The Old Testament In the Light of The Historical Records and Legends Part 32

The next year, 717 B.C., came the turn of Pisiris of Carchemish, who had tried to get Mita king of Musku to join him in a rebellion against a.s.syria. a.s.syrians were after this settled there, and Carchemish became an integral part of the a.s.syrian empire. The next entry in the Annals of Sargon is a reference to the Papites and the Lalluknites, "dogs brought up in his palace," who planned treacherously against the land of Kakme, 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 ?umbaniga of Elam died, and was succeeded by utur-Nan?undi, 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 Bel-arra-u?ur, the city-chief of Kieim, a Median province, was deposed, and his territory added to the boundaries of a.s.syria, together with several other west-Median districts. Among these was ?ar?ar, whose city-chief was driven away by the a.s.syrian king. This city was re-peopled with prisoners of war, and its name having been changed to Kar-arru-ukin, made the capital of the province. The war against Ararat continued during the next year, resulting in the submission of Yanzu king of Na'iri or Mesopotamia. On the east, a rebellion in ?ar?ar was put down, and the city fortified as a defence against Media. In this year people of Tumadu, Ibadidu, Marsimanu, ?ayapa, and the remote Arbaa (Arabs?), an unlettered tribe which had never paid tribute to an a.s.syrian king, were overthrown, and the survivors transported to Samaria. The receipt of tribute from Pir'u king of Mu?uru, Samsi queen of Aribbu (Arabia), It'amra of the land of the Sabaa (Sabeans), kings of the sea-coast and the desert, consisting of "gold, the produce of the mountain, precious stones, ivory, seeds of the _uu_-tree, all kinds of spices, horses and camels,"(102) is recorded.

To all appearance, Pir'u of Mu?uru 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 sh.o.r.e 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 a.s.syrian 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 Tar?un.a.z.i of Meliddu, who, driven from his capital by the a.s.syrians, shut himself up in Tilgarimme, which had been identified with the Biblical Togarmah. This city, having been conquered, was repeopled with the nomad Suti(103) and placed under a.s.syrian 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 Ama.n.u.s mountains, royal garments of the colour of _uknu_-stone (lapis-lazuli), something which came from the mountain Ba'il-?apuna (Baal-zephon), "a great mountain," and silver, which, in consequence of the large consignments received at Dur-Sargina (Khorsabad), became in value like copper. The next year (711 B.C.) an expedition against Muttallu, son of Tar?ulara, 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 A?i-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 Aur, and on account of the evil he had done, I changed his dominion over the people of his land. A?i-miti, his brother next in order, I appointed to the kingdom over them. Men of ?atti,(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 G.o.ds 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 a.s.syrian army, he fled to the border of Mu?uru, which lies on the boundary of Melu??a, and there hid himself. The king of Melu??a seems thereupon to have feared for his own land, and placing Yatna in chains, sent him to a.s.syria. A third text referring to this campaign adds the following details-

"(People) of the land of Pilite (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 Aur my lord, (for) sedition-mongering without measure, and evil, which was against me to cause hostility, unto Pir'u, king of the land of Mu?ri, 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 G.o.d Aur, 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 Aur, 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 Mu?ri, 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 emba.s.sy 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 Bit-Yakin, 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 a.s.syrians 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 a.s.syria, 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 a.s.syria 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 a.s.syria, whilst the Babylonians themselves were probably not displeased with the idea that they formed part of the world-renowned and powerful a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrians, and the inhabitants of Babylon, sending to Dur-Ladinna, where Sargon was staying, brought him in solemn possession to Babylon, where he made the prescribed offerings to the G.o.ds, 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 Que 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. k.u.mmu? (Comagene) was also added to the a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrians in their conflicts in Babylonia and on the eastern borders.

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

_Limme Upa??ir-belu, D.P. akin al Amedi ..._ _ina eli purussi Kulummaa...._ _amel tiduki madaktam a ar mat Aur D.S...._ _ara? Abi, umu ineru, Sin-a?e-eriba (ina_ _kussi ittuib)._

"Eponymy of Upa??ir-belu, prefect of the city Amedu....

according to the oracle of the Kulummite(s)....

a soldier (entered) the camp of the king of a.s.syria (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 a.s.syria 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 a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian king records his expedition to the mountainous countries of Ka.s.su (the Cossaeans) 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 ?atti (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 ?atti. Luli king of the city of ?idunnu (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 ?idunnu, little ?idunnu, Bit-zitte, ?areptu (Zarephath), Ma?alliba, uu (Osah), Akzibi (Achzib), Akku (Accho), his strong cities, fortresses, where were food and drink, his strongholds, the terror of the weapons of Aur 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 Min?immu (Menahem) of the city of the Samsimurunaa; Tu-ba'alu of the city of the ?idunnaa (Sidonians); Abdi-li'iti of the city of the Arudaa (Arvadites); Uru-milki of the city of the Gublaa (Gebalites); Mitinti of the city of the Asdudaa (Ashdodites); Budu-ilu of the land of the Bit-Ammanaa (Beth-Ammonites); Kammusu-nadbi (Chemosh-nadab) of the land of the Ma'abaa (Moabites); Aa-rammu (Joram) of the land of the Udummaa (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 ?idqa(107) (Zedekiah), king of the city of Isqalluna (Askelon), who was not submissive to my yoke, the G.o.ds 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 Aur. arru-ludari, son of Rukibtu, 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 Bit-Daganna (Beth-Dagon), Yappu (Joppa), Banaa-barqa (Bene-berak), Azuru (Azor), cities of ?idqa 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 Padi, their king, who was faithful to the agreement and oath of the land of Aur, into fetters of iron, and given him to ?azaqiau (Hezekiah), of the land of the Yaudaa (Jews)-hostilely in secret they had acted-feared in their hearts. The kings of the land of Mu?uru (Egypt), (and) the soldiers of the bow, the chariots, (and) the horses of the king of the land of Melu??a, gathered to themselves a numberless force, and came to their help. Over against me in sight of Altaqu (Eltekah) their line of battle was set in array, they called for their weapons. In the service of Aur my lord I fought with them and accomplished their defeat.

The charioteers and the sons of the king of the Mu?uraa (Egyptians), with the charioteers of the king of the land of Melu??a, my hands captured alive in the midst of the battle. (As for) the city of Altaqu (Eltekah) (and) the city of Tamna (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 Padi, 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 Yaudaa (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, a.s.ses, 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), Padi, king of Amqarruna (Ekron), and ?illi-bel, king of the city ?azitu (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, ?azaqiau (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), _gu?li_, _dagga.s.si_,(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. x.x.xvi. 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 a.s.syrian 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 circ.u.mstance is not referred to in the Biblical account, cannot be held to indicate that the a.s.syrian 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 Padi was an a.s.syrian va.s.sal, otherwise he would not have incurred the risk of an invasion of his country by the dreaded a.s.syrians.

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 a.s.syria 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 a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syrians, 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 a.s.syrians." 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 G.o.d 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 a.s.saulted, 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 a.s.sarachoddas 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 ?atti, 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-umi and Marduk-abla-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 Bel-ibni (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 Bel-ibni prisoner, and set on the throne his own eldest son, Aur-nadin-um. After this seems to have occurred his fifth expedition, which was to the mountainous region where lay the cities Tumurru, arum or arma, Ezema, Kibu, ?albuda, Qua, 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 a.s.syrians in Babylonia. This being the case, Sennacherib went in "ships of the land of ?atti" to the place where Merodach-baladan(112) had taken refuge, namely, "Nagitu of Elam."(113) On this occasion, he claims to have captured uzubu (otherwise Nergal-uezib), and carried him in chains to a.s.syria. This led to reprisals on the part of the Elamites, who invaded Babylonia, carried Aur-nadin-um, the king, Sennacherib's son, prisoner, and set on the throne Nergal-uezib, who, if he be the uzubu referred to by Sennacherib, must have escaped from the custody of the a.s.syrians. This was in 693 B.C.

Nergal-uezib only ruled for a year or eighteen months, and was captured (? again) by the a.s.syrians. The a.s.syrian king now ravaged Elam "from Ra to Bit-Burnaki," but his army would have been better employed in watching over affairs in Babylonia, where another pretender, Muezib-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 a.s.syrians,(114) captured Muezib-Marduk with an army composed of Elamites and Babylonians, and delivered him to the a.s.syrians. 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 a.s.syria that deadliest of all fruit-her own destruction.

In the eight years which pa.s.sed between his a.s.suming 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 princ.i.p.ally 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 a.s.syrians, 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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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 cla.s.s 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 G.o.ds.' "

Josephus's quotation from Herodotus differs somewhat from the above, in that he makes the Egyptian king to pray to G.o.d (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, a.s.syrian 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 a.s.syria somewhere. That Herodotus calls Sennacherib "king of the Arabians and the a.s.syrians" is probably due to the fact that he seems to have been in alliance with "the queen of the Aribi"-_(ar)rat_ D.P. _Aribi_-or Arabians, at the time. Esarhaddon speaks of his father Sennacherib as having captured the Arabian city Adumu, and inscriptions of Aur-bani-apli also refer to Sennacherib's expedition thither, and to his connection with an Arabian king named ?aza-ilu (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 pa.s.sed before him in procession. The inscription accompanying this scene reads as follows-