ASSURBANIPAL'S WARS AND VICTORIES.
In his last years Esarhaddon had raised his son Assurbanipal to be
co-regent with himself.[355] Shortly before his death, which overtook
him in the year 668 B.C. after a short but eventful reign of 13 years,
he appears to have given up the government entirely to him.[356]
Immediately after his accession the new prince received the intelligence
that Tirhaka, whom his father had driven out of Egypt into Napata, had
invaded Egypt, and taken Memphis, that the princes whom Esarhaddon had
entrusted with the government of Egypt had fled before Tirhaka into the
desert.[357] Assurbanipal collected his army in order to maintain Egypt.
In Syria he received the homage of the princes of that land and of
Cyprus, who had brought tribute and had been subject to his father.
These were the lords of the states mentioned in the inscriptions of
Esarhaddon,--the princes of Tyre, Judah, Edom, Moab, Gaza, Ascalon,
Ekron, Byblus, Arvad; with the exception of Baal of Tyre (p. 156), their
names are broken out of the inscription (Cylinder C); the three last
states of Syria, found in the list of Esarhaddon, Samaria, Ammon, and
Ashdod, are also wanting here. Then follow the kings of Cyprus, in which
the cities and the persons are those of the list of Esarhaddon; only the
three first are wanting. But as the whole number is again put at 22
princes of the land of the coast and the sea, we may conclude with
certainty that from the year 672 B.C.--since the rebellion and
re-installation of Baal of Tyre, and Manasses of Judah, there had been
no movements and changes in Syria.
Assurbanipal informs us that he went down from Syria to Egypt; at
Karbanit he met the army of Tirhaka, and drove it out of the field. When
Tirhaka heard of this at Memphis, he retired to Thebes. Assurbanipal
pursued him, took the city, and caused his army to encamp in it; he
restored the 20 princes to whom his father had given the districts of
Egypt, left behind a portion of his army, and returned to Nineveh with
rich booty (668 B.C.).[358] Tirhaka was again forced back to
Napata,[359] but the dominion of Assyria was not yet firmly established
in Egypt. Assurbanipal may have imposed heavier duties on the rulers of
the districts; the continued stay of Assyrian troops in Egypt may have
appeared too burdensome and oppressive. Whatever the motive, some of
these vassals entered into secret communication with Tirhaka; at their
head was Necho, the chief of the most important districts, Memphis and
Sais, and with him Sarludari of Zihinu, and Pakruru of Pisaptu. They
intended to return from the vassalage of Assyria to the vassalage of
Napata; they invited Tirhaka to return to Egypt and again seize the
sovereign power. The condition would without doubt be that Tirhaka
should continue them in their rule over the cities and districts which
Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal had given over to them. But the leaders of
the Assyrian troops captured their messenger, caused Necho, Sarludari,
and Pakruru to be arrested, put them in chains, and sent them to
Nineveh. The Assyrians took Memphis, Mendes (Ben-didi), and Tanis (Zanu,
Zoan), cut down the inhabitants who resisted, and broke the towers on
their walls. Tirhaka retired before the Assyrian troops to Napata.
It appears that Assurbanipal attempted to give other supports than mere
force of arms to his rule over the distant Egypt. He released Necho from
his bonds, restored to him the government of Sais, and gave to his son
Neboshezban the government of the canton of Athribis: "I continued to
extend to them," he tells us, "the kindness and favour which my father
had shown them." Even these means were soon found to be insufficient.
Tirhaka's days came to an end. He was succeeded on the throne of Napata
by Urdamane, whom Assurbanipal calls a son of Sabakon (Sabaku). He set
out to restore the dominion of Ethiopia over Egypt; he won Thebes,
defeated the Assyrian troops before Memphis, shut up the defeated army
in Memphis, and took them prisoners. "A messenger went in haste to
Nineveh" to bring to the king the intelligence of these grievous
disasters.[360]
Assurbanipal set out for Egypt in person, to make good the blow which
the arms of Assyria had received, to restore the prestige and dread of
his power. When he had crossed the borders of Egypt, Urdamane left
Memphis in order to return to Thebes. "The princes and viceroys whom I
had placed over Egypt, came before my face and kissed my feet," so
Assurbanipal tells us. "I pursued Urdamane and came to Thebes; he fled
at the approach of my mighty army. I took the city of Thebes; silver,
gold, precious stones, the treasures of the palace, men and women, two
great obelisks, which stood before the gates of the temple, engraved
with beautiful sculptures; a great and innumerable booty I carried away
from Thebes (Niha) to Assyria. I made my warriors march over Egypt and
Cush, and won glory."[361] "No-Ammon (Thebes) was situate among the
rivers,"--so the prophet Nahum describes the capture and desolation of
Thebes by Assurbanipal and the Assyrians,--"with waters round about her,
whose rampart was the stream, and her walls the stream. Ethiopia (Cush)
mighty in numbers, and Egyptians endless in multitude, Phut (Arabians)
and Libyans (Lubim) were her helpers. Yet she went forth into misery and
captivity; her children were dashed to pieces at the tops of all the
streets. They cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men
were bound in chains."[362]
The repeated attempts of Tirhaka and his successor to re-establish the
government over Egypt from Napata were wrecked. After the capture and
sack of Thebes, which we can place in the year 663 B.C.,[363]
Assurbanipal sought further to secure the obedience of Egypt by
settlers, whom he brought there from conquered lands.[364] From that
time, for at least ten years, Egypt remained in his possession without
any disturbance. But in spite of this establishment of the Assyrian
dominion in Egypt Assurbanipal had again, in the next few years, to
quell rebellions in Syria. Tyre and Aradus attempted to regain their
independence, an attempt at defection, which could now have even a less
chance of success than when Egypt stood unbroken under the Ethiopians.
Baal, king of Tyre, who had already rebelled against Esarhaddon, and was
afterwards pardoned and restored, who subsequently paid his tribute with
all obedience, now took up arms anew, ten years after his first
rebellion. Assurbanipal's third war was directed against Tyre and
Aradus. He tells us that the fortresses of king Baal were taken, that he
cut off all exit from Tyre, and compelled the inhabitants to drink the
water of the sea, that he brought about their submission by a close
investment. When Baal had given up his son, his daughters, and the
daughters of his brothers, with a considerable tribute, he was again
replaced in his dominion.[365] The king of Arvad, also Yakinlu, "who
dwelt in the sea" (the city of Arvad lay on an island off the coast, II.
277), was compelled to submit; he sent his daughter with many presents
to Nineveh for the harem of the king, and kissed Assurbanipal's feet;
after his death the government of Arvad was entrusted to Azibaal, a son
of Yakinlu.
Assurbanipal's power and supremacy reached far to the west beyond Syria.
He tells us that Mugallu, the king of the Tibarenes, and Sandasarmi of
Cilicia, who had not obeyed his predecessors, sent their daughters to
Nineveh, and kissed his feet. Gyges (Gugu) also, the king of Lydia, "a
land, the name of which my father had not heard," says Assurbanipal,
sent a message to Nineveh. Gyges had obtained the throne of Lydia by
violence; he was opposed by a strong party who adhered to the old royal
family which he had overthrown; and it was not in domestic matters only
that he found himself in difficulties. The Cimmerians who had invaded
Asia Minor and were settled there on the lower Halys, who, as Esarhaddon
told us, recognised his supremacy (p. 151), had forced their way from
thence to Phrygia and Lydia. Gyges obviously sought support in Assyria,
the strong neighbour of the Cimmerians, as soon as and as long as Tubal
and Cilicia obeyed the king of Asshur. The inscriptions of Assurbanipal
tell us that Gyges promised obedience to him and brought tribute.[366]
Thus the supremacy of Assyria reached the west of Asia Minor, the coasts
of the Ægean Sea (about 660 B.C.).
The next campaigns of the king were directed to the north. Achsheri,
king of Minni, had kept back his tribute. The Assyrians traversed and
desolated his land in two successive invasions; Achsheri's own subjects
rose against him, and slew him; his son Ualli submitted, sent his
daughter to Nineveh, and paid the tribute which had been kept back, and
which Assurbanipal increased by 30 horses.[367] Sarduri, king of the
neighbouring Ararat (Urarti), sent rich presents, and acknowledged the
supremacy of Assyria. The rebellion of Birizchadri, a chief of the
Medes, and of the two sons of Gagi, a chief of the Sacae (Sachi), Sariti
and Pariza was defeated; 75 fortified places were taken; the three
rebels were taken prisoners and carried to Nineveh.[368]
Assurbanipal bestowed especial attention on Babylonia, the government of
which he had entrusted to his younger brother Samul-sum-ukin (Samuges in
Abydenus, Saosduchinus in the canon of Ptolemy).[369] He tells us that
here also he had continued the building of the temples which his father
had begun, that he built at Bit Saggatu at Babel, and erected four
silver bulls at the gate of the temple of Bit Zida at Borsippa, that he
had adorned the abodes of Bel and Bilit. A brick found at Babylon bears
the inscription, "to the god Merodach, my lord, Assurbanipal, king of
Assyria, king of Babylon."[370] When Urtaki, king of Elam (he had
succeeded his brother Ummanaldas I. on the throne there), invaded
Babylonia, Samul-sum-ukin called on his brother for assistance; the
Elamites were already encamped before the walls of Babylon.[371] "To
protect Bel and Nebo, my gods, whom I served," says Assurbanipal, "I
gathered together my warriors." The Elamites were driven back to their
borders. Not long after this failure Urtaki, king of Elam, died, and the
third brother of Ummanaldas and Urtaki, Teumman, ascended the throne.
The sons of the two elder brothers, the sons of Ummanaldas, and the sons
of Urtaki (the latter were called Ummanigas and Tammaritu) were afraid
that Teumman would cause them to be removed out of his way, in order to
secure the succession for his own sons, and fled to Assyria.[372]
Teumman demanded that they should be given up. Assurbanipal refused; and
when in consequence Teumman declared war and invaded Assyria,
Assurbanipal sacrificed to the war-goddess Istar at her abode in Arbela,
"the city of the joy of her heart," and prayed: "O thou goddess of
goddesses, dreadful in battle, goddess of war, queen of the gods,
rejoice the heart of Asshur; strike down Teumman and destroy him. And
the goddess heard my prayer and said: Fear not; I will grant thee
favour." But in that night Istar appeared in a dream to the seer, with
her bow in her hand, and announced that the enemy would not remain; in
the midst of the battle she would protect the king of Asshur.[373]
Assurbanipal went against Elam in his fifth war, which he led in person.
Teumman retired before the Assyrians, and awaited the attack of their
army in a position at Eulæus (Ulai), in the neighbourhood of Susa. The
Assyrians, and with them the sons of Urtaki, Ummanigas and Tammaritu,
fought with success. Teumman, wounded in the battle, fled with his
eldest son; the chariot broke down in the forest; they were taken and
slain. Assurbanipal placed Ummanigas on the throne of Susa. A relief in
the palace of Assurbanipal depicts the enthronement of Ummanigas at
Madaktu and Susa by an Assyrian officer.[374] Chidalu, a part of Elam,
which hitherto had been ruled over by Istar-Nandi--the East of Elam
apparently--was handed over to Tammaritu. Teumman's head was seen at the
entrance of Assurbanipal into Nineveh: it was placed on the great gate
of that city (about 655 B.C.).[375]
Assurbanipal had carried off one success upon another; he was master of
Egypt, received tribute from Lydia, and placed kings over Elam at his
pleasure, when the rebellion of his brother Samul-sum-ukin in Babylon
threatened to overthrow the foundations of the kingdom. Eager to reign
independently, Samul-sum-ukin opened the treasures of the temples of Bel
at Babylon, of Nebo at Borsippa, of Nergal at Kutha, and sent rich
presents to Ummanigas, whom Assurbanipal had raised to the throne of
Elam not long before, in order to incite him to take up arms against
Assyria and to secure the aid of Elam. Ummanigas took his side.[376]
Samul-sum-ukin also called on the districts on the Euphrates and Tigris
to join him. In vain did the prefects of Erech, Amida, and Arapha
attempt to check the rebellion. The children of Babylon forgot the
favour shown to them, says Assurbanipal, the temples which he had
restored and adorned with silver and gold; the inhabitants of Sippara,
Babylon, Borsippa, Kutha disregarded their brotherhood, and took up arms
against him. The signal given by the king's own brother was followed by
the Arabians, Syrians, and Lydians. "That faithless brother,
Samul-sum-ukin, led astray the inhabitants of Accad, of Chaldæa, of
Aram, and of the sea coast, my tributary subjects, to rebel against me.
The princes (_sarri_) of the land of Guti, of the land of the West (_mat
acharri_), of Miluhhi, which my hands brought into submission, all these
he seduced to fall from me, they took his side:" such is the statement
of Assurbanipal.[377]
This rising was all the more dangerous, as some of the vassal-princes of
Egypt thought it a favourable moment for throwing off the yoke of
Assyria. The son of the Necho, whom in spite of his conspiracy with
Tirhaka Assurbanipal had a second time made prince of Sais, Neboshezban,
who was then ruler of the canton of Athribis, and after the death of his
father Necho, which occurred in the mean time (Necho died shortly
before, or in, the year 664 B.C.),[378] succeeded him as prince of Sais,
was at the head of this movement. Assurbanipal tells us that Gyges of
Lydia sent aid to Pisamilki, the prince (_Sar_) of Muzur, who had cast
off the yoke of his rule.[379] In this Pisamilki we may recognise the
Psammetichus of the Greeks, the Psamtik of the Egyptians, the son of
Necho of Sais, the same person whom Assurbanipal, when he mentions the
restoration of Necho and his son, calls by the Assyrian name of
Neboshezban. When the failure of that attempt had made Necho and his
son captives of Assyria, the important point was to give pledges to the
king of Assyria that the fidelity of his vassals would not again be
broken. The Egyptian tradition of the rise of Psammetichus, preserved
for us by Herodotus and Diodorus, ought not to have more weight than
that Assyrian name against the identity of Pisamilki and Psammetichus.
That tradition knows of nothing but contests of Psammetichus with his
fellow-princes, not with the Assyrians; like Manetho's list of kings, it
is absolutely silent about the Assyrians, because it wishes to conceal
the fact that the Assyrians ever had dominion over Egypt. The tradition
of Egypt imagines a voluntary retirement of the king of Ethiopia, or his
abdication of the government of Egypt, and then represents the Egyptians
as setting up 12 princes in the place of one: we have already seen that
20 were set up by Esarhaddon, and retained by Assurbanipal. Manetho's
list says nothing either of the Assyrian dominion, or of the twelve; in
it the rule of the last Ethiopian is followed by the dynasty of the
Saites, two forefathers of Necho, and then by Necho and Psammetichus.
The sepulchres of the Apis show, that as a fact, the dates were
differently fixed in the seventh century B.C. in Egypt. Even then the
kings of Assyria were disregarded; the reign of the Ethiopian Tirhaka is
followed immediately by the reign of Psammetichus. The struggles which
Psammetichus had to undergo with his fellow-princes, of which Herodotus,
Diodorus, and Strabo tell us, were, as a fact, contests with those among
the princes who adhered to Assyria, who would not follow the lead of
Psammetichus against Assyria, and submit to his rule over Egypt.
The rebellion of Samul-sum-ukin appeared to tear from its lines the
whole structure of the Assyrian supremacy. But Assurbanipal knew how to
cope with serious danger: deep-seated confusion in Elam made his task
easier. Thus he succeeded in this sixth war in driving his brother's
army out of the field. He besieged Sippara and Kutha. Against Ummanigas
of Elam, who, though placed there by Assurbanipal himself, was now an
ally of Samul-sum-ukin, his own son Tammaritu rose in rebellion. He slew
his father, but persisted in the war against Assyria, which his father
had begun. He marched out to aid Samul-sum-ukin; in the middle of the
war Indabigas, one of his servants, rebelled against him; Tammaritu
found it necessary to seek the protection of his enemy Assurbanipal.
Thus Samul-sum-ukin's hope in the help of Elam vanished. After Sippara,
Kutha, and Borsippa had fallen, Babylon was shut up. The famine in the
city was so great that "they ate the flesh of their sons and their
daughters," as Assurbanipal tells us. Of the death of his brother he
tells us: Asshur, Sin, Samas, Bin, Bel, Nebo, and Istar thrust him into
burning fire, and destroyed his life. Assurbanipal's punishments were
fearful. He had the tongues torn out of those who spoke against him;
even those of the offenders who escaped the famine and the burning fire,
did not get away free; they were slain or reduced to slavery. But he
spared the remainder of the sons of Babylon, Kutha, and Sippara. On the
people of Accad, on the portion of the Chaldæans and Aramæans, and those
of the sea coast who had taken the side of Samul-sum-ukin, he again
placed the yoke of Asshur. A relief of the palace of Assurbanipal
exhibits him on the chariot of war, with prisoners and booty before him.
The inscription says: the king commands the coronation robe of
Samulsum-ukin, his garments, his wives, his chariots, his captains, his
warriors, and his slaves to be brought before him.[380]
After thus suppressing the rising of the Babylonians, Assurbanipal
directed the whole of his forces to the subjugation of Elam. The
domestic condition of Elam seemed to promise success to a vigorous
attack. Indabigas experienced the fate which he had prepared for
Tammaritu; he was driven from the throne by a man of the name of
Ummanaldas, the son of Attamitu.[381] This rebel did not find universal
recognition; Pache maintained a part of the land against him. Under such
circumstances the victory could not be very difficult. Assurbanipal sent
troops under Balibni against the land of Bit Yakin, which was governed
by Nabubelzikri, a grandson of Merodach Baladan, as a tributary prince
(perhaps the son of Nahid-Merodach, p. 147), who appears to have taken
part in the rebellion of Samul-sum-ukin, and then to have escaped to
Elam. Assurbanipal had already demanded his surrender from Indabigas,
and he repeated the demand after the rise of Ummanaldas, who also
refused it. The Assyrian army led by Assurbanipal to his seventh war
crossed the borders of Elam. Ummanaldas abandoned his metropolis,
Madaktu, and fled into the mountains. Assurbanipal placed Tammaritu on
the throne at Susa, but soon returned, either from fear of his
disobedience or because he had heard of it, to Elam, dethroned
Tammaritu, and carried him prisoner to Assyria; marched through the
whole land, devastating it, and took 30 cities, which are enumerated in
the inscription. Nevertheless, after his departure, Ummanaldas again
obtained power over Elam; Assurbanipal was compelled to march against
the country once more. This was his eighth war. He obtained the most
complete success; Madaktu and Susa fell into his hand. "I opened their
treasure-houses," says Assurbanipal; "I took the treasures, which the
earlier kings of Elam and those of these days had collected. No enemy
beside myself had laid hands upon them. The silver and gold which the
earlier and later kings of Sumir and Accad, and of Kardunias, had sent
to Elam, which earlier kings and Samul-sum-ukin had paid for the help of
Elam; robes, arms, chariots, I carried to Assyria. I broke down the
tower of Susa; Susinak, the god of their oracle, whose image no man had
seen, and the remaining gods (eighteen gods and goddesses are mentioned)
with their treasures, priests, and servants, I carried to Assyria.
Thirty-two images of the kings in silver, gold, brass, and stone, I
carried away from Susa, Madaktu, and Huradi, and in addition an image of
Humbanigas (p. 99), of Istar-Nandi, of Halludus (p. 144), and the
younger Tammaritu. I broke the winged lions and bulls, which guarded the
temples, the winged bulls before the temple gates of Elam, and sent
their gods and goddesses into captivity: I destroyed the palaces of
their kings, the earlier and the later, the opponents of my father; the
rulers and inhabitants of their cities, the people great and small, I
carried away with their flocks; their warriors I divided throughout the
land of my kingdom (645 B.C.)[382]"
In spite of this savage destruction, Ummanaldas could return from the
mountains, and again take possession of the ruins of Madaktu. He was
now, as it appears, prepared to accede to Assurbanipal's renewed
request to give up the grandson of Merodach Baladan. The latter
anticipated his surrender, inasmuch as he and his armour-bearer mutually
slew each other. Ummanaldas gave up the corpse, and Assurbanipal had the
head cut off. Thus died the last scion of Merodach Baladan of whom we
hear: so ended the race which for 80 years, with incredible endurance
and stubbornness, had asserted the independence of South Chaldæa and
Babylonia against Assyria. After this Ummanaldas had to give way to
Pache, who received a part of Elam. But Pache could not stand before the
Assyrian army, or did not venture to resist it. He was taken prisoner;
Ummanaldas also was captured, "like a raven," in the mountains, into
which he had fled for refuge. "Tammaritu, Pache, and Ummanaldas, who
ruled over Elam in succession, I brought them beneath my yoke, with
Uaiti, the king of the Arabs, whom I brought out of his land to Assyria.
I had them bound to the yoke of my war-chariot; they drew it to the gate
of the temple of Bilit, the famed wife of Asshur, the mother of the
great gods."[383]
Ancient Elam, the oldest power in the region of the Euphrates and
Tigris, and in all hither Asia, which once, before the times of
Hammurabi of Babylon, before the year 2000 B.C., had held sway over the
states of the lower Euphrates, whose armies in those days had seen
Syria, was fallen, never to rise again. "In the midst of hell," says the
prophet Ezekiel, "is Elam, and all her multitude about her grave; all of
them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into
the nether parts of the earth. They who caused terror in the land of
the living have borne their share with them that go down to the pit.
They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her
multitude; they are placed among the slain."[384] It is true that, more
than a century after the fall of Susa, we hear of stubborn attempts on
the part of Elam to restore her state; but after that Elam ceased to
exist, except as a name, and her history was then the more utterly
forgotten, because after this rebellion the metropolis of Susa became
the residence of the wide dominion of the kings of another people, the
Achæmenids.
Babylonia was in subjection, and Elam had ceased to exist. Assurbanipal
employed his arms in punishing the Arabian tribes who had supported the
rebellion of his brother. Ammuladin, the king of the Kedarites, had
attacked the princes of Syria who remained loyal to Assurbanipal. The
attack failed. Ammuladin was defeated, and taken prisoner by Kamoshalta,
the king of Moab; with him Adiya, a princess of the Arabians, was given
up to Assurbanipal.[385] Two other princes of the Arabs, the brothers
Abiyateh and Aimu, had led their warriors to Babylon, to Samul-sum-ukin.
They had been there defeated together with him and shut up in Babylon.
When the famine was sore there, they attempted in vain to break through
the siege; Abiyateh gave himself up to Assurbanipal. With them the
soldiers of a third Arabian prince, Uaiti, had marched to Babylon.
Assurbanipal now attacked Uaiti, whose tribes dwelt on the borders of
Ammon, Moab and Edom, in Hauran and near Zoba; their dwellings and tents
were burnt. Uaiti was carried prisoner to Nineveh, and Abiyateh was set
up in his place. Scarcely had he been set up, when he united with Nadnu,
the prince of the Nebaiyoth, against Assyria. On his ninth campaign,
Assurbanipal marched over the Tigris and Euphrates into the deserts of
Syria. As he tells us, he defeated the servants of the deity of
Atar-Samain and the Nebaiyoth, took both princes prisoners in the
battle, and caused their flocks to be driven off far and wide. "I
divided camels like sheep," he says; "they fetched half a shekel of
silver at the gate. On my return I took Hosah, which lies on the shore
of the sea, which was disobedient, and did not pay tribute, and carried
the people to Assyria. The people of Akko, who did not obey, I
destroyed; the remnant I carried to Assyria."[386]
Not only the Arabian tribes between the Euphrates and the Jordan, not
only the princes of Syria, but the land of Ararat also, as Assurbanipal
expressly declares,[387] and Cilicia and the East of Asia were subject.
This follows, without a doubt, from the circumstance that Ardys, king of
Lydia, who succeeded his father Gyges on the throne in the year 653
B.C., soon after recognised anew the supremacy of Assurbanipal, in order
to obtain his aid against the Cimmerians, who again heavily oppressed
Lydia from the Halys. Assurbanipal had not only maintained the kingdom
against the revolt of Samul-sum-ukin, he had strengthened it by the
overthrow of Elam, established the supremacy of Assyria in Hither Asia,
and extended it to the west of Asia Minor. We do not hear anything of an
attempt to renew the vassalage of Egypt, though the war against the
Nabatæans and Kedarites brought Assurbanipal to the borders of Egypt. We
may suppose that the resistance of the regions of Akko and Hosah (to
the south of Tyre[388]) possibly rested on the expectation of Egyptian
assistance. But the inscriptions of Assurbanipal end with the war
against the Arabians; beyond this we have no accounts of Assyrian
origin. The struggles of Assurbanipal with the Nebaiyoth and the
Kedarites on the borders of Ammon and Moab, the reduction of Akko, are
the last acts of the Assyrians in Syria, of which we have any definite
information. They must have taken place not long before the year 640
B.C. It will be seen further on that Assurbanipal after this time was
engaged in the East.
The Hebrew Scriptures also know nothing of any interference of Assyria
in the fortunes of their race after the reign of Manasses of Judah,
which ended in the year 642 B.C. A statement of Herodotus, which is
indeed very obscure, makes it possible to conclude that there was a
later border war between Assyria and Egypt. He says: "Psammetichus
besieged Ashdod (Azotus), a large city of Syria, for 29 years, till he
took it." "This city," Herodotus adds, "endured the longest siege of any
that we know."[389] Psammetichus could not besiege the Philistine city
of Ashdod, until the southern fortresses of the Philistines, Raphia,
Gaza and Ascalon were in his hands. His object in the attack upon these
cities could only be to render the march of the Assyrian armies to his
land more difficult. These armies would have to collect in the south of
Philistia, and provide themselves with stores, especially water, before
they could begin the march through the desert. In the beginning of this
war, at any rate, it could not have been merely the forces of the
Philistines which Psammetichus had to contend with here; there must
have been Assyrian garrisons and Assyrian troops in the cities. Diodorus
also tells us of the mode in which Psammetichus drew out his forces in
the battles which he fought in Syria.[390] That the siege of a city
should last 29 years is in itself inconceivable; we can only accept the
statement of Herodotus as meaning that the war for the possession of the
cities of the Philistines on the coast lasted 29 years. If we calculate
this time from the irruption of the Scythians into Syria, which in any
case put an end to this war, _i.e._ from the year 625 B.C., Psammetichus
rebelled against Assyria in the year 654 or 653 B.C., and immediately
afterwards desired to establish himself on the borders of Syria beyond
the desert. If Assurbanipal was fighting against Arabian tribes, on the
borders of Edom, just before the year 640 B.C., and took Akko, the
narrative of this campaign ought also to speak of a collision with the
Egyptian army, if Psammetichus was carrying on war against Ashdod as
early as this date. We saw above that Psammetichus's rebellion against
Assyria in Egypt could not take place later than the year 653 B.C.
Assurbanipal begins the account of his buildings with a statement of
what he had done for the temples of Babylon;[391] he concludes it with a
description of his works at Nineveh. The walls with which Sennacherib
had surrounded that city had been injured by heavy falls of rain which
Bin sent down. Assurbanipal strengthened the substructure, and restored
them from the foundations to the pinnacles.[392] He restored, extended,
and adorned the palace of his grandfather Sennacherib, in which he had
grown up: the kings of the Arabians whom he had captured in battle had
been compelled to work at them. Whoever destroys the inscription of his
name, or the name of his father and grandfather, and does not set it up
along with the inscription of his own name, him will Asshur and the rest
of the gods, Sin, Samas, Bin, Bel, Nebo, Adar, and Nergal punish with
the condemnation which will correspond to the glory of his
(Assurbanipal's) name.[393] In the ruins of this palace, the ruins of
Kuyundshik, a number of slabs with reliefs have been preserved,
exhibiting the warlike achievements of Assurbanipal, with which he
caused the halls of this building to be adorned. On them we see the
envoys of the kings of Ararat paying homage to Assurbanipal. Urtaki,
Teumman, and Tammaritu are seen in battle against the Assyrians; we see
the head of Teumman of Elam brought to Assyria, and Ummanigas is
enthroned at Madaktu by an Assyrian officer, (p. 169). Further, a relief
shows us Assurbanipal sitting under some trees with some women; on one
of the trees hangs the head of the descendant of Merodach Baladan,
Nabubelzikri.[394] Finally, we find on these reliefs the cities of Elam,
the city of Susa, and their sieges. The inscriptions give the names, and
briefly explain the incidents depicted.
FOOTNOTES:
[355] G. Smith, "Assyr. Canon," p. 164.
[356] G. Smith, "Disc." p. 320. E. Schrader, "K. A. T." s. 208. The
astronomical canon makes Esarhaddon's reign in Babylon end with the year
668 B.C.
[357] G. Smith, "Disc." p. 324.
[358] G. Smith, "Disc." p. 322.
[359] Assurbanipal, it is true, says that he has conquered Muzur and
Cush (G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 324), which is certainly an exaggeration
unless Upper Egypt is meant by Cush.
[360] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 328.
[361] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ pp. 328, 329.
[362] Nahum iii. 8-10.
[363] The Apis-pillar from the twenty-first year of Psammetichus proves
that the Egyptians put him immediately after Tirhaka. As they make the
reign of Psammetichus commence with the year 664 B.C. the death of
Tirhaka must fall in this year, and the war of Urdamane in the next.
[364] Inhabitants of Karbit, in the land of Halahasta, were brought
here; compare Cyl. B. in Ménant, "Ann." p. 291. If the king of the
memorial stone of the ruins of the temple of Ammon at Napata, whose name
is read with much uncertainty as Nuat-Mi (amun), or Amun-merinut, or
Tonuat-amen, is not one and the same person with the Urdamane or
Undamane (Unt-amen?) of Assurbanipal, it is very difficult to explain
who he is. If the name of the person making dedications beside Tirhaka
at Karnak is the same which the monument gives (Mariette, "Monum.
divers." pl. 80, sqq.), this would be an important factor for the
identification with Urdamane, which is also supported by the fact that
Piker of Pasupti is prominent among the opponents of this Ethiopian:
Pakruru of Pisaptu has been previously mentioned by Assurbanipal. The
narrative of the memorial stone would then be the counterpart of the
Assyrian account; the only striking thing in the narrative of the
Ethiopian king is that the victory of Memphis is mentioned, but not the
capture of the Assyrians. He ought also, it is true, to have mentioned
the retreat forced upon him by the Assyrians. The narrative runs: In the
year when he came to the throne Nuat-amon saw two serpents in a dream,
and when he asked the interpretation of the dream, it was announced to
him: "he possessed the south, he should conquer the north." He set out,
and when he arrived at Thebes the prophet of the temple of Ammon-Ra met
him with the astrologers, and the inhabitants who were at first hostile
to him were filled with joy. But when Nuat-amon approached Memphis, the
sons of the rebellion marched against him, in order to do battle: he
inflicted on them a great defeat, and made himself master of the city of
Memphis. From Memphis he marched out, in order to do battle with the
chiefs of the land of the North, but they remained in their walls. When
their cities were besieged, they appeared before Nuat-amon lying on
their bellies, with their faces on the ground, and Piker the chief of
Pasupti said: "Thou slayest whom thou wilt, and thou givest life to whom
thou wilt, and all vow to be thy servants." The heart of Nuat-amon was
full of joy when he heard these words. They turned back into their
cities and sent all the good things of the North and the South to the
lord of Upper and Lower Egypt. Maspero, "Essai sur la stèle du songe."
Rev. Archéol. 1868, 17, 329 ff.
[365] G. Smith, "Assurbanipal," p. 62, 63.
[366] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 74, 75.
[367] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 95 ff.
[368] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 115, 96, 97.
[369] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 151.
[370] G. Smith, "Disc." p. 380.
[371] G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 103. Ménant, "Annal." p. 282.
[372] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 107, 117.
[373] Cylinder B., in G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 120 ff.
[374] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 140, 146. Ménant, "Annal." p. 286.
[375] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 133, 155, 142-145.
[376] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 171.
[377] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 154, 155, 169, 201. "Disc." p. 338.
[378] Above, p. 163. It is certain that Psammetichus's reign ends in the
year 610 B.C.; Boeckh, "Manetho," Zeitschr. "für Geschich.," s. 716 ff.,
Unger, "Manetho," s. 280. Herodotus and Manetho allot 54 years to the
reign of Psammetichus, and an Apis-pillar tells us that a new Apis was
installed in the month Athyr of the 54th year of the reign of
Psammetichus. Necho therefore died before, or in the year 664 B.C. (610
+ 54).
[379] G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 66; "Disc." p. 332. In the computation of
Herodotus, the accession of Gyges of Lydia takes place in 719 or 716,
according as the fall of Sardis is put in 549 or 546 B.C.; his death
takes place in 681 or 678 B.C. In the canon of Eusebius, on the same
data, he is computed to have ascended the throne in 699 or 696, and to
have reigned till 663 or 660. In the list of Lydian kings (Euseb.
"Chron." I, p. 69, ed. Schöne), he ascended, on the same data, in 689 or
686, and reigned to 653 or 650 B.C. The latter dates must be accepted if
Gyges sent help to Psammetichus. Samul-sum-ukin would not have found it
necessary to invite the prince or princes of Miluhhi to rebellion, if
Egypt had revolted from Assyria before his rebellion--Miluhhi must then
be used on the cylinder in a wider sense for Egypt and Meroe--and Gyges
could not send any help to Psammetichus, if he was not king himself. We
are not in a position to fix accurately the date of the rebellion of
Samul-sum-ukin, since the list of the Assyrian rulers breaks off with
the year 665 B.C. The fact that it is the sixth war of Assurbanipal in
which he marches against his brother--I enumerate the wars according to
Cylinder A--only proves that the war cannot have taken place before 660
B.C. In the astronomical canon the reign of Saosduchinus ends with the
year 648 B.C.; and we may therefore assume with certainty that the
overthrow of Samul-sum-ukin took place in this year. How long before
this Samul-sum-ukin took up arms, we do not know; he may very well have
done so in the year 652 B.C. For the rebellion was not brought to a
close till after a long siege of Babylon: or the rebellion may have
commenced even earlier, so that Gyges could undoubtedly have sent help
to Psammetichus in the last years of his reign. The cylinders, which
narrate the history of the wars of Assurbanipal, date from the year of
Samasdainani, who in Cylinder A is called viceroy of Accad, and on the
others viceroy of Babel. We are not in a position to fix definitely the
place of this year. A tablet of Erech bears the date of 20 Nisan of the
twentieth year of Assurbanipal in Babel (Ménant, "Annal." p. 29 ff.). As
Assurbanipal must have dated his rule in Babylon from the overthrow of
Samul-sum-ukin, and Assurbanipal himself died in the year 626 B.C.,
Samul-sum-ukin's death must have taken place at least before 646 B.C. On
the cylinders and on the reliefs in his palace at Nineveh, Assurbanipal
merely calls himself king of Asshur. If in the documents relating to his
buildings in Babylon as well as on the Babylonian brick already
mentioned he calls himself king of Babel, it follows that these
inscriptions belong to the period after the war with his brother. G.
Smith, "Disc." p. 378, 380.
[380] G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 199; Ménant, _loc. cit._ p. 288.
[381] Ménant, _loc. cit._ p. 293; G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 165-168, 181.
[382] G. Smith, "Disc." p. 349 ff. If Babylon fell in the sixth war, 648
B.C., the destruction of Susa at the end of the eighth war cannot have
taken place earlier than in the year 645 B.C.
[383] G. Smith, "Disc." p. 371; "Assurb." p. 237, 241, 243, 304, 306;
Ménant, _loc. cit._ p. 291.
[384] Ezekiel xxxii. 24.
[385] G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 299; "Assyr. Canon," p. 148.
[386] G. Smith, "Disc." p. 370.
[387] G. Smith, _loc. cit._ p. 370.
[388] Joshua xix. 29.
[389] Herod. 2, 157.
[390] Diod. 1, 67.
[391] Beginning of Cylinder C. in G. Smith, "Disc." p. 377.
[392] Above, p. 108. G. Smith, "Assurb." p. 308.
[393] End of Cylinder A. in G. Smith, "Disc." p. 372 ff.
[394] Place, "Ninive." Pl. 57.