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i
A HISTORY OF
BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA
BY
ROBERT WILLIAM ROGERS
PH.D. (LEIPZIG), D.D., LL.D., F.R.G.S., PROFESSOR IN DREW
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, MAblSON, NEW JERSEY
SECOND EDITION
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME II
NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS
CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & PYB
1901
(
>
I \
"'^ ''t '■" 1 ,A
Copyright, 1900, by
EATON & MAINS
New York
(0"VHFOrs?3
APR 29 1901
<7, J< i
CONTENTS.
BOOK in: THE HISTORY OF ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER I.
The Beginnings op Assyria.
PAGE
The settlers of Assyria came from Babylonia . . 1
The earliest rulers called lahakku .... 2
Bel-Kapkapu prince of Asshiir 1700 B. C. . . .3
Bel-bani ; Thutmosis III invades Asia ... 4
Earaindash and Asshur-bel-nisheshu .... 5
Puzur-Asshur, Asshur-nadin-akhe, and Asshur-uballit 6
Muballitat-Sheni'a marries king of Babylon . . 7
A letter of Asshur-uballit to Amenophis IV. . . 8
Bel-nirari and Pudi-ilu, about 1360 .... 9
Adad-nirari I, about 1346 B. C 10
Contests with Eurigalzu II and Nazi-Maruttash . 11
The great conquests of Shalmaneser I . . . 12
The building of Calah ; Tukulti-Ninib king 1290 . 13
He conquers Babylon 14
His was the most brilliant reign up to this time . .15
Assyrian progress checked by Babylonian rebellion 16
Asshumazirpal I, Asshur-narara, and Nabu-daian . 1 7
Bel-kudur-usur, Ninib-apal-esharra, Asshur-dan, and
Mutakkil-Nusku 18
Asshur-rish-ishi, about 1140 B. C 19
His successor Tiglathpileser I 20
111
iv CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IL
TiGLATHPILESEB I AND HiS SONS.
PAGE
Tiglathpileser I, the grand monarch of western Asia . 21
The Mushk6 a menace to Assyria . . . . 22
Tiglathpileser conquers them 23
And establishes supremacy over Kummukh . . 24
Invasion of the lands of Shubari, Alzi, and Purukhumzi 25
Campaigns against Eharia and Qurkhi ... 26
Invasion of the lands of Nairi 27
Sini of Daiyaeni 28
The king's boasts of his conquests . . . .29
His building enterprises 30
End of his reign 31
Estimate of his success 32
Asshur-bel-kala and Shamshi-Adad . . .33, 34
CHAPTER III.
IxcBEASE OP Assyrian Power over Babylonia.
The dynasty of the Sea Lands ; Sibar-shikhu (1074-
1057) 35
Ea-mukin-zer to Silanim-shukamuna ... 36
The Kassite influence in this dynasty . . . .37
Appearance of the Chaldeans; Nabu-ukin-abli . 38
Developments in Syria and Palestine . . . .39
Migrations of the Aramaeans 40
Their settlements and progress in commerce . .41
The Hebrew conquest of Palestine . . . 42
Assyria between 1050 and 950 B. C 43
Tiglathpileser II, Asshur-dan II, and Adad-nirari II 44
Tukulti-Ninib II, 880-865 45
CHAPTER IV.
Reign of Akshurnazirpal.
The beginning of the reign of Asshumazirpal . . 46
Historical material of his reign . • . . 47
Conquests in the land of Nimme 48
s
CONTENTS. V
PAGE
Invasion of Qnrkhi of Betani ..... 49
Aramaean communities along the Euphrates • . 50
The surrender of Bit-Ehalupe . . . . 51
Revolt of Khula 52
The rebuilding of Tuskha 53
Uprising of Zab-Dadi (882) 54
The collection of tribute as a military necessity . 65
Its careful gathering 56
The great westward campaign of 879 ... 57
Preparations to restore the temple in Sippar . .58
Further revolts among the Aramaeans . . . 59
Asshumazirpal founds new cities on the Euphrates • 60
Destruction of Kap-rabi 61
The success attained in compelling tribute paying . 62
Character of the Assyrian army .... 63
The Hittite city of Carchemish entered . . .64
The state of Patin ; Lubama 65
Invasion of the far west 66
The west sends presents to the Assyrian conqueror 67
Asshumazirpal on Mount Amanus . . ,68
The final campaigns of his reign . . . . 69
Character of Assyrian building 70
Canal building; end of reign 71
CHAPTER V.
ShALMANESER II TO ASSHUB-NIBABI II.
Inscriptions of Shalmaneser II 72
His long series of campaigns under personal command 73
Rebellion in Bit-Adini 74
A union for defense in the west .... 75
Shalmaneser's account of his western campaign . 76, 77
The course of the campaign to Qarqar . . . 78
The battle of Qarqar 79
Second invasion of the west in 849 .... 80
The invasion in 846 and again in 842 . . . .81
Jehu pays tribute to Shalmaneser . . . . 82
The comparative failure of these western invasions . 83
VI
CONTENTS.
Campaigns into Urartu (Chaldia) .
The defeat of Arame of Chaldia .
Chaldia invaded again in 833 and 829
Campaigns in Namri
Conquests in Khubushkia
Interference in Babylonia ....
Assyrian protectorate over Babylonia
]ie]>ellion at the close of Shalmaneser's reign
Siiamshi-Adad becomes king .
Successful compaign in Nairi
Campaigns west, north, and south .
War with J^aby Ionia
Adad-nirari III king
Campaigning as far as the Caspian Sea
Attempts to assimilate Babylonia with Assyria
Survey of his reign
Shahnaneser III king
Asshur-dan III king
liiflM'l lions ; the ci^lipse of 703
Iii*ign of Asshur-nirari III, peaceful decadence
PAGE
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
ciiArrKR VI.
TiiK Kki(;nh of I'igi.athimlkser III and Shalma-
NKHKR IV.
Change wrought liy rc^bellion of 746 .
(character and training of Tiglathpileser III .
His humlile origin
Destrucaion of his inscriptions by Esarhaddon
His first (vimpaign directed against Babylonia
Continuous victories in Babylonia .
New administration of Babylonia
Ba]>ylonia (uunpletely subjected to Assyria
Vic^tories east of Assvria ....
Great difficulties in Urartu ....
Sarduris II king of Chaldia, and his conquests
Conquered by Tiglathpileser III
Effect of this Assvrian success
. 104
105
. 106
. 107
. 108
109
. 110
. Ill
. 112
. 113
. 114
115
. 116
CONTENTS.
vu
PAGE
117
118
119
120
121
by
Reduction of Arpad
Attempts to win back Nairi ....
Azariah of Judah begins a new confederation
Menahem of Samaria surrenders to Tiglathpileser
Conquest of Syria
Aramaean communities rebel and are conquered
their governors 122
Renewed attack upon Chaldia 123
Western campaign in 734 124
Gaza taken 125
Invasion of hill country of Palestine . . .126
Opportunity for new western alliance . . .127
Perplexities of Ahaz 128
Conquest of part of Samaria 129
Rezin defeated; Arabia invaded . . . .130
Damascus taken in 732 131
Reign of Nabonassar in Babylonia . . . .132
Invasion of Babylonia in 731 133
Ukinzer retires to Sapia 134
Sapia taken and Ukinzer deposed . . . .135
Tiglathpileser III proclaimed king of Babylon in 728 136
End of his reign 137
Estimate of his ability and character . . . 138
Shalmaneser IV becomes king 139
Changes in Palestine during the previous reign 140, 141
The situation in Eg^'-pt 142
Hope in Israel for Egyptian alliance . . .143
Hoshea refuses tribute in 725 144
Shalmaneser invades Samaria 145
Siege of the city; end of his reign . . . 146, 147
CHAPTER Vn.
Tub Reign op Sabgon II.
Sargon II, king and usurper 148
His great pioblems 149
The fall of Samaria in 722 . . . . .' .150
Colonization in Samaria 151
viii CONTENTS.
PAGE
Merodach-baladan takes Babylonia . . . .152
Sargon makes unsuccessful campaign against him . 153
. 154
155
. 156
167
. 158
159
. 160
161
. 162
163
. 164
165
Rebellion in the west in Hamath
Gaza and Samaria join in it «
Victory over confederates at Baphia .
Rebellions in the north
Carchemish becomes an Assyrian province .
Attack on Urartu in 716
Rusas of Chaldia the chief object of the campaign
Which is only partially successful .
Invasion of western Media
Increasing success over Rusas ....
Expedition into Arabia . . . .
Campaign against Rusas begun again
Argistis II king of Chaldia 166
Small undertakings in Media and in Tabal . .167
Destruction of Melid 168
Conquest of Ashdod, 6ath, and Ashdudimmu . .169
Survey of the first part of the reign . . .170
Merodach-baladan and his difficulties in Babylonia 171, 1 72
Sargon looked to by Babylonians as a deliverer . .173
Sargon invades Babylonia 174
And is proclaimed ahakkanak on New Year's Day, 709 175
Campaign against Merodach-baladan . . .176
Babylonia pacified ; the governor of Que attacks the
Mushk^ 177
Success against the Mushk^ ; Urartu revives . . 178
Sargon 's last campaign 179
Building operations 180
Survey of his reign 181, 182
CHAPTER Vm.
The Reign of Sennacherib.
Beginning of his reign ; authorities . . . 183
The situation in Babylonia 184
His determination to set aside Babylonian pride . 185
CONTENTS.
IX
PAGE
The Babylonian people refuse to acknowledge him as
legitimate king 186
Mardak-zakir-sbumu and Merodach-baladan . . 187
Embassy to Hezekiah . . . . .
Sennacherib's invasion of Babylonia
Campaign against Ellipi ....
Thie great invasion of the west in 701
The political situation in Judah .
The Ethiopian dynasty in Egypt .
A rebellion against Assyria begins in Ekron
Sennacherib attacks the Phoenician cities
Most of Syria submits
The fall of Ashkelon, Beth-Dagon, and Joppa
Battle with the Egyptians at Altaku .
The fortified cities of Judah taken
The humiliation of Hezekiah ....
Negotiations between the Assyrians and the Jews
The advance of Tirhaqa
Destruction of Sennacherib's army
His failure to capture Jerusalem
Disturbances begin again in Babylonia .
Death of Merodach-baladan ....
Further troubles in Babylonia
Elamites invade Babylonia ....
Mushezib-Marduk king of Babylon in 692
The battle of Khalul6
. 188
189
. 190
191
. 192
193
• 194
195
. 196
197
. 198
199
. 200
201
. 202
203
. 204
205
. 206
207
. 208
209
210
Destruction of Babylon in 689 . . . 211, 212
The folly and the sadness of this act . . .213
Arabia invaded again 214
Estimate of Sennacherib's reign . . . .215
CHAPTER IX.
The Reign op Esabuaddon.
Beginning of his reign ; authorities . . . 216
Proclaimed ahakkanak of Babylon 217
Difficulty of learning the order of events in his reign;
determines to rebuild Babylon . . . 218
X CONTENTS.
Castigation of the Chaldeans
Punishment of Bit-Dakkuri
Reduces the Gambuli to subjection
Invasion of the west
A new confederation opposes him
Sidon destroyed
The booty of the city
Tyre also attacked and besieged
But the city could not be taken
The campaign extended into Palestine
The first invasion of Egypt in 673
Memphis plundered and destroyed
Reorganization of the country
Melukhkha and Arabi punished
A king and queen in Arabi as joint rulers
Indo-European migrations
Esarhaddon's victory over Ishpakai .
The Indo-Europeans invade Media
Expedition to help Median princes unsuccessful
The nomadic immigrants overspread the country
of Assyria
The Scythians
The great danger to Assyria of this migration
A rebellion in Assyria ; campaign in Egypt
Esarhaddon provides by will for the succession
Esarhaddon dies in 668
The great success of his reign
PAGE
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
east
238
. 239
240
. 241
242
. 243
244, 245
CHAPTER X.
The Reign of Assuurbanapal.
Asshurbanapal ; authorities for his reign . . 246
His inscriptions beautifully written .... 247
Difficulty of ascertaining the order of events . 248
Narrative of Esarhaddon's third expedition to Egypt 249
Asshurbanapal occupies Memphis ... . 250
Ferocity of Asshurbanapal in Egypt . . .251
Tanut-Amon (Tandamani) seizes Thebes . . . 252
•--.♦ Ti
> jit r •' f ••■ 1
- I •
CONTENTS. xi
PAGE
But is conquered by the Assyrians .... 253
Impossibility of holding Egypt 264
Campaign against Tyre 255
Gyges of Lydia and his dealings with Asshurbanapal . 256
Invasion of the land of Man 257
The sons of Gagi; Elam 258
259
. 260
261
. 262
263
. 264
. 265
266
. 267
Asshurbanapal shows favor to certain Elamites
Insurrection among the Gambuli
Shamash-shum-ukin's rule in Babylon
His ambition for independence ....
Starts numerous rebellions against Assyria
Plots revealed to Asshurbanapal ...
Asshurbanapal laments his brother's unfaithfulness
And receives a favorable omen for himself
Elamite support withdrawn from the Babylonians
AsshurbanapaPs terrible punishment of the Babylo
nians
Also punishes Elam ....
For the assistance given to Nabu-bel-shume
Dur-Undasi taken; XJmmanaldash escapes
Immense plunder secured
Elam yields to superior force
The folly of this destruction of Elam
Punishment of Arabians
New alliances against the Assyrians
Peaceful relations with Urartu .
Building operations
The collection of the great library
The glory and the failure of his reign
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280, 281, 282
CHAPTER XI.
The Fall of Assyria.
Asshur-etil-ili-ukinni king of Assyria , . . 283
His poor building work; meager knowledge of his
reign - . . 284
Sin-shum-lishir; Sin-shar-ishkun . . . .285
Authorities for the events of his reign . • . 286
xii CONTENTS.
PAGE
He invades Babylonia 287
TheManda 288
Advance of the Manda against Nineveh . . . 289
The plunder of Nineveh as a reward for its enemies 290
The siege of Nineveh by the Manda . . . 291
The city taken and plundered 292
The complete destruction of the city . . . 293
The division of its territory . . . . 294, 295
BOOK IV : THE HISTORY OF THE CHAL-
DEAN EMPIRE.
CHAPTER I.
Thb Reign of Kabopolassar.
Asshurbanapal and Eandalanu the same person . .297
The beginning of a new revolt in Babylonia . . 298
The Assyrians still hold part of Babylonia in the reign
of Sin-shar-ishkun 299
The Chaldean supremacy over the Babylonians . . 30O
The origin and first appearance of the Chaldeans . 301
Their first experiences in government .... 302
Attempts to win Babylon 303
Different Chaldean communities 304
Death of Asshurbanapal offers a new opportunity . 305
^abopolassar's kingdom was Chaldean . . . 306
Abydenus's account of Nabopolassar . . .307
Inscriptions of Nabopolassar 308
Canal digging; Egypt under Necho II . . . 309
Necho's expedition against Assyria . . . .310
Battle of Megiddo; death of Josiah . . . 311
Necho master of Palestine 312
Battle of Carchemish 313
Survey of Nabopolassar's reign . . . 314, 315
1
-^ — ^^ ■
CONTENTS.
xui
CHAPTER n.
Thb Reign of Nebughadbbzzab.
PAGE
316
317
318
319
320
Nebuchadrezzar becomes king 604 B. C. .
Jehoiakim of Judah and Jeremiah ....
The first siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadrezzar .
The city taken; seven thousand people deported
Hophra, king of Egypt, incites Syria to rebellion
The rebellion begun in Edom, Moab, and other places 321
Embassy from these people asks Judah to join . 322
The matter much discussed in Judah .... 323
Judah rebels; Jerusalem besieged again . . . 324
Determination and confidence in the city; warnings . 325
Jeremiah counsels submission .... * 326
Egyptian allies driven back homeward . . . 327
Siege begun anew
The city taken
Zedekiah punished
Jerusalem plundered
The city destroyed; population deported
G^daliah governor; Jews emigrate to Egypt
The Chaldean policy and its success
The Jews survive their captivity
The punishment of Tyre begun
Chaldeans not seamen; siege of Tyre .
Capitulation of the city .
Nebuchadrezzar invades Egypt in 567
And secures heavy booty
His campaigns comparatively few
Literature of his building operations
Rebuilding of the walls of Babylon .
Construction of outer wall and moat
The city rendered impregnable .
New streets and massive gateways.
Temple reconstructions
Repairing of canals
Temples of Borsippa repaired .
328
. 329
330
. 331
332
. 333
334
. 336
336
. 337
338
. 339
340
. 341
342
. 343
344
. 345
* 346
. 347
348
. 349
xiv CONTENTS.
PAGE
And the walls reconstructed 350
Death of Nebuchadrezzar; his madness . . , 351
His record as a builder, a patron of letters and warrior 352
His piety 353
CHAPTER m.
The Last Years op the Chaldean Empire.
Evil-merodach delivers Jehoiachin from prison . . 354
He is assasinated 355
Nergal-shar-usur follows the example of Nebuchad-
rezzar 35a
His work on canals and palaces . . . .357
The brief reign of Labashi-Marduk . . .358
Nabonidus made king, and begins building operations 359
His peculiar interest in the foundation stones of build-
ings 360
His archaeological and historical researches . . 361
He pays little attention to statecraft . . . 362
But makes his son, Belshazzar, regent . . . 363
Nabonidus rebuilds the temple of the sun at Sippar . 364
Restoration of the temple E-ulbar . . . 365
Rebuilding of the temple of sin in Harran . 366, 367
Neglect of the duties of kingship . . . .368
The growth of the power of the Manda . . .369
Cyrus king of Anshan 370
Cyrus conquers Astyages 371
And then overwhelms Croesus , . . .372
Asia Minor a part of the Persian empire . . 373
Nabonidus makes no preparations for defense . .374
Cyrus invades Babylonia .... 376, 376
Nabonidus makes provision for his gods . . .377
Sippar taken; Babylon entered . . . .378
Babylon receives Cyrus with acclaim , . .379
Babylon a Semitic center of civilization . . . 380
Its final end 381
CONTENTS. XV
APPENDIX.
A.
LiTEBATUBB.
PAGE
Excavations and Decipherment 383
Histories of Babylonia and Assyria . . . 384
General Histories 385, 386
Bibliography 387
B.
The Destbuction op Sennachebib's Abmy.
The Egyptian tradition as reported by Herodotus 387, 388
C.
The Defenses of Babylon.
Herodotns's account of the defenses of Babylon . 388-391
Nebuchadrezzar's account .... 392-395
1
L I
¥
«
I
f
A HISTORY
OF
BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
BOOK III:
THE HISTORY OF ASSYRIA
CHAPTER I.
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYBIA.
Of the period when the first settlers of a Se-
mitic race entered Assyria nothing is known, but
all things point to their coming from Babylonia.
The oldest traditions of the Semitic peoples con-
nect the Assyrians with the Babylonians, and the
earliest titles of their rulers point to dependence
upon the previous civilization in the south. We
are unable to trace the political and social history
of Assyria to any point at all approaching the
vast antiquity of Babylonia.
There is evidence, as already seen, that the city
of Nineveh was in existence at least three thousand
years before Christ, but of the men who built it and
reigned in it we know absolutely nothing. As in
Babylonia, we are confronted in the beginnings of
2 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Assyrian history only by a name here and there
of some early ruler of whose deeds we have only
the simplest note, if indeed we have any at all.
The first Assyrian ruler bears the title of Ishah-
kuy which seems to mean priest-prince, and im-
plies subjection to some other ruler elsewhere.
These early rulers must have been subject princes
of the kings in Babylonia, for there is no evi-
dence yet found to connect them with any other
state, while their traditional connections are all
with the southern kingdom. The names of sev-
eral of these Ishalcke have come down to us, but
we are unhappily not able to arrange them in any
definite order of chronological sequence. Appar-
ently the first of them are Ishme-Dagan and his
son, Shamshi-Adad I. The latter of these built a
great temple in the city of Asshur and dedicated
it to the gods Anu and Adad. We have no cer-
tain indications of the date of these nilers, but we
are probably safe in the assertion that they ruled
about 1830-1810 B. C After a short interval,
probably, there foUow two other priest-princes,
whose names are Igur-Kapkapu and Shamshi-
Adad II." The names of two other Ishalcke have
also come down to us, Khallu and Irishum,' but
their date is unknown.
' The date rests upon a statement in the inscriptions of TigUthpileser I.
See above, vol. i, p. 826.
* There is a little inscription of Shamshi-Adad II, published I R. 6, Xa
1, and republished by Winckler, Zeitichrifl fur Awyriologiey ii, plate iil»
No. 9, translated by Schrader in KeUimchrifl, BihL^ i, p. 2.
» I R. 6, No. 2 ; Winckler, ibid,, No. 10.
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. 3
These six names are all that remain of the his-
tory of the early government of Assyria. At this
period, about 1800 B. C, the chief city was Asshnr,
then and long after the residence of the mler.
There is no hint in these early texts of hegemony
over other cities ; though Nineveh certainly, and
other cities probably, were then in existence. The
population was probably small, consisting, in its
ruling classes at least, of colonists from Babylonia.
There may have been earlier settlers among whom
the Semitic invaders foimd home, as there were in
Babylonia when the Semites first appeared in that
land, but of them we have no certainty. It is an
indistinct picture which we get of these times in
the temperate northern land, but it is a picture of
civilized men who dwelt in cities, and built tem-
ples in which to worship their gods, and who car-
ried on some form of government in a tributary or
other subject relation to the great culture land
which they had left in the south. The later As-
Syrian people had but faint memory of these times,
and to them, as to us, they were ancient days.
At about 1700 B. C. the priest-prince ruling in
Asshur was Bel-Kapkapu, according to a state-
ment of Adad-Nirari III (811-783), a later king
of Assyria, while Esarhaddon would have us be-
lieve that he was himself a direct descendant of
a king, Bel-bani, and, though we may put no faith
in such genealogical researches, perhaps greater
credence may be given the other historical state-
ment with which the name of Belbani is foL
4 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
lowed/ According to the historiographers of
EsarhaddoDy Bel-bani was the first Ishahha of
Asshur who adopted the title of king, having re-
ceived the office of king from the god Marduk
himself. If there be any truth at all in these
statements, we must see in Bel-bani the first king
of Assyria, but the fact is empty of real meaning,
whether true or not, for we know nothing of the
king's personality or works.
After these names of shadowy personalities there
comes a greisit silent period of above two hundred
years, in which we hear no sound of any movements
in Assyria, nor do we know the name of even one
ruler.' At the very end of this period (about 1490
B. C.) all western Asia was shaken to its founda-
tions by an i^ptian invasion. Thutmosis III,'
freed at last from the restraint of Hatshepsowet,
his peace-loving sister or aunt, had swept along the
Mediterranean coast to Carmel and over the spur
1 Whatever may be thought of Esarhaddon^s statements concerning Bel-
bani there is at least evidence that a king of this name actually existed,
for Scheil has found a tablet dated in the reign of Bel-bani and written in
archaic Babylonian script {Recueil de Travaux^ xix, p. 69).
' It is quite probable that our ignorance of this period is due simply to
the fact that excavations hitherto made in Assyria have been chiefly upon
sites, such as Euyunjik and Ehorsabad, famous rather in the later than in
the earlier periods of Assyrian history. When EaPah Shergat, the site of
ancient Asshur, is explored we may perhaps be able to fill out some of the
lacunce in the earliest times.
* Hatshepsowet, Thutmosis U, and Thutmosis III reigned together from
about 1516 to 1449. It was in the twenty-second year that the advance
began upon Syria, Thutmosis III being then sole ruler of Egypt. See
Petrie, HUtary of JS^^ during the XVIlih and JCVIIIth Dynasties, Sd
ed., 1899, and SteindorfF, Die BliUezeit det Fharaonen Jieichs, Leipzig,
1900.
a
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. . 5
of the liill to the plain of Esdraelon. At Megiddo
the allies met him in defense of Syria, if not of all
western Asia, and were crushingly defeated. The
echo of that victory resounded even in Assyria, and
whoever * it was who then reigned by the Tigris
made haste to send a ^^ great stone of real lapis
lazuli " * and other less valuable gifts in token of
his submission. It was well for Samaria that
Thutmosis was satisfied with those gifts, and led
no army across the Euphrates.
Soon after the invasion of Thutmosis III we
again learn the name of an Assyrian king, for
about 1450 B. C. we find the Kassite king of Baby-
lonia, Karaindash, making a treaty with the king
of Assyria, whose name is given as Asshur-bel-nish-
eshu.' This latter is the first king of Assyria of
whom we may consider that we know anything.
He claims a certain territory in Mesopotamia, and
makes good his claim to it. Assyria now is clearly
acknowledged by the king of Babylonia as an in-
dependent kingdom. The independence of the
northern kingdom was probably achieved during
the two hundred years preceding, through the
weakness of the kingdom of Babylonia. It must
be remembered that it was in this very period
1 Hommel {Dictionary of Bible, ed. Hastings, i, p. 180) places this tribute
paying in the reign of Asshur-belnishcshu or Puzur-Asshur, but this. is
scarcely probable. The question is purely chronological, and differences of
opinion are particularly allowable.
' The quotation is from the Annals of Thutmosis UI. See translation in
Petrie, op, cit., p. 112.
' Synchronistic Hist., col. i, lines 1-4, Keilinschrift, Bibl., i, pp. 194,
196. See further above, vol. i, p. 414.
6 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
that Babylonia was torn with internal dissension
and fell an easy prey to the Kassites. While the
Kassites were busy with the establishment of their
rule over the newly conquered land the time was
aiispicious for the firm settling of a new kingdom
in Assyria.
Shortly after, though perhaps not immediately,
his successor, Puzur-Asshur, came to the throne
(about 1420 B. C). Like his predecessor, he also
had dealings with the Babylonians concerning the
boimdary line ; and beyond this fact noted by the
Assyrian synchronistic tablet,* we know nothing of
him.
After Puzur- Ashur came Asshur-nadin-akhe (it is
Asshur who giveth brothers), a contemporary of
Amenophis IV/ the heretic king of Egypt, with
whom he had correspondence.' A later king also
records the fact that he built, or rather perhaps
restored, a palace in Asshur. His reign was an
era of peace, as these two facts apparently would
prove, namely, the correspondence with the far
distant land of Egypt, indicating a high state of
civilization, and the restoration of a palace, and not,
as heretofore, a temple.
He was succeeded by his son, Asshur-uballit
(Asshur has given life), about 1370 B. C, and in
' Col i, lines 6-7.
* Amenophis IV ruled 1888-1866 B. .G. (Peine) ; according to Stein-
dorff, 1892-1874.
* No letter of his to Egypt has been preserved, but Asshur-uballlt men-
tions the correspondence. Letter No. 9, lines 19-21, in Winckler's edition.
Por translation see Tdl-el-Amama Letten^ part i, p. 81.
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. 7
his reign there were stirring times. His daughter,
Muballitat-Sheru'a, was married to Kara-Khardash,
the king of Babylon. Herein we meet for the first
time, in real form, the Assyrian efforts to gain
control in Babylonia. The son of this union, Ka-
dashman-Kharbe I, was soon upon the throne.
The Babylonian people must have suspected in-
trigue, for they rebeUed and killed the king. This
was a good excuse for* Assyrian intervention, for
the rebels had killed the grandson of the king of
Assyria. The Assyrians invaded the land, and the
Babylonians were conquered, and another grand-
son of Asshur-uballit was placed upon the throne,
under the title of KurigaJzu II.* This act made
Babylonia at least partially subject to Assyria,
but many long years must elapse before any such
subjection would be really acknowledged by the
proud Babylonians. They were already subject
to a foreign people, the Kassites, who had indeed
become Babylonians in all respects, but it would
be a greater humiliation to acknowledge their own
colonists, the Assyrians, a bloodthirsty people, as
their masters. Asshur-uballit also made a campaign
against the Shubari, a people dwelling east of the
Tigris and apparently near the borders of Elam.*
Friendly relations between Assyria and Egypt
were continued during his reign, and a letter ' of
* See above, voL i, p. 419.
' See Delitzsch, Faradiei^ pp. 284, 236, and compare Hommel, (?ef-
chkkte^ p. 498.
'Published by Winckler, Der Thoniafdfund wm EUAmama^ No. 9,
translated in Jr»/tn«cArt/<. BiU,^ v, part 1, pp. 29, 80.
8 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
his to the Egyptian king Amenophis IV has been
preserved, in which occur the following sentences :
" To Napkhuriy a ' . . . king of I^y pt my brother :
Asshur-uballit, king of Assyria, the great king thy
brother. To thyself, to thy house, and to thy
country let there be peace. When I saw thy am-
bassadors I rejoiced greatly ... A chariot . . .
and two white horses, ... a chariot without har-
ness, and one seal of blue stone I have sent thee as
a present. These are presents for the great king."
The letter then proceeds to ask very frankly for
specific and very large gifts in return, and tells
very clearly of the present state of the road be-
tween Egypt and Assyria.
In the reign of Asshur-uballit Assyiia made a
distinct advance in power and dignity, and this
development continued during the reign of Assh-
ur-uballit's son and successor, Bel-nirari (Bel-is-my-
help) — about 1380 B. C. Of him two facts have
come down to us, the mutual relations of which
seem to be as follows: Kurigalzu II had been
seated on the Babylonian throne by the Assyrians
and therefore owed them much gratitude, but to
assure the stability of his throne he must needs
take the Babylonian rather than the Assyrian side
of controversies and difficulties between the peo-
ples. The grandson of Bel-nirari boasts concern-
ing him that he conquered the Kassites * and in-
* The official name of Amenophis IV, representing the Egyptian Nxfkiu
KHKPRU-RA.
« rV R. 44, line 24 ; KeUinaehrift. Bibl, i, p. 1,
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. . 9
creased the territory of Assyria. By this he must
mean not the Kassite rulers of Babylonia, but rather
the people from whom they had come — that is, the
inhabitants of the neighboring Elamite foothills.
This conquest simply carried a little further the
acquisition of territory toward the east and south
which had been begun by Asshur-uballit's conquest
of Shubari. But these Assyrian conquests led to
Babylonian jealousy and then to a conflict between
Kurigalzu II and Bel-nirari, in which the latter was
victorious, and this, in turn, brought about a rear-
rangement of the boundary line by which the two
kings divided between them the disputed terri-
tory,' though it does not appear which was the
gainer.
Again the succession to the throne passed from
father to son, and Pudi-ilu (about 1360 B. C.)
reigned in Asshur. He has left us only brief in-
scriptions,' in which he boasts of building at the
temple of Shamash, probably that at the capital
city. From his son we learn that he was a war-
rior of no mean achievements, though our geo-
graphical knowledge is not sufficient to enable us
to follow his movements closely. He is repre-
sented as overrunning the lands Turuki and Ni-
gimkhi, and conquering the princes of the land of
Gutium.' Beside these conquests to the north of
the city of Asshur he also extended his borders
' Synchronistic History, coL i, lines 6-7.
^ KeiliMehrift. Bibl, i, pp. 2-5.
* Inscription of Adad-nirari I, col. i, lines 16-18.
10 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
toward the southwest by the conquest of the
nomad people the Sutu. From reign to reign we
see the little kingdom of Asshur grow. These
conquests were probably not much more than
raids, nor is it likely that at so early a period a
serious effort was made by the Assyrians to gov-
ern the territory overrun/ It was preparatory
work; the peoples round about Asshur were
gradually being brought to know something of its
growing power. They would soon come to re-
gard it as a mistress and consolidation would be
easy. It was in similar fashion that the empire
of Babylonia had grown to its position of influ-
ence.
Pudi-ilu was succeeded by his son, Adad-nirari I
(about 1345 B. C), who has left us two records,
the one a bronze sword inscribed with his name
and titles,* the other a considerable inscription,'
carefully dated by the eponym name, the oldest
dated Assyrian inscription yet found. The latter
is largely devoted to an account of the enlarge-
ment of the temple of Asshur in the capital,
his wars being but slightly mentioned. In the
enumeration of the lands conquered by him the
countries already overrun by his predecessors are
> It is, however, to be noted that ABsyrian coloniflts were settled in
distant countries at a rery early date. The Kappadokian tablets would
seem to show that Assyrians were settled near Eaisariyeh as early as
1400 B. G.
' See TVamaeHofu of Boddy of Biblical Arehaologyy ir, p. 847.
sPublished IV B. p. 89, translated by Peiser in Kmlinkharift. BibL, i,
pp. 6, if.
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. 11
repeated — Shubari, the Kassite country, and Guti,
to which he adds the land of the Lulumi The fact
that these lands needed so soon to be conquered
again shows that the firat conquest was little more
than a raid. But this time a distinct advance
was made; Adad-nirari does more than conquer.
He expressly states that he rebuilt cities in this
conquered territory* which had been devastated
by the previous conquests. Here is evidence of
rule rather than of ruin, and in this incident v/o may
find the real beginnings of the great empire of As-
syria. Again there were difficulties with Baby-
lonia^ and Adad-nirari fought with Kurigalza 11
and with his successor, Nazi-Maruttash (about 1345
B. C), both of whom he conquered, according to
Assyrian accounts,' though the Babylonian Chroni-
cle would give the victory to the Babylonian king,
in the first case at least. In the inscription of the
bronze sword Adad-niraii calls himself Mng of
Eashshati, a title which is found earlier in an inscrip-
tion of Asshur-uballit.* He does not call himself
king of Asshur at all, though this title is given
by him to his father and grandfather. Appar-
ently he seems to claim for himself a greater dig-
nity than that of ruler merely over Asshur, else
would he certainly have called himself Mng of
Asshur, as did his predecessors. But his own de-
scription gives us no means of determining the
' Inscription of Adad-nirari, col. i, 8, 4.
' Synchronistic History, col. i, lines 24-81.
*Scheil, Beeueilj xix, p. 46.
12 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
location or the bounds of the territory which he
had conquered or over which he claimed rule.
When his reign closed he left Assyria and its de-
pendencies far stronger than when he took the
government in his own hands.
His son, Shalmaneser I, was his worthy succes-
sor. From his own* historiographers very little
has come down to us — only two broken tablets/
from which it is difficult to make out any con-
nected story, but the fame of his great deeds
called forth more than one mention from later
kings,' and these will enable us to reconstruct the
main portion of his achievements. The general
direction of his conquests was toward the north-
west. This would seem to imply that the policy of
his father had been successful, and that the territory
toward the northeast and the southeast was peace-
fully subject to Assyria. He pushed rather into
the great territory of the valley between the Tigris
and the Euphrates, and therein established colo-
nies as a bulwark of defense against the nomadic
populations of the farther north. Still farther
westward the land of Musri was also subjected.
This land lay north of Syria, close to Mount Ama-
nu8, and hence very near to the great Mediter-
ranean Sea. To reach it Shalmaneser must cross
» Published I R. 6, No. Iv., translated by Scbrader, KeiHrMchrift, Bibl.,
i, pp. 8, 9. The second is published by Lenormant, Choix de textes^ p.
170, No. 78, and by Winckler, ZeUschrift far Assyrioloffie, li, p. 318,
and plate No. 7.
< Especially by Asshurnazirpal (I R 28, and III R 4, No. 1). See Delitzsch,
Die Spraehe der KossOer, pp. 10, ff.; Hommel, OeachidUe, pp. 487, ff.
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. 13
the Euphrates — the firat time that Assyrian power
had crossed the great river. Subsequent events
show that the more westerly parts of the land
which he conquered were not really added to the
Assyrian state. As in the case of Shubari, so also
in this, other invasions would be necessary. But
this at least had been gained, the rapidly growing
kingdom was firmly established as far as the Ba-
likh, and perhaps even to the Euphrates beyond.
Small wonder is it that a conqueror of such
prowess and an organizer of such ability should
deem it necessary to build a new capital worthy
of so gi-eat a kingdom. The city of Asshur was
old, and its location was far south, too near the
old Babylonian border. A kingdom that was
growing northward and westward needed a cap-
ital more nearly central in location. Shalmaneser I
determined to erect his new capital at Calah,' and
so pitched upon a site which remained the capital
of his country for centuries, and later became the
southern portion of Nineveh itself. In peace as in
war a man of foresight and skill, like his father,
he left Assyria the greater for his living and ruling.
In the reign of his son and successor, Tukulti-
Ninib (about 1290 B. C), the irresistible progress
of the Assyrian arms reached a glorious climax.
There had once more arisen trouble between the
two states of Assyria and Babylonia. Perhaps it
was the old and vexed boundary question, which
would not down ; perhaps the never-forgotten rest-
> See above, vol i, pp. 297, 298.
14 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
less ambition of the Assyrians to rule at Babyloiu
Whatever the cause or excuse Tukulti-Ninib in-
vaded Babylonia with force sufficient to over-
whelm its defenders and the imperial capital was
taken. After an unexampled career of power and
of civilization Babylon had fallen and the Assyrian
plunderer was among her ruins. Tukulti-Ninib
laid low a part of the city wall, even then massive;
killed some of the defenders, and plundered the
temple, carrying away into Assyria the image of
the great god Marduk. This was no mere raid^
but a genuine conquest of the city, which was now
governed from Calah. Assyiian officers were sta-
tioned both in the north and in the south of the
country. Tukulti-Ninib adopts the title of king
of Sumer and Accad in addition to his former
titles, king of Kishshati and king of Asshur. In
his person were now united the latest Assyrian
title and one of the most ancient titles in the
world. The old and coveted land of Sumer and
Accad, the conquest of which by Hammurabi had
been the very making of his empire, was now ruled
from the far north. A curious evidence of the rule
of Tukulti-Ninib in Babylon itself was found by
Sennacherib, probably during the second attack
upon the city (689 B. C). Tukulti-Ninib had sent
to Babylon a seal inscribed with his name, and
this was taken to Assyria.' For seven years only
* These facts come from a thirteen-Une fragmentary inscription of Sen-
nacherib in, R. 4, No. 2, translated by Smith, Records of the Pott, First
Series, v, pp. 86, 86. Comp. Bezold, Utherncht^ pp. 15, Id. See above^
vol. i, pp. 825, 826.
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. 16
was tliis rule over Babylonia maintained. The
Babylonians rebelled, drove out the Assyrian
conqueror, and set up once more a Babylonian,
Adad-shum-usur (about 1268-1239 B. C), as king
over them. "When Tukulti-Ninib returned to
Assyria after his unsuccessful effort to maintain
his authority in the south he found even his own
people in rebellion under the leadership of his son.
In the civil war that followed he lost his life, and
the most brilliant reign in Assyrian history up to
that time was closed.
Up to this point the progress of the Assyrians
had been steady and rapid. The few Semitic
colonists from Babylonia had so completely over-
whelmed the original inhabitants of their land
that the latter made no impression on Assyrian
life or history, and in this alone they had achieved
more than the Babylonians, after a much longer
history and with greater opportunities. We have
seen how the Babylonians were influenced by the
Sumerian civilization and by the Sumerian people.
Afterward they were firat conquered by the Kas-
sites and then so completely amalgamated with
them that they ceased to be a pure Semitic race.
Thus the influences of Semitism could not be per-
petuated and disseminated by the Babylonians,
while, on the other hand, the Assyrians suffered no
intermixture. The latter had already so gained
control of the fine territory which they first in-
vaded as to be absolute masters of it. Under
them the land of Assyria had become Semitic.
16 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
More than this, they had gained sufficient in-
fluence by conquest over the older AramsBan
peoples toward the southeast, between them and
the Kassites and the Babylonians, as to take from
the Babylonians the Semitic leadership. Their
colonies in the upper Mesopotamian valley were
centers of Semitic influence and stood as a great
bulwark against the non-Semitic influences on the
north. By crossing the Euphrates and conquer-
ing the land of Musri they had also threatened
the older Semitic civilizations in Syria and Pales-
tine. Would they be able to wrest the power
from them, as they had fi'om the eastern Aramae-
ans and from the Babylonians ? If this could be
done, the Assyrians would hold in their hands the
destinies of the Semitic race. It seemed as though
they were to accomplish even this, when they were
suddenly checked by the successful rebellion of
the Babylonians, by civil war, and by the death of
their great leader.. This reverse might mean their
permanent overthrow if the Babylonian people
still had in their veins the courage, the dash, and
the rugged independence of the desert Semite. If,
however, the intermixture of Sumerian and Kassite
blood, not to mention lesser strains, had weakened
the Semitic powers of the Babylonians, the check
to Assyria might be only temporary. It is a crit-
ical day in the history of the race. The severity
of the blow to Assyria is evidenced not only by
the results in Babylonia, but no less by the frag-
mentar}^ character of Assyrian annals for a long
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. 17
time. It is, indeed, for a time difficult not only
to learn the coui'se of events in Assyiia, but even
the names and order of the kings. The Babylo-
nian Chronicle* mentions an Assyrian king, Tukul-
ti-Asshui'-Bel, in close connection with the history
of Tnkulti-Ninib, but in words so obscure that his
relation to the history is difficult to understand.
It is altogether probable that he reigned as re-
gent * in Assyria during the seven years in which
his father was engaged in the reducing and ruling
of Babylon, but of his deeds in these years we
have no knowledge.
The successor of Takulti-Ninib on the throne of
Assyria was his son, Asshumazirpal I, who had
led the rebeUion against him. In his reign the
ruin of Assyrian fortunes which began in his
father's defeat and death went rapidly on. The
Babylonian king, Adad-shum-usur, felt himself
strong enough to follow up the advantage already
gained by the restoration of his family to power,
and actually attacked Assyria, from which he was
only with difficulty repulsed.
The next Assyrian kings were Asshur-narara
and Nabu-daian (about 1250 B. C), of whose
reigns we know nothing, although we are able to
infer from the sequel that the Assyrian power
continued to wane, while the Babylonian increased.
The reigns were short, and were soon succeeded
> p., coL iv, 12.
* This is Winckler*8 solation of the difficulty. Winckler, AltorierUalisehe
Fcnekwngeti^ p. 136.
a
18 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
by Bel-kudur-usur and Ninib-apal-esharra, in whose
day the Babylonians under the leadership of Meli-
Shipak and Marduk-apal-iddina invaded Assyria
and stripped the once powerful kingdom of all its
southern and part at least of its northern and
western conquered territory. Apparently all was
lost that the Assyrian kings of the earlier day
had won, and the end of A^yrian leadership had
come, but the motive force of the Assyrians was
not destroyed.
The successor of Ninib-apal-esharra was Asshur-
dan (about 1210 B. C), and with him begins the
rehabilitation of Assyrian power. He crossed the
river Zab, and invading the territory which had
been for some time considered Babylonian, re-
stored a small section of it to Assyria. We know
little else of his reign, but this is suflBcient to
mark the turning point and explain what follows.
His great-grandson, Tiglathpileser, boasts of him
that he reached a great age.' In his reign the
rugged virtues of the Assyrians were preparing for
the reawakening which was soon to come. Of
the following reign of his son, Mutakkil-Nusku *
(about 1150 B. C), we have no information, though
we are probably safe in the supposition that his
father's work was continued, for we find in Baby-
lonian history, as has been seen, no evidence of
any weakening of Assyria, but rather the contrary.
* Prism inflcription of Tiglathpileser I, coL vii, line 64.
* He is mentioned by Tiglathpileser I (Prism inscription, col vii, lines
45-48) and has left us a brief inscription (George Smith, Assyrian Dtscov-
eriea, pp. 142, 261).
t
THE BEGINNINGS OF ASSYRIA. 19
The gain in the Assyrian progress is shown more
clearly by the reign of his son, Asshur-rish-ishi
(about 1140 B. C), who is introduced to us very
fittingly as "the powerful king, the conqueror of
hostile lands, the subduer of all the evil." * The
beginning of his conquests was made by a success-
ful campaign against the Lulumi and the Kuti,
who have found mention more than once before.
They must have either become independent, dur-
ing the period of Assyria's decline, or perhaps
have been added to the restored Babylonian em-
pire. Having thus made sure of the territory on the
south and east, Asshur-rish-ishi was ready to meet
the great and hereditary foe of Babylon. Nebu-
chadrezzar I was now king in Babylon, and, flushed
with recent victory over a portion of Elam, was
a dangerous antagonist. The issue between the
kings seems to have been joined not in the old
land of Babylonia south of Assyria, but in Meso-
potamia, and the Assyrians were victorious. Of
the other deeds of Asshur-rish-ishi we know noth-
ing save that he restored again the temple of
Ishtar in CalaL
Asshur-rish-ishi was succeeded by his son, Tiglath-
pileser I (Tukulti-pal-esharra, My help is the son
of Esharra — that is. My help is the god Ninib).
There was therefore no break in the succession
and no new dynasty begins. Nevertheless, a new
period of Assyrian history really commences with
the next king. With Asshur-rish-ishi ends the first
' Annals of TigUUhpiUser^ vii, 42-44, published I R. 16.
3
20 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
period of growth and decay and of renaissance.
To his son he left a kingdom ahnost as great as
Assyria had yet possessed. Tiglathpileser begins
to reign with the titles of king of Eishshati and
king of Asshur; the only title belonging to his
ancestors which he did not possess was king of
Sumer and Accad. With him we enter upon a
wonderful period in the career of the Assyrian
people.
TIQIATHPTLESER I AND HIS SONS. 21
CHAPTER IL
TIGLATHPILE8EB I AND HIS SONS.
TiGLATHPiLESEB I (about 1120 B. C.) was the
grand monarcli of western Asia in his day^ and
the glory of his achievements was held in memory
in Assyria for ages after. It is fitting that one
who wrought such marvels in peace and war should
have caused his deeds to be written down with care
and preserved in more than one copy.' To his
gods he ascribed the credit of his works. Their
names, a formidable number, stand at the very
head of the chief written memorials of his reign.
^ The chief source of knowledge of the reign of Tiglathpileser is found in
the eight^ided prism, four copies of which were found at Ealah Shergat,
two in exceUent preservation and two in fragments. The text is substan-
tially the same in all the copies and is published I R. 9-16, and in Winckler,
Sammlung wm KeiUehrifttexten^ i, plates 1-26. It is transliterated and trans-
lated in Lotz, Die Inaehriften T^lathpileaer's /, Leipzig, 1880, and also by
Winckler, in KeUifut^rifi, Bibl, i, pp. 14-47. There is an English translation
by Professor Sayce, wiUi useful geographical notes, in Beeords of tke Past,
New Series, I, 92-121. This was the text used by the Royal Asiatic Society
to demonstrate the correctness of the method of decipherment See above,
voL i, pp. 194-197. Besides this fine prism there have also been preserved
some fragmentary annals of the first ten years of his reign erroneously
ascribed originally to Asshur-ish-ishi and published III R. 6, Nos. 1-6, and by
Winckler, Samndung, pp. 26-29. Notes upon portions of them are given
by Lotz, op. «/., pp. 198, 194, and by Bruno Messnier, ZeiUchrift fur Aa-
h/rialoffie, ix, pp. 101, ff. The names and titles of the king are given in two
brief texts found at the so-called grotto of Sebeneh-Su (III R. 4, No. 6 ;
Schrader, Die Keiiinsehrifien am Eingange der Queligrotie des Sebeneh-Su^
Berlin, 1886; Winckler, KeilinaehH/t. Bihl, i, pp. 48, 49), and at Kalah
Shergat (I R. 6, No. Y ; Winckler, Sammlung, p. 81).
22 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Here are Asshur, the ancient patron deity of his
land, " the great lord, the director of the hosts of
the gods," and Bel also, and Sin, the moon god ;
Shamash, the sun god ; Adad, the god of the air,
of storms, of thunder, and rain ; Ninib, " the hero ; "
and, last of all, the goddess Ishtar, " the firstborn
of the gods," whose name was ever to resound and
be hallowed in the later history of Nineveh.' With
so great a pantheon had the people of Assyria
already enriched themselves.
The annals of the king show that he planned
his campaigns well and had a definite aim in each
struggle against his enemies. When he ascended
the throne Babylonia was too weak to interfere
with his labor of building up anew the Assyrian
empire, and no immediate campaign southward
was therefore necessary. On the other hand, there
was a threatening situation in the north and west.
The nomadic tribes, established in the hill country
above the Mesopotamian valley, northward of
Harran, had never been really subdued, and some
fresh effort had to be made to hold them in check
or the integrity of the kingdom might be endan-
gered. The tribe that was now most threatening
was the Mushke. This people was settled in the
territory north of Milid, the modern Malatiyeh, on
both sides of the upper waters of the Euphrates.
In later times they became famous as the Moschi *
of the Greeks, and the Meshech * of the Old Testa-
> I R. 9, 1-14.
* Herodotus, iii, 94 ; vii, 78.
' Gen. X, 2 ; Ezek. xxvii, 13 ; xxxriii, 2.
TIGIATHPILESER I AND HIS SONS. 23
menty being in both cases associated with the Tubal
or Tibareni, who at this period lived toward the
south and west, inhabiting a portion of the terri-
tory later known as Kappadokia. The Mushk^
had crossed the Euphrates southward and pos-
sessed themselves of the districts of Alzi and
Purukhumzi about fifty years before, in the period
of Assyria's weakness. The Assyrians had once
overrun this very territory and claimed presents
for the god Asshur from its inhabitants, but it
was now fully in the control of the Mushke, and
had for these fifty years been paying tribute to
them, and not to the Assyrians. Feeling their
strength, and unopposed by any other king, the
Mushke, to the number of about twenty thousand,
in five bands, invaded the land of Kummukh.
Here was indeed a dangerous situation for As-
syria, for if these people were unchecked, they
would not long be satisfied with the possession of
this northern part of Kummukh, but would seize
it all, and perhaps invade the land of Assyria it-
self. Trusting in Asshur, his lord, Tiglathpileser
hastily assembled an army and marched against
them. He must cross the rough and wild Mount
Masius and descend upon his enemies among the
head waters of the Tigris. How large a force of
men he led in this venture we do not know, but
his victory was overwhelming. Of the twenty
thousand men who opposed him but six thousand
remained alive to surrender and accept Assyiian
rale. The others were savagely butchered, their
24 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
heads cut off, and their blood scattered over the
"ditches and heights of the mountains."* This
savagery, so clearly met here for the first time,
blackens the whole record of Assyrian history to
the end. It was usual in far less degree among
the Babylonians, so that the ascendancy of Assyria
over Babylonia is, in this light, the triumph of
brute force over civilization.
Having thus overwhelmed the advance guard
of the MushkS, Tiglathpileser returns to reestab-
lish, by conquest, the Assyrian supremacy over the
southern portions of the land of Kummukh. This
country was also quickly subdued and its cities
wasted with fire, perhaps as centers of possible re-
bellion. The fieeing inhabitants crossed an arm of
the Tigris toward the west and made a stand in the
city of Sherish^, which they fortified for defense.
The Assyrian king pursued across mountain and
river, and carried by assault their stronghold,
butchering the fighting men as before. The men
of Kummakh had some forces from the land of
Qurkhe * as allies, but these profited little, and the
united forces were overwhelmed. Again the Ti-
gris was crossed and the stronghold of Urrakhin-
ash laid waste. Rightly appreciating the terrible
danger that threatened them, the inhabitants
gathered together their possessions, together with
* Tiglathpileser Prism inscription, i, 62-88. The phrase quoted is in
line 79. Translation in Keiliruchrifl. Bibl.^ i, p. 19.
* " A land eastward of Diarbekir, along the northern bank of the Ti*
gris/* so Sayce, Records qftht Past, New Series, vol. i, p. 96, note 8.
TIGIATHPILESER I AND HIS SONS. 25
their gods, and fled " like birds " ' into the moun-
tain fastnesses that snrroanded them. Their king
realizing the hopelessness of his state, came forth
to meet his conqueror and to seek some mercy at
his hand. Tiglathpileser took the members of his
family as hostages, and received a rich gift of
bronze plates, copper bowls, and trays, and a hun-
dred and twenty slaves, with oxen and sheep.
Strangely enough he spared his life, adding com-
placently to the record the words : " I had com-
passion on him, (and) granted his life,'' which
hereafter was to be lived under Assyrian suzerain-
ty. By these movements the "broad land of
Kummukh ^ was conquered, and the Assyrian
ruled at least as far as, if not beyond, Mount
Masius. Great achievements these for the fii'st
year of a reign, and the next year was equally
successful. It began with an invasion of the land
of Shubari, which had been conquered before by
Adad-nirari I, and had again rebelled, thence the
king marched into the countries of AM and Pur-
ukhumzi, of which we heard in his first campaign,
in order to lay upon them anew the old annual trib-
ute so long unpaid to Assyria. The cities of
Shubari surrendered without battle on the appear-
ance of Tiglathpileser, and the district north of
Mount Masius was all a tribute-paying land. On
the return from this campaign the land of Kum-
mukh is again devastated. The exaggeration of
the king's annals appears strongly here, for if, in
> The figure belongs to the annals of Tiglathpileser.
26 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the campaign of the first year, Kammukh had
been so thoroughly wasted as the king^s words
declare, there would certainly have been little left
to destroy in the next year. This time there is
added at the conclusion one sentence which did
not appear before. " The land of Kummukh, in
its whole extent, I subjugated and added to the
territory of my land." ' Well may such a con-
queror continue in the words which immediately
follow : " Tiglathpileser, the powerful king, over-
whelmer of the disobedient, he who overcomes the
opposition of the wicked."' The control of the
gi'eat Mesopotamian valley in its northern portion
between the Tigris and the Euphrates is safely
lodged in Assyrian hands.
The third year of the reign of TiglathpUeser
contained no less than three campaigns. The first,
against Kharia * and Qurkhi, we cannot follow in
its geographical details, and are therefore unable
fully to realize its meaning and importance. It
was a mountain campaign, full of toilsome ascents,
and carried on with the usual savage accompani-
ments. In quite a diflferent direction lay thq
course of the second campaign of this year. In-
stead of the north, it was the south that now
claimed attention. The king crosses the Lower
' Tiglathpileser, col. iii, i, 84-85.
* Ibid., lines 86-88.
'Tiele (GesehiehUj p. 169, Anm. 2) has joined Kharia with Lullomd,
but on insufficient grounds. Streck {Zeitachrift fur Atayriologie^ xiv, 160,
161) would locate it in the mountains of Bohtdn, east of Kirkhu, and this,
seems to fit the general situation well.
TIGLATHPILESER I AND HIS SONS. 27
Zab River, which discharges its waters into the
Tigris not far south of the ancient capital, Asshar,
and conquers an inaccessible region amid the
mountains of its upper courses. A third campaign
again carries him to the north against Sugi, in
Qarkhi, and results also in a victory, from which
no less than twenty-five gods were brought back
to Assyria in triumphal subjection to Anu, Adad,
and Isl^tar.
The great undertaking of the fourth year of the
king^s reign was a campaign into the lands of the
Nairi.' By this the annals of Tiglathpileser
clearly mean the lands about the sources of the
Tigris and Euphrates, lying north, west, and south
of Lake Van. In this territory there was as yet
no Chaldian kingdom, but no less than twenty-
three native kings or princes united their forces
to oppose the Assyrian. There was more moun-
tain climbing to reach them, and then they were
severely punished. The kings were taken alive,
and after swearing oaths of fealty to the gods of
Assyria were liberated. Chariots and troops of
horses, with much treasure of every kind, were
taken, and a yearly tribute of twelve hundred
horses and two thousand oxen was put upon the
inhabitants, who were not removed from their
land.' One only of these twenty-three kings —
' See the admirable collection of references to this territory in Streck,
IL, Dot Othiet der heuUgen LandBchaft Armenien, Kurdistdn und West'
persien ruich den babylonisch-iusyriachen Keilinaehriften^ in ZeiUchrift fur
Aityriologie^ xiii, pp. 57, ff.
« Tiglathpileser, iv, 48 ; v, 21.
28 HISTORY OP BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Sini, the king of Daiyaeni ' — refusing to surrender
as the others, resisted to the last. He was there-
fore carried in ch^dns to Assyria, where he prob-
ably saw reasons for submission, for he was suffered
to depart alive. This episode in the king's con-
quests is concluded with the claim that the whole
of the lands of Nairi were subdued, but later his-
tory shows clearly that further conquest was
necessary. It was a great move forward in As-
syria's growth into a world power to have accom-
plished this much. As a part of the same campaign
tribute was collected from the territory about
Milid, and another year of activity was ended.
By comparison with the previous four yeare the
fifth seems a year of less result Aramaean peo-
ples inhabiting the Syrian wastes, west of the
upper waters of the Euphrates and south of the
city of Carchemish, had crossed the river into
Mesopotamia. Tiglathpileser expelled them, and
so again strengthened Assyrian supremacy in
northern Mesopotamia as far as Carchemish. Fol-
lowing up his easily won victory, the king crossed
the Euphrates in pursuit and laid waste six
Aramaean cities at the foot of Mount Bishri.
The campaign of the next year was directed
against the land of Musri,* which had already
1 Dayaeni, known in the Chaldian inscriptions as the kingdom " of the
son of Diaus," is located along the Murad-chai near Melasgerd. See
Sayce, " Cuneiform Inscriptions of Van," Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society, xiv, p. 899 ; Recordt of the Past, New Series, i, p. 106, footnote 6.
• This land lay in the northwest, beyond the Euphrates, and extended
southward from about Malatiyeh toward the Mediterranean. Its conquest
introduced Qnglathpileser to the plains of Syria.
TIGLATHPILESER I AND HIS SONS. 29
felt the arm of Assyria in the reign of Shal-
maneser L The people of Musri were aided by
allies from the land of Qamani/ and both lands
were subjugated and a yearly tribute put upon
them, after they had suffered all the horrors of
the savage Assyrian method of warfare. In the
language of the annals, their heads were cut off
"like sheep."
The king thus records the results of his five
yeana of campaigns: "In all, forty-two centuries
and their kings from beyond the Lower Zab (and)
the border of the distant mountains to beyond the
Euphrates, to the land of the Hittites and the
Upper Sea" of the setting sun, from the beginning
of my sovereignty untU my fifth year my hand
has conquered. Of pne mind I made them all ;
their hostages I took ; tribute and taxes I imposed
npon them." With this notice in the annals of
Tiglathpileser ends all account of his campaigns.
No other word concerning any further raids or
ravages is spoken. Were it not for the Synchro-
nistic History we should know nothing more of his
prowess. The information which thus comes to
us is not so frill as are the notes which we have
already passed in review, but it supplies what
was needful to round out the circle of his march-
' Qamani is the district Comana in Cataonia (Delattre, VAne Occident
tale dans lea Jrueriptions Auyriennes, pp. 65, 66).
' The location of the Upper Sea is still an undecided problem. It is
identified' with the Black Sea (Eduard Meyer, Tiele), with Lake Van
(Schrader, Sajce), with the Gulf of Issus (George Rawlinson, Hommel),
and with the Caspian (M^nant).
30 HISTORY OP BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
ing and conquering. It was improbable that a
king who had conquered north, west, and east
should not also find cause for attacking the covet-
ed land of Babylonia. From the Synchronistic
History ' we learn that he twice invaded the ter-
ritory of Marduk-nadin-akhe and marched even
to Babylon itself, where he was styled king of the
Four Quarters of the World. So ends the story
of the wars of Tiglathpileser I. He had not only
restored the kingdom of Assyria to the position
which it held in the days of Shalmaneser and Tu-
kulti-Ninib ; he had made it still more great.
Never had so many peoples paid tribute to the
Assyrians, and never was so large a territory
actually ruled from the Assyrian capital.
But Tiglathpileser was no less great in peace
than in war He brought back the capital of As-
syria from Calah to Asshur and almost rebuilt the
city, which had thus again become important.
The temples of Ishtar, Adad, and Bel were re-
built. The palaces which had fallen into ruin
during the absence of the court were again re-
stored and beautified. And then into this city
thus renewed, and into this land enlarged by con-
quest, the king brought the wealth of the world
as he had gathered it. Goats, fallow deer, and
wild sheep were herded into the laud. Horses in
large numbers taken from conquered lands or re-
ceived in yearly tribute were added to the peace-
ful service of agriculture. But not even here did
1 CoL U, lines 14-24.
TIGLATHPILESER I AND HIS SONS. 31
the king rest. He caused trees also to be brought
from great distances and planted in the land
he loved.* It is a marvelous story of peaceful
achievement, worthy of a place by the side of
his overpowering success in war.
In addition to the serious work of war and peace
the king found time to cultivate the wiles of a
sportsman, and great are his boasts of the birds
and the cattle and even the lions which he
slew. This passion for sport is commemorated
long afterward in an inscription of Asshurnazirpal,
in which we are told that Tiglathpileser sailed
in ships of Arvad upon the Mediterranean.* It
foUows from this that after the six campaigns,
enumerated above, the king must have made
another which carried him out to the Phoenician
coast, where his successors were later to fight great
battles and win great triumphs.
Of the conclusion of the reign of Tiglathpileser
we know nothing. He probably died in peace,
for he was succeeded by his son, Asshur-bel-kala
(about 1090 B. C), and the latter was followed aft-
er a short reign by another son of Tiglathpileser,
Shamshi-Adad I (about 1080 B. C). So easy and
unbroken a succession makes it a fair presumption
that the times were peaceful. The sons were not
able to bear the burden which came to them,
* Tiglathpileser VII, 1-85 (thereby imitating Thutmosis III).
' I R. 28, 2. Comp. translation by Peiser, in Keilinschrift. Bihl^ i,
124. While Buling the king slew a nakhiru^ but we do not know what the
word signifies. Sayce suggests " dolphin." Early Israel and the Surround'
ing Nations^ p. 218.
32 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
80 that there is speedily a falling off in the power
and dignity of the kingdom. When we look back
on the reign of Tiglathpileser and ask what of
permanent value for Assyria was achieved by all
his wars the answer is disappointing. He might
boast that he had conquered from east to west,
from the Lower Zab to the Mediterranean, and
from the south to the north, from Babylonia to
Lake Van, but what were these conquests, for
the most part, bat raids of intimidation and of
plunder ? He did not really extend the govern-
ment of Assyria to such limits, even though in
Kunmiukh he actually appointed Assyrian govern-
ors. Over this great territory, however, he made
the name of Assyria feared, so that the lesser peo-
ples surrendered at times without striking a blow
for freedom, while the greater peoples dared not
think of invading Assyrian territory. This insur-
ance against invasion was the great gain which he
brought to his country. By carrying savage war
to other nations he secured for his own a peace
which gave opportunity for progress in the arts.
These great temples and palaces required time for
their erection and time for the training of men
who were skilled in the making of bricks and the
working of wood. The very inscription from
which we have learned the facts of his reign,
a beautiful clay prism with eight hundred and
nine lines of writing, beat's impressive witness
to a high state of civilization and an era of
peace.
TIGLATHPILESER I AND HIS SONS. 33
Of the reigns of the two sons we know almost
nothing. Asshar-bel-kala maintained terms of peace
with Marduk-shapik-zer-mati (about 1094-1083
B. C-X king of Babylonia, who thereby seemed to
be considered an independent monarch and not
subject to the Assyrians, as his predecessor had
been. In this reign the capital appears to have
been transfen-ed to Nineveh,' and a word in the
only inscription of the king which has come down
to us hints at the king's control in the west.' Aft-
er a short reign Asshur-bel-kala was succeeded by
his brother, Shamshi-Adad, whose only work
known to us was the rebuilding of the temple
of Ishtar in Nineveh — another proof that the
capital was now located at this city and not at
Asshur.
After this reign there is another long period of
silence in Assyrian history, of which we have no
native monumental witnesses ; a period of immense
importance in the history of mankind, for it was a
time not only of silence but of actual decay in the
Assyrian commonwealth. As the fortunes of As-
syria were at so low an ebb, the time was favor-
able for the growth and development of peoples
elsewhere who were for a time free from the
threatening of Assyrian arms. When once more
1 This follows from an inscription of Asshnr-beMcala which was found at
Knyunjik — that is, Nineveh — which comes from a palace of the king. It
is published I R 6, No. V, and republished more correctly, Journal of the
Royal Asialie Society, April, 1892, and again translated by S. A. Strong,
Jieeordi of the Past, New Series, vi, pp. 76-79.
* So Professor Sayce, <6t<2., p. 78, footnote.
3
84 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
we come upon a period of historical writing and
of great deeds in Assyria we shall find the Assyrian
conquerors confronting a changed condition of
affairs in the world. To the growth of new con-
ditions elsewhere we must now address our
thought for a better understandin£C of Assyrian
movemente after the sUent period
ASSYRIAN POWER OVER BABYLONIA. 35
CHAPTER m.
THE INOBEASE OF ASSYBIAN POWER OVER BABYLONIA.
Afteb the dynasty of Isin had ceased to rule in
Babylonia^ brought to an end we know not how,
there arose a dynasty known to the Babylonian
historiographers and chronologists as the dynasty
of the Sea Lands. The territory known as the
Sea Lands was alluvial land at the estuaries of the
Tigris and the Euphrates upon the Persian Gulf.
This fertile country, already beginning to show its
growing power, was destined at a later period to
exercise a great influence upon the history of
Babylonia. The dynasty of the Sea Lands num-
bered only three kings, who reigned together but
twenty-one years and five months,' or, as the Baby-
lonian Chronicle has it, twenty-three years.* This
variation in the time given by the two chief Baby-
lonian authorities is instructive in its showing that
the Babylonians themselves did not preserve so
accurate a memory of this time as of the earlier
and later periods.
The first king of the dynasty was Sibar-shipak
(about 1074-1057 B. C), of whose reign we know
only that it ended disastrously, for he was slain
and buried in the palace of Sargon.'
' King List A, col. iii.
• Chronicle B, 1.
' Babylonian Chronicle V., lines 2 and 8.
36 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
The next king was Ea-mukin-zer (about 1057
B. C), who reigned but five months according to
the King List, or three months according to the
Chronicle. Of his reign, also, we have no further
knowledge/
The last king was Kasshu-nadin-akhe, son of
Sippai, who reigned but three years (about 1056-
1054 B. C.) (Chronicle, six years), whose works are
likewise unknown to us.
All of these kings, according to the statement
of a later monarch, had labored upon the rebuild-
ing of the Temple of the Sun at Sippar.
Immediately after this dynasty there follows
another of three kings, called the dynasty of the
house of Bazi, of which we know only the names
of the rulers and the somewhat doubtful number
of years which they reigned. These kings are :
Eulbar-shakin-shum, seventeen years (Chronicle,
fifteen) (about 1053-1037 B. C).
Ninib-kudur-usur, three years (Chronicle, two)
(1036-1034 B. C).
Silanim-shukamuna, three months (about 1033
B. C).
After this dynasty comes another with only
one king, whose name is unknown. He is called an
Elamite, reigned six years, and was buried in the
palace of Sargon (about 1032-1027 B. C). In
his seizing of the throne we are reminded of the
former Elamite movements under Eri-Aku.
' Inscription of Nabu-apal-tddin, col. i. See translation bj Peiser, Keil'-
imehri/L Bibl., lii, part i, p. 177.
ASSYRIAN POWER OVER BABYLONIA. 37
With these three dynasties we have passed over
a period of history in Babylonia of perhaps forty-
six years. Our lack of knowledge of the period
is of course partly due to absence of original doc-
uments, but it is also probably due to the fact
that there was little to tell. We have lighted
upon degenerate days. The real Babylonian
stock had exhausted its vigor, and was now inter-
mixed with Kassite and other foreign blood — a
miicture which would later prove stronger than
the pure blood which had preceded it, for mixed
races have generally been superior to those of
pure blood. But there was hardly time yet for
a display of its real force. Besides this Babylonia
had suffered from invasions from Assyria^ from
Elam, and from the Sea Lands, at the head of the
Persian Gulf. It was not surprising that a period
not only of peace but of stagnation had come.
The most noteworthy fact in these forty-six
years is the arising from the far south of the so-
called dynasty of the Sea Lands. The names of
these three kings are chiefly Kassite, and that
would seem to imply that the Kassites had also
overrun this land as well as the more central
parts of Babylonia. However that may be, this is
the country which is also called the land of the
Kaldi, or, in the later form, the land of Chaldea.
This is the period of the growth and development
of new states on all sides, as we shall see in the
survey to follow, and it is the first appearance of
the Chaldeans in Babylonian history. Their sub-
88 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
sequent history shows that they were Semites,
though perhaps, as above stated, of somewhat
mixed blood. It is not known when they first
entered the land by the sea> from which they had
now invaded Babylonia. It has been suggested
that their power in Babylonia was attained not by
conquest, but by a slow progress of emigration.*
The view is plausible, perhaps even probable, for
they seem to have become kings in a period of
profound peace, but there is no sure evidence.
In following the line of Babylonian kings we
have now reached another period of extreme diffi-
culty. The native Babylonian King Lists are so
badly broken that no names are legible for a long
period, and but very few of the numerak which
give their years of reign. It is possible, however,
from the fragmentary notices of Assyrian kings,
from the Synchronistic History, and from certain
business documents to recover a few of the names,
which will be set down in their approximate order
as the story progresses. The next of the kings
of Babylonia seems to have been Nabu-ukin-abli, *
> Winckler, Oeachiekte, p. 118.
^ The whole question of this king^s personality and date is exceedingly
obscure. If he is the first king of the eighth dynasty, he must have
reigned for thirty-six years, for that numeral appears clearly in Enudtzon's
copy in place of the thirteen years previously given. (Comp. Enudtzon,
Auyruehe Oebete an den SonnengoU^ i, 60, with Schrader in Siizungiherickte
der Berl Ah. der TFtM., 1887, pp. 679-607, 947-961.) Of his name
there is no doubt, for he is mentioned on the curious boundary stone of
Kinib-kudurusur (British Museum, No. 102), published by Belser, Beitrage
gur Auyioiogie^ ii, 171, fP. As Peiser has correctly pointed out in his
translation {KeUintehrifUiche Bihliotheky iv, 82, ff.), the stone has on it
writing of different dates, and this, of course, adds to the difficulty. Peiser^s
ASSYRIAN POWER OVER BABYLONIA. 39
who reigned apparently thirty-six years (about
1026-991 B. C), and whose portrait, accompanied
by his titles as king of Kishshati and king of
Babylonia^ is given on a curious boundaiy stone.
This is all that is known of him or his reign.
While we have been laboriously threading our
way though the weary mazes of this obscure suc-
cession of dynasties in Babylonia we have left
aside a period of silence in Assyria after the reign
of Tiglathpileser I and his two sons. We have
now seen that during this period there was no dis-
play of power and energy in Babylonia, but the
people of Chaldea, using perhaps this very oppor-
tunity, had been able to establish themselves well
in their own land, and even to attain power in
Babylonia.
In the west there were movements of still
greater importance among the Semitic peoples.
Just as the decay of Babylonian power gave op-
portunity to the Chaldeans, so the decay of As-
syrian power and the consequent absence of its
threats against the west gave great opportunity
to the peoples of Syria and Palestine. As the As-
syrian power must soon meet these new foes, as
well as old foes in new locations, we must survey
this field of the west before we proceed further
with the story of Assyria.
Several times before in this history we have
difficulty about the number of years of reign assigned to Nabu-ukin-abli is
removed if the incorrect 13 of the older publications of the King List be
corrected into 86, in accordance with Knudtzon^s excellent copy.
40 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
met with a people known as the Aramaeans. Like
the Assyrians and Babylonians, they were a Se-
mitic people whose original homeland was Arabia,
and probably northern Arabia. Whether AramaB-
ans began to leave Arabia before or after the
Babylonians will probably never be known with
certainty. As the Mesopotamian valley was so
much more desirable a place of dwelling than the
lands later occupied by the Aramaeans, it seems
reasonable to suppose that this valley was already
occupied by the Babylonians when the Aramaeans
came out of Arabia and moved northward. They
left settlements along the edges of the Babylonian
kingdom, some of which were readily absorbed,
while others remained to vex their stronger neigh-
bors for centuries. In their migrations toward the
north they seemed to follow very nearly the course
of the Euphrates, though bodies of them crossed
over toward the Tigris and became, as we have
seen, thorny neighbors of the Assyrians during the
founding of the Assyrian kingdom. At the period
which we have now reached their strongest settle-
ments were along the northern Euphrates, in the
neighborhood of the river Sajur. Pitru (the bib-
lical Pethor ') and Mutkinu, which had been filled
with Assyrian colonists by Tiglathpileser, were
now in the hands of the Aramaeans. It is alto-
gether probable, also, that they had silently pos-
sessed themselves of tenitory farther north along
the Euphrates, perhaps even as far as Amid, which
' Num. xxii, 5 ; Deut. zxiii, 4.
\
ASSYRIAN POWER OVER BABYLONIA. 41
Tiglathpileser had conquered, but which had to be
reconquered, and from the Aramaeans, in a short
time. But the greatest achievement of the Ara-
maeans was not in the upper Mesopotamian valley.
They were in force in this valley when the Hittite
empire fell to pieces, and to them came the best of
what it possessed. Carchenush, at the fords of the
Euphrates, had been passed by, and moving west-
ward, they had seized Aleppo and Hamath and
then, most glorious and powerful of all, Damascus
fell into their hands. Here they founded their
greatest kingdom, and centuries must elapse before
the Assyrians would be able to break down this
formidable barrier to their western progreas. But
these facts have another significance besides the
political. The Aramaeans were essentially traders.
The temtory which they now possessed was the
key to the trade between the east and the west.
The products of Assyria and of Babylonia could
not cross into Syria and thence in ships over the
Mediterranean westward without passing through
this Aramaean temtory, and 80 paying tribute.
The Aramaeans had become the land traders, as
the Phoenicians were the sea traders. Now, the
Assyrians were also a commercial people, shrewd,
eager, and persevering. It could not be long be-
fore the king of Assyria would be pressed by the
commercial life of Nineveh to undertake wars for
the winning back from the Aramaeans of this terri-
tory so valuable in itself, and so important for the
development of Assyrian commerce. However the
42 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYEUA.
Assyrians, who were never a maritime people, miglit
endure the sabmission of their commercial ambi-
tion to the Phcenicians on the sea, it was not likely
that they would yield up the highways of the laud
to a people less numerous and less strong than
themselves. In the period of decay that followed
the reign of Tiglathpileser this new power had
risen up to bar their progress. We shall see
shortly how the difficulty was met.
During the same period another power, not so
great, and yet destined to influence strongly the
later history of Assyria and soon to excite As-
syrian cupidity, had been slowly developing in the
land of Palestine south of the Arameean strong-
holds. When the Hebrews crossed over the Jor-
dan into Palestine they found a number of disor-
ganized tribes lately freed from Egyptian rule and
not yet organized into a confederation sufficiently
strong to resist the fresh blood which came on
them suddenly from oat the desert.' The He-
brews in their desei-t sojourn had worn off the
feeling of a subject population, and from the
desert air had taken in at every breath the free-
dom which to this very day inspires the desert
Arab. It was a resistless force which Joshua led
in the desultory campaigns beyond the Jordan.
The period of the Judges was a rode and barbaric
age, but it was an age in which Israel developed
some idea of national life and some power of
' See a fresh «Dd TigorouB sUtement of the Canumite
Guthe, OtiehUhU <fe» Volka hrail, % 11, pp. S3-S8.
ASSYRIAN POWER OVER BABYLONIA. 43
self-goveminent. If the conquests of Tiglath-
pileser liad continued many years longer, he would
surely have been led to invade Palestine, and the
Hebrews, without a fixed central government,
without a kingly leader, without a standing army,
would have fallen an easy prey to his disciplined
and victorious troops. But the period of Assyrian
weakness which followed his reign gave the needed
breathing spell in the west, and the kingdom of
Saul and David was established. Herein was es-
tablished a new center of influence ready to oppose
the ambition of Assyrian kings and the commer-
cial cupidity of Assyrian traders.
The political aspect of western Asia had changed
considerably in the period 1050-950 B. C. During
this century we do not know anything of the life
of the Assyrian people. The names of the kings
Asshumazirpal II (about 1050 B. C), Erba-Adad,
and Asshur-nadin-akhe belong in this period, and
the last two erected buildings in the city of As-
shur, the restoration of which became a care to a
later king * after a lapse of one hundred and fifty
years. After these kings there ruled a certain
Asshur-erbi, though whether he was their imme-
diate successor or not does not appear. He has
left us no accounts of his wars or of his la-
bors. From the allusions of two later Assyrian
kings we learn that it was in his reign that the
' Asshumazirpal III in his hunting inscription (col. ii, lines 4, ff.) alludes
to Erba-Adad and Asshur-nakln-akhe. See the translations by Peiser in Eeil"
iruchri/t, Bibl, i, p. 127.
t
44 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
AramsBans seized Pitru (Pethor) and Mutkinu,' so
that his reign is another evidence of the period
of weakness and decay in Assyria. But he seems,
on the other hand, to have invaded the far west,
for on the Phoenician coast he carved his portrait
in relief upon the rocks,' probably in the rocky
gorge of the Nahr-el-Kelb, north of Beirut, a place
much used for the same purpose by later Assyrian
conquerors.
At about 950 B. C. Tiglathpileser II began to
reign in Assyria, and from his time on to the end
of the Assyrian empire we possess an unbroken
list of the names of the kings. He is called king
of Kishshati and king of Asshur,' and with his
name and his titles our knowledge begins and
ends. He was succeeded by his son, Asshur-dan II*
(about 930 B. C), and he again by his son, Adad-
nirari II (911-891 B. C), in whose reign the old
struggles between Assyi-ia and Babylonia began
again. Babylonia was now ruled by Shamash-
mudammik, and these two monarchs met in battle
at the foot of Mount Yalman and the Babylonian
was utterly overthrown. We hear no more of
him, and his life may have ended in the battle.
' Shalmaneser, Monolith^ ii, 87. On this text com p. especially Winck-
ler, Unterguchungefiy pp. 22, 23, footnote 6, and OeschicKle^ p. 382, note
38 (to page 181).
' Shalmaneser , Balawat, ii, 3. Comp. also Winckler, ViUersuchungen^
pp. 22, 23 footnote 6.
*No inscription of Tiglathpileser II has been preserved, and we owe
these facts to the inscription of Adad-nirari II {Zeiischrift fur Asayrio-
logie, ii, p. 311 ; Keiliruchri/t. Bibl., i, pp. 48, 49).
^ See the same inscription of Adad-nirari IL
ASSYRIAN POWER OVER BABYLONIA. 45
The struggle was renewed by his successor, Nabu-
shmn-ishkun, who likewise suffered defeat at the
hands of Adad-nirari 11, and was compelled to
yield some cities to the Assyrians, after which a
treaty of peace was made between the two nar
tions. Besides these notices of the relations be-
tween the two kingdoms our only record of the
times is a short inscription of Adad-nirari 11/ in
which his genealogy only is given. His son, Tu-
kulti-Ninib 11 (890-885 B. C), introduces us to
the threshold of a new period of Assyrian con-
quest. He began again the campaigns in the
north, which had rested since the days of Tiglath-
pUeser I, over whose course, in part, he marched,
piercing the highlands even to the confines of
Urartu (Armenia) and extending his ravages from
Lake Urumiyeh on the east to the land of Kum-
mukh on the west. At Supnat (Sebeneh-Su) he
caused his relief portrait to be set up alongside of
that of Tiglathpileser, whose exploits he had been
emulating.
In his reign Assyria gives plain indication that
the period of decay and of weakness was past.
The Babylonians had been partially humbled, and
were at least not threatening. The Assyrians
were therefore free to begin again to assert the
right to tribute in the north and northwest. In
the next reign the issue is joined, and a new period
of Assyrian progress begins.
» Published by Winckler, ZeiUchrift fur Asxyriohgie, ii, p. 811, and
translated by him in Keiliruchri/i. Bibl,, i, pp. 48, 49.
f
I
« HISTOKT OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER IV.
THS BEION OF ASBEUBNAZIKPAL.
When Asshnmazlrpal (885-860 B. C.) suc-
ceeded his father on the throne of Assyria he in-
herited opportanities rather than actual posses-
sions. The kingdom over which he ruled from
his capital city of Nineveh was comparatively
smaU. Babylonia, while not physically so strong-
as Assyria, was, nevei-theless, entirely independent
under the reign of Nabn-apal-iddin (about 880 B. C),
who probably began to reign very shortly after
AsshumazirpaL The countries to the north which
had been conquered by Tiglathpileser I and again
overrun by Tnkulti-Ninib were only tributary, and
not really governed from Nineveh. Furthermore
their tribute was not paid voluntarily, but only
when an Assyrian anny stood ready to collect it
by force. The AramseaDS possessed the best lands
in the upper Mesopotamian valley, and must be
met on the field of battle. The opportunity was
great, because none of these peoples were strong
enough to oppose Assyria single-handed, and there
was no present prospect of any sort of union be-
tween them. Asshnmazirpal was in every respect
the man for this situation ; no king like him had
arisen before in Assyria.
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZIRPAL. 47
Abundant historical material enables us to fol-
low closely the development of his plans and the
course and conduct of his campaigns. His stand-
ard inscription upon alabaster ' contains three hun-
dred and eighty-nine lines of writing, and gives, in
almost epic grandeur, the story of the truly im-
penal plans which he had made for Assyria. This
longest and best known text is supplemented by
no less than eight other texts,' some shorter origi-
nally, some fragmentary. Some of these are repeti-
tions, either in the same or varying phrase, and
thus add to the certainty of the text which may
be made from their comparison.
In the very first year of the king's reign his
campaigns of conquest begin, and it is in the north
that he must first tranquilize populations by de-
struction and savage butchery. The course of his
march was first northwestward, apparently follow-
ing closely the course of the Tigris for a short
distance and then striking due north over " im-
passable roads and trackless mountains'' to the
' This fine monolith, discovered by Layard at Nimroud, was first pub-
lished by him {IrueHptioru in the Cuneiform Cliaraeter^ plates 1-11) in a
Tery fragmentary manner. It is republished I R. 17-26. The first
English translation by Rodwell (Records of the Past, First Series, pp. 37-80)
is well supplanted by the new translation by Sayce, with numerous valuable
geographical and historical notes (Records of the Past, New Series, ii,
pp. 128-177). There is a very valuable translation of col. i, lines 1-99^
with notes, by Lhotzky (Die Annalen AssumazirpoTs, Miinchen, 1884), but
this was unfortunately never carried further. The entire text is trans-
lated by Peiser, Keilinschrift Bihl, i, pp. 60-119.
'The most important of the lesser inscriptions are the following:
(a) m R. 4, No. 8, translated by Peiser, op. cit., i, pp. 122, 123; (b) I R.
28. A hunting inscription to which belongs also III R. 4, No. 1 (comp.
Delitzsch, Die Koss&er, p. 10), translated by Peiser, op. cU., i, pp. 122-129«
48 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
land of Nimme, which we are to locate west of
Lake Van, about the neighborhood of Mush/
Here were found strong cities, meaning thereby
cities fortified against invasion, which were soon
captured, with the loss of many fighting men to
the enemy. According to the Assyrian account
the remainder of the defenders fled into the moun-
tains, there to hide like birds until, after a three
days' march, Asshumazirpal overtook them " nest-
ed ^ amid the fastnesses and slew two hundred of
them. Thence returning again into their country,
he threw down the walls of their cities and dug
them up, and set fire to the heaps of ruins. There
was no reason to doubt that the survivors would
pay tribute to Assyria, if indeed anything had
been left them wherewith to pay after such a visi-
tation. The memory of such discipline might be
expected to abide, while the report of it was sure
to spread rapidly, after the fashion of an oriental
story, among surrounding tribes who might learn
from it the wisdom of surrender and of tribute
paying without an attempt at a defense of national
or tribal liberty. So it fell out, for when As-
shumazirpal, leaving the waste behind him, went
southwestward into the land of Kimiri,* by the
1 So Sayce, Records of the Past, New Series, ii, p. 188, note 2. Maspero
(The Fatntiff of the JBrnpires, p. 14, footnote 1) would localize it still more
closely in the " cazas of Varto and Boulantk in the sandjak of Mush.'* Its
capital, Gubbe (Sayce reads Lib4), he would provisionally identify with Gop
(Vital Cuinet, La Turguie tTAsie, ii, pp. 688, 689).
' There is much dispute about the location of the Kirruri. The narrative
of Asshumazirpars progress makes it plain that they were close to the
Numme, or Nimme. Delattre (Encore un motaur la Geographic Ase., p. 10,
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZIRPAL. 49
side of Mount Rowandiz, he found ready for his
taking a great tribute of oxen, sheep, wine, and a
bowl of copper, and an Assyrian governor was
easily established over the land, to look rather after
its tribute than its worthy governing. And while
these events were happening the people of Gozan
(between the Tigris and Lake Urumiah) and the
people of Khubushkia,' who lived west of them
and nearer the old limits of Assyria, also sent a
voluntary tribute consisting of "horses, silver,
gold, lead, copper, and a bowl of copper." From
such bloodless successes the king turned southward
into the land of Qurkhi of Betani (along the bank
of the Tigris eastward of Diarbekir) and fought
with a population who only fled to the mountains
after a bitter defeat. They also were overtaken,
and two hundred and sixty of their heads were
built into a pyramid ; their cities were wasted and
burned, and an Assyrian governor was set to rule
them. Bubu, the son of the chief of Nishtum, one
of their cities, was flayed in the city of Arbela and
his skin spread on the fortress walL
So stands the sickening record of the first year's
campaign.' This savage beginning augured ill for
the new states which had sprung up since the
days of Tiglathpileser. "What mercy was there to
note 4) is therefore certainly wrong in locating them near the sources of
the IHgris. See, further, Billerbeck, Dm Sandachak Svlevmania^ pp. 16, ff.
* Billerbeck, op, cii, pp. 20, f., and comp. Maspero, op. cU.^ p. 16, foot-
note.
' Annals of Asshumaarpal, i, 42-69, Keilinachrifi. BibLy i, pp. 69, ff. ;
JUeorda of the Patty New Series, ii, pp. 188, ff.
4
60 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
be found in a man of this quality ? K years and
vigor were his portion, it would be difficult to set
a limit to his success as a conqueror, while the
early placing of governors over communities which
had surrendered seemed to imply that he had also
gifts as an administrator. But we follow his story
further. In the next year (884 B. C.) the king in-
vaded Kummukh, perhaps to insure payment of
the annual tribute, or there may have been signs
of rebellion. There was more of conquering to
do on the way, and then Kummukh was entered,
apparently without a struggle. But before the
king's purpose had developed, whatever it may
have been, he was summoned to the banks of the
Euphrates.
The Aramaean conoLmunities along the Euphrates
had no central government. They lived under
the old forms of city governments, some still in-
dependent, some dependencies of Assyria with
Assyrian governors. Bit-Khalupe was one of
these subject communities located on the Eu-
phrates, about halfway between the Balikh and
the Khabur (modem Halebe), and the governor
was Khamitai, an Assyrian subject. There was a
rebellion here — so ran the intelligence brought to
the Assyrians— the Assyrian governor was slain,
and his place had been given to a cei*tain Akhi-
yababa brought from Bit-Adini. It was summons
enough. Asshumazirpal showing thereby the
mobility of his army, came southward along
the course of the Khabur, halting at Sadikan (or
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZIRPAK 51
Gardikan, the modem Arban) ' to receive tribute
from an Aramsean prince, Shulman-khaman-ilaniy
and again at Shnma to receive like honor from
Ilu-Adad, in silver, gold, lead, plates of copper^
variegated cloths, and linen vestments. The news
of his approach reached Bit-Kialupe, and the
faint hearts of the people sank in them. They
surrendered, saying as they came from the city
gates and took hold of the conqueror's feet, in
token of submission, " Thou wiliest and it is death,
thou wiliest and it is life ; the will of thy heart
wUl we perform."' But even this abject sur-
render did not avail with such a man as Asshur-
nazirpal. He attacked the city and compelled the
delivering up of all the soldiers who had joined
in the rebellion. No mention is made of the treat-
ment of the private soldiers, but their oflScers' legs
were cut off. The nobles who had shared in the
uprising were flayed, and their skins stretched
over a pyramid erected, and apparently for this
very purpose, at the chief gate of the city. Then
the city, plundered of all its wealth and beauty,*
was left a monument of ferocity and a warning to
conspirators. The unhappy Akhi-yababa was sent
off to Nineveh, there to be flayed that his skin
> The location is certun. See Rawlinson, Five Great Monarchies^ 2d
ed., i, p. 206, and ii, p. 84, and Hommel, Oeechichle Babyloniem und Aesyr-
iena, pp. 667, 668. Layard (Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 280-242) found
the remains of a palace on the site, which had been decorated with bas-
reliefs and guarded with lions and winged bulls.
' Asshumazirpal I, 81.
' The possession of so much wealth and of so many artistic objects is an
instructiye commentary upon the age and extent of this civilization.
52 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
might adorn the fortress walls, while his place as
Assyrian governor over Bit-Khalupe was taken
by Azilu. As in the former year, the story of
this punishment went abroad. The rulers of Laqi '
and Khindanu' hastened to send tribute to the
conqueror while he was staying at Suri, while
yet another AramaBan people, the Shuhites, sent
Ilubani, their ruler, and his sons to carry a costly
tribute direct to Nineveh.
Following these events there was a lull in the
king's actions, while he stayed at Nineveh, as
though there were no more lands to conquer. But
news reached him of a revolt among Assyrian col-
onists planted by Shalmaneser I at Khalzi-lukha,'
under the leadership of one Khula. Again must
the king march northward into lands always trou-
bled. On this march the king erected at the sources
of the river Supnat a great inscribed portrait of
himself by the side of the reliefs of Tiglathpileser I
and Tukulti-Ninib. Thence he moved northwest-
ward to the slopes of Mount Masius, where Khula
was captured, his men butchered, and his city
razed. On the return march, in the country of
Nirbi, the lowlands about the modem Diar-
bekir,* he took and devastated the chief city. Tela,
* Their territory lay along the Euphrates and probably a little to the
south of the Suru.
* Sayce (Records of the Fast, New Series, ii, p. 144, note 2) doubtfully
suggests that Khindanu may be " the Giddan of cUissical geography, on
the eastern bank of the Euphrates.*'
*0r Ehalzi-dipkha. Maspero (77^ Pasaing of the Empires^ p. 19, note
2) would locate it in the district of Severek.
*So Sayce, Records of the Fast, New Series, ii, p. 146, note 1.
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZIRPAL. 53 .
which was defended by a threefold wall^ slaying
three thousand of its fighting men. A little far-
ther south the king approached the city of Tus-
kha,* in whose site he apparently recognized an
important vantage point, for he halted to restore
it. The old city wall was changed, and a new
wall built in massive strength from foundation to
the coping. Within these walls a royal palace was
erected, an entirely new structure. A new relief
of the king's person, fashioned of white limestone,
and inscribed with an account of the king's wars
and conquests in the land of Nairi, was set in the
city walls, to be studied as a warning by its inhab-
itants. The city thus rebuilt and restored was
peopled by Assyrian colonists and made a store-
house for grain and fodder. The aim, apparently,
was to use it as a base of supplies in military opera-
tions against the north and west. Some of the in-
habitants of the land had fled, but upon payment
of homage were allowed to return to their cities
and homes, many of these in ruins. A heavy an-
nual tribute was put upon them, and their sons
were taken away to Nineveh as hostages.
While engaged in this work of reconstruction
much tribute was received from neighboring states.
Later in the year another district in the land of
Nirbu, near Mount Masius, revolted, and was sub-
'Site nDoertain. Rawlinson ('* Assyrian Discovery," The Athenceum^
1868, vol. i, p. 228) would locate it at Eurkh, near the Tigris, east of Diar-
bekir. At this place was found a monolith of Asshurnazirpal, and this
proves that he was in some way identified with the place. There is, how-
ever, no real proof that it was Tuskha.
«4 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
dued in the usual maimer. On the return journey
to Nineveh the people of Qurkhi^ the inhabitante
about Malatiyeh, and the Hittites paid tribute to
the apparently resistless conqueror. The next year
(882) witnessed an uprising in the southeast led by
Zab-Dadi, a prince of the country of Dagara, to
whom the people of Zamua' also joined them-
selves. There was thus in revolt a considerable
section of territory lying in the mountains east of
the Tigris and between the Lower Zab and the
Turnat (modern Shirwan) Rivers. Not satisfied
with the attempt to escape annual tribute, these
daring wai'riors thought to invade Assyrian soiL
The battle with them, fought out in the lowlands,
was an Assyrian victory, and the campaign ended
in the receipt of a heavy tribute, and the taking
of many cities, which, contrary to former custom,
were not destroyed.* This new method was, how-
ever, soon abandoned, for the next year (881)
these people refused to pay their tribute, and their
country was again invaded. This time savagery
had its sway, and the cities were dug up and
burned, while blood was poured out like water. It
was now safe to advance through the broken land
farther into the mountains for more plunder, but
we are not able to follow the king's movements
in this extended campaign for lack of geographical
knowledge.
* The location of the Zamua is easily determined. See Billerbeck, Das
Sandachak Suieimania^ pp. 18, 39, ff., etc.
* Asshuraazirpal, ii, 23-49. See translations by Sayoe, op, ct7., pp. 149,
if., and by Peiser, op. ct/., pp. 74, ff.
REXGN OF A8SHURNAZTRPAL. 55
It is especially noteworthy that, though the usual
destructions prevailed, there were again displayed
some constructive ideas, for the city of Atlila,'
which had previously been destroyed by the
Babylonians, was rebuilt and made an Assyrian
fortress, with a king^s palace, and with the As-
syrian name of Dur-Asshur. This completed, for
a time at least, the subjugation of the eastern
borders of the kingdom, and the king could estab-
lish a regular collection of tribute in the north.
The wealth poured into Calah year after year in
these raids must have been enormous. Herein lies
the explanation of the possibility of maintaining a
standing army and carrying on conquests of out-
lying territory. The Assyrian people could not
have stood the drain of resources necessary for
foreign conquest, nor could the merchants of Nin-
eveh have borne a system of taxation sufficient to
maintain armies so constantly on the march. It
is noteworthy that nearly every campaign made
thus far in this brilliant reign was for tribute
gathering. The king was not yet ready for the
attempt to add largely to his empire, nor even to
extend widely the area of his tribute getting.
Time for the training of his army was necessary,
and funds had to be accumulated for the payment
and equipment of his troops. Undoubtedly many
adventurers from among foreign conquered peoples
' The location is quite unknown. Maspero ( Tlu Passing of the EmpireSy
p. 26, note 1) would identify it with the modem Kerkuk. Billerbeck {Das
SandMcJiak, etc., p. 86) would place it farther to the southeast, ** west of
geginne and Chalchalan-dagh.*'
56 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
fought in the armies of Asshumazirpal, and found
their compensation in such booty as they were
allowed to appropriate. It remains^ however, true
that the cost of the military establishment must
have been great, and the collection of tribute sup-
plied this outlay. The king watched closely the
collection of tribute, and nonpayment anywhere
was the signal for a sudden descent on the offend-
ers. "During the eponymy of Bel-aku (881 B. C.)
I was staying in Nineveh when news was brought
that Ameka and Arastua had withheld the tribute
and dues of Asshur my lord '' * — so began this cam-
paign of which we have just spoken, and so began
many another. Herein we have an instructive
commentary on the whole policy of Assyria for
years to come. Let us recall the need of con-
quering the AramsBans to secure commercial ex-
tension, and the need of the tribute to maintain
an army capable of such conquest, and in these
two motives, the one depending upon the other,
we have the explanation of Assyrian history for
this reign, and for not less than six reigns after it.
In the next year (880 B. C.) the king coUected
in person the tribute of the land of Kummukh^
afterward pushing on through the land of Qurkhi,
into the fastnesses of Mount Masius, for a like
purpose, and finally returning to the fortress of
Tushkha to continue his foimer building opera-
tions. That so large a part of the year is occu-
pied with the careful and systematic collection of
> Annals, col. ii, line 49, KeUintchrift, Bibl,^ i, pp. 78, 79.
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZmPAL. 57
tribute foreshadows a great campaign of conquest
toward which this storing up of supplies of money
and material is a necessary preparation. Possibly
the traders of Nineveh, profiting by the earlier
punishment of the AramsBans^ were urging the
king to wider conquests in the prosperous west,
which would result in a still further extension of
their trade. However that may be, the year 879
brought matters of inunense importance in As-
syrian history. The king first marched south-
west to the Euphrates and the Khabur. The
AramsBans of Bit-Khalupe had not forgotten their
sore discipline, and paid their tribute at once.
And in like manner one community after another
gave their silver and gold, their horses and cattle,
to their suzerain as he moved slowly down the
Euphrates to Anat (modem Anath).
AH this resembles former campaigns, but now a
sudden change appears. Attempting to collect
tribute at Sum (another city of the same name as
the capital of Bit-Khalupe), Asshumazirpal finds
the Shnhites, whose chief city Sura was, in league
with the Kassite Babylonians in their resistance.
The Babylonian king at this time was Nabii-apal-
iddin, who began to reign in his ancient city prob-
ably very soon after Asshumazirpal began to
reign in Assyria. He was either a weak man or a
man of extraordinary policy, or he would long be-
fore this have been in conflict with his northern
neighbor. In the discontent of the Shuhites he
saw a hopeful opportunity for injuring Assyria
58 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
without too great risk to his own fortunes. He
contributed to the revolt not less than fifty horse-
men and three thousand footmen — ^a considerable
contribution in the warfare of that century. For
two days the battle raged in and about Sum be-
fore the Assyrians obtained the mastery. Asshur-
nazirpal punished this uprising in his usual way,
by utterly wasting the city, slaying many of its
inhabitants, and carrying away immense spoil.
He is probably narrating only the simple truth
when he says that the fear of his sovereignty pre-
vailed as far as Kaixlunyash and overwhelmed
the land of Kaldu. The Babylonian king, though
he continued to reign for some time after this,
gave no further trouble to Assyria. He was kept
busily engaged in his own land in two important
enterprises. The Aramaean tribe known as the
Sutu, whom we have met in this story in northern
Babylonia, had centuries before wrought ruin at the
ancient religious city of Sippar, where the worship
of the sun god had its especial seat. With the de-
struction of the temples the worship carried on for
so many centuries ended. The former kings be-
longing to the dynasty of the Sea Lands, Shamash-
shipak and Kasshu-nadin-akhe, had tried in vain
to prevent the total destruction of the temple and
to reorganize its worship. Their efforts had com-
pletely failed, and the temple had now become a
hopeless ruin, covered with sand of the near-by
desert. Here was a work for the pious king.
Dislodging the Sutu from the city by force of
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZIRPAL. 69
arms, Nabu-apal-iddin began the reconstruction and
restoration of tlie fallen temple, and carried the
work to a successful conclusion^ setting up again
the splendid old ceremonial worship of the sun.
The inscription in which he has celebrated these
deeds is one of the most beautiful monuments of
ancient Babylonia.* To cany them out fully he
«eems to have maintained the peace with Asshur-
nazirpal and his successor.
But if the success and severity of Asshumazir-
pal caused the king of Babylon to occupy himself
entirely with internal aflfairs, it had little effect
on the hardy and daring Aramaeans, for scarcely
had the Assyrian king returned to Calah when he
was again called into the field by the revolt of
the men of Laqi and Khindanu and of the whole
Shuhite people. This time the king was better
prepared for the work in hand, for he had boats
<5onstructed at Sura, and was therefore able to fol-
low the fugitives to the river islands. The ruin
of this campaign seems awful even after the lapse
of centuries. The cities were utterly broken down
* Rassam in making excavations at Abu Habba found a piece of asphalt
pavement, beneath which " an inscribed earthenware casket, with a lid, was
discovered . . . about three feet below the surface. Inside it was a stone tab-
let eleven and one half inches long by seven inches wide " (Rassam, Asshur
and the Land of Nimrody p. 402). It is inscribed minutely on both sides
with three columns of writing, and on the obverse at the top is a small
bas-relief representing religious ceremonies before the figure of the sun
god (see illustrations in Rassam, ihidy or in Hommel, Oeschichte^ p. 696).
Pinches announced its discovery {Proceedings of the Society of BiblicO'
ArchtBology, iii, pp. 109, £f.), and later published part of it {ibid,^ viii,
pp. 164, ft.). The entire text is published V R. 60, 61, and it is translated
tj Joh. Jeremias, Beitriige zur Auyriologie^ i, 268, ff., and by Peiser, KeiJl
intehriJL £ibl,, iii, part 1, pp. 174, ff.
60 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
and burned, the inhabitants butchered when they
could be taken, and even the standing crops were
destroyed that neither man nor beast might eat
and live. It was no real compensation for such
deeds that two new cities were founded, one on the
hither bank of the Euphrates, named Kar-Asshor-
nazir-pal (that is, fortress of A.), and the other on
the far bank, called Nibarti- Asshur * (that is, the
ford of Asshur), for these could only be intended
for military purposes, and not as a contribution to
civilization or as abiding places for a ruined people*
But the king was not satisfied that he had got at
the root of the trouble, and the next year followed
up his advantage with another campaign appar-
ently intended to cut off any further rebellion at the
fountain head. It seems probable that the real
source of the energy and enthusiasm which sus-
tained so many rebellions among the Aramaeans was
the state of Bit-Adini, on the Euphrates, above the
mouth of the Khabur.* The most powerful Ara-
* There is no indication of the location of either of these Assyrian strong-
holds. Haspero (17ie Pasting of the Empires^ p. 80, note 4) has this sug-
gestion to make : '*A study of the map shows that the Assyrians could not
become masters of the country without occupying the passes of the
Euphrates ; I am inclined to think that Ear-Assur-nazir-pal is El-Halebiyeh,
and Nibarti-assur, Zalebiyeh, the Zenobia of Roman times. For the ruins
of these towns, compare Sachau, Rei»e in Syrien und Mesop.^ pp, 256-259,
and Peters, Nippur^ or ShpHoraiioru and Adventures on the Euphrates^
vol. i, pp. 109-114."
s Maspero (The Pamng of the Bmpiree, p. 80, note 6) makes this definite
statement : '* Btt-Adini appears to have occupied, on the right bank of the
Euphrates, a part of the cazas of Ain Tab, Rum-Ealeh, and Birejik, that
of Suniji, minus the Nakhiyeh of Harr&n, the larger part of the cazas of
Hembij and of Rakkah, and part of the caza of Z6r, the cazas being those
represented on the maps of Vital Cuinet, La Turquie d'Aeie, voL iL*'
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZmPAL. 61
msean settlements were here, and the capital city,
Kap-rabi * (great rock), was populous, well forti-
fied, and defiant. If this city were taken, there
would be hopes of crushing out completely the
spirit of resistance.
In his next campaign (877 B. C.) Asshumazir-
pal besieged the city and took it by assault, in
which eight hundred of the enemy were killed and
two thousand four hundred made prisoners. This
was followed by its complete destruction, and an
end was therefore made of incitements to rebellion
in Bit-Adini. The effect on the remaining Ara-
msBan settlements along the Euphrates was as
marked as it was sudden. Others sent their un-
paid tribute at once, and there was, during the
reign of Asshumazirpal, no further trouble over
the prompt payment of the Aramaean tribute.
With this campaign Asshumazirpal had not indeed
ended forever the fitful struggles of the Aramaeans
against superior force. These were all renewed
again in the very next reign. He had, however,
settled the question that there could be no strong
Aramaean state in that valley. The Aramaean
people must go elsewhere to make their contri-
bution to history and civilization.
The time had come, therefore, when all the
lands north, east, and west as far as the Euphrates
which had paid tribute to Tiglathpileser I were
1 Asshumazirpal (col. iii, line 61, Keilimehrift. Bibl.^ i, p. 103) pictur-
esquely describes Eap-rabi thus : " The city was very strong, like a cloud
suspended from heayen."
62 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
again paying it r^ularlj to ABshamaztrpaL
There were no more of these states left to trtai-
cinilize. Most of them had been dealt with
cruelly, many had been devastated, and thousands
of their inhabitants butchered with all the ac-
companiments of oriental savageiy. These com-
munities had not been added regularly to the em-
pire to be governed by satraps or officers making
regulfu- reports to the king in Assyria and receiv-
ing instructions from him. If such had been the
plan, the peoples who paid tribute would have
been receiving some sort of return in social order
and royal direction for the heavy tribute paid.
They were receiving nothing in return. They
had to look to themselves for protection against
the forays of barbarians who inhabited the moun-
tain passes about them. Such a status was not
likely to be permanent. "While their punishment
had been too severe for them to venture again to
excite the wrath of such a monarch, they might
nourish tbeir wrath and hope for a better day.
Perhaps the next Assyrian kiug might be a weak
man, and they would be able to throw off the
yoke in his day. Meantime, while Aeshumazirpal
held the reins of government, it would be well to
pay the tribute and give no excuse for a raid-
But with this quiescence of the tributary states
the employment of his army became a serious
question with Asshurnazirpal. He had made a
fighting machine such as had not been known be-
fore. His men had been trained in adversity.
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZmPAL. 63
toughened by hard marches, and brutalized by
scenes of blood and fire. He could not disband
it, for at once the tribute-paying states, unterrified
by it, would throw off their dependence and the
influx of gold would cease. He could not hold
it in idleness, for such an aggregation of brutal
passions would inflame the commonwealth and
disturb the peace. The army would also soon lose
its efficiency if unemployed, for the elaborate
modern systems of drill for the conserving of
health and the promotion of discipline were un-
known. It is plain that these men must fight
somewhere ; but where should it be, and for what
ulterior purpose ? Ambition might answer to the
king, for conquest and the extension of Assyrian
territory, and greed might urge to further tribute
getting, and commercial enterprise might clamor
for the reopening of old lines of trade to the west
through the territory of the Aramaeans. It was
this last which prevailed, though the two former
ideas had their influence and their share in the
decision.
It was in the month of April * of the year 876
that Asshumazirpal began the great westward
movement in which all his highest endeavors were
to culminate. All else had been but preparation.
The first part of his march, across the great Meso-
potamian valley, was little else than a triumphal
progress. Every one of the Aramaean settlements
on or near his route to the Euphrates sent costly
I On the eighth day of Ijy&r (col. iii, line 56).
64 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
tribute, consisting of chariots, horses, silver, gold,
lead, and copper, most of which must be sent
back to Calah, while the king marched on. When
the Euphrates was reached it was crossed at its
flood, in boats made of the skins of animals, and
the city of Carchemish * was entered. The glory
of the city had departed. Once the capital of the
great Hittite empire, now broken in power, it was
now merely the center of a small state, of which
Sangara was ruler. His policy was direct and
simple. He was willing to pay down the sum of
twenty talents of silver, one hundred talents of
copper, two hundred and fifty talents of iron,
along with chains and beads of gold and much
other treasure, if he were simply let alone. Though
deprived of its political influence, Carchemish was
now an important commercial city. War could
only destroy its commerce, and success against the
renowned Assyrian conqueror was doubtful, if not
absolutely impossible. National pride counted
for nothing. The primary desire was to get the
Assyrians out of the country as soon as possible;
and weU might they pay a heavy tribute to gain
so great a boon as that. Neighboring states, fear-
ing invasion and plunder, likewise sent tribute,
and the king could move on farther westward.
Crossing the river Apre (modern Afrin) after a
short march, Asshumazirpal came into the territory
' Carchemish stood on the west bank of the Euphrates, above the month
of the Sajur. The modem name is Tariously given by different travelers
as Jerabliis (Skene, Wilson, Sayce) or Jer&bis (Sachao, Schrader, Delitssch).
The latter is preferable.
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZIRPAL. 65
of another small state, called Patin, which was
apparently Aramaean or partially so. The capital of
the state was Kunulaa, and the ruler was Lubarna,
whose territory extended from the Apre to the
Orontes, and thence over the mountain ridges to
the sea near Eleutheros, with northern and south-
em Umits not now definable/ It was a rich and
fertile country, and might well excite the cupidity
of the Assyrian army. Lubama offered no resist-
ance to the invader, but was anxious only to expe-
dite his progress, with presents truly regal in
amount and in magnificence.' The march was then
southward across the Orontes to the city of Ari-
bua,* located near the Sangura River, which was
a southerly outpost of Lubama. Though Lubarna
had so thoroughly submitted to the Assyrians in
hope of getting them out of the coantry, Aribua
was made an Assyrian outpost, colonists settled in
it, and grain and straw, harvested by force in the
lands of the Lukhuti, were stored in it. Whether
the town was to become the capital of an Assyrian
province or merely a base of supplies for possible
hostile operations does not appear. And now
there was no one to oppose the king's march north
and west into the green slopes of the Lebanon.
'See Schrader, Keilinachriften und QetehichUfortchung^ pp. 214-221,
and Winckler, AUorierUtUisehe Forschungen^ i, pp. 8, ff.
* ** Twenty talents of silver, one talent of gold, one hundred talents of
lead, one hundred talents of iron, one thousand oxen, ten thousand sheep,
one thousand garments, variegated and linen ... as his tribute I received."
Asshumazirpal, col. ui, 78-77 (KeiliruchH/t. Bihl, i, pp. 106, 107).
'The exact location of Aribua has not been found (Wmckler, Alt'
orietUalische Fortchungen^ i, p. 5).
6
66 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
From beneath the historic cedars an Assyrian
king again looked out over the Mediterranean^
and with far greater hopes of securing a foothold
there than any of his predecessors had ever had,
whether Assyrian or Babylonian.
While this invasion was in some measure a raid
for booty, it was more powerfully conceived and
better disciplined than the others had been. When
Sargon I had marched hither he passed through
lands scantily populated with peoples, with whom
he had little contact. There was no possibility
of making an empire out of Babylonia and a prov-
ince on the far western sea, with vast uncontrolled
territories between. When Tiglathpileser I came
out to the same sea he had left great territories
and populous communities between him and the
homeland, and, like the early Babylonian, there
could be no hope of making an empire out of two
lands so widely separated. But Asshumazirpal
had measurably changed the situation. He did
not, it is true, actually rule the entire territory
from the Lower Zab and its overhanging hills to
the Lebanon, but he had broken its spirit, and was
received as its conqueror. In many places rule was
exercised by governors, both native and Assyrian,
whom he had appointed. In yet others there were
towns peopled by Assyrian colonists, stored with
Assyrian provisions, and defended by massive
walls of Assyrian construction. The situation was
indeed changed, and the result of this invasion
might well be different. Asshumazirpal knew
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZIRPAL. 67
the conditions with which he was confronted, and
fully appreciated the opportunity for making a
great empire. The Mediterranean was even then
the basin upon which touched the greatest empire
of the world ; and the Egyptians understood the
value of their geographical situation. The Phoe-
nicians were already a powerful commercial peo-
ple. The Hebrews fonned an impoi*tant center of
influence in Canaan. What relation should As-
syria come to sustain to these powers of antiquity ?
An augury of the answer to that question came
as Asshurnazu'pal halted on the Lebanon. The
people of Tyre, of Sidon, of Tripolis,' and of Arvad
sent splendid gifts, a fatal blunder, for it was a
confession of weakness, which would be noted and
remembered by the Assyrians. It was a recogni-
tion of the power of the Assyrian arms, of which
almost every Assyrian king boasts in the stereo-
typed phrase: "By the might of the terrible arms;"
and the Assyrians would bring forth yet greater
daring as they remembered that the commercial
rulers of the west feared their power too greatly
to test it. And, worst of all, it was a confession
to the world that these western peoples, who fronted
the Mediterranean cared more for the profits of
their commerce than for freedom. We shall see
very shortly the results of this sending of gifts to
the Assyrian king. Asshurnazirpal had achieved
* In Asshumazirpal's account three cities are mentioned : Makhallat,
Maiz, and Eaiz (Annals, col. iii, 86). Delitzsch (Paradiea^ p. 282) makes
it probable that these three formed Tripolls, and Sayce apparently agrees
(Records of the P<ut, New Series, ii, p. 172, note 1).
68 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
his present purpose in this direction. He did not
go down to Tyre or Sidon to look upon the weak-
lings who paid tribute without seeing his annSy
but turned northward into the Amanus mountains
on an errand of peace. Here he cut cedar, cypress,
and juniper trees and sent the logs off to Assyria.
Somewhere else in the same district he cut other
trees, called mekkri trees, which seem to have
been numerous enough to give their name to the
country in which they were found. These were
taken back to Nineveh and offered to Ishtar, the
lady of Nineveh.
So ended, in the peaceable gathering of building
materials, a remarkable campaign. Asshumazirpal
had succeeded brilliantly where his predecessors
had failed. But as we look back over the entire
campaign we can discern significant silence concern-
ing one western people. There is no allusion to
Damascus or to any of its tributary states. They
were all left undisturbed, and a glance at the map
reveals how carefully the Assyrian army had
avoided even their outposts. To have attacked
that solidly intrenched state would have been cer-
tain disaster, and Asshumazirpal was wisely in-
,.r«ctrf in pa««„g it by. IL m.st elaji W
fore the Assyrians should dare attack it.
The campaign was noteworthy also in that there
had been almost no savagery, no butchering of
men, scarcely any ruthless destruction of cities.
This better state of war was of course due to no
change of method on the part of Asshumazirpal,
KEIGN OF ASSHURNAZmPAL. 69
but simply to the almost entire absence of resist-
ance. The former campaigns had terrified the
world, and the frnits of severity were an easy con-
quest and the development of the peaceful art of
building. The burning of cities and the slaughter
of men were resumed in 867 in a small campaign
through the lands of Kummukh, Qurkhi, and the
oft-plundered country about Mount Masius. It
was emphatically a campaign of tribute collecting,
and the only matters of any political consequence
were the appointment of an Assyrian governor
over the land of Qurkhi and the carrying of about
three thousand captives into Assyria. Such a leav-
ening as that might influence the Assyrian people.
These renewed ravages ended the wars of As-
shnrnazarpal; the remainder of his reign was de-
voted to works of peace. But it would be a
mistake to suppose that campaigning had occupied
his entire attention during his reign, for undoubt-
edly the two chief works of his reign were ex-
ecuted partially during the very period when he
was most busy with tribute collecting. These
works were the rebuilding of the city of Calah
and the construction of a canal. The former was
necessary because the city which Shalmaneser I
had built had been deserted during the period
when Asshur was again the capital, and a short
period of desertion always meant ruin to Assyrian
buildings. Only the outer surface of its thick
walls was built of burnt brick, the inner filling
being composed of unbumt brick merely, so that
70 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
a trifling leak in the roof transformed this interior
into a mass of clay, speedily causing the walls to
spring. Judging from the hundreds of references
in Assyrian literature to the restoration of walls
and buildings, it may justly be thought that the
Assyrians were especially bad roof builders. In-
deed their advance in constructive skill never kept
pace with their progress in the arts of decoration.
It is this anomaly which has left us without any
standing buildings in Assyria, while vast temples
still remain in Egypt. It is, of course, to be ob-
served that Assyrian construction would doubt-
less have shown a different development had stone
been abundant as a building material As an off-
set to this, however, it must be remembered that
brick is one of the most durable of materials when
properly baked and laid, and that the Assyrians
knew how to bake properly is evidenced by their
clay books, which have survived fire and breakage
and wet during the crash and ruin of the centuries.
Besides the general reconstruction of Calah, As-
shurnazirpal built himself a great palace, covering
a space one hundred and thirty-one yards in
length and one hundred and nine in breadth,^
which remained a royal residence for centuries.
Its massive ruins have been unearthed at Nim-
roud, being the northwestern one of the three
there discovered. His second great work was the
construction, or reconstruction, of an aqueduct to
' Layard, Nineveh and its Remaim^ i, pp. 62, ft. See picture and plan,
in Bassam, Auhur and the Land ofNimrod^ pp. 222, fl.
REIGN OF ASSHURNAZmPAL. 71
bring an abundant supply of water to the city
from the Lower Zab. The river bank was pierced
near the modern Negub, and the water first con-
veyed through a rock tunnel and then by an open
canal to the great terrace. Its course was lined
with palms, with various fruit trees, and with
vineyards, and well was it named BabdaMiigal
— the " bringer of f ruitfulness." *
In the year 860 B. C. the reign of Asshumazir-
pal ended in peace. He had wrought great things
for Assyrian power in the world, and the empire
as he left it was greater actually and potentially
than it had ever been before. Of the man him-
self the world can have no pleasant memories.
No king like him in ferocity had arisen before
him, and in Assyria at least he was foUowed by
none altogether his equal. One searches the rec-
ords of his reign and finds seldom anything more
than catalogues of savage and relentless deeds.
So rarely indeed does a work of mercy or peace
brighten the record that it is a relief to turn the
page.
1 Monolith mscription, i, 6-9, KeUvMckrifi, Bibl,, i, pp. 118, 119. For
the modem remaina see Layard, Nineveh and tie JRemaina, i, pp. 80, 81 ;
Nineveh and Babylon^ pp. 625-627.
72 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER V.
SHALMANE8ER II TO A8SHUR-NIRARI II.
Shalmaneser II (859-825 B. C.)t who succeed-
ed his father, Asshamazirpal, continued his policy
without a break, and even extended it. We are
even better instructed concerning his reign, for
more historical material has come down to us from
it. The most important of his inscriptions is a
beautiful obelisk of black basalt. The upper parts
of the four faces contain beautifully carved figures
of various animals which the king had received
in tribute and as gifts, each illustration being ac-
companied by an epigraph explaining its meaning.
The lower parts bear inscriptions recounting in
chronological order the campaigns of the king.
There are no less than one hundred and nine lines
of compact writing upon this one monument.'
This story of his wars is supplemented by the fine
monolith of the king, containing his portrait in low
relief, covered with one hundred and fifty-six lines
of text* And this again, in its turn, is supple-
* Black Obelisk, text publiflhed In Layard, Itueriptiofu in the Cynei/arm
Charadert, 87-98. It has often been translated in whole or part The
best of the recent translations are by Winckler, Keilifuchrift. BiU.^ i, pp.
128-161, and by Scheil, JUeords of the Past, New Series, iv, pp. 89, sqq.,
the latter with numerous correctious by Sayce.
* ni R. 7, 8, translations by Craig, Hebraica^ iii, 1887 ; Peiser, EeiUfi-
•ehri/t. Bibl, vol. i, pp. 160-176 ; and Scheil, Rewrde of the Poet, New
SerieSji ▼, pp. 66, sqq.
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIRARI n. 73
mented by fragmentary inscriptions upon bronze
plates which once covered massive wooden doors
or gates/ From these three main sources of in-
formation we are able to follow in order all the
chief events of the king's reign. The accounts,
however, are less picturesque and full of life than
those of his predecessor. Campaigns are often dis-
missed in a few colorless words, and the record
takes on the nature of a catalogue rather than of a
history. We shall therefore present the story of
his reign, not in its chronological but rather in its
logical order, following the circle of his achieve-
ments from country to country. The annalistic
style of Asshumazirpal may stand as the repre-
sentative of this reign, with the difference, already
mentioned, that it possesses greater breadth and
richer color.
For twenty-six years Shalmaneser led every cam-
paign in person — an amazing record. His armies
were then sent out under the leadership of the Tar-
tan Asshur-dayan. Like his father, Shalmaneser
was oppressed by the weight of his own army. It
must fight or die, and when there was no excuse
for operations of defense there must be a cam-
paign to collect tribute, and when that was not
needed fresh conquests must be attempted.
From his father he also inherited the old Ara-
' The gate inBcriptions were secured in the mounds of Balawit by Hor-
muid Rassam in 1877. They have been published and translated by Pin-
ches in Tranaaetians of the Society of Biblical Archceoiogy^ vii, pp. 88,
sqq., and by Amiaud et Scheil, IneeriptUme de Salmanaaar /, Paris, 1890,
and also RecordM of the Past^ New Series, iv, pp. 74, sqq.
74 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
msean question, which was to consume much of his
energy through a considerable part of his reign.
We have seen that Asshurnazirpal broke the spirit
of the Aramaeans in the Mesopotamian valley and
compelled them to pay tribute regularly. But>
though this was true, it was to be expected that
they would tiy his successor's mettle at the first
opportunity. Of these states Bit-Adini was still
the most powerful as well as the most daring. We
are not told what act of Akhuni, ruler of Bit-Adini,
led to an outbreak of hostilities, but we shall
probably not be far wrong if we ascribe it to
the ever-veidng tribute. Whatever the difficulty,
Shalmaneser invaded the country in 859, the first
year of his reign, and captured some of its cities,
but apparently did not directly attack the capital.
The invasion had to be repeated in 858 and again
in 857, and in both years there were displays of
savagery after the fashion of Asshurnazirpal. Pyr-
amids of heads were piled up by city gates and
the torch applied to ruined cities. But in the lat-
ter year the opposition to Assyrian domination was
hopelessly broken down. The brave little land
was annexed to Assyria, placed under Assyrian
government, and colonists from Assyria were set-
tled in it.*
Such success was likely to lead soon to an at-
tack upon the larger and richer Aramaean settle-
ments farther west. The states with which he
1 Obelisk, lines 26-82, 82-86, 86-46. MonoUth i, 12-29 ; ii, 1-18, 18-
80, 80-36.
1
SHALMANESER n TO ASSHUR-NIRARI U. 75
would have to deal at first were Hamath, Damas-
cus, and Patin, the small but fertile and powerful
state between the Afrin and the Orontes, which
had given much trouble to his father. Patin was
not so powerful as the other two, but could not be
left out of account in a western invasion. Hamath
was the center of Aramaean influence in northern
Syria, and under the leadership of Irkhulina was
no mean antagonist. But by far the most power-
ful and important of the three states was Damascus,
whose king at this time was Ben-Hadad IL If
an enduring union could be formed between
these two states and allies secured in Phoenicia
and in Israel, the peoples of the west might defy
even the disciplined and victorious armies of As-
syria. But the ambition of Damascus to be actual
head over all the western territory and mutual jeal-
ousies among the other states prevented any real
union against the common oppressor. However,
the threatened advance of Assyria was sufficient
to bury for a time at least their differences and a
confederation for mutual defense was formed for a
year, during which time it was a powerful factor
in the history of western Asia.
Shalmaneser II was ready for the attempt on
the west in 854. The campaign of that year is
of such great importance that it will be well to
set it down in the words of the Monolith inscrip-
tion, with such further comment as may be neces-
sary to make its meaning clear :
"In the eponymy of Dayan-Asshur, in the month
76 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
of Airu, on the fourteenth day, from Nineveh I de-
parted; I crossed the Tigris; to the cities of Giammn
on the Balikh I approached. The fearfulness of
my lordship (and) the splendor of my powerful
arms they feared, and with their own arms they
slew Giammu, their lord. Kitlala and Til-sha-apli*
akhi I entered. My gods, I brought into his tem-
ples, I made a feast in his palaces. The treasury I
opened, I saw his wealth ; his goods and his pos-
sessions I carried away; to my city Asshur I
brought (them). From Kitlala I departed; to
Kar-Shulman-asharid I approached. In boats of
sheepskin I crossed the Euphrates for the second
time in its flood. The tribute of the kings of that
side of the Euphrates, of Sangar of Carchemish, of
Kundashpi of Kummukh, of AramS, the son of
Gusi ; of Lalli, the Melidsean ; of Khayani, son of
Gabbar; of Kalparuda, the Patinian; of Kalpanida,
the GurgumsBan ; silver, gold, lead, copper (and)
copper vessels, in the city of Asshur-utir-asbat, on
that side of the Euphrates, which (is) on the river
Sagur, which (city) the Hittites call Pitru, I re-
ceived. From the Euphrates I departed, to Khal*
man I approached. They feared my battle (and)
embraced my feet. Silver and gold I received as
their tribute. Sacrifices I offered before Adad,
the god of Khalman (modem Aleppo). Prom
Eiialman I departed ; two cities of Irkhulina, the
Hamathite, I approached. Adennu, Mashga, Ar-
gana, his royal city, I captured ; his booty, goods,
the possessions of his palaces I brought out (and)
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIRAM II. 77
set fire to his palaces. From Argana I departed ,
to Qarqar I approached ; Qarqar, his royal city, I
wasted, destroyed; burned with fire. One thou*
sand two hundred chariots, 1,200 saddle horses,
20,000 men of Daddaridri (that is, Ben-Hadad 11)
of Damascus; 700 chariots, 700 saddle horses,
10,000 men of Irkhulina, the Hamathite; 2,000
chariots, 10,000 men of Ahab, the Israelite ; 500
men of the Quans;' 1,000 men of Mosri; 10
chariots, 10,000 men of the Irkanatians ; 200 men
of Matinu-Baal, the Arvadite; 200 men of the
Usanatians; 30 chariots, 10,000 of Adunu-Baal,
the Shianian ; 1,000 camels of Gindibu, the Ara-
bian ; . . . 1,000 men of Baasha, son of Kukhubi,
the Ammonite — ^these twelve kings he took to his
assistance; to make battle and war against me
they came. With the exalted power which As-
shur, the lord, gave me, with the powerful arms
which Nergal, who goes before me, had granted
me, I fought with them, from Qarqar to Gilzan I
accomplished their defeat. Fourteen thousand of
their warriors I slew with arms; like Adad, I
rained a deluge upon them, I strewed hither and
yon their bodies, I filled the face of the ruins with
their widespread soldiers, with arms I made their
blood flow. The destruction of the district . . . ;
to kill themselves a great mass fled to their graves
' Que is that part of Cilicia between the Amanus and the mountains of
the Eetis (see Schrader, Keilituehriften und OeschictiUforBchung^ pp. 288-
242). Winckler's conjecture (AUteatament UrUersuchungerty pp. 168, ff.),
which would place it in 1 Kings x, 28, is almost certainly correct See
farther Benzinger and Kittel on the passage.
78 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
. . . without turning back I reached the Orontes.
In the midst of this battle their chariots, saddle
horses, (and) their yoke horses I took from theui." *
By means of this detailed and explicit account
it is easy to follow the king's movements and un-
derstand the campaign. Shalmaneser leaves Nin-
eveh and makes straight across the valley for the
Balikh. He is here received with open arms, and
secures great gifts. His next important stop is at
Pethor, beyond the Euphrates, where more tribute,
brought long distances, even from the land of Kum-
mukh, is received. From Pethor to Aleppo the
distance was short and the issue was the same —
Aleppo surrendered without a blow. It is inter-
esting to mark that Shalmaneser localizes in Alep-
po the worship of the god Adad, to whom he paid
worship. If this statement is correct, we may find
in it a proof of early intercourse between Aleppo
and Assyria, for we have long since found Adad
worshiped in Assyria. This was the end of the
unopposed royal progress. As soon as he crossed
into the territory of the little kingdom of Hamath
he was opposed. Three cities were, however, taken
and left behind in ruins. Shalmaneser II then ad-
vanced to Qarqar,' a city located near the Orontes.
* Monolith inscription ii, lines 78-102. The parallel passage in the
Obelisk inscription (lines 64-66) is brief and coloriess. See Rogers, ** As-
syria's First Contact with Israel," Methodist Review^ March- April, 1896,
pp. 207-222.
* Its exact location is unknown. Maspero {The Passing of the 3fnpiree^
p. 70, note 4) suggests that it ** corresponds to the present Ealaat-el-Mu*
diq, the ancient Apamsa of Lebanon."
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIRARI II. 79
Here he was met by the allied army collected to
defend the west against Assyria. Its composition
throws light on the relative power of the states in
Syria and Palestine and deserves attention. The
main body of the army of defense was contributed
by Hamath, Damascus, and Israel. These three
states contributed much more than half of the en-
tire army and nearly all of the most powerful part
of it, the chariots and horsemen. From the north
there came men from Que (eastern Cilicia) and
Musri. From the west came detachments contrib-
uted by the northern Phoenician cities which were
unwilling or unable to send enormous gifts to buy
off the conqueror, as Tyre and Sidon had done, but
were willing to strike a blow for independence.
The last section was made up of Ammonites and
Arabs. This was a formidable array, and the is-
sue of the battle fought at Qarqar might well be
doubted. The Assyrians had, of course, a well-sea-
soned army to oppose a crowd of raw levies ; but
the latter had the great advantage of a knowledge
of the country as well as the enthusiasm of the
fight for home and native land. Of course the
records of Shalmaneser claim a great victory. In
the Monolith inscription * the allies killed are set
down at 14,000, in another inscription the num-
ber given is 20,500,' while in a third it rises to 25,-
000.' The evident uncertainty in the figures makes
1 CoL ii, Unes 97 and 98.
* Obelisk, lines 66, 66.
' Bull inscription, No. 1, line 18. On these discrepancies see Schrader^
KMnachriften und OeichichUforachungy p. 47.
80 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
US doubt somewhat the clearness of the entire re-
salt. There is, as usual, no mention of Assyrian
losses, but they must have been severe. The claim
of a great victory is almost certainly false. A vic-
tory for the Assyrians it probably was, for the
allies were plainly defeated and their union for de-
fense broken up ; but, on the other hand, the 'Assyr-
ians did not attempt to follow up the victory they
claimed, and no word is spoken of tribute or plun-
der or of any extension of Assyrian territory.' The
alliance had saved the fair land of Hamath for
a time and had postponed the day when Israel
should be conquered and carried into captivity. It
is a sore pity that despite the dread of the Assyr-
ians, voiced so frequently by the Hebrews, and
evidently felt by the other allies, mutual jealousy
should have prevented the continuance of an alli-
ance which promised to save the shores of the
Mediterranean for Hebrew and Aramaean civili-
zation.
Shalmaneser was busied elsewhere, as we shall
shortly see, during the years immediately follow-
ing, and it was not until 849 that he was able to
make another assault on the west. The point of
attack was again the land of Hamath, and again
Ben-Hadad II of Damascus and Irkhulina of Ha-
math had the leadership over the twelve allies.
This time Shalmaneser claims to have slain ten
thousand of his enemies, but he mentions no trib-
ute and no new territory. We may therefore be
' The abrupt ending of the Monolith narrative !s significant.
SHALMANESER n TO ASSHUR-NTRARI II. 81
almost cei'tain that the victory was rather a defeat,
and that he was really compelled to withdraw.
In 846 Shalmaneser once more deteimined to at-
tack the foe which had done such wonderful work
in opposing the hitherto invincible Assyrian arms.
In this campaign he did not trust merely to his
usual standing army, but levied contingents from
the land of Assyria and with an enormous force,
said by him to number 120,000 men, he set out for
Hamath. Again he was opposed by Ben-Hadad
II and his allies, and again he ^^ accomplished their
defeat." But, as in the previous campaigns and
for the same reasons, we are compelled to assert
that the Aramseans had given full proof of their
prowess by resisting the immense Assyrian army.
The next attempt upon the west was made in
842. In this year Shalmaneser found a very
different situation. Ben-Hadad II, who had
ruled with a rod of iron and held the neigh-
boring peoples in terror, was now dead,' and the
cruel but weak Hazael reigned in Damascus.
Ahab, who was a man of real courage and of great
resources, was dead, as was Joram (852-842), his
successor ; and Jehu, the usurper, was now king in
Samaria. He seems to have been a natural coward
and did not dare to fight the terrible Assyrians.
The other states which had united in defense un-
der Ben-Hadad II were hopelessly discordant, each
hoping to throw off the quasi-suzerainty of Damas-
cus. The people of Tyre and Sidon had again
> 2 Kings viii, 7-16.
6
82 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
returned to their commerce and were ready to
send gifts to Shalmaneser that they might not be
disturbed at the gates of the seas. Jehu sent costly
tribute, apparently in the mad hope of gaining As-
Syrian aid against the people of Damascus, whom
he hated and feared, not reckoning that the Assyr-
ians would seek this tribute year after year until
the land should be wasted. This act of Jehu gave
the Assyrians their first hold on Israel, and the
consequences were far reaching and disastrou&
Hazael, noble in comparison with all the former
allies of Damascus, determined to resist Shalma-
neser alone. In Saniru, or Hermon,* he fortified him-
self and awaited the Assyrian onslaught. Six
thousand of his soldiers were killed in battle,
while one thousand one hundred and twenty-one
of his chariots and four hundred and seventy
horses with his camp equipage were taken. Haz-
ael fled to Damascus and was pursued and besieged
by the Assyrians. But, powerful though he was>
Shalmaneser was not able to take Damascus, and
had to content himself with a thoroughly charac-
teristic conclusion of the campaign. He cut down
the trees about the city, and then marching south-
ward, entered the Hauran, where he wasted and
burned the cities.' So ended another assault on
the much-coveted west, and it was still not con-
' Deut. iii, 9, comp. Driver on the passage, and Sayce, Record* of the
Past^ New Series, vi, p. 41.
> Obelisk, lines 97-99 and Fragmentary Text, III R. 6, Xo. 6, 40-66.
See translations by Rogers, op. ciL pp. 220, 221.
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIRARI II. 83
quered. No such series of rebuflfe had ever been
received by Tiglathpileser or by Asshumazirpal,
but Shabnaneser was Dot deterred from another
and last attempt. In 839 he crossed the Euphrates
for the twenty-first time and marched against the
cities of HazaeL He claims to have captured
four of them, but there is no mention of booty,
and no word of any impression upon Damascus.'
Shabnaneser had led six campaigns against the
west with no result beyond a certain amount of
plunder. There was absolutely no recognition of
the supremacy of Assyria. There was no glory
for the Assyrian arms. There was no greater
freedom achieved for Assyrian commerce. And
yet some progress had been made toward the great
Assyrian ambition. The western states had felt
in some measure the strength of Assyria, those
certainly who sent gifts rather than fight had
shown their dread ; while the smoking ruins in the
Hauran were a silent object lesson of what might
soon happen to the other western powers which
had hitherto resisted so gallantly. The Assyrian
was beating against the bars set up against his
progress, and the outcome was hardly, if at all,
doubtful.
Besides his difficulties in the west Shalmaneser
had no lack of trouble with the far north. As
Damascus had a certain preponderance among the
western states, so had Urartu (or Chaldia) among
the northern states. There is some reason for be-
.lObeliak, lines 102-104.
84 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
lieving that at this time, as was true later on,
Urartu may have tried to exercise some ^ort of
sovereignty over the land of Nairi. This much,
at least, is certain, that the people of Urartu were
the mainspring of much of the rebellion among
the smaller states in the north and west.
The long series of Assyrian assaults on Urartu
had begun in the reign of Tiglathpileser I, who
had crossed over the Arsanias and entered the
country. Asshumazirpal, also, had marched
through the southern portion of the district, but
had made no attempt to annex it to Assyria. In
the very beginning of his reign, 860 B. C./ Shal-
maneser made the first move which led to this
series of campaigns. He entered the land of Nairi
and took the capital city of Khubushkia, on Lake
Urumiyeh, together with one hundred other towns
which belonged to the same country. These were
all destroyed by fire. The king of Nairi was then
pursued into the mountains and the land of
Urartu (Chaldia) invaded. At this time Urartu
was ruled by Aram6, who seems to have been a
man of courage and adroitness. His stronghold
of Sugunia was taken and plundered. Shalma-
neser did not push on into the country, but with-
drew southward by way of Lake Van, contented
with his booty or too prudent to risk more. He
made no more attempts on Urartu until 857,*
1 The date is certain. It is correctly given as 860 by Tiele, GetchiehiSy
if p. 187, but erroneously as 858 by Schell, Heeorda of the Paat^ New
Series, iv, p. 66, note 8.
* Incorrectly given as 866 by Scheil, ibid.^ vol. iv, p. 68, note 1.
SHALMANESER n TO ASSHUR-NIRARI n. 85
when his campaigning carried him westward and
northward to Pethor and thence through Anzitene,
which was completely laid waste, and over the
Arsanias into Urartu. On this expedition the
country of Dayaeni, along the river Arsanias, was
first conquered and apparently without much op-
position. The way was now open to the capital
city, Arzashku. Arame, the king of Urartu, fled
further inland and abandoned his capital to the
Assyrians, who wasted it as of old, and left it a
heap of ruins while they pursued the fleeing king.
He was overtaken, and thirty-four hundred of his
troops killed, though Arame himself made good
his escape. Laden with heavy spoil, Shalmaneser
returned southward, and, in his own picturesque
phrase, trampled on the country like a wild bull.
Pyramids of heads were piled up at the ruined
city gates and men were impaled on stakes. On
the mountains an inscription, with a great image
of the conqueror, was set up. The defeat of
Arame seems to have brought his dynasty to an
end, for immediately afterward we find Sarduris
I, son of Lutipris, building a citadel at Van and
founding a new kingdom. Shalmaneser returned
to Assyria by way of Arbela. He had therefore
completed a half circle in the north, passing from
west to east, but had accomplished little more than
the collection of tribute.*
In the tenth year of his reign (850 B. C.) Shal-
maneser II again invaded Urartu, this time enter-
1 Obelisk, lines 86-46 ; Monolith, !i, 80-66.
86 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
iDg the country from the city of Garcbemish. The
only achievement of the expedition was the taking
of the fortified city of Ame and the ravaging of
the anrrounding conntry;' no endnrii^ results
were efEected. More might, perhaps, have been
attempted, bnt the king was forced to go into the
west to meet the people of Damascns, as narrated
above. Shalmaneser never again invaded Urartu
in person. In the year 833 he sent an army
against it under the leadership of his Tartan
Dayan-Asshur. In the seventeen years which had
elapsed since the last expedition the people of
Urartu had been busy. The kingdom of Siduri
(Sarduris I) had waxed strong enough to conquer
the territories of Sukfame and Dayaeni^ which for
a time had seemed to belong to Assyria after
having been so thoroughly conquered by Shal-
maneser II. The account of the campaign ends in
the vmn boast of having filled the plain with the
bodies of his warriors.' The sequel, however,
shows that this campaign and another similar one
in 829, under the same leadership, had not really
conquered the land of Urartu.' Instead of grow-
ing weaker it continued to grow stronger, and we
shall often meet with displays of its power in the
later Assyrian history. When the series of cam-
paigns against the north was finally ended for this
reign it could only be said that in the north and
■ Obelisk, Unea Sfi-BT.
* ObeUsb, lines HUMS.
*ObelUk, lines lTi-190.
—
SHALMANESER n TO ASSHUR-NIRARI n. 87
in the west the Assyrian aims had made little
real progress.
In the east also Shalmaneser failed to extend the
boundaries of his kingdom. His efforts in this
quarter began in 859, when he made a short expe-
dition into the land of Namri/ which lay on the
southwestern border of Media below the Lower
Zab River. Not until 844 was the land again
disturbed by invasion. At this time it was under
the rule of a prince, Marduk-shum-udanmiiq, whose
name points to Babylonian origin. He was driven
from the country, and a prince from the country
district of Bit-Khamban, by name Yanzu,« was put
in his place.' This move was not very successful,
for the new prince rebelled eight years later and
refused the annual tribute. In 836 Shalmaneser
crossed the Lower Zab and again invaded Namri.
Yanzu fled for his life to the mountains, and his
country was laid waste. Shalmaneser, emboldened
bv this small success, then marched farther north
into the territory of Parsua, where he received
tribute, and then, turning eastward, entered the
land of Media, where several cities were plun-
dered and laid waste. There seems to have been
no attempt made to set up anything like Assyrian
rule over any portion of Media, but only to secure
tribute. On the return by way of the south, near
> Obelisk, line 9.
* Tanzn is used in the Assyrian texts as a proper name, but Delitzsch
(fiie Spraehe der Kossder, pp. 26, 29-38) has shown that it is the title of
Jgngs in the Kossaean dialects.
s Obelisk, lines 98-97.
88 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the modem Holwan, Yanzu was taken prisoner
and carried to Assyria.' But the efforts of Shal-
maneser to control in the east, and especially
the northeast, did not end here. The mountains
to the northeast of Assyria had been a thorn in
the side of many an Assyrian king. We have
already seen how Shalmaneser at the very begin-
ning of his reign ravaged and plundered in Khu-
bushkia, on Lake Urumiyeh, farther north than
the land of Namri. In 830 the king himself re-
mained in Calah, sending an expedition to receive
the tribute from the land of Khubushkia. It was
promptly paid, and Dayan-Asshur, who was in com-
mand, led his troops northward into the land of
Man,' which was wastedand burned in the usual fash-
ion. Returning then by the southern shore of Lake
Urumiyeh, several smaller states were plundered,
and finally tribute was collected again in Parsua.*
In the next year (829) another campaign was
directed against Khubushkia to enforce the col-
lection of tribute, and thence the army marched
northward through Musasir and Urartu, passing
around the northern end of Lake Urumiyeh.
Retu^iog southward, Pa^n. waa again lJi«l
and the unfortunate land of Namri invaded. The
inhabitants fled to the mountains, leaving all be-
1 Obelisk, lines 110-126.
* It is called Minni in Jer. li, 27. See especially Sayce, Journal of ik$
Tioyal Asiatic Society^ New Series, xiv, pp. 888-400, and Belck, " Daa
Reich der Mannaer^^ in the Verhandlunffen der Berl, anthropolog, OetdU
Mchaft, 1896, p. 480.
> Obelisk, lines 159-174.
SHALMANESER n TO ASSHUR-NIRARI II. 8»
hind them. In a manner entirely worthy of his
royal master the Tartan laid waste and burned
two hundred and fifty villages before he came
back by way of Holwan into Assyrian territory/
It is not too much to say that all these operations
in the northeast, east, and southeast were unsuc-
cessful. Shalmaneser had not carried the bound-
aries of his country beyond those left by Asshur-
nazirpal in these directions.
In the south alone did Shalmaneser achieve real
success. The conditions which prevailed there were
exactly fitted to give the Assyrians an opportunity
to interfere, and Shalmaneser was quick to seize it.
In the earlier part of his reign the Babylonian king
was Nabu-aplu-iddin, who after his quarrel with
Asshumazirpal had devoted himself chiefly to the
internal affairs of his kingdom. He made a treaty
of peace with Shalmaneser,' and all went well
between the two kingdoms until Nabu-aplu-iddin
died. His successor was his son, Marduk-nadin-
shum, against whom his brother, Marduk-bel-usate,
revolted. This rebellion was localized in the south-
ern part of the kingdom, comprising the powerful
land of Kaldi. The Babylonians had engaged in no
war for a long time, and were entirely unable to cope
with the hardy warriors of Kaldi, whom Marduk-
bel-usati had at his command. The lawful king,
Marduk-nadin-shum, fearing that Babylon would
be overwhelmed by the army which his brother
* Obelisk, Unes 174-190.
' Synchronistic History, col. iii, 22-26.
90 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. AND ASSYBIA.
was bringing against it, resolved upon the snicidal
conrae of inviting Aasyrian intervention. This
was in 853, and no appeal could have been more
welcome. Ever since the last period of Assyrian
decay the kingdom of Babylonia had been en-
tirely free of aU subjection to Assyria. Here was
an opportunity for reasserting the old protectorate.
Shalmaneser marched into Babylonia in 852, and
again in 851, and halted first at Kutha, where he
offei'ed sacrifice, and then entered Babylon to
sacrifice to the great god Marduk, also visiting
Borsippa, where he offered sacrifices to Nabu.
It is not to be doubted that by these presenta-
tions of sacrifices Shalmaoeser intended not only
to show his piety and devotion to the gods, but
also to display himself as the legitimate overlord
of the country. Having paid these honors to the
gods, he then marched down into Chaldea and at-
tacked the rebels. He took several cities, and com-
pletely overcame Marduk-bel-usate and compelled
him to pay tribute. From this time forward until
the end of his reign Mardnk-nadin-shnm ruled
peacefully in Babylon under the protectorate ol
Assyria.' By this campaign the king of Assyria
had once more become the real ruler of Babylonia,
the Chaldeans by their inaction acknowledging
the hopelessness of any present rebellion.
"We have traced in logical rather than in
chronological order the campaigns of Shalmane-
' Sjnchronifltic History, col. iii, 2i-iv, 14 ; Obeliak, lines 13-84 ; BilawAt,
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIRARI n. 91
«er from the beginning to the close of the thirty-
first year of his reign. At this point all record of
his reign breaks off, and for the closing years we
sre confined to the information derived from the
records of his son, Shamshi- Adad IV. There are
no more records of Shalmaneser's doings in the last
years of his reign, because they were too troubled
to give any leisure for the erection of such splen-
did monuments as those from which our knowledge
of his earlier years has been derived. In the year
827 B. C. there was a rebellion led by Shalma-
neser's own son, Asshur-danin-apli. We know but
little of it, and that little, as already said, derived
from the brief notices of it preserved in the in-
scriptions of Shamshi- Adad IV. We have no direct
means of learning even the cause of the outbreak.
Neither can we find an explanation of the great
strength of the rebels, nor understand its sudden
collapse when apparently it was in the ascendant.
Wars of succession have always been so common
in the Orient that, failing any other explana-
tion, we are probably safe in the suggestion
that Shalmaneser had probably provided by will,
or decree, that Shamshi-Adad should succeed
him. Asshur-danin-apli attempted by rebellion
to gain the throne for himself, and the strange
thing was that he was followed in his rebellion
by the better part of the kingdom. The capital
<5ity, Calah, remained faithful to the king, but
Nineveh, Asshur, Arbela, among the older cities^
And the chief colonies, a total of twenty-seven
92 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
cities, joined the forces of Asshur-danin-apli.
It is difficult to account for the strength of this
rebellion, unless, perhaps, the leader of it was
really the elder son, and a sense of fairness and
justice in the people overcame their allegiance to
their sovereign. The struggle began in 827, and
before the death of Shalmaneser, in 825 B. C, the
kingdom for which he had warred so valiantly had
been split into two discordant parts, of which Shal-
maneser was able to hold only the newly won
provinces in the north and west, together with the
land of Babylonia. The old Assyrian homeland
was in the hand of the rebels, and all the signs
seemed to indicate that Babylonia would soon re-
gain complete independence and that the Ara-
maean peoples would be able to throw off their
onerous yoke. After the death of Shalmaneser^
Shamshi-Adad spent two more years in civil war
before he was acknowledged as the legitimate king
of Assyria. We do not know what it was that
gave him the victory, but a complete victory it
was, and we hear no more of the rebels or their
leader.'
The civil war had brought dire consequences
upon the kingdom which Asshumazirpal had
made great, and Shalmaneser had held to its alle-
giance for thirty-one long years. It was therefore
necessary, as soon as his title to the throne was
everywhere recognized, for Shamshi-Adad to un-
1 Inscription of Shamshi-Adad (I R. 29-31), col. i, 89-58. See transla-
tion by Abel in KeUituehrifl, Bihl^ i, pp. 174-187.
SHALMANESER H TO ASSHUE-NIRARI II. 93
dertake such campaigns as would secure to him
the loyalty of the wavering and doubtful, and
would overcome the openly rebellious or disaf-
fected. His fii^st campaign was directed against
the troublesome lands of Nairi, which may have
been planning an uprising to free themselves from
the tribute. Shamshi-Adad entered the land and
received their tribute without being required to
strike a blow. He must have forestalled any organ-
ized resistance. The promptness with which the
campaign was undertaken and the completeness of
its success make it seem probable that Shamshi-
Adad had had from the beginning the support of
the standing army of Assyria. If this were the case,
we can the better understand how the rebellion
against him was put down even when the greater
part of the country had embraced the fortunes of
Asshur-danin-apli, for the commercial classes of
Assyria could not stand against the disciplined,
hardened veterans of Shalmaneser. As soon as
the danger in the Nairi lands had been overcome
Shamshi-Adad marched up and down over the en-
tire land of Assyria, " from the city of Paddira in
the Nairi to Kar-Shulmanasharid of the territory
of Carchemish ; from Zaddi of the land of Accad
to the land of Enzi ; from Aridi to the land of
Sukhi," ' and over the whole territory the people
bowed in submission to him. This is the first in-
stance in Assyrian history of a king's marching
from point to point in his own dominions to re-
> Inscription of Shamshi-Adad (I R. 29-81), col. ii, 7-15.
94 HISTOHY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
ceive protestations of allegiance. It shows clearly
to what unrest the land had come during the civil
war.
The second campaign was undertaken chiefly, if
not wholly, for the collection of tribote. Ita course
was directed first into the land of Natri and thence
westward to the Mediterranean. Cities in great
nomberfl were devastated and bamed, and the ter-
ritory against which Shalmaneser had so long
made war was bronght again to feel the Assyrian
power.' The leader in this campaign was Motarris-
Asshur.
The third campaign, likewise in search of booty,
was directed against the east and north. The
lands of Khuboshkia and Parsua were crossed, and
the journey led thence to the coasts of Lake Uru-
miyeh, and then into Media. In Media, as in the
other lands, tribute and gifts were abundantly
given. Again the Nairi lands were overran, and
the king returned to Assyria, assured only that
the tribute would be paid as long as he was able
to enforce it.*
In the next year of his reign Shamshi-Adad was
compelled to invade Babylonia. The years of the
Assyrian civil war had given that land the cov-
eted opportunity to claim independence. Marduk-
nadin-shun had been succeeded^ in Babylon by
Marduk-balatsu-iqbi (about 812 B. C), though the
exact year of the change is unknown to us. He
Wfifrf., ii, 16-84.
•iiul., y, 84-iii, 34.
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIKARI II. 95
paid no Assyrian tribute, and in all things acted
as an independent ruler. Against him Shamshi-
Adad marched. His course into Babylonia was
not down the Mesopotamian valley, as one might
have expected. He went east of the Tigris along
the edge of the mountains. He seems not to have
made a hasty march, for he boasts of having killed
three lions and of having destroyed cities and vil-
lages on the way. The river Tumat was crossed
at flood. At Dur-Papsukal, in northern Babylonia,
he was met by Marduk-balatsu-iqbi and his allies.
The Babylonian army consisted of Babylonians,
Chaldeans, Elamites, Aramaeans, and men of Namri,
and was therefore composed of the peoples who
feared the development of Assyria and were will-
ing to unite against it, even though they were
usually common enemies. Shamshi-Adad claims
to have won a great victory, in which five thou-
sand of his enemies were slain and two thousand
taken captive. One hundred chariots and even
the Babylonian royal tent fell into the hands of
the victor.* We may, however, well doubt whether
the victory was so decisive. The only inscription
which we possess of Shamshi-Adad breaks off
abruptly at this point. But the Eponym List
shows that in 813 he again invaded Chaldea, while
in 812 he invaded Babylon. These two supple-
mentary campaigns would seem to indicate that
he had not achieved his entire purpose in the bat-
tle of Dur-Papsukal. It is indeed unlikely that
»76m/., col. iv, 1-24.
96 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
he succeeded in restoring the conditions which
prevailed in the reign of Shalmaneser, though his
short reign was, on the whole, successful. If he
had not had the civil war to quell and its conse-
quences to undo, he might well have made impor-
tant additions to the territory of Assyria.
Shamshi- Adad was succeeded by his son, Adad-
nirari III (811-783 B. C), whose long reign was
filled with important deeds. Unfortunately, how-
ever, we are not able to follow his campaigns in
detail because his very few fragmentary inscrip-
tions give merely the names of the countries which
he plundered, without giving the order of his
marches or any details of his campaigns. In 806,
in 805, and in 797 he made expeditions to the west
in which he claims to have received tribute and
gifts from the land of the Hittites, from Tyre,
Sidon, the land of Omri,*Edom, and Philistia to
the Mediterranean. On this same expedition he
besieged Damascus and received from it great
booty. The king of Damascus was Mari; and
Adad-nirari could scarcely have had a greater tri-
umph than the humbling of the proud state which
had marshaled so many allied armies against the
advance of the Assyrians and had then held out
single-handed so long against them. These expe-
ditions to the west accomplished little more of
importance. It was no new thing to receive trib-
^ ** The land of Omri ^' is the usual Assyrian expression for the land of
Israel, during a long period. Omri made so deep an impression upon his
neighbors that his country was named after him.
SHALMANESER n TO ASSHUR-NntARI H. 97
lite from the unwarlike merchants of Tyre and
Sidon, and the Israelites had long since become a
subject people. Only Edom and Philistia are
named as fresh conquests.
In the northeast also he was brilliantly success-
ful The Eponym Lists mention no less than
eight campaigns against the Medes, and the con-
quests in this direction carried the king even to
the Caspian Sea, to which no former Assyrian
king had penetrated.
In the north he did not get beyond the limits
of his ancestors. Urartu, which had so strenu-
ously asserted and maintained its rights, was not
disturbed at all, and remained an entirely inde-
pendent kingdom.
In the south Adad-nirari III was entirely suc-
cessful, as he had been in the west. We have
already seen that there was an expedition against
Babylonia in 812, and this was followed in 803 by
one against the Sea Lands about the Persian Gulf.
In 796 and 795 Babylonia was again invaded.
One of these campaigns, but which one is uncer-
tain, was directed against a certain Bau-akhi-iddin,
of whose personality or relation to Babylon we
know nothing. He may have been king in
Babylon at this time, or perhaps more probably a
rebellious native prince. Assyrian influence was
completely reestablished by these campaigns, and
Babylonia again became practically an Assyrian
province. The Assyrian Synchronistic History,
from which we have largely and repeatedly drawn
98 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
in the narrative of several previous kings, was
edited and compiled at this time as one of the
signs of the emphatic union of the two peoples..
It was the purpose of Adad-nirari III to blot out
completely the distinctions and differences be-
tween them. He even began an intermixture of
their reKgions. Though the Assyrians had begun
their career as a separate people with the Babylo-
nian religion as then taught and practiced, the
two peoples had diverged through historical de-
velopment, and were now in many points quite
different in their religious usages. The Assyrians
had introduced other gods, as, for instance, Asshur,
into their pantheon, while the Babylonians, who
had had less contact with the outer world, had
made less change. Adad-nirari III now built in
Assyria temples modeled carefully on Babylonian
exemplars and introduced into them the forms of
Bay Ionian worship with all its ritual. One of the
most striking instances of this policy was the
construction in Calah, his capital city, of a great
temple, the counterpart of the temple of Ezida in
Borsippa. Into this was brought from Borsippa
the woi-ship of Nabu. The policy, strange as it
was, met with a certain success, for Babylonia dis-
appears almost wholly for a long time as a separ-
ate state and Assyria alone finds mention.
In connection with this introduction of the wor-
ship of Nabu we get a single gleam of light upon
some of the mythical history of Babylonia. There
has been preserved a statue of Nabu, set up in the
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIRARI II. 99
temple in Calah by Adad-nirari III, on the back
of whicli is an inscription ' containing these words :
" For the life of Adad-nirari, king of Assyria, its
Lord [that is, of Calah], and for the life of Sam-
muramat, the lady of the Palace and its Mistress.''
The name Sammuramat is plainly the Babylonian
form of the Greek Semiramis. It may be that
this Sammuramat is the original of the Semiramis
of the story of Ktesias, though there is no further
proof than the identity of the names — rather a
slender basis for so much conjecture. It has been
supposed by some that Sammuramat was the
mother of the king, who ruled as regent during the
earlier portion of the king's reign, for he must
have been but little more than a lad when he be-
came king. Others believe that Semiramis was
the wife of the king, and perhaps a Babylonian
princess. Either of these roles would have given
her an opportunity for gi'eat deeds out of which
the legend reported by Ktesias might easily grow,
but it is impossible, in the present state of knowl-
edge, to decide between them.'
The reign of Adad-nirari III must be included
in any list of the greatest reigns of Assyrian his-
tory. No Assyrian king before him had actually
ruled over so wide an extent of territory, and none
' I R. 86, No. 2, Abel-Winckler, KeiUchrifttexte^ p. 14. Two specimens
of the Kabu statue with the same inscription are in the British Museum.
*Tiele (Oeschichte^ pp. 212, 213) holds Sammuramat to be the mother
rather than the wife, and Hommel (Oesehichte^ pp. 630, ff.) follows this
Tiew, giving his reasons for its holding. On the other hand, Winckler
(Oea^UehU, p. 120, 1) holds to the view that she was the king^s wife.
100 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
had ever possessed, in addition to this, so exten-
sive a circle of tribute-paying states. Though he
had done little in the northeast and nothing in the
north, he had immensely increased Assyrian pres-
tige in the west, and in the south Babylonia^ with
all its traditions of glory and honor, had become
an integral part of his dominions.
After his reign there comes slowly but surely
a period of strange, almost inexplicable, decline.
Of the next three reigns we have no single royal
inscription, and are confined to the brief notes of
the Eponym Lists. Prom these we learn too little
to enable us to follow the decline of Assyrian
fortunes, but we gain here and there a glimpse of
it, and see also not less vividly the growth of a
strong northern power which should vex Assyrian
kings for centuries.
The successor of Adad-nirari III was Shalmar
neser III (782-773), to whom the Eponym lists
ascribe ten campaigns. Some of these were of
little consequence. One was against the land of
Namri, an eastern tributary country of which we
have heard much in previous reigns. It had prob-
ably not paid the regular tribute, which had there-
fore to be collected in the presence of an army.
No less than six of the campaigns were directed
against the land of Urartu. We know nothing
directly of these campaigns and their results. But
the history of a time not very distant shows that
these campaigns were more than the usual tribute-
collecting and plundering expeditions. They were
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIRARI II. 101
rather the ineffectual protests of Assyria against
the growth of a kingdom which was now strong
enough to prevent any further Assyrian tribute
collecting within its borders, and would soon be
able to wrench from Assyrian control the fair
lands of Nairi. A loss so great as that might well
give the Assyrian kings cause for anxiety and for
desperate efforts to hinder the development of the
enemy. This loss of tributary territory in the
north had apparently already begun in this reign,
but there were no other losses of territory else-
where, and the reign ended with the substantial
external integrity of the empire which Asshur-
nazirpal had won.
The next king was Asshur-dan III (772-755),
in whose reign the decay of Assyrian power was
rapid, in spite of strenuous efforts to maintain it,
and in spite of success in its maintenance in cer-
tain places. In the year 773, when hia reign actu-
ally began, though, according to Assyrian reckon-
ing, 772 was the first official year, he led a cam-
paign against Damascus. In 772 and again in 755
he marched against Khatarikka in Syria. These
three western campaigns show that, however much
Assyria had lost in the north, it had not yet given
up any claim on the prosperous lands beyond the
Euphrates. And the two invasions of Babylonia
— 771 and 767 — are evidence of the same facts as
regards that land. Asshur-dan III was plainly
endeavoring to hold all that his fathers had won,
but he had as yet undertaken no campaigns against
102 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
any new territory. Whatever he may have planned
or intended to do in that way was made impossi-
ble by a series of rebellions in Assyrian territory.
The first of these began in 763 in the city of
Asvshur, the ancient political and religious center
of the kingdom. We do not know its origin, but
the general character of ancient oriental rebel-
lions and the succession of events which imme-
diately follow in this story make it seem probable
that some pretender had attempted to seize the
throne. The attempt failed for the present and
the rebellion was put down in the same year.
This was shortly followed by another rebellion,
also of unknown cause, in the province of Arpakha,
known to the Greeks as Arrapachitis,* a territory
on the watei's of the Upper Zab. While a third
at Guzanu, in the land of the Khabur, took place
in 759 and 758. These rebellions were signs of
the changes that were impending, and could not
long be delayed.
To the superstition of the Assyrians there were
other omens than defeats and losses in war, which
must have seemed to indicate the approach of
troublous days. In 763 the Eponym list records
an eclipse of the sun in the month of Sivan. To
the Assyrians this was probably an event of doubt
and concern. To modern students it has been of
great importance, because the astronomical deter-
mination has given us a sure point of departure
* 'ApfxiTraxlTtii Ptol. vi, 1, 2.
SHALMANESER II TO ASSHUR-NIRARI II. 103
for Assyrian clironology. In 759 there was a pes-
tilence, another omen of gloom.
The reign of Asshur-nirari 11 (754-745) was a
period of peaceful decadence. In 754 he con-
ducted a campaign against Arpad^ and in 749 and
748 there were two expeditions against the land of
Namri. With these expeditions the king made no
eflfort to collect his tribute or to retain the vast
territory which his fathers had won. Year after
year the Eponym List has nothing to record but
the phrase "in the country," , meaning thereby
that the king was in Assyria and not absent at
the head of his armies.
In 746 there was an uprising in the city of
Oalah. We know nothing of its origin or prog-
ress. But in it Asshur-nirari IT disappears and the
next year begins with a new dynasty. In the per-
son of Asshur-nirari II ended the career of the
great royal family which had ruled the fortunes
of Assyria for centuries.
104 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSTHIA.
CHAPTER VL
THE REIGNS OF TIGLATHPILB8ER HI AND SHAL-
MANESEB IV.
A MARVELOUS change in Assyria was wrought
by the rebellion of 746 B. C. Before it there
reigned the last king of a dynasty which had
made the kingdom great and its name feared from
east to west. A degenerate son of a distingaiahed
line was he, and the power which had swept
with a force almost resistless over mountain and
valley was a useless thing in his hands. He re-
mained in his royal city while the fairest provinces
were taken away and added to the kingdom of
Urartu, and while others boldly refused to pay
tribute and defied hia waning army. After 746
B. C. the Assyrian throne is occupied by a man
whose very name before that time is so obscure
and unworthy as to be discarded by its owner.
We do not know the origin of this strange man,
for in the pride of later years he never mentioned
either father or mother, who were probably hum-
ble folk not dwelling in kings' houses. He was
perhaps an army conunander ; an officer who had
led some part of the greatest standing army that
the world had then known. He may also have
held a civil post as governor of some province or
TIGLATHPILESER m AND SHALMANESER IV. 105
district. In his career that was now to begin he
displayed both military and civil ability of such
high order that we are almost driven to believe
that he had been schooled by experience in both
branches of effort His reign was not very long,
so that he probably gained the throne compar-
atively late in life, at a time when the power of
adaptation is less strong than in youth, when the
years of a man's life are devoted rather to the dis-
play of powers already acquired than to the de-
velopment of new ones. We do not know whether
he set on foot the rebellion which dethroned
Asshur-nirari II or merely turned to his own pur-
poses an uprising brought about by others. In
either case he acted with decision, for he was
crowned king in 745, the next year after the
rebellion. He was well known as a man of re-
sources and of severity, for no rebelUon against
him arose, and no pretender dared attempt to diive
him from power. He spent no time in marcliing
through the land to overawe possible opponents, but
at once began operations outside the boundaries of
the old kingdom. That he should dare to leave
his capital and his country immediately after his
proclamation shows how sure he was of his own
ability, and how confident that hia personal popu-
larity or his reputation for severe discipline would
maintain the peace. Whatever the name of his
youth and manhood may have been he was pro-
claimed under the name and style of Tiglathpileser,
adopting as his own the name which had been
106 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
made famous by the great Assyrian conqueror,
whom he emulated in the number and success of
his campaigns, and greatly surpassed in the per-
manency of the results obtained. The name of
Tiglathpileser would undoubtedly strengthen him
in the popular mind; for it is beyond question
that in a land like Assyria, in which writing, even
in the earliest times, was so constantly practiced,
some acquaintance with the history of their kings
was diffused among even the common people. He
was plainly not a descendant of the kings who
preceded him, or he would certainly have followed
the usual custom of Assyrian kings and set down
the names of his ancestors with all their titles.
He alludes indeed to " the kings, my fathers," *
but this is a boast without meaning when unac-
companied by the names.
There is another proof of his humble origin to
be found in the contemptuous treatment of his
monumental inscriptions by a later king. Tiglath-
pileser restored, for his occupancy, the great palace
erected by Shalmaneser H in Calah. Upon the
walls of its great rooms he set up slabs of stone
upon which were beautifully engraved inscriptions
recounting the campaigns of his reign. When
Esarhaddon came to build his palace he stripped
from the walls these great slabs of Tiglathpileser
that he might use them for his own inscriptions.
He caused his workmen to plane off their edges, so
destroying both beginning and ending of some in-
1 Annals, lines 19 ; clay tablet, line 26 (U R. 6Y).
TIGLATHPILESER III AND SHALMANESER IV. 107
scriptions, and purposed then to have his own
records carved upon them. He died without en-
tirely completing his purpose, or we should have
been left almost ^thout annalistic accoimts of the
events of the reign of Tiglathpileser. Such treat-
ment as this was never given to any royal inscrip-
tions before, and we may justly see in it a slight
upon the memory of the great plebeian king.
Were it not for the vandalism of the king Esar-
haddon we should be admirably supplied with his-
torical material for the reign of Tiglathpileser. He
left behind him no less than three distinct classes
of inscriptions.' Of these the first class consist of
the stone inscriptions, in which the events of the
reign are narrated in chronological order. These,
the most important of his inscriptions, are in a
bad state of preservation through the mutila-
tions of Esarhaddon. The second class of the in-
1 The chief inscriptioQ material of the reign of Tiglathpileser III is the
following : (a) The Annals, badly defaced by Esarhaddon, the most legible
portions of which are published by Layard, Inscriptions in the Cuneiform
Char.^ plates S4a, etc., and afterward much more accurately by Paul Rost,
Die KeilschrifUexte IXgicU-Pilesers III^ vol. ii, plates i-xviii. He has also
carefully arranged and translated them into German, ibid., i, pp. 2-41.
(b) The Slabs of Nimroud, published first by Layard, op.cU,^ plates 1 Y, 18, and
Rost, i, plates xxiz-xxxiii. They are well translated by Rost, i, pp. 42-63,
and by Schrader, KeUinschrift. BibLy ii, pp. 2-9. (c) The clay tablets are
as follows: 1. British Museum, E. 8751, published II R. 67, and Rost, ii,
plates xxxY-xxxviii, and translated by him, i, pp. 64-77. 2. British Mu-
seum, DT. 8, a duplicate of E. 3751, published by Schrader, Abh. Preuss,
Ak. d. IT., 1879, No. viii, plate i and accompanying photograph, and also
by Rosi, ii, plate xxxiv. There is an English translation of E. 8761 by S.
Arthur Strong in Records of the Pasty New Series, v, pp. 116, flf. (d) The
smaller inscriptions, which contain simply lists of places conquered, are :
1. in R. 10, No. 2, and Rost, ii, plate xxvii, translated i, pp. 84, 86, and
2. British Museum, E. 2649, Rost, ii, plate xxiv, C, transliterated i, p. 86.
108 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
scriptions, written upon clay, give accounts of the
king's campaigns grouped in geographical order;
whUe the third class, also on clay, give mere lists
of the countries conquered without details of any
kind. If all this abundant material had been as
carefully preserved as the inscriptions of Asshur-
nazirpal, we should be able to present a clear view
of the entire reign. As it is, questions of order
sometimes arise which render difficult the setting
forth of a consecutive narrative.
It was in the month of Aim 745 B, C. that
Tiglathpileser III (745-727) ascended the throne.
As the year had but just begun, this was counted,
contrary to the usual custom, as the first year of
the reign. In the month of September he set out
upon his first campaign, which was directed
against Babylonia. In Babylonia there had also
been dull days, while the Assyrian power was
dwindling away. After Marduk - balatsu - iqbi
there reigned Bau-akh-iddin, of whom later days
seemed to have preserved no recollection save
that he was a contemporary of Adad-nirari III.
If monuments of his reign are still in existence,
they are concealed in the yet unexplored mounds
of his country. After him Babylonia had two,
or perhaps even three, kings whose names as well
as their deeds are lost to us. If there had arisen
in Babylonia at that time a king such as the land
had seen before, a man of action and of courage,
independence might probably have been achieved
without a struggle. But instead of that the
TIGLATHPILESER m AND SHALMANESER IV. 109
kingdom fell into fresh bondage. The nomadic
Aramseans, communities of whom had given so
much trouble to the Assyrians, had invaded Baby-
lonia from the south and taken possession of im-
portant cities like Sippar and Dur-Kurigalzu. So
powerful and numerous were they that they threat-
ened to engulf the country and blot out the civ-
ilization of Babylonia. After the loss of two or
three names we come again upon the name of
Nabu-shum-ishkun, who reigned, how long we do
not know, in this period of Babylonian decline.
He was succeeded in 747 by Nabu-nasir, commonly
known as Nabonassar (747-734 B. C). Like his
predecessors, he was unable to control the Ara-
mseans, and when Tiglathpileser III entered the
land he was acclaimed as a deliverer.* The march
of the new Assyrian king southward had been a
continuous victory. He moved east of the Tigris
along the foothills of the naountains of Elam, con-
quering several nomadic tribes such as the Puqudu
and the Li'tan. He then turned westward and
attacked Sippar, overcoming its Aramaean intrud-
ers, and doing a like service to Dur-Kurigalzu.
He marched south as far as Nippur and there
tamed about.* By this campaign he had so
thoroughly disciplined the Aramaean invaders and
* Some assyriologiBts (for example, Tiele, OetchichU^ pp. 21Y, 218; Rost,
LU KeiUekrifUexie TtpUU-Paesen III, i, pp. 18, 14) have held that Tig-
lathpfleaer was considered an enemy, but the expressions in his- texts seem
to me to point to a pacific reception. So also Hommel (OeseMehte, pp.
661, 662) and Winckler {OetehiehU, pp. 121-123, 222, 228).
* Annals, lines 1-25; clay tablet, 1-18.
110 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
overcome all discordant elements that he was able
to give a new order of government and life to the
state.
It is a striking commentary on the political and
civil ability of this extraordinary man that he
was able to begin a new order of administration
for subject territory in the first year of his reign,
and as a part of his first campaign. He had re-
conquered Babylonia as far south as Nippur, for
Babylonian and Assyrian control over it had prac-
tically been lost. He was not satisfied with the
payment of a heavy tribute, but reorganized the
whole government of the territory. He first sub-
divided it into four provinces, placing Assyrian
governors over them, and then built two cities
as administrative centers. The first of these waa
called Kar- Asshur, located near the Zab. The name
of the second is not given in the Annals, but it
was probably Dur-Tukulti-apal-esharra.* These
were made royal residences, each being provided
with a palace for the king's occupancy; The sec-
ond was required to pay the great tribute of ten
talents of gold and one thousand talents of silver.
In each the king set up a monument, with his
portrait as a sign of the dominion which he
claimed, and in both people from the other con-
quered districts were settled. This plan of plant-
ing colonies and of transporting captives from
place to place had indeed been tried on a small
» Comp. RoBt, KeiUchri/Uexie Tifflal-IHleaert ///(Leipzig, 1893), i, p. 7y
note 1.
f
TIGLATHPILESER m AND SHALMANESER IV. Ill
scale by other Assyrian kings, but it had never
been adopted as a fixed and settled policy. From
this time onward we shall meet with it frequently.
Tiglathpileser III consistently followed it during
his whole reign, trying thereby to break down
national feeling, and to sever local ties in order
that the mighty empire which he founded might
be in some measure homogeneous.
When the Aramaean nomads had been overcome
and the land had received its new order of gov-
ernment, the king offered sacrifices in Sippar,
Nippur, Babylon, Borsippa, and in other less im-
portant cities, to Mai'duk, Bel, Nabu, and other
gods. It was a fruitful year. Never before had
the land of Babylonia been brought into such
complete subjection to Assyria. Nabonassar was
a king only in name ; the real monarch lived in
Galah. So small indeed is his influence from the
Assyrian point of view that he is not even men-
tioned in Tiglathpileser's accounts of the cam-
paign; he is simply ignored as though he was
not. To such a sorry pass had come a man who
was nominally king of Babylon. Yet, though thus
despised by the Assyrian overlord, Nabonassar is
still called king by the Babylonians, who held con-
trol of the national records. In them it is still
his name and not his conqueror's which stands in
the honored list of Babylon's rulers.
Having thus left affairs in a safe condition in the
south, Tiglathpileser III next turned his attention
to the troublesome lands east of Assvria. We have
112 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
already seen how frequently the Assyrian kings
had to invade their territory in order to collect the
unwillingly paid tribute. The first of these lands
to be invaded was Namri. The Assyrian people
who lived along their own borders and hence close
to Namri had suffered much from the incursions
of half -barbaric hordes which swept down from the
mountains and plundered their crops and other
possessions. These movements in and through
Namri made up a situation similar to that which
Tiglathpileser had just settled in Babylonia. The
march through Namri and thence northward
through Bit-Zatti, Bit-Abdadani, Arziah, and other
districts to Nishai was marked by ruins and burn-
ing heaps. Bat the entire campaign was not filled
with works of ruin. The districts of Bit-Sumurzu
and Bit-Khamban were added to the territory of
Assyria and received the benefits of Assyrian gov-
ernment. The city of Nikur, which had been de-
stroyed in the beginning of the campaign, was en-
tirely rebuilt * and resettled with colonists brought
from other conquered lands. This became, there-
fore, a center around which Assyrian influences
might crystallize. The campaign was fruitful in
definite results, as the expeditions of Asshumazir-
pal, seeking only plunder, never could be. The
king did not personally enter the heart of Media,
but sent an army under command of Asshur-dani-
nani to punish the tribes south of the Caspian
Sea ; but to follow its marches is beyond our pres-
' Annals, line 86.
TIGLATHPILESER in AND SHALMANESER IV. 113
ent geographical knowledge.' A second expedi-
tion * into Media was necessary in 737, when the
process of settling colonists in troublesome dis-
tricts was further carried Out. No such control
over Indo-European inhabitants of the mountain
lands of Media was, however, achieved as had
been secured over the Semites of Babylonia, and
Media remained practically independent and ready
to give trouble to later Assyrian kings, and even
to have an important share in the breaking up of
the monarchy which was now harrying it.
But if Tiglathpileser was confronted by a diffi-
<^ult situation in Babylonia and a more difficult one
in Media, and the lands between it and Assyria, his
difficulties may justly be said to have been co-
lossal when one views the state of affairs in the
north. As we have already seen, the weakness
and decadence of Assyria after the reign of Shal-
maneser 11 had given a great opportunity to
Urartu, and kings of force and ability had arisen
in the land to seize it. Of the kings of Urartu
Argistis had taken from Assyria the hard-won
lands of Dayaeni and Nirbi, and had overrun, plun-
dering and burning, the whole great territory ly-
ing north of Assyria proper, and as far east as
Parsua, east of Lake Urumiyeh."
Great though these conquests undoubtedly were,
> Axmab, lines 26-68.
* Annals, lines 167, if.
' See the great historical inscription of Argistis, translated by Sayoe,
Jieeortk o/iheFattj Xew Series, vol iv, pp. 117, ft.
8
114 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
and dangerous as was the threat against Assyrian
power, they were far surpassed in the reign of
Sarduris II, who succeeded Argistis, while Asshur-
dan III was impotently ruling in Assyria. Sar-
duris broke down and destroyed the whole circle
of tribute-paying states dependent upon Assyria
in the north. His conquests and annexations to
the kingdom of Urartu or Chaldia continued in a
westerly direction until he had overrun the most
northern parts of Syria, comprising the territory
north of the Taurus and west of the Euphratea
He even claimed the title of king of Sun — that is,
of Syria. His next move was the formation of an
alliance with Matilu of Agusi, Sulumal of Melid,
Tarkhulara of Gurgum, Kushtashpi of Kummukh,
and with several other northern princes, among
them probably Panammu of Sam'al and Pisiris of
Carchemish. These princes probably did not give
a willing ear to the solicitations of Sarduris H, as
a neighboring friendly prince, for a defensive alli-
ance against the encroachments of the powerful
Assyrian kingdom, but were rather forced into
such an alliance. Accompanied by these allies,
whether of their own will or not, Sarduris marched
against the west. The inscriptions which have
come down to us render it exceedingly difficult to
follow perfectly the movements in this campaign,
but the following is the probable order and mean-
ing of them. At about the same time of Sar-
daris's march westward Tiglathpileser also in-
vaded the west, directing his attack against the
TIGLATHPILESER m AND SHALMANESER IV. 115
city of Arpad — the real key of the northern part
of Syria. It had belonged to Assyria, as a tribute-
paying state, but now actually formed part of the
new kingdom of Urartu. If Tiglathpileser could
restore it to his kingdom, he would make a long
step forward in the restoration of Assyrian pres-
tige in all the west. He besieged the city and
could probably have reduced it. Sarduris did
not come directly to its aid, but instead threatened
Assyria itself, and so forced Tiglathpileser to raise
the siege and return by forced marches. On his
return he crossed the Euphrates, probably below
Til-Barsip, and he then turned northward. The
two armies met in the southeastern part of Kum-
mukh between Kishtan and Khalpi, and Sarduris
was forced to retire. Tiglathpileser pursued, de-
stroying as he went the cities of Izzida, Ququ-
sanshu, and Kharbisina, until he reached the
Euphrates north of Amid.' Here the pursuit
ended, for he did not cross the river, whether be-
cause he thought his purpose fully accomplished
or because his army was too weak for the venture
we do not know.
The result of this conflict was overpowering,
and its direct consequences ai*e to be seen in the
next three campaigns. From Sarduris the Aasyr«
ians took a great mass of spoil in camp equipage
and in costly stuffs and precious metals, together
with a large number of captives. In the enumer-
> Annalft, lines 59-73. See Rost, op. eU.^ i, pp. 12-15, and, for the pai>
mUel accounts, also pp. 50-58, and 66-69.
116 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
ation of these trophies there is probably gross ex-
aggeration, but there is no reason to doubt the
truth of the main fact that a very great victory
was won. The moral effect of it was far more
important than all the gain in treasure. The al-
lies of Sarduris at once sent presents and tribute
to Tiglathpileser, and the entire Syrian country
was once more opened to Assyrian invasion with-
out fear of opposition from Urartu. There is a
curious parallel in all this to the resistance offered
by Damascus and its allies to Shalmaneser IL' As
soon as the alliance which Ben-Hadad II had
formed lost its cohesiveness Syria was speedily
ravaged by Shalmaneser.* In the latter case a
most promising alliance had been formed under
the leadership of Sarduris. If the selfish commer-
cial interests of the Phoenicians could have been
laid aside, and if the Syrian states had once more
heartily united, the Assyrians would have been
easily overcome and the west saved from all im-
mediate danger of Assyrian invasion. But these
petty unions, which dissolved after the striking of
one blow, were more harmful than usef qL By
them the Assyrians were only maddened, and their
natural thirst for booty and commercial expansion
increased to a passion. The cities which partici-
pated in the alliances were ruthlessly destroyed
in revenge, and fertile countries laid waste.
In the next year (742 B. C.) Tiglathpileser, free
* See above, pp. 78-80.
' See p. 88.
TIGLATHPILESER UI AND SHALMANESER IV. 117
from all fear of interference from Urartu/ under-
took the reduction of Ai'pad. He could make
no further gains in Syria until that city was over-
come^ for the rich cities along the Mediterranean
could not be expected to fear the Assyrians and
to pay tribute so long as a city smaller in size
and nearer to Assyria held out against the eastern
power. We know nothing of the details of the
siege. It was prolonged in a most sm'prising fashion,
for Arpad did not fall until 740. Our ignorance
of the two years' siege probably spares us the
knowledge of barbarous scenes, of the slaughter of
helpless women and children, of the flaying of
men alive, and of the impaling of others on stakes
about the city walls. It is not to be supposed that
a city which had so long resisted the great god
Asshur and the king whom he had sent would
come off lightly. The fall of Arpad was the signal
for the prompt appearance before Tiglathpileser
of messengers from nearly all the neighboring
states with presents of gold and silver, of ivory,
and of pui'ple robes. In the city of Arpad he re-
ceived these gifts, and with them the homage of
all the west, which would endure any amount of
shame and ignominy, and desired only to be left
alone. One state only sent no presents and offered
no homage. Tutammu, king of Unqi, alone dared
to resist Assyria. Unqi was at this time but a
' Sardaris was not strong enough to leave his mountain passes. His rela-
tion to all these attacks of the Assyrians has been finely treated in detail
by Belck and Lehmann (*' Chaldische Forschungen "in Verhandlungen der
Berl, anthrap. Geadl, 1896, pp. 825-836).
118 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYMA.
small state probably nearly coterminous with the
state of Patin, between the Afrin and the Orontes.'
Tiglathpileser at once invaded his country and
took the capital, Kinalia, which was utterly de-
stroyed. The defiant king was taken prisoner,
and his little kingdom, provided ^vith Assyrian
governors,' was made a part of the Assyrian em-
pire which Tiglathpileser was now forming. This
little episode furnished a new point to the moral
of Arpad which would not be lost on the other
states of Syria.
The west had been severely punished and might
be left to meditation for a time. In 739 Tiglath-
pileser set out to win back to Assyria a part of
the lands of Nairi which had fallen under the
control of Urartu. We have no accounts of the
'•ampaign, and know only that Ulluba and Kilkhi,
two districts of Nairi, were taken. These were
not plundered according to the former fashion,
but actually incorporated with Assyria, and pro-
vided with an Assyrian governor, who made his
residence in the lately buUt city of Asshur-iqisha.
Another campaign against the same districts was
made in 736 B. C. This carried the conquests up
to Mount Nal, and so to the very borders of
Urartu. It is perfectly clear that both these
campaigns were but preparatoiy to an invasion of
' Comp. TomkiDB {Bab. and Orient. Record, iii, 6) for identification of
Unqi with Amq, and see Rost (Tigla1hpUe$er^ i, p. xxi, note 1) for the ex-
tent of Unqi.
' Annals, lines 92-101.
TIGLATHPILESER m AND SHALMANESER IV. 119
Urartu, which was plainly already planned and
soon to be attempted. These two campaigns were
meant only to weaken the southern defenses of
Urartu, Perhaps the king, even in 739 or in 738,
would have attempted to follow up the victories
which he had gained but for the breaking out of
rebellions in Syria and along the Phoenician coast.
The whole development of Assyrian policy with
reference to Syria and Palestine is so intensely in-
teresting for many reasons that it is unfortunate
that we are left with such fi'agmentary lines at
the very point in the Annals where the events of
this important year are narrated. We must again
resort to conjecture for the defining of the order
of events, though the main facts are clear enough.
Among the princes and kings who formed a com-
bination to refuse to pay Assyrian tribute and to
resist its collection by force, if necessary, Azariah,
or Uzziah, of Judah, seems to have been very in-
fluential, if not an actual leader, exercising a sort
of hegemony over the other states of Palestine and
Syria. To support him the states of Hamath,
Damascus, Kummukh, Tyre, Gebal, Que, Melid,
Carchemish, Samaria, and others to the total num-
ber of nineteen had banded together. It was cer-
tainly a most promising coalition. If the forces
which these states were able to put into the field
were brought together and beaten into warlike
shape by a leader of men and a skillful soldier,
there was good reason to hope for an annihilation
of the army of Tiglathpileser, There is no reason
120 HISTORY OP BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
to doubt that Uzziah (Azariah) was equal to the
task, colossal though it was, if he had a loyal sup-
port from his allies^ and if all would make com-
mon cause against their oppressor. We can only
watch and see the end of eflfectual opposition to
Assyria through the weakness of some members of
this alliance. Tiglathpileser came west, and, pass-
ing by the countries of some of the allies, started
southward into Palestine, making as though he
would enter Judah and attack the ringleader, Uz-
ziah, before the allies could effectually concentrate
their forces. As soon as he entered Samaria,
Menahem, the king, threw down his arms and paid
to the Assyrians one thousand talents of silver as
a token of his acknowledgment of subjection. We
do not know all the reasons for this move. It may
have been necessary in order to save the land from
utter destruction if no assistance could be secured
elsewhere. But it looks at this distance, and on
the surface, like an act of cowardice and a be-
trayal of the oath of confederation. The weak-
ness or the blundering, or both, in all these
western alliances becomes more evident in every
successive campaign. It might well be supposed
that the dread of national extinction which had
been threatened in every successive Assyrian in-
vasion would have overcome the weakness, and
long use undone the blundering. On the pay-
ment of this tribute Tiglathpileser abandoned the
attack on Judah and began to conquer, probably
1 2 Kings XV, 19, 20.
TIGLATHPILESER in AND SHALMANESER IV. 121
one by one, the districts which had joined in the
union for defense. We have no full account of
this overwhelming campaign. One city only, with
the name of Kullani, possibly the biblical Kalneh,"
is specifically mentioned as being captured, though
the extent of territory actually occupied was so
extensive that many must have been taken. The
whole country, from Unqi and Arpad on the one
side and Damascus and the Lebanon on the other,
and on to the Mediterranean coast, was added to
Assyrian territory and provided with an Assyrian
governor. In this territory the colonizing plans
of Tiglathpileser were applied on an extensive
scale. Into it thirty thousand colonists were
brought from the lands of Ulluba and Kilkhi,
conquered in 739, while thousands were carried
out of it to supply the places left vacant by the
exiles. When Tiglathpileser turned his face home-
ward he carried with him a heavy treasure, in
which were mingled the tributes of Kushtashpi
of Kummukh, Rezin of Damascus, Menahem of
Samaria, Hirom of Tyre, Sibittibi'li of Gebal,
Urikki of Que, Pisiris of Carchemish, Enilu of
Hamath, Panammu of Sam'al, Tarkhulara of 6ur-
gum, Sulumal of Melid, Dadilu of Kask, Uas-
surmS of Tabal, Ushkhitti of Atun, Urballa of
Tokhan, Tukhammi of Ishtunda, Urimmi of Khu-
bishna, and of Queen Zabibi of Arabia. It is a
roll not of honor, but of dishonor, and Uzziah
might well have been proud that his name does
' laa. z, 9, and Amoe vi, 2. The exact location is unknown.
a
122 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
not appear upon it. Capacity and courage, with
some national spirit and patriotism, in even a few
of these might have saved the country, or at least
postponed the evil day of its undoing.
While these events were happening in the west
the policy of Tiglathpileser was receiving in the
east signal proofs of its wisdom. Among the
Aramaeans east of the Tigris certain communities
rose in rebellion against Assyria. Under the old
regime such an uprising near the capital would
have caused the liveliest concern. The king
would have hurried home from his labors in
the west and himself have quelled the rebellion.
But Tiglathpileser had provided the rudiments of
a system of provincial government. We have
already seen how ready he was at the very begin-
ning of his reign to set up provincial governors
with powers of administration over certain definite
districts, and with force sufficient to maintain
order. They wei'e now responsible for the main-
tenance of the portion of the empire under their
immediate control, and well they knew that they
would be held to a strict accounting for their
work. On the old method perhaps all that he
had gained in the west would have been lost and
all the work would have had to be begun agtun.
In this instance, however, the Assyrian governors
of LuUurae and of Nairi, at the heads of armies,
invaded the rebellious district and put down the
uprising with the utmost severity. When this
was accomplished there was another display of
TIGLATHPILESER III AND SHALMANESER IV. 123
colonizing activity on a colossal scale. From these
turbulent districts men were deported and settled
at Kinalia^ the capital of Unqi, while others were
settled in various parts of the new province of
Syria.'
In 735 the time had fully come for the effort to
break down the kingdom of Urartu (Chaldia).
We have seen how carefully this campaign was
planned, and how Tiglathpileser worked up to it.
Unfortunately the Annals are not preserved in
which the story of the campaign was told, and we
must rely again upon the looser statements of his
other inscriptions. With very little opposition Tig-
lathpileser penetrated the country up to the gates
of the capital city, Turuspa (Van). Here the people
of Urartu struck a blow, but were defeated and
forced to withdraw within the walls. Tiglath-
pileser began a siege, but could not reduce the
city because he had no navy with which to at-
tack or blockade on the lake side, and so could
not starve it into submission. It was also so well
fortified on the land side that he was unable to
carry it by assault. While engaged in the siege
he sent an army through the country, which made
its way as far as Mount Birdashu, the location of
which is not known. This expedition destroyed a
number of cities on the Euphrates and plundered
the inhabitants.
After some ineffectual fighting about the capital
Tiglathpileser raised the siege and departed. He
1 Annals, lines 134-150.
124 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
had not succeeded in adding the kingdom of Urartu
to Assyria, but he had broken its spirit, and we
hear no more of its power and defiance for some
years. The gain to Tiglathpileser by the cam-
paign was the removing of all danger of a flank
movement from the north when he was engaged
in carrying out his plans in the west, where his
work was still unfinished. In 734 we find him
again on the shores of the Mediterranean, having
probably crossed the plains of Syria near Damas-
cus and gone straight to the coast, which he fol*
lowed southward. He had no fear of an attack in
the rear from Tyre and Sidon, busily absorbed in
sending out their merchant ships. It appears
probable that the first city attacked was Ashdod
or Ekron, which was easily taken, and then Graza
was approached. The king of Gaza at this time
was Hanno (Khanunu), who had no desire to
meet the Assyrian conqueror, and therefore fled
to Egypt, leaving the city to stand if it were at-
tacked. He hoped to secure the help of the Egyp-
tians in opposing the Assyrian advance. Again
selfishness interfered with the placing of a stone in
the way of Assyrian progress. If the Egyptians
had had any wise conception of the situation in
western Asia at this period, they would have seen
that the very highest self-interest demanded the
giving of help to the weak city of Gaza. Gaza
was the last fortified city on the way to Egypt
from the north. It would serve well as a place
for the defense of the Egyptian borders, for who
TIGLATHPILESER HI AND SHALMANESER IV. 125
could say, after the events of the past few years,
when Tiglathpileser III would plan to attack
Egypt? Indeed who could say that this man
who planned so far in advance of events had not
already purposed an invasion of the land of the
Nile? One by one the coalitions formed against
him m Syria had been broken down. A wise
policy in Egypt would have aided these combina-
tions in oi'der to keep a buffer state, or a series of
them, between i^pt and the ever-widening power
of Assyria. It was too late for that. All but
Judah were paying a regular tribute to Assyria.
The last outpost on the coast — the city of Gaza —
was now threatened. It was surely well to make
a stand here, and it would probably have been
easy to inspire in Judah, or even in Damascus
and Hamath, the enthusiasm for another attempt
against the Assyrians. But Gaza was foolishly
left to its fate, and that was easy to foresee. The
city was taken ; its goods and its gods were taken
away to Assyria. In . its royal palace Tiglath-
pileser set up his throne and his image in stone in
token of another land added to Assyria. A native
prince was appointed as a puppet king, whose chief
concern must have been the collection of the heavy
annual tribute for Assyria. The worship of the
god Asshur was introduced along with that of the
other gods native to the place.* One only of the
■The inscription material for this campaign is badlj preserved. The
chief source is III R No. 2, lines 8-11. See, for valuable discussion of the
order of the campaign, Host, Tiglathpileser^ i, pp. xxviii, ff.
126 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
methods of Tiglathpileser for the engrafting of a
new state into his empire seems not to have been
exhibited — there was no colonization. The cap-
ture of Gaza seems but a small result for the cam-
paigns of a year, for the taking of Ashkelon and
Ekron, with places like Ri'raba, Ri'sisu, Gal'za,
and Abilakka, can scarcely be counted as of much
moment. In reality, however, the place was a
very important outpost for Assyria. It would
have been important for Egypt in the cause of de-
fense, it was no less important for Assyria in the
cause of offense, and we shall see shortly that it
was thus used, and very effectively.
Tiglathpileser had now disposed of the seacoast,
and would be ready and free to attend to the
reduction of the inland hill country of Palestine,
which he had long been coveting. His plans had
been well laid, and thus far admirably executed.
He might safely have hoped for complete success
as the direct result of his own prudence and skill,
and without external assistance of any kind. But
assistance he was to have through the tactless
blundering of those who ought to have opposed
him. Affairs were now in a very different state
in Palestine from that in which they had been
when his last attempt had been made, and Uzziah
offered a manly and almost successful resistance.
Uzziah had died in 736, and his son, Jotham,
had ruled only two pitiful years and then left a
weakened kingdom to Ahaz, who was only a boy
when he ascended the throne. It would have been
TIGLATHPILESER III AND SHALMANESER IV. 127
no difficult task for Pekah, king of Samaria, and
KeziD, king of Damascus, to have shown him the
need of a new alliance against Assyria.
We have paused often before over these dimin-
ishing opportunities for union against Assyria. It
is well for the entire understanding of the situa-
tion that we pause again at this point. Ahaz was
a weakling — of that the sequel leaves no doubt
whatever ; but he was also stLff-necked and unwill-
ing to take counsel, however excellent. The wis-
dom of the prophet Isaiah, who was also an acute
statesman, was lost on him. But in the nature of
the case a man who, like him, gave little heed to
the religion of Jehovah would be less likely to
listen to a prophet's words than to the words of
foreign kings. His introduction of the manners,
customs, and worship of foreign nations shows
how open he was to outside influences.' Coward
though he was personally, he was king of a land
with great resources for defensive war, as Uzziah
had sufficiently shown. The way was again open for
alliances which should include at least Damascus,
Israel, and Judah. But the people of Damascus
and of Israel were blind to all these opportunities,
and saw only an opportunity for present personal
gain. Menahem was dead, or his previous expe-
rience with Tiglathpileser might have restrained
his people from folly. His son, Pekahiah, was also
dead, after a reign of only two years, and a usurper,
' 2 Kings xri, 10, and comp. 2 Kings xxiii, 12. (There is a textual diffi-
culty in the latter passage. See Benzinger, CommerUarf on the verse.)
128 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Fekahy was on the throne in Samaria. Kezin still
reigned in Damascua These two saw in the
youth and inexperience of Ahaz a chance for re*
venge upon Judah and the enrichment of their
own kingdoms. They united their forces and in-
vaded JudaL So began the Syro-Ephraimitic war.
They marched apparently south on the east side
of Jordan, and first took Elath,' which Uzziah
had added to the kingdom of Judah, and so greatly
increased its commercial prosperity. From Elath
they went northward, intending to attack Jeru-
salem itself and overcome Judah at the very center.
The situation was a terrible one for Ahaz. He
would never be able to hold out single-handed
against such foes. To whom should he torn for
help ? There was no help in Egypt, for Egypt
had not extended help to Hanno, and was now
absorbed in a life-and-death struggle with Ethio-
pia. There was an Assyrian party at his court
which urged him to lean upon Tiglathpileser. His
wisest counselor was Isaiah, but Isaiah he would
not hear, and so he sent an embassy to meet Tig*
lathpileser and sue for help against the Syro-Eph*
raimitic combination. To get the necessary gifts
for the winning of favor he stripped the tern-
pie and emptied his own treasure-house." We do
not know where the embassy met the Assyrian,
though it was probably at some point in Syria*
The gifts were presented, and Tiglathpileser at
* 2 Kings xvi, 6.
' 2 Kings xvi, 7, ff.
TIGLATHPILESER HI AND SHALMANESER IV. 129
onoe promised his help to Ahaz. It is a marvel-
ous story of blindness, folly, and mismanagement
on the one side and of almost fiendish wisdom
and cunning on the other. All these plans of
Damascus and Israel to plunder and divide Judah
had played into the hands of Assyria. As soon
as Tiglathpileser offered his first threat against
Damascus and Israel the two allies left Judah and
went northward. The danger to Jerusalem was
therefore ended for the time, but the trouble for
the rest of the country was only begun. The
troops of Damascus and Israel were not withdrawn
from Judah in order to oppose TiglathpUeser with
united front, but each army withdrew into its own
territory, there to await the pleasure of Tiglath-
pileser. He decided to attack Samaria first, and
in 733 the attempt was made. Tiglathpileser
came down the seacoast past the tributary states
of Tyre and Sidon, and turned into the plain of
Esdraelon above Carmel. His own accounts fail
us at this point, but the biblical narrative fills up
the gap by the statement that he took Ijon, Abel-
Beth-Ma'aka, Janoah, Qedesh, and Hazor, together
with Gilead, Galilee, and the whole land of Naph-
talL* It might be expected that he would now
attack Samaria itself and perhaps slay the king.
He was relieved of this by a party of assassins
who slew Pekah, and then presented Hoshea to be
made king in his place and to be subject to him.«
Mil -*
1 2 Kings XV, 29.
' 2 Kings zv, 30.
9 . •
130 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
This completed the subjection of Israel, and
Tiglathpileser was now able to turn to the far
greater task of overcoming Damascus. Rezin was
not discomfited by the conquest of Israel, and
trusted that the army of Damascus, which had so
glorious a record of bravery and victory, might
triumph again. He met Tiglathpileser on the field
of battle and was defeated, escaping very narrowly
himself. The only thing that remained was to
shut himself up in Damascus and withstand the
siege if possible. He was soon beleaguered, with
the most terrible devastation of the entire country
about Damascus. Tiglathpileser boasts that he
destroyed at this time five hundred and ninety-
one cities, whose inhabitants, numbering thousands,
were carried away, with all their possessions, to
Assyria. At about the same time, and very prob-
ably during the progress of the tedious siege, Tig-
lathpileser sent an army into northern Arabia. A
queen of Arabia, Zabibi, had paid him tribute in
738, but since then we have no hint that he re-
ceived anything more. Samsi was now queen, and
she refused to pay any tribute and retired before
the army, attempting to entice the Assyrians into
the heart of the country. When at last she was
overtaken and forced to fight the Assyrians were
victorious ; Samsi was conquered and plundered of
vast numbers of camels and oxen. An Assyrian
governor was then left to watch her payment of
tribute, though she was permitted to manage her
own kingdom as she willed. The effect of this
TIGLATHPILESER HI AND SHALMANESER IV. 131
victory was almost magical. From nearly tlie
entire land of Arabia even as far south as the
kingdom of the Sab^ans deputations came bearing
costly gifts for Tiglathpileser. This expedition
produced little of permanent value for the Assyr-
ian empire, but was for the time, at least, a means
of adding to the imperial income. At the same
time tribute was received from Ashkelon, as a sign
that that hardy little state desired good relations
with the conqueror.
At last, about the end of 732, Damascus fell
into the hands of Tiglathpileser III, and the last
hope of the west was gone. Rezin was killed by
his conqueror.' Tiglathpileser sat up his throne
in the city which had so long and so bravely,
although with so much unwisdom, withstood him
and his predecessors. Well might he make merry
within its walls, and receive royal honors and im-
penal homage at the end of so long and bitter a
struggla Ahaz of Judah came and visited him
there, paying honor to the foreign conqueror who
had indeed saved him from Syria and Israel, but
whose people could never rest satisfied while Ju-
dah was only a tribute-paying dependency and not
actually a part of the empire. It is probable that
other princes also paid him honor here, as they
had done before. Tiglathpileser had no need to
invade the west again. He had carried the bor-
1 2 Kings xvi, 9. A broken tablet alluding to the death of Rezin was
disoovered by Sir Henry Rawlinson (" Assyrian Discovery," Athenaum^
1862, ii, p. 246), but it has since disappeared.
132 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
ders of Assyria far beyond any of his predecesson
in that direction. By his colonizing methods he
had began the assimilation of divers populations
into one common whole. He had extended the
field of operations for Assyrian conmierce all the
way across Mesopotomia and Syria to the Phoeni-
cian cities. Had his people been native to the
seacoasty he might have undertaken to snatch the
commerce of the Mediterranean. But there was
no need for that in his time. Some problems and
difficulties mast be left for the future to solve.
While this long series of campaigns was in
progress in the west Babylonia was first peacefol
and then disturbed. In one sense the Assyrian
protectorate, while it oppressed the native sense
of dignity and independence, was a great blessing.
It delivered the people from the need of a great
standing army, and gave them a sense of security
without it. The reign of Nabonassar was an age
of literaiy activity, especially manifested in the
study of histoiy and chronology,' and the leisure
for such stady was won by Assyrian arms. In
estimating the reign of Tiglathpileser this must not
be left out of the account.
With the end of the reign of Nabonassar, in
733, the period of peace abruptly closed, if, in-
deed, there had not been disturbances before that
time. He was succeeded by his son, Nabu-nadin-
zer (733-732), who was slain by a usurper, Nabu-
shum-ukin, in the second year of his reign. It
* See above, vol i, pp. 883, 845.
TIGIATHPILESER m AND SHALMANESER IV. 133
was at this time that Tiglathpileser was most
deeply absorbed in delicate and diflScult operations
in the west. It was impossible for him to leave
to other hands the conduct of the siege of Damas-
cus, or the direction of the important, though sub-
sidiary, expeditions in Palestine and Arabia. For
a season Babylonia must be left to its own re-
sources ; which offered an opportunity to the tra-
ditional enemies of Babylonia, the Chaldeans, or
Aramaeans. The union of tribes made a successful
attack on the country when Nabu-shum-ukin had
reigned only about one month. Nabu-shum-ukin
was deposed, and in his place UMnzer, a Chaldean
prince of the state of Bit-Amukkani, was made
king. This was in 732, and Tiglathpileser was
still in camp before Damascus. With the acces-
sion of Ukinzer, Babylonian unrest almost became
a frenzy. There was a traditional hatred of the
Chaldeans, and they were now masters in the
land, and their hand was not light in mling. It
is therefore not surprising that the priests, who
were great landed proprietors, and the wealthier
classes in general, who were despoiled of property
by their new and hungry rulers, should have
longed for the intervention of Tiglathpileser.
Weary of the constant disturbances in the south,
he decided to invade the land in 731, and make
an end of the disturbances by giving to the people
a new form of government with more perfect su-
pervision. In his progress through the land he
met first with the tribe of Silani, whose king.
134 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Nabu-ushabsliiy shat himself ap in his capital, Sa^
rabani. The Assyrians took the city and destroyed
it. Nabu-ushabshi was impaled in front of it as
a warning to rebels, while his wife, his children,
and his gods, with fifty-five thousand people, were
carried into captivity.* The cities of Tarbasa and
YabuUu were next utterly wasted, and thirty
thousand of their inhabitants, with all their
possessions, were carried away. The next victim
in this bitter campaign was Zakiru, of the tribe of
Sha^alli, who was carried in chains to Assyria,
while his whole land was laid waste as though a
storm of wind and wave had passed over it*
The way was now open for an attack upon the
real object of the expedition. Uldnzer had left
Babylon and fled to the confines of his own tribe
of Amukkani, where he shut himself up in his old
capital of Sapia. If Tiglathpileser eicpected him
to surrender on demand, he was mistaken. Uldnzer
prepared for a siege. The season was now prob-
ably late, as much time had been spent on the
preliminary conquests, and there was not time to
reduce the city by regular siege. Tiglathpileser
therefore contented himself for this year with de-
stroying the palm gardens about the city, leaving
not one tree standing, and with wasting all the
smaller cities and villages in the environs.*
While this process of pacification was going on
» II R. 6Y, lines 16-17.
«i6tU, lines 19-22. .
» Ibid., lines 22-26.
TIGLATHPILESER UI AND SHALMANESER IV. 135
other Chaldean princes were filled with fear lest
their punishment should come next, and began to
take steps to set themselves right with Tiglath-
pileser. Of these Balasu (Belesys), the chief of
the Dakkuri, sent gold, silver, and precious stones,
as did also Nadin of Larak. But the most im-
portant of these was Merodach-baladan, of the
tribe of Yakin, king of the country of the Sea
Lands, close to the Persian Gulf. He had never
before given any form of submission to any Assyr-
ian king, but now came, apparently in person,
to Sapia and presented an immense gift of gold,
precious stones, choice woods, embroidered robes,
together with cattle and sheep.' Great though
his submission was, the end was not yet with the
family of Merodach-baladan.
In the year 730 there are no events to record,
but in 729 Tiglathpileser was again in Babylonia,
and this time was able to take the stronghold of
Sapia. Ukinzer was deposed, and the unrest of
Babylonia was terminated. And now the plans
which Tiglathpileser must have made years before
could be ftilly carried out. He was determined to
make an end of the ruling of Babylonia by native
princes and instead govern it himself directly by
making himself king. He instituted festivals in the
principal Babylonian cities in honor of the great
gods. In Babylon he offered sacrifices to Marduk,
at Borsippa to Nabu, at Kutha to Nergal ; while
other offerings less magnificent were made in
^ U R. 67, lines 26-28.
136 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Kisli, Nippur, Ur, and Sippar. He then, in Baby-
lon, performed the great ceremony of taking the
hands of Marduf By this act he was received
as the son of the god and as the legitimate king of
Babylon. On New Year's Day of the year 728
he was proclaimed king in the ancient city of
Hammurabi. At Babylon he was crowned under
the name of Pola (Poros in the Ptolemaic canon),
but whether he had borne this name before or
had now adopted it in order that by change of
name the Babylonians might be spared living
under the name of Tiglathpileser — ^an Assyrian
conqueror — is not known to us. This move of
accepting the crown of Babylon had a great ad-
vantage and an equally great disadvantage. It
would act as an effectual bar to the Chaldeans,
who would not dare another outbreak while the
Assyrian king was king of Babylon, with his over-
powering military forces in or about the city or
within easy reach. On the other hand, this crown-
ing involved a very great difficulty. It must be
renewed every year ; every year must the hands of
Marduk be taken. This might be almost impos-
sible, for if there was a great insurrection at any
point in the king's dominions, he would have to
leave the seat of war at the time appointed and
hasten to Babylon for the performance of the sym-
bolic rite. It was not possible to transfer the
1 EpoDjm Canon. See Keilintehrift, Bibl^ i, pp. 614, 216. The last
Assyrian king who had taken the hands of Marduk was TuknlU-Ninib,
about 1290 B. C. See above, page 14.
TIGLATHPILESER UI AND SHALMANESER IV. 137
capital of the empire to Babylon, for the Assyrians
would have felt themselves dishonored by any such
plan. Tiglathpileser must have felt sure of the
stability of the empire and of the peace which he
had won by the sword, or he would never have
taken upon himself the burden of the crown of
Babylon. In the next year, 727, he again per-
formed the required rites and was again pro-
claimed king in Babylon. He had reached the very
sunmiit of the earthly magnificence of his age, and
attained the goal coveted by the kings of Assyria
before him. He was not only king of Sumer and
Accad, but also king of Babylon.
We have no knowledge of any other important
events in his reign. It was almost wholly a reign
of war and conquest. We know of only one build-
ing operation, the reconstruction and improvement
in Hittite style of the palace in Calah, which he
occupied during most of his life, and which had
been built by Shalmaneser H. In the month of
Tebet of the year 727 the great king died.'
It is difficult to estimate calmly and judiciously
his reign or his character. He had come to the
throne out of a rebellion. He found himself in
possession of a small kingdom with tribute-paying
dependencies, many in a state of unrest or of open
rebellion. The name of Assyria had been made a
dread and a terror among the nations by raids of
almost imexampled butchery and destructiveness,
' Babylonian Chronicle, col. i, line 24 ; Keilintchrift. BxU.y ii, pp. 276,
277.
138 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
but it was now not feared as before. Weak kings
had been unable to hold together the fragile fabric
which kings great in war, though not in adminis-
tration, had built up. He made this small king-
dom a unit, freeing it entirely from all semblance
of rebellion or insurrection. He reconquered the
tribute-paying countries, and then, by a master
stroke of policy, but weakly attempted in certain
places before, he made them integral parts of an
empire. In every true sense he was the creator
of the Assyrian empire out of a kingdom and a
few dependencies. He made Assyria a world
power, knitting province to province by unparal-
leled colonizing, and transforming local into im-
perial sentiment No king like him even in war
had arisen in Assyria before, and in organization
and administration he so far excelled them all as
to be beyond comparison.
In an inscription written the year before his
death he sums up the record of his empire build-
ing by the declaration that he ruled from the Per-
sian Gulf in the south to Bikni in the east, and
along the sea of the setting sun unto Egypt, and
exhibits the same extent of territory in the titles
which he wears, for he was then king of Kishshati,
king of Assyria, king of Babylon, king of Sumer
and Accad, king of the Four Quarters of the Earth.
In him were thus united the titles which carried
back the thought of man to the veiy earliest cen-
ters of civilization in the southland, to the king-
doms which had been made great by Gudea and
TIGLATHPILESER UI AND SHALMANESER IV. 139
Hammurabi, along with those which were linked
with all the story of the north. In the face of a
record like this none may grudge him the titles of
*• great king " and " powerful king." The usurper
had far outstripped men born to the purple.
In the very month ' in which Tiglathpileser III
died he was succeeded by Shalmaneser IV, who, if
not his son, must have been his legal heir to the
succession, or the change could not have been so
quickly made. No historical inscriptions' of his
reign have come down to us, and we have, there-
fore, very imperfect knowledge of its events, espe-
cially as the Eponym List, which has so often before
helped us to make out the order of events in the
reigns, is broken off at this place. The Babylonian
Chronicle sets down in the year of his accession,
that is, in 727, the destruction of a city, Shamara'in
or Shabara'in, the biblical Sibraim,' located be-
tween Hamath and Damascus. If this be true, we
may well ask what had brought Shalmaneser so
quickly after his succession into the western coun-
try. Unfortunately we do not possess his version
of the stoiy, and must derive our knowledge from
his enemies, among whom the Hebrews have left
■ Babjlonian Chronicle, i, 27,
* The onlj records of the reign are, 1. A weight with the king's name
8nJ legend in Assyrian and Aramaean, published bj Norris in the Journal
of the Roycd Asiatic Society, ivi (1866), p. 220, No. 6. Translations are
given in Schrader, Cuneiform Int. and the 0. T., i, 127, ff., and by the
same m Keilimehnft. Bibl., ii, p. 33. 2. A contract tablet in the British
Mnsenm (K. 407), translated by Peiser, Keilintchrift. Bihl, iii, p, 109, 3.
'Ezek. xlvii, 16. Halevy would identify Sibraim with the biblical Seph-
anraim.
140 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
US an explicit and convincing account of his chief
movements.
It wiU be necessary before proceeding further
with the narrative of Shalmaneser's movements to
fasten attention for a time upon the lands of Pal-
estine and Egypt When Hoshea became king of
Samaria in 733-2, during the reign of Tiglath-
pileser III, he accepted the post as a subject of
the Assyrian monarch, and was bound in every
possible way to maintain peace. There is no rea-
son to doubt that he remained faithful to Tiglath-
pileser till the great monarch died. When the
change of rulers came in Assyria we may also
look for disturbances among the subject states.
We have learned from frequent instances that the
western states accepted the domination of Assyria
only at the point of the sword. They hated the
conquering destructive monarchs, and yielded only
when they were crushed. We have also learned
that the populations subject to Assyria were al-
ways hoping for an opportunity to free them-
selves from the galling yoke, and we have seen in
several instances that they commonly chose as an
opportunity the change of rulers in Assyria. But
Tiglathpileser III had introduced a new sort of
conquest and an entirely new form of administra-
tive policy, and it was not to be expected that the
opportunity for rebellion would be so great at the
end of his reign as it had been before. His con-
quests were less destructive, less bloody, than
those, for example, of Asshurnazirpal, and hence
TIGIATHPILESER IH AND SHALMANESER IV. 141
the wounds which they made in the sensibilities
of a people were less deep and angry. But further
and more important than this, he not only con-
quered, he ruled. Provinces were not plundered
and then, after being commanded to pay an annual
tribute, left to themselves. They were provided
with Assyrian govemora, who could watch every
movement of the subject populations, and so scent
the very first sign of rebellion or of conspiracy
looking to it. When any people had been so con-
quered and so administered duiing a king^s reigu
they were not able easily to make a confederation
when his death occurred. This was a very differ-
ent situation from that which tribute-paying states
had previously known. If rebellions at the change
of kings were now generally less likely to occur,
still more were they unlikely in Palestine, and of
the land of Palestine they were in no country so
improbable as in IsraeL For by far the larger
and better part of the kingdom was absolutely ad-
ministered and ruled by Assyrians, and in part
populated by colonists. The kingdom which was
permitted to retain the semblance of autonomy
extended but a short distance around the capital
city. There was no inherent likelihood of any
outbreak in Samaria, or any effort to win back
again the old independence, when Tiglathpileser III
died, and in the selfsame month Shalmaneser IV
succeeded hinu
But there was another land in the west in
which great changes had come and new aspira-
142 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
tions, along with new fears^ had arisen. In Egypt
with the year 728 there began to reign the
twenty-fifth, or Ethiopian, dynasty. The Ethio-
pians had really governed Egypt since about 775,
when Piankhi made good his suzerainty by con-
quest. But from 776 to 728 the Ethiopian kings
had been content to exercise their supremacy over
the land while they suffered the native princes of
Egypt to retain their nominal sway. They were
content to receive the homage and tribute of these
petty princes, leaving to them the internal admin-
istration of the country, but watching carefully
lest any combination might be formed to threaten
their real rule. There were probably numerous
attempts to achieve liberty again, but they were
successfully put down. At last a native Egyptian
prince, called by the Egyptians king, and reigning
at Memphis under the name of Bakenrenf, the
Bokkhoris of the Greeks, was deposed and killed
by Shabaka of Ethiopia, who now took into his
own hands the rule over the combined kingdoms
of Ethiopia and Egypt. After this change in the
dynasty in Egypt there are numerous signs that
a great reawakening of the people of the ancient
country of the Nile begina At last they seem to
have seen that the progress of Assyria must finally
threaten themselves ; that it could not stop at the
soathern limits of Palestine, but must ultimately,
and none could say how soon, cross into Egypt.
Furthermore, the Egyptians were beginning to
long for a restoration of their power over the great
TIGLATHPILESER III AND SHALMANESER IV. 143
Asiatic provinces as it had been in the golden
days of Thotmosis III and Rameses 11. The
Ethiopian kings in Egypt had a difficult task in
ruling as overlords over the princes in the Delta
and elsewhere, who had once been free. What
could do more to reconcile Egypt to the new order
of affairs than a movement against the common
foe of all the west or a campaign to recover the
long-lost Asiatic provinces ?
As we have seen above, it was altogether im-
probable that Israel would dare single-handed to
break faith with the Assyrians, but if there was
some hope of aid from the Egyptians, the case was
altogether different. The people of Israel could
not be expected to know fully the internal affairs
of Egypt so as to understand the essential weak-
ness of the country as an ally. They could read-
ily know the greatness of the Egyptian empire, in
which Upper and Lower Egypt were combined
with the rich and prosperous kingdom of Ethiopia.
They might well be acquainted with the glorious
history of Egypt, with its great conquests and
successful wars in the past. They could hardly,
on the other hand, be expected to know of the
i^eakness of the country at present, of the unset-
tled strife between the Ethiopian emperor and
the princes of native blood ; of the local jealousies
and petty provincial strifes ; of official corruption ;
and of the insolent avarice of the priestly class.
Instead of Egypt's being an important and valu-
able ally it was in reality a very weak one, and a
144 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
little later may be shown to be a cause of weak-
ness rather than strength to her Syrian allies. None
of these things were apparently known to Hoshea.
Induced by some representations made to him, or
through the direct holding out of the Egyptian
hand, he sent messengers to Sibe,* who was prob-
ably an underking of Shabaka, and entered into
some sort of alliance with him. He now felt strong
enough to omit the payment of the annual tribute
to Assyria, which he had paid " year upon year."
This implies that he had paid it at least two years
before it was omitted — that is, in 727 and 726.
Now it has already appeared that Shalmane-
ser IV was in Syria, or at least an army of his, in
the accession year, 727. A natural way of paying
the tribute, and a very common one, was to the
Assyrian army when it was near at hand. This
Hoshea seems to have done in 727, and again in
726. In 725, relying on the help of Egypt, he
rebelled and refused the annual payment of trib-
ute. At once Shalmaneser IV invades Samaria
with an army to reduce this incipient fire of re-
' In the Massoretic text of 2 Kings xvii, 4, the ally of Hoshea is called So
(KID), but the word ought probably be punctuated Sewe (KID). In the
inscriptions of Sargon he is called Shabi, and was fonnerly idendfied wHli
Shabaka (so Oppert and Rawlinson). Stade was the first to suggest that
he was one of the Delta kings, and Winckler ( Untertuchungen^ pp. 92-M,
106-108) produced strong arguments in its favor. He has, however, latterly
changed his mind and considers him a general of the north Arabian land of
Musri (Mittheilungm der Vbrderas, Oesell.^ 1898, i, p. 5). The aiigament
seems to me insufficient. Winckler's suggestions concerning Musri are
exceedingly fruitful, and many are undoubtedly correct, but he has car-
ried the matter too far in attempting to eliminate Egypt almost entirely
and supplant it with Musri.
TIQIATHPILESER m AND SHALMANESER IV. 145
bellion, which, uncontrolled, might involve the
whole of his valuable Syrian possessions in
flamea Hoshea was altogether disappointed in
his expectation of help from Egypt and was left
to meet his fate alone. The reserve of the biblical
sources has told us nothing of the efforts of Hoshea
against the forces of the Assyrians. From the
order of the narrative we are probably justified in
the inference that he left his capital with an army
to meet the advance of the forces of Shalmaneser.
He was, however, overwhelmed, captured, and
probably taken to Assyria. Shalmaneser had
now an open way to the city of Samaria, which
he had determined to destroy as the penalty for
its rebellion. The execution of this plan was not
so easy as the conquest and capture of the king.
Samaria prepared for a siege. There is something
heroic in the very thought. It was surrounded
snd hemmed in by territory over which it had
once ruled in undisputed sway, but which had
long been controlled by Assyrian governors and
filled with Assyrian colonists. As Shalmaneser
advanced closer he would, of course, destroy and
lay waste everything about the city which might
have furnished any aid or comfort to it. From
the villages and towns thus destroyed the people
would fiock into the capital until it was crowded.
The people of Samaria may have hoped for help
from Egypt, watching with sick hearts for signs of
an approaching army of succor. They knew what
surrender meant in the loss of their city, and in
10 •
146 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
probable deportation to strange lands. They were
fighting to the bitter end for homes and for life.
So they resisted — and the story is amazing — ^for
three long years.' The king of Assyria died, and
still Samaria held out, and would not surrender.
It makes one think what might have been if thei'e
had been such courage in Israel in the days of
Menahem. Shalmaneser IV died in 722 and left
Samaria unconquered, and hence all Syria in
jeopardy to his successor. If a weak man should
take his place now, all that had been won by
Tiglathpileser III might be lost.
We have no further knowledge of any events in
the reign of Shalmaneser IV. It is true that Jose-
phus ' has preserved an account of an expedition of
his against Tyre, which he had taken from Menan-
der. According to his story a certain Mulaaus,
king of Tyre, had rebelled, and Shalmaneser came
to besiege the city. He was, however, unable to
reduce it after a five years' siege. We have no
allusion to any such siege in any of the inscription
material which we possess, and it is altogether
probable that Josephus has made a mistake and
ascribed to Shalmaneser a siege of Tyre which was
really made by Sennacherib. If he had really be-
sieged Tyre and left this siege also as an inherit-
ance to his successor, we should almost certainly
find it mentioned in the abundant historical ma-
terial of the next reign.
* Kings xviii, 9, 10.
^Josephus, ix, 14, 2. Comp. Winckler, Oeschichie, p. 888, note 61.
TIQLATHPILESER IH AND SHALMANESER IV. 147
It is impossible properly to estimate the charac-
ter or deeds of Shalmaneser from the scanty his-
torical materials which we possess. His reign of
only five years was entirely too short for any great
undertakings. He undoubtedly left to his succes-
sor more problems than he had solved himself.
148 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER VIL
THE BEIGN OF SABGON IL
Shalmaneseb IV died in the montli of Tebet,
and in the very same month Sargon 11 (721-705
B. C.) * became king of Assyria. like Tiglath-
pileser HI, he was not of roy^ blood. In no sin-
gle passage does he ever claim descent from any
of the previous kings, nor in any way allude to his
parentage, ifis son, Sennacherib, who succeeded
him, is also sUent concerning the origin of Sai^n,
but his grandson, Esarhaddon, provides him with
an artificial genealogy which canies back his line
to Bel-bani, an ancient king of Asshur. It is a
striking fact that he was able to put himself so
quickly and so securely on the throne, and it
makes one think that there may have been some
understanding before the death of Shalmaneser by
which Sargon was made the legal heir. On the
other hand, he may have been a successful gen-
eral, as we have already supposed that Tigkth-
pileser III was, and so had in his hand a weapon
ready to enforce his ambitious claims to the throne.
Like Tiglathpileser, also, he must have been well
known as a man of force, for there was no upris-
1 The death of Shalmaneser IV took place in 722, which became Saigon's
accession year ; but the Assyrians counted 721 as the first year of his reigiit
full years only being counted.
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 149
ing against him, and he was at once recognized as
the lawful king.
He inherited a kingdom full of great problems
and difficulties. Samaria was not yet taken, and
if it should succeed in effectual resistance, all Syria
would take new heart, and the whole fabric
which Tiglathpileser III had laboriously built up,
but had not had time fully to cement together,
would be in fragments. This was a not improb-
able outcome, for Egypt was eager to foment dis-
turbance in the southern part of the land, hoping
thereby to gain back some of the territory which
had been lost. On the north there was also a dis-
turbing center. Tiglathpileser had not been able
to finish the partition of Urartu, and that state
would be very willing to incite the northern Syro-
Phoenician states to rebel when rulers were changed
in Assyria, in the hope of building up again the
kingdom which Tiglathpileser had broken in
pieces. In Babylonia also the death of Shal-
maneser had given opportunity for a sudden out-
break of new efforts among the Chaldeans. It
was indeed a troublesome age on which Sargon
had lighted. A man of great energy and abiUty
would alone be able to meet the dangers and
solve them. Such a man was Sargon. Like Tig-
lathpileser in, he was a usurper. It is an elo-
quent witness to the resources of Assjoia that two
such men were produced so close to each other,
and not of a royal house, with inherited strength
and abiUty.
150 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
We are well supplied with inscriptions ' setting
forth the chief events of Sargon's reign, and have
only to follow the plain indications of the Annals
in order to see them all in proper sequence.
In the year of the accession of Sargon (722
B. C.) Samaria fell, but it is improbable that he
had anything to do with it in person. He could
scarcely have been present so quickly, leaving be-
hind him all the possible dangers to the throne
which he had just ascended. It was a most for-
tunate result for his reign that Samaria was taken
1 The following are the chief inscriptions of Sargon*8 reign : (a) The An-
naU^ published first by Botta, Le MonumetU de Ntnive^ plates 68-92,
105-120, 155-160, and with corrections and amendments by Winckler, Die
KeihchrifUexte SargorCs^ ii. They are translated Into English by Jules
Oppert, Recordi of the Pastj First Series, viii, pp. 21-66, but this version is
now somewhat antiquated. Tliere is a good German translation by Winck-
ler, op. cit,^ i, pp. 2-95. The Annals have come down to us in four recen-
sions, in a fragmentary condition, and the relations between the recension
and between parts of the fragments are sometimes obscure. For details
Winckler must be consulted, but allusions to some of the problems will be
found below, (b) Oeneral Inscription {Inscription da Faata^ Prunk In.
9chrift\ published by Botta, op. Ht., plates 98-104, 121-164, 181, and by
Winckler, op. «7., ii, plates 30-86, and translated by him, tWrf., i, pp. 96-
135, and into English by Oppert, *' The Great Inscription in the Palace of
Khorsabad," in the Records of the Past, First Series, Iv, pp. 1-20. (c) Tht
Inscriptions on the Oateway Pavement, published by Botta, op. eiL, plates
1-21, and by Winckler, op. cit., ii, plates 86-40, and translated by him,
i, pp. 186-168. (d) Inscription on the Back of the Slabs, published by
3otta, op. cit., plates 184, fF., and by Winckler, op. cit., Ii, plate 40, and
translated by him, i, pp. 164-167. (e) Nimroitd Inscription, published by
Layard, Inscriptions in the Cuneiform Charcxter, plates 83, 84, and trans-
lated by Winckler, op. cit., i, pp. 168-178, and by Peiser, KeUinsehrifL
Bihl., ii, pp. 84-39. (f) The Stele InscHption, published III R. 11, and
translated (in part) by Winckler, op. cit., pp. 174-186. (g) Bull Inscrip-
tion, published by Botta, op. cit., plates 22-62, and by Lyon, KeiUekri/U
texte Sargon^ s, plates 13-19, and translated by him, pp. 40-47. (h) C^n-
der Inscription, published I R. 86, and by Lyon, op. cit.^ plates 1-1 S, and
translated by him, pp. 80-89.
THE REIGN OF SARGON II. 151
without a longer siege. Very probably the same
army which had invested the city secured also its
surrender. Neither the army nor the inhabitants
of Samaria are likely to have known anjrthing of
the change of rulers in Assyiia. The biblical
account does not mention the name of the king of
Assyria into whose hands the city fell, but the
form of statement seems to imply that Shalma-
neser was still considered king.' Sargon was not
yet known in the west as he would later come to
to be. As soon as Samaria was taken he gave
orders that the colonizing plans which Tiglath-
pileser III had devised and perfected should be
carried out on a large scale. From the city there
were taken away twenty-seven thousand two hun-
dred and ninety men, who were settled in the
Median mountains and in the province of Gozan
(Guzanu) along the rivers BaJikh and Khabur.
To supply their places colonists were brought
fix)m Kutha, in Babylonia, and recently conquered
territories. The people earned away from Samaria
were probably of the very best blood in the land
— the men who had fought for three weary years
against the most powerful military state of western
Asia. They were probably officials, skilled laborers,
and tradespeople. The loss to the land was irrepara-
ble, and the kingdom of Israel never regained the
' " Id the ninth year of Hoshea the king of AssTria toolc Samaria, and
carried Israel away into Assyria " (2 Kings xvii, 6). It is to be noted that
in rerses 4 and 6 the same phrase, **king of Assyria/* is used, applying
there to Shalmaneser fV, and no hint is given that a change of rulers had
taken place. Comp. Guthe, OeschiehU dea Volkea Israel, p. 198.
t
152 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
strength it had lost. There was another little
spasm of rebellion in a short time, as we shall see,
bat the land had not left in it the national life
to sustain another such struggle. So did the As-
syrians in the reign of Sargon finish the task
which they began in the reign of Shalmaneser BL'
Over the land of Samaria Sargon set Assyrian
governors, and the once glorious and powerful
kingdom of Israel became an insignificant Assyr-
ian province.
There were greater problems in Babylonia for
Sargon than the west had yet offered. We have
seen ' how in 729 Merodach-baladan, of the tribe of
Bit-Yakin, king of the Sea Lands, had paid homage
to Tiglathpileser III and made costly gifts in token
of his subjection. That was well enough when
Tiglathpileser III was threatening to desti-oy the
entire land, but Merodach-baladan intended only
to maintain his allegiance to Assyria so long as
the Assyrians were able to compel it. During
the short reign of Shalmaneser no effort seems to
have been made by the Chaldeans, but it is quite
probable that all the while the preparations were
going on. When Shalmaneser died, and Sargon
was busy in Assyria and unable to proceed to
Babylon to take the hands of Marduk, Merodach-
baladan judged that the hour had come. Without
great difficulty he took southern Babylonia, the
ancient kingdom of Sumer and Accad, and then
' See above, p. 76, ff.
' See above, p. 186.
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 153
the city of Babylon itself. On New Year's Day,
721, he was proclaimed king of Babylon.' Here
was opened again the same old question as to the
ruler in Babylon. Sargon never could lose the
great southern kingdom without a bitter war.
Merodach-baladan had thrown down the gage, and
there was no alternative but to take it up. Sargon
entered Babylonia and was met at Dur-ilu by an
army under the command of Merodach-baladan,
with Khumbanigash of Elam as an ally. Accord-
ing to the usual custom, Sargon claimed a victory."
It is, however, perfectly clear from the issue that
Sargon had not been successful. He left Mero-
dach-baladan in absolute possession of Babylon,
not attempting at all to enter the country farther,
but contenting himself with the possession of the
extreme northern portion, which joined with the
land of Assyria. On the other hand, Merodach-
baladan did not attempt to drive the Assyrians
out of this northern part, but was quite satisfied
to be left in possession of the city of Babylon, in
which there were wealth and power enough to sat-
isfy his ambitions, and difficulties enough with the
priesthood to engage his best powers. The failure
> BabjloQian Chronicle, col i, line 82. KeUiruchrift. Bibl., U, 276, 211,
StrgOQ succeeded to the throne about three months earlier.
'Annals, lines 18-28. These lines are badly broken, and it is difficult
to make much of them. In the Cylinder inscription (line 17, KeUinschrift.
BlhL^ ii, pp. 40, 41, Sargon thus speaks of himself : " The brave hero who
met Khumbanigash of Elam at Durilu and accomplished his defeat.** On
the other hand, the Babylonian Chronicle (col. i, lines 83, 84, KeilinachrifL
Bibl^ ii, pp. 276, 277) asserts that Khumbanigash was victorious over
Sargon.
154 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYBIA.
to retake Babylon was a bad beginning for the
reign of Sargon. The Assyrians would have less
coiifidence in his prowess; the Chaldeans would
have time and opportunity to strengthen them-
selves in their hold on Babylon; the men of
Urartu and of Syria would learn of it, and would
judge that the Mng of Assyria was not equal to
his predecessors. Rebellions all over the empire
lie latent in this failure of Sargon.
The first rebellion that confronted Sargon was in
the west, where one might have thought that the
punishment of Samaria would have deterred oth-
ers from a new attempt. But the Syrian states had
not all been so thoroughly blotted out as Samaria,
and there was a nucleus in Hamath around which
a conspiracy might crystallize. Hamath, one of the
oldest cities in Syria, had never been destroyed or
even engrafted into the Assyrian empire. This
was due to the constant exercise of a crafty pol-
icy. Hamath had joined in rebellions, but always
withdrew at the right moment, paid tribute, and
played the part of a faithful ally of Assyria. It
owed its deliverance in the reign of Tiglathpileser
III only to this policy pursued by its king, Eni-eL
But this craftiness, while it saved the state for a
time, was unpopular, and Eni-el fell a victim to
his own prudence, and was removed from the throne
by a national party. A usurper named Il-ubidi,*or
1 He is named Ta'ubi'di in the General Inscription, 88 (Winckler, DU
Keilschri/aexte SargorCn I, pp. 102, 108), and Kimroud, 8 (KeilinMekHfL
Bihl, ii, pp. 86, 87). He is called Hubidi in the Annals (line 28, Winckler,
op, c*7., i, pp. 6, 7).
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 155
Ya-ubidi, succeeded him and at once began a new-
policy. In this he was aided by Hanno (Khanunu)
of Gaza^ whom we have learned to know before in
the reign of Tiglathpileser III. The Egyptians did
not give him aid at the time when Graza might
have been saved from the Assyrians, but he was
now in better favor in Egypt, and was an ally of
Sibe. It is most likely that he was trying in the
interests of Egypt to gain a hold over Hamath,
and that he did get some direct influence is shown
by his title of king of Ilamath in one of Sargon's
texts — ^to the Assyrians he evidently appeared as
the real ruler of the state. H-ubidi and Hanno
at once formed a new confederation, in which Ar-
pad, Simirra, Damascus, and, most surprising of
all, Samaria joined.
It would appear from this that even the loss of
so many of her best men and the watchful eye
of an Assyrian governor were not able to crush
every aspiration for liberty. Judah remained
faithful to Assyria, and did not join with the con-
federatea Il-ubidi made Qarqar his fortress,
and placed a large army in the field. This was
now no mean opposition which confronted Sargon,
and after his practical defeat in Babylonia it was
likely to have hopes of successfully opposing him.
At the outset he displayed one quality of great
importance ; he set out promptly for Syria as soon
as news of the rebellion reached him, determined
to strike the first member of the alliance before the
others could unite and come to his support. This
156 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Assjoian promptness had often before cost the
Syrian states great losses. It fell out in this case
exactly as he had planned. At Qarqar he met
Ya-ubidi and his army without any of the allies
and gained a complete victory. When this was
done he made haste to meet Hanno and Sibe, who
were the real leaders of the rebellion. At Rapi-
khu (Raphia) the Assyrians met the confederates
and completely defeated them.' Sibe managed to
get off with his life and escaped into Egypt ; Hanno
was taken prisoner and carried off to Assyria.
This made peace in Syria for a time ; Sibe was
not able to undertake any more disturbances, and
the remaining confederates needed time for recu-
peration. The result of this campaign as affecting
Assyria was very important. The prestige of Sar-
gon personally was restored, and he was left free,
following the example of TiglathpUeser III, to set
right the affairs of his empire in other border
countries.
Of all these Urartu was the most dangerous and
threatening. Sargon had planned to reach its
destruction by slow and steady approaches. He
would first restore to Assyria, as tribute-paying
states, the communities which surrounded Urartu
on the west, south, and east, and then finally strike
the all-important blow. His first movement was
from the east against the two cities of Shuanda-
khul and Durdukka, situated in the tenitory be-
* Annals, lines 27-81 (Winckler, op, ciL i, pp. 6, 7). Comp. General
Inscription, lines 25, 26 (Winckler, ibid,^ pp. 100, 101).
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 157
longing to Iranzu of Man, by Lake UmmiyeL
These renounced their allegiance, and received
help from Mit'atti of Zi^rtu/ whose territory
probably immediately joined. Sargon quickly de-
feated them and destroyed the cities (719 B. C),
but did not attempt any punishment of Mit'atti
at this time.' In the same year the three cities,
Snkia, Bala, and Abitikna^ whose exact location is
unknown, though they also adjoined Urartu, were
destroyed and their inhabitants transplanted to
Syria.* A similar campaign occupied the year
718, directed against the western rather than the
eastern approaches to Urartu. Kiakki of Shi-
nukhtu, a district of Tabal (Kappadokia), had not
paid his tribute. He with many of his followers
was transplanted into Assyria, and his land de-
livered over to Matti of Atun (called Tun * by
Tiglathpileser III), who was required to pay a
higher annual tribute.*
The year 717 was not, perhaps, of so great im-
portance as many another wldch preceded and
which foUowed it in Assyrian history, but it was
a year of great interest in one way at least, as it
ended the career of Garchemish. Alone of all the
smaller states into which the great Hittite empire
> Qgirta (or Zikirtu) are to be identified with the Sagartians (Herodotus,
i,ezxT).
* AnnalB, lines 82-89 (Winckler, op, cU,^ pp. 8, 9).
* Annals, lines 40-41 (Winckler, op, cit., i, pp. 8, 9).
^ Tun is probably Tyana, the modem Eiz Hisar, at the northern foot of
the Taurus, in souihem Kappadokia.
* Annals, lines 42-45 (Winckler, ibid,).
158 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
had broken up it had maintained a sort of inde-
pendence, paying only an annual tribute. The
king of Carchemish at this time was Pisiris, who
is even called king of the land of the Hittites/ as
though retaining in his person something of the
glory of the old empire. If he had continued to
pay his annual tribute, he would probably have
been permitted to remain in undisturbed pos-
session of his high-sounding title and in the
free exercise of his authority over the internal
affairs of his kingdom. In an evil hour he incited
Mita of Mushke to join him in a rebellion against
the payment of tribute. He was speedily over-
come, and at once, with his family and his fol-
lowers, transported into Assyria. With them
Sargon carried away as booty eleven talents of
gold, twenty-one hundred talents of silver, and
fifty chariots of war. Carchemish was repeopled
with Assyrian colonists and became an Assyrian
province.* In such an easy manner ended the
very last remnant of a once powerful empire,
which had defied even Egypt at the zenith of its
power.
In the same year the cities Papa and Lallakna,
probably located near Urartu, joined in a rebellion,
but were overcome and their inhabitants trans-
planted to Damascus.* Year after year did Sar-
gon, as we have already seen, continue these
»"Shar mat Khatti," Nimroud, line 10, KeUiruchri/i, Bihl, ii, pp.
88, 39.
• Annals, lines 46-50 (Winckler, op. cit., i, pp. 10, 11).
'Annals, lines 60-62 (Winckler, op. cit.^ i, pp. 10, 11).
THE REIGN OF SARGON II. 159
colonizations in Syria. He was determined to
disturb so thoroughly the national life that there
might be no opportunity for any farther upris-
ings. After all this intermixture it becomes less
surprising that the Jews who returned from
Babylon would not recognize the people of Sa-
maria as their fellows/ but looked on them as a
strange race, and called them Samaritans, and not
Hebrews.
At last, in 716, Saigon felt himself strong
enough and the way well enough prepared to
make a sharper attack on Urartu, and not merely
on the states which surrounded it. He was moved
to a more active policy by the threatening doings
of the king of Urartu. Sarduris, who had opposed
Tiglathpileser HI so successfully as regards the
actual land of Urartu, was now dead, and in his
place ruled Ursa, as the Assyrian inscriptions usu-
ally name him,* or Rusas, as he is known to native
historiographers. As early as 719 Urartu was
intriguing against the small kingdom of Man, of
which Iranzu was king, and Sargon had to save to
Man two cities which Mit'atti of Zigirtu, a tool of
Urartu, had seized. That was a warning to Urartu
for a time. But now Iranzu was dead and the
usual troubles over the succession in small states
of the Orient offered an opportunity to Urartu.
!y, 8 ; Eoclus. i, 26, 26 ; Luke iz, 62, 63 ; John iv, 9.
*He is called Rusa in Sargon's Annals, lines 68 and 76 (Winckler, op.
««., pp. 12, 18, 16, 17). This is Rusas I of Chaldia. See Belck and Leh-
mann, " Ehi Nener Herrscher von Chaldia," ZeUaehri/t fur Aaayriohgiey
iz, 82, ff., 889, ff.
160 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
The lawful heir to the throne of Man was Aza, son
of the last king, and he finally did get himself
seated. But Rusas then stirred up against him
the old enemy of his father, Mit'atti of Zigirtu, and
also the lands of Misianda' and Umildish, the lat-
ter of which was ruled by a prince, BagdattL To
these three allies were added some governors out
of Rusas's own territory, and all things were ready
for a successful attack on the little kingdomu Aza
had given pledges of faithfulness to Assyria, and
so deserved support. He was soon overcome and
slain, and his land would have been speedily di-
vided among the conspirators, with the Hon's share
for Eusas, had not Sargon suddenly appeared.
Bagdatti of Umildish was captured and slain, as
a warning, on the same spot where Aza had been
killed. Ullusunu, brother of Aza, was put on the
throne and confirmed in possession. In this Sar-
gon had defeated the immediate plans of Eusas,
but he was very far from having destroyed his in-
fluence. Scarcely was Sargon's back turned when
Ullusunu broke his Assyrian vows and transferred
his allegiance to Urartu, actually giving up to
Eusas twenty-two villages of his domain. We do
not know what led to this revei^sal on the part of
Ullusunu, but it is probable that he was forced
into the act. Besides this Ullusunu induced As-
shur-li' of Karalla and Itti of Allabra, two small
territories of western Media, to renounce the
suzerainty of Assyria and accept that of Urartu.*
> Annals, lines 68, 69 (Winckler, op. cit,^ i, pp. 12, 18).
THE REIGN OP SAEGON H. 161
Here was an upturning indeed which might be
imitated by other states. Sargon increased his
army and returned in haste. Upon his approach
Ullusnnn fled to the monntainSy leaving his cap-
ital, Izdrtn, to the tender mercies of the enraged
Saigon. The capital was soon taken, as well as
ZSibisL and Arma'id, two fortified cities. Izirtu was
burned and the others suffered to remain.* UUu-
sunu, probably seeing no way of escape even in
mountain fastnesses, returned and sued for par-
don. Astonishing as it may seem, this was actu-
ally granted, and he was once more installed in his
kingdom— which confirms us in the belief that Sar-
gon had come to think that he had not been a
free agent in his rebellion, but had been compelled
to it by Rusas. On the other hand, the two rebels
who had joined with him suffered severely for
their faithlessness. Asshui*-li' of Karalla was slain,
his people deported to Hamath, and his land turned
into an Assyrian province. Itti of Allabra and
his family were also deported into Hamath, and
a new vassal king was set up in his place.* At the
same time the district of Nikshamma and the city
of Shurgadia, whose governor, Shepa-sharru, had
rebelled, were reduced and added to the Assyrian
province of Parshua.* In this year Sargon also in-
vaded western Media and conquered the governor
1 Annals, lines 60, 61, General Inscription, 41 (Winckler, op, ct/., pp. 12,
18, 104, 106).
* Annals, lines 65-67.
s Annals, line 58.
11 »
162 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA. AND ASSYRIA.
of Kishesim, whose Assyriaa name, Bel-shar-
probably points backward to the influence of
lathpileser III in this same region. Kisbesin:
thoroughly changed in every particular. A
ian worship was introduced, the name of the
changed to Kar-Nabu, and a statue of Sargo
up.' A new province was then fonned of thi
tricts of Bit-Sagbat, Bit-Khirraani, Bit-Umargi
of several other cities, and Kar-Nabu was mat
capital.' Another city, by the name of Khari
whose governor had been driven out by its j
lace, was similarly treated. Its name was chs
to Kar-Sharrukin (Sargon's-bui^), and it wai
onized with captives and also n^e the capit
a newly formed province.' This sort of cam^
ing had its influence on the surrounding con
From city to city spread the news of the m:
conqueror and of his sweeping changes, and
different parts of Media no less than twenty-
native princes came to Kar-Sharrukin with
ents to Sai^u, hoping to purchase delivei
from like treatment.'
This year had been full of various unde
ings, but nearly all of them may be said to
directly or indirectly with Rnsas of Urartu,
even while these easterly undertakings wei
progress, was not idle. Defeated in his pis
I Aniuls, lines 69, 60.
* AnDils, line 68.
■AnnilH, l[nes 61-64.
'Annals, line It (Winckler, op. eit., i,pp. 16, II).
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 163
securing peacefully from Ullnsnnu the twenty-two
villages which had been granted him, as we have
seen, but aftei-ward recovered by Sargon, he took
them by force. This brought Sargon back in 715
with an army which quickly recaptured the lost
territory, which was then supplied with special
Assyrian governors. Daiukku, a subordinate gov-
ernor of Ullusunu, who had yielded to the solicita-
tions of Kusas, was carried oflE to Hamath.* The
suddenness and completeness of this victory in-
duced Yanzu of Nairi to bring his homage to
Sargon.* Meanwhile the province of Kharkhar,
which was formed but a year before, had rebelled
and must be again conquered. It was now in-
creased in size by the addition of territory which
had been thoroughly Assyrianized, and the city
of Dur-Sharrukin was heavily fortified as an out-
post against the land of Media. In this year
twenty-two Median princes oflEered presents to
Sargon * and promised an annual tribute of horses.
All these campaigns weakened the influence of
Rosas over his allies, and so the way was gradu-
ally preparing for his overthrow ; but the time had
not come this year, for Sargon had disturbances
to settle in the west.
Mita of Mushk^ had interfered with Que (Cili-
^ AnnalB, lines 74-77.
' Annals, lines 78.
' Annals, lines 83-89 ; General Inscription, lines 64-67 (Winckler, op. cU.,
pp. 18, 19 ; KeUxn»ehrift. Bihl.^ ii, pp. 60, 61). A comparison of these two
passages shows a discrepancy in the figures, the former giving the number
of Median princes at twenty-two, the latter thirty-four.
164 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
cia), and had taken from it several cities to add to
his own dominion, which were readily restored.*
An expedition into Arabia was also rendered
necessaiy for the collection of tribute. The tribe
of Khaiapa, which had paid tribute since the reign
of TiglathpQeser III, now refused to do so, and
was supported by the tribes of Tamud, Ibadidi,
and Marsiani. Of these Khaiapa was probably
the most northerly, being settled about Medina,
while the others stretched southwai*d below Mecca.*
These were all conquered easily and restored to
subjection. It'amar of Saba, Pir'u (Pharaoh) of
Egypt, who may have been Bokkhoris, and Samsi,
the queen of Arabia, whose dominions were in the
extreme northern part of the country, all sent
gifts.' This latter part of the year probably was
of great value to the king in the revenue which it
yielded.
In the next year (714) the campaign against
Eusas of Urartu was taken up in earnest. The
invasion began from the east, Sargon first appear-
ing in Man, where Ullusunu paid him tribute,
while Dalta of EUipi sent presents all the way
from the southeastern borders of Media. Prom
Man Sargon advanced slowly and steadily into
the temtories of Zigirtu, where Mit'atti was still
holding sway. One by one the cities and fortified
1 Annals, lines 92-94, 100.
' See Glaser, Skizze der Oenchichte und Gtoffrofhie Arabient^ ii, 861, 2;
and comp. Winckler, Oeschickte^ p. 248.
' Annals, lines 97-99.
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 165
camps were taken until Parda, the capital, fell
into Assyrian hands. When this had happened
Mit'atti and his entire people moved swiftly in
one great emigration ont of the country and were
seen no more. They had probably come out of
the steppes of Russia into this favored district,
and now returned to their old home. The army
was now ready to attack Kusas, who came on to
meet it. In the first engagement he was defeated
and fled.* Sargon did not pursue at once, but
waited to make sui*e of the land which was now
deserted by the people of Urartu. The land of
Man was entirely covered in marches, that every
sign of disloyalty might be rooted out, and was
then given over to Ullusunu. One more land
must be ravaged before Rasas could be reached
and overcome. This was Muzazir, which Shalma-
neser IV had attacked in 829 B. C, whose prince,
Urzana^ had acknowledged the overlordship of
Rusas. It was a hard mountain march to reach it,
but the city, forsaken by Urzana, was soon taken
when once it was gained.' The southern portion
of Urartu was then invaded. Cities were burned
and dug up and the entire land turned into a howl-
ing wUderness, and robbed of every hope of any
further autonomy. Rasas looked on, perhaps, from
some mountain eyrie and saw the utter collapse of
his fortunes. The kingdom which his fathers had
1 SArgon'a historian (Annals, line 109, Winckler, op. ct/., i, pp. 22, 23) says
of Rosas, '*He mounted a mare and fled into his mountains." Flight
upon a mare's back made him an object of ridicule.
< Annals, lines, 128-188 ; General Inscription, lines 72-76.
166 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
founded, of whom he was no unworthy follower,
was being divided among Assyrian states or added
directly to the provinces of the empire. For him
there was no further hope, and he sought peace
in a self-inflicted deatL'
Rusas left a son who succeeded his father as
king of Urartu, or Chaldia^ as the country was
called by its own people, with the title of Ar-
gistis II. He found only a small kingdom left for
him to rule, about Lake Van and the upper waters
of the Euphrates. Long and sturdily had Urartu
withstood the progress of Assyria in war, while
it, nevertheless, accepted Assyrian civilization and
even adopted the cumbersome Assyrian method of
cuneiform writing. The Chaldians had even formed
an empire and contested the supremacy of west-
em Asia with the Assyrians. In the days of As-
syrian weakness they had grown stronger, until
the menace to Sargon was so great that he had to
plan cautiously and act decisively during a long
series of years for its removal. He had now
stripped them of all their southern and western
possessions and shut up the king amid his moun-
tain fastnesses, from which he would soon venture
out to plunder and raid, but without hope of ever
again mastering so large a portion of western Asia.
Sargon's slowly maturing plans had effectually re-
moved the greatest barrier to his country's career
of conquest, extension, and aggrandizement.
For the next three years Sargon was unable to
* Annals, line 139.
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 167
carry out any great schemes of conquest, because
lie was absorbed in smaller undertakings intended
to complete the pacification of the north and
west. The first of these was in western Media,
where the province which had taken the place of
the old kingdom of Karalla rose in rebellion, and,
having driven out the Assyrian governor, set up
as king Amitasshi, a brother of the old king, As-
shur-li. The new arrangement lasted but a short
time, for Sargon soon ended the rebellion. The
vassal kings, Ullusunu of Man, Dalta of EUipi,
and Ninib-aplu-iddin of Allabra, all sent their
tribute to the triumphant Sargon.
In the northwest, also, Sargon had a very dis-
agreeable task. The land of Tabal had been con-
quered by Tiglathpileser III and the king deposed.
In his place Tiglathpileser set up a man of humble
origin, named KhuUe. Bound by ties of gratitude
or of necessity, Khulle paid his annual tribute
until his death and remained faithful to the As-
syrians, who had made him what he was. Sargon
trusted him as fully as Tiglathpileser, and even
added to his dominion the territory of Bit-Buru-
tash. When he died his son, Ambaridi, or Am-
baris," was confirmed by Sargon as king in his
stead. So completely was he trusted that Khi-
lakki (Cilicia) was farther added to his territory
and Sargon's own daughter was given him to
wife.' In spite of all this he was secretly, and
'In Annals, line 168, he is called Ambaridi, but in line 176 Ambaris.
* General Inscription, line 80.
168 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
later publicly, faithless to Assyria, and joined the
coalition of Kusas and Mita, to whom he gave aid
in their various undertakings against Assyria. His
day of punishment had now arrived. His land
was devastated, colonized, and then made into a
new province of the empire,' and he, with his
followers, was carried off to Assyria.
In the following year (712) a very similar case
occurred in the district of Meliddu. While Sargon
was busily engaged in war Tarkhunazi of Melid-
du conquered Gunzinanu of Kammanu (Ck>mana),
one of Sargon's tributaries, and seized his terri-
tory. This had been done in reliance upon the
help of Urartu. Sargon now overran the land
and destroyed the capital, Melid. Tarkhunazi
for a time defended himself in a fortress, Tul-
garimme, but was taken, and, together with his
troops, deported to Assyria.' His territory was
then divided. Melid was annexed to Kummukh,'
while the rest of the country was repopulated
and formed into a new province.* One more year
was required before this northern territory was
fully reduced to subjection. In 711 there was
an uprising in Gurgum, a small Hittite state.
The king, Tarkhulara, was killed by his own son,
Muttallu, who thus made himself ruler. Saigon
soon appeared with a small body of troops, and
carried off Muttallu with his followers to As-
' Annals, lines 1*76-178.
'Annals, lines 188-187; General Inscription, lines 79-81.
' Annals, lines 194, 196.
^Annals, line 189.
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 169
Syria. His land was likewise made into a
province.
While Sargon was engaged in these petty but
annoying wars with small states Egypt was again
plotting to gain some kind of foothold in Palestine.
Ashdod was now chosen as the starting point for
another effort In this city Sargon had removed
the king, Azuri, for failure to pay tribute, and had
set up his brother, Akhimiti, in his stead. Under
the leadership of a man named Yaman, or Yat-
nani,* who was plainly inspired from Egypt, a
rebellion began in which Akhimiti lost his life.
By some means Philistia, Moab, Edom, and, most
surprising of all, Judah were drawn into this new
opposition to Assyria. Hezekiah was now king of
Judah, and in this fresh union with E^ypt he was
flying in the teeth of the advice and warnings of
Isaiah, his ablest counselor. Sargon felt the im-
portance of this new uprising, and at once hastened
either himself or by deputy, in the person of his
Tartan,' to end the rebellion. Ashdod, Gath, and
Ashdudimmu were easily occupied by the Assyri-
ans. The other states of Palestine seem to have
feared to join in the war when it was on, and
Egypt sent no help. The inhabitants of these
^ The variation Taman, Tatnani, is the same as that found in the name
of the island of Cjprus and the Cypriotes. It is therefore natural to sup-
pose that Yaman here is a race, rather than a personal, name, the leader
being a Greek mercenary from Cyprus (so Winckler, Die KeiUchrt/Uexie
Sargon's 1, xxx, note 2). Winckler has, however, since come to think that
this man was an Arab, a man from Yemen {Mutri Afeluhha^ AfaHn, p. 26,
note 1). The former view Is preferable.
* Isa. xz, 1.
t
170 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
cities were carried away and other captives settled
in their places.* This campaign so thoroughly
stamped out all opposition in the west that it
might for a time safely be left to itself.
If now we look back over Sargon's reign up to
this point, we shall see that his only direct gains
to Assyrian territory had been in the land of Urar-
tu. To Shalmaneser rather than to him belongs
the credit of securing Samaria. Indirectly, how-
ever, his gains had been great. He had greatly
strengthened the Assyrian control from east to
west over a wide circle of country, and had so es-
tablished the outposts of the empire that he might
feel safe from invasion. It must be remembered,
however, that he was even yet governing a territory
much smaller than that which Tiglathpileser HI
and Shalmaneser IV had controlled. Babylonia
was still in the possession of the Chaldeans, and Sar-
gon was bereft of the rarest and most honored title
— ^king of Babylon. But he was not satisfied with
this state of affairs, and had probably planned long
and carefully in order to its complete overthrow.
Now that his borders were safe on the north and
west, and the annual tribute over the great empire
was fairly well assured, the time seemed to have
arrived for his greatest work.
When Sargon, in 721, after the battle of Dur-
ilu, left Merodach-baladan to rule undisturbed in
Babylon he took upon himself a great risk. There
was a grave possibility that the adroit Chaldean
^Annals, lines 215-217 ; General Inscription, 90-110.
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 171
might 80 establish himself in the kingdom that
the Assyrians could never hope to dislodge him
again. But Sargon builded very wisely in this,
for there were more causes for discontent in Baby-
lonia than of satisfaction, and Merodach-baladan
was much more likely to ruin his prospects of a
peaceable reign than to improve them. His status
was peculiar and dangerous. He never could have
conquered Babylon in the sole reliance upon his
own Chaldean forces, but was compelled to utilize
not only Elamite but also Aramaean allies, the lat-
ter being the same half-nomad tribes which had
been a disturbing factor in former times. So long
as he was threatened by Assyrian armies Merodach-
baladan was able to hold together these ill-as-
sorted followers ; self-preservation against a com-
mon enemy who might blot them out one at a time
made them cautious. But as soon as all danger
from Assyria was withdrawn by Sargon's occupa-
tion in other quarters these Elamites and Aramae-
ans began to clamor for a share in the spoil of
Babylonia. They had not ventured all in the
service of Merodach-baladan without a well-
founded hope of participation in the wealth which
the centuries had heaped up. Merodach-baladan
was not to be suffered to wear the title of king of
Babylon while his followers, who had suffered that
he might win it, lay in poverty. It would be im-
possible to satisfy these men with anything short
of a license for free plunder, and this could not be
given without the ruining of the land over which
172 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
he hoped to rule. Beside this Merodach-baladan
could not give ever so little to his Chaldeans and
Elanaites without raising bitter opposition to his
rule among the native Babylonians, and especially
among the priesthood — perhaps the wealthiest
class in the country.
In these opposing wishes there was abundant
material for a flame of civil war which would de-
stroy the ambitions of the new king of Babylon,
and for this Sargon had left the land free. Me-
rodach-baladan probably desired earnestly to
strengthen his position in Babylonia with the
natives by a reign of order and peace, leaving them
in undisturbed possession of their estates. This
was, however, impossible, and he ventured on a
career of plunder. Property holders were re-
moved from Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, and Borsip-
pa into Chaldea^ where they were held in- some
kind of bondage, while their lands and other
wealth were handed over to colonists out of the
number of Merodach-baladan's rapacious and un-
thinking allies.' This policy satisfied neither party
to the compact, and Merodach-baladan found him-
self surrounded on every side by enemies when
he sadly needed friends. The Babylonans were
always a fickle folk at best, and apparently de-
lighted in changes of dynasty. A restless spirit
was ascribed to them, centuries after, in the Mo-
hammedan period, and their histoiy as we have
followed it to this point seems clearly to show that
1 Annals, lines 859-864, Winckler, <>p. cU,^ i, pp. 6S-61.
THE REIGN OF SARGON IL 173
they were of this temper now.* Nevertheless,
they valued highly their ancient institutions and
held in high esteem the honor of their royal titles.
The priesthood must always be a conservative
force in any conmiunity, and the Babylonian priest-
hood in charge of the worship of Marduk, and so
invested with the power of making kings, who
must take hold of the hands of the god, main-
tained with enthusiasm the ancient customs. At
this time they found less of sympathy among the
Chaldeans, Aramaeans and Elamites than among
the Assyrians. Tiglathpileser III had so greatly
valued the priests and the honors which they had
to bestow that he twice visited Babylon in order to
take the hands of the god and be proclaimed king,
and Shalmaneser IV had even more than foUowed
his example. Sargon might well be expected to
have similar ideas and hopes. To him, therefore,
the Babylonian priesthood and all the other
wealthy classes which had lost home or possessions
looked as a possible deliverer irom the barbarous
Chaldeans and Elamites.
Sargon was therefore doubly prepared for an
attack on Merodach-baladan. He had made his
own empire so strong and safe that he might leave
it without fear, and he was certain of a friendly re-
ception from the Babylonians. His plan was first
to conqaer the allies of Merodach-baladan and
then to strike the defenseless Chaldean himself.
An army was sent southward to overcome the
' ITVinckler, Die KeilttJirifUexte 8arg<m\ i, p. xxxiL
174 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Aramseans living along the Elamite and Babylo-
nian borders. These were speedily conquered.
The Gambuli and the Aramaean tribes of RuX
Khindaru, Yatburu, and Puqudu were organized
into a new Assyrian province, with Dur-Nabu,
formeriy known as Dur- Atkhara, one of Merodach-
baladan's fortresses, as capital.' This successful
movement cut off Merodach -baladan from his
former allies in Elam. When the Assyrians
crossed the Euphrates and captured the small
Babylonian state of Bit-Dakkuri, Merodach-bala-
dan did not venture upon a fight, but fled into
Yatburu, whence he could communicate with the
king of Elam. But Shutur-nakhundi,' who now
ruled in Elam in the room of Khumbanigash, was
not eager to help Merodach-baladan, and, though
he prudently accepted the gifts which had been
sent to him, offered no help of any kind.* The
Aramaeans could not help him while an Assyrian
army held them in helpless subjection, and the
Elamites would not. Merodach-baladan was power-
less with his small army to meet Sai-gon's seasoned
veterans. He therefore fled southward into hia
old homeland and fortified himself in Iqbi-Bel,
where he spent the winter, which had now begun.*
The Babylonians, relieved of their oppressor, hailed
Sargon as a deliverer. They organized a religious-
» Annals, lines 264-271 and 271-277.
' So the Assyrians write the name, which in Elnudte ia Shutnik-oak*
hunta.
* Annals, Ihies 289-294.
* Annals, lines 294-296.
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 175
and civil procession which went to Dur-Ladinna
to escort the saviour of the country to Babylon.
Sargon entered the ancient city, and in all things
conducted himself as a legitimate king of Babylon.
He oflfered the required sacrifices ; * he restored the
canal of Borsippa, which had fallen down ; ' and by
these two acts satisfied the priesthood and helped
the country's commerce.
Sargon was now able to have himself proclaimed
king of Babylon, and might take the god's hands
and fulfill the required ceremonies on New Year's
Day of the year 709. If he did this, however, he
would have to repeat it year by year, and that
might be in the highest degree inconvenient, if
not impossible. He could not hold the priesthood
faithful to himself if he did not perform the an-
nual ceremonies, and though he could doubtlass
compel their obedience without winning their
hearts it would be dangerous and inexpedient.
He was too wise to transfer the capital of his
reunited empire to Babylon, and he therefore
adopted an expedient which satisfied both parties
— the Assyrians and the Babylonians. He adopted
the title of " shdkkanah " — that is, governor, or vice-
roy — ^instead of king of Babylon, and for this he
would not be compelled to renew the ceremony
year by year. In the month of Nisan, at the great
feast of Bel, he took the hands of Bel and Nabu
and was proclaimed shahkandk of Babylon. In all
1 Annals, lines 299-300.
* Annals, lines 302-304.
176 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
respects he had as much power and influence as
though he were called king.'
In the next month Sargon began his campaign
against Merodach-baladan. The unfortunate Chal-
dean had withdrawn in the early spring or late
winter from Iqbi-Bel to his old city of Bit-Yakin,
where he employed his time in the preparation of
extensive fortifications against Sargon, whose inva-
sion he must have been continaally expecting. He
opened a canal from the Euphrates and filled the
country about the city with water, breaking down
all the bridges, so that no approach to the city
was possible. Sargon found a way to overcome
this difficulty, though he does not enlighten us as
to his method. The city, once attacked, soon fell,
and Merodach-baladan, who had been wounded in
the first assault, made good his escape to Elam.
An army from the Puqudu and the Sut6, who were
coming to help Merodach-baladan, was then over-
come and the city of Bit-Yakin first plundered and
then destroyed.* In the city Sargon found the rich
men of Babylonia who had been deprived of their
property in order that Merodach-baladan might
reward the men who had made him king. They
were sent back to their homes and their properly
restored. Furthermore, the priesthood received a
rich reward for their share in Sargon's triumphs
by the return of gods whom Merodach-baladan
had taken away and the restoration of the elabo-
> Winckler, Geschichte, p. 12Y.
' Annals, lines 847-359.
THE REIGN OF SARGON IL 177
rate temple worship in Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Larsa,
and other places of less moment, while the tithes
to the temples were newly revised and imposed
upon the people. The land of Bit-Yakin was
placed beyond any opportunities, it would seem,
for further rebellion, by the deportation of a por-
tion of its inhabitants to Kammukh, from which
'Came captives to take their place. The land was
then turned into an Assyrian province to be gov-
erned from Babylon and Gambuli.» Awed by
such proceedings, King Uperi, of the island of Dil-
mun, in the Persian Gulf, sent gifts.
By this campaign, as much by the peaceful
operations which attended it as by the success of
arms, Babylonia was completely pacified, and was
now ruled easily by the Assyrians for several
years. Sargon had completely restored the old
order of things against great odds, and with ex-
treme difficulty.
While Sargon was engaged thus in Babylonia
his representatives were hardly less successful
elsewhere. In the far west the governor of the
Assyrian province of Que, imitating his royal mas-
ter, Sargon, invaded the kingdom of Mushke. The
people of Mushke were among the traditional
enemies of Assyria. They had been opposed to
Tiglathpileser I, and they had a large share in stir-
ring up opposition in Syria to later Assyrian
kings. For a long time the Assyrians had not suf-
fered any interference at their hands. Their do-
■ Annals, lines 366, 867, 869.
12
178 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
minions were bounded now on the south and east
by the Taurus and Anti-Taurus, and their ruler
was Mita. The Assyrian governor met with such
success in conquest and plunder that Mita was
forced to send an embassy to Sargon, who was
then on the borders of Elam, to sue for peace.' At
the same time Sargon received gifts from seven
kings of Cyprus, though what they may have
feared does not appear.* Years after (708 B, C.)
Sargon acknowledged their gifts with a present of
a black marble stele engraved with his portrait
At this same period also there was a new spasm
of vigor in the almost defunct empire of Urartu.
Argistis was now king over what remained of the
once powerful empire, and determined to make
an effort to regain some of the lost possessions.
He induced Muttallu, prince of Kummukh, to
join in a confederation. Before anything could
be accomplished the news was brought that Bit-
Yakin had fallen and an Assyrian army was
already on its way to the north. Muttallu was so
discomfited by this news that he sought safety in
flight. His family and all his treasures fell into
the hands of the Assyrians, and his land was
henceforth organized and administered as a prov-
ince. This fall of Kummukh happened at just
the right time to enable the interchange of inhabit-
ants with Bit-Yakin, which was mentioned above.*
» Annals, lines 37 1-378 ; General Inscription, lines 160-158.
> Annals, lines 383-888 ; General Inscription, lines 145, 146 ; Stele, od. il
'Annals, lines 392-401; General Inscription, lines 118-117. Seepage
176, above.
THE REIGN OF SARGON H. 179
In 708 we reach the last campaign of which
Sai^n has left his own account. Dalta, prince
of EUipi, who had acknowledged the supremacy
of Assyria, was dead, and there was a strife about
the succession between his sons, Nibe and Ispa-
bara. The former appealed to Elam for help,
which he received, and by which he was able to
drive out Ishpabara. The latter then, on his
part) appealed to Sargon, who was the lawful over-
lord of the country. Sargon at once responded
by sending an army which conquered Nibe and
his Elamite allies, captured his capital city,
Marubishti, and took him prisoner to Assyria.
The land was then set once more in order, with
Ishpabara as king.'
After this year all knowledge of Sargon's reign
is lost to us. It is altogether improbable that he
undertook any more great campaigns, but rather
devoted himself afterward to such efforts to quell
incipient rebellion as filled the last year which we
have just described. He had indeed reached to
the full the warlike ambitions of his life. He had
reunited Babylonia to the empire and brought
it into complete subjection, so that it was as easily
ruled as Assyria itself He had ended the Hittite
empire, a great plague spot in his predecessor's
maps. He had crushed the empire of Urartu, or
Ghaldia, and so rendered safe his own northern
border. He had brought into safe subjection all
» Annalfl, lines 402-413, Winckler, op. cU., i, pp. 68-71 ; General Inscrip.
tioii, lines 117, 121, ibid,, pp. 118-121.
180 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the troublesome Syrian states. There were in-
deed no other undertakings which he might rea-
sonably hope to accomplish which it would be
wise to begin.
The works of peace in Saigon's reign were as
briliant as his campaigns had been. He was not
content merely with the repairing of palaces and
temples, or even with their rebuilding, as were
most of the Assyrian kings who were before him.
He undertook the colossal task of founding a new
city which should bear his own name, Dur-Shar-
rukin(Sargon's-burg). Here he erected a vast palace,
which must have occupied years in the building.
Its walls were covered on the inside with magnifi-
cent inscriptions recounting the great deeds of his
reign. These were so admirable in their execution
as to give us a strong impression of the artistic
skill of the age which Sargon had made a con-
quering age. In 707 the palace was finished and
the city ready for the entrance of the gods who
were to transform it from a vast and beautiful
pile of bricks into a real place of residence. Up
to this time the king had resided in Calah. In 706
he entered his new city, but his enjoyment of its
magnificence was very brief. A broken fragment
of an Eponym List gives us some hints of events
in the days immediately preceding his death, but
they are too badly preserved to allow us to be in
any way clear as to their meaning.* Sargon died
> n R. 69, d.
THE REIGN OF SARGON 11. 181
in the year 705, but whether by the hand of an
assassin or by natural death remains uncertain.'
In the magnificence of his building operations
he probably excelled all the kings who preceded
hinL Certainly no ruins of a former age yet found
approach the magnificence of the great palaces
which he built in the city which bore his name.
In all other works he is naturally brought into
comparison and contrast with Tiglathpileser III.
Like him, he was great in the planning and or-
ganization of great campaigns, and probably ex-
celled in the patience and slow moving on the
outworks and allies of an enemy's country before
making the final attack. He was also greater in
the successful carrying out of great battles and
sieges. For there is nothing in the campaigns of
Tiglathpileser which equals the taking of Bit-
Yakin. As an administrator over the destinies of
diverse peoples he is in eveiy way worthy of his
predecessor. In the carrying out of the plan of
colonization and deportation he far exceeded the
limits which marked the labors of Tiglathpileser.
But it must be said that in originality of idea and
of plan he was far behind Tiglathpileser. It was
he and not Sargon who invented this method of
dealing with turbulent populations. Sargon was
only building on the foundations laid by another,
and it is easy to show in many cases that he is
the imitator and not the originator. Nevertheless,
there should be no minishing of his fame as a
> n R. 69, d. 10. See Winckler, KeiUchri/Uexte 8arg<m\ i, p. xly.
t
182 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
conqueror and king. If Tiglathpileser had planned
the empu-e, now become the greatest power in the
world, it was Sargon who had built much of it
and rebuilt nearly all the rest. Again had a
usurper surpassed the greatest deeds of a Inti-
mate king, and made his name inmiortal in his
country's annals.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 183
CHAPTER VIIL
THE BEIGN OF SENNACHERIB.
In the same month in which Sargon died, and
on the twelfth day of the month (Ab), Sennacherib '
(704-682) ascended the throne. He was the son
of Sargon, who had so well governed his land and
so thoroughly settled his power and control over
it that no attempt was made to disturb the order
of succession from father to son. But, though he
succeeded to the inheritance of the great empire
without trouble, there were tremendous difficulties
to be settled at once.
The priesthood of Babylonia and in general the
Babylonian people were waiting to see what posi-
tion he would take up with reference to the proud
* The principal authorities for the reign of Sennacherib are : (a) The
Taylor Prism (usually called Cylinder), published I R. i, 87-42, and also
Abel-Winckler, Keilschri/tiexiey pp. 17-21. It has been translated into
German by Homing, Das Sechueitige Prisma des Sanherib in transscribir-
tem Grundtext und (Tebersetzunffy and by Bezold, Keilinschrift. Bibl.^ ii, pp.
80, ff., and into English by Rogers, Record* of the Past, New Series, yi, pp.
88-101. (b) The Bellino Cylinder, British Museum, K. 1680, a kind of
dnplicate of the former, published by Layard, Inscriptions in the Cunei-
form Charaeeer, plates 63, 64. Portions of it are translated into German
by Bezold (see above) and into English by Fox Talbot, Records of the Past^
First Series, i, pp. 23-32. (c) The Bavian Stele, published III R. 14, trans-
lated into French by Pognon, D Inscription de Bavian^ Texte, traduction et
commentaire phiUAogique, Paris, 1879-80, and into English by Pinches,
Ree(yrds of the Past, First Series, ix, pp. 21-28. (d) The Neby Yunus In-
scription, published I R. 48, and partially translated by Bezold, KeUin*
sehrift. BibL, ii, pp. 118, 119.
184 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
and ancient people who felt themselves to be the
better, even though they were the weaker, portion
of the empire. Had Sennacherib gone at once to
Babylonia and taken the hands of the god,
he might have been proclaimed ehakkanak of
Babylon, as Sargon had been, and it is altogether
probable that he would have had no important
difficulties with Babylonia He saw clearly, how-
ever, the dangers of a dual capital and the impossibil-
ity of mutually pleasing two great peoples so diverse
in all their ideas and aims. So long as Baby-
lonia remained a great city, and its citizens nour-
ished their national life and kept burning their
national pride, there would always be arising op-
portunities for vexation against Assyria, and there-
fore possibilities for some shrewd Babylonian or
Chaldean to gain leadership over the popular
clamor and seize the throne. The maintenance of
a dual kingdom was essentially an anomaly. If
colonization and deportation accomplished so much
in the north and the west for continuity and peace,
why should just the opposite plan be continued in
Babylonia ? Tiglathpileser, Shalmaneser, and Sar-
gon had done nothing to diminish the national feel-
ing in Babylonia, but rather had contributed fuel
to the flame. Tiglathpileser's visits to Babylon in
order that he might be proclaimed king had fos-
tered Babylonian pride, in that they made the As-
syrian king a suitor for honors at the hands of
the priesthood, though he had in reality won his
triumph by force of arms. Shalmaneser had done
THE RETGN OF SENNACHERIB. 185
exactly the same thing. Sargon had done even
worse, for he had accepted the lesser title of sTiah'
hanak in order that he might be delivered from
the onerous annual visit to Babylon and be free to
come and go as he pleased. Sennacherib would
do none of these things. He was a loyal Assyrian
and no Babylonian, and was determined to break
with all this past history, in which his own coun-
try had the power, but gave up its semblance and
its show. He would possess that also, and show
the world that Assyria was not merely the head
of the empire, but its absolute master. He would,
in other words, treat Babylonia as a subject state
and pay no attention to its royal ideas, its kingly
titles, and its priestly authorities. It is possible
tharin this decision jealousy was mixed up with
ambition. Sennacherib coald not have looked the
empire over without learning that Assyria was
still a raw and uncouth country, leaning upon
Babylonia for every sign of culture. Perhaps he
felt that this position of Babylon itself might make
it some day the capital of the entire empire, while
Assyria lost its leadership altogether. His policy
must prevent any such possibility as that.
Sennacherib must have formed his plans and
matured his policy even before his father was
dead, for it seems to come into play at once. The
first sign of it was purely negative, but it was
carefully noted in Babylonia, and the record of
the divergent views has come down to us. Sen-
nacherib did not go to Babylon to be crowned or
186 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
proclaimed king or ehakkano^. As we now see the
case from the vantage point of later history this
was a fatal blunder. The empire divided m
opinion at once. The so-called Babylonian Chron-
icle, resting on official sources, sets down for 704
and 703 Sennacherib as king of Babylon. That
is to say, Sennacherib, without the carrying out
of the usual rites, without the ordinary conces-
sions to the time-honored regulations of the priest-
hood, without any salve for Babylonian pride,
called himself king of Babylon, and the state
record, compiled by authority, sets him down as
king. But the Ptolemaic Canon, which clearly
goes back to Babylonian sources, marks the years
704 and 703 as ^^Jcinglessr^ This was the real
Babylonian opinion. This man Sennacherib might
collect his taxes and tributes because he had
the armed forces wherewith to enforce his de-
mands, but he could not force the hearts of the
people to acknowledge him as the genuine, the
legitimate, king. In this, the first stroke of a
new and revolutionary policy, Sennacherib had
made provision for a disturbance which should
vex his life, if, indeed, it did not disrupt lus
kingdom — such force have ancient custom and
solemn religious rites.
This state of affairs could not continue long—
an Assyrian king claiming to be king in Babylon
while the Babylonians denied that he was king at
all. A rebellion broke out in Babylonia, and a
' See above, vol. i, p. 884.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 187
man of humble origin, called in the King list ' son
of a slave, by name Marduk-zakii*-shumu, was pro-
claimed king. Here was again a disturbance
brought on by foUy, and likely to grow woi'se be-
fore it was better. In this condition of affairs the
ever-watchful and certainly able Merodach-baladan
saw his opportunity. Marduk-zakir-shumu had
reigned one month when the Chaldean appeared,
and was able to have himself again set up as king
(702). He now set out to bring about a condition
of affairs which would compel Sennacherib to
leave him alone in the enjoyment of the old honor
and position. It was Sargon who had so long
left him in peace, while he was occupied in paci-
fying the west. If he could now disturb the west
again and divert from himself Sennacherib and his
armies, he might again be permitted to rule long
enough to fix himself firmly in his position. This
time he might hope to have less difficulty in sat-
isfying his Elamite and Chaldean followers. The
plan was adroit, and promised well. The Book of
Kings' narrates that Merodach-baladan sent an
> See Finches, " The Babylonian Kings of the Second Period,** Proceed-
nigt of the Society of Bibticcd Archaology, vi, col. iv, line 18.
* 2 Kings zx, 12-19. There has been some doubt as to the time when
this embassy was sent. It has been assigned to the first reign of Mero-
dach-baladan under Sargon (so Lenormant, Hommel, Oeschichte, p. 704 ;
WincUer, Die EeiUchrifttexte SargorCs^ i, p. xxxi, note 2), and also to his
leoond reign (so Schrader, Cuneifortn Jnscriptiona and the Old Testament^
% 28, 29 ; K Meyer, Oeschichte des Alierthums, i, p. 466 ; Winckler,
OuchiehU^ p. 129; MQrdter-Delitzsch, Gesehichte, 2d ed., p. 197; Mas-
pero, 7%e Pauing of the Empires^ p. 276. The latter view seems to me
to fit the Assyrian situation better.
188 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
embassy to Hezekiali to congratulate him on hh
recovery from a severe illness. Hezekiali showed
his visitors the royal treasures and arsenals, doubt-
less greatly impressing them with the wealth
and strength of Judah. There is no hint of any
ulterior purpose in the mind of Merodach-bala-
dan, but the result shows pretty clearly that this
embassy was really intended to sow seeds of rebel-
lion. It is most probable that he also sought to
draw Egypt into some rebellious compact, for
Sennacherib later had also to fight that coimtry.
The plan to divert Sennacherib to the west failed
because the state of affaira in the kingdom
was very diflferent from that which had obtained
in the days of Sargon. Sargon was a usurper,
and had to make sure of his borders and estab-
lish himself upon the throne. On the other hand,
Sennacherib inherited a kingdom which accept-
ed his rule without a murmur, and was there-
fore better able to look after Merodach^baladan at
once. He made no false step in the quelling of
this rebellion, though his own folly had been the
real cause of it. He determined to leave the
Palestinian states to their own pleasure and strike
at the root of the disaffection in Babylonia.
Sennacherib crossed the Tigris and marched in
the direction of Babylon, meeting with little op-
position until he reached Kish, about nine miles
east of Babylon, where Merodach-baladan had de-
ployed his forces. Here was fought the first battle,
and Merodach-baladan was completely routed and
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 189
forced to seek safety in flight.' The city of Baby-
lon was not prepared for a siege, and Sennacherib
entered it without difficulty. The palace of Me-
rodach-baladan was plundered of everything val-
uable, but apparently Sennacherib did not disturb
the possessions of the native Babylonians. He
then inarched into Chaldea, ransacking the whole
country. In one of his records of this campaign
Sennacherib declares that he destroyed eighty-nine
cities and eight hundred and twenty villages ; * in
another he gives seventy-six cities and four hun-
dred and twenty villages." Whatever the correct
figures may be there can be no doubt that the
land was fearfully punished. Merodach-baladan,
who had hidden himself in Guzuman, was not
captured. When this was done Sennacherib set
about the governmental reorganization of the coun-
try. He had with him a young man named Bel-
ibni, a Babylonian by birth, but reared in the
royal palace of Assyria. Him Sennacherib made
king in this year (702), after Merodach-baladan
had reigned but nine months.* When Sennacherib
was ready to return to Assyria he carried back
immense booty with him, and besides the horses
and asses and camels and sheep he took away two
hundred and eight thousand people.* This exten-
> Taylor Prism, col. i, lines 19-23, Rogers, Records of the Past^ New
Series, vi, p. 84.
* K. 1644. See Bezold, KeUintehrift. Bihl, ii, p. 84.
* Taylor Prism, i, lines 84, 86.
* Alexander Polyhistor says six months.
* The Taylor Cylinder, Annals of Sennacherib, 1, 19-62 (I R. 87). Gomp.
transUtion by Rogers, Records of the Past, New Series, vi, pp. 88, ff.
190 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYBIA
sive deportation mnst have been made, acco
to the policy of Tiglathpileser, to achieve ]
and prevent farther rebellion. How well
this heroic treatment succeeded with a high-si
people like the Babylonians only later histor
show.
After the end of the Babylonian cam]
Sennacherib marched into the territory oi
Kasshn and Yasubigallu, who lived in the Mi
monntains east of Babylonia. They were a .
barbaric people, and the campaign must have
undertaken merely to make the Assyrian b<
country safe from their plundering rfuds. Tl
vasion was successful in reducing the country
captives of war were settled in it, while thi
madic inhabitants were forced to settle dow
the cities. In this country some of the Ba
nians whom Sennacherib had carried off may
found their home. Thence into EUipi Senn;
rib continued his march. Ishpabara, whom
gon had made king, had not paid his tri
regularly, and must now be punished. Fet
the consequences of his faithlessness, lahpa
fled, and Sennacherib easily captured the ca]
Marubishti, with the villages in its environs,
part of the country was colonized and then
nexed to the province of Kharkbar, as EUipi
been to that of Arrapkha. After the withdr
of the Assyrians, Ishpabara appears to hav
I some of his lost territory.'
■ Taylor Prism, i, S3 to iJ, 33, Roger^ op. eit., vi, pp. 86-88.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 191
In vol Sennacherib was forced to invade the
west. He gives ns no new reasons for this in-
vasion, but the occasion for it is easily read be-
tween the lines of his records, and deduced from
the biblical narrative. When rebellions were afoot
in Babylonia, and for a time at least were success-
ful, when Egypt was eager to regain lost prestige
in a land where she had once been all-powerful,
when an embassy from the indefatigable Mero-
dach-baladan had come all the way from Babylonia
to win sympathy and the help of a diversion in
the west, it was hardly possible that these small
states should remain quiet and pay their annual
tribute without a murmur. We do not know how
much inclined Hezekiah of Judah may have been
to join in an open rebellion at this time. He had,
however, taken up a position which would make it
easy for him to do so; and the war party with
its national enthusiasm and unthinking patriotism
was strong at his court. This policy was bitterly
opposed by Isaiah, the leader of the cautious-
minded men, who saw only disaster in any breach
with Assyria at this time. Isaiah was no lover of
Assyria, but he saw clearly how weak and poor
was the help which the land might hope for from
the outside. The Syrian states had suffered much
from their former reliance on Egypt, and there
was certainly no reason to hope that matters
would be any better now. The wisest counsel
was undoubtedly that of Isaiah. But, even though
Hezekiah was willing to take it, which he certainly
192 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
was not, it would have been almost impossible for
him to do so. The whole land was aflame with
patriotism, and woe betide the man, aven a king,
who dared to oppose it.
Indeed the king had himself done much to fos-
ter not only this very spirit, now become danger-
ous, but also to quicken a consciousness of security
which could not fail to collapse in the presence
of such armies as Assyria was able to put into
the field. HezeMah had been victorious over
the Philistines,* and that probably very early
in his reign; why should he not also conquer
the Assyrians? would be the simple reasoning
of those who had not directly experienced the
Assyrian advance in war. He had built an
aqueduct by which an abundant supply of flow-
ing water was brought within the city walls.
What that meant for the city is almost incalcu-
lable by occidentals. Jerusalem had never had flow-
ing water before within its walls. It could there-
fore easily be taken by a siege in the dry season.
HezeMah had supplied this primary need, and by
so doing had immeasurably added to the defensi-
bility of the city. There is no doubt that this
was a war measure, and that it would be so under-
stood and interpreted by the people is even more
clear.* How easy was the task of the anti- Assyr-
ian party with such arguments as these — victory
over the Philistines, and a new aqueduct — ^to
* 2 Kings zviii, 8.
s 2 Kings XX, 20. Comp. 2 Chron. xxxii, 6.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 193
break down the opposition led by Isaiah and sup-
ported by his unpopular associates. All that
Isaiah actually accomplished was the postpone-
ment of the breach with Assyria ; without him it
would inevitably have come sooner.
As in Judah, so also in Egypt was the way
preparing for an uprising in Syria. An Ethiopian
dynasty was now ruling, nominally at least, over
the whole land of Egypt. But there is evidence
enough to show that the Ethiopian king could
hardly claim to be absolute master of the destinies
of the Nile valley. Sennacherib in his narrative
of the later campaign refers not to the king of
Egypt, but to the kings of Egypt, and his suc-
cessors upon the Assyrian throne supply us with
lists of the names of kings over districts of Egypt.
All these district kings were striving for more
power, and the Ethiopian overlord must gain
ascendency over them all before he could dispose,
as he would, of Egypt's greatness. He could
readily see that a movement outside of Egypt,
against external foes, would be certain, if success-
ful, to increase his prestige at home. The same
hopes would be in the minds of the district kings.
A policy like this pursued by a district king,
such, for example, as Sibe, might make him, in-
stead of the Ethiopian overlord, the real king of
Egypt. If one of these kings was seeking a place
in which to gain advantage by interference, there
was none more promising than Syria. Even a
slight hope of regaining it would readily unite all
13
194 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
parties in JE^ypt, and he would be sure of his
throne. He would thus be glad to encourage any
patriotic party in Syria to appeal to him for help,
hoping, when the accounts were reckoned up, to
be able to turn to his own advantage whatever
help he might give to the rebels against Assyria.
Gladly would he listen to an appeal for help from
Judah. And in spite of Isaiah the appeal was
sent. An embassy from Hezekiah, naturally laden
with presents, went to Egypt ' and the Egyptians
promised assistance. More and more the patriotic
party in Judah gained the ascendency. The coun-
try was ready for a daring stroke against Ass}Tia.
Hezekiah became the moving spirit of a rebellion
which swept over all the Syrian states.*
The rebellion broke first in Ekron. Here the
Assyrian had set up a governor who remained
faithful to his masters beyond the Euphrates, to
the bitter end. The uprising in his city was gen-
eral if not universal. " The governors, chiefs, and
' See Isa. xxx, 1-4, and xxxi, 1.
' Our authorities for Sennacherib's campaign in the west are the follow-
ing : 1. Assyrian, (a) I R 7, No. yiii, I. Rogers, Records of the Paet^ New
Series, vi, p. 83. Sennacherib's bas-relief, representing his victory at
Lachish. (b) The Taylor Prism, col. ii, line S4-coI. iii, line 41. Rogers,
op. ct/., pp. 88-91. 2. Hebrew, (a) 2 Kings xviii, IS-xix, 87. (b) Isa.
zxxvi, 1-xxxvii, 37. The passage in Isaiah is the same as that in Kings,
with the single great exception that it does not contain 2 Kings xviii, 14-
16 — a positive proof that this passage is not original in its present setting.
Stade has shown (Zeitschrift fur die eUttestamentliche WiseentcJiaft^ 1886,
pp. 172, ff.) that it consists of three narratives, the first of which is 2 Kings
xviii, 13, 17-87, xix, l-9a ; the second, 2 Kings xviii, 14-16 ; and the third,
2 Kings xix, 9b-87. (See also Benzinger and Kittel on the passage.) This
analysis is now generally accepted.
THE KEIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 195
people of Ekron,^ as Sennacherib says/ cast Padi
into iron chains and then delivered him up to
Hezekiah * to be shut up in prison. This act in
itself — and our knowledge of it comes at first-
hand from Sennacherib's own historiographers, and
not from the Hebrews — shows that Hezekiah was
regarded as the real head of the insun'ection.
Sennacherib could not brook such an insult as this
to a prince whom the Assyrians had set up, for
nothing of Assyrian prestige could be saved if this
were allowed to go unpunished. He resolved to
proceed at once in person at the head of his armies
and strike suddenly before the forces of all Syria
could unite. His first point of attack was the
Phoenician cities. Sennacherib says nothing about
a siege of Tyre at this time, for he was certainly
not prepared to attack a city which could only be
reached successfully by the sea. He was, how-
ever, able to ravage its tributary cities on the
mainland, and so affect it indirectly. Having
thus injured the city's commerce and frightened
its defenders, Sennacherib turned against Sidon.
Elulaeus (Luli), who was now king, dared not await
the conqueror's approach, and fled. The city sur-
rendered at once, and Sennacherib made it the
capital of a new province. Tyre had been engaged
in setting up a new confederation of which it
should be the head. Sennacherib could now f ore-
' Taylor Prism, ii, 69, Rogers, op. eit.y vi, p. 89.
^ Hezekiah, having conquered Philistia, was now regarded as a sort of
overlord, and hence was asked to receive Padl.
196 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
stall this by setting up Ethobal as king in Sidon
and giving him Sidon, Bit-Zitti, Sarepta (Sariptu),
Machalliba, Ushu, Ekdippa (Akzibu), and Akko
(now Acre) as his kingdom.
The very presence of the Assyrian monarch,
engaged in his work of making and unmaking
kingdoms, filled all Syria with terror. States
which had been ready enough to rebel against
Assyrian tribute were now ready to surrender
without the faintest attempt at a fight. Among
these who had more discretion than valor were
Menahem (Minchimmu) of Samsimuruna, the lo-
cation of which is unknown ; * Abdili'ti of Arvad,
Urumilki of Byblos," Mitinti of Ashdod, Budu-
ilu of Beth-Ammon, Kammusu-nadab of Moab,
and Malik-rammu of Edom.' All these brought
heavy and costly presents, and so assured Sen-
nacherib of their desire to live peaceably and
pay well their tribute. This formidable defection
from the ranks of the rebels greatly reduced their
chances for success, for it left large spaces of ter-
ritory from which neither supplies nor men could
be drawn. Sennacherib, however, had not yet
terrorized all Syria, and there were some who
boldly held on their course and prepared for de-
fense. Of these states Ashkelon first demanded
severe treatment from Sennacherib. Tiglathpileser
had set up Rukipti as king over the people of Ash-
* It is certainly not Samaria, as was once thought by Talbot, Norris, and
George Smith.
* Gfu-ub-ta-ai, that is, ** of Gebal/* the ancient name of Byblos.
•Taylor Prism, ii, 84-6Y, Rogers, op. cU.y vi, pp. 88, 89.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 197
kelon, but his son, Sharru-ludari, had been driven
out and a usurper named Zidqa was now ruling in
the city. His only hope of a continuance in power
was in successful resistance to Sennacherib. The
city was, however, soon taken, and Zidqa with all
his family was carried off to Assyria, and Sharru-
ludari set up as king. It is somewhat surprising
that this conquest did not bring about more deser-
tions from the rebels, but the remainder held fast
and had to be reduced piecemeal. Even the other
cities which formed pajt of the little kingdom of
Ashkelon had to be taken one at a time ; so fell
Beth-Dagon, Joppa, Benebarqa,' and Azuru.
The campaign was now swiftly approaching
Ekron, and Sennacherib is probably reporting
only the actual fact when he says that the people
of Ekron feared in their hearts.* Before he had
his reckoning with them he must first meet a for-
midable foe. Unlike former kings of Egypt, or
of its separate districts, the present rulera were de-
termined to send some help to the newly gained
allies in Palestine, or Syria. They might well do so,
for it was not merely the possession of Syria which
was now in the balance, but even the autonomy
of E^ypt itself. No man could possibly tell when
the Assyrians would invade the land of the Pha-
raohs if Syria were wholly theirs, and hence a
safe base of operations and supplies. As we have
said before, there is every good reason for believ-
' Beni-berak, Joeh. xix, 45.
* Taylor Prism, u, 78.
198 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
ing that this had long ago been contemplated in
Assyria. The forces of the Egyptians, advancing
northward, united with a contingent from Melukh-
kha, probably not very large, and then proceeded
onward, intending doubtless a junction with the
troops of Hezekiah. Before this could be effected
Sennacherib halted the advance at Altaku* and
offered battle. It was a battle of giants, and,
though Sennacherib boasts of the usu^d victory, it
must have been achieved with great loss. That
the victory in a measure ^as his there can be no
doubt He captured the son of an Egyptian king
and the son of a general of Melukhkha. The cit-
ies of Eltekeh and Timnath were then taken, and
the road was opened to Ekron. Eki-on could
offer no effectual resistance, and the city was terri-
bly punished The chief men who had driven
Padi from the throne were impaled on stakes
about the city, while their unhappy followers
were deported. The Assyrian party in the city
was, on the other hand, peacefully treated.* It
was a horrible object lesson to those who looked
on. Padi, who was stiU in the hands of Hezekiah,
was later restored to the command of the city.
At first thought it seems remarkable that Sen-
nacherib did not follow up this victory over the
Egyptians, Their allies in Palestine were defeated ;
their detachments from Arabia were routed ; they
> Eltekeh, Josh, xix, 44. The exact location is doubtful. See 0. A.
Smith, Hist, Oeog. of Holy Land, p. 286.
«Taylor Priam, iii, 1-7.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 199
themselves were in full flight. Mnch indeed might
have been gained by a decisive castigation of
troublesome Egypt. But Sennacherib's chief
enemy in all this campaign was Hezekiah, and
Jerusalem his real goal.' Until the Judaean king
was ruined and Jerusalem devastated, as Ekron
had been, the object of the campaign would not
be fulfilled.
Into Jerusalem came the news of the Egyptian
defeat at Eltekeh and of the overwhelming of
Ekron, and still Hezekiah did not offer to surren-
der. Up from the plains of Philistia came the
victorious Assyrian army, and one by one the
fortified cities of Judah fell before it until forty-
six had been taken. Their inhabitants were
now reckoned as Assyrian subjects, and according
to the historians of Sennacherib they numbered
two hundred thousand one hundred and fifty.*
These cities were then divided between Mitinti,
king of Ashdod, Padi, king of Ekron, and Zil-Bal,
I ** Aber wenn nun . . . Schrader behauptet, die Bedrohung Jerusalems
bedeute nar eine nebensachliche Episode im Verlaufe des ganzen Heer-
zuges, so glaube ich, dass ganz abgesehen von den biblischen Erzahlungen
man doch zu dem Urtheil wird kommen miissen, der Zug gegen Jerusalem
«ei Endziel und Schluss des Ganzen. Denn die so ganz besonders starke
Bestrafung Hizkias, die Verwustung yon 46 Stadten, Abtrennung grosser
Gebietsteile, die Aufzahlung der sehr grossen Beute, welcbe uns hier in
langer Reihe Torgefiihrt wird, fiihren zu dem Schluss, dass Sanherib den
Hizkia als besonders gefabrlichen Gegner angesehen und bestraft hat.** —
Meinhold, Die JesajaenaMungen^ Gottingen, 1898, p, 96.
'Taylor Prism, col. iii, line 17. These inhabitants were not carried
away into captivity. They were marched out {uahna) from their cities
and compelled to give allegiance to Assyria. The usual Ass3rrian expres-
sion (athlut) for taking away into captivity is not used here. See Meyer,
Die EfUsUhung des JuderUhume^ Halle, 1896, pp. 108, 109.
200 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
king of Gaza — ^a serious loss of territory to Heze-
kiah. Thoroughly convinced now that further
resistance would mean utter destruction, Heze-
kiah determined to submit and secure such terms
as he could. He sent an embassy to Sennacherib,
whose headquarters were established at Laehish
in the Shephela. Sennacherib demanded a trib-
ute of thirty talents of gold and eight hundred of
silver, as the Assyrian accounts represent,' or three
hundi'ed talents of silver, as the Hebrew narrative '
recounts. The securing of such a sum was a griev-
ous task, and it was only accomplished by strip-
ping the temple of ornaments and furnishing.
The humiliation of Hezekiah was as complete as
his impoverishment. It was also probably at this
time that Padi, king of Ekron, was delivered up
by Hezekiah, and thereupon resettled in the rule
over his city.' When Sennacherib had secured
the gifts he did not rest satisfied, but, feeling
sure that he could not be resisted, demanded the
surrender of Jerusalem. A part of his army,
under the command of a Rabshakeh, a general offi-
> Taylor Prism, iii, 84, Rogers, op, eit,^ p. 91.
' 2 Kings xviii, 14. Brandis {Miimweienf p. 98) has attempted to show
that the three hundred Hebrew talents •» eight hundred Assyriani and
this is now generally accepted.
* The surrender of Padi to the Assyrians is mentioned in Sennacherib's
Annals (Taylor Prism, iii, 8-10) before the treaty with Hezekiah. The
reason for this is that Sennacherib is there telling of the punishment of
Elcron, and goes on to show how it was to be governed in the future. The
narrative does not follow strict chronological order, but this episode is
rounded out and then the chronological scheme is again resumed. This is
the usual form in Assyrian narrative. See Winckler, AlUeatamentliche
UrUertuehungefij p. 81.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 201
cer of some kind, is sent, with a detachment of
troops as escort, to express his determination.
This brought aboat a panic in the populace,
and the king himself was in a frenzy of fear.
Years later Sennacherib might well say of Heze-
kiah : " I shut him up like a caged bird in Jerusa-
lem, his royal city." ' The city was not besieged,
but was blockaded, so that all hope of succor
from outside was cut off." Within the walls, amid
all the confusion and fear, preparations for a last
defense went on vigorously.' Without them, at the
" conduit of the upper pool, which is in the high-
way of the fuller's field," * negotiations were car-
ried on between the Rabshakeh on the one side,
and on the other Eliakim, palace governor; Shebna,
state recorder ; and Joah, chancellor.
Though both threatened and cajoled, Hezekiah
refused to give up the city, and the Rabshakeh
withdrew his force and joined the main body at
1 Taylor Prism, col. iii, line 20.
' The statement of Sennacherib's Annals (col. Ui, lines 21, 22) does not
properij bear the construction that he had laid siege to the city in a formal
manner. His phrase is: ** Intrenchments I fortified against him, (and)
whosoever came out of the gates of the city I turned back." This is not
the expression used elsewhere for a real investment of the city. It was a
blockade, and the implication is that the forces of the Rabshakeh were
encamped around the city, but at a distance, which also is supported by
the place at which negotiations were carried on, for this must have been
between the two forces and not within the Assyrian lines. Cknnp. 2 Kings
xix, 82 : ** Therefore thus sidth the Lord concerning the king of Assyria,
He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall
he come before it with shield, nor cast a mount against it** See on the
passage Kittel, HandkommaUar^ p. 289.
«l8a. xxii, 9, 10.
* 2 Kings xviii, 17.
202 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Libnah, whither Sennacherib had withdrawn from
Lachish, which had succumbed to superior force.
It was conceived to be a place of such importance
that its conquest is celebrated by Sennacherib in a
magnificent wall inscription with pictures in relief J
Sennacherib had now to decide upon the course
to be pursued in view of Hezekiah's determined
persistence. It was clear that Jerusalem could
only be taken after a siege, and this was appar-
ently resolved upon, when news reached Libnah
that Tirhaqa, king of Ethiopia, was advancing out
of Egypt to give aid to Hezekiah.' A letter was
dispatched * at once to Jerusalem demanding the
capitulation of the city, and at the same time Sen-
nacherib moved southward to meet Tirhaqa. He
probably reached Pelusium,* on the very confines
of Egypt, a place famous both before and since
that day as a center for the dissemination of the
plague,* and there pestilence suddenly fastened
> Published I R 7, No. viii, I (Rogers, op. eit,^ p. 88). The pictures are
reproduced in Ball, Light from the E<ut^ pp. 191, 198.
« 2 Kings xix, 7, 9.
>2Ktngsziz, 9-14.
* Pelusium is gi^en as the place of the catastrophe by Herodotus (ii,
141, see further below), and this is supported by Hieronymus (Commentaria
in /sotom, lib. zi, cap. xxxvii, Patrologia Latina, tomus xziv, pp. 898,
899) : ** Pugnasse autem Sennacherib regem Assyriorum contra .£gyptios
et obsedisse Pelusium jamque extnictis aggeribus urbi capiendo, ven-
isse Taracham regem ^thiopum in auxilium, et una nocte juxta Jerusalem
centum octaginta quinque millia exercitus Assyrii pestilentia corruisse nar-
rat Herodotus, et plenissime Berosus, Ohaldaics scriptor historis, quorum
fides de proprus libris petenda est.*' There appears to be good reason for
holding that this statement of Hieronymus comes from Berossos, and is
therefore, in origm, independent of Herodotus.
* See G. A. Smith, Hiatorical Geography of the Holy Land, pp. 167-159.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 203
upon the Assyrian army. All hopes of invading
Egypt must be abandoned, and Sennacherib led
homeward only a miserable fragment of an army
which had hitherto proved almost invincible. The
joy of that hour to all the west may scarcely even
be imagined. To the Hebrews it meant nothing
less than God's intervention to save the remnant
of a kingdom once so glorious.* To Tirhaqa it
gave some claim to have conquered the Assyrians,
and as a victor over Khatte, Arados, and Asshur
he is celebrated in one of his own inscriptions."
The tradition of that wonderful deliverance lived
on in Egypt, and was told to Herodotus ' by his
cicerone in the temple of Ptah, at Memphis. As
he reproduces the story, field mice gnawed the
thongs of the bows and devoured the quivers of
the army of Sennacherib, " king of the Arabians
and Assyrians," so that " a priest of Vulcan, called
Sethos," readily had a victory over them. As thus
narrated the story contains much unhistorical ma-
terial, though told with fire and force, but it surely
has a basis in historic fact, and refers doubtless to
the same event as the Hebrew writer has described.*
1 2 Kings xix, 82-86.
' Mariette, Kamak^ pL 46a, pp. 66, 67.
' Herodotus, ii, 141. See below, Appendix B.
^Winckler {Alttestamentiichen Unienuchungen, pp. 27, ff.) has at-
tempted to show that the narrative in 2 Kings xviii, 18-xix, 87, re-
lates not to one but to two campaigns of Sennacherib. According to
this view Sennacherib invaded Palestine in 701, and again, after the
year 691, when making an expedition against Arabia, he assailed
Palestine and Egypt. The view, attractive for several reasons, has con-
vinced Benzinger (i>j0 Bueher der Konige, pp. 177, ff.), Outhe (OetcMckU
204 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Though successful in all the great campaigns
down the seacoast from Sidon to Ashkelon and up
the slopes of the hill country to within fifteen
miles of Jerusalem/ Sennacherib had, nevertheless,
failed in the main object of his expedition. Jeru-
salem still stood, and but for pestilence it would
have been a smoking ruin, as Ekron. Hezekiah
still reigned, and that with increased prestige, and
but for pestilence he would be a captive in Nine-
veh, as was Zidka, king of Ashkelon. Ethiopia
was left free to continue its peaceful assimilation
of Egypt, and but for the pestilence Assyrian gov-
ernors would be lulling its fertile valleys as even
now they held sway in Ashdod. Sennacherib's
failure in the west justified in eveiy particular
the foresight and statesmanship of Isaiah, and the
echo of the prophet's words would resound when
the empty boasts of the defeated king were known
only to quiet students. For twenty years longer
deM Volkea Itrad^ p. 204), and Hommel (DieUonary of the BibU^ ed. Hast-
ings, i, p. 188, col. 2). It is, on the other hand, not accepted by Kittei {Die
Bueher der K&nige^ p. 291), Maspero (The Pauing of the Empiree, p. 298),
McCurdy (Htetory, Prophecy, and the IfonumerUs, ii, pp. 800, ff., 428-481),
and Meinhold {Die JesajaencilUvnffen and Jesaja und seine ZeiC). The ob-
jections to Winckler's rearrangement into two campaigns are, briefly, these :
1. There is no mention anywhere of a second attaclc on Jerusalem by Sen-
nacherib. 2. The passage 2 Kings xix, 7, has to be rejected withoat any
other reason than to make the passage fit the theory. 8. It invoWes a com-
plete overturning of the Hebrew traditions, as represented in the book of
Kings, and supported by the prophetic passages in the book of Isaiah.
See further a most incisive and convincing criticism of this theory of
Winckler by Cheyne, Introduction to the Book of Isaiah, pp. 284, 285.
' Lachish is the modem Tel-el-Hesy, and Libnah must be sought in the
immediate neighborhood. According to Eusebius it belonged at a later
time to the district of Eleutheropolis (modem Beit Jibrin).
THte REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 205
did Sennacherib possess the power of Assyria, but
he never invaded Palestine again*
Sennacherib had left Babylonia in the foil en-
joyment of peace, but he had also sown thoroughly
the seeds of unrest. Bel-ibni, one of his own crea-
tures, was on the throne, but however well disposed
he was, there was no hope that he might success-
fully resist the distemper of the people. Their
patriotic love for Babylon, their belief that once a
world city meant always a world city, had been
grossly trodden under foot by the Assyrian king ;
their inborn religious feeling had been outraged
beyond endurance by a king who paid not the
least attention to their solemn rites of coronation.
Sennacherib was now deeply embroiled in the
western troubles, and the Babylonians thoroughly
understood them, for news traveled far and fast
in the ancient Orient. The time was, to their
mind, auspicious for the reassertion of national
ideals. No matter what Bel-ibni may have desired,
he was forced by resistless public sentiment into a
position hostile to Assyria. Ever ready for any
chance at his old enemy, Merodach-baladan of the
Sea Lands joined in the rebellion, and the Chalde-
ans, under a native prince named Marduk-ushezib,
also engaged in it. This looked like a promising
rebellion, though that the confederates could di-
vide the land between them if there was success
might well be doubted.
The new organization of affairs in Babylonia
went well for a short period, until the appearance
206 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
in 700 of Sennacherib. At once the whole com-
pact fell to pieces. Bel-ibni was captured and
sent ignominiously to Assyria, whose training he
had dishonored, along with his foolish counsel-
ors, Marduk-ushezib fled toward the south, and
went into hiding in the marshes at the mouths
of the rivers. Merodach-baladan embarked his
gods and his people upon ships, and sailing down
the Persian Gulf, settled along the eastern shores
in the land of Elam, whither Sennacherib did
not dare to follow him. There he soon after
died. No man like him as an opponent of As-
syria had arisen since the days of Ben-Hadad II
of Damascus. Adroit enough to surrender always
at the right time, ever full of resources when
there was the least hope of success, implacable
in his hostility, his removal from action was a
great boon to Assyria. His name did not die with
him, but his descendants, of the same stuflE in their
persistency, remained to plague a later day in As-
syrian history. The land of Bit-Yakin was next
ravaged by Sennacherib in the vain attempt to
root out the elements of discord and disaffection.
On his return northward Sennacherib had his own
son, Asshur-nadin-shum, proclaimed in Babylon as
king.* And so began another attempt at govern-
ing this diflScult part of the empire.
In the next year (699) military operations were
necessary in Cilicia and Kappadokia. The moun-
tainous country of Khilakku, amid the crags of
1 Taylor Prism, ill, lines 42-66, Rogers, <fp, cit.^ pp. 91, 92.
t
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 207
the Taurus, was penetrated and reduced to sub-
jection. Rebellion in the lower parts of Cilicia,
in the province created by Saigon, was stamped
out by the destruction of the capital. This cam-
paign seems to have made a great impression at
the time. Sennacherib boasts of the overcoming
of extraordinary obstacles in mountain climbing;
and Berossos ' ascribes to him the erection of the
city of Tarsus. By this he can only mean re-
building or restoration, for the city is known to
have been in existence at least as early as Shal-
maneser II. Another campaign, probably little
more than a raid, was directed about the same
time against Tumur, in the north.
Again were troubles brewing in Babylonia,
even while the king's own son maintained his pre-
carious rule. The Chaldeans were not so well led
as they had been, but even in exile they ceased
not to plot against the nation which had humili-
ated them. A large number of Chaldeans had
left the southlands of Babylonia and settled on
the coasts of Elam. Here they were an ever-
present menace to the peace of Babylonia. In 694
Sennacherib undertook a campaign for their destruc-
tion. It was a campaign extraordinary in concep-
tion and execution. He built boats on the Tigris
and manned them with Phoenicians and Cyprians,
who were better used to ships than the land-loving
Assyrians.' The boats were then floated down
* Muller-Didot, Frngm. Hist. Grcec^ ii, p. 604.
' Taylor Prism, iv, line 26.
208 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
the Tigris to Upi (Opis), and thence conveyed
overland to the Euphrates by camels, where they
were again launched and went down to the Per-
sian Gulf. A short sail brought the forces to the
colonies which Merodach-baladan had founded,
where the cities were destroyed and their inhab-
itants slain or carried into captivity.' Never
before had Sennacherib made a direct attack on
Elam, and this was not to go by without an effort
after revenge. Khallus, the Elamite king, invaded
Babylonia and plundered Sippar. Asshur-nadin-
shum, who had enough courage to oppose him,
was taken captive to Elam,' whence he apparently
never returned. The Elamites then crowned in
Babylonia a native by the name of Nergal-ushezib.
This act again divided the land. The new king
held only northern Babylonia, while all the south
was in Assyrian hands. Nergal-ushezib attempted
to gain control also over the south, and marched
to Nippur, which he took in 693.* Shortly after
he met an Assyrian army, and a battle was fought
in which he was taken prisoner and carried to As-
syria.* In Mam an uprising took place in which
Khallus was killed, and the throne came to Kudur-
nakhundi.' These reversals of fortune seemed to
hand over the land of Babylon again to the As-
1 JHd., lines 29-88.
* Babylonian Chronicle, ii, 42, Keilin$chrift, Bihl, ii, pp. 278, 279.
' Babylonian Chronicle, ii, 42.
* 76uf., iii, 4, 6.
* i&td, 9. In the Babylonian Chronicle the name is abbreviated into
Eudur.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 209
syriaus, but the matter was by no means settled.
The Assyrians could not hope to hold Babylonia
in safety if the Elamites were not so punished for
the late invasion that they would never dare the
like again. The change in kings gave a favorable
opportunity, and Sennacherib invaded the land.
He claims to have sacked and burned thirty-four
cities and to have seized much treasure. The king
was not taken nor his capital^ city besieged — and
this failure Sennacherib ascribes to weather of un-
usual severity and to great cold.* Kudur-nakhundi
lived only three months more, and was succeeded
by his younger brother, Umman-minanu, whom
Sennacherib considered a man without judgment
and intelligence.*
While these events were happening in Mam,
and Sennacherib waa tied down to his efforts there,
another Chaldean seized the reins of power in
Babylonia. Mushezib-Marduk was made king in
Babylon in 692. It is one of the curious changes
in history that he was supported by the native
Babylonians. It was but a short time since the
Babylonian hatred of Chaldeans was so strong
that an Assyrian king who was able to drive
them from the country was hailed as a deUverer.
Now the Babylonians were filled with hatred and
dread of the Assyrians, and made common cause
with the Chaldeans against them. The Babylo-
nians and Chaldeans then gained as another ally
» Taylor Prism, iv, 48-80.
* IbicL, y, line 8, Rogers, op, cU.^ p. 96.
14 •
210 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the Elamites, by giving to Umman-minanu the
treasures of the ancient temple of E-sagila as
a bribe. Political necessities had surely made
strange bedfellows when the Elamites, who so
recently had been invaders and plunderers in
Babylonia, were now chosen friends to strengthen
a Chaldean upon a Babylonian throne. With the
Elamites were found as allies peoples of many
places which had been organized as Assyrian prov-
inces but a short time before. Among these were
Parsua, Ellipi, and the Puqudu, the Gambuli, and,
most interesting of all, Samunu, the son of Mero-
dach-baladan, who had revenge in his heart beyond
a doubt, and was glad of an opportunity to meet his
father's enemy. The allies came down into Baby-
lonia, and Sennacherib's historiographer waxed elo-
quent as he thought of that great array. They
were " like a great swarm of locusts.'' ' " The dust
of their feet was like a storm by which the wide
heavens are covered with thick clouds."* In 691
Sennacherib met the combined armies at Khalul6.'
The description of the battle as the Annals have
preserved it is one of the most thrilling in all As-
syrian literature.* Words of blood and fire are
heaped one upon the other to set forth the over-
whelming might of the great king's opponents and
' Taylor Prism, v, 43.
• JbiiLy 45-47.
' Billerbeck {Qeographitche Unterguchungen^ P* l^* i^ote 1 ; Susa^ p. 90)
locates Ehaluld on the left bank of the Dijala, perhaps on the site where
Hebheb now stands.
*■ See Haupt, "The Battle of Haluld," Andover Review, 1887, pp. 542, ff.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 211
the awful butchery which they suffered. But the
very protestations of such complete victory awaken
skepticism, which becomes conviction when we
survey the conclusion of the whole conflict. Im-
mediately after the battle Sennacherib withdrew
to Assyria. He made no attempt to pursue the
forces which he is said to have routed, neither did
he turn to Babylon to drive the usurper from the
throne. If he really did gain the victory,' it must
have been with tremendous losses which could not
be promptly repaired.
In 689 Sennacherib again invaded Babylonia
and came up to the city itself. The Babylo-
nians had now no Elamite allies, and the city was
soon taken. Thereupon ensued one of the wildest
scenes of human folly in aU history. The city was
treated exactly as the Assyrian kings had been
accustomed to treat insignificant villages which
had joined in rebellion. It was plundered, its in-
habitants driven from their homes or deported, its
walls broken down. The torch was then applied,
and over the plain rolled the smoke of consuming
temples and palaces, the fruit of centuries of high
civilization. All that the art of man had up to
that time devised of beauty and of glory, of maj-
esty and of massiveness, lay in one great smolder-
ing ruin. Over this the waters of the Euphrates
were diverted that the site of antiquity's greatest
city might be turned into a pestilential swamp.
* The Babylonian Chronicle (coL iii, lines 16-18) claims the victory for
£la^.
9
212 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Marduk, the great god of the city, was carried
away and set up in the city of Asshur, that no
f utore settlers might be able to secure the protec-
tion of the deity who had raised the city to emi-
nence. Marduk-ushezib was carried a prisoner to
Assyria.'
It was undoubtedly the hope and belief of Sen-
nacherib that he had finally settled the Babylo-
nian question, which had so long burdened him
and former kings of Assyria. There would now,
in his opinion, be no further trouble about the
crowning of kings in Babylon and the taking of
the hands of Marduk, for the city was a swamp
and Marduk an exile. There would be no more
glorification of the city at the expense of Nineveh,
which was now, by a process of elimination, assure
edly the chief city of western Asia. But in all this
Sennacherib reasoned not as a wise man. He had
indeed blotted out the city, but the site hallowed
by custom and venerated for centuries remained.
He had slain or driven into exile its citizens, but
in the hearts of the survivors there burned still the
old patriotism, the old pride of citizenship in a
world city. He had humbled the Babylonians
indeed, but what of the Chaldeans who had al-
ready produced a Merodach-baladan and might
produce another like him, who would seek revenge
for the punishment of his race and its allies in
Babylonia ? From a purely commercial point of
'Bavian Inscription, lines 48-60, Besold, KeUifuehrift, BUfL^ ii, pp.
116-119.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 213
view the destruction had been great folly. The
plundering of the great city before its burning had
undoubtedly produced immense treasure to carry
away into Assyria, but there would have been a
great annual income of tribute, which was now cut
off ; and a vast loss by the fire, which blotted out
warehouses and extensive stores as well as temples
and palaces. This historic crime would later be
avenged in full measure. In any estimation of the
character of the Assyrian people the destruction
of Babylon must be set down by the side of the
raids and the murders of Asshumazirpal. It is a
sad episode in human history which gave over to
savages in thought and in action the leadership of
the Semitic race, and took it away from the He-
brews and Aramaeans and the culture-loving Baby-
lonians.
For eight long and weary years the only record
of the Babylonian Chronicle and the Ptolemaic
Canon is, " There was no king in Babylon." The
babble of many tongues of diverse peoples who had
garnered knowledge, carved beautiful statues, ex-
perimented in divers forms of government, sang
hymns of praise, and uttered plaints of penitence
was hushed, and in its place was the great silence
of the desert, which a ruthless destroyer had
made.
At some time between 688 and 682 Sennacherib
again went westward into Arabia. Sargon had
there met with extraordinary success. But the
results had been very short-lived. The Bedouin
214 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
inhabitants were able to pay tribute, and would
do so for a time if there was fear of punishment,
but they were so continually moving about from
place to place with their flocks and herds that it
was diflScult to follow them and keep them in
dread. It was one thing to punish a people who
had houses and cities, it was another thing to dis-
cipline a people whose black tents of camel's hair
were quickly folded and their possessors swept
silently away over pathless deserts beneath a
blazing and relentless sun. Sennacherib's long
absence had blotted out the memory of the past
among the Arabians, and they were now rather
under Egyptian than Assyrian influence. To re-
store the Assyrian position was the object of an
expedition known to us only by a reference in the
inscriptions of Sennacherib's son and successor.
•
Adumu, a sort of settlement, probably the Du-
matha of Ptolemy, was taken and the gods carried
away to Assyria.' More than this could hardly
have been accomplished among a population such
as this. Though we have no mention of it, it is
probable that some booty was secured, and the
Assyrian prestige would be increased by the tak-
ing away of the gods.
It was the last act of Sennacherib in war.
Shortly after his return home, on the twentieth
day of the month Tebet, in the year 681, he was
murdered in a temple by the hands of his own
1 Esarhaddon, Prism (A & C), col. ii, 66-68, Abel, Keiliruehrift, BUfL,
ii, pp. 130, 131.
THE REIGN OF SENNACHERIB. 215
sons, [Nergalj-sharezer and Adarmalik.' Like
many another assassination^ west and east, the
crime was due to jealousy of another son and de-
sire to secure the succession to the throne. So
ended a reign little worthy of the one which had
preceded it. Sennacherib's inscriptions indeed
boast loudly of great victories, but there seems
but little foundation for most of them. He added
nothing to what his father had won and held.
His hand was a hand of iron and blood, and not
of real creative power. No great policy of ad-
ministration was devised or begun by him. That
he was Sargon's son had won him position, that he
had brute force in certain measure had held it for
him. The empire had been maintained in its in-
tegrity, though the fairest portion of it had been
changed into ruin and waste in the doing of it.
The only act of peace which may safely be pred-
icated of his reign was the transfer of the capital
from Dur-Sharrukin to Nineveh, where a palace
was reerected on old foundations, in which the
king dwelt. He began to make Nineveh the
world's chief city by the erection of this palace,
and by the destruction of the greater Babylon the
self-imposed task was completed.
1 2 Kings xix, 86, 87 ; Babylonian Chronicle, iii, 84, where only one son
is mentioned as the assassin.
a
216 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER IX.
tb:e beion of esarhaddon.
We do not know the exact circumstances which
led to the assassination of ScDnacherib, but we
shall not be far astray, in all probability, if we
ascribe it to jealousy on the part of his sons.
While he yet lived Sennacherib had made his son^
Esarhaddon (Asshur-akh-iddin), a sort of regent
over Babylonia. He had also by decree made him
the legal heir to the throne, though he was almost
certainly not the eldest son.
During his residence in Babylonia in these early
years of lus life Esarhaddon (680-668)' was smit-
ten with a great love for the ancient land with all
its honored customs. His whole life shows plainly
1 The chief authorities for the reign of Esarhaddon are the following :
(a) The Cylinders A, B, C, published I R. 45-47, and IH R. 16, 16, and
Abel.Winckler, KeiUehrifttexie, 26, 26, translated into English by R. F.
Harper, Cylinder A of the Esarhaddon Inscriptions, transliterated and
translated, with Textual Notes, from the Original Copy in the British Mu-
seum, republished from ffebraieay 1887, 1888 ; and into German by Ludwig
Abel and Hugo Winckler, KeUinechrifL Bibl,, ii, pp. 124-161. (b) 7^
Blaek SUme, published I R. 49, 50, and translated into German by Winck-
ler, KeUifuchH/t. Bibl., ii, pp. 120-126. (c) The Stele of Zenjirli, pub-
lished by von Luschan, Au^abungen in Sendtchirlif i, pp. 11-29 and
plates i-iy, and translated by Scbrader, {6{J., pp. 29-48. (d) Prayers to
the Sim Ood^ published and translated into German by J. A. Knudtzon,
AseyrisehiS Oebete an den Sonnen Oott^ i, ii, pp. 72-264. The chief in-
scriptions are transliterated and translated in Budge, The History of Esar-
haddon, London, 1880.
THE REIGN OF ESARH ADDON. 217
how deeply lie was influenced by the glory of
Babylon's past, and how eager he was to see un-
done the ruin which his father had wrought. As
soon as the news of his father's death reached his
ears he caused himself to be proclaimed as shah
Jcanah of Babylon. In this he was going back to
the goodly example of his grandfather Sargon.
Sennacherib had ceased altogether to wear a
Babylonian title. Babylonia was to him not a
separate land united with his own, but a subject
territory inhabited by slaves whom he despised.
Esarhaddon did not even take the name of king,
which in Babylonian eyes would have been unlaw-
ful without taking the hands of Marduk, now ex-
iled to Assyria. Immediately after his proclama-
tion in Babylonia Esarhaddon hastened to Nine-
veh, where the rebellion collapsed at once, and he
was received as the legitimate king. According
to the Babylonian Chronicle it had lasted only a
month and a half — from the twentieth day of Tebet
to the second day of Adar.* The biblical story
represents the two murderers as fleeing to Ar-
menia, and there is no reason to doubt that this was
the case.' Esarhaddon's inscriptions say that he
left Nineveh in the month of Shabat ; and this was
probably in pursuit of his brothers.' He fought
a battle with the rebels and their followers at
1 Babylonian Chronicle, iii, 86, 37.
< 2 Kings xix, 87.
» Cylinder, col. i, lines 1-26, Winckler, KeUintehrifl, Bibl.y ii, pp. 140-
143.
218 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
Khanigalbat, near Melid, and readily overcame
them.* They had probably been hoping for some
assistance from Armenia, and now accepted it.
The campaign had lasted only eight months, and
in the mouth of Kislev, 680, Esarhaddon was
crowned king of Assyria.
It is very diflScult to follow closely the order of
events in the reign which was now begun. Unlike
Sargon or Sennacherib, Esarhaddon has left us
scarcely a fragment in which the chronological
order of events is followed. He was more con-
cerned in setting forth the deeds themselves than
the order and relation of them — such at least must
be our judgment unless at some time a text of his
in true annalistic style should be found.
In the very first year of his reign (680) Esar-
haddon gave clear indications of his reversal of his
father's policy.* Babylon had been destroyed ; he
would rebuild it. No Assyrian king before him
had ever set himself so great a task. He did not
live to see it brought to the final and glorious con-
summation which he had planned, but he did see
and rejoice in a large part of the work. With
much religious solemnity, with the anointing of oil
and the pouring out of wine, was the foundation
laying begun. From the swamps which Sennach-
erib had wantonly made slowly began to rise the
renewed temple of E-sagila, the temple of the great
> Ibid., Unes 18-21.
*Mei8sner and Rost, Die Bauinaehriften Asarhaddon^ BeitrHge zur
AityriologUf iii, pp. 189-862, with plates.
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 219
god8, while around it and the newly growing city
the king erected from the foundations upward the
great walls of Imgur-Bel and Nimitti-Bel. All
these, as the king boasts, were enlarged and beau-
tified beyond that which they had been in their
former glory. Slowly through the reign along
with the wars which must now be told went on
these works of peace and utility, to find their en-
tire completion in the reign of Esarhaddon's like-
minded son.
The first work of war to which Esarhaddon
must direct his energies was a new castigation of
the Chaldeans. While he was busy in securing his
throne a fresh outbreak had occurred in the old
district of the Sea Lands. Nabu-ziru-kinish-lishir,
a son of Merodach-baladan, had gained some of his
family's power in Bit-Yakin, and with this as a
base of operations had possessed himself of the
country as far north as Ur. When Esarhaddon
dispatched an army against him he fied to Elam,
whither his father before him had more than once
gone for refuge. There was now, however, a new
regime in Elam, and the king, Ummanaldash II,
seized him and slew him. His brother, Na'id Mar-
duk, fled to Assyria and delivered himself up
to Esarhaddon, who, with a mercy that honors his
heart and his judgment, sent him back to Bit-
Yakin to rule the country under Assyrian over-
lordship.' This sudden desertion on the part of
1 Babjloniim Chronicle, ill, 3d-42; Cylinders A and C, ii, lines 82-41;
Cylinder B, ii, 1-26.
i
220 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Elam of its traditional friendship for Merodach-bal*
adan and the Chaldeans in general is very difficult
to understand. Up to this time the Elamites had
always aided every movement of the Chaldeans
against the Assyrians. There happened also a lit-
tle later, in 674, another strange manifestation of
a new policy among these same Elamites. While
Esarhaddon was elsewhere engaged the Elamites
surged down into Babylonia, and, murdering and
plundering as they went, reached as far as the city
of Sippar. The Babylonian Chronicle records this
raid,' but does not utter a word concerning any
retaliation on the part of the Assyiians.
While Esarhaddon was carrying on the rebuild-
ing of Babylon, and the population was returning
which had been scattered, he found occasion for a
small passage at arms with the Chaldean tribe of
Bit-Dakkuri, which had gained sudden wealth
through the destruction wrought by Sennacherib,
When the Babylonians had been driven away by
Sennacherib from the temtory about Babylon and
Borsippa these Chaldeans had promptly taken
possession. As the selfsame people were now re-
turning whom Sennacherib had thus dispossessed,
Esarhaddon determined to drive out the settlers.
He deposed their king, Shamash-ibni, and set over
them Nabu-usallim, a son of a certain Balasu men-
tioned by Tiglathpileser III.* When they had
^ Babylonian Chronicle, iy, 9, 10.
* Cylinder A and C, ii, 42-54, Keilinachrifi, Bibl, ii, 128-181 ; Cylinder B,
iii, 19-27.
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 221
been dislodged the lands were restored to their
former owners. At about the same time Esar-
haddon undertook to bring into subjection the
tribe of Gambuli, perhaps a mixed race of Ara-
maeans who were settled in the border country
between Elam and Babylonia near the mouth of
the Tigris. They had given aid to Ummanaldash
in his raid in 674, and must now be humbled.
Their prince, Bel-iqisha, did not dare a battle,'
and so surrendered and gave pledge to hold his
fortress, Shapi-Bel, aa a sort of outpost against
Elamite invasions; it was then strengthened by
the Assyrians for this purpose, ikarhaddon was
too prudent to attack Elam ; and there was shortly
less need for it. Ummanaldash IE died in the same
year, and his successor, Urtaku, was of very differ-
ent mind as regards the Assyrians. He appears
to have used every effort to maintain peace and
friendship between the two peoples. As an evi-
dence of this temper of mind stands his action of
673 in sending back to Agade the gods who at
some previous time had been carried away by the
Elamites.
All these operations of war were child's play
compared with the drama in the west, in which
Esarhaddon played the chief r61e. We have
already seen that Sennacherib had signally failed
in Syria. He had been absolutely unable to con-
quer Tyre, chiefly because it had the sea on the
western side, forming a defense which the Assyr-
' Cylinder A and C, iii, 68-iv, Y.
I
222 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
ian could not burn nor pull down, and of which
he was probably well afraid, as a landsman from
the east might well be. His efforts in Judah, we
have also seen, ended in a calamity for which
his superstition or faith could find only disquieting
causes. Furthermore, the only effort at setting up
a new government and of making a center for As-
syrian influence had no abiding power. He had
planned to set up Sidon as a rival of Tyre, and to
gather about it in an artificial manner several cit-
ies which were better adapted to be rivals than
friends. His rearrangement of the city dominion
had no element of stability in it, and soon dis-
solved. Ethobal, whom he had made king, was
probably loyal enough, and his personal influence
maintained the status' quo^ for it was in the end a
personal rather than a national plan. As soon as
he was dead and his son, Abdmilkot, reigned in
his place the people of Sidon quietly dropped the
Assyrian allegiance and went on with their dis-
patching of ships on the MediteiTanean and with
the piling up of treasure, none of which was paid
over to Assyria as tribute. Here, then, in the Phoe-
nician territory were entirely independent states,
Tyre and Sidon, each with its own territory. We
are clearly instructed concerning the territory of
Sidon, and, though Sennacherib had stripped Tyre
of her possessions, there is reason to believe that
some of them had been regained. The wealth
alone of these two states might well tempt a king
who was spending upon new and old building
THE BEIGN OF ESABHADDON. 22S
operatioos soch r^ sums. Former kings had
secured vast sums for the noninterference with
Phoenician commerce ; he might certainly hope to
gain at least this boon, not to be despised, and he
might also really conqner Phoenicia and make a
loyal province of it.
With snch hopes and dreams Esarhaddon led
his first westward campaign. The way had been
well prepared by the Assyrian conquerors who
had devastated before him, and none would view
the onset of his troops with equanimity. Before
he could reach the sea a rebellion was genuinely
on foot Abd-milkot had found an ally in San-
duarri, king of Kundu ' and Sizu,* two cities, the
latter located in a mountainous, almost impassable,
country in northern Cilicia. Sidon had the pro-
tection of the sea, while Kundu and Sizu had the
wild and trackless mountains about them. The
Assyrians had often before crept among the moun-
tains and attacked enemies hidden like birds
among the clefts, as the Assyrian annalist loves to
portray theuL But their success by sea had been
inconsiderable. The new confederation seemed to
have elements of strength beyond many which
had preceded it. On the approach of the As-
syi'ians the courage of Abd-milkot forsook him
and he fled to sea. Esarhaddon besieged Sidon,
and the city held out well — we do not know ex-
actly how long — but the campaign against the two
* Kundu is Euinda (Strabo, xiv, v, §10), located on the Gulf of Antioch.
' Sizu is Sis, in the Cilician mountains.
224 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
rebels lasted three years. It is certainly liighly
probable that the greater part of this long period
was devoted to the maritime city rather than to
the mountain hamlets. • When Sidon fell the city
was devoted to destruction. The walls which had
been a defense for ages were tumbled into the sea ;
the houses in which wealthy merchants had lived
were torn from their foundations and utterly
ruined. The whole city was leveled to the plain
and blotted out of existence.' All this is after the
models of ancient days, and shows to what a pitch
of wrath Esarhaddon had been wrought by the
long and tedious siege. But at once he turns
from this custom and exemplifies the other and
better side. Upon the same site another city is
built and named Kar-Asshur-akh-iddin (Esarhad-
don's-burg), that in it the old commerce might live
again. The new city thus built was peopled by
inhabitants of the mountains conquered in war,
and also and more reasonably by others drawn
from the coasts of the Persian Gulf. Abd-milkot
was captured, perhaps in Cyprus, and beheaded.
Kundu and Sizu were also taken, and the un-
fortunate Sanduarri was treated in the same way.
When Esarhaddon returned from the campaign
he brought with him substantial evidences of his
victory. Kundu and Sizu had probably enriched
him but little, but with Sidon the case was en-
tirely different. Here was a commercial city
* Cylinders A and C, col. i, lines 10-64 ; Cylinder B, ooL i, lines 2Y-S0 ;
KeUiruehH/t. Bibl., ii, pp. 124-127, 144, 145.
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 225
througli which had passed a goodly share of the
commerce between east and west. As through
Gaza passed the trade of Arabia to the western
nations now coveting the luxuries and refinements
of the east, so through Sidon, and especially-
through Tyre, passed all that luxurious Asia had
to contribute to the sybarites who lived in Greece
and Italy. These things could not pass year by
year through Sidon without leaving a share of
the choicest of them in the hands of those who
trafficked. Esarhaddon enumerates in one bald list
the treasure which he carried away. It was of
gold, silver, precious stones, ivory, costly woods,
tapestries, and dress stuffs. The color and the rich-
ness of the east were in this mass of wealth. Esar-
haddon had not reckoned too highly upon the
gains of his conquest, even if three years had fled
away before it was taken. To these were added
the cattle, the sheep, and the asses which were
driven away to render service hereafter in Assyria.
The end of this campaign is a record of return to
the most wretched barbarism of Assyria's darkest
days. When he came up to his city gates Esar-
haddon made a triumphal entry to the sound of
loud music. In his train marched his captives,
and among them were the chief men of Sidon, and
bound round their necks was the ghastly head of
Abd-milkot, while the principal men of Kundu
and Sizu bore in like manner the head of San-
duarri. It is a strange sight, this entry into
Nineveh, when it is remembered that the king
15
226 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
who made it was Esarliaddon, who had been mer-
ciful to a son of Merodach-baladan and had re-
stored to the Babylonians the lands which his
father had wasted. The natural Assyrian temper
had revealed itself in this latest of Assyrian mon-
archs.
The attack on Tyre probably began while Sidon
was still in a state of siege. It was an entirely
difiEerent problem, and much more difficult. Tyre
was better defended by the sea than Sidon. It
was larger, richer, more determined. There is
little doubt that if the Tyrians had believed that
the payment of a heavy gift, or even the promise
to give a large annual tribute, would have freed
them from all further Assyrian disturbance of
trade, they would have gladly met either or both
conditions. They had done so before. But there
was a determination about Esarhaddon's actions
that could hardly be satisfied with anything short
of absolute control. The people of Tyre wanted
to save some sort of autonomy, in order to the
greater freedom of their commerce, and the only
hope for this now was to fight and not to pay for
it. Esarhaddon began his siege in earnest. He
walled in the city entirely upon its landward side,
and began a wearisome efiEort to conquer it by
famine. But of one entrance to their city, and
that the most important, he could not rob the
Tyrians. The sea remained open, and by the sea
might readily enter all that Tyre needed for the life
of its citizens. He could deprive the city of its com-
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 227
merce by land, and that naturally must soon de-
stroy its commerce by sea, but if the Tyrians had
the heart to hold out, they certainly could not be
starved into submission. Ba^al was now king of
Tyre and he was clearly of different stuff from his
less courageous predecessors. Year by year the
siege dragged on, while other and greater efforts
occupied the attention of Esarh addon, and in the
end there was no result. The siege had to be lifted,
and Esarhaddon must confess defeat. It is true
that upon one of his largest and most impressive
monuments he pictures Ba'al of Tyre kneeling be-
fore his august majesty, who holds him with a
ring through his lips.* On the inscription, how-
ever, there is not one word about the fall of Tyre,
nor elsewhere in any of Esarhaddon's records is
there any claim that Tyre had been taken. We
are forced to the conclusion that Esarhaddon is
here glorying without justification, and that Ba'al
of Tyre during his entire reign maintained his in-
dependence. The failure to take Tyre was a loss,
in that great treasure would undoubtedly have
been secured, but in no way was the continued
existence of the city a menace to Assyria or an
interference with the progress of Assyrian power
anywhere in the west. There was no danger of
any attack by Tyre upon the Assyrian flank if
Esarhaddon should decide to move southward
with his forces. Tyre would go on with her com-
^ The Stele of 24injirli. See von Luschan, Autgrabungen von Sendachirli
BerUn, 1893.
228 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
merce and leave the rest of mankind to fight its
own battles.
Esarhaddon had administered a salutary lesson to
Sidon and its ally ; he would now press on to dis-
courage any farther alliances or confederations in
Palestine against himself and his rule. Again and
again the oft-recurring rebellions in Palestine had
been brought about by Egyptian agents who stirred
up the small states and hoped to gain power when
Assyria had been driven off. No Assyrian king
had hitherto done more than snuff out the little
flame of patriotism and punish the offenders. None
had been so bold as to execute* a move against
Egypt herself, prime cause of all the trouble. It
is proof of the power of an ancient name that this
had not been done, for opportunities there had
certainly been in plenty. Egypt had been so weak
that she would probably have fallen an easy prey
to armies such as Assyria had long had in the
field. But the Assyrians had in their thought the
Egypt of Thotmosis III and Rameses II, and did
not rightly estimate the Egypt of their own day.
Esarhaddon, however, had learned otherwise in
some way, and now laid careful and wise plans
for the overthrow of Egypt. The Assyrians had
broken down the great culture-loving race of the
Euphrates and had scattered its treasures; they
would now proceed to do in like manner unto
1 Sennacherib had certainly planned to inyade Egypt See above, pp. 197,
198, and compare, ** I have digged and drunk water, and with the sole of
my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt *' (Isa. zzxvii, 25).
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 229
the great people who had conserved literature
and art and science during the march of the cen-
turies and had survived the wreck which had
come to others less fortunate. The freebooters of
Asia, who had sacked and burned and made howl-
ing wastes where once had been beautiful cities,
must seek a wider field and enter Africa.
In 673 Esarhaddon makes his first attack upon
Tirhaqa, the Ethiopian king of Egypt. The cam-
paign was absolutely without tangible results.
The Assyrian army, indeed, reached the Egyptian
border, but did not cross it. The way was stub-
bornly contested, and Esarhaddon at length with-
drew temporarily without abandoning his designs.
In 670 he again moved forward,* and probably
with greatly increased forces. He was soon over
the border upon this campaign, and at the first
battle at Iskhupri gained a decisive victory over
the l^ptians. Two more battles followed, and
in these also was he victorious. After a march of
fifteen days from Iskhupri he appeared before the
walls of Memphis' and laid siege to an ancient
and magnificent city. Memphis was unprepared,
and soon fell into his hands. The family of Tirhaqa
was taken, but the Pharaoh himself made good his
escape into Nubia, paralyzed with fear and hope-
less of the very idea of resistanca Memphis was
^ Esarhaddon had previously consulted the oracle of the sun god and
had received a fayorable answer. See Knudtzon, Ai9yr%»che (Mete u, 9w.^
ii, p. 177.
* Stele of Zinjirli, lines 89, 40.
230 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
plundered and destroyed. Esarhaddon had tasted
the joys of plunder and the satisfaction of revenge
at Sidon, and was glad to drink them again to
the full. The fall of Menaphis fiDed the whole
land with dismay. Such an event had probably
never seemed to the proud people a possibility.
There were no further resources in the country,
the king had fled and left all, and only surrender
was possible. As far as the confines of Nubia the
country surrendered to the Assyrians. In two
brief campaigns, with apparently little loss, an
Assyrian army had imdone the work of centuries
and humbled in the dust the world's proudest
people. What was lost to the world in the de-
struction of Memphis can never be known. How
much else of works of art, of historical memorials,
of beautiful buildings, perished may only be sur-
mised. Esarhaddon admits that he carried away
from the temples fifty-five royal statues. It was a
complete overthrow, but the resistance had been
slight and brief, and the land was happily not de-
voted to destruction.
At once Esarhaddon reorganized the govern-
ment of the country. It was already divided
into twenty-two divisions, called nomes. Over
each of these a native prince was set up, who was
really only a puppet in the hands of the Assyrian
officials and assistants by whom he was sur-
rounded. Even the names of the cities were
changed into Assyrian forms, so that, for example,
Sais became Kar-bel-matati (fortress of the lord of
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 231
lands), and Athribis was to be Limir-ishakku-
Asshur, though the inhabitants of the country-
would certainly never adopt such ill-sounding
combinations in the room of that to which their
ears for many generations had been accustomed.*
But that many Egyptians quickly acquiesced in
the new order of affairs is perfectly plain. Over
the twenty-two princes Esarhaddon set Necho of
Sais as chief king, subject, of course, to himself as
the real overlord. Necho went so far in devotion
to his Assyrian masters as even to give his son an
A^yrian Z. It fa no wonder tlfa. the heart of
Esarhaddon swelled with pride when he contem-
plated this conquest. That the youngest power
in the Orient had been able to conquer and now
to administer the affairs of a people who had been
famous and powerful centuries before the first
Babylonian colonists had settled in Asshur was
indeed cause sufficient for boasting.
Though the greatest by far, this conquest of
Egypt was not Esarhaddon's only victory in the
west besides Sidon. Various Arabian tribes had
given trouble to Sargon and to Sennacherib, and
Esarhaddon was not free from the same difficul-
ties. Before his finst Egyptian campaign in 674
he had been compelled to attack Melukhkha.
Melukhkha had indeed no political organization
^ For details of the campaign see the Stele already referred to, E. 8082
(Wmckler, Untertuchungen zur AUorientalischen Oeschichie, pp. 97-99);
Rogers, 7W Texts of Esarhaddon in Haver/ord College Studies No. 2 (with
autograph facsimile of the text); and Bu. 91-2-9, 218 (Winckler, Altorieri'
tcUische Forschungen, ii, pp. 21-28).
232 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
coterminous with its geographical boundaries.
Sennacherib mentions a king of Melukhkha, but
he could hardly have reigned over a country so
extensive as that which the word covers in the
Assyrian inscriptions. Esarhaddon began his raid,
for it was little else, from Palestine. The deserts
were a sore trial to his troops, unused to any such
campaigning, and would have been destruction to
them but for the help given by the people of the
little kingdom of Aribi. Esarhaddon penetrated
into the land as far probably as Mount Shamar.
The king of Melukhkha was taken captive, a mat-
ter of moment only in this, that he might have
become an ally of Egypt. The entire campaign
was only undertaken to set the people in dread of
Assyria and so make them careful to give no aid
or comfort to Assyria's enemies.
In this same connection it is interesting to ob-
serve Esarhaddon's treatment of the small land
of Aribi, the part of northern Arabia which
comes up between Palestine and the Euphrates
valley. The Assyrian kings had already had
dealings with two queens of this country. Tig-
lathpileser, Sargon, and Sennacherib had also rav-
aged in Aribi, and the land had been brought in
a considerable measure under the influence of As-
syria. Hazael, a king of Aribi, had sufiEered much
from Sennacherib, and had been especially be-
reaved in the loss of his gods, which had been car-
ried away. Emboldened, perhaps, by the knowl-
edge that Esarhaddon had reversed his father's
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 233
policy in Babylonia, he besought the king for the
return of his gods. The prayer was granted, and
a friendly feeling thus reestablished. And now
followed a very strange act. Esarhaddon set up a
new queen in Aribi, who appears not to have dis-
turbed the established order at alL Her name
was Tabua, and she had been reared at the As-
syrian court How she could have reigned as
queen while Hazael continued as king is somewhat-
difficult of explanation.' It appears probable that
we have here an instance of a sort of double rule.
Perhaps the situation is like that which existed in
the Nabathean kingdom at a very much later date.
These kings mention their queens in their in-
scriptions and stamp their heads along with their
own upon coins, which would seem to indicate
that they exercised some influence in the state.'
Hazael died during the reign of Esarhaddon, and
was succeeded by his son, variously called Ya'lu
and Yata\
In the i*eign of Esarhaddon there was felt for
the first time in all its keenness the danger of an
overflow of the land by great Indo-European immi-
grations. Long before this time these peoples, liv-
ing in what is now southern Russia, had begun
to spread southward. The Medes formed one great
wave of their migration. They had, however,
' Maspero (Pauing of the JShnpiret^ p. 368) makes her simply the wife of
Hazaelf and says nothing of the expression in Cylinder A and C, iii, 14, in
which dominion over the country is expressly attributed to her.
' Winckler, Oesehiehie, p. 26Y.
2U HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
turned eastward, had settled in the mountains
northeast of Assyria, and beyond Elam, and had
not disturbed the Assyrian empire. Greater mi-
grations than that of the Medes were now becom-
ing severely thi'eatening. One wave swept down
from the northern shores of the Black Sea, and
met with the first Asiatic power in Annenia. Ar-
menia was not now the power it once had been,
but it was, nevertheless, strong enough to separate
the Indo-European horde as by a wedge. One
great mass moved westward into Asia Minor.
The other and much less formidable went west-
ward and southward into the outlying Assyrian
provinces. The name of a leader in this second
stream of migration has come down to us in the
form of Ishpakai, who is called an Ashguzsean,
which may be the same as the biblical Ashkenaz.*
This man, leading his horde of Indo-European bar-
barians, came as far as Lake Urumiyeh. Here he
found the people of Man,' who had felt the As-
syrian power and had paid their annual tribute like
their neighbors. They had, however, been entirely
undisturbed for a long time, as Sennacherib had
not invaded their territory at all during his reign.
In the migration of the Indo-Europeans they saw
s, hope of securing aid by which all allegiance to
Assyria might perhaps be thrown ofiE. It was a
plan of folly, for the new lords which they would
thus secure were not likely to be any better than
- ■ ——^-~
J Jer. li, 27.
* Knudtzon, Auyrische QebeUf ii, p. 180.
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 235
the old ones whom they put off. Esarhaddon,
learning of this alliance, invaded the country and
conquered Ishpakai, apparently without much
trouble.' It was the easy victory of discipline over
disorder. Esarhaddon may have satisfied his own
mind with the thought that he had removed a great
danger, but in reality his victory was of very slight
consequence. He had indeed broken down this
alliance, but he had not disposed of the hordes of
men who formed the migration. Their leaders
were ever seeking some new method of harassing
his outposts and plundering his tributary states.
Some, like Kashtariti, even threatened the very ex-
istence of the commonwealth, for he attempted to
form a great coalition of the Mannai, the Cinmierians,
and the Chaldians. It fell to pieces from mutual
jealousies, but not without sending Esarhaddon in
dread to consult still further the oracles of the sun
god.'
While there were shrewd men like Kashtariti
among these immigrants, who needed to be treated
with consideration and firmness, the greater mass
were like dumb, driven cattle. The Indo-Europeans,
indeed, were not an organized body aiming at a
definite conquest of Assyrian territory. They were
rather hordes of semibarbaric and hungry men
pushed from old homes and seeking new ones.
Many of them settled in Man, and cared not if
they did have to join in the annual payment of an.
' Cylinders A and C, ii, 27-31 ; B, col. Hi, 16-18.
* Knudtzon, Aaayrische Oebete^ ii, pp. 72-82.
236 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Assyrian tribute. The great bulk of the migra
tion moved on into the Assyrian province of Par-
sua, which was quietly and irresistibly overflowed
and filled with a new population. Then spreading
yet farther, they went on into Media. Here was
already settled a population of closely related
stock who had migrated thither at an earlier day,
and had, as we have seen, offered but a feeble re-
sistance to the Assyrian kings who were engaged
in plundering raids. They were unable to keep
out the newcomers who quietly settled among
them. Some of the Median princes appealed to
Esarhaddon for aid in keeping out the unwelcome
immigrants. The Medes had formed as yet no
central government. They had not been genuinely
engrafted into the Assyrian empire, and they were
unable in any united way to oppose the new mi-
gration. If there had been less centralized gov-
ernment in Assyria and no standing army, the
very soU of the ancient Assyria would undoubt-
edly have been overrun. Only the disciplined
forces which were ready to oppose them wherever
they appeared diverted the barbarians who had
passed eastward from Urartu into Media.
Among the Median princes who begged Esar-
haddon for help against the engulfing wave were
Uppis of Partakka, Sanasana of PartiJdsia, and Ra-
mateya of Urakazabarna.' Esarhaddon was prob-
ably glad of the invitation to interfere. He had
reason to be, for he was threatened in a twofold
> Cylinders A and C, iv, 19-87, Keilituehri/t Bibl., ii, pp. 182-186.
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 237
manner by this migration on his eastern borders.
In the very beginning be was being deprived of
control in provinces from which much tribute had
been brought, and without the payment of tribute
the standing army which had made Assyria pow-
erful could not be kept up. Assyrian merchants
would never pay taxes for its maintenance. He
was further in fear lest these new Indo-Europeans
engrafted on the old stock might make a new state
with a government of its own, central in position,
ample in authority, and strong enough to thi*eaten
its neighbors no less than to maintain its own in-
tegrity. When that came to pass Assyria would
have on the east an enemy more dangerous than
Chaldia had been on the north. Esai*haddon^s
campaign to help these Median princes amounted
to nothing in its results, and we are, of course,
not told how much the army suffered in losses be-
fore it was withdrawn.
Another expedition with similar purposes was
directed against the country of Patusharra, which
Esarhaddon carefully locates between the Bikni
mountains (Demavend) and the desiert, which
must be the salt desert of northern Persia. Here
he took prisoners two Medo-Persian princes named
Shitir-pama and Eparna.' There was no valuable
result from this expedition also, or we had had it
set forth with much earnestness and enthusiasm
by Esarhaddon. That he was alarmed by these
easterly migrations is beyond doubt.
> Cylinders A and C, iv, 8-18 ; B, iv, 8-9.
Sah HIBTOEY C^r BABTLOKIA AXI> ASSTElA.
The nomads could not pieroe xbe andent land
nor approach to Kineveh itself: the armies were
too stiroDg and the fortified outposts toc» BumeroiiB
for that Thej were, however, qniddT over-
Bpreading a nch and xalnable country which the
Aaenrrians had tried to conquer, and had partiaJlT
succeeded in conqneiing, and had undoubtedly
hoped to fit fuQj intc» the empire. But the no-
mads were mating this forever impoasibk. The
Afisjiians armies might cx>nquer them liere and
there, but it was only aloug the edges of the slow-
moving current. The great volume pressed be-
hind, and the tide advanced again. £saihaddon
was at last compelled to accept the inevitable, and
watched fearfully while the people who had been
nomads as it seemed but yesterdav were settled in
the valleys, engaged in agriculture, and Tnat-iTig
the first steps toward the oiganization of a new
state. In these days the provinoes which had been
first overrun and plundered by the Assyrians, and
then organized and colonized* were taken from As-
syria forever. Herein was enacted the same drama
which centuries later took place in Italy, as the
northern barbarians came southward over the
mountains and seized the plains of Lombardy.
Borne could make only a feeble resistance, and a
little later even the capital went down before
theuL The parallel goes even that far also, for
Nineveh likewise was done to destruction through
the help of these same barbarians who now settled
in her outlying provinces.
THE REIGN OF ESARH ADDON. 23^
We have traced from its first diversion in Ur-
artu the eastern branch of the Indo-European
migration until its settlement in the northeastern
Assyrian provinces and in Media. The western
branch was vastly more formidable in numbers and
power. While the eastern branch has no distinctive
general name applied to the entire body, the west-
em is known under the name of the Cimme-
rians. From Urartu they went westward, pass-
ing through the provinces of Assyria which had
formed the kingdom of Urartu. Assyria was un-
doubtedly fearful of the issue. If the head of
the stream should be diverted southwai'd ever
so little, it would be pressed by the following
masses into Mesopotamia, and no man was far-
sighted enough to know the result of a situa-
tion like that. The end of the Assyrian em-
pire might even now be at hand. Esarhaddon
must strike the moving body a blow strong
enough to sweep it farther northward and make
certain its diversion into the land of Asia Minor,
and not into Syria. He did deliver his stroke
against the Cimmerians at a place called Khu-
bushna, in northern Cilicia. He boasts that he
conquered Teuspa, a Cimmerian, a Manda — that is,
a nomad or Scythian.* There is very little to be
said of the victory, and the probability is that
Esarhaddon had not assaulted the main body at
all, which was moving rather northwesterly, but
only one portion which had turned southward.
> Cylinder A and C, ii, 6-9.
240 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
However that may be, the chief object of Esarhad-
don's concern was achieved. The Cimmerians
moved on into Kappadokia, entering Asia Minor
rather than Mesopotamia. The little kingdoms
of Meshech and Tabal fell before the tide of mi-
gration. Assyria lost by it some fine provinces in
the northwest, as we have seen that it did in
the northeast, through the invasion of the other
branch of emigrants. With the exception of these
losses Assyria suffered little. It is, however, not
to be doubted that no such danger had ever be-
fore assailed the Assyrian empire. Esarhaddon had
saved it. A weak king at this juncture would have
lost all, and Assyria, a barbarism in the robes of
civilization, would have been engulfed. It is idle
to speculate on the possibilities had such been
the end of the invasion. The passing of the head-
ship of the Semitic races from Assyria must have
had momentous consequences. The passing of the
leadership in western Asia from Semitic to Indo-
Earopean hands was clearly impending, but it
was now postponed through the energy, the fore-
sight, and ability of Esarhaddon. Even if his
name had not been enrolled among the greatest of
Assyrian kings by the conquest and annexation of
Egypt, he would have deserved the position by
the deliverance from the Cimmerians and their
eastern fellows in these very threatening days.
The ill arrangement and the fragmentary chai'-
acter of the Esarhaddon texts leave us much in
doubt concerning the latest events of his reign.
THE REIGN OF ESARHADDON. 241
He took the city of Arzania, in the Syrian desert,'
in one of his later campaigns, though we do not
know just what led to the attack.
In 669 a rebellion of some kind broke out in
Assyria, We have no knowledge of its cause or
purpose, but it was put down with a strong hand,
Esarhaddon promptly causing the death of the
<;hief men concerned in it." A man of his tempera-
ment was not likely to be lenient in such matters.
In 668 he undertook a campaigii into I^ypt.
We are not well informed as to the cause of .this,
for our knowledge of it rests not on any of Esar-
haddon's own inscriptions, but only on the brief
mention of the Babylonian Chronicle.* It is prob-
able that there had already begun in Egypt the
situation which demanded the strenuous efforts of
Esarhaddon's successor.
Before he set out on this expedition he must
have felt some premonitory symptoms which made
him doubt the long continuance of his life, for he
took steps to provide for his successor. In this
he may have been influenced by a desire to spare
the people, if possible, such a chapter of difficul-
ties as confronted him in the be^nning of his own
reign. In the month of lyyar, 668, at the great
festival of Gula, he caused to be published a
proclamation commanding all the inhabitants of
Assyria, both great and small, from the upper to
> Cylinder A and C, i, 65, 66.
^ Babylonian Chronicle, It, 29.
• Jbid^ 80.
16 »
242 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the lower sea, to honor and acknowledge his son
Asshurbanapal as the crown prince and future
king. This was the deed of a wise and prudent
man. Unhappily he coupled with it another
provision, which was fraught with the most awful
consequences, and can only be characterized as an
act of folly. In Babylon at the same time he
caused his son Shamash-shum-ukin to be proclaimed
as king of Babylon. If Asshurbanapal was to
rule as king in Assyria, and another brother was
to be king in Babylon, no matter what regulations
of power or agreements of authority were arranged
between them, there was inevitably a reopening of
the old difficulty, the old jealousy and strife, be-
tween Assyria and Babylonia. Sennacherib had
felt this so severely that he had tried to terminate
all disputes by the destruction of Babylon. Esar-
haddon had undone that wrong by rebuilding the
city — a colossal enterprise now nearly finished —
and from the very beginning of that great work
until this proclamation of Shamash-shum-ukin he
had secured peace and at least a measure of con-
tentment m Babylonia. There was now strong
reason to hope that by rapid and easy intercourse
between the two great sections of the Semitic race
all ancient animosities and jealousies might die out
and the countries really become one. This could
only be brought about by the possession of power
in the hands of one king, by centralization, in
which, while Assyria held chief place, Babylonia
should yet receive the honor due her, because
THE REIGN OF ESAEHADDON. 243
of her venerable antiquity and her great culture.
Instead of a wise provision for the continuance of
the order by which Esarhaddon was king of As-
syria and shaJckanak of Babylon — ^an order that
for now twelve long years had produced and
maintained peace — Esarhaddon had provided for
the return of an old order, often tried and always
a failure. Babylonia would get a taste of semi-
independence and would at once yearn for some^
thing more. The ruler set over her, be he never
so faithful to his father and to Assyria, would be
forced inevitably into rebellion or lose his head
and his throne altogether. In this decision Esar-
haddon was following old oriental precedents,
which have also often been imitated since his
day. He was dividing his kingdom, and there
would be shedding of blood ere the reuniting, if,
indeed, it were possible ever to achieve it.
The forebodings of Esarhaddon had been well
founded. On his way to Egypt he fell sick, and
on the tenth day of Marcheshwan, in the year 668,
he died.*
He had had sore trials and great difficulties. He
had endured grievous defeats and sustained severe
losses, but he had, nevertheless, had a glorious
reign. That the provinces which once paid great
tribute were lost to the Indo-Europeans upon the
northeast and northwest was less his fault than his
misfortune. No king could well have done more
than he, and it is to the credit of his ability that
1 Babylonian Chronicle, it, 31, Keainachrift. BibL, u, pp. 284, 286.
f
244 mSTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
he did not lose much more, even the whole of
Mesopotamia or even Assyria, for no army, how-
ever well led, was of permanent value against a
moving mass of men with unknowing and unthink-
ing thousands pressing from the rear. These
losses were far more than compensated by the
gaining of the fertile and beautiful valley of the
Nile. With this added, even though much was
lost, Esarhaddon left the Assyrian empire larger
and greater than it had ever been before. In bat-
tle and in siege, in war against the most highly
civilized peoples and in war upon barbarians,
Esarhaddon had been so successful that he must
rank with Sargon and Tiglathpileser III, and must
be placed far in advance of his father, Sennacherib.
In him, in spite of mercy shown a number of times,
there raged a fierceness and a thirst for blood and
revenge that remind us forcefully of Asshumazir-
pal. His racial inheritance had overcome his per-
sonal mildness.
In works of peace no less than in war he was
great and successful In the city of Nineveh he
restored and entirely rebuilt a great arsenal and
treasure-house which had already been restored
by Sennacherib.* At Tarbis he began the erec-
tion, probably somewhat late in his reign, of a
great palace intended for the occupation of his son
Asshurbanapal. At Calah he also began an im-
mense palace, which remained unfinished when he
died. The excavated ruins reveal a ground plan
1 Cylinders A and C, iy, 49-59.
THE REIGN OF ESARH ADDON. 246
of vast extent, and the fragmentary sculptures
show that the building was richly decorated and
beautified.
All these constructions, though they were nu-
merous enough and great enough to have lent dis-
tinction to the reign of almost any of the kings
who had reigned before him, were comparatively
insignificant by the side of the rebuilding of
Babylon. In spite of the inscriptions and the
fragments which are devoted to the celebration of
this work it is impossible to form any adequate
idea of so colossal an undertaking. He saw the
city reinhabited and beginning again a glorious
career, where, at the beginning of his reign, there
had been a swamp and a desert.
The last reign of great achievements in both
war and peace was over in Assyria. The mor-
row would bring change and confusion. A man
who had mingled mildness and severity in unusual
degree had gone out from among men, and his
sons would never be able to eidiibit such quali-
ties in union.
246 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER X.
THE REIGN OF A8SnUKBANAPAL.
When Esarhaddon was dead there was no war
of succession and no difficulty about the passing
to his son of all his powers and titles. Asshur-
banapaly the Sardanapalus of the Greeks and the
Latins, and the Asnapper * of the Old Testament,
became king in Nineveh, and his brother, Sham-
ash-shum-ukin, was likewise everywhere received
as king of Babylon. The dual control in the As-
syrian empire began with great promise of success,
though exposed to the difficulties and dangers al-
ready enumerated.
Of this reign we have much historical material.'
^ £zra It, 10, R. V., Osnappar ^'HB^DfiltV better Asenapp&r.
* It is quite impossible to give any useful survey of the inscriptions of
this reign. The most important is the splendidly preserved Rassam Prism,
containing 1,808 lines of writing on ten sides, published V R. I-IO (with
numerous variants from other texts). It is translated into German by P.
Jensen, KeUituchri/t. Bihl.^ ii, 152-287. In addition to the translation of
this particular text Jensen has also translated certain parallel and supple-
mental passages from other inscriptions (t^'dl, pp. 286-269), in which most
of the matter needed for historical purposes is contained. For more com-
plete lists of the inscriptions belonging to the reign the following may be
consulted : Bezold, Kurtgefauter Ueherhlick iiber die BabyUmiMcK-AwfrUche
LUeratur^ pp. 108-121 ; George Smith, History of Assurhanipal^ London,
1871 ; Samuel Alden Smith, Die KeUechrifUexte Asurbanipats Kiinigi von
Aesyrien (678-626 v, chr.) nach dem seibet in London eopierten Orundtext^
mil Transcription, Uebertetzang, Kommentar und volhtandigen Olonar.
Leipzig, 1887-89. There are discussions of some important questions con-
ceming the Asshurbanapal texts in Winckler, AUorientalische Forsehungen^
especially i, pp. 244-253, 474-483. In the narrative below references are
given to other inscriptions and to detailed investigations concerning them.
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 247
Asshui'banapal was devoted to the collection of
books, and equally interested in their production.
He took pains that his deeds and his wars, his
buildings and his very thoughts and hopes, should
be carefully written down. No inscriptions of any
previous reign are so beautifully written as his.
None are so smooth in their phrases, so glowing
in their pictures, so sweeping in their style. But
the care as to form was carried so far as to obscure
at times the sense, and one wishes for the bald
directness of the older monuments. Furthermore,
to our present great discomfiture, the inscriptions
are not written in annalistic form, with the events
of every year carefully blocked out by themselves.
We are therefore often at a loss to determine ex-
actly in what year an important event took place.
The events are set forth in campaigns, and as the
campaigns are not coterminous with the years, it
is impossible accurately to date events. To add
to the difficulty the Babylonian Chronicle does not
help us any longer with its brief notes of events
and their exact location in time.' The only dates
of his reign which have come down to us beyond
all doubt are, first, the very central event of the
reign, the result of the inevitable conflict with his
brother, and, secondly, the date of his death. We
are therefore deprived of any guide to the chro-
nology of the events, and are compelled to view
them all as Asshurbanapal has arranged them for
^ The Babylonian Chronicle ends at the very beginning of Asshurbana-
paFs reign, with a notice of the campaign in Kirbit,mentione<l below.
248 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
US, in the form of campaigns. This is the more un-
satisfactory, as we have, at least in one instance,
clear proof that the order of the campaigns is
logical rather than chronolo^caL Asshurbanapal^
or rather his historiographer, has grouped them
according to a scheme along which they seemed
to his mind to develop. That this order was arti-
ficial rather than natural is shown by one brief
hint in the Babylonian Chronicle concerning an
expedition to Kirbit, a district of Elam. From
Kirbit plundering hordes of men had been sweep-
ing down into Emutbal, which was the original
home land of Eri-Aku before he entered upon rule
at Larsa. Emutbal now belonged to Babylonia,
and Asshurbanapal must defend it if possible. To
discharge this obligation he either led or sent an
army against it which soon devastated the land^
"dyed the rivers with blood as one dyes wool" —
the phrase is Asshurbanapal's — ^and plundered the
country. This expedition, according to the Chron-
icles,' took place in 667, the first full year of As-
shurbanapal's reign, and was therefore the first
expedition actually begun and ended by him. In
his inscriptions,' however, it figures as the fifth and
not as the first campaign. It was, however, of
little consequence, and the momentous events of
the long and brilliant reign begin with the expedi-
tions to Egypt.
1 Chronicle, it, 87 (KeUin^Hft. Bihl, ii, 284, 286). This date is con-
finned by E. 2846 (Winckler, AUorierUalische Forachungen,, i, pp. 474, if.).
« K 2676, Rev. 6-12, KeUinKhrift. Bihl, ii, pp. 174, 176.
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 249
Esarhaddon had died on the way to Egypt, and
left the necessary expedition as a part of the in-
heritance to his son. When he made his brilliant
campaign in Egypt he had met with but slight
resistance ; Tirhaqa had not fought at all, but had
fled to Nubia. Esarhaddon did not pursue him
thither, but reorganized the administration of the
country, and left Tirhaqa to rest in his own home
land. But Tirhaqa waited but a short time to
gain accessions of strength, and then entered
Egypt again, which he speedily reconquered. The
Assyrian officers, petty princes, and civil servants
were unceremoniously driven from the land.
Memphis was retaken, and there Tirhaqa set up
his court. Egypt was in reaUty completely torn
from Assyrian hands, and the wonderful work of
Esarhaddon undone. It was these untoward
events which caused the third Egyptian invasion
by Esarhaddon, during which he died. All these
events are narrated in the inscriptions of Asshur-
banapal as though they had taken place in his
own reign, and not in the last year of his father's.
He has some excuse for this, apart from the de-
sire of further glory for himself. He probably
considered himself as the real king from the
twelfth day of lyyar, 668, when he was pro-
claimed as crown prince.
Asshurbanapal, as soon as he became king, prob-
ably ordered the army, which had already set out
for Egypt under the leadership of his father, to
proceed. Whether he himself actually took the
250 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
head or sent it on under command of a Tartan is
doubtful The narrative is, as usual, in the first
pei-son, and this does not prove the king's actual
presence. Before Egypt was entered Asshurban-
apal received gifts and protestations of loyalty
from twenty-two princes of the seacoast, who
joined forces with him. He had not far to march
before the army of Tirhaqa was met at Karbanit,
in the eastern or central part of the Delta, where
it was defeated. Tirhaqa had remained in Mem-
phis, and as soon as he heard of the defeat fled to
Thebes. Memphis was occupied by the Assyrians
without opposition, and there were received all
the princes, prefects, and officers whom Esarhad-
don had set in authority in Egypt, but who had
fled from their posts on the return of Tirhaqa.
They were all reinstated and the Assyrian rule
fiimly established. Then, laden ^vith heavy plun-
der from the richest country of the world, the army
returned to Assyria. Whether the leaders of the
army were suspicious of the restored princes or
not, or whether they had received some hint of a
conspiracy, we do not know, but they held them-
selves in readiness for a recall, and did not proceed
directly home.
As soon as the faithless governors thought that
the Assyrian forces were withdrawn three of them,
Sharludari of Pelusium, Pakruru of Pisept, and
Necho of Memphis and Sais, began to plot against
the Assyrian overlordship. They sent messengers
to Tirhaqa asking him to join with them. The
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 261
Assyrian generals were on the watch and caught
the bearers of the traitorous dispatches. With
this clear evidence in hand Sharludari and Necho
were suddenly arrested, and only Pakruru escaped.
Three rebellious cities, Sais, Mendes, and Tanis, all
in the Delta, were taken, apparently without the
striking of a blow. The inhabitants were slain ;
some were flayed alive and their skins were spread
on the city walls, while the bodie? of others were
•impaled upon stakes about the city. So returned
again in the literary days of Asshurbanapal the
hideous atrocities of the days of Asshurnazirpal.
It may well be asked, What had the centuries of
progress done for the Assyrian people ? Ferocity
and thirst for blood were here found in as full
measure as ever. The leaders of the rebellion,
however, were much better treated. They were
carried in chains to Nineveh, where it is hardly
likely that they would be tortured to death. Two
are mentioned no more, and one was handsomely
forgiven. Necho must have been a man of force-
ful character, in whom Asshurbanapal recognized
a servant too valuable to be lost. In spite of his
serious breach of faith he was laden with costly
and beautiful presents and returned to his rule at
Sais, while his son, Nabu-shezib-anni,' whose As-
syrian name bears witness to his father's devotion
to Assyria, was set to rule over the satrapy of
Athribis, also in the Delta north of Memphis.
These events began in 668 ; they were probably
1 His name had been PBammeticus.
250 HISTORY OP BABYLONIA AND ASS^ ^
head or sent it on nnder commap'' ^/aj year of
doubtfuL The narrative is, s*- ;^^t was once
pei'soDy and this does not r j^^ some hope
presence. Before Egyp*" \^' Tirhaqa with-
apal received gifts ar . "y^^ig held out agaiust
from twenty-two p '/!^^i hostile. Othera
joined forces with ' > i^^flt^ *^^ occnpy As-
before the army f Kf^ ^^ ^^J * ^^^g^^g f^r
in the eastern o , y^ '^e. Death hurried him
it was defeate ^^f^^ ^y opportunity for an-
phis, and as '^'yi^^t the arch enemy of all the
Thebes. F ,<g;^
without /'i'/* ^f^e froDi the world of action his
the pri- 'f y.^op^ nevertheless, lived on. Sha-
don h v^^ * ^°' Tanut- Anion, whom the As-
fled ..''V'; rand^"°^°^-* He had now come to
Tb ^ te *°^ succeeded to such rights and
fl ^y ^^ unfortunate Tirhaqa, his stepfather,
J*^ ^^re. With the army of Tirhaqa, and
t^ ^ied, undoubtedly, by the good wishes of
^^^fEgyp^} he came up from Nubia and seized
^^be^ That this was so easily accomplished is
jy another e^'idence that the real power of As-
tfieei ^^^ *^ assembliDg of the iDScription material relating to this
^fptian campaign, Winkler, UrUersuchungen zur AUorientalitchen Oe-
^gjUt^t PP- 101, if., and especially Winckler, AltarientaliKhe Fortchungm^
fp. 478, if.
• The name waa formerly read Urdamani (for example, by Jensen, A«t7-
intchrift, Bihl.^ if, p. 167), and Urdamani was then identified with Red-Amon
or Rud-Amen. The correct reading, Tandamani, and identification with
Tanut- Amon (7>lv^lmn, Tenotamon) were demonstrated by Steindorif
("Die Kcilachnftliche Wiedergabe iEygytischer Eigennamen," Beitrage zur
AsayHologie, i, 356-859.
THE REIGN OF ASSHUEBANAPAL. 253
ksyria was concentrated in the Delta and could
jardly be said to extend much beyond Memphis,
^th Tbebes as a basis Tandamani advanced
pbward and gained foothold in On, or Heliopo-
How long he might have held this place in
^spite of attacks from the Assyiian governors in
Egypt is doubtful, but when he learned of the
iidvaiice of the Assyrian army to relieve the city
he abandoned it and fell back to Thebes. The
Assyrian army then moved on in pnrsait, and of
the next event there are two variant accoanta.
According to one, Tandamani fled from the city
on the approach of the army, and was overtaken
and beaten at Kipkip.' According to the other
version, he was conquered at Thebes, which he at-
tempted to hold.'
The campaign was probably short as well as de-
cisive. By it Asshurbanapal had greatly strength-
eoed the Assyrian hold upon Egypt, bat he, never-
theless, came far short of making it at all permanent..
In fact, the Assyrians could not hope to hold
Egypt so long as a spark of national feeling sur-
vived. To accomplish so great a feat, one or the
other, and perhaps both, of two expedients would
be necessary. The first was colonization upon a
scale more extensive than had ever yet been at-
tempted. If tens of thousands of native-bom As-
syrians could have been transported over distances
< Ruwin cylinder, ii, 86, 87, Jenien, KmliiuiAri/1. BM., U, pp. 16B,
169.
' X. as76, ObT. 1%, Her. 6, Unea 13-74, JenMn, Oii., footnote Na L
254 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
SO great and so exhausting and settled in the conn-
try, these might gradually have permeated it with
new ideas of trade and commerce so thoroughly
that the old national ideas of culture and religious
devotion would have given way to a pursuit of
wealth. By this means national feeling, and with
it desire for the ancient independence, would have
slowly burned out. The second expedient was a
great army of occupation well distributed over the
whole country, commanded not by native princes,
but by Assyrians of undoubted loyalty, but, never-
theless, frequently changed to avoid possible en-
tanglements in local intrigues or incitements to
overweening personal ambition. Asshurbanapal
appears not to have seriously attempted the former
plan. The latter was tried on a small scale, but
as soon as the great civil war began, which was
even now brewing in Babylonia, the troops had to
be withdrawn. Necho remained a faithful vassal to
his death, but his son, Psammetichus, who suc-
ceeded him, declared himself independent even be-
fore the year 660. The taking of Egypt had been
the most brilliant event in the reign of Esarhad-
don. From it the Assyrians had drawn great
treasure, on which the standing army had been
partially maintained. In spite of trials so great a
Mug such as Sargon or Esarhaddon would prob-
ably have held it, but Asshurbanapal was cast in
a different mold. It was the first great loss of his
reign ; others less startling were to follow. The
decline of the Assyrian empire had begun.
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 265
Prom his father Asshurbanapal had also iuher-
ited a campaign against Tyre as he had one against
Egypt. We have already seen how Esarhaddon
had besieged the city on the land side, leaving
open the sea approach. The siege was maintained
steadily, but was long without result, as it was
always possible to introduce abundant provi-
sions from the sea. But slowly the cutting off
of the land approach choked the commerce of
the sea, and Tyre fell by degrees into dire need.
At last Baal deemed it the wiser plan to yield,
probably soon after the beginning of Asshurbana-
pal's reign. The manner of the surrender was
characteristic of all the previous history of Tyie.
He would buy the favor and pardon of the new
king. As a token of his entire submission to As-
syrian suzerainty he sent one of his daughters and
a number of his nieces to adorn the harem of
Asshurbanapal, and his own son, Yahi-melek, to be
reared at the court, probably with the idea that
he should be thoroughly educated in Assyrian
ideas. Asshurbanapal sent the son back, but re-
tained the women and the presents which had been
sent with them. The fall of Tyre is described as
the third campaign ' of Asshurbanapal, but the city
must have yielded as early as 668, since we find
Baal contributing troops to the expedition against
Egypt." At the same time Yakinlu, king of Ar-
* Rassam Cylinder, ii, 49-62, Jenaen, Keilinsehrift. Bihl.^ ii, pp. 169,
170.
' Rm. 3, line 24, S. A. Smith, Die KeiUehrifttexU AturbanipaU^ ii,
pp. 26, 27.
256 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
vad, sent his daughter to the harem with gifts,
and so indicated his submission to the new tyrant
In like manner, also, Mukallu, a prince of Tabal,.
and Sandasharm6 of Cicilia indicated their adher-
ence to the empire.
In close connection with these submissions the
historiographer of Asshurbanapal narrates with
unction a curious double episode. The first part
of it represents Gyges, king of Lydia, in far-off
Asia Minor, dangerously pressed by the Cimme-
rians and dreaming that Asshurbanapal could and
would save him. Forthwith he dispatched an
embassy to the great king praying his assistance.
When the border of Assyria was reached the
leader of the horsemen was greeted with the As-
syrian question, " Who then, art thou, stranger,
thou from whose land no courier has yet made his
way?'' Unable to speak Assyrian, the ambassa-
dors could make known their mission only by
signs, but were at last conducted to Nineveh.
After much search a man was found who could
unravel the mystery and interpret the story of the
dream.' Asshurbanapal sent no help in visible
form, but was contented with beseeching Asshur
and Ishtar to help Gyges against his adversaries.
Thus assisted, Gyges attacked the on-moving
hordes, gained a great victory, and sent two cap-
tured chiefs to Assyria as proof of the work
'The story of the ambassador's visit is told in Cylinder E, 1-12,
G. Smith, HUtory of AsautiMinipal, pp. 76, 77 ; KeUin$ehri/t, Bibl., ii»
pp. 172. 178.
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 257
wrought by the gods of Assyria. There needed
only that the converse should be proven, and the
king^s faith in his gods would be well fortified.
The opportunity for this demonstration arose a
little later when Psammetichus of Egypt had de-
clared his independence. Gyges gave him sup-
port, and so broke his compact of friendship with
Assyria. Asshurbanapal prayed again to his gods,
and this time not for, but against, the faithless
Gyges ; whereupon the Cimmerians, whom he had
easily conquered before, but were now led by
Dugdamme and thoroughly disciplined, fell on
him and possessed his entire land, while his dead
body was cast out in the way before them. His
son, who inherited a broken kingdom, asked the
help of the Assyrians and their permission to
occupy his heritage.*
The fourth campaign was directed against the
land of Man, where Akhsheri was king. The cir-
cumstances which led to the invasion are not
clearly set forth, but there had probably been a
rebellion against the monotonous tribute. The
land had undoubtedly received many new inhab-
itants through the Indo-European invasion, and
these were not likely to bear the tribute which
the previous inhabitants had borne. The Assyrian
army soon reduced the province to subjection, and
the rebellious Akhsheri was numbered among the
slain. His son, Ualli, succeeded to the throne,
1 Rassam Cylinder, ii, 96-125, Jensen, KeUinaehHft. BilU., ii, pp. 172-
177.
17
258 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
and upon him was laid a heavier tribute, to be
paid in horses.*
At the same time Asshurbanapal made a raid
upon Biris-Khadri, a Median prince, and upon
Sarati and Parikhia, sons of Gagi,* prince of SakhL
It ended with the taking of a few fortified cities
and the deportation of the inhabitants/ By such
raids as this the Medes were being taught to hate
the Assyrians, as the west had long since learned
to hate them.
Again in the first half of his reign had Asshur-
banapal to do with Elam. For a long time there
had been peace between the two countries. As
we have seen, the people of Elam had laid aside
the old-time hostility to the Assyrians and had
given over assisting their enemies. Ummanaldash
had not received Merodach-baladan when he fled
to him for refuge. And, as was still more remark-
able, the Assyrians had shown great friendship
and charity toward their erstwhile enemies.
When a famine arose in Elam, Esarhaddon, dis-
playing again his merciful side, suffered the Elam-
ites who were in hunger to seek refuge in Baby-
lonian territory and permitted the export of grain
to others who remained in Elam. When the fam-
1 Rassam GyUnder, u, 126-m, 26.
' Gagi has been often identified with Gog, Ezek. xxxviii, 2 ; for example,
by Schrader Keilinschri/ten und OesehiehUforBchung^ p. 169, note, and
Delitzsch, Paradiat, p. 247, but this is hardly probable. An identification
with Gyges, king of Lydia, is more likely. See £. Meyer, OeaehicMe des Al-
ierthuTMy i, p. 668 ; Sayce, sub voce^ Dictionary of the Bihle^ ed. HasUngs,
ii, p. 224.
'Cylinder B, iii, 102-iv, 14, Jensen, op. cit., pp. 178-181.
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 259
ine was past he gave a final and remarkable proof
of his friendly puiposes by arranging for the re-
turn to Elam of the temporary exiles. Such
peace as this was too good for long continuance,
and now was suddenly and rudely broken. We
are not informed exactly as to the causes which
induced Urtaki, king of Elam, to break the com-
pact of friendship by a hostile invasion of Baby-
lonia. Asshurbanapal did not at once repel the
invaders, but delayed until they had reached
Babylon itself, when he drove them not only from
Babylon, but also over the borders into Elam.*
Urtaki soon after died, and as a natural oriental
consequence there were disturbances in his king-
dom immediately afterward. His brother, Teum-
man, seized the throne, dispossessing both a son
of Urtaki and another of the former king, Umman-
aldash. These he tried to assassinate, but they,
with seventy relatives, made their way to the
court of Asshurbanapal, who gave them refuge
and refused to deliver them up when demanded
by Teumman. Teumman certainly had boldness
fortified twice over, for he entered northern Baby-
lonia and threatened the country to induce As-
shurbanapal to deliver up the fugitives. Asshur-
banapal, who was now celebrating some religious
festivals in Assyria, instead of directly attacking
and repulsing the invader, sent an anny to Dur-
ilu, the old outpost against Elam. This move cut
off the direct retreat of Teumman and compelled
* Cylinder B, iv, 15-83, Jensen, op. cU.^ pp. 244-247.
260 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
him to return to his capital, Susa, by a road below
the river Ulai (modem Karun). The Assyrian
army then pursued, and overtaking him before
Susa, administered a telling defeat. Teumman
was taken soon afterward and killed. The remain-
ing districts of Elam then capitulated, and Asshor-
banapal made Ummanigash, one of the fugitives
to his court, king; while his brother Tanunaritu
was set over one of the Assyrian provinces.
During the progress of these two campaigns the
tribe of Gambuli was in a state of insurrection.
Bel-iqisha was dead, and his sons, Dunanu and
Sam'agunu, had succeeded him. These as well as
Nabu-naid and Bel-etri, sons of Nabu-shum-eresh,
had not given in their allegiance to Assyria. On
the return from Elam the victorious Assyrian
army marched through their land and destroyed
Shapi-Bel, the capital city of the Gambuli. The
four chiefs were carried in chains to Nineveh.
This series of campaigns against Egypt, the
west, and the east filled about fifteen years of the
reign of Asshurbanapal. They are a doleful cata-
logue of plundering raids and of attempts to crush
frequent rebellions. Asshurbanapal was holding
with extreme difficulty the empire which his
fathers had built up. There were ominous cracks
in the structure, for Egypt was likely to fall away
at any time, while the Medes were already begin-
ning to appreciate their own strength and to un-
derstand the weakness of Assyria. In no part of
his great borders had Asshurbanapal made any
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 261
important gain to Assyrian territory. He had
introduced no new policy, and was now barely
holding his own; surrounded by dangers which
menaced the continuance of the empii'e.
A danger greater than any other was now ready
to come to the surface. During all these yeai-s
there had been an external peace and calm in
Babylonia. Shamash-shum-ukin had been ac-
knowledged as king, in accordance with his fa-
ther's wall, and in his hands were now the inter-
nal aflfaii's of Babylonia. This arrangement in the
very nature of things could not endure, for the tem-
per of the Babylonian people was utterly foreign to
it. It might from certain points of view appear like
an almost ideal arrangement. It gave freedom in
all matters of local concern, and made it possible
for the Babylonians to devote themselves to art,
literature, and science, as they had always desired.
But the Babylonian people could not be brought
to any such devotion of their talents. They re-
membered the days of old when theirs was the
world's chief city, and when the most sacred and
solemn rites of religion were closely knit into the
framework of their civil administration. How
changed was all this ! Their present ruler was
the son of an Assyrian king, and, in the opinion of
their priesthood, was no properly sanctified king
at aU. He was indeed no king for another reason.
Asshurbanapal was a man of such intense person-
ality, of such overweening pride, that there could
be no king beside him. Shamash-shum-ukin could
262 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
only be an nnderlord in charge of the internal
affairs of a province. He was not paying tribute
as similar princes in other provinces, but in every
other particular his rule was that of a petty prince.
This division of responsibilities between the two
brothers had gone on well for fifteen years. There
had been unusual peace and prosperity in Baby-
lonia. There was entire freedom in Assyiia for
the continuance of war upon rebels, and there was
no reason why the arrangement should not be con-
tinued as far as Assyria was concerned. Let only
Shamash-shum-ukin continue to play the lesser part
and all would be well.
But Shamash-shum-ukin was ambitious.' There
was king's blood in him no less than in his elder
brother, and he aspired to be the independent
king of an independent kingdom. He saw that
this could never be attained by Babylonia acting
alone. He must have aid in some form fipom other
states, and he had nothing to offer for their assist-
ance. He began plotting such a series of rebel-
lions against Assyria as would weaken the em-
pire and hence leave him free from all danger of
attack. The plan had elements of possible suc-
cess. He could not get succor in a bold campaign
against his brother unless he could offer gold or
territory in return for the aid which he received.
* The inscriptions belonging to the reign of Shamash-shnm-ukin hare
been published, translated, and explained in a masterly manner in C. F.
Lehmann, Shamashahumukiuy Konig von Babylon, ingehri/tliehea Material
iiher dm Beginn seiner Regierung, grossentTieiU zum ertten AfaU heraui^
gegeben, UberaeUt und erlduterU Leipzig, 1892.
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 263
Bnt by this method he might stir up Assyrian
provinces to rebel, declaring that so they might
easily win their independence. K a sufficient
number of these rebellions could be started at one
time, Assyria could not possibly put them down.
Beaten on every side, Asshurbanapal must inevi-
tably permit Shamash-shum-ukin to set up an inde-
pendent kingdom. The aid received from the
other states through their rebellions would be
indirect only, and they would have compensation
enough in their own freedom from the oppressor.
The weakness of the plan, however, far exceeded
its strength. It was, in the first place, a plan that
could not be carried on in secret, and secrecy
alone could give it a chance of success. He might
easily approach a people who thought that their
present interests were rather with Assyria, and
would therefore promptly reveal the plot. Once
revealed, the Assyrians might readily evidence
once more their virtue of promptness and over-
whelm the traitorous Babylonians, as they had
done before in the days of Merodach-baladan.
Still further was the plan weak in that it took no
account of the consequences which might follow
the breaking up of the Assyrian empire. Assyria
had more than once saved Babylonia from Ara-
maeans or Chaldeans who threatened to engulf the
whole land. If the martial arm was now broken.
Babylonia would become the instant prey of the
Chaldeans. It is difficult to believe that a plot so
fraught with dangerous consequences, involving
264 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the possible ruin of the land, could have been
hatched in a sane mind. It is charitable to sup-
pose that Shamash-shum-ukin had been utterly
carried away by ambition and by national pride,
and had not fully weighed the dangers which he
was calling into action.
The states which he decided to attempt to draw
into rebellion almost completely hemmed in As-
syria. The first of them was Accad, the portion
of Babylonia, outside of Babylon, which still
remained imder Assyrian rule. The second was
the Ch^dean state in the far south — the old
enemy not merely of Assyria, but also of Baby-
lonia — and below this also the country of the Sea
Lands. To these were added the AramsBan com-
munities in Babylonia, Elam, and Gutiimi, under
which last was now comprised a great stretch of
territory above the Mesopotamian valley, popu-
lated by the Indo-Europeans who had entered it
in the great migration. Finally he roused all the
west land, Syria, Palestine, and Melukhkha. Egypt
was already independent, pursuing its own way
without Assyrian let or hindrance, and therefore
could not be drawn into any such confederation.
As might have been expected in the beginning,
Asshurbanapal had knowledge of the plot long
before it was ready for execution. He did not,
however, take steps for its destruction as promptly
as might have been expected. Whether he was
only playing a part or did in reality so feel, he
at least spent many words in describing his
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 265
brother's faithlessness as a breach of gratitude.
He claims to have done all manner of good deeds
for him, and even declares that it was he who
gave him the throne, though we have already
seen that this act of folly was really done by
Esarhaddon. His words have an air of solemn
sincerity, and are characteristic of the general
tenor of the records of his reign : " In those days
Shamash-shum-ukin, a faithless brother, to whom
I had done good, whom I had established in the
kingship over Babylon, for whom . . . the in-
signia of royalty I had made and presented;
warriors, horses, chariots had I brought together
and placed in his hands; cities, fields, gardens,
and they who dwelt in them , . . had I given
him. But he forgot the grace I had wrought for
him. . , .'^^ It is a curious plaint for a king. It
might have been expected that Asshurbanapal
would have made even the suspicion of a plot ex-
cuse sufficient for an invasion of Babylonia and a
severe castigation of his brother. He waited,
however, until the breach of peace should come
from the brother, hoping thereby, probably, to
justify himself to the Babylonians as the maker
of peace, and not its breaker, when the civil war
was over.
Shamash-shum-ukin struck the first blow, being
probably driven to it by the discovery of the plot.
He first seized Ur and Uruk, which had Assyrian
governors and were directly under the control of
* Rassam Cylinder, col. iii, 70-78, Jensen, op. cU., pp. 182-185.
a
266 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Asshurbanapal. He assumed the titles king of
Sumer and Accad and king of Amnanu. He
added to this high-handed breach of allegiance a
notice to Asshurbanapal that he must no longer
oflEer in Babylon and Borsippa the annual sacrifices
which he had been giving as the suzerain of Baby-
lon. He must not oflEer in Sippar to the god
Shamash, nor in Kutha to the god Nergal. These
cities were then seized, as Ur and Uruk had been,
and fortified. Still Asshurbanapal did not attack,
waiting now until he should receive from the gods
some favorable omen. The omen came in the
night, when it was far spent. He saw in a dream
the moon bearing an inscription wherein was
threatened all manner of famine, wrath, and death
against anyone who should plot against Asshur-
banapal. He need no longer delay. The army
is set in motion and the border crossed. Shamash-
shum-ukin dare not meet that army in open bat-
tle ; his only hope was successftd defense in the
siege which soon must come. He had doubtless
hoped for aid from some of his fellow-conspirators,
but all failed him but one. This was Ummani-
gash, king of Elam, who was won over by a pres-
ent. His act was an act of ingratitude as well as
of hostility, for he owed his throne to Asshur-
banapal's appointment. The absence of Unmiani-
gash in Babylonia gave the favorable opportunity
for a rebellion in Elam, in which his family was
driven out and his brother, Tammaritu, seized the
throne. This was a favorable move for Assyria,
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 267
as it compelled the withdrawal from Babylonia of
the Elamite troops. Tammaiitu, however, was
also no friend of Assyria, and desired rather to
make himself an ally of Babylonia. As soon,
therefore, as he felt himself secure he likewise
sent help to Shamash-shum-ukin.* At once the
old swing of the pendulum began in Elam. An-
other rebellion broke out, Tammaritu was driven
from the country, and Indabigash became king
of Elam.' Tammaritu, as Teumman before him,
sought refuge in Assyria, and Indabigash refused
to have any share in the insuiTection of Shamash-
shum-ukin. The quickness with which these two
Elamite rebellions had followed each other, and
the manner in which they had finally played into
the hands of Asshurbanapal, induce us to believe
that he was the real cause of the second at least,
if not also of the first.
The withdrawal of the Elamite support left
Shamash-shum-ukin in a sorry plight. He had,
indeed, a few troops sent from Arabia, but these
were of slight weight. From the west there was
no help at all, nor did the AramsBans of Baby-
lonia or the Chaldeans give aid. Shamash-shum-
ukin held out as long as possible when besieged.
At last he was conquered by hunger and disease.
So awful was the suffering in Babylon that human
flesh was used for food. When despair depressed
all minds Shamash-shum-ukin committed suicide
1 Rassam Cylinder, iv, 8-7, Jensen, op. cU,y pp. 188, 189.
^ Ihid.^ col. iv, 11.
268 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
by causing himself to be' burned * as a sacrifice to
the people who had suffered so much for his folly.
When the gates were opened and Asshurbanapal
entered the rebellious cities there was enacted an
orgy of wrath and ferocity. Soldiers who had
fought under the orders of Shamash-shum-ukin
were adjudged to have spoken against Asshur
and the great king of Assyria whom he had set
up. Their tongues were torn from their mouths,
and the bodies of their fellows who had died in
the siege were cast out, to be devoured by wild
beasts and carrion-eating birds. To supply the
places of those in Babylon who were given over to
horrible deaths men were brought from Kutha and
Sippar.
Asshurbanapal had pacified the land of Baby-
lonia as his ancestors would have done; he had
given to it the silence of death. There remained
only that he should devise now some method by
which it could be governed. He decided to have
no more government which might tend to a rupture
between the two kingdoms, and so had himself pro-
claimed king under the name of Kandalanu,' adopt-
ing for Babylonia a different name, as Tiglathpi-
leser HI and Shalmaneser IV had done before him.
The first year of his reign in Babylonia, according
to the Canon of Ptolemy, was 647 B. C
' Rassam Cylinder, iv, 50-63, Jensen, op. cit.y pp. 190, 191.
* See Scbrader, " Eineladan und Asurbanipal,** Zeitachri/t fur Keil-
fehrift/arachunffy i, pp. 222-282; Pinches, "Some Recent Discoveries,**
Froeeedinga of ike Society of Biblical Archceologyy y, p. 6 (1882-88).
* See above, vol. i, p. 834.
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 269
As soon as these matters were arranged he in-
vaded the south and punished the Chaldeans, the
AramaBans, and the people of the Sea Lands who
had given in their pledge to Shamash-shum-ukin to
join in a general rebellion against Assyria. The
yoke of bondage was put upon them, Assyrian
governors set over them, and they were com-
manded to pay a regular annual tribute. In this
Asshurbanapal gained a distinct advantage, for
the territory was now more fully in his hands
than it had been since the beginning of his reign.*
Now that all Babylonia as far south as the
Persian Gulf was entirely in a state of peace and
no more uprisings were to be feared, Asshurbana-
pal determined likewise to punish Elam for hav-
ing twice assisted the Babylonians in their rebel-
lion. It is true that Indabigash had kept the peace
until now with Assyria, but the country must
suflEer for the madness of its former kings. An-
other rebellion had broken out in Elam in which
Indabigash had fallen and in his place Ummanal-
dash, son of Attumetu, had become king. There
is no certain proof that this Attumetu was the
same person as he who led a part of the army
which Ummanigash had sent to the assistance of
Shamash-shum-ukin, but the names are the same
and the time fits the identity. If they are the
same, we may perhaps see in Ummanaldash a man
who was made king by the party which sympa-
thized with the Babylonians, and was therefore
* Rassam Cylinder, iv, 97-109, Jensen, op. ct/., pp. 194, 196.
270 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
hostile to Indabigash, who had been pro- Assyrian
in his acts, until just before the end of his reign.
He had then oflEended Asshurbanapal by harboring
Nabu-bel-shume, a descendant of Merodach-bala-
dan. The latter was in the true line of his family
in giving much trouble to the Assyrians. He had
received from Asshurbanapal some Assyrian troops
to protect his country — the Sea Lands — from
Elamite invasion during the war with Shamash-
shum-ukin. Nabu-bel-shume had at first played
the part of a devoted friend of Assyria, and at the
same time had laid his plans to destroy the faith-
fulness of his Assyrian guard, win them over to
himself, and with this added force prepare to seize
what advantage he could when Shamash-shum-
ukin won his independence. The issue did not
fall out that way, and he was compelled to flee his
country and seek refuge in Elam, whither Me-
rodach-baladan had fled before him.
Before the death of Indabigash Asshurbanapal
had demanded of him the surrender of the fugitive
Nabu-bel-shume and his renegade Assyrians. In-
dabigash refused, and Asshurbanapal threatened
war. Before he reached Elam with his armies In-
dabigash was dead and Ummanaldash was on the
throne.* With him the case was no better. If he
was not actually made king, because of his hostil-
ity to Assyria, as suggested above, he was in any
case as unfriendly as the anti- Assyrian party could
desire. In spite, therefore, of the change of rulers
1 Cylinder B, vii, 72-87, and C, 88-115, Jensen, op. cit., pp. 266-269.
1
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 271
in Elam Asshurbanapal pressed on and took Bit-
Imbi, a fortification on the borders. Ummanal-
dash was too new to the throne to be able to turn
attention to an invasion, and needed his strength
to ward off another possible insurrection at home,
in which he might lose his life, as had his prede-
cessors. He therefore forsook his chief city, Ma-
daktu, and fled into the mountains, to a place known
as Dur-Undasi, before which flowed the river Ididi
(probably the Disf ul). The river formed a natural
defense, and here Ummanaldash fortified himself
as best he might. Asshurbanapal followed, tak-
ing the cities one by one as he went, that no dan-
gers might be left in the rear. At last Madaktu
fell, and with the other cities between it and the
Ididi was thrown down and burned. When the
Ididi was reached the river was at flood, and there
was a strong reluctance in the army to attempt it.
Their fears were overcome by a dream granted to
the whole army, in which Ishtar of Arbela spoke
and said, " I go before Asshurbanapal, the king,
whom mine hands have created.'* It is interest-
ing to observe how frequently omens, visions, and
dreams figure in the records of this latter-day As-
syrian king, and how very infrequent they are be-
fore his day. Thus encouraged, the troops crossed
and Dur-Undasi was taken, but Ummanaldash es-
caped into the mountains. Thereupon the whole
land was devastated. Susa, the ancient capital,
was taken, and in its palace Asshurbanapal began
a work of pillage which it would be difficult to
272 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
p£Lrallel in all the earlier records. From the treas-
uries were brought forth the gold and silver which
the kings of Elam, following Assyrian exemplars,
had plundered in raids into Babylonia and else-
where. Precious stones and costly woolen stuflfe,
chariots and wagons, horees and animals of various
kinds, were sent away to Assyria. The temple,
honored and endowed for ages, was broken open
and the gods and goddesses with all their treas-
ures were added to the moving mass of plunder.
Thirty-two statues of kings wrought in gold, sil-
ver, and copper were carried away to Assyria to
be added to the glories of the great conquest.
Then the mausoleum of the kings was violated in
order that even the bones of dead monarchs who
vexed Assyria might be carried into the land which
they had hated. In the end, when all that might
add wealth to Assyria had been taken away, the
entire land was left a smoking ruin, from which,
in the very phrases of the ruthless destroyer, had
been taken away " the voice of men, the tread of
cattle and sheep, and the sound of happy music."
Such is the record of a campaign led by a civilized
monarch, who prided himself on his love of learn-
ing. The savagery of Assyria was not dead, but
in full vigor ; dormant at times it had been, and
the acts of some kings had seemed to promise
amendment and a serious desire to build up rather
than to destroy. These purposes were more clear-
ly shown in Tiglathpileser III and in Esarhaddon
than in any other kings, but even they are limited
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 273
by their base racial instincts. In Asshnrbanapal's
campaign the worst elements had again come to
the surface.'
It is difficult to see how any national life could
survive a ruin such as this, but Elam was not yet
quite dead. Ummanaldash returned to Madaktu
when the Assyrians had withdrawn, and sat down
amid the ruins. To the last he remained faithful
to Nabu-bel-shume, who had continued with him.
Learning that they were together, Asshurbanapal
sent an embassy to demand his surrender. Nabu-
bel-shume, thus hounded to death, and looking
over a land which had been ruined at least partly
for his sake, ordered his aimor-bearer to run him
through. Worn out with fruitless opposition,
Ummanaldash sent the body of the dead man
and the head of the armor-bearer who had slain
him to Asshurbanapal Again the brutality of
the man was shown. He cut oflE the head from
the dead body and suspended it about the neck of
one of Shamash-shum.ukin's foUowers, and com-
manded that the poor body should not receive
even the honor of a burial.'
In the western part of Elam Pa'e had attempted
to gain a position and set up a new kingdom, to
control a part of the now ruined land. But an
army dispatched against him brought him quickly
* For the history of the campaign see Rassam Cylinder, y, 63-yii, 81,
Jensen, op. ciLy pp. 198-215, and compare Billerbeck, Stuaj pp. 112-118.
^ Rassam Cylinder, vii, 88-41. The sense of the passage is incorrectly
given in Jensen's excellent translation in Keilinschri/t. Bibl.^ ii, p. 218.
Comp. Meissner in the ZeiUchrift fur AMyriologie^ x, 88.
18
274 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
to his senses. He came to Assyria and oflEered his
allegiance and submission to Asshorbanapal. Soon
afterward Ummanaldash lost the throne and was
captured by the Assyrians.
So ended the dealings of King Asshurbanapal
with the neighboring states, whose civilization
was at least as old as that of Assyria, and whose
treatment of other nations was not so bad. He
did not attempt to supply the land with a new
government and with the blessings of good admin-
istration, as Tiglathpileser III would have done.
He was content to have deprived it of all possible
opportunity of interfering with his own plans by
further alKance with rebels in Babylonia. The
policy was singularly deficient in farsightedness;
it is indeed to be properly ch6iracterized as folly.
A castigation of Elam may have been necessary
from the Assyrian point of view, but its oblitera-
tion was stupidity. It formed a good buffer state
against the Indo-European population of Media,
and should have been made an ally against the
new power which must soon become an important
factor in the politics of western Asia. Instead of
this Asshurbanapal had only opened a way over
which the destroyers might march when their hour
should come.
In close connection with the Elamite campaigns,
and perhaps at the same time, Asshurbanapal
undertook the punishment of the Arabians for
the assistance, direct and indirect, which they
had given to Shamash-shum-ukin. In the extreme
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 276
northern part of the Arabian peninsula was the
kingdom of Aribi, which has often before ap-
peared in the Assyrian story. Yauta, son of
Hazaely who ruled in it along with Queen Adiya^
had doubly aided Shamash-shum-ukin. He had,
according to compact, seized an entire independ-
ence for his little kingdom, and with that had
also captured a number of localities in Arabia,
Edom, Yabrud, Beth-Ammon, the Hauran, Moab,
Sa'arri, Khargi, and Subiti." In these places he
had settled some of his Arabic hordes who were
clamoring for space for expansion beyond his own
narrow borders. This movement was an indirect
aid to Shamash-shum-ukin of the greatest value, and
if similar movements had taken place elsewhere
as planned, the empire must have fallen to pieces
under the combined assault. Furthermore, Yauta
had rendered direct help of first-rate importance
by sending an army of Kedarenes (Assyrian,
Kadri or Kidri) under the command of two
sheikhs, Abiyate and Ayamu. These Kedarenes
were driven from Babylonia, and at least one of
theii* leaders was taken. The Arabian settlera
were in every case overwhelmed by the local As-
syrian troops. The help had indeed availed little
for Shamash-shum-ukin, but only because there
had been no help from other points whence it had
been expected. Yauta fled into the small king-
dom of Nabatheans, and Uaite, a nephew of his,
gained the throne in Aribi. He dared oppose the
> Probably Zobah, 2 Sam. z, 6, 8 ; 1 Kings zi, 28, etc.
276 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Assyrians who came to take revenge for the as-
sistance which his predecessor had given to the
Babylonian rebellion. He was captured, bound
in chains like a dog, placed in a cage, and carried
to Assyria to be set at a door as one might set a
watchdog/ To such petty and disgusting forms
of punishment had an Assyrian king descended.
As a part of the same campaign Asshur-
banapal took vengeance also upon Ammuladi, a
sheikh of the Kedarenes, because they had been
the men sent to Babylonia by the former king of
Aribi, on whom they were dependent. Ammuladi
had sought refuge in Palestine, where he was con-
quered and taken. Adiya, the queen of Aribi, was
ako taken, and Abiyate made king of Aribi.
Abiyate held this post but a short time. The
events which led to his removal are not quite clear,
but it seems probable that he made some arrange-
ment with Uaite, the son of Bir-Dadda, who had
declared himself king of Aribi, for later Abiyate
appears as sheikh of the Kedai*enes.
A new alliance against Asshurbanapal was soon
formed, composed of Natnu, king of the Nabathe-
ans ; Uaite, king of Aribi ; and Abiyate, prince of
the Kedarenes. The union of these three was a
matter of no mean concern, and Asshurbanapal may
well have been stirred by it. He led an army into
the wilds of Arabia, but did not penetrate into the
territory of the Nabatheans. All the conspirators
save Natnu were captured and taken to Assyria.
1 Rassam Cylinder, ix, 95-109, Jensen, op. cit,^ pp. 226-229.
t t
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 277
On the return from this campaign the cities of
Ushu, belonging to the territory of Sidon, and
Akko, which had joined in a rebellion, were se-
verely punished/
One more word only concerning the external
relations of Assyria stands written in the records
of Asshurbanapal, and it is of peace and not of
war. King Sarduris of Urartu sent to Asshur
banapal messengers bearing presents and words of
friendliness." Urartu was once more strong enough
to maintain some sort of independence. Assyria
had abandoned its attempts to wreck the little
kingdom, and the two were friendly neighbors.
They needed so to be, for each required the help
of the other in warding off the Indo-European in-
vasion that could not much longer be postponed.
Urartu must soon fall a victim, and the danger to
Assyria was scarcely less great.
The Cimmerian swarms who had overwhelmed
Gyges, and then possessed the fertile plains and
valleys of Asia Minor as far as Sardes, returned
later upon their course and harassed the bordera
of the weakened empire of Asshurbanapal. When
Dugdamme * was dead his son, Sandakshatra, was
still able to control and discipline his followers and
hurl them against the Assyrian outposts. Their
> Rassam Cylinder, ix, 115-128, Jensen, cyo, ct<., pp. 228, 229.
• Rassam Cylinder, x, 40-60, Jensen, op, cit,, pp. 280, 231.
'Dugdamme has been correctly identified by Sayce {Academy ^ 1898,
p. 277) with Lygdamis (Strabo, i, iii, § 21), whose name must now be read
Airydafug instead of AirySofu^.
278 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
menace lasted unto the very end of the great king's
days.'
The closing years of Asshurbanapal's long and
laborious reign were largely spent in works of
peace. Even during the stormy years he had had
great interest in the erection of buildings and the
collection and copying of books for his library.
In such congenial tasks his later days were chiefly
spent.
It is not possible to determine in every case
where the buildings were located which he rebuilt
or otherwise beautified. The temple of E-kur-gal-
kurra, in Nineveh, he adorned magnificently and
supplied with a new statue of the god. The tem-
ple of E-sagila, in Babylon, which Sennacherib had
destroyed and Esarhaddon partially rebuilt, he
completed and restored to it with elaborate pomp
and ceremony the god Marduk and his consort Zar-
panit, whom Sennacherib had carried into Assyria.
The temple of E-zida, in Borsippa, also received
new ornaments. Long lists of colossal works else-
where in Babylon, in Arbela, in many a lesser
place, which he carried on, have come down to us.
Above all these works stood the reconstruction of
the vast palace in Nineveh, occupied during his
life by Sennacherib. From the foundation stone
to the roof was this rebuilt in a style of magnifi-
cence never seen before.'
In this palace he lived when war did not call
* See Winckler, AltorierUcUUehe Forschungen^ i, pp. 492-496.
* Rassam Cylinder, x, 61-118, Jensen, op. cit,j pp. 280-286.
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 279
him, and here he slowly gathered his great libraiy
— ^the chief pride of his life. The two kingdoms
were ransacked for the clay books which had been
written in days gone by. Works of grammjir, of
lexicography, of poetry, history, science, and reli-
gion were brought from ancient libraries in Baby-
lonia. They were carefully copied in the Assyr-
ian style, with notes descriptive, chronological, or
explanatory, by the scholars of the court, and the
copies were preserved in the palace, while the orig-
inals went back to the place whence they were
borrowed. The library thus formed numbered
many thousands of books. In it the scholars, whom
Asshurbanapal patronized so well, worked care-
fully on in the writing of new books on all the
range of learning of the day. Out of an atmos-
phere like that came the records of Asshurbana-
pal's own reign. Small wonder is it that under
such conditions his historical inscriptions should
be couched in a style finished, elegant, and rhyth-
mical, with which the bare records of fact of pre-
vious reigns may not be compared at all.
In the year 626 Asshurbanapal died, and the
kingdom which he left was very unlike the king-
dom which he had received of his father. It was,
indeed, still the chief power of western Asia, but
it was not the only power. The day of its unpar-
alleled glory and honor was past. Its bordere
had shrunk sadly, for Egypt was lost, Urartu was
independent, Syria and Palestine were almost at
liberty, and the northeastern provinces were slowly
280 mSTOBY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
but surely casting in their lot with the Manda.
The reign of Asshurbanapal had been one of un-
exampled glory in the arts and vocations of peace.
The temples were larger, more beautiful, more rich
in storied liturgy. Science, whether astronomy or
mathematics, had reached a higher point than in
the history of man before. The literature of As-
syria, though laden Avith a cumbrous system of
writing and a monumental style which was inher-
ited from the age when slabs of stone were the
only writing material, had, nevertheless, under
royal patronage taken on a marvelous development.
Books of song and story, of religion and of law,
of grammar and of lexicography, were produced in
extraordinary nimibers and of remarkable style
and execution. The pride of the Assyrians swelled
as they looked on all these things, and saw beside
them the marvelous material prosperity which
likewise had exceeded all the old bounds. The
Assyrian trader was in all lands, and his wealth was
growing apace. In all these things Asshurbanapal
had marched in advance of his predecessors.
In war only had he failed. But by the sword
the kingdom of Assyria had been founded, by the
sword it had added kingdom unto kingdom until
it had become a world empire. By the sword it
had cleared the way for the advance of its trader,
and opened up to civilization great territories, some
of which, like Urartu, had even adopted its method
of writing. It had held all the vast empire to-
gether by the sword, and not by beneficent and
THE REIGN OF ASSHURBANAPAL. 281
unselfish rule. Even unto this very reign barbaric
treatment of men who yearned for liberty had been
the rule and not the exception. That which had
been founded by the sword and maintained by the
sword would not survive if the sword lost its
keenness or the arm which wielded it lost its
strength or readiness. This had happened in the
days of Asshurbanapal. He had conquered but
little new territory, made scarcely any advance, as
most of the kings who preceded him had done.
He had not only not made distinct advances, he
had actually beaten a retreat, and the empire was
smaller. Worse than even this, he had weakened
the borders which remained, and had not erected
fortresses, as had Sargon and Esarhaddon and
even Sennacherib, for the defense of the frontier
against aggression. He had gained no new allies,
and had shown no consideration or friendship for
any people who might have been won to join
hands with Assyria when the hour of struggle be-
tween the Semites and the Indo-Europeans should
come. On the contrary, his brutality, singularly
unsuited to his period and his position of grow-
ing weakness, his bloodthiratiness, his destructive
raids into the territories of his neighbore, had in-
creased the hatred of Assyria into a passion. All
these things threatened the end of Assyrian pres-
tige, if not the entire collapse of the empire.
The culture which Asshurbanapal had nurtured
and disseminated was but a cloak to cover the
nakedness of Assyrian savagery. It never became
282 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
a part of the life of the people. It contributed
not to national patriotism, but only to national
enervation. Luxury had usurped the place of
simplicity and weakness had conquered strength.
The most brilliant color of all Assyrian history
was only overiaid on the palace and temple walls.
The shadows were growing long and deep, and
the night of Assyria was approaching.
k.
THE FALL OF ASSYRIA. 283
CHAPTER XI.
THE FALL OF ASSYBL^.
AssHUBBANAPAL had maintained internal pea^e
in his empire, and the prosperity which Nineveh
had enjoyed was conducive to a quiet passing of
the succession. He was followed by his son, As-
shur-etil-ili-ukinni, who is also known by the short-
ened form of his name as Asshur-etil-ilL Of his
reign we possess only two inscriptions. The first
occurs in a number of copies, and reads only, " I
am Asshur-etil-ili, king of Kisshati, king of As-
syria, son of Asshurbanapal, king of Kisshati, king
of Assyria. I caused bricks to be made for the
building of E-zida in Calah, for the life of my soul
I caused them to be made." ' The second gives
his titles and genealogy in the same manner, and
adds a note concerning the beginning of his reign,
but it is not now legible. Besides these two
texts there remain only a few tablets found at
Nippur dated in the second and the fourth years
of his reign." These latter show that as late as
the fourth year of his reign he still held the title
» Published I R. 8, No. 8, translated by Winckler, KeilinaehHft, BibL,
ii, pp. 268, 269.
•Hilprecht, " Keilinschriftliche Funde," in ZeUschrifl fur Assyriologie,
lYy pp. 164, ff. The name of this king was originally read Bel-zakir-ishkun
and Bel-shum-ishkun.
i
284 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
of king of Sumer and Accad, and therefore con-
tinued to rule over a large portion of Babylonia,
^if not over the city of Babylon itself.
The ruined remains of his palace at Calah have
been found, and it forms a strange contrast to the
imposing work of Sargon. Its rooms are small
and their ceilings low; the wainscoting, instead
of fine alabaster richly carved, was formed only of
slabs of roughly cut limestone, and it bears every
mark of hasty constraction.;
We have no other remains of his reign, nor do
we know how long it continued. Assyrian records
terminate suddenly in the reign of Asshurbanapal,
in which we reach at once the summit and the
end of Assyrian carefulness in recording the events
of reigns and the passage of time. It is, of course,
possible that there may be buried somewhere
some records yet unfound of this reign, but it is
certain that they must be few and unimportant,
else would they have been found in the thoroughly
explored chambere in which so many royal his-
torical inscriptions have been discovered. It may
seem strange at first that an abundant mass of in-
scription material for this reign should not have
been produced ; that, in other words, a period of
extraordinary literary activity should be suddenly
followed by a period in which scarcely anything
beyond bare titles should be written. But this is
not a correct statement of the case. The literary
1 Layard, Nineveh and its Remains^ ii, pp. 88, 89 ; Nineveh and Babylon^
p. 568.
* . . ■ _ *
THE FALL OF ASSYRIA. 285
productivity did not cease with Asshur-etil-ili-
ukinni It had already ceased while Asshurbanapal
was still reigning. The story, as above set forth,
shows that we have no knowledge of the later
years of his reign. The reign of*Asshur-etil-ili-
ukinni only continued the dearth of record which
the later years of Asshurbanapal had begun. As
in some other periods of Assyrian history, there
was indeed but little to tell. In his later days
Asshurbanapal had remained quietly in Nineveh,
interested more in luxury and in his tablets or
books than in the salvation of his empire. In
quietness somewhat similar the reign of his suc-
cessor probably passed away. He had no enthu-
siasm and no ability for any new conquests. He
could not really defend that which he already
had. The air must have been filled with rumors
of rebellion and with murmurs of dread concern-
ing the future. The future was out of his power,
and he could only await, and not avert, the fate of
Assyria. It did not come in his reign, and the
helpless empire was handed on to his successor.
There is doubt as to who the next king of As-
syria may have been. Mention is found of a cer-
tain king whose name was Sin-shum-lishir, who
must have reigned during this period, and perhaps
it was he who followed the son of Asshurbanapal
upon the throne. Whether that be true or not,
we have no word of his doings.
The next king of Assyria known to us was Sin-
shar-ishkun. He had come to the throne in sorry
286 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
times, and that he managed for some years to keep
some sort of hold upon the falling empire is at
least surprising. No historical inscription, in the
proper sense of the word, has come down to us
from his reign. One badly broken cylinder,* for
which there are some fragmentary duplicates, has
been found in which there are the titles and some
words of empty boasting concerning the king's
deeds. Besides this we have only three brief busi-
ness documents found in Babylonia.* These are,
however, very interesting because they are dated
two of them in Sippar and the third in Uruk.
The former belong to the second year of the king's
reign and the latter to the seventh year. From
this interesting discovery itappeare that for seven
years at least Sin-shar-ishkun was acknowledged
as king over a portion of Babylonia, though the
city of Babylon was not included in this district.
We have no knowledge of the events of his
reign based on a careful record, as we have had be-
fore, and what little we do know is learned chiefly
from the Babylonian inscriptions. The Greeks
and Latins contradict each other so sharply, and
are so commonly at variance with facts, amply
substantiated in Babylonian documents, that very
little can be made out of them. It is a fair infer-
ence from the records of Nabonidus, whose histo-
1 I B. 8, 6, translated by Winckler, KeUiruekn/t. Bibl., ii, pp. 270, 271.
* Eretts in Strassmaier^s BabyUmitehe Texie^ yi, B., p. 90 ; Winckler,
Berliner PhUolopische Wochmtchrify 18 May, 1889, coL 686, footnote,
and King, '* Sin-shar-ishkun and His Rule in Babylonia,** Zeiitehrift fur
Attffriologie^ ix, pp. 896, ff.
THE FALL OF ASSYRIA. 287
riographers have written carefully of tliis period,
that Sin-shar-ishkun was a man of greater force
than his predecessor. He already possessed a part
of Babylonia, and desired to make his dominion
more strong and compact, and also wished to in-
crease it by taking from the new Chaldean empire,
of which there is much to be told later, some of its
fairest portions. Nabopolassar was now king of
Babylon, and Sin-shar-ishkun invaded the territory
of Babylonia when Nabopolassar was absent from
hia capital city carrying on some kind of cam-
paign in northern Mesopotamia directed against
the Subaru. This cut off the return of Nabopo-
lassar, and brought even Babylon itself into dan-
ger. What was to be done in order to save his
capital but secure allies from some quarter who
could assist in driving out the Assyrians ? The
campaign of Nabopolassar had won for him the
title of king of Kisshati, which he uses in 609, at
which time he was in possession of northern Mes-
opotamia. It was probably this year or the year
before (610 or 609) that Sin-shar-ishkun attacked
the Babylonian provinces. Nabopolassar found it
very difficult to secure an ally who would give
aid without exacting too heavy a price. If Elam
had still been a strong country, it would have
formed the natural ally, as it had been tradition-
ally the friend of the Chaldeans. But Elam was
a waste land. The only possible hope was in the
north and west. To the Umman-Manda must he
go for help. At the time of Nabopolassar, and
288 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
also as late as Nabonidas, the word Manda was
used generally as a term for the nomadic peoples
of Kurdistan and the far northeastern lands. The
Babylonians, indeed, knew very little of these
.peoples. The Assyrians had come very closely
into touch with them at several times since the
days of Esarhaddon. They had felt the danger
which was threatened by the gi'owth of a new
power on their borders, and they had suffered the
loss of a number of fine provinces through it.
This new power was Indo-European, and the peo-
ple who founded and led it are confused by the
Greek historians of a later day with the Medes.
To appeal to the Manda for help in driving out
the Assyrians from Babylonia was nothing short
of madness. There were many points of approach
between Babylonia and Assyria, there were many
between Assyria and Chaldea. There was no
good reason why these two peoples should not
unite in friendship and prepare to oppose the fur-
ther extension of the power of the Manda. The
Assyrians certainly knew that the Manda coveted
Assyria and the great Mesopotamian valley, and
the Babylonians might easily have learned this if
they did not already know it.
But Nabopolassar either did not know of the
plans and hopes of the Manda, or, knowing them,
hoped to divert them from himself against Assyria,
and he ventured to invite their assistance. They
came not for the profit of Nabopolassar, the Chal-
deans, and Babylonia, but for their own aggran-
THE FALL OF ASSYRIA. 289
dizement. Sin-shar-ishkon and his Assyrian army
were driven ba^k from northern Babylonia into
Assyria, and Nabopolassar at once possessed him-
self of the new provinces. The Manda pushed on
after the Assyrians, retreating toward Nineveh.
Between them there could only be the deepest
hostility. In the forces of the Manda or Scythi-
ans • there must be inhabitants of provinces which
had been ruthlessly ravaged by Assyrian conquer-
ors. They had certainly old grievances to revenge,
and were likely to spare not. There is evidence
in abundance that Assyria was hated all over
western Asia, and probably also in Egypt. For
ages she had plundered all peoples within the
range of her possible influence. Everywhere that
her name was known it was execrated. The voice
of the Phoenician cities is not heard as it is lifted
in wrath and hatred against the great city of
Nineveh, but a Hebrew prophet, Nahum, utters
the undoubted feeling of the whole Western world
when, in speaking of the ruin of Assyria^ he says,
" AU that hear the bruit of thee [the report of thy
fall] clap the hands over thee: for upon whom
hath not thy wickedness passed continually?"*
Nabopolassar did not join with the Mania in
the pniBuit of the Assyrians, for he was anxious
to settle and fix his own throne and attend to the
* The name Manda in the Babylonian texts applies to the same peoples
that are called SaksD or Scythians by the Greeks. See DelattrCf Le PeupU
et V Empire des Medea j p. 190 ; Winckler, Untenuchungen xur altorietUal'
iachen Oeschichie, pp. 112, 124, 126.
« Nah. m, 19.
19
290 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
reorganization of the provinces whicli were now
added to the empire. K the Manda had needed
help, they might easily have obtained it, for many
a small or great people would gladly have joined
in the undoing of Nineveh for hatred's sake or
for the sake of the vast plunder which must have
been stored in the city. For centuries the whole
civilized world had paid unwilling tribute to the
great city, and the treasure thus poured into it had
not all been spent in the maintenance of the stand-
ing army. Plunder beyond dreams of avarice
was there heaped up awaiting the despoiler. The
Manda would be willing to dare single-handed an
attack on a city which thus promised to enrich
the successful. The Babylonians, or rather the
Chaldeans, had given up the race, content to se-
cure what might fall to them when Assyria was
broken by the onslaught of the Manda. It will
later appear in this nairative that Egypt was anx-
ious to share in the division of the spoil of As-
syria, and actually dispatched an expedition north-
ward. This step was, however, taken too late,
and the Egyptians were not on the ground until
the last great scene was over. The unwillingness
of Nabopolassar and the hesitancy or delay of
other states left the Manda alone to take venge-
ance upon Assyria. Whether the fleeing As-
syrians made a stand at any point before falling
back upon the capital or not we do not know. If
they did, they were defeated and at last were com-
pelled to take refuge in the capital city. The
THE FALL OF ASSYRIA. 291
Manda began a siege. The memory which the
Greeks and Latins handed down from that day
represented the Assyrians as so weak that they
would fall an easy prey to any people. This was
certainly erroneous. There is a basis of truth for
the story of weakness, for there were evident
signs of decay during the reign of Asshurbanapal.
These had, however, not gone so far as to make
the power of Assyria contemptible. Weakened
though the empire had been by the loss of the
northern provinces through the great migrations,
and weakened though it had been by the loss of
Egypt, and weakened though it had been by the
terrible civil war between Asshurbanapal and
Shamash-shum-ukin, it was still the greatest single
power in the world. It had, indeed, lost the power
of aggression which had swept over mountain and
valley, but in defense it would still be a dangerous
antagonist.
When the Scythian forces came up to the walls of
Nineveh they found before them a city better pre-
pared for defense * than any had probably ever been
in the world before. The vast walls might seem
to defy any engines that the semibarbaric hordes
of the new power could bring to bear. Within
was the remnant of an army which had won a
thousand fields. If the army was well managed
and the city had had some warning of the ap-
* See Billerbeck und Jeremias, " Der Untergang Nineveh^s und die
Weissagungsschrift des Nahum von Elkosch," Beitrdffe xur Atsifriologie^
iii, pp. 87-188.
292 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
proaching siege, it would be safe to predict that
the contest must be long and bloody. The peo-
ple of Nineveh must feel that not only the su-
premacy of western Asia^ but their very existence
as an independent people, was at stake. The As-
syrians would certainly fight with the intensity of
despair. We do not know, unfortunately, the
story of that memorable siege. A people civilized
for centuries was walled in by the forces of a
new people fresh, strong, invincible. Then, as
often in later days, civilization went down before
barbarism. Nineveh fell into the hands of the
Scythians. Later times preserved a memory that
Sin-shar-ishkun perished in the flames of his palace,
to which he had committed himself when he fore-
saw the end.'
The city was plundered of everything of value
which it contained, and then given to the torch.
The houses of the poor, built probably of un-
burnt bricks, would soon be a ruin. The great
palaces, when the cedar beams which supported
the upper stories had been burnt oflf, fell in heaps.
Their great, thick walls, built of unbumt bricks
with the outer covering of beautiful burnt bricks,
cracked open, and when the rains descended the
unbumt bricks soon dissolved away into the clay
of which they had been made. The inhabitants
had fled to the four winds of heaven and returned
» Abydenufl, Frag. 7. Muller-Didot, Frag, Eist. Ortee,, iv, pp. 282, 288,
narrates that Saracos so met his end, and it is now generally believed that
he is Sin-shar-ishkun.
THE FALL OF ASSYRIA. 293
no more to inhabit the ruins. A Hebrew prophet,
Zephaniah, a contemporary of the great event, has
* described this desolation as none other: "And he
will stretch out his hand against the north, and
destroy Assyria ; and will make Nineveh a deso-
lation, and dry like the wilderness. And herds
shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts
of the nations : both the pelican and the porcupine
shall lodge in the chapiters thereof: their voice
shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in
the thresholds: for he hath laid bare the cedar
work. This is the joyous city that dwelt care-
lessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is
none else beside me : how is she become a deso-
lation, a place for beasts to lie down in ! every-
one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his
hand." " Nineveh fell in the year 607 or 606,
and the waters out of heaven, or from the overflow-
ing river made the soft clay into a covering over
the great palaces and their records. The winds
bore seeds into the mass, and a carpet of grass
covered the mounds, and stunted trees grew out
of them. Year by year the mound bore less and
less resemblance to the site of a city, until no trace
remained above ground of the magnificence that
once had been. In 401 B. C. a cultivated Greek*
leading homeward the fragment of his gallant
army of ten thousand men passed by the mounds
> Zeph. ii, 13-16.
' Xenophon (Anabaaisy iii, iv, §1) in passing between Larissa and Mespila
went close by the ruins.
294 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
and never knew that beneath them lay the palaces
of the great Assyrian kings. In later ages the
Parthians built a fortress on the spot, which they
called Ninns, and other communities settled either
above the ruins or near to them.' Men must have
homes, and the ground bore no trace of the great
city upon which dire and irreparable vengeance
had fallen. But, though cities might be built
upon the soil and men congregate where the As-
syrian cities had been, there was in reality no
healing of the wound which the Manda had given.
The Assyrian empire had come to a final end. As
they had done unto others so had it been done
unto them. For more than a thousand years of
time the Assyrian empire had endured. During
nearly all of this vast period it had been building
and increasing. The best of the resources of the
world had been poured into it. The leadership
of the Semitic race had belonged to it, and this
was now yielded up to the Chaldeans, who had
become the heirs of the Babylonians, from whom
the Assyrians had taken it.
It remained only to parcel out, along with the
rest of the plunder, the Assyrian territory. The
Manda secured at this one stroke the old territory
of Assyria, together with all the northern prov-
inces as far west as the river Halys, in Asia Minor.
To the Chaldeans, who were now masters in Baby-
> For the later history of the site see Lincke, " Continuance of the
Karnes of Assyria and Nineveh after 607-606 B. C./* in the Memoirs of
the IX Orierdal Congress at London, 1891, and Assyria und Nineveh in
Oesehichie und Sage der MiUelmeervolker (nach 607-606}, 1894.
THE FALL OF ASSYRIA. 295
Ionia, there came the Mesopotamian possessions
and, as we shall later see, the Syro-phoenician like-
wise. By this change of ownership the Semites re-
tained the larger part of the territory over which
they had long been masters, but the Indo-Euro-
peans had made great gains. A life-and-death
struggle would soon begin between them for the
possession of western Asia.
BOOK IV:
THE HISTORY OF THE CHALDEAN
EMPIRE.
CHAPTER I.
THE BEION OP NAB0P0LAS8AK.
When Asshurbanapal died, in 626, lie left, as we
have already seen, an empire sadly weakened and
far departed from its ancient glory. He had, in-
deed, held together the main body of it, but the
outer provinces had mostly fallen away. He had
left in the world many enemies of Assyria and
sadly few friends. He had held Babylonia to the
empire after displaying such fierceness in the pun-
ishment of its rebels as made them unable to rise
again during his lifetime. Up to his death he
reigned as king in Assyria imder the name of
Asshurbanapal, and in Babylon as Kandalanu.'
1 It had come to be established as almost a usual rule for the As-
syrian king who reigned in Babylon to have another name than that used
in Assyria, as witness Tiglathpileser HI and Sbalmaneser IV. George
Smith first suggested {History of Asturbanipal^ pp. 828, 824) that Eanda-
lanu and Asshurbanapal were the same person, and Schrader (" Eineladan
and Asurbanipal " in Zeitschrift fur KeiUchriftforschung, i, pp. 222-282) at-
tempted to demonstrate it Oppert was not conrinced by the argument (** La
Vraie Personality et les dates du roi Chinaladan," Retme ^Assyriologie^ i,
pp. 1*11), and Sayce agrees with him. On the other hand, Assyriologists
297 ■
298 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
The hour of his death was the signal for the prep-
aration of a new revolt in Babylonia. This was
inevitable. The Babylonians had hated Assyrian
rule since the conciliatory policy of Esarhaddon
had ceased, and were ready for any attempt which
might promise to restore to them the prestige they
once possessed and to their city the primacy of the
world. To achieve such marvels of history there
was no further strength in themselves. We have
seen long since the decay of the real Babylonian
people, who had early ceased to be Semites of
pure blood. But the very intermixing of other
fresh blood had kept them alive as an entity,
though it had almost entirely destroyed their
identity. The reinforcement of life which came
to them from the Kassites had kept awake in them
a national separateness, when without it they would
almost certainly have been swallowed up and lost,
as other peoples had been before them. They
wei^e, however, steadily decaying and diminishing,
and could only be kept further alive by a new in-
flux of fresh blood from some source. The As-
syrian kings had repeatedly settled colonists in
various parts of Babylonia, from the days of Tig-
lathpileser IH onward. These lost their national
identity and became Babylonians to all intents and
purposes.
generally accept the identity of Asshurbanapal and Kandalanu (Tiele, Bab,
auyr. Oesch., pp. 412-414; Winckler, Geschichte, pp. 186,282,289; King,
art. "Babylonia" in Encyclopedia Bihliea^ i, col. 461). Hommel (art. " Ab-
eyria " in Hastings^s Bihie Dictionary^ i, p. 189) thinks that the evidence
is indecisive, and leaves the question open.
THE REIGN OF NABOPOLASSAR 299
It is a striking evidence that the Babylonians
still possessed a certain distinctive influence, that
they were able to absorb alien elements in this
manner. Even with the accession of strength
which came from these colonizations the Baby-
lonian people would not have possessed enough
vitality to make any insurrection against Assyria.
They might join in one, but the motive force must
be supplied by a nation which had in it fresher
life and greater vitality. A people possessing the
necessary force was at hand, and the insurrection
would soon and speedily become a revolution.
When Asshur-etil-iU-ukinni was crowned king of
Assyria he could also claim to be king of Baby-
lon, for the hour of open rebellion was not yet
come.' As we have seen, the Assyrians continued
during his entire reign to hold a considerable por-
tion of Babylonia, and even so late as the seventh
year of his successor, Sin-shar-ishkun,* they still
retained much. The city of Babylon was appar-
ently lost in the very beginning, and Nabopolassar
* There has been found at Nippur a tablet dated in the fourth year of
Asshuretililani (see Hilprecht, ** Keillnschriftliche Funde in Niffer,** Zeit-
tchri/tfur Assyriologief W, p. 167), which shows that he was acknowledged
as king of Babylonia in Nippur as late as 621 B. C.
' The relationship of Sin-shar-ishkun to Asshuretililani is made clear in a
teblet published by Scheil (** Sin^har-ishkun, fils d'Asshurbanipal,** ZeU.
schriftfitr Atsyriohgie^ xi, pp. 47, ff.). A contract tablet from Uruk
dated in the seventh year of Sin-shar-ishkun (King, " ffin-shar-ishkun and
His Rule m Babylonia," ZeUtehri/t fur Assyriologie, ix, pp. 896-400)
would seem to show that his rule was officially recognized in Uruk at
about 612 B. C. Tablets also exist (Evetts, Inscriptions of (he Reigns of
EvU-Merodaeh, Neriglissar^ and Zaborosoarchodj pp. 90, 91; Winckler,
Berliner PhUologisehe Wochenschri/l, 18 May, 1889, col. 686, footnote) dated
at Sippara in the second year of ^n-shar-ishkun.
300 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
gradually gained in power and influence through
a successful revolution. It was spontaneous, but
had been slowly maturing for years. The Baby-
lonian people did not profit by it as a people, but
were, on the contrary, engulfed in it and practi-
cally disappeared from history. They were able
to push forward again, and even supplied later a
king to the empire which resulted from the revo-
lution. The old influence in the world, however,
never returned, and they were soon absorbed into
a later population and are heard of no more.
That another people should be able firat to gain
leadership over the Babylonians, who had founded
a mighty empire and had stood with the Egyptians
as the leading nations of civilization, and then to
overwhelm them and take their place in the world's
history, is indeed an event of moment. We shall
need to give heed to the people who could accom-
plish a feat so great. They must belong to the
world's greatest races, and behind them must have
been a period during which they had been pre-
pared for their momentous destiny.
The people who wrought this revolution were
the Chaldeans, whom we have already met as bit-
ter enemies of the Assyrians. They were not less
enemies of the Babylonians, as we have also seen,
and a union of feeling between Babylonia and As-
syria was brought about in the time of Merodach-
baladan, when the Babylonians looked upon the
Assyrians as their natural defenders against these
unwelcome invaders. The Assyrians had, how-
THE R£IGN OF NABOPOLASSAB. 301
ever, done no more than drive them southward or
hold them in chect They had not driven them
from the country entirely, but left them to be-
come slowly attached to the soil, and a genuine
portion of the population. The origin of the
Chaldeans is obscure, but some facts concerning
them may be considered as fairly well known.
They invaded Babylonia from the south, coming
from the neighborhood of the Persian Gulf.
Whence they had come into the Sea Lands at
that point is nearly as well known by a process of
elimination. They could not have come from
Elam, and they must therefore be settlers from
Arabia. From what part of that old home land
of Semites they had come is not known. It is,
however, clear that they were Semites. They bore
Semitic names, as far as any of their names are
known to us, and they readily adapted themselves
to Semitic customs, whether of religion, govern-
ment, or social life. Their appearance in Baby-
lonia was at an early date, and they had gradually
spread in scattered communities over a considera-
ble portion of the country, both north and south.
In this they fonn a close parallel to the Aramae-
ans, who belonged, indeed, to the same general
wave of migration as themselves, and had early
proved dangerous neighbors to the Assyrians.
The chief stronghold of the Chaldeans was the
territory known as the Sea Lands. This country
was somewhat larger than the alluvial lands about
the mouths of the rivers, as it apparently included
302 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
a strip of territory of unknown extent along
the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf. It had
a government and a history of its own, run-
ning back through the centuries, of which, how-
ever, only fragments are known to us. That part
of its history which is known is little more than a
story of a half-nomad, half-agricultural and pastoral
people who kept up a running fire of efforts ta
possess themselves of the rich lands and wealthy
cities of their more fortunate Babylonian neigh-
bors. The other Chaldean communities have left
even less mark of their individuality upon history.
They formed, indeed, principalities, which the
boastfiilness of Assyrian kings has elevated into
large kingdoms and endowed with great armies,
and with forces which could only be overcome by
the might of the great god Asshur. Like their
more numerous fellows in the Sea Lands, these
also were anxious chiefly to find a leader who
could give into their hands the possessions of the
Babylonians. Any prince of one of these small
states or communities who could win battles over
the native Babylonians was sure of a following of
Chaldeans generally, and not merely of the men
of his own community. This was the surest way
of coming out of the limitations of a petty prince-
dom in Bit-Yakin, or in the Sea Lands, and of
becoming the king of Kaldi Land. A man who
could gain the title of king of Babylon or of king
of Sumer and Accad would stand so much above
his fellow-princes among the Chaldeans that he-
THE KEIGN OF NABOPOLASSAR. 303
miglit well be called by the lesser title of king of
KaldL This fact goes far to explain the constant
attempts of Chaldean princes upon Babylon. They
were not moved by a sentimental appreciation of
the glories of Babylon and its ancient royal titles,
as were Tiglathpileser III and Sargon. They
thirsted for power over the Babylonians because
it brought wealth and ease, and with these head-
ship among their own Chaldean peoples. This
leadership among the Chaldeans had, however,
more than once wrecked their hopes, when by con-
tact with Babylonians they had learned more of
the beauty and dignity of Babylonian civilization
and come to recognize in the title an expression
not so much of wealth as of honor, a headship in
civilization. From such ideas they were dragged
down by the Chaldean population, who thirsted
after the wealth and demanded that they should
receive the well-cultivated lands and the city prop*
erty. These demands had been measurably granted
by Merodach-baladan, and as a direct consequence
of this compliance his new rule was promptly
shattered by the Assyrians, and Chaldean suprem-
acy was postponed.
As we have already said, however, the Chalde-
ans had not disappeared during the period of the
Assyrian supremacy over Babylonia. They existed
in great numbers in Babylonia, and were only
awaiting the day when they should be able to
produce the man strong enough to seize or to cre-
ate a favorable opportunity, as Merodach-baladan
S04 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
had done, by which they might again rule. Of
the Chaldean communities which had not been ab-
sorbed by the Babylonians the kingdom or prin-
cipality of the Sea Lands was at this time still
the largest and strongest. North of it were a
number of Chaldean tribes, among which Bit-Sil-
ani, Bit-Sa'alli, and Bit-Sala had long been the most
prominent, for their names find mention in the in-
scriptions of TiglathpUeser ID. Indeed, were it
not for his records and the Annals of the later
Assyrian kings, we should know even less than we
do of the Chaldeans. The Babylonian inscrip-
tions, devoted to temples, palaces, and canals, ig-
nore their very existence, and when they came to
dominion themselves they acted in all things as
Babylonians. Above these tribes going northward
were the communities of Bit-Amukkani, out of
which came Ukin-zer, and of Bit-Adini, which lay
just south of the city of Babylon. Even here the
line of Chaldean communities did not cease, for the
tribe of the Bit-Dakkuri was established north of
the great capital city. These Chaldean communi-
ties, though they were Semites, were, nevertheless,
alien communities. They did not, as a rule, inter-
mingle readily with the Babylonians, or they
would all long since have been absorbed. Though
settled in a land which had been tilled for many
centuries, they still remained half-nomads. The
land was not overpopulated, and if they had de-
sired to settle down as quiet and peaceable agri-
culturists, there would have been plenty of room
THE REIGN OF NABOPOLASSAR. 306
for them. They did not accept this opportunity,
but over and over again had been disturbers of
the peace, eager to gain the complete control, and
desirous not of making a destiny for themselves,
but wishing to rob the Babylonians of that which
the industry of ages had accumulated by slow and
painful steps. In the attainment of this purpose
they had been defeated before by the Assyrians.
There was now a larger hope, for Assyrian vitality
was gone and the whole vast empire was falling to
pieces. As has already been said, Babylonian vi-
tality was also at the lowest ebb, and could offer
no effectual resistance to any sharp blow delivered
by a strong arm. But, though the Chaldeans
must have known of the evident decay of Assyria,
they were too wily to rise again in rebellion at an
inopportune time. They could not be sure that
Asshurbanapal did not possess resources which
might be directed against them with crushing force,
and they well knew that no movement of his was
tempered with mercy.
When Asshurbanapal died the time had come to
make a fresh attempt for Chaldean independence
of Assyria and Chaldean dominance over Baby-
lonia. Immediately after the death of Asshur-
banapal we find Nabopolassar (Nabu-aplu-usur)
king of Babylon. We do not know what his ori-
gin was. It has been supposed that he might be
a son of Kandalanu ; and this supposition would
explain the readiness and quickness with which
he secured the throne. There is, however, not a
20 •
306 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
shadow of evidence for the view. If it were the
case, it would certainly seem natural for him to
have spoken of his royal origin in one or the
other of the few inscriptions* which have come
down to us. On the other hand, it is not possi-
ble to prove that he was either of pure Babyloni-
an or of Chaldean origin. The kingdom which
he founded was, however, plainly Chaldean. The
king's supporters were Chaldeans, and as the
years went on the Babylonian influence quite
gave way to Chaldean, so that the Babylonians
may be considered as also losing their historic
identity when Nineveh fell. The change of rulers
from Asshurbanapal to Nabopolassar was momen-
tous in consequences. With that change the head-
ship of Assyria over the Semitic peoples of Asia
came to an end forever, and leadership among
them passed to the Chaldeans, whose Semitic
blood was probably almost, if not quite, as pure
as that of the Assyrians. They had apparently
not suffered so great an intermixture wL other
peoples as had the Babylonians. With this change
of rulers there was founded not merely a new
'His inscriptions, dealing almost exdusivelj with building operations*
give unsatisfactory views of the political and military history. The chief
texts are the following : (a) 27^ Merodaeh- Temple Jfueriptior^ published and
translated by Strassmaier, ZeiUehri/t fur ABtyriologie^ iv, 106, fP., and also
translated by Winckler, KeUineekri/t, BibL, iii, part 2, pp. 2-7. (b) The
Sippar-Cafud Ineeription^ published by Winckler, ZeUechrifl fur Astyri-
iflogie, ii, 69, fP., and translated by him in Keiliruehri/t. Bibl.^ iii, part 2,
pp. 6-9. (c) The BdU-Tempie Inscription^ published by Winckler, Zeit-
wehrift fur Aeeyriologie^ ii, 146, 172, and translated by him, Keilinechrift,
Mibl,, iii, part 2, pp. 8, 9.
THE REIGN OF NABOPOLASSAR. 307
dynasty, but also a new kingdom. It is indeed
possible to consider this new monarchy as a re-
establishment of the old Babylonian empire, but
it is more in accordance with the facts to look on
it as a new Chaldean empire succeeding to the
wealth and position of the ancient Babylonian
empire. As the monarchy which he founded was
so plainly Chaldean, it lies near to the other facts
to consider Nabopolassar himself a Chaldean. This
view is not inconsistent with the fragmentary and
unsatisfactory allusions of Abydenus, who repre-
sents Nabopolassar as a general in the army of
Sarako8' (Sin-shar^hkua), which is probably
only a form of saying that Nabopolassar was as
king of Babylon subject to the suzerainty of As-
syria—the Babylonian king hence occupying a
place subordinate to the Assyrian.
In this account of Abydenus, which may per-
haps rest on some good Babylonian source, we
have a probable hint as to the manner in which
the new empire was founded. Nabopolassar
gained the throne with Chaldean assistance, and
at first was willing to hold his rule under the
nominal overlordship of Assyria. This he might
do while still nourishing the hope that he might
speedily be able to cast off altogether the suze-
rainty of Assyria. We have, however, no Chaldean
or Babylonian documents which give any account
' According to Abydentui (Fragment 7, in Maller-Didot, Fragmenia HimL
(jhrvK.y iv, p. 282), Saraoos (that is, Sin-sbar-iahkun) sent BussalosBoroft
(that is, Nabopolassar) to defend Chaldea.
308 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
of the foundation of the new kingdom, though in
one text Nabopolassar calls himself the " one who
laid the foundation of the land."
We have only three historical inscriptions of
the reign of Nabopolassar, and these, affcer the
manner of Babylonian inscriptions almost from
the very beginning, are devoted only to the works
of peace — to building and repairing. In the first
of the inscriptions ' he describes in the usual way
the rebuilding of a great Marduk temple in Baby-
lon, which was in a ruinous condition. In this in-
scription he does not call himself king of Babylon,
but ahaUcaTiak^ as though he would not yet claim
to be wholly free from Assyrian influence, nor be
above the holding of a title more or less subordi-
nate, though he does call himself king of Sumer
and Accad. In the second ' of three inscriptions he
adopts the title of king of Babylon, and we are there-
fore safe in the supposition that this text belongs
to a somewhat later period, when all semblance
of dependence upon Assyria had been thrown ofE
and Nabopolassar was king indeed in his own
right and by suflferance of his people. In this
inscription he records the construction of a canal
at Sippar. The Euphrates had made a new course
away from the city, and the king now built a canal
by which the water was again to be brought to
1 Published by Strassmaier, Zeitsehrift fur Anyrioljogit^ iv, pp. 106-
118, 129-186. Translated also by Winckler, Keilinsehri/t. Bibl, iii,
part 2, pp. 8-7.
' Published by Winckler, Zeitsehrift fur Auyriohgie^ ii, pp. 69-75, and
translated by him, Keili'Mchrift, Bibl.^ iii, part 2, pp. 7-9.
THE REIGN OF NABOPOLASSAR 309
the city walls. In this constraction of a canal Na-
bopolassai* was following the ancient precedents of
Babylonian kings from the days of Hammorabi
onward. In the third of these inscriptions* he is
called both king of Babylon and king of Samer
and Accad, and in it he gives an account of the
rebuilding of a temple of Belit at Sippar. The
reign of Nabopolassar was not so peaceful as these
fragments might seem to indicate. He was not so
absorbed in the building of temples and canals
during the whole of his reign. He had indeed a
delicate and difficult game of politics to play, in
order that he should not be wheedled out of his
gains by the quick-witted Assyrians, nor unseated
from the tottering throne by a crafty prince of
some Chaldean tribe. He had also to fight a se-
vere fight against Egypt in order to save the bor-
ders of his empire.
Egypt had now again become one of the world's
chief powers. The methods pursued by Psam-
metichus I by which he had carried Egypt to a
position almost as lofty as that occupied in the
glorious days of Thutmosis III and Rameses II
were carried still further by his son and successor,
Necho II. But a short time had elapsed since
Egypt was governed by Assyrians, but now the
Egyptians began to hope to participate in the di-
vision of Assyrian plunder which must soon come.
In 609 it was already plain to Necho that Assyria
* Published by Winckler, Zeitsehrifl fiir Assyrioiogie^ ii, pp. 144-147,
172, and translated by him, Keilinachrift Bibl.y iii, part 2, p. 9.
310 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
could endure but a short time. We must often
remind ourselves that the flight of news from
kingdom to kingdom or from land to land was
exceedingly rapid in the ancient Orient. King-
doms were not separated by miles of territory over
which no sound was heard, and across which no
rumor came flying on the wings of the wind.
Necho knew of the sorry plight of the last As-
syrian king. This was surely his opportunity to
regain not merely all Palestine and Assyria, but
even perhaps the great plains to the Euphrates
which had once been Hittite. In 609, or perhaps
in 608, he left Egypt, with an army, determined
to press on to Assyria to participate in the first
distribution of booty, confident that on his return
he could readily reduce to subjection any Syrian
or Palestinian prince who might think it safe to
rebel against possible Egyptian tyranny, when re-
lieved of the long-time oppression of Assyria.
Necho marched by land, and the city of Gaza,
which was first approached, offered some resist-
ance. It was, however, speedily taken, and Necho
went on. No further opposition was made to his
advance until he turned from the coast into the
plain of Esdraelon. Nineveh had not yet fallen,
but it was long since the great city had disturbed
the west. The Syrophoenician cities were, and had
been, practically independent. They were, how-
ever, too dispirited to offer battle to any new con-
queror who appeared, hoping to suffer less through
oppression when they blindly yielded than they
THE REIGN OF NABOPOLASSAR. 311
would through a hopeless resistance. Alone had
the kingdom of Judah the courage to dare a re-
sistance. Judah had enjoyed the period of peace-
ful independence too much to think of falling
lightly into a new condition of servitude. Josiah
was king, and in him an intense national spirit
ruled. He had severed the ties which bound
Judah to neighboring nations in their religion,
and his proclamation of Deuteronomy had widened
the breach. He would dare to attack Necho if no
others had the courage.* We do not know ex-
actly his course from Jerusalem, but the place of
the battle w ould seem to indicate that he intended
to attack the flank or rear of Necho's army, which
Avas moving northward and had passed by Judah.
The two armies met at Megiddo, a place glorious
in the annals of Egypt, for there, nearly a thou-
sand years before, Thutmosis HI had conquered
the combined forces of the Syrophoenician states.
Necho was victorious, and Josiah fell upon the
field.' The army of Judah returned in terror to
Jerusalem, and made Jehoahaz, younger son of
Josiah, king, apparently passing over the elder
son, Eliakim, because he was disposed to submit
to Necho. After the battle of Megiddo, Necho
' The chronicler (2 Chron. xxxv, 20-22) has preeenred an interesting
reminiscence of Necho*s intercourse with Josiah : Necho " sent ambassa-
dors to him [Josiah], saying, What have I to do with thee, thou king of
Judah ? / come not against thee this day, but against the house where-
with I have war ; and Grod hath commanded me to make haste : forbear
thee from meddling with Grod, who is with me, that he destroy thee not.*'
' 2 Kings xxiii, 29. Herodotus, ii, cliz, refers to a defeat of the Syrians
at MagdoluB, undoubtedly the same event. But see Benzinger and EitteL
812 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
went on northward, meeting with no further op-
position, and halted at Kiblah, in CcBle-Syria.
Here he thought over the appointment of Jehoa-
haz as king of Judah, and was dissatisfied with
the choice. He now considered himself the real
master of Judah, after the victory at Megiddo, and
ordered Jehoahaz to come to Kiblah, where he
was cast into chains, while his brother Eliakim
was made king in his stead, under the name Je-
hoiakim. Upon Judah was laid a fine of one
talent of gold and one hundred talents of silver,
which Jehoiakim managed to pay. Jehoahaz was
taken to Egypt, where he soon afterward died.
Necho II was now absolute master of all the Syro-
phcBnician states and of the erstwhile provinces of
Assyria as far as the Euphrates.
While Necho II was stripping from Assyria
the western provinces, and Nabopolassar was add-
ing to his new empire the portion of northern
Babylonia which Sin-shar-ishkun had previously
held, the Manda took the city of Nineveh.* In
one mighty crash the great empire fell in frag*
ments, and for a time Nabopolassar was busy in
securing complete control of the Babylonian and
Mesopotamian territory which had fallen into his
hands. Necho II, assured of the possession of
Palestine and Syria, had returned to Egypt with
the captive Jehoahaz. He determined, however,
to again go to the north and east to see if he could
extend his borders beyond the Euphrates into the
* See above, p. 292
THE REIGN OF NABOPOLASSAR. 313
northern parts of Mesopotamia^ wliicli had now
fallen to Nabopolassar.
From i^pt he led out an immense army, greater
than any pat in the field for a long time. Besides
the native troops he had bodies of Libyans, Ethio-
pians, and other allies. He reached Carchemish, on
the Euphrates, without opposition, and was prob-
ably about to cross the river when he was met
by a Chaldean army, Nabopolassar was in failing
health, and unable to leave his capital, but aware
of the danger which confronted his empire, had
despatched his son, Nebuchadrezzar, with a large
army. Nebuchadrezzar gave battle at Carchemish,
and' won a crushing victory.' The Egyptians fled
in confusion, and did not dare to make a stand
until they had reached Egypt. Nebuchadrezzar
pursued, and not one of the Syrophoenician states
raised an arm against him. He did not cross the
territory of Judah, but passed round by the sea-
coast and reached Pelusium unopposed. Jerusalem
was in terror lest he should attack it, and all Egypt
was in an agony of fear. The slaughter of Car-
chemish had undone Necho, and there was no heart
in Egypt to face Nebuchadrezzar in battle. In
those hours the fate of Egypt wavered in the bal-
ance. K Nebuchadrezzar went on over the Egyp-
tian border, there was every probability that Egypt
would be as easily overrun as it had been by
Esarhaddon. He had won Syria and Palestine
for the new Chaldean empire after but a very short
* Jer. xlvi, 2 ; comp. also 2 Kings xziv, 7. fs^
314 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Egyptian regime. If he could uow win Egypt,
the Chaldean empire would have become in twenty
years of history the world's chief power. At this
juncture he was suddenly apprised of the death at
Babylon of his father, Nabopolassar. He was
compelled to drop all designs on Egypt and return
with speed to his capital, to receive the govern-
ment. No man could prophesy what might hap.
pen in the transfer of the crown in times so trou-
blous. An outbreak of rebellion might easily oc-
cur, and another seize the throne before the right-
ful heir could appear.
The reign of Nabopolassar had been important
in its achievements. He had wrought much for
the wealth and advantage of his land by canals
and by great buildings. He had been successful
in diplomacy, for his winning of the Manda to his
aid had not been attended by any unfortunate re-
sults. He had in war, both in his own person and
in the victories of his son, reached a wonderful
success, by which in twenty years he had built an
empire of colossal proportions around the small
territory which he had alone possessed in the be-
ginning. It may easily be said that the greatness
of this work is diminished by the undoubted fact
that the time for it was ripe. Assyria was weak
at just the moment when Nabopolassar was ready
to be^n empire building. Had he become king
of Babylon a little earlier, he would not so readily
have made an empire; of this there can be no
doubt. But while the opportunity was at hand,
THE REIGN OF NABOPOLASSAR. 316
there was no less a signal display of ability in its
seizing. The name of Nabopolassar must be added
to the list of the greatest kings who had ruled in
Babylonia. The new Chaldean empire had begun
well. If now he were able to hand over to a son
or heir the power which he had seized so suddenly,
there was hope for a brilliant future. The son
was ready, a son as great as his father in plan, and
^ven greater in action.
316 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER 11.
THE BEIGN OF NEBUOHADBEZZAB.
When Nebncliadrezzar stood at the boixiers of
I^ypt and a messenger advised him of his father's
death in far-away Babylonia, a crisis had come in
the history of a new empire. But for that death
Nebuchadrezzar would almost certainly have add-
ed Egypt to his laurels, and that were a thrilling
possibility. But a danger fully as stirring lay also
before him. K he had failed to reach Babylonia
before the discordant elements in the new world
empire were able to gather unity and force, all that
his father had built might readily be destroyed.
The day cried for a man of decision and of quick
movement.
Nebuchadrezzar reached Babylon fi'om the bor-
ders of Egypt in season to prevent any outbreak
in favor of a usurper, if any such were intended.
He was received as king of Babylon without a
sign of any trouble. So began one of the longest
and most brilliant reigns (604-562 B. C.) of hu-
man history. Nebuchadrezzar has not left the
world without written witnesses of his great deeds.
In his inscriptions, however, he follows the com-
mon Babylonian custom of omitting all reference to
wars, sieges, campaigns, and battles. Only in a very
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 317
few instances is there a single reference to any of
these. The great burden of all the inscriptions is
building. In Babylon was centered his chief pride,
and of temples and palaces, and not of battles and
sieges, were his boasts. As we are therefore de-
prived of first-hand information from Babylonian
or Chaldean sources, we are forced to turn else-
where for information of the achievements of Neb-
uchadrezzar as an organizer of armies and a plan-
ner and conductor of campaigns. The knowledge
thus obtained from other peoples is fragmentary,
because each writer was more concerned about his
own people than about the Chaldeans. The best
help of this kind is obtained from the Hebrews,
with whom Nebuchadrezzar had the first difficul-
ties of his reign, and against whom his first opera-
tions were directed.
Jehoiakim, king of Judah, had paid his tribute
regularly for three years' after Nebuchadrezzar
left Palestine on his hasty journey to Babylon to
assume the throne. He was, however, harassed
by a patriotic party determined to compel him to
throw off the Chaldean yoke. The only clear
voice raised against such stupendous folly was
that of Jeremiah, who, like Isaiah in a similar cri-
sis, warned the nation against its suicidal foUy.
But the more Jeremiah denounced the greater his
unpopularity and the more certain the triumph of
the popular party. At last Jehoiakim omitted the
payment of the tribute, and the issue was fairly
* 2 Kings zxiv, 1.
318 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
joined. Nebuchadrezzar did not invade the land
at once, either because he held the rebellion in
contempt and supposed it would be easily over-
come, or because he was still too greatly absorbed
in duties at home. His first move was to encour-
age JudaVs neighbors to ravage the country in
connection with Chaldean guerrilla bands. The
Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites were very will-
ing to join in such attacks on their old enemy.
This haphazard warfare, however, came to nothing,
and Nebuchadrezzar was compelled to more stren-
uous measures. In 597 he dispatched an army to
besiege Jerusalem, and soon after its appearance
before the walls he arrived to take charge of it in
person. With such forces as he could muster there
could be no doubt of the ultimate issue, but Jehoi-
akim was spared the sight of his country's ruin, by
a sudden death. His successor, a lad of eighteen
years of age, Jehoiachin, known also as Jeconiah,'
inherited only trouble, and saw himself hemmed
in by a force which must soon carry the city by
storming or by starvation. Jehoiachin, realizing
the hopelessness of the situation, and perhaps rely-
ing somewhat on the mercy of his conqueror, de-
cided to surrender before an active assault should
be undertaken. He was compelled to appear at
Nebuchadrezzar's headquarters, with his mother
and his entire court, to be carried into captivity.
Besides this Nebuchadrezzar demanded the surren-
1 The name occurs in three forms ; see 2 Kings xxiv, 8 ; Jer. xzii, 24 ;
xxiv, 1 ; xzTii, 20; Ezek. i, 2.
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 319
der of seven thousand men capable of bearing
arms, and one thousand workers in iron. These
with their families were carried away to Baby-
lonia, where they were settled in one great block
by the river Chebar, a canal near Nippur.* In the
place of Jehoiachin, Mattaniah, another son of Jo-
siah, was made king, under the name of Zedekiah.'
He was but twenty-one years of age, and was
probably considered by Nebuchadrezzar a man
who could safely be trusted to rule over the rem-
nant of the people who were suflfered to remain
when the better part of the inhabitants had been
carried away. The choice was unfortunate, viewed
from any point. Zedekiah was morally incapable
of faithfulness to the Babylonians, and that, if for
nothing else, because he was too weak to resist
popular clamor and a mad patriotism. He was not
wise enough to make himself and his state leaders
in the counsels of the Syrophcenician states, nor
strong enough to make any concert that might be
reached a power in troublous times. The policy
he embraced was alike fatal to all who joined in
it. It was, however, appa^rently not of his own
devising. He fell a prey to other schemers bent
on their own purposes. The real wellspring of
the movements now to be described is to be found
in Egypt.
' Babylonian JBhtpeditum of ths UnivenUy of Pennaylvania^ ix, plate 60,
No. 84, line 2. The text here cited finally disposes of the question of the
location of the Chebar.
>2 Kings zziy, 17; Jer. xxxvii, 1.
320 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Necho had failed in his great plans, large enough
though they were to do credit to his imagination.
His reign was over, and in his room was Hophra
(Apries). Soon after his accession (589) he de-
termined to try to save for Egypt some of the
fragments of Necho's great dreams. There was
no chance whatever that he might get possession
of any of the closer linked poi-tions of the old
Assynan empire. These were all irrevocably pos-
sessed by others. The new Chaldean power now
regnant in Babylon had shown its power too
strongly in conquest to be weak in defense. But
there were Syiia and Palestine; they had been
Egypt's during many a long day; why should
they not be restored ? It was worth the attempt,
and the method of its undertaking might easily
be copied from Necho. Hophra simply roused
these states to a concerted rebellion against Nebu-
chadrezzar, and this was very probably accom-
plished by secret agents. It has been seen in
former pages that these Syrophoenician states had
blunderingly missed many a good opportunity for
opposing the progress of Assyrian conquest in
earlier days; and it has been equally clear that
they were no less unfortunate in choosing for their
uprisings many a moment most unsuitable. In
this latter they now again erred. What moment
less auspicious for a rebellion could they have
chosen than this, in which Egypt again spurred
them on ? Nebuchadrezzar had already been in
Palestine. He and his armies knew the way
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 321
thither. He was surely established on his father's
throne, and had no fear of civil disturbances in
his own kingdom. His power and his severity
were known abroad, and there was scant chance
of any large uprising in the lands of the upper
Euphrates. The hour was ill chosen, but Egypt
had chosen it and men were found in the foolish
states to follow Egypt's lead. In spite of its sore
sufferings Judah was still of weight and impor-
tance, but Egypt did not approach it directly.
The aid of others was firat secured, and these were
sent to rouse Judah to revolt.
Our first knowledge of all these movements is
derived from Hebrew sources, and especially from
the book of the prophet Jeremiah, himself an
actor of commanding stature in the whole sad
drama. From his book it appears that the states
first planning to revolt were Edom, Moab, Ammon,
Tyre, and Sidon.' They had already determined
upon revolt, and had gone far enough in their pre-
liminaries to have joined in a deliberate unity
before Judah was approached at all. Whether
this long delay in asking the cooperation of Judah
indicates that this state was now counted of little
or of great moment does not appear. The delay
would admit of either interpretation. At last
came an embassy to Judah, in which all had
1 Jer. xxvii, 1-8. This chapter begins in the Massoretic text, " In the
beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah." It is, however,
clear from verses 2, 12, and 20 that the text is corrupt. We must either
read Zedekiah instead of Jehoiakim, or, as is much better, omit the verse
altogether, as the LXX have done. See Giesebrecht on the passage.
21
322 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
united; to persuade Zedekiali to join in a rebellion
against Nebuchadrezzar. This embassy found a
situation not altogether to its satisfaction. It
found, however, very much that was exactly ready
for its labors. Jerusalem had, of course, a strong
and numerous patriotic party that hated the very
name of Babylonian, and believed that the des-
tiny of the Hebrew people must carry them free
of any allegiance to any such power. This party
had no vision for the signs of the times, no mem-
ory for the events of the last few years, and plainly
not even the slightest glimpse into the future.
Its only idea was that Jehovah was with the He-
brews, no matter what their devotion to him
might be.' He had, indeed, suflfered the Baby-
lonian to lay a heavy hand upon his people, and
many had gone into captivity. But Jehovah's
temple still stood in Jerusalem, and there his pres-
ence still was. The superstitious trust of their
ancestors in the presence of the ark in battle at
Aphek • was not greater than their present belief
in Jehovah, even when his true prophets spoke all
the other way. This party had the ears of all
Jerusalem. It was ever shouting patriotism. Pub-
lic opinion seemed all with it, and always with it,
when the embassy came to urge another struggle
against the new power. But there was another
* The character of this blind faith is shown in Jeremiah's taunt uttered
afterward : " Where now are your prophets which prophesied unto you,
saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this
land ? " Jer. xxxvii, 19.
« 1 Sam. iv, 1-11.
I
THE RMGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 323
force in the city, not represented, perhaps, in so
many followers, but potent yet, and with all the
moral support of recognized wisdom,
Jeremiah, prophet and statesman, took the un-
popular side, and advocated a policy of unvarying
yielding to Babylonia. In words weighty of
prescience he urged the people of Jerusalem to
accept the inevitable as of God's doing, and to
put their necks submissively under the yoke which
he had imposed upon them. This advice, once
decisively taken, would certainly have postponed
the destruction to which Judah was madly hasten-
ing, if it did not save the monuments of Judah's
greatness from the ruthless hand of the destroyer
of that age. But it was not decisively taken. It
was, indeed, too influential to be wholly disre-
garded, and the embassy went away without a de-
cisive word of adhesion to its mad plans. But
Jeremiah could not control the enraged populace.
The air was full of rebellion, of recrimination, of
false patriotism. Even the exiles in Babylonia
joined in the excited bandying of words.* The
hour was a bad one for a wise and cautious man.
Jeremiah soon lost control ; the king was weak,
and could not hold in check the populace which
thirsted in foolhardiness for a chance at its op-
pressors. Soon it became clear that Egypt was to
be relied upon for help in the effort The very
name of Egypt was a word to conjure with, and
its gi'eatness seemed even yet to fill the whole
' Jer. xxvii, xxix.
824 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
eartL Rebellion was declared ; and now the end
had almost come for liberty in the west land*
The new rebellion seemed to Nebuchadrezzar a
matter of small moment. He did not come at
once in person, but sent an army, which appeared
before the walls of Jerusalem in 587. The city
was so situated and so defended by walls that its
reduction was no easy task. To carry it by as-
sault was quite impossible, and Nebuchadrezzar,
as Titus in later days, determined to surround the
walls and starve it into submission. The sight of
the Babylonian forces drawing a tight cord about
the city walls might have been expected to strike
sudden terror into the hearts of the war party
which had driven the nation to this pass. In this
the expected did not happen. The people of Je-
rusalem were mad in their folly, but they were
not cowards, and they began a vigorous resistance
to the great king. The walls of Jerusalem were
strong enough to ajfford defense for a long time,
and Nebuchadrezzar was not provided in the be-
ginning with artillery strong enough to break
them down and so take the city by assault. It
could apparently be taken only by a siege in which
famine should aid force.
There was terror in the city, but determination,
and the spirit was admirable, when the odds are
considered, even at so great a distance from the
events as this. It was probably chiefly the hope
of help from Egypt that strengthened the hearts
and hands of the besieged. This help was not to
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 325
fail utterly, for while the siege was yet in its early
progress the army of Pharaoh Hophra entered Pal-
estine, with the direct purpose of offering help to
the besieged, and of so raising the siege, and of
ultimately driving back the Babylonians. This
was partly accomplished. The Babylonian army
withdrew from the gates and went southward to
meet the new and formidable foe. What a reac-
tion of joy was produced by this sudden reversal of
fortune will perhaps never be fully known. The
party that had brought on the war must have
felt that its hour of justification had fully come.
The false prophets, as Jeremiah had stigmatized
them, who had prophesied that in a short time
the Chaldean power would come to a sudden and
violent end, must have pointed to the withdrawing
hosts as the first sign of the impending fulfillment
of their predictions. Amid all this rejoicing Jere-
miah alone maintained his serenity of mind and
his clearness of vision. He could not deny that a
change had indeed come ; that was plain to any
eye, but it was only temporary. Amid jubilations
his woi'd sounds solemn and disquieting : " Thus
saith the Lord: Deceive not yourselves, saying,
The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for
they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten
the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against
you, and there remained but wounded men among
them, yet should they rise up every man in his
tent, and bum this city with fire." ' To those
> Jer. uzvii, 9, 10.
326 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
who trusted in Hophra his word was no less defi-
nite: "Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come
forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their
own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again^
and fight against this city ; and they shall take it,
and burn it with fire." * It could not be expected
that a message of that tenor in an hour of ap-
parent triumph and of real hope would be wel-
comed. It was, of course, not believed. Every
indication of the hour was against faith in it.
Hatred of Jeremiah and doubt of his loyalty grew
apace. He essayed to leave the city to care for
his property in Benjamin. It was at once sus-
pected that lie intended to desert to the foe, and
give his aid and counsel to the Chaldeans. He
was therefore apprehended and thrown into
prison, there to await the ruin which lie had
foreseen.*
Such were the scenes of joy and the emotions of
doubt which had sway in the city. What were
the opinions of the Babylonians we have scant
means for judging. It is not improbable that they
counted the taking of Jerusalem as a matter of
importance to their newly founded empire. The
history of Assyria was not wholly unknown to
these new agitators, and they must have under-
stood how troublesome a thorn Jerusalem had
been in the western side of the empire of the Sar-
gonides. They now wished to end this difficulty
* Jer. xxxvii, 7, 8.
* Jer. xxxvii, 11-16.
THE EEIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. 327
at the beginning of their own plans. But they
seem not to have thought highly of the prowess
in war of the nations of Syria. K they had esti-
mated highly the other states of Tyre and Sidon,
they would hardly have pushed by them to attack
Jerusalem, while they were left free to attack the
flank or rear. Furthermore, they would not have
left Jerusalem itself without a guard to hold it
in check and prevent an attack, while they were
engaged with the Egyptians. It is a pity that
the historiographers of the Chaldean empire were
so completely given to the description of various
buildings and restoring operations as not to have
left for us an account of this campaign from their
point of view. That it would ring loud with
boasts of victory might be expected. Between
its lines, however, could perhaps be read the real
motives and the true purposes and intent of some
of these movements. Without such records we
may only follow the events further as the He-
brews have preserved memory of thenu
The army of the Babylonians met the Egyptian
army at some unknown point south of Jerusalem
and drove it back to Egypt, apparently without
great difficulty.' But it did not follow up the ad-
vantage thus gained. As affairs then were in
Egypt, Nebuchadrezzar, with a good army, might
have overrun the whole land, as Esarhaddon had
' JosephuB (AfUiquitie$^ z, 7, § 8) declares that the Egyptians were de-
feated, but Jeremiah (xxxvii, 7), on whom he was doubtless leaning, says
nothing of a defeat.
328 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
done before him, and have perhaps made it a part
of his new empire. But, as we shall see later,
Nebuchadrezzar was not in person at the head of
his army ; the army was probably not large, and
so great an extension of its operations, leaving
states and people unconquered behind, would have
been precarious. At this time the Babylonians
had done all that was desired for present purposes
in compelling Hophra's return to Egypt, where he
was suffered to reign in peace for several years
longer. He would not again endeavor to help his
allies in Syria and Palestine. They would be left
to their fate. Egypt was again proved a broken
reed on which to lean. *
As soon as the menace of the Egyptian army of
deliverance from Jerusalem had been removed the
army of beleaguers returned to the sacred city.
With increased energy and determination was the
siege prosecuted, but the defense continued bold
and brave. Within the city there was, however,
no disciplined and well-armed body of men capa-
ble of making a successful sally against the vet-
erans whom Nebuchadrezzar had collected from
many provinces. If this could have been done,
and fresh supplies thus introduced, the siege might
have been indefinitely prolonged. Famine ' lent
aid to the amy of the siege, and the defense grew
weaker. When the way was clear for the success-
* Isa. xxxvi, 6.
'Presumably pestilence likewise added to the terror of the situation.
Ck>mp. Jer. xxxviii, 2.
THE EEIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. 329
fill assault the Babylonian general in command
ordered it, and a breach was made in the walls.
On the ninth day of the fourth month (July), in
the year 586, the Chaldeans, furious with delay,
poured through the walls of Hezekiah into the city.
2^dekiah fled at night, leaving all behind him-
The courage which had sustained the siege was
plainly not his ; his only idea was to save himself
by flight, probably into the wilds beyond Jordan,
for in that direction his fleeing steps were turned,
and then later, when the Babylonian army had
withdrawn, to return and save something from the
wreck.' The Babylonians were too shrewd to per-
mit so transparent a scheme to reach fulfillment,
and gave pursuit. So long as the king, lawfully
so appointed, was free there was some chance of a
fresh rebellion, as soon as the necessities of their
growing empire should give call to the armies else-
where. Zedekiah was overtaken in the plains of
Jericho and captured.' His captors did not return
him to Jerusalem, but carried him off to Riblah,
in Syiia, to present him before the person of Neb-
uchadrezzar. It now appears that Nebuchadrez-
zar was not present at the siege of Jerusalem at
all, but retained personal command at Riblah, and
very probably of a larger body of troops than was
utilized in the investment of the Jewish capitaL
Whether the body of troops under his command
^ The explanation of Zedekiah*8 purposes is due to a conjecture of Tiele,
Oeaehichtey ii, 481.
' 2 Kings XXV, 4, 6.
330 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
was actively engaged against other Syrophoenician
states at this time is not clearly known. Nebu-
chadrezzar would not be likely to hold a lai^
body of men in idleness for a long time, even
if it were a military possibility. On the other
hand, we have no sign in the materials now access-
ible to us of any great movements* of his while
the siege of Jerusalem was in progress. That he
did not attack Tyre nor Sidon until after Jerusalem
was taken seems clear, and we know of no other
people sufficiently strong to resist a large army,
who were now in rebellion. It may therefore well
be that Nebuchadrezzar with his forces had been
chiefly occupied in widely extended plundering
raids. So soon as Zedekiah was presented before
Nebuchadrezzar the judgment was given against
him. His sons were slain before his eyes, and he
was then blinded — that his last sight of earth
might be one of horror. It is not surprising that
condign punishment should be his, when the cir-
cumstances are considered. When made king by
the Chaldeans he had sworn faithfulness to them
in the name of his own God, Yahwe.' He had
broken that oath — the most solemn oath which
could have been placed before him. But the sav-
* It was probably at this time that Nebuchadrezzar cut cedar beams in
the Lebanon and reduced the inhabitants to subjection. See Pognon, Le$
Inscriptions BabyUmiennes du Wddi Brissa^ especially pp. 20-22, 120-
126. Comp. also Winckler, AUorientalisehe Forsckwagen^ i, pp. 604-606,
and Haspero, The Passing of the EmpireSy New York, 1900, p. 648, foot-
note.
«Ezek. xvii, 11-21.
t
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 331
age form of his punishment is for the moment in-
teresting. That shows a new hand in the domin-
ion of Babylonia. Such savagery ' would be ex-
pected in an Assyrian king. It was rather unusual
in a Babylonian king, and its appearance now is in
connection with a Chaldean. In that is there a
showing forth of a new people. It seems a prom-
ise that the Chaldean would not be merciful, as
the Babylonian had so often been in the past.
While Zedekiah was in flight the army of the
Babylonians had entered the city. The breach in
the walls was made in the eleventh year of his
reign ' (586), after a siege lasting about one and a
half years. The patience of the conquerors was
exhausted. They had tried before to secure a
stable condition of affairs, which the people of
Jerusalem had ruthlessly broken. They had spent
this long period in a wearisome siege. They
would now end all possibility of a future like the
past by utterly destroying the offending city. It
was first plundered for the enrichment of the suc-
cessful army, and the gold, silver, and brass of the
temple decorations, with all the vessels of its serv-
ice, were removed to be dedicated to Marduk in
Babylon. Nothing of value was forgotten, that
1 Our modem judgments are not based on the same premises as the an-
cient. The Assyrians would undoubtedly have put Zedekiah to death after
horrible torture or by mutilation. It is possible that we ought to consider
this blinding to be merciful punishment, when we remember that even
modem orientals do not estimate vision so highly as occidentals. Egyp-
tian fellahin blinded themselves to avoid conscription under Mohammed
AU.
* Jer. xxxix, 2.
332 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Yahwe might pay full tribute to the conquering
Marduk. Then the torch was applied, and the
temple, center of such affection and hope, became
a mass of blackened ruins. Then the rich paii» of
the city were likewise destroyed, and its walls of
defense, which had rendered such valiant service,
were razed to the ground. It was an act of bar-
barism, like unto the oft-repeated deeds of the
Assyrians and unlike the custom of the Babylo-
nians/ Like the punishment of Zedekiah, this also
displayed the new hand in the affairs of men — the
hand of the Chaldean.
Of the population of the ruined city a large
number — how large we do not know — were carried
away captive to Babylonia.' The captives, as be-
fore, were chosen from the richest and best of the
population. The poor," the weak, were left be-
hind, and a wise and generous provision was made
for them. They were to receive land for the cul-
tivation of the vine, and were to be left to the
unhindered pursuit of their religion. A descend-
ant of the house of David, by name Gedaliah, was
appointed governor,* and to him the person of Jer-
' The Babylonians did not even share in the destruction of the hated city
of Nineveh, which had so sorely punished Babylon itself in earlier days.
' It is interesting to speculate upon the number of the Judseans who were
exiled in all the invasions of Nebuchadrezzar. The latest computation is
by QutheiOeaehiehte des Volkes Israel^ pp. 286, 287), who reckons the total
number at thirty-six thousand to forty-eight thousand, which he counts as
a quarter or an eighth of the total population.
' " But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poorest of the
land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.** Jer. lii, 16.
^ 2 Kings XXV, 22 ; Jer. xl, 5-7.
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. 333
emiah was intrusted. The prophet was to be left
free to go and to do as he willed, and was evi-
dently regarded by the Chaldeans not as a He-
brew patriot, but rather as a Chaldean sym-
pathizer. It was probably the purpose of the Chal-
deans to give the land a stable government and a
full opportunity for the development of its re-
sources. Under favorable conditions it would
doubtless soon be able to pay a good tribute and
so add to the wealth of the empire. This pur-
pose, however, failed of early accomplishment, for
the few and feeble folk left under the rule of
Gedaliah were not able to maintain any sure de-
fense of their present position. Another descend-
ant of the Davidic house, with the surprising name
of Ishmael, plotted against Gedaliah. Ishmael
found a helper in the Ammonites, who may have
feared that the people of Judah would again
form a strong state, and were anxious to nip the
effort in the bud. Ishmael slew Gedaliah and
many of his helpers,' and so destroyed the last
hope of the national cohesion. The paltry few
who now remain are in terror before Nebuchad-
rezzar and in fear of their neighbors. There is
no hope for them in the land, and they determine
to emigrate to Egypt With them Jeremiah cast
in his lot, and into another land the poor remains
of a once powerful kingdom departed.*
So ended the campaign of Nebuchadrezzar
' Jer. x\ 18-xU, 16.
« 2 Kings XXV, 26; Jer. xli, 16-18; xlii; xliu, 1-7.
t
334 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
against Judah. The province was left stripped
of its inliabitants, wasted by armies, and burned in
flames. A more ruinous end of a campaign has
rarely been seen in human history. Even from
the Chaldean point of view the punishment of
Zedekiah and of his people was greatly overdone.
If the new Babylon was to become rich, it could
gain wealth as the Assyrians had done, not only
by plunder, but by carefully gathered annual trib-
utes. From Judah in the state to which it waa
now come no tribute could be expected. From it
no levies of men of war to fight for the extension
of Chaldean power could be drawn. It was a wasted
land, and in it a great opportunity had been lost
through savage hate and perhaps through fear of
future Egyptian intrigue.
In this destruction of Jerusalem and the depor-
tation of another portion of its inhabitants is found
the culmination of a long series of efforts directed
against the Hebrews by the peoples of Babylonia
and Assyria. From the days of Hammurabi down
to this dark end again and again have Babylonian
kings plimdei*ed and punished and at times admin-
istered in this land and among this people. Early
in their career of conquest the Assyrian kings be-
gan the same process. For them it was reserved
to blot out the northern kingdom of the Hebrews
in the days of Shalmaneser and Sargon. The early
Babylonians, however, never achieved a permanent
victory over them. To the Chaldeans, their heirs,,
was this given. Wherein all his predecessors had
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 336
failed Nebuchadrezzar had succeeded. The suc-
cess was lamentable, though the final issue of it all
was better than this hour presaged. Many a peo-
ple had been swallowed up in the advance of As-
syrian and Babylonian power and forever lost.
Even empires once distinguished for power and
civilization had so thoroughly disappeared in the
vortex as to leave scarcely a distinguishable sign
of their former existence. This was not to be true
in the case of Judah. The Hebrew had ideas that
could not be quenched, and these carried his per-
son into a life that would not die among men. The
Chaldean had destroyed the state, but the people
lived on in a<;tivity. The songs of Zion might not
be sung," but the words of Zion might be spoken.
The Hebrew would not now pay tribute in the
land of Judah, but would take tribute even of his
captors as he pushed successfully forward into
business in his new home. His wise leader, Jere-
miah, had counseled him to make the new land his
home in the fullest sense : " Build ye houses, and
dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the
fruit of them ; take ye wives, and beget sons and
daughters ; and take wives for your sons, and give
your daughters to husbands, that they may bear
sons and daughters ; and multiply ye there, and be
not diminished. And seek the peace of the city
whither I have caused you to be carried away cap-
tive, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the
peace thereof shall ye have peace." * The advice
* Psa. cxxxvii, 4. • Jer. xxix, 5-Y.
836 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
was followed.* Nebuchadrezzar had gained a new
factor in his composite population, though he had
lost a rich province.
As soon as the war against Judah was ended
Nebuchadrezzar turned his arms against Tyre.
The great commercial city had joined with Sidon
in the embassy which induced Judah to rebel
against him.' Tyre was probably the chief sin-
ner, after Egypt, in this whole matter. It had
more at stake in its overland commerce to the east,
upon which its seagoing commerce was dependent,
than any of the others. Tyre would fain make
another attempt to gain back the commerce of
which the Assyrians had gone far to deprive it,
and for which they had struggled so long. Tyre
would now be brought to answer for its new at-
tempt at rebellion. In the case of Tyre, however,
Nebuchadrezzar had an entirely different problem
from that which he had successfully met in Judah.
Its people indeed were not more brave than the
people of Jeinisalem ; on the contrary, their whole
history would show that they were much less so.
Not in person but in position did they possess a
preeminence over their fellow-conspirators. Jeru-
salem was surrounded by hills, and, though well
fortified, as its resistance showed, it was approach-
^ The discoveries of the expedition of the University of Pennsylvania at
Nippur have shown how largely Jews entered into the business life of
Babylonia. See 77^ Babylonian Expedition of the University of PennayU
vania^ edited by H. V. Hilprecht, vol. ix, and compare the review by Jenaenj
ZeiUchrift fur Aaayriologie, xiii, pp. 829-886.
> See above, pp. 821, 822.
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 337
able on every side. Tyre, on the other hand, was
founded upon the sea, and it was impossible for a
land force alone to besiege it successfully. No
matter how completely it was invested by land,
provisions could always be introduced from the
sea. The Chaldeans were no more familial' with
the sea than the Assyrians or Babylonians' had
been, and were no more able or willing to venture
upon it. Nebuchadrezzar had no seaport on the
Mediterranean in complete possession, from which
he could send forth a fleet to besiege Tyre from
the sea, and he had no fleet with which to do this
even if he had had the port of departure. The
issue of the attempt which Nebuchadrezzar was
now to make was problematical indeed. But
Tyre must be punished or his empire might be
assailed again in a twelvemonth, even though
Judah had been so terribly handled. In 585
Nebuchadrezzar led his army against Tyre and
began a siege. It was a long and tedious enter-
prise. For thirteen years ' the Chaldeans held on
their investment (585-573) unable to take the city.
Unfortunately there is no account of this siege in
' It is not intended to assert that the Babylonians had no ships, but
simply that they were not seamen, Herodotus (i, 194) and Sennacherib
(Taylor Cylinder, col. iii, lines 65, 66, Beeorda of the Pcuty New Series, vl,
p. 92) witness to their possession and use of ships. The English versions
of Isa. xliii, 14, ** the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships '* (A. V.), and
'' the Chaldeans, in the ships of their rejoicmg '* (R. V.), give a totally false
impression, if they seem to make the Chaldeans a seafaring folk, for so the
passage is often quoted. The text is quite likely corrupt. See Cheyne and
especially Marti (Das Buck Jesaija^ p. 297) on the passage.
' Josephus, Arch,f xi, 11, 1, and Con. Ap.^ i* 2, 1.
22 •
338 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
any of Nebuchadrezzar's own inscriptions, and we
must gain such insight into the affair as is possible
from the fragmentary pieces of information at
second or third hand which have come down from
other sources/ From these it is quite clear that
the city was not taken by the Babylonians at all.
An end to the long contest was finally made by
a capitulation similar to those which Tyre had
made before in the case of the Assyrians. The
people of Tyre were not careful for national pride.
They desired most of all to be let alone, for the
continuing of their peaceful pursuit of trade.
Ethobal II was now king of Tyre, and he was
willing to make terms with Nebuchadrezzar, which
involved, probably, the payment of a tribute, and
little more.* Ethobal continued to rule his city
under a sort of Assyrian tutelage. Tyre was not
given to the sword, burned, or plundered, and Neb-
uchadrezzar had but little to pride himself upon
in this campaign, years of time though it had cost.
While the siege of Tyre still dragged its weary
length along Nebuchadrezzar began another and
even more important undertaking, and this against
Egypt. It was Egypt which had caused all this
loss of time and men and treasure to Nebuchad-
1 Comp. Tiele, OetchiehUy il, p. 438, n. In a contract tablet dated in Tyre
" month Tammuz, day 22d, year 40th Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,*'
there is CTidenoe of Babylonian supremacy over Tyre. See Iteeords of the
Fastf New Series, iv, pp. 99-100, and Sayoe in Expontory TTmet, June,
1899, p. 430. Nothing can be made out of Eusebius, Chron,,^ i, 51 ; Justin,
xviii, 8 ; and Strabo, xv, 1, 6.
' Menander, Frag. 2, in Miiller-Didot, Frag, Hut. GraeCy iv, p. 447.
THE BEIGN OF NEBUCHADBEZZAR 339
rezzar. So long as Egypt was suffered to Femain
as it waSy or permitted to increase in power, so long
would Palestine and Syria remain open to sadden
raid or to slow-maturing intrigue. Egypt must
be punished for past intrigues, for the army sent
to help Zedekiah, and must at the same time be
deprived of the power of making any similar trou-
ble for some time to come.
Nebuchadrezzar had driven Hophra and his
army back into Egypt, but he did not pursue,
as we have already seen, his advantage any fur-
ther at this time. Whether he made any further
assaults between that event and the thirty-seventh
year of his reign is not known to us, as our sources
of information are silent on the matter. Whether
he did or did not Egypt remained quiet until his
time for retribution had come. In 567 Nebuchad-
rezzar invaded Egypt, determined to make an end
of its meddling in Syria. He had opportunely
chosen the moment of his campaign. Hophra had
suffered a terrible defeat in Libya, out of which
had come dynastic difficulties.' He had even been
compelled to associate on the throne with himself
as coregent Amasis, as a representative of the
national Egyptian party. After a defeat in arms
against another power, and after some sort of civil
strife in which the land received a second king,
Egypt was in nowise prepared for the invasion.
Nebuchadrezzar met with no serious opposition at
the borders, and pressed into the heart of the Nile
' Herodotus, !▼, d-clxL
340 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
valley. How far he penetrated into the country-
is entirely unknown to us. The Chaldeans appear
to have had a tradition' that he turned Egypt
into a Babylonian province, after he had con-
quered Amasis. We have, however, no definite
information which would lead us to believe that
he wrought so great a revolution. To repeat the
Assyrian exploit of Esarhaddon was hardly to be
expected of Nebuchadrezzar.
He had undoubtedly plundered largely, and
was now ready to return laden with booty. He
had further shown his power to the people of
Egypt, as he went unopposed along the whole
course of their former possessions in Syria, and
they would not be easily led into a violation of
his territory. Nebuchadrezzar attempted nothing
more in Egypt. He did not go on to make it a
part of his empire, as Esarhaddon had done, nor
does he appear to have in any way interfered with
the native rulers. If his reign had continued
longer, it is altogether probable that Egypt would
have again been the scene of his operations, to
plunder and perhaps attempt to rule.
The campaign against Egypt was probably the
last which Nebuchadrezzar undei^took against any
people. The attempt has been made to show that
he also made a campaign against Elam. This is
based only upon the passage in Jeremiah's proph-
> Joeephus, Ant. JucL, x, 9, § 7; 11, § 1. The authority for the view
of Josephus was Berossos, but we do Dot know how much BeroBSos maj
have suffered in the process of transmission.
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. 341
ecies * in which he predicts a day of wrath and de-
struction for this people. He does not, however,
mention the name of the king who was to accom-
plish this punishment of Elam. There is not known
to us any reason which should have induced Neb-
uchadrezzar to undertake such a campaign, nei-
ther do we find a chronological position for it in
his reign. It is, from present knowledge, improb-
able that he did make war against his neighbor.
The campaigns of Nebuchadrezzar appear few
and small as we look at them in comparison with
those of Tiglathpileser III, Sargon, and Esarhad-
don. Other campaigns, yet unknown to us, he
probably waged, for he could otherwise hardly
have held and extended the empire of Nabopolas-
sar. But whether he waged others or not, his
title to rank among the greatest warriors who ever
ruled in Babylonia or Assyria can hardly be de-
nied. His exploits are not so well known; his
own inscriptions have not spread them before us
in such elaboration of detail as did those of former
kings, and this absence of a fully rounded picture
makes them seem less important than they really
are. If judged not only by what we know of
them, but also by the results which we can see did
actually accrue from them, they must be ranked
high indeed. He accomplished by force of arms
the complete pacification of the long-troubled Syro-
phoenician states — a pacification that long contin-
> Jer. xlix, 34-38. Ab to the question of the interpolation of this pas-
sage see Giesebrccht.
342 HISTORY OP BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
ued even tbough his hand was removed. He car-
ried war into the land of E^ypt, and that when
the land was not weak, as it once had been, but
immediately after a great increase of strength.
He defeated and drove back in confusion two
great Egyptian kings, first Necho H and then
Hophra, He began the work of consolidating a
vast new empire, and carried it to brilliant success
by sheer force of despotic power. There were no
civil wars and no further rebeUion, because none
dared raise a head or hand against a personal
power like his.
Yet great though Nebuchadrezzar was in the
organization and the use of an army, great in the
choice of commandera and in their employment, he
bases all his claim to posterity's honor not upon
war and its glories, but upon the quiet acts of
peace. His long and elaborately written inscrip-
tions ' have only a boastful line or two of conquest,
* The chief inscriptions of Nebuchadrezzar are the following : (a) The
East India House Inscription, I R. 53-64, translated into English by Ball,
Proceediiiffs of the Society of Biblical Archceology, x, pp. 87-129, and into
German by Winckler, Keilinachrift. Bibl., iii, part 2, pp. 10-81. (b) The
Philipps (or Grotefend) Cylinder, I R. 65, 66, translated into English by
Ball, op. cit., pp. 215-230, and into German by Winckler, op. city pp. 32-
89. (c) Inscription describing wall constructions at Babylon and Borsippa,
V R. 34, with corrections by Winckler, Zeitschrift fur Aisyriclogiey ii, pp.
142, 144, translated by Winckler, Keiliruchrift. Bibl., iii, part 2, pp. 88-
45. (d) Inscription describing various building operations, published in
Abel- Winckler, KeiUchrifttextCy pp. 33-38, and translated by Ball, op. rtt,
pp. 868-868, and by Winckler, op. cit.y pp. 46-58. (e) The Borsippa In-
scription, I R. 61, No. 1, translated by Winckler, op. cit., pp. 62-56. (f)
Wall Inscription, I R. 52, No. 3, translated by Winckler, op. cit.^ pp. 64-
69. (g) Larsa Inscription, I R. 61, No. 2, translated by Winckler, op. eit.,
pp. 68-61. (h) The Inscriptions of Wady Brissa, published and translated
into French in Pognon, Let Intcriptions Babyloniennea du Wadi Brisea,
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADBEZZAR 343
while their long periods are heavy with the descrip-
tions of extraordinary building operations. From
his father he may have inherited this inclination,
if not skill in its accomplishment. When he as-
cended the throne Babylon was already showing
the result of Nabopolassar's building, but it must
have looked almost a ruin in its very incomplete-
ness. The great works which Nabopolassar had
undertaken were in considerable part left unfin-
ished. To these Nebuchadrezzar first addressed
his labors. The chief of them all were the walls
of Babylon, which Nabopolassar had intended to
rebuild, and at the same time to enlarge. He had
perhaps accomplished about two thirds of his
plans when the work was left to his greater son.
The inner wall of Babylon, the Imgur-Bel, was
completely finished, and the outer wall, the Nimitti-
Bel, likewise, their thickness being increased and
the ditches which belonged to them being lined
with brick. In connection with this he recon-
structed the great city gates, which were not of
solid metal, but were of cedar wood covered with
strips of decorated bronze. At the thresholds he
set up bronze colossi, probably of the usual half-
human, half-animal form. For the age in which
these walls were built they were probably almost
(j) The Canal Inscription, I R. 52, No. 4, translated by Winckler, op, cU,^
pp. 60, 61. In addition to these several minor inscriptions are enumerated
in Bezold, Kurxgefauter Ueberblicky and are also translated by Winckler,
op. «7., pp. 60-71. See further, David W. McGee, "Zur Topographie
Babylons auf Grand der Urkunden Nabopolassars und Nebukadnezars,*'
Beitrage zur Assyriologie^ iii, 524-560.
344 HISTORY OP BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
impregnable, for they far exceeded the walls of
Jerosdem and of Tyre, which had so well resisted
Nebuchadrezzar's own assaults. But even with this
result Nebuchadrezzar was far fi'om satisfied. He
would finish all that his father had planned and then
go far beyond him. Not only should the inner wall
be impregnable, the outer wall should be so strong
that no force should ever be able to reach the in-
ner wall, and then to cap the curious climax he
would even, on some sides, make it impossible
even to reach the outer wall. On the southern
side the city needed no further defense, for upon
it lay the land of Chaldea, loyal to incorruptibil-
ity, and strong enough to prevent any force from
passing through its borders to attack the capital.
It remained, therefore, only to strengthen the walls
upon three sides. This was done in the following
manner : Upon the east of the city, at a distance
of four thousand cubits from the outer wall, he
built another massive walL Before this was a
vast moat, basin-shaped, deep, and walled round
with bricks like a quay. The outworks on the
west were similar, but not so strong, and this was
natural, for the desert formed a natural barrier.
The works on the north were entirely different in
construction and apparently in purpose. Between
the two city walls, and between the Euphrates
and the Ishtar gate, Nebuchadrezzar reared a
great artificial platform of brick laid in bitumen.
Upon this elevated plateau was then erected a
citadel, which was connected vdth his royal palace.
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 345
While this construction did not act as the former
in keeping a hostile army from reaching even the
outer wall, it did make the outer wall at that
point practically a solid construction back to the
inner wall, and so made it impossible that it should
be either broken down or even breached. At the
same time the lofty citadel made a watchtower
whence the level country for miles could be com-
manded, and from which a destructive shower of
missiles could be rained on the heads of any at-
tacking party.
With these works Nebuchadrezzar had made
the taking of Babylon, if any defense were made
within, an impossibility in that age. The compass
of the walls was so vast that no single power, and
perhaps scarcely a combination of powers, could
hope to accomplish an investment that would
reduce the city by famine; while, on the other
hand, wall after wall must be broken down, un-
der almost impossible conditions, if the city was
to be taken from without by assault. The ene-
mies of Babylon must lay their plans to gain the
city, in its state of defense, only from within by
treachery.*
When the defenses were fully accomplished it
was natural that Nebuchadrezzar should turn to
the beautifying and increasing of the city from
within. Nabopolassar had built a great street,
' Herodotus Oi clxxviii, clxxix) has given a most elaborate description
of these defenses. As to the value of his testimony see above, vol. i, pp.
263f 264. For Nebuchadrezzar's own account see East India House In*
Bcription, col. iv, 66-78 ; v, 1-66 ; vi, 1-66. Comp. Appendix G.
346 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Ai-ibur-shabu, which Nebuchadrezzar now in-
creased in height, leveled, and repaved; to this
he joined a new and handsome street called Nana-
saldpat-tebi-sha. The repaying of these streets, at
at increased elevation, made necessary two other
great works. The points at which they passed
through the inner and outer walls were marked
by great gateways, which had now become too
low. They were therefore completely torn down
to water level and rebuilt in astonishing magnifi-
cence, the massive cedar doors covered with bronze
plates, while before the thresholds were placed
great colossi of animals and dragons. Yet another
necessity was brought about by this same eleva-
tion of the street surfaces. The doore of the
palace, which Nabopolassar had rebuilt, must be
changed, and with this, for gi'eater display, came
the rebuilding of the entire palace. This was a
work of colossal proportions, though less than that
of the work upon the walls. Nebuchadrezzar is
careful to state that for this reconstruction he be-
gan at the earth's surface, and laid afresh the foun-
dations in brick and bitumen. To this he adds
further the statement that he brought great cedar
beams from the Lebanon for the work. That
word alone suggests a comment upon the vastness
of the undertaking, when one considers the dis-
tance by land from the Lebanon to the Euphra-
tes over which these beams must in some manner
be carried, and then the long rafting down the
river.
«
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. 347
From such buildings of war and of residence
Nebuchadrezzar turned to temples — ^the homes of
his gods. Upon E-sagila' he seems not to have
expended any great labor, but he made its vast en-
trance doorway to shine as the sun. But the hall
of the oracles, Du-azag, was decorated with gold,
in the place of its former silver, while the great
temple E-kua was redecorated, and this also with
** red gold." In his own story these temple works
are passed over in a few lines, and here may have
only a passing word, but we must not fail to make
due allowance for them when imagination sets in
array before us the works of this one king. To
his gods Nebuchadrezzar paid a full measure of
faith,' as every inscription testifies in words. To
them he was not likely to give less of works when
he rebuilt his imperial city. Beneath the few
lines of his hasty allusion lies the great fact of im-
mense and costly works for the praise of the gods
of Babylon.
One more work was done for Babylon itself, and
that a work deemed always praiseworthy in a
king of Babylonia. Canal restoration was con-
stantly necessary, and since the day when Ham-
murabi built his first canal at the very founding of
his realm king after king had rebuilt these in-
dispensable public works. The eastern canal of
1 East India House Inscription, ool. ii, 40-65 ; col. iii, 1-10, Winckler,
Keilinachrift. Bibf.y iii, part 2, pp. 14, 16.
* See Rogers, " The Words of Nebuchadnezzar Concerning Himself,** Sun-
day School TimeSf Dec. 8, 1898, pp. 802, 803.
348 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Babylon, by name Libil-Khigalla, had fallen into
a state of ruin. The clay from its banks had
slipped down into its channel until, in places at
least, its very course could not be traced. Nebu-
chadrezzar had it redug, and then walled up from
the bottom. This canal, in its rebuilding, was car-
ried beneath the great street of Ai-ibur-shabu, and
that made necessary a bridge to carry the street
over the sluggish waters. It would be interesting
to know the construction and the material of the
bridge, but the record is silent thereon. Nebu-
chadrezzar himself plainly considered this canal
work as worthy of especial note ; to it he gave an
entire inscription,* as he did not even to his great
wall, temple, and palace erections and adornments.
Babylonia was still a rainless land, and the build-
ers of canals were its chief benefactors.
The construction of temple, palace, canal, and
defenses of Babylon must have been spread over
a long series of years, though perhaps little was
done in regard to them until the chief of his wars
were over. Had Nebuchadrezzar done nothing
more for his kingdom than thus to make his cap-
ital great, powerful, and beautiful, his claim to
fame in Babylonia would, from all oriental stand-
ards, have been good. It was of the very nature
of oriental monarchs in the ancient world to
plunder the whole kingdom that the capital
might be rich and worthy. This Nebuchadrezzar
* This inscription is published I R. 62, No. 4, and translated bj Winck-
ler, op. eU.f pp. 60, 61.
THE REIGN OP NEBUCHADREZZAR 349.
had done, but he had not left undone great works
for the other chief cities of his empire. Over
Babylon he had watched with especial pride.
He may well have felt and spoken as the Hebrew
sacred book represents : " Is not this great Baby-
lon, that I have built for the house of the king-
dom, by the might of my power, and for the
honor of my majesty?" '
Over Borsippa, also, did he turn his gaze and
make his boast, and to it he also gave works of
reconstruction. In Borsippa the pyramidal temple
of E-ur-imin-an-ki, " the house of the seven quar-
ters of the Heavens and the Earth," had fallen
into partial ruin. It had been originally intended
when it was built to make it consist of seven
stages from earth to its topmost pinnacle. The
final stage had, however, not been added at all,
according to Nebuchadrezzar's statement on the
subject That alone would have tempted the
building king to a work of completion. But
besides this the building was now in bad repair.
The account of it which Nebuchadrezzar gives
ia very instructive as shovring the pix)cess and the
cause of decay in Babylonian constructions.* He
says that the water drains were out of order, and
that therefore the rains had broken down its walls,
and the outer covering of burnt bricks had burst
open. Though Babylonia was a rainless land in
the sense that it had no regular rains of value to
' Dan. iv, 80.
* The Borsippa Inscription, I R. 61, No. 1, Winckler, op. cit, pp. 6S-6fi.
860 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the husbandman, it was subject to torrential
downpours of water. If this was not rapidly and
completely carried off, it soaked in between the
bamt facing and the unbumt filling of the walls
and caused a bulging, which was liable to end in a
downfall of the walL To such pass had this
building come. Nebuchadrezzar now rebuilt the
structure, supplying new strength to it without
taking it down to its foundations, as he had done
repeatedly in other cases. When thus restored
he capped it with the new story to bring it to the
required symmetrical height. In like manner he
rebuilt or restored the remaining temples of the
city. To these works of peace he added a work
of preparation for defense in war by rebuilding
the walls of Borsippa on the same general scale
and plan as those of Babylon.
In the reconstruction and adornment of the
temples of E-sagila at Babylon and of E-zida at
Borsippa Nebuchadrezzar had honored the most
ancient and most venerated of all the shrines of
the Babylonian people. Other temples might and
did possess great renown in this or that city;
these were honored wherever the name of Baby-
lonia went, and wherever its people had joys or
sorrows. In these temples the king worshiped.
He had now made them worthy of the gods who
had made him great. But he likewise owed debts
to other gods and to the citizens of other cities.
He therefore carried on restorations of temples
in other cities, among which he especially enumer-
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR. 361
ates Sippar, Larsa, Ur, Dilbat, Baz, and Urak.'
On the bricks which he laid in every temple he
stamped his name and royal titles^ and from every
ruin in Babylonia which these later days have
opened and explored, however lightly, bricks have
come bearing the stamp of this king. It would
appear that not only in the city in which he dwelt,
and in the few which he especiaUy enumerates,
but in every other city, small or great, in his own
land, he had either built or restored. like unto
him in this particular no king his equal had ever
reigned in Babylonia.
In the year 562 Nebuchadrezzar died. Of his
last years we know nothing but continued build-
ing, and of his last days and the final cause of his
death we have no Babylonian record. The story
of the book of Daniel ' that his great pride had a
deep fall, and that his reason was lost, and that he
was left to suffer of a madness which made him
conceive himself a beast of the field, finds no men-
tion in any record of his own race.' It might well
be a day of mourning in all Babylon when the
' See the texts enumerated above.
« Dan. iv, 31, ff.
'Josephus has reported a similar tradition in these words: "Nebu-
chadrezzar falling into a state of weakness, altered his (manner of) life
when he had reigned forty-three jears ; whereupon his son, Evil-merodach,
obtained the kingdom '* (Apion^ i, 20). Eusebius also has a curious story
of Nebuchadrezzar's end : " On a certain occasion the king went up to the
roof of his pakoe, and, after prophesying of the coming of the Persian
Cyrus and his conquest of Babylon, suddenly disappeared** (fVop., ix, 41,
CTiron,, i, 69). See Schrader, " Die Sage vom Wahnsinn Nebukadnezars,*'
Jahrb,/ur Prot, Theologie^ yii, pp. 629, if., and comp. Prince, Commeti'
tary on the Book of Danid^ pp. 82-85.
352 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
great king died. Unto the very ends of the earth
he had made the name of Babylon great.
Enough has already been said concerning his
merits and success as a man of war. In taking a
view of his whole personality there are to be added
to this several other points of weight His building
operations were so extensive that in this particular
he outranks all who preceded him, whether in As-
syria or in Babylonia. For the most part these
works were beneficent, though the execution of
them must have cost much human life and terrible
suffering of fatigue and oppression. That he added
to this love for the constructively beautiful an in-
terest in the arts and the sciences is cleai* enough
from the books which have come down to us out
of the great collections in his own and other cities.
These are evidences also enough that he was a patron
of letters and science, worthy to be compared Avith
that great Assyrian founder of libraries, Asshur-
banapal. A man of blood and iron it has been
already sufficiently shown that he was. His pun-
ishment of Zedekiah is to be placed with the very
worst instances of savagery in all that history.
But it is just to remember that Zedekiah had
broken an oath, and so may be considered as hav-
ing offended against the great god Marduk, and
that in a most vital point. Further than this
there is no other instance of great cruelty known
to us; and it is especially worthy of notice that
we find no case of cruelty practiced solely from
bloodthiretiness, and in repulsive fashions, as was
THE REIGN OF NEBUCHADREZZAR 353
SO often the case in the reigns of certain Assyrian
kings like AsshurnazirpaL
To all his virtues and all his faults Nebuchad-
rezzar added deep piety. He was a polytheist,
worshiping especially Marduk, god of the mighty
temple of E-sagila in Babylon, and Nabu, god of
the great temple E-zida in Boi*sippa. He was,
however, careful to pay due homage to gods many
and lords many in different cities of his empire,
and to these, as we have seen, he likewise dedi-
cated temples.
When he died there died also the real power to
live and grow in his empire. He left no son like
himself, and the Chaldean people were unable to
produce another man worthy to sit upon his
throne and sway lus scepter.
23 •
S54 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
CHAPTER m.
THE LAST TEABS OF THE CHALDEAN EMPIBK
The throne of Babylon, which Nebuchadrezzar
had made so potent a force in the world, was occu-
pied at once upon his death by Amil-Marduk, the
biblical Evil-merodach ' (man or servant of Mar-
duk), the son of Nebuchadrezzar (561-560 B. C).
So strong had been Nebuchadrezzar's hold upon
the people that there was no attempt at disturb-
ances in the transfer of power to his son.
Of his reign we know almost nothing, for no in-
scriptions of his own have been found. Two allu-
sions from the outside give our only possible view
of his brief reign. The first of these comes, as so
much of our information of his father's reign, from
the Hebrews. The writer of the Second Book of
Kings; states that in the first year of his reign,
and thirty-seven years after the captivity of Jehoi-
achin, he took the Hebrew exile out of prison.
From that time Jehoiachin enjoyed the fare of a
king and wore the garments of royalty in ex-
change for the prison garb which he had worn so
long. Of this act of mercy, which is, however, not
1 2 Kings XXV, 27 ; Jer. lii, 31; LXX reads EviaXfMpodiic^ and BeroBSOs
has the form * kfukfiapohdoKo^, See Haupt, ^'Ueber den HalbTOcal u im
Assyrischen," ZeiUchrift fiir Assyridogiey ii, pp. 266, 284, fit.
' 2 Kings XXV, 27-30 ; comp. Jer. Ill, 31-34.
LAST YEABS OF CHALDEAN EMPIBE. 865
inconsistent with the remaining facts concerning
this king, there is no other record. To Berossos *
we owe the remaining reference to this reign. He
says that Evil-merodach ruled unlawfully and ty-
rannically. It may be that the release of Jehoi-
achin was one expression of unlawful rule, and that
it was the priestly or the national party whose feel-
ing toward the king Berossos expresses.* Such men
would naturally hate a king who showed any feel-
ing of sympathy or help for the accursed people
who had cost Babylon so dear in lives and treas-
ure for their subduing. For this or some other
cause Evil-merodach lost the loyalty of enough of
his subjects to make successful a plot against his
life. In the second full year of his reign he was
assassinated. His reign left no mark upon his
country's history, but the violent end of his life
was an ominous portent of the desperate days that
were in the future. The assassination of a king
makes the dark periods of Assyrian history cry
out a warning to the Chaldeans.
The plan for the slaying of Amil-Marduk had
been devised byNergal-shar-usur (Neriglissor — ^that
' Berossos, Frag. 14, in Muller-DIdot, Frag, HUt. OraCy ii, p. 607
(comp. Eusebius, Chron., 49, 22, ff.), says of Evil-merodach, vpoaraq tuv
npayfi&Tuv av6fujq koX adcAyrljf. This avdfujc is supported by the Stele of
Nabonidus (see Die Insehrift der Stele Nabuna^d's, von L. Messerschmidty
pp. 18, 80), which represents this king and Labashi-Marduk as law-
breakers (see col. y, lines 83, 34).
' Tiele (Oesehichtey ii, pp. 467, 464) argues that the restoration of Jehoi-
achin does not fit the character of Evil-merodach nor the other chronolog-
ical indications, and therefore proposes to ascribe it to Neriglissor. The
point is, however, not well taken.
856 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
is, " Nergal, protect the king "), and had probably
been executed by him or upon his order. He now
became king of Babylon, and had Kkewise a brief
reign (559-556 B. C). He was an influential man
long before the death of Nebuchadrezzar. He it
was, probably, who appeared at Jerusalem during
the war of Nebuchadrezzar,* holding the office of
rab-niagy and engaging in important diplomatic
duties. His family was influential in business af-
fairs, as the numerous contract tablets' from that
period abundantly testify. Whatever his origin
may have been, he had at least the station, or
the power, to gain the hand of Nebuchadrezzar's
daughter in marriage. In his most important in-
scription * he calls his father Bel-shum-ishkun, of
whom nothing is known. So far as his ability
would permit he followed in all things the exam-
ple of the great king who had made the empire ;
his inscriptions even being in a similar style. His
pride, likewise, was in the adornment and the in-
crease of Babylon, and his first concern was to
beautify the temple E-sagUa. Before its doora had
stood great bronze dragons, to warn away the evil ;
these he covered with silver. The temple E-zida of
Borsippa he also decorated and beautified. In these
' Jer. xxxix, 8.
' SeOi for example, Strassmaier, Inschri/ten tfoti Ndbtichodonoaory Konig
von Babylon, No. 88, p. 68 (translated by Peiser, Keilituehrift. Bihl^ iv, p.
187, No. x); No. 266, pp. 169, 160 (translated by Peiser, op. cU,^ p. 195,
No. xxiv).
• The Ripley Cylinder, published by Budge, Proceedings of the Society of
Biblical ArchoBology^ x, part 8 (translated by Bezold, Keilinaehri/i, Bihl,^
ii, part 2, 77, fit.).
LAST YEAES OF CHALDEAN EMPIRK 357
works lie honored the gods who had brought him
from the world of commerce even to the rule of
an empire, and to them he pays the tribute of
words of passionate devotion, heaping word upon
word of prayer and of praise. It remained only
now that he should accomplish some work for the
canal system of Babylon. In this his first care
was to regulate the course of the canal upon which
the city was built, this being a channel of the
Euphrates itself, which was now changed so that,
as in former times, it should pass directly by the
temple of E-sagila, The eastern arm of the canal
was also walled up, that its current might flow
with sweet water, unmixed with sand.
The residence of Nergal-shar-usur was in the
same palace as that of Nebuchadrezzar, and in
this he carried on extensive alterations and im-
provements. The first of them concerned its
foundations, which the canal had made unsafe, and
the last of them were put upon the lofty summit
of the building. In these works the chief part
was played by the ever-present brick, but mention
is made also of the cedar beams, which came, as be-
fore, from the Lebanon.
There is no mention in the life of Nergal-shar-
usur of any wars throughout his empire. It is,
however, scarcely probable that he could have
reigned without any disturbances requiring for
their suppression the force of arms. It was the
custom of the Babylonian kings to say nothing
of war ; in this he foUowed the former usage.
358 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
Whether a warrior himself or not, he kept his em-
pire intact, and the Chaldean power suffered no loss
from that which Nebuchadrezzar had won. Bet-
ter even than was to be expected did the empire
sustain itself.
The oft-repeated prayer' of Nergal-shar-usur
for a long reign was not granted. In 556 his life
ended, and his son succeeded him. Labashi-Mar-
duk, whose name puzzled even Berossos and the
Greeks in general, who represent it as Labassa-
rachos, or Labarosoarchodos, was but a youth"
when he became king. At once he became the
subject of a conspiracy, directed against him, says
tradition, because he displayed evil traits of char-
acter. That tlus reason was a mere excuse for a
deep plot of the priesthood to wrest the throne
from his hands there can be little doubt Labashi-
Marduk reigned but nine months (556), and was
then killed. His successor was not a Chaldean at
all, but a native Babylonian not related to the
reigning house, and this increases the probability
that beneath these events lay schemes which were
slowly working out toward ruin. Plot and coun-
terplot would not add strength to the empire, and
assassination boded ill to a stable government.
1 So, for example, '^ Marduk, great lord, lord of the gods, glorious,
light of the gods, I pray thee ; may I, according to thy exalted unchange-
able command, enjoy the glory of the house which I have built, may I attain
onto old age in it '* (Cambridge Cylinder, coL ii, lines 81-84).
' Berossos calls hhn iraic (Frag. 14, Mtiller-Didot, op. ci^., ii, p. 507), and
this is confirmed by the Nabonidus Stele, cols, iv and v. See Messer-
fichmidt, op. eU.^ p. 18.
s
LAST YEARS OF CHALDEAN EMPIRE. 359
As soon as Labaslii-Marduk was dead the con-
spirators chose as king a man who had partici-
pated in the revolution, for such it undoubtedly
was. The man chosen to ascend the throne was
Nabonidus (Nabu-naidu, the god " Nabu is glori-
ous "), a man of distinguished position. His father
was Nabu-balatsu-iqbi/ to whom is given the same
title as Nergal-shar-usur had added to his father's
name. Nabonidus was a man of piety, beyond
even the example of the Chaldeans who had pre-
ceded him. He was a builder of temples and a
restorer of them, and this appears to have ab-
sorbed his chief energies. This work he carried
on in a different and in a more thorough way than
either Nebuchadrezzar or Nergal-shar-usur. These
had been content to take down a ruined temple to
its foundations upon the earth's surface^ and then
to rebuild it of a size and a magnificence surpassing
that which it had been. Not so this new servant
of the gods. He was not content to reach merely
the earth's surface as he began the reconstruction
of a temple. His workmen must burrow in the
earth until the ori^al foundation stones of the
temple's first builder were found. This was often
no easy task. As we have seen before, the tem-
ples of Babylonia were constantly in decay, and
this led to repeated restorations. These restora-
tions must often have left the work of previous
builders covered with debris and difficult to find.
Ubu Habba Cylinder, ooL i, line 6, V B. 64, KeUifuehHfi. £ibl,, iii, part
2, p. 97.
360 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
In many rebuildings the site even of the temple
was partly or wholly changed. Amid all these
difficulties and discouragements his work went on.
In almost every case the foundation stones were
found at last, and the king's name who had caused
the first stone to be laid was then read, and a
careful record made of the fact. The finding
of these names of ancient kings led to a study of
the historical records of the past, which the royal
libraries still preserved. Out of the study of
these aucient inscriptions the historiographers of
the court of Nabonidus gradually learned the
dates of past events of importance and the order
of the events themselves.
The next step in this interesting development
was to state, in the inscriptions of Nabonidus, that
such and such a king's name had been found, and
that the king had reigned so many years be-
fore the king who was now renewing theii* fallen
works. These notices in the inscriptions of Na-
bonidus make his inscriptions of surpassing value
to the student of the past.* No longer are build-
ing inscriptions dreary wastes of boasting words ;
out of them come names buried otherwise in the
mists of the past These names also have their
proper perspective, for the royal scribe has writ-
ten with them the number of years before Nabon-
idus they had lived. But for these notices many
a definitely known king whose own inscriptions
have later greeted the explorer's spade could not
1 See above, book i, chap, xli, vol. i, pp. 812, ff.
LAST YEARS OF CHALDEAN EMPIRE. 361
be assigned his proper place in the development
of his country's political history. His own texts
bear no allusion, at times, to his ancestors, and no
hint as to his chronological position. But the
scribes of Nabonidus had lists of kings, now lost,
and were able at once to locate these monarchs
in their proper place. Whether consciously or
not, Nabonidus thus became a patron of letters
and history, and made all his race debtor to him
for his archaeological researches among ruined pal-
aces and temples. Former monarchs who held
possession of Babylon had been eager to have re-
searches pursued into the history of the past, but
only that their own names might be connected
with real or supposed ancestors of renown.' To
this weakness there is no analogy in Nabonidus.
His inscriptions are burdened more with the names
of gods than of men, and with no hero of the past
does he attempt to connect his own lineage.
These archaeological researches were interesting
to Nabonidus and the scholars of his court, but
they appear to have worked ill for the state. The
king must have given himself to them to the loss
of time, energy, and enthusiasm for the duties of
kingcraft, to which he appears to have given little
heed. He did not reside in Babylon at all, but
at Tema,' probably an insignificant place, with no
> So, for example, Esarbaddon. See aboye, pp. 8, 4.
* Pinches {TVatuaetiotu of the Society of Biblical Archaeology y yii, 171)
has most improbably sought to connect the place with a certain TV-mo.
See further Hagen, Beitrage xur Astyriologiey ii, p. 286, footnote.
362 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA,
other influence in histoiy. There he spent his
time absorbed in great plans of building and of
restoration, enrapt in the work of his scholars, who
were disentangling the threads that led away into
the dawn of human history, and devoted to prayers
and good works before the gods. Imagination
conceives him not as busied with concerns of state
in the capital or at the head of an army seeking
new territory or defending old, but rather as going
about his lands watching the progress of work
upon a temple, or stepping down into excavations
to look upon the inscribed name of some old king
which no eye had seen for thousands of years.
Though there is no clear statement in his records
to this eflfect, it seems almost certain that the great
concerns of state were left to his son, Bel-shar-usur
(" Bel protect the king," the biblical Belshazzar),
who was a sort of regent during probably a large
part of the reign. That the position of Bel-shar-
usur was unusual appears quite clearly from the
manner of the allusions to him in Nabonidus's in-
scriptions. At the end of some of them his name
is coupled in the prayers with that of Nabonidns,
and blessings are especially invoked upon him.*
No such usage as this appears in any other text,
and there must be a specific reason for it, which
it is simplest to find in his regency. This is sup-
1 So, for example : '* From sin against tby exalted godhead guard me, and
grant me, as a gift, life for many days, and in the heart of Belshazar, my
firstborn son, the offspring of my body, establish reverence for thy great
godhead. May he not incline to sin, but enjoy the fullness of life '* (small
inscription of Ur, col. ii, lines 20-31).
LAST YEAES OF CHALDEAN EMPIRK 363
ported, likewise, by the otherwise inexplicable
conduct of Nabonidus during the most threatening
situation in all the history of Babylon. When
the army of Cyrus, as will be shown later, was ap-
proaching the city he remained in retirement at
Tema, and gave over the control and leadership
completely to Bel-shar-usur. By this regency of
Belshazzar is also explained the origin of the Jew-
ish tradition preserved in the book of Daniel,
which makes Bekhazzar,' and not Nabonidus, the
last king of Babylon. That it had a historic basis
there is reason to believe.
As we have no historic accounts of events in the
earlier part of the reign of Nabonidus, it will be
necessary to reconstruct those years from the slight
notices which are given them in his own inscrip-
tions — and these notices are naturally concerned
primarily with building. At the beginning of
every inscription after his title of king of Babylon
Nabonidus is careful always to add the words,
"Preserver of E-sa^la and E-zida," thus connect-
ing his name continually with the greatest shrines
of his race. It was not, however, in these two
temples that his chiefest interest centered. It was
perhaps useful for reasons of state that he should
thus appear as their patron, but he did not show
to either a reverence more real than words. He
did not even pay to E-sagUa the annual New
Year's visit, which was an act sacredly followed
by the kings who had ruled before him. His de-
1 Dan. ▼, 1, 80, 81.
364 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
votion was paid the more to other shrines, in other
cities. For this there was some justification to be
found in theii* abnost complete neglect by recent
generations. None the less is this custom of Na-
bonidus surprising in a Babylonian king.
Perhaps the chief work of Nabonidus was the
restoration, the rebuilding, indeed, of the temple
of the sun, E-babbara, in the ancient city of Sii>-
par. Forty-five years before, Nebuchadrezzar had
restored this temple, probably to honor the people
of Sippar and attach them loyally to his person. Its
walk were now fallen, and in this we see a curious
comment either upon the carelessness of Nebuchad-
rezzar's workmen or the partial character of his res-
toration. No such work as that would satisfy the
careful Nabonidus. The sun god Shamash was
first supplied with temporary quarters for his occu-
pancy. Then the temple was razed to the ground,
and the foundations examined for the name of the
first builder. Nebuchadrezzar had not found it
when his restorations were made, and it was not
found now until the excavations had been carried
far beneath the surface. Then at last appeared
the old comer stone, and upon it the name of
Naram-Sin, who had caused it to be laid three
thousand two hundred years before.* The finding
of this stone so filled Nabonidus with delight that
he is moved to say that Shamash himself had
shown it to him. In such words would an Assjrr-
ian king have celebrated a bloody victory over
' See above, voL i, p. 818.
LAST YEAES OF CHALDEAN EMPIRK 365
men who died to save their own firesides ! Then
exactly upon that same site, moving an inch neither
this way nor that, the stone was laid again, with
all splendor of ceremony and of honor. Above
it rose the new temple more splendid than the
old. For its roof no less than five thousand cedar
beams were required, while still more of the pre-
cious wood had to be used for its great doors. So
the new temple was finished, and into it was the
god Shamash led by the hand of Nabonidus, with
rejoicing, with display of all devotion, and with
prayers to Shamash that his care might be about
the king who had thus honored him.
At about the same time, and perhaps immedi-
ately afterward, Nabonidus began the restoration
of the temple E-ulbar, the shrine of the goddess
Anunit, in the city of Sippar-Anunit. In the same
manner as before he sought the foundation stone,
but this time without such intense earnestness^
and also without success. He was satisfied with
the discovery of the foundation stone of Sha-
garakti-Buriash,* upon which he laid anew the
foundations, and then reerected the temple. To
this new home the goddess was introduced with
gifts and with prayers. Not for himself only were
these prayers offered, but also for the future. It
was the desire of Nabonidus that in the days to
come other kings might be raised up to rebuild
the temple when his work should have outlived
its days and the temple again be in decay.
* See above, vol. i, p. 318.
366 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
But there were other great works yet to be
done, and the plans of the king for building not
empires, but temples, had full sway in his active
mind. His thoughts were continually turning far
away from Babylon and its neighboring cities to
a great city in the far north. Harran, a name once
great in the histoiy of the peoples of the Eu-
phrates and the Tigris, had for centuries been of
little moment. The Manda had ruined its streets
and buildings, and destroyed its commercial im-
portance. The great temple of Sin, the holiest
shrine in all the north country, a temple bound by
ancient ties to the great temple of Sin in Ur of
the south land, was in ruins. The Manda had
passed by, and as in their hearts there was no rev-
erence for Sin, his temple fell before their de*
structive wave, and lay a ghastly heap of ruins^
its bricks melting away into mud. To the eye of
reason it might seem as though the power of Sin
were small that he could not even defend his own
house from such despoilers. But not so to the
faith of Nabonidus, for to his thought Sin had
been angry and had suffered the Manda — nay, had
caused them — to break down his house. How bet-
ter could he punish his worshipera, if that were his
will, than to take away from their hearts the sol-
ace of worship in his temple ?
At the very beginning of the reign of Naboni-
dus he dreamed a dream. Before him, as in a
vision, stood the great gods Marduk and Sin.
Then spoke Marduk and said, " Nabonidus, king
LAST YEAES OF CHALDEAN EMPIRE. 367
of Babylon, with the horses of thy wagons, bring
bricks, build E-Khulkhul, and let Sin, the great
lord, have his dwelling therein." In fear answered
Nabonidus, "The temple, which thou hast com-
manded me to build, the Manda surround it, and
widespread are his forces." But answered Mar-
duk, " The Manda, of whom thou speakest, they,
their country, and the kings their allies are no more."
Before the great god had commanded the rebuild-
ing of this temple he had arranged to remove the
obstacle of a warlike force. It was well that he had.
An Assyrian king would have attacked any force
about an honored god's temple, driven it away, and
then rebuilt ; so would the old Babylonians, but this
new apostle of building would have none of war.
Even upon the god's assurance that the Manda
were no more about Harran, Nabonidus shrank in
fear from the task. At last duty drove him on,
and he essayed the great work. Upon all his vast
empire he laid a levy for men for the work. From
Gaza, on the borders of l^ypt, from far beyond
the Euphrates, from the eastern limits of his em-
pire they came — governors, princes, kings — to help
with the work. It was not long since the temple
had last been rebuilt, for Asshurbanapal (668-625
B. C.) had rebuilt it upon the foundations which
Shalmaneser II (859-825 B. C.) had laid. Stronger
than before arose the great new walls. Upon them,
for the roof, were placed great cedar beams from
the Amanus, while doors of sweet-smelling cedar
swung to and fro upon their fastenings. So great
368 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
was the glory of the new temple that the whole
city of Han-an shone " like the new moon." * la
this new home, with prayer and joyful ceremony,
was Sin, with his companions, brought, and an-
other work of duty and honor had been added to
the glories of the reign of Nabonidus. But in
all this there is no word of the aflEairs of state.
The gods were honored, but what of men ? The
day of judgment was slowly moving on. While
Nabonidus built temples, remained away from
Babylon, and looked not upon his army, another
people of a fresh and almost untried race were
husbanding old and seeking new strength for the
undoing of all this splendor. The hour of their
triumph had almost come.
The beginnings of new powers in the world's
history are usually obscure, and for later ages dif-
ficult to trace out. So is it with the beginnings
of that power which had slowly been preparing to
engulf Babylonia. Some steps in its progress may
now be regarded as reasonably clear, and these
must now be followed. When Nineveh fell it
was not at the behest of Babylonia only. A new
power, fresh from a long rest and not wasted by
civilization's insidious pressure, had contributed to
that overthrow. This new people was the Manda,
and in the years that followed the Manda had not
been idle. To them had fallen in the partition of
the Assyrian empire the whole of the old land of
^ Nabonidus, the Great Cylinder of Abu-Habba, col. ii, line 25. Comp.
Keilinschrift, Bibly iii, part 2, p. 103.
LAST YEAES OF CHALDEAN EMPIRK 369
Assyria, with northern Babylonia. The very owner-
ship of such territory as this was itself a call to
the making of an empire. To this the Manda had
set themselves, and with extraordinary and rapid
success. While Nebuchadrezzar lived they main-
tained peace with him and offered no threats
against Babylonia. To the north and west their
forces spread. These movements we cannot trace
in detail From the Manda, who were men of ac-
tion, and not writers of books, there have come to
us no stories of conquest. From the events which
follow, of which we have Babylonian accounts, we
can trace with reasonable certainty, even though
broadly, their progress. As early as 560 B. C.
their border had been extended as far west as the
river Halys, which served as the boundary between
them and the kingdom of Lydia, over which
Croesus, of proverbial memory, was now king
(560-546 B. C). K no violent end came to a vic-
torious people such as the Manda now were, it
could not be long before the rich plains, the
wealthy cities, and the great waterways of Baby-
lonia would tempt them southward and the great
clash would come. If to such brute force of con-
quest as they had already abundantly shown they
should add gifts for organization and administra-
tion, there was no reason why all their possessions
should not be welded again into a great empire,
as the Assyrians had done before with a large part
of them. Their king was now Astyages,* or, as
1 See Frag. 29, Miiller-Didot, Ctence Cnidii Fragmenta, p. 46.
24
370 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the Babylonian inscriptions name him, Ishtuvegu/
Our knowledge of him is too scant to admit of a
judgment as to his character. A man of war of
extraordinary capacity he certainly was, but per-
haps little else. However that may be, he was
not to accomplish the ruin of Nabonidus. What
he had gained was to be used to that end by an-
other, and he was now preparing.
In Anshan, a province in the land of Elam, a
great man had arisen. From Elam for centuries
no impulse had been given in the world's history.
The people had rested. Kings had ruled over
them, indeed, but their influence had been little
beyond their own borders. When Cyrus was
born, son of Kambyses, a place was ready for him,
and greatness soon found it. Cyrus, king of An-
shan — the title had no high sound, and to it were
added no other titles of rule in other lands. But
in Cyrus the primary power of conquest was
strong. He began at once a career of almost un-
paralleled conquest, and later displayed in ex-
traordinary degree the power so to organize the
result of one victory as to make it contributoiy to
the next. His first foe was naturally Astyages,
king of the Manda, whose attention he had at-
tracted. We do not know what deeds of Cyrus
led Astyages to determine upon attacking him,
whether he had made reprisals upon the borders
of the empire of the Manda, or had shown else-
' Nabonidus, the Great Cylinder of Abu-Habba, col. i, line 82, Keilin-
achrift. Bibl, iii, part 2, pp. 98, 99.
LAST YEARS OF CHALDEAN EMPIRK 371
where ability which might later prove dangerous
to the aspirations of the Manda. In 553 B. C.
Astyages led an army against this new Asiatic con-
queror. All the advantages seemed to lie upon the
side of Astyages. He had victories behind him,
he had the levies of an empire already vast on
which to draw. But these and all other advan-
tages were overturned by treachery. His own
troops rebelled against him and delivered him into
the hands of Cyrus,* and that bound as a pris-
oner. Cyrus then took Ecbatana, sacked it,* and
overwhelmed the state. In an hour he had leaped
from the position of king of Anshan, a rank hardly
greater than petty prince, to the proud position
of king of the Manda. A whole empire already
made was his. Well might he assume a new title
and call himself king of the Parsu — out of which
has come to us the word " Persians.'' King of the
Persians — in that new title of Cyrus was gathered
all the impetus of a new and terrible force in the
world. For his coming the day of judgment had
waited. The day of great Semitic conquerors was
waning, a new conqueror of the great unknown
Indo-European races had arisen, and a new day
had thus dawned. What did it mean for human-
ity — for civilization ?
The sudden victory of Cyrus over the empire of
> Annals of Nabonidus, col. ii, lines 1, 2. See Hagen, '* Eeilschrift-
nrkunden zur Geschichte des Konigs Cyrus/' BeUrSge zur Awyriologie^
ii, pp. 218, 219.
' Ihid.^ col. li, lines 8, 4.
372 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
the Manda filled the whole western world with
alann. The empire of Cyrus now extended to the
Halys, and beyond that river was Lydia. How
soon Cyrus would cross it none knew. He was
probably only waiting until he could assimilate
the forces of the Manda with his own ; for such a
man could be content with no dominion that was
less than world-wide. Croesus determined to strike
the first blow himself, but not single-handed. He
formed a confederation in the spring of 546, and
almost every power of significance in the whole
west joined it. Amasis, king of Egypt; Nabonidus,
king of Babylon ; * Croesus, king of Lydia, and even
his friendly allies, the Spartans * — ^these formed an
array that must be invincible. The leader was
Croesus, and that he should fail seemed impossible.
Behind him was an army that had never known
defeat, beneath him were the sure oracles of Del-
phi. But the confidence of Croesus was too great ;
he would not even wait for the expected contribu-
tions of men from his allies; with trust in his
gods and in his own army he started out to meet
Cyrus, and entered Kappadokia. Cyrus met him
with all his forces. The unexpected, the impossi-
ble, happened, and Croesus was defeated. Cyrus
pursued, and again Croesus gave battle, in the valley
of Hermos. In the army of Cyrus were bodies of
men mounted on camels ; * before them stood the
* Herodotus, i, Ixxvii
' Ibid.^ i, Ixix.
^ Jbid.^ i, Ixxx ; Xenophon, Cyropcedic^ Yii. i, § 48 ; ufilian, Stat Animal^
ui, 7.
LAST YEAES OF CHALDEAN EMPIRK 373
Lydian cavalry. It was the barbarous east mounted
upon its uncanny and clumsy animal of the desert
opposed to the civilization of the west with its
clean-limbed horses. But the barbarians on camels
threw the cavalry into confusion, and again was
Croesus beaten, and this time overwhelmed. He
retreated to the citadel of Sardes, and sent mes-
sengei^s to his allies begging for assistance, which,
naturally enough, never came. In fourteen days
Sardes fell, and Croesus was in the hands of Cyrus.'
The Lydian empire was also swallowed up in Per-
sia. Croesus was taken in the autumn of 546, and
before the end of 545 the entire peninsula of Asia
Minor was a part of the Persian empire, divided
into satrapies and administered with a strong
hand. Even the isles of the sea were giving sub-
mission to the power that had arisen out of the
wilds of Asia, ghostlike in a night, whose ruler
was but a year before unknown in name even to
the Greeks of the mainland, who had now become
his subjects.
Cyrus had now fully prepared the way for the
absorption of Babylonia, with its valuable Syro-
phoenician states reaching even to the Mediter-
ranean. During all these years Nabonidus had
* According to a story preserred by Herodotus (i, Ixxxr-lxxxvii), Croesus,
seeing the end of his fortunes near, prepared a great funeral pyre and
assembled upon it with himself, also his family, his nobles, and his choicest
possessions ; when the fire was started Zeus put out the fire and Apollo
bore the aged king with his daughters away into the Hyperborean country.
On the other hand, we are told that Croesus lived on as the friend of Cyrus
and accepted from him the fief of BarSn^ in Media (Etesias, Frag. 29, § 4,
in Muller-Didot, Cteiia Cnidii Fragmenta^ p. 46).
874 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
been building temples and searcliing out interest-
ing bits of ancient history. If lie had been con-
solidating his defenses and preparing to hold his
empire against this wave of barbarians, the course
of human history might have been widely differ-
ent. Even Greece might have been spared the
need of its heroic sacrifice in the defense of all the
west had gained, from the hordes, full-blooded and
strong, out of the mountains of Elam. But Nabon-
idus had not prepared for war or for defense, and
it was now too late. In the year 549, when the
Lydian king was making ready to fight to the bit-
ter end, Nabonidus was in Tema, as the Chronicle *
shows. Of 548 we know nothing,' but there is
no risk in supposing that he was still absorbed in
temples and their repairs. In 547, so hurried the
years along, he was stiU in Tema, and did not even
enter Babylon to pay reverence at the great shrine
of the gods or to attend to the pressing business
of state. On the fifth day of the month of Nisan
the king^s mother died at Dur-Karasu, on the Eu-
phrates, above Sippar. For her great mourning
was made, and still there is no word of setting
Babylon or the land in preparation. Yet in this
same year — ^and the Babylonian Chronicle is the
witness for it — ^the threat of Cyrus against Baby-
lon was made in no uncertain manner. On the
^ Col. ii, line 5 (Hagen, Beitrdpe xur Aaayriologie, ii, p. 219 ; Schrader,
Keilinschri/t. BibL, ui, part 2, p. 131).
'This was the eighth year of Nabonidus, and on his Chronicle tablet
nothing is said at all of this year, but a blank space of about two lines is
left. See Hagen, op. ct7., p. 218.
LAST YEARS OF CHALDEAN EMPIRK 375
fifteenth day of the same month of Nisan he
crossed the Tigris below Arbela and entered As-
syria. Here he took possession of part of the land
which appears to have been partly or wholly inde-
pendent of Nabonidus. The name which Cyrus
gave to the land is broken off in the Chronicle,*
but we shall probably not go far astray if we con-
jecture that some petty prince * had here set up a
little kingdom.
Babylonian soU was now possessed by Cyrus.
It was the beginning of the end. The next year
opens with the same melancholy record that the
king was in Tema.' His son, Belnshar-usur^ was
with the army in Accad.* From this time on it
is proper to say that he was easily the chief actor,
on the Babylonian side, in the tragedy. Of him
we know little indeed. To the Jews his name
was an object of hatred, for he had shown con-
tempt for them and the God of whom they would
teach the world. But from the Babylonian point
of view he shines forth in all that we know of him
as a man intensely national, able, earnest in de-
fense of his native land. That he helped greatly
to postpone the now impending ruin is highly
probable. But he had no suppoi*t from his father
* CoL ii, line 16. Hagen Bays that there were remains of two signs, and
the first seemed to be «u. Was not the second probably ri t — the name
Assyria. An allusion to this movement is preserved in Xenophon, Ana--
batisj iii, 4, 7-12.
* The ** king *' of the country was killed, but his name is not given. See
the text of Hagen, col. ii, line 17.
* Jlnd.y coL ii, line 19.
t
876 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
— the man of books. In this year (546), on the
twenty-first day of Sivan, there was some difficulty
with Elamites in Babylonia.* We do not know its
meaning or its results ; for the Chronicle is broken
oS and leaves us in tantalizing fashion. But that
this was only another move in the same general
plan is at least probable. After this year the
Babylonian Chronicle again breaks off abruptly,
and for six years we know nothing of the progress
of events. Into these years probably went some
of the building operations which have already-
been described. Nabonidus cared, or seemed to
care, Uttle for his country. It was his gods only
that filled the horizon for him.*
When next the chronicler resumes his story the
seventeenth year of the king's reign has come. It
is the year 539. The army of Cyrus is somewhere
in northern Babylonia. The great Persian empire
is now ready to complete and round out its bor-
ders by the addition of Babylonia, with even its
imperial capital The opening lines of the year's
annals are broken off, but if they were still pre-
served, we should probably not find in them the
fateful words, " The king was in Tema." He was
now fully aroused to the gravity of the situation,
and was active in measures of preparation. It
seems almost irony to say that these measures were
> Ibid,, col ii, line 22.
' That so little military preparation was made by Belsbazzar or others in
authority is partially to be explained by the fact that Cyma was long re*
garded as an ally of Nabonidus (see the Nabonidus Chronicle, i, 28-33). It
was the Lydian Tictory that opened Chaldean eyes to the true situation.
LAST YEARS OF CHALDEAN EMPIRK 377
not for practical defense against a terrible foe;
they were not for a prolonged siege. Such prep-
arations would have been both natural and in a
sense easy of accomplishment. Nebuchadrezzar
had made Babylon the strongest fortress in all the
world. Even a small force of brave men could
have held it for years against any force which
Cyrus could muster; and that there were brave
men still in Babylon's army there is every reason
to believe. But the preparations of Nabonidus
were not for national safety and independence,
they were not for the safety of men at all. In
the crucial hour of his country's history his whole
thought was of gods, and not of men. He would
save gods, men might save themselves as best they
might. From every part of the land of Babylonia
the statues of the gods were hastily removed from
the temples which Nabonidus had built with such
exaggeration of painstaking care, as well as from
other temples upon which he had laid no hand of
restoration — ^if, indeed, there were any such. From
Marad and from Kish came gods of whose worth
or power the history of Babylonia has heard little ;
from Kharsag-kalama came Belit and her god-
desses. By the end of the month Elul all the
gods and goddesses had been brought to Babylon.
Nabonidus appears to have himself remwned in
Sippar, perhaps to avoid the danger of capture
and death in the capital, whose ultimate fall into
the hands of Cyrus he must have foreseen, or
rather, perhaps, that he might in the hour of his
378 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
distress lean heavily on the arm of Shamash, whom
he had so signally honored in the magnificent tem-
ple of E-babbara.
While gods were hastening thns to be crowded
into the spaces of Babylon^s temples the army of
Cyrus was slowly marching on, and apparently
withont resistance. Would all Babylonia be his
without one single blow ? It were a disgrace in-
deed, and the land was spared that final ignominy.
When Cyrus reached the city of Upi the army of
Accad opposed his advance/ but whether Bel-
shar-usur, who had commanded it, was now in the
van does not appear. The opposition was in vain,
and Cyrus drove it before him and moved south-
ward resistlessly. Sippar was taken, without a
blow, on the fourteenth day of Tammuz, and Nar
bonidus fied. Two days later the van of the army
of Cyrus entered Babylon, as the gates swung open
without resistance * to admit it. Cyrus himself waa
not in command, but had remained in the back-
ground while Ugbaru (Gobryas), governor of Gu-
tium, led the advance. Nabonidus was taken in
the city, whither he had fied from Sippar.
The fall of Babylon in this fashion is one of the
surprises of history. That a city which had bred
warriors enough to rule the whole civilized world
should at last lay down its arms and tamely sub-
' Nabonidus Chronicle, iii, lines 12, 18 ; Hagen, op. cU.^ p. 228 ; KeiUn^
tchrift. Biblf iii, part 2, pp. 188-186.
' The phrase (Nabonidus Chronicle, iii, line 16) is bcUa MUttm, " without
battle.'* It is a sorry end after all Nebuchadrezzar's efforts to make Baby-
lon impregnable.
LAST YEARS OF CHALDEAN EMPIRE. 379
mit — it is impossible, and yet it is true. Nay, more
is true : Ugbaru had indeed entered the city with-
out the use of force, but there is no word that his
presence was welcome. He must surely have been
received with many a surly look, with mutterings
of hate, with ill-concealed disgust But on the
third day of Marcheshwan Cyrus held entry into
the city. It was a triumphal entrance, and all
Babylon greeted him with plaudits and hailed
him as a deliverer. So fickle was the populace, so
ready to say, "The king is dead; long live the
king."
Babylon was now in the possession of an en-
tirely new race of men. The Indo-Europeans,
silent for centuries, had come at last to dominion.
Nineveh, the greatest center for the pure Semitic
stock, had fallen first ; it was now Babylon's hour,
and Babylon likewise was fallen. The fall of a city
which had long wielded a power almost world-wide
would at any period be a matter of great moment.
But this fall of Babylon was even more than this.
Babylon was now the representative city not
merely of a world-wide power, it was the repre-
sentative of Semitic power. The Semites had
built the firet empire of commanding rank in the
world when Hammurabi conquered Sumer and
Accad and made Babylon capital of several king-
doms at once. Out of this center had gone the
colonists who had built another and, after a time,
a gi*eat empire at Nineveh. For centuries two
Semitic centera of power had vied with each other
380 HISTORY OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
for the dominion of the world. Both had held it,
each in his turn. For nearly a century Nineveh
had been in the hands of another race, and the
Semitic civilization had been supplanted there.
Babylon had been made the center of a new
world power by the Chaldean people, but they
also were Semites. This branch of the Semitic
people had had a short lease of power indeed.
The power was now taken from them as the rep
resentatives of the Semitic race. Never from that
hour until the age of Islam was a Semitic power
to command a world-wide empire. The power of
the Semite seemed hopelessly broken in that day,
and that alone makes the peaceful fall of Babylon
a momentous event.
But Babylon stood for more than mere Semitic
power. It Stood in a large sense for Semitic civi-
lization. As has been so often pointed out before
in these pages, Assyria represented far more than
Babylonia the prowess of the Semite upon fields
of battle. Babylon had stood for Semitic civiliza-
tion, largely intermixed with many elements,
yet Semitic after alL Here were the great libra-
ries of the Semitic race. Here were the scholars
who copied so painstakingly every little omen or
legend that had come down to them out of the
hoary past Here were the men who calculated
eclipses, watched the moon's changes, and looked
nightly from observatories upon the stately march
of constellations over the sky. Here were the
priests who preserved knowledge of the ancient
LAST YEARS OF CHALDEAN EMPIRE. 381
Sumerian langnage^ that its sad plaints and solemn
prayers might be kept for use in temple worship.
Much of all this was worthy of preservation— if
not for any large usefulness, certainly for its record
of human progress upward. All this was now
fallen into alien handa Would it be preserved ?
Would it be ruthlessly or carelessly destroyed?
The greatest thoughts of the Semitic mind and the
greatest emotions of its heart were not, indeed,
Babylonian, and even if they were, they could not
die. Not for many centuries would the Semite be
able to found another such center. It was indeed
a solemn hour of human history.
The glory of Babylon is ended. The long pro-
cession of princes, priests, and kings has passed
by. No city so vast had stood on the world be-
fore it. No city with a history so long has even
yet appeared. From the beginnings of human his-
tory it had stood. It was in other hands now, and
it would soon be a shapeless mass of ruins, stand-
ing alone in a sad, untilled desert.
r.
■r
3
APPENDIX.
A.
LTTEBATUBE.
The references ^ven in footnotes indicate with
sufficient clearness the bibliography of the subject,
but for convenience of reference the titles of books
dealing directly with the history are here assem-
bled, accompanied by brief comments to facilitate
their use.
1. Excavations Ain> Decifhbbment.
Kaulbk, Fb. Assyrien und Babylonien nach den neuesten Ent-
deckiingen, 5th ed. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1899.
[The account of excavations and discoveries is on pp. lS-41
and 74-150. It is weU presented, but pays little attention to
the work of early travelers, and takes but slight notice of the
most recent work, except that of the University of Pennsyl-
vania, which is well handled.]
HoMMEL, Fb. Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens. Berlin,
1885.
[The sections relating to discovery and decipherment are on
pp. 58-134, and are more detailed than those of Eaulen.]
EvBTTB, B. T. A. New Light on the Holy Land. London, 1891.
[Contains on pp. 79>129 a very useful narrative of discover-
ies and decipherment, with much attention to early travelers.]
Menant, Joachdc. Les Langues perdues de la Perse et de PAssyrie.
Paris, 1885.
383 •
3Si APPENDIX.
2. HiBTOBT.
(a) Babylonia and Assyria.
HomocL, Fb. Geschichte Babyloniens und AssyrienB. Berlin, 1885.
Articles on "Babylonia" and "Assyria," Dictionary of the
Bible, ed. Hastings, vol. i. New York, 1898.
Kino, Lbonabd Williak. Articles "Babylonia" and "Assyria"
in Eucyclopeedia Biblica, edited by the Rev. T. E. Cheyne
and J. Sutherland Black, vol. i. New York, 1899.
[Very valuable outlines of the history, supplemented also
by separate articles on important reigns, such as that of
Asshurbanapal. ]
MuERDTEB UND Delitzsch. Gcschichte yon Babylonien und As-
syrien, 2. Aufl. Calw und Stuttgart, 1891.
RoGEBs, RoBEBT W. OutUues of the History of Early Babylonia.
Leipzig, 1895.
[Now largely replaced by the present work.]
Sayce, a. H. a Primer of Assyriology. New York, 1895.
[Useful introductory outline.]
Smith, Gbobob. The History of Babylonia, edited and brought up
to date by the Rev. A. H. Sayce. London and New York, 1895.
[A brief and useful little book, but already needing revi-
sion. A similar volume by George Smith on Assyria, from
the Earliest Times to the Fall of Nineveh, has not been revised.]
TiELE, C. P. Babylonlsch-Assyrische Geschichte. Gk>tha, 1886.
[A work of great ability and distinction, and, though super-
seded in parts by more recent work, still indispensable for
the advanced student.]
WiNCKiiEB, Hugo. Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens. Leip-
zig, 1892.
[An important book to be used in supplement of Tiele.
Very suggestive.]
Die Volker Vorderasiens (Der Alte Orient, 1. Jahrgang,
Heft 1). Leipzig, 1899.
— Die Politische Entwickelung Babyloniens und Assyriena
Per Alte Orient, 2. Jahrgang, Heft 1). Leipzig, 1900.
[Contains in but thirty-one pages an illuminating sketch of
the development of Babylonian and Assyrian history.]
APPENDIX. 385
(J>) C^eneral ffisUnies.
The following books, while treating the history
of Babylonia and Assyria only as part of the gen-
eral history of the Orient, are, nevertheless, impor-
tant as discussing phases of the history supplemen-
tary to the special histories, or as being written by
Assyriologists who have given special emphasis to
Assyria and Babylonia :
Helmolt, Hans F. Weltgeschichte. Leipzig, 1899.
[Yol. iii, part 1, contains Das Alte West Asien, pp. 1-248,
by Dr. Hugo Winckler, and is important not only because it is
attractively written, but also because it sometimes gives a
newer view of events than is given in the author's more de-
tailed history mentioned above.]
HoMMEL, Fb. Abriss der Geschichte des alten Orients bis auf die
Zeit der Perserkriege (in Iwan y. MUller, Handbuch der clas-
sischen Alterthumswissenschaft, Bd. iii), 2. Aufl. 1895.
Geschichte des alten Morgenlandes (Sammlung Gdschen,
No. 48). Stuttgart, 1895. Translated into English as : The
Civilization of the East [Temple Primers]. London, 1900.
Kball, Jakob. Grundriss der Altorientalischen Geschichte.
Erster Theil : Bis auf Kyros. Wien, 1899.
[A valuable reference book, not so written as to be easily
read.]
Maspebo, G. The Dawn of Civilization, Egypt and Chaldsea.
Edited by A. H. Sayce, translated by M. L. McClure. New
York, 1894.
The Struggle of the Nations, Egypt, Syria, and Assyria.
Edited by A. H. Sayce, translated by M. L. McClure. New
York, 1897.
The Passing of the Empires, 850 to 880 B. C. Edited by
A. H. Sayce, translated by M. L. McClure. New York, 1900.
[These three volumes supersede Professor Maspero's former
treatises. They are magnificently illustrated, well translated,
and are admirably supplied with references to the literature of
every question relating to the history.]
25 *
386 APPENDIX.
McCuBDT, Jambs Fbxdkrick. History, Prophecy, and the Monu-
ments, or Israel and the Nations. Vol. L To the Downfall
of Samaria. New York, 1894. YoL iL To the Fall of Nine-
yeh. New York, 1896. YoL iii, completing the work, prom-
soon.
Mkteb, Eduard. Geschichte des Alterthums. I Band: €k-
schichte des Orients bis zor Begr&idung des Perserreiches.
Stuttgart, 1884. 11 Band: Geschichte des Abendhmdes bis
anf die Perserkriege. Stuttgart, 1898.
Satck, a H. Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations. New
York, 1899.
[Babylonia and Assyria, pp. 199-264. This interesting
sketch supplements Smith's ffistory of Babylonia and Sayce's
Primer of Assyriology.]
This list might be much extended if works of
popular character were added to it It is, how-
ever, intentionally restricted to works of scientific
importance, based upon original sources.
For more extended bibliography of Babylonia
and Assyria, comprising not merely the poUtical
history, but also religion, literature, and social life,
the following books may be consulted :
Bbzold, Carl. Eurzgefasster Ueberblick ^ber die Babylonisch-
Assyrische Literatur. Leipzig, 1886.
Delitzsch, Fribdrich. Assyrian Grammar. London, 1889. (Lit-
teratura, pp. 55 *-78.*)
Jastrow, Morris, Jr. The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria.
^ Boston, 1898. (Bibliography, pp. 705-738.)
[An exhaustive and accurate conspectus of the literature up
to 1898.]
Kaulen, Fr. ABS3rrien und Babylonien nach den neuesten Ent-
deckungen, 5th ed. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1899. (Litteratur,
pp. 284-304).
[This bibliography is arranged chronologically, and is ex-
ceedingly valuable from 1620 to 1880, though many additions
APPENDIX, 387
ought even in those years to be made. After 1880 it falls off
very much in completeness, and extends only to 1889. It is a
pity that recent editions should not have extended it.]
LiNOXE, A. Bericht fiber die Fortschritte der Assyriologie in den
Jahren 1886-1898. Leipzig, 1894. ,
The current bibUography is to be souglit in the
following :
American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures (Continu-
ing Hebraica). Chicago : The University of Chicago Press.
[This journal is published quarterly and contains an accu-
rate and exhaustive bibliography by W. Muss-Amolt.]
Oiientalische Bibliographic, bearbeitet und herausgegeben von
Dr. Lucian Scherman. Berlin.
[Semiannual.]
Orientalische Literatur-Zeitung, herausgegeben von F. E. Peiser.
Berlin.
[Monthly. Contains a very valuable review of the journals
and proceedings of learned societies. {Aub geUhrten QeseU-
•chafien und ZeiUchr^ftensehau),]
Bevue d' Assyriologie et d'Arch6ologie Orientale. Publ. sous la
dir. de J. Oppert, E. Ledrain et L^ou Heuzey. Paris.
[Appears at irregular intervals.]
Zeitschrift fiir Assyriologie, und verwandte Gebrete, in verbindung
mit J. Oppert in Paris, Eb. Schrader in Berlin, und anderen
herausgegeben von Carl Bezold in Heidelberg. Berlin.
[Quarterly.]
B.
THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHEBIB^S ABMY.
The following is the Egyptian tradition of the
great pestilence as Herodotus has reproduced it :
'*Tbe next king, I was told, was a priest of Vulcan, called
Sethds. This monarch despised and neglected the warrior class
of the Egyptians, as though he did not need their services.
Among other indignities which he offered them he took from
388 APPENDIX,
them the lands which they had possessed under all the previous
kings, consisting of twelve acres of choice land for each warrior.
Afterward, therefore, when Sennacherib, king of the Arabians
and Assyrians, marched his vast army into Egypt, the warriors
one and all refused to come to his aid. On this the monarch,
greatly distressed, entered into the inner sanctuary, and before
the image of the god bewailed the fate which impended over
him. As he wept he fell asleep, and dreamed that die god came
and stood at his side, bidding him be of good cheer, and go
boldly forth to meet the Arabian host, which would do him no
hurt, as he himself would send those who should help him. SethdSy
then, relpng on the dream, collected such, of the Egyptians as
were willing to follow him, who were none of them warriors, but
traders, artisans, and market people ; and with these marched to
Pelusium, which commands the entrance into Egypt, and there
pitched his camp. As the two armies lay here opposite one an-
other there came in the night a multitude of field mice, which
devoured all the quivers and bowstrings of the enemy and ate
the thongs by which they managed their shields. Next morning
they commenced their flight, and great multitudes fell, as they
had no arms with which to defend themselves. There stands to
this day in the temple of Vulcan a stone statue of Sethds, with a
mouse in his hand, and an inscription to this effect : ' Look on me
and learn to reverence the gods.' " ^
In explanation of this narrative it must be re-
membered that the mouse was a symbol of pesti-
lence (1 Sam. vi, 5), and that Apollo, as the
plague-dealer, is called Smintheus, mouse-god.
C.
THE DEFENSES OF BABYLON.
The investigations of the last few years have
thrown considerable light upon the walls of the
city of Babylon, and the excavations already be-
1 Herodotus, ii, chap. 141 (History of Herodotut, by G^rge Rawlinson,
London, 1880, vol. ii, pp. 219, 220).
APPENDIX. 389
gun by the German expedition on the site' are
likely to set at rest some long-standing subjects of
controversy. It is not the province of this book
to discuss questions of topography, but the narra-
tive of Nebuchadrezzar's elaborate reconstruction
of the defenses of Babylon may perhaps be made
more clear by a comparison with the two chief
sources of our knowledge which are here given in
translation.
The following is the description given by
Herodotus :
'* Assyria ' possesses a yast number of great cities, whereof the
most renowned and strongest at this time was Babylon, whither,
after the fall of Nineveh, the seat of goyemment had been removed.
The following is a description of the place: The city stands on a
broad plain, and is an exact square, a hundred and twenty furlongs
in length each way,' so that the entire circuit is four hundred and
eighty furlongs/ While such is its size, in magnificence there is
no other city that approaches it. It is surrounded, in the first place,
by a broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rises a
wall fifty royal cubits in width and two hundred in height." (The
1 See above, vol. i, pp. 247, 248.
' Assyria as used in this passage manifestly is extended so as to include
all Babylonia. See above, vol i, p. 269.
' This outer wall corresponds to Nimitti-Bel in the descriptions of Neb-
uchadrezzar, and Herodotus could not have seen it, for it had been de-
stroyed by Darius.
* Four hundred and eighty stadia would be fifty-five and one quarter
miles, which is impossible. The modern ruins, so far as can be ascertained,
extend from north to south a distance of about five miles only.
" The proportion of width to height is impossible. The interior of these
walls was composed of sun-dried bricks, the outside was made of burnt
bricks. Such a wall could not be raised to so great a height (about one
hundred and five meters) on a base so narrow (about twenty-six meters) ;
long before it could be reached the whole mass would collapse. The nec-
essary proportions would be about a width of one third to two thirds of the
height. See A. Billerbeck, Der Fnivngtbau im Alien Orient, Leipzig,
1900, p. 6.
f
390 APPENDIX.
royal cubit is longer by three fingers* breadth than the common
cubit.)
*' And here I may not omit to tell the use to which the mold
dug out of the great moat was turned, nor the manner wherein
the wall was wrought. As fast as they dug the moat the soil
which they got from the cutting was made into bricks, and when
s sufficient number were completed they baked the bricks in kilns.
Then they set to building, and began with bricking the borders of
the moat, after which they proceeded to construct the wall itself,
using throughout for their cement hot bitumen, and interposing
a layer of wattled reeds at every thirtieth course of the bricks.
On the top, along the edges of the wall, they constructed build-
ings of a single chamber facing one another, leaving between them
room for a four-horse chariot to turn. In the circuit of the wall
are a hundred gates, all of brass, with brazen lintels and side posts.
The bitumen used in the work was brought to Babylon from the
Is, a small stream which flows into the Euphrates at the point
where the city of the same name stands, > eight days' journey from
Babylon. Lumps of bituman are found in great abundance in this
river.
** The city is divided into two portions by the river which runs
through the midst of it. This river is the Euphrates, a broad,
deep, swift stream, which rises in Armenia and empties itself into
the Erythrsean Sea. The city wall is brought down on both sides
to the edge of the stream ; thence, from the comers of the wall,
there is carried along each bank of the river a fence of burnt
bricks. The houses are mostly three and four stories high; the
streets all nm in straight lines, not only those parallel to the river,
but also the cross streets, which lead down to the water side. At
the river end of these cross streets are low gates in the fence that
skirts the stream, which are like the great gates in the outer wall,
of brass, and open on the water.
''The outer wall is the main defense of the city. There is, how-
ever, a second inner* wall, of less thickness than the first, but
very little inferior to it in strength. The center of each division
of the town was occupied by a fortress. In the one stood the pal-
ace of the kings, surrounded by a wall of great strength and size ;
in the other was the sacred precinct of Jupiter Belus, a square in-
> The modern Hit. See above, vol. i, p. 287.
* This is the wall called Imgur-Bel by Nebuchadrezzar. See below and
comp. above, p. 848.
i
APPENDIX. 391
closure two furlongs each way, with gates of solid brass; which was
also remainiiig in my time. In the middle of the precinct there
was a tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon
which was raised a second tower, and on that a third, and so on
up to eight. The ascent to the top is on the outside, by a path
which winds round all the towers. When one is about halfway up
one finds a resting place and seats, where persons are wont to sit
some time on their way to the summit. On the topmost tower there
is a spacious temple, and inside the temple stands a couch of unusual
size, richly adorned, with a golden table by its side. There is no
statue of any kind set up in the place, nor is the chamber occupied
of nights by anyone but a single native woman, who, as the Chal-
deans, the priests of this god, affirm, is chosen for himself by the
deity out of all the women of the land." '
In addition to this description of the city^s de-
fenses Herodotus has also given an account of the
supposed works of Semiramis and Nitocris/ but
this is much less valuable than the passage quoted
above.
It is evident that Herodotus knew only of two
walls, one of which had already disappeared in
his day, and that he had no knowledge of the
outer defense wall beyond Nimitti-Bel, which was
begun by Nabopolassar and finished by Nebuchad-
rezzar. We should therefore have a false impres-
sion of the outer defense of the city were we
wholly dependent on his witness. He has indeed
obviously mingled what he saw by his own eyes
with what he was told by his cicerone, and it is no
longer possible to differentiate them clearly.'
1 1, 178-181 (mstory of HerodotuB, by George Rawlinson, London, 1880,
▼oL i, pp. 297-802).
«I, 184-187.
'Comp. Baumstark, sub voce Babylon in Pauly-WiBSOwa, BeaUncydO'
padie der eUunachen WtMefUcha/t, ii.
dua he hjd origiittlhr wrinen of a tbre^o&l de^
Cecse mil <4 the chr. aul dik k eotdEniKd foEv
b J tLe p«a5ikg€& £r«3<n die lext of XebodadrezEu*
v!t5ch Ic^wsl Hik k tnobslsxcd widk le ckee
adheaoQ t!> die origiiul le posUe. in order no
f^fphaxf- rtiereikce lo die BftbTiooim text or u>
the tnmsascntioDS of it. to wludi recerenee k
gxren in the noC€&.
IT. « lB«v-Bei
tie asms zaa^aRi cf Biirr^n
GoL V. 1 ^esr
$ t^ €H2HiDKsti of ti^ AnUn
of b
tLe peftee crf dioae tktt decade
I
* For Rf«B0tt 'A lezx aai tnaduMW «Br «£»««. |l Ui. mbt 1.
tSif ^ me tool OHOB^nt <€ A 5!^ fl, 11 V
t
APPENDIX. 893
15 nnto Ai-ibur-shabu,
the street of Babylon,
before the gate of BeltiSy
with . . . bricks,
for the procession of the great lord Marduk
20 he beautified the road.
As for me, his firstborn son,
the darling of his heart,
Imgur-Bel
and Nimitti-Bel,
25 the great ramparts of Babylon,
I finished;
the sides of the embankment of its moat,
the two strong embankments,
with bitumen and burnt brick I built, and
80 with the embankment, (which) my father had con*
structed,
I joined (them), and
the city, for defense,
I carried (them) round.
A wall of brick,
85 on the western side
the fortress of Babylon
I threw around.
Ai-ibur-shabu
the street of Babylon
40 for the procession of the great lord Marduk
with a high top-covering
I filled, and
with . . . bricks
and stone from the mountains,
45 Ai-ibur-shabu
From . . . gate
to
for the procession of his godhead
50 I made fair, and
with what my father had built
I joined (it), and
I beautified
the road
3U APPENDIX.
55
Of Imgur-Bel
and Nimitti-Bel
the portals
60 through the top-covering
of the street of Babylon
too low had become
their entrances.
These portals
I tore down, and
CoL yi. 1 at water level their foundation
with bitumen and brick
I firmly laid, and
with burnt brick and . . .
5 of which bulls and huge serpents
they make, the interior of them
tastefully I constructed.
Strong cedar beams
for their roofing
10 I laid over them.
Doors of cedar
(with) plating of copper ;
lintels and hinges (?),
of bronze, round its gates
15 I set up.
Strong bulls of bronze,
and great serpents,
by their thre^olds I set up:
those portals
20 for the astonishment of multitudes of people
with beauty I adorned.
In order that the battle-storm to Imgur-Bel
the wall of Babylon, might not reach ;
what no king before me had done ;
25 for four thousand cubits of ground
on the sides of Babylon
far away, so that they should not come near,
a mighty rampart on the east,
Babylon I threw around.
80 Its moat I dug, and the bank of it
APPENDIX. 395
with bitumen and brick
I bound together, and
a mighty rampart on its bank
mountain high I built.
85 Its broad portals
I constructed, and
the doors of cedar, with plating of copper,
I set up.
That foes
40 the sides of Babylon might not approach;
great waters,
like the volume of seas,
I conducted round the land, and
the crossing of them
45 (was) like the crossing of the great sea,
of salt water.
A breaking forth of them
in order not to permit,
with a bank of earth
50 I embanked them, and
walls of burnt orick
I placed around them.
The defenses skillfully
did I strengthen, and
55 the city of Babylon
I made fit for defense.
r
w m
r
}*'
i
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
AbM BalDt-HaitiD, I
Abdl-Kheba ot Jenualem, letter ol,
louDd at TeU-el-Anutnia, 1, jw.
Abdili'U, U, 188.
Abd-mllkot, II, W2, •as.
Abd-or-rabmar, 1, 140.
Abel-Bedi-HB'akii, II, izg.
AbRW, 1.301.
Abllakks, II, VX.
Abl-mllkl d Tyre, letter at, toond at
TeU-etAnuna. J, MS.
Abl;ate, 11,278.
Abii-Habba,l,!Wi U,ee.
AbuUeda, 1, 100, 101.
Abu (f) makhru, L lot.
Abu^Sbabrefn, t, ^.
Aeanla 1, 382.
Actdemy, QlktUngeD, ot Sdences, 1, H.
Aeademy ot InserlptioDa and BeUes-
Lettrea, Frencb, I, loo.
Aocad, languase ot, 1, 303; Origin ol
UMWOld, I.S73.
AcbgemoDldea, 1, 3S, 40.
Adad. II, TO, 18.
Adad-nlrarl I, king ot AstyriO. bu
war witb Nazl^arutuuh, t 421;
coaqueats. It, 10; war wltb Baby-
lonia, II, 11; success of bis reign,
11,13.
Adad-Dirarl II. king of Assyria, II, 44.
Adat^nlraH III, king ot Aranla, ex-
peditions In tbe west, U, M; cam-
soulbi^U, 97; assimilates relliloiis
ot Assyria and Babylonia, iT, Mi
estimate of hla reign, IL «e, looi
refers to B«l-Kapkapu. Il,s; syn-
CbronlaUc bistory maide In bis
reign, I. 413.
Adad-abuiD-lddiD, king ot Babylonia,
1.422.
Adad-sbum-QSur, king ot Babylonia,
Adbem, i, 3T2, 38P.
AdiunelaidL 1, «a.
Adunu-Bai^, U, tt.
ASeJ swamps, 1. 3U.
Atgfianlstan, I. er, Ot
Atrln, U, 0«. IB, 118.
Agade. I, see, in.
Agum-kakrlme. his
seriptlon ol bis reign, I, 408, 404:
blsroy^ titles, I, t04j his eiplolla.
Agum-sbl. 1. '401.
AgUSl, 11, U4.
Akerkuf, I, 3M.
Akb-en-Aton. 1, 24B.
Akbliulcl, 11. in».
AkhtTBbaba, It. 91.
Akhuul, 11,74.
AkurgaV 1,357.
Akiirj!al II, 1,371.
- -' . 1,300.
Alaroi
■ xa
Great.'l,3».
Alexander tbe Great, 1, IE, 328, 3
Aleppo, 11, U, 7S, 78.
AlJulJii, 1, 13.
Almoud.l, au,
Altaiiii. battle of. II, 198.
Altl-
iisbaribld, 1,'»9.
n.var, t, 4W.
Amuiiiu. Mount. I, 370; II, 13.
Aniardlan. 1, 17^. '
AtDama. mi eM, 'W.
Amarua. Tt^ll-el-, discovery ot letters
Anibarldl,'ll, 167.
Antbaris. il. ie7.
Ameiiopbia 111, letters from Eadasb-
man-Bel, I, 416; bis wltes (rom
Babylonia, 1, 4111.
AmenolihlB IV, I, 318, 248; letUra
from BuniaburlBJh II I «8; let-
ter from Asabur-uballlt. II, 8.
klni
3M ; his brief lelgn and ai
tloD, 11, 3Se.
Ammtsudugga, 1. sss; cbroaologleal
Ublet iTom bis reign, 1, SU.
Ammlsatana. 1, 38fi,
L ol, 1, ;
lasb-sbuE
Amrapbel, l, 389. See also Bommui-
abl
An Iran. I, 43.'
Aa-ma-an. 1. 996.
AdubLi. BabyloQlan. as sources, 1, SU.
Auqueal-Uuperron, Abrabon Hy*-
ctntbe. carl; life, visit to India, 1,
41; publlsbed Zend-Avesta, I, a,
K, 08.
Anllochln MyKitoalie, 1, 30D.
Aniv-baulnl. f, 3ijU.
INDEX OF SUBJECra
Anzan^busIilnalE, 1,380,
AnilWDe, Ii, as.
Aphek, 11, ass.
ApU-Sln,t,3B8,39fi.
Aplrak, I, see.
Apollodoros, 1. 280.
Apre, Km. ■!>-
Aprluoi, t, SS2.
Arsblc, I,l0,l*,l3»-
Arabla:! NlgbU, i, U8.
Ammieauji. orlelual borne, and lalei
devi^lopment In the west, li, 40
Arbsllu, r. '.J99.
Arban, ll, 61.
Arbela. U. 49. SS.
Archceoli^cal evidence t<
Argana. it, 78. 7T.
Arglatls, i,218; 11,113.
ArglBtla II, U, 168.
Arfbus, a 66.
Artduri. 1, •a».
Ariraena, 1. 218.
Arlocb, I, 391. See alao Eri-AJtu.
Anoeula, I, Wi.
Arnienlan, 1, 10.
Arne, II, w.
Arpad, il. 118 130, IH.
Arpakha. il, 102.
ArrapHcbltis. 11, 102.
ArraBblH, 1, 218.
Arrlan, 1. 3es.
Arsaolaa, u ■■■ --
Artemisia, 1. 8.
Artsen, tTn9.
Arrad, U, 81.
ArzaDJa, U, 2U.
Arzasbku,ll. SB.
^h.tbe Ka-ssUe
Aabdod, II. 124.
As her, 1. 87.
Ashnunbak, 1, 401
Aanapper. 11, 346. See also AashUT-
baaapal.
Am, 1, 283.
Ass, wUd. 1, 281.
Assbur icliy). t. 297 1 II. 3; capital
traasferred, II, 13 ; rebuilt by Tlg-
latbpUeseT I, A, so, 78, 102.
Assburfgod), l.ZM.
' — ■- — •- — ipal, ItlL,
cbiurac'tcr ol hla aoijals! ll, 247, 248 ■
eipediUon Into Egyrt, II. 249-2G1 ;
Ute rebellion under Tanut-AmoD,
11, SB2, K3i tbe coDtTOl o( EEVPt,
ll,2n.2M) tbe taUot Tyre, Urife;
eiperieocea wlU Ujvea, II, 2M,
aSTl campaign asalnBtMan.ll. ZS7,
2GB; dlfflculBes vltb Blam II 2S«-
260; oonquest ol the Uambull, II.
280; tbn rettenion at Sbamasb-
abnm-ukln, II, 2ai-2eS; punishment
of Chaldeans and ElanUtus, 11, ^eo-
2T4 ; campaigns to ArsbU, U, 8T4-
Zie 1 tbe last campaigns, 11277, 2)B i
works at peace, tl, 27*^*18; bbH-
mate ot bis reign, U. 2T9-282; his
IdentttT wltb iCandalanu, 11, 297,
398; BllUBlon to Kudur-nankhiuidl .
t,8U.
Aaahur-bel-kala, king ot Asarrla, U,
Sli tranaferred capital to NlneTeb,
Astbnr-bel-Qlsbeshu, king ot Assyria,
imporarj ol
isSD-shqm,U,
dash, li, s; iiiB reign, 11, 5, 6: avn-
cbrontsbe blstorj be^ns In lil»
reign, 1, SM.
AubordtiD, reterred to b; TlglaCh-
^ser I, 1, 329; In conflict wltb
Babflonlatu, 1, 42i; king of As-
BTTia.il, 18.
'-Bril. king ol Assvria, It. 44.
n III, king 01 Assyria,
decwr ot Asayrlan povrer, IL lol;
rebeDions, 11, 102 ; eclipse ot ttao
fim.il. ISE.
Aasbur-danlnanl, U, 113.
Assbur-davaii, il. TS.
Asshur-erbl, king of Assyria, 11, 43;
invades (lie west, il, 44.
AMhiir«t»4U-aklnnl, king of Assyria,
records of bis lelgn, 11, 383: his
palaoe at Calatariir»3; text o^
Imaa at NIITer, 1. ML
Aaalmrjgistaa, il, lis.
Asahm-IP, U, 1«1.
Asabnr-nadliHddn, king of AssTTiA,
— < ^ KHrlgalm % i;
n, U. 301
Asshur-narara, kbig of Aasvria, il, it.
AsahnmazlrpM I, Ring of Asaina,
ABSb'urnailrpal II. lUog ot Asnrlat
Asshurnazlrpal Ill.king ol Assyria.
his prospects, 11. 4B; sources for
hla reign, II. 47; reoelTes trlbut«
from Klrrurl, tiozan, and Khu-
buHhhla, conquers Qurkbl o( Bel
tAni 11,49; iDvaslon of Kummukl^
; conquers BIt-Kbalupe. li.
H; bis collection of trlbule. II, S^
Ml attacks upon tbe Sbublles and
Babylonia. II, B7. 98; revolts ol
Bbuhites and their conquest, II, E9,
«0; takes Kap-rabl, IITSI ; b!a suc-
cess over former trlbotary states,
II. 62; the use of his anny, 11, fl3f
beginning ol western campaign,
II, S3, 64 i_EliB march throngh Faflti.
103; estimate' of his
Asshlir-rish-isbl, Icing ot Assyria, li.
INDEX OF SXJBJECrrS.
W; war wlUi Nebncludrezzer, 1,
«t8, U,19.
Aubur-nb»Ult, ktiig ot Aaayrls, Us In-
TuloD Ot Babylmla, II, T. eant-
palgn KBlnst tin abnbul, II, 1;
letter to Ameaopbla IV, U, S;
found atTeU«t-Aiiun]B,l,Me;lilB
d&uKbWr nuuries Ku-HkhonlKsb,
king o( Babylonia, I, 419.
AmjtIs, boundaries ol, 1. ass, aw; be-
ginnings o(, 1, 409; ctuonology ot,
AufTten cbronologtcal material, t,
813.
Auyrian Eiploratlan Fund,!, 183.
Assyriaiu. origin Id Babylonia. II. 1;
a mllltaiy and commercial people,
I, 308; civilization Inferior to
Babylonians, 1, OK; progreas to
tlie end Ot the reign of Tukultl-
Klnlb, 11, It, le.
.^nvrtum Siaanum, 1, ZTS.
Aaton,!, TS.
Atbur, Uentanant <rf NImrod, 1, 14L
AtUIa, II. SS.
UD,ll.l
Baal worshiped In early BattjtIODia,
Ba'^oITyre, II, 121.
Baasba. It, n.
Atbeiat-khlvai, II. n.
Babll, 1. 2M.
Babylon, l, 88. 89, SI. tSS. "ISt; II, '133,
136; otigln ol tbe city imknown,
I, 3«t ; chroDDlogy at eldltb dy-
nasty. 1.34fi; deatrucUonOT^I, 211;
Babytooian ChrODlcle A (arS),l,314,
Babylonian Cbronlcte B. 1,314.
BabyloQlaji Cbronlcle P, 1, SIS.
Babylonian chtoDo logical materUls,
Babylonian people, dernted to reU]
and II* — ' ' -"■••—'--•-"
xa.
Bsgdatil, II, iw.
Basbdad, 1. m. tai. 140, 142, I41
BaEr-i-Nediit. 1. m.
Balasu, il.iss, 220.
Baiawat. i, £». 271.
Balbl, Uasparo. U«7.
BalUcb, 1, £71, 300; 11, 76, 73, IS
Bassorab, 1, 163.
Uau-akb-iddm, II, Br
p' of dynasty of, 1, S
BazI, chi'onology ol
history of, n, 36.
BttarLS, I, 282.
Beaucbiunp. describes mounds at Bll-
lab. I. loe. lOT; aaabb^snd amaa
of learnloK, i, IW; observes are-
iteniblaiicebetween perse polls and
Babylonian cbaracters, 1. IDS; bis
work makes considerable impres-
sion In Europe, lOB.
Bearer, I. 2MI.
Beer, l.ai, «,!.
Be bl stun I, 177.
Beirut. II. 44.
Bel, I.2S3. 2as: temple of. 1. ss, D7.
Bel-barvL early ruler of Assyria. II. 3, 4.
Belck, WBldemar, Important work od
Cbaldeon texts, 1, 224; travels In
Armenia. 1, 224.
Belesys, II. 134.
Bel^eui, 11, 260.
Bel-lbuf, II, 20s.
Bel-Kspkapu, ruler of Assyria, 11, 3.
Bel-kudur-usur. king ot Assyria. II, IB;
In conflict with Babylonia, 1, 423.
Bellliio. secretary to C J. Bleb, 1.122;
visits Babylon witb Porter, 1, 122.
Bel-nadln-apllj king ot Babylonia, 1,
127 ; boundary stone, 1. 318.
Bel-nirarl, king of Assyria, rela-
llous with Babylonia, I, 420, 11.8;
conquests and war wilb Babylo-
Bet-shar-uKur. II. 162. See also Bel-
Bel.shum-LddlD. king of Babylonia, I,
422. 424.
Bel-sbiim-lsbkun. U, 3G6.
.ts Baghdad. I, M;
of Babylon, I. M,
~ printed m 1M3,
inBaoylonlaiihla.
thi.t^ook, l.'sra. 260; chronoloKleal
tables, I. 327, 328,332.
Bey, 1, IIS.
Beiold, Carl, opposes Hajflvy's view,
I. 21'.'; discovers mentloD ol Su-
merlaii iBiieuage, L,ai4.
BIbniasbl. 1,401.
Blbelaahu, king ot Babylonia, I, 422.
INDEX OF SUBJEOra
■qI-^u-bU, ton of
Blroli,'SaiinieL Brat prasldeiit ol 80-
-■-^ — "'^■--'Arohseology.l, IBS;
ge gmltti, to
ftddressbe-
. ueLl
cletyotBibllL
Mlla fttteatlon otOcoige
Cypriote, 1, 2»r —>■-"-'
frae Soc'letr ol BItdtoal Arclue-
BInUdiu' U. m.
BlBbTl, Mount, Jl. 28.
Blt-AdlaL.U, 00,01.74.
Bit-Ainukluuil, U. 304,
BltKbam&BDrtl. 8T.
Blt-KMrmADl, tl, ISZ.
Bltaagbnt, U, les.
Blt-Sumurzu. IL, 112.
Blt.Ciiiatal, It, IKE.
BltODMn.l^KH; plb,tSS.
BltYakln. U. 170, UL
BlackbLrd, 1, wa.
Black Sea, 11. 28.
Boerlab, I, TV.
Bobt&n. 11, 1H.
U. 164.
■wT^
._ ._. ._.. 1, MIUUIUWU lU
British Museum. 1.334,
:ta. Piiiil Enill.l'' iippolQted Frencb
comul &t Hoaul. 1, IZTi aearcbes
Mosul for iuscrlptiona id lam, 1,
laoi beeliu to dis at KuyuDllk, 1.
81: not mucb success, I, 132: de-
teimlnea to try digglna at Kbor-
■abod, 1, 1312 : Importiuit olscoveries
■ -' - ■ — dlfflcultlB! ■
permitted t
cease work, 1, 13B ;
ja bis discoveries. 1. 18B:
declpben some words, 1. laa.
Boulwiilc, II, 48.
BoundarlesoIBabyloDlauid AsbttIb,
Boundary stooe of Bel-uadln-apll, 1,816.
Bread from palm tree, 1. 283.
Brlek», manutaeture ol, 1, 2s«. 287.
Brown, Pruicls. member of Oriental
Society, I. 239.
Bruin. Cornells de. visits Pentepolls
and copies Inicrlptloas. 1. 3i.
Bubu, II. 40.
Budee, E, A. WalllB. bougbt part of
Tell-^l-Amania collection, I. 249;
repeated visits to Orient, 1. Wi.
Budullu. 11, IM.
Bumaburiasti I, contemporary of Pa-
zur-As9biir,l,4iej a great builder,
1. 417.
Bumaburiasb II becomes king of
Babrlonla about 1400 B. C, 1, 418;
letlers ol Ma to AjnoDopbla IV, L
418.
Bumoul. Eugane, studies llogulatlc col-
lecttons of Anquetll-Duperraa, 1,
42; BliesAvestaD grammar a ad-
entflc baals. I, SCT flnda list of
countries In InscriptloD of Naksb-
l-Bustam, 1, W; Ms poUUon, 1, K,
86, ST ; correspondence with Baw-
linsoD, I, flB : attemMs to dedpher
Flower's copies, 1, IL
Bnr-SIn 1. 1, VK.
Bor-ein II, i, sn.
Bustud. 1, 183.
Bawartje, El, 1, 282.
Calah, I, S9T, •OS; 11, 13, lOe, IBL
CaUlsULenes,l.xn.
Camel, t, 2M.
"i^algii inscriptloiis as sonreea, 1,
Canaaotte names In Brat dyiustr of
Babylon, 1, 390.
Canal syatem, 1, its.
Oanning, Sir StralfOTd. 1, 143.
Caat«iii3r. DImltri, t, 8a
(larobemisb. h, 41, 64. K, 88, W, 111,
Carreri, see OemeUI-CanerL
Carrbee. 1, 3DI.
Cartwrlgbt. Jobo, I, M; deserMlaa of
MlneTCb, I, M. 9B; hears of tbe BBr<
den of Eden near BabyioD, 1. SB;
conluMs Baghdad aiid Bitbylon,
itaonta, 11. 29.
.ivala, 1, 13.
Cayliu vase, U iso.
CeylOD, 1, 138.
ChabetmlDar, 1, 7B.
Cbaldeao, old.l.xn.
CbaldeaDs, origin and rsdal oonneo-
Uons, 1, 810; tbelr early derelop*
ment, 1. BJl ; process of tbelr de-
velopment, II. SOO-303.
Cba1dla,11.B3, 123, 186.
Cbaldlan texts copied and deciphered,
1, 2U-2a4. See also VBnnlc
Cbom. tee Ham.
Chardln, Sir John, bora lu 1613. 1, M:
vtslt to Persepolls. I. 24: copied
Inscriptions, 1. Hi bis copies oon-
flrm previous supposiUons, 1, x.
tbe west, \, 881; IdeatlAoatlon of
Cbelmlnlra, 1.8, TS.
Cblck-peas, 1, 282.
Cboaspes, I, 94.
Cboser, 1, 128. VO.
Cbronlcle, Babylonian, A (or S), i, Sli.
Cbronlele. Babylonian, B, I, 314.
Cbronlcle, Babyloolan, P, 1, 3U.
INDEX OF SUBJECrrS.
ChioDologlDal toaterials, BabjtoDlui.
tables of. 1, 336-348.
1 Tablet of Djnast; 1,
GluiiMsba, see Xenes.
ClTlUzatioD In eaclj Babylonia, i, 3S0.
T. W. ft,. '
Cord^r. Henri, US.
Colton. Sir Dodmore. Enalish ambas-
Bador to Persia, I, K; landed ai
Gombrun, 1, is, died at Caiblo, 1,
Crusades reawaken European Inter-
est in tbn Orleiit.l.M.
CuneLIorm, the word uaed by Hyde,
i,Eev. 1
, 1,11
tMretl
-Cyprloie, attempts to decipher, 1, six.
Cyprus, il 17&
'Uyrua, king of Ansban, il, sto; kin*:
of the Haada, il.37t; king of Un-
Persians. <l. 3TI ; eilcnt oFnls em-
pire, It, 3T2; titffeabt Crcesun. li.
Sra, 373; his army la Babylouiu.,
II, 3IG 1 takea Babylon, 11, sni.
Dadda-ldri. see Ben-Hadsd IL
Dally TelegNvb, proprietors ol.setid
George Smitb to Assyria, t, 231 ;
discovery of tiutber deluge tab-
lets. I. 231. 232.
Dalukku, il. les, 1S3.
Dalts, II, 1ST.
DBmasous, ll,41,7B,TB.eD.81.BZ,B3,M.
101, lu, m, 12T, 12S, 1S9. iM 131.
133, 139. Ue.
Dam-kl-Uu-abu, 1, 396.
Daniel, I, b;.
Danube, 1, 271.
D'Anvllle, writes paper on the site of
BabyloD, i.lOl; attempts to prove
that Baghdad la not Babylon, 1,
Darayavabush. see Darius.
Darheugh, see Darius.
Darius, 1,02, 60, ec, SB, 69.
David. \l. 43.
Dayaem. 11,113.
Dayan-Aaabur, 11. 75, 86. 88.
Dean 0! St. Paul's, 1, 196.
Deocke, W.. 1, 210.
Delltzscb, FHedrlch, uses the word
It, 1, 213; bis grammar well re-
ceived, 1, 213 1 his dictionary criti-
cised. I. 213; abandons HalAvy's
views, I. 214 : advocates formation
ol Qerman Orient Soolety, 1, 34S,
DBrbent-l, 79.B0,
Dllir))eklr'li,21,4S, S2.
Dllbat, 11. SSI.
DOmuu. n. 177.
Dlwaulypb. 1. 2T3.
Dlyuleh.i, 2T2,
Down, Couuty. 1, 70.
Dream of Axshurbfinapal, 11, 2T1.
Dubllu. I, 71.
Duuanu.' 11, 260.
DuDgl I. 1, 291. SIS: bis buUdlngs In
different cities, 1, 376.
)angl 11.1,377.
>ur-Assbur, II. 60.
Dur-Atkbara, II, 174.
Durdukha. II. 166.
Hir-llu, 11, 163.
>ar-KurlEalzu. 1. 296 ; U, lOS.
Jur-Ladinua, 11. 176.
>ur-Nabu, II, 174.
lur-Papsukal. II, 95.
)ur-8barruklD, 1, 299; 11, 162.
Dur-Tukuttl-apal-eahaira, II, 1 10.
Dur-Undasl. 11, 27L
Dushi, I, 401.
Dushratta. letter of, found at Tell-et-
Amama. 1, 249.
Dust storms, 1, 278.
Ea-ga-ml
r. Iiing of Babylonia, 11,
E-Auna, 1. 292.
Eannatum defeats Bemltes and sets
up a great commemoratWe stele,
EarlyBabyloiila, cbronoIagT of, U 837.
East India Company, orders search
made for Babylonian inscriptions, .
LllO; examination of ihelDscrlp-
llons thus found, 1, lt3: bas Klch
survey of Nineveh district, 1, 171.
E-babbara, il. 364.
Ebiahum, 1.396.
Edubar, i, 38T.
Eclipse of tbe sun, 1, 324; II, 101;
Eel, I, 283.
Egg plants, U 282.
Egyptian Inscriptions as soarces, tor
cbronology, 1, 336; lor history, 1.
Elgbtb dynasty, chronology of, I, S4S.
I!-Kbarsae-kurKura, 1,297.
E-kbulkhul. 11, 367.
Ekron, II. 124. 194.
Ekur, 1, 361, 366, 420.
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
BlBm, 1, aU; Ebronolosy of dynftaty
or.l,3««.
XlMolM king ol BAbyloula, II, X.
KlBtb, II. lai.
Eldred, Jobn. rlsiu Orieat, 1, 8S; de-
scribes tower ol Babel, 1. M( coo-
fuses Basbdad auCt BBbjloo, 1,
91.
Elepbant. 1, 2st.
Eleutberos, II. be.
iliutia, 1, w.
. :lu]lab. 1, ZT_
Fertility of Babjlonla, 1, tn, an, m.
Field, Ferez HmMlngs, architect at
first PennaylTvila expedition to
Babylonia.
En-anna-tuma 11. 1. K8.
Enl-al,
BdIIu. II. 121.
Unne-Uguii, kiDg ot Kish, oooqaered
by Sutoerlaos, I, 3M.
Erba-A(fad, king or AMyrla, U, 13.
Erbll, 1, 300.
Breeb,l.l61, WI,37G.
ErtAku, king ol Laraa. I. 38i: his
tiUe», I. ^i Ideotlty with Atloob,
l,aei.
Eriilu. I, wa, ■^,
Erzerum, I. IHO.
B-«a«lla, 1.396; 11,350. 353,363.
SsarbMdoD, klnu ot Auiyria, auUifrl-
Itles tor his relga IL 316; be^D-
nlng^of bis releii. 11. 217: ovur-
cooies rebels, hTsiS; beglus to
rebuild Babylon. U, as, 218: war
Httb Chaldean tribes, il, 230. £ili
tetusal to pur trlbuts In the west,
U, XO, 233; ftnt westward onm-
palgn. II. 2»-2S8: detenaltiatlonto
attack Bgypt, 11, 228 ; conquest oF
^ypt, Il,la0-3S1 1 raids Id Arabia,
IL m-ws; Indo-European lufa-
Btons, li. 38»-2Mi eannnlgn In
Media, 330, 317; moTamenta of Ihe
IndcvEnropeaiis, U, 398, an; bis
lost camp^BDS II, M>-iu; dlffl-
oulUes and greatness ot bis relfn,
n, 2M.-aW; vandal treatment ot
Inscilptloiis ul Tlglathplleser 111,
II. lOfr- 107; claims desoeat tram
Bet-banl, II, M.
Esdraekin. ll, B. 133.
E-sbid-lam, 1, 2»e.
Eskl-Mosul, 1, 100, lOL
Etblopia, II, 128.
Etbobal,ll. 1DG,2Z2.
Bulbar, L 885:11, ssG.
Eulbar-sbakln-shum, king of Baby-
lonia, II, so.
BupbrMes, II, M, M, TO; aouroe ol
First djmasty ol Babylon, abroaologr
ol, I, S38.
FlandlD, E., 138.
Viewer, I, 24, 33 ; copies ol Persepoll*
lDacrlptl<>u<>, 1. 74; the lanKusgea
Id them. i, 7B, 77; these copies pro-
duce a retrovrade moTeawDi, 1,
77; come into tbe hands ol Grote-
Fourth dynasty, chronology ol, 1, 343-
344.
Fresuel, Fulgence. I. ISS.
a
Gabres, 1, 75. re.
«"^'''»"j.Mi-. .
tieere. archlteet ol tonrtb campaign
at 'KlfTar I -UK
description of the ruins, 1, 33, 27 : bis
copies of inscriptions, 1. «; ttwy
are sbown not to be orlgbal, I. Wi
blsplcture of platform at Persepo-
lia also borrowed, 1, 28; doubt as
so, 1,2;
K.w^lmln-an-kl, II, 3U.
Erll-merodaeb, see AmU-Harduk.
Expedition UsU, Assyrian, 1, 321,
Genealogleal datalli uaeAiI for obro-
nology, I, 322.
Georgian, 1. 220.
German expedlUoD ill Babylonia, 1,
247,243.
German Orient Society, 1, 346, MT.
Ghalalama., 1. 371.
G animu, 11, IB.
G hiBRin, I, Bfi.
G 1pad.ll, 120.
Q luin. It, 77.
G rklshar, 1, 318.
G rau. 1, 2S1.
Gladstone, W. S., 1, tM; addreH be-
lore Soelety of BlbUcal Aietue-
ol(i)[y, 1, 330.
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
eoftt, 1,383.
tiobmtt, II, 318 .
a<lg,V,2K.
G(^Ui, I. 2T0.
Oombo teatUs, 1, 382.
God, II, W.
OOBhtasp, see HysUtpei.
Gfnlngen Academj <a Selenoes. 1. M
Gouves, AutODlo de. AugUBtJalao trl
Br. Kent as missionary to Penis, i
war OD the Turks, 1. T; vlslla Per
sepolls, I, g-lO; his account bet-
ter tliBii that D( Odorlc or Barburo,
1.11.
Goian, li, 4S, I6L
Oral.Tbeodor. I. 249.
Greek writers as sources lor blstory,
1,3)8.
Griffins, I. IS.
Groats, 1. 283.
OroCe. l.'lSS. '
Grotetend. Oeorg Frledrloh, bom i
A GOttineen. I. la
iduced to stud]
4S ', Ideotnies the expression
" king ol kings." I. 49 ; dnds the
word ton, I, Bl ; begins U> search
for kings' names, 1. 51: the names
Darius and Xeries Ideotiaed, I,
0! ; the name of UTStaspes, I, ra ;
translaws InacriptfoiiB fn part, I,
M; publishes his results. I, fit>;
later work largely abortlTe, 1. BT :
bis position, I. 82; sees Flower's
copies. I, «i.
GrUnwald. Morltz, 1. 210.
Uubbe, II. l».
Gudea. palesl □( Sblrpurla, I, 388
gr<!at building operations. I,
llvillzv
GuldenstBdt. V 81.
Gulklsbar. 1.318, 3M.
Gulls, 1, 283.
OungUDU, I, 37T.
Qurgum^ll. 121.
Gutlnm, 11,9. 10.
Guyard. IJtanlalas, begins to decipher
Vaiuilc(Cbaldlu), 1.221; reviews
the work of uayce, 1. 223 : supports
HalSTy.1,211. ■ r.~
Garuhl.l, Ml.
Quzanu, II. 102. IGl.
Hager. Joseph, writes Important book
on Babyloclaa Inscriptions, 1, 110;
connects the Babyloiilan Inscrip-
tions with the Persepolls text! 1,
111 ; the creBt Isfluenm of his
book, 1. ll£
Hslebe, ii, ca.
Haleblyeh, El II, 80.
HalfiTy, Joseph, writes a series of pa-
pers denying the exlsteoce of the
Sumerlan language. I, 207 ibis brtl-
llant presentatloD of bis case, I,
208; his position sharply attacked,
1.209; replies to his critics, 1,210;
wins some adherents, I. 211.
nallcBrnnssus, 1, 143.
Halll Bey. 1. 2N).
Hall, Isaac H.. member of
Hamath, it, '41, 7S, 79, 81, 119, 121, 130,
Hamdy Bey. I. 280.
Hamilton. Aleiander, 1. 07.
HammiunA'li.t.Ul.
Hammurabi, king ol BabylOb, bis
reign begins a new era, L S88;
unflesairBabylonia,l,3S8,aw; his
Identity with Amraphel, 1, 389; tn-
acriptlon concerning canal, 1, 391 ;
his bolldlnes Id Babylon and Bor-
Hlppa, 1. Mi,SB3:tbe gloryot his
reV. .1| ^; blB, later Influence, t.
393; blB later In . _,
-*~ of, found at Slppar, I,
s temple tn Lsna, 1,
lablf
SSI.'
Hananlah,1.8I.
Hanno. 11, 131. 128. US, IH.
Harper. Robert F.. Aasyrtologist of
nrsli Pennsylvania eipedluon, I,
Harpoot. see Kbarpoot
Hauran, 1, SOO, 387 388.
Hatthepsowel, ruler of Egypt. II, 4.
UaupLF., Important book oo Suroo-
rianfamllylaws, I. 211.
Hauran, the. 11. 82.
Hawks, I. 283.
Haynes. J. H., member at Wolle ex-
pedition, I. 890; business manuer
ol nrst Pennsylvania expedition.
I nil. .!-..„• second campaign, I,
Hebrew bowls, loond 1
341.
Hebrc'
, t,
jt ol tbelr power
luPaiestlQe,il, 4i,fc>.
Hella. wv Hillah.
Herbert, Tbomas, member of lOMtt of
Sir U. Cotton, 1, Ui aooonnt of
visit to Perarpolis. 1. 18, 1>; later
description, I. so-'s: eewf of In-
scription, i, 23; small InODence of
his copies, I. W.
HerDdDtti.<. place of his birth and bis
early trnlnliig, 1. 203; the value of
bis history, I. 2Kt, M4i Sayoa's
404 INOEX OF SUBJECTS.
critlclam, 1, W3; on fertUltr of Ignorance of Babylon aai NlneTeb
Babrloii[&, 1, 280. 28L belore Urj). 1, 1.
Hermon, II, SI. Igur-Kapkanu, rutut ol AJSTTlk, li, 3.
Herons, 1,282. tlDn, U. IS.
Hezeklah,!!, US,188,1M. itii-idad, II. El.
HlelOKlypblc Egyptian teiti as lliibaul, 11, S2.
■ouioes, 1, 2ST. IJ'»t)[(ll, II. 1S4, 1R5.
Hlllab, 1. ST. IDT, 130, 108, ns, IBL , Iiiigiir-Bel. tl. :m.
BlipreDht, HenDana v., Asarnologut imtueru, 1, 3a;.
onarstPeiinsrlTBiilBexiMdltloii,l, ladB-btgssb. 11, TW.
H); director o( musaum in PbUa- labl-BeT. IJ, 174,17s.
delpbla, 1, 9(3: dUeotor ol toiirtb Iran. 1, ti.
ctunpaljiD In Babyloiilti,l,24S; bU Irunzu. 11. 157, isa.
dlsUnglUSliedierTlcea, t,3t& Irlsbmn. ruler of AssTTla, 11,2.
Binek^Bdward. bom atCork,l.Tl; Irkbiilltia.il, T6,Te.TT,W.
educated at Trinity Oolleiie, 1,71} Inab.l.^T'A
— a aoW mediU, I, Tl; setlled at Isaiftli.l, M, — " — —
Uyleagh, 1, Tl 1 atudJed mattae- labuln, 1,219.
KlUy&agh, 1, Til atudJed mattae- labuln. 1,219.
inatlos and later pubtiabed He- lahakku. title of eailf Asayrian
brew grammar, 1, Tli II Is not rulers, II, 2: ibe bcElDDlllBB ol
known when be Drat studied Prr- esTly AssyrlaD labakke, U 4ni.
aepolia InacrlptloDa.l, Tli worked labblcarra, I. are,
Indapendeotly of HawllnBoa at Jsb-tu-bal, 1. We.
firat, I, Til Bist memoir, I. 71; iNbmael, li, 333.
works on Assyrian, I, IIS; read) Ishme-DaKaii. 1, 3TG; 11, 2; referred ta
papers thereon before Royal Irlsb by Tiglatbplleser 1, 1, K2S.
Academy, I, ISS: makes a Eiest Ishpakal. 11, 234.
oontribntlon to tbe snblect, (,iin; ishpuiaisb. 1, 218.
Tiiakea a tranalallon, f, 1ST, 188; tstatar.l, 2n2, 3es; ttae Isbtar gate ol
«lTon!ateB a mper on Assyrian Babylon, li,3t(.
Terb forma at British AsBoclaQoa, '-'- ' — '■'
1, 192; pubtlRbes a Ibit a[ cbar-
aotara, I, US; trmnslates aylloder naatr, 1,34a-3U.
of Tt^^pUeser, 1, 196] pu& forth Ismail TaHba, 1, 14n.
jifpoQiaala that cunelfarm script laogiii. 1, 2II.
T»as iUTBDled by Intlo-Europeana, lapabara. il. 190,
1, IDI: explains certain pecullarl- larael. il, T5. 79, 127, 129, 13L
-nea rd Aooadifui language. 1. Sfa. Issuei, liuir of. jl, 29.
-aosi uses name Old Cbaldean In- ic'amar. II. lOL
stead ol Aecadian, i, 200: makea Ilti. ii, 161.
mui^h progress m dedpherint; lUI-Bel, i,3i>«.
Chaldlan language, I, ns, 219. Izdubar (tiligamesb), I, 229. '
nindlyeh, 1,273.
Hltom. II, 121.
Hit, I, 27^ J.
Hittltes. 11, H. 96. Janoah. II. 139.
Hog, 1, 28i. Jaquet. I, SI.
Horwan,l,4M; 11,88,89. Jeconiah (Jeholachin), U, 318.
Holzniann,Ado1I,l,82; otrersatrans- Jeboahaz, 11,812.
latioQ ol Flower's copies, 1, Bs. Jehoiachln, II, 318.
Honey, I, 283. Jeholaklm, 11, 312, 817.
Hophra, 11. saO. Jebu.l.22Ti 11.81.82.
Horse, 1, 2St. Jenaen, P., opposes HalAyy, UIU.
Hoahea. king of Israel, name Identl- Jerabia IJerablus), II. M.
fled en Assyrian text, 1, 228 ; U, Jereml^, 1, 2SS ; il, 322, 323.
12S, 140. It4, lu. Jerusalem. 11, 199-201, 20L
Hunger, InHueni^ of. In early con- Jonah, 1. fs.
quest li 3B1. Jones, Felix, surreys Ihe Nineveh dis-
Hoi, 1, 3. trfct, 1, ITl.
Hyde. Tbomas. publlsbes book on Jordan, II, 128.
religion of the Persians, I. TT; re- Joslah defeated and killed at Uegiddo,
produces Flower'a copies, and il,3ii.
calls tbe method ot wrlung ounei- Jotham. 11, 123.
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Ksdaslinisa-BuTliiah, king of Baby-
lonia, contemporur o( Shalmao-
XwUslmiaii-KWbe I. king of Babf-
loDl a, coDducta a campatzD sgalnit
tHe Sutu, I, 41Si killed Id a rebel-
llOD, 1, 419.
Kadasbman-Kharbe II. king of Babjr-
Kadoslimiui-TuiKU.klngotBabTloQla,
Kaempfer, Eogelrecbt. Sermiui nat-
luallst. studied bauny m Jacon,
1, W ; copied lascrlptloiia al Per
BGpotlS. (, 30.
Xalssriyeb, II, in.
KaIz,l!,«7T
Kalah Sbergat, 1. 1S6, U8, m.
Kaldl. eeoKrapby of tbe land ot, 1, 388.
Kaldu. i, 310; il, G8. 3e« also Cbot-
Kalparuda, il, ts.
idab. 11. IM.
-. king ft Babylonia, his
Identity wllb Auhurbanapal, li,
297, 2D8.
Xaoaubanlnl {Anubanlnl), i, 3Sl.
Kap-rabi. II, 61.
KaralndAsb. Insorlptlan ol bis, i, 4131
relatloDS with AssyrlH. 1.413; allu-
slun to bis reign In syncbToalstlo
bistory. 1, 414; ayncbronlstlo bli-
tory begins m nl9 reign,!. 324.
Karakbardasb, king of BBbylonia.
merries Muballlcat-Sberua, 1. 418;
no knowledge of bis rqlgn, 1, 419.
Kardunyasb, tbe c^
BS.
Kar Nabu. K. 102.
jl, 11.18,93.
Kasdim, 1.310. 8«e alsoCbaldean.
KM&tarld.lI.!3S.
Eair, El. mound or, i, 247.
KMsbu. tbe. origin, 1. 399; tlielT rela-
Uonsbip to Koasseans, 1. 309-, and
to tbe Klsslans, 1, 399 ; to be called
Kassltes. I, 400; Lieo.
Kasshu-niullii-akbe, king of Baby-
lonia, II. 36.
Kassltes, 1. 400. See also Kasshu.
Kassite dynasty, dironalogT of. 1,310-
"42; history of. 1. 3Sa^4£L
. See also Hairno.
Jtbarpoot, 1. 271, 272.
KharaaB-kHlaiaa, li. 377.
Jibiiturlkku. Il, 101.
Kbazenab.'i. 172.
Xbindauii. li, 09.
Kborsabad, 1. 130. 133, 134, ISC, 136, 13B,
Its, isa. IBS. 299.
TCbubisbna. 11, 121.
Khubusbktu. li, 49, 38, 94.
Kbula. II, KL
Kbulle. ll, lill.
KbumbHiilKiiab. II. U3.
Kburbiitllu, kiHE i)[ Elam, 1, 420.
Kbutdlstaii. 1, m,
Klakkl. II, 1B7.
Kt-an-iil-bl, 1,39G.
Kidney beans, 1.282.
KI-Kal-dara-bar. t. 398.
Kilkbi. li, 118, uo.
Klllyleaeti. I. 70.71.
KJnitIlB,1l. 118.
King List A. L 313.
King List B, 1.313.
KlngLlatC. I, 3-
Ktniia- • -""
Bnbel, ). 08; ro-
Klnklp! li, ^
Kirbit,ii,2M,
Xircber. Atbanaslus,
on tlio tower of 1
celvert tbe Drat
tlqulty In Europe, I, 98.
Kimirll 1^48140.
Kiabian, 11' 116.
Kistlans, 1. 399.
Kitlula. II. 7U.
Klaprolb, 1, 80, 81.
KleltarcLos, I.36B.
Koldew(<y, Robi>rc, director of eipedU
tlon In Babylonia, 1, 3a.
Komieans, I, 399. See also KaBSbD.
KCesla.1. bis early lUe. I. 201 ; his hla-
tnry of Persia, 1. 201 ; Its value and
KuJiir-Del. king cif iTubylonla. 1. 401.
KuduT-Mabuk, a prince of E-matbal,
Babylonia, 1. 380.
Kndnr-nucbnmar, 1,390.
KuUani, II, &l.
Kummukb, II. 23. 32, 4S, SO, M, 89, 78, 78,
114. ll^ IIB. 131, ITT.
INDEX OF BUBJECm
KuDdu, iC 22r>.
KUDUlUS. II. «><
Kurdlataii, 1,
t. tn-, cmitemMraty of Ajibur-
naillD-akbe nf Assyria. 1. 41T.4U.
KnriRalzu IL king ot Babylaai^ con-
quers Elam. I, 430; cunptiiKD
ogolaat Assyria. 1, va).
Knrnali. [.ZI3.
Kusblla. 1.300.
Kusbtiuhpl. II, 114, 121
Kutlift,!, &S,3T6; ii. US,
Kutl. H, IB.
KuyunJiK, I, 1». 131. 133, 140. 14% lfi3,
U6, ISO, 235. aw.
Labarosoarchodoi. aee Labuhl-Hor-
duk.
Labasbl-Mardnk, klag ot Bsliyloold.
LabaAsnracho!!, see IjttiiMtti-Marduk.
.agam&r, I. 390.
«raa, 1.2)1; II. 3C1.
^irab, king of GuU, 1,300.
«ssen.ituiireBlistoliia(iieBatNaksh-
l-RuatsiD. I, ne-, dHcorers syllHbic
ObarKter ot Feralso. I. go, ei, 62,
eJi correipoDdii wltli Ratrllnson. l.
a9( bU work, known to Ulncks, 1,
Laysrd. Austen Henry, bam In Paris.
1. 138; liillupucQd by rexjUne Kleh's
iDurnnl, I, 138; seeks a cnreer In
Ceylon, i. 138; but cban)^a his
Aaia, I, 139; visits Kuyunjlk and
Neby TuniiB. l, 140; his account
ot » rislt to Nlmroiid, I. 140-142;
■ecood Tlslt to Mosul. L 143: re-
MlTM k matll tarn from sir 8mu-
tont CaimlDg foreieavntlonandre-
tnm* to Hoanl, 1,143; tbenlgbtbe-
lore boElnnlngeicaiaUnDS. 1. 144;
aooomiE of Ml first eicavatlons,
i, 14»-U»; bis Bkiri in narraOTS
and uae ot biblical comparlsong, I,
IBS; the winged bulls wblob he
found had orfglnally stood at the
portals of pftlMC of Shalmaoeser L
I. 1113: made sonM attempts on
mound ot Kuranltk. 1. US: antlqul-
tles presenteo to BtIUsIi Huseum,
I.1M: work resnmedlnlMl,!, IM;
■aristed by BaMas*. I. T '-
remarkably suoces^u.
iiailk, 1, IM; pre
Ibis work. 1. ■161
Isseot toCon-
Slaoe of Sennacoerlb. I,1S7*, oon-
ci«d cxcavaiioDS u Kjtiali 8ber-
Kat, Nlmroud. and Khorsabad. I.
158; his books touch the popular
heart, I, i»; flods ir-~-'"«"— ■ —
Lebnuon. II. 06. IM.
Le Brun, I, BB,
LehmuDa, Carl. dlscusMS tbe Sume-
rlan questions, 1. S14; important
Leuurmanl gives a selentlDc ireatlsp
on Suinerlan grammar, I. XH, lUft :
Eapers on people ol AoFsd and
m Turanliuis lu Clialdea and Id
western Asia, i, 20B; opposes
Hal^vy. I, aw; attempts to de-
cipher Cbaldian, 1, 210.
LenOfa. 1, 282.
Leopard, I, ase.
UM, II, 48.
Ubltlshtar, 1.378.
Llboah. II. ■xa.
LI'lau. li, 109.
LoewensUlD. Isidore de.begbis to de-
cipher Assyrian. I, uo; suggests
that Assyrian belongs to Bemltlo
family i.iHi.
Lottos. wlUlBm Kennett, aent oat as
KHOloglst to the Orient. 1. UO;
vMts mounds In Babylonia. 1. 160;
account oF mound ot Haminaiii> 1,
ISO. im ; carries on excavations ar
„jra's work. I. ITI.
ongperier. Adrlen de. translates a
a.11. &.
Lu^l-kigulHddudu. king of Erech,
tlngol Cr.l, STL, 373.
Lagal-I^salsl. son of Lugalzag^. i,
3BE) his kingdom. LsSe; 121^371.
Lugalushumgol, vsasiU ot Sargon 1. 1,
307,388.
Logalzaggisl text of, found at Nl&er, I,
341; conquers Bumerlans. I, 3M;
makes Ereah eapltsl and Nippur
chief rellgloua center ol his kuig-
dom, t,IM; hlaaceountof blsTlo-
torles I, SSS; f j-^-- -•
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Loll,!. Mil tiue.
lulBime. II, aa, UL
LuluU, i, see.
LuJublnl, I, Ml.
LutlprK II. «S.
Lion, D. u., nemlMr of Amerfcui
Orlenui Society, I, z».
Herod sob-bkladui, U, liu, US,
ikJ^,u|
Mllliii, k. L., pabllahet » Babjloalan
Huan.l. M6.
H^. II, ST.
HalBUyeb, 1, STOj U, Za. St.
Mallk-rammu. II. IW.
Han, U. ise. im.
Mandft, name ol a ooQWdlc people,
II, 28»; tbelr attack upon (he As-
■yrtaiu, II, SSe-Wl: tbell destruc-
tlon of NlneTeb. li, iK ; their Bhare
In AssyrlBD tenilort, 11, SMitliH
development of Ujefr power dui-
iDg tberelgnot Nabonfdiu. UiSeS-
Handelalo, J. Albert de. traveled In
the Baat, 1. is ; account of InMrip-
tlona at Persepolla, 1, a).
HandevUle. Sir Jobu, 1, BS.
HulsbtnBu,i.3«D.
Hap of Nlneyeb made by Felix Jones.
Uariluk.'l, 2M.
Marduk-akbe-liba, king ol Babyloola.
1.428.
llarduk-apal-lddln,l.413.
Harduk-balalsu-lqbl, 11. SB, lOB.
Harduk-bel-uaaie. II, SB, so.
Marduk-nadln-akbe, kieg of Baby-
loDla. I. 4Z7j his wars with Tlg-
lathplleaer 1. 1. 428.
Marduk-nadlD-Bhum. 11. 88, M.
Harduk-shaplk-ier-mat], king of Bab-
ylonia, 1. 428 ; manleB daughter of
AwhuMxI-kala. 1.4X8.
Marduk-sbiutMidammlq, II. BT.
Mlnuas, 1, 218.
Mtsbaei, I, er.
Mlta, II, 163, les, ITS.
Mltannl, kings and Iniorlptloiu ot, 1,
Hlt'Mtl, h, is;, ua.
Mltlord, Bdward Ledwich, 1, 1».
Mitlntl, U, IM, IBS.
Hobammed Paalia, 1, 134. 148.
Mobt, Julius, takes degree atTBbin-
gen, and beglnB residence In Pari*.
I, 1201 Is a PupN of BllTestre de
sacy, 1, 128; becomes secretary at
8ocIM« Aslatlqae, 1. m; risits
London and lees InaoTlbed bricks
In East India Hoase, I, 126; ad-
vises Botta to excavate In As-
syria, 1, IIT ; receives report ot his
success, 1, 135 ; seeretarr of 8ocl«t6
Aslatlque, 1, 22e.
MordCmann, A. D., attempts to ded-
pher Cbaldlan. 1 220; naines lec-
ond PersepollB l
MouiuuenW, Babylonian, as sources. I.
2H-2eT; tbelr value, I, 2G7.
Morocco, 1, 138.
Moschl, II. W.
MosuU, M, 17T.12S, 130. 133, 13t. 143,
143, lES. IGO. ITI, 2K, 234.
MuballfUI-^herua. I. 4lH.
MuKhelr.l, 161, tea. it2. 238, wo.
MQbl bach. Captain von. Buds Inscrip-
Mulellbe°11'lB*'* "' '
MukaUu. II, ZS6.
Mukayycr, aee Mugbclr.
MOlIcr. D. H.. studies Chaldlan texts,
i,'i23.
MDnter. Prlpdrlch. Identified buUd«i
of PeraepoUa with the Achamcn-
Irtes.t.SB; reoOgnlzBS vowel " a"
int'%" 1,40; Ms work.
Hsurepas. Oomte de,
HedIa, II, 87. 113.
Hedlterranean. II, M.
Ueslddo. battle at, u
l(eissDer7B.,As3yr1o1iwlscot Qermao
expedition to Babylr-'- ' "■"
Melam-kur-kur-ra, 1, 3W.
lyToDla, 1, HI.
I«Ud3iiTls,l, 213.
MeU-Shlpak, king c4 Babylonia, t, taa.
KenH}.1l,«i.
Henahem, II, 130. IZi ; II. 12T, 148.
Menahem ol Samslmunma, U, IM.
Herodach. 1, 2H.
Mushezlb-Marduk. II, 20B-
Muahke, 11.22.23. Itt.
HUSTl. 11, 12. 23. 7T, IB, 144.
Mutakkll-Nusku. conlcmporBry of
Nebuehadreizar 1, 1,42s,; king of
Mutlalu,'ll,'nw|lT8.
Nabonassar, II, 132; weakness ot his
relKD, 11, lOB, 111.
NaboDldus, king ol Babyhxila, hb
408
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
work Bs & builder and an arcbs-
ol<»lBt,ll,SB»-3a3: tbe rebulldlus
Of E^abbare at Dlppar, II, 364,365 1
rebulidtng ID SiPpar and in Bar-
ran, II, MS, ai&i rebuilding of
E-khulkbulRt HarrsQ, if, 3BT. 388;
bla failure to prepare hla empire
(oidefen«e,tU373. ST4,3TeiblB [u-
tilBDrepaiaaoiiB, 11,377; allusion
to Hammurabi, 1.311; allusion to
BbagarHklf-Bitiltisb, I, siS; allu-
■lon to Naram-6ln,l. SIB; restores
lemple In Laru, I, Wt.
KabooiautCbTonlcle, 1, 310,
Mabopolassar becomes king of BabT-
loolL M,X»; lUa origin, n, 3asi bis
InacnpUons, II, 30S-ao(>; rule under
tbe Astyrlujs, 11, aor ; end of reign
andlta unportance, li.si4,3U.
Nabu(Nebo] 1,295.
Nabu«pal-ladln. king of Babylonia,
restores temple at SIppar, 11. K,
GO.
Nabu-balattu-lqbi 11, a
NabU'SheElk.annl, II, !Sl.
nikuu-snuiuHsreHU, ii. aw^
Nabu4bum-lBkun, kbgol BabTlODla,
II. «, los.
Nabu-flbum-ukln. II, 132. 133.
NBbu-ukln4bII, king of Babylonia, II,
Nabu-usalllm, II, 220.
Nabu-ushabsbl. II, 134.
Naba-zlru-klDlsb-ilsblr, II, BIS.
Naclblna, 1. 300.
^adin, Ii, 130.
I^abarlna, 1. 410. Rse also HttBnnU
.NabrluaTl. ^»S,
TJftliiiniTl.M,25g;i1,28e.
Na'ld-MaRluk,II.Z19,
Nahr-e1-Kelb,li. 44.
Nalri. Ii. ZT. M, 03, M, 118. 122.
}4aktilreh ol Hairan. II, 60.
Kaksh-t-Ruatain. 1, 7,1.
Nal, 11. 118.
Nainrl. U. »7. X, 100, Wi.
Nana. I. 291.
NanB-^sklpat-b^bl-xbii. II. 3tft
Naiinar, Che moou siici, 1, 280.
Napblall. 11.129.
Naram-SIn, 9nn o! Sargon I, I. 38S;
records of bis reign tragmentarr. I.
306 i bis conquests and building
operations," — ■-■ — "- ■ —
brick " —
ip of, found a
Hatnu. U. 27
Nazlbugasb, king ol BabvloDla. 1. 410.
Nazl-Hajuttash, king ol Babylonia,
makes Kar on Adad-nirarl I ol
Nebuchadnezzar, i
ebuchodrczzBr I. klngot Babylonia,
his brIIUant reign, 1, 426; contem-
porary of Miitakkll-Nu<ikii, 1. 42
aud also of AsHhur>rlsh-isbi. 1, 4^
conriuests In tbe east. i. 4:t7
Nebuch "- —
(lar II, king of Babylo-
iry at Carcbemlsh. 11. 313(
king, II, 316; begins a
ijou Id Palestlae, 11,330-324: Nebu-
chadrezzar bcBlns another siege
□t Jerusalem, 11. 324 ; lilts siege and
drives Egypaana under Hoptira
back. 11.^^^ : resumes tbe slega
"i lakes the eltyvf. sua. 329;
it. Ml. 342; bis build-
ing Inscriptions, 11, 342: bis ro-
bifllding ol tbe walla of Babylon.
ii, 343-34& : the repaving of streets,
1I,31S; work upon temples. 11,347;
canal construction, II, MI, 348; hla
pride In Batnlon, U, 349; work In
Borslppa Hod olber cities. II. 34S-
39); slgnlBcance of his reign, U,
Nebv liiiius, 1. va-. 133, 140, 29B.
Neeho II. king of Egypt. 11. 231. 250;
cipedltloii Into Asia. 11. 309-313:
hlH second eipediUon and deleat
at CBrcbemlsh, II, 313.
Nergal'. t-'m
Nergal-sbarezer. 11, 21fi. See also Ner-
rgal-sbar-i
Ms early
3S7, 3»,
Jiergal-usl:
Nerfgllssoi
Nergal-usheztb, II, 20«.
Nerfgllssor, see N^rlg!
Nlbard-Asahur, Ii, 60.
3Ge; bis brief reign, 11,
II, 20«.
Nurlgal-sbBT-u sur.
Nlebubr, Carsten, visits Peraepolls, I.
34;blsIaborades«rlbBdb«talssDii.
i.3G; made Inanyeoplesofinscrip-
t1aQS,i,3e; maJietelaasUleationat
cone [form signs, I, BT : argiiei that
the laDKuage was atpfaabetlo,l,3T;
visits Htllab, I. lot: visits Tigris
moundfi near Mosul 1, 1D6.
Nifrer.Liei, 240.
Mlglmkhl, 11, 9.
Nlkahanima. 11, 161.
Nikur, il, 112.
Nile, 1,271, 273,274.
Nlmlt-Maiduk, outer wall of Nippur,
Nlmittl-Bel, 11.343.
Nli»me. ii. 4fl.
Ninirod, 1. W. B8. 97. 140, 146, 148.
NImroud, 1, 140, 143. 1S3, 1S8. 23S, :se.
Nineveh. I, 36. 88, IM, 101, 138; age of,
■• - -^1 11.78.
niruiF-fii»u-iuuiu, 11, loi, _
Ninlb-kuduT-DSur, king of Babylonia,
INDEX OF aUBJECTS.
P&lm. I, 282. 28S.
1^,361,3661 11,106,11
lflIbll,ltKL
NlrldoAkl,!
NootareBUud, see Naksli-l-Biutaii].
~ — -"' ■-'—•- riBi;|nhera aecon ■ '
in I«it, 1, 1T6.
Odoiic (Odorleus), Journejp to Catlwy,
1, 31 visits tiimuai, I, 4: miio ol
lltUe reflDemeDt, i. 4; 1-'' -*
bis aarratlTe. I. Oi hk _
the DrM nord In the dark, ., _.
Olearlul, secretBrr to emb&asy ot
Duke or Holsteln. I, 20.
Olivier, QuDlsuine A., visits esat, but
makes only scant reterenoe to
NIneveb, t, 166.
OinH,li,W.
On, 11, ass.
Onuer, U, SS6.
Oneslkrltos, 1, 166.
Onions. 1.282.
OplS. 1. 296.
<n>pert, Jules, sent to i
Blrs Nlmroud, I, 16£:
lost Id ttie Tigris, I, ISS;
ui augifui, I, itv'f IB )>rvaHLib lu
meetlDgoi British Association Id
tilasgpw, 1, 193, IM: translates
cyllaaer ol Tlgl&thplleser, I, IM;
tries to show the orlglo of As-
syrian sorlpt, 1, 202; uses the name
Sumerlan fristeail at Accailliui, 1,
203: coDtribiites Important grun-
matlcal studies of Accadlao. L
2Mj opposes HalAvy, 1, 260.
Orcbo^, 1,^1.292.
Orontes, ll, 6&, T5, 78, lU.
OrteUus, Qeogiaplilcal TreasurT, I, es.
Ortolan, 1. 183.
Omnia, i, 19.
Osnappar, II, ate. See also Aishnr-
btntpaL
Ostrich, t, SB3.
Otter. Jean, begins a new age ot ex>
ploratloD. I, 160) acconnt ot tba
Tulni of Nlneveli, 1, 160, 101 : rislts
HUlah, 1, 101.
01,1,283.
P.
Padan, I, 4M.
Palxograpbicai Indications tor cliro.
Papa, 11, _. _
Farilihla, 11, ^^
Farsua, Ll, 88, H.
Parthlana, 1. 301.
Patln, II, 6K, TG, IIS.
Pemisytvanla, Oolverslty of, Brst ei-
pedlUon to Babvloula,i,eUi sec-
ond campaign, 1. at2, HZ; third
campaign. 1, 243, 241 1 great suc-
cess, 1, 24Bi tourtb canipaigD, I,
3U; great success oE this cam-
paign. 1, 346.
PersepoUs, 1. lis, 120. 14B.
Persia, 1, 3i climate or, I, 3.
Persian. I, 13a; modem langoage ot.
army, li, 202, SMi EgypUau tradl-
UoB concerning It, K.XI. 388.
Peters, Jobn P., member of Americaa
Ortental Society, I, 236; director
ot Brst Pennsylvania eipedltlOD,
1, 240; Ms estimate Of Brst cam-
paign, 1, 242; director of second
campaign, 1,242.
FethBctflah, Rabbi, of fiaUsbon, I, 88.
PeUior, II. 4a 86.
Ileum, 1, 288.
stiaTn.ge.
ilris, 11, 114. m.
itacblo, 1, 281.
lu, 11,40,44,78.
ice,Vlctei,t,l<n.
me tree. 1.282.
gnoD, Iipurt, supports HaUvy, I,
roliiifiU devi'lopniciit of early Baby-
Porcupine,' i. ais.
PorpiiyHua, i, 331.
Porter, 8lr Robert Rr>r, vlaiU BIcb at
Baghdnil, l.i'/i ; hail already visited
Fersepolls 1. 121; bis unusual ea-
dowments. t, 121; sketehea the
ruln^ ol Bntiylon, I. 122i the no.
coTint piiblislied In sumptuous
stj'li', 1, 1^2; effect of the book, I,
Pnsti/Hii", 1. 21.
Fo\V''i',<l<,'>ir<.'uf, luearlycanqnesta,!,
Psammeticus ii. Kl, 251.
Pto1emv(Fio]emseuB,ClaudlU81, canon
of, C 333, 334.
PudiJlu, king of Assyria, bis con-
quests, II, I^ 10.
INDEX OF 8UBJKC7IS.
Ilunpkhia, i, 282.
-Puqudu. ii. 114, ITS.
Pur(llu) 8a-gal-e, eponrm, 1. SH.
i. ll, W.
Itirkbl ol betaoi, lii tf
BacluDct, Mount, L 3.
BaiQ, I, STB.
RamatsTa, II, 2se.
Baplkhn, «ee Bapblft,
Balk, B-n dlsDoreiB ptural ending lu
Penlu. 1, Hi Also the pbra^e
"klDB^lMldl/'l, 58.
Biroatn, Obulea, Brltiab vice codbuI
BtUoaul, 1, IH.
Bassam, Hormuzd. wsltU iMjuid, 1,
IMj ieU out trom Enslaad to
— , _.j descrlptton ol work on
the Dortliern mouDd at KuyuoJIk.
I, IBG-lTD; dlBOOvers the deluge
tablet,!, ITO; Bnda the library of
AsshurbBDBpal 1. ITl; retaniB t"
wentto IndlaaDd Per9la.l,G3; re-
orgaiilzel Persian army, 1, 03 ; cop-
leB Inscriptions at Hamulaa, l.fii;
begins to declphi'r. I, m; method
Blndlar to Grotefend's, 1, H. eS;
copies InacrlpUons at Bchistim, 1,
M) translates nameB and tlUes of
Darlua, t, W; almost coDiplGten
PerBlan alnbobet, I, ST; urellml-
~molr written Inun. I, ST;
llnIianlBtaD,i.(tT: returns
„_ Jad, 1, W 1 memoir pobllsbed
in 1S48. t, 68; hlB dependence on
others, I, 88, nolej recelred Groie-
lend'B reBulU Irom Nonis, 1, 00:
lo oorreapoodeoce with Bumouf
and Lassen, i, 89; reterencES ta
his work, L TO: makes Important
dl«««rerr at Btrs Mimroud, I, \ti;
his account of it, I, ITS. 113; uw
the black obelisk, I. US. 189; a
lishes the Habyloalau tfxt of :
Bebiatuu inacrlpUon, I, UNl: '~
iales cyllndxr ol Tlglatbpilt
'Senbiui,
n tha Scy
ha ScntdaoaM
acrtpUons In ■'Senbian" L mi-.
tries to explain •^-
oalled AccMlani
3)2; attempts t
Inacriptloiu.l.lll
porlantmei-'lbigo —
cal Arahseology, i, S3
Red-Amon, il, 253.
RedcliOe, Lord Stratford dr, i, 113.
Rediscovery □( Babylonia, a twofold
Rehglon, InHuence ol, in early con-
Hlt^-AdJm letter of, found at TeU-el-
Attiama, 1, -no.
Hlblah. Ii, 3^.
Rich. ClaiidiUB Jantes. bom In France,
i, in; ban Krc at readiness Id leiun-
ing Ian guaras.i.lia: becomes resi-
dent of the East India Company U
Baghdad, 1. 113; plans a book on
the history of the Baglidad Pasfa-
all<^ 1, 114; vUitB Babylon, L lU;
his account of first visit tc Baby'
ion, 1, 114; on flrsi vlBlt he planned
and located tbe monnd^ i, lU ; de-
scription ol his flratdigglnk»,l,llB}
ills first deaoriptions pubUshed at
■"■•—"- LllB; er1t]elMdbr"-'—
I.Ile;BIehTl^tsm
^haws inscriptions and aeii£ &
niuuber to London. 1, llBi *lsita
Persepolis, i. lis ; maui aoooTBta
copies of Inscriptions. 1, 130; death
St Bhiraz. 1, 130; influence ol bis
work, 1, lai.
RIm-Anum, king of Elam, gi^ns do-
minion In BBbyloQla, i. 3Bfi,
Rtm-81n. i. 381. See alao ErI-Aku and
Arloch.
Rl'raba. II, 1%.
Rl'Bl- ■■ —
s, i, 2
BoylA AalatlO Society, I,
Royal Irish Academy, i,
Ru'a. H. IT*.
Sukhu61,H,7T.
Rnklptl.k 1W.
Rum-«aleii, ii, W.
Rusas, 11, ISO, lei, lU. lai, 1S8.
INDEX OF SUBJECIB.
Sht, Blltestra da. d«eli4ien 8mm-
nlao InwrlpHoni, 1, u, U.
Badlku, II, BO.
SalDi Albert, Father Emuiuel de, I,
lUi 4e»artbea mnalni ol Biibj-
lOD, I, HO, ti>3.
SalnUUitiit. ADM, 1, 60. oa.
^klowUeb Caul, 1.373.
Sam 'kudu, II, aso.
SaniHlE, 1, 3Mi 11, 81, lis, U
144. 14S, UO, Ul, IAS. IGS.
BamarilatiB, II, IM.
,ii,ii4,iu,iu.ue.
"Uoder ot, louod at Nlffer,
end oonoernlng bla youth,
itrolosleal tablet relating
• In bis n)igii,l.3t3; the
blstoTlcal character of oU raign. f ,
383,364; an iDaorlptioDot i)ii,{,aM;
bla campalgiuu 1, 3M.
HgoD II. filng ot AsH/rla, beglnnlne
ot retgD, 11, 148 : fall ot fiamula, 11.
14S, ISO; sources ol history for bla
reign, 11, UO: his dlfBcultles la
Babylon, It, US-lH: rebellion* In
the west. U, IH-IM; approaches
toward Orartu. U, IBB, isj; ooa-
quest ot Carchemlib. II, 1ST. IM;
coaquestof Papa aud Lulukna, II,
ISS. US ; direct attach upon Utartu,
t1,uW-l^;IiiTaMonofMedbLlI,iaii
dlneuitles with Bnua <a urarta.
UrartD,
II, in, ifls 1 eipedldon Into Arabia,
U, iMi eooquest of Urartu, H, 164-
IflBi eampalani In Media and Ta-
bal. U, in, lis i war Id Mellddn, II,
US; eamiHUgnagalnstPhlllBtlB^ll.
160. 170; war upon Herodach-bsJa-
dui Ji, l»-tT7j. moTemauta against
d&D. IL iTO-tTTi r
the HDshhA, a
. -7B;laat c;_
ITBi works olpeao
Sanabaol, li, 134.
Baneo, Ernest de.nade French con-
sul MtBaasorab.l. IX; makP9 ex-
X Telloh, l,2Mi impor-
SllTeslrede 8acy,l,43,Mi uoUee
I Assyrian. I. ITT; makes
clpbermpnt. 1, 188, lOT.
lycf, Arc'hihalu Heury, writes two
importiuit pu|>Bra on Becond clau
o( I'trsvpulls texts tmct names the
language Aiuardlan. 1, 17S; one of
the loundera of the Society ot
Biblical ArctiaeolocT, I, 100: gives
mostelaborataeMguUtrfAeoadl-
an text. 1, 201; reylewa Delltiscb's
AKsyilan dloHonarr, L lUi de-
clphprs ChaldlaajVannlo), I, m,
■la \ critlciain ot HeTodotus, t, 3X3.
;hell. Father, db«etor of TDrklihei-
pedltlon to Babvlonla, t, SBI.
Schrader, Eberhard, arolds Aoeadlan
question. Late: later adopts name
Accndlan, I, aoo; oppoaea HaUvy,
I, am.
SchuU H. B., visits East to seek In-
t. 1. sii Bcarelies for the
ly Inatrlpllons, 1, ilfl'. 217;
-derBd at Jnlsnieili, 1, «2.
Scythians, II, ssi. See also Manda,
Sea Lands, country ot,
history ol the ayni
Sebeneb-8t " "
I. aer.st
histon' o[ the dynasty ol. 11. se
Seleucid era, 1. 32». 380.
Semlramls. 1.00; lE.ao: Armenian tra-
dition, I, 316. 21 e.
Semites, thrlr orlidnal home, various.
Renkereb, I. '200.
HennncbiTlb, King ot Assyria, sonrcel
ol history, li. im; relations to
Babylonia. 11, IM-IW; rebellion In
Babylonia, 11, Igo-iss; Invasion of
Babylonia, II. IRH-IBO: beetnolng of
rebellion Jn Ibe west, 11. lDl-193:
participatioD ot Egypt, fl, ibs,194i
-•■■-"'— "--jlnsln Ekron and vx-
jer western stales, II.
Biitborltles lor the wesl-
ipalgn, II, 104;
it.^ ,10B-10» ; attempts
i^ii. itj, linmpaTgn IntoArabla. iV.
103. n4; estlDiate ot bis relm. II,
214. 219; allusion to TlRlatbplIeser
1, 1, 320, 321, sas; aUuiloD to Mar-
diik-nadlD-akhe, 1, 320, 321. sat; al-
tuBloD to Tukulll-Nbib, I. 32fi;
brings a seal of Tukultl-Nlnib
Irom Babylonia, 11,1''
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
;i,u, m.
BDWUU, U, IK.
Sbtllwr&'ln, U. 139.
SbsuTskU'.ShurlBsh, king o[ B^f-
Shftlmaiwaer I. klDg ot Assyria, cod-
quests, II, 12; Dullds the city ol
Calah, il. 13 ; coDtemporar; of Ka-
d&sbman-Biirl&ali. 1. ^l.
Sbalmiuieapr [I, king of Assyria,
sources tor blB lelEii, iL T^ T3; in-
vasion oE BltAdlm, IJ, Ti; lieEln-
Dioa; of campaign against the
we^, U. IB: b& namflve of the
"— lgn,ii,T6-T8j the coarse
opalp, U, TB: battle of
le west, &, fA; third Im
II. Di; later Invasions, il, oi; nv
lacks upon Chaldla, it. esse;
campalftns In Namri and elae-
wbere In Iha bbsC. It 87-89; cam-
paign Id Babylaala, ll.as, 90; re-
belHoii and close of bis rplgn, 11.
90-83) obeilskfound byLayard,!,
UG; textof, deciphered by G«Drge
Smith, 1, 22T.
■ ,rlll, king of Assyria, 11,
LOO, toi.
/, records o( hli relgi
, Che siEubUod la the nest at
> beslniilDg ol bis reign. It, 140-
1 Hosbea refusei trlbnte, 11.
Bbamasb-aiiuiii-ukiD, li,aei-2«g.
Bhamshi-Adad, refeiT»d to by Tiglath-
pileser 1. 1 3M,
Bbamshl-Adad I. klngol Assyria, 11.
2; 11, 31; tebulll temple In NlneTeh,
il.lii
Bbamshl-Adad 11, niIerofA3syTia,ll,E.
Bbamahl-Adad IV. king ol Assyr^
his oivil war.il, 92: campaign lata
Nairl, b, 92: marches IhroughAs-
syiia, 11, 93.84: tribute collectmg
andiavasloii of Babylonia, li.H,
9a:endofhls reign, li,Hi,M; ei-
peditlOQ Hats from his reign, 1,
Sh^zer, see Nergalsharezer.
Bbarganl-shar-ail, t, 301. See also
Sargon I.
Bbarglna. 1, 381. See also Bargon I.
Bbarbjdari, II, ISO.
Bbami-ludari, II. 197.
BhBtt-el-HBl,I,!2M, S?3,i91, 292.
Bbeep, I, !S3.
Shepa-sharni. II. ISl.
Sberiey, see Shirte;.
Sblnat,). 112.
Bblnukhtu, 11, IST.
Stdiat, 1, 3, S, ISA
Shlrlfly. Anthony, description of Bab.
ylou. i, »a:audor Nineveh, 1, aa-,
his interest In the ruins as lllua-
Shlriey. Sir Robert, member' of suitB
olSlr D. Cotton, i, 18.
Slilrputla.1. STSi civilization Dt 1, 3T1.
Bbltlr-parna.ii, 237.
Shuanflakbul. 1), U6.
Sbubari.ll.a, 11.
Shugardla, 1(. 161.
SbuEltes. U. B2. 67.
Mhulman-kbamsD-llanl, 11, H,
Shuma. 11. M.
SUu.Hban. I, g. 22.
Sbutur-nakhundl, 11. 174.
OhuzlBush (tiazibtigash), 1. 419.
KlbHT-shlpak. king ot Babylonia, tl,
aibe. 11, 144, IM.
Slblttlbl-IL 11,121,
SIbra]ni,^139,
mbyltines, the, 1,360.
Sldo^ II, h, m, SI, 86, 134.
all mmentary on Aristotle's
1R0(L1
•ni, II. a
lu-gashld, I
.lu-Iddln, kii .
ilii-muballlt. .
In-ahar-lslikuQ, king of Assyria,
small kuowledKe ul his reign, il.
2«e.i»T, hiB death, II, l&i.
SlD-shmn-llsblr, king of Assyria, U,
Sippar, 11, 36, IQ
Slr-TML I. 381.
Slvan.T, 324.
. ._ dynasty, chronology ot, 1, 344.
;iLil,22B.
ulna, 1. 218.
Smith, R. Payne, I,
>, Kl's early Ufe, 1. Sfl;
LBUIUULV
tion'o[Assl)urbantpal.i,22B; finds
deluge tablet, I, f ' ■
decipher
_„ , ., , io As-
syria by BaAly TeltifTaph,\,23li
sent again by trustees of tbe Brit-
ish Museum, I, !32 ; sent out again
Id 1876, 1, 233; his sufletlligs and
deatb, 1, 233.
Bnakes, I, 283.
Somali, 1, 306.
Bterrett, J. H. 8., member of WoUs
eipedlUon, 1 230.
aebrougbt from Arabia, 1, 280;
brought trotn '-"- — -* •■•-
Amanus, L SS&
Storka, I, ssa.
nroKX OF SUBJECTS.
Soblinie Pom, 1,
Sugl, 11.27.
Sugunla, 11.M
Sukiii, u.e3.
-■■■" — ,11,8&
, II, 111.
TeIl-l-Taubah,IilIlof repentaiKe. f, in.
8unier, laneu age of. 1, 303; orlgbl ot
cuneifom Tblrd dyDuty, chTonolog? at, 1, MO-
Biimu-ab[, king of Babylon, t. 38T.
Bumo-laJlu. king 0[ Bsbrlon, 1, 38T.
Suru, li, ST.
giirujl, U. 60.
Susa. 1, 420.
Siului, 1, 1J8.
Susliuift. 1,399.
Sutu. I, 41S; U. 10, GS, ITS.
Bulls or BbusbsD, 1, t.
SwSD3. 1. 283.
Sylva 7 FlKueroa, Qtrela <!«, MDt to
court of SHab Abbas I, U; writes
letter to Uarquesa de Bedmar.l,
12: deECrlpUoD o( Persepolls, 1,
12-lR; dlsplavs more Interest In
men tbaa In unausges, 1, IS; did
not copy cbaracterg, I, 16; visits
Babylon, 1,9T.
Byncellus, tbe, 1. 328, 320.
Syncbrciilstlc bUtory, 1, Sn, IW, <13,
Syrttt, 11, 101.
eyro-Bphralinltlc war, 11, I2S.
Thiitmos^ii III Invwlea .\s1b, II, t.
Tlbareiil, 11. 23.
TidoJ, king of Gotlm, I, Xil.
Tlglalbpileaur 1, Uiii' iit Assyria, li,
l»,20;aaurces farbl-<reigD. 11,21;
bl» godH, IL 21. ■iii campaign
agtUn.it the Uuabke. li. 22, &, SM;
establishes snjirpniaoy In Kum-
«;w«ra In Ulrn-
— against Kharla
2Ci campaign into
establishes snjirpni
mulilL II, 24, 2S, 26;
l>arl, ll. 25; wars at
-- d gniimi,
Nalrl.ll.27,1»:sjcal
II, 28; against Musn. ii, x, a; ms
siunmar; ot flrst Ave campaigns,
'■ "- ' — islons ol Babylonia, li.
, _n,h.»l;'lm-
portance of h^a reiKii. 11.32: aUu-
sluns to Sbamsbl-Adad, I.tbmo-
Daean Assburdan, and Nlnlb-
&pM-«3haira, 1. 326; cylinder ot,
used tor test of declpnerment, i,
Tlglatbiilleser IT. kiDK oF AHSyria,
11,44.
Tlglathplleaor III, king of Assyria,
Uon. 11, 106, 107; Ills first Gampalgn
directed against Babylonia, ll,
108. 108 : his new form of civil ad-
-K tbe deolpherment ol
lyrlan, 1, 194: bis plan laid t
Boyal Aiiatfe Boctety, 1, ibb
oarrled out, t, 1B6.
Tandamanl. II, 2Ii2.
e east. [l. 111. 112: campaigns
Id Ibe norUi. II, 112- llG; effects at
tbe cnnc)iiest Of Sardurli II, U,
IIB, IIB; reduction ot Arpad II, IIT.
118 ; campidga Into lands ot N^l.
118, iiB; suecesstui campaign
against tbe west, and especially
gainst laraal, 11, llS-122: rebel-
lious In tbe eaat, li, 1^2, 123; Bt-
Torbls, ll, 244.
Tarkhularo, 11. 114, 121, U8,
Tarkbunazl. 11, 1B8.
Tarku.l, T9,80, 31, S2.
Tasb-sbi-gurunuuh, l,40I.
Tashzlgurumasb. 1,401. 40],
Taveniler. Jean Baptlste, ai
sepolis. 1, 2e.
Taylor, J. E., aont to exoav
Mughelr, 1. 163: bis account
work. i. 10,1 194 : also eicav
Abu gbarein and Tell-el-L
Teheraii, I, ti.
Tela, tU Be.
Tenibrabim, 1, 296.
Tell-Id. I. 2n.
, 124-12B; decilre to atlaoH bill
country of PalBstine, II, 126; tbe
Eyrn-Epbralmltlc war. 11. 127.128;
tbe Interference ot Ttglalbplleaer,
111 VS; conquest ol DumaaciiBi il.
130-132; campaigns In Babylonia.
11.132-137; endabisrelgn,l1.1»Ti
csUmale Of bis reign. II, li«, 139.
Tonertl. Joseph, t. ....
Toy.C H.. member ot tbe i
Odeutal itDOiety, I, 3Sa.
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
Treblzond, 1, 1ST.
Trlnltv CollegB, 1, Jl.
Tripolis, II, Bf^
Tutial. )l, 29.
TudobulK. son ot Gizu, 1, m.
TuUun, IJ, 121.
Tukultl-Asabui^Bel, king ot Aujrtta,
ciHiqiien B&bfTanls. 11, ... ., ,
sent ft seal to Bsbjlontas which
was lecured bj BenDscbeilb, t1,
111 Us reign ends In a rabeUlon,
U. U.
TokulU-NlDlb II, klDg ot Assyria,
11, ».
i,«»i eipeOldon
sh langu^e, I, W
BIppBT, L aXI, Kl.
It, Km.
idove, 1, 283.
Tnrnal
Turtle!...
Turnkl, il, ■.
Turuspa. II, 123.
Tdgkhis II. O, ES.
Tutammu, II. 117.
Tycbsen, Olav Q«Tbaf d, atudlts Nle-
bubr's copies of PeraepoUs In-
BorlptlOQs, 1, 38; discoiers dlvld-
Ing BlED between iTords, 1.38; saw
tbat the ■□scrtptioos were tri-
lingual, 1, 38; made erroneous
tranalBUon. i, 39.
Tyre. lU BT, 68, Bl, M, 119. IZl, 124, 146,
TJUiuer, IL 133, IM, 13S.
Ukuih or Qlsbbaa. 1, 3H.
■Ulluba.11,1
II, 370, 71*.
Iloaun^ 11. l«t, 163, 187.
vmmanaldaab. II, 2i9,'£lt
XlnunanlgBsb. li. 2eo, 2sa.
ITmiuaji-nilnanu, 11, aoa-siu.
"Unql.ll, in. 120.
Upcrl, if, 177.
Upl, 1,206; 11,378.
XTppls, 11, KB.
Vr, the remarkable loeatton ot U»
ciCf, 1, 371, 373 : Its earliest known
klnK.li372. Alsol. 290: 11,351.
UrakaltAlo family. I, S06.
Urartu, 11. 4B. as. u, SB, es, n, or. un,
113, IIS, 118, 113. IIB, 133. IM.
iJr-Ba'u.iHifesioISblrpurla.hls reign,
t388,3ES; hlDg,l,3M.
nrdamanl. U. 2G2,
Ur-Gur, king oJ Dr. l 373; king ot
rrilfu'll! 121.
■ -iml, ll.ia-
Urrakblnaiili. I
jfNIp-
u-Aing, clyrasls' of, I. S
ot Sblrpnrlk, Ub
Urnkasiua, king (
biifldlnB worth, .,
Ummilkl, If, IDS.
Unimlyeb. il, u. fa. M; Lake
URtl-MU-I.ISH,l,3S».
Urns. 1, 2W.
Urzana, II. I<1S.
Uahn, II. 277.
Uzzlah. II. lis, 120. 128, 123.
Valdae. I, M.
Vallc. Plutro della, traveled la
Turkey. Persia, and India, I, IS;
nrolB letters to Mai'lo SeblpMlo,
1, IH; vi.slted Fertepolis, U U;
I'opy of sl^ns, I, 16; decided tbAl
aocionC ferslaa ahould be read
from left In ngbt. I, IT; vttils
Babylon. I. V!.
Van. inscrlntlon ot Xerxes, I. 87; II,
123 ; Lttkt!. II. 27, 29, 32, 43. 84.
Vannlc texts copied uid dedpbered,
1, 21&-224. See also Qutldlan.
Varto, 11,48.
VnHhll.f,e.
TL'nlce diapatcbes envi^ to Munt ot
nzun Ca-tsan, I, <t.
rptcbeSjl, 282,
Piilnnt,
W.
Wnril, William Hafes, director of
Wolf tiiiwdlcton, I, 23B; bis Una]
Warka, I, Ifli, 2»2,
Werdl, 1,2-a.
Weatergaard. K\c\3 I-ouls, recoples
Inscriptions iit PersepoUs, I, 81;
visits Naksb-l'Bnstam, 1,09; bl*
work known to HIncks, I, n ; lari
found atloa lur reading second
Gloss of Persepolls InimlMlon. I
170; ho i-alts the lanKuain Median
and uses a methM ilmllar to
tirotefend^i ' — ""■ >- — —
Wheat iDdlgenouV'tb Babylonia, 1,383.
WbeweU, 1, tse.
Wild-cat, I, 2W.
Wilkinson. Sir Gardnn, U, US.
WllUams, W.F.I. 180.
Wilson, H. H,. I, IflB.
WluicD, copies Flower's leita ami
cnrionseipliuiatlonoltbetr origin,
I. 79, 80; bis nsnatlves nsed by
Wolfe, CaJherlne Lorlllard, bItm Are
thoositnd dollnra for eiplorUlg ez-
pedltloD In Babylonia, I, SM
WrfghtTbomas. l.BT.
INDEX OF AUTHORS.
TabuUu, U, 131.
'Saklnlo, It as.
Taliiuii, Mount, U, M.
Ta'Iu, U, £33.
TBnia, II. S7, 88, 16B.
VMUblsaUo, II, tBO.
Yala', iT^.
YUbuni. U, 1T4,
Ta-ubldl, 11, IM, ISC, IIML
YauUL II, m.
YeidTl. i
Zab. lower, ., ..., .
Zab, upper, 1,713; I
Zabu, kltiK of Babylon, I. XI, tH.
Zmldl, 11. w^
^tfu.'l(.
Zaleblyeb, i
Zamamtuni
n.klnEoIBabrlonia,
!>. 32e, 330. 331.
Zedeklab, 11, _..
Zenobla, 11,60.'
Zlblu, 11, ISl.
Zidqa, ll, IBT. WL
Zll-bH], 11, 199.
Ztminem, H., oppasea BtiUry, 1, 31^
INDEX OF AUTHORS QUOTED OR
REFERRED TO.
Abel. U, 93; M, 1B3, 214, »«, 342.
Aberdare, Lord, 1, 138.
Abulfeda, 1, 100.
Abydenus, I. 329i 11,393,307.
JBtTao. II, 312.
AlDSWorth. 1.289, 2ff7.
Alexander Polyhlstor, l,lt», 3ML
Amlaud. I, 3W. 35T, 3fl0i 11. 13.
AnvUle, d', 1, 103.
AnisD, I, ase.
Banlainla ot Tudi^la. i. fe.
Benzlnger, 11. TT, IZT, IH 203.
BetosHOs, II, «r2, StO. 3H, 9M. SES.
BMOId, 1, 213. 214, 402; II. U, ISS,
312, MS, 343, 3K, 386, 387,
BUleibmk, 1, M, «l»: U, 49, 51, »
373, Wl. 3»».
Bluk, 1, 387.
Blunt, 1, 277.
Bonond, 1, 138.
BosBawen, I, 233.
B0ttB,l,137.ff..l85.3Mi II, UK
BrandlB, U, 200.
BrlmoD, 1 306.
Bruin, Oornells de. 1, 31.
Brr.MreBde, 1,9T.
Budde, I, asB,
Bndge, 1,348; 11, £18 3».
Boumon^ Bugine. 1, 08, SL
Cartwiight, 1. M, 9t
ObhoIu, 1, an.
Chardln 1. M, B.
!,.79. aw, 101, wa 4:
Bonner, 1. MS.
1, 2B0, 382, 33li U, 20^ 338,
ETStU.ll. 388, 299, S
Qoavea, Autonlo de, I, i-ift
INDEX OF AUTHOEa
Grey. 1, IT.
Gromay, 1, XL
"—'"fend,!,'
OtateteikUl,4T,fl.
Uuthe, [l, VI, ui, as, xsa.
Uutsciinud, Ton, 1, ^8, X9.
Ouyard, 1, mi, aal.
Huen, il, Stl. 371, 371, S75, sn.
Huer, 1, 110.
Haftluvt, t. 4, n.
iui«iT, I, an, a., m, ae^ soe; tl,
HalmaAbM, 1,334.
Huper.lU ais.
HssHdes, i. 318. 321; II, !«.
HftUpt,l.Zll; 11,310,301.
naverB,!. IT.
Bayne), t, 301.
Heeran, L SC
HelmoH, U, 38S.
HerbeTg, I, 331.
Herbert,!, 18,11.
HeimaoD, 1,309.
Berodotui, II, 21, 201. 303, Sll. SSr, 339,
3I^ Sr>. ns, 3«T, 388, sgs.
[euzey, i, 311, 283, 3BT, 3W, Sn, SS7.
" a, ll, HB.
Hferon jiniu of KardU, t, 2(8.
HUprecht, I, a^ 3K34I», 348, 26t SIS,
321, 3M, 3U, 3ST, 3G8. 309, 360, 301,
:«t.3SS. 3,T, 372, 318, 377. 3SG. 386,
889, 401, 417, ^0. 421, 428, 4ZI; II,
2S3,2», 33S.
Hlncka, i, 132, ff., iss, las, IM, >». 202,
HolziDUUi, [, 82, 83.
Hommet, I, 210, 308, 308, 318, 319, 333,
338, 340, 331, 363, 364, STl, 380, 396,
422; LI, B, 12,01, £0, M, 100,204,298,
383, 384, 38B,
HOmliia, a, 183.
Hyalop, 1. 171-
enseQ. 1,212,310, 3S6,3e7,'3e8,3Tai IBS,
402. ill. 42Sl U. ^ SB2, 2B3, SOB,
2S7, 2S8, 239, 208, 270, 273; 3TS,
JeTemias, A.,ll.m.
JeremlM,J.,ll,(IB.
Jones, 1, 171, 172.
JosepbiU, 1, 2801 U, an, 337, S«Ok 3S1.
Kaempter,
Kaulen,!, ,.
Ktane, 1, 303.
KiDK. 1. 387, 388, 380, 381; U, 28^ 308,
Klttel,'ll.7T,lB4,3[>L
Kuiidtzon. I. 313, 313, 401, 414; 0, 38, Vu
21B, 'ia, 234, 23S,
KraJl. i. 3U&, 9W.
Kolilcwev. I, ata.
Koaters, 1, 390.
Laucr. 5. 218.
Layard, I, 139, 142, 14
47. H, 70. 71, 72, 1(
LedralD, II, 38T.
12.IB7.
Lhotzhy, 11,47.
LIuckP, Ii,l!9i387-
t, IF., 31^ 3Ws IL
7, IM, U3, 384.
224, SIO, 313, 3U,
^177. 378, 388, 387,
MM, 202.
6,208,219, 303 ill.
Lymi, II, ISO.
1.183.
□^ II, 210, 327.
Mas|>erci,l,3OT; II, 48. 48, S^ «E, H^ TL
IS7, 204, 233, 330, 380.
MayboS, 1.332.
McCliire. IL 38fi.
McCurdy, 1. 399 ; II, »4, 3ML
McGce, 11,343.
Melnbold, II, 199, 204.
Melssuer. 1. 387, 427 ; U, 21. 31S, 3n;
UeaandeT, U. 338.
M^nntitl 11, 39.383.
Mesaerschinldt, II. 3SB, 3C8.
Meyer, 1,307; 11,29,187,198,20^3801
Millln, 1.108, ila ■""•-"■
Mlttonl, 1. 139.
Moerbeka.l,33L
MoM, 1, 133.
Moorp. 1, 2S9.
Mordunann.l, 320, 232.
Morgiui.de. 1. 360.
Mows of Caorene. I, HO.
Mohlbach.von. 1,217.
Mri!ler,C.,l,28e.
Mailer, F Max. 1, 68. 190.
MQller, W. Max. 1, 209,
MOllcr-DIilot. U, 207, 29^ SOT, 888^ 8S^
INDEX OF AUTHORa
OHYfer, I, m, SI, las.
Opi^rt, I, IMi. lli, aot, 29S, 380; IL Ul,
IM, 29T, 3ST.
OrteUus, 1, 83.
OrtelUua, I, 93.
Otter, 1. m, in.
I. X, 39, 43,
Potora; 1, MO, »t,342, 278, 588, 290, M^
293. 2M; li.eO.
TetTle, LMB; )1.4.B.
Pinches, I, 313. SM, SIE, 3a% 391, 101,
4IB: IL, GS. 73, iei,36L
PoBDon, 1, a
rofrhlstor,
Poole, I, TO.
Porter,!, izt
Price, I, 3G9.
PrincB.U.asi.
Ptolemseiu. II. 102.
Purchaa, I, Zl, 91.
Rank. 1, 18.
RaaaaiD.l.lSI.fl., 296, 297,288; ll.W.TO,
73. 2«. 263, a», 257, 288, a6^ 'JeT,
Bleb, i, IIG, fl..!S8.
Robert, i, 220.
Bodweil, il. 4T.
Rogers, 1, 2W, 399; II. 78. 82. IfB, 18B,
Boat, L. 31fi. 317, 318, 320, 321. 328. 330.
331 , 399, 419. 420. 425 ; 11, 107, IW, 110,
UB. 118. 126, 218.
S.
Sacbau, I, 290, 201,294. 297, 300; 11,00,
Salnt-'Martin. 1. SB, fa.
8ayce. A. H„ 1, 179, 218, 221. 222. 230,
249, 283, 307, 313. 33S, 381, 3TT, 3»>,
387, 39i;, 399, 405: II, 21. 24, 2H. 31. 33.
4T. 4K. B2, B4, H, W. 82, 113, 2«. 277,
297. 338, 384, 385, 386.
Schell, I, 251. 3ea. 390; II. 4, 11, T2, 13,
mitb, Cfeorae, I, ST, US, 314, 319, 1
363,373; n, 14, IS, MS, 2ea. 297,38
niU), QeoiBe Adam, ii, lae, 2<B.
Stade, II, 144, iM.
SteTenaon, I, 284.
Streck, li, 2B. 27.
Sjlva y Pigueroa, 1, 11-15,
T.
Talbot, 1, 198,196,199,302; ll,183,t90L
Taylor. 1, 163, 164.
Tbureau-Daagln, 1. 367, 37T.
Tlele, I, 33, 30T, 319; 11, 26, 29, 84, 9L
109, 298, 329. 338, 3S6, 384.
Tobln, 1. '299.
TolDiim. 1. 264.
Tud(>la, AonJaiDln'of, 1, 88.
Wfesteritaat J. 1, 176, 17
Wllmo. II. 64.
Wlmmer, 1. 280.
Wlnrkler. H.. U 2»0, 307, SH, 316, K
1. 413, i;
i. Wb, 399| 401, VB. 40
T;'i2."l7. 21,' 38, 4(, 45, 09, 72, T7.'o
109. 144. 140. ISO. IM, 156, 157, IB
159, Ifin, 181, 182, 1G3, lot, 106, lei
203) 2M, 21b! m. m. 233] ma', 241
252. 278, 283, 280. 289, 298, 289, 30
308, 309. 330. rs42, 343, 317, 348, 34!
Xenopbon, 11, 293, 372, 37S.
V-
Tule, 1, 4.
Z.
ZlmmerD, 1, 211, 3W, 390, 4U.
INDEX OF BIBUCAI, PASSAGES.
INDEX OF BIBLICAL PASSAGES
QUOTED OR DISCUSSED.
OLD TESTAMENT.
Isaiah.
GuniBiB.
2(),ll.2M;xLll,f4,ll,33f".
I, 2, il, K: X, 10,
XIIV, 10, i, 288.
,205
XI, 1,358;
NUMBEBS.
JSBKHIAB.
111.8, 11, 82; 1X111,4, 11,40
Joaan*.
xlx, 4^ U, m.
JrooEa.
Ill, 8. 1, va.
xxlU, B, 1,
xxll.24, 11.318; xxlT, 1, il. 318; xxvll,
Ki".'i»,^K'ie.'li:
iiivll. U-U. U. 938 ; ixxTll. 19. tl
322; xxxt1I1,2.1I,328;xxx1i,S,1I,
313;xUx,«-38.ii.341;llll.31,li;
I Sahubu
It, 1-11. 11. 322.
ElKKIBU
II
I, e, 8. II. 2TB.
t Kuras.
xl, 23. 11,276.
II KlNOS.
Till. 7-10, II. SI; XT, U,ft). il, 130;
IV, 28. II, 13B : IT, 3D, II. 129 ; ITl,
a, II, US; ITl 7, It., 11.128; irt, 8,
^131; XVl, U, U.12TlITll,4, II,
144t ITll, e,iU(H; ITfil, B.fl, 182;
xvlft. 0, lO, IL 1«S 1 xvUl, 14,11, two ;
XTlU, IT, II, 201 : xlx. 7. B, II, 202 ;
xlx, 8-14. il, 202; xlx. SiS6, II,
303; III, 35. 3T. II. SIG; xlx, 37, tl,
217; XX, 30,11. 193; illlt.ia. 11.
127; ixllt, 21. U. 311; xxtv. 1,11,
xxxll. 8, tl, 181; XXXT. at-SZ, U, SU.
It. 3. 11, ISS; It, 10, II, 348.
exxxTit, 4,11.335.
'l3.ii.33;'iiITlll,2,i'l,2i,36e;iWl|
18, 11, 139.
It, 30, II, 340; It, 31, II, 3E] ; r, 1, 30,
81, It, 363.
Tl. 3, U, 131.
Ill, 9, 11. 280.
IPHAHIAH.
tl, 13-18, 11, 393.
APOCBTPHA.
::ci.BaiASTicuB.
1,36,26,11,159.
NEW TEBTAHBNT.
f^n
Di:."- I!!.- !• !J?''
out r'EB lU r>3«)
MI6 »• t!
<IUN to 19S9
3 2044 037 681 848