* The text of 2 Kings xii. 17 merely says that Hazael took
Gath. Gath is not named by Amos among the cities of the
Philistines (Amos. i. 6-8), but it is one of the towns cited
by that prophet as examples to Israel of the wrath of Jahveh
(vi. 2). It is probable, therefore, that it was already
destroyed in his time.
** 2 Kings xii. 17, 18; cf. 2 Chron. xxiv. 22-24, where the
expedition of Hazael is represented as a punishment for the
murder of Mechariah, son of Jehoiada.
Drawn by Faucher-Gudin,
from a photograph by
J. de Morgan.
From this time forward Judah became, like Israel, Edom, the Philistines and Ammonites, a mere vassal of Hazael; with the possible exception of Moab, all the peoples of Southern Syria were now subject to Damascus, and formed a league as strong as that which had successfully resisted the power of Shalmaneser. Rammân-nirâri, therefore, did not venture to attack Syria during the lifetime of Hazael; but a change of sovereign is always a critical moment in the history of an Eastern empire, and he took advantage of the confusion caused by the death of the aged king to attack his successor Mari (803 B.C.). Mari essayed the tactics which his father had found so successful; he avoided a pitched battle, and shut himself up in Damascus. But he was soon closely blockaded, and forced to submit to terms; Rammân-nirâri demanded as the price of withdrawal, 23,000 talents of silver, 20 talents of gold, 3000 of copper, 5000 of iron, besides embroidered and dyed stuffs, an ivory couch, and a litter inlaid with ivory,—in all a considerable part of the treasures amassed at the expense of the Hebrews and their neighbours. It is doubtful whether Rammân-nirâri pushed further south, and penetrated in person as far as the deserts of Arabia Petrsæ—a suggestion which the mention of the Philistines and Edomites among the list of his tributary states might induce us to accept. Probably it was not the case, and he really went no further than Damascus. But the submission of that city included, in theory at least, the submission of all states subject to her sway, and these dependencies may have sent some presents to testify their desire to conciliate his favour; their names appear in the inscriptions in order to swell the number of direct or indirect vassals of the empire, since they were subject to a state which had been effectually conquered.
Rammân-nirâri did not meet with such good fortune in the North; not only did he fail to obtain the brilliant successes which elsewhere attended his arms, but he ended by sustaining considerable reverses. The Ninevite historians reckoned the two expeditions of 808 and 807 B.C. against the Mannai as victories, doubtless because the king returned with a train of prisoners and loaded with spoil; but the Vannic inscriptions reveal that Urartu, which had been rising into prominence during the reign of Shalmaneser, had now grown still more powerful, and had begun to reconquer those provinces on the Tigris and Euphrates of which the Assyrians thought themselves the undoubted lords. Sharduris II. had been succeeded, about 828, by his son Ishpuinis, who had perhaps measured his strength against Samsi-ranimân IV. Ishpuinis appears to have conquered and reduced to the condition of a province the neighbouring principality of Biainas, which up to that time had been governed by a semi-independent dynasty; at all events, he transferred thence his seat of govern-and made Dhuspas his favourite residence. Towards the end of his reign he associated with him on the throne his son Menuas, and made him commander-in-chief of the army. Menuas proved a bold and successful general, and in a few years had doubled the extent of his dominions. He first delivered from the Assyrian yoke, and plundered on his father’s account, the tribes on the borders of Lake Urumiah, Muzazir, Gilzân, and Kirruri; then, crossing the Gordygean mountains, he burnt the towns in the valley of the Upper Zab, which bore the uncouth names of Teraîs, Ardis, Khanalis, Bikuras, Khatqanas, Inuas, and Nibur, laid waste the more fertile part of Khubushkia, and carved triumphal stelas in the Assyrian and Vannic scripts upon the rocks in the pass of Rowandiz.
It was probably to recover this territory that Rammân-nirâri waged war three times in Khubushkia, in 802, 792, and 785, in a district which had formerly been ruled by a prefect from Nineveh, but had now fallen into the hands of the enemy.*
* It is probable that the stele of Kelishin, belonging to
the joint reign of Ishpuinis and Menuas, was intended to
commemorate the events which led Rammân-nirâri to undertake
his first expedition; the conquest by Menuas will fall then
in 804 or 803 B.C. The inscription of Meher-Kapussi contains
the names of the divinities belonging to several conquered
towns, and may have been engraved on the return from this
war.
Everywhere along the frontier, from the Lower Zab to the Euphrates, Menuas overpowered and drove back the Assyrian outposts. He took from them Aldus and Erinuis on the southern shores of Lake Van, compelled Dayaîni to abandon its allegiance, and forced its king, Udhupursis, to surrender his treasure and his chariots; then gradually descending the valley of the Arzania, he crushed Seseti, Kulmê, and Ekarzu. In one year he pillaged the Mannai in the east, and attacked the Khâti in the west, seizing their fortresses of Surisilis, Tarkhigamas, and Sarduras; in the province of Alzu he left 2113 soldiers dead on the field after one engagement; Gupas yielded to his sway, followed by the towns of Khuzanas and Puteria, whereupon he even crossed the Euphrates and levied tribute from Melitene. But the struggle against Assyria absorbed only a portion of his energy; we do not know what he accomplished in the east, in the plains sloping towards the Caspian Sea, but several monuments, discovered near Armavir and Erzerum, testify that he pushed his arms a considerable distance towards the north and north-west.* He obliged Etius to acknowledge his supremacy, sending a colony to its capital, Lununis, whose name he changed to Menua-lietzilinis.**
* The inscription of Erzerum, discovered by F. de Saulcy and
published by him, shows that Menuas was in possession of the
district in which this town is situated, and that he rebuilt
a palace there.
** Inscriptions of Yazli-tash and Zolakert. It follows from
these texts that the country of Etius is the district of
Armavir, and Lununis is the ancient name of this city. The
now name by which Menuas replaced the name Lununis signifies
the abode of the people of Menuas; like many names arising
from special circumstances, it naturally passed away with
the rule of the people who had imposed it.