accession. He reigned only six or seven years, and associated his son,
Seti I., with himself in the government from his second year of power.
No sooner had Seti celebrated his father's obsequies than he set out for
war against Southern Syria, then in open revolt. He captured Hebron,
marched to Gaza, and then northward to Lebanon, where he received the
homage of the Phoenicians, and returned in triumph to Egypt, bringing
troops of captives.
By Seti I. were built the most wonderful of the halls at Karaak and
Luxor, which render his name for ever illustrious. He associated with
him his son, still very young, who became renowned as Ramses II., one of
the greatest warriors and builders amongst all the rulers of Egypt The
monuments and temples erected by this king also are among the wonders of
the world. He married a Hittite princess when he was more than sixty.
This alliance secured a long period of peace and prosperity. Syria once
more breathed freely, her commerce being under the combined protection
of the two Powers who shared her territory.
Ramses II. was, in his youth, the handsomest man of his time, and old
age and death did not succeed in marring his face sufficiently to
disfigure it, as may be seen in his mummy to-day. Ramses the Great, who
was thus the glory of the XIXth Dynasty, reigned sixty-eight years, and
lived to the age of 100, when he passed away peacefully at Thebes. Under
his successors, Minephtah, Seti II., Amenemis and Siphtah, the nation
became decadent, though there were transient gleams of prosperity, as
when Minephtah won a great victory over the Libyans. But after the death
of Siphtah, there were many claimants for the Crown, and anarchy
prevailed from one end of the Nile valley to the other.
_V.--The Rise of the Assyrian Empire_
Ramses III., a descendant of Ramses II., was the founder of the last
dynasty which was able to retain the supremacy of Egypt over the
Oriental world. He took for his hero Ramses the Great, and endeavoured
to rival him in everything, and for a period the imperial power revived.
In the fifth year of his reign he was able to repulse the confederated
Libyans with complete success. Victories over other enemies followed,
and also peace and prosperity.
The cessation of Egyptian authority over those countries in which it had
so long prevailed did not at once do away with the deep impression it
had made on their constitution and customs. Syria and Phoenicia had
become, as it were, covered with an African veneer, both religion and
language being affected by Egyptian influence. But the Phoenicians
became absorbed in commercial pursuits, and failed to aspire to the
inheritance which the Egyptians were letting slip. Coeval with the
decline of the power of the latter was that of the Hittites.
The Babylonian Empire likewise degenerated under the Cossæan kings, and
gave way to the ascendancy of Assyria, which came to regard Babylon with
deadly hatred. The capitals of the two countries were not more than 185
miles apart. The line of demarcation followed one of the many canals
between the Tigris and Euphrates. It then crossed the Tigris and was
formed by one of the rivers draining the Iranian table-land--the Upper
Zab, the Radanu, or the Turnat. Each of the two states strove by every
means in its power to stretch its boundary to the farthest limits, and
the narrow area was the scene of continual war.
Assyria was but a poor and insignificant country when compared with that
of her rival. She occupied, on each side of the middle course of the
Tigris, the territory lying between the 35th and 37th parallels of
latitude. This was a compact and healthy district, well watered by the
streams running from the Iranian plateau, which were regulated by a
network of canals and ditches for irrigation of the whole region. The
provinces thus supplied with water enjoyed a fertility which passed into
a proverb. Thus Assyria was favoured by nature, but she was not well
wooded. The most important of the cities were Assur, Arbeles, Kalakh and
Nineveh.
Assur, dedicated to the deity from which it took its name, placed on the
very edge of the Mesopotamian desert, with the Tigris behind it, was,
during the struggle with the Chaldæan power, exposed to the attacks of
the Babylonian armies; while Nineveh, entrenched behind the Tigris and
the Zab, was secure from any sudden assault. Thus it became the custom
for the kings to pass at Nineveh the trying months of the year, though
Assur remained the official capital and chief sanctuary of the empire,
which began its aggrandisement under Assurballit, by his victory over
the Cossæan kings of Babylon. But the heroic age comes before us in the
career of Shalmaneser I., a powerful sovereign who in a few years
doubled the extent of his dominions. He beautified Assur, but removed
his court to Kalakh. His son, Tukulti-ninip I., made himself master of
Babylon, and was the first of his race who was able to assume the title
of King of Sumir and Akkad.
This first conquest of Chaldæa did not produce lasting results, for the
sons of the hero fought each other for the Crown, and Assyria became the
scene of civil wars. The fortunes of Babylon rose again, but the
depression of Assyria did not last long. Nineveh had become the
metropolis. Confusion was increased in the whole of this vast region of
Asia by the invasion and partial triumph of the Elamites over Babylon.
But these were driven back when Nebuchadrezzar arose in Babylon. To
Merodach he prayed, and "his prayer was heard," and he invaded Elam,
taking its king by surprise and defeating him.
Nebuchadrezzar no longer found any rival to oppose him save the king of
Assyria, whom he attacked; but now his aggression was checked, for
though his forces were successful at first, they were ultimately sent
flying across the frontiers with great loss, through the prowess of
Assurishishi, who became a mighty king in Nineveh. But his son,
Tiglath-pileser, is the first of the great warrior kings of Assyria to
stand out before us with any definite individuality. He immediately, on
his accession, began to employ in aggressive wars the well-equipped army
left by his father, and in three campaigns he regained all the
territories that Shalmaneser I. had lost, and also conquered various
regions of Asia Minor and Syria. In a rising of the Chaldæans he met
with a severe defeat, which he did not long survive, dying about the
year 1100 B.C.
There is only one gleam in the murky night of this period. A certain
Assurirba seems to have crossed Northern Syria, and, following in the
footsteps of his great ancestor, to have penetrated as far as the
Mediterranean; on the rocks of Mount Amanus, facing the sea, he left a
triumphal inscription in which he set forth the mighty deeds he had
accomplished. His good fortune soon forsook him. The Arameans wrested
from him the fortresses of Pitru and Mutkinu, which commanded both banks
of the Euphrates near Carchemish.
What were the causes of this depression from which Babylon suffered at
almost regular intervals, as though stricken with some periodic malady?
The main reason soon becomes apparent if we consider the nature of the
country and the material conditions of its existence. Chaldæa was
neither extensive nor populous enough to afford a solid basis for the
ambition of her princes. Since nearly every man capable of bearing arms
was enrolled in the army, the Chaldæan kings had no difficulty in
raising, at a moment's notice, a force which could be employed to repel
an invasion, or to make a sudden attack on some distant territory; it
was in schemes that required prolonged and sustained effort that they
felt the drawbacks of their position. In that age of hand-to-hand
combats, the mortality in battle was very high; forced marches through
forests and across mountains entailed a heavy loss of men, and three or
four campaigns against a stubborn foe soon reduced the army to a
condition of weakness.
When Nebuchadrezzar I. made war on Assurishishi, he was still weak from
the losses he had incurred during the campaign against Elam, and could
not conduct his attack with the same vigour as had gained him victory on
the banks of the Ulai. In the first year he only secured a few
indecisive advantages; in the second he succumbed.
The same reasons which explain the decadence of Babylon show us the
causes of the periodic eclipses undergone by Assyria after each outburst
of her warlike spirit. The country was now forced to pay for the glories
of Assurishishi and of Tiglath-pileser by falling into an inglorious
state of languor and depression. And ere long newer races asserted
themselves which had gradually come to displace the nations over which
the dynasties of Thutmosis and Ramses had held sway as tributary to
them. The Hebrews on the east, and the Philistines on the southwest,
were about to undertake the conquest of Kharu, as the land which is
known to us as Canaan was styled by the Egyptians.
* * * * *
The Passing of the Empires
Maspero, in the third volume of his great archæological
trilogy, completing his "History of the Ancient Peoples of the
Classic East," deals with the passing in succession of the
supremacies of the Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldæan,
Medo-Persian and Iranian Empires. The period dealt with in
this graphic narrative covers fully five centuries, from 850
B.C. to 330 B.C. M. Maspero in cinematographic style passes
before us the actors in many of the most thrilling of historic
dramas. One excellent feature of his method is his balancing
of evidences. Where Xenophon and Herodotus absolutely differ
he tells what each asserts. With consummate skill also he
arranges his recital like a series of dissolving views,
showing how epochs overlap, and how as Babylon is fading
Assyria is rising, and as the latter in turn is waning Media
is looming into sight. We are, in this third instalment of
Maspero's monumental work, brought to understand how the
decline of one mighty Asiatic empire after another,
culminating in the overthrow of the Persian dominion by
Alexander, prepared at length for the entry of Western nations
on the stage, and how Europe became the heir of the culture
and civilisation of the Orient.
_I.--The Assyrian Revival_
Since the extinction of the race of Nebuchadrezzar I. Babylon had been a
prey to civil discord and foreign invasion. It was a period of calamity
and distress, during which the Arabs or the Arameans ravaged the
country, and an Elamite usurper overthrew the native dynasty and held
authority for seven years. This intruder having died about the year 1030
B.C., a Babylonian of noble extraction expelled the Elamites and
succeeded in bringing the larger part of the dominion under his rule.
Five or six of his descendants passed away and another was feebly
reigning when war broke out afresh with Assyria, and the two armies
encountered each other again on their former battlefield between the
Lower Zab and the Turnat. The Assyrians were victorious under their
king, Tukulti-ninip II., who did not live long to enjoy his triumph. His
son, Assur-nazir-pal, inherited a kingdom which embraced scarcely any of
the countries that had paid tribute to former sovereign, for most of
these had gradually regained their liberty.
Nearly the whole empire had to be re-conquered under much the same
conditions as in the first instance, but Assyria had recovered the
vitality and elasticity of its earlier days. Its army now possessed a
new element. This was the cavalry, properly so called, as an adjunct to
the chariotry. But it must be remembered that the strength and
discipline which the Assyrian troops possessed in such high degree were
common to the military forces of all the great states--Elam, Damascus,
Nairi, the Hittites and Chaldea. Thus, the armies of all these states
being, as a rule, both in strength and numbers much on a par, no single
power was able to inflict on any of the rest such a defeat as would be
its destruction. Twice at least in three centuries a king of Assyria had
entered Babylon, and twice the Babylonians had forced the intruder back.
Profiting by the past, Assur-nazir-pal resolutely avoided those
conflicts in which so many of his predecessors had wasted their lives.
He was content to devote his attention to less dangerous enemies than
the people of Babylonia. Invading Nummi, he quickly captured its chief
cities, then subdued the Kirruri, attacked the fortress of Nishtu, and
pillaged many of the cities around. Bubu, the Chief of Nishtu, was
flayed alive. After a reign of twenty-five years he died in 860 B.C.
A summary of the events in the reign of thirty-five years of his
successor, Shalmaneser III., is contained on the Black Obelisk of
Nimroud, discovered by Layard and preserved in the British Museum. He
conquered the whole country round Lake Van, ravaging the country "as a
savage bull ravages and tramples under his feet the fertile fields." An
attack on Damascus led to a terrible but indecisive battle, Benhadad,
King of Syria, proving himself fully a match for the invader. But a war
with Babylon, lasting for a period of two years, ended with victory for
Assyria, and Shalmaneser, entering the city, went direct to the temple
of E-shaggil, where he offered worship to the local gods.
Memorable events followed, first in connection with Damascus, Ahab, King
of Isræl, Benhadad's ally, and other confederates, had not been
faithful to his suzerainty. Ahab had by treaty agreed to surrender the
city of Ramoth-gilead to the Syrian monarch and had not fulfilled his
pledge. He and Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, had concluded an alliance
against Benhadad, who seized the disputed fortress, and the two had
organised an expedition, which led to the death of Ahab in battle.
Isræl lapsed once more into the position of a vassal to Benhadad, and
long remained in that subjection.
The last days of Shalmaneser were embittered by the revolt of his son,
Assur-dain-pal, and his death occurred in 824 B.C. The kingdom was
shaken by the struggle that ensued between his sons. Samsi-ramman IV.,
the brother of Assurdain-pal, reigned for twelve years; his son,
Ramman-nirari III., had married the Babylonian princess Sammuramat, and
so had secured peace. He was an energetic and capable ruler. To him at
length Damascus made submission and paid tribute. But Menuas, a bold and
able King of Urartu, proved himself a thorn in the side of the Assyrian
king, for he delivered from the yoke of Nineveh the tribes on the
borders of Lake Urmiah and all the adjacent regions.
Everywhere along the Lower Zab, and on the frontier as far as the
Euphrates, the Assyrian outposts were driven back by Menuas, who also
overcame the Hittites and by his campaigns formed that kingdom of Van,
or Armenia, which was quite equal in size to Assyria. He died shortly
before the death of Ramman-nirari, in 784 B.C. His son, Argistis, spent
the first few years of his reign in completing his conquests in the
country north of the Araxes. He was attacked by Shalmaneser IV., son of
Ramman-nirari, but defeated the Assyrians.
Misfortunes accumulated for the rulers and people who had exercised so
wide a sway, and the end of the Second Assyrian Empire was not far off.
Syria was lost under Assur-nirari III., who was also driven from Calah
by sedition in 746 B.C. He died some months later and the dynasty came
to an end, and in 745 a usurper, the leader of the revolt at Calah,
proclaimed himself king under the name of Tiglath-pileser III. The
Second Empire had lasted rather less than a century and a half.
_II.--To the Destruction of Babylon_
Events proved that, at this period at any rate, the decadence of Assyria
was not due to any exhaustion of the race or impoverishment of the
country, but was owing Mainly to the incapacity of its kings and the
lack of energy displayed by their generals. The Assyrian troops had lost
none of their former valour, but their leaders had shown less foresight
and skill. As soon as Tiglath-pileser assumed leadership, the armies
regained their former prestige and supremacy.
The empire still included the original patrimony of Assur and its
ancient colonies on the Upper Tigris, but the buffer provinces,
containing the tribes on the borders of Syria, Namri, Nairi, Melitene,
had thrown off the yoke, as had the Arameans, while Menuas of Armenia
and his son Argistis had by their invasions laid waste the Median
territory. Sharduris III., son of Argistis, succeeded to the throne of
Armenia about 760, and at once overran the district of Babilu, carrying
by storm three royal castles, 23 cities, and 60 villages. He also
captured the castles of the mountaineers of Melitene. Crossing Mount
Taurus about 756, he forced the Hittites to swear allegiance.
It was in the middle of this eighth century B.C., in the days of
Tiglath-pileser III. of Assyria, and Sharduris III. of Armenia, that
Isræl, under Jehoash, and his son Jeroboam II.; inspired by the
exhortations of Elisha the prophet, was rehabilitated for a season,
winning victories over the Syrians and taking vengeance on Damascus, and
then attacking the Moabites. The sudden collapse of Damascus led to the
decline of Syria, but though Jeroboam II. seemed to be firmly seated as
king in Samaria, the downfall of Isræl and Judah alike, as well as of
Tyre, Edom, Gaza, Moab, and Ammon, was foretold by the prophet Amos,
while from the midst of Ephraim the priest-seer, Hosea, was never weary
of reproaching the tribes with their ingratitude and of predicting their
coming desolation.
Ere long, Tiglath-pileser began his campaigns against them by attacking
the Arameans, dwelling on the banks of the Tigris. He overthrew them at
the first encounter. Nabunazir, then king in Babylon, bowed before him
and swore fidelity to him, and he visited Sippar, Nipur, Babylon,
Borsippa, Kuta, Kishu, Dilbat and Uruk, Babylonian "cities without a
peer," and offered sacrifices to all their gods--to Bel Zirbanit, Nebo,
Tashmit, and Nir-gal. This settlement took place in 745 B.C.
His next exploit was the rapid conquest of the mountainous and populous
regions on the shores of the Caspian. And now he ventured to try
conclusions with Armenia and to attack the famous kingdom of Urartu in
the difficult fastnesses round Lakes Van and Urumiah. Crossing the
Euphrates in the spring of 743 B.C., he captured Arpad, and soon
afterwards marched forth to meet the great army of Sharduris. The rout
of the latter was complete, and he fled, after losing 73,000 men. The
victor was covered with glory; yet the triumph cost him dear, for the
forces left him were not sufficient to finish the campaign, nor to
extort allegiance from the Syrian princes who had allied themselves with
Sharduris.
After spending the winter in Nineveh, reorganising his troops, the
Assyrian inaugurated a campaign which ended in the subjugation of
Northern Syria and its incorporation in the empire. Only one difficulty
foiled Tiglath-pileser. He failed to capture the impregnable fortress of
Dhuspas, in which Sharduris had taken refuge. This capital of Urartu
held out against a long siege, and at length the Assyrian army withdrew.
Sharduris remained king as before, but he was utterly spent, and his
power had received a blow from which it never recovered. Since then,
Armenia has more than once challenged fortune, but always with the same
result; it fared no better under Tigranes in the Roman epoch than under
Sharduris in the time of the Assyrians.
As for Egypt at this period, it was ruled over by what is known as the
Bubastite dynasty, so called from the city of Bubastis, in the Delta,
where the Pharaohs of the time, Osorkon I., his son Takeloti I., and his
grandson, Osorkon II., for an interval of fifty years chiefly resided,
abstaining from politics, so that the country enjoyed an interval of
profound peace. But the old cause brought about the fall of this dynasty
also. Military feudalism again developed and Egypt split up into many
petty states. The sceptre at length passed to another dynasty, this time
of Tanite origin. Petubastis was the first of the line, but the power
was really in the hands of the priests, one of whom, Auiti, actually
declared himself king, together with Pharaoh.
Sensational events followed. The weakness of Egypt tempted an uprising
of the Ethiopians, who overran a great part of the country. And it was
at this period that Tiglath-pileser crushed the kingdom of Isræl, King
Pekah being compelled to flee from Samaria into the mountains, while the
inhabitants of Naphtali and Gilead were carried into captivity.
Nabonazir, King of Babylon, who had never swerved from the fidelity he
had sworn to his mighty ally after the events of 745, died in 734 B.C.,
and was succeeded by his son Nabunadinziri, who at the end of two years
was assassinated in a popular rising, and one of his sons, Nabushumukin,
who was concerned in the rising, usurped the crown. He wore it for two
months and twelve days, and then abdicated in favour of a certain
Ukinzir, an Aramean chief.
But Tiglath-pileser gave the new dynasty no time to settle itself firmly
on the throne. The year after his return from Syria he marched against
it. After two years of fighting Ukinzir was overcome and captured.
Tiglath-pileser entered Babylon as conqueror, and caused himself to be
proclaimed King of Sumir and Akkad within its walls. Many centuries had
passed since the two empires had been united under one ruler. His
Babylonian subjects seem to have taken a liking for him; but he did not
long survive his triumph, dying after having reigned eighteen years over
Assyria, and less than two years over Babylon and Chaldæa.
The next great Assyrian name is that of Sargon II., whose origin is not
clear. And the incidents of the revolution which raised him to the
throne are also unknown. The first few years of his reign, which
commenced in 722 B.C., were harassed by revolts among many of the border
tribes, but these he resolutely faced at all points, inflicting
overwhelming defeats on the Medes and the Armenians. The Philistines
were cowed by the storming of Ashdod, and Sargon subdued Phoenicia,
carrying his arms to the sea. This great monarch, while wars raged round
him, found time for extensive works of a peaceful character, completing
the system of irrigation, and erecting buildings at Calah and Nineveh,
and raising a magnificent palace at Dur-Sharrukin.
And here he intended in peace to build a great city, but he was, in 105
B.C., assassinated by an alien soldier. Sennacherib, his son, fighting
on the frontier, was recalled and proclaimed immediately. He either
failed to inherit his father's good fortune, or lacked his ability.
Instead of conciliating the vanquished, he massacred entire tribes, and
failed to re-people these with captive exiles from other nations. So,
towards the end of his reign--which terminated in 681 B.C.--he found
himself ruling over a sparsely inhabited desert where his father had
left him flourishing and populous cities. Phoenicia and Judah formed an
alliance with each other and with Egypt. Sennacherib bestirred himself
and Tyre perished. The Assyrian invader then attacked Judah and besieged
Jerusalem, where Hezekiah was king and Isaiah was prophesying. Whatever
was the cause, half the army perished by pestilence, and Sennacherib led
back the remnants of his force to Nineveh.
The disaster was terrible, but not irreparable, for another and an equal
host could be raised. And it was needed to quell a great Babylonian
revolt led by Merodachbaladan, who had given the signal of rebellion to
the mountain tribes also. After a series of terrible conflicts, Babylon
was taken. And now Sennacherib, who had shown leniency after two
previous revolts, displayed unbounded fury in his triumph. The massacre
lasted several days, none being spared of the citizens. Piles of corpses
filled the streets. The temples and palaces were pillaged, and finally
the city was burnt.
In the midst of his costly and absorbing wars we may well wonder how
Sennacherib found time and means for building villas and temples; yet he
is, nevertheless, the Assyrian king who has left us the largest number
of monuments.