Chapter X: Contact of the Hebrews with the Assyrians (2)

“They overthrew Paqaḫa (Pekah), their king, and I set Ausi’a (Hosea) (upon the throne) over them. Ten talents of gold, ... talents of silver, ... their (tribute), I received, and (brought) them (to the land of Assyria).”

The longer account, from which most of the above extracts have been made, may therefore be completed, with Rost, provisionally, as follows—

“(Pekah, all of whose) cities (I had captured) in my earlier campaigns, and had given over (as a prey, and whose spoi)l I had carried off, abandoned the city of Samerina (Samaria) alone. (Pekah), their king, (they overthrew, and like) a hurricane (I ravaged the land).”

As will be seen, the above agrees closely with the statement in 2 Kings xv. 30—

“And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the 20th year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.”

Mutilated details concerning other cities captured by Tiglath-pileser follow the above extract from his annals, after which the narrative continues—

“(Mitinti, of the land) of the Askelonites, (sinned) against (my) agreement, (and revolted against me). He saw (the overthrow of Ra)ṣunnu (Rezon), and failure (of understanding (?) fell upon him (?), and Rûkipti, the son of Mitinti), sat upon the throne....”

In the account of the flight and death of Pekah, the Assyrian king suggests that the abandonment of the king of Israel of his capital was due to the fear of capture at his hands. One may also suppose that he wished it to be understood that Pekah incurred the displeasure of his subjects by his flight, and that they pursued after him, and having overtaken him, put him to death. As a matter of fact, Pekah must really have fled on account of the rebellion led by Hoshea, who, on learning of his flight, in all probability pursued after him, and thus encompassed his death. Hoshea then, by a payment of tribute to Tiglath-pileser, secured from the Assyrian king his recognition as king of Israel, and at the same time assured himself against attack at his hands.

Imitating Hoshea, Rûkipti, the new king of Askelon, also paid tribute, and thus secured his recognition. As to Rezon, the Assyrian text does not enable us to see what was his ultimate fate, but as it was such, apparently, as to terrify Mitinti of Askelon into madness, it may be supposed that it was death at the orders of the Assyrian king, as recorded in 2 Kings xvi. 9.

Tiglath-pileser was now complete master of the land of Ša-imēri-šu or Syria, and all the princes of the west acknowledged his overlordship. This being the case, it is only natural that Ahaz of Judah should visit and pay him homage at Damascus, the capital of the new province, as related in 2 Kings xvi. 10, and probably it was to that city that many of the other subject princes went for that purpose, and to offer him their tribute. The further result of the visit of Ahaz is detailed in the succeeding verses of the passage in 2 Kings referred to.

Thus ended Tiglath-pileser’s successful expedition to Pilišta and Damascus, and there is no record that he ever went westward again. The Chaldeans, in combination with the Arameans, had made use of his absence to engage in new advances against Babylon. Nabonassar, the king of that country, had died, and been succeeded by his son, Nabû-nadin-zēri, who, however, only reigned two years, and gave place to Nabû-šum-ukîn, who murdered him. This last, however, only held the throne for somewhat more than two months, and Ukîn-zēr, chief of the Chaldean tribe Bît-Amukkāni, took possession of the throne, and ruled for three years—much against the inclination of the Babylonians, who, to all appearance, had no love for the Chaldean tribes inhabiting certain tracts of the country. The interference of Tiglath-pileser was therefore looked on with favour by the Babylonians, who welcomed him as a deliverer. Ukîn-zēr (the Chinzēros of Ptolemy) was besieged in his capital, Sapîa, though that city was not taken until the year 729 B.C. The result of this was, the submission of all the Chaldean tribes, including that of which Merodach-baladan (then only a young man) was the chief. Entering Babylon, Tiglath-pileser, in accordance with the custom, “took the hand of Bêl,” an expression apparently meaning that he performed the usual ceremonies, and was accepted by the god—and the priesthood—as king. This also took place again next year, from which it may be supposed that one acknowledged as king of Babylon had to perform the ceremony yearly in order to fulfil the conditions imposed upon all who held the reins of power. An entry in the Canon for this year suggests that there was a rebellion (?) in a city of which only the first character is preserved—possibly to be completed Dir, and perhaps situated in Babylonia. Operations against this place, in all probability, were taken in hand next year (727 B.C.), but whilst they were in progress, Tiglath-pileser died, and Shalmaneser IV. mounted the throne.

How it is that Tiglath-pileser III. of Assyria was called Pûlu is not known. The name only occurs, in native documents, in the Babylonian Canon of kings—to all appearance that from which the Canon of Ptolemy was copied. It is therefore practically certain that he only bore this name officially in Babylonia. Probably the most likely explanation is, that it was his original name, though it may have been given him by the compiler of the canon (supposing that he was a man who had no great admiration for the Assyrian conqueror) as a scornful expression, _bûlu_ (which may also be read _pûlu_) meaning “the wild animal.” It occurs, however, as a personal name in the inscriptions of Assyria at least twice, the bearer of it being in one case a charioteer, one of nine officials of “the Ḫuḫamite.”

The fact that the name Pûlu (in the Canon of Ptolemy Poros), applied to Tiglath-pileser, occurs only in a Babylonian document, suggests that the reference to the Assyrian conqueror in 2 Kings xv. 19 and 1 Chron. v. 26 are due to a Babylonian source, though, as it is the name by which he is at first called by the writer of the 2nd Book of Kings, this is a confirmation of the explanation that it was his original name. The glory attached to the name Tiglath-pileser in Assyrian history probably accounts for his having ultimately adopted the latter.

“On the 25th day of Tebet Šulmanu-ašarid (Shalmaneser) sat on the throne in Assyria. He destroyed Šabara’in.” (Babylonian Chronicle.)

“In the eponymy of Bêl-ḫarran-bêl-uṣur, of the city of Gozan, To
the city ... Šalmanu-ašarid sat upon the throne.

In the eponymy of Marduk-bêl-uṣur, of the city of Amedi, In the
land.

In the eponymy of Maḫdê, of the city of Nineveh, To....

In the eponymy of Aššur-ḫalṣani (?), of the city of Kalzi, To....

In the eponymy of Šalmanu-ašarid, king of Assyria, To....”

(Eponym Canon with historical notices.)

These two extracts give practically all that is known of the important reign of Shalmaneser IV. from native sources. The first is from the Babylonian Chronicle, and its brevity in all likelihood indicates the amount of sympathy that the Babylonians had for this king. Short as it is, however, it is probably of as much value historically as the Assyrian Eponym Canon in its present state, even including the restorations from that without historical notices. The completion of this important document from additional fragments and duplicates is greatly to be wished.

It is therefore from the Old Testament and Josephus that we get the fullest history of the reign of this king. How it is that no records have been found is not known. They may have been destroyed, or nothing very extensive may have been written. That at least something of the kind existed is indicated by the fact that the late George Smith refers to at least one document, the whereabouts of which at present is not known.

What may have been the relationship of Shalmaneser IV. of Assyria to Tiglath-pileser does not appear. There is every probability that, like his great predecessor, he was an adventurer who, taking advantage of his popularity with the army, and the failing powers of his royal master, seized the throne. As will be seen from the Eponym Canon, an expedition was in progress when he assumed the reins of power, so that he may have taken advantage of the absence of Tiglath-pileser to carry out his design. Tebet being the tenth month of the Assyro-Babylonian year, the time of his accession corresponds with the winter of 727 B.C., a period at which warlike operations were impossible. In the year 726 B.C. also he remained at home, as was to be expected, consolidating his power.

His first campaign must therefore have taken place in 725 B.C., when, as recorded in 2 Kings xvii. 3, he went against Hoshea, who paid him homage and became tributary. Hearing that the king of Israel had sent privately to So,(95) king of Egypt, asking for his help against the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser threw Hoshea into prison, and advancing against Samaria, called upon the city to surrender. Submission being refused, he laid siege against it, and although Josephus relates that he ultimately took it, this must be due simply to an inference, as there is no statement to that effect in the Book of Kings, the words recording the event being simply “the king of Assyria took Samaria,” and, as we know from the inscriptions, it is Sargon, successor of Shalmaneser, who claims the honour of capturing the city (see below, p. 363).(96)

During the siege, however, the Assyrian king busied himself with the subjugation of all the surrounding district. It was probably in the same year (725 B.C.) that he sent his army against Elulaeus, king of Tyre, whose king had just been very successful in subjugating the Cittaeans (people of Cyprus). According to Josephus (or, rather, Menander, whom he quotes), Phœnicia submitted (Menander tells the story from the native point of view, and states that “he soon made peace with them all”), but Sidon, Accho, and Old Tyre (Palaetyrus) revolted (this probably means “joined the Assyrians”), and several other cities yielded to the king of Assyria. Finding that the Tyrians(97) would not submit, the Assyrian king returned against them (this must have been in the year 724 B.C.), and attacked them again, being aided on this occasion by the Phœnicians, who furnished him with threescore ships, and 800 men to row them. The attack of the Assyrian allies, however, must have been a very half-hearted one, for the Tyrians advanced against them with only twelve ships, and dispersed those of the enemy, taking 500 men prisoners.

The reputation—and also the confidence—of the citizens of Tyre being thus greatly increased, they continued their resistance, and Shalmaneser found himself obliged, in consequence of the inefficiency of his allies, to content himself with a mere blockade of the city, and the placing of guards over the water supply, so as to reduce the inhabitants of Tyre by thirst. The latter, however, dug wells, and were thus enabled to continue their resistance, which Meander states lasted all the time of the siege, namely, five years—_i.e._ until two years after the death of Shalmaneser.

To all appearance the Sabara’in of the Babylonian Chronicle is the place which should be supplied in the historical Eponym Canon, but, if so, the form is a strange one. One would rather expect mât Bît-Ḫumrî, “the land of Beth-Omri,” Pilišta, “Philistia,” or âl Ṣurri, “the city of Tyre.” There is also the possibility that one of these names may have appeared in each of the three lines which require completing, indicating three different stages of his conquests. Samerina, “Samaria,” may also have been the word, or one of the words, to be restored. In this last case, Delitzsch’s suggestion that Sabara’in ought to be read Samara’in, and regarded as the Babylonian form of the Heb. Shomeron, “Samaria,” is worthy of note. The Babylonians do not state that he captured Sabara’in or Samara’in, but only that he destroyed (perhaps the word means “ravaged”) it, and the city may not have really fallen into the hands of the Assyrians until Sargon was actually on the throne.

“In the 5th year Šulmanu-ašarid died in the month Tebet. Šulmanu-ašarid had ruled the kingdom of Akkad and Aššur for five years. In the month Tebet, the 12th day, Sargon sat on the throne in Aššur, and in the month Nisan Marduk-âbla-iddina (Merodach-baladan) sat on the throne in Babylon.”

Thus does the Babylonian Chronicle record the change of rulers, which was to have wide-reaching results for both countries.

What the verse in Hoshea, “All thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle,” refers to, is not known. There is every probability that Shalman stands for Shalmaneser IV., but which is the Beth-arbel which is spoken of? There were two places of the name in Palestine, one west of the Sea of Galilee, and the other at the extreme north of Gilead. Both are now called Irbid. If it be one of these, the verse probably refers to some incident of Shalmaneser’s invasion. George Smith, however, thought that the reference may have been due to some domestic strife in Assyria at the close of the reign of Shalmaneser, in which the Assyrian city of Arbela was involved. That it was one of the two places in Palestine, however, is more probable.

The month which, five years earlier, had seen the death of Tiglath-pileser, saw the departure of Shalmaneser IV. of Assyria to the abode of his god, and in Sargon, who succeeded him, the kingdom to all appearance accepted for the third time a ruler who might be described as an adventurer. Whether he, too, changed his name, in order to shine in borrowed plumes before the people, is unknown, but this is certain, that “Sargon the Later,” as he called himself, by assuming that style and title, challenged comparison with an old Babylonian king of great renown, who made the little state which was his original principality the centre of a wide-spreading domain.

Strange as it may seem, until the discovery of the Assyrian inscriptions and their decipherment, nothing was known of this ruler outside of the Old Testament, his name being regarded as another name of Shalmaneser in the passage (Isa. xx. 1) where it occurs. Scholars did not realize that the Arkeanos of Ptolemy was the king here mentioned, and that the change in the form of his name was simply due to the change of the initial _s_ into a breathing, according to a rule which is common in Greek etymology.

On assuming the government of the country, Sargon threw himself with energy into the Syrian war, though in his slab-inscription found at Nimroud, and in his annals, he makes his campaign against Ḫumbanigaš of Elam to precede his operations in the west. The following is the text of his “State-Inscription”—

“From the beginning of my reign to the 15th of my regnal-years, I accomplished the overthrow of Ḫumbanigaš the Elamite in the suburbs of Dêru. I besieged and captured Samerina (Samaria): 27,290 people dwelling in the midst of it I carried off. Fifty chariots I collected among them, and allowed them to have the rest of their goods. My commander-in-chief I placed over them, and imposed upon them the tribute of the former king.

“Ḫanunu (Hanon), king of Ḫazitu (Gaza), advanced against me with Sib’e, the Field-marshal of the land of Muṣuru (Egypt), to make war and battle in Rapiḫu (Raphia). I defeated them.(98) Sib’e feared the sound of my weapons and fled, and his place was not found. Ḫanunu of Ḫazitu I took with my hands. I received the tribute of Pir’u, king of the land of Muṣuru, Samsê, queen of the land of Aribu (Arabia), (and) It’amara, of the land of the Saba’aa (Sabeans)—gold, the produce of the mountains, horses, (and) camels.”

“Yau-bi’idi of the land of the Amatâa (Hamathites), a loose fellow, a usurper, a frivolous, evil man, set his heart on the dominion of the land of Amattu (Hamath), and caused Arpadda (Arpad), Ṣimirra (Simyra), Dimašqa (Damascus), (and) Samerina (Samaria) to revolt against me, and caused them to agree together, and they assembled for battle. I collected the powerful troops of the god Aššur, and besieged (and) captured him in Qarqaru, his own city, with his warriors. I burned Qarqaru with fire. As for him, I flayed him. I slew the sinners in the midst of their (own) cities, and brought about peace. I embodied 200 chariots (and) 600 cavalry among the people of the land of Amattu, and added to the force of my kingdom.”

The general opinion of Assyriologists is, that Shalmaneser did not succeed in making himself master of Samaria, the capture of the city falling to the honour of Sargon, and this, as a matter of fact, is what the latter claims. As will be seen from the above extract, he states that he carried captive no less than 27,290 of the inhabitants of the city, but whither he transported them he does not say. According to 2 Kings xvii. 6, he placed them in Halah (probably the Ḫalaḫḫa of the inscriptions, near Haran), and by the river Habor (the Chaboras) in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. It is needless to say that these long journeys must in many cases have entailed much suffering.

According to the Babylonian Chronicle, the conflict with Ḫumbanigaš took place in the second year of Merodach-baladan of Babylonia, which was the second year of Sargon as well. It is therefore difficult to understand why Sargon, in his record, places this event first. The reason why he dismisses the account of his conflict with the Elamite king in so few words is supposed to be, that he was in reality, as the Babylonian Chronicle says, defeated on that occasion. Though he might have wished to keep it in the background, his successes were so many, that there was no need for him to change the chronological order of his campaigns.

Sargon was naturally unable to be present at the siege and occupation of Samaria, which occurred too close to the date of his assuming power to allow him to reach the place. Besides that, his presence was needed nearer home, lest conspiracies should deprive him of his newly-acquired regal dignity. That he considered the successes of his troops in the west as a most important circumstance, however, is proved by the fact, that he devotes so much space in his annals to the account of it—and, indeed, the capture of 27,290 people is a thing of which any ruler might boast. There can be no doubt that the Assyrian kings, like the Babylonians before them, always desired to possess the dominion of the Mediterranean provinces, where were marts for the products both of their lands and their people, and entry to the ports, for then, as now, all good rulers tried to further the interests of their subjects in distant lands, and were probably firmly of opinion, that “trade followed the standard.”(99)

In addition to this, there was the rivalry of Egypt, the country which had held these provinces in the past, and would have liked to regain them. Whether the rulers of the Mediterranean states realized this or not, is uncertain, but in any case, like the Israelites, they had no objection to making use of Egypt, “bruised reed” as she was by some considered. Seeing that there was danger from the Assyrians, Hanon of Gaza followed the example of Hoshea, in whom Shalmaneser had “found conspiracy,” and made overtures with Sib’e, the So of 2 Kings xvii. 4 (the word ought really to be pointed so as to read Seve, which was apparently the pronunciation of the Assyrian form, the aspirate having the effect of changing _b_ into _bh_ or _v_). This ruler is called “king of Egypt” in the passage cited, but Sargon says that he was “Tartan,” or commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army. This would imply that he was acting for another, a Pharaoh unnamed, and at present unknown. The general opinion is, that So or Sib’e is the same as Sabaco, and is called “king” by anticipation in 2 Kings xvii.(100)

The result was one exceedingly gratifying to the Assyrian king, for in the battle at Raphia, which followed, Sib’e fled in fear, whilst Hanon of Gaza was made prisoner. The defeat and flight of the Egyptian army does not seem to redound to the credit of its leader, who must have returned bitterly disappointed to his native land.

Immediately after, however, there is a reference to the receipt of tribute from “Pir’u, king of the land of Muṣuru.” This would be a natural result of the success of the Assyrians (so it seemed to the earlier Assyriologists), for surely Pir’u is Pharaoh, and Muṣuru is the Muṣur of other inscriptions, and stands for Egypt (the Heb. Misraim(101)). This however, is now denied, and Pir’u is said to be the name of a chief of an Arab tribe called Muṣuru. It reminds one of the Eri-Eaku of Larsa who is not Arioch of Elassar, contemporary of Kudur-laḫgumal of Elam who is not Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tudḫula who is admittedly the same in name as Tidal, all of them ruling at or near the same period, but not those referred to in Gen. xiv. as contemporaries. In Assyriology, more than in any other study whatever, things are not what they seem, and must always be identified with something else.

According to the annals, it would seem that Yau-bi’idi, who is there called Ilu-bi’idi, acted in concert with Sib’e of Egypt and Hanon of Gaza, the operations against him preceding those against the other two. The order of the translation given above would seem to be preferable, as it must have been in consequence of the flight of Sib’e “like a shepherd whose sheep had been lost,” that Yau-bi’idi and Hanon of Gaza were so easily defeated. The former appears to have made Qarqaru the centre from which he intended to press his claim to the throne of Hamath, and he managed so well, that he got Arpad, Simyra, Damascus, and Samaria to join him. The Assyrian king, however, soon disposed of the pretensions of this prince, whom he describes as “a loose (?) fellow, a usurper, a frivolous (?), evil man” (_ṣab ḫubši, lâ-bêl-kussī, amēlu patû limnu_). After this it is not surprising that he thought he was justified in flaying him alive.

To all appearance the state of affairs in Syria was satisfactory. The great victory of the Assyrians at Raphia had convinced the leaders of the various states of the uselessness of continuing to struggle against the power of the Assyrian king, who had nothing further to fear from Egypt, and was therefore free to occupy himself with other conquests. In 719, therefore, he turned his attention to the region of the north, the kingdoms of Van and Urarṭu or Ararat, the result of the operations against the latter being, that the people were transported to Syria, or, as the original has it, “into Heth of the Amorites.” The operations in 718 B.C. were against Kiakki of Sinuḫtu, a city in Tabal.

The next year, 717 B.C., came the turn of Pisîris of Carchemish, who had tried to get Mitâ king of Musku to join him in a rebellion against Assyria. Assyrians were after this settled there, and Carchemish became an integral part of the Assyrian empire. The next entry in the Annals of Sargon is a reference to the Pâpites and the Lalluknites, “dogs brought up in his palace,” who planned treacherously against the land of Kakmê, though the full extent of their crime is not stated. These people were removed from their places, and sent down to the midst of Damascus of Amoria (Syria). In this year Ḫumbanigaš of Elam died, and was succeeded by Šutur-Nanḫundi, a man of a more peaceful character than his predecessor.

Extensive operations, chiefly in Ararat, are recorded for 716 B.C., in which year also Bêl-šarra-uṣur, the city-chief of Kišešim, a Median province, was deposed, and his territory added to the boundaries of Assyria, together with several other west-Median districts. Among these was Ḫarḫar, whose city-chief was driven away by the Assyrian king. This city was re-peopled with prisoners of war, and its name having been changed to Kar-Šarru-ukîn, made the capital of the province. The war against Ararat continued during the next year, resulting in the submission of Yanzû king of Na’iri or Mesopotamia. On the east, a rebellion in Ḫarḫar was put down, and the city fortified as a defence against Media. In this year people of Tumadu, Ibâdidu, Marsimanu, Ḫayapâ, and the remote Arbâa (Arabs?), an unlettered tribe which had never paid tribute to an Assyrian king, were overthrown, and the survivors transported to Samaria. The receipt of tribute from Pir’u king of Muṣuru, Samsi queen of Aribbu (Arabia), It’amra of the land of the Sabâa (Sabeans), kings of the sea-coast and the desert, consisting of “gold, the produce of the mountain, precious stones, ivory, seeds of the _ûšû_-tree, all kinds of spices, horses and camels,”(102) is recorded.

To all appearance, Pir’u of Muṣuru is regarded as one of the kings of the sea-coast and the desert, but whether this is evidence against his being Pharaoh of Egypt or not, may be doubted. Egypt is as much a country of the sea-coast as any part of Palestine, but it is naturally on the south shore of the Mediterranean, and not on the east.

714 B.C. saw the continuance of the war with Ararat and its allies, and seems to have resulted in its becoming an Assyrian province. In 713 expeditions were made, among other places, to west Media and Cilicia. In 712 B.C. he found himself obliged to proceed against Tarḫunazi of Meliddu, who, driven from his capital by the Assyrians, shut himself up in Tilgarimme, which had been identified with the Biblical Togarmah. This city, having been conquered, was repeopled with the nomad Sutî(103) and placed under Assyrian rule.

At this time, as Sargon says, he received the treasure (?) of the land of Heth (the high-lands of Syria), among the things sent being copper, iron, lead or tin, white marble from the Amanus mountains, royal garments of the colour of _uknû_-stone (lapis-lazuli), something which came from the mountain Ba’il-ṣapuna (Baal-zephon), “a great mountain,” and silver, which, in consequence of the large consignments received at Dûr-Sargina (Khorsabad), became in value like copper. The next year (711 B.C.) an expedition against Muttallu, son of Tarḫulara, one of the kings of “the land of Heth,” took place. The son had killed his father and mounted the throne, hence the necessity for this campaign.

A similar expedition also took place to Ashdod. It happened that Azuri, king of the district of which Ashdod was the capital, had withheld the tribute agreed upon, and Sargon had therefore deposed him, and set his brother Aḫi-miti in his place. The following is Sargon’s own account of this, and the sequel—

“Azuri, king of Asdudu, planned in his heart not to send tribute, and sent to the kings around hostile expressions (towards) the land of Aššur, and on account of the evil he had done, I changed his dominion over the people of his land. Aḫi-miti, his brother next in order, I appointed to the kingdom over them. Men of Ḫattî,(104) speaking treachery, hated his dominion, and raised up over them Yaana, a usurper, who like themselves knew no reverence for the dominion. In the anger of my heart I went hastily with the chariot of my feet and my cavalry, which for security quit not my side, to the city Asdudu, the city of his dominion, and the city Asdudu, the city Gimtu, (and) the city Asdudimma I besieged (and) captured. The gods dwelling in the midst of them, himself, with the people of his land, gold, silver, (and) the property of his palace, I counted as spoil. Their cities I rebuilt,(105) and settled therein the people of the lands captured by my hands. I placed my commander-in-chief as governor over them, and counted them with the people of my land, and they bore my yoke.”

Another inscription calls Yaana by the name of Yawani, and states that, hearing from far of the advance of the Assyrian army, he fled to the border of Muṣuru, which lies on the boundary of Meluḫḫa, and there hid himself. The king of Meluḫḫa seems thereupon to have feared for his own land, and placing Yatna in chains, sent him to Assyria. A third text referring to this campaign adds the following details—

“(People) of the land of Pilište (Philistia), the land of Yaudu (Judah), the land of Udumu (Edom), the land of Ma’abi (Moab), dwellers by the sea, bringers of the tribute and the gift of Aššur my lord, (for) sedition-mongering without measure, and evil, which was against me to cause hostility, unto Pir’u, king of the land of Muṣri, a prince who could not save them, they brought their homage-offering, and asked him for aid. I, Sargina, the true prince, fearing the oath of Lag-gi (= Nebo) and Merodach, keeper of the commands of the god Aššur, caused (my troops) to cross the Tigris and the Euphrates at high water, the fulness of the flood, as on dry land. And he, Yawani, their king, who trusted to his own power, and had not submitted to my dominion, heard from afar of the march of my expedition, and the glory of Aššur, my lord, overthrew him, and ... of the region of the river ... depth of the waters ... possession (?) of his land ... afar ... he fled ... Asdudu....”

In this, too, there is a reference to Pir’u, here called king of Muṣrí, either Egypt, or that mysterious and otherwise unknown kingdom to whose help so many trusted.

The years 710 and 709 B.C. were devoted to the operations against Merodach-baladan, the Chaldean prince who had made himself master of Babylonia. This is the Merodach-baladan who is referred to in 2 Kings xx. 12, but as his embassy really belongs to a somewhat later date, reference will be made to it in its place. Suffice it here to say that he was a usurper on the Babylonian throne, head of the Chaldean tribe called Bît-Yakîn, and one of the most influential chieftains of the district. To all appearance, the Babylonians themselves (as in earlier days when they tried to seize the throne) preferred the Assyrians to the semi-barbarous Chaldeans and Arameans, with whom they were, in fact, in too close connection to have any great respect for. It is needless to say that this entirely fell in with the ambition of the kings of Assyria, who, from the time of Tukulti-Ninip, if not earlier, had desired, and sometimes obtained, dominion over Babylonia. Sargon, the successor of two kings of Assyria who were acknowledged to be at the same time kings of Babylonia, naturally regarded himself as inheriting that crown in virtue of his being king of Assyria, whilst the Babylonians themselves were probably not displeased with the idea that they formed part of the world-renowned and powerful Assyrian empire, whose kings spoke the same language as themselves, and with whose religion they were in sympathy. Thus it happened, therefore, that in the course of the operations against Merodach-baladan, success frequently crowned the arms of the Assyrians, and the inhabitants of Babylon, sending to Dûr-Ladinna, where Sargon was staying, brought him in solemn possession to Babylon, where he made the prescribed offerings to the gods, took up his abode in Merodach-baladan’s palace, and received the tribute of the Babylonian tribes which he had subjugated. He still continued, however, his operations against Merodach-baladan, who was by no means willing to give up the struggle, to which there could be one end only, namely, the overthrow of the Chaldean king, which took place in 709 B.C.

Whilst Sargon was busy in Babylonia, the governor of Quê invaded Musku (Mesech) and brought the country to subjection. The seven kings of Cyprus also sent gifts, and a stele of Sargon was set up in the island, which, though mutilated, is of considerable importance, and is now preserved in the Berlin Museum. Kummuḫ (Comagene) was also added to the Assyrian empire (708 B.C.), and probably in the same year, a new king (in consequence of a dispute concerning the succession) set up in the land of Ellipu. In this reign also, the Elamites were generally against the Assyrians in their conflicts in Babylonia and on the eastern borders.

Concerning his death there is much uncertainty. The supposition is, that he was assassinated by one of his soldiers, as is indicated by the entry in an eponym-list with historical references—

_Lîmme Upaḫḫir-bêlu, D.P. šakin âl Amedi ..._
_îna êli purussî Kulummâa...._
_amēl tidûki madaktam ša šar mât Aššur D.S...._
_âraḫ Abi, ûmu šinšēru, Sin-âḫê-êriba (îna_
_kussī ittušib)._

“Eponymy of Upaḫḫir-bêlu, prefect of the city Amedu....
according to the oracle of the Kulummite(s)....
a soldier (entered) the camp of the king of Assyria (and killed
him?).
month Ab, day 12th, Sennacherib (sat on the throne”).

[Plate X.]

Reception by Sennachereb of Prisoners and Spoil. British Museum, Nineveh
Gallery, No. 57.

That he died a violent death seems to be nearly certain, and how many others of the overbearing rulers of Assyria had come to an end in the same way is not known. The fate of his son, to which reference will be made in its place, is a historical fact.

Sennacherib.

Though in all probability young when he came to the throne in 705 B.C., Sennacherib had already some experience as a ruler, having been the representative of his father Sargon in Armenia, where he had to receive and transmit the reports of the Assyrian generals, and probably also to administer the country. For the nations over which he was to rule, however, he was practically a new and untried administrator, of whose strength or weakness of character nothing was known. Merodach-baladan therefore took advantage of the death of Sargon and the succession of his son to come forth from his hiding-place, with such of his followers who were available, and an army placed at his disposal by the king of Elam. To all appearance the Chaldean ruler had taken advantage of the occupation of the Assyrian army elsewhere to possess himself of Babylon, which city Sennacherib entered, occupying Merodach-baladan’s palace, and seizing all his treasures. Merodach-baladan fled and took refuge in Nagitu, on the other side of the Persian Gulf, so as to be near his Elamite allies.

After this the Assyrian king records his expedition to the mountainous countries of Kassû (the Cossæans) and the Yasubigalleans, north of Elam, in the course of which he wasted the neighbouring district of Ellipu, taking, on his way, tribute from some of the more inaccessible tribes of the Medes. His third campaign was to the land of Ḫatti (Syria), and as this is of considerable importance, a translation of the whole, from the Taylor Cylinder, which gives a full account, is inserted here—

“In my third expedition I went to the land of Ḫatti. Lulî king of the city of Ṣidunnu (Sidon), fear of the glory of my dominion struck him, and he fled from the midst of Tyre to Yatnana(106) (Cyprus), which is in the middle of the sea, and I subjugated his country. Great Ṣidunnu, little Ṣidunnu, Bît-zitte, Ṣareptu (Zarephath), Maḫalliba, Ûšû (Osah), Akzibi (Achzib), Akkû (Accho), his strong cities, fortresses, where were food and drink, his strongholds, the terror of the weapons of Aššur my lord struck them, and they submitted to my feet. Tu-ba’alu (Ethobaal) on the throne of dominion over them I set, and the tax and tribute of my overlordship yearly without fail I imposed upon him.

“As for Minḫimmu (Menahem) of the city of the Samsimurunâa;
Tu-ba’alu of the city of the Ṣidunnâa (Sidonians);
Abdi-li’iti of the city of the Arudâa (Arvadites);
Uru-milki of the city of the Gublâa (Gebalites);
Mitinti of the city of the Asdudâa (Ashdodites);
Budu-îlu of the land of the Bît-Ammanâa (Beth-Ammonites);
Kammusu-nadbi (Chemosh-nadab) of the land of the Ma’abâa
(Moabites);
Aa-rammu (Joram) of the land of the Udummâa (Edomites);

kings of the land of Amoria all of them, brought numerous treasures, their valuable presents, as gifts to my presence and kissed my feet. And Ṣidqâ(107) (Zedekiah), king of the city of Isqalluna (Askelon), who was not submissive to my yoke, the gods of his father’s house, himself, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, (and) the seed of his father’s house, I removed and brought to the land of Aššur. Šarru-lûdâri, son of Rûkibtu, their former king, I placed over the people of the city of Isqalluna, and the payment of tribute as the price of my overlordship I set for him, and he bore my yoke. In the course of my campaign the city Bît-Daganna (Beth-Dagon), Yappû (Joppa), Banâa-barqa (Bene-berak), Azuru (Azor), cities of Ṣidqâ which were not at once submissive to my yoke, I besieged, captured, (and) carried off their spoil.

“The prefects, the princes, and the people of the city Amqarruna (Ekron), who had thrown Padî, their king, who was faithful to the agreement and oath of the land of Aššur, into fetters of iron, and given him to Ḫazaqiau (Hezekiah), of the land of the Yaudâa (Jews)—hostilely in secret they had acted—feared in their hearts. The kings of the land of Muṣuru (Egypt), (and) the soldiers of the bow, the chariots, (and) the horses of the king of the land of Meluḫḫa, gathered to themselves a numberless force, and came to their help. Over against me in sight of Altaqû (Eltekah) their line of battle was set in array, they called for their weapons. In the service of Aššur my lord I fought with them and accomplished their defeat. The charioteers and the sons of the king of the Muṣurâa (Egyptians), with the charioteers of the king of the land of Meluḫḫa, my hands captured alive in the midst of the battle. (As for) the city of Altaqû (Eltekah) (and) the city of Tamnâ (Timnah), I besieged, captured, (and) carried off their spoil.

“I approached to the city of Amqarruna, and the prefects and princes who had caused the wrong to be, I killed, and on stakes around the city I hung their corpses. The sons of the city doing the crime and misdeed I counted as spoil. The rest of them, who did not commit sin and wickedness, whose evil deed was not, I commanded their release. I caused Padî, their king, to come forth from the midst of Ursalimmu (Jerusalem), and to sit on the throne of dominion over them, and the tribute of my overlordship I imposed upon him. And (as for) Hazaqiau (Hezekiah) of the land of the Yaudâa (Jews), who had not submitted to my yoke, 46 of his strong cities, fortresses, and small towns which were around them, which were innumerable, with overthrowing by battering-rams, and advance of towers, infantry-attack, breaching, cutting, and earthworks, I besieged (and) captured. 200,150 people, small and great, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep, which were without number, from their midst I caused to come forth and reckoned as spoil. As for him, like a cage-bird I shut him up within Ursalimmu, the city of his dominion. Redoubts I threw up around him, and I cut off the exit from the great gate of his city—it was (completely) covered. His cities, which I had spoiled, I detached from the midst of his country, and gave (them) to Mitintu, king of Asdudu (Ashdod), Padî, king of Amqarruna (Ekron), and Ṣilli-bêl, king of the city Ḫazitu (Gaza), and (thus) reduced his land. Over the former tribute, their yearly gift, I added a payment as to the due of my overlordship, and imposed it upon them. As for him, Ḫazaqiau (Hezekiah), fear of the magnificence of my lordship struck him, and the _urbi_ and his chosen soldiers, which he had brought in for the defence of Ursalimmu, the city of his kingdom, and (who) had pay, with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious (stones), _guḫli_, _daggassi_,(108) great carbuncles (?), couches of ivory, state thrones of ivory, elephant-skin, elephant-tooth (ivory), ebony (?), _urkarinnu_-wood, all sorts of things,(109) a valuable treasure, and his daughters, the women of his palace, male singers (and) female singers, he(110) caused to be brought after me to the midst of Ninua (Nineveh), the city of my dominion, and he sent his messenger to present the gift and pay homage.”

It is needless to say that the above long account differs considerably from that given in the Bible (2 Kings xviii. 13; Isa. xxxvi. 1 ff.), and it is very difficult to reconcile the two narratives. According to the account in Kings, Sennacherib came and took all the fenced cities of Judah, but there is no statement as to the reason why. The Assyrian king justifies his invasion of the country by stating that Hezekiah had sided with the inhabitants of Ekron in the deposition of their king, whom he had received from them and kept in prison. He even states that he brought him forth from Jerusalem and replaced him on the throne. That this circumstance is not referred to in the Biblical account, cannot be held to indicate that the Assyrian king’s story is wrong, and only shows that the writer of the 2nd Book of the Kings did not think it of sufficient importance to record. In all probability, Hezekiah did not know at the time that Padî was an Assyrian vassal, otherwise he would not have incurred the risk of an invasion of his country by the dreaded Assyrians. The Biblical account then states that Hezekiah sent to the king at Lachish, saying that he had offended, and asking for terms, a fact which indicates that he was aware of having done something at which the king of Assyria might justly take offence. The answer was, the fixing of the amount of tribute which Hezekiah had to pay—300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold, this latter item agreeing with the statement of Sennacherib himself, though the amount of silver which he mentions—800 talents—is much greater. The sacrifice which Hezekiah made on this occasion (he had to strip off the gold from the doors of the Temple, and also from the pillars which he had overlaid, to make up the sum) was considerable. Concerning a siege of Jerusalem at this point, however, there is not a single word in the Biblical account, and the general opinion is, that the Assyrian king has purposely combined two accounts to give an appearance of success to what, in 2 Kings xix. 35-37, appears to have been a serious disaster to the Assyrian arms.

It is worthy of note, however, that Josephus makes the siege of Jerusalem to have taken place when Sennacherib was returning from Egypt, where he had spent a long time besieging Pelusium (_Ant._ x. i. 4), which was regarded as the key of Egypt. In support of this he quotes Herodotus, who, according to him, made a great mistake “when he called this king not king of the Assyrians, but of the Arabians.” This, however, is not quite correct, as Herodotus really says (book ii. 141), “Sennacherib king of the Arabians and of the Assyrians.” That it took place on his return from Egypt, however, is also stated by Berosus, whom Josephus quotes in full, as follows—

“Now when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to Jerusalem, he found his army under Rabshakeh in great danger, for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army; and on the very first night of the siege, a hundred and eighty-five thousand, with their captains and generals, were destroyed. So the king was in a great dread, and in a terrible agony at this calamity; and being in great fear for his whole army, he fled with the rest of his forces to his own kingdom, and to his city Nineveh, and when he had abode there a little while, he was treacherously assaulted, and died by the hands of his elder sons, Adramelech and Sarasar, and was slain in his own temple which was called Araske. Now these sons of his were driven away on account of the murder of their father, by the citizens, and went into Armenia, whilst Assarachoddas took the kingdom of Sennacherib.”

This would seem to be conclusive, especially as Sennacherib, according to his own records, made no expedition to Egypt before or at the time of that against the land of Ḫatti, which took place in the eponymy of Mitunu, prefect of Isana, _i.e._ 700 B.C., or the year immediately preceding. Now as Sennacherib died in 681 B.C., nearly twenty years elapsed between the campaign of which the account is above translated and his death. Berosus, however, states that, after the siege of Jerusalem, which ended so disastrously for him, he abode at Nineveh only “a little while” before he was murdered. There is then no doubt that there were two campaigns, and the events referred to in 2 Kings xviii. 13-xix. 37, though they seem to follow each other with little or no break, must have extended over a considerable period, the widest gap being in all probability between the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of ch. xviii. It is noteworthy that, at this point, the Hebrew indicates the end of a paragraph, though not a change of subject.

Affairs in Babylonia now occupied the attention of Sennacherib for many years, in consequence of the many revolutions there, which were largely fomented, aided and abetted by the Elamites. In 703 B.C., two pretenders, Marduk-zakir-šumi and Marduk-âbla-iddina, held the throne in succession for a few months, but Sennacherib put an end to this rule by setting on the throne a Chaldean named Bêl-ibnî (Belibus).(111) This took place when he defeated Merodach-baladan, before the campaign against the West. Evidently, however, he was not satisfied with the rule of his nominee, who had probably been plotting against him, and therefore entered the country again in 699 B.C., carried away Bêl-ibnî prisoner, and set on the throne his own eldest son, Aššur-nadin-šum. After this seems to have occurred his fifth expedition, which was to the mountainous region where lay the cities Tumurru, Šarum or Šarma, Ezema, Kibšu, Ḫalbuda, Qûa, and Qana, in the neighbourhood of Cilicia, his objective being the city Ukku, which was taken and spoiled.

Whilst absent on this expedition, however, the Elamites seem to have been again plotting against the Assyrians in Babylonia. This being the case, Sennacherib went in “ships of the land of Ḫatti” to the place where Merodach-baladan(112) had taken refuge, namely, “Nagitu of Elam.”(113) On this occasion, he claims to have captured Šûzubu (otherwise Nergal-ušêzib), and carried him in chains to Assyria. This led to reprisals on the part of the Elamites, who invaded Babylonia, carried Aššur-nadin-šum, the king, Sennacherib’s son, prisoner, and set on the throne Nergal-ušêzib, who, if he be the Šûzubu referred to by Sennacherib, must have escaped from the custody of the Assyrians. This was in 693 B.C.

Nergal-ušêzib only ruled for a year or eighteen months, and was captured (? again) by the Assyrians. The Assyrian king now ravaged Elam “from Râš to Bît-Burnaki,” but his army would have been better employed in watching over affairs in Babylonia, where another pretender, Mušêzib-Marduk, sat on the throne, and ruled for four years. During this time he, too, found that his seat was not altogether a bed of roses, for Menanu, king of Elam, after a battle with the Assyrians,(114) captured Mušêzib-Marduk with an army composed of Elamites and Babylonians, and delivered him to the Assyrians. Sennacherib now again (688 B.C.) became king of Babylonia, and it is thought that, on taking possession of the capital again, out of revenge for the loss of his son, and on account of the trouble he had had in consequence of the Babylonians running after the many pretenders, with which the land seems to have teemed, he destroyed the city of Babylon, committing such cruelties that they were remembered to the end, and sowed the seeds of that hatred which were to bring forth for Assyria that deadliest of all fruit—her own destruction.

In the eight years which passed between his assuming the reins of power in Babylonia and his death, must be placed that expedition to Egypt spoken of by Berosus and Herodotus. The version of the former, which refers principally to the siege of Jerusalem, is quoted above (p. 378); the following is the account of the latter—

“After this, Sanacharib, king of the Arabians and of the Assyrians, marched a great host against Egypt. Then the warriors of the Egyptians refused to come to the rescue, and the priest (Hephaistos, whose name was Sethos),(115) being driven into a strait, entered into the sanctuary of the temple and bewailed to the image of the god the danger which was impending over him; and as he was thus lamenting, sleep came upon him, and it seemed to him in his vision that the god came out and stood by him and encouraged him, saying that he should suffer no evil if he went forth to meet the army of the Arabians, for he would himself send him helpers. Trusting in these things seen in sleep, he took with him, they say, those of the Egyptians who were willing to follow him, and encamped in Pelusion, for by this way the invasion came; and not one of the warrior class followed him, but shopkeepers and artisans and men of the market. Then after they came, there swarmed by night upon the enemies mice of the fields, and ate up their quivers and their bows, and moreover the handles of their shields, so that on the next day they fled, and being without defence of arms great numbers fell. And at the present time this king stands in the temple of Hephaistos in stone, holding upon his head a mouse, and by letters inscribed he says these words, ‘Let him who looks upon me learn to fear the gods.’ ”

Josephus’s quotation from Herodotus differs somewhat from the above, in that he makes the Egyptian king to pray to God (and not before his image), and omits all reference to the dream. This was doubtless to make the parallel with the case of Hezekiah more striking.

[Plate XI.]

Sennacherib before Lachish. For the translation of the inscription, see the opposite page. British Museum, Assyrian Saloon. The face of the king is mutilated in the original bas-relief, and has been restored.

The precise date of this expedition to Egypt and second siege of Jerusalem is unknown, but it must have taken place between 688 and 680 B.C. It is not by any means improbable that the date may some time or other be fixed, for an account of it will probably be found in the ruins of the cities of Assyria somewhere. That Herodotus calls Sennacherib “king of the Arabians and the Assyrians” is probably due to the fact that he seems to have been in alliance with “the queen of the Aribi”—_(šar)rat_ D.P. _Aribi_—or Arabians, at the time. Esarhaddon speaks of his father Sennacherib as having captured the Arabian city Adumū, and inscriptions of Aššur-banî-âpli also refer to Sennacherib’s expedition thither, and to his connection with an Arabian king named Ḫaza-îlu (Hazael). With regard to Palestine itself, the reality of the siege of Lachish is testified to by the fact, that a large portion of Sennacherib’s sculptures represent him as being present at the siege of Lachish in person, when the prisoners and the booty taken were passed before him in procession. The inscription accompanying this scene reads as follows—

“Sin-âḫê-iriba, king of the world, king of the land Aššur,
sat upon his throne of state, and
the spoil of Lakisu
passed before him.”

It would be strange indeed if this event, of which he was evidently very proud, were omitted from the history of what he must have regarded as his glorious deeds. As it does not occur in the account of his expedition to the land of Ḫatti, there is hardly any doubt that it belongs to the later campaign there, when he took the city, though he failed, as has been seen, to take Jerusalem. In all probability there were two sieges of Lachish, and it was very possible that the city was taken only on the second occasion. In any case, it was from Lachish that Sennacherib sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh to Hezekiah, with a great army to besiege Jerusalem, and it is noteworthy that the Rabshakeh reproaches him with trusting to Egypt, the power with which Assyria was at that moment in conflict; and in Sennacherib’s second message to Hezekiah (2 Kings xix. 9) the words accompanying it clearly show that the general opinion was, that it was the march of Tirhakah against him which called it forth. It is noteworthy in this connection, that Tirhakah cannot have been on the throne of Egypt so early as 700 B.C., the date of Sennacherib’s first campaign against the West.

There are therefore many arguments in favour of two expeditions of Sennacherib to Palestine, with two sieges of Jerusalem, and also, to all appearance, two sieges of Lachish.

The following is the account of his death given in the Babylonian Chronicle—