is between _Amenophis_ and _Mœris_, and saith that he built _Memphis_, and
fortified it to admiration with a mighty rampart of earth, and a broad and
deep trench, which was filled with the water of the _Nile_, and made there
a vast and deep Lake for receiving the water of the _Nile_ in the time of
its overflowing, and built palaces in the city; and that this place was so
commodiously seated that most of the Kings who Reigned after him preferred
it before _Thebes_, and removed the Court from thence to this place, so
that the magnificence of _Thebes_ from that time began to decrease, and
that of _Memphis_ to increase, 'till _Alexander_ King of _Macedon_ built
_Alexandria_. These great works of _Uchoreus_ and those of _Mœris_ savour
of one and the same genius, and were certainly done by one and the same
King, distinguished into two by a corruption of the name as above; for this
Lake of _Uchoreus_ was certainly the same with that of _Mœris_.
After the example of the two brick Pyramids made by _Mœris_, the three next
Kings, _Cheops_, _Cephren_ and _Mycerinus_ built the three great Pyramids
at _Memphis_; and therefore Reigned in that city. _Cheops_ shut up the
Temples of the _Nomes_, and prohibited the worship of the Gods of _Egypt_,
designing no doubt to have been worshipped himself after death: he is
called also _Chembis_, _Chemmis_, _Chemnis_, _Phiops_, _Apathus_,
_Apappus_, _Suphis_, _Saophis_, _Syphoas_, _Syphaosis_, _Soiphis_,
_Syphuris_, _Anoiphis_, _Anoisis_: he built the biggest of the three great
Pyramids which stand together; and his brother _Cephren_ or _Cerpheres_
built the second, and his son _Mycerinus_ founded the third: this last King
was celebrated for clemency and justice; he shut up the dead body of his
daughter in a hollow ox, and caused her to be worshipped daily with odours:
he is called also _Cheres_, _Cherinus_, _Bicheres_, _Moscheres_,
_Mencheres_. He died before the third Pyramid was finished, and his sister
and successor _Nitocris_ finished it.
Then Reigned _Asychis_, who built the eastern portico of the Temple of
_Vulcan_ very splendidly, and among the small Pyramids a large Pyramid of
brick, made of mud dug out of the Lake of _Mœris_: and these are the Kings
who Reigned at _Memphis_, and spent their time in adorning that city, until
the _Ethiopians_ and the _Assyrians_ and others revolted, and _Egypt_ lost
all her dominion abroad, and became again divided into several small
Kingdoms.
One of those Kingdoms was I think at _Memphis_, under _Gnephactus_, and his
son and successor _Bocchoris_. _Africanus_ calls _Bocchoris_ a _Saite_; but
_Sais_ at this time had other Kings: _Gnephactus_, otherwise called
_Neochabis_ and _Technatis_, cursed _Menes_ for his luxury, and caused the
curse to be entered in the Temple of _Jupiter_ at _Thebes_; and therefore
Reigned over _Thebais_: and _Bocchoris_ sent in a wild bull upon the God
_Mnevis_ which was worshipped at _Heliopolis_. Another of those Kingdoms
was at _Anysis_, or _Hanes_, _Isa._ xxx. 4. under its King _Anysis_ or
_Amosis_; a third was at _Sais_, under _Stephanathis_, _Nechepsos_, and
_Nechus_; and a fourth was at _Tanis_ or _Zoan_, under _Petubastes_,
_Osorchon_ and _Psammis_: and _Egypt_ being weakened by this division, was
invaded and conquered by the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_, who slew
_Bocchoris_ and _Nechus_, and made _Anysis_ fly. The Olympiads began in the
Reign of _Petubastes_, and the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_ in the 22d year of the
Reign of _Bocchoris_, according to _Africanus_; and therefore the division,
of _Egypt_ into many Kingdoms began before the Olympiads, but not above the
length of two Kings Reigns before them.
After the study of Astronomy was set on foot for the use of navigation, and
the _Egyptians_ by the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars had
determined the length of the Solar year of 365 days, and by other
observations had fixed the Solstices, and formed the fixt Stars into
Asterisms, all which was done in the Reign of _Ammon_, _Sesac_, _Orus_, and
_Memnon_; it may be presumed that they continued to observe the motions of
the Planets; for they called them after the names of their Gods; and
_Nechepsos_ or _Nicepsos_ King of _Sais_, by the assistance of _Petosiris_
a Priest of _Egypt_, invented Astrology, grounding it upon the aspects of
the Planets, and the qualities of the men and women to whom they were
dedicated: and in the beginning of the Reign of _Nabonassar_ King of
_Babylon_, about which time the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_ invaded
_Egypt_, those _Egyptians_ who fled from him to _Babylon_, carried thither
the _Egyptian_ year of 365 days, and the study of Astronomy and Astrology,
and founded the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_; dating it from the first year of
that King's Reign, which was the 22d year _of Bocchoris_ as above, and
beginning the year on the same day with the _Egyptians_ for the sake of
their calculations. So _Diodorus_ [337]: _they say that the _Chaldæans_ in
_Babylon_, being Colonies of the _Egyptians_, became famous for Astrology,
having learnt it from the Priests of _Egypt__: and _Hestiæus_, who wrote an
history of _Egypt_, speaking of a disaster of the invaded _Egyptians_,
saith [338] that _the Priests who survived this disaster, taking with them
the _Sacra_ of _Jupiter Enyalius_, came to _Sennaar_ in _Babylonia__. From
the 15th year of _Asa_, in which _Zerah_ was beaten, and _Menes_ or
_Amenophis_ began his Reign, to the beginning of the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_,
were 200 years; and this interval of time allows room for about nine or ten
Reigns of Kings, at about twenty years to a Reign one with another; and so
many Reigns there were, according to the account set down above out of
_Herodotus_; and therefore that account, as it is the oldest, and was
received by _Herodotus_ from the Priests of _Thebes_, _Memphis_, and
_Heliopolis_, three principal cities of _Egypt_, agrees also with the
course of nature, and leaves no room for the Reigns of the many nameless
Kings which we have omitted. These omitted Kings Reigned before _Mœris_,
and by consequence at _Thebes_; for _Mœris_ translated the seat of the
Empire from _Thebes_ to _Memphis_: they Reigned after _Ramesses_; for
_Ramesses_ was the son and successor of _Menes_, who Reigned next after the
Gods. Now _Menes_ built the body of the Temple of _Vulcan_, _Ramesses_ the
first portico, and _Mœris_ the second portico thereof; but the _Egyptians_,
for making their Gods and Kingdom look ancient, have inserted between the
builders of the first and second portico of this Temple, three hundred and
thirty Kings of _Thebes_, and supposed that these Kings Reigned eleven
thousand years; as if any Temple could stand so long. This being a manifest
fiction, we have corrected it, by omitting those interposed Kings, who did
nothing, and placing _Mœris_ the builder of the second portico, next after
_Ramesses_ the builder of the first.
In the Dynasties of _Manetho_; _Sevechus_ is made the successor of
_Sabacon_, being his son; and perhaps he is the _Sethon_ of _Herodotus_,
who became Priest of _Vulcan_, and neglected military discipline: for
_Sabacon_ is that _So_ or _Sua_ with whom _Hoshea_ King of _Israel_
conspired against the _Assyrians_, in the fourth year of _Hezekiah_, _Anno
Nabonass._ 24. _Herodotus_ tells us twice or thrice, that _Sabacon_ after a
long Reign of fifty years relinquished _Egypt_ voluntarily, and that
_Anysis_ who fled from him, returned and Reigned again in the lower _Egypt_
after him, or rather with him: and that _Sethon_ Reigned after _Sabacon_,
and went to _Pelusium_ against the army of _Sennacherib_, and was relieved
with a great multitude of mice, which eat the bow-strings of the
_Assyrians_; in memory of which the statue of _Sethon_, seen by
_Herodotus_, [339] was made with a Mouse in its hand. A Mouse was the
_Egyptian_ symbol of destruction, and the Mouse in the hand of _Sethon_
signifies only that he overcame the _Assyrians_ with a great destruction.
The Scriptures inform us, that when _Sennacherib_ invaded _Judæa_ and
besieged _Lachish_ and _Libnah_, which was in the 14th year of _Hezekiah_,
_Anno Nabonass._ 34. the King of _Judah_ trusted upon _Pharaoh_ King of
_Egypt_, that is upon _Sethon_, and that _Tirhakah_ King of _Ethiopia_ came
out also to fight against _Sennacherib_, 2 _King._ xviii. 21. & xix. 9.
which makes it probable, that when _Sennacherib_ heard of the Kings of
_Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_ coming against him, he went from _Libnah_ towards
_Pelusium_ to oppose them, and was there surprized and set upon in the
night by them both, and routed with as great a slaughter as if the
bow-strings of the _Assyrians_ had been eaten by mice. Some think that the
_Assyrians_ were smitten by lightning, or by a fiery wind which sometimes
comes from the southern parts of _Chaldæa_. After this victory _Tirhakah_
succeeding _Sethon_, carried his arms westward through _Libya_ and _Afric_
to the mouth of the _Straits_: but _Herodotus_ tells us, that the Priests
of _Egypt_ reckoned _Sethon_ the last King of _Egypt_, who Reigned before
the division of _Egypt_ into twelve contemporary Kingdoms, and by
consequence before the invasion of _Egypt_ by the _Assyrians_.
For _Asserhadon_ King of _Assyria_, in the 68th year of _Nabonassar_, after
he had Reigned about thirty years over _Assyria_, invaded the Kingdom of
_Babylon_, and then carried into captivity many people from _Babylon_, and
_Cuthah_, and _Ava_, and _Hamath_, and _Sepharvaim_, placing them in the
Regions of _Samaria_ and _Damascus_: and from thence they carried into
_Babylonia_ and _Assyria_ the remainder of the people of _Israel_ and
_Syria_, which had been left there by _Tiglath-pileser_. This captivity was
65 years after the first year of _Ahaz_, _Isa_. vii. 1, 8. & 2. _King._ xv.
37. & xvi. 5. and by consequence in the twentieth year of _Manasseh_, _Anno
Nabonass._ 69. and then _Tartan_ was sent by _Asserhadon_ with an army
against _Ashdod_ or _Azoth_, a town at that time subject to _Judæa_, 2
_Chron._ xxvi. 6. and took it, _Isa._ xx. 1: and this post being secured,
the _Assyrians_ beat the _Jews_, and captivated _Manasseh_, and subdued
_Judæa_: and in these wars, _Isaiah_ was saw'd asunder by the command of
_Manasseh_, for prophesying against him. Then the _Assyrians_ invaded and
subdued _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_, and carried the _Egyptians_ and
_Ethiopians_ into captivity, and thereby put an end to the Reign of the
_Ethiopians_ over _Egypt_, _Isa._ vii. 18. & viii. 7. & x. 11, 12, & xix.
23. & xx. 4. In this war the city _No-Ammon_ or _Thebes_, which had
hitherto continued in a flourishing condition, was miserably wasted and led
into captivity, as is described by _Nahum_, chap. iii. ver. 8, 9, 10; for
_Nahum_ wrote after the last invasion of _Judæa_ by the _Assyrians_, chap.
i. ver. 15; and therefore describes this captivity as fresh in memory: and
this and other following invasions of _Egypt_ under _Nebuchadnezzar_ and
_Cambyses_, put an end to the glory of that city. _Asserhadon_ Reigned over
the _Egyptians_ and _Ethiopians_ three years, _Isa._ xx. 3, 4. that is
until his death, which was in the year of _Nabonassar_ 81, and therefore
invaded _Egypt_, and put an end to the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ over the
_Egyptians_, in the year of _Nabonassar_ 78; so that the _Ethiopians_ under
_Sabacon_, and his successors _Sethon_ and _Tirhakah_, Reigned over _Egypt_
about 80 years: _Herodotus_ allots 50 years to _Sabacon_, and _Africanus_
fourteen years to _Sethon_, and eighteen to _Tirhakah_.
The division of _Egypt_ into more Kingdoms than one, both before and after
the Reign of the _Ethiopians_, and the conquest of the _Egyptians_ by
_Asserhadon_, the prophet _Isaiah_ [340] seems allude unto in these words:
_I will set_, saith he, _the _Egyptians_ against the _Egyptians_, and they
shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his
neighbour, city against city, and Kingdom against Kingdom, and the Spirit
of _Egypt_ shall fail.--And the _Egyptians_ will I give over into the hand
of a cruel Lord _[viz. _Asserhadon_]_ and a fierce King shall Reign over
them.--Surely the Princes of _Zoan_ _[Tanis]_ are fools, the counsel of the
wise Councellors of _Pharaoh_ is become brutish: how long say ye unto
_Pharaoh_, I am the son of the ancient Kings.--The Princes of _Zoan_ are be
come fools: the Princes of _Noph_ _[Memphis]_ are deceived,--even they that
were the stay of the tribes thereof.--In that day there shall be a high-way
out of _Egypt_ into _Assyria_, and the _Egyptians_ shall serve the
_Assyrians__.
After the death of _Asserhadon_, _Egypt_ remained subject to twelve
contemporary Kings, who revolted from the _Assyrians_, and Reigned together
fifteen years; including I think the three years of _Asserhadon_, because
the _Egyptians_ do not reckon him among their Kings. They [341] built the
Labyrinth adjoining to the Lake of _Mœris_ which was a very magnificent
structure, with twelve Halls in it, for their Palaces: and then
_Psammitichus_, who was one of the twelve, conquered all the rest. He built
the last Portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_, founded by _Menes_ about 260
years before, and Reigned 54 years, including the fifteen years of his
Reign with the twelve Kings. Then Reigned _Nechaoh_ or _Nechus_, 17 years;
_Psammis_ six years; _Vaphres_, _Apries_, _Eraphius_, or _Hophra_, 25
years; _Amasis_ 44 years; and _Psammenitus_ six months, according to
_Herodotus_. _Egypt_ was subdued by _Nebuchadnezzar_ in the last year but
one of _Hophra_, _Anno Nabonass._ 178, and remained in subjection to
_Babylon_ forty years, _Jer._ xliv. 30. & _Ezek._ xxix. 12, 13, 14, 17, 19.
that is, almost all the Reign of _Amasis_, a plebeian set over _Egypt_ by
the conqueror: the forty years ended with the death of _Cyrus_; for he
Reigned over _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_, according to _Xenophon_. At that time
therefore those nations recovered their liberty; but after four or five
years more they were invaded and conquered by _Cambyses_, _Anno Nabonass._
223 or 224, and have almost ever since remained in servitude, as was
predicted by the Prophets.
The Reigns of _Psammitichus_, _Nechus_, _Psammis_, _Apries_, _Amasis_, and
_Psammenitus_, set down by _Herodotus_, amount unto 146½ years: and so many
years there were from the 78th year of _Nabonassar_, in which the dominion
of the _Ethiopians_ over _Egypt_ came to an end, unto the 224th year of
_Nabonassar_, in which _Cambyses_ invaded _Egypt_, and put an end to that
Kingdom: which is an argument that _Herodotus_ was circumspect and faithful
in his narrations, and has given us a good account of the antiquities of
_Egypt_, so far as the Priests of _Egypt_ at _Thebes_, _Memphis_, and
_Heliopolis_, and the _Carians_ and _Ionians_ inhabiting _Egypt_, were then
able to inform him: for he consulted them all; and the _Cares_ and
_Ionians_ had been in _Egypt_ from the time of the Reign of the twelve
contemporary Kings.
_Pliny_ [342] tells us, that the _Egyptian_ Obelisks were of a sort of
stone dug near _Syene_ in _Thebais_, and that the first Obelisk was made by
_Mitres_, who Reigned in _Heliopolis_; that is, by _Mephres_ the
predecessor of _Misphragmuthosis_; and that afterwards other Kings made
others: _Sochis_, that is _Sesochis_, or _Sesac_, four, each of 48 cubits
in length; _Ramises_, that is _Ramesses_, two; _Smarres_, that is _Mœris_,
one of 48 cubits in length; _Eraphius_, or _Hophra_, one of 48; and
_Nectabis_, or _Nectenabis_, one of 80. _Mephres_ therefore extended his
dominion over all the upper _Egypt_, from _Syene_ to _Heliopolis_, and
after him, _Misphragmuthosis_ and _Amosis_, Reigned _Ammon_ and _Sesac_,
who erected the first great Empire in the world: and these four, _Amosis_,
_Ammon_, _Sesac_, and _Orus_, Reigned in the four ages of the great Gods of
_Egypt_; and _Amenophis_ was the _Menes_ who Reigned next after them: he
was Succeeded by _Ramesses_, and _Mœris_, and some time after by _Hophra_.
_Diodorus_ [343] recites the same Kings of _Egypt_ with _Herodotus_, but in
a more confused order, and repeats some of them twice, or oftener, under
various names, and omits others: his Kings are these; _Jupiter Ammon_ and
_Juno_, _Osiris_ and _Isis_, _Horus_, _Menes_, _Busiris_ I, _Busiris_ II,
_Osymanduas_, _Uchoreus_, _Myris_, _Sesoosis_ I, _Sesoosis_ II, _Amasis_,
_Actisanes_, _Mendes_ or _Marrus_, _Proteus_, _Remphis_, _Chembis_,
_Cephren_, _Mycerinus_ or _Cherinus_, _Gnephacthus_, _Bocchoris_,
_Sabacon_, twelve contemporary Kings, _Psammitichus_, * * _Apries_,
_Amasis_. Here I take _Sesoosis_ I, and _Sesoosis_ II, _Busiris_ I, and
_Busiris_ II, to be the same Kings with _Osiris_ and _Orus_: also
_Osymanduas_ to be the same with _Amenophis_ or _Menes_: also _Amasis_, and
_Actisanes_, an _Ethiopian_ who conquered him, to be the same with _Anysis_
and _Sabacon_ in _Herodotus_: and _Uchoreus_, _Mendes_, _Marrus_, and
_Myris_, to be only several names of one and the same King. Whence the
catalogue of _Diodorus_ will be reduced to this: _Jupiter Ammon_ and
_Juno_; _Osiris_, _Busiris_ or _Sesoosis_, and _Isis_; _Horus_, _Busiris_
II, or _Sesoosis_ II; _Menes_, or _Osymanduas_; _Proteus_; _Remphis_ or
_Ramesses_; _Uchoreus_, _Mendes_, _Marrus_, or _Myris_; _Chembis_ or
_Cheops_; _Cephren_; _Mycerinus_; * * _Gnephacthus_; _Bocchoris_; _Amasis_,
or _Anysis_; _Actisanes_, or _Sabacon_; * twelve contemporary Kings;
_Psammitichus_; * * _Apries_; _Amasis_: to which, if in their proper places
you add _Nitocris_, _Asychis_, _Sethon_, _Nechus_, and _Psammis,_ you will
have the catalogue of _Herodotus_.
The Dynasties of _Manetho_ and _Eratosthenes_ seem to be filled with many
such names of Kings as _Herodotus_ omitted: when it shall be made appear
that any of them Reigned in _Egypt_ after the expulsion of the Shepherds,
and were different from the Kings described above, they may be inserted in
their proper places.
_Egypt_ was conquered by the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_, about the
beginning of the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_, or perhaps three or four years
before, that is, about three hundred years before _Herodotus_ wrote his
history; and about eighty years after that conquest, it was conquered again
by the _Assyrians_ under _Asserhadon_: and the history of _Egypt_ set down
by _Herodotus_ from the time of this last conquest, is right both as to the
number, and order, and names of the Kings, and as to the length of their
Reigns: and therein he is now followed by historians, being the only author
who hath given us so good a history of _Egypt_, for that interval of time.
If his history of the earlier times be less accurate, it was because the
archives of _Egypt_ had suffered much during the Reign of the _Ethiopians_
and _Assyrians_: and it is not likely that the Priests of _Egypt_, who
lived two or three hundred years after the days of _Herodotus_, could mend
the matter: on the contrary, after _Cambyses_ had carried away the records
of _Egypt_, the Priests were daily feigning new Kings, to make their Gods
and nation look ancient; as is manifest by comparing _Herodotus_ with
_Diodorus Siculus_, and both of them with what _Plato_ relates out of the
Poem of _Solon_: which Poem makes the wars of the great Gods of _Egypt_
against the _Greeks_, to have been in the days of _Cecrops_, _Erechtheus_
and _Erichthonius_, and a little before those of _Theseus_; these Gods at
that time instituting Temples and Sacred Rites to themselves. I have
therefore chosen to rely upon the stories related to _Herodotus_ by the
Priests of _Egypt_ in those days, and corrected by the Poem of _Solon_, so
as to make these Gods of _Egypt_ no older than _Cecrops_ and _Erechtheus_,
and their successor _Menes_ no older than _Theseus_ and _Memnon_, and the
Temple of _Vulcan_ not above 280 years in building: rather than to correct
_Herodotus_ by _Manetho_, _Eratosthenes_, _Diodorus_, and others, who lived
after the Priests of _Egypt_ had corrupted their Antiquities much more than
they had done in the days of _Herodotus_.
* * * * *
CHAP. III.
_Of the _ASSYRIAN_ Empire._
As the Gods or ancient Deified Kings and Princes of _Greece_, _Egypt_, and
_Syria_ of _Damascus_, have been made much ancienter than the truth, so
have those of _Chaldæa_ and _Assyria_: for _Diodorus_ [344] tells us, that
when _Alexander_ the great was in _Asia_, the _Chaldæans_ reckoned 473000
years since they first began to observe the Stars; and _Ctesias_, and the
ancient _Greek_ and _Latin_ writers who copy from him, have made the
_Assyrian_ Empire as old as _Noah_'s flood within 60 or 70 years, and tell
us the names of all the Kings of _Assyria_ downwards, from _Belus_ and his
feigned son _Ninus_, to _Sardanapalus_ the last King of that Monarchy: but
the names of his Kings, except two or three, have no affinity with the
names of the _Assyrians_ mentioned in Scripture; for the _Assyrians_ were
usually named after their Gods, _Bel_ or _Pul_; _Chaddon_, _Hadon_, _Adon_,
or _Adonis_; _Melech_ or _Moloch_; _Atsur_ or _Assur_; _Nebo_; _Nergal_;
_Merodach_: as in these names, _Pul_, _Tiglath-Pul-Assur_, _Salman-Assur_,
_Adra-Melech_, _Shar-Assur_, _Assur-Hadon_, _Sardanapalus_ or
_Assur-Hadon-Pul_, _Nabonassar_ or _Nebo-Adon-Assur_, _Bel Adon_,
_Chiniladon_ or _Chen-El-Adon_, _Nebo-Pul-Assur_, _Nebo-Chaddon-Assur_,
_Nebuzaradon_ or _Nebo-Assur-Adon_, _Nergal-Assur_, _Nergal-Shar-Assur_,
_Labo-Assur-dach_, _Sheseb-Assur_, _Beltes-Assur_, _Evil-Merodach_,
_Shamgar-Nebo_, _Rabsaris_ or _Rab-Assur_, _Nebo-Shashban_, _Mardocempad_
or _Merodach-Empad_. Such were the _Assyrian_ names; but those in _Ctesias_
are of another sort, except _Sardanapalus_, whose name he had met with in
_Herodotus_. He makes _Semiramis_ as old as the first _Belus_; but
_Herodotus_ tells us, that she was but five Generations older than the
mother of _Labynetus_: he represents that the city _Ninus_ was founded by a
man of the same name, and _Babylon_ by _Semiramis_; whereas either _Nimrod_
or _Assur_ founded those and other cities, without giving his own name to
any of them: he makes the _Assyrian_ Empire continue about 1360 years,
whereas _Herodotus_ tells us that it lasted only 500 years, and the numbers
of _Herodotus_ concerning those ancient times are all of them too long: he
makes _Nineveh_ destroyed by the _Medes_ and _Babylonians_, three hundred
years before the Reign of _Astibares_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_ who destroyed
it, and sets down the names of seven or eight feigned Kings of _Media_,
between the destruction of _Nineveh_ and the Reigns of _Astibares_ and
_Nebuchadnezzar_, as if the Empire of the _Medes_, erected upon the ruins
of the _Assyrian_ Empire, had lasted 300 years, whereas it lasted but 72:
and the true Empire of the _Assyrians_ described in Scripture, whose Kings
were _Pul_, _Tiglath-pilesar_, _Shalmaneser_, _Sennacherib_, _Asserhadon_,
&c. he mentions not, tho' much nearer to his own times; which shews that he
was ignorant of the antiquities of the _Assyrians_. Yet something of truth
there is in the bottom of some of his stories, as there uses to be in
Romances; as, that _Nineveh_ was destroyed by the _Medes_ and
_Babylonians_; that _Sardanapalus_ was the last King of the _Assyrian_
Empire; and that _Astibares_ and _Astyages_ were Kings of the _Medes_: but
he has made all things too ancient, and out of vainglory taken too great a
liberty in feigning names and stories to please his reader.
When the _Jews_ were newly returned from the _Babylonian_ captivity, they
confessed their Sins in this manner, _Now therefore our God, ---- let not
all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us, on our
Kings, on our Princes, and on our Priests, and on our Prophets, and on our
fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the Kings of _Assyria_,
unto this day_; _Nehem._ ix. 32. that is, since the time of the Kingdom of
_Assyria_, or since the rise of that Empire; and therefore the _Assyrian_
Empire arose when the Kings of _Assyria_ began to afflict the inhabitants
of _Palestine_; which was in the days of _Pul_: he and his successors
afflicted _Israel_, and conquered the nations round about them; and upon
the ruin of many small and ancient Kingdoms erected their Empire,
conquering the _Medes_ as well as other nations: but of these conquests
_Ctesias_ knew not a word, no not so much as the names of the conquerors,
or that there was an _Assyrian_ Empire then standing; for he supposes that
the _Medes_ Reigned at that time, and that the _Assyrian_ Empire was at an
end above 250 years before it began.