FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[270]2 Kings xx. 12.[271]Merodach Baladan was, as has been shown (p. 113), driven out of Babylon in the year 703B.C.; it is certain that he was ruler there in 704B.C.If the Books of the Kings do not mention his embassy to Hezekiah till after the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, they show by the announcement of Isaiah to Hezekiah, which they put after the embassy of Merodach Baladan thus: "He will be saved out of the hand of the Assyrians" (2, xx. 6), that the embassy was at Jerusalem before the campaign of Sennacherib; cf. Isa. xxxix.[272]Isa. xxii. 2; 2 Chron. xxxii. 4, 5.[273]Isa. xxx. 2, 3, 6.[274]Isa. xxxi. 1-3.[275]Isa. xxx. 9, 10.[276]Isa. xxviii. 12.[277]Isa. xxviii. 15. The deceit is no doubt to be explained by the secrecy of the negotiations with Egypt.[278]Isa. xxx. 15, 16.[279]Isa. xxx. 12, 13.[280]Isa. xxviii. 22.[281]Isa. xxix. 1.[282]Isa. x. 28-32.[283]Isa. xxi. 1, 2, 5-7.[284]It is the third warlike enterprise of Sennacherib, which for the following reasons cannot be placed earlier than 702B.C.The cylinder Bellino dates from the seventh month of the third year of Sennacherib,i. e.from the year 703 / 702; it concludes with the subjugation of Ellip and the tribute of the Medes. Sennacherib, therefore, may have first marched to Syria in the year 701B.C.The inscription of the bulls narrates this campaign, which extends to the establishment of Assurnadin in Babylon; so the cylinder Smith, which dates from the year 697B.C.Hence, as the year of Hezekiah's accession is fixed for the year 728B.C.(p. 16,n.), the siege of Jerusalem does not fall in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, in which the Books of Kings place it, but in the twenty-eighth year.[285]I combine these three accounts, which differ but little from each other.[286]Cylinder Smith, "Disc." p. 304.[287]G. Smith, "Disc." p. 304.[288]Inscription of the bulls in E. Schrader, "K. A. T." l. 31, s. 187.[289]E. Schrader, "K. A. T." 171 ff. G. Smith, "Disc." p. 303 ff. Rodwell, "Records of the Past," 7, 61 ff.[290]Isa. xxii. 9, 10, 11.[291]2 Kings xviii. 13 ff.; 2 Kings xix. 8-13; Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii.; 2 Chron. xxxii.[292]Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 98.[293]Room 36, in Layard.[294]E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 170.[295]Isa. i. 25.[296]Isa. xxx. 19.[297]Isa. ii. 12-22.[298]Isa. xix. 22.[299]Isa. xix. 25.[300]Isa. ii. 3, 4.[301]Isa. xi. 6-8; cf. xxv. 6-12; xxxv. 5-10. The ideas of the happy future are not quite consistent in Isaiah. If in one place he extends the peace of the world down to the beasts of prey, in others he represents the restored kingdom of David, the united Ephraim and Judah, as "oppressing their oppressors." "Judah will be a terror for Egypt" (xix. 17), and the Israelites will "flee to the sea on the shoulders of the Philistines: together they will plunder the sons of the East, and subjugate Edom, Moab, and Ammon" (xi. 14). In the same way the new king of the race of David, who will then rule, appears to him at one time gifted with the strength of David, and is again described as participating in the Divine nature, and passes into a general picture of the happy future.[302]Isa. xxvii. 8.[303]Isa. x. 5, 6.[304]Isa. x. 7-18.[305]Isa. xxxiii. 1.[306]Isa. x. 24-27.[307]2 Kings xix. 25-33; Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii. 1-34.[308]Isa. xiv. 24-27.[309]Isa. xvii. 12-14.[310]In Ménant, "Annal." p. 231.[311]2 Kings xix. 35, 36.[312]2 Kings xviii. 4.[313]Herod. 2, 141.

[270]2 Kings xx. 12.

[271]Merodach Baladan was, as has been shown (p. 113), driven out of Babylon in the year 703B.C.; it is certain that he was ruler there in 704B.C.If the Books of the Kings do not mention his embassy to Hezekiah till after the siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians, they show by the announcement of Isaiah to Hezekiah, which they put after the embassy of Merodach Baladan thus: "He will be saved out of the hand of the Assyrians" (2, xx. 6), that the embassy was at Jerusalem before the campaign of Sennacherib; cf. Isa. xxxix.

[272]Isa. xxii. 2; 2 Chron. xxxii. 4, 5.

[273]Isa. xxx. 2, 3, 6.

[274]Isa. xxxi. 1-3.

[275]Isa. xxx. 9, 10.

[276]Isa. xxviii. 12.

[277]Isa. xxviii. 15. The deceit is no doubt to be explained by the secrecy of the negotiations with Egypt.

[278]Isa. xxx. 15, 16.

[279]Isa. xxx. 12, 13.

[280]Isa. xxviii. 22.

[281]Isa. xxix. 1.

[282]Isa. x. 28-32.

[283]Isa. xxi. 1, 2, 5-7.

[284]It is the third warlike enterprise of Sennacherib, which for the following reasons cannot be placed earlier than 702B.C.The cylinder Bellino dates from the seventh month of the third year of Sennacherib,i. e.from the year 703 / 702; it concludes with the subjugation of Ellip and the tribute of the Medes. Sennacherib, therefore, may have first marched to Syria in the year 701B.C.The inscription of the bulls narrates this campaign, which extends to the establishment of Assurnadin in Babylon; so the cylinder Smith, which dates from the year 697B.C.Hence, as the year of Hezekiah's accession is fixed for the year 728B.C.(p. 16,n.), the siege of Jerusalem does not fall in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, in which the Books of Kings place it, but in the twenty-eighth year.

[285]I combine these three accounts, which differ but little from each other.

[286]Cylinder Smith, "Disc." p. 304.

[287]G. Smith, "Disc." p. 304.

[288]Inscription of the bulls in E. Schrader, "K. A. T." l. 31, s. 187.

[289]E. Schrader, "K. A. T." 171 ff. G. Smith, "Disc." p. 303 ff. Rodwell, "Records of the Past," 7, 61 ff.

[290]Isa. xxii. 9, 10, 11.

[291]2 Kings xviii. 13 ff.; 2 Kings xix. 8-13; Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii.; 2 Chron. xxxii.

[292]Brandis, "Münzwesen," s. 98.

[293]Room 36, in Layard.

[294]E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 170.

[295]Isa. i. 25.

[296]Isa. xxx. 19.

[297]Isa. ii. 12-22.

[298]Isa. xix. 22.

[299]Isa. xix. 25.

[300]Isa. ii. 3, 4.

[301]Isa. xi. 6-8; cf. xxv. 6-12; xxxv. 5-10. The ideas of the happy future are not quite consistent in Isaiah. If in one place he extends the peace of the world down to the beasts of prey, in others he represents the restored kingdom of David, the united Ephraim and Judah, as "oppressing their oppressors." "Judah will be a terror for Egypt" (xix. 17), and the Israelites will "flee to the sea on the shoulders of the Philistines: together they will plunder the sons of the East, and subjugate Edom, Moab, and Ammon" (xi. 14). In the same way the new king of the race of David, who will then rule, appears to him at one time gifted with the strength of David, and is again described as participating in the Divine nature, and passes into a general picture of the happy future.

[302]Isa. xxvii. 8.

[303]Isa. x. 5, 6.

[304]Isa. x. 7-18.

[305]Isa. xxxiii. 1.

[306]Isa. x. 24-27.

[307]2 Kings xix. 25-33; Isa. xxxvi., xxxvii. 1-34.

[308]Isa. xiv. 24-27.

[309]Isa. xvii. 12-14.

[310]In Ménant, "Annal." p. 231.

[311]2 Kings xix. 35, 36.

[312]2 Kings xviii. 4.

[313]Herod. 2, 141.

Sennacherib had been compelled to retire from Syria before the Egyptians and Ethiopians, before the army of Tirhaka. If he did not seek to compensate this failure by new campaigns to Syria, if he omitted to attempt the subjugation of Syria a second time, the reason obviously lay in the fact, that his arms were occupied nearer home by the rebellion of Babylonia, the attitude of Merodach Baladan in South Chaldæa, and his combination with Elam. We are acquainted with the series of rebellions and struggles which Sennacherib had to meet here, till in the year 694B.C.he finally succeeded in overcoming the confederates leagued against him in a great battle, and capturing the city of Babylon (p. 118). Yet even after these important successes, Sennacherib's armies, so far as we see, never appeared again in Syria. The Books of the Hebrews tell us nothing of any further attacks of Sennacherib on Judah: they merely say: "Sennacherib afterwards remained in Nineveh." The accounts preserved in the inscriptions of the campaigns of Sennacherib do not go beyond the capture of Babylon: the account which reaches furthest down is dated 691B.C.Of the next ten years, during which Sennacherib continued to sit on the throne of Assyria, we have no connected information. Even the inscriptions which collect the acts of Sennacherib, the inscription of Nebbi Yunus, and the inscription of Bavian, end their account of his military deeds with the battle of Chaluli and the capture of Babylon. Indications lead to the conclusion that Sennacherib, even in this last decade of his reign, was so actively engaged in contests on the lower Euphrates and against Elam, that he was compelled to leave Syria to her fate. The fragment of an inscription speaks of Sennacherib's wars against a queen of the Arabs; in an inscription of his successor also we hear of a conquest of Sennacherib in Arabia.[314]Tiglath Pilesar had fought against Samsieh, the queen of the Arabs, Sargon had received tribute from her, and Sargon and Tiglath Pilesar had also received the tribute of the Sabæans.[315]Herodotus, as we saw (p. 141), calls Sennacherib the king of "the Arabians and Assyrians," from which we may conclude that in the tradition of Egypt, on which this account given by Herodotus of Sennacherib was based, he was a ruler to whom a considerable part of Arabia was subject. In the inscriptions of the successor of Sennacherib, we find at his accession Nabuzir, a son of Merodach Baladan, in possession of Bit Yakin, the land of the sea, the old domain of his race.[316]He must, therefore, have won it back in Sennacherib's time, and though he may have had to pay tribute he must have maintained his conquest. Lastly, we hear that Halludus, the successor of Uman Minanu of Elam, made a vigorous resistance to Sennacherib, and that Sennacherib won from him Bit Imbi, a border fortress.[317]

Sennacherib's inscriptions repeatedly inform us that he caused trees to be felled on Mount Amanus,i. e.in the neighbourhood of Cilicia, for his buildings.[318]Inscriptions from the third and ninth years of Sennacherib also mention the fact that captive Cilicians were compelled to work at these buildings (p. 107), and in the inscription of Nebbi Yunus, the mention of the Syrian campaign of Sennacherib is followed by the statement, that he reduced the Cilicians, who inhabited the forests, and destroyed their cities.[319]Sennacherib, therefore, must have maintained by repeated contests the dominion over the Cilicians, which Sargon had already gained (p. 103). Polyhistor tells us that Sennacherib in Assyria heard of the landing of a Grecian army in Cilicia; he hastened thither and defeated the Greeks, after losing many of his own people; in remembrance of this victory he caused his image to be set up there, with an inscription in Chaldæan letters, as evidence of his bravery and skill, and built the city of Tarsus after the model of Babylon. In the somewhat different account of Abydenus, Sennacherib, after subjugating Babylon, defeated a fleet of the Greeks in a naval battle off the coast of Cilicia, founded the temple of Anchiale, set up brazen pillars with an inscription of his achievements, and built the city of Tarsus after the model of Babylon, so that the Cydnus flowed through Tarsus in the same manner as the Euphrates through Babylon. Hellanicus had already told the Greeks that Tarsus and Anchiale had been built by a ruler of Babylon, and the companions of Alexander of Macedon saw near the walls of Anchiale the picture of a king of Assyria, with the right hand raised.[320]

After an eventful reign of 24 years, Sennacherib came to an end even more miserable than the end of his father (681B.C.[321]). "When Sennacherib was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god," so we find in the Books of Kings, "his sons Adramelech and Nergal Sarezer slew him with the sword. They escaped into the land of Ararat, and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead."[322]According to Polyhistor, Ardumuzanes, the son of Sennacherib, was the treacherous assassin of his father; in Abydenus Nergilus succeeds Sennacherib; Nergilus was slain by his son Adrameles, who was killed by his brother Axerdis, and his army driven back to the city of Bizana (in Armenia).[323]The canon of the Assyrians merely mentions at the year 681B.C., "Assur-akh-iddin (Esarhaddon) ascends the throne."[324]Sennacherib's inscriptions told us that after the campaign in which he had driven Merodach Baladan out of Bit Yakin, he had placed his eldest son, Assurnadin, as regent over Babylon (p. 115). Of this Assurnadin we only know this fact: we hear nothing of his later fortunes. On a tablet, Sennacherib states that he has set apart golden chains, ivory, and precious stones, a mina and a half in weight, for his son Esarhaddon.[325]Esarhaddon, therefore, a fourth son of Sennacherib, wrested from his brothers, Adramelech and Nergal Sarezer, the murderers of his father, the fruit of their evil deeds, and became Sennacherib's successor.

The acts of Esarhaddon show that he was a prince of energy, and knew how to guide the reins with a strong hand. His father's reign had not been poor in results, but still he had not been able to maintain the dominion of Sargon in its full extent: he had been compelled to give up Syria. Esarhaddon was not only able to recover this loss, he raised Assyria to a height which she had never attained before. Shalmanesar II. had trodden Syria, received the tribute of Israel, and reduced the west of Iran to submission; Tiglath Pilesar II. had seen Arachosia, received the homage of Judah, and ruled over Babylonia; Sargon had held sway over Syria and Babylonia, Cilicia and Media; Esarhaddon kept the west of Iran in submission; he not only extended the dominion of Assyria further to the north than any of his predecessors; he reduced Babylon to certain obedience, his armies passed far beyond the borders of Syria, and of Asia towards the south-west.

According to a cylinder found at Kuyundshik and much injured at the beginning, Esarhaddon with his army hastened to Nineveh; Asshur, Samas, Bel, Nebo, and Istar, had fortunately placed him on the throne of his father. In Nineveh he heard that Nabu-zir, the son of Merodach Baladan, the lord of Bit Yakin, had attacked the faithful overseer of Ur (Mugheir), had smitten him with the sword, and refused homage. Esarhaddon sends his troops against Nabu-zir, who flies before them to Elam: Nahid Merodach, the brother of Nabu-zir, comes from Elam to pay homage to Esarhaddon; he receives the landof the sea-coast, the inheritance of his brother. "Without fail," we are further told, "he came each year to Nineveh, with rich presents to kiss my feet."[326]The inscription of a second cylinder, found at Nebbi Yunus, mentions the same event. "Nabu-zir," we are told, "trusted in Elam, but he did not by that means save his life. I requested his brother Nahid Merodach to do homage to me. He hastened from Elam to Nineveh, and kissed my feet; the whole of the sea-coast I gave to him."[327]"Samas-ibni, prince of Bit Dakkur in Chaldæa, took land in possession which belonged to the sons of Babylon and Borsippa. I gave it back to them, and put Nabu-Sallim, the son of Balasu, on the throne, who became my servant."[328]On a third cylinder (Aberdeen) Esarhaddon says: "At the beginning of my reign, on my first warlike enterprise, I established myself firmly on the seat of my dominion." He marches to Babylon, makes prisoners, assembles the warriors, and all the tribes of the inhabitants of Kardunias, assumes the crown, and bids the chiefs prostrate themselves before him.[329]That Esarhaddon bore the crown of Babylon is told us in the current title of his inscriptions: "King of Asshur, king of Babel, king of Sumir and Accad (king of Kardunias)." According to the astronomical canon, Asaridinus (Assur-akh-iddin) reigns over Babylon from the beginning of the year 680B.C.to the end of the year 668B.C.Over Assyria Esarhaddon reigned from 681 to 668B.C.

Esarhaddon appears to have adopted a different method from his fathers for securing his dominion over Babylonia. So far as we can see, he attemptedto pacify and win the Babylonians by mild regulations, by setting up the temples destroyed by his father, and restoring the city. A tablet of Esarhaddon narrates in detail the wars which Sennacherib carried on against Babylonia, and then mentions the destruction of the city in order to conclude with the enumeration of the buildings which he, Esarhaddon, erected in Babylon.[330]According to the cylinder Aberdeen, Esarhaddon, at his coronation in Babylon, liberated the prisoners whom he had taken; according to the cylinder of Nebbi Yunus, he restored, as already mentioned, to the sons of Babylon and Borsippa the land which Samas-ibni of Bit Dakkur had taken from them. The cylinder Aberdeen tells us that Esarhaddon fixed the year and the day for the building,i. e.for the restoration of Bit Saggatu—it was the chief temple of Babylon, the sanctuary of Bel Merodach, the protecting deity of the city (I. 295)—that he had bricks made for this building, that he restored the injured temples of the gods, and the walls of Babylon, Imgur-Bel, and Nivit Bel.[331]Bricks of the ruin-heaps of Amram Ibn Ali, on the site of the ancient Babylon, bear the stamp: "To the god of Merodach, his lord, Esarhaddon, king of Asshur, king of Babel, begun and built the altars of Bit Saggatu."[332]On the cylinder of Nebbi Yunus, Esarhaddon says: "When Samas, Bel, Nebo, Istar of Nineveh, and Istar of Arbela had given me the victory over my enemies, out of the booty of foreign lands, which my hand reduced by the aid of the great god, my lord, I built (36 great) temples in the cities of Assyria and Babylonia, covered them with silver and gold, and made them to shine as the day."[333]

Of Esarhaddon's relations to Elam, the inscriptions only tell us that he strongly fortified a border-city against Elam.[334]The tribes of the Arabs were reduced far and wide. The cylinder of Nebbi Yunus mentions the city of Adumu, the fortress of the Arabs, which Sennacherib took;[335]he, Esarhaddon, made Tabua, a woman brought up in his palace, queen of the Arabs, and increased by 65 camels the tribute paid to his father. When Hazael, the prince of another Arabian tribe, died, Esarhaddon put his son Yahlu on the throne, and raised the tribute paid by Hazael by 10 minæ of gold, 50 camels, and payments of other kinds.[336]The distant land of Bazu had been trodden by none of his forefathers; he advanced thither; six princes of this region, Kisu, Akbaru, Mansaku, Habizu, Niaru, Habanamru, and two queens, Yapah and Bailu, he slew; their gods, their possessions, and their people, he carried off to Assyria; the king of the Gambul, who dwelt in the marshes and waters (in the region at the mouth of the Euphrates), submitted, and brought presents and tribute.[337]

In the East, Esarhaddon kept the tribes of the Medes in subjection. The cylinder of Nebbi Yunus says: "The land of Patusarra, a region in the neighbourhood of ——, in the midst of the distant land of Media, on the border of the land of Bikni, of the copper-mountains—this land none of the kings, my forefathers, had subjugated. Sitirparna and Iparna, the princes of the strong places, had not bowed before me; I carried them to Assyria, with their subjects, horses, chariots, oxen, sheep, asses, as rich booty." "Arpis, Zanasana, Ramatiya, the princes of the citiesof Partakka, Partukka, and Uraka-Zabarna in the land of Media, the position of which was distant, who in the days of the kings, my forefathers, had not trodden the soil of Assyria,—the fear of Asshur my lord threw them down; they brought for me to my chief city, Nineveh, their great beasts, copper (?), the product of their mines, bowed themselves with folded hands before me, and besought my favour. I placed my viceroys over them, who united the inhabitants of those regions with my kingdom; I laid upon them burdens, and a fixed tribute."[338]

Of Esarhaddon's acts in the North, we learn that he drove out the inhabitants of the land of Van from their dwellings, that he trod down the inhabitants of the land of Chilaki (Cilicia), and the Duha who dwelt in the forests of the land of Tabal. Twenty-one fortresses, and the small places round them, he took and burnt down; and carried away the inhabitants. Tiuspa of the land of Gimirai (Cimmeria), which lay in the far distance, submitted to him.[339]

The most important achievements of Esarhaddon were accomplished in the West. On the cylinder of Kuyundshik, the expulsion of Nabu-zir, and the establishment of Nahid Merodach his brother in Bit Yakin, to which the cylinder of Nebbi Yunus adds the subjugation of Bit Dakkur, is followed by a campaign of Esarhaddon to Syria, which must, therefore, fall in the year 679 or 678B.C.Sennacherib had dethroned Elulæus of Sidon in the year 701B.C., and put Ithobal in his place (p. 125.) Ithobal was no longer at the head in Sidon. Esarhaddon tells us, that Abdimilkut of Sidon, and Sanduarri, a king in the mountain-land (therefore, no doubt, a prince ofLebanon), united against him. "Abdimilkut trusted in his position by the great sea, and threw off my yoke."[340]"The great city of Sidon," so we are told on a cylinder of Nebbi Yunus, "which lies on the sea, I attacked; all their places, fortresses and dwellings, I destroyed; I threw them into the sea. Abdimilkut, who had fled before the face of my warriors into the middle of the sea, I seized like a fish, and cut off his head. His possessions, gold, silver, and precious stones, the treasures of his palace, his innumerable people, oxen, sheep, and asses, I carried away to Assyria. The princes of the land of Chatti (Syria) I collected. I caused a new city to be built, and called it the city of Esarhaddon. The people which my bow had taken in the lands and on the sea of the rising sun (i. e.the inhabitants carried away from Bit Yakin), I settled there, and placed my viceroys over them. I caught Sanduarri like a bird in the midst of the mountains, and caused his head to be cut off. The heads of Sanduarri and Abdimilkut I hung up beside the heads of their chiefs, and marched to Nineveh."[341]

The overthrow of Sidon, and the terrible example which Esarhaddon had made by this execution of the conquered princes, appears to have frightened all Syria into obedience. To this, at any rate, the assembling of all the princes of Syria, of which the cylinder speaks, points; and we learn further, without any mention of new contests in Syria, that the princes of Cyprus paid homage to Esarhaddon. After the cylinder has narrated the achievements of Esarhaddon against the Arabs, the Medes, and the Cilicians, which he accomplished down to the close of the year 674B.C.(the cylinder bears the date of the year of Atarilui. e.of 673B.C.), it proceeds to the description of the buildings of Esarhaddon. In Nineveh he built at the smaller edifice of his father to the south of the Khosr, and at the great palace of Sennacherib to the north of it (p. 106). The description of the buildings begins with the mention of an embassy of Esarhaddon to the princes of Syria and Cyprus, and their assembling; they have to provide the material and adornment of these palaces by taxes and contributions. Twelve kings of the Chatti were called upon: Baal, king of Tyre; Manasses, king of Judah (Minasi sar ir Jahudi); Kausgabri, king of Edom; Musuri, king of Moab; Zilli-Bel, king of Gaza; Mitinti, king of Ascalon; Ituzu, king of Ekron; Milkiasap, king of Byblus; Matanbaal, king of Arvad; Abibaal, king of Samaria; Puduil, king of Ammon; Achmilku, king of Ashdod. No mention is made of a prince of Sidon; as the inscriptions told us above, that city was under a viceroy of the king. In addition to these twelve kings, a summons was sent to "ten kings of Yatnan (Cyprus), in the midst of the sea:" Ikistusu (Aegisthus) king of Idalium (Idial); Pisuaguru (Pythagoras), king of Kitrusi (Chytrus?); ——, king of Salamis (Sillumi); Ituandar (Eteandros), king of Paphus (Pappa); Iriil (according to another reading Eresu), king of Soli (Sillu); Damasu (Damasus), king of Kurion; Rumisu, king of Tamasus; Damusi, king of Amtihatasti (Amathus?); Unasagusa, king of Limenia (Limini); Buhli, king of Aphrodision (Upridissa). "In all, I called upon 22 kings of the land of the Chatti on the sea coast and in the sea."[342]

But in spite of this obedience of the princes of Syria and Cyprus, Esarhaddon had to undergo contests in Syria after this time,i. e.after the year 674B.C., which brought him beyond the borders of Syria. In the year 697B.C.Manasses succeeded his father Hezekiah in Judah; he was then a boy of 12 years of age.[343]But when he came of age he did not follow in the steps of his pious father; therefore, we are told in the Chronicles, Jehovah caused the captains of the army of the king of Assyria to come upon him; they took Manasses prisoner with thorns, and bound him in chains, and carried him to Babel. And when he was in distress he besought Jehovah, and humbled himself before the God of his fathers, and Jehovah heard his prayer, and caused him to return to Jerusalem, to his kingdom.[344]The Books of the Hebrews further tell us that Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, settled people from Persia, Erech and Babel, from Susa and Elam, in Samaria.[345]The carrying away of Manasses, and strengthening of the foreign population in Israel, can only have been caused by attempts at rebellion in the kingdom of Judah and land of Israel. These attempts must have taken place after 674B.C., with which year the cylinders close, which narrate the deeds of Esarhaddon down to this point, without any mention of such rebellions; on the contrary, we saw that these cylinders at the close of this epoch describe Manasses of Judah and Abibaal of Samaria as among the obedient and tributary vassalsof Esarhaddon. The fragment of an inscription of Esarhaddon, which narrates the events of his tenth campaign, and which we cannot place before the year 673B.C., as there is no mention of the campaign in the inscriptions dated from that year, informs us of a rebellion of Baal, king of Tyre, who was mentioned at the close of the inscriptions previously quoted at the head of the vassals of Esarhaddon in Syria. We can assume the more certainly that Judah and Samaria joined this rebellion, as the fragment adds: King Baal of Tyre "threw off the yoke of Assyria, trusting in king Tarku (Tirhaka) of Cush."[346]

It must have been the interference of Egypt, the hope in Egypt and Ethiopia, which urged a portion of the Syrians to renewed attempts at rebellion. Tirhaka, as we have seen, fought against Esarhaddon's father in the year 701B.C., by no means without success, at Eltekeh; after the battle Sennacherib abandoned Syria. The restoration of the supremacy of Assyria, which took place after the overthrow of Abdimilkut of Sidon, was calculated to drive the ruler of Egypt and Ethiopia to an attempt to prevent the establishment of Assyria on his borders. In the hope of such assistance, Tyre, which stood at the head of Phœnicia, after the defeat of Sidon, may have taken up arms; Judah and Samaria may have joined her. The fragment of another inscription of Esarhaddon tells us that he sent out his forces "to fight against Tarku, the king of Cush, against the men of Egypt, and the allies of Tarku" (i. e.no doubt, against Tyre, Judah and Samaria). The Assyrian army won the victory. Tarku fled.[347]The return of Tirhaka was followed by the subjugation of Judah and Samaria,the carrying away of Manasses to Babel (Esarhaddon built, as we saw, at Babel, and then, no doubt, resided there), and the settlement of inhabitants from the East in Samaria, in order to secure the obedience of this land. We may put these events in the year 673B.C.As Tyre on her island continued her resistance, Esarhaddon marched to break this down, on his tenth campaign, in the early spring, in the month of Nisan, crossed the swollen waters of the Euphrates and Tigris, caused fortifications to be thrown up against Tyre, cut them off, as he says, from water and food, and directed his march against Muzur (Egypt) and Miluhhi (Napata). From Aphek in Samaria he set out southwards against Raphia (Refah near Gaza), where his grandfather Sargon had defeated Sabakon (Seveh) of Ethiopia and Egypt nearly 50 years before (p. 88). On the march through the desert the army suffered from want of water; but Merodach came to the aid of Esarhaddon's warriors, and saved their lives,—as the inscription tells us, which breaks off at the point where it is telling of the first conflict with the enemy. After the indubitable successes of Esarhaddon against Tirhaka, Tyre submitted: the king Baal was pardoned; we find him again at the head of the city under Esarhaddon's successor. In the same way, after the subjection of Tyre, or some time later, when no one in Syria could any longer found hopes on Egypt, Manasses again became king of Judah, as the Hebrews state. In the list of the subject princes of Syria after the death of Esarhaddon, the king of Judah follows immediately after Baal of Tyre; unfortunately the name (in any case Manasses) is broken off.

Either on the campaign, of which the first incidents have been already related in the fragment last mentioned, or on a campaign immediately following,Tirhaka was not only defeated, but driven out of Egypt, back to his own native land. Esarhaddon became lord of Egypt. A fragment of Abydenus says: "Esarhaddon obtained the lower portions of Syria and Egypt by conquering them."[348]On that rock of the Phenician coast at the mouth of the Nahr el Kelb, between Byblus and Berytus, where Sennacherib had caused his picture and inscription to be engraved beside the sculptures of Ramses II., Esarhaddon also caused his image to be engraved, after he had become master of Egypt. In its damaged condition the inscription only allows us to ascertain that victories over Tirhaka, the capture of Memphis, the conquest of Egypt, are mentioned in them. At the close the inscription speaks of Tyre, and again mentions 22 kings,i. e.it records the second complete submission of Syria.[349]Esarhaddon's successor informs us: his father had marched to Egypt, and forced his way to the midst of Egypt. "He defeated Tirhaka, the king of Cush, and destroyed his power. He conquered Egypt (Muzur) and Cush, and carried away innumerable prisoners. He subjugated the land throughout its whole extent, and annexed it to Assyria. The earlier names of the cities he altered, and gave them new names; his servants and viceroys he entrusted with the dominion over them; the payment of tribute he imposed upon them."[350]The list of the 20 viceroys or princes which Esarhaddon placed over Egypt after the expulsion of Tirhaka, allows us to see that the greater number of the reigning families in the districts of Egypt, who had maintained themselves under thedominion of the Ethiopians, must have recognised the dominion of Esarhaddon in the place of the dominion of Tirhaka, and passed from vassalage to him into vassalage to Assyria. But not all. Many of them may have shared Tirhaka's fortunes. In the place of those who did not adapt themselves to the new rule, came others who thought to rise as adherents of Assyria. The prince who received from Esarhaddon the regions of Sais and Memphis, and consequently the most important position, Niku (Necho), was certainly a man who had vigorously supported the new government.[351]Sarludari is said to have governed the canton of Zitinu; Pakruru, the land of Pisaptu; Putubasti, the land of Tanis (Zanu, Zoan); Harsiesu administered the land of Zabnuti (Sebennytus); Tapnachti (Tnephachtus), the canton of Bunubu; Sushinqu, the land of Busiris (Pusiru); Ziha, the land of Siut; Lamintu, the land of Chimuni; Ispimatu, the land of Taini (Thinis); Muntimianche, the land of Thebes (Niha).[352]According to this, Esarhaddon made those princes of the districts in Egypt who, though they had hitherto obeyed Tirhaka, were willing to submit to him, his vassals, so far as he did notreplace them by Egyptians, whom he considered more trustworthy, and here and there by Assyrians. To Necho he handed over or continued the important districts of Memphis and Sais. As Necho of Sais came to the throne, according to the statement of Manetho, eight years before Psammetichus, and Psammetichus, according to the date of the Egyptians, became king in 664B.C., Necho's accession falls in 672B.C., and the conquest of Egypt by Esarhaddon may be placed in this year. The conquest of Cush,i. e.of the land of the South, is due to the exaggeration of Esarhaddon: we find Tirhaka soon after in possession of Napata. The slabs of reliefs which Esarhaddon caused to be made for the adornment of the new palace which he began to build at Chalah after the conquest of Egypt, bear on the reverse the inscription: "Palace of Esarhaddon, king of Asshur and Babel, king of Muzur (Lower Egypt), king of Patrus (Patores, Upper Egypt), of the land of Miluhhi (Meroe), and of the land of Cush."[353]

This new palace at Chalah was built by Esarhaddon in the south-west corner of the terrace on which rise the royal fortresses of this city, to the west of the building of Tiglath Pilesar II. In extent it comes nearest to the palace of Assurnasirpal in the north-west corner (II. 311). But it was not completed, though Esarhaddon did not hesitate to take the reliefs from the palace of Tiglath Pilesar and use them for his new building (p. 14). A broad staircase leads to the south front, to a double portico guarded by lions and sphinxes. The sphinxes are recumbent lion-bodies, with wings; the human head bears the Assyrian tiara surrounded by horns. These forms, not elsewhere found in Syria, prove a certain imitation of Egyptianmodels, which the Assyrians must have become first acquainted with on the Nile.[354]

FOOTNOTES:[314]G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon," p. 139. The fragment must speak of events subsequent to the year 691B.C., since the cylinder Taylor, which dates from this year, does not mention this war.[315]Above, p. 11.[316]E. Schrader, "K. A. T.," s. 227.[317]G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 207, 247. Ménant, "Annal." p. 291.[318]e. g.Nebbi Yunus in Ménant,loc. cit.p. 233.[319]Nebbi Yunus in Ménant, p. 231.[320]Alexander and Abydenus in Euseb. "Chron." I. p. 27, 35, ed. Schöne. For templum Atheniensium, it is obvious that we must read Anchialensium.[321]Private documents from the reign of Sennacherib on the sale of houses, vineyards, slaves, debts, are in existence from the years 699, 695, 694, 692, 687, 683, Oppert et Ménant, "Doc. juridiq." p. 169 ff.[322]Kings xix. 37. The statement of Josephus ("Antiq." 10, i. 5) rests only on this passage. In calling Adramelechus and Saraserus the elder sons of Sennacherib, and representing them as fleeing before the Assyrians to Armenia, he can scarcely have any other authority than this passage, although immediately before he quotes a passage of Berosus.[323]Bizana is a conjecture of Von Gutschmid for in Byzantinorum urbem.[324]G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon," p. 39.[325]Sayce, "Records of the Past," 7, 138.[326]Talbot, "Records of the Past," 3, 104-106.[327]Talbot,loc. cit.3, 114.[328]Talbot,loc. cit.; Ménant, "Annal." p. 243.[329]Ménant,loc. cit.p. 248.[330]G. Smith, "Disc." p. 314.[331]Ménant, p. 248.[332]Ménant, p. 247.[333]Talbot, "Records of the Past," 3, 119; Ménant, p. 245.[334]Talbot,loc. cit.p. 118.[335]G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon," p. 137.[336]Talbot, "Records," 3, 116.[337]Talbot,loc. cit.p. 106, 116, 117.[338]So E. Schrader translates.[339]Vol. I. p. 547; Ménant,loc. cit.p. 242.[340]Talbot, "Records," 3, 106.[341]G. Smith, "Assyrian Canon," p. 137, 138.[342]E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 228; G. Smith, "Assyrian Canon," p. 139; Talbot, "Records," 3, 108; the name of Eteander of Paphus is also read on golden armlets, found at Kurion. Cf. G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 31.[343]The year 697 is obtained for the accession of Manasses, by calculating the reigns of the kings of Judah from the date of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,i. e.from the year 586B.C.As Hezekiah must have ascended the throne in 728B.C.(p. 17,n.), he reigned no doubt two years longer than the Books of Kings allow, which allot to him a reign of 29 years.[344]Chron. xxxiii. 11-13.[345]Ezra iv. 2, 9.[346]G. Smith, "Disc." p. 212.[347]G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon." p. 141.[348]In Eusebius, "Chron." I. p. 35, ed. Schöne.[349]Oppert, "Mémoires de l' Acad. des Inscript.," 1869, 1, 578. G. Smith, "Assyrian Canon," p. 169.[350]E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 212.[351]Psammetichus begins to reign in the year 664, according to the Egyptian reckoning, as will be shown below. The list of Manetho allots eight years to his father Necho. Necho, therefore, began to reign in 672B.C.,i. e.in the year in which Esarhaddon conquered Egypt. Nechepsus and Stephinates, whom Manetho places six and seven years before Necho, belong to the family of Psammetichus. Perhaps they were at the head of Isis, under Tirhaka; then Necho, the son of Nechepsus, would have made himself noticed by Esarhaddon by going over to him.[352]G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 20 ff. Haigh, "Zur aeg. Sprache," 1871; s. 71 ff. The Muntimianche of Thebes may be the Month-em-ha of the inscription of the temple of Mut at Thebes, the pious foundations of which it enumerates; in a slab found in this temple he is called: "Hereditary lord, prince of Patores, prophet of Ammon." Brugsch, "Hist, of Egypt," II. 270.[353]Ménant, "Annal." p. 249.[354]Private documents on the sale of lands, slaves, on loans from the time of Esarhaddon, are in existence, belonging to the years 680, 677, 676, 674, 671. Oppert et Ménant, "Docum. jurid." Cf. G. Smith, "Disc." p. 415 ff.

[314]G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon," p. 139. The fragment must speak of events subsequent to the year 691B.C., since the cylinder Taylor, which dates from this year, does not mention this war.

[315]Above, p. 11.

[316]E. Schrader, "K. A. T.," s. 227.

[317]G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 207, 247. Ménant, "Annal." p. 291.

[318]e. g.Nebbi Yunus in Ménant,loc. cit.p. 233.

[319]Nebbi Yunus in Ménant, p. 231.

[320]Alexander and Abydenus in Euseb. "Chron." I. p. 27, 35, ed. Schöne. For templum Atheniensium, it is obvious that we must read Anchialensium.

[321]Private documents from the reign of Sennacherib on the sale of houses, vineyards, slaves, debts, are in existence from the years 699, 695, 694, 692, 687, 683, Oppert et Ménant, "Doc. juridiq." p. 169 ff.

[322]Kings xix. 37. The statement of Josephus ("Antiq." 10, i. 5) rests only on this passage. In calling Adramelechus and Saraserus the elder sons of Sennacherib, and representing them as fleeing before the Assyrians to Armenia, he can scarcely have any other authority than this passage, although immediately before he quotes a passage of Berosus.

[323]Bizana is a conjecture of Von Gutschmid for in Byzantinorum urbem.

[324]G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon," p. 39.

[325]Sayce, "Records of the Past," 7, 138.

[326]Talbot, "Records of the Past," 3, 104-106.

[327]Talbot,loc. cit.3, 114.

[328]Talbot,loc. cit.; Ménant, "Annal." p. 243.

[329]Ménant,loc. cit.p. 248.

[330]G. Smith, "Disc." p. 314.

[331]Ménant, p. 248.

[332]Ménant, p. 247.

[333]Talbot, "Records of the Past," 3, 119; Ménant, p. 245.

[334]Talbot,loc. cit.p. 118.

[335]G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon," p. 137.

[336]Talbot, "Records," 3, 116.

[337]Talbot,loc. cit.p. 106, 116, 117.

[338]So E. Schrader translates.

[339]Vol. I. p. 547; Ménant,loc. cit.p. 242.

[340]Talbot, "Records," 3, 106.

[341]G. Smith, "Assyrian Canon," p. 137, 138.

[342]E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 228; G. Smith, "Assyrian Canon," p. 139; Talbot, "Records," 3, 108; the name of Eteander of Paphus is also read on golden armlets, found at Kurion. Cf. G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 31.

[343]The year 697 is obtained for the accession of Manasses, by calculating the reigns of the kings of Judah from the date of the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar,i. e.from the year 586B.C.As Hezekiah must have ascended the throne in 728B.C.(p. 17,n.), he reigned no doubt two years longer than the Books of Kings allow, which allot to him a reign of 29 years.

[344]Chron. xxxiii. 11-13.

[345]Ezra iv. 2, 9.

[346]G. Smith, "Disc." p. 212.

[347]G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon." p. 141.

[348]In Eusebius, "Chron." I. p. 35, ed. Schöne.

[349]Oppert, "Mémoires de l' Acad. des Inscript.," 1869, 1, 578. G. Smith, "Assyrian Canon," p. 169.

[350]E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 212.

[351]Psammetichus begins to reign in the year 664, according to the Egyptian reckoning, as will be shown below. The list of Manetho allots eight years to his father Necho. Necho, therefore, began to reign in 672B.C.,i. e.in the year in which Esarhaddon conquered Egypt. Nechepsus and Stephinates, whom Manetho places six and seven years before Necho, belong to the family of Psammetichus. Perhaps they were at the head of Isis, under Tirhaka; then Necho, the son of Nechepsus, would have made himself noticed by Esarhaddon by going over to him.

[352]G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 20 ff. Haigh, "Zur aeg. Sprache," 1871; s. 71 ff. The Muntimianche of Thebes may be the Month-em-ha of the inscription of the temple of Mut at Thebes, the pious foundations of which it enumerates; in a slab found in this temple he is called: "Hereditary lord, prince of Patores, prophet of Ammon." Brugsch, "Hist, of Egypt," II. 270.

[353]Ménant, "Annal." p. 249.

[354]Private documents on the sale of lands, slaves, on loans from the time of Esarhaddon, are in existence, belonging to the years 680, 677, 676, 674, 671. Oppert et Ménant, "Docum. jurid." Cf. G. Smith, "Disc." p. 415 ff.

In his last years Esarhaddon had raised his son Assurbanipal to be co-regent with himself.[355]Shortly before his death, which overtook him in the year 668B.C.after a short but eventful reign of 13 years, he appears to have given up the government entirely to him.[356]Immediately after his accession the new prince received the intelligence that Tirhaka, whom his father had driven out of Egypt into Napata, had invaded Egypt, and taken Memphis, that the princes whom Esarhaddon had entrusted with the government of Egypt had fled before Tirhaka into the desert.[357]Assurbanipal collected his army in order to maintain Egypt. In Syria he received the homage of the princes of that land and of Cyprus, who had brought tribute and had been subject to his father. These were the lords of the states mentioned in the inscriptions of Esarhaddon,—the princes of Tyre, Judah, Edom, Moab, Gaza, Ascalon, Ekron, Byblus, Arvad; with the exception of Baal of Tyre (p. 156), their names are broken out of the inscription (Cylinder C);the three last states of Syria, found in the list of Esarhaddon, Samaria, Ammon, and Ashdod, are also wanting here. Then follow the kings of Cyprus, in which the cities and the persons are those of the list of Esarhaddon; only the three first are wanting. But as the whole number is again put at 22 princes of the land of the coast and the sea, we may conclude with certainty that from the year 672B.C.—since the rebellion and re-installation of Baal of Tyre, and Manasses of Judah, there had been no movements and changes in Syria.

Assurbanipal informs us that he went down from Syria to Egypt; at Karbanit he met the army of Tirhaka, and drove it out of the field. When Tirhaka heard of this at Memphis, he retired to Thebes. Assurbanipal pursued him, took the city, and caused his army to encamp in it; he restored the 20 princes to whom his father had given the districts of Egypt, left behind a portion of his army, and returned to Nineveh with rich booty (668B.C.).[358]Tirhaka was again forced back to Napata,[359]but the dominion of Assyria was not yet firmly established in Egypt. Assurbanipal may have imposed heavier duties on the rulers of the districts; the continued stay of Assyrian troops in Egypt may have appeared too burdensome and oppressive. Whatever the motive, some of these vassals entered into secret communication with Tirhaka; at their head was Necho, the chief of the most important districts, Memphis and Sais, and with him Sarludari of Zihinu, and Pakruru of Pisaptu. They intended to return from the vassalage of Assyria to the vassalage of Napata; they invited Tirhaka to return to Egyptand again seize the sovereign power. The condition would without doubt be that Tirhaka should continue them in their rule over the cities and districts which Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal had given over to them. But the leaders of the Assyrian troops captured their messenger, caused Necho, Sarludari, and Pakruru to be arrested, put them in chains, and sent them to Nineveh. The Assyrians took Memphis, Mendes (Ben-didi), and Tanis (Zanu, Zoan), cut down the inhabitants who resisted, and broke the towers on their walls. Tirhaka retired before the Assyrian troops to Napata.

It appears that Assurbanipal attempted to give other supports than mere force of arms to his rule over the distant Egypt. He released Necho from his bonds, restored to him the government of Sais, and gave to his son Neboshezban the government of the canton of Athribis: "I continued to extend to them," he tells us, "the kindness and favour which my father had shown them." Even these means were soon found to be insufficient. Tirhaka's days came to an end. He was succeeded on the throne of Napata by Urdamane, whom Assurbanipal calls a son of Sabakon (Sabaku). He set out to restore the dominion of Ethiopia over Egypt; he won Thebes, defeated the Assyrian troops before Memphis, shut up the defeated army in Memphis, and took them prisoners. "A messenger went in haste to Nineveh" to bring to the king the intelligence of these grievous disasters.[360]

Assurbanipal set out for Egypt in person, to make good the blow which the arms of Assyria had received, to restore the prestige and dread of his power. When he had crossed the borders of Egypt, Urdamane left Memphis in order to return to Thebes. "Theprinces and viceroys whom I had placed over Egypt, came before my face and kissed my feet," so Assurbanipal tells us. "I pursued Urdamane and came to Thebes; he fled at the approach of my mighty army. I took the city of Thebes; silver, gold, precious stones, the treasures of the palace, men and women, two great obelisks, which stood before the gates of the temple, engraved with beautiful sculptures; a great and innumerable booty I carried away from Thebes (Niha) to Assyria. I made my warriors march over Egypt and Cush, and won glory."[361]"No-Ammon (Thebes) was situate among the rivers,"—so the prophet Nahum describes the capture and desolation of Thebes by Assurbanipal and the Assyrians,—"with waters round about her, whose rampart was the stream, and her walls the stream. Ethiopia (Cush) mighty in numbers, and Egyptians endless in multitude, Phut (Arabians) and Libyans (Lubim) were her helpers. Yet she went forth into misery and captivity; her children were dashed to pieces at the tops of all the streets. They cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were bound in chains."[362]

The repeated attempts of Tirhaka and his successor to re-establish the government over Egypt from Napata were wrecked. After the capture and sack of Thebes, which we can place in the year 663B.C.,[363]Assurbanipal sought further to secure the obedience of Egypt by settlers, whom he brought there from conquered lands.[364]From that time, for at least ten years, Egypt remained in his possession without any disturbance. But in spite of this establishment of the Assyrian dominion in Egypt Assurbanipal had again, in the next few years, to quell rebellions in Syria. Tyre and Aradus attempted to regain their independence, an attempt at defection, which could now have even a less chance of success than when Egypt stood unbroken under the Ethiopians. Baal, king of Tyre, who had already rebelled against Esarhaddon, and was afterwards pardoned and restored, who subsequently paid his tribute with allobedience, now took up arms anew, ten years after his first rebellion. Assurbanipal's third war was directed against Tyre and Aradus. He tells us that the fortresses of king Baal were taken, that he cut off all exit from Tyre, and compelled the inhabitants to drink the water of the sea, that he brought about their submission by a close investment. When Baal had given up his son, his daughters, and the daughters of his brothers, with a considerable tribute, he was again replaced in his dominion.[365]The king of Arvad, also Yakinlu, "who dwelt in the sea" (the city of Arvad lay on an island off the coast, II. 277), was compelled to submit; he sent his daughter with many presents to Nineveh for the harem of the king, and kissed Assurbanipal's feet; after his death the government of Arvad was entrusted to Azibaal, a son of Yakinlu.

Assurbanipal's power and supremacy reached far to the west beyond Syria. He tells us that Mugallu, the king of the Tibarenes, and Sandasarmi of Cilicia, who had not obeyed his predecessors, sent their daughters to Nineveh, and kissed his feet. Gyges (Gugu) also, the king of Lydia, "a land, the name of which my father had not heard," says Assurbanipal, sent a message to Nineveh. Gyges had obtained the throne of Lydia by violence; he was opposed by a strong party who adhered to the old royal family which he had overthrown; and it was not in domestic matters only that he found himself in difficulties. The Cimmerians who had invaded Asia Minor and were settled there on the lower Halys, who, as Esarhaddon told us, recognised his supremacy (p. 151), had forced their way from thence to Phrygia and Lydia. Gyges obviously sought support in Assyria, the strong neighbour of the Cimmerians, as soon as and as long asTubal and Cilicia obeyed the king of Asshur. The inscriptions of Assurbanipal tell us that Gyges promised obedience to him and brought tribute.[366]Thus the supremacy of Assyria reached the west of Asia Minor, the coasts of the Ægean Sea (about 660B.C.).

The next campaigns of the king were directed to the north. Achsheri, king of Minni, had kept back his tribute. The Assyrians traversed and desolated his land in two successive invasions; Achsheri's own subjects rose against him, and slew him; his son Ualli submitted, sent his daughter to Nineveh, and paid the tribute which had been kept back, and which Assurbanipal increased by 30 horses.[367]Sarduri, king of the neighbouring Ararat (Urarti), sent rich presents, and acknowledged the supremacy of Assyria. The rebellion of Birizchadri, a chief of the Medes, and of the two sons of Gagi, a chief of the Sacae (Sachi), Sariti and Pariza was defeated; 75 fortified places were taken; the three rebels were taken prisoners and carried to Nineveh.[368]

Assurbanipal bestowed especial attention on Babylonia, the government of which he had entrusted to his younger brother Samul-sum-ukin (Samuges in Abydenus, Saosduchinus in the canon of Ptolemy).[369]He tells us that here also he had continued the building of the temples which his father had begun, that he built at Bit Saggatu at Babel, and erected four silver bulls at the gate of the temple of Bit Zida at Borsippa, that he had adorned the abodes of Bel and Bilit. A brick found at Babylon bears the inscription, "to the god Merodach, my lord, Assurbanipal, kingof Assyria, king of Babylon."[370]When Urtaki, king of Elam (he had succeeded his brother Ummanaldas I. on the throne there), invaded Babylonia, Samul-sum-ukin called on his brother for assistance; the Elamites were already encamped before the walls of Babylon.[371]"To protect Bel and Nebo, my gods, whom I served," says Assurbanipal, "I gathered together my warriors." The Elamites were driven back to their borders. Not long after this failure Urtaki, king of Elam, died, and the third brother of Ummanaldas and Urtaki, Teumman, ascended the throne. The sons of the two elder brothers, the sons of Ummanaldas, and the sons of Urtaki (the latter were called Ummanigas and Tammaritu) were afraid that Teumman would cause them to be removed out of his way, in order to secure the succession for his own sons, and fled to Assyria.[372]Teumman demanded that they should be given up. Assurbanipal refused; and when in consequence Teumman declared war and invaded Assyria, Assurbanipal sacrificed to the war-goddess Istar at her abode in Arbela, "the city of the joy of her heart," and prayed: "O thou goddess of goddesses, dreadful in battle, goddess of war, queen of the gods, rejoice the heart of Asshur; strike down Teumman and destroy him. And the goddess heard my prayer and said: Fear not; I will grant thee favour." But in that night Istar appeared in a dream to the seer, with her bow in her hand, and announced that the enemy would not remain; in the midst of the battle she would protect the king of Asshur.[373]Assurbanipal went against Elam in his fifth war, which he led in person. Teumman retired before theAssyrians, and awaited the attack of their army in a position at Eulæus (Ulai), in the neighbourhood of Susa. The Assyrians, and with them the sons of Urtaki, Ummanigas and Tammaritu, fought with success. Teumman, wounded in the battle, fled with his eldest son; the chariot broke down in the forest; they were taken and slain. Assurbanipal placed Ummanigas on the throne of Susa. A relief in the palace of Assurbanipal depicts the enthronement of Ummanigas at Madaktu and Susa by an Assyrian officer.[374]Chidalu, a part of Elam, which hitherto had been ruled over by Istar-Nandi—the East of Elam apparently—was handed over to Tammaritu. Teumman's head was seen at the entrance of Assurbanipal into Nineveh: it was placed on the great gate of that city (about 655B.C.).[375]

Assurbanipal had carried off one success upon another; he was master of Egypt, received tribute from Lydia, and placed kings over Elam at his pleasure, when the rebellion of his brother Samul-sum-ukin in Babylon threatened to overthrow the foundations of the kingdom. Eager to reign independently, Samul-sum-ukin opened the treasures of the temples of Bel at Babylon, of Nebo at Borsippa, of Nergal at Kutha, and sent rich presents to Ummanigas, whom Assurbanipal had raised to the throne of Elam not long before, in order to incite him to take up arms against Assyria and to secure the aid of Elam. Ummanigas took his side.[376]Samul-sum-ukin also called on the districts on the Euphrates and Tigris to join him. In vain did the prefects of Erech, Amida, and Arapha attempt to check the rebellion. The childrenof Babylon forgot the favour shown to them, says Assurbanipal, the temples which he had restored and adorned with silver and gold; the inhabitants of Sippara, Babylon, Borsippa, Kutha disregarded their brotherhood, and took up arms against him. The signal given by the king's own brother was followed by the Arabians, Syrians, and Lydians. "That faithless brother, Samul-sum-ukin, led astray the inhabitants of Accad, of Chaldæa, of Aram, and of the sea coast, my tributary subjects, to rebel against me. The princes (sarri) of the land of Guti, of the land of the West (mat acharri), of Miluhhi, which my hands brought into submission, all these he seduced to fall from me, they took his side:" such is the statement of Assurbanipal.[377]

This rising was all the more dangerous, as some of the vassal-princes of Egypt thought it a favourable moment for throwing off the yoke of Assyria. The son of the Necho, whom in spite of his conspiracy with Tirhaka Assurbanipal had a second time made prince of Sais, Neboshezban, who was then ruler of the canton of Athribis, and after the death of his father Necho, which occurred in the mean time (Necho died shortly before, or in, the year 664B.C.),[378]succeeded him as prince of Sais, was at the head of this movement. Assurbanipal tells us that Gyges of Lydia sent aid to Pisamilki, the prince (Sar) of Muzur, who had cast off the yoke of his rule.[379]Inthis Pisamilki we may recognise the Psammetichus of the Greeks, the Psamtik of the Egyptians, the son of Necho of Sais, the same person whom Assurbanipal, when he mentions the restoration of Necho and his son, calls by the Assyrian name of Neboshezban.When the failure of that attempt had made Necho and his son captives of Assyria, the important point was to give pledges to the king of Assyria that the fidelity of his vassals would not again be broken. The Egyptian tradition of the rise of Psammetichus, preserved for us by Herodotus and Diodorus, ought not to have more weight than that Assyrian name against the identity of Pisamilki and Psammetichus. That tradition knows of nothing but contests of Psammetichus with his fellow-princes, not with the Assyrians; like Manetho's list of kings, it is absolutely silent about the Assyrians, because it wishes to conceal the fact that the Assyrians ever had dominion over Egypt. The tradition of Egypt imagines a voluntary retirement of the king of Ethiopia, or his abdication of the government of Egypt, and then represents the Egyptians as setting up 12 princes in the place of one: we have already seen that 20 were set up by Esarhaddon, and retained by Assurbanipal. Manetho's list says nothing either of the Assyrian dominion, or of the twelve; in it the rule of the last Ethiopian is followed by the dynasty of the Saites, two forefathers of Necho, and then by Necho and Psammetichus. The sepulchres of the Apis show, that as a fact, the dates were differently fixed in the seventh centuryB.C.in Egypt. Even then the kings of Assyria were disregarded; the reign of the Ethiopian Tirhaka is followed immediately by the reign of Psammetichus. The struggles which Psammetichus had to undergo with his fellow-princes, of which Herodotus, Diodorus, and Strabo tell us, were, as a fact, contests with those among the princes who adhered to Assyria, who would not follow the lead of Psammetichus against Assyria, and submit to his rule over Egypt.

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