Soon after these arrangements were completed Esarhaddon, who was suffering from bad health, set out for Egypt. He died towards the end of October, and the early incidents of his campaign were included in the records of Ashur-bani-pal's reign. Taharka was defeated at Memphis, and retreated southward to Thebes.
So passed away the man who has been eulogized as "the noblest and most sympathetic figure among the Assyrian kings". There was certainly much which was attractive in his character. He inaugurated many social reforms, and appears to have held in check his overbearing nobles. Trade flourished during his reign. He did not undertake the erection of a new city, like his father, but won the gratitude of the priesthood by his activities as a builder and restorer of temples. He founded a new "house of Ashur" at Nineveh, and reconstructed several temples in Babylonia. His son Ashur-bani-pal was the last great Assyrian ruler.
[[503]] 2 Kings, xv, 19 and 29; 2 Chronicles, xxviii, 20.
[[504]] 2 Kings, xviii, 34 and xix, 13.
[[505]] 2 Kings, xiv, 1-14.
[[506]] 2 Kings, xv, 1-14.
[[507]] 2 Kings, xv, 19, 20.
[[508]] 2 Kings, xv, 25.
[[509]] Amos, v.