BEGINNINGS OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE.
The beginnings of the Assyrian state are lost in obscurity. Nineveh was
possibly founded before 3000 B.C., but like Babylon, its origin is not
known. Asshur was long the important city of the country, overshadowing
the later capital.
About 1490 B.C. Thutmose III. pushed into Asia and roused the western
portion of that continent with his conquests. Assyria, like many other
weak states, hastened to send gifts to the conquering pharaoh. These
signified submission, and Thothmes gave no further evidences of his
military power. The next mention of Assyria occurs when the state had
become sufficiently important to enter into a treaty with the Kassite
king of Babylonia, regarding disputed territories. As we have already
noted, Assyria, long subservient to the older kingdom, felt in no way
bound to submit to the foreign rule of Kassite princes, and had already
established her own independence, which was acknowledged by the
Babylonian king when he negotiated a treaty with her. Later, the
daughter of an Assyrian king was married to the king of Babylonia. Their
son came to the throne at an early age, and the Babylonians, seeing an
intrigue to allow Assyrian influences to dominate their land, made way
with the boy-king, substituting another in his place. Thereupon the
Assyrian ruler, grandfather of the murdered prince, invaded Babylonia,
killed the monarch popularly crowned, and placed his own candidate upon
the throne. The result of this Assyrian interference was not immediately
important, but it was the first of a long series of difficulties between
the two countries, which ended ultimately in the recognition of the
Assyrian king as ruler of Babylonia as well.
About 1290 B.C., troubles having again arisen, the northern king came
once more to the city of Babylon, this time carrying away the statue of
the god Marduk, as we have already seen. He left Assyrian officials in
the land as his representatives. Seven years later, these were driven
out by a popular uprising of the Babylonians, who seized certain
outlying districts which had recently been appropriated by the
Assyrians. When the Kassite princes were finally dethroned,
Nebuchadnezzar I., of the dynasty of Isin, was strong enough to hold the
Babylonian state intact against the power which constantly threatened at
the north.
To this point we had come in the preceding chapter, and this recast of
the situation is made that we may have its essential features clearly in
mind.
Coming now to the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I., 1120 B.C., we meet one of
the great warriors of antiquity, and with his administration, a new era
opened for Assyria. The first five years of his reign were occupied with
campaigns to the north, east, and west, in which directions tribes had
been menacing the borders of his kingdom. In these campaigns we see the
beginnings of those cruel, relentless punishments, amounting often to
mere savagery,--which fill the pages of Assyrian history. These were
meted out to all who failed to submit to Assyrian arms. An inscription
commemorating the victories of the warrior says: "With their corpses I
strewed the mountain passes and the heights. I took away their property,
a countless booty. Six thousand warriors, the remnant of their army, who
had fled before my arms, embraced my feet. I carried them away and
counted them among the inhabitants of my own land." And again: "In those
days, ... Asshur, the Lord, sent me, who knows no victor in war, no
rival in battle, whose rule is righteous over the four quarters of the
world, towards distant kingdoms on the shores of the Upper Sea, which
knew not submission, and I went forth. Across impracticable heights and
through precipitous defiles the inside of which no king had beheld
before, I passed. Through sixteen mountain ridges I marched in my
chariot where the ground was good; where it was inaccessible, I cleared
away with axes, and bridges for the passage of my troops I constructed
excellently well. I crossed the Euphrates.... Twenty-three kings of the
land of Nairi, assembled their chariots and troops in the midst of their
countries and came forth to do battle against me. By the impetuous
onslaught of my mighty arms I conquered them. I destroyed their numerous
armies like Raman's thundershower; with the corpses of their warriors I
strewed the mountain heights and the enclosures of their cities as with
straw. Their 120 chariots I destroyed in the battle; sixty kings of the
lands of Nairi, with those who had come to their assistance, I pursued
to the Upper Sea. Their great cities I took, their spoils, their
possessions I carried off, their towns I burned with fire, I destroyed,
laid them waste, made heaps of them and land for the plough. Numerous
herds of steeds, colts, calves, and implements without number I carried
home. The kings of the lands of the Nairi my hand captured alive, all of
them. To these same kings I granted favor. Captive and bound, I released
them before Shamash, my lord, and made them swear allegiance forever.
Their children, the offspring of their royalty, I took as hostages. I
imposed on them a tribute of 1,200 steeds and 2,000 bulls and dismissed
them to their respective countries.... The vast lands of Nairi I took in
all their extent, and all their kings I brought low to my feet."
When five years, filled with similar campaigns, had passed, a large
number of tribes paid tribute to Assyria. Before this period, Calab had
served as capital. Tiglath-Pileser now rebuilt Asshur. Rare trees were
brought from conquered lands, to beautify the town. Temples were
restored, to the honor of the gods. Of the restoration of the temple of
Ana and Adad, the king caused to be inscribed: "I built it from
foundation to roof larger and grander than before, and erected also two
great towers, fitting ornaments of their great divinities. The splendid
temple, a brilliant and magnificent dwelling, the habitation of their
joys, the house for their delight, shining as bright as the stars on
heaven's firmament and richly decorated with ornaments through the skill
of my artists, I planned, devised, and thought out, built and completed.
I made its interior brilliant like the dome of the heavens; decorated
its walls like the splendor of the rising stars, and make it grand with
resplendent brilliancy. I reared its temple towers to heaven, and
completed its roof with burned brick; located therein the upper terrace
containing the chamber of their great divinities; and led into the
interior Anu and Adad, the great gods, and made them to dwell in their
lofty house, thus gladdening the heart of their great divinities."[1]
The memory of this stern warrior lived long after his death, holding
tribes in subjection and enabling his successors to rule in comparative
peace. The greatness of the future kingdom has been attributed in no
small measure to the foundations laid by Tiglath-Pileser I.
A period of reaction followed. Tribute, which had been paid only for
fear of a strong, well disciplined army, was no longer forthcoming.
Babylonia and Assyria have left so few records for these years that they
are almost sure to have been years of inaction. On the alluvial bottoms
of Babylonia, a new dynasty arose, known as the dynasty of the Sea
Lands. Both the rulers and the subjects they governed were comparatively
newcomers, who easily gained the upper hand in the decadent state,
especially as no interference came from Assyria.
While the inertia of Babylonia allowed the latest comer to rule, so the
inaction of Assyria allowed countries on the west--Syria and
Palestine--to gain strength. On the north, the Armenians, a nation of
traders, extended their territories and their commercial affairs.
In 950 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser II. became king. From this time forward
records become more numerous, and we are able to trace the stages of
development with greater accuracy. Assyria once more wakened to her
possibilities, while Babylonia continued in her helpless, prostrate
condition. Nothing of note is chronicled until Asshur-natsirpal III.
became king in 885 B.C. He promptly marched against the earlier
conquered tribes on the north who no longer paid their tribute. He
slaughtered a goodly number at the start, and this report spread like
wildfire among the tribes, who hastened to send gifts. For some years he
continued to bring countries under tribute, quelling revolts with such
severity as only an Assyrian could have directed. One inscription is
sufficient to let us understand his customary procedure:
"I drew near to the city of Tela. The city was very strong; three walls
surrounded it. The inhabitants trusted to their strong walls and
numerous soldiers; they did not come down or embrace my feet. With
battle and slaughter I assaulted and took the city. Three thousand
warriors I slew in battle. Their booty and possessions, cattle, sheep, I
carried away; many captives I burned with fire. Many of their soldiers I
took alive; of some I cut off hands and limbs; of others the noses,
ears, and arms; of many soldiers I put out the eyes. I reared a column
of the living and a column of heads. I hung up on high their heads on
trees in the vicinity of their city. Their boys and girls I burned up in
the flame. I devastated the city, dug it up, in the fire burned it; I
annihilated it."[2]
Babylonia and nations on the east united against the relentless
conqueror, but in vain. They were defeated and some of their cities laid
waste.
Having carried on campaigns in this fashion for some time,
Asshur-natsirpal found himself at the head of a large army, well
disciplined, invincible, inured to slaughter and devastation--a menace
to the state if kept idle, and if disbanded, removing at a stroke the
fear which prompted the payment of tribute.
Something should perhaps be said of tribute, which we find kings
demanding of all subjected people. The habit of compelling the payment
of tribute was tolerated only in an age when might made right. None of
the earliest nations gave anything in exchange for tribute exacted. No
effort was made to defend tributary tribes from the attacks of other
tribes. Tribute was merely the price paid by a people for the privilege
of being in other respects left alone. A king who dreamed of a wide
reaching empire, tried to bring as many nations as possible under his
tribute. The payment of this tribute was the formal acknowledgment of
the emperor's over-lordship. Until the age of Persian dominance, no
monarch was able to do much more than compel the annual payment in
joining alien territories to his own. Assyria attempted on a smaller
scale what Persia effected, but little more than the _conception_ of a
great empire was contributed by Assyria; it was given reality by Persian
conquerors.
Asshur-natsirpal realized the only course open to him was that of
conquest, and to that he now turned. Setting out for the west, his march
was a continual triumph. His reputation was so well established, and the
strength of his army so well understood that tribes on either side sent
gifts as soon as he drew near.
Reaching the Euphrates, he was unable to make any adequate provision
for the transportation of his troops. The Assyrians were an inland
people and knew nothing of maritime affairs. Each soldier was expected
to get himself across the stream, partly swimming, partly buoyed up by
inflated skins of animals.
Drawing near the Mediterranean Sea, he found that commerce occupied the
people in that region to the exclusion of war. Indeed, they would pay
heavily to avoid war, which seriously interfered with their trade. The
king of the Hittites--once a nation of importance but at this time
retaining little of its former strength--stated his position very
frankly. His policy was direct and simple. He was willing to pay down
the sum of twenty talents of silver, one hundred talents of copper, two
hundred and fifty talents of iron, along with chains and beads of gold
and much other treasure, if he were simply let alone.... National pride
counted for nothing. The primary desire was to get the Assyrians out of
the country as soon as possible; and well might they pay a heavy tribute
to gain such a boon as that.[3]
It was apparent that there would be no particular opportunity for
military skill against people of such convictions as these. The Assyrian
army moved on and at length drew near the green slopes of the Lebanon,
in sight of the Mediterranean waters, dotted over by Phoenician ships,
busily plying their trade. While no city was besieged, no blood shed,
the effect was marked upon the entire region. All acknowledged
Asshur-natsirpal as conqueror. In some cases, Assyrian officials were
stationed to keep the home government in touch with these distant parts;
in other places, Assyrian colonists were induced to settle, far from
their native homes. Cities were walled by the labor of Assyrian
soldiers, and were temporarily protected by Assyrian fortifications.
While such demonstrations had a lasting effect on the western states,
the Assyrian king, on his part, was deeply impressed by one thing, and
this omened ill for their future; the people of this region cared more
to protect their commerce than their country. They valued the protection
of their wares above the honor and independence of their respective
states. We shall see that this one fact as understood by the Assyrian
king developed a definite western policy.
Unable to supply military action for his troops, the king set them to
cutting down trees--cedar, cypress, and juniper. These were taken to
Assyria. The army returned home without approaching Damascus, where
opposition was certain to be strong. Too much glory had been won to have
it overshadowed by any chance issue.
While the western conquest had been in progress, officers at home had
been carrying out the king's plans by rebuilding Calah, and constructing
a large canal. The king now returned to personally supervise the
construction of a royal palace.
"A palace for my royal dwelling-place, for the glorious seat of my
royalty, I founded forever and splendidly planned it. I surrounded it
with a cornice of copper. Sculptures of the creatures of land and sea
carved in alabaster, I made and placed them at the doors. Lofty
doorposts of ... wood I made, and sheathed them with copper and set them
up in the gates. Thrones of costly woods, dishes of ivory containing
silver, gold, lead, copper, and iron, the spoil of my hand, taken from
conquered lands I deposited therein."
In 860 B.C. Asshur-natsirpal died, leaving the future to regard him as
the most ferocious king in all Assyrian history; yet he had accomplished
more for his country than any of his predecessors, and left it more
united and in a more prosperous condition. His son, Shalmaneser II.,
like the father, found himself obliged to keep an army active,
collecting tributes and making fresh conquests. He repeated the westward
march, and met an alliance formed against him at Damascus. To that
city's forces were joined those of Israel and of Phoenicia. While their
armies were defeated, no tribute was exacted, and this fact in itself
shows that the victory was not complete.
This first coalition formed against Assyria, made up of Mediterranean
peoples, is important. Such a union might have effectually stayed the
great military power of the age had not jealousies among the states
themselves hindered permanent union. By 846 B.C. the alliance had been
broken, and Jehu of Israel sent gifts to the Assyrian ruler. This
furnished him his first hold on the independence of the Hebrews.
The next hundred years saw a union of Babylonia and Assyria, and an
attempt, on the part of one king at least, to blot out all differences
between the two peoples by showing among other things that their
religions were the same. To give weight to the claim, he constructed
temples in Nineveh, after the model of those of Babylon.
In the following chapter we shall note the height of Assyrian dominance
and the proudest years of her history.
[Illustration: FLOCKS AND CAPTIVE WOMEN CARRIED AWAY.]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Quoted in Goodspeed, p. 171.
[2] Quoted in Goodspeed, p. 197.
[3] Rogers: Hist. of Baby. and Assy., Vol. II, 64.