IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V // <" Cx <' wj.-r :a i/.A 1.0 I.I 1.25 I'M 11^ i 5 llllitt IlilU ■ 4 IIM 2.2 1.8 1-4 IIIIII.6 V] : > COPTRIOHT, 1894, By macmillan and CO. Norinooti ^xtai : J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith. Boston, Mass., U.S.A. DEDICATED TO MY MOTHER IN GRATITUDE AND REVERENCE ..*5.' I i PREFACE The work, of which the first volume is herewith given to the public, has been undertaken primarily in the interest of the study of the Old Testament. Its aim is to helj) those into whose hands it may fall to apprehend in its true relations the history of that ancient people through whom the world has gained most of its heritage of moral and spiritual light and power. It is a conviction of the writer that the vagueness and incertitude, and consequent indilference, with which the history and literature of Israel are regarded by the mass of intelligent people, are in great part due to the one-sidedness and false perspective of the picture which for one reason or another they have drawn for themselves. It is certain, at least, that the Hebrews have been gravely misapprehended because their vast political, social, moral, and religious envi- ronment has been so much ignored. They have been practi- cally made a measure for themselves in all that concerns national characteristics, in all that has to do with culture and material power and the elements of civic life. Their place in time and order of development among the kindred peoples has been equally misconceived. In the attempt to account for their phenomenal history, full play has rightly been given to wonder and admiration, while little attention has been paid to their antecedents, their racial affinities, and those vital inter- relations with the contemporary peoples which necessarily de- teri'iined their destiny. They become more real, more human, more interesting, and therefore morally more helpful to us, the morf we regard them in the light of their historical attributes and achievements, as the children of their own ancestry and vii I Vlll PREFACE ll!i their own times. The first essentials of this clearness and fulness of conception are an acquaintance with that whole region of Western Asia whose physical features so largely conditioned the fortunes of the Hebrews. With this must be united a knowledge of those peoples with whom they were ethnically associated, and whose political and social character- istics they shared, as well as of the national movements in which they voluntarily or involuntarily took part, and by which they were made and unmade as a nation. To study the history of the Hebrews in its right relations and due propor- tions is not to depreciate their unique divine vocation ; it is rather to exalt it by making it more intelligible and reasonable, by bringing it better within the range of our vision and nearer to our sympathies. Next to the Biblical interest of the story, and in reality as a part of it according to the trtie Biblical conception, comes the importance of the subject for general history. That the Northern Semites gave the world its most influential religion and also the beginnings of its practical science, as well as the first successful examples of imperial government, are facts not seriously gainsaid. It might therefore be reasonably supposed that the genius and the vicissitudes of the race and the peoples which rendered these services to humanity would be not merely the theme of learned exposition, but a recognized essential of a liberal education. The remoteness of many of the events and of their scenes from our modern and Western associations should be only an additional motive to interest and inquiry, on the ground of the admitted and much lamented narrowness and one-sided positiveness of our modern culture. Moreover, at least the outlines of an intelligible history of the ancient Semites during most of their activity upon the world's arena may already be drawn ; and the recovery of the materials for closing the gaps that still exist in the record is the most fasci- nating and successful pursuit in which scholars in any province of historical research are at present engaged. The discoveries that are going on in these very years are bringing before us the real " youth-time of the world," as it was lived through in days antedating the days of Homer by as long an interval as that which separates us from the oldest monuments of Greece. PREFACE They are showing that historical science also has new worlds to reveal ; and its newest world is what we call t'ne old. For the general neglect of these matters the representatives of genuine Semitic scholarship are perhaps in some degree responsible. The field is large and not everywhere thoroughly worked; and the actual permanent results of long-continued labour are not made generally known, because specialists as a rule do not take time to popularize their subjects. Yet it is evident that only by specialists can such a business be prop- erly done. It is unnecessary to particularize the various classes of writers to whom the work of popular instruction has been left. It is sufficient to say that while competent authorities have influenced greatly the accessible literature of Oriental history and civilization, their contributions have been brought before the general public for the most part indirectly, and in such a fashion that it is difficult for the ordinary reader to distinguish the important from the unimportant, and con- jecture or hypothesis from ascertained fact. Moreover, there has been little effort made in any quarter to bring into organic connection the historical knowledge of the ancient past that has been gained in recent times. The present work seeks to tell as simply as possible the story of the ancient Semitic peoples, including as the dominat- ing theme the fortunes of Israel. If the recital turns out to be virtually a history of a Avell-defined portion of Western Asia in the olden times, the circumstance will, I trust, be found to be more than a coincidence. The treatment of the subject has been thrown into a form convenient for ready use, and the whole arranged as a manual suitable for classes in colleges, as well as for private students. In all matters, except those connected with Egyptian history, I have drawn directly from original sources; and the la( k of extended narration and dis- cussion in that region will not, I hope, be accounted a serious defect, when it appears how insignificant was the influence of the Egyptians upon Israel in any matter of vital moment, and how infrequently the two nations came nearer to each other than just within speaking distance. On the other hand, a space relatively large has been given to the history of Babylonia, on account of its influence upon the fortunes of the Western lands, n i.ii m I PREFACE ii including finally the destiny of Israel. It is gratifying to find that the positions which I have maintained as to the extent and character of the earliest Semitic empire of North Baby- lonia, are supported by the conclusions of Hil]n"eclit in Part I of his work on Old Babylonian Inscriptions. This epoch-mak- ing volume appeared after the principal portion of the present work was written; but I have been able to use its new and striking facts in connection with the interesting and important question of the range of Semitic government and civilization in the more immediate neighbourhood of the central district. As a rule no allusion has been made in the text to sources of information for facts known to educated people generally, or for opinions that require no special demonstration. Otherwise I have aimed to give full and explicit references. The second and concluding volume will embrace Book VII, " Hebrews, Egyptians, and Assyrians," Book VIII, " Hebrews and Chaldseans," Book IX, " Hebrews and Persians." It will, I trust, not be long delayed. I shall be grateful to reviewers who shall point out any of the inevitable errors and defects of the work. Even anonymous strictures will be welcomed if they do not consist wholly of personalities or generalities. J. F. McCURDY. University College, Toronto, June 21, 1894. !1^ CONTENTS OF VOL. I Book I THE NORTHERN SEMITES CHAPTER I The Semites in History. § 1-16. P. 1-17 § 1. Significance of the study of History — § 2. Purpose and Provi- dence in history — § 3. No distinction between "sacred" and "secular" history — § 4. The historian's task with reference to tlie races of man- kind who have made the world's history — § 5. Contributions of the Aryan and Semitic races respectively to the world's progress — § 6. Special services of the Semites and their limitations — § 7. Religious ideas, pre- eminently the gift of the Semites, perpetuated by the western Aryans — § 8. Potency and vitality of these Semitic conceptions — § 9. Distinction to be accorded to the ancient Semites ; among these to the Northern Semites, and among these to the Hebrews — § 10. Impossibility of treat- ing the history of Israel by itself alone adequately or justly — § 11. Occa- sions of partial and one-sided histories of the Hebrews — § 12. Immediate sources for a history of the Northern Semites are meagre and imperfect — § 13. For the most important periods these are supplemented by Hebrew Prophecy ; its genius and scope — § 14. Prophecy superior to the political chronicles of the Northern Semites for higher historical purposes — § 15. Scope and general plan of the present inquiry — § 16. Right spirit and attitude of the inquirer, and the method to be pursued CHAPTER II The North-Semitic Teiiuitory and its Inhabitants § 17-26. P. 18-26 § 17. General outlines of the North-Semitic region — § 18. Divisions of the Semitic race — § 19. Imperfections of the ethnological classifica- tion — § 20. Original location of the Semites and the nature of their xii CONTENTS u beginnings — § 21. North Arabia the probable starting-place of their migrations — § 22. Physical divisions of the North-Semitic region — §23. Earliest movements; the Babylonians — §24. Settlement of the Canaanites — § 25. Migrations of the Aramaeans — § 26. Movements of the Hebraic peoples CHAPTER III Constitution and Character of the North-Semitic Communities §27-69. P. 27-76 § 27. Ancient condition of the North-Semitic region as contrasted with the present — § 28. Broad contrast between Semites and Western Aryans in the matter of political organization — § 29. Limited capacity of the Semites for federation and unification — § 30. Types and stages of Semitic government — § 31. The first and most characteristic stage of progress, the founding of cities — § 32. Distinction from the European type of city — § 33. Suggestive Semitic terms for civic communities — § 34. Earliest growth of the city from simpler conditions — § 36. Subsequent progress effected rather by accretion than by more complex organization — § 36. Development from the old patriarchal system ; chiefs, elders, king- lets — § 37. Multiplication of independent city-states — § 38. Adjuncts and environments of the city — § 39. Second stage of political develop- ment ; suzerains and subject states — § 40. In the highest forms of Se- mitic government the old " city " type still preserved — § 41. A third type of settlement formed by colonizing ; illustrations from Hebraic, Aramaan, and Assyrian communities — § 42. The Phoenician maritime settlements — § 43. Their exceptional tendency to democracy — § 44. Mutual rela- tions of the cities of Phoenicia proper — § 45. Results of the absence of agriculture in the Phoenician communities — § 46. Fourth type: develop- ment of the nation directly through tribal federation, an exceptional phe- nomenon — § 47. Conditions under which such an evolution was effected — § 48. Development of the four Hebraic nationalities — § 49. Decisive epochs or stages in the growth of the Hebrew nation ; the "Judges" — § 60. Processes of the monarchical stage in Israel — § 61. Essential dis- tinction between "judges" and "kings" — §62. Advantages of the ideal Hebrew decentralized type of monarchy — § 53. Its capacity of peaceful incorporation of outsiders — § 54. The Semitic communities as a whole ; their possible and actual leagues and combinations — § 55. Alli- ances based on vassalage — § 50. Instability of the Semitic states from their repugnance to delegated power — § 67. Belief of the race that the Deity was the sole agent in human affairs, and the rulers the vicegerents of the gods — § 58. Religion the fundamental unifying and dividing prin- ciple ; the land inseparable from its god — § 59. Syncretism of worship, its occasions and results ; local and ethnical deities — § 60. Explanation of Semitic pantheons — §61. Consequences to religion and worship of con- quest and revolution — § 62. The nature of the Hebrew religion accounts CONTENTS xiu for its survival of national decay — §63. The Hebrews were also more truly a "nation" than the kindred communities — § 64. The three most representative and important Semitic systems of government — § 65. Gen- ius and achievements of Babylonians and Assyrians — § 66. Range and character of the activity of the rhoenicians — §67. Services rendered to our race by the Hebrews as contrasted with those of the Phoenicians — § 68. Contrast between the Hebrews and the Assyrians — § 69. Contrast with the Babylonians Book II THE BABYLONIANS '-i CHAPTER I Earliest Inhabitants of BAnTLONiA, their Environment, and THEiH Civilization. § 70-85. P. 77-95 § 70. The Hebrews a modem people as compared with the Baby- lonians — § 71. Main conditions of Babylonian civilization ; course of the Euphrates and Tigris — § 72. Physical adjuncts and concomitants of the Rivers — § 73. Limits of Babylonia proper — § 74. Limits of Assyria proper — § 75. The Middle Euphrates region, Mesopotamia proper — § 76. Sense in v/hich the total history of the River region may be called Babylonian — §77. Divisions of Babylonian history — §78. Divisions of the closely related Assyrian history — § 79. Questions as to the be- ginners of Babylonian civilization — § 80. The "Sumerian" or "Akka- dian" theory; evidence for and against from the Babylonian system of writing — § 81. Question of the existence of a pre-Semitic and non- Semitic language — § 82. Subsidiary testimony of an archaeological kind — § 83. Considerations helping towards an elucidation of the problem — § 84. Extravagant conclusions based on the "Sumerian" theory — § 86. Traces of early non-Semitic peoples in Babylonia, but no sure proofs of their higher civilization CHAPTER II Babylonia under Separate Governments. § 86-116. P. 96-139 § 86. General division into Northern and Southern Babylonia — § 87. Discoveries made in North Babylonia — § 88. Their date a.scer- tained — § 89. Kings of Sippar about 4000 n.c. ; autobiography of Sar- gon I — §90. Fact and legend in the longer inscriptions ; conquests on the Mediterranean coastland — § 91. Original inscriptions of the time and their story — §92. Sargon and the range of his dominions — § 93. Sig- XIV CONTENTS nificance of these facts for the history of the world — § 94. Akkad and Sippar — § 96. Researches in South Babylonia; earliest kings of Lagash — § 96. Early rulers up to Nabu — § 97. Relations of Nabu with Arabia and the West-land — § 98. Range of dominion and political standing of the princes of Lagash — § 99. Source and motive of the energy and influ- ence of the great rulers of these ages — § 100. " Uv of the Chaldees " next predominant — § 101. Consolidation of communities under the kings of Ur; Erech, Larsa, Eridu — § 102. Temporary hegemony of Ur in all Babylonia — § 103. Retrogression in foieign enterprise — § 104. Period of local dynasties ; of Isin ; the second of Ur ; of Erech — § 105. Re- trospective summary ; range of Babylonian influence and direction of progress — § 106. Elamites in Babylonia — § 107. Repetition of inva- sions ; effect on the sufferers — § 108. The whole country subdued ; Larsa the centre of Elamitic authoillj — § 109. The story of Gen. xiv. ; identifications — § 110. Shinar, Shumer, and Akkad — § 111. Shinar a region about Babylon — § 112. Babel, Borsippa, Merodach, and Nebo — § 11.3. Amraphel, king of Shinar, probably a king of Babylon — § 114. Hypothetical identification and sketch of the situation about 2250 B.C. — § 115. Review of outstanding conclusions ; antiquity of the Semitic civilization and people — § 116. Westward extension of Baby- lonian power and influence ; its significance S !• CHAPTER III United Babylonia. § 117-124. P. 140-151 § 117. Character and work of Chammurabi, the unifier of Babylonia — § 118. Long and peaceful reigns of his dynasty of 304 years — § 119. Similar co ditions during the next dynasty of 308 years — § 120. The new dynasty of the Kasshites ; their origin and immigrations — § 121. Predominance and vitality of the old Babylonian culture — § 122. Underlying causes of this phenomenon in the genius of the people — § 123. Political character of the regime ; relations with the West-land — § 124. Gradual decline of Babylonia, and its external occasions I 1 3 CONTENTS XV ikad and f Lagash h Arabia mding of md influ- haldees" the kings Ur in all 4. Period i 105. Re- fection of of inva- subdued ; 3en. xiv, ; Shinar a d Nebo — Jabylon — ion about lity of the of Baby- Babylonia )4 years — years — migrations an culture lius of the with the ts external Book III CANAANITES, EGYPTIANS, AND HETTITES CHAPTER I Palestine and its Earliest Peoples. § 125-133. P. 162-162 § 126. The West-land and the earliest settlements of the Semites — § 126. Their occupation of Canaan and relatively slow development — § 127. Multiplicity of communities — § 128. Palestine a vantage-ground for the greater nationalities — § 129. The primitive inhabitants ; promi- nence of the Canaanites — § 1.30. Explanation of minor ethnological terms — § 131. " Canaanite " and "Amorite" in the Hebrew records — § 1.32. Egyptian notions of Palestine and Syria — § 133, Babylonian and Assyrian conceptions CHAPTER II The Asiatic West-land and Egypt. § 134-155. P. 163-189 § 134. Relations of Egypt with North-west Arabia — § 135. Asso- ciations of Egypt with Palestine — § 1.30, The Hyksos — § 137. Canaan- itic elements among Asiatic invaders of Egypt — § 1.38. Palestine about 2000 n.c. mostly a land of shepherds — § 139. Its towns and cities — § 140. The coastland — § 141. The highways of international traihc — § 142. Development of Palestine in the succeeding centuries ; Babylonian influence — § 143. Egyptian enterprise in Asia after the expulsion of the "Shepherds" — §144. Resultant growth of the aggressive spirit in Efypt — § 145. Conquest in Asia in the sixteenth and fifteenth centuries n.c. — § 146. One-sidedness and inadequacy of the official Egyptian reports ; dis- covery of the Amarna cuneiform tablets — § 147. Period illustrated 1iy these documents ; abortive reforming enterprises of Amenophis IV — § 148. Place of discovery and character of the inscriptions — § 149. Let- ters between the Babylonian and Egyptian courts — § 150. Letters from Assyria and West Mesopotamia — § 151. Letters from Egyptian viceroys and prefects in Syria and Palestine — § 152. The localities interested and their political attitude — § 153. Testimony to the prevalence and range of earlier Babylonian influence in Syria and Palestine — § 154. Indications given of the degree of civilization attained by the peoples of these regions — § 165. Outline of the contemporary political situation fi I 'I'.' XVI CONTENTS CHAPTER III The Hettites in Syria. § 156-167. P. 190-205 § 156. Obscurities surrounding tlie origin and history of tlie Hettites — § 167. Prevailing theory of their northern origin and extension through- out Asia Minor and Syria — § 158. Altaic or Mongolian origin claimed for them — § 159. Various dissident opinions — § 160. The Hettites in Syria from very remote times — § 161. Historical role played by the Hettites in Syria and Palestine — § 102. Their progress there and the nature of their occupation — § 163. Their opposition to the aggressive nineteenth Egyp- tian Dynasty; conflicts and treaties — § l^i. Consequences to Palestine of the protracted sti-uggle — § 165. Th j Hebrew colony in Egypt — § 166. Decline of Egyptian power ; ir /asions from the coasts of the Mediterranean ; their influence on Palestine — § 107. Probable date of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt !^ r Book IV ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS Assyria to the Era of her Predominance. § 168-181. P. 200-22-3 § 168. Character and genius of the Assyrians — § 169. Striking moral aspects of Assyrian life and history — § 170. Periods of Assyrian history — § 171. The founders of Asshur and the first colonists — § 172. First settlements growing into a semi-independent principality — § 173. Indi- cations of independent action in western lands by Assyria — § 174. In- fluence of early struggles on the national character and aims ; rivalry with Babylonia — § 175. Treaties and successful wars with Babylonia; building up of Nineveh — § 176. Period of quiescence in Assyria; her advantageous position for the future — § 177. Renewed conflicts with Babylonia with varied fortunes — § 178. A new era in both Assyria and Babylonia ; the fate of Mesopotamia — § 179. Conquests of Tiglathpileser I — § 180. His struggle with Babylon and achievements in the arts of peace — § 181. Period of inactivity and decline for both Assyria and Babylonia CONTENTS zvii Book V HEBREWS, CANAANITES, AND ARAM^ANS CHAPTER I Tribal Settlements of Israel. § 182-194. P. 224-237 § 182. Preparation for the Hebrews in Palestine — § 183. Events from the Exodus till the beginning of the occupation — § 184. Condition of Canaan at the time of the invasion — § 185. Progress of the invaders under Joshua — § 186. Tribal acquisitions and allotments — § 187. Obstacles to the settlement — § 188. Vassalage to Mesopotamians, Moabites, and Northern Canaanites — § 189. Midlanite oppression; its overthrow and reFuits — § 190. The Hebrews east of the Jordan — § 191. Jephthah, the Ammonites and Ephraimites — § 192. The Philistines; their origin, politi- cal expansion, and first attacks upon Israel — § 193. The Danites and Samson — § 194. Prospect of Philistian predominance CHAPTER II Founding op the Hebrew Monarchy. § 195-209. P. 238-253 § 195. Monarchy a necessity of the political and social situation — § 196. Saul of Benjamin and his kingly acts — § 197. His defects as a statesman and leader; the secession of David and his following — § 198. Triumph of the Philistines and death of Saul — § 199. Date of the new kingdom ; its rude and rudimentary character — § 200. The tribes of Israel among the Canaanites and Philistines — § 201. Aramaeans and Hettites in Syria — §202. Leading Araniiean settlements — §203. Phil- istine suzerainty over Israel ; Abner, Joab, and the enthronement of David — § 204. Expulsion of the Philistines ; Jerusalem made the capital ; subjection of the neighbouring Hebraic communities and of the Aranifeans — §205. Organization of the kingdom and its centralizing influences ; internal disturbances — § 206. Excess of the centralizing policy under Solomon, and its disrupting influence — § 207. Policy of foreign alliances, especially with Egypt — § 208. Schism, under Jero- boam, of the northern tribes — § 209. Loss of the subject states and of influence in Palestine CHAPTER in. Divided Israel and its Neighbours. § 210-215. P. 254-260 § 210. The two Hebrew kingdoms after the schism ; hostile relations ; Egyptian raid; Rehoboam and Abijah — § 211. Distractions in the xviii CONTENTS Northern Kingdom under Jeroboam's successors ; continued hostilities between the kingdoms ; appeal of Asa, the Southern king, to the Aramaeans — § 212. Anarchy in the North ended by Omri ; founding of Samaria; lengthened peace between the kingdoms — §213. Close rela- tions of the Northern Kingdom with foreigners, especially the Phoe- nicians; consequences to the state, and to the religion of Jehovah — § 214. The order of Prophets ; significance of their ministry at this political and religious juncture — § 210. Raid of Egyptians and Cushites against Judah ; progress of that kingdom under Jehushaphat ; league with Ahab against the Aramaeans ; battle of Kamoth-Gilead Book VI HEBREWS, ARAMAEANS, AND ASSYRIANS m CHAPTER I Assyrian Advance into the West-land. § 216-234. P. 261-280 § 216. Revival of Assyrian ambition in the ninth century n.c. — § 217. Assyrian aims of conquest during this epoch — § 218. Subjugation under Asshurnasirpal of the northern tribes and Mesopotamia — § 219. Sub- mission of Northern Syria and the Phoenician cities — § 220. Kalach (Nirarud) the royal residence ; achievements and character of this typical Assyrian monarch — §221. Policy and genius of Shalmaneser II — § 222. Indecisive struggles with the Armenians — § 223. Affairs in Baby- lonia; rise of the Chaldseans — § 224. Temporary subjugation of Babylo- nia by Shalmaneser, and of Median tribes — § 225. Prospective summary of enterprises to the west of the Euphrates — § 226. Contemporary divi- sions and peoples of Syria — § 227. Conquests in Northern Syria — § 228. Principal official account of the first expedition to Southern Syria (B.C. 854) — §229. Supplementary details of the battle of Karkar — § 230. Character of the confederacy formed against the Assyrians — § 231. Explanation of the rapprochement between Northern Israel and Damascus — § 232. Theory that the former served against the Assyrians as a vjissal of the latter — §233. Considerations that weigh against this assumption — § 2.34. Importance of the subject as giving reliable chrono- logical data CONTENTS XIX ,ry B.C.— iibiugation \2\d. Sub- 10. Kalach his typical eser H — s in Baby- if Babylo- suminary |orary divi- Syria — |hern Syria Karkar — ssyrians — Israel and Assyrians .gainst this (le cbrono- CHAPTER II Israel and the Conflicts of Assyria and Damascus § 235-254. P. 281-302 § 235. Continued decline of Israel ; superiority of Damascus, and revolt of Moab — § 2.30. Loss of Edom to Judah ; siege of Samaria by the Syrians ; fall of the liouse of Omri — § 237. Survival of Israel under the attacks of Damascus explained; further operations of Shalmaneser in Southern Syria — § 238. Israel neutral in relation to Shalmaneser — § 239. I'olitical and religious condition of Northern Israel under the dynasty of Omri — §240. Jehu's mission and failure — §241, Death of Benhadad II ; usurpation of Hazael — § 242, Shalmaneser agiiin in South- ern Syria ; defeat of Hazael ; homage to the Assyrians rendered by Jehu — § 243. Record and significance of this transaction; revival of Damascus and sufferings of Israel under Hazael — § 244. Prevision and retrospect of Prophecy — § 246, Calamities under the regime of Jehu — § 246, Un- expected relief under Jehoahaz, and its occasion — § 247, The Assyrian empire overstrained by Shalmaneser II ; conservative policy of his suc- cessor and his campaigns in the East left the West undisturbed — § 248. Ramman-nirarl III, and the range of his conquests — § 249, His queen "Semiramis" and Babylon — § 250. His campaigns in the West; Syria, Phoenicia, Edom, Israel — § 251 , Capitulation of Damascus — § 252. The Biblical records explained and supplemented — § 253. Israel saved by prompt submission to the invaders — § 254, The fortunes of Judah up to the reconquest of Edom by Amaziah CHAPTER III Expansion of Israel during AfeSYRiAN Inaction §255-278. P. 303-322 § 255. Characterization of Assyrian history during the next half- century — § 256. Shalmaneser III and the growth of Armenia — § 257. Loss of acquisitions in the West — § 258. Insurrections and other disasters under the succeeding kings — § 259. Commercial and social misfortune ; celestial portents ; prospect of a general collapse of the empire — § 260, Revival of the fortunes of the Hebrews : temporary check of Judah through Amaziah's imbroglio with the northern kingdom — §261. No prolonged feud between the Hebrew monarchies ; Amaziah's death by violence — § 262, Progress and extension of Nortliern Israel under Joash and Jeroboam II — § 263. Favourable occasions for such recuperation — § 264. The shady side of the historical picture shown by the Prophets of the Northern Kingdom ; allusions to public and private calamities by Joel and Amos — §265. Synchronisms of the eclipse and pestilence — § 266. Success in war gained at the expense of domestic XX CONTENTS contentment and prosperity — §207. Troubles and violence under tlie successors of Jeroboam II — §208. Enterprise and achievements of Uz- ziah in Judah — § 209. Uegency and solo reign of his son Jotham ; con- tinued outward pro.sperity of the people — § 270. Combination of North- ern Israel and I)ama.scua against Judah — § 271. Disintegrating forces too strong for the Northern Kingdom, resisted in the Southern — §272. Ju- dah's first advantage ; compactness of territory and homogeneity of pop- ulation — § 273. Judah had less dangerous hostile surroundings — § 274. Illastrations from the history of Northern Israel — § 275. Judali's natural tribal unity — § 276. Jerusalem a stronger unifying centre than Samaria — §277. Uelatlons between the administration and the people more agreeable and stable in the Soutiiern Kingdom — § 278. Contrast between the two kingdoms in permanence of dynastic rule CHAPTER IV The New Assyrian 1'oi.icy ani> Hebrew I'romiecy §279-304. P. 323-346 § 279. New epoch created by the founder of a new Assyrian dynasty — § 280. Personality and doubtful origin of Tiglathpileser III— § 281. Cir- cumstances and probable occasion of his accession to the throne — § 282. Results of previous enterprise of the Assyrian monarchs ; the real task for the would-be world-conquerors — § 283. Details of Tiglathpil- eser's plans of conquest and organization — §284. Problem of dealing with the newly conquered larger states — § 286. Importance of the ques- tion of the relations of the subject states to the Assyrian monarchy — § 280. First stage : autonomous administration retained by the vassals; various forms of this relation — § 287. Second stage : that of states in constructive rebellion or actual insurrection for the first time — § 288. Third stage : rebellious states on last probation ; annexation, deportation — §289. Effectiveness of these drastic methods — §290. The policy from the standpoint of religious motive — § 291. Some consequential bene- fits of the policy — § 292. The problem for Israel — §293. Operj^tions of Tiglathpileser in Babylonia against Aramajans and Chaldseans — § 294. March to the West ; siege and capture of Arpad ; defeat of the Armenian league ; annexation of Northern and Middle Syria — § 295. The Hebrew Prophets ; significance of written Prophecy at the present epoch — § 296. Political and social changes and abuses which engaged the interest of the Prophets — § 297. Israel's moral and religious weal as connected with its political policy — § 298. Effect on the social fabric of the cultivation of foreign relations — § 299. Dependence upon foreigners to be dreaded as endangering faith and worship — § 300. Foresight of national failure and foreign domination — §301. Prevision of captivity in the earliest of the Prophecies — § 302. Prophetic insight and foresight of Amos — § 303. Such views consistently held by patriots — § 304. The issues made clearer as the action was unfolded contp:nts xxi CIIAl'TER V Northern Israel a Vassal to Assyria. § 305-310. P. 347-358 § 305. Tislathpileser III proceeds against Southern Syria — § 300. Wliiit^ Israel under Meiialieni is enfeebled, the Syrians seek lielp from Uzziah of .ludali — § 307. Hamatli and its dependencies are subdued and annexed; Uzziivh's auxiliary force probably dispersed — §308. Ju- dah hencefortli an isolated principality, and linally yields to the As.syrians — § 300. The repulse and isolation of Judah perhaps indicated in Isa. i — § 310. The .submission of Northern Israel under Menahem in the monu- ments and the IJible — § 311. Three years' absence of Tiglathpileser from the Mediterranean coast-lands ; campaigns in Media and Armenia — § 312. Return to Palestine ; comments of the I'rophet Ilo.sea on the situation in Israel — § 313. Ilosea on the question of help from Kgypt — § 314. Ilis views on the approaching absorption into As-syria and its le.s- sons — § 316. Allusions by the author of Zech. ix-xi — § 310. Events in Northern Israel leading up to the catastrophe CHAPTER VI Vassalage of Judea and the Prophetic Intervention § 317-330. P. 350-371 § 317. The reign of Ahaz a turning-point in the history of Judah — §318. Isaiah's ideal and the actuality — §310. The prophetic view of the conditions and chances of national salvivtion — § 320. Disloyalty to Jehovah ; testimony of Amos and Hosea — § 321. Isaiah and Micah on false worship and the concomitant vices — § 322. Un-Israelitish character of sensual indulgences — § 323. Jadah in the wake of Northern Israel ; other popular vices — § 324. Explanation of prophetic interest in foreign nations — § 325. Progress of the campaign of Samaria and Damascus against Judah — § 320. The appeal of Ahaz to Tiglathpileser, and Isaiah's formal protest — § 327. A twofold omen and pledge — § 328. Present relief overshadowed by coming disasters — § 320. Significance of succes- sive portents — § 330. Impending fate of Damascus and Samaria CHAPTER VII The Assyrians in Palestine and Bahylonia. §331-341. P. 372-381 § 331. Campaign of 734 in Palestine ; annexation of territory in the north — § 332. Operations on the coastland ; conquest, of Samaria ; a new vassal king — §333. Damascus kept in check — § ?34. Fortunes of an Arabian queen and her allies — § 335. Capture of Daraascus and its an- nexation — § 330. Ahaz of Judah among the tributa'-ies — § 337. Status of the country east of the Jordan — § 338. Submidsion of I'hoenicia and xxu CONTENTS Tabal — § 339. Subjection of Babylonia; the Aramaeans — § 340. The Cbaldseans ; Merodachbaladan — § 341. Monuments of Tiglatbpileser and their fate CHAPTER VIII Revolt and Downfall of Samaria. § 342-364. P. 382-401 § 342. Shalraaneser IV and tlie record.s of his deeds — § 343. The Book of Kings and Shalraaneser — § 344. lloshea, the vassal king of Samaria, and his attitude towards the imperial authority ; looking to Egypt — § 345. The Libyan regime in Egypt — § 346. The new Ethio- pian dynasty; early history of Ethiopia — § 347. The Ethiopians in Lower Egypt — § 348. Motives to aggressive action in Asia; the weak- ness of Egypt as ally or enemy — § 349. Movements of Shalraaneser; Hoshea intriguing with Egypt against his suzerain — § 350. Disappoint- ment and seizure of Hoshea — § 361. Samaria besieged — § 352. The con- dition of the besieged and their city — § 353. The issue of the siege and the bearing of the defenders — § 354. Attitude of Prophecy towards Samaria in its latest history — § 355. Isaiah and Samaria — § 356. Micah and Samaria — § 357. Progress of the siege and death of Shalraaneser — § 358. Accession of Sargon II — § 359. Influence and personality of the new king — § 360. His report of the capture of Samaria — § 361. Subse- quent treatment of the colony and province — § 362. The deportation — § 363. The supposed " dispersion of the Ten Tribes " — § 364. Political significance of the annexation ; the policy of the conqueror APPENDIX. P. 403-425 NOTE PAOE 1. Grouping of the Semitic Languages 403 2. Malik and malk 404 3. Phoenician Colonization 404 4. " Amorite " and " Canaanite " 400 5. Aramaeans and Later Hettites in Syria 408 6. Bifsis of Oriental Chronology ... 409 7. Semiramis 411 8. " Pul " and Tigiathpileser III 412 0. Tigiathpileser III and Azariah of Judah 413 10. "King Yareb " 415 11. Date of Zech. ix-xi 410 12. The sign " Immanuel " 417 13. Tigiathpileser III in Palestine 420 14. The name " Save " 422 15. Sargon II and his Monuments 423 16. Inscriptions relating to Samaria 425 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS The following are the abbreviations used in Vol. I which are not self-explanatory : — AD. = G. Smith, Assyrian Discoveries, 3d ed., 1876. AN. = The great inscription of Asshurnasirpal, in I R. 17-26. ATU. = Das Alte Testament, in Verbinditng with Professor Baethgen, Professor Guthe, etc., iibersetzt von E. Kautzsch, 1892-1894. Bab. Chr. = The Babylonian Chronicle, pubhshed in ZA. Ill, p. 148, and in PSBA., 1889, p. 131. = Tiele, Babylonisch-Assyrische Geschichte, 1886, 1888. = British Museum. = Tlie second Assyrian "Eponym Canon," in Delitzsch, Assyr- ische Lesestikke, 2d ed., 1878, p. 92-94. = G. Rawlinson, The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, 3 vols.. New York, 1881. = Meyer, Geschichte des Alterthums, Vol. I, 1884. = Hommel, Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens, 1888 ; also = Winckler, Geschichte Babyloniens und Assyriens, 1892. = Kitte!, Geschichte der Hebrder, 1888, 1892. = Stade, Geschichte des Volkes Israels, 1887, 1888. = Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 1891. = Kouyunjik, i.e. the list of tablets in the British Museum found in that l(>cality. = Schrader, Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament, 2d ed., 1883. = Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, edited by Schrader, Vols. I-III, 1889-1892. = Schrader, Keilinschriften rind Geschichtsforschung, 1878. = Layard, Inscriptions in the Cuneiform Character, 1851. = Monolith inscription of Slialmaneser II, in III R. 7, 8. xxiii BAG. Br. M C\ FM. GA. GBA. GH. GVI. Intr. K. KAT. KB. KGF. Lay. Mon. :l XXIV LIST OF ABBKEVIATIONS Obel. = Obelisk inscription of Shalmaneser II, in Lay. 87-98. OBT. I = Hilprecht, The Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania : Cuneiform Texts, Vol. I, Part I, 1893. OT. = Old Testament. PAOS. = Proceedings of the American Oriental Society. Par. = Delitzsch, Wo lag das Paradies f 1881. PSBA. = Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archmology. R. (I, II, III, IV, V) = Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vols. I-V, 1861-1891 ; issued under the auspices of Sir Heniy Rawlinson and edited by NoiTis, Smith, and Pinches;. IV R2. = Vol. IV, 2d ed. RP. = Records of the Past ; RP'. = 2d edition of the same. S"". = The second Syllabary in Delitzsch, Assyrische LesestUckCy 3ded., p. 53-64. ST. = Winckler, Keilschrifttexte Sargon's, 2 vols., 1889. SV. = Hommel, Semiiische Volker und Sprachen, Vol. I, 1883. Synchr, Hist. = Texts giving a " synchronistic history " of Assyria and Babylonia, in II R. 66 with III R. 4, and in UAG. p, 148- 162. TP. = Inscription of Tiglathpileser I, in I R. 9-16. TSBA. = Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archmology. UAG. = Winckler, Untersuchungcn zur altorientalischen Geschichte^ 1889. ZA. = Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie. ZATW. = Zeitschrift fur alttestamentliche Wissenschaft. Book I THE NORTHERN SEMITES oJOio CHAPTER I THE SEMITES IN HISTORY § 1. The study of History is chiefly valuable for its moral significance and influence. It does indeed aid our intellectual development as no other study can. It fixes our attention upon the world of men and human society, widens our horizon of sympathetic observation, varies indefinitely the subjects of our reflection, and perpetu- ally changes our point of view. It thus corrects narrow inductions, rectifies hasty judgments, and steadies and sobers the practical imagination for the affairs of life. But it does a greater and more potent work in helping to excite the emotions and move the will ; for through the understanding it reaches and stirs up to activity the forces and agencies that build up character, that indicate duty, and that prompt to action. No man can study aright the history of the past without a purification of the inner be- ing and an energizing of the active powers. The drama of the present life is indeed being enacted continually before our eyes, and no one who has senses to perceive or a heart to feel can fail to follow its progress or to catch its most obvious lessons. But when we are admitted to witness the struggles and fates of the past history of mankind; when the curtain is raised which ignorance AIM OF THE STUDY OF HISTORY Book 1 or indifference or preoccupation has drawn over the suf- ferings and achievements of our fellows in other times, while the figures that throng the far-reaching stage are nations and races and titanic men, and the eternal les- sons are enforced with endless variations of typical expe- rience and exemplary fate, the spectator must be moved to thought and regard for great human interests with something of the urgency of those elemental moral forces that have made the tragedy of the world's history so pa- thetic and so sublime. For the plainest as well as the most valuable teaching of the long story is that certain ideas, incarnated in national and personal aspiration and effort, have enduring vitality and indestructible force; and that the men whose struggles and triumphs have brought these ideas into vogue are the world's greatest heroes and benefactors. And in every nation of the eartli, heathen or Christian, barbarous or civilized, the vindication and practical enforcement of these ideas is, and always must be, a living issue, and therefore our interest in the events and movements that have made them for us the order of the day can never cease or languish. § 2. Thus something more than mere entertainment or hero-worship is the end of the study of History. What we, "upon whom the ends of the ages have come," most highly prize as the chief of our moral gains is truth and freedom. The one comes by the other, for it is the truth that makes us free; and when we consider the ways in which these saving blessings have come to us as our heri- tage from the past, we are led by a twofold path to an out- look broader than the arena of merely human action, vaster than "the great globe itself, yea, all which it inherit." When we see how " the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns," we conclude with the profound- est writer of the Old Testament that " it is a Spirit in man, and the inbreathing of an Almighty One, that gives him understanding." The other line of development, which has regard to the external conditions of the evolu- Cii. I, §3 UNITY OF ALL HISTORY tion of light and liberty, points with equal directness to an extra-human Providence that prepares, controls, and combines the factors of history, and makes all things on verge to and subserve the dominion of the truth that uplifts and saves humanity. § 3. This then is the strongest ground upon whicli the study of History, with its auxiliary, the study of Lan- guages, can be based and defended. The widening of our view, and the liberalizing of our sympathies, which this century has brought to us, especially through the teach- ings of the Science of Language, have affected our notions of the scope and value of historical study as well as of literature. Peter's vision has been realized for the com- monwealth of human thought and aspiration, and the old invidious and illiberal distinctions have been abolished. "We have now learned that any language and any litera- ture may rightly be termed "classical" which helps us to large and inspiring views of God and man and duty, by bringing to us great and profound thoughts conceived and uttered in any age of the world. We have also learned, from Comparative Philologj^ of the kinship of scattered races, and have gained clearer views of the community of human need and human endeavour. Thus ancient as well as modern history has become more of a humanizing study, worthy of a high place among the "humanities," Avhich the new ideals of education have superadded to the narrow categories of the old. We are also learning, though more slowly, that the most baseless of all traditional distinc- tions is that which divides History into "sacred and secu- lar," or more wrongly still, into "sacred and profane." Our Scriptures themselves, in whose honour the distinc- tion is made, make no such discrimination. Nay, they scout the idea of such a schism as dishonouring to God. The nations of the world are not simply to be brought to God, they actually are his from the beginning — his insti- tutions, his care, his agents. The Assyrians are the instruments of his will (Isa. x. 5) ; he not only " brought TASK OF THE HISTORIAN Book I up Israel out of the land of Egypt," but also "the Philis- tines from Caphtor and the Aramjeans from Kir " (Amos ix. 7).^ The world is ruled by the ideas of God. His- tory, which is but the vindication and realization of his thoughts through the men of his choice, proves these ideas to be both irrepressible and invincible, and points out the way to make them victorious in these latter-day countries and communities, and so to help on the redemption of humanity from the errors and sorrows that come from the denial of his power and Godhead. § 4. These general reflections upon the purport and aim of History indicate sufficiently well the function of the historian. Since each leading type of human civili- zation has contributed its quota to the advancement of the world in knowledge and power, the historian has to show in his special field how the exponents of world-moving ideas, whether races, communities, or individuals, came to be in a position to give effect to their convictions. He must, in other words, set forth the antecedents of these factors of History, the elements and quality of their cul- ture, the character of their religion, their political insti- tutions, their outlook and bearing towards their larger human environment. In dealing, for example, with a nation that has played a large part in the development of mankind, it is incumbent upon him to describe its set- tlement and early progress as a distinct community, its political and social development, its interaction with other nations or races, its peculiar type of worship and thought, its moral as well as intellectual characteristics, and, above all, the occasions and impulses by which it came to attain to new conceptions of truth or clearer apprehensions of duty. 1 It is noteworthy, as illustrating the large-minded fashion in which the Hebrew Prophets looked at the foreign nations, that the peoples here re- ferred to — Philistines, Aramaeans, and Assyrians — were precisely those who had, up to the times of the respective authors, most seriously influ- enced the destiny of Israel. Book I Ch. I, § 5 ARYANS AND SEMITES § 5. Our intellectual and moral gains from the past are, broadly speaking, the resultant of two great deposits of thought and sentiiaent, the one the gift of the Aryan, the other a boon from the Semitic race. To the former we owe, again speaking generally, most of our mental and political acquisitions ; to the latter, the principal elements of our moral and spiritual heritage. The one lias come to know much of the truth about man as an intellectual and social being, his capacity for thought and action, his relation to the outside world, and the i)henomena and processes of the material universe. The other has learned and taught us the highest conceptions of man's spiritual nature, its illimitable possibilities, and its primary needs, and has brought near to us the idea of a personal God, who is at once the inspiration of our deepest yearnings and the incarnation of our highest ideals. The one has analyzed and exhibited man ; the other has apprehended and commended God. The one demonstrates the reign of physical, the other makes us feel the urgency of moral law. Aryan culture includes science, art, philosophy, epic and dramatic poetry, and philosophic history. Se- mitic culture has little of these to show ; it can boast an unequalled lyric and gnomic poetry, but in everj-thing else it is subordinate, imitative, or entirely uncreative. The Aryan genius ranges far and wide, observes, com- pares, classifies, generalizes, both in the world of matter and of spirit. The Semitic genius is narrow and intense ; it confines itself to what is close at hand, and of direct practical moment. Beyond this region it needs an impulse from without to awaken its innate energy and capacities. It is normally stationary and unadventurous, while the Aryan genius is enterprising and progressive. Yet when the Semitic mind is aroused, it can compete with, or even outstrip, its rival in the education of humanity. It has done as much for the world through its intuitions and postulates as the Aryan mind has achieved through reflec- tion and demonstration. 6 ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE SEMITES Book I § 6. But the student of History will find it more in- structive to consider the results of the co-operation of the diverse mental and moral forces of these two world- compelling races. The business of civilizing and saving the world, as far as the merely human factors are concerned, has been carried on through the transfer of moral and spiritual ideas and the arts of civilized life from the one race to the other. In nearly everything vital to human well-being the Semites were the founders or forerunners. Centuries, perhaps millenniums, before any branch of the Aryan race had emerged from primitive rudeness, the Semitic Babylonians were in possession of the rudiments of the practical and useful arts and sciences. Through the progress of conquest westward, and still more through adventures of trade, the most important of these attain- ments were indirectly brought to the receptive and pro- gressive Aryans of the Mediterranean coast-lands and islands, with the result that they were developed and applied far beyond the range to which they were ever extended in the region of their origination. Again, while it is undeniable that the faculty of organization on a large scale must be denied to the political genius of the Semitic race, it is also true that the first example given to the world of an extensive stable system of government was supplied by the Semites of Assyria, and that this furnished to the Aryan Persians the model for the empire of Cyrus and Darius, which in its turn was imitated in the Macedonian and Roman world-subduing and world- restraining monarchies. Thus that type of government was furnished by which alone, during our long semi- barbaric mundane era, society could be kept together and security afforded against all rapine and oppression, except, indeed, those of the rulers themselves. Here again we see the characteristic limitation of Semitism. The state founded by the Semites did not pass beyond the stage of military guardianship when it left the hands of its devisers. The freer forms of self-governing commu- Cn. I, § 8 THEIR GIFT OF RELIGION iiities were wrought out by the political genius of the Aryans. § 7. But the greatest boon which any race or people ever conferred upon humanity, was that of religious truth and freedom, and this was the gift of the Hebrews of Palestine. Yet not by them as a race has it been or is it now beinjj converted to the uses of the world. While the unicjue national career and institutions of Israel fitted that single people to be the depositaries of saving truth and knowledge, it was the civilizing genius of one branch of the Aryan race and the political supremacy of another, which prepared the wider and deeper channels through which the divinely conferred endowment was conveyed to the kindreds and peoples of mankind. And when the worship of Jehovah, established among one people of the earth in place of the discarded national and local divini- ties, had been bereft of its potency and vitality; and when the revelation, renewed and transfigured before the eyes of men in an image of divine self-sacrifice, had failed of general recognition and adoption in the Messiah's own community, it was at length turned over to the Gentile Aryans, who welcomed it and gave it a currency which has (mtrun the march of civilization, overstepped all geo- graphical and political boundaries, and overleaped all social and prescriptive barriers. § 8. Yet the Apostle to the Gentiles was a Semite of the Semites ; and he with his helpers, in breaking through the limitations of Judaism, were but striving after the ideal of universal regeneration set before them by the divine Founder of the one religion of humanity, himself a Semite. Incontestably the best thoughts and principles — the most profound, the most propulsive, the most po- tential — that men have ever cherished, have been con- ceived and elaborated in Semitic minds. Nay, more : the world has not yet fathomed the depths of these thoughts, nor fully tested the applicability of these principles to the social and personal needs of any generation of men. It 8 DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN THE SEMITES Book I is, moreover, the obvious truth that after the impulse given by the Oriental pioneers of Christianity had ex- hausted itself, the Western champions of the faith, through the Aryan tendency to speculation, through lack of sure moral insight and sympathy, as well as tluough ignorance of Semitic modes of thought and expression, allowed the spirit and essence of the saving truth to evap- orate in metaphj'sical subtleties, from whose beclouding and distracting influence we are only in the present age beginning to free ourselves, as we are learning to read aright the words of Jesus and Paul and John with the newly awakened historical sense. § 9. To understand anything, we must know its his- tory. We shall misjudge all institutions, and fail to appreciate all commanding ideas, unless we learn with approximate accuracy how they were founded, how they were evolved in the thoughts, and how they were wrought out in the lives of men. In tracing the development of our intellectual and spiritual inheritance from the Semites, we must make many necessarj' distinctions. We must first and fundamentally distinguish between Northern and Southern Semites (§ 17 ff.); for the r81e of the latter, important as it has been in the mental and religious development as well as in the political fortunes of the Eastern world, was played long after the decisive contri- bution had been made by the former to the controlling forces in human society. And when we have isolated the Northern Semites, and observed their geographical dis- tribution and the historical development of their several divisions, we have again to single out one small sub- division from all others, and devote special attention to its fortunes and achievements. This we have to do, unless we violate all the canons of historical proportion ; for in the history of the petty Hebrew community we have the unique phenomenon presented to us of one of the most feeble of all peoples revolutionizing the beliefs and cus- toms of the world, and what is more wonderful still. i Cii. I, § 10 HEBREWS AND ALLIED COMMUNITIES contributing most generously and signally to these trans- forming and renovating influences in proportion as its own political autonomy approached extinction. Accordingly, in treating of the doings and the influence of the Semitic race, we must view their history in long perspective ; we must keep in a relatively subordinate place the parts, important as these undoubtedly were, played by some of the kindred communities in political progress, in com- mercial enterprise, and in the arts of civilized life, and, from the standpoint of permanent results, give the central and controlling place to the annals and achievements of Israel. As we look back in the light of these later ages upon the whole evolution of Semitic life find thought, we feel that we can do justice to the various factors and pro- ducts of that history only by acknowledging the suprem- acy of the moral order in human affairs, and vindicating for the people of ancient Palestine the place Avhich Provi- dence has assigned them as the principal agents in secur- ing for it recognition and validity among the nations of the earth. § 10. Yet we cannot disassociate from the history of Israel the influence of the surrounding and especially that of the allied communities. Unequalled as was the ser- vice rendered by Israel to mankind, and altogether unique as was its inner moral and spiritual history, we find that its social and political relations were largely determined by its place and function as a member of a larger aggre- gation of peoples. Indeed, when we regard the rQle as- signed by Providence to the Semitic race in the ancient world, it seems to us to be a part of this very significance attaching to the mission of the Hebrews that it belonged to that race and shared its leading mental and moral char- acteristics. Being permitted for thousands of years to develop their institutions and work their will in a well- defined and spacious region with little interruption from any outside race, it was made possible for these Northern Semites to elaborate and perfect the products of their 10 ONE-SIDED VIEWS OF SEMITIC HISTOKY Book I peculiar genius in the political, social, moral, and relig- ious spheres. No other race of men has had a place, or scope, or term of duration so favourable for the evolution of its inherent capacities. Now the fortunes of the Hebrews being involved in the long and constant action and interaction of the Semitic conmiunities, it is mani- festly the duty of the historian to duly subordinate secon- dary motives and issues to those which are admitted to be primary, and at the same time to carefully indicate how all influential elements co-operated to the final resultant. That is to say, it is impossible to treat the history of Israel by itself alone, or with a mere incidental reference to the actions and policy of neighbouring nations where these were of decisive moment. For the actions and the policy of these nationalities ako had their roots in histori- cal causes which require to be set forth with commensu- rate fulness and clearness. § 11. These views as to the relative interest and impor- tar.f'e attaching to the various peoples of the ancient East, and the necessity of embracing all the Semitic communities in a larger historical unity, would seem to be self-evident. Yet they need to be stated and enforced Avith some emphasis and particularity, since it has been the almost uniform practice of writers on Oriental his- tory to treat of each of the ruling peoples separately with- out much regard to the vitally close relations that have subsisted between them. This defective method of treat- ment has especially characterized attempts to relate the fortunes of the people of Israel. Two circumstances perhaps mainly account for the fact. The one is that the Bible, which narrates the progress and triumph of the religion of Israel, is supposed to concern itself exclu- sively with that people. The other is the scantiness of our information as to communities other than the Hebrew of which students long had to complain. A better under- standing of the aim and character of the compositions that make up the Bible, along with a more liberal view of 1 Cii. I, § 12 DEFECTS IN THE ORIGINAL SOURCES 11 ' its relations to general history, helps to invalidate the former prejudice; while the latter disability has Ijeen largely removed by the monumental discoveries of recent times. § 12. Our task then is to narrate the ancient history of the North-Semitic peoples in its bearing upon the history of Israel which it includes and involves. The materials for such a history are mainly the literary records and mon- umental remains generally of the Semitic peoples them- selves. What comes from outside sources is only occa- sionally of first-rate importance, though always rightly claiming the attention of the student. In utilizing these authorities there are two occasions of embarrassment. In the first place, there are large tracts of time during which events must have occurred of great historical significance, but of which we have no direct account. The narrative must therefore at best be broken ind incomplete, espec- ially in the portion relating to the earliest ages. In the second place, the character of the greater portion of the records themselves is such as to make the writing of Semitic history, in the proper sense of the term, pecul- iarly difficult. The Semitic historiographers were, for the most part, compilers from the records of court annal- ists or chroniclers. These official scribes narrated merely the deeds of the rulers whom they respectively served, and it was not their custom to go outside of traditional and conventional limits. If they commemorated adequately the achievements of their royal patrons, they were con- sidered to acquit themselves of their duty. For informa- tion as to the condition and progress of the people at large, we are left to incidental statements connected with tlie beneficence or public spirit of the kings, to the testi- mony, when such is at hand, of contemporary monuments of art or practical skill, or to records of legal or business transactions. Of international relations and complica- tions, we learn only that the powers concerned went to war or made treaties ; and we are told nothing as to the 12 IIKBRKW HISTORICAL RECORDS Book I motives which in any given case prompted the action. To a large extent the same characteristics are exhibited in the Hebrew historical books. These compilations are, indeed, superior as sources for constructive narrative to the annals of the Assyrian and Babylonian kings, in that, for example, they are framed upon a fixed plan with a definite purpose. Yet they are often only slightly available for the details of important epochs, inasmuch as their aim is to mark the stages of progress of the theo- cratic system by indicating sharply the critical periods, and by illustrating fully the lives and characters of the personages who were the main instruments in preparing the way of Jehovahj as they determined the attitude of the nation to^vards him and his message and messengers. In other words, the so-called Bible histories devote them- selves rather to commemorating an idea than to sketching the rise, development, and decline of a peo2)le or nation. The invaluable information which Ave do gain from them as to the current of national sentiment among the Hebrews, and the determining features of their political and social life, comes to us rather as the setting and framework of a picture than as the text Avhich describes and explains it. Accordingly, while each species of historical record, of higher or lower order, subserves the end for which it was designed, none of them, nor even all taken together, supply the need we feel of fuller light ui)on the long and involved processes of national and social development which make up the story of the struggles and achieve- ments of the Sen)itic peoples. Often, indeed, we have to lament that we must grope uncertainlj' in our search fen- the causes of important movements, and some of the most impressive historical phenomena known to men awaken our interest and at the same time refuse to us all but the most meagre opportunity of gratifying it. The i)rogress of human action seems often to be like a river flowing underground, the greatness of whose volume and the swiftness of whose current are attested to us only by the t Cii. 1, § 13 GENIUS AND SCOPE OF PROPHECY 13 murmurs that reach us from subterranean depths laid open here and there, and by the feeble glimpses which the light thus admitted affords to our prying inspection ; but near the end of its course it bursts suddenly upon our view, Ininging to the upper day the whole of its gathered waters that had been swollen continually by rill and fountain supplying it unseen and in silence. § 13. The various annals and chronicles and monu- mental remains of the Semitic race are thus inadequate to the delineation of its history. But there has been vouch- safed to us in a portion of the literature of Israel, for the most important periods of that history, a commentary which goes far to supply the deficiency. Hebrew proph- ecy is not merely the illuminator of Hebrew history alone. It takes the whole Semitic realm for its province as being conjoined with Israel in providential destiny. Its torch even sends out a light here and there over the greater world of humanity — a beam in darkness which has grown to be a light unto the Gentiles, the harbinger of him who was to come as the Light of the World. We speak of the incapacity of the Semitic mind for philo- sophic historxcal composition, and that with a large meas- ure of justice. But what Prophecy has brought to the elucidation of contemporary history, besides the supple- menting of its materials, surpasses in depth of insight and breadth of view and keenness of sympathy and height of idealizing conception, anything which in any age " the supreme Caucasian mind " has contributed to the moral interpretation of human actions or the direction and en- couragement of human endeavour. How differently the philosophical historian and the Hebrew prophet approach and interpret the problems of individual and national life! Speculation, combination, rationalizing construction, are the obvious instruments of the one. The other seems to be independent of method. The Hebrew prophetic mind ignores logic; it even disdains speculation. It does not infer; it simply seems to see. It does not walk from step 14 HISTORICAL VALUE OF PROPHECY Book I to step of significant facts ; it flies to conclusions of which no man sees the antecedent stages. It is like one of its own heroes when it describes him as moving at his ease in a course "which he does not traverse with his feet." It bridges over with the certitude of faith the interval between the present struggle and doubt and the future assured triumph. It deals only with subjective certain- ties, which the slow fulfilment of history makes object- ively real. It idealizes the possibilities of humanity, and thus helps to make them practically true. It promises good, and thus helps to bring it within the reach of men. It assumes eternal principles of right, and thus tends to realize them in human character and conduct. In its flight over nations and communities, it bears a message " knit below the wild pulsation of its wings"; and what it tells us is that the great motives urging on the forces of human history are Truth and Freedom. § 14. Thus we shall do well to co-ordinate and combine the Hebrew prophetical literature with the surviving chronicles of actual events in weaving the story of ancient Israel and its environments of races and nations. This we must do, in the first instance, because Prophecy demonstrates how these controlling motives of truth and freedom, and the eternal unchangeable moral forces of the divine government, were most signally illustrated and justified in that chequered and many-sided history. But we shall also find that the writings of the Prophets of Israel are a depository of the facts of national and social life, more complete and more pertinent to the uses of the historian than those contained in that portion of the Bib- lical literature usually called historical. With regard to transactions of great national moment, such as alliances or wars with foreign powers, the prophets, it is true, do not detail the preliminary actions, or even as a rule for- mally indicate the determining political causes. Yet their knowledge of the affairs and circumstances, both of their own and of the neighbouring countries, is so exten- Ch. I, § 15 CHARACTER AND SCOPE OF THE INQUIRY 15 sive and accurate, and their interest in the politics of their time so intense, that in their treatment of the moral and spiritual problems of Israel, they seldom fail by allusion or direct reference to throw welcome light upon the whole international situation. We can also infer much of the domestic policy of the rulers of Israel from the condition of the country, as described by the Prophets in their de- mands for moral, social, and religious reform. So fully did their rainistiy appropriate this Avide and diversified field of sacred and secular affairs that the picture they have left us of the condition of their country and its people is unsurpassed in any literature for its keenness of appreciation and accuracy of delineation. They have, as a matter of fact, given a very material contribution to our knowledge of the international relations of the ancient peoples of Western Asia, and the essential feat- ures and tendencies of their political systems — and all in subordinate yet vital association with the paramount issue, the fate of the one true religion, as it was involved in the struggle of its votaries with the worldly forces, whether of local or imperial magnitude, which were arrayed against them. They have no parallel in history ; they have themselves created the category and the func- tion of Prophet. The}- were at once men of thought and men of action, keen and accurate observers, statesmen and publicists, social reformers, lofty moralists, leal-hearted patriots. The unfolding of our history will show that Old Testament Prophecy, as the forerunner and interpreter of History, performs services as signal and as important in its sphere as that rendered by it in ministering to the sijiritual needs of men. § 15. These remarks may serve to explain the title given to the present essay, and at the same time to indi- cate what the general character and scope of our inquiry ought to be. It will be proper to outline the earlier his- tory of the several kindred communities which influenced most materially the fortunes of Israel, as well as to trace 16 OUR SPIRIT AND ATTITUDE AS STUDENTS Book I I'r >l I il ii M ;( w the growth of the Hebrew people itself, up to the stage at which the determining national factors became so closely interrelated as to make it possible to weave the record into one connected story. The narrative will then be continued to the catastrophe which extinguished the ancient Semitic regime, brought the Aryans to the front in Oriental affairs, and started the denationalized Judteans upon a new political and religious career. With the direct consequences of this revolution the " History and Prophecy " of the Old Testament come to a close, and here the " Monuments " of the political and religious his- tory of the ruling Semitic monarchies, which form our chief source of information outside of the Biblical records, also cease to tell their story. § 16. For properly enjoying as well as utilizing the historical study which I have just outlined, some special preparation has been assumed to be necessary. Even for the appreciation of the Old Testament itself, which is the main object of our interest and research, we shall find that the point of view of the modern Bible reader must be changed. Our purpose is to follow the progress of events long gone by, and the operation of providential causes within a sphere of action foreign in many essential re- spects to what we occupy and observe in these later times and under Western skies. We must learn to look at all events, and at all social, political, and even religious con- ditions, with the eyes of contemporaries and in the spirit of the ancient historians and prophets themselves. To learn to view these things from the inside, and not from the outside, is not an easy task for any of us ; but it is indispensable for intelligent insight, true historical per- spective, and just and sober judgment. The first thing then to be done is to get a satisfactory knowledge, let us say, of such external matters as those with which the Bible concerns itself — such a knowledge of the physical aspect, social institutions, political systems, and relig- ious customs of the natives kindred to Israel as an intel- Cii. I, § 16 THE METHOD OF INQUIRY 17 ligent contemporary of the Hebrew prophets possessed. For example, the prophets concern themselves vastly with the great empires beyond the River. It will naturally, then, be useful for us to get some accurate notion of the genius and character of these kingdoms and peoples ; of their political tendencies and aims, whose operations were of such vital consequence to Israel and the world ; of their religion, to which manifold reference is made in the Bible; of their intellectual and moral features as being the most gifted and influential of the kindred of Israel, the creators of science, and the conquerors and rulers of Western Asia. So also must we deal with the other tribes and kingdoms of less relative importance which were involved in the process of the development of Israel, as they grew into competency for the functions assigned them when God "determined their appointed seasons and the bounds of their habitation." Hence it will be profitable for us, from the Biblical as well as from the broadly human stand- point, to take, first of all, a rapid glance at the physical features of the lands with which the Bible and the monu- ments have to do in common, and the leading characteris- tics of their peoples, as members of the great Semitic family, and as factors in the political, social, and religious history of the ancient East. I ,t :il i CHAPTER II THE NORTH-SEMITIC TERRITORY AND ITS INHABITANTS § 17. That portion of Western Asia with which our present inquiry chiefly concerns itself is inchidecl in a somewhat crescent-shaped territory stretchinj^ northwest- ward from the Persian Gulf, skirting in its whole extent the great Syro-Arabian desert, terminating on the fron- : .I's of Egypt, and bisected by the Great River, the river Euphrates (§ 71 f.). In modern Turkey, of which it now forms 1 Dart, it is not by any means the most important Jiuctioii. .hor.gh in pre-Turkish times it was the most populous and influential portion of the whole area at present embraced under that dominion. It corresponds ver}'^ nearly to the territory included in the modern prov- inces (vilayets) of Baghdad, Mosul, Diarbekr, Aleppo, Damascus, Lebanon, and Jerusalem, comprising about 220,000 square miles, or less than one-third of the Sul- tan's Asiatic possessions — an area rather larger than Ger- many, nearly twice as large as Italy, or three times as large as England. Leaving out of view the small dis- trict of Palestine and the Syrian highlands stretching almost unbrokenly northward to meet the range of Taurus, nearly all of this territory consists of level country re- claimed from the desert, through the fertilizing influence of the Euphrates and Tigris or their tributaries. On the north lay the broken mountain-chains, the valleys and plateaus of Cappadocia and Armenia, in ancient times rarely, and then only under precarious compulsion, brought into political union with the dominant race controlling the 18 li Ch. II, § 19 COMMUNITIES OF THE SEMITES 19 l)lain. Oil the east were the mountains of Media and Elara ; on the south the illimitable desert. On tlie west was the Great Sea; and where the western and northern boundaries approach, lay the huge but not impassable barrier of the Taurus range, with all of Asia Minor behind it. § 18. The most comprehensive fact to be noted about this territory has been already suggested, that it was the home of the leading Semitic communities and the scene of their activity during by far the largest part of the his- tory of the civilized world. The following is a scheme of the divisions of the Semitic race. It is based partly upon the evidence afforded by linguistic affinity, and partly upon geographical and historical disti-ibution. A: NORTHERN SEMITES / a. Old Babylonian I. Babylonian: -'h. Assyrian (c. Chaldajan 11. Aram^an: 5«-^I^^sopotamian ( 0. Syrian III. Canaanitic : 5 «• Canaanites < 0. rhoenicians rV. Hebraic : C a. Hebrews h. ^loabites c. Anunonites (/. Edoniites B: SOUTIIERX SEMITES I. SAn^:ANs TT. Ethiopians III. Arabs § 19. It should be said with regard to the foregoing classification, that it has been made as general as possible, since it is a matter of great difficulty to make clear-cut 20 UNCERTAIN DIVISIONS Book I i ' -i •■'I ■y iH divisions on an exact ethnological basis. If a linguistic classification ^ were attempted, a scheme largely different would have to be exhibited, since, in some instances, two or more distinct families came to use in historical times the same language, without any serious divergence as far as the extant literary records enable us to decide, and in other cases communities of the same family learned to employ idioms distinct from one another. Again, it should be observed that the mixture of races which was continually going on in the Semitic world is not and cannot be indicated by our classification. The Babylo- nians, for example, received a constant accession from Ara- nifeans encamped on their borders, and even beyond the Tigris ; but these, as well as non-Semitic elements from the mountains and plains to the east, they assimilated in speech and customs. The same general remark applies to the Aramteans of Northern Mesopotamia and Syria, while the peoples of Southern and Eastern Palestine, and in fact all the communities that bordered on the Great Desert, from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, were continually absorbing individuals or tribes of Arabian stock. Finally, it must be remarked that in some sub- divisions it is necessary to use a geographical instead of a properly racial distinction ; and that is, of course, to be limited chronologically. Thus, for instance, it is impos- sible to devise a single strictly ethnological term for the two great divisions of the Aramteans. § 20. It is now pretty generally admitted that the home of the Semitic race, before its separation into the histori- cal divisions, was Northern Arabia. Naturally, it is impossible to assign to them any definite locality. In fact, it is a mistake to suppose that a very limited area could have been the dwelling-place of any such aggrega- tion of kindred tribes as that from which the Semitic peo- ples were descended. The theory that one small tribe or family ever did or could branch off from the rest of man- 1 See Note 1 in Appendix. Cir. II, § 21 EARLIEST HOME OF THE SEMITES 21 kind, and start a new community witli a new language and new customs and institutions, is untenable. The conditions which made the hetjinniwjs of such an evolu- tion possible lie much furtlier back than the stage which the ancestors of the Semites had reached when they pos- sessed those elements of language, those arts of life, and the other attainments of civilization, which were later held by their descendants in common. Such a stage of devel- opment belongs to the sphere of anthropology and pre- historic arclncology; and it is quite impossible, as yet, to conjecture where the savage progenitors of the Semites lived in hordes^ without tribal distinctions, at the period thus indicated. When we speak of the home of the early Semites, we must picture to ourselves a number of closely related tribes or clans, occupying a region covering thou- sands of square miles, having similar pursuits, and moving along jjarallel lines of development by reason of free inter- course with one another. Such an hypothesis is necessary to explain both the degree of culture which they at- tained in common, and, on the other hand, the possibility of their division into distinct families with all their historic differences of language, religion, and social in- stitutions. § 21. The principal arguments in favour of the view that the Semites had their individual residence in Northern Arabia may be properly enumerated here. There is, in the first place, the fact that the historical distribution of the several families is thus best accounted for, as will presently appear. Secondly, the dominant characteristics of the ancient Egyptians are generally admitted to indicate a strong interfusion of Semitic with African elements, and as their civilization is enormously old, it is to be sup- posed that the immigration took place from the region Avhich, as far back as the records of history speak, con- stantly supplied the Nile Valley with new settlers ; that is, the Arabian desert. In the third place, the perma- nent genius of the Semites, which disinclined them to 22 DIVISION OF THE TERRITORY . Book I inhabit or colonize extended mountain regions, would seem to betray an inherited aptitude for life upon the plains. Finally, the nomadic origin of the Semites is attested by words relating to the life and association of nomads (e.g. "sheep," "shepherd," "camel," "bow," "arrow"), which are found in all the dialects of the race, and must therefore have been used by the common c ncestors of all. The only desert and wilderness land whose location suits the geographical distribution of the race is that of North- ern Arabia. 1 § 22. To the ancient Hebrews and their contemporaries the dividing line of the whole of the North-Semitic region was "the great river, the River Euphrates." And, indeed, the course of that stream, after leaving the mountains, formed not only a natural means of separation between tribes and races, but also a commercial halting-place, and a strategic barrier of no mean importance. Another basis of division, however, would be physically as well as politi- cally and ethnographically more exact, the Euphrates playing in it also a leading part. The first or western division extends from the Mediterranean to the basin of the Euphrates. The second or middle portion includes the pastoral lands between that river and the Tigris, and the trading stations and towns to the north ; that is, Meso- potamia proper. The third or eastern section includes the territory extending from the mountains of Kurdistan southward to the Persian Gulf, including the cities and villages on both sides of the Tigris and the Lower Eu- phrates. The whole region may be tentatively said to have been appropriated by the several families of North- ern Semites somewhat as follows : — § 23. While among the Southern Semites the various Arab tribes remained for the most part in their desert 1 A contrary opinion, that the Semites came originally from the high- lands of Central Asia, is maintained by Guidi, de Goeje, and Ilommel. The two leading theories are compared in favour of Arabia by Wright, Comp. Grammar of the Semitic Languages, ch. i ; of . § 105 of this work. Cii. II, § 24 BABYLONIANS AND CANAANITES 23 home for thousands of years as obscure Bedawin, and the Sabieans cultivated the rich soil of the southwest and the southern coast of Arabia, and there developed cities and a flourishing commerce, and the nearly related Ethi- opians, migrating across the Red Sea, slowly built up in Abyssinia an isolated civilization of their own, those branches of the race with which we are immediately con- cerned, after a lengthened residence in common camping- grounds, moved northward and westward to engage in more important enterprises. The Babylonians, occupy- ing the region which the Bible makes known to us as the scene of man's creation, and which historical research in- dicates to have been the seat of the earliest civilization, made their home on the lands of the Lower Euphrates and Tigris, converting them through canalization and irriga- tion into rich and powerful kingdoms finally united under the rule of Babylon. Before the union was effected, emigrants from among these Babylonians settled along the Middle Tigris (§ 111), founded the city of Asshur, and later still the group of cities known to history as Nineveh. The Assyrians then, after long struggles, rose to pre-eminence in Western Asia, till after centuries of stern dominion they yielded to the new Babylonian r^jgime founded by the Chaldtuans from the shores of the Persian Gulf. § 24. The Canaanites, debarred from the riches of the East, turned northwestward at an unknown early date, and while some of them occupied and cultivated the val- leys of Palestine, others seized the maritime plain and the western slope of Lebanon. On the coast of the latter region they took advantage of the natural harbours wanting in the former, and tried the resources and possibilities of the sea. As Phoenicians of Sidon and Tyre, they became the great navigators and maritime traders for the nations, and sent forth colonies over the Mediterranean, which in their turn illustrated the versatility of the Semitic genius by grasping at and almost maintaining against the rising 24 THE ARAM^.ANS Book I power of Koine, the supremacy of the new western worhl. Their kindred in the interior eultivuted the valleys and mountain-slopes with corn and the vine, and through their industry made of the country "a land exuding milk and honey." § 25. Meanwhile the pasture lands between the Tigris and the Euphrates and between the southern dest d the northern mountains were gradually being occ ^ .ed by the Aramfeans, who advanced with flocks and herds along the Euphrates, leaving, however, encampments and even hirge settlements on the skirts of Babylonia both to the east and to the west, and some enterprising traders among its heterogeneous population. While the bulk of the Aramteans adiiered to the old pastoral life among the good grazing districts in the confines of the desert, a large num- ber, favoured by their intermediate position between urban and nomadic settlements, addicted themselves to the car- rying trade between the East and the West, and as trav- elling merchants and negotiators of all sorts of ey^hange, pl.ayed a most important part in the promotio' com- merce and the extension of Babylonian art a. »ence westward, till it was taken up by the Greeks and by them made available to the progressive European world. In- deed, their position and influence as land traders were strikingl)^ analogous to those of their kindred, the Phoeni- cians, upon the sea. This remarkable people, however, never attained to political autonomy on a large scale in their Mesopotamian home, to which for long ages they were confined. After the decline of the Hettite princi- l^alities west of the Euphrates (§ 201), to which they themselves largely contributed, they rapidly spread in that quarter also. They mingled with the non-Semitic Het- tite inhabitants of Carchemish and Hamath, formed settle- ments along the slopes of Amanus and Anti-Lebanon, and created on the northeast corner of Palestine a powerful state with Damascus as the centre, which was long a rival of Israel, and even stood out against the might of Assyria. Cn. II, § 20 TIIK IlKIJUAIC FAMILY Tims the Aramit'iins really acted a more })romineiit politi- (3al part to the west than they did to the east of the Eui)hrates, and accordingly they have been [mpularly most closely associated with the name "Syria." At the same time they did not abandon their old settlements l)etween tiie llivers. So it came to pass that after the decline of the Hebrew and Babylonian language and literature the Aramaic language not only overspreatl the whole of Pales- tine, and invaded the Sinaitic peninsula, but in fact be- came, until the j\I(jhammedan conquest, the prevailing idiom of literary and popular usage through the whole of the North-Semitic realm. § 26. As the latest of the historical divisions of the race to form an independent community, the Hebraic family made their permanent settlement in and about Palestine. Their commoi ancestors of the family of Terah emigrated from Southern Babylonia more than two thousand years before tlv Christian era. It is highly probable that they were of Aramaean stock (Deut. xxvi. 5; cf. § 25, 339). Haran (Harrfin), the great commer- cial and religious gathering place of the Aramaeans, gave them temporary shelter on their route, and a portion of the clan, the family of Nahor, made their permanent home among this people of shepherds and traders. But a land of better promise called their great leader, Abra- ham, further west, and he and his descendants lived for centuries in Southern Canaan, dwelling still in tents as pilgrims and strangers. After a time Moab and Amnion secured a precarious footing in the valleys and uplands east of the Jordan, where they nraintained a struggle for existence with the non-Semitic Amorites, a struggle only decided finally in their favour through the interposition of their enterprising kindred, the men of Israel, who then shared with them the disputed territory. Edom contented himself with a roving frontier life on the southei-n border of Canaan. His brethren of Israel, after a unique and chequered history, including a long I i I I '■' r- I 26 THE HEBREWS IN CANAAN Book I residence in Egypt and the displacement of the Aniorites from their possessions east of the Jordan, at length made Central Palestine also securely their own, and the seat of most of their tribal settlements. All of the immigrants had early adopted " the language of Canaan, " known in later times as "Hebrew." Before, and to a less extent after, its final establishment in Canaan, there had been absorbed by Israel large elements of Arabic derivation, and there was undoubtedly also commingling of certain sec- tions of the immigrants with their Canaanitic predeces- sors. These facts, taken in connection with the Aramaic original of the clan, and its probable admixlvre with Babylonian elements during its residence on the Lower Euphrates, prevent us, on the one hand, from classing the Hebrews definitely with any single on ^ of the other great divisions, and suggest to us that their kinship with all of them may help to account for their marvellous "race" qualities, as well as for the unmatched intellectual and moral force of their choicest representatives. ■i: ' sH / CHAPTER III CONSTITUTION AND CHARACTER OF THE NORTH-SE>nTIC COMMUNITIES § 27. We shall now proceed to take a glance at the political organization of this North-Semitic country dur- ing the times for which the most adequate material for such a general survey is accessible. The first thing to be noticed is the contrast afforded by this region between its condition in these early ages and its present state. The popular saying that everything in the East is unchange- able is a useful statement to work with when dealing with certain phases of the life and manners of Semitic peoples in their immemorial habitats ; but it is as untrue of them as it is of the rest of the world with application to politi- cal fortune and social advancement. What is most remarkable in the case of this region is that the contrast should be so decidedly unfavourable to the present. Not in Palestine alone, but in the whole region eastward to tlie Persian Empire and Gulf, the people thirty centuries ago were far more numerous and prosperous than are the inhabitants of the same territory at the present day. For its present condition it is sulficient to be reminded that the whole country is under the sway of the Osmanli, and that their governmental system may be summarized nega- tively, at least, as one under which the rule of ofticial neglect and indifference is only broken in favour of official rapacity and extortion. Immense tracts of the most fertile soil on the globe, of which three thousand years ago "every rood of ground maintained its man," are now abandoned to wild beasts or roving Bedawin. Agricul- 27 T^ 28 MARKS OF ANCIENT PROSPERITY Book I > I; I I i! ture, the basis of a people's prosperity, is through most of its area in a more backward condition, even as regards mechanical appliances, than it was in those remote ages. Now the only signs of prosperity are to be seen among the merchants of a few of the cities, or the slave-dealers, or the money-lendei"s, or the tax-gatherers and officials generally. The population of the region with which we are concerned is at j)resent under nine millions, or about forty inhabitants to the square mile. The districts now most thickly peopled — Lebanon, Damascus, and Jerusa- lem, a territory exceeding the widest limits of ancient Palestine — contain a population of about sixty to tlie square mile, certainly less than half the number that lived in the same area in the days of Hiram and Solomon or in those of Jeroboam II, and Uzziah. The great prov- ince of Baghdad, with its four millions and three-quarters of inhabitants, was far surpassed in population by the Babylonia of Nebuchadrezzar alone. The total of nine millions must have been vastly exceeded anytime between the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. merely by the popu- lation of the chief cities, of the greatest of which no ves- tige remains above the surface of the soil, and of many of which the very site is now unknown. The Assyrian annals, in matters of numeration vastly more reliable than the modern official statistics, in recounting the details of tribute paid by comparatively insignificant communities, indicate the possession of an amount of wealth and a degree of advancement in the industrial and cesthetic arts, which to the present inhabitants of the same districts would seem like fictions of an Eastern story-teller; and in many cases they speak of an abundance of cereal productions such as would be sufficient to feed half a Turkish province of the nineteenth century. True, most of these localities suffered from frequent cruel and devas- tating wars; but their speedy recuperation betrays the extent of their resources, and reminds us also that their total history was not merely one of war and calamity. On Ch. Ill, § 29 POLITICAL LIMITATIONS 29 this single point of material prosperity alone the contrast is startling and appalling. While nearly the whole of the world, at present called civilized or semi-civilized, illus- trates in its own condition one of the surest tests of human progress, " more food for more men, better food for every man," this region has in large measure reverted to the primitive condition of precarious living for a scanty population. § 28. Of the political character and internal organiza- tion of the peoples inhabiting the region we have been describing, it is not easy to convey a clear and compre- hensive notion in a single brief statement. It must be said, however, that certain general features were common to all the states that flourished there in ancient Semitic times. Especially noticeable is their marked limitation of capacity for political organization, as compared, for instance, with the Greek, Roman, and Teutonic families of the Aryan race. For example, when we use the word "empire" of the great Assyrian or Babylonian mon- archy, or even the word "kingdom" of Israel, Judah, or Damascus, we must not transfer to either of these the notions with which one associates the terms in European history. As far as principles and methods of administra- tion are concerned, it would be much better to compare them with those of the present Ottoman Empire — with this main difference, however, that the Osmanli rulers induced a reaction towards a ruder type by adapting their system of rigorous simplicity to countries which had already enjoyed, to some extent, the liigher and more complex forms of Western government imposed on them by a non-Oriental race. Less familiar, but rather better illustrations in the matter of administrative essentials, are the " empires " of Morocco and Muskat, with their types of government purely Semitic. § 29. The administration of the separate communities composing such an " empire " illustrates clearly the slen- der capacity of the Semites for continuous political prog- »■';( 80 LACK OF ORGANIZING FACULTY Book I » ! ;'1 I.' I Ik ■ i ress. Thus, while the whole Semitic territory was fre- quently under the authority of one ruler, no large part of it could be kept in subjection without repeated recoii quest and chastisement of the refractory subjects. Not until the Persians came upon the scene Avas there anything like substantial corporate unity in Western Asia. Although these uncultured Aryans gained most of the elements of civilization from the conquered Semites, they showed themselves capable of bringing into and keeping in sub- jection their intellectual mastera through the force of a sort of talent which the latter had never manifested in a very high degree. Again, the faculty of forming perma- nent unions of smaller states, or of federating in an exten- sive scale, such as, for example, has been exemplified by much less gifted races like the Iroquois of North America, seems to have been equally wanting to the Semite (§ 54). Coalition was, as a rule, the result of conc^uest alone, and when the restraining hand of the despot was removed, there being no administrative solidarity with any moral combinatory force, the transient bonds of external union were snapped, and the individual states reverted from vassalage into temporary independence, only to be sub- verted again by the same or other masters. The histor}' of Assyria and its subject states, including Israel, will amplj'- illustrate the highest efforts of Semitism to found an empire, and at the same time its inherent incompetency to consolidate and unify what it essayed to govern. An analogous observation may be made of another branch of the ancient Semitic people, who moved over a wider space on the earth's surface than even the Assyrians and Baby- lonians. The Phoenicians, in their unlimited intercourse with their uncultured customers of many lands, never succeeded in civilizing or assimilating them; and their language, unlike the Latin and Greek, spread little be- j'ond their own mercantile settlements. As Mommsen puts it,^ "The Phoenicians founded factories rather than ^History of Some, Eng. translation, New York, 1871, vol. ii, p. 11. Ch. Ill, § 31 GOVERNMENTAL TYPES 31 colonies." This lack of "the instinct of political life, the noble idea of self-governing freedom," which is found in the otherwise highly endowed Semitic peoples, seems all the more singular when we contrast it with the matchless vitality of the race — a paradox continually presented to us liy the modern Jews, who live on and on, and yet are without a country and without a civil government, and to whom the most despotic monarchies and the most demo- cratic communities of the earth seem equally congenial. § 30. We can now look a little more closely at the jjolitical life of the Northern Semites during historical ages. All that is known of the whole Semitic race war- rants the belief that like other ancient primitive peoples they began with tribal organization, each tribe becoming a political unit through the possession of common social customs unitied and perpetuated by common religious beliefs and rites and the worship of common divinities. Now leaving out the earliest and rudest nomadic gather- ings or rudimentary settlements, which were dissolved and broken up, leaving no trace behind tliem, and there- fore making no history for themselves, we find that from the fundamental tribal organization there grew, directly or indirectly, four principal types of political aggregation, representing four distinct stages of development. These are indicated respectively by the building of cities or the founding of single civic communities ; the expansion of such states by conquest; their extension b}'' colonization; the direct making of a nation by tribal federation. § 31. The first of these ty})es or stages — the founding of cities — requires to be looked at with particular atten- tion. The dwelling in villages and building of cities was, of coui*se, common to all civilized Semites, running parallel with the advance from the pastoral to the agricul- tural and industrial stages, or from casual barter and trad- ing in small travelling companies to the establishment of fixed markets and centres of supply. Now since this characteristic process of social development became the ■ li Ml I ■V :.:M ll II .: If M SEMITIC CITIES AND CITY STATES Book I determining influence in Semitic corporate life and gov- ernment, a study of the Semitic city with its adjunct* and dependencies, its internal administration and external relations, the conditions and stages of its growth, will help us better than anything else to understand the political genius of the race, and consequently its history. § 32. In dealing with the character of Semitic cities, a caution must be uttered at the outset similar to that expressed already with regard *o Semitic government in general (§ 28). We must be careful to disassociate them in our minds from the cities of modern Europe, and even from those of classical antiquity. They have no real analogy as far as political constitution is concerned with the self-governing "city-states" of ancient Greece, with which their separate autonomous existence in such num- bers naturally suggests an external resemblance. A Greek city was a collection of citizens, each of whom took a direct share in civic or state government, in this main respect resembling the burgesses of a modern Teutonic municipality. The divergence from this ideal presented by the Semitic type of city was noticed by Aristotle ^ when he cites the alleged fact that Babylon could be entered and occupied by an invader at one end two days before the inhabitants of the other end were aware of the capture. The great commercial colonies of Phcenicia made the nearest approach to the Hellenic pattern, but there was this important difference, that the citizens of the former class who took part in the government were virtu- ally self-electing (§ 43).^ § 33. The principal Semitic words emploj^ed for " city " are themselves very suggestive. We have first the finp or shorter form nip. This is the "meeting-place " (nip) • 1 Politics, in. 3, 6. - It is interesting to contrast the Semitic " city," in its territorial appli- cation, with our word " township," the latter being one of the latest sub- divisions of a large political whole, the former the permanent type of the totality of the state. Ch. Ill, § 34 DESIGNATIONS OF THE CITY 33 of men, of flocks and herds, of caravans, of great routes of travel. It indicates merely a fit gathering point, a good station for trade, a convenient depot for supplies. It includes, in historical usage, everything from the most insignificant village to Jerusalem (1 K. i. 41, 45; Isa. i. 21, etc.) and Carthage (that is, "New City"). A second word "1^!?, though not necessarily at first a different thing, suggests a different occasion of naming. It is a "watching-place," a collection of people having property of value over which they erected a i)rimitive watch-tower (cf. Jud. ix. 51 ff., for one of Canaanitic origin). This indicates a stage at which the encampment or depot was no longer likely to be broken up. The town w.as secured by the tower, which later became an adjunct of regular walls and gates, or was enlarged into a citadel ( €. § 44. Of the mutual relations of the states or cities of Phcenicia proper, we know very little, the most outstand- ing fact being that, while Sidon was at first supreme, a hegemony was exercised by Tyre over all the coast cities of the neighbourhood during the long period when she was at the height of her prosperity. We must not suppose, however, that serious wars took place between the cities before the superiority of any one of them was established. At least we do not know of such ; and it is very reasona- ble to assume that the weaker states held towards Tyre the same prudent policy of peaceful concessions which all in common pursued, as a rule, towards the Assyrians and their successors in imperial power in Western Asia. Thereafter the suzerainty exercised by Tyre increased in the direction of absolute sovereignty, as she achieved her E .. I II f ^ ! t Ch. Ill, § 46 ABSENCE OF LAND TILLAGE 47 incomparable growth in wealth and in all the resources of civilization. Yet the essential forms of traditional monarchy were preserved, at least in all the cities of note ; and there is no reason to suppose that the Tyrians ever undertook the administration of the affaire of any of the smaller communities after the manner of Assyrian an- nexation. § 45. It only remains to be added here, with regard to the general features of Phoenician life, that the necessary absence of the agricultural class formed a marked distinc- tion between that people and their Canaanitic brethren. The products of the inland were coveted by the mercantile population of the cities on the coast, who had no direct source of food supply (Ezek. xxvii. 17; cf. Ezra iii. 7, Acts xii. 20); and the additional fact that the Phoenicians were remote from the nomadic settlements, from which the other Semitic communities were recruited, made it a mat- ter of importance to them to be able to draw upon other countries for labourers and seamen. In the treaty between Hiram and Solomon, by virtue of which a number of dis- tricts in the interior were ceded to the former, we may observe an attempt to secure the permanent basis of a food supply ; while in the men-stealing raids practised by Tyre and Sidon, we have a painful suggestion of a method frequently adopted in order to secure working-hands for themselves and their customers, in addition to the slaves whom they obtained in the way of commercial exchange (Ezek. xxvii. 13). In the larger Phoenician colonies bordering upon rich agricultural soil, earnest endeavoui-s were made to secure independent tillage, or at least a large proportion of the annual produce; and, in fact, it was the develo])ment of Carthage into a community of planters as well as merchants, which gave it its immense financial resources. § 46. The fourth type of political development is that exhibited in the making of a nation directly by means of tribal federation. In this case, the autonomy given to 7P lii M li tl Bit' ' 48 DIRECT TRIBAL FiiDEUATION Book I the new community did not proceed from the city as the highest unit of government real or nominal, but was based upon the direct choice of the tribe or clan. Yet it was impossible for an association of tribes to become a nation while they were still in the nomadic stage. The posses- sion and development of fixed settlements was always an essential condition of nation-making, for the reason that it is the tenure and utilization of a definite area of terri- tory which gives permanence to any social or political factor, whether the family, the clan, or the state. The conditions of pastoral and migratory life are at once too simple and too fluctuating to admit of the founding of a stable society. The limitations of patriarchal government are bound to be felt, no matter how strong may be the tribal feeling and the clannishness that characterize a race of shepherds and hunters. There are two main causes of the instability of such a community. There is, in the first place, the fact that the real determining and cohesive unit is not the tribe or clan, but the family. The tribe is an aggregation of people having a vague persuasion that they are of common descent, but bound together mainly by the possession of certain traditional customs, social and religious, the observance of which constitutes the badge of membership in the society. The clan differs from the tribe, in being limited by the consciousness of a common close relationship. Now, the necessity of the extension of the family by intermarriage with outsiders — a universal habit among Semitic peoples — broke through the exclusiveness of the clan, and therefore finally also the unity of the tribe. Again, the permanent or casual neighbourhood of other tribes, related or unre- lated, led to the continual absorption of new elements and the secession of old members. Accordingly, the identity and homogeneity of the tribe were really attested by the obvious marks of a common language and common cus- toms, and not by the less easily ascertainable criterion of kinship. Under these circumstances, it was impossible It' Cii. Til, § 47 RARE CONDITIONS OF SUCH UNION 40 for men in a simple society to found anything like perma- nent civil institutions. There were, it is true, both among Northern and Southern Semites, many tribal com- binations which were rich and powerful, and could make their strength felt either as substantial allies or formi- dable foes. Such were some of the principal Arama?an tribes along the Lower Euphrates and Tigris (§ 330), several of the tribes or "nations"' of Northern Arabia, and the Midianites of the times of the "Judges" of Israel. A few of these even attained to the reputed rank of a kingdom ; for example, the Arabian tribes that com- bined under the rule of a " queen " in the eighth century «.c. (§ 334). Such titular sovereignty was, however, only a transfer of names from more or less analogous con- ditions among settled populations, and the use of the term, as apjalied to what were really chiefs or chieftain- esses, only shows with what latitude the term "king" was employed in the old Semitic times, or, in other words, how many different kinds and degrees there were of the supreme governmental dignity. Such aggregations of people, as was natural, enjoyed no very lengthened corpo- rate existence ; and in contrast to some of these nomadic peoples presently to be mentioned, who addicted them- selves, within fixed geographical limits, to the cultivation of the soil, their names speedily vanished from the records of the race. § 47. As already indicated, the oldest Semitic cities, which were at the same time the earliest type of stable government, were founded for purposes of security and convenient supply, in the interests of business that depended upon agriculture or trading (§ 31 ff.). In either case the population was originally nomadic, gradu- ally taking up with the tilling of the soil and with indus- trial pursuits. We have no historical record of tlie times when the decisive steps were taken which resulted in the founding of permanent settlements from wilderness and pasture lands. The earliest cities of Palestine east and ii 11 1.(1 H " IS ,| U' 60 INSTANCES OF A TRIBAL NATION Book I west of Jordan, and those of Lower Babylonia, and even those of Mesopotamia, had long been established when their oldest surviving monuments Avere made. It is alto- gether different with this fourth type of state-making. Some of the most noteworthy of the tribal federations which grew into nations took place within historical times, and we can trace with approximate accuracy the steps in their progress. We have just seen (§ 46) that it was impossible for such an achievement to be reached while the tribes were still in their native seats with their primitive modes of life. On the other hand, it can be positively affirmed that every such national evolution was accomplished by peoples originally nomadic who came to dwell in cities, not of their own building, but acquired by immigration or conquest, or rather by both combined. The most stupendous example of such an achievement among the Semites was the creation of the Caliphate by the nomads of Arabia under the impulse of Islam. Of still greater importance to the world, though on a very much smaller scale, was the occupation of Canaan by the Hebrews. But there was this essential difference Ixj- tween the two epocli-making movements, that the former was not a case of tribal federation after conquest, but of the partition of an immense portion of newly acquired territory among the leaders of the conquerors mainly according to historically recognized boundaries. In fact, we have to note, as a most remarkable phenomenon, that the only known voluntary associations of tribes thus coa- lescing to form a nation among the Semitic peoples were those formed by the Hebrew race. The Canaanites devel- oped only government in independent cities. The Assyri- ans and Babylonians, though they spread more widely, and continually conquered and annexed and organized, did not depart essentially from the same idea. The Ara- maeans of historical times might be expected to furnish examples most nearly parallel to the movements of the Hebrews ; but when and so far as they left their encamp- Cii. Ill, § 48 HEBREWS AND THEIR KINDRED (H merits and trading-posts, they fell into line with the nor- mal Semitic habit, and manifested their political aptitudes by building up great inland commercial cities like Ilaran and Damascus; and their numerous kingdoms, east and west of the River, were, as far as we know, developed ac- cording to the general Semitic analogy from important centres such as these. All the more noteworthy, there- fore, is the strong sense of brotherhood, the feeling of homogeneity, the consciousness of a worthy destiny, and, alx)ve all, the power of their common religion, which united the various scattered clans of the Hebrew race, and precluded their apparently inevitable disintegration. At the same time it must be rememl)ered that the antecedent conditions, without which the federation of the trilxjs into national unity would have Ijeen impossible, were the great and goodly cities which they had not built, and liouses full of all good things which they had not tilled, and cisterns hewn out which they had not hewn, vine- yards and olive-trees which they had not planted (I)eut. vi. 10 f.). § 48. The Hebraic peoples liesides Israel who eventu- ally realized more or less fully the idea of the nation upon the tril)al basis were the Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites. Of these, the Moabites were by far the most highly organized and the furthest removed from the nomadic stage. We cannot trace the development of Moab from the earliest settlement of Abraham's tent- dwelling kindred to the establishment of the kingdom. We only know that the Moal)ites were not the tirst to found cities on the fertile mountain sl(>i)es and tablelands east of the Dead Sea; that they had attained the status of a kingdom l)efore Israel entered upon its possession in Canaa«; and that this political consolidation was reached, not by the extension of the power of any of the numerous cities of that highly cultivated region, but by the unifica- tion of the clans which had gradually dis[)ossessed the pre- ceding Amorite colonizei-s. Still less do we know of the 'f i: if AMMON, EDOM, ISUAEL Book I > |: ; I 1 I* i It i ' I- ' frmndation and actual extent of the state founded by tlieir kindred, tlie Ammonites. Their little kingdom also preceded that of Isratl. They had few cities, and these were created in the interest of agriculture, an industry which was continually being recruited by colonies from the larger nomadic community of the eastern desert. Of the four Hebraic nations, Ammon Wios the one which was most purely a tribal development. Its paucity of fixed settlements and its tenacity of race feeling (cf. § 40 f.) alike attest its continual nearness to the origi- nal tribal tyi)e. The remaining community, Edom, was, with the possil)le exception of Israel, the most mixed in race of the Hebraic peoples, since it was perpetually al> sorbing members of one or another of the Arabian tribes of the vicinity. Its situation seemed little favourable to the establishment of a nation ; but like the other two kin- dred and rivals of Israel, it had attained to the degree of a kingdom before that people had given up its wanderings. The occasion of the growth of certain of its rocky fast- nesses into cities of note and long renown — such as Bosra and Petra — was not the pursuit of agriculture, to which only a limited area of the Edomitic territory was suited, but the necessities of trade, both inland and maritime. § 49. The gradual evolution of the Hebrew nationality from its primitive tribal conditions can only be learned from a close study of the historical process, as it is detailed in or may be inferred from the extant memorials. It will I)e sufficient here to point out that it embraced two main stages. The transition period was, of coui*se, the occupa- tion by the tribes or clans of their permanent home. This end was consciously attained less through a common national Hebrew feeling than through tribal interest ; that is to say, the history of the gradual appropriation of Ca- naan shows that what determined the policy and movements of the new settlers was mainly the impulse or ambition of single clans or families. Where the influence of the Cii. Ill, § 49 TRANSITIONS; THE JUDGKS 53 whole body of the people was particularly felt was in the atteini)t to secure for each section that portion of territory to which, for one reason or another, it could put forward the most powerful claim. The slow process of settlement and adjustment to the new physical and social conditions brought on the real beginning of governmental develop- ment. It may be called broadly the epoch of the "Judges." Its essential outcome was the consolidation of individual tribes, or sometimes of small tribal groups ; in other words, the subordination of the lately acciuired cities, with their circumjacent unwalled villages and fields, to the control of the tribes. The immediate occa- sion of this was the necessity of combination, in the lirst place, against the still unsuUlued Canaanites, and, in the second place, and principally, against the incursions and opi)ressions of powerful neighbours. This sense of a com- mon danger must therefore be recognized as the chief l)rovidential determining cause of the growth of Israel into a nation ; without it the people, unused to the luxury and ease of their new residence, would have fallen under the influence of local seductions to self-indulgence an POPULAR CHOICE OF A KING UUUK I of giadual growth and could he realized in the former functionary as well as in the latter. The distinction was clearly put in the ease above referred to (§ 40) when the kingly dignity was offered to one of the Judges: "The men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son and thy son's son also: and Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: Jehovah shall rule over you" (Jud. viii. 22 f.). The gist of the matter of the newly created mon- archy is expressed in the persistent plea of the people of Israel, disheartened as they were by the defeats due to disorder and disunion that seemed inseparable from the precarious dictatorship of the Judges: "Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we too may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out l>efore us and fight our battles " (1 Sam. viii. 19 f. ; cf. 5 f.). Th.'y still wanted a "judge" or "regulator," but he must be a permanent ruler and leader in war; and this was to h(^ secured by following the exam})le of the surroundi; ;> nations, among whom hereditary kingshi[) was universal. I have implied that the ([uestion of the degree of authority exerted by the king was at fii-st a secondary one. This is illustrated by the reception given to the warnings of the last great Judge of Israel, under whose auspices the dictatorshij) jiasscd into the mimarchy, when he foretold to them to what comi)lexion the monarchy would come at last (1 Sam. viii. 11-18). The main thing with the peojjle at the time was to have a strong reliable chieftain l)erpetually guaranteed. It is accordingly (juite natural that the lirst king beji'iMs his reign by exercising no greater authority than did his predecessors among the military judges; after his election as king he retires to his home with his connnission, ready to act when an emergency demands intervention (1 Sam. x. 20). How the hereditary princii»le loyally adhered to became the chief sourct! of stability and the great conservative inllu- ence in religion, morals, and political life, we shall see Ch. Ill, §52 ADVANTAGES OF THIS SYSTEM 67 fully illustrated in the succeeding history (cf. § 278); as also it will clearly appear how the simple and unexatt- ing rule of the king chosen from among his fellows grew in pcnnp and stringency as it became gradually forgotten that the establishment of royalty had been really a popular movement. § i»'2. The advantages of a decentralized system l>ased upon such antecedents and traditions, as compared with the Canaanitic and the Babylonian type of nionarcliical development, were very great as far as the chief ends of the speciHcally Hebrew institutions were concerned. In the first [)lace, a degree of local free(h)m and self-control cuulci be secured unknown in the rest of the Semitic world. The kings, indeed, came to l)e often harsh and exacting, but theii' [)o\ver was popularly understood to 1k' i)racti('ally limited to the regulation of military affairs and the raising and control of the revenue. The cities, being lu-itbcr autonomous principalities after the Canaanitic fashion, nor garrisoned towns held in subjection by force like those of the Assyrian cnipirc, were permitted to continue the management, through their own representative licads. of their local affairs of l)usincss and justi<'«'. ex('ej)t in cases involving an ajjpeal to the central autht)rity. Moic- over, since there went naturallv witli them the villaans, or Babylonians, to incorporate into themselves neighlM)uring tribes or families by peaceful means and by voluntary association on the part of the latter. This largely explains tlie numerical strength and the steady growth and vitality of the single tribe of Judah, situated as it was on the border of that great Semitic breeding-ground, the Arabian desert. It is true, on the other hand, that these tribal federations, even when organized kingdoms, had greater dithcult}-, through the absence of a strong central govern- ment, in securing and retaining large tracts of foreign territory and holding outside nations in vassalage, so that none of the Hebraic monarchies ever came near rivalling in extent and power those kingdoms whose central seats were the great cities on the Tigris and Euphrates, liut this disadvantage was, in the case of the Hebrews )iroi)er, a decided advantage for the fulfilment of their providential mission ; since through no other channel than a self- contained, politically unambitious, locally restricted oom- munit}-, could, in the old Semitic times, the simple and Cii. Ill, § 54 SEMITIC FEDERATIONS 59 pure religion of Israel have been conserved and conveyed to later generations of men withont destructive contamina- tion from the worldly forces that made for unrighteousness (§ 03). § f)4. To return now to the subject of the Semitic states as a whole, it will be proper to say a word upon their capacity for voluntary alliance and confetleration among themselves. Their tendency to permanent sepa- rateness, except under compulsion, has Ik'cu sufliciently indicated in the foregoing paragraphs ; but this must not be undei-stood as excluding the possibility of leagues and combinatirises of the latter. Like the pay- ment of tribute, this was made the subject of a special compact in the articles of submission. We have often thus to exi)lain the co-operation of states which are seldom or never found acting in voluntary concert. It is, for example, an anomaly in Oriental history to iind Ela- mites and Habylonians making an expedition in com- mon, and the memorable instance of that sort reconlcd in (Jen. xiv. is atcounted for when we remember that the latter were then under the dominion of the former. Kemarkable alliances recorded in the annals of the Hebrews iK^tween mortal enemies, such as those oetweer Northern Israel and ihe Aranueans of Damascus, and between Judah and ICdoni. may sometimes be thus explained. It is evident that this understanding l)etween vassals and 8U/,»'rains, when it was laitlitiiUy adiiered to, was a very effective instrument in the hands of powerful rulers for preventing combinations among the lesser states and securing their more ready submission. Kven when tiiere was no spt'cial recpiisition upon a tributary to sujiply an auxiliary force for the aijuy of the suzerain, the offensive and defensive treaty In-twi'cn them gave the superior his strongest vantage ground for the extension of Ids domin- ions. One instiujce mav illustrate tin- political inqiortanee of such leagues in general. Wlu'ii Sinaclieiil) «as under- taking the compiesl of Palestiiu*, it was impof»-«ible for Hezekiah and the other hostile jtrinces to bring all the Cii. Ill, § 66 SEMITIC CENTRALISM interested states into line against the invader. Ekron, for example, the eonciuest of which forms an important episode in the history, was one of the principalities which were under I)onds to Assyria. Its king remained faithful to his covenant; and though the people of the city were willing to join in the insurrection, their support could not be received till Hezekiah had dethroned him and carried him captive to Jerusalem. It was in fact mainly thrttugh such c(«iditions as these industriously brought about by themselves, that the Great Kings were enabled to conquer the whole of the western lands. S 56. Sufficient has now Ijeen said to show the lack of permanence' and solidity in almost all jiolitical c(mibina- tions found among the Semites, except those baseroportions the power they had conferred. He did not understand how to admin- ister the affairs of his dominion ;is a wliole, so as to preserve permanently tlu! true and fair Ijalance between the supreme power, as exercised by his representative officers, and the rights and privileges of the local authorities who were properly responsible to the individual citi/ens. Thus it hapi>ened that in this very best exami)le of a Semitic nation, centralism, so dreaded by the guardians of its honour and welfare (§ 52), bj'came too strong for the native instinct and passion for individual and civic free- dom. If now we turn to the most highly organi/.ed type 62 CONTRAST WITH ARYAN SYSTEMS Book I I • ■d ■ I' ! »'■ of Semitic government, the Assyrijin or ChaUljuan em[)ire, we find that the self-asserted authority over the subject nations and provinces, when vested in representative officials of one rank and another, was not really transferred to them in any sense or degree; that they weie rather instruments than agents or delegates of .the autocratic head of the state. These functionaries, for exami)le, whose titles we are obliged to translate by "viceroy" or "gov- ernor," were not vested with anything like the independent authority wielded by a Roman prefect or even a Pei-sian satrap, and hud little analogy with tae governors of a modern British colony. The whole army of adnunistrators, of greater or smaller jurisdiction, were api)ointed and main- tained chiefly for the purpose of looking after the royal revenues and preserving the peace. The Assyrian state was in its ordinary functions a great tax-raising institution, kept running by the same military force that had created it. If the Assyrian despots had been capable of relaxing the liarslincss of their rule through power constitutionally delegated to representatives in the subject states, as was done b}' their successoi's, the Persian monarchs, the his- tory of Western Asia might liave been very different. I need onl}' recall the deportations and captivities of Israel and Judah and contrast tliera with the measures proclaimed in the [jroclamation of Cyrus and with the mild rule of the Tirshatha, to show the historical l)earings of the conditions just descrilwd. For though the Persians did not advance Ixiyond the Asiatic or what Aristotle calls the "Iwrbaric stage of monarchy;" and though unlike the self-governing connnunities of Greece and Rome they gave the [)eople no share in the work of government, yet it was an unspeakable boon to Western Asia that their conciueroi-s knew how to relax the severit}' of despotic rule by divid- ing its force in the operations of government and thus diminishing its [)ressure. § 5". I have attempted to give a superficial explana- tion of the comparative failure of political institutions Cn. Ill, § f)7 KINGS THE KEGEXTS OF THE GODS M among the ancient Semites. To account fully for the phenomenon, that a race otherwise so highly gifted should come short in this respect, would be imi)ossible without a summation of the results of an inc^uiry into their history. But it is proper here to cite one main and thoroughgoing principle of the Semitic ccmception of the world and of society, which may go far towards clearing up the ditti- culties of the (question. I mean the belief univei-sally cherislied by the race that the Deity is the real actor or agent in human affaii-s, and that men who are under due subordination to the Deity or in harmony with his purposes are the proper instruments of his will. Applied to the sphere of government, it means tliat the Semitic rulers rejr»ided themselves as being merely the vicegerents of the gods. Now as each community among the Semites was originally an aggregation of people bound together not primarily by political but by religious bonds, that is to say, by the possession of certain beliefs and the worship of certain divinities (§ 30), it followed that whatever rulers came to administer its affairs believed that in their actions, and in theirs alone, the will of the gods was Ijeing executed. This fundamental notion was encouraged rather than depreciated by the develo[)ment of the primi- tive communities into independent monarchies; and the greater the power and influence exercised by any ruler, the more reasonable and judicious was the custom, uni- vei'sal with Semitic monarchs, of ascril)ing all their achievements and merits to the })atronage and inspiration of their favourite diviiities. The elaborate setting forth of their close relations with the deities of the land, and of their commission as the ministers and favourites of Asshur, Bel, Nebo, and the other members of the pantheon, which forms the stereotyped introduction for a thousand years and more to the royal annals of Babylon and Assyria, and which at fii-st sight seems infinitely absurd, as a very delirium of vainglory, is thus easily and naturally accounted for. A specimen phrase such as the following : nr I''' 1 64 DIVINK AGENCY NOT DKLEGATEl) BOUK I "The god Adar, the giver of the sceptre and of judgment to all and every city" (AN. I. 4), helps one to under- stand how divided or delegated power wius to these typical Semitic rulers a thing impossible. When we look more closely at the origin and growth of this phase of the divine right of kings, we get a clearer view still of the whole matter. Each independent state had for its chief one who was head of the ruling family (§ 30). As the representa- tive of his god or gods, he fultilled the function of priest as well as king, offering sacrifices as well as judging and ruling. Thus we find that the earliest kings of Assyria lM>re a title which means "a sacrificer " (§172), and that the later monarchs retained the title as well as the function, so that a puissant ruler of the ninth century n.c. 1 toasts that his priestly office was established forever by the divine oracles (AN. I. 25). Just so was it with Melchi- zedek, the priest-king of old Jerusalem ; and we find the same tendency manifested in theocratic Isniel in the case of Saul at Gilgal (1 Sam. xiii. 8 ff.). Again, one of the chief practical functions of Semitic rulere was to extend the sway of their patron deities ; and as this was mainly accomplislied through military concpiest, it followed that the king as the representative of his gods could not delegate his function even as a winner of victories to any subordinate. Accordingly, while a commander-in-chief of the army under the sovereign was a necessary officer of the state, it was not expected tliat he would claim any suc- cesses for himself. Thus the Assyrian annals ascrilnj the conduct of campaigns, the plans of Inttles, and the subju- gation of hostile territory, exclusively to the monarch, wlu) is also represented as the author of the records, which as a rule [n'ofess to commemorate his acliievcments alone. For the sake of comparison, I may cite the case of David's general, who was so scrupulously careful not to take to himself any of the glory of the conquest of the capital of Ammon, that he insisted on having the king present as a matter of form at the final assault (2 Sum. xii. 20 ff.). Ch. Ill, § 60 KELIGION TlIK roLITlCAL UA«IS eft § 58. Iiiiisinucli iM politics and ruligioii weru so iiisepanibly intertwined in the history of the Semitic peoples, it may not be amiss to point out more fully what has already been freijuently suggested, that religion fur- nished the fundamental unifying and dividing principle among their various eonnnunities. Language and race were in ccnnparison things entirely secondary. All the Semites knew, even from their cognate types of language, tliat they were originally of one common stock ; and yet some of the most bitter and bloody wars that ever cursed the earth were waged Ixjtween Semitic pei>ples fully con- scious of their kinship. The lines of demarkation were drawn, just jus in the early eonnnunities of (ireece and Italy, by woi's]ii[» and ceremonial. The very existence of a nation, as well iis its jiower for self-defence and aggres- sion, was felt to be dependent on its solidarity with its god (see 2 K. xviii. 22; cf. 1 K. xx. 23, 28). Tlie same general fact is indicated in current phnuses (Ruth i. 1(>; 1 Sam. xxvi. lU), which imply that a transfer (»f residence to a foreign country involves the adoption of another god. The notion of special proprietorship in certain gods was carried so far that a people transplanted to a strange terri- tory was not expected to prosper unless they a ff.). .\ full appreciation of these and kindred facts is the master-key to the chief problems of Semitic life and history. § o9. Thus the mutual obligation of worship and protection Initween llie people and their national god was one of the chief bonds of union in every Semitic com- numity. But we have here, as well jis in other ancient races, tlie i»aradox that in most Semitic states, along with the deities witli whom the national worship was mainly associated, f»ther gods were often recognized and honoured. In other words, we find here not only a popular but a state l)olytheistic system, whose complexity is l>ewildering and whose origin is somewhat obscure. There can \h' no doubt, however, about the underlying principles and ante- v] <^ /a ^ EMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 2.5 >? ilM IIIII2.2 I.I lilU ilNO 20 1.8 1.25 1.4 111.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation // (/ ./. ->" mp. 2 RANGE OF HIS DOMINION 1U3 is also indicated by these tokens. It is probable that, just iis West Arabia was coveted and occupied by the Egyp- tians in very early times (§ 134), for the sake of its mineral productions, so in the east of the peninsula, similar enterprises were conducted by their rivals in the work of civilization. Even more striking, if possible, is a memorial of Naram-Sin found in the island of Cyprus, a cylinder-seal^ thus inscribed: "Mar-Ishtar, son of Ilu- brdit, servant of (the god) Naram-Sin." If this is the same famous ruler, the possessor would perhaps be a general or viceroy of the Babylonian potentate, who would accordingly seem to have continued in the West-land the domination maintained by his father Sargon. Finally, it is to be said that two brief inscriptions of Naram-Sin were found by the Pennsylvania expedition at Nippur,^ describ- ing him as a temple-builder to Bel, the tutelary deity of that city (§ 94). Another has also been unearthed at Telloh (§ 95). From these it is certain that his dominion embraced Central and Southern Babylonia, down to the shores of the Persian Gulf, — a fact which is already implied in his subjugation of Magan, still further south. § 92. We are now prepared to inquire further into the character of this first great empire of the Semitic race and of the world. It was apparently founded, or at least enlarged to its imperial magnitude, by the great Sargon himself. According to the autobiography (§ 89) his father was of obscure origin, so that he does not care to name him in his memoirs. But he was not always so unfilial, as we learn from one of Hilprecht's inscriptions, ^ where he calls himself the son of Itti-Bel ("With Bel"), a good old Semitic name, which meets us three thousand years later in the Book of Kings (1 K. xvi. 31), the Ithobal of Josephus. 1 TSBA. V, 422, 441 f. cf. Hommel, GBA. p. 309. On palreographic grounds, Hilprecht (OBT. I, p. 22, n. 6) thinks the cylinder cannot be earlier than 2000-1500 b.c. The (deified) Naram-Sin of the inscription is still a puzzle. - OBT, I, p. 18 f. 3 OBT. I, PI. 2 ; cf. ibid. p. 16 f. Il 11 ' (1 il I I' lit 1: E. 1 t l;i 11 Hi' 104 SARGON AND HIS EMPIRE Book II His own name is not so clear in meaning. I have assumed (§ 89) that he is the same ruler who is called " Sargon " (Sar-kenu^) l)y Ni\bonidus, and there never could be any reasonable doubt of this identity, though the name of our hero is written in these old documents Nar> 118 Vn OK THK CHALDKKS Book II I'' '\ ■■' I I- 4:t d ,1 ! il.i I ' ., [J M ;u ■ famous city. " Ur of the Chaldees " is the name by wliich the home of Abralnim's ancestors is called in Genesis, in allusion to the people wlio were in power in that region at the time of the composition of this section of the hook. Hut in the age of the world of which we are now treating, the Chaldees, if they existed at all as a separate people, were only known as an insignificant clan. It was not till about two thousand years later that they are mentioned in the annals of tlie country, though they came in course of time to found the most powerful and opulent empire that the ancient Semites ever established. Ur is now repre- sented by the extensive ruins of Mugheir (t.e. "place of bitumen"). Its situation marks it as having been in its time the most important commercial city of Lower Baby- lonia. It lay on the southern bank of the Euphrates, the nearest city of Babylonia to Arabia, and accordingly the entrepot to the important trade with the interior of that vast region. It was also one of the chief gulf ports, answering in this respect to Basra of the i)resent da v. The great canal Pallakopas ^ flowed past it, connecting it directly with Babylon and the Gulf; while two other large canals, represented by the modern Shatt-en-Nil and Sliatt- el-Hui, united with the Euphrates in its neighbourhood on the northern side of the river. Commensurate with its connnercial was its religious importance. As the chief seat of the worship of the Moon-god Sin, the patron of travellers and merchants, it was to Babylonia what Harrfin (Haran), the greatest inland trading-place of all Western Asia, and, moreover, a pilgrim shrine of the same imme- morial Semitic deity, was to Mesopotamia (§ 75). § 101. Under " Ur-gur " (perhaps to be read Amel-Ea^ "servant of Ea "), the earliest known king of Ur, that city had already attained to undisputed pre-eminence in Baby- lonia. Like the rest of his kind, Ur-gur was noted for temple-building, to which his extant inscriptions, found on the site of the several edifices which he commemorates, 1 Probably the " Pishon " of Gen. ii.; see Par. 73 ff. Cm. II, § 101 EXTKXT OF ITS DOMAIN no refer witliout exception. While several of these have been found in the mound of Mu^dieir, which marks the site of the great tem^jle of Sin, others have been unearthed at Erech, the city of Ishtar, Larsa, the chief seat of the Sun-god in South Babylonia, and Nippur, the favourite abode of Bel (§ 94). Nippur, on the border of North abylonia, was therefore under the control of the kings of Ur, as the favourite title, added to the designation " King of Ur," clearly attests. I refer to the famous formula " King of Simmer and Akkad," whose significance will bo considered later (§ 110, cf. 102). Their jurisdiction over North Babylonia must have amounted to some form of permanent suzerainty. A more definite idea may be ob- tained of conditions nearer home; for the impartial devo- tion to the local cults, just alluded to as being manifested by the kings of Ur, is a proof of a political consolidation of the leading cities such as had been already exemiditied on a smaller scale by Lagash. — A word should be said here of these ancient centres of civilization. Erech was one of he most sacred of all cities to the ancient Babylonians. The special form of the name we get from the rec^eived Old Testament text, where it is mentioned along with Babylon, Akkad, and Calneh, as one of the principal seats of the dominion of Nimrod ((xen. x. 10). The ancient Baby- lonian name was Uruk^^ which may also have been the form of the word in the original text of Genesis, as it is confirmed by the ^Opex f>f the LXX and the classical 'Opx^oVi fis well as the modern Warka which stands on its site. It lay on the northern side of the Eu[)hrates, between the river and the Shatt-en-Nil, about thirty miles northwest of Ur. As the first large city of South Babylonia to be reached in the descent of the Eu[)hrates, its intercourse with North Babylonia was close and frequent. But the strongest bond between Erech and the rest of the whole 1 The Massoretic fonu appears again in tlie adjective, Ezra iv. 9 (E.V. Archevites !), and singularly enough a late Assyrian form (cf. Par. 221) agrees with it. Does the word in Genesis represent a late tradition? k i \ i i i • fi' l< ... U\ ' Ji I :|i!'- k :i" i! i',: '•I •I 120 EUECH, LARSA, AND EUIDU BUUK II country was its worship of Islitar, the one universally adored North-Semitic female divinity. She was here reverenced and served under the name Nana, as in Akkad under the title Anunit (§ 94). An evidence of the prestige of this immemorial shrine is the care with which the lords of Ur maintained and frequented it; but the most signal indications are those furnished by the hymns and the epic poem which became a part of the rational literature, and in which the sufferings of the people of Babylonia, under the galling yoke of the Elamites in the twenty-third century B.C., are imaged forth in the devasta- tion of Ereclj and the anger of the exiled goddess (§ 107). The extensive site of the city, crowned by the lofty ruins of the magnificent temple of Ishtar, have not furnished historical material proportioned to their importance. Some of the inscriptions, however, are of great interest. One, with extremely antique characters, belongs to the early stage of independence before the subjection to Ur, and is further of importance since its language is unmistakably Semitic. It may thus be put side by side with the relics of the dynasty of Akkad as indispensable proof of the very ancient predominance of the Semites in Southern as well as in Northern Babylonia. — The city of Larsa lay not more than fifteen miles east of Erech, also on the Shatt-en-Nil, on the site of the modern Senkereh. It was to South Babj'lonia, in the religious sphere, what Sipjiar was to North Babylonia, the central seat of the worship of the Sun-god. Always of note in this respect, it attained also to high political influence at two periods to be men- tioned later. It was undoubtedly the Elasar of Gen. xiv. (§ 108 f.). Its temple of Blt-Samas ( = Beth-Shemesh) was famous, at least from the days of llr-gur, who was, perhaps, its founder. Some of the most famous monarchs till the end of Babylonian history were its zeulour restorers and worshippers at its shrine. — Another ancient city famous for its sanctity was Eridu, situated "at the mouth of the Rivers," the modern Abu-Shahrain. It was sacred to the good god Ea (§ 112). Ch. II, § 102 EXTENSION OF UR NORTHWARD 121 § 102. The dominion of the dynasty of Ur, which may thus be taken as the le^ritimate successor of that of Lagash, was continued by Ba'ukin (written Dun-gi), the son of Ur-gur. He also divided his activity between the care and patronage of Ur and of the subject cities. In addi- tion to inscriptions of his found in Ur and Erech, two have been unearthed in Cutha (§ 94), written in whole or in part in unmistakable Semitic. In one of these he gives himself the title of "King of the four quarters of the world." This remarkable title, borne already by Naiam- Sin, was the proper designation of the kings wlio ruled in North Babylonia, just as the kings of Ur called themselves "Kings of Simmer and Akkad" (§ 101). Now as the former designation is appropriated by Ba'ukin, we must infer that the present dynasty of Ur had not only become supreme in South Babylonia, but had fallen heir also to the old dominion of the kings of Akkad. There seems, in fact, to have been a temporary unification of the whole of Babylonia under the hegemony of Ur. That a similar state of things prevailed under the rule of Sargon and Narilm-Sin, with the leadership in North Babj-lonia, we have already seen to have been as good as established (§ 91). It may be remarked in passing that the kingly titles just quoted were assumed by the kings wlio ruled later in Babylon over a united empire, and that they were exploited by the kings of Assyria also, when they came to rule over Babylonia. In this, as often since and elsewhere in the world's history, reverence for the relics and associa- tions of a sacred antiquity was found to be a most excel- lent instrument of self-aggrandisement. A tradition, not altogether ignoble, was gradually established, that there could be only one rightful heir to the glory and sanctity of the holy Babylonian empire. Such a sentiment, cherished till the latest Semitic times, gave definiteness and coher- ence to the ambitions of successive rulers and dynasties, and made possible the permanent establishment of one great dominion in Western Asia. T 122 A TIME OF APPARENT DECLINE Book II i In !i § 103. However powerful this first dynasty of Ur may have been in Babylonia, we have as yet no trace of an extension of dominion to the far West or even beyond the limits of the River-land. Indeed, we have to wait for several hundred years before definite evidence is afforded of anything like the old world-subduing enterprise of the kings of Akkad. When we add to this that there was also, after the times of the rulers of Lagash, no progress made in the products of art, the significance of the long retrogression at once suggests itself. There was, it would seem, a period in the history of Babylonia between the fifth and fourth millenniums B.C., whose achievements were not equalled in the following millennium. It was not merely that the area of warlike enterprise was greatly circumscribed. What is more worthy of note is the decline in commerce and manufactures and in the resthetic arts. The subject is wide and vague, and easily lends itself to aimless speculation. Yet it is perhaps more than a coincidence that the creative period in Babylonia should have apparently been nearly contemporary with a similar epoch in Egypt, and that both of these eras lie on the border of the ages which we are as yet obliged to call prehistoric. § 104. The age of this dynasty of Ur cannot be exactly determined. We may, however, safely enough put it somewhere between 2900 and 2500 B.C. Thereupon fol- lowed a period marked by the transference of dominion from Ur to the important city of Isin, whose site has not yet been ascertained. Its rulers, whose inscriptions have been found in ^Nlugheir^ (Ur) and Nuffar^ (Nippur), call themselves kings of Isin as well as of Shumer and Akkad. They claim lordship also by various titles, over Ur, Eridu, and even Nippur, so that their predominance is unques- tioned. They seem to have drawn their origin from Nip- 1 Published in I R. 2 and 5 and IV R. 35. 2 Published in OBT. I, PI. 9-13. The posse.ssion of Nippur by these kings explains the title " king of Shumer and Akkad" (§ 110). Cii. II, § 105 ISIN, UR, ERECH, AND LAKSA 123 pur, since that city stands first in the list of subject districts,^ and Isin itself may therefore be assumed to have stood not far to the south of Nuffar. The last of the kings known to us bears the name iHme Dai "J 'I UV^ i T- fi' 130 SHUMEU AND AKKAD Book II respective literatures. It has been already stated (§ 80) that Shunier is generally held to have been a designation of Southern Babylonia. Yet, as a matter of fact, there is as yet no decisive evidence as to its location. The strongest argument for the current view is the fact that the phrase, "king of Simmer and Akkad," was first used by monarchs whose capitals, beginning with Ur, lay in South Baby- lonia.^ But there is really nothing to show that either Simmer or Akkad belonged to or included any portion of the south land.2 For Akkad, after what has been said above (§ 94), the notion may be dismissed at once. The simple facts with regard to the usage of the much mis- interpreted phrase are these. The kings of Ur of both dynasties, and those of Isin, as a rule, attach to their own proper titles ("king of Ur," "king of Isin") the additional dignity of "king of Simmer and ^Vkkad." Some of them var}' the decoration by employing instead the title " king of the four quarters of the world." When the latter is used, it simpl}' means that they claimed for themselves authority over at least the central district of the old kingdom of Akkad (cf. § 90), and not only so, but actually possessed it, as we have already seen was the case with Ba'u-kin (§ 102). When "Simmer and Akkad" is indicated, it also naturally means that the kings in question maintained jurisdiction over some territory additional to their own proper realm, for the title is never used by itself alone, as would certainly have been done if the dominion of " Simmer and Akkad " were an actual concrete monarchy including the central kingdom of Ur or Isin. What, then, is the 1 Set forth by Wiiickler in his essay " Sumer and Akkad" (1887), and in UAG. p. 05 ff., for the purpose of proving that the kinf?dom of Shumer and Akkad was of purely southern orif.in. Cf. also his GBA. p. 44 ff. 2 That is to say, unless we include 'Nippur (§ 94, 101, 104) in Southern Babylonia, as has usually, but erroneously, been done. But its position brings it into closest connection with Babylon and Akkad, and the pre- sumption thus afforded is confirmed by all recent researches. It was only after the decline of the northern kingdoms that it was attached to the southern, as being the city most accessible to the latter. r Ch.II. § 110 SHINAR AND SIIUMEU 131 region embraced under Shumer and Akkad? The answer usually given is to the effect that, while Akkad staiuls for North, Shumer stands for South Babylonia. But this inference is now seen to be wrong, from the simple con- sideration just stated, that the kings claiming this addi- tional title already ruled over Southern Babylonia. The mystification is aggravated by the circumstance that no geographical limitation of "Shumer" has jxs yet been found; the word, in fact, never occurs alone in the extant inscriptions, but always in connection with "Akkad." Indeed, it might seem that the double phrase was only used in a grandiose fashion, like the "Holy Roman Empire " of later daj's, to give dignity to territorial claims rather than to define their extent. Vet there Avas doubt- less a time when Shumer answered to a definite territory, and probably also a later time when "Shumer and Akkad " formed an actual monarchy. A conjecture rnay here be liazarded. We are as yet without information as to the condition of North Babylonia while it was still tiie seat of an independent monarch}', between the time of Sargon I and his successors, and the political rise of the southern states. This may very well have been the date of the kingdom of " Shumer and Akkad. " Shumer was, of course, territorially attached to Akkad, else the combination is meaningless. It was naturally also nearer the southern kingdoms than was Akkad, else it would not have been mentioned regularly before it. It lay accordingly in the neighbourhood of Babylon. As to its limits we can again only conjecture. It is very significant, however, that when Tiglathpileser III made his first Babylonian expedition, it ranged from Sippar to Nippur, and that thereujion he assumed the title "king of Shumer and Akkad" (§ 293 ),i just as " Arioch " claimed the same dignity when his juris- diction ranged as far north as Nippur (§ 108). Many 1 Cf. Winckler, UAG. p. 70, note 2. Winckler finds it remarkable that Tiglathpileser should earn the title by going no furtlier tlian Nippur ; and so it would be if Shumer were situated in Southern Babylonia. 132 SIIINAU AND BABYLON Book II m W till I' vv ■ 1 ii facts indicate the enormous antiquity of Nippur, and it would not bo surprising if it should turn out to have been the capital of the kingdom of "Shumer," which was so ancient that it was in historic times little more than the shadow of a name. § 111. Reverting now to Shinar, the presumptive equiv- alent of Shumer, it is to be noted that the Biblical writer does use this word with a distinct geographical accepta- tion. And here it seems to answer pretty much to what we have just conjectured to have been the location of Shumer. From Gen. xi., where the city of Babylon is mentioned as having been built "in a plain in the land of Shinar," one would naturally infer that the country in question lay in the ancient centre of Babylonia. From the account before us in Gen. xiv., it is apparently dis- tinguished from another kingdom, also situated in Baby- lonia, — at least if we are justified in making Larsa and Elasar one and the same name. And as Larsa was, in the Elamitic times, the centre of a monarchy including within its proper limits the more southerly portion of the country, we naturally think of Shinar as embracing the territory round about Babylon. At any rate, it is clear that it is the same sense intended by the writer in Gen. xiv.* The upshot of our inquiry, accordingly, is that the ally of the Elamites known as " Amraphel, king of Shinar," had his residence, roughly speaking, somewhere near the ancient site of Babylon, and that his dominion stretched as far south as Nippur. § 112. The earliest history of Babylon, the greatest city ever founded by the Semites, the largest and most opulent city ever planted in Western Asia, is lost in the obscurity which still involves the beginnings of the other 1 Gen. X. 10 may, perhaps, include a wider reference. Yet it may also be that the concluding words of the verse do not apply at all to the cities Babylon, Akkad, and Erech, but to " Calneh," to distinguish that city from the " Calneh," or rather Kullanu (§ 306), in Northern Syria, mentioned in Amos vi. 2 (" Calno," in Isa. x. 9). The site of the Babylonian " Calneh " is not yet known. For the supposed equivalent Kulunu, see Par. 225. Cii. II, §ll:i THE CITY OF BABYLON 188 fiiinous cincient communities whose fortunes we have been considering. The name is correctly given in the Old Testament as Babel. This word is explained by the sacred writer in Gen. xi. to mean "confusion "; and in the ideo- graphic system of its own people it is symbolized by two signs, which mean "the gate or city of a god" (^Bdh-iW), that is, "divine city." Most recent scholars are disposed to accept without question the correctness of the latter derivation, but it may possibly be only a convenient fashion of writing the name, and may rest on a popular but erroneous etymology.^ Other designations of Babylon found in the native literature distinguish this city as unique in its beauty and glory. The appellation most suggestive to Bible readers is the one which signalizes it as the "Grove (plantation, Paradise) of Life," and recalls to us not only the unparalleled productiveness of tlu^ surrounding region, but its situation in the centre of the district of Eden, where was the garden planted by God, in the midst of which was the tree of life.^ The patron deity of Babylon was Maruduk (^Marduk, "Merodach"). He was the son of Ea, the kindly god, the friend of men, the guardian of Eridu (§ 101), and was the bearer of his father's healing and comforting gifts to his suffering worshippers.^ His temple in Babylon was the august Blt-elii ("the lofty house"). The relationship to the South Babylonian deity may imply that the city was founded by a colony from near "the mouth of the Rivers," and it is significant that Merodach was a chief divinity of the Chaldieans also, — a fact which may partly explain the |P' ^tent and at last successful attempts of these dwellers ' he sea to get possession of Babylon in later times.* • Are not divine names used in such cases invariably those of individual deities, and not general terms ? 2 Cf. Par. OG * Accordinir the time of 8; the somewhir Babylon of 212. 8 IV R. 7 col. I, 17 ff. ■ the Omen-tablets (§ 00) Babylon was in existence in II. Hilprecht (OBT. I, p. 25 f.) thinks plausibly that faced inscription relates that Sargon destroyed the days. I 134 HOHSIl'l'A ANM) TIIK TOWKIl OF BAHKI. Hook II 'Hi I ilr ', Tlif I'iUiiiliiir ideiilil'u'.ation of Hel with hubyloii is to be oxpliiiiUMl l»y thu suucess wliirh attt'iidotl the eJl'orts of the jK'opltf of IJahcl to securo iiiul maiutiiin the hegemony of the whoK; SiMiiitic; realm, of whieh Mei was the traditional ethiiie deity. It is mmtuiessary to remark that this s|ie(;ial appreciation of Itel in liahylon did not ))rejndiee the (daiin of iiePs own eity, Nippur (§ 1)4), to be reeogni/ed per- petually as (he seat of his proper w()rship. Indeed, the assinnplion of the august lird-eultus was undtMstood to bring with it the obligation and privlege of jjroteeting Nippur, whieh wo may su[>pose to have been one of the lirsL of the more southerly eities to atdvuowledge the head- ship of liabylon. — Very elose to Babylon, on the south, hiy tht! city of Iiorsip[)a (^liarslp)^ which, in the days of the Chalda'an empire, came to be united with it in the same system of fortilications. liorsippa was famous idiielly for its magnili(rent temples. It was the special seat of the worshi[» of tlu! great god Nebo (iVCf. Winijklor, (JHA. p. .^r. f. * See Par. p. 217; agiiinst this view Iluinmul, OHA. p. 2;]2, and Cii. Il.§ 114 TIIK "KIN(J OF SIIINAR" i:jr> {5 ll.'J. Since now tho kintfdoni of " Ann'apli(!l, kin^ of Sliiiiiir" is to l>c Hoii^ht in North liiil>yl<»nia, iind pntlwihly ouibiiKied tlu) city of Miihylon (§ 1 1 1), it should hu possihlo to identify liis name with that of one of tho eontenipoiary riihii'sof that, city, if these <;an 1m! diseovered. Tliey have, as a niatUirof I'acit, been brought to lij^dit. Lists of ail the kin_L,^s of liabylon, with the length (»f tladr reigns and the names and duration of the reserv(!d in a fairly usable (Mtndition ; ' and with the ludj) of ehiono- logieal notices and references to early livents in the latiu* literatui'c, it is possible to arrive at almost tla; H n.c, as the closely a|)pro\imate limits of the duration of the lirst dynasty. Now we have already s(!en that the; I'^lamitic invasion of i"irech took place about -'28') (Jj 107), and a synchionism of the most satisfactoiy character is secured by a statement app(!ndcd to a contract-tablet of /fdiiiinurufn, oin; of the kings of this dynasty,'-^ found near Larsa, tlu; Klamitie- (capital, and dated in the year wht;n he gainiid a victory over the lord of Yamutbal (West Hlam), and ovei- King Arioch. Now this famous ruler appears from the list of kings just spoken of to have nugnc'd (!. 2l2 IT. ; Kaiilcn, Aw/nVw tind llnltijliinifii, cJi. v. ' TIh! texts arc |ml)li.slic. 22; more fully in Wincklcr, IIA(J. p. ll'»-117. Tin' (irst, franniiMts wcrt! Hivcn to lilt! world by (J. Sinilli in IH74. Tic stiliji-ct nf Ilahyionian ami Assyrian nlironolo^y is, as a wliulc, best iliscusscd liy Win(;klir in the woik jnstcitc'd (p. 1-4(1); cf.aiso Iloinint'l, (iUA. HHi If. ; Ticii', HA( ;.'.»:: If. Wincklcr is skeptical about the remote ilattf xssigncd by Naboniilus to Narain-Sin, but without K'">"1 reason fcf. § 8H). - IV II.' .10, Nr. 21. Homo expre-ssions in the inscription, which is written ideofrraplilcally, are f)f uncertain readiiif^ and meaning,'. Tlie general seu-su nmst bo an given above. Cuiup. KH. Ill, 1, p. 120-127. 130 BIBLICAL IDENTIFICATIONS Book II r 1 1 which is evidently based on documentary evidence, makes the "king of Shinar" to have been an ally of the "king of Elam " twelve years, and it is hardly to be supposed that a prince of the character and vast designs of Chammurabi (§ 117) would have remained long a vassal of the Elamites. The Babylonian king concerned is much more likely to have been the father of Chammurabi, and attempts have even been made to show a possible identity of their names. The ruler in question is called in the dynastic list Sin- muhallit (" Sin keeps alive "). Now there is some evi- dence ^ that one of the epithets of Sin was Amar, and if this is so, and if the epithet Amar was really used for Sin in the community whence the originr 1 of the Hebrew record was derived, it may be regarded as possible, after the analogy of other constructions, that the Hebrew form Amarpal was a corruption of Amar-muballit. The coinci- dence is at least striking, especially in view of the agree- ments between the records in other respects. The whole historical situation may be summarized as follows. About 2250 B.C., Kiidur-Lagamar (Chedorlaomer) was king of Elam, or more probably of the western portion of it, called in the inscriptions Yamutbal. He was presumably the successor and son of Kudur-Mabug, and, like him, main- tained his sway over Babylonia, with Ariocli as his vice- roy in Larsa, having also the kingdom of "Shinar" as a vassal state.^ This Elamitic occupation of Babylonia, North and South, did not last very long, and the con- querors apparently did not succeed in colonizing the country with people of their own nationality ; at any rate, as we shall see, the patriotic spirit of the Babylonians was not quenched by their oppressions. One of the means 1 IV K. 9, 19 f. Siu, in this passage, as tlie licrned moon, is addressed as a young bull, the ideogram for whicli has for one of its readings amar. Of. the name of one of the Icings of the second dynasty of Ur, which may be read either Bflr-Sin or Amar-Sin. See Hommel, GBA. 21.3 n. " This would account for the fact that the kings of Larsa could call themselves "king of Shumer and Akkad'' (§ 110 f.). Ch.II, §115 REVIEW OF CONCLUSIONS 137 employed by Kudur-Lagamar to aggrandize his suzerainty, as well as to consolidate his power, was to carry out the traditional policy of the leading Babylonian states, of spoiling and tolling the West-land with its precious woods and spices and minerals. So valuable to him was the occupation of Palestine that a revolt of the leading communities there brought upon them the whole force of the Elamitic army, together with the vassals and allies from far and near. The issue of this attempt was at first successful, and it seemed likely that the subjection of Palestine might be continued much longer, but the sur- prise and defeat of the victorious Easterners, upon their return march, put an end to Elamitic influence in the West. Not many years afterwards the Elamites were expelh'd from Babylonia itself, and the new native r<5gime was maintained by a ruler who found his account in con- centrating and developing the resourc^^s of the home land, instead of encouraging adventures in the Eldorado of the West. Further particulars of the rdgime of the foreigners we are not able to give (cf. § 107 f.). § 115. Before passing to the new era which was ushered in by the assured predominance of Babel, it will be well to cast a backward glance over the ground which has beer thus far traversed and to note one or two outstanding con- clusions. One thing that particularly strikes the attention and impresses the imagination is the enormous antiquity of the Semitic race. Here we have as our firm standing- ground the Semitic culture of Babylonia; and this we must recognize as a product of complex, slowly working forces. In 4000 R.C, Ave find spoken there a langujige differing in no essential respect from that used 3o00 years later, grammatical forms already stereotyped, and so char- acteristically develo[)ed by a long process of phonetic change as to be "/icogether beyond the range of direct comparison with the old Proto-Semitic types from which they spmng. The obvious inference is that this original Semitic speech must have antedated the historic Baby- 138 RELATIONS WITH THE WEST Book II 13. i < '■ Ionian idiom by an unknown period filled with a busy social and corporate life, whose only record and memorial are the transmuted words and sentences of the language which was its instrument and expression. Farther, the old common Semitic speech can be proved by the vocables found in all the great branches of the family to have been the idiom of a people already well furnished with the rudimentary appliances of civilization. The attempt to sound the depths of this vast and eventful Semitic antiquity must call to its aid, not sober historic induction and calcu- lation, but the imagination trained in the freer and less exacting school of prehistoric archaeology. § 116. We have already been able to obtain glimpses, as through rifted clouds, of the manifold life and activity of ancient Babylonia in certain great epochs in very remote periods of human history (§ 90 f., 97). One of the most surprising revelations thus afforded is the far westward extension of Babylonian enterprise and i! iluence. We found reason to assume that for a considerable period there was a suspension of these relations between the East and the West (§ 103), and it is not impossible that the most fruitful time of the Babylonian occupation of Syria, Pales- tine, and Western Arabia, until the days of the latest or Chaldican empire, was that which we are accustomed to denote as the dawn of history, — a time which has been itself pushed inmiensely farther back by the results of modern research. Yet the casual information of Gen. xiv. reveals a continuance of the ancient policy of interference in the West, indicated as though it were almost a matter of course. It is evident that we have here a i)lienomenon much more important than a mere fortuitous succession of actions ; we lijvve to reckon with it u, a chief element in the whole historical drama of Western Asia. As its results were most momentous in the history of civilization and religion, so we have seen its earliest traceable move- ments to have been portentously large and comprehensive. We are accordingly justified anew in attaching to it a Cn. II, § 110 UNCHANGING BABYLONIAN POLICY 139 constant importance, commensurate with its duration and tlie catastrophe with whicli it finally closed. The fact that the ruling power of the East always claimed the West-land for itself, will become continually more manifest as our history unfolds itself; but what is specially significant, even from the present partial and defective retrospect, is the priority of Babylonia in the assertion of such a claim, and its unforgetting watchfulness for chances to make it good. And so in after times, when the Assyrian heirs of the old Babylonian idea had realized the ancient dream for themselves and then collapsed in the ruins of their own greatness, the Chalda3ans of Babylonia, whom we are a[it to think of as merely imitators of the Ninevites in their Western conc^uests, did in reality not simply take up a policy devised by their predecessors ; they rather revived an imperial plan of action which had never really been relinquished by the kingdoms of the Euphrates. This conception of the unchanging perpetual relations of the East and the West throws a new light u[)on the wlK)le history of the ancient Semites in Hither Asia. It explains in the most satisfactory way how it is that in the literature of the Hebrews the leading place is given to the Babylo- nians and not to the Assyrians, though the former in Bibli- cal times had a supremacy of only seventy years' duration. But what we chiefly gain from it is a broader view and surer grasp of the long chain of causes that brought about the subjection of Syria and Palestine, the abasement of Israel, its servitude, its Babylonian education, its purifica- tion and deliverance (cf. § U3). 1 II ti CHAPTER III M: ' I! UNITED BABYLONIA § 117. Chammtjrabi, who has been already referred to as the liberator of Babylon and of the whole of Babylonia from the Elamitic yoke, was the sixth of his dynasty.^ An indication has already been given of the approximate date of the overthrow and expulsion of the Elamitic oppressors, which we may tentatively place at about 2240 B.C. Of the details of the ejection of the foreigners we know nothing. It must have involved not only the freeing of Babel, Nippur, and other northern centres, but successful attacks upon the Elamitic garrisons in Larsa, Ur, and the rest of their strongholds in tlie South. But even if we were acquainted with all the particulars of the battles and sieges which were the occasions of his military triumphs, they would add little to the renown of one wliom we must, recognize on higher grounds as being the most important historic figure in ancient Babylonia. He not only restored Semitic supremacy, but maintained it; not only emanci- pated Babylonia from alien laws and manners, but made it a nation. Before him there was no real Babylonia, because the Babylon to whose government he succeeded was a minor principality. After him, there never ceased, till the close of ancient Semitism, to be a Babylonia, in fact if not in name, because he made his capital the centre of the East. In accomplishing these great ends his policy was as far- seeing as it was beneficent. He took advantage of the 1 For his inscriptions, which are numerous .and v.-vhiablc, see especially MCnant, Inscriptions de Hammourabi, 1803 ; and KB. Ill, 1, p. 100 ff. ; of. § 113. 140 Cii. Ill, § 118 ClIAMMUllABI AND HIS DYNASTY 141 situation of Babylon to endow it with majestic works, which tended to centralize there connnerce, manufactures, science, and religious worship. Chief among the under- takings by wliich he aimed to secure perpetually the hegemony of Babylon, were palaces and temples and canals. To foster the worship of the national deities, Merodach and Nebo, he erected two famous temples: Bit-elu ("the lofty house") in Babylon itself, to the former; and Blt-kenu ("the enduring house") in the sister city, or suburb, of Borsippa, to the latter^ (cf. § 112). Perhaps the work in which he took the greatest pride, and which best indicates his perception of the true basis of tlie national prosperity, was a great canal, which he called "Chammurabi's canal, the enricher of the people," find for which he claims that it increased greatly, through improved irrigation and re- claimed arable land, the wealth and comfort of his people, under the blessing of Merodach. This achievenjent is connnemorated in a special inscrijition. A similar dignity and immortality is conferred upon another enterprise for the public weal, — a fortrest' on the banks of the Tigris, which seems to have been erected at the central point of a great embankment, to preserve the settlements along that river from the inundations to which they were periodically exposed. § 118. After a reign of fifty-five years, Chammural)i be(jueathed the crown of Babylon and the united kingdoms of Babylonia to his son Samsu-iluna (m.<;. 2209-2180). This ruler, reigning in the spirit of his father, develo[)ed still further the national system of canalization, and by strengthening his fnmtier against his hereditary foes across * These are usually read, according to the " liiemtic " values of the ideograms used in the writini? of t.lu! names : EamjUd and Ezida (Mie pre- fix e. in each case meaninR "iiouse"). As t(» siujilu, it is manifestly a combination of the pure Semitic words, mku and dn, botli meaninj^ " high." The second temjile is called MTt-kenu in VK. 00, II, 7, as the ex{)lanation of Ezida. For other temjtles of the same name, see ZK. 11, iiflO. Among temples restored by thia monarch was the renowned " Iiouse of the Sun" at Sippar (§ 87, 94). 143 LONG PEACE IN BABYLONIA Book II I ! the Tigris, secured the peace as well .as the continued prosperity of his subjects.^ Of the remaining reigns of this dynasty but scanty notices remain ; but the unbroken transmission of the regal authority from father to son, with an average of lengthy reigns, indicates that the times were peaceful and, we may assume, fairly prosperous. Five kings after Chammurabi, till 2098 B.C., complete the list of the eleven kings of this first dynasty, who reigned in all 304 years. § 119. The epoch made memorable by the deeds and enterprise of Chammurabi is followed by a period of 368 years, of the occurrences of which absolutely nothing is known, except the names and regnal years of another list (cf. § 113) of eleven kings reigning in the city of Babylon. In assuming the duration of this dynasty, and even its existence, our faith in the trustworthiness of the isolated record is put to a severe test, especially when the length of reign assigned to several of the kings is considered. For example, the first-named ruler is credited with sixty years of sovereignty, the second and sixth with fifty-five, and the seventh with fifty. We are bound, however, to give cre- dence to these carefully compiled reports, and it is an exceptionally pleasant reflection which we can make upon the dynasty as a whole, that the times must have been very peaceful when such security of administration was possible. But we find that the two reigns at the close lasted but six and nine years respectively, and this is perhaps evidence that the long tranquillity was disturbed by the foreign invadei-s whose predominance marks the following period. § 120. The foreign non-Semitic race, which for nearly six centuries (c. 1730-1153), from this time onward, held a controlling place in the affairs of Babylonia, are referred » For the main inscription, see KB. Ill, 1, p. 130-133, and ZA.III, 153. Contract tablets of his rei^n IV R.» 30, Nr. 45 ff. Hommel (GBA. p. 408) points out that these tablets show how real estate rose in value during these reigns. Cii. Ill, § 120 THE KASSlllTKS 14a f i to in the inscriptions by the name Kasse. These Kasshites came from the border country between Northern Ehim and Media, and were in all probability of the same race as the Elamites. The references to them make them out to be lx>tli mountaineers and tent-dwellers, — a circumstance which agrees very well with the indications that tlieir name is identical with the Kiaaioi of the Greek historians and geographei's,^ who inhabited Susiana, or Northern Klam. Apparently, then, they occupied both the slopes of Mount Zagros and the valleys and plains to the south, the former being the source of supply, and the latter the resort of predatory bands and adventurous emigrants, such as in the ancient East were continually descending from the rugged mountain chains to the more tractable soil and the easier conditions of living to be found in the lowlands. A special interest attaches to the Kasshites, from the circumstance that their name appears to be the same as Kos, the regular phonetic equivalent in Hebrew of the Babylonian Kus. Accordingly, the " Cush " of our mod- ern Bible translations (Gen. ii. 13) should be read " Kosh," and sharply distinguished from "Cush" or Ethiopia. Among the many tribes which occupied the territory adjacent to the Rivers, the Kasshites exercised the strong- est and most enduring political influence on the affairs of Babylonia, and, with the possible exception of the Ara- mieans, contributed most largely to swell its population and to modify the race characteristics of its inhabitants. Assuming the kinship, or, in the larger sense, the identity, of this people with the Elamites, we see what an immense tract of time was covered by the domination of Babylonia 1 Delitzsch, Par. 129; Oppert in ZA. Ill, 421 ff. V, 100 f., anrl .Jensen in ZA. VII, 328 ff. In spite of the assertions of the last two writers it is not certain, as yet, that tlie Koy foreign invaders. The act of Agum-kak-rime in securing their restoration was, of courae, a measure for Babylonia of self- ' VH. 33. See Delitzscli, Kossiin; W ff. ; Iloiiimel, (IRA 421 tY. ; .k'Ust'n in KB. Ill, 1, \>. 134 ff. ; cf. TSIIA. III. :!T:! If. IV. VW ff. Mlomuu'l (iHA. 424 f.; .Fnisi-ii in KH. III. 1 l.r. Ilommil tliink.i tii.it the name is connected Willi Hattr (Hettites) l)y the adilition of the feniiaiue emlinp;. If tliiH were prnv-jd, the factH above detailed would have great hiatoric uignitiuuuue. w lf> r 150 AN INVASION FROM THE FAR WEST Book II preservation, for without her gods lier autonomy was seri- ously impaired. Again, the rehabilitation and adornment of the statues and the emlnillishment of the proper temple of IJabylon (Bit-elu, § 117), which are described circum- stantially, indicate the unabated resources and accumulated wealth of the land which the Kasshite rulers were restoring to power. Finally, the deportiition of the precious statues to the region mentioned, and the negotiations for their return, furnish a suggestive glimpse into the relations between the Eiist and West. We have Ixjen accustomed to think of Babylonia as the aggressor in any sort of conflict with the Western peoples, and there is abundant evidence in monuments lately discovered (§ l.')3 f.), of influence widesi)read and profound, ane regarded as :•?« CHAPTER I PALESTINE AND ITS EARLIEST PEOPLES § 125. In connection with the early history of the Babylonian and neighbouring Mesoi)otamian lands, we had occasion to describe tlie territory lying to the east of tlie Euphrates (§ 71 f.). To tlie ancients, the dividing-line of the whole of Western Asia was the Great River' (cf. § 22). Hut with the making of the historic countries of the West-land the Euphrates had nothing to do ; for, turn- ing off sharply from the coast, it gave its waterways and its potential riches to the East. Of the immense region on the hither side of the River, but a small strip of high- land along the Mediterranean is to be taken account of for our present purposes, since the desert remainder was the home of Arabs, of the South Semitic stock, who only incidentally and in a very sul)sidiary wa}' contributed to the development of pre-Christian civilization. Closely associated in cultural develo^jment with this territory, was the island of Cyprus, mvirly as large as Palestine, within a day's sail of Northern Plujenicia. This ridge of land 1 The Hebrew conception is familiar from the frequent allusions of the Old Testament. The Babylonian view of the matter may be gathered, for example, fror. V H. 04, col. I, 41, where Nabonidus speaks of Gaza and " the Upper Sea on the other side of the Euphrates." 162 €h. I, § 126 THE COAST-LAND AND ITS PEOPLES 153 between the sea ami desert had not more than forty or fifty miles of average breadth, with a length of four hundred miles. It might \m divided roughly into four regions. In the north were the deep valleys and high mountains of the spurs of the Taurus range, chiefly Mount Amanus, reach- ing as far south as Antioch and the mouth of the Orontes Kiver. Then come three very remarkable stretches of high- land: the firat unequally divided by the Orontes, reaching as far south as Hamath and Arvad; the second more equally divided into Lebanon find Anti-Lebanon by the upper course of the Orontes and by the Litany, extending to the foot of Hermon; and the third cleft by the deep-flowing Jordan. With these four sections corresponds, in general, the popular and useful division into North, Central, and Southern Syria, and Palestine. How these districts came to l)e occupied in historic times we shall have occasion to mention later (§ 161 f., 201 f. ; cf. 24 ff.). In the earliest ages we know only with certainty of Canaanites and Amorites, as far north as Cujlo-Syria; and it is not until the Egyptian wars in Asia that we begin to learn vaguely something of the peoples of Middle and Northern Syria. § 126. A nything like exact knowledge of the ancient inhabitants of these regions can be gained only of the Cunaanitic bianch of the family (§ 24, 2t)). When and where they fii-st established themselves in permanent settle- ments are matters which elude, and perhaps always will elude, exact historical research.^ We may taki; for granted that the time was subsequent to the development of the country along the Lower Euphrates, « hich was naturally seized by the fii-st settled people of the raoe (§ 28), as being, among all tlu; regions ot'(Upie'! r.i 154 THE PEOPLING OF CANAAN Book III Nil a Large part of Palestine, at least, mfiy have been occupied by Semitic nomads, Ijefore land w.is cultivated and village life instituted in the valley of the Nile. The Semites who crossed the Isthmus and whose descendants, intermingling with an African race, became the ancestor of the historic ancient Egyptians, must have known of the fertile pasture- lands of Moab and Bashan, and we may therefore suppose that some of their contemporaries made at least a tempomry occupation of these districts. In fact, we may assume that the same influx into Palestine of Arabian settlers from the desert, which we know to have constantly taken i)lace in historical times, was begun and continued in the earliest stages of organized Semitism. But we would i)robably go very far wrong, if we were to imagine that Canaan was entirely peopled from this source. Apjirt from the prob- lematic origin of the Amorites (§ 131), we have to hold that the main stock of the oldest settlen\ents of Canaan was not of Arabian derivation. Just as in the later better-known times the immigrants from the South changed their language and their manners by being absorbed into the predominating Canaanitic [jopulation, so it must have been in prehistoric ages, else the charuitcr of the peoj>le of Cfinaan, their religion, and their institutions generally, would have l^een very different from what their whole accessible record shows them to have l)een. We have rather to rei)resent the i)eopling of Canaan as having Ih-i'ii effected from the North, and under the foUowiiiif general conditions. The ancestors of Canaanites, Aranueinis, and Babylonians alike, are shown, by the conclusive evidence of linguistic conimunity and similarity of institutions, tt) have once lived in close association as nomads in some portion of the ancient Semitic realm. According to our best light, their cam[iing-":round was northeast Arabia (§ 21). The Babylonians having utilized the Lower Euphrates valley, the Canaanites also iM'eame weaned from the life of the desert, and in the search tor the eonditi(Uis of a nnu'e settled habitation, they followed the Euphrates, Cn. I, § 127 THE TWO TYPES OF CANAANITES 1S5 and tiiially crossed it, being perha[KS pushed onward by their kindred of Arama;an stock, who followed in thc;r steps, but yet deferred till historical times their passage c f the River in a collective capacity (§ 201). The advanced sections moved on westward, and occupying the sea-land, became Fhoinician mariners and merchants. The succeed- ing Indies settled with their flocks and herds in the valleys and on the mountain slopes of the central highlands. The two divisions thus formed two types of people, though so closely allied in all the marks of unity of race. Which of the two bands or groups of colonists first developed into cultured city-builders we cannot as yet certainly tell. Of the Canaanites as a whole, we can speak negatively on this general question with some confidence. The rise of cities and the growth of a high order of culture wsis in this Mi'diterranean coast-land necessarily a very slow and grad- ual i)rocess, for the reason that large tracts of arable land do not exist in that diversified region; and agriculture, the necessary basis of a complex civilization, was always pursued there under serious disadvantages as compared with Kgypt and Habylonia. No important city, in fact, l)etween the Eiii)hrates and the Mediterranean, owed tlie decisive beginnings of its growth to the richness of the circumjacent soil. Carchemish and Damascus were trad- ing-posts, the latter in a sort of oasis; Tyre and Sidon were the product of a manifold commerce; and Jerusalem, as a town of more than triijal or sectional importance, was a creation of political and religious life. The (contrast with the old-time cities on the Kuphrates and the Nil<' is striking and obvious. The political and socii.l develop- ment of Palestine and Syria was accordingly slow; and whatever view we may hold as to i»riority in the initial stage, we have to concede that in culture and material prfygress they were in the earliest historical times left far l»»^liind by Egypt and Babylonia. J? I '27. Another consequence of the diversified character of the physical geography of this region was the fact that 156 DIVARICATION OF PEOPLES Book III it helped to prevent an amalgamation of the various tribes and races that settled in it. The highlands and the low- lands, the pasture-grounds and the wooded hills, the outly- ing wildernesses, and the well-watered mountain slopes and plains, not only gave rise to a great variety of pui'suits among the population, but served also to perpetuate local and tribal distinctions. Hence the bewildering classifica- tion of the inhabitants found in the earliest books of the Bible. The cleavage reaches much deeper than any popular division, such as that into peasants or " Perizzites," villagers or "Hivites," and Bedawin or "mixed multi- tude." The distinction between Amorite and Caiiaanite is, for example, consciously kept up by Old Testament writers (§ 134) ; and the separate existence of Moabite, Ammonite, and Edomite continued to the very end of Old Testament history. Thus the physical conditions of their habitat had as much to do with the nmtual repulsion of the communities of Palestine as had the political tendencies and traditions which they shared in large measure with the rest of the Semitic peoples (§ 35, 37). § 128. The geographical position of Palestine, ending as it did the long, crescent- shaped belt of habitable land that stretched from the Persian Gulf along the borders of the desert to the frontiers of Egypt, made it for long ages the natural goal of the militar}' and connnercial expeditions undertaken by the kings of Babylonia. Afterwards, when Egypt had come to be a leading power in the world, the same region offered a suitable field for the ambition of that monarchy, whose progress eastward was impeded, not by Canaanites alone, but by Hettites, Aramajans, and Assyri- ans. Thus Palestine came to be the chief battle-ground of Western Asia, just as in times much later it played the same passive but fateful r81e, as lying close to the great highway trodden by Pei-sian, Greek, and Roman armies, and, later still, by Saracens and Crusaders. Of great importance also was its interi.iediate position for trade and commerce. Not only in maritime enterprise, in which its Ch. I, §129 INTERNATIONAL KOLK OF I'ALK.STINK 167 few natural harboura made it a pioneer and a leader (§ 42, 66), but in Land traffic also, it long played a most influential even if auxiliary and intermediary part, since it furnished the high-road between Babylonia, Assyria, or MesopoUimia, and Egypt or Southern Arabia. It is obvi- ous, however, that unless their whole territory' were to lie compacted into a single homogeneous state, Palestine ami Syria could never hold a position in the affairs of the worhl e(pial to that maintained by Babylonia, Assyria, or Egypt. Indeed, the importance of the West-land lay in the fact that it was coveted and its possession striven for over and over again by each of these leading monarchies. Its advantages to any power wliich should possess or con- trol it are already indicated in what has just been stated. Its natural resources were not to be despised. But more important still were its seaports and its fortresses, by which the trade by sea and land could be secured and utilized. Any foreign state that took tribute from Damas- cus and Tyre made these communities its agents in tolling the richly laden caravans that did most of the traffic of Western Asia, and the "ships of Tarshish," which bore to the distributing-point in Phoenicia the costly freights of Western and Southern Europe. Again, the actual possession by Egypt, Babylonia, or .Vssyria, of sucii a fortress as Jerusalem or Samaria, guaranteed the absolute integrity of the intervening territory. Considera- tions such as these must be borne in mind in cojinection with the whole history of Israel, especially in their bearings upon its foreign policy. § 129. Who were the primitive inliabitants of Palestine it is impossible to determine. The Bible, which interferes in political history to tell in detail the story of Palestine alone, begins its continuous narrative at a comparatively late date in historic times, and alludes very meagrely to prehistoric conditions. Its statements as to early peoples and localities, supplemented from Egyptian and Bal)ylo- nian sources, we shall attempt to summarize in this and the irr- ' i J! :iii I I i! ^1' lii 168 PALESTINE AND ITS PEOPLES liooK III following sections. The country which we call Palestine, extending from Mount Hermon to Mount Seir, and from Hauran to the Mediterranean Sea, is parted into two great divisions by the valley of the Jonhm. This natural separation is recognized by the Old Testament, which calls the country west of the Jordan Canaan, and names the eastern section Gilead. There was no wider designation for the whole country than Canaan, and after the Ilel^rews had occupied it, the name Israel took its place, though not to the exclusion of the old appellation.^ Inasmuch as the Hible interests itself primarily not in places but in their inhabitants, the name "Canaan" is naturally to ha con- sidered as the country of the "Canaanites." This latter term normally takes the lead in the familiar enumerations of tribes and peoples which occupied the whole country before the incursion of the Israelites. We can therefore better understand its somewhat variable usage after we have defined the accom[)anying Gentile designations. It should be observed, in general, however, that for the <]uestion of priority of occupation of the country, the old Habylonian designations are of more signiHcanee than the Biblical terms, since they belong to a much earlier period. § 130. Along with the Canaanites appear the Amorites, Hettites, Ilivites, Jebusites, Perizzites, and Girgashites.'^ Of these the " Hettites " were small parties of colonists who, after their Northern conquerors obtained a footing in Syria (§ 157 ff. ), may have moved onward in detachments and settled in Southern Palestine. They never exercised anj' intluence as a people in the affairs of the country.^ The " Hivites, villagers," had their chief seat, according to the » .See 1 Sam. xiii. 10 ; 2 K. vi. 23. In Isa. xix. 24 " Israel " is evidently equivalent to " Ciinaan" in v. 18. •^ In (Jen. xv. 19-21, the usual group of seven is augmented to ten. The Hivites are dropped, and to the Rephaini who take their place are added, " Kenite, Kenizzite, and Kadnionite." See also Gen. x. 15-18. "In Josh. xi. 3, the I,XX read (cf. Jud. lii. 3): "Hettites under Hermon." With this compare the amended reading 2 S, xxiv. (5 : "to the land of the Hettites, to Kadesh." This shows that the Old Testament !!: Ill Cii. I, § 131 AMORITE ANM) CANAAXITE 159 received text, to the east and northeiist of Mount Ileiiuon.^ liut they had several cities in Central Palestine, notably Shechem and Gibeon.' Tlie " Jebusites " were merely the inhabitants of Jebus, the ancient name of the fortress of Zion. The "Perizzites " seem to have designated the peasants, or dwellers in the open country, as distinguished from the residents of the towns. Of the "(lirgasiiilcs " nothing is known,'' and they could have formed at most a very insignificant section of the people. The local and comparatively unimportant character of these tribes is thus manifest. Quite otherwise was it with the remain- ing memlxjr of the group, the Amorites. As the true relations of this people are difficult to determine, it will 1)0 well to see how they are distinguished in the Hebrew records from the Canaanites. § 131. The following is a fair sunnnary of a strictly Biblical investigation. First, "Canaanite" is both a geographical and ethnical term. Second, neither the land of Canaan nor the people are ever assigned to the east of the Jordan. Third, they are contined, as a race, to the coast-land of Palestine and the "Sidonian" country north of the plain of Jezreel, as far as the Jordan. Finally, "Canaanite" may be used for the inhabitants of any part of the land west of Jordan, or the "land of Canaan," even when the same peoples are elsewhere designated by their proper trikil or racial and local name. This usage may recofjnizes the other more influential llettite settlement outside tlie limits of Canaan, though these references are to be taken in a vague, traditional sense (§ 201). 1 Josli. xi. .'] (of. vs. 8, 17, 10) ; .Tud. iii. 3. But perhaps Hettites is to be read liere in eacli case. Cf. Wellliausen, Text Sumidlis, p. 218, and Meyer, ZATW. I, 120. - (leu. xxxiv. 2 ; Josh. ix. 17. In .Tosh. ix. 7 the people of Oibeon are called Hivites, but in 2 S. xxi. 2 they are recltoned auKjng the Amorites, It is plain, however, that here tlie term Amorites is used in the wide sense (see below), for the pre-Israelitish inhabitants generally of the central highlands. ' The " Gergesenes," Matt. viii. 28, is notoriously a false reading for "Gerasenes" — east of the sea of Galilee. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ^" IM 1112.2 2.0 ■AO 1.8 1.25 1.4 J4 ^ 6" — ► Photographic Sciences Corporation A ,\ S V \\ ^9> V 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 #, <> .^ "%" 4f s €p 160 CANAANITES WERE NOT AMORITES Book III 1 1 ;1 fairly be claimed to have a geographical basis. " Amorite, " on the other hand, is always a racial and not a geographi- cal expression.^ The Amorites are never placed in the coast-land, nor in any locality in the northern half of Canaan proper, nor in any of the great valleys^ or the lowlands generally. The places definitely assigned them are in the highest lands west of the Jordan. From their prominence in the early times of the Israelitish settlement, they are, however, sometimes used roughly for the peoples generally with whom Israel had to do east of the coast- land. Yet the two terms are really not coextensive or interconvertible beyond definable limits, as is shown by the fact that while " Canaanite " is sometimes used for " Amorite " in the racial sense, " Amorite " is never used for "CciTiaanite " in the same sense. The conclusion would therefore seem to be justified that in the Old Testa- ment the two names answer to two distinct peoples, though it is impossible as yet to say with certainty how far the one was removed from the other in point of origin and date of settlement.^ As to the old theory that the Canaan- ites inhabited the lowlands * of Palestine, and the Amorites the highlands, it appears to correspond on the whole, how- 1 The Egyptian usage seems to confirm tills distinction ; for wliilc it is called pa Kan'ana, " tiie Canr.an" (an appellative), it is also called the land Amur, "the land of the Amorites." So apparently the Assyrian equivalent of the latter (§ 133). 2 Jud. i. 34 cannot be justly regarded as an exception, since the valley of Ajalon is 700 feet above the sea, and of small extent. 8 Too much stress cannot be laid upon the nomenclature of the ancient Babylonians as providing criteria of relative antiquity among the peoples of Western Asia. Now it appears that they callec. the country " the land of Amur" (§ 133) from the earliest times, while "Canaan" was disre- garded by them. Hence we may assume, in the mean time, that the Amorites occupied and gave distinction to Palestine before the entrance of the Canaanites. The Egyptian names furnish no ground for an opinion either way. * Professor G. F. Moore, in PAOS. 1890, p. 67 ft., disproves the old theory that ]Vi'3 means " low country." This derivation has long been considered dubious, and etymology la naturally a very subordinate kind of evidence here. Ch. I, § 132 EGYPTIAN NOTIONS OF PALESTINE 161 ever casually, pretty nearly with the Biblical state- ments.^ § 132. A few words will suffice to set forth the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian conceptions of Palestine, Syria, and their peoples, as far as our meagre knowledge extends. Naturally we learn of Western Asia from the Egyptian monuments only after it was brought into close relations with Egypt, that is, only after the days of the old empire of Memphis. The name Zalii seems to have been employed to designate the whole region between the southern border of Palestine and the Euphrates, while various appellations were given to its several natural divisions. Palestine was known as pa Kanana^ "the Canaan," also Rutenu. The latter, a favourite name, having been extended to the whole of Syria, a distinction was made between " Upper Rutenu " or the high lands of Palestine, and "Lower Rutenu," or the low lands of Syria proper and Cffilo-Syria. The latter region was also, in the Hettite times, called "the great land of Hetta,'^ but this is scarcely a geographical term in the strict sense. The Phoenician coast-land was called Kaftu. Edom was known as Adem as early as the twelfth dynasty. Western Mesopotamia was referred to under the Aramaic form Naharain, the well-known Biblical C"'"in3i the same country, virtually, which its inhabitants in the fifteenth century called Mltdni. The peoples inhabiting these districts were denominated in general ^w?* ^ — possi- bly a relic of the old Egyptio-Semitic times. The Bib- lical Amorites are recognized in the phrase "the land of ^mwr." Another designation of the people of Palestine 1 This view is still maintained by some careful modern scholars such as George Adam Smith (Historical Geography of Palestine, in Expositor, 181)2). The whole theory of a distinction between the peoples is rejected by a group of distinguished critics in favour of the opinion that " Canaanite " and "Amorite" virtually mean the same thing, the two words being used by two different authors of the Hexateuch. The influence of these authorities is so great that it will be necessary to make a fuller statement of their main positions. See Note 4 iu Appendix. 2Cf. Hebr. DI7, "people"? m % m li! T t 1 II 162 BABYLONIAN NOMENCLATURE Book III is Haru.^ The inhabitants of Kaftu, or Phoenicia, are called Fenhu (cf. ^oiviKe as we find that Pepi (c. 2600), in the Sixth Dynasty, had to make a large levy of troops among the subject people of Nubia, in order to contend in Asia with great Semitic hordes whom he succeeded in subduing in five successive campaigns. § 135. Quite different was the history of Egypt's earli- est associations with Palestine. We know of no attempt on the part of the rulers of the Nile Valley to occupy by force or otherwise any part of the land of Canaan up to the time of the regime of the Hyksos, who were themselves of an Asiatic origin. That they had, however, an interest in the country from the time of the foundation of their own empire is morally certain. The caravan traffic, passing from Southern and Western Arabia through Palestine and Syria, with Babylonia as its main ultimate destination, formed a motive for Egyptian concern in Asiatic affairs which co-operated with the natural desire to secure a share of the products of Palestine, as well as of the growing maritime trade of the Phoenician cities. At first, doubt- less, intercourse with Palestine was carried on indirectly through the medium of foreign caravans; but in the Twelfth Dynasty we find clear indications of lively and close communication. 1 But while the Egyptians do not appear to have attempted an occupation of Palestine till a comparatively late period, the inhabitants of the latter country seem to have joined Avith the peoples of Arabia from much more remote times in their incursions into the Delta. We learn, for example, that in the Ninth and Tenth dynasties (c. 2300) a great invasion of Egypt was made by the Amu, or Palestinians, and the Shasu, and that the country was for a time actually under their con- trol. ^ The prosperous times of the renowned Twelfth Dynasty (c. 2130-1930) were followed by a period of 1 See Meyer, GA. § 98. 2 Nearly coincident in date with the Elamitic and Babylonian invasions of Palestine (Gen. xiy. § 109 ff.). May not the one have been the occasion of the other ? Cii. II, § 136 THE SHEPHERD PRINCES 165 ith of ions sion anarchy, and then came the rule of the " Shepherd Princes," or Hyksos. . § 136. The invasion and domination of the Hyksos, so memorable in Egyptian histoi-y, are chiefly of interest to us here in as far as we can trace among this famous people a Canaanitic intermixture. That the Hyksos were Semites of one sort or another is not certain, but is very probable. At any rate, there followed in their train a multitude of Canaanites, lured on, with other tribes, by the promise of a wholesale invasion of the richest and most assailable of the Western lands. And these immigrants formed the controlling element for centuries in Northern Egypt, and left deep traces of their occupation upon the subsequent history of the whole country. Hereafter, Canaanitic proper names abounded in Egypt; the language took up many Canaanitic words, and deities worshipped by the same race came to be honoured throughout the entire Nile Valley. Antecedently, one would be inclined to assign the Hyksos to the Semitic race, unless Ave assume without any warrant that these adventurers came from beyond the Taurus or the Tigris, since the whole country from the Great Sea to the mountains of Media, and from Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean, was in the exclusive possession of Semitic peoples. In fact, the second part of the Greek word Hyksos has been plausibly associated with the Sasu ; according to Manetho,^ the whole word means " Princes of the Shepherds " (Eg. ^e^ = " prince "). It is, to be sure, difficult upon this hypothesis to explain the supposed representations of the Hyksos kings on the contemporary monuments, which show a physiognomy of broad faces and upturned lips unlike that of any branch of the Semitic race. It is not certain, however, that these monuments, which are very few, do really represent the "Shepherd Princes." Some authori- ties regard them as standing for the original inhabitants 1 Josephus against Apion, ch. 14. Hyksos should be Hykusos, that ia the singvilar was written by mistake for the plural "Princes of the ■ I 170 DEVELOPMENT OF PALESTINE Book III the costly woods that were destined for the architects and cabinet-makers of Babylonia and Assyria. From Hamath the main caravan route was followed through Aleppo and Arpad to Carchemish, on the western bank of the Eu- phrates. Crossing the River, a course nearly due east was taken. The principal stop in this main section was made at the "Great Road" city,^ as the Babylonians called it, Charran, the central meeting-place of cattle-dealers, spice- traders, jewellers, merchants, and negotiators of all sorts, and of all tongues and nationalities, from north, south, east, and west, and the shrine of countless religious pil- grims. Further eastward still, the important city of Nisibis was passed; and when Nineveh was reached the route was practically ended, as far as Assyrian trade with the West was concerned. But the commerce of Babylonia, which was plied long before and after the rise and fall of Nineveh, claimed -ts great avenues of communication, and of these the Euphrates route was, at least in early times, the most important if not the one exclusively employed. Later also, in the times of Assyrian supremacy, it had to be followed in any case, on account of the rivalry of the Ninevites on the northeast. It should be added that the road from Damascus through Tadmor to the Euphrates, was in these early times as yet undeveloped (cf. 1 K. ix. 18; 2 Chr. viii. 4), and that at no time did it attain to the importance of the main route over Carchemish. § 142. For the next period, which reaches to the Hettite occupation of Syria (fourteenth century), we have much fuller and, in some instances, quite novel and surprising sources of information (§ 151 ff.). During the centuries thus embraced, Palestine underwent a gradual but very substantial development. The cities and fortresses, the conditions of whose establishments have been noted above (§ 139 f.), became, in accordance with the genius of the 1 The ideogram for Charran (harrdnu, pH, Xappav) is the same as that which signifies " highway." For the region see § 76. Ch. II, § 143 EGYrr REPLACES BABYLONIA 171 people (§ 37), the centres of a large number of independent principalities, disinclined to and usually incapable, of confederation, and offering a tempting and easy prey to the stronger united monarchies of the East and West. The religion and ordinary elements of culture of these communities were naturally Canaanitic; but their higher intellectual development was throughout the whole period distinctively and perhaps exclusively due to Babylonia. The foundat ons of Babylonian influence and culture must have been laid deep and strong during the dynasties of native princes, and a close communication, both commer- cial and diplomatic, must have been maintained during the earlier years of the Kasshite regime (§ 121 ff.). Other- wise the prevalence of Babylonian language and writing in the fifteenth century (§ 154) would be entirely inexpli- cable. Yet it is equally certain that, at least from the sixteenth century onwards, the power of Babylonia in the West was steadily waning, and since the petty states of Palestine were without cohesion or collective strength they fell into the hands of Egypt, which now for a time assumed the place of predominance once occupied by the empire of the Euphrates. § 143. The rule of the Shepherd Princes in Egypt was brought to an end early in the sixteenth century, after a prolonged struggle with the reviving monarchy of Thebes. The rejuvenation of the empire, due to the revival of the national spirit which followed the abolition of the foreign regime, was marked most distinctively by a new attitude towards the states of Western Asia. For- merly Eg3rpt had been the sufferer from Asiatic aggressors ; henceforth it became her policy to claim tan interest in Palestine and Syria, and to assert the claim by armed invasion whenever her resources seemed to justify the effort. This change of sentiment and aim was no doubt partly due to a reawakened lust of conquest and power, the reaction from the pressure of a foreign yoke. But the rulers of the Nile Valley had deeper motives and a further- m 172 AGGRESSIVE POLICY OF EGYPT Book III reaching purpose than the impulses of mere self-assertion. They not only dreaded a repetition of incursions on the part of the wild nomads who had almost robbed Egypt of her nationality and religion ; but they knew also that behind these Semitic barbarians there was an empire with . a civilization equal to their own in antiquity and virility, with a political system more manageable and coherent, by virtue of which Babylonia had already brought the fairest portions of Asia under control, and they felt that the possession of Palestine and Syria would not merely secure them against the return of the '' Shepherds," but serve them also as the very best possible vantage-ground for offensive or defensive warfare against their inevitable and permanent rivals. They thus made it their constant aim to push their frontier as far eastward as possible, and to convert the strongholds of their uncertain and dangerous neighbours into fortresses for their own protection. The control or chief profit of the trade of Phoenicia and Syria was, of course, also included in their plans. § 144. Egypt was delivered from the tyranny of the Hyksos by Aahmes I, the first king of the Eighteenth D3'nasty (c. 1580 B.C.). After driving the Asiatic allies of the usurping immigrants over the Isthmus, the advan- tage was followed up by a formal invasion of Palestine. Sharuhen, mentioned in Josh. xix. 6 as among the frontier towns of Southwest Canaan, and at this earlier date one of the principal fortresses of Palestine, submitted to the Egj^jtians, who proceeded thence to an attack upon Phoe- nicia, where they apparently met with little substantial resistance. This inroad, however, did not result at once in permanent occupation. It rather prepared the way for a subsequent course of conquest and annexation. " This Asiatic campaign had shown the Egyptians the way into Asia. The wars had also trained generals and armies, and Aahmes' successors saw to it that neither deteriorated. A new spirit had come over the once peaceful people, and array after army set out on warlike expeditions. Amon Ch. II, § 145 INVASION OF MESOPOTAMIA 173 and Mentu, the great gods of Thebes, became war-gods, in whose names the kings fought their wars; and into the temple of Amon poured the lion's share of the booty won in war and the tribute wrung from conquered nations. The entire character of the wars, too, was changed by the introduction of the horse from Asia. The home of the horse was most probably the Turanian steppe. It was introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos. Horses were not used at this time as beasts of burden, but only in war and on the chase. They were not used in riding, but only to draw the two- wheeled chariots. These chariots were imported into Egypt from Syria, where chariot-building was a flourishing indus- try. ^ The very word for chariot — merkabet — is of Semitic origin. This new arm entirely changed the character and dimensions of battles. Moreover, chariots and horses were expensive, and the charioteer required special training. These two circumstances favoured the formation of stand- ing armies and increased the advantage the greater states had over their smaller neighbours. These facts will account for the successes the Egyptians won over the Syrian states in the ensuing campaigns."^ § 145. The second king after Aahmes, Thothmes I, led a regular expedition through Palestine and Syi'ia. The objective point of his march was Mesopotamia, the meeting- place of all the great routes of traffic (§ 141). In his successful progress as an invader of these regions he crossed the Euphrates, and as being the first of the Pharaohs to accomplish this feat, he erected a commemora- tive tablet east of the Rivei , which at the same time was to indicate the extent of the Egyptian dominions. These incursions, brilliant as was their success, were, however, little more than forays, with plunder as their chief aim and result. Tribute was, of course, imposed upon the con- quered peoples, but as no army of occupation was left to m fcf % 1 Cf . Josh. xi. 4 for Northern Palestine. '■» Wendel, History of Egypt (History Primers), p. 67. 174 SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGNS IN SYRIA Book III IrtM ii ii ■i secure the fruits of the conquest, the compulsory loyalty of the new Egyptian subjects vanished with the disappear- ance of the invaders. The daughter and second successor of Thothmes I, an enterprising and ambitious queen named Ma-ka-Ra, signalized her reign chiefly by a large maritime commercial expedition to Southern Arabia, which returned with an immense freight of the products of "Punt," or Sheba, chief among which were spices, incense, gold, ivory, and curious animals. She does not seem to have interfered by force in the affairs of Asia. Her half-brother and successor, Thothmes III (c. 1520), who enjoyed a long reign, was the greatest of Egyptian conquerors. He was the first who really made determined and systematic efforts for the subjugation of Syria. The sense of danger aAvakened by experience of the new Egyptian policy had already led to an alliance of the various communities south of Hamath, at the head of which was apparently the king of Kadesh on the Orontes, and when Thothmes appeared in Northern Palestine their combined forces confronted him at Megiddo. Here was fought the first on record of those countless battles which have made famous that meeting-place of armies, and through which it came to be so appropriately typical of the horrors and desolations of war (Rev. xvi. 16). The invaders were victorious, and the whole of Syria and Palestine acknowledged the Egyp- tian rule. What is specially noteworthy is the further fact that the king of Assyria (§ 173) sent to the conqueror valuable propitiatory gifts, he, of course, as well as the princes of Babylonia, being now completely ruled out of the West-land. The rest of the fifteen Asiatic campaigns of the same monarch had most frequently for their object the putting down of insurrections. This task was the order of the day during the whole of the regime of the Pharaohs in Asia, on account of their lack of organizing faculty in the government of conquered lands, and also because the subject states (or rather cities, with their surrounding districts, § 38) were so heterogeneous and Ch. II, § 146 CLIMAX OF EGYPTIAN GREATNESS 175 scattered. Thothmes, however, succeeded also in extend- ing his possessions materially, not only gaining Carche- mish, the Hettite capital, but a long strip of country besides in Naharain, or Mesopotamia, up and down the Euphrates. Perhaps more important and more profitable acquisition was made in securing the control of the Phoe- nician coastland, its thriving seaport towns, including Arvad, Byblos, and Tyre, and its colonies in Cyprus. All of these yielded substantial addition to the royal treasuries and the priestly endowments. The wealth of the state, augmented besides by costly wares and precious metals from Nubia and South Arabia, thus became great beyond example. Not the least important of the acquisitions of Thothmes III in Syria was the daughter of the king of the Rutenu, who became one of his queens. This simple and obvious method of cementing alliances seems to have been the highest achievement of Egyptian diplomacy in Asia. It became the favourite practice of his successors, and formed the subject of frequent and often prolonged nego- tiations (cf. § 149 f.). Of little permanent consequence were the attempts made to establish the worship of Egyp- tian deities in various parts of the country, although at TunijD, a region in the neighbourhood of Damascus, the cult of Amen seems to have been kept up for a generation or more. The two immediate successors of this enterpris- ing monarch succeeded, by dint of frequent expeditions and harsh treatment of rebels, in keeping the conquered territory in tolerable subjection. Their reigns were short, lasting together not more than twenty years, and with the accession of the next in order, Amenophis III (c. 1450), we come to the turning-point in the history of Egyptian influence in Asia. § 146. In the introduction to this work (§ 11) occasion was taken to remark that the annals of the Semitic histori- ographers give us only a very general and inadequate picture of the real history and complexion of the times and events which they commemorate. The observation may ?.'' "I m''i M:. 176 SUDDEN LIGHT ON ORIENTAL HISTORY Book III be made still more emphatically of the Egyptian court documents, which by courtesy are called historical. For example, the adventures of all the Pharaohs in Asia are recorded in the same stereotyped fashion, each of their expeditions being represented as a sort of triumphal pro- cession, the invincible monarch doing everything in a large, irresistible, heroic fashion that precludes the variety and detail of circumstantial action, which give life and interest to all real historical narration. The quelling of stubborn insurrections, a drawn or more than doubtful battle, a foray for plunder or provision among defenceless villages, or a hunting excursion in the North Syrian forests, are all duly recorded and vaunted as glorious triumphs and conquests. As a matter of fact, the hold of Egypt upon Asia, which was never very sure, was steadily relaxing after the time of the great Thothmes III, though one would never have learned this from the records of the kings, which are, to be sure, quite meagre, and yet have nothing to report but unbroken success. We know how valuable for the purposes of historical research in any age ai 1 even a few specimens of contemporary correspondence. Such a desideratum has been supplied in the most satis- factory manner by the now famous collection of letters written upon the so-called Tell el Amarna tablets. These letters are worthy of the serious attention of all students of history, because they introduce us at once to the affairs of the most important peoples of the second millennium before the Christian era, and light up for us as by a single electric flash the obscurity which has hitherto enveloped the century in which they were composed. § 147. As far as Egypt alone is concerned, it is the reigns of Amenophis III and his son and successor, Amenophis IV, that are illustrated by the discovery. The latter (c. 1415 B.C.) was, in religious matters at least, the most remarkable of all the Egyptian kings, in that he formally cast off the prevailing worship of Amen, the supreme deity of the whole Theban regime, and undertook Cii. II, § 148 THE REFORMING KING OF EGYPT m to revolutionize the faith of the empire by exalting to exclusive honour Aten, the god of the sun-disk. In other words, he aimed to establish solar monotheism as the national religion. For this purpose he changed his name, the first portion of which was the name of the discarded deity, to Chu-en-Aten, "the lustre of the solar disk." Further, and what was of more importance, he removed the royal residence from Thebes, the capital of his dynasty, the sacred city of Amen, to a site almost exactly half-way between it and the ancient capital Memphis. Hither he brought the royal treasures and archives, and here he began the erection of a new and magnificent temple, which should be the centre and shrine of the new worship. Hand in hand with his efforts to advance the exclusive claims and prerogatives of the Sun-god, went on the suppression of the traditional faith and its observances, the destruction or defacement of the temples and monuments which were their outward symbols and embodiments, and the oblitera- tion of the inscriptions and sacred books which served for their authentication and regulation. There is no reason to doubt that the motives of the reforming king were pure and his views enlightened and profound, though we have no knowledge of the details of his belief or his work. His attempt was a splendid failure. He had not even time to bring to completion outward measures for the establish- ment and propagation of his monotheistic conceptions. His reign of about twelve years and his life were probably brought to an end by a revolt against his too thorough- going and uncompromising propagandism, and as he left no son to vindicate his cause and to adjust the disturbed affairs of the empire, a period of anarchy was the inevitable and melancholy sequel of his death. § 148. What further interests us in connection with the ill-fated reformer, the " heretic " king Chu-en-Aten, has to do with the city which he made his brief capital.^ Its 1 An interesting sketch of Tell el Amarna by Mr. W. S. Boscawen, may be found in the Independent, July 27, 1893. ^ k ^ S^ r "i ■ m\ I '14 fi if 178 EL AMARNA TABLETS Book III ruins lie near the modern village of Tell el Amarna, on the right bank of the Nile, in north latitude about 21^°. In the year 1888 there were found among them by a peasant woman, who was seeking antiquities for pur- poses of sale, a number of tablets written in cuneiform characters. Continued search led to the unearthing of nearly 320 documents complete or fragmentary. Of these about two-thirds found their way to the Royal Museum at Berlin and to the British Museum, while the greater part of the remainder were retained in the Museum at Bulak in Egypt. The mere fact of the existence of cuneiform docu- ments in Middle Egypt was a notable surprise ; but this was greatly augmented when it anpeared upon examination that they consisted of letters, mostly written in the Baby- lonian language in the fifteenth century B.C., from rulers or officials of several Asiatic countries to King Amenophis III and his successor, Amenophis IV, or Chu-en-Aten, and persons connected with their courts. Those belonging to the reign of the former king had been, of course, brought from Thebes to the new religious capital in the general deportation above alluded to. The contents of the docu- ments show them to have consisted of diplomatic messages, business and friendly c« mmunications, and reports as to the affairs of subject states. They proceed from Babylonia, then under the Kasshite regime (§ 123) ; from Assyria, then beginning to cherish extensive political designs (§ 173); from Mesopotamia, then partly under a non- Semitic government; and from Egyptian prefects or depu- ties in the dependent districts of Syria and Palestine. Naturally, the last-named collection will have for us the deepest interest, but the significance of each of the other groups should also be briefly indicated, and then it will be in place to draw one or two general conclusions.^ 1 Much has already been done, and that by competent men, for the publication and interpretation of these difficult inscriptions. The two chief collections have already been published in careful editions of the texts, that of the Berlin Museum by Winckler and Abel (see ZA. VI, Cii. II, § 149 LETTERS BETWEEN BABYLON AND EGYPT 179 § 149. The correspondence between Egypt and Baby- lonia is more valuable for what it suggests than for what it directly discloses. It consists of eleven letters: one from Amenophis III to Kallima-Sin, king of Babylonia; three from the latter to the former; seven from Burra- buriash, king of Babylonia (c. 1440-1405, cf. § 175) to Amenophis IV of Egypt. The principal subjects dis- cussed are intermarriages between the one court and the other. Amenophis III, who had already married the sister of the Babylonian king, is anxious also to secure his daughter. Her father, however, hesitates diplomatically, on the ground that he has not been able to find out how his sister has been treated since she allied herself to the Egyptian royal house. There is a great deal of discussion upon this delicate point, but after a time the Babylonian tells the Egyptian that his daughter being now old enough to marry, she is at his disposal. There had been several intermarriages on both sides involving, as we may infer from this specimen, a vast amount of negotiation. The 141; VII, 121 ff.), Der Thontafelfund von El-Amarna, Berlin, 1890; that of the British Museum by Bezold, with Introduction by Bezold and Budge (the original purchaser of the tablets), London, 1892. In Oriental Diplomacy, London, 1893, Bezold gives a transcription of the texts, with vocabulary and notes. The Berlin edition contains also copies of inscrip- tions in the Museum at Bulak, so that the whole find is now virtually before the public in a reliable form. Portions of the texts have already been translated and explained, notably in the masterly articles by Zimmern, Briefe aus dem Funde in El-Amarna, and, Die Keilschrift- briefe aus Jerusalem, ZA. V, 137-165 ; VI, 245-263. See also Budge in PSBA. X, 540-569, and Sayce, ibid. X, 488-525 ; XI, 326-413, the last- named essay dealing with the Bulak tablets. Of the numerous more or less popular articles, special attention may be called to Zimniern's inau- gural dissertation at Halle, Palttstina um das Jahr 1400 v. Chr. nach neuen Quellen (Zeitschrift des deutschen PaUistina-Vereins, XIII, 133- 147), of which an abstract was furnished in the Independent, July 16, 1891, and the Magazine of Christian Literature, February, 1892 ; Lehmann, Aus dem Funde von Tell el Amarna, ZA. Ill, 372^06 (comprehensive and suggestive) ; and for Egypt and Syria a brilliant r6sum6 by Sayce in Sunday School Times, Jan. 23, 1892. A complete bibliography up to date arreared in the Introduction to the British Museum texts mentioned above. 180 SUBJECTS OF NEGOTIATKJN Book III leading motive both of the proposals and the delays was, of course, on both sides, the desire to secure as large a dowry as possible and other accompanying gifts, since presents, sometimes up to a specified amount, are openly demanded. But larger affairs of state than these really depended on the success of the negotiations. Aside from the main consideration that the two empires at the limits of the civilized world should be on a footin-^ of amity, and so preserve international peace generally, incidental advan- tages were gained, such as treaties of commerce and conventions as to customs, duties, and other levies made upon merchants of the one country trading in the other. The letters of Burraburiash, while also looking well after the main chance, give incidental information of value. For example, in one of them the Babylonian king reminds the Egyptian that his father, Kurigalzu, had refused to join in an invasion of Egypt planned by certain Palestinian marauders, on the ground of the league between them, and had even notified the disturbers ^ that he would make war on any king who would join them in attacking the king of Egypt, "his brother." Thus we see that an offensive alliance between these widely separated nations was at least a matter of profession. § 150. Letters from two kings of Assyria, also to Amenophis IV (cf. § 175), reveal the strenuous efforts made by the rising rival of Babylonia to secure the favour of Egypt with gifts, and the establishing of confidential relations generally. Of special interest to us are also the letters that come from the region of Western Mesopotamia, inasmuch as they set before us most fully the social rela- tions of the monarchs of the time, and furnish much incidental information as to matters of trade and politics. The name of the country thus associated with Egypt w^as Mltani, a region apparently comprising most of Naharain (§ 75) and the southern portion of Cappadocia or Kom- 1 Br. M. collection, Nr. 2 ; see Introd., p. xxx f. Ch. II, § 150 ASSYRIA, MKSOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT 181 magene.^ The people of this country, or at least its governing class, appear not to have been of Semitic stock, since one of the El Amarna letters from this source is written in a non-Semitic language.'*^ Yet, like the rest of the Western Asiatics, they availed themselves usually of the well-known language of general intercourse, the world- compelling Babylonian. The political significance of the communications between this region and Egypt will be apparent when it is remembered that Thothmes III (§ 145) had not only pushed his conquest to the Euphrates, but had ticquired a strip of territory on its eastern bank. The kings of Mitiini who reigned after his time were strong enough to secure the whole of the eastern side of the River, and to the less powerful successors of the great conqueror it seemed the best policy to cultivate their friendship, as a protection for their own precarious posses- sions in Syria, and as a general barrier to movements unfriendly to Egypt on the part of any of the neighbours of the centrally situated Mesopotamian monaichy. The importance of these political relations had already been vaguely known to Egyptologists. Thi, the beautiful and beloved queen or chief wife of Araenophis IV, appears from her physiognomy and complexion as exhibited in her mummy, to have been a native of Northeastern Syria, and a scarab inscription tells that another consort came to him from Naharain, the daughter of King Satarna, with 317 ladies in her train. Now Dushratta, the author of the letters in this group, correspondent of Ameno- phis III, was the brother of the latter Mesopotamian princess, and we learn from him that not only his sister, but his daughter also, changed her nationality and her 1 See particularly Lehniann in ZA. Ill, 377 ; Jensen, ibid. VI, 57 ff., 342 ff. ; Introd. to Br. M. collection, p. xxxvii ; Winckler, Orientul- ische Forachungen, p. 86 f. 2 Attempts to read and interpret the language in question have been made, notably by Sayce, Brlinnow, and .Jensen. See articles by all three in ZA. V, 166-274, and one by Jensen, ibid. VI, 34-72. m LETTERS FROM SYRIA AND PALESTINE Book III ' ! t'.' f.aith in the cause of matrimonial diplomacy. The pro- fuseness of verbiage, the effusiveness of compliment, and the skill in suggesting "better terms," which are the most marked characteristics of the venerable documents that relate to these and other matters of grave common concern, entitle them to no insignificant place among the extant state papers of the ancient world. ^ § 151. The next series of letters, the most numerous and interesting of the groups, brings us more directly in contact with the events of the time. I mean the docu- ments containing messages to the Egyptian suzerain, from his viceroys and captains in Syria and Palestine. The letters already dealt with may be regarded, from our point of view, as preparatory to them. Those indicated the importance of Asiatic alliances to the rulers of the Nile ; these show in detail how the Egyptian interests there were declining in spite of diplomacy and the prestige of former conquests. They belong almost entirely to the time of Amenophis IV. In his reign the hold of the Pharaohs upon Asia, which had been relaxed under the compromis- ing policy of his predecessor, became loosened and in great part shaken off. The exclusive devotion to his religious reforms, which made the reign of the heretic king politically unsuccessful at home, led to disaster and humiliation abroad. Garrisons and outposts were neglected, and their commanders left without reinforce- ments or supplies. Rival nationalities, and even maraud- ing tribes and clans, were permitted to plot against and invade the provinces and besiege their cities without serious opposition ; and the obliteration of both the name and the substance of Egyptian authority in Asia was only delayed because the disturbing forces, though numerous, 1 It should be added, as a very significant fact, that the language of these letters, though not the vernacular of either of the correspondents, is a pure and copious Babylonian. The Mitani tablets are distinguished from the others externally, by being made of the dark red clay which is met •with in the north of Syria and the adjacent region. ^. Cii. II, § 162 CLASSICAL LOCALITIES 183 were individually weak, and for a time quite insig- nificant. § 152. The localities from which these letters are dated are, in most instances, familiar to classical and Biblical students ; and the reader finds it at first difficult to realize that the events and interests are those of a time as remote as the fifteenth century B.C. From Egyptian sources it was already known that Gaza, Arvad, Megiddo, and a few other less-known cities, had been subdued by the Pharaohs (cf. § 145). The El Amarna collection contains official letters from Byblos (Gebal), Tyre, Beyrut, Accho, Hazor, Gezer, Askalon, and Jerusalem, while other familiar names, such as Sidon, Joppa, and Lachish, are referred to in the same documents. For detailed information as to their contents, I must refer to the special treatises already mentioned (§ 148, n.). The most interesting facts may be stated as follows. Of the strongholds of Egyptian author- ity, those in the north were in the greatest danger. In fact. Northern Syria may be regarded as lost to Egypt. Byblos, Tyre, and Beyrut are being held with difficulty by the governors who, in profession at least, are loyal, at great cost and in spite of great difficulties. The troubles come from three separate sources. From without, the Hettites are pressing southwards from their vantage-grounds lately secured in Northern Syria. Next, in their interest an obscure foe of Canaanitish race, under the leadership of a certain rebellious plotter, Abdashera^ (^Abdi-Ahrti'), is gradually seizing the outlying towns. Finally, there is dissension and rivalry among the Egyptian governors themselves, and they accuse one another to the king of disloyalty, each crediting his colleagues with the blame of the loss of cities and the lowering of the standard of the Pharaohs. The burden of the letters is the need of succour 1 The occurrence of the name in this combination, "Servant of Ashera," has been rightly claimed as evidence, by Sayce and others, that the much-disputed niB>K was really a Canaanitish goddess. The word is, of course, also used in OT. for the symbol of the divinity (§ 321). m w !i I; u i ' 1 • f I ! i B ! V } !! 184 LOSS OF EGYPTIAN POSSESSIONS Book III for the hard-pressed garrisons, with the reiterated entreaty that relief may be speedily sent. The names of the governora who appeal most frequently and insistently are worth noting: Rib-Addi (Hadad, i.e. Rimmon), viceroy of Byblos, and Abi-milki ( = Abimelech), viceroy of Tyre. From Jerusalem came six letters,^ full of suggestion as to the history of Southern Canaan. They are written by the native governor of Jerusalem ( Urusalirti) named Abdi-tdba, and abound with bitter complaints against the unfaithful- ness of certain conspirators, his neighbours, who are hand- ing over the whole of the country to the Hahire, the most dangerous foe in that part of Palestine. These Chabire HI possibly the people of Hebron, one of the old Amorite cities, which was now seeking to become the centre of a new monarchy in Southern Palestine independent of the alien Egyptians. One of the letters tells of the loss of the cities of Gezer, Gath, Keilah, with othera not yet fully identified, and a letter ^ from an unknown city, written by a certain Mut-Adda ("man or servant of Hadad" — Rim- mon), tells further of the rebellion of Edom, Addar (Josh. XV. 3), and Magdiel (Gen. xxxvi. 43), and other districts hitherto unknown to us. There can be no reasonable doubt that whatever may have been the hearing accorded to these pathetic appeals, — and the preservation of the tablets shows that they were at least carefully pigeon-holed, — the strongholds of Egyptian rule in Asia still nominally re- tained were soon surrendered to the Hettites and to native Canaanites of one tribe or another. For the civil war in the Nile country continued after the death of the unfortu- nate visionary who inaugurated it, and expeditions over the Isthmus were pretermitted till the rise of a new dynasty. § 153. The most striking fact among the disclosures of these new-found historical treasures, and one whose sig- nificance it is not easy to estimate, is the prevalence and range of Babylonian influence in all the vast region from 1 All in the Berlin collection ; see § 148, note. 2 Nr. 64 in the Br. M. collection. Ch. II, § 163 BABYLONIAN CULTURE PARAMOUNT lift re- Lve in ;u- y- of |ig- Ind Upper Egypt to the Persian Gulf. A single indication may suffice. It will have been noticed, even by the casual reader of these pages, that the officials whose letters to the king of Egypt have been referred to, bear Hebrew (that is, Canaanitic) names. They write to the Pharaoh, not in his own tongue, not in their own, but in that of a far-off people whose country, by the nearest land route, was over a thousand miles away. It has been rightly supposed that there was then, and that there had been for many centuries, close communication between Palestine and Egypt, and it might fairly be expected that the Egyptian language would be acquired and used, at least in official communications between the Palestinian or Syrian vassals and their sover- eign. Or "the language of Canaan" might have been learned by the Egyptians, as Hebrew Prophecy anticipated it would be learned under reversed conditions in some future age (Isa. xix. 18). The only explanation of the actual phenomenon is that the Babylonians had once, and up to a comparatively recent period, occupied the whole of the habitable territory as far as the Mediterranean and the River of Egypt ; that the period of their occupation was very long and scarcely intermittent; that their influence extended to the minutest details of business and social life ; and that their language and literature formed a liberal education for all the cultivated classes in Western Asia. For the foreign language could only have been used by so many persons widely removed from one another, when the teaching and learning of that language came as a matter of course from the constant associations of daily life and the indelible impressions of permanent institutions. We shall have occasion to see how little influence Egypt exer- cised at any later stage upon the people of Palestine, and how great was that of the Babylonian race. The present revelation, given in Babylonian language, from the very soil of Egypt itself, shows that the same relative position was held — we may boldly say it — back to the earliest recorded time. The Western expeditions and conquests 196 PROGRESS OF MESOPOTAMIA Book III 1^1 of Sargon I and Naram-Sin are no mere legend; the com- mercial activity of their successors of Southern Babylonia, from the forests of Northern Syria to the Sinaitic penin- sula, are now seen in the light of their enduring results ; the story of Gen. xiv. is no narrative of isolated events, but the fragmentary commemoration of enterprises which were for many centuries the order of the day. We are learning more clearly as each year of discovery goes by, that what the Grecians and Romans were as civilizers and conquerors to the world we still call "ancient," the Baby- lonians were to countries and peoples of an antiquity immeasurably more remote. § 154. Scarcely less interesting is the indication given in these letters of the civilization of the countries from which they came. Upon the advancement in culture of Babylonia and Egypt it is not necessary to say anything. The existence of a kingdom in Western Mesopotamia, standing on a footing of equality with Egypt, of itself speaks eloquently of the development of the most valuable territory lying between the two great empires. Its prog- ress in art, as well as in political influence, is attested by the mention of the richly ornamented articles sent as gifts by the king of Mitiini.^ These, and the like facts of a time antecedent to the establishment of the Hettite king- dom, furnish evidence both of the energy and progressive- ness of the non-Semitic peoples north of the Mesopotamian plain, and of their participation in the culture of Babylonia. They also suggest to us how it came to pass, that from the earliest authentic times, the tribes that inhabited the mountain slopes and valleys of Armenia and Cappadocia were so advanced in the arts of peace and war. I only allude in passing to the internal organization and develop- ment of Syria and Palestine two centuries before the incoming of the Hebrews, and of the achievements of the Phcenicians on the sea and the coastlands.^ The most 1 E.g. in Letters 8 and 9 of Br. M. collection. ■^ See the letters from Tyre, e.g. Nr. 28 in the Br. M. collection. le )St Cii. II, § 154 BABYLONIAN LANGUAGE AND WRITING 187 suggestive fact of all is the prevalence, not simply of one language for purposes of business and diplomacy, but of one system of writing, and that used not only for the Babylonian language, but for the native languages as well. Two remarks may be obviously made upon this. The study of these difficult and complicated characters must have been well-nigh universal throughout the broad area of Babylonian influence. In every one of the numerous districts of Palestine,^ for example, the leading men were familiar with all the niceties of the wedge-writing, while the preparation of the tablets and the delicate mechanical work of the stylus must be added to the list of the accom- plishments which we may justly put to the credit of at least the "classes'* among the pre-Mosaic Palestinians. It is superfluous to suggest that indefinitely large auxiliary attainments in many regions of intellectual activity are implied in this single fact. Another observation is of wider bearing. We have as yet had no indication, either from this or from any other source, that the so-called Phcenician alphabet was in use anywhere in the fifteenth century B.C. To Avhatever place of origin it may be finally assigned, it seems clear that it had then no large Semitic publicit3\ The universal employment of the cuneiform system in the North-Semitic realm, should give aid and comfort to the small group of scholars who hold to the conviction that from it, and not from the Egyptian hiero- glj'phics or the Central-Arabian alphabet, that system of writing was derived which has become the main working instrument of the world's civilization. ^ 1 Evidence of this fact is beginning to come in from other sources. I allude to the well-known discovery of a contemporary cuneiform tablet found at Lachish by Mr. F. J. Bliss, of Beyrut. Lachish appears at that time to liave been united in administration with Sldon. Tlie Lachish tablet makes mention of Zimrida as the governor, who, in Br. M. Nr. 30, is called governor of Sidon and Lachish. 2 For a discussion of the bearing of the forms of the cuneiform bigns in the El Amarna tablets, and of other indications of the spread of Babylonian institutions, particularly the stamping of money (rings and 188 GENERAL POLITICAL SITUATION Book III § 155. The general political situation may now be sketched in broad outlines. Egypt was in the last stage of her first and most extensive sovereignty in Asia. The El Amarna tablets show plainly enough that her inability to retain her possessions was not due to lack of able and devoted officials, but to the absence of a consistent resolute policy in foreign administration,^ chargeable in great measure to the instability of government at home. Baby- lonia was now reduced from the position of the predomi- nant to that of a co-ordinate power in the affairs of Western Asia. Her most formidable rival had for some time been Egypt, but the interference of the latter was simply made possible through the diminution of the power and prestige of Babylonia, which had been confined not only to the country east of the Euphrates, but actually to her own natural boundaries on the lower stretches of the great Rivers. Already we had learned of rivalry between the Kasshite Babylonians and a people on the Middle Eu- phrates (§ 123), and even of a successful incursion into Karduniash (§ 121) by the latter. This took place about a century before the date of Burraburiash and the heretic king of Egypt, and in the mean time there had arisen in the same Mesopotamian region the kingdom of Mitani, which now stood as a solid barrier between all possible advances from Egypt on the west or from Assyria and Babylonia on the east, and occupying an important place for two centuries more. As for Assyria, her time of aggressive action was yet to come. Che was now, however, alert and watchful, with an eye constantly on the roads to Mesopotamia, from which she hoped to exclude forever the mother country, that had played out her part in the affairs of the world. Before the advent of the Assyrians as arbiters and con- bars of gold and silver), and the standard of weight for the regulation of a currency in the markets of the world, see the essay of Lehmann already alluded to (§ 148, note). 1 For a vivid picture of the troublous vicissitudes of the small subject states of Egypt, see Maspero, Histoire ancienne, 4 ed., p. 192 f. Ch. II, § 165 THE HETTITES FORESHADOWED 189 querors another period of Asiatic history was to intervene, in which the leading r81e was to be acted by a people whose activity in Syria and Palestine has already been indicated, whose large participation in the affairs of the West-land is ominously foreshadowed in the tablets of El Amarna, and who in these inscriptions are vaguely referred to as acting with the Canaanitic insurgents. CHAPTER III THE HETTITES IN SYRIA § 156. It is possible that the Hettites have in later times secured a larger share of popular attention than their historical importance really deserves. But thii is a mis- take which the friends of Oriental and Biblical learning will readily overlook in view of the indirect benefits of the researches that have been made and the modicum of solid results that has been secured. Certainly the nature and unexi^ected range in time and place of the discoveries, and the welcome illustration they have afforded to obscure passages in the Bible and in contemporary literature, justify a large portion of the curiosity they have excited. The more important events in their history, as occupants of Syria and Palestine, we shall have to touch upon in the proper places. Much more difficult is it to give a satis- factory comprehensive account of their national and racial character, and of their early achievements as a people. While it is possible to fix approximately the time when they became one of the dominant powers of Western Asia, and the stages of their rise and decline in political influ- ence, the somewhat less important but very fascinating questions of their origin, their general ethnical and politi- cal associations, and the character of their language, religion, and social institutions, still await their final solution. The main difficulty does not lie altogether in the lack of monumental remains ; for these, it is claimed, are fairly abundant. The chief obstacle is the character of the Hettite writing, which has hitherto resisted all attempts at decipherment, and the peculiar features of the engraved 1@0 Ch. Ill, § 157 CURRENT THEORIES and sculptured figures of supposed representatives of the race, whose identity with similar pictorial devices spread over a wide area is plausible and yet not absolutely certain.^ § 157. It is now the prevailing opinion that the Hettites known to the Bible writers and to the con- temporary Egyptians and Assyrians formed part of a large confederation or group of kindred peoples extending from the shores of the -^gean through Asia Minor to the Euphrates, and from the shores of the Black Sea to Mount Lebanon. So Professor Brown, after describing the monu- ments Avhich are found along the old great roads leading eastward from Smyrna and Phocsea to Cappadocia, and southeastward through the Cilician gates to Syria, and after indicating the general similarity of the figures and written characters which they bear, remarks that " at some time in the past the whole territory of Asia Minor and Northern Syria must have been under the influence of one great people or family of kindred peoples, which have thus left their traces for nearlj' one thousand miles." ^ Hi 1 Fact and speculation in vogue up to date were admirably summarized by Professor Francis Brown's article, The Hittites, Presb. lieview, 1886, p. 277-303. Cheyne's article in the Encycl. Brit., with the same head- ing (1881), is still worth consulting. W. Wright's popular volume. The Empire of the Hittites (1884, 2d ed. 1886), contains an historical sum- mary, but is chiefly valuable for its numerous excellent plates and smaller illustrations. Of Sayce's writings on the subject, particular attention should be called to his essay in TSBA. VII, 2 (1880), Monuments of the Hittites, and his suggestive little book The Hittites ; the Story of a For- gotten Empire (By-paths of Bible Knowledge, No. XII, 1888), besides the chapter on Lydia in his Ancient Empires of the East (1884). The most elaborate work is that of Professor J. Campbell, The Hittites; their Inscriptions and History (2 vols., Toronto, 1890), devoted both to the linguistic and ethnological and historical sides of the whole subject. The best repository of illustrations of the monuments is vol. iv of I'errot and Chipiez, UHistoire de Vart dans Vantiquite (1887). Essays specially devoted to the decipherment of the language will be cited below. Full references to the subsidiary archaeological and geographical literature are to be found in Professor Brown's article just referred to. a L.c. p. 279. ^ :»| •Jff" l£.a*^*:i. 192 THE HETTITES MOUNTAINEERS' Book III Similarly Sayce,^ with much fulness of illustration, and more definitely : " The Hittite monuments of Asia Minor . . . show that the central point of Hittite power was a square on either side of the Taurus range, which included Carchemish and Komageng in the south, the district east of the Halys on the north, and the country of which Malatiyeh was the capital in the east. The Hittite tribes, in fact, were mountaineers from the plateau of Kappadokia, who had spread themselves out in all directions. A time came when, under the leaderahip of powerful princes, they marched along the two highroads of Asia Minor and estab- lished their supremacy over the coast-tribes of the far west, . . . they had carried their arms through the whole length of Asia Minor ; they had set up satraps in the cities of Lydia, and had brought the civilization of the East to the barbarous tribes of the distant West." The main ground on which these wide conclusions are based is the fact that the human and other figures portrayed upon the monuments are of the same general type ; they indicate a people of the same cast of features, with the same peculiar sort of attire, in the same prevailing attitudes, and engaged in similar favourite actions, such as offering sacrifice, and marching proudly to war. Besides, the inscriptions found upon many of the monuments are declared to be written in the same characters, and as the products of the same civilization, to be presumably a mark of identity of race on the part of the writers. § 158. As to what the racial connections of this sup- posed people were some of the authorities have no doubt whatever. Major C. R. Conder'-^ makes them out to be a branch of the Altaic or " Turanian " race, to which every- thing in Asia not clearly Aryan or Semitic has been at one time or another assigned. Professor Campbell makes a wider unification ; starting with " Ephron the Hittite " of Genesis, he broadens out his basis of classification until a » The Hittites, p. 96 f. ^ Altaic Monuments and Hittite Inacriptiona., London, 1887 ; 2d ed. 1889. Ch. Ill, § 158 "TURANLVNS OR MONGOLOIDS' 193 vast number of races and tribes as yet unclaimed in Asia and America, are mustered upon it in orderly array. His evidence is mainly the supposed testimony of language. Professor Sayce bases his conclusions upon the forms, features, and accoutrements of the figures portrayed upon the sculptures. As we shall see, the Egyptians had much to do with the Hettites in their Asiatic wars, and, accord- ing to Sayce, their monuments represent their adversaries "with yellow skins and 'Mongoloid' features, receding foreheads, oblique eyes, and protruding upper jaws," just as their own sculptures portray them, wherever they are found throughout Asia Minor or in Northern Syria. This concurrence of testimony is summed up as follows : " They were short and thick of limb, and the front part of their faces was pushed forward in a curious and somewhat repulsive way. The forehead retreated, the cheek-bones were high, the nostrils were large, the upper lip protrusive. They had, in fact, according to the craniologists, the characteristics of a Mongoloid race. Like the Mongols, moreover, their skins were yellow and their eyes and hair were black. "^ It is certainly not opposed to this view,' and is perhaps significant of the ultimate starting-point of the migrations that all their characteristic portraitures present them to us as clothed with a short tunic and shod with boots turned up at the ends. I quote again from Sayce : ^ " In place of the trailing robes of the Syrians, the national costume was a tunic which did not reach quite to the knees. It was only after their settlement in the Syrian cities that they adopted the dress of the country; the sculptured rocks of Asia Minor represent them with the same short tunic as that which distinguished the Dorians of Greece or the ancient inhabitants of xVrarat. But the most characteristic portion of the Hittite garb were the shoes with upturned ends. Wherever the figure of a Hittite is portrayed, there we find this peculiar form of boot. It reappears among the hieroglyphs of the 1 Sayce, The HittUes, p. 16, 101 f. 2 Ibid. 80 f. I il I 104 DIVEHGING OPINIONS Book III inscriptions, and the Egyptian artists who adorned the walls of the Ramesseum at Thebes have placed it on the feet of the Hittite defenders of Kadesh. The boot is really a snow-shoe, admirably adapted for walking over snow, but ill-suited for the inhabitants of a level or cultivated country. . . . Equally significant is the long fingerless glove, which is one of the most frequent of Hittite hieroglyijhs. The thumb alone is detached from the rest of the bag in which the fingers were enclosed. Such a glove is an eloquent witness to the wintry cold of the regions from which its wearers came, and a similar glove is still used during the winter months by the peasants of modern Kappadokia." § 159,- For more specific information as to the monu- ments and their sites the writings mentioned above must be consulted. I have only to repeat that the general theory just outlined has not found acceptance with all competent investigators. Notably, Professor W. M. Ram- say, perhaps the greatest authority of the time on the geography and archaeology of Asia Minor, maintains ^ that, while there is a similarity of art between the monu- ments of Northern Cappadocia and those of Syria, the people of the latter country, from whom the memorials proceeded, were not akin to those of the former, but that, like the I'nrygians of the Troad, they fell heir to the civilization of the empire of Pteria after its decay had begun. It is evident that the question of relationship of the peoples concerned is very obscure and intricate. The longest step towards its solution would be taken by a decipherment of the written characters, which would reveal at once, provided the material is sufficiently abundant, the character of the language, or languages, they represent. The difficulty of the whole subject, as well as the diver- gence of views, may be illustrated by the fact that the * The Historical Geography of Asia Minor, Soyal Geogr. Society^s Supplementary Papers, vol. iv, 1891. Ch. Ill, § 100 ATTEMITS AT DECIPHERMENT 195 eminent Seraitist, Hal^vy, who has always maintained the Semitic character of the Hettite language and race, now believes that he has proved the matter by his translation of two inscriptions found at Zinjirli, at the extreme border of Northern Syria, and preserved in the Museum of Berlin ; ^ while Professor Jensen of Marburg, the latest decipherer of the Hettite writing, makes out tlie language to be Indo-European, most nearly akin to Armenian. ^ It is to be hoped, for the benefit and reputation of Oriental science, that the attempt of Jensen may turn out to be the real solution of the problem of the Hettite language. The number of supposed answers to the enigma has been surprisingly great, considering that comparatively few busy themselves with such matters. The most notable attempts have been those of Sayce,^ Ball,* Conder,^ Camp- bell,*' Peiser,'^ and that of Jensen just noted. All but the last-named have been proved to be certainly unsuccessful as to most of their contentions, while that of Jensen is now on its trial. Whatever may be the final award, it is plain that Sayce must be credited with having made the first solid beginnings, since certain of his general conclusions have been used by his successors as initiatory postulates. § 160. The reader will perceive from the above state- ment of facts that it would be premature to dogmatize upon questions so much in dispute. But a modest opinion may be expressed as to the antiquity of the Hettites in Syria. I have already called attention to the great value 1 Session of Acadfiinie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres, Aug. 0, 1802. 2 Sunday School Times, March 25 and April 1, 1893. Cf. ZA. VII, 365 f. (31 Dec. 1892). 8TSBA. vol. vii, 2 (1880), the Independent, May 18, 1882, and ch. xi in Wright's Empire of the Ilittites. * PSBA. vol. ix (1887). ^Altaic Monuments, etc. » The Hittites, etc., vol. i (1890). T F. E. Peiser (Breslau), Die hetitischen Inschriften, ein Verstich ihrer Entzifferung, Berlin, 1892. See Jensen in ZA. VII, 357 ft., and M. Jastrow, Jr., in Sunday School Times, Dec. 10, 1892. I 196 AGE OF THE HETTITES IN SYRIA Book IU ,'''■ I A 4; of the Babylonian nomenclature in these inquiries (§ 131, note). Now the immemorial name of Northern Syria among the Babylonians is tnut Hatte (§ 133), and this name was used long before the people emerged in recorded history ; e.g. in astrological inscriptions which Avere drawn up before 2000 b.c.^ If any other people than they had possessed the country in the earliest times, the Baby- lonians would certainly have named it after them and not after the Hettites. Indeed, it seems probable that before either Canaan ites or Aramjcans appeared west of the Euphrates, the Hettites had settled throughout Syria and the Amorites in Palestine. This gives additional interest to the opinion of Ramsay (§ 159) that the Hettites of Syria were a separate people from their sup- posed kindred in Asia Minor. It is also not without a special allusion to the distant past that the learned Ezekiel (xvi. 3, 45) says of ancient Jerusalem, "the Amorite was thy father and thy mother a Hettite." Nor should we ignore in this connection the notices of the dealings of Abraham with the descendants of Hettite settlers in Palestine in the twenty-third century B.C. (Gen. xxv.), or the other referenfces to the same people in the patriarchal times. We must also remember that the Egyptians, in the earliest recorded expeditions into Syria (§ 145), had to do with the Hettites, though unfortunately the date of these occurrences is too late to be of decisive importance. This at least it is well to emphasize, that, as in Palestine the Amorites preceded the Canaanites, so in Syria the Hettites preceded the Aramaeans. What their ultimate racial affini- ties were, whether, for example, the peoples whom the Hettite chiefs of Syria summoned to their aid in the fourteenth century from all parts of Asia Minor (§ 1G3) were bound to their allies by other ties than those of vassalage or temporary interest of one kind or another, it is impossible as yet to determine. This and other interest- ing questions depend for their solution, in the first place, 1 Cf. Winckler GBA. p. 72, 156. i'l' 'i i ■ Cii. Ill, § 101 THE HETTITE MONARCHY 107 upon the results of paloeographical and linguistic research, which we may be well assured is as yet only in the tii-st stage of its march of discovery. § 161. We liave henceforth to do directly only with the Hettites * in the narrow and best-ascertained sense. What- ever may have Ixjen their starting-place and their ante- cedents, it is evident that in Syria they sooner or later established an organization of their own independent of any hypothetical outside allies or conqueroi-s. In that country they were specially favoured by a genial climate and a fine opportunity to plunder or lay toll upon wealthy neighbours. Hence their aggregation in the Orontes Valley and their more powerful and lasting concentration on the right bank of the Euphrates. They thus became, in fact, the founders of the first great state of the West- land. Their independent existence in lai'ger or smaller communities south of the Taurus was maintained from the fifteenth to the ninth century B.C., the period of their greatest power being the fourteenth and thirteenth cen- turies. They were thereafter partly subdued and partly absorbed by the Aramaeans, and finally conquered and politically effaced by the Assyrians. Their historical importance does not consist so much in the extent or duration of their conquests as in the indirect influence of their control. Apart from their instrumentality as bearers 1 Though we hold that there were "Hettites" outside of Syria, we must remember that this name is met with only as applied to them. The origin of the word is naturally uncertain, and may be due to foreigners. It is conceivable that it is based upon a feminine stem JJattu = Hantu from Hdnu (§ 123). The form of the word is substantially the same in all ancient documents, graphic variations being due merely to the different modes in which the writers of the several communities indicated vowel sounds. Our modern word " Hittite " (which I have taken the liberty to modify) is the least correct of all, having been learned from the post- classical pronunciation of Hebrew words given in the Massoretic text of the Old Testament. The Xtrraioi of the Septuagint is identical with the " Cheta^^ (Chettd) of the Egyptian, and this again represents accurately the Chatte (Chette) of the cuneiform texts. Presumably, therefore, the original form was Chettai, as started by the Aramaeans, the next neighbours. I ■i I 1: I m GROWTH OF THE HETTITE POWER Book III of civilization westward over Asia Minor, their greatest service to the world was performed in keeping the Egyp- tians out of Palestine, while the latter were strong enough to have seized and held the Land of Promise against any other Asiatic power. Thus, if it had not been for the aggressive part played by the Hettites, the Israelitish occupation of Palestine, with all its consequences to the world, would have been, humanly speaking, impossible. § 162. Of the mode of colonization and conquest pur- sued by the Hettites in historical ages we have no definite information. From the first Mesopotamian settlers they met with no serious opposition, since the small Aramtean trading communities were incapable of systematic aggres- sion, and the kingdom of Mitiini (§ 150) had not extended its sway westward of the River. They are first heard of under Thothmes III (§ 145), but his reports do not make it appear that at that time they were as a corporate com- munity strongly entrenched in Syria. We have as yet no evidence to show that Kadesh on the Orontes, or the fortress of Carchemish, were then occupied by them.^ They are merely mentioned as tribute-givers to the great conqueror. Nor in the El Amarna tablets have they a prominent place, though by the end of the fifteenth century they must have been consolidated into a formidable con- federacy, since the king of Mitani writes ^ of an invasion of his territory by them to Amenophis III, and the Egyp- tian prefects of the same Pharaoh complain of trouble created by incursions into the Egyptian provinces. The weakness and anarchy of the empire of the Nile during and after the regime of Amenophis IV, furnished them with their great opportunity. It is altogether probable that it was during this period that they made Kadesh, in Ccelo- Syria, which was in any case lost to the Egyptians, their southern capital, as the great strategic and commercial 1 Indeed, it would appear that this region was regarded as being Amorite. 2 Letter Nr. 9 in the Br. M. collection. Cii. Ill, § 103 THE I'EUIOD OF HETTITE KULE 100 centre, Carchemish, had long been their northern gathering- place. The completeness of their occupation of Syria, and the undisputed authority which we soon find them enjoying, were rendered possible by their remarkable national soli- darity and the reciprocal fidelity of their various com- munities. It is also evident that they permanently strengthened themselves by a more tolerant policy than had marked the Egyptian rulers, since they are found to have amalgamated comi)letely with the other inhabitants of Syria. Their rule, as a whole, must be regarded as beneficial to their much-harassed subjects, and we can heartily sympathize with them in the attempts they were soon to make to keep the Egyptians from returning to the land they had vexed and despoiled. The very motives of the Egyptian invasions had been a barrier to their success- ful settlement in the country, co-operating thus witli their characteristic lack of the colonizing and organizing faculty. § 1(33. We come now to the next period in the history of the West-land, that of the predominance of the Hettites. Here, our chief dependence for information is the Egyptian monuments, which are especially full in telling of the deeds of arms wrought by the several Pharaohs. The longest accounts, however, are only poetical embellish- ments of the most creditable of the actual facts, and for these facts we must look rather to acknowledged results than to the exaggerations and inventions of the official panegyrists. The successors of Amenophis IV, being involved in the strife that followed his futile attempt to reform the religion and to free the social and political life of his people from the tyranny of the priesthood, were compelled to relax their grasp upon their foreign posses- sions, and to content themselves with the Nile country alone. Thus the Isthmus of Suez became, as of old, the eastern boundary of Egypt. Meanwhile, the Hettites were establishing themselves as rulers of Syria, and main- taining and extending their settlements throughout Asia Minor. Thus, when the Nineteenth Dynasty had become i 200 EGYPTIAN AGGRESSION Book III IMi firmly established, and its princes began to Hank seriously of regaining the old Asiatic subject lands, they found a very different sort of enemy from that to which their predecessors had been accustomed up to a century before. The business was now not to overrun the village com- munities and cities in detail, but to cope with a well- compacted state, whose hardy troops had been trained to act in concert, and which could summon to its aid con- federates from far and near, accustomed to make common cause against any enemy of the Ilettite race. The conflict began after the new dynasty had made a treaty with Sapaiel, king of the Hettites, and this friendly agreement was broken by the third king, Seti I (c. 1355), who undertook a systematic reduction of all the inhabitants of Western Asia. His career in North Arabia and Southern Palestine was one of unbroken success, but it is easy to read between the lines of the Egyptian reports that when it came to an invasion of the northern territory the camiiaigns were indecisive, and the ambitious aggressor was obliged to content himself with the possession guar- anteed by treaty of a few fortresses in advantageous posi- tions, such as Gaza and Megiddo, the latter probably marking the limits of Hettite control. Seti's son and successor, the celebrated Ramses II, the Sesostris of tlie Greeks, the most famous though by no means the greatest ruler of ancient Egypt, waged, during many years of his long reign (c. 1330-1260), persistent war with the Hettite confederacy. I shall not give the details of these cam- paigns according to the one-sided and often absurd descrip- tions that come from Egyptian sources. These have been published elsewhere for English readers.^ It is sufficient here to note the following well-ascertained facts. The early campaigns, undertaken shortly after the accession of the kincr, did not extend beyond the bounds of Palestine 1 RP. II, 61 ff. Cf. Wright, p. 105 ff., 22 ff. ; Sayce, The Hittites, p. 24 ff. Ch. Ill, § 104 BATTLES AND NEGOTIATIONS 201 ip- fceii nit The of me tes, and Phoenicia. The Hettites, a more steady and reliable sort of people than their contemporaries, did not oppose the advance of Ramses, thus abiding faithfully by the treaty concluded with Seti. But in the fourth year of Ramses a new Hettite prince, Hetta-sar (i.e. "king of the Hettite "), came to the throne and determined to put a stop to his ambitious designs. A gieat battle was fought near the Hettite capital, Kadesh, in which the prowess of Ramses is said to have saved the day for the Egyptians. In spite of all the literary and monumental celebration of this event, it seems to have been indecisive. The war went on for sixteen years longer, and as it is only once that we find Ramses to have gone far north into the Hettite realm, the presumption is that he was held pretty well in check in Syria. In Palestine, however, he seems to have more than held his own in spite of numerous revolts, and the famous treaty of peace concluded with the Hettites in his twenty- first year did not disturb him in its possession. This compact was really a memorable affair on account of its solemn and sincere engagements, not only of peace and amity, but also of alliance for mutual defence, with stipu- lations for the extradition of criminals and fugitives from justice. § 164. The results of these protracted conflicts were, on the whole, beneficial xo Palestine and Syria. The remain- ing forty-five years of the reign of Ramses II were undis- turbed by strife. He and the Hettite rulers were joint guarantees and guardians of peace, and the small inter- mediate communities doubtless learned also to live and let live. That during this period trade and commerce, manufacture and art, flourished in the West-land, as they certainl}' did in Egypt, must be taken for granted. Doubt- less, to this rare time of jieace and prosperity a great expansion of the Canaanitic cities is to be assigned. INIany influences of Egyptian civilization must have been transferred to the whole of Western Asia, and we have, on the other hand, abundant evidence of the influx of lis. •iX'i. fcli 'ii 202 OPPRESSION OF THE HEBREWS Book HI I* !l ! ■ 'I ■ ;:! J 1 ri immigrants and travellers from over the Isthmus, in the Semitization of the Egyptian language and the favour shown to the protecting deities of the Semites. During this period of tranquillity the Egyptians asserted at least a nominal suzeraintv over Palestine, but it is difficult to believe that their actual administration extended beyond the cities of the Philistian coast, which they still regarded as frontier fortresses. The Hettites, mean- while, consolidated their power in Syria and northeast- ward to beyond the Euphrates, and no Egyptian troops were seen to the north of Lebanon for over seven hundred years. § 165. But events fraught with far more importance to the world than the strife or alliances of the greatest rulers of the time were transpiring in Egypt, among the descend- ants of a little Hebrew colony that had been admitted with other Semites to the fertile pasture-lands of the northeast border, — events which were to prepare the way for the reoccupation of the home-land of Palestine, with all its momentous consequences in the history of our race (Hos. xiv. 1). It was the custom of the Pharaohs in carrying out their great architectural enterprises and public works, to press into their service captives taken in war, immigrants, and refugees ; and, in the later years of the reign of Ramses II this old-time prescription was enforced with special urgency on account of the vast number of his undertakings. The Hebrews, who among tbu Semitic settlers had formerly been treated with peculiar considera- tion, were now made by the "king who knew not Joseph " to share the common lot. At the same time, his jealousy of the strangers of the same race from Syria, Palestine, and Arabia, whose growing numbers and wealth seemed likely to furnish the conditions for a new invasion by the "Shepherds," led Ramses to enact special measures for their reduction. The most rigorous and oppressive of these were enforced Jigainst the Hebrews as the most intelligent and thrifty, and presumably the most danger- ! i' Ch. Ill, § 166 INVASIONS FROM BEYOND THE SEAS 203 0U8, of the race. This hard bondage endured for many years. § 166. Now, however, new actors appeared on the stage, who materially changed the state of ijffairs both for Egypt and Syria. The power and splendour of Egypt passed away with the death of Ramses the Great, and soon afterwards, in the fifth year of his successor, Merneptah (c. 1260), Egypt was invaded by a host of strangers from the coasts and islands of the Mediterranean. These peo- ples, whom it is not easy to identify with any historic nationalities, had been attracted by the wealth of the Phoenician cities whose colonies were planted among them. Their depredations were, accordingly, first carried on in Syria and Palestine, where they gave a fatal shock to the influence of the Hettites, and began a series of devastating attacks on the flourishing communities of the Canaanites, which probably contributed more than anything else to the anarchy that afterwards rendered that people unable to make successful combined opposition to the invading Israelites. Their first fierce attack upon Egypt was repulsed, and the empire of the Nile thus relieved from what seemed impending destruction. Then followed a l>eriod of confusion and internal strife in Egypt, during which all foreigners were treated with suspicion as being possible intriguers, and the hard lot of the Hebrews was by no means liglitened. The suspicion was not always ill-founded, for among the rival pretenders to the throne a Syrian resident named Arsu succeeded in his designs, and actually reigned for a time in the seat of the Pharaohs. Finally, about half a century after the death of Ramses II, a stable government was once more inaugurated by Ramses III, the joint founder with his father of the Twentieth Dynasty. The most important event which occurred in Egypt in his reign of over thirty years (c. 1210-1180) was a repetition on a larger scale of an invasion from the Grecian lands and the coasts of Asia Minor. Outside of Egypt this movement was most Am. . ■ i-i, 204 RESULTS OF THE INVASION Book III strongly felt. An enormous migration of various tribes, moving both by land and sea, had made its way over the whole of Syria, breaking up the Hettite empire so effectu- ally that it is not mentioned at all in the Hebrew accounts of the conquest of Canaan. The change wrought by them in this whole region must have been of fateful importance. The old condition of things, as before the Hettite occupa- tion, was, at least in this respect, resumed, that the coun- try was virtually left to be taken by tlie first best invader. Palestine and Phceniciai were so plundered and crippled that when Ramses, after his repulse of the invaders, sought to re-establish his authority there, he met with no oppo- sition. His occupation, however, was but brief. The northern and western invaders, who permanently settled in Palestine, doubtless in most cases gradually merged themselves in the native population. An important ex- ception, for a time at least, must be noted in the case of the Philistines, 1 if we are right in assuming them to have been a deposit of this flood-tide from the Mediterranean (see § 192). § 167. It is towards the end of the reign of Ramses III that the Exodus is with most probability to be placed. It is usually assigned to the time of Merneptah, the suc- cessor of P.amses II. This must, however, be too early, since the Egyptian influence in Palestine lasted many years after his day, and it had, like the Hettite domination of Syria, entirely vanished at the time of the Israelitish conquest. Not only so, but the whole Israelitish pre- liminary movement would have been impossible till the time Avhen Egypt had relinquished its claim to Palestine, and had also ceased to control the Shasu of the Peninsula, 1 See Meyer, GA. § 266, and Dillmann on Gen. x. 14. Caphtor (cf. Beut. il. 2.3 ; 1 Chr. i. 12 ; Am. ix. 7 ; Jer. xlvii. 4) is usually held to be a name of Crete, The meaning may be "Greater Phoenicia" (indicating a colony) in the Egyptian language, whence Ebera thinks of Phojnician colonists on the coast of the Delta ; see Sayce, The Higher Criticism and the Monuments, p. 130. But the language of Jeremiah does not favour this. Ch. Ill, § 107 TIME OF THE EXODUS 205 among whom the wamle rings of the Hebrews took place. Such a state of things did not e.. ist until after the death of Ramses III and until the time of his feeble successors, who recalled by their name of Ramses alone the memory of the days when Egypt was an Asiatic power. The fortunes of Egypt will now cease to have direct interest for us for some hundreds of years, since it no longer influenced the destiny of Palestine. ■ J Book IV ASSYRIANS AND BABYLONIANS 9>©iO CHAPTER I ASSYRIA TILL THE ERA OF PREDOMINANCE § 168. A GENERAL description of the geography of Ass3'ria and its historical boundaries has aheady been •Tiven i^ 74). Before proceeding with our rapid survey of Assyria. I history, a word or two about the character of the people will be in place. As compared with Babylonia, some striking general differences are to be noted. The most remarkable of these is perhaps the fact that the Assyrians seem to have been of a much purer race in historical times than the dwellers on the Lower Euphrates. There is no change in the type of face shown in the numerous sculptured monuments of Nineveh, and they all appear to have the aspect of an unmixed Semitic people. Of a commingling of races, or at least of the introduction of foreign elements into the native Semitic, we find in Assyria, as contrasted with Babylonia, no apparent trace. Moreover, there is a singular unity in the history of Assyria. Composed as it was, during most of its time, practically of one enormous city, there is no serious inter- ruption in the exercise of its peculiar genius or the development of its national character. As compared with communities not Oriental, its existence was long, but in comparison with the Babylonian monarchies its history m Cii. I, § 168 THE ASSYRIAN PEOPLE 207 was brief, extending, as an independent empire, over less than a thousand years, as against the three thousand and more that measure the duration of the southern kingdoms. It was also compact and uniform. No foreign conqueror ever sat on the throne, while the foreign Elamite and Kasshite dynasties in Babylonia endured for centuries. Its predominant characteristics as a race and community lie on the surface, and are suggested even by a cursory survey of its monuments alone. The outstanding attri- butes of the Assyrian were energy and the love of power, and these characteristics were so marked that all other qualities were dwarfed in comparison. Naturally, they took the form of militarism, as in other ancient countries ; but in the case of Assyria it led to a one-sidedness so complete that hardly anything else than war and conquest, with concomitant and kindred pursuits, are suggested by its history and its literature, its sculpture and decorative art. As was the case with other Semitic nations, the religiousness of the Assyi-ians was intense and extreme, and conquest was to them a religious work, indeed the very work of their gods themselves ; but the satisfaction of the lust of power and gain was always the practical end. And there never was a race more practical or less imagina- tive and, at the same time, more intense and aggressive. These qualities were exemplified in plans and modes of action almost startling in the perfection of their simplicity and consistency, and in the remorseless energy with which they were executed and realized. As compared with the old Babylonian kingdoms (not the later Chalda^an mon- archy), they were in many respects like the Roman empire compared with the Grecian states. Though they never attained the faculty of organization and administration Avhich characterized the Romans, the}- yet gave the world the first example of a great organized state, — a creative idea which was ultimately adopted by imperial Rome itself (§ 6). In the genius for centralizing, concentrating, and consolidating political power Nineveh furnished a further ■ r ■ I 208 ASSYRIAN CHARACTERISTICS Book IV !; l)arallel to Rome. The comparison might be pursued further still, since the lack of creative and original faculty in science, literature, and art among the Assyrians, as contrasted with the Babylonians, is just as marked as the same phenomena among the Romans in comparison with the Greeks. 1 § 169. On the whole, there is at once a singular fas- cination and repulsiveness in the most obvious political and moral aspects of Assyrian life and history. The singleness and intensity of purpose, along with compre- hensiveness and magnitude of aim and plan, the swiftness of decision and energy of action, compel our attention and excite our admiration. On the other hand, the relentless repression of all opposition, the disregard of the rights of others, the remorseless cruelty shown to enemies and especially to rebels, and the sober and sincere earnestness with which all thir was carried out in the name of, and in obedience to, the gods, make us recoil with horror, even though we are conscious that the spirit, and many of the forms, of this odious religiousness are paralleled elsewhere in ancient and modern times. The temper and genius of the nation are well represented in the sculptured faces of its kings, which one who has seen can never forget. The restless activity and boundless ambition of these "sub- verters of the nations " are only faintly represented in the stony images. The repose of the countenance is the indication of conscious power and not of inward restful- ness, while there is there an expression of resoluteness and pitilessness that excites in the beholder, even with such a wide interval of association, a feeling of inward revolt and repugnance not unmingled with awe. But though our judgment of the Assp'ians is necessarily harsh, as far as the finer qualities of humanity are found wanting in them throughout their history, we must not leave out of sight certain qualifying considerations. We must remember that the accounts which have come to us mostly 1 Cf. Tide, BAG. p. 676. Ch. I, § 171 DIVISIONS OF THE HISTORY 209 tell of deeds of war and its concomitant violence, and that a picture completed by the portrayal of the social and civil life of this gifted and strenuous people would -certainly show many lighter relieving colours. And we must not fail to look at the history of the nation from beginning to end, and to recognize, reluctantly as we may, that it fulfilled its destiny and mission by upholding itself against the rivals who, in ancient Semitic times, would else inevitably have crushed out its existence ; that in vindi- cating and maintaining and aggrandizing itself it simply used the well-approved methods of its predecessors and contemporaries; that even the Hebrews, before the rise of Prophecy, were scarcely more humane to their stubborn foes ; and that the cruelty of Christian conquerors up to very recent times, differing more in form and expression than in degree or spirit from that of the Assyrians, was perpetrated under the light of the religion whose very essence is mercy and its charter the message of peace and good-will to men. § 170. The history of Assyria has already (§ 78) been divided into tliree periods, which may now be defined as follows : — I. The earliest period of dependence upon Babylonia. This division ends with the establishment of a separate kingdom and the rise of Nineveh, c. 1500 B.C. II. The history up to the reorganization of the empire under Tiglathpileser III, 745 B.C. III. The supremacy of Assyria in Western Asia, 745 B.C. to the fall of Nineveh, 608 B.C. § 171. The beginnings of Assyrian history are involved in obscurity. If the opinion is right which holds that the Semites started from the Arabian desert and moved north- wards, there can be no reasonable doubt that the first settlers of that race on the banks of the Tigris came by way of Babylonia. We should then have to conclude that the migration was accomplished at a time long before the first dawn of known Semitic history, otherwise the purity 1 i ( 1 ¥i il li 210 THE SETTLEMENT OF ASSYRIA Book IV of race characteristic of the Assyrians, as contrasted with the IJabyhmians, wouhl be inexplicable. We have to tliink of the settlement of Assyria somewhat as follows. Keeping in mind the general character and direction of the migrations of these divisions of the North Semitic family (§ 22, 12(j), Ave observe that while the Canaanites and the main body of the Aranueans pursned a westerly path, determined in general by the course of the Euphrates, the Babylonian division, after "Shumer and Akkad" (§ 110) had been reduced to cultivation, kept sending out colonies, or offshoots, to the north. ^ The country to the east of the Tigris furnished better land for settlement than the region between that river and the Euphrates, and it was accord- ingly taken up by the Babylonians, who, in contrast to their kindred, had completely abjured the nomadic life. We have already seen (§ 92) that the territory north of Baghdad, stretching up to the Lower Zab (Gutiuni), was inhabited about 4000 B.C. by a Semitic-speaking people. The inhabitants of this region were, in historical times at least, not prevailingly of Semitic stock, the intermixture having presumably come from the Median mountains. Now the LoAver Zab was the historical southern boundary of the Assyrian people, and the assumption is natural that they Avere Babylonian colonists of the same general type as those who settled in Gutium, preceding the latter in their emigration, and maintaining better than they the traditions and spirit of Semitism against the marauders from the mountains. The very early date above assigned to the first Semitic settlements in Assyria is confirmed by the fact that the city of Nineveh, far to the north of the country, was in existence about 3000 B.C., trade being 1 The supposition of Winckler (GBA. p. 149, c£. 141) that North Mesopotamia (Charran) was the centre of the oldest Babylonio-Semitic civilization, which thence spread southeastward, is altogether improbable unless we accept the hypothesis of a general Semitic migration from the northern highlands. For special objections, see Hilprecht, OBT. I, 23 f. ; Jensen in ZA. VIII, 229 f. Cii. I, § 172 ASSIIUH AND ITS KARLIEST ItULEHS 211 carried on there with South Biibyh)nia, and a temple erected by the famous Nubu (§ 90 f. ) in honour of the go(kless Nina (Ishtar), from whom the city was named. Much earlier than this must the city of Asshur' have been founded, which, as already mentioned (§ 74), was the first seat of an organized government, and from which the empire of Assyria received its historic name. This fact may also bear testimony to the immemorial existence of some kind of nationality, with the city of Asshur as the centre. The absence of references in the extant Baby- lonian inscriptions for many hundreds of years sliows, however, the comparative unimportance, politically, of the whole community until near 2000 B.C. It may further be taken for granted that the colony, if we may so term it, was normally held in a sort of subjection by the ruling Babylonian state (whenever it attained to wide dominion), which would maintain the leading settlements as trading- posts in the interests of mining and fishing. § 172. Such a state of subjection, of whatever character it may have been, is perhaps indicated by the fact that the earliest known rulers of Assyria do not call themselves "kings," but "priestly regents " (§ 98). A^jparently the struggling community did not come under the protection of Babylonia till the Elamites were expelled, possibly in the time of the great Chammurabi (§ 117). The names of several of their rulers, from about 2000 n.c. onwards, have been preserved, along with the fact that they zeal- ously promoted the old Babylonian worship. One of them, iSamsi-Rammdn (" Rammiin is my sun "), son of Ishme- Dagun, is alluded to long after as a priestly regent who had erected a temple in Nineveh to the gods Anu and Rammiin. His date is fixed at about 1820 B.C. by our informant, Tiglathpileser I (§ 178 ff.), who restored the 1 This, the name of the national god, as well as of the city and country, means "bringer of prosperity." The double name may possibly recall the pious gratitude of the earliest settlers, as well as their good fortune, and thus explain the perpetual cult of the favourite deity. I 'v;*!6 9ia ASSYRIA AND EGYPT Book IV tein[)le the second time.^ How far he was removed from the first genuine "king" of Asslmr we caimot tell, nor is it even certain as yet to whom the honour of having first worn the title is to be assigned. What we learned about the usage of these designations of the highest rank, in con- nection with the history of South liabylonia (§ 08), must make us cautious about asserting that the estt? ' ment of the "kingdom" was equivalent to the assert. .. of inde- pendence, though a coincidence between the two is of course possible. One of the later rulers ^ appears to think that his ancestor, Bel-k.apkapu (" Bel is strong "), was the earliest of Assyrian kings, while another ^ distinctly claims the merit of having changed the old regency into a mon- archy for the alleged founder of his line, Bel-ibnT. In view of the subsequent history, it should be noted how Nineveh was kept in mind by the rulers of Asshur, as we learn not only from the erection of new structures there, but also from the restorati(m of the venerable ruin of the temple of Ishtar (Ninii), which had been founded by Nabii a thousand years before. § 173. For the next two centuries there iiothing known with certainty of the fortunes of Assyria. In the second half of the sixteenth century a welcome and suggestive side-light comes from Egyptian history. It will be remembered that Thothmes III, the most power- ful of all the Pharaohs (§ 145), received messengers with presents from the king of Assyria. The supposi- tion that the famous invader and conqueror of Northern Syria penetrated also to the banks of the Tigris cf.n- not be entertained. Nor can we assume that the terri- tory of Assyria proper was at any time subjugated by Egypt. The matter has special interest for us at present, because it helps to throw light upon the status of Assyi-ia, which was, in this matter, evidently acting in its own 1 TP. VII, 00-70. 2 Ramman-nirari III, in I R. 35 Nr. 4, 21 ff. 8 Esarhaddon, K. 2801 ; see Winckler, GBA. p. 154 f., 330. Cii. I, § 174 AFFAIRS IN TUK SIXTEENTH CENTUHY 21.') light, and was therefore probably either preparing to secure complete independence of Babylonia, or, having already secured it, was endeavouring to enlist the su[)[)ort of Egypt against a rival power. An interesting question iirises here in connection with the country intervening between the Tigris and the Euphrates. It is quite impossible that it should have been left out of sight in the early aggressive days of Assyrian independence, and it is at least a plausible assunii)tion that the encroach- ments of Thothmes upon Mesopotamia were viewed with apiirehension by the Assyrian king, who wished to guard against their extension by propitiating the great conqueror from the valley of the Nile. In any case, it must be un- derstood that Assyiia regarded itself, from the beginning of its national autonomy, as the heir of Babylonian sover- eignty in the West, and it is quite in accordance with the present hypothesis that our definite information as to Assyrian progress westwiud indicates it as the controlling power in Mesopotamia. § 17-i. The condition of affairs in Western Asia in the sixteenth century B.C. may, we think, be broadly sum- marized as follows. Recalling what has been said of the affairs of Babylonia, we see that state which had dominated Mesopotamia and the West-land for many centuries, which had enriched herself by their trade and civilized them by her art and literature, and even given them her language and her writing, compelled, after a long and bitter struggle, to accept the yoke of the wild Kasshite mountaineers, and, weakened and dismembered by the strife, constrained to limit herself perpetually to the region of the Lower Euphrates, and leave the West-land an easy prey to the Egyptians and the Hettites. But this Kasshite conquest of Babylonia had fateful results in another way; it pre- vented the consolidation of the eastern branch of the Semites by alienating from Babylonia the Assyrian colon- ists, who at least remained friendly to the mother state until the foreign yoke was imposed, and the Semitic race h I <% 814 IIIVALIIY WITH BABYLONIA Book IV if tl^ ■I* threatened with cnntumination and virtual extinction. Not iniprobahly the Ehmiitic subjugation of Babylonia resulted in the expatriati<>n of many of the native patriots and the consecjuent augmentation of the purely Semitic settlement north of the Lower Zab; and the traditions of self-sacrificing loyalty must have lingered in the minds of their descendants, who refused to be coerced or de-Semitized l)y eitlier Kasshites or Gute. It was, perhaps, the perpetual struggles for the maintenance of the integrity of the colony wliich gave to the Assyrians their historic fierceness of spirit and unbending will, and tlie same (i"alities and feelings which made them resist the Gute a:.id Elamites led them also to break with Babylonia, now become Kasshite. Henceforth there was almost perpetual rivalry and strife between Assyria and the parent country, in spite of their community of origin, of religion, and of all the elements of culture. Henceforth, talso, it is Assyria that becomes the leading power in the West. The first issue to be decided was which of the two states should control the trade of Mesopotamia and Syria.^ Assyria had the advan- tage in point of nearness, and her position also enabled her to block the road along the Euphrates and destroy the Babylonian caravans. The result of the struggle was that not until the destruction of the Assyrian ca[)ital ((508 i!.c.) did any Babylonian ruler a[)pear in the West-land. § 175. Our next information with regard to Assyria is comparatively full, and shows it to have reached the rank of an acknowledged rival of the mother-land. We learn this from one of the most interesting and important docu- ments of Oriental antiquity, a synchronistic sunnnary^ of Assyrian and Babylonian history, written from the stand- ' Wiiicklcr's oi)inioii, which !i8.suini'.s uiuch closer ri'lations between Assyria ami North Mesopotamia tiian those above sug^t^sted, and even maintains that tin; latter for a time dominated the former, is unsupported by anything we k.iow s yet of the political development of the River coun- try. See his GHA. p. 154 ff., and Oriental isrhc Fnrschungcn, I, p. 88 ff. MI R. 00 ; III R. 4. See Delitzsch, Kossaer ; Ilommel, GBA. p. 433 ff., cf. 470 ff. ; Wlnckler, UAG., where the text is autographed complcto (p. 148-ir,2). Cii. I, § 176 SYNCHRONISTIC HISTORY 215 point of the former nationality. The first notiee from this source tells us tliat the king of Assyria, Assliur-bcl-nislu"- shu ("Asshur is lord of his peoi)le," c. 1480 ii.t;.), and the Kasshite king of Babylon, Karaindash, defined the boundary of their respective territories and took a mutual oath not to transgress it. These i)eaeeful relations were maintained by the next two kings of Assyria. A change, however, took place when the fourth ruler of the line, Assimr-uballit (" Asshur gives salvation," c. 1410), gave his daughter in marriage to the Habyloiuan king, liurra- buriash (§ 149). Hut the permanent relations thus s(uight were not to be realized. On the death of the Kasshite son-in-law, the body-guard rose up against the half- Assyrian grandson who came to the succession, and, having ])ut him to death, raised one of their own race to the throne. Asshur-uballit then invaded the country, de- throned the pretender, and set in his ])lace another son of Hurraburiash named " Kurigalzu the lesser " (that is, the s(;c()nd). The subordinate position of naI)ylonia was not, however, agreeable to the favoured monarch, and we find him engaged in war with Bel-nirarl, the son and successor of Asshur-uballit, with results very unfavourable to him- self, since he was defeated and had to yield up a large l)art of his territory. This triumph was followed by successes against neighbouring peo[)les, under a series of rulers who set the young ambitious nation fairly on its road of self-aggrandizement. The position now held by Assyria is indicated by the fact that, at the end of the fifteenth century, as we learn from letters to Amcnophis IV in the El Amai-na collection (§ loO), busy negotia- tions were carried on with the Egyptian court. IJel-iiirarl himself followed the immemorial policy of the f>ld Baby- lonian empires, and pointed out to his sut^^essors tlu; path of glory and profit by seizing the road to th(! (umtres of the Mesopotamian traftie. Of his grandson, Bannnrm-iiirnrl I (c. 1325), we have an inserij)tion ' of consideralth; length, 1 IV R. 44 f. KB. I, 4-0 has trniiHcription and tranHlation. it waHilrHt translated by Smith, Disc. 243 ff. This m tlio first dated inscription known. ■^' 216 ASSYRIAN EXTENSION Book IV which is a main source of our information for all this period. He enlarged the territory of Assyria southward, repelled the Gute and other southeastern tribes, who were long to remain troublesome enemies and were always to be found on the side of Babylonia as against the more purely Semitic northern state. His great work was not so much to extend the territory of Assyria as to consolidate and attach more firmly to his dominion the acquisitions of his predecessors. By crippling the Kasshites in their own mountain homes he struck at the great source of supply of recruits to the Babylonian armies. Perhaps of more importance still were the deeds of his son and successor, Shalmaneser I (c. 1300), the real founder of the historic Nineveh, who built Avhat was later the southern suburb of that centre of Assyrian life and power, the city of Kalach, now the ruins of Nimrud, an achievement referred to in Gen. X. 11. His warlike enterprises were directed mainly to bringing to subjection the Aramoean tribes of Northern Mesopotamia, among whom he planted Assyrian colonies. The next king, his son Tuklat-Adar I (c. 1290), is named "king of Simmer and Akkad," and therefore (§ 110) must have become master of Central Babylonia. We may infer, in fact, from an interesting statement of Sinacherib 600 years later, ^ that he exercised some kind of sovereign authority in the city of Babylon itself. § 176. For the next eighty years we find the Assyrians quiescent, and the Babylonians holding their former power, though apparentl)' not in possession of Assyrian territory. The new capital at Nineveh was chosen none too soon. While the city of Asshur was declining in importance, and perhaps in the hands of enemies, Nineveh served as the retreat of the enfeebled Assyrians of the more southerly portions of the kingdom. The evidence of the native documents as to this period is ominous as to the condition ^ III II. 4 Nr. 2 is an inscription on a seal sent by tliis king to Babylon. It was found there by Sinacherib, probably at his second conquest of Babylon (689 u.c), " 000 years afterwards." ■ Ch. I, § 177 PROGRESS OF THREE CENTURIES 21: of the kingdom.^ But the results of this first term of Assyrian independence show achievements of the utmost importance. In the first place, Semitism secured a per- manent triumph. The more we study the somewhat obscure history of these three centuries, the more it becomes evident that Assyria represented the pure Semitic spirit as opposed to the miscegenating tendencies which had become inevit- able in Babylonia. Not only did the descendants of the southern colonists keep themselves intact by breaking the power of the earlier barbarians; by direct as well as indirect influence they actually put an end to the undis- puted rule of the Kasshites in Babylon, so that the way was prepared for their ultimate expulsion or absorption. In the second place, they established outposts and founded and maintained colonies among the Aramaean districts of Eastern Mesopotamia, to whose influence we may perhaps ascribe the fact that the Hettite conquest did not extend into that region. In the third place. Babylonia was thrust into a secondary position. The situation and enterprise of Assyria excluded the mother country from the West-land, without whose control no state could rise to supremacy in this portion of Asia. Though Assyria herself could not as yet enter into possession, she occupied the vantage-ground and held the keys. § 177. Babylon soon regained her independence, and, though often compelled to wage an unequal contest with Assyria, she received no ruler from the latter after Tuklat- Adar, for 600 years. Singularly enough, also, the Baby- lonians never succeeded in bringing Assyria under the yoke. The intervening territory was the scene of many a conflict; the soil of each country was ravaged very many times by the invading troops of the other, and the destruc- tion of either capital was doubtless often only averted by the payment of heavy com mutations. An early successor 1 This, however, did not involve a collapse of the empire. Tributary lands west of Mount Masius were kept true to their allegiance till they were overcome by the Moschi (§ 179), about 1105 u.c. (TP. I, 62 S.). 218 NEW DYNASTY IN BABYLONIA Book IV of Tuklat-Adar fell in battle with an unknown king of Babylon, and his successor was for a time shut up in the city of Asshur by Ramman-nadin-ache, the powerful king of the revived Babylonian state (c. 1200 B.C.), after he had unsuccessfully invaded the latter's territory. § 178. A new era of prosperity and power for Assyria began with the reign of Asshur-dan (c. 1190 B.C.). His chief importance lay in the fact that he made a successful invasion of Babylonia, without, however, as it would seem, annexing any territory. His grandson, Asshur-resh-ishi,i was an aggressive monarch, pushing his conquests near to the border of Elani, and bringing back to their allegiance several of the tribes of the eastern mountains. He also undertook the task of reclaiming Mesopotamia and of vindicating the claim of Asshur to the rightful rule of the West-land ; but its completion was left to his successor. His most formidable rival was Nebuchadrezzar I, king of Babylon, an enterprising warrior as well as a vigorous ruler and administrator, whose importance is manifest from the fact that he was the founder of a new dynasty which overthrew the rdgime of the Kasshites. This new series of kings, who were purely of native Semitic origin, reigned apparently about 130 years (c. 1139-1007). ^ Its leader, Nebuchadrezzar, delivered the country from the deplorable condition of weakness and anarchy to which it had sunk during the later times of the Kasshites. These foreigners were now entirely deprived of place and influ- ence in Babylonia, and as they were not nearly as powerful as formerly in their mountain homes, they never regained a position of influence. The new dynasty reasserted for a time the old historic claims of Babylonia, and almost succeeded in maintaining them. Nebuchadrezzar under- took, with good fortune, prolonged wars with the heredi- 1 A brief inscription of his is published in III R. 3 Nr. 6. He is also mentioned in TP. VII, 43 f. * I have adopted the estimate of Peiser, ZA. VI, 268 f., and Hilprecht, OBT. I, 43f. , Ch. I, § 179 REVIVAL OF ANCIENT ENTERPRISE 219 tary enemy Elam, chastised the Kasshites in their native retreats, and extended the border of Babylonia northward. In the latter undertaking he of course came in conflict with the AssjTians. His strife with them was really a contest on a much larger scale than would at first appear from tlie scanty notices. Its area embraced not only the border- lands, but the whole of Mesopotamia, which it would seem that Nebuchadrezzar actually subdued and, at least for a short time, held under control, even crossing the Euphrates in his victorious march westward. This magnificent tri- umph was, however, but very short-lived. The effort was without substantial backing in the central state, and was rather a fitful revival of the ancient spirit of Babylonia and a reminder of its ancient glories than an indication if its permanent temper and achievement. Larger and smaller issues were alike decided by the result of deter- mined intervention on the part of Asshur-resh-ishi, who, although he was at first compelled to retire within his own borders, yet finally defeated Nebuchadrezzar and drove him back to his own land. The successors of the latter in the present dynasty were unable to make any attempts at conquests in Mesopotamia, and the dominion of the West- land was to remain but a dream and a memory in the minds of the Babylonians for the next 500 years. ^ § 179. We have now to record the principal achieve- ments of the next king of Assj'ria in the regular line of descent, the famous Tiglathpileser I,^ one of the most • Our information about Nebuchadrezzar I we get mainly from an interesting state paper of his own, published by Hilprecht, Freibrief Nebukadiiezars, 1883 (text and translation, with paliBographic introduc- tion), and V R. 56-57. Another briefer document, of a similar kind, was published in S. A. Smith's Assyrian Letters IV. Plates VIII and IX and translated by Meissner in ZA. IV, 259 ff. Both are translated by Peiser in KB. Ill, 104 ff. Hilprecht, OBT. I, p. .^8 ff., proves that he was the founder of his dynasty, a conclusion supported by Oppert on other grounds, ZA. VIII, 302 ff. '^ The current Assyrian form Tuklat-pal-eiar (" My help is the son of Eshar," i.e. the god Adar) is itself an abbreviation for TuklCiti-apal- r I ' 220 TIGLATHPILESER I OF ASSYltIA Book IV striking figures of the old Assyrian times (c. 1120-1100 B.C.). The first care of this typical ruler of his race was to see to the rebuilding of the old national temple of Anu and Ramman in the city of Asshur, which had lain in ruins for sixty years. He then embarked upon an unprece- dented career of victorious warfare, the first five years of which he has himself detailed. These campaigns were conducted in the West and Northwest, and his conquests and reconquests, achieved with remarkable rapidity, em- braced nearly all the regions north of Syria and Mesopo- tamia, and between the Mediterranean and Lake Van. Of the peoples with whom he had to do, we cannot omit to mention the Moschi ^ (^Mulke, the Meshech of Gen. x. 2), who had crossed the Upper Euphrates and occupied prov- inces tributary to Assyria in the neighbourhood of the modern Diarbekr. To dislodge them he crossed Mount Masius and inflicted upon them such a defeat that they are not heard of again in this period. They were the most dangerous of the northern mountaineers, and it is easy to perceive that the aim of his expedition was to prevent them from making a descent upon Mesopotamia and Syi-ia. Kommagene (^Kummuh), in the southeast of Cappadocia, and the northeast of Roman Syria, was then overrun and made an integral part of the empire. To the north of Mount Masius, the tribes of the Kirte (the presumptive aixc3Stors of the modern Kurds) were reduced in rapid succession. Next, he overthrew a confederation of princes of the Nairi on the upper waters of the Euphrates and Tigris, in the southerly portion of the modern Armenia. Their territory, however, he contented himself with put- ting under tribute, for the excellent reason that he was not prepared to administer it as a portion of his own dominions. The following year witnessed the subjugation eSarri. Names of persons were as a rule contracted by the omission of the final vowels, by the use of the construct form, etc. — His annals (the first five years of his reign) are published, I R. 1-16, and often translated. 1 For this people, see especially KGF. p. 127-213 ; Par. 260. Ch. I, § 180 CONQUESTS AND INVASIONS 221 of the dwellers on the Middle Euphrates in Western Mesopotamia. Here and in Southern Koramagene lay the land once known as Mitani (§ 150), which was now reoccupied by Aramsean settlera. Ararateans were also taking the place of the Hettites, even to the west of the River. Of this great people, once so terrible to Asia and Africa alike, there was now little left but the local sover- eignty of petty states in Northern Syria, which could form no barrier to the slow but gradual extension of the Aramsean settlements towards their goal on the frontiers of Palestine. The old Hettite capital, Carchemish, was left unmolested, but several Aramsean strongholds in the neighbourhood were overthrown. His fifth year was devoted to expeditions in Northern Cappodocia and West- ern Armenia. The achievements of his first five years he summarizes as follows: "A total of forty-two countries and their princes from the other side of the Lower Zab, the boundary of remote wooded mountains, to the other side of the Euphrates, the land of the Hettites, and the upper sea of the West,^ from the beginning of my govern- ment to the fifth year of my reign, my hand overcame ; one mouth I made them all;'^ their hostages I took; tribute and fines I imposed upon them."^ § 180. The absence of Tiglathpileser in these Northern and Western wars appears to have encouraged the Baby- lonians to invade his territory. Marduk-nadin-ache, the second successor of Nebuchadrezzar I, made (1107 B.C.)* a successful inroad into Assyria, plundered the city of Ekallati ("Temple town," probably near the border), and carried off two statues of patron deities, which were after- wards recovered from Babylon by Sinaeherib "418 years 1 That is the Mediterranean south as far as the Phcenician settlements (cf. § 331). ■^ That is to say, he made them of one consent (to obey Asshur). * TP. VI, 39-48. The above is given as a sample of the Assyrian "historical" style. * Sinaeherib furnishes us with the information and the date. III li. 14, 48 ff. 222 KINGLY ENTERPRISES Book IV afterwards." Two defeats of the Babylonians followed,^ which resulted in the Assyrian monarch ravaging their country as far as Babylon, which was apparently spared to its king on condition of his acknowledging Assyrian suzerainty. The passion of Tiglathpileser for hunting has indirectly made us acquainted Avith a still more significant fact. An admiring successor and imitator, Asshurnasirpal (§ 218 ff.), commemorating the exploits of this veritable Nimrod,^ describes him as hunting and fishing on the Mediterranean coast and making marine excursions in vessels of Arvad. From this we infer that at least the northern portion of Phoenicia was subdued by him, since hunting was an invariable accompaniment of his campaigns. To complete the picture of this representative Assyrian, it should be added that his care for the development and beautifying of the cities of the home land was as remark- able as his energy and enterprise in foreign wars. Trees yielding the best timber, which from time immemorial were draAvn from the West-land, he attempted to transplant to Assyria. He laid out gardens and stocked them with the best foreign fruits and vegetables. He was a zealous cattle-breeder, as well as collector of wild beasts, spoiling his foreign possessions for both purposes ; and he filled the granaries of Assyria with corn. As a builder of temples to the gods which he served so zealously he ranks with the first. The city of Asshur, which was his principal residence, he made again the capital, and especially adorned it with costly structures.^ § 181. For many years after Tiglathpileser, Assyria seems to have enjoyed the blessings of peace, and even to have been on good terms with Babylonia. Of foreign wars, or in fact of anything else thereafter, no notice is left us for over a century and a half. This is not merely to be 1 Synchr. Hist. col. II. 2 I R. 28 ; for other hunting adventures, see The Annals, VI, 58-84. 8 I have dwelt with some fulness upon the career of this monarch, because it is that of the first typical Assyrian well known to us. ■ Ch. I, § 181 ASSYRIA QUIESCENT 223 explained on the supposition that the records have not yet been discovered. The fact is clear enough that, while the conquests that had been made in the neighbourhood of Assyria, for example in Eastern Mesopotamia, were long held in a sort of subjection, most of the dependencies of the empire, as Tiglathpileser had established it, were one by one allowed to withdraw because of the want of a strong central power. The government gradually became inefficient even at home, as we know from the condition of things when the light again breaks in upon the obscurity, about the end of the tenth century B.C. This period of Assyrian quiescence and temporary decline is the time of the rise of the Israelitish kingdom and of its division, as well as of the growth of the various Aramaean nationalities that were built upon the ruins of the Hettite empire. It will be in place to take a rapid survey of these new conditions in the Western country. Book V HEBREWS, CANAANITES, AND ARAMAEANS o»io CHAPTER I TRIBAL SETTLEMENTS OF ISRAEL § 182. Our sketch of the history and condition of Pales- tine and Syria, drawn with the broadest lines, brought us to the time of the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt. Our materials, gained almost entirely from the old Baby- lonian and Egyptian monuments, were scanty in the extreme; but we were able to draw important general conclusions, and could note especially some of the provi- dential conditions for the establishment of Israel as a people in the Land of Promise. The main external con- dition was that Palestine should not remain under the control of any great overmastering power which would crush out the development of a free national and religious life. We saw that the intermittent domination of the West-land by the old Babylonian monarchies was put an end to by the crippling of Babylon itself, first through the Kasshite invasions and then through the growing power of its rival, Assyria. Next, when the decline of the Euphra- teavi realm seemed to give the great empire of the Nile free play on the Mediterranean coastlands, the Hettites asserted themselves in the North as their competitors, and their pro- longed mutual strife prevented either from becoming a permanent proprietor of the coveted inter-continental high- 224 Cn. I, § 183 ISRAEL IN THE DESERT 225 way; and finally, the incursions of the barbarians from the northern coast of the Mediterranean and from Asia Minor, working irreparable damage upon Hettites and Egyptians alike, left Palestine once more open. We are now being introduced to another era in the history of the West-land, which shows an equally striking provision for the chosen people. Assyria had arisen to be the greatest power in Western Asia, and her most powerful ruler, as we have seen, extended his conquests almost to the verge of Canaan. The perpetuation and increase of this pre-emi- nence would have been fatal to the independent life and growth of any subject state, and Assyrian rule to the south of Lebanon in the eleventh and tenth centuries B.C. would have meant religious and political death to Israel. Tlie decline of the threatening monarchy during that period which has just been noted was Israel's opportunity. § 183. The Exodus, as we have seen above (§ 167), will probably have to be put about 1200 B.C. The events and conditions of most historical importance until the entrance into Canaan (c. 1160 B.C.) are easily enumerated. Moses, the leader, already versed in desert life and famil- iar with the regions to be traversed, directed the march at first towards the holy mountain-peak of Sinai. The road thither was barred by one of the leading Semitic tribes of the peninsula, the Amalekites, who offered battle and were defeated. At Sinai the covenant with Jehovah was made and ratified, and then a direct march was made upon Canaan. The people, faint-hearted by reason of their long slavery, recoiled from the dangers of an inva- sion, and were doomed to wander in the neighbourhood of their rendezvous, Kadesh-Barnea, till a new generation, accustomed to independence and inured to peril, took their place. With these the aged leader advanced upon the territory east of the Jordan. The nationalities kin- dred to Israel had already been established in the seats which they were to hold till Israel itself ceased to be a nation. These were not to be disturbed by the band of m 1 |Hi iH 1 ■ 220 CONQUESTS EAST OF THE JORDAN llcoK V ,1 invaders. Edom, to the east of Kailesh, was avoided by a detour. A large portion of the territory of Moab south of the Jabhok, and of Amnion to the north, had lx.'en seized, and was now ruled by a surviving colony of the ancient Amorites, who were in the position unusual to them of administering a fairly large portion of territory as one principality, which stretched from the Arnon to the Jabbok, with Heshlxm as the capital. Sihon, the Amorite king, refused Israel a passage through his dominions, and came out to oi)pose any violation of his territory. In a battle fought in the border town of Jahaz, the invaders were victorious and the Amorites were ejected from their possessions, which, with additional territory taken from their kindred further north, were divided among the tribes of Reuben and Gad and a portion of Manasseh. The Ammonites and Moabites were allowed to retain those of their possessions which had not been seized by the Amorites. The Israelites were not further molested east of the Jordan except by intrigues and seductive arts on the part of the Moabites and a band of Midianites from the south, who Avere hanging in the rear, and these were put an end to by the defeat of the latter. Moses soon after died on the old sacred mountain of Nebo. Joshua, an E[)liraimite, succeeded to the leadership, and the occu- pation of the land of Canaan proper, which was the real objective point, was begun. § 184. When Israel entered the Land of Promise the condition of the country was not essentially different from that which marked it during the later Egyptian and Het- tite regimes, except in the direction of higher material )i development. The Canaanites who inhabited highlands had long since succeeded in iib'' cultural uses the rugged ridges of w ble hills, and by a careful system ot igaiio the slopes and valleys also perm, acntly Under the long quietude that followed iie Egyptian invasions and the incursions of the northern strangers, .1 1 i i-i- ■in' a- ad iiide productive. Cn. I, § 185 CONDITION OF CANAAN 227 prosperity had come to the land; and in their own fatshion these Canaanites advanced in civilization like their breth- ren on the IMuenician coast. Knriched es[)ecially hy vine and wheat culture, many of tlieir numerouj villages had grown into cities, each of them a centre of inde[)cndent government (§ 37) having its i)etty prince or "king." With their advance in [irosperity grew also their indul- gence in the vices and various abominations wliich cliar- acterize 'H ■« \ „. I): ^!^ 244 ARAM^ANS AND HETTITES IN SYRIA Book V accurate) Babylonisin monuments are equally silent. There is a common impression that Damascus, at least, was Aramaean from the earliest times,* but it is difficult to learn upon what this supposition is based. More probrbly it, as well as much of the territory to the north and no'thwest, were originally peopled by Amorites ; indeeti, it is plausible that its (the Babylonian and Assyrian) ideogram means "the Amorite city," as \mng the chief seat of that peo[)le. The Egyptian testimony to the occupation of the country north of Lebanon by the same race has been (§ 132) already referred to. The absence of mention of the Hettites, except as represented by the geographical name, in the Assyrian records, from Tig- lathpileser I onwards, can only be explained on the theory that the Aranueans, having crossed the River, had suc- ceeded in expelling and absorbing the remnants of tliat once powerful race ; and we cannot believe that, after the time of the monarchy in Israel, any organized l)ody of th»'m was to be found in this territory, now wholly Senntie '*■■: Semitized.'^ The continuance, for example, of the HeL- tite rule in Hamath, after the establishment of Aramaian kingdoms in Zobah and Damascus, would have been simply imi)()ssible. Tlie Hettites were confined to the country nearest Cappadocia, about Carchemish, on the slopes of Mount Amanus, and north and northwestward in Cilicia. The allusions to them in the time of David and even later, not referring to individuals, must be taken in the same vague, traditional, geographical sense as that which was perpetuated by the Assyrians when they called the whole of Syria " the land of tlie Hettites " (cf. § 22G). § 202. Witli this exception, then, Syria was wholly Aramaic in the eleventh and tenth centuries, and thus the greater part of the old caravan routes was in the hands of Aramicans. To them tlie famous cities lying on the route certainly owed their main growth. These were (after » Meyer, GA. § 170, n. * See Note 6 iu tlie Appt'iulix. Cii. II, § 203 ARAM^AN CITIES AND KINGDOMS 245 Carchemish), Aleppo (Assyr. Balman), Hamath (Assyr. Amdtu), and Damascus. Each of them was the centre of an independent government of variable extent, Ale})[)o being the most isolated. Hamath in the middle of the ninth century was a kingdom of importance, controlling the upper part of the Orontes Valley and extending to the Mediterranean. It was also, more than a century earlier, a state of some consequence (2 Sam. viii. 9 flf.). It is the classical Ei»iphania (modern HamdK), and was the point where the caravan route from the northeast entered the Orontes Valley. This natural [)as8age would seem to furnish the true explanation of the phrase "the entrance to Hamath," which was the popular designation of the vaguely conceived noi'thern boundary of Canaan, stretch- ing out between the Lebanons to the central emporium. Further south, along the Orontes basin, extended the king- dom of Zobah (nmX, Assyr. Subit). It was also important in the liistory of the undivided Israelitisli monarchy, but declined soon after, though the city wliich gave it the name survived at least three centuries hmger. It lay, probably, near the modern Horns and not far north of the Hettite stronghold, Kadesh, over which, of courae, the kingdom of Zobah bore sway. The most imj)<)rtant of all was Damascus, wliether as a city or a kingdom. The zenith of its power was reached in the nintli century, when its territory extended far down into the Hauran. In the time of David, as we shall see presently, it was merely a more powerful kind of rival of several other small princi- palities. Its lastory is of the liighest interest and inijtor- tance. It was the greatest city or state ever erected by the Aramieans, and its relations with Assyria, still more than with Israel, show that this race of traders could develop not only military genius of a iiigh oidei-, but also patri- otism and courage worthy of any country <»i" <'f JU'V age (see § 23o ff.). § 203. With the death of Saul and Jonathan the strug- gling monarchy in Israel seemed doomed forever. The • tt*^ ^ i.ili if m 240 DAVID'S SOLE REIGN Book V I I Philistines settled themselves at once in the plain of Jezreel, as a separating foj'ce in the heart of Palestine. That their triumph was not a permanent one was due, in the first instance, to the courage and devotion of Saul's general, Abner, who gathered the scattered remains of the army east of the J»,rdan, and proclaimed as king Ishbosheth (that is, Ish-Iiaal), a surviving son of Saul. He suc- ceeded in asserting his dominion over Gilead and the country west of Jordan, from Jezreel to Benjamin. David's claim was acknowledged by Judah alone. His general, Joab, to whom he owed the chief part of his subsequent military success, cultivated strife with the legitimist party assiduously and with growing advantage, until Abner deserted the waning fortunes of Ishbwheth and sought to transfer his allegiance to David, for the avowed reason that the latter alone would be able to deliver Israel from the Philistines. But he was treacherously slain by Joab, and his hereditary chief was also assassinated. The whole king- dom then fell to David, with the formal and voluntai-y acknowledgment of his sovereignty by the elders of all the tribes. § 204. David was still a young man when he came to the throne of the united kingdom. His first two achieve- ments were of lasting nvmient. The Philistines were finally overcome so decisively that they were relegated to their proper home on tlie coastland, where they remained for many centuries without i)ermanent increase of territory, though by no means an unimportant factor in the later politics of Palestine. Of s(!arcely less imi)ortance for the future was the capture of Mount /.ion from the remnant of the Amorite tribe of Jebusites, and its fortification and upbuilding as the capital of the nation. In no action of the life of David is his political aiul military genius lietter illustrated. Tlie vavering tribe of Benjamin, which hatl just teen deprived of lieadsliip in Israel, was conciliated and insei)arably uni.ied with the ascendant trilie of Judah, on whose borders Jerisalem lay. Its commanding position Cii. II, § 204 DAVID'S MILITAKY SUCCESSES m marked it out as a place for the tribes to go up, where the sauctuary, with the ark now tinally at rest, invited thi'ia to worship. Its natural strength made it virtually impreg- nable, at least to any Palestinian or Syrian foe, and, in fact, the strongest fortress in all Western Asia. These auspicious movements were the beginning of a series of successes which made David the most powerful ruler west of the Euphrates, and the foremost man of his age. Not only Palestine and the princijialities east and south, including Moab (which had absorbed the tribe of Reuben ), Amnion, Edom, and Amalek, but Syria also, as far as llamath, were either sulxlued or else propitiated his favour witli costly gifts. The Amalekites, as it would seem, were Hnally obliterated. Edom was put under Israelitisli admin- istration. The war with the Ammonites was the longest and most severe, next to that with the Philistines. It was ended towards the michlle of David's entire reign of about forty years. Tlie subjection of this ancient enemy, which was of such importance for the eastern jjortion of the kingdom, wiis delayed by the intervention, in Amnion's behalf, of Syrian tribes from the north, who saw it to be necessary to accept the inducements of Annnon to make head against one who threateni;d to absorb Syria as well as Palestine. The most powerful of these Aramican king- doms was at that time Zobah, whose king, HiMliidc/er, led the auxiliaries drawn from Kehob, Tob, and Maacha — petty princii)alities not far from Damascus, whose site is not detinitely ascertained — as well as from his own immediate subjects. His complete defeat at the hands of ,Joab snr[>riscd him into the conviction tliat he must sum- mon ill possible allies to his side, if the Ar muean com- munities throughout Syria were themselves not to lie put under the Hebrew yoke. Accordingly, he secured the lielpof liis kindreil to the cast of the Kiver, and coidroMted Israel with a great army. David now t(M)k the liuld in pei-sim, with a lev} of all his lighting men. Tlie first g^eat trial of strength between Israel ai)d Aram ^^a8 948 ORGANIZATION OF THE KINGDOM Book V ! i ! !i J !|^ !t I ID I I I i decided in favour of the former, and then, after the defeat of troops from Damascus, who were sent too hite and perhaps reluctantly to the assistance of Hadadezer, the whole of Syria, as far as the Euphrates, submitted to David. This included tlie king of Hamath, who had l)een at war with Hadadezer, and now sent gifts, with his homage, to the victorious head of Israel. The capture of the strong city of Rabbath-Ammon, in the next year (c. 980 B.C.), put an end to the outside ware of David. The possessions thus secured, including the tributary districts, were indeed large, — too large to be permanently retained by David's successors, — and formed forever after the ideal extent of the realm of Israel.^ § 205. David had now leisure to attend to the organi- zation of his dominions. He had already strengthened and beautitied the city which he had made his capital instead of Hebron. There he had established a bureau of administration with the regular officials of a government conducted on the scale of the great contemporary mon- archies, including a secretary of state and a court annalist, to whose functions we owe it that from this time forward we are instructed fairly well as to the affaii"s of Israel. The foundation of a standing army was laid by the selec- tion of a valiant body-guard, c(miposed largely of Philis- tian mevienaries. He now proposed to have all the inhabitants of his dominions enumerated, mainly, no doubt, for the purpose of a direct taxation, a movement which was condt-nuied and punished by Jehovah, as indi- cating the desire to accumulate wealth at the expentje of the [)eo[)le, and to promote the centralizing principle which was so ch.inicteristic of the despots of the ancient East (§ 52). Such an impost would probably have been resented > Tli» kiitgdoiu proper, accordiiiK to the census, extended on the west as far north as Kadfwh on tho Orontet (8 8an». xxiv rt ; sec Note 5 in Appenilix). On the east. Dixu (Lalsh") waw the Until northward, since the Araimean tribes were merely made tributary, &ud not annexed to Unci. Cii. II, § 206 DOMESTIC BROILS AND REBELLION 240 \o nf nl >st in CO to by the people, who had not yet fully renounced the loose relations of tribal or family autonomy, and whose cen- trifugal tendency was being encouraged by miserable dis- tractions in the latter portion of David's reign. These dis- turbances were wholly domestic and internal in their origin, und sprang from the inner circle of David's own family, being due to sentimental and moral weakness, which he shared with many Oriental monaichs. Ending, as they did, in fratricidal revenge, and in the rebellion, almost parricidal, of his handsome and voluptuous son Absalom, they were not only grievous beyond expression to David, but had almost resulted in the rending asunder of the nation on the old deepest lines of cleavage. The rebellion was subdued, but not before a sanguinary battle had Ijeen fought, in Avhich Absalom was slain. In the intrigues and the struggle, old jealousies and hatreds were revived, an- other briefer uprising evoked, and a renewed sentiment of bitterness excited, which prepared the way for the schism which was before long to take place. Such, however, had been the political sagacity and insight displayed b}' David in the early upbuilding of the nation, and so great was the influence of David's chosen counsellors, that even after the king had become decrepit and passive the newly forged bond of union held firmly together; and when his death- hour came (c. 960 B.C.), although there was a tlispute as to the succession, which was not settled without cruel bloodshed, involving the death of the rival claimant Adonijah, and of Joab his champion, the peoi)l. soon cordially submitted to the yoke of the new king Solomon. § 206. The significance of the reign of Solomon con- sisted mainly in his zealous cultivation of the arts of peace. David's subjugation and chastisement of the sur- rounding tribes had been so thorough and drastic that no very serious outside complications were to be feared, and Solomon was free to execute his magnificent architectural plans and other projects for the beautifying and strengthen- ing of Jerusalem and the kingdom. Of special value to ir^ ■ 960 SOLOMON'S WORK AND PLANS Book V 'I ^1 him were the friendly relations between Phoenicia and Israel, continued from the time of David. The Israelites had had but little scope for the development of artistic skill in any direction, and possessed but little festhetic taste. For the erection of the great buildings which Solomon undertook, architects and master-builders were furnished by Hirom of Tyre. Of these edifices, the Temple on the Moriah peak of Zion was the greatest work, though not the most costly or extensive. As the choice of Jeru- salem to be the national fortress and capital was the most important act of David, so the erection of the national sanctuary on its most conspicuous hill (projected also by David) was the most important in the life of Solomon, and, indeed, of untold significance for all coming ages. Solomon's architectural activity was not limited by the building of the sacred edifice, Jind for means to carry out his vast designs of imi)rovement generally it was necessary to make heavy demancLs upon the people. Moreover, as the administration of the kingdom became more complex, as wealth and luxury increased, especially in the capital, the king's househv-ld became vastly enlarged, and contri- butions had to )ye made for its maintenance from the whole v^ountry. These needs involved a new division and organi- zation of the whole kingdom for the purpose of collecting taxes and other im})osts. Accordingly, twelve districts (excluding .hidah) were mapped out, each with its own officer. This administrative division interfered to some extent with the autonomy of the family as a governmental unit, and still more with the old tribal principle, so that, as the simple conditions of social and national life were gradually broken up, the nation, or, rather, the monarchy, became of more and more importance. And yet a true and lasting \inification was never reached. The influences that seemed and were partly intended to secure this end resulted finally in its nullification. The country, indeed, prospered beyond jireeedent. Through the help of the Tyrians, Israel maintained for a time something of a Cii. II, §207 PROSPERITY AND DISCONTENT 251 kI .1, he a foreign commerce b}- the Red Sea; ami an overland trailo with Kgyi)t, on the one hand, and with the kings of Syria and the Hettites of Cilicia and Cappadocia, on the other, was briskly and prolitably carried on. In tliis tratlic Israel acted not merely as an intermediarj-, but also as a self-interested principal. These and kindred enterprises tended greatly to national aggrandizement. Hut the canker of idolatry, the practice of which was encouraged in Solo- mon by his numerous heathen wives, combined with grow- ing moral weakness, paralyzed his force as a theocratic king, and undermined his authority. Then came popular discontent with the new autocratic administration and its intolerable burdens; and when, towards the close of Soh)- iiion's life, a former officer of his, an Kphraimite named .leroboam, began to foment a revolt, he was sure of a large following outside of the favoured tribe of Judah. The })rojected insurrection was not carried out, and Jeroboam tleil to Egypt to avoid arrest and execution; but it was now only a question when Solomon's death should take place and then would come the impending outbreak. v^ 207. Solomon, indeed, had not l)een neglectful of means for strengthening his dynasty and maintaining the integrity of the nation. His chief motive in making his numerous matrimonial alliances with foreign kingly [»owers was, no doubt, the consolidation of his kingdom and its protection against more remote invaders. The most imi)()r- tant of these contracts was that made with l'asel)chanu II of Kgypt, the last king of the Twenty-first Dynasty, whose daughter Solomon received in niiirriage. It is further significant of a desire to make the territories of the two nations conterminous, that the Kgyptian king captured the frontier city of Gaza and bestowed it uj)on the Israel- itish monarch as the dowry of his daugbtt'r. I»ut this compact was fruitless of permanent results. Egyi>t was itself in a very unstable condition. The successors of Kanises III, of the Twentieth Dynasty (11 SO-lOoO), nine in number, all of them Itearing tiie same name, had become I'm m t 1 - •! '4 262 EGYPT AND THE SCHISM IN ISRAEL Book V mere tools in the hands of the great priestly guild of Thebes, and their reign is marked both by domestic weakness and by official corruption. The next dynasty, the Twenty-first (1050-045), was not only controlled by priests, but actually consisted throughout of high-priests of Anion at Thebes. Under them the state kept steadily growing internally weaker, and though the last of the kings just named was able to preserve the lioundaries of the kingdom, he was deposed by tlie leader of the Libj'an mercenaries, who for about a century had been gradually getting control of the country which they had been hired to protect. The usurper, known to us by the name of Shishak, adopted a policy hostile to Solomon, and so gave encouragement and protection to fugitives from Israel and its subject states, the most noted of whom was Jeroboam. § 208. When Solomon, shorn of his moral glory and crippled in his outward dignity, was removed by death (c. 925 B.C.), and his son Rehoboam was formally acknowl- edged by his own tribe and the lx)r(ler-land of Benjamin, the northern people gathered themselves in Shechem, the central city of tmditional sanctity, and demanded a relaxa- tion of their burdens as a condition of their allegiance. Tliis being refused by Rehoboam, who had come to receive their homage, they raised the standard of revolt under the lead of Jeroboam, whom they formally chose as their king. To him flocked all Israel north of Benjamin. Henceforth, for two hundred years, we have a divided Israel, and now, instead of the kingdom of such fair promise, which, if it had not been for the infidelity and immorality of its founders, might have extended itself so as to Ijeconie an empire superior to Egypt and fit to cope w ith Assyria, we see two broken fragments of a state, often at war with one another, and each of them sure to become an easy prey to the Eastern conqueroi-s, when their victorious career should bring them to the West-land. § 209. The ideal Israel was further marred by two significant movements which had begun in the days of Cii. II, § 200 LOSS OF SUBJECT STATES 253 Solomon. Edom, which had been invested and garrisoned by David, revolted under the leadership of Hadad, a native Edomite, who had sought refuge at the court of the Pharaoh at the time of the conquest of his country, and had returned after the death of David. The trade by the Red Sea, and its port of Ezion-geber, was under the control of the Edomites, and this revolt was serious enough to put a stop to the traffic which was only carried on for the Hebrews by Ph(enician sailors. The other movement was nmch more serious. It was the development of the city and territory of Damascus, which, before a century had passed, became more powerful than either section of the Israelitish kingdom. In Solomon's time its growth was specially promoted by Rezon, a fugitive from Zobah, who, after the conquest of that country by David, led a detach- ment of his fellow-countrymen to Damascus, where he raised himself to supreme power, and succeeded in throw- ing off the yoke of Israel. Moab and Amnion also asserted their independence, apparently just after the Hebrew schism. ■^%: IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) i.O I.I L25 "-IIIIM IIM >^ IIM m III 4 1.4 IIM 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^^. %" Wj i A r^ CHAPTER III DIVIDED ISRAEL AND ITS NEIGHBOURS 1 ii '' § 210. The first impulse of Rehoboam \vas to put down the revolt by force, but better counsels prevailed, leading him to see that it Avas more than a mere insurrection. It was, in fact, a spontaneous movement on the part of the main body of the Israelites to secure a more equitable administration, and, at the same time, to rebuke the ano- gance of Judah. The schism left the southern section a mere remnant. Yet it had still many elements of strength and stability, especially the possession of the temple and the palace, whose splendour and prestige the northern kingdom never succeeded in rivalling; also, a purer worship and a feeling of loyalty among the people of the well-compacted territory, which secured a permanence of dynastic rule throughout the four trying centuries that were to follow (§ 272 ff.). Jeroboam endeavoured to offset the attractiveness of Jerusalem and the influence of its temple by erecting shrines to other deities, as well as to Jehovah, in his own kingdom. Strong fortresses, at Shechem and at Penuel, were also erected, and trusted to for the defence of Ephraim and Gilead. Forbearance was only temporary, and hostilities soon broke out between the sister kingdoms, the details of which have not come to us. It would appear that the Judaans at first had the advantage, probably through the possession of the body- guard of trained warriors, which had been maintained as carefully by Solomon as by David. Penuel, in fact, seems to have been fortified on account of a forced retreat from 254 1 Cn. Ill, § 211 EGYPTIAN INVASION 265 the country on the west of the Jordan, defended by She- chem. Normally, however, Judah Avas bound to become weaker than its more populous and richer northern neigh- bour, and an unexpected blow received by Rehoboam served to precipitate the relative decadence of his kingdom. Egypt had taken no aggressive part in the affairs of Palestine or Syria for three centuries. But the first king of the Twenty-second Dynasty (945-800), the Libyan commander Shishak (945-924), already mentioned (§ 207), was vigorous enough to take advantage of the civil strife that reigned in Palestine, and invaded Judah in the fifth year of Rehoboam (920 B.C.). He was the same Pharaoh who had given shelter to Jeroboam, but he does not seem to have preserved his friendly feelings, for, according to his own report, he captured and pillaged towns in the northern as well as in the southern kingdom. With many lesser places, Jerusalem itself was taken by the Egyptians, and a large part of the treasure of Solomon was carried away.^ No permanent subjection of Judah was effected l)y this invasion, and in the reign of Rehoboam's successor, Abijah (909-907 B.C.), the southern kingdom had so far recovered as to gain a victory over Jeroboam in a general engagement. § 211. The dynasty of Jeroboam extended through the brief reign of but one successor, Nadab (c. 910-909). The usurpations and revolutions that followed did not change the hostile attitude of the two kingdoms, even when the Philistines began to renew their incursions into the Ephraimitish territory. In the course of a campaign against them, Nadab was slain by an officer from Issachar 1 On the southern wall of the court of the great temple of Amen at Karnak, Shishak has a sculpture representing this campaign. Among the 133 places enumerated, Brugsch claims that the name of the old city Megiddo occurs. If this is true, we must extend the incursion far to the north, and credit Shishak with the attempt to emulate the great invaders of the olden time. The list is instnictive, os showing the advance in the development of Palestine since the days of Thothmes III and Ramses II. .-ii T 266 AHAM.EAN GAINS; A NEW DYNASTY Book V I named Baasha, who usurped the throne (c. 909-880 u.c). The successes of the new king encouraged him to attempt to enter Jerusalem, where Abijah's son and successor, Asa (c. 911-871 B.C.), was reigning. The latter took the fateful step of calling in Aramtean aid, and, by so doing, brought about a period of complications and disasters to Israel as a whole, and procursive of great disasters to follow. Ben-hadad ^ , the son of Tab-Rimmon of Damascus, readily listened to the appeal. In the war that ensued, not only was >erusalem relieved from its impending siege, but much of the territory on the west of the Upper Jordan and the Lake of Chinnereth was wrested from Israel and incori)orated into the realm of Damascus. Thus one of David's subject states became, in less than a century, powerful enough to absorb one of the fragments of his already dismembered empire. The controlling force in the West-land was now no longer Hebrew but Aramiean. § 212. The condition of the northern kingdom may be further learned from the succession of conspiracies, mur- ders, usurpations, and proscriptions that followed the death of Baasha, himself an usurper. His dynasty also had but two representatives. His son and successor, Elah, was permitted to reign only a part of two years, and after his dethronement and death total anarchy prevailed. There Avas need of a strong hand and a new rdgime, if Israel was to be saved from utter destruction. The needed leader was found in Omri (c. 885-874 ii.c), the general of the army, who was the popular choice from the time of the death of Elah. His accession and undisputed power marks an epoch in the history of divided L«vael. His historical importance was due partly to his choice of a suitable place for the capital. The royal residence had been fixed at Tirzah towards the end of the reign of Jeroboam, and there the first four kings had been buried. Omri chose a better site, twelve miles to the west, upon a commanding height that slopes on all sides to a rich valley surrounded by hills (cf. Isa. xxviii. 1), and called it " Sama- ! I Cii. Ill, § 213 OMRI AND Ills EPOCH 257 I'ia," from the name of the owner of the phot of ground where he phanted the citadel. This remained the capital till the fall of the monarchy. A further element that helped to make Omri's reign a turning-point in the fort- unes of Israel was the fact that both Judah and Ephraim now became aware that this cruel fratricidal war would lead to the destruction of both kingdoms at tlie hands of the Aramicans of Damascus, and henceforth an alliance of either section with the Syrians against the other was the exception and not tlie rule. That they were, in reality, not absorbed in detail, was due to the greater power of Assyria, which was to become the common foe and destroyer of all the western states. It was, in truth, a heavy task that was laid upon the dynasty of Omri. The kingdom, though still more powerful than Judah, was reduced to the three tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Issachar, with a portion of Zebulon. East of the Jordan, Ramoth and other cities in Gilead were soon also lost to Israel, and in addition the king of Damascus forced the concession of trading-privileges to his merchants in Samaria (1 K. xx. 34). Yet in other directions Omri succeeded in extend- ing his authority. We learn from the inscription of Mesha that Moab was brought under tribute by him. At home lie secured a settled government, and the Assyrians, who were now carefully watching the affairs of Palestine, testi- fied to the character of his administration by regularly designating his country " the house (territory) of Omri " (cf. § 243). § 213. His son Ahab (c. 874-853), the second ruler of this third dynast}', introduced a new element of great influence into the life and history of the nation. His policy, which was probably a continuation of that of his father, was chosen with a view to strengthening the kingdom by a profitable foreign alliance, and, at the same time, with the object of bringing Israel into good relations with its neighbours by conforming as much iis possible to their religious usages. He took the first step by marrying rr I i 258 BAAL WORSHIP AND THE I'llorHETS Book V the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre, and the second by giving statutory authorization to the formal establishment of the Phcenician cult. This measure was more revolu- tionary than would at lii-st appear. There had all along been a noxious syncretism of the worship of the old Canaanitish Baal with that of Jehovah; but that was some- thing different from the adoption of the special Avhole- sale abominations which were associated with Phoiuician manners and worship. The same deity, nominally, might be worshipped in different localities, while the particular modes, rites, and concomitant practices luight show important variations. In Phoenicia, where wealth and luxury h.id been enjoyed on a scale unknown to eitlier Israel or the Canaanites of the interior, there Avas a refine- ment, if one may so speak, and at the same time a prodi- gality of vicious indulgences, connected with the worship of Baal and Astarte, to which Israel had hitherto been a stranger, and whose promotion under the new auspices has made the name of Jezebel a Biblical synonym for all that is to the last degree impure, cruel, and shameless. As far as the effect of these things upon the physical and political life of the state was concerned there was a vast difference between the experience of an enterprising, ener- getic community like that of the Phcenician cities, with their world-wide plans and interests, and that of Israel, contracted and simple in its habits and aims. Injurious it was, no doubt, to both, but to the one it was a surface sore on the body politic, while to the other it was like a cancer eating into the vitals, or a head and heart sickness resulting in total decay (Isa. i. G). To Israel moral deterioration meant political as well as spiritual death. The weal of the nation lay in fidelity to Jehovah alone, and in his pure worship. § 214. But the new condition of things brought with it its own antidote and, at the same time, the greatest blessing that was vouchsafed to the ancient world. I mean the ministry of the Prophets. Beginning with indignant 1 Cii. Ill, §:il5 THE SUUTHKRX KINGDOM 2o'.> protests against faithlessness and wrong-doing-, uttered at court or throughout tlie hind, the Prophets of this era (as distinguished from the ancient seers, who were either "Judges" or political mentors) became distinctively preachers of righteousness, and the organs of a new, clearer, and more practical revelation of God's will to men. The era of written Prophecy, and the publication of the stern, faithful message as a record and testimony for all the ages, had not yet come. But from this time for- ward the conditions of Prophecy were present, and the essence of prophetic discourse remained hereafter essen- tially the same. And it is profoundly significant that, just when Israel was about to break through the narrow limits to which it had been contined, and venture all untried upon the vast unknown lield of fi)reign relations and entanglements, there should appear these messengers from Jehovah, telling of the universal truths of his moral government, and of his world-wide sovereignt}- in the realm of human thought and action. § 215. Ahab's foreign policy was forwarded by the maintaining of peaceful relations with the sister kingdom to the south. There the course of events had been nuich less turbulent and eventful. Asa's reign (§ 211) was further signalized by the repulse of a marauding band of Egyptians and Cushites under Zerah (Egypt. Osorkon I), the second king of the Twenty-second Dynasty, whose attempt to repeat the exploits of his predecessor in Pales- tine was apparently the last foreign enterprise of the failing Lib3-an regime. Asa's son, Jehoshaphat (c. 871-847), who came to the throne in the fourth year of Ahab, profited by the friendship now existing with Israel so far that, as he ajiprehended no danger from the north, he was able to bring Edom arain under Juda'an administration. One main object of the persistent efforts to get possession of Edom was the possibility afforded b}' such control of securing the trade of the Red Sea, which had been lost to Judah since the days of Solomon. Jehoshaphat's enter- M 9 1 ill '■nsii ■■\ri (.1 : n -i f I 20O SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF JUDAH Hook V prises in this direction were, however, unsuccessful, on account of a disaster to his tleet (Sept. " vessel "), which his resources did not allow him to repair. These opera- tions in Edom seem to have been preceded by an invasion of Moabites and Ammonites in league with Edomites, which, however, came to grief on account of a sudden quarrel between the last-named and their two allies. The record (2 Chr. xx.) of such an inroad is noteworthy, because Judah was but rarely attacked from the eastern side (see Ps. Ixxxiii. and § 273). Jehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab against Damascus cost the latter his life, in a great battle waged for the recovery of Ramoth in Gilead, the key-fortress east of Jordan, in Avhich the Israelitish armies were defeated. This event brings us to the midst of the Assyrian relations with Syria and the West-land generally, and it will now be possible to weave into one narrative the history of the action and interaction of the Eastern and Western powers. ' Book YI HEBREWS, ARAM^ANS, AND ASSYRIANS a>©io w If CHAPTEU I ASSYRIAN ADVANCE INTO THE WEST-LAND § 216. In our cursory sketch of Assyrian and Baby- lonian history (§ 168-181) we had arrived at the tenth century B.C., and had observed that the quiescence and decline of the former monarchy gave opportunity to the Hebrews and Aramaeans to found and develop their smaller communities in Palestine and Syria. We now come to the time when interference Avith these settlements in the AVest-land became the order of the day with the revived Assyrian monarchy. From the middle of the tenth century B.C. the princes of Assyria were aiming to repair the weakness and exhaustion of the kingdom. The lirst not- able ruler of the new period, who still belongs to the original dynasty that established the independence of Assyria, was llamman-ninTri II (" Ilamman is my help "), who is the first king named in the Eponym Canon, of which we shall have to speak later, ^ and who died 890 n.c. He was the grandson of a second Tiglathpileser, and the son of Asshur-dan I. He kept up a long war with Baby- lon, which was finally concluded with an honourable and lasting peace. His successor, Tuklat-Adar IT, freed from entanglements with Babylon, began to recover the territory 1 See Note 6 in Appendix. 261 n- ! I a LICY Hook VI won by Tiglathpileser I, iind after a victorious campaign among the Nairi (§ 179), erected his own statue beside that of the great conqueror, at the source of the Supnat, an upper tributary of the Tigris. He died in 885, after a reign of five years, and was succeeded by the famous Asshur- nasir-i)al (" Asshur protects the son," 885-8(30 n.c). § 217. Tlie imperial idea wrought in this famous mon- arch with all its energizing inspiration. His ambition to subjugate and degrade all competing nations, to enrich Assyria with their spoils, and to triumiih over them in the name of his gods, was intensified by the thought of the long supineness and obscurity of liis country, and its gradual retreat from the frontier in the far west and north which Tiglathpileser I had erected. His determination, vigour, and success were so great that, from this time for- ward, the advance of the Assyrian arms received no serious check, till the dream of conquest of the fierce warrior-king was fulfilled, two hundred years later. The policy of the kingdom of the Tigris at this period is deserving of special attention, in view of the disclosures of the succeeding history, — all the more so because it is a matter of inference and not of extant documentary state- ment. The Assyrian annals do not record the motives of the great military enterprises of the kings; they are restricted to a bare recital of facts (cf. § 12). From a perusal of them one might readily assume that the main objects of the innumerable expeditions undertaken east- ward, westward, northward, and southward were the accumulation of wealth from the plunder of the conquered tribes and nations, and the holding of them in perpetual vassalage with the like purpose in view. These objects, in relation to the imperial policy as a whole, may be fairly called secondary and incidental. The traditional policy of Assyria, as asserted by Asshurnasirpal, may be sum- marized thus. On the south the great aim was to keep Babylon at least in check, and at all hazards to prevent its encroaching upon the Assyrian borders. On the east, Cii. I, § 218 PLANS OF CONQUEST AND CONTROL 203 the tribes which from time immemorial hud invaded and cok)nized Babylonia were to be rendered powerless, either as allies and recrnits of the latter, or as direct antagonists. In the northeast and north the energetic and prosperous tribes to the south of and between Lakes Urmia and Van were to be divided and spoiled, so that no consolidation Avith the Armenian population to the furtlier north should be effected. Hence the Kurds, whose territory stretched from the head-waters of the Tigris eastward to near the upper course of the greater Zab, were the object of persis- tent attack and spoliation. The other mountain tribes, to the northwest, were chiefly to be feared as possible invaders of the rich iNIesopotamian plains to the south. Among these, the inhabitants of the fertile slopes of Mount Masius were singled out as especially dangerous foes, from their proximity to the great caravan station of Nisibis. The ]Moschi and Tibareni (the Tubal of Gen. x. 2), further to the northwest, whose threatened incursions into the West-land had excited the active interference of Tiglath- pileser I (§ 179), were now considered as of little conse- quence. It is needless to say that the whole Aramiean territory along the ancient routes of trade was to be held absolutely free from outside control or intrigue, and secured as wholly Assyrian. Beyond this, to the west of the Euphrates, and along the coast-land leading to the Mediterranean, Egypt, and Western Arabia, lay the great lines of march which were to be followed persistently till all the peoples of the known world should yield homage and tribute, and all the lesser gods should be dethroned before Asshur and Adar and Ishtar of Nineveh. § 218. Asshurnasirpal did much directly towards ful- filling these aims and forecasts. The first nine years of his reign were uninterruptedly occupied in the work of invasion and subjugation. His first aim was to repel and prevent the incursions of the marauding tribes of the eastern and northern mountains. The district lying be- tween Nineveh and the southern end of Lake Urmia was ^11 mi n\ i rif m m m I I i i •I 204 CONQUESTS EAST OF TIIK ELl'HKATKS IJdok VI subdued, ravaged, and severely chastised. Several Kur- dish tribes to the west and northwest of Lake Van came next under his rod and yoke. His triumphs over the Kurds brought the people of Kommagene to offer homage and tribute. Further advances in this direction were prevented by an inopportune revolt in Suru on the Euphrates, — one of those Mesopotamian cities which the Assj'rian rulers liad held even during the period of deca- dence. The outbreak here was quelled with terrible severity, which had the effect of securing the allegiance of the rich principalities between the Balichand the Chaboras. A campaign on the head-waters of the Tigris, near the scene of some of Tiglathpileser's exploits, came next in order. Here an old Assyrian colony on the Supnat River, of the time of Shalmaneser I (§ 175), had rebelled. It was forced to return to its duty, and the surrounding country, with its fertile valleys, was organized into a rich and important Assyrian province. All this was accom- plished before the close of his second year. The two following years (883-882) were occupied with the rectiti- cation of the eastern frontier and the subjection of the lands on the upper course of the Tornadotos (^Turnat^. The next five years were devoted to the more complete establishment of the Assyrian dominion among the Kurdish tribes, the dwellers on Mount Masius, and especially the refractory or hitherto unsubdued fierce and formidable population of Mesopotamia proper along the Chaboras, and between that stream and the Euphrates. The accom- plishment of this end, after a succession of terrible con- flicts, marks the close of the first period of his warlike enterprises (877 B.C.). § 219. What had thus been secured — the isolation of Babylon, the terrorizing and spoliation of the northern mountain tribes, and the absolute control over Mesopo- tamia^ — was much in itself, and indispensable to the 1 Babylonia's interest in these proceedings is attested by its king, Nabupaliddin (" Nebo gave a son ") liaving sent a large body of Kasshite Ch. I, § 2:iO ADVANCE TO TlIE MKDITKURANKAN 2(1 pL'inuuience of Assyrian (loiuiuion; but it was only the tirst great step in the aggressive policy of the Assyrian princes. The Euphrates was not only to be hekl and fortiiiecl on both sides; it became also the starting-point of a new advance, the precursor of countless invasions of tlie West-land and its fnial incorporation into the enji)ire. The opposition to the renewed victori(Uis march was not nearly so serious or obstinate as that ottered by the pe()[)k's to the east of the River. From Carchemish, which retained little or nothing of the Hettites but the traditional name, tn the slopes of Mount Amanus, where a Ilettite popula- tion may still have lingered (§ iiOl, 2-'»I), all the tribes of Northern Syria submitted to him, the most (»f them with- out a conflict. Thence, descending the western side of Lebanon, he was entitled to perform the significant cere- mony of cleansing his weapons in the waters of the Great 8ea, which was thus constituted his western Ijoundary. The Phcenician states, after their custom, brought tribute and yielded homage. Southern Syria and Israel remained as yet undisturbed. Their unsettlement and involution in the struggles and vicissitudes of the Assyrian war's Avere to be accomplished by his successor. § 220. Most of the rest of Asshurnasirpars twenty-five years was devoted to the cultivation of the arts of peace. We read of only one more warlike expedition, which was undertaken ten years later against some stubborn foes among the Kurds and on Mount jNIasius. The toughness and unyielding spirit of these peoples show how the Assyrian monarchs had to conquer every foot of the vast territory which they annexed, and how unwillingly the supremacy of the invincible Asshur was conceded. The most notable of the un warlike actions of Asshurniisirpal were the upbuilding and beautifying of Kalach (Nimrud), in the angle formed by the Upper Zab and the Tigris. To this city, founded by the genius of Shalmaneser I (§ 175), .luxiliaries to the assistance of Suhii in the Euphrates, hi 879. These were defeated with the rest (AN. III,l7 ff.). For the locality, see Par. 297 f. .■^f 1 •■-I ■U; m . i !s» j '1 'ft V t£t' ,'1 ! I I '' 206 MONUMENTS OF A CONQUEROR Book VI r I I he transferred the royal residence from Asshur, adorned it with temple, and palaces, upreared by the labour of the captives whom he had deported hither from their homes in various portions of the conquered lands. Here the most of his monuments have been found, which now decorate in such profusion the halls of the British Museum. The abundance of these sculptured remains seems to bring the realm and genius of Assyria before us in sudden and complete revelation; and they find much of the needed commentary in the lengthy inscriptions of the vainglorious ruler whose deeds they were designed to commemorate, and to whom they have given an immortality very different from that which he had sought from his guardian deities. His prowess and fortune in war are undeniable, and not less so his zeal and success as a builder of cities, palaces, and temples ; but it is not these things that the student of Assyrian history chiefly associates with the name of Asshurnasirpal. In these achievements he had not a few rivals on the thrones of Nineveh and Babylon. It was in remorseless cruelty and vindictiveness that he was without an equal in the recorded history of Western Asia. We may make all possible allowances for one whose conduct of war was but an inflexible adherence to the practical logic of the terrible creed that the gods of Assyria claimed all mankind, either as subjects or as victims, and demanded either their homage or their life-blood. But in others we see some traces of human feeling, some relaxation of this terrible code of penal satisfaction. In the annals of Asshurnasirpal we look for such things in vain. He dedicates his longest inscription ^ to Adar, " the sun-god as devastator and desolator. " And as his god was, so was he himself. 1 I R. 17-2(5 ; one of the longest of the historical cuneiform inscriptions, engraved in three columns on the great pavement slabs (now in the Br. Museum), found at the entrance of the temple of Adar in Ximrud. On the other inscriptions of this monarch, see Tiele, BAG. p. 179 ; KB. I, p. 62. I Cii. I, § 22: SHALMANESER II 2G7 § 221. His son, Shalmaneser II, has more direct inter- est for us, as it was under his reign that Israel first came to feel directly the shock of the Assyrian arms. His long reign (800-825 B.C.) was synchronous with Jehoshaphat, Joram, Ahaziah, and Joash of Judah; Ahab, Joram, and Jehu of Israel; Ben-hadad II and Hazael of Damascus; and Mesha of Moab. As a warrior and conqueror he was a worthy successor of his father on the throne of Assyria, even bettering bis achievements, and extending more widely the bounds of the empire.^ He was not so boast- ful, and perhaps not quite so cruel ; but he was fully as good a general, and a better administrator. His father's quelling of the border tribes to the west and north had brought the warlike monarchy to a new stage ; henceforth there was little danger of invasion from without, and therefore freer hand was given for aggression outside the accustomed sphere of nulitai-y operations. Nearly every year of Shalmaneser's reign was signalized by a camjjaign on a large scale, and for twenty-six years the untiring warrior took the command in person. His marches are easily followed, because, although marked by rapid move- ments and sudden changes of the scene of action, they were more systematically planned and executed than any yet undertaken by an Asiatic ruler. In accordance with the fixed imperial policy, the West-land was made the favourite region of his military enterprises, but his achieve- ments elsewhere were also important, as well as brilliant. These must be briefly summarized before we consider more particularly what naturally claims our chief attention. § 222. Intermittent wars, stretching; over twenty-seven years, marked the relations between Assyria and Eastern Armenia, or Ararat (^Urartu}. These were carried on by Shalmaneser against two brave and 2)atriotic rulers of this 1 His chief inscriptions are the annals engr-vvfd nn the famous black obelisk of Nimrud (cf. § 242) ; in Lay. 87-98 ; the so-called Monolith Inscription found at Karkli, near Diarbekr, III H. 7, 8 ; and the texts engraved on the bronze gates of Balawat (Imgur-Bel), TSBA. VII, 83 ff. M I ■4 'I ,- x^ n An ,; 1, I • '.,■•■'(1 i. :. i". ; ! n IP X'. i^ 208 ARMENIA AND BABYLONIA Book VI iiortlieni mountain land, with such success that he was not only able to erect a statue of himself at the head-waters of the Tigris, as three of his predecessors had done, but even to i)enetrate to the source of the Eujjhrates and there perform the same significant act, which sj'mbolized the control of the whole course of these mighty streams and the lands which they watered. The total results of the numerous engagements with the stubborn defenders of Armenian independence can, however, hardly have been satisfactory, and the last campaign in Shalmaneser's time (833 B.C.) seems to have terminated in an indecisive engagement. § 223. A coveted opportunity to secure influence in Babylon was offered to Shalmaneser early in his reign. To understand the situation then, it will be necessary to give a summary review of the leading historic movements that were now affecting Balndonia. After the time of Nebuchadrezzar I (see § 178) the jDOwer of Babylonia speedil}' declined, apparently on account of inner disin- tegration and the influx of new elements. This declen- sion nearly coincided in point of time with the condition of Assj-ria after the death of Tiglathpileser I. It would seem that in the brief dynasties that followed that of Nebuchadrezzar, it was not always possible to maintain a native regime, since names of kings, partly, at least, Kas- shite, are found in the meagre and imperfect documents relating to the time. Two main movements contril^ted to undermine the unity and impair the strength of Jiaby- lonia. In the northwest, north, and northeast, roving bands of Aranifeans had effected something more than a mere pastoral and commercial residence. Though normally opposed by the Assyrians and friendly to Babylonia, they j-et accepted no service under the latter, and by occupying the country claimed bj' it south of the old Assyrian boun- dary, they came to regard encroachment on their neighbours as a legitimate and matter-of-course proceeding. In the south new nationalities were arising, which were destined T Ch. 1, § 1223 THE CIIALD^EAN SETTLEMENT 2G9 ultimately to absorb the whole. This movement is one of the most important, as it is one of the least understood, of Oriental history. It is to be noted that while the old designations "Shumer and Akkad" (§ 110) were still vaguely employed together for the most of the country from Sippar southward, a new appellation Avas growing up for South Babylonia, from the beginning of the ninth centurv B.C. In 879 we first find the term Kaldu used for that geographical division.^ And it soon appears (from the time of Shalmaneser II onwards) that this region liad come to be divided up between a number of tribes, appar- ently of pure Semitic origin, all of them, as well as their respective territories, distinguished by the prefix B'lt (i.e. "house, family"). Of these the most important was Bit-Yakin, of which more Avill have to be said hereafter. It was the most southerly, lying close about the mouth of the Euphrates. That tiie Chaldees settled here after the ancient Babylonian period may be inferred partly from the fact of their pure Semitic race, as distinguished from the northern people with their Kasshite and other foreign admixture, and partly from their evident retention, until the period in question, of a separate tribal organization. It is impossible to think of them, in a cultivated country like Babylonia, as having relapsed from a more higlily developed centralized form of government into primitive tribalism, each under the headship of its cliief; and it may, I think, be taken for granted tliat they owed their origin to a Semitic immigration. It is natural to look for their homes in the border of tlie neiglibouring desert, Avhence perhaps (§ 21 f.) Babylonia received its original population. Thus we may learn to trace the continual preservation of the fundamental Semitic stock in the lower region of the Rivers, to a per})etnal influx of Arama'ans on the North and of Arab-like immiijnints from the South. 1 AN. Ill, 23 f. A sutrirpstinn of the same people is, perhaps, given in "the dynasty of the Sea-Land " which followed that of Nebuchadrezzar 1, (§ 178) lasting twenty-one years. it'll ' '. 'li% ■ ■■ Mivi m rl^P ' »■*• I X ■r,..i I ill il, J I 270 ASSYRIANS IN BABYLONIA Book VI § 224. The opportunity to interfere in Babylonian affairs came to Shalmaneser in 852 B.C. NabS-pal-iddin (" Nebo has given a son "), who had intrigued and sent troops against Asshurnasirpal during his Mesopotamian war (§ 218), kept on good terms with his son, in accord- ance with the forms of a special treaty. At his death civil war broke out, in consequence of a rebellion on the part of a younger son against the legitimate heir. The former was defeated and slain by the forces of Shalmaneser, who thereupon ingratiated himself with the people of Babylon by rich offerings in the national temples, and also received the homage of the principalities on the Lower Euplu'ates (Chaldees), which had revolted against Babylon and were brought to terms by an Assyrian expeditionary force. There can be little doubt that the whole of Babylonia became now, for a time, vassals of Assyria. Shalmaneser also made a conquest, or effected at least a temporary occupation of the land of Parsua,^ which stretched east- ward from Lake Urmia towards the Caspian Sea, and of Amadai (^Madai^ Media), both of them being regions new to Assyrian armi s (836 B.C.). § 225. More serious, and of greater permanent impor- tance, were his campaigns in Western Mesopotamia and Syria. Some conception of his endeavours to secure for Assyria the whole region west of the Euphrates may be gathered from the fact that he crossed that stream twenty- four times, and has recorded no less than nineteen expedi- tions to the land of the Hettites. Before dealing with these in any detail, it will be well to revert for a little to the condition of affairs in the West-land, and especially to get as clear a view as possible of the relations of Israel and "Syria " to each other and to the outside world. § 226. For the time of Shalmaneser and Ahab the distinction between Middle and Southern Syria may be conveniently maintained. Any clear separation between 1 Not the same aa Persia, which was originally a small district south of £lam. U!HWtl|~^fJ Cii. I, § 227 DIVISIONS OF SYRIA Middle and Northern Syria it is impossible to make, either geographical or political; but we may content ourselves with one formed by a line drawn from Arpad, westward to the mouth of the Orontes (cf. § 125). The greater portion of the pojiulation of Middle Syria was thus grouped about Aleppo and Hamath. Between these two localities there stretched east of the mountain ridge a thinly inhabited, sandy plain. The towns on the coast, from Arvad southward to Akko, form, of course, a division by themselves as Phoenician cities. In Middle and Southern Sj'iia the Aramiean settlers had now concentrated them- selves into two powerful states, Hamath and Damascus, the latter being by far the most important, a community, indeed, which at the head of a stable confederacy of all the western states might for a time have turned back the tide of Assyrian invasion. At the present juncture it was chiefly occupied in trying to overcome and absorb its neighbours. The northern division seems to have con- tained a more mixed population, though here also there is no doubt that the Semitic Aramaean was largely pre- jionderant. It was certr.inly so in Carchemish; while in the more westerly situated kingdom of Hattin,^ between the Orontes and the Efrin, some of the names of the cities suggest a Semitic origin. The most of the geographical terms, however, applying to the region northwest to Cilicia (^Hilakkii) and northward to Kommagene, are plainly non-Semitic, and it is probable that both here and in Chattin, the Hettites were more or less strongly repre- sented (cf. § 201). § 227. The most formidable opposition to Shalmaneser was offered by the two Aramajan states which lay at tlie extreme ends of Syria, Beth-Eden (BU-Adini} in the north, mostly on the east of the Euphrates (2 K. xix. 12), 1 For this country, whose name could also be read I'atin, see KGF. p. 214 ff. For the Hettlte character of the monarchy may be cited the name of the king subdued by Shalmaneser. tSapahtlmi is, of course, of the same origin as Sapalel (§ 1013, cf. Note 5 in Appendix). m Si i If si m ■7 hi • I '.■■11 :.''! •ill 4,H M I n : : I 4 ' ! 9 / 272 SHALMANESER IN NORTH SYRIA Book VI and Damascus in the south. The first-named kingdom, small in extent but enriched through its fertility, and still more by its advantageous position for the overland trade, made a prolonged and most heroic defence of its liberties. At first its ruler, Achuni, was enabled to avail himself of the assistance of the principalities lying westward, as far as Cilicia, of which the most important were Carcheniish and Chattin. Two combinations thus formed were succes- sively broken, and in Shalmaneser's third year the fortress and capital of Achuni was taken. The intrepid Achuni did not yet yield to defeat, but betook himself to his strongest remaining fortress, on a lofty peak on tlie Euphrates bank, where, however, he was next year (8o6 B.C.) himself finally taken and carried in triumph to the city of Asshur.^ The confederate princes had already submitted themselves the previous year, and yielded a costly tribute. § 228. The annexation of Beth-Eden and the subjec- tion of the allied states left the way clear for an advance upon Southern Syria. This was made in So-i B.C., the sixth year of Shalmaneser. The account which the Assyrian annalist gives of the expedition is extremely valuable, throwing light upon the reciprocal relations of Israel and Syria, and, in fact, upon tho political condition of Syria and Palestine generally. It will be well to let Shalmaneser tell the story of the whole expedition in liis own words : ^ — "In the eponymate of Dayan-Asshur (854 B.C.), in the month Ayru (May) the fourteenth day, I set forth from Nineveh, crossed the River Tigris, and approached the towns of Giammu on the River Balich. These were seized with fear because of the awe of my majesty and the terror of my puissant arms, and they slew Giammu their liege lord with their own weapons. I occupied Kitlala and Til-sa-pal-ahi. I installed my own gods in his temples, and in his palaces celebrated a sacred feast. I opened his 1 Mon. 29-76 ; Obel. 26-49. •■JMon. (IIIR. 8), 78 ff. Ch. I, § 228 SYRIA AND PALESTINE AROUSED 273 storehouse, beheld his treasure, carried away his goods and cliattels as spoil, and transported them to my own city of Asslmr. From Kitlala I set forth and drew near to Fort Shalmaneser. In boats of sheep-skin I crossed for the second time the River Euphrates at its flood. The tribute of the kings on the further side of the Euphrates : of Shan- gar of Carchemish, of Kundashpi of Kommagene, of Arami son of Gusi, of Lalli of Milid, of Chayani son of Gabari, of Kalparudaof Chattin, of Kalparudaof Gamgum: silver, gold, lead, copper, copper vessels, I received in Asshur- utir-asbat on the further side of the Euphrates, in the city Shagur, which the people of the Hettite country call Pitru (Pethor). I set forth from the River Euphrates and drew near to Chalman (Aleppo). They feared to do battle with me and embraced my feet. I received gold and silver from them as tribute, and offered sacrifice to Ramman of Aleppo. I set forth from Aleppo and drew on to the cities of Irchulini, of the land of Hamath. I took Adinnu, Mashga, and his royal city Argana. I set forth from Argana and arrived at Karkar. Karkar, his royal city, I razed and destroyed and burned with fire. Twelve hundred chariots, 1"200 cavalry, 20,000 soldiers of Dadda-idri (Hadadezer) of the land of Damascus; 700 chariots, 700 cavalry, 10,000 soldiers of Irchulini of the land of Hamath; 2000 chariots, 10,000 soldiers of A-ha-ab-hu (Ahab) of the land of Sir- 'a-la-ai (Israel) ; 500 soldiers of the land of Kue ; 1000 soldiers of the land of Musri; 10 chariots and 10,000 sol- diers of the land of Irkanati ; 200 soldiers of ^latinu-ba'al of the land of Arvad ; 200 soldiers of the land of Usanat ; 30 chariots, 10,000 soldiers of Adunu-ba'al of the land of Shian; 1000 camels of Gindibu'u,^ of the land of Arabia, . . . 1000 soldiers of Ba'asha the son of Ruchub, of the land of Ammon (^A-ma-7ia-ai^ — these twelve [eleven] 1 That is modern Arabic yundubu, yundahn^ and gindahu, "a desert locnst." The name is interesting (1) as illustrating the animal totem inrtueiice among the most ancient Arabs known to us, and (2) as showing the persistency of Arabic sounds till the present day. :> S, T 274 A COALITION AND A GREAT BATTLE Book VI kings he took to himself as auxiliaries, and they marched against me to fight me in battle. With the magnificent troops which the lord Asshur gave me, and the powerful weapons which Nergal my leader had granted to me, I fought with them; from Karkar to Gilza I accomplished their rout; 14,000 of their fighting men I laid low with my weapons. Upon them like Ramman (the thunder-god) I poured down a flood ; their corpses I strewed about, uUed the surface of the plain with their multitudinous '^roops ; made their blood stream down with my weapons." § 229. From the few remaining lines, which it is imi^ossible to translate fully on account of the obscure words which they contain, we learn that Karkar, where this noted battle was fought, lay close to the river Orontes. The king also states that he captured the chariots and horses of the allies with their riders. Another briefer account^ tells that he slew 20,500 fighting men. Still another inscription ^ tells that the number put hors du combat was 25,000. § 230. This campaign, which opens a new era in the history of both East and West, is worthy of more than a passing notice. It is first to be observed that Shalmaneser, by striking out a new path for himself and appearing in Syria proper, roused all the Western communities to a state of apprehension, and some of them to immediate action. He was the first Assyrian monarch who had ventured within the territory claimed by Aramseans and Hebrews as peculiarly their own. His direct march from Aleppo to Hamath showed plainly his ultimate purpose of spoiling or subjugating the whole of the coast- land. The constituents of the confederate forces are also noteworthy. They may be divided into four main sections : the northern, western, central, and southern. From the north we find small detachments from Kue (Eastern Cilicia) and Musri (in Western Cappadocia). These principalities, the former of which, at least, is mentioned 1 Obel. 54-60. 2 Lay. 46, 1-9. 1 Cii. I, § 200 ELEMENTS OF THE CONFEDERATION 275 ill the Old Testament,^ had apparently so far not yielded themselves as Assyrian vassals, and with the vain hope that the terrible invader might be crushed in his present adventure, and that they might thus be spared in coming years, they hung upon the rear of Shalmaneser until the allies concentrated their forces in the neighbourhood of Karkar. The second section consisted of the more northerly Phoenician cities, whose inhabitants could not afford such a heavy tribute as that paid by Tjtc and Sidon, and who perhaps dreaded lest their ports should be occupied and utilized by the Assyrians for the Mediterranean trade. The central and main sections were Hamath, Damascus, and Israel, who together furnished much more than half of the whole army of defence, and almost all of the chariots and horsemen. The last division comprised detachments of Ammonites and Arabs. The territory of the former adjoined that of Damascus, since the latter had expelled Israel from its possessions east of the Jordan, and as a warlike and independent race, they were anxious to secure themselves against future surprises. The "camels" of the Arabian Gindibu were perhaps mercenary troops, hired for the sake of a better commissariat, since the Bedawin, even if belonging to a half-cultivated border region, would not have been likely of their own motion to take the offensive against a power like the Assyrians. The im- mediate aim of this confederation was, it will be remem- bered, the relief of Hamath, nor does it appear that the Assyrian monarch had intended or expected to deal seri- ously with the much greater realm of Damascus during this campaign. How the result of the battle may have affected his designs we cannot tell. His losses, which of course he does not report, must have been considerable, and Hamath, at least, was not actually taken till a subsequent invasion. He did not return to the West till 1 1 K. X. 28 ; 1 Chr. x. 16, where n^pf2 should be translated " from Kiie." Cf. Sept. and Vulg. and see Lenormant, Origin de Vhistoire, vol. ii, Part 2, p. 6 ; Tomkins, in Pal. Expl. Quart., April, 1885. t iU y lit) ;i ; I 27li AD.IUSTMKNT TO TIIK BIBLICAL HECOIID Book VI If ! five years later, liis attention being absorbed by the aifairs of tlie North an* I Kast. § 231. What light do these reports from the inscrip- tions shed upon the Bible story? How shall wc adjust to one another the two narrations? The first difliculty that strikes o)ie is that the relations between Israel and Damas- cus were usually very unfriendly, and a close alliance between them would seem hard to account for. We must, however, at tlie outset, remark that the sacred writer does not professedly give a complete account of Ahab's military and political career, but only brings out those incidents in his history which were connected with the fortunes of the religion of Jehovah and its ministers, the Prophets. Still, the Bible does give at least a hint of a conjunction in the fortunes of Ahab and Ben-hadad, which afforded the con- ditions of an alliance between the two monarchs if both parties should find it expedient or urgent. And after the series of quarrels and battles between them, the great advantage of such a league Avas rendered suddenly apparent. The approaching army of the terrible Ass5Tian created in the minds of the western kings and chieftains a sense of the need of a confederation, and of burying, at least for a time, all sense of reciprocal injury. So a combination of Israel with the other leading powers, Damascus and Hamath, may be explained, and Ahab must the more readily have attached himself to the league, since so many of the neighbouring tribes swarmed with their contingents to the defence of the threatened territory. Now there is one passage in the Scripture history of these times which indicates a period in the reign of Ahab that may fit in with the narrative of the inscriptions. This is 1 K. xx., which describes the unexpected defeat of the Syrians by the Israelites at Aphek, with the improved relations fol- lowing it. Verse 84 infoi'ms us of a solemn convention between Ahab and Ben-hadad, according to which the former was entitled to hold a special market in Damascus, besides securing the cities which had been captured by the ■i I t (11. I, §2:3,J ALLIANCE OF AHAI! WITH DAMASCUS 277 Syi'iiins from (Jmri. No other situation that we know of in the affairs of Israel in the lifetime of Ahal) furnishes suital)le conditions. In 1 K. xxii., we are toUl that, after a tiu'ee years' peace, hostilities broke out afresh between Syria and Israel, provoked l)y Ahab with his ally Jehosha- phat. The former fell at Hamoth-gilead, leaving the field and the disputed territory to his old adversary. Now, if the above combination is correct, as the battle of Karkar is lixed by Shalmaneser himself at 854 n.c, the deatii of Ahab would have to be set between that date and 851, three years later. It should be added that Israel is not alluded to in the account given of the next two expeditions of Shalmaneser against the Syrians, though a further league between Ben-hadad and the king of Ilamatli with minor neighbouring states is mentioned, and we may infer that Israel did not participate in the defence. In fact, we know from the Bible history (see 2 K. vi. 8, 24) that Israel, under Joram, was again in its normal condition of war with Damascus, and also engaged with its rebellious vassal, Moab. § 232. No serious attempt has been made to discredit the Assyrian report of this cani[)aign in its essential features, though objections, based on mere ignorance and a general prejudice against the historical value of the inscriptions, have been brought forward against taking Ahabbu Sir^alai to represent Ahab of Israel. These have been tlioroughly disposed of by Schrader,^ and are not now repeated. Nor is the essential accuracy of the Bible account of Ahab's military undertakings impugned. The only controversy of any signilicance relates to the period in Ahab's reign in which the battle of Karkar in 854 is.c. ought to fall. The theory given above is the one usually adopted, but it has some earnest opponents. Chief among 1 KGF. p. 359-^304. I take this opportunity of reiniiuling my readers of the eminent services rendered by Professor Schrader to the cause of historical truth in this work, which is principally devoted to refuting super- ficial attacks upon the results of the decipherment of the Inscriptions. t' HI I !» f 278 HYPOTHESIS OF WELLHAUSEN Book VI these is Wellhausen,^ who thinks that Syria must have held a sort of suzerainty over Israel, since Israel was all along' the feebler state, and subordinate to Syria till the troubles of the latter with Assyria so weakened it that Israel was enabled to contend with it on equal terms. Israel, there- fore, furnished its contingent because it was compelled to, but the defeat of the league gave it the opportunity it coveted of asserting its independence. The subjection of Israel to Damascus would then be coincident with the loss of the cities (including the adjacent territory) in the time of Omri, which is alluded to in 1 K. xx. 34. Wellhausen's theory, accordingly, is that the events in question must be put earlier in Ahab's reign, before his recorded wars with Syria. § 233. The hypothesis is acute and plausible. Of decisive evidence there is, of course, none on either side, but the probabilities are against Wellhausen's assumption. In the first place, there is no evidence, direct or indirect, that Israel was, properly speaking, a vassal of Damascus. The latter was, no doubt, much the more powerful state of the two, especially before the AssjTian invasions began to tell, and Omri's loss of territory, along with his con- cession of free trade in Samaria, implies either defeat in war or a voluntary propitiation of a dangerous superior. But this is, in either case, something quite different from the obligation to follow the superior in his foreign wars, especially when it is observed that the contingent furnished by Ahab was about as powerful as that provided by the supposed liege Ben-hadad, and in the most formidable portion of the array actually twice as strong. Indeed, Ahab, strengthened by the Phcenician alliance, and main- taining as he did the dominion acquired by his father over Moab, was evidently an ambitious ruler aspiring to a position of predominance. Again, the assumption that 1 Jahrb. fur deutsche Ineologie, XX, p. 27; Art. "Israel" in Encycl. Brit., § 4 (Skizzen, etc. I, 31). Cf. Stade, GVI. 528 f. On the other side, see especially KGF. 3G7 ff. I Cii. I, § 2;34 ITS IMPUOBABILITY 27» two powers which were habitually iu hostilities would not be likely to combine for coniinon defence against a foe who seemed likely to destroy them both in detail is very improbable. We gather from several incidents in the Bible narrative that the rivalry between Israel and Damas- cus, which, after all, was only in consonance with the order of things in Western Asia in those days, was not so bitter or determined as to prevent an occasional inter- change of courtesies, in spite of the standing cause of quarrel afforded by the Syrian occupation of CJilead, and the constant irritating laids across the border (2 K. v. 2, cf. vi. 23). And so the rapprochement described in 1 K. XX., with the three years' peace that followed, must have made possible not only passive friendship, but ready co- oi)eration against a common foe.^ Finally, Wellhausen's theory includes the assumption that it was the Assyrian invasion of 854 B.C., and its results, which "made the situation clear" to Ahab, and suggested to him the pro- priety of revolt against Syria. But a study of Siial- maneser's reports shows that nothing could have been made clear to Ahab thereby except the military superiority of Assyria. And Damascus was not in particular so weakened by the battle as to invite attack from an inferior foe. On all accounts, therefore, it is better to make the battle of Karkar coincidenr with the first truce in the "fifty years' war" between Damascus and Israel than to make it antedate the outbreak of hostilities. § 234. The importance of the matter under present discussion lies not simply in the necessity of getting a clear idea of the course of Israel's fortunes. The correct solution of the problem would also afford us a sure basis for chronological calculation, the first certain synchr(mism in tlie history of the monarchies of Western Asia, and, indeed, in the history of the world generally. Can the ■ii ■\] !^ 1 hi ' ;i| I; . I 1 1 This frequent change of reciprocal attitude between neighbouring? countries in Western Asia was, no doubt, favoured by the custom of ceasing hostilities during the winter season (2 S. xi. 1 ; 1 Chr. xx. 1). \l i ! ! ^] •1 ■J ;t hi 280 THE FIXING OF A DATE Book VI % it! exact date be fixed ? It may with great probability. The death of Ahab took place, according to the modern nota- tion, two years (in the third year) after the peace of Aphek (1 K. xxii. 1 f.). The latter event probably took place in the year before the campaign against the Assyrians, and would therefore have to be set at 855 B.C. Thus the end of Ahab's reign would fall in 853 B.C. Up to the time of Solomon we had been obliged to use round numbers for dates, but counting back from the year thus ascertained it has been possible to get approximate figures for the inter- vening events; and, from this time onward,- with the help of the original autograph indications of the Assyrian records,* it will be within our power to time most of the principal occurrences still more exactly. •( if '•! 1 See Note 6 ia Appendix. U VI he ta- ek in nd nd of for lit er- elp iau the , CHAPTER II ISRAEL AND THE CONFLICTS OF ASSYRIA AND DAMASCUS § 235. The Assyrian invasion of 854 B.C. had left the relative positions of the Western powers unchanged. It was the fateful battle of Ramoth-Gilead which soon after turned the scale decisively against Israel (§ 215). The successors of Ahab were still less able than he to realize the ideal conceived in the ambitious mind of Omri. Ahaziah, his son, reignad but two years or less (853-852). Jehoram, or Joram (853-842), the brother of Ahaziah, was the last ruler of the line. He had been acting as regent during the illness of Ahaziah. He continued throughout the policy of friendship and alliance with Judah, of which a main object had been to make head against the encroach- ments of Damascus. A few years later, Jehoshaphat of Judah was succeeded by his son Jehoram (849-842). The identity of the names (" Yahwe is exalted") is an indica- tion that the same outward reverence for Jehovah's worship animated both kingly houses. Now the two families were still further assimilated by intermarriage, Jehoram of Judah making Athaliah, the sister of his northern name- sake, his queen, — a step which shows, among other tokens, how little distasteful to the court of Judah were the cliaracteristic worship and practices of the house of Ahab. The attempt to recapture Ramoth had been the supreme military effort of the Israelitish combination ; and, tliough its failure did not dissolve the alliance, it proved the superiority of Damascus to the two confederates combined. It also brought about further loss to Israel. Moab, which m I '1 i ml * I 282 LOSS OF MOAB TO ISRAEL Book VI had been tributary to North Israel under Omri, and which, according to the Stone of King Mesha,i had succeeded in recovering some of its territory during the reign of Ahab, was now encouraged to break out into open revolt. While Jehoshaphat was still alive, Joram of Israel undertook to recover the lost possessions and punish his rebellious vassal. Summoning Jehoshaphat to his aid, who, in his turn, secured the co-operation of the subject Edomites, they dexterously attacked Moab from the south, after encompassing the Dead Sea. The allies were at first successful, and inflicted a defeat upon Mesha so terrible that the wrath of his god Chemosh could only be appeased by the sacrifice of his own son. The Hebrew record which furnishes us with these details (2 K. iii.) does not add particulars of the subsequent events of the campaign, except to say that, on account of the supposed wrath of Chemosh against Israel, the invaders withdrew from the country (v. 27) ; in other words, failed to bring back Moab to its allegiance. Mesha himself relates to posterity how he rebuilt several cities which had been laid waste during the Israelitish suzerainty, and how he took by storm, with the customary slaughter of the inhabitants, the two cities of Ataroth and Nebo, which were garrisoned by Gadites of Israel. 2 § 236. In the reign of Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram, the brother-in-law of Joram of Israel (§ 235), the control of Edom was lost to Judah, after an abortive attempt had been made by the Judaic viceroy (about 852 B.C.) to re-establish Solomon's trade by the Red Sea (1 K. xxii. 48). Thus, in spite of the alliance and affiliation of the princes of the northern and southern kingdoms, their reigns were marked by political decline. Yet Joram of Israel was a valiant defender of his realm and dynasty against Aramsean aggression. His ejection from the Moabitish 1 Lines 6 fl. '^ Stone of Mesha,, 1. ff. On the difficulty of reconciling the Moabite and Biblical account, see Professor Davis in Hebraica, April, 1891, p. 178 ff. Ch, II, § 236 REVOLT OF JEHU 283 tloabite 178 ff. border did not deter him from carrying out the traditional policy of his house with regard to the Israelitish territory beyond the Jordan, and he continued till the end of his reign to keep up an army before Ramoth-Gilead. How desperate were his case and his efforts we may gather from the fact that, while defending the frontiers of his kingdom on the east, repeated disasters befell his arms at home, and he had to submit to a prolonged siege, with all its accom- panying horrors, in his own capital, at the hands of the Syrians under Ben-hadad II, from which he was only delivered through a groundless panic in the camp of the besiegers (2 K. vi., vii.).^ And Ramoth itself, that coveted landmark of Israel's ancient dominion over rich and populous Gilead, became an instrument of fate once more against the doomed and failing house of Ahab. Joram being wounded in battle against Ben-hadad's suc- cessor, Hazael (§ 241), his general, Jehu, who had been twice anointed as the future king and the divinely appointed supplanter of the patriotic but religiously dis- loyal dynasty of Omri, being left in charge of the blockade ^ of that fortress, revolted and hastened to Samaria with blood-thirsty zeal against his lord and all his court and retainers. Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram of Judah, had just come to the throne (842), and hastened to put himself and his army at the disposal of his uncle Joram, in pursuance of the established policy. He found him at his summer palace at Jezreel, where he was seeking repose and healing for his wounds. Here the two kings were surprised by the furious onset of Jehu, by whose hand Joram met immediate death. Ahaziah's flight was soon interrupted by a still more dastardly stroke at tlie order of the usurper. The first event of international importance following the revolt was the necessary result of the defection of Jehu and his desertion of the post of duty. The siege of that * See Note 5 in Appendix. 2 The word "kept," in E. "V. of 2 K. ix. 14, shovild be replaced by "besieged," literally " watched" ; cf. 2 Sam. xi. 10 and Isa. i. 8. 3' i'i >;' S-l 284 ASSYRIANS AGAIN IN THE WEST Book VI stronghold was raised, and the country east of the Jordan was soon wholly occupied by the Aramaeans (2 K. x. 32 f.), under another predestined usurper, the no less truculent but more fortunate Hazael. § 237. The reader of the Bible narrative must at first find it difficult to understand how the kings of Israel, crippled as they were by loss of territory and population, exposed continually to invasion from the northeastern side, and actually brought more than once to the verge of national extinction, were yet able to keep an army in the field to the east of the Jordan, and lay siege repeatedly to a great fortress lying in what was then an enemy's country. Here again the monuments of Nineveh give us welcome aid. They show us that not only during the latter part of the reign of Ahab, but twice also during the reign of Joram, the Syrians were called to put themselves in defence against the most terrible of their foes. Shalmaneser, in his inscription on the Black Obelisk, tells us briefly of his incui-sions into the West-land. During the three years immediately following the battle of Karkar he was busied with affairs on the Northern Tigris, and especially in Babylonia, where, by the way, he came into contact with the Chaldseans (^Kalde), who were forced to the sea-shore by the terror of his arms, and became his tributaries.^ In 850 he crossed the Euphrates for the eighth time, but confined himself in this region to reducing the cities dependent on Carchemish. The next year (849) found him again west of the Euphrates, in the "land of the Hettites." The country about Hamath was once more laid waste, and again a combination of "twelve kings of the Hettite country, " with Ben-hadad at their head, opposed him, and were defeated with the loss of 10,000 men. This was in the eleventh year of Shalmaneser. ^ Two years later (846 H.c.) he made an expedition to Syria, which had much the same character and result as that of 849. ^ 1 Obel. 83 f. « Obel. 87 £f. 8 Obel. 91 f . Ch. II, § 239 VICISSITUDES OF NORTHERN ISRAEL 285 § 238. The records of these invasions help us to com- plete the picture of the political situation in Palestine and Syria in the mitldle of the ninth century B.C. They show us how it was that the wars between Israel, alone or in alliance with Judah, and Damascus, fierce and frequent as they were, still were not continuous; and they explain to us how Israel was still able to maintain itself and escape what seemed imminent annihilation at the hands of Damascus while the latter was distracted with these x\ssyrian wars. We do not learn, however, if any part was taken by Israel in opposing Shalmaneser. Such action on the part of Joram, in spite of his normal attitude towards Damascus, is improbable from his military weak- ness. Yet it was not in such times impossible, as we learn from the example of Ahab. Direct evidence on the point we do not have. Shalmaneser speaks of the " dozen kings " who opposed him, in his report both with regard to the campaign of 849 and to that of 846. But this is manifestly a round number, and it is hardly to be supposed that exactly the same combination was formed on these occa- sions as in 854. The question, interesting and important as it is, will have to remain, in the meanwhile, undecided. § 239. The tragic end of Joram brings us to the close of a memorable period in the history of the northern king- dom, — a period marked by a more intense life among the leaders of the people than was manifested there before or after. In the political sphere we can see how dreams of a potent monarchy arose in the mind of Omri, the founder of Samaria, and the creator of Samarian history; how he extended his dominion to the east of the Jordan ; and how the Aramrean power to the northeast, rising more quickly than his own, curbed his ambition, crippled his strength, and lowered his prestige. We see how his son Ahab widened the scope of national relations, secured powerful alliances, and, under the influence of the Tyrian queen, bartered the hope and defence of Israel for the glamour and pageantry of a sensual and deteriorating worship ; and how f^ S :> Pi % . ' f! 286 LEADING EVENTS OF THE PERIOD Book VI Yi '< u " '?i m ^-H he, under the same malign working, corrupted the sim- plicity of the national manners, and even outraged the rights of an Israelitish freeholder (1 K. xxi.). We can see the results of the offensive and defensive alliance with Judah, Avhich was a characteristic feature of this period, and niark its first great disaster in the battle that cost Ahab his life. We can follow the varying fortunes of tlie Syrian wars through the reigns of his short-lived sons ; and in its chequered progress we can note how Damascus gains steadily upon the Hebrew monarchies, its progress being, however, materially impeded by two sorts of checks ; namely, unexpected deliverances granted to Israel, and invasions of both Northern and Southern Syria by the Assyrians. In the religious and ethical sphere we see above all, in the personal agency and manifold activity of Elijah and Elisha, the beginnings of the great prophetic movement, which was not only intended to counteract the spiritual and moral degeneracy of the nation, but also, through the ft ithful remnant in the true Israel, to leaven all mankind with truth and grace. Moreover, we see how, at their instigation, the cruel and rapacious wars between Israel and the Aramseans were mitigated by several rare instances of generosity and forbearance, so that their ministry of reform and purification was also symbolical of a new era of peace and concord between the nations, which the literary Prophets of a later day were more amply to illustrate. § 240. The death of the last of the family of Onni marks a decisive turning-point in the history of the northern kingdom. A change of dynasty effected by such violent means as those employed by Jehu must needs give a moral and material shock to a small compact state like that which depended for its preservation mainly upon the defensibility of the fortress of Samaria. Jehu's mission was to extirpate the worship of the Canaanitic Baal. His remorseless fierceness and impetuosity l)ore him well through the slaughter of Joram and his family and of the Cu. II, § -'41 JKIIU, ASSYRIA, AND DAMASCUS 287 .ve ke ell he idolatrous priesthood. But the task of governing the kingdom thus usurped, and of defending it from eager and superior foes, was one to which he was utterly unequal. He failed to conciliate the adherents of his predecessor, and so far was he from reconciling the people at large to his rule, that three generations later his acts of hlood- shed were still cited for reprobation (Hos. i. 4). In his foreign relations he, as we shall see presently, loweied the standard of Israelitish patriotism, and gave a lien upon his country to a rapacious power, which never failed to take advantage of the smallest concession from any com- munity, great or small. In other words, Jehu took the fatal step, at the very beginning of his reign, of making a league Avith Assyria. § 241. This momentous transaction, not recorded in the Hebrew annals, but preserved for us in the cuneiform records, was, of course, closely connected with Syrian affairs. Very shortly before the revolt of Jehu, a usur})er came also to the throne of Damascus, and that with the cognizance, if not with the direct approval, of the head of the reforming party in Israel (cf. 1 K. xix. 15 and 2 K. viii. 13). The treachery and regicide in Damascus, which had set an example so sjieedily emulated in Israel (2 K. viii., ix.), resulted in the death of the valiant old warrior Ben-hadad II (2 K. viii. 15), who for many years had maintained his city and country at the head of all the Sj'rian principalities. His murderer and successor, Hazael, was even more terrible in war, and apparently devoid of the milder qualities which adorned the character of his renowned victim. His warlike and courageous temper was shown even by his eagerness to take the supreme control at a time so critical for the nations of the west. He had seen one after another of the rulers of Northern Syria forced to acknowledge the headship of Shalmaneser, or surrender their kingdom and their lives. He had witnessed Aleppo and Hamath devastated, and the latter, not long before the head of the Aramajan communities, il n o n '■ 288 HAZAEL AND THE ASSYRIANS Book VI ! t almost annihilated, and Damascus itself left with heredi- tary foes to the south and west, and the armies of the invincible Assyrians about to descend upon it from the north. The first onset of the latter he was immediately summoned to meet. § 242. Since 846 B.C. (see § 237) Shalmaneser had visited Northern Syria once — namely, in 843 — to cut cedars from Mount Amanus.^ Next year he marched di- rectly against Damascus. The armies met near Mount Senir,2 at the northern end of Hermon, where Hazael took his stand without a single ally. According to Shalman- eser 's own accounts,^ Hazael met with a terrible defeat, losing 16,000 men, 1121 chariots, 470 horse, and his camp. Still, Damascus was not yet taken : the Assyrian monarch had to content himself with cutting down Hazael's parks and gardens outride the wall, and laying waste the Hauran. In another expedition, three years later,* he inflicted a final defeat upon Hazael, according to his own story; but it was much more likely a drawn battle. At best, the alleged victory resulted in no permanent advantage to the Assyr- ians. The former of these two expeditions, that of 842 B.C., is of special interest to us in our present business. After describing his defeat of Hazael, and the ravaging of the adjacent territory, Shalmaneser relates that he marched to the sea-coast, and received the tribute of Tyre and Sidon, and, lastly, of "Jehu, son of Omri."^ This state- ment, which occurs in the fragment just cited, is shown to refer to Jehu, king of Israel, by the fact that on the famous Black Obelisk already frequently quoted, containing the condensed annals of Shalmaneser, there is found a sculp- tured representation of ambassadors bearing gifts and presenting them to the Assyrian king, accompanied by an 1 Obel. 96. 2 Assyr. Saniru. Cf . Sept. Sow/). Notice the perpetuation of the Amoritic name (Deut. Hi. 9). 8 Obel. 97 ff., and especially the fraffinent III R. 6 Nr. 0. * Obel. 102 ff. <» Ya-u-a apal Hu-um-ri. Cii. II, § 243 JEHU AND THE ASSYRIANS 280 an the inscription beginning with the words: "tribute of Jehu, son of Omri." ^ § 243. These references are interesting and important from several points of view. As to the form of expression "son of Omri," it is to be noticed that while the term Sir^alai, "Israelite,'' used of Ahab, occurs but once in the recovered inscriptions, the phrase "Beth Omri" is the standing designation for the kingdom of Israel ^ (§ 212). As to Jehu himself, the notice of the Assyrian king sets the cruel and imperious usurper and reformer before us in a new light, that of a fawning suppliant. His name is coupled in the list of tributaries with those of the rulers of subject nations; but we have no evidence that he was subdued by the Assyrians. In 839 B.C., when Shalmaneser had his second great encounter with Hazael, and Tyre and Sidon sent costly gifts to the conqueror, Jehu for the second time may have done the same, still cherishing the hope of securing in the Great King an ally who would crush Syria and spare and protect Israel. How fallacious, in any case, that expectation was, may be learned from the Biblical narrative, properly understood by the help of the Assyrian annals. The summary statement of 2 K. x. 32 f. (cf. § 236) tells us that Hazael smote Israel in all its borders, and particularizes his complete occupation of all the country east of Jordan as far south as the valley of tlie Anion, which had never been in any sense subject to Israel; and we may infer from a later passage (2 K. xii. 17) that the western borders were also seriously encroa hI upon. In fact, his march upon the Philistines there alluded to must have been made through the valley of Jezreel, so that we must think of the northern kingdom as being confined to the hill country of Ephraim and the teiritory about Samaria. This state of things is explained by the fact that, after the expedition of 839, the Assyrians did ■:i; .lis n u * ma-da-tn Sa Ya-ti-a apal Hii-tim-ri-i (Lay. 98, 2). 2 Cf. the name of the kingdom in Northern Syria, Bit Adini (§ 227). V 200 roWEU AND AGGRESSION OF DAMASCUS Book VI ■%. not appear again in Syria proper. At the time of the double usurpation of Jehu and Hazael, Shalmaneser was just at the middle of his reign, and for the last fifteen years of his life he seems to have renounced the hope of bringing the West-land under Assyrian control. Two main motives must have determined him. He found it necessary to conserve and consolidate his empire before seeking further to extend its borders. Affaire nearer home required constant attention, and by reason of the continual urgency of discontented tribes, who demurred to the supremacy of the Assyrian gods, his best troojis were in constant requisition away from the new battle- ground on the Mediterranean coast. The utmost that could be done west of the River was to confirm his conquests in Northern Syria and Cilicia. This was accomplished by expeditions made in 835, 834, ^ and 832 B.C., the last-named being conducted by his general-in- chief • Another reason for his quitting this field of action was, doubtless, the prowess and strength of Damascus. In spite of the claims of victory made by the Assyrian invader in his annals, it is certain that his losses were very great, and that his successes did not lead, as else- where, to control of new territory or permanent increase of revenue; and it is quite possible that, after the engage- ment of 839, he found it advisable to evacuate the Syrian territory. Such freedom from molestation, which Hazael doubtless regarded as a triumph for Syria, was, as we have seen, utilized fully by that ambitious monarch, who thus brought his kingdom to a height of power and influence never before or after reached by an Aramaean community. Not only was the ancient and beautiful capital of the kings of Damascus retained, in spite of defeat after defeat and the loss of one ally after another, but Hazael, who, like his predecessor, had never once submitted to Shalmaneser, was soon able to reclaim the Hauran, to secure Bashan and 1 The expedition of 834 is notable for the conquest of Tarsus in Cilicia. It appears under the form rar-«i (Obel. 138). See KGF. 241 Nil Cii. II, § 216 SUFFERING ISUAEL AND rUOrUECY 291 licia. Gilead, to encroach upon Moab, to almost annihilate Israel, to destroy one of tiie great cities of the Philistines,^ to range freely over the whole of Judah, and to dictate to Jerusalem itself the most humiliating terms of submission, receiving from the terrified king Jehoash the richest spoil of his palace and temple. § 244. The calamities which the aggression of Damas- cus, after its reprieve and rehabilitation, brought upon Israel are indicated or, rather, faintly suggested, by the sacred annalist; but we are not left to the narrative alone for a picture of the desolation and ruin that were wrought. We can listen to the voice of Prophecy, which now emerges in the drama of Israel's history, to reveal the mo- mentous issues of the action, to express the essential pathos of the tragedy, and to enforce the moral of every new event. Two brief passages give us an indispensable supplement to the historical statements of fact; the one describing the memorable scene where Elisha predicts to Hazael, just before his accession to the blood-stained throne, the misery and suffering which he is to bring upon Israel (2 K. viii. 12), and the other, two generations later, containing a vivid reminiscence of the horrors of the time, from the pen of one of the first of the literary Prophets (Amos i. 3-5). § 245. Such was the inglorious ending of the reign of Jehu. His propitiation of the Assyrians had profited him nothing, but had rendered him, as their ally, more odious in the eyes of Hazael, who, now that danger from the common foe of all the independent western peoples seemed to be past, visited with remorseless vengeance those nations which had once joined the league for mutual protection and had then left Damascus to fight the battle alone. Jehoahaz (815-799 B.C.), the son of Jehu, succeeded to the broken fortunes and hopeless cause of his father, and during the greater part of his reign was compelled to accept from Hazael and his son, Ben-hadad III, the hardest ^ For the taking of Gath and the invasion of Judah, see 2 K. xii. 17 f. ; 2 Chr. xxiv. 23 £. ii Ml \' 292 rUOSTRATlON AND UELIEF OF ISIIAEL Book VI i i;, conditions yet imposed upon any king of Israel. The sacred historian, who, after the fashion of Biblical nar- rators, characterizes a whole period by citing a concrete instance or two as indicative and representative, tells us how ''there had been left to Jehoahaz of the people only fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen ; for the king of Syria had made them to be trodden down like dust"^ (2 K. xiii. 7). This picture becomes most telling when we compare the condition of Israel, as related to Damascus, with what we learned from Shalmaneser's report of the battle of Karkar, about forty years before the accession of Jehoahaz. During Aliab's reign Israel was scarcely the equal of Damascus, and yet it could put into the field for the defence of the West-land two thousand chariots. That its force was reduced to the mere nominal figure of ten chariots and fifty horsemen does not mean that the resources of the country and its military spirit had really come to the vanishing-point. What the com- parison proves is that Syria had finally made the northern kingdom its vassal, and to render it incapable of further harm had deprived it of the most effective means of carrying on an offensive campaign. § when it seemed that at last Israel could lift up its head no more among the nations, and that Damascus was to realize its aim of bringing the whole of Palestine into subjection. The means of deliverance are indicated in the Biblical narrative only in a very indefinite way, but the Assyrian annals once more furnish us with the desired illumination. The passage in question, which immediately precedes the verses just quoted, reads as follows: "And Jehoahaz entreated Jehovah, and Jehovah listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, for the king of Syria had pressed him sore; and Jehovah gave to Israel a deliverer S 246. But relief came when it was least expected, and 1 In order to bring out the connection clearly, and to indicate the order of events, it is necessary to translate with the pluperfect, which is, in fact, a direct continuation of the same construction in v. 4. I order I fact, Cm. II, § 247 CONDITION OF ASSYRIA 203 and they came out from under the power of Syria, and the chihlren of Israel dwelt in their tents (^i.e. in their own houses) as in the days of yore." It will be seen that the name of the deliverer by whose interference Israel was redeemed from its humiliating servitude is not mentioned. In fact, the whole manner of presentation, so different from tlie particularity of statement characteristic of the liible narratives, suggests a personage lying beyond the ordinary range of Israelitish association, and perhaps unknown by name to the sacred writer. Tlie fact seems to be that it Avas a contemporary k ing of Assyria. Another brief glance at the history of that country must now be made. § 247. Our sketch of the military activity of Shal- maneser II showed plainly that that monarch, enterprising and ambitious as he was, and eager to extend the sway of Asshur to the limits of southwestern Asia, yet found it impossible to secure any permanent footing beyond Central, or even Northern, Syria. His successor, S'amsi-Ilammdn IV ("Ramman is my sun," 825-812 B.C.), found that the half-subjugated provinces bequeathed to him by his father constituted a legacy so uncertain and divided that its adjustment ant! administration left him but little oppor- tunity for outside conquests. Shalmaneser had, in fact, undertaken to do too much, nor was the political system of Assyria as yet sufficiently developed to justify the vast enterprises which the ambitious conquerors of the time so persistently entered upon. The old warrior had been, in fact, unable to keep his empire Avell in hand in his later years. The conduct of his campaigns was left to his commander-in-chief, who apparently was getting so much power in his hands that a revolt on the part of Shal- maneser's eldest son found many abettors among the dis- contented people, to whom a firm government was the prime condition of social prosperity, as well as their first political postulate. The closing period of the old king's reign was thus so embittered by domestic strife that the last four years are represented by a blank in the annalistic '1 il '* kt m^ I',' i.'. . hi 294 SIIAMSHl-RAMMAN Book VI record, which breaks off in 829 B.C. How formidable the rebellion was may be learnt from the list of communities concerned in it, embracing several cities in Assyria proper, such as Nineveh itself, and Asshur, as well as such widely separated districts as Hamath in the West, and Amedi (the modern Diarbekr) on the Upper Tigris. Our informa- tion about this significant uprising is derived from the inscription of Sharashi-Iiamman himself, upon whom, as the second son, devolved the duty of suppressing it. This task he successfully accomplished, bringing back to their allegiance the rebellious cities, twenty-seven in number.^ The rest of his warlike enterprises during his compara- tively short reigii of thirteen years were directed to secur- ing and extendiiig the territory claimed by Assyria in the north and northeast, where the rising power of Armenia excited his apprehensions, as well as in the east and south. His last expedition was aimed against Babylon, though he does not report that he actually invaded Babylonian terri- tory. What he mainly intended was to vitally cripple that kingdom by destroying its source of military supply, which was furnished by the hardy inhabitants of the eastern and northeastern mountains. After successful operations in the territory bordering upon Media, the Babylonian king roused himself up to a great effort, and with a large force of auxiliaries, composed chiefly of Aranifeans, Elamites, and Chalda3ans, took his stand by a small stream called Daban, not far from Baghdad. The allies were defeated, but it does not appear that Babylonia itself was invaded. The annals of Shamshi-Ramman ^ do not date his several enterprises, and this is the last which they record. But we learn from one of the Eponym lists that he sent an expedition against the Chaldfeans in 813 B.C., and another against Babylon itself in the following year, the last of his reign. His achievements were not 1 I R. 29, 39-53. 2 I R. 29-31, a stele now in the Br. Museum engraven In archaic characters. Ch. II, § 248 RAMMAN-NIRARl AND HIS POLICY 295 ircbaic insignificant or of mere transitory influence. It is note- worthy that, while he pushed as far eastward as the shores of the Caspian Sea, the country west of the Euphrates was left entirely undisturbed. The effect of this immunity from invasion during the whole of his reign and the last fourteen years of that of his predecessor we have already seen. We now have to tell how the West-land fared under his successor. § 248. Ramman-nirari ("Ramman is my helper"), the third of that name, came to the throne in his youth, his father having died early in life. His reign of twenty- eight years (811-783 B.C.) was signalized by the extension of the empire beyond the furthest limits attained by any l^revious Assyrian ruler. The notices of his reign are quite scanty,^ as far as they have been as yet recovered; but while they fail to furnish us with the details of his numerous warlike enterprises, they give a clear general picture of the range of his conquests. He proceeded steadily upon the lines laid down by his four predecessors. His subject states were divided by himself into three groups, according to theu- geographical direction. These were, first, those in the northeast and east, whither he sent no less than thirteen expeditions, eight of them being directed against Media alone. His conquests here, and in the more northerly country lying east of Lake Urmia, were so extensive as to justify his claim to have subdued all the territory as far as the Caspian Sea. The second group included the countries lying to the west of the Euphrates, and here he made good his boast to have conquered all the kingdoms between that river and the ^lediterranean. He enumerates as belonging to the Hettite country and the West-land, Tyre, Sidon, Omri-land (§ 212, 243), Edom, and Philistia, besides making special reference to his conquest of Damascus. The third group contains the Chaldajan principalities, to which he seems to have sent 1 Published I K. ^5, Nrs. 1, 2, 3, 4, All except the very brief Nr. 4 (a brick inscription from Nineveh) were found in Ninirud. ir If I i) I I 296 OPERATIONS IN CHALD^A Book VI but one expedition and that of no great circumstance, since he merely claims that he imposed tribute upon them and that they acknowledged his suzerainty. The visit to Chaldsea in 803 ^ was probably made for the purpose of settling some local disturbance. In all likelihood, the work of subduing the Chaldseans was accomplished in his first year, in completion of the final operations of his father, and so their country was kept in subjection by garrisons during his life. We may even conclude that Ramman-nirari was in this acting in the interest of Baby- lonia as well as Assyria, and that, since the defeat of the forces allied against his father, the two countries were united in close friendship. § 249. A remarkable circumstance mentioned in an inscription ^ made by one of the highest offices of llamman- nirari is of interest in this connection, and is also of special importance to students of classical literature. The story, or, rather, stories of Semiramis,^ the wife of Ninus, retailed by Greek writers, passed until a comparatively late period for genuine history, and the accounts of her marvellous achievements in war, architecture, and irriga- tion, though on the face of them absurd, and out of harmony with anything ever known of national develop- ment, were accepted with almost as much credulity bj' modern scholars up to the present century, as by the contemporaries of the Greek historians. The inscription just mentioned reduces the heroine to her actual historic sphere and range, being at the same time the sole reference to her in the recovered inscriptions. It also gives us some suggestion of the basis of fact upon which the stupendous mass of fable was built. Sammu-rdmat is referred to by the official in question, who was governor of Kalali and 1 The Eponym notice for this year, "to the seashore," probably refers to the Persian Gulf. a I U. 36, Nr. 2. 8 For the history of the myth and its later treatment, see Rawlinson, Five Monarchies, II, 120 f. Cii. II, § :i4y SEMIHAMIS 207 and lefers ^son, several other important cities, as "the lady of the palace and his mistress." Her name follows immediately that of Ramman-nirari, and the writer prays for the long life of them both, no other names than theirs and his own being mentioned. The reference is apparently to the wife of the king, and not to his mother. The mention of her name, when it occurs, opens up a wide perspective to the his- torical imagination. The inscription is written upon a statue of Nebo and is dedicated to that god. This agrees with the Eponym list for 787 B.C., which states that in that year "Nebo made his entry into the new temple." It further harmonizes with the friendly relations subsisting between Assyria and Babylon, that Nebo was properly a Babylonian god, the protectorate exercised by Assyria being confirmed and fostered by the adoption of the Baby- lonian deity, which of itself implies an attempted unifica- tion of the two peoples. It is instructive to note, what Tiele has pointed out,^ that, before this, Nebo was not men- tioned in any Assyrian inscription, and that hereafter not only is he frequently invoked, but proper names occur with " Nebo " as one of the elements, just as had always been the case in Babylonian documents. Henceforward, there is also to be observed a community of interest between the two countries not existing ijince the times of the early affiliations (§ 175). Now, as it was the rule that treaties of alliance were cemented by intermarriage between the reigning families, what is more probable than that Kammfin- nirari, who, as we have seen, came to the tlirone as a youth, should, after his warlike affairs with Babylonia were happily closed, have secured the newly made friendship by wedding the daughter or sister of his late rival ? Tliis, if a fact, explains as nothing else can, the most unaccount- able thing in the whole legendary cycle which has Semi- ramis as the theme, — the statement that she ruled over both Babylon and Nineveh. Another point that nsay be mentioned, is that the extraordinary range of conquest ) !t 1 BAG. p. 212. r I' ! i I i B\ >l 208 ASSYRIANS AGAIN IN THE WEST Book VI attributed in the Greek stories to this famous queen, while plainly the result of a confusion with the Persian subjuga- tion of the nations as far eastward as India, may be originally due to the circumstance that the husband of Sammuramat claimed rightly a wider extent of possessions than any of his predecessors. Finally, this unique heroine must have really been a personage of exceptional promi- nence and importance, since queens or princesses, or, in fact, women of any degree, are never mentioned by name in the Assyrian monuments. ^ § 250. We must return, however, to the affairs of the West. Ramman-nirari's succinct report, as has been already stated, speaks of the conquest of the whole of Pal- estine and Syria. At least five campaigns seem to have been carried on in this region, according to the Eponym chronicle. At any rate, five years were occupied in the work of subjugation, 806-803 and 797 B.C. The objec- tive point in 806 was Arpad, in North-Middle Syria, where the Assyrians seem to have met with considerable resist- ance, since the close of the next 3'ear finds them occupied at the neighbouring city of 'Azaz (^Hazazu). The year 804 brings them to the Phoenician territory, and the record for 803 ("to the Sea-shore") appears to show the completion of the march along the Mediterranean. The claim made of the conquest of Syria (^mdt Hatte')^ Tyre and Sidon, as well as Philistia {Falastu'), are thus accounted for; and it was doubtless in connection with the "Sea-coast" campaign that Edom (^Udumu) was brought to subjection. Israel, or "Omri-land," and the kingdom of Damascus, were apparently subdued in 797 B.C., as the Eponym notice for that year is the only one that seems to suit the conditions. The furthest point reached by that expedition is the city Mansudti^ which has been located by the help of geograph- ical lists,2 in Israelitish territory, in, or near, the plain of Jezreel. Israel was thus apparentl}' invaded after the subjugation of Damascus, the victorious army having 1 See Note 7 in Appendix. 2 II K. 63, 30. 57. 50. ■mi Ch. n, § 251 CONQUEST OF DAMASCUS 299 marched westward, and secured by the submission of Samaria, the allegiance of virtually the whole f the West. Judah and the other smaller kingdoms of Moab and Amnion he does not enumerate, and they were, in all likelihood, not interfered with, though they may have sent propitiatory presents. § 251. The conquest of Damascus Avas the most impor- tant event in the history of all that time, and one would suppose that Ramman-nirari regarded it as the great achievement of his life, since it is the only exploit of which he makes special mention in the summary of his warlike enterprises. Who the king of Damascus at the time was, we cannot say with certainty. The word Mart'., which designates him, means in Aramaic "lord," and it may be merely the first name of his title, so that the possibility of identifying him with the third Ben-hadad of the Bible, the son of Hazael ^ (2 K. xiii. 24), is not excluded. This seems to be, indeed, demanded by the Biblical narrative, as we shall see presently. His final capitulation marks the most important era in the history of the Damascene kingdom; not that it brought the capital into the permanent possession of the Assyrians, but because it broke the power of Syria, after many j-ears of resistance to the Eastern invaders, and many years, also, of pre- dominance over the neighbouring kingdoms. This, as well as its consequences, explains the significance which the triumph evidently had in the eyes of the victor. Moreover, it must have been the last of a series of defeats sustained during the seven years' war, and was therefore all the more calamitous for Damascus.'^ 1 There is no room for Mari unless this is done, since Ron-hadad III followed Hazael immediately. The name Ben-hadad was probably assumed in emulation of Ben-hadad II. ■^ The brief records of the Eponym lists note, as a rule, only one cam- paign in each year, the one which seemed of most importance (perhaps on account of the presence of the king as the leatler). It is fair to con- clude tliat between 803 and 797 other military movements were made, resulting in steady encroachments upon the Syrian capital. ■ti i i. ' 1* :■. ill!!: 'I 800 RELIKF AND SUBJECTION OF ISRAEL Hooic VI § 252. How well all this illustrates the meagre narra- tive of the Book of Kings! Jehoahaz, as we have seen (§ 246), was granted a certain measure of reprieve from the galling oppression of the Syrians. The relief was due to the crippling of the resources of Damascus by the aggressive warfare waged by the forces of Asshur during the closing years of the ninth century, and the "deliverer" (2 K. xiii. 5; cf. v. 23) Avas none other than the redoubt- able Rannniln-nirari liimself. During the reign of tlie ncKt king of Israel, Joasli, who came to the throne in or about 799 B.C., still further relief was granted; Syria was defeated in three successive battles (2 K. xiii. 25; cf. v. 14-10\ and Joash recovered the cities which his father ' 1 lost. The possibility of recuperation and rehabilita- tion " ; Tilainly due to the collapse of the Sj'rian power undji . j ui-Ben-hadad III, through the surrender of the city and its enormous treasures in 797; and the continued pro/ ^/L'riiv of T r.^el under Joash and his successor became only possible with the prolonged humiliation of its ancient rival and oppressor. § 253. The question naturally suggests itself: How does it happen that the Bible records nothing of this great invasion and these prolonged military operations, especially when not merely S^-ria (as on previous occasions), but Palestine proper, was attacked and reduced to subjection ? The explanation is that, as the narrative in its present form Avas compiled at a later date, only so much historical information was transferred from the official annals as bore directly upon the religious history of the people; and as the influence of this Assyrian invasion, even thougli Israel itself had now the invader on its soil for the first time, was not permanently felt, at least in tangible results, no men- tion was made of it in the final record. Moreover, it is l)lain that Damascus and Northern Palestine bore the brunt of the attack, that the march across the borders of Israel, like that along the sea-coast, was followed by immediate submission, and that there was no prolonged Cii. II, § 254 RAPID CHANGES IN JUDAH 801 occupation or serious loss of men or territory, such as were caused by later invasions. For the rest, it is probable that Israel and the other Western states, now become subject to Assyria, paid their allotted tribute till the death of Kammun-nirarl (788), which coincides nearly with the end of the reign of Joash. § 254. The kingdom of Judah, as we have seen, is not alluded to in the catalogue of subject nations drawn up by the Assyrian conqueror. Its secluded position, and espe- cially the diminution of its prestige and resources during the troublous times that followed the murder of Ahaziah (842 B.C.), made it an object of little consequence to the Great King; Jerusalem was not the coveted vfintage- ground which it afterwards became, for the Assyrian policy had not yet practically included defence or offence against Egypt, having indeed just begun to appreciate the impoi'tance of the magnificent site of Samaria for the control of Palestine. The fidelity of the priests rescued the feeble state by the last resort of revolution and bloodshed from the oppression, as well as the religious apostasy, of the ([ueen Athaliah (842-830), and the political and moral rehabilitation, chiefly through reforms in worslup directed by the high-priest Jehoiada (2 K. xi., xii.), went bravely on during the earlier years of Jehoash (830-707), the surviving infant son of Ahaziah, whom they had secretly nurtured as the rightful heir. The country was, however, again brought to the verge of destruction b}- the ravages of the Syrians (§ 243). But the humiliation and final over- throw of Damascus, which Avere accomplished dui-ing the last year of the reign of Jehoash, brought relief to fludah as well as Israel; and under his successor, Amaziah (707- 708), it began to make its way to a position of i)ower and respect among the Western states. Edom, which must have been shorn of much of its strength througli its Ctipitulation to the Assyrians (§ 250) about 800 B.C., was worsted in a war with Judah, which steadily aimed to reduce its former vassal, and to realize its old dream of •■P !•! 1: i''i l!'? 302 DECLINE OF DAMASCUS Book VI controlling the Red Sea traflfic and the caravan trade with Southern Arabia. A step in the latter direction was now taken by the capture of Petra (2 K. xiv. 7). So much of freedom and expansion was vouchsafed to the two Hebrew monarchies through the Assyrian conquest of Damascus, of which the sole record is contained in the long-buried annals of the victorious monarch! Henceforward, Syria never became a controlling power, and though it is heard from again, it appears no more in the r61e of arbiter or suzerain, or oppressor of the neighbouring states. The fire had already begun to burn in the realm of Hazael, and to consume the palaces of Ben-hadad (Am. i. 4). CHAPTER III EXPANSION OF ISRAEL DURING ASSYRIAN INACTION § 255. For fifty years the torpidity and impotence of exhaustion prevailed in the kingdom of the Tigris, and this again was as important in its consequences as it was noteworthy in its origin. Let us take a glance at the condition of Assyria during the half-century of its quies- cence, and then we can examine the causes of this his- torical phenomenon and estimate its indirect but weighty consequences. § 256. For the information which we possess for this period we are indebted to the scanty notices of the Eponym lists. From these we learn that the successor of Rammiin- nirari III was Shalmaneser, the third of that name (783- 773), and that while his military activity is attested by an expedition during each year of his reign, its range was greatly decreased as compared with that of his great predecessors. The principal arena of his activity was Armenia, the growth of whose power threatened not only to prevent the establishment of Assyrian authority in that country itself, the scene of many Assyrian victories in former days, but even to rob the hitherto irresistible kings of Asshur of intermediate territory. Both of these dangers were, in fact, realized. The six expeditions led or sent by Shalmaneser against Armenia were the last that went thither from Assyria till 735 B.C., and we may therefore conclude that, at the close, all hopes of conquering the country were abandoned. By a fortunate coincidence, we are instructed as to the condition of affairs by Armenian 303 'Si ! v\ 304 ARMKNIA AND ASSYHIA Hook VI native documentH, for the dei'ipliermuiit and translation of wliicli we are indebted to the genius of Professor Sayee. From them it appears tluit tlie power of this kingdom of brave mountaineers had been consolichiting and extending itself during most of the eighth century n.c, that it had spread far to the west of Lake Van, and actually encroached upon the Assyrian tributary states in Northern Syria. Ai'gistis, the present reigning prince, claims that the gods had presented him with the land of Asshur. From this we are not to conclude that Assyria i)roper was actually invaded and occupied by this doughty patriot. Synecdoche has always been a favourite figure with the annalists of Oriental conquests, and it is evident that we must here, just as often elsewhere, understand a part for the whole. The literal fact seems to be that the Armenians subdued all the territory stretching southward between Lakes Van and Urmia, and perliaps even crossed the border of Assyria pro})er. The state thus prosperously established was built up at the expense of Assyria, whose loss of prestige was as serious as its loss of territory. It developed and flourished also by means of the lessons of civilization which it had learned from its former conquerors and now used to accomplish their overthrow. § 257. These disasters to the Assyrian arms were apparently not redeemed by successes in other directions. Inroads on his southern border, from bands of Armenians, Shalmaneser attempted to repel, but they went on as before. An expedition to the region of jMount Amanus ("Cedar- land"), and another to Damascus, the latter occurring in the last year of his reign, attest a Avide- spread revolt among the western tributaries, which we judge, from subsequent inactivity on the part of the Assyrians, to have been entirely successful. The move- ment in Damascus, made by a community so thoroughly humbled as it had been, bears witness to the growing impotence of the once invincible Assyrians. From the fact that the Assyrian attempt at repression was made after Til. Ill, § 2r)0 LOSSES AND WEAKNESS OF ASSYKIA .105 the ('aini)iiigiis in Anneniiiu territory, we miiy infer that the failure of the hitter enc«)uragecl a \vi(le-si)rea(l revolt. We may also conehulo that the expedition was directed aj^ainst all the states of Syria and Palestine which Uaniniaii- nirfiiT liad stihdned, since we must assume that tliey also refused to continue tribute to a declining suzerain. This was certainly the case with Israel, which had l)egun to enter upon the career of expansion ' 'id conquest inaugu- rated by Jeroboam II. Heyond these general conclusions we have as yet no clearer light thrown upon the cpiestion of international relations during this period. § 258. The reigns of the two following kings of Assyria witnessed a still further shrinking of the national resources ami power. Asshur-dun (773-755) and Asshuv-nirnrT (755-745) passed many years of their reigns without going forth from their capital, an indication of (piiescence and inaction whicli betokened the sure decay of the monarchy. We find mention made of an expedition to Media, to Nanni, against the Southern Armenians, and even three against Hadrach ^ in Syria ; but these were fol- lowed by no sign of success. The note for 758 n.c, "peace in the land," is significant as a token that the normal inactivity wjis due, not to the tran(iuillity of pros- perity, but to the powerlessness of the realm of Assyria to meet in the field its revolted colonies and tlie predatory hordes that were pressing on their southern border. To these causes of national mourning were added numerous domestic insurrections and outbreaks of [)estilence. Re- volt was inaugurated in 7G3 in the city of Asshur, tlie ancient capital, and was not suppressed there till the following year. Thenceforward insurrections broke out repeatedl)' in various parts of the diminished empire. § 259. The names of the chief seats of these disturb- 1 Assyr. Hatarika. Cf. Zech. ix. 1 ; see KGF. p. 96 ah. Par. 279. The expeditions thither took phice, according to C* in 772, 705, and 765. It lay somewhere between Hamath and Damascus, nearer the former. K ■ • 1.91 tif 1- y^'; ;'■ ^ II ^ m 80(J REVOLTS AND OTIIKU DISASTKUS Hook VI h i. t ! Si ' i\ I 'I I ance.s aio of themselves suggestive of the deep-lying clisooiiteiit and the disregard of legitimate and i)reseriptive authority in politieal and commercial centres, now mani- fested by the nobles and landholders; for to them military enterprise and success were necessary for the security of their possessions, and foreign domination for their enrich- ment through plunder and tribute. To princes and peoph alike, the present disasters were a cause of humiliatioi. and mourning. The prosecution of public woiks and private Inisiness were alike retarded; the beautifying of the capital was abandoned, and even the construction and restoration of temples had to be foregone. The gods thus slighted seemed then to declare their displeasure. As the far-darting Pha'bus Apollo avenged with pestilence the outrage committed against Chryses his priest, so the Sun- god withdrew his face from the people of Asshur; and there came such dreaded calamities as for thousands of years the priests and astrologers of Babylonia and Assyria had associated with celestial portents. A total eclipse of the sun in the month Si van 7G3 (§ 265) is recorded i connection with the outbreak in the city of Asshur; ar. the notices for 765 and 759 end with the statement that there was " a pestilence " in the land. So when a final revolt was set on foot in the capital (746), the collapse of the whole empire, never firmly held together by internal bonds, seemed inevitable, under the pressure of military disasters and domestic calamities, unless some strong hand should intervene and save the state. The dynasty that had ruled Assyria for twelve centuries or more, in one branch or another of the same royal family, was now exhausted of its vitality and force. The times were ripe for a new leader, and his coming was not long delayed. § 260. In the mean time, events of still greater import were transpiring in Palestine, to which it will now be necessary briefly to direct attention. The fortunes of Assyria and Israel cease to be interdependent for a term of years ; but we shall soon see the divergent lines of Cii. Ill, § iiOl AMAZIAII AND JOASH ;!07 liistoi'ie influence converge once more, with results wliich the world still feels in every throb of its moral and s[)iritual life. Our survey of the leading events in the history of Israel and Judah brought us to the beginning of the revival of i)ros})erity, rendered possible, as we observed, by the weakening of the power of Syria. The imi)ulse given to national life in both of the Hebrew kingdoms was of long continuance, and, especially in the southein, of very remarkable force. The devek)pment of .ludah, after its coiujuest of Petra in Edom (§ 254), was retarded by an unhappy conflict witli Israel, precipitated by the ambitious folly of Amaziah, who, uplifted by his victory over the Edomites, sent a challenge to open battle to Joash of Israel (c. 790). This act of enmity, a[)parently quite unprovoked, was probably due to the recollection of the murder of his grandfather, Ahaziah, at the hands of Jehu, the grandfather of Joash. The ruler of Samaria, confident in his superior power, treated the ni' ssage with ridicule, and when Amaziah persisted in his [)urpose surprised liim within his own borders at Beth-shemesh, and inflicted upon him a crushing defeat, taking him prisoner and carrying him to his own capital. Here the people, overawed by the sudden defeat and capture of theii- king and commander, opened the gates of the city to the conqueror. He, spai- ing the life of Amaziah, contented himself with the rich lilunder of the Temple and the king's private treasures, and, after taking hostages, returned to Samaria (2 K. xiv. 8-14). § 261. We do not I'ead here, or elsewhere, of Israel ever having reduced the sister kingdom to the condition of vassalage, though now, at least, the very best opportu- nity of doing so presented itself. This fact, as contrasted with the relations existing between other neighbouring states throughout Western Asia, is suggestive of the deep underlying sense of brotherhood and of participation in a common religious inheritance, which was never quenched, even in times of armed antagonism. Amaziah, who lived fifteen years after the death of Joash (2 K. xiv. 17), ■ '■; li- '■• I I 808 SUCCESS OF ISRAEL IN WAR Book VI seems to h.ave met with further ill-success in his govern- ment, as he was slain in a mutiny in Jerusalem, his youthful son Azariah (" Yah we is my help;" in Chronicles r Uzziah, " Yahwd is my strength ") being placed upon the throne by the choice of the people. § 262. During these events the northern people were flourishing to an unexampled degree. The victories of Joash over Damascus (§ 252) did not result merely in the expulsion of the Syrians from the cities of Israel, which they had seized and held during the reign of Jehoahaz. How far the reconquest of the ancient settlements extended northward we do not know. We may, however, assume, at least, that the Syrians were compelled to yield all the country west of the Jordan. But much greater triumphs were achieved by his son and successor, Jeroboam il, the greatest, or, at least, the most powerful, of the kings of Israel (783-748). The narrative of the Book of Kings states only in the broadest waj'- the results of his military enterprises, informing us that he restored the ancient border of Israel from the entrance to Hamath to the sea of the Arabah^ (2 K. xiv. 25). This, however, makes plain to us that Damascus interposed no longer any obstacle to the progress of Jeroboam indefinitely northward, and that at least all the territory claimed by the first Jeroboam Avas reclaimed once more. We must in this estimjite include the old possessions to the east of the Jordan, probably Moab, and certainly the land of Gilead in its widest extent, where Damascus had borne sway so long r nd so cruelly. The country towards Hamath was probably only ravaged and laid under contribution. § 203. The rapidity and thoroughness with which this process of national recuperation was effected, in the com- paratively few years that had elapsed since the death of Jehoahaz, in the opening year of the eighth century B.C., may well excite our admi^atinn and wonder. The exjdana- tion, however, has already been largely suggested. The ' Cf. Am. vi. 14, "to the wady of the Arabali." Cii. Ill, § 2(31 PROSPERITY NOT UNMIXED 309 change is not to be traced to the vitality of the race alone, or the undeniable prowess and energy of the last two representatives of the house of Jehu. It was also due to the withtliawal of the pressure exerted by Damascus. And the fact that the rehabilitation was now so easily achieved shows, as nothing else can do, how great had been the force that had dominated the j)olitics of the West-land, and how terrible the chastisement had been, after whose infliction Damascus lorded it no more among the nations. It remains to be added that Jeroboam put at least a temporary check to the ravages of the neighbouring peoples, which, for one purpose or another, invaded the borders of Israel. These were, besides Syria, especially PluKiiicia and Amnion and Moab (Am. i.). § 264. The political and material condition of Israel under the dynasty of Jehu, which is but scantily indicated in the historical narrative, may be more fully learned from the writings of the contemporary prophet, Amos, who prophesied about the middle of the reign of Jeroboam. From him. we gather, among other things, that the success which had attended the warlike enterprises of Israel under Joash and Jeroboam was not accompanied by unmixed ])rosperity. The first of the Prophets, though he lived in Judah, represented in great measure the northern kingdom also, and his allusions to calamities proceeding from natural causes refer to the whole of the Mediterranean coastland. He gives (ch. iv.) a long list of calamities, as fresh in recollection, just at the time when the country was freest from political troubles; he cites (iv. (5 ff.) drought and destructive insects, with famine, and adds to them blight and mildew, pestilence, and an earth(|uake. His reference to the death of multitudes in battle, and to the deprivation of the strongest portion of the national defence, the use of cavalry (iv. 10; cf. v. 3), are reminiscences of the days of Jehoahaz, when Israel was at its lowest. He mentions (i. 0, 9) with strong feeling an occasion of great loss, suffering, and humiliation to the Hebiew peo})les, — -\ i i: 310 DOMESTIC CALAMITIES Book VI :; .. ' constant border raids conducted by the Philistians and Tyrians, for the special purpose of the slave-trade, the captives being sold to traders and crimps in the Edomitic port on the Red Sea. These incursions could hardly have been carried on with impunity during the reign of Jero- boam, and we therefore conclude that they form part of the retrospect of Israel's troubles, which make up the back- ground of the picture of present danger and coming judg- ment drawn by Amos with such vividness and power. § 265. With regard to the calamities in the sphere of the natural world, it is impossible to determine accurately their dates ; but we may be sure that they were still pressing hard upon the contemporaries of Amos. The earthquake fell within the reigns of Jeroboam and Azariah (Zech. xiv. 5), and we may add that much of the imagery of Amos seems to be di'awn from eclipses of the sun (iv. 13; v. 8, 18, 20), one of which, indeed, appears to be directly referred to in viii. 9. The suggestion that this is the famous Assyrian eclipse of June 15, 763, i has much in its favour, and this supplies us not only with the approxi- mate date of the commission and prophecy of Amos, but also recalls to us the fact that the Assyrian records, meagre as they are for this period, yet contain several notes of wide-spread calamities (§ 259). At least the pestilence of 765 may be cited as evidence that this terrible visitation came upon the whole country, from the jNIediterranean to the Tigris ; and one is perhaps not far wrong in attributing it, as well as other evils, to the wars that had been raging so constantly throughout the whole realm of the North- Semitic civilization. § 266. I'liese, and kindred occasions of national depres- sion and unsettlement, instruct us more accurately as to the real state of popular feeling during the reign of Jero- 1 Cf. Note 5, and see especially KGF. p. 338 ff. Besides this, there had been the total eclipse of 800, and another, also visible in Palestine, happened Nov. 8, 771, at 12.66 p.m. (See Stanley's Jetcish Church, 1887» vol. ii, p. 311.) Ch. Ill, § 207 MILITARISM AND CENTRALISM 811 boam than a mere general statement as to liis successes in war. He was, no doubt, a patriotic and strenuous ruler, and his strong hand availed to keep the reclaimed tribal possessions of Israel in some sort of cohesion until his death. The central power was maintained by an energetic administration, involving a strong force of officials in the capital and in the chief provincial towns, and, above all, the maintenance of a large and well-drilled army. Now it became at length a question whether this establishment could be kei)t up; whether an impoverished and much afflicted people, consisting largely of small landholders, in districts whose attachment to Israel was intermittent and subject to the fortune of war, would continue to follow loyally even the most successful and powerful of their kings. We may gather, I think, from the various records, that they did not. Whatever may have been the attitude of the pampered nobles and parasites of the court, the people at large were discontented and unruly, ready to divide themselves into factions, which would support, respectively, this and that pretender, whom the condition of affairs encouraged to aim at the kingly authority. The times demanded both a genius for ruling in the kings of Israel, and also the perpetuation of a powerful dynasty. The insecurity of a throne, which had been already often contested, was made manifest upon the death of its most powerful occupant, and the house of Jehu was doomed. § 267. The history of the northern kingdom after the death of the second Jeroboam affords a striking parallel to the times that followed the reign of the tirst (§ 211). His son Zachariah reigned only six months. "Sliallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him and smote him at Ibleam,^ and put him to death and reigned in his stead" (2 K. XV. 10). But the usurper enjoyed his authority for even a briefer period than his victim. Menahem, in all 1 Sept. Lucian 'ItSXaan (cf. Josh. xvii. 11) corrects the unintelligible BuSsp, of which Ewalcl (followed by Stanley) has made the name of an additional king of Israel. 11 .1' ■I- ii I i 812 ACCESSION OF UZZlAll IN JUDAil Book VI probability one of the generals of the army, marched against him from his post at Tirzah, and put to an end his ambitious (and, perhaps, patriotic) enterprises by a sum- mary execution. Receiving, as we may assume, the sup- port of the nobles, he maintained himself upon the throne against the opposing elements of the population for a few years, until, being hard pressed, he followed the example of a previous usurper and called in the aid of the now revived power of Assyria. This crisis will need a special treatment, and we shall now follow for a moment the course of the historj'^ of the southern kingdom. § 268. The decline of the kingdom of Damascus, which had furnished the opportunity and the incentive for the revival of the fortunes of the kingdom of Israel, gave even a stronger, or, at least, a more permanent, impetus to the development and strengthening of Judali. The reign of Uzziali marks the point at which that kingdom emerges from its obscurity and takes an equal place among the leading nations of Western Asia. The duration of his sole reign we cannot with any certainty determine, but its beginning is almost coincident with that of his northern compeer. The very fact that political good fortune attended both kingdoms alike, is perhaps of itself an argument in favour of the contemporaneousness of the reigns of the two successful monarchs, since it will be observed that, after the time of embitterment and em- broilment which followed the great schism, the two He- brew monarchies, relatively to the outside world, rose and declined together. The Book of Kings has little to say of this epoch of national advancement ; but conquests among the Philistines and Ammonites are attested by incidental evidence, and are particularly described in the Book of Chronicles 1 (ch. xxvi.). The political genius of Uzziah is illustrated by his establishment of a well-trained army, consisting of a national militia, in addition to the 1 The credibility of the statements in Chronicles is shown in an article by the present writer in the Expositor, November, 1890, ' ' Uzziah and B \'¥i €h. Ill, § 269 HIS STRONG AND PUOSPEUOUS liULE 313 body-guard, wliieli had been in existence from the days of David and had had a predominance dangerous on many occasions to the public i)eace and welfare, in both Judah and Israel. The existence and efficiency of such an army, combined with r»^«pect for dynastic authority in the southern kingdom, accounts, in a large measure, for the perpetuation of that monarchy far beyond the days of Uzziah. To this must be added the measures taken by Uzziali for the strengthening of Jerusalem (2 Chr. xxvi. 9) on the sides most open to attack, and the employment of engines of defence with projectiles, after the fashion represented on the Assyrian monuments (v. 15). In other respects, also, he seemed to follow the example of the most notable of Assyrian monarchs, whose paternal care for tlie people was as great as their warlike enterprise and valour; the digging of reservoirs, the cultivation of the vine, and the breeding and improvement of cattle, all finding in him a zealous promoter (v. 10). § 269. Uzziah, in his declining years, was a victim to the terrible disease of leprosy, and was thus both physi- cally and legally incapable of taking an open part in public affairs. His son Jotham acted as regent during this period, and his reign of sixteen years lasted till but little beyond the death of his father. His total administration may be put down provisionally as having extended from about 750 to 735 B.C., and the death of Uzziah took place later than 740 B.C., since he is apparently mentioned in an Assyrian inscription in connection with an event which occurred very soon after that date (§ 307). We may put it provisionally at 738 B.C., so that the single reign of Jotham probably lasted not more than two or three years. ^ the Philistines." The state of things as described by the Chronicler explains later historical conditions otherwise inexplicable, e.g., Hezekiah's lordship over Ekron. 1 We have, perhaps, a suggestion of its length in 2 Chr. xxvii. 5. Here it is said that the Ammonites rendered tribute ''in the seciuid year and in the third " ; that is, apparently, it was paid till the accession of a new king. 314 MATERIAL PROGRESS UNDER JOTHAM Book VI m Its duration must have been very brief, since it is not marked distinctively in tlie contemporary prophetic writ- ings, {IS those of Uzziah and Ahaz are. The character of his rule was essentially the same as that of his father. He continued the same vigorous rdgime, perhaps under the direction of Uzziah, as long as the latter lived. It is, at any rate, remarkable that Uzziah should have been regarded by foreigners like the Assyrians as the official ruler, till near the end of his days. This fact can only be explained on the supposition that the monarch who had given to his country a position of Palestinian supremacy retained, even in retirement, his prestige and influence, till he was humbled by the power of Assyria itself (§ 308), at the very close of his remarkable career. During Jotham's regency the kingdom continued to prosper. Edom, the hereditary foe, was still kept under; and trade and com- merce, which extended in various directions and circu- lated many articles of international value, received its most marked impetus from the Edomite seaport at the head of the Elamitic Gulf acquired by Uzziah (2 K. xiv. 22). The people became more curious and more enterprising, and acquired a relish for foreign culture and secular ideas. Even a taste for works of pictorial art, so foreign to all the races of the West-land, began to be cultivated (Isa. ii. 1(3). In this innovation, as in other matters already mentioned, we may discern the influence of Babylonia and Assyria, whicli had conquered much of Western Asia by their manners long before they had permanently subdued it by their arms. The defences of the country were increased and strengthened, especially on the western side, and Jerusalem was more strongly fortified against impending days of siege. The Ammonites brouglit rich tribute for three years ; and since Amnion was only accessible if Moab was subdued or quiescent, it may be supposed that the latter kingdom withdrew its allegiance to Israel after the troubles which began there witli the death of Jeroboam, and submitted to Judah without serious opposition. If mmm Cii. Ill, § 271 STABILITY OF THE JUDAIC STATE ;]15 If so, we have here an explanation of a part, at least (Isa. xvi. 1 if.), of the obscure prophecy relating to Moab which was quoted by Isaiah about 704 B.c.^ § 270. Jotham died while still young. After the Assyrian complication and it 7t heir of the late king. The supposition that has the most likelihood is that he was a general of tlie army, who, at one stage or another of the revolution, came to be leader of the victorious forces, and at its close was chosen to repair the shattered fortunes of the empire. There is no suffi- cient ground for the belief that he was a Babylonian by birth, as has sometimes been assumed. From the fact that he retired from active personal service in the field some little time before his death, we may infer that, as in the case of Shalmaneser II, he was at that stage of his career well advanced in life. Since he reigned but eighteen years, he was probably at least of middle age at his acces- sion. In any case, his achievements show that, as a man of experience, he had given much careful thought to the subject of the condition of the Assyrian empire and the surest means of making his sway not only wide but permanent.^ § 282. The reader ..ill bear in mind the practical ends that were steadily kept in view by the rulers of the empire of the Tigris, ever since the time when Asshurnasiri)al took \ip again the imperial idea of which the great name- sake of the present king in the twelfth century was the chief ancient exponent (§ 179, 217). The aim was, in brief, to make all lands tributary to Asshur, to administer directly the affairs of each district or tribe where that was having been out of the kingly line, he had no pedigree "to brag of." The case would then be an illustration of that of Tiglathpileser. 1 Tiglaihpik'scr's inscriptions are numerous ; but they have come to us In a very imperfect state. They were of two main cla.sses : those which summarize his deeds in conii)reliensive statements according to the localities or aims of his activity, and his Annals, which describe his achievements in detail and in chronological order. Of the former class the most important are Lay. IT and 18, and II U, ('»7. The latter have been published nuistly in a fragmentary form in several plates of Layard, ami in III U. 9 and 10. For Smith's efforts to secure all surviving records in Nimrud, see AD. p. 73 f., and p. 258-287 for criticism and transla- tions. Schrader, Tiele, and Hommel have all done good work in sifting and adjusting, and now we have a complete edition of the remains with transcription and translation by P. Host, 1893. STATE OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE Book VI feasible ; but, in any case, to secure regular contributions of the richest resources of the nations, with the acknow- ledgment of the sovereignty and supremacy of the repre- sentative of the gods of Assyria. It will be remembered how each of the great conquerors had reached beyond his predecessors, especially in the line of advance that led to the trading-marts of Arabia and the Mediterranean, till Kammrin-niiruT III had gained a footing in Palestine, and, in addition, had secured the acquiescence of Babylon in his domination of Chaldiua, and the consequent com- mand of the Persian Gulf. But these long campaigns and persistent exertions had Jit last ended in disappointment and disgrace ; Asshur was put to shame before the lesser gods, and his people were made as poor as many of those whom they had robbed and spoiled so long at will. It was at length made plain that the greatest efforts and achieve- ments were fallowed by the greatest losses and the deepest humiliation; that, just in proportion to the outlay of human and material resources in foreign conquest, and the consequent temporary success of the Assyrian arms, was the degree of exhaustion and impotence that followed. The truth was, that the task of subduing the nations was a less formidable undertaking than the business of keeping them in subjection ; and the uprising of the outraged tribes and cities, as soon as the invading hosts had left the land, and the wounds of the "weapons of Asshur" had healed, made too great a demand upon the military resources of the "kings of the four quarters of the earth." After Asshurnasir^ .il and Shalmaneser II, there had come a time of crippling and shrinking; and the overgrown mass of territory acquired under Kamman-nirfirT III had dwindled into the mangled and quivering body-politic of which Tiglathpilesc r was now to assume the care, and which he undertook to restore to life and power. § 283. The new monarch perceived that, to carry out the old plan of sulijucation and administration, would itinually on the march from qum lerely an army Cii. IV, § 283 PLANS FOR MORE SURE CONTROL 327 one insurgent district to another, but as many armies of occupation as he had, or expected to have, administrative districts. But even this would not provide a satisfactory government, since a regime of martial law would fail to develop the resources of the countries from which he hoped to draw his riches. Nor would it be possible to attempt this system on a large scale, since the loyal subjects of the empire could not furnish sufficient troops necessary for the doubtful experiment. How, then, was the scheme of world- wide empire to be realized? For realized it must be, according to the purpose of the great gods of Assyria, who had called him to be king. The solution of the problem is not to be gathered from any direct statement of tlie Assyrian annals, since these are always drawn up in the same stereotyped fashion, with the same rigid and exclu- sive adherence to the salient facts of battles and spoliation. "We are rather to infer it from the general indications aftorded by the records in this later period, as contrasted with the time before Tiglathpileser. The chief device was to secure a tractable population in the more troublesome unsubmissive districts, by substituting other inhfibitants for those who persistently refused to acquiesce in the rule of the oppressor, and who were themselves dragged away to a remote portion of the empire, usually not very far from the capital. At the same time that this drastic measure was coming into application, a more thorough organiza- tion of the provinces and vassal states was gradually being made, civil administration being more and more substituted for military control, so that an assimilation to the old home provinces was being effected, step by step. The matter of organizing and controlling the outlying districts pre- sented special difficult}-, for several reasons more or less obvious. The peoples to be ruled were diverse in race and habits, in previous forms of government, and in modes of worship ; but it may be presumed that, in many cases, a still greater obstacle was afforded in the extent of terri- tory which was to be taken as the administrative unit. If 3M OBSTACLES TO ASSIMILATION Book VI we revert for a moment to the opening chapter, where it was shown how the typical Semitic community grew up, it will be remembered that each city, with its local deity and his representative, the petty king, formed the basis of each primitive state (§ 3G f.). Now when, in Babylonia and Assyria, one cit}- came to dominate the rest, the latter were not merged comijletely into the former so that their affairs were administered directly from the ruling city, but each of them remained a sort of municipality by itself. It did not, as a rule, part with its own deity or cult, but it owned the supremacy of the god of the conquerors, and for that reason forfeited its own king, receiving in his place a municipal governor or magistrate (salaQ. So, as the kingdom of Assyria proper developed, there were as many governmental units within its limits as there were principal cities originally. So, also, when the royal resi- dence was removed, as from Asshur to Kalach, and from Kalach to Nineveh proper, each of these places still had its own chief magistrate; and we have seen already how a revolt could spring up in any one of these apart from the others (§ 258). § 284, Now when it came to organizing a newly con- quered district, though there might be no theoretical difficulty about adjusting its relations to the central power, practically the conquerors were continually coming to face problems for which their previous small experi- ments in state-building offered them no ready-made solu- tion. Particularly was this the case with communities such as those of Armenia, Kommagene, groups of Aramajans both east and west of the River, the Ilettite tribes of Eastern Cilicia and Northern Syria, and the unique Hebraic monarchies, which were accustomed more or less frequently to act as a unit in offence and defence. Each of these combinations obviously needed to he controlled by one central autliority; and how to effect this was the question long found too difficult to answer, so difficult that the attempt had several times brought the realm of Asshur to Cii. IV, § 280 RELATIONS OF SUBJECT STATES 320 the verge of dissolution. These were tlie days of tlie first essays at nation-making; no general assimilating process had heen applied or devised by the Semitic peoples of Western Asia; and the world had yet to wait two centuries for the new art of ruling and the genial sway of Cyrus the Aryan. § 285. It will be appropriate here to anticipate some of the results of later historic development, and to state succinctly what appear to be the relations sustained by the several classes of subject states to the ruling power, under the new Assyrian empire, and its successor and imitator, the Chaldoean (cf. § 39). The importance of the matter may be suggested by the recollection that it was by the operation of this system of things that Israel's doom was wrought, the most tragic and world-moving epochs in its history created, and the course of Revelation itself, in conformity to the occasions of that history, guided and determined. The different classes of subject states may be comprehensively distinguished as follows, the constant element being, of course, the acknowledgment of the sovereignty of the " Great King," the " King of Kings," the "vicegerent of the great gods," and a tangible proof of such submission and deference in the form of a regular payment of tribute and sending of gifts. § 28G. The first mode of relation sustained by a sub- ject community may be illustrated in a general way by the vassal states of modern Turkey, such as Bulgaria, East llumelia, and Egypt, which are supposed to render a regular tribute to the suzerain, but are allowed to retain their autonomy, with their own form of government and their own ruler. In these modern cases it has hapjiened, for historical reasons, that a governor or viceroy or " i)rince " holds sway, while the ancient vassals of Assyria, like the "protected" rajahs of modern Britisli India, were tlie "kings " of the several nations which were permitted their own autonomous administration. This relation was very common and was brought about in a variety of ways. A ) M l\ H I 330 AUTONOMOUS DEl'ENPLNCE Book VI !! V mild degree of coercion might at first be exercised, as by the threatening {ij)[)roach of an army of invasion. The Assyrians woukl then be bought off by conciliatory gifts, which would henceforth be regularly insisted on. Or, if resistance were offered to the troops of Asshur, under whatever pretext they were present in the land, the neces- sary coercion would involve the imposition of a stated ttix, besides an immediate levy or indemnity. This was the usual history of the hardier nations, such as the fully developed Aranifean kingdoms west of the River, and the states of Lower Babylonia in the first stage of armed con- flict. Or, again, when two neighbouring kingdoms were at war, one of them might purchase with costly gifts the support of the Assyrians, who Avould proceed to crush the other combatant, and take care at the same time to rank the suppliant monarch among his faithful subjects, and, in fact, insist on the practical acknowledgment of his over- lordship as the condition of aid. Such relations we shall see repeatedly ecemplified in the history of Israel and Judah. As a matter of course, the country against which intervention was invoked was also, if not already a tribu- tary state, immediately put into that category and under much more severe conditions. The least onerous of bonds were entered into where any community, feeling the importance of having the favour of the Great King, pro- pitiated him by sending presents, such as, according to immemorial Oriental custom, supreme rulers were in the habit of receiving. 1 This was apt to be continued as an act of homage, and the suitor was held to have acknow- ledged the king of Assyria as his over-lord ; and while he looked for protection in case of need, he was expected to repeat his gifts, which naturally came at length to be regarded as a regular tribute. It was in this way, for example, that Jehu put Israel under bonds to Assyria (§ 242 f.), so that tribute was expected by his successors. It will be observed that, while the sentiments with which 1 Cf . Ps. xlv. 12 ; Ixviii. 29 ; Ixxii. 10 ; Isa. xxx. «. Ml Ch. IV, §288 PENALTY FOR THE FIRST REVOLT Mil these various classes were viewed by the great autocrat might be very different, they were all sooner or later put in the same list, — that long catalogue of "servants and sons " (2 K. xvi. 7) of the ruler of the nations. The essential characteristic of them all in their relation to the suzerain was that they were regarded as having given their first recognized pledge of homage, tribute, and feudal service. § 287. A decisive interval separates the second class from the first. When any tributary state showed signs of discontent and constructive hostility — by refusing to pay the annual impost or to furnish a requisition of troops or supplies, or by secretly intriguing with another power, or in any way indicating restlessness or a desire for a change — an armed force was sent to the recalcitrant district, the effect being, for the most part, to awe it into submission, though sometimes actual chastisement had to be inflicted. In any case, a severe penalty was imposed: a heavy fine was laid on, and the regular tribute doubled or still more largely increased, so that the risk of sedition or outward tokens of an unruly disposition became grave indeed. Hezekiah, for example, found himself in this category, as his confession implies (2 K. xviii. 14), when, after a visitation and warning received from Sargon, he formed a league with the Philistine cities and withheld tribute. In flagrant cases of rebellion and conspiracy, as in the case of Hoshea of Israel, the final step of national obliteration was taken at once. § 288. If a subject state in the condition of last proba- tion, as defined above, should once more revolt against the yoke of servitude, should withhold tribute or military service, engage in active insurrection, or league itself with the enemies of Assyria, its doom as a nation was summarily pronounced, and its destruction at once under- taken. It was incorporated directly into the empire, losing its governmental autonomy: not only was its ruler dethroned, but his very function was abolished. Assyrian 332 EFFKCTIVKNESS OF THE NEW SYSTEM Book VI administrators were appointed, of ^which the chief and most essential Avere the civil governor (^Sakan) and the controller- general of the revenue {zdbil kuduri'). In addition to this, in these later times, the terribly effective system above indicated was put into operation, by virtue of which the flower of the community were deported to some remote region, or more usually distributed among several districts of the vast empire. To take their place, a foreign popula- tion was introduced, who might themselves have been the victims of the same radical policy. § 289. The effectiveness of this last-named course of treatment depended, of course, upon the energy and thoroughness with which it was administered, but it was begotten of a profound practical foresight of the conse- quences. In the first place, the sense of nationality as the basis of patriotism could, in no other wii}^ be so surely destroyed. An Oriental community, whether in its ele- mentary state as a tribe, or in its most highly organized form as a monarchy, is a society whose comi)actness and solidarity depend chiefly upon the continuity of local aggregation. After what has been said earlier (§ 37, 54), there is no need here of demonstrating the inherent neces- sity of this condition of things ; only free, self-governing states can successfully act in concert when not contiguous to one another. It was, indeed, largely this element of local self-government, exceptionally developed among the Jews, which enabled them to preserve tlieir nationality, even in the Babylonian Exile, without a king or a country. Again, it will be remembered tliat the worship of the Semitic peoples was essentially and primarily local. Not only did each city have its own god, and each state or complex of tribes or cities its own pantheon, with its own predominant deity, but tlie very existence, or at least the potentiality of each divinity, depended upon the survival of his local seat. Hence, when a community was broken up, detruded from its sphere, scattei-ed among strange lands, it meant that the religion of its people, its original Cm. IV, §290 FORCE OF THE RELKilOUS MOTIVE and strongest bond of union, was annulltMl and abolislu'd. To tliu mass of tho conuuunities thus subverted by the Assyrians and Chaldanvns, the ejection from their ancient seats meant not simi)ly that they were to go and servo other gods, but that in so doing tliey must ipso facto adopt another country as their own. Thus, while, on the one hand, the new Samarians had to learn the ways of the go Lay. 17, 4-7 ; II R. (57. 5-1.3 ; rf. C' fur 746 n.c. Cii. IV, §2»5 AUMKNIA AND NURTIIKKN SYRIA .'j;i7 find, according to the notice in the Eponym Canon, that, while Arpad was still the centre of operations, he came in conflict with the Armenians, whose forces he defeated. His own inscriptions give some details, according to which it would ai)pear that a great league was formed against him, composed of Armenia, still a power of wide-reaciiing iuHuence (cf. § 250), and its tributary or allied states. The decisive conflicts took i)lace in Konnnagene, and the campaign ended in a comi)lete defeat of the northern i;on- federates, with the result that the first serious che(;k was put U[)on the ambitious career of the rulers of the land of the Lakes. It is noteworthy, as illustrating the main nur[)Ose of Tiglathi»ileser, that we find him engaged in and about Arpad for the next three years (748-740). The enduraace of this city against the victoiious forces of the great concjueror reminds one of the similar heroism disi)laycd by Damascus (§' 251), It was linally taken, and thenceforward it was used as a vantage-ground foi- the subjection both of Syria on the south, and of the Ciliciiins, lletlites, and Cappadocians on the north, who, no doubt, kejjt all his available forces busy during the siege. The fall of Arpad was followed by the subjection of these powerful connnunities. After some little further lesis- tance from the half-llettite district west, a the Oroiitcs, t'le whole of Northei'n Syria was formally incorporated into the enpire, and furnisluMl with a regular administra- tion. These matters occupied the year 789. § 21>5. In Israel and .ludah, whose fortunes were to be so vitally affected by these movements (tf the Assyrian armies, there seems to have been but one class of men who estimated the events of the times at anything like iheir permanent and essential value. These were the Pro[»bets. Tlie impoi'tance of tln-ii writings as sources of infor- mation and means of historic classification has already been alluded to (§ 13 f.). It will now be necessary to note carefully their attitude towards the several active elements in the impeiuling revolution, as well as their •V\ 888 THE HEBREW PROPHETS AND THE STATE Book VI III ideas upon the moral HAtl political issues involved in the struggle. All attentive Bible readers have noticed that the rise of written Prophecy was coincident with the ap- pearance of the Assyriajis upon the national horizon of Judah and Israel. We have now seen enough of the pre- determining occasions of Propliecy to learn that this was much more than a mere coincidence. There was no inter- rupting chasm Ixjtween unwritten and written Prophecy; the fiuidamental message of Elijah and Elisha was the same as that delivered by Joel and Amos, Isaiah and Micah, — the moral necessity of the recognition and pure worshij) of Jehovah, and of tiie i)ractical fultilment of the law of righteousness, which was the essence of his character. The difference between the two was that the form and content of the message, in the case of the latter class, were broader and deeper than in that of the former ; the examples and the lessons of their teaching were not merely of national, but of international, or, rather, of world-wide, signiticance and applicability. § 21H). Tiie interest of the Prophets in political and social affairs, whether domestic or foreign, was secondary and indirect, but necessarily very keen and constant. Tiie moral conduct and spiritual temper of the peo[)le, while matters of individual responsibility, were alTected in a thou.'iand different ways by external influences; and, in the period of transition to written Prophecy, occasions and inducements of actions which demanded ijublii- recogni- tion and comment l)ecame nuich more numerous and complicated. The princii)al of these have already been indicate ' in another connection (§ 271). Government, in the old days, luul been a very simple matter, transacted mainly by the elders at the city gates, while the king and his modest court othcials contented themselves with the care of the national defence, and the collection and administration of the revenue necessary for that prime purpose. Hut in the era which iM'gan with "the house of Omri " in Israel, a change gradually l)ut surely took place, Ch. IV, § 297 SOCIAL EVILS AND THEIK REMEDY 339 due to the more coinplex relations resulting from an extension of commerce, international entanglements, and the influence of extra-Israelitish manners and worship upon the simple habits and faith of a race of agriculturi-^ts and shepherds. .Jutiah was slower in coming under the new order of things; but before the end of the reign of Uzziali it ])resented, as we have seen, the same aspect as did the Northern Kingdom, and was largely under the con- trol of the same dangerous elements. The principal evils which the Prophets sought to counteract were such as, in every age, have threatened the stability and welfare of all states that have been founded in justice, temperance, and the fear of (iod, and have had a strong access of material prosperity; they were the familiar and fashionable \ices of greed, dishonesty, sensuality, along with the less vulgar sins of frivolity anil impiety. It was the external occa- sions provocative of such ini«|uities, that justiricd tlie interference of the Pro[)hets in public affairs: corruptiDn in high places, oppression of the i)Oor, relaxing ot the social bouvl through class distinctions and jealousies, an increasing tendency to centralization and desi)otism in the government, and, darkening all, the black shadow of strange worship, with its seductions and abomi- nations. § 297. The essential elements of Israel's salvation, according to the Proi)hets, whose woik aniis('d by the introduction of strange deities, the (piestion of outside influences l)ecame one of vital inii)ortance to the spokes- men of Jehovah. Moreover, the subject of international relations kept continually growing in imijortance until m 34U UNIVEHSALITV OF THE ISSUE Book VI it assumed au illimitable moral magnitude, with the threatened alteiorption of Israel into the great world- grasping empire of Assyria. The chosen i)eople were to be led to see that Jehovah was not only the God of Israel but the God of the whole wo'ld; and that while he had, in a special sense, known them only of all the families of the earth, le had also determined the i)lace and the history of the nations with whose fortunes their own were insep- arably intertwined. Thus he had indeed brought up Israel out of the land of Egyi)t, but had likewise brought the I'hilistines from Caphtor, and the Aramtcans from Kir (Amos ix. 7; cf. § 3). And while the nation which was overturning the king(h>ms and making the earth desolate Avas seeking to subject everything to Asshur, Jehovah was controlling its destiny also, and making it the instrument of his purpose (Is. x. 5 ff.). The word of Jehovah to the Prophets was therefore fraught with a universality, as well as an infinite depth of meaning, that made it a message for all peoples, the interpreter of History for all the ages, and, at the same time, the proclamation of the birth-time of a new spiritual world. § 208. Now this function of Prophecy, as "the teach- ing " j^ar excellence (Isa. xlii. 21), whereby Jehovah's pcoi)le should learn of his ways towards them and towards tlu! nations, brought the Prophets i'.ito an attitude of divided interest with relation to [iresent and impending stiuijffles. And the sigfuilicance of their utterances for the understanding of this whole period lies chielly in a twofold excitation and direction of their sympatliics and efforts, as they insisted that subjection to the great despoiler of the nations was to be dreaded, and yet that it was necessary. On the «)ne hand, a closer rapproche- ment with any foreign country in any form, and especially with the most influential of all the nations, was to be deprecated as the worst [)ossiblc calamity, and that for many reasons, which now recpiire little explanation. The social fabric would be still further undermined by reason ^ Ch. IV, § 2<.t9 EVILS OF FOUEIGN DOMIXATlON :J41 I of more intimate association with foreign modes of thought and living, and contact with them at more nunu'rous points. The simple society of Israel would he broken up completely under the iniluence of autocratic and aristo- cratic pride, which would set the fashion for the rulers and grandees, as well as determine the tendency of Israel's laws and customs; and class distinctions, which already portended a social revolution, wle of the national life, and the most essential condition of the national existence. And loyalty to Jehovah, and ol)edience to his will, were fettered and imperilled if tribute and homage were to l)e paid to other nations, which was the same thing as rendering them to other and strange gods. Wo now see elearlj' of what consequence the aims and measures of the new Assyrian empire (§ 282) were to the heroic souls that agonized in thought and s[)eech for the survival of the feeble and struggling nation of Israel and of the faith of Jehovah as its only hope. To accept help from Assyria against a dreaded foe was, in the po[)ular view, to enjoy the favour and protection of the Assyrian gods; to become tributary to Assyria was to render homage to the same deities, with the inducement to combine their worship with tlmt of Jehovah; to be annexed to Assyria, iis the penalty of rebellion and defiance, while, in the view of the conquerors, it was the just punishment of sin against Asshur, would Ihj held, l)v them and the conquered alike, to imply the defeat and dclhntnement of the God of Israel. True it is, that the l'n»phets themselves, and a small faithful remnant, knew better the nature of Jehovah; and that their work and teaching, combined with the discipline of lalamity and nuiurning, resulted in tlie triumph of a surer faith in his universal (lodhead and providence, in ' This principle explaiiiH IIos. x. 5 f. : "Tlu' inhabitants of Siiniaria shall he in tivpidatinn for the palf-no«l "f lUth-aven (Hethel), her people art m grief, and iier priests begin to tremble becatise uf itw glory which has gone away from her into exile ; it, t«»o, shall he carried into Assyria as an offering to the (ireai !\ing. ' The word for •• carry " here is connei i«-d with the Assyrian hutu "tribute." The Inscriptions abound in passajres telling how .he kiiisrs of Asshur despoil the coii(|nered peoj^es of then dethroned and superseded deities, C'f. 2 Saiu. v. Ul ; Isa. xlvi. 1 (. I Cm. IV, § oth the worshi}) and 1 Cf. IJrt'cn, Hones and tin' Prophets, p. 347 f. 346 THE ISSUES MADE CLEAUEU liooK VI the presence of Jehovah were unknown (Amos vii. 17; Hos. ix. 3 f.). Banishment and captivity were, there- fore, the just and necessary meed of punishment for sins wliich the rigliteous God of Israel could not tolerate, and which the Prophets spent their lives in denouncing and comhating. § 304. The issues were made clearer as the motives of the action were grfidually developed and the actoi-s began to come upon the arena. Thus, while Amos dwells upon the idea of exile for Israel, he, as already said, does not name that great em;)ire, within whose amj)le territory the deiiorted Hebrews should find their place of banishment. Hosea, his next successor in the northern kingdom, finds himself at the inauguration of the new Assyrian rdgime, when Tiglathpileser, victorious over the Armenians and Northern Syria, appears on the borders of Palestine. The author of Zech. ix. ff. watihes the same movements on liehalf of the kingdom of Jutlah, and foresees that kingdom as already under Assyrian dominion. Hut we nuist not anticipate the historical relations of these and subsecjuent Prophets, whose utterances we cannot appreciate till we have seen the development of the Assyrian policy in the West-land. We shall now, therefore, return to the scene of military operations in Northern Syria. CHAPTER V NORTHERN ISRAEL A VASSAL TO ASSYRIA § 305. Our sketch of the progress of Ti4) at the [loint of time when he had received the homage of Nortliern Syria, after his suhjugation of Arpad, and had organized all that region under Assyrian administration. The eighth year of his reign (738) witnessed the taking of a decisive step in his concjuest of the West-hmd. The chief ohstacle in his march southward was offered by the j)Owerful state formed under tlie hegemony of Hamath. Over tlie region thereby included he claimed jurisdiction, on the grcmnd of the con(iuests of Ramman-nirarT III, made over forty years before, and held a few years longer on precarious tenure by his feeble successors (§ 250, ■2')7 f.). Surprisingly enough, the present movement of the Assyrian invader is found, according to the generally accepted interpretation of a fragmentary inscription, to brinj; him directlv into conflict with the kinjjdom of Judah. § 30G. From the hints given us in the inscriptions of Tiglathpileser himself, and the notices contained in the Bible, it is possible for us to form a fairly correct concep- tion of the condition of affairs in Palestine at this juncture. The rapidly changing fortunes of its leading states at this time are suggestive of an historical kaleidoscope. Jero- boam II, the restorer of Israel's power aud prestige, had Ijeen but a few years dead, and his dominions had shrunk away under the anarchy and misrule that followed his death (§ 207), to the limits of the realm controlled by the 347 I i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /. i<. o s° w^.. » ^\% <" ■1^ -?<• O^ .<^ % -8)., a truly formidable power, was now, in the closing days of his reign, in a position to which it had never before attained, and which it was not long to occupy. A decisive proof of the justness of this estimate is apparently furnished by a fragment of the annals of Tiglathpileser. After the taking of Arpad, and while the states of Northern Syria were being reduced and organized, Hamath and its subject cities became convinced of their own imminent danger. They looked for aid to the lands as yet unsubdued, and sought protection from the most powerful ruler of the West, Uzziah, king of Judah. § 307. The course of events is obscure until the arrival of Tiglathpileser at the border of Israel. Whatever may have been the part played by Uzziah, his allies in Northern and Middle Syria received no benefit from their treaty with him, and were speedily brought to subjection. After an enumeration of the various districts by name and locality, the annals of the king, under the year 738, sum up the results of this campaign as foUoAvs:' "'Nineteen districts belonging to Hamath, Avith their circumjacent towns lying along the shore of the Western Sea, which in sinfulness (cf. § 200) and vileness had allied themselves ^ to Azariah, I restored to the territory of the land of 1 So I translate III R. 0, 30 ff. 2 The much-disputed word eklmu, I take to be for ik'imtt, from a root D'2, to "combme, associate." Cf. J-lmn, "family," etc. No good sense can be got from D2K«, to " take, seize." Book VI Ch. V, § 307 ANNEXATION OF MIDDLE SYRIA 349 Asshur; my governors and administrators I set over them." The description shows that the newly annexed territory ^ stretched from Hamath westward to the sea, and included the southerly slopes of Mount Anianus, the northerly declivities of Lebanon, an(l the country lying between. This was an important step towards the conquest of the rest of Syria and Palestine, and the exclusion of Egypt from all share in Asiatic affairs. The similar conquests made already (§ 227, 250) had been lost to Assyria. Now Tiglathpileser takes care that the land, with its abundant forests, its strong fortresses, and its varied resources, should be secured perpetually; and he puts in practice his system of deportation and repopulation, whose effective- ness he had already proved in the east and north. Accordingly, we learn that 30,300 captives, taken in his other wars, were settled in the old domain of Hamath, and that many of the native inhabitants were transferred to UUuba, in Cap})adocia, whither, according to the Eponym Canon, one of his main expeditions of 739 had been directed. It is further detailed how the annexed districts were administered as part of the Assyrian empire. What immediately preceded the conquest and annexation of these cities of Middle Syria is not so easily made out. The brief phrases which appear plainly here and there in the mutilated lines that introduce the report of the subjugation of the territory of Hamath, seem to support the view that Judah had been exercising a protectorate over the nineteen districts. Other portions of Syria seem also to have sought his protection ; but they were overawed by the pom[) and tumult of the Assyrian army on the march and the destruction already effected by it. Their forces submitted witli little or no resistance, in order to escape annihila- tion, their chief cities being then razed and devastated. The Hamathieans, who were in treaty with Azariah, ejicourao-ed him to take the lead in resisting further Whether he succeeded or not we do not as aggression. Among the districts is inentionetl Hailraoh (§ 208). Em m I U :4\ i 1 I 5 350 EFFECT ON THE STATUS OF JUDAH Book VI yet fully know ; but it seems likely that he did, and that an army sent by him to co-operate with the beleaguered districts was driven back, hemmed in by the troops of Asshur, and forced to surrender.^ § 308. Uzziah (Azariah) was then in the very latest days of his life, and Jothani was acting as regent (2 K. .. V. 5), and directing all military movements, tliougli apparently not determining the national policy. The effect of the campaign of 738 upon the fortunes of Judah must have been disastrous. Whatever opinion we may be inclined to hold as to the active part taken by the Southern Kingdom, it is clear that its prestige was broken, and its acknowledged hegemony among the Western states brought to an end. Hencefoith we know it as an isolated princi- pality, "powerless to succour a friend or ward off an enemy." Jotham's separate reign lasted but two or three years at the longest (§ 269) ; then the weak and vacillat- ing Ahaz (735-715?) followed the example of the Northern Kingdom and threw itself into the arms of the Assyrians. § 309. Have we any record or monument of this dis- aster in the Hebrew literature? The histories do not mention it, either directly or by suggestion. This in itself would not be very surprising, for they have omitted • many momentous matters otherwise well attested. But what the histories leave unchronicled is usually noticed by the Pro[)hets, who had a keener interest in politics than contemporary annalists or later compilers. Prophecy, however, makes no obvious allusion to this supposed event. Yet it is possible that it may have formed one of the occasions of tlie opening discourse of Isaiah, "the great arraignment," which may then, after all, not be out of chronological order. Verses 7-9 seem to describe a press- ing national danger and a serious loss of territory, and the chapter has therefore been assigneil by many to the period 1 This seems to be the best sense tha*^ can be made out of the second annalistic fragment in III R. 9. For an entirely different view of the whole matter, see Note 9 in the Appendix. '*: ^f^-^ IV i W H W Mn^l I Book VI and that ieaguered troops of fry latest int (2 K. , tliough y. The 3f Judah e may be Southern 1, and its 1 brought d j)rinci- d off an or three vacilhit- S^orthern Syrians, his dis- do not This in omitted H. But noticed ics than )phec3', ipposed 1 one of le great out of 1 press- ind the period e second kv of the Ch. V, § 310 A POSSIBLE MEMORIAL OF THE EVENT 351 of Sinacheiib's invasion, thirty-seven years hiter. It is, however, generally admitted that the situation pictured in the passage in question is more or less idealized; and if it is not thought necessary to place it at the very late date referred to, there is no reason why it should not be located in the beginning of Isaiah's prophetic career, to which in all other respects it is better suited. It would thus have been composed about the end of the reign of Jothani,^ which followed quickly upon the death of Uzziah. We have, therefore, to look for an historical situation such as might naturally have suggested the gloomy diagnosis of Judah's political condition (v. 7, 9) made by the great pathologist of the Jewish state. It may very well have been that tY) isolation of Judah effected by the triumph of Tiglathpileser, formed the basis of the culminating thought contained in v. 8: "And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodging-place in a cucumber garden, as a beleaguered city." The whole passage should thus be interpreted as a forecast of future calamities coloured by a national misfortune, whose results were making themselves felt in national depression and impotence. A similar situation presents itself in ch. v. 25, which must be held to be also, at least partly, predic- tive, and to describe calamities of which the people had already had a foretaste in the defeat of their army by the Assyrians, and their exclusion from outside affairs. The isolation of Judah was seen to be henceforth complete, and, however desirable this might be in peaceful and prosperous times (§ 298 f.), it was now to be deplored as one of the symptoms of the disease that threatened to lead to the dissolution of the body politic. § 310. Judah is not mentioned again in the recovered inscriptions of Tiglathpileser. l)ut the sister kingdom is frequently alluded to. The statements in his annals next ' This date is preferred by Driver, on different fjrounds ; see h((i(ih, his Life (Did Times, p. 19 f. So also Geseniiis, Dolitzsdi, and Dilhnann. i s a; I inW V '. ;i ■:i I ■ 1 852 MENAIIEM BUYS A UEPUIEVK Bo(>K VI in order do not, however, give all the information we need, even at this earlier stage of contact. We are told by him, in the closing portion of his report for 738 B.C., that he received the tribute of a large number of states, which were in the meantime not formally annexed. They range all the way from Capi)adocia to Palestine, and in the number we find the name of "Menahem, king of Samaria." Among the multifarious operations of himself and his generals, the details of his transactions with this Israelitish prince are omitted; but we can supply an important element in the story from the Biblical record. We read (2 K. xv. 19 f.): "Then came Pul, king of Assyria, against the land, and Menahem gave to Pul a thousand talents of silver that his power might bo with him to confirm the kingdom in his power. And Menahem assessed the money upon Israel, upon all the freeholders, so that they should give to the king of Assyria each man fifty shekels of silver. And the king of Assyria turned back and did not remain there in the land.*' We learn from this what the annals of the king do not inform us, that the great invader made, at least, a threatening descent upon the borders of Israel. In all probability he had intended to strike at the whole north of Palestine, for his annals mention the names of "Rezon, king of Damascus," and "Plirom, king of Tyre," as his tributaries also, and they would seem to have purcliased a reprieve in the same manner as Israel did. We get further an illustration of the process by which the principalities within reach of Assyrian aggression were gradually reduced, so that their ultimate submission was rapidly accelerated. The money was raised in this case (and the same principle was doubt- less in force in the other threatened kingdoms) from the in(ie[)endent property-owners, who were liable to serve in war, but whose service might be commuted by a money payment, as the king's due in time of need. The with- drawal of a million and a half of dollars from a petty kingdom like Israel, already pretty well depleted by the Ch. V, § 311 CAMPAIUNS IN MKDIA AND ARMENIA 353 ravajres of domestic strife, must have brought it to the verge of exhuustiou; and this was only the lirst instal- ment! Tliis amount of booty, so promptly aeciuired, may suggest to us what an enormous treasure must have been accumulated by the later kings of Assyria and Babylonia, in their countless levies upon a host of nations in the richest portion of the world (Isa. xlv. 8). § 311. With this invasion of the borders of Israel, and the bargain made on such favourable terms with King Menahem, the Great King appears to have suspended for a season his operations in the West-land. The gains he had made in these four years were large aiul substantial. Besides the subjection aiul partial annexation of the more northerly kingdoms in Cilicia and Capi)adocia, he subdued and brought under organized Assyrian rule all of Northern and Midtlle Syria, and laid the kingdom of Damascus, as well as Israel and the leading Phienician cities, under heavy bonds to keep the Asiatic peace, as the vassals of Asshur. He had made a long stride towards Egypt, and was soon to make a much longer one. Affairs in the East claimed his attention more pressingly, however, and so we find him for the next three years absent from the Mediterranean coastland. In 737 he describes himself as busied with the more thorough compiest of Media, which he ravaged from the borders of Armenia on the north to the territory of Babylonia on the south. Besides fighting, plundering, and ravaging, he "annexed huge districts of Media to the realm of Asshur,'' and settled them with colonies of pristmers taken in other wars.^ The two following years (730 and 735) were ihietly occuiued with a prolonged and determined enteri)rise directed against Armenia. The defeat sustained by the daring soldiers of this formidable rival in 745 (§ 204) had i»re- 1 C* for 7.37. This notice, as given in KAT-, i).-48(] (Engl. tr. II, p. 1114 f.), is to be corrected to read '-to Media" {n-na Mad-ai). Tlie annalistic narrative is given in Lay. (17, o If., (>8, wiiicli contiinies III I{. 9 Nr. .'3. A summary of the conquest is also given in II K. 07, ;iU-42. 2a ii 81 i ♦ '-.i ii 354 THE IMPENDING DOOM OF ISRAEL Book VI ■I vented any further aggression from the north; but Tig- lathpileser now sought to make the ambitious kingdom forever innocuous. The expedition culminated, after repeated defeats of the Armenians within their own boundaries, in the investment of Turushpa (the modern Van). But as this fortress was, by its situation, impreg- nable, lie was fain to content himself with setting up his own statue before the city gates. The annexation of large districts westward to the borders of Cappadocia, lately under the sway of the kingdom of the Lakes, proved that this symbol of victory meant much more than a temporary triumph. § 312. His hands were now free to undertake the complete subjugation of the West-land, and in 734 he made Palestine itself the scene of his operations. We get our best view of the condition of the peoples of this region during the intervening three years from the interpreting voice of Hebrew Prophecy. The principal part of the Book of Hosea (ch. iv.-xiv.) was written about this time, and it has mostly to do with Israel's moral and political conduct during the bi-ief period of reprieve from Assyrian invasion. To one who reads it with an open eye, it is full of allusions to that world-conquering power and its control of the destiny of Israel. A quarter of a century had passed since Amos had uttered his words of warning, with a thinly veiled announcement of the revival of the Ass3a'ian empire and its consequences to the chosen people. And Hosea himself, in his earlier discourse (ch. i.-iii.), written about 748 B.C., while Jeroboam was still alive (i. 4), reiterates the prediction of Israel's captivity in more explicit language (iii. 4 f.). The watchful Prophet now saw that both inner motives and motives extraneous to Israel were conspiring to bring on a conflict between his own country and Assyria, in which the smaller king- dom would be shattered and destroj'ed ; that Jehovah was l)reparing, for the spiritual and moral disaffection which demanded chastisement, an adequate scourge in the irre- sistible arm}' of Tiglathpileser. Cii. V, § 314 VAIN IlOPiS FROM EGYPT 365 § 313. We learn from Hosea (vii. 11; xii. 1; c;f. vii. 8) that there was at least a portion of his people who looked to Egypt for their deliverance, and had entreated its intervention. The fact that the Prophet refers so little to this diplomatic moveinent is proof of its subordinate importance. Since the unsucces?tul invasion in the time of Asa (§ 215), Egypt had not intermeddled in the affairs of Palestine. Who the ruling power in Egypt at this date was is uncertain. It was now the closing period of the twenty-third Dynasty, and a king, named Zet by Maiietho, but as yet unknown from the monuments, was ruling in Tanis (Zoan). But at Sais another dynasty (tlie twenty-fourth) was in force; and the Ethiopian, which was soon to absorb them all (the twenty-fifth Dynasty), was making itself felt as an independent power. It is evident from this outline statement alone, that resort to Egypt was likely to meet with but little practical response; and, in fact, Hosea tells his [)eople that they would become an object of scorn to their expected ally (vii. 16); the refugees who should seek shelter there would only be adding a few more graves to tlie se2)ulchral monuments of the great necropolis at Memphis (ix. (J). § 314. To Assyria, however, the country had been already mortgaged, and the creditor w^as one not apt to restrict himself to what was nominated in the bond. Hosea evidently regards its fate as alreadj- sealed: Ephraim "is crushed in judgment" (i.e. war, v. 11); "strangers have devoured his strength " (vii. 0); " Israel is swallowed up; now are they among tlie nations as a vessel which none desires" (viii. 8); "I will send a fire among his cities, and it shall devour the palaces thereof" (viii. 14); "Ephraim shall bring out his children to the slayer" (i\. 13); "call thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman s[)oiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle " ^ (x. 14); "over night shall !■ i 1 li ■ J, i 1 1 1 A king of Moab, mentioned by Tiglatlipileser III as one of his tributaries (II 11. 07, CO), bore the name Salamdnu, which is exactly the name before us. " Beth-arbel " may represent Arbela (the moilern Irbid), east of the Joi-dan, near Telia. See KAT^. p. 440 ff. and cf. § 337. ill 350 FORECASTS OF IIOSEA Book VI the king of Israel be utterly cut off " (x. 15). Thus dis- aster and ruin are doubly linked with Assyria; it was the a^jpeal to Assyria that brought on their present desperate situation, and the end would be that Assyria should root them out of their sacred land and disperse them over its wide domain: "When Epinaim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then went Ephraim unto Assyria and sent to the Great King,^ but he is not able to heal you, neither shall he cure you of your wound " (v. 13). "Ephraim was like a silly dove without understanding; they called unto Egypt, they went unto Assyria " (vii. 11). "They went up (/.e. inland) to Assyria like a wild ass (cf. Ishmael in Gen. xvi. 12) alone by himself" (viii. 9). "They shall not dwell (any longer) in Jehovah's land; but Ei)hraim shall return to Egy[)t (as fugitives), and they shall eat unclean food (see J? 299) in Assyria" (ix. 3). "They shall be wanderers among the nations" (ix. 17). They would be compelled not only to forego their boasted worship of Jehovah, in strange lands, but would even have to renounce it, as the condition of vassalage to Assyria: "The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in dismay for the Calf (LXX) of Beth-aven ; for her people shall grieve over it, and her priests shall shriek over it, because oi its glory, for it is gone away from her into exile. It, too, shall be borne to Assyria as a present to the Great King" (cf.§ 299). Of late they had had rulers of a certain kind in abundance, and had secured at a great sacrifice the neutrality or protection of Assyria; but now the}' were losing them almost as fast as they were raised up (xiii. 10 f. ; cf. Zech. xi. 8), and they would soon be deprived not only of allies, but of both king and nobles altogether: " Yea, though they hire (allies) among the nations, now Avill I restrain them, and they will cease for a little from anointing a king and princes (viii. 10, LXX). Such was the political and religious outlook of Israel, according to Hosea, writing towards the close of the reign of ]Menahem, at a time when 1 See Note 10 in Appendix. Cu. V, § oUi AN ANONYMOUS rUOl'IIET 357 13). tliu futility of the Assyrian negotiiitions was beginning to be a[)i)aient, and the causes of internal decay, long working in the nation, were, to the Proi)iiet at least, fast bringing it to ruin. § 315. Another ol)server, of about the same time, whose prophetic ntterances have come (hnvn to us in juxtii[)()sition with the writings of Zechariah (Zech. ix.-xi.), has also a good deal to say of the revolution to be brought about in Palestine and Syria through the Assyrians. Belonging as he did to the Southern Kingdom, which had not as yet suffered direct invasion, his allusions to jjarticular events are less specific, and his language l)eing also somewhat vague and symbolical, interpreters have found it ditlicult to agree as to the date of the Pro[)hecy.^ All of the his- torical references, however, can be explained from the history of these times. The anonymous Prophet sees the cities of Phoenicia and of the Philistines sharing the fate of Northern and Middle and Southern Syria, represented by Hadrach, Uamath, and Damascus (ix. 1-8). The oaks of Lebanon and the cedars of liashan are laid low by a sud- den desolating storm (xi. 1, 2), and, as is next descril)ed, in language still more figurative, Ephraim, in which anarchy had so prevailed that three of its rulers ("shep- herds") had been cut off in one month (cf. 2 K. xv. 13?), was to l)e smitten in its length and breadth; and the alliance between Israel and Judah, which had been the prophetic ideal for an invincible theocratic kingdom (x. (3; cf. Hos. i. 11, E.V.), should be broken (xi. 3-14), and a "frivolous ruler" should succeed, who was to devour the substance of the people (xi. lo-17). § 310. We shall now see how the facts of History accord with the previsions of Prophecy. In Israel, impor- tant changes had taken place between Tiglathpileser's two great expeditions to the West. Menahem had died, appar- ently by a natural death, after a brief reign. His son Pekahiah (736-735 u.c.) found the people still discon- if i I See Note 11 in Appeiulix. 358 A NKW ULLEU AND POLICY IN ISRAEL Book VI tented, and, in little over a year, the general of the army, Pekali, at the head of a small band of Gileadites forming a detachment of the body-guard, came upon him suddenly in his own i)alace, and put an end to his life and reign. The successor was, of course, Pekah (735-733). He was an enterprising ruler, and was firmly of the conviction that a new policy was needed, if Israel was to regain its old- time [)ositi()n. He felt that the unaccustomed vassalage, under which the state had been brought by ^fenahem, should come to an end and the exhausting tribute-paying be stopped. Damascus had then a ruler like-minded with Pekah, and the two sought to form a league among the Western states for defence against the common despoiler, whose vengeance they had to expect as the consequence of defiance. Judah, now coming under the influence of Isaiah, refused to join the combination, and the northern confederates, who, in any case, desired an opportunity to humble their superior, Judah, made common cause against their dissident neighbour, with a view to his complete subjugation (cf. § 270). L w, v^ '4 If CHxYPTER VI VASSALAGE OF JUDAH AND THE rROrilETIC INTEUVENTION § 317. As already mentioned (§ 270), the death of Jotham (c. 735) in early manhood left the settlement of this deplorable strife to his successor, Ahaz (735-715?), who came to the throne a mere youth (Isa. iii. 4, 12). The reio^n of Ahaz formed a turning-point in the history of Judah in more than one way. Looking backward for a moment, we see that the reforms under Jehoash (§ 254) liad given consistency and deliniteness to the ofHcial worship, as well as to the religious life of the peoi)le ; and these advantages were maintained during the three follow- ing reigns, in spite of the unsettling influences flowing from the changing political and social conditions (§ 206). In the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, outward prosi)erity seemed to guarantee the conservation of those religious interests so vitally connected with the development and perpetuation of the theocratic state; but it was, in reality, the cause which cojitributed most largely to corruption and degeneracy in worship and morals. § 318. We have the whole inner history of the time set forth by one who lived in it, and gave liimself to its study and interpretation with matchless insight and energy of soul. The critical three years from the last of Uzziah to the first of Ahaz formed the first period of Isaiah's pro- phetic career, and the subject of the first section of his Prophecy. And he has analyzed the temper and tendencies of the Jerusalem of that date with such an absolute mastery 869 u t i i 1 THE IDEAL AND THE REAL IN ISAIAH Book VI of all the issues involved, that his discourses remain not only an unrivalled piece of classic literature, but the best manual of the principles of moral sociology ever given to the world. Tlie arena was small enough, — the capital of one of the least of the man}' states that were, one after another, most surely losing their autonomy and being drawn into the ever-widening maw of Assyria. But the l^rinciples were eternal ; for Jehovah had been the Father and the Founder of the nation. And the issues were inliiiite; for, by the exemplary doom of Judah and Jeru- salem, pure worship and sim})le faith were to be vindicated as the essential and indispensable basis of righteousness and moral soundness, and these again as the only possible conditions of national weal and endurance. Such funda- mental axioms of Jehovah's rule on earth were finally to be acknowledged by all the nations which should come streaming to Jerusalem, to be tauglit of liis Avays and to learn to walk in his paths; for out of Zit n should go forth his teaching and his word from Jerusalem (ii. 1-3); his arbitration should take the place of war with its desolations and woes, and the light of his countenance should approve the universal peace and gladden the happy peoples. Such was the ideal, which could be realized if the house of Judah would but walk under such an illumining (ii. 4, 5).^ But the practical sense of this most idealistic of the early Prophets forbids a long sojourn in this inspiring Utopia. He has to do with Jerusalem as it is, the Jerusalem of Uzziah, Jotham, and, alas, of Ahaz (ii. G ft'.). § 319. It was indeed a critical time for Judah and the theocracy, and no one knew so well as Isaiah the danger and the consequences of an evil policy in church and state. Powerful as Isaiah was — and no subject of the realm was as influential as he, by virtue of his social position, his abilities, liis claims, and his resolute faith — he was ter- 1 Isa. ii. 2-5 are, I would suggest, a coutiuuation of eh. i. by Isaiah himself. Ch. ii. 1, an iuteiTuption, is au addition, apparently, by the hand whirh wrote Mic. i. 1. state, m was on, his iis tei- ly Isaiah by the Cn. VI, § 319 THE KING AND THE KLXING CLASSES 361 7^ ribly crippled by his environment and the character ^ his principal associates. His great practical aim, to secure a reformation of worship and manners, which he had con- ceived during the closing years of the reign of Uzziah, was early shown to be impracticable on a large scale, on account of the moral blindness, grossness, and dulness of the people (vi. 9 f.); and the task must have come to appear still more difficult when the brief reign of Jotham was followed by the accession of the unsympathetic, headstrong, and voluptuous Ahaz. How indispensable it was to him to secure the co-operation of the head of the state, appears from the fact that, with marvellous persistency and skill, he succeeded in winning the confidence, some years later, of the heir to the throne, who has come to be known in his- tory as Hezekiah the Reformer. And how he laboured to lead Ahaz himself into the right course we see illustrated in the seventh chapter of his Prophecy. Ahaz, however, must not be considered as standing alone in his spirit of impiety and disregard of the exclusive claims of Jeliovah. Evil as his reign was, rivalling with its impure worship (2 K. xvi. 4) and its adoption of foreign religious customs (xvi. 10 ff.) the worst of the reigns of the northern kingdom, and even going beyond them in the encourage- ment of cruel superstition (xvi. 3), we may Avell believe that he was head of a large and influential party, who were only too willing to follow him. It was, alas, true that, even in Judah, a good king had to Avithstand the temper and prejudices of the multitude, while a bad one found support and applause in any excess of moral or religious transgression. Isaiah himself has very fully described the character and tastes of the ruling classes in and about Jerusalem; and the terrible picture of vice and infidelity drawn by his contemporary, Micah, portrays not only the character of Israel alone, but that of Judah as well, which had made itself an apt pupil in the school of the House of Omri (see i. 5, 9, 18; vi. 16). A few citations of specific evils may suggest the practical problems that con- 'r 11 •i r : f Ill; 3)1 I! 1;: 362 DISLOYALTY TO JEHOVAH Book VI fronted these Prophets, and which Isaiah, as one of the leading men of the capital, especially undertook to solve. § 320. First of all, there was the disloyalty to Jehovah, manifested in idolatry in its various forms. In the fun- damental matter of popular worship and practical belief, the age of Ahaz was a critical one for Judah, mainly on account of the new political relations which were estab- lished under this prince, and which, as we have already made clear, were necessarily to bring religious changes in their train. But even before and at the accession of Ahaz, and while his kingdom was not yet involved in the larger current of Asiatic affairs, the religion of the people was not of the simple unitary character which true allegiance to Jehovah would have implied. That it had, on the whole, remained free from the grossest contaminations of Canaan- itic worship, since the overthrow of the daughter of Jezebel (§ 254), is plain enough; and that the possession of the ancient national shrine and its legitimate priesthood, along with more favourable geographical and social condi- tions, tended to conserve a purer form of religion than was cultivated in the north, is equally certain (§ 271 ff.). But it is clear, upon the explicit testimony of contemporary Prophets, that the popular professed worship of Jehovah was often sadly mixed with the adoration of false gods, in addition to the cultus of the "high places," which the historical books repeatedly mention (1 K. xiv. 23 ; xv. 14 ; xxii. 43; 2 K. xii. 3; xiv. 4; xv. 4; xvi. 4; 2 Chr. xx. 33; xxi. 11; xxviii. 3; xxxiii. 3). The "lies" which Amos says caused the Judaeans to err (ii. 4) can only refer to false gods (cf. Ps. xl. 5). The accusations of Hosea are more frequent, tho\igh not always more explicit. He evidently regards Judali as being in less hopeless case, both in religion and morals, than his own nation (i. 7 ; iv. 15) ; and yet, when he makes an arraignment of the latter, he usually gives a side-glance of pity or indignation at the former (see v. 5, 10, 12 ff. ; vi. 4, 11, where the middle of 3ooK VI of the ook to ihovah, le fun- belief, inly on I estab- already nges in f Ahaz, B larger Avas not lance to 1 whole, Canaan- liter of ssession jsthood, 1 condi- han was :T1 ff.)- mporary lehovah [Tods, in lich the XV. 14; ■hr. XX. ' which ly refer Hosea it. He s ease, iv. e latter, in at the ddle of Cii. VI, § 321 SORCERY AND IDOLATRY 303 . I the verse should end the chapter; viii. 14; xii. 2), and also accuses it directly of inconstancy to Jehovah (xi. 12). § 321. It is Isaiah and ]\Iicah, however, who first plainly state the case, and their words reveal the true nature of Judah's religious practice, both for their own time and for the century preceding. Their charge of idolatry is sweep- ing and direct ; and in the true spirit of the reformer they deal with it in connection with those moral delinquencies of their people which they so unsparingly denounce. Not only was superstition rife, in the form of sorcery and magic, imported both from the East and from the West (Isa. ii. G; cf. iii. 2 f., and especially viii. 19; Mic. iii. (3, 7, 11 ; V. 12), but the worship of false gods was so preva- lent that the land was said to be full of idols made, as both Prophets remark with biting scorn, by the hands of their worshippers (Isa. ii. 8; cf. ii. 18, 20; xvii. 8; xxx. 22; xxxi. 7; Mic. v. 13). It is true that, Avhile direct allusions to idols are plain and strong, they are not of frequent occurrence in these Prophets ; but the very fact that they are mentioned incidentally and as a matter of course is the surest evidence possible that the evil Avas deep-seated and wide-spread, and that the people as a whole were to the manner born. Indeed, it will be found that much of the moral iniquity of the time, which is cited with such detail, is connected Avith false worship of one form or another, and even with the most noxious and odious type of idolatry. By this I mean that nature- worship which in practice became throughout the Semitic world a system of immorality legalized and fostered under the name of devotion to the goddess of lust. The Canaan- itic form of this bestial izing cult developed itself chiefly in the rites of Ashera (§ 152). The favourite symbol of this goddess, tantamount to an "idol," was a tree, and her worship was chiefly carried on in groves, or other places where the rich luxuriance of the vegetable world suggested the attributes of Astarte, the Semitic Venus. The encour- agement of these indulgences, under the name of religion, ! II 364 IDOLATRY AND SEXUAL VICE lUnm VI V constituted the chief evil against which the Pruj)hets and reliffious reformers in Israel had to contend from the beginning to the end of the national life, — an evil so essentially pernicious, so virulent in its persistence and seductiveness, that it was only eradicated through a com- plete social and political transformation of the community. It will be at once seen how readily the various forms of false worship, with which the Old Testament has made us familiar, how everything which was not of the pure spiritual worship of Jehovah, became tributary to this all-consuming moral and physical vice. Secondary forms of self-indulgence, often disguised as religious consecra- tion, ministered to this ruling passion, as the minor currents are diverted into tlie main stream that is drawn from afar towards the vortex. The adoration of Jehovah himself upon the high places held sacred by immemorial tradition — a custom which had not yet been put down either in the Northern or in the Southern Kingdom — ministered inevitably to the grosser rites of Ashera, through the very proximity of these heights to the terebinth groves and gardens, which were preferred to the temple of Jehovah (Isa. i. 29). And when we find sun-images (Isa. xvii. 8; xxvii. 9; cf. Lev. xxvi. 30; Ezek. vi. 4, 6; and esi)ecially 2 Chr. xiv. 4; xxxiv. 4, 7) coupled with the symbols of Ashera, we are led to conclude that other popular forms of worship were ancillary to the same class of indulgences. This becomes all the clearer to us when we remember that such images were representations of Baal, the old sun-god, who was to all the Western Semites the original ty[)e of reproduction, kindred to that represented by Astarte, of whom he was the male counterpart. So we find that not only these sjjecial symbols of Baal, placed upon his altars (2 Chr. xxxiv. 4), but the more common "pillars" (marg. of Rev. Eng. vers.: "obelisk") came to be dedi- cated to the same god (2 K. iii. 2; x. 26 f.), and are, in like manner, associated with the images of Ashera (2 K. xviii. 4; xxiii. 14; Mic. v. 12 f.). And, finally, we see Hook VI liets and rem tlie evil so Slice and 1 a eom- imunit}'. forms of made us he pure to this ,ry forms 3onsecra- le minor is drawn Jehovah memorial fut down igdom — , through th groves Jehovah xvii. 8; specially mbols of forms of ilgences. nber that sun-god, 1 ty[)e of starte, of find that upon his 'pillars" be dedi- d are, in 3ra (2 K. y, we see Ch. VI, § 322 RESULTS IN THE NATIONAL LIFE 365 in several of the passages just cited both types of Baal- worship associated and co-ordinated with the " high places. " Thus the whole of the religious services that were not rendered spiritually to the invisible, inimitable, inexpres- sible Jehovah, were so many avenues and entrances to the "house which is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death" (Prov. vii. 26, 27). § 822. All this was regarded as un-Israelitish by the Prophets of Israel and Judah. It did not characterize properly the people of Jehovah, the God of purity and holiness. This view of the perpetual danger of contami- nation from vices essentially foreign, explains to us, in large measure, the intense desire on the part of tl.ese representatives of Jehovah that the people whom they served, as guides and counsellors, should be kept aloof from foreign entanglements and influences of every sort. They understood this sin and its consequences thor- oughly, as leading to manifold other vices, which they scourged also with extreme severity, and as corrupting and undermining the community generally. If there is anything in the writings of the great Prophets of ancient Israel which entitles them to the distinction of moral sociologists, it is their profound perception and conviction of the destructiveness of this worst of all moral plagues, of the ruin which it surely works to the family, the com- munity, and the state itself. How history, ancient and modern alike, has borne out the correctness of their diag- nosis of this private and public ulceration, need not here be said. It is only necessary to point out further in this special connection how Isaiah emphasizes (iii. IG ff.) the frivolity of the women of Jerusalem. His descrip- tion suggests plainly enough his dread of the wholesale depreciation of Israelitish motherhood and conjugal fidel- ity; and it is not difficult to see how cheaply these virtues would come to be held if the vices which he connects with popular modes of worship were tolerated in the land of Jehovah. 11 I' 866 OTHER VICES AND FOREIGN RELATIONS Book VI § 323. As already indicated, these and kindred iniqui- ties were undoubtedly more prevalent in the Northern than in the Southern Kingdom; and probably, even in the time of Ahaz, the latter did not reach the degree of offensive- ness which could often be predicated of tlie former. It was largely a question of environment, p.^. the Prophets well knew. Enough has been said, however, to show how far Judah had gone in this direction, and to explain and vindicate the attitude of contemporary Pro[)hets towards those foreign states where such things were practised without shame or self-reproach. Of the other offences stigmatized so memorably in the surviving piophetic literature, the most dangerous, because the most natural, so to speak, and the most easily encouraged, were greed and its concomitant, deceit. Here, too, we have to note and admire the monumental worth of the characterizations of these vices made by the Prophets. And again, if we take these sins by themselves, or add to them the other evils with which the land was infested, calling forth the indignation and the grief of the servants of Jehovah, Ave can readily see how closer relations with foreigners would increase the dreaded evils and aggravate the offence. On this special point it .s not necessary to enlarge ; it will be sufficient to apply to each case in detail the general prin- ciples already enunciated (§ 271, 296 ff.). § 324. One additional remark may be permitted in conclusion. It has often struck the modern reader as a peculiarity of most of the Prophets that they had a penchant for dealing with the affairs of foreign nations, wliich they make the subject of minute study in their political, moral, and religious features (^e.g. Isa. xiii. ff. ; Jer. xlvii. ft'. ; Ezek. XXV. ff. ; xxxv. ; xxxviii. f. ; Amos i. f. ; Obadiah ; Nahum; Zeph. ii. ; Zech. ix. ; Daniel). A review of the moral and religious issues involved in the relations between these foreign powers and Israel or Judah goes far to explain the phenomenon. § 325. Returning to our point of departure, we observe Ch. VI, § 320 THE ALLIKS BEFORE JERUSALEM 367 that the policy favoured by Isaiah towards Assyria was necessarily that of (quiescence and trust in Jehovah, as far as the question of most pressing moment was concerned. It was the true theocratic policy, precisely the same as that recommended to the Northern Kingdom by Hosea (§ 313 f.). Would the ruling powers in Judah accept the saving- counsel? Let us look now more closely at tlie actual situation. The forces of Judah were unable to cojjc with the allies in the field. A succession of reverses (2 Chr. xxviii. 5 ff.) compelled them to retire to the fortress of the capital. After the confederates had ravaged the Juda3an country north of and round about Jerusalem, a section, perhaps the main portion of the Aramteans, marched southward, joined the Edomites, with whom they took possession of Elath, that old bone of contention be- tween Judah and Edom, whose capture and retention by Uziciah had contributed largely to make the reign of that great ruler and his successor one of connnercial as well as military success (§ 269). This severe blow having been struck at the prosperity of Judah, the united armies pre- pared to move on Jerusalem itself; and the heart of tlie royal household "quivered as the trees of the forest quiver before the wind" (Isa. vii. 1 ff. ; 2 K. xvi. o f.). The Philistines also took advantage of the distressed condition of Judah, and succeeded in recovering a number of border towns and districts which Uzziah had annexed (2 Chr. xxviii. 18; cf. Isa. ix. 12).^ § 326. In this extremity of dismay and terror, Ahaz, in a panic, sent messengers to Tiglathpileser imploring his intervention, and offering to become his vassal as the price of his deliverr.nce (2 K. xvi. 7; 2 Chr. xxviii. 16). That he deliberately threw away the independence of his country is plain from his own words: "I am thy slave and thy son " ; the former term indicating his readiness to pay \-\\ 1: 1 I regard it as certain, witli Ewald and many followers, that the passage, Isa. ix. 8-x. 4, belongs properly between vs. 25 and 20 of ch. v. rfn r 368 THE DILEMMA OF AIIAZ Book VI HI! itl regular tribute and render all necessary service in war or peace ; and the latter symbolizing the homage, honour, and obedience (cf. Mai. i. 6) which he was willing to manifest to his liege lord. Did he do so wisely or unwisely, as a necessary evil, or unnecessarily? The small but compact and well-led party in Jerusalem, w^ach was maintained by Isaiah, evidently held the latter -■ lew. Before any agree- ment could be made, and probably before the message was sent to the Assj-rian king, Ahaz was one day inspecting the arrangements for preserving the water supply of the city, in view of the impending siege. ^ Isaiah went out to impress upon him the propriety of leaving the Assyrians out of his plans, and trusting in Jehovah for deliverance. In this counsel the Prophet had first of all in view the necessity of keeping his nation free from foreign corrupting influences ; but he also perceived clearly that the dreaded alliance between Damascus and Ephraim would soon be dissolved at any rate, by the intervention of the Assyrians against their enterprising vassals, and that their destruc- tion was only a matter of time. They were to him, in fact, merely the smouldering ends of half-burnt firebrands ; their spite against Judah would wreak itself in smoke, instead of fire. He then distinctly announced the impend- ing collapse of the whole enterprise, including the scheme of putting a Syrian (an otherwise unknown "son of Tabel ") upon the throne of Judah. On the other hand, the continued existence of " the house of David " would depend upon their trust in Jehovah, who was the head of Jerusalem the capital of his own land, as contrasted with those who ruled in the capitals of the apostate Ephraimites and the heathen Aramaeans. As to the policy they were to adopt, all he could commend to them was to "be watch- ful and remain passive " (vii. 4-9). § 327. To encourage the weakling who sat on the throne of David, Isaiah proposed that he should demand a sign from Jehovah of any character he might choose, as a 1 See the illustrative sketches in Stade, GVI. I, 690 ff. Cn. VI, § 328 A rilEDICTION AND A SIGN 3til> test of the reliability of the promise of deliverance. Ahaz, who was bent upon calling in Assyrian relief, made answer, partly in superstitious dread and partly in depre- catory cunning, that he would not tempt Jehovah by asking for such a test. The Prophet then gave a more explicit prediction, which was to have a twofold application and fulfilment ; the land was to be evacuated by the invaders, so that the impending evil would be averted; but it would itself be finally scourged and devastated, by the very power to which its rulers were now looking for deliverance. Thus the jiolicy which Ahaz and his party intended to adopt W3uld defeat its own ends, and hasten the catastrophe which it sought to avert. As an omen which should be valid to all who wouid hear the word, it was announced that a child should soon be born, to whom the significant name " God is with us " should be given. The parentage of the child is, very remarkably, not mentioned; only the mother is referred to. and that not by name, since it is merely said that a certain "young woman" should in a very short time become the mother of this promised Immanu'el.^ Of this child it is affirmed that, at some time after he should be able to choose between good and evil, the privations and desolation of the land would have become so great that his food might consist of curds and honey, tlie diet of a people to whom agriculture would be rare and difficult. Before that time should arrive, the respite of deliverance from the present invasion by Ephraim and Syria would be granted (vii. 13-10). § 328. In this announcement, the temporary reprieve from calamity is mentioned as a subordinate fact, and, as it were, casually, not even the instrument of the deliver- ance being named. And it was just this momentary relief which the court party were willing to sacrifice everything to secure. So convinced was the Prophet of the utter futility of the whole scheme of an Assyrian alliance, and of the evils that must certainly follow in its train, that the fi I ^ See Note 12 in Appendix. ;. I 2b i f S70 A SUCCKSSION OF OMKNS Book VI resulting relief Ji[)peared to him as only a brief and insig- nificant episode in tlie tragic history of Judah's decline. It should serve rather to point a contrast with the woes that were impending, than to furnish a pretext for a com- forting word, or even a suggestion or symbol of tlie greater deliverance which his people and country were yet to enjoy, and of which his heart and imagination were full to over- flowing. These successive omens, and their exposition by the seer himself, show more clearly than anything else the political insight of this greatest of Israelitish statesmen, the range of his survey of the forces that were so rapidly making up the history of the time, liis invincible and he- roic faith, his single-hearted patriotism, and the purity and grandeur of his practical aims. Over against this magnifi- cent picture is thrown out in gloomy relief the character and conduct of the opposing party, who had lost faith, courage, and self-control, through lack of loyalty to Jehovah. § 329. The portent of " Immanuel " was too large and far-reaching to stand for this single catastrophe. It was rather a comprehensive type, to which Isaiah would need acfain and again to recur when he could cut himself loose from the pressing problems of the present ; for these seemed only to lead to an entanglement of hopeless disorder, and to culminate in an impenetrable gloom of darkness and distress (cf. viii. 22). To make vivid and impressive the reality and character of these nearer events, a new "sign " was given, and that after a very brief interval of time (cf. viii. 4 with vii. 16). One of the Prophet's children, soon to be born, was to be called by the expressive name, "Hasten spoil! hurry prey!" Of his earliest days, also, it is intimated that they should be contemporaneous with the conquest and spoiling of Damascus and Ephraim, and that, too, at the hands of the king of Assyria, who is now named for the first time as the agent of their overthrow and of consequent relief to Jerusalem (viii. 1-4). With mingled regret and reproach, he addresses the recreant northern branch of the old family and Israel. He chides I Cii. VI,§330 DOOM OF ISRA?:L AND DAMASCUS 371 them for disdaining "Siloali's brook that flowed fast l>y the oracles of God," — the little stream whose waters, tlow- iiig ever gently and seienely under the protection of the liilis of Zion, were a symbol of the calm confidence which trust in, and allegiance to, Jehovah would inspire, — and rebukes them for welcoming as leaders Pekah and Kezon. He declares that another stream sliall come upon them, the Great River in its flood-time, rising up out of its accustomed channels and overflowing its banks. Tlie inundation would submerge all the western lands, and even "sweep onward into Judah," its furthest s[)reading waves reaching as far as the remotest corners of the land (viii. 5-8). § 330. The judgment to be inflicted upon Israel and Syria has thus a secondary place in this series of prophecies connected with the "signs "; the Prophet, Avhile concerned even to bitter grief for the fate of the unfaithful sister kingdom, looks over and beyond it to the issues which weie at stake in his own little realm, on which depended the future pure worship of Jehovah, and the very existence of his earthly dwelling-place. But lie did utter a special l)rophecy, at this crisis, against Damascus and Samaria, declaring that, leagued as they were in an unholy war, they should be linked together also in common defeat and mourning, with the loss of their fortresses and their nationality (xvii. 1-4). In language no less pathetic than beautiful, he predicts the taking off of the defenders of Samaria, by the harvestman's sti'okes of the sword of the Assyrians, leaving a very small rcminint "as when one gleaneth ears in the valley of Rephaim." And his oracle turns at last into a wail for the delusion and the baffled hopes of the votaries of Ashera and Adonis, who, in their desperation, should abandon their fallacious deities, and recognize their Maker, the Holy One of Israel, but too late to bring them in any other harvest than that which was sure to come from the transplanting of foreign growths into Jehovah's land (xvii. 5-11). I l! CHAPTER VII THE ASStlllANS IN PALESTINE AND BABYLONIA § 331. At the time when Ahaz of Jiulali sent his message of personal and national humiliation to Tiglath- pileser, the latter was probably already well on his way down the western coast. His aims, in this second expedi- tion to the West, were to settle the affairs of the newly colonized districts of Syria (§ 294, 306), as well as to extend his conquests southv^ard to Egypt, the unvarying goal of Assyrian warlike adventure. His story of the present enterprise, — one of the most important in the annals of his reign, — as far as may be made out from the fragmentary records, is as follows : ^ In 734 he set out upon an expedition, of which the objective point was southwestern Palestine. His first care on arriving in the West-land was to see to the security of the region annexed in 738, which had belonged to the realm of Hamath. Over these he reasserted his sovereignty and appointed six military administrators. He then proceeded down the coast, annexing and organizing all the districts along the "Upper Sea" (§ 179). No mention is made of Tyre and Sidon, but, as we shall see later, they were not left out of mind. Arriving at the natural turning-point above Mount Carmel, he enters the valley of Jezreel, and lays waste all the Israelitish country to the west of the Sea of Kinnereth, and annexes it formally to the realm of Asshur. This imjiortant information we do not get from the Inscriptions alone, which are here incomplete in details, 1 See Note 13 in Appendix. 372 Cii. VII, § 3.T_> TIGLATIIl'ILKSEU I\ I'ALKSTINi: .".:.•] as well as mutilated. The Biblical record (2 K. xv. '20) states that "in the days of rekah king of Israel Ti<,'luth- jjileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon and Aliel- beth-nia'acha and Janoah and Ivedesh and Ilazoi- [and (lilead] and Galilee, all the land of Najditali, and carried them captive to Assyria." The ollicial Ninevite report .speaks of localities which may possibly be idenlilicd with some of the above-named districts. Their position, at any rate, is lixed Ijy him, and puts it beyond doubt that the same tracts of country are meant in both accounts. He says they lay at the entrance to "Onui-land," or Israel. A glance at the map shows how well this describes the region indicated by the Biblical writer, bordering upon the innnemorial caravan routes from I\gyi)t and the coast to Damascus and the Euphrates, and the road by which, innumerable times, hostile armies had marched from ])oth east and west to the centre of Palestine. Tiglathpileser says he annexed the whole of this region to Assyria, and placed over it his officers as governors. § 332. He then follows the coast-route southward, i-eceives the tribute and submission of Metinti, king of Askalon (cf. § 334), and, apparently without making further delay, marches upon the extreme frontier town, (ia/.a, whose possession brings him at once almost within strik- ing distance of the land of the Pharaohs. Chanun, the king of Gaza, flees into Egypt. Here, on the border, the Assyrian monarch erects his own statue as the symbol of his sovereignty, indicating at once that all Palestine was under his control, and that there no foreign rival should dare dispute his sway. There is nothing said as to other Philistian communities, and this I take to be a signihcant corroboration of the view that they were then dependent upon Judah (§ 268), and therefore under the protection of the Assyiians. Having thus secured the frontiers of Southern Palestine, he was at liberty to deal with the obnoxious allied rulers of the northern states, without fear that they would be able to get assistance from Egypt. I a74 SUBJIXTION OF SAMARIA Book VI , rJ ,} i q Pekiih was the first to feel liis power. The blow he inflicted was a terrible one, the worst which Israel had known since the days of Egyptian bondage. The remnant of the land south of "the entrance to Israel," that is, " E]:)hraiin " or "Samaria," was devastated, a portion of the ])eoj)le deported to Assyria, and the valiant rebel and conspirator, Pekah, put to death. Hoshea (733-724) was made ruler over the new kingdom, and the royal treasure was transported to Assyria.' Mere again the Biblical narrative furnishes the needed complement to the story of the inscriptions. It says, in a pass.age immediately fol- lowing the last quotation (2 K. xv. 30), that "Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Kemaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead." It is proper, therefore, to assume that Hcwhea was a pretender to the throne, who had favoured, and perhaps joined, the invaders, and with their counte- nance put his old master to death, to reign as their vassal over the moiety of the dismembered state. § 333. It is extremely difficult to trace the exact succession of the remaining events of this two years' campaign, as the chief details are given to us by synoptical and not by annalistic inscriptions. The Eponym chronicle makes the main enterprise against Damascus, the leading member of the confederacy, to have begun in 733, and as we cannot suppose that the Great King allowed Ilezon, by respite of time, the opportunity of making trouble for him among any other of the independent principalities, we have to assume that the army, which, after the capture of Gaza, completed the humiliation and overthrow of Israel, also acted as a check upon Syria, and that a detachment of the force remained on tlie borders of Damascus during the military actions following that catastrophe. § 334. The next active movement seems to have been directed against Arabia. Here a large and powerful tribe of Bedawin, half nomads, half traders, were attac.'ked and ' Sec apain Note l.'J in the Appendix. Ch. VII, § :y,u CAMI'AKJN IN AUAIJIA t>Hi exact plundered. As was customary aiiiong tlic ancient Arab communities of the nortli, like Sheba in tiie soutli of the peninsula, the supreme government was entrusted to a woman. The (pieen of this nation was named Sams! (" Helonging to tlie Sun"). His ground of action ai)par- ently was that she was intriguing with Askalon against Assyria; but the invasion had a nuich larger [)olitical motive. Arabia was important to the Assyrians as the principal depot of spices and incense, besides being a breed- ing-ground for camels and cattle, and a source of supply for gold and precious stones. The tribes which furnished these valuable j)ossessions, whether as controlling tlieir production, their supply, or their transportation, nuist be brought under Assyrian influence, especially as it had Ijcen the prescriptive immemorial role of Egypt to regulate the traffic to the east of the Isthmus, and to divert to herself the richest and most precious wares. Whatever would curb or cripple Egypt was a clear gain in the })rotracted struggle for the empire of the world. Hence the rigorous treatment accorded to the Arab queen, who was suddenly assailed by an army of strangers, and compelled for freedom and honour to seek refuge in her desert home. An enormous spoil of camels, cattle, and bales of spices of various sorts, was obtained through this assault. The luckless queen was pursued far into her wilderness retreat, and compelled to accept the control of an Assyrian prefect. A powerful tribe, the Idiba'il (Idibi'il), the " Adbeel " of Gen. XXV. 13, whose habitat stretched fiom the Dead Sea southwest to the Isthmus,^ and who were probably in league witli the people of Judah, and therefore more reliable allies, were appointed to guard the frontiers of Egypt. The peoples of other i-egions of Arabia brought })ropitiatory gifts. Among these we may at least name Tema and Saba'a, which will be recognized as familiar Bible names, the latter being identified with the Sabieans of Job i. 15 (cf. Gen. x. 7; xxv. 3), and the former ' See Par. p. Wl f. tr .^1 V \ ij am CAl'TL'KE OF DAMASCUS IJOOK VI distinguished iis traders along with tlie Sakeans (Job vi. 1!>). It is very probable that these Sabieans weie con- neeted with the famous peo^des inhabiting the eountry of the same name in Southern Arabia ("Sheba").^ § 835. The most foiinidalde task of tlie whole yet remained to be aeeom[)lished, — the eai)ture of Damascus. As already mentioned, the Eponym chronicle designates that region as the goal of the campaign of 733. lint it holds the same pronunent place in the record for 732, and this is the strongest proof we have of the importance of the enterprise in the mind of the Assyrian monarch. What we have of his report gives, liowever, an inade(^uate idea of the operations. lie describes a battle between his forces and those of Damascus, which must have taken place in 733. It resulted in the total overthrow of the Syrians, whose king, Kezon, was com})elled to flee "like a hunted stag, into the city through its principal gate." Here Tiglathpileser "shut him up like a caged bird." He then proceeded to devastate all the territory subject to Damascus. In the way of exemplary punishment, as well as embittered revenge, the rich and stately groves of well- watered Damascus were ruthlessly hewn down, even to the last tree. A fortress, with the ancestral residence, the birthplace of Ilezon, was captured, and its defenders made prisoners. Other fortified cities Avere also taken, and altogether over five hundred towns and villages in the sixteen districts of Damascene territory were laid waste, and made "like mounds in the track of a deluge." Such Avas the treatment accorded to Damascus, the hereditary opposer of Assyrian aggression and the head of the Syro- Ephraimitish league. Of the taking of the main fortress itself we are not informed in the extant inscriptions. - 1 For the operations in North Arabia, see III R. 10, ;}0-:i8, to which must be added the synoptical statements in II K. 07, 52-55, and Lay. (JO. 1-10, along with Lay. 73, 10, and its continuation in Lay. 29, Nr. 2. -' The only account we have of the war against Damascus is contained in Lay. 72; 73. The reference to Uezon, its king, in Lay. 2i), Nr. 2, is too Cn. vn, § 3;]7 AN IMl'EUIAI. FUNCTION' 377 Rut that Damascus was really captured, we leani from tlie Biblical narrative of the reign of Ahaz, which again comes in as an essential complement to the Ass3'rian record. The account (2 K. xvi. 5 ff.) is only a summary of the principal events that determined the fortunes of Jndah, and its mention of tlie fall of Damascus (v. 9), in connec- tion with the appeal of Ahaz for relief to the Assyrian king (§ 32<^), is not to l)e taken as indicating the exact place in order of time of the crowning deed of this long canii)aign. § 830. After the occupation of the city, which was followed by the deportation of a large number of citizens to Kir, the victorious monarch held high court in this ancient A ramroan capital, whose history, commercial impor- tance, and geographical position made it the most fitting place for an imperial levee. At this august function he received in person the princes of the subject states. Among those who appeared was Ahaz of Judah ^ (2 K. xvi. 10), who had secured his protection at so great a sacrifice of treasure, of dignity, and of his country's weal. The Great King mentions Ahaz among the number of those whose tribute and gifts were paid to him as the profit of this western expedition, and the Biblical narrator tells us the nature of the fee (IPl'w') with which he had retained the services of such a puissant defender; namely, "the sil- ver and the efold which Avere found in tlie 1 louse of .Jehovah and in the king's own house." This was doubtless fol- lowed by an annual payment, so that the position of Judah, with regard to Assyria, soon became little different from that of the generalit}' of tributary states, whose contributions to the treasury of the Great King were the result of one form or another of military coercion. § 337. In the list of new tributaries'"^ there also ap[)ear vill mutilated to be made out clearly. For a conjecture, see Smith, AD. p, 284 ; Ilommel, GBA. p. 608. ' Va-n-ha-zi mat Ya-u-da-ai (II R. 07, (31). •■! II H. 07, 57-03. 11 '■Si 378 COMPLETION OF WESTERN WARS Book VI the names of the king of Amnion (Sanibu ^), of Moab (Salamiinu 2), and of Edom (Kausmalak^). Whether the territory of these princes was actually invaded by Assyrian troops we cannot tell with certainty. Edom would natur- ally be overawed during the Arabian campaign, and it is likely also that Moab and Amnion were visited, or at least threatened, during the long war against Damascus. Gilead (see above) would then certainly have been overrun, and, being the territory of a rebel, would share the fate of the other outlying possessions of Samaria. § 338. To complete the subjection of the West-land, there remained only the leading states of Plia?nieia. The Assyrian king, knowing well the temper of the Plirpnicians, had concluded, on his southerly march, that it Avould not be worth while to sacrifice time and fightino--men against a city like Tyre, which would be sure, without coercion, to find it profitable, and therefore expedient, to own his authority and send him a fitting contribution. Accordingly, at the close, as it would seem, of his oi)era- tions in Palestine, he sent thither a military and civil officer of the highest rank, to demand tribute. The moral pressure thus exerted seems to have been tolerably strong, as the enormous sum of 150 talents of gold, with an unknown quantity of other treasure, was paid over to the exacting claimant.'* The submission of the northerly kingdom of Tubal (§ 217), in Cappadocia, was secured, probably about the same time, in a similar fashion, and was accompanied by the payment of an impost, in whicli the great proportion of silver (1000 talents) strikingly illustrates the mineral riches of the country.^ 1 See Par. L'94. 2 Salaiaumi is the same name as Solomon (cf. § 314). ^ Ka'usmalak (lut-us-ma-la-ka) of Edom means " the Bow of Molech " ; cf. Kusriyahn, "the Bow of Jehovah" of Chr. xv. 17, and the modern Syriac Mstlmdran, "rainbow," i.e. "the bow of oni' Lord." Names connected with the bow were common in Edom, as might be expected (Gen. XXV. 27 ; xxvii. 3 ; cf. xxi. 20). * II U. (37, Ofl. ■' II R. 07, M f. Ch. VII, § 340 CAMPx^IGNS IN BABYLONIA i7l> civil moriil ti'ong, ith iiu to the thei'ly 'ured, 1, and whii'li aiigly olech"; modern Names expected § 339. The Great King now left Palestine and Syria, not to return in person. His last military achievements were performed in Babylonia. Here lived the most stub- born of his adversaries, whose subjugation he liad begun, but not completed, in an earlier period of his reign (§ 203). His former operations were coniined, as above shown, to securing his own boundary, and to the expul- sion from Northern Babylonia of turbulent elements. His rapid excursions against the Aramaean and Chaldiean principalities of the south were not followed up by a permanent occupation. Now, as the closing work of his reign, he undertook a systematic subjection of the whole of Babylonia. The main part of these conquests were achieved in 731. The king's first care was to make a triumphal entry into the principal cities of Northern and Central Babylonia, and thus renew his federation with tlie priests of the national shrines, whose protection was indispensable to his success in the land of their votaries. The nomadic Arama}ans of the Lower Tigris, and the fierce Chaldreans bordering on the Gulf, were, liowever, the foes with whom he had to reckon. The former, who, in numerous and poAverful clans, ranged the country up and down the River, and who, after each reverse of fortune, were continually recruited from their roving brethren of the pasture lands on the Middle Euphrates, had entrenched themselves most strongly east of the Tigris, their two principal tribes being tliose that lay between tliat river and the lowest portion of the Uknu (the classical C7«>as/)t;.s-. now the Kerchih § lOG). The northerly encampments belonged to the Pukxidu ("Pekod" of Jer. 1. 21; Iv/.ek. xxiii. 23), and the southerly to the Gamhulu. The Pukud territory was invaded, the settlements broken u[), and the })eopIe driven to the borders of Elam. With this chastisement the Aramaeans were at least terrorized for the i)resent. § 340. A much more dangerous foe were the Chaldieans, lying between the Lower Tigris and Euphrates, and stretcli- ing northward from the Gulf as far as they could assert ' ii i 1] El i' lil« 380 SUBMISSION OF THE CHALD^.ANS Book VI their power (§ 223, 293). During Tiglatlipilesev's oceu- [)iition with his western and northern wars they had become so successful that one of their chiefs, Ukinzir, attained to the throne of liahylonia, with his seat in the city of Babylon itself. To subdue this Chakhean leader, and thereby to establish an exclusive Assyrian primacy in Ha])y Ionia, was, after all, the great object of the wliole campaign. Accordingly, the notice for 731 in the Eponym lists tells us that the exj)edition was directed against his capital, Shapiya. This city, whose position cannot now be indicated with certainty, made a resistance worthy of the historic Clialdtean name, so that the Great King, having failed to enter the walls, was moved to revenge himself by cutting down, as he had done at Damascus (§ 335), the groves of palm-trees which surrounded it. Other cities of the same principality were taken and destroyed, and all the leading communities of the Chakheans were either subdued or voluntarily surrendered themselves. The former class were treated as rebels and deported to Assyr- ian territory. Among the latter may be mentioned the ruler of Blt-Ydkin, Merodach-Baladan (^Marduk-pal-iddin : " Merodach has given a son "'), described in the records as " the king of the Sea, who, among the kings, ni}'" lu-ede- cessors, to no former king had come or kissed their feet." This chieftain, known to us later from the Bible, and made still more illustrious by the cuneiform annals, was then but a youtli, and thought it best, in the meantime, to projjitiate the redoubtable conqueror of Western Asia by coming before him and proffering his allegiance.^ § 341. Contenting himself witli these achievements, and desirous of spending the remaining years of his life in peace at home, Tiglathpileser now ceased from his wars. In 729 he again visited Babylonia, to receive the formal consecration as the vice-regent of Bel.'^ After the custom 1 For the campaign in Babylonia, see II R. 67 (the chief synoptical inscription), 13-28. ^ Ct> for 729 : «' The king takes the hands of Bel." Book VI Bsev s occu- 1 tliey had s, Ukinzir, seat ill the lean leader, primacy in the wliole :he Eponym against his oannot now e worthy of ing, having } himself by § 335), the 3ther cities yed, and all were either slves. The kI to Assyr- ntioned the k-pal-iddin : le records as i, my prede- their feet." e, and made Is, was then leantime, to icrn Asia by Ch. VII, § 341 LAST YEARS OF TIGLATIIl'ILESKR 381 of his predecessors, he spent his closing years in arclii- tectnral and othe- enterprises for the beautifying and strengthening of liis residence, Kalach, as well as of Nineveh. In the latter city he erected a palace at tlie bend of the river Choser, and in the former he rebuilt the palace of Shalmaneser II (the so-called "Central Palace "), in the style of Syrian architecture, llie walls of this structure he inscribed with annals of his reign. Both the building itself, and the inscriptions, met with a curious fate. Esarhaddon, the fourth in succession, in seeking materials for his great " Southwest Palace," availed himself of the then somewhat dilapidated editice, and transjjorted the stones to the site of his new structure. The original usurpation of the throne by the great founder of the New Assyrian empire, so strangely resented by the descendant of another irregular claimant (§358), had thus the effect of abridging and mutilating the record of his achievements, though it could not hide them from the admiration of later ages, or diminish the never-ending influence of the most original and far-seeing of all the rulers of Assyria. hievements, i of his life om his wars, e the formal r the custom shief synoptical I 1 1 > 1; 1 CHAPTER VIII REVOLT -VND DOWNFALL OF SAMARIA § 342. TroLATHPiLESER III died in the month Tebet, 727. The lieir to his throne, with its new und vast responsibilities, was Shabnaneser IV ^ (727-722), pre- sumably his son. His reign was not devoid of important events, but unfortunately none of his annals have so far come to light, while, to add to our embarrassment, the Eponym notices for these year^ are almost entirely destroyed. It is, therefore, fortunate, that here the Bible narrative is full and specific, more so, at least, than in almost any other portion of Assyrio-Israelitish histor}-. A little help, also, comes to us from the Babylonian chronicle. We shall have to make out our sketch of this brief reign under the disadvantage of scanty material, and it will not be possible to gain certitude as to all the events, or as to their order. § 343. The Book of Kings has a twofold reference to Shalmaneser IV, the only monarch of that name who is mentioned in the Old Testament. The first notice (2 K. xvii. 1-6) is given in connection with the reign of Hoshea of Samaria, and runs as follows, after indicating the time of his accession, the length of his reign, and his character: " (3) Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria ; and Hoshea became his vassal and rendered him tribute. (4) And the king of Assyria discovered treason in Hoshea, in that he had sent messengers to Seve the king of Egypt ^ 1 Bab. Chr. I, 23-28. 2 See Note 14 in Appendix. 382 Ch. VIII, § 344 THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT 383 and did not send up tribute to the king of Assyria, as in year uj^on year, and the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. (5) And the king of Assyria went up through the whole hind, and went up to Samaria, and hiid siege to it three years. (G) In the ninth year of Iloshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and exiled Israel to Assyria, and settled them in Ilalah, and I labor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of Media." The other account (2 K. xviii. 9-11) is given in the narrative of the reign of Hezekiah of Judah: "(0) And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, that was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, there came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria against Samaria, and laid siege to it. (10) And they took it at the end of three years: in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth }-ear of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. (11) And the king of Assyria exiled Israel to Assyria and deported them to Halah, and Ha])or the river of Gozan, and the cities of Media." It is obvious that the second notice adds nothing to the information contained in the first, except the synchronisms with the reign of Hezekiah. There are some difficulties to be cleared up in connection with the numbers given in the two passages; but of these later on. § 344. To appreciate the historical situation, we need to go back a sliort period. According to our sketch of the operations of Tiglathpileser in Palestine, where 733 was given (§ 332) as the jirobable date of the death of Pekah, Hoshea had been six years upon the throne of Samaria at the accession of Shalmaneser. As the creature of Tiglath- pileser, he was bound as much by gratitude as by prudence to remain faithful in his allegiance to his redoubtable overlord. And so he did abide, at least till the demise of the latter gave him a change of masters. But the death of the tyrant alone was no sufficient motive to revolt. As we know, all the nationalities submitted witJi intense reluctance to the Assyrian yoke. Even after the drastic 384 THE REVOLT ACCOUNTED FOR Book VI means of suppression employed on a large scale by Tiglath- pileser, the accession of a new monarch long continued to be regularly the signal for a general revolt of the subject states. But the subjugaticm of the West-land had been undertaken by the founder of the new em[)ire with the best prospects of permanent success; and here it must have been expected that the disunited and shattered peoples would, out of sheer exhaustion and weariness, acquiesce in the dominion of the conqueror. Least of all would it have been supposed that Israel, with the most productive portion of its ancient soil administered by Assyrian pre- fects, and only the petty district about Samaria allowed to preserve the name of a kingdom by the precarious suffer- ance of the Assyrian monarch, should take the lead in any movement towards insurrection. The threefold depletion, of territory, of citizens, and of wealth, followed b}' the exaction of tribute from the impoverished and dispirited rci^idue, would have seemed to render any kind of resist- ance an act of madness. It was a change of outward and not of inward conditions that appeared to promise success to a well-concerted uprising, on the accession of a new Assyrian king. That change consisted in the new Asiatic policy adopted by the revived Egyptian nationality, — a policy which, in its interaction with the aggressive move- ments of the empires on the Tigris and Euphrates, condi- tioned, more than all other external causes, the tragic fortunes of Israel and Judah (cf. § 313). § 345. Our last occasion for direct allusion to the affairs and politics of Egypt was the invasion of Southern Pales- tine by Shishak, the first monarch of the twenty-second Dynasty, in the reign of Rehoboam of Judah (§ 210). Decisive changes had taken place in the empire of the Nile during the two intei'vening centuries. Shishak, and the dynasty which he founded, were of the Libyan race, which had gradually established itself in the Delta by successive immigrations. The Libyans had long been employed in great numbers as mercenary soldiers, and Cii. VIII, § ;J40 RfeSUMfe OF EGYPTIAN AFFAIRS many of them were advanced to high conunands. In thi; growing weakness of tlie Thel)aii rulers, tliey had found their opportunity to use tlieir military autliority as a stefjping-stone to liigh positions in the state. When Shishak, who had been military ruler of IJuhastis, canu' to secure power, upon the crumbling ruins of the priestly dynasty of Thebes, he set himself seriously to counteraet the corruption and manifold abuses which had been toler- ated and [)romoted by his i)redecessors. I>ut the genius for organization and centralization was lacking in these children of the desert. The history of their rule, as far as it can be gathered from their monuments, continues the story of national decline, ending in the complete disinte- gration of the empire. One local ruler after another set up and maintained his authority over his own district, sometimes without opposition, sometimes in successful rebellion against the nominal heir of the Pharaohs. Thus it came to pass, that when, after a century and a half of Libyan domination, under nine titular kings, the country yielded to a new foreign rdgime, there were no less than twenty princes, virtually independent, bearing sway in Egypt proper. § 346. The new controlling force in Egy})t came this time also from the outside, but from a peo{)le altogether dissimilar to the Libyans. Ethiopia had been for more than twelve centuries under the control of Egypt, mIucIi had enriched and aggrandized herself immeasurably through its gold, its rich tro[)ical productions, and, more than all, by its slave-labour. The great princes of the twelfth Dynasty, above all, Usertesen III (c. 2000 B.C.), subdued the north- ern portion of Nubia, and annexed the Nile Valley, from the First Cataract at Assouan to the Second Cataract above Wady Haifa. During the troublous times of the Ilyksos, the Ethiopians not only refused allegiance, but made themselves a terror to the people of the Lower Nile by frequent depredations. It was the renowned monarch, Aahmes I (§ 144), the expeller of the Hyksos, and the 2c li ■ i.-t ' 386 lUSE OF THE ETIIloriANS Book VI fii-st king of the eighteenth Dynasty (c. 1580), who also reconquered Nuhia ; and his immediate successors extended the Egyptian dominion as far as the Third Cataract (Island of Argo). Thothmes I took the decisive step of organiz- ing this whole territory, of three hundred miles in length, as a province of the empire, under the jurisdiction of governors and a governor-general, "the Prince of Kush." Fortresses were constructed, temples and palaces erected, and the local institutions assimilated to those of the conquering peoi)le. The incorporation with Egypt lasted five centuries, and ended in the political independence of the subjugated territory, which had now extended south- ward to the great bend of the Nile at the 18th parallel of latitude. Yet "through association with Egypt the culture of that country had established itself firmly in Ethiopia. Egy[)tian was the official language, the writing was hiero- glyphic, and the titles of the sovereign Avere imitations of those of the Pharaohs. Above all, the Egyptian religion, and especially the Theban worship of Anion, attained to complete predominance in the land of Kush."^ § 347. As the disintegration of Egypt proper under the Libvaii regime went on, as above described, it became easy for the rulers of Ethiopia, who, during the twent3'-second Dynasty had exchanged vice-royalty for actual fis well as titular royalty, to gain for themselves a footing in the territory of the ancient lords of the land. This was all the easier, because Thebes and the surrounding country was now entirely disassociated from the nominal Pharaohs. The new kingdom of Ethiopia, which was coming to domi- nate the whole valley of the Nile, had for its capital Napata, the most southerly city in Egyptian Nubia, at the foot of the Jebel Baikal. The position of this chief city is significant of the original seat of Ethiopian indepen- dence, remote from the influence of the Pharaohs, and near the sources which were continually replenishing the anti- Egyptian element of the population. Early in the eighth ■ i Meyer, GA. § 360. Ch. VIII, § ;»8 THE ETHIOPIAN CUN(iUE«T anti- ighth ■ century the new kiiifrdom was ready to intervene in the affairs of tlie confused and distracted principalities of the Lower Nile-land. This was done hy I'iaiichi. kinj^ of Ethiopia, al)out 775. In what form his claims were tirst put forward is not clear, but we know that his suzerainty was only acknowhidged after a most dctt'rmincd resistance on the i)art of the princes of the Delta and the Fayuni. These were not overcome till several battles had been fought, both on river and land, and more than one city taken by .storm, among these l^eing even Memphis, the most sacred of all cities in the eyes of Egyptians. Pianchi showed the genius of a far-sighted statesman, as well as of a conqueror, in restraining himself from asserting a claim to rule in the seat of the Pharaohs. He was content to receive the homage of the disunited princes, being only watchful against all attempts at combination for the over- throw of his suzerainty. That any of the leading i)rinces succeeded in maintaining more than vary brief independ- ence is not probable. On the other hand, that no Kthio{)iaii ruler is reckoned among the historic Pharaohs until the twenty-fifth Dynasty is to be accounted for by the fact that no sovereign of that country undertook the actual administration of Egypt before that epoch. The twenty- third Dynasty is named after princes who ruled in the Delta, and is reckoned from c. 800 to 735 n.c. The twenty-fourth consisted of but one king, who enjoyed in Memphis a short reign (73-l-7'28), which was [JUt an end to because of his persistent attempts to ignore the authorit}' of the kings of Ethiopia. This prince, Hekenienf by name, the Bocchoris of the Greeks, was dei)osed and put to death by Shabaka of Ethio[)ia, a grandson of Pianchi, who now asserted and maintained the direct control of the united realms of all Egj-pt and Ethiopia. § 348. The accession of the twenty-fifth, or Ethiopian Dynasty (728-663), brings us very close to the time of Shalmaneser IV of Assyria and lloshca of Egypt. Vast designs w^ere now cherished by the Pharaolis of the south- 888 KGYPTIAN DKSIGNS IN ASIA Book VI em race. No less an enterprise was conceived than the re-establishment of Egyptian influence in Western Asia, as it had been maintained in the glorious days of Thothmes III and Ramses II. The practical motives of this ambitious project are not difficult to surmise. It was becoming evident to the Egyptians that the gradual but sure advance of the Assyrians, in the conquest of Syria, Palestine, and North Arabia, was not meant to be confined to Asia alone, but would, from the newly acquired vantage-ground, be pushed onward to the west of the Isthmus. An assertion of their interest in Palestine was therefore an instinctive mo\ ement for self-preservation on the part of the dwellers on the Nile. Again, the Ethiopian kings of Egypt knew that nothing could so strongly cement the disintegrated states of Egypt with one another, and with their new masters from the south, as action in a common cause against the great common foe of the nations. And nothing could so well prove the value of union and cohesion as the dread of national obliteration by the piecemeal absorption of disorganized and disunited states. Hence the encour- agement to aggressive action in Palestine given by the Ethiopian overlords to the princes of the Delta. But both the motive and the action came too late to curb the dreaded Assyrians, or even to save Egypt. Indeed, the evils which had brought about the paralysis of national life — local jealousies and strife, the rivalry of sectional religions, official corruption, and, above all, the greed and arrogance of the priestly class — prevented Egypt, in spite of her ambitions and intrigues, from making any figure at all in Asia for the next hundred years and more. It actually led to her becoming a source of weakness and danger to the Asiatic states which she chose as her allies. At the very outset Shabaka was crippled by the want of subordination, as well as the want of harmony among his Egyptian sub- jects. Yet, on the other hand, tlie ancient renown of Egypt, and the imposing vastness of the new monarchy, lent a seductive glamour to her proffered alliance with the petty states of Palestine, and to her unfailing promises of protection and succour. Thus it was the alluring prospect of Egyptian aid that encouraged Hoshea, and other jn-inces of Sj'ria and Palestine, to break witli Assyria, on the death of their conqueror (cf. § 343 f.). § 349. Shalmaneser showed himself fully alive to the situation. It seems, in fact, that an Assyrian army was operating in Northern Syria at his accession, and, at the same time, keeping watch over the West-land generally. The Babylonian chronicle mentions the destruction of the city SaharaHn as following closely upon Shalmaneser's ascension (that is, in 726), and this city, which was in all probability the " Sepharvaim " referred to by Sinacherib's boastful ambassador 1 (2 K. xviii. 34; xix. 13), and the "Sibraim" of Ezek. xlvii. 16, was situated, according to the last-named passage, between Hamath and Damascus. Rumours of the unsettlement and seditious purposes of Israel appear to have reached the leader of the Ass^-rian army; for the compiler of the narrative in Kings tells us that " Shalmaneser came against Hoshea, and that Hoshea became his vassal, and rendered him tribute." In view of Hoshea's relations with Tiglatlipileser (§ 332), this can onl}' mean that, in consequence of the threatening presence of the Assyrian army, Hoshea rendered homage to his new suzerain, and yielded promptly the tribute which, perhaps, he had been remiss in delivering. It is not necessary to assume, on any fair principle of interpretation, that Shal- maneser appeared in person before Samaria in this first year of his reign. The Bible report goes on to tell of Hoshea's sending messengers to Seve (§ 343), king of Egypt, and withholding from Assj'ria the tribute which he had paid "year upon year." This expression implies that at least two years had elapsed between the formal submis- 1 This identification was first proposed by Hal6vy. Ewald (History of Israel, iv, 102 f. Engl, tr.) sliowed conclusively, many years ago, that Sepharvaim was not to be found in Babylonia. He also identified it with the Sibraim of Eze.ael. 390 HOSHEA'S REVOLT AND CAPTURE Book VI sion of Hoshea and his conspiracy with Egypt. That is, the attempted revolt, which brought Shalmaneser himself with his army against Israel, could not have taken place earlier than 724. As a matter of fact the succeeding state- ments of the narrative imply that this was the date of Hoshea's conspiracy, since they inform us that, in conse- quence of the revolt, Samaria was besieged, and that the city was taken in the third year of its investment; while we learn from the cuneiform documents that the date of the capture was near the close of the Babylonian year 722. § 350. The unhappy king of Israel was disappointed in his hopes of help from the ambitious but sadly hampered king of Egypt, and was apparently compelled to face his Assyrian pursuers unprepared. He was taken prisoner, with how many others we do not know, outside Samaria, and, as we may assume, carried away to Nineveh. The whole land was overrun, and, as the extreme penalty of rebellion, the capital was doomed to destruction. § 351. The final siege of Samaria lacks no element of interest and pathos. The details are not given us from any source, since, as has repeatedly been observed, it was not in accordance with the genius of the Semitic annalists to state the particulars of an action or to analyze the processes and stages of a catastrophe. They accepted results as the expression and indication of the divine will, and these alone they recorded. But material is not lacking to enable us to get a fairly accurate idea of the condition of the beleaguered citizens of Samaria, while the voice of Prophecy proclaims the moral lessons of the catas- trophe, and its significance for all peoples and ages. On the one side, the last years of the people of the northern capital give us occasion for sympathy, and even for admiration ; on the other, their fate bids us moderns listen anew to the warning: — Discite justitiam luoniti et non teninere dives. § 352. It was but a meagre survival of the "Ten from it was nalists ze the cepted divine is not of the le the catas- On thern n for listen Ch. VIII, § 353 ISOLATION OF SAMARIA 391 Tribes " that was left to face the inexorable vengeance of the votaries of Asshur. Once before (§ 236) Samaria had been almost destroyed, and that by a terrible foe. But the Aramseans of Damascus had neither the resources nor effective military policy of the Assyrians. Now when a section of any country was wrested from the main body by these fell destroyers, it was no longer capable in better times of uniting itself with its former governmental system, as had been repeatedly done by the sundered fragments of Israel during the Syrian wars ; it was actually rendered hostile, by being filled with a population sub- servient to the conquerors (§ 288 f.), and was made a base of operations or vantage-ground for ready attack upon the parent state. So, in these last times of the northern kingdom, the country north of the valley of Megiddo — that beautiful but fatal bisector of Israel — was held and administered by Assyrians (§ 331), andGileadand Baslian, whether taken by Tiglathpileser or not, were certainly lost to the remnant that still held out in the hill-country of Ephraim. The condition of Samaria Avas therefore abso- lutely desperate, and this, at first thought, increases the wonder that it had bidden defiance to Shalmaneser. More- over, it is to be considered that by the time the Assyrians appeared before Samaria all the country around had been devastated, and the city itself rendered less able to endure a long siege, by reason of the refugees, who, in all con- siderable ancient wars, thronged the strongest fortresses at the approach of a victorious enemy.^ This isolation of Samaria rendered less probable than ever the arrival of succour from Egypt, or a relieving force from any other possible ally. It is probable that such help was still expected, otherwise it seems diilicult to explain their prolonged resistance. § 3o3. It is, however, to be remembered that Samaria was now a rebellious state, which, in addition to revolt Ten 1 Cf. Macaulay'8 vivid picture in " Iloratius at the Bridge." II mm 892 SAMARIA AND THE PROPHETS Book VI upon its second probation (§ 288) had been guilty of con- spiring with other nations hostile to Assyria. The most instructive parallel is that which is afforded by Judah under Hezekiah, twenty years later, and there we find that the Assyrians were determined to resort to their final method of deportation, even when desirous of securing a peace- ful capitulation of the defenders of the besieged capital (2 K. xviii. 32). It was doubtless their purpose, therefore, to uproot the revolters and send them into exile. Tlie Samarians, therefore, fought for the country and their homes in a special and peculiar sense, which it is difficult for those familiar only with modern and Occidental history fully to appreciate. But, all the same, their stubborn resistance, in the face of such an enemy, had in it a touch of the heroic. § 354. The interest of Prophecy in the Northern King- dom had become less direct since the utterance of the ineffective pleadings and denunciations of Hosea (§ 304, 314). After his time no great Prophet seems to have arisen among the people, and it is very possible that any one of his type, or of the type of Amos, who, equally with him, proclaimed the certain destruction of the state, would have fared hardly at the hands of all leading parties. Life was calmest intolerable to Hosea, whose task was already done when Tiglathpileser invaded the land; and his career of self-immolation found no imitators in the suc- ceeding period of political and spiritual decline. Yet tlie voice of Prophecy was still raised ; her mission, now trans- ferred entirely to the Southern Kingdom, was fulfilled in applying the lessons of the sad fate of Ephraim to the conditions and fortunes of Judah. In the whole history of Prophecy there is nothing more significant, or more melancholy, than this abandonment of what was once the main representative of Israel. Forty years before the reign of the last king of Samaria, Amos could even leave his home in the pastures of the south, and, at the peril of his life, fulfil his ministry as a Prophet, not among his own Book VI of con- he most h under that the method I peace- capital lerefore, 3. Tlie id their difficult L history ;tubborn , a touch •n King- 3 of the (§ 304, to have that any ly with , would . Life already and his the sue- Yet the w trans - filled in to the history or more once the ore the en leave peril of his own Ch. VIII, § 355 AMOS, HOSEA, AND ISAIAH 393 people, but among their northern kindred. But now, when Isaiah and Alicah liave to take up their case, they do not deal with them as subjects for warning or encouragement or rebuke, or even for intercession. They refer to them as enemies of the kingdom of Jehovah, and, as such, predict their speedy overthrow and obliteration. True, both Amos and Hosea had foretold their subjection to Assyria and their exile; but, while the prevision of Amos had been merely a vague and distant outlook, and the pendulum swings of Hosea's ejaculations had vibrated between the horrible dread of destruction and the trembling hope of ultimate restoration, Isaiah and Micah know only of their ruin, and of their extinction as a theocratic people. For the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, in other ways than in mere political results, it was a fatal step that was taken when it joined tlie enemies of Judah (§ 31G). § ooo. Isaiah's predictions of the repulse and of the ultimate fall of Samaria, in connection with the last-named event, we have already considered (§ 327, 330). It is noticeable that he announced specifically the capture of that famous stronghold, in the words "the fortress shall cease from Ephraim " (xvii. 3). A great prophecy of his (ch. xxviii.), written just before the time with which we are now concerned, takes the same theme for its text, and, though it was uttered in the interest of Judah alone, it gives us a faithful pen picture of the morality and public life of the gay Samarian capital, which was already totter- ing to its fall. This brief glance at Samaria is full of historical suggestion, and also full of meaning for thought- ful statesmen and citizens of all modern nations. It was the practical summarizing of the ethical and sociological teachings of the history of the Northern Kingdom. Es- trangement from the true worship of Jehovali, witli the consequent loss of motives to morality, had led to all sorts of self-indulgence, which was still further promoted by the false worship and its seductions to evil encouraged by the foreign policy of many of the kings. And now the long \ 3U4 ISAIAH AND MICAH UiHUi VI course of frivolity and sensuality fittingly culminated in a general riot of debauchery. So frequent and prolonged were tlie revels, and so completely given over to luxury and excess were the leaders of the people, that the fair city itself, encircled by the vine-clad hills that wreathed it around with verdure and beauty, is called by the Prophet "the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading bloom of his splendour, on the summit of the fertile valley of those who are laid prostrate with wine." Upon this scene of natural and artificial loveliness, the denuncia- tion of "woe," in the same breath, is inevitable in the mouth of Isaiah; his voice is only an echo, given back from the walls of Jerusalem, of the terrible, unheeded words of Amos (iii. 9 ff. ; iv. 3; v. 16 f . ; vi. 3 ff.) and Hosea (^e.g. x. 5 ff. ; xiii. 15 f.), proclaiming that Samaria was about to fulfil her doom. § 356. More specific, as regards the catastrophe itself, i'- the utterance of Micah. Like his predecessor and colleague of Jerusalem, this Prophet from the little town of Moresheth-Gath, that bordered on the Philistian high- way of international traffic, was stirred to grief and anxiety for his own country by the impending ruin of Samaria. The condition of that proud capital appears to him as a veritable dignus vindice nodus. So in his vision " Jehovah comes forth from his place, and comes down and strides along the heights of the earth; and the mountains melt before him and the lowlands are cloven asunder, like wax before the fire, like waters tumbling down a declivity. Through the apostasy of Jacob comes all this, and through the sins of the House of Israel. ... So I will make Samaria a ruin in a field, and a plantation for vineyards ; and I will tumble her stones into the valley and lay bare her foundations " (i. 3 ff.). The cycle of Prophecy relating to Samaria fitly closes with this sublime theophany, the absolute accuracy of whose literal statements is attested to this day by the features of the doomed city in its ruins. § 357. Since no details of the catastrophe have been. Book VI latetl in a jrolonged ;o luxury 3 fair city eathed it 3 Prophet 1, and the the fertile ." Upon denuncia- »le in the iven back unheeded 5 ff.) and ,t Samaria phe itself, essor and ttle town tian high- id anxiety Samaria, him as a " Jehovah id strides ains melt like wax declivity. through ill make iueyards ; 1 lay bare relating hany, the ttested to its ruins, lave been Cn. VIII, § 359 THE SIEGE AND THE NEW KING 395 y preserved, we can only conjecture its general course from the analogy of numberless other sieges which mark the chief epochs of Oriental history. The site of the city rendered it almost, or altogether, impregnable against the aggressive methods of ancient warfare. Omri had chosen his fortress well; upon the precipitous slopes, whether terraced or unbroken, it was impossible to bring eitlier belfries or battering-rams to play upon the walls. The slow process of starving into surrender by a close blockade was necessarily resorted to. When the resources of the besieged were just about exhausted Shalmaneser died a natural death, apparently, however, not before Samaria; and the easy task of effecting the entrance and arranging the capitulation, along with the glory of the conquest of the rebellious kingdom, fell to his more fortunate and re- nowned successor. § 358. Sargon (^Sar-kenu, 722-705)— that is, Sargon the Second, or "the Later," as he calls himself, with allusion to the great Sargon of North Babylonia (§ 89 f.) — came to the throne on the twelfth of Tebet, the tenth month of the year which began with the spring equinox of 722; that is, early in December of the same year. He was not the son of Shalmaneser, but was possibly of princely descent, though we have no means of ascertaining how close or remote its connection was with his predecessors. It may be taken for granted that he was an official high in rank ; and, from the fact that there is no indication of a popular disturbance, much less any of a revolution in Assyria proper, in connection with his accession, it is fair to assume that he stood well in favour, both with the peo[)le at large and with the previous regime. Indeed, it is quite possible that Shalmaneser liad chosen him as liis own successor.^ § 359. Sargon was the founder of the last and most powerful Assyrian dynasty, which for a round century held control of Western Asia, and also, for the latter half of the same period, of Egypt and Ethiopia as well. His 1 See Note 16 in Appendix. r 390 CIIAUACTliK AND EAULY ACTS OF SAUGOX Book VI achievements, both in the arts of war and of peace, entitle him to a liigh rank among ancient Asiatic rulers. His- torically, his chief distinction is that he was able to hold together, by tremendous efforts, the huge conglomeration of principalities whose union was first systematically enforced by Tiglathpileser. As regards his personal endow- ments and character, he is not only one of the most imposing, but also one of the least uncongenial to modern observers, of all the kings of Assyria. Compared with the great Tiglathpileser, he was somewhat as Darius Hystaspes was to Cyrus, being, moreover, his second successor, and, besides, not his lineal descendant; he, too, kept together, by dint of skill, energy, and prowess, the empire which his predecessor had built up. His inscrip- tions, which have been preserved to us more fully than those of most of the other kings of Assyria and Babylon, show him to have been a ruler of universal activity and versatile talents. While his uninterrupted campaigns and their almost unbroken series of triumphs attest his military genius, the vast remains of his palaces bear witness to his architectural taste and enterprise. § 3G0, From the beginning of his reign he was kept busy by hereditary foes, revolted provinces, and rebellious vassals. His first achievement, if such it may be called, was the capture of Samaria.^ It is difficult to get an absolutely accurate notion of the data that define the conclusion of this memorable siege. The following con- jectural outline is perhaps most accordant with the ascer- tained facts. The siege, now well on in its third year, Avas brought nearly to its close by the Assyrian generals, in the absence of Shalmaneser, who, whether on account of declining health or the business of state, was, during the latter part of 722, at home in his capital. The blockade was maintained vigorously throughout; the news of the death of Shalmaneser, and of the inauguration of an entirely new regime, made no difference in the loyalt}' or ^ Set Note 16 in Appendix. ; Book VI Cii. VIII, § 301 THE TWO KINGS AND THE SIEOE 307 !e, entitle rs. His- e to hold )iueration imatieally al eiiclow- the most to modern [ired Avith IS Darius is second c; he, too, iwess, the is inscrip- FuUy than . Babylon, tivity and )aifjns and IS military less to his was kept rebellious be called, to get an :lefine the iwing con- the ascer- lird year, generals, iccount of luring the 3 blockade ws of the ion of an loyalty or the energy of the commanders. It is (^uite possible, indeed, that the surrender took place in the absence of the new king also. Sargon claims the conquest for himself; but we know that the Assyrian rulers did not always give due credit to their lieutenants for the successes gained by the latter. At any rate, it is extremely doubtful wliether the new monarch could conveniently arrive at the seat of the war in Ptilestine within the limits of time indicated in his own record of the event; for he intimates that the capture took place between the end of December, 722, and the spring solstice of 721. Since Sargon came to the throne immediately upon the death of Shalmaneser, it is most proper to assume that both of them were in or near the capital at the time. The supposition that Shalmaneser died before Samaria, and that Sargon, as commander of the army of occupation, was cliosen to the succession by the generals, may be dismissed as out of accord with the peace- ful character of the accession ; and still less explicable would the same state of tilings be, on the assumption that either of them was at the capital and the other before Samaria. Now, Sargon tells us that it was in "the beginning" of his reign that he took Samaria. This was the technical term for the period between the accession of an Assyrian monarch and the beginning of the next statutory year, or the spring equinox. Under any circum- stances, and especially as the founder of a new dynasty in an unsettled empire, it must have been necessary for Sargon to remain some little time at Nineveh for the settlement of business. Hence Ave conclude that the capitulation of Samaria took place without the direct inter- ference of King Sargon, whatever part he may possibly have taken in the conduct of the war at an earlier stage. § 361. In the subsequent fate of Samaria, Sargon's was certainly the directing mind. With the fall of the capital the territory of Ephraim now followed the rest of the old Northern Kingdom and became an Assyrian province. Its history, so important to Bible students, so interesting, »!P 398 KEY TO THE SUBSEQUENT HISTORY Book VI and yet so greatly misconceived, can only be understood when it is remembered that the country was administered wholly as a part of the Assyrian empire and in accordance with its well-settled policy. Both the Biblical statements and those of Sargon himself have to be read in the light of what we have learned as to the relations of the subject states to the central authority (§ 285 ff.). And it is to be particularly observed that the treatment accorded to Samaria, as we find it detailed in these records, was the carrying out of a system, and was not worked out in a month or a year. It extended over nearly a century (Ezra iv. 10), and is one of the best extant illustrations of the policy of denationalization, repression, and assimilation, persistently carried out towards the subject peoples by the rulers of the New Empire, till Assyria attained the summit of its power and the limits of its capacity of cohesion and government. Our two sources of information may be collated as follows. The Inscriptions tell us of the spoil- ing of Samaria and of the deportation of a certain portion of its inhabitants. The Hebrew records give the destina- tion of the exiled Samarians, and tell particularly of the colonizing of the old Israelitish territory, the origin of the new occupants, their character, and their fortunes in the strange land of the strange God. In short, they sketch the history of the new settlement, and give us the best picture that we have of the conditions developed by the commingling of races with diverse religious and social and political antecedents, under the old Semitic regime in Western Asia. The picture may also serve as a type of numberless other instances of the forced agglutination of incompatible elements, devised and effected in the vain hope of levelling to one uniform quiescent community the host of nationalities that were to be made the subiects of Asshur. § 362. The city was entered by the Assyrian troops early in 721, according to our reckoning. It was held by them till Sargon was in a position to dispose of its affairs. Book VI iderstood liuistered jcoidance atenients L' light of i subject it is to orded to , was the out in a iry (Ezra ns of the mihition, es by the 3 summit ision and may be he siioil- 1 portion destina- y of the u'igiu of tunes in art, they us the loped by id social regime 3 a type itination the vain mity the subjects 1 troops held by affairs. Cu. VIII, § 363 TIIK DEPORTATION 301) JMeanwhile, an examination was hold into the state of the city, the character and extent of its possessions, and of the property that had been stored by the people of the outlying towns, who had taken refuge within the walls. The responsibility for the insurrection and conspiracy was fixed upon certain of the leaders and their followers. Sargon decreed that these, to the number of 27,200, including their families, should be deported. He does not mention the regions to which they were transferred; but this is 8up[)lied in the Biblical narrative, which informs us that " in the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away unto Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and Ilabor the river of Gozan, and the cities of Media " (2 K. xvii. 6; cf. xviii. 11). This points to at least two, or, in all probability, three bands or groups of exiles. The first indicated was perhaps sent to Kasshite territory east of the Tigris ; the second was destined for the banks of the chief tributary of the Euphrates, half-way between Charran and Nineveh; and the tliird was trans- ported to the far eastern provinces of the empire, whose subjection offered as serious difficulties to the Assyrian kings as did the West-land itself. These separate depor- tations were evidently rather episodes in the administra- tion of the subjugated territory than punishments inflicted all at once upon the rebellious inhabitants. In fact, the distribution of the third detachment of exiles could not have been effected till six years after the surrender, since it was only then that Sargon came into possession of Median territory, the conquests of Tiglathpileser III in that rugged region of stubborn mountaineers not having been permanent (§ 311). § 303. It may be remarked in passing, that this is the whole story of the famous "Dispersion of the Ten Tribes." Our narrative has already shown, at several stages, how, little by little, the Ten Tribes mime to lose their original autonomy^ and how, even in their own land, several of them became gradually extinguished. Now, besides the . ' 400 FATE OF THE "LOST TUIUES" Book VI piirtial deportation of the noitlieni communities by Tiglath- pileser III (§ 332), these successive transplantings are the only ones we know of. We see, therefore, what the problem of accounting for the " Lost Tribes " amounts to. TIk' number of the exi)elle(l peoples given b}^ Sargon doubtless includes all that were sent 'way during his reign, and this comprised but a sni ^lortion of the inhabitants, even of the reduced Samarian territory. Twenty years later, more than seven times this number were carried away from Judah, without destroying the integrity of the kingdom. To preclude any further temp- tation to search for these mythical wanderers, it is worth while pointing out that this comparatively small number speedily lost its identity, by being absorbed in the new populations to Avhich it was introduced. Those who were transported to Media disappeared in a generation or two, scattered as they were in small companies, among utterly alien peoples, themselves in a state of rapid transformation by reason of the influx of Iranians ^ a Central Asia. And even those who were settled ne e River Habor, living as they did among the kindreu Aramaean race, would, by reason of their kinship, be readily assimilated to their social and religious environment, and so lose their corporate, as well as racial, identity. § 364. Attention has been particularly fixed upon Sa- maria, mainly because of its importance in the history of Revelation. But the general political significance of its downfall and capture is also by no means to be underrated. As the strongest fortress near the valley of Megiddo, the great highway of caravans and armies, and as the historic c^itre of a populous and fertile country, its possession must have been of great consequence to the empire of the Tigris.^ This explains the care which the kings of Assyria henceforth took to have it occupied by a docile and loyal 1 The remark of Winckler (Sargontexte, p. xvi), that the city and its siege were of comparatively little importance, is hardly borne out by later history, or even by Sargon's own inscriptions. Book VI r Tigliith- tings are what the imuits to. y Sargoii Liring his n of the territory. 8 number oying the her temp- , is worth 11 number I the new who were an or two, iig utterly iformation tral Asia. ,^er Habor, aian race, ssimilated > lose their Ch. VITI, §364 SARCON'S POLICY AND ITS MOTIVES 401 population. So it Iiappened that, while Sargon's policy aimed at tlie disintegration and effacemeiit of the eon- (picrod nationality, his measures here were the very reverse of harsh, at U'ast as compared with those adopted bv him in other recorded instances, and witli the custoniary pro- cedure of the Assyrians with regard to rebellious vassals. He i)uri)osely granted the remnant of Israel exeei)tional immunities. He contented himself with appropriating to his own military service fifty war chariots; and those of the people who were not sent abroad were left undisturbed in the possession of their goods. Indeed, so far was tlie conquest from obliterating the national life, that less than two years later a section at least of the old kingdom was found assisting a neighbouring state in a revolt against the common ojipressor. If the design of the Great King, in thus extending unaccustomed clemency towards tiie Samarians, was to cultivate a friendly feeling among the inhabitants of Palc-.iine, and, at the same time, to retain possession of the redoubtable fortress at as little cost as possible, it is evident that his measures did not meet at once with ejitire success. 2 i> . upon Sa- history of mce of its mderrated. jgiddo, the lie historic possession pire of the of Assyria e and loyal B city and its le out by later H i APPENDIX NOTE 1 (§ 19) GROUPING OF THE SEMITIC LANGUAGES The following classification of the Semitic languages and principal dialects may be of interest in connection with the ethnological grouping given in the text. A. North-Semitic. 1. Bakvloman (Assyrian). II. Aramaic. a. East-Aramaic. 1. Classical Syriac (Nortliern Mesopotamia). 2. Mandiiite (Lower Babylonia). 3. Babylonian Talinudic. 4. " Modern Syriac ' ' (Upper Tigris region, Kurdistan, Urmia). b. West-Aramaic. 1. Biblical Aramaic. 2. Targuinic. 3. Samaritan. 4. Nabataean (in.scriptional). 5. Palmyrcne (inscriptional). III. Canaamtic. a. Hebraic (Hebrew, Moabite, etc.). b. Pha3nician, B. South-Semitic. I. Sab.kan (Himyaritic). II. Etiiioi'ic (with modern Tigr6, Amharic, etc.). III. Arauic. 408 ■I 404 AITENDIX Note 2 NOTE 2 (§ 36) MALIK AND MALK The longer (participial) form has also been preserved in the name of the North-Semitic god, Assyr. Malik, Canaanitic Mvlek (not " Moloch ") ; that is, apparently, the god-chief. The word is precisely the same as that of the Aramaiau Nestorian digni- tary (hence the Armenio-Iiussian name Melikoff), so that both the longer and the shorter forms are preserved in the three great North-Semitic families. Layard {Nineveh and its Remains, i, 187 if.) and Socin (Encycl. Brit. vol. xvii, p. 357) give a wrong pronunciation (vielek, melik). The a in the word is long, and has the sound of a in father, as I have repeatedly verified it from the lips of native Nestorians. Layard is also wrong in restricting the term and the office to the chiefs of Tiyari, as it occurs among all the Nestorian districts under Turkish rule. The natives clearly distinguish between malk and midik, the former being "the Sultan of Stamboul." Socin is also in error in making, without qualification, the oiRce hereditary. That princiido is certainly recognized, but the clinging to primitive customs is so strong that, as I have been assured, a good man is chosen from the people, mainly on the recommendation of the bishop, when the son or sons of a deceased mdlik are in any way objectionable. NOTE 3 (§42) PIKEXICIAN COLONIZATION It is not known even approximately where the first Phoeni- cian city was founded, or when Phoenician commerce began. Whoever took the Babylonians over to Cyprus must have started from the opposite coastland, and as we liave no reason to suppose that the Phoenicians did not begin the commerce witli Avhich the world has associated their name, it may be assumed in the meanwhile that they were the carriers. This would make their maritime enterprises to have begun not later than about 4000 n.v. (§ 90, 97). For a long time Sidon was the Note 2 Note 3 APPENDIX 405 sred in the itic Molek The word ian digni- that both the three 3 Remains, T) give a e word is repeatedly ird is also 1 chiefs of icts under ,veen malk l." Socin the office I, but the have been ttly on the sous of a st Phoeni- fce began, lust have no reason commerce it may be rs. This n not later an was the leading city-state, as it was presumably the first of all the settlements between the Cilician coast and ^Mount Carmel to attain to wealth and an extensive commerce. Hence the usage of the name Sidonians for the Phcenicians as a whole in the Old Testament (Jud. xviii. 7, 28; Deut. iii. 9; IK. v. 20, xvi. 31), and among tlie ancients generally. The earliest foreign settlements Avere naturally made in Cyprus. Indeed, the Old Testament usage of ^'^r\2 (i.e. Kition, the nearest ])ort in the island) for the maritime settlements of the Mediterranean is of itself a ])roof of the immemorial association of the first colony of Phoenicia with the commerce of the great West. From Cyprus, the most momentous voyages of antiquity were made to Ithodes and beyond (by at least the fifteenth century B.C.) through the iEgean. Thus trading-stations were erected, and the germs of Semitic civilization deposited among the islands and along the coasts of Greece. That they had factories on the Grecian mainland there can be no doubt whatever, difficult and usually impossible though it may be to follow ac- curately in their tracks or to detect their long-vanished traces (cf. 3Ieyer, GA. § 192). From these they Ave re expelled by the Greeks themselves, Avhom they had taught the sea-faring art, and Avho came to far surpass their masters in the business of piracy, and to equal them in kidnajjping and slave-dealing, if not in the soberer methods of legitimate commerce. Their later and more enduring settlements in North Africa and Southern Spain lie in the beaten paths of history. No other of the ancient authorities has given such precise details of the range and objects of Phcenician trade as the HebrcAV Ezekiel (ch. xxvii.). A partial notion of the enterprise of the Phoeni- cians, and of their importance in the development of civiliza- tion as Avell as to their contemporaries, may be gained by calling to mind the uses of the alloy bronze in ancient times, and the fact that the business of furnisliing copper and tin, Avherever these Avere mined (often hundreds of miles apart), Avas almost entirely in the hands of the Phoenicians. A kin- dred reflection is suggested by the economic phenomenon of the interchange in commercial value of gold and silver, the depreciation of the latter having been brought about through the abundance and Avide circulation of the products of the 400 AITENDIX Note 3 mines of Southern Spain; the elaboration of the ores, and the transportation of the bullion to the money markets of the East, being for centuries in the hands of the Phoenicians. NOTE 4 (§ 131) AMORITE AND CAXAANITE Wellhausex, in Jahrb. fur deutsche Theologie, xxi, 602, (= Skizzen u. Vorarbeiten, 133 f.), asserts that "Amorites" was the designation of the primitive population of Palestine in the Elohist (E) and in Amos. Steinthal {Zeitschrift fiir Volker- psychologie, xii, 2G7) has also arrived at the fjonclusion that Amorites and Canaanites were identical. The most elaborate presentation of the same view has been made by Ed. Meyer in ZATW. I, 121-127, who has been approved by W. Robert- son Smith in his Prophets, p. 26, and by Stade, GVI. p. 110. Kittel (GH. p. 20 f.), while agreeing with ]\Ieyer and the others as to the usage in the case, is not convinced that the names correspond exactly to the same things. I shall state the main positions of Meyer, so that the subject may be fairly grasped by the reader. The general statement is "that the ethnical name 'Amorite ' belongs exclusively to the Elohist, and the name Canaanite exclusively to the Jehovist. The two names are absolutely equivalent in import and range, and designate the total pre- Israelitish population of Palestine." The lirst argument is based upon the alleged authorship and usage of the Book of Joshua. According to Meyer, this work, with the exception of a few interpolations, " proceeds entirely from the Elohist, and nothing but 'Amorite ' is used here as the name of the inhabi- tants " (p. 122). Against this it may be said, that while the Avord Amorite occurs 18 times in Joshua, the word Canaanite occurs 16 times, apart from the use of tlie word Canaan; that the greater portion of Joshua is by most modern critics assigned to the Elohist and Jehovist (JE), and that it is imjiossible to separate the twofold contribution, except in a very few cases (cf. Driver, Intr. p. 97); that, for example, while Kautzsch and Socin assign 33 verses out of the whole (viii. 3-20; Note 3 Note 4 APPENDIX 407 XV. 14-19) to J alone, they attribute, outside of eh. xxiv., but 19 verses to E apart from J, and of these only two (i. 1 f.) to E independently (Kautzsch, etc. ATU). Finally, Meyer omits from his list of citations from Joshua, ch. iii, 10; v. 1; vii, 7, 9; xvi. 10; xvii. lU, 13, 16, 18, in all nine cases. Again, Meyer appeals to the character and usage of Deuter- onomy, claiming that the book is throughout of Elohistic character, and that in it the use of Amorite, as opposed to Canaanite, is almost exclusive of the latter. The case here is more plausible than with Joshua. The preponderance of " Amorite " is undeniable (15 cases against 4), and the only question is whether the usage is justified by a real distinction between the races. The difficulty diminishes when it is observed that, in all the cases except 3 (i. 7; vii. 1; xx. 17), reference is distinctly made to the "Amorites" east of Jordan, where no Canaanites are ever located by any Biblical writer ! It is, therefore, unnecessary for the argument to have it decided whether Meyer is right in thinking that Deuteronomy is almost wholly Elohistic. Move weight must be attached to the assertion that the Jehovist uses the name Canaanite to the exclusion of Amorite. At least, this appears to be true of certain passages in Genesis and Exodus, which critics generally agree in assigning to J independently of E (JE) or of P or of the Deuteronomist. The number of such cases is indeed very small, and the most that can be affirmed is that a certain usage is found in the books in question, according to which the people west of tlu; Jordan are referred to as Canaanites, and not as Amorites. Whether this can be accounted for on the supposition tliat the name Canaanite is given as to inhabitants of " Canaan " is an ojjcn (piestion. It must be admitted to be peculiar that there is a combination, in three cases, of Canaanites and Perizzites alone ((ten. xiii. 7; xxxiv. 30; Jud. i. 4 f.). It is further contended by ^NFeyer and Wellhausen, as a consequence of the above conclusion, that "Amorite" (E) is a term peculiar to the Northern Kingdom. In support of this is cited the fact that Amos (ii. 9) uses the term Amorite. But the usage of Amos would prove the con- trary if it proved anything, since he was of Judaic birth, education, and permanent residence, and it can hardly be sup- mT 408 APPENDIX Note 4 posed that to be intelligible to his northern constituency of unwilling hearers he needed to use the terminology of their ethnographical school as against that of his own! NOTE 5 (§ 201) ARAMAEANS AND LATER IIETTITES IN SYRIA It is usually believed (cf. Ewald, Hist, of Israel, Eng. tr., ii, 302) that the Aramaeans had not only formed their settlements in Southern Syria before the Israelitish occupation of Canaan, but that they had also planted colonies in Canaan itself. The name of a locality, Hadad-Rimmon (Zech. xii. 11), in the plain of Megiddo, is referred to as proof of this, the word being wholly Aramaean. But it occurs only once, and that in a very late autlior, while the facts about the naming of the place are wholly unknown. It is, indeed, conceivable that, in the times of Benhadad II, or Hazael, a trading-station was established in this rich exporting region (cf. 1 K. xx. 34), and then held as a Syrian town during the predominance of Damascus. We have, I think, a confirmation of the view that the Aramaic settlements in Syria were formed not very long before the eleventh century B.C., in the fact that the bond between them and their kindred beyond the River was so close in the time of David (2 Sam. viii. 3, explained by x. IG). No Semitic states, even when bound by kinship, remained long in disinterested federation (§ 54). A jiarallel is furnished by the Hettite confederation (§ 1G3; cf. 157), if it may so be called. On the Assyrian limitations of the Aramsean settlements westward, see Par. 257 f. It must not, however, be inferred from the testi- mony of the cuneiform records that Aramaeans were not to be found west of the Euphrates until a comparatively late date. In the text I have purposely restricted the later occupation to permanent settlements, such as those of Hamath and Damascus. As to the later usage of the term "Hettites" in the Old Testament, it cannot be too distinctly affirmed that there were no independent Hettite communities in Southern and Central Syria from the time of David onward. The popular Avorks written about this people are here entirely misleading. In Note 4 lituency of y of their Note 6 APPENDIX 409 Ing. tr., ii, ettlements jf Canaan, self. The II the plain I'ord being t in a very 3 place are I the times established L then held iscus. We B Aramaic before the iveen them le time of itic states, interested le Hettite On the ;\vard, see the testi- not to be late date. ipation to Damascus. the Old here were Central lar works ding. In Jud. i. 26, the word has exactly the same general application as the Assyrian usage referred to in the text. In 2 K. vii. G (cf . § 236) the historical conditions make it perfectly clear that it could only have been the Hettitos of the north who are meant. Besides, there is a suspicious combination with D^"I3{D here, which may perhaps confirm the whole matter beyond a doubt. In 1 K. x. 28 D^"lll£0 is associated with the land of Kue (see § 230), and in v. 29 it is apparently included among the Hettite communities. Hommel (GBA. j). (510, n. 3) has suggested that the word be here read jMu.srim and not referred to the Egyptians at all, but to the Musre, who are frequently alluded to in the inscriptions as living in a country near the borders of North Syria and Cappadocia (see esp. KGF. p. 254 if.). In the extract from Shalmaneser II, given in § 228, this country is named next to Kue. The coincidence with the Biblical passage is certainly remarkable. But in 2 K. vii. 6 the combination of Hettites and D^"niJI2 occurs again. Now the Hettites had no association with the Egyptians in the minds of the Hebrews, and it is absurd to suppose that the Syrians before Samaria could expect a simultaneous attack from armies of these widely separated peoples. The north, on the other hand, was always the place whence sudden over- whelming invasions came upon Syria and Palestine. The Hettites here would thence have come undoubtedly from Northern Syria or beyond, along with their natural neighbours and allies, and presumable kindred. The remaining passage, 2 Sam. xxiv. 6 (Sept. "the Hettites of Kadesh"), is a reminis- cence of the people who once gave importance to the famous stronghold on the Orontes. "With reference to the JMu.sre, I would add that the Mio-paio? of the Greek inscription men- tioned by Sachau in his article "Bemerkungeu zu cilicischen Eigennamen" (ZA. VII. 100), refers to them and not to the Egyptians, as the author supposes. NOTE 6 (§ 216) BASIS OP CHRONOLOGY It is well known that the chronology of the kingdom of Israel, from the reign of Jeroboam II to the taking of Samaria, i !i 410 APPENDIX Note 6 as inferred from the numbers found in the current text of the Bible, is in a very uncertain state, and that various expedients have been resorted to in order to make it agree with the chronology of the kings of Judah. This is not the place for a minute comparison with the chronological data of the Assyrians, but it may be remarked in general that the system of the latter is more special and precise. It was not the custom of the Bible writers, especially the earlier ones, to record events with a strict notation of the time of their occur- rence. Among the Assyrians there were three great classes of public records, in which every occurrence was carefully dated: first, the so-called Eponym lists, to be presently described ; second, records of the events of each reign, written in chronological order; and, third, business documents, regu- larly dated. Again, it is to be noted that the numbers of the current Hebrew text have sometimes proved to be mutually inconsistent. Accepting these facts as established without further discussion, it is an inestimable advantage that we have a means of checking and supplementing these confessedly inadequate data, in the indications furnished for many leading events in the cuneiform records. According to the Assyrian system, each year was indicated by the name of its eponym {Unm = archon, magistrate), and lists of these were carefully made and kept, of which large fragments have been preserved. We can thus make up a complete series for the time 893-(){)(> B.C., as well as for shorter periods before and after. Some copies contain also statements of the most important events in the respective years, and note the changes in the succession of kings. These eponyms are referred to in the royal annals very frequently, and in business documents regularly. Their accuracy is now beyond question, as every check api>lied to them has been satisfactorily met. The chief corroborative system is the famous Canon of Ptolemy, Avhich gives a list of the native kings of Babylonia, beginning with Nabonassar, 747 H.c. The most striking evidence of the correctness of the Assyrian lists is the statement for the eponymic year w? ich would correspond to 763 b.c, that in the month Sivan (= June) of that year an eclipse of the sun was observed in Nineveh, which modern calculations have proved to have been Note 6 Note 7 APPENDIX 411 : text of the s expedients ee with the he place for lata of tlie t the system vas not the ier ones, to their occur- [reat classes as carefully e presently lign, Avritten inents, regu- iibers of the be mutually led without hat we have confessedly lany leading he Assyrian its eponym re carefully preserved. nie cS93-G()G ;er. Some it events in iccession of )yal annals ly. Their ai7|)lied to rroborative es a list of nassar, 747 ess of the year w? ich nth Si van )bserved in have been > that of June 15, 7G3 u.c. This eclipse occurred in the middle of the reign of Jeroboam II, and furnishes the surest basis of Assyrian chronology (cf. § 20')). With reference to the later Old Testament usage, it should be observed that notations were made of certain classes of occurrences. Thus, the relative accession years of the kings of Jiidah and Israel, from the Schism downwards, were indi- cated; also other important events, such as tlie taking of Samaria (Lf K. xvii. (»; xviii. *.>), the invasion of Sinacherib (2 K. xviii. 13), various incidents connected with the siege and capture of Jerusalem (2 Kings and Jeremiah). The Prophets, also, noted frecpicntly in what years of their min- istry, or of the reigning kings, they received their revelations or commissions. But none of these items refer to a regular established system of dating, such as that which the Babyloni- ans and Assyrians employed from very remote times. NOTE 7 (§ 249) SEMIKAMIS The fame of " Semiramis " may justify an additional remark. Tiele (BAG. p. 212 f.) and Hommel (GAB. p. G31) regard her as Iiaving been the mother of Kamman-nirarT, while both agree that she was, in all i)robability, a Babylonian princess. That she was, in reality, his wife, appears to me to be clear, from the fact that the statue of Xebo was not dedicated till the fifteenth year of the king's reign, and that the new cult must have been introduced much earlier if she had been his mother and had ruled the country as regent till he came to his majority. It is the governor of Ivalach who dedicates the statue, and he makes a proclamation in the last line of the inscription which is apparently an inauguration of the worship of Xebo. This function was performed in 79abylou at the time of the reign of the king whose name is recordeil variously as Pulu, Phulu, and Poros. If this designation stood for another than Tiglath- pileser, the lists would be false or defective. Yet, in the Babylonian Clironicle, not only does Tiglathpileser take the place of Pulu in the list of kings, but his successor is given in the same document as Shalmaneser, the son and follower of Tiglathpileser. It is also a noteworthy illustration of tlie duality of names, that the same successor is called in the Babylonian king-list Ululai (Elulaeus). It seems as though it were not an unusual thing for kings, at their accession, to take the name of some distinguished predecessor as their official designation. See § 251 for an apparent parallel in Damascus. NOTE 9 (§ 307) TIGLATIIPILESEB III AND AZAKIAII OF JUDAH The identification of Azriya'u of Tiglathpileser's annals with Azariah of Judah has not been always unquestioned. The objections of Von Gutschmid (Neue Beitrdge zur Kiinde des Alten Orients, p. 55 ff.), which were fully dealt with by Schrader in KtfF. p. 395-421, of Wellhausen (Jahrbiicher fiir devtuche Theologie, xx. G32), and Klostermann {Samuel- Koniye, p. 49()), dealing as they did with the more obvious difficulties, liave not given occasion for serious doubt. More weighty is the posi- tion taken by Winckler (AUorientalische Forschungen, 1, 1X1)3, p. 1-23), who identifies the " Ya-u-di " of Tiglathpileser with the region ^HK'', which occurs in tlie inscriptions recently found at Sinjirli in Xorthern Syria, and which he proves to have formed part of the older kingdom of "Patin " (Chattin). His main plea is that, inasmuch as the references to Azriya'u occur only in connection with Tiglathpileser's operations in Northern Syria, it is necessary to look for the home of that personage in that region; and that it was only the universal ignorance of the existence of a country "Ya-u-di" in the right locality that led scholars to identify it with Judah. Among other argu- ments, he adduces the fact that the Azriya'u in question is 414 Al'l'KNDIX Note 9 rei)rt's»'iite(l as taking the field in person, wliich it was impos- sible for Azariah of Judah, at his advanced age, and with Jothani as the regent, to have done in 73S, if indeed he Avas alive at that date;^ further, that there was no occasion of Azariah of Judah interfering with Tiglathpileser at this stage, since the latter did )iot come below Northern Syria in that year; moreover, tiiat the kingdom of Judah was not in a posi- tion, under llzziah, to undertake such an expedition as the current hypothesis involves. It must be confessed that, at first sight, it seems a bold thing to conceive of the intervention of Judah in the manner and place supposed, and if a king Azriya'u and a country ya'udu or "Yaudi" can be found in Northern or Middle Syria at this era, they must be accepted as fulfilling the his- torical conditions. But, unfortunately for Winckler's theory, the)' havi^ not as yet been brought to light. Xo Azriya'u (= Azariah) has so far been unearthed in those parts; and to claim tliat Ya^udii, or "Yaudi" is the same as ■'"tS''^ (which Sachau impartially transcribes Ya\U), is to assume too much, however plausible the combination may be. At best this ■'■JS'' was a petty state, a fragment of a kingdom, itself never very important, and it is hardly conceivable that "nineteen districts belonging to Hamath, " some of which were of con- siderable significance, looked to it for protection. On the other hand, we have the name Azariah and the name Judah written precisely as one would expect them to ap])ear in an Assyrian document, while King Azariah is known to have been living and reigning over Judah at least till within a very few years of the date in question. That he was, moreover, in a position to take just such action as is indicated in the cunei- form record, has been sufficiently demonstrated in the text of e need not ■rson at all. le, qui facit * Little weight need be attached to this coi suppose that Azriya'u (whoever he wasi >nn' Oriental kings universally upheld fi per alium facit per se. 2 Stress is laid upon the ending i \\, a-u-di, a in the Sinjirli inscription ; but that is, apparent v, a genitive termination, and the ending is, in any case, of so little conse, Huce that in the previous line the adjectival form is written Ya-u-da-a. freeing with the form No It !t NOTK 10 APl'KNDIX 415 the present work. That Hiuimth, whicli was, after all, the state chietiy eoncerned, was elusely related to both Israel and Judah, is clear from 2 K. xiv. L'S, whatever may he the true restoration of the text (cf. LXX), and besides from the sij;niH- cant fact that a prince of Hamath in 720 bore the sij,Miificant name of Ya'u-bi'ch', an appellation which of course (h)es not necessarily imply that Jehovah was tht^ object of a worship indigenous in llamath, but only that the cult had been accepted there along with the protectorate or yoke of Israel or Ju(hdi.^ Oil the whole, in spite of Winckler's very ingenious con- structions, it seems best to adhere iu the meantime to the generally accepted opinion. NOTE 10 (§ 314) "king yaheb" The word yy, Yareb, would be naturally explained in Hos. V. 13 as a proper name, but we know of no Assyrian monarch with a name at all similar. It is better, then, to take the word as an appellative, though even so it is not easy to settle the meaning. To exi)lain it as a descri])tive imperfect of y^, "to contend, quarrel," would give a tolerable though not the best sense : it was the settled policy of others than the Assyrian rulers to pick quarrels. But the vowel pointing of the word, as well as the rareness of the construction outside of poetry, stand in the way of this explanation. The best sense of all is, I think, to be gained by explaining the word as a participial adjective of a familiar Aramaic stem, meaning "to be great." Aramaic being now the ovdinary medium of international intercourse, it was natural thac that language should furnish the designation of the " Great King " that was 1 Winckler (I.e. p. 16) endeavours to use this name of a Ilamatlu'ean prince as an argument in favour of the legitimate occurrence of I'a'w in Azriya'u as the name of a North-Syrian ruler. But what evidence have we of close relations between Israel and Northern Syria ? lly the way, when Winckler (p. 3, 21), makes out "Patin" to have been the Biblical raddan-Aram, he forgets that Gen. xxxi. 21 tells us expressly that the latter district lay on the east of the Euphrates. 416 APPENDIX Note 10 current in Western Asia. It is unnecessary to add that this was the favourite title assumed by the Assyrian monarciis themselves. Saycp (Jewish Quarterly Revieto, i, U\2 ff. ; Babylonian and Oriental Record, ii, 18 ff.) holds that S")"' was the original name of Sargon, in whose reign he thinks the latter portion of the Hook of Hosea was composed. This theory, though regarded as '* proved" by Neubauer (ZA. Ill, 103), and looked upon witli favour by Hommel (GBA. (iSO), is disproved by two fatal objec- tions. The Hebrews would, of course, write an Assyrian name according to tlie impression it made upon the ear (hen(;e, for ex- ample, a instead of S, in such proper names as Sargon, Asnappar). But the Assyrians and Babylonians neither wrote nor pro- nounced y at the beginning of any native word, and the Hebrew equivalent would ';ave begun with K. Again, the composition of such a work as that of Hosea during the reign of Sargon was impossible. When Sargon came to the throne, Samaria was jusi, on the point of surrender (§ 357 f.), the whole work of reduction having been already accomplished by Shalmaneser IV. At his accession, the negotiations with Egypt, referred to by Hosea, were long past. Nor could Sargon have been referred to by the Prophet as an heir apparent (»r rising general, for the personage in question is expressly designated as the reigning monarch. NOTE 11 (§ 315) DATK OF ZFX'H. IX. -XI. It seems impossible to find any other period in the history of the Western country, when all the conditions offered in these three chapters were fulfilled. Where otherwise, for example, was it possible to couple Hadrach (see § 258, .307), whose fate is commemorated by Tiglathpileser alone, with Gaza, which likewise was the victim of his vengeance? When again, con- temporaneously, or nearly so, with these events, was Gilead overnm by foreign troojis and lost to Israel? The reference to the lonians (ix. 13) in this age is not surprising, when Hosea (xi. 10) makes a not obscure allusion to the captives who had been transported beyond the western seas, not to Note l;i APPENDIX 417 mention Joel (iv. 4-6), of disputed date, who refers to similar conditions. That the Northern Kingdom was still in exist- ence, and Assyria still in its "pride" (x. 10 f.), is intimated as plainly as anything else in Prophecy. NOTE 12 (§ 327) THK SKJN "iMMAXUEL" It is with the utmost diffidence that, at this advanced stage of inquiry, I offer an observation upon the meaning of this mueh- explaincd passage. The first point that naturally comes up is the question of the parentage of the original " sign " and tyi)e. From the point of view of language and grammar, the tenable opinions are reducible to two: the article before ni37!? either jjoints out the particular young woman of the time who was to become the mother of Immanuel, or it simply designates some one of a class, not further to be defined or to be understood as definitely meant; tliat is, some young woman soon to become a mother would bear a child to be named "God is with us." Tlie latter view is quite tenable according to Hebrew usage (cf. especially Gen. xiv. 13; xviii. 7; Num. xi. 27; 1 Sam. xvii. 34; 2 Sam. xv. 13; xvii. 17; 1 K. xx. 30). The (pu's- tion is, does the context favour it? It is hard to think so, because the indefiniteness of the parent would involve the indefiniteness of the child also, and if he could not be idcntififd in his childhood the prediction would lose all its significance-, in other words, the sign could not be verified. It is self- evident that the name of the (diild is mentioned not merely on account of its signification, but also for the purposes of later identification. Tht; mother is at least defined in so far as slie was to bear the promised child. But we must conclude from ^licah V. 3-0, and especially from the utterances as to a child ruler and deliverer made; by Isaiah himself (chs. ix., xi.) that a Saviour was to appear for Israel, and to be born of the royal house of ] )avid (eh. xi. 1 ). If " Immanuel " answers at all to such a child, his mother would belong to that house, and may be presumed to have been the wife of one of tlie princes. Naturallv, wo think of the wife of Ahaz, because tiie deliverer 418 APPENDIX Note 12 was to be the ruler of tlie country (ch. ix. G f.), and no one would have dreamed of a dethronement of the legitimate heir in Judah, least of all the conservative Prophet. Is there any evidence of this in the context? Just one expression, what- ever it may amount to, the word nX"1p which nearly all the interpreters translate "she shall call," but which the LXX renders much more naturally, "thou shalt call." Why the latter explanation of the word has been so generally ignored, I do not know. There is as much reason for translating the same consonants by the third feminine in Gen. xvii. 19, a passage precisely analogous to our own, where all authorities agree in holding the second masculine to have been meant. If it was so obvious in the passage in Genesis that this was the meaning, why should the writer in our passage have chosen precisely ':he same form if he intended the third feminine, especially when the archaic form, with the ending JH, is very rarely used for this person? Such ambiguity, when the chances were in favour of a misunderstanding, on account of the form being the regular one for the second i)erson, is unthinkable. It could only have been done if it had been clear that the speaker was not addressing Ahaz. But it appears plainly from v. 17 that, in the })articular application of the prediction, Ahaz was singled out as the head and representative of the "house of David," which was formally arraigned at the opening of the discourse. It seems altogether probable, then, that Ahaz was addressed as the namer and father of the coming child. In harmony Avith ch. ix., it is further to be assumed that it was the heir to the throne that was heralded as the future deliverer, and this view is confirmed by the use of the term HXi'?!?, which would naturally be applied to a young wife, especially to one who had not as yet borne children. "NVe are pointed then, it would seem, for the primary reference, to Hezekiah, presumably the eldest son of Ahaz. lint can the chronology be made to suit this interjiretation? Not according to the common view of the date of Hezekiah's birth. Cheyne, for example, says (note in Commentary to ch. vii. 14) : " The theory that Immanuel = Hezekiah was long ago disproved by the remark of Jerome, that Hezekiah must have been at least nine years old when the prophecy was Note 12 APPENDIX 419 delivered (comp. 2 K. xvi. 2; xviii. 2)." Tlie former of these passages cited tells us that Aliaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and that he reigned sixteen years. Assuming this notation to be correct, how old would Ahaz have been at the birth of Hezekiah, if the latter were nine years of age in 735? As we have seen (§ 209), Ahaz could not liave begun liis reign before 730, and if Hezekiah was then eight years old the father could not have been older than twelve at the birth of the son! The other passage tells us that Hezekiah was twenty-five when he began his reign. If the statement about Ahaz is correct, then he would still have been only eleven or twelve at the birth of Hezekiah. But it is evident on all grounds, that the age of Hezekiah at his accession must be shortened considerably from twenty-five. Even if he came to the throne in 715 or 714, his age must still be less than twenty-five to make it agree with ch. xvi. 2. If we take off five or six years we would make his birth-year 734 or 733, which would suit the terms of the prophecy before us, and would also I'^ake Ahaz to have been twenty -two or twenty-tliree at the date of his birth. I am now only concerned to prove that the correction whicli has to be made in one or the other of the numerical statements in Kings makes it not impossible that, as far as date is concerned, Hezekiah is not exchuled as the primary child of the prophecy. Finally, if it be said that, historically, Hezekiah did not fulfil the predictions, it is to be replied that he did so more than any one else that we know of. A note should be added as to the significance of tlie name "Immanuel." It is naturally objected that Hezekiah is never elsewhere called by this name. That is true, but we have also to account for the remarkable phenomtMion that the name never reappears as the designation of the expected ^lessiah till New-Testament times. Tliis fact can only be explained on the hypothesis that the intended ajiplication of tlu name in Old-Testament history was only temporary, As tlie most expressive of the names emi)loyed in the Old Testament to designate a God-appointed deliverer, it was applied by Matthew to Jesus, but the significance of the idea of the jVIessiah could not be exhausted by any one name ; and, as a matter of fact, we find other appellations immediately applied (ch. ix. 5). 420 APPENDIX Note 12 .1 'it We must not forget that, among the Hebrews, naming was not putting on a label, as it is with us, but affixing a description or characterization. It is even doubtful whether " Immanuel " occurs more than once as a proper name. In ch. viii. 8, we have only Jewish tradition, which is notoriously unsafe in Messianic passages, in favour of such a rendering. Is it not much more in har- mony with the context to begin a new section with the phrase, "God is with us," so that its later (and last) occurrence, v. 10, is a rhetorical reaffirmation of the promise of divine succour? The preceding words " in thy land " would then have been addressed to the Prophet himself, as, in fact, we would expect them to havo been, from the direct statement of v. 5. The new paragraph wo\ild accordingly begin thus: "God is with us I Know it [Sept.] all ye peoples! Know it, and give ear all ye of far countries, " etc. NOTE 13 (§ 331 f.) TKiLATHl'ILKSEU III IX PALESTINE The principal sources for this expedition are III R. 10 Nr. 2, (annalistic), and II K. 07, 53-03 (synoptical). These are very seriously mutilated, but what remains is of the greatest importance, as the names cited in the text at once indicate. Besides these are certain small fragments published by Layard, Inscr. PI. 2\), 00, 72 f. The principal dates are tixed by the notices of the Eponym lists, which run as follows: 735, to the land of Ararat; 734, to the land of IMiilistia; 733, to the land of Damascus; 732, to the land of Damascus. The order of events followed in the text is determined by III K. 10, Nr. 2, along with Lay. 0(5. I give a translation of the passage in the annalistic inscription (III K. 10, Xr. 2), whicl: 1 arrates the first stage of the operations. In line 17 I use an important correction of Rost ("they overthrew"). "(0) The city Gal — , the city Abil-akka which lay at the entrance to the country of Omri, (7) the wide [land of Naphta]li throughout its extent, I annexed to the bounds of Assyria. Note 13 APPENDIX 421 (8) My military and civil officers I placed over thom. Chanim of the city of Gaza (9) took flight liofore my weapons of war and filed to the land of Egypt. The city of Gaza (10) I took; his possessions and his gods [I carried off as spoil,] and the image of my sovereignty (11) I erected in his palace. Among the gods of their land I reckoned (12). . . Tribute I laid on them . . . and like a bird (13) [in fear he left his hiding-place and gave himself up (?)]. To his place I restored him. (14) Gold, silver, variegated garments, Kitu cloth (15) , . . many ... I received. The land of Omri (IG) [I conquered; its fighting men I] slew; officers [over it I appointed,] the mass of its people (17) I took prisoner and deported to Assyria. Pekah their king they over- threw, and Hosea (18) to kingship over them I installed. Ten talents of gold and . . . talents of silver as their contribution I received from them and carried it away to Assyria." Lines G-8. Ga-al can hardly be supplemented to "Gilead," for reasons to be presently adduced. Abil-akka (as the original seems to read) may very well stand for Abel-(ljeth)-Ma'aka, and the filling out of -li to make Naphtali, though a somcAvhat venturesome proceeding, has at least strong geographical support. On the other hand, it is not impossible that Oa-al may represent Galil, or Galilee. The determinative "city" placed before it is sometimes used loosely to indicate a coun- try or district, and the word may be intended to designate the western portion of Naphtali. The correspondence with 2 K. XV. 29 would then be close enough. That we are not to look for " Gilead " here is obvious. Tiglathpileser defines the range of the conc^uest in question by saying that it is at " the entrance of the land of Omri," which Gilead cannot be explained to be. This district, normally designating a region <'utirely beyond the range of this campaign, — that is, the country east of Jordan and south of Bashan, — if mentioned by Tiglathpileser at all, must have had its place in the narrative of tlie campaigns against Damascus. Moreover, its mention in the liibliijal pas- sage referred to is just as strange, especially when we find it included in the territory of Naiihtali, and placed in the list of the conquered localities between Hazor and Galilee. The only solution of the difficulty that seems satisfactory is to assume 42*J APPENDIX Note 13 that the word was written by mistake for the next word h'hi, which so closely resembles it, and that then, by another oversight of a not uncommon kind, both were allowed to remain. This would imply that Gilead is not really mentioned by any ultimate extant authority as among the acquisitions of the Assyrians at the date in question. In connection with the revolution in Samaria itself, it should be remarked that I'ekah is mentioned in another passage, Lay. OG, 18. There it is said that, in contrast to the habitual usage of the (xreat King with rebellious states, Samaria alone he spared the fate of being razed to the ground and plundered. He then proceeds to relate liis treatment of Pekah, at which point the fragmentary document breaks off. NOTE 14 (§ 343) TIIK NAME "sEVe" This Seve, which the Massoretes have ignorantly read So (KID), is identical Avith the Sib'u, turtan or lieutenant (here = viceroy), of the king of Egypt, of whom mention is made by Sargon (Khorsabad Inscr. 1. 25). It has been generally sup- posed that he was also the same person as Sabako, the sub- jugator of Lower Egypt. The principal objection to this is the fact that the Assyrian scribes represent the latter name fully as Sabaku, and could therefore not have held the two to have been identical. jMoreover, the Assyrians would have known much better than to have called Sabako, the supreme ruler, either a general or viceroy. Seve (Sib'u) was therefore apparently one of the princes or petty kings of the Delta, who conducted their intrigues with the approval or, perhaps, at the instigation of his suzerain, Sabako. See the acute remarks of AVinckler (UAG. 92 ff.). Winckler introduces an element of confusion by using an imaginary reading "Sieftcx as repre- senting Seve in the LXX. Codex B (2«ywp) and Lagarde's Lucian ('ASpa/icAtx) have widely divergent readings, but Codex A ( Sow) followed by the Vulgate (Sua) shows, by comparison with the Assyrian, absolute agreement with the Massoretic consouauts. Winckler is also wrong in identifying KID and Note 16 AITENDIX 423 Sib'u with the Se/Six^s of Manetho, who can only be Sabataka, the son and successor of Sabako, the same " I'haraoh " who in 715 proffered homage to Sargon, and in 711 entered into league with the Palestinians against him. aps, at I re pre - garde's NOTE 15 (§ 358) SARGON II AND HIS MOXUMENTS The Babylonian Chronicle runs (i. 29 ft".): "In the fifth year Shalnianeser in the month Tebet died. Five years Shalmaneser had borne rule over Akkad and Assyria. In the month Tebet on the twelfth day Sargon in Assyria took his seat upon the throne. In Nisan, jMerodach-baladan in Babylon took his seat upon the throne." See the text ZA. II, 1G3. The name Sargon is the Massoretic or traditional Jewish pronunciation of the current Assyrian SarKen(n). The conso- nants, at least, represent accurately the contemporary I'ales- tinian conception of the sound of the name (cf . j3D, sCigan = pU^). It is impossible, liowever, to say at present exactly liow the name of the king was pronounced. All the modes of writing it that have come down to us are ideographic, and the g in the Hebrew word may confirm the supposition, which is in itself very probable, that " Sargon " is the same name as Saryani, the famous old king of Akkad (§ 89 ff.). Tlie ideo- graphic modes of writing were intended as complimentary epithets of the king, and, in fact, were little better than solemn puns: Sar-ukin means: "The king set in order," and Sar-kenn, "the sure or legitimate king." Though great merits are to be conceded to Sargon as a leader and ruler, it nuist be confessed that the picture drawn by Winckler (Sargoutexte, p. xlv f.) is somewhat overdrawn. There is no proof that he originated any fruitful ideas of state policy, like the great Tiglathpileser, and the fact that he had to spend almost his whole reign in fighting seems to indicate that there was something lacking in his administration of the con(piered provinces. To call Sargon a usurper, as it has been the fashion to do. I 424 APPENDIX Note 16 is to use a misleading term. Winckler (ST. I, p. xiii), with others, cites in support of this contention, that neither Sargon himself, nor his son Sinacherib, makes mention of his ancestry, and maintains, what is probable enough, that the genealogy found in inscriptions of Esarhaddon, in which descent is claimed from very ancient kings, liel-btinu and Adasu, other- wise unknown, is an invention of the court historiograi)hers. All this, however, would only prove that Sargon was not of the kingly line. If Shalmaneser IV, as is most likely, was childless, he would be bound to name some one as his suc- cessor, and he may very well have named a distinguished young general like Sargon. The inscriptions of Sargon are quite extensive. The prin- cipal of them contain the annals of his reign up to the fifteenth year. These were inscribed on the walls of his great palace of Khorsabad, and were first published by Botta in his work Moumnents de Ninivi, 1849 f. vol. iv. There is, besides, a large synoptical inscription of his achievements, written in the same fashion, but not chronologically arranged, also first published in the same work. The chief cylinder inscription (I R. 3G) is also synoptical. Other inscriptions of less im])or- tance have been found in Nimrud, in the ruins of Nineveh proper, and one even in Cyprus, on the site of the ancient Kition, All the extant inscri[)tions have been published by H. Winckler in his valuable work, Die Keilschrijltexte Sargons, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1889 (the second volume containing the texts alone, autographed by L. Abel). This supersedes all previous editions except that of D. G. Lyon, Keilschrifttexte Sargons, Leipzig, 1883, which contains the cylinder and a few minor documents. The annals are much mutilated; the other impor- tant ones better preserved. Translations are given by Winckler and Lyon in the works above mentioned, and by Peiser in KB. II, 35 ff. In the earlier years (1862 and onward), Oppert was the chief labourer in editing and translating Sargon's inscriptions. He also contributed the translations in KP. VII, IX. Note 15 ;iii), with er Sargou 1 of his that the ;h descent su, other- graphers. as not of kely, was his suc- inguished The prin- p to the his great tta in his I, besides, written in also first iscription ss impor- Nineveh B ancient lished by SargonSy the texts previous Sargons, nv minor er impor- Winckler Peiser in ), Oppert S argon's 3 in RP. Note 16 APPENDIX 426 NOTE 16 (§ 360) INSCRII'TIONS KKLATIXO TO SAMAKIA TiiK most general reference is tliat which occurs on one of the doors of the great palace of Khorsabad in one of the summarizing documents witli which these doors are inscribed (see Winckler, I, p. x). In the course of a list of Sargon's achievements, we have the statement (\Vin(!kler, PI. 38, 1. 31 f.): "The conqueror of the city of Samaria and the whole land of Beth-Umri." In the Cylinder Inscription, 1. 19, Sargou calls himself "the subjugator of the broad land of Beth-Omri." The long summarizing inscription on the walls of the Khorsabad palace (see Winckler, p. x) gives the following account (lines 'SA-25, Winckler, PI. 30 f.): "The city Samaria I besieged (and) 27,290 i)eople, inliabiters of it, I took away captive ; 50 chariots (which were) in it I appropriated, but the rest (of the people) I allowed to retain their possessions. I appointed my governor over them and the tribute of the late king I imposed ujjou them." The report in the Annals is the fullest, but it is unfortu- nately mutilated. I give a translation of what remains, along with the restorations that seem probable (for the text see Winckler, PI. 1, 10 ff.): "In the beginning [of my reign] the city Samaria ... [I took] . . . with the help of Shaniash, who secures victory to me [. . . 27,290 people inliabiters of it] I took away captive; 50 chariots the property of my royalty [which were in it I appropriated . . . Tiie city] I restored, and more than before I caused it to be inhabited; people of the lands conquered by my hand in it [I caused to dwell. My governor over them I appointed, and tribute] and imposts, just as ujxm the Assyrians I laid upon tluMu." Here we have an indication of the clemency of Sargou towards the Samarians and of his desire to have the city repeopled. END OF VOL. I.