The next pharaoh of antiquity who challenges our interest with his confirmation of the Scripture, is variously known by the name of Necho, which is his prenomen as used in the Scripture text, and by the Egyptian forms of Nekau and Uohemibra. He was, perhaps, the greatest of the later conquerors who sought to extend the power of Egypt, and he was certainly the last of that remarkable group. He expended a good deal of the revenues of the crown in rebuilding the canal of Seti the First, which had formed a waterway between the Nile and the Red Sea. It is difficult at times to place absolute credence upon the numerical estimates of the ancient chronicles of Egypt, but it is highly probable that Necho employed more than a hundred thousand men in this work. Herodotus gives great honour to Necho, telling us that he sent out certain ships of Phoenicia which circumnavigated Africa. He maintained a mercenary army of Greeks, and had one fleet in the Mediterranean, and the other in the Red Sea. His record in the Scripture is tangled inextricably with that of Assyria and Babylonia, and for that reason we must sketch-in the background of this coincidence and appearance.
Shalmaneser the Fifth began the phenomenal rise to ascendency of the great power of Assyria. Babylon was the chief adversary and the strongest foe that Assyria faced in the development of her world empire, which ultimately climaxed in Sennacherib. Finding it impossible to preserve the loyalty of the Babylonians, who were a proud and haughty people, Sennacherib finally destroyed Babylon and carried away its people into captivity. When Sennacherib died, according to the record of the nineteenth chapter of II Kings, his son, Esar-haddon came to the throne. Esar-haddon, more of a statesman than a conqueror, rebuilt Babylon. He united Assyria and Babylon into one great domain, naming the combined kingdom Babylonia. For the sake of administration and as a gesture of amity, he made Babylon his capital. Thus the rebuilt city became the seat of government and the center of the culture of Babylonia.
The name Esar-haddon means “victorious,” or “conqueror.” One of the greatest of all the mighty kings of Assyria, he was a worthy successor of Sargon, Shalmaneser, and Sennacherib. His name occurs but three times in Holy Writ. The first occurrence is II Kings 19:37, where it speaks of his ascent to the throne. The next occurrence is in Isaiah 37:28 where this record of II Kings 19:37 is confirmed by the hand of the prophet, who was an active participant in those stirring events. Later, Ezra refers to him in the second verse of his fourth chapter. In this latter reference, the remnant who returned from the Babylonian captivity name him as the cause of their captivity and acknowledged that he gave them the freedom to worship their own God in their own way.
In the reign of Menasseh, Esar-haddon died and was succeeded by two sons. The elder of these was the famous Assur-bani-pal, who was made over-lord of the entire kingdom, with the section that was once called Assyria as his particular domain. His younger brother, Shamis-shum-ukim was given dominion over Babylon, where he reigned as vassal to his wealthy brother. The British Museum is replete with the records and materials from the reign of Assur-bani-pal and from the brief and tragic rule of Shamis-shum-ukim as well.
The fine hand of Egyptian intrigue enters into the record at this point, again tangling up the Assyrian records in a triangular bout between Judah, Egypt, and Babylonia. The Pharaoh Necho, alarmed by the growing power of Babylonia, gathered together a mighty host and invaded the territory of the great Assyrian king. As a preliminary to this invasion, the Pharaoh Necho persuaded Shamis-shum-ukim to rebel against his older brother and to declare his independence. Into this conspiracy Necho succeeded in drawing Syria and Judah. The blow was struck at the dominion of Assur-bani-pal while he was battling certain tribes near his Eastern border. When the couriers brought him word of the revolt of his brother, and of the coalition formed against him at the instigation of Necho, Assur-bani-pal made a swift and remarkable march, returning to his threatened territory. Necho hastily assembled his army, and the major battles were fought on the terrain of Syria. Syria was quickly reduced, Babylon pacified, and Assur-bani-pal emerged completely victorious.
Necho, not having had time to prepare his defenses, was overthrown, defeated, and forced to bow in subjection to Assur-bani-pal. From the record of the victorious king, we offer the following paragraph as a condensed but detailed account of these tremendous events:
“After removing the corpses of the rebels from the midst of Babylon, Cuthra, and Sippara, and piling them in heaps, in accordance with the prophecies I cleaned the mercy seats of their temples. I purified their chief places of prayer I appeased their angry gods and goddesses with supplications and penitential psalms. Their daily sacrifices which they had discontinued, I restored and established as they had been of old. As for the rest of them who had flown at the stroke of slaughter, I had mercy on them. I proclaimed an amnesty upon them. I brought them to live in Babylon. The men of the nations whom Sam ... had led away and united in one conspiracy, I trod down to the uttermost parts of their borders. By the command of Assur, Beltis, and the great gods my helpers, the yoke of Assur which they had shaken off I laid upon them. I appointed over them governors and satraps, the work of my own hands.”
From this account it will be seen that Assur-bani-pal slew his rebellious brother and destroyed the principal leaders of the revolt, with the exception of those who had pleaded for mercy. As a result of this defeat at Charchemish, Necho was dethroned and led in chains to Babylon. This Chaldean conqueror had a policy that was unique for his day. It was his consistent practice to deal mercifully with the repentant. When the Pharaoh Necho professed sorrow for his conduct, Assur-bani-pal, following his established custom, restored him to Sais where he was to rule Egypt as a province of Babylonia.
At this time, Josiah of Judah also accepted the yoke of Assyria and became a vassal of Assur-bani-pal. From what we learn of the character of King Josiah, we would expect that he would be faithful to his pledges and promises and, indeed, this very faithfulness was the cause of his death. The Pharaoh Necho, smarting under his defeat and wounded deeply in his pride, quietly gathered together a tremendous army and rebelled against Assur-bani-pal the second time.
In this second conflict, Charchemish was the chosen battle ground. Although many strategic battles had been waged back and forth about this important center, this is generally referred to as the First Battle of Charchemish. This reference is undoubtedly predicated upon the fact that the ultimate struggle between Assyria and Egypt, which gave the latter power a world dominion, centered about this field.