IV. '(In my ninth expedition and eleventh year) the people of the Philistines, Judah, Edom and the Moabites who dwell by the sea, who owed tribute and presents to Assur my lord, plotted rebellion, men of insolence, who in order to revolt against me carried their bribes for alliance to Pharaoh king of Egypt, a prince who could not save them, and sent him homage. I, Sargon, the established prince, the reverer of the worship of Assur and Merodach, the protector of the renown of Assur, caused the warriors who belonged to me entirely to pass the rivers Tigris and Euphrates during full flood, and that same Yavan [of Ashdod], their king, who trusted in his (forces), and did not (reverence) my sovereignty, heard of the progress of my expedition to the land of the Hittites [Syria], and the fear of (Assur) my (lord) overwhelmed him, and to the border of Egypt ... he fled away.'

From a Cylinder of Esar-haddon.

'I assembled the kings of Syria and the land beyond the [Mediterranean] sea, Baal king of Tyre, Manasseh king of Judah, Kaus-gabri king of Edom, Mizri [ [11] king of Moab, Zil-Baal king of Gaza, Metinti king of Ashkelon, Ikausu king of Ekron, Melech-asaph king of Gebal, Matan-Baal king of Arvad, Abi-Baal king, of Shamesh-merom, Pedael king of Beth-Ammon, and Ahimelech king of Ashdod, twelve kings of the sea-coast; Ekistor king of Idalion, Pylagoras king of Khytros, Kissos king of Salamis, Ithuander king of Paphos, Eriêsos king of Soloi, Damasos king of Kurion, Rumesu king of Tamassos, Damusi king of Carthage, Unasagusu king of Lidir, and Butsusu king of Nurê, ten kings of the land of Cyprus in the middle of the sea.'

[INDEX]

A.

Accadians, invented the cuneiform system of writing, founded the chief cities and civilisation of Babylonia; erected the earliest known monuments; the language may be called the Latin of Asia, [24]; the Accadians first used hieroglyphics or pictures painted on papyrus leaves, from which the cuneiform characters were formed; afterwards soft clay was stamped with cuneitic symbols, and then sun-dried; general use of writing and materials employed; characters changed, [93]-[95]; Sarzec's recent discovery at Tel-Loh, [95].

Adar, a solar deity; pronunciation of name not quite certain; it forms a part of the name Adrammelech, [66].

Adrammelech, one of the gods of Sepharvaim brought to Samaria by the colonists settled there; probably representing some particular attribute of the Sun-god; also the name of one of Sennacherib's regicide sons, [46], [66].

Ahaz, king of Judah, called Jehoahaz in the inscriptions; bribed Pul to attack the Syrians and Israelites; and himself became tributary, [36].

Allat, the goddess queen of the underworld, [76].

Appendix.—Translations from Assyrian texts relating to the kingdoms of Israel and Judah:

I. Inscription of Shalmaneser II, found at Kurkh, [146-8].

II. The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II, [148].

III. From a Fragment of Shalmaneser II, [148].

IV. From the Inscription of Rimmon-nirari III, [148-9].

V. From Fragments of the Annals of Tiglath-Pileser II, [149]-[151].

VI. From the Inscriptions of Sargon, [151-2].

VII. From a Cylinder of Esar-haddon, [152].

Aramaic, commonly used by the Jews, after the captivity, and became the common language of trade, [132-3].

Ararat or Armenia, long a dangerous neighbour; Tiglath-Pileser II invaded the country, invested Van, and devastated the surrounding country, [35].

Armies composed of charioteers, light and heavy armed cavalry and infantry, and were variously equipped with bows, swords, and daggers, [126].

Armies crossing streams; the common soldiers on inflated skins; the chief officers, chariots, and commissariat in boats, or on pontoon bridges, [131].

Assessment lists of the provinces and large towns after the time of Tiglath-Pileser II; the places and amounts paid to the imperial exchequer, [140-3].

[Assur], the name of a city on the western bank of the Tigris, and the capital of the country or district named after it; Assur was a descriptive appellation signifying 'water-boundary' at first, but was slightly changed by the Semitic conquerors so as to mean 'gracious;' the name of Sar, the god of the firmament, in time, was confused with that of the patron deity, and Assur thus came to signify the city, country, and the deity; hence Assur represented at the same time the power and constitution of Assyria, the 'gracious' god, and the primeval firmament; ruins now called Kalah Sherghat, [21-2].

Assur-bani-pal, probably 'the great and noble Asnapper;' succeeded his father, Esar-haddon, [48]; he was luxurious, ambitious, and cruel, but a most magnificent patron of literature; he kept scribes constantly engaged on new editions of rare or older works; entrusted his armies to his generals, and before his death found the empire irretrievably weakened; his lion hunts compared with those of his warlike predecessors; Egyptian revolt crushed, and Tirhakah again a fugitive, No-Amon plundered, and two obelisks carried as trophies to Nineveh, [51]; Tyre surrendered and the Lydians paid tribute; fall of Elam, Shushan razed, and captive kings compelled to drag Assur-bani-pal's chariot through Nineveh, [51-2]; the Arabs severely punished, and the Armenians of Van sought an alliance; rebellion headed by his brother the Babylonian viceroy, with the assistance of Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia, and hired Karian and Ionian mercenaries; Egypt now threw off the yoke; Cuthah was reduced by famine, and Samas-yukin perished in the flames of his palace; Elam ravaged again and the last king became a fugitive, [52].

Assur-natsir, one of the most energetic and ferocious warrior kings, also a great builder of palaces; restored Calah, formed a library, and made the city his favourite residence, [28-9].

Assur-nirari, the last of his line, ascended the throne in troublous time; Assur, the capital, rose in revolt; the cities and outlying districts were surging with discontent; ten years later the army rebelled, and the monarch and his dynasty fell together, [33].

Assyrian book, with illustration from the original in the British Museum, [98].

Assyrian campaigns at first undertaken for the sake of plunder and exacting tribute; made but little effort to retain their conquests, till the time of the Second Empire, [33].

Assyrian history scarcely known till Bel-kapkapi became king; decline of Assyrian power and influence, and revived by Assur-dayan II and his warlike successors, who conquered the Babylonians, Hittites, and Phœnicians, [34-7].

Assyrian law relied greatly on precedents and decisions; the king supreme, and appointed the judges; in its general principles resembled the English; earliest code, Accadian, [138].

Assyrian literature, wide range of subjects, included history, legend, poetry, astronomy, and astrology, &c.; letters of the king, reports of astronomers and generals, [102].

Assyrian palace, built of brick on a raised platform; description, extent of courts and royal chambers; the observatory built in stages on the west side; exaggerated forms of columnar architecture used; apertures which served as windows protected in winter by heavy folds of tapestry, [86-8].

Assyrian sculptures, mostly in relief; three periods traceable; characteristics and comparison with Egyptian art; colour used on the bas-reliefs, [89]-[90].

Assyrian Semites, allied in blood and language to the Hebrews, Aramæans, and Arabs; the Babylonians a mixed race, partly Semites and Accadians, the original possessors of the soil of Chaldea, [24].

Assyrians and Babylonians contrasted, [66-7].

Assyro-Babylonians excelled in a knowledge of mathematics; tables of squares and cubes and geometrical figures have been found at Senkereh, and the plan of an estate at Babylon, [118].

B.

Babel, tower of, and the dispersion, [82-3].

Babylonian myth of the seven evil spirits warring against the moon; flight of Samas and Istar; and the demons put to flight by Merodach; explanation of the myth, [78].

Babylonian story of the god Zu stealing the lightning of Bel compared with that of the Greek Prometheus, [78].

Balawât, colossal doors of, the work of native artists, description of the bronze framework and reliefs; explanatory texts relating to Shalmaneser's campaigns; Carchemish and Armenian warriors depicted, [30].

Banquets, wines of various kinds used; those of Helbon most highly prized; other luxuries common; the tables ornamented with flowers, and musicians hired to entertain the guests, [128-9].

Bel-kapkapi, the founder of the kingdom of Assur; its extent and varying frontiers; the inhabitants Semites, [27].

Bêrôssus' great work of seventy-two books translated into Greek, [102].

Blissful lot of the spirit of Ea-bani described in the epic of Gisdhubar, [76-7].

Botta and Layard's excavation brought to light Dur-Sargon and Nineveh, [26].

Bridges common on all the great roads through Western Asia in the earliest ages; used for war and trade; the country then more populous, and the roads numerous and well kept, [131-2].

C.

Calah founded by Shalmaneser I, whose descendants reigned six generations; it became the seat of royalty under Assur-natsir-pal and Shalmaneser II, [27-9]; the palace rebuilt by Assur-etil-ilani, son of Assur-bani-pal, [53].

Chairs, tables, and couches used at meals, [128].

Chaldæan account of the Deluge, and its relation to the Scriptural narrative; the two compared and contrasted, [81-2].

Chariots often carried across mountains on the shoulders of men, or animals; the royal chariot contained the king and two attendants, and was followed by a guard and led horses, [124].

Charms and exorcisms used for curing diseases; the knotted cord and leaves from a sacred book; repute of the witch and wizard, [120-1].

Code of moral precepts addressed to princes and courtiers; earliest Accadian law book expressly protected slaves, [138].

Colossi dragged from the quarries on land by means of sledges, and on rivers and canals by rafts; Sennacherib directed the removal of winged bulls and deities from Balad, [90-3].

Contract tablets relating to loans, sales, leases of houses, and other property: tablets translated: i. Loan of silver and interest paid on it; ii. Loan of bronze; iii. Loan of silver; iv. Sale of a house; v. Sale of slaves, [135-7].

Contrasts between the Assyrians and Babylonians, [66-7].

Creation legend from Cuthah, described chaos, and the formation of monsters, followed by more perfect creatures; the legend from Assur-bani-pal's library and its remarkable resemblance to the account in Genesis; Assyrian account, [79], [80-1].

Cylinder, part of, containing Hezekiah's name, transcribed into ordinary characters, [104-5]; compared with one of Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptions; transliteration and translation of part of the inscription, [107-8].

Cyrus permitted the Assyrians to return to their old capital, and released the Jewish exiles from Babylon, [53-4].

D.

Datilla, the river of death, at the mouth of the Euphrates, where Gisdhubar saw the Chaldæan Noah after his translation; but in later times the entrance to Hades and the site of the earthly Paradise were removed to more unknown regions, [76].

Death of Tammuz lamented by Jewish females in the temple at Jerusalem, [65].

Deeds and contracts signed and sealed in the presence of witness, or nail marks made by those unable to write, and the documents carefully preserved, [133].

Defects in the tablets caused by the ignorance of the scribes, [112-3].

Deluge sent as a punishment for the wickedness of mankind, [82].

Descent of Istar into Hades in search of Tammuz, one of the most popular old Babylonian myths; her passage through the seven gates of the underworld, and appearance before Allat; the myth explained, [64-5].

Dread of witchcraft and magic; referred to in hymn to the Sun-god, [113-5].

Dress of all classes; the king in time of peace; the upper classes, soldiers, common people, and women, [123-4].

Dur-Sargina, the modern Khorsabad, built by Sargon, in the form of a square, surrounded by walls forty-six feet thick; the outer wall was flanked with towers; description of the palace and its courts; the royal chambers; the observatory built in stages, [86-7].

E.

Ea (the god), the deep, or ocean-stream, supposed to surround the earth like a serpent; his symbol, attributes, and title; Eridu the chief seat of his worship, near the sacred grove where the tree of life and knowledge had its roots; Ea, a benevolent deity, who taught the art of healing and culture to mankind; his wife, Dav-kina, presided over the lower world, [59].

Eclipse of the sun and revolt of city of Assur, [33].

Educated Assyrians and traders conversant with several languages, . [101].

Education widely diffused throughout Babylonia; few unable to read and write, [95].

Egibi, eminent bankers during the reigns of Sennacherib and Esar-haddon, to Darius and Xerxes; the name a very exact transcript of the Biblical Jacob, [138].

Eponyms, officers after whom the year was named; lists determine both the Assyrian and Biblical chronology, [102].

Erimenas, king of Armenia, completely defeated near Malatiyeh in Kappadokia, [46].

Esar-haddon, shortly after his father's murder, defeated his insurgent brothers and Erimenas, near Malatiyeh, and was then proclaimed king; he possessed military genius and political tact, and was the first king who conciliated the conquered nations; Egypt was subdued; Babylon rebuilt, and the plunder and the gods returned to the inhabitants; Manasseh brought captive before him; trade diverted into Assyrian channels, and secured by a daring march to Huz and Buz; terrified the Arabs; drove Teispes westwards; worked the copper mines of Media; exacted tribute from Cyprus, where he obtained some of the materials of his palace at Nineveh, [46-8]; he completely overran Egypt, divided the country into 27 satrapies placed under governors watched by Assyrian garrisons, [48].

Esar-haddon II, called Sarakos by the Greeks, on ascending the throne was surrounded by foes; the frontier towns fell quickly, and a public fast was proclaimed and prayers offered to the gods to ward off the doom of Nineveh, but the city was besieged, captured, and destroyed, [53].

Etana, the Babylonian Titan, and his exploits, [83]; legend ascribed to Nis-Sin, [110].

F.

Fables, riddles, and proverbs anciently, as now, the delight of Orientals; riddle propounded to Nergal and the other gods, [109].

Fate of Nineveh after its iniquity was full; the very site unknown for ages, [53].

Fishing carried on with a line merely, [131].

Forbidden foods; fasts and humiliations in times of public calamity, [73].

G.

Gisdhubar epic; structure and contents; each of its twelve books corresponded to one of the signs of the zodiac; history of the Deluge contained in the eleventh book; Gisdhubar a solar hero, and his adventures compared with the labours of Hêraclês; resemblance of Accadian and Greek myths; date of the epic more than 2000 years before Christ; formed of older lays put together to form a single poem, [110-12].

Goyim, over which Tidal was king, probably comprised in Gutium, or Kurdistan, [23].

H.

Hadadezer (the Biblical Benhadad) of Damascus formed a confederacy with Hamath and Israel against the Assyrians; Ahab's contingent; rout of the allies at Karkar, or Aroer, [31].

Hades a dreary abode, where spirits flitted, like bats, among the crowned phantoms of heroes; palace of Allat, where the waters of life, near the golden throne, restored to life and the upper air those who drank of them; entrance, the River Datilla, [75-6].

Hanging gardens, watered by means of a screw, [118].

Hazael utterly routed by Shalmaneser II on the heights of Shenir; camp, chariots, and carriages captured, and siege laid to Damascus, [31].

Helbon noted for its wines; still called Halbûn, [127].

Highroads and brickyards placed under commissioners, [131-2].

Human sacrifices an Accadian institution; children burnt to death as expiatory offerings by their fathers, [75].

Hymn to the Sun-god, a mixture of exalted thought and debasing superstition, [113-5].

Hymns in honour of the different deities collected into a sacred book; Semitic translations made, but the hymns recited long afterwards in the original Accadian language, [67-8].

I.

Inferior deities classed among 'the 300 spirits of heaven' and 'the 600 spirits of earth,' [57].

Inscription containing Hezekiah's name transliterated and translated, [101-8].

Israelite officials witnesses of deed of sale, [137].

Istar, the great Accadian goddess, unlike the Beltis or Bilat, wife of Baal, had independent attributes as strongly marked as those of the gods, and was known as the evening star, [57]; she became the Semitic Ashtoreth, and was the goddess of love, war, and the chase; she was associated with Tammuz; her different attributes, temples, and worship in different places, [62-4].

J.

Jehu's tribute to Shalmaneser II, gold and silver drinking vessels, a sceptre, and spear handles, [32].

Jewish seals probably earlier than the Babylonish exile found at Diarbekr and other places near the Tigris and Euphrates, [138].

K.

Kandalanu, viceroy of Babylon twenty-two years; the father of Nabopolassar, [53].

Karkar or Aroer, battle of, and defeat of Benhadad and his allies, [31].

Khumbaba the tyrant, slain by Gisdhubar 'in the land of the pine trees,' [111].

King only supreme in military affairs, and assisted by two commanders-in-chief; lists of officials, their titles and duties, [144].

L.

Legend of Lubara, the plague demon, smiting the evil-doers of Babylon and Erech, and its partial resemblance to the angel of the Lord standing with a drawn sword over Jerusalem as a punishment of David's sins, [78].

Libraries early established in all the great cities, as Assur, Calah, and Nineveh; the last filled by Assur-bani-pal with copies of the plundered books of Babylonia, [99]; lexical and grammatical phrase books, and lists of the names of animals, birds, reptiles, fish, stones, vegetables, and titles of military and civil officers, were contained in the different books stored up for reference, [100-1]; all the branches of learning then known were included; also dispatches of generals, reports of astronomers, royal letters, and lists of eponyms, [102].

Library of Nineveh, rich in poetical literature, comprised epics, hymns to the gods, psalms, and songs; songs to Assur of Assyrian origin, the epics, Babylonian, Accadian, and partly Semitic, by native poets, [109-10].

Liturgy contained rubrics for particular days, and direction of the priests, [68].

M.

March, order of, in a campaign; the king and his attendants, charioteers, heavy and light cavalry, bowmen and infantry variously equipped, [125-6]; king and nobles only allowed tents; a royal chair called a nimedu carried for the king's use; bas-relief of Sennacherib seated on one, before Lachish, [126].

Medicines, classification of diseases, prescriptions, and incantations, [119-20].

Merodach, originally a form of the Sun-god; a benevolent and intercessory deity, represented as continually passing between earth and heaven, informing Ea of the sufferings of mankind, and striving to alleviate them; he destroyed the demon Tiamat, and was commonly addressed as 'Bel' or 'Lord;' his star Jupiter; and his wife Zir-panitu, [60].

Merodach-Baladan's envoys induced Hezekiah to join the confederacy of Phœnicia, Moab, Edom, Philistia, and Egypt, against the Assyrians; but Sargon's rapid movements surprised them; Phœnicia and Judah were overrun, and Ashdod burnt before the arrival of the Egyptians; Merodach-Baladan in his own country made vigorous efforts to repel the attack of the conqueror on his return; but the Elamite allies were put to flight, and Sargon entered Babylon in triumph; the following year Merodach-Baladan was pursued to Beth-Yagina, which was taken by storm, and the defenders sent in chains to Nineveh; Merodach-Baladan escaped, and two years afterwards again seized Babylon, but was defeated at the battle of Kis, and a second time became a fugitive, [40-1].

Modes of assaulting fortified towns, and fearful atrocities committed by the conquerors, [126-8].

Monotheists who flourished in Chaldæa in pre-Semitic times, resolved the various deities into manifestations of one supreme god, Anu; old hymns refer to 'the one god,' [58-9].

Myths common to all old forms of faith, [77-8].

N.

Nabopolassar renounced his allegiance to Nineveh, and prepared the way for his son Nebuchadnezzar's empire, [53].

Names of Assyrian kings explained, [54].

Nebo the god of oratory and literature, said to have invented the cuneiform system of writing; great temple at Borsippa dedicated to him; his worship carried to Canaan, as seen in the names of a city and a mountain; had a temple at Bahrein under the name of Enzak; as a planetary deity he represented Mercury, and was often adored as Nusku, perhaps, the Nisroch of the Bible, [61].

Nergal, the god of hunting and war, also presided with Anu over the regions of the dead, [65].

Nineveh, probably coeval with the city of Assur, but only became the capital at a much later period; after the fall of [Assyrian] Empire its site was forgotten for ages; Rich's conjecture verified by Layard's excavations, and its buried treasures again brought to light, [25-6].

O.

'Observations of Bel,' the great work on astronomy and astrology, compiled at Accad for Sargon, mostly a record of eclipses of the sun and moon, conjunctions and phases of Venus and Mars; the time of the new year; the zodiacal signs named, and the divisions of the year, [102], [115-6].

Observatories in all the great cities; specimens of the astronomers' fortnightly reports, [117-8].

Official lists and titles almost endless; rank and office of the principal, [144].

Omens, work on, in 137 books compiled for Sargon, known to the last days of the Empire, [102].

Ox-driver's labour song in the fields, [109].

P.

Paradises or parks planted by the kings; gardens and shrubberies containing summer-houses by the wealthy; hanging garden, [130-1].

Penitential psalms composed at a very remote period, one of the finest addressed to Istar, [71-3].

Phœnician galley builders and sailors employed by Sennacherib on the Persian Gulf in his attack on the last refuge of the Chaldæans, [132].

Planisphere from Nineveh, and a table of lunar longitudes, [116-7].

Polygamy practised by the king, and the palace guarded by eunuchs, [129].

Prayer after a bad dream, [70].

Prayer of an Assyrian court for the king, [76].

Prayers to Bel and various deities on different occasions, [68]-[70].

Private will of Sennacherib in favour of Esar-haddon, [134].

Proud boast of the Babylonian monarch about exalting his throne above the stars, and sitting in the assembly of the gods, [77].

Pul, a military adventurer, seized the crown, b.c. 743, and assumed the name of Tiglath-Pileser II; he was an able ruler, a good general, and a skilful administrator, and consolidated the empire by deporting the turbulent populations to distant homes, and importing others; he divided the empire into provinces, and fixed the annual tribute; he endeavoured to subvert the power of the Hittites of Carchemish, and turn the trade of Asia Minor into Assyrian channels, and render Syria and Phœnicia tributary, [34]; he annexed Northern Babylonia, punished the Kurds, utterly defeated Sarduris and his confederates, and captured Arpad after a siege of two years; he stormed Hamath, and transplanted part of the inhabitants to Armenia; he received tribute from the Syrian kings, and Menahem, Rezon, Hiram, and Pisiris; he blockaded Van, and ravaged the surrounding country, [35-6]; he was heavily bribed by Ahaz to attack Rezon and Pekah; Damascus was invested and forced to surrender through famine, and forces were sent against the Ammonites, Moabites, and Philistines; on the fall of Damascus it was plundered and the inhabitants transplanted to Kir; Babylonia was reduced, and under his original name of Pul, he assumed the title of King

R.

Relative rank of women in Accadian and Babylonian times, [139].

Religion of Assyria, including deities and beliefs borrowed from Babylonia; but the Semites had greatly modified the original Accadian conceptions; belief of the Zi, evil and good spirits; diseases caused by demoniacal possession, and only curable by exorcisms and charms; the spirits most dreaded those who had been raised to the position of gods, as Anu, Mul-ge, and Ea; spirits of the heavenly bodies, [55-6]; curious contrasts: polytheism and monotheism, victories ascribed to Assur, and wars undertaken in his name: inconsistency and changes in the cult explained; inferiority to the faith of Israel, [84-5].

Rents paid by tenants of land in Babylonia, [139].

Repetition of the names of the gods, and its efficacy, [73].

Resen, name found in the inscriptions, but the site not yet determined; its meaning, [22-3].

Rimmon or Ramman, 'the thunderer,' the god of the atmosphere, rain, and storms; his cult extended to Syria, and he appears to have been the chief deity of Damascus, where he was known as Hadad or Dadda, [61].

Rimmon-nirari I, inscriptions of: his wars against the Babylonians, Kurds, and Shuites, [27].

Roads formed and kept in good condition, [131-2].

Rowandiz, where the ark is supposed to have rested; a snow-clad peak, 'the mountain of the world,' and 'the mountain of the East;' thought to be the abode of the gods, and the support of the vault of heaven, [77], [82].

Royal hunts, at first wild elephants and lions; but under Esar-haddon had degenerated into a battue of tamed animals kept in cages for the purpose, [129], [130].

S.

Sabbath early known, but confounded with the feast of the New Moon; kept on the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-eighth day of the lunar month, [73-4].

Sale of Israelitish slaves by a Phœnician; another sale afterwards of seven persons included an Israelite called Hoshea and his two wives, [133].

Samas, the Sun-god, was the son of Sin, in accordance with the astronomical view of the old Babylonians; he was really only a form of Merodach, though in historical times the two were separated, and received different cults; originally identical with Tammuz, through the myth of Istar, separate attributes were assigned to him, and Tammuz became a deity distinct from Samas, [61-2].

Samas-Rimmon, Shalmaneser's second son, quelled the revolt against his father, and succeeded him as king of Assyria, [32].

Sar, the god of the firmament; afterwards confused with the name of the patron deity of the capital of the country, [22]. (See [Assur].)

Sargon, a usurper, claimed royal descent; was an able general, but a rough and energetic ruler, [37-8]; two years after his accession captured Samaria, and removed the inhabitants to Gozan; he found the task of cementing together the empire formed by Tiglath-Pileser by no means easy; Babylonia had thrown off the yoke, and submitted to Merodach-Baladan; Elam threatened him on the south; the Kurds renewed their depredations on the east; the Hittites of Carchemish were unsubdued, Syria held with difficulty, and Egypt appeared as a new enemy, [38]; he drove the Elamites back into their own country, suppressed the revolt of Hamath, and burnt the city; put Yahu-bihdi or Ilu-bihdi to a horrible death, marched along the coast of Palestine, and roused the Egyptian army at Raphia, taking its ally the king of Gaza captive, [38-9]; he stormed Carchemish, took Pisiris prisoner, and the allies fled northward; the city was plundered, and an Assyrian satrap appointed over it; he had now gained the high road of the caravan trade between Eastern and Western Asia; the Hittite allies continued the struggle six years, when Van submitted, and its king Ursa committed suicide; Cilicia and Tubal were placed under an Assyrian governor, and the city of Malatiyeh was razed to the ground, [39]; [ Merodach-Baladan] had formed a powerful combination against Sargon in the west, of Judah, Phœnicia, Edom, Philistia, and Egypt, but before the confederates were ready to act together, Sargon overran Palestine, captured Jerusalem, and burnt Ashdod; he next hurled his forces against Babylonia, compelled the Elamites to retire, and entered the capital in triumph; the following year he pursued Merodach-Baladan to Beth-Yagin, which was taken by storm, and the defenders sent in chains to Nineveh, but Merodach-Baladan escaped, [40-1]; extent of Sargon's empire, and conquests; murdered by his own soldiers in Dur-Sargon, his new city, [41]; succeeded by his son Sennacherib, [41].

Science mixed with superstition; astronomy with astrology: the observation of nature with augury, [115]; modes of measuring time and determining the beginning of the year, [116].

Script characters generally used for official and private documents; this mode of writing clear, well-defined, and continued nearly the same till the fall of Nineveh; clay tablets small, but well baked in a kiln; characters sometimes very minute, and must have been formed with the aid of a magnifying glass, [96-7].

Sennacherib had been brought up in the purple; was weak, boastful, and cruel, and only preserved the empire by the help of his father's veterans and generals; Merodach-Baladan escaped from captivity, and again seized Babylon, but was driven from the country after the battle of Kis, [41-2]; Sennacherib next invaded Phœnicia and Judah and the neighbouring countries; Assyrian account of the battle of Eltekeh; capture of illustrious persons and spoil; his boast of cities taken and tribute; but entire silence about the terrible disaster he sustained near Jerusalem, and his precipitate flight; the following year he suppressed Nergal-yusezib's revolt, and appointed Assur Nadin-sumi viceroy of Babylon, [42-5]; pursued the Chaldæan refugees and destroyed their last settlements on the Persian Gulf, [45]; Elam next invaded Babylonia, and placed Nergal-yusezib on the throne; defeated the Assyrians near Nipur, but died soon afterwards; he was succeeded by Musezib, who defied the power of Assyria nearly four years, but was beaten in the decisive battle of Khalule; the following year Sennacherib captured Babylon, and gave it up to fire and the sword; the inhabitants were sold into slavery, and the waters of the Araxes canal overflowed the ruined city; his Cilician campaign the last; the rest of his life spent in constructing canals, aqueducts, and rebuilding the palace at Nineveh; he was murdered by his two elder sons whilst worshipping in the temple of his god, [46].

Shalmaneser I said to have built Calah, and his descendants reigned uninterruptedly six generations, [27].

Shalmaneser II, his great military successes and long reign, the climax of the first Assyrian empire; his annals contained on a monolith near Diarbekr, a small obelisk, and on the bronze framework of the gates of Balawât; Jehu one of his tributaries; his campaign against the Kurds, Van, and the Manna or Minni; compelled the Hittites to sue for peace, and recaptured Pethor, [29]-[31]; defeated Benhadad and his allies at Aroer or Karkar, and twelve years afterwards completely crushed the power of Hazael on the heights of Shenir, laid siege to Damascus, ravaged the Hauran, and marched to Baal-rosh, where his image was carved on the rocky promontory, [31-2]; little further attempted by the king, besides exacting tribute from distant regions; revolt of his eldest son, joined by twenty-seven cities, put down by the energy and military capacity of Samas-Rimmon, [31-2].

Shalmaneser III, a usurper of Tinu; he attempted the capture of Tyre, began a war against Israel, but had scarcely laid siege to Samaria when he died or was murdered, and was succeeded by Sargon, another usurper, [37].

Sin, the Moon-god, called Agu or Acu by the Accadians, was the patron deity of Ur; had a famous temple in the ancient city of Harran, where he was symbolised by an upright cone of stone; his emblem was the crescent moon, [62].

T.

Table of Semitic Babylonian kings arranged in dynasties, which traces them back to b.c. 2330; a recent discovery, [102].

Tables of squares and cubes found at Larsa, also geometrical figures used for augury; the mathematical unit, and mode of expression, [132-3].

Temple, Assyro-Babylonian, and its points of resemblance to Solomon's, [74-5]; entrances to temples and palaces guarded by colossal figures of winged bulls; temples filled with images of the gods, great and small, which were supposed to confer special sanctity on the place; offerings of two kinds, sacrifices and meal offerings; no traces of human sacrifices among the Assyrians, although an Accadian institution; referred to in an old astrological work, where children were allowed to be offered by the fathers as expiatory sacrifices, [74-5].

Tiamat, the dragon, destroyed by Merodach, [60], [78-9].

Tiglath-Pileser I, his conquests in Cilicia, Kurdistan; defeated the Moschi, Hittites, and their Colchian allies, and erected a memorial of his exploits near the sources of the Tigris; he garrisoned Pethor with Assyrian soldiers, and on his return to Nineveh planted a park with strange trees brought back with him during his campaigns; he invaded Babylonia, and was at first repulsed, but was victorious afterwards, ravaged the country, and captured Babylon, [28].

Tower of Babel, building destroyed by winds in the night, and 'great and small,' as well as their speech confounded by Anu, [82-3].

Trade, its rise and growth under the Second Empire; fall of Carchemish and the Phœnician cities; the standard of weight, 'the maneh,' and Aramaic, the language of commerce, [132-3].

V.

Van, the capital of Ararat, successfully resisted the Assyrians, whilst the country far and near was wasted for a space of 450 miles, [36]; submitted to Sargon, and its king Ursa committed suicide, [39]; Van sought an alliance with Assur-bani-pal, [52].

W.

Witches and wizards held in high repute, [121].

Woman's position in Accad and Babylonia, [139].

X.

Xisuthros, the Chaldæan Noah, sails in a ship containing others beside his own family, steered by a pilot; whilst the flood was at its height, sent out a raven, dove, and swallow, to ascertain how far the waters had abated; his vessel rested on Rowandiz, and Xisuthros, immediately after his descent, sacrificed to the gods, and was translated to the land of immortality, [81-2].

Z.

Zu, 'the divine storm bird,' who stole the lightning of Bel, the parallel of the Greek story of Prometheus, [78].

INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES.

PAGE
Gen. x. 11[22]
Gen. x. 18[143]
Gen. xiv. 1[23]
Deut. iii. 9[31]
Deut. xxii. 49[61]
Josh. xv. 59[58]
Josh. xix. 38[58]
1 Kings viii. 13[12]
1 Kings x. 28[143]
2 Kings xv. 19[35]
2 Kings xvi. 10[37]
2 Kings xvii. 30[60], [65]
2 Kings xvii. 31[66]
2 Kings xviii. 26[101]
2 Kings xviii. 30[101]
2 Kings xix. 37[61]
2 Kings xx. 11[116]
2 Chron. xxxiii. 11[47]
Ezra ii. 29[61]
Ezra iv. 10[48]
Is. x. 34[13]
Is. xiv. 9[76]
Is. xiv. 13, 14[77]
Is. xix. 25[14]
Is. xx. 1[40]
Is. xxii. 14[14]
Is. xliv. 17[64]
Is. li. 27[30]
Is. li. 30[30]
Ezek. viii. 14[65]
Ezek. xxiii. 14[86]
Ezek. xxvii. 18[128]
Nahum i. 8[25]
Nahum ii. 6, 8, 12[25]
Nahum iii. 8[15], [51]
Zech. ix. 1[143]