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diff --git a/39006-h/39006-h.htm b/39006-h/39006-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d51b235 --- /dev/null +++ b/39006-h/39006-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,13205 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of Antiquity (Vol. II.), by Max Duncker. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .sblockquot {text-indent: -2em; margin-left: 2em;} + .bbt {border-bottom: solid 1px; border-top: solid 1px; margin-top: 5em; margin-bottom: 5em;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:30%; margin-right:30%; text-align: left;} + + .notebox {border: solid 2px; padding: 1em; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; background: #CCCCB2;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The History of Antiquity, Vol. II (of VI), by Max Duncker + +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: The History of Antiquity, Vol. II (of VI) + +Author: Max Duncker + +Translator: Evelyn Abbott + +Release Date: February 28, 2012 [EBook #39006] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY *** + + + + +Produced by Adrian Mastronardi and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="notebox"> +<p><b>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:</b> Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end +of the chapters in this HTML version. Obvious errors in punctuation have been +silently corrected. Other than that, printer's inconsistencies in spelling, +hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.</p> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<h3>THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY.</h3> + + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + + +<h5>THE</h5> + +<h1>HISTORY OF ANTIQUITY.</h1> + +<h5>FROM THE GERMAN</h5> + +<h6>OF</h6> + +<h4>PROFESSOR MAX DUNCKER,</h4> + +<p> </p> +<h6>BY</h6> + +<h3>EVELYN ABBOTT, M.A.,<br /> +<small><i>FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD.</i></small></h3> + +<p> </p> +<h4>VOL. II.</h4> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 15%;"> +<img src="images/printers_mark.png" width="100%" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<h4>LONDON:<br /> +<big>RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,</big><br /> +Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.<br /> +1879.</h4> + + +<div class="bbt"> +<h5>Bungay:</h5> + +<h6>CLAY AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS.</h6> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<div class="poem"> +<p>The present volume has been translated from the +fifth edition of the original, and has had, throughout, +the benefit of Professor Duncker's revision.</p> + +<p style='text-align: right'>E. A.</p> +<p><small><i>Oxford, Jan. 14, 1879.</i></small></p> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td colspan='2'><big><a href="#BOOK_III">BOOK III.</a><br /><i>ASSYRIA. PHŒNICIA. ISRAEL.</i></big></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE STORY OF NINUS AND SEMIRAMIS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER II.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ASSYRIAN KINGDOM</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER III.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE NAVIGATION AND COLONIES OF THE PHENICIANS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_49">49</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER IV.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER V.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY IN ISRAEL</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>DAVID'S STRUGGLE AGAINST SAUL AND ISHBOSHETH</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE RULE OF DAVID</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER VIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>KING SOLOMON</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER IX.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE LAW OF THE PRIESTS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER X.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>JUDAH AND ISRAEL</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER XI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE CITIES OF THE PHENICIANS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER XII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE TRADE OF THE PHENICIANS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_294">294</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan='2' align='center'>CHAPTER XIII.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>THE RISE OF ASSYRIA</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_308">308</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<div class="bbt"> + + +<h3><a name="BOOK_III" id="BOOK_III"></a>BOOK III.</h3> + +<h2>ASSYRIA. PHŒNICIA. ISRAEL.</h2> +</div> + +<h1>ASSYRIA.</h1> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>THE STORY OF NINUS AND SEMIRAMIS.</h3> + + +<p>About the middle course of the Tigris, where the mountain +wall of the Armenian plateau steeply descends to +the south, there is a broad stretch of hilly country. +To the west it is traversed by a few water-courses +only, which spring out of the mountains of Sindyar, +and unite with the Tigris; from the east the affluents +are far more abundant. On the southern shore of the +lake of Urumiah the edge of the plateau of Iran abuts +on the Armenian table-land, and then, stretching to the +south-east, it bounds the river valley of the Tigris +toward the east. From its vast, successive ranges, +the Zagrus of the Greeks, flow the Lycus and Caprus +(the Greater and the Lesser Zab), the Adhim and the +Diala. The water, which these rivers convey to the +land between the Zagrus and the Tigris, together +with the elevation of the soil, softens the heat and +allows olive trees and vines to flourish in the cool air +on the hills, sesame and corn in the valleys between +groups of palms and fruit-trees. The backs of the +heights which rise to the east are covered by forests of +oaks and nut trees. Toward the south the ground<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> +gradually sinks—on the west immediately under the +mountains of Sindyar, on the east below the Lesser +Zab—toward the course of the Adhim into level plains, +where the soil is little inferior in fertility to the land +of Babylonia. The land between the Tigris and the +Greater Zab is known to Strabo and Arrian as Aturia.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +The districts between the Greater and Lesser Zab are +called Arbelitis and Adiabene by western writers.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> +The region bounded by the Lesser Zab and the Adhim +or the Diala is called Sittacene, and the land lying +on the mountains rising further toward the east is +Chalonitis. The latter we shall without doubt have to +regard as the Holwan<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> of later times.</p> + +<p>According to the accounts of the Greeks, it was +in these districts that the first kingdom rose which +made conquests and extended its power beyond the +borders of its native country. In the old time—such +is the story—kings ruled in Asia, whose names were not +mentioned, as they had not performed any striking exploits. +The first of whom any memorial is retained, and +who performed great deeds, was Ninus, the king of the +Assyrians. Warlike and ambitious by nature, he armed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +the most vigorous of his young men, and accustomed +them by long and various exercises to all the toils and +dangers of war. After collecting a splendid army, he +combined with Ariæus, the prince of the Arabs, and +marched with numerous troops against the neighbouring +Babylonians. The city of Babylon was not built at +that time, but there were other magnificent cities in the +land. The Babylonians were an unwarlike people, and +he subdued them with little trouble, took their king +prisoner, slew him with his children, and imposed a +yearly tribute on the Babylonians. Then with a still +greater force he invaded Armenia and destroyed +several cities. Barzanes, the king of Armenia, perceived +that he was not in a position to resist. He +repaired with costly presents to Ninus and undertook +to be his vassal. With great magnanimity Ninus permitted +him to retain the throne of Armenia; but he was +to provide a contingent in war and contribute to the +support of the army. Strengthened by these means, +Ninus turned his course to Media. Pharnus, king of +Media, came out to meet him with a strong force, but he +was nevertheless defeated, and crucified with his wife +and seven children, and Ninus placed one of his own +trusty men as viceroy over Media. These successes +raised in Ninus the desire to subjugate all Asia as far +as the Nile and the Tanais. He conquered, as Ctesias +narrates, Egypt, Phœnicia, Cœle Syria, Cilicia, Lycia +and Caria, Lydia, Mysia, Phrygia, Bithynia, and +Cappadocia, and reduced the nations on the Pontus as +far as the Tanais. Then he made himself master of the +land of the Cadusians and Tapyrians, of the Hyrcanians, +Drangians, Derbiccians, Carmanians, Chorasmians, +Barcians, and Parthians. Beside these, he overcame +Persia, and Susiana, and Caspiana, and many other +small nations. But in spite of many efforts he failed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +obtain any success against the Bactrians, because the +entrance to their land was difficult and the number of +their men of war was great. So he deferred the war +against the Bactrians to another opportunity, and led +his army back, after subjugating in 17 years all the +nations of Asia, with the exception of the Indians +and Bactrians. The king of the Arabians he dismissed +to his home with costly presents and splendid booty; +he began himself to build a city which should not +only be greater than any other then in existence, but +should be such that no city in the future could ever +surpass it. This city he founded on the bank of the +Tigris,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> in the form of an oblong, and surrounded it with +strong fortifications. The two longer sides measured +150 stades each, the two shorter sides 90 stades each, +so that the whole circuit was 480 stades. The walls +reached a height of 100 feet, and were so thick that +there was room in the gangway for three chariots to +pass each other. These walls were surmounted by 1500 +towers, each of the height of 200 feet. As to the +inhabitants of the city, the greater number and those +of the most importance were Assyrians, but from the +other nations also any who chose could fix his dwelling +here, and Ninus allotted to the settlers large portions +of the surrounding territory, and called the city Ninus, +after his own name.</p> + +<p>When the city was built Ninus resolved to march +against the Bactrians. He knew the number and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +bravery of the Bactrians, and how difficult their land +was to approach, and therefore he collected the armies +of all the subject nations, to the number of 1,700,000 +foot soldiers, 210,000 cavalry, and towards 10,600 +chariots of war. The narrowness of the passes which +protect the entrance to Bactria compelled Ninus to +divide his army. Oxyartes, who at that time was king +of the Bactrians, had collected the whole male population +of his country, about 400,000 men, and met the +enemy at the passes. One part of the Assyrian army +he allowed to enter unmolested; when a sufficient +number seemed to have reached the plains he attacked +them and drove them back to the nearest mountains; +about 100,000 Assyrians were slain. But when the +whole force had penetrated into the land, the Bactrians +were overcome by superior numbers and scattered each +to his own city. The rest of the cities were captured +by Ninus with little trouble, but Bactra, the chief +city, where the palace of the king lay, he could not +reduce, for it was large and well-provisioned, and the +fortress was very strong.</p> + +<p>When the siege became protracted, Onnes, the first +among the counsellors of the king and viceroy of +Syria, who accompanied the king on this campaign, +sent for his wife Semiramis to the camp. Once +when he was inspecting the flocks of the king in +Syria, he had seen at the dwelling of Simmas, the +keeper of these flocks, a beautiful maiden, and he was +so overcome with love for her that he sought and +obtained her as a wife from Simmas. She was the +foster-child of Simmas. In a rocky place in the +desert his shepherds had found the maiden about a +year old, fed by doves with milk and cheese; as +Simmas was childless he had taken the foundling as +his child, and given her the name of Semiramis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +Onnes took her to the city of Ninus. She bore +him two sons, Hyapates and Hydaspes, and as she +had everything which beauty requires, she made her +husband her slave; he did nothing without her advice, +and everything succeeded admirably. She also +possessed intelligence and daring, and every other gift +likely to advance her. When requested by Onnes to +come to the camp, she seized the opportunity to display +her power. She put on such clothing that it +could not be ascertained whether she was a man or a +woman, and this succeeded so well that at a later time +the Medes, and after them the Persians also, wore the +robe of Semiramis. When she arrived in the camp +she perceived that the attack was directed only against +the parts of the city lying in the plain, not against the +high part and the strong fortifications of the citadel, +and she also perceived that this direction of the attack +induced the Bactrians to be careless in watching the +citadel. She collected all those in the army who were +accustomed to climbing, and with this troop she +ascended the citadel from a deep ravine, captured a part +of it, and gave the signal to the army which was +assaulting the walls in the plain. The Bactrians lost +their courage when they saw their citadel occupied, +and the city was taken. Ninus admired the courage +of the woman, honoured her with costly presents, and +was soon enchained by her beauty; but his attempts to +persuade Onnes to give up Semiramis to him were in +vain; in vain he offered to recompense him by the +gift of his own daughter Sosana in marriage. At +length Ninus threatened to put out his eyes if he did +not obey his commands. The terror of this threat +and the violence of his own love drove Onnes out of +his mind. He hung himself. Thus Semiramis came +to the throne of Assyria. When Ninus had taken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +possession of the great treasures of gold and silver +which were in Bactra, and had arranged everything +there, he led his army back. At Ninus Semiramis +bore him a son, Ninyas, and at his death, when he +had reigned 52 years, Ninus bequeathed to her the +sovereign power. She buried his corpse in the royal +palace, and caused a huge mound to be raised over the +grave, 6000 feet in the circuit and 5400 feet high, +which towered over the city of Ninus like a lofty +citadel, and could be seen far through the plain in +which Ninus lay.</p> + +<p>As Semiramis was ambitious, and desired to surpass +the fame of Ninus, she built the great city of Babylon, +with mighty walls and towers, the two royal citadels, +the bridge over the Euphrates, and the temple of +Belus, and caused a great lake to be excavated to draw +off the water of the Euphrates. Other cities also she +founded on the Euphrates and the Tigris, and caused +depôts to be made for those who brought merchandise +from Media, Paraetacene, and the bordering countries. +After completing these works she marched with a great +army to Media and planted the garden near Mount +Bagistanon. The steep and lofty face of this mountain, +more than 10,000 feet in height, she caused to be +smoothed, and on it was cut her picture surrounded +by 100 guards; and an inscription was engraved in +Syrian letters, saying that Semiramis had caused the +pack-saddles of her beasts of burden to be piled on +each other, and on these had ascended to the summit +of the mountain. Afterwards she made another large +garden near the city of Chauon, in Media,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> and on a +rock in the middle of it she erected rich and costly +buildings, from which she surveyed the blooming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +garden and the army encamped in the plain. Here +she remained for a long time, and gave herself up to +every kind of pleasure. She was unwilling to contract +another marriage from fear of losing the sovereign +power, but she lived with any of her warriors who +were distinguished for their beauty. All who had +enjoyed her favours she secretly put to death. After +this retirement she turned her course to Egbatana, +caused a path to be cut through the rocks of Mount +Zagrus, and a short and convenient road to be made +across them, in order to leave behind an imperishable +memorial of her reign. In Egbatana she erected a +splendid palace, and in order to provide the city with +water she caused a tunnel to be made through the lofty +mountain Orontes at its base, which conveyed the +water of a lake lying on the other side of the heights +into the city. After this she marched through Persia +and all the countries of Asia which were subject to +her, and caused the mountains to be cut through and +straight and level roads to be built everywhere, while +in the plains she at one place raised great mounds over +her dead generals, and in another built cities on hills; +and wherever the army was encamped eminences were +raised for her tent so that she might overlook the whole. +Of these works many are still remaining in Asia and +bear the name of Semiramis. Then she subjugated +Egypt,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> a great part of Libya, and nearly the whole of +Ethiopia, and finally returned to Bactra.</p> + +<p>A long period of peace ensued, till she resolved to +subjugate the Indians on hearing that they were the +most numerous of all nations, and possessed the largest +and most beautiful country in the world. For two +years preparations were made throughout her whole<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +kingdom; in the third year she collected in Bactria +3,000,000 foot soldiers, 500,000 horsemen, and 100,000 +chariots. Beside these, 100,000 camels were covered +with the sewn skins of black oxen, and each was +mounted by one warrior; these animals were intended +to pass for elephants with the Indians. For crossing +the Indus 2000 ships were built, then taken to pieces +again, and the various parts packed on camels. +Stabrobates, the king of the Indians, awaited the +Assyrians on the bank of the Indus. He also had +prepared for the war with all his power, and gathered +together even a larger force from the whole of India. +When Semiramis approached he sent messengers to +meet her with the complaint that she was making war +upon him though he had done her no wrong; and in +his letter he reproached her licentious life, and calling +the gods to witness, threatened to crucify her if victorious. +Semiramis read the letter, laughed, and said +that the Indians would find out her virtue by her +actions. The fleet of the Indians lay ready for battle +on the Indus. Semiramis caused her ships to be put +together, manned them with her bravest warriors, and, +after a long and stubborn contest, the victory fell to +her share. A thousand ships of the Indians were sunk +and many prisoners taken. Then she also took the +islands and cities on the river, and out of these she +collected more than 100,000 prisoners. But the king +of the Indians, pretending flight, led his army back +from the Indus; in reality he wished to induce the +enemy to cross the Indus. As matters succeeded +according to her wishes, Semiramis caused a large and +broad bridge to be thrown skilfully over the Indus, +and on this her whole army passed over. Leaving +60,000 men to protect the bridge, she pursued the +Indians with the rest of her army, and sent on in front<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +the camels clothed as elephants. At first the Indians +did not understand whence Semiramis could have +procured so many elephants and were alarmed. But +the deception could not last. Soldiers of Semiramis, +who were found careless on the watch, deserted to the +enemy to escape punishment, and betrayed the secret. +Stabrobates proclaimed it at once to his whole army, +caused a halt to be made, and offered battle to the +Assyrians. When the armies approached each other +the king of the Indians ordered his horsemen and +chariots to make the attack. Semiramis sent against +them her pretended elephants. When the cavalry of +the Indians came up their horses started back at the +strange smell, part of them dislodged their riders, +others refused to obey the rein. Taking advantage of +this moment, Semiramis, herself on horseback, pressed +forward with a chosen band of men upon the Indians, +and turned them to flight. Stabrobates was still +unshaken; he led out his elephants, and behind them +his infantry. Himself on the right wing, mounted on the +best elephant, he chanced to come opposite Semiramis. +He made a resolute attack upon the queen, and was +followed by the rest of the elephants. The soldiers of +Semiramis resisted only a short time. The elephants +caused an immense slaughter; the Assyrians left their +ranks, they fled, and the king pressed forward against +Semiramis; his arrow wounded her arm, and as she +turned away his javelin struck her on the back. She +hastened away, while her people were crushed and +trodden down by their own numbers; and at last, as +the Indians pressed upon them, were forced from the +bridge into the river. As soon as Semiramis saw the +greater part of her army on the nearer bank, she caused +the cables to be cut which held the bridge; the force +of the stream tore the beams asunder, and many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +Assyrians who were on the bridge were plunged in the +river. The other Assyrians were now in safety, the +wounds of Semiramis were not dangerous, and the +king of the Indians was warned by signs from heaven +and their interpretation by the seers not to cross the +river. After exchanging prisoners Semiramis returned +to Bactra. She had lost two-thirds of her army.</p> + +<p>Some time afterwards she was attacked by a conspiracy, +which her own son Ninyas set on foot against +her by means of an eunuch. Then she remembered a +prophecy given to her in the temple of Zeus Ammon +during the campaign in Libya; that when her son +Ninyas conspired against her she would disappear from +the sight of men, and the honours of an immortal would +be paid to her by some nations of Asia. Hence she +cherished no resentment against Ninyas, but, on the +contrary, transferred to him the kingdom, ordered her +viceroys to obey him, and soon after put herself to death, +as though, according to the oracle, she had raised herself +to the gods. Some relate that she was changed into a +dove, and flew out of the palace with a flock of doves. +Hence it is that the Assyrians regard Semiramis as an +immortal, and the dove as divine. She was 62 years +old, and had reigned 42 years.</p> + +<p>The preceding narrative, which is from Diodorus, is +borrowed in essentials from the Persian history of +Ctesias, who lived for some time at the Persian Court +in the first two decades of the reign of Artaxerxes +Mnemon (405-361 <small>B.C.</small>). On the end of Semiramis +the account of Ctesias contained more details than the +account of Diodorus. This is made clear by some +fragments from Ctesias preserved by other writers. +In Nicolaus of Damascus we are told that after the +Indian war Semiramis marched through the land +of the Medes. Here she visited a very lofty and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +precipitous mountain, which could only be ascended on +one side. On this she at once caused an abode to be +built from which to survey her army.</p> + +<p>While encamped here, Satibaras the eunuch told +the sons of Onnes, Hyapates and Hydaspes, that +Ninyas would put them to death if he ascended the +throne; they must anticipate him by removing their +mother and Ninyas out of the way, and possessing +themselves of the sovereign power. Moreover, it was +to their great dishonour to be spectators of the licentiousness +of their mother, who, even at her years, daily +desired every youth that came in her way. The +matter, he said, was easy of accomplishment; when he +summoned them to the queen (he was entrusted with +this business) they could come to the summit of the +mountain and throw their mother down from it. +But it happened that behind the altar, near which they +held this conversation, a Mede was lying, who overheard +them. He wrote down everything on a skin +and sent it to Semiramis. When she had read it she +caused the sons of Onnes to be summoned, and gave +strict orders that they should come in arms. Delighted +that the deity favoured the undertaking, Satibaras +fetched the young men. When they appeared Semiramis +bade the eunuch step aside, and then she spoke to +them: "You worthless sons of an honest and brave +father have allowed yourselves to be persuaded by a +worthless slave to throw down from this height your +mother, who holds her empire from the gods, in order +to obtain glory among men, and to rule after the murder +of your mother and your brother Ninyas. Then she +spoke to the Assyrians."<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> Here the fragment of Nicolaus +breaks off. From the fragments of Cephalion we may +gather that the sons of Onnes were put to death by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +Semiramis. Yet Cephalion gave a different account of +the death of Semiramis from Ctesias; according to him +Ninyas slew her.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> In Ctesias, as is clear from the +account of Diodorus and other remains of Ctesias, +nothing was spoken of beyond the conspiracy which +Ninyas prepared against her.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>After the death of Semiramis, so Diodorus continues +his narrative, Ninyas ruled in peace, for he +by no means emulated his mother's military ambition +and delight in danger. He remained always in the +palace, was seen by no one but his concubines and +eunuchs, took upon himself no care or trouble, +thought only of pleasure and pastime, considered it the +object of sovereign power to give himself up undisturbed +to all sorts of enjoyment. His seclusion served +to hide his excesses in obscurity; he seemed like an invisible +God, whom no one ventured to offend even in +word. In order to preserve his kingdom he put leaders +over the army, viceroys, judges, and magistrates over +every nation, and arranged everything as seemed most +useful to himself. To keep his subjects in fear he +caused each nation to provide a certain number of +soldiers every year, and these were quartered together +in a camp outside the city, and placed under the +command of men most devoted to himself. At the +end of the year they were dismissed and replaced by +others to the same number. Hence his subjects always +saw a great force in the camp ready to punish disobedience +or defection. In the same way his descendants +also reigned for 30 generations, till the empire +passed to the Medes.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> Slightly differing from this +account, Nicolaus tells us that Sardanapalus—to whom +in the order of succession the kingdom of Ninus and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +Semiramis finally descended—neither carried arms +nor went out to the hunting-field, like the kings in +old times, but always remained in his palace. Yet +even in his time the old arrangements were kept and +the satraps of the subject nations gathered with the +fixed contingent at the gate of the king.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a></p> + +<p>From what source is the narrative of Ninus and +Semiramis derived? what title to credibility can be +allowed it? Herodotus states that the dominion of +the Assyrians in Asia was the oldest; their supremacy +was followed by that of the Medes, and the supremacy +of the Medes was followed by the kingdom of the +Achæmenids. Herodotus too is acquainted with the +name of Semiramis; he represents her as ruling over +Babylon, and building wonderful dykes in the level +land, which the river had previously turned into a +lake.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> Strabo tells of the citadels, cities, mountain-roads, +aqueducts, bridges, and canals which Semiramis +constructed through all Asia, and to Semiramis Lucian +traces back the old temples of Syria.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> We may assume +in explanation that the tradition of Hither Asia has +ascribed to the first king and queen of Assyria the construction +of the ancient road over the Zagrus, of old +dykes and aqueducts in the land of the Euphrates and +Tigris, the building, not of Nineveh only, but also of +Babylon, the erection of the great monuments of forgotten +kings of Babylon,—as a fact, Assyrian kings +built in Babylon also in the seventh century. We may +find it conceivable that this tradition has gathered +together and carried back to the time of the foundation +all that memory retained of the acts of Assyrian +rulers, the campaigns of conquest of a long series of warlike +and mighty sovereigns, the sum total of the exploits<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +to which Assyria owed her supremacy. Yet against +such an origin of this narrative doubts arise not easy +to be removed. It is true that when this tradition +explains the mode of life and the clothing of the kings +of Asia, and the clothing of the Medes and Persians, +from the example of Semiramis, who wore in the camp +a robe, half male and half female (p. 6); when this +tradition derives the inaccessibility of the kings of Asia +and their seclusion in the palace from the fact that +Ninyas wished to hide his excesses, and appear to his +subjects as a higher being,—traits of this kind can be +set aside as additions of the Greeks. To the Babylonians +and Assyrians, the Medes and Persians, the life +and clothing of their rulers could not appear contemptible +or remarkable, nor their own clothing half +effeminate, though the Greeks might very well search +for an explanation of customs so different from their +own, and find them in the example and command of +Semiramis, and the example of Ninyas. And if in +Herodotus the empire of the Assyrians over Asia +appears as a hegemony of confederates,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> this idea is +obviously borrowed from Greek models. The opposite +statement of the division of the Assyrian kingdom into +satrapies, the yearly change of the contingents of +troops, comes from Ctesias, who transferred the arrangements +of the Persian kingdom, with which he was +acquainted, to their predecessors, the kingdom of the +Assyrians, or found this transference made in his +authorities, Persian or Mede, and copied it.</p> + +<p>Yet, after making as much allowance as we can for +the amalgamating influence of native tradition, after +going as far as we can in setting apart what may be +due to the Greeks, how could such an accurate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +narrative, so well acquainted with every detail of the +siege of Bactra, and the battle on the Indus, have +been preserved for many centuries in the tradition of +Hither Asia, retained even after the overthrow of +Assyria, and down to the date when curious Greeks, 200 +years after the fall of Nineveh, reached the Euphrates +and Tigris? We possess a positive proof that about this +time, in the very place to which this tradition must have +clung most tenaciously, within the circuit of the old +Assyrian country, no remembrance of that mighty past +was in existence. When, in the year 401 <small>B.C.</small>, Xenophon +with his 10,000 marched past the ruins of the ancient +cities of the Assyrian kingdom, the ruins of Asshur, +Chalah, and Nineveh, before Ctesias wrote, he was +merely told that these were cities of the Medes which +could not be taken; into one of them the queen of +the Medes had fled before the Persian king, and the +Persians, with the help of heaven, took and destroyed +it when they gained the dominion over Media.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> From +the Assyrians, therefore, Herodotus and Ctesias could +not have obtained the information given in their +statements about Ninus and Semiramis, nor could their +knowledge have come from the Babylonians. The +tradition of Babylonia would never have attributed +the mighty buildings of that city and land to the queen +of another nation, to which Babylon had succumbed. +Hence the account of the Greeks about Assyria and her +rulers could only come from the Medes and Persians. +But our narrative ascribes to Semiramis even the +great buildings of the Median rulers, the erection of +the royal citadel of Egbatana, the residence of the +Median kings; the parks and rock sculptures of Media, +even the rock figure on Mount Bagistanon (p. 7). This<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +sculpture in the valley of the Choaspes on the rock-wall +of Bagistan (Behistun) is in existence. The wall is +not 10,000 but only 1500 feet high. It is not Semiramis +who is pourtrayed in those sculptures, but Darius, +the king of Persia, and before him are the leaders +of the rebellious provinces. It was the proudest +monument of victory in all the history of Persia. +Would a Persian have shown this to a Greek as a +monument of Semiramis? It would rather be a Mede, +who would wish to hide from the Greeks that Media +was among the provinces a second time conquered +and brought to subjection.</p> + +<p>The difficulty of ascertaining the sources of our +narrative is still further increased in no inconsiderable +degree by the fact that the books of Ctesias are lost, +and that Diodorus has not drawn immediately from +them, but from a reproduction of Ctesias' account of +Assyria. Yet the express references to the statements of +Ctesias which Diodorus found in his authority, as well +as fragments relating to the subject which have been +elsewhere preserved, allow us to fix with tolerable +accuracy what belongs to Ctesias in this narrative, +and what Clitarchus, the renewer of his work, whom +Diodorus had before him, has added.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> It is Ctesias who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +enumerates the nations which Ninus subdued (p. 3). +With him Semiramis was the daughter of a Syrian +and Derceto, who throws herself into the lake of Ascalon, +and is then worshipped as a goddess there.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> To Ctesias +belongs the nourishment of the child Semiramis by +the doves of the goddess, her rise from the shepherd's +hut to the throne of Assyria. He represents her as +raising the mountain or the tomb of Ninus; he ascribes +to her the building of Babylon, its mighty walls and +royal citadels, the aqueducts, and the great temple of +Bel. He represented her as marching to the Indus<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> +and afterwards towards Media; as making gardens +there and building the road over the Zagrus. He +represented her as raising the mounds over the graves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +of her lovers;<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> he told of her sensuality, of the designs +of her sons by the first marriage, and the plot of +Ninyas; he recounted her end, which was as marvellous +as her birth and her youth: she flew out of the +palace up to heaven with a flock of doves. If the +conquest of Egypt by Semiramis also belongs to Ctesias,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> +the march through Libya, and the oracle given to her +in the oasis of Ammon, together with the version of +her death, which rests on this oracle (she caused herself +to disappear, <i>i. e.</i> put herself to death, in order to +share in divine honours), belong to Clitarchus.</p> + +<p>If, therefore, we may regard it as an established fact +that our narrative has not arisen out of Assyrian or Babylonian +tradition, that the views and additions of Greek +origin introduced into it leave the centre untouched; +if we have succeeded in discovering, to a tolerably +satisfactory degree, the outlines of the narrative of +Ctesias, the main question still remains to be +answered: from what sources is this narrative to be +derived? In the first attempt to criticise this account +we find ourselves astonished by the certainty of the +statements, the minute and, in part, extremely vivid +descriptions of persons and incidents. Not only the +great prince who founded the power of Assyria, and +the queen whose beauty and courage enchanted him, +are known to Ctesias in their words and actions. +He can mention by name the man who nurtured +Semiramis as a girl, and her first husband. He +knows the names of the princes of the Arabs, Medes, +Bactrians, and Indians with whom Ninus and Semiramis +had to do. The number of the forces set in +motion against Bactria and India are given accurately +according to the weapon used. The arrangements +of the battle beyond the Indus, the progress of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +fight, the wounds carried away by Semiramis, the +exchange of prisoners, are related with the fidelity +of an eye-witness. Weight is obviously laid on the +fact that after Semiramis had conquered and traversed +Egypt and Ethiopia, after her unbroken success, +the last great campaign against the Indians fails +because she attacked them without receiving any previous +injury. The message which Stabrobates sends +to her, the letter which he writes, the reproaches he +makes upon her life, the minute details which Ctesias +gives of the relation of Onnes to Semiramis, of the +conspiracy of the sons by this marriage, who felt +themselves dishonoured by the conduct of their now +aged mother, of the letter of the Mede, whose fidelity +discovered the plot to her, of the speeches which +Semiramis made on this occasion, carry us back to a +description at once vivid and picturesque. If we take +these pictures together with the account of Ctesias +about the decline of the Assyrian kingdom, in which +also very characteristic details appear, if we consider the +style and the whole tone of these accounts of the beginning +and the end of the Assyrian kingdom, we cannot +avoid the conclusion that Ctesias has either invented +the whole narrative or followed a poetic source.</p> + +<p>The first inference is untenable, because the whole +narrative bears the colour and stamp of the East in +such distinctness that Ctesias cannot have invented it, +and, on the other hand, it contains so much poetry +that if Ctesias were the author of these descriptions +we should have to credit him with high poetic gifts. +We are, therefore, driven to adopt the second inference—that +a poetic source lies at the base of his account. +If, as was proved above, neither Assyrian nor Babylonian +traditions can be taken into consideration, +Assyrian and Babylonian poems are by the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +reasoning put out of the question. On the other hand, +we find in Ctesias' history of the Medes episodes of at +least equal poetic power with his narrative of Ninus +and Semiramis. Plutarch tells us that the great deeds +of Semiramis were praised in songs.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> It is certain that +they could not be the songs of Assyria, which had long +since passed away, but we find, on the other hand, +that there were minstrels at the court of the Medes, +who sang to the kings at the banquet; it is, moreover, +a Mede who warns Semiramis against Hyapates and +Hydaspes; and the other names in the narrative of +Ctesias bear the stamp of the Iranian language. +Further, we find, not only in the fragments of Ctesias +which have come down to us, but also in the narratives +of Herodotus and other Greeks concerning the fortunes +of the Medes and Persians down to the great war of +Xerxes against the Hellenes, remains and traces of +poems which can only have been sung amongst the +Medes and Persians. We have, therefore, good grounds +for assuming that it was Medo-Persian poems which +could tell the story of Ninus and Semiramis, and that +this part of the Medo-Persian poems was the source +from which Ctesias drew. It was the contents of these +poems recounted to him by Persians or Medes which he +no doubt followed in this case, as in his further narratives +of Parsondes and Sparethra, of the rebellion and +struggle of Cyrus against Astyages, just as Herodotus +before him drew from such poems his account of the +rebellion of the Magi, the death of Cambyses, and the +conspiracy of the seven Persians.</p> + +<p>After severe struggles the princes and people of +the Medes succeeded in casting down the Assyrian +empire from the supremacy it had long maintained; +they conquered and destroyed their old and supposed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +impregnable metropolis. If the tribes of the Medes +had previously been forced to bow before the Assyrians, +they took ample vengeance for the degradation. +Hence the Median minstrels had a most +excellent reason to celebrate this crowning achievement +of their nation; it afforded them a most agreeable +subject. If, in the earlier and later struggles of the +Medes against Assyria, the bravery of individual heroes +was often celebrated in song, these songs might by +degrees coalesce into a connected whole, the close of +which was the overthrow of the Assyrian empire. +The Median poems which dealt with this most attractive +material must have commenced with the rise of +the Assyrian kingdom; they had the more reason for +explaining and suggesting motives for this mighty +movement, as it was incumbent on them to make +intelligible the wreck of the resistance of their own +nation to the onset of the Assyrians, and the previous +subjection of Media. In these poems no doubt they +described the cruelty of the conqueror, who crucified +their king, with his wife and seven children (p. 3). +The more brilliant, the more overpowering the might +of Assyria, as they described it, owing to eminent +sovereigns in the earliest times, the wider the extent +of the empire, the more easily explained and tolerable +became the subjection of the Medes, the greater the +glory to have finally conquered. This final retribution +formed the close; the striking contrast of the former +exaltation and subsequent utter overthrow, brought +about by Median power and bravery, formed the centre +of these poems.</p> + +<p>The prince of the Assyrians whose success is unfailing +till he finds himself checked in Bactria, the woman +of unknown origin found in the desert, fostered by +herdsmen, and raised from the lowest to the most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +elevated position,<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> who in bravery surpasses the bravest, +who outdoes the deeds of Ninus, whose charms allure +to destruction every one who approaches her, who +makes all whom she favours her slaves in order to +slay them, who without regard to her years makes +every youth her lover, and is, nevertheless, finally +exalted to the gods—are these forms due to the mere +imagination of Medo-Persian minstrels, or what material +lay at the base of these lively pictures?</p> + +<p>The metropolis of the Assyrians was known to the +Greeks as Ninus; in the inscriptions of the Assyrian +kings it is called Ninua. From this the name of Ninus, +the founder of the empire, as well as Ninyas, is obviously +taken. In Herodotus<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> and the chronographers Ninus +is the son of Belus, <i>i. e.</i> of Bel, the sky-god already +known to us (I. 265). The monuments of Assyria show +us that the Assyrians worshipped a female deity, which +was at once the war-goddess and goddess of sexual +love—Istar-Bilit. Istar was not merely the goddess of +battles—bringing death and destruction, though also +conferring victory; she was at the same time the +goddess of sensual love. We have already learned to +know her double nature. In turn she sends life, +pleasure, and death. If Istar of Arbela was the goddess +of battle, Istar of Nineveh was the goddess of love +(I. 270). As the goddess of love, doves were sacred to +her. In the temples of Syria there were statues of this +goddess with a golden dove on the head; she was +even invoked there under the name of Semiramis, a +word which may mean High name, Name of the +Height.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> + +<p>Thus the Medo-Persian minstrels have changed the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +form and legend of a goddess who was worshipped in +Assyria, whose rites were vigorously cultivated in +Syria, into a heroine, the founder of the Assyrian +empire; just as in the Greek and German epos +divine beings have undergone a similar change. This +heroine is the daughter of a maiden who slays the +youth whom she has made happy with her love, who +gave her her daughter, <i>i. e.</i> she is the daughter of the +goddess herself. Like her mother, the goddess, the +daughter, Semiramis, inspires men with irresistible +love, and thus makes them her slaves. At the same +time, as a war-goddess, she surpasses all men in +martial courage, and brings death to all who have surrendered +to her. The origin of the goddess thus +transformed into a heroine is unknown and supernatural; +her characteristics are marvellous powers of +victory and charms of love. The neighbourhood of +Ascalon, where we found the oldest and most famous +temples of the Syrian goddess of love (I. 360), was the +scene of the origin of the miraculous child. The doves +of the Syrian goddess nourish and protect her in the +desert. She grows up in Syria, where the worship of +the goddess of sexual love was widely spread. +Whether Simmas, her foster-father, has arisen out of +Samas, the sun-god of the Semites, and Onnes, the +first husband of Semiramis, out of Anu, the god of +Babel and Asshur, cannot indeed be decided. But in +her relation to Onnes, whom her charm makes her +slave, to whom she brings uninterrupted success, till +in despair at her loss he takes his life, the Medo-Persian +minstrels describe the glamour of love and +the sensual pleasure, as well as the destruction which +proceeds from her, in the liveliest and most forcible +manner. Even after the Indian campaign she indulges +her passions, and then puts those to death to whom she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +grants her favours. In this life the poems found a +motive for the plots of her sons, from which she was +at first rescued by the fidelity of a Mede,—a trait +which again reveals the origin of the poem. As +Semiramis was a heroine merely, and not a goddess, to +the minstrels, they could represent her overthrow, her +defeat and wounds, on the Indus, which afterwards +was the limit of the conquests of the Medians and +Persians. At the end of her life the higher style +reappears, the supernatural origin comes in once more. +She flies out of the palace with the doves of Bilit, which +protected her childhood. In Ctesias the goddess of +Ascalon is Derceto,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> and therefore later writers could +maintain that the kings of Assyria, the descendants or +successors of Semiramis, were named Dercetadæ.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 736, 737. Arrian, "Anab." 3, 7, 7. The same form of +the name, Athura, is given in the inscriptions of Darius.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Plin. "Hist. Nat." 6, 27; 5, 12: Adiabene Assyria ante dicta. +Ptolemæus (6, 1) puts Adiabene and Arbelitis side by side. Diodorus, +18, 39. Arrian, Epit. 35: +τὴν μὲν μἑσην +τῶν ποταμῶν γῆν καὶ +τὴν Ἀρβηλῖτιν +ἔνειμε Ἀμφιμάχῳ.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Polyb. 5, 54. The border line between the original country of +Assyria and Elam cannot be ascertained with certainty. According +to Herodotus (5, 52) Susa lay 42 parasangs, <i>i. e.</i> about 150 miles, to +the south of the northern border of Susiana. Hence we may perhaps +take the Diala as the border between the later Assyria and Elam. The +use of the name Assyria for Mesopotamia and Babylonia, as well as +Assyria proper, in Herodotus (<i>e. g.</i> 1, 178) and other Greeks,—the name +Syria, which is only an abbreviation of Assyria (Herod. 7, 63),—arises +from the period of the supremacy of Assyria in the epoch 750-650 +<small>B.C.</small> Cf. Strabo, pp. 736, 737, and Nöldeke, +ΑΣΣΥΡΙΟΣ, Hermes, 1871 +(5), 443 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> The Euphrates, which Diodorus mentions 2, 3 and also 2, 27, is +not to be put down to a mistake of Ctesias, since Nicolaus (Frag. 9, +ed. Müller) describes Nineveh as situated on the Tigris in a passage +undoubtedly borrowed from Ctesias. The error belongs, as Carl +Jacoby ("Rhein. Museum," 30, 575 ff.) has proved, to the historians +of the time of Alexander and the earliest Diadochi, who had in their +thoughts the city of Mabog (Hierapolis), on the Euphrates, which was +also called Nineveh. The mistake has passed from Clitarchus to the +narrative of Diodorus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Steph. Byzant. +Χαύων, χώρα τῆς Μηδίας, +Κτησίας ἐν πρώτῳ +Περτικῶν. Η δὲ +Σεμιραμις ἐντεῦθεν +ἐξελαύνει, +κ. τ. λ.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Diod. 1, 56.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Frag. 7, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Frag. 1, 2, ed. Müller; cf. Justin. 1, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Anonym. tract. "De Mulier." c. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Diod. 2, 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Nicol. Frag. 8, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> 1, 184.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 80, 529, 737; Lucian, "de Syria dea," c. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Herod. 1, 102.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> Xenoph. "Anab." 3, 4, 6-10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Diodorus tells us himself (2, 7) that in writing the first 30 chapters +of his second book he had before him the book of Clitarchus on +Alexander. Carl Jacoby (<i>loc. cit.</i>)—by a comparison with the statements +in point in Curtius, who transcribed Clitarchus, and by the proof +that certain passages in the narrative of Diodorus which relate to +Bactria and India are in agreement with passages in the seventeenth +book, in which Diodorus undoubtedly follows Clitarchus; that certain +observations in the description of Babylon in Diodorus can only +belong to Alexander and his nearest successors; that certain preparations +of Semiramis for the Indian campaign agree with certain +preparations of Alexander for his Indian campaign, and certain +incidents in Alexander's battle against Porus with certain incidents +in the battle of Semiramis against Stabrobates; and finally by +showing that the situation of the ancient Nineveh was unknown to +the historians of the time of Alexander, who were on the other hand +acquainted with a Nineveh on the Euphrates (Hierapolis, Mabog; +Plin. "Hist. Nat." 5, 23; Ammian. Marcell. 14, 8, 7)—has made it at +least very probable that Diodorus had Ctesias before him in the +revision of Clitarchus. We may allow that Clitarchus brought the +Bactrian Oxyartes into the narrative, unless we ought to read Exaortes +in Diodorus; but that the name of the king in Ctesias was Zoroaster +is in my opinion very doubtful. The sources of Ctesias were stories +related by Persians or Medes from the epic of West Iran. That this +should put Zoroaster at the time of Ninus, and make him king of +the Bactrians, in order to allow him to be overthrown by the Assyrians, +is very improbable. Whether Ctesias ascribed to Semiramis the building +of Egbatana is also very doubtful; that he mentioned her stay in +Media, and ascribed to her the building of the road over the Zagrus +and the planting of gardens, follows from the quotation of Stephanus +given above. Ctesias has not ascribed to her the hanging gardens at +Babylon. Diodorus makes them the work of a later Syrian king, whom +Ctesias would certainly have called king of Assyria. Ctesias too can +hardly have ascribed to her the obelisk at Babylon (Diod. 2, 11); so +at least the addition of Diodorus, "that it belonged to the seven +wonders," seems to me to prove.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> "Catasterism." c. 38; Hygin. "Astronom." 2, 41. In Diodorus +Aphrodite, enraged by a maiden, Derceto, imbues her with a fierce +passion for a youth. In shame she slays the youth, exposes the child, +throws herself into the lake of Ascalon, and is changed into a fish. +For this reason the image of the goddess Derceto at Ascalon has the +face of a woman and the body of a fish (2, 4).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Diod. 2, 17, <i>init.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Georg. Syncell. p. 119, ed. Bonn.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Diod. 1, 56.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> "De Iside," c. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Diod. 2, 4, <i>init.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Herod. 1, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Lucian, "De Syria dea," c. 33, 14, 38. The name Semiramoth is +found 1 Chronicles xv. 18, 20; xvi. 5; 2, xvii. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Ctesias in Strabo, p. 785.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Agathias, 2, 24.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE BEGINNINGS OF THE ASSYRIAN KINGDOM.</h3> + + +<p>To relegate Ninus and Semiramis with all their works +and deeds to the realm of fiction may appear to +be a startling step, going beyond the limits of a +prudent criticism. Does not Ctesias state accurately +the years of the reigns: Ninus reigned, according to his +statement, 52 years; Semiramis was 62 years old, and +reigned 42 years? Do not the chronographers assure +us that in Ctesias the successors of Ninus and Semiramis, +from Ninyas to Sardanapalus, the last ruler over +Assyria, 34 kings, were enumerated, and the length of +their reigns accurately given, and has not Eusebius +actually preserved this list? Since, at the same time, +we find out, through Diodorus and the chronographers, +as well as through this list, that Ctesias fixed the +continuance of the Assyrian kingdom at more than +1300 years, or more exactly at 1306, and the fall of +the kingdom took place according to his reckoning in +the year 883 <small>B.C.</small>, Ninus must on these dates have +ascended the throne in the year 2189 <small>B.C.</small> (883 + 1306), +and the reign of Semiramis commenced in 2137 <small>B.C.</small> +(883 + 1254). Eusebius himself puts the accession of +Ninus at 2057 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<p>If in spite of these accurate statements we persist in +refusing to give credit to Ctesias, Berosus remains, +who, according to the evidence of the chronographers, +dealt with the rule of Semiramis over Assyria. After +mentioning the dynasty of the Medes which reigned +over Babylon from 2458-2224 <small>B.C.</small>, the dynasty of +the Elamites (2224-1976 <small>B.C.</small>), of the Chaldæans +(1976-1518 <small>B.C.</small>), and of the Arabs, who are said to +have reigned over Babylon from the year 1518 to the +year 1273 <small>B.C.</small>, Berosus mentioned the rule of Semiramis +over the Assyrians. "After this," so we find it +in Polyhistor, "Berosus enumerates the names of 45 +kings separately, and allotted to them 526 years. +After them there was a king of the Chaldæans named +Phul, and after him Sennacherib, the king of the +Assyrians, whose son, Esarhaddon, then reigned in his +place."<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> If we take these 45 kings for kings of Assyria, +who ruled over this kingdom after Semiramis, then, by +allowing the supplements of these series of kings previously +mentioned (I. 247), the era of these 45 kings will +begin in the year 1273 <small>B.C.</small> and end in 747 <small>B.C.</small>, and +the date of Semiramis will fall immediately before the +year 1273 <small>B.C.</small> In the view of Herodotus, Ninus was +at the head of the Assyrian empire, but not Semiramis. +As already observed (p. 14), he mentions Semiramis as +a queen of Babylon, and does not place her higher +than the middle of the seventh century <small>B.C.</small>;<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> but he +regards the dominion of Assyria over Upper Asia as +commencing far earlier. Before the Persians the +Medes ruled over Asia for 156 years; before them the +Assyrians ruled for 520 years; the Medes were the +first of the subject nations who rebelled against the +Assyrians; the rest of the nations followed their +example. As the Median empire fell before the attack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +of the Persians in 558 <small>B.C.</small>, the beginning of the +Median empire would fall in the year 714 <small>B.C.</small> +(558 + 156), and consequently the beginning of the +Assyrian kingdom in the year 1234 <small>B.C.</small> (714 + 520), +<i>i. e.</i> four or five decades later than Berosus puts the +death of Semiramis. For the date of the beginning of +the Assyrian dominion Herodotus and Berosus would +thus be nearly in agreement. It has been assumed +that the 45 kings whom the latter represents as following +Semiramis were kings of Assyria, who ruled at the +same time over Babylon, and were thus regarded as a +Babylonian dynasty. This agreement would be the +more definite if it could be supposed that, according +to the view of Herodotus, the beginning of the +156 years which he gives to the Median empire was +separated by an interval of some decades from the +date of their liberation from the power of the Assyrians. +In this case the empire of the Assyrians over +Asia would not have commenced very long before the +year 1273 <small>B.C.</small>, and would have extended from that +date over Babylonia. In complete contradiction to +this are the statements of Ctesias, which carry us back +beyond 2000 <small>B.C.</small> for the commencement of the Assyrian +empire. They cannot be brought into harmony +with the statements of Herodotus, even if the time +allotted by Ctesias to the Assyrian empire (1306 years) +is reckoned from the established date of the conquest +of Nineveh by the Medes and Babylonians (607 <small>B.C.</small>). +The result of such a calculation (607 + 1306) carries us +back to 1913 <small>B.C.</small>, a date far higher than Herodotus +and Berosus give.</p> + +<p>Is it possible in any other way to approach more +closely to the beginning of the Assyrian kingdom, the +date of its foundation, or the commencement of its +conquests? We have already seen how the Pharaohs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +of Egypt, after driving out the shepherds in the sixteenth +and fifteenth centuries <small>B.C.</small>, reduced Syria to +subjection; how the first and third Tuthmosis, the +second and third Amenophis, forced their way beyond +Syria to Naharina. The land of Naharina, in the +inscriptions of these kings, was certainly not the Aram +Naharaim, the high land between the Euphrates and +Tigris, in the sense of the books of the Hebrews. It +was not Mesopotamia, but simply "the land of the +stream (Nahar)." For the Hebrews also Nahar, <i>i. e.</i> +river, means simply the Euphrates. It has been already +shown that the arms of the Egyptians hardly went +beyond the Chaboras to the east; and if the inscriptions +of Tuthmosis III. represent him as receiving on +his sixth campaign against the Syrians, <i>i. e.</i> about the +year 1584 <small>B.C.</small>, the tribute of Urn Assuru, <i>i. e.</i> of the +chieftain of Asshur, consisting of 50 minæ of lapis-lazuli; +if these inscriptions in the year 1579 once more mention +among the tribute of the Syrians the tribute of +this prince in lapis-lazuli, cedar-trunks, and other +wood, it is still uncertain whether the chief of the +Assyrians is to be understood by this prince. Had +Tuthmosis III. really reached and crossed the Tigris, +were Assuru Assyria, then from the description of +this prince, and the payment of tribute in lapis-lazuli +and cedar-trunks, we could draw the conclusion that +Assyria in the first half of the sixteenth century +<small>B.C.</small> was still in the commencement of its civilisation, +whereas we found above that as early as the beginning +of the twentieth century <small>B.C.</small> Babylonia was united +into a mighty kingdom, and had made considerable +advance in the development of her civilisation.</p> + +<p>Our hypothesis was that the Semites, who took +possession of the valley of the Euphrates, were immigrants +from the south, from Arabia, and that this new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +population forced its way by successive steps up the +river-valley. We were able to establish the fact +that the earliest governments among the immigrants +were formed on the lower course of the Euphrates, +and that the centre of the state in these regions +slowly moved upwards towards Babel. We found, +further, that Semitic tribes went in this direction as +far as the southern slope of the Armenian table-land.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> +In this way the region on the Tigris, afterwards called +Assyria, was reached and peopled by the Semites. +With the Hebrews Asshur, beside Arphaxad and +Aram, beside Elam and Lud, is the seed of Shem. +"From Shinar" (<i>i. e.</i> from Babylonia), we are told +in Genesis, "Asshur went forth and built Nineveh, +and Rehoboth-Ir, and Chalah, and Resen between +Nineveh and Chalah, which is the great city." There +is no reason to call in question this statement that +Assyria was peopled and civilised from Babylonia. +Language, writing, and religion exhibit the closest +relationship and agreement between Babylonia and +Assyria.</p> + +<p>On the west bank of the Tigris, some miles above +the confluence of the Lesser Zab, at the foot of a ridge +of hills, lie the remains of an ancient city. The stamps +on the tiles of these ruins tell us that the name of the +city was Asshur. Tiglath Pilesar, a king of Assyria, +the first of the name, whose reign, though we cannot +fix the date precisely, may certainly be put about the +year 1110 <small>B.C.</small>, narrates in his inscriptions: The temple +of the gods Anu and Bin, which Samsi-Bin, the +son of Ismidagon, built at Asshur 641 years previously, +had fallen down; King Assur-dayan had caused the +ruins to be removed without rebuilding it. For 60 +years the foundations remained untouched; he, Tiglath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +Pilesar, restored this ancient sanctuary. Tiles from this +ruin on the Tigris, from this city of Asshur, establish +also the fact that a prince named Samsi-Bin, son of +Ismidagon, once ruled and built in this city of Asshur. +They have the inscription: "Samsi-Bin, the son of +Ismidagon, built the temple of the god Asshur."<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> +Hence Samsi-Bin built temples in the city of Asshur to +the god Asshur as well as to the gods Anu and Bin. +His date falls, according as the 60 years of the inscription +of Tiglath Pilesar, during which the temple of +Anu and Bin was not in existence, are added to the +space of 641 years or included in them, either about +the year 1800 or 1740 <small>B.C.</small>; the date of his father +Ismidagon about the year 1830 or 1770 <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>In any case it is clear that a place of the name of +Asshur, the site of which is marked by the ruins of +Kileh-Shergat, was inhabited about the year 1800 +<small>B.C.</small>, and that about this time sanctuaries were raised +in it. The name of the place was taken from the +god specially worshipped there. As Babel (Gate of +El) was named after the god El, Asshur was named +after the god of that name. The city was Asshur's +city, the land Asshur's land. Beside the city of +Asshur, about 75 miles up the Tigris, there must have +been at the time indicated a second place of the name +of Ninua (Nineveh), the site of which is marked by the +ruins of Kuyundshik and Nebbi Yunus (opposite +Mosul), since, according to the statement of Shalmanesar +I., king of Assyria, Samsi-Bin built another temple +here to the goddess Istar.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> Ismidagon, as well as +Samsi-Bin, is called in the inscription of Tiglath +Pilesar I. "Patis of Asshur." The meaning of this +title is not quite clear; the word is said to mean +viceroy. If by this title a vice-royalty over the land<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +of Asshur is meant, we may assume that Assyria was a +colony of Babylonia—that it was under the supremacy +of the kings of Babylon, and ruled by their viceroys. +But since at a later period princes of Assyria called +themselves "Patis of Asshur," as well as "kings of +Asshur," the title may be explained as meaning that +the old princes of Assyria called themselves viceroys +of the god of the land, of the god Asshur. Moreover, +it would be strange that a colony of Babylonia, +which was under the supremacy of that country, should +make its protecting god a deity different from that +worshipped in Babylonia.</p> + +<p>From this evidence we may assume that about the +year 1800 <small>B.C.</small> a state named Asshur grew up between +the Tigris and the Lesser Zab. This state must have +passed beyond the lower stages of civilisation at the +time when the princes erected temples to their gods at +more than one chief place in their dominions, when they +could busy themselves with buildings in honour of the +gods after the example of the ancient princes of Erech +and Nipur, of Hammurabi, and his successors at +Babylon. With this result the statements in the +inscriptions of Tuthmosis III do not entirely agree. +Two hundred years after the time of Ismidagon and +Samsi-Bin they speak only of the chief of Asshur, and +of tribute in lapis-lazuli and tree-trunks; but this +divergence is not sufficient to make us affirm with certainty +that the "Assuru" of Tuthmosis has no reference +whatever to Assyria. If we were able to place the +earliest formation of a state on the Lower Euphrates +about the year 2500 <small>B.C.</small>, the beginnings of Assyria, +according to the inferences to be drawn from the evidence +of the first Tiglath Pilesar and the tiles of +Kileh-Shergat, could not be placed later than the year +2000 <small>B.C.</small><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span></p> + +<p>Beside Ismidagon and Samsi-Bin, the inscriptions +of Tiglath Pilesar and the tiles of the ruins of Kileh-Shergat +mention four or five other names of princes who +belong to the early centuries of the Assyrian empire, +but for whom we cannot fix any precise place. The +date of the two kings, who on Assyrian tablets are +the contemporaries of Binsumnasir of Babylon, Assur-nirar, +and Nabudan, could not have been fixed with +certainty if other inscriptions had not made us +acquainted with the princes who ruled over Assyria +in succession from 1460—1280 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> From these we may +assume that Assur-nirar and Nabudan must have reigned +before this series of princes, <i>i. e.</i> before 1460 <small>B.C.</small>, from +which it further follows that from about the year 1500 +<small>B.C.</small> onwards Assyria was in any case an independent +state beside Babylon. We found above that the treaty +which Assur-bil-nisi, king of Assyria, concluded about +the year 1450 <small>B.C.</small> with Karaindas, king of Babylon, for +fixing the boundaries, must have been preceded by +hostile movements on the part of both kingdoms. We +saw that Assur-bil-nisi's successor, Busur-Assur, concluded +a treaty with the same object with Purnapuryas +of Babylon, and that Assur-u-ballit, who succeeded +Busur-Assur on the throne of Assyria, gave his +daughter in marriage to Purnapuryas. In order to +avenge the murder of Karachardas, the son of Purnapuryas +by this marriage, who succeeded his father on +the throne of Babylon, Assur-u-ballit invaded Babylonia +and placed Kurigalzu, another son of Purnapuryas, +on the throne. We might assume that about +this time, <i>i. e.</i> about 1400 <small>B.C.</small>, the borders of Assyria<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> +and Babylonia touched each other in the neighbourhood +of the modern Aker-Kuf, the ancient Dur-Kurigalzu.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +Assur-u-ballit, who restored the temple of Istar at +Nineveh which Samsi-Bin had built, was followed by +Pudiel, Bel-nirar, and Bin-nirar.<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> The last tells us, +on a stone of Kileh-Shergat, that Assur-u-ballit conquered +the land of Subari, Bel-nirar the army of Kassi, +that Pudiel subjugated all the land as far as the distant +border of Guti; he himself overcame the armies of +Kassi, Guti, Lulumi and Subari; the road to the +temple of the god Asshur, his lord, which had fallen +down, he restored with earth and tiles, and set up his +tablet with his name, "on the twentieth day of the +month Muhurili, in the year of Salmanurris."<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> + +<p>Bin-nirar's son and successor was Shalmanesar I., +who ascended the throne of Assyria about 1340 <small>B.C.</small> +We learnt above from Genesis, that "Asshur built the +cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Resen and Chalah." +Assur-nasirpal, who ruled over Assyria more than 400 +years after Shalmanesar I., tells us that "Shalmanesar +the mighty, who lived before him, founded the ancient +city of Chalah."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> It is thus clear that Assyria before +the year 1300 <small>B.C.</small> obtained a third residence in addition +to the cities of Asshur and Nineveh. Like Asshur +and Nineveh, it lay on the banks of the Tigris, about +50 miles to the north of Asshur, and 25 to the south +of Nineveh. It was not, however, like Asshur, situated +on the western bank of the river, but on the eastern,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +like Nineveh, a little above the junction of the Upper +Zab, in a position protected by both rivers, and thus +far more secure than Asshur. Shalmanesar also built +in both the old residences of Asshur and Nineveh. +Tiles of Kileh-Shergat bear the stamp, "Palace of +Shalmanesar, son of king Bin-nirar."<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> His buildings +in Nineveh are certified by an inscription, in which +Shalmanesar says: "The temple of Istar, which Samsi-Bin, +the prince who was before me, built, and which +my predecessor Assur-u-ballit restored, had fallen into +decay in the course of time. I built it up again from +the ground to the roof. The prince who comes after me +and sees my cylinder (p. 37), and sets it again in its +place, as I have set the cylinder of Assur-u-ballit in its +place, him may Istar bless; but him who destroys my +monument may Istar curse and root his name and +race out of the land."<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> In the same inscription Shalmanesar +calls himself conqueror of Niri, Lulumi and +Musri, districts for which—at any rate for the two last—we +shall have to look in the neighbourhood of Nineveh, +in the chain of the Zagrus. The son of Shalmanesar I. +was Tiglath Adar; he completed the restoration of +the temple of Istar at Nineveh, and fought with such +success against Nazimurdas of Babylon that he placed +on his seal this inscription: "Tiglath Adar, king of +the nations, son of Shalmanesar, king of Asshur, has +conquered the land of Kardunias." But he afterwards +lost this very seal to the Babylonians, who placed it as +a trophy in the treasure-house of Babylon (about +1300 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>These are the beginnings of the Assyrian kingdom +according to the indications of the monuments. After +the series of kings from Assur-bil-nisi to Tiglath Adar, +whose dates come down from about the year 1460 to +about 1280 <small>B.C.</small>, there is a gap in our knowledge of some +decades. After this we hear at first of new struggles +with Babylon. In these Belkudurussur of Assyria +(about 1220 <small>B.C.</small>) lost his life. The Babylonians, led by +their king, Binpaliddin, invaded Assyria with a numerous +army in order to take the city of Asshur. But Adarpalbitkur, +the successor of Belkudurussur, succeeded in +forcing them to retire to Babylon.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> Of Adarpalbitkur +his fourth successor proudly declares that "he was the +protector of the might of Asshur, that he put an end +to his weakness in his land, that he arranged well the +army of the land of Assyria."<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> His son, Assur-dayan +(about 1180 <small>B.C.</small>) was able to remove the war again<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +into the land of Babylonia; he claims to have carried +the booty from three places in Babylonia—Zab, Irriya +and Agarsalu—to Assyria.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> It was he who had carried +away the ruins of the fallen temple which Samsi-Bin +had built at Asshur to Anu and Bin, but had not +erected it again. According to the words of his great-grandson, +"he carried the exalted sceptre, and prospered +the nation of Bel; the work of his hands and +the gifts of his fingers pleased the great gods; he +attained great age and long life."<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Of Assur-dayan's +son and successor, Mutakkil-Nebu (about 1160 <small>B.C.</small>), +we only find that "Asshur, the great lord, raised him +to the throne, and upheld him in the constancy of his +heart."<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> Mutakkil-Nebu's son, Assur-ris-ilim (between +1150 and 1130 <small>B.C.</small>) had to undergo severe struggles +against the Babylonians, who repeatedly invaded +Assyria under Nebuchadnezzar I. At length Assur-ris-ilim +succeeded in repulsing Nebuchadnezzar, and +took from him 40 (50) chariots of war with a banner. +Tiglath Pilesar, the son of Assur-ris-ilim, says of the +deeds of his father, doubtless with extreme exaggeration, +"he conquered the lands of the enemy, and subjugated +all the hostile lands."<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a></p> + +<p>The tiles of a heap of ruins at Asshur bear the +inscription, "Tiglath Pilesar, the favoured of Asshur, +has built and set up the temple of his lord the god +Bin." At the four corners of the foundation walls of +this building were discovered four octagonal cylinders +of clay, about a foot and a half in height, on the +inscriptions of which this king repeats the narrative of +the deeds of the first five years of his life. He restored<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +the royal dwelling-places and the fortresses of the +land which were in a bad condition, and planted again +the forests of the land of Asshur; he renovated the +habitation of the gods, the temples of Istar and Bilit +in the city of Asshur. At the beginning of his +reign Anu and Bin, his lords, had bidden him set up +again the temple which Samsi-Bin had once built +for them. This he accomplished; he caused the two +great deities to enter into their high dwelling-places +and rejoiced the heart of their great divinity. "May +Anu and Bin grant me prosperity for ever, may they +bless the work of my hands, may they hear my prayer +and lead me to victory in war and in fight, may they +subdue to my dominion all the lands which rise up +against me, the rebellious nations and the princes, my +rivals, may they accept my sacrificial offerings for the +continuance and increase of my race; may it be the +will of Asshur and the great gods to establish my race +as firm as the mountains to the remotest days."<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a></p> + +<p>These cylinders tell us of the campaign of Tiglath +Pilesar. First he defeated 20,000 Moschi (Muskai) +and their five kings. He marched against the land +of Kummukh, which rebelled against him; even +that part of the inhabitants which fled into a city +beyond the Tigris which they had garrisoned he overcame +after crossing the Tigris. He also conquered +the people of Kurkhië (Kirkhië) who came to their +help; he drove them into the Tigris and the river +Nami, and took prisoner in the battle Kiliantaru, +whom they had made their king; he conquered the +land of Kummukh throughout its whole extent and +incorporated it with Assyria.<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> After this he marched +against the land of Kurkhië; next he crossed the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +Lower Zab and overcame two districts there. Then +he turned against the princes of the land of Nairi (he +puts the number of these at 23); these, and the +princes who came from the upper sea to aid them, he +conquered, carried off their flocks, destroyed their cities, +and imposed on them a tribute of 1200 horses and 2000 +oxen. These battles in the north were followed by a +campaign in the west. He invaded the land of Aram, +which knew not the god Asshur, his lord;<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> he marched +against the city of Karkamis, in the land of the Chatti; +he defeated their warriors on the east of the Euphrates; +he crossed the Euphrates in pursuit of the fugitives and +there destroyed six cities. Immediately after this the +king marched again to the East, against the lands of +Khumani and Musri and imposed tribute upon them.</p> + +<p>"Two-and-forty lands and their princes," so the +cylinders inform us, "from the banks of the Lower +Zab as far as the bank of the Euphrates, the land of the +Chatti, and the upper sea of the setting sun, all these +my hand has reached since my accession; one after +the other I have subjugated them; I have received +hostages from them and laid tribute upon them."<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> +"This temple of Anu and Bin and these towers," so +the inscription of the cylinders concludes, "will grow +old; he who in the succession of the days shall be +king in my place at a remote time, may he restore +them and place his name beside mine, then will Anu +and Bin grant to him prosperity, joy and success in +his undertakings. But he who hides my tablets, and +erases or destroys them, or puts his name in the place +of mine, him will Anu and Bin curse, his throne will +they bring down, and break the power of his dominion, +and cause his army to flee; Bin will devote his land to +destruction, and will spread over it poverty, hunger,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +sickness, and death, and destroy his name and his race +from the earth. On the twenty-ninth day of Kisallu, +in the year of In-iliya-allik."<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p> + +<p>In memory of his achievements against the land of +Nairi, Tiglath Pilesar also set up a special monument. +On a rock at one of the sources of the Eastern Tigris +near Karkar we see his image hewn in relief. He +wears the tall cap or <i>kidaris</i>; the hair and beard are +long and curled; the robe falls in deep folds to the +ancles. The inscription runs: "By the grace of +Asshur, Samas and Bin, the great gods, my lords, I, +Tiglath Pilesar, am ruler from the great sea of the west +land (<i>mat acharri</i>) to the lake of the land of Nairi. +Three times I have marched to the land of Nairi."<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> +The first subjugation of this district could not, therefore, +have been complete.</p> + +<p>As this monument proves, Tiglath Pilesar's campaigns +could not have ended with the fifth year of his reign. +From the synchronistic tablets we can ascertain that +he had to undergo severe struggles with the Babylonians. +Marduk-nadin-akh of Babylon invaded Assyria, +crossed the Tigris, and the battle took place on the +Lower Zab. In the next year, according to the same +tablets, Tiglath Pilesar is said to have taken the border-fortresses +of Babylon, Dur-Kurigalzu, Sippara, Babili +and Upi (Opis ?).<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> However this may be, Tiglath +Pilesar in the end was at a disadvantage in his contest +with the Babylonians. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, +tells us, "The gods of the city Hekali, which Marduk-nadin-akh, +king of the land of Accad, had taken in the +time of Tiglath Pilesar, king of Asshur, and carried to +Babylon 418 years previously, I have caused to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +brought back again from Babylon and put up again in +their place." A Babylonian tablet from the tenth year +of Marduk-nadin-akh of Babylon appears to deal with +loans on conquered Assyrian territory.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> + +<p>When Tiglath Pilesar ascended the throne about the +year 1130 <small>B.C.</small> the empire of Assyria, as his inscriptions +show, had not as yet made any extensive conquests +beyond the circle of the native country. The +Muskai, <i>i. e.</i> the Moschi, whom we have found on the +north-western slopes of the Armenian mountains, +against whom Tiglath Pilesar first fought, had forced +their way, as the cylinders tell us, into the land of +Kummukh.<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> As the inhabitants of the land of +Kummukh are conquered on the Tigris and forced into +it, while others escape over the Tigris and defend a +fortified city on the further side of the river, as the +land itself is then incorporated with Assyria, we must +obviously look for it at no great distance to the north +on both shores of the Upper Tigris. We shall hardly be +in error, therefore, if we take this land to be the district +afterwards called Gumathene, on the Tigris, which +Ammianus describes as a fruitful and productive land, +<i>i. e.</i> as the canton of Amida.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> The next conflicts of +Tiglath Pilesar took place on the Lower Zab, <i>i. e.</i> at +the south-eastern border of the Assyrian country. +Further to the south, on the Zagrus, perhaps in the +district of Chalonitis, or between the Lower Zab and +the Adhim, or at any rate to the east, we must look for +the land of Khumani and the land of Musri. The +image at Karkar, Tiglath Pilesar's monument of victory,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +gives us information about the position of the land of +Nairi. It comprises the mountain cantons between the +Eastern Tigris and the upper course of the Great Zab, +where that river traverses the land of Arrapachitis +(Albak). The lake of the land of Nairi, to which the +inscription of Karkar extends the rule of Tiglath Pilesar, +and the upper sea from which auxiliaries come to the +princes of the land of Nairi, are both, no doubt, Lake +Van. The inhabitants of Nairi are not like those of +the land of Kummukh, incorporated with Assyria, they +have merely to pay a moderate tribute in horses and +oxen. The campaign of Tiglath Pilesar against Karkamis +(Karchemish) proves that the dominion of Assyria +before his reign did not reach the Euphrates. He +marches against the land of Aram and has then to +fight with the army of Karchemish on this side, <i>i. e.</i> on +the east side of the Euphrates; the results which he +obtained on this campaign to the west of the Euphrates +he does not himself rate very highly. We saw that in +the end he remained at a disadvantage in his contest +with Babylon. On the other hand, in campaigns +which took place in years subsequent to the attempt +against Karchemish, he must have forced his way +to the west far beyond the Euphrates, in order to +be able to boast on the monument at Karkar "that +he ruled from the sea of Nairi as far as the great +sea of the west land," <i>i. e.</i> to the Mediterranean. +Hence we have to assume that he went forth from +Karchemish westwards almost as far as the mouth of +the Orontes. We should be more accurately informed +on this matter if the fragment of an inscription on an +obelisk beside an inscription of Assurnasirpal, who +reigned more than 200 years after Tiglath Pilesar, +could be referred to Tiglath Pilesar. The fragment +speaks in the third person of the booty gained in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +hunting by a king, which is given in nearly the same +totals as the results of Tiglath Pilesar's hunts on his +cylinders. These represent him as slaying 120 lions +and capturing 800. The fragment speaks of 120 and +800 lions, of Amsi killed in Charran on the Chabor, +of Rim whom the king slew before the land of Chatti +at the foot of Mount Labnani (Lebanon), of a crocodile +(<i>nasukh</i>) which the king of Musri sent as a present. +The hunter, it is said, ruled from the city of Babylon, +in the land of Accad, as far as the land of the west +(<i>mat acharri</i>).<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a></p> + +<p>According to the inscriptions on the cylinders the +land of Aram lies to the east of the Euphrates; the +city of Karchemish lies on the west bank in the land of +the Chatti. The Chatti are the Hittites of the Hebrews, +the Cheta of the Egyptians. We found that the +inscriptions of Sethos and Ramses II. extended the +name of the Cheta as far as the Euphrates (I. 151, +152). But although the kingdom of the Hittites had +fallen two centuries before Tiglath Pilesar crossed +the Euphrates, the name still clung to this region, as +the inscriptions of Tiglath Pilesar and his successors +prove, more especially to the region from Hamath and +Damascus as far as Lebanon. The land of the west +(<i>mat acharri</i>) in the strict sense is, of course, to the +Assyrians, from their point of view, the coast of Syria. +Whatever successes Tiglath Pilesar may have gained +in this direction, they were of a transitory nature.</p> + +<p>The first of his sons to succeed him was Assur-bel-kala, +whose reign we may fix in the years 1100-1080 +<small>B.C.</small> With three successive kings of Babylon, Marduk-sapik-kullat, +Saduni (?), and Nebu-zikir-iskun, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +came into contact, peaceful or hostile. With the first +he made a treaty of peace, with Saduni he carried on +war, with Nebu-zikir-iskun he again concluded a +peace, which fixed the borders. This was confirmed +by intermarriage;<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> Assur-bel-kala married his +daughter to Nebu-zikir-iskun, while the latter gave his +daughter to Assur-bel-kala. Of the exploits of his +successor, Samsi-Bin II. (1080-1060 <small>B.C.</small>), a second +son of Tiglath Pilesar, we have no account.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> We +cannot maintain with certainty whether Assur-rab-amar, +of whom Shalmanesar II. tells us that he lost +two cities on the Euphrates which Tiglath Pilesar had +taken,<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> was the direct successor of Samsi-Bin.</p> + +<p>After this, for the space of more than 100 years +(1040-930), there is again a gap in our knowledge. +Not till we reach Assur-dayan II., who ascended +the throne of Assyria about the year 930 <small>B.C.</small>, can we +again follow the series of the Assyrian kings downwards +without interruption. This Assur-dayan II. is followed +by Bin-nirar II., about 900; Bin-nirar, by Tiglath Adar +II., who reigned from 889-883 <small>B.C.</small> He had to contend +once more against the land of Nairi, <i>i. e.</i> against +the region between the Eastern Tigris and the upper +course of the Upper Zab. As a memorial of the +successes which he gained here he caused his image +to be carved beside that of Tiglath Pilesar in the rocks +at Karkar (see below). Besides this, there is in existence +from his time a pass, <i>i. e.</i> a small tablet, with the +inscription, "Permission to enter into the palace of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> +Tiglath Adar, king of the land of Asshur, son of Bin-nirar, +king of the land of Asshur."<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p> + +<p>Neither at the commencement nor in the course of +the history of Assyria do the monuments know of a +king Ninus, a queen Semiramis, or of any warlike +queen of this kingdom; they do not even mention any +woman as standing independently at the head of +Assyria. Once, it is true, we find the name Semiramis +in the inscriptions in the form Sammuramat. Sammuramat +was the wife of king Bin-nirar III., who +ruled over Assyria from the year 810-781 <small>B.C.</small> On +the pedestal of two statues, which an officer of this +king, the prefect of Chalah, dedicated to the god Nebo, +the inscription is: "To Nebo, the highest lord of his +lords, the protector of Bin-nirar, king of Asshur, and +protector of Sammuramat, the wife of the palace, his +lady." The name of Ninyas is quite unknown to the +monuments, and of the names of the 33 kings which +Ctesias gives, with their names and reigns as successors +of Ninyas down to the overthrow of the kingdom +and Sardanapalus (p. 26),—unless we identify the last +name in the list, that of Sardanapalus, with the Assurbanipal +of the inscriptions, <i>i. e.</i> with the ruler last +but one or two according to the records,—no single one +agrees with the names of the monuments, which, moreover, +give a higher total than six-and-thirty for the +reigns of the Assyrian kings. The list of Ctesias appears +to have been put together capriciously or merely +invented; the lengths of the reigns are pure imagination, +and arranged according to certain synchronisms.</p> + +<p>Not less definite is the evidence of the monuments +that the pre-eminence of Assyria over Upper Asia +cannot have commenced in the year 2189 or 1913 <small>B.C.</small>, +as Ctesias asserts, or as may be assumed from his data,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +nor in 1273, as has been deduced from the statements +of Berosus, nor finally in the year 1234, according to +Herodotus' statements (p. 27). Though we are able to +find only approximately the dates of the kings of +Assyria, whose names and deeds we have passed in +review, the result is, nevertheless, that the power of +Assyria in the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries did +not go far beyond the native country—that her forces +by no means surpassed those of Babylon—that precisely +in the thirteenth and twelfth centuries <small>B.C.</small> the +kingdom of Babylon was at least as strong as that of +Assyria—that even towards the close of the twelfth +century Tiglath Pilesar I. could gain no success against +Babylon—that his successors sought to establish peaceful +relations with Babylonia. There is just as little +reason to maintain the period of 520 years which +Herodotus allows for the Assyrian empire over Asia. +This cannot in any case be assumed earlier than the +date of Tiglath Pilesar I., who did at least cross the +Euphrates and enter Northern Syria. The beginning +of this empire would, therefore, be about 1130 <small>B.C.</small>, +not 1234 <small>B.C.</small> The date also which Herodotus gives +for the close of this empire (before 700 <small>B.C.</small>) cannot, +as will be shown, be maintained. According to this +datum the decline and fall of Assyria must have +began with the period in which, as a fact, she rose +to the proudest height and extended her power to +the widest extent. The period of 520 years can only +be kept artificially by reckoning it upwards from the +year 607 <small>B.C.</small>, the year of the overthrow of the +Assyrian empire; then it brings us from this date +to 1127 <small>B.C.</small>, <i>i. e.</i> to the time of Tiglath Pilesar I. +But we saw that the conquests of Tiglath Pilesar did +not extend very far, that his successes west of the +Euphrates were of a transitory nature; in no case<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +could a dominion of Assyria over Babylon be dated +from his reign.</p> + +<p>The complete agreement of the Assyrian and Babylonian +style and civilisation is proved most clearly by +the monuments. The names of the princes of Assyria +are formed analogously to those of the Babylonians; +the names and the nature of the deities which the +Assyrians and Babylonians worship are the same. In +Assyria we meet again with Anu the god of the high +heaven, Samas the sun-god, Sin the moon-god, Bin +(Ramman) the god of the thunder; of the spirits of the +planets Adar, the lord of Saturn, Nebo, the god of +Mercury, and Istar, the lady of Venus, in her double +nature of destroyer and giver of fruit, reappear. There +is only one striking difference: the special protector +of Assyria, Asshur, the god of the land, stands at the +head of the gods in the place of El of the Babylonians. +He it is after whom the land and the oldest metropolis +is named, whose representatives the oldest princes of +Assyria appear to have called themselves. The name +of Asshur is said to mean the good or the kind;<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> +which may even on the Euphrates have been an epithet +of El, which on the Tigris became the chief name of +the deity. As the ancient princes of Ur and Erech, +of Nipur and Senkereh, as the kings of Babel—so also +the kings of Assyria, as far back as our monuments +allow us to go—built temples to their gods; like them +they mark the tiles of their buildings with their names; +like the kings of Babel, they cause inscriptions to be +written on cylinders, intended to preserve the memory +of their buildings and achievements, and then placed +in the masonry of their temples. The language of +the inscriptions of Assyria differs from those of the +Babylonian inscriptions, as one dialect from another;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +the system of writing is the same. The population of +Assyria transferred their language and writing, their +religious conceptions and modes of worship, from the +Lower Euphrates to the Upper Tigris. If the princes +of Erech, Nipur and Babylon had to repel the attacks +of Elam, the Assyrian land, a region of moderate extent, +lay under the spurs of the Armenian table-land, +under the ranges of the Zagrus. The struggle against +the tribes of these mountains, in the Zagrus and in the +region of the sources of the Euphrates and the Tigris, +and the stubborn resistance of these tribes appears to +have strengthened the warlike powers of the Assyrians, +and these ceaseless campaigns trained them to that +military excellence which finally, after a period of +exercise which lasted for centuries, won for them +the preponderance over Mesopotamia and Syria, over +Babylonia and Elam, no less than over Egypt.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Diod. 2, 21; Euseb. "Chron." 1, p. 56; 2, p. 11, ed. Schöne; Syncellus, +"Chron." 1, 313, 314, ed. Bonn; Brandis, "Rer. Assyr. tempor. +emend." p. 13 <i>seq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> Euseb. "Chron." 1, p. 26, ed. Schöne.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> 1, 184, 187.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Vol. i. 512.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Ménant, "Annal." p. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> G. Smith, "Discov." p. 249.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> The date of Tiglath Adar is fixed by the statement of Sennacherib +that he lost his seal to the Babylonians 600 years before Sennacherib +took Babylon, <i>i. e.</i> about the year 1300 <small>B.C.</small> As the series of seven +kings who reigned before Tiglath Adar is fixed, Assur-bil-nisi, the first +of these, can be placed about 1460 <small>B.C.</small> if we allow 20 years to each.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 262.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> This series, Pudiel, Bel-nirar and Bin-nirar, is established by +tiles of Kileh-Shergat, and the fact that it joins on to Assur-u-ballit, +by the tablet of Bin-nirar discovered by G. Smith, in which he calls +himself great grandson of Assur-u-ballit, grandson of Bel-nirar, and +son of Pudiel; G. Smith, "Discov." p. 244.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> G. Smith, "Discov." pp. 244, 245.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> E. Schrader, "Keilinschriften und A. T." s. 20; "Records of +the Past," 7, 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Ménant, "Annal." p. 73.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> G. Smith, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 249.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> G. Smith, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 250; E. Schrader, "A. B. Keilinschriften," s. +294. As Sennacherib states that he brought back this seal from +Babylon after 600 years, and as Sennacherib took Babylon twice in +704 and 694 <small>B.C.</small>, the loss of it falls either in the year 1304 or 1294 +<small>B.C.</small> As he brings back the Assyrian images of the gods at the second +capture (694 <small>B.C.</small>), the seal of Tiglath Adar may have been brought +back on this occasion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> G. Smith, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 250.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> So the passage runs according to a communication from E. Schrader. +On the reading Adarpalbitkur as against the readings Ninpalazira and +Adarpalassar, see E. Schrader, "A. B. Keilinschriften," s. 152. On +what Ménant ("Annal." p. 29) grounds the assumption that Belkudurussur +was the immediate successor of Tiglath Adar I cannot say; +it would not be chronologically impossible, but the synchronistic +tablet merely informs us that Adarpalbitkur was the successor of +Belkudurussur; G. Rawlinson, "Mon." 2, 49. Still less am I able to +find any foundation for the statement that Binpaliddin of Babylon, +the opponent of Belkudurussur and Adarpalbitkur, was a vassal-king +set up by Assyria. The date of Tiglath Pilesar I. is fixed by the +Bavian inscription, which tells us that Sennacherib at his second +capture of Babylon brought back out of that city the images of the +gods lost by Tiglath Pilesar 418 years previously (Bav. 43-50), at the +period between 1130 and 1100 <small>B.C.</small> If he began to reign 1130, then the +five kings before him (the series from Adarpalbitkur to Tiglath Pilesar is +fixed by the cylinder of the latter), allowing 20 years to each reign, +bring us to 1230 <small>B.C.</small> for the beginning of Belkudurussur. To go +back further seems the more doubtful, as Tiglath Pilesar put Assur-dayan, +the third prince of this series, only 60 years before his own +time.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Sayce, "Records of the Past," 3, 31; Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> Communication from E. Schrader.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> Cf. G. Smith, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 251.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 263; Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Ménant, "Annal." pp. 47, 48.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Column, 1, 62, <i>seqq.</i>, 1, 89.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> Column, 5, 44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Column, 6, 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 48.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 519; E. Schrader, "Keilinschriften und A. T." s. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 51.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 263; Bavian Inscrip. 48-50; Ménant, "Annal." pp. +52, 236. Inscription on the black basalt-stone in Oppert et Ménant, +"Documents juridiques," p. 98. Is the name of the witness (col. 2, +27), Sar-babil-assur-issu (p. 115), correctly explained by "The king +of Babel has conquered Asshur"?</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Col. 1, 62.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Ammian. Marcell. 18, 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> Araziki cannot be taken for Aradus, the name of which city on the +obelisk and in the inscriptions of Assurnasirpal, Shalmanesar, and +elsewhere is Arvadu.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Sayce, "Records," 3, 33; Ménant, "Annal." p. 53; "Babylone," +pp. 129, 130.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> According to G. Smith ("Discov." p. 91, 252) this Samsi-Bin II. +restored the temple of Istar at Nineveh which Samsi-Bin I. had built +(above, p. 3).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Inscription of Kurkh, "Records of the Past," 3, 93; Ménant, +"Annal." p. 55.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Ménant, "Annal." p. 63.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> E. Schrader, "Keilinschriften und A. T." s. 7.</p></div> +</div> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE NAVIGATION AND COLONIES OF THE PHENICIANS.</h3> + + +<p>At the time when Babylonia, on the banks of the +Euphrates, flourished under the successors of Hammurabi +in an ancient and peculiar civilisation, and Assyria +was struggling upwards beside Babylonia on the banks +of the Tigris, strengthening her military power in the +Armenian mountains and the ranges of the Zagrus, and +already beginning to try her strength in more distant +campaigns, a Semitic tribe succeeded in rising into +eminence in the West also, in winning and exerting a +deep-reaching influence on distant and extensive lands. +It was a district of the most moderate extent from +which this influence proceeded, its dominion was of a +different kind from that of the Babylonians and +Assyrians; it grew up on an element which elsewhere +appeared not a favourite with the Semites, and sought +its points of support in settlements on distant islands +and coasts. By this tribe the sea was actively traversed +and with ever-increasing boldness; by circumspection, +by skill, by tough endurance and brave ventures it +succeeded in extending its dominion in ever-widening +circles, and making the sea the instrument of its wealth +and the bearer of its power.</p> + +<p>On the coasts of Syria were settled the tribes of +the Arvadites, Giblites and Sidonians (I. 344). Their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +land extended from the mouth of the Eleutherus +(Nahr el Kebir) in the north to the promontory of +Carmel in the south. A narrow strip of coast under +Mount Lebanon, from 10 to 15 miles in breadth and +some 150 miles in length, was all that they possessed. +Richly watered by the streams sent down from Lebanon +to the sea, the small plains formed round their mouths +and separated by the spurs of the mountain ranges +are of the most abundant fertility. The Eleutherus is +followed to the south by the Adonis (Nahr el Ibrahim), +and this by the Lycus (Nahr el Kelb); then follow +the Tamyras (Nahr Damur), the Bostrenus (Nahr el +Auli<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a>), the Belus (the Sihor Libnath of the Hebrews, +now Nahr Naman), and lastly the Kishon. Above the +shore rise hills clothed with date-palms, vines and +olives; higher up on Lebanon splendid mountain pastures +spread out, and above these we come to the vast +forests (I. 338) which provide shade in the glowing heat, +as Tacitus says,<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> and to the bright snow-fields which +crown the summit of Lebanon. Ammianus speaks of +the region under Lebanon as full of pleasantness and +beauty. The upper slopes of the mountain furnish +pasture and forests; in the rocks are copper and iron. +The high mountain-range, which sharply divided the +inhabitants of the coast from the interior (at a much +later time, even after the improvements of the Roman +Cæsars, there were, as there are now, nothing but +mule-tracks across Lebanon<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a>), lay behind the inhabitants +of the coast, and before them lay the sea. At +an early period they must have become familiar with +that element. The name of the tribe which the +Hebrew Scriptures call the "first-born of Canaan" +means "fishermen." The places on the coast found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +the sea the easiest means of communication. Thus the +sea, so rich in islands, the long but proportionately +narrow basin which lay before the Sidonians, Giblites +and Arvadites, would soon attract to longer voyages +the fishermen and navigators of the coast.</p> + +<p>We found that the beginning of civilisation in +Canaan could not be placed later than about the year +2500 <small>B.C.</small>, and we must therefore allow a considerable +antiquity to the cities of the Sidonians, Giblites, +Arvadites, Zemarites and Arkites. The settlement on +the site of Sidon was founded, no doubt, before the +year 2000 <small>B.C.</small>, and that on the site of Byblus cannot +certainly be placed later than this period.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> The campaigns +which the Pharaohs undertook against Syria +and the land of the Euphrates after the expulsion of +the Shepherds could not leave these cities unmoved. +If the Zemar of the inscriptions of Tuthmosis III. is +Zemar (Simyra) near Aradus, and Arathutu is Aradus +itself, the territories of these cities were laid waste +by this king in his sixth campaign (about the year +1580 <small>B.C.</small>); if Arkatu is Arka, south of Aradus, this +place must have been destroyed in his fifteenth campaign +(about the year 1570 <small>B.C.</small>). Sethos I. (1440-1400 +<small>B.C.</small>) subdued the land of Limanon (<i>i. e.</i> the +region of Lebanon), and caused cedars to be felled there. +One of his inscriptions mentions Zor, <i>i. e.</i> Tyre, among +the cities conquered by him. The son and successor +of Sethos I., Ramses II., also forced his way in the +first decades of the fourteenth century as far as the +coasts of the Phenicians. At the mouth of the Nahr el +Kelb, between Sidon and Berytus, the rocks on the +coast display the memorial which he caused to be set +up in the second and third year of his reign in honour +of the successes obtained in this region.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> In the fifth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +year of his reign Ramses, with the king of the Cheta' +defeats the king of Arathu in the neighbourhood of +Kadeshu on the Orontes, and Ramses III. about the +year 1310 <small>B.C.</small>, mentions beside the Cheta who attack +Egypt the people of Arathu, by which name, in the +one case as in the other, may be meant the warriors +of Aradus.<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> If Arathu, like Arathutu, is Aradus, +it follows, from the position which Ramses II. and +III. give to the princes of Arathu, that beside the +power to which the kingdom of the Hittites had risen +about the middle of the fifteenth century <small>B.C.</small>, and +which it maintained to the end of the fourteenth,<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> the +Phenician cities had assumed an independent position. +The successes of the Pharaohs in Syria come to an +end in the first decades of the fourteenth century. +Egypt makes peace and enters into a contract of +marriage with the royal house of the Cheta; the +Syrians obtain even the preponderance against Egypt +(I. 152), to which Ramses III. towards the end of the +fourteenth century was first able to oppose a successful +defence.</p> + +<p>The overthrow of the kingdom of the Hittites, +which succumbed to the attack of the Amorites (I. +348) soon after the year 1300 <small>B.C.</small>, must have had a +reaction on the cities of the Phenicians. Expelled +Hittites must have been driven to the coast-land, or +have fled thither, and in the middle of the thirteenth +century the successes gained by the Hebrews who +broke in from the East, over the Amorites, the +settlement of the Hebrews on the mountains of the +Amorites, must again have thrown the vanquished, +<i>i. e.</i> the fugitives of this nation, towards the coast.</p> + +<p>With this retirement of the older strata of the +population of Canaan to the coast is connected the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +movement which from this period emanates from the +coasts of the Phenicians, and is directed towards the +islands of the Mediterranean and the Ægean. It is true +that on this subject only the most scanty statements +and traces, only the most legendary traditions have +come down to us, so that we can ascertain these +advances only in the most wavering outlines. One +hundred miles to the west off the coast of Phœnicia +lies the island of Cyprus. On the southern coast of +this island, which looked towards Phœnicia, stood the +city of Citium, Kith and Chith in the inscriptions of +the Phenicians, and apparently Kittii in those of the +Assyrians. Sidonian coins describe Citium as a daughter +of Sidon.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> After this city the whole island is known +among the Semites as Kittim and Chittim; this name +is even used in a wider sense for all the islands +of the Mediterranean.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> The western writers state +that before the time of the Trojan war Belus had +conquered and subjugated the island of Cyprus, and +that Citium belonged to Belus.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> The victorious Belus +is the Baal of the Phenicians. The date of the Trojan +war is of no importance for the settlement of the +Phenicians in Cyprus, for this statement is found in +Virgil only. More important is the fact that the +settlers brought the Babylonian cuneiform writing +to Cyprus. This became so firmly rooted in use +that even the Greeks, who set foot on the island at +a far later time, scarcely before the end of the ninth +century, adopted this writing, which here meanwhile +had gone through a peculiar development, and had +become a kind of syllabic-writing, and used it on coins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +and in inscriptions even in the fifth century <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> +The settlement of the Sidonians in Cyprus must therefore +have taken place before the time in which the +alphabetic writing, <i>i. e.</i> the writing specially known as +Phenician, was in use in Syria, and hence at the latest +before 1100 <small>B.C.</small> How long before this time the settlement +of the Phenicians in Cyprus took place can, +perhaps, be measured by the fact that the Cyprian +alphabet is a simplification of the old Babylonian +cuneiform writing. The simplified form would undoubtedly +have been driven out by the far more +convenient alphabetic writing of the Phenicians if the +Cyprian writing had not become fixed in use in this +island before the rise of the alphabetic writing. Further, +since the Phenicians, as we shall see, set foot on the +coast of Hellas from about the year 1200 <small>B.C.</small> onwards, +we must place the foundation of the colonies on the +coasts nearest them, the settlement in Cyprus, before this +date, about the middle of the thirteenth century <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>What population the Phenicians found on Cyprus it +is not possible to discover. Herodotus tells us that the +first inhabitants of the island were Ethiopians, according +to the statements of the Cyprians. It is beyond +a doubt that not Citium only, but the greater part of +the cities of the island were founded by the Phenicians, +and that the Phenician element became the ruling +element of the whole island.<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> It is Belus who is said +to have conquered Cyprus, and to whom the city of +Citium is said to belong; <i>i. e.</i> Citium worshipped the +god Baal. At Amathus, to the west of Citium, on the +south coast of the island, which was called the oldest +city on Cyprus, and which nevertheless bears a distinctly +Semitic name (Hamath), Adonis and Ashera-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>Astarte +were worshipped,<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> and these deities had also +one of their oldest and most honoured seats of worship +at Paphos (Pappa in the inscriptions), on the west +coast. The Homeric poems represent Aphrodite as +hastening to her altar at Paphos in Cyprus. Pausanias +observes that the Aphrodite of Cyprus was a warlike +Aphrodite,<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> and as the daughters of the Cyprians +surrendered themselves to the foreign seamen in +honour of this goddess,<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> it was the Astarte-Ashera of +the Phenicians who was worshipped at Amathus and +Paphos. The Zeus of the Cyprian city Salamis +(Sillumi in the inscriptions of the Assyrians), to whom, +according to the evidence of western writers, human +sacrifices were offered, can only be Baal Moloch, the +evil sun-god of the Phenicians. In the beginning of +the tenth century <small>B.C.</small> the cities of Cyprus stood under +the supremacy of the king of Tyre.<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> The island was +of extraordinary fertility. The forests furnished wood +for ship-building; the mountains concealed rich veins +of the metal which has obtained the name of copper +from this island.<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> Hence it was a very valuable +acquisition, an essential strengthening of the power of +Sidon in the older, and Tyre in the later, period.</p> + +<p>Following Zeno of Rhodes, who wrote the history of +his home in the first half of the second century <small>B.C.</small>,<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a> +Diodorus tells us: The king of the Phenicians, Agenor, +bade his son Cadmus seek his sister Europa,<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +disappeared, and bring back the maiden, or not return +himself to Phœnicia. Overtaken by a violent storm, +Cadmus vowed a shrine to Poseidon. He was saved, +and landed on the island of Rhodes, where the inhabitants +worshipped before all other gods the sun, who had +here begotten seven sons and among them Makar. +Cadmus set up a temple in Rhodes to Poseidon, as he +had vowed to do, and left behind Phenicians to keep +up the service; but in the temple which belonged +to Athena at Cnidus in Rhodes he dedicated a work +of art, an iron bowl, which bore an inscription in +Phenician letters, the oldest inscription which came +from Phœnicia to the Hellenes. From Rhodes Cadmus +came to Samothrace, and there married Harmonia. +The gods celebrated this first marriage by bringing +gifts, and blessing the married pair to the tones of +heavenly music.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a></p> + +<p>Ephorus says that Cadmus carried off Harmonia +while sailing past Samothrace, and hence in that island +search was still made for Harmonia at the festivals.<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> +Herodotus informs us that Cadmus of Tyre, the son of +Agenor, in his search for Europa, landed on the island +of Thera, which was then called Callisto, and there +left behind some Phenicians, either because the land +pleased him or for some other reason. These Phenicians +inhabited the island for eight generations before +Theras landed there from Lacedæmon. The rest went +to the island of Thasos and there built a temple to +Heracles, which he had himself seen, and the city of +Thasos. This took place five generations before Heracles +the son of Amphitryon was born. After that Cadmus +came to the land now called Bœotia, and the Phenicians +who were with him inhabited the land and taught the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +Hellenes many things, among others the use of writing, +"which as it seems to me the Hellenes did not possess +before. They learnt this writing, as it was used by +the Phenicians; in the course of time the form of +the letters changed with the language. From these +Phenicians the Ionians, among whom they dwelt, learnt +the letters, altered their form a little, and extended +their use. As was right, they called them Phenician +letters, since the Phenicians had brought them into +Greece. I have myself seen inscriptions in Cadmeian +letters (<i>i. e.</i> from the time of Cadmus) in the temple +of Ismenian Apollo at Thebes."<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> According to the +narrative of Hellanicus, Cadmus received an oracle, +bidding him follow the cow which bore on her back +the sign of the full moon, and found a city where she +lay down. Cadmus carried out the command, and +when the cow lay down wearied, where Thebes now +stands, Cadmus built there the Cadmeia (the citadel of +Thebes).<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a> According to the statement of Pherecydes +Cadmus also built the city of Thebes.<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> With Hecatæus +of Miletus Cadmus passes as the discoverer of letters; +according to others he also discovered the making of +iron armour and the art of mining.<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a></p> + +<p>The direction of the Phenician settlements, which +proceeds in the Ægean sea from S.E. to N.W., cannot +be mistaken in these legends. First Rhodes, then +the Cyclades, then the islands on the Thracian coast, +Samothrace and Thasos, were colonised; and at length, +on the strait of Eubœa, the mainland of Hellas was +trodden by the Phenicians, who are said to have gained +precisely from this point a deep-reaching influence over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +the Hellenes. The legend of Cadmus goes far back +among the Greeks. In the Homeric poems the inhabitants +of Thebes are "Cadmeians." The Thebaid praised +"the divine wisdom of Cadmus;" in the poems of +Hesiod he leads home Harmonia, "the daughter of +Ares and Aphrodite," and Pindar describes how the +Muses sang for "the divine Cadmus, the wealthiest of +mortals, when in seven-gated Thebes he led the ox-eyed +Harmonia to the bridal-bed."<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a> Agenor, the father of +Cadmus, is a name which the Greeks have given to +the Baal of the Phenicians.<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> Cadmus himself, the +wealthiest of mortals, who leads home the daughter of a +god and a goddess,—who celebrates the first marriage +at which the gods assemble, bring gifts and sing,—whose +wife was worshipped as the protecting goddess of +Thebes,<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a>—whose daughters, Ino, Leucothea and Semele, +are divine creatures, whom Zeus leads to the Elysian +fields,<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a>—can only be a god. He seeks the lost Europa, +and is to follow the cow which bears the sign of the full +moon. We know the moon-goddess of the Phenicians, +who bears the crescent moon and cow's horns, the +horned Astarte, who wears a cow's head, the goddess +of battle and sensual desire, and thus the daughter of +Ares and Aphrodite. "The great temple of Astarte +at Sidon," so we find in the book of the Syrian goddess, +"belongs, as the Sidonians say, to Astarte; but a priest +told me that it was a temple of Europa, the sister of +Cadmus." The meaning of the word Europa has been +discussed previously (I. 371). Cadmus, who seeks the +lost moon-goddess, who at length finds and overcomes +her, and celebrates with her the holy marriage, is the +Baal Melkarth of the Phenicians. The death-bringing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +Istar-Astarte is changed into Bilit-Ashera, into the +fruit-giving goddess;<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> the gloomy Europa changes into +Harmonia, the goddess of union, birth and increase, +yet not without leaving to her descendants deadly +gifts. It is the myth of Melkarth and Astarte +which the Greeks present to us in the story of +Cadmus; with this myth they have connected the +foundation of the Phenician settlements in Rhodes, +Thera, Samothrace, Thasos and Bœotia; they have +changed it into the foundation of these colonies. The +name Cadmus means the man of the East; to the +Hebrews the Arabs who dwelt to the east of them +were known as Beni Kedem, <i>i. e.</i> sons of the East.<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> +To the Greeks the Phenicians were men of the East, +just as to the English of the thirteenth century the +merchants of Lubeck were Easterlings. The citadel of +Thebes, which the men of the East built, preserved +the name of Cadmus the son of the East, and kept it +alive among the Greeks.</p> + +<p>What we can gather from Grecian legend is confirmed +by some statements of historians and by traces +which tell of settlements of the Phenicians. Thucydides +informs us that the Phenicians colonised most +of the islands of the Ægean.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> Diodorus has already +told us with regard to Rhodes that in the temples +of this island were Phenician works of art and inscriptions, +and that in Rhodes the sun-god and the +seven children which he begot there were worshipped. +In the number eight made by these deities we can +hardly fail to recognise the eight great deities of +the Phenicians; the sun-god at their head is the +Baal of the Phenicians (I. 357). And if Diodorus +mentions Makar among the seven sons of the sun-god +of Rhodes,—if according to others Rhodes, like Cyprus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +was called Macaria,—Makar is a Greek form of the +name Melkarth. We further learn that on the highest +mountain summit in Rhodes, on Atabyris, Zeus was +worshipped under the form of a bull, and that a human +sacrifice was offered yearly to Cronos. In Atabyris +we cannot fail to recognise the Semitic Tabor, <i>i. e.</i> the +height. We found above that the Phenicians worshipped +Baal under the form of a bull, and the Greeks +are wont to denote Baal Moloch by the name of Cronos.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> +These forms of worship continued to exist even when +at a later time Hellenic immigrants had got the upper +hand in Rhodes. It was the Dorians who here met +with resistance from the Phenicians at Camirus and +Ialysus; they got the upper hand, but admitted Phenician +families into their midst,<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> and continued their +sacred rites. Diodorus informs us that the Phenicians +whom Cadmus had left behind on Rhodes had formed +a mixed community with the Ialysians, and that it was +said that priests of their families had performed the +sacred duties.<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> Even at a later time Rhodes stood in +close relation with Phœnicia, especially with the city +of Aradus.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a> Thus it happened that the colonies which +the Rhodians planted in the seventh and sixth centuries +in Sicily, Gela and Acragas, carried thither the worship +of Zeus Atarbyrius. Zeus Atarbyrius was the protecting +deity of Acragas, and human sacrifices were offered +to his iron bull-image on the citadel of that city as +late as the middle of the sixth century. The coins of +Gela also exhibit a bull.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> Of the island of Thera, +Herodotus told us that the Phenicians colonised it +and inhabited it for eight generations, <i>i. e.</i> for more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +than 250 years according to his computation. Herodotus +names the chief of the Phenicians whom +Cadmus left behind on Thera; others speak of the +two altars which he erected there.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> The descendants +of these Phenicians were found here by the Greek +settlers from Laconia. It is certain that even in the +third century <small>B.C.</small> the island worshipped the hero +Phœnix.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> Of the island of Melos we learn that it was +occupied by Phenicians of Byblus, and named by +them after their mother city;<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> the island of Oliaros +near Paros was, on the other hand, according to Heraclëides +Ponticus, occupied by the Sidonians.<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> Strabo +informs us that Samothrace was previously called +Melite (Malta); from its height (the island is a +mountain rising high in the sea and covered with oak +forests; the summit reaches 5000 feet) it obtained the +name of Samos, "for high places are called Sami;"<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a> +as a matter of fact the stem of the word of this meaning, +like the name Melite, belongs to the Phenician +language. Ephorus has already told us (p. 56) that the +Samothracians sought for Harmonia at their festivals; +Diodorus represents Cadmus as celebrating the marriage +with Harmonia on Samothrace as well as at Thebes, +and we learn from Herodotus that the Cabiri, <i>i. e.</i> +the great gods of the Phenicians, were worshipped +on Samothrace; votive tablets of the island dating +from Roman times still bear the inscription, "to the +great gods," <i>i. e.</i> to the Cabiri.<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> The islands of Imbros +and Lemnos also worshipped the Cabiri; Lemnos +especially worshipped Hephæstus, who had a leading<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +place in this circle.<a name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a> The island of Thasos is said, +according to the statement of the Greeks, to have been +called after a son of Phœnix, or Agenor, of the name +of Thasos, who was consequently a brother of Cadmus. +Herodotus saw on the island a temple which the +Phenicians had built to Heracles, <i>i. e.</i> to Baal-Melkarth, +and the mines which they had made on the coast opposite +Samothrace; "they had overturned a great mountain +in order to get gold from it."<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a> Herodotus also tells +us that the temple of Aphrodite Urania on the island +of Cythera off the coast of Laconia was founded by the +Phenicians, and Pausanias calls this temple the oldest +and most sacred temple of Urania among the Hellenes; +the wooden image in this temple exhibited the +goddess in armour. Aphrodite Urania is with the +Greeks the Syrian Aphrodite; if she was represented on +Cythera in armour it is clear that she was worshipped +there by the Phenicians as Astarte-Ashera, <i>i. e.</i> as the +goddess of war and love.<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a></p> + +<p>Not in the islands only, but on the coasts of Hellas +also, the Phenicians have left traces of their ancient +occupation, especially in the form of worship belonging +to them. On the isthmus of Corinth Melicertes, +<i>i. e.</i> Melkarth, was worshipped as a deity protecting +navigation; Corinthian coins exhibit him on a dolphin.<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> +Aphrodite, whose shrine stood on the summit of Acrocorinthus, +was worshipped by prostitution like the +Ashera-Bilit of the Phenicians. In Attica also, in the +deme of Athmonon, there was a shrine of the goddess +of Cythera, which king Porphyrion, <i>i. e.</i> the purple man, +the Phenician, is said to have founded there at a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +ancient time "before king Actaeus."<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> At Marathon, +where Heracles was worshipped, and of whom the +name represents the Phenician city Marathus, rose a +fountain which had the name Makaria, <i>i. e.</i> Makar,<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> +the name of Melkarth, which we have already met with +in Cyprus and Rhodes, and shall meet with again. +More plainly still do the tombs lately discovered in +Hymettus at the village of Spata attest the ancient +settlement of the Phenicians on the Attic coast. +These are chambers dug deeply into the rock after the +Phenician manner, with horizontal roofs after the +oldest fashion of Phenician graves; and shafts lead +down to them from the surface. The ornaments and +works in glass, ivory, gold and brass discovered here, +which are made after Babylonian and Egyptian models, +can only have been brought by the Phenicians.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a> The +citadel of Thebes, as has been said, retains the name +of Cadmus; the poetry of the Greeks praised the +mighty walls, the seven gates of Thebes. We know +the number seven of the great Phenician gods; we can +prove that the seven gates were dedicated to the gods +of the sun, the moon and the five planets;<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a> and the +Greeks have already admitted to us that they received +the wearing of armour, the art of mining and masonry +and finally their alphabet from Cadmus, <i>i. e.</i> from the +Phenicians, the Cadmeans of Thebes.</p> + +<p>In the Homeric poems Europa, the daughter of +Phœnix, bears Minos to Zeus. The abode of Minos is +the "great city" of Cnossus in Crete; he receives each +nine years the revelations of his father Zeus; for his +daughter Ariadne Dædalus adorns a dancing place at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +Cnossus. After his death Minos carries in the under +world the golden sceptre, and by his decisions puts an +end to the contentions of the shades.<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> His descendants +rule in Crete.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> Later accounts tell us that Zeus in the +form of a bull carried off Europa from Phœnicia, and +bore her over the sea to Crete. The wife of her son +Minos, Pasiphaë, then united with a bull which rose +out of the sea, and brought forth the Minotaur, <i>i. e.</i> the +Minos-bull, a man with a bull's head.<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> The son of +Minos, Androgeos (earth-man) or Eurygyes (Broadland), +was destroyed in Attica by the bull of Marathon, +who consumed him in his flames.<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a> To avenge the +death of Androgeos Minos seized Megara, and blight +and famine compelled the Athenians to send, in obedience +to the command of Minos, seven boys and seven +girls every ninth year to Crete, who were then sacrificed +to the Minotaur.<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> Others narrate that Hephæstus +had given Minos a man of brass, who wandered round +the island and kept off foreign vessels, and clasped to his +glowing breast all who were disobedient to Minos.<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> +When Dædalus retired before the wrath of Minos from +Crete to Sicily, Minos equipped his ships to bring him +back; but he there found, according to Herodotus, a +violent death.<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> The king of the Sicanians, so Diodorus +tells us, gave him a friendly welcome, and caused a warm +bath to be prepared, and then craftily suffocated him in +it. The Cretans buried their king in a double grave; +they laid the bones in a secret place, and built upon +them a temple to Aphrodite, and as they could not +return to Crete because the Cretans had burned their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +ships, they founded the city Minoa in Sicily; but the +tomb of Minos was shown in Crete also.<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a></p> + +<p>A bull-god carries the daughter of Phœnix over the sea +to Crete and begets Minos; a bull who rises out of the +sea begets with Pasiphaë, <i>i. e.</i> the all-shining, the Minos-bull, +to which in case of blight and famine boys and girls +are sacrificed in the number sacred among the Semites; +Androgeos succumbs to the heat of the bull of Marathon, +an iron man slays his victims by pressing them +to his glowing breast. These legends of the Greeks +are unmistakable evidence of the origin of the rites +observed in Crete from the coast of Syria, of the settlement +of Phenicians in Crete. The bull-god may be +the Baal Samim or the Baal Moloch of the Phenicians; +Europa has already revealed herself to us as the moon-goddess +of the Phenicians (p. 58); Pasiphaë is only +another name for the same goddess, the lady of the +nightly sky, the starry heaven. We know that on +occasions of blight human sacrifices were offered to +Baal Moloch, the fiery, consuming, angry sun-god, and +that these sacrifices were burnt. Ister, a writer of the +third century <small>B.C.</small>, tells us quite simply; In ancient +times children were sacrificed to Cronos in Crete.<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a> +Before the harbour of Megara lay an island of the +name of Minoa; at the time of the summer heat +before the corn was ripe, the Athenians offered peace-offerings +at the Thargelia, "in the place of human +sacrifices,"<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a> that the consuming sun might not kill the +harvest. The name of the island and this custom, as +well as the flames of the bull of Marathon, prove that +beside the worship of the Syrian goddess at Athmonon, +and the worship of Melkarth at Marathon, the worship +of Baal Moloch had penetrated as far as Megara and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +Attica. Minos, the son of the sky-god, the husband of +the moon-goddess, who from time to time receives revelations +from heaven, and even after his death is judge of +the dead, is himself a god; his proper name is Minotaur, +a name taken from the form of the bull's image and the +bull's head. When Baal Melkarth had found and overcome +Astarte, after he had celebrated with her the holy +marriage, he went to rest according to the Phenician +myth in the waters of the western sea which he had +warmed. The Phenicians were of opinion that the +beams of the sun when sinking there in the far west +had the most vigorous operation because of their +greater proximity.<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> Minos goes to Sicily; there in a +hot bath he ends his life, and over his resting-place +rises the temple of Astarte-Ashera, with whom he +celebrated his marriage in the west, and who by this +marriage is changed from the goddess of war into the +goddess of love. The tombs of Minos in Crete, Sicily, +and finally at Gades, of which the Greeks speak, are +in the meaning of the Phenician myth merely resting-places +of the god, who in the spring wakes from his +slumber into new power. The Greeks made Minos, +who continued to live in the under-world, a judge in +the causes of the shades, and finally a judge of the +souls themselves. On the southern coast of Sicily, at +the mouth of the Halycus, lay the city which the +Greeks called Minoa or Heraclea-Minoa after Minos. +To the Phenicians it was known as Rus Melkarth (p. +78), a title which proves beyond doubt that Minos was +one of the names given by the Greeks to this god of +the Phenicians.</p> + +<p>The worship of Baal Moloch, which the Phenicians +brought to Crete and the shores of Megara and +Attica, was not all that the Greeks personified in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +form of Minos; they did not confine themselves to one +side of the myth of Baal Melkarth. When Grecian +colonists settled subsequently in Crete they found +the cities of the Phenicians full of artistic capacity, +and their life regulated by legal ordinances. Thus +their legend could place the artist Dædalus, the +discoverer and pattern of all art-industry, beside +Minos, and refer to Minos the ordinances of the cities. +Zeus himself had revealed these arrangements to him. +At a later time the Greek cities of Crete traced their own +institutions back to Minos; here and there they may +perhaps have followed a Phenician model, or they may +have given out that such a model had been followed. +Plato represents Minos as receiving the wise laws +which he introduced into Crete from Zeus. With +Aristotle also Minos is the founder of the Cretan laws.<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> +In the circle of the Cabiri the sky-god Baal Samim was +the protector and defender of law (I. 377).</p> + +<p>Lastly, Minos is with the Greeks at once the representation +and expression of the dominion which the +Phenicians exercised in ancient times over the islands +of the Ægean sea, before the settlements of the Greeks +obtained the supremacy over the islands and the ships +of the Greeks took the lead in these waters. In the +age of the Heroes, so Herodotus tells us, Minos established +the first naval empire; the Carians, who inhabited +the islands, he made his subjects; they did not indeed +pay tribute, but they had to man his ships whenever +necessary.<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> "The oldest king," says Thucydides, "of +whom tradition tells us that he possessed a fleet was +Minos. He ruled over the greatest part of the Greek +sea and the Cyclades, which he colonised, driving out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +the Carians and making his sons lords of the islands."<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> +Minos, as a king ruling by law, is then said to have +put an end to piracy.</p> + +<p>The Phenicians could not certainly have left out +of sight the largest of the islands, which forms the +boundary of the Ægean sea; and the traditions of the +Greeks can hardly go wrong if they make this island +the centre of the naval supremacy of Minos, <i>i. e.</i> of +the supremacy of the Phenicians over the Cyclades. +Crete must have been the mainstay of their activity in +the Ægean, just as Thebes was the point on the mainland +where they planted the firmest foot. The title +Minoa seems to lie at the base of the name of Minos, a +title borne not only by the island off Megara and the +city in Sicily, but also by two cities in Crete (one on +the promontory of Drepanum, the other in the region +of Lyctus), by some islands near Crete, a city in +Amorgus, and a city in Siphnus. The name Minoa +(from <i>navah</i>) could mean dwelling; it is certain evidence +of a Phenician settlement. But the Phenicians +have left traces of their existence in Crete beside the +names Minos and Minoa and the forms of worship +denoted by them. Coins of the Cretan cities Gortys +and Phæstus exhibit a bull or a bull-headed man as +a stamp. Near the Cretan city of Cydonia the Jardanus, +<i>i. e.</i> the Jordan, falls into the sea; the name +of the city Labana goes back to the Phenician word +<i>libanon</i>, i. e. "white." Cnossus, the abode of Minos in +Homer and Herodotus,<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> was previously named Kairatus; +<i>Karath</i> in Phenician means city. Itanus, in Crete +(<i>Ethanath</i> in the Semitic form), is expressly stated to be +a foundation of the Phenicians.<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></p> + +<p>With regard to the state of civilisation reached by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +Syria before the year 1500 <small>B.C.</small>, we may draw some +conclusions from the fact that not merely did the +civilisation of Egypt influence the shepherds of Semitic +race who ruled over Egypt at that period, but that +Semitic manners and customs left behind traces in +Egypt (I. 128). Hence we may assume that the +Syrians carried their wine and their oil to the Nile at +the time when their kinsmen ruled there (1950-1650 +<small>B.C.</small>). The civilisation of Syria appears more clearly +from the tributes imposed by Tuthmosis III. on Syria, +which are here and there illustrated by the pictures +accompanying the inscriptions of this Pharaoh. The +burdens imposed on the Syrians consist not only of +corn, wine, oil and horses; not only of gold, silver +and iron, but also of arms and works of art, among +which the pictures allow us to recognise carefully-decorated +vessels. On the other hand, it is clear from +the fact that the Babylonian weights and measures were +in use in Syria at this time (I. 304) that the Syrians +before this period were in lively intercourse with the +land of the Euphrates, that even before the sixteenth +century <small>B.C.</small> caravans must have traversed the Syrian +deserts in every direction, and even then the Syrians +must have exchanged the products of their land for +Babylonian stuffs and the frankincense which the +Arabians on their part carried to Babylon. The +dependence of Syria on Egypt under the Tuthmosis +and Amenophis can only have augmented the intercourse +of the Syrians with the land of the Nile. +Afterwards Sethos I. (1440-1400) caused wood to +be felled on Lebanon; it must have been the places on +the coast under Lebanon which carried to Egypt in +their ships, along with the wine and oil of the coast and +the interior, the wood so necessary there for building +and exchanged it for the fabrics of Egypt. Wood for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +building could not be conveyed on the backs of camels, +and the way by sea from the Phenician towns to the +mouths of the Nile was far easier and less dangerous +than the road by land over rocky heights and through +sandy deserts. Hence, as early as the fifteenth century +<small>B.C.</small>, we may regard the Phenician cities as the central +points of a trade branching east and west, which must +have been augmented by the fact that they conveyed +not only products of the Syrian land to the Euphrates +and the Nile, but could also carry the goods which +they obtained in exchange in Egypt to Babylonia, and +what they obtained beyond the Euphrates to Egypt. +At the same time the fabrics of Babylon and Egypt +roused them to emulation, and called forth an industry +among the Phenicians which we see producing woven +stuffs, vessels of clay and metal, ornaments and +weapons, and becoming pre-eminent in the colouring +of stuffs with the liquor of the purple-fish, which are +found on the Phenician coasts. This industry required +above all things metals, of which Babylonia and Egypt +were no less in need, and when the purple-fish of their +own coasts were no longer sufficient for their extensive +dyeing, colouring-matter had to be obtained. Large +quantities of these fish produced a proportionately small +amount of the dye. Copper-ore was found in Cyprus, +gold in the island of Thasos, and purple-fish on the +coasts of Hellas. When the fall of the kingdom of the +Hittites and the overthrow of the Amorite princes in +the south of Canaan augmented the numbers of the +population on the coast, these cities were no longer +content to obtain those possessions of the islands by +merely landing and making exchanges with the inhabitants. +Intercourse with semi-barbarous tribes must be +protected by the sword. Good harbours were needed +where the ships could be sheltered from storm and bad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +weather, where the crews could find safety from the +natives, rest and fresh stores of water and provisions. +Thus arose protecting forts on the distant islands and +coasts, which received the ships of the native land. +Under the protection of these intercourse could be +carried on with the natives, and they were points of +support for the collection of the fish and the sinking +of mines.</p> + +<p>In order to obtain the raw material necessary for +their industry no less than to carry off the surplus of +population, the Phenicians were brought to colonise +Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Thera, Melos, Oliarus, Samothrace, +Imbros, Lemnos and Thasos. In the bays of +Laconia and Argos, in the straits of Eubœa,<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> purple-fish +were found in extraordinary quantities. The +Phenicians settled in the island of Cythera in the bay +of Laconia, which, as Aristotle says, was once called +Porphyrussa from its purple-fish,<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> and there erected +that ancient temple to the oriental Aphrodite, Aphrodite +in armour, just as in Attica in the deme of Athmonon +they founded the temple of the Syrian Aphrodite and +excavated the tombs on Hymettus.<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> Midway between +the straits of Eubœa and the bay of Corinth, which +abounded with purple-fish, rose the strong fortress +of the Cadmeia, and on Acrocorinthus the shrine of +Ashera.</p> + +<p>Herodotus and Thucydides told us above (p. 67) +that the Carians inhabited the islands of the Ægean +sea. These were they whom Minos had made subject +to his dominion. Beside this, we are informed more +particularly that the Carians had possessed the island +of Rhodes, which lay off their coast, and had dwelt on +Chios and Samos (I. 571). What degree of civilisation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +was reached by the population of the islands of the +Ægean sea before the Phenicians came into relations +with them may be inferred to some extent from the discoveries +made in the island of Thera. In and beneath +three layers of ashes and tufa caused by vast eruptions +of the volcanos of this island have been discovered +stone instruments, pottery of the most rudimentary +kind, in part with the rudest indications of the human +face and figure, and beside these weapons of copper +and brass. In the upper layers of the tufa we find far +better pottery decorated in the Phenician style. On +Melos also, and in the tombs at Camirus in Rhodes, +vessels of the same kind have been discovered; and, +finally, in the highest of the layers at Thera are gold +ornaments of the most various kinds, and ornaments of +electron, <i>i. e.</i> of mixed gold and silver, all of a workmanship +essentially non-Hellenic. From these facts +we may draw the conclusion that the ships of the +Phenicians brought to these inhabitants their earliest +weapons in brass and copper, their pottery and ornaments; +that the Carians of the islands, following these +patterns, raised their own efforts to a higher stage, +and that afterwards the Phenicians themselves settled +in the islands and made themselves masters of them. +Perhaps we may even go a step further. In the +lower strata of the excavations at Hissarlik, on the +Trojan coast, we find exactly the same primitive +pottery, with the same indications of human forms, as +in Thera, while in the refuse lying above this are idols +and pottery adorned after Phenician patterns, which +correspond exactly to the idols of Cyprus, as well as +ornaments like those of Thera. Hence in this region +also we may assume that the Phenicians gave the +impulse and the example to the development of +civilisation, and the more so as the name of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +city of Adramyttion on the Trojan coast repeats the +name of a Phenician foundation on the coast of North +Africa (Adrames, Hadrumetum), and even Strabo +ascribes the worship of the Cabiri to some places on +the Trojan coast.<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> Far more definite traces of the +Phenician style and skill are in existence on the shore +of the bay of Argos. The ancient tombs which have been +recently discovered behind the lions' gate at Mycenæ +are hewn in the rocks after the manner of the Phenicians. +As in the ancient burying-places of the Phenicians, a +perpendicular shaft forms the entrance to the sepulchral +chambers; the corpses are laid in them without +coffins, as was the most ancient custom in Phœnicia. +The masks of beaten gold-leaf which were found on +the faces of five or six of the corpses buried here are +evidence of a custom which the Phenicians borrowed +from the gilded faces of Egyptian coffins.<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> The corpses +are covered with gold ornaments and other decorations. +There is a large number of weapons and ornaments of +gold, silver, copper, brass and glass in the tombs; the +execution exhibits a technical skill sometimes more, +sometimes less practised. The ornaments remind us +of Babylonian and Assyrian patterns; the idols in burnt +clay are in the Phenician style; the palm-leaves and +palms, antelopes and leopards which frequently occur, +point to regions of the East; the articles of amber and +the ostrich egg can only have reached the bay of Argos +in Phenician ships. Still there are grave reasons for +refusing to believe that the persons buried in this +tomb are princes of the Phenicians. The numerous +pieces of armour show that the dead who rest here +were buried with their armour, which is not the traditional +custom either with regard to the Phenicians or +the Hellenes, but which Thucydides quotes as a mark<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +of the tombs of the Carians.<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> We learn, moreover, +even from the Homeric poems, that the Carians loved +gold ornaments, and further, that the Greeks improved +their armour after the pattern of the Carians (I. 572). +As we also find the double axe of the Carian god, the +"Zeus Stratius" as the Greeks called him, the "axe-god," +the Chars-El in the Carian language (I. 573), on +some ornaments of the tombs of Mycenæ, the supposition +forces itself upon us that Carians from the western +islands must have occupied the shore of the bay of +Argos. In any case, the tombs of Mycenæ, both from +their position and their contents, announce to us that +the people who excavated them and placed their dead +in them were dependent on the style and skill of the +Phenicians.</p> + +<p>Can we fix the time at which the Phenicians first +set foot on the islands of Hellas? Herodotus tells us +that Troy was taken in the third generation after the +death of Minos.<a name="FNanchor_136_136" id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a> If we put three full generations, +according to the calculation of Herodotus, between the +death of Minos and the conquest of Ilium, the first +event took place 100 years before the second. Since, +according to the data of Herodotus, the capture of +Ilium falls in the year 1280 or 1260 <small>B.C.</small>, Minos +would have died in the year 1380 or 1360 <small>B.C.</small> The +landing of the Phenicians on Thasos and the expedition +of Cadmus from Phœnicia beyond the islands to +Bœotia are placed by Herodotus five generations before +Heracles, and Heracles is placed 900 years before his +own time. If we reckon upwards from the year 450 +or 430 <small>B.C.</small>, Heracles lived about the year 1350 or 1330 +<small>B.C.</small>, and Cadmus five generations, <i>i. e.</i> 166⅔ years, +before this date, or about the year 1516 or 1496 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137" class="fnanchor">[137]</a> +On the island of Thera, Herodotus further remarks, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +Phenicians whom Cadmus left behind him there had +dwelt for eight generations, <i>i. e.</i> 266⅔ years, before the +Dorians came to the island.<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a> Melos was also occupied +by Dorians, who asserted in 416 <small>B.C.</small> that their community +had been in existence 700 years,<a name="FNanchor_139_139" id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> according to +which statement the Dorians came to Melos in the +year 1116 <small>B.C.</small> With this event the Phenician rule +over the island came to an end. If we assume that +Thera, which is close by Melos, was taken from the +Phenicians by the Dorians at the same time as the +latter island, the eight generations given by Herodotus +for the settlements of the Phenicians on Thera would +carry us back to the year 1382 <small>B.C.</small> (1116 + 266⅔), a +date which is certainly in agreement with his statement +about the death of Minos, but contradicts the +date given for Cadmus, who yet, according to the +narrative of Herodotus, left behind the settlers on +Thera and Thasos when he first sailed to Bœotia. +Herodotus fixes dates according to generations and the +genealogies of legend. The five generations which +separated Cadmus from Heracles were for him, no +doubt, Polydorus, Labdacus, Laius, Œdipus and Polynices; +for the three generations between the death of +Minos and the capture of Troy we find in Homer only +two, Deucalion and Idomeneus.<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> But we can still +find from Herodotus' calculations how far back the +Greeks placed the beginning and the end of the empire +of the Phenicians over their islands and coasts. +Beyond this the chronographers do not give us any help. +Eusebius and Hieronymus (Jerome) place the rape of +Europa in the year 1429 or 1426 <small>B.C.</small>; the rule of +Cadmus at Thebes in the year 1427 <small>B.C.</small> or 1319 +(1316) <small>B.C.</small>; the settlement of the Phenicians on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +Thera, Melos, and Thasos in the year 1415 <small>B.C.</small>; the +beginning of the rule of Minos in the year 1410 <small>B.C.</small>, +or, according to another computation, in the year +1251 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_141_141" id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a></p> + +<p>We can hardly obtain fixed points for determining the +time of the settlements of the Phenicians in the Ægean +sea. In the lower strata of the excavations at Hissarlik, +on the coast of Troas, clay lentils have been found with +Cyprian letters upon them.<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> Since the Greeks declared +that they learnt their alphabet from the Phenicians +and Cadmus, and since as a fact it is the alphabet of +the Phenicians which lies at the root of the Greek, the +Cyprian letters can only have been brought thither by +Phenician ships from Cyprus before the discovery of the +Phenician letters, or from the islands off the Trojan +coast occupied by the Phenicians, from Lemnos, Imbros +and Samothrace; otherwise they must have come to the +Troad at a later time by Cyprian ships or settlers, a +supposition which is forbidden by the antiquity of the +other remains discovered with or near the lentils. +Among the sons of Japheth, the representative of the +northern nations, Genesis mentions Javan, <i>i. e.</i> the +Ionian, the Greek; and enumerates the sons of Javan: +Elisha, Tarshish, Chittim, and Dodanim or Rodanim—the +reading is uncertain.<a name="FNanchor_143_143" id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> It is a question whether the +genealogical table in Genesis belongs to the first or +second text of the Pentateuch, <i>i. e.</i> whether it was +written down in the middle of the eleventh or of the +tenth century <small>B.C.</small> In any case it follows that in the +beginning of the eleventh or tenth century <small>B.C.</small> the name +and nation of the Ionians was known not only in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +harbour-cities of Phœnicia, but in the interior of Syria, +and the inhabitants of the islands and of the northern +coasts of the Mediterranean were reckoned in the stock +of these Ionians. Chittim is, as was remarked above, +primarily the island of Cyprus; the Rodanim are the +inhabitants of Rhodes (Dodanim would have to be +referred to Dodona); Elisha is Elis in the Peloponnese, +or the island of Sicily, if the name is not one given +generally to western coasts and islands;<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> Tarshish is +Tartessus, <i>i. e.</i> the region at the mouth of the Guadalquivir. +If Ezekiel mentions the purple which the +Phenicians bring from "the isles of Elishah,"<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> the +islands and coasts of the Ægean sea are plainly meant, +on which the Phenicians collected the fish for their +purple dye. This much is clear, that at least about the +year 1000 <small>B.C.</small> not only the islands and coasts of the +Ægean were known in Syria, but even then the name +of the distant land of Tarshish was current in Syria. We +shall further see that as early as 1100 <small>B.C.</small> Phenician +ships had passed the straits of Gibraltar. Hence we +may conclude that the Phenicians must have set foot +on Cyprus about the year 1250 <small>B.C.</small>, and on the islands +and coasts of Hellas about the year 1200 <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>Thucydides observes that in ancient times the Phenicians +had occupied the promontories of Sicily and the +small islands lying around Sicily, in order to carry on +trade with the Sicels.<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146" class="fnanchor">[146]</a> Diodorus Siculus tells us that +when the Phenicians extended their trade to the western +ocean they settled in the island of Melite (Malta), +owing to its situation in the middle of the sea and +excellent harbours, in order to have a refuge for their +ships. The island of Gaulus also, which lies close to +Melite, is said to have been a colony of the Phenicians.<a name="FNanchor_147_147" id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +On the south-eastern promontory of Malta there was a +temple of Heracles-Melkarth,<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a> the foundation walls of +which appear to be still in existence, and still more +definite evidence of the former population of this island +is given by the Phenician inscriptions found there. The +island, like the mother-country, carried on weaving, +and the products were much sought after in antiquity. +On Gaulus also, a name mentioned on Phenician coins, +are the remains of a Phenician temple. Between Sicily +and the coast of Africa, where it approaches Sicily +most nearly, lay the island of Cossyra, coins of which +bear Phenician legends. Along with a dwarfish figure +they present the name "island of the sons,"<a name="FNanchor_149_149" id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a> <i>i. e.</i> no +doubt, the children of the sun-god whom we met with +in Rhodes. On the east coast of Sicily there lay, on a +small promontory scarcely connected with the mainland +(now Isola degli Magnisi), the city of Thapsos, the +name of which reveals its founders; <i>Tiphsach</i> means +coming over, here coming over to the mainland. In +the same way the promontory of Pachynus (<i>pachun</i> +means wart), further to the south, and the harbour +of Phœnicus are evidence of Phenician colonisation. +On the south coast of Sicily, not far from the mouth of +the Halycus, the Phenicians built that city which is +known to the Greeks as Makara and Minoa, or Heracleaminoa; +the coins of the city present in Phenician +characters the name Rus-Melkart, <i>i. e.</i> "head (promontory) +of Melkarth."<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> Off the west coast of Sicily the +Phenicians occupied the small island of Motye.<a name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151" class="fnanchor">[151]</a> On this +coast of the larger island, on Mount Eryx, which rises +steeply out of a bald table land (2000 feet above the +sea), they founded the city of Eryx, and on the summit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +of the mount, 5000 feet high, they built a temple to +the Syrian Aphrodite. In Diodorus it is Eryx the son +of Aphrodite who builds this temple; Æneas then +adorns it with many votive offerings, "since it was +dedicated to his mother."<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> Virgil represents the +temple as being founded on the summit of Eryx, +near to the stars, in honour of Venus Idalia, <i>i. e.</i> the +goddess worshipped at Idalion (Idial) on Cyprus by +the immigrants from the East, who, with him, are the +companions of Æneas.<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> The courtezans at this temple, +the sensual character of the worship, and the sacred +doves kept here (in a red one the goddess herself was +supposed to be seen<a name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154" class="fnanchor">[154]</a>), even without the Phenician +inscriptions found there, would leave no doubt of its +Syrian origin. The mighty substructure of the building +is still in existence. Dædalus is said to have built +it for the king of the Sicanians (p. 64). Beside the +Syrian goddess, the Phenicians also worshipped here +the Syrian god Baal Melkarth. According to the +account of Diodorus, Heracles overcame Eryx in wrestling, +and so took his land from him, though he left the +usufruct of it to the inhabitants.<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> The kings of Sparta +traced their origin to Heracles. When Dorieus, the +son of Anaxandridas, king of Sparta, desired to emigrate +in his anger that the crown had fallen to his +brother Cleomenes, the oracle bade him retire to Eryx; +the land of Eryx belonged to the Heraclids because +their ancestor won it. The Carthaginians, it is true, +did not acknowledge this right; Dorieus was slain, and +most of those who followed him.<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> On the north coast +of Sicily, Panormus (Palermo) and Soloeis were the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +most important colonies of the Phenicians. Panormus, +on coins of the Phenicians Machanath, <i>i. e.</i> the camp, +worshipped the goddess of the sexual passion; Soloeis +(<i>sela</i>, rock) worshipped Melkarth. In a hymn to +Aphrodite, Sappho inquires whether she lingers in +Cyprus or at Panormus.<a name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> Motye, Soloeis and Panormus +were in the fifth century the strongest outposts of the +Carthaginians in Sicily.<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a></p> + +<p>On Sardinia also, as Diodorus tells us, the Phenicians +planted many colonies.<a name="FNanchor_159_159" id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> The mountains of Sardinia contained +iron, silver, and lead. According to the legend +of the Greeks, Sardus, the son of Makeris, as the Libyans +called Heracles, first came with Libyans to the island. +Then Heracles sent his brother's son Iolaus, together +with his own sons, whom he had begotten in Attica, +to Sardinia. As Heracles had been lord of the whole +West, these regions belonged of right to Iolaus and +his companions. Iolaus conquered the native inhabitants, +took possession of and divided the best and most +level portion of the land which was afterwards known +by the name of Iolaus; then he sent for Dædalus out +of Sicily and erected large buildings, which, Diodorus +adds, are still in existence; but in Sicily temples were +erected to himself, and honour paid as to a hero, and +a famous shrine was erected in Agyrion, "where," as +Diodorus remarks of this his native city, "even to this +day yearly sacrifices are offered."<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> Makeris, the supposed +father of Sardus, is, like Makar, a form of the +name Melkarth. If Sardinia and the whole West as well +as Eryx is said to have belonged to Heracles, if Heracles +sends out his nearest relations to Sardinia, if the artist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +Dædalus is his companion here as he was the companion +of Minos in Crete and Sicily, it becomes obvious that +the temples of Baal Melkarth on the coasts of Sardinia +and Sicily lie at the base of these legends of the Greeks, +that it was the Phenicians who brought the worship +of their god along with their colonies to these coasts, +to which they were led by the wealth of the Sardinian +mountains in copper. As we already ventured to +suppose (I. 368), Iolaus may be an epithet or a special +form of Baal.<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a></p> + +<p>The legend of the Greeks makes Heracles, <i>i. e.</i> Baal +Melkarth, lord of the whole West. As a fact, the colonies +of the Phenicians went beyond Sardinia in this +direction. Their first colonies on the north coast of +Africa appear to have been planted where the shore +runs out nearest Sicily; Hippo was apparently regarded +as the oldest colony.<a name="FNanchor_162_162" id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> In the legends of the +coins mentioned above (p. 53) Hippo is named beside +Tyre and Citium as a daughter of Sidon. When a +second Hippo was afterwards founded further to the +west, opposite the south coast of Sardinia, at the mouth +of the Ubus, the old Hippo got the name of "Ippoacheret," +and among the Greeks "Hippon Zarytos," +<i>i. e.</i> "the other Hippo."<a name="FNanchor_163_163" id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> Ityke (<i>atak</i>, settlement, +Utica), on the mouth of the Bagradas (Medsherda), +takes the next place after this Hippo, if indeed it was +not founded before it. Aristotle tells us that the +Phenicians stated that Ityke was built 287 years +before Carthage,<a name="FNanchor_164_164" id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a> and Pliny maintains that Ityke was +founded 1178 years before his time.<a name="FNanchor_165_165" id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> As Carthage +was founded in the year 846 <small>B.C.</small> (below, chap. 11),<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +Ityke, according to Aristotle's statement, was built in +the year 1133 <small>B.C.</small> With this the statement of Pliny +agrees. He wrote in the years 52-77 <small>A.D.</small>, and +therefore he places the foundation of Ityke in the year +1126 or 1100 <small>B.C.</small></p> + +<p>About the same time, <i>i. e.</i> about the year 1100 <small>B.C.</small>, +the Phenicians had already reached much further to +the west. In his Phenician history, Claudius Iolaus +tells us that Archaleus (Arkal, Heracles<a name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166" class="fnanchor">[166]</a>), the son of +Phœnix, built Gadeira (Gades).<a name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> "From ancient times," +such is the account of Diodorus, "the Phenicians +carried on an uninterrupted navigation for the sake of +trade, and planted many colonies in Africa, and not a +few in Europe, in the regions lying to the west. And +when their undertakings succeeded according to their +desire and they had collected great treasures, they +resolved to traverse the sea beyond the pillars of +Heracles, which is called Oceanus. First of all, on +their passage through these pillars, they founded upon +a peninsula of Europe a city which they called +Gadeira, and erected works suitable to the place, chiefly +a beautiful temple to Heracles, with splendid offerings +according to the custom of the Phenicians. And as +this temple was honoured at that time, so also in +later times down to our own days it was held in great +reverence. When the Phenicians, in order to explore +the coasts beyond the pillars, took their course along +the shore of Libya, they were carried away far into +the Oceanus by a strong wind, and after being driven +many days by the storm they came to a large island +opposite Libya, where the fertility was so great and +the climate so beautiful that it seemed by the abundance +of blessings found there to be intended for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +dwelling of the gods rather than men."<a name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168" class="fnanchor">[168]</a> Strabo says, +the Gaditani narrated that an oracle bade the Tyrians +send a colony to the pillars of Heracles. When those +who had been sent reached the straits of Mount Calpe +they were of opinion that the promontories which +enclosed the passage, Calpe and the opposite headland +of Abilyx in Libya,<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> were the pillars which bounded the +earth, and the limit of the travels of Heracles, which +the oracle mentioned. So they landed on this side of +the straits, at the spot where the city of the Axitani +(Sexi) now stands; but since the sacrifices were not +favourable there they turned back. Those sent out +after them sailed through the straits, and cast anchor +at an island sacred to Heracles, 1500 stades beyond +the pillars, opposite the city of Onoba in Iberia; but +as the sacrifices were again unfavourable they also again +turned home. Finally, a third fleet landed on a little +island 750 stades beyond Mount Calpe, close to the +mainland, and not far from the mouth of the Bætis. +Here, on the east side of the island, they built a temple +to Heracles; on the opposite side of the island they +built the city of Gadeira, and on the extreme western +point the temple of Cronos. In the temple of Heracles +there were two fountains and "two pillars of brass, +eight cubits in height, on which is recorded the cost of +the building of this temple."<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> This foundation of +Gades, which on the coins is called Gadir and Agadir, +<i>i. e.</i> wall, fortification, the modern Cadiz, and without +doubt the most ancient city in Europe which has preserved +its name, is said to have taken place in the year<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +1100 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> If Ityke was founded before 1100 <small>B.C.</small> or +about that time, we have no reason to doubt the +founding of Gades soon after that date. Hence the +ships of the Phenicians would have reached the ocean +about the time when Tiglath Pilesar I. left the Tigris +with his army, trod the north of Syria, and looked +on the Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>The marvellous and impressive aspect of the rocky +gate which opens a path for the waves of the Mediterranean +to the boundless waters of the Atlantic Ocean +might implant in the Phenician mariners who first +passed beyond it the belief that they had found in +these two mountains the pillars which the god set up to +mark the end of the earth; in the endless ocean beyond +them they could easily recognise the western sea in +which their sun-god went to his rest. That Gades, on +the shore of the sea into which the sun went down, +was especially zealous in the worship of Melkarth, that +the descent of the god into the western ocean (the +supposed death of Heracles<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172" class="fnanchor">[172]</a>) and the awakening of the +god with the sun of the spring were here celebrated +with especial emphasis, is a fact which requires no +explanation. The legends of the Hesperides, the +daughters of the West, in whose garden Melkarth +celebrates the holy marriage with Astarte (I. 371), of +the islands of the blest in the western sea, appear to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +have a local background in the luxuriant fertility and +favoured climate of Madeira and the Canary islands.</p> + +<p>The land off the coast of which Gades lay, the valley +of the Guadalquivir, was named by the Phenicians +Tarsis (Tarshish), and by the Greeks Tartessus. The +genealogical table in Genesis places Tarsis among the +sons of Javan. The prophet Ezekiel represents the ships +of Tarshish as bringing silver, iron, tin and lead to Tyre. +"The ships of Tarshish," so he says to the city of Tyre, +"were thy caravans; so wert thou replenished and +very glorious in the midst of the sea."<a name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> The Sicilian +Stesichorus of Himera expresses himself in more +extravagant terms. He sang of the "fountains of +Tartessus (the Guadalquivir) rooted in silver." The +Greeks represent the Tartessus, the river which brought +down gold, tin, iron in its waters, as springing from +the silver mountain,<a name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174" class="fnanchor">[174]</a> and according to Herodotus +the first Greek ship, a merchantman of Samos, which +was driven about the year 630 <small>B.C.</small> by a storm from +the east to Tartessus, made a profit of 60 talents.<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a> +Aristotle tells us that the first Phenicians who sailed +to Tartessus obtained so much silver in exchange for +things of no value that the ships could not carry the +burden, so that the Phenicians left behind the tackle +and even the anchor they had brought with them and +made new tackle of silver.<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> Poseidonius says that +among that people it was not Hades, but Plutus, who +dwelt in the under-world. Once the forests had been +burned, and the silver and gold, melted by an enormous +fire, flowed out on the surface; every hill and mountain +became a heap of gold and silver. On the north-west +of this land the ground shone with silver, tin and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +white gold mixed with silver. This soil the rivers +washed down with them. The women drew water from +the river and poured it through sieves, so that nothing +but gold, silver and tin remained in the sieve.<a name="FNanchor_177_177" id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> +Diodorus tells the same story of the ancient burning of +the forests on the Pyrenees (from which fire they got +their name), by which the silver ore was rendered +fluid and oozed from the mountains, so that many +streams were formed of pure silver. To the native +inhabitants the value of silver was so little known +that the Phenicians obtained it in exchange for small +presents, and gained great treasures by carrying the +silver to Asia and all other nations. The greed of +the merchants went so far that when the ships were +laden, and there was still a large quantity of silver +remaining, they took off the lead from the anchors +and replaced it with silver. Strabo assures us that +the land through which the Bætis flows was not +surpassed in fertility and all the blessings of earth +and sea by any region in the world; neither gold nor +silver, copper nor iron, was found anywhere else in +such abundance and excellence. The gold was not +only dug up, but also obtained by washing, as the +rivers and streams brought down sands of gold. In +the sands of gold pieces were occasionally found half-a-pound +in weight, and requiring very little purification. +Stone salt was also found there, and there was abundance +of house cattle and sheep, which produced excellent +wool, of corn and wine. The coast of the shore beyond +the pillars was covered with shell-fish and large purple-fish, +and the sea was rich in fish (the tunnies and the +Tartessian murena so much sought after in antiquity),<a name="FNanchor_178_178" id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> +which the ebb and flow of the tide brought up to +the beach. Corn, wine, the best oil, wax, honey,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +pitch and cinnabar were exported from this fortunate +land.<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a></p> + +<p>If the Phenicians were able in the thirteenth century +to settle upon Cyprus and Rhodes, the islands of the +Ægean and the coasts of Hellas, their population +must have been numerous, their industry active, their +trade lucrative. That subsequently in the twelfth +century they also took into possession the coasts of +Sicily, Sardinia and North Africa by means of their +colonies is a proof that the request for the raw products +and metals of the West was very lively and increasing +in Syria and in Egypt, in Assyria and Babylonia. +The market of these lands must have been very remunerative +to the Phenicians in order to induce them +to make their discoveries, their distant voyages and +remote settlements. If the Phenicians about the year +1100 <small>B.C.</small> were in a position to discover the straits of +Gibraltar, the fact shows us that they must have +practised navigation for a long time. The horizon of +the Greek mariner ended even in the ninth century +in the waters of Sicily, and in the fifth century <small>B.C.</small> +the voyage of a Greek ship from the Syrian coast +to the pillars of Heracles occupied 80 days.<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> After +the founding of Gades the Phenicians ruled over the +whole length of the Mediterranean by their harbour +fortresses and factories. Their ships crossed the long +basin in every direction, and everywhere they found +harbours of safety. They showed themselves no less +apt and inventive in the arts of navigation than the +Babylonians had shown themselves in technical inventions +and astronomy; they were bolder and more +enterprising than the Assyrians in the campaigns +which the latter attempted at the time when the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +Phenicians were building Gades; they were more +venturesome and enduring on the water than their +tribesmen the Arabians on the sandy sea of the desert. +In the possession of the ancient civilisation of the East +their mariners and merchants presented the same contrast +to the Thracians and Hellenes, the Sicels, the +Libyans and Iberians which the Portuguese and the +Spaniards presented 2500 years later to the tribes of +America.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Robinson, "Palestine," 3, 710.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Tac. "Hist." 5, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Rénan, "Mission de Phénicie," p. 836.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Vol. i. pp. 344, 345.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 151.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 153.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 344.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> The legend runs, "From the Sidonians, Mother of Kamb, Ippo, +Kith(?), Sor," Movers, "Phœniz." 2, 134.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> Isaiah xxiii. 1, 19; Jeremiah ii. 10; Ezekiel xxvii. 6; Joseph. +"Antiq." 1, 6, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> Virgil, "Æn." 1, 619, 620.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Brandis, "Monatsberichte Berl. Akad." 1873, s. 645 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> Herod. 7, 90.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Stephan. Byz. +Ἀμαθοῦς.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> "Odyss." 8, 362; Tac. "Annal." 2, 3; Pausan. 1, 14, 6; Pompon. +Mela, 2, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 359.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Joseph. "in Apion." 1, 18; "Antiq." 8, 5, 3, 9, 14, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." 2, 239, 240.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> Diod. 5, 56.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> In Homer Europa is not the daughter of Agenor but of Phœnix +("Il." 14, 321), just as Cadmus, Thasos, and Europa are sometimes +children of Agenor and sometimes of Phœnix. In Hdt. 1, 2 it is +Cretans who carry off Europa, the daughter of the king of Tyre.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Diod. 4, 2, 60; 5, 56, 57, 58, 48, 49.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Ephor. Frag. 12, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Herod. 4, 147; 2, 45, 49; 5, 58, 59.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> Frag. 8, 9, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> Frag. 40-42, 43-45, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Frag. 163, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> "Theog." 937, 975; Pind. "Pyth." 3, 88 <i>seqq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." 1, 129, 131.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Plut. "Pelop." c. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Pind. "Olymp." 2, 141.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Vol. i. 271.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." 1, 517.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> Thac. 1, 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Vol. i. 363, 364.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> Athenæus, p. 360.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Diod. 5, 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Bœckh. C. I. G. 2526.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Hefter, "Götterdienste auf Rhodos," 3, 18; Welcker, "Mythologie," +1, 145; Brandis, "Munzwesen," s. 587.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Schol. Pind. "Pyth." 4, 88; Pausan. 3, 1, 7, 8; Steph. Byz. +Μεμβλίαρος.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> Bœckh. C. I. G. 2448.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> Herod. 4, 147; Steph. Byz. +Μῆλος.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> Steph. Byz. +Ὠλίαρος.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 346, 457, 472; Diod. 5, 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> Vol. i. 378; Herod. 2, 51; Conze, "Inseln des Thrakischen +Meeres," <i>e. g.</i> s. 91.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> Strabo, p. 473; Steph. Byz. +Ἴμβρος; vol. i. 378.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> Herod. 2, 44; 6, 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> Herod. 1, 105; Pausan. 1, 14, 7; 3, 23, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Pausan. 10, 11, 5; Bœckh, "Metrologie," s. 45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Pausan. 1, 2, 5; 1, 14, 6, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> Strabo, p. 377; Pausan. 1, 32, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> ΑΘΗΝΑΙΟΝ ς´ γ´, 1877, and below, chap. xi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> Brandis, "Hermes," 2, 275 ff. I cannot agree in all points with +the deductions of this extremely acute inquiry.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> "Il." 14, 321; 18, 593; "Odyss." 19, 178; 11, 568.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> "Odyss." 11, 523.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> Diod. 4, 60.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> Serv. ad "Æneid." 6, 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> Hesych. +ἐπ᾿ Εὐρυγύν ἀγών; Plut. "Thes." c. 15; Diod. 4, 65.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> Apollodor. 1, 9, 26; Suidas, +Σαρδώνιος γέλως.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> Herod. 7, 110.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> Diod. 4, 76-78; Schol. Callim. "Hymn. in Jovem," 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> Istri frag. 47, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Istri frag. 33, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> Müllenhoff, "Deutsche Alterthumskunde," i. 222.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> Plato, "Minos," pp. 262, 266, 319, 321; "De. Legg," <i>init.</i>; Aristot. +"Pol." 2, 8, 1, 2; 7, 9, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Herod. 1, 171; 3, 122; 7, 169-171.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> Herod. 1, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> Herod. 3, 122.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Strabo, p. 476; Steph. Byz. +Ἰτανός.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> Pausan. 3, 21, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> Aristotle, in Steph. Byz. +Κύθηρα.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Above, p. 63.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Strabo, p. 479.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> Below, chap. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> Thuc. 1, 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> Herod. 7, 171.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> Herod. 2, 44, 145.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> Herod. 4, 147.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Thuc. 5, 112.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> Herod. 5, 89; "Il." 13, 451; "Odyss." 19, 178.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> Euseb. "Chron." 2, p. 34 <i>seqq.</i> ed. Schöne. Even in Diodorus, 4, +60, we find two Minoses, an older and a younger.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Lenormant, "Antiq. de la Troade," p. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> Genesis x. 2-4: 1 Chron. i. 5-7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Kiepert, "Monatsberichte Berl. Akad." 1859.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> Ezek. xxvii. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> Thuc. vi. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> Diod. v. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> Ptolem. 4, 3, 47.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> <i>Ai benim</i>; Movers, "Phœniz." 2, 355, 359, 362.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> Heracl. Pont. frag. 29, ed. Müller; Gesen. "Monum." p. 293; +Olshausen, "Rh. Mus." 1852, S. 328.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> Thuc. 6, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> Diod. 4, 83.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> "Æn." 5, 760.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> Diod. 4, 83; Strabo, p. 272; Athenæus, p. 374; Aelian, "Hist. +An." 4, 2; 10, 50.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> Diod. 4, 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> Herod. 5, 43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> Steph. Byz. +Σολοῦς. Sapphon. frag. 6, ed. Bergk; it is possible +that Panormus on Crete may be meant.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> Thuc. 6, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> Diod. 5, 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> Diod. 4, 24, 29, 30; 5, 15; Arist. "De mirab. ausc." c. 104; Pausan. +10, 17, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> Movers ("Phœniz." 1, 536) assumes that Iolaus may be identical +with Esmun (I. 377).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> Sallust, "Jugurtha," 19, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> Movers, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 144.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> "De mirab. ausc." c. 146.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> "Hist. nat." 16, 79.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> Arkal or Archal may mean "fire of the All," "light of the All."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> Etym. Magn. +Γαδεῖρα.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> Diod. 5, 19, 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> On the meaning given in Avienus ("Ora marit") of Abila as +"high mountain," and Calpa as "big-bellied jar," cf. Müllenhoff, +"Deutsche Alterthumsk," 1, 83.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 169-172. Justin (44, 5) represents the Tyrians as +founding Gades in consequence of a dream. In regard to the name +cf. Avien. "Ora marit," 267-270.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." 2, 622. Strabo (p. 48) puts the first settlements +of the Phenicians in the midst of the Libyan coast and at +Gades just after the Trojan war, Velleius (1, 2, 6, in combination +with 1, 8, 4), in the year 1100 <small>B.C.</small> Cf. Movers, <i>loc. cit.</i> S. 148, note 90. +The Greeks called both land and river Tartessus. The pillars of the +Tyrian god "Archaleus," are with them the pillars of their "Heracles," +which he sets up as marks of his campaigns. Here, opposite the +mouth of the Tartessus, they place the island Erythea, <i>i. e.</i> the red +island on which the giant Geryon, <i>i. e.</i> "the roarer," guards the red +oxen of the sun: Erythea is one of the islands near Cadiz; Müllenhoff, +Deutsche "Alterthumsk:" 1, 134 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> Sall. "Jugurtha," c. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> Ezek. xxvii. 12, 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> In Strabo, p. 148; Müllenhoff, <i>loc. cit.</i> 1, 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> Herod. 4, 152.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> "De mirab. ausc." c. 147.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> In Strabo, p. 148.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> Aristoph. "Ranae," 475.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> Diod. 5, 35; Strabo, p. 144 <i>seqq.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> Scylax, "Peripl." c. 111.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL.</h3> + + +<p>Not far removed from the harbour-cities, whose ships +discovered the land of silver, which carried the natural +wealth of the West to the lands of the Euphrates and +Tigris, and the Nile, in order to exchange them for the +productions of those countries, in part immediately upon +the borders of the marts which united the East and the +West, and side by side with them, dwelt the Israelites +on the heights and in the valleys which they had +conquered, in very simple and original modes of life.</p> + +<p>Even during the war against the ancient population +of Canaan, immediately after the first successes against +the Amorites, they had, as we have seen, dropped +any common participation in the struggle, any unity +under one leader. According to their numbers and +bravery, and the resistance encountered, the various +tribes had won larger or smaller territories, better +or inferior districts. Immigration and conquest did +not lead among the Israelites to a combination of their +powers under the supremacy of one leader, but rather +to separation into clans and cantons, which was also +favoured by the nature of the country conquered, a +district lying in unconnected parts, and possessing no +central region adapted for governing the whole. Thus, +after the settlement, the life of the nation became<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +divided into separate circles according to the position +and character of the mountain canton which the +particular tribe had obtained, and the fortune which it +had experienced. Even if there was an invasion of +the enemy, the tribe attacked was left to defend +itself as well as it could. It was only very rarely, +and in times of great danger, that the nobles and +elders of the whole land, and a great number of the +men of war from all the tribes, were collected round +the sacred ark at Shiloh, at Bethel, at Mizpeh, or +at Gilgal for common counsel or common defence. +But even when a resolution was passed by the nobles +and elders and the people, individual tribes sometimes +resisted, even by force of arms, the expressed +will of the nation, or at least of a great part of the +nobles and people, and the division of the tribes +sometimes led even to open war.</p> + +<p>Within the tribes also there was no fixed arrangement, +no fixed means for preserving peace. The clans and +families for the most part possessed separate valleys, +glens, or heights. The heads of the oldest families +were also the governors of these cantons, and composed +the differences between the members of the clan, canton, +or city by their decisions; while in other places bold +and successful warriors at the head of voluntary bands +made acquisitions, in which the descendants of the +leader took the rank of elder and judge. Eminent +houses of this kind, together with the heads of families +of ancient descent, formed the order of nobles and +elders; "who hold the judge's staff in their hands, +and ride on spotted asses with beautiful saddles, while +the common people go afoot."<a name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> If a tribe fell into +distress and danger, the nobles and elders assembled +and took counsel, while the people stood round, unless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +some man of distinction had already risen and summoned +the tribe to follow him. For the people did +not adhere exclusively to the chief of the oldest family +in the canton; nobles and others within, and in special +cases without, the tribe, who had obtained a prominent +position by warlike actions, or by the wisdom of their +decisions, whose position and power promised help, +protection and the accomplishment of the sentence, +were invited to remove strife and differences, unless +the contending persons preferred to help themselves. +Only the man who could not help himself sought, as a +rule, the decision of the elder or judge.</p> + +<p>The names of some of the men whose decision was +sought in that time have been preserved in the tradition +of the Israelites. Tholah of the tribe of Issachar, +Jair of the land of Gilead, Ebzan of Bethlehem in the +tribe of Judah, Elon of the tribe of Zebulun, and Abdon +of Ephraim, are all mentioned as judges of note. Of +Jair we are told that he had 30 sons, who rode on 30 +asses, and possessed 30 villages. Ebzan is also said to +have had 30 sons and to have married 30 daughters; +while Abdon had 40 sons and 30 grandsons, who rode +on 70 asses.<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a></p> + +<p>On the heights and table-lands of the districts east +of the Jordan, in the land of Gilead, were settled the +tribes of Reuben and Gad and a part of the tribe of +Manasseh. At an early period they grew together, so +that the name of the region sometimes represents the +names of these tribes. Here the pastoral life and breeding +of cattle remained predominant, as in the less productive +districts on the west of the Jordan. But on +the plains and in the valleys of the west the greater +part of the settlers devoted themselves to the culture +of the vine and agriculture. The walls of the ancient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +cities were at first used as a protection against the +attacks of robbers, or raids of enemies; the inhabitants, +afterwards as before, planted their fields and +vineyards outside the gates.<a name="FNanchor_183_183" id="FNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_183" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> But the custom of +dwelling together led to the beginnings of civic life, +industrial skill, and common order. The trade of the +Phenicians, which touched the land of the Hebrews +here and there, and the more advanced culture of the +cities of the coast, could not remain without influence +on the Hebrews.</p> + +<p>The religious feeling which separated the Israelites +from the Canaanites was not more thoroughly effective +than the community of blood and the contrast to the +ancient population of the land in bringing about the +combination and union of the Israelites. The religious +life was as much without organisation as the civic; +on the contrary, as the Israelites spread as settlers over +a larger district, the unity and connection of religious +worship which Moses previously established again fell +to the ground. It is true, the sacred ark remained at +Shiloh, five leagues to the north of Bethel, under the +sacred tent in the land of the tribe of Ephraim. At +this place a festival was held yearly in honour of +Jehovah, to which the Israelites assembled to offer +prayer and sacrifice. On other occasions also people +went to Shiloh to offer sacrifice.<a name="FNanchor_184_184" id="FNanchor_184_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> The priestly office +in the sacred tent at the sacred ark remained with the +descendants of Aaron, in the family of Phinehas, the +son of Eleazar, the eldest son of Aaron (I. 497). +But with the settlement a number of other places of +sacrifice had risen up beside the sanctuary at Shiloh. +On the heights and under the oaks at Ramah in the +land of Benjamin, at Mizpeh in the same district, as +well as at Mizpeh beyond Jordan, where Jacob and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +Laban had parted in peace,<a name="FNanchor_185_185" id="FNanchor_185_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> at Bethel on the borders +of the land of Ephraim and Benjamin, where Abraham +sacrificed (between Bethel and Ai) and Jacob received +the name of Israel;<a name="FNanchor_186_186" id="FNanchor_186_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> finally at Gilgal on the east of +Jordan, where Joshua lay encamped, and kept the passover, +before he attacked Jericho, Jehovah was invoked. +At these places also the firstlings of the fruits were +offered; goats, rams, and bulls were offered, with or +without the intervention of the priest, and inquiry +made for the will of Jehovah without priestly help or +intervention. Any one who set up an altar established +a priest there, or hired a priest. For this purpose +men were chosen who claimed to be of the race of +Moses and Aaron, just as the service of the sacred ark +at Shiloh was in the hands of this family; but men of +other origin and tribes were not excluded even from the +priesthood at the ark.<a name="FNanchor_187_187" id="FNanchor_187_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a></p> + +<p>In such a want of any defined and influential +position of the priesthood, in the want of any church +organisation, it was only the superior personal power of +the priests at Shiloh which could protect the religious +feeling and traditional custom against the influences +of the new surroundings, and Canaanitish rites. Tradition, +at any rate from the first third of the eleventh +century <small>B.C.</small>, had no good to tell of the morals of the +priests at Shiloh. To those who came to bring an +offering the servant of the priest said, "Give flesh to +roast for the priest; he will not have it sodden but +raw." If the person sacrificing replied, "We will burn +only the fat, then take what you desire," the servant +answered, "You must give it me now, and if you will +not I shall take it by force." If the priest desired +cooked flesh from the sacrifice, he sent his servant, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +struck with his three-pronged fork into the cauldron, +and what he brought out was the priest's.</p> + +<p>The religious views of the Israelites, not sufficiently +represented among themselves, were the more exposed +to the influence of the rites of the Canaanites, as these +rites belonged to tribes of kindred nature and character. +In this way it came about that the Canaanitish gods +Baal and Astarte were worshipped beside Jehovah, the +god of Israel, and that in one or two places the old +worship was perhaps entirely driven out by these new +gods. But even where this did not take place, it +was owing to the example and impulse of the Syrian +modes of worship that images were here and there +set up on the altars of Jehovah. When the conception +of the divine nature in the spirit of a nation passes +beyond the first undefined feeling and intimation,—when +it receives a plainer and more expressive shape +in the minds of men, and the first steps of artistic and +technical skill, or the example of neighbours, are coincident +with this advance,—the general result is that +men desire to see the ruling powers fixed in distinct +forms, then the gods are presented in a realistic manner +in visible forms and images. And thus it was among +the Israelites. The command of Moses given in opposition +to the images of Egypt (I. 354) was long since +forgotten. Michah, a man of the tribe of Ephraim, +caused a goldsmith to make a carved and molten image +of Jehovah of 200 shekels of silver; and set it up in a +temple on Mount Ephraim, establishing as a priest a +Levite, the "descendant of Moses." When a part of +Dan marched northwards in order to win for themselves +abodes there, which they could not conquer from +the Philistines, the men of Dan carried off this image +along with the Levite and set it up in the city of Laish +(Dan), which they took from the Sidonians (I. 371),<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +and the "grandson of Moses" and his descendants continued +to be priests before this image.<a name="FNanchor_188_188" id="FNanchor_188_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a> At Nob also there +was a gilded image of Jehovah, and many had Teraphim, +or images of gods in the form of men, in their houses.<a name="FNanchor_189_189" id="FNanchor_189_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a></p> + +<p>Nothing important was undertaken before inquiry +was made of the will of Jehovah. The inquiry was +made as a rule by casting lots before the sacred +tabernacle at Shiloh, before the altars and images of +Jehovah,<a name="FNanchor_190_190" id="FNanchor_190_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> or by questioning the priests and soothsayers. +Counsel was also taken of these if a cow had +gone astray, and they received in return bread or a +piece of money.</p> + +<p>Of the feuds which the tribes of Israel carried on +at this time, some have remained in remembrance.<a name="FNanchor_191_191" id="FNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> +The concubine of a Levite, so we are told in the +book of Judges, who dwelt on Mount Ephraim, ran +away from her husband; she went back to her father, +to Bethlehem in Judah. Her husband rose and +followed her, pacified her, and then set out on his +return. The first evening they reached the city of the +Jebusites, but the Levite would not pass the night +among the Canaanites (I. 500), and turned aside to +Gibeah, a place in the tribe of Benjamin. Here no +one received the travellers; they were compelled to +remain in the street till an old man came home late in +the evening from his work in the field. When he +heard that the traveller was from Ephraim he received +him into his house, for he was himself an Ephraimite, +gave fodder to the asses of the Levite and his concubine,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +and placed his attendant with his own servants. +Then they washed their feet, and drank, and their +hearts were merry. But the men of Gibeah collected +round the house in the evening, pressed on the door, +and demanded that the stranger from Ephraim should +be given up to them; they wished to destroy him. In +order to save himself the priest gave up to them his +concubine, that they might satisfy their passions on +her. The men of Gibeah abused her the whole night +through, so that next morning she lay dead upon the +threshold. The Levite went with the corpse to his +home at Ephraim, cut it into twelve pieces with a +knife, and sent a piece to each tribe. Every one +who saw it said, "The like was never heard since +Israel came out of Egypt." And the chiefs of the +nation assembled and pronounced a curse upon him +who did not come to Mizpah (in the land of Benjamin) +that he should be put to death. Then all the tribes +assembled at Mizpah, it is said about 400,000 men;<a name="FNanchor_192_192" id="FNanchor_192_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> +only from Jabesh in Gilead and the tribe of Benjamin +no one came. The Levite told what had happened to +him, and the tribes sent messengers to Benjamin, to +bring the men of Gibeah. But the children of Benjamin +refused, and assembled their men of war, more than +26,000 in number, and took up arms. Then the +people rose up and said, "Cursed be he who gives a +wife to Benjamin."<a name="FNanchor_193_193" id="FNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_193" class="fnanchor">[193]</a> Every tenth man was sent back +for supplies; the rest marched out against Benjamin. +But "Benjamin was a ravening wolf, who ate up the +spoil at morning and divided the booty in the evening;" +they were mighty archers, and could throw with +the left hand as well as the right.<a name="FNanchor_194_194" id="FNanchor_194_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> They fought twice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +at Gibeah with success against their countrymen. Not +till the third contest did the Israelites gain the victory, +and then only by an ambuscade and counterfeit flight. +After this overthrow the whole tribe is said to have +been massacred, the flocks and herds destroyed, and +the cities burnt. Only 600 men, as we are told, +escaped to the rock Rimmon on the Dead Sea. +When the community again assembled at Bethel the +people were troubled that a tribe should be extirpated +and wanting in Israel; so they caused peace and a +safe return to be proclaimed to the remainder of Benjamin. +And when 12,000 men were sent out against +Jabesh to punish the city because none of their inhabitants +came to the gathering at Mizpeh, they were +ordered to spare the maidens of Jabesh. In obedience +to this command they brought 400 maidens back from +Jabesh, and these were given to the Benjamites. But +as this number was insufficient the Benjamites were +allowed, when the yearly festival was held at Shiloh +(p. 92), and the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance +before the city, to rush out from the vineyards and carry +off wives for themselves. Thus does tradition explain +the non-execution of the decree that no Israelite should +give his daughter to wife to a man of Benjamin, and the +rescue of the tribe of Benjamin from destruction.<a name="FNanchor_195_195" id="FNanchor_195_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_195" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></p> + +<p>Without unity and connection in their political and +religious life, amid the quarrels and feuds of the tribes, +families and individuals, when every one helped and +avenged himself, and violence and cruelty abounded,—in +the lawless condition when "every one in Israel +did what was right in his own eyes,"—the Israelites<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +were in danger of becoming the prey of every external +foe, and it was a question whether they could long +maintain the land they had won. It was fortunate +that there was no united monarchy at the head either +of the Philistines or the Phenicians, that the latter +were intent on other matters, as their colonies in +the Mediterranean, while the cities of the Philistines, +though they acquired a closer combination as early as +the eleventh century <small>B.C.</small>, or even earlier (I. 348), did +not, at least at first, go out to make foreign conquests. +But it was unavoidable that the old population, especially +in the north, where they remained in the greatest +numbers amongst the Israelites, should again rise and +find strong points of support in the Canaanite princes +of Hazor and Damascus; that the Moabites who lay to +the east of the Dead Sea, the Ammonites, the neighbours +of the land of Gilead, that the wandering tribes of the +Syrian desert should feel themselves tempted to invade +Israel, to carry off the flocks and plunder the harvests +and, if they found no vigorous resistance, to take up a +permanent settlement in the country. Without the +protection of natural borders, without combination +and guidance, as they were, the Israelites could only +succeed in resisting such attacks when in the time of +danger a skilful and brave warrior was found, who +was able to rouse his own tribe, and perhaps one or +two of the neighbouring tribes, to a vigorous resistance, +or to liberation if the enemy was already in the land. +It is the deeds of such heroes, and almost these alone, +which remained in the memory of the Israelites from +the first two centuries following their settlement; and +these narratives, in part fabulous, must represent the +history of Israel for this period.</p> + +<p>Eglon, king of Moab, defeated the Israelites, passed +over the Jordan, took Jericho, and here established<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +himself. With Gilead the tribe of Benjamin, which +dwelt nearest to Jericho, at first must have felt with +especial weight the oppression of Moab. For 18 years +the Israelites are said to have served Eglon. Then +Ehud, of the tribe of Benjamin, a reputed great grandson +of the youngest son of Jacob, the father of the Benjamites, +came with others to Jericho to bring tribute. +When the tax had been delivered Ehud desired to +speak privately with the king. Permission was given, +and Ehud went with a two-edged sword in his hand, +under his garment, to the king, who sat alone in the +cool upper chamber. Ehud spoke: "I have a message +from God to thee;" and when Eglon rose to +receive the message Ehud smote him with the sword +in the belly, "so that even the haft went in, and +the fat closed over the blade, for the king of Moab +was a very fat man. But Ehud went down to the +court, and closed the door behind him." When the +servants found the door closed they thought that the +king had covered his feet for sleep. At last they +took the key and found the king dead on the floor. +But Ehud blew the trumpet on Mount Ephraim, +assembled a host, seized the fords of Jordan, and +slew about 10,000 Moabites, and the Moabites retired +into their old possessions.<a name="FNanchor_196_196" id="FNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a></p> + +<p>Another narrative tells of the fortunes of the tribes +of Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar, which were settled +in the north, under Mount Hermon. Jabin, king of +Hazor, had chariots of iron, and Sisera his captain +was a mighty warrior, and for 20 years they oppressed +the Israelites.<a name="FNanchor_197_197" id="FNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a> Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, of the +tribe of Issachar, dwelt in the land of Benjamin, +between Bethel and Ramah, under the palm-tree; she +could announce the will of Jehovah, and the people<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> +came to her to obtain counsel and judgment. At her +command Barak, the son of Abinoam, assembled the +men of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali; assistance +also came from Issachar, Manasseh, Ephraim and +Benjamin. Sisera went forth with 900 chariots and a +great host and the Israelites retired before him to the +south of the brook Kishon. Sisera crossed the brook +and came upon the Israelites in the valley of Megiddo; +he was defeated, leapt from his chariot, and fled on +foot and came unto the tent of Heber the Kenite. +Jael, Heber's wife, met him and said, "Turn in, my +lord, to me; fear not." When in his thirst he asked +for water, she opened the bottle of milk and allowed +him to drink, and when he lay down to rest she +covered him with the carpet. Being wearied, he sank +into a deep sleep. Then Jael softly took the nail of the +tent and a hammer in her hand, and smote the nail +through his temples so that it passed into the earth. +When Barak, who pursued the fugitive, came, Jael +said, "I will show thee the man whom thou seekest," +and led him into the tent where Sisera lay dead on the +ground.</p> + +<p>Israel's song of victory is as follows: "Listen, ye +kings; give ear, ye princes; I will sing to Jehovah, +I will play on the harp of Jehovah, the king of Israel. +There were no princes in Israel till I, Deborah, arose +a mother in Israel. Arise, Barak; bring forth thy +captives, thou son of Abinoam. Shout, ye that ride +on she-asses, and ye that sit upon carpets, and ye +that go on foot, and let the people come down into +the plain, to the gates of the cities. Then I said, +Go down, O people of Jehovah, against the strong; a +small people against the mighty. From Ephraim they +came and from Benjamin, from Machir (<i>i. e.</i> from the +Manassites on the east of the lake of Gennesareth) the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +rulers came, and the chiefs of Issachar were with +Deborah, and Zebulun is a people which perilled his +life to the death, and Naphtali on the heights of the +field. On the streams of Reuben there was taking of +counsel, but why didst thou sit still among the herds +to hear the pipe of the herdsmen? Gilead also +remained beyond Jordan, and Asher abode on the +shore of the sea in his valleys, and Dan on his heights. +The kings came, they fought at the water of Megiddo; +they gained no booty of silver. Issachar, the support +of Barak, threw himself in the valley at his heels. The +brook Kishon washed away the enemy: a brook of +battles is the brook Kishon. Go forth, my soul, +upon the strong. Blessed above women shall Jael +be, above women in the tent. He asked for water, +she gave him milk; she brought him cream in a +lordly dish. She put forth her hand to the nail, and +her right hand to the workman's hammer, and she +smote Sisera, she shattered and pierced his temples. +Between her feet he lay shattered. The mother of +Sisera looked from her window; she called through the +lattice: 'Why linger his chariots in returning? why +delay the wheels of his chariot?' Her wise maidens +answered her; nay, she answered herself: 'Will they +not find spoil and divide it; one or two maidens to +each, spoil of broidered robes for Sisera?' So must +all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah, but may those +who love him be as the sun going forth in his strength." +Whether this song was composed by Deborah, or by +some other person in her name, it is certainly an +ancient song of victory and contemporary with the +events it celebrates.</p> + +<p>The tribes of Israel also which were settled in the +land of Gilead remembered with gratitude a mighty +warrior who had once delivered them from grievous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +oppression. The Ammonites, the eastern neighbours +of the land of Gilead, oppressed "the sons of Israel +who dwelt beyond Jordan" for 18 years, and marched +over Jordan against Judah, Benjamin and the house +of Ephraim. Then the elders of the land of Gilead +bethought them of Jephthah (Jephthah means "freed +from the yoke"), to whom they had formerly refused +the inheritance of his father because he was not the +son of the lawful wife, but of a courtezan. He had +retired into the gorges of the mountain and collected +round him a band of robbers, and done deeds +of bravery. To him the elders went; he was to be +their leader in fighting against the sons of Ammon. +Jephthah said, "Have ye not driven me out of the +house of my father? now that ye are in distress ye +come to me." Still he followed their invitation, and +the people of Gilead gathered round him at Mizpeh +and made him their chief and leader. "If I return +in triumph from the sons of Ammon," such was Jephthah's +vow, "the first that meets me at the door of +my house shall be dedicated to Jehovah, and I will +sacrifice it as a burnt-offering." When he had asked +the tribe of Ephraim for assistance in vain he set out +against the Ammonites with the warriors of the tribes of +Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, and overcame them in a +great battle on the river Arnon. The Ephraimites +made it a reproach against Jephthah that he had +fought against the Ammonites without them; they +crossed the Jordan in arms. But Jephthah said, "I +was in straits, and my people with me; I called to +you, but ye aided me not." He assembled the men of +Gilead, defeated the Ephraimites, and came to the +fords of the Jordan before the fugitives, so that more +than 42,000 men of Ephraim are said to have been slain.</p> + +<p>When he returned to his home at Mizpeh his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +only daughter came to meet him joyfully, with her +maidens and timbrels and dancing. Jephthah tore +his garments and cried, "My daughter, thou hast +brought me very low; I have opened my mouth to +Jehovah and cannot take it back." "My father," she +answered, "if thou hast opened thy mouth to Jehovah, +do to me as thou hast spoken, for Jehovah has given +thee vengeance on thine enemies, the Ammonites. +But first let me go with my companions to the +mountains, and there for two months bewail my virginity." +This was done, and on her return Jephthah +did to her according to his vow. And it was a custom +in Israel for the maidens to lament the daughter of +Jephthah for four days in the year. After this +Jephthah is said to have been judge for six years +longer beyond Jordan, <i>i. e.</i> to have maintained the +peace in these districts.</p> + +<p>Grievous calamity came upon Israel in this period +from a migratory people of the Syrian desert, from +the incursions of the Midians, who, like the Moabites +and Ammonites, are designated in Genesis as a nation +kindred to the Israelites, with whom Moses was said +to have entered into close relations (I. 449, 468). +Now the Midianites with other tribes of the desert attacked +Israel in constant predatory incursions. "Like +locusts in multitude," we are told, "the enemy came +with their flocks and tents; there was no end of them +and their camels. When Israel had sowed the sons of +the East came up and destroyed the increase of the +land as far as Gaza, and left no sustenance remaining, +no sheep, oxen and asses. And the sons of Israel were +compelled to hide themselves in ravines, and caves, and +mountain fortresses."<a name="FNanchor_198_198" id="FNanchor_198_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> For seven years Israel is said +to have been desolated in this manner. Beside the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +tribes of Issachar and Zebulun, between Mount Tabor +and the Kishon, dwelt a part of the tribe of Manasseh. +The family of Abiezer, belonging to this tribe, possessed +Ophra. In an incursion of the Midianites the sons of +Joash, a man of this family, were slain;<a name="FNanchor_199_199" id="FNanchor_199_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_199" class="fnanchor">[199]</a> only Gideon, +the youngest, remained. When the Midianites came +again, after their wont, at the time of harvest, and +encamped on the plain of Jezreel, and Gideon was +beating wheat in the vat of the wine-press in order to +save the corn from the Midianites, Jehovah aroused him. +He gathered the men of his family around him, 300 +in number.<a name="FNanchor_200_200" id="FNanchor_200_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_200" class="fnanchor">[200]</a> When Jehovah had given him a favourable +sign, and he had reconnoitred the camp of the +Midianites, together with his armour-bearer Phurah, he +determined to attack them in the night. He divided his +troop into companies containing a hundred men; each +took a trumpet and a lighted torch, which was concealed +in an earthen pitcher. These companies were to approach +the camp of the Midianites from three sides, and when +Gideon blew the trumpet and disclosed his torch they +were all to do the same. Immediately after the second +night-watch, when the Midianites had just changed the +guards, Gideon gave the signal. All broke their pitchers, +blew their trumpets, and cried, "The sword for Jehovah +and Gideon!" Startled, terrified, and imagining +that they were attacked by mighty hosts, the Midianites +fled. Then the men of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and +Naphtali arose, and Gideon hastily sent messengers to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +the Ephraimites that they should seize the fords of +Jordan before the Midianites. The Ephraimites assembled +and took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb +(Raven) and Zeeb (Wolf). The Ephraimites strove +with Gideon that he had not summoned them sooner. +Gideon replied modestly, "Is not the gleaning of the +grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? +Did not Jehovah give the princes of Midian into your +hand? Could I do what ye have done?" He pursued +the Midianites over the Jordan in order to get +into his power their princes Zebah and Zalmunna, +who had previously slain his brothers. When he +passed the river at Succoth he asked the men of +Succoth to give bread to his wearied soldiers. But +the elders feared the vengeance of the Midianites, +and said, "Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in thine +hand, that we should give bread to thy men?" +Gideon replied in anger, "If Jehovah gives them into +my hand I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the +wilderness and with briers." The inhabitants of Penuel +on the Jabbok also, to which Gideon marched, refused +to feed their countrymen; like those of Succoth, they +feared the Midianites. Gideon led his army by the +way of the dwellers in tents far away to Karkor. Here +he defeated and scattered the 15,000 Midianites who +had escaped, and captured the two princes. Then he +turned back to Succoth and said to the elders, "See, +here are Zebah and Zalmunna, for whom ye mocked +me." He caused them to be seized, seventy-seven in +number, and tore them to death with thorns and briers. +The tower of Penuel he destroyed, and caused the inhabitants +of the place to be slain. To the captured +princes he said, "What manner of men were they +whom ye once slew at Tabor?" And they answered, +"As thou art, they looked like the sons of a king."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +"They were my brethren, the sons of my mother," +Gideon answered. "As Jehovah liveth, if ye had +saved them alive I would not slay you. Stand up," +he called to his first-born son Jether, "and slay them." +But the youth feared and drew not his sword, for he +was yet young. "Slay us thyself," said the prisoners, +"for as the man is, so is his strength." This was done. +When the booty was divided Gideon claimed as his +share the golden ear-rings of the slain Midianites. +They were collected in Gideon's mantle, and the weight +reached 1700 shekels of gold, beside the purple raiment +of the dead kings, and the moons and chains on the +necks of the camels.</p> + +<p>Gideon had gained a brilliant victory; no more is +heard of the raids of the Midianites. Out of the booty +he set up a gilded image (ephod) at Ophra.<a name="FNanchor_201_201" id="FNanchor_201_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_201" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> He overthrew +the altar of Baal and the image of Astarte in his +city; and this, as is expressly stated, in the night +(from which we must conclude that the inhabitants +of Ophra were attached to this worship); and in the +place of it he set up an altar to Jehovah on the +height, and in the city another altar, which he called +"Jehovah, peace." "Unto this day it is still in +Ophra."</p> + +<p>After the liberation of the land, which was owing to +him, Gideon held the first place in Israel. We are +told that the crown had been offered to him and that +he refused it.<a name="FNanchor_202_202" id="FNanchor_202_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_202" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> But if Gideon left 70 sons of his body +by many wives, if we find that his influence descended +to his sons, he must have held an almost royal position, +in which a harem was not wanting. He died, as it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +seems, in a good old age, and was buried in the grave +of his fathers (after 1150 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_203_203" id="FNanchor_203_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a>).</p> + +<p>The same need of protection which preserved Gideon +in power till his death had induced some cities to form +a league, after the pattern of the cities of the Philistines, +for mutual support and security. Shechem, +the old metropolis of the tribe of Ephraim, was the +chief city of this league. Here on the citadel at +Shechem the united cities had built a temple to Baal +Berith, <i>i. e.</i> to Baal of the league, and established a +fund for the league in the treasury of this temple. +One of the 70 sons of Gideon, the child of a woman of +Shechem, by name Abimelech, conceived the plan of +establishing a monarchy in Israel by availing himself +of Gideon's name and memory, the desire for order and +protection from which the league had arisen, and the +resources of the cities. At first he sought to induce +the cities to make him their chief. Supported by them, +he sought to remove his brothers and to take the +monarchy into his own hands as the only heir of +Gideon. A skilful warrior like Abimelech, who carried +with him the fame and influence of a great father, +must have been welcome to the cities as a leader and +chief in such wild times. Abimelech spoke to the +men of Shechem: "Consider that I am your bone and +your flesh; which is better, that 70 men rule over you +or I only?" Then the citizens of Shechem and the +inhabitants of the citadel assembled under the oak of +Shechem and made Abimelech their king, and gave +him 70 shekels of silver from the temple of Baal +Berith, "that he might be able to pay people to serve +him." With these and the men of Shechem who followed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +him he marched and slew all his brethren at Ophra in +his father's house (one only, Jotham, escaped him), and +Israel obeyed him. Abimelech seemed to have reached +his object. Perhaps he might have maintained the +throne thus won by blood had he not, three years +afterwards, quarrelled with the cities which helped him +to power. The cities rose against him. Abimelech +with his forces went against the chief city, Shechem. +The city was taken and destroyed, the inhabitants +massacred. About 1000 men and women fled for refuge +into the temple of Baal Berith in the citadel; Abimelech +caused them to be burned along with the temple. +Then he turned from Shechem to Thebez, some miles +to the north. When he stormed the city the inhabitants +fled into the strong tower, closed it, and went up +on the roof of the tower. Abimelech pressed on to +the door of the tower to set it on fire, when a woman +threw a stone down from above which fell on Abimelech +and broke his skull. Then the king called to his +armour-bearer, "Draw thy sword and slay me, that it +may not be said, A woman slew him." The youthful +monarchy was wrecked on this quarrel of the citizens +with the new king.</p> + +<p>After this time Eli the priest at the sacred tabernacle, +a descendant of Ithamar, the youngest son of +Aaron,<a name="FNanchor_204_204" id="FNanchor_204_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> is said to have been in honour among the +Israelites. Not only was he the priest of the national +shrine, but counsel and judgment were also sought from +him. But Eli's sons, Hophni and Phinehas; did evil, +and lay with the women who came to the sacred tabernacle +to offer prayer and sacrifice.<a name="FNanchor_205_205" id="FNanchor_205_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> Judges v. 10, 14; x. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> Judges x. 1-5; xii. 8-15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_183_183" id="Footnote_183_183"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> <i>e. g.</i> Judges ix. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_184_184" id="Footnote_184_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> Judges xxi. 19; 1 Sam. i. 3; ii. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_185_185" id="Footnote_185_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> Judges xx. 1; vol. i. 410.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_186_186" id="Footnote_186_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> 1 Sam. x. 3; vol. i. 390, 411.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_187_187" id="Footnote_187_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> Judges xvii. 5, 10; xviii. 30; 1 Sam. vii. 1; 2, vi. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_188_188" id="Footnote_188_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> Judges xvii. ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_189_189" id="Footnote_189_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> 1 Sam. xix. 13-16; xxi. 9; Gen. xxxi. 34; Judges xvii. 5; xviii. +14, 17; 2 Kings xxiii. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_190_190" id="Footnote_190_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> <i>e. g.</i> Judges vi. 36-40; xviii. 5; xx. 18 ff. The priests wore a +pocket with lots (apparently small stones) on the breast. The Urim +and Thummim of the High Priest was originally nothing but these +lots.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_191_191" id="Footnote_191_191"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> On the composition of the Book of Judges, cf. De Wette-Schrader, +"Einleitung," 325 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_192_192" id="Footnote_192_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> In David's time only 270,000 are given: below, chap. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_193_193" id="Footnote_193_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> Judges xx. 8; xxi. 7-18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_194_194" id="Footnote_194_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> Gen. xlix. 27; Judges xx. 16; 1 Chron. viii. 39; xii. 2; 2 +Chron. xiv. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_195_195" id="Footnote_195_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> These events belong, according to Judges xx. 27 ff., to the period +immediately after the conquest: as a fact, the war against Benjamin +is not to be placed long after this, <i>i. e.</i> about 1200 <small>B.C.</small> Cf. De Wette-Schrader, +"Einleitung," S. 326.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_196_196" id="Footnote_196_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> Judges iii. 12 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_197_197" id="Footnote_197_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> Judges iv., v.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_198_198" id="Footnote_198_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> Judges vi. 2-5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_199_199" id="Footnote_199_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> Judges viii. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_200_200" id="Footnote_200_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a> The observation that Gideon was the least in the house of his +father, and his family the weakest in Manasseh (Judges vi. 15), +is due no doubt to the tendency of the Ephraimitic text to show +how strong Jehovah is even in the weak. From similar motives it is +said that Gideon himself reduced his army to 300 men (Judges vii. +2-6). In the presence of the Ephraimites Gideon speaks only of the +family of Abiezer.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_201_201" id="Footnote_201_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> What is meant in Judges viii. 27 by an ephod is not clear. The +words which follow in the verse—that all Israel went whoring after +Gideon—are obviously an addition of the prophetic revision.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_202_202" id="Footnote_202_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> Judges viii. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_203_203" id="Footnote_203_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> Gideon's date can only be fixed very indefinitely. He and the +generations after him must have belonged to the second half of the +twelfth century <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_204_204" id="Footnote_204_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> Joseph. "Antiq." 5, 11, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_205_205" id="Footnote_205_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> 1 Sam. ii. 22-25.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MONARCHY IN ISRAEL.</h3> + + +<p>More than a century and a half had passed since the +Israelites had won their land in Canaan. The greater +part of the tribes, beside the breeding of cattle, were +occupied with the cultivation of vines and figs, and +regular agriculture; the minority had become accustomed +to life in settled cities, and the earliest stages +of industry; but the unity of the nation was lost, +and in the place of the religious fervour which once +accompanied the exodus from Egypt, the rites of the +Syrian deities had forced their way in alongside of the +worship of Jehovah. The division and disorganisation +of the nation had exposed the Israelites to the attacks +of their neighbours; the attempt of Abimelech to +establish a monarchy in connection with the cities had +failed; the anarchy still continued. Worse dangers still +might be expected in the future. The forces of the +Moabites, Midianites, and Ammonites were not superior +to that of the Israelites, the attacks of the tribes of the +desert were of a transitory nature; but what if the cities +of the coast, superior in civilisation, art, and combined +power, should find it convenient when the affairs of +Israel were in this position to extend their borders to the +interior, and Israel should be gradually subjugated from +the coast? From the Phenicians there was nothing to +fear: navigation and trade entirely occupied them;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +from the beginning of the eleventh century their ships +devoted their attention to discoveries in the Atlantic +Ocean, beyond the straits of Gibraltar (p. 83). The +case was different with the warlike cities of the Philistines. +If the Philistines were behind the Israelites in +the extent of their territory and dominion, their forces +were held together and well organised by means of +the confederation of the cities. Bounded to the west +by the sea, and to the south by the desert, the only +path open to them for extending their power was in +the direction of the Hebrews. For a long time they +had been content to put a limit upon the extension of +the tribes of Judah and Dan, but in the first half of the +eleventh century <small>B.C.</small> the condition of Israel appeared +to the federation of the Philistines sufficiently inviting +to induce them to pass from defence to attack. Their +blows fell first on Judah, Simeon, and the part of Dan +which had remained in the south on the borders of the +Philistines; tribes which had hitherto been exempted +from attack, whose territory had been protected by +the deserts on the south, and the Dead Sea on the +east. But now they were attacked from the direction +of the sea. The struggle with the Philistines was not +a matter of rapine and plunder, but of freedom and +independence. The aim of the five princes of the +Philistines (I. 348) was directed towards the extension +of their own borders and their own dominion, and the +war against the Israelites was soon carried on with +vigour. The tribes of Judah and Dan were reduced +to submission.<a name="FNanchor_206_206" id="FNanchor_206_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a> If the Israelites did not succeed in +uniting their forces, if they could not repair what was +neglected at the conquest, and had since been attempted +in vain, the suppression of their independence, +their religious and national life, appeared certain. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +question was whether the nation of Israel, accustomed +to an independent and defiant life in small communities, +and corrupted by it, possessed sufficient wisdom and +devotion to solve the difficult task now laid upon it.</p> + +<p>It was a melancholy time for Israel when the Philistines +ruled over the south of the land. Later generations +found some comfort for this national disgrace +in the narratives of the strong and courageous Samson, +the son of Manoah, of the tribe of Dan, whose deeds +were placed by tradition in this period. He had done +the Philistines much mischief, and slain many of them; +even when his foolish love for a Philistine maiden +finally brought him to ruin, he slew more Philistines +at his death than in his life—"about 3000 men and +women."<a name="FNanchor_207_207" id="FNanchor_207_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a> Whatever be the truth about these deeds, +no individual effort could avail to save Israel when +the Philistines seriously set themselves to conquer +the northern tribes, unless the nation roused itself +and combined all its forces under one definite head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Philistines invaded the land of Ephraim with a +mighty army, and forced their way beyond it northwards +as far as Aphek, two leagues to the south of +Tabor. At Tabor the Israelites assembled and attempted +to check the Philistines, but they failed; 4000 +Israelites were slain. Then the elders of Israel, in +order to encourage the people, caused the ark of +Jehovah to be brought from Shiloh into the camp. +Eli, the priest at the sacred tabernacle, was of the age of +98 years. Hophni and Phinehas, his sons, accompanied +the sacred ark, which was welcomed by the army with +shouts of joy. In painful expectation Eli sat at the +gate of Shiloh and awaited the result. Then a man +of the tribe of Benjamin came in haste, with his clothes +rent, and earth upon his head, and said, "Israel is fled +before the Philistines, thy sons are dead, and the ark +of God is lost." Eli fell backwards from his seat, broke +his neck, and died. About 30,000 men are said to +have fallen in the battle (about 1070 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_208_208" id="FNanchor_208_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<p>At the sacred tabernacle at Shiloh Samuel the son +of Elkanah had served under Eli. Elkanah was an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +Ephraimite; he dwelt at Ramah (Ramathaim, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +hence among the Greeks Arimathia<a name="FNanchor_209_209" id="FNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a>). Samuel was +born to him late in life, and, in gratitude that at last +a son was given to her, his mother had dedicated him to +Jehovah, and given him to Eli to serve in the sanctuary. +Thus even as a boy Samuel waited at the sacrifices in +a linen tunic, and performed the sacred rites. He +grew up in the fear of Jehovah and became a seer, who +saw what was hidden, a soothsayer, whom the people +consulted in distress of any kind, and at the same time +he announced the will of Jehovah, for Jehovah had +called him, and permitted him to see visions, "so that +he knew how to speak the word of God, which was +rare in those days," and "Jehovah was with him and +let none of Samuel's words fall to the ground."<a name="FNanchor_210_210" id="FNanchor_210_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_210" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> After +the crushing defeat at Aphek it devolved on Samuel to +perform the duties of high priest. He summoned the +people to Mizpeh in the tribe of Benjamin and prayed +for Israel. Large libations of water were poured to +Jehovah. When the Philistines advanced Samuel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +sacrificed a sucking lamb (no doubt as a sin-offering), +and burned it. "Then on that day Jehovah thundered +mightily out of heaven over the Philistines, and confounded +them so that they were defeated."</p> + +<p>This victory remained without lasting results. On +the contrary, the slavery of the Israelites to the Philistines +became more extensive and more severe. In +order to bring the northern tribes into the same subjection +as the tribes of Dan, Judah, and Simeon, the +Philistines established fortified camps at Michmash and +Geba (Gibeah) in the tribe of Benjamin, as a centre +from which to hold this and the northern tribes in check. +The men of the tribes of Judah and Simeon had to take +the field against their own countrymen. These arrangements +soon obtained their object. All Israel on this +side of the Jordan was reduced to subjection. In +order to make a rebellion impossible, the Israelites +were deprived of their arms; indeed, the Philistines +were not content that they should give up the arms in +their possession, they even removed the smiths from +the land, that no one might provide a sword or javelin +for the Hebrews. The oppression of this dominion +pressed so heavily and with such shame on the Israelites +that the books of Samuel themselves tell us, if the +plough-shares, bills, and mattocks became dull, or the +forks were bent, the children of Israel had to go down +into the cities of the Philistines in order to have their +implements mended and sharpened.<a name="FNanchor_211_211" id="FNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></p> + +<p>At this period Samuel's activity must have been +limited to leading back the hearts of the Israelites to +the God who brought them out of Egypt; he must +have striven to fill them with the faith with which he +was himself penetrated, and the distress of the time +would contribute to gain acceptance for his teaching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +and his prescripts. The people sought his word and +decision; he is said to have given judgment at Bethel, +Gilgal, and Mizpeh. He gathered scholars and disciples +round him, who praised Jehovah to the sound of harp +and lute, flute and drum, who in violent agitation +and divine excitement awaited his visions, and "were +changed into other men."<a name="FNanchor_212_212" id="FNanchor_212_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> From the position which +tradition allots to Samuel, there can be no doubt that +he brought the belief in and worship of the old god +into renewed life, and caused them to sink deeper +into the hearts of the Israelites. The oppression of +his people by the Philistines he could not turn away, +though he cherished a lively hope in the help of +Jehovah.</p> + +<p>The tribes on the east of the Jordan remained free +from the dominion of the Philistines; yet for them +also servitude and destruction was near at hand. The +Ammonites were not inclined to let slip so favourable +an opportunity. As the land on the west of the +Jordan was subject to the Philistines, the tribes on +the east would prove an easy prey. The Ammonites +encamped before Jabesh in Gilead, and the inhabitants +were ready to submit. But Nahash, the king of the +Ammonites, as we are told, would only accept their +submission on condition that every man in Jabesh put +out his right eye. Then the elders of Jabesh sent +messengers across the Jordan and earnestly besought +their countrymen for help.</p> + +<p>The tribe of Benjamin had to feel most heavily, no +doubt, the oppression of the Philistines. In their +territory lay the fortified camps of the enemy. Here, +at Gibeah, dwelt a man of the race of Matri, Saul the +son of Kish, the grandson of Abiel. Kish was a man of +substance and influence; his son Saul was a courageous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +man, of remarkable stature, "higher by a head than +the rest of the nation." He was in the full strength of +his years, and surrounded by valiant sons: Jonathan, +Melchishua, Abinadab, and Ishbosheth. One day, +"just as he was returning home from the field behind +his oxen," he heard the announcement which the +messengers of Jabesh brought. Himself under the +enemy's yoke, he felt the more deeply what threatened +them. His heart was fired at the shame and ruin of +his people. Regardless of the Philistines, he formed a +bold resolution; assistance must be given to those most +in need. He cut two oxen in pieces, sent the pieces +round the tribes,<a name="FNanchor_213_213" id="FNanchor_213_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a> and raised the cry, "Whoso comes +not after Saul, so shall it be done to his oxen." The +troop which gathered round him out of compassion +for the besieged in Jabesh, and in obedience to his +summons, Saul divided into three companies. With +these he succeeded in surprising the camp of the +Ammonites about the morning watch; he dispersed +the hostile army and set Jabesh free.</p> + +<p>Whatever violence and cruelty had been exercised +since the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan, +however many the feuds and severe the vengeance +taken, however great the distress and the oppression, +the nation, amid all the anarchy and freedom so +helpless against an enemy, still preserved a healthy +and simple feeling and vigorous power. And at this +crisis the Israelites were not found wanting; Saul's +bold resolution, the success in setting free the city in +her sore distress, the victory thus won, the first joy and +hope after so long a period of shame, gave the people +the expectation of having found in him the man who +was able to set them free from the dominion of the +Philistines also, and restore independence, and law,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +and peace. When the thank-offering for the unexpected +victory, for the liberation of the land of Gilgal, +was offered at Gilgal on the Jordan, as far as possible +from the camp of the Philistines, "all the people went +to Gilgal, and there made Saul king before Jehovah, +and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly" +(1055 <small>B.C.</small>).</p> + +<p>The heavy misfortunes which the land had experienced +for a long time, the severe oppression of the +dominion of the Philistines, had at length taught the +majority that rescue could only come by a close connection +and union of the powers of the tribes, and +an established authority supreme over all. To check +anarchy from within and oppression from without required +a vigorous hand, a ruling will, and a recognised +power. What the people could do to put an end to the +disorganisation was now done, they had placed a man +at the head whom they might expect to be a brave +leader and resolute guide. The Israelites had used +their sovereignty to give themselves a master, and +might hope with confidence that by this step they had +laid the foundations of a happier future which they +might certainly greet with joy.<a name="FNanchor_214_214" id="FNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<p>Immediately after his election on the Jordan, Saul +was firmly resolved to take up arms against the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>Philistines for the liberation of the land. He turned +upon their camp in the district of his own tribe. +While he lay opposite the fortifications at Michmash, +and thus held the garrison fast, his son Jonathan succeeded +in conquering the detachment of the Philistines +stationed at Geba. But the princes of the Philistines +had no mind to look on at the union of Israel. They +assembled, as we are told, an army of 3000 chariots, +6000 cavalry, and foot soldiers beyond number; with +these the tribes of Judah and Simeon were compelled +to take the field against their brethren.<a name="FNanchor_215_215" id="FNanchor_215_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> Whether the +numbers are correct or incorrect, the armament of the +Philistines was sufficient to cause the courage of the +Israelites to sink. Saul summoned the Israelites to +the Jordan, to Gilgal, where he had been raised to be +their chief. But in vain he caused the trumpets to be +blown and the people to be summoned. The Israelites +crept into the caves and clefts of the rock, and thorn-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>bushes, +into the towers and the cisterns, and fled +beyond Jordan to find refuge in the land of Gilead. +Only the king and his brave son Jonathan did not +quail before the numbers or gallantry of the enemies, +though only a small troop—it is said about 600 men—gathered +round Saul. The great army of the Philistines +had first marched to the fortified camp at Michmash, +and from this point, after leaving a garrison behind, in +which were the Israelites of Judah and Simeon, it +separated into three divisions, in order to march +through Israel in all directions and hold the country +in subjection. One column marched to the west in +the direction of Beth-horon, the second to the north +towards Ophra, the third to the east towards the +valley of Zeboim.<a name="FNanchor_216_216" id="FNanchor_216_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_216" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> This division made it possible for +Saul to attack. He turned upon that part of the army +which was weakest and most insecure, the garrison at +Michmash, and made an unexpected attack on the +fortification. Jonathan ascended an eminence in the +rear, while Saul attacked in the van. In the tumult +of the attack the Hebrews in the camp of the Philistines +joined the side of their countrymen, and Saul +gained the fortification. The Philistines fled. The +king knew what was at stake and strove to push the +victory thus gained to the utmost.<a name="FNanchor_217_217" id="FNanchor_217_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a> Without resting, +he urged his men to the pursuit of the fugitives. +That none of his troop might halt or stray in order to +take food, he said, "Cursed is the man who eats bread +till the evening, till I have taken vengeance on mine +enemies." Jonathan had not heard the command of +his father, and as the pursuers passed through a wood +in which wild honey lay scattered he ate a little of +the honeycomb. For this he should have been put to +death, because he was dedicated to Jehovah (I. 499).<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> +But the warriors were milder than their customs. +"Shall Jonathan die," cried the soldiers, "who has +won this great victory in Israel? that be far from us: +as Jehovah liveth, not a hair of his head shall fall to +the ground, for he has wrought with God this day;" +"and the people rescued Jonathan that he died not."<a name="FNanchor_218_218" id="FNanchor_218_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_218" class="fnanchor">[218]</a></p> + +<p>This success encouraged the Israelites to come forth +from their hiding-places and gather round their king. +But only a part of the hostile army was defeated, and +the Philistines were not so easily to be deprived of +the sovereignty over Israel. "And the strife was hot +against the Philistines so long as Saul lived," and +"king Saul was brave and delivered Israel from the +hand of the robbers," is the older of the two statements +preserved in the Books of Samuel.</p> + +<p>Saul had rendered the service which was expected +by the Israelites when they elevated him: he had +saved his nation from the deepest distress, from the +brink of the most certain destruction. Without him +the tribes beyond the Jordan would have succumbed to +the Ammonites and Moabites, and those on this side of +the river would at length have become obedient subjects +of the Philistines. He found on his accession a +disarmed, discouraged nation. By his own example +he knew how to restore to them courage and self-confidence, +and educate them into a nation familiar with +war and skilled in it. The old military virtues of +the tribe of Benjamin (p. 96) found in Saul their full +expression and had a most beneficial result for Israel. +The close community in which from old time the small +tribe of Benjamin had been with the large tribe of +Ephraim, by the side of which it had settled, was an +advantage to Saul.<a name="FNanchor_219_219" id="FNanchor_219_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_219" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> The strong position which he gained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +by the recognition of these two tribes could not but +have an effect on the others, and contribute with the +importance of his achievements and the splendour of +their results to gain firmness and respect for the young +monarchy, and win obedience for his commands. In +the ceaseless battles which he had to carry on he was +mainly supported by his eldest son Jonathan, who +stood beside him as a faithful brother in arms, and his +cousin Abner, the son of Ner his father's brother, whom +he made his chief captain. "And wherever Saul saw a +mighty man and a brave he took him to himself."<a name="FNanchor_220_220" id="FNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a> +Thus he formed around him a school of brave warriors. +He appears to have kept 3000 warriors under arms in +the district of Benjamin, and this formed the centre +for the levy of the people.<a name="FNanchor_221_221" id="FNanchor_221_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_221" class="fnanchor">[221]</a></p> + +<p>But the Israelites had not merely to thank the king +they had set up for the recovery and vigorous defence +of their independence and their territory; he was also +a zealous servant of Jehovah. He offered sacrifice to +Him, built altars, and inquired of Him by His priests, +who accompanied him even on his campaigns.<a name="FNanchor_222_222" id="FNanchor_222_222"></a><a href="#Footnote_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a> He +observed strictly the sacred customs; even after the +battle the exhausted soldiers were not allowed to eat +meat with blood in it. He was prepared to allow +even his dearest son, whose life he had unconsciously +devoted, to be put to death. He removed all magicians +and wizards out of the land with great severity.<a name="FNanchor_223_223" id="FNanchor_223_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223_223" class="fnanchor">[223]</a> +How earnestly he took up the national and religious +opposition to the Canaanites is clear from his conduct +to the Hivites of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +Kirjath-jearim, who had once made a league with +Joshua, and in consequence had been allowed to +remain among the Israelites (I. 494). "Saul sought +to slay them in his zeal for Israel," and the Gibeonites +afterwards maintained that Saul had sought to annihilate +them, and his purpose was that they should be +destroyed and exist no more in all the land of Israel.<a name="FNanchor_224_224" id="FNanchor_224_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224_224" class="fnanchor">[224]</a> +The ark of the covenant, which had fallen into the +hands of the Philistines at the battle of Aphek, was +brought back to Israel in his reign. The possession of +it, so the Hebrews said, had brought no good to the +Philistines. They had set it up as a trophy of victory +in the temple of Dagon at Ashdod. But the image of +the god had fallen to pieces, and only the fish-tail was +left standing (I. 272); the people of Ashdod had been +attacked with boils, and their crops destroyed by mice. +The same occurred at Gath, when the ark was brought +there, and, in consequence, the city of Ekron had +refused to accept it. Then the Philistines had placed +the ark upon a wagon, and allowed the cows before it +to draw it whither they would. They drew it to +Beth-shemesh in the tribe of Judah. But when the +people of Beth-shemesh looked on the ark a grievous +mortality began among them, till the men of Kirjath-jearim +(not far from Beth-shemesh) took away the ark, +and Abinadab set it up in a house on a hill in his field, +and established his own son Eleazar as guardian and +priest (about 1045 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_225_225" id="FNanchor_225_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225_225" class="fnanchor">[225]</a>). The Books of the Chronicles<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +mention the gifts which Saul dedicated to the national +sanctuary.<a name="FNanchor_226_226" id="FNanchor_226_226"></a><a href="#Footnote_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a></p> + +<p>As king of Israel, Saul remained true to the simplicity +of his earlier life. Of splendour, courts, ceremonial, +dignitaries, and harem we hear nothing. If not in the +field he remained on his farm at Gibeah, with his wife +Ahinoam,<a name="FNanchor_227_227" id="FNanchor_227_227"></a><a href="#Footnote_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a> his four sons, and his two daughters. Abner +and other approved comrades in arms ate at his table. +His elder daughter Merab he married to Adriel the son +of Barzillai. Michal, the younger, he gave to a youthful +warrior, David the son of Jesse, who had distinguished +himself in the war against the Philistines, whom he had +made his armour-bearer and companion of his table, +entrusting him at the same time with the command +of 1000 men of the standing army.<a name="FNanchor_228_228" id="FNanchor_228_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228_228" class="fnanchor">[228]</a> "What am I, +what is the life and the house of my father in Israel, +that I should become the son-in-law of the king? I am +but a poor and lowly man." So David said, but Saul +remained firm in his purpose.</p> + +<p>Of Saul's later battles against the Philistines tradition +has preserved only a few fragments, from which it +is clear that the war was carried on upon the borders +by plundering incursions, which were interrupted from +time to time by greater campaigns.<a name="FNanchor_229_229" id="FNanchor_229_229"></a><a href="#Footnote_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a> But the preponderance +of the Philistine power was broken. And Saul +had not only to fight against these. "He fought on +all sides," we are told, "against all the enemies of +Israel, against Moab, and against the sons of Ammon, +and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +and whithersoever he turned he was victorious."<a name="FNanchor_230_230" id="FNanchor_230_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a> +When the Amalekites from their deserts on the peninsula +of Sinai invaded the south of Israel, and forced +their way as far as Hebron, he defeated them there at +Maon-Carmel,<a name="FNanchor_231_231" id="FNanchor_231_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_231_231" class="fnanchor">[231]</a> and pursued them over the borders of +Israel into their own land as far as the desert of Sur, +"which lies before Egypt," and took Agag their king +prisoner. It was a severe defeat which he inflicted on +them.<a name="FNanchor_232_232" id="FNanchor_232_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_232_232" class="fnanchor">[232]</a> "Saul's sword came not back empty," and +"the daughters of Israel clothed themselves in purple," +and "adorned their garments with gold" from the +spoil of his victories.<a name="FNanchor_233_233" id="FNanchor_233_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_233_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a> The Israelites felt what they +owed to the monarchy and to Saul.<a name="FNanchor_234_234" id="FNanchor_234_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_234_234" class="fnanchor">[234]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_206_206" id="Footnote_206_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> Judges xiii. 1; xiv. 4; xv. 11; 1 Sam. iv. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_207_207" id="Footnote_207_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> In Samson, who overcomes the lion, and sends out the foxes +with firebrands, who overthrows the pillars of the temple, and buries +himself under it, Steinthal ("Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie," 2, +21) recognises the sun-god of the Syrians. The name Samson means +as a fact "the sunny one." The long hair in which Samson's strength +lay may symbolise the growth of nature in the summer, and the +cutting off of it the decay of creative power in the winter: so too the +binding of Samson may signify the imprisoned power of the sun in +winter. As Melkarth in the winter went to rest at his pillars in the +far west, at the end of his wanderings, so Samson goes to his rest +between the two pillars in the city on the shore of the western sea. If, +finally, Samson becomes the servant of a mistress Dalilah—<i>i. e.</i> "the +tender"—this also is a trait which belongs to the myth of Melkarth; cf. +I. 371. It is not to be denied that traits of this myth have forced +their way into the form and legend of Samson, although the long hair +belongs not to Samson only, but to Samuel and all the Nazarites; yet +we must not from these traits draw the conclusion that the son of +Manoah is no more than a mythical figure, and even those traits must +have gone through many stages among the Israelites before they could +assume a form of such vigorous liveliness, such broad reality, as we +find pourtrayed in the narrative of Samson.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_208_208" id="Footnote_208_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> The simplest method of obtaining a fixed starting-point for the +date of the foundation of the monarchy in Israel is to reckon backwards +from the capture of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple by +Nebuchadnezzar. According to the canon of Ptolemy, Nebuchadnezzar's +reign began in the year 604 <small>B.C.</small>, the temple and Jerusalem +were burned down in the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar (2 +Kings xxv. 8; Jer. lii. 12), <i>i. e.</i> in the year 586 <small>B.C.</small> From this year the +Hebrews reckoned 430 years to the commencement of the building of +the temple (430 = 37 years of Solomon since the beginning of the +building + 261 years from the death of Solomon to the taking of +Samaria + 132 years from the taking of Samaria to the destruction +of the temple). Hence the building of the temple was commenced +in the year 1015 <small>B.C.</small> Since the commencement of the building is +placed in the fourth year of Solomon, his accession would fall in the +year 1018 <small>B.C.</small>; and as 40 years are allotted to David, his accession at +Hebron falls in 1058 <small>B.C.</small>, and Saul's election about 1080 <small>B.C.</small> In the +present text only the number two is left of the amount of the years of +his reign (1 Sam. xiii. 1), the years of his life also are lost; we may +perhaps assume 22 years for his reign, since Eupolemus gives him 21 +years (Alex. Polyh. Frag. 18, ed. Müller), and Josephus 20 ("Antiq." +6, 14, 9, 10, 8, 4). His contemporary, Nahash of Ammon, is on the +throne before the election of Saul, and continues beyond the death of +Saul and Ishbosheth, and even 10 years into the reign of David. +Nahash must have had an uncommonly long reign if Saul reigned +more than 22 years. It makes against the dates 1080 <small>B.C.</small> for Saul, +1058 <small>B.C.</small> for David, 1018 <small>B.C.</small> for Solomon, that they rest upon the +succession of kings of Judah, from the division of the kingdom down +to the fall of Samaria, which is reckoned at 261 years, while the +succession of kings of Israel during the same period only fills 241 +years. Movers ("Phœniz." 2, 1, 140 ff.) has attempted to remove this +difficulty by assuming as a starting-point the statements of Menander +of Ephesus, on the succession of kings in Tyre, preserved in Josephus +("c. Apion," 1, 18). Josephus says that from the building of the +temple, which took place in the twelfth year of Hiram king of Tyre, +down to the founding of Carthage, which took place in the seventh +year of Pygmalion king of Tyre, 143 years 8 months elapsed. From +the date given by Justin (18, 7) for the founding of Carthage (72 +years before the founding of Rome; 72 + 754), <i>i. e.</i> from 826 <small>B.C.</small>, +Movers reckons back 143 years, and so fixes the building of the +temple at the year 969 <small>B.C.</small>, on which reckoning Solomon's accession +would fall in the year 972 <small>B.C.</small>, David's in the year 1012 <small>B.C.</small>, and +Saul's election in 1034 <small>B.C.</small> But since the more trustworthy dates +for the year of the founding of Carthage, 846, 826, and 816, have an +equal claim to acceptance, we are equally justified in reckoning back +from 846 and 816 to Saul's accession. +</p><p> +According to the canon of the Assyrians, the epochs in which were +fixed by the observation of the solar eclipse of July 15 in the year +763 <small>B.C.</small>, Samaria was taken in the year 722 <small>B.C.</small> If from this we +reckon backwards 261 years for Judah, Solomon's death would fall in +the year 983 <small>B.C.</small>, his accession in 1023 <small>B.C.</small>, David's accession in 1063 +<small>B.C.</small>, Saul's election in 1085 <small>B.C.</small> If we keep to the amount given for +Israel (241 years + 722), Solomon's death falls in 963, his accession in +1003, the building of the temple in 1000 <small>B.C.</small>, David's accession in +1043 <small>B.C.</small>, Saul's accession in 1065 <small>B.C.</small> But neither by retaining the +whole sum of 430 years, according to which the building of the temple +begins 1015 <small>B.C.</small> (430 + 586), and Solomon dies in 978 <small>B.C.</small>, nor by +putting the death of Solomon in the year 983 or 963 <small>B.C.</small>, do we bring +the Assyrian monuments into agreement with the chronological statements +of the Hebrews. If we place the date of the division of the +kingdom at the year 978 <small>B.C.</small>, Ahab's reign, according to the numbers +given by the Hebrews for the kingdom of Israel, extends from 916 to +894 <small>B.C.</small>; if we place the division at 963 <small>B.C.</small>, it extends, according to the +same calculation, from 901 to 879 <small>B.C.</small> On the other hand, the Assyrian +monuments prove that Ahab fought at Karkar against Shalmanesar II. +in the year 854 <small>B.C.</small> (below, chap. 10). Since Ahab after this carried on +a war against Damascus, in which war he died, he must in any case +have been alive in 853 <small>B.C.</small> Hence even the lower date taken for Ahab's +reign from the Hebrew statements (901-879 <small>B.C.</small>) would have to be +brought down 26 years, and as a necessary consequence the death +of Solomon would fall, not in the year 963 <small>B.C.</small>, but in the year +937 <small>B.C.</small> +</p><p> +If we could conclude from this statement in the Assyrian monuments +that the reigns of the kings of Israel were extended by the Hebrews +beyond the truth, it follows from another monument, the inscription +of Mesha, that abbreviations also took place. According to the Second +Book of Kings (iii. 5), Mesha of Moab revolted from Israel when Ahab +died. The stone of Mesha says: "Omri took Medaba, and Israel +dwelt therein in his and his son's days for 40 years; in my days Camus +restored it;" Nöldeke, "Inschrift des Mesa." Hence Omri, the father +of Ahab, took Medaba 40 years before the death of Ahab. Ahab, +according to the Hebrews, reigned 22 years, Omri 12. According to the +stone of Mesha the two reigns must have together amounted to more +than 40 years. Since Omri obtained the throne by force, and had at +first to carry on a long civil war, and establish himself on the throne +(1 Kings xvi. 21, 22), he could not make war upon the Moabites at the +very beginning of his reign. Here, therefore, there is an abbreviation +of the reign of Omri and Ahab by at least 10 years. +</p><p> +Hence the contradiction between the monuments of the Assyrians +and the numbers of the Hebrews is not to be removed by merely +bringing down the division of the kingdom to the year 937 <small>B.C.</small> In +order to obtain a chronological arrangement at all, we are placed in +the awkward necessity of making an attempt to bring the canon of +the Assyrians into agreement with the statements of the Hebrews by +assumptions more or less arbitrary. Jehu slew Joram king of Israel +and Ahaziah of Judah at the same time. From this date upwards to +the death of Solomon the Hebrew Scriptures reckon 98 years for +Israel, and 95 for Judah. Jehu ascended the throne of Israel in the +year 843 <small>B.C.</small> at the latest, since, according to the Assyrian monuments, +he paid tribute to Shalmanesar II. in the year 842 <small>B.C.</small> If we reckon +the 98 years for Israel upwards from 843 <small>B.C.</small>, we arrive at 941 <small>B.C.</small> for +the division of the kingdom; and if to this we add, as the time which +has doubtlessly fallen out in the reigns of Omri and Ahab, 12 years, +953 <small>B.C.</small> would be the year of the death of Solomon, the year in which +the ten tribes separated from the house of David. If we keep the year +953 for the division, the year 993 comes out for the accession of +Solomon, the year 990 for the beginning of the building of the temple, +the year 1033 for the accession of David at Hebron, and the year +1055 for the election of Saul. Fifteen years may be taken for the +continuance of the heavy oppression before Saul. For the changes +which we must in consequence of this assumption establish in the +data of the reigns from Jeroboam and Rehoboam down to Athaliah +and Jehu, <i>i. e.</i> in the period from 953 <small>B.C.</small> to 843 <small>B.C.</small>, see below. +Omri's reign occupies the period from 899-875 <small>B.C.</small> (24 years instead +of 12), <i>i. e.</i> a period which agrees with the importance of this reign +among the Moabites and the Assyrians; Ahab reigned from 875-853 +<small>B.C.</small> According to 1 Kings xvi. 31, Ahab took Jezebel the daughter +of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians to wife. If this Ethbaal of Sidon +is identical with the Ithobal of Tyre in Josephus, the chronology +deduced from our assumptions would not be impossible. Granted the +assertion of Josephus that the twelfth year of Hiram king of Tyre is +the fourth year of Solomon (990 <small>B.C.</small>), Hiram's accession would fall in +the year 1001 <small>B.C.</small>; according to Josephus, Ithobal ascended the throne +of Tyre 85 years after Hiram's accession, when he had slain Pheles. +He lived according to the same authority 68 years and reigned 32 +years, <i>i. e.</i> from 916-884 <small>B.C.</small> Ahab, either before or after the year +of his accession (875), might very well have taken the daughter of this +prince to wife. And if we assume that the statement of Appian, that +Carthage was in existence 700 years before her destruction by the +Romans, <i>i. e.</i> was founded in the year 846 <small>B.C.</small>, the 143⅔ or 144 years +of Josephus between the building of the temple and the foundation of +Carthage, reckoned backwards from 846 <small>B.C.</small>, lead us to the year 990 +<small>B.C.</small> for the building of the temple.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_209_209" id="Footnote_209_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> Now Beit-Rima, north-east of the later Lydda.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_210_210" id="Footnote_210_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> 1 Sam. iii. 1, 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_211_211" id="Footnote_211_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiii. 19-23, from the older account.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_212_212" id="Footnote_212_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> 1 Sam. x. 5, 6; xix. 20-24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_213_213" id="Footnote_213_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> Compare the division of the corpse by the Levite, above, p. 96.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_214_214" id="Footnote_214_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> Owing to the later conceptions that the king needed to be consecrated +by the prophets, that Jehovah is himself the King of Israel, an +almost inexplicable confusion has come into the narrative of Saul's +elevation. Not only have we an older and later account existing side +by side in the books of Samuel, not only has there been even a third +hand at work, but the attempts to bring the contradictory accounts +into harmony have increased the evil. In 1 Sam. viii. we are told: +The elders of Israel and the people required from Samuel a king at +Ramah, because he was old and his sons walked not in his ways. Jehovah +says to Samuel: They have not rejected thee, but me; yet Samuel +accedes to the request of the Israelites. Samuel gives the elders a +terrifying description of the oppression which the monarchy would +exercise upon them, a description which evidently predates the experiences +made under David, Solomon, and later kings, whereas at the +time spoken of the nation had suffered only too long from wild anarchy. +The reasons, moreover, given by the elders, why they desired a king, +do not agree with the situation, but rather with the time of Eli, who +also had foolish sons. In spite of Samuel's warning the people persist +in their wish to have a king. Further we are told in chap. ix. 1-x. +16, how Saul at his father's bidding sets out in quest of lost she-asses, +and goes to inquire of Samuel, for the fourth part of a silver shekel, +whither they had strayed. At Jehovah's command Samuel anoints +the son of Kish to be king, when he comes to him; he tells him +where he will find his asses, and imparts to him two other prophecies +on the way. Then we are told in chap. x. 17-27 that Samuel +summons an assembly of the people to Mizpeh, repeats his warning +against the monarchy, but then causes lots to be cast who shall be +king over the tribes, and families, and individuals. The lot falls upon +Saul, who makes no mention to any one of the anointing, but has +hidden himself among the stuff. Finally, in chap. xi. we find the +account given in the text, to which, in order to bring it into harmony +with what has been already related, these words are prefixed in ver. 14: +"And Samuel said to the people, Come, let us go to Gilgal to renew +the kingdom;" but in xi. 15 we find: "Then went all the people to +Gilgal, and made Saul king before Jehovah in Gilgal." The contradictions +are striking. The elders require a king from Samuel, whom +they could choose themselves (2 Sam. ii. 4; v. 3; 1 Kings xii. 1, 20; +2 Kings xiv. 21), and whom, according to 1 Sam. xi. 15, the people +actually choose. Jehovah will not have a king, but then permits it. +Nor is this permission all; he himself points out to Samuel the man +whom he is to anoint. Anointed to be king, Saul goes, as if nothing +had taken place, to his home. He comes to the assembly at Mizpeh, +and again says nothing to any one of his new dignity. Already king +by anointment, he is now again made king by the casting of lots. He +returns home to till his field, when the messengers from Jabesh were +sent not to the king of Israel, but to the people of Israel, to ask for +help. In Gibeah also they do not apply to the king; not till he sees +the people weeping in Gibeah, does Saul learn the message. Yet he +does not summon the people to follow him as king; he requests the +following just as in earlier times individuals in extraordinary cases +sought to rouse the people to take up arms. It is impossible that a +king should be chosen by lot at a time when the bravest warrior was +needed at the head, and simple boys, who hid themselves among the +stuff, were not suited to lead the army at such a dangerous time. At +the time of Saul's very first achievements his son Jonathan stands at +his side as a warrior; at his death his youngest son Ishbosheth was +40 years of age (2 Sam. ii. 10). Saul must therefore have been between +40 and 50 years old when he became king. The request of the elders +for a king, and Samuel's resistance, belong on the other hand to the +prophetic narrator of the books of Samuel, in whose account it was +followed by the assembly at Mizpeh and the casting of lots. The same +narrator attempts to bring the achievement at Jabesh, and the recognition +of Saul as ruler and king which followed it, into harmony with his +narrative by the addition of the restoration of the kingdom and some +other interpolations. The Philistines would hardly have permitted +minute preparations and prescribed assemblies for the election of king. +The simple elevation and recognition of Saul as king after his first successful +exploit in war corresponds to the situation of affairs (cf. I xii. +12). And I am the more decided in holding this account to be historically +correct, because it does not presuppose the other accounts, and because +the men of Jabesh, according to the older account, fetched the bodies of +Saul and his sons to Jabesh from Beth-shan and burned them there, +1 Sam. xxxi. 12, 13. The older account in the books of Samuel knows +nothing of the request of the elders for a king. After the defeat which +caused Eli's death, it narrates the carrying back of the ark by the +Philistines, and the setting up of it at Beth-shemesh and Kirjath-jearim. +Then follows Saul's anointing by Samuel (ix. 1-10, 16); then +the lost statement about the age of Saul when he became king, and +the length of the reign; then the great exploits of Saul against the +Philistines (xiii. 1-14, 46); xiii. 8-13 stands in precise relation +to x. 8. That the achievement of Jabesh cannot have been wanting +in the older account follows from the express reference to it at the +death of Saul.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_215_215" id="Footnote_215_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiii. 3-7; xiv. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_216_216" id="Footnote_216_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiii. 16-18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_217_217" id="Footnote_217_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiv. 1-23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_218_218" id="Footnote_218_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> So the older account, 1 Sam. xiv. 24-45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_219_219" id="Footnote_219_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> Numbers ii. 18-24; Joshua xviii. 12-20; Judges v. 14. That +Ephraim remained true to Saul follows from the recognition of +Ishbosheth after Saul's death, 2 Sam. ii. 9, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_220_220" id="Footnote_220_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiv. 52.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_221_221" id="Footnote_221_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_222_222" id="Footnote_222_222"></a><a href="#FNanchor_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiv. 3, 18, 37; xxviii. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_223_223" id="Footnote_223_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxviii. 3, 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_224_224" id="Footnote_224_224"></a><a href="#FNanchor_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> 2 Sam. xxi. 2, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_225_225" id="Footnote_225_225"></a><a href="#FNanchor_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> The ark was brought by David from Kirjath-jearim to Zion. That +could not take place before the year 1025 <small>B.C.</small> Saul's death falls, as +was assumed above, in the year 1033 <small>B.C.</small> But the ark is said to have +been at Kirjath-jearim 20 years (1 Sam. vii. 2; vi. 21), it must therefore +have been carried thither 1045 <small>B.C.</small>, or a few years later. The +stay among the Philistines must have been more than seven months, +as stated in 1 Sam. vi. 61; the stay at Beth-shemesh was apparently +only a short one. The battle at Tabor and Eli's death cannot, as shown +above, be placed much later than 1070 <small>B.C.</small> According to 1 Sam. xiv. +3; xviii. 19, the ark was in Saul's army at the battle of Michmash, +and Ahijah (Ahimelech), the great-grandson of Eli, was its keeper.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_226_226" id="Footnote_226_226"></a><a href="#FNanchor_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> 1 Chron. xxvi. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_227_227" id="Footnote_227_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> Only one concubine is mentioned, by whom Saul had two sons.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_228_228" id="Footnote_228_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> 1 Sam. xviii. 3, 17-20, 28; xxii. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_229_229" id="Footnote_229_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> 1 Sam. xvii., xviii., xxiii. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_230_230" id="Footnote_230_230"></a><a href="#FNanchor_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiv. 47, 48.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_231_231" id="Footnote_231_231"></a><a href="#FNanchor_231_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> 1 Sam. xv. 12. The place near Hebron still bears the name +Carmel.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_232_232" id="Footnote_232_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Die Amalekiter," s. 14, 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_233_233" id="Footnote_233_233"></a><a href="#FNanchor_233_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> 2 Sam. i. 21-24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_234_234" id="Footnote_234_234"></a><a href="#FNanchor_234_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> This follows from the fact that the monarchy remains even after +Saul's death, from the lamentation of the Israelites for Saul, and their +allegiance to his son Ishbosheth.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>DAVID'S STRUGGLE AGAINST SAUL AND ISHBOSHETH.</h3> + + +<p>The position which Samuel gained as a priest, seer, +and judge after the death of Eli and his sons, and +continued to hold under the sway of the Philistines +must have undergone a marked change, owing to the +establishment of the monarchy in Israel, though in the +later text of the Books of Samuel it is maintained that +"Samuel judged Israel till his death."<a name="FNanchor_235_235" id="FNanchor_235_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_235_235" class="fnanchor">[235]</a> We know that +Samuel had set up an altar to Jehovah at Ramathaim, +his home and dwelling-place (p. 115), but it is not +handed down that he had again set up there the sacred +tabernacle and the worship at the sacred ark, though +this may very well have been the case after the Philistines +sent back the ark. Both the older and the later text +of the two Books of Samuel represent him as in opposition +to the monarchy. According to the later text, +written from a prophetic point of view, Samuel had from +the first opposed the establishment of the monarchy; +and both the older and the more recent account know of +a contention between Saul and Samuel. The former +tells us: When Saul immediately after his election took +up arms against the Philistines, and these marched out +with their whole fighting power, and Saul gathered the +Israelites at Gilgal, Samuel bade the king wait seven +days till he came down to offer burnt-offering and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +thank-offering. "And Saul waited seven days, but +Samuel came not; the people were scattered. Then +Saul said: Bring me the burnt-offering and the thank-offering. +He offered the burnt-sacrifice, and when he +had made an end Samuel came, and Saul went to greet +him. And Samuel said, What hast thou done? Saul +answered, When I saw that the people were scattered +from me, and thou didst not come at the time appointed, +and the Philistines were encamped at Michmash, +I said, The Philistines will come down upon me +to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to Jehovah, +so I forced myself and offered the burnt-sacrifice. Then +Samuel said, Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not +observed the command of thy God which he commanded +thee. Jehovah would have established thy +kingdom over Israel for ever, but now thy kingdom +shall not endure."<a name="FNanchor_236_236" id="FNanchor_236_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_236_236" class="fnanchor">[236]</a> The more recent account puts the +contention at a far later date. When Saul marched +against the Amalekites Samuel bade him "curse" +everything that belonged to Amalek, man and woman, +child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. +After the return of the victorious army Samuel came +to Gilgal, and said, What meaneth this bleating of +sheep and lowing of oxen in my ears? Saul answered, +I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah and have gone the +way which Jehovah sent me, and I have brought with me +Agag the king of Amalek, and have "cursed" Amalek. +But from the spoil the people have taken the best of +what was "cursed," in order to sacrifice to Jehovah, +thy God, at Gilgal. Samuel answered in the tone of +Isaiah, Hath Jehovah delight in burnt-offerings and +sacrifice? To obey is better than sacrifice. Saul confesses +that he has sinned and transgressed the command +of Jehovah and the word of Samuel, "for I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +feared the people, and obeyed their voice. And now +forgive me my sin, and turn with me, that I may +entreat Jehovah. But Samuel said, I will not turn +back with thee; because thou hast rejected the word +of Jehovah he will reject thee from being king over +Israel. Samuel turned to go, but Saul caught the hem +of his garment and said, I have sinned, yet honour me +before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and +return with me, that I may offer prayer before Jehovah. +Then Samuel turned behind Saul, and Saul offered +prayer before Jehovah. And Samuel bade them bring +Agag the king of Amalek before him, and said, As thy +sword has made women childless, so shall thy mother +be childless among women; and he hewed Agag in +pieces before Jehovah at Gilgal. And Samuel went +up to Ramathaim and saw Saul no more."<a name="FNanchor_237_237" id="FNanchor_237_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_237_237" class="fnanchor">[237]</a> In the +narrative of the first text Saul appears to be thoroughly +justified by the most urgent necessity; in the narrative +of the second text he acknowledges openly and completely +that he has sinned. It may have been the +case that Saul did not appear to Samuel sufficiently +submissive to his utterances, which for him were the +utterances of God; that he wished to see the rights and +power of a king exercised in a different manner and in +a different feeling from that in which Saul discharged +his office.</p> + +<p>More dangerous for Saul than any reproach or coldness +on the part of Samuel was the contention which +he had in the latter years of his reign with another man, +whom he had himself raised to eminence—a strife +which cost Saul the reward of his laborious and brave +reign, and his house the throne; while Israel lost the +fruits of great efforts, and the fortunes of the people +were again put to the hazard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of the family of Perez<a name="FNanchor_238_238" id="FNanchor_238_238"></a><a href="#Footnote_238_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a> of the tribe of Judah, David +was the youngest (eighth) son of a man of some possessions, +Jesse of Bethlehem. He was entrusted with the +care and keeping of the sheep and goats of his father +in the desert pastures on the Dead Sea, and his shepherd +life had caused him to grow up in a rough school. +It had made him hardy, it had given strength and +suppleness to his body; he had gained a delight in +adventure and unshaken courage in danger. In defence +of the flocks he had withstood bears and ventured into +conflict even with a lion. In the loneliness and silence +which surrounded him he practised singing and playing; +the severe and solemn nature of that region was +adapted to impress great thoughts on his mind, to give +force and elevation to his spirit. From such a school +he came into the ranks of the warriors of Saul; the +bold deeds which even in his youth he had performed +against the Philistines induced Saul to make David +one of "the brave," whom he took into his house (about +1040 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_239_239" id="FNanchor_239_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_239_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a> He also made him one of his captains,<a name="FNanchor_240_240" id="FNanchor_240_240"></a><a href="#Footnote_240_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a> +and frequently sent him out against the Philistines; in +these inroads he fought with more success than other +chieftains.<a name="FNanchor_241_241" id="FNanchor_241_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_241_241" class="fnanchor">[241]</a> Thus David was a favourite in the eyes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +of the people and the servants of the king, and Jonathan, +Saul's eldest son, made a covenant with David, +because "he loved him as his own soul."<a name="FNanchor_242_242" id="FNanchor_242_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_242_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a> In the +house of Saul David was trusted and honoured before +the other warriors; he was his armour-bearer and the +chief of a troop of 1000 men. After Jonathan and +Abner, David was nearest the king; he had the complete +confidence of Saul, and at length became his +son-in-law.<a name="FNanchor_243_243" id="FNanchor_243_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_243_243" class="fnanchor">[243]</a></p> + +<p>Some years afterwards (about 1036 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_244_244" id="FNanchor_244_244"></a><a href="#Footnote_244_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a>), Saul conceived +a suspicion of the man whom he had elevated +to such a height. He imagined that his son-in-law +intended to seize the throne from himself, or contest +the succession with his son Jonathan. According to +the older account it was jealousy of the military +renown of David, which threatened to obscure his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +own, that roused Saul against David;<a name="FNanchor_245_245" id="FNanchor_245_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_245_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a> according to +the later, Saul feared the partiality which the people +displayed towards David. He says to Jonathan, "So +long as the son of Jesse lives, thou and thy kingdom +will not continue."<a name="FNanchor_246_246" id="FNanchor_246_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_246_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a> According to the same account +an evil spirit came over Saul, he was beside himself in +the house and threw a spear at David, who played the +harp.<a name="FNanchor_247_247" id="FNanchor_247_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_247_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a> David avoided the cast: he fled to Samuel at +Ramathaim into the dwellings of the seers,<a name="FNanchor_248_248" id="FNanchor_248_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_248_248" class="fnanchor">[248]</a> and from +thence escaped to Achish, the prince of the Philistines +of Gath.<a name="FNanchor_249_249" id="FNanchor_249_249"></a><a href="#Footnote_249_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a> In the older account also it is an evil spirit +of Jehovah which comes over Saul, and causes him to +thrust with his spear at David while he is playing the +harp. David escapes into his house. At Saul's command +the house is surrounded; and David is to be +slain the next morning. But Michal, the daughter of +Saul, David's wife, let him down from a window, and +in his place she put the teraphim, <i>i. e.</i> the image of +the deity, into the bed, covered it with a coverlet, laid +the net of goat's hair on the face, and gave out that +David was sick. David meanwhile flies to Nob (in the +land of Benjamin), where was set up a gilded image of +Jehovah, before which a company of priests served, and +at their head Ahimelech, a great-grandson of Eli,<a name="FNanchor_250_250" id="FNanchor_250_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_250_250" class="fnanchor">[250]</a> +who had previously inquired of Jehovah for David.<a name="FNanchor_251_251" id="FNanchor_251_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_251_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a> +Ahimelech gave David the sacred loaves, and a sword +which was consecrated there, and from hence, according +to this account, David escaped to Achish. Saul +reproached his daughter for aiding David, and said,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +"Why hast thou allowed my enemy to escape?" +Then he gave her to wife to Phalti of Gallim.</p> + +<p>We are not in a position to decide whether David +really pursued ambitious designs; whether, as a matter +of fact, he conspired with the priests against Saul and +his house, as Saul assumed; whether Saul saw through +his designs and plots, or suspected him without reason.<a name="FNanchor_252_252" id="FNanchor_252_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_252_252" class="fnanchor">[252]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +David was not content with escaping the anger and +pursuit of Saul, with placing himself and his family in +security. He repaired to the enemies of his land,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +the Philistines, who would not have accepted at once +an opponent who had done them grievous injury, if +he had not openly broken with Saul and given them +to suppose that henceforth he would support their +struggle against Saul and Israel. Yet David did not +bring his father and mother, on whom Saul could have +taken vengeance, out of the land to Gath, where they +might have been a pledge of his fidelity to the Philistines; +he put them in the hands of the king of Moab, +and also entered into relations with the king of the +Ammonites.<a name="FNanchor_253_253" id="FNanchor_253_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_253_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a> It was probably with the consent of the +Philistines that David returned from Gath into the land +of Judah, and there threw himself into the wild regions +by the Dead Sea, where he had previously pastured his +father's sheep and goats, in order to bring his own tribe +of Judah into arms against the king sprung from the +small tribe of Benjamin.<a name="FNanchor_254_254" id="FNanchor_254_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_254_254" class="fnanchor">[254]</a> The cave of Adullam was the +place of gathering. His brothers, the whole house of his +father, came, and a prophet of the name of Gad, "and +all oppressed persons, and any one who had a creditor +and was of a discontented spirit," and "David was their +chief, and had under him 400 men."<a name="FNanchor_255_255" id="FNanchor_255_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_255_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a></p> + +<p>"Saul heard that all men knew about David and +the men who were with him, and sent out to bring +before him Ahimelech and the house of his father +and all the priests of Nob." The king sat on the +height near Gibeah under the tamarisk, with his spear +in his hand and his servants round him. "Why hast +thou conspired against me," he said to Ahimelech, +"thou and the son of Jesse, that he has rebelled against +me. Thou shalt die, and the house of thy father."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +And he commanded his body-guard who stood near +him: "Come up and slay the priests of Jehovah, their +hand is with David." Then 85 men were slain who +wore the linen tunic; and Nob, the city of the priests, +Saul smote with the edge of the sword; one only, +Abiathar, a son of Ahimelech, escaped with the image +of Jehovah to David.<a name="FNanchor_256_256" id="FNanchor_256_256"></a><a href="#Footnote_256_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a></p> + +<p>David had no doubt calculated on greater success in +the tribe of Judah. So long as his following was +confined to four or six hundred men, he could only +live a robber life with this troop. But by this course +he would have roused against himself those whom he +robbed, and strengthened the attachment to Saul. So +he attempted to keep a middle path. He sent to +Nabal, a rich man at Carmel near Hebron (p. 127), who +possessed 3000 sheep and 1000 goats, a descendant of +that Caleb who had once founded himself a kingdom +here with his sword (I. 505), and bade his messengers +say: David has taken nothing of thy flocks, send him +therefore food for him and his people. But Nabal +answered: "Who is David, and who is the son of Jesse? +There are now many servants who run away from +their masters." Then David set out in the night to +fall upon Nabal's house and flocks. On the way +Abigail, Nabal's wife, met him. In fear of the freebooters +she had caused some slaughtered sheep, loaves, +and pitchers of wine, some figs and cakes of raisins, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +be laid on asses in order to bring them secretly into +David's camp. Praised be thy wisdom, woman, said +David: by the life of Jehovah, if thou hadst not met +me there would not have been alive at break of day +a single male of Nabal and his house. Nabal died ten +days after this incident. David saw that such a wealthy +possession in this region could not but be advantageous. +Saul's daughter was lost to him; he sent, therefore, +some servants to Abigail to Carmel. They said, +David has sent us to thee to take thee to him to wife. +Abigail stood up, bowed herself with her face to earth, +and said: Behold, thy handmaid is ready to wash the +feet of the servants of thy master. Then she set out +with five of her maids, and followed the servants of +David and became his wife.<a name="FNanchor_257_257" id="FNanchor_257_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_257_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a> As a fact this marriage +appears to have furthered the undertaking of David; +the places in the south of Judah, Aroer, Hormah, +Ramoth, Jattir, Eshtemod, and even Hebron, declared +for him.<a name="FNanchor_258_258" id="FNanchor_258_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_258_258" class="fnanchor">[258]</a> From this point David sought to force his +way farther to the north, and possessed himself of the +fortified town of Kegilah (Keilah).<a name="FNanchor_259_259" id="FNanchor_259_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_259_259" class="fnanchor">[259]</a></p> + +<p>When Saul was told that David was in Kegilah, he +said: God has delivered him into my hand in that +he has shut himself up in a city with gates and bars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +He set out against Kegilah. David commanded +Abiathar the priest, who had fled to him from Nob with +the image of Jehovah, to bring the image, and David +inquired of the image: Will the men of Kegilah +deliver me and my followers into the hand of Saul? +Jehovah, God of Israel, announce this to me. And +Jehovah said, They will deliver thee.<a name="FNanchor_260_260" id="FNanchor_260_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_260_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a> Then David +despaired of remaining in the city and fled; he retired +again into the desert by the Dead Sea near Ziph and +Maon. But Saul pursued and overtook him; nothing +but a mountain separated David's troop from the king; +David was already surrounded and lost, when the news +was brought to Saul, "Hasten and come, for the +Philistines are in the land." This was no doubt an +incursion made by the Philistines in aid of the hardly-pressed +rebels. Saul abandoned the pursuit and went +against the Philistines: David called the mountain the +rock of escape.<a name="FNanchor_261_261" id="FNanchor_261_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_261_261" class="fnanchor">[261]</a> When the king had driven back the +Philistines he took 3000 men out of the army to crush +the rebellion utterly. David had retired farther to +the east, on the shore of the Dead Sea, in the neighbourhood +of Engedi, to the "rock of the goat," and +there he was so closely shut in by Saul that he had +to despair of remaining in Judah. He escaped with +his troop to the Philistines: the rebellion was at an +end.<a name="FNanchor_262_262" id="FNanchor_262_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_262_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>David's attempt to induce the tribe of Judah to fall +away from Saul was entirely wrecked. Driven from +the ground on which he had raised the standard of +revolt, he no longer scrupled to enter formally into the +service of the Philistines, and these must have welcomed +the aid of a brave and skilful leader, who, though +once their enemy, had already in Judah engaged the +arms of Saul, the weight of which they had so often +felt, and which had taken from them their dominion +over Israel. Achish, king of Gath, to whom David +again fled, was of opinion "that David had made +himself to stink among his people, Israel, and would +be his servant for ever;" and gave the border city +Ziklag to be a dwelling for him and his band of freebooters.<a name="FNanchor_263_263" id="FNanchor_263_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_263_263" class="fnanchor">[263]</a> +David now settled as a vassal of Achish at +Ziklag. At his command he was compelled to take +the field, and also to deliver up a part of the spoil +which he obtained.<a name="FNanchor_264_264" id="FNanchor_264_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_264_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a> Thus from the land of the Philis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>tines, +with his band, which here became strengthened +by the discontented in Israel<a name="FNanchor_265_265" id="FNanchor_265_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_265_265" class="fnanchor">[265]</a> who fled to him over the +border, David carried on a petty war against Saul and +his country. In these campaigns David was wise +enough to spare his former adherents in Judah, the +cities which had once declared for him, and his attacks +were only directed against the adherents of Saul; in +secret he even maintained his connection with his party +in Judah, and to the elders of the cities which clung +to him he sent presents out of the booty won in his +raids and plundering excursions.<a name="FNanchor_266_266" id="FNanchor_266_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_266_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a></p> + +<p>David had already lived more than a year in Ziklag,<a name="FNanchor_267_267" id="FNanchor_267_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_267_267" class="fnanchor">[267]</a> +when the Philistines assembled all their forces against +Saul. When the princes of the Philistines marshalled +their army, and caused it to march past in troops, +David and his men also came among the soldiers of +Achish. Then the other princes said to Achish: +What need of these Hebrews? Let not David go to +the battle; he may become a traitor, and go over to +his master, in order to win favour with Saul at the +price of our heads. Achish trusted David, and said: +He has already dwelt with me for a time, for years; +to this day I have found nothing in him. But the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +other princes insisted on their demand; perhaps they +remembered the day of Michmash, when Saul had +obtained his first victory over the Philistines with the +aid of the Hebrews in their camp. When Achish +announced to David that he could not accompany the +army, he answered: What have I done, and what hast +thou found in thy servant since I came to thee to this +day, that I should not fight against the enemies of my +king? In spite of his earnest desire, David was sent +back.<a name="FNanchor_268_268" id="FNanchor_268_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_268_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a></p> + +<p>The army of the Philistines passed to the north, +through the land of Ephraim, into the land of Issachar, +and encamped at Shunem in the plain of Jezreel. On +Mount Gilboa, over against them, Saul was encamped +with the army of the Israelites.<a name="FNanchor_269_269" id="FNanchor_269_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_269_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a> The battle broke +out, and the contest was severe. Saul saw his sons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +Abinadab and Melchishua, and finally Jonathan himself, +fall; the Israelites retired, and the archers of the +enemy pressed on the king. Saul refused to fly, and +survive the death of his sons and his first defeat. He +called to his armour-bearer: Draw thy sword and slay +me, that these uncircumcised may not come upon +me and maltreat me. But the faithful comrade would +not lift his hand against his master. Then Saul threw +himself upon his sword, and the armour-bearer followed +the example of the king. The army of the Israelites +was scattered in every direction. The Philistines +rejoiced when they found the corpse of Saul on Mount +Gilboa. They took the armour from the dead king, +and sent it round their whole land, that every one +might be convinced that the dreaded leader of Israel +was no longer living. Then the armour was laid up +in the temple of Astarte. The Philistines cut off the +head of the corpse and hung it up as a trophy in the +temple of Dagon; the trunk and the corpses of the +three sons of Saul were set up in the market-place of +Beth-shan, not far from the field of battle, in order to +show the Israelites that they had nothing more to +hope from Saul and his race (1033 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_270_270" id="FNanchor_270_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_270_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a></p> + +<p>Israel was benumbed with terror. The nurse let +the young son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, fall to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +ground when she heard the news of Gilboa. Many +retired beyond the Jordan before the Philistines; others +hastened to Ziklag, to place themselves under David's +protection. But from Jabesh in Gilead, which Saul had +once rescued from the most grievous distress, valiant +men set out over the Jordan to Beth-shan. Here, at +night, they took the corpses of Saul and his three sons +from the market-place, brought them to Jabesh, and +buried them under the tamarisk, and the inhabitants +of Jabesh fasted and lamented seven days for Saul's +death.<a name="FNanchor_271_271" id="FNanchor_271_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_271_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a> The Israelites had reason enough to sorrow +and lament for Saul. From one of the songs of +lamentation sung in these days it is convincingly clear +what this man had done for them. "The gazelle, O +Israel," so it was sung at that time, "is stricken on +thy heights! Fallen are thy heroes! Tell it not in +Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon, lest the +daughter of the Philistine rejoice, lest the daughter of +the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa, +let there be no dew nor rain upon you, nor offerings +of first-fruits! For there the shield of the mighty was +cast away, the shield of Saul. From the blood of the +slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan +turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not +empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant +in their lives, and in their death they were not divided. +They were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. +Ye daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed +you delicately in purple, and put ornaments of gold +on your garments. How are the mighty fallen in +battle."<a name="FNanchor_272_272" id="FNanchor_272_272"></a><a href="#Footnote_272_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>A single stroke had annihilated all that had been +obtained in long and toilsome struggles. The Philistines +were again masters on this side of Jordan as in the +unhappy times before Saul. But in spite of the fall +of the hero who had been the defence of Israel and +the terror of the enemies, the monarchy remained, +so firmly had Saul established it. Ishbosheth, the +youngest son of Saul, had escaped the battle; with +Abner, the general, he had found safety beyond the +Jordan. Here he took up his abode at Machanaim, +and the tribes on the other side of the Jordan recognised +him as their king. Abner's sword was a strong +support for Ishbosheth, and the adherence of the +Israelites to Saul's family soon permitted him to force +his way from Machanaim over the Jordan. Here, +also, amid the arms of the Philistines, Ishbosheth was +recognised as king. Thus Abner's courage and bravery +succeeded in wresting the fruits of the victory at Gilboa +from the Philistines, and liberating from their yoke first +Ephraim and Benjamin, and then the whole region of +the northern tribes.<a name="FNanchor_273_273" id="FNanchor_273_273"></a><a href="#Footnote_273_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a></p> + +<p>While Abner was engaged in preserving the remnants +of Saul's dominion for his son, and in driving +the Philistines out of the land, David looked after his +own interests. The fresh terror of the overthrow at +Gilboa had driven many Israelites to Ziklag. David's +name stood high among the warriors of Israel, and protection +against the Philistines was certain to be found +with their vassal. The places in the tribe of Judah which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +had formerly joined David now again resorted to him, +and the tribe of Judah had previously been subject to +the Philistines longer than any other, and was more +accustomed to their dominion. As the tradition tells +us, David inquired of Jehovah whether he should go +from Ziklag into one of the cities of Judah, and +Jehovah answered: Go to Hebron. This was done. +"And the men of Judah there anointed David king +of the house of Judah, for only the house of Judah +adhered to David."<a name="FNanchor_274_274" id="FNanchor_274_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_274_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a> Thus David, after Saul's death, +succeeded in the attempt which had failed in Saul's +lifetime; he established an independent monarchy in +the tribe of Judah. Here he ruled at Hebron at first +quietly, under the protection of the Philistines.<a name="FNanchor_275_275" id="FNanchor_275_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_275_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a> But +when Abner had again wrested the north and centre +of the land from the hands of the Philistines, when +Ishbosheth's rule again united the whole land as far +as the tribe of Judah, he turned his arms not more +against the Philistines than against their vassal at +Hebron in order to complete the liberation of Israel.</p> + +<p>"The strife was long between the house of Saul and +the house of David,"—so runs the older account.<a name="FNanchor_276_276" id="FNanchor_276_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_276_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a> Of +the events of this war between Judah and the rest of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +the tribes, we only know that on a certain day Joab at +the head of David's men, and Abner at the head of the +men of Ishbosheth, strove fiercely at the pool of Gibeon, +and Joab's brother Asahel was slain by Abner. For +several years the war continued without any decisive +result, till a division arose between Ishbosheth and +Abner which gave David the advantage, and finally +placed him on the throne of Saul. Ishbosheth appears +to have become distrustful of Abner, to whom he owed +everything. When Abner took Rizpah, the concubine +of Saul, to himself, Ishbosheth thought that he intended +in this way to establish a right to the throne, in order to +wrest the dominion from himself, and did not conceal +his anger.<a name="FNanchor_277_277" id="FNanchor_277_277"></a><a href="#Footnote_277_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a> Then Abner turned from the man he had +exalted and entered into a secret negotiation with David. +This was received with joy by David. Crafty as he was, +he first demanded that his wife Michal, the daughter +of Saul, whom Saul after David's rebellion had married +to Phalti, should be sent back to him. David had +found out the attachment of the Israelites to the house +of Saul, and was no doubt of opinion that nothing +would sooner help him to the throne than the renewed +connection with Saul's family; if none of the descendants +of Saul survived but this daughter he would be +his legitimate heir. Abner sent Michal, and went +himself to Hebron in order to arrange about the +transfer of the kingdom. They were agreed; Abner +had done his service. He was already on his way +home to Machanaim, when Joab, the captain of David, +called him back. He came, and Joab took him aside +under the gate of Hebron, as though he had something +to tell him in secret; instead, he thrust his sword +through his body. David asserted his innocence and +lamented Abner's death. Abner's body was buried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +solemnly at Hebron. David followed the bier in +sackcloth, but Joab remained unpunished.<a name="FNanchor_278_278" id="FNanchor_278_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_278_278" class="fnanchor">[278]</a> He slew +Abner because the latter had previously slain his +brother Asahel at Gibeon; but this was done in +honourable fight, not by assassination.</p> + +<p>When the announcement of Abner's death came to +Machanaim "Ishbosheth's hands were numbed, and all +Israel was troubled." The Israelites lamented Abner's +death. "Must Abner die as a godless man dieth?" they +sang. "Thy hands were never bound, thy feet never +fettered; thou hast fallen as a man falls before the +children of iniquity."<a name="FNanchor_279_279" id="FNanchor_279_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_279_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a> The pillar of the kingdom was +broken. Then two captains of the army of Ishbosheth, +brothers of the tribe of Benjamin, hoped to gain favour +with David. While Ishbosheth was resting at midday +in his chamber on his bed, they entered unobserved +into his house, cut off his head, and brought it hastily +to Hebron to David. This murder carried David +quickly to his goal, but he would not praise those who +committed it; he caused them both to be executed.</p> + +<p>The throne of Saul was empty. David, the husband +of his daughter, was at the head of a not inconsiderable +power; whom could the tribes who had obeyed +Ishbosheth raise to the throne except him, if an end +was to be put to the pernicious division, and the +people were again to be united under one government? +The elders of the tribes were intelligent enough to +value rightly this position of affairs. Hence the people +met together at Hebron; in full assembly David was +raised to be king of Israel, and anointed by the elders.<a name="FNanchor_280_280" id="FNanchor_280_280"></a><a href="#Footnote_280_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a> +Eight years had passed since Saul and his three elder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +sons fell on Gilboa. All was full of joy, union, and +hope that better times would come again after the end +of the long strife (1025 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_281_281" id="FNanchor_281_281"></a><a href="#Footnote_281_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a></p> + +<p>At length David stood at the goal which he had +pursued steadfastly under many changes of fortune. +But there were still some male descendants of Saul in +existence. The Hivites of Gibeon cherished a deadly +hatred to the race of Saul, because Saul's hand had been +heavy upon them "in his zeal for the sons of Israel." +David offered to "avenge the wrong which Saul had +done to them."<a name="FNanchor_282_282" id="FNanchor_282_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_282_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a> They demanded, that as their land +had borne no fruit for three years, seven men of the race +of Saul should be given to them, that they might "hang +them up before Jehovah at Gibeah," the dwelling-place +of Saul. There were just seven male descendants +of Saul remaining: two sons by Rizpah, his concubine, +and five grandchildren, whom Merab, the eldest +daughter of Saul, had borne to Adriel. These David +took and "gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, +and they hanged them up on the hill before +Jehovah." There was still another descendant of +Saul's remaining, Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan; +but he was only 10 or 12 years of age, and was, +moreover, lame of both feet, from the fall which he +had suffered in the hands of his nurse. David also +thought of the close friendship which he had contracted +in earlier days with Jonathan; he gave to +Mephibosheth Saul's land at Gibeah, and arranged +that Saul and Jonathan's bones should be brought from +Jabesh to Zelah, near Gibeah, and buried where Kish, +Saul's father, lay. In the tribe of Benjamin, to which +Saul belonged, and among those connected with his +house, the acts of David to the house of Saul were not +forgotten; they hated David, the "man of blood."</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_235_235" id="Footnote_235_235"></a><a href="#FNanchor_235_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> 1 Sam. vii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_236_236" id="Footnote_236_236"></a><a href="#FNanchor_236_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> 1 Sam. x. 8; xiii. 8-15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_237_237" id="Footnote_237_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_237_237"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> 1 Sam. xv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_238_238" id="Footnote_238_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_238_238"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> Ruth iv. 18-22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_239_239" id="Footnote_239_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_239_239"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> In 2 Sam. v. 4, 5 it is stated that David when he was raised at +Hebron to be king of Judah was 30 years old. This took place 1033 +<small>B.C.</small> (p. 113, note); David must therefore have been born 1063 <small>B.C.</small>, and +could not have marched out to battle before 1043 <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_240_240" id="Footnote_240_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_240_240"><span class="label">[240]</span></a> 1 Sam. xviii. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_241_241" id="Footnote_241_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_241_241"><span class="label">[241]</span></a> The tale of the battle of David with the giant Goliath appears to +have arisen out of a later conflict of David when king with a mighty +Philistine. In 2 Sam. xxi. 18-22 we are told, "And there was again a +battle of Philistines at Gob. Then Elhanan, the son of Jair Orgim, a +Bethlehemite, slew Goliath of Gath; the shaft of whose spear was as a +weaver's beam." Shortly before it is stated: "David and his servants +strove with the Philistines, and David was weary, and Ishbi thought +to slay David—the weight of his spear was 300 shekels; then Abishai +(the brother of Joab) aided the king, and slew the Philistine," 2 Sam. +xxi. 15-17. From the conflict with a giant which David had to +undergo when king, and the slaughter of Goliath of Gath by Elhanan, a +fellow-townsman of David's from Bethlehem, the legend may have arisen +that David himself slew a great giant. This legend was then transferred +by the theocratic narrative into David's boyhood; in this way he was +marked from the beginning as the chosen instrument of Jehovah. The +statement in 1 Chron. xxi. 5 cannot be made to tell against this view, +which in order to explain the contradiction between the First and +Second Books of Samuel explains the giant whom Elhanan slew, the +shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam, to be a brother of +Goliath; the less so inasmuch as the passage from the Book of Samuel +is repeated word for word with this addition, while the battle of David +with Ishbi is omitted. If David really slew a distinguished warrior +of Gath in Saul's time, it is the more difficult to explain how he +could afterwards fly to the prince of Gath of all others, and enter +into such close relations with him. The often-mentioned national +song, "Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands," +is scarcely applicable to the slaying of a giant, however great he might +be, and probably comes from the time of David's reign when he had +really gained more brilliant victories than Saul.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_242_242" id="Footnote_242_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_242_242"><span class="label">[242]</span></a> 1 Sam. xviii. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_243_243" id="Footnote_243_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_243_243"><span class="label">[243]</span></a> 1 Sam. xvi. 22; xviii. 5; xxii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_244_244" id="Footnote_244_244"></a><a href="#FNanchor_244_244"><span class="label">[244]</span></a> This date may be assumed, if we put the death of Saul in the year +1033 <small>B.C.</small> (p. 113), since David's rebellion in Judah lasted a considerable +time, and he afterwards remained at Ziklag at least 16 months, 1 +Sam. xxvii. 7; xxix. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_245_245" id="Footnote_245_245"></a><a href="#FNanchor_245_245"><span class="label">[245]</span></a> 1 Sam. xviii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_246_246" id="Footnote_246_246"></a><a href="#FNanchor_246_246"><span class="label">[246]</span></a> 1 Sam. xviii. 16; xx. 31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_247_247" id="Footnote_247_247"></a><a href="#FNanchor_247_247"><span class="label">[247]</span></a> 1 Sam. xviii. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_248_248" id="Footnote_248_248"></a><a href="#FNanchor_248_248"><span class="label">[248]</span></a> As Najoth, or rather Newajoth, means dwellings, the habitations of +the prophet's disciples must be meant.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_249_249" id="Footnote_249_249"></a><a href="#FNanchor_249_249"><span class="label">[249]</span></a> 1 Sam. xix. 18-24; xxi. 11-15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_250_250" id="Footnote_250_250"></a><a href="#FNanchor_250_250"><span class="label">[250]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_251_251" id="Footnote_251_251"></a><a href="#FNanchor_251_251"><span class="label">[251]</span></a> 1 Sam. xiv. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_252_252" id="Footnote_252_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_252_252"><span class="label">[252]</span></a> The older text, 1, xxvi. 19, represents David as saying to Saul: +"If Jehovah hath stirred thee against me, let him accept an offering, +but if men, cursed be they before Jehovah." In the Books of Samuel +the relations of Saul and David are strangely confused, for reasons +which are not far to seek. The older account of the priests and the +later one of the prophets, which are mixed together in these books, +had equally reason to place in as favourable a light as possible the +founder of the power of Israel, of the united worship, the minstrel of +the psalms, the progenitor of the kings of Judah, and to put him in +the right as against Saul and the house of Saul. To the older narrative +belongs the description of David's shepherd life, his battle with the giant, +his rise as a warrior,—the intention is to show that Jehovah is strong +in the weak. The shepherd-boy comes into the camp in order to bring +bread to his brethren and cheese to the captain. His brethren are angry +that he has left the sheep, and wish to send him back, but he will fight +with the giant who has defied the army of the living God. Saul +dissuades him from the contest, but David persists, refuses armour, and +goes forth in trust on Jehovah, who gives not the victory by spear and +shield. By this victory he is marked as the chosen instrument of +Jehovah. In both accounts Saul loses the favour of Jehovah by +disobedience to Samuel. According to the later text, Samuel, when he +had broken with Saul owing to the incomplete "cursing" of Amalek, +took the horn of oil and anointed the youngest son of Jesse, who was +fetched from the sheep, king over Israel amid his brethren. When +this had been done Saul's servants bring David as a brave hero and +warrior, "prudent in speech, a comely person, cunning in playing," +1 Sam. xvi. Yet Samuel had no right to place kings over the Israelites, +and if he went so far in his opposition to Saul, he made himself responsible +for the rebellion; if he really intended this, he would have set up +some other than a shepherd-boy against Saul. If, on the other hand, +David was really anointed, Saul was quite justified in pursuing him. +Yet it was with this anointment, as with that of Saul; no one knew +anything of it, and David himself makes no use of this divine election, +not even when he organises the rebellion in Judah, nor after Saul's +death at Hebron, nor in the struggle against Ishbosheth, who was not +in any case anointed, nor even after the death of Ishbosheth: he is +after this chosen by the people in Hebron and anointed king over +Israel. It is only the Philistines in Gath who know anything of +David's royal dignity, when he comes to them for the first time, 1 Sam. +xxi. 11. We see plainly that this anointment is a careless interpolation +of the prophetic revision, to which the verses 11-15 of the chapter +quoted undoubtedly belong, just as chap. xvi. is intended to legitimise +David. The same account represents Saul as thrusting twice with his +javelin at David, xviii. 10, 11, on the very day after he has slain the +giant. As though nothing had happened, David continues in the house +of Saul, and Saul confers on him still greater honours and dignities. +In the older as well as in the later account this is turned round so as +to seem that Saul gave these to David as a "snare," that David might +fall by the hands of the Philistines, xviii. 17, 25; and with this view +Saul requires 100 foreskins of the Philistines as the price of Michal. +It is obvious that Saul had other means, more certain to accomplish +his object, at his command to destroy David, if he really intended it; +according to the older account Saul requests Jonathan and his men, +though in vain, to slay David, xix. 1. When the attempt at assassination +and the open breach has taken place in both narratives, Saul, +according to the prophetic account, marvels nevertheless that David +does not come to table, xx. 26, 27. To this text also belongs the further +statement that when Jonathan excused David, Saul thrust at him also +with his spear, xx. 33. In the older account Ahimelech, who had aided +David in his flight, makes the excuse that he knew not that David fled +before the king. "David was the most honoured among the friends +of Saul:" no one therefore knew anything of these plots and attempts +of Saul upon David. Every one sees that this is impossible. Jonathan +knows David better than Saul, and always defends him against his +father; then David himself calls on Jonathan to kill him if there is any +wickedness in him, 1, xx. 8. The story of the arrows is very poetical, +but the sign is quite unnecessary, since they afterwards converse with +each other, 1, xx. 18-43. In the older account also of the occurrence +in the desert by the Dead Sea, the prophetic account has inserted a +visit of Jonathan to David. Jonathan strengthens David's courage +although he is in rebellion against his father. "Fear not," Jonathan +says to him, "the hand of my father will not reach thee, thou shalt +be king over Israel," xxiii. 15-18. Saul was something different +from the madman who betwixt sane intervals and reconciliations is +constantly making fresh attacks on David's life, whether innocent or +guilty. Even the most complete recognition of all that David established +at a later time for Israel, and with an influence extending far +beyond Israel, does not make it a duty to overlook the way in which +he rose to his eminence.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_253_253" id="Footnote_253_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_253_253"><span class="label">[253]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxii. 3; 2, x. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_254_254" id="Footnote_254_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_254_254"><span class="label">[254]</span></a> In 1 Sam. xxix. 3, Achish says of David, "He has now been +with me for years."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_255_255" id="Footnote_255_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_255_255"><span class="label">[255]</span></a> So the older account, 1 Sam. xxii. 1-5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_256_256" id="Footnote_256_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_256_256"><span class="label">[256]</span></a> So the older story, 1 Sam. xxii. The priestly point of view from +which it is written causes it, in order to prove the innocence of the +priests, to represent David as saying on his flight to Ahimelech that he +had a hasty mission from the king, so that Ahimelech can explain to +Saul that he knew nothing about the flight. From the same point +of view we must derive the statement that the body-guard hesitated to +lay hands on the holy men, and that an Edomite slew them. That +the punishment of Nob took place long after David's flight and +rebellion, is clear from the fact that the fugitive Abiathar finds David +already in possession of Kegilah, 1 Sam. xxii. 20; xxiii. 6, 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_257_257" id="Footnote_257_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_257_257"><span class="label">[257]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxv. 2-12, 18-42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_258_258" id="Footnote_258_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_258_258"><span class="label">[258]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxx. 26-31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_259_259" id="Footnote_259_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_259_259"><span class="label">[259]</span></a> That David saved and won Kegilah from the Philistines, and +obtained a great victory over them, as we find it in the older account +(1 Sam. xxiii. 1-5), is more than improbable. David certainly could +not undertake to fight with Saul and the Philistines at one time with 600 +men. How could he meet an army of the Philistines in the field, when +he does not trust himself to maintain the walls of Kegilah against Saul +with his troop. The citizens of Kegilah would hardly have been +prepared to give him up, if just before he had done them such a kindness. +Finally, this battle contradicts the position in which we find +David before and afterwards with regard to the Philistines. Achish +at any rate has unbounded confidence in David since his desertion, +and will even make him "keeper of his head," 1 Sam. xxviii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_260_260" id="Footnote_260_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_260_260"><span class="label">[260]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxiii. 9-13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_261_261" id="Footnote_261_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_261_261"><span class="label">[261]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxiii. 25-28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_262_262" id="Footnote_262_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_262_262"><span class="label">[262]</span></a> So the older account, 1 Sam. xxvi. 1, 2; xxvii. 1-3. While +Saul has cast his spear at David, and pursues him everywhere +with unwearying energy in order to slay him, David gives him his +life. According to the older account, Saul sleeps in his encampment in +the wilderness of Ziph. David with Abishai secretly enters this, and +he distinctly refuses, when urged by Abishai to slay Saul, to listen +to him, because Saul is an "anointed of Jehovah," takes the spear +and the water-bowl of the king, plants himself on a mountain in the +distance, and from this reproaches Abner that he has been so careless +in providing for the safety of the king. Saul is again touched, +acknowledges his sins and follies, begs David to return, and finally gives him +his blessing on his undertaking. David upon this declares that his life +will be regarded before Jehovah as he has regarded Saul's life, and +escapes to the Philistines. According to the prophetic account, Saul +"covers his feet" in a cave in the desert of Engedi, in which are concealed +David and his men. These urge David to slay Saul, but he +replies, "Far be it from me to lay my hand on the Lord's anointed," +and merely cuts off the corner of Saul's upper garment. When Saul +awakes and goes out of the cave, David hurries after him, prostrates +himself, and proves by the piece in his hand that those did him wrong +who said that he sought to do Saul mischief, "but thou art seeking to +take my life." Saul weeps, acknowledges that David is more just than +he is; may Jehovah reward him (David) for this day. "I know," +Saul continues, "that thou wilt be king, and the kingdom of Israel +will continue in thy hand." Let David only swear to him not to +destroy his seed. This David does, 1 Sam. xxiv. 4-23. If this +event, in itself all but impossible, ever took place, it must have had +some consequences; yet there is no change in the relations of Saul and +David, Saul continues to pursue David. If David took the oath not +to destroy the descendants of Saul, he broke it.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_263_263" id="Footnote_263_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_263_263"><span class="label">[263]</span></a> So the older account, 1 Sam. xxvii. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_264_264" id="Footnote_264_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_264_264"><span class="label">[264]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxvii. 6, 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_265_265" id="Footnote_265_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_265_265"><span class="label">[265]</span></a> Chron. xiii. 1-7, 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_266_266" id="Footnote_266_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_266_266"><span class="label">[266]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxx. 26-30; <i>supra</i>, p. 137. In order to wash David clean +from the reproach of fighting with the Philistines against his people, +it is observed (xxvii. 8-11) that David always marched against the +tribes of the desert, that he cut down the prisoners, and then reported +to Achish that he "had invaded the south of Judah." The position of +Ziklag was ill-suited for attacks on the desert, and Achish had not +given him any commands to fight against the children of the desert. +At a later time Achish says of David: "Since his desertion I have +found nothing in him," xxix. 3, 6; he will make him even the protector +of his own life (1, xxviii. 2), and such deceit as is here attributed to +David presupposes that Achish and all the rest of the Philistines were +blind.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_267_267" id="Footnote_267_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_267_267"><span class="label">[267]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxvii. 7, "one year and four months:" xxix. 3, Achish +says, "He has been with me—for years."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_268_268" id="Footnote_268_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_268_268"><span class="label">[268]</span></a> According to the older account, 1 Sam. xxviii. 2, when Achish +requires him to march with him against Saul, David replies, "So +shalt thou behold what thy servant will do." The narrative of the +sending back of David at the wish of the remaining princes, and +David's protest against it, belong also to the older narrative. This is +repeated in Chronicles (1, xiii. 19) very emphatically, and without +any motive in the context, so that it might be possible to accept +the same view which represents David as constantly marching against +the desert from Ziklag. For the moral estimate of David it is sufficient +that it did not rest with him to join in the battle.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_269_269" id="Footnote_269_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_269_269"><span class="label">[269]</span></a> The story of the witch of Endor (xxviii. 3 ff.) belongs to the later +account. To begin with, this account contradicts itself; we are told +in the introduction (verse 3) that Saul had removed the necromancers +and "wise men" out of Israel, a statement which is repeated in the +course of the story (verse 9). Nevertheless Saul causes a witch to be +sought out, because when already encamped before the Philistines +"he is in great fear of the enemy." Saul was a brave warrior, who even +in a worse position had never trembled. He sends for this woman in +order to speak with Samuel's ghost. If Saul had any desire to see +ghosts, he would desire to see the ghost of Samuel least of all, for he, +according to the same prophetic account, had anointed David to be +king against Saul (verse 11). Samuel as a ghost has thus a third opportunity +for reproaching Saul, and telling him "that Jehovah had given +the kingdom to David, because he had not satisfied his wrath on +Amalek" (p. 129).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_270_270" id="Footnote_270_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_270_270"><span class="label">[270]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxxi. 1-11; 1 Chron. x. 10. According to a second account +of the death of Saul in 2 Sam. i. ff., an Amalekite came unexpectedly to +Mount Gilboa. He finds Saul in flight leaning on his spear, and Saul +says to him, "Slay me." The Amalekite does so; takes the crown +from the head of the king, and his bracelets, and then flies to Ziklag +in the territory of the Philistines in order to bring the crown to David. +David causes him to be slain, because "he had lifted up his hand +against the anointed of the Lord." The object of this story is too +plain—to bring the crown of Saul into the hands of David in order to +make him the legitimate king, and at the same time to exhibit David +as loyal to Saul even after his death, and avenging his murder—and +the impossibilities in it are too great. David afterwards permitted the +execution of the remaining descendants of Saul.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_271_271" id="Footnote_271_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_271_271"><span class="label">[271]</span></a> 1 Sam. xxxi. 12, 13; 2, xxi. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_272_272" id="Footnote_272_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_272_272"><span class="label">[272]</span></a> This lament, which was in the book of Jasher (2 Sam. i. 18), is +ascribed to David. His moral participation in the issue of the +battle must have been most clear to himself; his rebellion and desertion +to the Philistines had weakened Saul's powers of fighting and +deprived him of brave warriors; he had been ready to fight in the +army of the Philistines against Saul and Jonathan. Least of all could +David sing, "Tell it not in Gath," since he himself was in the land of +Gath. The last verse, "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan," +etc., may certainly have come from David, and may have been added to +the lament at a later time. Thus the whole might appear to be the +work of David.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_273_273" id="Footnote_273_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_273_273"><span class="label">[273]</span></a> 2 Sam. ii. 8-10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_274_274" id="Footnote_274_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_274_274"><span class="label">[274]</span></a> 2 Sam. ii. 1, 3, 4-10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_275_275" id="Footnote_275_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_275_275"><span class="label">[275]</span></a> This conclusion must be drawn both from the earlier relation to +the Philistines, and from the fact that David during this whole time +has not to fight with the Philistines, whereas afterwards, as soon as he +has united the tribes under his rule, he has to wage the fiercest war +with them; apparently he was supported against Ishbosheth and Abner +by the Philistines in order to put a stop to Abner's advances. Cf. Ewald, +"Geschichte des Volks Israel," 2, 572.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_276_276" id="Footnote_276_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_276_276"><span class="label">[276]</span></a> David reigned seven years and six months at Hebron, 2 Sam. iii. +1, 10, 11; 2, v. 4, 5; 1 Kings ii. 11. Ishbosheth's reign is given at +two years only. These two statements can only be brought into +harmony by supposing that Ishbosheth was not acknowledged king of +the northern tribes till five and a half years after Saul's death, <i>i. e.</i> +Abner required this time to drive the Philistines out of these regions, +or that David was not acknowledged king of Israel till five and a half +years after the death of Ishbosheth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_277_277" id="Footnote_277_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_277_277"><span class="label">[277]</span></a> 2 Sam. iii. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_278_278" id="Footnote_278_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_278_278"><span class="label">[278]</span></a> 2 Sam. iii. 31-39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_279_279" id="Footnote_279_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_279_279"><span class="label">[279]</span></a> This beautiful lament is also ascribed to David: David was the singer, +and, like the Psalms, other songs also come from him. But David could +not speak of Joab and indirectly of himself as a "child of iniquity."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_280_280" id="Footnote_280_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_280_280"><span class="label">[280]</span></a> 2 Sam. v. 1-3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_281_281" id="Footnote_281_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_281_281"><span class="label">[281]</span></a> 1 Chron. xii. 23 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_282_282" id="Footnote_282_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_282_282"><span class="label">[282]</span></a> 2 Sam. xxi. 3.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE RULE OF DAVID.</h3> + + +<p>At the cost of his nation, in collusion with the +enemies of his land, and under the protection of the +Philistines, David had paved the way to dominion +over Israel. He had much to make good. He had to +cause the way which led him to the throne to be forgotten, +to heal the wounds which the long contention +must have inflicted on his land, to surpass the great +services which Saul had rendered to the Israelites by +yet greater services, by more brilliant exploits, by more +firmly-rooted institutions.</p> + +<p>A brave warrior even in early years, David had been +afterwards tested and strengthened by adventures and +dangers of every kind; he had understood how to meet +or escape even the most difficult situations. He had +the inclination and power for great things, and was +little scrupulous in the choice of the means which +brought him most swiftly and completely to his object. +His vision was clear and wide; clever, crafty, and +quickly decided, he nevertheless knew how to wait +when the object could not be obtained at the moment. +It was his in an extraordinary measure to retain old +comrades, to win new ones and attach them to himself. +It was not his intention to be at the beck of the +Philistines longer than he had need of them; with +his elevation at Hebron came the moment for breaking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +with them. He saw that they would not lose without +a heavy price the preponderance in which his rebellion +against Saul, his leadership in Judah, his struggle +against Ishbosheth had again placed them; that their +exasperation would be the deeper and more lasting +because he had deceived the hopes which they had +placed in him.</p> + +<p>He began his reign with an undertaking which +shows the certainty and width of his views. His +dominion over the tribes of Simeon and Judah had +been established for almost eight years, but over +the northern tribes it was recent, and had to be confirmed. +The remembrance of Saul was cherished most +warmly in the tribe of Benjamin, which lay next +to Judah on the north. In this land, not far from +the northern border of Judah, was a city of the name +of Jebus, inhabited by the Jebusites, a relic of the old +population which at the time of the settlement the +Benjaminites had not been able to overcome.<a name="FNanchor_283_283" id="FNanchor_283_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_283_283" class="fnanchor">[283]</a> The +city stood on steep heights, surrounded by deep gorges, +which formed natural trenches; the walls of the eastern +height on which the citadel stood, Mount Zion, were +so strong that the Jebusites are said to have boasted +that the blind and lame were sufficient to defend them. +This city appeared to David excellently situated for +protection against the Philistines and for his own +royal abode; it had the faithful tribes of Judah and +Simeon to the south, and was pushed forward like a +fortification into the territory of Benjamin and the +northern tribes. Nor was it useful only in establishing +his dominion over Israel. Even in Saul's reign it +had been difficult when an enemy invaded the open +cantons of Israel to find time for assembling the fighting +powers, the levy of the people; there had been no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> +fortified point on which the first shock of the enemy's +onset broke, no city strongly fortified and of considerable +size in which large numbers could find protection.</p> + +<p>Soon after the assembly at Hebron, which had transferred +to him the royal authority over all the tribes of +Israel, David set himself to win this place. First he +cut off the water from the city of the Jebusites, and +then Joab with the veteran band of David succeeded +in climbing the wall in a sudden attack. The inhabitants +were spared; at any rate a part of them must +have remained, for we afterwards find Jebusites in and +about Jerusalem.<a name="FNanchor_284_284" id="FNanchor_284_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_284_284" class="fnanchor">[284]</a></p> + +<p>The princes of the Philistines had begun to arm immediately +upon the announcement of David's election to +be king of all Israel.<a name="FNanchor_285_285" id="FNanchor_285_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_285_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a> David awaited their approach in +the citadel of Zion which he had just conquered. The +Philistines encamped before the city. When they were +scattered in search of plunder in the valley of Rephaim +David inquired of Jehovah whether he should go down +against them. The answer was favourable. The Philistines +were surprised and defeated. But they soon +appeared a second time under the walls of Zion, and +the oracle of Jehovah bade David not to go directly +against them, but to turn aside under the balsam trees. +If he heard the tops of the trees rustle he was to +hasten on; that was the sign from God that he would +go before him to smite the camp of the Philistines. +So it befel. David gained a great victory and was +enabled to pursue the Philistines as far as Gezer.<a name="FNanchor_286_286" id="FNanchor_286_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_286_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a> +Yet the war was not decided, but still continued for a +long time. Four battles took place on the borders +near Gob and Gath, and many severe combats had to +be fought with the Philistines. From all the traces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> +of tradition it is clear that this war was the most +stubborn and dangerous of all that David had to wage. +In Israel there were stories of the brave deeds of +individual heroes which were accomplished in these +battles: of Abishai, the brother of Joab, who saved +the king in battle, when the mighty Philistine Ishbi +thought to overcome him; of Elhanan, who slew +Goliath of Gath; and of the deeds of Jonathan, the +nephew of David, and Sibbechai against the Philistines.<a name="FNanchor_287_287" id="FNanchor_287_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_287_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a> +At length David succeeded in "wresting the bridle out +of the hand of the Philistines," and "breaking their +horn in pieces;"<a name="FNanchor_288_288" id="FNanchor_288_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_288_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a> he drove them back to their old +borders. They had suffered such serious blows that +for a long time they abstained from all further attacks, +after they had carried on warfare against the Hebrews +for about 70 years. Yet even David, in spite of this +success, made no serious attempt to advance the borders +of Israel towards the sea, or to subjugate the cities of +the Philistines.</p> + +<p>When the most pressing danger from the Philistines +was over, David turned his arms to the south and east, +against the Amalekites, the Moabites, and Ammonites, +who had once caused so much misery and disaster to +Israel. Against the Amalekites Saul had already +accomplished the main task (p. 127). David smote +them with such effect that the name of the Amalekites +is hardly once mentioned afterwards; the remainder +of the race seem to have been amalgamated with the +Edomites.<a name="FNanchor_289_289" id="FNanchor_289_289"></a><a href="#Footnote_289_289" class="fnanchor">[289]</a> David had at a former time entered into +connection with the king of Moab; when he fled from +Saul he placed his parents under his protection. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +cause of the rupture is unknown; we only know that +David utterly overthrew the Moabites and caused two-thirds +of the prisoners to be put to death. It is said +that they were compelled to lie down; they were then +divided by a measuring cord into three parts, of which +two were slain by iron threshing-carts being drawn +over them, and only a third part were spared.<a name="FNanchor_290_290" id="FNanchor_290_290"></a><a href="#Footnote_290_290" class="fnanchor">[290]</a> Nahash, +the king of Ammon, with whom David had also previously +been in relations (p. 136), was succeeded by his +son Hanon. This prince insulted David's envoys, he +caused their beards to be shaved off, and their garments +to be cut away as high as the middle.</p> + +<p>David sent Joab with the levy of the people against +the Ammonites to avenge the insult. Hanon called +on the king of Zobah—Saul had already had to fight +against Zobah—and the rulers of Beth-Rehob, Maacah, +and Tob in Syria for assistance. Hadad-Ezer of Zobah +sent 20,000 men; from Tob came 12,000; from Maacah +1000. Joab divided his army, left his brother +Abishai to oppose the Ammonites, and turned himself +with picked men against the Syrians and defeated +them before they could join the Ammonites.<a name="FNanchor_291_291" id="FNanchor_291_291"></a><a href="#Footnote_291_291" class="fnanchor">[291]</a> After this +defeat the Ammonites also retired before Abishai into +their fortified city of Rabbath-Ammon on the Nahr-Ammon. +But in the next spring Hadad-Ezer collected +his whole force. David marched across the Jordan to +meet the Syrians, and defeated Hadad-Ezer in a decisive +battle at Helam; the Israelites carried off the chariots +of the enemy for spoil; 1700 horsemen and 20,000 +foot-soldiers were captured.<a name="FNanchor_292_292" id="FNanchor_292_292"></a><a href="#Footnote_292_292" class="fnanchor">[292]</a> David followed up this +victory and overran the cities of the king of Zobah, +when the king of Damascus took the field in aid of +Hadad-Ezer, and the Edomites invaded Judah from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +the south. David remained in the field against the +Syrians, and sent Joab with only a part of the army +against the Edomites. In the salt valley, at the +southern end of the Dead Sea, Joab and Abishai +defeated the Edomites; 12,000 out of 18,000 are +said to have fallen on this day.<a name="FNanchor_293_293" id="FNanchor_293_293"></a><a href="#Footnote_293_293" class="fnanchor">[293]</a> In spite of this +severe defeat the Edomites made a stubborn resistance. +Joab, in continuous struggles which went on for six +months, destroyed a great part of the male population +(the son of the king of Edom was carried by the +servants of his father to Egypt), and subjugated the +rest of the inhabitants to the dominion of David. +While Joab was fighting in Edom, David had defeated +the men of Damascus and brought the war in the +north to an end. Thoi, the king of Hamath, whom +Hadad-Ezer had previously oppressed, entered into a +league with David. Only the Ammonites still continued +to resist. Joab was sent against them in the +next year; he laid their land waste, and took one +city after another. The captives were placed under +saws and axes, and burnt in kilns, or slain like the +Moabites under iron threshing-wagons. At length +Joab could announce to David that Rabbath-Ammon, +the chief city of the Ammonites, was reduced to +extremities; the king must come to enter into the +city. Rabbath was destroyed (about 1015 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_294_294" id="FNanchor_294_294"></a><a href="#Footnote_294_294" class="fnanchor">[294]</a>); the +inhabitants shared the fate of the other Ammonite +cities. From the Syrian campaign David had brought +back a trophy of 100 war-horses, copper vessels from +the cities of Hadad-Ezer of Zobah which were captured,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +and finally the golden shields which the commanders +of this king had carried. From Rabbath he brought +home the golden crown of the king of the Ammonites,—it +is said to have been a Kikkar (I. 285) in +weight and set with precious stones,—together with +other utensils of silver and gold. The Moabites, the +Ammonites, and Edomites were compelled to pay +tribute. Garrisons were put in the strong places; +even Damascus is said to have received a garrison of +Israelites.<a name="FNanchor_295_295" id="FNanchor_295_295"></a><a href="#Footnote_295_295" class="fnanchor">[295]</a></p> + +<p>After Saul had first saved Israel out of the hand of +their oppressors, after these advantages were lost by +the domestic strife, David had now formed the Israelites +into a ruling nation from isolated tribes who had +been so often and so long plundered by their enemies. +He had come victorious out of the most severe struggles. +With reason could Israel now sing: "Saul has slain +his thousands, David his tens of thousands."</p> + +<p>It was a rapid and brilliant transformation. David +was master from the borders of Egypt, the north-east +point of the Red Sea, to Damascus. He was not content +with successfully establishing his rule for the +moment by these great and brilliant deeds of arms; +he intended to give it a solid support for the future. +He employed the spoils of his victories in order to +fortify more strongly and extend the city which he +had chosen for his metropolis; it was now called the +city of David, and afterwards Jerusalem.<a name="FNanchor_296_296" id="FNanchor_296_296"></a><a href="#Footnote_296_296" class="fnanchor">[296]</a> On Zion, +the citadel of Jerusalem, David caused a royal palace +to be built. In the city the remnant of the Jebusites +had been joined by inhabitants from the tribes of +Judah and Benjamin. If David hoped to lessen the +disaffection of the tribe of Benjamin by establishing a +royal citadel in their land he had not calculated wrongly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +The sequel shows that Benjamin, which previously held +to Ephraim, now stood fast by Judah.</p> + +<p>In possession of a considerable and well-fortified +metropolis, and a strong royal citadel, David was able +to rule over Israel with greater safety and severity +than Saul from his rural court at Gibeah. Moreover, +David intended to create independent means and property +for the crown, and kept together what he had +won. From the tribute of the subjugated nations he +formed a treasury, which was placed under the care of +Asmaveth. In addition we hear of overseers of the +royal gardens, oliveyards, vineyards, and sycamore +plantations, and we learn that David kept flocks of +small cattle, herds of oxen, and camels.<a name="FNanchor_297_297" id="FNanchor_297_297"></a><a href="#Footnote_297_297" class="fnanchor">[297]</a></p> + +<p>The strongest support of the throne were his selected +and thoroughly devoted troops of warriors. David was +accompanied by a body-guard which was always with +him (Saul had had round him some "runners"). It +appears from the name, Pelethites and Cherethites, to +have been entirely composed of foreigners; their leader +was Benaiah.<a name="FNanchor_298_298" id="FNanchor_298_298"></a><a href="#Footnote_298_298" class="fnanchor">[298]</a> The core of the army was formed not +by this body-guard, but by the freebooters who once +gathered round him in the cave of Adullam and at +Ziklag, warriors tried often and in numerous battles. +They remained in one body in Jerusalem, and were +maintained by the king. This band—it was apparently +about 600 men in number,<a name="FNanchor_299_299" id="FNanchor_299_299"></a><a href="#Footnote_299_299" class="fnanchor">[299]</a> and in the ranks +were also foreigners, Hittites, Ammonites, Moabites, and +others, who formerly associated with David, or were +attracted by the fame of his deeds—was called the troop +of the mighty, "Gibborim;" accompanied by armour-bearers +and servants, they took the field. They were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +divided into three portions, under three leaders; at their +head fought 30 selected heroes: Abishai, Joab's brother, +was the captain.<a name="FNanchor_300_300" id="FNanchor_300_300"></a><a href="#Footnote_300_300" class="fnanchor">[300]</a> As simple peasants, the Israelites had +always fought on foot, without horses and horsemen; +David, after the pattern of the Syrians, introduced +chariots. Josheb Bassebet was the captain of the +war-chariots.<a name="FNanchor_301_301" id="FNanchor_301_301"></a><a href="#Footnote_301_301" class="fnanchor">[301]</a> Along with the Gibborim, the chariots +were intended to give, as trained divisions, firmness +and support to the levy of the whole people.</p> + +<p>In order to regulate the levy, Joab, the chief captain, +with some of his subordinates, was commanded to +enumerate and write down all the fighting men from the +Jabbok to Mount Hermon, and from Dan to Beersheba. +Nine months and twenty days were required by the captains +for this task. When the muster was completed, +captains were appointed for hundreds and thousands; +but in order that the whole mass of the people need +not be called out on every campaign and every attack +of the enemy,—in which hitherto, for the most part, +only those who were eager for battle had engaged, +while those who preferred peace and rest remained at +home,—the whole number of the fighting men was +divided into twelve portions, of which each, in number +24,000 men, was pledged to service for one month in +the year. Each of these divisions had a separate +captain. As occasion required, several of the divisions, +or all, might be called out. If we may trust these +accounts, Israel had at that time 300,000 fighting +men, and consequently a population of about two +millions.<a name="FNanchor_302_302" id="FNanchor_302_302"></a><a href="#Footnote_302_302" class="fnanchor">[302]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hitherto the descendants of the oldest families, the +heads of the tribes, the successors of those who in the +conquest of the land had won for themselves separate +localities and valleys, had enjoyed a pre-eminent +position within the circle of the various tribes (p. 91). +To them, or to brave warriors, the Israelites had gone,—to +men who had become of importance owing to their +possessions, and who had the reputation of passing +sound judgments,—or to priests and soothsayers, when +they sought for advice, protection, and justice. Since +the establishment of the monarchy the king was the +supreme judge. David exercised this office as Saul +had done.<a name="FNanchor_303_303" id="FNanchor_303_303"></a><a href="#Footnote_303_303" class="fnanchor">[303]</a> But though he retained the right of +deciding in the last instance, David seems to have +appointed the princes and judges of the tribes; he +charged certain of his adherents with the duty of +giving justice to the tribes and communities, although, +of course, every man had the right of appeal from his +decision to the decision of the king. Jurisdiction +and administration not yet being separated, we may +suppose that a regular government, which secured to +the throne the execution of its will and of the orders +given, was established by this means already in David's +reign. We find that, beside the captains of the army,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +the officers of the house and treasury, the king had a +chancellor, a scribe, and overseer of the taxes. Ahithophel +was the man on whose advice David mainly +depended; his most trusted friend was Hushai; and +in the last twenty years of his life the prophet Nathan +enjoyed a high place in his favour.<a name="FNanchor_304_304" id="FNanchor_304_304"></a><a href="#Footnote_304_304" class="fnanchor">[304]</a></p> + +<p>It was a marvellous career that lay behind David. +He had grown up in a hardy youth; early approved as +a brave warrior and skilful leader, he was then raised +to the side of Saul and Jonathan; after this he +experienced the most sudden reverse of fortune, and +at length by very perplexed paths he reached the +highest stage. On this he had been able to retrieve +many mistakes; he came victorious out of every conflict. +Saul's deeds were surpassed, and Israel was +proud of the successes of David and the respect which +he won for her. He had securely established his +authority; it was founded so firmly that the crown +must pass to his descendants. The religious feeling +which impelled him to inquire of Jehovah before every +undertaking, which brought him at an early period +into connection with the seers and priests, could not +but increase as he looked back upon the course of his +life. Who had greater reason than he to be thankful +to the God who protected him and guided him so +marvellously, who saved him out of every danger and +had raised him to such power and splendour? In +early days singing and harp-playing had occupied the +leisure of his shepherd life; gifted with poetic powers, +he understood how to give a powerful expression to +his gratitude towards Jehovah. After these great +wars he is said to have sung: "Jehovah, my rock, +my fortress, my shield; the horn of my salvation, my +defence. I called on him who is worthy of praise, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +was delivered from my enemies. Out of his palace +he heard my voice, and my cry came into his ears. +Then the earth moved and quaked, and the foundations +of the earth trembled, for he was wroth. Smoke rose +out of his nostrils, and a consuming fire went from his +mouth; coals burned forth from him. He bowed the +heavens, and came down on the cherubim, and hovered +on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his veil, +the tempest and dark cloud his tabernacle. Jehovah +thundered, and the Highest gave forth his voice, +hail-stones and coals of fire. He shot forth his arrows +and destroyed the enemy, the lightning fell and dispersed +them. With thee, Jehovah, I went against hosts, +and with my God I climbed over walls. Jehovah girded +me with power; he gave me feet like harts' feet; he +taught my hand the battle, so that my arm strung the +iron bow. I pursued my enemies and overtook them, +and turned not back till I had destroyed them; I +shattered them in pieces that they could not rise up; +I scattered them like dust before the wind; I cast them +forth like dung. Thou, Jehovah, didst save me from +the battles of the nations, and didst place me at their +head; nations which I knew not serve me. At a +rumour they obey me, and the sons of strangers flatter +me; they sink away and tremble out of their castles. +Praised be my protector, exalted be the God of my +salvation."<a name="FNanchor_305_305" id="FNanchor_305_305"></a><a href="#Footnote_305_305" class="fnanchor">[305]</a></p> + +<p>It was not in praise and thanksgiving only that +David gave expression to the grateful feeling which +filled him towards God; he had it much at heart to +create a lasting abode and visible centre for the worship +of Jehovah. For 20 years the sacred ark of Israel had +remained at Kirjath-jearim, in the house of Abinadab, +who had made one of his sons the custodian of it. David<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +determined to convey it into his metropolis, that it +might there be in secure keeping, and receive proper +reverence. It was placed on a new wagon; Abinadab's +sons, Ahio and Uzzah, led it forth. On the way an +evil omen occurred: the oxen which drew the wagon +broke loose, the ark tottered, and Uzzah put out his +hand to stay it. "Then the anger of Jehovah broke +forth against Uzzah, and he smote him, and he died +there before God." After this incident David feared +to carry the ark further; it remained on the road, at +the house of Obed-edom; and not until it was seen +that it brought prosperity to the house of Obed-edom +did David, three months after, again take it up and +carry it to Jerusalem. In festal train the people +accompanied it with "shouting and trumpets;" and +David, clad in the linen tunic of the priests, "danced +before Jehovah." "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, +that the King of glory may come in," he is said to have +sung. The tabernacle was already erected on Zion, and +in it the ark of Jehovah was then placed; and "David +sacrificed burnt offerings and thank offerings, and gave +to all the people, to each man a measure of wine, a +loaf of bread and a cake of raisins" (about 1020 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_306_306" id="FNanchor_306_306"></a><a href="#Footnote_306_306" class="fnanchor">[306]</a>). +Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, of the house of Eli, +of the race of Ithamar, of the tribe of Aaron, who had +formerly fled to him with the image of Jehovah from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +Nob and remained by his side, and beside him Zadok, +of the house of Eleazar, of the tribe of Aaron, who had +hitherto been high priest at the place of sacrifice at +Gibeon,<a name="FNanchor_307_307" id="FNanchor_307_307"></a><a href="#Footnote_307_307" class="fnanchor">[307]</a> were made by David the custodians of the +new tabernacle, which he then adorned with the costly +spoil of his victories. By bringing the ark of the covenant +into his city he gave it a sacred pledge, the +assurance of the protection and the grace of Jehovah. +His city was the dwelling of Jehovah, the citadel of +Zion the mount of God. David's new metropolis was +thus at the same time raised to be the central point +of the national worship, and in the fullest sense the +metropolis of the land. Service before the ark of the +covenant on Zion could not but throw into the shade +the old places of sacrifice at Shiloh, Bethel, Gibeon, +Gilgal, and Nob.</p> + +<p>The erection of the sacred ark on Zion, the foundation +of a central point for the worship, certainly met +the wishes of the priests. Only by a strictly-regulated +and dominant mode of worship, by centralising the +service, could the priests hope to bring into vogue the +arrangement of ritual which they regarded as the true +method appointed by God. Relying on the importance +of such a central point, on the authority of the +crown, they could expect obedience to their regulations. +David on his part would hardly fail to see what weight +the influence of an allied priesthood could add to the +strength of the throne.</p> + +<p>What David did for Israel by the cultivation of +religious song, by setting up the old national shrine in +the new metropolis, by the dedication of it to be the +abode of Jehovah has been of deep-reaching and even +decisive influence for the fortunes of Israel and the +course of her religious development. It is, of course,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +beyond doubt that only a few of the Psalms which +David is said to have sung can with certainty be +traced back to him; but from the fact that the greater +part of these poems could be ascribed to him, it follows +with the greater certainty that he must have given a +powerful impulse to the religious poetry of Israel, that +the words of thankfulness and trust in God from the +lips of the victorious royal minstrel had the greatest +influence on the Israelites. This influence connected +with the exaltation and worship of the national sacred +relic at Zion gave a new life and firmer root to the +belief of the Israelites, both in the direction of religious +feeling and religious prescriptions. When the chief place +of sacrifice was marked out indubitably by the sacred +ark on Zion, and members of the oldest priestly family +officiated there, it was natural that by degrees a considerable +number of priests should collect there, in +order to share and co-operate in the worship in the +sacred tent, in the tabernacle. These priests were +arranged according to their families or "houses;" the +greater number claimed Eleazar, the third son of +Aaron, as their progenitor, while the less claimed to +be descended from Ithamar, the fourth son of Aaron.<a name="FNanchor_308_308" id="FNanchor_308_308"></a><a href="#Footnote_308_308" class="fnanchor">[308]</a> +The eyes of the priesthood were already turned from +Hebron to the early history of the nation, to the correct +mode of worship, as Aaron and Moses had formerly +proclaimed and practised it, which since the settlement +in Canaan had become almost forgotten and obsolete +with priests and laymen, since different customs had +come into use at different places of sacrifice. The +service at the new and yet ancient shrine at Jerusalem +must support the impulse to practise, here at any rate, +the old correct customs in perfect purity as a pattern +and example, to insist on the custom of Zion as pleasing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +to God, and established by Moses, and to bring once +more into authority and practice the true regulations of +the sacrificial rites for the whole land. Agreement and +union in the mode of worship would be most quickly and +most thoroughly obtained if the place of the tabernacle +could be shown to be the only correct place of sacrifice.</p> + +<p>Though the Philistines had opposed the growth of +the strength of Israel, the combination and arrangement +of her powers, with perseverance and stubbornness, the +cities of the Phenicians seem rather to have welcomed +the establishment of a strict ruling authority in Israel, +which preserved peace in the land and so made trade +easier. Perhaps too they looked with pleasure on the +formation of a power which could balance that of the +Philistines, and prevent them from advancing as far as +the gates of Tyre. At any rate Hiram, king of Tyre, +who began to rule in that city in the year 1001 <small>B.C.</small>,<a name="FNanchor_309_309" id="FNanchor_309_309"></a><a href="#Footnote_309_309" class="fnanchor">[309]</a> +entered into friendly relations with David. He sent +him Tyrian artisans, who adorned David's palace on +Zion. The Israelites were not skilled in fine building. +After this palace was completed we must look on +David's house and court as splendid and numerous. +There was the chancellor, the keeper of the treasury, +the chief tax-gatherer, the scribe with his subordinates; +there were singers, male and female, the body-guard, +and the servants.<a name="FNanchor_310_310" id="FNanchor_310_310"></a><a href="#Footnote_310_310" class="fnanchor">[310]</a> David had brought seven wives +from Hebron to his new metropolis. Michal, the +daughter of Saul, had borne no children to David; +his eldest son, Amnon, was by Ahinoam of Jezreel; +the second, Chileab, by Abigail, the widow of Nabal. +When he ruled the tribe of Judah from Hebron he +married a fourth wife, Maacah, the daughter of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> +Thalmai, prince of Geshur, in order, no doubt, to +strengthen by this connection his power, then so weak. +Maacah bore him a third son, Absalom, and a daughter, +Tamar; his fifth wife, Haggith, bore a fourth son, +Adonijah. In Jerusalem he took yet more wives and +concubines into his house, who, besides these sons, bore +seventeen sons and several daughters, beside Tamar. +When his sons became men, the unavoidable consequences +of the harem came to light: the mutual +jealousy of the sons of the various wives, and the +ambition of some of the wives to obtain the succession +for their sons.</p> + +<p>The establishment of the monarchy had brought a +rich return to the Israelites. Under its guidance, not +only had the enemies of the land been beaten back, but +Israel had gained a leading place in Syria. Moreover, +David had transformed the somewhat insecure leadership +conferred on Saul by his election into a firm and +deep-reaching supremacy; a mere name, a wavering +authority, he had raised after the pattern of his neighbours +into a strict rule, which could lead the people +at will, and dispose of them at pleasure. This transformation +had taken place so quickly, the enrolment of +Israel in the forms of Syrian monarchy was carried out +so thoroughly, that there could not fail to be a strong +reaction. The new officers were oppressive; task-work +for the king, levies of the army for muster and for +service beyond the land, were to the Israelites new and +very unwonted burdens. When external dangers had +passed away with the humiliation of the neighbours, and +the days of the old incursions, distresses, and oppressions +were forgotten, it might very well happen that the +Israelites felt the new arrangement of the community, +the mode in which they were governed, to be a burden +rather than a benefit. In the later years of the reign of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +David a lively aversion to his rule was spread through +all the tribes; and it is remarkable that it was most +deeply felt in his own tribe of Judah, which had formerly +exalted him in Hebron. On this feeling of the +people, David's third son, Absalom, founded the plan +of depriving his father of the sovereignty, in order to +ascend the throne before it came to him by inheritance.<a name="FNanchor_311_311" id="FNanchor_311_311"></a><a href="#Footnote_311_311" class="fnanchor">[311]</a></p> + +<p>Absalom, David's son by Maacah of Geshur, was a +handsome man, without blemish from head to foot, +adorned with a heavy growth of hair, and a favourite +of the people, though the guilt of a foul deed lay upon +him. The beauty of Tamar, the full sister of Absalom, +had roused the passions of Amnon, the eldest son of +David. He enticed her into his house by deceit, dishonoured +her and thrust her in scorn into the street. +As the king did not punish the crime, Absalom invited +Amnon to his plot of Baal Hazor, to the sheep-shearing, +and there caused him to be stabbed by his servants in +order to avenge his sister's shame. After this he fled +to his grandfather, the prince of Geshur. After three +years' banishment he was allowed to return, but might +not see his father's face; this was not permitted till +two years after his return. Amnon was dead; Chileab, +David's second son, died, as it seems, in this period. +Absalom was now again received into favour, and +became the legitimate heir to the throne.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> + +<p>As a token of his claims, Absalom procured horses, +and chariots and a retinue of 50 men. Early in the +morning he was at the gates of Jerusalem; he inquired +of every one whence he came, allowed no one +to prostrate himself before him, but shook all by the +hand and kissed them. If he heard that any one came +for justice, he caused the matter to be told to him, and +then said: Your cause is good, but you will not be +heard; if I were judge in Israel you would certainly +gain your rights. Four years after his return from +Geshur, when Ahithophel, the most distinguished of +David's counsellors, and Amasa, the son of a sister of +David, had gone over to his side,<a name="FNanchor_312_312" id="FNanchor_312_312"></a><a href="#Footnote_312_312" class="fnanchor">[312]</a> Absalom considered +his prospects favourable. He sent trusty men to all +the tribes with instructions to proclaim him king as +soon as they understood that he was in Hebron. Under +pretence of offering sacrifice at Hebron, which city +perhaps looked with jealousy on the new metropolis, +Absalom went from Jerusalem to Hebron. The tribes +obeyed this signal for revolt; everywhere the people +on this side Jordan declared for Absalom, and great +numbers gathered round him. At their head he set +out against Jerusalem, against his father.</p> + +<p>David was completely taken by surprise. His own +son now brought on him retribution for all that he had +previously done to Saul. Clever and circumspect as +the old king was, he seems to have found his master in +his son. Not secure of the people even at Jerusalem, +he could not venture to defend himself in his fortified +metropolis; nothing remained but to retire in all haste. +Yet even in this desperate position the cunning which +had so often come to his aid in his varied life did not +desert him. Absalom he feared little; his greatest terror +was the counsels of Ahithophel. Hence he commanded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +Hushai (p. 160) to remain behind, and in appearance to +take Absalom's part, in order to counteract Ahithophel. +If Absalom could be induced not to pursue his advantage +immediately, and David could gain time to collect his +adherents, much would be won. Abiathar and Zadok +also, the high priests of the sacred tabernacle, who +wished to share his flight, were bidden to remain in +Jerusalem. Their position as priests was a sufficient +protection for them; by means of their sons they were +to furnish information of what took place in the city.<a name="FNanchor_313_313" id="FNanchor_313_313"></a><a href="#Footnote_313_313" class="fnanchor">[313]</a> +Accompanied by some of his wives and their children, +by his most faithful adherents, the Gibborim, and the +body-guard, David left the city in the early morning. +Over the Kidron, along the Mount of Olives, he +hastened eastwards to find protection beyond the +Jordan. At Bahurim Shimei, a man of Benjamin, of +the race of Matri, to which Saul belonged, saw from +an eminence the flight of the king. He threw stones +down upon him and said: May Jehovah bring upon +thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place +thou hast become king; see, thou art now in calamity; +away, thou man of blood. The body-guard wished to +take the man and slay him, but David restrained them, +and said: My son, who has come forth from my +loins, is seeking my life; how much more a man of +Benjamin; let him curse. Perhaps at this moment +David's spirit was really broken; perhaps he did not +wish that the people should be further roused by new +acts of violence; in the sequel he showed that he had +neither forgotten nor forgiven the words of Shimei.</p> + +<p>On the same day Absalom marched into Jerusalem, +and among those who greeted him he saw with astonishment +Hushai, the ancient friend of his father. He +believed Hushai's assurance that he wished to "serve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> +him whom Jehovah and all the men of Israel had +chosen." Ahithophel considered the success which had +been obtained, the rebellion which spread through the +whole country on this side of the Jordan, and the +possession of the strong metropolis and the palace +without a blow, insufficient and indecisive. He saw +the situation clearly, and was convinced that all would +be lost if the king had time to collect round him his +old adherents, his companions in victory. Filled with +the conviction that the only way to obtain the end in +view was to make an immediate use of the great +advantages won by the surprise, he insisted that +Absalom should at once set out in pursuit of David. +The people which Absalom had led from Hebron were +numerous, of these he wished to leave behind the +burdensome multitude and select 12,000 for this expedition. +Hushai opposed this proposal with great +skill. Thou knowest thy father, he said to Absalom, +he is a mighty warrior, like a bear deprived of her whelps +in the forest, and his men are mighty and of fierce +courage. He will not be encamped on the field, but +will have concealed himself in one of the hiding-places. +If any of our men fall it will be said, Absalom's men +have been defeated, and all thy adherents will lose +courage. Rather rouse all Israel, and march out at +their head, that we may encamp against David like +the sand of the sea, and none of his men may escape. +Absalom followed this advice to his ruin. Yet Hushai +was not certain that Ahithophel would not win over +Absalom to his opinion, or go of his own will against +David; so he sent his maid before the gate to the fuller's +well (to the south of the city, where the valleys of +Hinnom and Kidron join), where Jonathan, the son of +Abiathar, and Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, lay concealed +(Absalom's men had not allowed them to leave the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +gate), with instructions to them to hasten to the king +and warn him not to encamp on this side of Jordan. +Though watched by Absalom's guards and pursued, +the two men came without disaster to David, who +again set out in the night. When Ahithophel heard +that the king was beyond Jordan he despaired of the +undertaking; he saddled his ass, went to his own city, +set his house in order and hung himself.</p> + +<p>Absalom took formal possession of the sovereignty, +and as a sign that he had broken for ever with his +father and assumed the government, he took the royal +harem into his possession. A tent was set up on the +roof of the palace of Zion, under which Absalom lived +with the ten concubines whom David had left behind +in Jerusalem before the eyes of Israel. When this was +done he raised the whole people to march against his +father, and went with numerous troops to the Jordan. +David was at Mahanaim, like Ishbosheth before him, +eagerly busied with his army. It was due to the +cunning arrangements made in the flight from Jerusalem +that he had escaped without danger beyond Jordan, +and was enabled to assemble his own adherents there +while Absalom was calling out and collecting the whole +army. From the Ammonites, whom he had treated so +harshly, he seems nevertheless to have received support.<a name="FNanchor_314_314" id="FNanchor_314_314"></a><a href="#Footnote_314_314" class="fnanchor">[314]</a></p> + +<p>While Absalom crossed the Jordan, David divided the +forces he had at his disposal into three corps, the command +of which he entrusted to Joab, his brother Abishai, +and Ithai, a Philistine of Gath. He remained behind +in Mahanaim, and bade the captains deal gently with +Absalom in the event of victory. The armies met in +the forest of Ephraim, not far from the Jordan. In spite +of the superiority of the numbers opposed to them, the +tried and veteran soldiers of David had the advantage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +over the ill-armed and ill-organised masses of peasants. +Absalom started back on his mule, fell into a thicket, +and became entangled by his long hair in the branches +of a large terebinth. He remained hanging while his +mule ran away from under him. Joab found him in +this position, and thrust his spear thrice through his +heart. Either the fall of the hostile leader, the author +of the rebellion, appeared a sufficient success to David's +men, or the advantage gained over Absalom's army was +not very great, or they found themselves too weak to +follow it up. Joab led the army back to Mahanaim.</p> + +<p>Though the rebellion had lost its leader by the fall +of Absalom, it was far from being crushed. Absalom's +captain, Amasa, the nephew of David, collected the +masses of the rebellious army; the elders of the tribes, +as well as the people, were ready to continue the +struggle against David, though some were again inclined +to accept their old king. If the tribes could be +divided, and Amasa separated from the elders of Judah, +the victory was almost certain. On this David built +his plan. By means of the priests Abiathar and Zadok +he caused it to be made known to the elders of Judah +that the rest of the tribes had made overtures to him, +to recognise him again as king, which was not the case;—would +they be the last to lead back their own flesh +and blood, their tribesman David? At the same time +the priests were bidden to offer to Amasa the post of +captain-general as the reward of his return, and this +offer David confirmed with an oath: So might God do +to him if Amasa were not captain all his days in the +place of Joab.<a name="FNanchor_315_315" id="FNanchor_315_315"></a><a href="#Footnote_315_315" class="fnanchor">[315]</a> The elders of Judah allowed themselves +to be entrapped no less than Amasa, who little knew +with whom he had to do. They sent a message to +the king that he might return over the Jordan, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> +went to meet him at Gilgal. David showed himself +placable, and prepared to pardon the adherents of +Absalom. Shimei, who had cursed him on his retirement +from Jerusalem, went to meet him at the Jordan; +and when the boat which carried David over reached +the hither bank he fell at his feet. David promised +not to slay him with the sword.<a name="FNanchor_316_316" id="FNanchor_316_316"></a><a href="#Footnote_316_316" class="fnanchor">[316]</a> From Mephibosheth, +the son of Jonathan, who had declared for Absalom, +he only took the half of Saul's inheritance.<a name="FNanchor_317_317" id="FNanchor_317_317"></a><a href="#Footnote_317_317" class="fnanchor">[317]</a></p> + +<p>The remaining tribes were enraged at the tribe of +Judah, partly because they had abandoned the common +cause, partly because Judah had entirely appropriated +the merit of bringing back the king. Their feelings +were wavering: half were for submission, the others +for continuing the resistance.<a name="FNanchor_318_318" id="FNanchor_318_318"></a><a href="#Footnote_318_318" class="fnanchor">[318]</a> Then rose up a man +of Benjamin, Sheba, the son of Bichri. "What part +have we in David, what portion in the son of Jesse?" +he cried to the waverers, caused the trumpets to be +blown, and gave a new centre to rebellion and resistance. +David commissioned Amasa to call out the +warriors of Judah within three days and lead them to +Jerusalem. While Amasa was occupied with carrying +out this command, David sent Joab with the Gibborim +and the body-guard against Sheba. At Gibeon Joab +met Amasa. Is all well with thee, my brother? he +said, and took him by the beard with his right hand +to greet him, while with the left he thrust his sword +through his body.<a name="FNanchor_319_319" id="FNanchor_319_319"></a><a href="#Footnote_319_319" class="fnanchor">[319]</a> Thus, after he had been gained by +deceptive promises, the dangerous man was removed +as Abner had been before him. Sheba could not +withstand the impetuous advance of Joab; the tribes +submitted. Sheba's first resistance was made far in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +north at Dan, in the city of Abel-beth-maachah, and +there he defended himself so stubbornly that a rampart +was thrown up against the city and besieging engines +brought up against the walls. When the walls were +near upon falling, and the citizens saw destruction +before them, they saved themselves by cutting off +Sheba's head and sending it to Joab.<a name="FNanchor_320_320" id="FNanchor_320_320"></a><a href="#Footnote_320_320" class="fnanchor">[320]</a> The reaction +of the people against the new government, at the head +of which Absalom, Amasa, and Sheba had successively +placed themselves, was overcome.</p> + +<p>Many years before, at the time when Joab was +besieging Rabbath, the metropolis of the Ammonites, +David had gone out on the roof of his house in Zion in +the cool of the evening. This position overlooked the +houses in the ravine which separated the citadel from +the city. In one of these David saw a beautiful woman +in her bath. This was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a +Hittite, who served in the troop of the "mighty." The +king sent for her to his palace, and she soon announced +to David that she was with child. David gave orders +to Joab to send Uriah from the camp to Jerusalem. +He asked him of the state of the war and the army, +and then bade him go home to his wife, but Uriah lay +before the gate of the palace. When David asked him +on the next morning why he had not gone home to +his house, he answered: Israel is in the field, and my +fellows lie in the camp before Rabbath, and shall I go +to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? +Remain here, replied David; to-morrow morning I +will let thee go. David invited him into the palace +and made him drunken, but, as before, Uriah passed +the night before the gate of the palace. Then, on the +following day, David sent Uriah to the camp with a +letter to Joab: Place Uriah in the thickest of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +battle, and turn away from him, that he may be +smitten, and die. Soon after a messenger came from +the camp and announced to the king: The men of +Rabbath made a sally; we repulsed them, and drove +them to the gate; then the bowmen shot at thy +servants from the walls, and some of our men were +slain, among them Uriah. David caused Bathsheba, +when the time for mourning was over, to come into his +harem, and after the death of her first child, she bore +a second child, whom David called Solomon, <i>i. e.</i> the +peaceful,<a name="FNanchor_321_321" id="FNanchor_321_321"></a><a href="#Footnote_321_321" class="fnanchor">[321]</a> as the times of war were over with the capture +of Rabbath and the subjugation of the Ammonites.</p> + +<p>After Absalom's death the heir to the crown was +Adonijah, the fourth son of David, whom Haggith had +borne to him while at Hebron. Solomon was the +seventh in the series of the surviving sons of David, +and as yet quite young; yet Bathsheba attempted to +place her son on the throne. One of the two high +priests, Zadok, supported Bathsheba's views, as also +Nathan the prophet, who acquired great influence +with David in the last years of his reign. Both might +expect a greater deference to priestly influence from +the youthful Solomon than from the older and more +independent Adonijah, and the more so if they +assisted the young man to gain the throne against the +legitimate successor. So Bathsheba prevailed upon +David to swear an oath by Jehovah that Solomon +should be his successor in the place of Adonijah.<a name="FNanchor_322_322" id="FNanchor_322_322"></a><a href="#Footnote_322_322" class="fnanchor">[322]</a> But +Adonijah did not doubt that the throne belonged to +him, that all Israel was of the same conviction, and +their eyes turned upon him.<a name="FNanchor_323_323" id="FNanchor_323_323"></a><a href="#Footnote_323_323" class="fnanchor">[323]</a> If Zadok was in favour of +Solomon's succession, Abiathar, the old and influential +adherent of David, was for Adonijah, and what was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +more important, the captain of the army, Joab, who +had won David's best victories, also declared for him. +On the other hand, Bathsheba's party won Benaiah, +the captain of the body-guard, so that the power and +prospects of both party were about equal.</p> + +<p>When David, 70 years old, lay on his death-bed, +Adonijah felt that he must anticipate his opponents. +He summoned his adherents to meet outside the walls +at the fuller's well (p. 170). Joab appeared with the +leaders of the army, Abiathar came to offer sacrifice, +and all the sons of David except Solomon. The sacrifice +was already being offered, the sheep, oxen and +calves were killed, the proclamation of Adonijah was +to follow immediately after the sacrifice, when the +intelligence was carried to the opposite party. Bathsheba +and Nathan hastened to the dying king to +remind him of his oath in favour of Solomon. He +gave orders that Solomon should be placed on the +mule which he always rode himself and that Zadok +should anoint the youth under the wall of Zion eastwards +of the city at the fount of Gihon. Then +Benaiah with the body-guard was to bring him back +into the city at once with the sound of trumpets, and +lead him into the palace, in order to set him upon the +throne there. This was done. Zadok took the horn +of oil from the sacred tabernacle, and when the new +ruler returned in solemn procession to the palace all +the people cried with joy: Long live king Solomon. +When Adonijah and his adherents heard the shouting +from the city, and understood what had taken place, +they gave up their cause for lost, and dispersed in +dread in every direction. David rejoiced over this +last success;<a name="FNanchor_324_324" id="FNanchor_324_324"></a><a href="#Footnote_324_324" class="fnanchor">[324]</a> he called Solomon to his bedside, and +said to him: "Do good to the sons of Barzillai the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +Gileadite; he received me well when I fled over +Jordan before thy brother Absalom. Shimei, who +cursed me when I fled to Mahanaim, I have sworn not +to slay; let him not go unpunished, and bring his +grey hairs to the grave with blood. What Joab did +to Abner and Amasa thou knowest; let not his grey +hairs go down to the grave in peace."<a name="FNanchor_325_325" id="FNanchor_325_325"></a><a href="#Footnote_325_325" class="fnanchor">[325]</a> David was +buried in the grave which he had caused to be made +on Zion, where the heights of the citadel meet the +western height, on which the city lay.</p> + +<p>Thus David had succeeded in healing the wounds +which his ambition had inflicted in past days on Israel; +he understood how to establish firmly the monarchy, and +along with it the power and security of the state. He +had given such an important impulse to the worship, to +the religious poetry, and consequently to the religious +life, of the Hebrews, that his reign has remained of decisive +importance for the entire development of Israel. +But beside these great successes and high merits lie very +dark shadows. If we cannot but admire the activity +and bravery, the wisdom and circumspection, which +distinguish his reign, there stands beside these qualities +not only the weakness of his later years, which caused +him to make a capricious alteration in the succession, +thereby endangering the work of his life; other actions, +both of his earlier and later years, show plainly that in +spite of religious feeling and sentiment he did not hesitate +to set aside very fundamental rules of morality +when it came to winning the object he had in view.</p> + +<p>If even in his last moments he causes Joab to be +put to death by the hand of his son, it may be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +that this old servant, when he had taken the side +of the other son in the succession, appeared very +dangerous for the rule of the younger son. But Joab +had rendered the greatest services to David, he had +won for him the most brilliant victories; and if our +account makes David give the murder of Abner and +Amasa as the reason for that command, David had +made no attempt to punish one deed or the other; on +the contrary, he had gladly availed himself of at least +the results and fruits of them. We must not indeed +measure those days of unrestrained force and violent +passion in hatred and love, in devotion and ambition, +by the standard of our own tamer impulses; the +manner of the ancient East, above all of the Semites, +was too much inclined to the most bloody revenge. +Yet David's instructions to destroy a man of no importance, +whom he had once in a difficult position +sworn to spare, out of the grave, by the hand of his +son, goes beyond the limit of all that we can elsewhere +find in those times and feelings.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_283_283" id="Footnote_283_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_283_283"><span class="label">[283]</span></a> Joshua xv. 63; Judges i. 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_284_284" id="Footnote_284_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_284_284"><span class="label">[284]</span></a> 2 Sam. v. 5-8; xxiv. 18; 1 Kings ix. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_285_285" id="Footnote_285_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_285_285"><span class="label">[285]</span></a> 2 Sam. v. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_286_286" id="Footnote_286_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_286_286"><span class="label">[286]</span></a> 2 Sam. v. 22-25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_287_287" id="Footnote_287_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_287_287"><span class="label">[287]</span></a> Above, p. 131, note 4; 2 Sam. xxi. 15-22; 1 Chron. xxi. 4-8; +xix. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_288_288" id="Footnote_288_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_288_288"><span class="label">[288]</span></a> 2 Sam. viii. 1. Jesus, son of Sirach, xlvii. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_289_289" id="Footnote_289_289"></a><a href="#FNanchor_289_289"><span class="label">[289]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Amalekiter," s. 17-25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_290_290" id="Footnote_290_290"></a><a href="#FNanchor_290_290"><span class="label">[290]</span></a> 2 Sam. viii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_291_291" id="Footnote_291_291"></a><a href="#FNanchor_291_291"><span class="label">[291]</span></a> 2 Sam. x. 6-14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_292_292" id="Footnote_292_292"></a><a href="#FNanchor_292_292"><span class="label">[292]</span></a> 2 Sam. viii. 3, 4; x. 15-19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_293_293" id="Footnote_293_293"></a><a href="#FNanchor_293_293"><span class="label">[293]</span></a> Psalms lx. 2; 2 Sam. viii. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_294_294" id="Footnote_294_294"></a><a href="#FNanchor_294_294"><span class="label">[294]</span></a> The date rests on the fact that Solomon was born soon after, and +was more than 20 years old when he came to the throne; see below. +The war against Hadad-Ezer cannot be placed before 1020, since Rezon, +who escaped, remained Solomon's opponent as long as Solomon lived. +1 Kings xi. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_295_295" id="Footnote_295_295"></a><a href="#FNanchor_295_295"><span class="label">[295]</span></a> 2 Sam. viii. 6, 7, 14; x. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_296_296" id="Footnote_296_296"></a><a href="#FNanchor_296_296"><span class="label">[296]</span></a> 1 Kings xi. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_297_297" id="Footnote_297_297"></a><a href="#FNanchor_297_297"><span class="label">[297]</span></a> 1 Chron. xxvii. 25-31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_298_298" id="Footnote_298_298"></a><a href="#FNanchor_298_298"><span class="label">[298]</span></a> 2 Sam. xx. 23; 1 Chron. xviii. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_299_299" id="Footnote_299_299"></a><a href="#FNanchor_299_299"><span class="label">[299]</span></a> 2 Sam. xv. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_300_300" id="Footnote_300_300"></a><a href="#FNanchor_300_300"><span class="label">[300]</span></a> 2 Sam. xxiii. 18; 1 Chron. xi. 15, 26-45.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_301_301" id="Footnote_301_301"></a><a href="#FNanchor_301_301"><span class="label">[301]</span></a> 2 Sam. xxiii. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_302_302" id="Footnote_302_302"></a><a href="#FNanchor_302_302"><span class="label">[302]</span></a> 2 Sam. xxiv. 9. The number of the levy here, as in almost all +accounts of the assembling of the people, must be grossly exaggerated: +800,000 are given in Israel, 500,000 in Judah only. Chronicles raises +the first number to 1,100,000, and reduces the second to 30,000, 1 +xxii. 5. The statement given in Chronicles about the division of the +levy into 12 troops, and the strength of these troops (1 xxviii. 1-15), +contradicts these numbers. As this arrangement of the army is +mentioned in Chronicles only, which books show a great tendency to +systematise, the division into 12 remains uncertain. That there was +a numbering of the people is not to be doubted. It is counted as +one of David's errors, and Jehovah strikes the people with pestilence. +This narrative is connected with the command to redeem the firstborn, +the boys (vol. i. 499), the ordinance given in Exod. xxx. 12, which is +connected with the same conception: "When thou takest the sum of +the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every +man a ransom for his soul to Jehovah that there be no plague among +them."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_303_303" id="Footnote_303_303"></a><a href="#FNanchor_303_303"><span class="label">[303]</span></a> 2 Sam. viii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_304_304" id="Footnote_304_304"></a><a href="#FNanchor_304_304"><span class="label">[304]</span></a> 2 Sam. xx. 23-26; 1 Chron. xxvii. 16-22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_305_305" id="Footnote_305_305"></a><a href="#FNanchor_305_305"><span class="label">[305]</span></a> Psalm xviii.; cf. De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," S. 345.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_306_306" id="Footnote_306_306"></a><a href="#FNanchor_306_306"><span class="label">[306]</span></a> 2 Sam. vi. 1-8, 12-15; Psalm xxiv. On the date see above, p, +125, n. 2. M. Niebuhr ("Assur und Babel," s. 350) explains the +number of 466½ years given by Josephus ("Ant." 20, 10) by assuming +that it contains the interval of 430½ years which the Hebrews give for +the interval between the building of the temple and its destruction. +To this amount is added eight years for the captive high priest Jozadak, +down to the time when his son Joshua became high priest, and 28 +years for Zadok's priesthood before the commencement of the building +of the temple. If we reckon the 28 years of Zadok backwards for the +time that we have assumed for the beginning of the temple, 990 <small>B.C.</small>, +we arrive at the year 1018 <small>B.C.</small> for the erection of the new tabernacle.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_307_307" id="Footnote_307_307"></a><a href="#FNanchor_307_307"><span class="label">[307]</span></a> 1 Chron. xvi. 39.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_308_308" id="Footnote_308_308"></a><a href="#FNanchor_308_308"><span class="label">[308]</span></a> 2 Sam. xv. 24, 27; 1 Chron. vii. 4-15, 50-53; xxiii.-xxvi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_309_309" id="Footnote_309_309"></a><a href="#FNanchor_309_309"><span class="label">[309]</span></a> If Josephus is right, that the fourth year of Solomon was the twelfth +year of Hiram of Tyre.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_310_310" id="Footnote_310_310"></a><a href="#FNanchor_310_310"><span class="label">[310]</span></a> 2 Sam. xix. 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_311_311" id="Footnote_311_311"></a><a href="#FNanchor_311_311"><span class="label">[311]</span></a> Absalom's rebellion cannot have taken place till the latter years +of David. Absalom was born in Hebron, and therefore, at the least, +after David's thirtieth year, 2 Sam. v. 4. He must at the least have been +towards 20 years old when he caused Amnon to be murdered. Five +years passed before David would allow him to enter his presence, 2 +Sam. xiii. 38, and xiv. 28. Lastly, his efforts to gain popularity, and +the preparations for rebellion, must have occupied two years. If it is +stated in 2 Sam. xv. 7 that after Absalom's return from Geshur 40 +years elapsed till his rebellion, Absalom must have been 63 years old +at the time of his rebellion, and David at the least 93 years old. Hence +in the passage quoted four years must be read instead of 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_312_312" id="Footnote_312_312"></a><a href="#FNanchor_312_312"><span class="label">[312]</span></a> 2 Sam. xv. 1-6; xvii. 25; 1 Chron. ii. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_313_313" id="Footnote_313_313"></a><a href="#FNanchor_313_313"><span class="label">[313]</span></a> 2 Sam. xv. 5-14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_314_314" id="Footnote_314_314"></a><a href="#FNanchor_314_314"><span class="label">[314]</span></a> 2 Sam. xvii. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_315_315" id="Footnote_315_315"></a><a href="#FNanchor_315_315"><span class="label">[315]</span></a> 2 Sam. xix. 11-13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_316_316" id="Footnote_316_316"></a><a href="#FNanchor_316_316"><span class="label">[316]</span></a> 2 Sam. xix. 18-33; 1 Kings ii. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_317_317" id="Footnote_317_317"></a><a href="#FNanchor_317_317"><span class="label">[317]</span></a> 2 Sam. xvi. 3-5; xix. 24-30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_318_318" id="Footnote_318_318"></a><a href="#FNanchor_318_318"><span class="label">[318]</span></a> 2 Sam. xix. 40.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_319_319" id="Footnote_319_319"></a><a href="#FNanchor_319_319"><span class="label">[319]</span></a> 2 Sam. xx. 8-13; 1 Kings ii. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_320_320" id="Footnote_320_320"></a><a href="#FNanchor_320_320"><span class="label">[320]</span></a> 2 Sam. xx. 15-22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_321_321" id="Footnote_321_321"></a><a href="#FNanchor_321_321"><span class="label">[321]</span></a> 2 Sam. xii. 15-24; 1 Chron. xxii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_322_322" id="Footnote_322_322"></a><a href="#FNanchor_322_322"><span class="label">[322]</span></a> 1 Kings i. 17, 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_323_323" id="Footnote_323_323"></a><a href="#FNanchor_323_323"><span class="label">[323]</span></a> 1 Kings ii. 15, 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_324_324" id="Footnote_324_324"></a><a href="#FNanchor_324_324"><span class="label">[324]</span></a> 1 Kings ii. 5-9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_325_325" id="Footnote_325_325"></a><a href="#FNanchor_325_325"><span class="label">[325]</span></a> 1 Kings ii. 5-9. The verses 2 Sam. xxiii. 1-7 may have been a +speech of David's at some former time, if they are not an addition of +the prophet's. Contrasted with the very definite and realistic colouring +of the passage quoted from the Book of Kings, they can hardly be +considered the last words.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>KING SOLOMON.</h3> + + +<p>In the last hour of his life David had raised his +favourite son to the throne. The young king was not +much more than 20 years of age,<a name="FNanchor_326_326" id="FNanchor_326_326"></a><a href="#Footnote_326_326" class="fnanchor">[326]</a> and the news of the +death of the dreaded ruler of Israel could not but +awaken among all who had felt the weight of his arm +the hope of withdrawing themselves from the burden +laid upon them. The son of the king of Edom, whom +his father's servants had carried away in safety into +Egypt, had grown up there under the protection of the +Pharaoh; at the news of David's death he hastened +to Edom to summon his people to freedom and the +struggle against Israel. A captain of Hadad-Ezer +of Zobah, whom David overthrew, Rezon by name, +fled at that time into the desert, where he collected a +troop round him and lived by plundering. Now he +threw himself on Damascus, gained the city, and made +himself prince. Moreover, the power of Solomon was +not firmly established even in Israel; the people had +expected the accession of Adonijah,<a name="FNanchor_327_327" id="FNanchor_327_327"></a><a href="#Footnote_327_327" class="fnanchor">[327]</a> and though he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +and his confederates retired at the first alarm, there +was no lack of adherents. Serious dangers and commotions +appeared to threaten the new reign. Adonijah +had fled for refuge to the altar; he besought Solomon +for a pledge not to slay him. Solomon promised to +spare him if he remained quietly at home. Joab did +not know what commands David had given Solomon in +his dying hour, but he did know that Solomon would +not forgive him for supporting Adonijah. He sought +refuge in the tabernacle of Jehovah, and took hold of +the horns of the altar in the tent. Solomon bade +Benaiah cut him down. Benaiah hesitated to pollute +the altar with blood; he reported that Joab could +not be induced to leave the altar. The young king +repeated his command, "Cut him down, and take from +me and from the house of my father the blood of Abner +and the blood of Amasa." So Joab was slain by Benaiah +at the altar of the sacred tent, and buried "in his house +in the desert." The high priest Abiathar escaped with +his life. "I will not slay thee," so Solomon said to +him, "because thou didst once suffer with my father." +He banished him as a "man of death" to his inheritance +at Anathoth. Zadok was henceforth sole high +priest at the sacred tent. When Adonijah afterwards +besought Solomon to give him one of the concubines +of David, Abishag the Shunamite, to wife, Solomon +thought that he sought to obtain the throne by this +means. He commanded Benaiah to slay him on the +spot. With the death of Adonijah his party lost their +head and centre: it ceased to exist.</p> + +<p>Solomon broke the rebellion of the Edomites not by +his arms only, but also by withdrawing from them the +support of Egypt. He sought the hand of the daughter +of the king of Egypt and obtained it.<a name="FNanchor_328_328" id="FNanchor_328_328"></a><a href="#Footnote_328_328" class="fnanchor">[328]</a> Thus he not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +only withdrew from Edom their reliance on Egypt, he +also obtained the active support of his father-in-law. +The Edomites were defeated in battle by Solomon; +Egyptian soldiers reduced Gezer for him.<a name="FNanchor_329_329" id="FNanchor_329_329"></a><a href="#Footnote_329_329" class="fnanchor">[329]</a> On the +other hand, Solomon could not defeat the new king of +Damascus. Rezon maintained his place, and was an +"adversary to Israel as long as Solomon lived."<a name="FNanchor_330_330" id="FNanchor_330_330"></a><a href="#Footnote_330_330" class="fnanchor">[330]</a> +Hence it is hardly possible that Solomon reduced the +kingdom of Hamath, north of Damascus, to subjection, +as the Chronicles assert;<a name="FNanchor_331_331" id="FNanchor_331_331"></a><a href="#Footnote_331_331" class="fnanchor">[331]</a> on the other hand, it appears +that the oasis of Tadmor, in the Syrian desert, north of +Damascus, was gained, and the city of that name was +founded and established there. Hence, even after the +loss of Damascus, he had command of one of the roads to +the Euphrates.<a name="FNanchor_332_332" id="FNanchor_332_332"></a><a href="#Footnote_332_332" class="fnanchor">[332]</a> We may assume that Solomon retained +the kingdom of David without any essential alteration +in extent; that he, like his predecessor, held sway as +far as the north-east point of the Red Sea; and that +even if his rule did not extend, like David's, to the +Euphrates, yet he possessed a predominant position in +this direction. The connection in which Hiram king +of Tyre stood with his father he not only maintained, +but made it more close and more extensive.</p> + +<p>With the close of the third year of the reign of +Solomon the wars which the change on the throne +kindled came to an end. It is said to have been David's +intention in the last years of his reign to build a +temple in the place of the sacred tent on Zion. As<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +soon as times of peace came Solomon set himself to carry +out this purpose. Hiram of Tyre promised to deliver +wood from the forests of Lebanon at a price, and to put +at his disposal architects and moulders of brass. To +the north of the palace which David had built on Zion +the mountain, on which the citadel was, rose higher. +Here the new temple was to be erected. The first task +was to level the height; a terrace was raised upon it +by removing some parts and filling up others, and +building substructures; this terrace was intended to +form the precincts and support the temple itself. The +surrounding hills and the neighbourhood provided +an ample supply of stones for building; stone of +a better quality was quarried in Lebanon and carried +down. The trees felled in Lebanon were carried to +the coast, floated round the promontory of Carmel +as far as Japho (Joppa), and again dragged up from +this point to Jerusalem.<a name="FNanchor_333_333" id="FNanchor_333_333"></a><a href="#Footnote_333_333" class="fnanchor">[333]</a> The vessels and the ornaments +of brass intended for the temple were cast "in +clay ground" beyond the Jordan, between Succoth and +Zarthan, by the Tyrian Hiram.<a name="FNanchor_334_334" id="FNanchor_334_334"></a><a href="#Footnote_334_334" class="fnanchor">[334]</a> A wall of huge +stones, on which were built the dwellings of the priests, +surrounded the temple precincts. The temple itself +was a building of moderate dimensions, but richly +adorned. A portico of 20 cubits in breadth and 10 +cubits in depth, opening to the east, formed the +entrance into the temple. Before this portico, after the +Syrian manner, stood two pillars of brass, one called +Jachin, the other Boaz. The temple, exclusive of the +portico, was 60 cubits in length, 20 cubits in breadth, +and 30 cubits in height. The breadth was limited by +the unsupported span of the beams of the roof. On +both sides of the temple itself leaned side-buildings, +which rose to the height of half the main structure.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> +The front space of the temple was lighted by trellised +openings over these side-buildings. This front space, +which was the largest, and entered from the portico +by a door of cypress wood, adorned with carved work +overlaid with gold, was richly ornamented. The +floor was laid with cypress wood overlaid with gold; +the walls and the roof were covered with panels of +cedar wood, which in richly-carved work displayed +cherubs and palm-branches, so that not a stone could +be seen in the interior. In this space of the temple—the +"holy"—was an altar overlaid with gold for +offering frankincense (for the smoke-offering), and a +sacred table for the sacrificial bread. Nearer to the +inner space of the temple—the "holy of holies"—were +ten candlesticks, and further in a candlestick with +seven branches. The holy of holies, <i>i. e.</i> the smaller +inner space of the temple, which was intended to +receive the sacred ark, was divided from the holy by +a wall of cedar wood, in which was a double door of +olive wood, hanging on golden hinges. Only the +high priest could enter the holy of holies, the walls +of which were covered with gold-leaf, and even from +him the sight of the ark was hidden by a curtain +of blue and red purple, and approach was barred by a +golden chain. Immediately before the ark were two +cherubs of carved olive wood overlaid with gold, 10 +cubits high, with outspread wings, so that from the +point of one wing to the point of the other was also a +distance of 10 cubits.<a name="FNanchor_335_335" id="FNanchor_335_335"></a><a href="#Footnote_335_335" class="fnanchor">[335]</a></p> + +<p>The sacrifices of animals were offered in the open air +of the court in front of the temple. For this object a +great altar of brass was erected in the middle of the +court, 10 cubits in height and 20 in the square. +Southward of this altar was placed a great basin, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +which the priests had to perform their ablutions and +purifications; this was a much-admired work of the +artisan Hiram, and called the sea of brass. Supported +by twelve brazen oxen, arranged in four sets of three, +and turned to the four quarters of the sky, the round +bowl, which was of the shape of a lily broken open, +measured five cubits in depth and 30 in circumference.<a name="FNanchor_336_336" id="FNanchor_336_336"></a><a href="#Footnote_336_336" class="fnanchor">[336]</a> +Beside this great basin five smaller iron bowls were set +up on either side of the altar. These rested on wheels, +and were adorned with cherubs and lions, palms and +flowers, with the greatest skill. They were intended +to serve for washing and purifying the animals and +implements of sacrifice.</p> + +<p>Solomon commenced the building of the temple in +the second month of the fourth year of his reign (990 +<small>B.C.</small>). After seven years and six months it was finished +in the eighth month of the eleventh year of Solomon's +reign (983 <small>B.C.</small>). The elders of all Israel, the priests +and Levites, and all the people "from Hamath to the +brook of Egypt," flocked to Jerusalem. In solemn +pomp the sacred ark was drawn up to the temple +height; oxen and sheep without number were sacrificed +for seven days, and from that time forward the king +offered a solemn sacrifice each year at the three great +festivals in the new temple.<a name="FNanchor_337_337" id="FNanchor_337_337"></a><a href="#Footnote_337_337" class="fnanchor">[337]</a></p> + +<p>The house which David had built for himself on +Zion no longer satisfied the requirements of Solomon +and his larger court. When the temple was finished +he undertook the building of a new palace, which was +carried out on such a scale that the completion occupied +thirteen years.<a name="FNanchor_338_338" id="FNanchor_338_338"></a><a href="#Footnote_338_338" class="fnanchor">[338]</a> The new palace was not built on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +Zion, but on the western ridge, which supported the +city to the west of Zion and David's palace. It consisted +of several buildings, surrounded by courts and +houses for the servants, and enclosed by a separate wall. +The largest building was a house of stone three stories +high, the stories and roof of which were supported by +cedar pillars and beams of cedar; the length was 100, +the breadth 50, and the height 30 cubits (about 50 feet). +A balustrade or staircase in this house was made of +sandal wood, which the ships of Ezion-geber had +brought from Ophir.<a name="FNanchor_339_339" id="FNanchor_339_339"></a><a href="#Footnote_339_339" class="fnanchor">[339]</a> On this building abutted three +colonnades, the largest 50 cubits long and 30 broad; +the third was the hall of the throne and of justice.<a name="FNanchor_340_340" id="FNanchor_340_340"></a><a href="#Footnote_340_340" class="fnanchor">[340]</a> +Here stood the magnificent throne of Solomon, "of +which the like was never made in any kingdom," of +ivory overlaid with gold. Six steps, on which were +twelve lions, led up to it; beside the arms of the +seat were also two lions.<a name="FNanchor_341_341" id="FNanchor_341_341"></a><a href="#Footnote_341_341" class="fnanchor">[341]</a> Then followed the dwelling +of Solomon, from which a separate stair-way was +made leading up to the temple, together with the +chambers for the wives of the king,—their number is +given at 700, the number of the concubines at 300,<a name="FNanchor_342_342" id="FNanchor_342_342"></a><a href="#Footnote_342_342" class="fnanchor">[342]</a>—and +lastly a separate house for his Egyptian consort, +who passed as the first wife, and was honoured +and distinguished above the rest. In the four-and-twentieth +year of Solomon's reign (970 <small>B.C.</small>) this +building was brought to an end, "and the daughter +of Pharaoh went up from the city of David into the +house which Solomon had built for her."<a name="FNanchor_343_343" id="FNanchor_343_343"></a><a href="#Footnote_343_343" class="fnanchor">[343]</a></p> + +<p>Solomon felt it incumbent on him to secure his land, +and not merely to adorn the metropolis by splendid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +buildings, but to make it inaccessible to attack. To +protect northern Israel against Rezon and Damascus +he fortified Hazor, whose king had once so grievously +oppressed Israel, and Baalath; to protect the western +border he fortified Megiddo, Gezer, and Beth-horon.<a name="FNanchor_344_344" id="FNanchor_344_344"></a><a href="#Footnote_344_344" class="fnanchor">[344]</a> +The defensive works which David had added to the +old fortifications of the metropolis he enlarged and +extended. The gorge which, running from north to +south, divided the city of Jerusalem on the western +height from the citadel of Zion on the east he closed +towards the north by a separate fortification, the tower +of Millo. By another fortification, Ophel, he protected +a depression of Mount Zion between David's palace +and the new temple, which allowed the citadel to be +ascended from the east. The space over which the +city had extended on the western height opposite the +temple, in consequence of the growth of a suburb there +towards the north, the lower city, he surrounded with +a wall.<a name="FNanchor_345_345" id="FNanchor_345_345"></a><a href="#Footnote_345_345" class="fnanchor">[345]</a> He raised the number of the chariots of war, +which David had introduced, to 1400, for which 4000 +horses were kept. He formed a cavalry force of 12,000 +horses, he built stables and sheds for the horsemen and +chariots. If we include the body-guard, the standing +army which Solomon maintained may very well have +reached 20,000 men.<a name="FNanchor_346_346" id="FNanchor_346_346"></a><a href="#Footnote_346_346" class="fnanchor">[346]</a></p> + +<p>The excellent arrangement of his military means and +forces must have contributed to make Israel respected +and to preserve peace in the land. In Solomon's +reign, so we are told in the Books of Kings, every one +could dwell in peace under his own vine and his +own fig tree.<a name="FNanchor_347_347" id="FNanchor_347_347"></a><a href="#Footnote_347_347" class="fnanchor">[347]</a> This peace from without, united with +the peace which the power and authority of the +throne secured in the country, must have invigorated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +trade, favoured industry, and considerably increased +the welfare of Israel. The example of the court, the +splendour and magnificence of which was not increased +by buildings only, made the wealthy Israelites acquainted +with needs and enjoyments hitherto unknown +to their simple modes of life. If hitherto the Israelites +had sold to the Phenicians wine and oil, the wool of +their flocks, and the surplus products of their lands for +utensils and stuffs, the finer manufactures of the Phenicians +now found a demand in Israel. If the king of +Israel was friendly to the Phenicians, he allowed them +a road by land through his territories to Egypt; now +that the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomites had +been subjugated he could close or open the caravan +road past Rabbath-Ammon, Kir Moab, and Elath to +South Arabia (I. 320), and when Tadmor was in his +hands he could permit or prohibit a road to the +Euphrates beside that past Damascus. Solomon prohibited +none of these; on the contrary, he promoted +the intercourse of the merchants by erecting resting-places +and warehouses on all the lines of traffic which +crossed his dominions.<a name="FNanchor_348_348" id="FNanchor_348_348"></a><a href="#Footnote_348_348" class="fnanchor">[348]</a> The exportation of chariots +and war-horses from Egypt to Syria, which the +Pharaoh no doubt permitted in an especial degree +to his son-in-law, Solomon carried on by means of +merchants commissioned by him.<a name="FNanchor_349_349" id="FNanchor_349_349"></a><a href="#Footnote_349_349" class="fnanchor">[349]</a> Another trade +undertaking, at once much more far-seeing, and +promising far greater gains, he commenced in union +with the king of Tyre. It was of great importance to +the Phenicians to obtain an easier connection with +South Arabia in the place of, or at least in addition +to, the dangerous and very uncertain caravan routes +past Damascus and Dumah (I. 320), or past Elath +along the coast of the Red Sea, to South Arabia. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +circuit by Babylon was very distant, and not much +more secure. The rule of Solomon over Edom pointed +out the way, and secured the possibility of reaching +South Arabia by the Red Sea. At Eziongeber, near +Elath, Tyrian shipbuilders built the vessels which were +to explore the coasts of South Arabia, the coasts of the +land of gold. Guided by Phenician pilots, Phenicians +and Israelites sailed into the unknown sea, and to +unknown and remote corners of the earth. They +succeeded not only in reaching the South Arabian +coasts and the coasts of East Africa, but in passing +beyond to Ophir, <i>i. e.</i>, as it seems, to the mouths of +the Indus. After an absence of three years the first +expedition brought back gold in quantities, silver, +ivory, sandal wood, precious stones, apes and peacocks. +The profits of this expedition are said to have +contributed as Solomon's share 420 Kikkars of gold, +<i>i. e.</i> towards 20,000,000 thalers (about £3,000,000).<a name="FNanchor_350_350" id="FNanchor_350_350"></a><a href="#Footnote_350_350" class="fnanchor">[350]</a></p> + +<p>With the increased sale of the products of the +country, the improvement and security of the great +routes of traffic, the entrance of Israel into the trade +of the Phenicians, and the influx of a considerable +amount of capital, money seems to have become very +rapidly and seriously depreciated in price in Israel. +Before the establishment of the monarchy a priest is +said to have received 10 silver shekels, with food and +clothing, for his yearly service at a sacred place.<a name="FNanchor_351_351" id="FNanchor_351_351"></a><a href="#Footnote_351_351" class="fnanchor">[351]</a> The +amount from which Abimelech is said to have maintained +his retinue (p. 107) is placed at only 70 shekels +of silver. Before the epoch of the monarchy the prophet +received a quarter of a shekel as a return for his +services. David purchased the threshing-floor of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +Araunah at Zion with two oxen for 50 shekels of +silver.<a name="FNanchor_352_352" id="FNanchor_352_352"></a><a href="#Footnote_352_352" class="fnanchor">[352]</a> On the other hand, Solomon appears to have +paid the keepers of his vineyards a yearly salary of +200 silver shekels, and in his time 150 shekels were +paid for an Egyptian horse, and 600 shekels (500 +thalers = £80) for a war-chariot.<a name="FNanchor_353_353" id="FNanchor_353_353"></a><a href="#Footnote_353_353" class="fnanchor">[353]</a></p> + +<p>The prosperity of the land allowed Solomon to +increase the income of the throne by taxation of the +people. His income from the navigation to Ophir, +from trade, from the royal demesnes, and the taxes of +Israel is said to have brought in a yearly sum of +666 Kikkars of gold, <i>i. e.</i> about 30,000,000 of thalers +(about £5,000,000).<a name="FNanchor_354_354" id="FNanchor_354_354"></a><a href="#Footnote_354_354" class="fnanchor">[354]</a> He applied these revenues to +the support of his army, to his fortifications, sheds, and +splendid buildings, to the erection of the stations on +the trade roads, and finally to the adornment of the +court. "He built in Jerusalem, on Lebanon, and in +the whole land of his dominion," say the Books of +Kings.<a name="FNanchor_355_355" id="FNanchor_355_355"></a><a href="#Footnote_355_355" class="fnanchor">[355]</a> We hear of conduits, pools and country +houses of the king on Antilibanus; of vineyards and +gardens at Baal-Hammon. The splendour of his court +is described in extravagant terms. All the drinking-vessels +and many other utensils in the palace at Jerusalem, +and in the forest-house in Antilibanus, are said +to have been of pure gold, and the servants were +richly clad.<a name="FNanchor_356_356" id="FNanchor_356_356"></a><a href="#Footnote_356_356" class="fnanchor">[356]</a> In a costly litter of cedar wood, of which +the posts were of silver, the arms of gold, and the seat +of purple, Solomon was conveyed to his vineyards and +pleasure-houses in Antilibanus, surrounded by a retinue +of 60 men chosen from the body-guard.<a name="FNanchor_357_357" id="FNanchor_357_357"></a><a href="#Footnote_357_357" class="fnanchor">[357]</a> At solemn +processions the body-guard carried 500 ornamented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> +shields: 200 were of pure gold,—for each 600 shekels +were used,—300 of alloyed gold.<a name="FNanchor_358_358" id="FNanchor_358_358"></a><a href="#Footnote_358_358" class="fnanchor">[358]</a> The number of male +and female singers, of the servants for the king and +crowded harem, and the kitchen, must have been very +great, as may be inferred from the very considerable +consumption of food and drink in the palace. From +the court and from trade such an amount of gold +flowed to Jerusalem that silver was in consequence +depreciated.<a name="FNanchor_359_359" id="FNanchor_359_359"></a><a href="#Footnote_359_359" class="fnanchor">[359]</a></p> + +<p>The new arrangement of state life, which was partly +established, partly introduced, by Solomon, the leisure +of peace, the close contact with Phœnicia and +Egypt, the entrance of Israel into extensive trade, the +increase of prosperity, the richer, more various, and +more complicated conditions of life, the wider range of +vision, could not be without their influence on the +intellectual life of the Israelites. From this time an +increased activity is displayed. They were impelled +and forced to observation, comparison and consideration +in quite another manner than before. The results +of these new reflections grew into fixed rules, into proverbs +and apophthegms. In this intellectual movement +Solomon took a leading part. A man of poetical +gifts like his father, he composed religious and other +poems (1005 in number, according to the tradition). +The impulse to knowledge and the sense of art which +he excites must first have found room within himself; +his vision, like his means, reached the furthest. Hence +we have no reason to doubt that he was one of the +wisest in his nation. "God," says the Book of Kings, +"gave Solomon a spirit beyond measure, as the sand +of the sea. And the wisdom of Solomon was greater +than the wisdom of all the sons of the East, and the +wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than all men, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +he spoke of the trees, from the cedar on Lebanon to +the hyssop which grows on the wall, and of the cattle +and the birds, and the worms and the fishes."<a name="FNanchor_360_360" id="FNanchor_360_360"></a><a href="#Footnote_360_360" class="fnanchor">[360]</a> +Beside poetry and extensive knowledge of nature, in +which he surpassed his wisest countrymen, Ethal +and Heman, Chalcol and Darda, it was his keen +observation, his penetrating knowledge of mankind, +his experience of life which made the greatest impression. +His proverbs and rules of life seemed to the +Israelites so pointed and exhaustive that they attributed +to Solomon the entire treasure of their gnomic +wisdom, which was afterwards collected into one body. +Among these proverbs scarcely any can with complete +certainty be ascribed to Solomon, but the fact that +all are attributed to him is a sufficient proof that +Solomon possessed a very striking power in keen +observation of human nature and human affairs, in +the pregnant expression of practical experience, in +combining its lessons into pointed and vigorous +sentences.</p> + +<p>As a proof of his acuteness and the calm penetration +of his judicial decisions, the people used to narrate +the story of the two women who once came before +Solomon into the hall of justice. One said: I and +that woman lived in one house, and each of us bore a +male child. In the night the son of this woman died. +She rose, laid her dead son at my breast, and took my +living child to her bosom. When I woke I had a +dead child in my arms; but in the morning I perceived +that this child was not the son which I had borne. +The other woman answered: No; the living boy is my +son, and thine is the dead child. The king turned to his +retinue and said: Cut the living child into two parts, +and give half to one and half to the other. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +tenderness for her child arose in the mother of the +living child. I pray you, my lord, she said, give her +the living child, but slay it not. And the king gave +sentence: This is the mother, give her the child. It +is further narrated that the fame of Solomon's wisdom +reached even to distant lands, and kings set forth to +hear it. From Arabia the queen of the Sabæans +(Sheba, I. 315) is said to have come with a long train +of camels, carrying spices, gold, and precious stones, +in order to try Solomon with enigmas. And Solomon +told her all that she asked, and solved all the enigmas, +and nothing was hidden from him. When the queen +perceived such wisdom, and saw the house which he +had built, and the food on his table, and his counsellors, +and his cup-bearers, and servants, and the burnt +sacrifice which he offered in the house of Jehovah, +she sent him 120 Kikkars of gold, and such an amount +of spices as never afterwards came to Jerusalem. This +narrative may not be without some foundation, in fact +we saw above how old was the trade of Egypt and +Syria with the land of frankincense. We shall afterwards +find queens among the Arabians in the eighth +and seventh centuries <small>B.C.</small>: Zabibieh, Samsieh, and +Adijah, and even at the head of the tribes of the +desert. To this day the East preserves the memory +of the wise king Solomon, who, in their legends and +stories, has at the same time become a great magician +and exorcist.</p> + +<p>However great the splendour of Israel in Solomon's +reign, this advance was not without a darker side. +The new paths in which Solomon led his people +brought the Israelites comfort and opulence, the +advantages and impulses of a higher civilisation and +more active intellectual life. But with the splendour +and luxury of the court, and the increasing wealth,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +the old simplicity of manners disappeared. The land +had to bear the burden of a rule which was completely +assimilated to the forms of court life, and the mode of +government established in Egypt and Syria, in Babylon +and Assyria. The court, the army and the buildings +required heavy sums and services, and these for the +most part had to be paid and undertaken by the people. +Solomon not only imposed on the tribes the maintenance +of his standing troops, the cavalry and the +chariots, he also demanded that they should support +the court by contributions in kind. This service was +not inconsiderable. Each day 30 Kor of fine and 60 +Kor of ordinary meal were required, 10 stalled oxen, +and 20 oxen from the pasture, and 100 head of small +cattle. Besides this, deer and fallow-deer, gazelles +and fed geese were supplied. The assistance which +Hiram king of Tyre gave to Solomon's buildings, the +wood from Lebanon, had to be paid for; each year +20,000 Kor of wheat and 20,000 Bath of oil and wine +were sent to Tyre, and this the Israelites had to provide. +Further, the people had to pay a regular yearly tax in +money to the king.<a name="FNanchor_361_361" id="FNanchor_361_361"></a><a href="#Footnote_361_361" class="fnanchor">[361]</a> Still more oppressive was the +task-work for the buildings of the king. It is true that +the remnant of the tribes subject to the Israelites, the +Amorites, Hittites, Hivites and Jebusites, were taken +chiefly for these tasks, for Solomon had compelled +them to do constant task-work,<a name="FNanchor_362_362" id="FNanchor_362_362"></a><a href="#Footnote_362_362" class="fnanchor">[362]</a> but the Israelites +themselves were also employed in great numbers in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +building. Over each tribe of Israel Solomon placed an +overseer of the task-work, and these overseers were all +subordinate to Adoniram, the chief task-master. The +Israelites summoned for these services are said to have +had two months' rest after one month of work, and there +was a regular system of release. In the years when +the buildings were carried on with the greatest vigour, +80,000 workmen are said to have been engaged in felling +wood in Lebanon, in quarrying and hewing stones +under Tyrian artisans, while 70,000 others carried out +the transport of this material. Though the workmen +were constantly changed and the extension of the task +was not unendurable, these burdens were unusual and +certainly undesirable. In order to introduce regularity +into the payments in kind and the taxes of the +land, the country was divided into twelve districts,—no +doubt on the basis of the territorial possessions of +the tribes,—and over these royal officers were placed. +Each district had to provide the requirements of the +royal house for one month in the year. These overseers +of the districts were subordinate to a head overseer, +Azariah, the son of that Nathan to whom, next +to his mother, Solomon owed the throne.<a name="FNanchor_363_363" id="FNanchor_363_363"></a><a href="#Footnote_363_363" class="fnanchor">[363]</a> Yet in +spite of all the services of subjects, in spite of all +means of receipts, Solomon's expenditure was in excess +of his income. When the settlement with Hiram followed +the completion of the building of the temple and +palace, it was found that Hiram had still 120 Kikkars +of gold to receive. As Solomon could not pay the +sum, he ceded to Tyre twenty Israelite places on the +border. No doubt the king of Tyre was well pleased to +complete and round off his territory on the mainland.<a name="FNanchor_364_364" id="FNanchor_364_364"></a><a href="#Footnote_364_364" class="fnanchor">[364]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>The example of a lavish and luxurious court, the +spectacle of a crowded harem, the influence and demeanour +of these females, was not only injurious to the +morals of the people, but to their religious conduct. +If the national elevation of the Israelites under Saul +and David had forced back the foreign rites which had +taken a place after the settlement beside the worship of +Jehovah, it is now the court which adopts the culture +and manners of the Phenicians and Syrians, and by +which the worship of strange gods in Israel again becomes +prominent. Among the wives of the king many +were from Sidon, Ammon, Moab and Edom. Solomon +may have considered it wise to display tolerance towards +the worship of the tributary nations, but it was going +far beyond tolerance when the king, who had built +such a richly-adorned and costly temple to the national +god of Israel, erected, in order to please these women, +altars and shrines to Astarte of Sidon, to Camus of the +Moabites, and Milcom of the Ammonites.<a name="FNanchor_365_365" id="FNanchor_365_365"></a><a href="#Footnote_365_365" class="fnanchor">[365]</a></p> + +<p>Yet the impulse which Solomon's reign gave to the +worship of Jehovah was far the most predominant. +It is true that the idea of raising a splendid temple to +Jehovah in Jerusalem arose out of the model of the +temple-service of the Phenicians and Philistines and +their magnificent rites (I. 367), whereas the Israelites +hitherto had known nothing but places for sacrifice +on altars on the heights and under the oaks,—nothing +but a sacred tent. The temple itself was an approximation +to the worship of the Syrians; but it was at +the same time the completion of the work begun by +David. This building of the temple was the most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +important of the acts of Solomon during his reign, +and an undertaking, which in its origin was to some +degree at variance with national feeling, not only contributed +to the maintenance of the national religion, but +also had very considerable influence upon its development. +Solomon, after his manner, may have had the +splendour and glory of the structure chiefly in view,—yet +just as the monarchy comprised the political life +of the nation, so did the specious, magnificent temple +centralise the religious life of the nation, even more than +David's sacred tent. By this the old places of sacrifice +were forced into the shade, and even more rarely visited. +The building of the temple increased the preponderance +of the sacrifice offered in the metropolis. The +priests of the altars in the country, who mostly lived +upon their share in the sacrifices, turned to Jerusalem, +and took up their dwelling in the city. Here they +already found the priesthood, which had gathered +round Abiathar and Zadok (p. 164). The union of a +large number of priestly families at Jerusalem, under the +guidance of the high priest appointed already by David, +caused the feeling and the consciousness of the solid +community and corporate nature of their order to rise +in these men, while the priests had previously lived an +isolated life, at the places of sacrifice among the people, +and hardly distinguished from them, and thus they were +led to a far more earnest and systematic performance of +the sacred worship. It was easy to make use of the +number of priests already in existence in order to give +to the rites the richer and more brilliant forms which +the splendour and dignity of the temple required. For +this object the arrangements of the sacred service must +be divided, and the sacred acts allotted to special +sections of the priests at hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> + +<p>The organisation of the priesthood needed for these +divisions was naturally brought about by the fact that +those entrusted with the office of high priest supposed +themselves to be descendants of Aaron, and that even +in David's reign these had been joined by the priests +who claimed to be of the same origin. These families, +the descendants of Eleazar and Ithamar, retained the +essential arrangements of the sacrifice and the expiation, +the priesthood in the stricter sense. Even the +families, who side by side with these are said to have +belonged to the race of Aaron, which, like Aaron, are +said to have sprung from the branch of Kohath, were +not any longer admitted to this service. The priestly +families of this and other origin, which are first found +at a later date in Jerusalem, who retained their dwelling +outside Jerusalem, were united with the races of +Gershom and Merari, and to them, as to the families +of the race of Kohath which did not come through +Aaron, were transferred the lesser services in the +worship and in the very complicated ritual. Those +men of these races who were acquainted with music +and singing, together with such musicians as were not +of priestly blood, were also divided into sections. +They had to accompany the sacrifice and acts of +religious worship with sacred songs and the harp. +Others were made overseers of the sacred vessels and +the dedicatory offerings, others set apart for the purification +of the sanctuary and for door-keepers. All +these services were hereditary in the combinations of +families allotted to them. This organisation of the +priesthood cannot have come into existence, as the +tradition tells us, immediately after the completion of +the temple; it can only have taken place as the effects +of a splendid centre of worship in the metropolis of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +the kingdom became more widely felt, and was finally +brought to completion under the guidance of the +priests attending on the sacred ark.<a name="FNanchor_366_366" id="FNanchor_366_366"></a><a href="#Footnote_366_366" class="fnanchor">[366]</a></p> + +<p>Thus there was connected with the building of the +temple by Solomon, not only the reunion of the families +of the tribe of Levi—if these even previously had formed +a separate tribe;—by means of adoption from all the +families which for generations had been dedicated to +the sacred rites, the formation and separation of the +priestly order became perfect.<a name="FNanchor_367_367" id="FNanchor_367_367"></a><a href="#Footnote_367_367" class="fnanchor">[367]</a> At first, without any +independent position, this order was dependent on the +protection of the monarchy, which built the temple for +it, and the importance of the priests was increased with +the splendour of the worship. At the head of the new +order stood the priests of the ark of Jehovah, who had +already, in earlier times, maintained a pre-eminent +position, which was now increased considerably by the +reform in the worship. But they also were dependent +on the court, though they soon came to exercise a +certain influence upon it. As David had made Zadok +and Abiathar high priests, so Solomon removed +Abiathar and transferred the highest priestly office to +Zadok, of the branch of Eleazar. Far more important +than the position of the priesthood at the court was +the feeling and consciousness of the mission given to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +them, of the duties and rights, to which the priesthood +attained when combined in the new society. As they +were at pains to practise a worship pleasing to Jehovah, +they succeeded even before Solomon in discovering an +established connection between the past and the present +of the nation, in recognising the covenant which +Jehovah had made with his people. From isolated +records, traditions, and old customs they collected the +law of ritual in the manner which they considered as +established from antiquity, the observation of which +was, from their point of view, the maintenance of the +covenant into which Israel had entered with his God. +This was the light in which, even in David's time, the +fortunes of Israel appeared to the priests, and from +this point of view they were recorded in the first +decade of David's reign. The order which the priests +required for the worship, its unity, centralisation and +adornment, the exact obedience to the ritual which was +considered by them true and pleasing to God, the position +which the priesthood had now obtained, or claimed, +appeared to them as already ordained and current in the +time when Jehovah saved his people with a mighty +arm, and led them from Egypt to Canaan. They had +been thrust into the background and forgotten, owing +to the guilt and backsliding of later times. Now the +time was come to establish in power the true and +ancient ordinances of Moses in real earnest, and to +restore them. It was of striking ethical importance, +that by these views the present was placed in near +relation and the closest combination with a sublime +antiquity, with the foundation of the religious ordinances. +The impulse to religious feeling which arose +out of these views and efforts found expression in a +lyrical poetry of penetrating force. David had not +only attempted simple songs, but also, as we have seen,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +more extended invocations of Jehovah; and the skilled +musical accompaniment which now came to the aid of +religious song in the families of the musicians, must +have contributed to still greater elevation and choice +of expression. The intensity of religious feeling and +its expression in sacred songs must also have come into +contact more especially with that impulse which had +hitherto been represented in the seers and prophets, +who believed that they apprehended the will of +Jehovah in their own breasts, and, in consequence of +their favoured relation to him, understood his commands +by virtue of internal illumination. All these +impulses operated beyond the priestly order. In +union with the lofty spiritual activity of the people, +they led, in the first instance, to the result that in +the last years of Solomon the annalistic account of +the fortunes of the people and the record of the law +was accompanied by a narrative of greater liveliness, +of a deeper and clearer view of the divine and human +nature (I. 386), which at the same time, in the fate +of Joseph, gave especial prominence to the newly-obtained +knowledge of Egyptian life, the service +rendered by the daughter of the king of Egypt to the +great leader of Israel in the ancient times, the blessing +derived from the friendly relations of Israel and +Egypt, and the distress brought upon Egypt by the +breach with Israel.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_326_326" id="Footnote_326_326"></a><a href="#FNanchor_326_326"><span class="label">[326]</span></a> Bathsheba became David's wife not long before the capture of +Rabbath-Ammon. Her first child died. According to 1 Kings iii. 7, +Solomon, at the time of his accession, is still a boy. But since, according +to 1 Kings xiv. 21, his son Rehoboam is 42 years old at Solomon's +death, and Solomon had reigned 40 years, Solomon must have been +more than 20 at the death of David. Hence, on p. 155 above, the date +of the capture of Rabbath-Ammon is fixed at 1015 <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_327_327" id="Footnote_327_327"></a><a href="#FNanchor_327_327"><span class="label">[327]</span></a> 1 Kings ii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_328_328" id="Footnote_328_328"></a><a href="#FNanchor_328_328"><span class="label">[328]</span></a> 1 Kings iii. 1. From the statement in 1 Kings xi. 14-21, this +must have been the daughter of Amenophtis, the Pharaoh who +succeeded the king mentioned here, the fourth Tanite in Manetho's +list. Below, Book IV. chap. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_329_329" id="Footnote_329_329"></a><a href="#FNanchor_329_329"><span class="label">[329]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_330_330" id="Footnote_330_330"></a><a href="#FNanchor_330_330"><span class="label">[330]</span></a> 1 Kings xi. 23-25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_331_331" id="Footnote_331_331"></a><a href="#FNanchor_331_331"><span class="label">[331]</span></a> 2 Chron. viii. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_332_332" id="Footnote_332_332"></a><a href="#FNanchor_332_332"><span class="label">[332]</span></a> 2 Chron. vii. 8; viii. 4; 1 Kings ix. 18; Joseph. "Antiq." 8, 6, +1. The passage in the Book of Kings appears, it is true, to indicate +Thamar in Southern Judæa.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_333_333" id="Footnote_333_333"></a><a href="#FNanchor_333_333"><span class="label">[333]</span></a> 1 Kings v. 7-10, 15-17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_334_334" id="Footnote_334_334"></a><a href="#FNanchor_334_334"><span class="label">[334]</span></a> 1 Kings vii. 46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_335_335" id="Footnote_335_335"></a><a href="#FNanchor_335_335"><span class="label">[335]</span></a> 1 Kings vi., vii. 13-51; 2 Chron. iii. 4, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_336_336" id="Footnote_336_336"></a><a href="#FNanchor_336_336"><span class="label">[336]</span></a> A similar vessel of stone, 30 feet in circumference, adorned with +the image of a bull, lies among the fragments of Amathus in Cyprus: +O. Müller, "Archæologie," § 240, Anm. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_337_337" id="Footnote_337_337"></a><a href="#FNanchor_337_337"><span class="label">[337]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_338_338" id="Footnote_338_338"></a><a href="#FNanchor_338_338"><span class="label">[338]</span></a> 1 Kings vii. 1-12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_339_339" id="Footnote_339_339"></a><a href="#FNanchor_339_339"><span class="label">[339]</span></a> 1 Kings x. 12; 2 Chron. ix. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_340_340" id="Footnote_340_340"></a><a href="#FNanchor_340_340"><span class="label">[340]</span></a> 1 Kings vii. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_341_341" id="Footnote_341_341"></a><a href="#FNanchor_341_341"><span class="label">[341]</span></a> 1 Kings x. 18-20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_342_342" id="Footnote_342_342"></a><a href="#FNanchor_342_342"><span class="label">[342]</span></a> The Song of Solomon says, "There are 60 queens, 80 concubines, +and maids without number."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_343_343" id="Footnote_343_343"></a><a href="#FNanchor_343_343"><span class="label">[343]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 10, 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_344_344" id="Footnote_344_344"></a><a href="#FNanchor_344_344"><span class="label">[344]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 15-19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_345_345" id="Footnote_345_345"></a><a href="#FNanchor_345_345"><span class="label">[345]</span></a> 1 Kings xi. 27; ix. 15-24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_346_346" id="Footnote_346_346"></a><a href="#FNanchor_346_346"><span class="label">[346]</span></a> 1 Kings iv. 26; x. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_347_347" id="Footnote_347_347"></a><a href="#FNanchor_347_347"><span class="label">[347]</span></a> 1 Kings iv. 20, 25; v. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_348_348" id="Footnote_348_348"></a><a href="#FNanchor_348_348"><span class="label">[348]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_349_349" id="Footnote_349_349"></a><a href="#FNanchor_349_349"><span class="label">[349]</span></a> 1 Kings x. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_350_350" id="Footnote_350_350"></a><a href="#FNanchor_350_350"><span class="label">[350]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 26-28; x. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_351_351" id="Footnote_351_351"></a><a href="#FNanchor_351_351"><span class="label">[351]</span></a> Judges xvii. 10. The Hebrew silver shekel is to be reckoned at +more than 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i>; the gold shekel from 36 to 45<i>s.</i> Cf. Vol. i. 304.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_352_352" id="Footnote_352_352"></a><a href="#FNanchor_352_352"><span class="label">[352]</span></a> 2 Sam. xxiv. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_353_353" id="Footnote_353_353"></a><a href="#FNanchor_353_353"><span class="label">[353]</span></a> Song of Solomon viii. 11; cf. Mover's "Phœnizier," 3, 48 ff, 81 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_354_354" id="Footnote_354_354"></a><a href="#FNanchor_354_354"><span class="label">[354]</span></a> 1 Kings x. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_355_355" id="Footnote_355_355"></a><a href="#FNanchor_355_355"><span class="label">[355]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_356_356" id="Footnote_356_356"></a><a href="#FNanchor_356_356"><span class="label">[356]</span></a> 1 Kings x. 21; 2 Chron. ix. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_357_357" id="Footnote_357_357"></a><a href="#FNanchor_357_357"><span class="label">[357]</span></a> Song of Solomon iii. 7-10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_358_358" id="Footnote_358_358"></a><a href="#FNanchor_358_358"><span class="label">[358]</span></a> 1 Kings x. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_359_359" id="Footnote_359_359"></a><a href="#FNanchor_359_359"><span class="label">[359]</span></a> 1 Kings x. 27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_360_360" id="Footnote_360_360"></a><a href="#FNanchor_360_360"><span class="label">[360]</span></a> 1 Kings iv. 29-34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_361_361" id="Footnote_361_361"></a><a href="#FNanchor_361_361"><span class="label">[361]</span></a> 1 Kings iv. 22, 23, 26-28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_362_362" id="Footnote_362_362"></a><a href="#FNanchor_362_362"><span class="label">[362]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 20, 21. In order to prove that Solomon used these +and no others for his workmen, the Chronicles (2, ii. 16, 17) reckon +this remnant at 153,000 men, <i>i. e.</i> exactly at the number of task workmen +with their overseers given in the Book of Kings. According to +this the incredible number of half a million of Canaanites must have +settled among the Israelites. The general assertion of the Books of +Kings (1, ix. 22) is supported by the detailed evidence in the same +books, 1, v. 13; xi. 28; xii. 4 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_363_363" id="Footnote_363_363"></a><a href="#FNanchor_363_363"><span class="label">[363]</span></a> 1 Kings iv. 11-15; v. 13-18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_364_364" id="Footnote_364_364"></a><a href="#FNanchor_364_364"><span class="label">[364]</span></a> 1 Kings ix. 10-14. The contradictory statement in Chronicles +(2, viii. 2) cannot be taken into consideration.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_365_365" id="Footnote_365_365"></a><a href="#FNanchor_365_365"><span class="label">[365]</span></a> 1 Kings xi. 4-9, 33. Though this account belongs to times no +earlier than the author of Deuteronomy, yet since the destruction of +these places of worship "set up by Solomon" is expressly mentioned +under Josiah (2 Kings xxiii. 13), it cannot be doubted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_366_366" id="Footnote_366_366"></a><a href="#FNanchor_366_366"><span class="label">[366]</span></a> 1 Chron. xxiv.-xxvii. Here, as is usual in the Chronicles, the +division of the priests is given systematically, and the idea of such a +division is ascribed to the last years of David. "The Levites were +numbered according to David's last commands," 1 Chron. xxiv.; cf. +cap. xxvii. Throughout the Chronicles make a point of exhibiting +David as the originator, and Solomon as the executive instrument. +We must content ourselves with the result that the temple is of decisive +importance in separating the priests from the people, and for gathering +together and organising the order.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_367_367" id="Footnote_367_367"></a><a href="#FNanchor_367_367"><span class="label">[367]</span></a> It appears that the lists of the priestly families were taken down +in writing when the organisation of the order was concluded: Nehem. +vii. 64.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>THE LAW OF THE PRIESTS.</h3> + + +<p>Out of the peculiar relation in which Israel stood from +all antiquity to his God, out of the protection and +prosperity which he had granted to the patriarchs +and their seed, out of the liberation from the oppression +of the Egyptians, which Jehovah had prepared +for the Israelites with a strong arm, out of the bestowal +of Canaan, <i>i. e.</i> the promise of Jehovah to conquer the +land, which the Israelites had now possessed for +centuries, there grew up in the circles of the priests, +from about the time of Samuel, the idea of the covenant +which Jehovah had made with the patriarchs, and +through them with Israel. Jehovah had assured +Israel of his protection and blessing; on the other hand, +Israel had undertaken to serve him, to obey his commands, +and do his will. If Israel lives according to +the command of Jehovah, the blessing of his God will +certainly be his in the future also; the reward of true +service will not and cannot be withheld from him. +The will of Jehovah which Israel has to obey, the law +of Jehovah which he has to fulfil, was contained in +the moral precepts, the rules of law, and rubrics for +purification and sacrifice, the writing down of which in +the frame-work of a brief account of the fortunes of +the fathers, the slavery in Egypt, the liberation and +the conquest of Canaan, on the basis of older sketches<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> +of separate parts, was brought to a conclusion at +Hebron, in the priestly families of the tribe of Aaron, +about the first decade of David's reign (I. 385). In +this writing were laid down the views held by the +priesthood on the life pleasing to God, on the past of +the nation and the priests, and of the correct mode of +worship. It was the ideal picture of conduct in morals, +law and worship which the priests strove after, which +must in any case have existed in that great period +when Jehovah spoke to the Israelites by the mouth of +Moses. And, as a fact, the foundations of the moral +law, the fundamental rules of law and customs of +sacrifice, as we found above (I. 484), do go back to that +time of powerful movement of the national feeling, of +lofty exaltation of religious emotion against the dreary +polytheism of Egypt.</p> + +<p>It is doubtful, whether the families of the priests and +sacrificial servants who traced back their lineage to Levi, +the son of Jacob (p. 197), and were now united by David +and Solomon for service at the sacred tabernacle, for +sacrifice and attendance at the temple, had of antiquity +formed a separate tribe, which afterwards became dispersed +(I. 488),—or if this tribe first was united under +the impression made by the idea of true priesthood, +which those writings denoted as an example and +pattern, and under the influence of the change introduced +by the foundation of a central-point for the +worship of Israel in the tabernacle of David, and then +in the temple of Solomon, for the priestly families +scattered through the land, by means of a gradual +union of the priestly families; at all events, a position +at least equal in dignity to the rest of the tribes ought +to be found for the tribe of Levi, which knew the will +and law of Jehovah, and the correct mode of sacrifice. +It was not indeed possible in Israel to give the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +and most ancient place to the tribe of the priests, as +has been done in other nations where a division of +orders has crystallised into hereditary tribes. In the +memory of the nation Reuben was the first-born tribe, +<i>i. e.</i> the complex of the oldest families, the oldest +element of the nation, and the importance of the +tribes derived from Joseph and the tribe of Judah in +and after the conquest of Canaan was so firmly fixed +that the tribe of Levi could not hope to contend with +them successfully in the question of antiquity. But +what was wanting in rank of derivation could be +made up by special blessings given by Jehovah, and +by peculiar sanctity. According to an old conception +the first-born male belonged to Jehovah. In the +sketch of the fortunes of Israel and of the law, +Jehovah says to Moses, he will accept the tribe of +Levi in place of the first-born males of the people. +The number of the first-born males of one month old +of all the other tribes was taken—they reached 22,373; +the number of all the men and boys down to the age +of one month in the tribe of Levi was 22,000. These +22,000 Levites Jehovah took in the place of the first-born +of the people, and the remaining 373 were ransomed +from Jehovah at the price of five shekels of +silver for each person.<a name="FNanchor_368_368" id="FNanchor_368_368"></a><a href="#Footnote_368_368" class="fnanchor">[368]</a> Thus the Levites were raised +by Jehovah to be the first-born tribe of Israel. Levi +was the tribe which Jehovah had selected for his +service, the chosen tribe of a chosen nation. Moses +and Aaron were of this tribe, and if, instead of a few +families who stood beside Moses when he led Israel +out of Egypt, and restored the worship of the tribal +deity, the whole tribe of Levi was represented as +active in his behalf, and as a supporter of Moses, the +consecration of age was not wanting to this tribe, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +reverence was naturally paid to it in return for such +ancient services.</p> + +<p>The Levites were not to busy themselves with care +for their maintenance, they were not to work for hire, +or possess any property; they were to occupy themselves +exclusively with their sacred duties. Instead of +inheritance Jehovah was to be their heritage.<a name="FNanchor_369_369" id="FNanchor_369_369"></a><a href="#Footnote_369_369" class="fnanchor">[369]</a> It is +true that the plan for the maintenance of the tribe of +Levi, sketched in the first text on the occasion of the +division of Canaan, the 48 cities allotted to them in the +lands of the other twelve tribes (13 for the priests and +35 for the assistant Levites<a name="FNanchor_370_370" id="FNanchor_370_370"></a><a href="#Footnote_370_370" class="fnanchor">[370]</a>), could never be carried +out; yet claims might be founded on it. Moreover, +the necessary means for support were supplied in +other ways. The firstlings of corn, fruits, the vintage, +the olive tree, were offered by being laid on the altar. +No inconsiderable portion of other offerings was presented +in the same manner. All these gifts could be +applied by the priests to their own purposes.<a name="FNanchor_371_371" id="FNanchor_371_371"></a><a href="#Footnote_371_371" class="fnanchor">[371]</a> But by +far the most fruitful source of income for the priesthood +was the tithe of the produce of the fields, which was +offered according to an ancient custom to Jehovah as +his share of the harvest. The law required that a +tenth of corn, and wine, and oils, and of all other +fruits, and the tenth head of all new-born domestic +animals, should be given to the priests.<a name="FNanchor_372_372" id="FNanchor_372_372"></a><a href="#Footnote_372_372" class="fnanchor">[372]</a> The statements +of the prophets and the evidence of the historical books +prove that the tithes were offered as a rule, though +not invariably. As the Levites who were not priests +had no share in the sacrifices, the law provided that +the tithe should go to them, but the Levites were in +turn to restore a tenth part of these tithes to the +priests. Finally, the law required that a portion of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +the booty taken in war should go to the Levites; +that in all numberings of the people and levies each +person should pay a sum to the temple for the ransom +of his life.<a name="FNanchor_373_373" id="FNanchor_373_373"></a><a href="#Footnote_373_373" class="fnanchor">[373]</a></p> + +<p>Only the descendants of Aaron could take part +in the most important parts of the ceremonial of sacrifice. +From his twenty-fifth or thirtieth year to his +fiftieth every Levite was subject to the temple service.<a name="FNanchor_374_374" id="FNanchor_374_374"></a><a href="#Footnote_374_374" class="fnanchor">[374]</a> +The law prescribed a formal dedication, with purifications, +expiations, sacrifices, and symbolical actions for +the exercise of the lower as well as the higher priesthood, +for the offering of sacrifice and the sprinkling +of the blood as well as for the due performance of the +door-keeping. At the dedication of a priest these +ceremonies lasted for seven days, but the chief import +of the ritual was to denote the future priest himself as +a sacrifice offered to Jehovah. Only those might be +dedicated who were free from any bodily blemish. +"A blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, +or anything superfluous, or a man that is broken-footed, +or broken-handed, or crook-backt, or a dwarf, +or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or +scabbed, or hath his stones broken shall not come nigh +to offer the offering of the Lord made by fire."<a name="FNanchor_375_375" id="FNanchor_375_375"></a><a href="#Footnote_375_375" class="fnanchor">[375]</a></p> + +<p>No priest was to make baldness on his head or shave +off the corners of his beard, or make any cuttings in his +flesh;<a name="FNanchor_376_376" id="FNanchor_376_376"></a><a href="#Footnote_376_376" class="fnanchor">[376]</a> before the sacrifice he might not take wine or +any intoxicating drink; he was required to devote +himself to especial purity and cleanliness, and observe +in a stricter degree the laws concerning food; he might +not marry a widow or a woman divorced from her +husband, still less a harlot; he was to avoid most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +carefully any contact with a corpse: only in the case of +his nearest relatives was this defilement allowed. The +clothing of the priests was definitely prescribed. He +must wear a robe of white linen (byssus), woven in +one piece; and this robe was held together by a girdle +of three colours, red, blue and white. The priest also +wore a band of white linen round his head, and trousers +of white linen in order that he might not discover his +nakedness when he ascended the steps of the altar.<a name="FNanchor_377_377" id="FNanchor_377_377"></a><a href="#Footnote_377_377" class="fnanchor">[377]</a></p> + +<p>The foremost place among the consecrated priests +was occupied by the high priest. He alone had the +right to enter the inner space of the sanctuary, the +cell in which stood the ark of the covenant—the other +priests could enter the outer space only; he alone +could offer sacrifice in the name of the whole people, +he alone could announce the will and oracle of Jehovah, +and consecrate the priests. The ritual for the high +priest was most strict. In the belief of the Hebrews +the most accurate knowledge and the most careful +circumspection was needed in order to offer an effective +sacrifice and avoid arousing the anger of Jehovah by +some omission in the rite, and if the law required of all +priests that they should devote themselves to especial +purity and holiness, this demand was made with +peculiar severity upon the high priest. He might +marry only with a pure virgin of the stock of his +kindred; he must keep himself so far from all defilement +that he might not touch the corpse even of his +father and his mother; he might not, on any occasion, +rend his garments in sorrow. The distinguishing garb +of the high priest was a robe of blue linen, which on +the edge was adorned with pomegranates and bells; +the bells were intended, as the law says, to announce +the coming of the priest to the God who dwelt in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +shrine of the temple, that the priest might not die.<a name="FNanchor_378_378" id="FNanchor_378_378"></a><a href="#Footnote_378_378" class="fnanchor">[378]</a> +Over this robe the high priest wore a short wrapper, +the so-called ephod or shoulder-garment, and on his +breast in front the tablet with the holy Urim and +Thummim, by means of which he inquired of Jehovah, +if the king or any one from the people asked for an +oracle. The other priests also, at least in more ancient +times, wore the ephod with the Urim and Thummim; +but the ephod of the high priest was fastened on the +shoulders by two precious stones, and the front side of +his breastplate was made of twelve precious stones set +in gold, on which were engraved the names of the +twelve tribes. The head-band of the high priest was +distinguished from that of the other priests by a plate +of gold bearing the inscription, "Holy is Jehovah;" +he might not even uncover his head.<a name="FNanchor_379_379" id="FNanchor_379_379"></a><a href="#Footnote_379_379" class="fnanchor">[379]</a></p> + +<p>The mode of worship was regulated by the law in +a systematic manner. Beside the Sabbath, on keeping +which the law laid special stress, and regarded it as a +symbol of the relation of Israel to Jehovah, the Israelites +celebrated feasts at the new moon and the full +moon,<a name="FNanchor_380_380" id="FNanchor_380_380"></a><a href="#Footnote_380_380" class="fnanchor">[380]</a> and held three great national festivals in the +year. These festivals marked in the first instance +certain divisions of the natural year. Yet the first, +the festival of spring, had from ancient times a peculiar +religious significance. It has been remarked above +that at the spring festival not only were the firstlings +of the harvest, the first ears of corn, offered to the +tribal God, but that also, as at the beginning of a +new season of fertility, a sin offering, the vicarious +sacrifice of a lamb, was made for the first-born which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +were not offered. The spring festival was also the +festival of the sparing of the first-born, the Passah or +passover of Jehovah (I. 414). The priestly ordinance, +which sought to give a definite historical cause for +the customs of the festival, and to mark the favours +which Jehovah had granted to his people, connects +the old usages of this festival with the exodus from +Egypt, and we have already seen how from this point +of view old ceremonies of this festival were transformed, +and new ones were added (I. 445). As the +spring festival was kept in the first month of the +Hebrew year, Nisan (March-April) (it began on the +evening of the day after the new moon, at the rise of +the full moon, when the sun is in the Ram), the +exodus from Egypt was supposed to have taken place +on the morning which followed this night. The +Passah continued for seven days, in which, from the +morning of the second day to the evening of the +seventh, only unleavened bread could be eaten, i. e. +the firstlings of the corn in their original form, and no +business could be carried on. On each of the seven +days of the feast, according to the law, two young bulls, +a ram and seven yearling lambs were offered as a burnt +offering for Israel in the temple, and besides these a +goat, as a sin offering. The neglect of the festival, +the eating of leavened bread on any of the days, was +threatened by the law with extirpation from the community.<a name="FNanchor_381_381" id="FNanchor_381_381"></a><a href="#Footnote_381_381" class="fnanchor">[381]</a> +As the greater number of the tribes attained +to a settled life and agriculture, the feast of the ripe +fruits or harvest naturally rose to importance beside +this festival of the earliest fruits. Seven full weeks +after the commencement of the Passah, or six weeks +after the end of it, the feast of new bread was celebrated. +The sheaves were brought, the corn trodden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> +out, the first new meal prepared. According to the +law, each house in Israel, <i>i. e.</i>, no doubt, each which +possessed land and flocks, had to bring two leavened +firstling loaves of new wheaten meal and two yearling +lambs as a thank offering. Before these were offered +no one could eat bread made from the new corn.<a name="FNanchor_382_382" id="FNanchor_382_382"></a><a href="#Footnote_382_382" class="fnanchor">[382]</a> The +festival of autumn, which took place in the seventh +month of the Hebrew year (September—October), from +the fourteenth to the twenty-first day of the month, +was merrier and of longer duration. It was the +festival of the completion of the in-gathering, and of +the vintage, and consequently can hardly go back +beyond the time of the settlement in Canaan.<a name="FNanchor_383_383" id="FNanchor_383_383"></a><a href="#Footnote_383_383" class="fnanchor">[383]</a> It +was customary to erect arbours of palm leaves, willows, +and oak branches, as was indeed necessary at a time +when men were occupied in remote orchards and vineyards, +and in these the feast was kept, unless it was +preferred to keep it at some important place of +sacrifice, in order to offer the thank offering there,<a name="FNanchor_384_384" id="FNanchor_384_384"></a><a href="#Footnote_384_384" class="fnanchor">[384]</a> and +in this case those who came to the feast also passed +the day in tents or arbours. Like the feast of spring, +the feast of tabernacles continued for seven days. +According to the law, Israel was to offer 70 bulls, 14 +rams, and seven times 14 lambs at this festival as a +burnt offering. To this feast also a historical meaning +was given; the tabernacles were erected to +remind Israel of the fact that he had once dwelt in +tents in the wilderness.</p> + +<p>At these three festivals, "thrice in the year, all +the males of Israel must appear before Jehovah."<a name="FNanchor_385_385" id="FNanchor_385_385"></a><a href="#Footnote_385_385" class="fnanchor">[385]</a> +Such was the law of the priests. It was the intention<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +of the priests that the three great festivals should +be celebrated at the dwelling of Jehovah, <i>i. e.</i> at +the tabernacle, and afterwards at the temple; hence +at the great festivals the Israelites were to go to +Jerusalem. But the strict carrying out of such a +common celebration was opposed to the character +of the festivals themselves. We saw that even when +the sacred ark still stood at Shiloh, pilgrimages +were made thither once a year at the festival of +Jehovah. After the erection of the tabernacle and the +temple this, no doubt, took place more frequently, +and the numbers were greater. Yet the object of the +priests could not be completely realised. The paschal +festival was the redemption of the separate house, of +each individual family. This meaning and object was +very definitely stamped on the ritual. In a similar +manner, the feast of the beginning of harvest and +of the first fruits required celebration at home, on the +plot of land, and this was still more the case with the +festival of thanksgiving for the completed harvest.</p> + +<p>Before the people rejoiced in the blessing of the +completed harvest at the feast of tabernacles, all misdeeds +which might have defiled the year to that time +must be cancelled and removed by a special sacrifice. +For this object the law on this occasion made a requirement +never demanded at any other time. From the +evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth day +there was not only a cessation of business, but a strict +fast was kept. Every man among the people must +subject himself to this regulation, and he who transgressed +it was threatened with the loss of his life.<a name="FNanchor_386_386" id="FNanchor_386_386"></a><a href="#Footnote_386_386" class="fnanchor">[386]</a> The +high priest had first to cleanse himself and the other +priests, and then the dwelling of Jehovah; for even the +sanctuary might be defiled by the inadvertence of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +priests. When the high priest had bathed he must clothe +himself in a coat and trousers of white linen, with a +girdle and head-band of the same material, and offer a +young bull as a sin offering. Bearing a vessel filled with +the blood of this victim, and with the censer from the +altar of incense in the interior of the sanctuary, which +contained burning coals and frankincense, the high +priest went alone into the holy of holies, behind the +curtain before the ark of the covenant. Immediately +on his entrance the clouds arising from the censer must +fill the chamber, that the priest might not see the face +of Jehovah over the cherubs and die. Then the high +priest sprinkled the blood from the vessel seven times +towards the ark, and when thus cleansed he turned +back to the court of the sanctuary, in which two goats +stood ready for sacrifice. He cast lots which of the +two should be sacrificed to Jehovah and which to +Azazel, the evil spirit of the desert. When the lot +was cast, the high priest laid his hand on the head of +the goat assigned to Azazel, confessed all the sins and +transgressions of Israel on this goat, and laid them on +his head, in order that he might carry them into the +desert-land into which the goat was driven from the +sanctuary. Then the high priest slew the other goat +assigned to Jehovah, and, returning into the holy of +holies, sprinkled with his blood the ark of the covenant +for the second time, in order to purify the people. +When the altar of incense, in the outer part of the +sanctuary, had been sprinkled in a similar manner, the +high priest declared that Jehovah was appeased. +After a second bath he put on his usual robes, and +offered three rams as burnt offerings for himself, the +priesthood, and the nation.<a name="FNanchor_387_387" id="FNanchor_387_387"></a><a href="#Footnote_387_387" class="fnanchor">[387]</a></p> + +<p>All sacrifices were to be offered at the tabernacle,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +"before the dwelling of Jehovah;" and afterwards +in like manner in the temple. The law of the priests +threatened any one with death who sacrificed elsewhere.<a name="FNanchor_388_388" id="FNanchor_388_388"></a><a href="#Footnote_388_388" class="fnanchor">[388]</a> +The most essential regulations for the offering +of sacrifice are perhaps the following:—Any one who +intended to bring an offering must purify himself for +several days. Wild animals could not be offered. In +the Hebrew conception the sacrifice is the surrender +of a part of a man's possessions and enjoyments. +Hence only domestic offerings could be offered, because +only these are really property. Cattle, sheep, and +goats were the animals appointed for sacrifice. The +poorer people were also allowed to offer doves. Each +victim must be without blemish and healthy, and it +must not be weakened and desecrated by labour. +Before the animal was killed the sacrificer laid his +hand on its head for a time; then he who offered +the sacrifice, whether priest or layman, slew the +victim, but only the priest could receive the warm +blood in the sacrificial vessel. With this vessel in his +hand the priest went round the altar and sprinkled +the feet, the corners, and the sides of it with the +blood of the victim. In the Hebrew conception the +life of the victim was in its blood, and thus the sprinklings +which were to be made with it form the most +important part of the holy ceremony. From ancient +times the burnt offering was the most solemn kind of +sacrifice. Only male animals, and, as a rule, bulls and +rams, could be offered as burnt offerings. When they +had been slain and skinned these offerings were +entirely burnt in the fire on the altar, without any +part being enjoyed by the sacrificer or the priest, as +was the case in other kinds of offerings; only the skin +fell to the share of the priests. As the burnt offering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +was intended to gain the favour of Jehovah, so were +the sin offerings intended to appease his anger and +blot out transgressions. For sin offerings female +animals were used as a rule, as male animals for the +burnt offerings,<a name="FNanchor_389_389" id="FNanchor_389_389"></a><a href="#Footnote_389_389" class="fnanchor">[389]</a> but young bulls and he-goats were +also offered as expiatory offerings for the whole people, +and for oversights or transgressions of the priests in +the ritual, and for sin offerings for princes. In sin +offerings only certain parts of the entrails were burnt, +the kidneys, the liver, and other parts; and in this +sacrifice the priests sprinkled the blood on the horns +of the altar; the flesh which was not burned belonged +to the priests. In thank offerings and offerings of +slaughter (so called because in these the slaying and +eating of the victim was the principal matter) only the +fat was burnt, the priests kept the breast and the +right thigh,<a name="FNanchor_390_390" id="FNanchor_390_390"></a><a href="#Footnote_390_390" class="fnanchor">[390]</a> the rest was eaten by the sacrificer at a +banquet with the guests whom he had invited; but +this banquet must be held at the place of sacrifice, on +the same or at any rate on the following day. Drink +offerings consisted of libations of wine, which were +poured on and round the altar (libations of water +are also mentioned, though not in the law, p. 115); +the food offerings in fruits, corn, and white meal, which +the priests threw into the fire of the altar; in bread and +cookery, which, drenched with oil and sprinkled with +salt and incense, was partly burned, and partly fell to +the lot of the priests. Lastly, the incense offerings +consisted in the burning of incense, which did not take +place, like the other sacrifices, on the larger altar in +the court of the sanctuary, but on the small altar, +which stood in the space before the holy of holies +of the tabernacle, and afterwards of the temple.<a name="FNanchor_391_391" id="FNanchor_391_391"></a><a href="#Footnote_391_391" class="fnanchor">[391]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<p>According to the law, a service was to be continually +going on in the dwelling of Jehovah. The sacred +fire on the altar in the interior of the tabernacle was +never to be quenched; before the holy of holies on +the sacred table twelve unleavened loaves always lay +sprinkled with salt and incense, as a symbolical and +continual offering of the twelve tribes. Each Sabbath +this bread was renewed, and the loaves when removed +fell to the priests. Before the curtain of the holy of +holies the candlestick with seven lamps was always +burning, and every morning and evening the priests +of the temple were to offer a male sheep as a +burnt offering at the dwelling of Jehovah, and two +sheep on the morning and evening of the Sabbath. +The high priest had also to make an offering of corn +every morning and evening.<a name="FNanchor_392_392" id="FNanchor_392_392"></a><a href="#Footnote_392_392" class="fnanchor">[392]</a></p> + +<p>Beside the sacrifice, the law of the priests required +the observance of a whole series of regulations for +purity. It is not merely bodily cleanliness which +these laws required of the Israelites, nor is it merely a +natural abhorrence of certain disgusting objects which +lies at the base of these prescriptions; it is not +merely that to the simple mind physical and moral +purity appear identical, that moral evil is conceived +as a defilement of the body; nor are these regulations +merely intended to place a certain restriction +on natural states and impulses. These factors had +their weight, but beside them all a certain side of +nature and of the natural life was set apart as impure +and unholy. The laws of purity among the +Israelites are far less strict and comprehensive than +those of the Egyptians and the Indians; but if we +unite them with the ritual by which transgressions of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +these rules were done away and made good, they form +a system entering somewhat deeply into the life of the +nation.</p> + +<p>For the laity also the law required and prescribed +cleanliness of clothing. Stuffs of two kinds might not +be worn; pomegranates must be fixed on the corners +of the robe. The field and vineyard might not be +sown with two kinds of seed; nor could ox and ass be +yoked together before the plough.<a name="FNanchor_393_393" id="FNanchor_393_393"></a><a href="#Footnote_393_393" class="fnanchor">[393]</a> Certain animals +were unclean, and these might not be eaten. The +clean and permitted food was obtained from oxen, +sheep, goats, and in wild animals from deer, wild-goats, +and gazelles, and in fact from all animals which +ruminate and have cloven feet. Unclean are all flesh-eating +animals with paws, and more especially the +camel, the swine, the hare, and the coney. Of fish, +those only might be eaten which have fins and scales; +all fish resembling snakes, like eels, might not be +eaten. Most water-fowl are unclean; pigeons and +quails, on the other hand, were permitted food. All +creeping things, winged or not, with the exception of +locusts, are forbidden.<a name="FNanchor_394_394" id="FNanchor_394_394"></a><a href="#Footnote_394_394" class="fnanchor">[394]</a> Moreover, if the permitted +animals were not slain in the proper manner their +flesh was unclean; if it had "died of itself," or was +strangled, or torn by wild beasts,<a name="FNanchor_395_395" id="FNanchor_395_395"></a><a href="#Footnote_395_395" class="fnanchor">[395]</a> the use of the +blood of the animal was most strictly forbidden, "for +the life of all flesh is the blood;" even of the animals +which might be eaten the blood must be poured on the +earth and covered with earth.<a name="FNanchor_396_396" id="FNanchor_396_396"></a><a href="#Footnote_396_396" class="fnanchor">[396]</a> As the eating of forbidden +food made a man unclean, so also did all sexual +functions of man or woman, and all diseases connected +with these functions, including lying in child-bed. +Every one was also unclean on whose body was "a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +rising scab or bright spot," but above all the white +leprosy rendered the sufferer unclean.<a name="FNanchor_397_397" id="FNanchor_397_397"></a><a href="#Footnote_397_397" class="fnanchor">[397]</a> Finally, any +contact with the corpse of man or beast, whether +intentional or accidental, rendered a man unclean. +The house in which a man died, with all the utensils, +was unclean; any one who touched a grave or a human +bone was tainted.<a name="FNanchor_398_398" id="FNanchor_398_398"></a><a href="#Footnote_398_398" class="fnanchor">[398]</a></p> + +<p>The priestly regulations set forth in great detail +the ceremonies, the washings and sacrifices, by which +defilements were to be removed. The unclean person +must avoid the sanctuary, and even society and contact +with others, till the time of his purification, which in +serious defilements can only begin after the lapse of a +certain time. In the more grievous cases ordinary +water did not suffice for the cleansing, but from the +ashes of a red cow without blemish, which was slain as +a sin offering and entirely burnt, the priest prepared +a special water of purification with cedar wood and +bunches of hyssop. The reception of healed lepers +required the most careful preparations and most scrupulous +manipulations.</p> + +<p>Among the regulations of purity is reckoned the +custom of circumcision, which was practised among the +Israelites, and retained by the law. Yet the reason +for this peculiar custom, which according to the regulations +of the priests was performed on the eighth day +after birth, the first day of the second week of life,<a name="FNanchor_399_399" id="FNanchor_399_399"></a><a href="#Footnote_399_399" class="fnanchor">[399]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +seems to lie in other motives rather than in the desire +to remove a certain part of the male body which was +regarded as unclean. We saw above that according +to the old conception of the Israelites the firstborn +must be ransomed from Jehovah, that the life of all +boys, if it was to be secured, must be purchased from +Jehovah (I. 414, 448). Hence, if we may follow the +hint of an obscure narrative, it is not improbable that +circumcision of the reproductive member was a vicarious +blood-sacrifice for the life of the boy. When Moses +returned from the land of Midian to Egypt—so we +learn from the Ephraimitic text—"Jehovah met him +in the inn, and sought to kill him. Then Zipporah +took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, +and cast it at his feet, and he departed from him."<a name="FNanchor_400_400" id="FNanchor_400_400"></a><a href="#Footnote_400_400" class="fnanchor">[400]</a> +To the Israelites circumcision was a symbol of their +connection with the nation, of their covenant with +Jehovah and selection by him.</p> + +<p>The most important part of the purity of the +people of Jehovah was their maintenance of his worship, +the strict severance of Israel from the religion of +their neighbours and community with them. It was +now seen what influence living and mingling with the +Canaanites had exercised in the national worship, and +it was perceived what an attraction the Syrian rites +had presented for centuries to the nation, and what a +power they still had upon them. Hence even Moses +was said to have given the command to destroy the +altars and images of the Canaanites, to drive out +all the Canaanites, and make neither covenant nor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +marriage with them.<a name="FNanchor_401_401" id="FNanchor_401_401"></a><a href="#Footnote_401_401" class="fnanchor">[401]</a> The law forbade sacrifices to +Moloch under penalty of death; any one who did so +was to be stoned. Those who made offerings to other +gods than Jehovah were to be "accursed" (I. 499). +Wizards were also to be stoned.<a name="FNanchor_402_402" id="FNanchor_402_402"></a><a href="#Footnote_402_402" class="fnanchor">[402]</a> "Ye shall not round +the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the +corners of thy beard. Ye shall not make any cuttings +in your flesh for the dead, nor print any mark upon +you. Do not prostitute thy daughter to cause her to +play the harlot."<a name="FNanchor_403_403" id="FNanchor_403_403"></a><a href="#Footnote_403_403" class="fnanchor">[403]</a> All these are commands directed +against the manners, funeral customs, and religious +worship of the Canaanites. Strangers were not to be +received into the community and people of Israel; +nor could Israelites contract marriage with women +who were not Israelites; it is only the later law which +allows women captured in war to be taken into the +marriage bed.<a name="FNanchor_404_404" id="FNanchor_404_404"></a><a href="#Footnote_404_404" class="fnanchor">[404]</a> These are the "misanthropical" laws +of the Jews of which Tacitus speaks with such deep +aversion.</p> + +<p>The law assigned a far-reaching religious influence +to the priests. They alone could turn the favour of +Jehovah towards his people by correct and effective +sacrifices, and appease his wrath; they announced the +will of Jehovah by his oracle; in regard to diseases +and leprosy, they exercised police functions over the +whole nation by means of the regulations for cleanliness +and food; they could exclude any one at their +discretion from the sacrifices and, consequently, from +the community; and, in fine, they were in possession of +the skill and knowledge with which the people were +unacquainted. The priesthood arranged the chronology<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +and the festivals, they supervised weights and measures,<a name="FNanchor_405_405" id="FNanchor_405_405"></a><a href="#Footnote_405_405" class="fnanchor">[405]</a> +they knew the history of the people in past ages, and +their ancient covenant with the God of the ancestors. +From their knowledge of the ordinances of Jehovah +followed the claim which the priests made to watch +over the application of these ordinances in life, the +administration of law and justice. But at first this +claim was put forward modestly. The old regulations +about the right of blood in the time-honoured observances +of justice were added to the law of ritual when +this was written down (I. 385, 484); they were modified +here and there by the views of the priesthood, and in +some points essentially extended; and now, like the +ordinances for the places of sacrifice, mode of worship, +and purification, they stood opposed in many regulations +to real life as ideal but hardly practicable standards.</p> + +<p>According to the view of the priests Jehovah was the +true possessor of the land of Israel. He had given it +to his people for tenure and use. From this conception +the law derived very peculiar conclusions, which +might be of essential advantage for retaining the +property of the families in their hands, for keeping +up the family and their possessions, on which the +Hebrews laid weight, and for proprietors when in +debt. To aid the debtor against the creditor, the +poor against the rich, the labourer against him who +gave the work, the slave against his master, is in +other ways also the obvious object of the law.</p> + +<p>As all work must cease on the seventh day, the day +of Jehovah, so must there be a similar cessation in the +seventh year, which is therefore called the Sabbath +year. In every seventh year the Israelites were to +allow the land which Jehovah had let to them to lie +fallow, in honour of the real owner. In this year the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +land was not sowed, nor the vine-trees cut, nor the +wild beast driven from the field, every one must seek +on the fallow what had grown there without culture. +If this Sabbath of the seventh year was kept Jehovah +would send such increase on the preceding sixth year +that there should be no want.<a name="FNanchor_406_406" id="FNanchor_406_406"></a><a href="#Footnote_406_406" class="fnanchor">[406]</a> When this period of +seven fallow years had occurred seven times the circle +appeared to be complete, and from this point of view +the law ordained that at such a time everything +should return to the original position. Hence, when +the seventh Sabbath year was seven times repeated (in +the year of Jubilee) not only was agriculture stopped, +but all alienated property, with the buildings and +belongings, went back to the original owner or his +heirs.<a name="FNanchor_407_407" id="FNanchor_407_407"></a><a href="#Footnote_407_407" class="fnanchor">[407]</a> The consequence was that properties were +never really sold, but the use of them was assigned to +others, and hence, even before the year of Jubilee, the +owner could redeem his land by paying the value of +the produce which would be yielded before the year of +Jubilee.</p> + +<p>But the priests were far from being able to carry +out these extended requirements which proceeded from +the sanctity of the Sabbath, and from the conception +that the land of Israel belonged to Jehovah, and +every family held their property from Jehovah himself, +and which were intended to make plain the true +nature of the property of the Israelites. It was an +ideal picture which they set up, and hardly so much as +an attempt was made to carry it out. They could +reckon with more certainty on obedience to a law +which ordained that no interest was to be taken +from the poor, and no poor man's mantle was to be +taken in pledge.<a name="FNanchor_408_408" id="FNanchor_408_408"></a><a href="#Footnote_408_408" class="fnanchor">[408]</a> Nevertheless, the law of debt was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +severe. If the debtor could not pay his debt before a +fixed time the creditor was allowed to pay himself +with the moveable and fixed property of the debtor; +he could sell his wife and children, and even the +debtor himself, as slaves, or use him as a slave in his +own service.</p> + +<p>For the legal process we find in the law no more +than the regulation "that one witness shall not bear +evidence against a man for his death," <i>i. e.</i> that one +witness was not sufficient to establish a serious charge, +that "injustice shall not be done in judgment, that +the person of the small shall not be disregarded, nor +the person of the great honoured;" "according to +law thou shalt judge thy neighbour."<a name="FNanchor_409_409" id="FNanchor_409_409"></a><a href="#Footnote_409_409" class="fnanchor">[409]</a> For every +injury done to the person or property of another, the +guilty shall make reparation. We know already the old +ordinances which require life for life, eye for eye, and +tooth for tooth (I. 485). Injury to property and +possession was to be fully compensated; even the +injury done by his beast was to be compensated by the +master. Theft was merely punished by restoring four +or five times the value of the stolen goods. If the +thief could not pay this compensation he was handed +over to the injured man as a slave. But any one who +steals a man in order to keep him as a slave, or to sell +him, was to be punished with death.<a name="FNanchor_410_410" id="FNanchor_410_410"></a><a href="#Footnote_410_410" class="fnanchor">[410]</a> If a murder +was committed, the avenger of blood, <i>i. e.</i> the nearest +relative and heir of the murdered man, was to pursue +the murderer and slay him, wherever he met him, as +soon as it was established by two persons that he was +really guilty. The law even forbade the avenger of +blood to accept a ransom instead of taking the life of +the guilty, because the land was desecrated by the +blood of the murdered man, "and the land is not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +cleansed from the blood spilt, save by the blood +of the murderer." An exception was allowed only +when one man slew another by accident, and without +any fault of his own, and not out of hostility or +hatred. In this case the slayer was to fly into one +of the six cities which were marked out as cities of +refuge.<a name="FNanchor_411_411" id="FNanchor_411_411"></a><a href="#Footnote_411_411" class="fnanchor">[411]</a> From the elders of the city the pursuing +avenger of blood was to demand the delivery of the +slayer, and they were to decide whether the act was +done from hatred and hostility, or was merely an accident. +If the elders decided in favour of the first +alternative, they were to give up the guilty into the +hands of the avenger of blood, that he might die. In +the other case, the slayer must remain in the city of +refuge till the death of the high priest, and the +avenger was free from the guilt of bloodshed if before +that time he met him beyond the confines of the city +of refuge and slew him.<a name="FNanchor_412_412" id="FNanchor_412_412"></a><a href="#Footnote_412_412" class="fnanchor">[412]</a> The regulations of the +priests even went so far as to lay down a rule that if +a savage bull slew a man the bull was not only to be +stoned, and not eaten as an unclean animal, but his +master also must die, or at any rate pay a ransom, if +he knew that the animal was savage, and yet did not +control him.<a name="FNanchor_413_413" id="FNanchor_413_413"></a><a href="#Footnote_413_413" class="fnanchor">[413]</a></p> + +<p>Among the people of the East the wealthier men did +not content themselves with one wife. This custom +prevailed in Israel also. The law of the priests did +not oppose a custom which had an example and +justification in the narratives of the patriarchs. The +Israelites also followed the general custom of the East, +in purchasing the wife from her father, and recompensing +the father for the loss of a useful piece of +property—for the two working hands which he lost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> +when he gave away his daughter from his house. +Thus Jacob obtained the daughters of Laban by a +service of 14 years. The price of a wife purchased +for marriage from the father seems to have been from +15 to 50 shekels of silver (36<i>s.</i> to 125<i>s.</i>).<a name="FNanchor_414_414" id="FNanchor_414_414"></a><a href="#Footnote_414_414" class="fnanchor">[414]</a> The conclusion +of the marriage was marked by a special +festivity, after which the bride was carried by her +parents into the nuptial chamber. The prostitution of +maidens in honour of the goddess of birth, so common +among the neighbouring nations, was strictly forbidden +by the book of the law. The daughter of a +priest who began to prostitute herself was to be burnt +with fire, because she thus "defiled not herself only, +but also her father."<a name="FNanchor_415_415" id="FNanchor_415_415"></a><a href="#Footnote_415_415" class="fnanchor">[415]</a> The man who seduced a virgin +was compelled to purchase her for his wife, and even +if her father would not give her to wife he was to +pay him the usual purchase-money. Adultery was +punished by the law with even greater severity than +violations of chastity before marriage. The adulteress, +together with the man who had seduced her into a +violation of the marriage bond, were to be put to +death.<a name="FNanchor_416_416" id="FNanchor_416_416"></a><a href="#Footnote_416_416" class="fnanchor">[416]</a> If a man suspected his wife of unfaithfulness +without being able to prove it against her a divine +judgment was to decide the matter. The priest +was to lead man and wife before Jehovah. Then +he was to draw holy water in an earthen pitcher, +and throw dust swept from the floor of the dwelling +of Jehovah into this, and say to the woman, "If +thou hast not offended in secret against thy husband, +remain unpunished by this water of sorrow, that +bringeth the curse; but if thou hast sinned, may this +water go into thy body and cause thy thighs to rot,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +and may Jehovah make thee a curse and an oath +among thy people." The woman answered, "So be +it;" and when the priest had dipped in the water a +sheet written with the words of this curse, she was +compelled to drink it.<a name="FNanchor_417_417" id="FNanchor_417_417"></a><a href="#Footnote_417_417" class="fnanchor">[417]</a> Thus the woman was brought +to confession, or was freed from the suspicion of her +husband.</p> + +<p>Marriages were forbidden not only with strange +women, but also within certain degrees of relationship; +in which were included not only those close +degrees, to which there is a natural abhorrence, but +also such as did not exclude marriage in other nations. +In this matter the law of the priests proceeded from +the sound view that marriage did not belong to a +natural connection already in existence, but was intended +to found a new relationship. Not only was marriage +forbidden with a mother, with any wife or concubine +of the father, with a sister, a daughter, or granddaughter, +a widowed daughter-in-law; but also with +an aunt on the father's or mother's side, with a stepsister, +or sister by marriage, with a sister-in-law, or +wife's sister so long as the wife lived.<a name="FNanchor_418_418" id="FNanchor_418_418"></a><a href="#Footnote_418_418" class="fnanchor">[418]</a></p> + +<p>The husband purchased his wife as a chattel; hence +in marriage she continued to live in entire dependence +beside her husband. The husband could not commit +adultery as against his wife; it was the right of +another husband which was injured by the seduction +of the wife. It rested with the husband to take as +many wives as he chose beside his first wife, and as +many concubines from his handmaids and female +slaves as seemed good to him. The husband could +put away his wife if she "found no favour in his +eyes," while the wife, on her part, could not dissolve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> +the marriage, or demand a separation; she possessed +no legal will. Like the wife, the children stood to +the father in a relation of the most complete dependence. +Nor only did he sell his daughters for +marriage, he could give them as pledges, or even sell +them as slaves, but not out of the land;<a name="FNanchor_419_419" id="FNanchor_419_419"></a><a href="#Footnote_419_419" class="fnanchor">[419]</a> and though +the father was not allowed to sell the son as a slave, +he could turn him out of his house. Obedience and +reverence towards parents were impressed strongly on +children, even in the earliest regulations derived from +the time of Moses. The son who curses his father or +mother, or strikes them, must be put to death.<a name="FNanchor_420_420" id="FNanchor_420_420"></a><a href="#Footnote_420_420" class="fnanchor">[420]</a> The +first-born son is the heir of the house; after the death +of the father he is the head of the family, and succeeds +to his rights over the younger sons and the females. +It is not clear whether the law allows any claims to +the moveable inheritance to any of the sons besides +the eldest, to whom the immoveable property passed +absolutely; the sons of concubines and slaves had no +right of inheritance if there were sons in existence by +legitimate marriage. Daughters could only inherit if +there were no sons. The heiress could not marry +beyond the tribe, in order that the inheritance might +at least fall to the lot of a tribesman. If there were +neither sons nor daughters, the brother of the father +was the heir, and then the uncles of the father.<a name="FNanchor_421_421" id="FNanchor_421_421"></a><a href="#Footnote_421_421" class="fnanchor">[421]</a></p> + +<p>The law attempts to fix and ameliorate the position +of day-labourers and slaves. "The hire of the labourer +shall not remain with thee till the morrow."<a name="FNanchor_422_422" id="FNanchor_422_422"></a><a href="#Footnote_422_422" class="fnanchor">[422]</a> The +number of slaves appears to have been considerable. +They were partly captives taken in war, and partly +strangers purchased in the way of trade; partly He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>brews +who, when detected in thieving, could not pay +the compensation, or who could not pay their debts, +or Hebrew daughters sold by their parents. The +marriages of slaves increased their number. The law +required that slaves should rest on the Sabbath day;<a name="FNanchor_423_423" id="FNanchor_423_423"></a><a href="#Footnote_423_423" class="fnanchor">[423]</a> +and even the oldest regulations restrict the right of +the master over the life of his slave by laying down +the rule that the slave shall be free if his master has +inflicted a severe wound upon him, and that the master +must be punished if he has slain his slave.<a name="FNanchor_424_424" id="FNanchor_424_424"></a><a href="#Footnote_424_424" class="fnanchor">[424]</a> The slave +who was a born Israelite might be ransomed by his +kindred, if they could pay the sum required.<a name="FNanchor_425_425" id="FNanchor_425_425"></a><a href="#Footnote_425_425" class="fnanchor">[425]</a> The +Hebrew slave was treated by his master as a hired +labourer, and hind.<a name="FNanchor_426_426" id="FNanchor_426_426"></a><a href="#Footnote_426_426" class="fnanchor">[426]</a> When the Hebrew slave had +served six years his master was compelled to set him +free without ransom in the seventh year. A Hebrew +could only remain in slavery for ever when, after six +years of service, he voluntarily declared that he wished +to remain with his master; then, as a sign that he +permanently belonged to the house of his master, his +ear was pierced on the door-post with an awl.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_368_368" id="Footnote_368_368"></a><a href="#FNanchor_368_368"><span class="label">[368]</span></a> Exod. xiii. 2; Numbers iii. 5-51; viii. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_369_369" id="Footnote_369_369"></a><a href="#FNanchor_369_369"><span class="label">[369]</span></a> Numbers xviii. 20-26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_370_370" id="Footnote_370_370"></a><a href="#FNanchor_370_370"><span class="label">[370]</span></a> Vol. i. 488, 502.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_371_371" id="Footnote_371_371"></a><a href="#FNanchor_371_371"><span class="label">[371]</span></a> Numbers xviii. 8-20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_372_372" id="Footnote_372_372"></a><a href="#FNanchor_372_372"><span class="label">[372]</span></a> Levit. xxvii. 29-33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_373_373" id="Footnote_373_373"></a><a href="#FNanchor_373_373"><span class="label">[373]</span></a> Genesis xiv. 20; xxviii. 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_374_374" id="Footnote_374_374"></a><a href="#FNanchor_374_374"><span class="label">[374]</span></a> Exod. xxx. 11-16; xxxviii. 25-28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_375_375" id="Footnote_375_375"></a><a href="#FNanchor_375_375"><span class="label">[375]</span></a> Levit. xxi. 16-21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_376_376" id="Footnote_376_376"></a><a href="#FNanchor_376_376"><span class="label">[376]</span></a> Levit. xxi. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_377_377" id="Footnote_377_377"></a><a href="#FNanchor_377_377"><span class="label">[377]</span></a> Exod. xx. 26.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_378_378" id="Footnote_378_378"></a><a href="#FNanchor_378_378"><span class="label">[378]</span></a> Exod. xxviii. 31-35; xxxix. 22-27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_379_379" id="Footnote_379_379"></a><a href="#FNanchor_379_379"><span class="label">[379]</span></a> Exod. xxviii. 4-30, 36-43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_380_380" id="Footnote_380_380"></a><a href="#FNanchor_380_380"><span class="label">[380]</span></a> 1 Sam. xx. 5, 24, 27, and many passages in the prophets; Numbers +xxviii. 11; xxix. 6; Ewald, "Alterthümer," s. 360.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_381_381" id="Footnote_381_381"></a><a href="#FNanchor_381_381"><span class="label">[381]</span></a> Exod. xii. 15-19; Numbers ix. 13; xxviii. 16-24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_382_382" id="Footnote_382_382"></a><a href="#FNanchor_382_382"><span class="label">[382]</span></a> Levit. xxii. 9-21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_383_383" id="Footnote_383_383"></a><a href="#FNanchor_383_383"><span class="label">[383]</span></a> At the division of the kingdom Jeroboam is said to have changed +this festival to the fifteenth day of the eighth month; 1 Kings xii. 33.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_384_384" id="Footnote_384_384"></a><a href="#FNanchor_384_384"><span class="label">[384]</span></a> <i>E. g.</i> 1 Sam. i. 3; 1 Kings xii. 27-32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_385_385" id="Footnote_385_385"></a><a href="#FNanchor_385_385"><span class="label">[385]</span></a> Exod. xxiii. 13; xxxiv. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_386_386" id="Footnote_386_386"></a><a href="#FNanchor_386_386"><span class="label">[386]</span></a> Levit. xxiii. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_387_387" id="Footnote_387_387"></a><a href="#FNanchor_387_387"><span class="label">[387]</span></a> Levit. xvi., xxiii. 26-32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_388_388" id="Footnote_388_388"></a><a href="#FNanchor_388_388"><span class="label">[388]</span></a> Levit. xvii. 3-5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_389_389" id="Footnote_389_389"></a><a href="#FNanchor_389_389"><span class="label">[389]</span></a> Levit. i-vi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_390_390" id="Footnote_390_390"></a><a href="#FNanchor_390_390"><span class="label">[390]</span></a> Levit. vii. 23-34, and in other passages.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_391_391" id="Footnote_391_391"></a><a href="#FNanchor_391_391"><span class="label">[391]</span></a> <i>Supr.</i> p. 183. Exod. xxx. 1-9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_392_392" id="Footnote_392_392"></a><a href="#FNanchor_392_392"><span class="label">[392]</span></a> Levit. vi. 12, 13; ix. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_393_393" id="Footnote_393_393"></a><a href="#FNanchor_393_393"><span class="label">[393]</span></a> Numbers xv. 38; Levit. xix. 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_394_394" id="Footnote_394_394"></a><a href="#FNanchor_394_394"><span class="label">[394]</span></a> Levit. xi. 1-44.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_395_395" id="Footnote_395_395"></a><a href="#FNanchor_395_395"><span class="label">[395]</span></a> Levit. xvii. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_396_396" id="Footnote_396_396"></a><a href="#FNanchor_396_396"><span class="label">[396]</span></a> Levit. xvii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_397_397" id="Footnote_397_397"></a><a href="#FNanchor_397_397"><span class="label">[397]</span></a> Levit. xiii., xiv.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_398_398" id="Footnote_398_398"></a><a href="#FNanchor_398_398"><span class="label">[398]</span></a> The spoils taken in war are also to be purified; Numbers xxxi. +20-24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_399_399" id="Footnote_399_399"></a><a href="#FNanchor_399_399"><span class="label">[399]</span></a> Levit. xii. 3. The Arabian tribes in the north of the peninsula, +who were nearly related to the Hebrews, observed this custom, and +the Phenicians also, while the Philistines did not observe it; Herod. 2, +104. In Genesis (xxi. 4; xvii. 12-14, 25) it is expressly mentioned +that Ishmael was not circumcised till his thirteenth year, but Isaac was +circumcised at the proper time, on the eighth day. This shows that +circumcision was a very ancient custom among the Israelites, and at +the same time indicates that among the Arabs the boys were not circumcised +till later years, which may have been the case in the older +times among the Hebrews also. Cf. Joshua v. 1-9; Joseph. "Antiq." +1, 12, 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_400_400" id="Footnote_400_400"></a><a href="#FNanchor_400_400"><span class="label">[400]</span></a> Exod. iv. 24; cf. De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," s. 282.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_401_401" id="Footnote_401_401"></a><a href="#FNanchor_401_401"><span class="label">[401]</span></a> Numbers xxxiii. 50-56; Exod. xxiii. 29 ff; xxxiv. 12-16; +Vol. i. 500.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_402_402" id="Footnote_402_402"></a><a href="#FNanchor_402_402"><span class="label">[402]</span></a> Levit. xviii. 21; xx. 2, 27; Exod. xxii. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_403_403" id="Footnote_403_403"></a><a href="#FNanchor_403_403"><span class="label">[403]</span></a> Levit. xix. 27-29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_404_404" id="Footnote_404_404"></a><a href="#FNanchor_404_404"><span class="label">[404]</span></a> Deut. xxi. 11-14; cf. Numbers xii. 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_405_405" id="Footnote_405_405"></a><a href="#FNanchor_405_405"><span class="label">[405]</span></a> Levit. xix. 35, 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_406_406" id="Footnote_406_406"></a><a href="#FNanchor_406_406"><span class="label">[406]</span></a> Exod. xxiii. 10, 11; Levit. xxv. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_407_407" id="Footnote_407_407"></a><a href="#FNanchor_407_407"><span class="label">[407]</span></a> Levit. xxv. 24-31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_408_408" id="Footnote_408_408"></a><a href="#FNanchor_408_408"><span class="label">[408]</span></a> Exod. xxii. 25-27; Levit. xxv. 35-38.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_409_409" id="Footnote_409_409"></a><a href="#FNanchor_409_409"><span class="label">[409]</span></a> Numbers xxxv. 30; Levit. xix. 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_410_410" id="Footnote_410_410"></a><a href="#FNanchor_410_410"><span class="label">[410]</span></a> Exod. xxi. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_411_411" id="Footnote_411_411"></a><a href="#FNanchor_411_411"><span class="label">[411]</span></a> Exod. xxi. 12-14; Numbers xxxv. 31; Joshua xx. 7-9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_412_412" id="Footnote_412_412"></a><a href="#FNanchor_412_412"><span class="label">[412]</span></a> Numbers xxxv. 25-28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_413_413" id="Footnote_413_413"></a><a href="#FNanchor_413_413"><span class="label">[413]</span></a> Exod. xxi. 28-36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_414_414" id="Footnote_414_414"></a><a href="#FNanchor_414_414"><span class="label">[414]</span></a> Exod. xxi. 32; Hosea iii. 2; cf. Deuteron. xxii. 19, 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_415_415" id="Footnote_415_415"></a><a href="#FNanchor_415_415"><span class="label">[415]</span></a> Levit. xix. 29; xxi. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_416_416" id="Footnote_416_416"></a><a href="#FNanchor_416_416"><span class="label">[416]</span></a> Levit. xviii. 20; xx. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_417_417" id="Footnote_417_417"></a><a href="#FNanchor_417_417"><span class="label">[417]</span></a> Numbers v. 5-31.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_418_418" id="Footnote_418_418"></a><a href="#FNanchor_418_418"><span class="label">[418]</span></a> Levit. xviii.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_419_419" id="Footnote_419_419"></a><a href="#FNanchor_419_419"><span class="label">[419]</span></a> Exod. xxi. 7, 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_420_420" id="Footnote_420_420"></a><a href="#FNanchor_420_420"><span class="label">[420]</span></a> Exod. xxi. 17; Levit. xx. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_421_421" id="Footnote_421_421"></a><a href="#FNanchor_421_421"><span class="label">[421]</span></a> Numbers xxxvi. 1-11; Tobit vii. 10; Numbers xxvii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_422_422" id="Footnote_422_422"></a><a href="#FNanchor_422_422"><span class="label">[422]</span></a> Levit. xix. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_423_423" id="Footnote_423_423"></a><a href="#FNanchor_423_423"><span class="label">[423]</span></a> Exod. xx. 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_424_424" id="Footnote_424_424"></a><a href="#FNanchor_424_424"><span class="label">[424]</span></a> Exod. xxi. 20, 21, 26; Vol. i. 483.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_425_425" id="Footnote_425_425"></a><a href="#FNanchor_425_425"><span class="label">[425]</span></a> Levit. xxv. 47 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_426_426" id="Footnote_426_426"></a><a href="#FNanchor_426_426"><span class="label">[426]</span></a> Levit. xxv. 39-41.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>JUDAH AND ISRAEL.</h3> + + +<p>The monarchy in Israel was established by the people +to check the destruction and ruin with which the land +and population were threatened by the incursions of the +neighbours on the east, by the dangerous arms of the +Philistines. The first attempt to set up a monarchy in +connection with the cities of the land was soon wrecked +and swept away, without leaving a trace behind. In +spite of his support in the wishes of the great majority of +the Israelites, the monarchy of Saul had not succeeded +in establishing itself securely by its simple and popular +conduct. It was not till the monarchy had fortified the +royal city and palace, established a body-guard and +standing troops, magistrates and tax-gatherers, and +had entered into close relation with the priests, that +it obtained security and permanence. It had indeed +fulfilled its mission and saved Israel; it had won +power, glory, and respect for the nation, and imparted +to it lofty impulses of the most important kind. It +had at the same time gone far beyond the intention +of its foundation. It was now a Sultanate, which, by +filling the land with Syrian trade and customs, and +allowing the growth of Syrian modes of worship, +threatened in one direction the nationality with the +same dangers which it had removed in another.</p> + +<p>The transformation which the manner of life in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +Israel underwent during the reigns of David and +Solomon was so thorough that even under David a +reaction set in. If in the time before David and +Solomon the Israelites had led an unrestrained life, +they were now ruled by a severe monarchy. In the +place of the patriarchal authority of the elders and +heads of tribes, whose decisions they had formerly +sought, came the rule of royal officers, who could +exercise their power capriciously enough. If hitherto +they had lived unmolested, every man on his own plot, +beneath his vine and fig tree, they were now compelled +to pay taxes and do task-work. After the burdens Solomon +had laid upon the people, this reaction must have +been stronger than at the time when Absalom's rebellion +shattered the throne of his father. Moreover, Solomon's +reign, though it lasted full 40 years, did not give the +same impression of vigorous power as David's strong +arm had done before him, and the monarchy was not +so old, nor so firmly established as an institution, that +the Israelites could not remember the times which +preceded it.</p> + +<p>No doubt the tribe of Judah could bear the new +burdens, because it enjoyed the advantages of the +new polity. The king belonged to this tribe; the +temple and metropolis were in its territory. But the +interests of the other tribes were the more deeply +injured. Above all, the tribe of Ephraim must have +felt itself degraded. In this tribe the memory of +Joshua still lived, the remembrance of the conquest of +the land; once it had held the foremost place, and on +its soil the ark of Jehovah had stood. Now the pre-eminence +was with Judah, the tribe which had long been +subject to the Philistines; the sacred ark stood at +Jerusalem, and the ancient places of sacrifice were +neglected. Of the feeling of the tribe of Ephraim we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +have indubitable evidence in an attempt at rebellion +at the beginning of the last decade of the reign of +Solomon; an attempt, it is true, which was quickly +suppressed.<a name="FNanchor_427_427" id="FNanchor_427_427"></a><a href="#Footnote_427_427" class="fnanchor">[427]</a></p> + +<p>When Solomon died, in the year 953 <small>B.C.</small>, it was +not the contests between his sons or the intrigues +of the harem which now threatened the succession. +Rehoboam, Solomon's eldest son, who was born to +him by Naamah the Ammonite, was now in his forty-second +year, and thus in the vigour of age. This +vigour he needed. At the news of Solomon's death +the people gathered to their old place of assembly at +Shechem. This self-collected assembly showed that +the majority of Israel were mindful of their right to +elect the king. The greatest circumspection and tact +were needed to avert the approaching storm. Rehoboam +saw that he must not look idly on. He must +either attempt to disperse the assembled multitude by +force and maintain the crown by arms, or he must treat +with it. Hence he set forth to Shechem, accompanied +by the counsellors of his father. A deputation of the +people met him, and said, "Thy father made our yoke +grievous; now therefore make thou the grievous service +of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon +us, lighter, and we will serve thee." Rehoboam +promised to make an answer on the third day. He +assembled his counsellors. The old men among them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>—so +all the older text of the Books of Kings tells +us—advised compliance, and recommended him to +speak kindly to the people; the younger, who had +grown up with the new king, and were accustomed +to flatter him, and desired unrestricted power over the +people, urged him to reject strongly such claims and +such rebellion. Rehoboam was foolish enough to +follow advice which could not but be ruinous. +Although he can hardly have said to the people the +words which the Books of Kings put in his mouth—"My +father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise +you with scorpions,"—he rejected the demand of +the Israelites. Then a cry arose in the assembly of the +people, "We have no part in David, nor any inheritance +in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel!" +When it was too late Rehoboam attempted to soothe +the enraged multitude. He sent his task-master, +Adoniram, to them, but the people slew the ill-chosen +messenger by stoning him to death. Nothing +remained for Rehoboam but to mount his chariot in +haste and fly to Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>The grievous distress which 100 years before had +caused the nation at Gilgal to proclaim Saul king +with one consent, and which after the death of +Ishbosheth had united the tribes round David at +Hebron, had long passed away. The danger which +division had once brought upon Israel had faded into +the distance, and was forgotten in the security which +had prevailed in the last generations against the neighbours +on every side. Nothing was thought of but the +immediate evil and the coming oppression, if the +monarchy went further on the lines on which it was +treading. At the time of Solomon an Ephraimite named +Jeroboam, the son of Nabath (Nebat) of Zereda, who is +spoken of as "a brave man," was a second overseer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +among the task-labourers. As he was skilful in the +discharge of his duties, Solomon raised him to be the +overseer of the task-work of his tribe. This office, +which made him known to all his tribe, Jeroboam must +have discharged in such a way as to gain the favour +rather than the aversion of the tribesmen. We are +told in a few words that "Jeroboam raised his hand +against Solomon," and that "Solomon sought to slay +him." Jeroboam escaped to Egypt, and found refuge +with the Pharaoh Shishak (about 960 <small>B.C.</small>). Immediately +after Solomon's death Jeroboam received a message +from his tribesmen to return. Rehoboam's refusal +to carry on a milder form of government decided the +choice of Jeroboam as king. That choice declared sufficiently +the degree of aversion which the multitude bore +to the house of David and the monarchy at Jerusalem.</p> + +<p>The chief city, the tribe of Judah, the tribe of +Simeon, so long united in close connection with Judah, +and a part of the tribe of Benjamin, whose land lay +immediately at the gates of Jerusalem, remained true +to the son of Solomon. From the tribe of Judah the +rise and dominion of David had its commencement; +to them that dominion was now returned, and was again +confined within its early limits. The question was +whether Rehoboam could achieve what his grandfather +David had succeeded in doing—could regain the +dominion over the whole land from Judah. Rehoboam +thought, no doubt, that he could reduce by the power +of his arms the tribes which had withdrawn themselves +from his dominion. He armed and assembled +the warriors of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. If +he soon abandoned this intention, the reason hardly +lies in the warning of the prophet Semaiah, as the +prophetic revision maintains in a passage interpolated +into the annals,—we are told at the same time that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +there had been "a contention between Rehoboam and +Jeroboam from the first,"<a name="FNanchor_428_428" id="FNanchor_428_428"></a><a href="#Footnote_428_428" class="fnanchor">[428]</a>—but in the fact that a +mightier enemy came upon Rehoboam.</p> + +<p>From the time when the Hebrews won their abode +in Canaan, they had not been molested in any way +from Egypt, where the rulers since the reign of Ramses +III. rested quietly by the Nile. Solomon, as we saw +(p. 180), entered into friendly relations with Egypt, +and even into affinity. But in the later years of his +reign a new dynasty ascended the throne of Egypt in +the person of Shishak, which took up a different +attitude. With him Jeroboam had found refuge +from the pursuit of Solomon. It was to Jeroboam's +interest, no less than Shishak's, that this connection +should continue after Jeroboam became king of Israel. +It is not improbable that Shishak made war upon +Rehoboam in order to secure Jeroboam in his new +dominion. Whether Jeroboam sought the help of +Egypt or not, why should not Egypt have availed +herself of the breach in the Israelitish kingdom which +had reached such a height in Syria under David +and Solomon, and forced her way even to the borders +of Egypt? Why should she not establish the division +and the weakness of Israel? At the same time, in +all probability, a cheap reputation for military valour +might be obtained, and the treasures of Solomon seized. +In the year 949 <small>B.C.</small>, the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, +the Pharaoh invaded Judah. He is said to "have +come with 1200 chariots, and 60,000 horsemen; and +the people who accompanied him from Egypt, Libya, +and Ethiopia were beyond number." Rehoboam could +not withstand the power of Shishak; one city after +another, including Jerusalem, opened her gates to the +Pharaoh. The glory of Solomon was past and gone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +Shishak took away the treasures of the temple and +the royal palace, and the gold shields which Solomon +had caused to be made for the body-guard. There +was no thought of a lasting conquest and the subjugation +of Syria; the object was merely to weaken, +plunder, and reduce Judah. When this object was +obtained the Pharaoh turned back to Egypt. On the +outer walls of the temple of Karnak we may see the +gigantic form of Shishak, who brandishes the weapon +of victory over a crowd of conquered enemies; 133 +bearded figures are to be seen, with their hands tied +behind them, whom Ammon and Mut are leading +before Shishak. The lower part of these figures is +covered by the name-shields. They represent the +places in the kingdom of Judah, which in equal number +were taken or were taxed by the Pharaoh. Of +these 133 name-shields about 100 are still legible, but +few names are found among these which correspond to +known places in Judæa. We may perhaps recognise +Jehud, Ajalon, Beth-Horon, Gibeon, Beeroth, Rimmon +in the north of Judah or in Benjamin; Engedi and +Adullam in the east; Lachish, Adoraim, Mareshah, +Kegilah (Keilah), and some other places in the centre +of Judah. As there is scarcely one among these names +which can with certainty be apportioned to the kingdom +of Israel, the conclusion may naturally be drawn +that the campaign was made with a favourable regard +to Jeroboam, and was confined to Judah.<a name="FNanchor_429_429" id="FNanchor_429_429"></a><a href="#Footnote_429_429" class="fnanchor">[429]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was a heavy blow which had befallen the little +kingdom, and, what was still worse, Jeroboam could +avail himself of it, and the Pharaoh could repeat his +raid. Rehoboam saw that the only way to increase +the power of resistance in his kingdom and prevent its +overthrow was to strengthen the fortifications of the +metropolis, and change all the larger towns in the land +into fortresses. He carried this plan out, we are told, +so far as he could, and provided them with garrisons, +arms, supplies, and governors. Fifteen of these are +mentioned in the Chronicles. The dominion over the +Edomites, whom Saul fought with and David overcame, +and who attempted in vain to break loose under Solomon, +was maintained by Rehoboam.</p> + +<p>After the brief reign of Abiam, the son of Rehoboam +(932-929 <small>B.C.</small>), Asa, the brother of Abiam, ascended +the throne of Judah. In his time, according to the +Chronicles, Serah, the Cushite, invaded Judah with a +great army, and forced his way as far as Maresa; but +in the fifteenth year of his reign Asa defeated the +Cushites, and sacrificed 700 oxen and 7000 sheep out +of the booty to Jehovah at Jerusalem. The Books +of the Kings know nothing but the fact that Asa was +engaged in constant warfare with Baasha, the second +successor of Jeroboam, king of Israel (925-901 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_430_430" id="FNanchor_430_430"></a><a href="#Footnote_430_430" class="fnanchor">[430]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +Baasha forced his way as far as Ramah, <i>i. e.</i> within two +leagues of Jerusalem. This place he took and fortified, +and was now enabled to press heavily on the metropolis +of Judah, by checking their trade and cutting off their +supplies. Asa's military power does not seem to have +been sufficient to relieve him from this intolerable +position. He "took all the silver and gold that +remained in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and +in the treasures of the king's house," and sent it to +Benhadad, who was now king of Damascus in the +room of Rezon the opponent of Solomon, and urged him +to break his covenant with Baasha, and make war upon +him that he might leave Judah at peace. Benhadad +agreed to his request. He invaded Israel. As Jeroboam +had summoned Egypt against Judah, Judah was +now joined by Damascus against Israel. Baasha abandoned +his war against Israel, and Asa caused the +wood and the stones of the fortifications to be hastily +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>carried away from Ramah, and with this material he +entrenched Gebah and Mizpeh against Israel.<a name="FNanchor_431_431" id="FNanchor_431_431"></a><a href="#Footnote_431_431" class="fnanchor">[431]</a></p> + +<p>An addition in the first Book of Kings remarks +that Asa removed the harlots and the idols out of the +land, that he threw down the image of Astarte, which +his mother had set up, and burnt it in the valley of +the Kidron.<a name="FNanchor_432_432" id="FNanchor_432_432"></a><a href="#Footnote_432_432" class="fnanchor">[432]</a> This was a healthy reaction against the +foreign rites which had crept in in the last years of +Solomon's reign. Asa's son Jehoshaphat (873-848 +<small>B.C.</small>) went further in this direction. The remainder of +the harlots were removed from the land; he entered +into peaceful relations with Israel. The supremacy +over the Edomites was maintained, and they were +governed by viceroys of the king of Judah.<a name="FNanchor_433_433" id="FNanchor_433_433"></a><a href="#Footnote_433_433" class="fnanchor">[433]</a> We +find that the Edomites sent contingents to him; and +his sway extended as far as the north-east point of +the Red Sea. Here, at Elath, as in Solomon's time, +great ships were built for the voyage to Ophir.<a name="FNanchor_434_434" id="FNanchor_434_434"></a><a href="#Footnote_434_434" class="fnanchor">[434]</a></p> + +<p>The ten tribes who had set Jeroboam at their head +were the mass of the people both in numbers and +extent of territory. They might hope to carry on the +kingdom, they preserved the name of Israel; while in +the south there was little more than one powerful tribe +separated from the rest. Shechem, the ancient metropolis +of the tribe of Ephraim, the place at which +the crown was transferred to Jeroboam, was the residence +of the new king. When Jerusalem was no +longer the chief metropolis of the kingdom, the temple +there could not any longer be the place of worship for +all the tribes. It would be nothing less then recognising +the supremacy of Rehoboam if the tribes continued +to go up to Jerusalem to the great sacrifices<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> +and festivals. The places of worship for the new +kingdom must be within its own borders. Jeroboam +consecrated afresh the old place of sacrifice, Bethel, on +the southern border of the territory of Ephraim, the +place where Abraham had offered sacrifice, and Jacob +had rested (I. 390, 408); and on the northern boundaries +of his kingdom he consecrated the place of sacrifice at +Dan, which the Danites had once founded on taking +Laish from the Sidonians (p. 94). At both places he +set up a golden calf to Jehovah, and instituted priests; +and, as we are told, the Israelites came like one man to +the feasts of Dan, and sacrificed at Bethel, where the +sanctuary also contained a treasury. Of other actions +of Jeroboam, we only know that he built, <i>i. e.</i> fortified, +Peniel in the land beyond Jordan; no doubt in order to +be able to maintain his supremacy over the Ammonites. +The severe blow which had fallen on the kingdom of +Judah by the incursion of Shishak secured him from +any serious attack on the part of Rehoboam. The +petty warfare on the borders of Judah and Israel +naturally did not cease during his reign (p. 231).</p> + +<p>Nadab, the son of Jeroboam (927-925 <small>B.C.</small>), +marched against the Philistines in order to recover +from them Gibbethon in the land of the southern +Danites. Here in the camp at Gibbethon he was slain +by Baasha, one of the captains of his army, and the +whole race of Jeroboam was destroyed. Baasha ascended +the throne, which Nadab had held for two years only. +He took up his abode at Tirzah, a pleasantly-situated +place north of Shechem.<a name="FNanchor_435_435" id="FNanchor_435_435"></a><a href="#Footnote_435_435" class="fnanchor">[435]</a> The division of the +kingdom of Israel and its consequent debility could not +but appear a desirable event to the kingdom of Damascus, +which, though overthrown by David, was restored +by Rezon in Solomon's time (p. 179.) Attacks of Judah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +on Israel could not be supported by Damascus, because +they might lead to a reunion, and for the same reason +Israel could not be allowed to subjugate Judah. This +seems to have been the reason which induced Benhadad +of Damascus to accede to the request of Asa, king +of Judah, when Baasha had entrenched Ramah against +Jerusalem. Benhadad's invasion of the north of Israel, +the desolation of the district on the Upper Jordan and +the lake of Genesareth,<a name="FNanchor_436_436" id="FNanchor_436_436"></a><a href="#Footnote_436_436" class="fnanchor">[436]</a> gave relief to the oppressed kingdom +of Judah (p. 235). Baasha's son Elah was slain at +a banquet at Tirzah, after a short reign (901-899 <small>B.C.</small>), +by Zimri, one of the captains of his army, who seized +the crown. But the army of Israel, which was again +encamped at Gibbethon, on hearing of what had taken +place at Tirzah, elected Omri, their leader, king. Omri +broke up the siege of Gibbethon, marched to Tirzah, +and took the city. Zimri despaired of maintaining himself +in the royal castle, and burnt himself in it. Yet +Omri was not master of Israel. Half of the people +joined Tibni, the son of Ginath. Omri gradually gained +the upper hand, till Tibni's death decided the matter +in his favour.</p> + +<p>With the elevation of Omri (899-875 <small>B.C.</small>) a third +dynasty ascended the throne of Israel, while in Judah +the crown continued peacefully in the family of David. +Like Baasha, Omri founded a new residence; he removed +his seat from Tirzah to Mount Shomron, and here built +the new city of that name (Samaria). Nothing is said +of the wars of Omri against Judah. To Benhadad of +Damascus he seems to have lost some towns in the land +of Gilead.<a name="FNanchor_437_437" id="FNanchor_437_437"></a><a href="#Footnote_437_437" class="fnanchor">[437]</a> That he ruled with address, vigour, and a +strong hand is clear from the inscription on a monument +which Mesha, king of Moab, caused to be erected in +his city of Dibon (east of the Dead Sea). This tells us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +that Omri and his son after him held Moab in subjection +for 40 years; that not only was the city of Nebo +garrisoned by the Israelites, but Omri even took Medabah, +<i>i. e.</i> the region south of Nebo towards Dibon, and +occupied it, and "oppressed Moab for a long time," +because "Camos, the god of the Moabites, was angry +at his land."<a name="FNanchor_438_438" id="FNanchor_438_438"></a><a href="#Footnote_438_438" class="fnanchor">[438]</a> As Mesha regained his independence after +the death of Ahab, the son of Omri, the more severe +subjection of the Moabites by Omri must have begun +in the year 893 <small>B.C.</small> Omri seems to have entered into +friendly relations with Ethbaal, king of Tyre (917-885 +<small>B.C.</small>), or his successor Balezor (885-877 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_439_439" id="FNanchor_439_439"></a><a href="#Footnote_439_439" class="fnanchor">[439]</a> +Omri's authority and reputation must have been considerable, +since even after the overthrow of his house, +in the second half of the ninth century <small>B.C.</small>, the kings +of Assyria speak of the king of Israel as "the son of +Omri," and the kingdom of Israel as the "house of Omri."</p> + +<p>Ahab, Omri's son (875-853 <small>B.C.</small>), maintained the +power which his father had won. The Books of Kings +tell us that Mesha, king of Moab, sent him yearly the +wool of 100,000 sheep and lambs,<a name="FNanchor_440_440" id="FNanchor_440_440"></a><a href="#Footnote_440_440" class="fnanchor">[440]</a> and Mesha himself +tells us that Omri was followed by his son, who +also said, "I will oppress Moab;" and Israel "dwelt at +Medabah for 40 years in the days of Omri and Ahab." +That the Ammonites also were subject to Ahab seems +a just conclusion from the inscriptions of Shalmanesar, +king of Assyria.<a name="FNanchor_441_441" id="FNanchor_441_441"></a><a href="#Footnote_441_441" class="fnanchor">[441]</a> With Tyre Ahab was in close connection. +His wife Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, +king of Tyre, the aunt of Mutton, the contemporary +king of Tyre (p. 268). He was on friendly terms +with Judah, which began to rise again (as we saw)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +under the rule of Jehoshaphat. Jehoram, the son of +Jehoshaphat, was married to Athaliah, the daughter of +Ahab and Jezebel.<a name="FNanchor_442_442" id="FNanchor_442_442"></a><a href="#Footnote_442_442" class="fnanchor">[442]</a> On the vine-clad hills of Jezreel +Ahab built himself a palace adorned with ivory, after +the pattern of the Phenician princes.<a name="FNanchor_443_443" id="FNanchor_443_443"></a><a href="#Footnote_443_443" class="fnanchor">[443]</a></p> + +<p>The rites of the neighbouring tribes, the worship of +Astarte, Camos, and Milcom, which found their way +into the Hebrew tribes, and even to Jerusalem in the +last years of Solomon's reign, were again removed in +Judah, as we have seen (p. 235), under the reigns of +Asa and Jehoshaphat. For Israel the dedication of +the places of worship at Bethel and Dan to Jehovah, +which Jeroboam instituted, in spite of the erection +of the image of Jehovah, marked a reaction against +the rites of the Canaanites. But the connection +into which Ahab entered with Tyre brought it about +that the gods of the Phenicians were again looked +on with reverence in Israel. Induced by Jezebel, his +Tyrian wife, so we are told, Ahab caused a temple +to be erected in Samaria, which his father had built, +to Baal of Tyre, at which 450 priests maintained the +worship; and a temple was also dedicated to Astarte, +which gave occupation to 400 priests.<a name="FNanchor_444_444" id="FNanchor_444_444"></a><a href="#Footnote_444_444" class="fnanchor">[444]</a></p> + +<p>It was an ancient custom among the Hebrews, as we +have already found more than once, to inquire of Jehovah +what should be done. In Israel the custom of thus +making inquiry was more widely spread than in other +nations. Before any undertaking inquiry was made of +his will. Jehovah's voice decided the sentence in the +judgment court. It was usual in all cases and times to +appeal to the decision of Jehovah. Question and answer +were made, as has been remarked, by the priests casting +lots before the sacred ark, the altars, and the images<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +of Jehovah. If a criminal had to be discovered, the +tribes and races came forward, and he was marked out +by the lot cast before Jehovah. We saw that Saul +inquired of Jehovah on his campaign (p. 124). David +undertook nothing without inquiring of the image of +Jehovah which he carried about with him (p. 139). +If any one wished to mark out the wisdom of any +advice, it was said, "It is as if Jehovah had +answered." But beside the priests who cast the lots, +there were men who saw into what was hidden, and +knew the future. To these soothsayers men went as +well as to the lot before Jehovah; they desired to know +whether there would be rain or drought, where a lost +beast was to be found; they inquired for remedies for +disease. The soothsayers even pronounced sentences +at law, and their sentence was then as the sentence of +Jehovah. It was Jehovah who illuminated such men, +and imparted to them a keener vision, a higher knowledge. +They believed, as the people believed of them—and +the belief was stronger as the religious feeling was +more intense—that they stood in a nearer and closer +relation to Jehovah. If they also foretold events for +reward, yet they lived in the belief that they knew +the will and the counsels of Jehovah, and in this conviction +they gave advice and judgment; they were not +only soothsayers, but seers. In such a conviction mere +prediction passed into prophecy, <i>i. e.</i> into the revelation +of the will of Jehovah by the mental certainty of the +seer. In this position we found Samuel, who, from +being a priest, had attained to a knowledge of the will +of Jehovah; he was at once priest, soothsayer for hire, +and prophet; <i>i. e.</i> he not only announced external +matters still in the future, but also announced the just +decision, the resolve pleasing to God. He gathered +disciples round him, who praised Jehovah with harp<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +and lute, and waited to see his face, and became +changed into other men (p. 117). Gad and Nathan, +with whom David and Solomon took counsel, were +men of this style and tone. With the loftier impulses +which the religious life received both on the ritual +and legal side, as well as on the side of religious +feeling under David and Solomon, with the survey of +the fortunes which Jehovah had prepared for his +people, with the expression of intense devotion in +that poetry to which David opened the way, the elevation +of mind in the prophets must have been increased +and extended; their views must have become deeper. +In the kingdom of Israel, so far as our knowledge +goes, the seers and prophets had made no protest +against the worship of Jehovah under an image. But +they came forward with decisive opposition to the +worship of Baal and Astarte, the strange gods which +Ahab and Jezebel had introduced into Samaria and +Israel. Ahab decreed persecution against them, which +strengthened instead of breaking the intensity of their +faith, their adhesion and devotion to the God of the +ancestors. They were driven to live in solitudes, deserts, +ravines, and caves. On their privations, fasts, and +lonely contemplations in the silence of the desert followed +dreams and ecstatic visions. By these the close +and favoured relation of the persecuted to the God of +Israel became an established certainty. The power +of prediction passed into the background as compared +with this awakening by Jehovah, and the duty to +strive, contend, and suffer for the worship of the God +of the nation against strange gods. If a prophet who +had lifted up his voice against the sacrifice to Baal was +compelled to fly before the king into the desert, he +was followed thither by eager associates, who had at +heart the worship and service of Jehovah. These<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +listened to his words and promptings; these were his disciples. +The numbers of the awakened and illuminated +increased; amid danger and in privation their religious +life became more earnest; their zeal for Jehovah and +their hatred of the strange gods and their worshippers +became deeper as the persecution fell heavier upon them. +They became men of word and action.</p> + +<p>Strengthened in this conflict for zealous struggles in +behalf of the ancient Lord, oppressed and persecuted +for their faithfulness to the God of Israel, their relation +to him took the shape of an inward conviction of great +force and intensity. Filled with their belief and the +revelations which Jehovah had imparted to them, they +came forward in the boldest manner to oppose the +apostate kings; their zeal for Jehovah rose to the +wildest fanaticism, which shrunk from no means of +destroying the servants of the strange gods. To bring +into light the force of their opposition to the wicked +kings, and the power which Jehovah gives to his faithful +servants, tradition has adorned with many miracles +the lives of Elijah and Elisha, the men who in Ahab's +time transformed the prognostications of the seers into +a prophetic censure. Elijah is said to have ascended +to heaven in a chariot of fire, and even the corpse of +Elisha worked miracles.</p> + +<p>At the urgent request of Jezebel, so we are told, +Ahab gave orders that the prophets of Jehovah, who +roused the people against him, should be driven out +of the land or put to death.<a name="FNanchor_445_445" id="FNanchor_445_445"></a><a href="#Footnote_445_445" class="fnanchor">[445]</a> Elijah retired from +Thisbe in Gilead, first to the region of Jordan, and then +to Zarephath (Sarepta) in the land of the Sidonians;<a name="FNanchor_446_446" id="FNanchor_446_446"></a><a href="#Footnote_446_446" class="fnanchor">[446]</a> +and finally he found a place of refuge in the ravines of +Carmel, on the sea-shore. A girdle of skins surrounded +his loins, and a mantle of hair covered his shoulders;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +ravens were said to have brought bread and flesh to +the hungry prophet in the desert.<a name="FNanchor_447_447" id="FNanchor_447_447"></a><a href="#Footnote_447_447" class="fnanchor">[447]</a> It came to pass +that there was a long drought in Israel. In this time +of distress Elijah came forth from his hiding-place to +point out the anger of Jehovah on the king and the +people for their worship of Baal, and to proclaim relief +if they returned to the God of Israel. He requested +Ahab to gather the people and all the priests of Baal +and Astarte to Carmel, and there Jehovah would send +rain. To this request Ahab agreed. "How long will +ye halt on both knees, and go after Jehovah as well as +Baal," cried Elijah to the assembled multitude. "I alone +am left of the prophets of Jehovah, and the prophets +of Baal are 450 men. Give us then two bulls: one +to me, and one to the priests of Baal. We will +cut them in pieces and lay them on the wood, +and the God who answers with fire shall be our +God." The priests of Baal slew their bull, laid him +on the wood, and called on Baal from morning to +mid-day, and said, O Baal, hear us! But in vain. +Meanwhile Elijah, so the narrative continues, built an +altar of 12 stones, for the 12 tribes, and made a trench +round it; cut the bull in pieces, and laid him on the +wood of the altar, and thrice poured water over all. +When he called on Jehovah—to make it known on +that day that he was God in Israel, and Elijah was his +servant—fire fell from heaven and consumed the burnt +offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the altar. +All the people fell on their faces, and Elijah said, +Seize the prophets of Baal; let none of them escape. +The people fell upon them; they were brought down +from the mountain, and Elijah slew them at the brook +Kishon. Then a little cloud was seen from Carmel +rising out of the sea, of the size of a man's hand, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> +Elijah said to the king, "Harness thy chariot and haste +away, that the rain overtake thee not." The sky was +quickly covered with black clouds, and heavy rain +followed upon storms of wind. But Elijah ran before +Ahab to his palace in Jezreel.<a name="FNanchor_448_448" id="FNanchor_448_448"></a><a href="#Footnote_448_448" class="fnanchor">[448]</a> Of this narrative, +which belongs to the prophetic revision of the annals, +we may perhaps retain with certainty the facts that +Elijah declared a severe famine and drought in the land +to be the punishment of Jehovah for the worship of +Baal; that the excited people slew the priests of Baal; +that Ahab accorded to the prophets of Jehovah permission +to return to their homes and liberty; and +that the worship of Jehovah in Israel, which had been +seriously threatened by those rites, regained the upper +hand and decided victory, though it could not entirely +drive out the worship of Baal.</p> + +<p>The increase in the strength of Israel under Omri +and Ahab, the connection into which Ahab entered +with Jehoshaphat of Judah, the alliance between +the two houses, must have appeared to Benhadad +II., the king of Damascus, a serious matter for his +own position. For this or for other reasons he broke +with Ahab, and renewed the struggle which had gone +on in Omri's time between Israel and Damascus. He +invaded Israel with all his power: 32 kings were +with him—such is the no doubt greatly exaggerated +account. Ahab fell upon the Aramaeans while +Benhadad was at a banquet, and though his army +was only 7000 strong, he obtained a great victory. +Then, as we are told in the prophetic revision of the +Books of Kings, Benhadad's servants advised him to +contend with the Israelites on the plain; their gods +were gods of the hills, and therefore they had +gained the victory. Benhadad came in the next year<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> +with an army of Aramaeans, which filled the land. +Nevertheless Ahab again defeated them at Aphek +(eastward of Lake Merom), and so utterly overthrew +them that Benhadad sent his servants with sackcloth +about their loins, and halters round their heads, +to Ahab to pray for mercy. This Ahab granted, +and Benhadad in turn undertook to restore the cities +which his father had taken from the father of Ahab, +<i>i. e.</i> from Omri.</p> + +<p>The princes of Syria had every reason to forget their +hatred and make up their quarrels. Assurbanipal and +Shalmanesar II., kings of Assyria, had attacked and +subjugated the districts on the Euphrates, and established +fortresses there. The former forced his way as +far as the Orontes and the Amanus; the latter had +already subjugated Cilicia. In the year 854 <small>B.C.</small> +Shalmanesar II. left Nineveh in the spring, crossed the +Euphrates, demanded tribute there, and then turned +towards Damascus. He came upon Benhadad (Bin-hidri) +of Damascus, to whom Ahab (Achabbu), king of +Israel, as well as the king of Hamath, and the king of +Aradus, together with some other Syrian kings, had +brought up their forces. To the army of the Syrians +Shalmanesar allowed more than 60,000 men—he +enumerates 12 princes who combined to oppose him. +Damascus furnished the strongest contingent, viz., +20,000 men and 1200 chariots; then came Israel, +with 10,000 men and 200 chariots; and Hamath, with +10,000 men and 700 chariots. The armies met at +Karkar. The king of Assyria claims the victory; he +professes to have captured the chariots and horsemen +of the Syrians, and to have cut down their leaders. +According to one inscription 14,000 Syrians, according +to two others 20,500, were left on the field. But +Shalmanesar says nothing of the subjection of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +princes who fought against him, or of the payment of +tribute by those who are said to be vanquished, or of +conquered cities. Hence the truth is that the combined +forces of the Syrians succeeded in repulsing the attack +of the Assyrians. This was their victory, though they +may not have obtained the victory on the field.<a name="FNanchor_449_449" id="FNanchor_449_449"></a><a href="#Footnote_449_449" class="fnanchor">[449]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the danger threatened by the attack of Assyria +passed away, the contention between Damascus and +Israel broke out again. The Hebrew Scriptures tell +us that Benhadad did not keep his promise, and did +not restore the city of Ramoth in Gilead to Ahab. +Ahab may have thought that he had the greater +ground for complaint against Damascus, as he took +upon himself the severe battle against Assyria, though +it was Damascus, and not Israel, which stood in the +direct line of danger. He united with Judah against +Damascus, and sent a request to Jehoshaphat, king of +Judah, to march out with him. Jehoshaphat answered, +"I will go forth as thou goest; my people as thy +people; my horses as thy horses;" and he came with +his warriors to Samaria. Both kings sat on their +seats at the gate, in order to review the army as it +passed out; and the prophets of Jehovah, 400 in +number, prophesied good things to them, and said, +"Go forth against Ramoth in Gilead; Jehovah will +give it into your hands." One only of these prophets, +Michaiah, the son of Imlah, prophesied evil; Ahab, +we are told, caused him to be thrown into prison till +he should return in prosperity.<a name="FNanchor_450_450" id="FNanchor_450_450"></a><a href="#Footnote_450_450" class="fnanchor">[450]</a> A battle took place +in the neighbourhood of Ramoth in Gilead; Ahab +was severely wounded by an arrow which passed be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>tween +the joints of his mail; he caused the wound to be +bound up, and returned to the fight, in order not to discourage +his warriors, and continued to stand upright +in his chariot, though his blood flowed to the bottom +of it, till the evening, when he died. When the +soldiers heard of the death of the king the army +dispersed in every direction. Jehoshaphat, king of +Judah, escaped (853 <small>B.C.</small>).</p> + +<p>The death of such a brave warrior as Ahab was a +heavy blow to the kingdom of Israel. We are not +told by what sacrifices Ahaziah, the son of Ahab and +Jezebel, had to purchase peace; we only know that the +Moabites revolted from Israel on the news of the +death of Ahab, and that Mesha no longer paid the +tribute which he and his father had paid to Omri and +Ahab. In any case it was a great relief for Israel +when Shalmanesar, king of Assyria, in the years 851 +and 850 <small>B.C.</small>, turned his arms against Hamath and +Damascus.<a name="FNanchor_451_451" id="FNanchor_451_451"></a><a href="#Footnote_451_451" class="fnanchor">[451]</a> In this way Ahaziah's younger brother, +Joram, who succeeded him after a short reign (851-843 +<small>B.C.</small>), was able to attempt to subjugate the Moabites +anew. He called on Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, +to go out with him, and Jehoshaphat said, "I am as +thou art; my horses as thy horses," and raised not +only the warriors of Judah, but those of Edom also. +The attack was made from the land of the kingdom +of Judah and Edom on the southern border of the +Moabites. The Moabites were defeated, their cities +destroyed, their fields laid waste, their wells filled up. +Mesha threw himself into the fortress of Kir Harosheth, +which is probably the later Kerak, to the south of the +Arnon, not far from the east shore of the Dead Sea. +The slingers of both kings surrounded the fortress, and +cast stones against the walls. "And when the king of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +Moab saw that the battle was too strong for him," +and he had attempted in vain to break out, "he took +his firstborn son, who would be king in his place, and +sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the wall. And +there was a great anger against Israel, and they +returned from him, and went back into their own +land" (849 <small>B.C.</small>).</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this fortunate beginning, the campaign +against Moab, as is allowed even by the Books of +Kings, was finally wrecked. This termination agrees +with the statements of Mesha on the monument of +Dibon. "Forty years," it says, "Israel dwelt in +Medabah; Camos gave it back in my days. And +the king of Israel built Ataroth, and I fought against +the stronghold and took it, and took all the men +captive, and brought them as a pleasing spectacle to +Camos and Moab. And Camos said to me, Go and +take Nebo from Israel; and I went in the night and +fought against it from daybreak to mid-day; and I +took it. It was devoted to destruction to Ashtor-Camos +(I. 373); and I took from thence the furniture +of Jehovah, and dragged them before Camos. And +the king of Israel built Jahaz, and placed himself +therein, in his contest against me, and Camos drove +him out before me. I took from Moab 200 men, all +the chiefs, and led them out to Jahaz, and took it, in +order to unite it to Dibon. I built Karho,<a name="FNanchor_452_452" id="FNanchor_452_452"></a><a href="#Footnote_452_452" class="fnanchor">[452]</a> the gates, +the towers, and the royal palace. I built Aroer, and +made the road over the Arnon. I built Beth Bamoth, +which was destroyed. I built Bazor, and Beth Diblathaim, +and Beth Baal-Meon. And Camos said to +me, Go down to fight against Horonaim." Here our +fragments of the inscription break off. We see that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +Ahab's successors, Ahaziah and Joram, attempted to +force Moab to submission by planting fortresses in +the land; that they attempted to subjugate the +Moabites from Ataroth, Nebo, and Jahaz. When +this mode of warfare did not succeed, and the fortresses +were destroyed, the great campaign was undertaken +which in the end came to disaster, unless we were to +place this campaign before the time when Joram built +those fortresses.</p> + +<p>It was impossible for Joram to entertain any further +hopes of the subjugation of Moab when Benhadad, +after escaping from the attack of Shalmanesar, turned +upon him. The Israelites were unable to keep the +field, and Joram was shut up in Samaria. The supplies +failed, and the famine is said to have been so grievous +in the city that an ass's head sold for 80 shekels, and +the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five shekels, +and mothers even laid their hands upon their own +children. But Elisha, the favourite disciple of Elijah, +is said to have urged them to hold out, and promised +present help from Jehovah. Suddenly, in a single +night, the army of the Aramaeans disappeared. They +feared, so the prophetic revision of the annals relates, +that the kings of the Hethites and the kings of Egypt +had set out to the aid of Joram. As Shalmanesar of +Assyria tells us that he marched in the year 846 <small>B.C.</small> +with 120,000 men against Benhadad of Damascus +and Irchulina of Hamath, we may assume that it was +the approach of the Assyrians which induced Benhadad +to raise the siege of Samaria, in order to meet the +Assyrians with all his own forces and those of Hamath. +Here again Shalmanesar announces a victory obtained +over Benhadad and Irchulina of Hamath, and twelve +princes, and again the victory is without results.</p> + +<p>It was not to the power of Shalmanesar, but to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +Elisha, the prophet of Israel, that Benhadad of Damascus +succumbed. For what reason we know not, Elisha +left Israel and went to Damascus. Benhadad lay sick. +He sent his chosen servant Hazael with costly presents +to Elisha to inquire if he would recover. Elisha +answered, Say to him, thou shalt recover; but +Jehovah has shown me that he will die. Hazael +announced the message, and on the next day smothered +the king, and placed himself on the throne of Damascus +(844 <small>B.C.</small>). The new king at once resumed the war +with Israel, and, as it would appear, not without the +instigation of Elisha.<a name="FNanchor_453_453" id="FNanchor_453_453"></a><a href="#Footnote_453_453" class="fnanchor">[453]</a></p> + +<p>Jehoshaphat of Judah had died a few years previously +(848 <small>B.C.</small>). The crown passed to his son Jehoram, the +brother-in-law of Joram. The Edomites, who had continued +to follow Jehoshaphat into the field against +Moab, revolted from him, and slew the Judæans who had +settled in Edom,—these settlers may have been most +numerous in the harbour city of Elath,—and placed +themselves under a king.<a name="FNanchor_454_454" id="FNanchor_454_454"></a><a href="#Footnote_454_454" class="fnanchor">[454]</a> Jehoram attempted to +reduce them in vain; the fortune of war was against +him; he was surrounded by the Edomites, and +was compelled to force his way with his chariots of +war by night through the army of the Edomites. +The Philistines also pressed upon Jehoram, and carried +away, even from Jerusalem, captives and precious +things.<a name="FNanchor_455_455" id="FNanchor_455_455"></a><a href="#Footnote_455_455" class="fnanchor">[455]</a> Jehoram's reign continued for four years. Yet +the misfortunes of Judah do not seem to have been +very heavy. Jehoram's son Ahaziah, the nephew of +Joram of Israel, who came to the throne in the year +844 <small>B.C.</small>, was soon after his accession in a position to +aid his uncle against the men of Damascus. Both<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +kings encamped at Ramoth Gilead, in order to maintain +the city against Hazael.<a name="FNanchor_456_456" id="FNanchor_456_456"></a><a href="#Footnote_456_456" class="fnanchor">[456]</a> In the conflict Joram +was wounded; he returned to Jezreel to be healed, +and soon after Ahaziah left the camp at Ramoth in +order to visit his uncle in his sickness.</p> + +<p>To Elisha this seemed the most favourable moment +for overthrowing the king of Israel, and he urged +Jehu, the foremost captain in the Israelite army, to +revolt against the wounded king. He sent one of his +disciples to Ramoth with instructions to pour oil upon +Jehu, with the words, "Jehovah says, I anoint thee to +be king over Israel." The chiefs were sitting together +at Ramoth when the messenger of Elisha entered. "I +have a message for Jehu," he said; and poured the oil +upon him with the words, "Jehovah, the God of Israel, +anoints thee to be king over his people, and says, thou +shalt destroy the house of thy master. I will avenge +the blood of my prophets on Jezebel. The house of +Ahab shall be destroyed, and I will cut off from +Ahab what pisseth against the wall, and dogs shall eat +Jezebel in Jezreel, and none shall bury her." The +youth had scarcely uttered these words when he +returned in haste. The chiefs and the servants asked +in wonder, "Wherefore came this madman?" But when +Jehu declared to them what had taken place, they +hastily took off their mantles, and spread them before +Jehu's feet; they blew trumpets and cried, "Jehu is +king."</p> + +<p>Jehu at once set out with a host to Jezreel, that no +tidings might precede him. The watchmen of the +tower told the king that a troop was coming in great +haste, and apparently led by Jehu. Thinking that +Jehu was bringing news of the army, the wounded +Joram went to meet him with his guest, Ahaziah, king<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +of Judah. "Is it peace?" cried Joram to Jehu. "What +peace," he replied, "while the whoredoms of thy mother +Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?" In terror +Joram cried out, "There is treachery, O Ahaziah," +and turned his horses to escape by flight. But Jehu +smote him with an arrow in the back through the +shoulders, so that the point reached the heart. Joram +fell dead from the chariot. Ahaziah escaped. From +the window of her palace at Jezreel Jezebel saw the +death of the king, her second son. By this her own +fate was decided. But her courage failed not. As +Jehu approached she called to him from the window, +"Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?" Jehu +made no answer, but called out, "Who is on my +side?" Two or three eunuchs answered, "We are." +Then Jehu commanded, "Throw the queen down." +They threw the widow of Ahab out of the window, so +that her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on +Jehu's horses, and the ruthless murderer drove over +the corpse. She had survived Ahab ten years. Jehu +went into the palace, ate and drank, and sent a +message to the elders of the tribes and the captains of +the fortresses: "If ye are on my side and obey my +voice, slay the sons of Ahab who are with you, and +send their heads to Jezreel." The elders feared the +murderer to whom Joram and Jezebel had succumbed, +and did as he bade them. Seventy sons and grandsons +of Ahab were slaughtered; their heads were +thrown in two heaps before the palace at Jezreel by +Jehu's orders. Then he spoke in scorn to the people, +"I have slain one; but who slew all these?" Still +unsatisfied with blood, he caused all the kindred of the +royal house, all the councillors, friends, and priests of +Joram to be slain (843 <small>B.C.</small>).</p> + +<p>Jehu had caused the king of Judah to be closely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> +pursued on that day. At Jibleam the arrows of the +pursuers reached Ahaziah; wounded to the death, he +came to Megiddo, and there he died. Thus the prospect +was opened to Jehu of becoming master of the kingdom +of Judah also. With this object in view, he +caused the brothers and relatives of the murdered +Ahaziah to be massacred, so far as he could take +them; in all they were 42 men.<a name="FNanchor_457_457" id="FNanchor_457_457"></a><a href="#Footnote_457_457" class="fnanchor">[457]</a> But meanwhile +the mother of the murdered Ahaziah, Athaliah, heard +in Judah of the death of her son in Israel, and seized +the reins of government there. She determined to +retain them against every one; and on her side also +destroyed all who stood in her way. She did not +spare even her own grandsons, the sons of Ahaziah; +it was with difficulty that the king's sister succeeded +in saving Joash, the infant son of her brother.<a name="FNanchor_458_458" id="FNanchor_458_458"></a><a href="#Footnote_458_458" class="fnanchor">[458]</a></p> + +<p>The prophets of Israel took no offence at the cruelties +of Jehu, to which they had given the first impulse; +according to the revision of the annals, they even proclaimed +to him the word of Jehovah. "Because thou +hast done what is right and good in my eyes, and hast +executed upon the house of Ahab all that was in my +heart, thy descendants shall sit upon the throne of +Israel."<a name="FNanchor_459_459" id="FNanchor_459_459"></a><a href="#Footnote_459_459" class="fnanchor">[459]</a> Jehu on his part was no less anxious to show +his gratitude to the men to whom he owed his exaltation. +He summoned the priests of Baal, and announced +to them in craft, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu +shall serve him much;" and caused a great sacrifice to +be made to Baal; all who remained absent should not +live. Thus he collected all the servants and priests of +Baal in the temple of the god at Samaria. The sacrifice +began; Jehu came in person to take part in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +solemnity; when on a sudden 80 soldiers entered the +temple and massacred them all. The two pillars +before the temple were burnt, the image of Baal was +thrown down, the temple was destroyed, and the place +purified.<a name="FNanchor_460_460" id="FNanchor_460_460"></a><a href="#Footnote_460_460" class="fnanchor">[460]</a></p> + +<p>A hundred and ten years had elapsed since the +revolt of the ten tribes from the house of David and +the division of Israel. During this time the two kingdoms +had been at war, and had summoned strangers +into the land against each other; even the connection +into which they had entered in the last thirty +years, and the close relations existing between Ahab +and Joram of Israel and Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and +Ahaziah of Judah had not been able to give more than +a transitory firmness and solidity to the two kingdoms. +In the kingdom of Judah the crown continued in the +house of David; in Israel neither Jeroboam's nor Baasha's +race had taken root. And now the house of Omri also +was overthrown and destroyed by a ruthless murderer. +With Jehu a third warrior had gained the crown of +Israel by a violent hand, and a fourth dynasty sat +upon the throne of Jeroboam.</p> + +<p>It was a favourable circumstance for the new king +of Israel that Shalmanesar II. of Assyria again made +war upon Damascus. On the mountains opposite +to the range of Lebanon, so Shalmanesar tells us, +he defeated Hazael of the land of Aram, <i>i. e.</i> of +Damascus, in the year 842 <small>B.C.</small>; he slew 16,000 of +his warriors, and took 1121 war-chariots. After this +he besieged him in Damascus, and destroyed his fortifications. +Jehu could hardly think, as Ahab had done +before him, of joining Damascus in resisting Assyria; +his object was rather to establish the throne he had +usurped by submission to and support from Assyria.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> +In this year, as Shalmanesar tells us, he sent tribute +like Sidon and Tyre. On an obelisk in his palace at +Chalah, on which Shalmanesar caused the annals of his +victories to be written and a picture to be made of the +offering of the tribute from five nations, we see him +standing with two eunuchs behind him, one of whom +holds an umbrella, while two others lead before him the +deputies of Jehu. The first Israelite prostrates himself +and kisses the ground before the feet of Shalmanesar; +seven other Israelites bring jars with handles, cups, +sacks, goblets, and staves. They are bearded, with long +hair, with shoes on their feet, and round caps on their +heads, the points of which fall slightly backwards. +The under garment reaches almost to the ancles; the +upper garment falls in two parts evenly before and +behind from the shoulders to the hem of the under +garment. The inscription underneath runs: "The +tribute of Jehu (Jahua), the son of Omri (Chumri): +bars of gold, bars of silver, cups of gold, ladles and +goblets of gold, golden pitchers, lead, and spears: +this I received."<a name="FNanchor_461_461" id="FNanchor_461_461"></a><a href="#Footnote_461_461" class="fnanchor">[461]</a></p> + +<p>Though Jehu submitted to the Assyrians, the power +and spirit of Hazael was not broken by his defeat or +by the siege of Damascus. Shalmanesar speaks of a +new campaign against the cities of Hazael in the year +839 <small>B.C.</small> He does not tell us that he has reduced +Damascus, he merely remarks that Sidon, Tyre, and +Byblus have paid tribute; and again, under the year +835 <small>B.C.</small> he merely notes in general terms that he has +received the tribute of all the princes of the land of +Chatti (Syria). Hazael remained powerful enough to +take from Jehu, who, though a bloody and resolute +murderer, was a bad ruler, all the territory on the east +of the Jordan which Ahab and Joram had defended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +with such vigour.<a name="FNanchor_462_462" id="FNanchor_462_462"></a><a href="#Footnote_462_462" class="fnanchor">[462]</a> Under Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu +(815-798 <small>B.C.</small>), the power of Israel sank lower and +lower. Hazael, and after him his son, Benhadad III., +pressed heavily upon him. Jehoahaz was compelled to +purchase peace by further concessions;<a name="FNanchor_463_463" id="FNanchor_463_463"></a><a href="#Footnote_463_463" class="fnanchor">[463]</a> his whole +fighting force was reduced to 10 chariots of war, 50 +horsemen, and 10,000 foot-soldiers, while Ahab had +led 200 chariots into the field.</p> + +<p>The devastation caused by Damascus in Israel was +terrible. The Books of Kings represent Elisha as saying +to Hazael, "The fortresses of Israel thou shalt set on +fire, their young men thou shalt slay with the sword, +their children thou shalt cut in pieces, and rip up their +women with child;"<a name="FNanchor_464_464" id="FNanchor_464_464"></a><a href="#Footnote_464_464" class="fnanchor">[464]</a> and in the prophet Amos we are +told that the Damascenes had thrashed Israel with +sledges of iron. In the prophecies of Amos, Jehovah +says: "Therefore I will send fire into the house of +Hazael, to consume the palaces of Benhadad, and break +the bars of Damascus, and destroy the inhabitants of +the valley of idols."<a name="FNanchor_465_465" id="FNanchor_465_465"></a><a href="#Footnote_465_465" class="fnanchor">[465]</a></p> + +<p>The Assyrians brought relief to the kingdom of Israel. +In the Books of the Kings we are told, "Jehovah gave +Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the +hand of the Aramaeans (Syrians), and they dwelt in +their tents as yesterday and the day before."<a name="FNanchor_466_466" id="FNanchor_466_466"></a><a href="#Footnote_466_466" class="fnanchor">[466]</a> It +was Bin-nirar III., king of Asshur, who threatened +Damascus and Syria. In the year 803 <small>B.C.</small> the canon +of the Assyrians notices a campaign of this king +against Syria, and in his inscriptions he mentions that +he had conquered Mariah, king of Damascus (who +must have been the successor of Benhadad III.), and +laid heavy tribute upon him.<a name="FNanchor_467_467" id="FNanchor_467_467"></a><a href="#Footnote_467_467" class="fnanchor">[467]</a> Though Israel (the +house of Omri), as well as Sidon, the Philistines, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>Edomites, had now to pay tribute to the conqueror of +Damascus, yet in the last years of the reign of Jehoahaz +the land was able to breathe again, and Joash, the +grandson of Jehu (798-790 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_468_468" id="FNanchor_468_468"></a><a href="#Footnote_468_468" class="fnanchor">[468]</a>), was able to retake +from the enfeebled Damascus the cities which his +father had lost,<a name="FNanchor_469_469" id="FNanchor_469_469"></a><a href="#Footnote_469_469" class="fnanchor">[469]</a> and make the weight of his arms felt +by the kingdom of Judah.</p> + +<p>In Judah, as has been mentioned, Jehoram's widow, +Athaliah, the mother of the murdered Ahaziah, had +seized the throne (843 <small>B.C.</small>). She is the only female +sovereign in the history of Israel. Athaliah was the +daughter of Ahab of Israel and Jezebel of Tyre; like +her mother, she is said to have favoured the worship +of Baal. As the prophets of Israel had prepared the +ruin of the house of Omri in Israel, the high priest of +the temple at Jerusalem, Jehoiadah, now undertook to +overthrow the daughter of this house in Judah. Ahaziah's +sister had saved a son of Ahaziah, Joash, while +still an infant, from his grandmother (p. 255). He +grew up in concealment in the temple at Jerusalem, +and was now seven years old. This boy the priest +determined to place upon the throne. He won the captains +of the body-guard, showed them the young Joash +in the temple, and imparted his plan for a revolt. On a +Sabbath the body-guard and the Levites formed a circle +in the court of the temple. Jehoiadah brought the boy +out of the temple and placed the crown upon his head; +he was anointed, and the soldiers proclaimed him +king to the sound of trumpets. The people agreed. +Athaliah hastened with the cry of treason into the +temple. But at Jehoiadah's command she was seized +by the body-guard, taken from the temple precincts, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +slain in the royal palace. Then the boy was brought +thither by the Levites and solemnly placed upon the +throne. "And all the people of the land rejoiced, +and the city was at rest," say the Books of Kings +(837 <small>B.C.</small>).</p> + +<p>The victory of the priesthood had the same result for +Judah as the resistance of Elijah and the prophets +against Ahab, and the overthrow of his house, had introduced +in Israel, <i>i. e.</i> the suppression of the worship of +Baal. The temple of Baal at Jerusalem was destroyed; +the high priest of it, Mathan by name, was slain. +Yet the number of the worshippers in Jerusalem must +have been so considerable, and their courage so little +broken, that it was thought necessary to protect +the temple of Jehovah by setting a guard to +prevent their attacks.<a name="FNanchor_470_470" id="FNanchor_470_470"></a><a href="#Footnote_470_470" class="fnanchor">[470]</a> Jehoiadah continued to act +as regent for the young king, and the prophecies +of Joel, which have come down to us from this +period,<a name="FNanchor_471_471" id="FNanchor_471_471"></a><a href="#Footnote_471_471" class="fnanchor">[471]</a> prove that under this regency the worship +of Jehovah became dominant, that the festivals and +sacrifices were held regularly in the temple at Jerusalem, +and that the ordinances of the priests were in +full force. When Joash became ruler he carried on the +restoration of the temple, which had fallen into decay, +even more eagerly than the priesthood. His labours +were interrupted. It was the time when Israel could +not defend themselves against Damascus. Marching +through Israel, Hazael invaded Judah, and besieged +Jerusalem. Joash was compelled to ransom himself +with all that his fathers, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and +Ahaziah, had consecrated to Jehovah, and what he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> +himself had dedicated in the temple, and with the +treasures of the royal palace.<a name="FNanchor_472_472" id="FNanchor_472_472"></a><a href="#Footnote_472_472" class="fnanchor">[472]</a></p> + +<p>Like his father and his grandmother, Joash died by +a violent death. Two of his servants murdered him +(797 <small>B.C.</small>); but his son Amaziah kept the throne, and +caused the murderers of his father to be executed. He +commenced a war, for what reason we know not, with +Israel, who was now fighting with success against +Damascus. Joash of Israel defeated him at Bethshemesh; +Amaziah was taken prisoner and his army +dispersed. The king of Israel occupied Jerusalem, +plundered the temple and the palace, and did not set +the king of Judah free till the walls of Jerusalem were +thrown down for a space of 400 cubits from the gate +of Ephraim, <i>i. e.</i> the western gate of the outer city to +the corner gate, at the north-west corner of Jerusalem, +and the Judæans had given hostages to keep the peace +for the future. Against the Edomites Amaziah contended +with more success. He defeated them in the +Valley of Salt; 10,000 Edomites are said to have been +left on the field on that day. The result of the victory +was the renewal of the dependence of Edom on Judah, +though not as yet throughout the whole extent of +the land. Amaziah also fell before a conspiracy. It +was in vain that he escaped from the conspirators +from Jerusalem to Lachish; they followed him and +slew him there. But the people placed his son Uzziah +(Azariah), though only 16 years old, on the throne of +Judah (792 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_473_473" id="FNanchor_473_473"></a><a href="#Footnote_473_473" class="fnanchor">[473]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_427_427" id="Footnote_427_427"></a><a href="#FNanchor_427_427"><span class="label">[427]</span></a> 1 Kings xi. 26 ff place the rebellion of Jeroboam in the time when +Solomon built Millo (p. 186), and give him asylum with Shishak, +king of Egypt. Solomon built Millo, the walls of Jerusalem, and the +fortifications (p. 186) when the building of the palace was finished +(1 Kings ix. 10, 15, 24). The building of the palace was completed in +970 <small>B.C.</small> (p. 186); hence the building of Millo must have begun +about this time. It can hardly have lasted more than 10 years. +Jeroboam's rebellion, therefore, and Shishak's accession are not to be +placed after, but a little before, 960 <small>B.C.</small> Lepsius puts Shishak's accession +at 961 <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_428_428" id="Footnote_428_428"></a><a href="#FNanchor_428_428"><span class="label">[428]</span></a> 1 Kings xii. 22; xiv. 30.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_429_429" id="Footnote_429_429"></a><a href="#FNanchor_429_429"><span class="label">[429]</span></a> O. Blau in "Zeitschr. D. M. G." 10, 233 ff, and below. The shield +which Champollion read Judaha Malek is read Jehud by Blau, who +refers it to Jehud, a place of the Southern Danites. Even the occurrence +of names of towns belonging to the kingdom of Ephraim would +not exclude the possibility that Shishak's campaign was undertaken +in favour of Jeroboam. Jeroboam acknowledged the supremacy of +Egypt in the meaning of the Pharaoh when he called on Egypt for help, +and therefore, after the manner of Egyptian monuments of victory and +inscriptions, his cities could be denoted as subject to Egypt. Hence +Makethu, as Brugsch reads (Gesch. Ægyptens, s. 661), may be Megiddo +or Makedu in the north of Judah; in the first case the explanation +given holds good. Jerusalem is not found among the names which +can be read and interpreted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_430_430" id="Footnote_430_430"></a><a href="#FNanchor_430_430"><span class="label">[430]</span></a> <i>Supra</i>, p. 112, <i>note</i>. I have remarked that assumptions there noticed +are necessary to bring the Hebrew chronology into harmony with the +Assyrian monuments and the stone of Mesha. That Ahaziah of Judah +and Joram of Israel must have been slain, at the latest, in the year +843 <small>B.C.</small> is a necessary consequence of the fact that Jehu paid tribute +to the Assyrians as early as the year 842 <small>B.C.</small> In the same way the +Assyrian monuments prove that Ahab of Israel cannot have died +before the year 853 <small>B.C.</small> As the Hebrew Scriptures, in the chronology +of Israel, put Ahaziah with two years, and Joram with twelve years, +between Ahab's death and Jehu's accession, four years must be struck +out and deducted from the reign of Joram. To maintain the parallelism, +the same operation must be performed with the contemporary kings of +Judah, and the reign of Jehoram of Judah (for which, even if we +retain the data of the Books of Kings, six years remain at the most) +must be reduced from eight years to four. These four years in each +kingdom will be best added to the first reigns after the division, to +Jeroboam (22 + 4 = 26) and Rehoboam (17 + 4 = 21). Twelve years +must be added to the reign of Omri (p. 114, <i>n.</i>). The same augmentation +must be made in the corresponding reign of Asa of Judah, or, +rather, as the chronology of Judah from Rehoboam to Athaliah gives +three years less than that from Jeroboam to Jehu, 15 years must be +added to Asa instead of 12, so that his reign reaches 41 + 15 = 56, and +Omri's reign 12 + 12 = 24 years. Hence Rehoboam was succeeded by +Abiam not in the eighteenth, but in the twenty-second year of Jeroboam; +Ahab ascended the throne not in the thirty-sixth, but in the +fifty-fourth year of Asa. From these assumptions are deduced the +numbers given in the text. I consider it hopeless to attempt to +reconcile the divergencies in the comparisons of the two series of kings +in the Books of Kings; <i>e. g.</i> that Omri should ascend the throne in the +thirty-first year of Asa, and reign 12 years, while Ahab nevertheless +ascends the throne in the thirty-eighth year of Asa.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_431_431" id="Footnote_431_431"></a><a href="#FNanchor_431_431"><span class="label">[431]</span></a> 1 Kings xv. 16-24; 2 Chron. xvi. 1-10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_432_432" id="Footnote_432_432"></a><a href="#FNanchor_432_432"><span class="label">[432]</span></a> 1 Kings xv. 11-14; 2 Chron. xiv. 2-5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_433_433" id="Footnote_433_433"></a><a href="#FNanchor_433_433"><span class="label">[433]</span></a> 1 Kings xxii. 48; 2, viii. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_434_434" id="Footnote_434_434"></a><a href="#FNanchor_434_434"><span class="label">[434]</span></a> 1 Kings xxii. 49.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_435_435" id="Footnote_435_435"></a><a href="#FNanchor_435_435"><span class="label">[435]</span></a> Song of Solomon vi. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_436_436" id="Footnote_436_436"></a><a href="#FNanchor_436_436"><span class="label">[436]</span></a> 1 Kings xv. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_437_437" id="Footnote_437_437"></a><a href="#FNanchor_437_437"><span class="label">[437]</span></a> 1 Kings xx. 34.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_438_438" id="Footnote_438_438"></a><a href="#FNanchor_438_438"><span class="label">[438]</span></a> Nöldeke, "Inschrift des Mesa."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_439_439" id="Footnote_439_439"></a><a href="#FNanchor_439_439"><span class="label">[439]</span></a> <i>Infra</i>, chap. xi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_440_440" id="Footnote_440_440"></a><a href="#FNanchor_440_440"><span class="label">[440]</span></a> 2 Kings iii. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_441_441" id="Footnote_441_441"></a><a href="#FNanchor_441_441"><span class="label">[441]</span></a> The inscription of Kurkh enumerates in the army of the Syrians +at Karkar men from Ammon under Bahsa, the son of Ruchub (Rehob); +Schrader, "Keilinschriften und A. T." s. 95.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_442_442" id="Footnote_442_442"></a><a href="#FNanchor_442_442"><span class="label">[442]</span></a> 2 Kings viii. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_443_443" id="Footnote_443_443"></a><a href="#FNanchor_443_443"><span class="label">[443]</span></a> 1 Kings xxi. 1; xxii. 39; 2, ix. 15 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_444_444" id="Footnote_444_444"></a><a href="#FNanchor_444_444"><span class="label">[444]</span></a> 1 Kings xvi. 31-33; xviii. 19; 2, iii. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_445_445" id="Footnote_445_445"></a><a href="#FNanchor_445_445"><span class="label">[445]</span></a> 1 Kings xviii. 4-13, 17; xix. 10-14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_446_446" id="Footnote_446_446"></a><a href="#FNanchor_446_446"><span class="label">[446]</span></a> 1 Kings xvii. 9, 10.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_447_447" id="Footnote_447_447"></a><a href="#FNanchor_447_447"><span class="label">[447]</span></a> 2 Kings i. 8; 1, xvii. 4-6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_448_448" id="Footnote_448_448"></a><a href="#FNanchor_448_448"><span class="label">[448]</span></a> 1 Kings xviii. 17-46.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_449_449" id="Footnote_449_449"></a><a href="#FNanchor_449_449"><span class="label">[449]</span></a> The objections which have been made against the assumption that +the king of Damascus and Achabbu, against whom and their confederates +Shalmanesar fought at Karkar, according to the monument of Kurkh +(col. 2), were Benhadad II. of Damascus of the Books of Kings and +Ahab of Israel are untenable. Shalmanesar II. marches four times +against a king of Damascus; subsequently, four years after his last war +with this king, he marches against a second king of Damascus, whose +name in the inscriptions is indubitably Chazailu. In the Books of +Kings Benhadad, Ahab's contemporary and opponent, is overthrown +by Hazael, who becomes king of Damascus in Benhadad's place. Thus +we obtain a certain basis for identifying the Benhadad overthrown +by Hazael with the prince of Damascus against whom Shalmanesar +fought four times. Hence on the reading of the name of this opponent +of Shalmanesar in the inscriptions I cannot place special weight, +especially as the Assyrian symbol for the deity in the name in +question is well known to have more than one signification. If a +further objection is made, that Ahab cannot have combined with +Damascus against Assyria, but rather with Assyria against Damascus, +in order to get rid of that opponent, the answer is that Ahab +had reduced Damascus before Shalmanesar's first march against the +city. Ahab had released Benhadad under a treaty (1 Kings xx. 34), +and they "were at peace three years" (1 Kings xxii. 3). Hence +at this moment Ahab was not in need of the assistance of Assyria. +That free leagues are altogether inconceivable among the Syrian +princes of that time is an assumption contradicted by numerous statements +in the Egyptian monuments of Tuthmosis III., of Ramses II. +and III., and yet more numerous statements in the Assyrian inscriptions. +Not much weight can be allowed to the late and very general +statements of Nicolaus in Josephus. If Nicolaus (Joseph. "Antiq." 7, +5, 2) calls the opponent of David Hadad, the Books of Kings do not +mention the name of the king of Damascus against whom David +contends. If he maintains that the grandson of Benhadad I., the +third of the name, desolated Samaria, it is rather Benhadad I. of the +Books of Kings, who was not the son and grandson of a Benhadad, but +the son of Tabrimmon, and grandson of Hesjon, who first laid Samaria +waste (1 Kings xv. 18-20). A second Benhadad contends with +Ahab, who certainly may have been a grandson of the first, but +certainly cannot have been the grandson of the opponent of David. If +Nicolaus further tells us, that after Benhadad I. his descendants ruled +for 10 generations, and each of them along with the throne received +the name of Benhadad, this is contradicted by the Books of Kings, +not merely in the genealogy of the first Benhadad of those books, but +also in the fact that in them Benhadad II., the contemporary of Ahab +and Jehoram, is overthrown by Hazael, who then in a long reign over +Damascus inflicts severe injury on Israel and Judah. Hazael is followed +in the Books of Kings by Benhadad III. That "Achabbu from +the land of Sir'lai" is correctly read in the inscription of Kurkh is an +ascertained fact.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_450_450" id="Footnote_450_450"></a><a href="#FNanchor_450_450"><span class="label">[450]</span></a> The prophetic revision explains the overthrow of Ahab by the +fact that he had spared Benhadad in the previous war, when Jehovah +had delivered him into his hand.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_451_451" id="Footnote_451_451"></a><a href="#FNanchor_451_451"><span class="label">[451]</span></a> Ninth and tenth year of Shalmanesar II.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_452_452" id="Footnote_452_452"></a><a href="#FNanchor_452_452"><span class="label">[452]</span></a> According to Nöldeke, "Inschrift des Mesa," the upper city of +Dibon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_453_453" id="Footnote_453_453"></a><a href="#FNanchor_453_453"><span class="label">[453]</span></a> 1 Kings xix. 15; 2, viii. 7-15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_454_454" id="Footnote_454_454"></a><a href="#FNanchor_454_454"><span class="label">[454]</span></a> Joel iv. 19; Amos i. 11, 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_455_455" id="Footnote_455_455"></a><a href="#FNanchor_455_455"><span class="label">[455]</span></a> 2 Chron. xxi. 16-18; Amos i. 6; cf. <i>infra</i>, p. 260. n. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_456_456" id="Footnote_456_456"></a><a href="#FNanchor_456_456"><span class="label">[456]</span></a> 2 Kings ix. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_457_457" id="Footnote_457_457"></a><a href="#FNanchor_457_457"><span class="label">[457]</span></a> 2 Kings x. 12-14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_458_458" id="Footnote_458_458"></a><a href="#FNanchor_458_458"><span class="label">[458]</span></a> 2 Kings xi. 1-3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_459_459" id="Footnote_459_459"></a><a href="#FNanchor_459_459"><span class="label">[459]</span></a> 2 Kings x. 30. "To the fourth generation" may have been added +by the revision <i>post eventum</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_460_460" id="Footnote_460_460"></a><a href="#FNanchor_460_460"><span class="label">[460]</span></a> 2 Kings x. 18-27.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_461_461" id="Footnote_461_461"></a><a href="#FNanchor_461_461"><span class="label">[461]</span></a> E. Schrader, "Keilinschriften und A. T." s. 105.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_462_462" id="Footnote_462_462"></a><a href="#FNanchor_462_462"><span class="label">[462]</span></a> 2 Kings x. 32.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_463_463" id="Footnote_463_463"></a><a href="#FNanchor_463_463"><span class="label">[463]</span></a> 2 Kings xiii. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_464_464" id="Footnote_464_464"></a><a href="#FNanchor_464_464"><span class="label">[464]</span></a> 2 Kings viii. 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_465_465" id="Footnote_465_465"></a><a href="#FNanchor_465_465"><span class="label">[465]</span></a> Amos i. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_466_466" id="Footnote_466_466"></a><a href="#FNanchor_466_466"><span class="label">[466]</span></a> 2 Kings xiii. 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_467_467" id="Footnote_467_467"></a><a href="#FNanchor_467_467"><span class="label">[467]</span></a> See below, p. 326.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_468_468" id="Footnote_468_468"></a><a href="#FNanchor_468_468"><span class="label">[468]</span></a> Of this date and the time of Amaziah I shall treat in the first +chapter of Book IV.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_469_469" id="Footnote_469_469"></a><a href="#FNanchor_469_469"><span class="label">[469]</span></a> 2 Kings xiii. 25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_470_470" id="Footnote_470_470"></a><a href="#FNanchor_470_470"><span class="label">[470]</span></a> 2 Kings xi. 3-20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_471_471" id="Footnote_471_471"></a><a href="#FNanchor_471_471"><span class="label">[471]</span></a> They fall about 830 <small>B.C.</small> The minority of the king is clear, and +the verses iv. 4 ff. points to the incursion of the Philistines into Judah, +mentioned p. 252.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_472_472" id="Footnote_472_472"></a><a href="#FNanchor_472_472"><span class="label">[472]</span></a> 2 Kings xii. 17, 18. The occurrence is recorded after the twenty-third +year of Joash, and the twenty-third year was 815 <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_473_473" id="Footnote_473_473"></a><a href="#FNanchor_473_473"><span class="label">[473]</span></a> The subjugation of Edom can only have taken place after the year +803 <small>B.C.</small>, <i>i. e.</i> after the march of Bin-nirar II. to the sea-coast. Bin-nirar +enumerates Edom among the tribute-paying tribes of Syria. On +this and on the date of Uzziah's accession, cf. Book IV. chap. 2.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>THE CITIES OF THE PHENICIANS.</h3> + + +<p>The voyages of the Phenicians on the Mediterranean; +their colonies on the coasts and islands of that +sea; their settlements in Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, the +islands of the Ægean, Samothrace, and Thasos, on the +coasts of Hellas, on Malta, Sicily, and Sardinia; their +establishments on the northern edge of Africa in the +course of the thirteenth and twelfth centuries <small>B.C.</small>; their +discovery of the Atlantic about the year 1100 <small>B.C.</small>, have +been traced by us already. Of the internal conditions +and the constitution of the cities whose ships traversed +the Mediterranean in every direction, and now found +so many native harbours on the coasts and islands, we +have hardly any information. We only know that +monarchy existed from an ancient period in Sidon and +Tyre, in Byblus, Berytus, and Aradus; and we are +restricted to the assumption that this monarchy arose +out of the patriarchal headship of the elders of the +tribes. These tribes had long ago changed into civic +communities, and their members must have consisted +of merchant-lords, ship-owners, and warehousemen, of +numerous labourers, artisans, sailors, and slaves. The +accounts of the Hebrews exhibit the cities of the Philistines, +the southern neighbours of the Phenicians on +the Syrian coast, united by a league in the eleventh +century <small>B.C.</small> The kings of the five cities of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +Philistines combine for consultation, form binding +resolutions, and take the field in common. We find +nothing like this in the cities of the Phenicians. Not +till a far later date, when the Phenicians had lost their +independence, were federal forms of government prevalent +among them.</p> + +<p>The campaigns of the Pharaohs, Tuthmosis III., +Sethos, and Ramses II., did not leave the cities of +the Phenicians untouched (I. 342). After the reign +of Ramses III., <i>i. e.</i> after the year 1300 <small>B.C.</small>, Syria +was not attacked from the Nile; but the overthrow +of the kingdom of the Hittites about this period, and the +subjugation of the Amorites by the Israelites, forced +the old population to the coast (about 1250 <small>B.C.</small>). +One hundred and fifty years later a new opponent +of Syria showed himself, not from the south, but from +the east. Tiglath Pilesar I., king of Assyria (1130-1100 +<small>B.C.</small>), forced his way over the Euphrates, and +reached the great sea of the western land (p. 42). +His successes in these regions, even if he set foot on +Lebanon, could at most have reached only the northern +towns of the Phenicians; in any case they were of a +merely transitory nature.</p> + +<p>The oldest city of the Phenicians was Sidon; her +daughter-city, Tyre, was also founded at a very ancient +period. We found that the inscriptions of Sethos +I. mentioned it among the cities reduced by him. The +power and importance of Tyre must have gradually +increased with the beginning of a more lively navigation +between the cities and the colonies; about the +year 1100 <small>B.C.</small> her navigation and influence appears +to have surpassed those of the mother-city. If Old +Hippo in Africa was founded from Sidon, Tyrian ships +sailed through the Straits of Gibraltar, discovered the +land of silver, and founded Gades beyond the pillars.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> +Accordingly we also find that Tyre, and not Sidon, was +mistress of the island of Cyprus.</p> + +<p>According to the statements of the Greeks, a king +of the name of Sobaal or Sethlon ruled in Sidon at the +time of the Trojan war, <i>i. e.</i> before the year 1100 <small>B.C.</small>;<a name="FNanchor_474_474" id="FNanchor_474_474"></a><a href="#Footnote_474_474" class="fnanchor">[474]</a> +about the same time a king of the name of Abelbaal +reigned in Berytus.<a name="FNanchor_475_475" id="FNanchor_475_475"></a><a href="#Footnote_475_475" class="fnanchor">[475]</a> From a fragment of Menander +of Ephesus, preserved to us by Josephus, it follows +that after the middle of the eleventh century <small>B.C.</small> +Abibaal was reigning in Tyre. A sardonyx, now at +Florence, exhibits a man with a high crown on his +head and a staff in his hand; in front of him is a +star with four rays; the inscription in old Phenician +letters runs, "Of Abibaal." Did this stone belong to +king Abibaal?<a name="FNanchor_476_476" id="FNanchor_476_476"></a><a href="#Footnote_476_476" class="fnanchor">[476]</a></p> + +<p>Hiram, the son of this king, ascended the throne of +Tyre while yet a youth, in 1001 <small>B.C.</small> He is said to +have again subjugated to his dominion the Kittians, +<i>i. e.</i> the inhabitants of Citium, or the cities of Cyprus +generally, who refused to pay tribute. What reasons +and what views of advantage in trade induced Hiram +to enter into relations with David in the last years of +his reign, and unite these relations even more closely +with Solomon, the successor of David, has been recounted +above. It was this understanding which not +only opened Israel completely to the trade of the +Phenicians, but also procured to the latter secure and +new roads through Israel to the Euphrates and Egypt, +and made it possible for them to discover and use the +road by sea to South Arabia. Thus, a good century +after the founding of Gades, the commerce of the +Phenicians reached the widest extension which it +ever obtained. We saw that the Phenicians about the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> +year 990 <small>B.C.</small> went by ship from Elath past South +Arabia to the Somali coast, and reached Ophir, <i>i. e.</i> +apparently the land of the Abhira (<i>i. e.</i> herdsmen) +on the mouths of the Indus.<a name="FNanchor_477_477" id="FNanchor_477_477"></a><a href="#Footnote_477_477" class="fnanchor">[477]</a> The other advantages +which accrued to Hiram from his connection +with Israel were not slight. Solomon paid him, +as has been said, 20,000 Kor of wheat and 20,000 +Bath of oil yearly for 20 years in return for wood +and choice quarry stones, and finally, in order to discharge +his debt, had to give up 20 Israelitish towns +on his borders.</p> + +<p>Hiram had to dispose of very considerable resources; +his receipts must have been far in excess of +Solomon's. Of the silver of Tarshish which the ships +brought from Gades to Tyre, of the gold imported by +the trade to Ophir, of the profits of the maritime trade +with the land of incense, a considerable percentage must +have come into the treasury of the king, and he enjoyed +in addition the payments of Solomon. In any case he +had at his command means sufficient to enlarge, adorn, +and fortify his city. Ancient Tyre lay on the seashore; +with the growth of navigation and trade, the +population passed over from the actual city to an island +off the coast, which offered excellent harbours. On a +rock near this island lay that temple of Baal Melkarth, +the god of Tyre, to which the priests ascribed a high +antiquity; they told Herodotus that it was built in the +year 2750 <small>B.C.</small> (I. 345). Hiram caused this island to +be enlarged by moles to the north and west towards +the mainland, and protected these extensions by bulwarks. +The circuit of the island was now 22 stades, <i>i. e.</i> +more than two and a half miles; the arm of the sea, which +separates the island from the mainland, now measured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> +only 2400 feet (three stades).<a name="FNanchor_478_478" id="FNanchor_478_478"></a><a href="#Footnote_478_478" class="fnanchor">[478]</a> The whole island was surrounded +with strong walls of masonry, which ran out +sharply into the sea, and were washed by its waves, so +that no room remained for the besieger to set foot and +plant his scaling-ladders there. On the side of the +island towards the mainland, where the docks were, +these walls were the highest. Alexander of Macedon +found them 150 feet high. The two harbours lay on the +eastern side of the island—on the north-east and the +south-east; on the north-east was the Sidonian harbour +(which even now is the harbour of Sur); and on +the south-east the Egyptian harbour. If the former +was secured and closed by huge dams, the latter also +was not without its protecting works, as huge blocks +in the sea appear to show, though the dams here were +no longer in perfect preservation even in Strabo's +time. On the south shore of the island, eastward of +the Egyptian harbour, lay the royal citadel; on the +north-west side a temple of Baal Samim, the Agenorion +of the Greeks. The rock which supported the +temple of Melkarth appears to have been situated +close to the city on the west.<a name="FNanchor_479_479" id="FNanchor_479_479"></a><a href="#Footnote_479_479" class="fnanchor">[479]</a> This, like the temple +of Astarte, was adorned and enlarged or restored by +Hiram. For the roof he caused cedars of Lebanon to +be felled. In the ancient shrine of the protecting +deity of the city, the temple of Melkarth, he dedicated +a great pillar of gold, which Herodotus saw +there 500 years later beside an erect smaragdus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> +which was so large that it gave light by night. This +was perhaps a symbol of the light not overcome by +the darkness.<a name="FNanchor_480_480" id="FNanchor_480_480"></a><a href="#Footnote_480_480" class="fnanchor">[480]</a></p> + +<p>Hiram died after a reign of 34 years, in the fifty-third +year of his life. His son Baleazar, who sat on the +throne for seven years (967-960 <small>B.C.</small>), was succeeded +by his son Abdastartus (<i>i. e.</i> servant of Astarte), who, +after a reign of nine years (960-951 <small>B.C.</small>), fell before +a conspiracy headed by the sons of his nurse. Abdastartus +was murdered, and the eldest of the sons of his +nurse maintained his dominion over Tyre for 12 years +(951-939 <small>B.C.</small>). Then the legitimate dynasty returned +to the throne. Of the brothers of the murdered Abdastartus, +Astartus was the first to reign (939-927 <small>B.C.</small>), +and after him Astarymus (927-918 <small>B.C.</small>), who was +murdered by a fourth brother, Pheles. But Pheles +could not long enjoy the fruits of his crime. He had +only been eight months on the throne when he was +slain by the priest of Astarte, Ethbaal (Ithobaal). +With Pheles the race of Abibaal comes to an end +(917 <small>B.C.</small>).</p> + +<p>Ethbaal ascended the throne of Tyre, and was able +to establish himself upon it. He is said to have +built or fortified Bothrys in Lebanon, perhaps as a +protection against the growing forces of Damascus.<a name="FNanchor_481_481" id="FNanchor_481_481"></a><a href="#Footnote_481_481" class="fnanchor">[481]</a> +In Israel, during Ethbaal's reign, as we have seen, +Omri at the head of the army made himself master of +the throne in 899 <small>B.C.</small>, just as Ethbaal had usurped the +throne of Tyre. Both were in a similar position. +Both had to establish their authority and found their +dynasty. Ethbaal's daughter was married to Ahab, +the son of Omri. What were the results of this +connection for Israel and Judah we have seen already.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +To what a distance the power of Tyre extended in +another direction is clear from the fact that Ethbaal +founded Auza in the interior of Africa, to the south of +the already ancient colony of Ityke (p. 82).<a name="FNanchor_482_482" id="FNanchor_482_482"></a><a href="#Footnote_482_482" class="fnanchor">[482]</a> After +a reign of 32 years Ethbaal was succeeded by his son +Balezor (885-877 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_483_483" id="FNanchor_483_483"></a><a href="#Footnote_483_483" class="fnanchor">[483]</a> After eight years Balezor +left two sons, Mutton and Sicharbaal, both under age. +Yet the throne remained in the house of Ethbaal, and +continued to do so even when Mutton died in the +year 853 <small>B.C.</small>, and again left a son nine years old, +Pygmalion, and a daughter Elissa, a few years older, +whom he had married to his brother Sicharbaal, the +priest of the temple of Melkarth.<a name="FNanchor_484_484" id="FNanchor_484_484"></a><a href="#Footnote_484_484" class="fnanchor">[484]</a> Mutton had intended +that Elissa and Pygmalion should reign +together, and thus the power really passed into the +hands of Sicharbaal, the husband of Elissa. When +Pygmalion reached his sixteenth year the people transferred +to him the sovereignty of Tyre, and he put +Sicharbaal, his uncle, to death, either because he +feared his influence as the chief priest of the tutelary +god of the city, or because, as we are told, he coveted +his treasures (846 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_485_485" id="FNanchor_485_485"></a><a href="#Footnote_485_485" class="fnanchor">[485]</a></p> + +<p>Elissa fled from Tyre before her brother, as we +are told, with others who would not submit to the +tyranny of Pygmalion.<a name="FNanchor_486_486" id="FNanchor_486_486"></a><a href="#Footnote_486_486" class="fnanchor">[486]</a> The exiles (we may perhaps +suppose that they were members of old families, as it +was apparently the people who had transferred the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +throne to Pygmalion) are said to have first landed at +Cyprus, then to have sailed to the westward, and to +have landed on the coast of Africa, in the neighbourhood +of Ityke, the old colony of the Phenicians, and +there to have bought as much land of the Libyans as +could be covered by the skin of an ox. By dividing +this into very thin strips they obtained a piece of land +sufficient to enable them to build a fortress. This new +dwelling-place, or the city which grew up round this +fortress, the wanderers called, in reference to their old +home, Karthada (<i>Karta hadasha</i>), <i>i. e.</i> "the new city," +the Karchedon of the Greeks, the Carthage of the +Romans. The legend of the purchase of the soil +may have arisen from the fact that the settlers for +a long time paid tribute to the ancient population, the +Maxyans, for their soil. The ox-hide and all that is +further told us of the fortunes of Elissa, her resistance +to the suit of the Libyan prince Iarbas,<a name="FNanchor_487_487" id="FNanchor_487_487"></a><a href="#Footnote_487_487" class="fnanchor">[487]</a> her self-immolation +in order to escape from this suit (Virgil +made despised love the motive for this immolation), is +due to the transference of certain traits from the +myths of the horned moon-goddess, to whom the cow +is sacred, the wandering Astarte, who also bore the +name of Dido, and of certain customs in the worship +of the goddess to Carthage; these also have had influence +on the narrative of the flight of Elissa.<a name="FNanchor_488_488" id="FNanchor_488_488"></a><a href="#Footnote_488_488" class="fnanchor">[488]</a></p> + +<p>The new settlement was intended to become an +important centre for the colonies of the Phenicians +in the West. The situation was peculiarly fortunate. +Where the north coast of Africa approaches Sicily +most nearly, the mountain range which runs along this +coast, and forms the edge of the table-land in the +interior, sinks down in gentle declivities, which thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> +form water-courses of considerable length, to a fertile +hill country still covered with olive-gardens and +orange-forests. From the north the sea penetrates +deeply into the land between the "beautiful promontory" +(Ras Sidi Ali) and the promontory of Hermes +(Ras Addar). On the western side of this bay a ridge +of land runs out, which possesses excellent springs of +water. Not far from the shore a rock rises steeply to +the height of about 200 feet. On this was planted +the new citadel, Byrsa, on which the wanderers +erected a temple to their god Esmun (I. 377). This +citadel, which is said to have been about 2000 paces +(double paces) in the circuit,<a name="FNanchor_489_489" id="FNanchor_489_489"></a><a href="#Footnote_489_489" class="fnanchor">[489]</a> was also the city round +which at a later time grew up the lower city, at first +on the south-east toward the shore, and then on the +north-west toward the sea. The harbour lay to the +south-east, under the citadel. Some miles to the north +of the new settlement, on the mouth of the Bagradas +(Medsherda), at the north-west corner of the bay, was +Ityke, the ancient colony of the Phenicians, which had +been in existence for more than two centuries when +the new settlers landed on the shore of the bay; and +not far to the south on the shore was Adrymes +(Hadrumetum), another city of their countrymen, +which Sallust mentions among the oldest colonies of +the Phenicians.<a name="FNanchor_490_490" id="FNanchor_490_490"></a><a href="#Footnote_490_490" class="fnanchor">[490]</a> The Carthaginians never forgot their +affection for the ancient Ityke, by whose assistance, no +doubt, their own settlement had been supported.<a name="FNanchor_491_491" id="FNanchor_491_491"></a><a href="#Footnote_491_491" class="fnanchor">[491]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span></p> + +<p>The fragment which Josephus has preserved from +the annals of the kings of Tyre ends with the accession +of Pygmalion and the flight of Elissa. More +than two centuries had passed since the campaign +of Tiglath Pilesar I. to the Mediterranean, during +which the cities of the Phenicians had suffered nothing +from the arms and expeditions of the Assyrians. But +when Balezor and Mutton, the son and grandson of +Ethbaal, ruled over Tyre (885-853 <small>B.C.</small>), Assurbanipal +of Assyria (883-859 <small>B.C.</small>) began to force his way to the +west over the Euphrates. When he had reduced the +sovereign of Karchemish to obedience by repeated +campaigns, and had built fortresses on both banks of +the Euphrates, he advanced in the year 876 <small>B.C.</small> to the +Orontes, captured the marches of Lebanus (Labnana), +and received tribute from the king of Tyre, <i>i. e.</i> from +Mutton, from the kings of Sidon, of Byblus, and Aradus. +According to the inscriptions, the tribute consisted of +bars of silver, gold, and lead. Assurbanipal's successor, +Shalmanesar II. of Assyria (859-823 <small>B.C.</small>), pushed on +even more energetically to the west. After forcing +Cilicia to submit, he attacked Hamath, and in the +year 854, as we have seen, he defeated at Karkar the +united kings of Hamath, Damascus, and Israel, who +were also joined by Matinbaal, the king of Aradus. +But Shalmanesar was compelled to undertake three +other campaigns to Damascus (850, 849, and 846 <small>B.C.</small>) +before he succeeded, in the year 842 <small>B.C.</small>, in making +Damascus tributary. As has been remarked, Israel +did not any longer attempt the decision of arms, +and sought to gain the favour of Assyria; like Tyre +and Sidon, Jehu sent tribute to Shalmanesar. This +payment of tribute was repeated perforce by Tyre, +Sidon, and Byblus, in the years 839 and 835 <small>B.C.</small>, in +which Shalmanesar's armies again appeared in Syria.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +Moreover, the inscriptions of Bin-nirar, king of Assyria +(810-781 <small>B.C.</small>), tell us that Damascus, Tyre, Sidon, +Israel, Edom, and the land of the Philistines had paid +him tribute. It is obvious that the cities of the +Phenicians would have been as a rule most willing to +pay it. When Assyria had definitely extended her +dominion as far as the Euphrates, it was in the power +of the Assyrian king to stop the way for the merchants +of those cities to Mesopotamia and Babylon, and thus +to inflict very considerable damage on the trade of the +Phenicians, which was for the most part a carrying +trade between the East and West. What were the +sums paid in tribute, even if considerable, when +compared with such serious disadvantages?</p> + +<p>Hitherto we have been able to observe monarchy in +the patriarchal form of the head of the tribe, in the +god-like position of the Pharaohs of Egypt, in the +forms of a military principate, who ruled with despotic +power over wide kingdoms, or in diminished copies of +this original. It would be interesting to trace out +and ascertain the changes which it had now to undergo +at the head of powerful trading and commercial cities +such as the Phenicians were. We have already seen +that the principate of these cities was of great antiquity, +that it remained in existence through all the +periods of Phenician history, that it was rooted deeply +enough to outlive even the independence of the cities. +All more detailed accounts are wanting, and even inductions +or comparisons with the constitution of Carthage +in later times carry us little further. Not to mention the +very insufficient accounts which we possess of this constitution, +it was only to the oldest settlements of the +Phenicians in Cyprus that the monarchy passed, at +least it was only in these that it was able to maintain +itself. The examination of these institutions of Carthage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> +is adapted to show us in contrast on the one hand to +the tribal princes of the Arabians, and on the other to +the monarchy of Elam, Babel, and Asshur—what +forms the feeling and character of a Semitic community, +in which the burghers had reached the full +development of their powers, were able to give to their +state, which at the same time was supreme over a wide +region; but for the constitution of the Phenician +cities scarcely any conclusions can be drawn from +it.</p> + +<p>Of the internal condition of the Phenician cities, the +fragment of the history of Tyre in Josephus only +enables us to ascertain that there was no lack of strife +and bloodshed in the palaces of the kings, and that +the priests of the tutelary deity must have been of +importance and influence beside the king. But it follows +from the nature of things that these city-kings +could not have held sway with the same complete +power as the military princes of the great kingdoms of +the East. The development of independence among the +burghers must have placed far closer limitations upon +the will of the kings in these cities than was the case +elsewhere in the East. The more lively the trade and +industry of the cities, the more strongly must the +great merchants and manufacturers have maintained +against the kings the consideration and advancement +of their own interests. For the maintenance of order +and peace, of law and property in the cities they +looked to the king, but they had also to make important +demands before the throne, and were combined +against it by community of interests. They were +compelled to advance these independently if the +king refused his consent. Isaiah tells us that the +merchants of Tyre were princes. Ezekiel speaks of +the grey-haired men, the "elders" of the city of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> +Byblus.<a name="FNanchor_492_492" id="FNanchor_492_492"></a><a href="#Footnote_492_492" class="fnanchor">[492]</a> Of the later period we know with greater +certainty that there was a council beside the kings, +the membership in which may have belonged primarily +to the chiefs of the old families, but also in part to the +hereditary priests. Inscriptions of the cities belonging +to Grecian times present the title "elders."<a name="FNanchor_493_493" id="FNanchor_493_493"></a><a href="#Footnote_493_493" class="fnanchor">[493]</a> The +families in the Phenician cities which could carry back +their genealogy to the forefathers of the tribes which +possessed land and influence before the fall of the Hittites, +the incursions of the Hebrews, and the spread of +trade had brought a mass of strangers into the city walls, +would appear to have had the first claim to a share in +the government; the heads of these families may at +first have formed the council which stood beside the +king. Yet it lies in the nature of great manufacturing +and trading cities that the management of interests of +this kind cannot be confined to the elders of the family +or remain among the privileges of birth. Hence we +may assume that the great trading firms and merchants +could not long be excluded from these councils. +In the fourth century <small>B.C.</small> the council of Sidon seems +to have consisted of 500 or 600 elders.<a name="FNanchor_494_494" id="FNanchor_494_494"></a><a href="#Footnote_494_494" class="fnanchor">[494]</a> Owing to +the treasures of East and West which poured together +into the cities of the Phenicians, life became luxurious +within their walls. Men's efforts were directed to gain +and acquisition; the merchants would naturally desire +to enjoy their wealth. The lower classes of the closely-compressed +population no doubt followed the example +set them by the higher. From the multitude of retail +dealers and artizans, the number of pilots and mariners +who returned home eager for enjoyment after long +voyages, men whose passions would be unbridled, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +turbulent population must have grown up, in spite of +the numerous colonies into which the ambitious as +well as the poor might emigrate or be sent with the +certain prospect of a better position. We saw above +that the people of Tyre are said to have transferred +the rule to Pygmalion. For the later period it is certain +that even the people had a share in the government.<a name="FNanchor_495_495" id="FNanchor_495_495"></a><a href="#Footnote_495_495" class="fnanchor">[495]</a></p> + +<p>The hereditary monarchy passed, so far as we can +see, from the mother-cities to the oldest colonies only, +<i>i. e.</i> the cities in Cyprus. In the other colonies the chief +officers were magistrates, usually two in number.<a name="FNanchor_496_496" id="FNanchor_496_496"></a><a href="#Footnote_496_496" class="fnanchor">[496]</a> +They were called <i>Sufetes</i>, <i>i. e.</i> judges. In Carthage +these two yearly officers, in whose hands lay the +supreme administration of justice, and the executive, +formed with 30 elders the governing body of the city. +It seems that these 30 men were the representatives +of as many original combinations of families into +which the old houses of the city were incorporated. +The connection of the colonies and mother-cities, both +in general and more especially where the colony could +dispense with the protection of the mother-city, were +far more mercantile and religious than political. The +colonies worshipped the deities of the mother-cities, +and gave them a share in their booty. We also find +that descendants of priests who had emigrated from +the mother-city stood at the head of the temples of +the colonies. In Carthage, where the priests of +Melkarth wore the purple robe, the office was hereditary +in the family of Bithyas, who is said to have left +Tyre with Elissa.<a name="FNanchor_497_497" id="FNanchor_497_497"></a><a href="#Footnote_497_497" class="fnanchor">[497]</a></p> + +<p>We are acquainted with the gods of the Phenician +cities, and the mode in which they worshipped them;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +with El and Baal-Samim, Baal-Melkarth and Baal-Moloch, +Adonis, Astarte and Ashera, with the rites +of continence and mutilation, of sensual excess and +prostitution, of sacrifice and fire-festival, which were +intended to win their favour and grace. We observed +that the protecting deities of the separate states had +even before the days of Hiram been united in the +system of the seven great gods, the Cabiri, at whose +head was placed an eighth, Esmun, the supreme deity. +We saw that in this system special meanings were +ascribed to them in reference to the protection of +peace and law, of industry and navigation; and we +cannot doubt that with the riches which accumulated +in the walls of the cities, with the luxury of life which +these riches permitted, the lascivious and sensual side +of the worship must have increased and extended.</p> + +<p>The life led by the kings of the old Phenician cities +is described as rich and splendid. We have already +assumed that the princes of the Phenician cities had a +rich share in the returns of trade, and indeed the fact +can be proved from the Hebrew Scriptures for Hiram, +king of Tyre. Ezekiel tells us, "The king of Tyre sits +like a god in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; +he dwells as in Eden, in the garden of God. Precious +stones are the covering of his palaces: the ruby, the +topaz, the diamond, the chrysolite, the onyx, and the +jasper, the sapphire, the carbuncle, the emerald, and +gold; the workmanship of his ring-cases he bears upon +him."<a name="FNanchor_498_498" id="FNanchor_498_498"></a><a href="#Footnote_498_498" class="fnanchor">[498]</a> "His garments," we are told in a song of the +Hebrews, "smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia; in ivory +palaces the sound of harps gladdens him. At his right +hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir, in a garment +of wrought gold: on broidered carpets she shall be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> +brought to him; the young maidens, her companions, +follow her."<a name="FNanchor_499_499" id="FNanchor_499_499"></a><a href="#Footnote_499_499" class="fnanchor">[499]</a></p> + +<p>Hosea calls Tyre "a plantation in a pleasant +meadow."<a name="FNanchor_500_500" id="FNanchor_500_500"></a><a href="#Footnote_500_500" class="fnanchor">[500]</a> Of the city itself Ezekiel says, "The +architects have made her beauty perfect. All her +planks (wainscot) were of cypress, and her masts of +cedar of Lebanon; the rudders are of oaks of Bashan, +the benches of ivory, set in costly wood from the island +of Cyprus. For sails Tyre spreads out byssus and +gay woofs; blue and red purple from the islands of +Elisa formed their coverlets."<a name="FNanchor_501_501" id="FNanchor_501_501"></a><a href="#Footnote_501_501" class="fnanchor">[501]</a> In the description of +Strabo, more than 500 years later, Tyre appears less +magnificent. The houses of the city were very high, +higher than at Rome; the city still wealthy, owing to +the trade in her two harbours and her purple factories, +but the number of these made the city unpleasant. +Strabo does not mention any considerable building in +the city. Of Aradus he says, "The smallness of the +rock on which the city lies, seven stades only in circuit, +and the number of inhabitants caused every house to +have many stories. Drinking-water had to be obtained +from the mainland; on the island there were only +wells and cisterns."<a name="FNanchor_502_502" id="FNanchor_502_502"></a><a href="#Footnote_502_502" class="fnanchor">[502]</a></p> + +<p>Scarcely any striking remains of the ancient buildings +of Phœnicia have come down to our time. The +ancient temples enumerated in the treatise on the Syrian +goddess have perished without a trace; the temple of +Melkarth of Tyre, the great temple of Astarte at +Sidon, the temple of Bilit (Ashera) at Byblus,<a name="FNanchor_503_503" id="FNanchor_503_503"></a><a href="#Footnote_503_503" class="fnanchor">[503]</a> although +they were certainly not of a character easy to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> +destroy. That the Phenicians were acquainted from +very ancient periods with the erection of strong +masonry was proved above. Not only have we the +legend of the Greeks, that Cadmus taught them the +art of masonry and built the famous walls of Thebes; +we saw how Israel, about the year 1000 <small>B.C.</small>, provided +herself with masons, stone-cutters, and materials from +Tyre. Hence we may also assume that the architecture +of the temple and the royal palaces of Solomon +described in the Books of Kings corresponded to the +architecture of the Phenicians. The temples and +palaces of the Phenicians consisted, therefore, of walls +of large materials, roofed with beams of cedar; in +the interior the materials were no doubt covered, as +at Jerusalem, with planks of wood and ornaments of +brass, "so that the stone was nowhere seen" (p. 183). +Ezekiel has already told us that the planks of the roofs +of the royal palace at Tyre were overlaid with gold and +precious stones; and the Books of Kings showed us +that even the floors were adorned with gold. All the +remains of walls in Phœnicia that can be referred to +an ancient period exhibit a style of building confined +to the stone of the mountain range which hems the +coast, and desirous of imitating the nature of the rocks. +Blocks of large dimensions were used by preference; at +first they were worked as little as possible, and fitted to +each other, and the interstices between the great blocks +were filled with smaller stones. Of this kind are the +fragments of the walls which surround the rock on +which the city of Aradus stood. Gigantic blocks, +visible even now here and there, formed the dams of +the harbours of Aradus, Sidon, Tyre, and Japho.<a name="FNanchor_504_504" id="FNanchor_504_504"></a><a href="#Footnote_504_504" class="fnanchor">[504]</a> It +was a step in advance that the blocks, while retaining +the form in which they were quarried, were smoothed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> +at the joints in order to be fitted together more firmly, +and a further step still that the blocks were hewn into +squares, though at first the outer surfaces of the +squares were not smoothed. So far as remains allow +us to see, the detached structures were of a simple and +massive character, in shape like cubes of vast dimensions; +the walls, as is shown by the city wall of +Aradus, were joined without mortar, and in the oldest +times the buildings appear to have been roofed with +monoliths. Cedar beams were not sought after till +larger spaces had to be covered. Beside old water-basins +hewn in the rock, and oil or wine presses of +the same character, we have no remains of ancient +Phenician temples but those on the site of Marathus +(now Amrit), a city of the tribe of the Arvadites, to +the south of Aradus, and in the neighbourhood of +Byblus.<a name="FNanchor_505_505" id="FNanchor_505_505"></a><a href="#Footnote_505_505" class="fnanchor">[505]</a> The bases of the walls which enclose the +courts and water-basins of the temple of Marathus +can still be traced, as well as the huge stones which +formed the three cellæ, the innermost shrines of this +temple. On either side of a back wall formed of similar +materials heavy blocks protrude, and are roofed over, +together with this wall, by a great monolith, which +protected the sacred stone or the image of the deity.<a name="FNanchor_506_506" id="FNanchor_506_506"></a><a href="#Footnote_506_506" class="fnanchor">[506]</a> +This heavy style of the city walls, dams, temples, +and royal castles did not prevent the Phenicians, any +more than the Egyptians, from building the upper +stories of the dwelling-houses of their cities in light +wood-work.</p> + +<p>By far the most important remains of ancient +Phœnicia are the rock-tombs, which are found in great +numbers and extent opposite to the islands of Tyre +and Aradus, as well as at Sidon, Byblus, and among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +the ruins of the other cities on the spurs of Lebanon; +and which at Tyre especially spread out into wide +burial-places, and several stories of tombs, one upon +the other. In the same style we find to the west of +the ruins of Carthage long walls of rocks hollowed out +into thousands of tombs, and furnished with arched +niches for the reception of the dead.<a name="FNanchor_507_507" id="FNanchor_507_507"></a><a href="#Footnote_507_507" class="fnanchor">[507]</a> In the oldest +period the Phenicians must have placed their dead in +natural cavities of rock, and perhaps they erected a +stone before them as a memorial. In Genesis Abraham +buries Sarah in the cave of Machpelah, and Jacob +sets up a stone on the grave of Rachel.<a name="FNanchor_508_508" id="FNanchor_508_508"></a><a href="#Footnote_508_508" class="fnanchor">[508]</a> Afterwards +the natural hollows were extended, and whole cavities +dug out artificially for tombs. The tomb of David and +the tombs of his successors were hewn in the rocks of +the gorge which separated the city from the height +of Zion (p. 177). The oldest of the artificial tombs in +Phœnicia are doubtless those which consist of cubical +chambers with horizontal hewn roofs. Round one +or two large chambers lower oblong depressions are +driven further in the rocks to receive the corpses. +The entrance into these ancient chambers are formed +by downward perpendicular shafts, at the bottom of +which on two sides are openings into the chambers +secured by slabs of stone laid before them. Shafts of +this kind must be meant when the Hebrews say in a +figure of the dead, "The mouth of the well has eaten +him up." Later than the tombs of this description are +those the entrance to which is on the level ground (which +was then closed by a stone), which have roofs hewn in +low arches, and side niches for the corpses. The arched +chambers approached by steps leading downward, the +walls of which are decorated after Grecian patterns on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +the stone, or on stucco, must originate from the time +of the predominance of Greek art, <i>i. e.</i> of the days of +Hellenism. The oldest style of burial was the placing +of the corpse in the cavity, the grave-chamber, and afterwards +in the depression at the side of this. At a later +time apparently the enclosure of the corpse in a narrow +coffin of clay became common here, as in Babylonia. +Coffins of lead have also been found in the rock-tombs +of Phœnicia. But beside these, heavy oblong stone-coffins +with a simple slab of stone as a lid were in use +in ancient times; along with flat lids, lids raised in a +low triangle are also found; later still, and latest of +all, are coffins and sarcophagi adorned with acroteria +and other ornaments of the Greek style.<a name="FNanchor_509_509" id="FNanchor_509_509"></a><a href="#Footnote_509_509" class="fnanchor">[509]</a></p> + +<p>In the flat limestone rocks which run at a moderate +elevation in the neighbourhood of Sidon, and contain +the vast necropolis of that city, there is a cavern, +now called Mogharet Ablun, <i>i. e.</i> the cave of Apollo. +Beside the entrance, in a depression covered by a +structure attached to the rock-wall (the rock-tombs +were supplemented and extended by structures attached +to the wall), was found a coffin of blackish blue +stone, the form of which indicates the shape of the +buried person after the manner of the mummy-coffins +of Egypt, and displays in colossal relief the mask of +the dead in Egyptian style, with an Egyptian covering +for the head and beard on the chin; the band round +the neck ends behind in two hawk's heads. The +inscription in Phenician letters teaches us that this +coffin contained Esmunazar, king of Sidon. Similar +sarcophagi in stone, in part expressing the form even +more accurately, seven or eight in number, have been +discovered in other chambers of the burial-place of +Sidon, and in the burial-places of Byblus and Anta<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>radus, +but only in cubical, <i>i. e.</i> in more ancient chambers. +Marble coffins of this kind have also been +found in the Phenician colonies of Soloeis and Panormus +in Sicily, and of the same shape in burnt earth in +Malta and Gozzo. The Phenicians, therefore, came to +imitate the coffins of the Egyptians. Similar imitation +of Egyptian burial is proved by the gold plates +found in Phenician chambers, which are like those +with which we find the mouth closed in Egyptian +mummies, and the discovery of golden masks in +Phenician chambers,<a name="FNanchor_510_510" id="FNanchor_510_510"></a><a href="#Footnote_510_510" class="fnanchor">[510]</a> which correspond to the gilding +of the masks of the face of the innermost Egyptian +coffins which immediately surround the linen covering. +As the face-mask of the external coffin imitated the +face of the dead in stone or in coloured wood, so also +ought the inner gilded face to preserve the features +of the dead. This imitation of the Egyptian style of +burial among the Phenicians must go back to a great +antiquity. It is true that Esmunazar of Sidon did not +rule till the second half of the fifth or the beginning of +the fourth century <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_511_511" id="FNanchor_511_511"></a><a href="#Footnote_511_511" class="fnanchor">[511]</a> Yet the shape and style of his +coffin reminds us of older Egyptian patterns; it is most +like the stone coffins of Egypt which have come down +from the beginning of the sixth century. And if the +ancient tombs opened at Mycenæ behind the lion's gate +belong to Carians influenced by Phenician civilisation +(p. 74), if golden masks are here found on the face of +the dead, the Phenicians must have borrowed this custom +from the Egyptians as early as the thirteenth +century, if not even earlier.</p> + +<p>The remains which have come down to us of the +sculpture, jars, and utensils of Phœnicia exhibit the +double influence which the art and industry of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +Phenicians underwent even at an early period. Agreeably +to the close relations into which the Phenicians +entered, on the one hand with Babel and Asshur, and on +the other with Egypt, the effects of these two ancient +civilisations meet each other on the coast of Syria. +The arts of the kindred land of the Euphrates, the +relations of which to Phœnicia were at the same time +the older, naturally made themselves felt first. When +Tuthmosis III. collected tribute in Syria at the beginning +of the sixteenth century, the Babylonian weight +was already in use there; the jars which were brought +to this king as the tribute of Syria are carefully +worked, but as yet adorned with very simple and recurring +patterns of lines. On the other hand, the ornaments +found in the tombs of Mycenæ, gold-plates, frontlets, +and armlets, exhibit ornaments like those figured on +the monuments of Assyria; and the objects found in +the rock-tombs on Hymettus, at Spata, point even +more definitely to Babylonian patterns: winged fabulous +animals and battles of beasts (a lion attacking a +bull or an antelope<a name="FNanchor_512_512" id="FNanchor_512_512"></a><a href="#Footnote_512_512" class="fnanchor">[512]</a>) are formed in the manner of the +Eastern Semites, which brings the form of the muscles +into prominence. We may assume that the influence +of Egypt began with the times of the Tuthmosis and +Amenophis, and their supremacy in Syria, and slowly +gathered strength. The heavy style of Phenician buildings +would not be made lighter or more free by the architecture +of Egypt, which also arose out of building in +rock. The temples of Phœnicia adopted Egyptian symbols +for their ornaments; the monoliths of the roofs of +those three cellæ at Marathus exhibit the winged sun's-disk, +the emblem at the entrance of Egyptian temples; +the chests for the dead and masks for the mummies +of the Egyptians were imitated in the rock-tombs of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> +Phœnicia. If the weaving of the Phenicians at first +copied the ancient Babylonian patterns, they began +under the stronger influence of Egypt to adorn their +pottery and metal-work after Egyptian patterns. But +they also combined the Babylonian and Egyptian +elements in their art.<a name="FNanchor_513_513" id="FNanchor_513_513"></a><a href="#Footnote_513_513" class="fnanchor">[513]</a> The oldest memorial of this +combination is perhaps retained in that winged sphinx, +which belongs to the time of the dominion of the shepherds +in Egypt. In the graves on Hymettus pictures +in relief of female winged sphinxes are found with +clothed breasts and peculiar wings, in a treatment obviously +already conventional. In Phœnicia itself are +found reliefs of similar sphinxes, old men with a human +face on either side of the tree of life, which meet us +oftentimes in the monuments of Assyria. This combination, +this use of Babylonian and Egyptian types and +forms side by side, is seen most clearly on a large +bowl found at Curium near Amathus, in Cyprus, and +wrought with great care and skill.<a name="FNanchor_514_514" id="FNanchor_514_514"></a><a href="#Footnote_514_514" class="fnanchor">[514]</a> It follows that +the art of the Phenicians was essentially imitative and +intended to furnish objects for trade. Of round works +of sculpture we have only dwarfish deities (I. 378), the +typical form of which was naturally retained, and a +few lions coarsely wrought in the style of the plastic +art of Babylon and Assyria.<a name="FNanchor_515_515" id="FNanchor_515_515"></a><a href="#Footnote_515_515" class="fnanchor">[515]</a> The relation in which +the lion stood to the god Melkarth naturally made the +delineation of the lion a favourite object of Phenician +art.</p> + +<p>Phœnicia, though the home of alphabetical writing, +has left us no more than two or three inscriptions, and +Carthage has not left us a great number. Not that there +was any lack of inscriptions in Phœnicia in ancient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> +days. We have heard already of ancient inscriptions +at Rhodes, Thebes, and Gades. Job wishes that "his +words might be graven on rocks for ever with an iron +chisel and lead."<a name="FNanchor_516_516" id="FNanchor_516_516"></a><a href="#Footnote_516_516" class="fnanchor">[516]</a> The inscriptions of Phœnicia have +perished because they were engraved like those inscriptions +of Gades, on plates of brass. Beside the +inscription on the coffin of Esmunazar, king of Sidon, +already mentioned, of a date about 400 <small>B.C.</small>, only two +or three smaller inscriptions have been preserved, +which do not go beyond the second century <small>B.C.</small> In +this inscription Esmunazar speaks in person; he calls +himself the son of Tabnit, king of the Sidonians, +son of Esmunazar, king of the Sidonians. With his +mother, Amastarte, the priestess of Astarte, he had +erected temples to Baal, Astarte, and Esmun. He +beseeches the favour of the gods for himself and his +land; he prays that Dor and Japho may always +remain under Sidon; he declares that he wishes to +rest in the grave which he has built and in this coffin. +No one is to open the tomb or plunder it, or remove +or damage this stone coffin. If any man attempts it +the gods will destroy him with his seed; he is not to +be buried, and after death will find no rest among the +shades.<a name="FNanchor_517_517" id="FNanchor_517_517"></a><a href="#Footnote_517_517" class="fnanchor">[517]</a></p> + +<p>There is scarcely any side of civilisation, any forms of +technical art, the invention of which was not ascribed +by the Greeks to the Phenicians. They were nearly +all made known to the Greeks through the Phenicians; +more especially the building of walls and fortresses, +mining, the alphabet, astronomy, numbers, mathematics, +navigation, together with a great variety of +applications of technical skill. If the discovery of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +alphabetic writing belongs to the Phenicians, the +Babylonians were the instructors of the Phenicians +in astronomy as well as in fixing measures and +weights (I. 305). Yet this is no reason for contesting +the statement of Strabo that the Sidonians were +"eager inquirers into the knowledge of the stars and +of numbers, to which they were led by navigation +by night and the art of calculation."<a name="FNanchor_518_518" id="FNanchor_518_518"></a><a href="#Footnote_518_518" class="fnanchor">[518]</a> In the same +way the technical discoveries ascribed by the Greeks +to the Phenicians were not all made in their cities; +they carried on with vigour and skill what grew up +independently among them as well as what they learnt +from others. The making of glass was undoubtedly +older in Egypt than in Phœnicia (I. 224). Egypt also +practised work in metals before Phœnicia. Snefru +and Chufu made themselves masters of the copper +mines of the peninsula of Sinai before the year 3000 +<small>B.C.</small> (I. 95), while the Phenicians can hardly have +occupied the copper island off their coast (Cyprus) +before the middle of the thirteenth century <small>B.C.</small> Artistic +weaving and embroidery were certainly practised +at a more ancient date in Babylonia than in the +cities of the Phenicians. But all these branches of industry +were carried on with success by the Phenicians. +Sidon furnished excellent works in glass, which were +accounted the best even down to a late period of +antiquity. The dunes on the coast between Acco +and Tyre, where is the mouth of the glass-river (Sihor +Libnath),<a name="FNanchor_519_519" id="FNanchor_519_519"></a><a href="#Footnote_519_519" class="fnanchor">[519]</a> provided the Phenician manufacturers with +the earth necessary for the manufacture of glass. It +was maintained that the most beautiful glass was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> +cast in Sarepta (Zarpath, <i>i. e.</i> melting), a city on the +coast between Sidon and Tyre.<a name="FNanchor_520_520" id="FNanchor_520_520"></a><a href="#Footnote_520_520" class="fnanchor">[520]</a></p> + +<p>The purple dyeing, <i>i. e.</i> the colouring of woofs by the +liquor from fish, was discovered by the Phenicians. +They were unsurpassed in this art; it outlived by +many centuries the power and splendour of their cities. +Trumpet and purple fish were found in great numbers +on their coasts, and the liquor from these provided +excellent dye. The liquor of the purple-fish, which +comes from a vessel in the throat, is dark-red in the +small fish, and black in the larger fish; the liquor of +the trumpet-fish is scarlet. The fish were pounded +and the dye extracted by decoction. By mixing, +weakening, or thickening this material, and by adding +this or that ingredient, various colours were obtained, +through all the shades of crimson and violet down to +the darkest black, in which fine woollen stuffs and +linen from Egypt were dipped. The stuffs soaked in +these colours are the purple cloths of antiquity, and +were distinguished by the bright sheen of the colours. +The Tyrian double-dyed cloth, which had the colour +of curdled blood, and the violet amethyst purple were +considered the most beautiful.<a name="FNanchor_521_521" id="FNanchor_521_521"></a><a href="#Footnote_521_521" class="fnanchor">[521]</a> Three hundred pounds +of the raw material were usually required to dye 50 +pounds of wool.<a name="FNanchor_522_522" id="FNanchor_522_522"></a><a href="#Footnote_522_522" class="fnanchor">[522]</a> When the purple stuffs began to be +sought after, the fish collected on the coasts of Tyre, +Sidon, and Sarepta were no longer sufficient. We +saw how the ships of the Phenicians went from coast +to coast in order to get fresh materials for the dye, +and found them in great numbers on the shores of +Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Cythera, and Thera; in the +bays of Laconia and Argos, and in the straits of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> +Eubœa. Purple-fish were also collected on the greater +Syrtis, in Sicily, the Balearic Isles, and coasts of +Tarshish.<a name="FNanchor_523_523" id="FNanchor_523_523"></a><a href="#Footnote_523_523" class="fnanchor">[523]</a> Even at a later period, when the art of +dyeing with the purple-fish was understood and +practised at many places in the Mediterranean Sea, the +Tyrian purple still maintained its pre-eminence and +fame. "Tyre," says Strabo, "overcame her misfortunes, +and always recovered herself by means of her +navigation, in which the Phenicians were superior to all +others, and her purples. The Tyrian purple is the most +beautiful; the fish are caught close at hand, and +every other requirement for the dyeing is there in +abundance."<a name="FNanchor_524_524" id="FNanchor_524_524"></a><a href="#Footnote_524_524" class="fnanchor">[524]</a> A hundred years later Pliny adds "that +the ancient glory of Tyre survived now only in her +fish and her purples."<a name="FNanchor_525_525" id="FNanchor_525_525"></a><a href="#Footnote_525_525" class="fnanchor">[525]</a> The consumption and expense +of purple in antiquity was very great, especially in +Hither Asia. At first the Phenician kings wore the +purple robe as the sign of their rank; then it became +the adornment of the princes of the East, the priests, +the women of high rank, and upper classes. In the +temples and palaces the purple served for curtains and +cloths, robes and veils for the images and shrines. +The kings of Babylon and Assyria, and after them the +kings of Persia, collected stores of purple stuffs in their +palaces. Plutarch puts the value of the amount of +purple found by Alexander at Susa at 5000 talents.<a name="FNanchor_526_526" id="FNanchor_526_526"></a><a href="#Footnote_526_526" class="fnanchor">[526]</a> +In the West also the purple robe soon became the +distinguishing garb of royalty and rank. Yet the +Greeks and Romans of the better times, owing to the +costliness of the material, contented themselves with +the possession of borders or stripes of purple.</p> + +<p>The weaving and embroidery of the Phenicians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +apparently followed Assyrian and Babylonian patterns. +They must also have made and exported ceramic ware +and earthen vessels in large numbers at an ancient +period, as is proved by the tributes brought to Tuthmosis +III., the discoveries in Cyprus, Rhodes, Thera, +and at Hissarlik. In the preparation of perfumes Sidon +and Tyre were not equal to the Babylonians. It is +true that their manufacturers supplied susinum and +cyprinum of excellent quality, but they could not +attain to the cinnamon or the nard ointment, nor to +the royal ointment of the Babylonians.<a name="FNanchor_527_527" id="FNanchor_527_527"></a><a href="#Footnote_527_527" class="fnanchor">[527]</a></p> + +<p>In mining the Phenicians were masters. In regard +to the Phenician skill in this art, the Book of Job says, +"The earth, from which comes nourishment, is turned +up; he lays his hand upon the flint; far from the dealings +of men he makes his descending shaft. No bird of +prey knows the path; the eye of the vulture discovers +it not; the wild beasts do not tread it. Through the +rocks paths are made; he searches out the darkness and +the night. Then his eye beholds all precious things. +The stone of the rocks is the place of the sapphire +and gold-dust. Iron is taken out of the mountains; +stones are melted into brass, the drop of water is +stopped, and the hidden is brought to light."<a name="FNanchor_528_528" id="FNanchor_528_528"></a><a href="#Footnote_528_528" class="fnanchor">[528]</a> The +Phenicians dug mines for copper, first on Lebanon and +then in Cyprus. We saw that they afterwards, in the +second half of the thirteenth century, opened out the +gold treasures of Thasos in the Thracian Sea. Herodotus, +who had seen their abandoned mines there (they +lay on the south coast of Thasos), informed us that the +Phenicians had entirely "turned over a whole mountain." +Yet even in the fifth century <small>B.C.</small> the mines of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> +Thasos produced a yearly income of from two to three +hundred talents. In Spain the Phenicians opened +their mines in the silver mountain, <i>i. e.</i> in the Sierra +Morena, above the lower course of the Baetis (the +Guadalquivir);<a name="FNanchor_529_529" id="FNanchor_529_529"></a><a href="#Footnote_529_529" class="fnanchor">[529]</a> their ships went up the stream as +far as Sephela (perhaps Hispalis, Seville). The richest +silver-mines lay above Sephela at Ilipa (Niebla); the +best gold and copper mines were at Cotini, in the +region of Gades.<a name="FNanchor_530_530" id="FNanchor_530_530"></a><a href="#Footnote_530_530" class="fnanchor">[530]</a> Diodorus assures us that all the +mines in Iberia had been opened by Phenicians and +Carthaginians, and not one by the Romans. In the +more ancient times the workmen here brought up in +three days an Euboic talent of silver, and their wages +were fixed at a fourth part of the returns. The mines +in Iberia were carried down many stades in depth and +length, with pits, shafts, and sloping paths crossing +each other; for the veins of gold and silver were more +productive at a greater depth. The water in the mines +was taken out by Egyptian spiral pumps. Strabo +observes that the gold ore when brought up was +melted over a slow fire, and purified by vitriolated +earth. The smelting-ovens for the silver were built +high, in order that the vapour from the ore, which was +injurious and even deadly, might pass into the air.<a name="FNanchor_531_531" id="FNanchor_531_531"></a><a href="#Footnote_531_531" class="fnanchor">[531]</a></p> + +<p>The Phenicians also understood how to work skilfully +the metals supplied by their mines. At the +founding of Gades, which we had to place about the +year 1100 <small>B.C.</small>, iron pillars with inscriptions are mentioned +which the settlers put up in the temple of +Melkarth (p. 82). The brass work which the melter, +Hiram of Tyre, executed for Solomon (p. 182) is evidence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> +of long practice in melting brass, and of skill in +bringing into shape large masses of melted metal. +The Homeric poems speak of Sidon as "rich in brass," +and "skilful;" they tell us of large beaten bowls of +brass and silver of Sidonian workmanship, "rich in +invention." Even at a later period the goblets of +Sidon were in request. Not only metal implements +and vessels of brass and copper, molten and beaten, +were furnished by the Phenicians; they must also +have manufactured armour in large quantities, if we +may draw any conclusion about armour from the tribute +imposed on the Syrians by Tuthmosis III. It is easily +intelligible of what value it must have been for the +nations of the West to come into the possession of +splendid armour and good weapons. Besides these are +the ornaments found in great numbers, and of high +antiquity, in the tombs of Spata and Mycenæ, and +in the excavations at Hissarlik. In Homer, Phenician +ships bring necklaces of gold and amber to the Greeks. +At a later time the ornaments of the Phenicians and +their alabaster boxes were sought after; the carved +work in ivory and wood, with which they also adorned +the prows and banks of oars of their ships, is praised +by Ezekiel. They also knew how to set and cut precious +stones; some seals have come down to us in part from +an ancient date.<a name="FNanchor_532_532" id="FNanchor_532_532"></a><a href="#Footnote_532_532" class="fnanchor">[532]</a></p> + +<p>In ship-building the Phenicians were confessedly +superior; they are said to have discovered navigation.<a name="FNanchor_533_533" id="FNanchor_533_533"></a><a href="#Footnote_533_533" class="fnanchor">[533]</a> +The ancient forests of cedar and cypress which rose +immediately above their shores supplied the best<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> +wood, which resisted decay for an extraordinary +length of time even in salt water. Much as the +Phenicians used these forests in the course of a thousand +years for building their ships, their palaces, and +temples, as well as for exportation, they provided even +in the third century <small>B.C.</small> a material which for extent, +size, and beauty won the admiration of the Greeks.<a name="FNanchor_534_534" id="FNanchor_534_534"></a><a href="#Footnote_534_534" class="fnanchor">[534]</a> +The oldest ship of the Phenicians which continued +through all time in use as a trading-vessel was the +<i>gaulos</i>, a vessel with high prow and stern, both of +which were similarly rounded. It was propelled by +a large sail and by rowers, from 20 to 30 in number. +Besides the gaulos, there was the long and narrow fifty-oar, +which served for a merchantman and pirate-ship +as well as for a ship of war, and after the discovery of +the silver land the large and armed merchantman, the +ship of Tarshish. Isaiah enumerates the ship of +Tarshish among the costly structures of men.<a name="FNanchor_535_535" id="FNanchor_535_535"></a><a href="#Footnote_535_535" class="fnanchor">[535]</a> Ezekiel +compares Tyre to a proud ship of the sea. We know +that the great transport-ships and merchantmen of the +Phenicians and Carthaginians could take about 500 +men on board. The Byblians were considered the best +ship-builders. The keels of the ships, like the masts, +were made of cedar; the oars were of oak, supplied by +the oak forests of the table-land of Bashan. The +mariners of Sidon and Aradus were considered the +best rowers. The Greeks praise the strict and careful +order on board a Phenician ship, the happy use of +the smallest spaces, the accuracy in distributing and +placing the lading, the experience, wisdom, activity, +and safety of the Phenician pilots and officers.<a name="FNanchor_536_536" id="FNanchor_536_536"></a><a href="#Footnote_536_536" class="fnanchor">[536]</a> Others +commend the great sail and oar power of the Phenician +ships. They could sail even against the wind, and +make fortunate voyages in the stormy season of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> +year. While the Greeks steered by the Great Bear, +which, if a more visible, was a far more uncertain +guide, the Phenicians had at an early time discovered +a less conspicuous but more trustworthy guide in the +polar star, which the Greeks call the "Phenician star." +The Greeks themselves allow that this circumstance +rendered the voyages of the Phenicians more accurate +and secure. On an average the Phenician ships, +which as a rule did not set out before the end of +February, and returned at the end of October, accomplished +120 miles in 24 hours; but ships that were +excellently built and equipped, and sufficiently manned, +ran about 150 miles.<a name="FNanchor_537_537" id="FNanchor_537_537"></a><a href="#Footnote_537_537" class="fnanchor">[537]</a> In the fifteenth century the +galleys of Venice could run from 50 to 100 miles in +the Mediterranean in the 24 hours. The excellence of +the Phenician navy survived the independence of the +cities. Inclination towards, and pleasure in navigation, +as well as skill in it, were always to be found among +the populations of those cities. The Phenician ships +were by far the best in the fleets of the Persian kings.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_474_474" id="Footnote_474_474"></a><a href="#FNanchor_474_474"><span class="label">[474]</span></a> Eustath. ad "Odysseam," 4, 617.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_475_475" id="Footnote_475_475"></a><a href="#FNanchor_475_475"><span class="label">[475]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 352.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_476_476" id="Footnote_476_476"></a><a href="#FNanchor_476_476"><span class="label">[476]</span></a> De Luynes, "Essai sur la numismatique des satrapies," p. 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_477_477" id="Footnote_477_477"></a><a href="#FNanchor_477_477"><span class="label">[477]</span></a> Above, p. 188.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_478_478" id="Footnote_478_478"></a><a href="#FNanchor_478_478"><span class="label">[478]</span></a> Curt. 4, 8. Pliny ("Hist. Nat." 5, 17) puts the distance from the +mainland at 700 paces (double paces).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_479_479" id="Footnote_479_479"></a><a href="#FNanchor_479_479"><span class="label">[479]</span></a> On coins of Tyre of a later time we find two rocks, which indicate +the position of the city. Ezekiel (xxvi. 4, 5) threatens that she shall +be a naked rock in the sea for the spreading of nets. Joseph. "c. Apion," +8, 5, 3; Diod. 17, 46; Arrian, 2, 21, 23. Renan's view ("Mission de +Phénicie," p. 546 ff.) on the Agenorion has been adopted; some others +of his results appear to be uncertain.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_480_480" id="Footnote_480_480"></a><a href="#FNanchor_480_480"><span class="label">[480]</span></a> Vol. i. 367; Menander in Joseph. "c. Apion." 1, 17, 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_481_481" id="Footnote_481_481"></a><a href="#FNanchor_481_481"><span class="label">[481]</span></a> Joseph. "Antiq." 8, 13, 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_482_482" id="Footnote_482_482"></a><a href="#FNanchor_482_482"><span class="label">[482]</span></a> Joseph. <i>loc. cit.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_483_483" id="Footnote_483_483"></a><a href="#FNanchor_483_483"><span class="label">[483]</span></a> In order to bring the reigns of Josephus into harmony with his +total, the total, which is given twice, must be retained. Hence +nothing remains but to replace, as Movers has already done, the three +and six years given by Josephus for Balezor and Mutton by the +eight and 25 years given by Syncellus.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_484_484" id="Footnote_484_484"></a><a href="#FNanchor_484_484"><span class="label">[484]</span></a> On the identity of the names Acerbas, Sichaeus, Sicharbas, Sicharbaal, +Serv. "ad Æneid," 1, 343; Movers, "Phoeniz." 2, 1, 355.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_485_485" id="Footnote_485_485"></a><a href="#FNanchor_485_485"><span class="label">[485]</span></a> Justin, 18, 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_486_486" id="Footnote_486_486"></a><a href="#FNanchor_486_486"><span class="label">[486]</span></a> Timaeus, fragm. 23, ed. Müller; Appian, "Rom. Hist." 8, 1.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_487_487" id="Footnote_487_487"></a><a href="#FNanchor_487_487"><span class="label">[487]</span></a> Timaeus, fragm. 23, ed. Müller.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_488_488" id="Footnote_488_488"></a><a href="#FNanchor_488_488"><span class="label">[488]</span></a> Vol. i. 371; Movers, "Phœniz." 1, 609 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_489_489" id="Footnote_489_489"></a><a href="#FNanchor_489_489"><span class="label">[489]</span></a> Oros. 4, 22; Strabo, p. 832.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_490_490" id="Footnote_490_490"></a><a href="#FNanchor_490_490"><span class="label">[490]</span></a> Sall. "Jug." 19.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_491_491" id="Footnote_491_491"></a><a href="#FNanchor_491_491"><span class="label">[491]</span></a> The various statements about the year of the foundation of Carthage +are collected in Müller, "Geograph. Græci min." 1, xix. It is +impossible to fix the foundation more accurately than about the middle +of the ninth century <small>B.C.</small> We may place it in the year 846 <small>B.C.</small> if we +rest on the 143⅔ years of Josephus from the building of the temple +(according to our own date 990 <small>B.C.</small>), and the round sum given by +Appian—that 700 years elapsed from the founding by Dido to the +destruction of the city; "Rom. Hist." 8, 132.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_492_492" id="Footnote_492_492"></a><a href="#FNanchor_492_492"><span class="label">[492]</span></a> Ezekiel xxvii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_493_493" id="Footnote_493_493"></a><a href="#FNanchor_493_493"><span class="label">[493]</span></a> Renan, "Mission de Phénicie," p. 199.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_494_494" id="Footnote_494_494"></a><a href="#FNanchor_494_494"><span class="label">[494]</span></a> Diod. 16, 41, 45; fragm. 23, ed. Bipont; cf. Justin. 18, 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_495_495" id="Footnote_495_495"></a><a href="#FNanchor_495_495"><span class="label">[495]</span></a> Joseph. "Antiq." 14, 12, 4, 5; Curt. 4, 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_496_496" id="Footnote_496_496"></a><a href="#FNanchor_496_496"><span class="label">[496]</span></a> Liv. 28, 37; Movers, "Phœniz." 2, 1, 490 ff, 529 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_497_497" id="Footnote_497_497"></a><a href="#FNanchor_497_497"><span class="label">[497]</span></a> Servius, "ad Æneid." 1, 738.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_498_498" id="Footnote_498_498"></a><a href="#FNanchor_498_498"><span class="label">[498]</span></a> Ezekiel xxviii. 2-17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_499_499" id="Footnote_499_499"></a><a href="#FNanchor_499_499"><span class="label">[499]</span></a> Psalm xlv. 9-15. Though it is doubtful whether there is any +reference here to Tyre, the court-life of the Israelites was imitated from +the Phenicians.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_500_500" id="Footnote_500_500"></a><a href="#FNanchor_500_500"><span class="label">[500]</span></a> Hosea ix. 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_501_501" id="Footnote_501_501"></a><a href="#FNanchor_501_501"><span class="label">[501]</span></a> Ezekiel xxvii. 4-7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_502_502" id="Footnote_502_502"></a><a href="#FNanchor_502_502"><span class="label">[502]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 754, 756.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_503_503" id="Footnote_503_503"></a><a href="#FNanchor_503_503"><span class="label">[503]</span></a> Lucian, "De Syria dea," 3-5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_504_504" id="Footnote_504_504"></a><a href="#FNanchor_504_504"><span class="label">[504]</span></a> Renan, "Mission de Phénicie," p. 39 ff, 362.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_505_505" id="Footnote_505_505"></a><a href="#FNanchor_505_505"><span class="label">[505]</span></a> Ceccaldi, "Le Monument de Sarba," Revue Archéolog. 1878.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_506_506" id="Footnote_506_506"></a><a href="#FNanchor_506_506"><span class="label">[506]</span></a> Renan, "Mission de Phénicie," p. 60 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_507_507" id="Footnote_507_507"></a><a href="#FNanchor_507_507"><span class="label">[507]</span></a> Beulé, "Nachgrabungen zu Karthago," s. 98 ff (translation).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_508_508" id="Footnote_508_508"></a><a href="#FNanchor_508_508"><span class="label">[508]</span></a> Gen. xxxv. 20.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_509_509" id="Footnote_509_509"></a><a href="#FNanchor_509_509"><span class="label">[509]</span></a> Renan, <i>loc. cit.</i> 412 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_510_510" id="Footnote_510_510"></a><a href="#FNanchor_510_510"><span class="label">[510]</span></a> In Cyprus also a mask of this kind has been found.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_511_511" id="Footnote_511_511"></a><a href="#FNanchor_511_511"><span class="label">[511]</span></a> Von Gutschmid, in "Fleckeisens Jahrbücher," 1875, s. 579.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_512_512" id="Footnote_512_512"></a><a href="#FNanchor_512_512"><span class="label">[512]</span></a> ΑΘΗΝΑΙΟΝ σ´ γ´ πίναξ; <small>A.</small> 7, <small>B.</small> 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_513_513" id="Footnote_513_513"></a><a href="#FNanchor_513_513"><span class="label">[513]</span></a> Helbig, "Cenni sopra l'arte fenicia," p. 17 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_514_514" id="Footnote_514_514"></a><a href="#FNanchor_514_514"><span class="label">[514]</span></a> Ceccaldi, "Les fouilles de Curium," Revue Archéolog. 1877.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_515_515" id="Footnote_515_515"></a><a href="#FNanchor_515_515"><span class="label">[515]</span></a> Renan, <i>loc. cit.</i> pp. 175, 181, 397.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_516_516" id="Footnote_516_516"></a><a href="#FNanchor_516_516"><span class="label">[516]</span></a> Job xix. 23.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_517_517" id="Footnote_517_517"></a><a href="#FNanchor_517_517"><span class="label">[517]</span></a> Rödiger, "Z. D. M. G." 9, 647; Schlottmann, "Inschrift Esmunazars;" +Halévy, "Mélanges," pp. 9, 34; Oppert, "Records of the Past," +9, 109.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_518_518" id="Footnote_518_518"></a><a href="#FNanchor_518_518"><span class="label">[518]</span></a> Strabo, p. 757.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_519_519" id="Footnote_519_519"></a><a href="#FNanchor_519_519"><span class="label">[519]</span></a> Joshua xix. 26. Strabo, p. 758. Tacitus says, "On the shore of +Judæa the Belus falls into the sea: the sand collected at the mouth of +this river, when mixed with saltpetre, is melted into glass. The +strip of shore is of moderate extent, but inexhaustible;" "Hist." 5, 7</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_520_520" id="Footnote_520_520"></a><a href="#FNanchor_520_520"><span class="label">[520]</span></a> Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 5, 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_521_521" id="Footnote_521_521"></a><a href="#FNanchor_521_521"><span class="label">[521]</span></a> Adolph Schmidt, "Forschungen auf dem Gebiete des Alterthums," +s. 69.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_522_522" id="Footnote_522_522"></a><a href="#FNanchor_522_522"><span class="label">[522]</span></a> Schmidt, <i>loc. cit.</i> 129 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_523_523" id="Footnote_523_523"></a><a href="#FNanchor_523_523"><span class="label">[523]</span></a> Herod. 4, 151; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 9, 60; Strabo, pp. 145, 835.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_524_524" id="Footnote_524_524"></a><a href="#FNanchor_524_524"><span class="label">[524]</span></a> Strabo, p. 757.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_525_525" id="Footnote_525_525"></a><a href="#FNanchor_525_525"><span class="label">[525]</span></a> Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 5, 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_526_526" id="Footnote_526_526"></a><a href="#FNanchor_526_526"><span class="label">[526]</span></a> Plut. "Alex." c. 36.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_527_527" id="Footnote_527_527"></a><a href="#FNanchor_527_527"><span class="label">[527]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." 3, 103.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_528_528" id="Footnote_528_528"></a><a href="#FNanchor_528_528"><span class="label">[528]</span></a> Job xxviii. 1-11. In this description the author could only have +Phenician mines in his eye.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_529_529" id="Footnote_529_529"></a><a href="#FNanchor_529_529"><span class="label">[529]</span></a> Müllenhoff, "Deutsche Altertumskunde," 1, 120 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_530_530" id="Footnote_530_530"></a><a href="#FNanchor_530_530"><span class="label">[530]</span></a> Strabo, p. 142. Kotini = the Oleastrum of the Romans; Pliny, +"Hist. Nat." 3, 3. Ptolem. 2, 4, 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_531_531" id="Footnote_531_531"></a><a href="#FNanchor_531_531"><span class="label">[531]</span></a> Strabo, pp. 175, 176, 120; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 7, 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_532_532" id="Footnote_532_532"></a><a href="#FNanchor_532_532"><span class="label">[532]</span></a> Ezekiel xxvii. 5, 6; Levy, "Siegel und Gemmen." If the first +text of the Pentateuch represents the names of the tribes of the +people as engraved upon the precious stones in the shield on the breast +of the high priest (Exod. xxv. 7; xxviii. 9 ff, <i>supra</i>, 207), the author +had, no doubt, the work of Phenician artists in his eye.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_533_533" id="Footnote_533_533"></a><a href="#FNanchor_533_533"><span class="label">[533]</span></a> Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 5, 13.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_534_534" id="Footnote_534_534"></a><a href="#FNanchor_534_534"><span class="label">[534]</span></a> Diodor. 19, 58.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_535_535" id="Footnote_535_535"></a><a href="#FNanchor_535_535"><span class="label">[535]</span></a> Isaiah ii. 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_536_536" id="Footnote_536_536"></a><a href="#FNanchor_536_536"><span class="label">[536]</span></a> Xen. "Œcon." 8, 12.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_537_537" id="Footnote_537_537"></a><a href="#FNanchor_537_537"><span class="label">[537]</span></a> Movers, "Phœniz." 3, 182 ff, 191 ff.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>THE TRADE OF THE PHENICIANS.</h3> + + +<p>We found above at what an early period the migratory +tribes of Arabia came into intercourse with the region +of the Euphrates, and the valley of the Nile, how +in both these places they purchased corn, implements, +and weapons in return for their horses and camels, +their skins and their wool, and the prisoners taken in +their feuds. It was this exchange trade of the Arabian +tribes which in the first instance brought about the +intercourse of Syria with Babylonia and Egypt. Egypt +like Babylonia required oil and wine for their population; +metals, skins, and wool for their manufactures; +wood for the building of houses and ships. For the +Syrians and cities of the Phenicians the intercourse +with the Arabians, and the lands of the Euphrates and +Tigris, was facilitated by the fact that nations related to +them in race and language dwelt as far as the border-mountains +of Armenia and Iran and the southern +coast of Arabia, and their trade with Egypt was +facilitated in the same manner when Semitic tribes +between 2000 and 1500 <small>B.C.</small> obtained the supremacy in +Egypt and maintained it for more than three centuries. +From the fact that Babylonian weights and measures +were in use in Syria in the sixteenth century <small>B.C.</small>, we +may conclude that there must have been close trade +relations between Syria and Babylonia from the year +2000 <small>B.C.</small>; and in the same manner in consequence of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +the conquest of Egypt by the shepherds more active +relations must have commenced between Syria and +the land of the Nile, at a period not much later. The +supremacy which Egypt afterwards obtained over +Syria under the Tuthmosis and Amenophis must have +rather advanced than destroyed this; thus Sethos, +towards the year 1400, used his successes against the +Cheta, <i>i. e.</i> the Hittites, to have cedars felled on Lebanon. +We may assume that even before this time, after the +rise of the kingdom of the Hittites, <i>i. e.</i> after the middle +of the fifteenth century, the cities of the Phenicians +were no longer content to exchange the products of +Syria, wine, oil, and brass, the manufactures of their +own growing industry, purple stuffs and weapons, +with the manufactures of Egypt, linen cloths, and +papyrus tissues, glass and engraved stones, ornaments +and drugs, on the one hand, and on the other hand +with the manufactures of Babylon, cloths, ointments, +and embroidered stuffs: they also carried Egyptian +fabrics to Babylon, and Babylonian fabrics to Egypt. +The trade of Phœnicia with Egypt and Babylonia +was no longer restricted to the exchange of Phenician-Syrian +products and fabrics with those of Egypt +and Babylon: it was at the same time a middle +trade between those two most ancient seats of cultivation, +between Egypt and Babylonia. It cannot have +been any detriment to this trade of the Phenicians +that a second centre of civic life sprang up subsequently +on the central Tigris in the growing power of +Assyria. In the ruins of Chalah (p. 34) Egyptian +works of art have been dug up in no inconsiderable +numbers. Herodotus begins his work with the observation +that the Phenicians at an early period +endeavoured to export and exchange Egyptian and +Assyrian (<i>i. e.</i> Babylonian and Assyrian) wares.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sea lay open to the cities of the Phenicians for +their intercourse with Egypt; for this route they were +independent of the good will or aversion of the tribes and +princes, who ruled in the south of Canaan; moreover +the wood of Lebanon could not be carried by land to +Egypt. We may certainly assume that the navigation +of the Phenicians was enabled to obtain its earliest +practice for further journeys by these voyages to that +mouth of the Nile, which the Egyptians opened to +foreign ships (I. 227). The free and secure use of the +routes of the caravans to the Euphrates, and from this +river to the Syrian coast, must have been obtained +from the rulers of Syria, the princes of Hamath and +Damascus, the migratory tribes of the Syrian desert, +the princes whose dominions lay on the Euphrates; +and would hardly be obtained without heavy payments. +So much the more desirable was it, if the +cities could enter into special relations with one or +other of these princes, such as David and Solomon, +who not only opened Israel to them, but also provided +the routes with caravanserais and warehouses (p. 187). +The trade-road to the Euphrates led from Sidon past +Dan (Laish) in Israel to Damascus, hence northwards +past Riblah and Emesa (Hems) to Hamath, from +Hamath to Bambyke (Hierapolis) in the neighbourhood +of the Euphrates, and then crossed over the river to +Harran (I. 320). From Harran the caravans went +down along the Belik to the Euphrates, then in the +valley of the Euphrates to Babylon, or went eastwards +past Nisibis (Nisib) to the Tigris. A shorter road to the +Euphrates ran past Damascus and the oasis of Tadmor, +and reached the river at Thipsach (Thapsacus) at the +farthest bend to the west.<a name="FNanchor_538_538" id="FNanchor_538_538"></a><a href="#Footnote_538_538" class="fnanchor">[538]</a></p> + +<p>We have already seen at what an early period the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> +trade with the land of frankincense, <i>i. e.</i> with South +Arabia, grew up for Egypt, owing to the mutual +intercourse of the Arabian tribes (I. 226). The first +attempt of Egypt to open a communication by sea +with South Arabia falls about the year 2300 <small>B.C.</small> At a +period not later, other Arabian tribes must have +carried the incense and spices of South Arabia to +Elam, Ur and Nipur, and Babylon. Syria must have +received the products of South Arabia first through +Babylon, then by means of direct communication with +the Arabs, and lastly by the special caravans of the +Phenicians. We hear of two trade-roads to that land. +One led past Damascus to the oasis of Duma (Dumat +el Dshandal), and from thence through the interior of +Arabia to the south; the other ran through Israel past +Ashtaroth Karnaim, through the territories of the Ammonites, +Moabites, and Edomites, to Elath, and thence +led along the coast of the Arabian Gulf to the Sabæans +(I. 320). From the Sabæans and the Chatramites even +before the year 1500 <small>B.C.</small> the caravans brought not +spices only and incense, but also the products of the +Somali coast. The Sabæans traversed the Arabian +Gulf and carried home the products of the coast of +East Africa; the southwest coast of Arabia was no +longer a place for producing and exporting frankincense +and spices; it became the trading-place of the +Somali coast, and before the year 1000 <small>B.C.</small> was also +the trading-place for the products of India, which +ships of the Indians carried to the shore of the +Sabæans and Chatramites (I. 322). It must have +been a considerable increase in the extent of the +Phenician trade and the gains obtained from it, +when the Phenicians were able to make such a fruitful +use of their connection with South Arabia that it fell +into their hands to provide Egypt, with her products,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> +and perhaps even Babylonia also. Their caravan trade +with South Arabia must have been lively, and the +impulse to extend it strong, as they induced king +Solomon to allow them to attempt a connection by sea +from Elath with South Arabia. By the foundation +and success of the trade to Ophir, and the most remote +places of the East which they reached, their commerce +obtained its widest extent, and brought in the richest +returns. With incense and balsam, there came to Tyre +cinnamon and cassia, sandal-wood and ivory, gold and +pearls from India, and the silk tissues of the distant +East.<a name="FNanchor_539_539" id="FNanchor_539_539"></a><a href="#Footnote_539_539" class="fnanchor">[539]</a></p> + +<p>The commerce of the Phenician cities comprised +Egypt, Babylonia, and Assyria, it touched Mesopotamia +and Armenia, the lands of the Moschi and Tibarenes, +the silver and copper mines of the Chalybes on the +Black Sea.<a name="FNanchor_540_540" id="FNanchor_540_540"></a><a href="#Footnote_540_540" class="fnanchor">[540]</a> When on the opening of the communication +by the Red Sea with South Arabia and the countries +beyond, it gained the widest extent to the south +and east, it had for a whole century past traversed the +entire length of the Mediterranean to the Straits of +Gibraltar. We saw above how the Phenicians steered +to Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, to the Ægean Sea, to the +coasts of Hellas, in order to barter or dig up minerals, +to collect purple-fish for their coloured stuffs, and how +after the middle of the thirteenth century they began +to plant settlements on these coasts. The request for +minerals must have been so strongly felt in their own +cities, in Egypt and the lands of the Euphrates, in the +course of the twelfth century, that the ships of the +Phenicians went farther and farther to the west in +search of them, that Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica were +reached and then colonised by them. At the same<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> +time Ityke and Old Hippo were built on the coast +of Africa. These supplied saltpetre, alum, and salt, +skins of lions and panthers, horns of buffalos, ostrich +eggs and feathers, slaves and ivory to the mother-cities. +After this, about the year 1100 <small>B.C.</small>, Gades +was built on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. The +trade of the Phenicians now brought not only the +products of Syria and the manufactures of their cities +to Egypt and Babylonia; it was not merely a middle +trade between those two lands, nor merely an independent +trade and middle trade between South Arabia and +the civilised countries; it mediated now between the +East and the West, the products and manufactures of +the near and distant East, and the natural products of +the near and distant West, between the ancient civilisation +of the East and the young life of the nations of +the West. It was above all the metals of the West, the +gold of the Thracian, the copper of the Italian islands, +the silver of Tartessus, which the ships of the Phenicians +carried into the harbours of the mother-cities: the +nations of the West received in return weapons, and +metal vases, ornaments, variegated cloths, and purple +garments. The works of Babylonian and Egyptian +style, the works which are found in the tombs of Caere, +Clusium, Alsium, at Corneto and Praeneste, adorned +in types at once Egyptian and Babylonian-Assyrian, +like the implements and ornaments found in the +tombs of Spata and Mycenæ, can only have come into +the possession of the Etruscans, Latins, and Lucanians +from intercourse with the Phenicians, the Phenician +colonies of Sicily, or from the trade with Carthage.<a name="FNanchor_541_541" id="FNanchor_541_541"></a><a href="#Footnote_541_541" class="fnanchor">[541]</a></p> + +<p>From Gades the Phenicians succeeded in forcing +their way farther to the Atlantic Ocean. Phenician +colonies were founded on the west coast of Africa.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +Lixus, the oldest and most important of these (Lachash, +now El Araish), at the mouth of the river of the +same name (now Wadi el Ghos), is said to have been the +seat of a famous sanctuary of Melkarth.<a name="FNanchor_542_542" id="FNanchor_542_542"></a><a href="#Footnote_542_542" class="fnanchor">[542]</a> Strabo is of +opinion that these colonies of the Phenicians beyond +the pillars of Hercules were built soon after the Trojan +war, <i>i. e.</i> about the year 1100 <small>B.C.</small><a name="FNanchor_543_543" id="FNanchor_543_543"></a><a href="#Footnote_543_543" class="fnanchor">[543]</a> Diodorus told +us already how Phenician ships, steering to the coast +of Libya in order to explore the sea beyond the pillars +were carried away by a storm far into the ocean, and discovered +a large island opposite Libya, which, from the +pleasantness of the air and the abundance of blessings, +seemed fitted to be the dwelling of the gods rather +than men (p. 82). We can hardly doubt, therefore, +that the Phenicians visited Madeira and the Canary +Islands.</p> + +<p>Tin was early known to the ancient world, and +was indispensable for the alloy of copper, but it could +only be found mixed with copper in the mines of the +Chalybes and Tibarenes (the Tabal of the Assyrians, +the Tubal of the Hebrews), whose name is found in +Genesis in Tubal-cain, the first smith, the father of +them that work in brass and iron (I. 539). Besides +these, there were tin mines only in the lofty Hindukush, +in the north-west of Iberia, and in the south-west +of England.<a name="FNanchor_544_544" id="FNanchor_544_544"></a><a href="#Footnote_544_544" class="fnanchor">[544]</a> Herodotus observes: Tin and +amber come from the extreme western ends of Europe. +He could not learn from any eye-witness whether there +was a sea there, though he had taken much trouble in +the matter. Pliny tells us: Midacritus first brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> +tin from the island Kassiteris, <i>i. e.</i> the tin-island.<a name="FNanchor_545_545" id="FNanchor_545_545"></a><a href="#Footnote_545_545" class="fnanchor">[545]</a> It +was the Phenicians who obtained tin, and they did not +obtain it from Iberia only: their ships sailed through the +Bay of Biscay, they became acquainted with the shore of +Brittany, which appears to have been known to them +as Œstrymnis; they discovered the tin islands, <i>i. e.</i> +the Channel Islands, the coast of Cornwall, and even +the island of Albion.<a name="FNanchor_546_546" id="FNanchor_546_546"></a><a href="#Footnote_546_546" class="fnanchor">[546]</a> The tin-islands or Kassiterides +of the Greeks are the islands of the north-west ocean, +known to the Phenicians, who procured tin from them.</p> + +<p>The Homeric poems often mention amber, which, +worked into ornaments, Phenician ships brought to +the Greeks. Ornaments of amber are met with in +the oldest tombs of Cumae, in the tombs at the Lion's +Gate at Mycenæ.<a name="FNanchor_547_547" id="FNanchor_547_547"></a><a href="#Footnote_547_547" class="fnanchor">[547]</a> Hence the Phenicians must have +been in possession of amber as early as the eleventh +century <small>B.C.</small> Amber was found not only on the shores +of the Baltic, but also on the coast of the North Sea, +between the mouth of the Rhine and the Elbe. We +may therefore draw the conclusion that in the eleventh +and tenth centuries <small>B.C.</small> they must have advanced far +enough in the Channel towards the mouth of the Rhine, +or beyond it, to obtain amber by exchange or collect +it themselves, unless we assume an extensive intercourse +between the Celts and Germans.<a name="FNanchor_548_548" id="FNanchor_548_548"></a><a href="#Footnote_548_548" class="fnanchor">[548]</a></p> + +<p>The starting-point, harbour, and emporium for the +trade in the West and the voyages beyond the pillars +of Melkarth in the Atlantic Ocean was Gades. Long +after the naval power of the Phenicians and Carthage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> +had perished, Gades remained a great, rich, and flourishing +city of trade. Strabo describes it thus: "Situated +on a small island not much more than a hundred +stades in length, and scarce a stade in breadth, without +any possessions on the mainland or the islands, this +city sends out the most and largest ships, and seems +to yield to no other city, except Rome, in the number +of the inhabitants. But the greater part do not live +in the city, but on ships."<a name="FNanchor_549_549" id="FNanchor_549_549"></a><a href="#Footnote_549_549" class="fnanchor">[549]</a></p> + +<p>In the tenth century <small>B.C.</small> the navigation and trade +of the Phenicians extended from the coasts of the +Arabian Sea, from the Somali coast, and perhaps from +the mouths of the Indus as far as the coast of Britain; +from the coasts of Mauritania on the Atlantic to the +Tigris, from Armenia to the Sabæans. Stretching +out far in every direction, they had as yet suffered +reverses in one region only, in the basin of the Ægean +Sea. Their trade and intercourse was not indeed destroyed, +but their mines, their colonies on the islands +of this sea and the coasts of Hellas, were lost. Before +Hiram ascended the throne of Tyre, the Phenicians, +after teaching Babylonian weights and measures, the +building of fortresses and walls, and mining to the +Greeks, and bringing them their alphabet (p. 57), were +compelled to retire before the increasing strength of +the Greek cantons, not only from the coasts of Hellas, +but also from the islands of the Ægean. The trade, +however, with the Hellenes continued as before, in +lively vigour, so far as the Homeric descriptions can +be accepted as evidence. The most valuable possessions +in the treasuries of the Greek princes are Sidonian +works of art. Phenician ships often show themselves +in Greek waters. When one of these merchantmen is +anchored, the wares are set out in the ship, or under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> +tents on the shore, or the Phenicians offer them for +sale in the nearest place. A Phenician vessel laden +with all kinds of ornaments lands on an island; after +the Phenicians have sold many wares they offer to +the queen a necklace of gold and amber, and at the +same time they carry off her son, and sell him on +another island. A Phenician freights a ship to Libya, +and persuades a Greek to go with him as overseer of the +lading: he intended to sell him there as a slave. Along +with these notices in the Homeric poems on the trade +of the Phenicians, an account has also come down to +us from an Eastern source. The prophet Joel, who +prophesied about the year 830 <small>B.C.</small>, says, in regard to +the invasion of the Philistines in Judah, which took +place about the year 845 <small>B.C.</small>, and brought them to the +walls of Jerusalem (p. 252); Tyre and Sidon, and all +the regions of the land of the Philistines, have stolen +the silver and gold of Jehovah, and carried the costly +things into their temples; the sons of Judah and +Jerusalem they sold to the sons of Javan (the Greeks), +in order to remove them far from their land.<a name="FNanchor_550_550" id="FNanchor_550_550"></a><a href="#Footnote_550_550" class="fnanchor">[550]</a></p> + +<p>For the colonies which the Phenicians had to give +up on the Greek coasts and islands, they found a rich +compensation in the strengthening and increase of +their colonies on the west of the Mediterranean, on +Sardinia, where they built Caralis (Cagliari) on the +southern shore, on Corsica, on the north coast of +Africa, where Carthage arose about the middle of the +ninth century (p. 269), and on the shores of Iberia. But +another loss which befell them in the East could not be +made good so easily. After king Jehoshaphat's death +(848 <small>B.C.</small>), even before the invasion of the Philistines,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> +the kingdom of Judah, as we saw (p. 252), lost the +sovereignty over the Edomites. Hence the harbour-city +of Elath was lost to the Phenicians also, and the +Ophir trade at an end, a century and a half after +it began. Though 50 years later, when Judah under +Amaziah and Uzziah had reconquered the Edomites, +and Elath was rebuilt, this navigation, as it seems, +was again set in motion, this restoration was of no long +continuance. After the middle of the eighth century +the Phenicians were finally limited for their trade with +the Sabæans to the caravan routes through Arabia.</p> + +<p>A still more serious source of danger was the approach +of the Assyrian power to the Syrian coast. +In the course of the ninth century (from 876 <small>B.C.</small>), +as has been remarked above, Assyrian armies repeatedly +showed themselves in Syria, and their departure +had repeatedly to be purchased by tribute. As this +pressure increased, and the Assyrian rulers insisted on +pushing forward the borders of their kingdom towards +Syria as far as the shores of the Mediterranean, as +the cities of the Phenicians became subject to a power +the centre of which lay in the distant interior, the +trade not to the East but to the West came into +question, and it was doubtful whether the cities, +when embodied in a great land-power, could retain +Cyprus in subjection, and keep up the trade with +Egypt, and the connection with their colonies in the +West. The doubt became greater when, after the +beginning of the eighth century <small>B.C.</small>, a dangerous +opposition rose in the Mediterranean, and a still +more serious competition against the Phenicians. Not +content with driving the Phenicians out of the Ægean +Sea, with obtaining possession of the islands and the +west coast of Asia Minor, the Hellenes spread farther +and farther to the west. Already they had got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> +Rhodes into their hands; they were already settled off +the coast of Syria, on the island of Cyprus, among +the ancient cities of the Phenicians. Still more +vigorous was the growth of their settlements to the +west of the Mediterranean. After founding Cyme +(Cumae) on the coast of Lower Italy, they built in +Sicily, after the middle of the eighth century, in +quick succession, Naxus (738 <small>B.C.</small>), Syracuse (735 <small>B.C.</small>), +Catana (730 <small>B.C.</small>), and Megara (728 <small>B.C.</small>), to which +were quickly added Rhegium, Sybaris, Croton, and +Tarentum in Lower Italy (720-708 <small>B.C.</small>). Were the +cities of the Phenicians in Sicily, Rus Melkarth, Motye, +Panormus, Soloeis, and Eryx (p. 79), in a position to +hold the balance against these rivals and their navigation? +The injurious effects of the competition of a +rival power by sea for the trade of the Phenicians +must have increased when, in the seventh century, the +cities of the Greeks in Sicily increased in number, and +Egypt was opened to them about the middle of this +century; when, in the year 630 <small>B.C.</small>, the first Greek +city, Cyrene, rose on the shore of Africa, and about +the same time the Greeks entered into direct trade +connections with Tartessus; when at the close of this +century a Greek city was built on the shore of the +Ligystian Sea, at the mouth of the Rhone, and soon +after the settlements of the Greeks in Sicily and in +the west of the Mediterranean began to multiply. +While in this manner the field of Phenician trade +was limited by the constant advance of the Greeks, +the mother-cities, from the same period, the middle of +the eighth century, had to feel the whole weight of +the development of Assyrian power. And when this +pressure ceased, in the second half of the seventh +century, it was followed by the still more burdensome +oppression of the Babylonian empire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span></p> + +<p>Yet in spite of all hindrances and losses, a prophet +of the Hebrews after the middle of the eighth century +could say of Tyre, that "she built herself strongholds, +and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the +mire of the streets."<a name="FNanchor_551_551" id="FNanchor_551_551"></a><a href="#Footnote_551_551" class="fnanchor">[551]</a> And Ezekiel at the beginning +of the sixth century describes the trade of Tyre in +the following manner: "Thou who dwellest at the +entrance of the sea, who art the trader of the nations +to many islands! On mighty waters thy rowers carry +thee; thy trade goes out over all seas; thou satisfiest +many nations; thou hast enriched the kings of the +earth by the multitude of thy goods and wares. Thou +art become mighty in the midst of the sea. All ships +of the sea and their sailors were in thee to purchase +thy wares. Persians and Libyans and Lydians serve +in thee; they are thy warriors; they hang shield and +helmet on thy walls: thy own warriors stand round +on the walls, and brave men are on all thy towers. +Syria is thy merchant, because of the number of the +wares of thy skill; they make thy fairs with emeralds, +purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, +and agate. Damascus is thy merchant in the multitude +of the wares of thy making, in the wine of +Helbon, and white wool. Judah and the land of +Israel were thy merchants; they traded in thy market +wheat and pastry and honey. They of the house of +Togarmah (Armenia) traded in thy fairs with horses +and mules. Haran, Canneh, and Asshur, and Childmad +were thy merchants in costly robes, in blue cloths +and embroidered work, and chests of cedar-wood full +of damasks bound with cords, in thy place of merchandise. +Dedan (the Dedanites<a name="FNanchor_552_552" id="FNanchor_552_552"></a><a href="#Footnote_552_552" class="fnanchor">[552]</a>) is thy merchant +in horse-cloths for riding. Wedan brings tissues<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> +to thy markets: forged iron, cassia, and calamus +were brought to thy markets. Arabia and all the +princes of Kedar are ready for thee with lambs, rams, +and goats. The merchants of Sabæa and Ramah<a name="FNanchor_553_553" id="FNanchor_553_553"></a><a href="#Footnote_553_553" class="fnanchor">[553]</a> +traffic with thee; they occupied in thy fairs with the +chief of all spices, and with all precious stones and +gold. Javan (the Greeks), Tubal, and Mesech (the +Tibarenes and Moschi) are thy merchants; they +trade with silver, iron, tin, and lead. Many islands +are at hand to thee for trade; they brought thee for +payment horns of ivory and ebony. The ships of +Tarshish are thy caravans in thy trade: so art thou +replenished and mighty in the midst of the sea."<a name="FNanchor_554_554" id="FNanchor_554_554"></a><a href="#Footnote_554_554" class="fnanchor">[554]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_538_538" id="Footnote_538_538"></a><a href="#FNanchor_538_538"><span class="label">[538]</span></a> <i>Supra</i>, p. 187. Movers, "Phœniz." 2, 3, 244 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_539_539" id="Footnote_539_539"></a><a href="#FNanchor_539_539"><span class="label">[539]</span></a> Movers, <i>loc. cit.</i> 2, 3, 265 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_540_540" id="Footnote_540_540"></a><a href="#FNanchor_540_540"><span class="label">[540]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 538. Ezekiel xxvii. 14; xxxviii. 6.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_541_541" id="Footnote_541_541"></a><a href="#FNanchor_541_541"><span class="label">[541]</span></a> Helbig, "Annali del Inst. Arch." 1876, pp. 57, 117, 247 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_542_542" id="Footnote_542_542"></a><a href="#FNanchor_542_542"><span class="label">[542]</span></a> Pliny, "Hist. Nat." s. 1; 19, 22. Cf. Movers, <i>loc. cit.</i> 2, 2, 537 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_543_543" id="Footnote_543_543"></a><a href="#FNanchor_543_543"><span class="label">[543]</span></a> Strabo, p. 48; cf. p. 150.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_544_544" id="Footnote_544_544"></a><a href="#FNanchor_544_544"><span class="label">[544]</span></a> The German tin-mines were not opened till the middle ages; those +of farther India in the last century; Müllenhoff, "Deutsche Altertumskunde," +s. 24.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_545_545" id="Footnote_545_545"></a><a href="#FNanchor_545_545"><span class="label">[545]</span></a> Herod. 3, 115; Pliny, "Hist. Nat." 7, 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_546_546" id="Footnote_546_546"></a><a href="#FNanchor_546_546"><span class="label">[546]</span></a> At a later time we meet with the name Prettanian islands. Ynis +Prydein, <i>i. e.</i> island of Prydein, was the name given by the Welsh to +their land; Müllenhoff, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 88 ff, 93 ff.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_547_547" id="Footnote_547_547"></a><a href="#FNanchor_547_547"><span class="label">[547]</span></a> Helbig, "Commercio dell ambra," p. 10, <i>n.</i> 4. On the amber in the +tombs east of the Apennines, pp. 15, 16.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_548_548" id="Footnote_548_548"></a><a href="#FNanchor_548_548"><span class="label">[548]</span></a> Müllenhoff, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 223.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_549_549" id="Footnote_549_549"></a><a href="#FNanchor_549_549"><span class="label">[549]</span></a> Strabo, p. 168.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_550_550" id="Footnote_550_550"></a><a href="#FNanchor_550_550"><span class="label">[550]</span></a> Joel iii. 4 ff. On the date of Joel, <i>supra</i>, p. 260, <i>n.</i> 2. De Wette-Schrader, +"Einleitung," s. 454. According to the data established +above, the minority of Joash falls between 837 and 825 <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_551_551" id="Footnote_551_551"></a><a href="#FNanchor_551_551"><span class="label">[551]</span></a> The older Zechariah ix. 3, and De Wette-Schrader, "Einleitung," +s. 480.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_552_552" id="Footnote_552_552"></a><a href="#FNanchor_552_552"><span class="label">[552]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 314.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_553_553" id="Footnote_553_553"></a><a href="#FNanchor_553_553"><span class="label">[553]</span></a> Vol. i. p. 314.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_554_554" id="Footnote_554_554"></a><a href="#FNanchor_554_554"><span class="label">[554]</span></a> Ezekiel xxvii.</p></div> +</div> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>THE RISE OF ASSYRIA.</h3> + + +<p>The campaigns which Tiglath Pilesar, king of Asshur, +undertook towards the West about the end of the +twelfth century, and which carried him to the Upper +Euphrates and into Northern Syria, remained without +lasting result. The position which Tiglath Pilesar +then had won on the Euphrates was not maintained +by his successors in any one instance. More +than 200 years after Tiglath Pilesar we find Tiglath +Adar II. (889-883 <small>B.C.</small>) again in conflict with the +same opponents who had given his forefather such +trouble—with the mountaineers of the land of Nairi, +the district between the highland valley of Albak on the +Greater Zab and the Zibene-Su, the eastern source of +the Tigris. The son and successor of this Tiglath Adar, +Assurnasirpal, was the first whom we see again undertaking +more distant campaigns; the successful results +of which are the basis of a considerable extension of +the Assyrian power.</p> + +<p>Assurnasirpal also chiefly directed his arms against +the mountain-land in the north. On his first campaign +he fought on the borders of Urarti, <i>i. e.</i> of the +land of Ararat, the region of the Upper Araxes. In +the second year of his reign (881 <small>B.C.</small>) he marched out +of the city of Nineveh, crossed the Tigris, and imposed +tribute on the land of Kummukh (Gumathene, p. 41), +and the Moschi, in asses, oxen, sheep, and goats. In the +third year he caused his image to be hewn in the place<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> +where Tiglath Pilesar and Tiglath Adar his fathers had +chosen to set up their images; he tells us that his own +was engraved beside the others.<a name="FNanchor_555_555" id="FNanchor_555_555"></a><a href="#Footnote_555_555" class="fnanchor">[555]</a> Only the image of +Tiglath Pilesar I. is preserved at Karkar. Assurnasirpal +received tribute from the princes of the land of Nairi—bars +of gold and silver, iron, oxen and sheep; and +placed a viceroy over the land of Nairi. But the subjugation +was not yet complete; Assurnasirpal related +that on a later campaign he destroyed 250 places in +the land of Nairi.<a name="FNanchor_556_556" id="FNanchor_556_556"></a><a href="#Footnote_556_556" class="fnanchor">[556]</a> He tells us further, that on his +tenth campaign he reduced the land of Kirchi, took +the city of Amida (now Diarbekr), and plundered it.<a name="FNanchor_557_557" id="FNanchor_557_557"></a><a href="#Footnote_557_557" class="fnanchor">[557]</a> +Below this city, on the bank of the Tigris at Kurkh +(Karch), there is a stone tablet which represents him +after the pattern of Tiglath Pilesar at Karkar (p. 40.)</p> + +<p>Between these conflicts in the north lie campaigns +to the south and west. In the year 879 <small>B.C.</small> he +marched out, as he tells us, from Chalah. On the +other bank of the Tigris he collected a heavy tribute, +then he marched to the Euphrates, took the city of +Suri in the land of Sukhi, and caused his image to be +set up in this city. Fifty horsemen and the warriors +of Nebu-Baladan, king of Babylon (Kardunias), had +fallen into his hand, and the land of the Chaldæans +had been seized with fear of his weapons.<a name="FNanchor_558_558" id="FNanchor_558_558"></a><a href="#Footnote_558_558" class="fnanchor">[558]</a> We must +conclude therefore that the king of Babylon had sent +auxiliary troops to the prince of the land of Sukhi +(whom the inscriptions call Sadudu). In the following +year he occupied the region at the confluence of the +Chaboras with the Euphrates, crossed the Euphrates +on rafts, and conquered the inhabitants of the lands of +Sukhi, Laki, and Khindani, which had marched out with +6000 men to meet him. On the banks of the Euphrates<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +he then founded two cities; that on the further +bank bore the name of "Dur-Assurnasirpal," and that +on the nearer bank the name of "Nibarti-Assur." +During this time he pretends to have slain 50 Amsi (p. +43) on the Euphrates, and captured 20; to have slain +20 eagles and captured 20.<a name="FNanchor_559_559" id="FNanchor_559_559"></a><a href="#Footnote_559_559" class="fnanchor">[559]</a> Then he turned against +Karchemish, in the land of the Chatti (p. 43). In the +year 876 <small>B.C.</small> he collected tribute in the regions of +Bit Bakhian and Bit Adin in the neighbourhood of +Karchemish, and afterwards laid upon Sangar, king of +Karchemish, a tribute of 20 talents of silver, and 100 +talents of iron. From Karchemish Assurnasirpal +marched against the land of Labnana, <i>i. e.</i> the land +of Lebanon. King Lubarna in the land of the Chatti +submitted, and had to pay even heavier tribute than +the king of Karchemish. Assurnasirpal reached the +Orontes (Arantu), took the marches of Lebanon, +marched to the great sea of the western land, offered +sacrifice to the gods, and received the tribute of the +princes of the sea-coasts, the prince of Tyre (Ssurru), +of Sidon (Ssidunu), of Byblus (Gubli), and the city of +Arvada (Aradus), "which is in the sea" (p. 277)—bars +of silver, gold, and lead;—"they embraced his +feet." Then the king marched against the mountains +of Chamani (Amanus); here he causes cedars and +pines to be felled for the temples of his gods, and the +narrative of his exploits to be written on the rocks, +and worshipped at Nineveh before the goddess Istar.<a name="FNanchor_560_560" id="FNanchor_560_560"></a><a href="#Footnote_560_560" class="fnanchor">[560]</a></p> + +<p>According to the evidence of these inscriptions, +Assurnasirpal established the supremacy of Assyria in +the region of the sources of the Tigris. But even he +does not appear to have gone much further than +Tiglath Pilesar before him, for he also fought once on +the borders of Armenia, <i>i. e.</i> of the land of Ararat, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +on the other hand forced his way as far as the upper +course of the Eastern Euphrates. Against Babylon +he undertook, so far as we can see, no offensive war; +he was content to drive out of the field the auxiliaries +which Nebu-Baladan of Babylon sent to a prince on +the middle Euphrates without pursuing the advantage +further. The most important results which he obtained +were in the west. He gained the land of the Chaboras, +and fixed himself firmly on the Euphrates above the +mouth of that river. To secure the crossing he built +a fortress on either side, and then forced his way from +here to the mountain land of the Amanus, to the +Orontes and Lebanon. For the first time the cities of +the Phenicians paid tribute to the king on the banks +of the Tigris; Arvad (Aradus), Gebal (Byblus), Sidon, +and Tyre, where at this time, as we saw (p. 267), +Mutton, the son of Ethbaal, was king.</p> + +<p>Shalmanesar I., who reigned over Assyria about the +year 1300 <small>B.C.</small>, built, as we have remarked above, the +city of Chalah (Nimrud), on the eastern bank of the +Tigris above the confluence of the Greater Zab. The +remains of the outer walls show that this city formed +a tolerably regular square, and that the western wall +ran down to the ancient course of the Tigris, which +can still be traced. In the south-western corner of +the city, on a terrace of unburnt bricks, rose the +palaces of the kings and the chief temples. They +were shut off towards the city by a separate wall. +Nearly in the middle of this terrace on the river-side +we may trace the foundation-works of a great building, +called by our explorers the north-west palace. In the +remains of this structure, on two surfaces on the +upper and lower sides of a large stone, which forms +the floor of a niche in a large room, is engraved an +inscription of Assurnasirpal, and a second on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> +memorial stone of 12 to 13 feet high. Inscriptions on +the slabs of the reliefs with which the halls of the +building were adorned repeat the text of these inscriptions +in an abbreviated manner. They tell us that the +ancient city of Chalah, which Shalmanesar the Great +founded, was desolate and in ruins; Assurnasirpal +built it up afresh from the ground;<a name="FNanchor_561_561" id="FNanchor_561_561"></a><a href="#Footnote_561_561" class="fnanchor">[561]</a> he led a canal +from the Greater Zab, and gave it the name of Patikanik;<a name="FNanchor_562_562" id="FNanchor_562_562"></a><a href="#Footnote_562_562" class="fnanchor">[562]</a> +traces and remains are left, which show us +that the course of the canal from the Greater Zab +led directly north to the city. Cedars, pines, and +cypresses of Mount Chamani (Amanus) had he caused +to be felled for the temples of Adar, Sin, and Samas, +his lords.<a name="FNanchor_563_563" id="FNanchor_563_563"></a><a href="#Footnote_563_563" class="fnanchor">[563]</a> He built temples at Chalah for Adar, Bilit, +Sin, and Bin. He made the image of the god Adar, +and set it up to his great divinity in the city of Chalah, +and in the piety of his heart dedicated the sacred bull +to this great divinity. For the habitation of his kingdom, +and the seat of his monarchy, he founded and +completed a palace. Whosoever reigns after him in +the succession of days may he preserve this palace in +Chalah, the witness of his glory, from ruin; may he not +surrender it to rebels, may he not overthrow his pillars, +his roof, his beams, or change it for another structure, +or alter his inscriptions, the narrative of his glory. +"Then will Asshur the lord and the great god exalt +him, and give him all lands of the earth, extend his +dominion over the four quarters of the world, and pour +abundance, purity, and peace over his kingdom."<a name="FNanchor_564_564" id="FNanchor_564_564"></a><a href="#Footnote_564_564" class="fnanchor">[564]</a></p> + +<p>The palace of Assurnasirpal at Chalah was a building +about 360 feet in length and 300 feet in breadth. +Two great portals guarded by winged lions with +bearded human heads, the images or symbols of the +god Nergal, led from the north to a long and propor<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>tionately +narrow portico of 154 feet in length and 35 +feet in breadth. In the south wall of this portico a +broad door, by which stand two winged human-headed +bulls, images of the god Adar, and hewn out of yellow +limestone, opens into a hall 100 feet long and 25 +broad. On the east and south sides also of the central +court (the west side is entirely destroyed) lie two +longer halls, and a considerable number of larger and +smaller chambers. The height of the rooms appears to +have been from 16 to 18 feet.<a name="FNanchor_565_565" id="FNanchor_565_565"></a><a href="#Footnote_565_565" class="fnanchor">[565]</a> The walls of the northern +portico were covered with slabs of alabaster to a height +of 10 or 12 feet, on which were reliefs of the martial +exploits of the king, his battles, his sieges, his hunting—he +claims to have killed no fewer than 370 mighty +lions, and to have taken 75 alive. The reliefs on the +slabs of the second hall, which abuts on this, exhibit +colossal forms with eagle heads. Above the slabs the +masonry of the walls was concealed by tiles coloured +and glazed, or by painted arabesques. Beside the +fragments of this building a statue of the builder, +Assurnasirpal, was discovered. On a simple base of +square stone stands a figure in an attitude of serious +repose, in a long robe, without any covering to the +head, with long hair and strong beard, holding a sort +of sickle in the right hand, and a short staff in the +left.<a name="FNanchor_566_566" id="FNanchor_566_566"></a><a href="#Footnote_566_566" class="fnanchor">[566]</a> On the breast we read, "Assurnasirpal, the +great king, the mighty king, the king of the nations, +the king of Asshur, the son of Tiglath Adar, king of +Asshur, the son of Bin-nirar, king of Asshur. Victorious +from the Tigris to the land of Labnana (Lebanon), +to the great sea, he subjugated all lands from the rising +to the setting of the sun."<a name="FNanchor_567_567" id="FNanchor_567_567"></a><a href="#Footnote_567_567" class="fnanchor">[567]</a> An image in relief at the +entrance of the west of the two temples which this +king built, to the north of his palace, on the terrace of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> +Chalah (at the entrance to the first are two colossal +winged lions with the throats open, and at the +entrance of the second two wingless lions), exhibits +the king with the Kidaris on his head, and his hand +upraised; before the base of the relief stands a small +sacrificial altar.<a name="FNanchor_568_568" id="FNanchor_568_568"></a><a href="#Footnote_568_568" class="fnanchor">[568]</a> We have already mentioned the +image of Assurnasirpal which he had engraved near +Kurkh, and which is preserved there. According to +inscriptions lately discovered, and not yet published, +Assurnasirpal built a palace at Niniveh also, and +restored the ancient temple of Istar, which Samsi-Bin +formerly erected there (p. 31).<a name="FNanchor_569_569" id="FNanchor_569_569"></a><a href="#Footnote_569_569" class="fnanchor">[569]</a></p> + +<p>The reign of Assurnasirpal gave the impulse to a +warlike movement which continued in force long after +his time, and extended the power of Assyria in every +direction. His son, Shalmanesar II., who ascended +the throne in 859 <small>B.C.</small>, followed in the path of his +father. In the first years of his reign he fought against +Khubuskia, which, as we find from the inscriptions, +was a district lying on the Greater Zab, against a +prince of the land of Nairi (p. 41), against the prince +of Ararat (Urarti), Arami, and received the tribute of +the land of Kummukh (p. 41). He crosses the +river Arzania—either the Arsanias (Murad-Su), the +Eastern Euphrates, or the Arzen-Su (Nicephorius), +which falls into the Tigris before it bends to the +south—and takes the city of Arzaska in Urarti, <i>i. e.</i> +perhaps Arsissa, on Lake Van.<a name="FNanchor_570_570" id="FNanchor_570_570"></a><a href="#Footnote_570_570" class="fnanchor">[570]</a> These wars in the +north were followed by battles on the Euphrates. He +conquers the city of Pethor on this side of the +Euphrates, and the city of Mutunu on the farther side, +which Tiglath Pilesar had won, but Assur-rab-amar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> +had restored by a treaty to the king of Aram, and +settled Assyrians in both places. Then he fought +against a prince of the name of Akhuni, who resided +at Tul Barsip on the Euphrates. Shalmanesar takes +this city, transplants the inhabitants to Assyria, and +calls it Kar-Salmanassar. He receives the tribute +of Sangar, prince of Karchemish, against whom his +father had fought, and finally took Akhuni himself +prisoner.<a name="FNanchor_571_571" id="FNanchor_571_571"></a><a href="#Footnote_571_571" class="fnanchor">[571]</a> Then he advances towards Chamani (to +the Amanus), crosses the Arantu (Orontes); Pikhirim +of the land of Chilaku (<i>i. e.</i> of Cilicia) is conquered +by him.<a name="FNanchor_572_572" id="FNanchor_572_572"></a><a href="#Footnote_572_572" class="fnanchor">[572]</a></p> + +<p>The next object of the arms of Shalmanesar was +Syria, which he had merely touched on the north in +passing by on the campaign against Cilicia. On a +memorial stone which he set up at Kurkh, on the Upper +Tigris, where we already found the image of Assurnasirpal,—the +stone is now in the British Museum,—Shalmanesar +tells us that in the year 854 <small>B.C.</small> he +left Nineveh, marched to Kar-Salmanassar, and there +received the tribute of Sangar of Karchemish, Kutaspi +of Kummukh, and others. "From the Euphrates I +marched forth, and advanced against the city of Halwan. +They avoided a battle and embraced my feet. +I received gold and silver from them as their tribute. +I made rich offerings to Bin, the god of Halwan. From +Halwan I set forth and marched against two cities of +Irchulina of Hamath. Argana, his royal city, I took; +his prisoners, the goods and treasures of his palace, I +carried away; I threw fire upon his palaces. From +Argana I marched forth to Karkar. I destroyed +Karkar and laid it waste and burnt it with fire. +Twelve hundred chariots, 1200 horsemen, 20,000 men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +of Benhadad of Damascus;<a name="FNanchor_573_573" id="FNanchor_573_573"></a><a href="#Footnote_573_573" class="fnanchor">[573]</a> 700 chariots, 700 horsemen, +10,000 men of Irchulina of Hamath; 200 +(?2000) chariots, 10,000 men of Ahab of Israel; 500 +men of the Guaeer; 1000 men of the land of Musri; 10 +chariots, 10,000 men of the land of Irkanat; 200 men +of Matinbaal of Aradus (Arvada); 200 men of the land +of Usanat; 30 chariots and 10,000 men of Adonibal +of Sizan; 1000 camels of Gindibuh of Arba;—hundred +men of Bahsa of Ammon; these twelve princes +rendered aid to each other, and marched out against +me to contend with me in battle. Aided by the sublime +assistance which Asshur my lord gave to me, I fought +with them. From the city of Karkar as far as the city of +Gilzana<a name="FNanchor_574_574" id="FNanchor_574_574"></a><a href="#Footnote_574_574" class="fnanchor">[574]</a> (?) I made havoc of them. Fourteen thousand +of their troops I slew; like the god Bin I caused the +storm to descend upon them; during the battle I took +their chariots, their horses, their horsemen, and their +yoke-horses from them."<a name="FNanchor_575_575" id="FNanchor_575_575"></a><a href="#Footnote_575_575" class="fnanchor">[575]</a> On the obelisk of black +basalt found in the ruins of Chalah, Shalmanesar says +quite briefly, "In my sixth campaign I went against +the cities on the banks of Balikh (Belik) and crossed +the Euphrates. Benhadad of Damascus, and Irchulina +of Hamath, and the kings of the land of Chatti and +the sea came down to battle with me. I conquered +them; I overcame 20,500 of their warriors with my +arms." The same statement is repeated in a third +inscription, that of the bulls.<a name="FNanchor_576_576" id="FNanchor_576_576"></a><a href="#Footnote_576_576" class="fnanchor">[576]</a></p> + +<p>The kings of Syria were defeated, but by no means +subdued. Shalmanesar says nothing of their subjuga<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>tion +and tribute (p. 246). The arms of Assyria were +next turned in another direction. An illegitimate +brother, Marduk-Belusati, had rebelled against Marduk-zikir-iskun, +the son and successor of Nebu-Baladan of +Babylon. Shalmanesar supported the first. During +the second campaign against Marduk-Belusati the +united troops of Marduk-zikir-iskun and Shalmanesar, +or the latter alone, succeeded in defeating the rebels; +Marduk-Belusati was captured and put to death with +his adherents. Shalmanesar sacrificed at Babylon, +Borsippa, and Kutha. He claims to have imposed +tribute on the chiefs of the land of Kaldi (Chaldæa), +and to have spread his fame to the sea.<a name="FNanchor_577_577" id="FNanchor_577_577"></a><a href="#Footnote_577_577" class="fnanchor">[577]</a></p> + +<p>After this decisive success in Babylonia, Shalmanesar +resumed the war against Damascus. For two years +in succession he marched out against Benhadad of +Damascus. In the year 851 he defeats Benhadad of +Damascus, the king of Hamath, together with 12 +kings from the shores of the sea.<a name="FNanchor_578_578" id="FNanchor_578_578"></a><a href="#Footnote_578_578" class="fnanchor">[578]</a> Then the king +tells us further: "For the ninth time (850 <small>B.C.</small>) I +crossed the Euphrates. I conquered cities without +number; I marched against the cities of the land of +Chatti and of Hamath; I conquered 89 (79) cities. +Benhadad of Damascus, 12 kings of the Chatti (Syrians), +mutually confided in their power. I put them to +flight." And further: "In the fourteenth year of my +reign (846 <small>B.C.</small>) I counted my distant and innumerable +lands. With 120,000 men of my soldiers I +crossed the Euphrates. Meanwhile Benhadad of Damascus, +and Irchulina of Hamath, with the 12 kings of +the upper and lower sea, armed their numerous troops +to march against me. I offered them battle, put them +to flight, seized their chariots and their horsemen, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> +and marched against the cities of Hazael of Damascus, +took from them their baggage. In order to save their +lives, they rose up and fled."<a name="FNanchor_579_579" id="FNanchor_579_579"></a><a href="#Footnote_579_579" class="fnanchor">[579]</a> This victory also was +without result. In vain Shalmanesar had marched +four times against Damascus; in vain he led out on +the last campaign 120,000 men against Syria. Not till +some years afterwards, when Hazael, as we saw above +(p. 252), killed Benhadad and acquired the throne of +Damascus in his place, can Shalmanesar speak of a +decisive campaign in Syria. "In the eighteenth year +of my reign (842 <small>B.C.</small>) I crossed the Euphrates for +the sixteenth time. Hazael (Chazailu) from the land of +Aram trusted in the might of his troops, collected his +numerous armies, and made the mountains of Sanir,<a name="FNanchor_580_580" id="FNanchor_580_580"></a><a href="#Footnote_580_580" class="fnanchor">[580]</a> +the summits of the mountains facing the range of +Lebanon, his fortress. I fought with him and overthrew +him; 16,000 of his warriors I conquered with +my weapons; 1121 of his chariots, 410 of his horsemen, +together with his treasures, I took from him. To +save his life he fled away. I pursued him. I besieged +him in Damascus, his royal city; I destroyed his fortifications. +I marched to the mountains of Hauran; I +destroyed cities without number, laid them waste, and +burned them with fire: I led forth their prisoners +without number. I marched to the mountains of the +land of Bahliras, which lies hard by the sea: I set up +my royal image there. At that time I received the +tribute of the Tyrian and Sidonian land, of Jehu +(Jahua), the son of Omri (Chumri), <i>i. e.</i> of Jehu, king of +Israel."<a name="FNanchor_581_581" id="FNanchor_581_581"></a><a href="#Footnote_581_581" class="fnanchor">[581]</a> Though Sidon, Tyre, and Israel paid tribute, +the resistance of the Damascenes was still unbroken. +Shalmanesar further informs us that (in the year 839 +<small>B.C.</small>) he crossed the Euphrates for the twenty-first time,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> +But he does not say that he reduced them; he only +asserts that he received the tribute of Tyre, Sidon, and +Byblus, and then assures us, quite briefly, in the +account, of his twenty-fifth campaign (835 <small>B.C.</small>), that +he received "the tribute of all the princes of Syria" (of +the land of Chatti).<a name="FNanchor_582_582" id="FNanchor_582_582"></a><a href="#Footnote_582_582" class="fnanchor">[582]</a></p> + +<p>In the very first years of his reign Shalmanesar had +contended against the prince Arami of Ararat, and +against the land of Nairi, between the Eastern Tigris +and the Greater Zab. The obedience of these regions +was not gained. In the year 853 Shalmanesar again +marched to the sources of the Tigris, erected his statue +there, and laid tribute on the land of Nairi.<a name="FNanchor_583_583" id="FNanchor_583_583"></a><a href="#Footnote_583_583" class="fnanchor">[583]</a> Twenty +years later he sent the commander-in-chief of his army, +Dayan-Assur, against the land of Ararat, at the head +of which Siduri now stood, and not Arami. Dayan-Assur +crossed the river Arzania (p. 314) and defeated +Siduri (833 <small>B.C.</small>). On a farther campaign (in 830 <small>B.C.</small>) +Dayan-Assur crosses the Greater Zab, invades the territory +of Khubuskia (p. 314), fights against prince Udaki +of Van, <i>i. e.</i> of the Armenian land round Lake Van, +and from this descends into the land of the Parsua, +which Shalmanesar himself had trodden seven years +before. Here Dayan-Assur collected fresh tribute. +On a third campaign (829 <small>B.C.</small>) Dayan-Assur received +tribute from the land of Khubuskia, then invaded +Ararat, and there plundered and burned 50 places.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Shalmanesar himself marched in the years +838 and 837 <small>B.C.</small> against the land of Tabal, <i>i. e.</i> +against the Tibarenes, on the north-west offshoot of the +Armenian mountains, advanced as far as the mines of +the Tibarenes, and laid tribute on their 24 princes.<a name="FNanchor_584_584" id="FNanchor_584_584"></a><a href="#Footnote_584_584" class="fnanchor">[584]</a> In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> +the next year he turns to the south-east, marches over +the Lesser Zab, against the lands of Namri and Karkhar, +which we must therefore suppose to have been between +the Lesser Zab and the Adhim and Diala, on the spurs +of the Zagrus. Yanzu, king of Namri, was taken +captive, and carried to Assyria. Shalmanesar left the +land of Namri, imposed tribute on the 27 princes of the +land of Parsua, and turned to the plains of the land +of Amadai, <i>i. e.</i> against Media (835 <small>B.C.</small>).<a name="FNanchor_585_585" id="FNanchor_585_585"></a><a href="#Footnote_585_585" class="fnanchor">[585]</a> Two years +afterwards. Shalmanesar climbed, for the ninth time, +the heights of Amanus (Chamani), then he laid waste +the land of Kirchi (831 <small>B.C.</small>), then marched once more +against the land of Namri, there laid waste 250 places, +and advanced beyond Chalvan (Chalonitis, Holwan).<a name="FNanchor_586_586" id="FNanchor_586_586"></a><a href="#Footnote_586_586" class="fnanchor">[586]</a></p> + +<p>On the obelisk of black basalt, dug up at Chalah in +the remains of the palace of Shalmanesar II. (the +central palace of the explorers), we find beside the +account of the deeds of the king five sculptures in +relief, which exhibit payments of tribute. Of the +picture which represents the payment of Jehu, of the +kingdom of Israel, we have spoken at length above (p. +257). Above this, which is the second picture, on the +highest or first, is delineated the payment from the land +of Kirzan. The title tells us: "Tribute imposed on Sua +of the land of Kirzan:<a name="FNanchor_587_587" id="FNanchor_587_587"></a><a href="#Footnote_587_587" class="fnanchor">[587]</a> gold, silver, copper, lead, +staves, horses, camels with two humps." As on the +second strip the king is represented receiving the +tribute of Israel; so on this strip also we see the +leader of those who pay tribute prostrate on the ground +before him; behind the leader are led a horse and two +camels with double humps; then follow people carrying +staves and kettles. The superscription of the third +relief says: "Tribute imposed on the land of Mushri:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +camels with two humps, the ox of the river Sakeya." +On the picture we see two camels with double humps, +a hump-backed buffalo, a rhinoceros, an antelope, an +elephant, four large apes, which are led, and one little +one, which is carried. The superscription of the fourth +relief says: "Tribute imposed upon Marduk-palassar of +the land of Sukhi:<a name="FNanchor_588_588" id="FNanchor_588_588"></a><a href="#Footnote_588_588" class="fnanchor">[588]</a> silver, gold, golden buckets, Amsi-horns, +staves, Birmi-robes, stuffs." The relief itself depicts +a lion, a deer, which is clutched by a second lion, +two men with kettles on their heads, two men who carry +a pole, on which are suspended materials for robes, +four men with hooked buckets or hooked scrips, two +men with large horns on their shoulders, two men +with staves, and lastly a man carrying a bag. The +superscription of the fifth relief says, "Tribute imposed +on Garparunda of the land of Patinai: silver, gold, +lead, copper, objects made of copper, Amsi-horns, hard +wood."<a name="FNanchor_589_589" id="FNanchor_589_589"></a><a href="#Footnote_589_589" class="fnanchor">[589]</a> Under this we see a man raising his hands +in entreaty, a man with a bowl with high cups on +his head, two men with hooked buckets, carrying horns +on their shoulders, one man with staves; after these +two Assyrian officers, a man in a position of entreaty, +two men with hooked buckets and horns, a man with +two goblets, two men with hooked buckets and sacks +on their shoulders, two men, of whom one holds a +kettle, and the other carries a kettle on his head.</p> + +<p>Assurnasirpal had already fought against the land +of Sukhi. As he marches to the Euphrates in order to +attack Sadudu, prince of Sukhi, as the king of Babylon +sends auxiliaries to Sadudu at that time, and the land +of Chaldæa is seized with terror after the conquest of +the land of Sukhi, we must look for Sukhi on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> +Middle Euphrates, below the mouth of the Chaboras. +The tribute which, according to that inscription, Shalmanesar +imposed on the prince of Sukhi, who has a name +which may be compared with the names of the kings +of Babylon,—gold, silver, robes, and stuffs,—does not +contradict this assumption. Shalmanesar fought against +the Patinai in the first year of his reign, according to +the inscription of Kurkh. Shapalulme, the prince of +the Patinai at that time, combined with Sangar of +Karchemish and Akhuni of Tul-Barsip. Like these, +the Patinai were vanquished, their cities were taken, +14,600 prisoners were carried away, and they were +compelled to pay tribute. As Shalmanesar in order +to reach the Patinai marches against them from Mount +Amanus,<a name="FNanchor_590_590" id="FNanchor_590_590"></a><a href="#Footnote_590_590" class="fnanchor">[590]</a> we must look for their abode on the Upper +Euphrates, to the north of Karchemish, between the +Euphrates and the Orontes. The tribute imposed on +Garparunda of Patinai—gold, silver, copper, Amsihorns, +hard wood—is not against this supposition. The land +of Kirzan or Guzan we can only attempt to fix by the +tribute paid—camels with double humps. This kind of +camel is found on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea +and Tartary, and we are therefore led to place Kirzan +on the southern shore of the Caspian. The land of +Mushri, the tribute of which consists of hump-backed +buffaloes, <i>i. e.</i> Yaks (an animal belonging to the same +district, Bactria and Tibet), camels with double humps, +elephants, and rhinoceroses, and apes, must therefore +be sought in eastern Iran, on the borders of the district +of the Indus, whether it be that Shalmanesar really +penetrated so far, or that the terror of his name moved +East Iranian countries to send tribute to the warrior +prince of Nineveh and Chalah.</p> + +<p>Like his father, Shalmanesar resided at Chalah. On<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +the terrace of this city, to the south-east of the palace +of his father, he built a dwelling-place for himself, and +in this set up the obelisk, the inscriptions on which +give a brief account of each year of his reign. In the +ruins of this house two bulls also have been discovered, +which are covered with inscriptions, which, together +with the inscription of Kurkh on the Tigris, supplement +or extend the statements of the obelisk. More considerable +remains have come down to us of another building +of Shalmanesar. Assurnasirpal had erected at Chalah +two temples to the north of his palace. To the larger +(western) of these two temples on the north-west corner +of the terrace Shalmanesar added a tower, the ruins of +which in the form of a pyramidal hill still overtop +the uniform heap of the ruined palaces. On the +foundation of the natural rock of the bank of the +Tigris lies a square substructure (each of the sides +measures over 150 feet) of 20 feet in height, built of +brick and cased with stone. On this base rises a +tower of several diminishing stories. In the first of +these stories, immediately upon the platform, is a passage +100 feet long, 12 feet high, and 6 feet in breadth, +which divides the storey exactly in the middle from +east to west.</p> + +<p>Two centuries after the fall of the Assyrian kingdom, +Xenophon, marching up the Tigris with the 10,000, +reached the ruins of Chalah. After crossing the +Zapatus, <i>i. e.</i> the Greater Zab, he came to a large +deserted city on the Tigris, the name of which sounded +to him like Larissa (Chalah); it was surrounded by a +wall about seven and a-half miles long. This wall had +a substructure of stone masonry about 20 feet high; +on this it rose, 25 feet in thickness, and built of +bricks, to the height of 100 feet. Beside the city was +a pyramid of stone, a plethron (100 feet) broad and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> +two plethra high; to these many of the neighbouring +hamlets fled for refuge.<a name="FNanchor_591_591" id="FNanchor_591_591"></a><a href="#Footnote_591_591" class="fnanchor">[591]</a> Shalmanesar's tower was +broken, and by the fall of the upper parts had become +changed into a pyramid. The sides of the tower +Xenophon put at almost half their real size; the +height of the ruins is still about 140 feet. That +Shalmanesar also stayed at Nineveh is proved by the +inscriptions; that he possessed a palace in the ancient +city of Asshur is proved by the stamp of the tiles at +Kileh Shergat.<a name="FNanchor_592_592" id="FNanchor_592_592"></a><a href="#Footnote_592_592" class="fnanchor">[592]</a></p> + +<p>In a reign of 36 years Shalmanesar II. had gained +important successes. In the north he had advanced +as far as Lake Van, and the valley of the Araxes, the +Tibarenes in the north-west, and the Cilicians in +the west had felt the weight of his arms. He had +directed his most stubborn efforts against the princes +on the crossings over the Euphrates towards Syria, and +towards the region of Mount Amanus and Syria itself. +Damascus and Hamath were forced to pay tribute +after a series of campaigns; Byblus, Sidon, and Tyre +repeatedly paid tribute, and Israel after it had received +a new master in Jehu. By Shalmanesar's successful +interference in the contest for the crown in the civil +war in Babylon, the supremacy of Asshur over Babel +was at length obtained. The regions of the Zagrus +had to pay tribute to Shalmanesar. He first trod the +land of Media, and his successes were felt beyond +Media as far as the southern shore of the Caspian Sea +and East Iran.</p> + +<p>In spite of the unwearied activity of Shalmanesar, +in spite of his ceaseless campaigns and the important +results gained by his weapons, his reign ended amid +domestic troubles, caused by a rebellion of the native +land. Shalmanesar's son and successor, Samsi-Bin III. +(823-810 <small>B.C.</small>), tells us in an inscription found in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> +remains of his palace, which he built in the south-east +corner of the terrace of Chalah, that his brother Assurdaninpal +set on foot a conspiracy against his father +Shalmanesar, and that the land of Asshur, both the Upper +and Lower, joined the rebellion. He enumerates 27 +cities, among them Asshur itself, the ancient metropolis, +and Arbela, which joined Assurdaninpal; but "with the +help of the great gods" Samsi-Bin reduced them again +to his power. Then he tells us of his campaigns in the +north and east. In his first campaign the whole land of +Nairi was subjugated—all the princes, 24 in number, +are mentioned; the land of Van also paid tribute. The +Assyrian dominion, asserts the king, stretched from the +land of Nairi to the city of Kar-Salmanassar, opposite +Karchemish (p. 315). Then he fought against the land of +Giratbunda (apparently a region on the Caspian Sea, perhaps +Gerabawend), took the king prisoner, and set up +his own image in Sibar, the capital of Giratbunda,<a name="FNanchor_593_593" id="FNanchor_593_593"></a><a href="#Footnote_593_593" class="fnanchor">[593]</a> and +afterwards directed his arms against the land of Accad +(Babylonia). When he had slain 13,000 men and +taken 3000 prisoners, king Marduk-Balatirib marched +out against him with the warriors of Chaldæa and +Elam, of the lands of Namri (p. 320) and Aram. He +defeated them near Dur-Kurzu, their capital: 5000 +were left on the field, 2000 taken prisoners; 200 +chariots of war and ensigns of the king remained in +the hands of the Assyrians (819 <small>B.C.</small>). At this point +the inscription breaks off; elsewhere we hear nothing +of further successes against Babylonia, we only learn +that Samsi-Bin in the eleventh and twelfth years of +his reign (812 and 811 <small>B.C.</small>) again marched to Chaldæa +and Babylon,<a name="FNanchor_594_594" id="FNanchor_594_594"></a><a href="#Footnote_594_594" class="fnanchor">[594]</a> and we can only conclude from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> +the fact that the king of Babylon received help not +only from Namri and Aram, but also from Elam, that +the Assyrians under Samsi-Bin continued to advance, +and that their power must by this time have appeared +alarming to the Elamites also.</p> + +<p>Bin-nirar III. (810-781 <small>B.C.</small>), the son and successor +of Samsi-Bin, raised the Assyrian power still higher. +Twice he marched out against the Armenian land on +the shore of Lake Van; eight times he made campaigns +in the land of the rivers, <i>i. e.</i> Mesopotamia. In the +fifth year of his reign he went out against the city of +Arpad in Syria; in the eighth against the "sea-coast," +<i>i. e.</i> no doubt against the coast of Syria. The beginning +of an inscription remains from which we can see +the extent of the lands over which he ruled, or which +he had compelled to pay tribute. "I took into my +possession," so this fragment tells us, "from the land +of Siluna, which lies at the rising of the sun, onwards; +viz., the land of Kib, of Ellip, Karkas, Arazias, Misu, +Madai (Media), Giratbunda throughout its whole extent, +Munna, Parsua, Allabria, Abdadana, the land of Nairi +throughout its whole extent, the land of Andiu, which +is remote, the mountain range of Bilchu throughout its +whole extent to the great sea which lies in the east, <i>i. e.</i> +as far as the Caspian Sea. I made subject to myself +from the Euphrates onwards: the land of Chatti +(Aram), the western land (<i>mat acharri</i>) throughout its +whole extent, Tyre, Sidon, the land of Omri (Israel) +and Edom, the land of Palashtav (Philistæa) as far as +the great sea to the setting of the sun. I imposed +upon them payment of tribute. I also marched +against the land of Imirisu (the kingdom of Damascus), +against Mariah, the king of the land of Imirisu. I +actually shut him up in Damascus, the city of his +kingdom; great terror of Asshur came upon him; he +embraced my feet, he became a subject; 2300 talents of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> +silver, 20 talents of gold, 3000 talents of copper, 5000 +talents of iron, robes, carven images, his wealth and +his treasures without number, I received in his palace +at Damascus where he dwelt.<a name="FNanchor_595_595" id="FNanchor_595_595"></a><a href="#Footnote_595_595" class="fnanchor">[595]</a> I subjugated all the +kings of the land of Chaldæa, and laid tribute upon +them; I offered sacrifice at Babylon, Borsippa, and +Kutha, the dwellings of the gods Bel, Nebo, and +Nergal."<a name="FNanchor_596_596" id="FNanchor_596_596"></a><a href="#Footnote_596_596" class="fnanchor">[596]</a></p> + +<p>According to this king Bin-nirar not only maintained +the predominance over Babylon which his +grandfather had gained, but extended it: his authority +reached from Media, perhaps from the shores of the +Caspian Sea, to the shore of the Mediterranean as far +as Damascus and Israel and Edom, as far as Sidon and +Tyre and the cities of the Philistines. The Cilicians +and Tibarenes who paid tribute to Shalmanesar are not +mentioned by Bin-nirar in his description of his +empire. So far as we can see, the centre of the kingdom +was meanwhile extended and more firmly organised. +Among the magistrates with whose names the Assyrians +denote the years, at the time of Shalmanesar and his +immediate successors the names of the commander-in-chief +and three court officers are regularly followed by +the names of the overseers of the districts of Rezeph +(Resapha on the Euphrates), of Nisib (Nisibis on the +Mygdonius, the eastern affluent of the Chaboras), of +Arapha, <i>i. e.</i> the mountain-land of Arrapachitis (Albak); +hence we may conclude that these districts were more +closely connected or incorporated with the native land, +and governed immediately by viceroys of the king. How +uncertain the power and supremacy of Assyria was at +a greater distance is on the other hand equally clear +from the fact that Bin-nirar had to make no fewer than +eight campaigns in the land of the streams, <i>i. e.</i> between +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>the Tigris and the Euphrates; that he marched four +times against the land of Khubuskia in the neighbourhood +of Armenia, and twice against the district of Lake +Van, against which his father and grandfather had so +often contended.</p> + +<p>Bin-nirar III. also built himself a separate palace at +Chalah, on the western edge of the terrace of the royal +dwellings, to the south of the palace of his great grandfather +Assurnasirpal. In the ruins of the temple +which he dedicated to Nebo have been found six +standing images of this deity, two of which bear +upon the pedestal those inscriptions which informed +us that the wife of Bin-nirar III. was named Sammuramat +(p. 45). On a written tablet dated from the year +of Musallim-Adar (<i>i. e.</i> from the year 793 <small>B.C.</small>), the +eighteenth year of Bin-nirar, on which is still legible +the fragment of a royal decree, we also find the double +impress of his seal—a royal figure which holds a lion. +A second document from the time of the reign of this +prince, from the twenty-sixth year of his reign (782 +<small>B.C.</small>), registers the sale of a female slave at the price of +ten and a half minæ, and gives the name of the ten +witnesses to the transaction.<a name="FNanchor_597_597" id="FNanchor_597_597"></a><a href="#Footnote_597_597" class="fnanchor">[597]</a> The preservation of this +document is the more important inasmuch as a notice +in Phenician letters is written beside it. Hence we +may conclude that even in the days of Bin-nirar III. +the alphabetic writing was known as far as this point +in the East, though the cuneiform alphabet was +retained beside it, not only at that time, but down to +100 <small>B.C.</small>, and indeed, to all appearance, down to the +first century of our reckoning.<a name="FNanchor_598_598" id="FNanchor_598_598"></a><a href="#Footnote_598_598" class="fnanchor">[598]</a></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_555_555" id="Footnote_555_555"></a><a href="#FNanchor_555_555"><span class="label">[555]</span></a> Ménant, "Ann." pp. 71, 72, 73.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_556_556" id="Footnote_556_556"></a><a href="#FNanchor_556_556"><span class="label">[556]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 82.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_557_557" id="Footnote_557_557"></a><a href="#FNanchor_557_557"><span class="label">[557]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> pp. 90, 91.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_558_558" id="Footnote_558_558"></a><a href="#FNanchor_558_558"><span class="label">[558]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 84.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_559_559" id="Footnote_559_559"></a><a href="#FNanchor_559_559"><span class="label">[559]</span></a> Ménant, p. 86.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_560_560" id="Footnote_560_560"></a><a href="#FNanchor_560_560"><span class="label">[560]</span></a> E. Schrader. "K. A. T." s. 66, 67.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_561_561" id="Footnote_561_561"></a><a href="#FNanchor_561_561"><span class="label">[561]</span></a> Schrader, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 20, 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_562_562" id="Footnote_562_562"></a><a href="#FNanchor_562_562"><span class="label">[562]</span></a> "Records of the Past," 3, 79.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_563_563" id="Footnote_563_563"></a><a href="#FNanchor_563_563"><span class="label">[563]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 89.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_564_564" id="Footnote_564_564"></a><a href="#FNanchor_564_564"><span class="label">[564]</span></a> Ménant, p. 93.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_565_565" id="Footnote_565_565"></a><a href="#FNanchor_565_565"><span class="label">[565]</span></a> G. Rawlinson, "Monarch." 2<sup>2</sup>, 94.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_566_566" id="Footnote_566_566"></a><a href="#FNanchor_566_566"><span class="label">[566]</span></a> G. Rawlinson, "Monarch." 1<sup>2</sup>, 340.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_567_567" id="Footnote_567_567"></a><a href="#FNanchor_567_567"><span class="label">[567]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 67.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_568_568" id="Footnote_568_568"></a><a href="#FNanchor_568_568"><span class="label">[568]</span></a> G. Rawlinson, "Monarch." 1<sup>2</sup>, 319; 2<sup>2</sup>, 97.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_569_569" id="Footnote_569_569"></a><a href="#FNanchor_569_569"><span class="label">[569]</span></a> G. Smith, "Discov." pp. 91, 141, 252.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_570_570" id="Footnote_570_570"></a><a href="#FNanchor_570_570"><span class="label">[570]</span></a> Sayce, "Records of the Past," pp. 94, 95.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_571_571" id="Footnote_571_571"></a><a href="#FNanchor_571_571"><span class="label">[571]</span></a> According to the inscription of Kurkh in the year 856; according +to the obelisk 854 <small>B.C.</small></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_572_572" id="Footnote_572_572"></a><a href="#FNanchor_572_572"><span class="label">[572]</span></a> Ménant, "Ann." p. 107.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_573_573" id="Footnote_573_573"></a><a href="#FNanchor_573_573"><span class="label">[573]</span></a> Bin-hidri is read by E. Schrader and others. Rimmon-hidri by +Sayce. As the god Bin was also called Rimmon, the ideogram of the +name may be read one way or the other. The Books of the Kings call +the contemporary of Ahab, Benhadad. For farther information, see +p. 247, note.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_574_574" id="Footnote_574_574"></a><a href="#FNanchor_574_574"><span class="label">[574]</span></a> Sayce, "Records," 3, 100.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_575_575" id="Footnote_575_575"></a><a href="#FNanchor_575_575"><span class="label">[575]</span></a> E. Schrader, "Keilinschriften und A. T." s. 94 ff., 101, 102; +Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> pp. 99, 113.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_576_576" id="Footnote_576_576"></a><a href="#FNanchor_576_576"><span class="label">[576]</span></a> Ménant, "Ann." p. 115.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_577_577" id="Footnote_577_577"></a><a href="#FNanchor_577_577"><span class="label">[577]</span></a> Vol. i. 257. Ménant, "Babyl." p. 135.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_578_578" id="Footnote_578_578"></a><a href="#FNanchor_578_578"><span class="label">[578]</span></a> Inscriptions on the bulls in Ménant, "Ann." p. 114.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_579_579" id="Footnote_579_579"></a><a href="#FNanchor_579_579"><span class="label">[579]</span></a> E. Schrader, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 103; above, p. 251.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_580_580" id="Footnote_580_580"></a><a href="#FNanchor_580_580"><span class="label">[580]</span></a> Communication from E. Schrader; cf. Deuteron. iii. 9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_581_581" id="Footnote_581_581"></a><a href="#FNanchor_581_581"><span class="label">[581]</span></a> E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 106, 107.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_582_582" id="Footnote_582_582"></a><a href="#FNanchor_582_582"><span class="label">[582]</span></a> Cf. above, p. 257.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_583_583" id="Footnote_583_583"></a><a href="#FNanchor_583_583"><span class="label">[583]</span></a> Inscription of the obelisk and the bulls in Ménant, "Ann." 99, 114.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_584_584" id="Footnote_584_584"></a><a href="#FNanchor_584_584"><span class="label">[584]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 101.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_585_585" id="Footnote_585_585"></a><a href="#FNanchor_585_585"><span class="label">[585]</span></a> Ménant, p. 101.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_586_586" id="Footnote_586_586"></a><a href="#FNanchor_586_586"><span class="label">[586]</span></a> Ménant, p. 104.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_587_587" id="Footnote_587_587"></a><a href="#FNanchor_587_587"><span class="label">[587]</span></a> Sayce reads Guzan.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_588_588" id="Footnote_588_588"></a><a href="#FNanchor_588_588"><span class="label">[588]</span></a> According to a communication from E. Schrader, Marduk-habal-assur +ought to be read, not Marduk-habal-iddin.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_589_589" id="Footnote_589_589"></a><a href="#FNanchor_589_589"><span class="label">[589]</span></a> Oppert, "Memoires de l'Acad. d. inscript." 1869, 1, 513; Sayce, +"Records of the Past," 5, 42.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_590_590" id="Footnote_590_590"></a><a href="#FNanchor_590_590"><span class="label">[590]</span></a> Sayce, "Records of the Past," 3, 88, 89, 90, 91, 99.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_591_591" id="Footnote_591_591"></a><a href="#FNanchor_591_591"><span class="label">[591]</span></a> "Anab." 3, 4, 7-9.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_592_592" id="Footnote_592_592"></a><a href="#FNanchor_592_592"><span class="label">[592]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 96.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_593_593" id="Footnote_593_593"></a><a href="#FNanchor_593_593"><span class="label">[593]</span></a> The reading is uncertain.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_594_594" id="Footnote_594_594"></a><a href="#FNanchor_594_594"><span class="label">[594]</span></a> Oppert, "Empires," pp. 127, 128; G. Rawlinson, "Monarch." 2<sup>2</sup>, p. +115, <i>n.</i> 8; Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 124.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_595_595" id="Footnote_595_595"></a><a href="#FNanchor_595_595"><span class="label">[595]</span></a> E. Schrader, <i>loc. cit.</i> s. 111, 112.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_596_596" id="Footnote_596_596"></a><a href="#FNanchor_596_596"><span class="label">[596]</span></a> Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 127; cf. G. Rawlinson, 2<sup>2</sup>, 117.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_597_597" id="Footnote_597_597"></a><a href="#FNanchor_597_597"><span class="label">[597]</span></a> Oppert et Ménant, "Documents juridiques," pp. 146-148.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_598_598" id="Footnote_598_598"></a><a href="#FNanchor_598_598"><span class="label">[598]</span></a> G. Smith, "Discov." p. 389; Oppert et Ménant, <i>loc. cit.</i> p. 342.</p></div> +</div> + +<div class="bbt"> +<h4>END OF VOL. 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