyh istor, is not distinct from t h e

Busa lossoru s of A byde n us . I t is t h e same name : int h e one writer he is the father of N ab ukod r o sso r u s , inthe other t h e father of N ab u ch odo n o sso r . Nabukod r ossoru s is N ab ukudu r u ssu r ; N ab u ch odon osso r isN e b u ch adn czza r , the corru pted Hebrew form of thename N ab uku du r u ssu r . The Be l e sys of Ctes ias ,the con federate of t h e Mode

’

,is N abopo lassa r . In

both fr agments N ab opo lassar , whom t h e kin g of theAssyrians se n ds as a viceroy or general to Babylonia

,

and wh ose r u l e ove r Babylon ia begin s with the year625 B.C . , resolves to rebel ag ain st the king of Assy ria ;with this obj e ct he enters in to a leagu e with t h e kingor satrap , i . e . the As syrian viceroy of Media, who inA byde n u s and Polyhisto r is cal led A s tyag es? In bo thfragments N ab opo lassa r marries h is son N e b u ch adn e zz ar to Amu h ca or Amyi t e , the daughter of theMode. A s tyag es was the son of Cyaxar es of Media,who began t o reign in the yea r 593 B.C. H e n ce inboth fragments the father mu st be pu t in the place ofthe son

,ju st as in Herodotu s t h e N abopo las sar of

Polyh istor mu st be pu t in the place of Labyn e t us .

Syn ce l l .“ Chr on . p. 210, ed . Bon n .

A sdah ag is t h e Arme n ia n fo rm i n t h e Armen ian Eusebiu s .

THE FALL OF ASSYR I A. 287

The invasion of the Sacco certain ly gave the mostse ve r e blow to t h e Assyrian kin gdom it reached th enative territo ry, and br oke the cohesion of the kingdom.

The lands previ ou sly subj ugated cou ld not be prot es ted , and therefore cou ld not be mai ntained . Wefound above, that abou t the year 625 B.C. ,

the Saccomarched through Syria to the borders of Egypt. I tis also ce rtain , from the canon of Ptolemy, that it wast h e ki ng of Assyria who su cceeded Assu rbanipal o nthe throne in 626 B.C. ,

who named N abOpo lassar hisvice roy in Babylon, in order to protect Babyloniaagai nst the Sae aa. N abopo lassar cannot have enteredinto a leagu e with Cyaxar e s ofMedia ; Babylonia cannot have broken with Assyria. the rebell ion againstSa racu s cannot have taken place , t ill Cyaxar es wasagain maste r in his own land and t h e Se em weredr i ven o u t of Media , whether th is expu lsion took placeas recorded in Herodotu s or in some other way . ThatN abopo lassar fe l t himself called u pon to draw t h e

lmgu e with Media as close as possible is clear fromthe fact that he at the same time married his son tot h e daughte r of the king of Me dia . And he not onlybrought abou t th is marriage , he did away with t h ewar be tween Media and Lydia, and establi shed ana lli ance between the royal famil ies of th e two nations.This war must be placed before the destruction ofAssyria ; h ad i t n o t b ee n n ecessa ry t o sc t the fo rces o f

Media fr e e against Assyria , the prince of Babylonwou ld have had no interest in reconci ling the diffe re n ce s between Lydia and Babylonia . Aft er t h e

d estru cti on of Assyria i t wou ld have been mu ch moreadvisa ble for Babylon that Me dia , whose power surpassed that o f Babylonia , shou ld be engaged elsewhere.Th is conclusion is co n fi rmed by the ecl ipse whichseparate d the armies of the Lydians and the Modes in

238 ASSYR IA.

t h e s ix th year of the war, in t h e middle of a battle

(p . This took place in the year 610 B.O .

‘ Thewar between Cyaxar cs of Media and Alyatte s of Lydiamu st therefore have begu n in t h e year 61 5 B.C.

Bu t what cau sed Media to be at war with the dista nt land of Lydi a

’

.l We mu st assume that Cyaxar e s

firs t su cceeded in settin g his land free from the hordesof the Sacco. He availed himself of this to give aidto the lands bordering on the we st of Media, theArmen ian s and Cappadocians, against the same plu ndering tribes ; to ex h ibit himself t h e r e as a liberatorfrom the Sacae and

,at the same time, as a l iberator

from the dominion of the Assyrians. In this way hequ ickly advanced t h e borders of Media to t h e H alys .

Here he came u pon t h e Lydians,who on t h e ir part had

made u se of the convuls ion and confu sion whi ch hadbeen cau sed by the advance of the Cimmerian s as faras the weste rn sh o r e of As ia Mi nor

,to extend their

dominion over Phr ygia as far as t h e H alys. As the

1 A s we have t h e cho ice be twee n th e two eclipses o f 610 an d 684 B.C.

t h e pr e fe r e n ce mu st b e give n to tha t o f 610 Whe r e t h e ba t t le wasfo ught be twee n t h e Mod es an d Lydi an s we do n o t kn ow ; b u t we dokn ow tha t i n t h e y ear 684 B .C. Cyaxar e s an d N ab opo lassa r we r e n o

lo n ge r a live . If we r e place t h ose n ames by A s tyage s an d N e b u ch adn ozzar—a lthough t h e childr en o f t h e pr in ces wh o con clu de pe ace a n da llia n ce ar e expre ssly n amed as t h e par ti es con t ra cti n g in mar r iage—an d

A styage s h ad n o son , Nin eveh h a d fa lle n lon g be fo r e 684 B.C. an d Babylo n ia wo u ld n o t have h ad t h e least in te r est in br in gin g abou t a peacebe twee n Lydia an d Media . O n t h e con t r ary, N ob u eh adn ezmr , wh o

h ad e r e cte d su ch e n ormou s fo r t ifica t ion s aga in st Media , i n or de r tose cu re h is own weake r kin gdom aga in st a n y a tt acks o f t h e Medi anpowe r , wo u ld on ly have be e n to o glad to keep Media en gaged i n t h e

West by t h e con t in u a n ce o f t h e Lydi an war . Y e t tha t i t was a

qu est ion o f t h e r e scu e o f Lydi a in t h e in te r est o f Babylon ia can n o t b e

su ppo r te d i n t h e face o f t h e asse r t io n o f He r odo tu s , tha t t h e fo r t un e o fa rms was equ a l. A s t h e da te s give n by H er odo tu s for t h e re ign s o f

t h e Lydia n kin gs have to b e r eplaced by t h ose o f Eusebius (be low ,

Chapte r t h e da t in g o f t h e be gin n in g o f t h e war a t t h e y ear

61 5 D. O . wou ld al l ow t h e first t h r e e year s to fiall i n t h e re ign of

Sadya t te s ; bu t i n this ther e is n o difficu l ty.

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290 ASSYR IA .

N ab opo l assar viceroy of Babylonia, in order to maintain Babylon against the Sacae ; and that abou t t h eyear 620 B.C. the latter broke away from Assur-id il-il i.Yet from a broken tablet of Assu r-idil -i li , recentlydiscovered, we shall gather that he did not as cend thethr one immediately afte r his father’s death , b u t laterand the opini on is held that the immediate su ccessorof Assu rbanipal was Bel -zakir-isk an , whose nameoccu rs i n a cylinder fou nd at K u yu n dsb ik. Thename of the father of this king is broken o ff and heis only placed immediately after Assu rbanipa l becau sehe styles h imself, n o t only king of Assyria, b u t alsoking of Sumir and Accad .

2 Bu t are t here not numerou sinstances to prove that titles of dominion are retain edafte r the lands which they denote as subject have longbeen lost ? Las tly, in two fragmentary ta blets thename of Cyaxar e s is supposed to be concealed in theform Cas t ar i t . The fir st fragment mentions Esarhaddon and Cas t ar i t , t h e lord of the city of Carcassi ,beside Mamiti-arsu ,

the lord of the city of the Med ea .

At the very earliest , Cyaxar e s of Media can not havebeen born when Esarhaddon di ed. The second fragment speaks of a hu ndred days of prayer and thanksgiving, becau se Cas ta r i t with h is warriors, and thewarriors of the Cimmerians , and the warriors of theMan n a i , had taken the towns of K h ar t amand K issassu .

Bu t here also the inscr ipt ion seems to be speak ing ofanother period, and indeed of confl icts from the daysof Esarhaddon , when the Cimmerians set foot on thesou thern shore of the Black S ea ; and I wou ld not, ont h is accou nt, all ow myself to be led astray, even if athi rd tablet, su pposed to narrate the same circumstances,shou ld mention Cas t ar i t as a prince of the Medes. 3

G . Smith, loc. ci t . p . 382.3 G . Smith , lac. ci t . p . 382.

Sayce , Babylo n . L i t tcr a t u r e , p. 70, seqq.

THE FALL OF ASS YR IA. mt

Of the incidents of the war , whi ch Cyaxar es an d

N abopo lassa r commenced in the year 609 s o . againstAssyria, we have no accou nt . Accordin g to the songsof the Medes , which lie at the base of the accou nt ofCt esias , it continu ed three years ; many severe battleswere fought, with varying fortu ne, before N inevehcou ld be inves t ed . The capture of the city was fin al lyachi eved , because the Tigris carried away a portionof the city walls . When Xenophon marched pastChalah

,which he cal ls Larissa , 200years after the fall

of Nin eveh , and fou nd long strips of wall 120feet h ighsti l l stan ding, he was informed that the king of thePer sians, when he took the dominion from t h e Medes,cou ld not by any means capture the lofty and strongwa lls of this ci ty of the Medea (I I . A clou d hidt h e sun , and mad e the city invisible t ill the inhabitants h ad left it and t hu s it was taken . At that timethe qu een of the Medea fled to Mespila (the namegive n by Xenophon to Nineveh) , where he saw thewalls still standing of the height of 1 50 feet. Thisci ty t h e king of the Persia ns cou ld not ta ke, either bylen gt h of siege or by storm,

till Zeu s h ad dazed t h einhabitants by l ightning : then the city was ta ken .

‘

The memory of the Assyrian kingdom had at thattime so en ti rely disappea red , that Xenophon

’s gu idescou ld pu t th e Medea in the place of the Persians, t h ePersians in the place of the Medea, and the king ofthe Pers ians i n t h e place of Cyaxar es . In A byde n u s

we ar e told , aft er the excerp t of Eu sebiu s : Nabo

po lassa r (Bussa losso ru s) , afte r marrying his son to thedaughte r of the k ing of t h e Mode s , marched againstNineveh . When S a racus heard of this , he bu rnth imse lf and t h e royal citadel . ” Polyhisto r, foll owingt h e excerpt of Synce ll us, te lls us : N a bopo lassar , sent

t "m t .

"3. 4. 7- 9. Bu sch. L . p .

u a

292 ASSYR IA.

o u t by S a racu s as a leader of his army, tu rned againsthis mas ter

,and marched against Nineveh . In fear of

his approach , S ar ncu s bu rnt himself with his palace.‘

S t rabo te lls u s : Nin eveh was destroyed soon afterthe break up of the domin ion of the Medea .

” At theyear 007 B.C. , Eu sebiu s and Hieronymu s observeCyaxar e s t h e Mede destroys N ineveh .

Becau se Asshu r was high of growth , su ch are thewords of Jehovah in the prophet Ezekiel , “ and shotu p his top, and his heart was l ifted up in its height ,I have delivered h im in to the hand of the mighty oneof the nations that he may deal with h im at h i spleasu re ; I have driven h im o u t for h is wickedness .And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cu t

h im o ff and cast h im away . Upon the mou ntainsand in a ll vallies h i s branches are fallen , and hisboughs are broken by all the rivers in the land. Allt h e people fr om the earth are gone down from hisshadow and have left h im. Upon his fallen tru nk thefowls of the heaven remain

,and all the beas ts of the

field shall be u pon his branches . I made the nationsto shake at the sou nd of his fall , when I cas t h im

down to hell with those that descend into the pit. I n

tha t day I cau sed a mou rning, and restrained the floodsrou nd h im ; the great waters were stayed ; I cau sedLebanon to mou rn for h im

,and all the trees of th e

field lamented h im. A ssh u r’

s grave is made in thedepth of the pit, rou nd abou t are the graves of hishost ; all of them slain , fallen by the sword, whichcau sed terror in the land of the l iving .

” 3

Media sto od triumphant over the kingdom whichhad so long ru led over Hit her Asia and the westernedge of Iran Babylon was victoriou s over the branch

S yn ocll , Chr o n . p . 396, ed . Bo n n . St r abo , p. 737.

3 Eze k . xxxi . 1 1—16 ; xxxii. 22, 23.

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294 ASSYR IA.

t h e chambers, where portions of t hem are s t ill to befou nd . The u pper par ts of t h e brick-walls were t henwashed down by wind and rain

,and covered t h e lower

part of the rooms. Even where the fire did notspread, the beams of the roofs at length broke down ,t h e u pper layers of t h e bricks on t h e wal ls weregradually washed down, an d raised t h e floors of thechambers, as well as the grou nd immediately su rrou nding them. By this process the palaces of Nineveh ,Chalah , and Dur S a r r ukin ,

were changed into heapsof earth . Bu t whi le the u pper part of the bu ildingsbu ried the lower in their ru ins, the lower part, wi thall the inscriptions and scu lptu res contained in it, wassaved from fu rther destru ction ; and these u nsightlyheaps have preserved to u s the civil i sation and thecharacteristics of the Assyrian s

,as tr u ly as the loft y

monuments and rock tombs on the Nile have preserved the pictu re of ancient Egypt

, t hough they donot present the same breadth

,an d extend in the same

way to every side of life.

CHAPTER XII I.

EGYPT U NDER PS AMMET ICH US A N D NECHO .

A ooo snmo to the accou nt of Herodotu s, a blind ma nfrom the city of A n ys is , an d bearing the same nameas h is city , rul ed over Egypt at the time when Sahakonmarched through the cou ntry. He retired before theEthiopians in to the marshes, an d fled to an islandcalled El be . The island measu red ten stades in everydi re cti on , and thither, in obedience to his command,the Egyptia ns by turns secretly brought h im nourishment. When fifty years had expired from the t imethat he mad e himsel fmaster of Egypt, Sahakon saw i na dream a man who bade h im summon all the pries tsof Egypt, an d cau se each to be cu t in to two pieces .Then Sa bako n said that the gods had annou nced toh im by t h is visi on th at he wou ld by some evil deedbring u pon himself severe pu n ishment from the godsor frommen . Such a deed he wou ld not commit :the time h ad passe d which was a ll otted to h im for t h erul e of Egyp t ; an oracle in Ethiopia had an nou ncedto h im that he wou ld r ule over Egypt for fifty years .As this period was now comple t ed , Sabako n vo lu n

ta r il y retired from Egypt, the bl ind man returnedf rom the island of Elbo, and reigned as before . Hewas foll owed by t h e pries t Se th os, agains t whom

296 EU Y PT.

S e n n ae h e r ib , the king of t h e Arabians and Assyrians,marched

,b u t the god of Memphis saved h im by send

ing field mice into t h e camp (p . Aft er thedeat h of S e t h os the Egyptians became free, b u t asthey cou l d not li ve wit hou t a king t h ey elec ted twelvekin gs, and divided Egypt into twelve parts . Theset welve kings con tracted family al liances wi t h eacho t her

,and agreed that none of t h e twelve shou ld seek

greater possessions t han another, or attempt to cru shthe ot hers , b u t that al l shou ld be on t h e bes t termswi th each other . They then determined to leavebehind a common memorial

,and wi t h this object

bu il t the labyrinth on Lake Mmr is,and ru led with

ju stice . In t h e cou rse of time i t happened that thetwelve kings were sacrificing together in the templefor they came in a body to all sacr ifice s—and when atthe close of the sacrifice they pou red libations, thehigh priest brou ght only eleven of the golden goble tsfrom which they were wont to pou r l ibations, insteadof twelve. The last in the list at this sacrifice wasPsamme t ich u s of Sais , whose father Necho had beenkill ed by Sahakon. He had h imself fled to Syria

,to

esca pe Sahakon , b u t aft er the retir ement of the E thiopians he had been brought back by the inhabitants of thecanton of Sais. As no goblet was left for h im

,he took t h e

brazen helmet from h i s head an d pour ed t h e l ibationfrom that . Then the rest of the princes remembereda prophecy given to them at the very beginnin g oftheir reign,— that whosoever among them shou ld poura l ibation o u t of a brazen goblet shou ld be king overall Egypt. Mi ndful of this oracle the k in gs were notinclined to pu nish Psamme t ich u s wi th death, becau sethey fou nd o n inqu iry that he had not u sed hishelmet with premeditation ; b u t they took from h imthe greater part of h i s power, confined h im to t h e

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299 EGYPT .

by ou tr aging the god, and stai ning h is own life bywicked mu rder. Then he resigned the government ofEgypt to the Egyptians, and retired to E t hiopia. Bu t

as the people were u nqu iet, and domestic strife brokeo u t , t h e most distingu ished princes, twelve in number,me t at Memphis , and made a leagu e, and swore toremain friendly and faith fu l to each other, and madethemselves kings. I n pu rsu ance of this agreementthey reigned for fift een years in harmony

,and formed

the resolu tion , that as in their l ives they shared equ alhonour s, so after death their bodies shou ld rest in thesame place, and that a sepu lchr e bu i lt in commonshou ld preserve the common fame of the kings bu riedthere . The size of th is structur e

,for which they

selected a site on Lake Moe ris , was to su rpass theworks of a ll the kings before them. Bu t o n e of them,

Psamme t ich u s of Sais , who was lord of the coas t,secu red an extensive trad e to al l merchants, especiallyt o the Phenician s and Greeks . By the sale of theprodu cts of h is can ton and his share in that whicht h e foreigners brought he not only obtained greaterresou rces, b u t he won the friendship of these nationsand their princes. Ho u sed by envy the rest of thekings made war u pon Psamme t ich us , who obtainednecessaries fromthe Ionians and Carians

,a n d conqu ered

i n the battle near the ci ty of Momcmph is . Of thekin gs, his opponents , some fel l in the battle, others fledto Libya, and were no longer in a position to conte stthe throne. Thu s aft er fift een years the sovereigntyin Egypt again came i nto t h e hands of one man .

” 1

We saw that the real cou rse of affairs d ifl'e r e d widelyfrom the accou nts given by the Egyptians, from wh ichcome the narratives of Herodotus and D iodo r u s.

Manetho’s list,at any rate, does not conceal the fact

EGYPT U NDER l’S AMMET lCl l US A N D NECHO . 299

that afte r king Bocc h o r is had su ccumbed to t h e incu rsion of the Ethiopians, three kings of Eth iopia rul edover Egypt in su ccess ion. The Hebrew Scriptures andt h e tablet s of the Assyr ians then informed us howIsrael , tru sti ng in the help of Sahakon , refused payment of tribu te to Nineveh , and what misfortu nespu nished this re bel lion in the year 722 B.C.

— howSahakon was defeate d two years afterwards at Raphia,in the neighbour hood of Gaza, by Sargon. AfterwardsSargon cou ld boast of receiving tribu te from thesu ccessor of Sahakon , S e ve ch us, in the year 7 16 B.C. ,

and later still cou ld demand and obtain the su rrenderof a fugitive opponent (7 1 1 Bu t T i r h aka , thesuccessor of S e vech us , fought with su ccess at Elte kehin the ye ar 701 against Sen nacherib of Assyria, andforced h im to raise the siege of Jerusalem. Thirtyyear s afte rwards t h e situation was entirely changed.I n order to ta ke from Sidon, Tyre, Judah , and theSyrian Sta te s the ir hopes in N apa ta and Egypt, whichca used their resistance to be constan tly bu r stin g intofre sh flame, Esarh addon, king ofAssyria, invaded Egyptin the year 672 B.C. , and drove T ir h aka back to h isnati ve land. Ti r h aka

’

s repeate d attempts to win

Egypt from th is posi t ion .wcre wrecked like those ofhis su ccessor, U rdaman e they only brought abou t thesack and devasta ti on of Thebes and its sanctuarie s

(663Hence it was not of the ir own free will that t h e

Ethiopians re tire d to th eir home ; the domi ni on overEgypt which t h e Ethiopians of N apa ta , who had lon gacqu ired the manners and civil isation of Egypt, h adexercised for six ty yea rs, was re placed by another andfar heavier foreign domin ion—the rule of the kingson t h e Tigris. The Egyptians d id not se t up twelvekings afte r the Ethiopians, wh o pledg ed themselves to

300 ECY I’T .

equ ality and friendship, as Herodo t u s su pposes , nordid t h e twelve leading princes make themselves k ingsas Herodotus su pposes . Still less did they ru l e Egyptin common least of all cou ld they e r ect the structu reon Lake Moeris

,t h e temple of Ame n emh a I l l . , for it

had already been in existence fifteen centu ries (I .I t is t h e twenty vassal princes

,whom Esarhaddon and

Assu rbanipal set u p over Egypt —among whommu sthave been represented some of the dynastic famil ieswhich rose u nder the Pharaohs of Bub as t is and Tanis— o u t of whom the Egyptians have con stru cted thetwelve kingsAmong these princes, by means of the Assyrians,

Necho and his son Psamme t ich u s rose in to power . I twas Esarhaddon who entru ste d to Necho the government of Memphis and Sais . If Herodotu s states thatS ahakon pu t Necho, the father of Psamme t ich u s, todeath

,the inscriptions of Assu rbanipal prove the con

t r ary . I t mu st, therefore , have been the g randfather ofPsamme ti ch u s, the N ech epsu s of Manetho, who sufle r edt his fate , and hemu st have su ffered at the hands of Tirhaka

,and not at the hands of Sab akon .

1 The fl ight ofPsamme t ich u s before S abakon into Syria, which Herodota s relates, cann ot have taken place till T i r h aka

’

s time.In the accou nt given by Herodot u s only so mu ch ca n

be regarded as certain as is al so cle a r from Manetho’slist— i . e . that Necho and Psamme t ich u s belonged to thedi strict of Sais . Though raised by Esarhaddon , Nechobegan , aft er the death of t hat prince and the first cam

pa ig n of Assu rbanipal to Egypt, to j oin in a con spiracywith T i r h aka in connection with t wo of his fellowvassals . He was taken prisoner and carried to Nineveh ,b u t received pardon , and was, at any rate, again placedover Sais. His son

,who had as sumed the As syr ian

Man e tho ’s list wou ld pu t t h e dea th of N ech epsu s in 672B. C.

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302 EGYPT.

from Mi letu s were active in the cau se of Psammet ich us , and also t h e position afterwards assigned to theIonians in Egypt u nder the reign of Psamme t ich u s.The ships of the Milesians are said to have conqu eredI uar u s

,i . e . no doubt o n e of the princes who opposed

the rising of Psamme t ich u s , in a naval engagemen t onthe Nile .

‘

Beyond this we have no fu rther information abou tthe cou rse of the struggle, and its du ration. BesideI n ar u s we have the name of one other opponent ofPsamme t ich u s, T eme n t h e s .

2 We do not kn ow whetherall the vassals of Assyria ranged themselves agai nstPsamme t ich u s , or whether some of these princesfollowed h is leadership again st Assyria and the dependants o f Assyria. We do not know whether he hadmerely to contend against h i s own fellow-princes oragainst A ssyrian garrisons also

,and Assyrian forces .

According to Po lyae n u s the decisive battle took placein t h e neighbou rhood of Memphis

,five stadia from

the city, n ear the temple of Isis ; Dio do r u s pu ts theba ttle-fie l d at Momemph is in the western Del ta ,between t h e Canopic arm of the Nile and t h e MareoticLake. I t is remarkable that the decisive batt le shou ldhave been fou ght so far to t h e west

,n ea r the border

of Libya, b u t i t is not impossible. Bu t we mu st notoverlook the fact, that according to Herodotu s, a laterdecisive battle took place at Momemph is —and fromthe circumstances it is clear that this bat tle mu st h avebeen fou ght there—so that a co nf usion between thetwo is not impossible.We do not know what claim Psamme t ich u s cou ld

make to the sovereignty of Egypt besides the sum

mons to the l iberation from Assyr ia, and the aecom

pl ish me n t of this l ibera tion . His family belonged to

Str abo ,p. 801 . Po l ymn .

“ St r a te g ,

”7, 30.

EGYPT UNDER PS AMMBT ICH UB A ND NECHO. m

t h e canto n of Sais, from which , in previou s times .T n cph ach t us and Bocch or is had sprung . It wou ldb e poss ible that the hou se of Necho was in somecon nection with these princes, that Necho and Psamme t ich us were su cce ssors or descendants of Tu eph act us . From this we may explain the sto ry that theblind king, who fled before Sahakon into the marshes,recovered the throne afte r the reti rement of t h eEthiopi ans, and also the persecu tion which Ne choan d Psamme t ich u s had to u ndergo from the Et h iopians. From su ch a connection we cou ld also explainthe fact that Necho took the part of Assyria againstT i r h aka in the campaign of Esarhaddon , and receivedi n re ward from Esar haddon the government ofMemphis and Sais. The su bsequ en t conspiracy ofNecho with T i r h aka , when the latter had been drivenback to N apa ta, wou ld then show that Necho hadattempte d fir s t to drive ou t the Ethiopian s by theAssyrians, and then t h e Assyrians by the Ethiopians ,and l iberate Egypt by u sing one against t h e other.However this may b e, Psamme ti ch us , when l ibe r a ting Egypt from Assyria, su cceeded also in removingand destroying the dynast ic famil ies , which h ad risenu p si nce the times of the Pharaohs of Bubas t isand Tan is, and had maintain ed themselves u nderthe Ethi opians and Assyrians

,though in dimin ished

importa n ce and with a change in the pos i t ion oftheir famil ies . Thu s Psamme t ich u s accompl ishedthe work which T ncph ach t us bega n and Bocch o r is

was unable to ca rry on and main tain . Accord ingto the indica tions of an Egyptian in scription , Psamme t ich us strengthened h is royal posi t ion by ta king to°

wife S h a lmn a t e p, t h e heiress of a dyn asty of Thebes .

She was , appar ently, t h e daughte r of a pr ince Pian ch i ,wh o mu st have go verned t h e canto n of Thebes u nder

EGYPT.

Sahakon , and of A i n e n i r i t is, t h e sis ter of Sahakon,whom he gave to Fianchi to wife. 1

The independence of Egypt was won . After aforeign ru le of nearly 80 years (on the lowest ca l

cu lati on the Ethiopians had ru led for 58 years , andthe Assyrians nearly Egypt was again her ownmistress

,and obeyed a king taken from her midst.

Bu t every one mu st have made u p his mind to see newarmies marching from the Tigris to the Nile, as soonas the rebellion of Samu l -sum-ukin was cru shed, andA ssu r ba n ipal

’

s hands were fr e e . The qu estion was,

whether Egypt’s power was equ al to such a stru ggle.Psamme t ich u s was not pu t to th is trial. Af ter t h ecaptu re of Babylon , Assu rbanipal tu rned the fu llweight of his arms to the su bjugation and destru ctionof Elam. The new confli ct mu st have appeared u n

avoidable when Assur ban ipal , abou t the year 643 B. C .,

pu nished the Ar abian tribes on the borders of theAmmonites and Moabites. If he still omitt ed theattack on Egypt he mu st have regarded h is forces asinsu fficient for the pu rpose, or t h ey mu st have beenseriou sly occu pied in another direction . We mayassume with tolerable certainty that it was the u nionof the Medi an tribes by Ph r ao r t es , t h e son of De ioce s ,and their combination with the Persians, which drewAssu rbanipal back to the East, an d kept h im there .According to the statement of Herodotu s, al readyconsidered

, Psamme t ich u s on his side advanced t o theoffen sive beyond his own borders towards Syria. Th is

O n t h e side o f th e a labast e r st a tu e o f Ame n i r i ti s , which was dug u pin a chape l a t Kamak, we fin d u n de r t h e n ame : T h e r egen t o f t h eSo u th an d t h e No r th, t h e r oyal sis te r o f t h e r oya l da u ghte r o ft h e n ames ar e chise lled o u t . Bu t a Sca r ab te u s o f Gu r n a h in fo rms u s“Ame n i r i ti s , goddess , co n so r t , da u ghte r o f Ka shta an d lege n ds int h e place whe r e t h e sta tu e s we r e fou n d r u n thu s : T h e r oya l sis te r ofBa n e se rke (Sahakon ) , th e r oya l da u ght e r o f Kashta , th e ju st . "Ma r ie t te , Re vu e A r ch aaol og .

”N . S . 1 863, p. 4 18, 41 9.

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306 EGYPT .

Egypt, it is obviou s that Psamme t ich u s maintainednone of t hese border ci t ies

,though one or other

may have been brought for a time into his power .Egypt had been l iberated and restored , b u t not by

her own power. We saw that even from the timesof the later Ramessids the mil i tary power of Egypthad been replaced by foreign mercenaries , especial lyby Libyans ; that the hou se of the Pharaohs ofBu b as t is owed its rise to t h e command of these tro ops.We saw how u nder these Pharaohs

,and those of

t h e su cceeding hou se of Tanis, the leaders of thesetroops became hereditary lords of t h e districts—howthese dynas ties summoned the Ethiopians again stT n eph ach tu s and Bocch o r is , and then others, includin gNecho and Psamme t i ch u s, joined Assyria against t h eEthiopians. Before the reig n of Sahakon it was chieflyLibyans on whom the power of the princes restedu nder Sahakon , S eve ch u s , and T i r h aka it was theEthi opian s who su pported the au thority of the crownand in the same way Psamme t ich u s su cceeded in breaking loose from Assyria

,and establishing his au thori ty

in Egypt, and on the throne of the Pharaohs,mainly bystrangers and mercenaries, by Ion ians and Carians.Psamme t ich u s cou ld not do withou t them. In hisinternal admin istration they were requ ired to keepdown the overthrown dynas tic famil ies

,an d he needed

them to protect his kin gdomfromwithou t. His elevati on, the foun dation of his power, the resto ration ofEgypt, reste d on the attempt to establi sh Egypt and hisown crown , as again st Ethiopia and Assyria, on a th irdexternal power, the mariners of the north . Peamme t i ch u s therefore was compell ed to give preferenceto Ionians and Carians over the n ative soldi ers, thewarrior cast e , who , u nder the domi nion of the ki n gsof Napata, mu st obviou sly have received a considerable

EGYPT UNDER PSAMMETICHUS AND N ECl l O .

add i tion of Ethi opians from the n ative land of theking s In the Syrian war also, as Diodo r u s tell s u s,the Ion ians and Carians received the place of honou ron the right wing

,i n the order of battle . The Ionians

and Carians were entru ste d with the prote cti on of the

east e rn border, the most important border of the kingdom. There they were placed in a standi ng camp

,on

the Pe l usic arm of the Nile on one ban k was thecamp of the Ionians, on the other the camp of theCarians. ‘ These Ionians and Carians—their numbersunder the su ccessors of Psamme t i ch u s reachedme n—received valuable allotmen ts of land, and wereso handsomely treated that the prophet Jeremiahcompares them to “ stall -fed oxen .

” 9 They h ad alsoto educa te Egyptians in their lan gu age, their customs,an d their mode of war Psamme t ich us placed in t heirhands Egypti an boys for edu cati on and train ing, an dcau sed even h is own sons to be instructed in Greek .

3

The old warrior caste was limited to the protection ofthe sou th ern and weste rn borders against Nape ta andthe Libyans, the border service at Elephanti ne and

The marked preference shown to the new troops asoppose d to the old cou ld not be withou t an effect o nt h e lat ter . Jealou sy and hatred were u navoidable.Bu t they attempte d no rebelli on . Cu riou sly enough ,

‘

a con siderable portion of the old warrior caste conte nte d themselves with abandonin g Egyp t . Herodota s tells us : “ The Egyptians who for years hadkept gu ard at Eleph antine were not relieved . Theyconsulte d to ge ther, and u nanimously came to theconclusion to re volt fromPsamme t ich us , and retire toEgypt, be ing in number Psamme ti ch us

‘ l IomLmlM.

Bio d. xm m n m m ch u m. t h i . 21 .

M 2. 1 12. M L “.

308 EGYPT .

pu rsu ed them, an d entreate d them on many groundsnot to desert their wives and childr en, and the godsof the land . Then o n e of the soldiers exposed himself,‘and said , that for me n there wou ld be no lack of wivesand children. When they arrived in Et hiopia they

pu t themselves at the service of the kin g , who bad ethem drive o u t the Ethiopians with whom he was atvariance, and take their land .

” Thi s was done, andthe emigrants dwelt on the Nile

,1 12days’ jou rney to

the sou th of Elephantin e .

‘ D iodo r u s tells u s :“ Dis

pleased at the preference shown to the mercenaries, theEgyptians, more than in number

,revolted ,

and marched to Et hiopia wi th t h e in te nti on of obtaining there a land for themselves . The king first sentsome officers to prevent them : when these availednothing he hastened aft er them on ship with h i s mosttru sted followers. The soldiers marched u p the N il e ,and had already crossed t h e borders of Eg ypt, whenPsamme t i ch us entreated them to alte r their minds,and reminded them of their father-land, their wivesand children . Then they stru ck their lan ccs on theirshields, and said that so long as they had these theywou ld easily find a fatherland

,and raising their coats

they said that t h ey shou ld have no lack of wives andchi ldren . Thu s firmly despising what to most me nseems of the greatest importance, they took t h e bestpart of Ethiopia for their dwellin g

,all otting large

portions of land to each other.” Accordin g to theevidence of Erato sthenes the land of the emigrantslay above the conflu ence of the A s tab o r as and theNile, on an island sou th -east of the late r Meroe .”

Her od. 2, 30.

Biod. l , 67 ; Str abo , p . 770, 786. Pl in .

“ Hist . N a t 6, 35 .

Vo l . I. p . 14 . T h e st a teme n t o f Di od o r us r e pe a te d in t h e te xt—tha tt h e Gr e e ks h ad t h e r ight win g—might se em to have b e e n bo r r owedfro m Gr eek cu s toms , if He r odo tu s did n o t te ll u s tha t t h e emigr an ts

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310 EGYPT .

and preferred service with the Ethiopians to se rvicewi th Psamme t ich u s . To Psamme t ich u s h imw l f itcou ld only appear a desirable thing

,if the discon te nted

e l eme n ts of the old army l e ft the cou ntry . Bu t t hisdesertion to the king of N apa ta added con siderably tot h e figh t ing strength of the latter, an d might en t iceh im even into an atta ck on Egypt . The emigrationcou ld not be hindered by force ; i t was t h e garrison inch arge of the border who were emigrating. To pu rsu et h e emigrants with a force was onl y t o be too late ,a n d kindle war with N apa t a . I t entir ely su its thissitu ation that Psamme t ich u s shou ld send afte r thefugitives

,and then go in person , in order to indu ce

them to retu rn by graciou s promises . According as

the Syrian war of Psamme t ich u s is placed before orafter the Scyth ian invasion

,this emigration , whi ch in

Diodor u s is a consequ ence of that war, mu st be placedafter the year 630B .C . or aft er the year 61 5 D .C.

The Greeks were not favou red in the army only.

It was part of the political system of Psamme t i ch u sto Open the mou ths of the Nile to them and thePhenicians

,to give them access to al l the harbou rs

,

and allow them,the u nclean in t h e view of the

older Egyp tian s, to sett l e on Egyptian soil . TheGreeks soon came in considerable numb ers. TheMilesians obtained permission to build a citadel on theBo lb i t in i c mou th , and higher u p, at the separation ofthe Bo lb i t in ic and Canopic arms, they bu i lt t h e city ofNau crat is

,the name of which was taken , no dou bt,

from the confl ict on the Nile (p . The Pheniciansobtained a special qu arte r on the N il e , t h e camp oft h e Tyrians,

” in which to erect a temple to the Syriango ddess.Psamme t ich u s continu ed to sit on t h e throne of

t h e Pharaohs for 40 years aft er he had expelled th e

EGYPT UNDER PS A HMET ICU US AND NECHO. 3“

Assyrians, and obta ined the absolu te power (fr om060—610 How fa r he su cceeded , in th is spaceo f time , in healing the grievou s wou nds infli ct ed o n

the cou ntry by the al ter nating struggle of Ethiopiansan d Assyrians, and the war of liberation , the civil war,—ia res t orin g Memphis, Sais, Tanis, and Thebes, aftertheir destru cti on , we cannot ascertain . Bu t th e impu l segiven to trade and intercou rse by t h e Open ing of theln rbo urs, t h e favou r shown to the Greeks and Phenie ian s

,in any case incre ased the welfare of Egypt, and

t h e industrial and artistic activity which begins m there ign of Psamme t ich us presu pposes considerable pros

pe r i ty in the land . Psamme t ich u s kn ew how to restorethe anc ien t splendou r of the dou ble crown. He bu il tat Karnak and on the island of Ph ilaa. At Sais

,the

home of h is family and h is residence, he bu il t aspl end id re side nce. The an cien t shr ine of Ptah atMemphi s he su rrounded with a wall , and added a n ewga te to the temple towards the sou th . Oppo si te thisgate he bu il t a new hall for the Apis , the walls of whichwere covered with scu lptu r es, and the porti coes hadco lossi 12 cubits in height. l In the burying-grounda t Memph is he cau sed the temple of Osi ris-Apis, hisfat her,

" the grave-temple on the emin ence,to which

the double row of sphinxes led from the city (I .to be re sto red ; “ that i t might be as it had beenb efore .

” As the gall ery which Ramses I I . h ad cau sed tobe hewn in the r ock for the reception of the Apis bu l lswa s no longer sufiicie u t , Psamme t ich us added one st il llarge r and more bea u tifu l . The two Apis bu lls whichdi ed in h is reign— ia t h e twen tiet h and t h e thirty-fift hyea r—were bu ried with d u e solemni ty and pomp, thesecond being placed in t h e new gallery.

’ ‘

r om no

Th a t t h o Egypt ian s co u n ted

312 EGYPT.

reign is the number of monuments in these tombs ofthe Apis, by which those who dedicated them sought torecommend themselves to the favou r of Osiris, grea terthan from the reign of Psamme t ich us. With hisbu ildings Egyptian art to ok a new impu lse , whichwas also t h e las t . The forms are lighter

, more deli cate ,more mobile , and far more natur a l the hieroglyph icsare carried to a marvel lou s degree of del icacy . Forthe statu es t h e arti sts of this period preferr ed theblack and grey basalt to granite . In the dime nsions, scu lptu re as well as archi tectu re remained fa rbeh ind the period of the ancient kin gdom,

behi ndthe period of the T u t h mosis and Amenophis, ofBet he a and Ramse s.The son and su ccessor of Psammet i ch u s , who was

called Necho afte r h i s grandfather, fol lowed in thepath which his father h ad pointed ou t and opened .

He paid especial attention to the foreign tr ad e, thearmi ng of Egypt on the sea. He hastened to create anavy for Egypt on the Mediterranean and the RedSea . Herodotu s observes that he had himself see nthe docks for the ships on h is j ou rney to Egypt. ‘

Egyp t was stronger by sea if the same fleet cou ld beu sed on the Medi terranean and the Red Sea. Thu sNecho came back t o the views of Ramses to thegreat canal for u niting the Nile wi th the Red Sea. Byth is the trade of Egypt with Sou th Ar abia , an d thetrade on the Arabian Gu lf

,was brou ght into di rect

connection with themar ine trade of the Med iterranean .

Necho took u p the excavation of the canal commencedby Ramse s which was at that time carried as faras the region of the Bitter Lakes. The excavation wasfi rst to be ca rried eastward as far as the Bitte r Lakes ,

t h e r e ign o f Psamme t ich u s fr om t h e e n d o f T i r h aka’

s , e . fr om 664

D .C. , is pr oved above , p . 7 1 n . He r od . 2, 1 59 .

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3H EGYPT .

they rou nded the pillars in the thi rd year, and cameto Egypt. And t h ey told a story, which to me isincredible, though perhaps n o t equally so to an other .They said tha t when they sail ed rou nd Libya

,they

had the su n on t h e right hand.

” By t hi s to h imin credible statement Herodotu s proves the real ity of

th is,the most ancient circumnavigati on of Africa.

As soon as the equ ator was passed, the expedi ti onwou ld see the su n o n the north , i . e . on t h e right hand,which to Herodotu s

,according to the Greek concep t ion

of the su n and t h e earth ,mu st have seemed incredible.The kin gdom of the Assyrians, which for more than

a hu ndred years had threate ned Egypt, governed her,and threatened her again

,was at the las t gasp when

Necho, in the year 610 B. C. , ascended the throne of

his father. The inu ndation of the Sacw had shatteredthe cohesion of the Assyrian power ; N abopo lassar ofBabylon

,and Cyaxar e s of Media, had already been

u nited against Assyria for ten year s past even now,

after N ab opo lassa r had brou ght abou t a peace betweenLydia and Media

, t h ey set themselves to give the lastblow to t h e fallen remnant of Assyria . Psamme t i ch u shad attempted to establis h himself in the sou th-westcorner of Syria ; a more favou rable moment cou ld n o t

come to Egypt for winnin g Syria, for repeating the

pa ign s of the ancient Pharaohs to the Euphrate s, andshowing in this di rect ion also the new royal hou se tobe the restorer of the ancient glory. Apart from su chconsiderations, pru dence bade them not to leave thespoil to the Babylonian s alone. What wou ld Eg ptwin by t h e fall of Assyria, if Babylon to ok her place inSyria and became t h e neighbou r of Egypt ? Nechomarched against Syria. I t seems that in order toavoid the di fficu lt rou te thr ou gh the desert, he tran sported h i s army o n board h i s fleet to the Syrian

EGYPT UNDER PSAMHBTICH U S AND “ 0110 315

coast . The landing took place in the neighbou rhoodof Ca rmel—a t an y rate we find that the first coll isionof the Egyptian s an d Syrians took place there.Twelve years had elapsed since king Josiah of Ju dah

had intr odu ced the new law, and rigorously enforcedthe wor shi p of Jehovah . The dominion of the kingsof Nineveh over Syria. was past : Josiah was notincl ined to exchange this for the yoke of Egypt. H adt h e Egyptian s come by land , Josiah mu st have me tthe army of Necho in the sou th of Ju dah. The armiesme t u nder Carmel o n the Kishon : the battle brokeo u t in t h e valley of Megiddo. The numbers of theEgyptian army ensu red victo ry, they mu st have beenoverpowerin g . The Jews were defeated ; Josiah fell ;his co rpse was carried from the battle-fie ld by hisservants (600 In the camp at Hadad Rimmonthe remn ant of the Jewi sh army lamen ted over the

pio us ki ng—who then foun d h is resting-place in thesepu lch res of his fathers at Je rusal em—and sang songsof lamenta tion. ‘ Passing by the two elder sons ofJosiah , the people raised to the throne the th ird son ,Jeh oahaz .

’ If N echo afterwards dedicated the armou rwhich he we re at the victory of Megiddo to Apollo,

‘ T h e Oh r on iclsa (2, xxxv. 20 8 ) r epr ese n t Jos iah as dyin g in

Ja n-Im h u t t h ey can h a rd ly h e oor roct . In o rde r t o expla in t h eu n ha ppy de a th of t h e pio u s kin g, wh o h ad in t r odu ced th e Book of t h eLa w. an d dq tmyod t h e wo r ship o f ido ls , by a t ra n sg r eu io n , th eyr e pr e sen t Jos iah as n o t hea r t e n in g to th e wo rds o f Necho o u t of t h e

mo n th a n d making an a t ta ck on t h e Egypt ia n s , wh o wemn o t a t wa r with th em. Bu t tho ugh t h e Chro n icles r e pre se n t Nechoas decla r ing tha t h e was ha st e n in g t o t h e Eu phr a te s . i t is . on th eo t h ar h a n d . cl e a r t h a t h o did n o t mamh to t t u ph r

-a te a t i l l fou r

yua n aRo r t h o ba t t le a t Bl og iddo . T h e ki n gdoms o f He ro do tu s is ,n o do u bt . th e Megiddo o f t h e He brews. Josephus 10, 6. l )n amos h l e n do aa t h o plaoo o f th o bat t lo. Wh e t h e r th o ca ln p of th o

m a a r aa l l y pi tch od a t l l adad Rimmcn , t o t h o sou th-cast e !

Me giddo is no t cl ea r .

O n t h o mn a of Joaia h , Jo h an n a . Joh o iaki rn . Sh a llumary Zo buda h ) .Joh oa h aa an d Zedekiah (by Hamuu lxcl . I Chro n . ii i . t o. 16.

316 EGYPT .

in his ancient temple at M iletu s, where t h e Br an ch idwwere his ministers, the conclusion may be drawn thatthe Ionian soldiers in his army had especial ly dist in gu is h ed themselves in winn ing the vi ctory. Hedid not pu rsu e t h e army of Judah, b u t rather tu rnedto t h e Nort h, to wards Damascus . Soon after hisaccession , the su ccessor of Josiah repaired to the campof the Pharaoh , to pledge his obed ience . Necho wase n cammd at Riblah (now Bi h le h ) , sou th of Emesa, ina grassy plain on the Orontes , where the road whichleads from the Euphr ates to the coast is cu t by theroad which fol lows t h e valley of t h e Orontes. Nechocau sed Jehoahaz to be secu red, and sent h im as a

p risoner to Egypt. There he remained till his deathhe had sat on the throne only thr ee months. TheJu dae an s were not permitte d to raise any more kings tothe throne on the contrary

,Necho made Je h o iakim,

the second son of Josiah , prince of Ju dah , and imposedon the land a contribu tion of 1 00kikkar of silver, andone kikkar of gold. Of the su bsequ ent achievemen t sof Necho in Syria, we h ave precise information onlyabou t the captu r e of Gaza. From the subsequ entevents we mu st conclu de that Necho su cceeded insu bju gating all the Syrian state s to his su premacy .

‘

Meanwhile Je h o iakim,set u p by Necho to be king of

Ju dah , u nd istu rbed by his dependence on Egypt, orby the contribu tion which the land h ad to pay

, occu

pied himself Wi t h bu il ding palaces i n Jeru sal em,and

for that object extorted money and service fr om h is

su bjects . The prophet Jeremiah , who had su pportedthe introdu ction of the Book of the Law u nder thereign of his father, opposed this action of the ki ngwithou t regard to consequ ences : “ Weep not for t h e

1 Jer em. z l vn . l . Cadyt i s in He r o do tu s 2, 1 59 is Gu n . Th e n ameis fo rmed afte r th e Egypt ia n K aza tu .

”

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318 EGYPT.

T h ipsach and K ar ch emis h , which lay opposi te themodern Bi re dsh ik.

N abopo lassar of Babylon found himsel f at the goalof h is wishes. Nineveh was at his feet. When afte rh is long and heavy labou r he h ad ente red into t h e

enjoyment of the independent sovereignty over Babylon , a new enemy appeared u nexpectedly, an armyfrom the Nile

,in order to encamp on the Euphrates,

and set foot on the borders of Babylon,and e n

danger the state which N ab opo lassar had ju st restored ,if he di d not actu ally diminish t h e resu l ts obtained .

1

He felt himself no longer equ al to the to i l of war,so Berosu s tells u s , and handed over a part of thearmy to Nebu chadnezzar, who

“was in h is you thful

strength .

” Nebuchadnezzar and the Egyptians me tat K ar ch emish . Necho su ffered a severe defeat, which

pu t a speedy end to all h is schemes of conqu est .

Who is this, exclaims Je r emiah , that cometh up asthe Nile, whose waters are moved as the rivers ? The

T h e opin ion tha t Necho mar ched to th e E uph r a tes to t h e r e lie f o fNin eveh se ems to me qu ite u n te n able . Se t t in g aside t h e fact tha t fo rthis object N echo mu st have be e n a t t h e Eu phr a te s e a r lie r , which h ecou ld we ll have do n e , —wha t in te r est h ad N echo in Assyri a, fr omwho se powe r h i s fa the r h ad libe r a te d Egypt ? N o r can I adopt th eopin io n o f M. Niebu hr tha t Necho mar ched to Assyr ia me r e ly t o

de fe n d Syr ia . Josephu s 10, 5 , 1 ) te lls u s,“ tha t Necho

ma r ched to t h e Eu phr a te s in o rde r t o make war u po n t h e Modes an d

Babylon ia n s , wh o h ad de st r oyed t h e Assyr ian powe r . This ide a of

o ffe n s ive war fa r e is :co nfirmmby t h e wo rds i n Jer emiah : I will gou p a n d dest r oy the ir cit ies . Syr ia was eas ie r o f defen ce whe n h eh ad t h e dese r t be fo r e h im, than when i t la y behin d h im.

Be ros i Fr ag . 1 4 ed . Mulle r . Tha t in Be ro su s t h e sa tr ap of Syr iah as taken t h e place of N echo , may b e expla in ed by t h e su pposit iontha t N ab opo lassar h ad la id cla im to Syr ia as an appu r te n a n cs of

t h e pa r t o f t h e A ssy i-ia n kin gdom wh i ch h ad fa l l en to h im, an d

pe r haps an n oun ced to N echo tha t h e was pr e pa r ed to give h im Syr iaas a de pe n de n cy of Babylon—an ofie r which Necho di d n o t acce pt .Bu t t h e sa tr ap is a lso su fficien t ly expla in ed by t h e po in t of view of

t h e hi sto r ia n o f Babylon , wh o se e s t h e pe r iod of N eb u ch ad n em r in t h e

most br illian t light .

EGYPT UNDER PS AMMET ICII US A N D N ECll O 3l9

Egyptian cometh u p l ike the Nile, and saith , I wil l goup and will co ve r the earth , and will destroy the city,and t h e inhabitants thereof. Order ye the bu cklerand shi eld, and draw near to the battle. Harness thehorses, and get u p, ye horsemen . Pu t on the helmetsand t h e brigandines

,and fu rbish the spears . Come

u p, ye horses, and rage , ye chariots let the Ethiopianscome forth that handl e the shield

,and the Libyans

that bend the bow . Bu t why have I seen them dismayed and tu rned back

,and their mighty ones are

beate n down , and are ti e d apace and look not back'2

Let not the swi ft flee away, nor the mighty manescape ; they shall stumble and fall toward the northby t h e river Euphrate s, and the sword shall devou r,and it shal l be made satiate, an d shall be dru nk withthe blood of the Egyptians . Go u p into G ilead , andtake balm, O virgin daughte r of Egypt . Bu t there isno medicine fo r thee . The people have heard thyshame

, an d thy cry has fill ed the lan d.

" 1

Jerem. xlvi. 1—13, 16, 16, 17.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE RESTORATION OF BABY LON .

IN the Median poems, from which Ctesias andN ico lau s have told u s the story of the overthrow ofthe Assyrian kingdom by the combined Medes andBabylonians, the leader of theMedea natu rally occu pie sthe most prominent place . From h im the pru dentand craft y leader of the Babylonians obtains thesatrapy of his home as the price of his cc-operationco -operation which mainly consists in impartin g adviceon the grou nd of his knowledge of as tronomy . Afterwards he shows himself faithless and thievish, and forth is is condemned to death . Bu t the magnanimi ty ofthe Median prince not on ly grants his life, b u t evenassigns to h im the satrapy of Babylonia, which , according to other songs in t h e se poems, remains in the handsof the descendants of the dependant. The poems ofthe Medes cou ld not leave altogether ou t of sight theco -operation of the Babylonian s in the overthrow ofAssyria, b u t they kept it in the back-ground, and gavetheir leader a. contemptible character . They coul dnot deny that after the fall of Nineveh Babyloniastood beside Medi a, b u t they cou ld change th isindependent kingdom into the principality of a vas sal,a satrapy of Media withou t payment of tribu te. As

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322 BABYLON .

of the Ch abo ras b elonged to the new kingdom o f .

Babylon ,‘ an d , as we saw,it was not the Median army

which Necho me t at Bir edsh ik, b u t the Babylonians,t h e army of N ab opo lassar .

Whet her it was N abopo lassar’

s int ention to e x te n d

his power to the west beyon d the Eu phrates,and

enter u pon the inherita nce of Assyr ia as the sovereignover Syria

,or whether it was t h e advance of Necho

into Syria,and his march to the Eu phrates , whi ch

first called forth this intention , we cannot decide.In no case was he likely to su ffer Egypt to establishhersel f in Syria. Nebu chadnezzar, t h e son of Nabo

po lassar , after his victory at K ar ch emish , followed t h eretreating army o f Egypt . The Syrian lands oncemore looked forwa rd to be comin g the sce n e and seatof the war between Babylonia and Egypt, as inpreviou s times they had witn essed t h e war betweenAssyria and Egypt . If the dominion of Egypt hadbeen recently imposed u pon them in the place of thedominion of Assyria

,it depended on the approaching

stru ggle of arms,whether they were to become the

subjects of a new master, of the new crown ofBabylon .

Thu s the defeat of Necho and the retreat of t h eEgyptian army arou sed no feelin gs of delight inJeru salem at the blow which had there fal len u pont h e lord o f the Nile. There was a fear of the approachof the Babylon ians . We saw with what vigour t h e

prophet Jeremiah , the son of Hilkiah of Anatho th, hadopposed the ca reless frivolity of Je h o iakim,

t h e kin gwhom Necho had placed over the Jews (p .

Afte r the disastrou s day at Megiddo, the fall of Josi ah,and carryin g away of Jehoahaz to Egypt, the eye ,

of the prophet had been directed to the dangerou s

Eze k i. iii . 1 5 , 23 ; x . 1 6 ; xx . 22; xl iii. 3.

T IIB RESTORATION O I? BABYLON. 323

posi tion of the kingdom. Necho’s army was then inSyr ia one ci ty after another su ccumbed to his arms .

T o the melancholy mind of Isaiah the fal l of thekin gdom seemed u navoidable . This conviction he

expremed ; he foretold to Je h o rakim the most disgraceful fall. I n energy and power of thought Jeremiahcannot be compared wi th Isaiah , b u t in the boldnessa nd incisiveness of his O pposition to the king and nationh e su rpasses h im. Isa iah h ad firmly held to the prese rvati on and mainte nance of t h e ci ty of Jerusalemand the temple, even in t h e judgment of Jehovah onIs rae l and J udah. The concepti on that J ehovah 'ste mple, and h i s hab itation in t h e ° h o ly of holie

'

s of thetempl e, was a pledge for the secu rity of the city , thatJehovah cou ld not abandon an d destroy his templean d shrine, was a fixed idea among most of the pro

ph e ts and among the people it was con firmed by thefor tu nate prese rvat i on fr om the army of S e n n ae h e r i b ,and the hordes of the Se em; and the Jews had con

fid e n ce in t h e impregnable natu re and last ing secu rityof t heir temple and ci ty. In th is confidence Jeremiahdete cte d a g rave evil. The people trusted to theimpregnable natu re of the shrine and city ; the Jewsbelieved that in spite of their errors and si ns theywou ld be secu re of Jeru salem owin g t o the temple .Therefore he set h imself energe tically to combatthis belief. He is fil led with the conception of theap pro aching j udgment, which wil l be brought o n bythe defect ion of past times . when Israel l ike a swiftyoung dromedary went after every a nd

by her u n r ig h tco us conversation i n the pre sent time.His conception , wh ich in depth of religiou s feeling israised above the views of the earlier prophets

,is that

all e xte r n al cu s toms a n d symbols must fall to theh im it 23.

324 BABYLON .

grou nd, n ot sacrifice s only and fasts, b u t the t empleand t h e ark of the covenant. Not till a radicaldestru ction h as taken place will the restoration ofthe people follow

,by means of a small remnant of

the righteou s, and a shoot from the sto ck of David .

In Jeremiah’s view the people cannot be saved witho u t the stroke of annihilation

,for the Ethiop cannot

chan ge h is skin , nor the leopard his spots .” l Bu t after

t his ju dgment Jehovah wil l “make a new covenant ”

with h i s people,

“ which is not l ike that whi ch hemad e with their fathers

,when he led th em o u t of

Egypt. ” I will pu t my law in you r in ward parts ,”

saith Jehovah , “ and wri te it in you r hearts.”3 “ Inthose days they will no more speak of the ark ofJehovah ; it wil l not come into the mind of an ynone will miss it ; nor will another h e made.

”T h e n

wil l Jehovah set u p shepherds after h is own heart ofthe branch of David

,

’ who wi ll pastu re Israel withwisdom and pru dence ; and al l n ations will gathertogether to the name of Jehovah , and wi ll not walkafter the hardness of their evil heart.Fil l ed with these conceptions, Jeremiah cried al ou d

to the people assembled in the co u rt of the temple :“Amend you r h earts

,and listen to the voice of Jehovah ,

you r God. If ye will not walk in his law,wh ich he

has set before y ou , and hearken to the words of t h eprophets, Jehovah wi l l make th is city a cu rse to al l

the nations of the earth.

‘ Tru st not in lying words :t his is the temple of Jehovah. Ye steal

, mu rder, andcommit adu l tery ; ye offer incense to Baa l, and kneaddough to make ca kes for the qu een of heaven , ls andcome in to thi s hou se, which is ca lled by the name or

Je r em. xiii. 23. Jer em. m i . 31—36.

Je r em. xxiii. 5 . Je r em. xxvi. 1—5 , 13.

5 Je r em. vu . 18 .

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326 BABYLON .

of Jeremiah , the C h aldaeans are to be destroyed whenthey have do n e their work. Aft er a ru le of 70 year s,i . c. afte r a period of ten Sabbath-years ( II . thisfortune will over take the Babylonians— such is theview of Jeremiah . For 23 years,

” so Jeremiah com

mau dcd his scribe Baruch to write, 1 the word ofJehovah hath come to me , and I have spoken to yo u ,

rising early and speaking,b u t ye have not hearkened

ye have hearkened to other prophets,not to the servants

of Jehovah . Therefore I will bring Nebu chadnezzarmy servant against this land and i ts inhabitants, sait hJehovah , and against a l l t h e nations rou nd abou t, andI wil l destroy o u t of them the voice of mirth , thevoice of the bridegroom an d the voice of the bride,t h e sou nd of the mill

,and the light of the lamp . The

whole land shall be a desolation,and these nations

shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Takethe wine-cup of this fur y at my hand, so spake Jehovahto me , and cau se all the nati ons t o drin k it, that theymay dr in k, and be moved , and be mad, becau se of thesword that I will send among them. Cau se Jeru salemto drin k it

,and the cities of Judah , t h e Pharaoh of

Egypt, and all the kings of the land of the Phili stines,the kin gs of Tyre and Sidon , and the kings of t h eislands beyond the sea

,the Edomites, and the Moab

ite s, and the kin gs of Ar abia who dwell in t h e deserts,and the kings of Media. Jehovah shall roar from onhigh , he shall roar u pon his habitati on (Jeru salem) ;he shall give a shou t, as they that tread the grapes,against a l l the inhabitants of the earth . Jehovah willreckon with the nations ; h e will plea d with a l l flesh

,

and give them that are wicked to the sword. Evil

Je r em. xxv . 1—3. By this da te t h e ide n t ity o f these war n in gswith t h e wr it in g which, acco r din g to xxxvi. l , 2, was r e ad on t h e

fas t day , is est ablishe d, a n ide n t ity which i s a lso pr oved by in t e r n a lr e aso n 8 .

THE Rm O RA T IO N OF BABYLON. 3127

shall go forth fromnation to n a t icm, and the slain ofJeh ovah will be in that day from on e end of the eartht o the other ; they sh all not be lamente d, nor bu ried,t hey shall be du ng u pon the grou nd .

” lAt Karch emis h Necho had lost all the fru its of his

st rugg les i n Syria. He did not ventu re to engage ina se cond battle for the possession of Syria

,b u t retired

t o the bord ers of Egypt. In Jeru salem a day of fasti ng was kept at the approach of the Babylonian army.

More than th ree years an d eight mon ths had passedsince Necho made Jehoiakim king of Judah .

2 Theseand other an nou ncements Jeremiah commanded Baru chto read before the assembled mu lti tude in the uppercou rt of t h e temple on the day of fasting. I t may bet h ey wi l l pre sen t their supplicati on before Jehovah,

"

he said, for great is the anger that Jehovah hathpr onou nced u pon this people .

" Baruch carried ou t thecommand of Jeremiah . The let termade a deep impression. Baru ch had to read it again before the captainsof Jehoiakim, at their requ est . These to ld the kin g,who was at that time in his winte r hou se , of the pro

ph eci es of Jeremiah . Jch o iakim caused th ree or fou rleaves to be read , then se ized the roll , ou t i t wi th aknife . threw the pieces into the pan of coals wh ichst ood before h im, and gave orders that Jeremiah andh is scribe Baru ch shou ld be brought before h im, butbo t h had hidden t hemselves, an d the captains werenot in cl ined to discover them by any strict search .

‘

The Babylonian army did not appear before Jer usa lem. N abo po lassar lay sick at Babylon the accountof his dea t h summoned Nebucha dnezzar back to themetropolis. He hastened with a few companionsthrough t h e desert s t o Babylon , in order to take the

Je t-om. e h . xxv. Je rem. xxxvi. I , 22.

Jer em. a n t i.

328 BABYLON .

crown of the new kingdom. The army, with theprisoners and the booty, were to follow (605Meanwhile the priests at Babylon had made provision

,

and set up a regent from among themselves whogoverned the kingdom ti l l the retu rn of N eb u ch adn e zzar .

l

As soon as the first su ccession to the throne of thenew kin gdom was happily completed , and N e b uch adnozzar saw his position establ ished, he applied h isforces to extending and secu ring his empire . If thenew dynas ty was to take root, it was incumbent on it torenew the splendou r and power of the ancient kingdomof Babylon . The su ccesses which N abopo las sar h adachieved ag ainst the Assyrians, the splend id victo rywhich Nebu chadnezzar had gained again st the Egyp~

tian s, mu st have confirmed the confidence of the newru ler in his own power

,and the str ength of his army.

Yet the first consideration was not merely splendou rand glory. Egypt cou ld not indeed main tain her.place in Syria, b u t she was still in possession of Gaza ;if the Syrian States were not annexed

, t hey wou ldalways incline to Egypt

,and wou l d soon join her

again. To abandon Syria was equ ivalent to handi ng

Be ros. ap . Jose ph.

“ An tiq . 10, l l , 2.

“c. Apio n , I , 1 9 . I n

these PM t h e acts o f N ebu chadn ezzar in Syr ia ar e pu t to ge theri n su ch a ge n e r a l way , tha t fr om them we can n o t dr aw t h e co n clu s iontha t N ebu chadn ezzar i n h is fir st campa ign in to Sy r ia passed t h ebo rde r s o f Ju dah , a n d tha t eve n the n h e h ad n ot on ly se t foot i nSyr ia b u t h ad in co r po r a te d i t . T h e u n ce r t a in ty of t h e su ccessio nin th e n ew kin gdommu st have ca lled h im b ack as qu ickl y as possibleto h i s home , an d t h e r e t ir eme n t o f t h e whole army is expr e sslyme n t ion ed . Be s ide s , fr om Je r emi ah xxxvi . l , 9 , 22, a n d xxv. l , 3,i t fo llows tha t N ebu chadn ezzar , i n t h e yea r s 605—604 a n d 604

603B.C. i . e. i n t h e fo u r th an d fifth r e ign o f Je h o ia l t im, h ad n o t ye t

ma r ched with h is a rmy thr o u gh Ju dah. Jo se ph.

“ An t iq.

”10, 6, 1 ,

r e pr e se n ts N ebu chadn ezzar as co n qu e r in g Syr ia , exce pt Ju dah , a fte rt h e victo r y o f Ka r ch emis h . T h e st a t emen t i n t h e Book o f Dan ie l(i . 1 if ) tha t N ebu cha dn e zza r to o k Je r u sa lem in t h e third yea r o f

Je h o ra lum l . c. in t h e yea r 606—606 B.c, is n o t a coge n t pr oo f.

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330 BABYLON .

they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat . Andthey shal l scoff at t h e kings, and the princes shall bea scorn to them ; they shall deride every stronghold,for t h ey shal l heap u p earth against it, and take it,and carry ofl' prisoners like sand. Then will they goon like a sto rm-wind

,and their might is their god. 1

My knees qu aked that I might look with rest u ponthe day of trouble, u pon the people wh ich oppressesu s .

’ Shall t h ey slay the nations continu ally witho u tpu nishment ? can he not rest who enlargeth h is desireas hell , and is as death , and ca nnot be satisfied , b u tgathereth u nto h im all nations, and heapeth u nto h ima ll people Wil l not the people suddenly rise

‘

u p anddeman d u su ry from thee ? wi ll not the nat ions plu nderthee, whom thou hast plu ndered ?

” 8 Of N e b u ch adn e zza r

,Jeremiah says : Like a l ion he wil l come u p

against the well-stocked pas tu re . ‘ Flee, flee wi th a l l

you r might, ye inhabitants of Hazor, for N e b u ch adn e z za r , king of Babylon , hath taken cou nsel against

you ,and hath conceived a pu rpose again st you . Get

y ou u p to the nation wh ich hath neither gat es norbars

,and dwel leth a lone ; go u p to Kedar and spoil

the me n of the East . You r tents and you r flocks willthey take ; you r cu rtains and you r camels they wi llcarry away ; the mu l ti tu de of you r flocks shall be aspoil to them. I will scatt er to al l the winds of theearth those who cu t the corners of their hair (theAr abians) , saith Jehovah, and wil l bring destru ctionon them from every side, and Hazor shall be a dwelling for the jackal , a desolation for ever. 5 Cry

,ye

daughters of Rabbath (Rabbath Ammon , I I . gir dyou rselves with sack-clot h, for Milcom shal l go away

Habakku k i. 6—1 1 . Habakku k iii. 16.

Haba kku k i. 1 7 ; i i . 5—8. Je r em. xlix. 1 9.

5 Je r em. xlix . 28—33.

r u n s ssr oaar rox or sanvt on . a

in to miseryg h i s priest s and princes t ogether.‘ Woe to

thee, Moab the people of Camos (Chemosh , I . 372)per isheth . He shal l fly l ike an eagle

,and spread h is

wings over Moab the strong places are taken .

‘ Hamathis confou nded, and Arpad. Damascu s is waxed feeble,and turneth hers elf tofle e .

2 Thou wert confident, 0

Ed om, becau se thou dwellest on t h e high rocks andthe tops of the mou ntai ns. Though thou bu ildest thynest l ike the eagle thou shal t b e thrown down .

” 3

Five years h ad elapsed since the batt le of Karchemish when Nebu chadnezzar crossed the borders ofJudah (600 Jehoiakim su bmi tt ed and thu sescaped destru ction . Afte r the subju gation of Ammon

,

Moab, and Judah , Nebu ch adnezzar cou ld tu rn hisarms against the sou thern coast of Syria. This advanceof Nebuchadnezzar and the necessi ty of preventin gBabylonia from establ ishing herself on the borders ofEg pt , cou ld not b u t bring Egypt again into arms.Necho had had time to recover from the defeat ofKa r ch emish . The hope of aid from Egypt indu ce dJehoiakim to renou nce his obedience three years afterhe had su bmitte d to Nebuchadnezzar, and to tu rn h isarms against Babylonia. At Nebu chad nezzar's command the troops of the neighbou rin g states who hadremain ed loyal , the Northern Syrians, t h e Ammonite s,and Moabite s, first invaded the land of Judah. Whenthe Egyptians had been driven back in to their borders .

‘ Jor om.

‘ Jaram. xlviii.‘m li x u d i .

‘ 2King-xxiv. l f i t in otn to d h er o t h a t Joh o iakimm od Nebuch adnm r l o r th m yoan . and t h on m o l tcd fromh im; if t h o pun is hma n t fin t h ia m o l t fn ll s no t on h im bu t on h i-uu oe em r l oab o n ia h .

it in e loar t h a t t h on t hmo yu n must bo mkon od fmm th o en d of t h o

n i g n d Je h d akim,m t h s t in t h h n y th o flr s t mbj ugn t i on fn l h in

-t h a t t h ombj ug n t io n o f Johmnkim to ok ph oo in t h o cig h th yw o f h h roig n .

t o. in fiO l -flfll u

332 BABYLON.

’

and the king of Babylon had“ taken everything

that belonged to the king of Egypt from the riverEuphrates to the brook of Egypt, Nebu chadnezzartu rned his arms back against Jeru salem to pu n ish therebels. ‘ Jehoiakim had recently died , and t h e peoplehad raised to the throne h is son Je ch on ia h , a you th ofeighteen years old. Jeru sal em was invested by theBabylonian army : Nebu chadnezzar came i n personto condu ct the siege .’l “ By my l ife,

”— su ch arethe words Jeremiah pu ts in the mou th of Jehovah

,

—“ i f Je ch o n ia h were a signet on my right hand , Iwou ld pluck h im o ff

,and give h im in to the hands

of those who seek after his li fe,in to the hands of

the Ch aldaaan s . I cast thee away and thy motheri nto anot her land, and they shal l not bring thee backu nto the land whi ther thy heart yearn s to retu rn .

” 3

Jech on ia h had onl y sat thre e mon t hs on the thronewhen he saw himself compel led by the advance of thesiege to open t h e gates of Jeru salem to the enemy.

With his mother Ne h u st h a , who appear s to have been

2Ki n gs xxiv. 1—1 0. Tha t Jeho iakim co u ld n o t have a t te mpte da r e be llio n withou t r e li a n ce o n t h e he lp o f Egypt , is clea r witho u tfu r the r pr oo f. Josephu s 10, 6, 2) says : Jeho iakim h ad

r evolte d be ca u se h e he a rd tha t t h e Egyp t ia n s we r e ta kin g t h e fie ldaga in s t N ebu cha dn ezzar b u t t h e Egypt ia n s h ad n o t h ad t h e co u r ager ea lly to t ake t h e fie ld. A n a t t ack o f N ebu chadn e zzar o n Egypt , aswe l l a s Egyp t ia n pr is o n e r s wh o a r e l ed fr om Syr ia to Babylo n i a , ar e

me n t ion ed in t h e sta teme n ts o f Be r o s u s , qu o te d by Jose phu s , above ,p . 328, i t . Bu t those st a te me n t s ar e so ge n e r a l tha t the y ma y a lsob e r e fe r r ed to t h e wa r which N ebu cha dn ezza r ca r r ied o n with t h eEgyp t ian s i n 587 B.C.

, p. 341 . N eve r the less , t h e obse rva t io n in t h e

Secon d Book o f Ki n gs , which fo llows a fte r Je h o iakim’

s dea th, tha tN ebu chadn ezzar h ad ta ke n a l l t h e la n d, as fa r as t h e br ook o f Egypt(2xxiv. which be lo n ge d to t h e kin g o f Egypt ," may have r e fe re n cet o a st r uggle the n go in g o n with Egypt . Be yo n d the ir own bo rde r st h e Egypt ia n s co u l d o n ly have ma in ta in ed Gaza , a n d a few o the r citi eso f t h e Phen icia n s. T h e s ta teme n t o f t h e Chr o n icles tha t Je h oiakimwas ca r r ied t o Babylo n in cha in s can n o t b e main ta in ed aga in s t t h eaccou n t s o f t h e Books o f Ki n gs.

2Ki n gs xxiv. 10, l l . Je r am. mm. 24—27.

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334 BABYLON .

promised victory and su ccess t o a new rebellion in :

arms. Not long after Zedekiah had been placed o n

the th rone, the prophet Hananiah of Gibeon an nou ncedbe fore all the people i n the t emple : “ I n two yearsJehovah wil l bring back to this place a l l the furnitu reof the temple which Nebu chadnezzar has carried toBabylon ; and I wil l bring back, sait h Jehovah , Jechoniah t h e kin g of Ju dah and a l l the captives, for I willbreak t h e yoke of t h e king of Babylon .

” l Jeremiahcame forward in opposition and said : Wooden yokesthou wil t break , and lay on iron yokes . Behold, Iwill remove thee from the earth, saith Jehovah ; inthis year thou shalt di e , for thou hast co u n selledrebell ion .

” And Hananiah died , as tradition adds, int h e same year, in the seventh month .

2

Jeremi ah was never weary of opposing to the u tte rmost any view of th is kind . To h im the Chaldaeanswere the instrument of Jehovah for the pu n ishment ofthe nations to endu re their ru l e was, in h is view, thew i l l of Jehovah ,

any one who resisted t h e Chaldae ansonl y brought on himself a heavier yoke

,and cal led down

destru ction more completely on h is head . I f Isaiahhad at leas t cherished the belief i n t h e con t inu ance ofJeru salem and the temple, Jeremiah, as we have seen ,di d not share in this hope . And therefore he preached

wit hou t ceasing submission to t h e yoke,and patien t

obedience ; he was u nwearied in taking from thepeople every prospect of rescu e ; he sent le t ters to theJews transplanted to Babylon ia, and u rged them notto enter in t o conspiracies , he went so far as to commend the lot of these captives, and requ ested them tobu i ld hou ses in Babylon , and pray to Jehovah for thewelfare of t hat country.

3,

Bu t though the national

Ja r om. i xvh i . 12—17.Je r em. n ix ; cf. xxiv. 5 if .

THE RESTORATION OF BABYLON . 336

fe elings and impulses of his nation were -u nkn own t owe re di recte d u pwards

,though

nationali ty was lost in rel igiou s

existence, t h e stubborn te naci ty withwere ready to fight for th e ir fatherthe yoke of the foreigner, even whendecept ive ca lcu lation s, were not less

the imposm the lofty

of the heart,could claim appreciati on, since even the

common childr en of ea rth must h ave their rights . »Who cou ld blame those who, even in the most hopeles s , despe r at e condition , e stimate d mo re h ighly t h e

du ty of dying for the ir cou ntry, than the advice t o

su bmi t qu i etl y to the conqu eror ? That person s whoheld these views shou ld cons ider this amp on the partof Jeremiah as a corru pt movement, shou ld demandthat the prophet ta ke the side of h is own

.

nationagainst the foreigner, an d brand h is predictions as

th ea son to the sta te, is eas ily intel l igible .In su ch a sharp opposi t ion of views , and in the

st raine d position of afl'ai ns in which Judah fou ndherself b etwee n Babylon a n d Egypt, it was impossible b u t that he avy accu sat ions shou ld be brough tagainst Jer emiah , an d a hot perse cu t ion se t o n footagainst h im. He complains bitte rly how he was

ocke d and derided ; ' he is i n despa ir andhis dest iny ; he te l ls u s how he h ad dete r

mi ned to speak no more in t h e name of Jehovah,

b u t the inwa rd voice compe lled h im ; the fire waskindled in his heart :

“ I cou ld not stay.

“ “Cum

Jo rem. xx. 7 . Je rem. xx. 9 .

336 BABY LON .

be the day, he exclaims, on which I was born !cu rsed be the man who brou ght glad ti dings to myfather

,and said u nto h im,

A son is born u nto thee l '

Why,Jehovah

,didst thou not slay me in the womb,

that I shoul d see labou r and sorrow, and consumemy days with shame

” 1 These moods alte rnate witha fierce desire for vengeance o n his opponents. He isgu iltless. Jehovah h as driven h im forth to speak , and

pu t his word in his mou th ; he has often besoughtJehovah to tu rn away from Ju dah the day of des t ru ction Jehovah , for whom he sufl

'

e rs , mu st avenge h imon his enemies. He is so embittered and angry thathe even cal ls down bloody destru ction u pon h i s enemies.Look on me , Jehovah , he says,

“ and avenge me ofmy persecu tors, and know that for thy sake I havesufl'e r e d rebuke.2 I have not desired the wofu l day

,

thou knowest : that which came ou t frommy lips wasbefore t hee .

3 If thy words came to me , I t ook themeagerly

,and they are the joy an d rejoici n g of my

heart ; I sat not in t h e assembly of the mockers, norrejoiced . I sat al one, for thou hast fill ed me within di gnation . I was l ike a lamb led to the slaughte r,and knew not that they had devised devices againstme .

4 Why is my pain perpetu al , and my wou ndincu rable ? 15 Wherefore doth the way of the wickedprosper ? Wherefore are they happy that deal verytreacherou sly 7“ Pu l l them o u t l ike sheep for theslau ghter, and prepare them for the day of dest ru otion. 7 Consider h ow I stand before thee, to tu rnaway thy wrath from them. Therefore g ive u p theirchi ldren t o the famine, and deliver them to the sword.

Jer em. xx. 14—1 8. Jer am. xv. 1 5.

Jer em. xvii. 6. Jer em. xi . 19 .

Jar om. xv. 1 6—18 . Je r am. xi i . 1 .

Jer em. xii . 3.

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338 BABYLON.

In su ch a contest of opposite views, in su ch anal ternation of moods, four years had passed for theJews after Zedekiah was placed by Nebu chadnezzaru pon the throne

,when the kings of Sidon and Tyre

sent to Jeru salem to call on the Jews to revoltagainst Nebu chadnezzar, by whose attack they werethreatened . Messengers also came from the Ammoni tes and the Moabi tes

,who had been in subjection

longer than the Jews,and from the Edomite s (593

I f their forces were u nited there seeme d to bea prospect of succe ss in resistance and rebel lion

,and

the redu ction of the Phenician cities might be prevented . Bu t Jeremiah spoke to the envoys i n thename of Jehovah : “ I have mad e the earth , the manand the beas t, and I gave them to whom it seemedmeet to me and now I give al l these lands in to t h ehands of Nebu chadnezzar

,the king of Babylon

,my

servant,and I have given h im the beasts of the field

also to serve h im. And the nation and the kingdomwhich wil l not serve Nebu chadnezzar

,— that nation I

wil l pu nish with the sword,and with the famine ,

andwith the pestilence, u ntil I have consumed themby hishand . I f ye pu t you r necks in the yoke of Babylon,ye shal l l ive .” 1 This time t h e view of the-prophetprevailed ; Zedekiah repair ed in person to Babylonobviou sly to assu re Nebu chadnezzar of h is fid e l i t y .

2

The Phenicians were left to t heir fate ,and subjugated

by Neb u ch adn e z zar .

8 Only Sidon seems to h avemadea vigorou s resistance. ‘ The i sl and city of Tyreretained her independence .

Je r em. xxvu . 1—12. Jor em. li. 69 .

This co n clu sio n is r e n de r ed ce r t a in by t h e fact tha t a fte rwa rds t h eislan d city o f Tyr e is t h e o n ly on e spoke n of as n o t subju ga te d. Cf.p . 362.

Eze k. x xxn . 29 me n t ion s Sidon amon g t h e n a t io n s which h ads u ccumbed to t h e sword o f t h e kin g be fo r e t h e twe n t ie th year of

N ebu chadn ezzar . Cf. xxvi ii. 21—26. Je r em. xl vii . 4 .

TIIE RESTORATION OF BABYLON. 839

In the year 589 H e ph r ah , t h e grandson ofNech o, ascended the throne of Egypt. Zedekiah soondire ct e d his eyes to the new ru ler of the valley of theNile. He showed himself ready to ventu re on thestruggle with Nebu chadnezzar. Jeremiah dissuadedcm Egypt is a very fair heifer

,he exclaims

,b u t

dew-act ion cometh from the North . 0 thou daughter,

dwel l ing in Egypt, fu rn ish thyself to go into captivityfor Ne ph (Memphis) shal l be waste ,

and bu rnt, andde so late wi thou t an inhabitant. The h ired men in themidst of her are l ike fatted bu l locks, for they al so a ret u rned back and are fled away together they did notsta nd because the day of their calamity was comeu po n them, the time of their visi tation. The daughterof Egypt shall be confou nded. Thu s saith Jehovah ofHosts : Behold, I will punish Ammon o f No (Thebes) ,and Pharaoh and Egypt, with their gods and theirkings , even Pharaoh and al l them that trust in h im.

A n d I will deliver them in to the hand of those thatsee k thei r l ives, and into the hand of Neb uch adn ezza r ,king of Babylon, and in to the hand of his servants.

"

Bu t the prince and people of Judah were not to bere strained. Bu i ldi ng o n the help of Egypt, Zedekiah ,in the year 588 took up arms against Ba h ylo n ia .

’

Bu t before H o ph r ah had finished his preparationsNebu chadnezzar was in Judah with a powerfu l army .

’

The str ong places were investe d one city afte ranot her surrendered , on ly Lachish and Asoka resiste dfo r any length of time. ‘ At the meeting of theways,

"says t h e prophet Eze ki el , the king of Babylon

‘m lvt l o. 26. T h e poc t ion’

of afla in sh om th a t t h il

an n o u n cu n e n t h d onp to th is da ta Am d ing t o nwk. vii i. 1 .Ze dokis h appmn to h s n h d du l inp v ith Egmn n fly a-w1a c. Cf. Joseph. An t iq .

"10. 7. a.

2Ki n gs an . 1—4 , 8 . Je rem. u t i v. 1—7. Book. xxiv. 1 .‘ 2Kingo u v. 1 . ‘ Je r em. xxxiv. 7 .

3 3

340 BABYLON .

halts tomake divination he shakes his arrows, consu l tsw ith the teraphim, looks in the liver of the vict im.

In h is right hand is the divination for Jeru salem,to

throw up a wall against Jeru salem, to bu ild towers, toappoint battering-rams agai nst the gates , to lif t u p thevoice with shou ting. The head-band will be taken

,

and the crown removed from the prince of Israel .”

The siege of Jeru salem commenced. If in formertimes, when the Assyrians were encamped before Je r usalem, Isaiah had u rged the nation and king t o acou rageou s endu ran ce though arms had been takenu p against his advice, the absolu teness of his deepconvicti on , the certain ty which he had received fromabove, did not permit Jeremiah to take u p the atti tudeof his great predecessor on the contrary, he di d notcease even n ow to condemn the resistance in thestrongest terms. In his eyes it was a rebel l ion againstthe cou nsels of God, ag ainst the divi ne order of theworld . When Zedeki ah sent to h im, to bid h iminqu ire of Jehovah abou t the issu e of the siege

,

Jeremiah answered “ I will tu rn back the weapons ofwar that are i n you r hands , wherewith ye fight againstthe king of Babylon , and I wil l bring the Ch a ldsea n sinto the city. I will fight agai n st yo u with an o u t

stretched a rm, and will deliver the city into the hands

of the kin g of Babylon, that he may bu rn it, and Iwill vi sit you r in habitants with famine, sword, andpestilence , and those that are left I will give in to thehands of Nebu chadnezzar, that he may smite themwith the edge of the sword . I set before you the wayof life and the way of death ; he that abide t h in thecity shall fall by the sword ; b u t he that goeth ou t

and falleth to the Ch a ldwan s he shall live .

” 2 Thoughthese annou ncements were adapte d to u ndermineEzek. xx i . 21 , 22, 26, 26. Jor em. xxi. 1 , 10.

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342 BABYLON .

Egyptians we r e defeated . Investe d once more , Jerusalemwas pres sed more severely than ever. 1 The l inesof the Ch a ldze a n s ran even to the wal ls of the city,’

b u t the defenders were u nwearied . The hou ses andeven t h e bui ldi ngs of t h e palaces were in part pu ll eddown in order to strengthen the shattered wal ls, orbu ild new portions. ’ That Jeremiah u nder su ch ci rcums t an ce s continu ed to prea ch t h e abandonment oft h e siege, and subjection to the Ch a l dze an s , rou sedat length the captains . They demanded h is deathfrom t h e king He weakeneth t h e hands of t h e me nof war that remain

,and the hands of the people : he

seeketh not the welfare of the Jews,b u t the hu rt .“

As Zedekiah allowed them to do with Jeremiah according to their pleas u re

,they seized h im, brou ght h im

for custody to the h ill of Zion,and there cau sed h im

to be th rown into t h e well of the prison . Bu t therewas only mu d in the well

,and when an Ethiopian

eu nu ch of the kin g interceded with h im for theprophet, Zedekiah gave command that Jeremiahshou ld be taken ou t of the well , and confined in t h ecou rt of the prison .

5

Meantime the famine prevailed in the city ; thedistress rose to the hi ghest pitch . The priests andthe elders,

”

so we are to ld in the Lamentations, soughtfood in vain the sword destroys withou t, the famin ewithin . The people sought food wi th sighs

,and

whatsoever a man had of price he gave for food . Thechildren and the su cklin gs swooned ; t h ey cried totheir mothers, where is com and win e, when they

Joseph .

“ An t iq. 10, 7, l . Ezek. xvn . 1 7 . A t t h e begin n in g of

t h e e leve n th year o f Zedekiah (686 Eze kie l says : “ I havebr oke n t h e a rm of Phar ao h,” xxx. 21 ; cf. xxxi. 1 .

2Kin gs xxv. 1—3. Jorem. Ii i. 4, 6. Cf. Ezek . iv. 2; xvn . 1 7 ;xxi. 21 . Jor em. xxxiii . 4 .

Je r em. xxxviii . 4 .5 Jer em. xxxvii. 21 ; xxxviii. 28.

THE RESTORATION OF BABYLON. 313

m on ed as the wounded in the street s of t h e city, whent h e ir so ul was poured ou t into their mothers’ bosoms.Better was it for those who were slain with the swordtha n for those who were slain with hu nger ; t h e handsof pi ti fu l women have sodden their children for food .

” 1

At length the Ch a ldmans , whose attack was d irected tothe mm acce ssible part, the north side of the city,su cceeded in taking the subu rb su rrou nded by t h e

ou ter wall .’ Having ga ined possession of this, t h eydirecte d thei r e fforts against the middle gate, whichguarded the entrance into the city bes ide the fortresso f Mi llo (p. Led by Nergal Sa r e ze r , and Samchim, t h e captai n of the eu nu chs, the Babylonians tookt h e middle ga te in the night by storm,

and firmlyestablished themselves there . Zedekiah despaired ofbeing able to main tain t h e city any longer, withthe motley crowd of soldiers weakened by hu nger ,and the in habita nts who doubtless sufl'e red still morein numbers and strength . H o attempted to breakthrough with his army. He succee ded in passingt h e l in es and gain ing t h e open cou ntry , but theCh a ldwan s in pu rsu it came u p wi th the troop whichh ad so boldly broken ou t in the plain of Jericho . T h e

troop was dispersed a part, including Zedekiah , wascapt u red, the rest e scaped . The in habita nts, e ve n afte rthe king an d army h ad left the city, stubbornlydefended themselves in the variou s parts— i n theci t adel and the temple—se that some weeks elapsedbefore t h e cit y was comple tely in the hands of theBabylonian s (J u ly , 580 The siege had laste don e year five mon ths and seven days. ’

‘m ix fl. M a t ias

.

‘ Vo l mp lflc. 2Ki ngs xxv. 3, 4. I t

m th is o u tor n flof wh ioh t h s wu t omfivn t h sd to bs pnnod down

fo r t oo cu bi ts un da Amu is h . VoL I L, p. 261 .‘ Th o cspt um to ok plsco in t h o tonr t h mcn th of t h o olovon th ymr

344 BABYLON.

The first rebell ion of the Jews had been punishedby Nebuchadnezzar by the dethronement an d abd uc

tion of t h e king, by carrying away the influ enti alpeople and the army of Jeru salem, and by disarmin gthe city . These arrangements had not be en su fficientto secu re the obedience of t h e l ittle cou ntry. For thefu tu re Egypt was no longer to fin d confederate s i nSou thern Syria, and su pport in Jerusalem. The stu bborn resistance of the Jews was to be broken an endmu st be pu t for ever to their intrigu es with Egypt.Zedekiah , who was placed on the throne by Nebuch adn e z zar himself, and swore obedience to h im, wasnot to escape the pu nishment of this breach of faith .

Nebu chadnezzar was not with the besiegin g army ;he was at Riblah , on the Orontes, the grassy plainwhere Necho had pitched his camp after the battleof Megiddo . Thither Zedekiah was brought . In hispresence were first execu ted the capt ive leaders ofthe Jews

,and among them his own sons . Then his

eyes were pu t ou t ; he was laden with chains , andcarried away to Babylon . There he died in prison .

’

T h e pun i shment of Jerusalem was carried ou t byN e b u sar adan , the chief of the body-guard of Nebuch adn e z zar . The h igh priest

,Seraiah

,together with

the second priest, Zephaniah , the overseers of thetemple

,a number of pu blic officers

,and sixty of the

most distingu ished me n in the ci ty,were also taken to

Riblah , and pu t t o death, seventy- two in number.2 T h e

brazen pi llars at the entrance to the temple,and the

brazen sea (I I . 1 82, all the vessels and fu rnitu re

o f t h e r e ign o f Zedekiah , in t h e n in e te e n th o f N ebu chadn ezza r . Of.

Ide le r , Han dbu ch der Chr on o logie ,” 1 , 529 . Ezekiel , chap.Jor em. xxxi x. 6, 7 ; Bi l l . 2Ki n g s xxv. 7.

Jor em. m ix . 6, wher e t h e st a t emen t is qu ite ge n er a l, “a l l t h e

n obles o f Ju dah also th e h '

n g o f Babylon sl ew ; a n d lii. 16, “al l th e

pr in ces o f Ju dah a lso h e sl ow a t Riblah.

"

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346 BABYLON.

the daughter of Jerusalem. Is this t h e city whichwas called the garland of beau ty, the joy of the wholeearth ? Thy enemies shoot ou t their lips at thee ;h iss and say We have swallowed her u p : th is is theday that we looked for we have done it . The gatesare desolate t h e ways to Zion mou rn no one comethto the festi val . Behold and see, all ye that pass by,if there is an y sorrow l ike u nto my sorrow.

‘ O u r possession is fal len to strangers

,o u r hou ses to al iens

we are orphans withou t a father ; ou r mothers are likewi dows . Servants ru le over u s they weaken o u r wivesand virgin s they hang u p the captains : they honou rnot the faces of the elders we have dru nken ou r

water for money ; o u r wood is sold to u s . The you ngme n grind the mil l -stones, and t h e children fall u nderthe wood .

2 The pu n ishment of my people is greate rthan the pu nishment of Sodom.

a All mine enemiesrejoice at my trouble, and laugh at my overthrow,

b u t

thou , Jehovah, will bring the day when they will beas I am do to them as thou has t do n e to me .

‘ O u r

fathers have sin ned and are not ; we have born e thei riniqu ities. Take u s again to thee

,Jehovah is i t

right that thou shou ldest u tterly throw u s away andbe so wroth with u s it 5

Jeremiah was still a prisoner in the cou rt of thecitadel when the Chaldaeans forced their way into it .With the rest of the inhabitants of Jeru salem he hadbeen taken to Ramah, in order t o be carried away intoBabylonia from thence , when N e bu saradan , at t h ecommand of Ne b u ch adn e zzar , to whom in the interimJe r emiah ’

s condu ct mu st have been known ,cau sed his

fette rs to be taken off, and gave h im the choice

Lamen ta t ion s ii. 14—18 ; i. 1 2. Lamen ta tion s v. 1—14.

3 Lame n t at io n s iv. 6. Lamen ta t ion s i. 7, 21 , 22.

Lamen tati o n s v. 7, 21 , 22.

THE RESTORAT ION OF BABYLON . 347

wheth er he wou ld remain or go to Babylonia I t wasin his power to go where he wou ld : if he went toBabyloni a he wou ld not be neglected there. Jeremiahanswered that he wished to remain in the land.N eb usaradan then gave h im maintenance and apr e sent, an d pu t h im in the hands of the viceroy,Gedaliah, to convey h im to his hou se at Anathoth .

Gedaliah exe rcised his new au thority in a spirit ofconci l iati on he attempted to esta blish or der andpeace . If N eb usarad an , before his departu re from t h e

conqu ered city,had given the u noccupied fields and

vineyards before the gates to the people “ who h a dnothin g,

” Gedaliah summoned his cou ntrymen whohad fled to the Ammoni tes, Moabites , and Ed omi tes,back to Mizpeh , and they gathered summer fru i ts andwine in great abundance. ” He also entered in to negot i a t io n s with the chieftains a nd their soldiers, who withZe dekiah h ad broken through the lines and escapedthe defea t at Jericho, in order to pu t an end to theirplundering in the land ; he offered to give up tothem the places of which they had taken possession ;if they wou ld dwell there and serve the king of Babylon it wou ld be well with them.

1 The greater numberaccepted these proposals , and pu t themsel ves u nderthe ru le of Gedali ah, whose wise arrangements hadt heir effect, and seemed to promise further success.Jeremiah himself remai ned at Mizpeh with Gedaliah ,to whose acti on his advice , coun sel, and influ ence co u ldgive considerable support .’ Twomonths had not passedsince the captu re of Jeru sa lem, an d already a numberof me n ou t of Samaria, Shechem, and Shilo, venturedto go to the ru ins of Jeru sa lemwith fr an kin e e n se andmeat -offerings , in order to sacrifice at the holy pl ace ,the seat of the temple .

‘ Jerem O .‘m h o.

348 BABYLON .

In the hearts of the great majority fierce resentment mu st have been raging against the destroyers ofJeru salem and the temple , against the conqu erors ofJudah . I f Nebu chadnezzar cou ld not be reached

,his

viceroy was in the land . A distingu ished man of theJewish stock h ad su bmitted to be the servant of thedeadly enemy . This traitor and servant cou ld befou nd . Ishmael , a man of the royal blood , and of thefamily of David,‘ one of the fugitives, came wi th tenme n to Mizpeh . He pu t on the appearance of su bmission . Gedaliah invited h im t o the banqu et

,at

which with h is associates he cu t down Gedaliah,the

Chaldaeans, and the Jews who were prese nt . Theking’s daughte r and others who had been placed i nGedaliah ’s care, the Jews who were assembled atMizpeh

,followed Ishmael. He acte d in u nion with

Baal is, the kin g of Ammon , with whom he h ad i ntended to take refuge. Bu t the other chieftains

,who

had made their peace with Gedaliah , pu rsu ed afterh im

,overtook h im at the pool of Gibs on

,and to ok

away the prisoners from h im Ishmael h imself escapedto the ki ng of Ammon .

The chiefs of the Jews, who were assembled atM izpeh

,were afrai d that Nebu chadnezzar wou ld still

avenge on them the mur der o f Gedaliah. Theyresolved to fly to Egypt. Jeremi ah was to entr eatJehovah

,and declare his will to them. After ten days

the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah , and he spakeBe n o t afraid of the king of Baby lon , for I am with

you ,saith Jehovah, u nto whom ye sent me to present

you r su ppl ication . I am with you to help you ,and

del iver you from the hand of the king of Babylon . Ifye will not obey the voice of Jehovah

,you r God , say

ing : We will go into t h e l and of Egypt, where we

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350 BABYLON.

thu s h ad maintained a strong organisation of the priesthood ; in th e su fferings an d struggles of the last seventyyears these priests , in connection with the prophets, andfi lled with their views, had learned to regard the faithin Jehovah in a more inward manner, and plant i tmore deeply in the hearts of the people. They hadgiven a legal bas is to the worship of Jehovah, andexalte d it to be the recognised religion of the state .

If by this mean s the sta te gained noth ing in regardto external power and secu rity. an inestimable treasu rewas gain ed in regard to the confirmation and development of religiou s feel ing. There was h ardly any fearthat the captive and fugitive Jews wou ld lose themselves in the foreign nation s among whom they dwel t,like the Israelites, who had been transplanted to Assyriaand Media, or th at they wou ld give u p their nationalfaith. Behind the punishment indu ced by the sins ofthe people, the prophets had proclaimed the r esto r a

tion of the pu rified Israel . The pu nishment had bu rstu pon them, they did not doubt that the restorationwou ld come . If Asshu r had fa llen , the hou r ofBabylon might strike Jeremiah had al read y fixed thetime for it. Thus the destru ction of their state andtheir shrines did not make the Jews despair of thehelp of their God, or cause them to fall from theirfai th . Those who remained behind, no less thanthose who were driven o u t , cherished the hope ofJehovah ’s help as deeply as they felt the pain ofthe fall of Jeru salem.

Jeru sal em fell n inete en years after the bat tle of Karchemi sh . Ste p by step Nebu chadnezzar had overcomeSyria. Firs t Ar pad, Hamath and Damascu s had su c

cumb ed , then the Ammon ites, Moabites and Edomi tes.Af ter Judah had recogn ised his su premacy in the year600B.C. , t h e rebell ion on which Je h o iakim ventu red

T HB RES TORATION OF BABYLON. 8151

t hre e years afte rwards h ad b rough t upo n that cou n try aseve re pu nishment, and a conditi on of greate r depende nce . Four years aft erwards, 593 B.C. , the cities oft h e Ph e n ie ian s were redu ced except Tyre. The secondrebe ll ion of Ju dah was followed by the an nih ilationof the cou ntry. The prophets of t h e Jews lookedforwar d to the war of Nebu chadnezzar against Egypt

-to the pu n ishment for the campaign which H oph r a hhad underta ken against Syria, and which had com

pe l led Nebu chadn ezzar to raise the si ege of Jerusalem.

Ezekiel, who was among the Jews ca rried away wi thJech on iah in 597 B. C. , and with part of them hadreceived a habitation on the Ch ab o ras beyond theEuphrate s, proclaimed the destru ct i on and fall ofEgy pt . Egypt,

” he says, “ h as been a staff of reedto the house of Israel . When they took hold of theeby the hand then t h e n didst break, and rend al l t heirshou lder ; and when they leaned u pon thee , thou dids t

b reak and madest their lo ins to totte r. Thou wast asa dragon in the seas , and camest forth in thy rivers .The sword of t h e king of Babylon shall come upo n

thee. By the swords of the mighty wil l I cau se thymu l ti tudes to fall and I will wate r with thy blood theland where in thou swimmest, even to the moun tain ;I will des troy a l l t h e beasts thereof from besi de thegrea t water s ; neither shall the foot of man , nor thehoof of beasts , tr ouble them any more . Go down tothem tha t are sun k in the pi t , and be thou laid witht h e uncir cumcised.

”

The same fortune was announcedto the Pharao h H oph rah an d his land by Jeremiahamong the emigr ants at T ach pan h cs ’ o n the Pcl usiacarm of the Nile : Behold

,I will give Ph arao h

‘m m ou nm n h MW eh npa xxixf—n xit . boh ng to th o

per io d fr om th e ton t h to th o twd ft h ym d th e eapt i vi ty , i . o. to th e

you'a

‘

l to m l o.

352‘

BABYLON.

H e ph rah , ki ng of Egypt, in to the hand of his enemie s,and into the hand of them that seek his l ife, as I gaveZedekiah

,king of Ju dah , into the hand of Neb uch ad

n e z zar , king of Babylon , his enemy, that sought hisli fe . Behold , I will send and fetch Nebu chadnezzar,t h e king of Babylon

,my servant. At the entran ce of

Pharaoh ’s house, in T ach pa u h es , he will spread o u t hisroyal pavil i on , and he will come and smi t e the land ofEgypt, and deliver to death su ch as are for death , andto captivity su ch as are for captivity, and to the swordsuch as are for the sword . And I will kindl e a fire int h e hou ses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall bu rnthem and carry t hem away cap t ive, and he shal l breakthe pillars of Bethshemesh (t h e obel isks of Hel iopolis),and the hou ses of the gods of Egypt shal l he bu rnwith fir e .

” 1

Nebu chadnezzar did not fu lfil these expectations .He was not a conqu eror wh o sought to press on beyondall bou nds , and extend h i s power fu rther and fu rt her.On the contrary

,he sought to keep his empire within

the natu ral bou ndaries, and not go beyond the desertwhich separated h im from Egypt. The subju gati on ofSyria was not complete so long as Ty re did not obeyhis au thority. He directe d his arms not againstH oph r a h b u t against Tyre . I t was di fficu lt to reachthe island city withou t a fleet. Nevertheless Ezekiellooked forward to the speedy su ccess of the Babylonians

,and the immediate fall of t h e great trad ing

city. Tyre will fall becau se she rejoiced over the fallof Jeru sal em, becau se she cried I shall be fu ll

,since

thou art desolate .

”2 He describes in a lively manner

Je r en . xl i ii. 8—1 3; xliv. 30.

Eze kie l , chaps. xv —xxviii. T h e pr ophecy be gin s in th e e leve n thye a r a fte r t h e capt ivity of Jech on ia h , on t h e fir st day o f t h e mon th ,a n d ther e for e fou r mon ths befo r e t h e captu r e o f Je r usa lem ; fr omxxvi. 7 i t is cl ea r th a t t h e siege of T yr e h ad n o t y e t b eg u n : be ca use

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BABYLON.

supremacy of the king of Babylon .

“A heavy service,

” says the prophet Ezeki el, h as Nebu chadnezzar

compelled h is army to perform against Tyre. Everyhead is bald, and every shou lder peeled , and there isno wages in his army for Tyre .

" The Tyrians,as i t

seems, all owed Nebu chadn ezzar to elect their king .

Ethbaal, king of Tyre , resigned the throne, and Nebuch ad n e z zar set u p Baal i n his place .

1

After repeated stru ggles Nebu chadnezzar had driventhe Egyptians o u t of Syria , had repu lsed their attemptsto su pport the rebel lions of the Syrians . In additionto the tribes of t h e Arabs between L ib an u s and Antil i b an u s he had brought the states and cit i es of theSyrians to ob edience he h ad u nited u nder his su premacy the Semitic tribes from the Ti gris to the Syriancoast, from t h e Persian to the Arabian Gu lf. Neverhad the ancient kingdom of Babylon won su ch power

,

and taken u p su ch a position . Yet th is wide extentof dominion scarcely bore comparison with the empireof the Medes, in concert with which Babylonia hadoverthr own the Assyrians . Bu t the territory ofBaby lonbetween the Mediterranean and the Persian Gu lf

,as

compared with the long stretch of the Medi an Empire,which reached fr om the H al ys to the middl e, and tothe sou thern edge of t h e table land o f Iran

,was

better rou nded o ff, and the popu lation of Babylonia

Tha t Tyr e , tho u gh n o t capt u r ed, was subju ga te d by t h e Babyl o n ian s , mu s t b e co n cluded fr om t h e sta teme n t o f Be r os u s , gen e r a ltho ugh tha t is—tha t a l l Phoe n i cia was su bju ga te d by N ebu chadn ezza r(su pr . p. 328 , a n d fu r t he r fr om t h e fact tha t Josephu s c. Apion .

”

1 . 21 ) te lls u s tha t Me r b aa l a n d Hir amwe r e fe tched by t h e Tyr ia n sfr om Ba bylo n ; a n d , fin a lly, fr om t h e cir cumsta n ce tha t t h e r e ign o f

I t h ob a l ce a se s with t h e e n d o f t h e siege , a n d tha t o f Ba a l comme n ce s .

H e n ce i t fo llows tha t I t h ob al was de pose d, an d h i s r ace ca r r ied awa yto Babylo n . Tha t t h e depo r ta tio n o f kin gs an d e leva t io n o f o the r s i nt he ir place was u su a l amo n g t h e Babylo n ian s , as amo n g t h e As syri a n s,is cle a r fr om t h e example o f Jech on i ah an d fr om2Ki n gs xxv. 28.

THE RESTORATION O P BABYLON . 355

was more homogeneous. I t belon ged to one tribeonly. These advan tages , combined wi t h t h e profuseferti li ty and the highly-developed industr ial activityof t h e nati ve land, with the trade and mar i t imere sou rces of the Phenician cities, cou ld compensateto Babylonia i n in te nsive power t h e advantage whichMedi a had in exte nt . For t h e presen t the cou rtsof Babylon, Media , and Lydia, were peaceful ly conne ct ed by the ties of relationship.

CHAPTER XV.

NEBUCHADNEZZA R A N D H IS SUCCESSORS .

ASSY R IA h a d become known to the Greeks abou tthe time when T ig la t h Pi l e sa r I I . had redu ced Syriato su bmission

,and t h e cities of the Phenicians were

su bject to the kings of Asshu r 6 . abou t the middleof the eighth centu ry B. C. H e n ce for them the nameAssyrian s denoted the whole popu lation of Asia fromthe Syrian coast to the Tigris

,and the range of the

Zag r us : Syrians is merely an abbreviated form oft h e name Assyrians . ” In this sense Herodotu s says“ Af ter the fall of Nineveh Babylon was the chiefci t y of the As syrians 1 As a fact Nebu chadnezzar hadu ni t ed u nder his dominion the whole of the Semi t ictribes on bo t h sides of the Syrian desert . Thestu bborn resistance of the Phenicians and Hebrewshad been broken by repeate d campaigns at least , afterthe su bjugation of Tyre, we hear no more of rebel l ionby a Syrian t ribe against Babylonia.Nebu chadnezzar was able to complete the work

which h is fat her N ab opo las sar h ad commenced byliberatin g Babylon from Assyria aft er two centu ri esof supremacy an d one centu ry of domin ion, an d

had secu red by it t h e an nihil at ion of A ssyr ia . Thesecond kin g of this n ame on t h e t hrone of Babylon

He r od. 2, 1 78.

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358 BABY LON .

considered system of fortifications . He mu st be n umbered among the foremost princes of the ancient East.An engraved stone in the Berlin Mu seum presents u swit h a head the cu neiform letters rou nd it tell u s :To Merodach N ab uku dur u ssu r , king of Babylon : inhis l ife he prepared i t . ” 1 I t is a portrait in profil e,qu i te different from t h e only other relief of a Babylonian kin g wh ich has come down to u s (I . qu itediffer ent also from the del in eations of the Assyriankings . Inste ad of the tal l Icz

'

cla r z'

s , and the long cu rledhair and beard, th is head wears a closing helmet witha low ridge. The hair can be seen beneath it, b u t itdoes not fall on the neck : the face is smooth andbeardless . The l ines are rou nd and fu ll , the n eck

strong . Under the helmet protru des the forehead ,which slightly recedes ; the brows are closely knitthere is a look of au thority in the eye. The nose isst raigh t and well-formed : the chin is short and rou nd

,

and sl ightly elevated. I t is the pictu re of a strongand even imperiou s wil l

,a firm self-consciou s power.

Babylon mu st have su ffered severely in the repeatedcampaigns of T ig la t h Pil e sa r I I Sargon , S e n n ae h e r ib ,and Assu rbanipal , in the struggle for the possession ofthe Chaldaean di str icts, for Bit Yakin and Babylon .

Babylon was besieged and taken by Sennacherib , andseverely pu n ished. The restorations of Esarhaddonwere no dou bt again destroyed at the second captu reof the city by Assu rbanipal . How far N ab opo lassa rsu cceeded in secu rin g not Babylon only and the largercities

, b u t the cou ntry also fromdevas tation and plu nderby the S aeae

,we do not know. In any case there mu st

everywhere have been deep and severe wou nds in needof heal i n g.

We saw that the produce of the agricu l tu re of

3 T e ssi e , Ca ta logu e Ba ison n é ,” p . 64 ; Baspe , Plan ches, 1 1 , 653.

NEBUCII ADNBZZAR A N D H IS SUCCESSORS. 859

Babylon, the fru it of the field, depended on theirrigati on , the system of canals, and the regu lation ofthe overflow of t h e Euphrate s. Nebu chadnezzar mu sthave commenced his work by pu tt ing in order t h edams of t h e Eu phrates, which it was no easy task tokeep u p, by providi ng with water-courses or clea nin go u t the canals which h ad become d ry or blocked u p.

1

T h e grea t canals of the old kings were still in existence ,the canal of Hammu rabi , the N arsa r e s, the Pal lakopas ,an d the connecting canals between the Euphra tes an dTigris above Babylon ! Nebuchadnezzar mus t haveta ken measu res for their restoration. He increasedt h e number of the connections between the Euphratesan d the T igris, and made themmore u sefu l by cu ttin ga n ew canal from the Euphrates to the Tigris, of su ffici e n t dimensions to carry t h e

'

larges t vessels. Thiswas the Nahr Malka

,r'

. e . the king’s trench . Herodotus

calls it the largest of the Babylonian canals. Accordi n g to Xenophon

's statement there were four canalscon necti ng the Euphrate s and the Tigris , one hundredfeet in bread th , and deep en ough to carry even cornships. They were bridged over. an d abou t fou r mi lesfrom ea ch other. From these were derived the ca nalsof irriga ti on , fi rst the large, then the small , and las t lyrunn els l ike those in Greece for watering the fieldsof mil let. The larger canals of irrigation were sodeep t hat the Gree ks with Clea r e h u s cou ld not crossthem wi thou t bridges ; an d for the constru ction ofthese the palms which shadowed the banks of theca n als were felled. (71t and Xenophon' crossedthe two northernmost of the connect ing canals in ord erto come from the Median wall to S i t tace on the Tigris.

‘ Cp . S t ra bowp'

l tm‘ VoL L n SOO . H e ro d . l , 186. A r ria n ,

“ Ah ab. 7. 21 . Po lybiu s,S tra boflp

'

l“. Ammiamh l amo l h u o. M aca o, ”

360 BABYLON .

T h e first they crossed by the permanent bridge,the

second by a bridge of boats supported by sevenmerchantmen . The lin ing of these canals was constru cted of bricks, u nited with asphal t-mortar. Theres t ill exist fou r canals con necting the Tigris and theEuphrates. The S aklawiye is followed by t h e NahrS cr sar fu rther to the sou th is the Nah r Malka, whichleaves the eastern bank of the Euphrat es belowFcl u ds h a

, in order to reach the Tigris at t h e pointmarked by the ru ins of Seleu cia— t his is the greatcanal constru cte d by Nebuchadnezzar : lastly

,imme

d ia t e ly above Babylon , is t h e Nahr K u t h a , named aft erthe city of Ka tha. Thu s Nebu chadnezzar completedthe old can al system of Babylon ; he facilitated thecommu nication between the two rivers in the u pperpart of the land

,and increased the irrigati on . He

also gave attention to the lower land : between theN a rsar es and the Pa l lakopas , which carry away theoverflow of the wate r of the Eu phrates, below Babylon ,he made trenches in order to drain the marsh , and b ecau sed dams t o be erected on the sea-coas t in orderto keep ou t the inu ndations of the sea .

1

In order to avoid destru ctive floods at the time ofthe yearly inu ndation

,i n order to bring abou t a

graduated and regu lar rise of t h e Eu phrates, in orderto receive the overflow in the years when the inu ndation was h igher

,and apply the water thu s stored in

the years of dr ought,— ia a word, in order to have the

Vo l . I. p . 301 . A b yd en . fr a gm. 8, 9 , ed . Mu lle r . T h e posi t io n o f

t h e s wa rm wor apdc is fixed by Pto lemy, 5 , 1 7. Tha t N ebu chadn ezzarca u se d t h e Nahr Ma l ina to b e excava te d fo llows fr om t h e wo rds of

A b yde n u s in Eusebius I. p. 37, ed . Scho n e ) : A rmae al enflu vi um e x Ar aza n e (Eu phr a ts ) de r ivavi t : cp . Pr ze p . Evan g.

"9 , 4 1 .

A rmaca l e mu s t obviou sly b e th e same n ame as Nahr Ma lka . Cp . Pl in .

Hi s t . N a t ."6, 26 O n t h e po sit ion o f t h e Nahr Ma lka , X en .

An ab. 2—4 . Ammia n . Mar ce l] . 26, 6 ; an d tha t i t was n avigable ,H e r od. l , 193.

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362 BABYLON .

connected other hydrau l ic works erected at A rdcr ieca .

At this place N e h u ch ad n e zza r caused a new bed to beexcavated for the Euphrates

,with sharp cu rves

,either

to lessen the force of the cu rrent,and make naviga‘

tion u p the cu rrent possible, or, which is more probable , becau se it was necessary to moderate the flow ofthe river i n order to condu ct the in u ndation into thebas in at S ippara .

‘ By means of this bas in at SipparsNebu chadnezzar really brought the Eu phrates in to hispower. Even though the excess of the water of thestream might be too mu ch for i ts large dimensionsin any single year, the canals leading to the Ti grisprovided the means of carrying o ff the exce ss intothat river

,and at the same time it was po ssible

owing to the connections to cou nteract by means ofthe Eu phrates the inequ al ity of t h e water in the lowerTigris .The regu lation of the inu ndation , of the bed and

level of the Eu phr ates, and of the level of the Tigris,was not o n ly an assistance to agricu l tu re, b u t to tradealso

,inasmu ch as it facili tate d the navigation in both

N ab opo la ssa r is mea n t by L ab yn e tus , in t h e o the r N ab o n e tu s ; an d

so N i to cr is can o n ly b e Amyi te , t h e da u ghte r of Cya xa r es, t h e co n so r to f N ebu chadn ezza r (p. T h e sta teme n t o f Be r osu s i n A b yde n us ,pu t t in g t h e exte n t of t h e basin a t 40 pa r asa n gs (i t is a lso fo u n d i nD iodo r us , 2, 9, viz . 1200 sta des) , i s so exagge r a t ed tha t in t his part i cu l ar t h e sta t eme n t o f He r odo tu s , wh o allows an exte n t o f 420 stadesto t h e lake , dese rves t h e pr e fe r e n ce . Diodor u s , Ioc. ci t ,

gives t h edepth as sta te d i n t h e text ; acco r di n g t o t h e Arme n ian Eu sebius i twas 20 cu bit s ; acco rdin g to t h e “ Pr eap. Evan g ,

”which also qu o te

A b yde n u s , i t was 20 fa thoms , i . e . 120 fe e t .

1 Her od . 1 , 1 86. I t is clea r fr om t h e acco u n t o f Her odo t u s tha t t h ea r ti ficia l be n ds in t h e r iver -b ed lay above Si ppa r s . T h e object whichHe r odo tu s ascr ibe s to the se wo rks in t h e r iver—tha t t h e lon g an d

wi n di n g n aviga t ion an d t h e la rge lake we r e in te n ded to hin der t h eMode s fr om comin g to Babylon an d se e in g wha t t ook pm ther e—isn a i ve en ou gh. T h e A r d e r i cea of He rodo t us i s , n o do u bt , iden t ica lwith t h e I dika r a o f Pto lemy, which h e places mor e than thr ee -four thso f a degre e highe r u p t h e Eu phr a te s tha n Sippars . Pto l em. 6, 17, 19.

N EBUOHADNEZZAB AND ms SUCCESSORS . 383

stre ams . In this way trade received considerablesuppo r t , and Nebu chadnezzar also paid atte ntion to i tbeyond the borders of the Babylonian lan d . To histime apparen tly belongs the fou ndation of the Babylo n ian colony of Gert ha on t h e Arabian coast of thePer sian Gu l f. For the tr ade of Babylonia with Sou thAr abi a and the produ ct s of India which came to Sou thA rabi a (I . i t was importan t to avoid t h e transpor t by land an d the middle-trade of t h e Arabians,and to obtain t h e se war es by direct marine tradewi t h Babylon ia. Th e bu ilding of the harbou r city ofT e r edo n at the mou t h of t h e Euphrates, 400 mil esbelow Babylon , which became t h e chief centre of thetr ad e in Arabian spices, is, as we ar e definitely informed ,the work of Nebu chadn ezzar, and the Dedanites inwhose land lay the colony of Ger r h a (th e modernCh a t if ) opposite the Bah rain islands, at a d is tan ce of

300 mil es fr om T e redo n , had been su bjuga te d byNebu chadnezzar (p. The Ge r r h re an s brough tthe produ cts and the i ncense of Arab ia on board shi pto Babylon ; from hence it was sent u p the river toT h apsacus , and fr om thence carried by land in everydir ect i on . In th is way the lu crative trad e wi t hSou th Arabia by the sea rou te of the Persian Gul fmu st have been gained for Babylon . Hence it appea rs that Nebuchadn ezzar bu il t T e r ed on and fou ndedGer r h a wi t h t h e same obj ect with which the Ph e n ie ia n s—ln order to avoid the middle trade of t h e Arabians,and the difficul t ies of the caravan trade—arran gedth eir navigation from Elath to Sou t h Arabia , in thetime of Solomon, Jehoshaphat , and U u ia h of Judah.

The Babylonians were already or subsequently became

Ar isto bu lus in Str abo . p. 708. Eu sebius . “ Ch o u .

"l . p. 40,

oi l . Schon e ; " Pram. Bu ng .

"9, 4 1 . Bie n ya “ Furies.

"v. 982.

Pto lu n . 6. 19. Move rs’

somewha t diffe re n t view on Go r r h a i s firm.

I 'h wn iz i e r . 2. 3. 308.

36-1 BABYLON .

acquainted with the navigation on the Persian G u l f.The ir voyages extended to the bold headland of t h emountain s of Make ta (Cape Mu sse n dom) , where i twas possible to enter in to direct communicationwith the Indians. 1 At a later time we hea r only ofthe Ge r r h ze an s as middle-me n in the trade wi th theSabaeans , whi le in the Hebrew Scriptu res t h e Ehegmae an s and Dedanit e s carry o n trade wi t h Sa baea .

The Ge r r h aaan s carried the produ cts of Arabia toBabylon by sea then they pas sed not merely u p theEuphr ates, b u t also across the desert i n a slantingd irection to Syria . I t must have been one of themost beneficial resu lts of the hydrau lic works ofNebu chadnezzar that the Eu phrates cou ld be navigated u p the stream ; and triremes cou ld advanceas far as T h ipsach . Trade was greatly facil i tate d bythe fact that the wares of India and Ar abia cou ld notonly be brought by water to Babylon

, b u t cou ld alsobe conveyed along with the produ cts of Babylonianindu stry to t hat city where the most crowded caravanrou tes from Cilicia, Syria, and t n icia, touched theEu phrates,2 whil e , on the other hand, the waresbrought along t hese rou t es from Syria cou ld be carriedin retu rn to Babylon . By t h e Nahr Mal ka t h e sh i psof heaviest bu rden cou ld then pass from the Eu phratesinto the r

l h g r is . If the ci ti es of the Phenicians losttheir sea trade on the Persian Gu l f by their dependence on Babylon— in case the Egyptians closed thatgu lf to the subjects of Nebu chadn ezzar— th ey werecompensated by the fact that they cou ld obtain theprodu cts of Sou th Ar abia, not only by the caravanrou te by Elath, b u t al so in Babylon itself. Moreover,

I sa iah xliii. 1 4. E ach .

“ Par s. v. 152—56. A r i -in n ,“ I n d. 32.

St r abo , p . 766.

Str abo, loc. ci t . Di odo r u s , 14, 21 , 81 . Vo l. II . p . 297.

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366 BABYLON.

su ffered from the As syrians mu st have been held inlively recollection, and the fou nder of the new kin gdom cou ld not omit to bestow his earnest attention onthe mode of preventing such dangers for the fu tu re .They were only possible on the side of Media. So faras the difference of force in comparison with Medi awas not removed by the better frontier

, t h e morehomogeneou s popu lation , and the greater product ivepower in Babylonia , i t was necessary to att empt toremove it by the erection of fortresses in the land .

As the attacks of the Assyrians had taken place fromthe North , the attacks of t h e Me dea were also to beexpected from that qu arte r. Mesopotamia might, i ncase of necessity, be abandoned , if the native landwere made secu re. Babylonia had excellent bu lwarkson the East and West in the Euphr ates and the Tigrisin the North the line of canals, especiall y the n ew

and broad canal , Nahr Mal ka, formed a simil ar prot e ct io n . The basin of Sippar s was not merely co n

structe d wi th a View to the cu l t ivation of the soil an dthe navigation it was at t h e same time calcu lated thatthe supply of water contained in it was su fficient tochan ge the most northern of these canals in to deepwat ercou rses . The slu ices were gu arded by the fortre ssof S ippar a .

l How destru ctive this bas in wou ld oneday be to his metropolis , how it wou ld render vainthe fru it of all his labou rs, Nebu chadnezz ar neverdr eamed . If every hostile power in the East an d

West had to cross a wide river in the face of theBabylonian army, the two rivers from Sippars downwa rds cou ld now be filled by O penin g the greatreservoir and by closing the slu ice s of the Pa ll akopasin su ch a manner that it became more difficu l t thanever to cross them. The same was the case wi t h the

Pli n . Hist . N a t . e , 26 (so) .

N EBUCHADNEZZAB AND H IS SUCCESSORS. 7

canals . Bu t the difficulties here were not so great,and they did not satisfy Nebu ch adnezzar, In orderto strengthen the defence of the northern border, inorder to protect the basin of S ippara , on which dependedthe fil l ing of the upper can al s and the feeding of thelower course of both streams, to make more secu re thefe r ti le part of Babylonia, Neb u ch adn e zzar bu il t a str ongwal l, extendin g from the Euphrates to the Tigris, abovethe fou r canals and the fortified S ippar a. Thi s for t ificat i on the Greeks call “ the Median wall. I t was , infact , in tended tomeet the attacks of the Med ea. HadNebu chadnezzar chosen for the l ine of the wal l t h epoint a t whi ch the two rivers most nearly approacheach other, t h e length of it wou ld have been li ttl emore than 25 mi les ; b u t as Sippars and all the landof the canals had to be protected, the wall mu st havebeen placed farther to the north. It appears to havele ft the Euphrates at Ssifei r a below the modernFe l udsh a, and . extendin g in a north-easterly d i r e ction

,it reache d the Ti gris at some distance above th e

modern Bagdad . The len gth was t hu s from60 to 75miles . The wal l was constru cted of bu rnt bricks joinedtogether bymort ar of asphalt according to Xenophon ,1

Er ato-the nce in St r abo pu ts t h e len gth o f th e wall a t 200 sta rle ts$26 mil e s ) on ly , X e n o phon a t 20 pa l

-m u gs (75 mil es ) , as i t is sa id :

m h is timo a pa rt ot'

t h e wa l l m -l ; op .

Joe sph.

"e . Apio n .

"l . 20. Bu t i t in at t h e same t ime clea r h o rn t h e

who le n ar ra t i ve of Xe n opho n tha t t h e Median wa ll was n o t sit u a te dat th e na r r owest po i n t , b u t th r highe r u p, whe r e th e dista n ce be twee nt h e r im in fa r wide r , C a above S i t taon We have n o de fin i teevide n ce tha t t h is wa ll was bu ilt by N e b uch ad n eamr . U St r aboaae r i h e l i t to Semiramis, tha t mean s n o mo re than t h e fact tha t t h emode r n in habita n ts give t h e n ame Sidd N immd to t h e rema in s. Awa l l ag ai n ut a t tacks fr om th e No r th. aga in s t a t ta cks o f th e Ma le s .wo u ld have no mea n in g he te r o th e r is e of the powe r o f th e Med e a ; i ta

mam! importa n ce a re e n t imly due to an xi e ty i n reg ard to th o

a n d tha t l u ch an xie ty did exis t . wa d u o to t h e expe r ie n cewhich Babylon ia h ad h ad of Ann-yr ia , an d t h e r e la ti ve power of t h e

368 BABYLON .

who saw parts of it stil l standing, the bread th was 20feet and t h e height 100 feet. The nat ive land

,the

centre of the kingdom, was thu s protected ; and evenwhen it was lost

,in spi te of t h e protection of the two

streams, the canals, and t h e long wall , t h e me t ropoliswas int ended to present impregnable fortresses to theenemy .

Babylon had no dou bt su ffered the most severewounds in a l l t h e land of Chaldaea through the captu reby Assu rbanipal . Berosu s says : “ Nebu chadn ezzarrestored t h e old city, and also bu il t a new one, andthat t h e besieger might not en te r the city by avertingthe stream,

he su rrounded the inner ci ty as well as thee n te r wit h t hr ee walls, one of bu rnt bricks , the othertwo of u nbu rnt bricks and bitumen , and thu s he fortified it i n a very striking manner, and adorned thegates with grea t splendou r .” l Herodotu s, who sawthe city more than one hu ndred years aft er the deathof Nebu chadnezzar, when it had been four times capt u r e d by Cyru s, Dariu s, and Xerxes , describes i t thu s“ The cit y is situ ated in a wide plain , and forms asquare of 1 20 stades on each side, so that the wholecir cu it reaches 480 stades . I t is divided into twoparts

,and the river Euph rates flows through the

middle . I t is su rrou nded by a broad and deep trench,

which is al ways filled with water. The soil takenfrom this trench was made into bricks, an d bu rnt ;and these bricks were appl ied , first to l ining the trench

two kin gdom ; an d i t is also shown in t h e sta teme n t s o f He r odo tu sabo u t t h e object o f t h e win din gs in t h e r iver an d t h e lake . T h e su c

cesso r s o f N ebu chadn ezzar we r e ha r dly in a pos it io n to u n de r take su chwo r ks . Thi s co u l d b e do n e a t most by N ab o n e tu s ; b u t as Josephu s

c . Apion .

”l , 20) qu o te s fr om Be ro su s a compar a t ive ly u n impo r ta n t

bu ildin g of this kin g, t h e Median we l l wou ld n o t have be e n fo rgo t t enif i t h ad a r isen fr om h im. O n th e dir ect ion of t h e wa ll, cp . Gr o te ,

His t . o f Gr ee ce ,” 9, 89.

Be ro s. fr agm. 14 . ed . Mulle r .

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370 BABYLON .

acqu ai n ted wi th t h e his tory of Assyria I t is morestriking that in t h e description of t h e city Herodotu sspeaks of the wall s and gates of Babylon as if theywere u ninju red ; and yet, some twenty years after t h edeath of Nebuchadnezzar, Cyru s took Babylon bystorm; a nd scarcely twenty years afterwards Dariusovercame the city, afte r a siege which las ted nearlytwo years. A new rebellion qu ickly fol lowed, to becrushed by a third captu re of the city and even afte rth is a new rising of t h e Babylonians was again repressedby Xerxes. Aft er this series of struggles t h e wallsand gates cou ld not have remained u ninju red , andHerodotu s himself tells u s that Dariu s destroyed thegates aft er t h e long siege . l Were Cyru s, Dariu s, andXerxes likely to al low the Babylonian s, after eachcaptu re of t h e city, to restore the walls in which t h ecity tru st ed l— were they not rather likely to take carethat after each captu re long portions of the wall shou ldbe destroyed

,and so remain

Next to Herodotu s in poin t of time, Xenophon andCte sias are o u r informants abou t Babylon . Xenophondid not see t h e city ; he only came with in 45 mil es

‘

o f

i t . He contents himsel f with remarkin g that Babylon ,the weal thiest city in Asia, was su rrou nded by strongand lofty walls ; t hat the Euphrates flowed through it ;that it contained a palace and citadels, that the doorsof the hou ses were made of palm-wood .

” Ctesias,

who had been in Babylon, gives to the wall of thecity,

“ through which the Eu phrates flows,” a circu it

of 360 stad es (45 miles) . The wall , bu il t of bu rntbrick and bitumen , broken by numerou s large towers,was 50 fathoms in height ; and on either bank of t h eriver ran a prote cting wall, equa l in strength to t h e

1 Her od. 3, 1 59.

3 X e n oph .

“ An ab. 2, 2, 6.

“ I n st . Cy r . 7, 5 , 7 , 21 .

NEBUCIIADN EZZAB AND H IS 8000888038.

city wal l. The length of these wads was abou t 100strides. H i s description of the two roya l citadels,both of which lay on the river,

”on e on the west side,

the other on the east—the former was su rrou nded bva triple wall , and h ad a circu it of 60 stades, whil et h e other on t h e east si de was only half the si ze—hisdescription of t h e golden statu es of gods in the templeof Bel us , and th e golden altar and fu rniture, is alreadykn own to us ( I . Abou t hal f a centu ry aft e r

Ctesias, Cle i tarch us and the companions of Alexan derof Macedon inform us that t h e wall of Babylon hada ci rcu i t of 365 stades ; the height they give at 50cu bits the width all owed ample room for two wagonsto pas each other. Two hu ndred and fifty towersrose abo ve t h e wall , of a corresponding height an dthickn ess. Between the wall and the hou ses was lefta clear space of two pl e t h ra .

l That the numbe r oftowers was so small in comparison with the circu i t ofthe wall is n o reason for wonder—cc Diodo r us or hisau thori ty adds—for the ci ty was su rrou nded by awide bel t of marshes

,and it di d not appear to be

n ece ssary to bu ild towers where the marshes affordedsufficie nt protecti on. 2

T h e accou nts which have been preserved of t h e stayof Alexander of Macedon in Babylon also prove th eexiste n ce of two royal ci tadels, one on each ban k oft h e Euph rate s . In t h e last days of his l ife Alexanderlived in t h e kin g

’

s pa lace , from which t h e hou se ofBugosa , with whom on one occasion he banqu eted ,was dista nt t e n sta t i cs. 8 From the banqu et—hall int h is palace , where he had given his commands to his

Die d. 2, 7. Op. A r r la n ,“ A h ab . 7, 17. 0. N ude -Ca l list h en es

aaa i h e l t o l laby lo n a d iamote r of no mo r o t h an flwadeo an d fiO W

2mm: h o

‘

aa

gi h ce to t h e ci ty ot A le xa ndr ia in Egypt a diame t u o t

a; co ;‘ Diod 2, 7.

a n

872 BABY LO N J

generals, and reste d till t h e du‘sk o f t h e j evcn in g , l i e

was car ried in a l itter to'

t h e river , and condu cted onboard ship to the park o n

'

the other side of the river;where he bathed and rested. A fter ospe n d in g

'

t h r ee

days there in his chamber—o n the“

first day h e -playedat dice with Mediu s ; on the second he l ist ened to theaccou nt of N ea rch u s abou t the voyage from the Indu sthr ough the great sea on the thir d

’

he bade h is .generals enter to receive instru ctions fe r sett ing o u t inthree days—h e cau sed h imse l f

'

t o be brou gh t into thehou se near t h e la rge bat h ; he gave Orders for the .

generals to keep wa tch '

in the - portico , and the Chiliarchs and the Pe n t acos iar ch s before the doors . 'When .

more seriou sly il l’

h e was conveyed from'

the gardeninto the more distant royal p alace, wh e r e

‘

t h e generals.

entered,and the soldi ers forced their way r i nto

‘

h is

presence . lLeavin g ou t of sight

'

what may have remained, anddid remain u ninju red , of the ou te r wall s and tojwer s off

the city,when Herodotu s and C tes ias were

'

in Baby lb n , :

and when the Macedonians ofA l exander Savv' t h e city,i t is clear that in the fif t h and fou rth cen t u ry

~n C .

-se :

mu ch remained standing that t h e'

fl i n é of “ the tr enchesand the wall cou ld be clearly traced : If the circu it of365stades, given by Cl e i ta rch us

’

, is clearly a fict ion -der ived ,from the number of days in ‘ the‘ Baby-lo n ian year; We .

shall stil l be able to give the preference to t h e-360stades

o f Ctesias over the 480 stades' of He rodotus, rt h oug h

'

Aristotle remarks, Babylon rea ched '

t h e'

e'

x t e n t of anation , not of a city.

” 2 Since,as Ctesias also tel ls u s;

the two walls on the Euphrates fwere near ly 1 60 stadesin lengt h , the wal l on each ban k wou ld be n early 80stades in length , i . 8 . about 10mil es . Supposing that

1 So t h e Ephemer ides in A r r iaxi,“ An ab.

”7 , 25 , an d in Fla t .

Al ex. 0. 76.

“ Po l.”3; l , 12.

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374 BABYLO N .

(50 fathoms) . Moreover, Cte sias allows a similarheight for the second wall of the old ci tad el , and aheight of 70 fathoms for the towers ; the thi rd wallwas higher stil l (I . The companion s of Ale xanderallow a height of only 50 cubits for t h e wall s ofBabylon. The walls of the island city of Tyre, on theside tu rned to wards the mainland, were 1 50 feet i nheight. Xenophon saw strips of wall 1 50 fe et in heightst il l standing on the sit e of ancient Nineveh. Wesaw above that the Median wall of Ne b u ch ad n cz za r ,the first lin e of defence for the land

,was 100 fe et in

height, and 20 feet in brea dth ; hence we may co n

clu de that the walls of Babylon mu st certainly h avebeen stronger and higher. A Hebrew contemporaryof N eb u e h adn e zzar speaks emphatically of the broadwa lls,

” the lofty gates of Babylon ; he tells us that“ Babylon -reached to the heavens, and the height ofthe fortress none cou ld climb .

” 1 As neither Cyru snor Dariu s with all their siege material cou ld makeany impression on the wal ls of Babylon ; as N e b u ch adn e z za r wou ld certain ly make the walls of Babylonstronger than the walls of Chalah and Nineveh , sothat n either battering-rams nor besieging-towers cou ldinj u re them; neither arrows nor scaling- ladders cou ldover-top them, we have good grou nd for assuming thatNe b uch adn eZza r stre ngthened the wall already inexistence , and ra ised it to a height o f 200 feet,(Pliny g ives -i t a height of .more than 200 feet)th at the towers rose to 300 fe et . I t was t h e standingwall s o f towers of th is height which caused Herodotu sand Ctesias to believe that the wal l was once of thesame h eight th roughou t. A he ight of 200 fe et presu pposes a correspondi ng bread th of abou t 40 fe et,which leaves for the gangway behind the towers

m ucnanxszza‘

a s u n ms successo rs

breadth sufficient for a chariot and f our horses, or fortwo wagons of bu rden .

Wemaymaintain the assertion of Berosus, that i t wasNebu chadnezzar who added a new city on the easte rnbank of the Euphrates to the old city o n t h e westernbank , so that t h e Euphrates henceforth flowed t hrought h e ci ty. We have already seen t hat the great templeof Bel Merodach , Bit Sagg a t u , the tower of Babel,was on the ea stern ban k of t h e Euph rates

,opposi te to

the old city and t h e citadel of the ancien t kings , whoruled over Babylon before the times of the Assyriandomini on we re cognised the remains of it in t h e

most northern heap of the ru ins of Babylon on thatbank of the river, the hea p of broken bricks n ow

ml l ed Bab il . In t h e r u in s we ca n r ecogu ise t h e tracesof a square structure, the sides of wh ich are dire cted tothe fou r quarters of the sky . I ts exten t reaches 1 500or 1 600 feet ; t h e ru ins now r ise 1 40 feet above thelevel of t h e Euph rate s. Herodotus allows a stadi um

(600 feet) for each side of t h e tower ; t h e ou ter wallwith the gates of brass was two s tadcs on each side .

1

Bero su s te lls us :“ Nebu chadnezzar bui l t a second

palace bas ide t h e palace of his fath er, which abu ttedu pon it. To describe i ts heigh t an d splendou r wou ldbe su perfluous it was large and qu i te ex trao rdinary .

Since t h e bricks of a ru in-hea p to t h e sou th of t h erema ins of t h e tower of Belus, o n t h e cas t bank of theEu phrate s , now called El East—bricks wh ich aretwelve inches long and as many broad , and threeinch e s in th ickness—be ar on the u nder s ide the stampof Nebu chadnezzar, we are cert a in that the restorers ofthe kingdom, N abopo lassa r and Nebuchadnezzar, bu il ttheir residence s on th is sid e of the Eu phrate s , oppos i teto '

t he palace of the ancien t kings. I t is these which

w a r mer .

876 BABYLON .

C t esias has described to u s as t h e smaller royal ci tad el ,lying on t h e eastern bank, and enclosed by a wall of30 stades in length. He dwells on the statu es of brassto be fou nd here , and the descripti ons of battles andhu nting-scenes (I . So fa r as t h e fragmentsallow u s to see, the palaces of N abopo lassar and Ne b uch ad n e zzar formed a squ are stru ctu re, whi ch, 1600 feetin lengt h, ran from north to sou th , close along thebank of the river from the bank towards the east thebreadth of the ru i ns is 1200 feet . T h e remains stil lrise abou t 70 feet above the river. Slabs of stonediscovered in these ru ins bea r the in scription Greatpalace of Nebu chadnezzar, king of Babel , son of Nabo

po las sa r , king of Babel , the worshipper of Nebo andMerodach his lords. " Among tiles and bricks

,

yellow and white,we find here a number of glazed

t iles, with brightly-colou red remains of pictu res i nrel ief, of horses

’ hoofs,and l ions’ paws, of parts of the

human body, cu rled bea rds, and long hair, whichprove that the walls of the palace or the sides of therooms were adorned with reliefs, in mosaic, of hu ntin gscenes and batt les . Like Assyrian plastic work , theseremain s are heavy, a n d mostly exaggerated in t h e

modelling. The lion of g r an i t e , already mentioned,(I . 302) was discovered i n the ru in -heap of Kas r.In thi s citadel

,so Berosu s informs u s, Ne b u ch ad

n e z za r erecte d platforms on stone pill ars, which b ecau sed to have the appearance of mou ntains

,inasmu ch

as he so arranged them t hat they were plante d withtrees of every kind . This hanging garden (p a r ad iaus ) ,as it was called, he bu ilt to please h i s wife, who hadbeen brought up in the Median d istrict, an d wished tohave a scene like her own h ome .

” I Nebu chadnezzarmight gladly pay honou r to Amyi t e , the daughter of

O ppe r t,“ Expa l .

”1 , 140, fi. Jose ph. “

0. Apion .

” l , 19 .

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378 BABYLON .

manner that no one coul d observe it fromt h e ou tside .

”

Strabo gives the foll owin g description ° “ The gardenli es on the river . I t is a squ are plan tat ion , 400 feeton every side. The garden is supported by vau l tswhich rest o n arches, one of which is supported o n

another by means of cube-shaped pillars. The pill arsare hol low a n d fill ed with earth , so that they ca n

receive the roots of th e largest trees . The vau lt s andarches ar e bu i lt of bu rnt tiles and bi t umen . Theu ppermost story h as an as cent l ike a stair-ca se, a n dabu tting on this a re p umping-works by which thepersons appointed for the office continu ally raise waterfrom the Euphrates into t h e garden .

“ Th i s han ginggarden is the p a r adz

'

sus into which Alexander wasbrought from the old ci tadel on the other side of theriver. We saw above that one side of the gardenadjoined the great bath and the other the pa lace, i . e .

the palace of N abopo lassar and Nebu chadnezzar. Inthe thi rd and most sou thern heap of ru ins in Babylon

,

on the eas tern bank of the Eu phrates, now call edAmran ibn Ali , modern explorers believe that they havediscovered the si te of the hanging gardens which rosefrom the Euph rates. The bricks of the ru ins bear thename ofNe b u e h adn e zzar , b u t one h as been fou nd amongthem bearing the name of Esarhaddon of Asshu r .

We saw that Esarhaddon bu ilt mu ch in Babylon,

b u t hardl y on this si te ; the in scription of the brickspeaks of buildings at Bit Sagga t u , b u t the brick itsel fhas no doubt been brought to th is sit e from some otherplace owin g to the changes which Babylon u nderwentafter the reign of Esarhaddon. According to t h e

position of these ru ins the bu ildi ngs of which theythe remai n s formed an i rregu lar squ are ; the side onthe river measu res more than 1 800 feet in length : t h e

x Diod. 2, 10.

2. Str abo, p. 733.

N BBUCBADNEZZAB AND H IS 8000888038 . 379

eastern side is abou t 1 1 00 feet, t h e depth abou t 1300feet . If t li is is ie a lly t h e si te o f t h e t e r rae e gan l eua t h e

o th er ru ins may ba t h e remnants of the great bathinghouse , of wh ich we hear d above (p. The corpsesfound in the vau l ts of these ru ins, of which the coffinsare formed by bricks pl aced t oge ther, belong to theperiod of the rule of t h e Parth ians over Babylon. lRou nd the new citadel of N abopo lassar and Nebu

e h adn e zzar on the eastern ban k, round the old, mostsacred temple of the city, the te mple of Merodach,r isi ng o n a h r oad bas is i n scven r ecedin g s to r ies

( I . which Nebu chadn ezzar was the first to com

ple te , as we sh a l l soon to raise i t to i ts fu l lhe ight of abou t 600 feet—rou nd these great bu ildings,on the same side of the river, the n ew ci ty mu st havearisen , which, according to t h e statement of Berosus,Nebuchadn ezzar added to t h e ancient Babylon. Asthis n e w city an d its fortification date from the timeof Nebuchadnezzar, the permanent bridge over theEuph rate s must also be the work of t hat king.

This bridge Herodotus ascribes to N i tocr is , qu een ofBabylon—by whom is meant Amy i te , t h e consort ofNebuchadn ezzar—while C t esias repre sen ts i t as bei ngbuil t by Semiramis, on the grou nd of t h e Med o -Persi anson gs whi ch were inclined to ascri be everything tothe fo u nders of the ex tinct Assyria, b u t very li ttle tothe s till exi sting Babylon. 2 Before there was a palaceand ci ty an d city wall on the eas t e r n bank. a per

man e u t bridge was no t merely not requ ire d and u se

less ; i t would have been a da nge ro us piece of follyfor t h e ci ty, wh ich wou ld s in i ply have faci li tated theapproach t o an en emy coming from the eas t. Accord

in g t o t h e description of the bridge which Bie de rns

350 BABYLON .

h as borrowed from C t esias it crossed the Euphratesbetween the two ci tadels, wh ich lay on the river i norder to overlook the whole city, and formed as i twere t h e keys of the most important parts of i t. ” I twas of the length of five sta des, and was su pported bys tone p il lars, which sto od at a distance of twelve feetfrom each other, and rest ed on an artificial fou ndationi n the bed of the river. The sto nes of the pillars

,in

o rder to hold them together, were secu red wi t h clampsof iron

,and the join t s were fill ed up with lead. O n

the side which faced the stream the pillars formeds harp b u t rou nded angles, which gradu ally extendedto the width of t h e pillar, in order that t h e violence ofthe stream might be broken, and the rou nded edgemight moderate its force. The bed on the pil la rs was30 feet in breadth and consisted of huge palm tru nksand beams of cedar and cypress. l Herodotu s says :“ Any one who wished to cross from one side to theother had to go by shi p. Bu t as this was fou nd to betrou blesome, in my opinion , a remedy was discovered.The Eu ph rate s was dr ied u p by diverting all the wateri nto the excavated basin and nearly in the middle oft h e city a bridge was bu il t of st ones, which wereclamped together wi t h iron an d lead , and at the sametime the banks of the river so far as it flows th rou ght the city were cased with bu rnt bricks, and the descentsfrom the small gate s to the river were bu il t up withsimila r , bricks. I n the day-time the beams of thebridge were l e t down so that the Babyloni ans coul dcross over ; at n ight they were drawn u p.

"2

Owing to the breadth and size of the stream,and

the violen ce of the cu rrent at the time of the inu ndation

,the bu i ld ing of a permanent bridge was no easy

task. Strabo pu ts the breadth of the Eu phrates at

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382 BABYLON .

inhabitants that requ ired a wa ll of nea rly 40miles inlength—there is here no grou nd for attribu ting to thecity of Babylon a mu ch larger popu lation than that ofNineveh , or assuming it to be more than — theobject was to make a blockade difficu l t or impossiblefor an enemy . An ou ter wall of 40 miles is scarcelygreater in extent than the ou ter wall of Paris

,which

was bu il t in t h e fou rth centu ry of o u r era, and whatthe states of the most ancien t civil isation on the Nile,the Eu phrates, and Tigris cou ld do in the way of vastbu ildings, is shown to u s in numerou s examples , andre mains on an astonishing scale. By thu s extendin gthe city walls of Babylon strips of arable and pas tu reland were obtained , which supplemented the stores ofthe city, and cou l d su pport the cattle requ ired in atime of siege ; an open space was gained for thepopu lation of the land , who wou ld fly in to the walls ofBabylon at the approach of an enemy. Besides

,the

walls of Babylon mu st be in a position to receive theBabylonian a rmy in the event of a defeat. If the line ofthe Eu phrates or the Tigris cou ld not be held in a war,if t h e Median wal l and the fou r lines of the can alsbehind it between the Tigris and Eu phr ates wereabandoned, i f the army were forced behind a l l theseor defeated in open field, it mu st be su re of findingcertain protection behind t h e walls of the main ci ty.

When rested in th is great Open space,and again

thoroughly armed , it cou ld not only hold the wal lswith ea se

,for they, as we have seen , were so high and

strong, that they almost defended themselves ; itcou l d sally forth for new encou nters in the open field.If the enemy divided his forces in order to invest thecity, the army of Babylon cou ld attack either of thesehalves with the whole force, and thu s had the bestprospect of a su ccessfu l battle . It certain ly was not

NEBUCHADN EZZAB AND H IS 80008880118 can

the furtherance of in tercou rs e wh i tfii primarily indu cedNebuchadnezzar to bu ild the permanent bridge ; a bridgesu ch as the enemy cou ld not destroy by pu tting beamsor heavily lad en vessels into the river above the citysecured for t h e army when it had retired in to t h e cityt h e speed iest means of passing from ban k to bank

,and

pu t i t in a position to make a su dden onset on the righ tor left bank. Even if the worst happened

,and t h e

enemy su cceeded in gaining possession of th e ci ty onthe weste rn or ea stern bank , the bed of the bri dgewas ea sily thrown o ff, and the defence of the part ofthe city which was sti ll u n captu ra l was scarce lyre ndered at al l more difficu l t by the pillars. T h e

fixing of the fou ndations of the sh or e wal ls whichse cu red the new easte rn as well as the old western pa rtof th e city against attempts of the enemy on vessels,a n d fr om the river, and which was inte nded to render

pomib le the defence of each part of the city after t h eloss of the other, wou ld be very difficu l t : t h e fix ing oft h e fou ndations of the pi l lars of t h e bridge wou ld bemore difficu l t still , an d the bridge cou ld not ber ender e d se cu re again st t h e force of the high floodwithou t t h e basin of Sippars . We se e how the bu ildings o f Nebu chad nezzar hang together ; t h ey all springfrom one conception , from o n e conn ected system.

To th is extent do t h e accou nts of Wes tern au thorsa ll ow us to su rvey and criticise the bu ildings of Nebuch ad n e zza r . From h is own inscri ptions we gain somefurther exp lanations. T h e cylinder Rich informs u sthat N e b uch ad n e zsa r re stored a wate rcou rse to t h ecast of Babylon, of which t h e dams had fa llen down ,

an d t h e ou tlet was s te pped up that b e dug a can al inhonou r of Merod ach in t h e neighbourhood of Babylon .

1

O ri a brick in his bu ildin gs at Babylon N e b ue h ad nczzar

“Ga un t , Ba b ylon o ,“ p. 213.

384 BABYLON .

says “ I amNebu chadnezza r, king of Babylon , restorerof Bi t Sagg a t u , and Bit Zida (i . e . of t h e temple ofMerodach at Babylon

,and of Nebo at Bo rs ippa) , so n

of N abopo lassar I . I have bu il t a palace for the abodeof my kingdom in this city of Babel , which is si tu ate din the land of Babel . I have laid i ts fou n dations deepbelow the waters of t h e Euphrates

,and wri t te n t h e

memorial thereof on cyl inders. Wi t h thy help, 0Merodach

,god of gods

,I have bu il t this palace in

the midst of Babylon . Come hither to dwell , increas ethe number of the births, and through me let thepeople of Babylon be victoriou s down to the latestdays .

” 1 On another brick we are told : “ N ab opo lassar

,the fat her who b eg e t me , bu il t the great walls of

Babylon ; b e ca u sed the tr enches to be cu t , and thesides thereof to be firmly covered with bricks andbitumen .

” 2 On the other hand,a cylinder discovered

at Babylon tells u s : “ I am Nebu chadnezzar, kin g ofBabylon , the gloriou s prince. I have bu il t Imgu r Be land Nivi t Bel , the great walls whi ch su rrou nd Babylon ,u pon their lines . I have bu sily constru cted the trenches,cas ed with bricks and bi tumen . I have made straightthe street s of Babylon . I have set up brazen gates inthe great porticoes, and I have widened the streets ofBabylon. I have taken forethought to p rotect Babylonand Bit Sagg a t u . Merodach, mighty prince, strengthenthe work ofmy hands for glory, increase for the highesthonou r the cou rse of my days, and my posterity, 0lord of lords .” 3 More detailed, and, at the same time,more definite, is the information given on the cylinderPh ilippa ; the king has completed the wall rou nd theold city, and bu il t the wall rou nd the new city o n

t h e eas t , and then the remain ing works of Ne b u ch a d

W . A. I n scr ipt . 1 , 52. N o . 6 in Ména n t , “ Babylon s , p. 216.

Mé n an t , Ioc. ci t , p. 214. 3 Men a n t , Ioc. ci t , p. 213.

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386 BABYLON .

Merodach and Nebo ,my lords I have bro ught to themthe booty which I owed to them. I have establ ish edthe seat of power in Babylon ; I have fou nded andbu ilt it in Babylon . I have brought great cedars fromthe summits of Lebanon , to make beams for it . Ihave cau sed an enclosu re to be bu il t u p, and in themidst I have adorned the abode ofmy kingdom.

” lThis cylinder proves that Nebu chadnezzar’s bu i ld

in gs were n o t confined to Babylon . He cla ims tohave founded Bit Zida, i . a . the temple of Nebo atBo rs ippa, one of the three chief temples of Babylonia

(I . 272) b u t th is temple had been in ex istence manycentu ries before his time . Hence fou ndi ng and bu il ding can here mean no more than restoring and com

ple t in g j u st as elsewhere Nebu chadnezzar constantlycalls himsel f the restorer of Bit Zida and Bit Sagga t u .

We fou nd already that beside the temple of Nebo atBo r s ippa , Nebu cha dnezzar had resto red and complete danother temple in that city. This was the tower ofBo r s ippa , the temple of the seven 1amps , i . e . of theseven planets, of the seven stories of which fou r canstill be t raced in t h e great ru ins of Bi r s N imr u d , somemiles to the sou th-west of the ru in-heaps of Babylon

(I . In the same way it is renovations andrestorations of the temples of the ancient princes ofUr, Erech , and N ipu r , which are meant when Nebuch adn e zza r claims to have fou nded and bu il t templesat Sippars and S e nke r e h to Samas and Bin

,at Ur to

Sin,and a t N ipur to A n n .

In the very comprehensive inscription,preserved

on a sto ne of black basal t fou nd at Babylon— a

stone more than three feet in height and breadthNebu chadn ezzar begin s with stating that Merodachand Nebo, the gods which he, l ike his father and his

Mén an t , Ioc. ci t , p . 208 .

NBBUCHADN EZZAB AND 1118 8110011880118. 337

dmcen dan ts and successors , worshippedmost zealously,had given h im the domin ion . He points o u t theexten t of his kingdom, spea ks of h is victories and hisbu il dings, an d then pm on to the temples wh ich hehas built . Aft er thi s come the fe r t r eme s , the bu ildings at Bit Sagga tu and at Bit Zida : t h e

'

bu i ldi n g oft h e palace complete s the list. The chief passages , sofa t as t h ey are u n der sto od wi t h an y ccr ta in ty , ar e asfoll ows : “ I am Nebu chadnezzar , king of Babylon,gr e at, mighty, su bmi ssive to Merodach, su preme Patis

(II . su ppliant of Nebo, day and nigh t takingthought for the resto ration of Bit Sagga t u an d Bi tZida, who increase the glory of Babylon and Bor sippa,t h e eldest so n of N abopolassa r , king of Babylon :I . T h e god Bel cre ate d me , and the god Merodachplace d t h e germ of my life in my mother. I havere stor ed t h e shrin es of the supreme deity, ext ende d thewor ship of th e god , and spread abroad the worshipof the high di vinity of Nebo. Merodach , the gre at

god , h as raised my h ead to t h e dign i ty o f king ; heh as given me the domin i on over the hosts of me n .

Nebo, who sits on the thro ne in heaven and u pon thee arth , h as pu t in to my hands the sceptre of justice .

The lan ds fr om the u ppe r to the lower sea nodou bt, from the Persian Gu lf to the Mediterranean) Ihave kept in obe dience ; the impassable roads I havema de passabl e . The evi l I have pu nished. I havedisco vered the plans of t h e enemies of t h e land, an dmad e many pri soners : rich booty of si lver, gold, andpre ciou s metals, costly th in gs i n abundance . I haveco llected in Babylon . Bi t Sagga tu . t h e grea t templeo f the might of Merodach , l resto re d an d covered withgold, so that it shone l ike t h e day : l have dedicatedan al t sr to the god Il u (El). T h e la rges t tr ees fromthe to ps of Le banon I bro ught down fo r the po rtico o f

C C 2

{HS BABYLON .

Merodach . I have been able to complete Bit Sagga t uto obtain this end I invoked the king of the gods

,the

lord of lords. Bit Zida I have set up, and co vered theshri n e of Ns h e with go ld . I have restored the temple ofthe seven lamps at Bo rs ippa (I . In the midstof Babylon I have erected a great temple in honou r ofBil it, the su preme lady, the mother, who created me ;I have bu il t a temple in Babylon to Nebo

,who h as

given me the sceptre of j u stice , to ru l e the nations .

”

Ne b u ch adn e zzar t hen enumerates the rest of the godsto whom he h as bu il t temples at Babylon the moongod Sin ; Bin , who gives fru itfu lness t o h is land ;the great goddess Nana ; a n d , final ly, the lady ofBit Ana. At Bo r sippa he also bu ilt temples to thegreat goddess Nana, and to Bin ; he erected a shrinei n Bit Zida to Sin .

“ Imgu r Bel and N ivi t Bel , thetwo great walls of Babylon

,Nabopo lassar , kin g of

Babylon , the father who bege t me , had commenced,b u t he had not completed their beau ty . The ou te rtrenches he excavated

,and enclosed them with bricks

and bitumen , and the banks of the river Euphrate s hecased with bricks : b u t he did n o t complete this andother works . I , his eldest son , the chosen of h i s heart,have completed Imgu r Bel and N ivi t Be], the greatwalls of Babylon .

” Nebu chadnezzar fu rther informsu s that he set u p two mighty casing walls, and u nitedt hemwith the trenches of his father ; that b e enclosedthe water of Bu r sabu with wal ls fo r the inhabitants ofBabylon , and carried the lin e of these walls to ImgurBel and N ivi t Bel . Then he men tions the bu ilding o f

great gates in t h e wall Imgu r Bel and their ad ornment ; t hen obse rves that he measu red a circu it of4000 Amma t yay a r (land-cu bits) , and mentions thebu ilding of the mighty wall of the risin g su n , i . e . theou ter wall of the new city on the eastern bank : thi s

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390 BABYLON .

t h e bu ild ings of t h e old kings of Babylon , t h e ancienttemples of t h e land . I n Babylon he completed thegreat temple of Merodach , and bu il t temples thereto B ilit, Nebo, Sin , Bin , and Nana. Four cyl indersconcu r in mentioni ng that he also bu il t a temple thereto the goddess Zarpanit.‘ I Ie adorned the temple s ofBabylon , as Berosus te l ls u s, and the inscriptions confirm his accou nt, in a costly manner with the booty ofh is victories .

2 I t is certa inly no exaggeration if t h eHebrews speak of Babylon as the bea u ty of the kingdoms

,the pride and glory of the Chaldaeans. ” From

the temple tower of Merodach now completed, the loftysignal of the city

,the eye must have ranged far over

t h e surroundi ng wal ls to the palm groves,

‘ the canalsand com-fie lds . From the towers of the new ci tadel ,the terrace of the hanging gardens , it mu st have beenpossible to su rvey the city with all its temples, thebroad mi rror of the Euphrates, the bu sy life in thestreets and on the bridge . Here, withou t dou bt,Neb u ch adn e zzar might have u ttered the sayin g whicha Hebrew pu ts in h i s mou th : This is Babylon thegreat

,which I h ave bu il t for myself as a royal habita

t ion,as a sign ofmy glory .

”

I t was not the metropolis only which was rest oredand exalted to greate r splendou r than before ; therest of the citie s were not forgotten . At Bo rsippaNebu chadnezzar completed the great temple of Nebo

,

restored and completed the temple of the seven plan ets

(of Bir s Nimru d), and also bu il t temples to Nanaand Bin . At S ippar a he bu il t a temple to the godsSamas and Bin ; the same gods, as he as su res u s ,

received a temple at S e nke r e h ; and this is confirmedby a cylinder d iscovered there b e restored the

Men an t , loo. ci t , p . 215 . Jose ph. “c. Apio n .

”l , 19.

3 I sa iah xiii . 19fl’. A r r ian ,

“ An ab.

”7, 19, 4.

NKBUOH ADNBZZA R AND H IS S UOCQ SO RS . 39 !

temple of the moon-god at Ur, as he tells u s , and theb ricks of Ur con firm his s tatement ; 1 Ista r of Erechreceived back her treasures, and the god An u rece ive da temple a t N ipur . More extensive than the templesare the works of fortifica tion which he erected on amagnificen t and wel l-considered system, the Medianwal l, and t h e walls of Babylon itself. We saw howclose ly the se forti fications were connected with hi s

g rea t hydraulic works for the regu lation of the inu ndation , for the connecti on of the Eu phrates and theTigris , for the dr ainage of the land at the mou th ofthe Eu phrates . The same care which he showed i nt hese conn ecti ons by wate r, and in plan tin g thoseharbou rs on the Pers ian G u lf, for the advancement oft rad e and in tercou rse , he also showed i n making roadsby lan d . He la id almost indestru ctible founda tionsfor t h e agricu l t u re of Babylonia, the wel fare of thena ti ve land. Afte r a triple subjection of Babylon iathe A ch zeme n id kings cou ld still collect 1000 talents

(more than in land-tax from the cou n t ry ;and impose on it for fo ur months in the year themain te nance of the kin g’s table i n addition to thesu pport of the satrap, his cou rt, his officers, and thegarrisons. The valu e of the pro du cts re qu ired ea ch davfor this t able was ra te d a t from 30 to 40 ta lents. T h e

Babylon ians preserved the most grate f u l memory ofNebuchadnezzar. Even after the fal l of the kingdomt h e recu rrence of h is name was enough to brin g themtwice in t o arms against the Persian dominion.The bu ildin gs begu n by Nebu chadnezzar we re not

all finished when he died , in the year 601 Noneof h is s u cce sso rs came near h im in mil itary skill. mcir cumspe cti on and ente rprise . The active acqu isi t ionan d fort ification of th e empire wer e fo l lowu l by supine

“erra n t . loo. ci t . p. 21 8.

392 BABYLON .

enjoyment. This was qu ickly su cceeded by neglectof government and obedience, conspiracies of relation sand cou rt officers. Evilmerodach , the son of Nebuch adnozzar

,re igned, accord ing to Berosu s, with caprice

and want of in tell igence . ‘ Towards Je ch o n ia h ofJ udah, the son of Josiah , whom Nebuchadnezzar hadca rried captive th i rty-six years previou sly to Babylon— h e had only sat on the throne three monthsEvilmerodach sh owe d kindness . He released h imfrom his long imprisonment

,invite d h im to his table,

and treated h im l ike t h e other conqu ered princes, fo rwhom Babylon was a compu lsory place of residence. 2

After a reign of two years t h e son of the great kingcame to an end by assas sination . I t was the husbandof his sis ter, his bro t her- i a - law

,Ne r igl is sar , who

removed h im ou t of h is way (559 In the b u ttresses on t h e Euphrates at Babylon we find brickswhich show that walls on the river commenced byN ab Opo lassar , and continu ed b u t n o t completed byNebu chadnezzar

,were carried on by N e r igl issar . The

stamp of the bricks ru ns thu s : N e r ig lis sar , king ofBabylon

,maintainer of Bit S agga t u and Bit Zida.

” 3

On a cyl inder fou nd at Babylon,N e r ig lissar calls

himself son of Bel - labar-isku n ,and speaks of h is bu il d

ings at Bit Sagga t u , of a water-bas in of the risin gsu n

,

” of the erecti on of me a t s rou nd the royal ci tadel. ‘

N e r ig li ssar died after sitt ing on the throne for fou ryears : the son whom he left behind, Lab ae sse a rachby name, was still a boy. Bu t the great kingdom oft h e Medes had already su ccumbed to the Persians, andBabylon ia was in need of a man . The chi efs of thecou rt conspir ed together Lab ae sse ar ach was mu rderedafter h e ar in g the title of king for nine month s ; and

Be rosi fr agm. 1 4, ed . Mu lle r . 2Kin gs xxv . 27—30.

3 O ppe r t , Ex ped .

”2, 324, of l , 1 81 . Mén an t , loc. ci t , p . 249 .

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394 BABYLON .

K u r igal zu of Babylon , who restored this temple atthe end of the fifteenth centu ry .

‘ On fou r cl aycylinders fou nd i n these ru ins

,which repeat t h e same

inscription, N ab o n e t us te l ls u s that t h e bu ilding of

the ancient kings, Urukh and Du ngi , in honou r of thegreat goddess (of Ur), lay in ru ins. Th is temple b erestored on the old fou ndations

,as it had been before,

in bricks and bitumen . He had completed thisstru ctu re in honou r of the god Sin ; might t h e godgran t continu ance to his work . At the same time heentreats Sin to implant reverence for his great divinityin the heart of his first -born son, Bel -sar-u ssu r (Bel

Beyond this we only know of N abo n e t u s

t hat in the year 65 1 B.C. he made Hiram,of the race

of Ethbaal,whom Nebu chadnezzar had carried to

Babylonia after the blockade of Tyr e,ki ng of that

ci ty,and sent h im there .

3 The most difficul t of allta sks was a lready awaitin g N ab on e t u s : he h ad tomeet the storm which convu lsed Asia. N e b u ch ad

n e zzar had been ever intent on making the power ofhis kingdom equ al to the power of the Medea . Mediaand Lydia too were n ew su bject to Cyru s. A mightierpower than Nebu chad nezzar h ad ever looked forwardto had set foot in Babylonia, in the Eas t, the North,and the West .By the waters of Babylon sa t the Jews whom

Nebu chadnezzar h ad carried from their homes. Th eywereme n of distinction

,the first in rank and cu l tu r e

,an d

t h e priests it was t h e intellectu al nu cleu s of the peoplethat had been tr ansplanted to Babylonia . The danger

Vo l . I . 289 ; I I . 33. Mén an t , lac. ci t . pp. 263, 266.

1 262 263. Schr ade r , K e i l i n sch r . u n d L T .

"

s . 280.

Jose ph . a A pion . l , 20, 21 . Above , p. 364m. I n t h e fo u r t e e n thye a r of t h e r e ign o f this Hi r am Cyr us co n qu e r ed Babylo n ; h e mu st ,the r efor e , have be e n place d o n t h e thr on e in 65 1 B .C.

N BBUCHADN EZZA R AN D H IS SUCCESSORS. 396

that this nu cleu s, in despai r of the prote ction of the irown god

,shou ld tu rn to the go ds of the conqu erors as

being more mighty, was not great. Jehovah was nolong e r merely the tribal God of Israel , who had beenun able to protect h is tribe against a ll other nati on sthe prophets had announced h im as the Almighty Godof t h e world, who ru l ed over the kingdoms of the earth,who wou ld raise u p and throw down at h i s pleasu re,who exercises ju stice . Moreover, the captives powe ssedi n the Book of the Law (Deu teronomy) a plain ru le oflife

,which h ad been wanti ng to the Israe l i tes when

transplanted by the Assyr ian kings . Among themwer e earnest spiri ts and mighty hearts , who preservedtheir cou rage and hope u nbroken . Opportunities forthe se qu ali t ies were not wan t in g in their dea l ings witht hei r co u n t rys i e n , for the exil es in their d ifferences witheach other repaired mu ch more readily to their owncou ntrymen who were skilled in the law, than to themagistrates of the Babylonians. Among those whowere first carried away i n the year 697 B. C. (p.

was the pries t Ezeki el, who had h is dwelling on theCh abo ras , in Mesopotamia. The ru l ers often came toconsul t Ezekiel , and the elders gathered in his hou se,“ that he might ask Jehovah for them.

“ His ann ou n ceme n ts are str on gly coloured by the priestly pointof view on which he takes his stand . He main tainsstrictly t h e ru brics an d cu stoms of worship, the correctoffering of sacrifice. I t is a comfort to h im in h issorrow to imagine, in minute detai l, how t h e temple isto be resto red with all i ts buildi ngs , t h e land di videdamong the tribes, what was t o be allott ed to the priests,and what du ties would devolve upo n them, if Jehovahshou ld resto re Israel again out of t h e ca ptivity .

’ Hencewi th t h e firmer conviction cou ld Pa ch isi say to his3 E. g . Back. xx. 1 . Back. 8 1 . 40 : ch a ps. x l - xl viii .

396 BABYLON.

people , that they were a people of an impudent faceand hardened heart,“ b u t that Jehovah had nopleas u re in t h e death of t h e evi l-de er, b u t only in hisconve rsion and improvement ;2 that Jehovah wou ldassemble t hem ou t of the lands into which t h ey werescattered .

“ I wil l bring yo u ,” so Jehovah speaks in

Ezekiel, into the wilderness of the nat ions and therewill I plead with yo u face to face, as I pleaded wi t hyou r fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt .I

.

will cau se yo u to pass u nder the rod,and I will

bring yo u into the bond of the covenant. And I wil lpu rge ou t from among you the rebels and them thattransgress against me . They shall not retu rn to Israel .I wil l sprinkle pu re water over you that ye may beclean . I will pu t a new heart and a new spir it with in

yo u ,and will take the stony heart ou t of you r flesh

,

and give you a heart of flesh ou t of my spirit, thatye may walk in my statu te s and keep my ordinances.Then shal l ye loathe you rselves for the evils whichye have committed in all you r abominations ; andt h e ru ins of the cities sha ll be bu i lt up and inhabi t ed,and the wilderness shall be as the garden of Eden .

Israel and Judah shal l no more be two nations theyshall both be my people, and I wil l be their God , andmy servant David shall be king over them,

their onl yshepherd . I will conclude w ith t hem an eterna lcovenant of peace, and establish t hem in the landwherein their fathers dwelt, and mu l t iply them,

andlet my sanctu ary and my dwell ing be for ever amongthem.

Prophecies u ttered with su ch conviction and certainty, su pported and strengthened the hope of thepeople in the coming restoration of the kingdom. I t

was possible by the help of Jehovah . I t might be1 Each . 11. 4.

3 Ezek. xviii. 21—23.

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CHAPTER XVI .

EGYPT U NDER THE LAS T PHARAOHS.

NECHO’S views for subju gatin g Syria to his dominion ,and renewi ng the campaigns of the ancient Pharao hsto the Euphrates, were wrecked after some su ccesses .

The day of Karch emish , which he lost to the Babylonians, carried with it the loss of the conqu ests inSyria

,with perhaps the exception of Gaza an d one or

two other places of the Ph ilis tines . Necho mightcou nt himself fortu nate that Nebu chadnezzar remainedwith in Syria. His attempt to su pport t h e rebell ionof Judah against Babylon , which king Jehoiakimventu red u pon in the year 597 D .C.

,mi scarried, as

we saw above (p . Nebu chadnezzar now tookall as far as the brook of Egypt. Necho's son , Psamme t ich u s who succe eded his father in t h e year695 B.C.

, took no steps to h inder the fal l of thePhenician cities, which were subj ugated by Nebuch adn e zzar in t h e year 593 B.C. Of Psamme t ich u s’

short reign—i t lasted onl y six years—Herodotu s merelytel ls u s that he u ndertook a campaign against theEthiopians, and died immediate ly after it . From th isstatement we mu st conclude that since the time ofPsamme t i ch u s I . and the emigrat ion of a part of thewarrior caste, Egypt had been in strained relationswith the kingdom of N apa ta , and the su ccessors of

EGYPT UNDER THE LAST PHARAOHS. 399

U rdaman e . From the words of Herodotu s it wouldseem that Psamme t ich u s made an u nprovoked attackon Ethi opia ; b u t of the su ccess of the u ndertaking weknow noth in g. From some words which Greek me re e na r ie s of Ph araoh h ave left behind them,

and the

place where they were written , i t woul d seem to havebeen the inten tion of Psamme t i ch us to win back forEgypt lower Nu bia, which , as we have seen, had forcen t u ries been a provin ce of Egypt.We know the colossi which Ramses I I . caused to be

hewn o u t of t h e rocks before the entrance of the templewhich he excavated at A b u Simbel . ‘ On the le ft thighof the second colossu s from the sou th some Greeks

,

Ionians,and Dorians, have cu t the following words in

Ion ic letters : When Psamme ti ch us came to El eph antine

, t hose who came by vessel with Psamme t ich u s,

the son of T h eocles , wrote th is in scription. They cameu p above Kerkis , as far as the river permi tted . Theforeigne r De ch cpo tasimto , the Egyp t ian Amasis. Bu t

Archon,t h e son of Amwb ich us , and Pe le cus , the son

of U dames , wrote me .

” Oth er s of the mercena ries,

who were acqua inte d with the art of writing, have alsoinscri be d their name s there ; we fin d a H e les i b ius ofT ee s, 0. Telephu s of Ialysus, a brother of Archon ,Pyt hon the so n of Ammb ie h us, and three others. ThePhe n ician mercenaries were not either n e w or late rbehind the G reeks : Phen icia n inscriptions ar e inscribedbes ide t h e Greek .

2 Those of the Greeks prove tha tPsamme t ich us had encamped with his army at Eleph antine

,that h e h ad sent a part of i t up t h e Nile wi th a

Cre ek, the son of T h eocl es , who had already got an

Vo l . I. 176.

T h e y ar e con t empo r an e ous : if th e re adin g fla n -ha t i e h i (Pu mmotich u s ) is oorm t . The n ame-o f th s morcsn u i e s m -id to h sPo t h a h b en l e t h n snd fli l lon bsn l ’e t h isd . BM

400 EGYPT.

Egyp tian name, Psamme t ich us (which he must,therefore, have obtained u nder the reign of Peam‘

me t ich us His object was certa inly not to obtaininformation abou t t h e land an d the river, which waswell enough known to the Egyptian s as far as Nape taand above it . Bu t i t might very well be necessary toascertain the views and powers of the opponent inN apa t a . Among the names in the in scription firstme nt i on ed the name of the “ foreigner De ch epo tas imt oa name wh ich no dou bt belonged to an Ethiopian— andthe name of the Egyptian Amas is prove that Egyptiansand Ethiopians acqu ainted with the land and the riverwere in the division of the son of T h e ocl e s . H ow

far to the sou th this di vision penetrated, we cannotdetermi ne, for t h e place Kerkis, beyond which i tpassed

,is not mentioned elsewhere . On the retu rn

the detachment encamped to the north of the falls ofWadi H ai fa at A b u Simbel , and those among theGreeks who knew how to write and wished to do somade u se of their stay to perpetu ate in this mannertheir jou rney and t heir presence in this distant region .

Nothi ng is said of their collision with t h e Ethiopiansi t appears that the ru ler of Napata had then abandonedlower Nubia to the Egyptians. If th is reconnoite ringof the enemy by the detachment of T h e ocl es took placeon the campaign of Psamme t i ch u s agai nst E t hiopia

,of

which Herodotu s speaks, we mu st place it in the year590B .C.

, for Psamme t ich u s I I . di ed“ immediately afte r

,

”

i n the next year .

1 Nothin g is left of themonuments of

I f A. Ki r chho ff ’

s su ppleme n t o f in scr ipt ion N o . 9 is cor r e ct S tu

di e n 2. G . d. Gr iechische n Alphabe ts ,” s. 8m Ba n d ung fih ao r r evcr pa r bv r b”an y ,

”t h e da te o f t h e expe dit ion o f t h e so n o f T h eocl e s mus t

b e pu t ea r lie r . Cp . Bo ss , N . Jah r b i ’rch er Phi lo log.

”1864 , s. 628 5 .

T h e n ame of t h e fa the r o f T h e ocl es de te rmin e s me in acce pt in gBe r g k ’

s

o pin ion tha t these in scr ipt ion s o f t h e Ethiopian expedit ion o f Peamme ti ch u s I I. do n o t b e lo n g t o t h e pu r su it o f t h e emi gran t so ldie r s o fPsamme ti ch u s I . (above , p .

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402 EGYPT.

an d Jeremiah , who had been carried to Egypt a fewmonths after the fal l of Jeru salem by the Jews whoto ok to fl ight in consequ ence of t h e assassination ofthe viceroy of Nebu chadn ezzar

,and had there fou nd

a welcome and protection together with the rest,annou nced at Daphne

,on Egyptian soil , to H oph r ah

and the Egyptians,t heir destru ction by the sword of

Neb u ch adn czzar ; he saw t h e king of Babylon alreadyenthroned on h i s carpet at Daphne. Bu t N e bu ch ad

n e zzar conte nted himself with main tain ing and forti fying still fu rther h is domin ion over Syria . He followedu p the captu re of Jeru salem with the long investmentand siege of Tyr e. When Tyre fin ally su bmi tted (573

Ezekiel again saw Nebu chadn ezzar’s army in vadin g Egypt . In reference to the long siege of Tyre ,and the fact that it ended not in the sto rming andplu ndering of t h e city, b u t in coming to terms, Ez ekielsays : Nebu chadnezzar, king of Babylon, cau sed h i sarmy to serve a great service against Tyre : every headwas made bald

,and every shou lder was peeled ; yet he

had no wages,nor his army, from Tyre. Now wil l I

give to Nebu chadnezzar, the king of Babylon , the landof Egypt

,and he sha l l take hermu ltitu de and take her

spoil and take her prey, and it shall be the wages forhis army . I wil l give h im the land of Egypt for hisrewar d

,saith Jehovah . The king and h is people, and

wi t h h im the mightiest of t h e nations, shall be ledforth for the desolat ion of Egypt. They shall dr awtheir sword against Egypt and fill the land with slai n .

The pride of Egy pt shal l come down fromMigdol toSyene they shall fall by the sword ; and in the sameday messengers shall go forth in ships to make thecareless E thiopia afrai d. I wi ll make the canals dry .

I wi ll destroy the idols, and cau se the images to

ceas e ou t of Ne ph (Memphis) . I will make Pe trus

EGYPT UNDER THE LAST PHARAOHS. 403

(uppe r Egypt) desolate, and will se t fire to Zoan

(Tanis), an d will execu te judgmen ts in No (Thebe s) .I will pou r my fu ry u pon Sin (Pe l u si um), the stre ngthof Egypt, and will cu t oflthe mul ti tu de of No . Iwi ll se t fire in Egypt ; Sin sh all h ave g r ea t pain , andNo shall be rent asunder. The you ng me n of On

(Heliopol is) and Bubast is shal l fal l by the sword , and

a .

He rodotus tells u s that H oph r ah marched ou t againstSidon, an d fought a ba t t le by sea with the king of Tyre.Of the re sul ts of th is battle Herodotus says nothi ng :he on ly remarks that after his great-gran dfath erPsamme t ich us , H oph r ah was the most su ccessfu l of thisfamily . Diodor us narrate s : H oph rah attacked Cypru san d t n i cia with a well-appointed army by land andsea ; to ok the city of Sidon by storm, and the re st ofPhe nician ci ties by the te rror of his n ame ; conqu eredthe Pheni cian s and Cyprians in a great battle by sea,an d then returned to Egypt with great spo il .

it Theseaccou nts are very extraordin ary . In the year 593B.C. ,

Tyre an d Sidon h ad striven wi th the Ammoni tesand Moabites against Nebu chadnezzar ; they were

‘ Esekiol xx iL U—fi ; chap xxx . . from t h s twon ty -seven t h yea rd t h o car ryi n g s u y cs pfivo of fisokie h t a fiom t h o ye s r wl a o .

Josepha 7) te l ls u s, i t is t r u e , t h a t N ob u ch sdn ezmr

in vsdsd Egypt in t h oflft h yu r aMr t h o cs pt u rc of Jer-u-lm in t h o

h mty-t h h d ya r d fis rdm dw fin g floph n h pu t an o t h s r ki n gh h i s ph og sn d mr risd sway u pr ison or s to Bs b y lo n t h o Jows wh o

h sd fied fm rd ag o to Eg ypt. T h o dos th of H oph u h in b s t t ls agn in st

o r by th o h an d o l b ach sdn sn ar oon tn di ct l s l l a o di b lo tr sd i t ion .

In th o yu r dsn o tsd by l on ph m thm ms y h s vo bosn a sh a rp oonmon t h c bordm v h ioh Jo-sph us h n m ggon te d in or dor to b vou r th o

mummh o l t h o pwphM ifJ ndost e ym a lso is n o t do r i vod fmmJa u n ia h . eh sp. l i i . Th o cu r yi n g sws y o l t h e m h o h sd flod wEq pt h ss obviomly a r ison ou t ol doru n is h

'

s pro ph ooy .

40! EGYPT.

defeated . Then , as has been already shown , Nebuch ad n e z za r blockaded Tyre from 586 B.C. to 573We saw that H oph r a h opposed Ncb u ch adn czzar in theyears of the Jewish war

,i . e . from h i s accession till

the fall of Jeru salem (589— 586 I f du ring thisperiod

,or su bsequ ently, when Nebu chadnezzar was

blockading Tyre,he had made war u pon Sidon and

Tyre,and the other cities of the Phenicians , he wou ld

have worked for Nebu chadnezzar ; whereas , on thecontrary

,he mu st have regarded it as of the first

importance that t h e last independent city of Syria ,Tyre

,shou ld not be redu ced . He mu st do for Tyre

what he had done for Jeru salem, and for that city alsohe mu st ventu re on war with Nebu chadnezzar. HenceH oph r a h ca n only have carried on war against thePhenician cities in the t hree last years of his reign

(between 573 and 570 an d this again is onlyconceivable u nder the hypothesis that Hoph r a h set o u tw i t h the Egyptian fleet against Cypru s

,which Diodo r u s

regards as the obj ect of the campaign , in order to prevent this island as well as Tyr e from becoming su bjectto Nebu chadn ezzar— in order to obtain in this islanda cou nterpoise to the in corporation of Syria and thePhenician cities in t h e Babylonian kingdom. The warwith Tyre and Sidon wou ld then have broken ou t

becau se Sidon wished to prevent the island from passing u nder t h e domin ion of Egypt. Bu t if H oph r ah ,

asD iodor u s states, had taken the cities of the Phenician s ,he mu st have taken them fromNe b u ch ad n e zz ar

,which

seems h ighly improbable. If H oph r ah wished to takethem from Nebuchadnezzar, he cou ld not be gu ilty ofgreater folly than to wait thi rte en years

,till the su b

mission o f Tyre, in order to att ack the city when it hadfallen , an d Nebu chadnezzar had established a firm footon the coas ts of Syria. If he wished to liberate the

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406 EGYPT .

previously Greek settlers had bu il t t h e city of Cyrene,

to the east of the great Syrtis, and t h o flou rish ingcondition of this city was hardly contemplate d wi t hsatisfaction in Egypt. I ts importance was increasedby a great number of new settlers, whom Battu s I I I .h a d summoned to Cyr ene ; and to maintain these aconsiderable portion of land had been t aken from “

t h e

neighbou ring Libyans. A d ikr an,the prince of these

tribes,summoned H 0ph r ah to his assista nce against the

Cy r e n aean s ; for th is protection he was prepared to

recognise the su premacy of Egypt . H oph rah sent astrong army against Cyrene. Bu t the Cy r e n ae an ssu cceeded in defeating it at t h e fou ntain of T h e s t e ,and in inflicting a severe blow on the Egyptian s

(571 This di saster cau sed a new ou tbreak ofi ll-feeling on t h e part of the Egyptian mil itary cas teagain st the Ionian mercenaries . As these , on whomdevolved the protection of the eas te rn border againstthe Babylonians

,h ad been left behind, the Egyptian

warriors thought that the Pharaoh had pu rposelysent t hem to their destru ction . On their retu rn theremnant of the army rebelled against the Phar aoh ;H oph r ah sent Amas is to bring back the tr oops toobedience .

1

Amas is of S iuph in the canto n of Sais was ofhumble origin ,

a man of loose mora ls, who loved wi ne,and the pleasu res of the table, merriment and riotou slivi ng

,b u t still possessed in tel ligence and ambiti on .

Instead of bringing back the rebelliou s tr oops toobedi ence, he allowed himself when he arrived in thecamp to be sal u ted by them as king. Hearing of th is ,Pharaoh H oph r ah pu t himsel f at the head of theIonian s and Carians— they were in numberand went to meet the rebels

,who had already reached

1 Her od. z, 161 , 162; 4 , 1 59.

EGYPT UNDER THE LAST PHARAOHS. 407

the bord ers of Egypt. In spite of.the bravest efforts

t h e Ion ians and Carians were defea te d by theEgyptians at Momemph is, as Herodotus state s , or asBi ede rns te l ls us , at Ma r es , on the sou th-western shoreof LakeMare o t is. H oph r ah h imself was taken prisonerAmasia inte nded to spare h im. He brought h im toSais, and there pu t h im in prison in the cita del whichhis forefather Psamme t ich u s had bu ilt. Bu t afte rwards Amasis yielded to the requ est of the people,and gave u p H oph ra h to the mob who pu t h im todeath (570Thu s ended the race of Psamme t ich us in Egypt ; in

t h e same re gion where h is grea t-grandfather is said tohave obtained the liberation of Egypt and the throne

,

H oph r ah had lost it. Since the times of the Ramessids,the Phar aohs of Tanis and Bu bas t is had no longersought their sepu lchr es at Thebe s : the family ofPsamme t ich us h ad prepared a se pu lchre at Sais whereh i s citad el stood. I t was situat ed at t h e temple ofNei th the goddess of Sais, at the tomb of Osiris , wherethe Sa i tcs kept the funeral fes t ival of the god : herea lso was H oph rah

'

s body bu ried. ”

Amasis (A hmcs ) was raised to t h e throne'

by theEgyptians against the Greeks, to break down t h e

infl uence and favoured position of the fore igner s. Hisvictory over the Ion ians had brought h im to the throne .As soon as he had gained it, he retu rned back to t h esystem whi ch Psamme t ich us and his su ccessors hadfollowed, an d established it yet more firmly. He mad eancient Egypt an Egypto-Grecian state. His first carewas to co nclude peace and alliance wi t h the Cyr e nman s.To king Battu s I l l . of Cyrene he se n t a gilded imageof th e goddess of Sais an d his own portrai t. He took

‘ Hs rod fiJ w. Diod . l . 68.

409 E0YPT .

to wife a woman of t h e hou se of Battu s, by nameLaodice . The Ionians and Carians conqu ered by h imhe removed from the easte rn border, from t h e Pe lu s ia c

arm of the Nile, in to t h e in t erior to Memphis. Theywere no longer to protect t h e border of Egypt whichwas mos t threatened , b u t the person of the king. Hemade them his bodyguard .

1 The Greek merchants heallowed to l ive at Nau cratis u nder t heir own overseersand their own system of ju stice . The se t t lers camein greater numbers t han ever. Greek H e t aarae followedtrade in to the dis tant land and accumu lated treas u resin Egypt. ’ The Greeks were even allowed to erecta l tars and temples in the cou ntry ; the kin g himselfprovided the necessary sites ; a proceeding whichmu st have fil led wi th horror and dismay the priestsof t h e land, and all Egyptians of the old way ofthinkin g . Hence the fou r Ionian cities, Chios, T e e s , Claz ome n ee

, Phocaea ; and the fou r Dorian , Cnidu s, Rhodes,Halicarnassu s

,Phasel is

,and the E ol ian Mytilene

,

bu il t a common shrine for their deities at Nau crat is .

Miletu s erected a special temple to her dei ty Apollo.S amoa and E g in a also bu il t special temples. Amas is

went sti ll fu rt her : he honou red the Greek gods bydedicatory gifts . Two statu es of stone

,portraits of

h imself, and a wonderfu l corslet, as Herodotu s ass u resu s , he dedica ted at Cnidu s in the temple of A t h e n sand when t h e De lph ian s made a col lect ion among t h esettlers in Egyp t in aid of their temple which had beenbu rnt down , Amas is also sent them a contribu tion .

3

If Amas is allowed su ch advantages to the Gre eks,he also knew how to reckon with the old Egyptianfeel ing . Besides t wo Greek women

,Laodice and

Sebaste, he took to wife two Egyptians, of whom onewas the daughter of Psamme t ich us I I . The me nu

He r od . 2, 1 54 . He rod . 2, He r od. 2, 1 78.

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410 EGYPT.

in this bu rial,and in al l the ceremonials observed

du ring the days of lame n ta t ion .

l

I n the effort in which t h e ru l ers of Egypt resembledeach other almost withou t exception—i n the desire toerect great bu ildi ngs—Amas is emu la t ed h is predecessors .His bu ildin gs began with his accession and ended withhis life . Sais was adorned by h im with the largestand most magn ificent works

,for which the st o nes

were mostly brought from the qu arries at Memphis,and the largest from the qu arries at Elephantine . Tothe t emple of Neith at Sais he added marvellou spropylaea, which, as Herodotu s says, su rpassed a l l

others by their height an d size, as well as by the sizean d beau ty of the stones of which they were constru cted. Here Amas is also set u p great colossi andsphinxes, and cau sed to be brought from Elephantine achapel hewn ou t of a single stone 21 cubits in length ,1 4 cu bits in bread th

,and 8 cu bits i n height

,whi ch

was set u p at Sais before the temple of Neith. Twothou sand seamen were occu pied for three years inbringing this chapel from Elephantine to Sais . A

simil ar memorial of Amasia lies on the site of theancient T hmu is in the Del ta . At Memphi s Amas isbu il t a temple to Isis ; a work large and worthy to beseen beyond al l others,

” says Herodotus,and before

the t emple of Ptah he placed a colossu s of 75 feetin height, and on either side of it two statu e s ofEthi opian sto ne of 20 feet i n height . When Herodo t u s visited Egypt this mighty colossu s lay at

Memphis thr own down on its back,and one of equal

dimensions (no doubt they were portraits of Amasis)lay in a simi lar positi on at Sais . The other templeswere not forgott en Amasis cau sed restorations to beu ndertaken at Thebes, especia lly at the great temple of

Brugsch, “ Hist . of Egypt , pp . 263, 294.

t

EGYPT UNDER THE LAST PHA RA O II S . 4I l

Kamak other temples were also restored and adornedwith new bu ildin gs an d statu es . His sepu lch re Amasi sbui lt at Sais beside the tombs of the race of Psammetiche s, whose dynasty he wi shed to continu e, ju st ashe continu ed and completed their system of government. I t li es, says Herodotus, somewhat farther fromthe t emple than the tomb of H oph rah and his forefather s

, a t the side of the colonnade before the temple .

I t was a separate colonnade, of which t h e portico wassu pporte d by pillars with capitals carved l ike palmbran ches . In this portico lay the sepul chral chamber,a room of sto ne closed by dou ble doors . 1 Of theeagerness with which Amas is bu ilt we have sti lleviden ce in the in scriptions fou nd with his namein all the qu arries of Egypt ; in the l imestone qu arriesof Memphis, in the g ran i te quarries at Hamamat,and in the sandstone qu arries at S e ls il i s, and inthe qu arries of red grani te in the sou th of Egypt .The qu arries of Hamamat also give us the n ame ofthe chief arch itect of Amasis , the chief of all thebu il dings in Upper and Lower Egypt,

" and his forefathers to the twenty-fourt h generation .

’

Amid the cares of t h e throne Amasis did not forgetthe easy and cheerfu l enjoyment of l ife, which heloved. When he had finished h i s bu siness in themor n ing he sa t down to table with his friends, drankdeeply, and mademerry with themwithou t any regardfor the ancient ceremon ial of the Egyptian cou rt, ort h e remon strances of h is friends, who would recall h imto more d ign ified behaviou r . Nevertheless, in spite ofthe favour shown to the Greeks, he knew how to winthe good -wi ll of the Egypt ians, by a jus t , moderate , andmild governmen t, and by regard for the well-bein g of

Bore d. 3. "6, 176, N39 ; 8. 1 16.

Bmgsoh . Hist . of Egypt ," 11 . 200.

4 12 EGYPT .

the land . T h e tradition of the Egyptians cou nts h imamong th e lawgivers of the land . He is said to haveregu lated the economical relati ons and the du ties ofthe nomarchs as well as their power. 1 With theGreeks too he passed as a ru ler of extraordi narywi sdom. In any case

,u nder his long reign— h e sat

on the throne for 44 years— Egypt attained a highdegree of prosperity . The freedom of trade brou ghtin produ cts : agricu ltu re, manu factu res , and tradewere active .

“ Under Amas ia,” says Herodot u s,

“ Egypt is said to have been most prosperous, bothin regard to that which the river di d for the land

,

and the soi l gave to the inhabitants,and at that

t ime there are said to have been i n habitedplaces in the land .

”

Bu t these were the las t days of Egyptian splendour.If Babylon had hithert o been a dangerou s neighbou r

,

the position of affa irs in the East chan ged in the reignof Amasia for the most decided di sadvantage to Egypt.When Cyru s had brou ght the kingdom of the Med eainto h is power

,he redu ced t h e nations on the east and

west of Persia . At length Babylon herself su ccumbedto the arms of Cyru s in the thirty-second year of thereign of Amas ia . With the fall of Babylon Syriabecame su bject to h im, so that the you thfu l andmighty kingdom of the Persians alrea dy border ed onEgypt. Amasis avoided giving any su pport to theresistance offered by Babylon and Lydia to t his newpower. If he su cceeded, after t h e fall of Babylon, inpossessing himself of the island of Cypru s, and soobtaini ng a position opposite the Syrian coast

,whi ch

1 Biod 1 , 95 .

He r od. 2, 1 77. Acco rdin g to Died. 1 , 31 , Egypt in t h e an cien tt ime h ad commu n itie s, an d u n de r t h e Pto lemie sAcco r din g to Theocr it u s 1 7, Egypt possesse dcommu n it ies.

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CHA PTER XVII.

T HE OVER THR OW OF THE HERA CLEIDS IN LY D IA.

O N the western coast of Asia Min or the nation of theLydians, which possessed the vallies of the Hermu sand Maeander, had early arrived at a monarchy anda point of civili zation far in advance of the stagesof primi tive l ife. The ancient royal hou se of theLydians claimed to be spru ng from the gods

,from

Attya, the son of the god Manes . The city of Sardi sis said to have been bu ilt u nder the domin ion of thisdynasty, to have been dedicated to the su n -god andfort ified . l Thi s hou se of the A t tyadze was said to havebeen followed abou t the year 1200 B.C. by a seconddynas ty which carried back its genealogy to Sandon

,

the su n -god h imsel f, a deity whom the Gre eks, accordin g to the variou s aspects of the natu re ascribed toh im by the Lydians, sometimes identified with theirApollo

,and at other times with their Heracles . As

the fou nder of the new dynasty the Greeks cal l h imHeracles . Agron

,the fou rth descendant of th is

Sandon-Heracles, is said to have ascended the throneof Lydi a in the year 1 1 94 B. C. After h im twentytwo kings, the descendants of Agron, bore the crownof Lydi a for a space of 505 years

,down to the year

689

Vo l . I . p. 663 R.

H er odo t us allows 1 70 yea r s for t h e Mermn adae , th e su ccm or s of

t h e H e racl e i dw o f Lydi a . If t h e fa ll o f Crwsu s is to bo placed , as I

TH E OVERTHROW OF THE HERACLEIDS IN LYDIA . 416

The power possessed by Lydia under thi s family ofrule rs canno t have been very considerabl e. When the

sh all prove in Bookm ch s p. 6. i n t h e ycar 6

tor Gyges must h ave sscen ded th e t h r on s in 7 19 (649 4- 1709

In t h e ca n on of Euseb i u s t h e se r iss of t h e Lydian kin g s b eg in s

wi t h th e Ss ndon id A r dm wh ose ae cemion Eu se bi u s places immedi s te ly b e for e O lymp I ., an d it con t in ue s 230 y ear s. I n t h e same“a n on th e ds t e d t h e n e rmn adm b eg im lw yes rs before t h e fa l l

d Orm md con ssqn e n t ly in t h e y ear GWmo.

T h e h ct t h at H er odotu s al l ows year s to two r ul e rs of th e five“m adn is n o r eason for dspar t i n g fr om h i s da tes. Bu t we h avo

s ssn s h ove . t h a t th e fir st i nvas ion of t h e west of As ia Min or by th eGmmfi an s must b e placed s b ou t t h e year

'

IOO s o. T h e ti n s is

t h e ds ug h te r on smemmn kin g on me a 627), wh o dedics te d a

t h re n e s t Dclpt sm yge s sen t pr esen t s' t h ee e i g n e dd n Eu so

b iu g b om738 ma t 0 696 n c. , in wh ich ye a r h o kil l ed h imsel f by b u l l'

s

I t

wu in t h is invu ion of'

t h e Cimmer isn s t h a t Msg n esia su ccumb edt h e fn l l of wh ioh A r ch i loch u s men t ion ed i n t h e l i n e , “ s ep fo r th o

Wh e n th i s h appw c ygu wu n ot ye t fing of Lydis . Cmdau l eg t h eM Smdo nn m st i l l on t h e thm e .

“ I s i t not admi tte d,"ssys

Ptiu y .“ tha t t h e pi ctu r e o f Bu ls rch u s , wh ich r epre sen ted t h e ba tt le d

t h cflsg n edm m pumh an d for iu we ig h tmgOMby Oan daM t h o

h st ki n g of t h e race o f th o H e racl sidm, wh o is also cal le d h l yrsi l u s ?"

“ Hist . A n d a lso “Ki nn a ds u l os ps id

fo r t h s picmrs o fBuh re h u smpre ssn t in g t h e de fca t of t h e Mag u esis n ss wo rk ofmode r a to simi n De t lcfien ) . A ccordmg to th is hfidss was on t h e t h re n c b d o re Gygss,sn d l h gn e sis fe l l b ofo re t h o Cimme r im wh en th o lsst H er sclcid h e l d

m y in l q dis ; sn d ss t h e O imme r is as cou l d on ly r-e sch l l s g n es ia

t h e n g h Ph r yg imOan da u los mu s t h svs n t on t h s t h r on c in t h e ye a r096 3.0. sn d 1s ts r . H e nm b ot h t h c n umb sn of He rodo tu s wh ich g ivo

7 l o s c~md t l i os s of Euscb i us wh ich g ive 609 1 a fe r t h e scocssion of

Gym na s tm h ig h . Bu t th e ls t t e r s llow s n sb b n vis t io n of t en yos u .

I n H u e do tu s twclm ymn m d lowe d to S sd yu ttm th s th i rd H emimd z i n t h s cs no n o fflm b i u s h o h s sflh sn yss n z b u t in t h o l ist o!

Iq tfis n kin g s in t h cflrd h ooh wh ich in t h c mst sg lm wit h t h e cs n on

(it is un impomn t t h s t fiyge s h ss in t h e tomst w, ia t h o ls tte r ao

m A rdysflin t h o on o sn d M in th o o t h src flad o n lyfln min st esd of fll tcon g ivcn to Ssdys ttu . If wo scospt t h is s bh r svis tio n

Os nds u h s wss st i l l on t h o th r oa s in th e yss r m u a O yg es s scon dud

mw m m m w n mm m s c. The re s a'so t h e r gmu n dg bcsido t h e so quo t sd. wh ich m b e t h is mason r y.A n a rba n i pd ol A u h ur to l d m ol h i s dod i n gs wi t h Gym of th o

4 16 LYDIA .

G reeks forced the Phenicians from the islands of the

n ean Sea , and then , abou t the end of the eleventhand beginn ing of the tenth century B.C .

, landed o n

the western coas t of Asia Minor, the Lydians were notable an y more than t h e Teu crians and Mysians in theNorth

,or the Carians in the Sou th

,to prevent the

establishment of t h e Greeks on the ir coasts , the loss ofthe ancient native sanctu aries at Smyrna, Colophon ,Ephesus, and the fou nding of Greek cit ies in theirland on the mou ths of the Lydian rivers, the Hermu sand t h e Cays t e r , though the Greek emigrants camein isolated expedi tions over the scan I t was on theLydian coasts that the most important Greek cit iesrose ; Cyme, Ph ocaaa , Smyrna, Colophon , Ephesu s .Pr i e n e , Myu s, and Miletu s were on t h e land of theCarians . The Homeric poems wou ld hardly haveomi tted to place a str ong body of au xiliaries fromMmon ia , which is their name for Lydia , by the side ofthe oppressed I l ium, if the fame of a powerfu l Lydi ank ingdomhad t hen existed among the Greeks of the coast.The land of the Lydian s is well-known to the Homeri cpoems ; they give a di stinct prominence to the trade,wealth

,and horse-breeding of the Mmo n ian s b u t they

make no mention of any prominent race of ru lers ;1

leagu e be twee n Gyges an d Psamme ti ch us , to whomGyge s se n t h e lpAssu r ba n ipa l began to r e ign in 668 B. C. Psamme t ich u s was fir stplaced ove r Sa is as a vassa l i n A ssy r ia in 66-1 , an d co u ld n ot haver ebe lled again st Assyri a be fo r e 664 B .C. (p . Bu t accordin g tot h e da te s of He r odo tu s Gyge s came to an e n d i n 684 B.C. ; an d if wefollow t h e da t e give n fo r t h e begin n in g o f h is r e ign in Eu sebi u s h edi ed in 663. He n ce t h e on ly possible so lu t io n is t o assume t h e n umbe r s o f t h e fir st book o f Euse bius , with th e r edu ct ion for Sadya t te s .

H en ce t h e da te s fo r t h e r e ign s ar e as foll ows : Gyge s , 689—663 ;Ardys , 653—617 ; Sadya t t es 61 7—612; Alya tte s , 612—663; Cr aasu s,663—649 D .C.

T h e ca talogu e of t h e ships 2. 864) me n t ion s on ly Mesthl e san d A n t iph os as t h e le ade r s o f t h e Maao n i an s , son s of Py lasmen es , andt h e n ymph o f t h e lake Gygaea .

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418 LYDIA.

prosperity since the days of the ancient king A lkimus

( l . as they enjoyed under Ardys . The army ofthe Lydians also was strong u nder the ru le of thiskin g it numbered h or seme n .

I A fragmentof H e racle ides Pontious also gives u s in formationabou t the fortu nes of Ardys at Cyme. Severelyoppressed by their ru ler the Lydians se n t to Cyme, whenthey found that one of their cou ntrymen was there , tosummon h im to the throne . The man was the slave ofa wheelwright . The Lyd ians paid his price and tookh imwith them. Bu t a Cymaaa n who had ordered awagon kept h im back, and told those who remonstratedwith h im, to pu t no hindrances in his way, for he co ns ide r ed it a great thing to possess a wagon wh ich theki ng of the Lydians had made .”2

Herodotu s te lls u s that Can da u l es , whom the Greekscall Myr sil u s, placed the greatest confidence in Gygesthe son of Dascylu s

,one of h i s lance -bearers. He went

so far in this that he determined to convi nce Gygesby the evidence of h is own eyes that the qu een , hisconsort

,was themost beau tifu l of al l women . For this

pu r pose he brought Gyges one even ing into h is bedch amber, and bade h im place himse lf behind the opendoor, so that when the qu een u ndressed herself hemight see her naked . This was done . Bu t the qu eensaw Gyges when he passed o u t . Enraged at theinsu lt offered to her by Ca n da u le s she sent for Gygeson the following morning

,and gave h im the choice

whether he wou ld die on the spot, or slay Can da u les onthe follow ing n ight . He chose the latter. She gaveh im a dagger an d concealed h im behind the de e r

,and

Gyges stabbed Can dau l e s as soo n as he was asleep .

Bu t the Lydi ans rose in arms to avenge the death of

Nico l. Damase . -fr sgm. 49, ed . Mu ll e r .

H e r acl . Pe n t . fr agm. 1 1 , 1 , 2, ed . Muller .

m OVKBT IIBOW OF THE BER ACLEIDS IN LYDIA. “9

the ir king. The adherents of Gyg es and the rest oft h e Lydians came to a compromise , that if the oracleof the god shou ld declare for Gyges as the ki ng oft h e Lydians. he shou ld ru le, bu t i f not, Gyges was tore st or e the ki n gdom to the race of Sandon .

According to the fr agmen ts of Nicola us it was thegood king Ardys who laid the foundation for theoverthrow of the hou se of the S an don i ds. In his oldage , so we are told, Ar dys to ok grea t delight in aman of t h e race o f t h e Mermn adaa. Th is was Das

eylas, the son of Gyges. At len gth Ardys handedover to h im the enti re governmen t. Sadya t te s , theson and heir of Ar dys, became apprehensive that, atthe dea th of Ardys, Dascylu s woul d mi su se the greatpower entruste d to h im, in order to establish himsel fon the thro ne. He ca used Dascylus to be secretly pu to u t of the way. Fil led with grief, the old king causedthe Lydian s to be assembled, had himsel f ca rried intothe assembly in a litter, bade the Lydians discoverthe mu rde rers , on whose heads he impreca te d bittercu rse s , and ended by saying that any one who d iscovere d themmight slay them. But the mu rderer swere not discovered. Afte r the death of Ardys,Sadya t te s asce nded the throne , and he was su cceededby Me l ee . In th is reign Lydia was visi ted by asevere famine, an d an oracle demanded that the dea thof Dascylus shou ld be expiated. The wife of Dascylush ad fled to Phrygia . her home, and h ad there broughtfo rth a so n , with whom sh e was pregn ant at the timeo f h is father

'

s dea th. She h ad given h im the name ofh is father. Das cylus, who h ad now grown up, was

requ este d by Me lee to retu rn to Sardis, in order torece ive there the ato nement for the mu rder of h isfa ther. Bu t Dascylus fear ed to retu rn , and retir ed tot h e Syrians who dwell in Sinope, on the Pontus ,

“ 2

420 LYDI A

where he married a Syrian woman , who b o r e h imGyges . After the reigns of Meles and My rsu s, Candau le s ascended the throne of Lydia . Then the ag e dbrother of t h e mu rdered Dascyl u s

,who had remained

in Sar dis and was ch ildless, besought the king thath is nephew Dascylu s might be allowed to retu rn toSardis

,that he might adopt h im as his son before

his death . This pr ay e i' t h e king granted, b u t Dascylu s

refu sed to leave his abode ; he se n t his son Gyges,then eighteen years old

,to his great-u ncle at Sardis.

Gyges was a handsome you th. In riding and in a l l

mar tial exercises he su rpassed his comrades ; and he hadal so proved his bravery in war . Owin g to his statu rea nd his beau ty the king took h im in to his body-guard ,made h imh is favou ri te , honou red h imbefore all o t hers,and gave h im large presents of land \Vhen Can dau l eswou ld marry Tu do

, t h e daugh t er of A r n o ssu s , the kin gof the Mysians

,he sent Gyges to bring home the bride .

While Gyges was bringin g the princess to Sardis i nhis chariot

,he fell violently in love with her, and, no

longer mas ter of himself , attempted to embrace h er , inspi t e of her stru ggles an d thr eats. On her arrival inSardis she did n o t conceal what Gyges had done, andthe king swore that the offender shou ld be pu t todeath on t h e nex t day. A maid who was devoted toGyges overheard the words of the king and repeatedthem to Gyges on the same n ight. Determined toslay the king rather than allow himself to be slain ,Gyges collecte d his nearest friends, besought theirassista nce, and reminded them of t h e cu rse whi chArdys had laid on the mu rderers of his grandfather.I n arms they has tened into the royal ci tadel . Themaid opened the door of the bed-chamber for Gyges,wh o stabbed the sleeping king with his sword . Inthe morning a message went forth from the ci tadel to

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422 LYDIA .

The same fau l t of excessive and misplaced confidence ,though in ano ther direction

,is in Herodotu s the cau se

of the overthrow of Ca n dau les and his hou se. In athird version , given by Plu tarch , we still find thesame motive . When Heracles had slain Hippolyte

(the qu een of the Amazons) , he gave her battle-axe toOmphale . The kin gs who ru led over Lydi a afterOmphale, had carried t his battle-axe, each handi ng itto his su ccessor, down to Can dau les , who disregardedit and gave it to h is favou rite to carry ; b u t th isfavou rite in Plu tar ch is not Gyg es.

l

The relation in to which Herodotus represents thewife of Can dau l es as ente ring, afte r her di shonou r,with Gyges, the gu ard of her hu sband, appears to befou nded on a simi lar story, whi ch a legend ascribe sto an ancestor of Gyges . Gyges, the forefather ofLydus, so we are told in Plato , was one of the shepherdsof the kin g of the Lydians. Aft er a severe storm ofrain and an earthqu ake, the earth opened where hewas keepin g his cattle. O u t of cu riosity he descendedi nto the gu lf, and saw marvel lou s thin gs : amongothers a brazen horse with windows, throug h whi chhe saw a dead man of su perhuman size, who hadn othing on beyond a golden ring on his finger. Thisring Gyges took

,and cl imbed ou t . Wh en he sat

among t h e rest of the shepherds in order to give thekin g t h e monthl y accou nt of the condition of theflocks

,wi th th is rin g on his finger, he happened to

tu rn the stone on it towar ds h imsel f. Then b e perce ived tha t the others did not see h im, and spoke ofh im as tho ugh absent . When he tu rned the stoneaway from hims elf, he was again seen by them.

Having as su red himself of this fact , b e procu red thathe shou ld be chosen among the messengers sent to the

Vo l . I . p. 573. Plu ta r ch, Q u ze st . Grace . 45 .

THE O VERT IIBOW OF THE IIERACLR IDS IN LYDIA . 423

kin g. The re he won the favou r of the queen , u nitedwi th her for the overthrow of the king

, sl ew h im,and

sei zed the throne .

‘

We saw that the Lydians derived the tribes of theirnation from Attya and Cotys, the sons of the godManes, and from the sons of Lydus, T o r r h ebu s andAsi us. If the first Gyges could be called an ancestoro f Lydus , he must have held a high position in thelegen d of the Lydian s. This conclu sion is confirmedby the Homeric poems in wh ich the lake of Gyges isthe ce ntre of the Lyd ian land and the Lydian life.O n this lake of Gyges the descendants of the youngestGyges , his successors on the throne, which he had wonfor them, had their tombs ; b u t the graves of the kin gsbefore themwere also to be sought on the same lake.The race of the Mermn adae , which carried back i tsorigin to the first Gyges, must, therefore, have beenancient and important among the Lydi ans. Consciousof su ch a descent, i t may have considered itself li ttleinferior to the hou se of the kings, whose ancestor wasthe su n -god himse lf. We might, perhaps , assumethat the Mcrmn adze , in the later days of Ardys or aft erh im,

attained to prominent importa nce ; that anxietyon account of this promin ence brought on them perse cu t io n and expulsion on t h e part of the su ccessors ofA rdys. The wife of the mu rdered Dascylus fl ies tothe Ph ryg ians ; h e r eo n of the same name takes refugewi th t h e Syrians on the Pontus. at Sinope . H e nce

the exiles sought not only protection b u t also supportamong the ir neighbou rs against the kings of theLydians Pausanias mentions to us a place belongingto Dascylus on the White Plain in Caria, on t h e

borders of I .yd ia ;’ and Plu ta rch t ells u s : “ A r scl is ,

the Carian of Mylasa , came to t h e a id of Gyges , the

Pla to . Do Bop.

" p. 869.m. I‘a uaan . 1 . 86. I t .

424 LYDIA .

son of Dascylu s t h e you nger, when he fought againstCan da u le s , and helped Gyges to victory. A r se l is slewb o t h Ca n dau l e s and the you th to whomCan dau les hadgiven the sacred symbol of the royal oflice of Lydia,and placed t h e battle-axe as an ornament in the handof the statu e of Zeu s at Mylasa." Hence Gyges wasin commu nicat ion with t h e Carians when he rebell edag ainst Can dau l e s .

We may go a step fu rther. At the time whenCa n dau l e s reigned e ver Lydia (706— 689 theCimmerians invad ed Phrygia from Pontus , the veryregion to which t h e you nger Dascylu s

,the father of

Gyges,is said to have fled ; king Midas took his own

life in consequ ence of this disas ter (696 TheMag n es ian s, who inhabi ted the most in land city of theGreeks on the lower Maeander, su ffered at the handsof the Cimmerians a defeat mu ch lamented by theGreeks and the poet Gall inna of Ephesu s cried to hiscou n t rymen , the army of the Cimmerians

,who have

done mighty deeds, is approaching,” and u rged them

to brave resistance .

1 Lydi a was not spared . Sardiswas taken by the Cimmerians (I . The stormpassed over, b u t it had beyond a dou bt deeply shakenthe Lydian kingdom and the position of king Cand au l es . Of this king we only know that he paid theGreek pa inter

,Bu lar ch u s

,for a pictu re which r epr e

sented the bat tle and defeat of the Mag n e s ian s wi than equ al weight of gold

,though the pictu re was of

moderate siz e only . This was a passion for art li ttlein accordance with the posit ion of his kingdom, an d

it seems to confirm t h e accou nt of Plu tarch thatCan da u l e s reigned with li t tle care, an d left thegovernment to a favou rite . After the b l ow whi chLydia su ffered by the invas ion of the Cimmerians

,the

Fr ag-m. 2, 3, ed . Be rgh .

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436 LYD IA .

descendants of the native sun-god were to lose or keep

the throne . The oracle of the god of Delphi decidedfor Gyges . In grati t u de he sent rich presen ts , a greatmass of sil ver and gold, to Delphi . Herodotus me ntion s especially six golden mi lk-vessels,in weight. ‘

He r od. I , I4.

CHAPTER XVI I I .

LYDIA U NDER THE MERMN A DE .

T HE Delphian priesthood did no service to theircou ntrymen on the weste rn shore of Asia Min or whenin the year 689 B.C. they helped Gyges to the thronein spite of the resis tance of t h e Lydians. The citiesof t h e Greeks on these coast s, whose fou nders had indays past been expelled by war and dis tress fr om theircanto ns, had come to power and prosperity in thecou rse of the three centuries wh ich had since elapsed .

For ced to a vigorous exercise of the ir powers, amid anenvironment of many new impu lses, they su rpassedthe motherland in poetry and art , in navigation andtr ade . From their harbou rs they exported th e products of Phrygia and t h e manu factu res of Lydia tothe Cyclades, to Chalcis and Ere tria

, to Corin th andt h e main land of Hellas . Thu s they gradually grewup in t o a naval power which drove even the trad in gshi ps of the Ph e n ie ian s from the d i g ean Sea, openedthe Black Sea , and already began t o rival the Phenie ia n s in the sou th an d west of t h e Mediterranean.Sprin gin g up on the soil of Lydia these citi es barredthe mo u ths of the Lydian river s, the highways to t h esea , an d excluded t h e Lydian people from in te rcou rsewi t h t h e sea . Miletu s, Myna , an d Prisno commandedt h e mouth of t h e h imander ; Ephes us and Co lophon the

42? LYDI A .

mou th of the Cays te r ; Phocaea and Cyme the mou t hof the Hermu s. An active prince on the throne ofLydia cou ld not endu re that the Greeks shou ld remainin possession of the coas t

,which they had taken from

the Lydians, and keep the Lydians for ever cu t o ff

from the sea . The new dynasty mu st attempt torecover t h e losses which t heir predecessors had beenu nable to prevent .When confronted by the power of the Lydian s

collected in the hands of a single warrior,the Greek

ci t ies cou ld not, for long, avoid falling in to a positionsimilar to that in which the Phenicians at that timefou nd t hemselves as O pposed to the Assyrians. Lydi awas not indeed so strong as Assyria

,b u t it lay nearer

at hand ; and the resour ces of Phocaea, Smyrna,Colophon , Ephesu s, and Miletu s, cou ld not bear comparison with those of Tyre

,Sidon

,and Ar adu s . In

spite of their common origin and ki ndred blood, theGreek ci t ies, l ike those of the Phenician s , were wi thou tany pol i t ical combination . It is tru e t hat the Ioniancit ies cfi

'

e r e d each year a common sacrifice to Poseidon,on the sea-shore u nder the spu r of Mou nt Myca l e , b u tfor t h e rest, n o t only was each commu ni ty isolatedfrom the others, b u t the commu nities were often at feu damong themselves. Even in the bosom of the separatecities t h e opposition of parties was not wantin g : i twas not long since the nobles had overthrown themonarchy, and taken t h e government in to their ownhands. If the citizens ventu red to give battle in theopen field

,and the Lydians by means of their su perior

forces drove them back into their walls,and laid waste

their crops, the cities which did n o t l ie immedi atel yon the sea were exposed to continu ed devastati on , an dwith the greater certa in ty becau se these devastationscou ld be made more severe by sieges. Even the cities

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430 LYDIA .

occasion it happened that they were defeated by Gygesand t h e Lydian s, and driven into the city . TheLydians forced their way in to the gates along withthe fugitives. Bu t the cou rage and bravery o f theSmy r n ze an s were successful in hu rl ing back theenemies .1 Nor did any bette r su ccess attend theattack of Gyges on Miletu s ; b u t against Colophon heobtained some advantage . ’

Su ch are the accou nts given by the Greeks of thedeeds of Gyges From these it appears t hat Gyges

ju stified his u su rpation of t h e throne by attacks, moreor less su ccessfu l , against t h e ancient opponents whochecked the rise of Lydia. It is also clear fromother sour ces of informati on , that he had himselfto h ea t o ff the attacks of a mighty enemy

,and that he

was by no means fortun ate in withstandin g t hem.

Among the Gre eks we have only a brie f and accidental statement, fr om whi ch we could conclu de thatGyges had to deal with other enemies beside theGreek cities. This statement merely te l ls u s that t h eCimmerians had settled in A n t an dru s on the coast ofthe Troad for a centu ry . The Cimmerians are said tohave been first driven o u t by Al yatt es king of Lydi a,who reigned down to 563B. C. those Cimmerian s therefore who in habited A n tan dr u s, mu st have come thereat the time of Gyges, who reigned from689 to 653B.C .

That Gyges had really to u ndergo severe st ruggle swith the Cimmerians we learn from the di st an t east,from Nineveh . The inscriptions of Esarhad don ofAsshu r (681—668 B.C.) told u s that T iuspa , the chi ef

1 He r od . I , 14. Pe n n. 4 , 21 , 3; 9 , 29, 4 .

Acco rdin g to Her odo t u s , Ioc. cit . Gyge s takes t h e city bu t n ot t h ecitade l o f Co lophon acco rdi n g to Athen ia n s (p. 256) h e con clu ded a

fri en dly t r ea ty with Co lophon . I n Po ly te n u s also t h e Co lophon ian sr ema in ed for a l on g t ime in leagu e with t h e Lydia n s , be for e Alya t t esdepr ived them of the ir co u n tr y by tr ea che r y ; 7 , 2, 2.

LYDIA UNDER THE MEBMN ADE . 431

of the d ist ant land of the Cimmerians, had submittedto h im (p . As the Assyrians held the Mosch i ,the Ti h a re n es, and the Cil icians in dependence ,t h e Cimmerians when set tled on the lower H alys,which event took place before the year 700 B. C. ,

became neighbou rs of the Assyrian kingdom. Assu rban ipa l of Assyr ia te l ls us that Gyges of Lydiasu bmi tted to h im, that afterwards he was su ccessfu lagainst the Cimmerians, and sent in chain s to Ninevehchiefs of the Cimmerians whom he had ta ken in t h e

batt l e . Assu rban ipal , as we saw , ascended the thronei n 668 B.C. ; the re ign of Gyges came to an e n d in653 n o . Hence his messages to A ssu rbani pal cou ldon ly fall betwee n the years 668 and 653 I t isqu ite conceivable that Gyges when pressed by a newad vance of the Cimmerians towards the We st soughtthe aid of the king of As syria, the powerfu l neighbourof the Cimme rians in the East, in order tha t pressu remight be pu t from that side on these en emi es of Lydia.Assu rbani pal does not te ll us that he sent any assistance to Gyge s he merely tells u s that Gyge s afte rpayi ng homage to h im was enabled by the glory of his

(Assu r ban ipa l’

s) name to bring the Cimmerians to h isfeet, and fought su ccess fu l ly agains t them. Afterwards Gyge s hardened his heart, pu t con fidence in hisown power, and sent h is soldiers to aid Pisamilki ofEgypt, wh o had thrown o ff the yoke of Asse Asa pu nishment for t his the Cimmerians conqu eredan d devas ta ted h is whole land his body was thrownt o his en emies , and his servan ts were carried away

captive.From these statemen ts we must conclude that the

wars which Gyge s carried o n against t h e Greek ci tiesbe longed to the first twenty years of h is re ign thatnew incu rsions of the Cimmerians into Phrygia, an d a

432 LYDIA .

fresh adva n cc on the ir part against Lydia, pu t an end

to t h e attacks of Gyges on the Greeks ; and whenl yg e s had summoned t h e assistance of Assyria

,the

Cimmerians were driven back . When del ivered fromthe Cimmerians Gyges intended no dou bt to pu t an

end to his dependence on Assyria,and to aid in brin g

ing to destru ction this mighty power,wh ich both from

Cilicia and from the H a lys might brin g ru in u pon h im.

\Vi th this object he may have entered in to connect ionswith Psamme t ich u s , agreeing to send h im Ionians andCarians to overpower h is fellow-princes

,in order to

maintain the contest against Assyria at the head ofthe newly-u nited Egypt . Lydia had l ittle to fearfromAssyria, if Egypt revolted at the same time, sinceit was probable t hat al l the efforts of that cou ntrywou ld be directed against t h e valley of the N il e .

Gyges cou ld not send au xi liary troops in to Egyptlate r than the year 653 B.C. (for his reign came to a n

end in that year) . Hence his relations to Assyriawou ld fall within the years 665— 655 B.C. WhetherAssu rbanipal , in order to pu nish the defection

' ofGyges

,u rged the Cimmerians to resume the war, we

cannot certainly say . We cannot con t est the statement of the inscription s of Assu rbanipal that Gygesfell in t his war, though it is remarkable that t h eGreeks know nothi ng or tell u s nothing of su ch animportant occu rrence . Herodotu s te lls u s expresslythat beside the wars again st Miletu s

,Smyrna

,and

Colophon,Gyges performed no action of importance. 1

Of the son and su ccessor of Gyges, Assu rban ipaltells u s that he sent to h im,

di sapproved of his father ’sbreach with Assyria, and pledged his own submissi on

(p . The in scriptions which deal with the relations of Assyria and Lydia are withou t dates. Bu t

He r od . l , 14.

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434 LYDIA .

hands , we learn from Greek accou nts that the Cimmerians were comman ded by Lygdami s ,

1 and that theybrought Ephesu s into great straits . 2 Lygdamis ,

" soCu l l imach us says,

“ led the army of the horse-mi l kingCimmerians, which lay encamped on the strait of thedau ghter of Inachu s,

" against Ephesu s ; in the plain ofthe Cays te r their chariots res ted , and he thr eatened todestroy the temple of Artemis, b u t t h e goddess prot ect e d her shrine . An other statement tel ls u s

,on the

contrary , that Lygdami s bu rnt the temple of Artemis .’

“ I t was a passing raid,

” says Herodotu s, not asu bjugation of the cities.I t is clear that Ardys became mas ter of his land, at

any rate , in the las t third of his reign . I n th is per iod,and u nder his su ccessor S adya t t e s (61 7— 612there were no fu rther incu rsions of the Cimmerians, andAlyattes, the su ccessor of S adya t t e s (612—563

succeeded in completely breaking their power . Herode tna tell s u s that Al yattes dr ove the Cimmerians ou tof Asia. ‘ This was not the cas e : elsewhere we fin dit stated that it was they who agai n attacked Alyattes.“

They wer e no dou bt confined by the arms of Alyattesto their abode on the banks of the lower H alys theybecame su bj ect to the Lydians

,and were lost, as we

saw, i n the Cappado e ian s , whose name among theArmenians is Gamir, i . e . Gimi r a i , Cimmerians .

‘

The repeated incu rsion s of the Cimmerians in to thewest of Asia Minor in t h e cou rse of the seventh cent u ryhad important consequ ences for the lands affected bythem on this side of the H alys. The nearest neighhou t ing states

,especially Phrygia

,were severely shaken

Str abo , p. 61 . Pi n t . “Ma r c. c. 1 1 .

St r abo , p. 627. 647. A then aeu s (p. i t i s tr u e , doe s n ot

e n t ir e ly agr e e with this .

3 Gallim.

“ Hymn in D ian .

’ 252—260. H e sych . A éyaam.

Her od. 1 , 1 6.

5 Po lyaan .

“ Str a te g .

” 7, 2, l . VOL I. p . 649.

LYDIA UNDER THE MBRMN ADE . 433

by th em, more se verely, beyond a doubt, than Lydia.‘

From abou t the year 630 u nder the strong gu idance of Ar dys

, Sadya t te s , and Alyattes, Lydia arosewith firmness and ener gy, and became a protectingpower against the Cimmerian s for the west of As iaMinor. Thi s position , and the su periori ty whichLydia also pom d in the harder an d severer natureof her popu lation, brou ght abou t the resu l t that whenGyges h ad su bjugate d Mysia, Phrygia as far as theH alys became dependent on the Lydian kingdom in

the last years of Ardys,or in the t ime of his su ccessor

Sadya t t es For the Lydian domini on over As ia Minort h e Cimmerians had prepared the way even moreth oroughly than the Scyth ians had prepared the wayfor the Mod es in the East. As Lydia and Media werethe first to reco ver, they soon obtained the su premacyi n the one case as in the other. If it could be said ofAlyatte s that he expelled the Cimmerians from AsiaMinor, the dominion of Lydia mu st at least haveexte nded to the H alys. I t was on this river that thetwo new powers

,ris in g on the Eas t and the Wes t, came

into co ll ision .

The Greeks of cou rse can only give u s preci seinformation abou t the struggles of Ardys, Sadya t t cs,and A lyattes against the ci ties of the coast. Herodota s tells us that Ar dys like Gyges attacked Mil etus,withou t achievin g an y su ccess he su cceeded howeverin takin g Pr ie n e , opposi te M iletus, at the entrance oft h e Mil esian Gu lf. Other accounts and late r eventsshow that this conques t was not ma in tained .

3 Wemust pu t the attacks of Ardys on t h e G reek ci ti es inthe last decad e of his reign (627—61 7 Sadya t tcs

‘ O n th o long st s y o l t h e fimme r is n s in Ph rygi l . 8tcph . Byl-n t.

‘ Ha ol b . DiogJ A e rL L SS .

436 LYDIA .

directed his efforts against Smyr n a and Mi letu s,which at that t ime was governed by the tyrantThrasybu l us . ‘ The Milesians went ou t to meet theLydian army in the open field . Bu t they weredefeated in two great battles, fi rst at L ime n e um, andthen on the Maeander, and were thus compelle d toshu t themselves u p i n the walls . Behi nd th eseSadya t te s coul d do them no harm.

Herodotu s tells u s that Sadya t t e s conte nte d himselfwith destroying t h e harvest of the Milesians every yearas soon as the corn was ripe in the land of the ci ty,

(1 with cu tting down the fru i t-trees. This went o n

for six years til l his death,when his son and su ccessor

continu ed the war in the same manner. When atleng th he believed that the Milesians were broughtinto distress and scarcity by these continu al devastations, in the twelfth year of the war, he was deceivedby a stratagem of Thrasybu lu s. Thrasybu lu s learntfrom Corinth that a herald of the king wou ld comein to the ci ty to offer a tru ce . The citizens wer e comman ded , therefore , to bring ou t into the market-placea ll the corn which was to be fou nd in the hou ses, asthou gh it were for sale there

,and to keep holiday

with banqu ets and merry-making. Convinced by theaccoun t of his herald that a l l his efforts hitherto hadbeen in vain

, A lyattes conclu ded a tr eaty of peacewith the Milesians. ’ No weight can be laid on thedetails of this narrative. In the twelfth year of thewar

,according to Herodotu s, when the fields were

being laid was te and the corn bu rned, the temple ofA t h e n a at A ssessu s was set on fire . Alyattes then fellsick, and as he remained sick a long time he sent toDelphi to inqu ire abou t h i s recovery . Delphi replied

1 Th e a t tack o f Sadya t te s on Smyr n a is vou ched for by N i co la us,fr agm. 64

,ed . Muller . He r od. I , 1 7—1 9.

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433 LYDIA .

i n Mil etu s, may have exci ted in the Lydians the hopeof overcoming the ci ty wi th less diffi cu l ty . It speaksmuch for the strength of Miletus that her citi zens wereable to meet the Lydians in the open field . There canhardl y be a dou bt that the land of the Milesians wasdevastated for several su ccessive years. The Lydiansmu st have attempted to wear o u t the city by thismeans

,to re u se dissat isfaction among the landed pro

pr i e to rs by their losses, and among the lower classesby causing a scarcity. The owners of the land losteach year their crops and their sheep with these t h eraw material for the important wool industry of theM i lesians was destroyed

,and tr ade with the interior

was impossible . When,however

,the Lydians fou nd

that the city held o u t stubbornly they at length desisted

,and preferred to win the first city of th e Greeks

by treaty rather than by war.According to the dates which we obtained above for

the reign of Gyges and his su ccessors, the twelve years’

war against Miletu s mentioned by Herodotu s mu sthave begun u nder Ar dys, and ended u nder S adya t te s .

It was in the las t years of S adya t t e s (61 7—612s o ), i nthe year 61 5 B.C .

,as we saw above

,that the great war

began between the Me de a and the Lydians, whichHerodotu s pu ts in the time of Alyattes (61 2— 563

The advances of the Median power to the West andtheir approach to the H al ys mu st have compelled theLydian s to pu t an end to the war with Miletus, i norder to protect the eastern border of their kingdom.

We know the su pposed cau se and the cou rse of thewar between Lydia and Media

,which went on to the

year 61 0 B .C.,with varyin g fortu ne, bu t not to the dis

advantage o i the Lydians .

1 The Lydians, though far

T h e r easo n s fo r which I be lieve i t n ecessa r y to ma in ta in thi s da tear e give n above

,p. 288 , n .

LYD IA UNDER THE MERMNAD£

weaker in numbers, showed themse l ves vigorou s opponents of the Med ea . The severe struggle cou ld findno more honou rabl e close for Media than the treatywh ich made the H alys the limi t between Lydia andMedia, and uni ted the two cou ntries by marriage aswell as by treaty. A ryan is, the daughte r of Alyattes ,became the wife of A styages , the son of Cyaxar es ofMedia (p.Secured in the east by t h e al liance wi th Media

Alyatte s cou ld direct his whole force to the esta blishme n t of the Lydian power wi thin the H a lys. TheCarian s were subjugated .

‘ Alyattes did not obtainequ al su cce sses over t h e Greek citi es , though Miletu s,true to the tre a ty, held aloof. His attack on Smyrnawas perhaps the occasion on whi chMimn e rmus repeatedi n h is poems to h is co u ntrymen the brave deeds of theSmyr nma ns in o ld days against Gyges (p. an d

a tt empte d to reu se the cou rage of the present generati on by the memory of the achievements of the past.He reminded the Smyr n aaan s how they h ad oncedriven the Lydians ou t of the gate s of their city. In

some verses which have come down to u s he praisesthe de eds of a hero of olden time, not withou t a t e

proach ful side-glance at the li ving generation :“ Not

of su ch a kind was the cou rage and the brave heartof the warrior, of whom the forefathers to ld me , howthat they h ad seen h im,

spear in hand , on the plain oft h e Hermu s , driving before h im the troops of themo unte d Lyd ians . In the cou rage of h is sto u t heart

A t th o t imo o t t h is Csfisna mp-ig n o f Al p tt ru-q rdin g to th ism n m vim y

of th o n g i on o t Adn myt toum. I t must th m for s b o plscsd s h ou t

t h o yu r m d n oo flsm vu b a n in M I a A dn myt t s umb u id t o h s n b ssn louaded by s bmth n o‘ Om m ot t h o nsmo of

A dv-smyt t u s : St aph. Dyn a cv. In N ico ls us Mn mys is s n il lopt ims te son offisdys t t ss T h o d ty m es r t s in lymuch o ldo r . AMp. 616. me n t io n s s u old kin g o l Lydis ot t h s namo of Ad rm ym

440 LYDIA .

Pallas Athene herself cou ld find nothing to reproach ,when in the bloody fight b e pressed onward with theforemost, beset with the t h ick voll ey of the enemy.

Never man knew better how to withstand the tumu l tof battle

,so long as the su n shone on h im.

" Perhapsthe Smyr n aaan s were no longer fired with the martialcou rage of old days ; in any case the su periori ty ofthe Lydians was very great . Al yattes took Smyrna,an d in order to keep the city in more complete su b

j ect io n , b e cau sed the walls to be thrown down , andforced the Smyr n aean s to dwell in an u n fo r t ified place.

’

Colophon was also captu red . This was a rich cityeven before the time of Gyges the greater part of thecitizens are said to have been prosperou s . Xenophanesreproaches h is fell ow-citiz ens of Colophon that theyhad learnt lu x u riou s habits from the Lydi ans

,that

t h e senators of the city- they were a thou sand inn umber, chosen from all the me n of property—cameto themarket-place in garments wholly colou red withpu rple,

” “ pluming themselves on their bea u tiful lyarranged hair, and drenched with the perfumes ofcostly ointments. ” According to the accou nt of

Mimn e rm. fr agm. 1 1 , ed. Be r gk. I fMimn ermn s,t h e con tempor a r y

o f So lon , is some t imes called a Smyr n re an , an d some t imes a Co lopho n ia n ,

t h e expla n a ti o n is tha t Mimn e rmu s de r ived h is r ace fr omt h e Co lo phoni a n s , wh o h ad taken Smyr n a fr om t h e Ashram Str abo , p . 634 . I t

is n o t st r a n ge tha t Mimn e rmu s as a b oy ma y have he a r d t h e st o r yo f t h e st r u ggle s aga in st Gyge s fr om h is fa the r s an d gr an dfa t h e r s.T h e a t ta ck o f Alya t te s u po n Smyr n a , be lo n gs to t h e pe r iod aft e r 580,t h e la st decade o f Alya t te s , beca u se (h ‘msu s co n t in u es t h e war agai n stt h e Gr e ek citi es withou t an y br e ak .

He r od. l , 1 6. N ic. Dama sc. fr ag. 64 . St r abo (p . 646) te lls u s

tha t t h e Smyr n aaan s h ad be en compe lled to dwe ll se par a te ly in seve r a lo pe n villages , an d tha t the y lived in this ma n n e r for 400 yea r s, downto t h e t ime o f An t igon u s. I n this r e cko n in g, i n an y w e e , the r e is a

ce n tu r y to o mu ch ; mo r e ove r , Pin da r (fr agm. i n ce r t . 1 52, ed . Disse n )spe aks o f t h e cha rmi n g city o f Smyr n a. He n ce t h e view given in t h ete xt is take n .

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442 LY Dl A .

great-grandson repeat the ancien t names S adya t t esand Alyatte s . The reign of Alyattes, extended almostto half a centu ry, appears to have borne good fru its fort h e domestic relations of Lydia. The subject nations

,

t h e Mysians, Bithynian s, Phrygians, Paphlagon ian s,and Carians

,mu st wit hou t dou bt have paid heavy

tribu te. From th is,from the produ ct of the gold

was hing in the Pactolu s, the mines in Tmo l u s andS ipy lu s , Alyattes collecte d a large treasu re in theci tadel at Sardis . The Lydians preserved a grat efu lmemory of Alyattes, 1

“ the most ju st and wise oftheir kings

, as Xanthu s cal ls h im. His gu idance hadset them entirely free from the risks so ofte n broughtu pon their cou ntry by the Cimmerians

,had raised

them to be the dominant nation in Asia Minor, andin time of peace the kingdom was no doubt broughtinto excellent order by h im.

H ippon ax of Ephesu s points ou t the way to Smyrnat o a friend by the following marks Go through theregion of the Lydians

,pas t the grave of Al yattes

,

past the monument of Gyges and the pillars, past themonument of A t t ys, the great kin g, with you r face tothe sett ing su n .

”2 Herodot u s tells u s : “ Lydia possesses a work which is the greatest of all , excep t theworks of the Egyptians and the Babylonians , and it isthe monument of Alyattes . The lower part consist sof great stones

,si x stades and two pl e t h r a in circum

ference (3800 feet) ; the remainder is a heap of eart h,which the merchants and the traders, the a r t iz an s an dworkmen , and the cou rtesans bu ilt . On the monu

Bu idas ’M vd rmc.

H i ppo n ao t . , fr agm. 1 6, ed . Be r gk. Sch n ei dewin’s con ject u r e to r ead

Alya tte s fo r A tta l es ought ce r ta in ly to b e adopte d, thou gh Al ya t te sh a d a so n ca lled A tta l es . T h e way mu s t have be e n fixed by t h ela r ge st mon umen t '

A r rvoc fo r'

0r vc se ems ce r ta in ; on t h e o the rha n d h i vpcih ov for s w am. is n o t pe rmiss ible .

LYDIA UNDER T HE MBBhi N AD.E. 443

ment above stood, even in my time , five sto ne pillars,an d t h e inscriptions on the se told u s what each sec tionh ad paid, and themeasure of that which the oou r t emn sbu il t was the larges t. ” l Xenophon also spe aks of alarge tomb in the neighbour hood of Sardis

,on the

summit of which were five pil lars. ’

The princes of the Lydians h ad their sepulchresbeyond the Hermu s, on a rocky plateau , abou t fivemil es to the north of Sardis , betwee n the Hermu s andthe sou thern shore of the grea t Gygman lake . O n

this fiel d of the dead , which the Osmans cal l Bin Tepe,i . e . the thou sand h il ls, there rise to this day fr omsixt y to e ighty tombs , among which three huge roundtumu l i stand pre-eminent. The small est of t hese is2000 feet in the circuit and 1 10 feet in heig ht ; thela rgest is more than 3500 feet, and rises abou t 230feet above t h e plain. Under this mou nd. right opposi te the acropolis of Sardis, rested ki n g Alyattes. TheLydians preferred to bu ry their dead in chambers ofrock where t hese were not to be had , they buried themin chambe rs of strongmasonry, over which were placedlayer s of stone in a circle , to be finally crowned withthe se pu lchra l tumulu s. In t h e same manner, only o na larger sca le, the tombs of t h e kings wer e prepa red ;and the stateme nts of Herodotus abou t the origin ofthe mou nd of Alyattes may h ave a fou nda t ion in sofa rm; the zea l o f t h e people helped to ra ise it h ighe r-than

‘ R emd l . 93.

mon oph on m ku nn of i t in t h o Cympo d is fw h ia own obj cct

(7 , a). Cl-mh m o l fio li a fls th o tomb o l A lyu t t u ' ‘ t h o t omb of t h o

HM " A t tica . Gyp loved s pau mon r oo pa-iou u lytha t -b o m b im aa d t h o ki ngdou . A ftor h cr du th h o oo l

h ch d th e lq dh n a an d h u pd up a mm d in h c h dnm . wh ich -1 sn

444 LYDIA.

’

the tombs of his predecessors . In the tomb of Al yattesthe flat elevation of rock was changed into a largecircu lar su rface , b u t northwards the natu ral rock wasallowed to remain . On th is wall of rock, to t h e sou thof the centre of the circle

,the sepu lchral chamber of

Al ya t tes was made to extend . I t was bu il t of lar gegreyish-white blocks of marble, bea u tifu lly pol ished .

These were cu t with the greate st regu larity,and care

fu ll y fitt ed to each other, and u nited stil l more firmlyby dovetails of mol ten lead. The length of this qu adr a n gu l a r chamber is ten feet

,the breadth six feet

,the

height is more than six feet . The entrance lies on thesou th side towards Sardis . This entrance was keptaccessible by a portico, which was al so paved w ithsqu ares ofmarble, fu rni shed on either side with blocksofmarble as high as the door, and vau l ted over withhewn stones of irr egu lar and angu lar shapes. Thesepu lchral chamber and portico were then su rrou ndedby mas onry, which filled up the entire area of thecir cle and was carried u p to the same height as thesepu lchral chamber and the rock behin d it . On th issu rface the funeral ceremon ies were held, and sacrificesoffered, as is proved by a layer of cinders two feetthick, which lies on the marble squ ares of the roof ofthe sepul chral chamber . When the bu rial was over

,

the door of the chamber was closed by marble blocksfitted into it

,an d other heavy blocks were laid in

front of these for the portico. After this the mas onry,

i n order to bear the mou nd bette r, was raised abovethe height of the chamber ; and last of al l the mou ndwas piled up in regu lar layers, a layer of l ime mixedwith sand and large stones, a thinner layer of clay,a layer of earth of equ al thickn ess, on which was againplaced a layer of lime and sand broken with largestones . Finally the po int of the mou nd was sur

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446 LYDIA .

Even fromthe dangerou s trial of the Median war Lydi ahad emerged, not only withou t loss, b u t even withhonou r. All Asia Min or on this side of the H a lys ,

with the exception of the Greek cities and the secludedmou nta in territo ry of the Lycians, obeyed the k ings ofthe Lydians. Their cou ntry was on friendly termswith Babylon , and in close relationship wi t h Media.Even against the Greek cities

,the reduction of Smyrna

and Colophon had at leas t opened the way to the sea .In su ch a position , in the possession of su ch power, i twas impossible bu t that Croesu s shou ld be filled withthe impu l se to complete the work of h is forefathers

,

to carry to an end the subjugation of the Greek cities,

and thu s gain for his kingdom in its fu ll extent theharbou rs an d marts allotted to it by natu re, togetherwith a magn ificent fleet.Though for 1 20years engaged in contests with the

Lydi ans and n o t Spared by the Cimmeri ans,though

torn asu nder in their domestic relations by the strifeof parties

,these cities contin u ed to advance . Th e

position an d the fortu nes of Miletu s down to the timesof Alyattes have been mentioned above . Ever sincethe attempt to smoo t h s the opposition of the nationand the nobles by the ru l e of the “ opu lent waswrecked , the party struggles bu rst o u t in wilder fu rythan before

,and passed into revolu tions and cou nter

revolu tions. Nevert heless, one colony was fou ndedafte r another : Apollonia and O r dessu s on the Thraciancoas t ; Pan t i capasum on the Cimmerian Bosphoru sOlbia and Tyr as on the mou th s of the Dnieste r an dthe Dnieper . The Ph ocaaan s h ad at an earlier timedi scovered t h e northern waters of the Adriatic ; theynow t raded in the land of sil ver beyond the pillars ofHercu les, bu il t Massalia at the mou th of the Rhone,and fought with the Carthaginians on the Tyrrhenian

LYDIA UNDER THE MEBMN ADrE.

S ea . At the divi sion of the scva i t h an d sixth centu r ies the Samians bu il t a splendid temple to Hera,the Ephesians began to tu rn the ancient shrine ofArt emis into a magnificent structu re

,and the Pho

cwan s to e r e ct a beau tifu l dwell ing for Athen e . Plasticart rose with arch itectu re : in ski l l the Greeks su r

passed thei r Lyd ian te achers , while Thales, Anaximan de r , and Cadmu s of Miletu s laid the fou ndationsof Gre ek science ; the splen dou r o f the epic, the bloomof elegiac poe t ry in Ephesu s and Smyrna

,was followed

i n Lesbos by the bold flight of lyric song ; practica lan d politi cal wisdom fou nd representatives l ike Pi ttacu s and Bias . If the Greeks were more brill ian t

,

more we althy than in the days of Gyges an d Ardys,the dominion over themwas the more to be co veted .

However sp lendid t h e re sources whi ch they had atcommand, there was dissension in their midst : theirvigorous colonisation , however mu ch it might advancetrade, must at the same time weaken their popula t ionavailable for war

,and no city su pporte d the other.

Cou ld su ch isolated communities withst and t h e sovere igns who had conqu ered the Cimmerians, andchecked the Med ea ?Gyges and his su ccessors never in te nded to make a

war of ann ih ila t ion on the Greek cities. We saw thatit was only by t he suppo r t of the Delphi c oracle thatGyge s ga ined t h e t hrone this source of hel p aga insth is own people he wou ld not and could not give up.

I t wou ld b e u tterly lost in a war for l ife and dea thwi t h t h e Greek cities . Such inte nti ons wer e not, sofa r as we can see , in t h e min ds o f Gyges and his su e .

cessora least o f al l in t h e min d om us . Thesepri nces wished to make t h e har bou rs subj ect to theirsupr emacy ; t h e y did no t inte nd to pu t the Greeks ina worse posi tion than the Lydians. They worsh ippe d

M8 LYDIA .

the gods of the Greeks, and gave them richer presentsthan any Greek city or canto n cou ld give . Even Gygesentered into relations with Greek famil ies of di stinotion

,which thu s became allied to the roya l hou se ;

from their cities Al yattes to ok a wife. In Sardi sinte rest was shown in Greek ar t ; prominent cit izensof the Greek cities fou nd a welcome at the Lyd ianu r t . When Alyattes recovered fr om his sickn ess

(p. he dedicated a silver mixin g-bowl at Delphi,

the base of which was made by Glau cu s of Ch ios.Herodotu s mentions this as worthy of admirationamong all the dedicatory offerings at Delphi , an d

Pau san ias h as preserved a descripti on of it. Of theworks of Theodoru s of Samos, who first practised thefou nding of brass among the Greeks, Al yattes obtaineda golden and a silver mixing-bowl— the latte r conta in ed 600 amph o r ze — a golden plane-tree

,and a

golden vine with bu nches of inl aid preciou s stones.The scu lptors, D ipce n u s and Sky ll is of Crete, were alsoemployed at the Lydian cou rt . 1

If the Lydian kings came forward to meet the Greeksin this manner, the latter, on their part, were fu ll ofadmi ration for the Lydian power, the splendou r of t h eLydian cou rt, and the weal th of the Lydi an kin gs .The cou rt of the Lydian kin gs was a seat of the monarchical life and man ners of the East

,which the

Greeks saw there in immedi ate proximi ty . Thegolden Sardis,

” where the tr eas u res of Asia Minorwere gathered, was to the Greeks of that time t h esummit of al l imaginable splendou r. The palace ofthe ki ngs on the steep rocks of the citadel on thePactolu s, fr omwhich the eye ranged far and wide intothe cou ntry beyond the bloomin g val l ey of the Hermus , the ancient t emple of Cybele, were no dou bt

Her od. l , 26. Pau san . 10, 16, l , 2. Athen . p. 210.

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450 LYDI A.

which the separate cities were to h e subservient,j u st

as the demes of a city were subservient to the resolut ions of the cou ncil of the city . The seat of thi scou ncil was to be Teos, becau se that city was situate din the midst of the Ionian cities (which lay to thenorth and sou th along the coast) . The Ion ians di sregarded the advi ce o f Thales ; they wou ld not arranget hemselves on the bas is thu s proposed. On the co nt rary , in spite of the warn ing of Thales, M i letus againenter ed into a leagu e with Lydia .

1 I t may be thatthe peace, whi ch after severe internal struggles thedecision of the Parians resto red to the city

,tended to

incl ine them to accept the overtu res of the king. Theyw ished to heal the self- inflict ed wou nds, and shrankfrom taking u pon them a new and seriou s st r uggle .Croesu s strengthened his relations to Mi letu s by sending the most costly offerings to the t emple of Apolloat M i letu s

,the god of which was not in h i s eyes d if

fe r en t from t h e Lydian sun -god, while the antiqu ityof the shrine went back beyond the sett lement of theIonians . In these offerings the gold al one weighedmore than 270 talents .2

By this tr ea ty Crmsus had not only placed Miletu son his side, and separated the cities ; he had alsoshown them that good terms cou ld be got . An armedattack mu st now be employed to in du ce the rest toadapt themselves to these terms . When th e Eph esians hes itated to recogni se the supremacy of Crmsu sas he demanded

,the city was invested

,and the walls

attacked . t e n a tower on the wall s fell , the Eph esians con necte d the temple of Artemi s— the new str u etu r e was scarcely half fini shed, and lay 2000 paces

He r od . l , 1 70. Di og . Lae rt . l , 26.

He r od. l , 82, says : as man y as to De lphi , an d l ike t h e De lphia npr e se n t s .

"

LYD IA UXDER THE MERW ADJE. 45 !

fr om the ga te s in th e depression—with the walls by a

long rope, in order to pu t the city u nder the immediatepr ote cti on of the deity. Nevertheless , the city wascompe lled to su bmi t . 1 Crce su s now aided the bu ildin g of t h e temple. He cau sed the u nfin ished half ofthe large monol i thic pillars, wh ich were to su pport theroof of the temple in a dou ble row, to be ere cte d ath is own cost, and presented the goddess with goldencattle . After the subjugation of Ephesu s, Cr t e su sproceeded to attack the remaining cities, one afte r theo ther ; an d thu s he became maste r of the whole of theci t ies , not of the Ionian only, b u t also of the E ol ianand Dorian . He gran ted th em the most favou rablecondi tions : he di d not even requi re the open ing of t h eci t i u , or their atte ndance in war ; he conte nted h imself with the re cogniti on of h is su premacy and wi ththe yearly payment of tribu te .

’ Yet in any case free~

dom for t h e trad e of the Lydians, and prote cti on atlaw for the Lydi ans in the walls of the Greek cities,as we l l as for the se ttlement of Lydian su bjects , musthave been se cu red . Some citi es on t h e Hellespont,

Palm ‘ smwg . “ E lis a

t e l ln us t h a t Pin da r us wu a t t h a t t imo t y r a n t ol Eph u u s , an d h ad

r e ce ived t h e th mn e by in h e i i ta n ca th o st s temsn t is oor rect od by t h e

u nm of flw u m finu

in wh ich Pia dam gim advim n o t ordm t o

t h o h u iam. T h o “‘ ty r a n n y”cf Pin da r ua t h e n fo r e m n o mo ro

t h s n a promia e n t pod ti o n i n t h o ei t r , moh u wou ld fa l l to a man o l

th o m d t h oflu i l id i s , wh o oa r r ie d t h o aosptm aad wo ro pu r pla Thisdoo mt w t ad de t h o b ct t h a t h l oh a th o b t h a of fin dm h ad to

v ifn a dimg h ta r of A lya t t ss : cu lo b-u '

vo t h a t N ico lam of Damm u n

mlh th e hfih dm fi o h d h fi fo a d ah r d fi M a ds-ou dan to ffls lm t h o hmt hm in -h w of Gygaa

‘ Bo rad i . 27 . Th s t t h o Ion iam did n o t m dar m vioo in m io

cl e a r fmm th o aooo u n t wh ich Ho r odo tm g ivo-o f t h o m om maga in st Oy i

-a s. A n o t h sr poin t i-mo ro dou b tfu l. H u u do tu o rm a rks .

l u lu t h n t h o cifia a t t h o approu h oIWr u-h ad ‘‘osu rma adsd t h a in

a lm wi th n lh .

" If we h h t h is ia th o str i o tu t w n n . wo mig h tt h o w od ud omt h a t th o dfiu h ad bu a oompol h d w t hm dowu

t h e i r n l ln v h ea cuh j up h id by O N n u

4 52 LYDIA .

l ike Lampsacus, appe ar to have remained entirelyfree .

‘

When the cities of the Greeks had recognised hissu premacy, Cr tn su s is said to have been occu pied withthe thought how to draw into the circle of h is kingdom the rich islands on the coasts- Samoa, Chios , andLesbos. Herodotus tells u s that Cr ce su s asked Bias ofPr i e n e , who was in Sardis soon after the su bj ugationof the Greek cities

,what was the news among the

Hellenes ? Bias answered that the Greeks of t h eislands were getting together a great army of cavalryin order to march again st Sardis . When Crce su s saidthat he shou ld rejoice to hear that the gods had pu t su chthoughts in the minds of the islanders, Bias repl iedthat the inhabitants of the islands were no less anxiou sto measu re themselves against h im in a batt le by sea.At this Cm su s is said to have abandoned the pre

par a t ion s he was making against the islands . As afact

, Cr ce su s cou ld not hide from himself that anattack u pon the islands was only possible by means ofthe naval power of the ci ties on the coast. Even ifthese su pplied ships against their cou ntrymen in theislands

,was it to be expected that they woul d fight

vigorou sly against them — was there not rather a fearthat they wou ld u nite their arms with those of theislands against Lydia ?

By a happy combination of war and negotiation,by

vigorou s attack and far-sighted concession,Croesu s

had pu t an end to the long struggle, had su bju gatedthe cities to h is su premacy

,and raised Lydia to the

summit of her fame and power. If the Lydians werethe sovereign nation, the Greeks were not to be aservile nation . They possessed complete mu nicipalfreedom

,they h ad not t o render service in war, they

He r od. 6, 37.

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4m LYDIA

crammed with gold, pu t gold-dust in his hair, an d

fil led his mou th with it,so that Croesu s when he saw

t h e old man t hu s bu rdened and gilded , bu rst intolaughter and gave h im as mu ch again as he carried 1

I n addition to th is u nbou nded liberality Gris e u sengaged Greek artists, and bestowed his favou r oneminent me n in the Greek ci ties. Miltiad es of Athens,wh o had emigrated to the Chersonese fr om the tyrannyof the Pis is t r a t ids , an d h ad been taken in war againstLampsacu s by the Lampsaee n es , was set at libert y bythe powerfu l inte rposi t ion of Crce su s . The Greekswere not insensible to the cou rt paid to them byCruasu s an d his gold ; they were grate fu l for hisli berali ty to their temples . Pindar in one of his odesexclaims The fri endly virtu e of Crce su s wi ll not beforgotten .

"2

The greatest of the Greeks, whom Cr ce su s saw atSardis, was Solon of Athens .3 Herodotu s tel ls u s , that

He r od . I f H e r odo t u s on t h i s occasi on h as in h is mi nd t h eembas sy which O r ce su s se n t to De lphi in 661 B .C. , Alcmaeo n must a t

tha t t imc ha ve be e n a t lea st 70 yea r s o ld . Bu t Cr ce su s h ad se n t to

De lphi e ar lie r (He r od . 1 , X e n ophon Gyr . in s t .

” 7 , 2, 7) r epr ese n tsCr a asu s as se n din g to De lphi be fo r e h e h ad a n y so n s bo r n to h im, a n d

aga i n a fte r t h e dea th o f A t ty s . Acco rdi n g to t h e Pa r ia n Ma rble ,Ep . 4 1 , 42, t h e fir s t mission o f Cr ce su s was 14 yea r s be for e h i s over

thr ow, i n t h e fir st yea r o f h is r e ign .

Pin d. " P51 11."l , 184 .

T h e chr o n o logical difficu l t ies which ar e br o u ght again st this mee tin g , an d to which Plu tar ch r e fe r s, c. 27, r es t on th e fact tha tPlu ta r ch, like He r odo tu s , r epr e se n ts So lo n as go in g to Sa rdi s afte r t h ee stablishme n t of t h e A the n ia n co n st itu t ion . Acco rdin g to this t h emee t in g occu r r ed in 693, o r r a the r i n 683 B.C. Eithe r da te is impo ssible in 693 Cro esu s was five yea r s o l d , in 683 D. O . h e wa s fift e e n ,

a n d h e did n o t asce n d t h e t hr on e t ill 663 s o . T h e mee tin g withCrce su s the r e fo r e ca n n o t b e placed ea r lier tha n 660 D. O . whe n So l o nle ft A the n s a ft e r Pisist r a t u s be came tyr an t . Afte r 668 Cr o esu sco u ld n o lo n ge r cou n t as t h e happiest o f mor ta ls , with whomever ythin gwe n t we ll, fo r in 668 B.C. Cyr us h ad alr e ad y de pose d A s tyag e s, t h econ n ect io n o f Gr e en s . He r odo tu s sa ys ( 1 , 34, tha t Cr cs su s h adbewa iled t h e loss o f h i s so n At tya fo r two yea r s be fo r e t h e accou n t of

LYDIA UN DEB,T HB MEBMN ADE . 455

Crce sus entertained Solon for several days in hispala ce , and by his servants showed h im the splendou rof it , the riches and the t r easur e o ch ambe r s, al l that hepossessed in pre ciou s stones, splendi d robes, and treasures o f art . Then in the pride of the greatness of hisdomi nion , the splendou r of his throne, the su ccesse swhich he had obtain ed , Crce sus asked Solon, whom he,who h ad travelled so mu ch in the world, consideredthe most fortunate of me n ? Solon answered, Tellu sthe Athenian. Tellus l ived a: h appy l ife, accordin gto human calculation ; he had worthy sons and grandson s , not one of whom died in his lifetime . In

his day the commonweal th was prosperou s, and afte ra happy life he fou nd a fortu nate death ; he fellin ba ttl e for h is father-land, when tu rning the enemyto flight, and the Athenians buried h im at the costof the ci ty, and paid h im grea t honou r. Tellu s h adfallen

,u nde r Solon’s eye, at Eleu s is against the

t h o fn ll of Asty sg os wu b r ou g h t to h i rn z A tty s must h s ve di ed inWi th t h is t h e u act sow u n t of Ph an iu d Emm s soh ola r

ot A r istot le (8u ids s. 0av H o t e lls u s t h s t So lon

di d n o t live two comple te yea rs a l tor Pis ist ra tu s h sd se isod t h o tyn n n y ,

fo r Pisist r a tu s became tyr an t u n de r t h e archon ship of Comi ss ; So londied u n de r t h e archo nship of H eges tr s tu s (Plu t. “ Sol ! t h e

smh on sh ip of Gomi s s fs l ls in t h o yonr m n .o .

PMst r s t u s h sd booomo tyn n t ,m t to 0rmsu s . t o Ci licis sn d p r us ;

t h s t h e di od in Cypr u s in h is ei g h ti ot h yos r . U S ui ds s t olls u s t h a t

Bob n m t ofi in Oih cis sfiar Pid str n tu s hm o tyu n t th ia liks

t h e tou nd in g o f t h o oi ty iu Diogoncs , is s oon N sion wi t h 801i i n

Cypr u s . So lon won t to b‘ypm wh e re h o h sd h oen so we l l roce ive d

be twe e n 683and 673 whe r e 8013. h is own fou n ds tion . offen d h im is

W A th on s snd So l i . h o wen t by wsy of mo l o n ia n h s rb oumT h e gmssn l sh tu n su t om olcidss ot Pon t imt h s t S olon lived fo r s

no t h in g sgs i n d t h e pre cise sts tsmsn t of Ph sn isq n n d t h s t Sol on . u

Plu ta rch ss ys witho u t givin g h is s u th o r i ty . died in A then s as th e

sdvisu of Pisi st r sm is ss muoh opposs d to t h e sh s u ot ur offlolon u

t o th e st s temon t th s t h o diod in p l-as.

466 LYDIA

Megarians (abou t 580 Crcn su s fu rther inqu ired ,whom Solon considered the happiest man aft er Tellus ?Cleobis and Bi te ,

two brothers of Argos,Solon repli ed .

These had possessions equ al to their needs,and were

strong of body, so that both won t h e victory in thegames, at one and the same t ime . And once at thefestival of Hera , when the mother of t h e two you ngme n had to go to the temple, and the oxen had not a rrived

,t h e sons placed the yoke u pon their necks

,a n d

drew their mother a distance of 45 stad es t o t h e temple .The Argives assembled at the festival commended thestrength of the you ng me n ; the Argive women commended t h e mother who had su ch sons . Bu t t h e

mother stepped before the statu e of the goddess andprayed that she wou ld give to the son s who had donetheir mother su ch honou r the best reward that cou ldbe given to me n . When the sacrifice had been offeredand the banqu et held , the you ng me n went to sleep inthe temple, and never woke again. The deed of thetwo sons of Cydippe was highly praised among theGreeks . Their mother was priestess of the ancientshrine of Hera near Argos. Each year the Argivescelebrated a great festival in honou r of their goddess

,

to which t hey marched in procession from t h e city t othe temple , which lay in the road to Mycenae on theheight of Eu bcea , at a di stance of more than 40 stadesfrom Argos. T h ev offered a hecatomb to the goddess.The hu ndred victims were crowned and led in the frontof the procession ; the you ng me n foll owed in theirarmou r

,and las t of a l l the priestess of the temple in a

car drawn by two cows the sacrifice was fol lowed bya banqu et and games . The place of t hese animals wastaken by Cleo bis and Bi te . In remembrance of thenoble deed the Argives cau sed statu es t o be set u p fort h e brothers at Delphi , and even at a later date a

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458 LYDIA .

to be called happy. Before the end we may call noman happy ; we can only say, i t is well with h im.

That a man shou l d attain complete prosperity is impossible just as a cou ntry does not possess everything,b u t brings forth one produ ct and is in want of another,and the land which possesses the most has the advantage , so it is wi th man . He does not possess everythin g : one thing h e h as

,another he has not. He who

possesses most to the end of l ife,and then brings h is

life to a noble end, he may with ju stice bear the nameof happy . In everythin g a man mu st look to the

u s , and many to whom the god h as shown happinesshe h as then cast to the grou nd .

In the bloom and vigou r of h is years,conqu eror of

the Greek cities, victoriou s over the land of the coas t,aft e r bringing to compl etion the political aims of h i sforefathers

,in possession of an inexhau sti ble treasu re ,

at the head of a state carried to the limit of its natu ralfrontiers, and flour ishi ng in trade, commanding anexcellent army

,respected by his subjects, and lord of

Asia Minor—Croesu s, in the year 560 B.C., had many

reasons for cou nting hims elf a happy ma n , a ru lerspecially favou red by the gods. Like all Orientalprinces he was n o t withou t a hau ghty confidence inhis power and his su ccess ; he was in a high degreeself-consciou s. Solon , when he saw Sardi s , was closeu pon h i s eighti eth yea r . Grown u p amid violent commotions in his city, amid the fierce strife of parties,with a deed of blood before his eyes

,Solon h ad ea rly

had occas ion to reflect on the plan s and aspirations ofme n ,

on their In st of possessions and power, on thefort u ne allotted to them,

on the pu n ishments whichthough often late t h e gods awar ded to u nju st deeds .Beyond other me n he had devoted his life to h isfat herland, a can ton of moderate extent . He had

LYDI A UNDER THE MBRMN ADE . 459

refu sed the position of tyrant in order to serve h iscou ntry in a mu ch more difficul t position with un

wearied de votion and perseverance. If by su chfideli ty he had su cceeded in turning des tru ction asidefrom h is community, and establ ishing a constitu tionwh ich ensured order an d freedom to it, this co n s t i tution , and with it the work of his life, which he haddefended with the dedicati on of all his powers , waswrecked . If the form given by Herodotus to the conversation of Solon an d Crce su s i s a pa rt of his mode ofnarration , an d the observation on the envy of the deitya part of his view of life, Solon had nevertheless W on

in h is own bitter experience to tell the sovereign ofAsia Minor that no one cou ld be accou nted happy before the end of l ife . Compared with his own fortunet h e lot of Cleobis and Bi t e , who died immediately aftertheir glorious deed , the death of Tellus, who e n dfi

a good life by dying in victo ry for his country, mu sthave appear ed a fortune to be e nvied .

EN D 0? VO L I".

Page 426, lin e 5 , f or un ik-vesse ls r ead mixing vesse ls

u n s e a t : ou r u mr n'w n , ma m as J. D. t a ) .

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