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HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 REV. G. :^AWLINSON, M. A. 
 
 CAMDEN PBOFESSOR OF ANCI£NI HISTOKT, OXFOSO. 
 
 WITH ADDITIONS 
 
 Pkof. H. B. HACKETT. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 HENRY A. YOUNG AND CO. 
 
 24 CORNHILL. 
 
 1874. 
 
^ 
 
 %^ 
 
 
 Entered, acpording to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by 
 
 Henry A. Young and Co., 
 in the OflSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington 
 
 EIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 ■IBBEOTYPED AND PRINTED Bf 
 
 H. 0. HOUGUTON AND COMPANT 
 
PEEFATOEY TO THE AMEEICAN EDITION. 
 
 This volume is one of the recent publica- 
 tions of the " Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge," so well known for its activity 
 in England. It has already passed there 
 through repeated editions in the short time 
 since its appearance. Rev. George Rawlin- 
 son, Camden Professor of Ancient History in 
 the University of Oxford, is well known as 
 the author of our ablest works relating to the 
 old Asiatic monarchies connected with Jewish 
 history and occupying so prominent a place 
 in the Old Testament. A work like the pres- 
 ent, from such a source and so approved 
 elsewhere, deserves republication here. The 
 book gives us the results (yet duly authenti- 
 cated by appropriate references) rather than 
 the processes of scholarship, and thus brings 
 the important questions with which it deals 
 within the reach of all intelligent readers. 
 
IV PREFATORY. 
 
 During the last fifty years, and especially 
 the latter part of this period, we have entered 
 on a new epoch of Biblical knowledge and 
 illustration. Cities that for ages lay buried 
 in ruins have been disinterred. The pyramids 
 have broken their long silence and spoken to 
 us. The Assyrian inscriptions, which go back 
 to the age of the earliest patriarchs, have been 
 read, and have yielded up their hidden mean- 
 ing. Papyri, as old as the Hebrew Exodus, 
 by the aid of modern science have been deci- 
 phered. Geographical explorations, more or 
 less complete, have been made in all parts of 
 the Holy Land, enabling us to judge of the 
 accuracy with which the sacred writers speak 
 of the relative situation of cities and villages, 
 and of the scenery and agricultural or nomadic 
 adaptations of this singular country, so diver- 
 sified in its aspects and characteristics. 
 
 It is the object of Professor Rawlinson's 
 " Historical Illustrations of the Old Testa- 
 ment," to state to us within a brief compass 
 the results of this cross-questioning of such 
 witnesses " from the dead," and show us how 
 fully within the limits of such a comparison 
 
PKEFATOEY. V 
 
 their testimony supports the truthfulness and 
 credibility of the Old Testament records. 
 
 It is hoped that the few additions which 
 the Editor has made in the body of the work 
 and in the Appendices will be found to har- 
 monize with the author's design, and may 
 prove acceptable to the reader. These addi- 
 tions are distinguished from the original text 
 by brackets, or the writer's initial. With that 
 exception this edition is a scrupulous reprint 
 of the English work, both in form and con- 
 tents. 
 
 H. B. H. 
 
 BocHESTER Theological Seminary, Afay, 1873. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Intkoductory 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Genesis 7 
 
 Traditions of Paradise — of the Fall — the Serpent — of 
 primeval longevity — of the early invention of the Arts 
 — of the Flood — testimony of the Mahabharata— ; 
 American traditions. — Conclusions of modern eth- 
 nology anticipated by Gen. x. — Traditions of Tower of 
 Babel and Confusion of Tongues. — Proof of early 
 Cushite kingdom in Babylonia. — Relations of Assyria 
 to Babylonia. — Condition of Egypt in the time of Abra- 
 ham. — Power of Elam and name of Chedor-laomer. — 
 Accurate description of Egypt in the later chapters of 
 Genesis. — Supposed "mistakes" of the writer exam- 
 ined. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Exodus to Deuteronomy . . .... 56 
 
 Profane accounts of the Exodus — Manetho's version. — 
 Account of Chffiremon. — Agreement of these ac- 
 counts with Scripture. — Accounts of Hecataeus of Ab- 
 dera, and of Tacitus. — The differences and inaccuracies 
 of these various accounts explained. — Egyptian ver- 
 sions of the passage of the Red Sea. — Egyptian monu- 
 ments illustrate the oppression suffered by the Israelites 
 in Egypt, and confirm the general picture of Egyptian 
 customs in Exodus. — Hebrew art at the time of the 
 Exodus such as might have been learnt in Egypt. — 
 Historical illustration of the sojourn in the Wilderness 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 not possible. — The chief difficulty connected with it 
 considered. — Testimony of F. W. Holland and others. 
 
 — Colenso's objections. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Joshua to Samuel, 88 
 
 Geography of the book of Joshua. — Testimony of Rit- 
 ter. — Saul's last battle-field. — Isolation of the He- 
 brews after the Exodus prevents much historical illus- 
 tration. — Negative accord of their records with the 
 Egyptian and Assyrian. — Tradition of Joshua's war 
 with the Canaanites preserved in North Africa. — 
 David's wars confirmed by Nicolas of Damascus and 
 Eupolemon. — Early preeminence of Sidon confirmed. 
 
 — Power of Hittites confirmed. — Philistine power con- 
 firmed. — Manners and customs depicted confirmed or 
 probable. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Kings akd Chronicles 104 
 
 Empire of Solomon has numerous Oriental parallels. — 1. 
 In its sudden rise and short duration — 2. In its charac- 
 ter. — Solomon's reign and relations with Hiram attested 
 by Dius. — Discovery at Jerusalem. — Other points 
 attested by the Tyrian histories. — Illustration of his 
 reign from the pai-allel history of Egj-pt scanty. — Date 
 of Empire harmonizes with facts of Assyrian and 
 Egyptian history. — Picture drawn of Phoenicians con- 
 firmed by profane writers. — Art of Solomon resembles 
 that of Assyria. — Shishak's expedition against Reho- 
 boam confirmed by an Egyptian inscription. — Zerah^s 
 expedition against Asa. — Greatness of Omri confirmed 
 by the Assyrian inscriptions, and also by the "Moabite 
 Stone." — Ahab mentioned on the Black Obelisk and 
 on the Moabite Stone. — His reign illustrated by the 
 Tyrian histories. — The Moabite Stone confirms the 
 revolt of Moab from Ahaziah. — Hazael and Jehu men- 
 tioned on the Black Obelisk. — Assyrian monuments 
 agree with Scripture as to the general condition of Syria, 
 B. c. 900-800. — Depression of Assyria, about b. c. 
 800-750, accords with increase of Jewish power at that 
 time. — Silence of the Assyrian records with respect 
 
' CONTE^^TS. IX 
 
 to Pul. — Testimony of Berosus, and probable position 
 of this king. — Abundant illustration of Tiglath-pileser's 
 Syrian wars in the Assyrian records. — Slight chrono- 
 logical difficulty. — Menander's notice of Shalmaneser's 
 Syrian wars. — Assyrian and Egyptian notices of " So, 
 king of Egypt." — Assyrian account of the fall of Sa- 
 maria. — Sargon's records confirm Isaiah xx. and 2 
 Kings xvii. 6. — Sennacherib's first expedition against 
 Hezekiah described fully in his annals, but no account 
 given of his second expedition. — Distorted account of 
 the latter in Herodotus. — Assyrian records imply the 
 murder of Sennacherib by his sons. — Tirhakah and 
 Merodach-Baladan known to us from monuments of the 
 period. — Manasseh's visit to Babylon accords with 
 Esarhaddon's residence there. — Josiah's greatness 
 harmonizes with the parallel decline and fall of Assyr- 
 ria. — Necho's Syrian conquests and their loss con- 
 firmed by Herodotus and Berosus. — Nebuchadnezzar's 
 conquest of Jerusalem confirmed by Berosus. — Wide 
 extent of the illustrations here brought together, and 
 insignificance of the apparent discrepancies. — Further 
 illustration of the period from the accord of Scripture 
 with profane history in respect of manners and customs. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Daniel. 166 
 
 Historical character of the book of Daniel. — Sketch of 
 the history related in it. — Chronological difficulties of 
 the early chapters cleared by a passage of Berosus. — 
 Confirmations of the narrative from the same passage. — 
 General character of Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, as 
 represented by Daniel, agrees Avith profane history and 
 with the Babj^lonian remains. — Supposed "historical 
 inaccuracies" of Daniel examined. — Mysterious mal- 
 ady of Nebuchadnezzer hinted at by a profane writer. — 
 Difficulties formerly felt with respect to the name and 
 fate of Belshazzar removed by a recently-discovered 
 Babylonian inscription. — Account of the capture of 
 Babylon confirmed by profane historians. — Difficulties 
 connected with "Darius the Mede," and their possible 
 solution. — Daniel's narrative of events under this king 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 accords with profane accounts of Medo-Persic ideas and 
 practices. — Harmony between Daniel's notes of time 
 and profane chronology. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther 191 
 
 Character of the history in these books, and points which 
 admit of profane illustration. — Succession of the Per- 
 sian kings correctly given. — The character and actions 
 of Cyrus agree with profane accounts of him. — The 
 discovery of his decree at Ecbatana agrees with his habit 
 of residing there. — Reversal of the decree of Cyrus by 
 the next king but one agrees with his religious posi- 
 tion. — Relations of Darius with the Jews, and terms of 
 his edict, suitable to his character and circumstances. — 
 Portrait of Xerxes in the book of Esther agrees with 
 profane accounts of him. — Character of Artaxerxes in 
 Scripture agrees with that given by Plutarch and Diod- 
 orus. — The organization of the Persian court and 
 kingdom, as depicted in Ezra, Esther, and Nehemiah, 
 in close accordance with profane accounts and with the 
 Persian monuments. — Charges brought against the 
 book of Esther considered. — Omission of the name of 
 God. — Opinions of Stuart, Winer, and others. — Con- 
 clusion. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Conclusion 220 
 
 Results of the inquiry : — 1. Very little contradiction 
 between the sacred and the profane. — 2. Large amount 
 of minute agreement. — Conclusions to be drawn from 
 these results. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1. — Story of the Flood . . . • . , . 227 
 
 2. — The Moabite Stone 233 
 
HISTOEICAL ILLUSTEATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTEODUCTORY. 
 
 The Religion of the Bible, unlike almost 
 all other religions, has its roots in the region 
 
 of Fact. Other religious systems Historic charac- 
 *=• , '^ ter of Biblical 
 
 are, in the main, ideal, being the K«iigion. 
 speculations of individual minds, or the grad- 
 ual growth of a nation's fanciful thought dur- 
 ing years or centuries. The Religion of the 
 Bible, though embracing much that is in the 
 highest sense ideal, grounds itself upon ac- 
 counts, which claim to be historical, of oc- 
 currences that are declared to have actually 
 taken place upon the earth. That Jesus 
 Christ; was born under Herod the Great, 
 at Bethlehem ; that He came forward as a 
 Teacher of religion ; that He preached and 
 taught, and performed many " mighty works " 
 1 
 
2 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 in Galilee, Samaria, and Judaea during the 
 space of some years ; that He was crucified 
 by Pontius Pilate ; that He died and was 
 buried ; that He rose again from the dead, 
 and ascended before the eyes of his disciples 
 into heaven, — these are the most essential 
 points, the very gist and marrow of the New 
 Testament. And these are all matters of 
 simple fact.i And, as with the New Testa- 
 ment, so, or still more strikingly, with the 
 Old. Creation, the Paradisaical state, the 
 Fall, the Flood, the Dispersion of Nations, 
 the Call of Abraham, the Deliverance out of 
 Egypt, the Giving of the Law on Sinai, the 
 conquest of Palestine, the establishment of 
 David's kingdom, the Dispersion of Israel, 
 the Captivity of Judah, the return under Ezra 
 and Nehemiah, — all these are of the nature 
 of actual events, objective facts occurring at 
 
 1 * We are not dependent, therefore, on Christian writers and 
 apologists for our knowledge of the main facts of Christ's life 
 (his birth, claims, teachings, reputed miracles, crucifixion), but 
 learn them from contemporary heathen and Jewish writers 
 (Josephus, Tacitus, Pliny, Suetonius), just as we learn any 
 other historical facts. Yet, on the other hand, we are not to 
 regard the testimony of such heathen witnesses as more satisfac- 
 torj- than that of the early Christian martyrs who renounced 
 heathenism and embraced the Gospel (Clement, Ignatius, Poly- 
 carp, Justin Martyr); for that is to treat them as less worthy of 
 credence, just because they found the Christian evidences so 
 strong as to be compelled to act upon them at the expense of all 
 possible worldly advantages. Some writers on the Christian 
 evidences really fall into that inconsistency. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 3 
 
 definite times and in definite places, condi- 
 tioned, like other facts, perceptible to sense, 
 and fitted to be the subject of historic rec- 
 ord. 
 
 It is this feature of our religion, so markedly- 
 characteristic of it, that brings it into con- 
 tact with historic science, and ren- Hence, a con- 
 ders it at once liable to be tested theBibieand 
 by the laws and canons of historical tory. 
 criticism, and capable of receiving illustration 
 from historic sources. The Scriptural writers, 
 as a general rule, deal, not with doctrines, but 
 with occurrences. The very Prophetic Books 
 have a historic form, and bristle with dates 
 and with the names of contemporary person- 
 ages. The revelation given to us may, as 
 Butler observes,^ " be considered as wholly 
 historical." It " contains a kind of abridg- 
 ment of the history of the world." Though 
 mainly concerned with the religious condition 
 of mankind, it embraces also " an account of 
 the political state of things," giving us " a 
 continual thread of history " of the length of 
 several thousand years. These circumstances 
 permit a comparison between Scriptural and 
 profane history; between the sacred records 
 which are inseparably intertwined with our 
 religion, and the accumulated stores of merely 
 
 1 Analogy^ part ii. c. vii. pp. 310, 311 (Oxford ed. of 1833). 
 
4 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 human knowledge concerning the world's 
 past, which have anyhow come into our pos- 
 session. It will be the object of the present 
 essay to make this comparison, so far as the 
 Scriptures of the Old Testament are con- 
 scope of the ccmed. The '' thread of history " 
 present work, contained in the earlier portion of 
 our sacred volume will be placed side by side 
 with that account of human affairs which 
 purely secular history furnishes. The various 
 points of contact between the two Avill be 
 noted, and their agreement, or, if so be, their 
 disagreement, pointed out. It is not intended 
 to conceal or make light of difficulties ; but it 
 is believed that they will be found to be in- 
 considerable. In general it is thought that 
 the harmony between the sacred and the pro- 
 fane will be striking, and that it will be espe- 
 cially evident that the most authentic sources 
 of profane history are those which throw the 
 clearest and brightest light on the sacred nar- 
 rative. The more exact the knowledge that 
 we obtain, by discovery or critical research, 
 of the remote past, the closer the agreement, 
 that we find between profane and Bibhcal 
 history. 
 
 And here a remark of Butler's may well be 
 pressed on the attention of the reader. But- 
 ler notes how the historical character of our 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. O 
 
 Bacred records, and especially the great length 
 of time which they cover, and the ^hg o„ug of 
 great extent and variety of the sub- gencL^betiSS 
 jects whereof they treat, " gives the {^rofone^his^""^ 
 largest scope for criticism," and, Son'the'^ad- 
 if the narrative be not true, should ^^'^^^^y- 
 render the task of confutation easy.^ It is 
 indeed inconceivable, that if the Biblical his- 
 tory, covering the space of time which it 
 does, and dealing as it does with the affairs 
 of most of the great nations of antiquity, 
 were a fictitious narrative, modern histor- 
 ical science, with its searching methods and 
 its exact and extended knowledge of the past, 
 should not have, long ere this, demonstrated 
 the fact, and completely overthrown the his- 
 torical authority of the sacred volume. But 
 it is not even pretended that this has been 
 done. Attacks are made on this or that por- 
 tion of the record, on names and numbers 
 and minute expressions which it is contended 
 are inaccurate ; but no one pretends to show, 
 as it should be easy to show, if the history 
 is not true, that it is irreconcilably at variance 
 with the course of mundane events as known 
 to us from other sources. The progress of 
 our knowledge has indeed tended very re- 
 markably of late years in the opposite direc- 
 
 1 Analogy, part ii. c. vii. p. 312. 
 
b HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 tion. As the stores of antique lore have been 
 unlocked, and our acquaintance with the an- 
 cient world has increased in extent, precision, 
 and accuracy, it has become more and more 
 apparent that such a confutation of the his- 
 torical character of the sacred records is im- 
 possible. Each year adds something to the 
 force of the opposite arguments. Discoveries, 
 like that of the Moabite Stone,^ are made in 
 the most unexpected quarters. If scientific 
 difl&culties increase upon us, historical difficul- 
 ties certainly lessen. Thus, although the 
 onus prohandi should be on our adversaries, 
 who should be able with so much ease to 
 prove our Books historically untrue, if they 
 were untrue, yet the Christian Apologist may 
 now, without presumption, enter the field 
 himself, and apply himself to the task of con- 
 firming faith, or even dispelling doubt, by the 
 exhibition of a harmony which seems to have 
 reached a point that entitles it to take its 
 place among the Evidences of Religion. 
 
 1 * For the history of this Moabite Stone (several times men- 
 tioned in this volume) and its value as a historical witness, see 
 Appendix No. 2. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 GENESIS. 
 
 History proper cannot rightly be regarded 
 as going back to the first origin of the human 
 race. Of the various acts of Crea- Absence of 
 
 . 1 • 1 c strictly his- 
 
 tion which culmmated m the forma- toncai illustra- 
 tions for the 
 
 tion of man, there could be "no hu- earliest times. 
 man witnesses ; and thus no historical illustra- 
 tion of the first chapter of Genesis is possible. 
 At the utmost, such illustration must com- 
 mence after the human race has been cre- 
 ated. Even then for a considerable space of 
 time history proper is silent. The art of 
 embodying articulate speech in written words 
 appears not to have been invented by man 
 until he had lived for many centuries upon the 
 earth ; and the history of mankind was, con- 
 sequently, for ages unrecorded, passing down 
 from generation to generation by oral tra- 
 dition, and, as always happens in such a 
 case, undergoing change in the process, here 
 being slightly modified, there almost wholly 
 transformed, in some cases fading entirely 
 away, and being replaced by fables, the prod- 
 
ST 
 
 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 uct of the imagination. The earliest pro- 
 fane records that deserve the name of history 
 Want partly do not reach back within two thoa- 
 
 Bupplicd by i <• i • i • i 
 
 traditions. sand jears ^ oi the time at which 
 the sacred narrative commences; and, con- 
 sequently, it is impossible either to test or to 
 illustrate that narrative, in its earlier portion, 
 by a comparison with records which for that 
 period are not forthcoming. The utmost that 
 can be done is to see whether among the 
 traditions of different human races which be- 
 long to a time anterior to history proper, 
 there are not some which point to the same 
 facts as those recorded in Scripture, and of 
 whose harmony with the Hebrew accounts 
 no other origin can be reasonably assigned 
 than the common memory of actual facts, wit- 
 nessed by the ancestors of the different races. 
 The first great fact in the history of man- 
 kuid, as placed before us in Genesis, is the 
 primitive innocence of our race, and its exist- 
 ence in a delightful region, the abode of purity 
 and happiness, for a certain space after its 
 Wide-spread crcatiou. A remembrance of this 
 
 tradition of . 
 
 Paradise. blissiui couditiou seems to have been 
 
 1 This number must be taken merely as a minimum. The 
 years assigned in Scripture to the patriarchs, reckoned according 
 to the lowest account, give 2,023 years between the Creation and 
 the call of Abraham. Profane history does not commence till 
 about that time. The LXX. enlarge the interval to 3,279 years; 
 and it may have been still longer. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 9 
 
 retained among a large number of peoples. 
 The Greeks told of a " golden age," when 
 men lived the life of the gods, a life free from 
 care, and without labor or sorrow. Old age 
 was unknown ; the body never lost its vigor ; 
 existence was a perpetual feast, without a 
 taint of evil. The earth brought forth spon- 
 taneously all things that were good in pro- 
 fuse abundance ; peace reigned, and men 
 pursued their several employments without 
 quarrel. Their happy life was ended by a 
 death which had no pain, but fell upon them 
 like a gentle sleep. ^ In the Zendavesta, 
 Yima, the first Iranic king, lives in a secluded 
 spot, where he and his people enjoy uninter- 
 rupted happiness. Neither sin, nor folly, nor 
 violence, nor poverty, nor deformity have en- 
 trance into the region ; nor does the Evil 
 Spirit for a while set foot there. Amid odor- 
 iferous trees and golden pillars dwells the 
 beautiful race, pasturing their abundant cat- 
 tle on the fertile earth, and feeding on an 
 ambrosial food which never fails them.^ In 
 the Chinese books we read, that " during 
 the period of the first heaven, the whole crea- 
 tion enjoyed a state of happiness : everything 
 
 1 Hesiod, Op. et D. 11. 109-119. 
 
 2 Vendidad, Farg. ii. §§ 4-41. (See the Author's Ancient 
 Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 341, 2d. ed. ) 
 
10 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 was beautiful ; everything was good ; all be- 
 ings were perfect in their kind. In this happy 
 age, heaven and earth employed their virtues 
 jointly to embellish nature. There was no 
 jarring in the elements, no inclemency in the 
 air ; all things grew without labor, and mii- 
 versal fertility prevailed. The active and 
 passive virtues conspired together, without 
 any effort or opposition, to produce and per- 
 fect the universe." ^ The literature of the 
 Hindoos tells of a " first age of the world, 
 when justice, in the form of a bull, kept her- 
 self firm on her four feet ; virtue reigned ; no 
 good which mortals possessed was mixed with 
 baseness ; and man, free from diseases, saw 
 all his wishes accomplished, and attained an 
 age of four hundred years." ^ Traces of a 
 similar belief are found among the Thibetans, 
 the Mongolians, the Cingalese, and others. 
 Even our own Teutonic ancestors had a glimpse 
 of the truth ; though they substituted for the 
 " garden " of Genesis a magnificent drinking- 
 hall, glittering with burnished gold, where the 
 primeval race enjoyed a life of perpetual fes- 
 tivity, quaffing a delicious beverage from 
 golden bowls, and interchanging with one an- 
 other glad converse and loyal friendship.^ 
 
 1 See Faber's IJorce Mosaica, p. 146. 
 
 2 Kalisch, Comment on Genesis^ p. 64. 8 Edda, Fab. vii 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 11 
 
 The races which thus describe the primi- 
 tive state of man have all of them a tradition 
 of a Fall. With some the Fall is Tradition of 
 more gradual than with others. *i^«^*'i- 
 The Greeks pass by gentle degrees from the 
 golden age of primeval man to the iron one, 
 which is the actual condition of human kind 
 when the first writers lived. The Hindoos, 
 similarly, bring man, through a second and a 
 third age, into that fourth one, which they 
 recognize as existing in their day. But with 
 some races the Fall is sudden. In the Edda, 
 corruption is suddenly produced by the bland- 
 ishments of strange women, who deprive men 
 of their pristine integrity and purity. In the 
 Thibetan, Mongolian, and Cingalese tradi- 
 tions, a similar result is brought about by the 
 spontaneous development of a covetous tem- 
 per. In the earliest of the Persian books, the 
 Fall would seem to be gradual ; ^ but in the 
 later writings, which are of an uncertain date, 
 a narrative appears which is most strikingly 
 in accordance with that of Genesis. The first 
 man and the first woman live originally in 
 purity and innocence. Perpetual happiness is 
 promised to them by Ormazd, if they per- 
 severe in their virtue. They dwell in a gar- 
 den, wherein there is a tree, on whose fruit 
 
 1 Vendidad, Farg. i. 
 
12 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 they feed, which gives them life and immor- 
 tality. But Ahriman, the Evil Principle, 
 envying their felicity, causes another tree 
 to spring up in the garden, and sends a 
 \vicked spirit, who, assuming the form of a 
 serpent, persuades them to eat its fruit, and 
 this fruit corrupts them. Evil feelings stir in 
 their hearts ; Ahriman becomes the object of 
 their worship instead of Ormazd ; they fall 
 under the power of demons, and become a 
 prey to sin and misery. If we could certainly 
 assign this narrative to a time anterior to the 
 contact of Zoroastrianism with Judaism, it 
 would constitute a most remarkable testi- 
 mony, and as such it has been usual to adduce 
 it.^ But the fact that it appears only in the 
 later books,^ and the very close resemblance 
 which it bears to the account given in Gen- 
 esis, render it probable that we have here, 
 not a primitive tradition, but an infiltration 
 into the Persian system of religious ideas be- 
 longing properly to the Hebrews. 
 
 The part taken by the serpent, as Satan's 
 
 1 See Kalisch, Comment, on Genesis, p. 63; and compare 
 Bishop Harold Browne in the New Commentary, p. 48. 
 
 * Bishop Browne has there an extended note "On the His- 
 torical Character of the Temptation and the Fall." — H. 
 
 2 The account to which Kalisch and Bishop Browne refer is 
 contained in the Bundehesht, which belongs at the earliest to the 
 first century of our era (Haug, Ueher die Pehlewi Sprache, p 
 30). 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 13 
 
 mstrument in effecting the fall of man, has 
 been regarded by many as the ori- 
 gin of that wide-spread dread and 
 abhorrence in which the serpent was held, 
 especially in the East, and of that very com- 
 mon symbolism by which the same noxious 
 creature was made the special emblem of the 
 Evil Principle. But, as it may with plausi- 
 bility be argued that the instinctive antipathy 
 of man to the animal, and its power of doing 
 him deadly injury, sufficiently account both 
 for the feeling and for the symbolism, the evi- 
 dence on the point will not be collected in the 
 present Essay. 
 
 Patriarchal longevity presents itself as one 
 of the most strikincr of the facts concerning: 
 mankind which the early history of Tmiition of 
 the Book of Genesis places before longevity 
 us. Objections are brought against it on 
 grounds which are called scientific. ^ With 
 these the historical illustrator has nothing to 
 do ; it is not his place to combat them, though 
 he may feel that they cannot have any great 
 value, as they failed to convince Haller and 
 Buff on. It is his business to inquire how far 
 the history or traditions of mankind confirm 
 or invalidate the fact in question, and to place 
 the result briefly before his readers. Now it 
 
 1 Bunsen, Egypt's Place in Universal History, vol. iv p. 391. 
 
14 HISTOEICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 is beyond a doubt that there is a large amount 
 of consentient tradition to the effect that the 
 life of man was originally far more prolonged 
 than it is at present, extending to at least 
 several hundreds of years.^ The Babylonians, 
 Egyptians, and Chinese exaggerated these 
 hundreds into thousands. The Greeks and 
 Romans, with more moderation, limited hu- 
 man life within a thousand or eight hundred 
 years. The Hindoos still further shortened 
 the term. Their books taught that in the 
 first age of the world man was free from dis- 
 eases, and live ordinarily four hundred years ; 
 in the second age the term of life was reduced 
 from four hundred to three hundred ; in the 
 third it became two hundred ; and in the 
 fourth and last it was brought down to one 
 hundred. So certain did the fact appear to 
 the Chinese, that an Emperor who wi'ote a 
 medical work proposed an inquiry into the 
 reasons why the ancients attained to so much 
 more advanced an age than the moderns.^ 
 
 The early invention of the arts, recorded in 
 Gen. iv., is in harmony with the Greek tradi- 
 ^ , . tion, according: to which Prome- 
 
 Early inven- ' o 
 
 tion of the arts, thcus, in the lufaucy of our race, 
 not only " stole fire from heaven," but taught 
 
 1 See Aids to Faith, Es^say vi. § 5, pp. 278, 279. 
 
 2 Couplet, quoted by Faber, florce Mosaicce, p. 120. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 15 
 
 men " all the arts, helps, and ornaments of 
 life," ^ especially the working in metals. It 
 is in equal agreement with the Babylonian 
 legend of Oannes, ^ who, long before the Flood, 
 instructed the Chaldaeans both in art and in 
 science, " so that no grand discovery was ever 
 made afterwards." And it receives confirma- 
 tion from the fact that both in Egypt and in 
 Babylonia the earliest extant remains, which 
 go back to a time that cannot be placed long 
 after the Flood, show signs of a tolerably ad- 
 vanced civiKzation, and particularly of the 
 possession of metallic tools and implements. 
 
 The Flood described by the writer of Gene- 
 sis, in his eighth chapter, is now generally 
 allowed, even by skeptics, to have Traditions of a 
 
 , 1 • i. • 1 . A i? Delude among 
 
 been an historical event. A few aii the chief 
 persons indeed still speak of it as a kind, 
 myth, and believe " all good critics " to be of 
 their opinion ; ^ but when such writers as 
 Bunsen and Kalisch maintain the historical 
 character of the catastrophe, the Biblical apol- 
 ogist may well assume that the point is con- 
 ceded. He must not, however, suppose that 
 all controversy on the subject is at an end. 
 The dispute has merely entered upon a new 
 
 1 Grote, History of Greece, vol. i. p. 68, ed. of 1862. 
 
 2 Berosus, Fr. i. § 1. 
 
 8 Davidson, Introduction to the Old Testament, vol. i. p. 187 
 
16 mSTOKICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 phase. The prevalent modern skepticism, 
 forced by the weight of traditional evidence 
 to allow the reality of the Noachian Deluge, 
 makes light of it as a mere partial catastro- 
 phe, affecting only one or two races, and so as 
 of no great consequence in the history of man- 
 kind. It is of the essence of the Biblical nar- 
 rative that the Deluge was, so far as the 
 human race was concerned, universal, — that 
 it destroyed all men then living, except the 
 inmates of the ark, and that the present hu- 
 man race is wholly descended from those in- 
 mates. The testimony of tradition has been 
 alleged in support of the view that only some 
 races were affected by it ; but an unprejudiced 
 consideration of the whole evidence clearly 
 shows that the tradition is common to all the 
 chief divisions of the human family. That it 
 was generally held by the Semites and the 
 Indo-Europeans (or Aryans), is granted ; ^ but 
 it is said to have been unknown to the Ha- 
 mites, and to the Turanians. Were this true, 
 the fact would be remarkable, and would go 
 far to prove the assertions that have been 
 based upon it. But the alleged fact is really 
 the reverse of the truth. The Egyptians, the 
 leading representatives of the Hamites, taught, 
 " not that there had been no deluge, but that 
 
 1 Bunsen, Egypt, etc., voL iv. p. 464. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 17 
 
 there had been several. They believed that 
 from time to time, in consequence of the an- 
 ger of the gods, the earth was visited by a 
 terrible catastrophe. The agent of destruc- 
 tion was sometimes fire, sometimes water. In 
 the conflagrations, all countries were burnt 
 up but Egypt, which was protected by the 
 Nile ; and in the deluges, all were submerged 
 but Egypt, where rain never fell. The last 
 catastrophe, they said, had been a deluge," ^ 
 which took place about eight thousand years 
 before the visit of Solon to Amasis. It may 
 be true that in the recovered literature of 
 ancient Egypt no trace appears of the belief 
 in question ; but the force of this negative 
 argument is far too slight to invalidate the 
 positive testimony of Plato.^ 
 
 [* The history of a general inundation, as 
 related in the Mahabharata and other In- 
 dian Asiatic writings, affords an unmistakable 
 agreement with the Mosaic ^vritings. In the 
 translation of a part of that work out of the 
 Sanskrit, the eminent orientalist. Prof. Bopp, 
 states the substance of the story as follows : 
 " The Lord of creatures, Brahma, the highest 
 
 1 See Plato, Timceus, p. 21; and compare Aids to Faith, 
 Essay vi. § 2, pp. 265, 266. 
 
 2 * For additional reasons for thinking that the Egyptians had 
 a knowledge of Noah's Flood, see note of Mr. Burgess in the 
 Amer. ed. of Smith's Bible Diet. vol. i. p. 2187. — H. 
 
 2 
 
18 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 existence, appeared to a pious king named 
 Manus, and announced to him the impending 
 deluge, which was to destory everything. He 
 commanded him to build a ship and in the 
 time of danger to enter it, and to take with 
 him seeds of all kinds, as they would be named 
 to him, separated from one another. Manus 
 obeyed the command of the deity, and brought 
 all seeds into the ship, into which he himself 
 then entered. But the ship, guided by the 
 deity, swam many years upon the sea, until 
 it finally settled upon the highest summit of 
 the mountain Himawan (Himalaya), when it 
 was bound fast at the command of the deity. 
 This summit is therefore still named, at tliis 
 day, Nau-Bandlianann (i. e, ship-binding) ; 
 and from Manus descends the present race of 
 mankind." ^] 
 
 With respect to the Turanians, the evidence 
 of belief in a general deluge is abundant. In 
 the Chinese traditions, " Fa-he, the reputed 
 founder of Chinese civilization, is represented 
 as escaping from the waters of a deluge ; and 
 he reappears as the first man at the production 
 of a renovated world, attended by his wife, 
 three sons, and three daughters,'''' ^ The abo- 
 riginal races of America, now generally al- 
 
 1 * Translated by the writer from Auberlen's Die GottUche 
 Offtnharung in the Bibl. Sacra, xxii. p. 422 f. — H. 
 
 2 Hardwick, Christ and other Masters, part iii. p. 16. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 19 
 
 lowed to be Turanians, held a deluge almost 
 universally. The Mexicans had paintings, 
 representing the event, which showed a man 
 and woman in a boat, or on a raft, a mountain 
 rising above the waters, and a dove delivering 
 the gift of language to the children of the 
 saved pair.^ The Cherokee Indians had a 
 legend of the destruction of mankind by a 
 deluge, and of the preservation of a single 
 family in a boat, to the construction of which 
 they had been incited by a dog.^ In the 
 islands of the Pacific, when first discovered by 
 Europeans, a similar belief prevailed. " Tra- 
 ditions of the Deluge," says Mr. Ellis, " have 
 been found to exist among the natives of the 
 South Sea Islands, from the earliest periods 
 of their history. The principal facts are the 
 same in the traditions prevailing among the 
 inhabitants of the different groups, although 
 they differ in several minor particulars. In 
 one group the accounts stated that Taarsa, the 
 principal god according to their mythology, 
 being angry with men on account of their dis- 
 obedience to his will, overturned the world 
 into the sea, when the earth sunk in the wa- 
 ters, excepting a few projecting points, which, 
 remaining above its surface, constituted the 
 
 1 Prescott, History of Mexico, vol. iii. pp. 309, 310. 
 
 2 Hardwick, part iii. pp. 163, 164, 
 
20 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 present cluster of islands. The memorial pre- 
 served by the inhabitants of Eimeo states, 
 that, after the inundation of the land, when 
 the water subsided, a man landed from a canoe 
 near Tiatarpua, in their island, and erected an 
 altar in honor of his god. The tradition 
 which prevails in the Leeward Islands is in- 
 timately connected with the island of Raiatea." 
 Here the story was that a fisherman disturbed 
 the sea-god with his hooks, whereupon the 
 god determined to destroy mankind. The 
 fisherman, however, obtained mercy, and was 
 directed to take refuge in a certain small 
 islet, whither he betook himself with his wife, 
 child, one friend, and specimens of all the 
 domestic animals. The sea then rose and sub- 
 merged all the other islands, destroying all 
 the inhabitants. But the fisherman and his 
 companions were unharmed, and afterwards 
 removing from their islet to Raiatea, became 
 the progenitors of the present people.^ Again, 
 the Fiji islanders have a very clear and dis- 
 tinct tradition of a deluge, from which one 
 family only, eight in number^ was saved in a 
 canoe. 2 
 
 [* Such traditions of a flood, says Liicken, 
 "are, if possible, more common in the New 
 
 1 Ellis, Polynesian Researches, vol. ii. pp. 57-59. 
 
 2 Hardwick, part iii. p. 185. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 21 
 
 World tlian in the Old. The form in which 
 the natives relate them agrees so strikingly 
 with the traits of the Bible history, that we 
 cannot blame the astonished Spaniards, the 
 first European discoverers, if they were ready 
 to believe, on account of these and similar tra- 
 ditions, that the Apostle Thomas must have 
 preached Christianity there. Between the 
 banks of the Cassiquiare and the Orinoco, 
 hieroglyphic figures are often seen at great 
 heights, on rocky cliffs, which could be acces- 
 sible only by constructing very lofty scaffolds. 
 When the natives are asked how these figures 
 could be sculptured, they answer with a smile, 
 as if relating a fact of which a white man only 
 could be ignorant, that at the period of the 
 great waters, their fathers went to that height 
 in boats." ^] 
 
 To conclude, therefore, that the Deluge, in 
 respect of mankind, was partial, because some 
 of the great divisions of the human family had 
 no tradition on the subject, is to draw a con- 
 clusion directly in the teeth of the evidence. 
 The evidence shows a consentient belief — a 
 belief which has all the appearance of being 
 original and not derived — among members of 
 ALL the great races into which ethnologists 
 
 1 * See the writer's Translation from Auberlen in Blbl. Sacra, 
 xxii. p. 422. The article contains other similar testimonies. — H. 
 
22 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 have divided mankind. Among the Semites, 
 the Babylonians, and the Hebrews — among 
 the Hamites, the Egyptians — among the 
 Aryans, the Indians, the Armenians, the 
 Phrygians, the Lithuanians, the Goths, the 
 Celts, and the Greeks — among the Tura- 
 nians, the Chinese, the Mexicans, the Red In- 
 dians, and the Polynesian islanders, held the 
 belief, which has thus the character of a uni- 
 versal tradition — a tradition of which but one 
 rational account can be given, namely, that it 
 embodies the recollection of a fact in which 
 all mankind was concerned. 
 
 It is remarkably confirmatory of the Bibhcal 
 narrative to find that it unites details, scat- 
 tered up and down the various traditional ac- 
 counts, but nowhere else found in combination. 
 It begins with the warning, which we find also 
 in the Babylonian, the Hindoo, and the Cher- 
 okee Indian versions. It comprises the care for 
 animals, which is a feature of the Babylonian, 
 the Indian and of one of the Polynesian stories. 
 It reckons the saved as eight, as do the Fiji 
 and Chinese traditions ; as in the Chinese 
 story, these eight are a man, his wife, his three 
 sons, and three daughters-in-law (or daugh- 
 ters). In assigning a prominent part to birds 
 in the experiments made before quitting the 
 ark, it accords (once more) especially with 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 23 
 
 the tradition of the Babylonians. In its men- 
 tion of the dove, it possesses a feature pre- 
 served also by the Greeks and by the Mexi- 
 cans. The oHve-branch it has in common with 
 the Phrygian legend, as appears from the fa- 
 mous medal struck at Apamea Cibotus.^ Fi- 
 nally, in its record of the building of an altar 
 (Gen. viii. 20), immediately after the saved 
 quitted the ark, it has a touch which forms 
 equally a portion of the Babylonian and of 
 one Polynesian story. 
 
 Altogether, the conclusion seems irresistibly 
 forced upon us that the Hebrew is the authen- 
 tic narrative, of which the remainder are more 
 or less corrupted versions. It is impossible to 
 derive the Hebrew account from any of the 
 other stories, while it is quite possible to de- 
 rive all of them from it. Suppose the Deluge 
 a fact, and suppose its details to have been such 
 as the author of Genesis declares them to have 
 been, then the wide-spread generally accord- 
 ant, but in part divergent, tradition is exactly 
 what might have been anticipated under the 
 circumstances. No other theory gives even a 
 plausible explanation of the phenomena.^ 
 
 1 A representation of this medal is given in Smith's Biblical 
 Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 572; and vol. iii. p. 2184, Amer. ed. It 
 belongs to the time of Septimius Severus, but is a purely heathen, 
 not a Christian or Jewish monument. 
 
 2 * Since the publication of this volume a very important cou- 
 
24 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The narrative of the Flood is followed in the 
 Book of Genesis by an account of the repeo- 
 conciusions of P^^^g ^f the earth by the descend- 
 nJi^-v"antfcV ^^^^ ^^ Noah, wlicreof the first 
 patedia the ge- feature which strikes us is the enu- 
 
 nealogy of the 
 
 sons of Noah, mcration of the various races under 
 three heads — " the sons of Japhet " (Gen. x. 
 3) ; " the sons of Ham " (ver. 6) ; and " the 
 sons of Shem " (ver. 22). It is not distinctly 
 declared that the three groups were separated 
 by ethnic differences ; but, given the existence 
 of ethnic differences, it is natural to conclude 
 that the nations declared to be cognate are 
 those between which there was most resem- 
 blance, and consequently that the document 
 may be regarded as an ethnological arrange- 
 ment of mankind under three heads. Now 
 here it is at once noteworthy, that modern 
 ethnological science, having set itself by a 
 careful analysis of facts to establish a classifi- 
 cation of races, has similarly formed a triple 
 division of mankind, and speaks of all races as 
 either Semitic, Aryan, or Turanian (Allophy- 
 Iian).i Moreover, when we examine the 
 
 firmation of the Mosaic account of the Deluge has been brought 
 to light by Mr. George Smith, of the British Museum, London. 
 It deserves a fuller notice than can be given to it in a note here. 
 See Appendix No. 1, at the end of the book, for a summary of 
 the contents of this new Assyrian inscription. — H. 
 
 1 See Prichard, Physical History of Mankind ; Bunsen, Phi' 
 losophy of Universal Histoi'y ; Max Miiller, Languages of the 
 Seat of War, etc. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 25 
 
 groups which the author of the tenth chapter 
 of Genesis has thrown together, we find, to 
 say the least, a most remarkable agreement 
 between the actual arrangement which he has 
 made, and the conclusions to which ethnolog- 
 ical inquirers have come from a consideration 
 of the facts of human language and physical 
 type. Setting aside the cases where the eth- 
 nic names employed are of doubtful applica- 
 tion, it cannot reasonably be questioned that 
 the author has in his account of the sons of 
 Japhet, classified together the Cymry or Celts 
 (Gomer), the Medes (Madai), and the lonians 
 or Greeks (Javan), thereby anticipating what 
 has become known in modern times as " the 
 Indo-European theory," or the essential unity 
 of the Aryan (Asiatic) race with the principal 
 races of Europe, indicated by the Celts and the 
 lonians. Nor can it be doubted that he has 
 thrown together, under the one head of " chil- 
 dren of Shem," the Assyrians (Asshur), the 
 Syrians (Aram), the Hebrews (Eber), and 
 the Joktanian Arabs (Joktan), four of the 
 principal races which modern ethnology recog- 
 nizes under the heading of " Semitic." Again, 
 under the heading of " sons of Ham," the au- 
 thor has arranged " Cush," i. e, the Ethio- 
 pians ; "Mizraim," the people of Egypt; 
 " Sheba and Dedan," or certain of the south- 
 
26 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 em Arabs ; and " Nimrod," or the ancient 
 people of Babylon ; four races between which 
 the latest hnguistic researches have estab- 
 lished a close affinity. Beyond a question, the 
 tendency of modern ethnological inquiry has 
 been to establish the accuracy of the document 
 called in Genesis the Toldoth Beni Noah^ or 
 " Genealogy of the sons of Noah " (chap. x.),i 
 and to create a feeling among scientific ethnol- 
 ogists that it is a record of the very highest 
 value ; one which, if it can be rightly inter- 
 preted, may be thoroughly trusted, and which 
 is, as one of them has said, " the most authen- 
 tic record that we possess for the affiliation of 
 nations." ^ 
 
 When the repeopling of the earth by the 
 descendants of Noah had reached a certain 
 Traditions of poiut, the Biblical narrative informs 
 Babel and con- US that a remarkable event pro- 
 tongues, duced their dispersion. The progeny 
 of Noah, leaving the district of Ararat, where 
 the ark had rested, occupied " the land of 
 
 1 * The celebrated geographer, Dr. Karl Hitter, declared that of 
 all the writings of antiquity none are receiving such confirmation 
 from the modern researches in geography and ethnography as 
 this tenth chapter of Genesis and the works of Herodotus. — H. 
 
 2 Sir H. Rawlinson, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, vol. 
 XV. p. 230. Compare Kalisch ( Comment, on Genesis, p. 194), who 
 speaks of " this unparalleled list, the combined result of reflection 
 and deep research, and no less valuable as a historical document 
 than as a lasting proof of the brilliant capacity of the Hebrew 
 mind." 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 27 
 
 Shinar," or the great alluvial plain towards 
 the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates. Here 
 they resolved to build themselves a city, and a 
 tower " whose top should reach to heaven," 
 apparently as a centre of unity. But it was 
 the design of Providence that they should 
 spread, form numerous nations, and so," re- 
 plenish the earth." Accordingly, by miracle, 
 their language was confounded, and they left 
 off to build the city, and, being scattered 
 abroad, fulfilled the intentions of their Maker. 
 Of this remarkable circumstance in the his- 
 tory of mankind, a traditional remembrance 
 seems to have been retained among a certain 
 number of nations. In Babylon itself, espe- 
 cially, the great city of the land of Shinar, 
 there was a belief which is thus expressed by 
 those who had studied its records : " At this 
 time — not long after the Flood — the an- 
 cient race of men were so puffed up with 
 their strength and tallness of stature, that 
 they began to despise and contemn the gods, 
 and labored to erect that very lofty tower 
 which is now called Babylon, intending 
 thereby to scale heaven. But when the build- 
 ing approached the sky, behold, the gods 
 called in the aid of the winds, and by their 
 help overturned the tower and cast it to the 
 ground ! The name of the ruin is still called 
 
28 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Babel ; because until this time all men had 
 used the same speech, but now there was sent 
 upon them a confusion of many and divers 
 tongues." 1 It may have been also a recollec- 
 tion of the event, though one much dimmed 
 and faded, which gave rise to the Greek myth 
 of the war between the gods and the giants, 
 and the attempt of the latter to scale heaven 
 by piling one mountain upon another. 
 
 A further tangible evidence of the con- 
 fusion of man's speech in Babylonia, or, at 
 Early Babyio- ^-uy rate, a fact which harmonizes 
 fnSlcatTor completely with the Scriptural 
 SSh^in^the statement that Babylonia was the 
 country. sccnc of the confusion, is to be 
 
 found in the character of the language which 
 appears on the earliest monuments of the 
 coimtry — monuments which reach back to a 
 time probably as remote as B. c. 2300, and 
 almost certainly anterior to the date of Abra- 
 ham. This monumental language is especially 
 remarkable for its mixed character. It is 
 Turanian in its structure, Cushite or Ethio- 
 pian in the bulk of its vocabulary, while, at the 
 same time, it appears to contain both Semitic 
 and Aryan elements. The people who spoke it, 
 must, it would seem, have been living in close 
 
 1 Abyden. ap. Euseb. Prccp. Ev. ix. 14. Compare Alex. Poly- 
 hist. ap. eundem, ix. 15. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 29 
 
 contact with Aryan and Semitic races, while 
 they were themselves Turanian, or Turano- 
 Cushite, and must have adopted from those 
 races a certain number of terms. This would 
 be natural if the varieties of human speech 
 were first found in Babylonia, and if the dis- 
 persion of mankind took place from thence, 
 for some portions of a race that migrates 
 almost always remain in the original country. 
 It must be added that, except in Babylonia, a 
 mixed character is not observable in such early 
 languages as are known to us, which are com- 
 monly either distinctly Turanian, distinctly 
 Aryan, or distinctly Semite. 
 
 History proper, which has been defined to 
 be " the history of states," ^ first dawns upon 
 us in the tenth chapter of Genesis, Eariy cushite 
 where we hear for the first time Babylonia 
 of a " kingdom," of cities, and of monuments. 
 a " mighty one," who appears to have estab- 
 lished an important monarchy (Gen. x. 8- 
 10). The founder of this monarchy bears the 
 name of Nimrod ; its site is the land of Shinar, 
 or Babylonia ; its ethnic character is Cushite, 
 or Ethiopian, for Nimrod is '' the son " (i. e, 
 descendant) " of Gush ; " its great cities are 
 four. Babel (or Babylon), Erech, Accad, and 
 
 1 Heeren, Ilandbuch der Geschichte der Staaten des Alter- 
 thums, § 1. 
 
so HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Calneh. Here, then, we come for the first 
 time upon something which history proper 
 ought to be able to test, and here, conse- 
 quently, we ask with interest, " What has 
 history to tell us ? Does it indicate that we 
 are on firm ground ; that we have to do with 
 realities, with actual solid facts ? " The an- 
 swer must most certainly be in the aifirmative. 
 Recent researches in Mesopotamia have re- 
 vealed to us, as the earliest seat of power and 
 civilization in Western Asia, a Cushite king- 
 dom,^ the site of which is Lower Babylonia, a 
 main characteristic of which is its possession 
 of large cities, and which even seems in an 
 especial way to affect, in its political arrange- 
 ments, the number four. Babel, Accad, and 
 Erech (or Huruk), are names which occur in 
 the early geographic nomenclature of this 
 monarchy. Nimrod is a personage in its my- 
 thology. The records discovered do not, prob- 
 ably, mount up within some centuries of the 
 foundation of the kingdom ; but they present 
 us with a picture in perfect harmony with the 
 Scriptural narrative — a picture of a state 
 such as that set up by Nimrod would be likely 
 
 1 The Cushite character of the primitive Babylonian mon- 
 archy is proved by the close analogy of the language with that 
 of the aboriginal races of Abyssinia, the Galla, Wolaiitsa, etc. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 31 
 
 to have become two or three centuries after 
 its foundation.^ 
 
 Intimately connected with the account given 
 in Gen. x. of the Babylonian kingdom of 
 Nimrod, is a sketch of a sister, or Relations of 
 
 T , , , . , . T • • Assyria to Ba- 
 
 dauffhter, kinpfdom m an aciionnns: byionia rejiiiy 
 
 . r\ f 1 1 T ?) 1 sucli as stated 
 
 region. " Out oi that land — the in Genesis. 
 land of Sliinar — we are told, " went forth 
 Asshur,^ and builded Nineveh, and the streets 
 of the city, and Calah, and Resen between 
 Nineveh and Calah ; the same is a great city." 
 If this rendering of the original be correct,^ 
 
 1 * The modem Arabs ascribe to Nimrod all the great works of 
 modern times, such as the Birs-Nimrud near Babylon, Tel-Nim~ 
 rud near Bagdad, the dam of Sur el-Ninirud across the Tigris 
 below Mosul, and the well-known mound of Nimrud in the same 
 neighborhood (Smith's Bibl. Diet. vol. iii. p. 2557, Amer. ed. ). In 
 these traditions we catch again glimpses of the great city-builder 
 and warrior siiadowed forth to us in the Bible-story. — H. 
 
 2 *In the margin (A. V.)it is, '* he " (Nimrod) " went out into 
 Assyria;" and so De Wette, Tuch, Knobel, Delitsch, Kalisch, 
 and others; the other rendering is approved by the Sept., Vulg., 
 Luther, Calvin, and many of the older writers. But whether 
 Nimrod or Asshur be the subject of the verb is not material to 
 the point at issue; for essentially the same ethnographic and 
 linguistic affiliation is proved in the one case as the other. — H. 
 
 8 The rendering is that of the Septuagint, the Vulgate, and 
 the ancient Syriac versions. It is approved by J. D. Michselis, 
 by Dathe, Rosenmliller, and Von Bohlen. Kalisch and others 
 prefer the rendering in the margin of our Bibles. 
 
 *Our English Bible has also here "the streets of the city," in 
 the margin, but " the city Rehoboth " in the text. The former 
 perhaps suggests an idea of the greatness of Nineveh (Jon. iii. 
 3; iv. 11) which the other does not, but seems out of place here 
 where all the accompanying terms are proper names. Most 
 critics prefer " Rehoboth-Ir," the name of a distinct city of 
 
32 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 we have here a statement that Asshur, or the 
 Assyrian nation, having previously dwelt in 
 Babylonia, " went out," or retired before the 
 Cushites, and, proceeding to the northward, 
 founded at some subsequent time the great 
 Assyrian cities, Nineveh, Calah, and Resen. 
 In a later part of the chapter, the Assyrians 
 are declared to be Semites (ver. 22), closely 
 connected by blood with the Syrians and the 
 Hebrews. Of this entire account, the most 
 remarkable points are, (1) the contrast of 
 ethnic character noted as existing between the 
 two neighboring peoples ; (2) the priority as- 
 cribed to Babylon over Nineveh, and to the 
 primitive Babylonian over the Assyrian king- 
 dom ; and (3) the derivation of the Assyriansi 
 from Babylonia, or, in other words, the state- 
 ment that having been originally inhabitants* 
 of the low country, they emigrated north- 
 wards, leaving their previous seats to a peoph 
 of a different origin. Till within a few yeara 
 these statements seemed to involve great di/h - 
 culties. Almost all ancient writers spoke or 
 the Babylonians and 'Assyrians as kindro.d 
 races, if not even as one people. Those who 
 professed to be acquainted with their early 
 
 that neig^hborhood, and one of the dependencies of Nineveh. 
 See De VVette's Uebersetzimg des A. Test., and Arnaud's French 
 Version (1866). See Dr. Conant on Genesis x. 11. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 33 
 
 history declared that Assyria was the original 
 seat of empire ; that Nineveh was built before 
 Babylon ; and that the latter city owed its 
 origin to an Assyrian princess, who conquered 
 the country and built there a provincial capi- 
 tal.^ It is one of the main results of the re- 
 cent Mesopotamian researches to have entirely 
 demolished this view, which rests really on 
 the sole authority of Ctesias. The recovered 
 monuments show that the Mosaical account is, 
 in all respects, true. The early Babylonians 
 are proved to have been of an entirely dis- 
 tinct race from the Assyrians, whose language 
 is Semitic, while that of their southern neigh- 
 bors is Cushite. A Babylonian kingdom is 
 found to have flourished for centuries before 
 there was any independent Assyria, or any 
 such city as Nineveh.''^ With respect to the 
 movement of the Assyrians northwards, the 
 evidence is less direct ; but there are not want- 
 ing some decided indications of it. The char- 
 acter of the Assyrian architecture is such as 
 to render it almost certain that their style was 
 formed in a low, flat alluvium, like that of 
 Chaldaea. Their mode of writing, and most 
 of their religion, are derived from the Baby- 
 
 1 See Diod. Sic. ii. 1-20. 
 
 2 See Lenormant, Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne de V Orient 
 torn. ii. pp. 16-43. 
 
 3 
 
34 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Ionian. They themselves always regard Bab- 
 ylon as the true home of most of their gods, 
 and are anxious to sacrifice at Babylonian 
 shrines, as those at which the gods are most 
 accessible. There is reason to believe that in 
 many instances the Assyrians transported their 
 dead into Babylonia, anxious that they should 
 rest in what they regarded as their true 
 country. 1 The spread of the race, after their 
 native history commences, is northwards, and 
 the capital is twice moved in this direction — 
 from Asshur (Kileh-Sherghat) to Calah 
 (Nimrud), and from Calah to Nineveh (Koy- 
 unjik). Altogether, though the evidence on 
 the third point is merely circumstantial, it is 
 perhaps as convincing to a candid mind as the 
 direct testimony which establishes the former 
 two. 
 
 From the general account of mankind, 
 which has occupied him for eleven chapters, 
 the author of Genesis turns, in ch. xii., to the 
 history of an individual, the progenitor of the 
 chosen race, to which God gave the first writ- 
 Some points in ^eu rcvclation. It was not to be 
 Abrahara'?L-''^ expcctcd that prof auc history would 
 Srfrom" pS^ take notice of this personage, who 
 
 fane history. ^^^^ ^£ small aCCOUUt, CXCCptiug tO 
 
 1 Arrian. Exp. Alex. vii. 22; Loftus, Chaldaa and Susianaf 
 p. 199. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 35 
 
 a single insignificant people, namely, the He- 
 brews. Joseplius indeed imagined that the 
 Babylonian history of Berosus contained a 
 mention of him ; ^ but this is, at any rate, un- 
 certain ; and the only satisfactory illustrations 
 from profane sources, of which the history of 
 Abraham admits, will concern persons and 
 countries with which he was brought into con- 
 tact rather than himself or his own adven- 
 tures.2 On two occasions in his Hfe the 
 patriarch came into connection with royal 
 personages, and with countries which play 
 an important part in the world's early his- 
 tory. We may reasonably inquire whether 
 these countries and personages are represented 
 agreeably to the tenor of ancient history, or 
 the contrary. 
 
 The first of the two occasions is the follow- 
 ing. Abraham is living as a nomad chief in 
 Palestine, when there occurs a se- condition of 
 vere famine, which induces him to SS'Vf'Abra- 
 take refuge in Egypt. There the *'^°'- 
 king of the country, who is called Pharaoh, 
 
 1 Ant. Jud. i. 7, § 2. 
 
 2 Accounts of Abraham were given by several of the later 
 Greek writers, as Eupolemus, Artapanus, Nicolaus Damascenus, 
 and others ; but these writers drew probably from Genesis (see 
 Rawlinson's Bampton Lectures iorlSbd, p. 70). 
 
 * An American edition of the Lectures was published by Gould 
 and Lincoln, Boston, 1860. — H. 
 
36 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 hearing of the beauty of Abraham's wife, 
 whom he has represented as his sister, sends 
 for her, intending to marry her ; but before 
 the marriage is consummated, discovering her 
 real relationship to the patriarch, he rebukes 
 him and sends the pair away. The narrative 
 is very brief ; but we learn from it : (1.) That 
 Egypt was already under a settled govern- 
 ment, having a king, and " princes " who 
 acted as the king's subordinates. (2.) That 
 the name or title of the monarch was one 
 which to the ears of the Hebrews sounded 
 " Pha-ra-oh." (3.) That the country was 
 one to which recourse was naturally had by 
 the inhabitants of neighboring lands in a time 
 of scarcit3\ Now on all these points the 
 sacred narrative is in harmony with profane 
 sources. History Proper, the " history of 
 states," begins with Egypt, where there is 
 reason to believe that a settled government 
 was established, and monarchical institutions 
 set up, at an earlier date than in any other 
 country.^ 
 
 1 Herodotus, Diodorus, and the Greek writers generally give 
 an antiquity to the Egyptian kingdom very much beyond that 
 which they ascribe to any other. An extreme antiquity was 
 claimed by the Egyptians themselves. Among moderns, some 
 allow these extreme claims. Even those who most decidedly 
 disallow them still admit the priority of the Egyptian over all 
 other known kingdoms. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 37 
 
 That a name, or title, near to Pharaoh, 
 might be borne by an Egyptian king, appears 
 from Herodotus ; ^ and modern hieroglyphic 
 research has pointed out more than one suita- 
 ble title,^ which Hebrews might represent by 
 the characters found in Genesis. The charac- 
 ter of Egypt as a granary of surrounding na- 
 tions is notorious ; and this character has at- 
 tached to her throughout the entire course of 
 her history. The narrative of Gen. xii. 10- 
 20, therefore, brief as it is, contains at least 
 three points capable of confirmation or refuta- 
 tion from profane sources, and on all these 
 points those sources confirm it. 
 
 The other event in the life of Abraham 
 which receives some illustration from pro- 
 fane history, is the account which is po^g^ ^f ^Aum 
 given in Gen. xiv. of his rescue of chedoMaom- 
 Lot, his nephew, from the hands of ^^' 
 Chedor-laomer, king of Elam. It appears, by 
 the narrative of this chapter, that in the in- 
 
 1 Herod, ii. 111. 
 
 2 "Pharaoh " has been explained as PA' ouro, "the king"; 
 and again as Ph' Jia, " the Sun," which was a title borne by 
 many Egyptian monarchs. But the best hieroglyphical scholars 
 now regard it as the equivalent of the Egyptian Peran, or 
 Perao, "the great house," which is "the regular title of the 
 Egyptian kings" {De Rouge). 
 
 * " Pharaoh " has its analogy therefore, in that of "Sublime 
 Porte " as one of the titles of the Grand Sultan of Turkey. At 
 all events it is not to be regarded as a proper name. — H. 
 
88 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 terval between the time of Nimrod and that 
 of Abraham, power had passed from the 
 hands of the Babylonians into those of a 
 neighboring nation, the Elamites, who ex- 
 ercised a suzerainty over the lower Mesopo- 
 tamian country, and felt themselves strong 
 enough to make warlike expeditions into the 
 distant land of Palestine. The king of Elam 
 in the time of Abraham was Chedor-laomer 
 (Chedol-logomer LXX.). Assisted by his 
 •vassal-monarchs, Amraphel, king of Shinar, 
 Arioch, king of Ellasar (or Larsa), and Tidal 
 (or Thargal LXX.), "king of nations," he 
 invaded Palestine, defeated the princes of the 
 country in a battle near the Dead Sea, and 
 forced them to become his subjects. After 
 twelve years, however, they revolted, and a 
 second expedition was led by Chedor-laomer 
 into the country, which resulted in another 
 defeat of the Palestinian monarchs, in the 
 plunder of Sodom and Gomorrha, and in the 
 capture of Lot. Upon hearing of this, Abra- 
 ham armed his servants, three hundred and 
 eighteen in number, and assisted by a body 
 of Amorites, went in pursuit of the retiring 
 army, hung on its rear, dealt it some severe 
 blows, and recovered his nephew, together 
 with many other prisoners and much booty. 
 Of the actual expeditions here narrated, 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 39 
 
 profane history contains no account. But the 
 change in the position of Babylon, the rise of 
 the Elamites to power and preeminence, and 
 the occurrence about this time of Elamitic ex- 
 peditions into Palestine or the adjacent dis- 
 tricts, are witnessed to by documents recently 
 disinterred from the mounds of Mesopotamia. 
 The name, too, of the Elamitic king, though 
 not yet actually found on any monument, is 
 composed of elements both of which occur in 
 Elamite documents separately, and is of a 
 type exactly similar to other Elamitic names 
 of the period. To give the evidence more 
 fully, it is stated in an inscription of Asshur- 
 bani-pal, the son of Esar-haddon, that 1635 
 years before his own capture of Susa, or about 
 B. c. 2286, Kudur-Nakhunta, then king of 
 Elam, led an expedition into Babylonia, took 
 the towns, plundered the temples, and carried 
 off the images of the gods to his own capital, 
 where they remained to the time of the As- 
 syrian conquest.^ From Babylonian docu- 
 ments of a date not much later (B. c. 2200- 
 2100), it appears that an Elamitic dynasty 
 had by that time been established in Babylo- 
 nia itself, and that a king called Kudur-Ma- 
 buk, an Elamite prince, who held his court at 
 
 1 G. Smith in Zeitschrift fiir jEgyptischc Sjprache, Novem- 
 ber 1868, p. 116. 
 
40 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Ur, in Lower Chaldsea, carried his arms so far 
 to the westward, that he took the title of 
 " Ravager of the West," or " Ravager of 
 Syria," — a title which is found inscribed upon 
 his bricks. The element Kudur^ which com- 
 mences the name of this prince, and also that 
 of Kudur-Naklumta, is identical with the He- 
 brew Chedor^ while Lagamer is elsewhere 
 found as an Elamitic god, which is the case 
 also with Mahuh and Nakhunta, Thus Che- 
 dor-laomer (Kudur-Lagamer) is a name of ex- 
 actly the same type with Kudur-Nakhunta 
 and Kudur-Mabuk ; its character is thoroughly 
 Elamitic ; and it is appropriate to the time at 
 which the writer of Genesis places the mon- 
 arch bearing it. 
 
 The events related from the fourteeenth to 
 the thirty-ninth chapter of Genesis are alto- 
 No further ii- gather of SO private a nature, that 
 Efmeof*"^ profane history could scarcely be 
 Joseph. expected to notice them. Our in- 
 
 formation moreover with respect to the time 
 is scanty, and scarcely extends to Palestine, 
 the scene of the events narrated. When, 
 however, we come to the history of Joseph, 
 we are once more brought into contact with 
 the important kingdom of Egypt, a kingdom 
 of which, even at this remote date, we have 
 considerable knowledge, derived in part from 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 41 
 
 ancient authors, in part from the native monu- 
 ments, which occasionally (it is believed) reach 
 back to this remote period. Here, then, pro- 
 fane history may once more be applied to test 
 the veracity of the narrative ; and it may be 
 inquired whether the Egypt of Joseph agrees 
 or disagrees with the Ancient Egypt of the 
 monuments and the old classical writers. 
 
 Now the chief features of the Egypt de- 
 picted in the later chapters of Genesis seem 
 to be the following : The mon- Minute de- 
 
 , . 1 • /^ •• i.' scription of 
 
 arcny, noted in bren. xii., contniues. Egypt in the 
 The king still bears the title of of Genesis. 
 "Pharaoh." He is absolute, or nearly so, 
 committing men to prison (xl. 3), and releas- 
 ing them (lb. 21), or, if he please, ordering 
 their execution (lb. 22) ; appointing officers 
 over the whole land, and taxing it apparently 
 at his pleasure (lb. 34) ; raising a foreigner 
 suddenly to the second position in the king- 
 dom, and requiring all, without exception, to 
 render him obedience (lb. 41-44). At the 
 same time the king has counselors, or minis- 
 ters, " elders of his house " (1. 7), and others, 
 whose advice he asks, and without whose sanc- 
 tion he does not seem to act in important 
 matters (xli. 37, 38). His court is organized 
 after the fashion of later Oriental monarchies. 
 He has a body-guard, under a commander or 
 
42 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 '* captain,'* one of whose chief duties is to ex- 
 ecute the sentences which he pronounces upon 
 offenders (xxxvii. 36). He has a train of 
 confectioners, at the head of whom is a " chief 
 confectioner " (xl. 2), and a train of cup- 
 bearers, at the head of whom is a " chief cup- 
 bearer " (lb.). He rides in a chariot, and all 
 men bow the knee before him (xli. 43). The 
 state of Egypt is one of somewhat advanced 
 civilization. There are distinct classes of 
 soldiers (xxxvii. 36), priests (xlvii. 22), phy- 
 sicians (1. 2), and herdsmen (xlvi. 34 ; xlvii. 
 6). There is also a class of " magicians " 
 (xli. 8), or " sacred scribes," who may be 
 either a subdivision of the priests, or form a 
 distinct profession. The name given to this 
 last class implies that writing is practiced. 
 Among other indications of advance in civili- 
 zation are, the mention of "fine linen," as 
 worn by some (lb. 42), of a golden neck- 
 chain (lb.), a silver drinking-cup (xliv. 2), 
 wagons (xlv. 21), chariots (1. 9), a cofl&n, or 
 mummy-case (lb. 26), and the practice of 
 embalming (lb. 2, 26). Among special pecul- 
 iarities of the nation are (1), the position of 
 the priests, which is evidently very exalted 
 (xli. 45), and more particularly their privi- 
 lege with respect to their lands, which they 
 hold by a different tenure from the rest of the 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 43 
 
 people (xlvii. 22) ; (2) the existence of cus- 
 toms implying strong feelings with respect 
 to purity and impurity, and a great dread of 
 material defilement (xliii. 32) ; (3), a special 
 dislike, or contempt, for the occupation of 
 herdsmen ; and (4), a greater liberty with 
 respect to the intermixture of the sexes than 
 is common in the East, with a consequent 
 licentiousness in the conduct of the women 
 (xxxix. 7-12). Other noticeable points are, 
 the great fertility of the soil, the existence of 
 numerous granaries (xli. 56^, the practice of 
 carrying burdens upon the head (xl. 16) ; the 
 use, by the monarch, of a signet-ring (xli. 
 42) ; the employment of bought slaves (xxxix. 
 1) ; the importation of spices from Arabia 
 (xxvii. 25) ; the use of stewards (xxxix. 41 ; 
 xliv. 1) ; the washing of guests' feet (xliii. 
 24) ; the practice of sitting at meals (lb. 38) ; 
 the use of wine (xl. 11 ; xliii. 34), and meat 
 (xliii. 16) ; and the employment of some 
 mode, which is not explained, of divination by 
 cups (xliv. 5). 
 
 It may be broadly stated that in this entire 
 description there is not a single feature which 
 is out of harmony with what we know of the 
 Egypt of this remote period from other sources. 
 Nay, more, almost every point in it is confirmed 
 either by the classical writers, by the monu- 
 
44 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 ments, or by both. The king's absohite au- 
 compiete con- thority appears abundantly from 
 
 firmation of . 
 
 the description Herodotus, Diodorus, and others. 
 
 from profane 
 
 sources. He cnacted laws, imposed taxes, 
 
 administered justice, executed and pardoned 
 offenders at his pleasure.^ He had a body- 
 guard, which is constantly seen on the sculp- 
 tures, in close attendance upon his person.^ 
 He was assisted in the management of state 
 affairs by the advice of a council, consisting of 
 the most able and distinguished members of 
 the priestly order.^ His court was magnificent, 
 and comprised various grand functionaries, 
 whose tombs are among the most splendid of 
 the early remains of Egyptian art.* When he 
 left his palace for any purpose, he invariably 
 rode in a chariot. His subjects, wherever he 
 appeared, bowed down or prostrated them- 
 selves.^ With respect to the early civilization 
 of Egypt, it is especially noted by those conver- 
 sant with the subject, that the earliest sculp- 
 tures extant, even those anterior to the pyra- 
 mid period, which can scarcely be later than 
 
 1 See Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, voL ii. pp. 22, 23 ; and 
 compare Herod, ii. 136, 177; Diod. Sic. i. 79, etc. 
 
 2 liosellini, Monumenti deW Egitto, vol. ii. pp. 201, 202. 
 
 3 Diod. Sic. i. 73. 
 
 4 Lenormant, Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne de V Orient, torn. 
 i. pp. 333, 334. 
 
 6 Wilkinson, vol. ii. p. 24. " These prostrations," he says, 
 *' are frequently represented in the sculptures." 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 45 
 
 B. c. 2400 or 2300, contain traces of a prog- 
 ress and advance which are most striking, and 
 indeed surprising. " We see no primitive 
 mode of life," says Sir G. Wilkinson, " no 
 barbarous customs ; not even the habit, so 
 slowly abandoned by all people, of wearing 
 arms when not on military service ; nor any 
 
 archaic art In the tombs of the 
 
 pyramid-period are represented the same 
 fishing and fowling scenes ; the rearing of 
 cattle, and wild animals of the desert ; the 
 scribes using the same kind of reed for writ- 
 ing on the papyrus ; the same boats ; the same 
 mode of preparing for the entertainment of 
 guests ; the same introduction of music and 
 dancing ; the same trades, as glass-blowers, 
 cabinet-makers, and others ; as well as similar 
 agricultural scenes, implements, and grana- 
 ries."^ " Les representations de cette tombe," 
 says M. Lenormant, speaking of one more an- 
 cient than the Great Pyramid, " nous montrent 
 la civilisation Egyptienne aussi completement 
 organisee qu'elle I'etait au moment de la con- 
 quete des Perses ou de celle des Macedoniens, 
 avec une physionomie completement individ- 
 uelle et les marques d'une longue existence 
 
 1 See the same writer in Eawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii.p. 291, 
 2d edition. 
 
46 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 anterieure." ^ This civilization comprises the 
 practice of writing, the distinction into classes 
 or castes, the peculiar dignity of the priests, 
 the practice of embalming and of burying in 
 wooden coffins or mummj^-cases,^ the manu- 
 facture and use of linen garments, the wear- 
 ing of gold chains, and almost all the other 
 points which have been noted in the Mosaic 
 description. The priests' privilege with re- 
 spect to lands, which cannot be proved from 
 the monuments, is mentioned by Herodotus 
 and Diodorus ; ^ and the former distinctly 
 states that the general proprietorship of the 
 land was vested in the king. The same 
 writer witnesses to the strong feeling of the 
 Egyptians with respect to " uncleanness," 
 and to their fear of contracting defilement by 
 contact with foreigners.* The Egyptian con- 
 tempt for herdsmen appears abundantly on 
 the monuments, where they are commonly rep- 
 resented as dirty and unshaven, and sometimes 
 
 1 Lenormant, Manuel d^IIistoire, torn. i. p. 334. 
 
 * "The representations of this tomb," says M. Lenormant, 
 " show us the civilization of Egypt as completely organized as 
 it was at thf moment of the conquest of the Persians, with a 
 physiognomy altogether peculiar and the marks of a long ante- 
 rior existence." — H. 
 
 2 The coffin of Mycerinus, discovered in the third pyramid 
 (which belongs to about b. c. 2300-2200), was of sycamore 
 wood. 
 
 8 Herod, ii. 168 (compare 109); Diod. Sic. i. 73. 
 
 * Herod, ii. 45. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 47 
 
 even caricatured as a deformed and unseemly 
 race.i The liberty allowed to women is like- 
 wise seen on the monuments, where in the rep- 
 resentation of entertainments, we find men and 
 women frequently sitting together, both strang- 
 ers and also members of the same family; ^ and 
 that this liberty Avas liable to degenerate into 
 license, appears both from what Herodotus 
 says of the character of Egyptian women,^ 
 and from the story told in the Papyrus d'Or- 
 biney,^ entitled '' The Two Brothers," where 
 the wife of the elder brother acts towards the 
 younger almost exactly as the wife of Potiphar 
 towards Joseph.^ The practice of men carrying 
 burdens on the head, both appears on the mon- 
 uments and is also noticed by Herodotus ; ^ that 
 of sitting at meals, which was unlike the pa- 
 tiiarchal and the common Oriental custom,'' 
 is also completely in accordance with the nu- 
 merous representations of banquets found in 
 the tombs ; the washing of guests' feet, which 
 does not appear to be represented, is illus- 
 trated by a tale in Herodotus, as well as by 
 
 1 Wilkinson, Ancient Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 16. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 389. 
 
 8 Herod, ii. 111. Compare Diod. Sic. i. 59. 
 4 * This papyrus is in the British Museum. For a translation 
 of the tale, see the Cambridge Essays for 1858. — H. 
 6 Ebers, ^gypten, p. 311. 
 
 6 Herod, ii. 35; Wilkinson, vol. 11. pp. 151, 385, etc. 
 ■^ See Gen. xviii. 4. 
 
48 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 the ancient custom of the Greeks ; ^ divination 
 by cups is noted as an Egyptian superstition 
 by Jamblichus ; ^ the monuments abound with 
 representations of stewards and granaries, of 
 the purchase and sale of slaves, and of the 
 employment of wagons and chariots.^ The 
 use of a signet-ring by the monarch has re- 
 cently received a remarkable illustration by 
 the discovery of an impression of such a sig- 
 net on fine clay at Koyunjik, the site of the 
 ancient Nineveh. This seal appears to have 
 been impressed from the bezel of a metallic 
 finger-ring ; it is an oval, two inches in length 
 by one inch wide, and bears the image, name, 
 and titles of the Egyptian king, Sabaco.'* 
 
 It would weary the reader were we to pro- 
 ceed further with this confirmation of the 
 Mosaic narrative in all its details. A simpler, 
 and perhaps a stronger confirmation is to be 
 
 1 Herod, ii. 172; Horn. Od. iii. 460-468; iv. 48. 
 
 2 Jamblich. de Mysterirs jEgypt. iii. 14. 
 
 8 On stewards and granaries see Wilkinson, voL ii. pp. 135, 
 136; Rosellini, ii. p. 329. On the sale of slaves, see Wilkinson, 
 vol. i. p. 404. On the employment of wagons and chariots, see 
 Wilkinson, vol. i. p. 335; vol. iii. p. 179. 
 
 4 See l>ayard, Nineveh and Babylon, p. 156, and note. Other 
 impressions of royal signets have been found in Egypt; and the 
 actual signet-rings of two of the ancient monarchs (Cheops and 
 Horus) have been recovered. 
 
 * Figures of many of these objects (military, agricultural, and 
 domestic) copied from Egyptian monuments, will be found in 
 Smith's Bihl. Diet. vol. i. pp. 671-685, Amer. ed. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 49 
 
 found in an examination of those few points 
 in respect of which modern Rationalism has 
 ventured to impugn the Sacred His- Points to which 
 
 -, 1 1 c 1 • 1 exception has 
 
 tor 3^, and on tlie strengtli oi winch been taken. 
 it has been argued that the writer of the Pen- 
 tateuch was unacquainted with Egypt, and 
 composed his work many centuries after the 
 time of Moses. Now, the points to which ex- 
 ception has been taken — so far as Genesis is 
 concerned — appear to be chiefly these: (1) 
 the mention of camels and asses among the pos- 
 sessions of Abraham in Egypt (Gen. xii. 16) ; 
 (2) the blasting of the ears of corn by the 
 east wind (xli. 6) ; (3) the cultivation of the 
 vine and the use of wine in Egypt (xl. 11) ; 
 (4) the use of flesh for food, especially by 
 one connected with the higher castes of the 
 Egyptians, as Joseph was (xliii. 16) ; (5) the 
 employment of eunuchs (regarded as implied 
 in xxxvii. 86) ; (6) the possibility of famine 
 in Egypt ; and (7) the possibility of such a 
 marriage as is said to have taken place be- 
 tween a foreign shepherd and the daughter of 
 the high-priest of Heliopolis (xli. 45). ^ 
 
 It is undoubtedly true that there are no rep- 
 resentations of camels on the Egyptian monu- 
 ments, and that the ancient writers who speak 
 
 1 See Von Bohlen, Die Genesis historisch-hritisch erldutertf 
 and Tuch, Comment, iiber d. Genesis. 
 
50 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 of the animals of Egypt do not mention them. 
 These points But, on the other hand, it is cer- 
 examined. tain, from the circumstances of the 
 country at the present day, that much of 
 Egypt is well suited to the camel ; ^ and it is 
 beyond a doubt that camels always abounded 
 in the parts of Asia bordering upon Egypt, 
 and that they must have been used in any 
 traffic that took place between Egypt and her 
 Eastern neighbors. Hence the bulk of mod- 
 ern writers upon Ancient Egypt place the 
 camel among her animals ; though some ob- 
 serve that " they were probably only kept 
 upon the frontier." ^ 
 
 [* Camels are not uncommon in Egypt at the 
 present time. Most of the travelling between 
 Egypt and Palestine is performed in that 
 way. Strabo, the Greek geographer (speak- 
 ing of a much later time of course), says that 
 the Egyptians travelled with camels through 
 the desert from Coptos (Upper Egypt) to 
 Berenice (Ezion-geber, Num. xxxiii. 35, 36 ; 
 Deut. ii. 8). The objection as drawn from 
 Gen. xii. 16, is not justified ; for not a word 
 is said there of the use of camels among the 
 Egyptians (which agrees perfectly with the 
 silence of the Egyptian monuments), but that 
 
 1 Wilkinson, vol. iii. p. 35. 
 
 '^ Wilkinson, vol. iii. p. 35; vol. v. p. 187. Stewart Poole in 
 Smith's Biblical Diet, vol, i. p. 500 ; and i. p. 673, Araer. ed. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 51 
 
 Abraham favored by Pharaoh was greatly 
 prospered as a herdsman, and among his pos- 
 sessions had also camels, as a nomad, such as 
 Abraham was and continued to be (Gen. xiii. 
 11), would of course have. If the monuments 
 afford no proof that the Egyptians had camels 
 in that age, neither does the book of Genesis, 
 and the two records are consistent with each 
 other in that respect.] 
 
 With regard to asses, the objection taken 
 is extraordinary, and indicates an astonishing 
 degree of ignorance ; since asses were amongst 
 the most common of Egyptian animals, a sin- 
 gle individual possessing sometimes as many 
 as seven or eight hundred.^ 
 
 An actual " east wind " is rare in Egypt, 
 and when it occurs is not injurious to vegeta- 
 tion ; but the southeast wind, which would 
 be included under the Hebrew term translated 
 " east " in Gen. xH., is frequent, and is often 
 most oppressive. Ukert thus sums up the ac- 
 counts which modern travellers have given of 
 it : " As long as the southeast vdnd continues, 
 doors and windows are closed, but the fine dust 
 penetrates everywhere ; everything dries up ; 
 wooden vessels warp and crack. The ther- 
 mometer rises suddenly from 16.20 degrees up 
 
 1 * Lepsius confirms this statement explicitly {Denhmdler 
 aus uEgypten und ^Ethiopia). — H. 
 
52 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 to 30, 36, and even 38 degrees of Reaumur 
 This wind works destruction upon everything. 
 The grass withers so that it entirely perishes, 
 if this wind blows long." ^ 
 
 Though Herodotus (ii. 77) denies the exist- 
 ence of the vine in Egypt, and Plutarch states 
 that wine was not drunk there till the reign of 
 Psammetichus,^ yet it is now certain, from the 
 monuments, that the cultivation of the grape, 
 the art of making wine, and the practice of 
 drinking it, were well known in Egypt at 
 least from the time of the Pyramids. Sir G. 
 Wilkinson observes, that " wine was univer- 
 sally used by the rich throughout Egypt, and 
 beer supplied its place at the tables of the 
 poor, not because they had no vines in the 
 country, but because it was cheaper." ^ And 
 this statement is as true of the most ancient 
 period represented on the monuments as of 
 any other. 
 
 The denial of the use of flesh for food among 
 high-caste Egyptians is one of those curious 
 errors into which learned men occasionally fall, 
 strangely and unaccountably. There is really 
 
 1 Quoted by Hengstenberg, jEgypten und Mose, p. 10. 
 
 * First translated in this country by Prof. R. D. C. Robbins 
 and subsequently in Clark's Theological Library, Edinburgh. 
 —H. 
 
 2 Be Isid. et Osir. § 6. 
 
 * Wilkinson in Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 107; 2d ed 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 53 
 
 no ancient writer who asserts that even the 
 priests abstain ordinarily from animal food, 
 while the best authors distinctly declare the 
 contrary.! And the cooking scenes, which 
 abound on the Egyptian monuments of all 
 ages,2 show that animal food was the principal 
 diet of the upper classes. 
 ' With respect to the existence of eunuchs in 
 Ancient Egypt, the evidence is conflicting. 
 E-osellini believed that he found them depicted 
 on the monuments.*^ Wilkinson, on the other 
 hand, does not recognize them ; and it must 
 be admitted to be doubtful whether they are 
 really represented or no. But it is at least 
 certain that Manetho, the Egyptian priest, 
 regarded them as an old national institution, 
 since he related that a king of the twelfth 
 dynasty (ab. B. c. 1900) was assassinated by 
 his eunuchs.* On the other hand it is uncer- 
 tain whether the Hebrew word used of Poti- 
 phar (Gen. xxxvii. 36), and of the "chief 
 butler" and "chief baker" (xl. 2), though 
 originally it may have meant " eunuch," had 
 not also the secondary sense of " officer " at 
 the time oT the composition of the Pentateuch. 
 That it had this sense in later times is allowed 
 
 1 Herod, ii. 37; Plut. De Is. et Osir. § 5. 
 
 2 Wilkinson, Ancient £(/yptians, vol. ii. pp. 374-388. 
 8 Monumenti dell' Fgifto, vol. ii. p. 132 et seq. 
 
 4 Manetho ap. Euseb. Chron. Can. i. 20. 
 
54 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 on all hands, and some even regard it as the 
 original meaning of the word.^ 
 
 To deny, as Von Bohlen does,^ the possibil- 
 ity of famine in Egypt, is absurd. Ancient 
 writers constantly notice its liability to this 
 scourge, when the inundation of the Nile falls 
 below the average ; ^ and history tells of 
 numerous cases in which the inhabitants of 
 the country have suffered terribly from want.* 
 The most remarkable occasion, and one which 
 furnishes a near parallel to the famine of 
 Joseph, was in the year of the Hegira 457 
 (a. d. 1064), when a famine began which 
 lasted seven years, and was so severe that 
 dogs and cats, and even human flesh, were 
 eaten ; all the horses of the caliph, but three, 
 perished, and his family had to fly into Syria. 
 Another famine, scarcely less severe, took 
 place in A. D. 1199, and is recorded by Abd- 
 el-Latif,^ an eye-witness, in very similar 
 terms. 
 
 The marriage of Joseph with the daughter 
 of the high-priest of On (Heliopolis), is an 
 
 1 Cook Taylor, note in the translation of Jlengstenberg's 
 jEgypten und Mose (Clark's Theological Library^ p. 23). 
 
 2 Die Genesis erldutert, § 421. 
 
 8 Strab.xvii. 3, § 15 ; Plin. ff. JV. v. 9; xviii. 18. 
 
 •* Several famines are mentioned on the monuments (Brugsch, 
 Histoired'tgypte, \ol. i. p. 5G). Others are recorded by Mo- 
 hammedan writers, as Makrizi, Es-Suyuti, and others. 
 
 6 See the Descr'qHion de VEgpte, torn. vii. p. 332. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 55 
 
 event to which it must be admitted that we 
 cannot show any exact parallel. It would 
 seem, however, that the exclusiveness of the 
 Egyptians with respect to marriage has been 
 overrated. The kings, who, on their acces- 
 sion, became members of the priestly order 
 and heads of the national religion, readily 
 gave their daughters to foreigners, as one gave 
 his to Solomon, and several in later times 
 gave theirs to Ethiopians.^ Moreover, it 
 must be borne in mind, that Joseph was natu- 
 ralized, and was accounted an Egyptian, just 
 as the Ptolemies were in later times, and that 
 thus any marriage would be open to him 
 which was open to other non-priestly Egyp- 
 tians. If there had still been any reluctance 
 on the part of the high-priest, it must have 
 yielded to the command of the despotic king, 
 who is expressly stated to have made the 
 marriage. 
 
 1 Wilkinson in Rawlinson's Serodottis, vol. ii. p. 141. 
 
56 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 EXODUS TO DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 The narrative contained in these four books 
 — Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuter- 
 onomy — covers a space of probably less than 
 two centuries ; and the scene is chiefly laid 
 in countries of which profane history tells us 
 little or nothing at this early period. Illus- 
 tration of the narrative from profane sources 
 must, therefore, be almost entirely confined to 
 that portion of it which precedes the depart- 
 ure from Egypt, or, in other words, to the 
 time during which the descendants of Abra- 
 ham remained in close contact with a civilized 
 nation, whose records and monuments have 
 come down to us. For this space two sorts of 
 illustrations are possible. The same kind of 
 agreement between the details of the Biblical 
 narrative and the usages known to have pre- 
 vailed in Ancient Egypt, which has been 
 pointed out with respect to the latter part of 
 Genesis, may be traced likewise here; and 
 further, the Exodus itself, or withdrawal from 
 Egypt of an oppressed portion of the popula- 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 57 
 
 tion, and tlieir settlement in southern Syria 
 or Palestine, may be shown to have Profune ac- 
 left traces in Egyptian literature, Exodus, 
 traces which quite unmistakably point to 
 some such series of transactions as those re- 
 corded in the sacred volume. 
 
 In proof of this latter point, to which pre- 
 cedence may be assigned on account of its ex- 
 ceeding interest, an exact translation will, in 
 the first place, be given of two passages, one 
 from the early Egyptian writer, Manetho, and 
 the other from a later author of the same 
 nation, Chaeremon, both of whom were priests 
 and learned in the antiquities of their 
 country. 
 
 Manetho (as reported by the Jewish histo- 
 rian, Josephus 1) said : — 
 
 " A king, named Amenophis, desired to behold 
 the gods, like Horus, one of his predecessors, and 
 imparted his desire to his namesake, Account of 
 Amenophis, son of Paapis, who, on ^^^^t^^^- 
 account of his wisdom and acquaintance with futu- 
 rity was thought to be a partaker of the divine 
 nature. His namesake told him that he would be 
 able to see the gods, if he cleansed the whole 
 country of the lepers and the other polluted per- 
 sons in it. The king was pleased, and collecting 
 together all that had any bodily defect throughout 
 
 1 Contr. Apion. i. 26, 27. 
 
58 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Egypt, to the number of eighty thousand, he cast 
 them into the stone-quarries which lie east of the 
 Nile, in order that they might work there together 
 with the other Egyptians employed similarly. 
 Among them were some of the learned priests who 
 were afflicted with leprosy. But Amenophis, the 
 sage and prophet, grew alarmed, fearing the wrath of 
 the gods against himself as well as against the king, 
 if the forced labor of the men were observed, and 
 he proceeded to foretell that there would come per- 
 sons to the assistance of the unclean, who would be 
 masters of Egypt for thirteen years. But as he 
 did not dare to say this to the king, he put it all in 
 writing, and, leaving the document behind him, 
 killed himself. Hereupon the king was greatly de- 
 jected ; and when the workers in the stone-quarries 
 had suffered for a considerable time, the king, at 
 their request, set apart for their refreshment and 
 protection, the city of Avaris, which was empty, 
 having been deserted by the shepherds. Now this 
 place, according to the mythology, was of old a Ty- 
 phonian town. So when the people had entered the 
 city, and had thus a stronghold on which to rest, 
 they appointed as their leader a priest of Heliopo- 
 lis, by name Osarsiph, and swore to obey him in all 
 things. And he, first of all, gave them a law, that 
 they should worship no gods, and should abstain 
 from none of the animals accounted most holy in 
 Egypt, but sacrifice and consume all alike ; and fur- 
 ther, that they should associate with none but their 
 fellow-conspirators. Having established these and 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 59 
 
 many other laws completely opposed to the customs 
 of Egypt, he commanded the bulk of them to build 
 up the town wall, and to make themselves ready for 
 a war with Amenophis the king. After this, hav- 
 ing consulted with some of the other priests and 
 polluted persons, he sent ambassadors to the shep- 
 herds, who had been driven out of Egypt by 
 Tethmosis, to the city which is called Jerusalem, 
 and after informing them about himself and his 
 fellow-sufferers, invited them to join with him in 
 an attack upon Egypt. He would bring them, he 
 said, in the first place, to Avaris, the city of their 
 forefathers, and would provide them amply with 
 all that was necessary for their host ; he would fight 
 on their behalf, when occasion offered, and easily 
 make the country subject to them. They, on their 
 part, were exceedingly rejoiced, and promptly set out 
 in full force, to the number of two hundred thousand 
 men, and soon reached Avaris. Now when Amen- 
 ophis, the Egyptian king, heard of their invasion, 
 he was not a little disquieted, since he remembered 
 what Amenophis the son of Paapis, had prophesied; 
 and though he had previously collected together a 
 vast host of Egyptians, and had taken counsel 
 with their leaders, yet soon he gave orders that 
 the sacred animals held in the most repute in the 
 various temples should be conveyed to him, and 
 that the priests of each temple should hide away 
 the im^ge^ qf ii\Q. gods as securely as possible. 
 Moreover he placed his son, Sethos — called also 
 Bainesses, after Rampse% his (^, e. Amenophis') 
 
60 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 father, — who was a boy of five years old, in the 
 hands of one of his friends. He then himself 
 crossed the river with the other Egyptians, three 
 hu-ndred thousand in number, all excellent soldiers ; 
 but when the enemy advanced to meet him, he de- 
 clined to engage, since he thought that it would be 
 fighting against the gods, and returned hastily to 
 Memphis. Then, carrying with him the Apis and 
 the other sacred animals which had been brought 
 to him, he proceeded at once with the whole Egyp- 
 tian army to Ethiopia. Now the king of Ethiopia 
 lay under obligations to him : he therefore received 
 him, supplied his host with all the necessaries that 
 his country afforded, assigned them cities and vil- 
 lages sufficient for the fated thirteen years' suspen- 
 sion of their sovereignty, and even placed an Ethi- 
 opian force on the Egyptian frontier for the 
 protection of the army of Amenophis. Thus stood 
 matters in Ethiopia. But the Solymites who had 
 returned from exile, and the unclean Egyptians, 
 treated the people of the country so shamefully, 
 that their government appeared, to those who wit- 
 nessed their impieties, to be the worst Egypt had 
 known. For not only did they burn cities and 
 hamlets, nor were they content with plundering the 
 temples and ill-treating the images, but they con- 
 tinued to use the venerated sacred animals as food, 
 and compelled the priests and prophets to be their 
 slayers and butchers, and then sent them away 
 naked. And it is said that the priest who framed 
 their constitution and their laws, who was a native 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 61 
 
 of Heliopolis, named Osarsiph, after the Heliopol- 
 itan god Osiris, after he joined this set of people, 
 
 changed his name, and was called Moses 
 
 Afterwards, Amenophis returned from Ethiopia 
 with a great force, as did his son Rampses, who 
 was likewise accompanied by a force, and together 
 they engaged the shepherds and the unclean, and 
 defeated them, slaying many and pursuing the 
 remainder to the borders of Syria." 
 
 The statement of Chaeremon is as follows : ^ 
 
 " Isis having appeared to Amenophis in his 
 sleep, and reproached him because her temple had 
 been destroyed in the (shepherd) war, Account of 
 Phritiphantes, the sacred scribe, in- Chaeremon. 
 formed him that if he would purge the land of 
 Egypt of all those who had any pollution he would 
 be subject to no more such alarms. So he collected 
 250,000 defiled persons, and expelled them from 
 the country. Two scribes, called Moses and Joseph, 
 led them forth ; the latter of whom was, like Phriti- 
 phantes, a sacred scribe ; and both of these men 
 had Egyptian names, the name of Moses being 
 Tisithen, and that of Joseph, Peteseph. They pro- 
 ceeded to Pelusium, and there fell in with 380,000 
 persons, who had been left behind by Amenophis, 
 because he did not like to bring them into Egypt. 
 So they made an alliance with these men, and 
 invaded Egypt ; whereupon Amenophis, witliout 
 waiting for them to attack him, fled away into 
 
 1 Ap. Josephs c. Apicn. § 32. 
 
62 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Ethiopia, leaving his wife, who was pregnant, be- 
 hind him. And she, having hid herself in some 
 caves, gave birth there to a son, who was called 
 Messenes, who, when he came to man*s estate, 
 drove the Jews into Syria, their number being 
 about 200,000, and received back his father Amen- 
 ophis out of Ethiopia." 
 
 From these passages it appears (1) that the 
 Egyptians had a tradition of an Exodus from. 
 Points of ac- their country of persons whom they 
 
 cordance be- i i i 
 
 tween these regarded as unclean, persons who 
 
 accounts and . , , . c i 
 
 Scripture. rejected their customs, reiused to 
 worship their gods, and killed for food, the 
 animals which they held as sacred ; (2) that 
 they connected this Exodus with the names 
 of Joseph 1 and Moses ; (3) that they made 
 southern Syria the country into which the 
 unclean persons withdrew ; and (4) that they 
 placed the event in the reign of a certain 
 Amenophis, son of Rameses, or Rampses, and 
 father of Sethos, who was made to reign towards 
 the close of the eighteenth dynasty, or about B. 
 C. 1400-1300.2 The circumstances by which 
 
 1 It must be remembered that the Israelites did carry with 
 them out of Egypt the body of Joseph (Ex. xiii. 19), and that 
 there was, thus, some foundation for the Egyptian notion, that 
 Moses and Joseph led them out. 
 
 It is said also in Josh. xxiv. 32, that " the bones of Joseph 
 which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried 
 they in Shechem." See also Acts vii. 15, 16. — H. 
 
 2 Egyptian chronology and the date of the Exodus are, botl. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 63 
 
 the Exodus A\'as preceded are represented dif- 
 ferently in the Egyptian and in the Hebrew 
 narrative, either because the memory of some 
 other event is confused with that of the Jewish 
 Exodus, or because the Egyptian writers, be- 
 ing determined to represent the withdrawal of 
 the Jews from Egypt as an expulsion, were 
 driven to invent a cause for the expulsion in 
 a precedent war, and a temporary dominion 
 of the polluted persons over their country. 
 Among little points common to the two nar- 
 ratives, and tending to identify them, are the 
 following : (1) the name of Avaris given to 
 the town made over to the polluted persons, 
 which stands in etymological connection with 
 the word " Hebrew " ; (2) the character of 
 the pollution ascribed to them, leprosy, which 
 may be accounted for, first, by the fact that 
 one of the signs by which Moses was to prove 
 his divine mission consisted in the exhibition 
 of a leprous hand (Ex. iv. 6) ; and, secondly, 
 by the existence of this malady to a considera- 
 ble extent among the Hebrew people at the 
 time (Lev. xiii. and xiv.) ; (3) the mention 
 
 of them, still unsettled. M. Lenormant places the accession of 
 the nineteenth dynasty in b. c. 1462 {Manuel d' Illstoire, torn. 
 i. p. 321); Sir G. Wilkinson in b. c. 1321 (Rawlinson's Berodo- 
 tus, vol. ii. p. 308, 2d ed.); Mr. Stuart Poole about b. c. 1340 
 (Biblical Bict.vol. i. p. 511; and vol. i. p. 684, Amer. ed.). The 
 date of the Exodus is variously given, as b. c. 1648 (Hales) 
 1652 (Poole), 1491 (Usher, Kali'seh\ and 1320 (Lepsius). 
 
64 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 of Heliopolis as the city to which the leader 
 belonged, and the assignment to him of priestly 
 rank, which arises naturally out of the confu- 
 sion between Moses and Joseph (Gen. xli. 
 45) ; (4) the employment of the polluted per- 
 sons for a time in forced labor ; (5) the con- 
 viction of Amenophis that in resisting the pol- 
 luted he was " fighting against the gods ; " 
 (6) his fear for the safety of his young son, 
 which recalls to our thoughts the last and most 
 awful of the plagues ; (7) the sending away 
 of the priests " naked," which seems an ex- 
 aggeration of the " spoiling of the Egyptians ;" 
 and (8) the occurrence of the name '' Ram- 
 eses " in the Egyptian royal house, which 
 harmonizes with its employment at the time 
 as a local designation (Ex. i. 11 ; xii. 37). 
 
 Another curious account of the Exodus was 
 given by Hecatieus, a Greek of Abdera, who 
 flourished in the time of Alexander, and was 
 familiar with Ptolemy Lagi, the first Greek 
 king of Egypt. This writer, as reported by 
 Diodorus,^ said : — 
 
 " Once, when a plague broke out in Egypt, the 
 people generally ascribed the affliction to the anger 
 Account given of the gods ; for as many strangers of 
 of Abdera."^ different races were dwelling in Egypt 
 
 1 Diod. Sic. xl. 3. (The passage is preserved to us hy Piio^ 
 tius, Bibliothec. p. 1152.) 
 
OF THP] OLD TESTAMENT. Q5 
 
 at the time, who practiced various strange customs 
 in their worship and their sacrifices, it had come to 
 pass that the old religious observances of the 
 country had fallen into disuse. The natives, there- 
 fore, believing that unless they expelled the for- 
 eigners there would be no end to their sufferings, 
 rose against them, and drove them out. Now the 
 noblest and most enterprising joined together, and 
 went (as some say) to Greece and elsewhere, under 
 leaders of good repute ; the most remarkable of 
 whom were Danaus and Cadmus. But the bulk 
 of them withdrew to the country which is now 
 called Judaea, situated at no great distance from 
 Egypt, and at that time without inhabitants. The 
 leader of this colony was the man called Moses, who 
 was distinguished above his fellows by his wisdom 
 and his courage. Having taken possession of the 
 country, he built there a number of towns, and among 
 them the city which is called Jerusalem, and which 
 is now so celebrated. He likewise built the temple 
 which they hold in so much respect, and instituted 
 their religious rites and ceremonies ; besides which 
 he gave them laws and arranged their form of gov- 
 ernment. He divided the people into twelve tribes, 
 because he regarded 12 as the most perfect num- 
 ber, agreeing, as it does, with the number of months 
 that complete the year. But he would not set up 
 any kind of image of the Deity, because he did not 
 believe that God had a human form, but regarded 
 the firmament which surrounds the earth as the 
 only God and Lord of all. And he made their sac- 
 
66 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 rifices and their habits of life quite different from 
 those of other nations, introducing a misanthropic 
 and inhospitable style of living, on account of the 
 expulsion which he had himself suffered." 
 
 With this may be compared the remarkable 
 account in Tacitus,^ which combines certain 
 features which are Egyptian with others that 
 have clearly come from the sacred narrative. 
 
 " Most writers agree," says Tacitus, " that when 
 a plague, which disfigured men's bodies, had broken 
 
 Ac ount f ^^^ ^^ ^gyP^J Bocchoris, the king, de- 
 
 Tacitus, sirous of a remedy, sent and consulted 
 
 the oracle of Ammon, which commanded him to 
 purge his kingdom, by removing to foreign lands 
 the afflicted persons, who were a race hateful to the 
 gods. Search was therefore made, and a vast mul- 
 titude being collected together, was led forth and 
 left in a desert. Then Moses, one of their num- 
 ber, seeing the rest stupefied with grief, advised 
 them, as they were deserted both by gods and men, 
 not to expect help from either, but to confide in 
 Him the heavenly leader, to whose assistance they 
 would no sooner trust than they would be free from 
 their troubles. His words won their assent, and 
 in utter ignorance they marched whither chance 
 led them. Their greatest trial was the want of 
 water. Death seemed drawing near, as they lay 
 prostrate on the plains, when, lo ! a herd of wild 
 
 1 Hist. V. 3. Compare the account of Lysimachus (Fr. Hist, 
 Gr. vol. iii. p. 334). 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 67 
 
 asses was seen to quit its pasture and retreat to a 
 piece of rocky ground whereon a number of trees 
 grew. Moses followed upon their track, and find- 
 ing a patch of soil covered with grass, conjectured 
 the presence of water, and succeeded in uncovering 
 some copious springs. Thus refreshed they pur- 
 sued'their journey for six days, and on the seventh 
 reached a cultivated tract, whereof they took pos- 
 session, after driving out the inhabitants. Here 
 they built their town and consecrated their temple." 
 
 From the diverse manner in which the stoiy 
 is told by different authors, we may conclude 
 that the Egyptians in their formal The differences 
 
 r . , • , 1 , . £ J 1 and inaccura- 
 
 histories took no notice oi the oc- cies of these 
 currence, which sorely hurt their na- S^un^ts ex- 
 tional vanity; but that a remem- p^*"^"^* 
 brance of it continued in the minds of the 
 people, who possessed (it must be borne in 
 mind) a copious contemporary literature,^ and 
 that this remembrance gradually took various 
 shapes, all of them, however, more or less flat- 
 tering to the Egyptians themselves, and unfair 
 to their adversaries. The Hebrews were al- 
 most uniformly represented as unclean persons, 
 afflicted with some disease or other, and their 
 Exodus was declared to be an expulsion. Gen- 
 erally they were spoken of as Egyptians, which 
 
 1 The hieratic Papyri of Egypt go back to a time anterior to 
 the eighteenth dynasty. They comprise romances, epistolary 
 correspondence, poems, etc. 
 
68 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 was not unnatural, considering their long 
 sojourn in the country ; ^ but sometimes it 
 was allowed that they were foreigners.^ The 
 miraculous events by which their depart- 
 ure was preceded were ignored, partially or 
 wholly ; but there was a pretty general consent 
 as to the name of their leader, as to the char- 
 acter of the laws which he gave them, and as 
 to the quarter in which they obtained new set- 
 tlements. The Egyptians never forgot, any 
 more than the Hebrews, that there had been 
 a time when the two races had dwelt to- 
 gether ; they looked on the Hebrews as a sort 
 of Egyptian colony ; and while from time to 
 time they claimed, on that account, a domin- 
 ion over their country, they were ready gen- 
 erally to extend to it that protection, which col- 
 onies, according to the ideas of the ancient 
 world, were entitled to require from the father- 
 land. The relations between Egypt and Pal- 
 estine were, for the most part, friendly from 
 the time of the Exodus to the conquest of 
 Egypt by the Romans. 
 
 1 Compare Ex. ii. 19, where Reuel's daughters mistake Moses 
 for "an Egyptian." 
 
 2 See the account of Hecatajus (supra, p. 62), and compare 
 Tacit. Hist. v. 2: "Some writers tell us that they (i. e. the 
 Jews) were a band of Assyrians, who, being in want of terri- 
 tory, first took possession of a portion of Egypt, and soon 
 afterwards became the inhabitants of the parts of Syria which 
 lie near to Egypt." 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 69 
 
 In none of the profane accounts hitherto 
 quoted has the remarkable event of the pas- 
 sage of the Red Sea by the He- Egyptian ver- 
 brews, in their flight, obtained any ^^Z^Slhe 
 mention. There is, however, rea- i^^'^i^^^- 
 son to believe, that this important feature of 
 the history retained a place in the recollec- 
 tions of the Egyptian people, and even formed 
 a subject of discussion and controversy among 
 them. Artapanus, a Jewish historian, quoted 
 by Alexander Polyhistor,^ the contemporary 
 of Sulla and Marius, wrote as follows : — 
 
 " The Memphites say, that Moses, being well 
 acquainted with the district, watched the ebb of the 
 tide, and so led the people across the dry bed of 
 the sea ; but they of Heliopolis affirm, that the king 
 at the head of a vast force, and having the sacred 
 animals also with him, pursued after the Jews, be- 
 cause they were carrying away with them the 
 riches, which they had borrowed of the Egyptians. 
 Then, they say, the voice of God commanded 
 Moses to smite the sea with his rod, and divide it ; 
 and Moses, when he heard it, touched the water 
 with it, and so the sea parted asunder, and the 
 host marched through on dry ground." 
 
 From these direct testimonies to the histori- 
 cal truth of the Exodus, we may now turn to 
 the less striking, but perhaps even more con- 
 
 1 Fracjm. Hist. Gr. vol. iii. pp. 223, 224. 
 
70 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 vincing, indirect evidence, which is furnished 
 by the minute agreement of the sacred narra- 
 tive with the known usages of Ancient Egypt. 
 The narrative of Exodus tells us, in the 
 first place, that shortly after the death of 
 The oppression Joscph an opprcssion of the Israel- 
 
 of Lsrael by the . ^ ^^ 
 
 • Egyptians. ites Dcgan. A new king — per- 
 haps the founder of a new dynasty — claimed 
 the whole race as his slaves, and proceeded 
 to engage them in servile labors, placing task- 
 masters over them, whose business it was 
 to " make their lives bitter with hard bond- 
 age " (Ex. i. 14). The work assigned to 
 them consisted of brickmaking, building, and 
 severe field-labor. They worked under the 
 rod, the laborers being liable to be " smitten " 
 by the Egyptian taskmasters as they labored 
 (ii. 11), and the native officers being punished 
 by flogging if the tasks of the men under 
 them were not fulfilled (v. 14). On the 
 brickmakers a certain " tale of bricks " was 
 imposed (v. 8), which had to be completed 
 daily. Straw was a material in the bricks ; 
 and this was at first furnished to the laborers, 
 but afterwards they were required to procure 
 straw for themselves, on which they spread 
 themselves over the land and gathered stubble 
 (v. 12). Details are wanting with respect to 
 their other employments; but in one place 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 71 
 
 (Deut. xi. 10) we find it implied that one of 
 the main hardships of the field-work was the 
 toil of irrigation. 
 
 Almost every point of this narrative is capa- 
 ble of illustration from the Egyptian monu- 
 ments. Notwithstanding the great Almost every 
 abundance of stone in Egypt, and opITressidn^ * 
 the fact that most of the grander i'i" E^^tiaa 
 buildings were constructed of this °>«'^'^°°^^'^t«- 
 material, yet there was also an extensive em- 
 ployment of brick in the country.^ Pyra- 
 mids,2 houses, tombs, the walls of towns, for- 
 tresses, and the sacred inclosures of temples, 
 were commonly, or, at any rate, frequently, 
 built of brick by the Egyptians.^ A large 
 portion of the brick-fields belonged to the 
 monarch, for whose edifices bricks were made 
 in them, stamped with his name.* Chopped 
 straw was an ordinary material in the bricks,^ 
 being employed as hair by modern plasterers, 
 to bind them together, and make them more 
 
 1 * Immense masses of brick are now found at Belbers, the 
 modern capital of Tharkiya, i. e. Goshen, and in the adjoining 
 district (Cook's Bible Commentary, vol. i. p. 252). The pyra- 
 mids of Lower Egypt were not built by the Israelites, but be- 
 long with few exceptions to an earlier period. — H. 
 
 2 Herod, ii. 136. 
 
 3 Wilkinson in Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 183, 2d 
 ed. 
 
 •* Rosellini, iT/owwmew^/, vol. ii. p. 252; Wilkinson, Ancient 
 Egyptians, vol. ii. p. 97. 
 5 Wilkinson, vol. i. p. 50 ; Rosellini, vol. ii. pp. 252, 259, etc. 
 
72 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 firm and durable. Captives and foreigners 
 commonly did the work in the royal brick- 
 fields ; and Egyptian taskmasters, with rods 
 in their hands, watched their labors, and pun- 
 ished the idle with blows at their discretion.^ 
 The bastinado was a recognized punishment 
 for minor offenses.^ " Stubble " and " straw " 
 both existed in Ancient Egypt, wheat being 
 occasionally cut with a portion of the stalk ; 
 while the remainder, or more commonly, the 
 entire stalk, was left standing in the fields.^ 
 And both stubble and straw have been found 
 in the bricks.* Finally, though agricultural 
 labor is in some respects light in Egypt,^ yet 
 practically, from the continued succession of 
 crops, from the intense heat of the climate, 
 
 1 Wilkinson, vol. ii. p. 42; Rosellini, vol. ii. p. 249. 
 
 2 Wilkinson, vol. ii. p. 41. 
 8 Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 5-83. 
 
 4 Ibid. vol. i. p. 50. 
 
 * See the wood-cuts {Bibl. Diet. vol. i. p. 326, Amer. ed.) 
 which represent the servile occupations of captives in Egypt 
 (taken from paintings at Thebes, in Upper Kgypt): they are 
 such as digging and mixing the clay, making the brick, presence 
 of taskmasters with whips, counting the tale of brick, carrying 
 them to the overseers, etc. The Hebrews may not be meant 
 here, but their Egyptian life is illustrated as perfectly as if the 
 picture had been drawn for them. — H. 
 
 5 "The Egyptians," says Herodotus (ii. 14), "obtain the 
 fruits of the field with less trouble than any other people in the 
 world. They have no need to use either the plough or the 
 hoe; the swine tread in their corn, and also thrash it." Com- 
 pare Wilkinson's note in Rawlinson's Herod, vol. ii. p. 15, 2d 
 ed. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 73 
 
 and from the exertions needed for irrigation, 
 the lot of the cultivator has always been, and 
 still continues to be, a hard one.^ 
 
 Among the other Egyptian usages intro- 
 duced to our notice in Exodus, the most re- 
 markable are the f oUomnff : The The general 
 
 . , picture of 
 
 employment of chariots, on a larg-G Egyptian cus- 
 
 f V . ^ -. , to»"s in Exo- 
 
 scale, m war (xiy. 6, 7) ; the prac- dusiscon- 
 
 ' > ' >' ' 11 firmed by the 
 
 tlCe of the kmg to go out to battle monuments. 
 
 in person (lb. 8) ; the hearing of complaints 
 and transaction of business by the king in 
 person (v. 15) ; the possession, by most 
 Egyptians, of articles in gold and silver (xii. 
 35) ; the cultivation, in spring, of the follow- 
 ing crops chiefly — wheat, barley, flax, and 
 rye, or spelt (ix. 32) ; the keeping of cattle, 
 partly in the fields, partly in stables (ix. 3, 
 19) ; the storing of water in vessels of wood 
 and stone (vii. 19) ; the employment of mid- 
 wives (i. 15-21) ; the use of the papyrus for 
 boats (ii. 3), of furnaces (ix. 8), ovens (viii. 
 3), kneading-troughs (lb.), walking-sticks 
 (vii. 10, 12), hand-mills (xi. 5), bitumen (ii. 
 3), and pitch (lb.). To these the following 
 may be added from the later books of the 
 Pentateuch — the necessary employment of 
 irrigation in agriculture (Deut. xi. 10) ; the 
 
 1 See Kalisch, Comment, on Exodus^ p. 10 ; and compare Wil- 
 kinson, vol. iv. pp. 41-101. 
 
74 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 use, as common articles of food, of fisli, cu- 
 cumbers, melons, onions, garlic, and leeks 
 (Num. xi. 5) ; and the practice of the kings 
 to keep large studs of horses (Deut. xvii. 
 16). 
 
 Now here again, as in the later chapters of 
 Genesis, almost every custom recorded can be 
 Single excep- Confirmed either from the ancient 
 Jy pSeSt™'*^ accounts of Egyptian manners 
 practice. wliich havc comc down to us, or 
 
 from the monuments, or from both. The only 
 exception, of any importance, is the employ- 
 ment of midwives, which was probably rare, 
 as it is in the East generally, and which was 
 also of a nature that would have been felt to 
 render it unfit for representation. Even here, 
 however, where ancient illustration fails, a 
 strong confirmation of the narrative has been 
 obtained by modern inquiry, the curious ex- 
 pression, " when ye see them upon the stools," 
 being in remarkable accordance with the mod- 
 ern Egyptian practice, as stated by Mr. Lane.^ 
 " Two or three days," he says, " before the 
 expected time of delivery, the layah (mid- 
 wife) conveys to the house the kursee elwild- 
 deh, a chair of a peculiar form, upon which 
 the patient is to be seated during the birth." 
 
 The monuments show that in Ancient Egypt 
 
 1 Modern Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 142. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 75 
 
 by far the most important arm of the military 
 seiTice was the chariot force. The king, the 
 princes, and all the chiefs of importance fought 
 from chariots.^ Diodoriis made the number 
 of them in the army of Sesostris, 27,000,^ and 
 though this is a gross exaggeration, it shows 
 the feeling of the Greeks as to the very exten- 
 sive employment of chariots by the earlier 
 monarchs. Cavalry were employed to a very 
 small extent, if at all ; ^ and though this, at 
 first sight, may seem at variance with the 
 Mosaic narrative (Ex. xiv. 9, 17, 18, 23, etc. ; 
 XV. 1), yet a careful examination of the orig- 
 inal text will lead to the conclusion that the 
 force which pursued the Israelites was com- 
 posed of chariots and infantry only.* The 
 practice of the king to lead out his army 
 in person, is abundantly evident,^ and will 
 
 1 Wilkinson, vol. i. pp. 335-341; Rosellini, vol. ii. p. 240. 
 
 2 Died. Sic. i. 54. 
 
 8 Rosellini inclines to the belief that the ancient Egyptians 
 had no cavaln' (vol. ii. pp. 232-259). Sir G. Wilkinson thinks 
 they may have had a cavalry force, but that it was scanty (vol. 
 i. pp. 289, 290). Both agree that no cavalry are represented ou 
 the monuments. Herodotus once speaks of an Egyptian com- 
 mander as on horseback (ii. 162). Diodorus, on the other hand, 
 gives Sesostris a numerous cavalry (i. 54). 
 
 4 See the arguments of Hengstenberg (pp. 127-129), and 
 Kalisch {Comment, on Exodus, pp. 182-184). The term trans- 
 lated " horsemen " in our Version, refers probably to the riders 
 in the chariots. 
 
 6 Herod, ii. 102; Wilkinson, i. pp. 63, 65, 83, &c. 
 
76 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 scarcely be doubted by any. It was indeed a 
 practice universal at the time among all Orien- 
 tal sovereigns. The hearing of complaints and 
 pronouncing of judgments by the king in per- 
 son, was also very usual throughout the East ; 
 and the existence of the custom in Egypt is il- 
 lustrated by many passages in ancient authors.^ 
 The representations with respect to Egyp- 
 tian agriculture, feeding of cattle, food, dress, 
 and domestic habits are similarly borne out 
 both by the ancient remains and the ancient 
 authorities. The cultivation depicted on the 
 monuments is especially that of wheat, flax, 
 barley, and another grain, which is believed 
 to correspond with the cussemeth^ ".rye," or 
 " spelt," of the Hebrews.^ Fish and vege- 
 tables formed the chief food of the lower 
 classes; and among the vegetables especially 
 affected, gourds, cucumbers, onions, and gar- 
 lic are distinctly apparent.^ According to 
 Herodotus, some tribes of the Egyptians lived 
 entirely on fish, which abounded in the Nile, 
 the canals, and the lakes, especially in the 
 Birket-el-Keroun, or Lake Moeris.* The mon- 
 uments represent the catching, salting, and 
 
 1 See Herod, ii. 115, 121, §3; 129, 173. 
 
 2 Wilkinson, voL ii. p. 398; vol. iv. pp. 85-99. 
 
 8 Ibid. voL ii. pp. 370-374 ; and compare voL i. p. 277, and 
 Herod, ii. 125. 
 * Herod, ii. 92, 93, 149; iii. 91. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 77 
 
 eating of this viand.^ We also see on the 
 monuments that cattle were kept, both in the 
 field, where they were liable to be overtaken 
 by the inundation,^ and also in stalls or sheds.^ 
 The wide-spread possession, by the Egyptians, 
 of articles in gold and silver, vases, goblets, 
 necklaces, armlets, bracelets, earrings, and 
 finger-rings is among the facts most copiously 
 attested by the extant remains,* and is also 
 illustrated by the ancient writers, who even 
 speak of so strange an article as " a golden 
 footpan."^ The employment of furnaces, 
 ovens, and kneading-trough s, the common 
 practice of carrying staves or walking-sticks, 
 and the use of hand-mills for grinding corn, are 
 
 1 Wilkinson, vol. iii. pp. 53, 56; ii. p. 401. 
 
 2 Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 101, 102. 
 
 8 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 134. Compare Cambridge Essays ior 1S58, 
 p. 249. 
 
 * "The ornaments of gold found in Egypt," says Sir G. 
 Wilkinson, " consist of rings, bracelets, armlets, necklaces, ear- 
 rings, and numerous trinkets belonging to the toilet " (vol. 
 iii. p. 225). And again, " Gold and silver vases, statues, and 
 other objects of gold and silver, of silver inlaid with gold, and 
 of bronze inlaid with the precious metals, were also common at 
 the same time " (Ibid.). Compare pp. 370-377. 
 
 * The Egyptian Museums (London, Paris, Berlin) contain 
 almost as great a variety of ornaments for personal decoration 
 (ivory, gold, silver), as are known to the fashions of modern life. 
 They have been found in Egyptian tombs, pyramids, and mum- 
 my-pits and many of them must be as old as the age of the 
 Pharaohs and the pyramids. — H. 
 
 « Herod, ii. 172. 
 
78 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 likewise certified, either by representations or 
 by remains found in the country.^ 
 
 The storing of water in vessels of wood and 
 stone, which is impUed in Ex. vii. 19, is a pe- 
 pecuiiarcus- culiarly Egyptian custom, scarcely 
 i?'storingof known elsewhere. The abundance 
 water. q£ water in the Nile, and its wide 
 
 dijffiusion by means of canals, render reser- 
 voirs, in the ordinary sense of the word, un- 
 necessary in Egypt ; and water would never 
 be stored, if it were not for the necessity of 
 purifying in certain seasons the turbid fluid 
 furnished by the Nile, in order to render it a 
 palatable beverage. For this purpose it has 
 alwaj'^s been, and is still, usual to keep the 
 Nile water in jars, stone troughs, or tubs, un- 
 til the sediment is deposited, and the fluid 
 rendered fit for drinking.^ 
 
 The practice of making boats out of the 
 papyrus, recorded in Ex. ii. 3,^ is also spe- 
 2.Boateofpa- ^ially Egyptian, and /was not in 
 pyrus. vogue elscwhcre. It is distinctly 
 
 mentioned by Herodotus, Plutarch, and many 
 
 1 On the employment of furnaces, see Wilkinson, vol. iii. p. 
 164; of ovens and kneading-troughs, vol. v. p. 385; of walk- 
 ing-sticks, vol. iii. pp. 386, 387; and of hand-mills, vol. ii. p. 
 118. 
 
 2 Wilkinson, vol. iv. p. 100; Pococke, Travels, vol. i. p. 312. 
 8 The word rendered " bulrushes " in our Version {gomeh), is 
 
 generally admitted to signify some kind of papyrus — probably 
 not that from which paper was made, but a coarser kind. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 79 
 
 other ancient writers,^ and is thoiiglit to be 
 traceable on the monuments.^ The caulking 
 of these boats with pitch and bitumen, a prac- 
 tice not mentioned anywhere but in Exodus, 
 is highly probable iii itself ; and is so far in 
 accordance with the remains, that both pitch 
 and bitumen are found to have been used by 
 the Egyptians.^ Bitumen, which is not an 
 Egyptian product, appears to have been im- 
 ported from abroad, and was even sometimes 
 taken as tribute from the Mesopotamian 
 tribes,* with whom the ancient Egyptians had 
 frequent contests. 
 
 In illustration of the extensive possession 
 of horses by the early kings of Egypt, it will 
 be sufficient to adduce a passage 3. Extensive 
 from Diodorus, who says that " the horses. 
 monarchs before Sesostris maintained, along 
 the banks of the Nile between Memphis and 
 Thebes, two hundred stables, in each of which 
 were kept a hundred horses." ^ Herodotus 
 also notices that, prior to the reign of Sesos- 
 tris, horses and carriages were very abundant 
 in Egypt, but that subsequently they became 
 
 1 Herod, ii, 96 ; Plut. De hid. et Os. § 18 ; Theophrast. De 
 Plantls, IV. 9; Plin. H. N. xiii. 11; etc. 
 
 2 Wilkinson, vol. ii. pp. 60, 185. 
 
 8 Ibid. vol. iii. p. 186; Rosellini, vol. i. p. 249. 
 
 4 Wilkinson, in Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. i. p. 254. 
 
 5 Diod. Sic. i. 
 
80 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 comparatively uncommon, since the intersec- 
 tion of the whole country by canals rendered 
 it unsuitable for their employment.^ They 
 were still, no doubt, bred and employed, and 
 even exported (1 Kings x. 29), to a certain 
 extent ; but from about the time of the nine- 
 teenth dynasty, Egypt ceased to be a great 
 horse-breeding country. 
 
 Further, it may be observed that the state 
 of the arts among the Hebrews when they 
 Hebrew art at quitted Egypt, which has some- 
 such^i^mlght times been objected to as unduly 
 i^rnt^S" advanced, is in entire accordance 
 ^ypt- with the condition of art in Egypt 
 
 at the period. The Egyptian civilization of 
 the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties em- 
 braces all the various arts and manufactures 
 necessary for the construction of the Taber- 
 nacle and its appurtenances, for the elaborate 
 dress of the priests, and for the entire cere- 
 monial described in the later books of the 
 Pentateuch. The employment of writing, the 
 arts of cutting and setting gems, the power of 
 working in metals — and especially in gold, in 
 silver, and in bronze, — skill in carving Avood, 
 the tanning and dyeing of leather, the manu- 
 facture of fine linen, the knowledge of em- 
 broidery, the dyeing of textile fabrics, the 
 
 1 Herod, ii. 108. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 81 
 
 employment of gold thread, the preparation 
 and use of highly-scented unguents, are parts 
 of the early civilization of Egypt, and were 
 probably at their highest perfection about the 
 time that the Exodus took place.^ Although 
 the Hebrews, while in Egypt, were, for the 
 most part, mere laborers and peasants, still it 
 was natural that some of them, and, even 
 more, that some of the Egyptians who accom- 
 panied them (Ex. xiii. 38), should have been 
 acquainted with the various branches of trade 
 and manufactures established in Egypt at the 
 time. Hence there is nothing improbable in 
 the description given in the Pentateuch of the 
 Ark and its surroundings, since the Egyptian 
 art of the time was quite equal to their pro- 
 duction. 
 
 The sojourn of the Israelites in the wilder- 
 ness for forty years removed them so entirely, 
 during that space, from contact no historical 
 
 , - 1 • I • 1 1 illustratioa of 
 
 With any historic people, that we thesojoura ia 
 
 , , f> t » -I the wilderness 
 
 cannot expect to lind, m the pro- possible. 
 fane records that have come down to us, any- 
 
 1 See Hengstenberg, ^gypten und Mose, ch. v. pp. 133-143. 
 
 * The proper title of the above work is Die Biicher Moseys 
 und Aegypten (1st ed. 1841). See also R. S. Poole on " Egypt," 
 in Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863). Dr. J. P. Thompson adds 
 an important supplement in Hurd and Houghton's ed. (1867). 
 The two writers furnish a very complete view of the Egyptology 
 of the subject. — H. 
 
82 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 thing to confirm or illustrate the sacred nar- 
 rative. That narrative must rest, first, on the 
 profound conviction of its truthfulness which 
 remained forever impressed upon the con- 
 sciousness of the people ; secondly, on its 
 geographic accuracy, and on the perfect ac- 
 cordance mth fact of what may be called its 
 local coloring ; ^ and, thirdly, on the quasi- 
 certainty that it is the production of an eye- 
 witness. It may be added, that the circum- 
 stances recorded are too little creditable to the 
 Hebrew people for any national historiogra- 
 pher to have invented them. 
 
 Recent criticism has attacked chiefly the 
 
 numbers in the narrative .^ There is certainly 
 
 a difficulty in understand inj' how 
 
 A difficulty y ^ 
 
 connected with a populatiou excccdmg two mill- 
 ions could have supported itself, 
 together with its flocks and herds, in a tract 
 which, at the present day, barely suffices to 
 sustain some tribes of Bedouins numbering, 
 perhaps, six thousand souls.^ Had the narra- 
 tive made no mention of miraculous mainte- 
 nance, this difficulty would have been almost 
 insurmountable. As, however, the writer ex- 
 pressly declares that a miraculous supply of 
 
 1 See Stanley, Sinnl and Palestine, part i. pp. 1-57. 
 
 2 Colenso, The Pentateuch and the Booh of Joshua Criticalltf 
 Examined, pp. 31-138. 
 
 8 Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 22. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 83 
 
 food was furnished daily during the whole 
 period of the sojourn to the entire people, the 
 main objection disappears. We have only to 
 suppose that, although the tract, compared 
 with Egypt, and even with Palestine, was a 
 desert, yet that it was considerably better sup- 
 plied with water, and so with pasturage, 
 than it is at the present day. There are 
 many indications that this was the case.^ 
 The Israelites apparently needed a miraculous 
 supply of water twice only. If so, wells 
 must have been numerous and abundant, 
 water being to be found in most places at a 
 little distance from the surface. But wherever 
 in the desert this is the case, there will occur 
 oases, and a sufficient vegetation for flocks and 
 herds, of a considerable size. The Israelites, 
 no doubt, spread themselves widely over the 
 peninsula during the forty years ; and as the 
 area of the desert is at least fifteen hundred 
 square miles, the numerous flocks and herds 
 wherewith they entered the country may have 
 maintained themselves, though, it is to be re- 
 marked, we are not told whether their numbers 
 diminished ov no, 
 
 In any O^ae, a difficulty which is merely 
 numevio^l i^ of no great account. Numbers, 
 
 1 Stanley, pp. 23-27; and Hayman, in Blbl. Diet. vol. iii. 
 pp. 1752-1754; and vol. iv. pp. 3519, 3520, Amer. ed. 
 
84 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 whicli, in early times, so far as we have any 
 evidence on the subject,^ were always ex- 
 pressed, in some abbreviated form, by conven- 
 tional signs, are far more liable to corruption 
 than any other parts of ancient manuscripts ; 
 an4 the numerical statements of the sacred 
 writers have undoubtedly suffered in tran- 
 scription to a large extent. The " six hun- 
 dred thousand that were men " of Ex. xii. 37, 
 may be a corruption of an original " one hun- 
 dred thousand" or "sixty thousand"; and 
 the numbers in Num. i., ii., may have suf- 
 fered similarly. The great fact recorded, 
 which stands out as historically true, and 
 which no petty criticism can shake, is the exit 
 from Egypt of a considerable tribe, 
 the progenitors of the later Hebrew 
 nation and their settlement in Palestine, after 
 a sojourn of some duration in the wilderness. 
 Of this fact the Hebrews and Egyptians were 
 equally well convinced ; and as both nations 
 enjoyed a contemporary literature, and had 
 thus the evidence on the point of witnesses 
 living at the time, only an irrational skepticism 
 can entertain a doubt respecting it. 
 
 1 On the numerical signs used in Ancient Egypt, see Wilkin- 
 son in Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 51, and compare An- 
 cient Egyptians^ vol. iv. pp. 130, 131. On the signs used by 
 the early Babylonians, see Rawlinson's Ancitnt Monarchies^ 
 vol. i. pp. 129-131. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 85 
 
 [* The later explorations of the Sinaitic 
 peninsula, show that the alleged difficulty of 
 subsistence in the case of the Israelites, during 
 the forty years in the wilderness, has been very 
 much exaggerated. The Rev. F. W. Holland, 
 for example, who has repeatedly traversed 
 that region, says : " Large tracts of the north- 
 ern portion of the plateau of the Tih^ which 
 are now desert, were evidently formerly under 
 cultivation. The Gulf of Suez (probably by 
 means of an artificial canal connecting it with 
 the Bitter Lakes) once extended nearly fifty 
 miles farther north than it does at present, 
 and the mountains of Palestine were well 
 clothed with trees. Thus there formerly ex- 
 isted a rain-making area of considerable ex- 
 tent, which must have added largely to the 
 dews and rains of Sinai. Probably, also, the 
 peninsula itself was formerly much more 
 thickly wooded. 
 
 " The amount of vegetation and herbage in 
 the peninsula, even at the present time, has 
 been very much underrated ; and a slight in- 
 crease in the present rain-fall would produce 
 an enormous addition to the amount of pas- 
 turage. I have several times seen the whole 
 face of the country, especially the wadies, 
 marvelously changed in appearance by a 
 single shower. 
 
GO HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 " It is a great mistake to suppose that the 
 convent gardens at the foot of Jebel Musa^ 
 and those in Wady Feirdn, and at Tor, mark 
 the only three spots where any considerable 
 amount of cultivation could exist in the penin- 
 sula. Hundreds of old monastic gardens, with 
 copious wells and springs, are scattered over 
 the mountains throughout the granite dis- 
 tricts ; and I could mention at least twenty 
 streams which are perennial, excepting per- 
 haps in unusually dry seasons. 
 
 " It has been said that the present physical 
 conditions of the country are such as to render 
 it utterly impossible that the events recorded 
 in the book of Exodus can ever have occurred 
 there. It is wonderful, however, how appar- 
 ent difficulties melt away as our acquaintance 
 with the country increases. I see no difficulty 
 myself in the provision of sufficient pastur- 
 age for the flocks and herds, if, as I have 
 shown, there are good reasons for supposing 
 the rain-fall was in former days larger than 
 it is at present ; and with regard to the cattle, 
 I will point out one important fact, which 
 appears to me to have been overlooked, 
 namely, that they were probably used as 
 beasts of burden ; and, in addition to other 
 things, carried their own water, sufficient for 
 several days, slung in water-skins by their 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 8T 
 
 side, just as Sir Samuel Baker found them, 
 doing at the present day in Abyssinia." ^ 
 The statements of Bishop Colenso, so differ- 
 ent from this testimony of experienced travel- 
 lers, are exaggerated and misleading.] 
 
 1 * See Recent Explorations in the Peninsula of Sinai, by 
 Rev. F. W. Holland (1869); and statements of the same writer 
 in Smith's Bibl. Diet. vol. iv. p. 3640, Amer. ed. — H. 
 
88 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 JOSHUA TO SAMUEL. 
 
 [* The book of Joshua relates especially to 
 the land of Canaan and its distribution among 
 the twelve tribes. Hence this book is pecul- 
 iarly topographical in its character ; and the 
 more so because the entire political and relig- 
 ious life of the Hebrews was interwoven like 
 a net-work with the geography of the country. 
 This book in particular, says the great ge- 
 ographer, Ritter, has been subjected to the 
 severest scrutiny, inasmuch as the scene of it 
 lies to such an extent on the west of the Jordan 
 now so fully explored. Its notices not only of 
 distinct regions, but of valleys, mountains, vil- 
 lages, have been confirmed, often with surpris- 
 ing certainty and particularity. The great 
 geographer refers, as an example of this, to 
 Joshua's second campaign in the south of Pal- 
 estine (see Josh. xi. 16 f., and xv. 21 ff.). 
 He shows that the divisions of the country 
 there into five parts, the scene of that expe- 
 dition, rests upon a basis of geographical 
 conditions which none but an eye-witness 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 89 
 
 could have remarked. He shows in addition 
 to this general accuracy in the outline, that 
 the specialities are equally true ; that many 
 of the cities and towns mentioned in the book 
 retain to this day their ancient names, and 
 also occur together, precisely as the sacred 
 writers represent them as arranged of old.^ 
 
 Another similar example may be drawn 
 from Saul's last and fatal battle on Gilboa (1 
 Sam. xxxi. 1 if., and 2 Sam. i. 1 ff.), which 
 chronology assigns to B. c. 1055, later but little 
 than the traditionary age of the siege of Troy. 
 Yet the scene of it lies now mapped out before 
 us on the face of the country as distinctly as if 
 the battle had been fought in our own times. 
 All the places (Gilboa, Jezreel, Shunem, Beth- 
 shean ; Aphek only, 1 Sam. xxix. 1, as yet to 
 be excepted) have been identified under their 
 old names, and at such points precisely as the 
 intimations of the history and the course of 
 the battle presuppose. A person may start 
 from any one of them and make the circuit 
 of them all in a few hours. Such examples 
 are becoming every day more and more fre- 
 quent in the progress of Palestine explora- 
 tions. As geographers and tourists traverse 
 the land in every direction, and ask the names 
 
 1 * Ritter's EinhUch auf Pulastina u. seine Christlicke BevSl^ 
 kei-ung (Berlin, 1852). — H. 
 
90 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 of towns, villages, brooks, heaps of ruins, and 
 the like, they have the old names given back 
 to them from the mouth of the people, though 
 unheard of (out of the country) since last 
 mentioned in these oldest records of human 
 history.! 
 
 We have a similar testimony to the geo- 
 graphical accuracy of the Pentateuch fur- 
 nished by Messrs. Holland and Palmer, who 
 have lately explored so thoroughly the Sin- 
 aitic Peninsula. " The encampment by the 
 Red Sea, mentioned in Num. xxxiii. 10, proved 
 that the Israelites kept down the coast after 
 crossing the Red Sea somewhere in the neigh- 
 borhood of Suez. They first ' went three days 
 in the wilderness, and found no water ' (Ex. xv. 
 22). They then came to Marah, where the 
 water was bitter, so that they could not drink 
 of it (23), and from there they removed to 
 EKm, whence they removed to their encamp- 
 ment by the Red Sea. Now the traveller to 
 this day, on his journey to Mount Sinai, after 
 traversing a long strip of barren desert with- 
 
 1 * For gleanings on this subject of the topography of Scrip- 
 ture, see Van de Velde (Travels in Syi: and Pal. voL ii. p. 
 368 ff.; Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 339, Amer. ed.), Porter's 
 Handbook, ii. 355 ff. ; Thomson's Land and Booh, ii. 141 ff., and 
 the writer's Illustrations of Scripture (gathered in the Holy 
 Land), pp. 118-126. For the results of some of the more recent 
 explorations in the Desert of Sinai and in Palestine generally, 
 see especially The Recovery of Jerusalem, pp. 1-435 (London 
 and New York, 1871). — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 91 
 
 out water that extends down the coast, comes 
 to a district where the water is brackish and 
 unwholesome ; a day's journey next brings him 
 to an elevated plain, where there are wells of 
 water and palm-trees ; and then he descends 
 again to the sea-coast, having been forced to 
 pass round the back of a mountain, which 
 reaches out into the sea. Thus the character 
 of the country and distances from point to 
 point, exactly agree with the Bible narrative. 
 And this is the case the whole way to Mount 
 Sinai ; for next comes a large plain, that an- 
 swers well to the wilderness of Sin, where the 
 Israelites were first fed with manna (Ex. xvi. 
 1) ; and from the plains one of the principal 
 wadies affords an easy road to Mount Sinai, 
 a day's journey from which is a spot which 
 tradition marks as the site of the battle of 
 Rephidim (Ex. xvii. 8 ff.), and which agrees 
 well with the short description we have of 
 that battle-field. So mountainous is the 
 country, that there is only one other route 
 which could possibly have been followed by 
 the Israelites ; and the mention of the encamp- 
 ment by the sea (Num. xxiii. 10) renders that 
 almost impossible. Thus the features of the 
 country bear out and explain the Bible narra- 
 tive ; and research here, as elsewhere in Bible 
 lands, confirms our belief in the truth of that 
 
92 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 history of God's chosen people which has been 
 given us in the Holy Scriptures." ^] 
 
 The period treated in the books of Joshua 
 and Samuel is the darkest in the whole history 
 Isolated posi- of the Hcbrcw people. The fugi- 
 Hebrewfa^fter tives froui Egypt, who by Divine 
 the Exodus, ^^j effected a lodgment in the land 
 of Canaan, under their great leader, Joshua, 
 were engaged for some hundreds of years in 
 a perpetual struggle for existence with the 
 petty tribes among whom they had intruded 
 themselves, and during this entire period were 
 removed from connection with those civilized 
 nations with whom writing was a famiUar 
 practice, and the recording of contemporane- 
 ous history an established usage. The Moab- 
 ites, Ammonites, Amorites, Canaanites, Midi- 
 anites, Philistines, with whom the IsraeHtes 
 contended with eventual success for the space 
 of three or four hundred years after the death 
 of Moses, were races either absolutely without 
 a literature, or with none that has come down 
 to US.2 It is true that history continued to be 
 written during the period under consideration 
 
 1 * Sinai and Jerusalem ; or. Scenes from Bible Lands, by 
 Rev. F. W. Holland (Tendon, 1872). — H. 
 
 '■* The stele of Mesha — the only remnant of the literature of 
 any of these races that has reached our times — belongs to a 
 later period tlian that here treated of. 
 
 * See Appendix No. 2, at the end of the volume. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 93 
 
 in the great and civilized kingdoms of Egypt, 
 Babylonia, and Assyria ; but these nations 
 were content with writing their own histories, 
 and did not trouble themselves with that of 
 their neighbors, unless they were brought into 
 direct contact with them. Now it appears dis- 
 tinctly that no such contact took place. The 
 Mesopotamian powers declined in military 
 strength after the time of Chedor-laomer. 
 Assyria shook off the yoke of Babylon, and 
 the two nations became engaged in long wars 
 against each other. The Assyrian records 
 show that during the period assigned by 
 Scripture to the Hebrew judges and the early 
 Hebrew kings, Assyrian expeditions were 
 either confined Avithin the Euphrates, or at 
 any rate went no further than Cappadocia 
 and Upper Syria, or the country about Anti- 
 och and Aleppo. ^ And though Egypt seems 
 to have continued for some time after the 
 Exodus to be a great military state, and to 
 have conducted expeditions into Northern 
 Syria, and even across the Euphrates,^ yet in 
 Southern Syria she cared only to Negative ac- 
 
 ' , ' T . J. . 1 i. cord of their 
 
 maintain ner possession oi the coast records with 
 
 route, and attempted no Subjuga- and Assyrian. 
 
 1 See Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. pp. 312-327. 
 
 2 Lenormant, Manuel d^Hlstoire, vol. ii. pp. 436-448 ; Wilkin- 
 son in Rawliiison's Herodotus, vol. ii. pp. 814, 315. 
 
94 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 tion of the tribes inhabiting the highlands on 
 either side of the Jordan. As the Hebrew 
 records are silent with respect to Egypt and 
 Assyria during this entire period, so the Egyp- 
 tian and Assyrian inscriptions are silent with 
 respect to the Hebrews. If there is not a 
 positive, there is a negative accord, between 
 them. From the Hebrews' account of them- 
 selves we gather that during their long period 
 of struggle with the Canaanitish nations, they 
 were unmolested by either Egypt or Assyria ; 
 from the accounts given by the Egyptians and 
 Assyrians of the same period, we learn that 
 they led no expeditions into the country occu- 
 pied by the Hebrews during these centuries. 
 
 It is not till we approach the close of the 
 period under consideration that any positive 
 Tradition of historical illustration of this portion 
 wuh'the cl-"^ of the sacred narrative becomes pos- 
 Lrvedlii^^^' sible. One curious tradition throws 
 North Africa. ^ gleam of light on the earlier his- 
 tory ; but otherwise antiquity is silent, until 
 we come to the reign of David. The tradi- 
 tion intended is one that appears to have been 
 current in the western part of North Africa, 
 where the natives not only believed themselves 
 to be of Canaanite extraction,^ but expressly 
 
 1 S. Augustine says of the rustics in his part of Africa: "In- 
 terrogati quid sint, Punice respondent, Chanani " (Ep. ad Rem. ). 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 95 
 
 derived themselves from certain fugitives, who 
 were (they said) expelled from Palestine by 
 " Joshua, the son of Nun, the plunderer." So 
 strong was the conviction upon the point, that 
 at Tingis, or Tigisis, the modern Tangiers, 
 there were erected near the great fountain of 
 the place, two pillars of white marble bearing 
 an inscription to this effect in the Phoenician 
 language and character, which remained to 
 the times of the Lower Empire.^ 
 
 By the time of David a civilization had 
 arisen in the near vicinity of the Hebrews — 
 whether derived from theirs or not profane testi- 
 is uncertain — and a literature had "pe"? to Da-^^" 
 come into existence, some scanty '^i'^'^wars. 
 fragments of which have descended the stream 
 of time to our day. In the Phoenician towns 
 on the coast of the Mediterranean, and again 
 in the great city of Damascus in the interior, 
 the practice of recording the names of their 
 kings and the chief events of their reigns, 
 seems to have begun about this time ; and 
 classical writers have preserved to us certain 
 notices drawn from these sources, in which 
 David and his acts are mentioned. David, it 
 will be remembered — according to the narra- 
 tive in Samuel, — after chastising the Philis- 
 
 i See Procop. Bell. Vandal, ii. 10; and compare Mor. Clioren. 
 Hist. Armen. i. 18, and Suidas ad voc. Canaan. 
 
96 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 tines, made war upon Hadadezer, king of 
 Zobah, and defeated him (2 Sam. viii. 3), 
 whereupon the Syrians of Damascus came to 
 the aid of Hadadezer, and a war followed be- 
 tween the Israelites and these Syrians, which 
 terminated in the complete defeat of the lat- 
 ter, and their reduction to the position of 
 tributaries. This war was mentioned by Nic- 
 olas of Damascus, the friend of Augustus 
 Caesar, who evidently derived his account of it, 
 not from the Jewish Scriptures, but from the 
 Testimony of rccords of his native place. " After 
 
 NicolausDa- i • %» i • i t 
 
 mascenus. tuis, he said, " there was a certain 
 Hadad, a native Syrian, who had great power: 
 he ruled over Damascus, and all Syria, except- 
 ing Phoenicia. He likewise undertook a war 
 with David, the King of Judasa, and con- 
 tended against him in a number of battles ; 
 in the last of them all, which was by the river 
 Euphrates, and in which he suffered defeat, 
 showing himself a prince of the greatest cour- 
 age and prowess." ^ 
 
 The ancient Phoenician historiographers, 
 whose works were carefully studied, and rep- 
 Testimony of resented in Greek, by two writers 
 Eupoiemon. ^f ^^^ ^^^^^ ^f Alexander the Great 
 — Dius and Menander of Ephesus — spoke 
 (we are told) of a Hiram, King of Tyre, as 
 
 1 Nic. Dam. Fr. 31. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 97 
 
 reigning at this time, and appear to have 
 noticed certain transactions in which he was 
 engaged with David ; at least Eupolemon 
 must, it would seem, have drawn from this 
 source, when he spoke of a war between 
 Hiram and David, which is not mentioned in 
 the Bible. And it is even probable that the 
 entire account of David's wars in the same 
 author, which is certainly not drawn from 
 either Samuel or Chronicles, came also from 
 this same quarter. " David," said Eupole- 
 mon,^ " reduced the Syrians, who dwelt by 
 the river Euphrates, and Commagene^ and the 
 Assyrians and Phoenicians who dwelt in the 
 land of Gilead ; and he made war on the 
 Edomites, and the Ammonites, and Moabites, 
 and Iturceans and Nahatoeans and Nabdceans ; 
 moreover, he also made an expedition against 
 Suron (Huram or Hiram), king of Tyre and 
 Phoenicia, and compelled all these people to 
 pay tribute to the Jews." This narrative, 
 which seems clearly to be derived from non- 
 Jewish sources, is an important testimony to the 
 truth of the history related in 2 Sam. viii. and 
 ix. It confirms that history by a distinct 
 mention of the chief conquests of David 
 recorded in the Bible, while it adds to them 
 
 1 See the fragments of Polyhistor in the Fr. Hist. Gi\ vol. iii. 
 p. 225; Fr. 18. 
 
98 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 several others, which, though not recorded in 
 Scripture, are intrinsically not improbable. 
 
 Besides these direct testimonies, there are 
 a certain number of incidental allusions to the 
 Early preemi- couditiou of forcigu uatious iu this 
 oTerTyrectT- portiou of the Sacrcd Volume, 
 firmed. wMch admit of being tested by a 
 
 comparison with profane records, with a result 
 which is in every case favorable to the his- 
 torical accuracy of the Biblical writers. For 
 instance, it is evident to the careful reader of 
 Scripture that, in the earlier portion of the 
 period under consideration, a preeminence 
 over the other Phoenician cities is assigned to 
 Sidon — "Great Sidon," as she is called,^ — 
 while from the time of David this preeminency 
 passes away, and Tyre steps into the place 
 which Sidon had previously occupied. Now 
 this shift in the balance of Phoenician power, 
 this transfer of the chief authority from one 
 city to another, is completely borne out by 
 profane history, which tells us, in the first 
 place, that Sidon was the mother-city of all 
 Phoenicia,^ and further indicates in a variety 
 of ways her early superiority over the rest of 
 
 1 Josh. xi. 8; xix. 28. Note the frequent mention of Sidon 
 in Joshua and Judges (Josh. xiii. 4, 6; Judg. i. 31; iii. 3; 
 X. 12; xviii. 7, 28); and contrast the single mention of Tyre 
 (Josh. xix. 29). 
 
 2 Justin. Hist, xviii. 3. Strab. Geofjraph. i. 2, § 33. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 99 
 
 the Phoenician towns.^ On the other hand 
 it is universally acknowledged that Tyre had 
 the preeminence in later times ; and if we were 
 to fix the date of the revolution from profane 
 histor}^ only, we should have to place it about 
 B. c. 1050, or a little earlier, — that is, shortly 
 before the accession of David. 
 
 Again, the narrative of Joshua represents 
 to us the nation of the Hittites as being, at the 
 time of the conquest of Canaan, Power of 
 
 . . . oi • Hittites con- 
 
 the principal power m Upper Syria, firmed. 
 or the country between Palestine and the 
 Euphrates. 2 This fact is abundantly con- 
 firmed by the Egyptian remains, which show 
 us the Hittites (^Shetd) as the chief opponent 
 of Egypt, in the valley of the Orontes, during 
 the period occupied by the nineteenth and 
 twentieth dynasties of Manetho,^ a period 
 which must certainly include within it the 
 judgeship of Joshua. The later power of 
 the Hittites, as witnessed by the Assyrian 
 inscriptions, accords with the Scriptural ac- 
 count, but does not directly confirm it, since 
 the earliest Assyrian record* in which the 
 
 1 The early Egyptian inscriptions which mention the Phoe- 
 nician towns. give Sidon the first place. Homer mentions Sidon 
 repeatedly, but never Tyre. 
 
 2 See Josh, i, 4; ix. 1; xii. 8. 
 
 8 Lenormant, Manuel, vol. i, pp. 399-441. 
 
 * Inscription of Ti (/lath- Pile ser /., date about B.C. 1125. 
 
100 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Hittites obtain mention is not anterior to the 
 twelfth century B. C, or from two to three 
 centuries after Joshua. 
 
 As the Hittites appear in Joshua to be the 
 dominant race to the north of GaUlee, so does 
 Philistine the whole narrative from Exodus 
 
 power con- 
 firmed, to Samuel represent the Philistines 
 
 as the dominant people of the tract be- 
 tween Judaea and Egypt. ^ Here, once more, 
 the Egyptian records agree, since they assign 
 to the Philistines the same sort of lead among 
 the enemies of Egypt in the south which 
 belongs to the Hittites in the regions of the 
 north.'^ Indeed, so sensible are the Egyp- 
 tians of their strength that they finally 
 consent to make terms with this people, and 
 giiarantee them in the possession of the rich 
 tract about Gaza, Ashdod, and Ascalon.^ 
 
 Enough is not known of the manners and 
 customs of the Canaanitish races from any 
 source independent of Scripture to permit 
 much illustration of the period between Moses 
 Manners and and David, from a consideration of 
 
 customs de- ,i o ,-i ,• • • 
 
 picted, con- the usages oi these nations mci- 
 prokfabieJ dentally noticed by the sacred writ- 
 ers. Still there are a few such points to 
 
 1 See Josh. xiii. 3. Judg. iii. 3; x. 7; xiii. 1. 1 Sam. iv- 
 xiii. 5-22, etc. 
 
 2 Brugsch, Histoire d^ Egypt e, pp. 185-187. 
 * Lenormant, Manuel, vol. i. p. 144. 
 
OF THE OLDTPlKTSSfT. 101 
 
 which the reader's attention may be called. " 
 The military power of the northern races, 
 the Hittites and their allies, is represented in 
 Joshua (xi. 4) as consisting especially in the 
 multitude of their chariots. This agrees with 
 the Egyptian accounts, which similarly make 
 the chariots of the Sheta their main force.^ 
 The worship of Ashtoreth by the Canaanitish 
 nations generally (Judg. ii. 11-13), accords 
 with a hieroglyphic inscription of Rameses II. 
 which mentions Astert as a Hittite divinity .^ 
 The general character of the desert tribes, 
 especially the Midianites and the Amalekites, 
 as depicted in Judges (vi.-viii.), resembles 
 closely the picture which the Egyptians draw 
 of the Shaso. The gradual increase of Philis- 
 tine power apparent in the Scriptural narrative 
 harmoniz 's with the parallel decline of Egypt, 
 which th|^ monuments indicate.^ The curious 
 name — Shophetim^ or " Judges " — borne by 
 the Hebrew rulers from Othniel to Samuel, 
 receives light from the parallel term Suffetes^ 
 found to have been applied to the chief 
 magistrates of Phoenician colonies. In other 
 respects, the manners and customs depicted 
 
 1 Lenormant, p. 413. Compare Bunsen's Egypt, vol. iii. p. 
 175 ; and Cambridge Essays for 58, p. 240. 
 
 2 Bunsen, p. 180. 
 
 3 On this decline, see Wilkinson in Rawlinson's Herodotv^^ 
 vol. ii. p. 315; Bunsen, p. 218; Lenormant, pp. 445-451. 
 
102 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 ^can only be pronounced natural, and thor- 
 oughly Oriental. The foot of the conqueror 
 placed literally on the person of the conquered 
 monarch (Josh. x. 24) before his execution, 
 the cruel practice of mutilation (Judg. i. 6, 7),^ 
 the custom of blood-feuds (Josh. xx. 3 ; Judg. 
 viii. 19), the intermixture in one and the 
 same country of a dominant people and 
 subject tribes (Judg. i. 19-36), the hiding 
 of the latter when grievously oppressed, in 
 dens and caves (lb. vi. 2 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 6), 
 the wearing of earrings by men (Judg. viii. 
 24-26, the spying of women through a 
 lattice (lb. v. 28), the employment of apo- 
 logues (lb. ix. 7-15), the setting and 
 solving of riddles (lb. xiv. 12-18), the 
 shaving off of half the beard in derision 
 (2 Sam. x. 4), these and a hundj^d other 
 little points in the narrative are agreeable to 
 the known practice of Eastern nations, and 
 indicate that accuracy in details is no less a 
 characteristic of the Sacred Volume than 
 truthfulness in the main facts of the his- 
 tory. Such accuracy is sometimes found in 
 works of the imagination, where it is necessary 
 in order to render them life-like, and where it 
 
 1 * For fuller details respecting these modes of punishment 
 so peculiar, see Smith's Bibl. Diet. vol. iii. p. 2640 ff., Amer. 
 ed. - H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 103 
 
 is the result of much study and contrivance ; 
 but it is scarcely observable in any but a faith- 
 ful and contemporary history^ where it comes 
 without effort, costs no thought, and scarcely 
 presents itself at all distinctly to the con- 
 sciousness of the writer. 
 
104 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 
 
 The kingdom of Solomon is one of the 
 most striking facts in the BibUcal history. A 
 Short-lived petty nation, which for some hun- 
 jews™ nder ^ drcds of ycars has with difficulty 
 
 David and Sol- •   • i , • , 
 
 omon. mamtamed a separate existence in 
 
 the midst of warlike tribes, each of which 
 has in turn exercised dominion over it and 
 oppressed it, is suddenly raised by the genius 
 of a soldier monarch to glory and greatness. 
 An empire is established which extends from 
 the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt, a 
 distance of 450 miles ; and this empire, rapidly 
 constructed, enters almost immediately on a 
 period of peace, which lasts for half a century. 
 Wealth, grandeur, architectural magnificence, 
 artistic excellence, commercial enterprise, a 
 position of dignity among the great nations 
 of the earth,^ are enjoyed during this space; 
 at the end of which there is a sudden collapse, 
 — the ruling nation is split in twain, the 
 
 1 On the real character of Solomon's kingdom, see Dean 
 Stanley's {frticle on David, in the Blbl Diet. vol. i. p. 408; 
 and vol. i. p. 551, Amer. ed. 
 
OP THE OLD TESTAMENT. 105 
 
 subject races fall off, and the preeminence 
 lately gained being wholly lost ; the scene 
 of struggle, strife, oppression, recovery, in- 
 glorious submission, and desperate effort 
 recommences. To persons acquainted only 
 with the history of the West, the whole 
 series of events appears incredible ; the entire 
 analogy of history seems against them, since 
 in Occidental records they have no parallel, 
 and an inclination is naturally felt to question 
 their historical truth, to regard them as either 
 wholly invented, or at any rate as grossly 
 exaggerated. 
 
 But a knowledge of the history of the East 
 removes these impressions. In the East'such 
 a series of events is the reverse of Numerous ori- 
 abnormal. The rapid rise of petty "^^^ p*"^^^^^'- 
 states to greatness, the sudden change of an 
 oppressed into a dominant power, is the rule. 
 Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, all illustrate 
 it. Duration of empire when obtained is 
 more irregular. Sometimes a great power, 
 when once formed, holds its own for many 
 centuries, e. g. Assyria, Parthia, Sassanian 
 Persia. But at other times a collapse occurs 
 after a very brief space. The Babylonian 
 empire lasted, at the utmost, eighty-seven, 
 the Median seventy-five years.^ This latter 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, vol iii. pp. 175, 222; Manual of 
 Ancient History, p. 34. 
 
106 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 instance furnishes almost an exact parallel to 
 the empire of the Jews ; for the whole period 
 of the empire is made up of two reigns, those 
 of a father and a son, the former a warlike 
 prince who constructs it, the latter a peaceful 
 one who adorns it, and makes it the admira- 
 tion of its neighbors ; and the collapse is 
 brought about by a division between the two 
 great sections of the ruling (Medo-Persic) 
 race, and a war between them, which, how- 
 ever, has a somewhat different result from 
 the war between the Ten Tribes and the Two. 
 Short periods of great prosperity are, in fact, 
 of ordinary occurrence among the States of 
 the East, where so much more depends than 
 in the West on the personal character of 
 individuals, -and where the vigor and energy 
 which enable a chief to found an empire are 
 rarely inherited by descendants born and bred 
 up in a seraglio. 
 
 And if the analogy of Oriental history 
 generally is thus favorable to the main Scrip- 
 character of tural fact — the sudden rise, vast 
 
 the Empire ^ ^ •in 
 
 borne out by spicudor, and rapid collapse of the 
 
 contemporary . £ .i t • j_i 
 
 history. empire 01 the Jews, — so is the 
 
 analogy of the Oriental history of the time 
 favorable to the character of the empire, as 
 set before us in the Sacred Volume. " Solo- 
 mon," we are told, '' reigned over all the king- 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 107 
 
 doms from the river (Euphrates) unto the 
 land of the Philistines and unto the borders 
 of Egypt" (1 Kings iv. 21) ; and again, 
 " Solomon had dominion over all the region 
 on this side the river, from Tiphsach (Thap- 
 sacus on the Euphrates) to Azzah (or Gaza), 
 over all the kings on this side the river '' (lb. 
 24) ; " they brought presents " (lb. 21) ; a 
 " rate year hyyear " (lb. x. 25) ; and " served 
 Solomon all the days of his life" (lb. iv. 21). 
 Here we have a picture of a kind of empire 
 exactly similar to those which profane records 
 — and more especially the recently-discovered 
 cuneiform inscriptions — show to have pre- 
 vailed in the East at the period to which the 
 empire of Solomon is assigned, and for some 
 (though not very many) centuries afterwards. 
 The modern system of centralized organiza- 
 tion, by which the various provinces of a vast 
 empire are cemented into a compact mass, 
 was unknown to the ancient world, and has 
 never been practiced by Asiatics. The satrap- 
 ial system of government, or that in which the 
 provinces maintain their individuahty, but 
 are administered on a common plan by offi- 
 cers appointed by the crown — which has 
 prevailed generally throughout the East since 
 the time of its first introduction, — was the 
 iny^ntiqn of IJarius Hystaspis^ (ab. B. c. 
 
 \ Herod, iii. 89. 
 
108 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 520). Before his time the great monarchies 
 of the East had a slighter and weaker organi- 
 zation. They were in all cases composed of a 
 number of separate kingdoms^ each under its 
 own native king; and the sole link uniting 
 them together and constituting them an em- 
 pire was the subjection of these petty mon- 
 archs to a single suzerain. The Babylonian, 
 Assyrian, Median, and Lydian were all em- 
 pires of this type, — monarchies where a sover- 
 eign prince at the head of a powerful king- 
 dom was acknowledged as suzerain, by a 
 number of inferior princes, each in his own 
 right sole ruler of his own country. And the 
 subjecticm of the inferior princes consisted 
 chiefly, if not solely, in two points : they were 
 bound to render homage to their suzerain, and 
 to pay him annually a certain stated trib- 
 ute. Thus in Solomon's empire, as depicted 
 in the book of Kings, we recognize at once a 
 condition of things with which we are familiar 
 from profane sources ; and we see that at any 
 rate the account given of it is in entire har- 
 mony with the political notions and practices 
 of the day. 
 
 The fact of Solomon's rule over the Jews at 
 the time which Scripture assigns to him, and 
 Solomon's the friendly relations in which he 
 
 reign and rela- i ^ rr\ - 
 
 tions with Hi- stood toward the Tynan monarch, 
 
 ram attested *' i n^ 
 
 by Dius. Hiram, were attested b}^ the lyrian 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 109 
 
 historians, on whose works Dins and Menan- 
 der based their histories, as stated in a former 
 chapter.^ Dins, as reported by Josephus,^ 
 said, '' On the death of Abibaal, his son Hi- 
 ram mounted the Tyrian throne. He made 
 a mound on the eastern side of the city, and 
 enlarged the citadel, and attached to the city 
 by means of a mole the temple of Jupiter 
 (JBaal ?), which stood by itself on an island, 
 and adorned the temple with golden offerings. 
 Moreover, he cut timber in Mount Lebanon, 
 to be used in the construction of his temples. 
 And it is said that Solomon, who then reigned 
 at Jerusalem, sent riddles to Hiram, and re- 
 quested that riddles should be sent him in 
 return, with the condition that the receiver 
 should pay a sum of money to the sender if he 
 could not find them out. The challenge was 
 accepted by Hiram ; and, as he could not dis- 
 cover the answers to Solomon's riddles, he had 
 to pay him a large sum as a forfeit. After 
 this, a Tyrian, called Abdemon, found out 
 Solomon's riddles, and sent him others which 
 Solomon could not solve. So Solomon, in his 
 turn, forfeited a considerable sum to Hiram." 
 Menander's testimony ^ is very nearly to the 
 same effect ; but his account is less full, and 
 
 1 See above, ch. iv. p. 96. 2 Contr. Apion. i. 37. 
 
 8 Ibid. § 18. 
 
110 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 therefore does not need to be quoted. The 
 date of Hiram was fixed by the Tyrian his- 
 torians to the close of the eleventh century 
 before our era, since his accession was placed 
 in the 156th year before the foundation of 
 Carthage, and the foundation of Carthage was 
 assigned to the seventh year of Pygmalion, or 
 B. C. 864. The exchange of riddles between 
 Hiram and Solomon, which is not related in 
 Scripture, illustrates both the proceedings of 
 Samson (Judg. xiv. 12-19) and those of the 
 Queen of Sheba, when she sought to " prove 
 Solomon by hard questions " (1 Kings x. 1). 
 The Tyrian histories witnessed, moreover, 
 to the construction of the Temple by Solo- 
 other points mon,i an event which they placed 
 T^'^S^U'to?' in the 144th year before the foun- 
 "^- dation of Carthage, or B. C. 1007. 
 
 They stated that several letters which had 
 passed between Hiram and Solomon were 
 preserved in the Tyrian archives ; ^ and they 
 further related, as we learn from Menander, 
 that Solomon took to wife one of Hiram's 
 daughters.^ This last fact, though not dis- 
 tinctly mentioned in Scripture, is probably 
 glanced at in the statement (1 Kings xi. 1), 
 
 1 Contr. Apion. § 17. 
 
 2 Joseph, c. Ap. i. § 17. 
 
 • 8 Menaud. ap. Clem. Alex. Strom, i. p. 386. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. Ill 
 
 that '' King Solomon loved many strange 
 women, together with the daughter of Pha- 
 raoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, 
 Edomites, Zidonians^ and Hittites." 
 
 It might have been expected that the 
 Egyptian records would have afforded illus- 
 trations of the reiffn of Solomon, scanty iuus- 
 
 ^ _ , •'!•/• i 1 tration of his 
 
 Solomon s principal wiie was the reign from the 
 
 p Vki 1 1 parallel his- 
 
 daughter oi a Pharaoh, and a tory of Egypt. 
 portion of his dominions accrued to him 
 through this marriage (1 Kings ix. 16). One 
 of his adversaries was married to another 
 Eg}^ptian princess, the sister of Tahpenes, 
 wife of an Egyptian monarch (lb. xi. 19). 
 Late in his reign, a subject whom he suspected 
 took refuge in Egypt, and was favorably re- 
 ceived by Shishak, who was then king (lb. 
 40). But the Egyptian records of the period 
 are peculiarly scanty. The monarchs of the 
 twenty-first dynasty have left scarcely any 
 memorials. All that appears from them is 
 that Egypt was at this time exceedingly weak, 
 that she had no foreign wars, and that Egyp- 
 tian princesses were occasionally married to 
 subjects and foreigners.^ The names of Sol- 
 omon, Hadad, Jeroboam, Tahpenes, do not 
 occur. The name of Shishak is, however, 
 found under the form of Sheshonk ; his date 
 
 1 Lenormant, Manuel tV Histoire Ancienne, torn. i. p. 452. 
 
112 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 accords with that of Solomon; and he ap- 
 pears as the founder of a new dynasty, and 
 therefore as a prince who might naturally 
 change the relations previously subsisting be- 
 tween Judasa and Egypt. But, on the whole, 
 the illustration under this head is scanty and 
 disappointing. 
 
 In one respect, however, the history of 
 Egypt and the parallel history of Assyria har- 
 Date assigned moulzc vcrv remarkably with the 
 
 to Solomon's "^ ^ ^ 
 
 Empire in bar- Hcbrew accouuts, rendering that 
 
 niony with t • i . 
 
 both Egyptian which sccms most cxtraordinarv 
 
 and Assyrian . "^ 
 
 history. and abnormal m them readily 
 
 * comprehensible, natural, and even probable. 
 When we glance over the general relations 
 and consider the natural resources of the three 
 countries — Egypt, Palestine, Assyria, — it 
 seems at first sight most unlikely that the 
 weak intermediate country should at any time 
 have been able to assert herself, and to main- 
 tain undisturbed for above half a century an 
 empire over regions generally claimed by one 
 or other, or by both, of the great powers 
 between which she lay. Under ordinary 
 circumstances, when Egypt and Assyria, or 
 either of them, were in their vigor, the as- 
 sumption of such a position by Judaea may be 
 pronounced simply impossible. But the mon- 
 uments of both countries sliow that, exactly 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 113 
 
 at the time when the Je^vish empire is placed 
 by the sacred writers, there was, both in 
 Egypt and in Assyria, a temporary decay and 
 depression. Assyria, which in the twelfth 
 century bore rule over most of Northern Syria, 
 passes under a cloud towards the commence- 
 ment of the eleventh, and continues weak and 
 inglorious till nearly the close of the tenth. ^ 
 Egypt declines somewhat earlier, but recovers 
 sooner, her depression commencing about B. 
 C. 1200, and terminating with the accession of 
 Sheshonk, about B. c. 990.^ It is only in the 
 interval between the decline of Assyria, B. c. 
 1100, and the recovery of Egypt, B. c. 990, 
 that such an empire as that ascribed to Solo- 
 mon would have been allowed to exist ; and 
 exactly into this interval the Solomonian em- 
 pire falls according to the sacred writers. 
 
 Among the accessories of the history of 
 Solomon there are numerous points on which 
 profane history sheds a lio^ht ; but Picture of the 
 
 \ . T . 1 . 1 1 Ti Phoenicians 
 
 the space witmn which these II- confirmed by 
 
 , . •, r> 1 'Ti profane au- 
 
 lustrations must be confined will thors. 
 only allow of special attention being called to 
 two. These are the pictures drawn of Phoeni- 
 cian civilization at the time, and the charac- 
 ter of the art which forms so remarkable a 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. pp. 332-336. 
 
 2 Lenormant, Manuel, torn. i. pp. 449-452. 
 
114 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 feature of Solomon's reign. Phoenician civil- 
 ization is represented as consisting especially 
 in the possession of nautical skill, of exten- 
 sive commerce, and of excellence in the me- 
 chanical and ornamental arts and employ- 
 ments. None " can skill to hew timber like 
 unto the Sidonians " (1 Kings v. 6). They 
 are " cunning to work in gold, and in silver, 
 in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and in 
 blue, and in crimson " (2 Chr. ii. 7) ; they 
 "can skill to grave gravings " (lb.). Hi- 
 ram of Tyre casts for Solomon all his vessels 
 for the Temple service, and, especially the two 
 huge pillars, Jachin and Boaz, which stood in 
 front of the porch, and the great laver called 
 "the molten sea" (1 Kings vii. 21-23). 
 Skill in the mechanical processes of art and 
 in ornamentation is what we find ascribed to 
 them ; not artistic excellence in the highest 
 and best sense of the words. Closely in ac- 
 cordance with this is the character of Phoenician 
 civilization, which we derive from the Greeks. 
 Their early nautical skill and extensive trade 
 are mentioned by Homer and Herodotus, the 
 former of whom speaks especially of their 
 beautifully embroidered robes and their bowls 
 of silver.^ Their " skill to hew timber," 
 
 1 Herod, i. 1; iv. 148. Horn. II vi. 289; xxiii. 743; Od. iv. 
 614; XV. 417, etc. 
 
OF THE OLD TF.STAMENT. 115 
 
 eTen at this remote time, was attested by their 
 own historians, as also was their practice of 
 making large metal pillars.^ Such remains of 
 their art as have come down to us are of the 
 character indicated. They consist of engraved 
 gems and cylinders, and of metal bowls, plain, 
 or embossed with figures.^ In no instance do 
 the figures show any real artistic excellence. 
 
 [* A few years ago certain letters or mark- 
 ings were found at Jerusalem on the bottom 
 rows of the wall at the southeast angle of 
 the Haram, at the depth of ninety feet, near 
 where Solomon's Temple must have stood. 
 Mr. E. Deutsch, of the British Museum, who 
 saw them on the ground, decides that they 
 must have been put there when the stones 
 were laid in situ^ and that they are Phoeni- 
 cian.3 Similar marks are found on primitive 
 substructures in the harbor of Sidon at the 
 present day. It has been suggested, as the 
 most probable explanation of th^se marks 
 here, that they were put there by Tyrian 
 architects whom Hiram or Huram * sent to 
 assist Solomon in the erection of the Temple, 
 
 1 See the fragment of Dius quoted above, p. 100, and com- 
 pare Menand. ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 18. 
 
 2 Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 186, 60S. 
 
 8 * See Quarterly Statement of the Pal. Expl. Fund, No. ii. 
 (1869). —H. 
 
 4 * Different forms of the same name. Huram occurs espe- 
 cially in Chronicles, and is aMasoretic variation of Hiram. — H, 
 
116 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 as we learn from 1 K. v. 10, 18, and 2 Chr. ii. 
 11 ff. Yet we may not insist on this coinci- 
 dence, because the Hebrews and the Tyrians 
 at that period may have used the same written 
 form of letters or figures, and hence the He- 
 brew architects may have placed them there.] 
 The art of Solomon's reign presents nu- 
 merous points of agreement with the style of 
 Art of Solo- ^rt recently discovered to have pre- 
 accord iS vailed in Mesopotamia and the ad- 
 by^he lisfr- j^cent countrics at a time not much 
 ian remains, subscqucnt. Thc modcm historian 
 of architecture finds in the ruins of Nineveh 
 and Palestine the best means of illustrating 
 and explaining the edifices with which Solo- 
 mon adorned Jerusalem. ^ The " House of 
 the Forest of Lebanon " ^ resembles clearly 
 the " Throne-room " of an Assyrian or Per- 
 sian palace. Its proportions, its cedar roofing, 
 its numerous columns, its windows and doors 
 squared at top, are all in keeping with Assyr- 
 ian or Persian examples ; with which accord 
 also the separation of the entire palace into 
 several distinct groups of buildings, the in- 
 clusion within the palace of large courts, the 
 
 1 Fergusson, History of Architecture^ voL i. Compare Bib- 
 lical Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 659; and vol. iii. p. 228'{, Amer. ed. 
 
 2 * See 1 K. vii. 2, x. 17, 21; 2 Chr. iv. 16, 20. It was so 
 called from being largely built of cedar or adorned with cedar 
 pillars from Lebanon. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 117 
 
 pa^'ing of the courts with stone, and the em- 
 ployment of slabs of stone as a facing to the 
 walls of the palace (1 Kings vii. 9). The 
 overlaying of the Temple with pure gold (lb. 
 vi. 21, 22), so marvelous to moderns, accords 
 with the Babylonian, the Assyrian, and the 
 Median practice ; the ornamentation of the 
 same building, and its furniture, with cheru- 
 bims (probably winged bulls), palm-trees, 
 and open flowers (lb. vi. 32), and again with 
 pomegranates and lions (lb. viii. 18, 29), is 
 thoroughly Assyrian ; the height of the pil- 
 lars Jachin and Boaz, and the size and com- 
 plicated character of their capitals, have par- 
 allels at Persepolis ; the lions that guard the 
 steps of Solomon's throne (lb. x. 20), recall 
 the lion figures at the Assyrian palace gates ; 
 the " throne of ivory " (lb. 18), accords with 
 the fragments of ivory furniture found at Nin- 
 eveh. ^ In these and numerous other respects, 
 the art ascribed to Solomon by the sacred 
 writers receives illustration from remains, most 
 of which were buried at the period when they 
 compiled their histories, and have been for the 
 first time uncovered in our day. 
 
 Of the divided kingdom which followed 
 upon the death of Solomon, the Assyrian 
 records furnish numerous, and the Egyptian a 
 
 1 Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, pp. 194-196. 
 
118 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 few illustrations. The most important Egyp- 
 shishak's ex- ^^^^ notice is Contained in an inscrip- 
 SiTjudah tion erected by Shishak (Sheshonk) 
 onfonSfa- at Karnak, which has been most 
 Bcriptions. carefully studied by modern schol- 
 ars, and may be regarded as having completely 
 yielded up its contents. This document is a list 
 of the countries, cities, and tribes, conquered 
 in his great expedition by Shishak, and re- 
 garded by him as his tributaries. It contains, 
 not only a distinct mention of " Judah," as a 
 " kingdom " which Shishak had subjugated,^ 
 but also a long list of Palestinian towns, from 
 which an important light is thrown on the 
 character of the expedition commemorated, 
 and the relations subsisting between Judah 
 and Israel in the early part of Solomon's 
 reign. Among the cities mentioned are not 
 only, as might have been expected, a certain 
 number of the cities of Judah, but several in 
 the territory of the Ten Tribes, which one 
 would have supposed subject to Jeroboam, 
 Shishak's protege and ally, and therefore un- 
 likely to have been treated hostilely by the 
 Egyptians. Examination, however, of these 
 cities shows that they fall into the two classes 
 of Levitical towns, and towns originally Ca- 
 
 1 Wilkinson in Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 316, '2d 
 ed. ; Stuart Poole in Biblical Dictionary, ad voc. Shishak. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 119 
 
 naanite ; and the explanation of tlieir appear- 
 ance in the list seems to be, that Jeroboam 
 was not at first firmly established in the whole 
 of his kingdom, but that the Levites held to 
 Eehoboam (see 2 Chr. xi. 13), while the 
 remnant of the Canaanites probably re- 
 asserted their independence. Shishak there- 
 fore directed his arms against these two 
 classes of cities, handing them over, probably, 
 when he had taken them, to Jeroboam, who 
 thereby became master of the whole territory 
 of the Ten Tribes, which he held, probably, 
 as a fief under the Egyptian crown. 
 
 Shishak's invasion of Palestine was followed 
 within about thirty years (^according to the 
 book of Chronicles) by another zerah'sexpe- 
 
 •" dition against 
 
 great attack irom the same quar- Asa. 
 ter. Zerah, the Ethiopian, at the head of a 
 vast army, composed of Ethiopians and Lib- 
 yans, invaded Judaea in the reign of Asa, the 
 grandson of Rehoboam, but was completely 
 defeated by him, and forced to an ignomin- 
 ious flight. It was not likely that we should 
 obtain any direct confirmation of this expedi- 
 tion from the other side, since Oriental mon- 
 archs do not generally record their disasters ; ^ 
 
 1 * It is said that no record of the death of a king has yet 
 been found on the Assyrian monuments. Certainly this sing- 
 ular reserve exceeds very much that of the French mortuaiy 
 valediction and salutation: Le roi est mort : vive le roi ! — IT. 
 
120 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 but hieroglyphical scholars are able to point 
 out two monarchs, reigning about this time 
 in the valley of the Nile, having names that 
 accords sufficiently with the Hebrew Zerah, 
 one or other of whom would seem to have been 
 the leader of the invasion. The Egyptian 
 throne was occupied from about B. c. 956 to 
 983 by an Osorchon^ who may have been by 
 birth an Ethiopian ; ^ and the throne of Ethio- 
 pia was filled about the same time by a king 
 named Azerch-Axa^iV^ whose monuments are 
 found at Napata.^ The Hebrew practice of 
 abbreviating foreign names (seen in So, Shal- 
 man, etc.) may have caused either of these 
 names to be expressed by Zerah. 
 
 During the reign of Asa over Judali, the 
 sister kingdom was the scene of great dis- 
 Greatness of ordcrs. Rcvolution followed rev- 
 
 Omri con- ^ . _^ ^ . 
 
 finned by the olutiou. 1* our dynastics rapidly 
 scriptions. succccdcd each other. Two kings 
 were assassinated ; one burnt himself in his 
 palace. At length a certain Omri attained to 
 power, and succeeded in introducing greater 
 stability into the Israelite state. Removing 
 the capital to a new site, Samaria, and estab- 
 lishing a new system of laws, which were 
 
 1 The second Osorchon married the sister of the preceding 
 king, and ruled in right of his wife. 
 
 2 Lenormant, Manuel, torn, i- pp. 253, 453. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 121 
 
 thenceforth observed (Mic. vi. 16), he so 
 firmly fixed his dynasty upon the throne, 
 that it continued during three generations and 
 four reigns before it was succeeded by an- 
 other. A monarch of this capacity might be 
 expected to get himself a name among his 
 neighbors ; and accordingly we find in the As- 
 syrian inscriptions of the time that his name 
 is the Israelite name with which they are most 
 familiar.^ Samaria is known to the Assyrians 
 for some centuries merely as Beth-Omri, "the 
 house " or " city of Omri ; " and even when 
 they come into contact with Israelite mon- 
 archs of the house which succeeded Omri's 
 upon the throne, they still regard them as 
 descendants of the great chief whom they 
 view perhaps as the founder of the kingdom .^ 
 Thus the Assyrian records agree generally 
 with the Hebrew in the importance which 
 
 1 * The most skeptical writers recognize the significance of 
 this agreement of Assyrian and Jewish history. See De Wette- 
 Schrader's Einleit. is das A. und N. Test. p. 320 (1869). In some 
 minor details the Assyrian readings may be still uncertain; but 
 of the great bulk of them, there is no more doubt than of the 
 renderings of one spoken language into another. On this sub- 
 ject, see *' Ninive," by F. Spiegel in Herzog's Real-Encyh. vol. 
 X. pp. 361-381 (1858), and especially, under the same title, vol. 
 XX. pp. 219-235 (1866). See also Testimony of Assyrian In- 
 scriptiims to the Truth of Scripture, by Rev. T. Laurie, formerly 
 missionary at Mosul {Bibl. Sacra, xiv. pp. 147-165). — H. 
 
 2 See the Blach Obelisk Inscription, where Jehu is called 
 "the son of Omri." 
 
122 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 they assign to this monarch ; and specially 
 confirm the fact (related in 1 Kings xvi. 24), 
 that he was the founder of the later IsraeHte 
 metropolis, Samaria.^ 
 
 Omri's name appears also on another very 
 recently discovered monument. The steld of 
 omri men- Mcslia, kinsj of Moab, erected at 
 
 tioned on the . ^ -a r ^ > 
 
 Moabite stone. DiDon m the MoaDite country 
 about B. c. 900, twenty or thirty years after 
 Omri's death, records that he reduced the 
 Moabites to subjection, and began an oppres- 
 sion under which they groaned, till Mesha 
 reestablished their independence.^ This no- 
 tice agrees well with the Hebrew date for 
 Omri, and with the mention that is made of 
 his " might " in 1 Kings xvi. 27. 
 
 Omri's son and successor, Ahab, is men- 
 tioned by name in an Assyrian contemporary 
 Ahab men- inscription, which, affreeably to the 
 
 tioned on the ^ . . . "^ 
 
 Black Obelisk, accouut givcu iu the First Book of 
 Kings with respect to the place of his ordi- 
 nary residence (1 Kings xviii. 46 ; xxi. 1, 2), 
 calls him " Ahab of Jezreel^ ^ The inscrip- 
 
 1 * In accordance with this concurrent biblical and monu- 
 mental testimony, Dean Stanley treats of the reign of "the 
 house of Omri " as one of the great epochs of Jewish history 
 {Lectures on the Jewish Church, vol. ii. pp. 313-376). — H. 
 
 2 See Dr. Ginsburg's Moabite Stone, pp. 31-33 ; [and Appen- 
 dix No. 2, in this edition of the work.] 
 
 8 M. Oppert reads "Ahab of Israel" {Histoire des Empires 
 de Chaldee et d^Assyrie^ p. 140); but Sir H. Rawlinson regards 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 123 
 
 tion tells us that Aliab on a certain occasion 
 joined in a league of kings against the Assyr- 
 ians, and furnished to the confederate army, 
 that was brought into the field, a force of 
 10,000 footmen and 2,000 chariots. The al- 
 lies suffered defeat, and Ahab appears thence- 
 forth to have abstained from offering any op- 
 position to Assyria. Among the confederate 
 monarchs with whom he leagued himself was 
 the Damascene king, Benhadad, whom Scrip- 
 ture also makes Ahab's contemporary. 
 
 The relations here exhibited as subsisting 
 between Ahab and Benhadad may appear at 
 first sight difficult to reconcile with those de- 
 scribed in Kings, where Benhadad is Ahab's 
 chief foreign enemy (1 Kings xx. and xxii.). 
 But if we carefully examine the sacred text, 
 we shall see that there is express mention of 
 an interval of peace as having occurred be- 
 tween the two great Syrian wars of Ahab — 
 an interval estimated at three years (1 Kings 
 xxii. 1), — duruig which period the two mon- 
 archs were friends. The alliance with Ben- 
 hadad against the Assyrians may well have 
 fallen into this space.^ Indeed, it throws 
 light both on the readiness of Ahab to grant 
 
 the Assyrian word as corresponding more closely to the Hebrew 
 " Jezreel." 
 
 1 The Assyrian chronology requires as the date of the alli- 
 ance a late year in the reign of Ahab. 
 
124 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 the Syrian monarch favorable terms when he 
 had him in his power (1 Kings xx. 34), and 
 on his exasperation at the terms granted not 
 being observed (lb. xxii. 3), if we suppose 
 that Ahab made his covenant with Benhadad 
 in contemplation of an impending Assyrian 
 invasion ; that when the invasion came, he 
 helped Benhadad to resist it ; and that then 
 Benhadad^ setting at nought the obligations 
 both of honor and gratitude, refused to fulfil 
 the engagement by means of which he had 
 obtained his hberty. 
 
 The Moabite stone also speaks of Ahab, 
 though not by name. " Omri," it tells us, 
 His oppression "King of Isracl, oppressed Moab 
 corderon'the ^lany days, for Chemosh was angiy 
 Moabite stone, ^^-^j^ ^ik land. Ris SOU succeeded 
 him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab." ^ 
 This passage agrees well with the statements 
 of the Second Book of Kings (i. 1, and iii. 4, 
 6), that the Moabites were subject to Ahab 
 throughout his reign, and paid him annually 
 the enormous tribute of " an hundred thou- 
 sand-lambs, and an hundred thousand rams 
 with the wool." Such a tribute (even if 
 the wool alone, and not the animals, is in- 
 tended) would undoubtedly have been felt 
 
 1 See Dr. Ginsburg's Essay on the Moabite Stone, p. 13. 
 [See also Appendix No. 2, at the end of this volume.] 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 125 
 
 by the people who paid it as extremely op- 
 pressive.^ 
 
 The ancient Tyrian histories may also be 
 quoted as illustrative of the reign of Ahab, 
 Some facts of thouffh thev do not expressly men- 
 
 his reijrn illus- •. ° . rr^, , c t^ • 
 
 tratedbythe tion him. ilie author oi Kings 
 ries. (1 Kings xvi. 31) relates that 
 
 Ahab " took to wife Jezebel, the daughter 
 of Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians." This 
 " Eth-baal " appeared as " Eithobalus " in 
 Dius and Menander, who made him the sixth 
 king of Tyre after Hiram, reckoning the in- 
 terval between the two at fifty years, and giv- 
 ing Eithobalus a reign of thirty-two years,^ 
 whereby he would be exactly contemporary 
 with Ahab. Moreover, the Tyrian histories 
 related that Eithobalus was high-priest of 
 Astarte (or Ashtoreth), which accounts in a 
 
 1 * Some think the tribute was not an annual one, but ex- 
 acted only once. It is not necessary to adopt that view. ** The 
 extraordinary number of ruins scattered over the country," says 
 Mr. Grove, ''are a sure token of its wealth in former ages." 
 (Blbl. Diet. vol. iii. p. 1987, Amer. ed.) Recent travellers con- 
 firm this testimony. *' Everything in Moab speaks of its former 
 wealth and cultivation. Even yet, though the soil is badly 
 tended by the few Arab tribes that inhabit it, large tracts of 
 pasture land and extensive corn-fields meet the eye at every 
 turn. Ruined cottages and towers, broken walls that inclosed 
 gardens and vineyards, remains of ancient roads, meet the 
 traveller at every step." See Our Wurk in Palestine^ ip. 322. 
 Our American explorers now in that region may be expected tc 
 settle many similar questions relating to the Bible. — H. 
 
 2 See Joseph, contr. Ap. i. 18. 
 
126 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 measure for the religious fanaticism of his 
 daughter. They further stated that during 
 the reign of this monarch, there was a severe 
 drought in Phoenicia,^ which may not unrea- 
 sonably be connected with the three years' 
 want of rain, mentioned in Kings (1 Kings 
 xvii. 1 ; xviii. 1). 
 
 The rebellion of Moab, which is the first 
 fact assigned by the writer of Kings to the 
 The revolt of Tcign of Ahaziah, Ahab's elder son 
 Aha'ilMhe and successor (2 Kings i. 1), has 
 TtSeMolbil recently had much hght thrown 
 stone. upon it by the discovery of the 
 
 monument (already referred to) erected to 
 commemorate the occurrence.^ The " Mesha, 
 king of Moab," who threw off the Israelite 
 yoke (2 Kings iii. 4, 5), inscribed upon a pil- 
 lar, which he set up in his own land, the series 
 of events whereby he had restored his country 
 to independence ; and the inscription upon 
 this pillar has recently, by the combined 
 labor of various Semitic scholars, been recov- 
 ered, deciphered, and translated into the lan- 
 guages of modern Europe.^ It appears from 
 this document, as already noticed, that a griev- 
 
 1 Menand. ap. Joseph. Ant. Jud. viii. 13. 
 
 2 See Appendix No. 2. 
 
 8 See the various translations collected by Dr. Ginsburg at 
 the close of his Essay (pp. 42, 43) ; [and see also Appendix No. 2, 
 in this volume.] 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 127 
 
 ous oppression of the Moabites was begun by 
 Omri and continued by his son Ahab ; who 
 together oppressed the nation for a space 
 which Mesha reckons roughly at forty years. 
 After this, probably in the first year of Aha- 
 ziah, the Moabites rebelled. Mesha attacked 
 and took the various towns which were occu- 
 pied by Israelite garrisons throughout the 
 country, and after a sharp struggle made him- 
 self master of the whole territory. He then 
 rebuilt such of the Moabite cities as had fallen 
 into decay during the period of the oppres- 
 sion, strengthening their fortifications, and 
 otherwise restoring and beautifying them. 
 
 Of the reign of Jehoram, Ahaziah's suc- 
 cessor, we have no profane illustration ; but 
 the Assyrian monument known as j^^ntjonof 
 "the Black Obelisk," contains a na^w^iand 
 
 ' Jehu on the 
 
 notice of the next Israelite mon- BiackObeiisk 
 arch, Jehu, and another of the Syrian king 
 who succeeded Benhadad, Hazael. Hazael 
 appears as the chief antagonist of the Assyr- 
 ian invaders of Syria, in immediate succes- 
 sion to Benhadad ; ^ and Jehu, who is called 
 " the son of Omri," is declared to have sent 
 ambassadors to the Assyrian capital with 
 presents or tribute.^ The facts here recorded 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 364. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 365. Jehu's ambassadors are represented, bringing 
 the tribute, on the Black Obelisk. • 
 
 * Instead of "Jehu's ambassadors" in this note we should 
 
128 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 are not mentioned in Scripture ; and the " il 
 lustration " consists simply in the mention at 
 an appropriate time, under appropriate circum- 
 stances, and in proper sequence, of persons 
 who play an important part in the Sacred 
 History. 
 
 A more interesting point of agreement than 
 the bare mention in the same chronological 
 Agreement of order of tlic Same historic names', is 
 
 the Assyrian ' 
 
 monunient8 to bc fouud lu the accord between 
 
 with Scripture 
 
 ditfon of Tria ^^^ general picture of Syria at this 
 B. 0. 900-800. ' time, as presented to us in our Sa- 
 cred Books, and the representation of it given 
 by the Assyrian records. In both we find the 
 country between the middle Euphrates and 
 Egypt parceled out among a large number 
 of tribes or nations, of whom the most pow- 
 erful are, in the north, the Hittites, the Ha- 
 mathites, the Phoenicians, and the Syrians of 
 Damascus ; in the south, the Philistines and 
 the Idumaeans. In both there is a similar por- 
 trait of Syria of Damascus as a considerable 
 state, the strongest in these parts, ruled from 
 a single centre by a single monarch. The 
 same general character, and the same second- 
 ary position, is in both assigned to Hamath, 
 
 substitute "Ahab's ambassadors" according to Prof. Rawliu- 
 son's corrections in his Ancient Monarcliies, vol. iv. p. 576. 
 This makes a change of a few years only in the time of the 
 first contact between the Assyrians and the Israelites, but does 
 not affect at all the value of the Biblical corroboration. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 129 
 
 whicli, like Damascus, lias its single king (2 
 Kings xix. 13 ; 1 Chr. xviii. 9), but is evi- 
 dently a kingdom of less strength. In con- 
 trast with these two centralized monarchies 
 stand the nations of the Hittites and the 
 Phcenicians, each of which has several inde- 
 pendent kings or chiefs, the number in the 
 case of the Hittites being, apparently, very 
 great (1 Kings x. 29; comp. xx. 1). The 
 military strength of the northern nations con- 
 sists especially, according to both authorities, 
 in their chariots, besides which they have a 
 numerous infantry, but few or no horsemen. 
 Both authorities show that, in this divided 
 state of Syria, the kings of the various coun- 
 tries were in the habit of forming leagues, 
 uniting their forces, and making conjoint ex- 
 peditions against foreign countries. Lastly, 
 in both pictures we see in the background 
 the two great powers of Egypt and Assyria, 
 not yet in conflict with one another, not yet 
 able, either of them, to grasp the dominion 
 of Syria, or crush the spirit of its brave and 
 freedom-loving peoples, but both feeling their 
 way towards a conquest, and tending to come 
 into a collision which will establish the com- 
 plete preponderance of the one or the other 
 in the region lying between the Nile and the 
 Euphrates. 
 
130 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 From early in the reign of Jehu over Israel, 
 till late in that of Azariah (or Uzziah)^ over 
 Judah, — a period of about a hundred years, 
 Depression of — the Assvrian annals are silent 
 
 Assyria B. c. . "^ 
 
 BOu-750 ac- with respect to the events and per- 
 
 cords with m- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 crease of Jew- gons mentioned in Scripture. The 
 
 ish power at \ 
 
 that time. mouarchs who warred in Southern 
 Syria and Palestine have left no detailed 
 account of their campaigns, or at any rate 
 none has been discovered hitherto; and we 
 consequently know nothing beyond the broad 
 facts, that in the earlier part of the period As- 
 syria still claimed dominion over Syria of Da- 
 mascus, Phoenicia, and Samaria,^ while in the 
 later she fell into a depressed condition, suffered 
 from revolts within her own proper terri- 
 tory,^ and left the Syrians to follow their own 
 devices. This temporary weakness of the 
 great Asiatic kingdom in the earlier half of 
 the eighth century B. c, is in harmony with 
 the statements of Scripture, that about this 
 time both Israel and Judah were able to as- 
 sume an aggressive attitude, and to enlarge 
 their borders at the expense of their neigh- 
 bors. Uzziah in Judah, Jeroboam the second, 
 
 1 * Probably forms of the same name, though regarded by 
 some as different. See Winer's Bibl. Woiterbuch, vol. ii. p. 648. 
 — H. 
 
 2 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. pp. 378, 379. 
 
 3 Seven years of revolt are m€?ntioned in the Assyrian canon 
 between b. c. 763 and 746. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 131 
 
 and Menahem in Israel, extended their author- 
 ity over the border nations, Uzziah reducing 
 Philistia and Amnion (2 Chr. xxiv. 6-8), 
 Jeroboam conquering Hamath and Damascus 
 (2 Kings xiv. 28), and Menahem making 
 himself master of the entire tract between 
 Samaria and the Euphrates at Thapsacus (lb. 
 XV. 16). It was only when the power that 
 claimed to be mistress of Western Asia was 
 exceptionally weak that such third-rate states 
 as Judaea and Samaria could presume to at- 
 tempt extensive conquests. 
 
 It is into the period which we are here con- 
 sidering that an event falls which constitutes 
 almost the only important historical ^he Assyrian 
 difficulty that now meets the in- ^X?^,;^^?* 
 quirer into the harmony between the *** ^"'• 
 sacred and the profane, the only dark place in 
 the narrative which recent discoveries might 
 have been expected to illumine, yet which they 
 have not illumined, but have left in all its 
 previous obscurity. This event is the inva- 
 sion of Samaria, about B. c. 760-750, by a 
 monarch who is called " Pul, king of Assyria " 
 (1 Kings XV. 19 ; 1 Chr. v. 26) ; who came up 
 against Is^^el in the reign of Menahem, and 
 forced that prince to acknowledge his suzer- 
 ainty, and to pay him a tribute of a thousand 
 talents. Of this ful the Assyrian records tell 
 
132 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 US nothing. On the contrary, they in a cer 
 tain sense exclude him, since in the lists of 
 Assyrian monarchs who reigned about this 
 period, — lists which profess to be, and ap- 
 parently are, complete, — there is no mention 
 of Pul, and no indication of any place at which 
 his reign can be inserted. It seems certain 
 that the later monarchs of Assyria, Sargon, 
 Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, Asshur-bani-pal, 
 did not acknowledge any monarch of the name 
 of Pul among their predecessors on the As- 
 syrian throne. 1 They filled that throne, at the 
 date assigned to Pul in Scripture, with a prince 
 whose name is completely different,^ and they 
 moreover made this prince a faineant^ who 
 scarcely ever led out his army beyond the fron- 
 tier, and eschewed all distant expeditions. . 
 
 In this silence of the Assyrian annals with 
 respect to Pul, we turn to the ancient historian 
 Pul mentioned ^^ Mcsopotauiia, Bcrosus, and we 
 ffis ^probable) ^^d that we have not turned to him 
 real position. '^^ vain. Bcrosus mentioned Pul, 
 and placed him exactly at this period ; but he 
 called him a " Chaldaean," and not an " Assyr- 
 ian " monarch.^ If this were the case, if Pul 
 
 1 The numerous copies of the Assyrian Canon all agree in the 
 order of the kings. None of them show any signs of a gap. 
 
 2 The name is commonly'read as " Asshui-lush," or "Asshur- 
 likkis." 
 
 8 Ap. Euseb. Chron. Can. i. 4. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 133 
 
 reigned at Babylon and not at Nineveh, the 
 Assyrian records might naturally enough be 
 silent about him. But why, it may be asked, 
 did the sacred writers not term him '•'• King 
 of Babylon," if this was his real position. It 
 would perhaps be enough to answer that the 
 Great Power of Western Asia, at any time 
 after the rise of tlie Assyrian Empire, was 
 reckoned by the Jews to have inherited that 
 empire, and was therefore called '^ King of 
 Assyria," as Nabopolassar is in 2 Kiugs xxiii. 
 29, and Darius Hystaspis in Ezra vi. 22. 
 But there was perhaps a further reason for the 
 title being used of Pul at this time. The 
 Assyrian annals show, from about B. c. 763, a 
 disintegration of the Assyrian dominion — a 
 breaking off of the provinces from the rule of 
 Nineveh, and a weakness on the part of the 
 Ninevite monarchs, which may well have al- 
 lowed of the western provinces passing under 
 the authority of an ambitious Babylonian 
 prince, who, being master of the portion of 
 Assyria nearest to them, would necessarily 
 appear to the Jews to be " King of Assyria." 
 This probably was the position of Pal. He 
 was a " Chaldaean," who, in the troublous 
 times that fell upon Assyria, about B. c. 763- 
 760, obtained the dominion over Western 
 Mesopotamia, and who, invading Syria from 
 
1S4 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 the quarter whence the Assyrian armies were 
 wont to come, and being at the head of As- 
 syrian troops, appeared to the Jews as much 
 an Assyrian monarch as the princes that held 
 their court at Nineveh. 
 
 With the reign of Tiglath-pileser in Assyria, 
 and those of Azariah and Ahaz in Judah, and 
 The Assyrian of Mcnahem and Pekah in Israel, 
 d^ntiy^thl"- points of contact between the As- 
 p^^^er?^'*'^" Syrian and the Hebrew records be- 
 Sl^^Tudl^h, come abundant. Tiglath-pileser 
 and Syria. felatcs that, about his fifth year 
 (b. C. 741), being engaged in wars in Southern 
 Syria, he met and defeated a vast army under 
 the command of Azariah, king of Judah, 
 the great monarch whose host is reckoned w 
 Chronicles at 307,500 men, and whose mil- 
 itary measures are described at considerable 
 length (2 Chr. xxvi. 6-15). Again, he re- 
 lates that from his twelfth to his fourteenth 
 year (b. c. 734-732) he carried on a war in 
 the same regions with the two kings, Pekah 
 of Samaria, and Rezin of Damascus, who were 
 confederate together, and that he besieged 
 Rezin in his capital for two years, at the end 
 of which time he captured him and put him 
 to death, while he punished Pekah, by mulct- 
 ing him of a large portion of his dominions, 
 and carrying off vast numbers of his subjects 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 135 
 
 into captivity.^ It is scarcely necessary to 
 point out how completely this account har- 
 monizes with the Scriptural narrative, accord- 
 ing to which Pekah and Rezin, having formed 
 an alliance against Ahaz, and having attacked 
 him, Ahaz called in the aid of Tiglath-pileser, 
 king of Assyria, who " hearkened to him, and 
 .... went up against Damascus, and took it, 
 and carried the people captive to Kir, and slew 
 Rezin " (2 Kings xvi. 9) ; and who likewise 
 punished Pekah by invading his territory and 
 carrying away the Heubenites, the Gadites, 
 and half the tribe of Manasseh (2 Kings xv. 
 29; 1 Chr. v. 6, 26), and settling them in 
 Gozan in the Khabour. Further, Tiglath- 
 pileser relates that before quitting Syria he 
 held his court at Damascus, and there received 
 submission and tribute from the neighboring 
 sovereigns, among whom he expressly men- 
 tions, not only Pekah of Samaria, but " Yahu- 
 Khazi (i, e. Ahaz), king of Judah." ^ This 
 passage of the Assyrian annals very remarka- 
 bly illustrates the account given in 2 Kings 
 xvi. 10-16, of the visit of Ahaz to Damascus 
 " to meet King Tiglath-pileser." 
 
 The annals of Tiglath-pileser contain also 
 some mention of the two Israelite monarchs, 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies^ vol. ii. pp. 131, 132. C^^mpare Lenor- 
 mant Manuel, torn. ii. p. 86. 
 
 2 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 133, 2d ed. 
 
136 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Menaliem and Hoshea. Menahem appears as 
 Slight chrono- tributary to Assyria in the early part 
 cuity. of Tiglath-pileser's reign (about 
 
 B. c. 743) ; and Hoshea makes submission to 
 the Assyrian monarch, probably in his last 
 year, B. c. 728.^ These Assyrian dates in- 
 volve a certain amount of chronological diffi- 
 culty when compared with the Hebrew ; but 
 the Hebrew dates of the time are evidently in 
 confusion, the original numbers, as given by 
 the sacred writers, having certainly been cor- 
 rupted in many instances. To produce a com- 
 plete accord between the two chronologies at 
 this point, we should have to give Pekah a 
 reign of ten, instead of twenty years. 
 
 Of Hoshea, the last Israelite king, there is 
 no further mention in the Assyrian annals. 
 shaimaneser's Slialmanescr, the Assyrian monarch, 
 noSbyMa^ ^^^^ ^'^^ engaged in hostilities with 
 nander. j^jyj^ ^qj. several ycars, has left no 
 
 records ; which may be accounted for by the 
 shortness of his reign, or by the fact that he 
 was succeeded by a usurper. The Assyrian 
 canon, however, agrees with Scripture in mak- 
 ing Shalmaneser king directly after Tiglath- 
 pileser ; and Menander of Ephesus spoke of 
 his warring in Southern Syria, where he said 
 that Tyre was besieged hj him for five years.^ 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. pp. 130, 133. 
 
 2 Menand. ap. Joseph. Ant. Jud. ix. 14. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 137 
 
 Hoshea's league with " So, king of Egypt " 
 (2 Kings xvii. 4), admits of some illustration 
 from the Egyptian records, since it « go, king of 
 is almost exactly at the time of Sed on the 
 Hoshea's reign that a change oc- aS/pS mon- 
 curs in the dynastic lists of Egypt, '^""'°*^' 
 which is accompanied by a recovery of yigor 
 on the part of that power and a resumption 
 of the old policy of aggression. Manetho's 
 twenty-fifth, or Ethiopian, dynasty appears to 
 have extended its influence into Lower Egypt 
 about B. c. 725,1 or a little later ; and the 
 " So " (^Seveh^ or Sava) of Kings may reason- 
 ably be identified with the first monarch of 
 this dynasty, the Sabaco of Manetho and He- 
 rodotus, and the Shebek I. of the hieroglyphi- 
 cal inscriptions. This prince, who contended 
 with S argon in Southern Palestine a little 
 later, 2 may well have attracted the regard of 
 Hoshea, when, about B. c. 724 or 723, he was 
 looking out for some powerful ally who might 
 help him to throw off the yoke of Assyria. 
 The league formed between the two neighbors 
 is natural, and has many analogies ; so too has 
 the Egyptian monarch's desertion of his pro- 
 tege in the hour of peril, a course of conduct 
 only too familiar to Egyptian princes. 
 
 1 Lenormant, Manuel, torn. i. p. 457. 
 
 2 Ancient Monaxchies, vol. ii. pp. 143-145. 
 
138 HISTORICAL ILLUSTHATIONS 
 
 The capture of Samaria, and the deportation 
 of its people by the Assyrians, which termi- 
 Thefaiiof sar natcd the reign of Hoshea, and at 
 hl^the ah^}t- the same time brought the kingdom 
 
 lan records. ^£ Jgj.3^g]^ ^q ^^ q^^^ jg noticcd in the 
 
 annals of Sargon,^ who was Shalmaneser's suc- 
 cessor, and assigned by him to his first year, 
 which was B. c. 722-721. Here, it will be 
 observed, there is an exact accord between the 
 Assyrian and the Hebrew dates, the Hebrew 
 chronology placing the fall of Samaria in the 
 135th year before the capture of Jerusalem by 
 Nebuchadnezzar, which was in the 18th year 
 of that king, or B. c. 586 (and B. c. 586+ 
 135 producing B. c. 721). Again, Sargon re- 
 lates that he carried away captive from Sa- 
 maria 27,280 persons ; and he subsequently 
 states that he transported numerous prisoners 
 from Babylonia to a place " in the land of the 
 Hittites," which is probably Samaria, though 
 the inscription is not at this point quite legible 
 (compare 2 Kings xvii. 24). It may be ob- 
 jected that, according to the narrative of 
 Kings, Shalmaneser, and not Sargon, appears 
 as the conqueror of Hoshea and captor of 
 
 1 Ancient Monnrcliies, vol. ii. p. 141. 
 
 * The "annals" meant above are the Assyrian inscriptions 
 which furnish this information. The principal monuments 
 which relate to Sargon are now in the Louvre at Paris. See 
 Prof. Rawlinson's article on Saugon, in Smith's Bibl. Diet 
 vol. iv. p. 2844, Amer. ed. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 139 
 
 Samaria (lb. 3-6) ; and undoubtedly this 
 is the impression produced on the ordinary- 
 reader ; but a careful examination of the text 
 of Kings removes this impression, and rather 
 produces a contrary one. For while in the 
 first passage where the capture is mentioned 
 (2 Kings xvii. 3-6), the name of Shalman- 
 eser occurs only in verse 3, and subsequently, 
 in verses 4, 5, and 6, the phrase used four times 
 is " the King of Assyria," who may at any 
 point in the narrative be a new monarch, in 
 the second passage (2 Kings xviii. 9-11) 
 there seems to be a distinct intimation that 
 Shalmaneser was not the actual captor, since 
 the phrase is changed, and while we are told 
 that " he (Shalmaneser) came up against Sa- 
 maria and besieged it " (xviii. 9), in the fol- 
 lowing verse the expression used is, " they 
 took ity Had the same monarch who began 
 the siege effected the capture, the writer 
 would naturally have said, " and at the end of 
 three years he took it." ^ 
 
 1 * Without separating the subject of the first verb so dis- 
 tinctly from that of the second verb, we may suppose that 
 Shalmaneser, though he did not himself capture Samaria, pre- 
 pared the way for it by his invasion of the land of Israel and 
 his seige of Samaria. The Hebrew writer (2 K. xviii. 10) may 
 have had in mind that cooperation and may have meant to 
 recognize it by passing thus abruptly from the singular to the 
 plural. Hence "they" in the A. V. (not expressed in the 
 Hebrew) would stand for Assyrians, and include Shalmaneser 
 among them. — H. 
 
140 HISTOKICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The discovery itself of S argon as a real 
 Assyrian king, the successor of Shahnaneser, 
 and the predecessor and father of Sennach- 
 sargon'8 rec- ©fib, is an important illustration of 
 isa^Tr^ 2 Scripture, since, until the name was 
 Kings xvu. 6. recovered from the Assyrian monu- 
 ments, there was no confirmation at all of 
 Isaiah's mention of Sargon, Elng of Assyria 
 (xx. 1), nor any means of determining the 
 place of this monarch in the Assyrian lists. 
 The passage of Isaiah stood by itself, the sole 
 evidence during five-and-twenty centuries of 
 there ever having been an Assyrian king of 
 the name ; and many critics and historians 
 were led in consequence to doubt his distinct 
 personality, and to identify him with Shalma- 
 neser, Sennacherib, or Esarhaddon.^ The 
 Assyrian discoveries have put an end to all 
 surmises of this character, and have given to 
 Sargon a definite position, a marked individu- 
 ality, and an important place in the sacred - 
 narrative. It appears to be Sargon who is 
 intended in 2 Kings xvii. 6, 24, and xviii. 11, 
 as well as in Isa. xx. 1, 4, and 6. Isaiah's 
 mention of his capturing Ashdod, and being 
 engaged in hostilities with the Egyptians and 
 the Ethiopians, is confirmed by the Assyrian 
 records,^ which also illustrate very remarkably 
 
 1 See Smith's Biblical Dictionary, ad voc. Sargon. 
 
 2 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. pp. 142-147, 2d edit. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 141 
 
 the statement, that, when he carried the Sa- 
 maritans into captivity, he placed some of 
 them ''in the cities of the Medes." For Sar- 
 gon relates that, having overrun a large por- 
 tion of Media, he seized a number of the 
 towns, and "annexed them to Assyria," 
 which, according to the system regularly fol- 
 lowed by him in his conquests,^ would involve 
 his occupying them with colonists from a dis- 
 tance. 
 
 The Hebrew records relate that Hezekiah, 
 the son of Ahaz, after having borne the As- 
 syrian yoke which his father had Sennacherib's 
 
 accepted, for a certain tmie, re- tion against 
 
 ITT . . , ' T r Mezekiah de- 
 
 volted, and trusting m the aid of scribed tuUy la 
 
 ITT 1 the annals of 
 
 Ji*gypt, like the Israelite monarch, Sennacherib. 
 Hoshea, resumed his independence. Thus 
 provoked, " Sennacherib," we are told, " King 
 of Assyria, came up against all the fenced 
 cities of Judah, and took them ; and Heze- 
 kiah, King of Judah, sent to the king of As- 
 syria to Lachish, saying, I have offended : 
 return from me : that which thou puttest 
 upon me I will bear : and the King of As- 
 syria appointed unto Hezekiah, King of Judah, 
 three hundred talents of silver and thirty 
 talents of gold" (2 Kings xviii. 13, 14).2 
 
 1- Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 152. 
 
 2 * For a pictorial delineation of this siege of Lachish, drawn 
 from Assyrian monuments, see Smith's Bibl. Dictionary, vol. ii- 
 p. 1579 f., Amer. ed. — IL 
 
142 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 The annals of Sennacherib, son and successor 
 of Sargon, contain a full account of this cam- 
 paign. " Because Hezekiah, King of Judah," 
 says Sennacherib, " would not submit to my 
 yoke, I came up against him, and by force of 
 arms and by the might of my power / took 
 forty-six of his stroyig fenced cities^ and of 
 the smaller towns which were scattered about 
 I took and plundered a countless number. 
 And from these places I captured and carried 
 off as spoil 200,150 people, old and young, 
 Baale and female, together with horses and 
 mares, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a 
 countless multitude. And Hezekiah himself 
 I shut up in Jerusalem, like a bird in a cage, 
 building towers round the city to hem him 
 in, and raising banks of earth against the 
 
 gates to prevent escape Then upon this 
 
 Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of 
 my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and 
 the elders of Jerusalem tvith thirty talents of 
 gold and eight hundred talents of silver, and 
 divers treasures, a rich and immense booty. 
 .... All these things were brought to me 
 at Nineveh, the seat of my government, Hez- 
 ekiah having sent them hy way of tribute^ 
 and as a token of submission to my power." ^ 
 The close agreement of these two accounts is 
 
 I Ancient Monarchies, vol. iil. pp. 160, 161. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 143 
 
 admitted on all hands, and is indeed so pal- 
 pable that it is needless to enlarge upon it 
 here. The Assyrian monarch, with pardonable 
 pride, brings out fully all the details at which 
 the Hebrew annalist, in his patriotic reticence, 
 only hints, — as the ravage far and w^ide of the 
 whole territory, the vast numbers of the cap- 
 tives and the spoil, the actual siege and 
 blockade of the capital, the alarm of the 
 Jewish monarch, and his eagerness to pro- 
 pitiate his offended lord, — but his main facts 
 are exactly those which the Jewish historian 
 puts on record, the only apparent discrepancy 
 being in the number of the talents of silver, 
 where he probably counts the whole of the 
 treasure carried off, while the Hebrew writer 
 intends to give the amount of the permanent 
 tribute which was agreed upon. It may be 
 added, that the details, which the author of 
 Kings suppresses, are abundantly noticed in 
 the writings of the contemporary prophet, 
 Isaiah, who describes the ravage of the terri- 
 tory (Isa. xxiv.), the siege of Jerusalem 
 (xxix. 1-8), and the distress and terror of the 
 inhabitants (xxii. 1-14), even more graphi- 
 cally and more fully than the historiographer 
 of Sennacherib.^ 
 
 1 Compare also 2 Chr. xxxii. 1-8, which gives very fully the 
 preparations for the defense of Jerusalem made by Hezekiah. 
 
144 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 On the second expedition of Sennacherib 
 into Syria, which terminated with the terrible 
 Silence of As- disastcr related in 2 Kings xix. 35,^ 
 
 svrian records , , i c * • •^ i 
 
 with respect to the annals 01 Assyria are silent. 
 pedition. Such silciice is in no way surpris- 
 
 ing. It has always been the practice in the 
 East to commemorate only the glories of the 
 monarch, and to ignore his defeats and re- 
 verses. ^ The Jewish records furnish a soli- 
 tary exception to this practice. In the entire 
 range of the Assyrian annals there is no case 
 where a monarch admits a disaster, or even 
 a check, to have happened to himself or his 
 generals ; and the only way in which we be- 
 come distinctly aware from the annals them- 
 selves that Assyrian history was not an un- 
 broken series of victories and conquests, is 
 from an occasional reference to a defeat or loss 
 as sustained by a former monarch. Other- 
 wise we have to gather the ill-success of the 
 Assyrian arms from silence, from apparent de- 
 
 1 * " The angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp 
 of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and 
 when they [the few left, among whom was the king], arose early 
 in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses." 
 
 It may have been a pestilential blast under the image of a 
 destroying angel, that occasioned this mortality, or it may have 
 been the result of an angel's more direct unseen agency (Ps. 
 xxxvii. 49; 2 Sam. xxiv. 16). See Dean Stanley's note. Hist. 
 of the Jeivish CInirch, vol. ii. p. 530, and Prof. Eawlinson's 
 Herod, ii. 141.— H. 
 
 2 * See Note on p. 119 of the "Illustrations." — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 145 
 
 pression, from the discontinuance of expedi- 
 tions toward this or that quarter. In the 
 present case there is such a discontinuance. 
 Sennacherib during his hiter years made no 
 expedition further westward than Cilicia ; nor 
 were the Assyrian designs against Southern 
 Syria and Egypt resumed till toward the 
 close of the reign of Esarhaddon. 
 
 But besides this tacit confirmation of the 
 Scriptural narrative, profane history furnishes 
 us with an important explicit tes- Great destruc- 
 timony. The Egyptian priests de- nacherib's ar- 
 clared to Herodotus, out of their by Herodotus. 
 records, that, about a century and a half before 
 the conquest of their country by Cambyses, 
 an invasion of it had been attempted by Sen- 
 nacherib, King of the Assyrians and Arabians, 
 who marched a vast host to the border of the 
 Egyptian territory, where he was met by the 
 Egyptians under their king, Sethos. The 
 two hosts faced each other near Pelusium, on 
 the most eastern branch of the Nile. Here, 
 as they lay encamped, army over against 
 army, there came, they said, in the night a 
 multitude of field-mice, which devoured all the 
 quivers and bowstrings of the Assyrians, and 
 ate the thongs by which they managed their 
 shields. Next morning, as soon as they dis- 
 covered what had happened, they commenced 
 
146 fflSTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 their flight, and great multitudes of them fell, 
 as they had no arms wherewith to defend 
 themselves. In commemoration of the event, 
 S ethos, they added, the Egyptian king, erected 
 a monument of himself, which they showed to 
 the Greek traveller. It was a stone statue 
 of a man with a mouse in his hand, and bore 
 an inscription, " Look on me, and learn to 
 reverence the gods." ^ We have here evi- 
 dently an allegorized version of that terrible 
 calamity which overtook the host of Sennach- 
 erib in the nighty and which was followed in the 
 morning by the hasty flight of the survivors. 
 The particular form of the allegory was de- 
 termined by the character of the work of art, 
 which had been erected to celebrate the occa- 
 sion, where the mouse in the hand was prob- 
 ably a mere symbol of ruin and destruction.^ 
 
 The murder of Sennacherib by two of his 
 sons, though not distinctly related in the As- 
 MurderofSen- svrian rccords, is illustrated bv the 
 
 nacherib illus- ^ . . -, . . . . ^ 
 
 trated. couditiou wliercin Assyria is found 
 
 at the commencement of the reign of Esarhad- 
 don. This monarch's inscriptions show that 
 soon after his accession he was engaged for 
 some months in a war with his half-brothers,^ 
 
 1 Herod, ii. 141. 
 
 2 Compare 1 Sam. vi. 4, 5. 
 
 8 See Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 186. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 147 
 
 who would naturally, after murdering their 
 father, endeavor to seat themselves upon his 
 throne. The Greek historian, Abydenus, al- 
 ludes to the same struggle ; ^ and the Arme- 
 nian records declared that the two assassins, 
 having made their escape from the scene of 
 conflict, obtained a refuge in Armenia, where 
 the reigning monarch gave them lands, which 
 long continued in the possession of their pos- 
 terity.2 
 
 The history of Hezekiah, as related in the 
 Second Book of Kings, introduces to our no- 
 tice, besides Sennacherib and Esar- iiezekiah's 
 
 « 1 1 , ,1 1 p contempora- 
 
 haddon, two other monarchs, ot ries, Tirhakah 
 
 , T ... f, andMerodach- 
 
 whom we have mention m proiane Baiadan 
 records. These are " Tirhakah, frommouu- 
 King of Ethiopia " (2 Kings xix. peXd. 
 9), and " Merodach-Baladan, King of Baby- 
 lon" (lb. XX. 12, 13; comp. 2 Chr. xxxii. 
 31). Tirhakah, King of Ethiopia, is undoubt- 
 edly the Tehrak of the Egyptian monuments,^ 
 who reigned over Egypt from B. c. 690 to 
 B. C. 667, and who may have been monarch 
 of Ethiopia for about ten years before he took 
 the title of King of Egypt. He is the third 
 king of Manetho's twenty-fifth or Ethiopian 
 
 1 Ap. Euseb. Chron. Can. i. 9. 
 
 2 Mos. Choren. Hist. Arm. i. 22. 
 
 8 See Biblical Bictionanj , ad voc. Tirhakah. 
 
148 HISTOEICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 dynasty ; and his relations toward Egypt 
 would make it natural for him to bestir him- 
 self, when that country was threatened by the 
 advance of Sennacherib's army, and to assume 
 the character of its protector. Merodach- 
 Baladan appears in the Assyrian inscriptions,^ 
 and also in the famous document known as 
 " the Canon of Ptolemy." He had two reigns 
 at Babylon, separated from each other by an 
 interval. Being an enemy of Assyria, and at 
 war successively with both Sargon and Sen- 
 nacherib, he would be attracted toward Heze- 
 kiah, who had thrown off the Assyrian yoke, 
 and would be glad to conclude with him an 
 alliance. Hence, probably, his embassy, 
 which, if it was in B. c. 713, as the Hebrew 
 numbers make it, belonged to his first reign, 
 when he was contemporary with Sargon, and 
 occupied the Babylonian throne from B. C. 
 721 to 709. His second reign fell in B. c. 703. 
 Of Manasseh's capture and imprisonment 
 at Babylon by a king of Assyria, who, as con- 
 Manasseh's temporary with Hezekiah's son and 
 yTon ^cords succcssor, should bc Esarhaddou, 
 doSI^s reX^*^* the son and successor of Hezekiah's 
 dence there, autagouist, Scnnaclierib, it cannot 
 be said that we have any direct profane notice. 
 We find, however, by the Assyi-ian records, 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, voL iii. pp. 40, 41. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 149 
 
 that Manasseh was reckoned by Esarhaddon 
 among his tributaries ; ^ and we have a curious 
 ilhistration of what is at first sight most sur- 
 prising in the sacred narrative, namely, the 
 statement that " the captains of the host of the 
 King of Assyria," when they took Manasseh 
 prisoner, carried him with them, not to Nine- 
 veh, but to Babylon (2 Chr. xxxiii. 11). 
 It appears by the inscriptions, that Esarhad- 
 don not only, like his grandfather, Sargon, 
 took the title of King of Babylon, but that he 
 actually built himself a palace there ,2 in which 
 he must undoubtedly have occasionally resided. 
 Thus there is nothing strange in an important 
 prisoner being brought to him at the southern 
 capital, though such a thing could scarcely have 
 happened to any other Ass^^rian sovereign.^ 
 
 The cessation of all mention of Assyria in 
 the Jewish records after the reign of Manas- 
 seh, and the new attitude taken by josiah's great- 
 Josiah (about B. c. 634-625), who Sy°with"the 
 claimed and exercised a sovereignty JnS^fin 0?"°^ 
 not only over Judaea, but over ^^^^>"*- 
 Samaria and Galilee (2 Chr. xxxiv. 6), ac- 
 cords well with what we learn from profane 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 200, note 8. 
 
 2 Ibid. p. 196. 
 
 3 * This is the only narrow margin in the history where the 
 incident could be inserted with any appearance of truth. On 
 this coincidence, see more fully BiU. Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 
 1774, Amer. ed. — H. 
 
150 HIST0J5ICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 history as to Assyria's decline and final ruin. 
 From about the year B. c. 633 we begin to 
 find Assyria showing symptoms of weakness. 
 In that year, according to Herodotus, Nineveh 
 was attacked by the Medes.^ Soon afterwards 
 an immense horde of savage invaders from the 
 North seems to have swept across the whole 
 of Western Asia, carrying ruin and desolation 
 over vast regions, and probably afflicting As- 
 syria as much as any other power.^ About 
 the same time Egypt shook off the Assyrian 
 yoke, and Psamatik I. began aggressions upon 
 Southern Syria. A king who in his old age 
 had become feeble, held the Assyrian sceptre, 
 and the Medes were allowed to increase in 
 strength without an effort being made to keep 
 them in check. At last, about B. c. 626, 
 Nineveh was again besieged by this enemy, 
 who being joined by the Babylonians and Su- 
 sianians, in a short time gained a complete 
 success. Assyria fell B. c. 625 or 624 ; Nin- 
 eveh was razed to the ground ; and the Medes 
 and Babylonians divided the empire between 
 them. It was easy for Josiah during this 
 troublous time to free his country from sub- 
 jection to a hated yoke, and to effect an en- 
 
 1 Herod, i. 102. According to this writer, the last year of 
 Phraortes preceded by seventj'-five j'ears the first of Cyrus, 
 B. C. 558. 
 
 2 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. pp. 221-228. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 151 
 
 largement of his dominions at the expense of 
 his less powerful neighbors, who could obtain 
 no help from their nominal suzerain. 
 
 The war of Josiah with Necho, King of 
 Egypt, and the precedings of that monarch 
 in Syria and Palestine, between j^^^^,^ g ,,. 
 the years B. c. 610 and B. c. 604, Jan conq„ t^ 
 
 •/ and their loss 
 
 receive important illustration from confiruied by 
 
 ^ Herodotus and 
 
 the histories of Herodotus and Be- Berosus. 
 rosus. Herodotus relates that Necho " made 
 war by land upon the Syrians, and defeated 
 them in a pitched battle at Magdolus ; " ^ while 
 Berosus declares that toward the close of the 
 reign of Nabopolassar, or shortly before B. c. 
 605, troubles broke out in the West,; Egypt, 
 Syria, and Phoenicia rose in revolt ; and Nabo- 
 polassar was forced to send his son Nebuchad- 
 nezzar into those parts to put down the insur- 
 rection and recover the countries.^ The Jewish 
 narrative connects and harmonizes these two 
 accounts. It shows us Necho as the first dis- 
 turber of the tranquillity that prevailed, and 
 indicates to us a design on his part to add to 
 his dominions all Syria as far as Carchemish 
 on the Euphrates (2 Chr. xxxv. 20) ; it tells 
 us of the opposition offered to this design 
 by Josiah, and his defeat in a pitched battle 
 at Megiddo (lb. 22-24), the Magdolus of 
 
 1 Herod, ii. 159. 2 Ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 19. 
 
i52 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 the Greek writer — it intimates that after 
 this Necho carried out his plans successfully, 
 and for a time ruled over all S^^ria (2 Kings 
 xxiv. 7) ; it then records the advance of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, his defeat of Necho (Jer. 
 xlvi. 2), and his recovery of the entire region 
 lying between the Euphrates and the " river 
 of Egypt." Necho after this, it tells us, 
 " came not again any more out of his land ; " 
 the yoke of Babylon being henceforth, as 
 Berosus also stated, firmly fixed on the west- 
 ern countries. 
 
 Of the closing scenes in the history of the 
 kingdom of Judah, the repeated revolts of 
 Nebuchadnez- tlic Jcwlsh uionarclis, their re- 
 
 zar's conquest . . . 
 
 of Jerusalem UCWCd UCgOtiatlOUS With Egypt, 
 
 Berosus. their deposition by their offended 
 
 lord, their captivities, and the final punishment 
 of the rebellious race by the destruction of its 
 city and temple, and the deportation of the 
 great mass of the people to Babylon, we 
 could only expect to have detailed confirma- 
 tion if we possessed the annals of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. Unfortunately, no such document 
 has hitherto been recovered. We know, how- 
 ever, that the history of Berosus, which was 
 based upon native records, stated that " Neb- 
 uchadnezzar, having conquered the Jews, 
 burnt the Temple at Jerusalem, and remov- 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 153 
 
 ing the entire people from their homes, trans- 
 ported them to Babylon ; " ^ and we have no 
 reason to doubt that, as the main facts are 
 thus confirmed, so would be the details, if the 
 full history of the time had come down to us. 
 Where history affords the means of testing 
 the details, they are correct. The name of 
 the Egyptian monarch on whom Zedekiah 
 relied is given, in Jer. xliv. 30, as " Hophra," ^ 
 correctly ; for in B. c. 588-586 Apries, or 
 Haifra-het^ ruled over Egypt.^ And the 
 length of Nebuchadnezzar's reign and the 
 name of his successor are delivered with the 
 same accuracy by the writer of Kings (2 
 Kings XXV. 27), whose '' Evil-merodach " is 
 clearly the Eveilmaraduchus of the native his- 
 torian,* and whose calculation of the length of 
 Jehoiachin's captivity (lb.) compared with 
 his statement that that monarch was made 
 prisoner in Nebuchadnezzar's eightli year (lb. 
 xxiv. 12), produces for the length of Nebuch- 
 adnezzar's reign the exact period of forty- 
 three years, which is assigned him both by 
 Berosus ^ and by the Canon of Ptolemy. 
 
 1 Ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 19. 
 
 '^ * In the English version it is "Pharaoh-Hophra,'' i. e. King 
 Hophra; for Pharaoh was not a personal name among the Egyp- 
 tians, but one of the royal dynastic titles, like Ptolemy, Seleiicid, 
 Caesar. Sec also 2. K. xxiii. 29, 33, etc. Compare note on p. 37 
 — H. 
 
 8 Wilkinson in Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. ii. pp. 210, 323, 
 
 * Ap. Joseph, c. Aji. i. 21. 5 Ibid. 1. s. c. 
 
154 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Such are the most remarkable of the direct 
 historical illustrations which profane sources 
 Wide extent fumish f or tlic pcriod of Jewish 
 uon^aM*'^ history between Rehoboam and 
 tiritpTrent"^ Zcdckiah. They include notices of 
 discrepancies. ^Imost cvcry forcigu mouarch men- 
 tioned in the course of the narrative — of 
 Shishak, Zerah, Benhadad, Hazael, Mesha, 
 Rezin, Pul, Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, So, 
 Sargon, Sennacherib, Tirhakah, Merodach- 
 Baladan, Esarhaddon, Necho, Nebuchadnez- 
 zar, Evil-merodach, and Apries, — and of the 
 Jewish or Israehte kings, Omri, Ahab, Jehu, 
 Ahaziah, Menahem, Pekah, Ahaz, Hoshea, 
 Hezekiah, and Manasseh. All these monarchs 
 occur in profane history in the order, and at 
 or near the time which the sacred narrative 
 assigns to them. The synchronisms, which 
 that narrative supplies, are borne out wherever 
 there is any further evidence on the subject. 
 The general condition of the powers which 
 come into contact with tiie Jews is rightly de- 
 scribed ; and the fluctuations which they ex- 
 perience, their alternations of glory and depres- 
 sion, are correctly given. No discrepancy 
 occurs between the sacred and the profane 
 throughout the entire period, excepting here 
 and there a chronological one. And these 
 chronological discrepancies are in no case seri- 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 156 
 
 ous. Sennaclierib's first expedition against 
 Hezekiah should, according to the Assyrian 
 records, have fallen about thirteen years later 
 than the Hebrew numbers place it ; and Men- 
 ahem's reign in Samaria should have come 
 down about ten years further. The time of 
 Hazael, Jehu, and Ahab, appears by the Assyr- 
 ian records to have been about forty years later 
 than it is placed by the books of Kings, accord- 
 ing to the numbers assigned to the reigns of the 
 Jewish monarchs, or twenty years later than 
 the same authority places it, according to the 
 numbers assigned to the reigns of the kings of 
 Israel. But the Assyrian chronology of this 
 earlier period, it is to be remembered, has 
 come down to us, not on contemporary monu- 
 ments, but on documents drawn up at a compar- 
 atively late date, by the princes of the dynasty 
 of Sargon. Some slight difiiculties also occur in 
 adjusting the Egyptian chronology to that of 
 the Hebrews. Tirhakah comes upon the scene 
 seven or eight years earlier, and So (or Shebek) 
 about ten years earlier than we should have 
 expected from our Egyptian authorities. But 
 these authorities do not appear to deserve im- 
 plicit credence, and may well be in error to 
 the extent required by the sacred narrative. 
 So much corruption has taken place in the 
 numbers of all ancient works, that exact chro- 
 
156 HISTOPJCAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 nology with respect to events in the remote 
 past is unattainable. Tlie judicious student 
 of Ancient History must be content for the 
 most part with approximate dates, and will 
 rely far more upon well-attested synchronisms 
 than upon schemes which have a mere nu- 
 merical basis. 
 
 The later narrative of the books of Chroni- 
 cles and Kings may further receive a certain 
 Further iiius- auiouut of illustratiou of an indi- 
 the*^lli;co^d of rect character, from a consideration 
 profane'^hir-'*^ of tlic incidental notices which are 
 Knnera^' droppcd with respect to the man- 
 aud customs. ^^^^ ^^^^ customs of the foreign 
 nations, with which the Jews are in this part 
 of their history represented as . coming into 
 contact. Though the sacred narrative is far 
 from giving us in this place such a complete 
 portraiture of the Assyrians or Babylonians as 
 it furnishes in the Pentateuch of the Egyp- 
 tians, yet, if we add to the picture drawn in 
 Chronicles and Kings the further touches fur- 
 nished by the contemporary prophets, espe- 
 cially Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we shall 
 find that we possess, altogether, a description 
 of these peoples, which is capable of comparison 
 with the account of them that has reached us 
 from profane sources. And this comparison, 
 thoucrh it cannot be carried to the extent which 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 157 
 
 was found possible in the case of Egypt,i will 
 be found to embrace so many and such minute 
 points as to constitute it an important head of 
 evidence, and one perhaps to many minds 
 more convincing than the direct illustrations 
 adduced hitherto. 
 
 The Assyrians are represented as a warlike 
 people, the conquerors of many kings and na- 
 tions (2 Kings Xix. 11-13), possess- portrait drawn 
 
 ing numerous chariots (lb. 23) and rajfiTn^scrip- 
 horsemen (2 Kings xviii. 23 ; Is. *"'^' 
 xxii. 7) ; terrible as archers (2 Kings xix. 32 ; 
 Is. V. 28) ; accustomed to besiege cities by 
 means of banks and forts (lb. and Is. xxix. 3) 
 as well as to " come before them with shields " 
 (2 Kings xix. 32) ; merciless when victorious ; 
 accustomed to break down and destroy the 
 towns of the enemy (Is. xxxvii. 26), and to 
 carry their inhabitants away captive (2 Kings 
 XV. 29 ; xvii. 6, etc.), young and old, often 
 " naked and barefoot " (Is. xx. 4), replacing 
 them by colonists from a distance (2 Kings 
 xvii. 24 ; Ezr. iv. 2) . The Assyrian govern- 
 ment is represented as an empire over numer- 
 ous tributary kings (Is. x. 8 ; 2 Kings xvi. 7 ; 
 xix. 13, etc.). The monarch stands out prom- 
 inently at its head. He is " the great King, 
 even the King of Assyria " (2 Kings xviii. 
 
 1 See above, pp. 41-55, and 73-81. 
 
158 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 28), lord and master of all, even the most ex- 
 ,alted of his subjects (lb. 27), far removed 
 above any rival. Next to him in apparent 
 rank is the Tartan, who commands his armies 
 in his absence (Is. xx. 1 ; comp. 2 Kings xviii. 
 17), after whom come the Rabsaris, and the 
 Rabshakeh, who, by their names, should be 
 " the chief eunuch," and " the chief cup- 
 bearer," grand officers who represent their 
 master in embassies (2 Kings 1. s. c). The 
 King of Assyria usually makes war in person, 
 marching out from Nineveh at the head of 
 armies, which appear not to exceed about 
 200,000 men (2 Kings xix. 35). He fights, 
 not merely for the sake of empire, with its 
 concomitants of homage and tribute (2 Kings 
 xvii. 4 ; xviii. 14), bvit also in order to possess 
 himself of the valuable commodities peculiar 
 to the conquered countries. For example, he 
 covets Syria, especially in order that he " may 
 go up to the height of the mountains, to the 
 sides of Lebanon, and cut down the tall cedars 
 thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof " (2 
 Kings xix. 23 ; comp. Is. xiv. 8). He impris- 
 ons the monarchs who offend him (2 Kings 
 xvii. 4), and makes them languish long in a 
 wearisome confinement (2 Chr. xxxiii. 11, 
 12 ; Is. xiv. 17), but occasionally has pity 
 upon them and restores them to their long- 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 159 
 
 lost thrones (2 Chr. xxxiii. 13). There is 
 one peculiarly barbarous custom, which he 
 sanctions, with respect to these unfortunates. 
 When they have rebelled and been captured, 
 they are brought before him with a hook or 
 ring passed through their lip or their jaw, and 
 a thong or cord attached to it, by which their 
 captor leads them.^ 
 
 Again, the magnificence and luxury of the 
 Assyrians is noted. They are '' clothed with 
 blue " (Ezek. xxiii. 6), " most gorgeously " 
 (lb. 12) ; they deal '•'• in broidered work and 
 in chests of rich apparel " (lb. xxvii. 24) ; 
 their merchants are " multiplied above the 
 stars of heaven " (Nah. iii. 16); Nineveh is 
 full of the spoil of silver and the spoil of gold ; 
 there is none end of the store and glory out of 
 all of the pleasant furniture " (lb. ii. 9). The 
 people combine a degree of civilization and 
 luxury scarcely reached elsewhere, with a 
 sternness, a fierceness, and a military spirit 
 seldom found among Orientals, after habits of 
 primitive savagery have been cast aside. 
 
 1 This is the real meaning of the passage incorrectly rendered 
 in the Authorized Version (2 Chr. xxxiii. 11), ''which [the 
 Assyrians] took INIanasseh among the thorns " [where *' took 
 Manasseh with the hooks " (see also Am. iv. 2), is the correct 
 rendering]. The practice is also glanced at in 2 Kings xix. 
 28, as one that the Jews in their day of success might employ 
 against the Assyrians. A bas-relief discovered at Khorsabad 
 illustrates this practice. See Bibl. Diet. vol. ii. p. 1086, 
 Amer. ed. 
 
160 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The picture thus presented to us is in strik- • 
 ing accord with the character of the Assyrians, 
 Agreement of of their mouarchj, of their mode 
 f'ththTll of warfare, of their favorite habits 
 tureTand iu- ^ud practiccs, as they may be gath- 
 Bcriptions. g^g^ ^^^^^^ ^l^g sculptured monu- 
 ments and inscriptions. These exhibit to us 
 the Assyrian people as, from first to last, a 
 warrior nation, delighting in battle even while 
 well acquainted with all the softer arts of 
 peace, and engaged in a constant series of 
 aggressions upon their neighbors. They show 
 us the army divided into distinct corps, of 
 which the most important are the chariots, 
 and the horsemen.^ Swords and spears are 
 used by the warriors ; but the weapon on 
 which most dependence is placed, is the bow.^ 
 The siege of cities is a favorite subject of 
 representation with the artists, who exhibit 
 the " mounds," or " banks," piled against the 
 walls, and further portray the movable 
 " forts " or " towers," which elevate the be- 
 siegers to a level with the battlements of the 
 fortified place, and enable them to engage its 
 defenders on an equal footing.^ At the same 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, voL i. p. 422. 
 
 2 Ibid. pp. 421, 424, etc. 
 
 8 Lavard, Monuments of Ninex'eh, First Series, pi. 19. 
 * See the plate, which represents such a scene, in Smith's Bibl. 
 Diet. vol. ii. p. 1579, Amer. ed. It depicts the siege of 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 161 
 
 time we see bodies of archers, with their 
 shields planted firmly before them, who thus 
 protected drive the enemy from the walls 
 with flights of arrows.^ Towns when taken 
 are ruthlessly demolished, the ramparts and 
 towers being broken down, or the entire place 
 destroyed by fire.^ The inhabitants are car- 
 ried off in vast numbers, without distinction 
 of age or sex ; men, women, and children 
 being alike barefoot, and the children not un- 
 frequently naked.^ Transplantation of the 
 conquered races appears in the inscriptions as 
 a system ; and it is a feature of the system to 
 remove to vast distances.* Captive kings are 
 imprisoned, commonly at Nineveh ; ^ occasion- 
 ally, after a term of imprisonment, they are 
 pardoned and restored to their thrones.^ The 
 barbarous custom of passing a hook or ring 
 
 Lachish by Sennacherib (2 Chr. xxxii. 9 ; 2 K. xviii. 17), as 
 sculptured on slabs found in one of the chambers of the palace 
 of Koyunjik. For a remarkable inscription relating to Hez- 
 ekiah and the Jews on one of the Babylonian cylinders, see 
 Bibl. Diet. vol. ii. p. 1061, Amer. ed. ; and Prof. Rawlinson, 
 Bampton Lectures for 1859, p. 316 ff., Amer. ed. Dean Mil- 
 man calls attention to this coincidence as very remarkable 
 {History of the Jews, vol. i. p. 427, Amer. ed.). — H. 
 
 1 Layard, Monuments of Nineveh, Second Series, pis. 18, 20, 
 iind 21. 
 
 2 Ancient Monarchies, vol. i. p. 474. 
 
 3 See Layard, Monuments of Nineveh, Second Series, pis. 18, 
 19, 22, 23, etc. 
 
 4 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 152. 
 
 » Ibid. pp. 159, 173, 202, etc. 6 Ibid. p. 202. 
 
 11 
 
162 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 through the lip of an important prisoner, and 
 leading him about by a thong attached to it, 
 is exhibited in the sculptures, where captives 
 thus treated are brought into the king's pres- 
 ence by their captors. ^ 
 
 Again, the Assyrian government is proved 
 to have been such as represented in Scripture. 
 The empire is a congeries of kingdoms, its 
 different portions being for the most part 
 ruled by the native princes of the several 
 countries, who render to their suzerain tribute 
 and service, but are allowed to govern their 
 respective territories without any control or 
 interference.^ The monarch is supreme, irre- 
 sistible, set on an unapproachable height above 
 his subjects, — a sort of god upon earth. 
 Next to him in rank stands the " Tartan," or 
 commander-in-chief, who leads out his armies 
 when he is sick or otherwise indisposed, and 
 whose acts are frequently confounded with 
 those of his master.^ Not much below the 
 Tartan is the " Chief Eunuch," who has a 
 right of near approach to his master's person, 
 introduces strangers to him, and attends to 
 his comforts.* The " Chief Cupbearer " does 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, vol. i. pp. 243, 244, and 292. 
 
 2 Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 235, 236. 
 
 8 The Tartan occurs next to the monarchs in the lists of 
 Eponyms. For the confusion between his acts and those of 
 the king, see Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 101, note 3. 
 
 4 Ancient Monarchies, vol. i. pp. 498, 502. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 163 
 
 not make his appearance on the sculptures, 
 which nowhere represent the king at a ban- 
 quet ; but the general character of the Assyr- 
 ian court would lead us to expect such an 
 officer. It is the ordinary practice of the 
 king to engage in war year after year ; and 
 the expeditions which he undertakes he usu- 
 ally conducts in person. The monarchs whom 
 he chastises or subdues, he requires to fall 
 down before his footstool and do him service ; 
 while at the same time he lays upon them 
 some permanent burden in the shape of a 
 fixed tribute. He is, further, in the habit of 
 cutting timber in the forests belonging to the 
 conquered nations, and transporting it to As- 
 syria, to be used in the construction of his 
 palaces.^ The armies which he leads out 
 seem rarely much to exceed 200,000 men.^ 
 
 The magnificence of the Assyrians is very 
 apparent in the sculptures and the other 
 remains. The remains comprise terra-cotta 
 and alabaster vases of elegant forms, gold 
 earrings, glass bottles, carved ornaments in 
 ivory and mother-of-pearl, engraved gems, 
 bells,, beautiful bronze dishes elaborately 
 ornamented mth embossed work, statuettes, 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, vol. i. pp. 474, 475; and vol. ii. p 
 237, note 10. 
 
 2 Ibid. vol. li. p. 236, note 7 
 
164 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 enameled bricks, necklaces, combs, mirrors, 
 etc. ; ^ while the sculptures represent to us 
 embroidered garments of the richest kind,^ 
 splendid head-dresses, armlets and bracelets, 
 metal goblets in excellent taste, elegant fur- 
 niture, elaborate horse-trappings, dagger han- 
 dles exquisitely chased, parasols, fans, musical 
 instruments of ten or twelve different sorts, 
 hanging gardens, paradises, pleasure-boats, 
 and numerous other indications of advanced 
 civilization, refinement, and luxury.^ It is con- 
 cluded with justice from them, that, towards 
 the close of their empire, the Assyrians were 
 in all the arts and appliances of life very 
 nearly on a par with ourselves. 
 
 A simikir comparison might be made be- 
 tween what we learn from Kings and Chroni- 
 cles of the kingdom and people of Babylon, 
 and that picture of them which may be gath- 
 ered from profane sources. But as Babylon 
 was the scene of the Captivity, which will 
 form the main subject of the next chapter, 
 
 1 See Mr. Layard's Nineveh and Babylon, chaps, viii. and 
 XXV. especially. 
 
 2 * It was such a " Babylonish garment " (lit. "garment of 
 Shinar " or Babylonia), that Achan took among the spoils of the 
 Canaanites, and attempted to conceal (Josh. vii. 21). The 
 Babylonian tablet and the Hebrew scroll (so wide apart from 
 each other in time, place, and mode of testimony) agree to- 
 gether here in a remarkable manner. — H. 
 
 8 Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. pp. 365-400, and 484-590. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 165 
 
 and as the most complete account wMcli Scrip- 
 ture gives of it is contained in the pages of 
 Daniel, the consideration of whose " book " 
 we are now about to enter upon, the exhibi- 
 tion of such agreement as exists in this matter 
 will be reserved for a later portion of this 
 volume. 
 
166 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 The book of Daniel is almost as much his- 
 torical as prophetical. In the Hebrew Canon 
 Historical char- its placc is bctwccn Esthcr and 
 
 acter of the ■"• 
 
 book of Daniel. Ezra, two books, both of which 
 are histories. One entire half of it (chaps, i.- 
 vi.) is a narrative of events, and is as capa- 
 ble of receiving historical illustration as any- 
 other portion of the Sacred Volume. Daniel, 
 moreover, supplies a gap in the Biblical his- 
 tory, which is not otherwise filled up by any- 
 sacred writer. He is the historian of the 
 ■Captivity, the writer who alone furnishes 
 any- series of events for that dark and dis- 
 mal period, during which the harp of Israel 
 hung silently on the trees that grew by the 
 Euphrates. His narrative may be said, in a 
 general way, to intervene between Kings and 
 Chronicles, on the one hand, and Ezra on the 
 other, or (more strictly) to fill out the sketch 
 which the author of Chronicles gives in a 
 single verse of his last chapter, " And them 
 that had escaped from the sword carried he " 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 167 
 
 (i, e, Nebuchadnezzar) " away to Babylon, 
 where they were servants to him and his sons 
 until the reign of the kingdom of Persia " 
 (2 Chr. xxxyi. 20). We learn from Daniel 
 particulars of this servitude. 
 
 The main events related in Daniel are the 
 long and glorious reign of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 the great king of Babylon, who chief events 
 both commenced and completed the ^i**^*^'^ i° ^*- 
 captivity of the Jews ; his elevation of Dan- 
 iel to a position of high authority in his king- 
 dom ; his treatment of the " Three Children," 
 Ananias, Azarias, and Misael ; his dreams, his 
 terrible illness, and recovery ; the impiety and 
 punishment of Belshazzar ; the capture of 
 Babylon ; the accession of " Darius the 
 Mede," and his treatment of Daniel ; and 
 the accession, a year or two later, of " Cyrus 
 the Persian." These events, it will be ob- 
 served, are partly of a public, partly of a 
 private character. The names and reigns of 
 kings, their acts and fate, the order of their 
 succession and general character of their gov- 
 ernment, the transfer of empire from one race 
 or nation to another, and the like, are of the 
 former kind ; the particular treatment of indi- 
 viduals among their subjects is of the latter. 
 It is, of course, only of the former class of 
 facts that we can expect illustrations from pro- 
 
168 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 fane history ; and to them, accordingly, the in- 
 quiry will be confined in the following pages. 
 Daniel opens with some chronological state- 
 ments which, at first sight, seems self-contra- 
 chronoiogicai dictory. Hc relates that, in a cer- 
 ?hf ealirchip- tain year of the reign of Jehoiakim, 
 ^^is^-J^rof^^ Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
 Berosus. ij^eut up to Jcrusalcm, and besieged 
 it (i. 1) ; that, the siege being successful, he 
 carried off from the city certain captives, 
 among whom was Daniel, and delivered him 
 into the care of his chief eunuch, with an 
 injunction that he should educate him for 
 three years^ and then bring him into his pres- 
 ence (i. 3-6) ; that this was done, and the 
 captives were admitted among the " wise 
 men " (i. 18-20) ; and that after this, in the 
 second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, 
 they were brought into danger by a decree 
 which commanded that the wise men should 
 be put to death (ii. 1-13). We are enabled 
 to reconcile these statements by finding in 
 Berosus ^ that the first expedition of Nebuch- 
 adnezzar against Syria, and the commence- 
 ment of the Jewish captivity, took place 
 towards the close of the reign of Nabopolassar, 
 Nebuchadnezzar's father, in B. c. 605, or pos- 
 sibly in B. c. 606 ; between which time and 
 
 i Ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 19. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 169 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar's second year, B. c. 603, 
 there would be room for the three years' in- 
 struction spoken of ; more especially as " three 
 years," according to the Hebrew usage, means 
 no more than one whole year and parts, how- 
 ever small, of two other years. Thus, if 
 Daniel were taken to Babylon in the autumn 
 of B. c. 605, and placed at once under the 
 chief eunuch, he might have been presented 
 to Nebuchadnezzar as educated early in B. c. 
 603, and before the close of that year have 
 run the risk of destruction, and escaped from 
 it. Nebuchadnezzar's second year would not 
 be out till the Thoth of B. c. 602, according 
 to Babylonian modes of reckoning. The only 
 difficulty that remains, if it be a difficulty, is 
 that Nebuchadnezzar is called " King of Bab- 
 ylon " in Dan. i. 1, when he was merely crown 
 prince and commander-in-chief on behalf of 
 his father. But this is a prolepsis common to 
 most writers of history .^ 
 
 The fact of the Jewish Captivity commen- 
 cing as early as B. c. 605, which is involved in 
 
 1 See Dr. Pusey's Lectures on Daniel, p. 400 (3d ed.)« Dr. 
 Pusey well remarks : '* We should naturally say, ' Queen 
 Victoria was carefully educated by her mother,' or 'the Em- 
 peror Napoleon passed some years of his life in England; ' al- 
 though the education of our Queen was concluded before her 
 accession to the throne, and the Emperor's residence here was 
 before his accession, and while he was in exile." 
 
170 HISTORICAL ILLUSTKATIONS 
 
 what has here been said, and is important 
 other coafir- in connection with the number of 
 
 mations of the t /--t ... 
 
 narrative from years that the CaptiYitv IS declared 
 
 the same pas- *^ i • r» 
 
 sage. to have lasted, receives confirma- 
 
 tion from the same passage of Berosus, who 
 distinctly states that Nebuchadnezzar not only 
 at this time " reduced Syria," but also " car- 
 ried Jewish captives into Babylonia, and 
 planted colonies of them in various suitable 
 places." ^ Berosus also relates that he 
 " adorned magnificently the temple of Bel 
 from the spoils taken in this war," — a re- 
 mark which accords well with Daniel's state- 
 ment, that '' the Lord gave into his hand .... 
 part of the vessels of the house of God, which 
 he carried into the land of Shinar to the house 
 of his god ; and he brought the vessels into the 
 treasure-house of his god " (verse 2). 
 
 The extent, glory, and splendor of Nebuch- 
 adnezzar's kingdom are strongly stated by 
 General char- Daniel in liis sccoud, third, and 
 buchaduez*-" fourth cliaptcrs. Nebuchadnezzar 
 fn dose°fg^re"' is '' a king of kings " (ii. 37) ; 
 Sne'hTstorr° ^^^ has glvcu him *' a kingdom, 
 BabSan re- powcr, strength, and glory " (lb.) ; 
 mams. j^^ j^^^ undcr him "princes, gov- 
 
 ernors, and captains, judges, treasurers, coun- 
 cilors, sheriffs, and rulers of provinces " (iii. 
 
 I Berosus, 1. s. c. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 171 
 
 2); he has "grown, and become strong' 
 (iv. 22) ; his " greatness is grown, and reach- 
 eth unto heaven, and his dominion to the end 
 of the earth " (lb.). Walking in the palace 
 of the kingdom of Babylon, he exclaims, 
 " Is not this great Babylon, which I have built 
 for the house of the kingdom by the might of 
 my power, and for the honor of my majesty ? " 
 (iv. 30). In all this we may seem at first 
 sight to have the language of Oriental hyper- 
 bole. But profane writers, and the remains 
 in the country itself, agree in testifying to the 
 almost literal truth and correctness of the en- 
 tire portrait. " Nebuchadnezzar," says Aby- 
 denus,^ " having ascended the throne, fortified 
 Babylon with a triple enceinte, which he com- 
 pleted in fifteen days. He made likewise the 
 Armacales (^Nahr malcha^ or ' Royal river '), 
 a branch stream from the Euphrates ; and he 
 excavated above the city of Sippara (Sephar- 
 vaim) a great reservoir, forty farsakhs in cir- 
 cumference and twenty fathoms deep, and 
 arranged flood-gates so that by opening them 
 it was possible to irrigate the entire plain. 
 Moveover, he built quays along the shore of 
 the Red Sea, to check the force of the waves, 
 and founded there the city of Teredon, to 
 
 1 Ap. Euseb. PrcBp. Ev. ix. 41. Compare Euseb. Chron. 
 Can. i. 10. 
 
172 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 repress tlie inroads of the Arabs. And he 
 adorned his palace with trees and shrubs, con- 
 structing what are called ' the Hanging Gar 
 dens,' which the Greeks reckon among the 
 
 Seven Wonders of the World He was 
 
 more valiant than Hercules ; he led expedi- 
 tions into Africa and Iberia, and, having re- 
 duced the inhabitants, transported some of 
 them to the eastern shores of the Euxine." 
 •' He adorned," says Berosus,^ '' the temple 
 of Belus, and the other temples, with the 
 spoils which he had taken in war ; and having 
 strongly fortified the city, and beautified the 
 gates exceedingly, he added to his ancestral 
 palace a second palace in the immediate neigh- 
 borhood, very lofty and costly — 'twere te- 
 dious, perchance, to describe it at length, 
 wherefore I say no more than this, that, vast 
 as was its size and magnificent as was its char- 
 acter, the whole was begun and finished in 
 fifteen days. And he upreared in this palace, 
 a stone erection of great height, to which he 
 gave an appearance as nearly as possible like 
 that of mountains, and planted it with trees 
 of various kinds, thus forming the far-famed 
 Hanging Garden." Modern research has 
 shown that Nebucliadnezzar was the greatest 
 monarch that Babylon, or perhaps the East 
 
 1 Ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 20. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 173 
 
 generally, ever produced. He must have pos- 
 sessed an enormous command of human labor. 
 Nine-tenths of Babylon itself, and nineteen- 
 twentieths of all the other ruins that in al- 
 most countless profusion cover the land, are 
 composed of bricks stamped with his name. 
 He appears to have built or restored almost 
 every city and temple in the whole country. ^ 
 His inscriptions give an elaborate account of 
 the immense works which he constructed in 
 and about Babylon itself, abundantly illus- 
 trating the boast, " Is not this Great Baby- 
 lon, which I have built ? " His wealth and the 
 magnificence of his court, seem to have been 
 on a par with the number and size of his 
 buildings. A lavish use of the precious met- 
 als characterized his architecture. ^ His pal- 
 ace, called " The Wonder of Mankind," was 
 " with many chambers and lofty towers ; " 
 its pillars and beams were " plated with cop- 
 per ; " " silver and gold, and precious stones 
 whose names were almost unknown," were 
 stored up inside in a treasure-house, as well 
 as many other valuable objects which cannot 
 be distinctly identified.^ 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii. pp. 56, 57. 
 
 2 Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 546-548. 
 
 3 Standard Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar (given in Ancient 
 Monarchies, vol. iii. pp. 77-79). 
 
 * For a description of the " hanging gardens " of this mon* 
 
174 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 There are two or three points iii the his- 
 tor}^ of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, as delivered 
 Supposed to us by Daniel, to which rationalis- 
 accuracies" tic writcrs have objected as " incor- 
 1. "Satraps" rect Statements," and which they 
 
 of Nebuchad- , -, -, i *• . i i 
 
 nezzar. have regarded as marks oi the work 
 
 having been composed long after the events 
 whereof it treats.^ One of these is the men- 
 tion by Daniel of " satraps " among the great 
 oJB&cers of Nebuchadnezzar (iii. 2, 3, 27), 
 which is regarded as erroneous, since satraps 
 were a Persian institution, and the regular 
 satrapial system dated from Darius Hystaspis. 
 Now here it may be granted that the term 
 which Daniel uses, a Hebrew word corre- 
 sponding as nearly as possible to the Persian 
 khshatrapa, " satrap," is not likely to have 
 been employed by the Babylonians under Ne- 
 buchadnezzar. But it can scarcely be sup- 
 posed to be improbable that the Babylo- 
 nians employed provincial governors,^ at any 
 rate to some extent ; and this is what the , 
 
 arch, see Smith's Bibl. Diet. vol. iii. p. 2087, Amer. ed. The 
 object of it was to give him an arbor high enough in the air 
 to protect him against the mosquitos. — H. 
 
 1 Von Lengerke, Bas Buck Daniel, Einleitung, § 13, p. Ixiii, ; 
 De Wette, Einleitung in das alt. Test. § 255, a [and later ed. 
 (1869), De Wette-Schrader, § 314, p. 494]. 
 
 2 Gedaliah is such a governor in Judasa (2 Kings xxv. 22); 
 and Berosus speaks of a ''governor of Syria" under Nabopo- 
 lassar. He even calls this governor a ''satrap" (ap. Joseph, 
 c. Ap. i. 19). 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 175 
 
 word " satrap " means, and wliat it was calcu- 
 lated to suggest to a Jewish reader or hearer. 
 Daniel, writing under Cyrus, when the word 
 had become familiar to the Jews,^ uses it in 
 lieu of some Babylonian term of correspond- 
 ing signification, placing it at the head of a 
 somewhat barbarous list, to indicate clearly 
 and at once to his readers the general charac- 
 ter of the many obscure terms by which it is 
 followed. 
 
 The representation made in Daniel of the 
 four classes of " wise men " at Babylon (ii. 2 ; 
 V. 11), has been taxed with error on ^ classes oi 
 the wholly irrelevant ground that " ^'^^ ™®"-" 
 Porphyry, and after him Eusebius, divide the 
 Magi into three classes only. As there is 
 every reason to believe that the " wise men " 
 of Babylon were wholly and entirely distinct 
 from the Magi of the Medes and later Per- 
 sians, the argument adduced is absolutely 
 without value. 
 
 But, it has been urged,'-^ at any rate it is 
 inconceivable, that the " wise men,'* being 
 a hereditary caste, and having a 3. Daniel's ad- 
 
 ,-, 1 , , 111 mission among 
 
 priestly character, should have con- them and ap- 
 
 , -, , . T^ • 1 IT* pointment to 
 
 sented to receive Daniel and his be their head. 
 
 1 Cyrus is said by Xenophon to have appointed satraps over 
 most parts of his empire ( Cyrop. viii. 6, § 7). Herodotus makes 
 him leave a satrap in Lydia (i. 153). According to Nicolas of 
 Damascus, Cambyses, the father of Cyrus, was '* satrap of Per- 
 sia," under the Medes (Fr. 6G). 2 De Wette, 1. s. e 
 
176 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 companions among them. Still more incon- 
 ceivable is it that they should have allowed 
 him to be placed over them (Dan. ii. 48). 
 And, further, it is scarcely compatible with 
 Daniel's character for piety that he should 
 have been willing to be enrolled among such 
 a class, much less have consented to take 
 them under his protection. Objections of this 
 kind proceed mainly from a misconception of 
 the true position and character of the Babylo- 
 nian " wise men." It is clear from the pro- 
 fane accounts of them which have come down 
 to us, that they were more a learned than a 
 priestly caste, " corresponding rather to the 
 graduates of a university than the clergy of an 
 establishment." ^ The enrollment of a Jewish 
 prince (Dan. i. 3) among them is no more 
 strange than the matriculation of an Egyp- 
 tian prince at Oxford ; nor would Daniel more 
 compromise his principles by a study of their 
 learning than a Mohammedan or a Hindoo 
 does his by attendance on the lectures of our 
 professors. Daniel's elevation to the position of 
 their chief may with more reason be adduced 
 as a difficulty ; but it must be remembered 
 that in an Oriental despotism the monarch 
 disposes, absolutely at his pleasure, of all dig- 
 nities, and that no " consent " on the part of 
 any of his subjects is deemed necessary. 
 
 1 Bampton Lectures by Rawlinson, for 1859 (Enff. ed.), p. Ifi3- 
 
OF THE OLD lESTAMENT. 177 
 
 The strange malady which afflicted Nebuch- 
 adnezzar for the space of seven years (Dan. 
 iv. 32), 1 has been thought to receive Mysterious 
 illustration from an inscription, in jJebudiidnez- 
 which occur a number of negative ^""protaae *' 
 clauses, apparently indicating a sus- '^^"'^^^s- 
 pension for a certain period of the monarch's 
 great works. ^ But the inscription is too much 
 mutilated for the sense of it to be clearly as- 
 certained ; and an explanation of its meaning 
 has been given, which prevents it from having 
 any bearing of the kind originally suspected. 
 No stress, therefore, can be laid upon this doc- 
 ment ; but still profane history is not without 
 some trace of the extraordinary occurrence. 
 Historians of Babylon place at about the pe- 
 riod whereto it belongs the reign of a queen to 
 whom are ascribed works which others declare 
 to be Nebuchadnezzar's.^ It seems not un- 
 
 1 * "He was driven from man, and did eat grass as oxen, and 
 his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his. hairs were 
 grown like eaglets feather^, and his nails like bird's claws''^ 
 (Dan. iv. 33). The malady is one not unknown to physicians, 
 and is called ' Lycanthropy. ' The victim thinks himself a 
 beast and not a man, walks on all fours, ceases to speak, and 
 rejects all ordinary food. The queen, no doubt, exercised the 
 royal power during this incapacitation of the monarch. We 
 are to think of him during this time, not as roaming at large, 
 but confined in the gardens of the palace. See Rawlinson's 
 Monarchies of the Ancient World, p. 503 (Lond. 1865) H. 
 
 2 Bampton Lectures, by Rawlinson, for 1859, p. 166. 
 
 8 Herod, i. 185. Compare Abyden. ap. Euseb. Chron. Can, 
 i. 10. 
 
 12 
 
178 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 likely that during the malady of her husband, 
 the favorite wife of Nebuchadnezzar may 
 have been practically at the head of affairs, 
 and in that case, works constructed at this 
 time may have gone indifferently by her name 
 or by his. Again, there was a remarkable 
 statement in the work of the great Babylonian 
 historian, that Nebuchadnezzar " fell into a 
 state of infirm health " some time before his 
 decease : ^ and this statement was enlarged 
 upon by another ancient writer, who thus re- 
 lated the seizure, last words, and death of the 
 monarch : ^ — 
 
 " After this, the Chaldeans say, that Nebuchad- 
 nezzar, having mounted to the roof of his palace, 
 was seized with a divine afflatus, and broke into 
 speech as follows : ^ I, Nebuchadnezzar, foretell to 
 you, O Babylonians, the calamity which is about to 
 fall upon you, which Bel, my forefather, and Queen 
 Beltis are alike unable to persuade the fates to 
 avert. A Persian mule will come, assisted by your 
 gods, and will bring slavery upon you, with his ac- 
 complice, a Mede, the pride of the Assyrians. 
 Would that, ere he lay this yoke upon my country- 
 men, some whirlpool or flood might engulf him, and 
 make him wholly disappear ! Or would that, pur- 
 suing another course, he were borne through the 
 wilderness, where is neither city nor track of man, 
 
 1 Beros. ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 20. 
 
 2 Abyd. ap. Euseb. Prcep. Ev. ix. 41. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 179 
 
 but wild beasts have their pasture in it, and birds 
 haunt it, that there he might wander among the 
 rocks and torrent-beds alone ! And would that T, 
 ere these thoughts entered my mind, had closed my 
 life more happily ! ' Thus having prophesied, he 
 suddenly disappeared from sight." 
 
 This passage is very remarkable as combin- 
 ing the fact of a seizure with the locality of 
 the palace roof (perhaps implied in Dan. iv. 
 29), with a disappearance from the face of 
 men, and with the exertion of a prophetic 
 power (not claimed for any other Babylonian 
 monarch), such as we find to have been actually 
 accorded to Nebuchadnezzar, according to the 
 narrative of Daniel (chaps, ii. and iv.). The 
 terms of the prophecy are also very remarka- 
 ble, as containing a covert allusion to the fate 
 of Nebuchadnezzar himself, and as furnishing 
 almost the only notice in the whole range of 
 profane history which throws light upon the 
 position assigned by Daniel to " Darius the 
 Mede." 
 
 From the narrative of events belonging to 
 the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, our author makes 
 a sudden transition to the fatal Difflcuitiea 
 night when the Babylonian king- with the name 
 doni came to an end, being absorbed Beishazzar. 
 into the Medo-Persian. As he is primarily a 
 prophet, and only secondarily a historian, he 
 
180 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 is in no way bound to make his narrative con- 
 tinuous ; and thus he does not relate the death 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, nor the accession of his 
 son, nor the troubles that followed thereupon, 
 but, omitting a period of some five-and-twenty 
 years, proceeds at once from Nebuchadnezzar's 
 recovery of his senses to the closing scene of 
 Babylonian history, the feast of Belshazzar, 
 and the Persian capture of Babylon. Until 
 a few years since, this portion of his narrative 
 presented difficulties to the historical inquirer 
 which seemed quite insoluble. Profane histo- 
 rians of unimpeachable character^ related that 
 the capture of Babylon by the Medo-Persians 
 took place in the reign of a Babylonian king, 
 called Nabonnedus (or Labynetus), not of one 
 called Belshazzar ; they said that this Nabon- 
 nedus was not of the royal stock of Nebuchad- 
 nezzar,2 ^q which, according to Daniel (v. 11), 
 Belshazzar belonged ; they stated, moreover, 
 that he was absent from Babylon at the time 
 of its capture ; ^ and that, instead of being 
 slain in the sack of the town, as Belshazzar 
 was (Dan. v. 30), he was made prisoner and 
 kindly treated by the conqueror.* Thus the 
 
 1 Berosus, Abydenus, and Herodotus. 
 
 2 Abyden. ap. Euseb. Prap. Ev. ix. 41; Beros. ap. Joseph. 
 C. Ap. i. 21. 
 
 3 Beros. 1. s. c. 
 
 ■* Ibid. Compare Abyden. 1. s. c. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 181 
 
 profane and the sacred narrative seemed to be 
 contradictory at all points ; and Rationalists 
 were never tired of urging that here at least 
 the narrative of Scripture was plainly unhis- 
 toric and untrustworthy. 
 
 A very simple discovery, made a few years 
 ago in Lower Babylon, has explained in the 
 most satisfactory way all these ap- Thesedifficui- 
 parent contradictions. Nabonnedus, by\''™nt^ 
 the last native king of Babylon, discovery. 
 according to Berosus, Herodotus, and Ptolemy, 
 states that his eldest son bore the name of 
 Bel-shar-ezer, and speaks of him in a way 
 which shows that he had associated him in 
 the government.^ Hence we learn that there 
 were two kings of Babylon at the time of the 
 last siege, Nabonnedus (or Labynetus), the 
 father, and Belsharezer (or Belshazzar), the 
 son. The latter was intrusted with the com- 
 mand within the city, while the former occu- 
 pied a stronghold in the neighborhood; the 
 latter alone perished, the former escaped. It 
 is the former only of whom trustworthy his- 
 torians relate that he was not of the royal 
 stock ; the latter may have been, if his father 
 took the ordinary precaution of marrying into 
 the deposed house. The fact that the Bab- 
 
 1 On the discovery of the cylinder containing this notice, see 
 Athenceum of March 1854, p. 341. 
 
182 HISTOEIGAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 ylonian throne was at this time occupied con- 
 jointly by two monarchs is indicated in the 
 sacred narrative by a curious casual touch. 
 Belshazzar, anxious to obtain the interpreta- 
 tion of the miraculous " handwriting upon the 
 wall," proclaims that whoever reads it shall 
 be made " the third ruler in the kingdom " 
 (Dan. V. 7). In every other similar case,^ the 
 reward is the elevation of the individual, who 
 does the service, to the second place in the 
 kingdom, the place next to the king. The 
 only reason that can be assigned for the vari- 
 ation in this instance is, that the first and 
 second places were both filled, and that there- 
 fore the highest assignable reward was the 
 third place. 
 
 With Daniel's graphic description of the 
 condition of things inside Babylon on the night 
 Daniel's ac- ^^ ^^® capturc, wc have no profane 
 caprurfof*"^ account that we can compare. . The 
 fimied^b/pro- accounts of the capture which have 
 fane history, readied us come from Persian 
 sources, and describe mainly what went on 
 outside the city. There are, however, some 
 striking points of coincidence between the 
 sacred and profane narratives. In both it is 
 evident that the assault was wholly unexpected, 
 — that the capture came on the inhabitants 
 
 1 Compare Gen. xli. 40-45 ; Esther x. 3 ; Dan. ii. 48, 49. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 183 
 
 as a complete surprise. In both it is noted 
 that at the time of the capture a grand festi- 
 val was in progress.^ In both finally, it ap- 
 pears that the time chosen for the assault was 
 the night.2 Profane writers assign a sufficient 
 reason for this choice, since the stratagem by 
 which the town was entered required darkness 
 to secure its success.^ 
 
 In the closing words of Daniel's fifth chap- 
 ter, and in the narrative which follows in the 
 sixth, a real difficulty meets us. Difficulty con- 
 
 ' *' nected with 
 
 '^Darius the Mede " is a personage ^usthe^ '^*' 
 of whom profane history is still ig- Me^e." 
 
 1 Dan. V. 1. Compare Herod, i. 191; Xen. Cyrop, vii. 5, 
 §15. 
 
 2 Xen. Cyrop. vii. 5, §§ 15-33. 
 
 3 Both Herodotus and Xenoplion make Cyrus enter the town 
 by the bed of the Euphrates, after drawing off the water from 
 it artificially. If the sinking of the water had been seen, the 
 river gates would have been shut. 
 
 * Daniel's singular abruptness and brevity (Dan. v. 30) cer- 
 tainly indicate that he consciously suppresses much more than 
 he says: " In that night (of carousal) was Beishazzar slain." 
 We are not told who slew him, or why it was by night, or what 
 made the victory so sudden and complete. This brevity indi- 
 cates a latent history for us, with which Daniel and his contem- 
 poraries must have been well acquainted. The draining of the 
 Euphrates and the sudden irruption of the Persians and the imbe- 
 cility of the drunken revelers are assumed as well known at 
 that time, but must be learnt by us from other sources. Prof. 
 Kawlinson has given us a remarkably vivid picture of the cap- 
 ture of Babylon by Cyrus, and the attendant circumstances in 
 his Monarchies of the Ancient Easteim World, vol. iii. pp. 516- 
 518. I have inserted the passage in Smith's Bibl. Diet. vol. i 
 p. 220, Amer. ed. — H. 
 
184 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 norant ; and the ascription to liim by Daniel 
 of royal rank (vi. 6, etc.), is curious and sur- 
 prising. There cannot be a doubt that the 
 real king of Babylon, from the moment of 
 its capture, was Cyrus the Persian, who is 
 made the immediate successor of Nabonne- 
 dus (Labynetus) by Herodotus, Berosus, and 
 Ptolemy.^ Darius the Mede can, therefore, 
 have been no more than a viceroy or deputy- 
 king, a ruler set up by Cyrus, when he had 
 effected the conquest. And thus much is 
 really indicated in the Hebrew text, where 
 the expressions translated " Darius the Median 
 took the kingdom " (v. 31), and " which was 
 made king over the realm of the Chaldaeans " 
 (ix. 1), signify that the person mentioned was 
 set upon his throne by another .^ It was, how- 
 ever, certainly not the general habit of the 
 Persians to appoint viceroys over provinces ; 
 their practice was to appoint " governors " or 
 ' satraps ; " and though satraps were practi- 
 cally a sort of petty kings, yet they had not the 
 title ; and it is not likely that a mere ordinary 
 satrap would have been spoken of as Darius 
 the Mede is spoken of by Daniel.^ We have, 
 
 1 Herod, i. 188-201; Beros. ap. Joseph, c. Ap. i. 21; PtoL 
 Mag. Synt. 
 
 2 Prof. Rawlinson's Bampton Lectures for 1859, Appendix, 
 p. 445 [and p. 357, Amer. ed.] ; Pusey's Lectures on Daniel^ p 
 397. 
 
 3 See particularly Dan. vi. 28. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 185 
 
 then, to ask if ^^rofane history suggests any 
 explanation of the anomaly, that the individ- 
 ual appointed by Cyrus to govern Babylonia, 
 though the Babylonians knew that he was a 
 mere satrap, and therefore did not enter his 
 name on their royal lists, seemed to the Jews 
 who lived under him an actual monarch. 
 
 Now here the passage of Abydenus, above 
 quoted,^ is of importance. Abydenus makes 
 Nebuchadnezzar prophesy that Bab- Possible soiu- 
 
 T , , , , J 1 1 i *>o» of the dif- 
 
 ylon should be taken by two per- ficuity. 
 sons — a Persian and a Mede — in combina- 
 tion (compare Dan. v. 28). And he apphes 
 to the Mede a remarkable epithet, " the pride 
 of the Assyrians." A Mede^ who was the 
 pride of the Assyrians^ must almost necessa- 
 rily have been a prince who had ruled over 
 those two nations. Such a prince had been 
 made prisoner by Cyrus, some twenty years 
 before his capture of Babylon ; ^ and it is in 
 accordance with what is elsewhere related 
 of him that he should have advanced this 
 monarch, if he was still alive, to the post of 
 Babylonian satrap.^ In this case, the Oriental 
 respect for regal rank would have been likely 
 to show itself in the assignment of the royal 
 
 1 Supra, pp. 168, 169. 2 Herod, i. 129. 
 
 8 See what is related of his treatment of Nabonnedus by 
 Berosus (ap. Joseph, c. Ap. 1. 21). 
 
186 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 title to one who had formerly been a great 
 monarch. Thus the hypothesis that " Darius 
 the Mede " is the Astyages of Herodotus and 
 Ctesias, which has been maintained by many 
 critics,^ solves the chief difficulties of Daniel's 
 narrative,^ while it harmonizes with the ex- 
 pression in Abydenus. 
 
 To this it may be added, that profane his- 
 tory speaks distinctly of a King Darius, more 
 Profane testi- aucicnt than the son of Hystaspes,^ 
 
 mony to an - , t i 
 
 early Darius, a mouarcli who, accorclmg to some, 
 was the first to introduce into Western Asia 
 the silver coin known as the daric, which took 
 its name from him. This Darius may have 
 been " Darius Medus," since we have nowhere 
 any account of any other Darius " more an- 
 cient than the son of Hystaspes." 
 
 In the short narrative which belongs in 
 Daniel to the reign of this Median prince, 
 Daniel's nar- while tlicro are a certain number 
 ^entVunder ^f poiuts whcrcou profauc history 
 ?iHd"acco^rds which is scauty with respect to tha 
 ^^nntlTf^ internal organization of a Persian 
 JJ-actiS^nd province, sheds no light, there occur 
 Ideas. several which harmonize completely 
 
 with what we know of Medo-Persian ideas 
 
 1 As Syncellus, Jackson, Marsham, and Winer. 
 
 2 See Bampton Lectures, by Prof. Rawlinson, fa: 1859, Ap- 
 pendix, p. 445 [and p. 357, Amer. ed.]. 
 
 3 Harpocration, ad voc. AapeiKos. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 18T 
 
 and practices from profane sources. For in- 
 stance, the predominant legal idea in the ac- 
 count given of Daniel's exposure to the lions 
 is the irrevocability of a royal edict, — the 
 settled law among the Medes and Persians, 
 " that no decree nor statute which the king 
 establisheth may be changed " (Dan. vi. 15). 
 Now, in this two principles are involved : 
 one, the existence of a settled law, or rule, by 
 which the king himself, theoretically at any 
 rate, is bound, and which he cannot alter ; 
 the other, the inclusion under this law, or 
 rule, of the irrevocability of a royal decree or 
 promise. Both of these principles are recog- 
 nized as Medo-Persic by profane writers. We 
 are told that Cambyses, one of the most des- 
 potic of the Persian monarchs, when he wished 
 to contract an incestuous marriage, applied to 
 the crown lawyers to know if they could find 
 a law to justify him in indulging his inclina- 
 tion. ^ And we find Xerxes, the son of Darius 
 Hystaspis, brought into almost exactly the 
 same dilemma as " Darius the Mede," bound 
 by having passed his word and anxious to re- 
 tract it, but unable to do so on account of the 
 law, and therefore compelled to allow the per- 
 petration of cruelties whereof he entirely dis- 
 approved.2 Again, it accords with Medo- 
 
 1 Herod, iii. 31. 2 ibid. ix. 109-111. 
 
188 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Persic ideas that the mode of capital punish- 
 ment in Babylonia, which, under the native 
 monarchs, had been burning in a furnace 
 (Dan. iii. 6), should under the new regime 
 have been changed to an exposure to wild 
 beasts ; since the religious notions of the 
 Medo-Persians forbade the pollution of fire 
 by contact with a corpse,^ while they allowed 
 and approved the devouring of human bodies 
 by animals.2 Thirdly, the inclusion of the 
 guiltless wives and children of criminals in 
 their punishment, which is seen to have been 
 the established practice under Darius the 
 Mede, by Dan. vi. 24, appears frequently in 
 Persian history as part of the ordinary admin- 
 istration of the criminal law under the Achae- 
 menian kings.^ Even such a little point as 
 the habit of a Median monarch to have music 
 played to him at his nightly meal, which is 
 implied in Dan. vi. JL8, is capable of illustra- 
 tion from the profane accounts that have come 
 down to us of the manners of the Median 
 court.* The tone, moreover, of the decree, 
 ascribed to Darius, in Dan. vi. 26, 27, is com- 
 
 1 Herod, iii. 16 ; Nic. Damasc. Fr. 68. 
 
 2 Zendavesta, Farg. v. to Farg. viii. ; Herod, i. 140 ; Strab. 
 XV. 3, § 20. 
 
 3 Herod, iii. 119; Ctes. Exc. Pers. § 56; Plutarch, Vit. 
 Artax. c. 2. 
 
 4 See Ancient Monarchies, vol. ii. p. 423. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 189 
 
 pletely harmonious with Medo-Persic ideas, its 
 basis being the identification of the Jehovah 
 of the Jews with the Zoroastrian Ormazd, 
 the one supreme' God of the Medo-Persic 
 people. 
 
 There is, further, a noticeable harmony be- 
 tween profane chronology and that account of 
 the lapse of time which may be Harmony be- 
 gathered from the book of Daniel, notes of time 
 The book itself is remarkably de- chrouo°iot7. 
 void of formal chronological statements, all 
 the notes of time which occur in it being 
 incidental, and, so to speak, casual. We 
 find, however, from the first chapter (ver. 
 1), that the Captivity commenced in the 
 *' third year of king Jehoiakim ; " and we 
 gather from ch. ix. 2-19, that in the first 
 year of Darius the Mede the seventy years 
 which the Captivity was to last, according to 
 Jeremiah (xxv. 11, 12), had nearly, but not 
 quite run out. Now it appears from the 
 Second Book of Kings (xxiii. 36 ; xxiv. 12), 
 that Jehoiakim's third year preceded by a 
 single year the accession of Nebuchadnezzar ; 
 and from that time to the capture of Babylon 
 by Cyrus, on which followed Darius the 
 Mede's reign, was a period (according to 
 Berosus and Ptolemy i) of sixty-seven years. 
 
 1 See the " Canon " of Ptolemy ; and compare Beros. ap. 
 Joseph, c. Ap. i. 21. 
 
190 HISTOEICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 It would thus be in the sixty-eighth year of 
 the Captivity that Daniel, having " under- 
 stood by books the number of the years 
 whereof the word of the Lord came to Jere- 
 miah the prophet," sought unto the Lord 
 " with fasting and sackcloth and ashes," and 
 besought Him to " turn away his fury and 
 anger from Jerusalem " (Dan. ix. 16), and 
 " cause his face to shine upon his sanctuary " 
 (lb. 17), and " do and defer not" (lb. 19). 
 Such a near .approach of the termination of 
 the prophetical period is exactly what the 
 preface to Daniel's prayer (verse 2), and the 
 intensity of the prayer suggest, or (perhaps it 
 may be said) imply 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 191 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 EZEA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 
 
 In Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, we have 
 the history of the Jews for the space of a little 
 more than a century after their character of 
 
 , ^ . . „ the history in 
 
 return from the Captivity, — from these books. 
 
 ^ ^ ' Points in them 
 
 about B. c. 538 to 434. The posi- whichadmitof 
 
 , . . , profane lUus- 
 
 tion of the people is entirely new. tration. 
 No longer independent, no longer ruled by 
 their native kings they form an integral por- 
 tion of the great Persian Empire, the em- 
 pire founded by Cyrus, and established by his 
 successors over the whole of the vast tract 
 lying between the river Sutlej and the African 
 desert. Judaea is a sort of sub-satrapy of 
 Syria, ruled, indeed, by its own special gov- 
 ernor, but more or less under the supervision 
 of the Syrian satrap, or " governor of the 
 tract across the river " (Ezra v. 3). Its civil 
 history, so far as it can be said to have one, 
 consists in the treatment of its people by the 
 several monarchs who occupy the Persian 
 throne, and in the contentions which it carries 
 on with neighboring tribes, who exhibit to- 
 
192 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 wards it a marked hostility. There is not 
 much in the narrative that is of a nature to 
 receive illustration from profane sources. The 
 position of the people is too humble, their 
 proceedings are of two little importance, 
 to attract the attention of the historical in- 
 quirer, or to be regarded as deserving of rec- 
 ord by the historiographer. The points of 
 contact with profane history are almost limited 
 to two, — the succession and character of the 
 Persian kings, and the organization of their 
 court and kingdom. 
 
 The succession of the Persian kings is given 
 in Ezra as follows ; Cyrus, Ahasuerus, Ar- 
 succession of taxcrxcs, Darius, Artaxerxes ^ ; but 
 wn^*SS^tiy ^^ ^^ ^^^ apparent whether this 
 given. succession is strictly continuous, or 
 
 whether there are any omissions in it. Pro- 
 fane authorities tell us that the actual kings in 
 their complete order were, Cyrus, Cambyses, 
 Smerdis, Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes, etc. It 
 is evident, on a comparison of these two lists, 
 that that in Ezra is defective by the omission 
 of Xerxes ; but that otherwise it corresponds 
 to the list of profane historians, with the ex- 
 ception that two of the monarchs — the second 
 and the third — are called by other names. 
 That royal personages among the Persians 
 
 1 See Ezra ch. iv. 5, 6, 7, 24 ; and ch. vii. 1. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 193 
 
 had sometimes more names than one appears 
 sufficiently from statements in the Greek his- 
 torians. The Smerdis of Herodotus is the 
 Tanyoxarces of Ctesias. Darius 11. was, 
 before his accession to the throne, called 
 Ochus.^ The original name of Artaxerxes 
 Mnemon was Arsaces.^ It would seem that 
 Cambyses must have been known to some of 
 his subjects as Ahasuerus ( = Xerxes), and 
 Smerdis as Artaxerxes, though we have no 
 other evidence of the fact than that which 
 Ezra furnishes. With regard to the omission 
 of Xerxes from the list in Ezra, it results from 
 the occurrence (which is very evident) of a 
 gap between the first and the second part of 
 the work, no events being related between the 
 passover in the sixth year of Darius (B. c. 
 515), and the journey of Ezra from Babylon 
 to Jerusalem, in the seventh year of Artax- 
 erxes (b. c. 458). The omission of Xerxes 
 by Ezra is, happily, compensated for by the 
 narrative of Esther, which belongs wholly to 
 his reign, and which, having its scene laid at 
 Susa, is very much fuller of details with 
 respect to Persian manners than the other 
 books belonging to this period. 
 
 The character of Cyrus, and his actions, as 
 
 1 Ctesias, Excerpt. Persic. § 49. 
 
 2 Ibid. § 57 ; Plutarch, Vit. Artaxerx. § 2. 
 
 n 
 
194 HISTOKICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 indicated by Ezra (and by Daniel), are in 
 Character and remarkable agreement with the 
 
 actions of Cy- .. i • i j« i • • 
 
 rus agree with notices wDich we possess 01 mm m 
 JJun^tTof him. profane authors. Of all the Per- 
 sian monarchs, he was the one most distin- 
 guished for mildness and clemency ; ^ the one 
 to whom the sufferings of a captive nation, 
 torn violently from its home and subjected to 
 seventy years of grievous oppression, would 
 most forcibly have appealed. Again, he was 
 an earnest Zoroastrian,^ a worshipper of the 
 " Great God, Ormazd," the special, if not the 
 sole object of adoration among the ancient 
 Persians ; he was a hater of idolatry, and of 
 the shameless rites which accompanied it, and 
 he would naturally sympathize with such a 
 people as the Jews, — a people whose relig- 
 ious views bore so great a resemblance to his 
 own. Thus the restoration of the Jews by 
 Cyrus, though an act almost without a paral- 
 lel in the history of the world, was only natu- 
 ral under the circumstances ; and the narra- 
 tive of it, which Ezra gives us, is in harmony 
 at once with the other Scriptural notices of 
 the monarch ,3 and with profane accounts of 
 
 1 Xenophon calls him ^vx^v 'ji'KavOpMnoTaTov, " of a most hii- 
 mane disposition " {Cyrop. i. 2, § 1). Berosus, Herodotus, and 
 Ctesias all remark upon his clemency. 
 
 2 Xen. Cyrop. viii. 7, § 3; Nic. Dam. Fr. 66. 
 
 3 The immediate restoration, in his^rs^year (Ez-a i. 1), and 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 195 
 
 him. The edicts which he issued on the oc- 
 casion (Ezra i. 2-4 and vi. 3-5) are aUke 
 suitable to his rehgious belief and to the gen- 
 erosity of his character. His acknowledgment 
 of one " Lord God of Heaven " (Ezra i. 2) ; 
 his identification of this God with- the Jeho- 
 vah of the Jews ; and his pious confession that 
 he has received all the kingdoms over which 
 he rules from this source, breathe the spirit of 
 the old Persian religion,^ of which Cyrus was 
 a sincere votary ; while the delivery of the 
 golden vessels from out of the treasury (i. 7- 
 11 ; vi. 5) ; the allowance of the whole 
 expense of rebuilding the Temple out of the 
 royal revenue (vi. 4) ; and the general direc- 
 tions to all Persian subjects to " help with 
 silver and with gold, and with goods, and 
 with beasts " (i. 4), accord well with the mu- 
 nificence which is said to have been one of 
 his leading characteristics.^ It may be added 
 
 the words, " the Lord God of Heaven has charged me to build 
 Him a house at Jerusalem," are well explained by the circum- 
 stances related in Dan. v. and by Isaiah xliv. 28. The fame of 
 the "handwriting upon the wall," and the high dignity to which 
 Daniel had been raised (Dan. v. 29), would necessarily bring 
 him iato personal contact with Cyrus upon the capture of the 
 city; and he would then naturally communicate to Cyrus the 
 prophecy of Isaiah. 
 
 1 Ancient Monarchies^ by Prof. Rawlinson, vol. iii. pp. 347- 
 357. 
 
 2 Xen. Cyrop. i. 3, § 7; 4, §§ 11 and 26, etc. 
 
196 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 that the political liberality which is apparent 
 in the assignment of so important a govern- 
 ment as that of Babylonia to a Mede^ is also 
 characteristic of this king, who appointed two 
 Medes in succession to govern the rich sa- 
 trapy of Lydia,^ and (according to one ac- 
 count 2) assigned the government of Carmania 
 to a Babylonian. 
 
 The discovery of the original decree of Cy- 
 rus, early in the reign of Darius Hystaspis, 
 Discovery of "at Achmctha (or Ecbatana), in 
 
 his decree at ,■, -. j i j • • ii • r 
 
 Ecbatana thc palacc that IS m the province of 
 SToTresid- the Mcdcs " (vi. 2), is one of those 
 "*^ ^™' little points of agreement between 
 the sacred and the profane which are impor- 
 tant because their very minuteness is an indi- 
 cation that they are purely casual and unin- 
 tentional. When Ezra wrote, the Persian 
 kings resided usually at Susa, or at Babylon, 
 occasionally visiting, in the summer time, 
 Ecbatana or Persepolis. Susa and Babylon, 
 as the ordinary stations of the court, were 
 the places at which the archives were laid 
 up. But Cyrus seems to have held his court 
 permanently at Echatana^^ and consequently 
 it was there that he kept his archives, and 
 
 1 Herod, i. 156 and 162. 
 
 2 Abyden. ap. Euseb. Chron. Can. i. 10. 
 8 Herod, i. 153 ; Ctes. Exc. Pers. §§ 2-4. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 197 
 
 there that his decree was found. Ezra, writ- 
 ing under Artaxerxes, nearly a century later, 
 is not likely to have known the habits of 
 Cyrus ; but he relates a fact which is in exact 
 harmony with them. 
 
 With regard to Cambyses, the successor of 
 Cyrus, and the usurper who reigned under the 
 name of Smerdis, the book of Ezra Reversal of the 
 
 tells us but little. All that we ruslTy the next 
 
 learn concerning them is, that both in°harmony ^' 
 
 T 'J. J U J.1, with his relig- 
 
 princes were solicited by the ene- ious position. 
 mies of the Jews to hinder the rebuilding of 
 Jerusalem, and that while Cambyses took no 
 action upon the communication made to him, 
 Smerdis, on the contrary, replied by a letter, 
 in which he directly forbade the continuation 
 of the work commenced under Cyrus and con- 
 tinued under his son and successor.^ This de- 
 parture from the policy of the two previous 
 kings is rendered intelligible by the peculiar 
 position of the monarch, as declared to us by 
 profane writers,^ and more fully explained in 
 the great inscription of Darius at Behistun.^ 
 Smerdis was a Magian, attached to a worship 
 directly antagonistic to the faith of Zoroaster, 
 and bent on reversing the policy of his two 
 
 1 See Ezra iv. 6-24. 
 
 2 Herod, iii. 61; Ctes. Exc, Pers. § 10; Justin, i. 9. 
 8 Col. i. par. 11-14. 
 
198 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 predecessors in matters of religion. The fact 
 that Cyrus and CamByses sympathized with 
 the Jews in respect of their belief, and allowed 
 the restoration of their Temple and capital, 
 would be sufficient reason to him for prohibit- 
 ing it. Hence the severe edict.which he is- 
 sued (Ezra iv. 17—22), in which it is worthy 
 of remark that none of that faith in a Supreme 
 God appears which characterizes the decrees 
 of Cyrus.^ 
 
 Of Darius, the next king to Smerdis, we 
 have an interesting notice in the fifth and 
 Relations of sixth chaptcrs of Ezra. It appears 
 Sre"j"ewr,*l^nd that the Jews no sooner felt that 
 S!8uitebie this king was safely seated upon 
 teAidc^T" the throne, than, regarding the 
 cumstances. ^^-^^ ^f Smcrdis as null and void, 
 they resumed the work, from which they had 
 been compelled to desist, and pressed it for- 
 ward with increased ardor, the two prophets, 
 Zechariah and Haggai, helping them (Ezra 
 V. 2), This bold course is explained by the 
 known Zoroastrian zeal of Darius, who tells 
 us in his great inscription that he commenced 
 his reign by reversing the religious policy 
 of his predecessor, '^ rebuilding the temples 
 
 1 The Magians worshipped the elements, earth, air, water, 
 and fire. Their creed was Pantheism, which is a form of 
 Atheism. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 199 
 
 which the Magian had destroyed, and restor- 
 ing the rehgious chants and the worship which 
 he had aboHshed." ^ Tlie Jews would natu- 
 rally feel assured that they might count upon 
 his sympathy, and so would resume the work 
 without waiting for express warrant. Their 
 enemies, however, might naturally be unwill- 
 ing to relinquish the advantage which they had 
 gained, until they had at least made an effort 
 to retain it. Accordingly they addressed a 
 long petition to the new monarch, informing 
 him of the steps taken by the Jews, mention- 
 ing the ground on which they justified their 
 conduct, namely, the decree of Cyrus, and sug- 
 gesting that search should be made at Baby- 
 lon^ to see whether the archives contained any 
 such decree or no (Ezra v. 6-17). They may 
 have suspected that Smerdis would have de- 
 stroyed any such document while he had the 
 archives in his power, and have hoped that it 
 would be impossible to produce it. The de- 
 cree, however, was found at Ecbatana (vi. 2) ; 
 and Darius at once put forth an edict, reciting 
 it, and requiring the Syrian satrap and his sub- 
 ordinates to lend the Jews every help, instead 
 of hindering them. The terms of the edict suit 
 in every way the character and circumstances 
 of Darius. He speaks of the Jewish temple 
 
 1 Behist. Inscr. col. i. par. 14, § 5 and § 6. 
 
200 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 as " the house of God " (verses 7 and 8), 
 and of Jehovah as " the God of Heaven " 
 (verses 9 and 10) ; he approves, as a Zoroas- 
 trian would,i of the offering of sacrifices to 
 the Supreme Being (lb.) ; he vahies the 
 prayers which he feels assured the Jews will 
 address to Jehovah on his behalf (verse 10) ; 
 and he invokes a curse ^ on those who shall in- 
 jure or destroy the sacred edifice in which 
 such prayers will be offered (verse 12). Fur- 
 ther, he implies that he has already " sons " 
 (verse 10), though he has but just ascended 
 the throne, a fact which is confirmed by He- 
 rodotus ; ^ he speaks of the " tribute " (verse 
 8), which (according to the same author *) he 
 was the first to impose on the provinces ; and 
 he threatens the disobedient with that pun- 
 ishment of impaling (verse 11) with which he 
 most commonly punished offenders.^ 
 
 Of Xerxes, the son and successor of Darius, 
 the book of Ezra tells us nothing ; but it is 
 now generally allowed by critics ^ that he is 
 
 1 Herod, i. 132; Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii. pp. 349-351. 
 
 2 Compare the curses invoked by this king on those who 
 should injure his inscriptions {Behist. Jnscr. col. iv. par. 17). 
 
 8 Herod, vii. 2. 
 
 4 Ibid. iii. 89. 
 
 5 Behist. Inscr. col. ii. par. 13, § 7; par. 14, § 16; col. iii. 
 par. 8, § 2, etc. Herod, iii. 159. 
 
 6 As De Wette, Bertheau, Gesenius, Haveruick, Dean Mil- 
 man, Bp. Cotton, etc. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 201 
 
 the monarcli at whose court is laid the scene 
 of the book of Esther. Assuminej Portrait of 
 
 Y Xerxes in the 
 
 this identity (which follows both book of Esther 
 from the name assigned him, and cordance with 
 
 . . profane ac- 
 
 from the notes of time contained counts of him. 
 in Esther), we may remark that the char- 
 acter of the monarch, so graphically placed 
 before us by the sacred historian, bears the 
 closest possible resemblance to that which is 
 ascribed by the classical writers to the cele- 
 brated son of Darius. " Proud, self-willed, 
 amorous, careless of contravening Persian cus- 
 toms ; reckless of human life, yet not actually 
 bloodthirsty ; impetuous, facile, changeable, — 
 the Ahasuerus of Esther corresponds in all re- 
 spects to the Greek portraiture of Xerxes ; " ^ 
 which is not (be it observed) the mere pic- 
 ture of an Oriental despot, but has various 
 marked peculiarities that distinctly individu- 
 alize it. And so with respect to his actions. 
 In the third year of Ahasuerus was held a 
 great feast and assembly in Shushan, the pal- 
 ace (Esth. i. 3). In the third year of Xerxes 
 was held an assembly at Susa, to arrange the 
 Grecian war.i jj^ ^]^q seventh year of Ahas- 
 
 1 The Hebrew Ahashverosh is the exact Semitic equivalent 
 of the Persian Khshayaishd, which the Greeks rendered by 
 Xerxes. 
 
 2 Prof. Kawlinson's Bampton Lectures for 1859, p. 186. 
 
202 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 aerus " fair young virgins were sought for 
 nim," and he replaced Vashti by marrying 
 Esther (lb. ii. 16). In the seventh year of 
 Xerxes, he returned defeated from Greece, 
 and consoled himself for his disasters by the 
 pleasures of the seraglio.^ The monarch who 
 scourged the sea, and offered human victims 
 in sacrifice,^ might well outrage Persian feel- 
 ing by requiring Vashti to present herself 
 unveiled before his courtiers (lb. i. 10-12). 
 The prince, who gave a sister-in-law, whom 
 he had professed to love, into the power of a 
 favorite Avife to torture and mutilate,* would 
 naturally not shrink from handing over a 
 tribe for which he had no regard, to the ten- 
 der mercies of a favorite minister. One so 
 changeable and so much under female influ- 
 ence as Xerxes always showed himself, might 
 readil}'-, under the circumstances related, alter 
 his mind, and resolve to save the race which 
 he had recently given over to destruction. 
 And the same almost superstitious regard for 
 his word, when once it had been passed, which 
 we find recorded of him in Herodotus,^ would 
 prevent him from simply revoking his edi3t, 
 and determine him to meet the difficulty in 
 
 1 Herod, vii. 8. 2 ibid. vii. 35, 114. 
 
 8 Ibid. ix. 108, 109. * Ibid. ix. 111. 
 
 6 Ibid. ix. 109. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 203 
 
 another way. To the king who had lost one 
 or two millions of soldiers in Greece, it might 
 not seem very terrible to allow fighting for 
 one or two days in most of the great cities 
 of the Empire. Finally we can well under- 
 stand that, after the exhaustion of the treas- 
 ury by the Greek war. King Ahasuerus would 
 have had to lay an increased tribute upon the 
 land and upon the isles of the sea (lb. x. 1), 
 Cyprus, Aradus, the island of Tyre, etc. 
 
 Of Artaxerxes, the son and successor of 
 Xerxes, we have two Biblical notices, — one in 
 Ezra (vii. 7-26), and the other in character of 
 Nehemiah (i. and ii.). We learn drawn hy ez- 
 
 ra and Nehe- 
 
 irom the lormer of these two pas- miah, agrees 
 
 1 T^ • with that 
 
 sao^es, that, like Cyrus and Darius, given by 
 
 Till 1 -1 • CXI 1 Plutarch and 
 
 he held the identity or Jehovah Diodorus. 
 with his own supreme God, Ormazd (verses 
 12, 21, 23), and that he approved of the Jew- 
 ish worship, which he supported by offerings 
 (verse 15), by grants from the state and the 
 provincial treasuries (verses 20-22), and by 
 a threat of severe pains and penalties (verse 
 26) against its impugners. The passage of 
 Nehemiah throws light upon his personal 
 character, which appears by the picture drawn 
 to have been mild and amiable. The Orien- 
 tal monarch, who would notice the sad expres- 
 sion on the countenance of an attendant, 
 
204 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 make kind inquiry into its cause, and grant 
 readily the request, which, while it incon- 
 venienced himself, would bring back a cheer- 
 ful look to his servant's face (Neh. ii. 1-8), 
 must have been unlike the ordinary run of 
 despots, and cannot possibly have been devoid 
 of kindness of heart, good-nature, and other 
 estimable qualities. Accordingly, we find 
 that Longimanus is represented in an ex- 
 ceptional light by the Greek writers, one of 
 whom calls him " the first of the Persian 
 monarchs for mildness and magnanimity," ^ 
 while another celebrates the equity and mod- 
 eration of his government, which was (he 
 says) highly approved by the Persians.^ Of 
 the religious views of Longimanus we have 
 no direct profane evidence ; but there is no 
 reason to doubt that he maintained the Zo- 
 roastrian sentiments of his ancestors. 
 
 The organization of the Persian court and 
 kingdom which the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, 
 Organization ^^^ Esthcr, reprcscut to us com- 
 couHlnT'^"" prises the following points. The 
 dlpfcted.'i? monarch is despotic, in a certain 
 Sd'Nfhe!**^'^' sense ; but he acts with the advice 
 ™**'*' of a council, consisting ordinarily 
 
 of the "seven princes of Persia and Media, 
 
 1 Plutarch, Vit. Artax. § 1. 
 
 2 Diod. Sic. xi. 71, § 2. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 205 
 
 wliich see the king's face and sit the first in 
 the kingdom " (Esth. i. 14 ; comp. Ezra vii. 
 14). He is also controlled to some extent 
 by a " law of the Persians and the Medes, 
 which alters not" (Esth. i. 19). His king- 
 dom is divided into a number of districts 
 or provinces — as many as one hundred and 
 twenty-seven are mentioned (Esth. i. 1), — 
 over which are set satraps (lb. iii. 12 ; viii. 9), 
 or other governors (lb.), who "have main- 
 tenance from the palace " (Ezra iv. 14), col- 
 lect and guard the revenue (lb. vii. 21), which 
 is partly paid in money, and partly in kind 
 (lb. verse 22), and report to the court if any 
 danger threatens the tract under their charge 
 (lb. iv. 11-22; v. 3-17). The court com- 
 municates with the satraps, or other gov- 
 ernors, by means of a system of mounted posts 
 (Esth. iii. 13 ; viii. 10, 14), which rapidly 
 convey the royal orders to the remotest parts 
 of the empire. The royal orders are authen- 
 ticated by being signed with the king's signet 
 (lb. iii. 10, 12, etc.). Record offices are estab- 
 lished in different places, and the archives of 
 the empire are deposited in them (Ezra vi. 1, 
 2). It is usual for the monarch to have a 
 chiefs or favorite minister, to whom he dele- 
 gates, in a great measure, the government of 
 his vast empire (Esth, iii. 1, 10 ; viii. 8 ; x. 2, 
 
206 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 3). Special notice is taken of any service 
 rendered to the king by a subject ; every such 
 service is put on record (lb. ii. 23 ; vi. 2) ; 
 and the principle is laid down that royal 
 benefactors are to receive an adequate reward 
 (lb. vi. 3). The king resides ordinarily either 
 at Susa (lb. i. 2 ; Neli. i. 1), or at Babylon 
 (Ezra vii. 9 ; xiii. 6). His palace at Susa is 
 a magnificent building, remarkable for its 
 " pillars of marble," its " pavement of red, 
 blue, white, and black,'' and its " hangings of 
 white, green, and blue, which are fastened 
 with cords of fine linen and purple to the pil- 
 lars " (Esth. i. 6). The palace is furnished 
 with couches of gold and silver, on which the 
 guests recline when they banquet (lb.). 
 The drinking vessels are of solid gold (lb. ver. 
 7). Wine is served to the king (Neh. ii. 1) 
 and to his guests (Esth. i. 7) by cupbearers. 
 Eunuchs are employed at the court, and fill 
 positions of importance (lb. i. 10 ; ii. 3, 21). 
 The king has one chief wife, who partakes in 
 his royal dignity, and numerous concubines 
 (lb. i. 11 ; ii. 3-14). Women are secluded ; 
 they feast apart from the men (lb. i. 9), and 
 in the palace occupy the Gynasceum, or 
 '' house of the women " (lb. ii. 9). It. is a 
 rare favor for even a single noble to be invited 
 to banquet with the king and the queen (lb. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 207 
 
 V. 12). To intrude on the king's presence 
 without invitation is a capital offense, and is 
 punished with death, unless the king please to 
 condone it (lb. iv. 11). 
 
 Here, again, as in the parallel cases of 
 Egypt and Assyria, the picture drawn is in 
 thorough accord with what we know Agreement of 
 of the ancient Persians from pro- witiiprotane 
 
 - . -I c J 1 • accounts and 
 
 lane writers and irom tneir own with the Per- 
 monuments. The Persian despot- meats. 
 ism is represented by Herodotus as modified 
 by the existence of a council,^ and by the 
 idea of an unalterable law, which the king 
 might indeed break, but which he could not 
 feel himself justified in breaking.^ The ex- 
 istence of " seven princes " at the head of 
 the nobility is indicated by the conspiracy 
 of the seven chiefs who organized the revolt 
 against Smerdis,^ as well as by the special 
 privileges which attached to six great families 
 besides that of the monarch.* The division 
 of the empire into numerous satrapies and 
 sub-satrapies is generally attested by the 
 Greek writers, and appears also in the inscrip- 
 tions, and though so large a number of prov- 
 inces as one hundred and twenty-seven is not 
 
 1 Herod, vii. 8. 
 
 2 Ibid. iii. 31 ; ix. 111. Compare Pht. Vit. Artax. § 27. 
 
 3 Ibid. iii. 70-79. Compare Behist Inscr. col. iv. par. 18. 
 
 4 Herod, iii. 84. 
 
208 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 mentioned elsewhere than in Esther, yet we 
 may trace through history a gradual increase 
 in their nuniber,i and we can readily under- 
 stand that the vain-glorious Xerxes may have 
 swelled the list by way of ostentation. The 
 duty of the satraps to guard the tranquillity 
 of the provinces, to collect the tribute, and to 
 store it in provincial treasuries until the time 
 came for transmitting it to the court, is ap- 
 parent from the accounts which the best 
 authors give of the satrapial office.^ Besides 
 the money tribute demanded from each prov- 
 ince, it is a well-known fact that a considerable 
 payment had to be made in kind.^ The Persian 
 system of mounted posts was peculiar to them 
 amongst the ancient peoples, and is described 
 at length both by Xenophon and by Herod- 
 otus.* Its special object was the conveyance 
 of the royal commands to the provincial gov- 
 ernors.^ A royal order, or firman^ was al- 
 
 1 Darius is said by Herodotus to have instituted originally 
 twenty satrapies. But in the Behistun Inscription (col. i. par. 
 6) this monarch reckons the provinces as 21 ; in an inscrij)- 
 tion at Perscpolis he enumerates 23 ; and in that upon his tomb 
 at Nakhsh-i-Kustam, he mentions 29. Herodotus makes tho 
 nations composing the armament of Xerxes exceed 60. 
 
 2 See Xen. Ci/rop. viii. 6, § 1-6, and Herod, iii. 89. 
 
 3 Herod, i. 192 ; iii. 91, etc. 
 
 4 Xen. Cyrop. viii. 6, § 17, 18 ; Herod, viii. 98. On the 
 employment of camels, no less than horses, in the postal service 
 (Esth. viii. 10), see Strabo, xv. 2, § 10. 
 
 6 Xen. Cyi'op. viii. 6, § 18 ; Herod, iii. 126. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 209 
 
 ways authenticated by being signed with the 
 royal signet. ^ The composition and preser- 
 vation of state archives is attested by Ctesias,^ 
 who declared that he drew his Persian history 
 from "royal parchments," to which he had 
 access during his stay at the court of Artax- 
 erxes Mnemon. Favorite ministers, to whom 
 they delegate the greater part of their duties, 
 are found to have been employed by most 
 of the Persian monarchs after the time of 
 Darius.^ The recognition of a distinct class 
 of " Royal Benefactors " appears to have been 
 a special Persian institution. The names of 
 such persons were entered upon a formal list ; 
 and it was regarded as the bounden duty of 
 the monarch to see that they were adequately 
 rewarded.* 
 
 So, too, with respect to the court. That 
 Susa was its ordinary seat is apparent from 
 Herodotus, Ctesias, and the Greek writers 
 generally, while that it was fixed during a 
 part of the year at Babylon, is declared by 
 Xenophon, Plutarch, and others.^ The mag- 
 
 1 Herod, iii. 128. 
 
 2 Ap. Diod. Sic. ii. 32. 
 
 8 Herod, vii. 5 ; Ctes. Exc. Pers. § 20, 29, 49 ; Diod. Sic. 
 xvi. 50. etc. 
 
 4 Herod, iii. 140 ; viii. 85, 90 ; Thucyd. 129. 
 
 5 Xen. Cyrop. viii. 8, § 22; Plut. de Exil. p. 604; Ct?s. Exc 
 Pers. §§ 12, 28, etc. 
 
 14 
 
210 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 nificence of the S^sian palace is evidenced, 
 not merely by the ac3counts of ancient authors, 
 but by the existing remains, which exhibit 
 four groups of " marble pillars " exquisitely 
 carved, springing from a pavement composed 
 chiefly of blue limestone, and constructed (in 
 the opinion of the excavators) with a view 
 to the employment of curtains or hangings be- 
 tween the columns, an arrangement thoroughly 
 suitable to the site and climate.^ Greek 
 writers describe at length the splendor of the 
 palace furniture, whereon the precious metals 
 were prodigally lavished ; ^ the number and 
 variety of the officers, principally eunuchs ; ^ 
 the richness and grandeur of the banquets ; * 
 the seclusion of the women ; ^ and the like. 
 They confirm the representations made of 
 the vast size of the seraglio,^ and the superior 
 dignity of one queen consort.*^ They tell us 
 that the several wives approached the monarch 
 " in their turn." ^ And they clearly intimate 
 
 1 See Loftus, Chaldcea and Susiana, pp. 365-375. 
 
 2 Athen. Deipnos. iv. p. 145, A; xii. p. 514, C; iEsch. Per$. 
 \. 161 ; Philostrat. Imag. ii. 32. 
 
 8 Xen. Hell. vii. 1, § 38; Cyrop. viii. 8, § 20 
 * Athen. Deijm. iv. pp. 145, 146. 
 
 6 Herod, iii. 58; Plut. Vit. Artnx. § 27; Diod. Sic. xi. 56, §7 
 « Plut. Vit. Artax. § 27; Q. Curt. iii. 3. 
 
 7 See Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii. p. 216. 
 
 8 Herod, iii. 69. Compare Esth. ii. 12, 15. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 211 
 
 that intrusion on the king's privacy was an 
 offense punishable with death.^ 
 
 Remarkable as is this agreement of the 
 books under consideration with profane his- 
 tory, and especially with the ac- charges 
 counts which have come down to us J|J*°^^f/^® 
 of Persian habits, ideas, and prac- Esther. 
 tices, there have not been wanting persons to 
 charge, at any rate, one of them — the book 
 of Esther — with historical inaccuracy, and 
 even with " containing a number of errors in 
 regard to Persian customs." ^ It would seem, 
 therefore, to be necessary, before bringing this 
 chapter to a conclusion, that a few words 
 should be said in reply to these charges. 
 
 The historical inaccuracies alleged to be 
 contained in Esther are the following : (1.) 
 Amestris, it is said (who cannot be i. Alleged 
 
 ^ historical m- 
 
 Esther, since she was the daughter accuracies. 
 of a Persian noble, Otanes), was the real 
 Queen Consort of Xerxes, from the beginning 
 of his reign to the end ; and, therefore, the 
 whole story of Esther being made queen, and 
 of her great power and influence, is impos- 
 sible. (2.) Mordecai, Esther's first cousin, 
 having been carried into captivity with Jeco- 
 niah (Esth. ii. 6), in B. c. 588, must have been 
 
 1 Herod, iii. 72, 77, 84, etc. 
 
 2 De Wette, FAnldtnng, § 198 a. 
 
212 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 at least 129 years old in B. c. 474, Xerxes' 
 twelfth year, and Esther must, consequently, 
 have been then too old to have influence 
 through her beauty. (3.) Artabanus, the 
 captain of the guard, was Grand Vizier, and 
 ruled Xerxes at the time when Haman and 
 Mordecai are given that position. Let us 
 examine these " inaccuracies " in their order. 
 (1.) Amestris was undoubtedly, during the 
 greater part of his reign, the chief wife of 
 These "inac- Xerxcs. He married her in the 
 
 curacies" , <» i • p i 
 
 examined. life-timc of liis father, and she out- 
 lived him, and held the rank of Queen Mother 
 under his son and successor, Artaxerxes. She 
 cannot be the Esther of Scripture ; but there 
 is nothing to prevent her from being Vashti, 
 whose disgrace may have been only tempo- 
 rary. Or possibly Vashti and Esther may 
 both have been "secondary wives," though 
 the title of Queen is given to them.^ A 
 young " secondary wife " might obtain a tem- 
 porary influence over the monarch beyond 
 that of the Queen Consort, though the power 
 of the latter, not resting merely upon royal 
 fancy, would outlast that of any such rival. 
 We know far too little of the domestic hfe of 
 Xerxes from profane sources to have any right 
 
 1 See the articles on Esther and Vashti in Smith's Biblical 
 Dictionary. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 213 
 
 to pronounce the position which Esther is 
 made to occupy in his harem from his seventh 
 to his twelfth year " impossible," or even im- 
 probable. 
 
 (2.) It is not clear that Mordecai is said in 
 Esther to have been carried into captivity with 
 Jeconiah. The passage referred to (Esth. ii. 
 5, 6) is ambiguous. It may be, and probably 
 is Kish, Mordecai's great grandfather, of whom 
 the assertion is made in verse 6, that he " had 
 been carried away from Jerusalem with the 
 captivity which had been carried away with 
 Jeconiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, King of Bab- 
 ylon, had carried away." This construction 
 of the passage, which the Hebrew idiom fully 
 allows, would accord completely with the date 
 of Xerxes. 1 
 
 (3.) There is no evidence at what time in 
 Xerxes' reign he fell under the influence of 
 Artabanus, the captain of the guard. We 
 only know that this chief ruled him towards 
 the close of his reign.^ It is therefore quite 
 possible that between the death of Mardonius, 
 B. c. 479, and the rise of Artabanus to power, 
 first Haman and then Mordecai may have held 
 
 1 * The verb in this case belongs to the nearer subject instead 
 of a remoter one. This consistency with the chronology as thus 
 indicated by other data is of itself a reason for reckoning heie 
 from Kish and not from Mordecai. — H. 
 
 iS Ctes. Exc. Pers. § 29. 
 
214 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 the position assigned them in Esther. Indeed, 
 there are some grounds for identifying Mor- 
 decai with a person who is expressly said 
 to have been very influential with Xerxes, 
 namely, Natacas, or Matacas, the eunuch. 
 For the name, Matacas, would probably be 
 rendered in Chaldee by Mordecai ; ^ and there 
 is sufficient reason for believing that Morde- 
 cai belonged to the class of persons to whom 
 Ctesias assigns Matacas. ^ 
 
 Of the alleged " errors in regard to Persian 
 customs," the following are the principal. 
 (2.) Alleged (^O ^ Persian king, it is said, 
 ^^rdlo pe?- would ucvcr havc invited his Queen 
 Biaa customs. ^^ ^ carousal. (2.) He could not 
 legally, and therefore it is supposed he could 
 not possibly marry a wife not belonging to 
 one of the seven great Persian families. (3.) 
 Such honors as are said to have been conferred 
 on Mordecai (Esth. vi. 8-11), being in their 
 nature royal, would never have been allowed 
 by a Persian king to a subject. (4.) No 
 Persian king would have issued two such 
 murderous decrees as are ascribed to Ahasue- 
 rus, or have allowed a subject race to massa- 
 cre 75,000 Persians. 
 
 In reply, we may observe (1) that the Per- 
 
 1 See Bp. A. Hervey's article on Mordecai in Smith's 
 Biblical Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 420, and vol. iii. p. 2010, Amer. ed 
 
 2 Exc. Pers. § 20 and § 27. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 215 
 
 sian abhorrence of such an act as exhibiting 
 the Queen unveiled to a set of rev- These "er- 
 elers is imphed m the retusal of ined. 
 Vashti (Esth. i. 11) ; and that the question 
 of the possibility or impossibility of the thing 
 occurring is merely a question of the lengths 
 to which a Persian monarch would go in out- 
 raging propriety and violating established 
 usage. Now when Cambyses shot the son of 
 one of his nobles, merely to prove the steadi- 
 ness of his hand,^ and when Xerxes called on 
 his brother Masistes to divorce his wife with- 
 out even a pretext,^ they shocked their sub- 
 jects and outraged propriety as much as 
 Ahasuerus did when he sent his order to 
 Vashti. There were, in fact, no limits which 
 a Persian monarch might not, and did not, 
 when he chose, overstep, nor any customs 
 which he held absolutely sacred. And the 
 character of Xerxes would make such an out- 
 rage as that related more probable under 
 him than under other kings. Hence even De 
 Wette allows that " the invitation to Vashti 
 is possible on account of the advancing cor- 
 ruption in Xerxes' time and through the folly 
 of Xerxes himseK." ^ (2.) The marriage 
 
 1 Herod, iii. 35. 2 ibid. ix. 111. 
 
 3 Einleltung in das A. Test. p. 267; [and De Wette-Schrader, 
 p. 398 (1809). This later edition contains all of De Wette with 
 additions by Schrader, supplementary or corrective.] 
 
216 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 of Abasuerus with a Jewess, even if we re- 
 gard it as a marriage in the fullest sense, 
 would not be more illegal or more abhorrent 
 to Persian notions than Cambyses' marriage 
 with his full sister.^ It is therefore just as 
 likely to have taken place. If, on the other 
 hand, it was a marriage of the secondary kind, 
 the law with respect to the king's wives being 
 taken from the seven great families would 
 not apply to it.. (3.) The honors granted to 
 Mordecai were certainly very unusual in Per- 
 sia. They consisted in three ^ things, all of 
 which were capital offenses, if done without the 
 royal permission. But we find Persian kings 
 allowing their subjects in these or parallel 
 acts occasionally, either for a special purpose, 
 or even out of mere good-nature. Xerxes, 
 on one occasion made his uncle, Artabanus, 
 put on his dress, sit for a time on his throne, 
 and then go to sleep in his bed.^ And Artax- 
 erxes Mnemon permitted Tiribazus to wear, 
 as often as he liked, a robe which had been 
 his, and which he had given to him.* There 
 is nothing really contrary to Oriental notions 
 in the allowance to a subject even of royal 
 
 1 Herod, iii. 31. 
 
 2 Wearing the royal apparel, riding on the king's horse, and 
 having the crown royal set upon his head (see Esther vi. 8). 
 
 3 Herod, vii. 17. 
 
 4 Plutarch, Vit. Artax. § 5. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 217 
 
 honors for a time and under certain circum- 
 stances. (4.) The murderous decrees ascribed 
 to Ahasuerus have nothing incredible in them 
 to one who is familiar with Oriental, or even 
 with Persian history. Human life is of little 
 account in the East. When Cambyses, on his 
 return to Egypt, from an unsuccessful expedi- 
 tion into Ethiopia, found the Egyptians cele- 
 brating an incarnation of Apis, he gave orders 
 that every one who was seen keeping the fes- 
 tival should be put to death. ^ When the 
 seven conspirators had slain the Pseudo-Smer- 
 dis, they proceeded with their friends to mas- 
 sacre every Magus whom they could lay their 
 hands on.^ In memory of the event, a feast, 
 called Magophonia, was kept every year, 
 during which every Magus who showed him- 
 self, might be killed by any one.^ The mas- 
 sacres of the Mamelukes and the Janissaries 
 are famihar to all. As for the objection that 
 a Persian king would never have allowed the 
 massacre of " 75,000 Persians^'''' it is based on 
 a misconception. The 75,000 were certainly 
 not all of them (Esth. ix. 16), and perhaps not 
 any of them Persians. They were the Jews' 
 enemies, those who set upon them, in the prov- 
 inces. Now there was no natural antagonism 
 
 1 Herod, iii. 29. 2 ibid. iii. 79. 
 
 8 Ibid. Compare Ctes. Exc. Pers. § 15. 
 
218 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 between the Persians and the Jews, while 
 there was a very strong antagonism between 
 the Jews and such of the subject nations as 
 were idolaters. Moreover, the Persians in 
 the provinces consisted almost entirely of per- 
 sons in the service of the crown, military or 
 civil, who would have orders from the court, 
 at any rate, not to take part against the Jews. 
 Thus the persons slain would belong, hke the 
 Jews themselves, to the subject races, whose 
 lives such a monarch as Xerxes held exceed- 
 ingly cheap. 
 
 [* It is a peculiarity of this book of Esther 
 that the name of Jehovah or God is not once 
 mentioned in it. This omission is the less sur- 
 prising, because it occurs in a history so full 
 of interpositions that reveal the actual pres- 
 ence of Him who presides over the destiny of 
 men and of nations, and also the power of 
 that faith in the unseen One, which made the 
 actors in this great national drama so hopeful 
 and enduring. Professor Stuart says very 
 truly; "The fact that the feast of Purim^ 
 has come down to us from time almost imme- 
 morial, .... proves as certainly that the 
 
 1* The feast of Purim, (which means lots) was so called 
 ironically by the Jews, with reference to Haman's frustrated 
 conspiracy against them (Esther iv. 24; and 2 Mace. xv. 36). 
 It was an annual festival of two days, the 14th and 15th of 
 the month Adar; i. e. about the middle of March. — H. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 219 
 
 main events in the book of Esther happened, 
 as the Declaration of Independence and the 
 celebration of the Fourth of July prove that 
 we separated from Great Britain and became 
 an independent nation. The book of Esther 
 is an essential document to explain the feast 
 of Purim." The self-asserting character of 
 truthfulness vrhich the narrative assumes, as 
 illustrated in Dean Milman's sketch of the 
 events, speaks strongly in its favor.] 
 
 It would seem, then, that there is really no 
 ground for the assertion that the writer of 
 Esther has fallen into errors with 
 regard to Persian customs. The 
 book of Esther, no less than the books of 
 Nehemiah and Ezra, exhibits a profound ac- 
 quaintance with Oriental, and especially with 
 Persian notions and modes of thought. Its 
 author was undoubtedly a Jew who lived at 
 the court of Susa, under the Persian kings, 
 and its facts are worthy of our full accept* 
 auce. 
 
220 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The historical books of the Old Testament 
 have now been passed in review before the 
 Results of the reader, and their matter has been, 
 inquiry. where it was possible, compared with 
 
 such profane records of the past as are gener- 
 ally considered by critics to be most authentic, 
 — with the monuments and hieroglyphics of 
 Egypt, the cuneiform inscriptions of Baby- 
 lonia, Assyria, and Persia, the single extant 
 record of Moab, and the writings of the best 
 ancient historians, such as Herodotus, Thucy- 
 dides, Xenophon, Ctesias, Manetho, Berosus, 
 Abydenus, Menander of Ephesus, Nicolas of 
 Damascus, and others. The result seems to 
 1. Very little bc, in the first place, that contradic- 
 between the tlou betwceu the sacrcd and the 
 
 pacred and the « , ^ • , ^ 
 
 profane. profaue scarccly occurs, unless it be 
 
 in chronological statements, and that it is even 
 there confined within narrow limits. In a 
 few places, and a few places only, the Scrip- 
 tural record of time, as contained in the ex- 
 tant Hebrew text, differs from that of Assyrian 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 221 
 
 monuments or Egyptian historians.^ The 
 difference is in general one of no more than a 
 few years ; and in no case after the time of 
 Solomon (before which the sacred chronology is 
 yague, while profane chronology is uncertain) 
 does it amount to so much as half a century. 
 It is therefore reasonable to suppose that such 
 discrepancies as occur in this matter are acci- 
 dental, arising either from different modes of 
 computing time, from the corruption of a 
 reading, from the carelessness of an engraver, 
 or from some similar circumstance. In the 
 general outline of human affairs, in the account 
 given of the rise and flourishing periods of 
 kingdoms, of their succession one ^ -^^^ 
 after another, of their duration, ^T.mte' agree- 
 their character, their conquests, and "'^°*- 
 the order of their sovereigns, the sacred nar- 
 rative shows a remarkable agreement with the 
 best profane sources, only in a very few places 
 bringing before us personages in a position 
 of apparent importance, whom we cannot dis- 
 tinctly identify with known characters in pro- 
 fane history. The cases of this kind which 
 still remain as difficulties are two only, those 
 of Pul and Darius the Mede.^ All the other 
 Oriental monarchs mentioned by name in the 
 
 1 See above, pp. 154, 155. 
 
 2 See pp. 131-134, and 183-186. 
 
222 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 course of the narrative are, if we possess the 
 profane history of the period in any detail, 
 capable of being recognized in it.^ The char- 
 acters of the kings, as drawn in Scripture and 
 by profane writers, agree. Their actions are 
 either such as profane historians record, or 
 such as are natural to persons in their position. 
 Above all, there is a minute agreement be- 
 tween the Scriptural account of the habits, 
 customs, and ideas of the several nations, 
 which the course of the narrative brings before 
 us, and the description of them which is obtain- 
 able from their own monuments and from the 
 best ancient writers. In four instances — 
 those of Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, and Per- 
 sia, — our knowledge of the condition of the 
 people at the time indicated being exact, and 
 copious, if not complete, the comparison may 
 be made in extenso ; and it is especially in 
 these four instances that the harmony be- 
 tween the sacred and the profane is most 
 striking.2 
 
 What, then, is the force of the whole agree- 
 ment ? What are we justified in deducing 
 Conclusions to from it? In the first place it jus- 
 these results, tifics US in Setting asidc as wholly 
 inadmissible the theory which not long ago 
 
 1 Page 153. 
 
 2 Pp. 41-48, 70-81, 156-165, 170-173, and 207-211. 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 223 
 
 ■was SO popular in Germany, that the so-called 
 historical narratives of the Old Testament are 
 legends or myths — tales, i. e. invented by 
 moral teachers as a convenient vehicle where- 
 by to instil mto men's minds moral truths. 
 It is clear that the narratives are, in the 
 strictest sense of the word, histories, that the 
 writers intend to record, and do at any rate in 
 the main record, facts ; that the personages of 
 whom they speak are real personages, the 
 events which they describe real events, which 
 actually happened at the times to which they 
 assigned them. The only qti^stion that can 
 be raised is : Do they describe the events as 
 they }iaj)pened^ or do they allow themselves to 
 embellish them ? In other words, are the 
 miraculous portions of the narrative to be ac- 
 cepted, or may we safely set them aside ; as 
 we do the prodigies, when we read the most 
 authentic portions of Herodotus or Livy ? It 
 is often said, that whatever historical confir- 
 mation of the general narrative of Scripture 
 has been discovered recently," there is no such 
 confirmation of the miracles. And this is no 
 doubt true. The Egyptian, Assyrian, Baby- 
 lonian, Moabite, and Persian historiographers 
 have not placed on record the miracles which 
 were wrought by, and for, or at any rate in 
 close connection with, the Jews. It was not 
 
224 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 to be expected that they would do so, since 
 they never seek to glorify any nation but their 
 own. The miracles must stand on their own 
 basis, — on the evidence, i. e. of the writers who 
 record them, and their trustworthiness as wit- 
 nesses to facts. They cannot be cut out of the 
 narrative, because they are integral portions of 
 it; often constituting its turning-point, and 
 being the very thing that the writer is bent 
 on recording, so that without the miracles his 
 narrative would be pointless and meaningless. 
 What we have to ask ourselves is. Which is 
 more likely, that writers, bent on relating a 
 set of false miracles, should be careful to make 
 their narrative conform, in all its minutice, to 
 historic accuracy, an accuracy extending to 
 numerous points on which they could not ex- 
 pect their readers to have any knowledge, or 
 that the miracles which they record were act- 
 ually performed, and are related by them with 
 the same truthfulness which is found to char- 
 acterize the rest of their history ? Unless we 
 start with a foregone conclusion that miracles 
 are impossible, we can scarcely fail to embrace 
 the latter hypothesis rather than the former. 
 
 Briefly, the historic accuracy of the sacred 
 writers in those parts of their narrative which 
 we can test, goes far to authenticate their 
 whole narrative. The miraculous facts being 
 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 225 
 
 inextricably intertwined with the facts which 
 are natural and ordinary, it is necessary either 
 to accept or reject both together. But the 
 laws of historical criticism do not allow us to 
 reject the ordinary facts, since they satisfy all 
 the tests by which real is known from pre- 
 tended history. We are bound, therefore, to 
 accept the extraordinary. 
 
 Again, a conclusion which forces itself on us 
 irresistibly when we compare the sacred books 
 with the best profane sources, is that the Scrip- 
 ture narrative must have been written, in the 
 main, by eye-witnesses of the events recorded : 
 the Pentateuch probably by Moses ; Joshua 
 by one of the " elders " who outlived him ; 
 Samuel by Samuel ; Kings and Chronicles by 
 the prophets contemporary with the several 
 monarchs ; Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah by 
 the persons whose names they bear ; Esther 
 by one who lived under Xerxes. But if so, 
 the writers could not possibly be ignorant of 
 the truth. And no one now imagines that 
 they intended to deceive. Strauss says, " It 
 would most unquestionably be an argument of 
 decisive weight in favor of the credibility of 
 the Bibhcal history, could it indeed be shown 
 that it was written by eye-witnesses." ^ This 
 is exactly what the minute accuracy of the 
 sacred writers, and their close agreement with 
 
 1 Leben Jesu, § 13. 
 
226 HISTOEICAL ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 contemporary records and tlie best profane 
 historians, shows almost to a certainty. The 
 credibihty of the Biblical history would thus 
 seem to be, even according to Rationalism 
 itself, established.^ 
 
 1 * Xor can it be irrelevant to add here, that this line of 
 argument so applicable to the Old Testament, may be applied 
 with still greater force to the Avritings of the New Testament ; 
 for the points of contact between these and contemporary his- 
 tory are still more numerous and diversified, and admit of a more 
 ready verification. Take, for example, the book of the Acts of 
 the Apostles. The history which we read in the Acts connects 
 itself at numerous points with the social customs of different and 
 distant nations; with the fluctuating civil affairs of the Jews, 
 Greeks, and Romans; and with geographical or political divis- 
 ions and arrangements, which were constantly undergoing some 
 change or modification. Through all these circumstances, which 
 underlie Luke's narrative from commencement to end, the au- 
 thor pursues his way without a single instance of contradiction 
 or collision. Examples of the most unstudied harmony with 
 the complicated relations of the times present themselves at 
 every step. No Avriter who was conscious of fabricating his 
 story would have hazarded such a number of minute allusions, 
 since they increase so immensely the risk of detection; and 
 still less, if he had ventured upon it, could he have introduced 
 them so skillfully as to baflle every attempt'to discover a single 
 well-founded instance of ignorance or oversight. It adds to the 
 force of the argument to remark, that in the pages of Luke 
 every such allusion falls from him entirely without effort or 
 parade. It never strikes the reader as far-fetched or con- 
 trived. Every incident flows naturally out of the progress of 
 the narrative. It is no exaggeration to say, that the well- 
 informed reader, who will study carefully the book of the 
 Acts, and compare the incidental notices to be found there 
 with the geography and the political history of the times, and 
 with the customs of the different countries in which the scene 
 of the transactions is laid, will receive an impression of the wri- 
 ter's fidelity and accuracy, equal to that of the most forcible 
 treatises on the truth of Christianity. — H. 
 
APPENDIX.1 
 
 ASSYRIAN- STORY OF THE FLOOD. 
 
 Some fifteen years ago, in excavating the site of the old pal- 
 ace of Nineveh, the debris of the royal library was found there. 
 History in that age was written on clay tablets, and some of 
 those found here were twenty-five hundred years old. They 
 were brought to England and deposited in the British Museum. 
 Among those who have studied these inscriptions is Mr. George 
 Smith, connected with the Museum, whom Sir Henry Rawlinson 
 pronounces the greatest Assyrian scholar now living. 
 
 Among these tablets, Mr. Smith found some relating to the 
 flood, of which three different copies exist containing duplicate 
 texts, and belonging to the time of Assurbanipal, about 660 b. 
 c. The original text, as appears from the tablets, must have 
 belonged to the city of Erech, and have been translated into the 
 Semitic Babylonian at a very early period. Some of the evi- 
 dences of its antiquity are, first, the three Assj'^rian copies con- 
 tain various readings which had crept into the text since the 
 first document was written ; secondly, the Assyrian copyist did 
 not know the exact literal representative of the older original 
 character ; and, thirdly, some sentences originally glosses have 
 crept into the text of the later copy. The original composition 
 is decided to be as old at least as the nineteenth century before 
 the Christian era.2 
 
 The principal personage in these legends is Izdubar (the 
 name is anagi-ammatic rather than personal ),8 a king who lived 
 
 1 This Appendix has been added by the American editor. 
 
 2 This discovery is pronounced " one of the most important and valu 
 able ever made in the province of archaeology " ( The Academy y'Lond'>n 
 April 15, 1873). 
 
 8 Conjectured by Sir H. Rawlinson to mean " source of fire.'' 
 
228 APPENDIX. 
 
 near the lime of a great deluge and belonged to Erech, now 
 Warka, one of the most ancient cities of the world. The other 
 cities mentioned are Babel, Surippak, and Nipur. Two of 
 these, Babel and Erech, are the first two capitals of Nimrod ; 
 and Nipur, according to the Talmud, is the same as Calneh 
 (Gen. X. 10), another of Nimrod's cities. 
 
 Izdubar, having conquered Belesus, a great king, and put on 
 his rival's crown, and having married Ishtar, a princess of 
 great beauty, became ill and began to fear death, man's great 
 enemy. To escape such a fate he wandered forth in search of 
 a patriarch named Sisit, whom the Babylonians supposed to 
 have become immortal without having died. Izdubar hoped to 
 learn from him the secret of this escape from the common lot of 
 mortals. In the course of these wanderings he met a seaman 
 named Urhamsi, and fitting out a vessel the two sailed along 
 for a month and fifteen days till they arrived at a place near 
 the mouth of the Euphrates where Sisit was supposed to dwell. 
 They make known their request to him, but must converse 
 across a stream which divided the immortal and the mortal 
 from each other. 
 
 The first ten tablets, which are very mutilated, contain almost 
 nothing relating to this subject. The eleventh tablet, which is 
 much m.ore complete, begins with a speech of Izdubar, who in- 
 quires of Sisit how he became immortal. Sisit, in answer to 
 this question, proceeds to relate the 
 
 STORY OF THE FLOOD. 
 
 1.1 Izdubar after this manner said to Sisit afar off 2. Sisit. 3. 
 The account do thou tell to me 4. The account do thou tell to 
 me 5. to the midst to make war 6. I come up after thee 7. say 
 how thou hast done it and in the circle of the gods life thou hast 
 gained. 8. Sisit after this manner said to Izdubar, 9. I will 
 reveal to thee, Izdubar, the concealed story, 10. and the wis- 
 dom of the gods 1 will relate to thee. 11. The city Surippak 
 the city which thou hast established .... placed 12. was an- 
 cient, and the gods within it 13. dwelt, a tempest .... their 
 god, the great gods 14. Anu 15. Bel 16. Ninip 17. lord of Hades 
 18. their will revealed in the midst of 19. hearing and he spoke 
 to me thus 20. Surrippakite son of Ubaratutu 21. make a great 
 
 1 The figures mark the successive lines and show whether they are 
 more or less complete. 
 
APPENDIX. 229 
 
 ship for thee 22. I will destroy the sinners and life 23. cause to 
 go in the seed of life all of it to preserve them 24. the ship 
 which thou shalt make 25. cubits shall be the measure cf its 
 length and 26. cubits the amount of its breadth and its height 
 27. Into the deep launch it. 28. I perceived and said to Hea my 
 lord, 29. " Hea my lord this that thou commandest me 30. I will 
 perform, it shall be done. 31. army and host 32. Hea opened 
 his mouth and spake, and said to me his servant 33. thou shalt 
 say unto them 34. he has turned from me and 35. fixed 
 
 [Here there are about fifteen lines entirely lost. The absent 
 passage probably described part of the building of the ark.] 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE ARK. 
 
 51. it 52. which in 53. strong .... I brought 54. on the fifth 
 day .... it 55. in its circuit fourteen measures .... its sides 
 56. fourteen measures it measured .... over it 57. I placed 
 its roof on it .... I inclosed it 58. 1 rode in it, for the sixth 
 time I .... for the seventh time 59. into the restless deep 
 .... for the .... time 60. its planks the waters within it ad- 
 mitted 61. 1 saw breaks and holes .... my hand placed 62. 
 three measures of bitumen I poured over the outside 63. three 
 measures of bitumen I poured over the inside 64. three measures 
 the men carrying its baskets took .... they fixed an altar 65. 
 I inclosed the altar .... the altar for an offering 66. two 
 measures the altar .... Paziru the pilot 67. for ... . slaugh- 
 tered oxen 68. of ... . in that day also 69. altar and grapes 
 70. like the waters of a river and 71. like the day I covered and 
 72. when .... covering my hand placed 73. and Shamas 
 .... the material of the ship completed. 74. strong and 75. 
 reeds I spread above and below. 76. went in two thirds of it. 
 77. All I possessed I collected it, all I possessed I collected of 
 silver. 78. all I possessed I collected of gold. 79. all I possessed 
 1 collected of the seed of life, the whole 80. I caused to go up 
 into the ship, all my male and female servants. 81. the beasts 
 of the field, the animals of the field, and the sons of the army 
 all of them, I caused to go up. 
 
 THE EARTH SWEPT BY STORM AND FLOOD. 
 
 82. A flood Shamas made, and 83. he spake saying in the 
 night, "I will cause it to rain from heaven heavily; 84. enter 
 to the midst of the ship, and shut thy door." 85. A flood he 
 
230 APPENDIX. 
 
 raised, and 86. he spake saying in the night, " I will cause it to 
 rain from heaven heavily." 87. In the day that I celebrated his 
 festival 88. the day which he had appointed ; fear I had, 89. I 
 entered to the midst of the ship, and shut my door 90. to guide 
 the ship, to Buzursadirabl the pilot, 91. the palace I gave to his 
 hand. 92. The raging of a storm in the morning 93. arose, 
 from thehorizon of heaven extending and wide 94. Vul in the 
 midst of it thundered, and 95. Nebo and Sam went in front; 
 96. the throne bearers went over mountains and plains; 97. the 
 destroyer Nergal overturned ; 98. Ninip went in front, and cast 
 down; 99. the spirits carried destruction; 100. in their glory 
 they swept the earth; 101. of Vul the flood, reached to heaven; 
 102. the bright earth to a waste was turned ; 103. the surface 
 of the earth, like .... it swept; 104. it destroyed all life, 
 from the face of the earth. 105. the strong tempest over the 
 people, reached to heaven. 106. Brother saw not his brother, it 
 did not spare the people. In heaven 107. The gods feared the 
 tempest, and 108. sought refuge; thej"^ ascended to the heaven of 
 Anu; 109. The gods like dogs with tails hidden, couched down. 
 110. Spake Ishtar a discourse 111. uttered the great goddess her 
 speech 112. " The world to sin has turned, and 113. then I in 
 the presence of the gods prophesied evil ; 114. when I prophe- 
 sied in the presence of the gods evil, 115. to evil were devoted 
 all my people, and I prophesied 116. thus, ' I have begotten 
 man and let him not 117. like the sons of the fishes fill the 
 sea.' " 118. The gods concerning the spirits, were weeping with 
 her; 119. the gods in seats, seated in lamentation; 120. covered 
 were their lips for the coming evil. 
 
 THE STORM CALMED. 
 
 121. Six days and nights 122. passed, the wind tempest and 
 storm overwhelmed, 123. on the seventh day in its course, was 
 calmed the storm and all the tempest 124. which had destroyed 
 like an earthquake, 125. quieted. The sea he caused to dry, 
 and the wind and tempest ended. 126. I was carried through 
 the sea. The doer of evil, 127. and the whole of mankind 
 who turned to sin, 128. like reeds their corpses floated. 129. 
 I opened the window and the light broke in, over my refuge 
 130. it passed, I sat still and 131. over my refuge came peace. 
 132. 1 was carried over the shore, at the boundary of the sea, 
 133. for twelve measures it ascended over the land. 134. To the 
 
APPENDIX. 231 
 
 country of Nizir, went the ship; 135. the mountains of Nizir 
 stopped the ship, and to pass over it, it was not able. 136. The 
 first day and the second day, the mountain of Nizir the same. 
 137. The third day and the fourth day, the mountain of Nizir 
 the same. 138. The fifth and sixth, the mountain of Nizir the 
 same. 
 
 A DOVE FROM THE ARK. 
 
 139. On the seventh day in the course of it 140. I sent forth a 
 dove and it left. The dove went and searched, and 141. a rest- 
 ing place it did not find, and it returned. 142. I sent forth a 
 swallow and it left. The swallow went and searched, and 143 
 a resting place it did not find, and it returned. 144. 1 sent forth 
 a raven, and it left. 145. The raven went, and the corpses on 
 the waters it saw, and 146. it did eat, it swam, and wandered 
 away, and did not return. 147. I sent the animals forth to the 
 four winds. I poured out a libation. 148. I built an altar on 
 the peak of the mountain, 149. by seven herbs I cut, 150. at 
 the bottom of them, I placed reeds, pines, and simgar. 151. 
 The gods collected at its burning, the gods collected at its good 
 burning, 152. the gods like sumbe over the sacrifice gathered. 
 153. From of old also, the great God in his course, 154. the great 
 brightness of Anu had created; when the glory 155. of these 
 gods, as of Ukni stone, on my countenance I could not endure; 
 156. in those days I prayed that forever I might not endure. 
 
 THE GOD OP THE TEMPEST. 
 
 157. May the gods come to my altar; 158. may Bel not come to 
 my altar 159. for he did not consider and had made a tempest, 
 160. and my people he had consigned to the deep 161. from of 
 old, also Bel in his course 162. saw the ship, and went Bel with 
 anger filled to the gods and spirits; 163. let not any one come 
 out alive, let not a man be saved from the deep. 164. Ninip bis 
 mouth opened and spake, and said to the warrior Bel, 165. 
 " Who then will be saved? " Hea the words understood, 166. 
 and Hea knew all things, 167. Hea his mouth opened and 
 spake, and said to the warrior Bel, 168. "Thou prince of the 
 gods, warrior, 169. when thou wast angry a tempest thou 
 madest, 170. the doer of sin did his sin, the doer of evil did his 
 evil, 171. may the exalted not be broken, may the captive not 
 be delivered; 172. instead of thee making a tempest, may lions 
 increase and men be reduced; 173. -jistead of thee making a 
 
232 APPENDIX. 
 
 tempest, may leopards increase and men be reduced ; 174. in- 
 stead of thee making a tempest, ma}-^ a famine happen, and the 
 country be destroyed; 175. instead of thee making a tempest, 
 may pestilence increase, and men be destroyed." 176. I did 
 not peer into the wisdom of the gods, 177. reverent and atten- 
 tive a dream they sent, and the wisdom of the gods he heard. 
 
 THE COUNTRY PURIFIED. 
 
 178. When his judgment was accomplished, Bel went up to 
 the midst of the ship, 179. he took my hand and brought me 
 out, me 180. he brought out, he caused to bring my wife to my 
 side, 181. he purified the country, he established in a covenant, 
 and took the people 182. in the presence of Sisit and the people; 
 183. when Sisit and his wife and the people to be like the gods 
 were carried away, 18-i. then dwelt Sisit in a remote place at 
 the mouth of the river; 185. they took me and in a remote 
 place at the mouth of the rivers they seated me, 186. when to 
 thee whom the gods have chosen, thee and 187. the life which 
 thou hast sought, after thou shalt gain 188. this do for six days 
 and seven nights 189. like I say also, in bonds bind him 190. the 
 waj' like a storm shall be laid upon him. 191. Sisit after this 
 manner said to his wife 192. I announce that the chief who 
 grasps at life 193. the way like a storm shall be laid upon him; 
 194. his wife after this manner, said to Sisit afar off lt)5. purify 
 him and let the man be sent away 196. the road that he came, 
 may he return in peace, 197. the great gate open, and may he 
 return to his country. 198. Sisit after this manner, said to his 
 wife, 199. the cry of a man alarms thee, 200. this do, his scarlet 
 cloth place on his head, 201. and the day when he ascended the 
 side of the ship 202. she did, his scarlet cloth she placed on 
 his head, 203. and the day when he ascended on the side of 
 the ship. 
 
 The lines that follow next are very obscure. The close of the 
 Tablet reads as follows : — 
 
 242. Izdubar and Urhamsi rode in the boat 243. where they 
 placed them they rode. 244. His wife after this manner said to 
 Sisit afar off 245. Izdubar goes away, is satisfied, performs 216. 
 that which thou hast given him and returns to his country 247. 
 and he heard and after Izdubar, 248. he went to the shore 249. 
 Sisit after this manner said to Izdubar 250. Izdubar thou goest 
 away, thou art satisfied, thou perforraest 251. that v/hich I have 
 
APPENDIX. 233 
 
 given thee and thou returaest to thy country 252. I have re- 
 vealed to thee Izdubar the concealed story. 
 
 The original or cuneiform names are mostly written in mono- 
 gram, and therefore difficult to represent in English. The 
 cuneiform account, says Mr. Smith, like the Biblical account, 
 describes the deluge as a punishment on men for their sins. 
 The Greek account of Berosus says nothing of that occasion of 
 the tiood. The dimensions of the ark are unfortunately lost by 
 a fracture which makes the figures illegible. In both cases (see 
 Gen. vi. 19 ff.) animals are taken into the ark for the perpetua- 
 tion of the species. The duration of the flood is shorter in the 
 legend than in the Bible account (Gen. vii. 11, ff.); for the in- 
 scription states that the flood abated on the seventh day, and that 
 the ship remained seven days on the mount before sending out 
 the birds. The accounts differ as to the mount on which the ark 
 rested; but agree as to the building of the altar and the sacrifice 
 on leaving the ark. Our interpreter suggests that the Babylo- 
 nian account may combine two distinct and older traditions ; 
 and further that the Mosaic account appears to be that of an 
 inland people while the Babylonian account appears to be that 
 of a maritime people, i 
 
 II. 
 
 THE MOABITE STONE. 
 Its Discovery. 
 
 This monument which has awakened so much interest among 
 scholars and in the public mind generally, was discovered in 
 1868 by Rev. F. Klein of the Church Missionary Society in 
 Jerusalem. It was found at Dhiban, the Biblical Dibon (Num. 
 xxi. 30; Is. XV. 2, etc.), on the east of the Jordan in the ancient 
 territory of the Moabites. It is a region remote from the ordi- 
 nary route of travellers, and but little known to foreigners. The 
 stone was lying on the ground with the inscription uppermost, 
 measuring about three feet nine inches long, two feet four 
 
 1 Maturer study may modify gome of the readings or conclusions from 
 them , but are not likely to vary rery much the results 
 
234 APPENDIX. 
 
 inches in breadth, and one foot two inches thick. Through the 
 efforts mainlj' of Captain Warren, and of the French vice-consul 
 at Jerusalem, M. Ganneau, an impression (or squeeze so called) 
 was taken of the main block and of certain recovered parts 
 which had been broken off by the Arabs. 
 
 Mr. Deutsch of the British Museum, decides that the charac- 
 ters of this stone are older than many of the Assyrian bi-lingual 
 cylinders which are as old at least as the ninth century b. c. 
 No word occurs in the language of this inscription of which the 
 root does not exist in the Hebrew Bible. It reads in this 
 respect M. de Vogii^ remarks, like a page from the Hebrew 
 Scriptures. The form of the letters is the oldest known to 
 any written language. The Pentateuch was no doubt written 
 in such letters in the time of Moses, and Solomon and Hiram 
 corresponded with each other in such characters. (See Jos. 
 Ant. xii. 9, § 1.) 
 
 Among the various translations of this document (we have 
 them from Ganneau and Derenbourg in French; Noeldeke, 
 Haug, and Schlottmann in German, and Neubauer, Ginsburg, 
 and others in English), that of Dr. Ginsburg is the best for 
 English readers. We insert it here with figures showing the 
 order of the lines as arranged on the stone, some of them being 
 incomplete or illegible, i 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 1. I Mesha am son of Chemoshgad King of Moab, the 2. 
 Dibonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I 
 reigned 3. after my father. And I erected this Stone to Che- 
 mosh at Karcha [a stone of] 4. [Sa]lvation, for he saved me 
 from all despoilers and let me see my desire upon all my ene- 
 mies. 5. and Om[r]i, King of Israel, who oppressed Moab 
 many days, for Chemosh was angry with his 6. [la]nd. His 
 son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In 
 my days he said, [let us go] 7. and I will see my desire on him 
 and his house, and Israel said, I shall destroy it forever. Now 
 Omri took the land 8. Medeba and occupied it [he and his son 
 
 1 The Moabite Stone; a Facsimile of the Inscription, etc. (Lond. 
 1870, pp. 1-45). It contains also the other translations referred to 
 above and is illustrated by valuable notes. The translations of Prof 
 Schlottmann and of M. de Vogiie will be found in The Recovery ofJeru- 
 salem, pp. 396-399 (1871). 
 
APPENDIX. 235 
 
 and his son's] son, forty years. And Chemosh [had mercy] 9. 
 on it in my days ; and I built Baal Moon, and made therein 
 the ditch and I [built] 10. Kirjathaim, for the men of Gad 
 dwelled in the land [Atar]oth from of old, and the K[ing of 
 I]srael fortified 11. A[t]aroth, and I assaulted the wall and cap- 
 tured it, and killed all the wa[rriors of]. 12. the wall, for the 
 well pleasing of Chemosh and Moab, and I removed from it 
 all the spoil, and [of 13. fered] it before Chemosh in Kiijath, 
 and I placed therein the men of Siran and the me[n of Zereth] 
 14. Shachar. And Chemosh said to me. Go take Nebo against 
 Israel. [And I] 15. went in the night, and I fought against it 
 from the break of dawn till noon, and I took 16. it, and slew in 
 all seven thousand [men], but I did not kill the women 17. and 
 [ma]idens, for [I] devoted [them] to Ashtar-Chemosh ; and I 
 took, from it 18. [the vesjsels of Jehovah and offered them be- 
 fore Chemosh. And the King of Israel fortif[ied] 19. Jahaz, 
 and occupied it, when he made war against me; and Chemosh 
 drove him out before [me and] 20. I took from Moab two hun- 
 dred men, all chiefs, and fought against Jahaz, and took it, 21. 
 in addition to Dibon. I built Karcha, the wall of the forest, 
 and the wall 22. of the city, and I built the gates thereof, and I 
 built the towers thereof, and I 23. built the palace, and I made 
 the prisons for the men of ... . with [in the] 24. wall. And 
 there was no cistern within the wall in Karcha, and I said to all 
 the people, Make for yourselves 25. every man a cistern in his 
 house. And I dug the ditch for Karcha with the [chosen] men 
 of 26. [Is]rael. I built Aroer and I made the road across the 
 Arnon, 27. I built Beth-Bamoth, for it was destroyed; I built 
 Bezer, for it was cu[t down] 28. by the fifty m[en] of Dibon, 
 for all Dibon was now loyal; and I sav[ed] 29. [from my ene- 
 mies] Bikran, which I added to my land, and I bui[lt] 30. 
 [Beth-Gamul], and Beth-Diblathaim, and Beth-Baal-Meon, and 
 I placed there the Mo[abites] 31. [to take possession of] the 
 land. And Horonaim dwelt therein .... 32. And Chemosh 
 said to me, Go down, make war against Horonaim, and ta[ke 
 it] ... . 33. Chemosh in my days 34. year and I . . . . 
 
 COMMENTARY. 
 
 The tablet thus translated is a commemorative record of the 
 successes of Mesha, king of Moab, against the Israelites during a 
 reign of forty years or more from about b. c. 925. Nearly two 
 
236 APPENDIX. 
 
 thirds of the inscription relate to the deliverance of his land, In 
 the latter part of his reign, from its vassalage to the dynastj"- of 
 Omri. Hitherto, we have known very little concerning the re- 
 lations between Moab and the Israelites during a period of 
 nearly eighty years between the merciless subjugation of the 
 Moabites by David (2 Sam. viii. 2, 11, 12; 1 Chr. xviii. 2, 
 11) and the notice of the revolt after the death of Ahab (2 K. 
 i. 1; xiii. 5 sq.). 
 
 From the stone it would appear that Moab's subjection had 
 not lasted during this whole period, but had ceased perhaps in 
 the time of Solomon and had been reimposed by Omri who 
 had made himself sovereign of the northern kingdom (b. c. 
 935). This tributary connection lasted through the greater part 
 of Omri's dynasty, i. e. during the forty years of the stone, 
 but came to an end under Jehoram who though aided by the 
 kings of Judah and Edom and at times remarkably successful, 
 was unable to quell the rebellion of the Edomite Mesha. This 
 failure of the Israelite king seems to be obscurely admitted in 
 2 K. iii. 27. This deliverance of Moab and the subsequent 
 public enterprises of Mesha which the stone records prepared 
 the way for that long career of prosperity which contemporary 
 and later Hebrew prophets recognize as enjoyed by them. (See 
 Is. XV., xvi.; Jer. xlviii. ; Dan. xi. 41; Am. ii. 1, 2.) 
 
 The following proper names are found both on the monument 
 and in the Hebrew Scriptures: Mesha, Moab, Chamos or 
 Chemos (national god of the Moabites), Omri, Kirjath, Israel, 
 Medeba, Jahveh or Jehovah, Boroz or Bozreh, Kirjathaim, Gad, 
 Ataroth, Sereth or Seban( V), Nebo, Ashtor, or Shemosh, David, 
 Jatar, Dibon, Aroer, Arnon, Beth-Bamoth or Bamoth Bezer, 
 Gamul, Beth-Diblathaim, and conjecturally some others. 
 
 These names both of persons and places common to the stone 
 and the Hebrew history supplement and illustrate the two 
 records, and show at the same time their independence of each 
 other by the slight variations and obscurities which they reveal. 
 
 We may add further that the discovery of this stone confirms 
 the passages of Scripture (1 Sam. vii. 12; xv. 12, and 2 Sam. 
 viii. 13)1 which imply that the Hebrews, like the Egyptians and 
 
 1 In two of the passages the A. V. does not suggest the right mean- 
 ing. In 1 Sam. xv. 12, it should be, '• Set up a pillar or trophy, in- 
 stead of ' place ' " (see Furst, Hebr. Lex. p. 539) ; and in 2 Sam. viii. 13, 
 it should be " Set up a name, or monument," and not "gat him a 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 Assyrians, erected stones for commemorative purposes. ^ It en- 
 couragas the hope that by perseverance, other similar discoveries 
 may be made; it justifies the attempts made at the present 
 time, by the Exploration Societies of England and of this coun- 
 try, to rescue as soon as possible from Arab violence and the 
 ravages of time any similar monuments of sacred interest (and 
 such undoubtedly there are) in the lands of the Bible.2 
 
 name." In 1 Sam. -vii. 12, the monumental stone " Ebenezer " {stone 
 of help), was Samuel's recognition of Jehovah's interposition for him 
 which he would perpetuate to all time. 
 
 1 On the palaeographic value of this inscription the reader may see 
 Prof. G. Kawlinson, on "the Moabite Stone" {Contemporary Review, 
 Aug. 1870, London), and Rev. W. Ward under "Writing" in Smith's 
 Bibl. Diet. iv. p. 3577 ff. (Amer. ed.), and Bibl. Sacr. art. iii. Oct. 1870. 
 
 2 Our Work in Palestine (published by the Exploration Fund, Lond. 
 1872 and New York, 1873), states what their labors there have already 
 accomplished, and what their plans and hopes are for the future. 
 
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