THE RISE OF ASSYRIA.
The campaigns which Tiglath Pilesar, king of Asshur, undertook towards
the West about the end of the twelfth century, and which carried him to
the Upper Euphrates and into Northern Syria, remained without lasting
result. The position which Tiglath Pilesar then had won on the Euphrates
was not maintained by his successors in any one instance. More than 200
years after Tiglath Pilesar we find Tiglath Adar II. (889-883 B.C.)
again in conflict with the same opponents who had given his forefather
such trouble--with the mountaineers of the land of Nairi, the district
between the highland valley of Albak on the Greater Zab and the
Zibene-Su, the eastern source of the Tigris. The son and successor of
this Tiglath Adar, Assurnasirpal, was the first whom we see again
undertaking more distant campaigns; the successful results of which are
the basis of a considerable extension of the Assyrian power.
Assurnasirpal also chiefly directed his arms against the mountain-land
in the north. On his first campaign he fought on the borders of Urarti,
_i.e._ of the land of Ararat, the region of the Upper Araxes. In the
second year of his reign (881 B.C.) he marched out of the city of
Nineveh, crossed the Tigris, and imposed tribute on the land of Kummukh
(Gumathene, p. 41), and the Moschi, in asses, oxen, sheep, and goats. In
the third year he caused his image to be hewn in the place where
Tiglath Pilesar and Tiglath Adar his fathers had chosen to set up their
images; he tells us that his own was engraved beside the others.[555]
Only the image of Tiglath Pilesar I. is preserved at Karkar.
Assurnasirpal received tribute from the princes of the land of
Nairi--bars of gold and silver, iron, oxen and sheep; and placed a
viceroy over the land of Nairi. But the subjugation was not yet
complete; Assurnasirpal related that on a later campaign he destroyed
250 places in the land of Nairi.[556] He tells us further, that on his
tenth campaign he reduced the land of Kirchi, took the city of Amida
(now Diarbekr), and plundered it.[557] Below this city, on the bank of
the Tigris at Kurkh (Karch), there is a stone tablet which represents
him after the pattern of Tiglath Pilesar at Karkar (p. 40.)
Between these conflicts in the north lie campaigns to the south and
west. In the year 879 B.C. he marched out, as he tells us, from Chalah.
On the other bank of the Tigris he collected a heavy tribute, then he
marched to the Euphrates, took the city of Suri in the land of Sukhi,
and caused his image to be set up in this city. Fifty horsemen and the
warriors of Nebu-Baladan, king of Babylon (Kardunias), had fallen into
his hand, and the land of the Chaldaeans had been seized with fear of his
weapons.[558] We must conclude therefore that the king of Babylon had
sent auxiliary troops to the prince of the land of Sukhi (whom the
inscriptions call Sadudu). In the following year he occupied the region
at the confluence of the Chaboras with the Euphrates, crossed the
Euphrates on rafts, and conquered the inhabitants of the lands of Sukhi,
Laki, and Khindani, which had marched out with 6000 men to meet him. On
the banks of the Euphrates he then founded two cities; that on the
further bank bore the name of "Dur-Assurnasirpal," and that on the
nearer bank the name of "Nibarti-Assur." During this time he pretends to
have slain 50 Amsi (p. 43) on the Euphrates, and captured 20; to have
slain 20 eagles and captured 20.[559] Then he turned against Karchemish,
in the land of the Chatti (p. 43). In the year 876 B.C. he collected
tribute in the regions of Bit Bakhian and Bit Adin in the neighbourhood
of Karchemish, and afterwards laid upon Sangar, king of Karchemish, a
tribute of 20 talents of silver, and 100 talents of iron. From
Karchemish Assurnasirpal marched against the land of Labnana, _i.e._ the
land of Lebanon. King Lubarna in the land of the Chatti submitted, and
had to pay even heavier tribute than the king of Karchemish.
Assurnasirpal reached the Orontes (Arantu), took the marches of Lebanon,
marched to the great sea of the western land, offered sacrifice to the
gods, and received the tribute of the princes of the sea-coasts, the
prince of Tyre (Ssurru), of Sidon (Ssidunu), of Byblus (Gubli), and the
city of Arvada (Aradus), "which is in the sea" (p. 277)--bars of silver,
gold, and lead;--"they embraced his feet." Then the king marched against
the mountains of Chamani (Amanus); here he causes cedars and pines to be
felled for the temples of his gods, and the narrative of his exploits to
be written on the rocks, and worshipped at Nineveh before the goddess
Istar.[560]
According to the evidence of these inscriptions, Assurnasirpal
established the supremacy of Assyria in the region of the sources of the
Tigris. But even he does not appear to have gone much further than
Tiglath Pilesar before him, for he also fought once on the borders of
Armenia, _i.e._ of the land of Ararat, and on the other hand forced his
way as far as the upper course of the Eastern Euphrates. Against Babylon
he undertook, so far as we can see, no offensive war; he was content to
drive out of the field the auxiliaries which Nebu-Baladan of Babylon
sent to a prince on the middle Euphrates without pursuing the advantage
further. The most important results which he obtained were in the west.
He gained the land of the Chaboras, and fixed himself firmly on the
Euphrates above the mouth of that river. To secure the crossing he built
a fortress on either side, and then forced his way from here to the
mountain land of the Amanus, to the Orontes and Lebanon. For the first
time the cities of the Phenicians paid tribute to the king on the banks
of the Tigris; Arvad (Aradus), Gebal (Byblus), Sidon, and Tyre, where at
this time, as we saw (p. 267), Mutton, the son of Ethbaal, was king.
Shalmanesar I., who reigned over Assyria about the year 1300 B.C.,
built, as we have remarked above, the city of Chalah (Nimrud), on the
eastern bank of the Tigris above the confluence of the Greater Zab. The
remains of the outer walls show that this city formed a tolerably
regular square, and that the western wall ran down to the ancient course
of the Tigris, which can still be traced. In the south-western corner of
the city, on a terrace of unburnt bricks, rose the palaces of the kings
and the chief temples. They were shut off towards the city by a separate
wall. Nearly in the middle of this terrace on the river-side we may
trace the foundation-works of a great building, called by our explorers
the north-west palace. In the remains of this structure, on two surfaces
on the upper and lower sides of a large stone, which forms the floor of
a niche in a large room, is engraved an inscription of Assurnasirpal,
and a second on a memorial stone of 12 to 13 feet high. Inscriptions on
the slabs of the reliefs with which the halls of the building were
adorned repeat the text of these inscriptions in an abbreviated manner.
They tell us that the ancient city of Chalah, which Shalmanesar the
Great founded, was desolate and in ruins; Assurnasirpal built it up
afresh from the ground;[561] he led a canal from the Greater Zab, and
gave it the name of Patikanik;[562] traces and remains are left, which
show us that the course of the canal from the Greater Zab led directly
north to the city. Cedars, pines, and cypresses of Mount Chamani
(Amanus) had he caused to be felled for the temples of Adar, Sin, and
Samas, his lords.[563] He built temples at Chalah for Adar, Bilit, Sin,
and Bin. He made the image of the god Adar, and set it up to his great
divinity in the city of Chalah, and in the piety of his heart dedicated
the sacred bull to this great divinity. For the habitation of his
kingdom, and the seat of his monarchy, he founded and completed a
palace. Whosoever reigns after him in the succession of days may he
preserve this palace in Chalah, the witness of his glory, from ruin; may
he not surrender it to rebels, may he not overthrow his pillars, his
roof, his beams, or change it for another structure, or alter his
inscriptions, the narrative of his glory. "Then will Asshur the lord and
the great god exalt him, and give him all lands of the earth, extend his
dominion over the four quarters of the world, and pour abundance,
purity, and peace over his kingdom."[564]
The palace of Assurnasirpal at Chalah was a building about 360 feet in
length and 300 feet in breadth. Two great portals guarded by winged
lions with bearded human heads, the images or symbols of the god Nergal,
led from the north to a long and proportionately narrow portico of 154
feet in length and 35 feet in breadth. In the south wall of this portico
a broad door, by which stand two winged human-headed bulls, images of
the god Adar, and hewn out of yellow limestone, opens into a hall 100
feet long and 25 broad. On the east and south sides also of the central
court (the west side is entirely destroyed) lie two longer halls, and a
considerable number of larger and smaller chambers. The height of the
rooms appears to have been from 16 to 18 feet.[565] The walls of the
northern portico were covered with slabs of alabaster to a height of 10
or 12 feet, on which were reliefs of the martial exploits of the king,
his battles, his sieges, his hunting--he claims to have killed no fewer
than 370 mighty lions, and to have taken 75 alive. The reliefs on the
slabs of the second hall, which abuts on this, exhibit colossal forms
with eagle heads. Above the slabs the masonry of the walls was concealed
by tiles coloured and glazed, or by painted arabesques. Beside the
fragments of this building a statue of the builder, Assurnasirpal, was
discovered. On a simple base of square stone stands a figure in an
attitude of serious repose, in a long robe, without any covering to the
head, with long hair and strong beard, holding a sort of sickle in the
right hand, and a short staff in the left.[566] On the breast we read,
"Assurnasirpal, the great king, the mighty king, the king of the
nations, the king of Asshur, the son of Tiglath Adar, king of Asshur,
the son of Bin-nirar, king of Asshur. Victorious from the Tigris to the
land of Labnana (Lebanon), to the great sea, he subjugated all lands
from the rising to the setting of the sun."[567] An image in relief at
the entrance of the west of the two temples which this king built, to
the north of his palace, on the terrace of Chalah (at the entrance to
the first are two colossal winged lions with the throats open, and at
the entrance of the second two wingless lions), exhibits the king with
the Kidaris on his head, and his hand upraised; before the base of the
relief stands a small sacrificial altar.[568] We have already mentioned
the image of Assurnasirpal which he had engraved near Kurkh, and which
is preserved there. According to inscriptions lately discovered, and not
yet published, Assurnasirpal built a palace at Niniveh also, and
restored the ancient temple of Istar, which Samsi-Bin formerly erected
there (p. 31).[569]
The reign of Assurnasirpal gave the impulse to a warlike movement which
continued in force long after his time, and extended the power of
Assyria in every direction. His son, Shalmanesar II., who ascended the
throne in 859 B.C., followed in the path of his father. In the first
years of his reign he fought against Khubuskia, which, as we find from
the inscriptions, was a district lying on the Greater Zab, against a
prince of the land of Nairi (p. 41), against the prince of Ararat
(Urarti), Arami, and received the tribute of the land of Kummukh (p.
41). He crosses the river Arzania--either the Arsanias (Murad-Su), the
Eastern Euphrates, or the Arzen-Su (Nicephorius), which falls into the
Tigris before it bends to the south--and takes the city of Arzaska in
Urarti, _i.e._ perhaps Arsissa, on Lake Van.[570] These wars in the
north were followed by battles on the Euphrates. He conquers the city of
Pethor on this side of the Euphrates, and the city of Mutunu on the
farther side, which Tiglath Pilesar had won, but Assur-rab-amar had
restored by a treaty to the king of Aram, and settled Assyrians in both
places. Then he fought against a prince of the name of Akhuni, who
resided at Tul Barsip on the Euphrates. Shalmanesar takes this city,
transplants the inhabitants to Assyria, and calls it Kar-Salmanassar. He
receives the tribute of Sangar, prince of Karchemish, against whom his
father had fought, and finally took Akhuni himself prisoner.[571] Then
he advances towards Chamani (to the Amanus), crosses the Arantu
(Orontes); Pikhirim of the land of Chilaku (_i.e._ of Cilicia) is
conquered by him.[572]
The next object of the arms of Shalmanesar was Syria, which he had
merely touched on the north in passing by on the campaign against
Cilicia. On a memorial stone which he set up at Kurkh, on the Upper
Tigris, where we already found the image of Assurnasirpal,--the stone is
now in the British Museum,--Shalmanesar tells us that in the year 854
B.C. he left Nineveh, marched to Kar-Salmanassar, and there received the
tribute of Sangar of Karchemish, Kutaspi of Kummukh, and others. "From
the Euphrates I marched forth, and advanced against the city of Halwan.
They avoided a battle and embraced my feet. I received gold and silver
from them as their tribute. I made rich offerings to Bin, the god of
Halwan. From Halwan I set forth and marched against two cities of
Irchulina of Hamath. Argana, his royal city, I took; his prisoners, the
goods and treasures of his palace, I carried away; I threw fire upon his
palaces. From Argana I marched forth to Karkar. I destroyed Karkar and
laid it waste and burnt it with fire. Twelve hundred chariots, 1200
horsemen, 20,000 men of Benhadad of Damascus;[573] 700 chariots, 700
horsemen, 10,000 men of Irchulina of Hamath; 200 (?2000) chariots,
10,000 men of Ahab of Israel; 500 men of the Guaeer; 1000 men of the
land of Musri; 10 chariots, 10,000 men of the land of Irkanat; 200 men
of Matinbaal of Aradus (Arvada); 200 men of the land of Usanat; 30
chariots and 10,000 men of Adonibal of Sizan; 1000 camels of Gindibuh of
Arba;--hundred men of Bahsa of Ammon; these twelve princes rendered aid
to each other, and marched out against me to contend with me in battle.
Aided by the sublime assistance which Asshur my lord gave to me, I
fought with them. From the city of Karkar as far as the city of
Gilzana[574] (?) I made havoc of them. Fourteen thousand of their troops
I slew; like the god Bin I caused the storm to descend upon them; during
the battle I took their chariots, their horses, their horsemen, and
their yoke-horses from them."[575] On the obelisk of black basalt found
in the ruins of Chalah, Shalmanesar says quite briefly, "In my sixth
campaign I went against the cities on the banks of Balikh (Belik) and
crossed the Euphrates. Benhadad of Damascus, and Irchulina of Hamath,
and the kings of the land of Chatti and the sea came down to battle with
me. I conquered them; I overcame 20,500 of their warriors with my arms."
The same statement is repeated in a third inscription, that of the
bulls.[576]
The kings of Syria were defeated, but by no means subdued. Shalmanesar
says nothing of their subjugation and tribute (p. 246). The arms of
Assyria were next turned in another direction. An illegitimate brother,
Marduk-Belusati, had rebelled against Marduk-zikir-iskun, the son and
successor of Nebu-Baladan of Babylon. Shalmanesar supported the first.
During the second campaign against Marduk-Belusati the united troops of
Marduk-zikir-iskun and Shalmanesar, or the latter alone, succeeded in
defeating the rebels; Marduk-Belusati was captured and put to death with
his adherents. Shalmanesar sacrificed at Babylon, Borsippa, and Kutha.
He claims to have imposed tribute on the chiefs of the land of Kaldi
(Chaldaea), and to have spread his fame to the sea.[577]
After this decisive success in Babylonia, Shalmanesar resumed the war
against Damascus. For two years in succession he marched out against
Benhadad of Damascus. In the year 851 he defeats Benhadad of Damascus,
the king of Hamath, together with 12 kings from the shores of the
sea.[578] Then the king tells us further: "For the ninth time (850 B.C.)
I crossed the Euphrates. I conquered cities without number; I marched
against the cities of the land of Chatti and of Hamath; I conquered 89
(79) cities. Benhadad of Damascus, 12 kings of the Chatti (Syrians),
mutually confided in their power. I put them to flight." And further:
"In the fourteenth year of my reign (846 B.C.) I counted my distant and
innumerable lands. With 120,000 men of my soldiers I crossed the
Euphrates. Meanwhile Benhadad of Damascus, and Irchulina of Hamath, with
the 12 kings of the upper and lower sea, armed their numerous troops to
march against me. I offered them battle, put them to flight, seized
their chariots and their horsemen, and and marched against the cities
of Hazael of Damascus, took from them their baggage. In order to save
their lives, they rose up and fled."[579] This victory also was without
result. In vain Shalmanesar had marched four times against Damascus; in
vain he led out on the last campaign 120,000 men against Syria. Not till
some years afterwards, when Hazael, as we saw above (p. 252), killed
Benhadad and acquired the throne of Damascus in his place, can
Shalmanesar speak of a decisive campaign in Syria. "In the eighteenth
year of my reign (842 B.C.) I crossed the Euphrates for the sixteenth
time. Hazael (Chazailu) from the land of Aram trusted in the might of
his troops, collected his numerous armies, and made the mountains of
Sanir,[580] the summits of the mountains facing the range of Lebanon,
his fortress. I fought with him and overthrew him; 16,000 of his
warriors I conquered with my weapons; 1121 of his chariots, 410 of his
horsemen, together with his treasures, I took from him. To save his life
he fled away. I pursued him. I besieged him in Damascus, his royal city;
I destroyed his fortifications. I marched to the mountains of Hauran; I
destroyed cities without number, laid them waste, and burned them with
fire: I led forth their prisoners without number. I marched to the
mountains of the land of Bahliras, which lies hard by the sea: I set up
my royal image there. At that time I received the tribute of the Tyrian
and Sidonian land, of Jehu (Jahua), the son of Omri (Chumri), _i.e._ of
Jehu, king of Israel."[581] Though Sidon, Tyre, and Israel paid tribute,
the resistance of the Damascenes was still unbroken. Shalmanesar further
informs us that (in the year 839 B.C.) he crossed the Euphrates for the
twenty-first time, But he does not say that he reduced them; he only
asserts that he received the tribute of Tyre, Sidon, and Byblus, and
then assures us, quite briefly, in the account, of his twenty-fifth
campaign (835 B.C.), that he received "the tribute of all the princes of
Syria" (of the land of Chatti).[582]
In the very first years of his reign Shalmanesar had contended against
the prince Arami of Ararat, and against the land of Nairi, between the
Eastern Tigris and the Greater Zab. The obedience of these regions was
not gained. In the year 853 Shalmanesar again marched to the sources of
the Tigris, erected his statue there, and laid tribute on the land of
Nairi.[583] Twenty years later he sent the commander-in-chief of his
army, Dayan-Assur, against the land of Ararat, at the head of which
Siduri now stood, and not Arami. Dayan-Assur crossed the river Arzania
(p. 314) and defeated Siduri (833 B.C.). On a farther campaign (in 830
B.C.) Dayan-Assur crosses the Greater Zab, invades the territory of
Khubuskia (p. 314), fights against prince Udaki of Van, _i.e._ of the
Armenian land round Lake Van, and from this descends into the land of
the Parsua, which Shalmanesar himself had trodden seven years before.
Here Dayan-Assur collected fresh tribute. On a third campaign (829 B.C.)
Dayan-Assur received tribute from the land of Khubuskia, then invaded
Ararat, and there plundered and burned 50 places.
Meanwhile Shalmanesar himself marched in the years 838 and 837 B.C.
against the land of Tabal, _i.e._ against the Tibarenes, on the
north-west offshoot of the Armenian mountains, advanced as far as the
mines of the Tibarenes, and laid tribute on their 24 princes.[584] In
the next year he turns to the south-east, marches over the Lesser Zab,
against the lands of Namri and Karkhar, which we must therefore suppose
to have been between the Lesser Zab and the Adhim and Diala, on the
spurs of the Zagrus. Yanzu, king of Namri, was taken captive, and
carried to Assyria. Shalmanesar left the land of Namri, imposed tribute
on the 27 princes of the land of Parsua, and turned to the plains of the
land of Amadai, _i.e._ against Media (835 B.C.).[585] Two years
afterwards. Shalmanesar climbed, for the ninth time, the heights of
Amanus (Chamani), then he laid waste the land of Kirchi (831 B.C.), then
marched once more against the land of Namri, there laid waste 250
places, and advanced beyond Chalvan (Chalonitis, Holwan).[586]
On the obelisk of black basalt, dug up at Chalah in the remains of the
palace of Shalmanesar II. (the central palace of the explorers), we find
beside the account of the deeds of the king five sculptures in relief,
which exhibit payments of tribute. Of the picture which represents the
payment of Jehu, of the kingdom of Israel, we have spoken at length
above (p. 257). Above this, which is the second picture, on the highest
or first, is delineated the payment from the land of Kirzan. The title
tells us: "Tribute imposed on Sua of the land of Kirzan:[587] gold,
silver, copper, lead, staves, horses, camels with two humps." As on the
second strip the king is represented receiving the tribute of Israel; so
on this strip also we see the leader of those who pay tribute prostrate
on the ground before him; behind the leader are led a horse and two
camels with double humps; then follow people carrying staves and
kettles. The superscription of the third relief says: "Tribute imposed
on the land of Mushri: camels with two humps, the ox of the river
Sakeya." On the picture we see two camels with double humps, a
hump-backed buffalo, a rhinoceros, an antelope, an elephant, four large
apes, which are led, and one little one, which is carried. The
superscription of the fourth relief says: "Tribute imposed upon
Marduk-palassar of the land of Sukhi:[588] silver, gold, golden buckets,
Amsi-horns, staves, Birmi-robes, stuffs." The relief itself depicts a
lion, a deer, which is clutched by a second lion, two men with kettles
on their heads, two men who carry a pole, on which are suspended
materials for robes, four men with hooked buckets or hooked scrips, two
men with large horns on their shoulders, two men with staves, and lastly
a man carrying a bag. The superscription of the fifth relief says,
"Tribute imposed on Garparunda of the land of Patinai: silver, gold,
lead, copper, objects made of copper, Amsi-horns, hard wood."[589] Under
this we see a man raising his hands in entreaty, a man with a bowl with
high cups on his head, two men with hooked buckets, carrying horns on
their shoulders, one man with staves; after these two Assyrian officers,
a man in a position of entreaty, two men with hooked buckets and horns,
a man with two goblets, two men with hooked buckets and sacks on their
shoulders, two men, of whom one holds a kettle, and the other carries a
kettle on his head.
Assurnasirpal had already fought against the land of Sukhi. As he
marches to the Euphrates in order to attack Sadudu, prince of Sukhi, as
the king of Babylon sends auxiliaries to Sadudu at that time, and the
land of Chaldaea is seized with terror after the conquest of the land of
Sukhi, we must look for Sukhi on the Middle Euphrates, below the mouth
of the Chaboras. The tribute which, according to that inscription,
Shalmanesar imposed on the prince of Sukhi, who has a name which may be
compared with the names of the kings of Babylon,--gold, silver, robes,
and stuffs,--does not contradict this assumption. Shalmanesar fought
against the Patinai in the first year of his reign, according to the
inscription of Kurkh. Shapalulme, the prince of the Patinai at that
time, combined with Sangar of Karchemish and Akhuni of Tul-Barsip. Like
these, the Patinai were vanquished, their cities were taken, 14,600
prisoners were carried away, and they were compelled to pay tribute. As
Shalmanesar in order to reach the Patinai marches against them from
Mount Amanus,[590] we must look for their abode on the Upper Euphrates,
to the north of Karchemish, between the Euphrates and the Orontes. The
tribute imposed on Garparunda of Patinai--gold, silver, copper,
Amsihorns, hard wood--is not against this supposition. The land of
Kirzan or Guzan we can only attempt to fix by the tribute paid--camels
with double humps. This kind of camel is found on the southern shore of
the Caspian Sea and Tartary, and we are therefore led to place Kirzan on
the southern shore of the Caspian. The land of Mushri, the tribute of
which consists of hump-backed buffaloes, _i.e._ Yaks (an animal
belonging to the same district, Bactria and Tibet), camels with double
humps, elephants, and rhinoceroses, and apes, must therefore be sought
in eastern Iran, on the borders of the district of the Indus, whether it
be that Shalmanesar really penetrated so far, or that the terror of his
name moved East Iranian countries to send tribute to the warrior prince
of Nineveh and Chalah.
Like his father, Shalmanesar resided at Chalah. On the terrace of this
city, to the south-east of the palace of his father, he built a
dwelling-place for himself, and in this set up the obelisk, the
inscriptions on which give a brief account of each year of his reign. In
the ruins of this house two bulls also have been discovered, which are
covered with inscriptions, which, together with the inscription of Kurkh
on the Tigris, supplement or extend the statements of the obelisk. More
considerable remains have come down to us of another building of
Shalmanesar. Assurnasirpal had erected at Chalah two temples to the
north of his palace. To the larger (western) of these two temples on the
north-west corner of the terrace Shalmanesar added a tower, the ruins of
which in the form of a pyramidal hill still overtop the uniform heap of
the ruined palaces. On the foundation of the natural rock of the bank of
the Tigris lies a square substructure (each of the sides measures over
150 feet) of 20 feet in height, built of brick and cased with stone. On
this base rises a tower of several diminishing stories. In the first of
these stories, immediately upon the platform, is a passage 100 feet
long, 12 feet high, and 6 feet in breadth, which divides the storey
exactly in the middle from east to west.
Two centuries after the fall of the Assyrian kingdom, Xenophon, marching
up the Tigris with the 10,000, reached the ruins of Chalah. After
crossing the Zapatus, _i.e._ the Greater Zab, he came to a large
deserted city on the Tigris, the name of which sounded to him like
Larissa (Chalah); it was surrounded by a wall about seven and a-half
miles long. This wall had a substructure of stone masonry about 20 feet
high; on this it rose, 25 feet in thickness, and built of bricks, to the
height of 100 feet. Beside the city was a pyramid of stone, a plethron
(100 feet) broad and two plethra high; to these many of the
neighbouring hamlets fled for refuge.[591] Shalmanesar's tower was
broken, and by the fall of the upper parts had become changed into a
pyramid. The sides of the tower Xenophon put at almost half their real
size; the height of the ruins is still about 140 feet. That Shalmanesar
also stayed at Nineveh is proved by the inscriptions; that he possessed
a palace in the ancient city of Asshur is proved by the stamp of the
tiles at Kileh Shergat.[592]
In a reign of 36 years Shalmanesar II. had gained important successes.
In the north he had advanced as far as Lake Van, and the valley of the
Araxes, the Tibarenes in the north-west, and the Cilicians in the west
had felt the weight of his arms. He had directed his most stubborn
efforts against the princes on the crossings over the Euphrates towards
Syria, and towards the region of Mount Amanus and Syria itself. Damascus
and Hamath were forced to pay tribute after a series of campaigns;
Byblus, Sidon, and Tyre repeatedly paid tribute, and Israel after it had
received a new master in Jehu. By Shalmanesar's successful interference
in the contest for the crown in the civil war in Babylon, the supremacy
of Asshur over Babel was at length obtained. The regions of the Zagrus
had to pay tribute to Shalmanesar. He first trod the land of Media, and
his successes were felt beyond Media as far as the southern shore of the
Caspian Sea and East Iran.
In spite of the unwearied activity of Shalmanesar, in spite of his
ceaseless campaigns and the important results gained by his weapons, his
reign ended amid domestic troubles, caused by a rebellion of the native
land. Shalmanesar's son and successor, Samsi-Bin III. (823-810 B.C.),
tells us in an inscription found in the remains of his palace, which he
built in the south-east corner of the terrace of Chalah, that his
brother Assurdaninpal set on foot a conspiracy against his father
Shalmanesar, and that the land of Asshur, both the Upper and Lower,
joined the rebellion. He enumerates 27 cities, among them Asshur itself,
the ancient metropolis, and Arbela, which joined Assurdaninpal; but
"with the help of the great gods" Samsi-Bin reduced them again to his
power. Then he tells us of his campaigns in the north and east. In his
first campaign the whole land of Nairi was subjugated--all the princes,
24 in number, are mentioned; the land of Van also paid tribute. The
Assyrian dominion, asserts the king, stretched from the land of Nairi to
the city of Kar-Salmanassar, opposite Karchemish (p. 315). Then he
fought against the land of Giratbunda (apparently a region on the
Caspian Sea, perhaps Gerabawend), took the king prisoner, and set up his
own image in Sibar, the capital of Giratbunda,[593] and afterwards
directed his arms against the land of Accad (Babylonia). When he had
slain 13,000 men and taken 3000 prisoners, king Marduk-Balatirib marched
out against him with the warriors of Chaldaea and Elam, of the lands of
Namri (p. 320) and Aram. He defeated them near Dur-Kurzu, their capital:
5000 were left on the field, 2000 taken prisoners; 200 chariots of war
and ensigns of the king remained in the hands of the Assyrians (819
B.C.). At this point the inscription breaks off; elsewhere we hear
nothing of further successes against Babylonia, we only learn that
Samsi-Bin in the eleventh and twelfth years of his reign (812 and 811
B.C.) again marched to Chaldaea and Babylon,[594] and we can only
conclude from the fact that the king of Babylon received help not only
from Namri and Aram, but also from Elam, that the Assyrians under
Samsi-Bin continued to advance, and that their power must by this time
have appeared alarming to the Elamites also.
Bin-nirar III. (810-781 B.C.), the son and successor of Samsi-Bin,
raised the Assyrian power still higher. Twice he marched out against the
Armenian land on the shore of Lake Van; eight times he made campaigns in
the land of the rivers, _i.e._ Mesopotamia. In the fifth year of his
reign he went out against the city of Arpad in Syria; in the eighth
against the "sea-coast," _i.e._ no doubt against the coast of Syria. The
beginning of an inscription remains from which we can see the extent of
the lands over which he ruled, or which he had compelled to pay tribute.
"I took into my possession," so this fragment tells us, "from the land
of Siluna, which lies at the rising of the sun, onwards; viz., the land
of Kib, of Ellip, Karkas, Arazias, Misu, Madai (Media), Giratbunda
throughout its whole extent, Munna, Parsua, Allabria, Abdadana, the land
of Nairi throughout its whole extent, the land of Andiu, which is
remote, the mountain range of Bilchu throughout its whole extent to the
great sea which lies in the east, _i.e._ as far as the Caspian Sea. I
made subject to myself from the Euphrates onwards: the land of Chatti
(Aram), the western land (_mat acharri_) throughout its whole extent,
Tyre, Sidon, the land of Omri (Israel) and Edom, the land of Palashtav
(Philistaea) as far as the great sea to the setting of the sun. I imposed
upon them payment of tribute. I also marched against the land of Imirisu
(the kingdom of Damascus), against Mariah, the king of the land of
Imirisu. I actually shut him up in Damascus, the city of his kingdom;
great terror of Asshur came upon him; he embraced my feet, he became a
subject; 2300 talents of silver, 20 talents of gold, 3000 talents of
copper, 5000 talents of iron, robes, carven images, his wealth and his
treasures without number, I received in his palace at Damascus where he
dwelt.[595] I subjugated all the kings of the land of Chaldaea, and laid
tribute upon them; I offered sacrifice at Babylon, Borsippa, and Kutha,
the dwellings of the gods Bel, Nebo, and Nergal."[596]
According to this king Bin-nirar not only maintained the predominance
over Babylon which his grandfather had gained, but extended it: his
authority reached from Media, perhaps from the shores of the Caspian
Sea, to the shore of the Mediterranean as far as Damascus and Israel and
Edom, as far as Sidon and Tyre and the cities of the Philistines. The
Cilicians and Tibarenes who paid tribute to Shalmanesar are not
mentioned by Bin-nirar in his description of his empire. So far as we
can see, the centre of the kingdom was meanwhile extended and more
firmly organised. Among the magistrates with whose names the Assyrians
denote the years, at the time of Shalmanesar and his immediate
successors the names of the commander-in-chief and three court officers
are regularly followed by the names of the overseers of the districts of
Rezeph (Resapha on the Euphrates), of Nisib (Nisibis on the Mygdonius,
the eastern affluent of the Chaboras), of Arapha, _i.e._ the
mountain-land of Arrapachitis (Albak); hence we may conclude that these
districts were more closely connected or incorporated with the native
land, and governed immediately by viceroys of the king. How uncertain
the power and supremacy of Assyria was at a greater distance is on the
other hand equally clear from the fact that Bin-nirar had to make no
fewer than eight campaigns in the land of the streams, _i.e._ between
the Tigris and the Euphrates; that he marched four times against the
land of Khubuskia in the neighbourhood of Armenia, and twice against the
district of Lake Van, against which his father and grandfather had so
often contended.
Bin-nirar III. also built himself a separate palace at Chalah, on the
western edge of the terrace of the royal dwellings, to the south of the
palace of his great grandfather Assurnasirpal. In the ruins of the
temple which he dedicated to Nebo have been found six standing images of
this deity, two of which bear upon the pedestal those inscriptions which
informed us that the wife of Bin-nirar III. was named Sammuramat (p.
45). On a written tablet dated from the year of Musallim-Adar (_i.e._
from the year 793 B.C.), the eighteenth year of Bin-nirar, on which is
still legible the fragment of a royal decree, we also find the double
impress of his seal--a royal figure which holds a lion. A second
document from the time of the reign of this prince, from the
twenty-sixth year of his reign (782 B.C.), registers the sale of a
female slave at the price of ten and a half minae, and gives the name of
the ten witnesses to the transaction.[597] The preservation of this
document is the more important inasmuch as a notice in Phenician letters
is written beside it. Hence we may conclude that even in the days of
Bin-nirar III. the alphabetic writing was known as far as this point in
the East, though the cuneiform alphabet was retained beside it, not only
at that time, but down to 100 B.C., and indeed, to all appearance, down
to the first century of our reckoning.[598]
FOOTNOTES:
[555] Menant, "Ann." pp. 71, 72, 73.
[556] Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 82.
[557] Menant, _loc. cit._ pp. 90, 91.
[558] Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 84.
[559] Menant, p. 86.
[560] E. Schrader. "K. A. T." s. 66, 67.
[561] Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 20, 21.
[562] "Records of the Past," 3, 79.
[563] Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 89.
[564] Menant, p. 93.
[565] G. Rawlinson, "Monarch." 2^2, 94.
[566] G. Rawlinson, "Monarch." 1^2, 340.
[567] Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 67.
[568] G. Rawlinson, "Monarch." 1^2, 319; 2^2, 97.
[569] G. Smith, "Discov." pp. 91, 141, 252.
[570] Sayce, "Records of the Past," pp. 94, 95.
[571] According to the inscription of Kurkh in the year 856; according
to the obelisk 854 B.C.
[572] Menant, "Ann." p. 107.
[573] Bin-hidri is read by E. Schrader and others. Rimmon-hidri by
Sayce. As the god Bin was also called Rimmon, the ideogram of the name
may be read one way or the other. The Books of the Kings call the
contemporary of Ahab, Benhadad. For farther information, see p. 247,
note.
[574] Sayce, "Records," 3, 100.
[575] E. Schrader, "Keilinschriften und A. T." s. 94 ff., 101, 102;
Menant, _loc. cit._ pp. 99, 113.
[576] Menant, "Ann." p. 115.
[577] Vol. i. 257. Menant, "Babyl." p. 135.
[578] Inscriptions on the bulls in Menant, "Ann." p. 114.
[579] E. Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 103; above, p. 251.
[580] Communication from E. Schrader; cf. Deuteron. iii. 9.
[581] E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 106, 107.
[582] Cf. above, p. 257.
[583] Inscription of the obelisk and the bulls in Menant, "Ann." 99,
114.
[584] Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 101.
[585] Menant, p. 101.
[586] Menant, p. 104.
[587] Sayce reads Guzan.
[588] According to a communication from E. Schrader, Marduk-habal-assur
ought to be read, not Marduk-habal-iddin.
[589] Oppert, "Memoires de l'Acad. d. inscript." 1869, 1, 513; Sayce,
"Records of the Past," 5, 42.
[590] Sayce, "Records of the Past," 3, 88, 89, 90, 91, 99.
[591] "Anab." 3, 4, 7-9.
[592] Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 96.
[593] The reading is uncertain.
[594] Oppert, "Empires," pp. 127, 128; G. Rawlinson, "Monarch." 2^2, p.
115, _n._ 8; Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 124.
[595] E. Schrader, _loc. cit._ s. 111, 112.
[596] Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 127; cf. G. Rawlinson, 2^2, 117.
[597] Oppert et Menant, "Documents juridiques," pp. 146-148.
[598] G. Smith, "Discov." p. 389; Oppert et Menant, _loc. cit._ p. 342.
END OF VOL. II.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:
1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
2. Carat character is used to indicate subscript in this text version.
3. Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end of the chapters
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4. The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version
these letters have been replaced with transliterations.
5. Certain words use oe ligature in the original.
6. Obvious errors in punctuation have been silently corrected.
7. Other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in
spelling, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.