In the Book of Tobit in the Apocrypha you will find mention in
several places of a man called Achiacharus, who was a relation of
Tobit, In the first chapter (verses 21, 22) you read that he was a
great officer at the court of king Esarhaddon; and at the end of the
book (xiv. 10) you may learn something about his story; for Tobit
says to his son Tobias, "Remember, my son, how Aman handled
Achiacharus that brought him up, how out of light he brought him into
darkness, and how he rewarded him again; yet Achiacharus was saved,
but the other had his reward, for he went down into darkness," Then
it goes on, "Manasses gave alms, and escaped the snare that was set
for him, but Aman fell into the snare and perished."
Now of late years the book has come to light which tells the whole
history of Achiacharus (or Ahikar, as we shall call him), and you
will see as you go on that in the Book of Tobit some mistakes have
been made in the names, and that instead of Aman we shall have to
read Nadan, and instead of Manasses, Achiacharus.
This is the story of Ahikar. He is made to tell it himself, and he
says:
When I was a young man I was steward to the great king Esarhaddon,
the king of Nineveh. I was rich, and had great estates and beautiful
palaces; I had everything that my heart desired, except one thing:
and that was, a son. I had no child to comfort me and to inherit my
great possessions after me.
Many times did I go to the temples of the gods of Nineveh and offer
them sacrifices and gifts and burn incense before them; and I said,
"O gods, give me a son, that I may enjoy his company while I live,
and when I die he may close my eyes and bury me. And verily I am so
rich that if every day from the day of my death until he died he were
to take a bushel of my money and cast it away, he would not come to
the end of it before his death." But the gods of Nineveh made me no
answer.
Then I bethought me of the God of Israel, of whom I had learned when
I was a child (for I came out of the land of the Hebrews), and I
turned to Him and besought Him in like manner that He would grant me
a son. And a voice came to me saying, "Forasmuch as thou hast put
thy trust in false gods and sacrificed to them, thou shalt have no
son. Yet this do: take thy sister's son Nadan, who is a young child,
and bring him up as thine own son."
So I took Nadan and gave him to eight nurses to bring him up. He was
fed on all manner of dainties, he was clothed in purple and scarlet,
and slept on the softest beds. He grew up like a fair young
cedar-tree; and I instructed him in all my wisdom, until I was sixty
years old.
One day the king Esarhaddon returned from journeying through his
kingdom, and sent for me and said, "Ahikar, my friend, my faithful
and wise counsellor, you are becoming an old man. If you die, who
shall succeed you and serve me in your place?" I answered, "O king,
live for ever. There is with me the son of my sister, whom I have
brought up as my own son, and have instructed him in all the ways of
wisdom." The king said, "Go, bring him before me, and if I take
pleasure in him, he shall serve me in your stead, and you can have
rest from your labours, and joy and honour in your old age." So I
brought Nadan to the king; and when the king saw him, he delighted in
him and said, "The gods preserve you, my son!" And to me he said,
"As you have served me and my father Sennacherib, so shall this youth
serve me, and I will honour him and promote him for your sake." And I
gave thanks to the king, and we went out, I and Nadan, from his
presence. And I took Nadan home and spoke to him in private, telling
him how he should conduct himself, and of what men he ought to
beware, and whom he should trust. All these precepts are written in
the book of Ahikar, but they are not put down here.
Now I hoped that Nadan would pay heed to my words of instruction; but
when the king had exalted him, and taken him to live at the palace
with him, I was grieved to see that Nadan began to become wasteful
and unruly, and that, if I had suffered him, he would have squandered
my money and ill-treated my servants. I admonished him, therefore,
but it was in vain. He said, "My uncle Ahikar is getting old and
timorous: his wisdom is failing him: one need not pay much heed to
what he says." And by degrees I saw that the king began to believe
Nadan, and that he no longer received me with such honour as in the
old days: and this was a grief to me.
Now as I no longer had Nadan to live with me, I considered, and took
his younger brother Nabu-zardan into my house. But when Nadan heard
of this, he was very angry, for he thought, "Is this old man going to
leave all his possessions to my younger brother, and turn me out?"
So he began to think and plot how he might put me out of the way, and
himself gain favour with the king.
And at last he sat down and wrote certain letters. In the first he
deceitfully imitated my handwriting, and sealed it with my seal. It
was written in my name to the king of Persia, saying, "From Ahikar,
scribe and treasurer to Esar-haddon, king of Assyria, greeting! As
soon as thou hast received this letter, set forth with thine host,
and come to the plain of the south, on the 25th day of this month,
and I will guide thee to Nineveh, and thou shalt take the city and
possess the kingdom without any strife or battle." This letter he
left lying in my chamber in the palace.
The other was written to me in the king's name, and sealed with his
seal, "To Ahikar from Esarhaddon, greeting! As soon as thou receivest
this letter, assemble the army, and go to the plain of the south, on
the 25th day of this month; and when thou shalt see me, range the
troops as if for battle, and come quickly towards me: for I have the
ambassadors of the king of Egypt with me, and I desire that they
should see the might of my army." This letter Nadan sent to me, and I
began to make preparations as it commanded me. Thereafter Nadan took
the first letter, feigning to have found it in my chamber, and
brought it to king Esarhaddon. And when the king had read it, he was
very angry and said, "O ye gods! what have I done to Ahikar that he
should seek to betray me thus?" Nadan said, "Perhaps, my lord, it is
a forgery; be not too soon disturbed; let us wait till the day
appointed, and then go to the plain of the south; if Ahikar is not
there, we shall know that the letter is not his; but if he is there,
and armed men with him, I fear that he must indeed be conspiring
against thee." And the king consented.
On the twenty-fifth day of the month, therefore, the king and Nadan
set forth and rode out to the plain of the south. And I, as I had
been commanded, was there with the great army which I had gathered;
and so soon as I saw the king and his train approaching, I drew up
the soldiers in battle array and marched quickly towards him, and the
soldiers waved their weapons and shouted, and there was a great
noise. Then the king was very sorely troubled, for he was sure that I
had rebelled against him. But Nadan said, "Go back, my lord king, to
the palace; I will capture that evil old man and bring him before
you." And the king departed with his servants.
But Nadan rode up to me and said, "All that you have done is right,
and well performed; the king is greatly pleased with you, and desires
that you will send away the soldiers to their homes and come before
him alone to receive your reward." So we rode into the city, and he
brought me into the palace, where the king was seated on his throne,
and all his servants about him; and I perceived that the king was in
displeasure, but I knew not why. Then he put into my hand the letter
which was written in my name to the king of Persia, and said, "Read
that letter." And when I had read it, my knees knocked against each
other, and I was speechless; I sought for a word of wisdom, but I
found none. Nadan cried aloud, "O wicked and foolish old man, come
forth from the presence of the king; stretch out thy hands for the
cords and thy feet for the fetters!" And they bound me.
Then the king Esarhaddon turned away his face from me and spoke to
Nabushemak, the chief of the executioners, who had been my friend,
and said, "Take Ahikar, smite off his head, and remove it a hundred
ells from his body." And I fell on my face and said, "O king, live
for ever! It is thy will to slay me, yet I know that I have not
sinned against thee. Now, my lord, I beseech thee, command that I may
be slain before the door of my own house, and that my body may be
given to my wife to be buried." And the king gave commandment
accordingly.
Now as they were taking me to my house, I sent a messenger before me
to my wife Ashfagni, who was a very wise woman. And she, when she
heard what had happened, did not waste time in making lamentation,
but hastened and prepared refreshment for Nabushemak and for the
slaves that were his helpers. She came forth to meet them, and
accompanied them into the house, and set food and wine before them;
and the slaves drank of the wine till they were drunken and fell into
a deep sleep, every one in his place.
Then I said to Nabushemak, "Do you remember how, when the father of
the king delivered you to me to be put to death, I spared you because
I knew that you had not done that for which you were condemned; and
how, when the king learned that you were guiltless, he took you into
favour again, and rewarded me? Now I swear to you that I likewise
have not conspired against king Esarhaddon, but I have been falsely
accused. Save me therefore; but lest the rumour should be spread
abroad that I have not been put to death, do this. I have a prisoner
in my house who is condemned justly to death. Take my clothes and put
them upon him, and smite off his head; behold, your servants are
drunken and will perceive nothing, and I will be in hiding until the
day when the truth is made known."
And Nabushemak was glad--for he was my friend--and agreed; and it was
done as I advised. The slaves took the prisoner and smote off his
head, perceiving nothing, and gave his body to be buried instead of
me; and it was published throughout all Nineveh and Assyria that
Ahikar was dead.
Then Nabushemak and my wife Ashfagni made a hiding-place in the
ground; it was four cubits long and three broad and five in height,
and it was covered with a stone. There they hid me, and gave me bread
and water to eat, secretly, and there I abode many days. But
Esarhaddon was grieved in spirit, and said to Nadan, "Go to the
house of Ahikar and celebrate his funeral, for he was thy uncle, and
served me and my father faithfully for a long time." So Nadan came to
my house; but he did not celebrate my funeral. He gathered together
strange men and women, and feasted with them, and sang, and drank,
and was drunken. He mocked at my wife Ashfagni, and as for my
servants, who loved me and had been long in my house, he stripped
them and beat them and ill-treated them until I heard the voice of
their weeping and crying in my hiding-place, and I prayed the Most
High to deliver us and to reward Nadan according to his works.