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diff --git a/17328.txt b/17328.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a97107c --- /dev/null +++ b/17328.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12204 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, +Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 8 (of 12), by G. Maspero + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 8 (of 12) + +Author: G. Maspero + +Editor: A.H. Sayce + +Translator: M.L. McClure + +Release Date: December 16, 2005 [EBook #17328] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF EGYPT, CHALDAEA *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +[Illustration: Spines] + +[Illustration: Cover] + +HISTORY OF EGYPT CHALDEA, SYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA + +By G. MASPERO, Honorable Doctor of Civil Laws, and Fellow of Queen's +College, Oxford; Member of the Institute and Professor at the College of +France + +Edited by A. H. SAYCE, Professor of Assyriology, Oxford + +Translated by M. L. McCLURE, Member of the Committee of the Egypt +Exploration Fund + + +CONTAINING OVER TWELVE HUNDRED COLORED PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS + +Volume VIII. + + +LONDON + +THE GROLIER SOCIETY + +PUBLISHERS + +[Illustration: 001.jpg Frontispiece] + + Arab Family at Dinner + +[Illustration: Titlepage] + + +[Illustration: 001.jpg PAGE IMAGE] + + +_SENNACHERIB (705-681 B.C.)_ + +_THE STRUGGLE OF SENNACHERIB WITH JUDAEA AND EGYPT--DESTRUCTION OF +BABYLON_ + +_The upheaval of the entire Eastern world on the accession of +Sennacherib--Revolt of Babylon: return of Merodach-baladan and his +efforts to form a coalition against Assyria; the battle of Kish (703 +B.C.)--Belibni, King of Babylon (702-699 B.C.)--Sabaco, King of Egypt, +Amenertas and Pionkhi, Shabi-toku--Tyre and its kings after Ethbaal II.: +Phoenician colonisation in Libya and the foundation of Carthage--The +Kingdom of Tyre in the time of Tiglath-pileser III. and Sargon: +Elulai--Judah and the reforms of Hezekiah; alliance of Judah and Tyre +with Egypt, the downfall of the Tyrian kingdom (702 B.C.)--The battle of +Altaku and the siege of Jerusalem: Sennacherib encamped before Lachish, +his Egyptian expedition, the disaster at Pelusium._ + +_Renewed revolt of Babylon and the Tabal (699 B.C.); flight of the +people of Bit-Yakin into Elamite territory; Sennacherib's fleet and +descent on Nagitu (697-696 B.C.)--Khalludush invades Karduniash +(695 B.C.); Nirgal-ushezib and Mushesib-marduk at Babylon (693-689 +B.C.)--Sennacherib invades Elam (693 B.C.): battle of Khalule (692 +B.C.), siege and destruction of Babylon (689 B.C.)--Buildings of +Sennacherib at Nineveh: his palace at Kouyunjik; its decoration with +battle, hunting, and building scenes._ + +[Illustration: 003.jpg PAGE IMAGE] + + + + +CHAPTER I--SENNACHERIB (705-681 B.C.) + +_The struggle of Sennacherib with Judaea and Egypt--Destruction of +Babylon._ + + +Sennacherib either failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or +lacked his ability.* He was not deficient in military genius, nor in the +energy necessary to withstand the various enemies who rose against +him at widely removed points of his frontier, but he had neither the +adaptability of character nor the delicate tact required to manage +successfully the heterogeneous elements combined under his sway. + + * The two principal documents for the reign of Sennacherib + are engraved on cylinders: the Taylor Cylinder and the + Bellino Cylinder, duplicates of which, more or less perfect, + exist in the collections of the British Museum. The Taylor + Cylinder, found at Kouyunjik or Usebi-Yunus, contains the + history or the first eight years of this reign; the Bellino + Cylinder treats of the two first years of the reign. + +He lacked the wisdom to conciliate the vanquished, or opportunely to +check his own repressive measures; he destroyed towns, massacred entire +tribes, and laid whole tracts of country waste, and by failing to +repeople these with captive exiles from other nations, or to import +colonists in sufficient numbers, he found himself towards the end of +his reign ruling over a sparsely inhabited desert where his father had +bequeathed to him flourishing provinces and populous cities. His was +the system of the first Assyrian conquerors, Shalmaneser III. and +Assur-nazir-pal, substituted for that of Tiglath-pileser III. and +Sargon. The assimilation of the conquered peoples to their conquerors +was retarded, tribute was no longer paid regularly, and the loss of +revenue under this head was not compensated by the uncertain increase +in the spoils obtained by war; the recruiting of the army, rendered more +difficult by the depopulation of revolted districts, weighed heavier +still on those which remained faithful, and began, as in former times, +to exhaust the nation. The news of Sargon's murder, published throughout +the Eastern world, had rekindled hope in the countries recently +subjugated by Assyria, as well as in those hostile to her. Phoenicia, +Egypt, Media, and Elam roused themselves from their lethargy and +anxiously awaited the turn which events should take at Nineveh and +Babylon. Sennacherib did not consider it to his interest to assume the +crown of Chaldaea, and to treat on a footing of absolute equality a +country which had been subdued by force of arms: he relegated it to the +rank of a vassal state, and while reserving the suzerainty for himself, +sent thither one of his brothers to rule as king.* + + * The events which took place at Babylon at the beginning of + Sennacherib's reign are known to us from the fragments of + Berosus, compared with the Canon of Ptolemy and Pinches' + Babylonian Canon. The first interregnum in the Canon of + Ptolemy (704-702 B.C.) is filled in Pinches' Canon by three + kings who are said to have reigned as follows: Sennacherib, + two years; Marduk-zakir-shumu, one month; Merodach-baladan, + nine months. Berosus substitutes for Sennacherib one of his + brothers, whose name apparently he did not know; and this is + the version I have adopted, in agreement with most modern + historians, as best tallying with the evident lack of + affection for Babylon displayed by Sennacherib throughout + his reign. + +The Babylonians were indignant at this slight. Accustomed to see their +foreign ruler conform to their national customs, take the hands of Bel, +and assume or receive from them a new throne-name, they could not resign +themselves to descend to the level of mere tributaries: in less than +two years they rebelled, assassinated the king who had been imposed upon +them, and proclaimed in his stead Marduk-zakir-shumu,* who was merely +the son of a female slave (704 B.C.). + + * The servile origin of this personage is indicated in + Pinches' Babylonian Canon; he might, however, be connected + through his father with a princely, or even a royal, family, + and thereby be in a position to win popular support. Among + modern Assyriologists, some suppose that the name Akises in + Berosus is a corruption of [Marduk-]zakir[shumu]; others + consider Akises-Akishu as being the personal name of the + king, and Marduk-zakir-shumu his throne-name. + +This was the signal for a general insurrection in Chaldaea and the +eastern part of the empire. Merodach-baladan, who had remained in hiding +in the valleys on the Elamite frontier since his defeat in 709 B.C., +suddenly issued forth with his adherents, and marched at once to +Babylon; the very news of his approach caused a sedition, in the midst +of which Marduk-zakir-shumu perished, after having reigned for only one +month. Merodach-baladan re-entered his former capital, and as soon as +he was once more seated on the throne, he endeavoured to form alliances +with all the princes, both small and great, who might create a diversion +in his favour. His envoys obtained promises of help from Elam; other +emissaries hastened to Syria to solicit the alliance of Hezekiah, and +might have even proceeded to Egypt if their sovereign's good fortune had +lasted long enough.* But Sennacherib did not waste his opportunities in +lengthy-preparations. + + * 2 Kings xx. 12-19; Isa. xxxix. The embassy to Hezekiah has + been assigned to the first reign of Merodach-baladan, under + Sargon. In accordance with the information obtained from the + Assyrian monuments, it seems to me that it could only have + taken place during his second reign, in 703 B.C. + +The magnificent army left by Sargon was at his disposal, and summoning +it at once into the field, he advanced on the town of Kish, where the +Kalda monarch was entrenched with his Aramaean forces and the Elamite +auxiliaries furnished by Shutruk-nakhunta. The battle issued in the +complete rout of the confederate forces. Merodach-baladan fled almost +unattended, first to Guzum-manu, and then to the marshes of the Tigris, +where he found a temporary refuge; the troops who were despatched in +pursuit followed him for five days, and then, having failed to secure +the fugitive, gave up the search.* + + * The detail is furnished by the _Bellino Cylinder_. Berosus + affirmed that Merodach-baladan was put to death by Belibni. + +His camp fell into the possession of the victor, with all its +contents--chariots, horses, mules, camels, and herds of cattle belonging +to the commissariat department of the army: Babylon threw open its gates +without resistance, hoping, no doubt, that Sennacherib would at length +resolve to imitate the precedent set by his father and retain the royal +dignity for himself. He did, indeed, consent to remit the punishment for +this first insurrection, and contented himself with pillaging the +royal treasury and palace, but he did not deign to assume the crown, +conferring it on Belibni, a Babylonian of noble birth, who had been +taken, when quite a child, to Nineveh and educated there under the eyes +of Sargon.* + + * The name is transcribed Belibos in Greek, and it seems as + if the Assyrian variants justify the pronunciation Belibush. + +While he was thus reorganising the government, his generals were +bringing the campaign to a close: they sacked, one after another, +eighty-nine strongholds and eight hundred and twenty villages of +the Kalda; they drove out the Arabian and Aramaean garrisons which +Merodach-baladan had placed in the cities of Karduniash, in Urak, Nipur, +Kuta, and Kharshag-kalamma, and they re-established Assyrian supremacy +over all the tribes on the east of the Tigris up to the frontiers of +Elam, the Tumuna, the Ubudu, the Gambulu, and the Khindaru, as also over +the Nabataeans and Hagarenes, who wandered over the deserts of Arabia to +the west of the mouths of the Euphrates. The booty was enormous: 208,000 +prisoners, both male and female, 7200 horses, 11,073 asses, 5230 camels, +80,100 oxen, 800,500 sheep, made their way like a gigantic horde of +emigrants to Assyria under the escort of the victorious army. Meanwhile +the Khirimmu remained defiant, and showed not the slightest intention +to submit: their strongholds had to be attacked and the inhabitants +annihilated before order could in any way be restored in the country. +The second reign of Merodach-baladan had lasted barely nine months. + +The blow which ruined Merodach-baladan broke up the coalition which he +had tried to form against Assyria. Babylon was the only rallying-point +where states so remote, and such entire strangers to each other as Judah +and Elam, could enter into friendly relations and arrange a plan of +combined action. Having lost Babylon as a centre, they were once more +hopelessly isolated, and had no means of concerting measures against the +common foe: they renounced all offensive action, and waited under +arms to see how the conqueror would deal with each severally. The +most threatening storm, however, was not that which was gathering over +Palestine, even were Egypt to be drawn into open war: for a revolt of +the western provinces, however serious, was never likely to lead to +disastrous complications, and the distance from Pelusium to the Tigris +was too great for a victory of the Pharaoh to compromise effectually +the safety of the empire. On the other hand, should intervention on the +part of Elam in the affairs of Babylon or Media be crowned with success, +the most disastrous consequences might ensue: it would mean the loss +of Karduniash, or of the frontier districts won with such difficulty by +Tiglath-pileser III. and Sargon; it would entail permanent hostilities +on the Tigris and the Zab, and perhaps the appearance of barbarian +troops under the walls of Calah or of Nineveh. Elam had assisted +Merodach-baladan, and its soldiers had fought on the plains of Kish. +Months had elapsed since that battle, yet Shutruk-nakhunta showed no +disposition to take the initiative: he accepted his defeat at all events +for the time, but though he put off the day of reckoning till a more +favourable opportunity, it argued neither weakness nor discouragement, +and he was ready to give a fierce reception to any Assyrian monarch +who should venture within his domain. Sennacherib, knowing both the +character and resources of the Elamite king, did not attempt to meet him +in the open field, but wreaked his resentment on the frontier tribes +who had rebelled at the instigation of the Elamites, on the Cossoans, +on Ellipi and its king Ishpabara. He pursued the inhabitants into the +narrow valleys and forests of the Khoatras, where his chariots were +unable to follow: proceeding with his troops, sometimes on horseback, +at other times on foot, he reduced Bit-kilamzak, Khardishpi, and +Bit-kubatti to ashes, and annexed the territories of the Cossoans and +the Yasubigalla to the prefecture of Arrapkha. Thence he entered Ellipi, +where Ishpabara did not venture to come to close quarters with him in +the open field, but led him on from town to town. He destroyed the +two royal seats of Marubishti and Akkuddu, and thirty-four of their +dependent strongholds; he took possession of Zizirtu, Kummalu, the +district of Bitbarru, and the city of Elinzash, to which he gave the +name Kar-Sennacherib,--the fortress of Sennacherib,--and annexed them +to the government of Kharkhar. The distant Medes, disquieted at his +advance, sent him presents, and renewed the assurances of devotion they +had given to Sargon, but Sennacherib did not push forward into +their territory as his predecessors had done: he was content to have +maintained his authority as far as his outlying posts, and to have +strengthened the Assyrian empire by acquiring some well-situated +positions near the main routes which led from the Iranian table-land to +the plains of Mesopotamia. Having accomplished this, he at once turned +his attention towards the west, where the spirit of rebellion was still +active in the countries bordering on the African frontier. Sabaco, now +undisputed master of Egypt, was not content, like Pionkhi, to bring +Egypt proper into a position of dependence, and govern it at a distance, +by means of his generals. He took up his residence within it, at least +during part of every year, and played the role of Pharaoh so well that +his Egyptian subjects, both at Thebes and in the Delta, were obliged to +acknowledge his sovereignty and recognise him as the founder of a +new dynasty. He kept a close watch over the vassal princes, placing +garrisons in Memphis and the other principal citadels, and throughout +the country he took in hand public works which had been almost +completely interrupted for more than a century owing to the civil wars: +the highways were repaired, the canals cleaned out and enlarged, and +the foundations of the towns raised above the level of the inundation. +Bubastis especially profited under his rule, and regained the ascendency +it had lost ever since the accession of the second Tanite dynasty; but +this partiality was not to the detriment of other cities. Several of the +temples at Memphis were restored, and the inscriptions effaced by time +were re-engraved. Thebes, happy under the government of Amenertas and +her husband Pionkhi, profited largely by the liberality of its Ethiopian +rulers. At Luxor Sabaco restored the decoration of the principal gateway +between the two pylons, and repaired several portions of the temple of +Amon at Karnak. History subsequently related that, in order to obtain +sufficient workmen, he substituted forced labour for the penalty of +death: a policy which, beside being profitable, would win for him a +reputation for clemency. Egypt, at length reduced to peace and order, +began once more to flourish, and to display that inherent vitality +of which she had so often given proof, and her reviving prosperity +attracted as of old the attention of foreign powers. At the beginning of +his reign, Sabaco had attempted to meddle in the intrigues of Syria, but +the ease with which Sargon had quelled the revolt of Ashdod had inspired +the Egyptian monarch with salutary distrust in his own power; he had +sent presents to the conqueror and received gifts in exchange, which +furnished him with a pretext for enrolling the Asiatic peoples among +the tributary nations whose names he inscribed on his triumphal lists.* +Since then he had had some diplomatic correspondence with his powerful +neighbour, and a document bearing his name was laid up in the archives +at Calah, where the clay seal once attached to it has been discovered. +Peace had lasted for a dozen years, when he died about 703 B.C., and his +son Shabitoku ascended the throne.** + + * It was probably with reference to this exchange of + presents that Sabaco caused the bas-relief at Karnak to be + engraved, in which he represents himself as victorious over + both Asiatics and Africans. + + ** One version of Manetho assigns twelve years to the reign + of Sabaco, and this duration is confirmed by an inscription + in Hammamat, dated in his twelfth year. Sabaco having + succeeded to the throne in 716-715 B.C., his reign brings us + down to 704 or 703 B.C., which obliges us to place the + accession of Shabi-toku in the year following the death of + Sargon. + +[Illustration: 011.jpg clay seal with cartouche of sabaco] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Layard. + +The temporary embarrassments in which the Babylonian revolution had +plunged Sennacherib must have offered a tempting opportunity for +interference to this inexperienced king. Tyre and Judah alone of all the +Syrian states retained a sufficiently independent spirit to cherish any +hope of deliverance from the foreign yoke. Tyre still maintained her +supremacy over Southern Phoenicia, and her rulers were also kings of +Sidon.* The long reign of Eth-baal and his alliance with the kings of +Israel had gradually repaired the losses occasioned by civil discord, +and had restored Tyre to the high degree of prosperity which it had +enjoyed under Hiram. Few actual facts are known which can enlighten us +as to the activity which prevailed under Eth-baal: we know, however, +that he rebuilt the small town of Botrys, which had been destroyed in +the course of some civil war, and that he founded the city of Auza in +Libyan territory, at the foot of the mountains of Aures, in one of the +richest mineral districts of modern Algeria.** + + * Eth-baal II., who, according to the testimony of the + native historians, belonged to the royal family of Tyre, is + called King of the Sidonians in the Bible (1 Kings xvi. 31), + and the Assyrian texts similarly call Elulai King of the + Sidonians, while Menander mentions him as King of Tyre. It + is probable that the King of Sidon, mentioned in the Annals + of Shal-maneser III. side by side with the King of Tyre, was + a vassal of the Tyrian monarch. + + ** The two facts are preserved in a passage of Menander. I + admit the identity of the Auza mentioned in this fragment + with the Auzea of Tacitus, and with the _Colonia Septimia + Aur. Auziensium_ of the Roman inscriptions the present + Aumale. + +In 876 B.C. Assur-nazir-pal had crossed the Lebanon and skirted the +shores of the Mediterranean: Eth-baal, naturally compliant, had loaded +him with gifts, and by this opportune submission had preserved his +cities and country from the horrors of invasion.* + + * The King of Tyre who sent gifts to Assur-nazir-pal is not + named in the Assyrian documents: our knowledge of Tyrian + chronology permits us with all probability to identify him + with Eth-baal. + +Twenty years later Shalmaneser III. had returned to Syria, and had come +into conflict with Damascus. The northern Phoenicians formed a league +with Ben-hadad (Adadidri) to withstand him, and drew upon themselves the +penalty of their rashness; the Tynans, faithful to their usual policy, +preferred to submit voluntarily and purchase peace. Their conduct +showed the greater wisdom in that, after the death of Eth-baal, internal +troubles again broke out with renewed fierceness and with even more +disastrous results. His immediate successor was Balezor (854-846 B.C.), +followed by Mutton I. (845-821 B.C.), who flung himself at the feet of +Shalmaneser III., in 842 B.c., in the camp at Baalirasi, and renewed +his homage three years later, in 839 B.C. The legends concerning the +foundation of Carthage blend with our slight knowledge of his history. +They attribute to Mutton I. a daughter named Elissa, who was married +to her uncle Sicharbal, high priest of Melkarth, and a young son named +Pygmalion (820-774 B.c.). Sicharbal had been nominated by Mutton as +regent during the minority of Pygmalion, but he was overthrown by +the people, and some years later murdered by his ward. From that time +forward Elissa's one aim was to avenge the murder of her husband. +She formed a conspiracy which was joined by all the nobles, but being +betrayed and threatened with death, she seized a fleet which lay ready +to sail in the harbour, and embarking with all her adherents set sail +for Africa, landing in the district of Zeugitane, where the Sidonians +had already built Kambe. There she purchased a tract of land from +larbas, chief of the Liby-phoenicians, and built on the ruins of the +ancient factory a new town, Qart-hadshat, which the Greeks called +Carchedo and the Romans Carthage. The genius of Virgil has rendered +the name of Dido illustrious: but history fails to recognise in the +narratives which form the basis of his tale anything beyond a legendary +account fabricated after the actual origin (814-813 B.C.) of the great +Punic city had been forgotten. Thus weakened, Tyre could less than ever +think of opposing the ambitious designs of Assyria: Pygmalion took no +part in the rebellions of the petty Syrian kings against Samsi-ramman, +and in 803 B.C. he received his suzerain Ramman-nirari with the +accustomed gifts, when that king passed through Phoenicia before +attacking Damascus. Pygmalion died about 774 B.C., and the names of his +immediate successors are not known;* it may be supposed, however, that +when the power of Nineveh temporarily declined, the ties which held Tyre +to Assyria became naturally relaxed, and the city released herself from +the burden of a tribute which had in the past been very irregularly +paid. + + * The fragment of Menander 'which has preserved for us the + list of Tyrian kings from Abi-baal to Pygmalion, was only + quoted by Josephus, because, the seventh year of Pygmalion's + reign corresponding to the date of the foundation of + Carthage,--814--813 B.C. according to the chronological + system of Timssus,--the Hebrew historian found in it a fixed + date which seemed to permit of his establishing the + chronology of the kings of Israel and Judah on a trustworthy + basis between the reign of Pygmalion and Hiram I., the + contemporary of David and Solomon. + +The yoke was reassumed half a century later, at the mere echo of the +first victories of Tiglath-pileser III.; and Hiram II., who then reigned +in Tyre, hastened to carry to the camp at Arpad assurances of his +fidelity (742 B.C.). He gave pledges of his allegiance once more in 738 +B.C.; then he disappears, and Mutton II. takes his place about 736 B.C. +This king cast off, unhappily for himself, his hereditary apathy, and as +soon as a pretext offered itself, abandoned the policy of neutrality to +which his ancestors had adhered so firmly. He entered into an alliance +in 734 B.C. with Damascus, Israel and Philistia, secretly supported +and probably instigated by Egypt; then, when Israel was conquered and +Damascus overthrown, he delayed repairing his error till an Assyrian +army appeared before Tyre: he had then to pay the price of his temerity +by 120 talents of gold and many loads of merchandise (728 B.C.). The +punishment was light and the loss inconsiderable in comparison with +the accumulated wealth of the city, which its maritime trade was daily +increasing:* Mutton thought the episode was closed,** but the peaceful +policy of his house, having been twice interrupted, could not be +resumed. + + *[For a description of the trade carried on by Tyre, cf. + Ezelc. xxvi., xxvii., and xxviii.---Tr.] + + ** Pygmalion having died about 774 B.C., and Hiram II. not + appearing till 742 B.C., it is probable that we should + intercalate between these two Kings at least one sovereign + whose name is still unknown. + +Southern Phoenicia, having once launched on the stream of Asiatic +politics, followed its fluctuations, and was compelled henceforth to +employ in her own defence the forces which had hitherto been utilised +in promoting her colonial enterprises. But it was not due to the foolish +caprice of ignorant or rash sovereigns that Tyre renounced her former +neutral policy: she was constrained to do so, almost perforce, by the +changes which had taken place in Europe. The progress of the Greeks, and +their triumph in the waters of the AEgean and Ionian Seas, and the rapid +expansion of the Etruscan navy after the end of the ninth century, had +gradually restricted the Phoenician merchantmen to the coasts of the +Western Mediterranean and the Atlantic: they industriously exploited +the mineral wealth of Africa and Spain, and traffic with the barbarous +tribes of Morocco and Lusitania, as well as the discovery and working of +the British tin mines, had largely compensated for the losses occasioned +by the closing of the Greek and Italian markets. Their ships, obliged +now to coast along the inhospitable cliffs of Northern Africa and to +face the open sea, were more strongly and scientifically built than any +vessels hitherto constructed. The Egyptian undecked galleys, with stem +and stern curving inwards, were discarded as a build ill adapted to +resist the attacks of wind or wave. The new Phoenician galley had a long, +low, narrow, well-balanced hull, the stern raised and curving inwards +above the steersman, as heretofore, but the bows pointed and furnished +with a sharp ram projecting from the keel, equally serviceable to cleave +the waves or to stave in the side of an enemy's ship. Motive power was +supplied by two banks of oars, the upper ones resting in rowlocks on +the gunwale, the lower ones in rowlocks pierced in the timbers of the +vessel's side. An upper deck, supported by stout posts, ran from stem to +stern, above the heads of the rowers, and was reserved for the soldiers +and the rest of the crew: on a light railing surrounding it were hung +the circular shields of the former, forming as it were a rampart on +either side. + +[Illustration: 017.jpg A PHOENICIAN GALLEY WITH TWO BANKS OF OARS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. Sennacherib affirms + that vessels of this type had been constructed by Syrian + shipwrights, and were manned by Tyrian, Sidonian, and Ionian + sailors. + +The mast, passing through both decks, was firmly fixed in the keel, and +was supported by two stays made fast to stem and stern. The rectangular +sail was attached to a yard which could be hoisted or lowered at will. +The wealth which accrued to the Tyrians from their naval expeditions +had rendered the superiority of Tyre over the neighbouring cities so +manifest that they had nearly all become her vassals. Arvad and Northern +Phoenicia were still independent, as also the sacred city of Bylos, but +the entire coast from the Nahr-el-Kelb to the headland formed by +Mount Carmel was directly subject to Tyre,* comprising the two Sidons, +Bit-ziti, and Sarepta, the country from Mahalliba to the fords of the +Litany, Ushu and its hinterland as far as Kana, Akzib, Akko, and Dora; +and this compact territory, partly protected by the range of Lebanon, +and secured by the habitual prudence of its rulers from the invasions +which had desolated Syria, formed the most flourishing, and perhaps also +the most populous, kingdom which still existed between the Euphrates and +the Egyptian desert.** + + * The kings of Arvad and Byblos are still found mentioned at + the beginning of Sennacherib's reign. + + ** The extent of the kingdom of Tyro is indicated by the + passage in which Sennacherib enumerated the cities which he + had taken from Elulai. To these must be added Dor, to the + south of Carmel, which was always regarded as belonging to + the Tyrians, and whose isolated position between the + headland, the sea, and the forest might cause the Assyrians + to leave it unmolested. + +Besides these, some parts of Cyprus were dependent on Tyre, though +the Achaean colonies, continually reinforced by fresh immigrants, had +absorbed most of the native population and driven the rest into the +mountains. + +[Illustration: 018.jpg MAP OF KINGDOM OF TYRE, THE CAMPAIGN OF +SENNACHERIB] + +A hybrid civilisation had developed among these early Greek settlers, +amalgamating the customs, religions, and arts of the ancient eastern +world of Egypt, Syria, and Chaldoa in variable proportions: their script +was probably derived from one of the Asianic systems whose monuments +are still but partly known, and it consisted of a syllabary awkwardly +adapted to a language for which it had not been designed. A dozen petty +kings, of whom the majority were Greeks, disputed possession of the +northern and eastern parts of the island, at Idalion, Khytros, Paphos, +Soli, Kourion, Tamassos, and Ledron. The Phoenicians had given way at +first before the invaders, and had grouped themselves in the eastern +plain round Kition; they had, however, subsequently assumed the +offensive, and endeavoured to regain the territory they had lost. +Kition, which had been destroyed in one of their wars, had been rebuilt, +and thus obtained the name of Qart-hadshat, "the new city."* + + * The name of this city, at first read as Amtikhadashti, and + identified with Ammokhostos or with Amathous,--_Amti- + Khadash_ would in this case be equivalent to _New + Amathous_,--is really Karti-Khadashti, as is proved by the + variant reading discovered by Schrader, and this is + identical with the native name of Carthage in Africa. This + new city must have been of some antiquity by the time of + Elulai, for it is mentioned on a fragment of a bronze vase + found in Cyprus itself: this fragment belonged to a King + Hiram, who according to some authorities would be Hiram II., + according to others, Hiram I. + +Mutton's successor, Elulai, continued, as we know, the work of defence +and conquest: perhaps it was with a view to checking his advance that +seven kings of Cyprus sent an embassy, in 709 B.C., to his suzerain, +Sargon, and placed themselves under the protection of Assyria. If this +was actually the case, and Elulai was compelled to suspend hostilities +against these hereditary foes, one can understand that this grievance, +added to the reasons for uneasiness inspired by the situation of his +continental dominions, may have given him the desire to rid himself of +the yoke of Assyria, and contributed to his resolution to ally himself +with the powers which were taking up arms against her. The constant +intercourse of his subjects with the Delta, and his natural anxiety to +avoid anything which might close one of the richest markets of the world +to the Tyrian trade, inclined him to receive favourably the overtures of +the Pharaoh: the emissaries of Shabitoku found him as much disposed +as Hezekiah himself to begin the struggle. The latter monarch, who +had ascended the throne while still very young, had at first shown no +ambition beyond the carrying out of religious reforms. His father Ahaz +had been far from orthodox, in spite of the influence exerted over him +by Isaiah. During his visit to Tiglath-pileser at Damascus (729 B.C.) he +had noticed an altar whose design pleased him. He sent a description +of it to the high priest Urijah, with orders to have a similar one +constructed, and erected in the court of the temple at Jerusalem: this +altar he appropriated to his personal use, and caused the priests to +minister at it, instead of at the old altar, which he relegated to an +inferior position. He also effected changes in the temple furniture, +which doubtless appeared to him old-fashioned in comparison with the +splendours of the Assyrian worship which he had witnessed, and he made +some alterations in the approaches to the temple, wishing, as far as we +can judge, that the King of Judah should henceforth, like his brother of +Nineveh, have a private, means of access to his national god. + +This was but the least of his offences: for had he not offered his own +son as a holocaust at the moment he felt himself most menaced by the +league of Israel and Damascus? Among the people themselves there were +many faint-hearted and faithless, who, doubting the power of the God of +their forefathers, turned aside to the gods of the neighbouring nations, +and besought from them the succour they despaired of receiving from any +other source; the worship of Jahveh was confounded with that of Moloch +in the valley of the children of Hinnom, where there was a sanctuary or +Tophet, at which the people celebrated the most horrible rites: a large +and fierce pyre was kept continually burning there, to consume the +children whose fathers brought them to offer in sacrifice.* Isaiah +complains bitterly of these unbelievers who profaned the land with their +idols, "worshipping the work of their own hands, that which their own +fingers had made."** The new king, obedient to the divine command, +renounced the errors of his father; he removed the fetishes with which +the superstition of his predecessors had cumbered the temple, and which +they had connected with the worship of Jahveh, and in his zeal even +destroyed the ancient brazen serpent, the Nehushtan, the origin of which +was attributed to Moses.*** + + * Isa. xxx. 33, where the prophet describes the Tophet + Jahveh's anger is preparing for Assyria. + + ** Isa. ii. 8. + + *** 2 Kings xviii. 4. I leave the account of this religious + reformation in the place assigned to it in the Bible; other + historians relegate it to a time subsequent to the invasion + of Sennacherib. + +On the occasion of the revolt of Yamani, Isaiah counselled Hezekiah to +remain neutral, and this prudence enabled him to look on in security at +the ruin of the Philistines, the hereditary foes of his race. Under his +wise administration the kingdom of Judah, secured against annoyance from +envious neighbours by the protection which Assur freely afforded to its +obedient vassals, and revived by thirty years of peace, rose rapidly +from the rank of secondary importance which it had formerly been content +to occupy. "Their land was full of silver and gold, neither was there +any end of their treasures; their land also was full of horses, neither +was there any end of their chariots."* + + * Isa. ii. 7, where the description applies better to the + later years of Ahaz or the reign, of Hezekiah than to the + years preceding the war against Pekah and Rezin. + +Now that the kingdom of Israel had been reduced to the condition of an +Assyrian province, it was on Judah and its capital that the hopes of the +whole Hebrew nation were centred. + +Tyre and Jerusalem had hitherto formed the extreme outwork of the Syrian +states; they were the only remaining barrier which separated the empires +of Egypt and Assyria, and it was to the interest of the Pharaoh to +purchase their alliance and increase their strength by every means in +his power. Negotiations must have been going on for some time between +the three powers, but up to the time of the death of Sargon and +the return of Merodach-baladan to Babylon their results had been +unimportant, and it was possible that the disasters which had befallen +the Kalda would tend to cool the ardour of the allies. An unforeseen +circumstance opportunely rekindled their zeal, and determined them to +try their fortune. + +[Illustration: 023.jpg MAP OF THE CAMPAIGN OF SENNACHERIB IN JUDEA] + +The inhabitants of Ekron, dissatisfied with Padi, the chief whom the +Assyrians had set over them, seized his person and sent him in chains to +Hezekiah.* + + * The name of the city, written Amgarruna, is really + Akkaron-Ekron. + +To accept the present was equivalent to open rebellion, and a +declaration of war against the power of the suzerain. Isaiah, as usual, +wished Judah to rely on Jahveh alone, and preached against alliance +with the Babylonians, for he foresaw that success would merely result in +substituting the Kalda for the Ninevite monarch, and in aggravating the +condition of Judah. "All that is in thine house," he said to Hezekiah, +"and that which thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall +be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. And of thy +sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take +away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King of Babylon." +Hezekiah did not pay much heed to the prediction, for, he reflected, +"peace and truth shall be in my days," and the future troubled him +little.* When the overthrow of Merodach-baladan had taken place, the +prophet still more earnestly urged the people not to incur the vengeance +of Assyria without other help than that of Tyre or Ethiopia, and +Eliakim, son of Hilkiah, spoke in the same strain; but Shebna, the +prefect of the palace, declaimed against this advice, and the latter's +counsel prevailed with his master.** + + * 2 Kings xx. 16-19. + + ** This follows from the terms in which the prophet compares + the two men (Isa. xxii. 15-25). + +Hezekiah agreed to accept the sovereignty over Ekron which its +inhabitants offered to him, but a remnant of prudence kept him from +putting Padi to death, and he contented himself with casting him into +prison. Isaiah, though temporarily out of favour with the king, ceased +not to proclaim aloud in all quarters the will of the Almighty. "Woe to +the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not +of Me; and that cover with a covering (form alliances), but not of My +spirit, that they may add sin to sin: that walk to go down into Egypt, +and have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength +of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the +strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt +your confusion. When your princes shall be at Tanis, and your messengers +shall come to Heracleopolis,* [Heb. Hanes.--Tr.] you shall all be +ashamed of a people that cannot profit you.... For Egypt helpeth in +vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I called her Rahab that sitteth +still."* He returned, unwearied and with varying imagery, to his theme, +contrasting the uncertainty and frailty of the expedients of worldly +wisdom urged by the military party, with the steadfast will of Jahveh +and the irresistible authority with which He invests His faithful +servants. "The Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, +and not spirit; and when the Lord shall stretch out His hand, both he +that helpeth shall stumble, and he that is holpen shall fall, and they +shall all fail together. For thus saith the Lord unto me, Like as when +the lion growleth, and the young lion over his prey, if a multitude of +shepherds be called forth against him, he will not be dismayed at their +voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of +hosts come down to fight upon Mount Zion, and upon the hill thereof. +As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem: He will +protect and deliver it. Turn ye unto Him from whom ye have deeply +revolted, O children of Israel."** + + * Isa. xxx. 1-5, 7. In verses 4, 5, the original text + employs the third person; I have restored the second person, + to avoid confusion. + + ** Isa. xxxi. 3-6. + +No one, however, gave heed to his warnings, either king or people; but +the example of Phoenicia soon proved that he was right. When Sennacherib +bestirred himself, in the spring of 702 B.C., either the Ethiopians were +not ready, or they dared not advance to encounter him in Coele-Syria, +and they left Elulai to get out of his difficulties as best he might. +He had no army to risk in a pitched battle; but fondly imagined that his +cities, long since fortified, and protected on the east by the range of +Lebanon, would offer a resistance sufficiently stubborn to wear out +the patience of his assailant. The Assyrians, however, disconcerted his +plans. Instead of advancing against him by the pass of Nahr-el-Kebir, +according to their usual custom, they attacked him in flank, descending +into the very midst of his positions by the _col_ of Legnia or one of +the neighbouring passes.* They captured in succession the two Sidons, +Bit-ziti, Sarepta, Mahalliba, Ushu, Akzib, and Acco: Elulai, reduced +to the possession of the island of Tyre alone, retreated to one of his +colonies in Cyprus, where he died some years later, without having set +foot again on the continent. All his former possessions on the mainland +were given to a certain Eth-baal, who chose Sidon for his seat of +government, and Tyre lost by this one skirmish the rank of metropolis +which she had enjoyed for centuries.** This summary punishment decided +all the Syrian princes who were not compromised beyond hope of pardon to +humble themselves before the suzerain. Menahem of Samsi-muruna,*** + + * This follows from the very order in which the cities were + taken in the course of this campaign. + + ** The Assyrian text gives for the name of the King of Sidon + a shortened form Tu-baal instead of Eth-baal, paralleled by + Lulia for Elulai. + + *** Several of the early Assyriologists read Usi-muruna, and + identified the city bearing this name with Samaria. The + discovery of the reading Samsi-muruna on a fragment of the + time of Assur-bani-pal no longer permits of this + identification, and obliges us to look for the city in + Phoenicia. + +Abdiliti of Arvad, Uru-malik of Byblos, Puduilu of Amnion, Chemosh-nadab +of Moab, Malik-rammu of Edom, Mitinti of Ashdod, all brought their +tribute in person to the Assyrian camp before Ushu: Zedekiah of Ashkelon +and Hezekiah of Judah alone persisted in their hostility. Egypt had at +length been moved by the misfortunes of her allies, and the Ethiopian +troops had advanced to the seat of war, but they did not arrive in time +to save Zedekiah: Sennacherib razed to the ground all his strongholds +one after another, Beth-dagon, Joppa, Bene-berak, and Hazor,* took him +prisoner at Ascalon, and sent him with his family to Assyria, setting +up Sharludari, son of Bukibti, in his stead. Sennacherib then turned +against Ekron, and was about to begin the siege of the city, when the +long-expected Egyptians at length made their appearance. Shabitoku +did not command them in person, but he had sent his best troops--the +contingents furnished by the petty kings of the Delta, and the sheikhs +of the Sinaitic peninsula, who were vassals of Egypt. The encounter +took place near Altaku,** and on this occasion again, as at Raphia, +the scientific tactics of the Assyrians prevailed over the stereotyped +organisation of Pharaoh's army: the Ethiopian generals left some of +their chariots in the hands of the conqueror, and retreated with the +remnants of their force beyond the Isthmus. + + * These are the cities attributed to the tribes of Dan and + Judah in Josh. xv. 25, 41; xix. 45. Beth-dagon is now Bet- + Dejan; Azuru is Yazur, to the south-east of Joppa; Beni- + barak is Ibn-Abrak, to the north-east of the same town. + + ** Altaku is certainly Eltekeh of Dan (Josh. xix. 44), as + was seen from the outset; the site, however, of Eltekeh + cannot be fixed with any certainty. It has been located at + Bet-Lukkieh, in the mountainous country north-west of + Jerusalem, but this position in no way corresponds to the + requirements of the Assyrian text, according to which the + battle took place on a plain large enough for the evolutions + of the Egyptian chariots, and situated between the group of + towns formed by Beth-dagon, Joppa, Beni-barak, and Hazor, + which Sennacherib had just captured, and the cities of + Ekrbn, Timnath, and Eltekeh, which he took directly after + his victory: a suitable locality must be looked for in the + vicinity of Ramleh or Zernuka. + +Altaku capitulated, an example followed by the neighbouring fortress of +Timnath, and subsequently by Ekron itself, all three being made to feel +Sennacherib's vengeance. "The nobles and chiefs who had offended, I +slew," he remarks, "and set up their corpses on stakes in a circle +round the city; those of the inhabitants who had offended and committed +crimes, I took them prisoners, and for the rest who had neither offended +nor transgressed, I pardoned them." + + +[Illustration: 028.jpg THE PASS OF LEGNIA, IN LEBANON] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph given in Lortet. + +[Illustration: 028b.jpg Esneh--Principal Abyssinian Trading Village] + +We may here pause to inquire how Hezekiah was occupied while his fate +was being decided on the field of Altaku. He was fortifying Jerusalem, +and storing within it munitions of War, and enrolling Jewish soldiers +and mercenary troops from the Arab tribes of the desert. He had suddenly +become aware that large portions of the wall of the city of David had +crumbled away, and he set about demolishing the neighbouring houses to +obtain materials for repairing these breaches: he hastily strengthened +the weak points in his fortifications, stopped up the springs which +flowed into the Gibon, and cut off the brook itself, constructing a +reservoir between the inner and outer city walls to store up the waters +of the ancient pool. These alterations* rendered the city, which from +its natural position was well defended, so impregnable that Sennacherib +decided not to attack it until the rest of the kingdom had been +subjugated: with this object in view he pitched his camp before Lachish, +whence he could keep a watch over the main routes from Egypt where they +crossed the frontier, and then scattered his forces over the land of +Judah, delivering it up to pillage in a systematic manner. He took +forty-six walled towns, and numberless strongholds and villages, +demolishing the walls and leading into captivity 200,150 persons of all +ages and conditions, together with their household goods, their horses, +asses, mules, camels, oxen, and sheep;** it was a war as disastrous in +its effects as that which terminated in the fall of Samaria, or which +led to the final captivity in Babylon.*** + + * Isa. xxii. 8-11. + + * An allusion to the sojourn of Sennacherib near Lachish is + found in 2 Kings xviii. 14-17; xix. 8, and in Isa. xxxvi. 2; + xxxvii. 8 + + *** It seems that the Jewish historian Demetrios considered + the captivities under Nebuchadrezzar and Sennacherib to be + on the same footing. + +The work of destruction accomplished, the Rabshakeh brought up all his +forces and threw up a complete circle of earthworks round Jerusalem: +Hezekiah found himself shut up in his capital "like a bird in a cage." +The inhabitants soon became accustomed to this isolated life, but +Isaiah was indignant at seeing them indifferent to their calamities, and +inveighed against them with angry eloquence: "What aileth thee now, +that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? O thou that art full of +shoutings, a tumultuous city, a joyous town; thy slain are not slain +with the sword, neither are they dead in battle. All thy rulers fled +away together, they are made prisoners without drawing the bow; they are +come hither from afar for safety, and all that meet together here shall +be taken together."* + + * [The R.V. gives this passage as follows: "They were bound + by the archers: all that were found of thee were bound + together, they fled afar off."--TR.] + +The danger was urgent; the Assyrians were massed in their entrenchments +with their auxiliaries ranged behind them to support them: "Elam bare +the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the +shield (for the assault). And it came to pass that thy choicest valleys +were full of chariots, and the horsemen set themselves in array at thy +gate, and he took away the covering of Judah." + +[Illustration: 029.jpg SENNACHERIB RECEIVING THE SUBMISSIONS OF THE +JEWS] + +In those days, therefore, Jahveh, without pity for His people, called +them to "weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with +sackcloth: and behold, joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, +eating flesh and drinking wine: let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we +shall die. And the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in mine ears, Surely +this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the +Lord, the Lord of Hosts."* The prophet threw the blame on the courtiers +especially Shebna, who still hoped for succour from the Egyptians, and +kept up the king's illusions on this point. He threatened him with the +divine anger; he depicted him as seized by Jahveh, rolled and kneaded +into a lump, "and tossed like a ball into a large country: there shalt +thou die, and there shall be the chariots of thy glory, thou shame of +thy lord's house. And I will thrust thee from thy office, and from thy +station he shall pull thee down!"** Meanwhile, day after day elapsed, +and Pharaoh did not hasten to the rescue. Hezekiah's eyes were opened; +he dismissed Shebna, and degraded him to the position of scribe, and set +Eliakim in his place in the Council of State.*** + + * Isa. xxii. 1-14. + + ** Isa. xxii. 15-19. + + ***In the duplicate narrative of these negotiations with the + Assyrian generals, Shebna is in fact considered as a mere + scribe, while Eliakim is the prefect of the king's house (2 + Kings xviii. 18, 37; xix. 2: Isa. xxxvi. 3, 22; xxxvii. 2). + +Isaiah's influence revived, and he persuaded the king to sue for peace +while yet there was time. + +Sennacherib was encamped at Lachish; but the Tartan and his two +lieutenants received the overtures of peace, and proposed a parley near +the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field. +Hezekiah did not venture to go in person to the meeting-place; he sent +Eliakirn, the new prefect of the palace, Shebna, and the chancellor +Joah, the chief cupbearer, and tradition relates that the Assyrian +addressed them in severe terms in his master's name: "Now on whom dost +thou trust, that thou rebellest against me? Behold, thou trustest upon +the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt; whereon if a man lean, +it will go into his hand and pierce it: so is Pharaoh, King of Egypt, +to all that trust on him." Then, as he continued to declaim in a loud +voice, so that the crowds gathered on the wall could hear him, the +delegates besought him to speak in Aramaic, which they understood, but +"speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the ears of the people that +are on the wall!" Instead, however, of granting their request, the +Assyrian general advanced towards the spectators and addressed them in +Hebrew: "Hear ye the words of the great king, the King of Assyria. +Let not Hezekiah deceive you; for he shall not be able to deliver you: +neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will +surely deliver us: this city shall not be given into the hand of the +King of Assyria. Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the King of +Assyria, Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and eat ye every +one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one +the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a +land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and +vineyards. Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The Lord will +deliver us!" The specified conditions were less hard than might have +been feared.* + + * The Hebrew version of these events is recorded in 2 Kings + xviii. 13-37; xix., and in Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii., with only + one important divergence, namely, the absence from Isaiah of + verses 14-16 of 2 Kings xviii. This particular passage, in + which the name of the king has a peculiar form, is a + detached fragment of an older document, perhaps the official + annals of the kingdom, whose contents agreed with the facts + recorded in the Assyrian text. The rest is borrowed from the + cycle of prophetic narratives, and contains two different + versions of the same events. The first comprises 2 Kings + xviii. 13, 17-37; xix. l-9a, 36&-37, where Sennacherib is + represented as despatching a verbal message to Hezekiah by + the Tartan and his captains. The second consists merely of 2 + Kings xix. 96-36a, and in this has been inserted a long + prophecy of Isaiah's (xix. 21-31) which has but a vague + connection with the rest of the narrative. In this + Sennacherib defied Hezekiah in a letter, which the Jewish + king spread before the Lord, and shortly afterwards received + a reply through the prophet. The two versions were combined + towards the end of the seventh or beginning of the sixth + century, by the compiler of the _Book of Kings_, and passed + thence into the collection of the prophecies attributed to + Isaiah. + +The Jewish king was to give up his wives and daughters as hostages, +to pledge himself to pay a regular tribute, and disburse immediately a +ransom of thirty talents of gold, and eight hundred talents of silver: +he could only make up this large sum by emptying the royal and sacred +treasuries, and taking down the plates of gold with which merely a short +while before he had adorned the doors and lintels of the temple. Padi +was released from his long captivity, reseated on his throne, and +received several Jewish towns as an indemnity: other portions of +territory were bestowed upon Mitinti of Ashdod and Zillibel of Graza as +a reward for their loyalty.* + + * The sequence of events is not very well observed in the + Assyrian text, and the liberation of Padi is inserted in 11. + 8-11, before the account of the war with Hezekiah. It seems + very unlikely that the King of Judah would have released his + prisoner before his treaty with Sennacherib; the Assyrian + scribe, wishing to bring together all the facts relating to + Ekron, anticipated this event. Hebrew tradition fixed the + ransom at the lowest figure, 300 talents of silver instead + of the 800 given in the Assyrian document (2 Kings xviii. + 14), and authorities have tried to reconcile this divergence + by speculating on the different values represented by a + talent in different countries and epochs. + +Hezekiah issued from the struggle with his territory curtailed and his +kingdom devastated; the last obstacle which stood in the way of the +Assyrians' victorious advance fell with him, and Sennacherib could +now push forward with perfect safety towards the Nile. He had, indeed, +already planned an attack on Egypt, and had reached the isthmus, when a +mysterious accident arrested his further progress. The conflict on +the plains of Altaku had been severe; and the army, already seriously +diminished by its victory, had been still further weakened during the +campaign in Judaea, and possibly the excesses indulged in by the soldiery +had developed in them the germs of one of those terrible epidemics which +had devastated Western Asia several times in the course of the century: +whatever may have been the cause, half the army was destroyed by +pestilence before it reached the frontier of the Delta, and Sennacherib +led back the shattered remnants of his force to Nineveh.* + + * The Assyrian texts are silent about this catastrophe, and + the sacred books of the Hebrews seem to refer it to the camp + at Libnah in Palestine (2 Kings xix. 8-35); the Egyptian + legend related by Herodotus seems to prove that it took + place near the Egyptian frontier. Josephus takes the king as + far as Pelusium, and describes the destruction of the + Assyrian army as taking place in the camp before this town. + He may have been misled by the meaning "mud," which attaches + to the name of Libnah as well as to that of Pelusium. Oppert + upheld his opinion, and identified the Libnah of the + biblical narrative with the Pelusium of Herodotus. It is + probable that each of the two nations referred the scene of + the miracle to a different locality. + +The Hebrews did not hesitate to ascribe the event to the vengeance of +Jahveh, and to make it a subject of thankfulness. They related that +before their brutal conqueror quitted the country he had sent a parting +message to Hezekiah: "Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive +thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the King of +Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to +all lands, by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered? Have +the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, +Gozan and Haran and Rezepk, and the children of Eden which were in +Telassar? Where is the King of Hamath, and the King of Arpad, and the +King of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?" Hezekiah, having +received this letter of defiance, laid it in the temple before Jahveh, +and prostrated himself in prayer: the response came to him through the +mouth of Isaiah. "Thus saith the Lord concerning the King of Assyria, He +shall not come unto this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither shall +he come before it with a shield, nor cast a mount against it. By the way +that he came, by the same shall he return, and he shall not come unto +this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for +Mine own sake and for My servant David's sake. And it came to pass that +night, that the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp +of the Assyrians an hundred four-score and five thousand: and when men +arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses."* + + * 2 Kings xix. 8-35; Isa. xxxvii. 8-36; this is the second + tradition of which mention has been made, but already + amalgamated with the first to form the narrative as it now + stands. + +The Egyptians considered the event no less miraculous than did the +Hebrews, and one of their popular tales ascribed the prodigy to Phtah, +the god of Memphis. Sethon, the high priest of Phtah, lived in a time of +national distress, and the warrior class, whom he had deprived of some +of its privileges, refused to take up arms in his behalf. He repaired, +therefore, to the temple to implore divine assistance, and, falling +asleep, was visited by a dream. The god appeared to him, and promised +to send him some auxiliaries who should ensure him success. He enlisted +such of the Egyptians as were willing to follow him, shopkeepers, +fullers, and sutlers, and led them to Pelusium to resist the threatened +invasion. In the night a legion of field-mice came forth, whence no one +knew, and, noiselessly spreading throughout the camp of the Assyrians, +gnawed the quivers, the bowstrings, and the straps of the bucklers in +such a way that, on the morrow, the enemy, finding themselves disarmed, +fled after a mere pretence at resistance, and suffered severe losses. A +statue was long shown in the temple at Memphis portraying this Sethon: +he was represented holding a mouse in his hand, and the inscription bade +men reverence the god who had wrought this miracle.* + + * The statue with which this legend has been connected, must + have represented a king offering the image of a mouse + crouching on a basket, like the cynocephalus on the + hieroglyphic sign which denotes centuries, or the frog of + the goddess Hiqit. Historians have desired to recognise in + Sethon a King Zet of the XXIIIth dynasty, or even Shabitoku + of the XXVth dynasty; Krall identified him with Satni in the + demotic story of Satni-Umois. + +The disaster was a terrible one: Sennacherib's triumphant advance was +suddenly checked, and he was forced to return to Asia when the goal of +his ambition was almost reached. The loss of a single army, however much +to be deplored, was not irreparable, since Assyria could furnish her +sovereign with a second force as numerous as that which lay buried in +the desert on the road to Egypt, but it was uncertain what effect the +news of the calamity and the sight of the survivors might have on the +minds of his subjects and rivals. The latter took no immediate action, +and the secret joy which they must have experienced did not blind them +to the real facts of the case; for though the power of Assyria was +shaken, she was still stronger than any one of them severally, or even +than all of them together, and to attack her or rebel against her now, +was to court defeat with as much certainty as in past days. The Pharaoh +kept himself behind his rivers; the military science and skill which had +baffled his generals on the field of Altaku did not inspire him with any +desire to reappear on the plains of Palestine. Hezekiah, King of Judah, +had emptied his treasury to furnish his ransom, his strongholds had +capitulated one by one, and his territory, diminished by the loss of +some of the towns of the Shephelah, was little botter than a waste of +smoking ruins. He thought himself fortunate to have preserved his power +under the suzerainty of Assyria, and his sole aim for many years was +to refill his treasury, reconstitute his army, and re-establish his +kingdom. The Philistine and Nabatasan princes, and the chiefs of Moab, +Ammon, and Idumsea, had nothing to gain by war, being too feeble to have +any chance of success without the help of Judah, Tyre, and Egypt. The +Syrians maintained a peaceful attitude, which was certainly their wisest +policy; and during the following quarter of a century they loyally +obeyed their governors, and gave Sennacherib no cause to revisit them. +It was fortunate for him that they did so, for the peoples of the North +and East, the Kalda, and, above all, the Elamites, were the cause of +much trouble, and exclusively occupied his attention during several +years. The inhabitants of Bit-Yakin, urged on either by their natural +restlessness or by the news of the misfortune which had befallen their +enemy, determined once more to try the fortunes of war. Incited by +Marduk-ushezlb,* one of their princes, and by Merodach-baladan, these +people of the marshes intrigued with the courts of Babylon and Susa, +and were emboldened to turn against the Assyrian garrisons stationed +in their midst to preserve order. Sennacherib's vengeance fell first on +Marduk-ushezib, who fled from his stronghold of Bittutu after sustaining +a short siege. Merodach-baladan, deserted by his accomplice, put the +statues of his gods and his royal treasures on board his fleet, and +embarking with his followers, crossed the lagoon, and effected a landing +in the district of Nagitu, in Susian territory, beyond the mouth of +the Ulai.** Sennacherib entered Bit-Yakin without striking a blow, and +completed the destruction of the half-deserted town; he next proceeded +to demolish the other cities one after the other, carrying off into +captivity all the men and cattle who fell in his way. + + * Three kings of Babylon at this period bore very similar + names--Marduk-ushezib, Nergal-ushezib, and Mushezib-marduk. + Nergal-ushezib is the elder of the two whom the texts call + Shuzub, and whom Assyriologists at first confused one with + another. + + ** Nagitu was bounded by the Nar-Marratum and the Ulai, + which allows us to identify it with the territory south of + Edrisieh. + +The Elamites, disconcerted by the rapidity of his action, allowed him to +crush their allies unopposed; and as they had not openly intervened, the +conqueror refrained from calling them to account for their intrigues. +Babylon paid the penalty for all: its sovereign, Belibni, who had failed +to make the sacred authority of the suzerain respected in the city, and +who, perhaps, had taken some part in the conspiracy, was with his +family deported to Nineveh, and his vacant throne was given to +Assur-nadin-shumu, a younger son of Sargon (699 B.C.).* + + * Berosus, misled by the deposition of Belibni, thought that + the expedition was directed against Babylon itself; he has + likewise confounded Assur-nadin-shumu with Esar-haddon, and + he has given this latter, whom he calls Asordancs, as the + immediate successor of Belibni. The date 699 B.C. for these + events is indicated in _Pinches' Babylonian Chronicle_, + which places them in the third year of Belibni. + +Order was once more restored in Karduniash, but Sennacherib felt that +its submission would be neither sincere nor permanent, so long as +Merodach-baladan was hovering on its frontier possessed of an army, a +fleet, and a supply of treasure, and prepared to enter the lists as soon +as circumstances seemed favourable to his cause. Sennacherib resolved, +therefore, to cross the head of the Persian Gulf and deal him such a +blow as would once for all end the contest; but troubles which broke out +on the Urartian frontier as soon as he returned forced, him to put off +his project. The tribes of Tumurru, who had placed their strongholds +like eyries among the peaks of Nipur, had been making frequent descents +on the plains of the Tigris, which they had ravaged unchecked by any +fear of Assyrian power. Sennacherib formed an entrenched camp at the +foot of their mountain retreat, and there left the greater part of his +army, while he set out on an adventurous expedition with a picked +body of infantry and cavalry. Over ravines and torrents, up rough and +difficult slopes, they made their way, the king himself being conveyed +in a litter, as there were no roads practicable for his royal chariot; +he even deigned to walk when the hillsides were too steep for his +bearers to carry him; he climbed like a goat, slept on the bare rocks, +drank putrid water from a leathern bottle, and after many hardships at +length came up with the enemy. He burnt their villages, and carried +off herds of cattle and troops of captives; but this exploit was more +a satisfaction of his vanity than a distinct advantage gained, for the +pillaging of the plains of the Tigris probably recommenced as soon as +the king had quitted the country. The same year he pushed as far as +Dayaini, here similar tactics were employed. Constructing a camp in the +neighbourhood of Mount Anara and Mount Uppa, he forced his way to the +capital, Ukki, traversing a complicated network of gorges and forests +which had hitherto been considered impenetrable. The king, Maniya, +fled; Ukki was taken by assault and pillaged, the spoil obtained from it +slightly exceeding that from Tumurru (699 B.C.). Shortly afterwards the +province of Tulgarimme revolted in concert with the Tabal: Sennacherib +overcame the allied forces, and led his victorious regiments through the +defiles of the Taurus.* + + * The dates of and connection between these two wars are not + determined with any certainty. Some authorities assign them + both to the same year, somewhere between 699 and 696 B.C., + while others assign them to two different years, the first + to 699 or 696 B.C., the second to 698 or 695 B.C. + +[Illustration: 042.jpg A RAID AMONG THE WOODS AND MOUNTAINS.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layahd, Monuments of Nineveh, + vol. i. pi. 70. + +Greek pirates or colonists having ventured from time to time to ravage +the seaboard, he destroyed one of their fleets near the mouth of the +Saros, and took advantage of his sojourn in this region to fortify +the two cities of Tarsus and Ankhiale, to defend his Cilician frontier +against the peoples of Asia Minor.* + + * The encounter of the Assyrians with the Greeks is only + known to us from a fragment of Berosus. The foundation of + Tarsus is definitely attributed to Sennacherib in the same + passage; that of Ankhialc is referred to the fabulous + Sardanapalus, but most historians with much probability + attribute the foundation to Sennacherib. + +This was a necessary precaution, for the whole of Asia Minor was just +then stirred by the inrush of new nations which were devastating the +country, and the effect of these convulsions was beginning to be felt +in the country to the south of the central plain, at the foot of the +Taurus, and on the frontiers of the Assyrian empire. Barbarian hordes, +attracted by the fame of the ancient Hittite sanctuaries in the upper +basin of the Euphrates and the Araxes, had descended now and again to +measure their strength against the advanced posts of Assyria or Urartu, +but had subsequently withdrawn and disappeared beyond the Halys. Their +movements may at this time have been so aggressive as to arouse +serious anxiety in the minds of the Ninevite rulers; it is certain +that Sennacherib, though apparently hindered by no revolt, delayed the +execution of the projects he had formed against Merodach-baladan for +three years; and it is possible his inaction may be attributed to the +fear of some complication arising on his north-western frontier. He did +not carry out his scheme till 695 B.C., when all danger in that quarter +had passed away. The enterprise was a difficult one, for Nagitu and +the neighbouring districts were dependencies of Susa, and could not be +reached by land without a violation of Blamite neutrality, which would +almost inevitably lead to a conflict. Shutruk-nakhunta was no longer +alive. In the very year in which his rival had set up Assur-nadin-shumu +as King of Karduniash, a revolution had broken out in Elam, which was in +all probability connected with the events then taking place in Babylon. +His subjects were angry with him for having failed to send timely +succour to his allies the Kalda, and for having allowed Bit-Yakin to be +destroyed: his own brother Khalludush sided with the malcontents, threw +Shutruk-nakhunta into prison, and proclaimed himself king. This time the +Ninevites, thinking that Elam was certain to intervene, sought how they +might finally overpower Merodach-baladan before this interference +could prove effectual. The feudal constitution of the Blamite monarchy +rendered, as we know, the mobilisation of the army at the opening of +a war a long and difficult task: weeks might easily elapse before the +first and second grades of feudatory nobility could join the royal +troops and form a combined army capable of striking an important +blow. This was a cause of dangerous inferiority in a conflict with the +Assyrians, the chief part of whose forces, bivouacking close to the +capital during the winter months, could leave their quarters and set +out on a campaign at little more than a day's notice; the kings of Elam +minimised the danger by keeping sufficient troops under arms on their +northern and western frontiers to meet any emergency, but an attack by +sea seemed to them so unlikely that they had not, for a long time past, +thought of protecting their coast-line. The ancient Chaldaean cities, +Uru, Bagash, Uruk, and Bridu had possessed fleets on the Persian Gulf; +but the times were long past when they used to send to procure stone and +wood from the countries of Magan and Melukhkha, and the seas which they +had ruled were now traversed only by merchant vessels or fishing-boats. +Besides this, the condition of the estuary seemed to prohibit all attack +from that side. The space between Bit-Yakin and the long line of dunes +or mud-banks which blocked the entrance to it was not so much a gulf as +a lagoon of uncertain and shifting extent; the water flowed only in +the middle, being stagnant near the shores; the whole expanse was +irregularly dotted over with mud-banks, and its service was constantly +altered by the alluvial soil brought down by the Tigris, the Euphrates, +the Ulai, and the Uknu. The navigation of this lagoon was dangerous, +for the relative positions of the channels and shallows were constantly +shifting, and vessels of deep draught often ran aground in passing from +one end of it to the other.* + + * The condition I describe here is very similar to what + Alexander's admirals found 350 years later. Arrian has + preserved for us the account of Nearchus' navigation in + these waters, and his description shows such a well-defined + condition of the estuary that its main outline must have + remained unchanged for a considerable time; the only + subsequent alterations which had taken place must have been + in the internal configuration, where the deposit of alluvium + must have necessarily reduced the area of the lake since the + time of Sennacherib. The little map on the next page has no + pretension to scientific exactitude; its only object is to + show roughly what the estuary of the Euphrates was like, and + to illustrate approximately the course of the Assyrian + expedition. + +[Illustration: 048.jpg MAP THE NAR-MARRATUM IN THE TIME OF SENNACHERIB] + +Sennacherib decided to march his force to the mouth of the Euphrates, +and, embarking it there, to bring it to bear suddenly on the portion +of Elamite territory nearest to Nagitu: if all went well, he would thus +have time to crush the rising power of Merodach-baladan and regain his +own port of departure before Khalludush could muster a sufficient army +to render efficient succour to his vassal. + +More than a year was consumed in preparations. The united cities of +Chaldaea being unable to furnish the transports required to convey such +a large host across the Nar-Marratum, it was necessary to construct +a fleet, and to do so in such a way that the enemy should have no +suspicion of danger. Sennacherib accordingly set up his dockyards at +Tul-barsip on the Euphrates and at Nineveh on the Tigris, and Syrian +shipwrights built him a fleet of vessels after two distinct types. +Some were galleys identical in build and equipment with those which the +Mediterranean natives used for their traffic with distant lands. The +others followed the old Babylonian model, with stem and stern both +raised, the bows being sometimes distinguished by the carving of a +horse's head, which justified the name of _sea-horse_ given to a vessel +of this kind. They had no masts, but propelling power was provided +by two banks of oars one above the other, as in the galleys. The two +divisions of the fleet were ready at the beginning of 694 B.C., and +it was arranged that they should meet at Bit-Dakkuri, to the south of +Babylon. + +[Illustration: 049.jpg THE FLEET OF SENNACHERIB ON THE NAR-MARRATUM] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. + +The fleet from Tul-barsip had merely to descend the Euphrates to reach +the meeting-place,* but that from Nineveh had to make a more complicated +journey. + + * The story of the preparations, as it has been transmitted + to us in Sennacherib's inscriptions, is curiously similar to + the accounts given by the Greek historians of the vessels + Alexander had built at Babylon and Thap-sacus by Phoenician + workmen, which descended the Euphrates to join the fleet in + the Persian Gulf. This fleet consisted of quinquiremos, + according to Aristobulus, who was present at their + construction: Quintus-Curtius makes them all vessels with + seven banks of oars, but he evidently confuses the galleys + built at Thapsacus with those which came in sections from + Phoenicia and which Alexander had put together at Babylon. + +By following the course of the Tigris to its mouth it would have had +to skirt the coast of Elam for a considerable distance, and would +inevitably have aroused the suspicions of Khalludush; the passage of +such a strong squadron must have revealed to him the importance of the +enterprise, and put him on his guard. The vessels therefore stayed their +course at Upi, where they were drawn ashore and transported on rollers +across the narrow isthmus which separates the Tigris from the Arakhtu +canal, on which they were then relaunched. Either the canal had not been +well kept, or else it never had the necessary depth at certain places; +but the crews managed to overcome all obstacles and rejoined their +comrades in due time. Sennacherib was ready waiting for them with all +his troops--foot-soldiers, charioteers, and horsemen--and with supplies +of food for the men, and of barley and oats for the horses; as soon as +the last contingent had arrived, he gave the signal for departure, and +all advanced together, the army marching along the southern bank, the +fleet descending the current, to the little port of Bab-Salimeti, some +twelve miles below the mouth of the river.* + + * The mouth of the Euphrates being at that time not far from + the site of Kornah, Bab-Salimeti, which was about twelve + miles distant, must have been somewhere near the present + village of Abu-Hatira, on the south bank of the river. + +There they halted in order to proceed to the final embarcation, but at +the last moment their inexperience of the sea nearly compromised the +success of the expedition. Even if they were not absolutely ignorant of +the ebb and flow of the tide, they certainly did not know how dangerous +the spring tide could prove at the equinox under the influence of a +south wind. The rising tide then comes into conflict with the volume +of water brought down by the stream, and in the encounter the banks are +broken down, and sometimes large districts are inundated: this is what +happened that year, to the terror of the Assyrians. Their camp was +invaded and completely flooded by the waves; the king and his soldiers +took refuge in haste on the galleys, where they were kept prisoners +for five days "as in a huge cage." As soon as the waters abated, they +completed their preparations and started on their voyage. At the point +where the Euphrates enters the lagoon, Sennacherib pushed forward to the +front of the line, and, standing in the bows of his flag-ship, offered a +sacrifice to Ea, the god of the Ocean. Having made a solemn libation, he +threw into the water a gold model of a ship, a golden fish, and an +image of the god himself, likewise in gold; this ceremony performed, he +returned to the port of Bab-Salimeti with his guard, while the bulk +of his forces continued their voyage eastward. The passage took place +without mishap, but they could not disembark on the shore of the +gulf itself, which was unapproachable by reason of the deposits of +semi-liquid mud which girdled it; they therefore put into the mouth +of the Ulai, and ascended the river till they reached a spot where the +slimy reed-beds gave place to firm ground, which permitted them to draw +their ships to land.* + + * Billerbeck recognises in the narrative of Sennacherib the + indication of two attempts at debarcation, of which the + second only can have been successful; I can distinguish only + one crossing. + +The inhabitants assembled hastily at sight of the enemy, and the news, +spreading through the neighbouring tribes, brought together for their +defence a confused crowd of archers, chariots, and horsemen. The +Assyrians, leaping into the stream and climbing up the bank, easily +overpowered these undisciplined troops. + +[Illustration: 052.jpg A SKIRMISH IN THE MARSHES] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. + +They captured at the first onset Nagitu, Nagitu-Dibina, Khilmu, Pillatu, +and Khupapanu; and raiding the Kalda, forced them on board the +fleet with their gods, their families, their flocks, and household +possessions, and beat a hurried retreat with their booty. +Merodach-baladan himself and his children once more escaped their +clutches, but the State he had tried to create was annihilated, and +his power utterly crushed. Sennacherib received his generals with great +demonstrations of joy at Bab-Salimeti, and carried the spoil in triumph +to Nineveh. Khalludush, exasperated by the affront put upon him, +instantly retaliated by invading Karduniash, where he pushed forward +as far as Sippara, pillaging and destroying the inhabitants without +opposition. The Babylonians who had accompanied Merodach-baladan into +exile, returned in the train of the Elamites, and, secretly stealing +back to their homes, stirred up a general revolt: Assur-nadin-shumu, +taken prisoner by his own subjects, was put in chains and despatched to +Susa, his throne being bestowed on a Babylonian named Nergal-ushezib,* +who at once took the field (694 B.C.). + + * This is the prince whom the Assyrian documents name + Shuzub, and whom we might call Shuzub the Babylonian, in + contradistinction to Mushezib-marduk, who is Shuzub the + Kaldu. + +His preliminary efforts were successful: he ravaged the frontier along +the Turnat with the help of the Elamites, and took by assault the city +of Nipur, which refused to desert the cause of Sennacherib (693 B.C.). +Meanwhile the Assyrian generals had captured Uruk (Erech) on the 1st of +Tisri, after the retreat of Khalludush; and having sacked the city, were +retreating northwards with their spoil when they were defeated on the +7th near Nipur by Nergal-ushezib. He had already rescued the statues of +the gods and the treasure, when his horse fell in the midst of the fray, +and he could not disengage himself. His vanquished foes led him captive +to Nineveh, where Sennacherib exposed him in chains at the principal +gateway of his palace: the Babylonians, who owed to him their latest +success, summoned a Kaldu prince, Mushezib-marduk, son of Gahut, to +take command. He hastened to comply, and with the assistance of Blamite +troops offered such a determined resistance to all attack, that he was +finally left in undisturbed possession of his kingdom (692 B.C.): the +actual result to Assyria, therefore, of the ephemeral victory gained by +the fleet had been the loss of Babylon. + +[Illustration: 054.jpg THE HORSE OF NERGAL-USHEZIB FALLING IN THE +BATTLE] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. + +A revolution in Elam speedily afforded Assyria an opportunity for +revenge. When Nergal-ushezib was taken prisoner, the people of Susa, +dissatisfied with the want of activity displayed by Khalludush, +conspired to depose him: on hearing, therefore, the news of the +revolutions in Chaldaea, they rose in revolt on the 26th of Tisri, and, +besieging him in his palace, put him to death, and elected a certain +Kutur-nakhunta as his successor. Sennacherib, without a moment's +hesitation, crossed the frontier at Durilu, before order was +re-established at Susa, and recovered, after very slight resistance, +Baza and Bit-khairi which Shutruk-nakhunta had taken from Sargon. This +preliminary success laid the lower plain of Susiana at his mercy, and he +ravaged it pitilessly from Baza to Bit-bunaki. "Thirty-four strongholds +and the townships depending on them, whose number is unequalled, I +besieged and took by assault, their inhabitants I led into captivity, I +demolished them and reduced them to ashes: I caused the smoke of their +burning to rise into the wide heaven, like the smoke of one great +sacrifice." Kutur-nakhunta, still insecurely seated on the throne of +Susa, retreated with his army towards Khaidalu, in the almost unexplored +regions which bordered the Banian plateau,* and entrenched himself +strongly in the heart of the mountains. + + * Khaidalu is very probably the present Dis Malkan. + +The season was already well advanced when the Assyrians set out on this +expedition, and November set in while they were ravaging the plain: +but the weather was still so fine that Sennacherib determined to take +advantage of it to march upon Madaktu. Hardly had he scaled the heights +when winter fell upon him with its accompaniment of cold and squally +weather. "Violent storms broke out, it rained and snowed incessantly, +the torrents and streams overflowed their banks," so that hostilities +had to be suspended and the troops ordered back to Nineveh. The effect +produced, however, by these bold measures was in no way diminished: +though Kutur-nakhunta had not had the necessary time to prepare for the +contest, he was nevertheless discredited among his subjects for failing +to bring them out of it with glory, and three months after the retreat +of the Assyrians he was assassinated in a riot on the 20th of Ab, 692 +B.C.* + + * The Assyrian documents merely mention the death of Kutur- + nakhunta less than three months after the return of + Sennacherib to Nineveh. Pinches' _Babylonian Chronicle_ only + mentions the revolution in which he perished, and informs us + that he had reigned ten months. It contracts Umman-minanu, + the name of the Elamite king, to Minanu. + +His younger brother, Umman-minanu, assumed the crown, and though his +enemies disdainfully refused to credit him with either prudence or +judgment, he soon restored his kingdom to such a formidable degree of +power that Mushezib-marduk thought the opportunity a favourable one for +striking a blow at Assyria, from which she could never recover. Elam had +plenty of troops, but was deficient in the resources necessary to pay +the men and their chiefs, and to induce the tribes of the table-land +to furnish their contingents. Mushezib-marduk, therefore, emptied the +sacred treasury of E-sagilla, and sent the gold and silver of Bel and +Zarpanit to Umman-minanu with a message which ran thus: "Assemble thine +army, and prepare thy camp, come to Babylon and strengthen our hands, +for thou art our help." The Elamite asked nothing better than to avenge +the provinces so cruelly harassed, and the cities consumed in the course +of the last campaign: he summoned all his nobles, from the least to the +greatest, and enlisted the help of the troops of Parsuas, Ellipi, and +Anzan, the Aramaean Puqudu and Gambulu of the Tigris, as well as +the Aramaeans of the Euphrates, and the peoples of Bit-Adini and +Bit-Amukkani, who had rallied round Sam una, son of Merodach-baladan, +and joined forces with the soldiers of Mushezib-marduk in Babylon. +"Like an invasion of countless locusts swooping down upon the land, they +assembled, resolved to give me battle, and the dust of their feet rose +before me, like a thick cloud which darkens the copper-coloured dome of +the sky." The conflict took place near the township of Khalule, on the +banks of the Tigris, not far from the confluence of this river with the +Turnat.* + + * Haupt attributes to the name the signification _holes, + bogs_, and this interpretation agrees well enough with the + state of the country round the mouths of the Diyala, in the + low-lying district which separates that river from the + Tigris; he compares it with the name Haulayeh, quoted by + Arab geographers in this neighbourhood, and with that of the + canton of Haleh, mentioned in Syrian texts as belonging to + the district of Radhan, between the Adhem and the Diyala. + +At this point the Turnat, flowing through the plain, divides into +several branches, which ramify again and again, and form a kind of delta +extending from the ruins of Nayan to those of Reshadeh. During the whole +of the day the engagement between the two hosts raged on this unstable +soil, and their leaders themselves sold their lives dearly in the +struggle. Sennacherib invoked the help of Assur, Sin, Shamash, Nebo, +Bel, Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh, and Ishtar of Arbela, and the gods heard +his prayers. "Like a lion I raged, I donned my harness, I covered my +head with my casque, the badge of war; my powerful battle-chariot, which +mows down the rebels, I ascended it in haste in the rage of my heart; +the strong bow which Assur entrusted to me, I seized it, and the +javelin, destroyer of life, I grasped it: the whole host of obdurate +rebels I charged, shining like silver or like the day, and I roared as +Kamman roareth." Khumba-undash, the Elamite general, was killed in one +of the first encounters, and many of his officers perished around him, +"of those who wore golden daggers at their belts, and bracelets of +gold on their wrists." They fell one after the other, "like fat bulls +chained" for the sacrifice, or like sheep, and their blood flowed on the +broad plain as the water after a violent storm: the horses plunged in it +up to their knees, and the body of the royal chariot was reddened with +it. A son of Merodach-baladan, Nabu-shumishkun, was taken prisoner, but +Umman-minanu and Mushezib-marduk escaped unhurt from the fatal field. It +seems as if fortune had at last decided in favour of the Assyrians, and +they proclaimed the fact loudly, but their success was not so evident as +to preclude their adversaries also claiming the victory with some show +of truth. In any case, the losses on both sides were so considerable as +to force the two belligerents to suspend operations; they returned each +to his capital, and matters remained much as they had been before the +battle took place.* + + * _Pinches' Babylonian Chronicle_ attributes the victory to + the Elamites, and says that the year in which the battle was + fought was unknown. The testimony of this chronicle is so + often marred by partiality, that to prefer it always to that + of the Ninevite inscriptions shows deficiency of critical + ability: the course of events seems to me to prove that the + advantage remained with the Assyrians, though the victory + was not decisive. The date, which necessarily falls between + 692 and 689 B.C., has been decided by general considerations + as 691 B.C., the very year in which the _Taylor Cylinder_ + was written. + +Years might have elapsed before Sennacherib could have ventured to +recommence hostilities: he was not deluded by the exaggerated estimate +of his victory in the accounts given by his court historians, and he +recognised the fact that the issue of the struggle must be uncertain +as long as the alliance subsisted between Elam and Chaldaea. But fortune +came to his aid sooner than he had expected. Umman-minanu was not +absolute in his dominions any more than his predecessors had been, +and the losses he had sustained at Khalule, without obtaining any +compensating advantages in the form of prisoners or spoil, had lowered +him in the estimation of his vassals; Mushezib-marduk, on the other +hand, had emptied his treasuries, and though Karduniash was wealthy, +it was hardly able, after such a short interval, to provide further +subsidies to purchase the assistance of the mountain tribes. +Sennacherib's emissaries kept him well informed of all that occurred +in the enemy's court, and he accordingly took the field again at the +beginning of 689 B.C., and on this occasion circumstances seemed likely +to combine to give him an easy victory.* + + * The Assyrian documents insert the account of the capture + of Babylon directly after the battle of Khalule, and modern + historians therefore concluded that the two events took + place within a few months of each other. The information + afforded by _Pinches' Babylonian Chronicle_ has enabled us + to correct this mistake, and to bring down the date of the + taking of Babylon to 689 B.C. + +Mushezib-marduk shut himself up in Babylon, not doubting that the +Elamites would hasten to his succour as soon as they should hear of his +distress; but his expectation was not fulfilled. Umman-minanu was struck +down by apoplexy, on the 15th of Nisan, and though his illness did not +at once terminate fatally, he was left paralysed with distorted mouth, +and loss of speech, incapable of action, and almost unfit to govern. +His seizure put a stop to his warlike preparations: and his ministers, +preoccupied with the urgent question of the succession to the throne, +had no desire to provoke a conflict with Assyria, the issue of which +could not be foretold: they therefore left their ally to defend his own +interests as best he might. Babylon, reduced to rely entirely on its +own resources, does not seem to have held out long, and perhaps the +remembrance of the treatment it had received on former occasions may +account for the very slight resistance it now offered. The Assyrian +kings who had from time to time conquered Babylon, had always treated +it with great consideration. They had looked upon it as a sacred city, +whose caprices and outbreaks must always be pardoned; it was only with +infinite precautions that they had imposed their commands upon it, and +even when they had felt that severity was desirable, they had restrained +themselves in using it, and humoured the idiosyncrasies of the +inhabitants. Tiglath-pileser III, Shalmaneser V., and Sargon had all +preferred to be legally crowned as sovereigns of Babylon instead +of remaining merely its masters by right of conquest, and though +Sennacherib had refused compliance with the traditions by which his +predecessors had submitted to be bound, he had behaved with unwonted +lenity after quelling the two previous revolts. He now recognised that +his clemency had been shown in vain, and his small stock of patience was +completely exhausted just when fate threw the rebellious city into his +power. If the inhabitants had expected to be once more let off easily, +their illusions were speedily dissipated: they were slain by the sword +as if they had been ordinary foes, such as Jews, Tibarenians, or Kalda +of Bit-Yakin, and they were spared none of the horrors which custom then +permitted the stronger to inflict upon the weaker. For several days the +pitiless massacre lasted. Young and old, all who fell into the hands of +the soldiery, perished by the sword; piles of corpses filled the streets +and the approaches to the temples, especially the avenue of winged bulls +which led to E-sagilla, and, even after the first fury of carnage had +been appeased, it was only to be succeeded by more organised pillage. +Mushezib-marduk was sent into exile with his family, and immense convoys +of prisoners and spoil followed him. The treasures carried off from +the royal palace, the temples, and the houses of the rich nobles were +divided among the conquerors: they comprised gold, silver, precious +stones, costly stuffs, and provisions of all sorts. The sacred edifices +were sacked, the images hacked to pieces or carried off to Nineveh: +Bel-Marduk, introduced into the sanctuary of Assur, became subordinate +to the rival deity amid a crowd of strange gods. In the inmost recess +of a chapel were discovered some ancient statues of Kamman and Shala +of E-kallati, which Marduk-nadin-akhe had carried off in the time of +Tiglath-pileser I., and these were brought back in triumph to their own +land, after an absence of four hundred and eighteen years. The buildings +themselves suffered a like fate to that of their owners and their gods. +"The city and its houses, from foundation to roof, I destroyed them, +I demolished them, I burnt them with fire; walls, gateways, sacred +chapels, and the towers of earth and tiles, I laid them all low and cast +them into the Arakhtu." The incessant revolts of the people justified +this wholesale destruction. Babylon, as we have said before, was too +powerful to be reduced for long to the second rank in a Mesopotamian +empire: as soon as fate established the seat of empire in the districts +bordering on the Euphrates and the middle course of the Tigris, +its well-chosen situation, its size, its riches, the extent of its +population, the number of its temples, and the beauty of its palaces, +all conspired to make it the capital of the country. In vain Assur, +Calah, or Nineveh thrust themselves into the foremost rank, and by a +strenuous effort made their princes rulers of Babylon; in a short time +Babylon replenished her treasury, found allies, soldiers, and leaders, +and in spite of reverses of fortune soon regained the upper hand. The +only treatment which could effectually destroy her ascendency was that +of leaving in her not one brick upon another, thus preventing her from +being re-peopled for several generations, since a new city could not +at once spring up from the ashes of the old; until she had been utterly +destroyed her conquerors had still reason to fear her. This fact +Sennacherib, or his councillors, knew well. If he merits any reproach, +it is not for having seized the opportunity of destroying the city which +Babylon offered him, but rather for not having persevered in his design +to the end, and reduced her to a mere name. + +In the midst of these costly and absorbing wars, we may well wonder how +Sennacherib found time and means to build villas or temples; yet he is +nevertheless, among the kings of Assyria, the monarch who has left us +the largest number of monuments. He restored a shrine of Nergal in the +small town of Tarbizi; he fortified the village of Alshi; and in 704 +B.C. he founded a royal residence in the fortress of Kakzi, which +defended the approach to Calah from the south-east. He did not reside +much at Dur-Sharrukin, neither did he complete the decoration of his +father's palace there: his pride as a victorious warrior suffered +when his surroundings reminded him of a more successful conqueror than +himself, and Calah itself was too full of memories of Tiglath-pileser +III. and the sovereigns of the eighth century for him to desire to +establish his court there. He preferred to reside at Nineveh, which +had been much neglected by his predecessors, and where the crumbling +edifices merely recalled the memory of long-vanished splendours. + +[Illustration: 063.jpg THE MOUNDS OF NINEVEH SEEN FROM THE TERRACE OF A +HOUSE IN MOSUL] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a lithograph in Layard. + +He selected this city as his residence at the very beginning of his +reign, perhaps while he was still only crown prince, and began by +repairing its ancient fortifications; later on, when the success of +his earlier campaigns had furnished him with a sufficient supply of +prisoners, he undertook the restoration of the whole city, with its +avenues, streets, canals, quays, gardens, and aqueducts: the labour of +all the captives brought together from different quarters of his empire +was pressed into the execution of his plans--the Kalda, the Aramaeans, +the Mannai, the people of Kui, the Cilicians, the Philistines, and +the iyrians; the provinces vied with each other in furnishing him with +materials without stint,--precious woods were procured from Syria, +marbles from Kapri-dargila, alabaster from Balad, while Bit-Yakin +provided the rushes to be laid between the courses of brickwork. The +river Tebilti, after causing the downfall of the royal mausolea and +"displaying to the light of day the coffins which they concealed," had +sapped the foundations of the palace of Assur-nazir-pal, and caused it +to fall in: a muddy pool now occupied the north-western quarter, +between the court of Ishtar and the lofty ziggurat of Assur. This pool +Sennacherib filled up, and regulated the course of the stream, providing +against the recurrence of such-accidents in future by building a +substructure of masonry, 454 cubits long by 289 wide, formed of large +blocks of stone cemented together by bitumen. On this he erected a +magnificent palace, a Bit-Khilani in the Syrian style, with woodwork of +fragrant cedar and cypress overlaid with gold and silver, panellings +of sculptured marble and alabaster, and friezes and cornices in glazed +tiles of brilliant colouring: inspired by the goddess Nin-kurra, he +caused winged bulls of white alabaster and limestone statues of the gods +to be hewn in the quarries of Balad near Nineveh. He presided in person +at all these operations--at the raising of the soil, the making of the +substructures of the terrace, the transport of the colossal statues or +blocks and their subsequent erection; indeed, he was to be seen at every +turn, standing in Ids ebony and ivory chariot, drawn by a team of men. +When the building was finished, he was so delighted with its beauty that +he named it "the incomparable palace," and his admiration was shared +by his contemporaries; they were never wearied of extolling in glowing +terms the twelve bronze lions, the twelve winged bulls, and the +twenty-four statues of goddesses which kept watch over the entrance, +and for the construction of which a new method of rapid casting had been +invented. + +[Illustration: 065.jpg KING SENNACHERIB WATCHING THE TRANSPORT OF A +COLOSSAL STATUE] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. + +Formerly the erection of such edifices cost much in suffering to +the artificers employed on them, but Sennacherib brought his great +enterprise to a prompt completion without extravagant outlay or +unnecessary hardship inflicted on his workmen. He proceeded to annex +the neighbouring quarters of the city, relegating the inhabitants to the +suburbs while he laid out a great park on the land thus cleared; this +park was well planted with trees, like the heights of Amanus, and in +it flourished side by side all the forest growths indigenousnto the +Cilician mountains and the plains of Chaldaea. A lake, fed by a canal +leading from the Khuzur, supplied it with water, which was conducted in +streams and rills through the thickets, keeping them always fresh and +green. Vines trained on trellises afforded a grateful shade during the +sultry hours of the day; birds sang in the branches, herds of wild boar +and deer roamed through the coverts, in order that the prince might +enjoy the pleasures of the chase without quitting his own private +grounds. + +[Illustration: 066.jpg ASSYRIAN BAS-RELIEFS AT BAVIAN] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch in Layard. + +The main part of these constructions was finished about 700 B.C., but +many details were left incomplete, and the work was still proceeding +after the court had long been in residence on the spot. Meanwhile a +smaller palace, as well as barracks and a depot for arms and provisions, +sprang up elsewhere. Eighteen aqueducts, carried across the country, +brought the water from the Muzri to the Khuzur, and secured an adequate +supply to the city; the Ninevites, who had hitherto relied upon +rain-water for the replenishing of their cisterns, awoke one day to +find themselves released from all anxiety on this score. An ancient and +semi-subterranean canal, which Assur-nazir-pal had constructed nearly +two centuries before, but which, owing to the neglect of his successors, +had become choked up, was cleaned out, enlarged and repaired, and made +capable of bringing water to their doors from the springs of Mount Tas, +in the same year as that in which the battle of Khalule took place.* At +a later date, magnificent bas-reliefs, carved on the rock by order of +Esar-haddon, representing winged bulls, figures of the gods and of the +king, with explanatory inscriptions, marked the site of the springs, +and formed a kind of monumental facade to the ravine in which they took +their rise.** + + * Mount Tas is the group of hills enclosing the ravine of + Bavian. These works were described in the Bavian + inscription, of which they occupy the whole of the first + part. + + ** The Bavian text speaks of six inscriptions and statues + which the king had engraved on the Mount of Tas, at the + source of the stream. + +It would be hard to account for the rapidity with which these great +works were completed, did one not remember that Sargon had previously +carried out extensive architectural schemes, in which he must have +employed all the available artists in his empire. The revolutions which +had shattered the realm under the last descendants of Assur-nazir-pal, +and the consequent impoverishment of the kingdom, had not been without a +disastrous effect on the schools of Assyrian sculpture. + +[ Illustration: 068.jpg UNKNOWN SUBJECTS FROM THE FIFTH TOMB] + +[Illustration: 069.jpg GREAT ASSYRIAN STELE AT BAVIAIT.] + + Drawn by Boudior, from Layard. + +Since the royal treasury alone was able to bear the expense of those +vast compositions in which the artistic skill of the period could have +free play, the closing of the royal workshops, owing to the misfortunes +of the time, had the immediate effect of emptying the sculptors' +studios. Even though the period of depression lasted for the space of +two or three generations only, it became difficult to obtain artistic +workmen; and those who were not discouraged from the pursuit of art by +the uncertainty of employment, no longer possessed the high degree of +skill attained by their predecessors, owing to lack of opportunity to +cultivate it. Sculpture was at a very low ebb when Tiglath-pileser +III. desired to emulate the royal builders of days gone by, and the +awkwardness of composition noticeable in some of his bas-reliefs, and +the almost barbaric style of the stelae erected by persons of even so +high a rank as Belharran-beluzur, prove the lamentable deficiency of +good artists at that epoch, and show that the king had no choice but to +employ all the surviving members of the ancient guilds, whether good, +bad, or indifferent workmen. The increased demand, however, soon +produced an adequate supply of workers, and when Sargon ascended the +throne, the royal guild of sculptors had been thoroughly reconstituted; +the inefficient workmen on whom Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser had been +obliged to rely had been eliminated in course of time, and many of the +sculptures which adorned the palace at Khorsabad display a purity of +design and boldness of execution comparable to that of the best Egyptian +art. The composition still shows traces of Chaldaean stiffness, and +the exaggerated drawing of the muscles produces an occasionally +unpleasing-heaviness of outline, but none the less the work as a whole +constitutes one of the richest and most ingenious schemes of decoration +ever devised, which, while its colouring was still perfect, must have +equalled in splendour the great triumphal battle-scenes at Ibsambul or +Medinet-Habu. Sennacherib found ready to his hand a body of well-trained +artists, whose number had considerably increased during the reign of +Sargon, and he profited by the experience which they had acquired and +the talent that many of them had developed. What immediately strikes the +spectator in the series of pictures produced under his auspices, is the +great skill with which his artists covered the whole surface at their +disposal without overcrowding it. They no longer treated their subject, +whether it were a warlike expedition, a hunting excursion, a sacrificial +scene, or an episode of domestic life, as a simple juxtaposition of +groups of almost equal importance ranged at the same elevation along +the walls, the subject of each bas-relief being complete in itself and +without any necessary connection with its neighbour. They now selected +two or three principal incidents from the subjects proposed to them for +representation, and round these they grouped such of the less important +episodes as lent themselves best to picturesque treatment, and scattered +sparingly over the rest of the field the minor accessories which seemed +suitable to indicate more precisely the scene of the action. Under the +auspices of this later school, Assyrian foot-soldiers are no longer +depicted attacking the barbarians of Media or Elam on backgrounds of +smooth stone, where no line marks the various levels, and where the +remoter figures appear to be walking in the air without anything to +support them. If the battle represented took place on a wooded slope +crowned by a stronghold on the summit of the hill, the artist, in order +to give an impression of the surroundings, covered his background with +guilloche patterns by which to represent the rugged surface of the +mountains; he placed here and there groups of various kinds of trees, +especially the straight cypresses and firs which grew upon the slopes of +the Iranian table-land: or he represented a body of lancers galloping in +single file along the narrow woodland paths, and hastening to surprise +a distant enemy, or again foot-soldiers chasing their foes through the +forest or engaging them in single combat; while in the corners of the +picture the wounded are being stabbed or otherwise despatched, fugitives +are trying to escape through the undergrowth, and shepherds are pleading +with the victors for their lives. It is the actual scene the sculptor +sets himself to depict, and one is sometimes inclined to ask, while +noting the precision with which the details of the battle are rendered, +whether the picture was not drawn on the spot, and whether the conqueror +did not carry artists in his train to make sketches for the decorators +of the main features of the country traversed and of the victories won. +The masses of infantry seem actually in motion, a troop of horsemen rush +blindly over uneven ground, and the episodes of their raid are unfolded +in all their confusion with unfailing animation. + +[Illustration: 073.jpg AN ASSYRIAN CAVALRY RAID THROUGH THE WOODS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. + +For the first time a spectator can realise Assyrian warfare with its +striking contrasts of bravery and unbridled cruelty; he is no longer +reduced to spell out laboriously a monotonous narrative of a battle, for +the battle takes place actually before his eyes. And after the return +from the scene of action, when it is desired to show how the victor +employed his prisoners for the greater honour of his gods and his own +glory, the picture is no less detailed and realistic. + +[Illustration: 074.jpg (and 75) TRANSPORT OF A WINGED BULL ON A SLEDGE.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. + +There we see them, the noble and the great of all the conquered nations, +Chaldaeans and Elamites, inhabitants of Cilicia, Phoenicia, and Judaea, +harnessed to ropes and goaded by the whips of the overseers, dragging +the colossal bull which is destined to mount guard at the gates of the +palace: with bodies bent, pendant arms, and faces contorted with pain, +they, who had been the chief men in their cities, now take the place of +beasts of burden, while Sennacherib, erect on his state chariot, with +steady glance and lips compressed, watches them as they pass slowly +before him in their ignominy and misery. + +After the destruction of Babylon there is a pause in the history of +the conqueror, and with him in that of Assyria itself. It seems as +if Nineveh had been exhausted by the greatness of her effort, and +was stopping to take breath before setting out on a fresh career of +conquest: the other nations also, as if overwhelmed by the magnitude +of the catastrophe, appear to have henceforth despaired of their own +security, and sought only how to avoid whatever might rouse against them +the enmity of the master of the hour. His empire formed a compact and +solid block in their midst, on which no human force seemed capable of +making any impression. They had attacked it each in turn, or all at +once, Elam in the east, Urartu in the north, Egypt in the south-west, +and their efforts had not only miserably failed, but had for the most +part drawn down upon them disastrous reprisals. The people of Urartu +remained in gloomy inaction amidst their mountains, the Elamites had +lost their supremacy over half the Aramaean tribes, and if Egypt was as +yet inaccessible beyond the intervening deserts, she owed it less to the +strength of her armies than to the mysterious fatality at Libnah. In one +half-century the Assyrians had effectually and permanently disabled +the first of these kingdoms, and inflicted on the others such serious +injuries that they were slow in recovering from them. The fate of these +proud nations had intimidated the inferior states--Arabs, Medes, tribes +of Asia Minor, barbarous Cimmerians or Scythians,--all alike were +careful to repress their natural inclinations to rapine and plunder. If +occasionally their love of booty overpowered their prudence, and they +hazarded a raid on some defenceless village in the neighbouring border +territory, troops were hastily despatched from the nearest Assyrian +garrison, who speedily drove them back across the frontier, and pursuing +them into their own country, inflicted on them so severe a punishment +that they remained for some considerable time paralysed by awe and +terror. Assyria was the foremost kingdom of the East, and indeed of the +whole world, and the hegemony which she exercised over all the countries +within her reach cannot be accounted for solely by her military +superiority. Not only did she excel in the art of conquest, as many +before her had done--Babylonians, Elamites, Hittites, and Egyptians--but +she did what none of them had been able to accomplish; she exacted +lasting obedience from the conquered nations, ruling them with a firm +hand, and accustoming them to live on good terms with one another in +spite of diversity of race, and this with a light rein, with unfailing +tact, and apparently with but little effort. The system of deportation +so resolutely carried out by Tiglath-pileser III. and Sargon began to +produce effect, and up to this time the most happy results only were +discernible. The colonies which had been planted throughout the empire +from Palestine to Media, some of them two generations previously, others +within recent years, were becoming more and more acclimatised to their +new surroundings, on which they were producing the effect desired by +their conquerors; they were meant to hold in check the populations in +whose midst they had been set down, to act as a curb upon them, and also +to break up their national unity and thus gradually prepare them for +absorption into a wider fatherland, in which they would cease to be +exclusively Damascenes, Samaritans, Hittites, or Aramaeans, since they +would become Assyrians and fellow-citizens of a mighty empire. The +provinces, brought at length under a regular system of government, +protected against external dangers and internal discord, by a +well-disciplined soldiery, and enjoying a peace and security they +had rarely known in the days of their independence, gradually became +accustomed to live in concord under the rule of a common sovereign, and +to feel themselves portions of a single empire. The speech of Assyria +was their official language, the gods of Assyria were associated with +their national gods in the prayers they offered up for the welfare of +the sovereign, and foreign nations with whom they were brought into +communication no longer distinguished between them and their conquerors, +calling their country Assyria, and regarding its inhabitants as +Assyrians. As is invariably the case, domestic peace and good +administration had caused a sudden development of wealth and commercial +activity. Although Nineveh and Calah never became such centres of trade +and industry as Babylon had been, yet the presence of the court and the +sovereign attracted thither merchants from all parts of the world. + +[Illustration: 079.jpg SENNACHERIB] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard. + +The Medes, reaching the capital by way of the passes of Kowandiz and +Suleimaniyeh, brought in the lapis-lazuli, precious stones, metals, +and woollen stuffs of Central Asia and the farthest East, while +the Phoenicians and even Greeks, who were already following in their +foot steps, came thither to sell in the a bazaars of Assyria the most +precious of the wares brought back by their merchant vessels from the +shores of the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the farthest West. The +great cities of the triangle of Assyria were gradually supplanting all +the capitals of the ancient world, not excepting Memphis, and becoming +the centres of universal trade; unexcelled for centuries in the arts of +war, Assyria was in a fair way to become mistress also in the arts of +peace. A Jewish prophet thus described the empire at a later date: "The +Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing +shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick clouds. +The waters nourished him, the deep made him grow: therefore his stature +was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were +multiplied, and his branches became long by reason of many waters, when +he shot them forth. All the fowls of the heaven made their nests in his +boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring +forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. Thus +was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his +root was by many waters. The cedars in the garden of God could not hide +him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the plane trees were +not as his branches; nor was any tree like unto him in beauty: so that +all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him." +(Ezek. xxxi. 3-9). + + + + +CHAPTER II--THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH; ESARHADDON AND +ASSUR-BANI-PAL + + +_THE MEDES AND CIMMERIANS: LYDIA--THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT, OP ARABIA, AND +OF ELAM._ + +_Last years of Sennacherib--New races appear upon the scene--The Medes: +Deiokes and the foundation of Ecbatana, the Bit-Dayaukku and their +origin--The races of Asia Minor--The Phrygians, their earliest rulers, +their conquests, and their religion--Last of the Heraclidae in Lydia, +trade and constitution of their kingdom--The Tylonidae, and Mermnadae--The +Cimmerians driven back into Asia by the Scythians--The Treves._ + +_Murder of Sennacherib and accession of Esarhaddon: defeat of Sharezer +(681 B.C.)--Campaigns against the Kaldd, the Cimmerians, the tribes +of Cilicia, and against Sidon (680-679 B.C.); Cimmerian and Scythian +invasions, revolt of vie Mannai, and expeditions against the Medes; +submission of the northern Arabs (678-676 B.C.)--Egyptian +affairs; Taharqa (Tirhakah), his building operations, his Syrian +policy--Disturbances on the frontiers of Elam and Urartu._ + +_First invasion of Egypt and subjection of the country to Nineveh (670 +B.C.)--Intrigues of rival claimants to the throne, and division of +the Assyrian empire between Assur-bani-pal and Shamash shumukin (668 +B.C.)--Revolt of Egypt and death of Esarhaddon (668 B.C.); accession +of Assur-bani-pal; his campaign against Kirbit; defeat of Taharqa and +reconstitution of the Egyptian province (667 B.C.)--Affairs of Asia +Minor: Gyges (693 B.C.), his tears against the Greeks and Cimmerians; he +sends ambassadors to Nineveh (664 B.C.)._ + +_Tanuatamanu reasserts the authority of Ethiopia in Egypt (664 B.C.), +and Tammaritu of Elam invades Karduniash; reconquest of the Said +and sack of Thebes--Psammetichus I. and the rise of the XXVIth +dynasty--Disturbances among the Medes and Mannai--War against Teumman +and the victory of Tulliz (660 B.C.): Elam yields to the Assyrians for +the first time--Shamash-shumukin at Babylon; is at first on good terms +with his brother, then becomes dissatisfied, and forms a coalition +against the Ninevite supremacy._ + +_The Uruk incident and outbreak of the war between Karduniash, Elam, +and Assyria; Elam disabled by domestic discords--Siege and capture of +Babylon; Assur-bani-pal ascends the throne under the name of Kandalanu +(648-646 B.C.)--Revolt of Egypt: defeat and death of Gyges (642 B.C. +): Ardys drives out the Cimmerians and Dugdamis is killed in +Cilicia--Submission of Arabia._ + +_Revolution in Elam--Attack on Indabigash--Tammaritu restored to +power--Pillage and destruction of Susa--Campaign against the Arabs of +Kedar and the Nabataeans: suppression of the Tyrian rebellion +--Dying struggles of Elam--Capture of Madaktu and surrender of +Khumban-khaldash--The power of Assyria reaches its zenith._ + +[Illustration: 083.jpg PAGE IMAGE] + + + + +CHAPTER II--THE POWER OF ASSYRIA AT ITS ZENITH; ESARHADDON AND +ASSUR-BANI-PAL + +_The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia--The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and +of Elam._ + + +As we have already seen, Sennacherib reigned for eight years after his +triumph; eight years of tranquillity at home, and of peace with all +his neighbours abroad. If we examine the contemporary monuments or the +documents of a later period, and attempt to glean from them some details +concerning the close of his career, we find that there is a complete +absence of any record of national movement on the part of either Elam, +Urartu, or Egypt. + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after Layard. The vignette, also by + Faucher-Gudin, represents Taharqa in a kneeling attitude, + and is taken from a bronze statuette in the Macgregor + collection. + +The only event of which any definite mention is made is a raid across +the north of Arabia, in the course of which Hazael, King of Adumu, and +chief among the princes of Kedar, was despoiled of the images of his +gods. The older states of the Oriental world had, as we have pointed +out, grown weary of warfare which brought them nothing but loss of men +and treasure; but behind these states, on the distant horizon to the +east and north-west, were rising up new nations whose growth and +erratic movements assumed an importance that became daily more and more +alarming. On the east, the Medes, till lately undistinguishable from the +other tribes occupying the western corner of the Iranian table-land, had +recently broken away from the main body, and, rallying round a single +leader, already gave promise of establishing an empire formidable alike +by the energy of its people and the extent of its domain. A tradition +afterwards accepted by them attributed their earlier successes to a +certain Deiokes, son of Phraortes, a man wiser than his fellows, who +first set himself to deal out justice in his own household. The men of +his village, observing his merits, chose him to be the arbiter of all +their disputes, and, being secretly ambitious of sovereign power, he did +his best to settle their differences on lines of the strictest +equity and justice. By these means he gained such credit with his +fellow-citizens as to attract the attention of those who lived in the +neighbouring villages, who had suffered from unjust judgments, so that +when they heard of the singular uprightness of Deiokes and of the equity +of his decisions they joyfully had recourse to him until at last they +came to put confidence in no one else. The number of complaints brought +before him continually increasing as people learnt more and more the +justice of his judgments, Deiokes, finding himself now all-important, +announced that he did not intend any longer to hear causes, and +appeared no more in the seat in which he had been accustomed to sit and +administer justice. "'It was not to his advantage,' he said, 'to spend +the whole day in regulating other men's affairs to the neglect of his +own.' Hereupon robbery and lawlessness broke out afresh and prevailed +throughout the country even more than heretofore; wherefore the Medes +assembled from all quarters and held a consultation on the state of +affairs. The speakers, as I think, were chiefly friends of Deiokes. 'We +cannot possibly,' they said, 'go on living in this country if things +continue as they now are; let us, therefore, set a king over us, so that +the land may be well governed, and we ourselves may be able to attend +to our own affairs, and not be forced to quit our country on account +of anarchy.' After speaking thus, they persuaded themselves that they +desired a king, and forthwith debated whom they should choose. Deiokes +was proposed and warmly praised by all, so they agreed to elect him." +Whereupon Deiokes had a great palace built, and enrolled a bodyguard +to attend upon him. He next called upon his subjects to leave their +villages, and "the Medes, obedient to his orders, built the city now +called Ecbatana, the walls of which are of great size and strength, +rising in circles one within the other. The walls are concentric, and +so arranged that they rise one above the other by the height of their +battlements. The nature of the ground, which is a gentle hill, favoured +this arrangement. The number of the circles is seven, the royal palace +and the treasuries standing within the last. The circuit of the outer +wall is very nearly the same as that of Athens. Of this wall the +battlements are white, of the next black, of the third scarlet, of the +fourth blue, of the fifth orange. The two last have their battlements +coated respectively with silver and gold. All these fortifications +Deiokes caused to be raised for himself and his own palace; the people +he required to dwell outside the citadel. When the town was finished, +he established a rule that no one should have direct access to the king, +but that all communications should pass through the hands of messengers. +It was declared to be unseemly for any one to see the king face to face, +or to laugh or spit in his presence. This ceremonial Deiokes established +for his own security, fearing lest his compeers who had been brought up +with him, and were of as good family and parts as he, should be vexed at +the sight of him and conspire against him: he thought that by rendering +himself invisible to his vassals they would in time come to regard him +as quite a different sort of being from themselves." + +Two or three facts stand out from this legendary background. It is +probable that Deiokes was an actual person; that the empire of the Medes +first took shape under his auspices; that he formed an important kingdom +at the foot of Mount Elvend, and founded Ecbatana the Great, or, at at +any rate, helped to raise it to the rank of a capital.* + + * The existence of Deiokes has been called in question by + Grote and by the Rawlinsons. Most recent historians, + however, accept the story of this personage as true in its + main facts; some believe him to have been merely the + ancestor of the royal house which later on founded the + united kingdom of the Medes. + +Its site was happily chosen, in a rich and fertile valley, close to +where the roads emerge which cross the Zagros chain of mountains and +connect Iran with the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates, almost on the +border of the salt desert which forms and renders sterile the central +regions of the plateau. Mount Elvend shelters it, and feeds with its +snows the streams that irrigate it, whose waters transform the whole +country round into one vast orchard. The modern town has, as it were, +swallowed up all traces of its predecessor; a stone lion, overthrown and +mutilated, marks the site of the royal palace. + +[Illustration: 087.jpg STONE LION AT HAMADAN] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Plandin and Coste. + +The chronological reckoning of the native annalists, as handed down +to us by Herodotus, credits Deiokes with a reign of fifty-three years, +which occupied almost the whole of the first half of the seventh +century, i.e. from 709 to 656, or from 700 to 647 B.C.* + + * Herodotus expressly attributes a reign of fifty-three + years to his Deiokes, and the total of a hundred and fifty + years which we obtain by adding together the number of years + assigned by him to the four Median kings (53 + 22 + 40 + + 35) brings us back to 709-708, if we admit, as he does, that + the year of the proclamation by Cyrus as King of Persia + (559-558) was that in which Astyages was overthrown; we get + 700-699 as the date of Deiokes' accession, if we separate + the two facts, as the monuments compel us to do, and reckon + the hundred and fifty years of the Median empire from the + fall of Astyages in 550-549. + +The records of Nineveh mention a certain Dayaukku who was governor of +the Mannai, and an ally of the Assyrians in the days of Sargon, and was +afterwards deported with his family to Hamath in 715; two years later +reference is made to an expedition across the territory of Bit-Dayaukku, +which is described as lying between Ellipi and Karalla, thus +corresponding to the modern province of Hamadan. It is quite within +the bounds of possibility that the Dayaukku who gave his name to this +district was identical with the Deiokes of later writers.* + + * The form Deiokes, in place of Daiokes, is due to the Ionic + dialect employed by Herodotus. Justi regards the name as an + abbreviated form of the ancient Persian _Dahyaupati_--"the + master of a province," with the suffix _-ha_. + +[Illustration: 088.jpg VIEW OF HAMADAN AND MOUNT ELVEND IN WINTER] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by M. de Morgan. + +He was the official ancestor of a royal house, a fact proved by the way +in which his conqueror uses the name to distinguish the country over +which he had ruled; moreover, the epoch assigned to him by contemporary +chroniclers coincides closely enough with that indicated by tradition +in the case of Deiokes. He was never the august sovereign that posterity +afterwards made him out to be, and his territory included barely half of +what constituted the province of Media in classical times; he contrived, +however--and it was this that gained him universal renown in later +days--to create a central rallying-point for the Median tribes around +which they henceforth grouped themselves. The work of concentration +was merely in its initial stage during the lifetime of Sennacherib, and +little or nothing was felt of its effects outside its immediate area of +influence, but the pacific character ascribed to the worthy Deiokes by +popular legends, is to a certain extent confirmed by the testimony of +the monuments: they record only one expedition, in 702, against Ellipi +and the neighbouring tribes, in the course of which some portions of the +newly acquired territory were annexed to the province of Kharkhar, and +after mentioning this the annals have nothing further to relate during +the rest of the reign. Sennacherib was too much taken up with his +retaliatory measures against Babylon, or his disputes with Blam, to +think of venturing on expeditions such as those which had brought +Tiglath-pileser III. or Sargon within sight of Mount Bikni; while the +Medes, on their part, had suffered so many reverses under these two +monarchs that they probably thought twice before attacking any of the +outposts scattered along the Assyrian frontier: nothing occurred +to disturb their tranquillity during the early years of the seventh +century, and this peaceful interval probably enabled Deiokes to +consolidate, if not to extend, his growing authority. But if matters +were quiet, at all events on the surface, in this direction, the nations +on the north and north-west had for some time past begun to adopt a more +threatening attitude. That migration of races between Europe and Asia, +which had been in such active progress about the middle of the second +millennium before our era, had increased twofold in intensity after the +rise of the XXth Egyptian dynasty, and from thenceforward a wave of new +races had gradually spread over the whole of Asia Minor, and had either +driven the older peoples into the less fertile or more inaccessible +districts, or else had overrun and absorbed them. + +[Illustration: 090.jpg ASIA MINOR IN THE 7TH CENTURY] + +Many of the nations that had fought against Ramses II. and Ramses III., +such as the Uashasha, the Shagalasha, the Zakkali, the Danauna, and +the Tursha, had disappeared, but the Thracians, whose appearance on the +scene caused such consternation in days gone by, had taken root in the +very heart of the peninsula, and had, in the course of three or four +generations, succeeded in establishing a thriving state. The legend +which traced the descent of the royal line back to the fabulous hero +Ascanius proves that at the outset the haughty tribe of the Ascanians +must have taken precedence over their fellows;* it soon degenerated, +however, and before long the Phrygian tribe gained the upper hand and +gave its name to the whole nation. + + * The name of this tribe was retained by a district + afterwards included in the province of Bithynia, viz. + Ascania, on the shores of the Ascanian lake: the + distribution of place and personal names over the face of + the country makes it seem extremely probable that Ascania + and the early Ascanians occupied the whole of the region + bounded on the north by the Propontis; in other words, the + very country in which, according to Xanthus of Lydia, the + Phry gians first established themselves after their arrival + in Asia. + +Phrygia proper, the country first colonised by them, lay between Mount +Dindymus and the river Halys, in the valley of the Upper Sangarios and +its affluents: it was there that the towns and strongholds of their most +venerated leaders, such as Midaion, Dorylaion, Gordiaion, Tataion, and +many others stood close together, perpetuating the memory of Midas, +Dorylas, Gordios, and Tatas. Its climate was severe and liable to +great extremes of temperature, being bitterly cold in winter and almost +tropical during the summer months; forests of oak and pine, however, and +fields of corn flourished, while the mountain slopes favoured the growth +of the vine; it was, in short, an excellent and fertile country, well +fitted for the development of a nation of vinedressers and tillers of +the soil. The slaying of an ox or the destruction of an agricultural +implement was punishable by death, and legend relates that Gordios, +the first Phrygian king, was a peasant by birth. His sole patrimony +consisted of a single pair of oxen, and the waggon used by him in +bringing home his sheaves after the harvest was afterwards placed as an +offering in the temple of Cybele at Ancyra by his son Midas; there was +a local tradition according to which the welfare of all Asia depended on +the knot which bound the yoke to the pole being preserved intact. +Midas did not imitate his father's simple habits, and the poets, after +crediting him with fabulous wealth, tried also to make out that he was a +conqueror. The kingdom expanded in all directions, and soon included the +upper valley of the Masander, with its primeval sanctuaries, Kydrara, +Colossae, and Kylsenae, founded wherever exhalations of steam and boiling +springs betrayed the presence of some supernatural power. The southern +shores of the Hellespont, which formed part of the Troad, and was +the former territory of the Ascania, belonged to it, as did also the +majority of the peoples scattered along the coast of the Euxine between +the mouth of the Sangarios and that of the Halys; those portions of the +central steppe which border on Lake Tatta were also for a time subject +to it, Lydia was under its influence, and it is no exaggeration to say +that in the tenth and eleventh centuries before our era there was a +regular Phrygian empire which held sway, almost without a rival, over +the western half of Asia Minor. + +[Illustration: 095.jpg MONUMENT COMMEMORATIVE OF MIDAS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a plate in Perrot and Chipiez. + +It has left behind it so few relics of its existence, that we can only +guess at what it must have been in the days of its prosperity. Three or +four ruined fortresses, a few votive stelae, and a dozen bas-reliefs cut +on the faces of cliffs in a style which at first recalls the Hittite and +Asianic carvings of the preceding age, and afterwards, as we come down +to later times, betrays the influence of early Greek art. In the midst +of one of their cemeteries we come upon a monument resembling the facade +of a house or temple cut out of the virgin rock; it consists of a low +triangular pediment, surmounted by a double scroll, then a rectangle +of greater length than height, framed between two pilasters and a +horizontal string-course, the centre being decorated with a geometrical +design of crosses in a way which suggests the pattern of a carpet; a +recess is hollowed out on a level with the ground, and filled by a blind +door with rebated doorposts. Is it a tomb? The inscription carefully +engraved above one side of the pediment contains the name of Midas, and +seems to show that we have before us a commemorative monument, piously +dedicated by a certain Ates in honour of the Phrygian hero. + +[Illustration: 096.jpg A PHRYGIAN GOD] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Ramsay. + +Elsewhere we come upon the outlines of a draped female form, sometimes +alone, sometimes accompanied by two lions, or of a man clothed in a +short tunic, holding a sort of straight sceptre in his hand, and we +fancy that we have the image of a god before our eyes, though we cannot +say which of the deities handed down by tradition it may represent. +The religion of the Phrygians is shrouded in the same mystery as their +civilisation and their art, and presents a curious mixture of European +and Asianic elements. The old aboriginal races had worshipped from time +immemorial a certain mother-goddess, Ma, or Amma, the black earth, +which brings forth without ceasing, and nourishes all living things. Her +central place of worship seems, originally, to have been in the region +of the Anti-taurus, and it was there that her sacred cities--Tyana, +Venasa, and the Cappadocian Comana--were to be found as late as Roman +times; in these towns her priests were regarded as kings, and thousands +of her priestesses spent lives of prostitution in her service; but her +sanctuaries, with their special rites and regulations, were scattered +over the whole peninsula. She was sometimes worshipped under the form +of a meteoric stone, or betyle similar to those found in Canaan;* more +frequently she was represented in female shape, with attendant lions, or +placed erect on a lion in the attitude of walking. + + * E.g. at Mount Dindymus and at Pessinus, which latter place + was supposed to possess the oldest sanctuary of Cybele. The + Pessinus stone, which was carried off to Rome in 204 B.C., + was small, irregular in shape, and of a dark colour. Another + stone represented Ida. + +[Illustration: 097.jpg THE MOTHER-GODDESS BETWEEN LIONS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch by Ramsay. + +A moon-god, Men, shared divine honours with her, and with a goddess +Nana whose son Atys had been the only love of Ma and the victim of her +passion. We are told that she compelled him to emasculate himself in +a fit of mad delirium, and then transformed him into a pine tree: +thenceforward her priests made the sacrifice of their virility with +their own hands at the moment of dedicating themselves to the service of +the goddess.* + + * Nana was made out to be the daughter of the river + Sangarios. She is said to have conceived Atys by placing in + her bosom the fruit of an almond tree which sprang from the + hermaphrodite Agdistis. This was the form--extremely ancient + in its main features--in which the legend was preserved at + Pessinus. + +[Illustration: 098.jpg THE MOTHER-GODDESS AND ATYS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Chantre. One of + the bas-reliefs at Iasilikiaia, to which we shall have + occasion to refer later on in Chapter III. of the present + volume. + +The gods introduced from Thrace by the Phrygians showed a close affinity +with those of the purely Asianic peoples. Precedence was universally +given to a celestial divinity named Bagaios, Lord of the Oak, perhaps +because he was worshipped under a gigantic sacred oak; he was king of +gods and men, then-father,* lord of the thunder and the lightning, the +warrior who charges in his chariot. + + * In this capacity he bore the surname Papas. + +He, doubtless, allowed a queen-regent of the earth to share his throne,* +but Sauazios, another, and, at first, less venerable deity had thrown +this august pair into the shade. + + * The existence of such a goddess may be deduced from the + passage in which Dionysius of Halicarnassus states that + Manes, first king of the Phrygians, was the son of Zeus and + Demeter. + +[Illustration: 099.jpg THE GOD MEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUN AND OTHER +DEITIES] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Perdrizet. The + last figure on the left is the god Men; the Sun overlooks + all the rest, and a god bearing an axe occupies the extreme + right of the picture. The shapes of these ancient aboriginal + deities have been modified by the influence of Graeco-Roman + syncretism, and I merely give these figures, as I do many + others, for lack of better representations. + +The Greeks, finding this Sauazios at the head of the Phrygian Pantheon, +identified him with their Zeus, or, less frequently, with the Sun; he +was really a variant of their Dionysos. He became torpid in the autumn, +and slept a death-like sleep all through the winter; but no sooner did +he feel the warmth of the first breath of spring, than he again awoke, +glowing with youth, and revelled during his summer in the heart of the +forest or on the mountain-side, leading a life of riot and intoxication, +guarded by a band of Sauades, spirits of the springs and streams, the +Sileni of Greek mythology. The resemblances detected by the new-comers +between the orgies of Thrace and those of Asia quickly led to confusion +between the different dogmas and divinities. The Phrygians adopted Ma, +and made her their queen, the Cybele who dwells in the hills, and takes +her title from the mountain-tops which she inhabits--Dindymene on Mount +Dindymus, Sipylene on Mount Sipylus. She is always the earth, but the +earth untilled, and is seated in the midst of lions, or borne through +her domain in a car drawn by lions, accompanied by a troop of Corybantes +with dishevelled locks. Sauazios, identified with the Asianic Atys, +became her lover and her priest, and Men, transformed by popular +etymology into Manes, the good and beautiful, was looked upon as the +giver of good luck, who protects men after death as well as in life. +This religion, evolved from so many diverse elements, possessed a +character of sombre poetry and sensual fanaticism which appealed +strongly to the Greek imagination: they quickly adopted even its most +barbarous mysteries, those celebrated in honour of the goddess and Atys, +or of Sauazios. They tell us but little of the inner significance of +the symbols and doctrines taught by its votaries, but have frequently +described its outward manifestations. These consisted of aimless +wanderings through the forests, in which the priest, incarnate +representative of his god, led after him the ministers of the temple, +who were identified with the Sauades and nymphs of the heavenly host. +Men heard them passing in the night, heralded by the piercing notes +of the flute provoking to frenzy, and by the clash of brazen cymbals, +accompanied by the din of uproarious ecstasy: these sounds were broken +at intervals by the bellowing of bulls and the roll of drums, like the +rambling of subterranean thunder. + +[Illustration: 101.jpg MIDAS OF PHRYGIA] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a specimen in the _Cabinet des + Medailles_. It is a bronze coin from Prymnessos in Phrygia, + belonging to the imperial epoch. + +A Midas followed a Gordios, and a Gordios a Midas, in alternate +succession, and under their rule the Phrygian empire enjoyed a period +of prosperous obscurity. Lydia led an uneventful existence beside them, +under dynasties which have received merely passing notice at the hands +of the Greek chroniclers. They credit it at the outset with the almost +fabulous royal line of the Atyadae, in one of whose reigns the Tyrseni +are said to have migrated into Italy. Towards the twelfth century the +Atyadae were supplanted by a family of Heraclido, who traced their +descent to a certain Agron, whose personality is only a degree less +mythical than his ancestry; he was descended from Heracles through +Alcseus, Belus, and Ninus. Whether these last two names point to +intercourse with one or other of the courts on the banks of the +Euphrates, it is difficult to say. Twenty-one Heraclido, each one the +son of his predecessor, are said to have followed Agron on the throne, +their combined reigns giving a total of five hundred years.* Most of +these princes, whether Atyadae or Heraclidae, have for us not even a +shadowy existence, and what we know of the remainder is of a purely +fabulous nature. For instance, Kambles is reported to have possessed +such a monstrous appetite, that he devoured his own wife one night, +while asleep.** + + * The number is a purely conventional one, and Gutschmid has + shown how it originated. The computation at first comprised + the complete series of 22 Heraclidae and 5 Mermnadae, + estimated reasonably at 4 kings to a century, i.e. 27 X 25 = + 675 years, from the taking of Sardes to the supposed + accession of Agron. As it was known from other sources that + the 5 Mermnadae had reigned 170 years, these were subtracted + from the 675, to obtain the duration of the Heraclidae alone, + and by this means were obtained the 505 years mentioned by + Herodotus. + + ** Another version, related by Nicolas of Damascus, refers + the story to the time of Lardanos, a contemporary of + Hercules; it shows that the Lydian chronographers considered + Kambles or Kamblitas as being one of the last of the Atyad + kings. + +The concubine of Meles, again, is said to have brought forth a lion, +and the oracle of Telmessos predicted that the town of Sardes would be +rendered impregnable if the animal were led round the city walls; this +was done, except on the side of the citadel facing Mount Tmolus, which +was considered unapproachable, but it was by that very path that +the Persians subsequently entered the town. Alkimos, we are told, +accumulated immense treasures, and under his rule his subjects enjoyed +unequalled prosperity for fourteen years. It is possible that the story +of the expedition despatched into Palestine by a certain Akiamos, which +ended in the foundation of Ascalon, is merely a feeble echo of the raids +in Syrian and Egyptian waters made by the Tyrseni and Sardinians in the +thirteenth century B.C. The spread of the Phrygians, and the subsequent +progress of Greek colonisation, must have curtailed the possessions +of the Heraclidas from the eleventh to the ninth centuries, but the +material condition of the people does not appear to have suffered +by this diminution of territory. When they had once firmly planted +themselves in the ports along the Asianic littoral--at Kyme, at Phocae, +at Smyrna, at Clazomenae, at Colophon, at Ephesus, at Magnesia, at +Miletus--the AEolians and the Ionians lost no time in reaping the +advantages which this position, at the western extremities of the great +high-road through Asia Minor, secured to them. They overran all the +Lydian settlements in Phrygia--Sardes, Leontocephalos, Pessinus, +Gordioon, and Ancyra. The steep banks and the tortuous course of +the Halys failed to arrest them; and they pushed forward beyond the +mysterious regions peopled by the White Syrians, where the ancient +civilisation of Asia Minor still held its sway. The search for precious +metals mainly drew them on--the gold and silver, the copper, bronze, and +above all iron, which the Chalybae found in their mountains, and which +were conveyed by caravans from the regions of the Caucasus to the sacred +towns of Teiria and Pteria.* + + * The site of Pteria has been fixed at Boghaz-keui by + Texier, an identification which has been generally adopted; + Euyuk is very probably Teiria, a town of the Lcucosyrians, + mentioned by Hecatsous of Miletus in his work. + +The friendly relations into which they entered with the natives on these +journeys resulted before long in barter and intermarriage, though their +influence made itself felt in different ways, according to the character +of the people on whom it was brought to bear. + +[Illustration: 104.jpg THE STEEP BANKS OF THE HALYS FAILED TO ARREST +THEM] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by A. Boissier. + The road leading from Angora to Yuzgat crosses the river not + far from the site shown here, near the spot where the + ancient road crossed. + +They gave as a legacy to Phrygia one of their alphabets, that of Kyme, +which soon banished the old Hittite syllabary from the monuments, +and they borrowed in exchange Phrygian customs, musical instruments, +traditions, and religious orgies. A Midas sought in marriage Hermodike, +the daughter of Agamemnon the Kymsoan, while another Midas, who +had consulted the oracle of Delphi, presented to the god the +chryselephantine throne on which he was wont to sit when he dispensed +justice. + +[Illustration: 105.jpg VIEW OVEK THE PLAIN OF SARDES] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph. + +This interchange of amenities and these alliances, however, had a merely +superficial effect, and in no way modified the temperament and life +of the people in inner Asia Minor. They remained a robust, hardworking +race, attached to their fields and woods, loutish and slow of +understanding, unskilled in war, and not apt in defending themselves in +spite of their natural bravery. The Lydians, on the contrary, submitted +readily to foreign influence, and the Greek leaven introduced among them +became the germ of a new civilisation, which occupied an intermediate +place between that of the Greek and that of the Oriental world. About +the first half of the eighth century B.C. the Lydians had become +organised into a confederation of several tribes, governed by hereditary +chiefs, who were again in their turn subject to the Heraclidae occupying +Sardes.* This town rose in terraces on the lower slopes of a detached +spur of the Tmolus running in the direction of the Hermos, and was +crowned by the citadel, within which were included the royal palace, +the treasury, and the arsenals. It was surrounded by an immense plain, +bounded on the south by a curve of the Tmolus, and on the west by the +distant mountains of Phrygia Katake-kaumene. The Maeonians still claimed +primacy over the entire race, and the family was chosen from among their +nobles. The king, who was supposed to be descended from the gods, bore, +as the insignia of his rank, a double-headed axe, the emblem of his +divine ancestors. The Greeks of later times said that the axe was that +of their Heracles, which was wrested by him from the Amazon Hippolyta, +and given to Omphale.** + + * Gelzer was the first, to my knowledge, to state that Lydia + was a feudal state, and he defined its constitution. Radet + refuses to recognise it as feudal in the true sense of the + term, and he prefers to see in it a confederation of states + under the authority of a single prince. + + ** Gelzer sees in the legend about the axe related by + Plutarch, a reminiscence of a primitive gynocracy. The axe + is the emblem of the god of war, and, as such, belongs to + the king: the coins of Mylasa exhibit it held by Zeus + Labraundos. + +[Illustration: 106.jpg THE AXE BORNE BY ZEUS LABRAUNDOS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a coin in the Cabinet des + Medailles. + +The king was the supreme head of the priesthood, as also of the vassal +chiefs and of the army, but he had as a subordinate a "companion" who +could replace him when occasion demanded, and he was assisted in the +exercise of his functions by the counsel of "Friends," and further still +in extraordinary circumstances by the citizens of the capital assembled +in the public square. This intervention of the voice of the populace +was a thing unknown in the East, and had probably been introduced in +imitation of customs observed among the Greeks of AEolia or Ionia; it was +an important political factor, and might possibly lead to an outbreak or +a revolution. Outside the pale of Sardes and the province of Maeonia, the +bulk of Lydian territory was distributed among a very numerous body of +landowners, who were particularly proud of their noble descent. Many of +these country magnates held extensive fiefs, and had in their pay small +armies, which rendered them almost independent, and the only way for +the sovereign to succeed in ruling them was to conciliate them at all +hazards, and to keep them in perpetual enmity with their fellows. Two of +these rival families vied with each other in their efforts to secure +the royal favour; that of the Tylonidae and that of the Mermnadae, the +principal domain of which latter lay at Teira, in the valley of the +Cayster, though they had also other possessions at Dascylion, in +Hellespontine Phrygia. The head sometimes of one and sometimes of the +other family would fill that post of "companion" which placed all the +resources of the kingdom at the disposal of the occupant. + +The first of the Mermnadae of whom we get a glimpse is Daskylos, son of +Gyges, who about the year 740 was "companion" during the declining years +of Ardys, over whom he exercised such influence that Adyattes, the +heir to the throne, took umbrage at it, and caused him to be secretly +assassinated, whereupon his widow, fearing for her own safety, hastily +fled into Phrygia, of which district she was a native. On hearing of the +crime, Ardys, trembling with anger, convoked the Assembly, and as his +advanced age rendered walking difficult, he caused himself to be carried +to the public square in a litter. Having reached the place, he laid the +assassins under a curse, and gave permission to any who could find them +to kill them; he then returned to his palace, where he died a few years +later, about 730 B.C. Adyattes took the name of Meles on ascending the +throne, and at first reigned happily, but his father's curse weighed +upon him, and before long began to take effect. Lydia having been laid +waste by a famine, the oracle declared that, before appeasing the gods, +the king must expiate the murder of the Mermnad noble, by making every +atonement in his power, if need be by an exile of three years' duration. +Meles submitted to the divine decree. He sought out the widow of his +victim, and learning that during her flight she had given birth to a +son, called, like his father, Daskylos, he sent to entreat the young +man to repair immediately to Sardes, that he might make amends for the +murder; the youth, however, alleged that he was as yet unborn at the +hour of his father's death, and therefore not entitled to be a party +to an arrangement which did not personally affect him, and refused +to return to his own country. Having failed in this attempt, Meles +entrusted the regency of his kingdom to Sadyattes, son of Kadys, one of +the Tylonidas, who probably had already filled the post of companion +to the king for some time past, and set out for Babylon. When the three +years had elapsed, Sadyattes faithfully handed over to him the reins of +government and resumed the second place. Myrsos succeeded Meles about +716,* and his accession immediately became the cause of uneasiness +to the younger Daskylos, who felt that he was no longer safe from the +intrigues of the Heraclidai; he therefore quitted Phrygia and settled +beyond the Italys among the White Syrians, one of whom he took in +marriage, and had by her a son, whom he called Gyges, after his +ancestor. The Lydian chronicles which have come down to us make no +mention of him, after the birth of this child, for nearly a quarter of a +century. We know, however, from other sources, that the country in which +he took refuge had for some time past been ravaged by enemies coming +from the Caucasus, known to us as the Cimmerians.** + + * The lists of Eusebius give 36 years to Ardys, 14 years to + Meles or Adyattes, 12 years to Myrsos, and 17 years to + Candaules; that is to say, if we place the accession of + Gyges in 687, the dates of the reign of Candaules are 704- + 687, of that of Mysros 716-704, of that of Meles 730-716, of + that of Ardys I. 766-730. Oelzer thinks that the double + names each represent a different Icing; Radet adheres to the + four generations of Eusebius. + + ** I would gladly have treated at length the subject of the + Cimmerians with its accompanying developments, but lack of + space prevents me from doing more than summing up here the + position I have taken. Most modern critics have rejected + that part of the tradition preserved by Herodotus which + refers to the itinerary of the Cimmerians, and have confused + the Cimmerian invasion with that of the Thracian tribes. I + think that there is reason to give weight to Herodotus' + statement, and to distinguish carefully between two series + of events: (1) a movement of peoples coming from Europe into + Asia, by the routes that Herodotus indicates, about the + latter half of the eighth century B.C., who would be more + especially the Cimmerians; (2) a movement of peoples coming + from Europe into Asia by the Thracian Bosphorus, and among + whom there was perhaps, side by side with the Treres, a + remnant of Cimmerian tribes who had been ousted by the + Scythians. The two streams would have had their confluence + in the heart of Asia Minor, in the first half of the seventh + century. + +[Illustration: 110.jpg A CONFLICT WITH TWO GRIFFINS.] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of the reliefs on the crown + of the Great Blinitza. + +Previous to this period these had been an almost mythical race in the +eyes of the civilised races of the Oriental world. They imagined them as +living in a perpetual mist on the confines of the universe: "Never +does bright Helios look upon them with his rays, neither when he rises +towards the starry heaven, nor when he turns back from heaven towards +the earth, but a baleful night spreads itself over these miserable +mortals."* + + * Odyssey, xi. 14-19. It is this passage which Ephorus + applies to the Cimmerians of his own time who were + established in the Crimea, and which accounts for his saying + that they were a race of miners, living perpetually + underground. + +Fabulous animals, such as griffins with lions' bodies, having the neck +and ears of a fox, and the wings and beak of an eagle, wandered over +their plains, and sometimes attacked them; the inhabitants were forced +to defend themselves with axes, and did not always emerge victorious +from these terrible conflicts. + +[Illustration: 111.jpg SCYTHIANS ARMED FOR WAR] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the reliefs on the silver vase + of Kul-Oba. + +The few merchants who had ventured to penetrate into their country had +returned from their travels with less fanciful notions concerning the +nature of the regions frequented by them, but little continued to be +known of them, until an unforeseen occurrence obliged them to quit their +remote steppes. The Scythians, driven from the plains of the Iaxartes by +an influx of the Massagetae, were urged forwards in a westerly direction +beyond the Volga and the Don, and so great was the terror inspired by +the mere report of their approach, that the Cimmerians decided to quit +their own territory. A tradition current in Asia three centuries later, +told how their kings had counselled them to make a stand against the +invaders; the people, however, having refused to listen to their advice, +their rulers and those who were loyal to them fell by each other's +hands, and their burial-place was still shown near the banks of the +Tyras. Some of their tribes took refuge in the Chersonesus Taurica, but +the greater number pushed forward beyond the Maeotio marshes; a body of +Scythians followed in their track, and the united horde pressed onwards +till they entered Asia Minor, keeping to the shores of the Black Sea.* +This heterogeneous mass of people came into conflict first with +Urartu; then turning obliquely in a south-easterly direction, their +advance-guard fell upon the Mannai. But they were repulsed by Sargon's +generals; the check thus administered forced them to fall back speedily +upon other countries less vigorously defended. The Scythians, therefore, +settled themselves in the eastern basin of the Araxes, on the frontiers +of Urartu and the Mannai, where they formed themselves into a kind of +marauding community, perpetually quarrelling with their neighbours.** +The Cimmerians took their way westwards, and established themselves +upon the upper waters of the Araxes, the Euphrates, the Halys, and the +Thermodon,*** greatly to the vexation of the rulers of Urartu. + + * The version of Aristaeas of Proconnesus, as given by + Herodotus and by Damastes of Sigsea, attributes a more + complex origin to this migration, i.e. that the Arimaspes + had driven the Issedonians before them, and that the latter + had in turn driven the Scythians back on the Cimmerians. + + ** The Scythians of the tradition preserved by Herodotus + must have been the Ashguzai or Ishkuzai of the cuneiform + documents. The original name must have been Skuza, Shkuza, + with a sound in the second syllable that the Greeks have + rendered by _th_, and the Assyrians by _z_: the initial + vowel has been added, according to a well-known rule, to + facilitate the pronunciation of the combination sk, sine. An + oracle of the time of Esarhaddon shows that they occupied + one of the districts really belonging to the Mannai: and it + is probably they who are mentioned in a passage of Jer. li. + 27, where the traditional reading _Aschenaz_ should be + replaced by that of Ashkuz. + + *** It is doubtless to these events that the tradition + preserved by Pompeius Trogus, which is known to us through + his abbreviator Justin, or through the compilers of a later + period, refers, concerning the two Scythian princes Ylinus + and Scolopitus: they seem to have settled along the coast, + on the banks of the Thermodon and in the district of + Themiscyra. + +They subsequently felt their way along the valleys of the Anti-Taurus, +but finding them held by Assyrian troops, they turned their steps +towards the country of the White Syrians, seized Sinope, where the +Greeks had recently founded a colony, and bore down upon Phrygia. It +would appear that they were joined in these regions by other hordes from +Thrace which had crossed the Bosphorus a few years earlier, and among +whom the ancient historians particularly make mention of the Treres;* +the results of the Scythian invasion had probably been felt by all the +tribes on the banks of the Dnieper, and had been the means of forcing +them in the direction of the Danube and the Balkans, whence they drove +before them, as they went, the inhabitants of the Thracian peninsula +across into Asia Minor. It was about the year 750 B.C. that the +Cimmerians had been forced to quit their first home, and towards 720 +that they came into contact with the empires of the East; the Treres had +crossed the Bosphorus about 710, and the meeting of the two streams of +immigration may be placed in the opening years of the seventh century.** + + * Strabo says decisively that the Treres were both + Cimmerians and Thracians; elsewhere he makes the Treres + synonymous with the Cimmerians. The Treres were probably the + predominating tribe among the people which had come into + Asia on that side. + + ** Gelzer thinks that the invasion by the Bosphorus took + place about 705, and Radet about 708; and their reckoning + seems to me to be so likely to be correct, that I do not + hesitate to place the arrival of the Treres in Asia about + the time they have both indicated--roughly speaking, about + 710 B.C. + +The combined hordes did not at once attack Phrygia itself, but spread +themselves along the coast, from the mouths of the Ehyndakos to those of +Halys, constituting a sort of maritime confederation of which Heraclea +and Sinope were the chief towns. This confederation must not be regarded +as a regularly constituted state, but rather as a vast encampment in +which the warriors could leave their families and their spoil in safety; +they issued from it nearly every year to spread themselves over the +neighbouring provinces, sometimes in one direction, sometimes in +another. The ancient sanctuaries of Pteria and the treasures they +contained excited their cupidity, but they were not well enough equipped +to undertake the siege of a strongly fortified place, and for want +of anything better were content to hold it to ransom. The bulk of the +indigenous population lived even then in those subterranean dwellings so +difficult of access, which are still used as habitations by the tribes +on the banks of the Halys, and it is possible that they helped to +swell the marauding troops of the new-comers. In the declining years of +Sennacherib, it would appear that the Ninevite provinces possessed +an irresistible attraction for these various peoples. The fame of the +wealth accumulated in the regions beyond the Taurus and the Euphrates, +in Syria and Mesopotamia, provoked their cupidity beyond all bounds, and +the time was at hand when the fear alone of the Assyrian armies would no +longer avail to hold them in check. + +The last years of Sennacherib had been embittered by the intrigues which +usually gathered around a monarch enfeebled by age and incapable of +bearing the cares of government with his former vigour. A fierce rivalry +existed between those of his sons who aspired to the throne, each of +whom possessed his following of partisans, both at court and among the +people, who were ready to support him, if need be even with the sword. + +[Illustration: 115.jpg INHABITED CAVES ON THE BANKS OF THE HALYS] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph sent by Alfred Boissier. + +One of these princes, probably the eldest of the king's remaining +sons,* named Assur-akhe-iddin, called by us Esarhaddon, bad already been +nominated his successor, and had received the official investiture of +the Babylonian kingdom under the name of Assur-etilmukin-pal.** + + * The eldest was perhaps that Assur-nadin-shumu who reigned + in Babylon, and who was taken prisoner to Elam by King + Khalludush. + + ** The idea of an enthronisation at Babylon in the lifetime + of Sennacherib, put forward by the earlier Assyriologists, + based on an inscription on a lion's head discovered at + Babylon, has been adopted and confirmed by Winckler. It was + doubtless on this occasion that Esarhaddon received as a + present from his father the objects mentioned in the + document which Sayce and Budge have called, without + sufficient reason, _The Will of Sennacherib_. + +The catastrophe of 689 had not resulted in bringing about the ruin of +Babylon, as Sennacherib and his ministers had hoped. The temples, it +is true, had been desecrated and demolished, the palaces and public +buildings razed to the ground, and the ramparts thrown down, but, in +spite of the fact that the city had been set on fire by the conquerors, +the quarters inhabited by the lower classes still remained standing, +and those of the inhabitants who had escaped being carried away captive, +together with such as had taken refuge in the surrounding country or +had hidden themselves in neighbouring cities, had gradually returned +to their desolated homes. They cleared the streets, repaired the damage +inflicted during the siege, and before long the city, which was believed +to be hopelessly destroyed, rose once more with the vigour, if not with +the wealth, which it had enjoyed before its downfall. The mother of +Esarhaddon was a Babylonian, by name Nakia; and as soon as her son came +into possession of his inheritance, an impulse of filial piety moved him +to restore to his mother's city its former rank of capital. Animated +by the strong religious feeling which formed the groundwork of his +character, Esarhaddon had begun his reign by restoring the sanctuaries +which had been the cradle of the Assyrian religion, and his intentions, +thus revealed at the very outset, had won for him the sympathy of the +Babylonians;* this, indeed, was excited sooner than he expected, and +perhaps helped to secure to him his throne. During his absence from +Nineveh, a widespread plot had been formed in that city, and on the 20th +day of Tebeth, 681, at the hour when Sennacherib was praying before the +image of his god, two of his sons, Sharezer and Adarmalik (Adrammelech), +assassinated their father at the foot of the altar.** + + * A fragment seems to show clearly that the restoration of + the temples was begun even in the lifetime of Sennacherib. + + ** We possess three different accounts of the murder of + Sennacherib: 1. In the _Babylonian Chronicle of Pinches_. 2. + In the Bible (2 Kings xix. 36, 37; cf. Isa. xxxvii. 37, 38; + 2 Chron. xxxii. 21). 3. In Berosus. The biblical account + alone mentions both murderers; the _Chronicle_ and Berosus + speak of only one, and their testimony seems to prevail with + several historians. I believe that the silence of the + _Chronicle_ and of Berosus is explained by the fact that + Sharezer was chief in the conspiracy, and the one among the + sons who aspired to the kingdom: the second murderer merely + acted for his brother, and consequently had no more right to + be mentioned by name than those accomplices not of the + blood-royal who shared in the murder. The name Sharezer is + usually considered as an abbreviation of the Assyrian name + Nergal-sharuzur, or Assur-sharuzur. Winckler thinks that he + sees in it a corruption of Sharitir, abbreviated from + Sharitir-assur, which he finds as a royal name on a fragment + in the British Museum; he proposes to recognise in this + Sharitir-assur, Sharezer enthroned after his father's death. + +One half of the army proclaimed Sharezer king; the northern provinces +espoused his cause; and Esarhaddon must for the moment have lost all +hope of the succession. His father's tragic fate overwhelmed him with +fear and grief; he rent his clothes, groaned and lamented like a lion +roaring, and could be comforted only by the oracles pronounced by +the priests of Babylon. An assurance that the gods favoured his cause +reached him even from Assyria, and Nineveh, after a few weeks of +vacillation, acknowledged him as its sovereign, the rebellion being +mercilessly crushed on the 2nd of Adar.* + + * The Bible alone tells us that Sharezer retired to Urartu + (2 Kings xix. 37). To explain the plan of this campaign, it + is usually supposed that at the time of his father's death + Esarhaddon was either beyond Mount Taurus or else on the + Armenian frontier; the sequence of the dates in the + _Babylonian Chronicle of Pinches_, compels me to revert to + the opinion that Esarhaddon marched from Babylon against the + rebels, and pursued them as far as Mount Taurus, and beyond + it to Khanigalbat. + +Although this was a considerable advantage to Esarhaddon's cause, +it could not be considered as decisive, since the provinces of the +Euphrates still declared for Sharezer; the gods, therefore, once more +intervened. Ishtar of Arbela had long been considered as the recognised +patroness and oracle of the dynasty. Whether it were a question of a +foreign expedition or a rebellion at home, of a threatened plague or +invasion, of a marriage or an alliance with some powerful neighbour, the +ruling sovereign would invariably have recourse to her, always with the +same formula, to demand counsel of her for the conduct of affairs in +hand, and the replies which she vouchsafed in various ways were +taken into consideration; her will, as expressed by the mouth of her +ministers, would hasten, suspend, or modify the decisions of the king. +Esarhaddon did not neglect to consult the goddess, as well as Assur and +Sin, Shamash, Bel, Nebo, and Nergal; and their words, transcribed upon +a tablet of clay, induced him to act without further delay: "Go, do not +hesitate, for we march with thee and we will cast down thine enemies!" +Thus encouraged, he made straight for the scene of danger without +passing through Nineveh, so as to prevent Sharezer and his party having +time to recover. His biographers depict Esarhaddon hurrying forward, +often a day or more in advance of his battalions, without once turning +to see who followed him, and without waiting to allow the horses of his +baggage-waggons to be unharnessed or permitting his servant^ to pitch +his tent; he rested merely for a few moments on the bare ground, +indifferent to the cold and nocturnal frosts of the month of Sebat. It +would appear as if Sharezer had placed his hopes on the Cimmerians, and +had expected their chiefs to come to the rescue. This hypothesis seems +borne out by the fact that the decisive battle took place beyond the +Euphrates and the Taurus, in the country of Khanigalbat. Esarhaddon +attributed his success to Ishtar, the goddess of bravery and of combat; +she alone had broken the weapons of the rebels, she alone had brought +confusion into their lines, and had inclined the hearts of the survivors +to submit. They cried aloud, "This is our king!" and Sharezer thereupon +fled into Armenia. The war had been brought to a close with such +rapidity that even the most unsettled of the Assyrian subjects and +vassals had not had time to take advantage of it for their own purposes; +the Kalda on the Persian Gulf, and the Sidonians on the Mediterranean, +were the only two peoples who had openly revolted, and were preparing +to enter on a struggle to preserve their independence thus once more +regained. Yet the events of the preceding months had shaken the power +of Nineveh more seriously than we should at first suppose. For the first +time since the accession of Tiglath-pileser III. the almost inevitable +troubles which accompany the change of a sovereign had led to an open +war. The vast army of Sargon and Sennacherib had been split up, and the +two factions into which it was divided, commanded as they were by +able generals and composed of troops accustomed to conquer, must have +suffered more keenly in an engagement with each other than in the course +of an ordinary campaign against a common enemy. One part at least of the +military staff had become disorganised; regiments had been decimated, +and considerable contingents were required to fill the vacancies in the +ranks. The male population of Assyria, suddenly called on to furnish the +necessary effective force, could not supply the demand without drawing +too great a proportion of men from the country; and one of those crises +of exhaustion was imminent which come upon a nation after an undue +strain, often causing its downfall in the midst of its success, and +yielding it an easy prey to the wiles of its adversaries.* + + * The information we possess concerning Esarhaddon is + gathered from: 1. _The Insertion of Cylinders A, B, C_, the + second of the three better known as the _Broken Cylinder_. + These texts contain a summary of the king's wars, in which + the subject-matter is arranged geographically, not + chronologically: they cease with the _eponymy_ of Akhazilu, + i.e. the year 673. 2. Some mutilated fragments, of the + _Annals_. 3. _The Blade Stone of Aberdeen_, on which the + account of the rebuilding of Babylon is given. 4. _The Stele + of Zindjirli_. 5. The consultations of the god Shamash by + Esarhaddon in different circumstances of his reign. 6. A + considerable number of small inscriptions and some tablets. + The classification of the events of this reign presents + serious difficulties, which have been partly overcome by + passages in the _Babylonian Chronicle of Pinches_. + +Esarhaddon was personally inclined for peace, and as soon as he was +established on the throne he gave orders that the building works, which +had been suspended during the late troubles, should be resumed and +actively pushed forward; but the unfortunate disturbances of the +times did not permit of his pursuing his favourite occupation without +interruption, and, like those of his warlike predecessors, his life was +passed almost entirely on the field of battle. Babylon, grateful for +what he had done for her, tendered him an unbroken fidelity throughout +the stormy episodes of his reign, and showed her devotion to him by an +unwavering obedience. The Kalda received no support from that quarter, +and were obliged to bear the whole burden of the war which they had +provoked. Their chief, Nabu-ziru-kinish-lishir, who had been placed +over them by Sennacherib, now harassed the cities of Karduniash, and +Ningal-shumiddin, the prefect of Uru, demanded immediate help from +Assyria. Esarhaddon at once despatched such a considerable force that +the Kaldu chief did not venture to meet it in the open field, and after +a few unimportant skirmishes he gave up the struggle, and took refuge in +Elam. Khumban-khaldash, had died there in 680, a few months before +the murder of Sennacherib, and his son, a second Khumban-khaldash, had +succeeded him; this prince appears either to have shared the peaceful +tastes of his brother-king of Assyria, or more probably did not feel +himself sufficiently secure of his throne to risk the chance of coming +into collision with his neighbour. He caused Nabu-ziru-kinish-lishir to +be slain, and Naid-marduk, the other son of Merodach-baladan, who had +shared his brother's flight, was so terrified at his murder that he at +once sought refuge in Nineveh; he was reinstated in his paternal +domain on condition of paying a tribute, and, faithful to his oath of +allegiance, he thenceforward came yearly in person to bring his dues and +pay homage to his sovereign (679). The Kalda rising had, in short, been +little more than a skirmish, and the chastisement of the Sidonians would +have involved neither time nor trouble, had not the desultory movements +of the barbarians obliged the Assyrians to concentrate their troops on +several points which were threatened on their northern frontier. +The Cimmerians and the Scythians had not suffered themselves to be +disconcerted by the rapidity with which the fate of Sharezer had been +decided, and after a moment's hesitation they had again set out in +various directions on their work of conquest, believing, no doubt, that +they would meet with a less vigorous resistance after so serious an +upheaval at Nineveh. The Cimmerians appear to have been the first to +have provoked hostilities; their king Tiushpa, who ruled over their +territory on the Black Sea, ejected the Assyrian garrisons placed on the +Cappadocian frontier, and his presence in that quarter aroused all +the insubordinate elements still remaining in the Cilician valleys. +Esarhaddon brought him to a stand on the confines of the plain of Saros, +defeated him in Khubushna,* and drove the remains of the horde back +across the Halys. + + * Several Assyriologists have thought that Khubushna might + be an error for Khubushkhia, and have sought the seat of war + on the eastern frontier of Assyria: in reality the context + shows that the place under discussion is a district in Asia + Minor, identified with Kamisene by Gelzcr, but left + unidentified by most authorities. Jensen has shown that the + name is mot with as early as the inscriptions of Tiglath- + pileser III., where we should read Khubishna, and he places + the country in Northern Syria, or perhaps further north in + the western part of Taurus. The determinative proves that + there was a town of this name as well as a district, and + this consideration encourages mo to recognise in Khubushna + or Khubishna the town of Kabissos-Kabessos, the Sis of the + kingdom of Lesser Armenia. + +Having thus averted the Cimmerian danger, he was able, without +much difficulty, to bring the rebels of the western provinces into +subjection.* His troops thrust back the Cilicians and Duha into the +rugged fastnesses of the Taurus, and razed to the ground one and twenty +of their strongholds, besides burning numberless villages and carrying +the inhabitants away captive.** + + * These expeditions are not dated in any of the documents + that deal with them: the fact that they are mentioned along + with the war against Tiushpa and Sidon makes me inclined to + consider them as being a result of the Cimmerian invasion. + They were, strictly speaking, the quelling of revolts caused + by the presence of the Cimmerians in that part of the + empire. + + ** The Duua or Duha of this campaign, who are designated as + neighbours of the Tabal, lived in the Anti-taurus: the name + of the town, Tyana, _Tuana_, is possibly composed of their + name and of the suffix _-na_, which is met with in Asianio + languages. + +The people of Parnaki, in the bend of the Euphrates between Tel-Assur +and the sources of the Balikh, had taken up arms on hearing of the brief +successes of Tiushpa, but were pitilessly crushed by Esarhaddon. The +sheikh of Arzani, in the extreme south of Syria, close to the brook of +Egypt, had made depredations on the Assyrian frontier, but he was seized +by the nearest governor and sent in chains to Nineveh. A cage was built +for him at the gate of the city, and he was exposed in it to the jeers +of the populace, in company with the bears, dogs, and boars which the +Ninevites were in the habit of keeping confined there. It would appear +that Esarhaddon set himself to come to a final reckoning with Sidon and +Phoenicia, the revolt of which had irritated him all the more, in that +it showed an inexcusable ingratitude towards his family. For it was +Sennacherib who, in order to break the power of Blulai, had not only +rescued Sidon from the dominion of Tyre, but had enriched it with the +spoils taken from its former rulers, and had raised it to the first +rank among the Phoenician cities. Ethbaal in his lifetime had never been +wanting in gratitude, but his successor, Abdimilkot, forgetful of recent +services, had chafed at the burden of a foreign yoke, and had recklessly +thrown it off as soon as an occasion presented itself. He had thought +to strengthen himself by securing the help of a certain Sanduarri, +who possessed the two fortresses of Kundu and Sizu, in the Cilician +mountains;* but neither this alliance nor the insular position of his +capital was able to safeguard him, when once the necessity for stemming +the tide of the Cimmerian influx was over, and the whole of the Assyrian +force was free to be brought against him. + + * Some Assyriologists have proposed to locate these two + towns in Cilicia; others place them in the Lebanon, Kundi + being identified with the modern village of Ain-Kundiya. The + name of Kundu so nearly recalls that of Kuinda, the ancient + fort mentioned by Strabo, to the north of Anchiale, between + Tarsus and Anazarbus, that I do not hesitate to identify + them, and to place Kundu in Cilicia. + +Abdimilkot attempted to escape by sea before the last attack, but he was +certainly taken prisoner, though the circumstances are unrecorded, +and Sanduarri fell into the enemy's hands a short time after. The +suppression of the rebellion was as vindictive as the ingratitude which +prompted it was heinous. Sidon was given up to the soldiery and then +burnt, while opposite to the ruins of the island city the Assyrians +built a fortress on the mainland, which they called Kar-Esarhaddon. The +other princes of Phoenicia and Syria were hastily convoked, and were +witnesses of the vengeance wreaked on the city, as well as of the +installation of the governor to whom the new province was entrusted. +They could thus see what fate awaited them in the event of their showing +any disposition to rebel, and the majority of them were not slow to +profit by the lesson. The spoil was carried back in triumph to Nineveh, +and comprised, besides the two kings and their families, the remains of +their court and people, and the countless riches which the commerce of +the world had brought into the great ports of the Mediterranean--ebony, +ivory, gold and silver, purple, precious woods, household furniture, +and objects of value from all parts in such quantities that it was long +before the treasury at Nineveh needed any replenishing.* The reverses of +the Cimmerians did not serve as a warning to the Scythians. Settled +on the borders of Manna, partly, no doubt, on the territory formerly +dependent on that state,** they secretly incited the inhabitants to +revolt, and to join in the raids which they made on the valley of the +Upper Zab, and they would even have urged their horses up to the very +walls of Nineveh had the occasion presented itself. + + * The importance of the event and the amount of the spoil + captured are apparent, if we notice that Esarhaddon does not + usually record the booty taken after each campaign; he does + so only when the number of objects and of prisoners taken + from the enemy is extraordinary. The _Babylonian Chronicle + of Pinches_ places the capture of Sidon in the second, and + the death of Abdimilkot in the fifth year of his reign. + Hence Winckler has concluded that Abdimilkot held out for + fully two years after the loss of Sidon. The general tenor + of the account, as given by the inscriptions, seems to me to + be that the capture of the king followed closely on the fall + of the town: Abdimilkot and Sanduarri probably spent the + years between 679 and 676 in prison. + + ** One of the oracles of Shamash speaks of the captives as + dwelling in a canton of the Mannai. + +Esarhaddon, warned of their intrigues by the spies which he sent among +them, could not bring himself either to anticipate their attack or to +assume the offensive, but anxiously consulted the gods with regard to +them: "O Shamash," he wrote to the Sun-god, "great lord, thou whom I +question, answer me in sincerity! From this day forth, the 22nd day of +this month of Simanu, until the 21st day of the month of Duzu of this +year, during these thirty days and thirty nights, a time has been +foreordained favourable to the work of prophecy. In this time thus +foreordained, the hordes of the Scythians who inhabit a district of the +Mannai, and who have crossed the Mannian frontier,--will they succeed in +their undertaking? Will they emerge from the passes of Khubushkia at +the towns of Kharrania and Anisuskia; will they ravage the borders +of Assyria and steal great booty, immense spoil? that doth thy high +divinity know. Is it a decree, and in the mouth of thy high divinity, O +Shamash, great lord, ordained and promulgated? He who sees, shall he see +it; he who hears, shall he hear it?"* + + * The town of Anisuskia is not mentioned elsewhere, but + Kharrania is met with in the account of the thirty-first + campaign of Shalmaneser III. with Kharrana as its variant. + +The god comforted his faithful servant, but there was a brief delay +before his answer threw light on the future, and the king's questions +were constantly renewed as fresh couriers brought in further +information. In 678 B.C. the Scythians determined to try their fortune, +and their king, Ishpakai,* took the field, followed by the Mannai. He +was defeated and driven back to the north of Lake Urumiah, the Mannai +were reduced to subjection, and Assyria once more breathed freely. +The victory, however, was not a final one, and affairs soon assumed as +threatening an aspect as before. The Scythian tribes came on the scene, +one after another, and allied themselves to the various peoples subject +either directly or indirectly to Nineveh.** On one occasion it was +Kashtariti, the regent of Karkashshi,*** who wrote to Mamitiarshu, one +of the Median princes, to induce him to make common cause with himself +in attacking the fortress of Kishshashshu on the eastern border of the +empire. At another time we find the same chief plotting with the Mannai +and the Saparda to raid the town of Kilman, and Esarhaddon implores the +god to show him how the place may be saved from their machinations.**** + + * This king's name seems to be of Iranian origin. Justi has + connected it with the name Aspakos, which is read in a Greek + inscription of the Cimmerian Bosphorus; both forms have been + connected with the Sanskrit Acvalca. + + ** This subdivision of the horde into several bodies seems + to be indicated by the number of different royal names among + the Scythians which are mentioned in the Assyrian documents. + + *** The site of Karkashshi is unknown, but the list of + Median princes subdued by Sargon shows that it was situated + in Media. Kishshashshu is very probably the same as Kishisim + or Kishisu, the town which Sargon subdued, and which he + called Kar-nergal or Kar-ninib, and which is mentioned in + the neighbourhood of Parsuash, Karalla, Kharkhar, Media, and + Ellipi. I think that it would be in the basin of the Gave-- + Rud; Billerbeck places it at the ruins of Siama, in the + upper valley of the Lesser Zab. + + **** The people of Saparda, called by the Persians Sparda, + have been with good reason identified with the Sepharad of + the prophet Obadiah (ver. 20): the Assyrian texts show that + this country should be placed in the neighbourhood of the + Mannai of the Medes. + +He opens negotiations in order to gain time, but the barbarity of his +adversary is such that he fears for his envoy's safety, and speculates +whether he may not have been put to death. The situation would indeed +have become critical if Kashtariti had succeeded in bringing against +Assyria a combined force of Medes, Scythians, Mannai, and Cimmerians, +together with Urartu and its king, Eusas III.; but, fortunately, petty +hatreds made the combination of these various elements an impossibility, +and they were unable to arrive at even a temporary understanding. +The Scythians themselves were not united as to the best course to be +pursued, and while some endeavoured to show their hostility by every +imaginable outrage and annoyance, others, on the contrary, desired to +enter into friendly relations with Assyria. Esarhaddon received on +one occasion an embassy from Bartatua,* one of their kings, who humbly +begged the hand of a lady of the blood-royal, swearing to make a lasting +friendship with him if Esarhaddon would consent to the marriage. It was +hard for a child brought up in the harem, amid the luxury and comfort +of a civilised court, to be handed over to a semi-barbarous spouse; but +state policy even in those days was exacting, and more than one princess +of the line of Sargon had thus sacrificed herself by an alliance which +was to the interest of her own people.** + + * Bartatua is, according to Winckler's ingenious + observation, the Proto-thyes of Herodotus, the father of + Madyes. [The name should more probably be read Masta-tua-- + Ed.] + + ** Sargon had in like manner given one of his daughters in + marriage to Ambaris, King of Tabal, in order to attach him + to the Assyrian cause, but without permanent success. + +What troubled Esarhaddon was not the thought of sacrificing a sister +or a daughter, but a misgiving that the sacrifice would not produce +the desired result, and in his difficulty he once more had recourse to +Shamash. "If Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, grants a daughter of the blood +(royal) to Bartatua, the King of the Iskuza, who has sent an embassy +to him to ask a wife, will Bartatua, King of the Iskuza, act loyally +towards Esarhaddon, King of Assyria? will he honestly and faithfully +enter into friendly engagements with Esarhaddon, King of Assyria? will +he observe the conditions (made by) Esarhaddon, King of Assyria? will he +fulfil them punctually? that thy high divinity knoweth. His promises, in +a decree and in the mouth of thy high divinity, O Shamash, great lord, +are they decreed, promulgated?" It is not recorded what came of these +negotiations, nor whether the god granted the hand of the princess to +her barbarian suitor. All we know is, that the incursions and intrigues +of the Scythians continued to be a perpetual source of trouble to the +Medes, and roused them either to rebel against Assyria or to claim the +protection of its sovereign. Esarhaddon, in the course of his reign, +was more than once compelled to interfere in order to ensure peace and +quietness to the provinces on the table-land of Iran, which Sargon had +conquered and which Sennacherib had retained.* + + * Several recent historians allege that Sennacherib did not + keep the territories that Sargon had conquered, and that the + Assyrian frontier became contracted on that side; whereas + the general testimony of the known texts seems to me to + prove the contrary, namely, that he preserved nearly all the + territory annexed by his father, and that Esarhaddon was far + from diminishing this inheritance. If these two kings + mention only insignificant deeds of arms in the western + region, it is because the population, exhausted by the wars + of the two preceding reigns, easily recognised the Ninevite + supremacy, and paid tribute to the Assyrian governors with + sufficient regularity to prevent any important military + expedition against them. + +He had first to carry his arms to the extreme edge of the desert, into +the rugged country of Patusharra, lying at the foot of Demavend, rich +in lapis-lazuli, and as yet untrodden by any king of Assyria.* Having +reached his destination, he captured two petty kings, Eparna and +Shitirparna, and exiled them to Assyria, together with their people, +their thoroughbred horses, and their two-humped camels,--in fine, all +the possessions of their subjects. Shortly after this, three other +Median chiefs, hitherto intractable--Uppis of Par-takka, Zanasana of +Partukka,** Ramatea of Urakazabarna--came to Nineveh to present the king +with horses and lapis-lazuli, the best of everything they possessed, and +piteously entreated him to forgive their misdeeds. + + * The country of Patusharra has been identified with that of + the Patischorians mentioned by Strabo in Persia proper, who + would have lived further north, not far from Demavend; + Sachau calls attention to the existence of a mountain chain + Patashwar-gar or Padishwar-gir, in front of Choarcne, and he + places the country of Patusharra between Demavend and the + desert. + + ** Partakka and Partukka seem to be two different + adaptations of the name Paraituka, the Parsetakeno of the + Greek geographers; Tiele thinks of Parthyeno. I think that + these two names designate the northern districts of + Partetakeno, the present Ashnakhor or the country near to + it. + +They represented that the whole of Media was torn asunder by countless +strifes, prince against prince, city against city, and an iron will was +needed to bring the more turbulent elements to order. Esarhaddon lent +a favourable ear to their prayers; he undertook to protect them on +condition of their paying an annual tribute, and he put them under +the protection of the Assyrian governors who were nearest to their +territory. Kharkhar, securely entrenched behind its triple ramparts, +assumed the position of capital to these Iranian marches. + +It is difficult to determine the precise dates of these various events; +we learn merely that they took place before 673, and we surmise that +they must have occurred between the second and sixteenth year of the +king's reign.* + + * The facts relating to the submission of Patusharra and of + Partukka are contained in Cylinder A, dated from the + eponymous year of Akhazilu, in 673. Moreover, the version + which this document contains seems to have been made up of + two pieces placed one at the end of the other: the first an + account of events which occurred during an earlier period of + the reign, and in which the exploits are classified in + geographical order, from Sidon in the west the Arabs + bordering on Chaldaea in the east; and the second consisting + of additional campaigns carried out after the completion of + the former--which is proved by the place which these + exploits occupy, out of their normal position in the + geographical series--and making mention of Partusharra and + Partuhka, as well as of Belikisha. The editor of the _Broken + Cylinder_ has tried to combine these latter elements with + the former in the order adopted by the original narrator. As + far as can be seen in what is left of the columns, he has + placed, after the Chaldsean events, the facts concerning + Partukka, then those concerning Patusharra, and finally the + campaign against Bazu, the extreme limit of Esarhaddon's + activity in the south. Knowing that the campaign in the + desert and the death of Abdimilkot took place in 676, and + that we find them already alluded to in the first part of + the narrative, as well as the events of 675 relating to the + revolt of Dakkuri, we may conclude that the submission of + Patusharra and that of Partukka occurred in 674, or at + latest in the beginning of 673. + +[Illustration: 131.jpg THE TOWN OF KHARKHAR WITH ITS TRIPLE RAMPART] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Flandin, in Botta. + +The outcome of them was a distinct gain to Assyria, in the acquisition +of several new vassals. The recently founded kingdom of Ecbatana lacked +as yet the prestige which would have enabled it to hold its own against +Nineveh; besides which, Deiokes, the contemporary ruler assigned to +it by tradition, was of too complaisant a nature to seek occasions of +quarrel. The Scythians, after having declared their warlike intentions, +seem to have come to a more peaceable frame of mind, and to have curried +favour with Nineveh; but the rulers of the capital kept a strict watch +upon them, since their numbers, their intrepid character, and instinct +for rapine made them formidable enemies--the most dangerous, indeed, +that the empire had encountered on its north-eastern frontier for nearly +a century. + +This policy of armed _surveillance_, which proved so successful in +these regions, was also carefully maintained by Esarhaddon on his +south-eastern border against Assyria's traditional enemy, the King +of Susa. Babylon, far from exhibiting any restlessness at her present +position, showed her gratitude for the favours which her suzerain had +showered upon her by resigning herself to become the ally of Assyria. +She regarded her late disaster as the punishment inflicted by Marduk for +her revolts against Sargon and Sennacherib. The god had let loose the +powers of evil against her, and the Arakhtu, overflowing among the +ruins, had swept them utterly away; indeed, for the space of ten years, +destruction and desolation seemed to have taken the place of her former +wealth of temples and palaces. In the eleventh year, the divine wrath +was suddenly appeased. No sooner had Esarhaddon mounted the throne, than +he entreated Shamash, Ramman, and even Marduk himself, to reveal to him +their will with regard to the city; whereupon the omens, interpreted +by the seers, commanded him to rebuild Babylon and to raise again +the temple of E-sagilla. For this purpose he brought together all the +captives taken in war that he had at his disposal, and employed them in +digging out clay and in brick-making; he then prepared the foundations, +upon which he poured libations of oil, honey, palm-wine, and other wines +of various kinds; he himself took the mason's hod, and with tools of +ebony, cypress wood, and oak, moulded a brick for the new sanctuary. +The work was, indeed, a gigantic undertaking, and demanded years of +uninterrupted labour, but Esarhaddon pushed it forward, sparing neither +gold, silver, costly stone, rare woods, or plates of enamel in its +embellishment. He began to rebuild at the same time all the other +temples and the two city walls--Imgurbel and Nimittibel; to clear and +make good the canals which supplied the place with water, and to replant +the sacred groves and the gardens of the palace. The inhabitants were +encouraged to come back to their homes, and those who had been dispersed +among distant provinces were supplied with clothes and food for their +return journey, besides having their patrimony restored to them. This +rebuilding of the ancient city certainly displeased and no doubt alarmed +her two former rivals, the Kalda and Elam, who had hoped one day to +wrest her heritage from Assyria. Elam concealed its ill-feeling, but +the Kalda of Bit-Dakkuri had invaded the almost deserted territory, +and appropriated the lands which had belonged to the noble families of +Babylon, Borsippa, and Sippara. When the latter, therefore, returned +from exile, and, having been reinstituted in their rights, attempted to +resume possession of their property, the usurpers peremptorily refused +to relinquish it. Esarhaddon was obliged to interfere to ensure its +restoration, and as their king, Shamash-ibni, was not inclined to comply +with the order, Esarhaddon removed him from the throne, and substituted +in his place a certain Nabushallim, son of Belesys, who showed more +deference to the suzerain's wishes. It is possible that about this +time the Kalda may have received some support from the Aramaeans of the +desert and the Arab tribes encamped between the banks of the Euphrates +and Syria, or, on the other hand, the latter may have roused the wrath +of Assyria by inroads of a more than usually audacious character. +However this may be, in 676 Esarhaddon resolved to invade their +desert territory, and to inflict such reprisals as would force them +thenceforward to respect the neighbouring border provinces. + +His first relations with them had been of a courteous and friendly +nature. Hazael of Adumu, one of the sheikhs of Kedar, defeated by +Sennacherib towards the end of his reign, had taken the opportunity of +the annual tribute to come to Nineveh with considerable presents, and +to implore the restoration of the statues of his gods. Esarhaddon had +caused these battered idols to be cleaned and repaired, had engraved +upon them an inscription in praise of Assur, and had further married +the suppliant sheikh to a woman of the royal harem, named Tabua. In +consideration of this, he had imposed upon the Arab a supplementary +tribute of sixty-five camels, and had restored to him his idols. All +this took place, no doubt, soon after the king's accession. A few years +later, on the death of Hazael, his son Yauta solicited investiture, but +a competitor for the chieftaincy, a man of unknown origin, named Uahab, +treacherously incited the Arabs to rebel, and threatened to overthrow +him. Esarhaddon caused Uahab to be seized, and exposed him in chains at +the gate of Nineveh; but, in consideration of this service to the Arabs, +he augmented the tribute which already weighed upon the people by a +further demand for ten gold _minas_, one thousand precious stones, fifty +camels, and a thousand measures of spicery. The repression of these +Arabs of Kedar thus confirmed Esarhaddon's supremacy over the extreme +northern region of Arabia, between Damascus and Sippara or Babylon; but +in a more southerly direction, in the wadys which unite Lower Chaldaea +to the districts of the Jordan and the Dead Sea, there still remained +several rich and warlike states--among others, Bazu,* whose rulers had +never done homage to the sovereigns of either Assyria or Karduniash. + + * The Bazu of this text is certainly the Buz which the + Hebrew books name among the children of Nahor (Gen. xxii. + 21; Jer. xxv. 23). The early Assyriologists identified Khazu + with Uz, the son of Nahor; Delitzsch compares the name with + that of Hazo (Huz), the fifth son of Nahor (Gen. xxii. 22), + and his opinion is admitted by most scholars. For the site + of these countries I have followed the ideas of Delattro, + who identifies them with the oases of Jauf and Meskakeh, in + the centre of Northern Arabia. The Assyrians must have set + out by the Wady Hauran or by one of the wadys near to + Babylon, and have returned by a more southern wady. + +To carry hostilities into the heart of their country was a bold and even +hazardous undertaking; it could be reached only by traversing miles +of arid and rocky plains, exposed to the rays of a burning sun, vast +extents of swamps and boggy pasture land, desolate wastes infested with +serpents and scorpions, and a mountain range of blackish lava known as +Khazu. It would have been folly to risk a march with the heavy Assyrian +infantry in the face of such obstacles. Esarhaddon probably selected for +the purpose a force composed of cavalry, chariots, and lightly equipped +foot-soldiers, and despatched them with orders to reach the Jauf by +forced marches through the Wady Hauran. The Arabs, who were totally +unprepared for such a movement, had not time to collect their forces; +eight of their chiefs were taken by surprise and killed one after +another--among them Kisu of Khaldili, Agbaru of Ilpiati, Mansaku of +Magalani,--and also some reigning queens. La, the King of Yadi, at first +took refuge in the mountains, but afterwards gave himself up to +the enemy, and journeyed as far as Nineveh to prostrate himself at +Esarhaddon's feet, who restored to him his gods and his crown, on the +usual condition of paying tribute. A vassal occupying a country so +remote and so difficult of access could not be supposed to preserve an +unbroken fidelity towards his suzerain, but he no longer ventured to +plunder the caravans which passed through his territory, and that in +reality was all that was expected of him. + +Esarhaddon thus pursued a prudent and unadventurous policy in the +northern and eastern portions of his empire, maintaining a watchful +attitude towards the Cimmerians and Scythians in the north, carrying on +short defensive campaigns among the Medes in the east, preserving peace +with Elam, and making occasional flying raids in the south, rather from +the necessity for repressing troublesome border tribes than with any +idea of permanent conquest. + +[Illustration: 137.jpg SHABITOKU, KING OF EGYPT] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Lepsius. + +This policy must have been due to a presentiment of danger from the +side of Egypt, or to the inception of a great scheme for attacking the +reigning Pharaoh. After the defeat of his generals at Altaku, Shabitoku +had made no further attempt to take the offensive; his authority over +the feudal nobility of Egypt was so widely acknowledged that it causes +us no surprise to meet with his cartouches on more than one ruin between +Thebes and Memphis,* but his closing years were marred by misfortune. +There was then living at Napata a certain Taharqa, one of those scions +of the solar race who enjoyed the title of "Royal brothers," and +from among whom Anion of the Holy Mountain was wont to choose his +representative to reign over the land of Ethiopia whenever the throne +became vacant. It does not appear that the father of Taharqa ever held +the highest rank; it was from his mother, Akaluka, that he inherited his +pretensions to the crown, and through her probably that he traced his +descent from the family of the high priests. Tradition asserts that he +did not gain the regal power without a struggle; having been proclaimed +king in Ethiopia at the age of twenty, as the result of some revolution, +he is said to have marched against Shabitoku, and, coming up with him +in the Delta, to have defeated him, taken him prisoner, and put him to +death.** These events took place about 693 B.C.,*** and Taharqa employed +the opening years of his reign in consolidating his authority over the +double kingdom. + + * His name or monuments of his erection have been discovered + at Karnak. + + ** Eusebius, who cites the fact, had his information from a + trustworthy Greek source, perhaps from Manetho himself. The + inscription of Tanis seems to say that Taharqa was twenty + years old at the time of his revolt. + + *** Most of the lists of kings taken from Manetho assign + twelve years to the reign of Sebikhos; one alone, that of + Africanus, assigns him fourteen years. + +He married the widow of Sabaco, Queen Dikahitamanu, and thus assumed +the guardianship of Tanuatamanu, her son by her first husband, and this +marriage secured him supreme authority in Ethiopia.* That he regarded +Egypt as a conquered country can no longer be doubted, seeing that he +inserted its name on his monuments among those of the nations which he +had vanquished. + + * The text of several documents only mentioned that Tanuata- + manu was the "son of his wife," which Opport interpreted to + mean son of Taharqa himself, while others see in him a son + of Kashto, a brother of Amenertas, or a son of Shabitoku. + +[Illustration: 139.jpg TAHARQA AND HIS QUEEN DIKAHITAMANU] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the coloured plate in Lepsius. + +He nevertheless felt obliged to treat it with consideration; he +respected the rights of the feudal princes, and behaved himself in every +way like a Pharaoh of the old royal line. He summoned his mother from +Napata, where he had left her, and after proclaiming her regent of the +South and the North, he associated her with himself in the rejoicings +at his coronation. This ceremony, celebrated at Tanis with the usages +customary in the Delta, was repeated at Karnak in accordance with the +Theban ritual, and a chapel erected shortly afterwards on the northern +quay of the great sacred lake has preserved to us the memory of it. +Akaluka, installed with the rank and prerogatives of the "Divine Spouse" +of Amon, presented her son to the deity, who bestowed upon him through +his priests dominion over the whole world. She bent the bow, and let +fly the arrows towards the four cardinal points, which she thereby +symbolically delivered to him as wounded prisoners; the king, on +his part, hurled against them bullets of stone, and by this attack +figuratively accomplished their defeat. His wars in Africa were crowned +with a certain meed of success,* and his achievements in this quarter +won for him in after time so much popularity among the Egyptians, +that they extolled him to the Greeks as one of their most illustrious +conquering Pharaohs; they related that he had penetrated as far as +the Pillars of Hercules in the west, and that he had invaded Europe in +imitation of Sesostris. + + * The list inscribed on the base of the statue discovered by + Mariette contains a large number of names belonging to + Africa. They are the same as those met with in the time of + the XVIIIth dynasty, and were probably copied from some + monument of Ramses II., who had himself perhaps borrowed + them from a document of the time of Thutmosis III. A bas- + relief at Medinet-Habu shows him to us in the act of smiting + a group of tribes, among which figure the Tepa, Doshrit, and + "the humbled Kush;" this bas-relief was appropriated later + on by Nectanebo. + +What we know to be a fact is, that he secured to the valley of the Nile +nearly twenty years of prosperity, and recalled the glories of the +great reigns of former days, if not by his victories, at least by +the excellence of his administration and his activity. He planned the +erection at Karnak of a hypostyle hall in front of the pylons of Ramses +II., which should equal, if not surpass, that of Seti I.* + + * These columns have been looked upon as triumphal pillars, + designed to support statues or divine emblems. Mariette + thinks that they supported "an edifice in the architectural + style of the kiosk at Philae and the small hypothral temple + on the roof of Denderah." I am of opinion that the architect + intended to make a hypostyle hall, but that when the columns + were erected, he perceived that the great width of the aisle + they formed would render the strength of the roof very + doubtful, and so renounced the execution of his first + design. + +[Illustration: 142.jpg THE COLUMN OF TAHARQA, AT KARNAK] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato. + +The columns of the central aisle were disposed in two lines of six +pillars each, but only one of these now remains standing in its original +place; its height, which is the same as that of Seti's columns, is +nearly sixty-nine feet. The columns of the side aisles, like those which +should have flanked the immense colonnade at Luxor, were never even +begun, and the hall of Taharqa, like that of Seti I., remains unfinished +to this day. He bestowed his favour on Nubia and Ethiopia, as well as +on Egypt proper; even Napata owed to his munificence the most beautiful +portions of its temples. The temple of Amon, and subsequently that of +Mut, were enlarged by him; and he decorated their ancient halls with +bas-reliefs, representing himself, accompanied by his mother and his +wife, in attitudes of adoration before the deity. The style of the +carving is very good, and the hieroglyphics would not disgrace the walls +of the Theban temples. The Ethiopian sculptors and painters scrupulously +followed the traditions of the mother-country, and only a few +insignificant details of ethnic type or costume enable us to detect a +slight difference between their works and those of pure Egyptian art. At +the other extremity of Napata, on the western side of the Holy Mountain, +Taharqa excavated in the cliff a rock-hewn shrine, which he dedicated to +Hathor and Bisu (Bes), the patron of jollity and happiness, and the god +of music and of war. + +[Illustration: 143.jpg THE HEMISPEOS OP HATHOR AND BISU, AT +GEBEL-BARKAL] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a lithograph in Caillaud. + +Bisu, who was at first relegated to the lowest rank among the crowd of +genii adored by the people, had gradually risen to the highest place +in the hierarchy of the gods, and his images predominated in chapels +destined to represent the cradle of the infant gods, and the sacred +spots where goddesses gave birth to their divine offspring. + +[Illustration: 144.jpg ENTRANCE TO THE HEMISPEOS OF BISU (BES), AT +GEBEL-BARKAL] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a lithograph in Caillaud. + +The portico erected in front of the pylon had a central avenue of +pillars, against which stood monstrous and grinning statues of Bisu, +his hands on his hips, and his head crowned with a large bunch of +lotus-flowers and plumes. Two rows of columns with Hathor-headed +capitals flanked the central aisle, which led to a hall supported by +massive columns, also with Hathor capitals, and beyond it again lay +the actual shrine similarly excavated in the rocky hill; two statues of +Bisu, standing erect against their supporting columns, kept guard over +the entrance, and their fantastic forms, dimly discernible in the gloom, +must have appeared in ancient times to have prohibited the vulgar throng +from approaching the innermost sanctuary. Half of the roof has fallen +in since the building was deserted, and a broad beam of light falling +through the aperture thus made reveals the hideous grotesqueness of the +statues to all comers. The portraits of Taharqa represent him with +a strong, square-shaped head, with full cheeks, vigorous mouth, and +determined chin, such as belong to a man well suited to deal with that +troubled epoch, and the knowledge we as yet possess of his conflict with +Assyria fully confirms the character exhibited by his portrait statues. + +[Illustration: 145.jpg TAHARQA] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a cast of the fragment + preserved at Gizeh + +We may surmise that, when once absolute master of Egypt, he must have +cast his eyes beyond the isthmus, and considered how he might turn to +his own advantage the secret grudge borne by the Syrians against +their suzerain at Nineveh, but up to the present time we possess no +indications as to the policy he pursued in Palestine. We may safely +assume, however, that it gave umbrage to the Assyrians, and that +Esarhaddon resolved to put an end once for all to the uneasiness it +caused him. More than half a century had elapsed since the day when the +kings of Syria, alarmed at the earliest victories of Tiglath-pileser +III., had conceived the idea of pitting their former conquerors against +those of the day, and had solicited help from the Pharaohs against +Assyria. + +None of the sovereigns to whom they turned had refused to listen to +their appeals, or failed to promise subsidies and reinforcements; but +these engagements, however definite, had for the most part been left +unfulfilled, and when an occasion for their execution had occurred, the +Egyptian armies had merely appeared on the fields of battle to beat +a hasty retreat: they had not prevented the subjugation of Damascus, +Israel, Tyre, the Philistines, nor, indeed, of any of the princes or +people who trusted to their renown; yet, notwithstanding these numerous +disappointments, the prestige of the Egyptians was still so great that +insubordinate or rebel states invariably looked to them for support and +entreated their help. The Assyrian generals had learnt by experience to +meet them unmoved, being well aware that the Egyptian army was inferior +to their own in organisation, and used antiquated weapons and methods +of warfare; they were also well aware that the Egyptian and even the +Ethiopian soldiery had never been able successfully to withstand a +determined attack by the Assyrian battalions, and that when once the +desert which protected Egypt had been crossed, she would, like Babylon, +fall an easy prey to their arms. It would merely be necessary to guard +against the possible danger of opposition being offered to the passage +of the invading host by the Idumoan and Arab tribes sparsely scattered +over the country between the Nile and the Gulf of Akabah, as their +hostility would be a cause of serious uneasiness. An expedition, sent +against Milukhkha* in 675 B.C., had taught the inhabitants to respect +the power of Assyria; but the campaign had not been brought to a +satisfactory conclusion, for the King of Elam, Khumban-khaldash II., +seeing his rival occupied at the opposite extremity of his empire, fell +unexpectedly upon Babylon, and pushing forward as far as Sippara, laid +waste the surrounding country; and his hateful presence even prevented +the god Shamash from making his annual progress outside the walls of the +city. The people of Bit-Dakkuri seem to have plucked up courage at +his approach, and invaded the neighbouring territory, probably that +of Borsippa. Esarhaddon was absent on a distant expedition, and the +garrisons scattered over the province were not sufficiently strong in +numbers to risk a pitched battle: Khumban-khaldash, therefore, marched +back with his booty to Susa entirely unmolested. He died suddenly in his +palace a few days after his return, and was succeeded by his brother, +Urtaku, who was too intent upon seating himself securely on the throne +to send his troops on a second raid in the following year. + + * The name of Milukhkha, first applied to the countries in + the neighbourhood of the Persian Gulf, had been transferred + to the western coasts of Arabia, as well as that of Magan. + +Esarhaddon deferred his revenge to a more convenient season, and +utilised the respite fate had accorded him on the Elamite border to +hasten his attack on Egypt (673 B.C.). The expedition was a failure, and +Taharqa was greatly elated at having issued with honour from this trial +of strength. As most of the countries over which his enemy exercised +his supremacy were those which had been ruled by his Theban ancestors +in days gone by, Taharqa engraved on the base of his statue a list of +nations and towns copied from one of the monuments of Ramses II. The +Khati, Carchemish, Mitanni, Arvad--in short, a dozen peoples already +extinct or in their decline, and whose names were merely perpetuated +in the stereotyped official lists,--were enumerated in the list of +his vanquished foes side by side with Assyria. It was a mere piece of +bravado, for never, even when victorious, did he set foot on Syrian +soil; but all the same the victory had caused the invading host to +retire, and the fame of this exploit, spreading throughout Asia, was not +without its effect on the minds of the inhabitants. The island of Tyre +had never officially recognised the Assyrian suzerainty. The Tyrians had +lived in peace since the defeat of Elulai, and had maintained constant +commercial relations with the continent without interfering in active +politics: they had, perhaps, even been permitted to establish some +settlements on the coast of the mainland. Their king, Baal, now deemed +the moment a propitious one for coming forward and recovering his lost +territory, and since the Greek princes of Cyprus had ranged themselves +under the hegemony of Assyria, he thought he could best counterbalance +their influence by seeking support from Egypt, whose ancient greatness +was apparently reviving. He therefore concluded an alliance with +Taharqa,* and it would be no cause for astonishment if we should one day +discover that Judah had followed his example. + + * The alliance of Baal with Taharqa is mentioned in the + fragment of the _Annals_, under the date of year X., and the + name Baal is still decipherable amid the defaced linos which + contained the account of events which took place before that + year. I think we may reasonably assign the first + understanding between the two sovereigns, either to the + actual year of the first campaign or to the following year. + +Hezekiah had devoted his declining years to religious reformation, and +the organisation of his kingdom under the guidance of Isaiah or the +group of prophets of which Isaiah was the leader. Judah had increased +in population, and had quickly recovered its prosperity; when Hezekiah +died, about 686 B.C., it had entirely regained its former vigour, but +the memory of the disasters of 701 was still sufficiently fresh in the +minds of the people to prevent the change of sovereign being followed +by a change of policy. Manasseh, who succeeded his father, though he +did not walk, as Hezekiah had done, in the ways of the Lord, at least +remained loyal to his Assyrian masters. It is, however, asserted that +he afterwards rebelled, though his reason for doing so is not explained, +and that he was carried captive to Babylon as a punishment for this +crime: he succeeded, nevertheless, in regaining favour, and was +reinstated at Jerusalem on condition of not repeating his offence. If +this statement is true, as I believe it to be, it was probably after the +Egyptian campaign of 673 B.C.* that his conspiracy with Baal took place. + + * The fact of Manasseh's captivity is only known to us from + the testimony of 2 Chron. xxxiii. 10-13, and most modern + critics consider it apocryphal. The moral development which + accompanies the narrative, and the conversion which follows + it, are certainly later additions, but the story may have + some foundation in fact; we shall see later on that Necho + I., King of Sais, was taken prisoner, led into captivity, + and received again into favour in the same way as Manasseh + is said to have been. The exile to Babylon, which at one + time appeared to demonstrate the unauthenticity of the + passage, would be rather in favour of its authenticity. + Esarhaddon was King of Babylon during the whole of his + reign, and the great works which he executed in that city + obliged him, we know, to transport thither a large + proportion of the prisoners whom he brought back from his + wars. + +The Assyrian governors of the neighbouring provinces easily crushed +these attempts at independence, but, the islands of Tyre being secure +from attack, they were obliged to be content with establishing a series +of redoubts along the coast, and with prohibiting the Tyrians from +having access to the mainland. + +The promptitude of their action quenched the hopes of the Egyptian party +and prevented the spread of the revolt. Esarhaddon was, nevertheless, +obliged to put off the fulfilment of his schemes longer than he desired: +complications arose on his northern frontiers, near the sources of the +Tigris, which distracted his attention from the intrigues taking place +on the banks of the Nile. Urartu, hard pressed by the Cimmerians and +Scythians, had lived for a quarter of a century in a condition of sullen +peace with Assyria, and its kings avoided anything which could bring +them into conflict with their hereditary rival. Argistis II. had been +succeeded by one of his sons, Eusas IL, and both of them had been more +intent upon strengthening their kingdom than on extending its area; they +had rebuilt their capital, Dhuspas, on a magnificent scale, and from the +security of their rocky home they watched the course of events without +taking any part in it, unless forced to do so by circumstances. Andaria, +chief of Lubdi, one of the remote mountain districts, so difficult of +access that it always retained its independence in spite of frequent +attacks, had seized Shupria, a province which had been from very early +times subject to the sovereigns of Nineveh, and was the first to be +colonised by them. The inhabitants, forgetful of their origin, had +yielded voluntarily to Andaria; but this prince, after receiving their +homage, was seized with alarm at his own audacity. He endeavoured to +strengthen his position by an alliance with the Cimmerians,* and the +spirit of insubordination which he aroused spread beyond the Euphrates; +Mugallu of Milid, a king of the Tabal, resorted to such violent measures +that Esarhaddon was alarmed lest the wild mountaineers of the Taurus +should pour down upon the plain of Kui and lay it waste. The +danger would indeed have been serious had all these tribes risen +simultaneously; but the Cimmerians were detained in Asia Minor by their +own concerns,** and Mugallu, when he saw the Assyrian troops being +concentrated to bring him to reason, remained quiet. + + * This seems, indeed, to be proved by a tablet in which + Esarhaddon, addressing the god Shamash, asks him if the + Cimmerians or Urartians will unite with a certain prince who + can be no other than the King of Shupria. + + ** It was about this time they were dealing the death-blow + to the kingdom of Phrygia. + +The extension of Lubdi was not likely to meet with favour in the eyes +of Eusas; he did not respond to the advances made to him, and Esarhaddon +opened his campaign against the rebels without having to dread the +intervention of Urartu. Andaria, besieged in his capital of Ubbumi, laid +aside his royal robes, and, assuming the ragged garments of a slave, +appeared upon the ramparts and pleaded for mercy in a voice choked with +tears: "Shupria, the country which has sinned against thee, will yield +to thee of her own accord; place thy officers over her, she will vow +obedience to thee; impose on her a ransom and an annual tribute for +ever. I am a robber, and for the crime I have committed I will make +amends fifty-fold." Esarhaddon would listen to no terms before a breach +had been effected in the city walls. This done, he pardoned the prince +who had taken refuge in the citadel, but resumed possession of Shupria: +its inhabitants were mercilessly punished, being condemned to slavery, +and their lands and goods divided among new colonists. Many Urartians +were numbered among the captives: these Esarhaddon separated from +the rest, and sent back to Rusas as a reward for his having remained +neutral. All this had barely occupied the space of one month, the month +of Tebet. The first-fruits of the spoil reserved for Uruk had already +reached that town by the month Kislev, and the year was not so far +advanced as to render further undertakings impossible, when the death of +the queen, on the 5th Adar, suspended all warlike enterprises. The last +months of the year were given up to mourning, and the whole of 671 B.C. +passed without further action. The Ethiopian king was emboldened by this +inactivity on the part of his foe to renew his intrigues with Syria with +redoubled energy; at one moment, indeed, the Philistines of Ashkelon, +secretly instigated, seemed on the point of revolt.* + + * Ashkelon is mentioned in two of the prayers in which + Esarhaddon consults Shamash on the subject of his intended + campaign in Egypt; he seems to fear lest that city and the + Bedawin of the Idumoan desert should espouse the cause of + the King of Ethiopia. + +They held themselves, however, in check, and Esarhaddon, reassured as to +their attitude, entered into negotiations with the sheikhs of the Arab +tribes, and purchased their assistance to cross the desert of Sinai. +He bade them assemble at Raphia, at the western extremity of Palestine, +each chief bringing all the camels he could command, and as many skins +of water as their beasts could carry: this precaution, a wise one at any +time, might secure the safety of the army in case Taharqa should have +filled up the wells which marked the stages in the caravan route.* +When all was ready, Esarhaddon consulted the oracle of Shamash, and, on +receiving a favourable reply from the god, left Nineveh in the beginning +of the month Nisan, 670 B.C., to join the invading army in Syria.** + + * This information is furnished by the fragment of the + _Annals_. The Assyrian text introduces this into the + narrative in such a manner that it would appear as if these + negotiations were carried on at the very commencement of the + campaign; it is, however, more probable that they were + concluded beforehand, as occurred later on, in the time of + Cambyses, when the Persians invaded Egypt. + + ** The published texts refer to the second Egyptian campaign + of Esarhaddon. The reply of the god is not easy to + interpret, but it was certainly favourable, since the + expedition took place. + +He made a detour in order to inspect the lines of forts which his +generals had established along the coast opposite Tyre, and strengthened +their garrisons to prevent Baal from creating a diversion in the rear +of his base of operations; he then proceeded southwards to the +neighbourhood of Aphek, in the territory of the tribe of Simeon. The +news which there met him must doubtless have informed him that the +Bedawin had been won over in the interval by the emissaries of Taharqa, +and that he would run great risk by proceeding with his campaign before +bringing them back to a sense of their duty. On leaving Aphek* he +consequently turned southwards, and plunged into the heart of the +desert, as if he had renounced all designs upon Egypt for that season, +and was bent only on restoring order in Milukhkha and Magan before +advancing further. For six weeks he marched in short stages, without +other water than the supply borne, in accordance with his commands, by +the Arab camels, passing through tracts of desert infested by strange +birds and double-headed serpents; when he had at length dispersed the +bands which had endeavoured to oppose his advance, he suddenly turned in +a north-westerly direction, and, following the dry bed of the torrent of +Muzur, at length reached Raphia. From thence he did not select the usual +route, which follows the coast-line and leads to Pelusium, a place which +he may have feared was too well defended, but he again pressed forward +across the sands of the desert, and in the first days of Tammuz reached +the cultivated land of the Delta by way of the Wady Tumilat. The +frontier garrisons, defeated on the 3rd of Tammuz near Ishkhupri,** +retreated in good order. + + * The defaced name of the country in which this Aphek was + situated was read as Samirina and translated "Samaria" by + the first editor. This interpretation has been adopted by + most historians, who have seen in Aphek the town of this + name belonging to the western portion of Manasseh. Budge + read it Samina, and this reading, verified by Craig, gave + Winckler the idea of identifying Samina or Simina with the + tribe of Simeon, and Aphek with the Aphckah (Josh. xv. 53) + in the mountains of Judah. + + ** The text on the stele at Zinjirli gives a total of + fifteen days' march from Ishkhupri to Memphis, while + Pinches' Babyl. Chron. indicates three battles as having + been fought on the 3rd, 16th, and 18th of Tammuz, and the + taking of Memphis as occurring on the 22nd of the same + month. If fifteen days is precisely accurate for the length + of march, Esarhaddon would have reached Ishkhupri about the + 27th of Sivan. + +Taharqa, hastening to their succour, disputed the ground inch by inch, +and engaged the invaders in several conflicts, two at least of which, +fought on the 16th and 18th of Tammuz, were regular pitched battles, +but in every case the Assyrian tactics triumphed in spite of the dashing +onslaught of the Egyptians; Memphis succumbed on the 22nd, after an +assault lasting merely a few hours, and was mercilessly sacked. The +Ethiopian king, with his army decimated and exhausted, gave up the +struggle, and beat a hasty retreat southwards. The attack had been made +with such rapidity that he had had no time to remove his court from the +"palace of the White Wall" to the Said; the queen, therefore, together +with other women of less exalted rank, fell into the hands of the +conqueror, besides the crown-prince, Ushana-horu, several younger sons +and daughters, and such of the children of Sabaco and Shabitoku as +resided at court. But the victory had cost the Assyrians dearly, and +the enemy still appeared to them so formidable that Esarhaddon prudently +abstained from pursuing him up the Nile Valley. He favourably received +those feudal lords and petty kings who presented themselves to pay him +homage, and confirmed them in possession of their fiefs, but he placed +over them Assyrian governors and imposed new official names on their +cities; thus Athribis was officially called Limir-pateshi-assur, +and other cities received the names Assur-makan-tishkul, +Bifc-marduk-sha-assur-taru, Shaimuk-assur. He further imposed on them +a heavy annual tribute of more than six talents of gold and six hundred +talents of silver, besides robes and woven stuffs, wine, skins, horses, +sheep, and asses; and having accomplished this, he retraced his steps +towards the north-east with immense booty and innumerable convoys of +prisoners. The complete defeat of the Ethiopian power filled not only +Esarhaddon himself but all Asia with astonishment. His return to Nineveh +was a triumphal progress; travelling through Syria by short stages, he +paraded his captives and trophies before the peoples and princes who had +so long relied on the invincible power of the Pharaoh. + +[Illustration: 156.jpg SOUTHERN PROMONTORY AT THE MOUTH OF THE +NAHR-EL-KELB] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph recently brought back by + Lortet. + +Esarhaddon's predecessors had more than once inscribed the record of +their campaigns on the rocks of the Nahr-el-Kelb, beside the bas-relief +engraved there by Ramses II., and it had been no small gratification to +their pride thus to place themselves on a footing of equality with one +of the most illustrious heroes of the ancient Egyptian empire. + +[Illustration: 157.jpg STELE OF ESARHADDON AT THE NAHR-EL-KELB] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Lortet. + +The footpath which skirts the southern bank of the river, and turning +to the south is continued along the seashore, was bordered by the great +stelae in which, one after another, they had thought to immortalise +their glory; following their example, Esarhaddon was in like manner +pleased to celebrate his prowess, and exhibit the ancient lords of the +world subjugated to his will. He erected numerous triumphal monuments +along his route, and the stele which was discovered at one of the gates +of Zinjirli is, doubtless, but an example of those which he erected in +other important cities. + +[Illustration: 158.jpg STELE OF Zinjirli] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph of the original in + the Berlin Museum. + +He is represented on the Zinjirli stele standing erect, while at his +feet are two kneeling prisoners, whom he is holding by a bridle of +cord fastened to metal rings passed through their lips; these figures +represent Baal of Tyre and Taharqa of Napata, the latter with the uraaus +on his forehead. As a matter of fact, these kings were safe beyond his +reach, one surrounded by the sea, the other above the cataracts, and +the people were well aware that they did not form part of the band of +prisoners which denied before their eyes; but they were accustomed to +the vain and extravagant boastings of their conquerors, and these very +exaggerations enabled them to understand more fully the extent of the +victory. Esarhaddon thenceforward styled himself King of Egypt, King of +the Kings of Egypt, of the Said and of Kush, so great was his pride at +having trampled underfoot the land of the Delta. And, in fact, Egypt +had, for a century, been the only one of the ancient Eastern states +which had always eluded the grasp of Assyria. The Elamites had endured +disastrous defeats, which had cost them some of their provinces; the +Urartians had been driven back into their mountains, and no longer +attempted to emerge from them; Babylon had nearly been annihilated +in her struggles for independence; while the Khati, the Phoenicians, +Damascus, and Israel had been absorbed one after another in the gradual +extension of Ninevehe supremacy. Egypt, although she had had a hand in +all then-wars and revolutions, had never herself paid the penalty of +her intrigues, and even when she had sometimes risked her troops on the +battle-fields of Palestine, her disasters had not cost her more than the +loss of a certain number of men: having once retired to the banks of the +Nile, no one had dared to follow, and the idea had gained credence among +her enemies as well as among her friends that Egypt was effectually +protected by the desert from every attack. The victory of Esarhaddon +proved that she was no more invulnerable than the other kingdoms of the +world, and that before a bold advance the obstacles, placed by nature +in the path of an invader, disappeared; the protecting desert had been +crossed, the archers and chariots of Egypt had fled before the Assyrian +cavalry and pikemen, her cities had endured the ignominy and misery of +being taken by storm, and the wives and daughters of her Pharaohs had +been carried off into servitude in common with the numerous princesses +of Elam and Syria of that day. Esarhaddon filled his palaces with +furniture and woven stuffs, with vases of precious metal and sculptured +ivories, with glass ornaments and statuettes looted from Memphis: his +workers in marble took inspiration from the sphinxes of Egypt to modify +the winged, human-headed lions upon which the columns of their palaces +rested, and the plans of his architects became more comprehensive at the +mere announcement of such a vast amount of spoil. The palace they had +begun to build at Nineveh, on the ruins of an ancient edifice, already +surpassed all previous architectural efforts. The alabaster quarries of +the Assyrian mountains and the forests of Phoenicia had alike been put +under contribution to face the walls of its state apartments; +twenty-two chiefs of the country of the Khati, of Phoenicia, and of the +Mediterranean littoral--among them the Greek kings of Cyprus--had vied +with one another in supplying Esarhaddon with great beams of pine, +cedar, and cypress for its construction. The ceilings were of cedar +supported by pillars of cypress-wood encircled by silver and iron; stone +lions and bulls stood on either side of the gates, and the doors were +made of cedar and cypress, incrusted or overlaid with iron, silver and +ivory. The treasures of Egypt enabled Esarhaddon to complete this palace +and begin a new one at Calah, where the buildings erected somewhat +hurriedly by Tiglath-pileser III. had already fallen into ruin. Some +of the slabs on which the latter conqueror had engraved his Annals, +and recounted the principal episodes of his campaigns, were removed and +transferred to the site selected by Esarhaddon, and one of the surfaces +of each was pared down in order to receive new pictures and fresh +inscriptions. They had, however, hardly been placed in the stonemason's +hands when the work was interrupted.* + + * The date of the building of the palace at Calah is + furnished by the inscriptions, in which Esarhaddon assumes + the title of King of Egypt. + +[Illustration: 161.jpg ASSYRIAN SPHINX IN EGYPTIAN STYLE SUPPORTING THE +BASE OF A COLUMN] + + Drawn by Boudier, from the alabaster sculpture reproduced by + Layard. + +It may have been that Esarhaddon had to suspend all his operations while +putting down some conspiracy. At any rate, we know that in 669 B.C. many +high personages of his court were seized and executed. The question of +the succession to the throne was still undecided; Sinidina-bal, the son +whom Esarhaddon had previously designated as his heir presumptive, was +dead, and the people feared lest he should choose from among his other +sons some prince who had not their interests at heart. The king's +affection for Babylon had certainly aroused jealousy and anxiety among +his Assyrian subjects, and perhaps some further tokens of preference +made them uneasy lest' he should select Shamash-shumukin, one of his +children who manifested the same tendencies, and who was, moreover, the +son of a Babylonian wife. Most of the nobles who had been led to join +the conspiracy paid for their indiscretion with their heads, but their +opposition gave the sovereign cause for reflection, and decided him to +modify his schemes. Convinced that it was impossible to unite Babylon +and Nineveh permanently under the same ruler, he reluctantly decided +to divide his kingdom into two parts--Assyria, the strongest portion, +falling naturally to his eldest son, Assur-bani-pal, while Babylonia was +assigned to Shamash-shumukin, on condition of his paying homage to his +brother as suzerain.* The best method to ensure his wishes being carried +into effect was to prepare their way for the fulfilment while he was +still alive; and rebellions which broke out about this time beyond the +isthmus afforded a good opportunity for so doing. Egypt was at this +period divided into twenty states of various dimensions, very nearly the +same as had existed a century before, when Pionkhi had, for the first +time, brought the whole country under Ethiopian rule.** In the south, +the extensive Theban province occupied both sides of the river from +Assuan to Thinis and Khemmis. + + * Winokler considers that Assur-bani-pal was the leader of + tha conspiracy, and that he obliged his father to recognise + him as heir to the crown of Assyria, and to associate him on + the throne. + + ** The list of the principalities in the time of Esarhaddon + and Assur-bani-pal is found on the cylinders of Assur-bani- + pal. + +It was nominally governed by Amenertas or her daughter, Shapenuapit, but +the administration was, as usual, entrusted to a member of the priestly +college, at that time to Montumihait, Count of Thebes, and fourth +prophet of Anion.* + + * The Assyrian name of this personage, spelt first + Mantimiankhi, has been more accurately transcribed + Mantimikhi. The identification with the Montumihait of the + Theban documents, is now generally adopted. + +The four principalities of Thinis, Siut, Hermopolis, and Heracleopolis +separated it from the small kingdom of Memphis and Sais, and each of the +regions of the Delta was divided into one or two fiefs, according to the +number and importance of the towns it contained. In the south, Thebes +was too directly under the influence of Ethiopia to be able to exercise +an independent policy with regard to the rest of the country. In the +north, two families contested the supremacy more or less openly. One of +them, whose hereditary domains included the Arabian, and parts of the +surrounding nomes, was then represented by a certain Pakruru. He had +united under his banner the numerous petty chiefs of the eastern side of +the Delta, the heirs of the ancient dynasties of Tanis and Bubastis, and +his energy or ability must have made a good impression on the minds of +his contemporaries, for they handed down his memory to their successors, +who soon metamorphosed him into a popular legendary hero, famed both for +his valour and wisdom. The nobles of the western nomes acknowledged as +their overlords the regents of Sais, the descendants of that Bocchoris +who had for a short while brought the whole valley of the Nile under +his sway. Sabaco, having put his rival to death, had installed in his +hereditary domains an Ethiopian named Ammeris, but this Ammeris had +disappeared from the scene about the same time as his patron, in 704 +B.C., and after him three princes at least had succeeded to the throne, +namely, Stephinates, Nekhepsos, and Necho.* Stephinates had died about +680 B.C., without accomplishing anything which was worth recording. +Nekhepsos had had no greater opportunities of distinguishing himself +than had fallen to the lot of his father, and yet legends grew up round +his name as round that of Pakruru: he was reputed to have been a great +soothsayer, astrologist, and magician, and medical treatises were +ascribed to him, and almanacs much esteemed by the superstitious in the +Roman period.** + + * The lists of Eusebius give the series Ammeres, + Stephinates, Nekhepsos, Necho I., but Lepsius displaced + Ammeres and identified him with the queen Amenertas; others + have thought to recognise in him Miamun Pionkhi, or + Tanuatamanu, the successor of Taharqa. He must, however, be + left in this place in the list, and we may perhaps consider + him as the founder of the XXVIth dynasty. If the number of + seven years for the reign of Stephinates is adopted, we must + suppose either that Manetho passed over the name of a prince + at the beginning of the XXVIth dynasty, or that Ammeris was + only enthroned at Memphis after the death of Sabaco; but the + lists of the Syncellus and of Sothis assign 27 years to the + reign of Stephinates. + + ** The astrological works of Nekhepsos are cited, among + others, by Pliny, and it is probably he whom a Greek papyrus + of the Salt Collection mentions under the name of Nekheus. + +Necho had already occupied the throne for three or four years when the +invasion of 670 B.C. delivered him from the Ethiopian supremacy. He is +represented as being brave, energetic, and enterprising, ready to hazard +everything in order to attain the object towards which the ambition of +his ancestors had been tending for a century past, namely, to restore +unity to the ancient kingdom under the rule of the house of Sais. The +extent of his realm, and, above all, the possession of Memphis, gave him +a real superiority, and Esarhaddon did not hesitate to esteem him above +his competitors; the Ninevite scribes placed him in the first rank, and +he heads the list of the Egyptian vassals. He soon had an opportunity +of proving his devotion to his foreign suzerain. Taharqa did not +quietly accept his defeat, and Egypt looked to him to be revenged on the +Assyrian as soon as he should have reorganised his army. He once more, +accordingly, took the field in the middle of 669 B.C.; the barons of the +Said rallied to his standard without hesitation, and he soon re-entered +the "White Wall," but there his advance was arrested. Necho and the +neighbouring chiefs of the Delta, held in check by the presence of +Semitic garrisons, did not venture to proclaim themselves on his +side, and awaited under arms the arrival of Assyrian reinforcements.* +Esarhaddon, in spite of failing health, assumed command of the troops, +and before leaving home carried out the project to which the conspiracy +of the preceding year had given rise; he assigned the government of +Babylon to Shamash-shumukin, and solemnly designated Assur-bani-pal +as the heir to Assyria proper, and to the suzerainty over the whole +empire.** + + * The first Egyptian campaign of Assur-bani-pal is also the + last campaign of Esarhaddon, and Assur-bani-pal appropriated + all the earlier incidents of it, some of which belong to the + sole reign of his father, and some to the few weeks in which + he shared the throne with him. + + ** The association of Assur-bani-pal with his father on the + throne was pointed out by G. Smith, who thought he could fix + the date about 673 B.C., three or four years before the + death of Esarhaddon. Tielo showed that Assur-bani-pal was + then only made viceroy, and assigned his association in the + sovereignty to the year 671 or 670 B.C., about the time of + the second Egyptian campaign, while Hommel brought it down + to 669. Winckler has, with much reason, placed the date in + 668 B.C. The Assyrian documents do not mention the + coronation of Shamash-shuniukin, for Assur-bani-pal + afterwards affected to consider his brother a mere viceroy, + appointed by himself after the death of his father + Esarhaddon; but an examination of all the circumstances has + shown that the enthronement of Shamash-shumukin at Babylon + was on a par with that of Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh, and + that both owed their elevation to their father. + +On the 12th of Lyyar, 668 B.C., on the day of the feast of Gula, he +presented their new lord to all the inhabitants of Assyria, both small +and great, who had assembled to be present at the ceremony, which ended +in the installation of the prince in the palace of Bitriduti, reserved +for the heirs-apparent. A few weeks later Esarhaddon set out for Egypt, +but his malady became more serious on the journey, and he died on the +10th of Arakhsamna, in the twelfth year of his reign.* + + * Arakhsamna corresponds to the Jewish Marcheswan, and to + our month of May. + +When we endeavour to conjure up his image before us, we fancy we +are right in surmising that he was not cast in the ordinary mould of +Assyrian monarchs. The history of his campaigns shows that he was as +active and resolute as Assur-nazir-pal and Shalmaneser III., but he did +not add to these good qualities their inflexible harshness towards their +subjects, nor their brutal treatment of conquered foes. Circumstances +in which they would have shown themselves merciless, he seized upon as +occasions for clemency, and if massacres and executions are recorded +among the events of his reign, at least he does not class them among +the most important: the records of his wars do not continually speak of +rebels flayed alive, kings impaled before the gates of their cities, +and whole populations decimated by fire and sword. Of all the Assyrian +conquerors, he is almost the only one for whom the historian can feel +any regard, or from the study of whose reign he passes on with regret to +pursue that of others in due course. + +As soon as Esarhaddon had passed away, the separation of the two parts +of the empire which he had planned was effected almost automatically: +Assur-bani-pal proclaimed himself King of Assyria, and Shamash-shumukin, +in like manner, King of Babylon. One fact, which seems insignificant +enough to us when we read it in the Annals, but was decisive in the +eyes of their contemporaries, sanctioned the transformation thus +accomplished: Bel and the gods of Accad quitted Assur in the month of +Iyyar and returned to their resting-place in Babylon. The restoration +of the images to their own country became necessary as soon as it was +decided to have a king in Karduniash, even though he were an Assyrian. +To enable him to exercise legitimate authority, he must have celebrated +the rites and "taken the hands of Bel," but it was a question whether +this obligation could be fulfilled if Bel remained a prisoner in the +neighbouring capital. Assur-bani-pal believed for a moment that this +difficulty could be obviated, and consulted Shamash on this delicate +question: "Shamash-shumukin, the son of Esarhaddon, the King of Assyria, +can he in this year take the hands of Bel, the mighty lord Marduk, in +this very city, and then go to Babylon with the favour of Bel! If that +would be pleasing to thy great divinity and to the mighty lord Marduk, +thy great divinity must know it." The reply was not favourable, and +Shamash gave it as his opinion that Bel could not act as a sovereign +lord while still languishing in prison in a city which was not his own. +Assur-bani-pal had to resign himself to the release of his captive, +and he did it with a good grace. He proceeded in pomp to the temple of +Assur, where Marduk was shut up, and humbly entreated the exiled deity +to vouchsafe to return to his own country. + +[Illustration: 168.jpg ASSUR-BANIPAL AS A BEARER OF OFFERINGS] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph in Lehmann. + +"Think on Babylon, which thou didst bring to nought in the rage of thy +heart, and turn thy face towards the temple of E-sagilla, the lofty seat +of thy divinity! Revisit thy city which thou hast forsaken to inhabit a +place which is not worthy of thee, and do thou thyself, O Marduk, lord +of the gods, give the command to return to Babylon." The statue set out +on its journey, and was escorted by a solemn procession headed by the +two kings. The gods, by one accord, came forth from their cities +and saluted the traveller as he passed by--Beltis of Agade, Nebo of +Borsippa, Shamash of Sippara, and Nirgal. At length he reached his +beloved city, and entered E-sagilla in the midst of an immense throng +of people. The kings headed the _cortege_, and the delighted multitude +joined their two names with that of the god in their acclamations: it +was a day never to be forgotten. Assur-bani-pal, in his capacity of +suzerain, opened the sacred edifice, and then presented his brother, who +thereupon "took the hands of Bel." + +[Illustration: 169.jpg SIHAMASH-SHUMUKIN AS A BEARER OF OFFERINGS] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph in Lehmann. + +A quarter of a century had not passed since the victorious Sennacherib +had, as he thought, inflicted a mortal blow on the one power which stood +in the way of Assyria's supremacy in Western Asia; already, in spite of +his efforts, the city had sprung up from its ruins as vigorous as ever, +and his sons and grandsons had felt themselves irresistibly drawn +to resuscitate that which their ancestors had desired to annihilate +irrevocably. Babylon had rebuilt her palaces, her walls, and her +temples; she had received back her gods without a war, and almost +without any agitation, by the mere force of the prestige she exercised +over all around her, and even over her conquerors. As a matter of fact, +she had not regained her former position, and was still depressed and +enfeebled by the blow which had laid her low; in addition to this, her +king was an Assyrian, and a vassal of Assyria, but nevertheless he +was her own king, and hers alone. Her independence was already half +regained. Shamash-shumukin established his court at Babylon, and applied +himself from the outset to restore, as far as he was able, the material +and moral forces of his kingdom. Assur-bani-pal, on his side, met with +no opposition from his subjects, but prudence cautioned him not to +estrange them; the troubles of the preceding year were perhaps not +so completely suppressed as to prevent the chiefs who had escaped +punishment from being encouraged by the change of sovereign to renew +their intrigues. The king, therefore, remained in Nineveh to inaugurate +his rule, and confided to his generals the charge of conducting the +expeditions which had been undertaken during his father's lifetime.* One +of these undertakings was unimportant. Tandai of Kirbit, a petty chief, +was continually engaged in harassing the inhabitants of Yamutbal; he +bore down upon them every year, and, after dealing a blow, retreated to +his hiding-place in the mountains. He was attacked in his stronghold, +and carried away captive with all his people into Egypt, at the furthest +extremity of the empire, to serve in Assyrian garrisons in the midst of +the fellahin.** + + * In the numerous documents relating to the reign of Assur- + bani-pal the facts are arranged in geographical order, not + by the dates of the successive expeditions, and the + chronological order of the campaigns is all the more + difficult to determine accurately, as _Pinches' Babylonian + Chronicle_ fails us after the beginning of this reign, + immediately after the mention of the above-mentioned war + with Kirbit. Even the _Eponym Canon_ is only accurate down + to 666 B.C.; in that year there is a break, and although we + possess for the succeeding period more than forty names of + eponyms, their classification is not at present absolutely + certain. + + ** The expedition against Kirbit is omitted in certain + documents; it is inserted in the others in the fourth place, + between the wars in Asia Minor and the campaign against the + Mannai. The place assigned to it in the Bab. Chron. quite in + the beginning of the reign, is confirmed by a fragment of a + tablet quoted by Winckler. Perhaps it was carried out by a + Babylonian army: although Assur-bani-pal claimed the glory + of it, by reason of his suzerainty over Karduniash. + +Meanwhile, the army which Esarhaddon had been leading against Taharqa +pursued its course under command of the Tartan.* Syria received it +submissively, and the twenty-two kings who still possessed a shadow of +autonomy in the country sent assurances of their devotion to the new +monarch: even Yakinlu, King of Arvad, who had aroused suspicion by +frequent acts of insubordination,** thought twice before rebelling +against his terrible suzerain, and joined the rest in paying both +homage and tribute. Cyprus and also Phoenicia remained faithful to their +allegiance, and, what was of still more consequence, the states which +lay nearest to Egypt--Philistia, Judah, Moab, and Ammon; the Assyrians +were thus able to push forward to the Delta without losing time in +repressing rebellions along their route. The Ethiopians had entrenched +themselves at Karbaniti;*** they were, however, once more defeated, and +left; so many of their soldiers dead upon the field, that Taharqa had +not sufficient troops left to defend Memphis. + + * The text of Tablet K 2675-K 228 of the Brit. Mus., states + distinctly that the Tartan commanded the first army. + + ** Assur-bani-pal, acting in the name of his father, + Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, had consulted Shamash on the + desirability of sending troops against Arvad: the prince of + this city is called Ikkalu, which is a variant of Yakinlu. + Winckler concluded that the campaign against Arvad took + place before 668 B.C., in the reign of Esarhaddon. It seems + to me more natural to place it on the return from Egypt, + when the people of Arvad were demoralised by the defeat of + the Pharaoh whose alliance they had hoped for. + + *** I had compared Karbaniti with the Qarbina mentioned in + the _Great Harris Papyrus_, and this identification was + accepted by most Egyptologists, even after Brugsch + recognised in Qarbina the name of Canopus or a town near + Canopus. It has been contested by Steindorf, and, in fact, + Karbaniti could not be identified with Canopus, any more + than the Qarbina of the Harris Papyrus; its site must be + looked for in the eastern or central part of the Delta. + +He retreated upon Thebes, where he strongly fortified himself; but the +Tartan had not suffered less than his adversary, and he would have been +unable to pursue him, had not reinforcements promptly reached him. The +Bab-shakeh, who had been despatched from Nineveh with some Assyrian +troops, had summoned to his aid the principal Syrian feudal chiefs, who, +stimulated by the news of the victories achieved on the banks of the +Nile, placed themselves unreservedly at his disposal. He ordered +their vessels to proceed along the coast as far as the Delta, where +he purposed to collect a fleet to ascend the river, while their +troops augmented the force already under his command. The two Assyrian +generals, the Tartan and the Rabshakeh, quitted Memphis, probably in the +early part of 667 B.C., and, cautiously advancing southwards, covered +the distance separating the two Egyptian capitals in a steady march +of forty days. When the Assyrians had advanced well up the valley, the +princes of the Delta thought the opportunity had arrived to cut them +off by a single bold stroke. They therefore opened cautious negotiations +with the Ethiopian king, and proposed an arrangement which should secure +their independence: "We will divide the country between us, and neither +of us shall exercise authority over the other." However secretly these +negotiations were conducted, they were certain to come to the knowledge +of the Assyrian generals: the couriers were intercepted; and discovering +from the despatches the extent of the danger, the Assyrians seized +as many of the leaders of the league as they could. As a warning they +sacked Sais, Mendes, and Tanis, demolishing the fortifications, and +flaying or impaling the principal citizens before their city gates; +they then sent two of the intriguing chiefs, Necho and Sharludari of +Pelusium, bound hand and foot with chains, to Nineveh. Pakruru, of the +Arabian nome, managed, however, to escape them. Taharqa, thus bereft of +his allies, was no longer in a condition to repel the invader: he fled +to Ethiopia, abandoning Thebes to its fate. The city was ransomed +by despoiling the temple of Amon of half its treasures: Montumihait +transferred his allegiance unhesitatingly to Assur-bani-pal, and the +whole of Egypt from the Mediterranean to the first cataract once +more became Assyrian territory. The victory was so complete that +Assur-bani-pal thought he might without risk show clemency to his +prisoners. He summoned them to his presence, and there, instead of +putting out their eyes or subjecting them to some horrible form of +torture, he received them back into favour, and confirmed Necho in the +possession of all the honours which Esarhaddon had conceded to him. He +clothed him in a mantle of honour, and bestowed on him a straight-bladed +sword with an iron scabbard ornamented with gold, engraved with his +names and titles, besides rings, gold bracelets, chariots, horses, and +mules; in short, all the appurtenances of royalty. Not content with +restoring to him the cities of Sais and Memphis, he granted him the fief +of Athribis for his eldest son, Psammetichus. + +[Illustration: 174.jpg MONTUMIHAIT, PRINCE OF THEBES] + + Drawn by Boudier, from the photograph by Miss Benson. It is + not quite certain that this statue represents Montumihait, + as the inscription is wanting: the circumstances of the + discovery, however, render it very probable. + +Moreover, he neglected no measure likely to show his supremacy. Athribis +received the new name of Limir-patesi-assur, _may the high priest of +Assur be glorious_, and Sais that of Kar-bel-matati, _the fortress of +the lord of the countries_. Psammetichus was called Nebo-shezib-anni, +_Nebo, deliver me_, and residents were installed at his court and that +of his father, who were entrusted with the _surveillance_ of their +conduct, and the task of keeping them to the path of duty: Necho, thus +well guarded, thenceforward never faltered in his allegiance. + +The subjection of Egypt reacted on Syria and Asia Minor. Of the only two +states still existing along the Phoenician seaboard, one, namely Tyre, +had been in revolt for many years, and the other, Arvad, showed symptoms +of disaffection. + +[Illustration: 175.jpg PSAMMETICHUS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief in the British + Museum. + +Esarhaddon, from lack of a sufficient fleet, had never been able to +subdue the former, but he had interrupted the communications of the +island with the mainland, and the blockade, which was constantly +increasing in strictness, had already lasted for four years. On receipt +of the news from Egypt, Baal realised that further resistance was +hopeless; he therefore delivered up to the victor his heir-apparent, +Yahi-melek, and one of his daughters, together with other hostages, +besides silver, gold, and wood, and intreated for pardon. Assur-bani-pal +left him in possession of his kingdom on condition of paying the regular +tribute, but Yakinlu, the King of Arvad, met with harsher treatment. In +vain did he give up his sons, his daughters, and all his treasures; his +intractability had worn out the patience of his suzerain: he was carried +away captive to Nineveh, and replaced by Azibaal, his eldest son. +Two chiefs of the Taurus--Mugallu of Tabal, who had given trouble +to Esarhaddon in the last years of his life, and Sanda-sarme of +Cilicia--purchased immunity from the punishment due for various acts +of brigandage, by gifts of horses, and by handing over each of them a +daughter, richly dowered, to the harem of the king at Nineveh. But these +were incidents of slight moment, and their very insignificance proves +how completely resigned to foreign domination the nations of the +Mediterranean coast had now become. Vassal kings, princes, cities, +peasants of the plain or shepherds of the mountains, all who were +subject directly or indirectly to Assyria, had almost ceased to imagine +that a change of sovereign afforded them any chance of regaining their +independence. They no longer considered themselves the subjects of a +conqueror whose death might free them from allegiance; they realised +that they were the subjects of an empire whose power did not depend on +the genius or incapacity of one man, but was maintained from age to +age in virtue of the prestige it had attained, whatever might be the +qualities of the reigning sovereign. The other independent states had at +length come to the same conclusion, and the news of the accession of a +fresh Assyrian king no longer awakened among them hopes of conquest or, +at all events, of booty; such an occasion was regarded as a suitable +opportunity for strengthening the bonds of neighbourly feeling or +conciliatory friendship which united them to Assyria, by sending an +embassy to congratulate the new sovereign. One of these embassies, which +arrived about 667 B.C., caused much excitement at the court of Nineveh, +and greatly flattered the vanity of the king. Reports brought back +by sailors or the chiefs of caravans had revealed the existence of a +kingdom of Lydia in the extreme west of Asia Minor, at the place of +embarcation for crossing the sea.* + + * It is called _nagu sha nibirti tamtim_, "the country of + the crossing of the sea," or more concisely, "the country + this side the sea." + +It was known to be celebrated for its gold and its horses, but no direct +relations between the two courts had ever been established, and the +Lydian kings had hitherto affected to ignore the existence of Assyria. +A revolution had broken out in this province a quarter of a century +previously, which had placed on the throne of the Heraclidse that family +of the Mermnado whose previous history had been so tragic. Dascylus, +who had made his home for a long time among the White Syrians, had no +intention of abandoning his adopted country, when one day, about the +year 698 B.C., a messenger arrived bidding him repair to Sardes without +delay. His uncle Ardys, prince of Tyrrha, having no children, had +applied to Sadyattes, beseeching him to revoke the sentence of +banishment passed on his nephew. "My house is desolate," said he, "and +all my kinsfolk are dead; and furthermore, Dascylus and his house have +already been pardoned by thine ancestors." Sadyattes consented, but +Dascylus, preferring not to return, sent his son Gyges, then about +eighteen years of age, in his stead. Gyges was a tall and very beautiful +youth, and showed unusual skill as a charioteer and in the use of +weapons, so that his renown soon spread throughout the country. +Sadyattes desired to see him, and being captivated by his bold +demeanour, enrolled him in his bodyguard, loaded him with presents, and +took him into his entire confidence. Gyges was clever enough to utilise +the king's favour in order to enlarge his domains and increase his +riches, and thus win partisans among the people and the body of +"Friends." Carian mercenaries at that time formed one of the most +vigorous and best disciplined contingents in the armies of the period.* +The Carians were, above all, a military race, and are said to have +brought the shield and helmet to their highest perfection; at Sardes +they formed the garrison of the citadel, and their captains were in high +favour with the king. Gyges formed a fast friendship with Arselis of +Mylasa, one of the chief of these officers, and thus made sure of the +support of the garrison, and of the possibility of recruiting a corps +among the Carian clans who remained in their own country.** He thus +incurred the bitter jealousy of the Tylonidag, whose chief, Lixos, was +ready to adopt any measures which might damage his rival, even going so +far as to simulate madness and run through the streets of Sardes crying +out that Gyges, the son of Dascylus, was about to assassinate the king; +but this stratagem did not succeed any better than his other treacherous +devices. Meanwhile Sadyattes had sought the hand of Toudo,*** daughter +of Arnossos of Mysia, and sent his favourite to receive his affianced +bride at the hand of her father. + + * Archilochus of Paros, a contemporary of Gyges, mentions + the Carian mercenaries, and later on Ephorus said of them, + that they had been the first to sell their services to + strangers. + + ** The connection between Arselis and Gyges is mentioned by + Plutarch. + + *** It is not certain whether the name is Toudo or Trydo. + +Gyges fell in love with her on the journey, and tried in vain to win +her favour. She repulsed his advances with indignation, and on the very +night of her marriage complained to her husband of the insult which +had been offered her. Sadyattes swore that he would avenge her on the +morrow; but Gyges, warned by a servant, slew the king before daybreak. +Immediately after thus assassinating his sovereign, Gyges called +together the "Friends," and ridding himself of those who were hostile +to him, induced the others by bribes to further his designs; then +descending to the place of public assembly, he summoned the people to a +conclave. After a long and stormy debate, it was decided to consult +the oracle at Delphi, which, corrupted by the gold from the Pactolus, +enjoined on the Lydians to recognise Gyges as their king. He married +Toudo, and by thus espousing the widow of the Heraclid sovereign, +obtained some show of right to the crown; but the decision of the oracle +was not universally acceptable, and war broke out, in which Gyges was +victorious, thanks to the bravery of his Carian mercenaries. His +career soon served as the fabric on which the popular imagination was +continually working fresh embroideries. He was reported at the outset to +have been of base extraction, a mere soldier of fortune, who had raised +himself by degrees to the highest posts and had finally supplanted his +patron. Herodotus, following the poet Archilochus of Paros, relates +how the last of the Heraclidas, whom he calls by his private name of +Kandaules, and not his official name of Sadyattes,* forcibly insisted +on exposing to the admiration of Gyges the naked beauty of his wife; the +queen, thus outraged, called upon the favourite to avenge the insult to +her modesty by the blood of her husband, and then bestowed on him her +hand, together with the crown. + + * Schubert considers that the names Sadyattes and Kandaules + belong to two distinct persons. Kandaules, according to him, + was probably a second son of Myrsos, who, after the murder + of Sadyattes, disputed the possession of the crown with + Gyges; in this case he was killed in battle by the Carian + commander, Arselis, as related by Plutarch, and Gyges was + not really king till after the death of Kandaules. + +Plato made this story the groundwork of a most fantastic tale. Gyges, +according to him, was originally a shepherd, who, after a terrible +storm, noticed a fissure in the ground, into which he crept; there he +discovered an enormous bronze horse, half broken, and in its side the +corpse of a giant with a gold ring on his finger. Chance revealed to him +that this ring rendered its wearer invisible: he set out for the court +in quest of adventures, seduced the queen, murdered the king and seized +his crown, accomplishing all this by virtue of his talisman.* + + * This version is curious, because it has preserved for us + one of the earliest examples of a ring which renders its + wearer invisible; it is well known how frequently such a + talisman appears in Oriental tales of a later period. + +According to a third legend, his crime and exaltation had been presaged +by a wondrous prodigy. Two eagles of supernatural size had alighted on +the roof of Toudo's room while she was still dwelling in her father's +house, and the soothsayers who were consulted prognosticated that the +princess would be the wife of two kings in a single night; and, in +fact, Gyges, having stabbed Sadyattes when his marriage was but just +consummated, forced Toudo to become his wife on the spot without waiting +for the morrow. Other stories were current, in which the events were +related with less of the miraculous element, and which attributed the +success of Gyges to the unbounded fidelity shown him by the Carian +Arselis. In whatever manner it was brought about, his accession marked +the opening of a new era for Lydia. The country had always been noted +for its valiant and warlike inhabitants, but the Heraclidse had not +expended its abundant resources on foreign conquest, and none of the +surrounding peoples suspected that it could again become the seat of a +brilliant empire as in fabulous times. + +[Illustration: 181.jpg LYDIAN HORSEMEN] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a Lydian bas-relief now in the + British Museum. + +Gyges endeavoured to awaken the military instincts of his subjects. If +he were not actually the first to organise that admirable cavalry corps +which for nearly a century proved itself invincible on the field of +battle, at least he enlarged and disciplined it, giving it cohesion +and daring; and it was well he did so, for a formidable danger already +menaced his newly acquired kingdom. The Cimmerians and Treres, so +long as they did not act in concert, had been unable to overcome the +resistance offered by the Phrygians; their raids, annually renewed, had +never resulted in more than the destruction of a city or the pillaging +of an ill-defended district. But from 690 to 680 B.C. the Cimmerians, +held in check by the bold front displayed by Sennacherib and Esarhaddon, +had at last broken away from the seductions of the east, and poured down +in force on the centre of the peninsula. King Midas, after an heroic +defence, at length gave way before their overwhelming numbers, and, +rather than fall alive into the hands of the barbarians, poisoned +himself by drinking the blood of a bull (676 B.C.).* The flower of his +nobility perished with him, and the people of lower rank who survived +were so terrified by the invasion, that they seemed in one day to lose +entirely the brave and energetic character which had hitherto been their +safeguard. The Cimmerians seized town after town;** they descended from +the basin of the Sangarios into that of the Bhyndakos; they laid waste +the Troad, and, about 670 B.C., they established themselves securely in +the stronghold of Antandros, opposite the magnificent AEolian island of +Lesbos, and ere long their advanced posts were face to face on all sides +with the outposts of Lydia. + + * The date of 676 B.C. has been borrowed from Julius + Africanus by the Christian chronologists of the Byzantine + period; these latter made the fall of the Phrygian kingdom + coincide with the reign of Amon in Judaea, and this date is + accepted by most modern historians. + + ** One fact alone, probably taken from the Lydiaca of + Xanthus, is known to us concerning their operations in + Phrygia, namely, the taking of Syassos and the capture of + enormous stores of corn which were laid up in the silos in + that city. + +Gyges resolutely held his own, and successfully repulsed them; but +the struggle was too unequal between their vast hordes, recruited +incessantly from their reserves in Thrace or the Caucasus, and his +scanty battalions of Lydians, Carians, and Creeks. Unaided, he had +no chance of reopening the great royal highway, which the fall of the +Phrygian monarchy had laid at the mercy of the barbarians along the +whole of its middle course, and yet he was aware that a cessation of the +traffic which passed between the Euphrates and the Hermos was likely +to lead in a short time to the decay of his kingdom. If the numerous +merchants who were wont to follow this ancient traditional route were +once allowed to desert it and turn aside to one of the coast-roads +which might replace it--either that of the Pontus in the north or of the +Mediterranean in the south--they might not be willing to return to it +even when again opened to traffic, and Lydia would lose for ever one of +her richest sources of revenue.* + + * Radet deserves credit for being the first to point out the + economic reasons which necessarily led Gyges to make his + attempt at forming an alliance with Assur-bani-pal. He has + thus definitely dismissed the objections which some recent + critics had raised against the authenticity of this episode + in order to defend classic tradition and diminish the + authority of the Assyrian texts. + +We may well conceive that Gyges, whose fortune and very existence was +thus in jeopardy, would seek assistance against these barbarians from +the sovereign whose interests appeared identical with his own. The +renown of the Assyrian empire had penetrated far into the west; the +Achaens of Cyprus who were its subjects, the Greek colonists of Cilicia, +and the soldiers whom the exigencies of the coast-trade brought to +Syrian ports, must all have testified to its splendour; and the fame +of its conquests over the Tabal and the peoples on the Halys had spread +abroad more than once during the previous century, and had reached as +far as the western extremity of the peninsula of Asia Minor, by means of +the merchants of Sardes or Ionia. The Cimmerians had harassed Assyria, +and still continued to be a source of anxiety to her rulers; Gyges +judged that participation in a common hatred or danger would predispose +the king in his favour, and a dream furnished him with a pretext for +notifying to the court of Nineveh his desire to enter into friendly +relations with it. He dreamed that a god, undoubtedly Assur, had +appeared to him in the night, and commanded him to prostrate himself +at the feet of Assur-bani-pal: "In his name thou shalt overcome thine +enemies." The next morning he despatched horsemen to the great king, +but when the leader of the embassy reached the frontier and met the +Assyrians for the first time, they asked him, "Who, then, art thou, +brother, thou from whose land no courier has as yet visited our +country?" The language he spoke was unknown to them; they only gathered +that he desired to be conducted into the presence of the king, and +consequently sent him on to Nineveh under good escort. There the same +obstacle presented itself, for none of the official interpreters at +the court knew the Lydian tongue; however, an interpreter was at length +discovered, who translated the story of the dream as best he could. +Assur-bani-pal joyfully accepted the homage offered to him from such +a far-off land, and from thenceforward some sort of alliance existed +between Assyria and Lydia--an alliance of a very Platonic order, from +which Gyges at least derived no sensible advantage. Some troops +sent into the country of the White Syrians may have disquieted the +Cimmerians, and, by causing a diversion in their rear, procured a +respite for Lydia; but the caravan route across Asia Minor was only +of secondary importance to the prosperity of Nineveh and the Syrian +provinces, since the Phoenician navy provided sufficient outlets for +their trade in the west. Assur-bani-pal lavished friendly speeches on +the Lydians, but left them to bear the brunt of the attack alone, and +devoutly thanked Assur for the security which their determined courage +procured for the western frontier of his empire. + +The Cimmerian peril being, for the present at least, averted, there +no longer remained any foe to trouble the peace of the empire on the +northern or eastern frontier, Urartu, the Mannai, and the Medes having +now ceased to be formidable. Urartu, incessantly exposed to the ravages +of the barbarians, had drawn closer and closer to Assyria; and though +not actually descending to the point of owning its rival's superiority +in order to obtain succour against these terrible foes, it yet carefully +avoided all pretexts for war, and persistently maintained friendly +relations with its powerful neighbour. Its kings, Eusas II. and his +successor Erimenas, no longer meditated feats of arms and successful +raids, but devoted themselves to building their city walls, erecting +palaces and temples, and planning pleasant retreats in the mountain +fastnesses, where they lived surrounded by gardens planted at great +cost, watered by streams brought thither from distant springs. The +Mannai submitted without a murmur to their Assyrian governors, and the +Medes, kept in check by the garrisons of Parsua and Kharkhar, seemed +to have laid aside much of their fierce and turbulent disposition. +Esarhaddon had endeavoured to conciliate the good will of Elam by a +signal service. He had supplied its inhabitants with corn, wine, and +provisions of all sorts during a famine which had afflicted the country +about 670 B.C.; nor had his good will ended there. He refused to bring +into servitude those Elamite subjects who had taken refuge with their +families on Assyrian territory to escape the scourge, although the +rights of nations authorised him so to do, but having nourished them +as long as the dearth lasted, he then sent them back to their +fellow-citizens. Urtaku of Elam had thenceforward maintained a kind of +sullen neutrality, entering only into secret conspiracies against the +Babylonian prefects on the Tigris. The Aramaeans in the valleys of the +Ulai, indeed, were restless, and several of their chiefs, Bel-ikisha +of the G-ambula, and Nabo-shumirish, plotted in secret with +Marduk-shumibni, the Elamite general in command on the frontier. But no +hint of this had yet transpired, and peace apparently reigned there as +elsewhere. Never had the empire been so respected; never had it united +so many diverse nations under one sceptre--Egyptians, Syrians, tribes of +the Taurus, and the mountain districts round the Tigris and Euphrates, +Mannai, Medes, Babylonians, and Arabs; never, moreover, had it possessed +greater resources wherewith to compel obedience from the provinces or +defend them against foreign attack. + +[Illustration: 187.jpg ASSUR-BANI-PAL] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from one of the bas-reliefs from + Kouyunjik in the British Museum. + +Doubtless the population of Assyria proper, and the ancient districts +whose contingents formed the nucleus of the army, were still suffering +from the results of the civil war which had broken out more than fifteen +years before, after the assassination of Sennacherib; but under the easy +rule of Esarhaddon the natural increase of population, unchecked by any +extraordinary call for recruits, must have almost repaired their losses. +The Egyptian campaigns, partially carried out by Syrian auxiliaries, +had not sensibly retarded this progress, and, provided that peace were +maintained for some years longer, the time seemed at hand when the king, +having repaired his losses, could call upon the nation to make fresh +efforts in offensive or defensive warfare, without the risk of seeing +his people melt and disappear before his eyes. It seems, indeed, as if +Assur-bani-pal, either by policy or natural disposition, was inclined +for peace. But this did not preclude, when occasion demanded, his +directing his forces and fighting in person like any other Assyrian +monarch; he, however, preferred repose, and when circumstances forced +war upon him, he willingly delegated the conduct of the army to his +generals. He would probably have renounced possession of Egypt if he +could have done so with safety and such a course would not have been +without wisdom, the retention of this newly acquired province being +difficult and costly. Not to speak of differences in language, religion, +and manners, which would prevent it from ever becoming assimilated to +Assyria as Damascus, Hamath, and Samaria, and most of the Asiatic states +had been, it was merely connected with the rest of the empire by the +thin chain of rocks, desert, and marshes stretching between the Red Sea +and the Mediterranean. A revolt of the cities of the Philistines, or +of one of the Idumsean sheikhs, would have sufficed to isolate it, and, +communications once interrupted, the safety of the numerous Assyrian +officers and garrisons would be seriously jeopardised, all of whom must +be maintained there if the country was to be permanently retained. The +inclination to meddle in the affairs of Syria always displayed by the +Pharaohs, and their obsolete claims to rule the whole country as far as +the Euphrates, did not allow of their autonomy being restored to them at +the risk of the immediate renewal of their intrigues with Tyre or Judah, +and the fomenting of serious rebellions among the vassal princes of +Palestine. On the other hand, Egypt was by its natural position so +detached from the rest of the empire that it was certain to escape +from the influence of Nineveh as soon as the pressure of circumstances +obliged the suzerain to relax his efforts to keep it in subjection. +Besides this, Ethiopia lay behind Egypt, almost inaccessible in the +fabled realms of the south, always ready to provoke conspiracies or +renew hostilities when the occasion offered. Montumihait had already +returned to Thebes on the retreat of the Assyrian battalions, and though +Taharqa, rendered inactive, as it was said, by a dream which bade him +remain at Napata,* had not reappeared north of the cataract, he had sent +Tanuatamanu, the son of his wife by Sabaco, to administer the province +in his name.** Taharqa died shortly after (666 B.C.), and his stepson +was preparing to leave Thebes in order to be solemnly crowned at Gebel +Barkal, when he saw one night in a dream two serpents, one on his right +hand, the other on his left. The soothsayers whom he consulted on the +matter prognosticated for him a successful career: "Thou holdest the +south countries; seize thou those of the north, and let the crowns of +the two regions gleam upon thy brow!" He proceeded at once to present +himself before his divine father Amon of Napata, and, encountering no +opposition from the Ethiopian priests or nobles, he was able to fulfil +the prediction almost immediately after his coronation.*** + + * The legend quoted by Herodotus relates that Sabaco, having + slain Necho I., the father of Psammetichus, evacuated Egypt + which he had conquered, and retired to Ethiopia in obedience + to a dream. The name of Sabaco was very probably substituted + for that of Taharqa in the tradition preserved in Sais and + Memphis, echoes of which reached the Greek historian in the + middle of the fifth century B.C. + + ** It appears, from the _Stele of the Dream_, that + Tanuatamanu was in the Thebaid at the time of his accession + to the throne. + + *** Steindorff thinks that Tanuatamanu had been officially + associated with himself on the throne by Taharqa, and + Schsefer supposes that the dream dates from the first year + of their joint reign. The presence of Tanuatamanu beside + Taharqa, in the small Theban temple, the bas-reliefs of + which were published by Mariette, does not necessarily prove + that the two kings reigned conjointly: it may equally well + indicate that the one accomplished the work commenced by the + other. + +The Said hailed his return with joy, and the inhabitants, massed upon +either bank of the river, acclaimed him as he glided past them on his +boat: "Go in peace! mayest thou have peace! Restore life to Egypt! +Rebuild the ruined temples, set up once more the statues and emblems +of the deities! Reestablish the endowments raised to the gods and +goddesses, even the offerings to the dead! Restore the priest to his +place, that he may minister at all the rites!" + +The Assyrian officials and the princes of the north, with Necho at +their head, were drawn up beneath the walls of Memphis to defy him. He +overcame them, however, captured the city, and pushed on into the Delta +in pursuit of the retreating foe. Necho either fell in a skirmish, or +was taken prisoner and put to death: his son Psammetichus escaped to +Syria, but the remaining princes shut themselves up, each in his own +stronghold, to await reinforcements from Asia, and a series of tedious +and interminable sieges began. Impatient at this dilatory method of +warfare, Tanuatamanu at length fell back on Memphis, and there opened +negotiations in the hope of securing at least a nominal submission, +which might enable him to withdraw from the affair with honour. + +[Illustration: 190.jpg MURAL DECORATIONS FROM THE GROTTOES] + +The princes of the east received his overtures favourably, and consented +to prostrate themselves before him at the White Wall under the auspices +of Pakruru. "Grant us the breath of life, for he who acknowledges thee +not cannot live, and we will be thy vassals, as thou didst declare at +the beginning, on the day in which thou becamest king!" + +[Illustration: 191.jpg KING TANUATAMANU IN ADORATION BEFORE THE GODS OF +THEBES] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Legrain, taken in the + small temple at Thebes. + +The heart of his Majesty was filled with joy when he heard this +discourse: he bestowed upon them in abundance bread, beer, and all +manner of good things. After sojourning some days at the court of +Pharaoh their lord, they said to him, "Why stay we here, O prince +our master?" His Majesty replied, "Wherefore?" They answered then, +"Graciously permit us to return to our own cities, that we may give +commands to our subjects, and may bring thee our tribute offerings!" +They returned ere long, bringing the promised gifts, and the king +withdrew to Napata loaded with spoil.* The Delta proper at once ceased +to obey him, but Memphis, as well as Thebes, still acknowledged his sway +for some two or three years longer.** + + * Tanuatamanu was at first identified by Haigh with the + person whose name Assyriologists read as Urdamani, but the + impossibility of recognising the name _Tanuatamanu_ in + _Urdamani_ decided E. de Rouge, and subsequently others, to + admit an Urdamani different from Tanuatamanu. The discovery + of the right reading of the name _Tandamanu_ by Steindorff + has banished all doubts, and it is now universally admitted + that the person mentioned in the Assyrian documents is + identical with the king who erected the _Stele of the Dream_ + at Gebel Barkal. + + ** A monument still exists which was dedicated at Thebes in + the third year of Tanuatamanu. + +It was neither indolence nor fear which had kept Assur-bani-pal from +marching to the succour of his subjects as soon as the movement under +Tanuatamanu became manifest, but serious complications had arisen in +the south-east which had for the moment obliged him to leave Egypt to +itself. Elam had at last laid aside the mask, and Urtaku, yielding +to the entreaties of the Aramaean sheikhs, who were urged on by +Marduk-shumibni, had crossed the Tigris. Shamash-shumukin, thus taken +unawares, could only shut himself up in Babylon, and in all haste send +information of his plight to his brother and suzerain. Assur-bani-pal, +preoccupied with the events taking place on the Nile, was for a moment +in doubt whether this incursion was merely a passing raid or the opening +of a serious war, but the reports of his scouts soon left no doubt as to +the gravity of the danger: "The Elamite, like a swarm of grasshoppers, +covers the fields, he covers Accad; against Babylon he has pitched his +camp and drawn out his lines." The city was too strong to be taken by +storm. The Assyrians hastened to relieve it, and threatened to cut off +the retreat of the aggressors: the latter, therefore, gave up the siege, +and returned to their own country, but their demeanour was still so +undaunted that Assur-bani-pal did not cross the frontier in pursuit of +them (665 B.C.). He doubtless fully expected that they would soon return +in larger numbers, and perhaps his fear would not have proved unfounded +had not fate suddenly deprived them of all their leaders. Bel-ikisha +was killed in hunting by a wild boar, Nabu-shumirish was struck down +by dropsy, and Marduk-shumibni perished in a mysterious manner. Finally +Urtaku succumbed to an attack of apoplexy, and the year which had been +so fatal to his allies proved not less so to himself (664 B.C.). It +now seemed as if Assur-bani-pal might breathe freely, and inflict his +long-deferred vengeance on Tanuatamanu, but the death of Urtaku did not +remove all causes of uneasiness. Peace was not yet concluded, and it +depended on the new King of Elam whether hostilities would be renewed. +Fortunately for the Assyrians, the transmission of power had rarely +taken place at Susa for a century past without a disturbance, and Urtaku +himself had gained the throne by usurpation, possibly accompanied by +murder. As he had treated his elder brother Khumban-khaldash and the +children of the latter, so did his younger brother Tammaritu now treat +his sons. Tammaritu was "a devil" incarnate, whose whole thoughts were +of murder and rapine; at least, this was the idea formed of him by his +Assyrian contemporaries, who declared that he desired to put to death +the sons of his two predecessors out of sheer cruelty. But we do not +need a very vivid imagination to believe that these princes were anxious +to dethrone him, and that in endeavouring to rid himself of them he +was merely forestalling their secret plots. They escaped his murderous +designs, however, and fled to Assyria,--Khumban-igash, Khumban-appa, +and Tammaritu, sons of Uxtaku, and Kuduru and Parru, sons of +Khumban-khaldash, followed by sixty other princes of royal blood, +together with archers and servants--forming, in fact, a small army of +Elamites. Assur-bani-pal received them with honour, for their defection +furnished him with a powerful weapon against the usurper: by succouring +them he could rouse half Elam and involve it in civil war, in which the +pretenders would soon exhaust their resources. It was now a favourable +moment to renew hostilities in Egypt, while Tammaritu, still insecure on +his throne, would not venture to provoke a conflict.* + + * The time of the war against Urtaku and the expedition + against Tanuatamanu is indicated by a passage in a cylinder + as yet unedited. There we read that the invasion of Urtaku + took place at the moment when Tanuatamanu ascended the + throne. These preliminary difficulties with Elam would thus + have coincided with the two years which elapsed between the + accession of Tanuatamanu and his conquest of Memphis, up to + the third year mentioned in the Berlin inscription; the + testimony of the Egyptian monuments would thus be in almost + complete accord with the Assyrian documents on this point. + +As a matter of fact, Tanuatamanu did not risk the defence of Memphis, +but concentrated his forces at Thebes. Once more the Assyrian generals +ascended the Nile, and, after a voyage lasting six weeks, at length +reached the suburbs of the great city. Tanuatamanu had fled towards +Kipkip, leaving Thebes at the mercy of the invaders. It was given up to +pillage, its population was carried off into slavery, and its temples +and palaces were despoiled of their treasures--gold, silver, metals, +and precious stones, broidered and richly dyed stuffs, and horses of the +royal stud. + +[Illustration: 195.jpg ASSYRIAN HELMET FOUND AT THEBES] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the photograph by Petrie. + +Two of the obelisks which adorned the temple of Amon were taken down +from their pedestals and placed on rafts to be transported to Nineveh, +and we shall perhaps unearth them some day from its ruins. This work of +reprisal accomplished, the conquerors made their way northwards, and the +bulk of the army recrossed the isthmus: Ethiopian rule had ceased north +of the cataract, and Egypt settled down once more under the Assyrian +yoke (663-662 B.C.).* + + * The dates which I have adopted follow from the date of 666 + B.C. given for the death of Taharqa and the accession of + Psammetichus I. The expedition against Thebes must have + taken place at the end of the third or beginning of the + fourth year of the reign of Tanuatamanu, shortly after the + inscription of the third year, and was engraved either in + 663 or 662 B.C. at the latest. + +Impoverished and decayed as Thebes had now long since become, the +nations whom she had afflicted so sorely in the days of her glory had +retained for her feelings of respect and almost of awe: the rumour +of her fall, spread through the Eastern world, filled them with +astonishment and pity. The Hebrews saw in it the chastisement inflicted +by their God on the tyrant who had oppressed their ancestors, and their +prophets used it to impress upon the minds of their contemporaries the +vanity of human prosperity. Half a century later, when Nineveh, menaced +in her turn, was desperately arming herself to repel the barbarians, +Nahum the Elkoshite demanded of her, amid his fierce denunciations, +whether she vaunted herself to be better than "No-amon (city of Amon), +that was situate among the rivers, that had the waters round about her; +whose rampart was the sea, and her wall was of the sea? Ethiopia and +Egypt were her strength, and it was infinite. Put and Lubim (Libya and +the Nubians) came to her succour. Yet was she carried away, she went +into captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top +of all the streets: and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all +her great men were bound in chains." Assur-bani-pal, lord of Egypt and +conqueror of Ethiopia, might reasonably consider himself invincible; +it would have been well for the princes who trembled at the name of +Assur-bani-pal, if they had taken this lesson to heart, and had learned +from the downfall of Tanuata-manu what fate awaited them in the event +of their daring to arouse the wrath of Assyria by any kind of intrigue. +Unfortunately, many of them either failed to see the warning or refused +to profit by it. The Mannai had quickly recovered from the defeat +inflicted on them by Esarhaddon, and their king, Akhsheri, in spite of +his advancing years, believed that his own energy and resources were +sufficient to warrant him in anticipating a speedy revenge. Perhaps +a further insight into the real character of Assur-bani-pal may have +induced him to venture on hostilities. For the king's contemporaries had +begun to realise that, beneath his apparent bravery and ostentation, +he was by nature indolent, impatient of restraint, and fond of ease and +luxury. When not absorbed in the routine of the court and the pleasures +of the harem, he spent his leisure in hunting on the Mesopotamian +plains, or in the extensive parks which had been laid out by himself or +his predecessors in the vicinity of their summer palaces. Urus-stalking +had become merely a memory of the past: these animals had been so +persistently hunted for centuries that the species had almost become +extinct; solitary specimens only were occasionally met with in remote +parts of the forest or in out-of-the-way marshes. The wild ass was still +to be found in large numbers, as well as the goat, the ostrich, and +small game, but the lion was now rarely met with, and the beaters were +no longer sure of finding him in his ancient haunts. Specimens had to be +sought by the royal gamekeepers in the provinces, and when successfully +trapped were forthwith despatched to one or other of the king's country +seats. The beast was often kept for several days in a cage while +preparations were made for a fete, at which he was destined to form one +of the chief attractions, and when the time came he was taken to the +appointed place and let loose; the sovereign pursued him either in a +chariot or on horseback, and did not desist from the chase till he had +pierced his quarry with arrows or lance. + +[Illustration: 198.jpg A LION ISSUING FROM ITS CAGE] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph taken from the + original in the British Museum. + +Frequently the beast would be turned loose in the park, and left there +till accustomed to his surroundings, so that later on he might be +run down under conditions somewhat resembling his native freedom. +Assur-bani-pal did not shun a personal encounter with an infuriated +lion; he displayed in this hazardous sport a bravery and skill which +rivalled that of his ancestors, and he never relegated to another +the task of leading the attack or dealing the final death-blow. This, +however, was not the case when it was a question of starting on some +warlike expedition; he would then leave to his Tartans, or to the +Eabshakeh, or to some other chosen officer, the entire conduct of all +operations.* + + * We have seen, for example, that after the death of + Esarhaddon, the Egyptian campaign was conducted by one of + the Tartans and the Eabshakeh. + +This did not preclude the king from taking an interest in what was +passing beyond the frontier, nor did he fail in his performance of the +various religious duties which custom imposed on an Assyrian sovereign: +he consulted the oracles of Shamash or Ishtar, he offered sacrifices, he +fasted and humbled himself in the temples to obtain the success of his +troops, and when they returned laden with spoil from the campaign, he +attributed their victories no less to his prayers than to their courage +or to the skill of their leaders. His generals, thoroughly equipped for +their task, and well supported by their troops, had no need of the royal +presence to ensure their triumph over any foe they might encounter; +indeed, in the absence of the king they experienced a liberty of action +and boldness in pressing their victories to the uttermost which they +would not have enjoyed had he been in command. Foreigners, accustomed to +see the sovereigns of Nineveh conduct their armies in person, as long +as they were not incapacitated by age, thought that the indolence of +Assur-bani-pal was the unconscious expression of weariness or of his +feeble control of the empire, and Akhsheri determined to be one of the +first to take advantage of it. Events proved that he was mistaken in his +calculations. No sooner had his intentions become known, than a division +of Assyrian troops appeared on his frontier, and prepared to attack him. +Resolving to take the initiative, he fell one night unexpectedly upon +the Assyrian camp, but fortune declared against him: he was driven back, +and his broken ranks were closely pursued for a distance of twenty-three +miles. Eight of his strongholds fell one after the other, and he was at +length forced to abandon his capital of Izirtu, and flee precipitately +to his fortress of Adrana in the heart of the mountains. Even there +he did not find the security he desired, for the conqueror pursued him +thither, methodically devastating by the way the districts through +which he passed: he carried off everything--men, slaves, and herds of +cattle--and he never retired from a city or village without previously +setting it on fire. Paddir, Arsiyanish, and Eristiana were thus +laid waste, after which the Assyrians returned to their camp, having +re-established the authority of their master over several districts +which had been lost to them for some generations previously. Akhsheri +had shown no sign of yielding, but his people, weary of a hopeless +resistance, put him to death, and hurling his corpse over the wall of +Adrana, proclaimed his son Ualli as king. The new sovereign hastened to +conclude a treaty with the Assyrians on reasonable terms: he gave up his +eldest son, Erisinni, and one of his daughters as hostages, and promised +to pay the former tribute augmented by an annual present of thirty +horses; peace was not again disturbed on this side except by some +unimportant skirmishes. In one of these, a Median chieftain, named +Biriz-khadri, made an alliance with two princes of the people of the +Sakhi, Sarati, and Parikhia, sons of Gagu,* to ravage the marches of +the Greater Zab; but their territory was raided in return, and they +themselves taken prisoners. + + * The name of Biriz-khadri has an Iranian appearance. The + first element _Biriz_ recalls the Zend _bereza, berez_, + "tall, large;" the second, which appears in the names Bisi- + khadir and Khali-khadri, is of uncertain derivation, and has + been connected with _atar_, "fire," or with _Ichwathra_, + "brilliance." Gagu, which is found as the name of a people + (Gagati) in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, has been identified + from the first with the name of Gog, prince of Rosh, + Meshech, and Tubal (Ezek. xxxviii. 2, 3; xxxix.) The name + of the country of Sakhi, which has not been met with + elsewhere, has been compared with that of the Sacaj, which + seems to have existed not only in the name of the province + of Sakascno mentioned by the classical geographers, but in + that of Shake known to the old Armenian geographers; the + country itself, however, as it seems to me, cannot be sought + in the direction of Sakaseno, and consequently the proposed + identification cannot hold good. + +A little later, Andaria, prince of Lubdi, forgetful of his oath of +allegiance to the aged Esarhad-don, made a night attack on the towns of +Kullimir and Ubbumi: the inhabitants armed in haste, and he was not +only defeated, but was taken captive, and his head cut off to be sent +to Nineveh. The garrisons and military colonies along the north-east +frontier were constantly required to be on the alert; but they usually +had sufficient available resources to meet any emergency, and the +enemies who molested them were rarely dangerous enough to necessitate +the mobilisation of a regular army. + +This was not the case, however, in the south-west, where Tiumman, +counting on the military strength of Elam, made continual hostile +demonstrations. He was scarcely settled on his throne before he hastened +to form alliances with those Aramaean states which had so often invoked +the aid of his predecessors against the ancestors of Assur-bani-pal. The +Kalda rejected his proposals, as did most of the tribes of the littoral; +but the Gambula yielded to his solicitations, and their king, Dunanu, +son of Bel-ikisha, entered into an offensive and defensive alliance +with Elam. Their defection left the eastern frontier of Karduniash +unprotected, and, by opening to the Elamite the fords of the Tigris, +permitted him to advance on Babylon unhindered by any serious obstacle. +As soon as the compact was sealed, Tiumman massed his battalions on the +middle course of the Uknu, and, before crossing the frontier, sent two +of his generals, the Susian Khumba-dara and the Chaldean Nabu-damiq, as +the bearers of an insolent ultimatum to the court of Nineveh: he offered +the king the choice between immediate hostilities, or the extradition of +the sons of Urtaku and Khumban-khaldash, as well as of their partisans +who had taken refuge in Assyria. To surrender the exiles would have been +an open confession of inferiority, and such a humiliating acknowledgment +of weakness promptly reported throughout the Eastern world might +shortly have excited a general revolt: hence Assur-bani-pal disdainfully +rejected the proposal of the Elamite sovereign, which had been made +rather as a matter of form than with any hope of its acceptance, but the +issue of a serious war with Susa was so uncertain that his refusal was +accompanied with serious misgivings. It needed many favourable omens +from the gods to encourage him to believe in his future success. The +moon-god Sin was the first to utter his prediction: he suffered eclipse +in the month of Tammuz, and for three successive days, at nightfall, +showed himself in the sky surrounded by strange appearances which +heralded the death of a king in Elam, and foretold calamity to that +country. Then Assur and Ishtar struck Tiumman with violent convulsions; +they caused his lips and eyes to be horribly distorted, but he despised +their warning, and as soon as his seizure had passed, set out to assume +command of his army. The news of his action reached Nineveh in the month +of Ab, on the morning of the solemn festival of Ishtar. Assur-bani-pal +was at Arbela, celebrating the rites in honour of the goddess, when the +messenger appeared before him and repeated, together with the terms of +the declaration of war, the scornful words which Tiumman had uttered +against him and his patroness: "This prince whose wits have been crazed +by Ishtar--I will let him escape no more, when once I have gone forth +and measured my strength against him!" This blasphemy filled the +Assyrian king with horror. That very evening he betook himself to the +sanctuary, and there, prostrate before the image of the goddess, +he poured forth prayers mingled with tears: "Lady of Arbela, I am +Assur-bani-pal, King of Assyria, the creature of thy hands, the +offspring of a father whom thou didst create! Behold now, this Tiumman, +the King of Elam, who despises the gods of Assyria, hath sent forth his +host and prepared himself for the conflict; he hath called for his arms +to rush to attack Assyria. Do thou, O archer of the gods, like a bolt +falling in the midst of the battle, overthrow him, and let loose upon +him a tempest, and an evil wind!" Ishtar heard his prayer, and her voice +sounded through the gloom: "Fear not," said she, comforting him: "since +thou hast raised thy hands to me in supplication, and thine eyes are +bedewed with tears grant thee a boon!" Towards the end of that night, +a seer slept in the temple and was visited by a dream. Ishtar of Arbela +appeared to him, with a quiver on either side, a bow in one hand and a +drawn sword in the other. She advanced towards the king, and spoke to +him as if she had been his mother: "Make war boldly! whichever way thou +turnest thy countenance, there will I go!" And the king replied to +her, "Where thou goest, will I go with thee, sovereign lady!" But she +answered, "Stay thou here. Dwell in this home of Nebo, eat thy food and +drink thy wine, listen to joyful songs and honour my divinity, until I +have gone and accomplished this work. Let not thy countenance grow pale, +nor thy feet fail under thee, and expose not thyself to the danger of +battle." "And then, O king," added the seer, "she hid thee in her bosom +as a mother, and protected thy image. A flame shall spring forth before +her, and shall spread abroad to destroy thine enemies: against Tiumman, +King of Elam, who has angered her, has she set her face!" Like Minephtah +of old, in the days of the Libyan invasions of Egypt, Assur-bani-pal +allowed himself to be readily convinced by the decision of the gods; +he did not quit Arbela, but gave orders to his troops to proceed to the +front. His generals opened the campaign in the month of Em, and directed +the main body of their forces against the fortress of Durilu, at the +point on the frontier nearest to Susa. Tiumman was not expecting such +a prompt and direct attack: he had reckoned doubtless on uniting his +forces with those of Dunanu with a view to invading Karduniash, and +suddenly realised that his adversary had forestalled him and was +advancing on the heart of his empire. He slowly withdrew his advanced +guard, and concentrated his forces round the town of Tulliz, a few +leagues on this side of Susa, and there awaited the enemy's attack.* + + * The site of Tulliz is unknown. Billerbock considers, and + with reason, I think, that the battle took place to the + south of Susa, on the river Shavur, which would correspond + to the Ulai, on the lowest spurs of the ridge of hills + bordering the alluvial plain of Susiana. + +His position was a strong one, flanked on the right by a wood and on the +left by the Ulai, while the flower of the Elamite nobility was ranged +around him. The equipment of his soldiers was simpler than that of the +enemy: consisting of a low helmet, devoid of any crest, but furnished +with a large pendant tress of horsehair to shade the neck; a shield of +moderate dimensions; a small bow, which, however, was quite as deadly a +weapon as that of the Assyrians, when wielded by skilful hands; a lance, +a mace, and a dagger. He had only a small body of cavalry, but the +chariotry formed an important force, and presented several original +features. The chariot did not follow the classic model, rounded in front +and open at the back; it was a kind of light car, consisting of a square +footboard placed flat on the axle of the wheels, and furnished with +triangular side-pieces on two sides only, the vehicle being drawn by a +pair of horses. Such chariots were easier to manage, better adapted for +rapid motion, and must have been more convenient for a reconnaissance +or for skirmishes with infantry; but when thrown in a mass against +the heavy chariotry of the peoples of the Euphrates, they were far too +slightly built to overthrow the latter, and at close quarters were of +necessity crushed by the superior weight of the adversary. + +[Illustration: 206.jpg ITUNI BREAKS HIS BOW WITH A BLOW OF HIS SWORD, +AND GIVES HIMSELF UP TO THE EXECUTIONER] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken from the original + in the British Museum. + +[Illustration: 206b.jpg THE BATTLE OF TULLIZ] + +Tiumman had not succeeded in collecting all his forces before the first +columns of the Assyrian army advanced to engage his front line, but +as he was expecting reinforcements, he endeavoured to gain time by +despatching Ituni, one of his generals, with orders to negotiate a +truce. + +The Assyrian commander, suspecting a ruse, would not listen to any +proposals, but ordered the envoy to be decapitated on the spot: Ituni +broke his bow with a blow of his sword, and stoically yielded his +neck to the executioner. The issue of the battle was for a long time +undecided, but the victory finally remained with the heavy regiments of +Assyria. The left wing of the Susians, driven into the Ulai, perished by +drowning, and the river was choked with the corpses of men and horses, +and the debris of arms and broken chariots. The right wing took to +flight under cover of a wood, and the survivors tried to reach the +mountains. + +[Illustration: 209.jpg URTAKU COUSIN OF TIUMMAN, SURRENDERING TO AN +ASSYRIAN] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the original in the + British Museum. + +Urtaku, the cousin of Tiumman, was wounded by an arrow; perceiving +an Assyrian soldier coming up to him, he told him who he was, and +recommended him to carry his head to the general: "He will pay you +handsomely for it," he added. Tiumman had led in person several charges +of his body-guard; and on being wounded, his son Tammaritu had succeeded +in rescuing him from the thick of the fight: both seated together in a +chariot, were in full flight, when one of the wheels caught against a +tree and was shattered, the shock flinging the occupants to the ground. +A large body of Assyrians were in close pursuit, led by one of the +exiled Susian princes, a second Tam-maritu, son of Urtaku. + +[Illustration: 210.jpg THE LAST ARROW OF TIUMMAN AND HIS SON] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British + Museum. + +At the first discharge an arrow wounded Tiumman in the right side, and +brought him to his knee. He felt that all was over, and desiring at +all events to be revenged, he pointed out the deserter prince to his +companion, crying indignantly, "Let fly at him." The arrow missed its +mark, and a flight of hostile darts stretched the young man on the +ground: the traitor Tammaritu dealt the son his death-blow with his +mace, while an Assyrian decapitated the father. The corpses were left on +the field, but the head of the king, after being taken to the general +in command, was carried through the camp on one of the chariots captured +during the action, and was eventually sent to the palace of Arbela by +the hand of a well-mounted courier. + +[Illustration: 211.jpg DEATH OF TIUMMAN AND HIS SON] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British + Museum. + +The day concluded with the making of an inventory of the spoil, and by +an enumeration of the heads of the slain: prisoners from the rank +and file were beaten to death according to custom, and several of the +principal officers had their tongues torn out or were flayed alive. +The news of the disaster was brought to Susa towards evening by the +fugitives, and produced a revolution in the city. The partisans of the +exiled princes, seizing the adherents of Tiumman, put them in chains, +and delivered them up to the conqueror. The shattered remnants of the +army rallied round them, and a throng of men and women in festal garb +issued forth along the banks of the Ulai to meet the Assyrians. The +priests and sacred singers marched to the sound of music, marking the +rhythm with their feet, and filling the air with the noise of their +harps and double flutes, while behind them came a choir of children, +chanting a hymn under the direction of the consecrated eunuchs. +The Tartan met them, and, acting in accordance with the orders of +Assur-bani-pal, presented to the multitude Khumban-igash, the eldest son +of Urtaku, as their king. The people joyfully hailed the new sovereign, +and the Assyrians, after exacting tribute from him and conferring the +fief of Khaidalu on his brother Tammaritu, withdrew, leaving to the new +princes the task of establishing their authority outside the walls of +Susa and Madaktu. As they returned, they attacked the Gambula, speedily +reducing them to submission. Dunanu, besieged in his stronghold of +Shapibel, surrendered at discretion, and was carried away captive with +all his family. + +[Illustration: 212.jpg Khumban-igash Proclaimed King] + +Thus Assur-bani-pal had scrupulously obeyed the orders of Ishtar. While +his generals were winning his victories he had been eating and drinking, +hunting, dallying with his wives, and living in the open air. He was +taking his pleasure with the queen in the palace garden when the head of +Tiumman was brought to him: he caused it to be suspended from the +branch of a pine tree in full view of the whole court, and continued his +banquet to the sound of harps and singing. Rusas III., King of Urartu, +died about this time, and his successor, Sharduris III., thought it +incumbent on him to announce his accession at Nineveh. Assur-bani-pal +received the embassy at Arbela, with the graciousness befitting a +suzerain whom a faithful vassal honours by his dutiful homage, and in +order to impress the Urartians still further with an idea of his power, +he showed them the two Elamite delegates, Khumba-dara and Nabu-damiq, in +chains at his feet.* + + * Belck and Lehmann have very ingeniously connected the + embassy, mentioned in the Assyrian documents, with the fact + of the accession of the king who sent it. + +[Illustration: 215.jpg THE HEAD OF THUMMAN SENT TO NINEVEH] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British + Museum. The chariot speeding along at a gallop in the + topmost series of pictures carries a soldier bearing the + head of Tiumraan in his hand; behind him, under a tent, + scribes are registering the heads which are brought in. In + the two lower bas-reliefs are displayed the closing scenes + of the battle. + +These wretched men had a more cruel ordeal yet in store for them: when +the Assyrian army re-entered Nineveh, Assur-bani-pal placed them on the +route along which the cortege had to pass, and made them realise to the +full the humiliation of their country. Dunanu walked at the head of the +band of captive chiefs, with the head of Tiumman, taken from its tree, +suspended round his neck. When the delegates perceived it, they gave way +to despair: + +Khumba-dara tore out his beard by handfuls, and Nabu-damiq, unsheathing +the dagger which hung from his belt, plunged it into his own breast. + +[Illustration: 216.jpg ASSUR-BANI-PAL BANQUETING WITH HIS QUEEN] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the original in the + British Museum The head of Tiumman hangs on the second tree + on the left-hand side. + +The triumphal entry was followed by the usual tortures. The head of +Tiumman was fixed over the gate of Nineveh, to rot before the eyes of +the multitude. Dunanu was slowly flayed alive, and then bled like a +lamb; his brother Shamgunu had his throat cut, and his body was divided +into pieces, which were distributed over the country as a warning. Even +the dead were not spared: the bones of Nabu-shumirish were disinterred +and transported to Assyria, where his sons were forced to bray them in a +mortar.* We may estimate the extent of the alarm which had been felt at +Nineveh by the outburst of brutal joy with which the victory was hailed. + + * The fullest text of all those which narrate the campaign + against Tiumman and Dunanu is that on _Cylinder B of the + British Museum_. It pretends, as usual, that the king led + the army in person, but the words which the seer places in + the mouth of Ishtar prove that the king remained at Arbela + by divine command, and the inscription on one of the bas- + reliefs, as well as _Tablet K 2674_, mentions, without + giving his name, the general who was sent against Susa. + +[Illustration: 217.jpg TWO ELAMITE CHIEFS FLAYED ALIVE AFTER THE BATTLE +OF TULLIZ] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken in the British + Museum. + +The experience of the past showed what a terrible enemy Assyria had +in Elam, and how slight was the chance of a successful issue in a war +against her. Her kings had often invaded Chaldaea, and had more than once +brought it directly under their sway; they had ravaged its cities and +pillaged its temples, and the sanctuary of Susa were filled with statues +of the gods or with bas-reliefs which they had dedicated after their +campaigns on the Euphrates. Although they had not been successful +against Assyria to the same extent, they had at least always +victoriously repelled her attacks: they had held their own against +Sargon, given much trouble to Sennacherib, and defied the power of +Esarhaddon with impunity. Never till now had an Assyrian army gained +such an important victory over Elam, and though it was by no means +decisive, we can easily believe that Assur-bani-pal was filled with +pride and delight, since it was the first time that a king of Nineveh +had imposed on Elam a sovereign of his own choice. + +Since homage was voluntarily rendered him by the rulers of foreign +nations, Assur-bani-pal doubtless believed that he might exact it +without hesitation from the vassal princes dependent on the empire; and +not from the weaker only like those who were still to be found in Syria, +but also from the more powerful, not excepting the lord of Karduniash. +Shamash-shumukin had fully risen to his position as King of Babylon, and +the unbroken peace which he had enjoyed since the death of Urtaku had +enabled him almost to complete the restoration of the kingdom begun +under Esarhaddon. He had finished the rebuilding of the walls of +Babylon, and had fortified the approaches to the city, thus rendering +it capable of withstanding a long siege; he had repaired the temple of +Sippara, which had never recovered from the Elamite invasion; and while +unstintingly lavishing his treasures in honour of the gods and for the +safety of his capital, he watched with jealous care over the interests +of his subjects. He obtained for them the privilege of being treated +on the same footing as the Assyrians throughout his father's ancestral +domains; they consequently enjoyed the right of trading without +restriction throughout the empire, and met with the same degree of +protection from the officials of Nineveh as from the magistrates of +their own country. Assur-bani-pal had at the outset furthered the wishes +of his brother to the utmost of his power: he had granted the privileges +demanded, and whenever a Chaldaean of noble birth arrived at his court, +he received him with special marks of favour. The two states enjoyed +a nearly absolute equality during the opening years of his reign, and +though the will of Esarhaddon had made Babylon dependent on Assyria, the +yoke of vassalage was far from heavy. The suzerain reserved to himself +the honour of dedicating the mighty works begun by his father, the +restoration of the temple of Bel-Marduk and of the double wall of +fortification; he claimed, in his inscriptions, the whole merit of the +work, but he none the less respected his brother's rights, and in no +way interfered in the affairs of the city except in state ceremonies +in which the assertion of his superior rank was indispensable. But with +success his moderation gradually gave place to arrogance. In proportion +as his military renown increased, he accentuated his supremacy, and +accustomed himself to treat Babylon more and more as a vassal state. +After the conquest of Elam his infatuated pride knew no bounds, and the +little consideration he still retained for Shamash-shumukin vanished +completely. He thenceforward refused to regard him as being more than +a prefect bearing a somewhat higher title than his fellows, a viceroy +owing his crown, not to the will of their common father, but to the +friendship of his brother, and liable to be deprived of it at any moment +through the caprice of the sovereign. He affected to consider all that +took place at Babylon as his own doing, and his brother as being merely +his docile instrument, not deserving mention any more than the ordinary +agents who carried out his designs; and if, indeed, he condescended to +mention him, it was with an assumption of disdainful superiority. It is +a question whether Shamash-Shumukin at this juncture believed that his +brother was meditating a design to snatch the reins of government from +his hand, or whether he merely yielded to the impulse of wounded vanity +in resolving to shake off a yoke which had become intolerable. Knowing +that his power was not equal to that of Assur-bani-pal, he sought to +enter into relations with foreign allies who shared the same fears, or +nursed a similar feeling of bitterness. The nobles and priests of the +ancient Sumerian and Accadian cities were already on his side, but the +Aramaeans had shown themselves hostile at his accession, and had brought +down on him the forces of Elam. He found means, however, to conciliate +them, together with the tribes which dwelt on the Tigris and the Uknu, +as well as those of the lower Euphrates and the Arabian desert. He won +over to his projects Nabu-belzikri, the chief of the Kalda--grandson of +that Merodach-baladan who had cherished invincible hatred against Sargon +and Sennacherib--besides the lords of the Bit-Dakkuri and Bit-Amukkani, +and the sheikh of the Pukudu. Khumban-igash ought to have remained +loyal to the friend to whom he owed his kingdom, but he chafed at the +patronage of Assyria, and Assur-bani-pal had just formulated a demand to +which he, not unreasonably, hesitated to accede. The archaic statue of +Nana, stolen from Uruk by Kutur-nakhunta sixteen centuries before, +and placed by that prince in one of the temples of Susa, had become so +naturalised in its new abode that the kings of Elam, not content with +rendering it an official cult, were wont to send presents to Babylonia, +to the image which had replaced it in its original sanctuary. +Assur-bani-pal now required Khumban-igash to give back the original +statue, but the Elamite could not obey this mandate without imperilling +both his throne and his person: he would thereby have risked incurring +the displeasure both of the nobles, whose pride would have suffered at +the loss of so precious a trophy, and of the common people, who would +have thus been deprived of one of their most venerable objects of +devotion. The messengers of Shamash-shumukin, arriving at the moment +when this question was agitating the court of Susa, found the way +already prepared for a mutual understanding. Besides, they held in their +hands an irresistible argument, the treasures of Bel-Marduk of Babylon, +of Nebo of Borsippa, and of Nergal of Kuta, which had been confided to +them by the priests with a view to purchasing, if necessary, the support +of Elam. Khumban-igash thereupon promised to send a detachment of troops +to Karduniash, and to invade the provinces of Assyria the moment war +should be declared. The tribes of Guti were easily won over, and were +followed by the kings of Phoenicia and the Bedawin of Melukhkha, and +perhaps Egypt itself was implicated in the plot. The Prince of Kedar, +Amuladdin, undertook to effect a diversion on the frontiers of Syria, +and Uate, son of Layali, one of the Arab kings who had paid homage to +Esarhaddon, was not behindhand in furnishing his contingent of horsemen +and wild native infantry. The coalition already extended from the +shores of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf before +Assur-bani-pal became aware of its existence. An unforeseen occurrence +suddenly broke in upon his peace and revealed the extent of the peril +which threatened him.* + + * The chronology of this war has been determined by G. Smith + from the dates attached to the documents in the British + Museum, which give the names of three _limmi_, Assur- + durnzur, Zagabbu, and Bel-kharran-shadua: these he assigned + respectively to the years 650, 649, and 648 B.C. Tiele has + shown that these three _limmi_ must be assigned to the years + 652-650 B.C. Though these dates seem in the highest degree + probable, we must wait before we can consider them as + absolutely certain till chance restores to us the missing + parts of the Canon. + +Kudur, the Assyrian prefect of Uruk, learnt from Sin-tabni-uzur, +the governor of Uru, that certain emissaries of Shamash-shumukin had +surreptitiously entered that city and were secretly fomenting rebellion +among the people. Sin-tabni-uzur himself had been solicited to join the +movement, but had absolutely refused to do so, and considering himself +powerless to repress the disaffection with the few soldiers at his +disposal, he had demanded reinforcements. Kudur first furnished him +with five hundred men of his own troops, and subsequently sent some +battalions which were under the command of the governors of Arrapkha +and Amidi, but which were, for some unknown reason, encamped in the +neighbourhood. It would appear that Shamash-shumukin, finding his +projects interfered with by this premature exposure, tried to counteract +its effects by protestations of friendship: a special embassy was +despatched to his brother to renew the assurances of his devotion, and +he thus gained the time necessary to complete his armaments. As soon as +he felt himself fully prepared, he gave up further dissimulation, and, +throwing away the mask, proclaimed himself independent of Assyria, while +at the same moment Khumban-igash despatched his army to the frontier and +declared war on his former protector. Assur-bani-pal was touched to the +quick by what he truly considered the ingratitude of the Babylonians. +"As for the children of Babylon, I had set them upon seats of honour, +I had clothed them in robes of many colours, I had placed rings of gold +upon their fingers; the children of Babylon had been established in +Assyria, and were admitted into my presence. But Shamash-shumukin, the +false brother, he has not observed my ordinances, but has raised against +me the peoples of Akkad, the Kalda, the Aramaeans, the peoples of the +country of the sea, from Akabah to Bab-salimeti!" Nineveh was at first +in a state of trepidation at this unexpected blow; the sacred oracles +gave obscure replies, and presaged evil four times out of five. At last, +one day, a seer slept and dreamed a dream, in which he saw this +sentence written on the ground in the temple of Sin: "All those who are +meditating evil against Assur-bani-pal, King of Assyria, and who +are preparing themselves to fight with him, I will inflict on them +a terrible death: by the swift sword, by flinging them into fire, by +famine and by pestilence, will I destroy their lives!" The courage +of the people being revived by this prophecy, Assur-bani-pal issued a +proclamation to the Babylonians, in which he denounced his brother's +treason, and commanded them to remain quiet as they valued their lives, +and, having done this, he boldly assumed the offensive (652 B.C.).* + + * The proclamation is dated in the eponymous year of Assur- + duruzur, corresponding to 652 B.C.; the events which + immediately preceded the proclamation ought, very probably, + to be assigned to the same year. + +The only real danger came from the side of Elam; this state alone was +in a condition to oppose him with as numerous and determined an army as +that which he himself could put into the field; if Blam were disabled, +it would be impossible for Babylon to be victorious, and its fall would +be a mere question of time. The opening of the campaign was a difficult +matter. Khumban-igash, having sold his support dearly, had at all events +spared no pains to satisfy his employer, and had furnished him with the +flower of his nobility, comprising Undashi, one of the sons of Tiumman; +Zazaz, prefect of Billate; Parru, chief of Khilmu; Attamitu, commanding +the archers; and Nesu, commander-in-chief of his forces. In order to +induce Undashi to serve under him, he had not hesitated to recall to his +memory the sad fate of Tiumman: "Go, and avenge upon Assyria the murder +of the father who begat thee!" The two opposing forces continued to +watch one another's movements without any serious engagement taking +place during the greater part of the year 651 B.C.; though the Assyrians +won some slight advantages, killing Attamitu in a skirmish and sending +his head to Nineveh, some serious reverses soon counterbalanced these +preliminary successes. Nabo-bel-shumi had arrived on the scene with his +Aramaean forces, and had compelled the troops engaged in the defence +of Uruk and Uru to lay down their arms: their leaders, including +Sin-tabni-uzur himself, had been forced to renounce the supremacy of +Assyria, and had been enrolled in the rebel ranks.* + + * The official accounts say nothing of the intervention of + Nabo-bel-shumi at this juncture, but the information + furnished by _Tablet K 159_ in the British Museum makes up + for their silence. The objection raised by Tielo to the + interpretation given by G. Smith that this passage cannot + refer to Assyrian deserters, falls to the ground if one + admits that the Assyrian troops led into Elam at a + subsequent period by Nabo-bel-shumi, were none other than + the garrisons of the Lower Euphrates which were obliged to + side with the insurgents in 651 B.C. The two despatches, _K + 4696_ and _K 28_ in the British Museum, which refer to the + defection of Sin-tabni-uzur, are dated the 8th and 11th Abu + in the eponymous year of Zagabbu, corresponding to the year + 651 B.C., as indicated by Tiele with very good reason. + +Operations seemed likely to be indefinitely prolonged, and +Assur-bani-pal, anxious as to the issue, importunately besought the +gods to intervene on his behalf, when discords breaking out in the royal +family of Elam caused the scales of fortune once more to turn in his +favour. The energy with which Khumban-igash had entered on the present +struggle had not succeeded in effacing the disagreeable impression left +on the minds of the majority of his subjects, by the fact that he had +returned to his country in the chariots of the stranger and had been +enthroned by the decree of an Assyrian general. Tammaritu, of Khaidalu, +who had then fought at his side in the ranks of the invaders, was +now one of those who reproached him most bitterly for his conduct. He +frankly confessed that his hand had cut off the head of Tiumman, but +denied that he did so in obedience to the hereditary enemies of +his country; he had but avenged his personal injuries, whereas +Khumban-igash, following the promptings of ambition, had kissed the +ground at the feet of a slave of Assur-bani-pal and had received the +crown as a recompense for his baseness. Putting his rival to death, +Tammaritu seized the throne, and in order to prove that he was neither +consciously nor unconsciously an instrument of Ninevite policy, he at +once sent reinforcements to the help of Babylon without exacting +in return any fresh subsidy. The Assyrians, taking advantage of the +isolated position of Shamash-shumukin, had pressed forward one of their +divisions as far as the districts on the sea coast, which they had +recovered from the power of Nabo-bel-shumi, and had placed under the +administration of Belibni, a person of high rank. The arrival of the +Elamite force was on the point of further compromising the situation, +and rekindling the flames of war more fiercely than ever, when a +second revolution broke out, which shattered for ever the hopes of +Shamash-shumukin. Assur-bani-pal naturally looked upon this event as the +result of his supplications and sacrifices; Assur and Ishtar, in answer +to his entreaties, raised up Indabigash, one of the most powerful feudal +lords of the kingdom of Susa, and incited him to revolt. Tarnmaritu fled +to the marshes which bordered the Nar-marratum, and seizing a vessel, +put out to sea with his brothers, his cousins, seventeen princes of +royal blood, and eighty-four faithful followers: the ship, driven by +the wind on to the Assyrian shore, foundered, and the dethroned monarch, +demoralised by sea-sickness, would have perished in the confusion had +not one of his followers taken him on his back and carried him safely to +land across the mud. Belibni sent him prisoner to Nineveh with all his +suite, and Assur-bani-pal, after allowing him to humble himself before +him, raised him from the ground, embraced him, and assigned to him +apartments in the palace and a train of attendants befitting the dignity +which he had enjoyed for a short time at Susa. Indabigash was too fully +occupied with his own affairs to interfere again in the quarrel between +the two brothers: his country, disorganised by the successive shocks +it had sustained, had need of repose, for some years at least, before +re-entering the lists, except at a disadvantage. He concluded no direct +treaty with the Assyrian king, but he at once withdrew the troops which +had entered Karduniash, and abstained from all hostile demonstrations +against the garrisons of the border provinces: for the moment, indeed, +this was all that was required of him (650 B.C.). + +Deprived of the support of Elam, Babylon was doomed to fall. The +Aramaeans deserted her cause, and Nabu-bel-shumi, grandson of +Merodach-baladan, despairing of ever recovering the heritage of his +family, withdrew to his haunts among the reed beds of the Uknu, taking +back with him as hostages the Assyrians whom he had forced to join his +army at the beginning of the campaign. Shamash-shumukin, however, was +not disconcerted: he probably hoped that his distant allies might +yet effect a diversion in his favour, and thus oblige his brother to +withdraw half of the forces employed against him. Indeed, after the +blockade had already begun, a band of Arabs under the two sheikhs +Abiyate and Aamu forced a way through the besieging lines and entered +the city. This was the last succour which reached Babylon from without: +for many long months all communication between her citizens and the +outer world was completely cut off. The Assyrians laid waste the +surrounding country with ruthless and systematic cruelty, burning the +villages, razing to the ground isolated houses, destroying the trees, +breaking down the dykes, and filling up the canals. The year 649 B.C. +was spent in useless skirmishes; the city offered an energetic and +obstinate resistance, and as the walls were thick and the garrison +determined, it would not have succumbed had not the supply of provisions +finally failed. Famine raged in the city, and the inhabitants devoured +even their own children, while pestilence spreading among them mowed +them down by thousands. + +[Illustration: 228.jpg THE EASTERN WORLD IN THE REIGN OF ASSUR-BANI-PAL] + +The Arab auxiliaries at this juncture deserted the cause of the +defenders, and their sheikhs surrendered to Assur-bani-pal, who received +and pardoned them; but the Babylonians themselves, knowing that they +could expect no mercy, held out some time longer: at length, their +courage and their strength exhausted, they rose against their chiefs, +whose ambition or patriotic pride had brought them to such a pass, and +determined to capitulate on any terms. Shamash-shumukm, not wishing to +fall alive into the hands of his brother, shut himself up in his +palace, and there immolated himself on a funeral pyre with his wives +his children, his slaves, and his treasures at the moment when his +conquerors were breaking down the gates and penetrating into the palace +precincts.* + + * G. Smith thought that the Babylonians, rendered furious by + their sufferings, had seized Shamash-shumukin and burnt him + to death. It is, however, certain that Shamash-shumukin + killed himself, according to the Eastern custom, to escape + the tortures which awaited him if he fell alive into the + hands of his enemies. The memory of this event, transferred + by the popular imagination to Assur-bani-pal, appears lu the + concluding portion of the legendary history of Sardanapalus. + +The city presented a terrible spectacle, and shocked even the Assyrians, +accustomed as they were to horrors of this sort. Most of the numerous +victims to pestilence or famine lay about the streets or in the public +squares, a prey to the dogs and swine; such of the inhabitants and of +the soldiery as were comparatively strong had endeavoured to escape into +the country, and only those remained who had not sufficient strength +left to drag themselves beyond the walls. Assur-bani-pal pursued the +fugitives, and, having captured nearly all of them, vented on them the +full fury of his vengeance. He caused, the tongues of the soldiers to +be torn out, and then had them clubbed to death. He massacred the common +folk in front of the great winged bulls which had already witnessed +a similar butchery half a century before, under his grandfather +Sennacherib; the corpses of his victims remained long unburied, a prey +to all unclean beasts and birds. When the executioners and the king +himself were weary of the slaughter, the survivors were pardoned; the +remains of the victims were collected and piled up in specified +places, the streets were cleansed, and the temples, purified by solemn +lustrations, were reopened for worship.* Assur-hani-pal proclaimed +himself king in his brother's room: he took the hands of Bel, and, +according to custom, his Babylonian subjects gave him a new name, that +of Kandalanu, by which he was henceforth known among them.** + + * The date of 648-647 B.C. for the taking of Babylon and the + death of Shamash-shumukin is corroborated by the Canon of + Ptolemy and the fragments of Berosus, both of which + attribute twenty or twenty-one years to the reign of + Saosdukhm (Sammughes). Lehmann points out a document dated + in the XXth year of Shamash-shumukin, which confirms the + exactitude of the information furnished by the Greek + chronologists. + + ** The Canon of Ptolemy gives as the successor of Saosdukhm + a certain Kineladan, who corresponds to Kandalanu, whose + date has been fixed by contemporary documents. The identity + of Kineladan with Assur-bani-pal was known from the Greek + chronologists, for whereas Ptolemy puts Kineladan after + Saosdukhm, the fragments of Berosus state that the successor + of Sammughes was his _brother_; that is to say, Sardanapalus + or Assur-bani-pal. This identification had been proposed by + G. Smith, who tried to find the origin of the form Kineladan + in the name of Sinidinabal, which seems to be borne by + Assur-bani-pal in _Tablet K 195 of the British Museum_, and + which is really the name of his elder brother; it found + numerous supporters as soon as Pinches had discovered the + tablets dated in the reign of Kandalanu, and the majority of + Assyriologists and historians hold that Kandalanu and Assur- + bani-pal are one and the same person. + +Had he been wise, he would have completed the work begun by famine, +pestilence, and the sword, and, far from creating, a new Babylon, he +would have completed the destruction of the ancient city. The same +religious veneration which had disarmed so many of his predecessors +probably withheld him from giving free rein to his resentment, and +not daring to follow the example of Sennacherib, he fell back on the +expedient adopted by Tiglath-pileser III. and Sargon, adhering to their +idea of two capitals for two distinct states, but endeavouring to unite +in his own person the two irreconcilable sovereignties of Marduk +and Assur. He delegated the administration of Babylonian affairs to +Shamash-danani, one of his high officers of State,* and re-entered +Nineveh with an amount of spoil almost equalling that taken from Egypt +after the sack of Thebes. + + * Tin's Shamash-danani, who was _limmu_ in 644 B.C., was + called at that date prefect of Akkad, that is to say, of + Babylon. He probably entered on this office immediately + after the taking of the city. + +Kuta, Sippara, and Borsippa, the vassal states of Babylon, which had +shared the misfortune of their mistress, were, like her, cleared of +their ruins, rebuilt and repeopled, and were placed under the authority +of Shamash-danani: such was their inherent vitality that in the short +space of ten or a dozen years they had repaired their losses and +reattained their wonted prosperity. Soon no effect of their disaster +remained except an additional incentive for hating Nineveh, and a +determination more relentless than ever not to spare her when the day of +her overthrow should come and they should have her in their power. + +It was impossible for so violent and so prolonged a crisis to take place +without in some degree injuring the prestige of the empire. Subjects +and allies of long standing remained loyal, but those only recently +subjugated by conquest, as well as the neighbouring independent +kingdoms, without hesitation threw off the yoke of suzerainty or of +obligatory friendship under which they had chafed. Egypt freed herself +from foreign domination as soon as the possibilities of war with Elam +had shown themselves, and it was Psammetichus of Sais, son of Necho, one +of the princes most favoured by the court of Nineveh, who set on foot +this campaign against his former patron. He expelled the Assyrian +garrisons, reduced the petty native princes to submission, and once +more set up the kingdom of the Pharaohs from Elephantine to the Syrian +desert, without Assur-bani-pal having been able to spare a single +soldier to prevent him, or to bring him back to a sense of his duty. The +details of his proceedings are unknown to us: we learn only that he owed +his success to mercenaries imported from Asia Minor, and the Assyrian +chroniclers, unaccustomed to discriminate between the different peoples +dwelling on the shores of the AEgean, believed that these auxiliaries +were supplied to the Pharaoh by the only sovereign with whom they had +had any dealings, namely, Gyges, King of Lydia. That Gyges had had +negotiations with Psammetichus and procured assistance for him has not +yet been proved, but to assert that he was incapable of conceiving and +executing such a design is quite a different matter. On the contrary, +all the information we possess concerning his reign shows that he was +daring in his political undertakings, and anxious to court +alliances with the most distant countries. The man who tried to draw +Assur-bani-pal into a joint enterprise against the Cimmerians would not +have hesitated to ally himself with Psammetichus if he hoped to gain +the least profit from so doing. Constant intercourse by sea took place +between Ionia or Caria and Egypt, and no event of any importance +could occur in the Delta without being promptly reported in Ephesus or +Miletus. Before this time the Heraclid rulers of Sardes had lived on +excellent terms with most of the AEolian or Ionian colonies: during the +anxious years which followed his accession Gyges went still further, and +entered into direct relations with the nations of Greece itself. It was +no longer to the gods of Asia, to Zeus of Telmissos, that he addressed +himself in order to legitimatise his new sovereignty, but, like Midas +of Phrygia, he applied to the prophetic god of Hellas, to the Delphian +Apollo and his priests. + +[Illustration: 235.jpg PSAMMETICHUS I.] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph. + +He recompensed them lavishly for pronouncing judgment in his favour: +beside the silver offerings with which he endowed the temple at Delphi, +he presented to it a number of golden vases, and, among others, six +craters weighing thirty talents each, which, placed by the side of the +throne of Midas, were still objects of admiration in the treasury of the +Corinthians in the time of Herodotus. To these he added at various times +such valuable gifts that the Pythian priestess, who had hitherto been +poor, was in later times accounted to have owed to him her wealth. +Having made sure of the good will of the immortals, Gyges endeavoured to +extend his influence among the Greek colonies along the coast, and if he +did not in every case gain a footing amongst them, his failure seems to +have been due, not to his incapacity, but to the force of circumstances +or to the ambiguous position which he happened to occupy with regard to +these colonies. Ambition naturally incited him to annex them and make +them into Lydian cities, but the bold disposition of their inhabitants +and their impatience of constraint never allowed any foreign rule to +be established over them: conquest, to be permanent, would have to be +preceded by a long period of alliance on equal terms, and of discreet +patronage which might insensibly accustom them to recognise in their +former friend, first a protector, and then a suzerain imbued with +respect for their laws and constitution. Gyges endeavoured to conciliate +them severally, and to attach them to himself by treaties favourable +to their interests or flattering to their vanity, and by timely and +generous assistance in their internecine quarrels; and thus, secretly +fostering their mutual jealousies, he was able to reduce some by force +of arms without causing too much offence to the rest. He took Colophon, +and also, after several fruitless campaigns, the Magnesia which lay +near Sardes, Magnesia of Sipylos, tradition subsequently adorning +this fortunate episode in his history with various amusing anecdotes. +According to one account he had a favourite in a youth of marvellous +beauty called Magnes, whom the Magnesians, as an act of defiance to +Gryges, had mutilated till he was past recognition; and it was related +that the king appealed to the fortune of war to avenge the affront. By +a bold stroke he seized the lower quarters of Smyrna, but was unable to +take the citadel,* and while engaged in the struggle with this city, he +entered into a friendly understanding with Ephesus and Miletus. + + * Herodotus mentions this war without entering into any + details. We know from Pausanias that the people of Smyrna + defended themselves bravely, and that the poet Mimnermus + composed an elegy on this episode in their history. + +Ephesus, situated at the mouth of the river Oayster, was the natural +port of Sardes, the market in which the gold of Lydia, and the +commodities imported from the East by the caravans which traversed the +royal route, might be exchanged for the products of Hellas and of the +countries of the West visited by the Greek mariners. The city was at +this time under the control of a family of rich shipowners, of whom the +head was called Melas: Gryges gave him his daughter in marriage, and +by this union gained free access to the seaboard for himself and his +successors. The reason for his not pushing his advantages further in +this direction is not hard to discover; since the fall of the kingdom +of Phrygia had left his eastern frontier unprotected, the attacks of the +Cimmerians had obliged him to concentrate his forces in the interior, +and though he had always successfully repulsed them, the obstinacy with +which these inroads were renewed year after year prevented him from +further occupying himself with the Greek cities. He had carefully +fortified his vast domains in the basin of the Ehyndakos, he had +reconquered the Troad, and though he had been unable to expel the +barbarians from Adramyttium, he prevented them from having any inland +communications. Miletus rendered vigorous assistance in this work of +consolidating his power, for she was interested in maintaining a buffer +state between herself and the marauders who had already robbed her +of Sinope; and it was for this reason that Gyges, after mercilessly +harassing her at the beginning of his reign, now preferred to enter into +an alliance with her. He had given the Milesians permission to establish +colonies along the Hellespont and the Propontid at the principal +points where communication took place between Europe and Asia; Abydos, +Lampsacus, Parium, and Cyzicus, founded successively by Milesian +admirals, prevented the tribes which remained in Thrace from crossing +over to reinforce their kinsfolk who were devastating Phrygia. + +Gryges had hoped that his act of deference would have obtained for him +the active support of Assur-bani-pal, and during the following years he +perseveringly continued at intervals to send envoys to Nineveh: on one +occasion he despatched with the embassy two Cimmerian chiefs taken in +battle, and whom he offered in token of homage to the gods of Assyria. +Experience, however, soon convinced him that his expectations were vain; +the Assyrians, far from creating a diversion in his favour, were +careful to avoid every undertaking which might draw the attention of +the barbarians on themselves. As soon as Gyges fully understood their +policy, he broke off all connection with them, and thenceforth relied on +himself alone for the protection of his interests. The disappointment he +thus experienced probably stirred up his anger against Assyria, and +if he actually came to the aid of Psammetichus, the desire of giving +expression to a secret feeling of rancour no doubt contributed to his +decision. Assur-bani-pal deeply resented this conduct, but Lydia was too +far off for him to wreak his vengeance on it in a direct manner, and he +could only beseech the gods to revenge what he was pleased to consider +as base ingratitude: he therefore prayed Assur and Ishtar that "his +corpse might lie outstretched before his enemies, and his bones be +scattered far and wide." A certain Tugdami was at that time reigning +over the Cimmerians, and seems to have given to their hitherto +undisciplined hordes some degree of cohesion and guidance.*; He gathered +under his standard not only the Treres, the Thracian kinsfolk of the +Cimmerians, but some of the Asianic tribes, such as the Lycians,** who +were beginning to feel uneasy at the growing prosperity of Gyges, and +let them loose upon their Lydian quarry. + + * The name Tugdami, mentioned in the hymn published by + Strong, has been identified by Sayce with the Cimmerian + chief mentioned by Strabo under the name of Lygdamis. The + opinion of Sayce has been adopted by other Assyriologists. + The inscription makes Tugdami a king of the Manda, and thus + overthrows the hypothesis that Lygdamis or Dygdamis was a + Lycian chief who managed to discipline the barbarian hordes. + + ** The alliance of the Lycians with the Cimmerians and + Treres is known from the evidence of Callisthenes preserved + for us by Strabo. It is probable that many of the marauding + tribes of the Taurus--Isaurians, Lycaonians, and + Painphylians--similarly joined the Cimmerians. + +Their heavy cavalry, with metal helmets and long steel swords, overran +the peninsula from end to end, treading down everything under their +horses' hoofs. Gyges did his best to stand up against the storm, but +his lancers quailed beneath the shock and fled in confusion: he himself +perished in the flight, and his corpse remained in the enemy's hands +(652 B.C.). The whole of Lydia was mercilessly ravaged, and the lower +town of Sardes was taken by storm.* + + * Strabo states definitely that it was Lygdamis who took the + city. The account given by the same author of a double + destruction of Sardes in 652 and 682 B.C. is due to an + unfortunate borrowing from the work of Caliisthenes. + +[Illustration: 240.jpg BATTLE OF THE CIMMERIANS AGAINST THE GREEKS +ACCOMPANIED BY THEIR DOGS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the sarcophagus of Clazomenae. + +Ardys, who had succeeded his father on the throne, was able, however, +to save the citadel: he rallied around him the remnants of his army and +once more took the field. The cities of Ionia made common cause with +him; their hoplites issued victorious from more than one engagement, and +their dogs, trained to harry fearlessly the horses of the enemy, often +took an active part in the battle. City after city was attacked by the +barbarians, and the suburbs plundered. Ephesus, on account of the wealth +it contained, formed their chief attraction, but their forces dashed +themselves fruitlessly against its walls; they avenged themselves for +their failure by setting on fire the temple of Artemis which stood +in the outskirts. This act of sacrilege profoundly stirred the whole +Hellenic world, and when the first fury of pillage was exhausted, the +barbarians themselves seemed to have been struck with superstitious +horror at their crime: deadly fevers contracted in the marshes near the +city thinned their ranks, and in the scourge which struck down their +forces they recognised the chastisement of the goddess.* + + * The invasion of Ionia by the Cimmerians is indicated in + general terms by Herodotus; the details of the attack on + Ephesus and the destruction of the temple of Artemis are + preserved in a passage of Callimachus, and in the fragments + quoted by Hesychius. + +The survivors abandoned the siege and withdrew in disorder towards the +mountains of the interior. On their way they surprised Magnesia on the +Maeander and entirely destroyed it, but this constituted their sole +military success: elsewhere, they contented themselves with devastating +the fields without venturing to attack the fortified towns. Scarcely had +Ardys freed himself from their unwelcome presence, than, like his father +before him, he tried to win the support of Assyria. He sent an envoy to +Nineveh with a letter couched in very humble terms: "The king whom +the gods acknowledge, art thou; for as soon as thou hadst pronounced +imprecations against my father, misfortune overtook him. I am thy +trembling servant; receive my homage graciously, and I will bear thy +yoke!" Assur-bani-pal did not harden his heart to this suppliant who +confessed his fault so piteously, and circumstances shortly constrained +him to give a more efficacious proof of his favour to Ardys than he had +done in the days of Gyges. On quitting Lydia, Tugdami, with his hordes, +had turned eastwards, bent upon renewing in the provinces of the Taurus +and the Euphrates the same destructive raids which he had made among +the peoples of the AEgean seaboard; but in the gorges of Cilicia he came +into contact with forces much superior to his own, and fell fighting +against them about the year 645 B.C. His son Sanda-khshatru led the +survivors of this disaster back towards the centre of the peninsula, but +the conflict had been so sanguinary that the Cimmerian power never fully +recovered from it. Assur-bani-pal celebrated the victory won by +his generals with a solemn thanksgiving to Marduk, accompanied by +substantial offerings of gold and objects of great value.* + + * Strabo was aware, perhaps from Xanthus of Lyclia, that + Lygdamis had fallen in battle in Cilicia. The hymn to + Marduk, published by Strong, informs us that the Cimmerian + chief fell upon the Assyrians, and that his son Sanda- + khshatru carried on hostilities some time longer. Sanda- + khshatru is an Iranian name of the same type as that of the + Median king Uva-khshatra or Cyaxares. + +The tranquillity of the north-west frontier was thus for a time secured, +and this success most opportunely afforded the king leisure to turn +his attention to those of his vassals who, having thrown off their +allegiance during the war against Shamash-shumukin, had not yet returned +to their obedience. Among these were the Arabs and the petty princes of +Egypt. The contingents furnished by Yauta, son of Hazael, had behaved +valiantly during the siege of Babylon, and when they thought the end +was approaching, their leaders, Abiyate and Aamu, had tried to cut a +way through the Assyrian lines: being repulsed, they had laid down their +arms on condition of their lives being spared. There now remained the +bulk of the Arab tribes to be reduced to submission, and the recent +experiences of Esarhaddon had shown the difficulties attending this +task. Assur-bani-pal entrusted its accomplishment to his subjects in +Edom, Moab, Ammon, the Hauran, and Damascus, since, dwelling on the +very borders of the desert, they were familiar with the routes and the +methods of warfare best suited to the country. They proved victorious +all along the line. Yauta, betrayed by his own subjects, took refuge +with the Nabataeans; but their king, Nadanu, although he did not +actually deliver him up to the Assyrians, refused to grant him an +asylum, and the unhappy man was finally obliged to surrender to his +pursuers. His cousin Uate, son of Birdadda, was made chief in his place +by the Assyrians, and Yauta was sent to Nineveh, where he was exposed +at one of the city gates, chained in a niche beside the watch-dogs. +Amuladdin, the leading prince of Kedar, met with no better fate: he was +overcome, in spite of the assistance rendered him by Adiya, the queen +of a neighbouring tribe, and was also carried away into captivity. His +defeat completed the discouragement of the tribes who still remained +unsubdued. They implored mercy, which Assur-bani-pal granted to them, +although he deposed most of their sheikhs, and appointed as their +ruler that Abiyate who had dwelt at his court since the capitulation of +Babylon. Abiyate took the oath of fidelity, and was sent back to Kedar, +where he was proclaimed king of all the Arab tribes under the suzerainty +of Assyria.* + + * The _Cylinder B of the Brit. Mus._ attributes to the reign + of Assur-bani-pala whole series of events, comprising the + first submission of Yauta and the restitution of the statues + of Atarsamain, which had taken place under Esarhaddon. The + Assyrian annalists do not seem to have always clearly + distinguished between Yauta, son of Hazael, and Uate, son of + Birdadda. + + +Of all the countries which had thrown off their allegiance during the +late troubles, Egypt alone remained unpunished, and it now seemed as +if its turn had come to suffer chastisement for its rebellion. It was, +indeed, not to be tolerated that so rich and so recently acquired +a province should slip from the grasp of the very sovereign who had +completed its conquest, without his making an effort on the first +opportunity to reduce it once more to submission. Such inaction on his +part would be a confession of impotence, of which the other vassals of +the empire would quickly take advantage: Tyre, Judah, Moab, the petty +kings of the Taurus, and the chiefs of Media, would follow the example +of Pharaoh, and the whole work of the last three centuries would have to +be done over again. There can be no doubt that Assur-bani-pal cherished +the secret hope of recovering Egypt in a short campaign, and that he +hoped to attach it to the empire by more permanent bonds than before, +but as a preliminary to executing this purpose it was necessary to +close and settle if possible the account still open against Elam. Recent +events had left the two rival powers in such a position that neither +peace nor even a truce of long duration could possibly exist between +them. Elam, injured, humiliated, and banished from the plains of the +Lower Euphrates, over which she had claimed at all times an almost +exclusive right of pillage, was yet not sufficiently enfeebled by her +disasters to be convinced of her decided inferiority to Assyria. Only +one portion of her forces, and that perhaps the smallest, had taken the +field and sustained serious reverses: she had still at her disposal, +besides the peoples of the plain and the marshes who had suffered +the most, those almost inexhaustible reserves of warlike and hardy +mountaineers, whose tribes were ranged on the heights which bounded the +horizon, occupying the elevated valleys of the Uknu, the Ulai, and their +nameless affluents, on the western or southern slopes or in the enclosed +basins of the Iranian table-land. Here Elam had at her command at least +as many men as her adversaries could muster against her, and though +these barbarian contingents lacked discipline and systematic training, +their bravery compensated for the imperfection of their military +education. Elam not only refused to admit herself conquered, but she +believed herself sure of final victory, and, as a matter of fact, it +is not at all certain that Assur-bani-pal's generals would ever have +completely triumphed over her, if internal discords and treason had +not too often paralysed her powers. The partisans of Khumban-igash were +largely responsible for bringing about the catastrophe in which Tiumman +had perished, and those who sided with Tammaritu had not feared to +provoke a revolt at the moment when Khumban-igash was occupied in +Chaldaea; Indabigash in his turn had risen in rebellion in the rear of +Tammaritu, and his intervention had enabled the Assyrians to deal their +final blow at Shamash-shumukin. The one idea of the non-reigning members +of the royal house was to depose the reigning sovereign, and they +considered all means to this end as justifiable, whether assassination, +revolt, desertion to the enemy, or defection on the very field of +battle. As soon as one of them had dethroned another, hatred of the +foreigner again reigned supreme in his breast, and he donned his armour +with a firm determination to bring the struggle to an end, but the +course he had pursued towards his predecessor was now adopted by one of +his relatives towards himself; the enemy meanwhile was still under arms, +and each of these revolutions brought him a step nearer to the goal of +his endeavours, the complete overthrow of the Elamite kingdom and its +annexation to the empire of Nineveh. Even before the struggle with +Babylon was concluded, Assur-bani-pal had demanded of Indabigash the +release of the Assyrians whom Nabo-bel-shumu had carried off in his +train, besides the extradition of that personage himself. Indabigash +had no desire for war at this juncture, but hesitated to surrender +the Kalda, who had always served him faithfully: he entered into +negotiations which were interminably prolonged, neither of the two +parties being anxious to bring them to a close. After the fall of +Babylon, Assur-bani-pal, who was tenacious in his hatred, summoned the +Elamite ambassadors, and sent them back to their master with a message +conceived in the following menacing terms: "If thou dost not surrender +those men, I will go and destroy thy cities, and lead into captivity the +inhabitants of Susa, Madaktu, and Khaidalu. I will hurl thee from +thy throne, and will set up another thereon: as aforetime I destroyed +Tiumman, so will I destroy thee." A detachment of troops was sent to +enforce the message of defiance, but when the messengers had reached the +frontier town of Deri, Indabigash was no longer there: his nobles +had assassinated him, and had elected Khumban-khaldash, the son of +Atta-metush, king in his stead. The opportunity was a favourable one to +sow the seeds of division in the Elamite camp, before the usurper should +have time to consolidate his power: Assur-bani-pal therefore threw +himself into the cause of Tammaritu, supporting him with an army to +which many malcontents speedily rallied. The Aramaeans and the cities +of the marsh-lands on the littoral, Khilmu, Billate, Dummuku, Sulaa, +Lakhiru, and Dibirina, submitted without a struggle, and the invaders +met with no resistance till they reached Bit-Imbi. This town had +formerly been conquered by Sennacherib, but it had afterwards returned +to the rule of its ancient masters, who had strongly fortified it. It +now offered a determined resistance, but without success: its population +was decimated, and the survivors mutilated and sent as captives into +Assyria--among them the commander of the garrison, Imbappi, son-in-law +of Khumban-khaldash, together with the harem of Tiumman, with his sons +and daughters, and all the members of his family whom his successors had +left under guard in the citadel. The siege had been pushed forward so +rapidly that the king had not been able to make any attempt to relieve +the defenders: besides this, a pretender had risen up against him, one +Umbakhabua, who had been accepted as king by the important district of +Bubilu. The fall of Bit-Imbi filled the two competitors with fear: they +abandoned their homes and fled, the one to the mountains, the other to +the lowlands on the shores of the Nar-Marratum. Tammaritu entered Susa +in triumph and was enthroned afresh; but the insolence and rapacity of +his auxiliaries was so ruthlessly manifested, that at the end of some +days he resolved to rid himself of them by the sword. A traitor having +revealed the design, Tammaritu was seized, stripped of his royal +apparel, and cast into prison. The generals of Assur-bani-pal had no one +whom they could proclaim king in his stead, and furthermore, the season +being well advanced, the Elamites, who had recovered from their first +alarm, were returning in a body, and threatened to cut off the Assyrian +retreat: they therefore evacuated Susa, and regained Assyria with +their booty. They burnt all the towns along the route whose walls were +insufficient to protect them against a sudden escalade or an attack of +a few hours' duration, and the country between the capital and the +frontier soon contained nothing but heaps of smoking ruins (647 e.g.).* + + * The difficulty we experience in locating on the map most + of the names of Elamite towns is the reason why we cannot + determine with any certainty the whole itinerary followed by + the Assyrian army. + +The campaign, which had been so successful at the outset, had not +produced all the results expected from it. The Assyrians had hoped +henceforth to maintain control of Elam through Tammaritu, but in a short +time they had been obliged to throw aside the instrument with which +they counted on effecting the complete humiliation of the nation: +Khumban-khaldash had reoccupied Susa, following on the heels of the +last Assyrian detachment, and he reigned as king once more without +surrendering Nabo-bel-shumi, or restoring the statue of Nana, or +fulfilling any of the conditions which had been the price of a title +to the throne. Assur-bani-pal was not inclined to bear patiently this +partial reverse; as soon as spring returned he again demanded the +surrender of the Chaldaean and the goddess, under pain of immediate +invasion. Khumban-khaldash offered to expel Nabo-bel-shumi from Lakhiru +where he had entrenched himself, and to thrust him towards the Assyrian +frontier, where the king's troops would be able to capture him. His +offer was not accepted, and a second embassy, headed by Tammaritu, who +was once more in favour, arrived to propose more trenchant terms. +The Elamite might have gone so far as to grant the extradition of +Nabo-bel-shumi, but if he had yielded the point concerning Nana, a +rebellion would have broken out in the streets of Susa: he preferred +war, and prepared in desperation to carry it on to the bitter end. The +conflict was long and sanguinary, and the result disastrous for +Elam. Bit-Imbi opened its gates, the district of Kashi surrendered at +discretion, followed by the city of Khamanu and its environs, and the +Assyrians approached Madaktu: Khumban-khaldash evacuated the place +before they reached it, and withdrew beneath the walls of Dur-Undasi, +on the western bank of the Ididi. His enemies pursued him thither, but +the stream was swift and swollen by rain, so that for two days they +encamped on its bank without daring to cross, and were perhaps growing +discouraged, when Ishtar of Arbela once more came to the rescue. +Appearing in a dream to one of her seers, she said, "I myself go +before Assur-bani-pal, the king whom my hands have created;" the army, +emboldened by this revelation, overcame the obstacle by a vigorous +effort, and dashed impetuously over regions as yet unvisited by any +conqueror. The Assyrians burnt down fourteen royal cities, numberless +small towns, and destroyed the cornfields, the vines, and the orchards; +Khumban-khaldash, utterly exhausted, fled to the mountains "like a young +dog." Banunu and the districts of Tasarra, twenty cities in the country +of Khumir, Khaidalu, and Bashimu, succumbed one after another, and when +the invaders at length decided to retrace their steps to the frontier, +Susa, deserted by her soldiers and deprived of her leaders, lay before +them an easy prey. It was not the first time in the last quarter of a +century that the Assyrians had had the city at their mercy. They had +made some stay in it after the battle of Tulliz, and also after the +taking of Bit-Imbi in the preceding year; but on those occasions they +had visited it as allies, to enthrone a king owing allegiance to their +own sovereign, and political exigencies had obliged them to repress +their pillaging instincts and their long-standing hatred. Now that +they had come as enemies, they were restrained by no considerations of +diplomacy: the city was systematically pillaged, and the booty found +in it was so immense that the sack lasted an entire month. The royal +treasury was emptied of its gold and silver, its metals and the valuable +objects which had been brought to it from Sumir, Accad, and Karduniash +at successive periods from the most remote ages down to that day, in +the course of the successful invasions conducted by the princes of Susa +beyond the Tigris; among them, the riches of the Babylonian temples, +which Shamash-shumukin had lavished on Tiumman to purchase his support, +being easily distinguishable. The furniture of the palace was sent to +Nineveh in a long procession; it comprised beds and chairs of ivory, and +chariots encrusted with enamel and precious stones, the horses of +which were caparisoned with gold. The soldiers made their way into the +ziggurat, tore down the plates of ruddy copper, violated the sanctuary, +and desecrated the prophetic statues of the gods who dwelt within it, +shrouded in the sacred gloom, and whose names were only uttered by their +devotees with trembling lips. Shumudu, Lagamar, Partikira, Ammankasibar, +Uduran, Sapak, Aipaksina, Bilala, Panintimri, and Kindakarpu, were now +brought forth to the light, and made ready to be carried into exile +together with their belongings and their priests. + +[Illustration: 251.jpg STATUES OF THE GODS CARRIED OFF BY ASSYRIAN +SOLDIERY] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from Layard, _The Monuments of + Nineveh_. + +Thirty-two statues of the kings, both ancient and modern, in silver, +gold, bronze, and marble, escorted the gods on their exodus, among their +number being those of Khumbanigash, son of Umbadara, Shutruk-nakhunta, +and Tammaritu II., the sovereigns who had treated Assyria with +the greatest indignity. The effigy of Khalludush was subjected to +humiliating outrage: "his mouth, with its menacing smile, was mutilated; +his lips, which breathed forth defiance, were slit; his hands, which +had brandished the bow against Assur, were cut off," to avenge, though +tardily, the ill success of Sennacherib. The sacred groves shared the +fate of the temples, and all the riches collected in them by generations +of victors were carried off in cartloads. They contained, amongst +other edifices, the tombs of the ancient heroes of Elam, who had feared +neither Assur nor Ishtar, and who had often brought trouble on the +ancestors of Assur-bani-pal. Their sepulchres were violated, their +coffins broken open, their bones collected and despatched to Nineveh, to +crumble finally into dust in the land of exile: their souls, chained to +their mortal bodies, shared their captivity, and if they were +provided with the necessary sustenance and libations to keep them from +annihilation, it was not from any motives of compassion or pity, but +from a refinement of vengeance, in order that they might the longer +taste the humiliation of captivity. + +[Illustration: 252.jpg THE TUMULUS OF SUZA] + +The image of Nana was found among those of the native gods: it was now +separated from them, and after having been cleansed from pollution by +the prescribed ceremonies, it was conducted to Uruk, which it entered in +triumph on the 1st of the month Kislev. It was reinstated in the temple +it had inhabited of old: sixteen hundred and thirty-five years had +passed since it had been carried off, in the reign of Kutur-nakhunta, to +dwell as a prisoner in Susa. + +Assur-bani-pal had no intention of preserving the city of Susa from +destruction, or of making it the capital of a province which should +comprise the plain of Elam. Possibly it appeared to him too difficult to +defend as long as the mountain tribes remained unsubdued, or perhaps the +Elamites themselves were not so completely demoralised as he was pleased +to describe them in his inscriptions, and the attacks of their irregular +troops would have rendered the prolonged sojourn of the Assyrian +garrison difficult, if not impossible. Whatever the reason, as soon as +the work of pillage was fully accomplished, the army continued its +march towards the frontier, carrying with it the customary spoil of the +captured towns, and their whole population, or all, at least, who had +not fled at the approach of the enemy. The king reserved for himself +the archers and pikemen, whom he incorporated into his own bodyguard, +as well as the artisans, smelters, sculptors, and stonemasons, whose +talents he turned to account in the construction and decoration of his +palaces; the remainder of the inhabitants he apportioned, like so many +sheep, to the cities and the temples, governors of provinces, officers +of state, military chiefs, and private soldiers. Khumban-khaldash +reoccupied Susa after the Assyrians had quitted it, but the misery there +was so great that he could not endure it: he therefore transferred his +court to Madaktu, one of the royal cities which had suffered least from +the invasion, and he there tried to establish a regular government. +Rival claimants to the throne had sprung up, but he overcame them +without much difficulty: one of them, named Pae, took refuge in Assyria, +joining Tammaritn and that little band of dethroned kings or pretenders +to the throne of Susa, of whom Assur-bani-pal had so adroitly made +use to divide the forces of his adversary. Khumban-khaldash might well +believe that the transportation of the statue of Nana and the sack of +Susa had satisfied the vengeance of the Assyrians, at least for a time, +and that they would afford him a respite, however short; but he had +reckoned without taking into consideration the hatred which had pursued +Nabo-bel-shumi during so many years: an envoy followed him as far as +Madaktu, and offered Khumban-khaldash once more the choice between the +extradition of the Chaldean or the immediate reopening of hostilities. +He seems to have had a moment's hesitation, but when Nabo-bel-shumi was +informed of the terms offered by the envoy, "life had no more value in +his eyes: he desired death." He ordered his shield-bearer to slay him, +and when the man refused to do so, declaring that he could not live +without his master, they stabbed each other simultaneously, and +perished, as they had lived, together. Khumban-khaldash, delivered by +this suicide from his embarrassments, had the corpse of the master and +the head of the faithful shield-bearer duly embalmed, and sent them to +Nineveh. Assur-bani-pal mutilated the wretched body in order to render +the conditions of life in the other world harder for the soul: he cut +off its head, and forbade the burial of the remains, or the rendering to +the dead of the most simple offerings. + +[Illustration: 256.jpg Prayer in the Desert After Painting by Gerome] + +About this time the inhabitants of Bit-Imbi, of Til-Khumba, and a +dozen other small towns, who had fled for refuge to the woods of Mount +Saladri, came forth from their hiding-places and cast themselves on +the mercy of the conqueror: he deigned to receive them graciously, and +enrolled them in his guard, together with the prisoners taken in the +last campaign. He was contented to leave Elam to itself for the moment, +as he was disquieted at the turn affairs were taking in Arabia. Abiyate, +scarcely seated on the throne, had refused to pay tribute, and had +persuaded Uate and Nadanu to join him in his contumacy; several cities +along the Phoenician seaboard, led away by his example, shut their gates +and declared themselves independent. Assur-bani-pal had borne all +this patiently, while the mass of his troops were engaged against +Khumban-khaldash; but after the destruction of Susa, he determined to +revenge himself. His forces left Nineveh in the spring of 642 B.C., +crossed the Euphrates, and the line of wooded hills which bordered the +course of the river towards the west, provisioned themselves with water +at the halting-place of Laribda, and plunged into the desert in search +of the rebels. The Assyrians overran the country of Mash, from the town +of Iarki to Azalla, where "there dwell no beasts of the field, where +no bird of the sky builds its nest," and then, after filling their +water-skins at the cisterns of Azalla, they advanced boldly into the +thirsty lands which extend towards Qurazite; they next crossed the +territory of Kedar, cutting down the trees, filling up the wells, +burning the tents, and reached Damascus from the north-east side, +bringing in their train innumerable flocks of asses, sheep, camels, +and slaves. The Bedawin of the north had remained passive, but the +Nabathaeans, encouraged by the remoteness of their country and the +difficulty of access to it, persisted in their rebellion. The Assyrian +generals did not waste much time in celebrating their victory in the +Syrian capital: on the 3rd of Ab, forty days after leaving the Chaldsean +frontier, they started from Damascus towards the south, and seized +the stronghold of Khalkhuliti, at the foot of the basaltic plateau +overlooked by the mountains of the Hauran; they then destroyed all the +fortresses of the country one after another, driving the inhabitants +to take shelter in the rugged range of volcanic rocks, where they were +blockaded, and finally reduced by famine: Abiyate capitulated, Nadanu +ransomed himself by a promise of tribute, and the whole desert between +Syria and the Euphrates fell once more into the condition of an Assyrian +province. Before returning to Nineveh, Assur-bani-pal's generals +inflicted chastisement on Akko and Ushu, the two chief Tyrian cities +which had revolted, and this vigorous action confirmed the fidelity of +the Assyrian vassals in Palestine. Uate's life was spared, but his lip +and cheek were pierced by the hand of the king himself, and he was led +by a cord passed through the wounds, as if he had been a wild beast +intended for domestication; a dog's collar was riveted round his neck, +and he was exposed in a cage at one of the gates of Nineveh. Aamu, the +brother of Abiyate, was less fortunate, for he was flayed alive before +the eyes of the mob. Assyria was glutted with the spoil: the king, as +was customary, reserved for his own service the able-bodied men for the +purpose of recruiting his battalions, distributing the remainder among +his officers and soldiers. The camels captured were so numerous that +their market-value was for a long time much reduced; they were offered +in the open market, like sheep, for a half-shekel of silver apiece, and +the vendor thought himself fortunate to find a purchaser even at this +price. + +The final ruin of Elam followed swiftly on the subjugation of Arabia. +While one division of the army was scouring the desert, the remainder +were searching the upland valleys of the Ulai and the Uknu, and +relentlessly pursuing Khumban-khaldash. The wretched monarch was now in +command of merely a few bands of tattered followers, and could no longer +take the field; the approach of the enemy obliged him to flee from +Madaktu, and entrench himself on the heights. Famine, misery, and +probably also the treachery of his last adherents, soon drove him from +his position, and, despairing of his cause, he surrendered himself to +the officers who were in pursuit of him. He was the third king of Elam +whom fate had cast alive into the hands of the conqueror: his arrival at +Nineveh afforded the haughty Assur-bani-pal an occasion for celebrating +one of those triumphal processions in which his proud soul delighted, +and of going in solemn state to thank the gods for the overthrow of +his most formidable enemy. On the day when he went to prostrate +himself before Assur and Ishtar, he sent for Tammaritu, Pae, and +Khumban-khaldash, and adding to them Uate, who was taken out of his cage +for the occasion, he harnessed all four to his chariot of state, and +caused himself to be drawn through Nineveh by this team of fallen +sovereigns to the gate of the temple of Emashmash. And, indeed, at +that moment, he might reasonably consider himself as having reached the +zenith of his power. Egypt, it is true, still remained unpunished, and +its renewed vitality under the influence of the Saite Pharaohs allowed +no hope of its being speedily brought back into subjection, but its +intrigues no longer exerted any influence over Syria, and Tyre itself +appeared to be resigned to the loss of its possessions on the mainland. +Lydia under the rule of Ardys continued to maintain intermittent +intercourse with its distant protector. The provinces of the Taurus, +delivered from the terror inspired by the Cimmerians, desired peace +above all things, and the Mannai had remained quiet since the defeat of +Akhsheri. Babylon was rapidly recovering from the ills she had endured. +She consoled herself for her actual servitude by her habitual simulation +of independence; she called Assur-bani-pal Kandalanu, and this new name +allowed her to fancy she had a separate king, distinct from the King +of Assyria. Elam no longer existed. Its plains and marsh lands were +doubtless occupied by Assyrian garrisons, and formed an ill-defined +annexation to Nineveh; the mountain tribes retained their autonomy, and +although still a source of annoyance to their neighbours by their raids +or sudden incursions, they no longer constituted a real danger to the +state: if there still remained some independent Elamite states, Elam +itself, the most ancient, except Babylon, of all the Asiatic kingdoms, +was erased from the map of the world. The memories of her actual history +were soon effaced, or were relegated to the region of legend, where the +fabulous Memnon supplanted in the memory of men those lines of hardy +conquerors who had levied tribute from Syria in the day when Nineveh was +still an obscure provincial town. Assyria alone remained, enthroned on +the ruins of the past, and her dominion seemed established for all time; +yet, on closer investigation, indications were not wanting of the cruel +sufferings that she also had endured. Once again, as after the wars of +Tiglath-pileser I. and those of Assur-nazir-pal and Shalmaneser III., +her chiefs had overtaxed her powers by a long series of unremitting wars +against vigorous foes. Doubtless the countries comprised within her +wide empire furnished her with a more ample revenue and less restricted +resources than had been at the command of the little province of ancient +days, which had been bounded by the Khabur and the Zab, and lay on the +two banks of the middle course of the Tigris; but, on the other hand, +the adversaries against whom she had measured her forces, and whom she +had overthrown, were more important and of far greater strength than +her former rivals. She had paid dearly for humiliating Egypt and laying +Babylon in the dust. As soon as Babylon was overthrown, she had, without +pausing to take breath, joined issue with Elam, and had only succeeded +in triumphing over it by drawing upon her resources to the utmost during +many years: when the struggle was over, she realised to what an extent +she had been weakened by so lavish an outpouring of the blood of her +citizens. The Babylonian and Elamite recruits whom she incorporated +into her army after each of her military expeditions, more or less +compensated for the void which victory itself had caused in her +population and her troops; but the fidelity of these vanquished foes of +yesterday, still smarting from their defeat, could not be relied on, and +the entire assimilation of their children to their conquerors was the +work of at least one or two generations. Assyria, therefore, was on the +eve of one of those periods of exhaustion which had so often enfeebled +her national vitality and imperilled her very existence. On each +previous occasion she had, it is true, recovered after a more or less +protracted crisis, and the brilliancy of her prospects, though obscured +for a moment, appeared to be increased by their temporary eclipse. There +was, therefore, good reason to hope that she would recover from her +latest phase of depression; and the only danger to be apprehended was +that some foreign power, profiting by her momentary weakness, might rise +up and force her, while still suffering from the effects of her heroic +labours, to take the field once more. + + + + +CHAPTER III--THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDAEAN EMPIRE + + +_THE FALL OF NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDAEAN AND MEDIAN +EMPIRES--THE XXVIth EGYPTIAN DYNASTY: CYAXARES, ALYATTES, AND +NEBUCHADREZZAR._ + +_The legendary history of the kings of Media and the first contact of +the Medes with the Assyrians: the alleged Iranian migrations of the +Avesta--Media-proper, its fauna and flora; Phraortes and the beginning +of the Median empire--Persia proper and the Persians; conquest of +Persia by the Medes--The last monuments of Assur-bani-pal: the library +of Kouyunjik--Phraortes defeated and slain by the Assyrians._ + +_Cyaxares and his first attach on Nineveh--The Assyrian triangle and the +defence of Nineveh: Assur-bani-pal summons the Scythians to his aid--The +Scythian invasion--Judah under Manasseh and Amon: development in the +conceptions of the prophets--The Scythians in Syria and on the borders +of Egypt: they are defeated and driven back by Cyaxares--The last +kings of Nineveh and Naliopolassar--Taking and, destruction of Nineveh: +division of the Assyrian empire between the Chaldaeans and the Medes (608 +B.C.)._ + +_The XXVIth Egyptian dynasty--Psammetichus I. and the Ionian and Carian +mercenaries; final retreat of the Ethiopians and the annexation of the +Theban principality; the end of Egypt as a great power--First +Greek settlements in the Delta; flight of the Mashauasha and the +reorganisation of the army--Resumption of important works and the +renaissance of art in Egypt--The occupation of Ashdod, and the Syrian +policy of Psammetichus I._ + +_Josiah, King of Judah: the discovery and public reading of the Book +of the Covenant; the religious reform--Necho II. invades Syria: Josiah +slain at Megiddo, the battle of Carchemish--Nebuchadrezzar II.: his +policy with regard to Media--The conquests of Cyaxares and the struggles +of the Mermnadae against the Greek colonies--The war between Alyattes +and Cyaxares: the battle of the Halys and the peace of 585 B.C.--Necho +reorganises his army and his fleet: the circumnavigation of +Africa--Jeremiah and the Egyptian party in Jerusalem: the revolt of +Jehoiakim and the captivity of Jehoiachin._ + +_Psammetichus I. and Zedekiah--Apries and the revolt of Tyre and of +Judah: the siege and destruction of Jerusalem--The last convulsions +of Judah and the submission of Tyre; the successes of Aprics in +Phoenicia--The Greeks in Libya and the founding of Cyrene: the defeat of +Irasa and the fall of Apries--Amasis and the campaign of Nebuchadrezzar +against Egypt--Relations between Nebuchadrezzar and Astyages--The +fortifications of Babylon and the rebuilding of the Great Ziggurat--The +successors of Nebuchadrezzar: Nabonidus._ + +[Illustration: 263.jpg PAGE IMAGE] + + + + +CHAPTER III--THE MEDES AND THE SECOND CHALDAEAN EMPIRE + + +_The fall of Nineveh and the rise of the Chaldaean and Median +empires--The XXVIth Egyptian dynasty: Cyaxares, Alyattes, and +Nebuchadrezzar._ + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the silver vase of + Tchertomlitsk, now in the museum of the Hermitage. The + vignette is also drawn by Faucher-Gudin, and represents an + Egyptian torso in the Turin museum; the cartouche which is + seen upon the arm is that of Psammetichus I. + +The East was ever a land of kaleidoscopic changes and startling dramatic +incidents. An Oriental empire, even when built up by strong hands and +watched over with constant vigilance, scarcely ever falls to pieces in +the slow and gradual process of decay arising from the ties that bind +it together becoming relaxed or its constituent elements growing +antiquated. It perishes, as a rule, in a cataclysm; its ruin comes like +a bolt from the blue, and is consummated before the commencement of it +is realised. One day it stands proud and stately in the splendour of its +glory; there is no report abroad but that which tells of its riches, +its industry, its valour, the good government of its princes and the +irresistible might of its gods, and the world, filled with envy or with +fear, deeming its good fortune immutable, never once applies to it, even +in thought, the usual commonplaces on the instability of human things. +Suddenly an ill wind, blowing up from the distant horizon, bursts upon +it in destructive squalls, and it is overthrown in the twinkling of +an eye, amid the glare of lightning, the resounding crash of thunder, +whirlwinds of dust and rain: when the storm has passed away as quickly +as it came, its mutterings heralding the desolation which it bears to +other climes, the brightening sky no longer reveals the old contours +and familiar outlines, but the sun of history rises on a new empire, +emerging, as if by the touch of a magic wand, from the ruins which the +tempest has wrought. There is nothing apparently lacking of all that, in +the eyes of the many, invested its predecessor with glory; it seems in +no wise inferior in national vigour, in the number of its soldiers, +in the military renown of its chiefs, in the proud prosperity of its +people, or in the majesty of its gods; the present fabric is as spacious +and magnificent, it would seem, as that which has but just vanished into +the limbo of the past. No kingdom ever shone with brighter splendour, or +gave a greater impression of prosperity, than the kingdom of Assyria in +the days succeeding its triumphs over Blam and Arabia: precisely at this +point the monuments and other witnesses of its activity fail us, just +as if one of the acts of the piece in which it had played a chief part +having come to an end, the drop-curtain must be lowered, amid a flourish +of trumpets and the illuminations of an apotheosis, to allow the actors +a little breathing-space. Half a century rolls by, during which we have +a dim perception of the subdued crash of falling empires, and of the +trampling of armies in fierce fight; then the curtain rises on an +utterly different drama, of which the plot has been woven behind the +scenes, and the exciting _motif_ has just come into play. We no longer +hear of Assyria and its kings; their palaces are in ruins; their last +faithful warriors sleep in unhonoured graves beneath the ashes of +their cities, their prowess is credited to the account of half a dozen +fabulous heroes such as Ninus, Sardanapalus, and Semiramis--heroes whose +names call up in the memory of succeeding generations only vague but +terrible images, such as the phantasies of a dream, which, although but +dimly remembered in the morning, makes the hair to stand on end with +terror. The nations which erewhile disputed the supremacy with Assyria +have either suffered a like eclipse--such as the Khati, Urartu, the +Cossaeans, and Elam--or have fallen like Egypt and Southern Syria into +the rank of second-rate powers. It is Chaldaea which is now in the van +of the nations, in company with Lydia and with Media, whose advent to +imperial power no one would have ventured to predict forty or fifty +years before. + +The principality founded by Deiokes about the beginning of the seventh +century B.C., seemed at first destined to play but a modest part; it +shared the fortune of the semi-barbarous states with which the Ninevite +conquerors came in contact on the western boundary of the Iranian +plateau, and from which the governors of Arrapkha or of Kharkhar had +extorted tribute to the utmost as often as occasion offered. According +to one tradition, it had only three kings in an entire century: Deiokes +up till 655 B.C., Phraortes from 655 to 633, and after the latter year +Cyaxares, the hero of his race.* Another tradition claimed an earlier +foundation for the monarchy, and doubled both the number of the kings +and the age of the kingdom.** + + * This is the tradition gleaned by Herodotus, probably at + Sardes, from the mouths of Persians residing in that city. + + ** This is the tradition derived from the court of + Artaxerxes by Ctesias of Cnidus. Volney discovered the + principle upon which the chronology of his Median dynasty + was based by Ctesias. If we place his list side by side with + that of Herodotus-- + +[Illustration: 268.jpg and 269.jpg TABLE OF MEDIAN DYNASTY] + + We see that, while rejecting the names given by Herodotus, + Ctesias repeats twice over the number of years assigned by + the latter to the reigns of his kings, at least for the four + last generations-- + + At the beginning Herodotus gives before Deiokes an + interregnum of uncertain duration. Ctesias substituted the + round number of fifty years for the fifty-three assigned to + Deiokes, and replaced the interregnum by a reign which he + estimated at the mean duration of a human generation, thirty + years; he then applied to this new pair of numbers the + process of doubling he had employed for the couple mentioned + above-- + + The number twenty-eight has been attributed to the reign of + Arbakes, instead of the number thirty, to give an air of + truthfulness to the whole catalogue. + +This tradition ignored the monarchs who had rendered the second +Assyrian empire illustrious, and substituted for them a line of inactive +sovereigns, reputed to be the descendants of Ninus and Semiramis. The +last of them, Sardanapalus, had, according to this account, lived a life +of self-indulgence in his harem, surrounded by women, dressing himself +in their garb, and adopting feminine occupations and amusements. The +satrap of Media, Arbakes, saw him at his toilet, and his heart turned +against yielding obedience to such a painted doll: he rebelled in +concert with Belesys the Babylonian. The imminence of the danger thus +occasioned roused Sardanapalus from his torpor, and revived in him the +warlike qualities of his ancestors; he placed himself at the head of his +troops, overcame the rebels, and was about to exterminate them, when his +hand was stayed by the defection of some Bactrian auxiliaries. He shut +himself up in Nineveh, and for two whole years heroically repulsed +all assaults; in the third year, the Tigris, swollen by the rains, +overflowed its banks and broke down the city walls for a distance of +twenty stadia. The king thereupon called to mind an oracle which had +promised him victory until the day when the river should betray him. +Judging that the prediction was about to be accomplished, he resolved +not to yield himself alive to the besieger, and setting fire to his +palace, perished therein, together with his children and his treasures, +about 788 B.C. Arbakes, thus rendered an independent sovereign, handed +down the monarchy to his son Mandaukas, and he in his turn was followed +successively by Sosarmos, Artykas, Arbianes, Artaios, Artynes, and +Astibaras.* These names are not the work of pure invention; they are +met with in more than one Assyrian text: among the petty kings who +paid tribute to Sargon are enumerated some which bear such names as +Mashdaku,** Ashpanda,*** Arbaku, and Khartukka,*** and many others, of +whom traces ought to be found some day among the archives of princely +families of later times. + + * Oppert thought that the names given by Herodotus + represented "Aryanised forms of Turanian names, of which + Otesias has given the Persian translation." + + ** Mashdaku is identified by Post with the Mandaukas or + Maydaukas of Ctesias, which would then be a copyist's error + for Masdaukas. The identification with Vashd[t]aku, Vashtak, + the name of a fabulous king of Armenia, is rejected by Rost; + Mashdaku would be the Iranian Mazdaka, preserved in the + Mazakes of Arrian. + + *** Ashpanda is the Aspandas or Aspadas which Ctesias gives + instead of the Astyages of Herodotus. + + **** The name of Artykas is also found in the secondary form + Kardikoas, which is nearer the Khartukka of the Assyrian + texts. + +There were in these archives, at the disposal of scribes and strangers +inclined to reconstruct the history of Asia, a supply of materials of +varying value--authentic documents inscribed on brick tablets, legends +of fabulous exploits, epic poems and records of real victories and +conquests, exaggerated in accordance with the vanity or the interest of +the composer: from these elements it was easy to compile lists of Median +kings which had no real connection with each other as far as their +names, order of succession, or duration of reign were concerned. The +Assyrian chronicles have handed down to us, in place of these dynasties +which were alleged to have exercised authority over the whole territory, +a considerable number of noble houses scattered over the country, each +of them autonomous, and a rival of its neighbour, and only brought into +agreement with one another at rare intervals by their common hatred of +the invader. Some of them were representatives of ancient races akin +to the Susians, and perhaps to the first inhabitants of Chaldaea; others +belonged to tribes of a fresh stock, that of the Aryans, and more +particularly to the Iranian branch of the Aryan family. We catch +glimpses of them in the reign of Shalmaneser III., who calls them the +Amadai; then, after this first brush with Assyria, intercourse and +conflict between the two nations became more and more frequent every +year, until the "distant Medes" soon began to figure among the regular +adversaries of the Ninevite armies, and even the haughtiest monarchs +refer with pride to victories gained over them. Ramman-nirari waged +ceaseless war against them, Tiglath-pileser III. twice drove them +before him from the south-west to the north-east as far as the foot +of Demavend, while Sargon, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon, during their +respective reigns, kept anxious watch upon them, and endeavoured to +maintain some sort of authority over the tribes which lay nearest to +them. Both in the personal names and names of objects which have +come down to us in the records of these campaigns, we detect +Iranian characteristics, in spite of the Semitic garb with which the +inscriptions have invested them: among the names of countries we find +Partukka, Diristanu, Patusharra, Nishaia, Urivzan, Abiruz, and Ariarma, +while the men bear such names as Ishpabarra, Eparna, Shitirparna, +Uarzan, and Dayaukku. As we read through the lists, faint resemblances +in sound awaken dormant classical memories, and the ear detects familiar +echoes in the names of those Persians whose destinies were for a time +linked with those of Athens and Sparta in the days of Darius and of +Xerxes: it is like the first breath of Greek influence, faint and almost +imperceptible as yet, wafted to us across the denser atmosphere of the +East. + +The Iranians had a vague remembrance of a bygone epoch, during which +they had wandered, in company with other nations of the same origin as +themselves, in that cradle of the Aryan peoples, Aryanem-Vaejo. Modern +historians at first placed their mythical birthplace in the wilder +regions of Central Asia, near the Oxus and the Jaxartes, and not far +from the so-called table-land of Pamir, which they regarded as the +original point of departure of the Indo-European races. They believed +that a large body of these primitive Aryans must have descended +southwards into the basin of the Indus and its affluents, and that +other detachments had installed themselves in the oases of Margiana +and Khorasmia, while the Iranians would have made their way up to the +plateau which separates the Caspian Sea from the Persian Gulf, where +they sought to win for themselves a territory sufficient for their +wants. The compilers of the sacred books of the Iranians claimed to be +able to trace each stage of their peregrinations, and to describe the +various accidents which befell them during this heroic period of their +history. According to these records, it was no mere chance or love of +adventure which had led them to wander for years from clime to clime, +but rather a divine decree. While Ahuromazdao, the beneficent deity +whom they worshipped, had provided them with agreeable resting-places, +a perverse spirit, named Angromainyus, had on every occasion rendered +their sojourn there impossible, by the plagues which he inflicted +on them. Bitter cold, for instance, had compelled them to forsake +Aryanem-Vaejo and seek shelter in Sughdha and Muru.* Locusts had driven +them from Sughdha; the incursions of the nomad tribes, coupled with +their immorality, had forced them to retire from Muru to Bakhdhi, "the +country of lofty banners,"** and subsequently to Nisaya, which lies to +the south-east, between Muru and Bakhdhi. From thence they made their +way into the narrow valleys of the Haroyu, and overran Vaekereta, the +land of noxious shadows.*** + + * Sughdha is Sogdiana; Muru, in ancient Persian Margush, is + the modern Merv, the Margiana of classical geographers. + + ** Bakhdhi is identical with Bactriana, but, as Spiegel + points out, this Avestic form is comparatively recent, and + readily suggests the modern Balkh, in which the consonants + have become weakened. + + *** The Avesta places Nisaya between Muru and Bakhdhi to + distinguish it from other districts of the same name to be + found in this part of Asia: Eugene Burnouf is probably + correct in identifying it with the Nessea of Strabo and of + Ptolemy, which lay to the south of Margiana, at the junction + of the roads leading to Hyrcania in one direction and + Bactriana in the other. + +From this point forwards, the countries mentioned by their chroniclers +are divided into two groups, lying in opposite directions: Arahvaiti, +Haetumant, and Haptahindu* on the east; and on the west, Urva,** Haroyu +or Haraeva is the Greek Aria, the modern province of Herat. + + * Arahvaiti, the Harauvatish of the Achsemenian + inscriptions, is the Greek Arachosia, and Haetumant the + basin of their Etymander, the modern Helmend; in other + words, the present province of Seistan. Hapta-Hindu is the + western part of the Indian continent, i.e. the Punjaub. + + ** The Pehlevi commentators identify Urva with Mesone, + mentioned by classical writers, at the confluence of the + Tigris and Euphrates, or perhaps the plain around Ispahan + which bore the name of Masan in the Sassanid period. Fr. + Lenormant had connected it with the name Urivzan, which is + applied in the Assyrian inscriptions to a district of Media + in the time of Tiglath-pileser III. + +[Illustration: 274.jpg MAP OF THE LANDS CREATED BY AHURA-MAZDA] + +The Pehlevi commentators identify Vaekereta with Kabulistan, and also +volunteer the following interpretation of the title which accompanies +the name: "The shadow of the trees there is injurious to the body, or +as some say, the shadow of the mountains," and it produces fever +there. Arguing from passages of similar construction, Lassen was led to +recognise in the epithet _duzhako-shayanem_ a place-name, "inhabitant of +Duzhako," which he identified with a ruined city in this neighbourhood +called Dushak; Haug believed he had found a confirmation of this +hypothesis in the fact that the Pairika Khnathaiti created there by +Angro-mainyus recalls in sound, at any rate, the name of the people +Parikani mentioned by classical writers, as inhabiting these regions. +Khnenta-Vehrkana,* Bhaga,** and Chakhra,*** as far as the districts of +Varena**** and the basin of the Upper Tigris.^ This legend was composed +long after the event, in order to explain in the first place the +relationship between the two great families into which the Oriental +Aryans were divided, viz. the Indian and Iranian, and in the second +to account for the peopling by the Iranians of a certain number of +provinces between the Indus and the Euphrates. As a matter of fact, it +is more likely that the Iranians came originally from Europe, and that +they migrated from the steppes of Southern Russia into the plains of the +Kur and the Araxes by way of Mount Caucasus.^^ + + * The name Khnenta seems to have been Hellenised into that + of Kharindas, borne by a river which formed the frontier + between Hyrcania and Media; according to the Pehlevi version + it was really a river of Hyrcania, the Djordjan. The epithet + Vehrkana, which qualifies the name Khnenta, has been + identified by Burnouf with the Hyrcania of classical + geographers. + + ** Ragha is identified with Azerbaijan in the Pehlevi + version of the Vendidad, but is, more probably, the Rhago of + classical geographers, the capital of Eastern Media. + + *** Chakhra seems to be identical with the country of Karkh, + at the northwestern extremity of Khorassan. + + **** Varena is identified by the Pehlevi commentators with + Patishkhvargar, i.e. probably the Patusharra of the Assyrian + inscriptions. + + ^ Haug proposed to identify this last station with the + regions situated on the shores of the Caspian, near the + south-western corner of that sea. But, as Garrez points out, + the Pehlevi commentators prove that it must be the countries + on the Upper Tigris. + + ^^ Spiegel has argued that Aryanem-Vaojo is probably Arran, + the modern Kazabadagh, the mountainous district between the + Kur and the Aras, and his opinion is now gaining acceptance. + The settlement of the Iranians in Russia, and their entrance + into Asia by way of the Caucasus, have been admitted by + Rost. Classical writers reversed this order of things, and + derived the Sauromato and other Scythian tribes from Media. + +It is possible that some of their hordes may have endeavoured to wedge +themselves in between the Halys and the Euphrates as far as the centre +of Asia Minor. Their presence in this quarter would explain why we +encounter Iranian personal names in the Sargonide epoch on the two spurs +of Mount Taurus, such as that of the Kushtashpi, King of Kummukh, in +the time of Tiglath-pileser III., and of the Kundashpi mentioned in the +_Annals_ of Shalmaneser III. in the ninth century B.C.* + + * The name Kushtashpi has been compared with that of + Vistaspa or Gushtasp by Fr. Lenormant, the name Kundashpi + with that of Vindaspa by Gutschmid, and, later on, Ball has + added to these a long list of names in Egyptian and Assyrian + inscriptions which he looks upon as Iranian. Kundashpi + recalls at first sight Gundobunas, a name of the Sassanid + epoch, if this latter form be authentic. Tiele adopts the + identification of Kushtashpi with Vistaspa, and Justi has + nothing to say against it, nor against the identification of + Kundashpi with Vindaspa. + +The main body, finding its expansion southwards checked by Urartu, +diverged in a south-easterly direction, and sweeping before it all the +non-Aryan or Turanian tribes who were too weak to stem its progress, +gradually occupied the western edge of the great plateau, where it soon +became mainly represented by the two compact groups, the Persians to +the south on the farthest confines of Elam, and the Medes between +the Greater Zab, the Turnat, and the Caspian. It is probable that the +kingdom founded by Deiokes originally included what was afterwards +termed _Media Magna_ by the Graeco-Roman geographers. This sovereignty +was formed by the amalgamation under a single monarch of six important +tribes--the Buzo, Paraatakeni, Struchatas, Arizanti, Budii, and Magi. +It extended north-westwards as far as the Kiziluzon, which formed the +frontier between the Persians and the Mannai on this side. Northwards, +it reached as far as Demavend; the salt desert that rendered Central +Iran a barren region, furnished a natural boundary on the east; on both +the south and west, the Assyrian border-lands of Ellipi, Kharkhar, and +Arrapkha prevented it from extending to the chief ranges of the Zagros +and Cordioan mountains. The soil, though less fertile than that of +Chaldaea or of Egypt, was by no means deficient in resources. The +mountains contained copper, iron, lead, some gold and silver,* several +kinds of white or coloured marble,** and precious stones, such as topaz, +garnets, emeralds, sapphires, cornelian, and lapis-lazuli, the latter +being a substance held in the highest esteem by Eastern jewellers from +time immemorial; Mount Bikni was specially celebrated for the fine +specimens of this stone which were obtained there.*** Its mountains were +in those days clothed with dense forests, in which the pine, the oak, +and the poplar grew side by side with the eastern plane tree, the cedar, +lime, elm, ash, hazel, and terebinth.**** + + * Rawlinson has collected traditions in reference to gold + and silver mining among the mountains in the neighbourhood + of Takht-i-Suleiman; one of these is still called _Zerreh- + Shardn_, the mount of the _gold-washers_. + + ** The best known was the so-called Tauris marble quarried + from the hills in the neighbourhood of Lake Urumiyah. + + *** The list of precious stones which Pliny tells us were + found in Media, contains several kinds which we are unable + to identify, _e.g_. the Zathene, the gassinades and + narcissitis. Pliny calls lapis-lazuli _sapphirus_, and + declares that the bright specks of pyrites it contained + rendered it unsuitable for engraving. In the Assyrian + inscriptions Mount Bikni, the modern Demavend, is described + as a mountain of Uknu, or lapis-lazuli. + + **** A large part of the mountains and plains is now + treeless, but it is manifest, both from the evidence of the + inscriptions and from the observations of travellers, that + the whole of Media was formerly well wooded. + +The intermediate valleys were veritable orchards, in which the +vegetation of the temperate zones mingled with tropical growths. The +ancients believed that the lemon tree came originally from Persia.* +To this day the peach, pear, apple, quince, cherry, apricot, almond, +filbert, chestnut, fig, pistachio-nut, and pomegranate still flourish +there: the olive is easily acclimatised, and the vine produces grapes +equally suitable for the table or the winepress.** The plateau presents +a poorer and less promising appearance--not that the soil is less +genial, but the rivers become lost further inland, and the barrenness +of the country increases as they come to an end one after another. Where +artificial irrigation has been introduced, the fertility of the country +is quite as great as in the neighbourhood of the mountains;*** outside +this irrigated region no trees are to be seen, except a few on the banks +of rivers or ponds, but wheat, barley, rye, oats, and an abundance of +excellent vegetables grow readily in places where water is present. + + * The apple obtained from Media was known as the Modicum + malum, and was credited with the property of being a + powerful antidote to poison: it was supposed that it would + not grow anywhere outside Media. + + ** In some places, as, for instance, at Kirmanshahan, the + vine stocks have to be buried during the winter to protect + them from the frost. + + *** Irrigation was effected formerly, as now, by means of + subterranean canals with openings at intervals, known as + _kanat_. + +The fauna include, besides wild beasts of the more formidable kinds, +such as lions, tigers, leopards, and bears, many domestic animals, +or animals capable of being turned to domestic use, such as the ass, +buffalo, sheep, goat, dog, and dromedary, and the camel with two humps, +whose gait caused so much merriment among the Ninevite idlers when +they beheld it in the triumphal processions of their kings; there were, +moreover, several breeds of horses, amongst which the Nisasan steed was +greatly prized on account of its size, strength, and agility.* In +short, Media was large enough and rich enough to maintain a numerous +population, and offered a stable foundation to a monarch ambitious of +building up a new empire.** + + * In the time of the Seleucides, Media supplied nearly the + whole of Asia with these animals, and the grazing-lands of + Bagistana, the modern Behistun, are said to have supported + 160,000 of them. Under the Parthian kings Media paid a + yearly tribute of 3000 horses, and the Nisaean breed was + still celebrated at the beginning of the Byzantine era. + Horses are mentioned among the tribute paid by the Medic + chiefs to the kings of Assyria. + + ** The history of the Medes remains shrouded in greater + obscurity than that of any other Asiatic race. We possess no + original documents which owe their existence to this nation, + and the whole of our information concerning its history is + borrowed from Assyrian and Babylonian inscriptions, and from + the various legends collected by the Greeks, especially by + Herodotus and Ctesias, from Persian magnates in Asia Minor + or at the court of the Achaemenian kings, or from fragments + of vanished works such as the writings of Borosus. And yet + modern archaeologists and philologists have, during the last + thirty years, allowed their critical faculties, and often + their imagination as well, to run riot when dealing with + this very period. After carefully examining, one after + another, most of the theories put forward, I have adopted + those hypotheses which, while most nearly approximating to + the classical legends, harmonise best with the chronological + framework--far too imperfect as yet--furnished by the + inscriptions dealing with the closing years of Nineveh; I do + not consider them all to be equally probable, but though + they may be mere stop-gap solutions, they have at least the + merit of reproducing in many cases the ideas current among + those races of antiquity who had been in direct + communication with the Medes and with the last of their + sovereigns. + +[Illustration: 269.jpg NISAEAN HOUSES HARNESSED TO A ROYAL CHARIOT] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the bas-relief from + Persepolis now in the British Museum. + +The first person to conceive the idea of establishing one was, perhaps, +a certain Fravartish, the Phraortes of the Greeks, whom Herodotus +declares to have been the son and successor of Deiokes.* + + * The ancient form of the name, Fravartish or Frawarti, has + been handed down to us by a passage in the great inscription + of Behistun; it means the man who proclaims faith in Ahura- + mazda, the believer. + +[Illustration: 280.jpg THE PERSIAN REALM] + +He came to the throne about 655 B.C. at a time when the styar of +Assur-bani-pal was still in the ascendant, and at first does not seem +to have thought of trying to shake off the incubus of Assyrian rule. He +began very wisely by annexing such of the petty neighbouring states as +had hitherto remained independent, and then set himself to attack the +one other nation of Iranian blood which, by virtue of the number and +warlike qualities of its clans, was in a position to enter into rivalry +with his own people. The Persians, originally concentrated in the +interior, among the steep valleys which divide the plateau on the south, +had probably taken advantage of the misfortunes of Elam to extend their +own influence at its expense. Their kings were chosen from among the +descendants of a certain Akhamanish, the Achaemenes of the Greeks, who at +the time of the Iranian invasion had been chief of the Pasargadae, one +of the Persian clans. Achaemenes is a mythical hero rather than a real +person; he was, we are told, fed during infancy by an eagle--that mighty +eagle whose shadow, according to a Persian belief in mediaeval times, +assured the sovereignty to him on whom it chanced to fall. Achaemenes +would seem to have been followed by a certain Chaispi--or Teispes--a +less fabulous personage, described in the legends as his son. It was, +doubtless, during his reign that Assur-bani-pal, in hot pursuit of +Tiumman and Khumban-khaldash, completed the downfall of Susa; Chaispi +claimed the eastern half of Elam as his share of the spoil, and on the +strength of his victory styled himself King of Anshan--a title on +which his descendants still prided themselves a hundred years after his +death.* + + * The fact that Teispes was the immediate successor of + Achaemenes, indicated by Herodotus, is affirmed by Darius + himself in the Behistun inscription. According to Billet- + beck, the Anzan (Anshan) of the early Achaemenidae was merely + a very small part of the ancient Anzan (Anshan), viz. the + district on the east and south-east of Kuh-i-Dena, which + includes the modern towns of Yezdeshast, Abadeh, Yoklid, and + Kushkiserd. + +Persia, as then constituted, extended from the mouths of the +Oroatis--the modern Tab--as far as the entrance to the Straits of +Ormuzd.* The coast-line, which has in several places been greatly +modified since ancient times by the formation of alluvial deposits, +consists of banks of clay and sand, which lie parallel with the shore, +and extend a considerable distance inland; in some places the country +is marshy, in others parched and rocky, and almost everywhere barren and +unhealthy. The central region is intersected throughout its whole length +by several chains of hills, which rise terrace-like, one behind the +other, from the sea to the plateau; some regions are sterile, more +especially in the north and east, but for the most part the country is +well wooded, and produces excellent crops of cereals. Only a few +rivers, such as the Oroatis, which forms the boundary between Persia and +Susiana,** the Araxes, and the Bagradas succeed in breaking through the +barriers that beset their course, and reach the Persian Gulf;*** most of +the others find no outlet, and their waters accumulate at the bottom of +the valleys, in lakes whose areas vary at the different seasons. + + * Herodotus imagined Carmania and Persia Proper to be one + and the same province; from the Alexandrine period onwards + historians and geographers drew a distinction between the + two. + + ** The form of the name varies in different writers. Strabo + calls it the Oroatis, Nearchus the Arosis; in Pliny it + appears as Oratis and Zarotis, and in Ammianus Marcellinus + as Oroates. + + *** The Araxes is the modern Bendamir. The Kyros, which + flowed past Persepolis, is now the Pulwar, an affluent of + the Bendamir. The Bagradas of Ptolemy, called the Hyperis by + Juba, is the modern Nabend. + +[Illustration: 282.jpg SCENE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF PERSIA.] + + Drawn by Boudier, from Costs and Flandin, _Voyage en Perse_, + vol. i. pl. xcvi. + +[Illustration: 285.jpg HEAD OF A PERSIAN ARCHER] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the Naksh-i-Rustem + bas-relief taken by Dieulafoy. + +The mountainous district is furrowed in all directions by deep ravines, +with almost vertical sides, at the bottom of which streams and torrents +follow a headlong course. The landscape wears a certain air of savage +grandeur; giant peaks rise in needle-like points perpendicularly to +the sky; mountain paths wind upward, cut into the sides of the steep +precipices; the chasms are spanned by single-arched bridges, so frail +and narrow that they seem likely to be swept away in the first gail that +blows. No country could present greater difficulties to the movements +of a regular army or lend itself more readily to a system of guerrilla +warfare. It was unequally divided between some ten or twelve tribes:* +chief among these were the Pasargadaa, from which the royal family took +its origin; after them came the Maraphii and Maspii. + + * Herodotus only mentions ten Persian tribes; Xenophon + speaks of twelve. + +The chiefs of these two tribes were elected from among the members +of seven families, who, at first taking equal rank with that of the +Pasargadaae, had afterwards been reduced to subjection by the Achaemenidae, +forming a privileged class at the court of the latter, the members +of which shared the royal prerogatives and took a part in the work +of government. Of the remaining tribes, the Panthialad, Derusiaei, and +Carmenians lived a sedentary life, while the Dai, Mardians, Dropici, +and Sagartians were nomadic in their habits. Each one of these tribes +occupied its own allotted territory, the limits of which were not always +accurately defined; we know that Sagartia, Parseta-kone, and Mardia +lay towards the north, on the confines of Media and the salt desert,* +Taokene extended along the seaboard, and Carmania lay to the east. +The tribes had constructed large villages, such as Armuza, Sisidona, +Apostana, Gogana, and Taoke, on the sea-coast (the last named possessing +a palace which was one of the three chief residences of the Achaemenian +kings),** and Carmana, Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Gabae in the +interior.*** + + * Parsetakene, which has already been identified with the + Partukkanu (or Partakkanu) of the Assyrian inscriptions, is + placed by Ptolemy in Persia; Mardia corresponds to the + mountainous district of Bebahan and Kazrun. + + ** The position of most of these towns is still somewhat + doubtful. Armuza is probably Ormuz (or Hormuz) on the + mainland, the forerunner of the insular Hormuz of the + Portuguese, as the French scholar d'Anville has pointed out; + Sisidona has been identified with the modern village of + Mogu, near Ras-Jerd, Apostana with the town of Shewar, the + name seeming to be perpetuated in that of the Jebel Asban + which rises not far from there. Gogana is probably Bender + Kongun, and Taoko, at the mouth of the Granis, is either + Khor Gasseir or Rohilla at the mouth of the Bishawer. The + palace, which was one of the three principal residences of + the Achaemenian kings, is probably mentioned by Strabo, and + possibly in Dionysius Periegetes. + + *** Carmana is the modern Kerman; the exact position of + Gabae, which also possesses a palace, is not known. + +[Illustration: 287.jpg A PERSIAN] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of one of the bas- + reliefs at Persepolis, in Dieulafoy. + +The Persians were a keen-witted and observant race, inured to all kinds +of hardships in their occupation as mountain shepherds, and they were +born warriors. The type preserved on the monuments differs but little +from that which still exists at the present day in the more remote +districts. It was marked by a tall and slender figure, with sturdy +shoulders and loins, a small head, with a thick shock of hair and +curling beard, a straight nose, a determined mouth, and an eye steady +and alert. Yet, in spite of their valour, Phraortes overpowered them, +and was henceforward able to reckon the princes of Anshan among his +vassals; strengthened by the addition of their forces to his own, +he directed his efforts to the subjection of the other races of the +plateau. If we may believe the tradition of the Hellenic epoch, he +reduced them to submission, and, intoxicated by his success, ventured at +last to take up arms against the Assyrians, who for centuries past had +held rule over Upper Asia. + +This was about 635 B.C., or less than ten years after the downfall of +Elam, and it does not seem likely that the vital forces of Assyria can +have suffered any serious diminution within so short a space of time.* + + * The date is indicated by the figures given by Herodotus in + regard to the Medic kings, based on the calculations of + himself or his authorities. Phraortes died in 634 B.C., + after a reign of twenty-two years, and as the last year of + his reign coincides with the war against Assyria, the + preparations for it cannot have been much earlier than 635 + or 636 B.C., a year or two before the catastrophe. + +Assur-bani-pal, weary of fighting, even though he no longer directed +operations in person, had apparently determined to remain entirely on +the defensive, and not to take the field, unless absolutely compelled +to do so by rebellion at home or an attack from outside. In view of the +growing need of rest for the Assyrian nation, he could not have arrived +at a wiser decision, provided always that circumstances allowed of its +being carried into effect, and that the tributary races and frontier +nations were willing to fall in with his intentions. They did so at +first, for the fate of Elam had filled even the most unruly among them +with consternation, and peace reigned supreme from the Persian Gulf to +the Mediterranean. Assur-bani-pal took advantage of this unexpected lull +to push forward the construction of public works in the valleys of the +Tigris and Euphrates. The palace of Sennacherib, though it had been +built scarcely fifty years before, was already beginning to totter on +its foundations; Assur-bani-pal entirely remodeled and restored it--a +proceeding which gave universal satisfaction. The common people had, as +usual, to make the bricks with their own hands and convey them to the +spot, but as the chariots employed for this purpose formed part of the +booty recently brought back from Elam, the privilege of using these +trophies did something to lighten the burden of the tasks imposed on +them. Moreover, they had the satisfaction of seeing at work among the +squads of labourers several real kings, the Arabian chiefs who had been +pursued and captured in the heart of the desert by Assur-bani-pal's +generals; they plodded along under their heavy baskets, stimulated by +the crack of the whip, amid insults and jeers. This palace was one of +the largest and most ornate ever built by the rulers of Assyria. True, +the decoration does not reveal any novel process or theme; we find +therein merely the usual scenes of battle or of the chase, but they are +designed and executed with a skill to which the sculptor of Nineveh had +never before attained. The animals, in particular, are portrayed with a +light and delicate touch--the wild asses pursued by hounds, or checked +while galloping at full speed by a cast of the lasso; the herds of goats +and gazelles hurrying across the desert; the wounded lioness, which +raises herself with a last dying effort to roar at the beaters. We are +conscious of Egyptian influence underlying the Asiatic work, and the +skilful arrangement of the scenes from the Elamite campaigns also +reminds us of Egypt. The picture of the battle of Tulliz recalls, in +the variety of its episodes and the arrangement of the perspective, the +famous engagement at Qodshu, of which Ramses II. has left such +numerous presentments on the Theban pylons. The Assyrians, led by the +vicissitudes of invasion to Luxor and the Ramesseum, had, doubtless, +seen these masterpieces of Egyptian art in a less mutilated state than +that in which we now possess them, and profited by the remembrance when +called upon to depict the private life of their king and the victories +gained by his armies. + +[Illustration: 290.jpg A HERD OF WILD GOATS--A BAS-RELIEF OF THE TIME OF +ASSUR-BANI-PAL] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the sketch by Place. + +It was in this magnificent residence that Assur-bani-pal led an +existence of indolent splendour, such as the chroniclers of a later +age were wont to ascribe to all the Assyrian monarchs from the time of +Semiramis onwards.* + + * Stories of the effeminacy of Sardanapalus had been + collected by Ctesias of Cnidus; they soon grew under the + hands of historians in the time of Alexander, and were + passed on by them to writers of the Roman and Byzantine + epochs. + +[Illustration: 290b ILLUSTRATED MANUSCRIPT IN HEIROGLYPHICS] + +We would gladly believe that he varied the monotony of his hunting +expeditions, his banquets, and entertainments in the gardens in company +with the women of the harem, by pleasures of a more refined nature, and +that he took an unusual interest in the history and literature of the +races who had become subject to his rule. As a matter of fact, there +have been discovered in several of the ruined chambers of his palaces +the remains of a regular library, which must originally have contained +thousands of clay tablets, all methodically arranged and catalogued for +his use. A portion of them furnish us at first-hand with the records +of his reign, and include letters exchanged with provincial governors, +augural predictions, consultation of oracles, observations made by the +royal astrologers, standing orders, accounts of income and expenditure, +even the reports of physicians in regard to the health of members of the +royal family or of the royal household: these documents reveal to us the +whole machinery of government in actual operation, and we almost seem +to witness the secret mechanism by which the kingdom was maintained in +activity. Other tablets contain authentic copies of works which were +looked upon as classics in the sanctuaries of the Euphrates. Probably, +when Babylon was sacked, Sennacherib had ordered the books which +lay piled up in E-Sagilla and the other buildings of the city to +be collected and carried away to Nineveh along with the statues and +property of the gods. They had been placed in the treasury, and there +they remained until Esarhaddon re-established the kingdom of Karduniash, +and Assur-bani-pal was forced to deliver up the statue of Marduk and +restore to the sanctuaries, now rebuilt, all the wealth of which his +grandfather had robbed them: but before sending back the tablets, he +ordered copies to be made of them, and his secretaries set to work to +transcribe for his use such of these works as they considered worthy of +reproduction. The majority of them were treatises compiled by the most +celebrated adepts in the sciences for which Chaldaea had been famous +from time immemorial; they included collections of omens, celestial and +terrestrial, in which the mystical meaning of each phenomenon and +its influence on the destinies of the world was explained by examples +borrowed from the Annals of world-renowned conquerors, such as Naramsin +and Sargon of Agade; then there were formulae for exorcising evil spirits +from the bodies of the possessed, and against phantoms, vampires, and +ghosts, the recognised causes of all disease; prayers and psalms, which +had to be repeated before the gods in order to obtain pardon for sin; +and histories of divinities and kings from the time of the creation down +to the latest date. Among these latter were several versions of the epic +of Grilgames, the story of Etana, of Adapa, and many others; and we +may hope to possess all that the Assyrians knew of the old Chaldaean +literature in the seventh century B.C., as soon as the excavators have +unearthed from the mound at Kouyunjik all the tablets, complete or +fragmentary, which still lie hidden there. Even from the shreds of +information which they have already yielded to us, we are able to piece +together so varied a picture that we can readily imagine Assur-bani-pal +to have been a learned and studious monarch, a patron of literature and +antiquarian knowledge. Very possibly he either read himself, or had read +to him, many of the authors whose works found a place in his library: +the kings of Nineveh, like the Pharaohs, desired now and then to be +amused by tales of the marvellous, and they were doubtless keenly alive +to the delightful rhythm and beautiful language employed by the poets of +the past in singing the praises of their divine or heroic ancestors. +But the mere fact that his palace contained the most important literary +collection which the ancient East has so far bequeathed to us, in no +way proves that Assur-bani-pal displayed a more pronounced taste for +literature than his predecessors; it indicates merely the zeal and +activity of his librarians, their intelligence, and their respect and +admiration for the great works of the past. Once he had issued his edict +ordering new editions of the old masters to be prepared, Assur-bani-pal +may have dismissed the matter from his mind, and the work would go on +automatically without need for any further interference on his part. +The scribes enriched his library for him, in much the same way as the +generals won his battles, or the architects built his monuments: they +were nothing more than nameless agents, whose individuality was eclipsed +by that of their master, their skill and talent being all placed to his +credit. Babylonia shared equally with Assyria in the benefits of his +government. He associated himself with his brother Shamash-shumukin in +the task of completing the temple of E-Sagilla; afterwards, when sole +monarch, he continued the work of restoration, not only in Babylon, but +in the lesser cities as well, especially those which had suffered most +during the war, such as Uru, Uruk, Borsippa, and Cutha.* + + He refers to the works at Borsippa and Kuta towards the end + of the account of his campaign against Shamash-shumukin, and + to those at Uruk in describing the war against Khumban- + khaldash. + +He remodelled the temple of Bel at Nippur, the walls built there by him +being even now distinguishable from the rest by the size of the bricks +and the careful dressing of the masonry. From the shores of the Persian +Gulf to the mountains of Armenia, Assyria and Karduniash were covered +with building-yards just as they had been in the most peaceful days of +the monarchy. + +[Illustration: 294.jpg REMAINS OF ASSUR-BANI-PAL's WALL AT NIPPUR] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the photograph published by + Peters. + +It was at this unique juncture of apparent grandeur and prosperity +that Phraortes resolved to attack Assur-bani-pal. There is nothing to +indicate that his action took place simultaneously with some movement on +the part of other peoples, or with a serious insurrection in any of the +Assyrian provinces. For my part, I prefer to set it down to one of those +sudden impulses, those irresistible outbursts of self-confidence, which +from time to time actuated the princes tributary to Nineveh or the kings +on its frontier. The period of inactivity to which some previous defeat +inflicted on them or on their predecessors had condemned them, allowed +them to regain their strength, and one or two victories over less +powerful neighbours served to obliterate the memory of former +humiliation and disaster; they flew to arms full of hope in the result, +and once more drew down defeat upon their heads, being lucky indeed if +their abortive rising led to nothing worse than the slaughter of their +armies, the execution of their generals, and an increase in the amount +of their former tribute. This was the fate that overtook Phraortes; +the conqueror of the Persians, when confronted by the veteran troops of +Assyria, failed before their superior discipline, and was left dead upon +the field of battle with the greater part of his army. So far the +affair presented no unusual features; it was merely one more commonplace +repetition of a score of similar episodes which had already taken place +in the same region, under Tiglath-pileser III. or the early Sargonides; +but Huvakshatara, the son of Phraortes, known to the Greeks as +Cyaxares,* instead of pleading for mercy, continued to offer a stubborn +resistance. Cyaxares belongs to history, and there can be no doubt that +he exercised a decisive influence over the destinies of the Oriental +world, but precise details of his exploits are wanting, and his +personality is involved in such obscuring mists that we can scarcely +seize it; the little we have so far been able to glean concerning him +shows us, not so much the man himself, as a vague shadow of him seen +dimly through the haze. + + * The original form of the name is furnished by passages in + the Behistun inscription, where Chitrantakhma of Sagartia + and Fravartish of Media, two of the claimants for the throne + who rose against Darius, are represented as tracing their + descent from Huvakshatara. + +His achievements prove him to have been one of those perfect rulers of +men, such as Asia produces every now and then, who knew how to govern as +well as how to win battles--a born general and lawgiver, who could carry +his people with him, and shone no less in peace than in war.* + + * G. Rawlinson takes a somewhat different view of Cyaxares' + character; he admits that Cyaxares knew how to win + victories, but refuses to credit him with the capacity for + organisation required in order to reap the full benefits of + conquest, giving as his reason for this view the brief + duration of the Medic empire. The test applied by him does + not seem to me a conclusive one, for the existence of the + second Chaldaean empire was almost as short, and yet it would + be decidedly unfair to draw similar inferences touching the + character of Nabopolassar or Nebuchadrezzar from this fact. + +[Illustration: 297.jpg MEDIC AND PERSIAN FOOT-SOLDIERS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, after Coste and Flandin. The first + and third figures are Medes, the second and fourth Persians. + +The armies at the disposal of his predecessors had been little more than +heterogeneous assemblies of feudal militia; each clan furnished its own +contingent of cavalry, archers, and pikemen, but instead of all these +being combined into a common whole, with kindred elements contributed +by the other tribes, each one acted separately, thus forming a number of +small independent armies within the larger one. Cyaxares saw that defeat +was certain so long as he had nothing but these ill-assorted masses to +match against the regular forces of Assyria: he therefore broke up the +tribal contingents and rearranged the units of which they were composed +according to their natural affinities, grouping horsemen with horsemen, +archers with archers, and pikemen with pikemen, taking the Assyrian +cavalry and infantry as his models.* + +* Herodotus tells us that Cyaxares was "the first to divide the Asiatics +into different regiments, separating the pikemen from the archers and +horsemen; before his time, these troops were all mixed up haphazard +together." I have interpreted his evidence in the sense which seems +most in harmony with what we know of Assyrian military tactics. It +seems incredible that the Medic armies can have fought pell-mell, as +Herodotus declares, seeing that for two hundred years past the Medes +had been frequently engaged against such well-drilled troops as those +of Assyria: if the statement be authentic, it merely means that Cyaxares +converted all the small feudal armies which had hitherto fought side +by side on behalf of the king into a single royal army in which the +different kinds of troops were kept separate. + +The foot-soldiers wore a high felt cap known as a tiara; they had long +tunics with wide sleeves, tied in at the waist by a belt, and sometimes +reinforced by iron plates or scales, as well as gaiters, buskins of soft +leather, and large wickerwork shields covered with ox-hide, which they +bore in front of them like a movable bulwark; their weapons consisted of +a short sword, which depended from the belt and lay along the thigh, +one or two light javelins, a bow with a strongly pronounced curve, and +a quiver full of arrows made from reeds.* Their horsemen, like those of +other warlike nations II of the East, used neither saddle nor stirrups, +and though they could make skilful use of lance and sword, their +favourite weapon was the bow.** + + * Herodotus describes the equipment of the Persians in much + the same terms as I have used above, and then adds in the + following chapter that "the Medes had the same equipment, + for it is the equipment of the Medes and not that of the + Persians." + + ** Herodotus says that the Medic horsemen were armed in the + same manner as the infantry. + +[Illustration: 298.jpg A MEDIC HORSEMAN] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a cast of the Medic intaglio in + the Cabinet des Medailles. + +Accustomed from their earliest childhood to all kinds of equestrian +exercises, they seemed to sit their horses as though they actually +formed part of the animal. They seldom fought in line, but, from the +very beginning of an action, hung like a dense cloud on the front and +flanks of the enemy, and riddled them with missiles, without, however, +coming to close quarters. Like the Parthians of a later epoch, they +waited until they had bewildered and reduced the foe by their ceaseless +evolutions before giving the final charge which was to rout them +completely. No greater danger could threaten the Assyrians than the +establishment of a systematically organised military power within +the borders of Media. An invader starting from Egypt or Asia Minor, +even if he succeeded in overthrowing the forces sent out to meet him, +had still a long way to go before he could penetrate to the heart of +the empire. Even if Cilicia and Syria should be conquered, nothing was +easier than to oppose a further advance at the barrier of the Euphrates; +and should the Euphrates be crossed, the Khabur still remained, and +behind it the desert of Singar, which offered the last obstacle between +Nineveh and the invaders. The distances were less considerable in the +case of an army setting out from Urartu and proceeding along the basin +of the Tigris or its affluents; but here, too, the difficulties of +transit were so serious that the invader ran a great risk of gradually +losing the best part of his forces on the road. On the north-east and +east, however, the ancient heritage of Assur lay open to direct and +swift attack. An enemy who succeeded in destroying or driving back the +garrisons stationed as outposts on the rim of the plateau, from Kharkhar +to Parsua, if he ventured to pursue his advantage and descended into the +plain of the Tigris, had no less than three routes to choose from--the +Kirind road on the south, the Baneh road on the north, and the +Suleimanych road between the two. The last was the easiest of all, and +led almost straight to the fords of Altun-Keupri and the banks of the +Lesser Zab, on the confines of Assyria proper, close under the walls of +Arbela, the holy city of Ishtar. + +[Illustration: 300.jpg THE ASSYRIAN TRIANGLE] + +He needed but to win two victories, one upon leaving the mountains, the +other at the passage of the Zab, and two or three weeks' steady marching +would bring him from Hamadan right up to the ramparts of Nineveh. +Cyaxares won a victory over Assur-bani-pal's generals, and for the first +time in over a hundred years Assyria proper suffered the ignominy of +foreign invasion. The various works constructed by twenty generations of +kings had gradually transformed the triangle enclosed between the Upper +Zab, the Tigris, and the Jebel-Makhlub into a regular fortified camp. +The southern point of this triangle was defended by Calah from the +attacks of Chaldoa or from foes coming down from Media by Iiolwan and +Suleimanyeh, while Nineveh guarded it on the northeast, and several +lines of walled cities--among which Dur-Sharrukin and Imgur-Bel can +still be identified--protected it on the north and east, extending from +the Tigris as far as the G-hazir and Zab. It was necessary for an enemy +to break through this complex defensive zone, and even after this had +been successfully accomplished and the walls of the capital had been +reached, the sight which would meet the eye was well calculated to +dismay even the most resolute invader. Viewed as a whole, Nineveh +appeared as an irregular quadrilateral figure, no two sides of which +were parallel, lying on the left bank of the Tigris. + +[Illustration: 301.jpg MAP OF NINEVEH] + +The river came right up to the walls on the west, and the two mounds of +Kouyunjik and Nebi-Yunus, on which stood the palaces of the Sargonides, +were so skilfully fortified that a single wall connecting the two +sufficed to ward off all danger of attack on this side. The south +wall, which was the shortest of the four, being only about 870 yards +in length, was rendered inaccessible by a muddy stream, while the north +wall, some 2150 yards long, was protected by a wide moat which could be +filled from the waters of the Khuzur. + +[Illustration: 302.jpg PART OF THE FOSSE AT NINEVEH] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a sketch in Layard. + +The eastern front had for a long time depended for its safety on +a single wall reinforced by a moat, but Sennacherib, deeming it +insufficiently protected against a sudden attack, had piled up obstacles +in front of it, so that it now presented a truly formidable appearance. +It was skirted throughout its whole length by a main rampart, 5400 yards +long, which described a gentle curve from north to south, and rose to a +height of about 50 feet, being protected by two small forts placed close +to the main gates. The fosse did not run along the foot of the wall, but +at a distance of about fifty yards in front of it, and was at least some +20 feet deep and over 150 feet in width. It was divided into two unequal +segments by the Khuzur: three large sluice-gates built on a level with +the wall and the two escarpments allowed the river to be dammed back, so +that its waters could be diverted into the fosse and thus keep it full +in case of siege. In front of each segment was a kind of demi-lune, +and--as though this was not precaution enough--two walls, each over +4300 yards long, were built in front of the demi-lunes, the ditch which +separated them being connected at one end with the Khuzur, and allowed +to empty itself into a stream on the south. The number of inhabitants +sheltered behind these defences was perhaps 300,000 souls;* each +separate quarter of the city was enclosed by ramparts, thus forming, as +it were, a small independent town, which had to be besieged and captured +after a passage had been cut through the outer lines of defence. + + * Jones and G. Rawlinson credit Nineveh with a population of + not more than 175,000. + +Cyaxares might well have lost heart in the face of so many difficulties, +but his cupidity, inflamed by reports of the almost fabulous wealth of +the city, impelled him to attack it with extraordinary determination: +the spoils of Susa, Babylon, and Thebes, in fact, of the whole of +Western Asia and Ethiopia, were, he felt, almost within his reach, +and would inevitably fall into his hands provided his courage and +perseverance did not fail him. After shutting up the remnant of the +Assyrian army inside Nineveh he laid patient siege to the city, and the +fame of his victories being noised abroad on all sides, it awoke among +the subject races that longing for revenge which at one time appeared to +have been sent to sleep for ever. It almost seemed as though the moment +was approaching when the city of blood should bleed in its turn, when +its kings should at length undergo the fate which they had so long +imposed on other monarchs. Nahum the Elkoshite,* a Hebrew born in the +Assyrian province of Samaria, but at that time an exile in Judah, lifted +up his voice, and the echo of his words still resounds in our ears, +telling us of the joy and hope felt by Judah, and with Judah, by the +whole of Asia, at the prospect. Speaking as the prophet of Jahveh, +it was to Jahveh that he attributed the impending downfall of the +oppressor: "Jahveh is a jealous God and avengeth; Jahveh avengeth and +is full of wrath; Jahveh taketh vengeance on His adversaries, and He +reserveth wrath for His enemies. Jahveh is slow to anger and great in +power, and will by no means clear the guilty; Jahveh hath His way in the +whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He +rebuketh the sea and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan +languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth."* And, +"Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings." +Then he goes on to unfold before the eyes of his hearers a picture of +Nineveh, humiliated and in the last extremity. + + * Elkosh is identified by Eusebius with Elkese, which St. + Jerome declares to have been in Galileo, the modern el- + Kauzeh, two and a half hours' walk south of Tibnin. The + prophecy of Nahum has been taken by some as referring to the + campaign of Phraortes against Assyria, but more frequently + to the destruction of Nineveh by the Medes and Chaldaeans. It + undoubtedly refers to the siege interrupted by the Scythian + invasion. + +There she lies, behind her bastions of brick, anxiously listening for +the approach of the victorious Medes. "The noise of the whip, and +the noise of the rattling of wheels; and prancing horses and jumping +chariots; the horsemen mounting, and the flashing sword, and the +glittering spear; and a multitude of slain and a great heap of carcases: +and there is no end of the corpses; they stumble upon their corpses: +because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well-favoured harlot, +the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, +and families through her witchcrafts. Behold, I am against thee, saith +Jahveh of hosts, and I will discover thy skirts upon they face; and I +will show the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame. And I +will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set +thee as a gazing-stock. And it shall come to pass that all they that +look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who +will bemoan her? Whence shall I seek comforters for thee?" Thebes, the +city of Amon, did not escape captivity; why then should Nineveh prove +more fortunate? "All thy fortresses shall be like fig trees with the +firstripe figs: if they be shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater. +Behold, thy people in the midst of thee are women; the gates of thy land +are set wide open unto thine enemies: the fire hath devoured thy bars. +Draw thee water for the siege, strengthen thy fortresses: go into the +clay and tread the mortar, make strong the brick-kiln. There shall the +fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off,... make thyself many as +the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts. Thou hast multiplied +thy merchants as the stars of heaven: the cankerworm spoileth and flieth +away. Thy crowned are as the locusts and thy marshals as the swarms of +grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun +ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are. +Thy shepherds slumber, O King of Assyria: thy worthies are at rest: thy +people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather +them. There is no assuaging of thy hurt; thy wound is grievous: all that +hear the bruit of thee clap the hands over thee; for upon whom hath not +thy wickedness passed continually?" + +On this occasion Nineveh escaped the fate with which the prophet had +threatened it, but its safety was dearly bought. According to the +tradition accepted in Asia Minor two hundred years later, a horde of +Scythians under King Madyes, son of Protothyes, setting out from the +Bussian steppes in pursuit of the Cimmerians, made their appearance on +the scene in the nick of time. We are told that they flung themselves +through the Caspian Gates into the basin of the Kur, and came into +contact with the Medes at the foot of Mount Caucasus. The defeat of the +Medes here would necessarily compel them to raise the siege of Nineveh. +This crisis in the history of Asia was certainly not determined by +chance. For eighty years Assyria had been in contact with the Scythians, +and the Assyrian kings had never ceased to keep an eye upon their +movements, or lose sight of the advantage to which their bellicose +temper might be turned in circumstances like the present. They had +pitted them against the Cimmerians, then against the Medes, and probably +against the kings of Urartu as well, and the intimacy between the two +peoples came to be so close that the Scythian king Bartatua did not +hesitate to demand one of the daughters of Bsarhaddon in marriage. From +the very beginning of his reign Assur-bani-pal had shown them the +utmost consideration, and when King Madyes, son of his ally Bartatua, +intervened thus opportunely in the struggle, he did so, not by mere +chance, as tradition would have us believe, but at the urgent request of +Assyria. He attacked Media in the rear, and Cyaxares, compelled to raise +the siege of Nineveh, hastened to join battle with him. The engagement +probably took place on the banks of the Lower Araxes or to the north of +Lake Urumiah, in the region formerly inhabited by the Mannai; but after +defeating his foe and dictating to him the terms of submission, Madyes, +carried away by the lust of conquest, did not hesitate to turn his arms +against his ally. Exhausted by her recent struggle, Assyria lay at his +mercy, her fortresses alone being able to offer any serious resistance: +he overran the country from end to end, and though the walled cities +withstood the fury of his attack, the rural districts were plundered +right and left, and laid desolate for many a year to come. The Scythians +of this epoch probably resembled those whom we find represented on the +monuments of Greek art two centuries later. Tall fierce-looking men, +with unkempt beards, their long and straggling locks surmounted by the +_kyrbasis_, or pointed national cap of felt; they wore breeches and a +blouse of embroidered leather, and were armed with lances, bows, and +battle-axes. They rode bareback on untrained horses, herds of which +followed their tribes about on their wanderings; each man caught the +animal he required with the help of a lasso, put bit and bridle on him, +and vaulting on to his back at a single bound, reduced him to a state +of semi-obedience. No troops could stand their ground before the +frantic charge of these wild horsemen; like the Huns of Roman times, +the Scythians made a clean sweep of everything they found in their path. +They ruined the crops, carried off or slaughtered the herds, and set +fire to the villages from sheer love of destruction, or in order to +inspire terror; every one who failed to fly to the mountains or take +refuge in some fortress, was either massacred on the spot or led away +into slavery. + +[Illustration: 308.jpg SCYTHIANS TENDING THEIR WOUNDED] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the reliefs on a silver vase + from Kul-Oba. + +Too ignorant of the arts of war to undertake a siege in the regular +way, they usually contented themselves with levying ransoms on fortified +towns; occasionally, however, when the wealth accumulated behind the +walls held out a prospect of ample booty, they blockaded the place until +famine compelled it to surrender. More than one ancient city which, +thanks to the good government of its rulers and the industry of its +citizens, had amassed treasure of inestimable value, was put to fire and +sword, and more than one fertile and populous region left unfilled and +deserted.* Most of the states which for the last three centuries had +fought so stubbornly against the Assyrians for independence, went down +before the storm, including the kingdoms of Urartu, of the Mushku, and +of the Tabal,** the miserable end furnishing the Hebrew prophets full +fifty years later with a theme of sombre rejoicing. "There is Meshech, +Tubal, and all her multitude; her graves are round about her: all of +them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in +the land of the living. And they shall not lie with the mighty that +are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their +weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads,*** and +their iniquities are upon their bones; for they were the terror of the +mighty in the land of the living."**** + + * This may be deduced from the passage in Herodotus, where + he says that " the Scythians were masters of Asia for + twenty-eight years, and overturned everything by their + brutality and stupidity: for, in addition to tribute, they + exacted from every one whatever they chose, and, moreover, + they prowled here and there, plundering as they thought + good." + + ** Strabo refers in general terms to the presence of + Scythians (or, as he calls them, Sacae) in Armenia, + Cappadocia, and on the shores of the Black Sea. + + *** This, doubtless, means that the Mushku and Tabal had + been so utterly defeated that they could not procure + honourable burial for their dead, i.e. with their swords + beneath their heads and their weapons on their bodies. + + **** 1 Ezek. xxxii. 26, 27. + +The Cimmerians, who, since their reverses in Lydia and on Mount Taurus, +had concentrated practically the whole of their tribes in Cappadocia +and in the regions watered by the Halys and Thermodon, shared the good +fortune of their former adversaries. At that time they lived under the +rule of a certain Kobos, who seems to have left a terrible reputation +behind him; tradition gives him a place beside Sesostris among the +conquerors of the heroic age, and no doubt, like his predecessor +Dugdamis, he owed this distinction to some expedition or other against +the peoples who dwelt on the shores of the AEgean Sea, but our knowledge +of his career is confined to the final catastrophe which overtook him. +After some partial successes, such as that near Zela, for instance, he +was defeated and made prisoner by Madyes. His subjects, as vassals of +the Scythians, joined them in their acts of brigandage,* and together +they marched from province to province, plundering as they went; they +overran the western regions of the Assyrian kingdom from Melitene +and Mesopotamia to Northern Syria, from Northern Syria to Phoenicia, +Damascus, and Palestine,** and at length made their appearance on the +Judaean frontier. + + * It seems probable that this was so, when we consider the + confusion between the Scythians or Sakse, and the Cimmerians + in the Babylonian and Persian inscriptions of the + Achsemenian epoch. + + ** Their migration from Media into Syria and Palestine is + expressly mentioned by Herodotus. + +Since the day when Sennacherib had been compelled to return to Assyria +without having succeeded in destroying Jerusalem, or even carrying it by +storm, Judah had taken little or no part in external politics. Divided +at first by a conflict between the party of prudence, who advised +submission to Nineveh, and the more warlike spirits who advocated an +alliance with Egypt, it had ended by accepting its secondary position, +and had on the whole remained fairly loyal to the dynasty of Sargon. + +[Illustration: 311.jpg IRANIAN SOLDIER FIGHTING AGAINST THE SCYTHIANS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the cast of a cylinder given by + Cunningham. The cylinder is usually described as Persian, + but the dress is that of the Medes as well as of the + Persians. + +On the death of Hezekiah, his successor, Manasseh, had, as we know, +been tempted to intervene in the revolutions of the hour, but the prompt +punishment which followed his first attempt put an end for ever to his +desire for independence. His successor, Amon, during his brief reign of +two years,* had no time to desert the ways of his father, and Josiah,** +who came to the throne in 638 B.C., at the age of eight, had so far +manifested no hostility towards Assyria. + + * 2 Kings xxi. 18-26; cf. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 20-25. The reign + of fifty-five years attributed to Manasseh by the Jewish + annalists cannot be fitted into the chronology of the + period; we must either take off ten years, thus reducing the + duration of the reign to forty-five years, or else we must + assume the first ten of Manasseh to be synchronous with the + last ten of Hezekiah. + + ** 2 Kings xxii. 1; cf. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 1. + +Thus, for more than fifty years, Judah enjoyed almost unbroken peace, +and led as happy and prosperous an existence as the barrenness of its +soil and the unruly spirit of its inhabitants would permit. + +But though its political activity had been almost nothing during this +interval, its spiritual life had seldom been developed with a greater +intensity. The reverse sustained by Sennacherib had undoubtedly been +a triumph for Isaiah, and for the religious party of which we are +accustomed to regard him as the sole representative. It had served to +demonstrate the power of Jahveh, and His aversion for all idolatrous +worship and for all foreign alliances. In vain did the partisans of +Egypt talk loudly of Pharaoh and of all those principalities of this +world which were drawn round in Pharaoh's orbit; Egypt had shown herself +incapable of safeguarding her friends, and things had gone steadily from +bad to worse so long as these latter held the reins of government; +their removal from office had been, as it were, the signal for a welcome +change in the fortunes of the Jews. Jahveh had delivered His city +the moment when, ceasing to rely upon itself, it had surrendered its +guidance into His hands, and the means of avoiding disaster in the +future was clearly pointed out to it. Judah must be content to follow +the counsels which Isaiah had urged upon it in the name of the Most +High, and submissively obey the voice of its prophets. "Thine eyes shall +see thy teachers: and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, +This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when +ye turn to the left. And ye shall defile the over-laying of thy graven +images of silver, and the plating of thy molten images of gold: thou +shalt cast them away as an unclean thing; thou shalt say unto it, Get +thee hence." Isaiah seems to disappear after his triumph, and none of +his later prophecies have come down to us: yet the influence of his +teaching lasted throughout the reign of Hezekiah, and the court, +supported by the more religious section of the people, not only abjured +the worship of false gods, but forsook the high places and discontinued +the practices which he had so strenuously denounced. The great bulk of +the nation, however, soon returned to their idolatrous practices, if, +indeed, they had ever given them up, and many of the royal advisers grew +weary of the rigid observances which it was sought to impose upon them; +rites abhorrent to Jahveh found favour even among members of the king's +own family, and on Hezekiah's death, about 686 B.C., a reaction promptly +set in against both his religious views and the material reforms he had +introduced.* + + * 2 Kings xxi. 2-7 (cf. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 2-7), where, in + spite of manifest recensions of the text, the facts + themselves seem to have been correctly set forth. + +Manasseh was only thirteen years old when he came to the throne, and his +youth naturally inclined him towards the less austere forms of divine +worship: from the very first he tolerated much that his father had +forbidden, and the spirit of eclecticism which prevailed among his +associates rendered him, later on, an object of special detestation to +the orthodox historians of Jerusalem. Worshippers again began openly +to frequent the high places; they set up again the prostrate idols, +replanted the sacred groves, and even "built altars for all the host +of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jahveh." The chariots +and horses of the sun reappeared within the precincts of the temple, +together with the sacred courtesans. Baal and the Phoenician Astarte +were worshipped on Mount Sion. The valley of Hinnom, where Ahaz had +already burnt one of his children during a desperate crisis in the +Syrian wars, was again lighted up by the flames of the sacred pyre. +We are told that Manasseh himself set the example by passing his son +through the flames; he also had recourse to astrologers, soothsayers, +fortune-tellers, and sorcerers of the lowest type. The example of +Assyria in matters of this kind exercised a preponderant influence on +Jewish customs, and certainly it would have been a miracle if Jerusalem +had succeeded in escaping it; did not Nineveh owe the lofty place it +occupied to these occult sciences and to the mysterious powers of its +gods? In thus imitating its conqueror, Judah was merely borrowing the +weapons which had helped him to subdue the world. The partisans of the +ancient religions who were responsible for these innovations must have +regarded them as perfectly legitimate reforms, and their action was +received with favour in the provinces: before long the latter contained +as many sanctuaries as there were towns,* and by thus multiplying the +centres of worship, they hoped that, in accordance with ancient belief, +the ties which existed between Jahveh and His chosen people would also +be increased. + + * Jer. ii. 26-30. For the quotation see also Jer. xi. 13: + "For according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O + Judah; and according to the number of the streets of + Jerusalem have ye set up altars to the shameful thing, even + altars to burn incense unto Baal." + +The fact that the provinces had been ravaged from end to end in the days +of Sennacherib, while Jerusalem had been spared, was attributed to the +circumstance that Hezekiah had destroyed the provincial sanctuaries, +leaving the temple on Mount Sion alone standing. Wherever Jahveh +possessed altars, He kept guard over His people, but His protection was +not extended to those places where sacrifices were no longer offered to +Him. The reaction was not allowed to take place without opposition on +the part of the prophets and their followers. We are told that Manasseh +"shed innocent blood very much till he had filled Jerusalem from one +end to another;" there is even a Kabbinic tradition to the effect that, +weary of the admonitions of the aged Isaiah, he put him to death by +shutting him up in the hollow trunk of a tree, and causing him to be +sawn in two.* + + * 2 Kings xxi. 16. The tradition in regard to the fate of + Isaiah took its foundation in this text, and it is perhaps + indirectly referred to in Heb. xi. 37. + +For a long time after this no instance can be found of a prophet +administering public affairs or directing the actions of the king +himself; the priests and reformers, finding no outlet for their +energy in this direction, fell back on private preaching and literary +propaganda. And, above all, they applied themselves to the task of +rewriting the history of Israel, which, as told by the chroniclers of +the previous century, presented the national Deity in too material a +light, and one which failed to harmonise with the ideals then obtaining. +So long as there were two separate Hebrew kingdoms, the existence of the +two parallel versions of the Elohist and Jahvist gave rise to but little +difficulty: each version had its own supporters and readers, whose +consciences were readily satisfied by the interpolation of a few new +facts into the text as occasion arose. But now that Samaria had fallen, +and the whole political and religious life of the Hebrew race +was centred in Judah alone, the necessity for a double and often +contradictory narrative had ceased to exist, and the idea occurred of +combining the two in a single work. This task, which was begun in +the reign of Hezekiah and continued under Manasseh, resulted in the +production of a literature of which fragments have been incorporated +into the historical books of our Bible.* + +The reign of Amon witnessed no alteration in the policy initiated by his +predecessor Manasseh; but when, after less than two years' rule, he was +suddenly struck down by the knife of an assassin, the party of reform +carried the day, and the views of Hezekiah and Isaiah regained their +ascendency. Josiah had been king, in name at any rate, for twelve +years,** and was learning to act on his own responsibility, when the +Scythian danger appeared on the horizon. + + * The scheme of the present work prevents me from doing more + than allude in passing to these preliminary stages in the + composition of the Priestly Code. I shall have occasion to + return briefly to the subject at the close of Volume IX. + + ** The date is supplied by the opening passage of the + prophecy of Jeremiah, "to whom the word of Jehovah came in + the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, King of Judah, in the + thirteenth year of his reign" (i. 2). Volney recognised + that chaps, i., iv., v., and vi. of Jeremiah refer to the + Scythian invasion, and since his time it has been admitted + that, with the exception of certain interpolations in chaps, + i. and iii., the whole of the first six chapters date from + this period, but that they underwent slight modifications in + the recension which was made in the fourth year of + Jehoiachin in order to make them applicable to the + threatened Chaldaean invasion. The date is important, since + by using it as a basis we can approximately restore the + chronology of the whole period. If we assume the thirteenth + year of Josiah to have been 627-626 B.C., we are compelled + to place all the early Medic wars in the reign of Assur- + bani-pal, as I have done. + +This barbarian invasion, which burst upon the peace of Assyria like +a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky, restored to the faithful that +confidence in the omnipotence of their God which had seemed about +to fail them; when they beheld the downfall of states, the sack of +provinces innumerable, whole provinces in flames and whole peoples +irresistibly swept away to death or slavery, they began to ask +themselves whether these were not signs of the divine wrath, indicating +that the day of Jahveh was at hand. Prophets arose to announce +the approaching judgment, among the rest a certain Zephaniah, a +great-grandson of Hezekiah:* "I will utterly consume all things from off +the face of the ground, saith Jahveh. I will consume man and beast; I +will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the +stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from the face +of the earth, saith Jahveh. And I will stretch out My hand upon Judah, +and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the +remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarim with the +priests; and them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; +and them that worship, which swear to Jahveh and swear by Malcham; and +them that are turned back from following Jahveh; and those that have not +sought Jahveh nor inquired after Him. Hold thy peace at the presence +of the Lord Jahveh; for the day of Jahveh is at hand; for Jahveh hath +prepared a sacrifice, He hath sanctified His guests." + + * Zephaniah gives his own genealogy at the beginning of his + prophecy (i. 1), though, it is true, he does not add the + title "King of Judah" after the name of his ancestor + Hezekiah. + +"That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of +wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of +clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm, against +the fenced cities, and against the high battlements. And I will bring +distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they +have sinned against Jahveh: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, +and their flesh as dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be +able to deliver them in the day of Jahveh's wrath; but the whole land +shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He shall make an end, +yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land." During this +same period of stress and terror, there came forward another prophet, +one of the greatest among the prophets of Israel--Jeremiah, son of +Hilkiah. He was born in the village of Anathoth, near Jerusalem, being +descended from one of those priestly families in which the faith had +been handed down from generation to generation in all its original +purity.* + + * The descent and birthplace of Jeremiah are given at the + beginning of his prophecies (i. 1). He must have been quite + young in the thirteenth year of Josiah, as is evident from + the statement in i. 6. We are told in chap, xxxvi. that in + the fourth year of Jehoiakim he dictated a summary of all + the prophecies delivered by him from the thirteenth year of + Josiah up to the date indicated to his servant Baruch, and + that later on he added a number of others of the same kind. + +When Jahveh called him, he cried out in amazement, "Ah, Lord God! +behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." But Jahveh reassured him, and +touching his lips, said unto him, "Behold, I have put My words in thy +mouth: see, I have this day set thee over the nations and over +the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to +overthrow, to build and to plant." Then the prophet perceived a seething +cauldron, the face of which appeared from the north, for the Eternal +declared to him that "Out of the north evil shall break out upon all the +inhabitants of the land." Already the enemy is hastening: "Behold, he +shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind: +his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled. O +Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. +How long shall thine evil thoughts lodge within thee? For a voice +declareth from Dan, and publisheth evil from the hills of Ephraim: +make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem!" The +Scythians had hardly been mentioned before they were already beneath the +walls, and the prophet almost swoons with horror at the sound of their +approach. "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart: my heart +is disquieted in me; I cannot hold my peace; because thou hast heard, +O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon +destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled, and my curtains in +a moment. How long shall I see the standard and hear the sound of the +trumpet?" It would seem that the torrent of invasion turned aside +from the mountains of Judah; it flowed over Galilee, Samaria, and the +Philistine Shephelah, its last eddies dying away on the frontiers of +Egypt. Psammetiehus is said to have bribed the barbarians to retire. As +they fell back they plundered the temple of Derketo, near Ashkelon: we +are told that in order to punish them for this act of sacrilege, the +goddess visited them with a disease which caused serious ravages amongst +them, and which the survivors carried back with them to their own +country.* + + * Herodotus calls the goddess Aphrodite Urania, by which we + must understand Derketo or Atargatis, who is mentioned by + several other classical authors, e.g. Xanthus of Lydia, + Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Pliny. According to Justin, the + Scythians were stopped only by the marshes of the Delta. The + disease by which the Scythians were attacked is described by + Hippocrates; but in spite of what he tells us about it, its + precise nature has not yet been determined. + +There was, however, no need to introduce a supernatural agency in order +to account for their rapid disappearance. The main body of invaders had +never quitted Media or the northern part of the Assyrian empire, and +only the southern regions of Syria were in all probability exposed to +the attacks of isolated bands. These stragglers, who year after year +embarked in one desperate adventure after another, must have found great +difficulty in filling up the gaps which even victories made in their +ranks; enervated by the relaxing nature of the climate, they could offer +little resistance to disease, and excess completed what the climate had +begun, the result being that most of them died on the way, and only +a few survived to rejoin the main body with their booty. For several +months the tide of invasion continued to rise, then it ebbed as quickly +as it had risen, till soon nothing was left to mark where it had passed +save a pathway of ruins, not easily made good, and a feeling of terror +which it took many a year to efface. It was long before Judah forgot +the "mighty nation, the ancient nation, the nation whose language thou +knowest not, neither understandest thou what they say."* Men could +still picture in imagination their squadrons marauding over the plains, +robbing the fellah of his crops, his bread, his daughters, his sheep and +oxen, his vines and fig trees, for "they lay hold on bow and spear; they +are cruel and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea, and +they ride upon horses; every one set in array as a man to the battle,** +against thee, O daughter of Sion. We have heard the fame thereof; our +hands wax feeble; anguish hath taken hold of us, and pangs as of a woman +in travail."*** The supremacy of the Scythians was of short duration. It +was said in after-times that they had kept the whole of Asia in a state +of terror for twenty-eight years, dating from their defeat of Cyaxares; +but the length of this period is exaggerated.**** + + * Jer. v. 15; it seems curious that the Hebrew prophet + should use the epithet "ancient," when we remember that the + Scythians claimed to be the oldest nation in the world, + older than even the Egyptians themselves. + + ** An obvious allusion to the regular formation adopted by + the Scythian squadrons. + + *** Jer. v. 17; vi. 23, 24. + + **** The authenticity of the number of years given in + Herodotus has been energetically defended by some modern + historians, and not less forcibly denied by others, who + reduce it, for example, in accordance with a doubtful + passage of Justin, to eight years. By assigning all the + events relating to the Scythian invaders to the mean period + of twenty years, we should obtain the length of time which + best corresponds to what is actually known of the general + history of this epoch. + +The Medes soon recovered from their disaster, but before engaging their +foes in open conflict, they desired to rid themselves of the prince +who had conquered them, and on whom the fortunes of the whole Scythian +nation depended. Cyaxares, therefore, invited Madyes and his officers +to a banquet, and after plying them to excess with meat and drink, he +caused them all to be slain.* + + * This episode is regarded as legendary by many modern + historians. Winckler even goes so far as to deny the defeat + of the Scythians: according to his view, they held + possession of Media till their chief, Astyages, was + overthrown by Cyrus; Rost has gone even further, deeming + even Cyaxares himself to have been a Scythian. For my part, + I see no reason to reject the tradition of the fatal + banquet. Without referring to more ancient illustrations, + Noldeke recalls the fact that in a period of only ten years, + from 1030 to 1040 a.d., the princes reigning over the + Iranian lands rid themselves by similar methods of the + Turcoman bands which harassed them. Such a proceeding has + never been repugnant to Oriental morality, and it is of a + kind to fix itself in the popular mind: far from wishing to + suppress it, I should be inclined to see in it the nucleus + of the whole tradition. + +The barbarians made a brave resistance, in spite of the treason which +had deprived them of their leaders: they yielded only after a long and +bloody campaign, the details of which are unknown to us. Iranian +legends wove into the theme of their expulsion all kinds of fantastic or +romantic incidents. They related, for instance, how, in combination +with the Parthians, the Scythians, under the leadership of their queen +Zarinsea, several times defeated the Medes: she consented at last to +conclude a treaty on equal terms, and peace having been signed, she +retired to her capital of Boxanake, there to end her days. One body +of the survivors re-entered Europe through the Caspian Gates, another +wandered for some time between the Araxes and the Halys, seeking a +country adapted to their native instincts and customs.* Cyaxares, +relieved from the pressure put upon him by the Scythians, immediately +resumed his efforts against Assyria, and was henceforward able to carry +his plans to completion without encountering any serious obstacle. It +would be incorrect to say that the Scythian invasion had overthrown the +empire of the Sargonids: it had swept over it like a whirlwind, but +had not torn from it one province, nor, indeed, even a single city. The +nations, already exhausted by their struggles for independence, were +incapable of displaying any energy when the barbarians had withdrawn, +and continued to bow beneath the Ninevite yoke as much from familiarity +with habitual servitude as from inability to shake themselves free. +Assur-bani-pal had died about the year 625 B.C., after a reign of +forty-two years, and his son Assur-etililani had assumed the double +crown of Assyria and Babylon without opposition.** + + * Herodotus speaks of these Scythians as having lived at + first on good terms with Cyaxares. + + ** The date of Assur-bani-pal's death is not furnished by + any Assyrian monument, but is inferred from the Canon of + Ptolemy, where Saosduchin or Shamash-shumukin and Chinaladan + or Assur-bani-pal each reigns forty-two years, from 668 or + 667 to 626 or 625 B.C. The order of succession of the last + Assyrian kings was for a long time doubtful, and Sin-shar- + ishkun was placed before Assur-etililani; the inverse order + seems to be now conclusively proved. The documents which + seemed at one time to prove the existence of a last king of + Assyria named Esarhaddon, identical with the Saracos of + classical writers, really belong to Esarhaddon, the father + of Assur-bani-pal. [Another king, Sin-sum-lisir, is + mentioned in a contract dated at Nippur in his accession + year. He may have been the immediate predecessor of + Sarakos.--? Ed.] + +Nineveh had been saved from pillage by the strength of her ramparts, +but the other fortresses, Assur, Calah, and Dur-Sharrukin, had been +destroyed during the late troubles; the enemy, whether Medes or +Scythians, had taken them by storm or reduced them by famine, and they +were now mere heaps of ruin, deserted save for a few wretched remnants +of their population. Assur-etililani made some feeble attempts to +restore to them a semblance of their ancient splendour. He erected at +Calah, on the site of the palaces which had been destroyed by fire, a +kind of castle rudely built, and still more rudely decorated, the rooms +of which were small and low, and the walls of sun-dried brick were +panelled only to the height of about a yard with slabs of limestone +roughly squared, and without sculpture or inscription: the upper part of +the walls was covered with a coating of uneven plaster. We do not know +how long the inglorious reign of Assur-etililani lasted, nor whether he +was assassinated or died a natural death. His brother, Sin-shar-ishkun,* +who succeeded him about 620 B.C., at first exercised authority, as he +had done, over Babylon as well as Nineveh,** and laboured, like his +predecessor, to repair the edifices which had suffered by the invasion, +making war on his neighbours, perhaps even on the Medes, without +incurring serious losses. + + * The name of this king was discovered by G. Smith on the + fragments of a cylinder brought from Kouyunjik, where he + read it as Bel-zakir-iskun. The real reading is Sin-shar- + ishkun, and the similarity of this name with that of + Saracos, the last king of Assyria according to Greek + tradition, strikes one immediately. The relationship of this + king to Assur-etililani was pointed out by Father Scheil + from the fragment of a tablet on which Sin-shar-ishkun is + declared to be the son of Assur-bani-pal, king of Assyria. + + ** This may be deduced from a passage of Abydenus, where + Saracos or Sin-shar-ishkun sends Bussalossoros (that is, + Nabopolassar) to defend Chaldae against the invasion of the + peoples of the sea; so according to Abydenus, or rather + Berosus, from whom Abydenus indirectly obtained his + information, Saracos was King of Babylon as well as of + Nineveh at the beginning of his reign. + +The Chaldaeans, however, merely yielded him obedience from force of +habit, and the moment was not far distant when they would endeavour to +throw off his yoke. Babylon was at that time under the rule of a certain +Nabu-bal-uzur, known to us as Nabopolassar, a Kaldu of ancient lineage, +raised possibly by Assur-bani-pal to the dignity of governor, but +who, in any case, had assumed the title of king on the accession of +Assur-etililani.* + + * The Canon of Ptolemy makes Nabopolassar the direct + successor of Chinaladan, and his testimony is justified by + the series of Babylonian contracts which exist in fairly + regular succession from the second to the twenty-first years + of Nabopolassar. The account given by Berosus makes him a + general of Saracos, but the contradiction which this offers + to the testimony of the Canon can be explained if he is + considered as a vassal-king; the kings of Egypt and of Media + were likewise only satraps, according to Babylonian + tradition. + +His was but a local sovereignty, restricted probably to the city and its +environs; and for twelve or thirteen years he had rested content with +this secondary position, when an unforeseen incident presented him with +the opportunity of rising to the first rank. Tradition asserted that +an immense army suddenly landed at the mouths of the Euphrates and the +Tigris; probably under this story is concealed the memory of one of +those revolts of the Bit-Yakin and the tribes dwelling on the shores of +the Nar-Marratum, such as had often produced consternation in the minds +of the Sargonid kings.* Sin-shar-ishkun, distracted doubtless by other +anxieties, acted as his ancestors had done in similar circumstances, and +enjoined on his vassal to march against the aggressors and drive them +into the sea; but Nabopolassar, instead of obeying his suzerain, joined +forces with the rebels, and declared his independence. Assur-etililani +and his younger brother had possibly neglected to take the hands of Bel, +and were therefore looked upon as illegitimate sovereigns. The annalists +of later times erased their names from the Royal Canon, and placed +Nabopolassar immediately after Assur-bani-pal, whom they called +Kandalanu. But however feeble Assyria had become, the cities on the +Lower Euphrates feared her still, and refused to ally themselves with +the pretender. Nabopolassar might perhaps have succumbed, as so many +before him had done, had he been forced to rely entirely on his own +resources, and he might have shared the sad fate of Merodach-baladan or +of Shamash-shumukin; but Marduk, who never failed to show favour to his +faithful devotees, "raised up help for him and secured him an ally." +The eyes of all who were oppressed by the cruel yoke of Nineveh were now +turned on Cyaxares, and from the time that he had dispersed the Scythian +hordes it was to him that they looked for salvation. Nabopolassar +besought his assistance, which the Median king graciously promised;** it +is even affirmed that a marriage concluded between one of his daughters, +Amyfcis, and Nebuchadrezzar, the heir to the throne of Babylon, cemented +the alliance.*** + + * Formerly these barbarians were identified with the remains + of the Scythian hordes, and this hypothesis has been + recently revived by Prashek. G. Rawlinson long ago + recognised that the reference must be to the Chaldaeans, who + were perhaps joined by the Susians. + + ** The _Cylinder of Nabonichs_, the only original document + in which allusion is made to the destruction of Nineveh, + speaks of the Umman-Manda and their king, whom it does not + name, and it has been agreed to recognise Cyaxares in this + sovereign. On the other hand, the name of Umman-Manda + certainly designates in the Assyrian texts the wandering + Iranian tribes to whom the Greeks gave the name of Sakse or + Scythians; the result, in the opinions of several + Assyriologists of the present day, is that neither Astyages + nor Cyaxares were Medes in the sense in which we have + hitherto accepted them as such on the evidence of Herodotus, + but that they were Scythians, the Scythians of the great + invasion. This conclusion does not seem to me at present + justified. The Babylonians, who up till then had not had any + direct intercourse either with the Madai or the Umman-Manda, + did as the Egyptians had done whether in Saite or Ptolemaic + times, continuing to designate as Khari, Kafiti, Lotanu, and + Khati the nations subject to the Persians or Macedonians; + they applied a traditional name of olden days to present + circumstances, and I see, at present, no decisive reason to + change, on the mere authority of this one word, all that the + classical writers have handed down concerning the history of + the epoch according to the tradition current in their days. + + *** The name of the princess is written Amuhia, Amyitis. The + classical sources, the only ones which mention her, make her + the daughter of Astyages, and this has given rise to various + hypotheses. According to some, the notice of this princess + has no historical value. According to others, the Astyages + mentioned as her father is not Cyaxares the Mede, but a + Scythian prince who came to the succour of Nabopolassar, + perhaps a predecessor of Cyaxares on the Median throne, and + in this case Phraortes himself under another name. The most + prudent course is still to admit that Abydenus, or one of + the compilers of extracts to whom we owe the information, + has substituted the name of the last king of Media for that + of his predecessor, either by mistake, or by reason of some + chronological combinations. Amyitis, transported into the + harem of the Chaldaean monarch, served, like all princesses + married out of their own countries, as a pledge for the + faithful observance by her relatives of the treaty which had + been concluded. + +The western provinces of the empire did not permit themselves to be +drawn into the movement, and Judah, for example, remained faithful to +its suzerain till the last moment,* but Sin-shar-ishkun received no help +from them, and was obliged to fight his last battles single-handed. He +shut himself up in Nineveh, and held out as long as he could; but when +all his resources were exhausted--ammunitions of war, men and food +supplies--he met his fate as a king, and burnt himself alive in his +palace with his children and his wives, rather than fall alive into the +hands of his conquerors (608 B.C.). The Babylonians would take no +part in pillaging the temples, out of respect for the gods, who were +practically identical with their own, but the Medes felt no such +scruples. "Their king, the intrepid one, entirely destroyed the +sanctuaries of the gods of Assur, and the cities of Accad which had +shown themselves hostile to the lord of Accad, and had not rendered him +assistance. He destroyed their holy places, and left not one remaining; +he devastated their cities, and laid them waste as it were with a +hurricane." Nineveh laid low, Assyria no longer existed. After the lapse +of a few years, she was named only among the legends of mythical days: +two centuries later, her very site was forgotten, and a Greek army +passed almost under the shadow of her dismantled towers, without a +suspicion that there lay before it all that remained of the city where +Semiramis had reigned in her glory.** + + * It was to oppose the march of Necho _against the King of + Assyria_ that Josiah fought the battle of Megiddo (2 Kings + xxiii. 29, 30; cf. 2 Chron. xxxv. 20-24, where the mention + of the King of Assyria is suppressed). + + ** This is what the _Ten Thousand_ did when they passed + before Larissa and Mespila. The name remained famous, and + later on the town which bore it attained a relative + importance. + +It is true that Egypt, Chaldaea, and the other military nations of the +East, had never, in their hours of prosperity, shown the slightest +consideration for their vanquished foes; the Theban Pharaohs had +mercilessly crushed Africa and Asia beneath their feet, and had led into +slavery the entire population of the countries they had subdued. But +the Egyptians and Chaldaeans had, at least, accomplished a work of +civilization whose splendour redeemed the brutalities of their acts of +reprisal. It was from Egypt and Chaldaea that the knowledge and the +arts of antiquity--astronomy, medicine, geometry, physical and natural +sciences--spread to the ancestors of the classic races; and though +Chaldaea yields up to us unwillingly, with niggard hand, the monuments +of her most ancient kings, the temples and tombs of Egypt still exist to +prove what signal advances the earliest civilised races made in the arts +of the sculptor and the architect. But on turning to Assyria, if, +after patiently studying the successive centuries during which she held +supreme sway over the Eastern world, we look for other results besides +her conquests, we shall find she possessed nothing that was not +borrowed from extraneous sources. She received all her inspirations from +Chaldaea--her civilisation, her manners, the implements of her industries +and of agriculture, besides her scientific and religious literature: one +thing alone is of native growth, the military tactics of her generals +and the excellence of her soldiery. From the day when Assyria first +realised her own strength, she lived only for war and rapine; and as +soon as the exhaustion of her population rendered success on the field +of battle an impossibility, the reason for her very existence vanished, +and she passed away. + +Two great kingdoms rose simultaneously from her ruins. Cyaxares +claimed Assyria proper and its dependencies on the Upper Tigris, but he +specially reserved for himself the yet unconquered lands on the northern +and eastern frontiers, whose inhabitants had only recently taken part +in the political life of the times. Nabopolassar retained the suzerainty +over the lowlands of Elam, the districts of Mesopotamia lying along +the Euphrates, Syria, Palestine, and most of the countries which had +hitherto played a part in history;* he claimed to exert his supremacy +beyond the Isthmus, and the Chaldaean government looked upon the Egyptian +kings as its feudatories because for some few years they had owned the +suzerainty of Nineveh.** + + * There was no actual division of the empire, as has been + often asserted, but each of the allies kept the portion + which fell into his power at the moment of their joint + effort. The two new states gradually increased in power by + successive conquests, each annexing by degrees the ancient + provinces of Assyria nearest to its own frontier. + + ** This seems to be implied by the terms in which Berosus + speaks of Necho: he considers him as a rebel satrap over the + provinces of Egypt, Coele-Syria, and Phoenicia, and + enumerates Egypt in conjunction with Syria, Phoenicia, and + Arabia among the dependencies of Nabopolassar and + Nebuchadrezzar. Just as the Egyptian state documents never + mentioned the Lotanu or the Kharu without entitling them + _Children of Rebellion_, so the Chaldaean government, the + heir of Assyria, could only look upon the kings of Syria, + Arabia, and Egypt as rebellious vassals. + +[Illustration: 330. MAP OF THE EASTERN WORLD IN THE TIME OF +NEBUCHADNEZZAR] + +The Pharaoh, however, did not long tolerate this pretension, and far +from looking forward to bend the knee before a Chaldaean monarch, he +believed himself strong enough to reassert his ancestral claims to the +possession of Asia. Egypt had experienced many changes since the day +when Tanuatamanu, returning to Ethiopia, had abandoned her to the +ambition of the petty dynasties of the Delta. One of the romances +current among the people of Sais in the fifth century B.C. related that +at that time the whole land was divided between twelve princes. They +lived peaceably side by side in friendly relations with each other, +until an oracle predicted that the whole valley would finally belong to +that prince among them who should pour a libation to Phtah into a brazen +cup, and thenceforward they jealously watched each other each time they +assembled to officiate in the temple of Memphis. One day, when they had +met together in state, and the high priest presented to them the golden +cups they were wont to use, he found he had mistaken their number, and +had only prepared eleven. Psammetichus was therefore left without one, +and in order not to disarrange the ceremonial he took off his brazen +helmet and used it to make his libation; when the rest perceived this, +the words of the oracle came to their remembrance, and they exiled the +imprudent prince to the marshes along the sea-coast, and forbade him +ever to quit them. He secretly consulted the oracle of Isis of Buto to +know what he might expect from the gods, and she replied that the means +of revenge would reach him from the sea, on the day when brazen soldiers +should issue from its waters. He thought at first that the priests were +mocking him, but shortly afterwards Ionian and Carian pirates, clad in +their coats of mail, landed not far from his abode. The messenger who +brought tidings of their advent had never before seen a soldier fully +armed, and reported that brazen men had issued from the waves and +were pillaging the country. Psammetichus, realising at once that the +prediction was being fulfilled, ran to meet the strangers, enrolled them +in his service, and with their aid overthrew successively his eleven +rivals.* + + * The account given by Diodorus of these events is in + general derived from that of Herodotus, with additional + details borrowed directly or indirectly from some historian + of the same epoch, perhaps Hellanicus of Mitylene: the + reason of the persecution endured by Psammetichus is, + according to him, not the fear of seeing the prediction + fulfilled, but jealousy of the wealth the Saite prince had + acquired by his commerce with the Greeks. I have separated + the narrative of Herodotus from his account of the Labyrinth + which did not originally belong to it, but was connected + with a different cycle of legends. The original romance was + part of the cycle which grew up around the oracle of Buto, + so celebrated in Egypt at the Persian epoch, several other + fragments of which are preserved in Herodotus; it had been + mixed up with one of the versions of the stories relating to + the Labyrinth, probably by some dragoman of the Fayyum. The + number twelve does not correspond with the information + furnished by the Assyrian texts, which enumerate more than + twenty Egyptian princes; it is perhaps of Greek origin, like + the _twelve_ great gods which the informants of Herodotus + tried to make out in Egypt, and was introduced into the + Egyptian version by a Greek interpreter. + +A brazen helmet and an oracle had dethroned him; another oracle and +brazen men had replaced him on his throne. A shorter version of these +events made no mention of the twelve kings, but related instead that a +certain Pharaoh named Tementhes had been warned by the oracle of Amon to +beware of cocks. Now Psammetichus had as a companion in exile a Carian +named Pigres, and in conversing with him one day, he learned by chance +that the Carians had been the first people to wear crested helmets; he +recalled at once the words of the oracle, and hired from Asia a number +of these "cocks," with whose assistance he revolted and overthrew his +suzerain in battle under the walls of Memphis, close to the temple of +Isis. Such is the legendary account of the Saite renaissance; its true +history is not yet clearly and precisely known. Egypt was in a state +of complete disintegration when Psammetichus at length revived the +ambitious projects of his family, but the dissolution of the various +component parts had not everywhere taken place in the same manner. + +[Illustration: 335.jpg THREE HOPLITES IN ACTION] + + Drawn by faucher-Gudin, from an archaic vase-painting in the + collection of Salzmann. + +In the north, the Delta and the Nile valley, as far as Siut, were in the +power of a military aristocracy, supported by irregular native troops +and bands of mercenaries, for the most part of Libyan extraction, who +were always designated by the generic name of Mashauasha. Most of these +nobles were in possession of not more than two or three cities apiece: +they had barely a sufficient number of supporters to maintain their +precarious existence in their restricted domains, and would soon have +succumbed to the attacks of their stronger neighbours, had they not +found a powerful protector to assist them. They had finally separated +themselves into two groups, divided roughly by the central arm of the +Nile. One group comprised the districts that might be designated as +the Asiatic zone of the country--Heliopolis, Bubastis, Mendes, Tanis, +Busiris, and Seben-nytos--and it recognised as chief the lord of one or +other of those wealthy cities, now the ruler of Bubastis, now of Tanis, +and lastly Pakruru of Pisaptit. The second group centred in the lords +of Sais, to whom the possession of Memphis had secured a preponderating +voice in the counsels of the state for more than a century.* + + * This grouping, which might already have been suspected + from the manner in which the Assyrian and Egyptian monuments + of the period show us the feudal princes rallying round + Necho I. and Pakruru, is indicated by the details in the + demotic romance published by Krall, where the foundation of + the story is the state of Egypt in the time of the "twelve + kings." + +The fiefs and kingdoms of Middle Egypt wavered between the two +groups, playing, however, a merely passive part in affairs: abandoning +themselves to the stream of events rather than attempting to direct it, +they owed allegiance to Sais and Tanis alternately as each prevailed +over its rival. On passing thence into the Thebaid a different world +appeared to be entered. There Amon reigned, ever increasingly supreme, +and the steady advance of his influence had transformed his whole domain +into a regular theocracy, where the women occupied the highest position +and could alone transmit authority. At first, as we have seen, it +was passed on to their husbands and their children, but latterly the +rapidity with which the valley had changed masters had modified this law +of succession in a remarkable way. Each time the principality shifted +its allegiance from one king to another, the new sovereign naturally +hastened to install beside the _divine female worshipper_ a man devoted +to his interests, who should administer the fief to the best advantage +of the suzerain. It is impossible to say whether he actually imposed +this minister on her as a husband, or whether the time came when she was +obliged to submit to as many espousals as there occurred revolutions +in the destinies of Egypt.* However this may be, we know that from +the first half of the seventh century B.C. the custom arose of placing +beside "the divine worshipper" a princess of the dominant family, whom +she adopted, and who thus became her heiress-designate. Taharqa had in +this way associated one of his sisters, Shapenuapit II., with the +queen Amenertas when the latter had lost her husband, Pionkhi; and +Shapenuapit, succeeding her adopted mother, had reigned over Thebes in +the Ethiopian interest during many years. There is nothing to show +that she was married, and perhaps she was compensated for her official +celibacy by being authorised to live the free life of an ordinary +Pallacide;** her minister Montumihait directed her affairs for her so +completely that the Assyrian conquerors looked upon him as petty king +of Thebes. Tanuatamanu confirmed him in his office when the Assyrians +evacuated the Said, and the few years which had elapsed since that event +had in no way modified the _regime_ established immediately on their +departure. + + * They would have been, in fact, in the same condition as + the Hova queens of our century, who married the ministers + who reigned in their names. + + ** It is perhaps these last female descendants of the high + priests that are intended in a passage where Strabo speaks + of the Pallacides who were chosen from among the most noble + families of the city. Diodorus mentions their tombs, quoting + from Hecatous of Abdera, but he does not appear to know the + nature of their life; but the name of Pallacides which he + applies to them proves that their manner of life was really + that which Strabo describes. + +It is uncertain how long Assur-bani-pal in the north, and Tanuatamanu +in the south, respectively maintained a precarious sovereignty over the +portions of Egypt nearest to their own capitals. + +[Illustration: 338.jpg STATUE OF A THEBAN QUEEN] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by M. de Bissing. The + statue, whose feet are missing, represents either Amenertas + I. or Mutertas; it was never completely finished, and + several of the parts have never received their final polish. + +The opening of the reign of Psammetichus seems to have been fraught with +difficulties, and the tradition which represents him as proscribed by +his peers, and confined to the marshes of the sea-coast, has probably a +certain basis of truth. Pakruru, who had brought all the western part +of the Delta under his own influence, and who, incessantly oscillating +between Assyria and Ethiopia, had yet been able to preserve his power +and his life, had certainly not of his own free will renounced the +hope of some day wearing the double crown. It was against him or his +successor that Psammetichus must have undertaken his first wars, and +it was perhaps with the help of Assyrian governors that the federal +coalition drove him back to the coast. He extricated himself from this +untoward situation by the help of Greek and Asiatic mercenaries, his +Ionians and Carians. Some historians stated that the decisive battle +was fought near Memphis, in sight of the temple of Isis; others affirmed +that it took place at Momemphis, that several of the princes perished +in the conflict, and that the rest escaped into Libya, whence they never +returned; others, again, spoke of an encounter on the Nile, when the +fleet of the Saite king dispersed that of his rivals. It is, in fact, +probable that a single campaign sufficed for Psammetichus, as formerly +for the Ethiopian pretenders, to get the upper hand, and that the +Egyptian feudal lords submitted after one or two defeats at most, hoping +that, as in days gone by, when the first dash made by the new Pharaoh +was over, his authority would decline, and their own would regain the +ascendency. Events showed that they were deceived. Psammetichus, better +served by his Hellenes than Tafnakhti or Bocchoris had been by +their Libyans, or Pionkhi and Tanuatamanu by their Ethiopians, soon +consolidated his rule over the country he had conquered. From 660 or +659 B.C. he so effectively governed Egypt that foreigners, and even the +Assyrians themselves commonly accorded him the title of king. The fall +of the Ninevite rule had been involved in that of the feudal lords, +but it was generally believed that Assur-bani-pal would leave no +means untried to recall the countries of the Nile to their obedience: +Psammetichus knew this, and knew also that, as soon as they were no +longer detained by wars or rebellions elsewhere, the Assyrian armies +would reappear in Egypt. He therefore entered into an alliance with +Gyges,* and subsequently, perhaps, with Shamash-shumukin also; then, +while his former suzerain was waging war in Elam and Chaldaea, he turned +southwards, in 658 B.C., and took possession of the Thebaid without +encountering any opposition from the Ethiopians, as his ancestor +Tafnakhti had from Pionkhi-Miamun. Mon-tumihait** negotiated this +capitulation of Thebes, as he had already negotiated so many others; +in recompense for this service, he was confirmed in his office, and his +queen retained her high rank. + + * The annexation of the Thebaid and the consequent + pacification of Egypt was an accomplished fact in the year + IX. of Psammetichus I. The analogy of similar documents, + e.g. the stele of the high priest Menkhopirri, shows that + the ceremony of adoption which consecrated the reunion of + Upper and Lower Egypt cannot have been separated by a long + interval from the completion of the reunion itself: in + placing this at the end of the year VIII., we should have + for the two events the respective dates of 658-657 and 657- + 656 B.C. + + ** The part played by Montumihait in this affair is easily + deduced: (1) from our knowledge of his conduct some years + previously under Taharqa and Tanuatamanu; (2) from the + position he occupied at Thebes, in the year IX., with regard + to Shapenuapit, according to the stele of Legrain. + +A century or two earlier Psammetichus would have married one of the +princesses of sacerdotal lineage, and this union would have sufficed to +legalise his position; perhaps he actually associated Shapenuapit with +himself by a show of marriage, but in any case he provided her with an +adopted daughter according to the custom instituted by the Ethiopian +Pharaohs. She already had one daughter by adoption, whom she had +received at the hands of Taharqa, and who, in changing her family, had +assumed the name of Amenertas in honour of the queen who had preceded +Shapenuapit: Psammetichus forced her to replace the Ethiopian princess +by one of his own daughters, who was henceforth called Shapenuapit, +after her new mother. A deputation of the nobles and priests of Thebes +came to escort the princess from Memphis, in the month of Tybi, in the +ninth year of the reign: Psammetichus formally presented her to them, +and the ambassadors, having listened to his address, expatiated in the +customary eulogies on his splendour and generosity. "They shall endure +as long as the world lasteth; all that thou ordainest shall endure. How +beautiful is that which God hath done for thee, how glorious that which +thy divine father hath done for thee? He is pleased that thy double +should be commemorated, he rejoices in the pronouncing of thy name, for +our lord Psammetichus has made a gift to his father Amon, he has given +him his eldest daughter, his beloved Mtauqrit Shapenuapit, to be his +divine spouse, that she may shake the sistrum before him!" On the 28th +of Tybi the princess left the harem, clothed in fine linen and adorned +with ornaments of malachite, and descended to the quay, accompanied by +an immense throng, to set out for her new home. Relays stationed along +the river at intervals made the voyage so expeditious that at the end +of sixteen days the princess came in sight of Thebes. She disembarked on +the 14th of Khoiak, amid the acclamations of the people: "She comes, the +daughter of the King of the South, Nitauqrit, to the dwelling of +Amon, that he may possess her and unite her to himself; she comes, the +daughter of the King of the North, Shapenuapit, to the temple of +Karnak, that the gods may there chant her praises." As soon as the +aged Shapenuapit had seen her coadjutor, "she loved her more than +all things," and assigned her a dowry, the same as that which she had +received from her own parents, and which she had granted to her +first adopted daughter Amenertas. The magnates of Thebes--the aged +Montumihait, his son Nsiphtah, and the prophets of Amon--vied with each +other in their gifts of welcome: Psammetichus, on his side, had acted +most generously, and the temples of Egypt assigned to the princess an +annual income out of their revenues, or bestowed upon her grants of +houses and lands, in all constituting a considerable inheritance, +which somewhat consoled the Thebans for their subjection to a dynasty +emanating from the cities of the north. The rest of the principality +imitated the example of Thebes and the whole of Egypt, from the shores +of the Mediterranean to the rocks of the first cataract, once more found +itself reunited under the sceptre of an Egyptian king. A small part of +Nubia, the portion nearest to Elephantine, followed this movement, but +the greater part refused to cut itself off from the Ethiopians. These +latter were henceforth confined to the regions along the middle course +of the Nile, isolated from the rest of the world by the deserts, the +Red Sea, and Egypt. It is probable that they did not give up without a +struggle the hope of regaining the ground they had lost, and that their +armies made more than one expedition in a northerly direction. The +inhabitants of the Thebaid could hardly fail to remain faithful to them +at heart, and to recognise in them the legitimate representatives of the +posterity of Amon; it is possible that now and again they succeeded in +penetrating as far as the ancient capital, but if so, their success was +always ephemeral, and their sojourn left no permanent traces. The same +causes, however, which had broken up the constituent elements, and +destroyed the unity of Greater Egypt at the end of the Theban period, +were still at work in Saite times to prevent the building up again of +the empire. The preservation of the balance of power in this long and +narrow strip of country depended on the centre of attraction and on the +seat of government being nearly equidistant from the two extremities. +This condition had been fulfilled as long as the court resided at +Thebes; but as the removal of the seat of government to the Delta caused +the loss and separation of the southern provinces, so its sudden return +to the extreme south, with a temporary sojourn at Napata, necessarily +produced a similar effect, and led to the speedy secession of the +northern provinces. In either case, the dynasty placed at one extremity +of the empire was unable to sustain for any length of time the weight +depending on it at the other; when once the balance became even +slightly disturbed, it could not regain its equilibrium, and there was +consequently a sudden dislocation of the machinery of government. + +The triumph of the Saite dynasty accomplished the final ruin of the work +begun under the Papis, and brought to completion by the Amenemhaits and +the Usirtasens. Greater Egypt ceased to exist, after more than twenty +centuries of glorious life, and was replaced by the Little Egypt of the +first ages of history. The defeat of the military chiefs of the north, +the annexation of the principality of Amon, and the final expulsion of +the Ethiopians and the Asiatics had occupied scarcely nine years, but +these feats constituted only the smaller part of the work Psammetichus +had to accomplish: his subsequent task lay in restoring prosperity to +his kingdom, or, at all events, in raising it from the state of misery +into which two centuries of civil wars and invasions had plunged it. The +important cities had suffered grievously: Memphis had been besieged and +taken by assault by both Pionkhi and Esar-haddon, Thebes had been twice +sacked by the veterans of Assur-bani-pal, and from Syene to Pelusium +there was not a township but had suffered at the hands of foreigners +or of the Egyptians themselves. The country had enjoyed a moment's +breathing-space under Sabaco, but the little good which this prince had +been able to accomplish was effaced immediately after his death: the +canals and dykes had been neglected, the supervision of the police +relaxed, and the population, periodically decimated or driven to take +refuge in the strongholds, had often allowed the lands to lie waste, so +that famine had been superadded to the other evils under which the land +already groaned. Psammetichus, having forced the feudal lords to submit +to his supremacy, deprived them of the royal titles they had unduly +assumed; he no longer tolerated their habits of private warfare, but +restricted them to the functions of hereditary governors, which their +ancestors had exercised under the conquering dynasties of former times,* +and this enforced peace soon allowed the rural population to devote +themselves joyfully to their regular occupations. + + * During the last few years records of a certain number of + persons have been discovered whose names and condition prove + that they were the descendants of semi-independent princes + of the Ethiopian and Bubastite periods: e.g. a certain + Akaneshu, who was prince of Sebennytos under Psammetichus + I., and who very probably was the grandson of Akaneshu, + prince of the same town under Pionkhi; and a Sheshonq of + Busiris, who was perhaps a descendant of Sheshonq, prince of + Busiris under Pionkhi. + +With so fertile a soil, two or three years of security, during which +the fellahin were able to sow and reap their crops free from the fear +of marauding bands, sufficed to restore abundance, if not wealth, to +the country, and Psammetichus succeeded in securing both these and +other benefits to Egypt, thanks to the vigilant severity of his +administration. He would have been unable to accomplish these reforms +had he relied only on the forces which had been at the disposal of +his ancestors--the native troops demoralised by poverty, and the +undisciplined bands of Libyan mercenaries, which constituted the sole +normal force of the Tanite and Bubastite Pharaohs and the barons of the +Delta and Middle Egypt. His experience of these two classes of soldiery +had decided him to look elsewhere for a less precarious support, and +ever since chance had brought him in contact with the Ionians and +Carians, he had surrounded himself with a regular army of Hellenic and +Asiatic mercenaries. It is impossible to exaggerate the terror that the +apparition of these men produced in the minds of the African peoples, or +the revolution they effected, alike in peace or war, in Oriental states: +the charge of the Spanish soldiery among the lightly clad foot-soldiers +of Mexico and Peru could not have caused more dismay than did that +of the hoplites from beyond the sea among the half-naked archers and +pikemen of Egypt and Libya. With their bulging corselets, the two plates +of which protected back and chest, their greaves made of a single piece +of bronze reaching from the ankle to the knee, their square or oval +bucklers covered with metal, their heavy rounded helmets fitting closely +to the head and neck, and surmounted by crests of waving plumes, they +were, in truth, men of brass, invulnerable to any Oriental weapon. Drawn +up in close array beneath their "tortoise," they received almost unhurt +the hail of arrows and stones hurled against them by the lightly armed +infantry, and then, when their own trumpet sounded the signal for +attack, and they let themselves fall with their whole weight upon the +masses of the enemy, brandishing their spears above the upper edge +of their bucklers, there was no force of native troops or company of +Mashauasha that did not waver beneath the shock and finally give +way before their attack. The Egyptians felt themselves incapable of +overcoming them except by superior numbers or by stratagem, and it was +the knowledge of their own hopeless inferiority which prevented the +feudal lords from attempting to revenge themselves on Psammetichus. To +make themselves his equals, they would have been obliged either to take +a sufficient number of similar warriors into their own pay--and this +they were not able to afford--or they must have won over those +already in the employ of their suzerain; but the liberality with +which Psammetichus treated his mercenaries gave them good cause to be +faithful, even if military honour had not sufficed to keep them loyal to +their employer. Psammetichus granted to them and their compatriots, who +were attracted by the fame of Egypt, a concession of the fertile lands +of the Delta stretching along the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, and +he was careful to separate the Ionians from the Carians by the whole +breadth of the river: this was a wise precaution, for their union +beneath a common flag had not extinguished their inherited hatred of +one another, and the authority of the general did not always suffice +to prevent fatal quarrels breaking out between contingents of different +nationalities. + +[Illustration: 347.jpg THE SAITE FORTRESS OF DAPHNE] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a restoration by Fl. Petrie. + +They occupied, moreover, regularly entrenched camps, enclosed within +massive walls, containing a collection of mud huts or houses of +brick, the whole enclosure commanded by a fortress which formed the +headquarters of the general and staff of officers. Some merchants from +Miletus, emboldened by the presence of their fellow-countrymen, sailed +with thirty vessels into the mouth of the Bolbitine branch of the +Nile, and there founded a settlement which they named the Port of the +Milesians, and, following in their wake, successive relays of emigrants +arrived to reinforce the infant colony. The king entrusted a certain +number of Egyptian children to the care of these Greek settlers, to be +instructed in their language,* and the interpreters thus educated in +their schools increased in proportion as the bonds of commercial and +friendly intercourse between Greece and Egypt became strengthened, so +that ere long, in the towns of the Delta, they constituted a regular +class, whose function was to act as intermediaries between the two +races. + + * Diodorus, or rather the historian whom he follows, assures + us that Psammetichus went still further, and gave his own + children a Greek education; what is possible and even + probable, is, that he had them taught Greek. A bronze Apis + in the Gizeh Museum was dedicated by an interpreter who + inscribed on it a bilingual inscription in hieroglyphics and + Carian. + +[Illustration: 348a.jpg EGYPTIAN GREEK] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from PI, Petrie. The original + statuette in alabaster is now in the Gizeh Museum; the + Cyprian style of the figure is easily recognised. + +[Illustration: 348b.jpg EGYPTIAN GREEK] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from PI. Petrie. The original + limestone statuette is in the Gizeh Museum. + +By thus bringing his subjects in contact with an active, industrious, +and enterprising nation, full of youthful vigour, Psammetichus no doubt +hoped to inspire them with some of the qualities which he discerned in +the colonists, but Egypt during the last two centuries had suffered too +much at the hands of foreigners of all kinds to be favourably disposed +to these new-comers. It would have been different had they presented +themselves in humble guise like the Asiatics and Africans to whom Egypt +had opened her doors so freely after the XVIIIth dynasty, and if +they had adopted the obsequious manners of the Phoenician and Hebrew +merchants; but they landed from their ships fully equipped for war, and, +proud of their own courage and ability, they vied with the natives of +the ancient race, whether of plebeian or noble birth, for the favour +of the sovereign. Their language, their rude military customs, their +cunning devices in trade, even the astonishment they manifested at the +civilisation of the country, rendered them objects of disdain, as well +as of jealous hatred to the Egyptian. The food of which they partook +made them unclean in native estimation, and the horrified fellah shunned +contact with them from fear of defiling himself, refusing to eat with +them, or to use the same knife or cooking-vessel: the scribes and +members of the higher classes, astonished at their ignorance, treated +them like children with no past history, whose ancestors a few +generations back had been mere savages. + +Although unexpressed at first, this hostility towards the Hellenes was +not long in manifesting itself openly. The Saite tradition attributed it +to a movement of wounded vanity. Psammetichus, to recompense the prowess +of his Ionian and Carian soldiers, had attached them to his own person, +and assigned to them the post of honour on the right wing when the army +was drawn up for review or in battle array.* + + * Diodorus Siculus states that it was during the Syrian war + that the king thus honoured his mercenary troops. Wiedemann + thinks this is an erroneous inference drawn from the passage + of Herodotus, in which he explains the meaning of the word + Asmakh. + +They reaped thus the double advantage of the glory, which they greatly +prized, and of the higher pay attached to the title of body-guard, but +the troops who had hitherto enjoyed these advantages were naturally +indignant at losing them, and began to murmur. One particularly galling +circumstance at last caused their discontent to break out. The eastern +and southern frontiers of Egypt were conterminous with those of two +conquering empires, Assyria and Ethiopia, and on the west the Libyan +tribes along the shores of the Mediterranean were powerful enough +to demand constant vigilance on the part of the border garrisons. +Psammetichus, among other reforms, had reorganised the ancient system +of defence. While placing outposts at the entrance to the passes leading +from the desert into the Nile valley, he had concentrated considerable +masses of troops at the three most vulnerable points--the outlets of +the road to Syria, the country surrounding Lake Mareotis, and the first +cataract; he had fortified Daphnse, near the old town of Zalu, as a +defence against the Assyrians, Marea against the Libyan Bedawin, and +Elephantine against the Ethiopians. These advanced posts had been +garrisoned with native troops who were quartered there for a year at a +time. To be condemned to such an exile for so long a period raised +in them a sense of profound indignation, but when the king apparently +forgot them and left them there three years without sending other troops +to relieve them, their anger knew no bounds. They resolved to put an end +to such treatment, and as the hope of a successful rebellion seemed but +small, they decided to leave the country. Two hundred and forty thousand +of them assembled on a given day with their arms and baggage, and +marched in good order towards Ethiopia. Psammetichus, warned of their +intentions when ifc was too late, hastened after them with a handful of +followers, and coming up with them, besought them not to desert their +national gods, their wives, and their children. He had nearly prevailed +on them to return, when one soldier, with a significant gesture, +intimated that while manhood lasted they had power to create new +families wherever they might chance to dwell. The details of this story +betray the popular legend, but nevertheless have a basis of truth. The +inscriptions from the time of Psammetichus onwards never mention the +Mashauasha, while their name and their exploits constantly recur in the +history of the preceding dynasties: henceforth they and their chiefs +vanish from sight, and discord and brigandage simultaneously cease in +the Egyptian nomes. It was very probably the most turbulent among these +auxiliaries who left the country in the circumstances above narrated: +since they could not contest the superiority of their Greek rivals, +they concluded that their own part was played out, and rather than be +relegated to the second rank, they preferred to quit the land in a body. +Psammetichus, thus deprived of their support at the moment when Egypt +had more than ever need of all her forces to regain her rightful +position in the world, reorganised the military system as best he could. +He does not seem to have relied much upon the contingents from Upper +Egypt, to whom was doubtless entrusted the defence of the Nubian +frontier, and who could not be withdrawn from their posts without danger +of invasion or revolt. But the source of imminent peril did not lie in +this direction, where Ethiopia, exhausted by the wars of Taharqa and +Tanuatamanu, perhaps needed repose even more than Egypt itself, but +rather on the Asiatic side, where Assur-bani-pal, in spite of the +complications constantly arising in Karduniash and Elam, had by no means +renounced his claims to the suzerainty of Egypt. The Pharaoh divided the +feudatory militia of the Delta into two classes, which resided apart +in different sets of nomes. The first group, who were popularly called +Hermotybies, were stationed at Busiris, Sais, and Khemmis, in the island +of Prosopitis, and in one half of Natho--in fact, in the district which +for the last century had formed the centre of the principality of +the Saite dynasty: perhaps they were mostly of Libyan origin, and +represented the bands of Mashauasha who, from father to son, had served +under Tafnakhti and his descendants. Popular report numbered them at +160,000 men, all told, and the total number of the other class, known as +the Calasiries, at 250,000; these latter belonged, in my opinion, to the +pure Egyptian race, and were met with at Thebes, while the troops of +the north, who were more generally called out, were scattered over the +territory which formerly supported the Tanite and Bubastite kings, and +latterly Pakruru, and which comprised the towns of Bubastis, Aphthis, +Tanis, Mendes, Sebennytos, Athribis, Pharbaathos, Thmuis, Onuphis, +Anysis, and Myecphoris. Each year one thousand Hermotybies and one +thousand Calasiries were chosen to form the royal body-guard, and these +received daily five minae of bread apiece, two minas of beef, and four +bowls of wine; the jealousy which had been excited by the Greek +troops was thus lessened, as well as the discontent provoked by the +emigration.* + + * _Calasiris_, the exact transcription of _Khala-shiri, + Khala-shere_, signifying _young man_. The meaning and + original of the word transcribed Hermotybies by Herodotus, + and Hermotymbies according to a variant given by Stephen of + Byzantium, is as yet unknown, but it seems to me to conceal + a title analogous to that of _Hir-mazaiu_, and to designate + what remained of Libyan soldiers in Egypt. This organisation + of the army is described by Herodotus as existing in his own + days, and there were Calasiries and Hermotybies in the + Egyptian contingent which accompanied the army of Mardonius + to Greece; it is nowhere stated that it was the work of + Psammetichus, but everything points to the conclusion that + it was so, at all events in the form in which it was known + to the Greeks. + +The King of Napata gladly welcomed the timely reinforcements which +arrived to fill up the vacancies in his army and among his people, +weakened by a century of rapid changes, and generously gave them +permission to conquer for themselves some territory in the possession +of his enemies! Having driven out the barbarians, they established +themselves in the peninsula formed by the White and Blue Niles, and +their numbers increased so greatly that in course of time they became a +considerable nation. They called themselves Asmakh, the men who stand on +the king's left hand, in memory of the affront put upon them, and which +they had avenged by their self-exile: Greek travellers and geographers +called them sometimes Automoli, sometimes Sembrites, names which clung +to them till almost the beginning of our present era. + +This departure of the Mashauasha was as the last blast of wind after a +storm: the swell subsided by degrees, and peace reigned in the interior. +Thebes accommodated itself as best it could to the new order of +things under the nominal administration of the Divine Spouses, the two +Shapenuapits. Building works were recommenced at all points where it +appeared necessary, and the need of restoration was indeed pressing +after the disorders occasioned by the Assyrian invasion and the +Ethiopian suzerainty. At Karnak, and in the great temples on both banks +of the Nile, Psammetichus, respecting the fiction which assigned the +chief authority to the Pallacides, effaced himself in favour of them, +allowing them to claim all the merit of the work; in the cities they +erected small chapels, in which they are portrayed as queens fulfilling +their sacerdotal functions, humbly escorted by the viceroy who in other +respects exercised the real power. The king's zeal for restoration is +manifest all along the Nile, at Coptos, Abydos,* and in the plains of +the Delta, which are crowded with memorials of him. His two favourite +capitals were Memphis and Sais, on both of which he impartially lavished +his favours. + + * The first Egyptologists attributed the prenommai cartouche + of Psammetichus I. to Psammetichus II., and _vice versa_: + this error must always be kept in mind in referring to their + works. + +At Memphis he built the propylons on the south side of the temple of +Phtah, and the court in which the living Apis took his exercise and was +fed: this court was surrounded by a colonnade, against the pillars of +which were erected statues twelve cubits high, probably representing +Osiris as in the Eames-seum and at Medinet-Habu. Apis even when dead +also received his share of attention. Since the days when Ramses II. +had excavated the subterranean Serapeum as a burial-place of the sacred +bulls, no subsequent Pharaoh who had reigned at Memphis had failed to +embellish their common tomb, and to celebrate with magnificence their +rites of sepulture. + +[Illustration: 355.jpg CHAMBER AND SARCOPHAGUS OF AN APIS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from an engraving published in + Mariette. + +The body of the Apis, carefully embalmed, was sealed up in a coffin or +sarcophagus of hard stone, the mouth of the vault was then walled up, +and against the fresh masonry, at the foot of the neighbouring rocks, +on the very floor of the passage, or wherever there was a clear space +available, the high dignitaries, the workmen or the priests who had +taken any part in the ceremonial, set up a votive stele calling down +upon themselves and their families divine benedictions. + +[Illustration: 356.jpg THE GREAT GALLERY OF THE SERAPEUM] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from an engraving of Deveria. + +The gallery was transformed by degrees into a kind of record-office, +where each dynasty in turn recorded its name, whenever a fresh +apotheosis afforded them the opportunity: these records were discovered +in our own time by Mariette, almost perfect in spite of the destroying +hand of men, and comprised inscriptions by the Bubastites, by Bocchoris, +and even by the Ethiopians. Taharqa, when menaced by the Assyrians, had +stayed at Memphis, only a year before his death, in the interval between +two campaigns, in order to bury an Apis, and Psammetichus likewise +took care not to neglect this part of his regal duties. He at first was +content to imitate his predecessors, but a subsidence having occurred in +that part of the Serapeum where the Apis who had died in the twentieth +year of his reign reposed, he ordered his engineers to bore another +gallery in a harder vein of limestone, and he performed the opening +ceremony in his fifty-second year. It was the commencement of a thorough +restoration. The vaults in which the sacred bulls were entombed were +severally inspected, the wrappings were repaired together with the mummy +cases, the masonry of the chapel was strengthened, and the building +endowed with woods, stuffs, perfumes, and the necessary oils. No less +activity apparently was displayed at Sais, the native home and favourite +residence of the Pharaoh; but all the monuments which adorned the place, +including the temple of Nit, and the royal palace, have been entirely +destroyed; the enclosing wall of unbaked bricks alone remains, and here +and there, amid the _debris_ of the houses, may be seen some heaps of +shattered stone where the public buildings once stood. On several blocks +the name and titles of Psammetichus may yet be deciphered, and there are +few cities in the Delta which cannot make a similar show. From one end +of the Nile valley to the other the quarries were reopened, and the +arts, stimulated by the orders which flowed in, soon flourished anew. +The engraving of hieroglyphics and the art of painting both attained +a remarkable degree of elegance; fine statues and bas-reliefs were +executed in large numbers, and a widely spread school of art was +developed. The local artists had scrupulously observed and handed down +the traditions which obtained in the time of the Pyramids, and more +especially those of the first Theban period; even the few fragments +that have come down to us of the works of these artists in the age of +the Ramessides recall rather the style of the VIth and XIIth dynasties +than that of their Theban contemporaries. Their style, brought to +perfection by evident imitation of the old Memphite masters, pleases +us by its somewhat severe elegance, the taste shown in the choice of +detail, and the extraordinary skill displayed in the working of +the stone. The Memphites had by preference used limestone for their +sculpture, the Thebans red and grey granite or sandstone; but the +artists of the age of Psammetichus unhesitatingly attacked basalt, +breccia, or serpentine, and obtained marvellous effects from these +finely grained materials of regular and even texture. The artistic +renaissance which they brought to its height had been already +inaugurated under the Ethiopians, and many of the statues we possess +of the reign of Taharqa are examples of excellent workmanship. That of +Amenertas was over-praised at the time of its discovery; the face, half +buried by the wig which we usually associate with the statues of the +goddesses, has a dull and vacant expression in spite of its set smile, +and the modelling of the figure is rather weak, but nevertheless there +is something easy and refined in the gracefulness of the statue as a +whole. + +[358.jpg Chieck Beled--Gizeh Museum] + +A statuette of another "Divine Spouse," though mutilated and +unfinished, is pleasing from its greater breadth of style, although such +breadth is rarely found in the works of this school, which toned down, +elongated, and attenuated the figure till it often lost in vigour what +it gained in distinction. The one point in which the Saite artists made +a real advance, was in the treatment of the heads of their models. + +[Illustration: 359.jpg MEMPHITE BAS-RELIEF OF THE SAITE EPOCH] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a heliogravure in Mariette. The bas- + relief was worked into the masonry of a house in Memphis in + the Byzantine period, and it was in order to fit it to the + course below that the masons bevelled the lower part of it. + +The expression is often refined and idealised as in the case of older +works, but occasionally the portraiture is exact even to coarseness. It +was not the idealised likeness of Montumihait which the artist wished +to portray, but Montumihait himself, with his low forehead, his small +close-set eyes, his thin cheeks, and the deep lines about his nose and +mouth. And besides this, the wrinkles, the crows' feet, the cranial +projections, the shape of ear and neck, are brought out with minute +fidelity. A statue was no longer, as in earlier days, merely a piece +of sacred stone, the support of the divine or human double, in which +artistic value was an accessory of no importance and was esteemed only +as a guarantee of resemblance: without losing aught of its religious +significance, a statue henceforward became a work of art, admired and +prized for the manner in which the sculptor faithfully represented his +model, as well as for its mystic utility. + +The reign of Psammetichus lasted till nearly the end of the century, and +was marked by peace both at home and abroad. No doubt skirmishes of some +kind took place in Lydia and Nubia, but we know nothing of them, nor +have we any account of engagements with the Asiatics which from time to +time must have taken place during this reign. Psammetichus followed with +a vigilant eye the revolutionary changes beyond the isthmus, actuated +at first by the fear of an offensive movement on the part of Syria, and +when that ceased to be a danger, by the hope of one day recovering, +in Southern Syria, at all events, that leading position which his +predecessors had held so long. Tradition asserts that he wisely confined +his ambition to the conquest of the Philistine Pentapolis; it is even +reported that he besieged Ashdod for twenty-nine years before gaining +possession of it. If we disregard the cipher, which is evidently +borrowed from some popular romance, the fact in itself is in no way +improbable. Ashdod was a particularly active community, and had played +a far more important part in earlier campaigns than any other member of +the Pentapolis. It possessed outside the town proper, which was situated +some little distance from the coast, a seaport similar to that of Gaza, +and of sufficient size to shelter a whole fleet. + +[Illustration: 361.jpg THE RUINS OF SAIS] + + Drawn by Boudior, from a photograph by Golenischeff. + +Whoever held this harbour could exercise effective control over the main +routes leading from Syria into Egypt. Psammetichus probably undertook +this expedition towards the end of his life, when the victories gained +by the Medes had demonstrated the incapacity of Assyria to maintain the +defence of her distant provinces.* + + * At one time I was inclined to explain this period of + twenty-nine years by assuming that the fall of Ashdod took + place in the twenty-ninth year of the king's reign, and that + Herodotus had mistaken the date of its surrender for the + duration of the siege: such an hypothesis is, however, + unnecessary, since it is very probable that we have here one + of those exaggerated estimates of time so dear to the hearts + of popular historians. If we are to believe the account + given by Diodorus, it was in Syria that Psammetichus granted + the honour of a place in the right wing of his army to the + Greek mercenaries: the capture of Ashdod must, in this case, + have occurred before the emigration of the native troops. In + Jer. xxv. 20, reference is made to "the remnant of Ashdod," + in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, i.e. about 603 B.C., and + the decadence of the city is generally attributed to the war + with Egypt; it might with equal probability be ascribed to + the Scythian invasion. + +The attack of the Scythians, which might have proved dangerous to Egypt, +had it been pushed far enough, had left her unharmed, and was in the +end even advantageous to her. It was subsequent to the retreat of the +barbarians, no doubt, that Psam-metichus sent his troops into Philistia +and succeeded in annexing the whole or part of it. After this success +he was content to wait and watch the course of events. The surprising +revival of Egypt must have had the effect of infusing fresh life into +the Egyptian factions existing in all the autonomous states, and in the +prefectures of Syria. The appearance of the Pharaoh's troops, and +the toleration of their presence within the territory of the Assyrian +empire, aroused on all sides the hope of deliverance, and incited the +malcontents to take some immediate action. + +We do not know what may have happened at Tyre and Sidon, or among the +peoples of Edom and Arabia, but Judah, at any rate, under the rule of +Josiah, carefully abstained from any action inconsistent with the pledge +of fidelity which it had given to Assyria. Indeed, the whole kingdom +was completely absorbed in questions of a theological nature, and the +agitations which affected the religious life of the nation reacted on +its political life as well. Josiah, as he grew older, began to identify +himself more and more with the doctrines taught by the prophets, and, +thanks to his support, the party which sought to complete the reforms +outlined by Hezekiah gained fresh recruits every day. The opposition +which they had formerly aroused among the priests of the temple had +gradually died out, partly as the result of genuine conviction, and +partly because the priests had come to realise that the establishment +of a single exclusive sanctuary would work for their own interest +and advantage. The high priest Hilkiah took up the line followed by +Jeremiah, and was supported by a number of influential personages such +as Shaphan the scribe, son of Azaliah, Ahikam, Achbor son of Micaiab, +and a prophetess named Huldah, who had married the keeper of the royal +wardrobe. The terrors of the Scythian invasion had oppressed the hearts +and quickened the zeal of the orthodox. Judah, they declared, had no +refuge save Jahveh alone; all hope was lost if it persisted in the +doctrines which had aroused against the faithless the implacable wrath +of Jahveh; it must renounce at once those idols and superstitious rites +with which His worship had been disfigured, and overthrow the altars +which were to be found in every part of the country in order to +concentrate all its devotion on the temple of Solomon. In a word, Judah +must return to an observance of the strict letter of the law, as it had +been followed by their forefathers. But as this venerable code was not +to be found either in the "Book of the Covenant" or in any of the other +writings held sacred by Israel, the question naturally arose as to where +it was now hidden. In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah sent +Shaphan the scribe to the temple in order to audit the accounts of the +sums collected at the gates for the maintenance of the building. After +the accounts had been checked, Hilkiah suddenly declared that he had +"found the Book of the Law" in the temple, and thereupon handed the +document to Shaphan, who perused it forthwith. On his return to the +palace, the scribe made his report: "Thy servants have emptied out the +money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand +of the workmen;" then he added "Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a +book," and proceeded to read it to the king. When the latter had heard +the words contained in this Book of the Law, he was seized with anguish, +and rent his garments; then, unable to arrive at any decision by +himself, he sent Hilkiah, Shaphan, Ahikam, Achbor, and Asaiah to inquire +of Jahveh for him and for his people, "for great is the wrath of the +Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened +unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is +written concerning us." + +[Illustration: 364.jpg DECORATIONS ON THE WRAPPINGS OF A MUMMY.] + +The envoys betook themselves not to the official oracle or the +recognised prophets, but to a woman, the prophetess Huldah, who was +attached to the court in virtue of her husband's office; and she bade +them, in the name of the Most High, to summon a meeting of the faithful, +and, after reading the new code to them, to call upon all present to +promise that they would henceforth observe its ordinances: thus Jahveh +would be appeased, and since the king had "rent his garments and wept +before Me, I also have heard thee, saith Jahveh. Therefore, behold, I +will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave +in peace." Josiah thereupon having summoned the elders of Judah and +Jerusalem, went up into the temple, and there, standing on the platform, +he read the Book of the Law in the presence of the whole people.* + + * 2 Kings xxii. 3-20; xxiii. 1, 2. The narrative has + undergone slight interpolation in places, e.g. verses 46, + 5a, 6, and 7, where the compiler has made it harmonise with + events previously recorded in connection with the reign of + Joash (2 Kings xii. 6-16). The beginning of Huldah's + prophecy was suppressed, when the capture of Jerusalem + proved that the reform of divine worship had not succeeded + in averting the wrath of Jahveh. It probably contained + directions to read the _Book of the Covenant_ to the people, + and to persuade them to adopt its precepts, followed by a + promise to save Judah provided it remained faithful to its + engagements. + +It dealt with questions which had been frequent subjects of debate in +prophetic circles since the days of Hezekiah, and the anonymous writer +who had compiled it was so strongly imbued with the ideas of Jeremiah, +and had so closely followed his style, that some have been inclined to +ascribe the work to Jeremiah himself. It has always been a custom among +Orientals to affirm that any work for which they profess particular +esteem was discovered in the temple of a god; the Egyptian priests, +for instance, invented an origin of this nature for the more important +chapters of their Book of the Dead, and for the leading treatises in the +scientific literature of Egypt. The author of the Book of the Law had +ransacked the distant past for the name of the leader who had delivered +Israel from captivity in Egypt. He told how Moses, when he began to feel +the hand of death upon him, determined to declare in Gilead the decrees +which Jahveh had delivered to him for the guidance of His people.* In +these ordinances the indivisible nature of God, and His jealousy of +any participation of other deities in the worship of His people, are +strongly emphasised. "Ye shall surely destroy all the places wherein +the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high +mountains and upon the hills, and under every green tree: and ye shall +break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn +their Asherim with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of +their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of that place."** + + * Even St. Jerome and St. John Chrysostom admitted that + Deuteronomy was the book discovered by Hilkiah in the temple + during the reign of Josiah, and this view is accepted at + present, though it is applied, not to the book of + Deuteronomy as it appears in the Pentateuch, but rather to + the nucleus of this book, and especially chaps, xii.-xxvi. + + ** Deut. xii. 2, 3. + +Even were a prophet or dreamer of dreams to arise in the midst of the +faithful and direct them by a sign or a miracle to turn aside after +those accursed gods, they must not follow the teaching of these false +guides, not even if the sign or miracle actually came to pass, but must +seize and slay them. Even "if thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy +son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend which is +as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve +other gods,... thou shalt not consent unto him nor hearken unto him: +neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither +shalt thou conceal him: but thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall +be first upon him to put him to death, and, afterwards the hand of all +the people. And thou shalt stone him with stones that he die; because he +hath sought to draw thee away from Jahveh!"* And this Jahveh was not the +Jahveh of any special place. He was not the Jahveh of Bethel, or of Dan, +or of Mizpah, or of Geba, or of Beersheba; He is simply Jahveh.** Yet +the seat of His worship was not a matter of indifference to Him. "Unto +the place which Jahveh shall choose out of all your tribes to put His +name there, even unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither shalt +thou come: and thither shall ye bring your... sacrifices and your +tithes."*** Jerusalem is not mentioned by name, but the reference to it +was clear, since every one knew that the suppression of the provincial +sanctuaries must necessarily benefit it. One part of the new code dealt +with the relations between different members of the community. The king +was to approximate as closely as possible to the ideal priest; he was +not to lift up his heart above his brethren, nor set his mind on the +possession of many chariots, horses, or wives, but must continually read +the law of God and ponder over His ordinances, and observe them word for +word all the days of his life.**** + + * Deut. xiii. 1-10. + + ** Deut. vi. 4. The expression found in Zecli. xiv. 9 was + borrowed from the second of the introductions added to + _Deuteronomy_ at a later date; the phrase harmonises so + closely with the main purpose of the book itself, that there + can be no objection to employing it here. + + *** Deut. xii. 5, 6. + + **** Deut. xvii. 14-20; cf. xx. 1-9 for the regulations in + regard to the levying of troops. + +Even in time of war he was not to put his trust in his soldiers or in +his own personal valour; here again he must allow himself to be guided +by Jahveh, and must undertake nothing without first consulting Him +through the medium of His priests. The poor,* the widow, and the +orphan,** the bondservant,*** and even the stranger within the gates--in +remembrance of the bondage in Egypt ****--were all specially placed +under the divine protection; every Jew who had become enslaved to a +fellow-countryman was to be set at liberty at the end of six years, and +was to receive a small allowance from his master which would ensure him +for a time against starvation.^ + + * As to the poor, and the charitable obligations towards + them imposed by their common religion, cf. Deut. xv. 7-11; + as to the rights of the hired servant, cf. xxiv. 14, 15. + + ** Deut. xxiv. 17-22 forbids the taking of a widow's + clothing in pledge, and lays down regulations in regard to + gleaning permitted to widows and orphans (cf. Lev. xix. 9, + 10); reference is also made to their share in triennial + tithe (Deut. xiv. 28, 29; xxvi. 12, 13) and in the solemn + festivals (Deut. xvi. 11-14). + + *** Slaves were allowed to share in the rejoicings during + the great festivals (Deut. xvi. 11, 14), and certain rights + were accorded to women taken prisoners in war who had become + their captors' concubines (Deut. xxi. 10-14). + + ****Participation of the stranger in the triennial tithe + (Deut. xiv. 28, 29; xxvi. 12, 13). + + ^ Deut. xv. 12-18. + +The regulations in regard to divine worship had not as yet been drawn +up in that spirit of hair-splitting minuteness which, later on, became +a characteristic of Hebrew legislation. Only three great festivals are +mentioned in the Book of the Law. The Passover was celebrated in the +month of Abib, when the grain is in the ear, and had already come to be +regarded as commemorative of the Exodus; but the other two, the Feast +of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles, were merely associated with the +agricultural seasons, and took place, the former seven weeks after the +beginning of the harvest, the latter after the last of the crops had +been housed.* The claim of the priest to a share in the victim and in +the offerings made on various occasions is maintained, and the lawgiver +allows him to draw a similar benefit from the annual and triennial +tithes which he imposes on corn and wine and on the firstborn of cattle, +the produce of this tithe being devoted to a sort of family festival +celebrated in the Holy Place.** The priest was thus placed on the same +footing as the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger, and his +influence was but little greater than it had been in the early days of +the monarchy. It was to the prophet and not to the priest that the duty +belonged of directing the public conscience in all those cases for which +the law had made no provision. "I will put My words into his mouth (said +Jahveh), and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. +And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto My words +which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him. But the +prophet which shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I have +not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other +gods, that same prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How +shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?--when a prophet +speaketh in the name of Jahveh, if the thing follow not, nor come to +pass, that is the thing which Jahveh hath not spoken: the prophet hath +spoken it presumptuously; thou shalt not be afraid of him." + + * Deut. xvi. 1-17. + + ** Deut. xviii. 1-8; as to the share in the triennial tithe, + cf. Deut. xiv. 28, 29; xxvi. 12, 13. + +When the reading of the law had ended, Josiah implored the people to +make a covenant with Jahveh; that is to say, "to walk after Jahveh, and +to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with +all their hearts and all their souls, to confirm the words of this +covenant that were written in this book." The final words, which +lingered in every ear, contained imprecations of even more terrible +and gloomy import than those with which the prophets had been wont to +threaten Judah. "If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jahveh thy +God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I +command thee this day; then all these curses shall come upon thee, and +overtake thee. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou +be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy kneading-trough. +Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, the +increase of thy kine, and the young of thy flock.... Thou shalt betroth +a wife, and another man shall lie with her; thou shalt build an house, +and shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not +use the fruit thereof. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and +thou shalt not eat thereof.... Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given +unto another people; and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing +for them all the day: and there shall be naught in the power of thine +hand.... Jahveh shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end +of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not +understand; a nation of fierce countenance, which shalt not regard the +person of the old, nor show favour to the young." This enemy was to burn +and destroy everything: "and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, +throughout all thy land, which Jahveh thy God hath given thee. And thou +shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy +daughters... in the straitness wherewith thine enemies shall straiten +thee." Those who escape must depart into captivity, and there endure for +many a long year the tortures of direst slavery; "thy life shall hang +in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear night and day, and shalt have +none assurance of thy life: in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it +were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for +the fear of thine heart which thou shalt fear, and for the sight of +thine eyes which thou shalt see."* + + * Deut. xxviii. The two sets of imprecations (xxvii., + xxviii.) which terminate the actual work are both of later + redaction, but the original MS. undoubtedly ended with some + analogous formula. I have quoted above the most + characteristic parts of the twenty-eighth chapter. + +The assembly took the oath required of them, and the king at once +displayed the utmost zeal in exacting literal performance of the +ordinances contained in the Book of the Law. His first step was to +purify the temple: Hilkiah and his priests overthrew all the idols +contained in it, and all the objects that had been fashioned in +honour of strange gods--the Baals, the Asherim, and all the Host of +Heaven--and, carrying them out of Jerusalem into the valley of the +Kidron, cast them into the flames, and scattered the ashes upon the +place where all the filth of the city was cast out. The altars and the +houses of the Sodomites which defiled the temple courts were demolished, +the chariots of the sun broken in pieces, and the horses of the god +sent to the stables of the king's chamberlain;* the sanctuaries and high +places which had been set up at the gates of the city, in the public +places, and along the walls were razed to the ground, and the Tophet, +where the people made their children pass through the fire, was +transformed into a common sewer. + + * [The Hebrew text admits of this meaning, which is, + however, not clear in the English A.V.--Tr.] + +The provincial sanctuaries shared the fate of those of the capital; in +a short time, from Geba to Beersheba, there remained not one of those +"high places," at which the ancestors of the nation and their rulers +had offered prayers for generations past. The wave of reform passed even +across the frontier and was borne into the Assyrian province of Samaria; +the temple and image which Jeroboam had set up at Bethel were reduced to +ashes, and human bones were burnt upon the altar to desecrate it beyond +possibility of purification.* + + * 2 Kings xxiii. 3-20, 24-27, where several glosses and + interpolations are easily recognisable, such as the episode + at Bethel (v. 15-20), the authenticity of which is otherwise + incontestable. The account in 2 Chron. xxxiv. is a defaced + reproduction of that of 2 Kings, and it places the reform, + in part at least, before the discovery of the new law. + +The governor offered no objection to these acts; he regarded them, in +the first place, as the private affairs of the subjects of the empire, +with which he had no need to interfere, so long as the outburst of +religious feeling did not tend towards a revolt: we know, moreover, that +Josiah, guided on this point by the prophets, would have believed that +he was opposing the divine will had he sought to free himself from the +Assyrian yoke by ordinary political methods; besides this, in 621, under +Assur-etililani, five years after the Scythian invasion, the prefect of +Samaria had possibly not sufficient troops at his disposal to oppose the +encroachments of the vassal princes. It was an affair of merely a few +months. In the following year, when the work of destruction was +over, Josiah commanded that the Passover should be kept in the manner +prescribed in the new book; crowds flocked into Jerusalem, from Israel +as well as from Judah, and the festival made a deep impression on the +minds of the people. Centuries afterwards the Passover of King Josiah +was still remembered: "There was not kept such a Passover from the days +of the Judges... nor in all the days of the Kings of Israel, nor of the +Kings of Judah."* + + 1 2 Kings xxiii. 21-23; cf. 2 Chron. xxxv. 1-19. The text of + the Soptuagint appears to imply that it was the first + Passover celebrated in Jerusalem. It also gives in chap. + xxii. 3, after the mention of the eighteenth year, a date of + the seventh or eighth month, which is not usually accepted, + as it is in contradiction with what is affirmed in chap, + xxiii. 21-23, viz. that the Passover celebrated at Jerusalem + was in the same year as the reform, in the eighteenth year. + It is to do away with the contradiction between these two + passages that the Hebrew text has suppressed the mention of + the month. I think, however, it ought to be considered + authentic and be retained, if we are allowed to place the + celebration of the Passover in what would be one year after. + To do this it would not be needful to correct the regnal + date in the text: admitting that the reform took place in + 621, the Passover of 620 would still quite well have taken + place in the eighteenth year of Josiah, that being dependent + on the time of year at which the king had ascended the + throne. + +The first outburst of zeal having spent itself, a reaction was ere long +bound to set in both among the ruling classes and among the people, and +the spectacle that Asia at that time presented to their view was truly +of a nature to incite doubts in the minds of the faithful. Assyria--that +Assyria of which the prophets had spoken as the irresistible emissary of +the Most High--had not only failed to recover from the injuries she had +received at the hands, first of the Medes, and then of the Scythians, +but had with each advancing year seen more severe wounds inflicted upon +her, and hastening her irretrievably to her ruin. And besides this, +Egypt and Chaldaea, the ancient kingdoms which had for a short time bent +beneath her yoke, had now once more arisen, and were astonishing the +world by their renewed vigour. Psammetichus, it is true, after having +stretched his arm across the desert and laid hands upon the citadel +which secured to him an outlet into Syria for his armies, had proceeded +no further, and thus showed that he was not inclined to reassert +the ancient rights of Egypt over the countries of the Jordan and the +Orontes; but he had died in 611, and his son, Necho II., who succeeded +him, did not manifest the same peaceful intentions.* + + * The last dated stele of Psammetichus I. is the official + epitaph of the Apis which died in his fifty-second year. On + the other hand, an Apis, born in the fifty-third year of + Psammetichus, died in the sixteenth year of Necho, after + having lived 16 years, 7 months, 17 days. A very simple + calculation shows that Psammetichus I. reigned fifty-four + years, as stated by Herodotus and Manetho, according to + Julius Africanus. + +If he decided to try his fortune in Syria, supported by his Greek and +Egyptian battalions, what would be the attitude that Judah would assume +between moribund Assyria and the kingdom of the Pharaohs in its renewed +vigour? It was in the spring of 608 that the crisis occurred. Nineveh, +besieged by the Medes, was on the point of capitulating, and it was easy +to foresee that the question as to who should rule there would shortly +be an open one: should Egypt hesitate longer in seizing what she +believed to be her rightful heritage, she would run the risk of finding +the question settled and another in possession. Necho quitted Memphis +and made his way towards the Asiatic frontier with the army which his +father had left to him. It was no longer composed of the ill-organised +bands of the Ethiopian kings or the princes of the Delta, temporarily +united under the rule of a single leader, but all the while divided by +reciprocal hatreds and suspicions which doomed it to failure. All the +troops which constituted it--Egyptians, Libyans, and Greeks alike--were +thoroughly under the control of their chief, and advanced in a compact +and irresistible mass "like the Nile: like a river its volume rolls +onward. It said: I arise, I inundate the earth, I will drown cities +and people! Charge, horses! Chariots, fly forward at a gallop! Let the +warriors march, the Ethiopian and the Libyan under the shelter of his +buckler, the fellah bending the bow!"* + + * Jer. xlvi. 7-9, where the prophet describes, not the army + which marched against Josiah, but that which was beaten at + Carchemish. With a difference of date of only three or four + years, the constituent elements of the army were certainly + the same, so that the description of one would apply to the + other. + +As soon as Josiah heard the news, he called together his troops +and prepared to resist the attack. Necho affected not to take his +demonstrations seriously, and sent a disdainful message recommending him +to remain neutral: "What have I to do with thee, thou King of Judah? I +come not against thee this day, but against the house wherewith I have +war: and God hath commanded me to make haste: forbear thee from meddling +with God who is with me, that He destroy thee not!"* + + * The message of Necho to Josiah is known to us from 2 + Chron. xxxv. 20-22. + +Having despatched the message, probably at the moment of entering the +Shephelah, he continued in a northerly direction, nothing doubting that +his warning had met a friendly reception; but however low Nineveh had +fallen, Josiah could not feel that he was loosed from the oaths which +bound him to her, and, trusting in the help of Jahveh, he threw himself +resolutely into the struggle. The Egyptian generals were well acquainted +with the route as far as the farther borders of Philistia, having +passed along it a few years previously, at the time of the campaign of +Psammetichus; but they had no experience of the country beyond Ashdod, +and were solely dependent for guidance on the information of merchants +or the triumphant records of the old Theban Pharaohs. These monuments +followed the traditional road which had led their ancestors from Gaza +to Megiddo, from Megiddo to Qodshu, from Qodshu to Carchemish, and they +were reckoning on passing through the valley of the Jordan, and then +that of the Orontes, without encountering any resistance, when, at the +entrance to the gorges of Carmel, they were met by the advance guard of +the Judaean army. + +Josiah, not having been warned in time to meet them as they left the +desert, had followed a road parallel to their line of march, and had +taken up his position in advance of them on the plain of Megiddo, on the +very spot where Thutmosis III. had vanquished the Syrian confederates +nearly ten centuries before. The King of Judah was defeated and killed +in the confusion of the battle, and the conqueror pushed on northwards +without, at that moment, giving the fate of the scattered Jews a further +thought.* He rapidly crossed the plain of the Orontes by the ancient +caravan track, and having reached the Euphrates, he halted under the +walls of Carchemish. Perhaps he may have heard there of the fall of +Nineveh, and the fear of drawing down upon himself the Medes or the +Babylonians prevented him from crossing the river and raiding the +country of the Balikh, which, from the force of custom, the royal +scribes still persisted in designating by the disused name of Mitanni.** + + * 2 Kings xxiii. 29; cf. 2 Chron. xxxv. 22, 23. It is + probably to this battle that Herodotus alludes when he says + that Necho overcame the Syrians at Magdolos. The identity of + Magdolos and Megiddo, accepted by almost all historians, was + disputed by Gutschmid, who sees in the Magdolos of Herodotus + the Migdol of the Syro-Egyptian frontier, and in the + engagement itself, an engagement of Necho with the Assyrians + and their Philistine allies; also by Th. Reinach, who + prefers to identify Magdolos with one of the Migdols near + Ascalon, and considers this combat as fought against the + Assyrian army of occupation. If the information in Herodotus + were indeed borrowed from Hecatasus of Miletus, and by the + latter from the inscription placed by Necho in the temple of + Branchidae, it appears to me impossible to admit that + Magdolos does not here represent Megiddo. + + ** The text of 2 Kings xxiii. 29 says positively that Necho + was marching towards the Euphrates. The name Mitanni is + found even in Ptolemaic times. + +He returned southwards, after having collected the usual tributes and +posted a few garrisons at strategic points; at Biblah he held a kind of +_Durbar_ to receive the homage of the independent Phoenicians* and of +the old vassals of Assyria, who, owing to the rapidity of his movements, +had not been able to tender their offerings on his outward march. + + * The submission of the Phoenicians to Necho is gathered + from a passage in Berosus, where he says that the Egyptian + army beaten at Carchemish comprised Phoenicians, besides + Syrians and Arabs. + +[Illustration: 378.jpg Victorious Necho] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph published in + Mariette. This scarab, now in the Gizeh Museum, is the only + Egyptian monument which alludes to the victories of Necho. + Above, the king stands between Nit and Isis; below, the + vanquished are stretched on the ground. + +The Jews had rescued the body of their king and had brought it back in +his chariot to Jerusalem; they proclaimed in his stead, not his eldest +son Eliakim, but the youngest, Shallum, who adopted the name of Jehoahaz +on ascending the throne. He was a young man, twenty-three years of age, +light and presumptuous of disposition, opposed to the reform movement, +and had doubtless been unwise enough to display his hostile feelings +towards the conqueror. Necho summoned him to Eiblah, deposed him after +a reign of three months, condemned him to prison, and replaced him by +Eliakim, who changed his name to that of Jehoiakim--"he whom Jahveh +exalts;" and after laying Judah under a tribute of one hundred talents +of silver and one of gold, the Egyptian monarch returned to his own +country. Certain indications lead us to believe that he was obliged to +undertake other punitive expeditions. The Philistines, probably deceived +by false rumours of his defeat, revolted against him about the time that +he was engaged in hostilities in Northern Syria, and on receiving news +not only of his safety, but of the victory he had gained, their alarm +was at once aroused. Judah forgot her own sorrows on seeing the peril in +which they stood, and Jeremiah pronounced against them a prophecy full +of menace. "Behold," he cried, "waters rise up out of the north, and +shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all +that is therein, the city and them that dwell therein; and the men shall +cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl... for the Lord will +spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the Isle of Caphtor. Baldness is +come upon Gaza; Ascalon is dumb with terror, and you, all that are left +of the giants, how long will ye tear your faces in your mourning?"* +Ascalon was sacked and then Gaza,** and Necho at length was able to +re-enter his domains, doubtless by the bridge of Zalu, following in this +his models, his heroic ancestors of the great Theban dynasties. + + * [R.V., "Ashkolon is brought to nought, the remnant of + their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?"--Tr.] + + ** Jer. xlvii., which is usually attributed to a period + subsequent to the defeat at Carchemish or even later; the + title, which alone mentions the Egyptians, is wanting in the + LXX. If we admit that the enemy coming from the north is the + Egyptian and not the Chaldaean, as do most writers, the only + time that danger could have threatened Philistia from the + Egyptians coming from the north, was when Necho, victorious, + was returning from his first campaign. In this case, the + Kadytis of Herodotus, which has caused so much trouble to + commentators, would certainly be Gaza, and there would be no + difficulty in explaining how the tradition preserved by the + Greek historian placed the taking of this town after the + battle of Megiddo. + +He wished thereupon to perpetuate the memory of the Greeks who had +served him so bravely, and as soon as the division of the spoil had been +made, he sent as an offering to the temple of Apollo at Miletus, the +cuirass which he had worn throughout the campaign. + +We can picture the reception which his subjects gave him, and how the +deputations of priests and nobles in white robes flocked out to meet him +with garlands of flowers in their hands, and with acclamations similar +to those which of old had heralded the return of Seti I. or Ramses II. +National pride, no doubt, was flattered by this revival of military +glory, but other motives than those of vanity lay at the root of the +delight exhibited by the whole country at the news of the success of the +expedition. The history of the century which was drawing to its close, +had demonstrated more than once how disadvantageous it was to Egypt to +be separated from a great power merely by the breadth of the isthmus. +If Taharqa, instead of awaiting the attack on the banks of the Nile, had +met the Assyrians at the foot of Carmel, or even before Gaza, it would +have been impossible for Esarhaddon to turn the glorious kingdom of the +Pharaohs into an Assyrian province after merely a few weeks of fighting. +The dictates of prudence, more than those of ambition, rendered, +therefore, the conquest of Syria a necessity, and Necho showed his +wisdom in undertaking it at the moment when the downfall of Nineveh +reduced all risk of opposition to a minimum; it remained to be seen +whether the conquerors of Sin-shar-ishkun would tolerate for long the +interference of a third robber, and would consent to share the spoil +with these Africans, who, having had none of the trouble, had hastened +to secure the profit. All the Mediterranean dependencies of Assyria, +such as Mesopotamia, Syria, and Judae, fell naturally within the +sphere of Babylon rather than that of Media, and, indeed, Cyaxares never +troubled himself about them; and Nabopolassar, who considered them +his own by right, had for the moment too much in hand to permit of his +reclaiming them. The Aramaeans of the Khabur and the Balikh, the nomads +of the Mesopotamian plain, had not done homage to him, and the country +districts were infested with numerous bands of Cimmerians and Scythians, +who had quite recently pillaged the sacred city of Harran and violated +the temple of the god Sin.* Nabopolassar, who was too old to command +his troops in person, probably entrusted the conduct of them to +Nebuchadrezzar, who was the son he had appointed to succeed him, and who +had also married the Median princess. Three years sufficed this prince +to carry the frontier of the new Chaldaean empire as far as the Syrian +fords of the Euphrates, within sight of Thapsacus and Carchemish. Harran +remained in the hands of the barbarians,** probably on condition of +their paying a tribute, but the district of the Subaru was laid waste, +its cities reduced to ashes, and the Babylonian suzerainty established +on the southern slopes of the Masios. + + * _Inscrip. of the Cylinder of Nabonidus_ mentions the + pillage of Harran as having taken place fifty-four years + before the date of its restoration by Nabonidus. This was + begun, as we know, in the third year of that king, possibly + in 554-3. The date of the destruction is, therefore, 608-7, + that is to say, a few months before the destruction of + Nineveh. + + ** The passage in the _Cylinder of Nabonidus_ shows that the + barbarians remained in possession of the town. + +Having brought these preliminary operations to a successful issue, +Nabopolassar, considering himself protected on the north and north-east +by his friendship with Cyaxares, no longer hesitated to make an effort +to recover the regions dominated by Egyptian influence, and, if the +occasion presented itself, to reduce to submission the Pharaoh who was +in his eyes merely a rebellious satrap. Nebuchadrezzar again placed +himself at the head of his troops; Necho, warned of his projects, +hastened to meet him with all the forces at his disposal, and, owing +probably to the resistance offered by the garrisons which he possessed +in the Hittite fortresses, he had time to continue his march as far as +the Euphrates. The two armies encountered each other at Carchemish; the +Egyptians were completely defeated in spite of their bravery and the +skilful tactics of their Greek auxiliaries, and the Asiatic nations, who +had once more begun to rely on Egypt, were obliged to acknowledge that +they were as unequal to the task of overcoming Chaldaea as they had been +of sustaining a struggle with Assyria.* + + * Jer. xlvi. 2; cf. 2 Kings xxiv. 7, where the editor, + without mentioning the battle of Carchemish, recalls in + passing that "the King of Babylon had taken, from the brook + of Egypt unto the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the + King of Egypt." + +The religious party in Judah, whose hopes had been disappointed by the +victory of Pharaoh at Megiddo, now rejoiced at his defeat, and when the +remains of his legions made their way back across the Philistine plain, +closely pressed by the enemy, Jeremiah hailed them as they passed with +cutting irony. Two or three brief, vivid sentences depicting the spirit +that had fired them a few months before, and then the picture of their +disorderly flight: "Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to +battle. Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth +with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail. +Wherefore have I seen it? They are dismayed and turn backward; and their +mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back; +terror is on every side, saith the Lord. Let not the swift flee away, +nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have +they stumbled and fallen.... Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin +daughter of Egypt; in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no +healing for thee. The nations have heard of thy shame, and the earth is +full of thy cry: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, +they are fallen both of them together."* Nebuchadrezzar received by the +way the submission of Jehoiakim, and of the princes of Ammon, Moab, and +the Philistines;** he was nearing Pelusium on his way into Egypt, when a +messenger brought him the news of his father's death. + + * Jer. xlvi. 3-6, 11, 12. + + ** The submission of all these peoples is implied by the + passage already cited in 2 Kings xxiv. 7; Berosus speaks of + the Phoenician, Jewish, and Syrian prisoners whom + Nebuchadrezzar left to his generals, when he resolved to + return to Babylon by the shortest route. + +He feared lest a competitor should dispute his throne--perhaps his +younger brother, that Nabu-shum-lishir who had figured at his side +at the dedication of a temple to Marduk. He therefore concluded an +armistice with Necho, by the terms of which he remained master of the +whole of Syria between the Euphrates and the Wady el-Arish, and then +hastily turned homewards. But his impatience could not brook the +delay occasioned by the slow march of a large force, nor the ordinary +circuitous route by Carchemish and through Mesopotamia. He hurried +across the Arabian desert, accompanied by a small escort of light +troops, and presented himself unexpectedly at the gates of Babylon. He +found all in order. His Chaldaean ministers had assumed the direction of +affairs, and had reserved the throne for the rightful heir; he had only +to appear to be acclaimed and obeyed (B.C. 605). + +His reign was long, prosperous, and on the whole peaceful. The recent +changes in Asiatic politics had shut out the Chaldaeans from the majority +of the battle-fields on which the Assyrians had been wont to wage +warfare with the tribes on their eastern and northern frontiers. We no +longer see stirring on the border-land those confused masses of tribes +and communities of whose tumultuous life the Ninevite annals make such +frequent record: Elam as an independent state no longer existed, neither +did Philipi and Namri, nor the Cossaeans, nor Parsua, nor the Medes +with their perpetual divisions, nor the Urartians and the Mannai in +a constant state of ferment within their mountain territory; all that +remained of that turbulent world now constituted a single empire, united +under the hegemony of the Medes, and the rule of a successful conqueror. +The greater part of Blam was already subject to those Achaemenides who +called themselves sovereigns of Anshan as well as of Persia, and whose +fief was dependent on the kingdom of Ecbatana:* it is probable that +Chaldasa received as her share of the ancient Susian territory the low +countries of the Uknu and the Ulai, occupied by the Aramaean tribes +of the Puqudu, the Eutu, and the Grambulu;** but Susa fell outside her +portion, and was soon transformed into a flourishing Iranian town. + + * "The king and the princes of Elam" mentioned in Jer. xxv. + 25, xlix.35-39, and in Ezele. xxxii. 24, 25, in the time of + Nebuchadrezzar, are probably the Persian kings of Anshan and + their Elamite vassals--not only, as is usually believed, the + kings and native princes conquered by Assur-bani-pal; the + same probably holds good of the Elam which an anonymous + prophet associates with the Medes under Nabonidus, in the + destruction of Babylon (Isa. xxi. 2). The princes of Malamir + appear to me to belong to an anterior epoch. + + ** The enumeration given in Ezelc. xxiii. 23, "the + Babylonians and all the Chaldaeans, Pelted, and Shoa, and + Koa," shows us probably that the Aramaeans of the Lower + Tigris represented by Pekod, as those of the Lower Euphrates + are by the Chaldaeans, belonged to the Babylonian empire in + the time of the prophet. They are also considered as + belonging to Babylon in the passage of an anonymous prophet + (Jer. I. 21), who wrote in the last days of the Chaldaen + empire: "Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against + it and the inhabitants of Pekod." Translators and + commentators have until quite recently mistaken the import + of the name Pekod. + +The plains bordering the right bank of the Tigris, from the Uknu to +the Turnat or the Eadanu, which had belonged to Babylon from the very +earliest times, were no doubt still retained by her;* but the mountain +district which commanded them certainly remained in the hands of +Cyaxares, as well as the greater part of Assyria proper, and there +is every reason to believe that from the Eadanu northwards the Tigris +formed the boundary between the two allies, as far as the confluence of +the Zab. + + * This is what appears to me to follow from the account of + the conquest oL Babylon by Cyrus, as related by Herodotus. + +The entire basin of the Upper Tigris and its Assyrian colonies, Amidi +and Tushkan were now comprised in the sphere of Medic influence, and the +settlement of the Scythians at Harran, around one of the most venerated +of the Semitic sanctuaries, shows to what restrictions the new authority +of Chaldasa was subjected, even in the districts of Mesopotamia, which +were formerly among the most faithful possessions of Nineveh. If these +barbarians had been isolated, they would not long have defied the King +of Babylon, but being akin to the peoples who were subject to Cyaxares, +they probably claimed his protection, and regarded themselves as his +liege men; it was necessary to treat them with consideration, and +tolerate the arrogance of their presence upon the only convenient road +which connected the eastern with the western provinces of the kingdom. +It is therefore evident that there was no opening on this side for those +ever-recurring struggles in which Assyria had exhausted her best powers; +one war was alone possible, that with Media, but it was fraught with +such danger that the dictates of prudence demanded that it should be +avoided at all costs, even should the alliance between the two courts +cease to be cemented by a royal marriage. However great the confidence +which he justly placed in the valour of his Chaldaeans, Nebuchadrezzar +could not hide from himself the fact that for two centuries they had +always been beaten by the Assyrians, and that therefore he would run +too great a risk in provoking hostilities with an army which had got the +better of the conquerors of his people. Besides this, Cyaxares was fully +engaged in subjecting the region which he had allotted to himself, and +had no special desire to break with his ally. Nothing is known of his +history during the years which followed the downfall of Nineveh, but it +is not difficult to guess what were the obstacles he had to surmount, +and the result of the efforts which he made to overcome them. The +country which extends between the Caspian and the Black Sea--the +mountain block of Armenia, the basins of the Araxes and the Kur, the +valleys of the Halys, the Iris, and the Thermodon, and the forests +of the Anti-Taurus and the Taurus itself--had been thrown into utter +confusion by the Cimmerians and the Scythians. Nothing remained of the +previous order of things which had so long prevailed there, and the +barbarians who for a century and a half had destroyed everything in the +country seemed incapable of organising anything in its place. Urartu had +shrunk within its ancient limits around Ararat, and it is not known +who ruled her; the civilisation of Argistis and Menuas had almost +disappeared with the dynasty which had opposed the power of Assyria, and +the people, who had never been much impregnated by it, soon fell back +into their native rude habits of life. Confused masses of European +barbarians were stirring in Etiaus and the regions of the Araxes, +seeking a country in which to settle themselves, and did not succeed in +establishing themselves firmly till a much later period in the district +of Sakasene, to which was attached the name of one of their tribes.* + + * Strabo states that Armenia and the maritime regions of + Cappadocia suffered greatly from the invasion of the + Scythians. + +Such of the Mushku and the Tabal as had not perished had taken refuge in +the north, among the mountains bordering the Black Sea, where they were +ere long known to the Greeks as the Moschi and the Tibarenians. The +remains of the Cimmerian hordes had taken their place in Cappadocia, +and the Phrygian population which had followed in their wake had spread +themselves over the basin of the Upper Halys and over the ancient +Milidu, which before long took from them the name of Armenia.* All these +elements constituted a seething, struggling, restless mass of people, +actuated by no plan or method, and subject merely to the caprice of its +chiefs; it was, indeed, the "seething cauldron" of which the +Hebrew prophets had had a vision, which at times overflowed over the +neighbouring nations, and at others was consumed within and wasted +itself in fruitless ebullition.** + + * The Phrygian origin of the Armenians is pointed out by + Herodotus and by Eudoxius. + + ** Jer. i. 13. + +It took Cyaxares years to achieve his conquests; he finally succeeded, +however, in reducing the various elements to subjection--Urartians, +Scythians, Cimmerians, Chaldae, and the industrious tribes of the +Chalybes and the White Syrians--and, always victorious, appeared at last +on the right hank of the Halys; but having reached it, he found himself +face to face with foes of quite a different calibre from those with +whom he had hitherto to deal. Lydia had increased both in wealth and +in vigour since the days when her king Ardys informed his ally +Assur-bani-pal that he had avenged the death of his father and driven +the Cimmerians from the valley of the Msoander. + +He had by so doing averted all immediate danger; but as long as the +principal horde remained unexterminated, another invasion was always +to be feared; besides which, the barbarian inroad, although of short +duration, had wrought such havoc in the country that no native power in +Asia Minor appeared, nor in reality was, able to make the effort needful +to destroy them. Their king Dugdamis, it will be remembered, met his +death in Cilicia at the hands of the Assyrians about the year 640, and +Kobos, his successor, was defeated and killed by the Scythians under +Madyes about 633. The repeated repulses they had suffered had the effect +of quickly relieving Lydia, Phrygia, and the remaining states of the +AEgean and the Black Sea from their inroads; the Milesians wrested +Sinope from them about 630, and the few bands left behind when the main +body set out for the countries of the Euphrates were so harried and +decimated by the people over whom they had terrorised for nearly a +century, that they had soon no refuge except round the fortress of +Antandros, in the mountains of the Troad. Most of the kingdoms whose +downfall they had caused never recovered from their reverses; but +Lydia, which had not laid down its arms since the death of Gyges, became +possessed by degrees of the whole of their territory; Phrygia proper +came back to her in the general redistribution, and with it most of the +countries which had been under the rule of the dynasty of Midas, from +the mountains of Lycia to the shores of the Black Sea. The transfer was +effected, apparently, with very slight opposition and with little loss +of time, since in the four or five years which followed the death of +Kobos, Ardys had risen in the estimation of the Greeks to the position +enjoyed by Gyges; and when, in 628, Aristomenes, the hero of the +Messenian wars, arrived at Rhodes, it is said that he contemplated +proceeding from thence, first to Sardes and then to Ecbatana, for the +purpose of gaining the adherence of Lydia and Media to his cause. + +[Illustration: 390.jpgA VIEW IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MESSOGIS] + + Drawn by Boudier, from the heliogravure of Rayet and Thomas. + +Death put an end to his projects, but he would not for a moment have +entertained them had not Ardys been at that time at the head of a +renowned and flourishing kingdom. The renewal of international commerce +followed closely on the re-establishment of peace, and even if the long +period of Scythian invasion, followed by the destruction of Nineveh, +rendered the overland route less available for regular traffic than +before, at all events relations between the inhabitants of the Euphrates +valley and those of the iEgean littoral were resumed to such good +purpose that before long several fresh marts were opened in Lydia. + +[Illustration: 391.jpg THE SITE OF PRIENE.] + + Drawn by Boudier, from the heliogravure of Rayet and Thomas. + +Kyme and Ephesus put the region of the Messogis and the Tmolus into +communication with the sea, but the lower valleys of the Hermos and +the Masander were closed by the existence of Greek colonies at +Smyrna, Clazomenas, Colophon, Priene, and Miletus--all hostile to the +Mermnadae--which it would be necessary to overcome if these countries +were to enjoy the prosperity shared by other parts of the kingdom; hence +the principal effort made by the Lydians was either directly to annex +these towns, or to impose such treaties on them as would make them their +dependencies. Ardys seized Priene towards 620, and after having thus +established himself on the northern shore of the Latrnio Gulf,* he +proceeded to besiege Miletus in 616, at the very close of his career. +Hostilities were wearily prolonged all through the reign of Sadyattes +(615-610), and down to the sixth year of Alyattes.** + + * The well-known story that Priene was saved under Alyattes + by a stratagem of the philosopher Bias is merely a fable, of + which several other examples are found. It would not be + possible to conclude from it, as Grote did, that Ardys' rule + over the town was but ephemeral. + + ** The periods of duration assigned here to the reigns of + these princes are those of Euschius--that is to say, 15 + years for Crosus, 37 for Alyattes, 5 for Sadyattes, 37 for + Ardys; Julius Africanus gives 15 for Sadyattes and 38 for + Ardys, while Herodotus suggests 14 for Crosus, 57 for + Alyattes, 12 for Sadyattes, and 59 for Ardys. + +The position of Miletus was too strong to permit of its being carried by +a _coup de main_; besides which, the Lydians were unwilling to destroy +at one blow a town whose colonies, skilfully planted at the seaports +from the coasts of the Black Sea to those of Egypt, would one day +furnish them with so many outlets for their industrial products. Their +method of attacking it resolved itself into a series of exhausting +raids. "Every year, as soon as the fruit crops and the harvests began +to ripen, Alyattes set out at the head of his troops, whom he caused +to march and encamp to the sound of instruments. Having arrived in the +Milesian territory, he completely destroyed the crops and the orchards, +and then again withdrew." In these expeditions he was careful to +avoid any excesses which would have made the injury inflicted appear +irretrievable; his troops were forbidden to destroy dwelling-houses +or buildings dedicated to the gods; indeed, on one occasion, when the +conflagration which consumed the lands accidentally spread to the temple +of Athena near Assesos, he rebuilt two temples for the goddess at his +own expense. The Milesians sustained the struggle courageously, until +two reverses at Limeneion and in the plain of the Maeander at length +induced them to make terms. Their tyrant, Thrasybulus, acting on the +advice of the Delphic Apollo and by the mediation of Periander of +Corinth, concluded a treaty with Alyattes in which the two princes, +declaring themselves the guest and the ally one of the other, very +probably conceded extensive commercial privileges to one another both by +land and sea (604).* + + * Thrasybulus' stratagem is said to have taken place at + Priene by Diogenes Laertes and by Polysenus. The war begins + under Ardys, lasts for five years under Sadyattes, instead + of the six years which Herodotus attributes to it, and five + years under Alyattes. + +Alyattes rewarded the oracle by the gift of a magnificent bowl, the work +of Glaucus of Chios, which continued to be shown to travellers of +the Roman period as one of the most remarkable curiosities of Delphi. +Alyattes continued his expeditions against the other Greek colonies, but +directed them prudently and leisurely, so as not to alarm his European +friends, and provoke the formation against himself of a coalition of the +Hellenic communities shattered over the isles or along the littoral +of the AEgean. We know that towards the end of his reign he recovered +Colophon, which had been previously acquired by Gyges, but had regained +its independence during the Cimmerian crisis;* he razed Smyrna to the +ground, and forced its inhabitants to occupy unfortified towns, where +his suzerainty could not be disputed;** he half devastated Clazomense, +whose citizens saved it by a despairing effort, and he renewed the +ancient alliances with Ephesus, Kyme, and the cities of the region of +the Caicus and the Hellespont,*** though it is impossible to attribute +an accurate date to each of these particular events. + + * Polysenus tells the story of the trick by which Alyattes, + after he had treated with the people of Colophon, destroyed + their cavalry and seized on their town. The fact that a + treaty was made seems to be confirmed by a fragment of + Phylarchus, and the surrender of the town to the Lydians by + a fragment of Xenophanes, quoted in Athenseus. Schubert does + not seem to believe that the town was taken by Alyattes; I + have adopted the opinion of Ladet on this point. + + ** Herodotus and Nicolas of Damascus confine themselves to + relating the capture of the city; adds that the Lydians + compelled the inhabitants to dwell in unfortified towns. + Schubert thinks that the passage in Strabo refers, not to + the time of Alyattes, but to a subsequent event in the fifth + century; he relies for this opinion on a fragment of Pindar, + which represents Smyrna as still flourishing in his time. + But, as Busolt has pointed out, the intention of the text of + Pindar is to represent the state of the city at about the + time of Homer's birth, and not in the fifth century. + + *** The peace between Ephesus and Lydia must have been + troubled for a little while in the reign of Sadyattes, but + it was confirmed under Alyattes by the marriage of Melas II. + with one of the king's daughters. + +Most of them had already taken place or were still proceeding when the +irruption of the Medes across the Halys obliged him to concentrate all +his energies on the eastern portion of his kingdom. + +The current tradition in Lydia of a century later attributed the +conflict of the two peoples to a romantic cause. It related that +Cyaxares had bestowed his favour on the bands of Scythians who had +become his mercenaries on the death of Madyes, and that he had entrusted +to them the children of some of the noblest Medic families, that they +might train them to hunt and also teach them the use of the bow. One +day, on their returning from the chase without any game, Cyaxares +reproached them for their want of skill in such angry and insulting +terms, that they resolved on immediate revenge. They cut one of the +children in pieces, which they dressed after the same manner as that +in which they were accustomed to prepare the game they had killed, and +served up the dish to the king; then, while he was feasting upon it with +his courtiers, they lied in haste and took refuge with Alyattes. The +latter welcomed them, and refused to send them back to Cyaxares; +hence the outbreak of hostilities. It is, of course, possible that the +emigration of a nomad horde may have been the cause of the war,* but +graver reasons than this had set the two nations at variance. + + * Grote has collected a certain number of examples in later + times to show that the journeying of a nomad horde from one + state to another may provoke wars, and he concludes + therefrom that at least the basis of Herodotus' account may + be considered as true. + +The hardworking inhabitants of the valleys of the Iris and the Halys +were still possessed of considerable riches, in spite of the losses +they had suffered from the avaricious Cimmerians, and their chief towns, +Comana, Pteria and Teiria, continued to enjoy prosperity under the rule +of their priest-kings. Pteria particularly had developed in the course +of the century, thanks to her favourable situation, which had enabled +her to offer a secure refuge to the neighbouring population during the +late disasters. + +[Illustation: 396.jpg THE RUINS OF PTERIA] + + Drawn by Boudier, from Charles Texier. + +The town itself was crowded into a confined plain, on the left bank of +a torrent which flowed into the Halys, and the city walls may still +be clearly traced upon the soil; the outline of the houses, the silos, +cisterns, and rock-cut staircases are still visible in places, besides +the remains of a palace built of enormous blocks of almost rough-hewn +limestone. The town was defended by wide ramparts, and also by two +fortresses perched upon enormous masses of rock, while a few thousand +yards to the east of the city, on the right bank of the torrent, three +converging ravines concealed the sanctuary of one of those mysterious +oracles whose fame attracted worshippers from far and wide during the +annual fairs. + +[Illustration: 396b.jpg THE ENTRANCE TO THE SANCTUARY OF PTERIA] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Chantre. + +The bas-reliefs which decorate them belong to that semi-barbarous +art which we have already met with in the monuments attributed to the +Khafci, near the Orontes and Euphrates, on both slopes of the Amanus, in +Cilioia, and in the ravines of the Taurus. + +[Illustration: 398.jpg ONE OF THE PROCESSIONS IN THE RAVINE OF PTERIA] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Chantre. + +Long processions of priests and votaries defile before figures of the +gods and goddesses standing erect upon their sacred animals; in one +scene, a tall goddess, a Cybele or an Anaitis, leans affectionately upon +her chosen lover, and seems to draw him with her towards an image with a +lion's body and the head of a youth.* + + * These bas-reliefs seem to me to have been executed at + about the time with which we are dealing, or perhaps a few + years later--in any case, before the Persian conquest. + +Pteria and its surrounding hills formed a kind of natural fortress which +overlooked the whole bend of the Halys; it constituted, in the land of +the Lydians, an outpost which effectually protected their possessions in +Phrygia and Papnlagonia against an attack from the East; in the hands +of the Medes it would be a dominant position which would counteract the +defensive features of the Halys, and from it they might penetrate into +the heart of Asia Minor without encountering any serious obstacles. The +struggle between the two sovereigns was not so unequal as might at first +appear. No doubt the army of Alyattes was inferior in numbers, but +the bravery of its component forces and the ability of its leaders +compensated for its numerical inferiority, and Cyaxares had no troop to +be compared with the Carian lancers, with the hoplites of Ionia, or with +the heavy Maeonian cavalry. During six years the two armies met again and +again--fate sometimes favouring one and sometimes the other--and +were about to try their fortune once more, after several indecisive +engagements, when an eclipse of the sun suspended operations (585). +The Iranian peoples would fight only in full daylight, and their +adversaries, although warned, so it is said, by the Milesian philosopher +Thaies of the phenomenon about to take place in the heavens, were +perhaps not completely reassured as to its significance, and the two +hosts accordingly separated without coming to blows.* + + * This eclipse was identified at one time with that of Sept. + 30, 610, at another with that of May 28, 585. The latter of + these two dates appears to me to be the correct one, and is + the only one which agrees with what we know of the general + history of the sixth century. + +Nebuchadrezzar had followed, not without some misgivings, the +vicissitudes of the campaign, and his anxiety was shared by the +independent princes of Asia Minor, who were allies of the Lydians; he +and they alike awaited with dread a decisive action, which, by crushing +one of the belligerents beyond hope of recovery, would leave the +onlookers at the mercy of the victor in the full flush of his success. +Tradition relates that Syennesis of Cilicia and the Babylonian Nabonidus +had taken advantage of the alarm produced by the eclipse to negotiate +an armistice, and that they were soon successful in bringing the rival +powers to an agreement.* The Halys remained the recognised frontier of +the two kingdoms, but the Lydians probably obtained advantages for their +commerce, which they regarded as compensatory for the abandonment of +their claim to the district of Pteria. To strengthen the alliance, it +was agreed that Alyattes should give his daughter Aryenis in marriage +to Ishtuvigu, or, as the Greeks called him, Astyages, the son of +Cyaxares.** According to the custom of the times, the two contracting +parties, after taking the vow of fidelity, sealed the compact by +pricking each other's arms and sucking the few drops of blood which +oozed from the puncture.*** + + * The name Labynetos given by Herodotus is a transcript of + Nabonidus, but cannot here designate the Babylonian king of + that name, for the latter reigned more than thirty years + after the peace was concluded between the Lydians and the + Medes. If Herodotus has not made the mistake of putting + Labynetos for Nebuchadrezzar, we may admit that this + Labynetos was a prince of the royal family, or simply a + general who was commanding the Chaldoan auxiliaries of + Cyaxares. + + ** The form Ishtuvigu is given us by the Chaldoan documents. + Its exact transcript was Astuigas, Astyigas, according to + Ctosias; in fact, this coincides so remarkably with the + Babylonian mode of spelling, that we may believe that it + faithfully reproduces the original pronunciation. + + *** Many ancient authors have spoken of this war, or at + least of the eclipse which brought it to an end. Several of + them place the conclusion of peace not in the reign of + Cyaxares, but in that of Astyages--Cicero, Solinus, and the + Armenian Eusebius--and their view has been adopted by some + modern historians. The two versions of the account can be + reconciled by saying that Astyages was commanding the Median + army instead of his father, who was too old to do so, but + such an explanation is unnecessary, and Cyaxares, though + over seventy, might still have had sufficient vigour to wage + war. The substitution of Astyages for Cyaxares by the + authors of Roman times was probably effected with the object + of making the date of the eclipse agree with a different + system of chronology from that followed by Herodotus. + +Cyaxares died in the following year (584), full of days and renown, and +was at once succeeded by Astyages. Few princes could boast of having had +such a successful career as his, even in that century of unprecedented +fortunes and boundless ambitions. Inheriting a disorganised army, +proclaimed king in the midst of mourning, on the morrow of a defeat +in which the fate of his kingdom had hung in the balance, he succeeded +within a quarter of a century in overthrowing his enemies and +substituting his supremacy for theirs throughout the whole of Western +Asia. At his accession Media had occupied only a small portion of the +Iranian table-land; at his death, the Median empire extended to +the banks of the Halys. It is now not difficult to understand why +Nebuchadrezzar abstained from all expeditions in the regions of the +Taurus, as well as in those of the Upper Tigris. He would inevitably +have come into contact with the allies of the Lydians, perchance with +the Lydians themselves, or with the Medes, as the case might be; and +he would have been drawn on to take an active part in their dangerous +quarrels, from which, after all, he could not hope to reap any personal +advantage. In reality, there was one field of action only open to him, +and that was Southern Syria, with Egypt in her rear. He found himself, +at this extreme limit of his dominions, in a political situation almost +identical with that of his Assyrian predecessors, and consequently more +or less under the obligation of repeating their policy. The Saites, like +the Ethiopians before them, could enjoy no assured sense of security in +the Delta, when they knew that they had a great military state as their +nearest neighbour on the other side of the isthmus; they felt with +reason that the thirty leagues of desert which separated Pelusium from +Gaza was an insufficient protection from invasion, and they desired +to have between themselves and their adversary a tract of country +sufficiently extensive to ward off the first blows in the case of +hostilities. If such a buffer territory could be composed of feudal +provinces or tributary states, Egyptian pride would be flattered, while +at the same time the security of the kingdom would be increased, and +indeed the victorious progress of Necho had for the moment changed their +most ambitious dreams into realities. Driven back into the Nile valley +after the battle of Carchemish, their pretensions had immediately +shrunk within more modest limits; their aspirations were now confined to +gaining the confidence of the few surviving states which had preserved +some sort of independence in spite of the Assyrian conquest, to +detaching them from Chaldoan interests and making them into a protecting +zone against the ambition of a new Esarhaddon. To this work Necho +applied himself as soon as Nebuchadrezzar had left him in order to +hasten back to Babylon. The Egyptian monarch belonged to a persevering +race, who were never kept, down by reverses, and had not once allowed +themselves to be discouraged during the whole of the century in which +they had laboured to secure the crown for themselves; his defeat had +not lessened his tenacity, nor, it would seem, his certainty of final +success. Besides organising his Egyptian and Libyan troops, he enrolled +a still larger number of Hellenic mercenaries, correctly anticipating +that the restless spirits of the Phoenicians and Jews would soon furnish +him with an opportunity of distinguishing himself upon the scene of +action. + +It was perhaps at this juncture that he decided to strengthen his +position by the co-operation of a fleet. The superiority of the Chaldoan +battalions had been so clearly manifested, that he could scarcely hope +for a decisive victory if he persisted in seeking it on land; but if +he could succeed in securing the command of the sea, his galleys, by +continually cruising along the Syrian coast, and conveying troops, +provisions, arms, and money to the Phoenician towns, would so +successfully foster and maintain a spirit of rebellion, that the +Chaldaeans would not dare to venture into Egypt until they had dealt +with this source of danger in their rear. He therefore set to work +to increase the number of his war-vessels on the Bed Sea, but more +especially on the Mediterranean, and as he had drawn upon Greece for his +troops, he now applied to her for shipbuilders.* + + * Herodotus tells us that in his time the ruins of the docks + which Necho had made for the building of his triremes could + still be seen on the shore of the Red Sea as well as on that + of the Mediterranean. He seems also to say that the building + of the fleet was anterior to the first Syrian expedition. + +[Illustration: 404.jpg AN EGYPTIAN VESSEL OF THE SAITE PERIOD] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph sent by G. Benedite. + +The trireme, which had been invented by either the Samian or Corinthian +naval constructors, had as yet been little used, and possibly Herodotus +is attributing an event of his own time to this earlier period when +he affirms that Necho filled a dockyard with a whole fleet of these +vessels; he possessed, at any rate, a considerable number of them, and +along with them other vessels of various build, in which the blunt stem +and curved poop of the Greeks were combined with the square-cabined +barque of the Egyptians. At the same time, in order to transport the +squadron from one sea to another when occasion demanded, he endeavoured +to reopen the ancient canal. + +He improved its course and widened it so as to permit of two triremes +sailing abreast or easily clearing each other in passing. The canal +started from the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, not far from Patumos, and +skirted the foot of the Arabian hills from west to east; it then plunged +into the Wady Tumilat, and finally entered the head of the bay which now +forms the Lake of Ismailia. The narrow channel by which this sheet +of water was anciently connected with the Gulf of Suez was probably +obstructed in places, and required clearing out at several points, if +not along its entire extent. A later tradition states that after having +lost 100,000 men in attempting this task, the king abandoned the project +on the advice of an oracle, a god having been supposed to have predicted +to him that he was working for the barbarians.* + + * The figures, 100,000 men, are evidently exaggerated, for + in a similar undertaking, the digging of the Mahmudiyeh + canal, Mehemet-Ali lost only 10,000 men, though the work was + greater. + +[Illustration: 405.jpg THE ANCIENT HEAD OF THE RED SEA, NOW THE NORTHERN +EXTREMITY OF THE BITTER LAKES] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph taken from the railway + between Ismailia and Suez, on the eastern shore of the lake. + +Another of Necho's enterprises excited the admiration of his +contemporaries, and remained for ever in the memory of the people. The +Carthaginians had discovered on the ocean coast of Libya, a country rich +in gold, ivory, precious woods, pepper, and spices, but their political +jealousy prevented other nations from following in their wake in the +interests of trade. The Egyptians possibly may have undertaken to +dispute their monopoly, or the Phoenicians may have desired to reach +their colony by a less frequented highway than the Mediterranean. The +merchants of the Said and the Delta had never entirely lost touch with +the people dwelling on the shores of the Red Sea, and though the royal +fleets no longer pursued their course down it on their way to Punt as +in the days of Hatshopsitu and Ramses III., private individuals ventured +from time to time to open trade communications with the ancient "Ladders +of Incense." Necho despatched the Phoenician captains of his fleet in +search of new lands, and they started from the neighbourhood of Suez, +probably accompanied by native pilots accustomed to navigate in those +waters. The undertaking, fraught with difficulty even in the last +century, was, indeed, a formidable one for the small vessels of the +Saite period. They sailed south for months with the east to the left +of them, and on their right the continent which seemed to extend +indefinitely before them. Towards the autumn they disembarked on some +convenient shore, sowed the wheat with which they were provided, and +waited till the crop was ripe; having reaped the harvest, they again +took to the sea. Any accurate remembrance of what they saw was soon +effaced; they could merely recollect that, having reached a certain +point, they observed with astonishment that the sun appeared to have +reversed its course, and now rose on their right hand. This meant that +they had turned the southern extremity of Africa and were unconsciously +sailing northwards. In the third year they passed through the pillars +of Hercules and reached Egypt in safety. The very limited knowledge of +navigation possessed by the mariners of that day rendered this voyage +fruitless; the dangerous route thus opened up to commerce remained +unused, and its discovery was remembered only as a curious feat devoid +of any practical use.* + + * The Greek writers after Herodotus denied the possibility + of such a voyage, and they thought that it could not be + decided whether Africa was entirely surrounded by water, and + that certainly no traveller had ever journeyed above 5000 + stadia beyond the entrance to the Red Sea. Modern writers + are divided on the point, some denying and others + maintaining the authenticity of the account. The observation + made by the navigators of the apparent change in the course + of the sun, which Herodotus has recorded, and which neither + he nor his authorities understood, seems to me to be so + weighty an argument for its authenticity, that it is + impossible to reject the tradition until we have more + decided grounds for so doing. + +In order to obtain any practical results from the arduous voyage, it +would have been necessary for Egypt to devote a considerable part of +its resources to the making of such expeditions, whereas the country +preferred to concentrate all its energies on its Tyrian policy. Necho +certainly possessed the sympathies of the Tyrians, who had transferred +their traditional hatred of the Assyrians to the Chaldaeans. He could +also count with equal certainty on the support of a considerable party +in Moab, Ammon, and Edom, as well as among the Nabataeans and the Arabs +of Kedar; but the key of the whole position lay with Judah--that ally +without whom none of Necho's other partisans would venture to declare +openly against their master. The death of Josiah had dealt a fatal blow +to the hopes of the prophets, and even long after the event they could +not recall it without lamenting the fate of this king after their own +heart. "And like unto him," exclaims their chronicler, "was there no +king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart and with +all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; +neither after him arose there any like him."* + + * 2 Kings xxiii. 25. + +The events which followed his violent death--the deposition of Jehoahaz, +the establishment and fall of the Egyptian supremacy, the proclamation +of the Chaldaean suzerainty, the degradation of the king and the misery +of the people brought about by the tribute exacted from them by their +foreign masters,--all these revolutions which had succeeded each other +without break or respite had all but ruined the belief in the efficacy +of the reform due to Hilkiah's discovery, and preached by Jeremiah +and his followers. The people saw in these calamities the vengeance of +Jahveh against the presumptuous faction which had overthrown His various +sanctuaries and had attempted to confine His worship to a single temple; +they therefore restored the banished attractions, and set themselves to +sacrifice to strange gods with greater zest than ever. + +A like crisis occurred and like party divisions had broken out around +Jehoiakim similar to those at the court of Ahaz and Hezekiah a century +earlier. The populace, the soldiery, and most of the court officials, +in short, all who adhered to the old popular form of religion or were +attracted to strange devotions, hoped to rid themselves of the Chaldaeans +by earthly means, and since Necho declared himself an implacable enemy +of their foe, their principal aim was to come to terms with Egypt. +Jeremiah, on the contrary, and those who remained faithful to the +teaching of the prophets, saw in all that was passing around them +cogent reasons for rejecting worldly wisdom and advice, and for yielding +themselves unreservedly to the Divine will in bowing before the Chaldaean +of whom Jahveh made use, as of the Assyrian of old, to chastise the sins +of Judah. The struggle between the two factions constantly disturbed +the public peace, and it needed little to cause the preaching of the +prophets to degenerate into an incitement to revolt. On a feast-day +which occurred in the early months of Jehoiakim's reign, Jeremiah took +up his station on the pavement of the temple and loudly apostrophised +the crowd of worshippers. "Thus saith the Lord: If ye will not hearken +unto Me, to walk in My law, which I have set before you, to hearken to +the words of My servants the prophets, whom I send unto you, even rising +up early and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; then will I make +this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the +nations of the earth." Such a speech, boldly addressed to an audience +the majority of whom were already moved by hostile feelings, brought +their animosity to a climax; the officiating priests, the prophets, and +the pilgrims gathered round Jeremiah, crying, "Thou shalt surely die." +The people thronged into the temple, the princes of Judah went up to +the king's house and to the house of the Lord, and sat in council in the +entry of the new gate. They decreed that Jeremiah, having spoken in +the name of the Lord, did not merit death, and some of their number, +recalling the precedent of Micaiah the Morasthite, who in his time had +predicted the ruin of Jerusalem, added, "Did Hezekiah King of Judah and +all Judah put him at all to death?" Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, one of +those who had helped in restoring the law, took the prophet under his +protection and prevented the crowd from injuring him, but some +others were not able to escape the popular fury. The prophet Uriah of +Kirjath-jearim, who unweariedly prophesied against the city and country +after the manner of Jeremiah, fled to Egypt, but in vain; Jehoiakim +despatched Elnathan, the son of Achbor, "and certain men with him," who +brought him back to Judah, "slew him with the sword, and cast his dead +body into the graves of the common people."* If popular feeling had +reached such a pitch before the battle of Carchemish, to what height +must it have risen when the news of Nebuchadrezzar's victory had given +the death-blow to the hopes of the Egyptian faction! Jeremiah believed +the moment ripe for forcibly arresting the popular imagination while +it was swayed by the panic of anticipated invasion. He dictated to his +disciple Baruch the prophecies he had pronounced since the appearance of +the Scythians under Josiah, and on the day of the solemn fast proclaimed +throughout Judah during the winter of the fifth year of the reign, a few +months after the defeat of the Egyptians, he caused the writing to be +read to the assembled people at the entry of the new gate.** + + * Jer. xxvi., where the scene takes place at the beginning + of Jehoiakim's reign, i.e. under the Egyptian domination. + + ** The date given in Jer. xxxvi. 9 makes the year begin in + spring, since the ninth month occurs in winter; this date + belongs, therefore, to the later recensions of the text. It + is nevertheless probably authentic, representing the exact + equivalent of the original date according to the old + calendar. + +Micaiah, the son of Gremariah, was among those who listened, and noting +that the audience were moved by the denunciations which revived the +memory of their recent misfortunes, he hastened to inform the ministers +sitting in council within the palace of what was passing. They at once +sent for Baruch, and begged him to repeat to them what he had read. +They were so much alarmed at its recital, that they advised him to hide +himself in company with Jeremiah, while they informed the king of the +matter. Jehoiakim was sitting in a chamber with a brazier burning before +him on account of the severe cold: scarcely had they read three or four +pages before him when his anger broke forth; he seized the roll, slashed +it with the scribe's penknife, and threw the fragments into the +fire. Jeremiah recomposed the text from memory, and inserted in it a +malediction against the king. "Thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, +King of Judah: He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and +his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night +to the frost. And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for +their iniquity: and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants +of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have +pronounced against them; but they hearkened not."* + + * Jer. xxxvi. Attempts have been made to reconstruct the + contents of Jeremiah's roll, and most of the authors who + have dealt with this subject think that the roll contained + the greater part of the fragments which, in the book of the + prophet, occupy chaps, i. 4-11, ii., iii. 1-5, 19-25, iv.- + vi., vii., viii., ix. 1-21, x. 17-25, xi., xii. 1-6, xvii. + 19-27, xviii., xix. 1-13, which it must be admitted have not + in every case been preserved in their original form, but + have been abridged or rearranged after the exile. Other + chapters evidently belong to the years previous to the fifth + year of Jehoiakim, as well as part of the prophecies against + the barbarians, but they could not have been included in the + original roll, as the latter would then have been too long + to have been read three times in one day. + +The Egyptian tendencies evinced at court, at first discreetly veiled, +were now accentuated to such a degree that Nebuchadrezzar became +alarmed, and came in person to Jerusalem in the year 601. His presence +frustrated the intrigues of Pharaoh. Jehoiakim was reduced to order for +a time, but three years later he revolted afresh at the instigation of +Necho, and this time the Chaldaean satraps opened hostilities in earnest. +They assembled their troops, which were reinforced by Syrian, Moabite, +and Ammonite contingents, and laid siege to Jerusalem.* + + * 2 Kings xxiv. 1-4. The passage is not easy to be + understood as it stands, and it has been differently + interpreted by historians. Some have supposed that it refers + to events immediately following the battle of Carchemish, + and that Jehoiakim defended Jerusalem against Nebuchadrezzar + in 605. Others think that, after the battle of Carchemish, + Jehoiakim took advantage of Nebuchadrezzar's being obliged + to return at once to Babylon, and would not recognise the + authority of the Chaldaeans; that Nebuchadrezzar returned + later, towards 601, and took Jerusalem, and that it is to + this second war that allusion is made in the Book of Kings. + It is more simple to consider that which occurred about 600 + as a first attempt at rebellion which was punished lightly + by the Chaldaeans. + +Jehoiakim, left to himself, resisted with such determination that +Nebuchadrezzar was obliged to bring up his Chaldaean forces to assist in +the attack. Judah trembled with fear at the mere description which her +prophet Habakkuk gave of this fierce and sturdy people, "which march +through the breadth of the earth to possess dwelling-places which are +not theirs. They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their +dignity proceed from themselves. Their horses also are swifter than +leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves; and their +horsemen spread themselves; yea, their horsemen come from far; they +fly as an eagle that hasteneth to devour. They come all of them for +violence; their faces are set eagerly as the east wind, and they gather +captives as the sand. Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a +derision unto him: he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust +and taketh it. Then shall he sweep by as a wind, and shall pass over the +guilty, even he whose might is his god." Nebuchadrezzar's army must have +presented a spectacle as strange as did that of Necho. It contained, +besides its nucleus of Chaldaen and Babylonian infantry, squadrons of +Scythian and Median cavalry, whose cruelty it was, no doubt, that had +alarmed the prophet, and certainly bands of Greek hoplites, for the +poet Alcasus had had a brother, Antimenidas by name, in the Chaldaean +monarch's service. Jehoiakim died before the enemy appeared beneath the +walls of Jerusalem, and was at once succeeded by his son Jeconiah,* a +youth of eighteen years, who assumed the name of Jehoiachin.** + + * [Jehoiachin is called Coniah in Jer. xxii. 24 and xxiv. 1, + and Jeconiah in 1 Chron. iii. 16.--Tr.] + + ** 2 Kings xxiv. 5-10; cf. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6-9, where the + writer says that Nebuchadrezzar bound Jehoiakim "in + fetters, to carry him to Babylon." + +The new king continued the struggle at first courageously, but the +advent of Nebuchadrezzar so clearly convinced him of the futility of the +defence, that he suddenly decided to lay down his arms. He came forth +from the city with his mother Nehushta, the officers of his house, his +ministers, and his eunuchs, and prostrated himself at the feet of +his suzerain. The Chaldaen monarch was not inclined to proceed to +extremities; he therefore exiled to Babylon Jehoiachin and the whole of +his seditious court who had so ill-advised the young king, the best of +his officers, and the most skilful artisans, in all 3023 persons, +but the priests and the bulk of the people remained at Jerusalem. The +conqueror appointed Mattaniah, the youngest son of Josiah, to be their +ruler, who, on succeeding to the crown, changed his name, after the +example of his predecessors, adopting that of Zedekiah. Jehoiachin had +reigned exactly three months over his besieged city (596).* + +The Egyptians made no attempt to save their ally, but if they felt +themselves not in a condition to defy the Chaldasans on Syrian +territory, the Chaldaeans on their side feared to carry hostilities +into the heart of the Delta. Necho died two years after the disaster at +Jerusalem, without having been called to account by, or having found an +opportunity of further annoying, his rival, and his son Psammetichus II. +succeeded peacefully to the throne.** He was a youth at this time,*** +and his father's ministers conducted the affairs of State on his behalf, +and it was they who directed one of his early campaigns, if not the very +first, against Ethiopia.**** + + * 2 Kings xxiv. 11-17; cf. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. + + ** The length of Necho's reign is fixed at sixteen years by + Herodotus, and at six or at nine years by the various + abbreviators of Manetho. The contemporaneous monuments have + confirmed the testimony of Herodotus on this point as + against that of Manetho, and the stelse of the Florentine + Museum, of the Leyden Museum, and of the Louvre have + furnished certain proof that Necho died in the sixteenth + year, after fifteen and a half years' reign. + + *** His sarcophagus, discovered in 1883, and now preserved + in the Gizeh Museum, is of such small dimensions that it can + have been used only for a youth. + + **** The graffiti of Abu-Simbel have been most frequently + attributed to Psammetichus I., and until recently I had + thought it possible to maintain this opinion. A. von + Gutsehmid was the first to restore them to Psammetichus IL, + and his opinion has gained ground since Wiedemann's vigorous + defence of it. The Alysian mercenary's graffito contains + the Greek translation of the current Egyptian phrase "when + his Majesty came on his first military expedition into this + country," which seems to point to no very early date in a + reign for a first campaign. Moreover, one of the generals in + command of the expedition is a Psammetichus, son of + Theocles, that is, a Greek with an Egyptian name. A + considerable lapse of time must have taken place since + Psammetichus' first dealings with the Greeks, for otherwise + the person named after the king would not have been of + sufficiently mature age to be put at the head of a body of + troops. + +They organised a small army for him composed of Egyptians, Greeks, and +Asiatic mercenaries, which, while the king was taking up his residence +at Elephantine, was borne up the Nile in a fleet of large vessels.* It +probably went as far south as the northern point of the second cataract, +and not having encountered any Ethiopian force,** it retraced its course +and came to anchor at Abu-Simbel. + + * The chief graffito at Abu-Simbel says, in fact, that the + king came to Elephantine, and that only the troops + accompanying the General Psammetichus, the son of Theocles, + went beyond Kerkis. It was probably during his stay at + Elephantine, while awaiting the return of the expedition, + that Psammetichus II. had the inscriptions containing his + cartouches engraved upon the rocks of Bigga, Abaton, Philo, + and Konosso, or among the ruins of Elephantine and of + Phila?. + + ** The Greek inscription says _above Kerlcis_. Wiedemann has + corrected _Kerkis_ into _Kortis_, the Korte of the first + cataract, but the reading Kerkis is too well established for + there to be any reason for change. The simplest explanation + is to acknowledge that the inscription refers to a place + situated a few miles above Abu-Simbel, towards Wady-Halfa. + +The officers in command, after having admired the rock-cut chapel of +Ramses II., left in it a memento of their visit in a fine inscription +cut on the right leg of one of the colossi. This inscription informs us +that "King Psammatikhos having come to Elephantine, the people who were +with Psammatikhos, son of Theocles, wrote this. They ascended above +Kerkis, to where the river ceases; Potasimto commanded the foreigners, +Amasis the Egyptians. At the same time also wrote Arkhon, son of +Amoibikhos, and Peleqos, son of Ulamos." Following the example of their +officers, the soldiers also wrote their names here and there, each in +his own language--Ionians, Rhodians, Carians, Phoenicians, and perhaps +even Jews; e.g. Elesibios of Teos, Pabis of Colophon, Telephos of +Ialysos, Abdsakon son of Petiehve, Gerhekal son of Hallum. The whole of +this part of the country, brought to ruin in the gradual dismemberment +of Greater Egypt, could not have differed much from the Nubia of to-day; +there were the same narrow strips of cultivation along the river banks, +gigantic temples half buried by their own ruins, scattered towns +and villages, and everywhere the yellow sand creeping insensibly down +towards the Nile. The northern part of this province remained in the +hands of the Saite Pharaohs, and the districts situated further south +just beyond Abu-Simbel formed at that period a sort of neutral ground +between their domain and that of the Pharaohs of Napata. While all this +was going on, Syria continued to plot in secret, and the faction which +sought security in a foreign alliance was endeavouring to shake off the +depression caused by the reverses of Jehoiakim and his son; and the tide +of popular feeling setting in the direction of Egypt became so strong, +that even Zedekiah, the creature of Nebuchadrezzar, was unable to stem +it. The prophets who were inimical to religious reform, persisted in +their belief that the humiliation of the country was merely temporary. + +[Illustration: 417.jpg THE FACADE OF THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ABU-SIMBEL] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Daniel Heron. + +Those of them who still remained in Jerusalem repeated at every turn, +"Ye shall not serve the King of Babylon... the vessels of the Lord's +house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon." Jeremiah +endeavoured to counteract the effect of their words, but in vain; the +people, instead of listening to the prophet, waxed wroth with him, +and gave themselves more and more recklessly up to their former sins. +Incense was burnt every morning on the roofs of the houses and at the +corners of the streets in honour of Baal, lamentations for Tammuz again +rent the air at the season of his festival; the temple was invaded +by uncircumcised priests and their idols, and the king permitted the +priests of Moloch to raise their pyres in the valley of Hinnom. The +exiled Jews, surrounded on all sides by heathen peoples, presented a no +less grievous spectacle than their brethren at Jerusalem; some openly +renounced the God of their fathers, others worshipped their chosen idols +in secret, while those who did not actually become traitors to their +faith, would only listen to such prophets as promised them a speedy +revenge--Ahab, Zedekiah, son of Maaseiah, and Shemaiah. There was one +man, however, who appeared in their midst, a priest, brought up from his +youth in the temple and imbued with the ideas of reform--Ezekiel, son of +Buzi, whose words might have brought them to a more just appreciation of +their position, had they not drowned his voice by their clamour; alarmed +at their threats, he refrained from speech in public, but gathered round +him a few faithful adherents at his house in Tel-AMb, where the spirit +of the Lord first came upon him in their presence about the year 592.* + + * Ezelc. i. 1, 2. We see him receiving the elders in his + house in chaps, viii. 1, xiv. 1, xx. 1, et. seq. + +This little band of exiles was in constant communication with the +mother-country, and the echo of the religious quarrels and of the +controversies provoked between the various factions by the events of +the political world, was promptly borne to them by merchants, travelling +scribes, or the king's legates who were sent regularly to Babylon with +the tribute.* They learnt, about the year 590, that grave events were at +hand, and that the moment had come when Judah, recovering at length from +her trials, should once more occupy, in the sight of the sun, that place +for which Jahveh had destined her. The kings of Moab, Ammon, Edom, +Tyre, and Sidon had sent envoys to Jerusalem, and there, probably at the +dictation of Egypt, they had agreed on what measures to take to stir +up a general insurrection against Chaldaea.** The report of their +resolutions had revived the courage of the national party, and of its +prophets; Hananiah, son of Azzur, had gone through the city announcing +the good news to all.*** + + * Jer. xxix. 3 gives the names of two of these transmitters + of the tribute--Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the + son of Hilkiah, to whom Jeremiah had entrusted a message for + those of the captivity. + + ** Jer. xxvii. 1-3. The statement at the beginning of this + chapter: _In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim_, + contains a copyist's error; the reading should be: _In the + beginning of the reign of Zedekiah_ (see ver. 12). + + *** Jer. xxvii., xxviii. + +"Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have +broken the yoke of the King of Babylon. Within two full years will I +bring again into this place all the vessels of the Lord's house .. . and +Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, King of Judah, with all the captives of +Judah that went to Babylon!" But Jeremiah had made wooden yokes and +had sent them to the confederate princes, threatening them with divine +punishment if they did not bow their necks to Nebuchadrezzar; the +prophet himself bore one on his own neck, and showed himself in the +streets on all occasions thus accoutred, as a living emblem of the +slavery in which Jahveh permitted His people to remain for their +spiritual good. Hananiah, meeting the prophet by chance, wrested the +yoke from him and broke it, exclaiming, "Thus saith the Lord: Even so +will I break the yoke of Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, within two +full years from off the neck of all the nations." The mirth of the +bystanders was roused, but on the morrow Jeremiah appeared with a yoke +of iron, which Jahveh had put "upon the neck of all the nations, that +they may serve Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon." Moreover, to destroy in +the minds of the exiled Jews any hope of speedy deliverance, he wrote +to them: "Let not your prophets that be in the midst of you, and your +diviners, deceive you, neither hearken ye to your dreams which ye cause +to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in My name: I have +not sent them, saith the Lord." The prophet exhorted them to resign +themselves to their fate, at all events for the time, that the unity +of their nation might be preserved until the time when it might indeed +please Jahveh to restore it: "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 captive, and pray unto the Lord for it: +for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." Psammetichus II. died +in 589,* and his reign, though short, was distinguished by the activity +shown in rebuilding and embellishing the temples. + + * Herodotus reckoned the length of the reign of Psammetichus + II. at six years, in which he agrees with the Syncellus, + while the abbreviators of Manetho fix it at seventeen years. + The results given by the reading of a stele of the Louvre + enable us to settle that the figure 6 is to be preferred to + the other, and to reckon the length of the reign at five + years and a half. + +His name is met with everywhere on the banks of the Nile--at Karnak, +where he completed the decoration of the great columns of Taharqa, at +Abydos, at Heliopolis, and on the monuments that have come from that +town, such as the obelisk set up in the Campus Martius at Borne. The +personal influence of the young sovereign did not count for much in the +zeal thus displayed; but the impulse that had been growing during three +or four generations, since the time of the expulsion of the Assyrians, +now began to have its full effect. Egypt, well armed, well governed +by able ministers, and more and more closely bound to Greece by both +mercantile and friendly ties, had risen to a very high position in the +estimation of its contemporaries; the inhabitants of Elis had deferred +to her decision in the question whether they should take part in the +Olympic games in which they were the judges, and following the advice +she had given on the matter, they had excluded their own citizens from +the sports so as to avoid the least suspicion of partiality in the +distribution of the prizes.* The new king, probably the brother of +the late Pharaoh, had his prenomen of Uahibn from his grandfather +Psammetichus I., and it was this sovereign that the Greeks called +indifferently Uaphres and Apries.** + + * Diodorus Siculus has transferred the anecdote to Amasis, + and the decision given is elsewhere attributed to one of the + seven sages. The story is a popular romance, of which + Herodotus gives the version current among the Greeks in + Egypt. + + ** According to Herodotus, Apries was the son of Psammis. + The size of the sarcophagus of Psammetichus II., suitable + only for a youth, makes this filiation improbable. + Psammetichus, who came to the throne when he was hardly more + than a child, could have left behind him only children of + tender age, and Apries appears from the outset as a prince + of full mental and physical development. + +[Illustration: 422.jpg APRIES, FROM A SPHINX IN THE LOUVRE] + + Drawn by Boudier, from the bronze statuette in the Louvre + Museum. + +He was young, ambitious, greedy of fame and military glory, and longed +to use the weapon that his predecessors had for some fifteen years past +been carefully whetting; his emissaries, arriving at Jerusalem at +the moment when the popular excitement was at its height, had little +difficulty in overcoming Zede-kiah's scruples. Edoni, Moab, and the +Philistines, who had all taken their share in the conferences of the +rebel party, hesitated at the last moment, and refused to sever their +relations with Babylon. Tyre and the Ammonites alone persisted in their +determination, and allied themselves with Egypt on the same terms as +Judah. + +[Illustration: 423.jpg STELE OF NEBUCHADREZZAR] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Pognon. The figures + have been carefully defaced with the hammer, but the outline + of the king can still be discerned on the left; he seizes + the rampant lion by the right paw, and while it raises its + left paw against him, he plunges his dagger into the body of + the beast. + +Nebuchadrezzar, thus defied by three enemies, was at a loss to decide +upon which to make his first attack. Ezekiel, whose place of exile put +him in a favourable position for learning what was passing, shows him to +us as he "stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, +to use divination: he shook the arrows to and fro, he consulted the +teraphim, he looked in the liver." Judah formed as it were the bridge +by which the Egyptians could safely enter Syria, and if Nebuchadrezzar +could succeed in occupying it before their arrival, he could at once +break up the coalition into three separate parts incapable of rejoining +one another--Ammon in the desert to the east, Tyre and Sidon on the +seaboard, and Pharaoh beyond his isthmus to the south-west. He therefore +established himself in a central position at Eiblah on the Orontes, from +whence he could observe the progress of the operations, and hasten +with his reserve force to a threatened point in the case of unforeseen +difficulties; having done this, he despatched the two divisions of +his army against his two principal adversaries. One of these divisions +crossed the Lebanon, seized its fortresses, and, leaving a record of its +victories on the rocks of the Wady Brissa, made its way southwards along +the coast to blockade Tyre.* + + * The account of this Phoenician campaign is contained in + one of the inscriptions discovered and commented on by + Pognon. Winckler, the only one to my knowledge who has tried + to give a precise chronological position to the events + recorded in the inscription, places them at the very + beginning of the reign, after the victory of Carchemish, + about the time when Nebuchadrezzar heard that his father had + just died. I think that this date is not justified by the + study of the inscription, for the king speaks therein of the + great works that he had accomplished, the restoration of the + temples, the rebuilding of the walls of Babylon, and the + digging of canals, all of which take us to the middle or the + end of his reign. We are therefore left to choose between + one of two dates, namely, that of 590-587, during the Jewish + war, and that from the King's thirty-seventh year to 568 + B.C., during the war against Amasis which will be treated + below. I have chosen the first, because of Nebuchadrezzar's + long sojourn at Riblah, which gave him sufficient time for + the engraving of the stelse on Lebanon: the bas-reliefs of + Wady. Brissa could have been cut before the taking of + Jerusalem, for no allusion to the war against the Jews is + found in them. The enemy mentioned in the opening lines is + perhaps Apries, whose fleet was scouring the Phoenician + coasts. + +The other force bore down upon Zedekiah, and made war upon him +ruthlessly. It burnt the villages and unwalled towns, gave the rural +districts over as a prey to the Philistines and the Edomites, surrounded +the two fortresses of Lachish and Azekah, and only after completely +exhausting the provinces, appeared before the walls of the capital. +Jerusalem was closely beset when the news reached the Chaldaeans that +Apries was approaching Gaza; Zedekiah, in his distress, appealed to him +for help, and the promised succour at length came upon the scene. The +Chaldaeans at once raised the siege with the object of arresting the +advancing enemy, and the popular party, reckoning already on a Chaldean +defeat, gave way to insolent rejoicing over the prophets of evil. +Jeremiah, however, had no hope of final success. "Deceive not +yourselves, saying, The Chaldaeans 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 burn this +city with fire." What actually took place is not known; according to one +account, Apries accepted battle and was defeated; according to another, +he refused to be drawn into an engagement, and returned haughtily to +Egypt.* + + * That, at least, is what Jeremiah seems to say (xxxvii. 7): + "Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, + shall return to Egypt into their own land." There is no hint + here of defeat or even of a battle. + +His fleet probably made some effective raiding on the Phoenician coast. +It is easy to believe that the sight of the Chaldoan camp inspired him +with prudence, and that he thought twice before compromising the effects +of his naval campaign and risking the loss of his fine army--the only +one which Egypt possessed--in a conflict in which his own safety was +not directly concerned. Nebuchadrezzar, on his side, was not anxious to +pursue so strongly equipped an adversary too hotly, and deeming himself +fortunate in having escaped the ordeal of a trial of strength with him, +he returned to his position before the walls of Jerusalem. + +The city receiving no further succour, its fall was merely a question of +time, and resistance served merely to irritate the besiegers. The Jews +nevertheless continued to defend it with the heroic obstinacy and, at +the same time, with the frenzied discord of which they have so often +shown themselves capable. During the respite which the diversion caused +by Apries afforded them, Jeremiah had attempted to flee from Jerusalem +and seek refuge in Benjamin, to which tribe he belonged. Arrested at the +city gate on the pretext of treason, he was unmercifully beaten, thrown +into prison, and the king, who had begun to believe in him, did not +venture to deliver him. He was confined in the court of the palace, +which served as a gaol, and allowed a ration of a loaf of bread for his +daily food.1 The courtyard was a public place, to which all comers had +access who desired to speak to the prisoners, and even here the prophet +did not cease to preach and exhort the people to repentance: "He that +abideth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the +pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldaeans shall live, and +his life shall be unto him for a prey, and he shall live. Thus saith the +Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the +King of Babylon, and he shall take it." + +[Illustration: 427.jpg PRISONERS UNDER TORTURE HAVING THEIR TONGUES TORN +OUT] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph of the original in the + British Museum. + +The princes and officers of the king, however, complained to Zedekiah +of him: "Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as he +weakeneth the hands of the men of war, and the hands of all the people +in speaking such words." Given up to his accusers and plunged in a +muddy cistern, he escaped by the connivance of a eunuch of the royal +household, only to renew his denunciations with greater force than ever. + +[Illustration: 428.jpg A KING PUTTING OUT THE EYES OF A PRISONER] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from several engravings in Botta. + The mutilated remains of several bas-reliefs have been + combined so as to form a tolerably correct scene; the + prisoners have a ring passed through their lips, and the + king holds them by a cord attached to it. + +The king sent for him secretly and asked his advice, but could draw +from him nothing but threats: "If thou wilt go forth unto the King of +Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be +burned with fire, and thou shalt live and thine house: but if thou wilt +not go forth to the King of Babylon's princes, then shall this city +be given into the hand of the Chal-dseans, and they shall burn it with +fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand." Zedekiah would have +asked no better than to follow his advice, but he had gone too far to +draw back now. To the miseries of war and sickness the horrors of famine +were added, but the determination of the besieged was unshaken; bread +was failing, and yet they would not hear of surrender. At length, after +a year and a half of sufferings heroically borne, in the eleventh year +of Zedekiah, the eleventh month, and the fourth day of the month, a +portion of the city wall fell before the attacks of the battering-rams, +and the Chaldaean army entered by the breach. Zedekiah assembled his +remaining soldiers, and took counsel as to the possibility of cutting +his way through the enemy to beyond the Jordan; escaping by night +through the gateway opposite the Pool of Siloam, he was taken prisoner +near Jericho, and carried off to Eiblah, where Nebuchadrezzar was +awaiting with impatience the result of the operations. The Chaldaeans +were accustomed to torture their prisoners in the fashion we frequently +see represented on the monuments of Nineveh, and whenever an unexpected +stroke of good fortune brings to light any decorative bas-relief from +their palaces, we shall see represented on it the impaling stake, +rebels being flayed alive, and chiefs having their tongues torn out. +Nebuchadrezzar, whose patience was exhausted, caused the sons of +Zedekiah to be slain in the presence of their father, together with all +the prisoners of noble birth, and then, having put out his eyes, sent +the king of Babylon loaded with chains. As for the city which had so +long defied his wrath, he gave it over to Nebuzaradan, one of the +great officers of the crown, with orders to demolish it and give it up +systematically to the flames. The temple was despoiled of its precious +wall-coverings, the pillars and brazen ornaments of the time of Solomon +which still remained were broken up, and the pieces carried off to +Chaldoa in sacks, the masonry was overthrown and the blocks of stone +rolled down the hill into the ravine of the Kedron. The survivors among +the garrison, the priests, scribes, and members of the upper classes, +were sent off into exile, but the mortality during the siege had been +so great that the convoy barely numbered eight hundred and thirty-two +persons. + +[Illustration: 430b.jpg A PEOPLE CARRIED AWAY INTO CAPTIVITY] + +Some of the poorer population were allowed to remain in the environs, +and the fields and vineyards of the exiles were divided among them.1 +Having accomplished the work of destruction, the Chal-dseans retired, +leaving the government in the hands of Gedaliah, son of Ahikam,* a +friend of Jeremiah. Gedaliah established himself at Mizpah, where +he endeavoured to gather around him the remnant of the nation, and +fugitives poured in from Moab, Ammon, and Edom. + + *Chron. xxxvi. 17-20. The following is the table of the + kings of Judah from the death of Solomon to the destruction + of Jerusalem:-- + +[Illustration: 430.jpg TABLE OF THE KINGS OF JUDAH] + +It seemed that a Jewish principality was about to rise again from the +ruins of the kingdom. Jeremiah was its accredited counsellor, but his +influence could not establish harmony among these turbulent spirits, +still smarting from their recent misfortunes.* The captains of the bands +which had been roaming over the country after the fall of Jerusalem +refused, moreover, to act in concert with Gedaliah, and one of them, +Ishmael by name, who was of the royal blood, assassinated him, but, +being attacked in Gibeon by Johanan, the son of Kareah, was forced to +escape almost alone and take refuge with the Ammonites.** These acts +of violence aroused the vigilance of the Chaldasans; Johanan feared +reprisals, and retired into Egypt, taking with him Jeremiah, Baruch, +and the bulk of the people.*** Apries gave the refugees a welcome, and +assigned them certain villages near to his military colony at Daphnae, +whence they soon spread into the neighbouring nomes as far as Migdol, +Memphis, and even as far as the Thebaid.**** + + * For the manner in which Jeremiah was separated from the + rest of the captives, set at liberty and sent back to + Gedaliah, see Jer. xxxix. 11-18, xl. 1-6. + + ** 2 Kings xxv. 23-25, and Jer. xl. 7-16, xli. 1-15, where + these events are recorded at length. + + *** 2 Kings xxv. 26; Jer. xli. 16-18, xlii., xliii. 1-7. + + **** Jer. xliv. 1, where the word of the Lord is spoken to + "all the Jews... which dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes + (Daphno), and at Moph (corr. Moph, Memphis), and in the + country of Pathros." + +Even after all these catastrophes Judah's woes were not yet at an end. +In 581, the few remaining Jews in Palestine allied themselves with the +Moabites and made a last wild effort for independence; a final defeat, +followed by a final exile, brought them to irretrievable ruin.* The +earlier captives had entertained no hope of advantage from these +despairing efforts, and Ezekiel from afar condemned them without pity: +"They that inherit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, +saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; +the land is given us for inheritance.... Ye lift up your eyes unto your +idols and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon your +sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's +wife: and shall ye possess the land?... Thus saith the Lord God: As I +live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, +and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be +devoured, and they that be in the strongholds and in the caves shall die +of the pestilence."** + + * Josephus, following Berosus, speaks of a war against the + Moabites and the Ammonites, followed by the conquest of + Egypt in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar. To this + must be added a Jewish revolt if we are to connect with + these events the mention of the third captivity, carried out + in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadrezzar by Nebuzaradan. + + ** Ezek. xxxiii. 23-27. + +The first act of the revolution foreseen by the prophets was over; the +day of the Lord, so persistently announced by them, had at length come, +and it had seen not only the sack of Jerusalem, but the destruction of +the earthly kingdom of Judah. Many of the survivors, refusing still to +acknowledge the justice of the chastisement, persisted in throwing the +blame of the disaster on the reformers of the old worship, and saw no +hope of salvation except in their idolatrous practices. "As for the +word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we will not +hearken unto thee. But we will certainly perform every word that is gone +forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to +pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we and our fathers, +our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of +Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well and saw no +evil. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven and +to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and +have been consumed by the sword and by the famine." + +There still remained to these misguided Jews one consolation which +they shared in common with the prophets--the certainty of seeing the +hereditary foes of Israel involved in the common overthrow: Ammon had +been already severely chastised; Tyre, cut off from the neighbouring +mainland, seemed on the point of succumbing, and the turn of Egypt +must surely soon arrive in which she would have to expiate in bitter +sufferings the wrongs her evil counsels had brought upon Jerusalem. +Their anticipated joy, however, of witnessing such chastisements was not +realised. Tyre defied for thirteen years the blockade of Nebuchadrezzar, +and when the city at length decided to capitulate, it was on condition +that its king, Ethbaal III., should continue to reign under the almost +nominal suzerainty of the Chaldeans (574 B.C.).* + + * The majority of Christian writers have imagined, contrary + to the testimony of the Phoenician annals, that the island + of Tyre was taken by Nebuchadrezzar; they say that the + Chaldaeans united the island to the mainland by a causeway + similar to that constructed subsequently by Alexander. It is + worthy of notice that a local tradition, still existing in + the eleventh century of our era, asserted that the besiegers + were not successful in their enterprise. + +Egypt continued not only to preserve her independence, but seemed to +increase in prosperity in proportion to the intensity of the hatred +which she had stirred up against her. + +[Illustration: 436.jpg BRONZE LION OF BOHBAIT] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from an engraving in Mariette. + +Apries set about repairing the monuments and embellishing the temples: +he erected throughout the country stelae, tables of offerings, statues +and obelisks, some of which, though of small size, like that which +adorns the Piazza della Minerva at Borne,* erected so incongruously on +the back of a modern elephant, are unequalled for purity of form and +delicacy of cutting. The high pitch of artistic excellence to which the +schools of the reign of Psam-metichus II. had attained was maintained +at the same exalted level. If the granite sphinxes** and bronze lions of +this period lack somewhat in grace of form, it must be acknowledged that +they display greater refinement and elegance in the technique of carving +or moulding than had yet been attained. + + * [One of the two obelisks of the Campus Martius, on which + site the Church of S. Maria Sopra Minerva was built.--Tr.] + + ** Above the summary of the contents of the present chapter, + will be found one of these sphinxes which was discovered in + Rome. + +[Illustration: 437.jpg THE SMALL OBELISK IN THE PIAZZA DELLA MINERVA AT +HOME] + + Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph. + +While engaged in these works at home, Apries was not unobservant of +the revolutions occurring in Asia, upon which he maintained a constant +watch, and in the years which followed the capitulation of Tyre, he found +the opportunity, so long looked for, of entering once more upon the +scene. The Phoenician navy had suffered much during the lengthy blockade +of their country, and had become inferior to the Egyptian, now well +organised by Thelonians: Apries therefore took the offensive by sea, and +made a direct descent on the Phoenician coasts. Nebuchadrezzar opposed +him with the forces of the recently subjugated Tyrians, and the latter, +having cooled in their attachment to Egypt owing to the special favour +shown by the Pharaoh to their rivals the Hellenes, summoned their +Cypriote vassals to assist them in repelling the attack. The Egyptians +dispersed the combined fleets, and taking possession of Sidon, gave +it up to pillage. The other maritime cities surrendered of their own +accord,* including Gebal, which received an Egyptian garrison, and +where the officers of Pharaoh founded a temple to the goddess whom they +identified with the Egyptian Hathor. + + * The war of Apries against the Phoenicians cannot have + taken place before the capitulation of Tyre in 574 B.C., + because the Tyrians took part in it by order of + Nebuchadrezzar, and on the other hand it cannot be put later + than 569 B.C., the date of the revolt of Amasis; it must + therefore be assigned to about 571 B.C. + +The object at which Necho and Psammetichus II. had aimed for fifteen +years was thus attained by Apries at one fortunate blow, and he could +legitimately entitle himself "more fortunate than all the kings his +predecessors," and imagine, in his pride, that "the gods themselves +were unable to injure him." The gods, however, did not allow him long +to enjoy the fruits of his victory. Greeks had often visited Libya since +the time when Egypt had been thrown open to the trade of the iEgean. +Their sailors had discovered that the most convenient course thither +was to sail straight to Crete, and then to traverse the sea between this +island and the headlands of the Libyan plateau; here they fell in with a +strong current setting towards the east, which carried them quickly and +easily as far as Eakotis and Canopus, along the Marmarican shore. In +these voyages they learned to appreciate the value of the country; and +about 631 B.C. some Dorians of Thera, who had set out to seek for a new +home at the bidding of the Delphic oracle, landed in the small desert +island of Platsea, where they built a strongly fortified settlement. +Their leader, Battos,* soon crossed over to the mainland, where, having +reached the high plateau, he built the city of Cyrene on the borders of +an extremely fertile region, watered by abundant springs. The tribes of +the Labu, who had fought so valiantly against the Pharaohs of old, still +formed a kind of loose confederation, and their territory stretched +across the deserts from the Egyptian frontier to the shores of the +Syrtes. The chief of this confederation assumed the title of king, as in +the days of Minephtah or of Ramses III.** + + * Herodotus seems to have been ignorant of the real name of + the founder of Cyrene, which has been preserved for us by + Pindar, by Callimachus, by the spurious Heraclides of + Pontus, and by the chronologists of the Christian epoch. + Herodotus says that _Battos_ signifies _king_ in the + language of Libya. + + ** The description given by Herodotus of these Libyan tribes + agrees with the slight amount of information furnished by + the Egyptian monuments for the thirteenth century B.C. + +The most civilised of these tribes were those which now dwelt nearest +to the coast: first the Adyrmakhides, who were settled beyond Marea, and +had been semi-Egyptianised by constant intercourse with the inhabitants +of the Delta; then the Giligammes, who dwelt between the port of Plynus +and the island of Aphrodisias; and beyond these, again, the Asbystes, +famed for their skill in chariot-driving, the Cabales, and the +Auschises. The oases of the hinterland were in the hands of the +Nasamones and of the Mashauasha, whom the Greeks called Maxyes. + +One of the revolutions so frequent among the desert tribes had compelled +the latter to remove from their home near the Nile valley, to a district +far to the west, on the banks of the river Triton. + +[Illustration: 440.jpg THE OASIS OF AMOK AND THE SPRING OF THE SUN] + + Drawn by Boudier, from Minutoli. + +There they had settled down in a permanent fashion, dwelling in houses +of stone, and giving themselves up to the cultivation of the soil. They +continued, however, to preserve in their new life some of their ancient +customs, such as that of painting their bodies with vermilion, and of +shaving off the hair from their heads, with the exception of one lock +which hung over the right ear. The Theban Pharaohs had formerly placed +garrisons in the most important oases, and had consecrated temples there +to their god Amon. + +[Illustration: 440b.jpg PORTION OF THE RUINS OF CYRENE] + +One of these sanctuaries, built close to an intermittent spring, which +gave forth alternately hot and cold water, had risen to great eminence, +and the oracle of these Ammonians was a centre of pilgrimage from far +and near. The first Libyans who came into contact with the Greeks, the +Asbystes and the Giligammes, received the new-comers kindly, giving +them their daughters in marriage; from the fusion of the two races +thus brought about sprang, first under Battos and then under his son +Arkesilas I., an industrious and valiant race. + +[Illustration: 443.jpg MAP OF LYBIA IN THE VITH CENTURY B.C.] + +The main part of their revenues was derived from commerce in silphium +and woollen goods, and even the kings themselves did not deem it beneath +their dignity to preside in person at the weighing of the crop, and the +storing of the trusses in their magazines. The rapid increase in the +wealth of the city having shortly brought about a breach in the friendly +relations hitherto maintained between it and its neighbours, Battos +the Fortunate, the son of Arkesilas I., sent for colonists from +Greece: numbers answered to his call, on the faith of a second oracular +prediction, and in order to provide them with the necessary land, Battos +did not hesitate to dispossess his native allies. The latter appealed to +Adikran, king of the confederacy, and this prince, persuaded that this +irregular militia would not be able to withstand the charge of the +hoplites, thereupon applied in his turn to Apries for assistance. + +[Illustration: 443b.jpg the Silphium ] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from the cast of a coin of Cyrene. + +There was much tempting spoil to be had in Cyrene, and Apries was fully +aware of the fact, from the accounts of the Libyans and the Greeks. His +covetousness must have been aroused at the prospect of such rich booty, +and perhaps he would have thought of appropriating it sooner, had he not +been deterred from the attempt by his knowledge of the superiority of +the Greek fleets, and of the dangers attendant on a long and painful +march over an almost desert country through disaffected tribes. + +[Illustration: 444.jpg WEIGHING SILPHIUM IN PRESENCE OF KING ARKESILAS] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph of the original in + the Coin Room in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris. The + king here represented is Arkesilas II. the Bad. + +Now that he could rely on the support of the Libyans, he hesitated no +longer to run these risks. Deeming it imprudent, with good reason, +to employ his mercenary troops against their own compatriots, Apries +mobilised for his encounter with Battos an army exclusively recruited +from among his native reserves. The troops set out full of confidence +in themselves and of disdain for the enemy, delighted moreover at an +opportunity for at length convincing their kings of their error in +preferring barbarian to native forces. But the engagement brought to +nought all their boastings. The Egyptians were defeated in the first +encounter near Irasa, hard by the fountain of Theste, near the spot +where the high plateaus of Cyrene proper terminate in the low cliffs +of Marmarica: and the troops suffered so severely during the subsequent +retreat that only a small remnant of the army regained in safety the +frontier of the Delta.* + + * The interpretation I have given to the sentiments of the + Egyptian army follows clearly enough from the observation of + Herodotus, that "the Egyptians, having never experienced + themselves the power of the Greeks, had felt for them + nothing but contempt." The site of Irasa and the fountain of + Theste has been fixed with much probability in the fertile + district watered still by the fountain of Ersen, Erazem, or + Erasan. + +This unexpected reverse was the occasion of the outbreak of a revolution +which had been in preparation for years. The emigration to Ethiopia +of some contingents of the military class had temporarily weakened +the factions hostile to foreign influence; these factions had felt +themselves powerless under the rule of Psammetichus I., and had bowed to +his will, prepared all the while to reassert themselves when they felt +strong enough to do so successfully. The reorganisation of the native +army furnished them at once with the means of insurrection, of which +they had temporarily been deprived. Although Pharaoh had lavished +privileges on the Hermotybies and Calasiries, she had not removed the +causes for discontent which had little by little alienated the good will +of the Mashauasha: to do so would have rendered necessary the disbanding +of the Ionian guard, the object of their jealousy, and to take this step +neither he nor his successors could submit themselves. The hatred +of these mercenaries, and the irritation against the sovereigns who +employed them, grew fiercer from reign to reign, and now wanted nothing +but a pretext to break forth openly: such a pretext was furnished by the +defeat at Irasa. When the fugitives arrived at the entrenched camp of +Marea, exasperated by their defeat, and alleging doubtless that it was +due to treachery, they found others who affected to share their belief +that Pharaoh had despatched his Egyptian troops against Cyrene with +the view of consigning to certain death those whose loyalty to him was +suspected, and it was not difficult to stir up the disaffected soldiers +to open revolt. It was not the first time that a military tumult had +threatened the sovereignty of Apries. Some time previous to this, in +an opposite quarter of the Nile valley, the troops stationed at +Elephantine, composed partly of Egyptians, partly of Asiatic and Greek +mercenaries--possibly the same who had fought in the Ethiopian campaign +under Psammetichus II.--had risen in rebellion owing to some neglect +in the payment of their wages: having devastated the Thebaid, they had +marched straight across the desert to the port of Shashirit, in the hope +of there seizing ships to enable them to reach the havens of Idumaea +or Nabatoa. The governor of Elephantine, Nsihor, had at first held them +back with specious promises; but on learning that Apries was approaching +with reinforcements, he attacked them boldly, and driving them before +him, hemmed them in between his own force and that of the king and +massacred them all. Apries thought that the revolt at Marea would have a +similar issue, and that he might succeed in baffling the rebels by +fair words; he sent to them as his representative Amasis, one of his +generals, distantly connected probably with the royal house. What took +place in the camp is not clearly known, for the actual events have been +transformed in the course of popular transmission into romantic legends. +The story soon took shape that Amasis was born of humble parentage in +the village of Siuph, not far from Sais; he was fond, it was narrated, +of wine, the pleasures of the table, and women, and replenished +his empty purse by stealing what he could lay his hands on from his +neighbours or comrades--a gay boon-companion all the while, with an +easy disposition and sarcastic tongue. According to some accounts, he +conciliated the favour of Apries by his invariable affability and good +humour; according to others, he won the king's confidence by presenting +him with a crown of flowers on his birthday.* + + * The king to whom Amasis made this offering is called + Patarmis, and the similarity of this name with the + Patarbemis of Herodotus seems to indicate a variant of the + legend, in which Patarmis or Patarbemis took the place of + Apries. + +The story goes on to say that while he was haranguing the rebels, one +of them, slipping behind him, suddenly placed on his head the rounded +helmet of the Pharaohs: the bystanders immediately proclaimed him king, +and after a slight show of resistance he accepted the dignity. As +soon as the rumour of these events had reached Sais, Apries despatched +Patarbemis, one of his chief officers, with orders to bring back the +rebel chief alive. The latter was seated on his horse, on the point of +breaking up his camp and marching against his former patron, when the +envoy arrived. On learning the nature of his mission, Amasis charged +him to carry back a reply to the effect that he had already been making +preparation to submit, and besought the sovereign to grant him patiently +a few days longer, so that he might bring with him the Egyptian subjects +of Pharaoh. Tradition adds that, on receiving this insolent defiance, +Apries fell into a violent passion, and without listening to +remonstrance, ordered the nose and ears of Patarbemis to be cut off, +whereupon the indignant people, it is alleged, deserted his cause and +ranged themselves on the side of Amasis. The mercenaries, however, +did not betray the confidence reposed in them by their Egyptian lords. +Although only thirty thousand against a whole people, they unflinchingly +awaited the attack at Momemphis (569 B.C.); but, being overwhelmed by +the numbers of their assailants, disbanded and fled, after a conflict +lasting one day. Apries, taken prisoner in the rout, was at first well +treated by the conqueror, and seems even to have retained for a time +the external pomp of royalty; but the populace of Sais demanding his +execution with vehemence, Amasis was at length constrained to deliver +him up to their vengeance, and Apries was strangled by the mob. He was +honourably interred between the royal palace and the temple of Nit, not +far from the spot where his predecessors reposed in their glory,* and +the usurper made himself sole master of the country. It was equivalent +to a change of dynasty, and Amasis had recourse to the methods usual in +such cases to consolidate his power. He entered into a marriage alliance +with princesses of the Saite line, and thus legitimatised his usurpation +as far as the north was concerned.** + + * It was probably from this necropolis that the coffin of + Psammetichus II. came. + + ** The wife of Amasis, who was mother of Psammetichus III., + the queen Tintkhiti, daughter of Petenit, prophet of Phtah, + was probably connected with the royal family of Sais. + +In the south, the "divine worshippers" had continued to administer the +extensive heritage of Amon, and Nitocris, heiress of Shapenuapit, had +adopted in her old age a daughter of her great-nephew, Psammetichus IL, +named Ankhnasnofiribri: this princess was at this time in possession of +Thebes, and Amasis appears to have entered into a fictitious marriage +with her in order to assume to himself her rights to the crown. He had +hardly succeeded in establishing his authority on a firm basis when he +was called upon to repel the Chaldaean invasion. The Hebrew prophets had +been threatening Egypt with this invasion for a long time, and Ezekiel, +discounting the future, had already described the entrance of Pharaoh +into Hades, to dwell among the chiefs of the nations--Assur, Elam, +Meshech, Tubal, Edom, and Philistia--who, having incurred the vengeance +of Jahveh, had descended into the grave one after the other: "Pharaoh +and all his army shall be slain by the sword, saith the Lord God! For I +have put this terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in +the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are slain by the sword, +even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord God!" Nebuchadrezzar +had some hesitation in hazarding his fortune in a campaign on the banks +of the Nile: he realised tolerably clearly that Babylon was not in +command of such resources as had been at the disposal of Nineveh under +Esarhaddon or Assur-bani-pal, and that Egypt in the hands of a Saite +dynasty was a more formidable foe than when ruled by the Ethiopians. The +report of the revolution of which Apries had become a victim at length +determined him to act; the annihilation of the Hellenic troops, and the +dismay which the defeat at Irasa had occasioned in the hearts of +the Egyptians, seemed to offer an opportunity too favourable to be +neglected. The campaign was opened by Nebuchadrezzar about 568, in the +thirty-seventh year of his reign,* but we have no certain information as +to the issue of his enterprise. + + * A fragment of his Annals, discovered by Pinches, mentions + in the thirty-seventh year of his reign a campaign against + [Ah]masu, King of Egypt; and Wiedemann, from the evidence of + this document combined with the information derived from one + of the monuments in the Louvre, thought that the fact of a + conquest of Egypt as far as Syeno might be admitted; at that + point the Egyptian general Nsihor would have defeated the + Chaldaeans and repelled the invasion, and this event would + have taken place during the joint reign of Apries and + Amasis. A more attentive examination of the Egyptian + monument shows that it refers not to a Chaldaean war, but to + a rebellion of the garrisons in the south of Egypt, + including the Greek and Semitic auxiliaries. + +According to Chaldaean tradition, Nebuchadrezzar actually invaded the +valley of the Nile and converted Egypt into a Babylonian province, +with Amasis as its satrap.* We may well believe that Amasis lost the +conquests won by his predecessor in Phoenicia, if, indeed, they still +belonged to Egypt at his accession: but there is nothing to indicate +that the Chaldaeans ever entered Egypt itself and repeated the Assyrian +exploit of a century before. + + * These events would have taken place in the twenty-third + year of Nebuchadrezzar; the reigning king (Apries) being + killed and his place taken by one of his generals (Amasis), + who remained a satrap of the Babylonian empire. + +This was Nebuchadrezzar's last war, the last at least of which history +makes any mention. As a fact, the kings of the second Babylonian empire +do not seem to have been the impetuous conquerors which we have fancied +them to be. We see them as they are depicted to us in the visions of the +Hebrew prophets, who, regarding them and their nation as a scourge in +the hands of God, had no colours vivid enough or images sufficiently +terrible to portray them. They had blotted out Nineveh from the list of +cities, humiliated Pharaoh, and subjugated Syria, and they had done +all this almost at their first appearance in the field--such a feat as +Assyria and Egypt in the plenitude of their strength had been unable to +accomplish: they had, moreover, destroyed Jerusalem and carried Judah +into captivity. There is nothing astonishing in the fact that this +Nebuchadrezzar, whose history is known to us almost entirely from Jewish +sources, should appear as a fated force let loose upon the world. "O +thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up +thyself into the scabbard; rest and be still! How canst thou be quiet, +seeing the Lord hath given thee a charge?" But his campaigns in +Syria and Africa, of which the echoes transmitted to us still seem so +formidable, were not nearly so terrible in reality as those in which +Blam had perished a century previously; they were, moreover, the only +conflicts which troubled the peace of his reign. The Arabian chroniclers +affirm, indeed, that the fabulous wealth of Yemen had incited him to +invade that region. Nebuchadrezzar, they relate, routed, not far from +the town of Dhat-irk, the Joctanides of Jorhom, who had barred his +road to the Kaabah, and after seizing Mecca, reached the borders of +the children of Himyra: the exhausted condition of his soldiers having +prevented him from pressing further forward in his career of conquest, +he retraced his steps and returned to Babylon with a great number of +prisoners, including two entire tribes, those of Hadhura and Uabar, +whom he established as colonists in Chaldaea.* He never passed in this +direction beyond the limits reached by Assur-bani-pal, and his exploits +were restricted to some successful raids against the tribes of Kedar and +Nabatsea.** + +* Most of the Arabic legends relating to these conquests of +Nebuchadrezzar are indirectly derived from the biblical story; but it is +possible that the history of the expeditions against Central Arabia is +founded on fact. + +** This seems to follow from Jeremiah's imprecations upon Kedar + +The same reasons which at the commencement of his reign had restrained +his ambition to extend his dominions towards the east and north, were +operative up to the end of his life. Astyages had not inherited the +martial spirit of his father Cyaxares, and only one warlike expedition, +that against the Cadusians, is ascribed to him.* + + * Moses of Chorene attributes to him long wars against an + Armenian king named Tigranes; but this is a fiction of a + later age. + +Naturally indolent, lacking in decision, superstitious and cruel, he +passed a life of idleness amid the luxury of a corrupt court, surrounded +by pages, women, and eunuchs, with no more serious pastime than the +chase, pursued within the limits of his own parks or on the confines +of the desert. But if the king was weak, his empire was vigorous, and +Nebuchadrezzar, brought up from his youth to dread the armies of Media, +retained his respect for them up to the end of his life, even when there +was no longer any occasion to do so. Nebuchadrezzar was, after all, not +so much a warrior as a man of peace, whether so constituted by nature +or rendered so by political necessity in its proper sense, and he +took advantage of the long intervals of quiet between his campaigns to +complete the extensive works which more than anything else have won +for him his renown. During the century which had preceded the fall of +Nineveh, Babylonia had had several bitter experiences; it had suffered +almost entire destruction at the hands of Sennacherib; it had been given +up to pillage by Assur-bani-pal, not to mention the sieges and ravages +it had sustained in the course of continual revolts. The other cities +of Babylonia, Sippara, Borsippa, Kutha, Nipur, Uruk, and Uru, had been +subjected to capture and recapture, while the surrounding districts, +abandoned in turn to Elamites, Assyrians, and the Kalda, had lain +uncultivated for many years. The canals at the same time had become +choked with mud, the banks had fallen in, and the waters, no longer +kept under control, had overflowed the land, and the plains long since +reclaimed for cultivation had returned to their original condition of +morasses and reed-beds; at Babylon itself the Arakhtu, still encumbered +with the _debris_ cast into it by Sennacherib, was no longer navigable, +and was productive of more injury than profit to the city: in some parts +the aspect of the country must have been desolate and neglected as at +the present day, and the work accomplished by twenty generations had to +be begun entirely afresh. Nabopolassar had already applied himself to +the task in spite of the anxieties of his Assyrian campaigns, and had +raised many earthworks in both the capital and the provinces. But a +great deal more still remained to be done, and Nebuchadrezzar pushed +forward the work planned by his father, and carried it to completion +undeterred and undismayed by any difficulties.* The combined system +of irrigation and navigation introduced by the kings of the first +Babylonian empire twenty centuries previously, was ingeniously repaired; +the beds of the principal canals, the Royal river and the Arakhtu, +were straightened and deepened; the drainage of the country between the +Tigris and the Euphrates was regulated by means of subsidiary canals and +a network of dykes; the canals surrounding Babylon or intersecting in +the middle of the city were cleaned out, and a waterway was secured +for navigation from one river to the other, and from the plateau of +Mesopotamia to the Nar-Marratum.** + + * The only long inscriptions of Nebuchadrezzar which we + possess, are those commemorating the great works he designed + and executed. + + ** The irrigation works of Nebuchadrezzar are described at + length, and perhaps exaggerated, by Abydenus, who merely + quotes Berosus more or less inaccurately. The completion of + the quays along the Arakhtu, begun by Nabopolassar, is + noticed in the _East India Company's Inscription_. A special + inscription, publ. by H. Rawlinson, gives an account of the + repairing of the canal Libil-khigallu, which crossed + Babylon. + +We may well believe that all Nebuchadrezzar's undertakings were carried +out in accordance with a carefully prepared scheme for perfecting +the defences of the kingdom while completing the system of internal +communication. The riches of Karduniash, now restored to vigour by +continued peace, and become the centre of a considerable empire, could +not fail to excite the jealousy of its neighbours, and particularly that +of the most powerful among them, the Medes of Ecbatana. It is true +that the relations between Nebuchadrezzar and Astyages continued to be +cordial, and as yet there were no indications of a rupture; but it +was always possible that under their successors the good understanding +between the two courts might come to an end, and it was needful to +provide against the possibility of the barbarous tribes of Iran being +let loose upon Babylon, and attempting to inflict on her the fate they +had brought upon Nineveh. Nebuchadrezzar, therefore, was anxious to +interpose, between himself and these possible foes, such a series of +fortifications that the most persevering enemy would be worn out by the +prolonged task of forcing them one after another, provided that they +were efficiently garrisoned. He erected across the northern side of the +isthmus between the two rivers a great embankment, faced with bricks +cemented together with bitumen, called the _Wall of Media_; this wall, +starting from Sippara, stretched from the confluence of the Saklauiyeh +with the Euphrates to the site of the modern village of Jibbara on the +Tigris; on both sides of it four or five deep trenches were excavated, +which were passable on raised causeways or by bridges of boats, so +arranged as to be easily broken up in case of invasion. + +[Illustration: 456.jpg CITY DEFENDED BY A TRIPLE WALL] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief of the time of + Sargon, in the Museum of the Louvre. + +The eastern frontier was furnished with a rampart protected by a wide +moat, following, between Jibbara and Nipur, the contours of a low-lying +district which could be readily flooded. The western boundary was +already protected by the Pallakottas, and the lakes or marshes of +Bahr-i-Nejif: Nebuchadrezzar multiplied the number of the dikes, and so +arranged them that the whole country between the suburbs of Borsippa and +Babylon could be inundated at will. Babylon itself formed as it were the +citadel in the midst of these enormous outlying fortifications, and +the engineers both of Nabopo-lassar and of his son expended all the +resources of their art on rendering it impregnable. A triple rampart +surrounded it and united it to Borsippa, built on the model of those +whose outline is so frequently found on the lowest tier of an Assyrian +bas-relief. + +[Illustration: 457.jpg PROBABLE SECTION OF THE TRIPLE WALL OF BABYLON] + + Reproduced by Faucher-Gudin, from the restoration by + Dieulafoy. + +A moat of great width, with banks of masonry, communicating with +the Euphrates, washed the foot of the outer wall, which retained the +traditional name of Imgur-bel: behind this wall rose Nimitti-bel, the +true city wall, to a height of more than ninety feet above the level of +the plain, appearing from a distance, with its battlements and towers, +more like a mountain chain than a rampart built by the hand of man; +finally, behind Nimitti-bel ran a platform on the same level as the +curtain of Imgur-bel, forming a last barrier behind which the garrison +could rally before finally owning itself defeated and surrendering the +city. Large square towers rose at intervals along the face of the walls, +to the height of some eighteen feet above the battlements: a hundred +gates fitted with bronze-plated doors, which could be securely shut at +need, gave access to the city.* + + * The description of the fortifications of the city is + furnished by Herodotus, who himself saw them still partially + standing; the account of their construction has been given + by Nebuchadrezzar himself, in the _East India Company's + Inscription_. + +The space within the walls was by no means completely covered by houses, +but contained gardens, farms, fields, and, here and there, the ruins of +deserted buildings. As in older Babylon, the city proper clustered round +the temple of Merodach, with its narrow winding streets, its crowded +bazaars, its noisy and dirty squares, its hostelries and warehouses of +foreign merchandise. + +[Illustration: 458.jpg FRAGMENT OF A BABYLONIAN BAS-RELIEF] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch in Layard. + +The pyramid of Esarhad-don and Assur-bani-pal, too hastily built, had +fallen into ruins: Nebuchadrezzar reconstructed its seven stages, and +erected on the topmost platform a shrine furnished with a table of +massive gold, and a couch on which the priestess chosen to be the spouse +of the god might sleep at night. Other small temples were erected here +and there on both banks of the river, and the royal palace, built in the +marvellously short space of fifteen days, was celebrated for its hanging +gardens, where the ladies of the harem might walk unveiled, secure from +vulgar observation. No trace of all these extensive works remains at the +present day. + +[Illustration: 459.jpg RUINS OF THE ZIGGURAT OF THE TEMPLE OF BEL] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a sketch in Layard. + +Some scattered fragments of crumbling walls alone betray the site of +the great ziggurat, a few bas-reliefs are strewn over the surface of the +ground, and a lion of timeworn stone, lying on its back in a depression +of the soil, is perhaps the last survivor of those which kept watch, +according to custom, at the gates of the palace. But the whole of this +vast work of reconstruction and ornamentation must not be attributed to +Nebuchadrezzar alone. The plans had been designed by Nabopolassar under +the influence of one of his wives, who by a strange chance bears in +classic tradition the very Egyptian name of Nitocris; but his work was +insignificant compared with that accomplished by his son, and the name +of Nebuchadrezzar was justly connected with the marvels of Babylon by +all ancient writers. But even his reign of fifty-five years did not +suffice for the completion of all his undertakings, and many details +still remained imperfect at his death in the beginning of 562 B.C. +Though of Kaldu origin, and consequently exposed to the suspicions +and secret enmity of the native Babylonians, as all of his race, even +Mero-dach-Baladan himself, had been before him, he had yet succeeded +throughout the whole of his reign in making himself respected by the +turbulent inhabitants of his capital, and in curbing the ambitious +pretensions of the priests of Merodach. As soon as his master-hand +was withdrawn, the passions so long repressed broke forth, and +proved utterly beyond the control of his less able or less fortunate +successors.* + + * The sequel of this history is known from the narrative of + Berosus. Its authenticity is proved by passages on the + _Cylinder of Nabonidus_. Messer-schmidt considers that Amil- + marduk and Labashi-marduk were overthrown by the priestly + faction, but a passage on the _Cylinder_, in which Nabonidus + represents himself as inheriting the political views of + Nebuchadrezzar and Nergal-sharuzur, leads me to take the + opposite view. We know what hatred Nabonidus roused in the + minds of the priests of Merodach because his principles of + government were opposed to theirs: the severe judgment he + passed on the rule of Amil-marduk and Labashi-marduk seems + to prove that he considered them as belonging to the rival + party in the state, that is, to the priestly faction. The + forms of the names and the lengths of the several reigns + have been confirmed by contemporary monuments, especially by + the numerous contract tablets. The principal inscriptions + belonging to the reign of Nergal-sharuzur deal only with + public works and the restoration of monuments. + +[Illustration: 460.jpg THE STONE LION OF BABYLON] + + Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph furnished by + Father Scheil. + +As far as we are able to judge by the documents which have come down to +us, two factions had arisen in the city since the fall of Nineveh, both +of which aspired to power and strove to gain a controlling influence +with the sovereign. The one comprised the descendants of the Kalda who +had delivered the city from the Assyrian yoke, together with those +of the ancient military nobility. The other was composed of the great +priestly families and their adherents, who claimed for the gods or their +representatives the right to control the affairs of the state, and +to impose the will of heaven on the rulers of the kingdom. The latter +faction seems to have prevailed at first at the court of Amil-marduk, +the sole surviving son and successor of Nebuchadrezzar. This prince on +his accession embraced a policy contrary to that pursued by his father: +and one of his first acts was to release Jehoiachin, King of Judah, who +had been languishing in chains for twenty-seven years, and to ameliorate +the condition of the other expatriated Jews. The official history of a +later date represented him as having been an unjust sovereign, but we +have no information as to his misdeeds, and know only that after two +years a conspiracy broke out against him, led by his own brother-in-law, +Nergal-sharuzur, who assassinated him and seized the vacant throne +(560 B.C.). Nergal-sharuzur endeavoured to revive the policy of +Nebuchadrezzar, and was probably supported by the military party, but +his reign was a short one; he died in 556 B.C., leaving as sole heir +a youth of dissipated character named Labashi-marduk, whose name is +stigmatised by the chroniclers as that of a prince who knew not how to +rule. He was murdered at the end of nine months, and his place taken +by a native Babylonian, a certain Nabonaid (Nabonidus), son of +Nabo-balatsu-ikbi, who was not connected by birth with his immediate +predecessors on the throne (556-555 B.C.). + +No Oriental empire could escape from the effects of frequent and +abrupt changes in its rulers: like so many previous dynasties, that of +Nabopolassar became enfeebled as if from exhaustion immediately after +the death of its most illustrious scion, and foundered in imbecility and +decrepitude. Popular imagination, awe-struck by such a sudden downfall +from exalted prosperity, recognised the hand of God in the events which +brought about the catastrophe. A Chaldaean legend, current not long +after, related how Nebuchadrezzar, being seized towards the end of his +life with the spirit of prophecy, mounted to the roof of his palace, +and was constrained, as a punishment for his pride, to predict to his +people, with his own lips, the approaching ruin of their city; thereupon +the glory of its monarch suffered an eclipse from which there was no +emerging. The Jews, nourishing undying hatred for conqueror who had +overthrown Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple of Solomon, were +not satisfied with a punishment so inadequate. According to them, +Nebuchadrezzar, after his victorious career, was so intoxicated with +his own glory that he proclaimed himself the equal of God. "Is not +this great Babylon," he cried, "which I have built for the royal +dwelling-place, by the might of my power, and for the glory of my +majesty!" and while he thus spake, there came a voice from heaven, +decreeing his metamorphosis into the form of a beast. "He was driven +from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew +of heaven, till his hair was grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails +like birds' claws." For seven years the king remained in this state, +to resume his former shape at the end of this period, and recover his +kingdom after having magnified the God of Israel.* + + * Dan. iv. + +The founder of the dynasty which replaced that of Nebuchadrezzar, +Nabonidus, was certainly ill fitted to brave the storms already +threatening to break over his kingdom. It has not been ascertained +whether he had any natural right to the throne, or by what means he +attained supreme power, but the way in which he dwells on the names +of Nebuchadrezzar and Nergal-sharuzur renders it probable that he was +raised to the throne by the military faction. He did not prove, as +events turned turned out, a good general, nor even a soldier of moderate +ability, and it is even possible that he also lacked that fierce courage +of which none of his predecessors was ever destitute. He allowed his +army to dwindle away and his fortresses to fall into ruins; the foreign +alliances existing at his accession, together with those which he +himself had concluded, were not turned to the best advantage; +his provinces were badly administered, and his subjects rendered +discontented: his most salient characteristic was an insatiable +curiosity concerning historical and religious antiquities, which +stimulated him to undertake excavations in all the temples, in order +to bring to light monuments of ages long gone by. He was a monarch +of peaceful disposition, who might have reigned with some measure of +success in a century of unbroken peace, or one troubled only by petty +wars with surrounding inferior states; but, unfortunately, the times +were ill suited to such mild sovereignty. The ancient Eastern world, +worn out by an existence reckoned by thousands of years, as well as by +its incessant conflicts, would have desired, indeed, no better fate than +to enjoy some years of repose in the condition in which recent events +had left it; but other nations, the Greeks and the Persians, by no means +anxious for tranquillity, were entering the lists. For the moment +the efforts of the Greeks were concentrated on Egypt, where Pharaoh +manifested for them inexhaustible good will, and on Cyprus, two-thirds +of which belonged to them; the danger for Chaldaea lay in the Persians, +kinsfolk and vassals of the Medes, whose semi-barbarous chieftains had +issued from their mountain homes some eighty years previously to occupy +the eastern districts of Elam. + +END OF VOL. VIII. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, +Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 8 (of 12), by G. 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