A History of Babylon, from the Foundation of the Monarchy to the Persian Conquest

by L. W. King

(After Rosellini.)

The account that has been given of this lengthy document will have indicated the character of the royal correspondence discovered at Boghaz Keui. In some respects it closely resembles that from Tell el-Amarna, but it exhibits a pleasing contrast by the complete absence of those whining petitions for gold and presents, which bulk so largely in the earlier documents. The Egyptian policy of doles and bribery had brought out the worst side of the Oriental character. The Hittite did not believe in doles, and in any case he had not them to give; as a consequence, his correspondence confines itself in great measure to matters of state and high policy, and exhibits far greater dignity and self-respect. And this applies equally, so far as we can see, to the communications with Egypt, who had recovered from her temporary decadence. There can be little doubt that the royal Hittite letters, when published, will enable us to follow the political movements of the period in even greater detail.

One other act of Khattusil may be referred to, as it illustrates in the religious sphere the breaking down of international barriers which took place. A few years after the completion of his great treaty, Khattusil brought his daughter to Egypt, where she was married to Rameses with great pomp and circumstance. An intimate friendship continued to exist between the two royal families, and when Bentresh, his sister-in-law, fell ill in Khatti and was believed to be incurably possessed by a devil, Rameses hastened to send his physician to cure her.[42] But his efforts proving fruitless, the Pharaoh despatched the holy image of Khonsu, the Egyptian Moon-god, to Cappadocia, in order to cure her. The god duly arrived at the distant capital, and, while he wrought with the evil spirit, it is said that the Hittite king "stood with his soldiers and feared very greatly."[43] But Khonsu was victorious, and the spirit having departed in peace to the place whence he came, there was great rejoicing. The episode forms an interesting parallel to Ishtar's journey into Egypt in the reign of Amenhetep III.

There is no doubt that the son and grandson of Khattusil, Dudkhalia and Arnuanta, carried on their father's policy of friendliness towards Babylon, who had no reason politically to resent the intrusion of Egyptian influence at Khatti.[44] But Arnuanta is the last king of Khatti whose name has been recovered, and it is certain that in the following century the invasion of Anatolia by the Phrygians and the Muski put an end to Hittite power in Cappadocia. The Hittites were pressed southward through the passes, and they continued to wield a diminished political influence in Northern Syria. Meanwhile Assyria profited by their downfall and disappearance in the north. She had already expanded at the expense of Mitanni, and now that this second check upon her was removed, the balance of power ceased to be maintained in Western Asia. Babylon's history from this time forward is in great part moulded by her relations with the northern kingdom. Even at the time of the later Hittite kings she failed to maintain her frontier from Assyrian encroachment, and the capital itself was soon to fall. We are able to follow the course of these events in some detail, as, with the reign of Kara-indash I., the earliest of Amen-hetep III.'s correspondents,[45] our sources of information are increased by the so-called "Synchronistic History" of Assyria and Babylonia,[46] which furnishes a series of brief notices concerning the relations maintained between the two countries.

HITTITE HIËROGLYPHIC INSCRIPTION

After Hogarth, Carchemish, pl. B, 6.

In the long period between Agum-kakrime[47] and Kara-indash, the names of three Kassite rulers only have recovered. From a kudurru,[48] or legal document, of the reign of Kadashman-Enlil I. we learn of two earlier Kassite kings, Kadashman-Kharbe and his son Kurigalzu,[49] and it is possible that a son of the latter, Meli-Shipak, succeeded his father on the throne.[50] We know nothing of Babylon's relations to Assyria at this time, and our first glimpse of their long struggle for supremacy is in the reign of Kara-indash, who is recorded to have made a friendly agreement with Ashur-rim-nishêshu with regard to their common boundary.[51] That such an agreement should have been drawn up is in itself evidence of friction, and it is not surprising that a generation or so later Burna-Buriash, the correspondent of Amen-hetep III., should have found it necessary to conclude a similar treaty with Puzur-Ashur, the contemporary Assyrian king.[52] We may regard these agreements as marking the beginning of the first phase in Babylon's subsequent dealings with Assyria, which closes with friendly agreements of a like character at the time of the Fourth Babylonian dynasty. During the intervening period of some three centuries friendly relations were constantly interrupted by armed conflicts, which generally resulted in a rectification of the frontier to Babylon's disadvantage. On only one occasion was she victorious in battle, and twice during the period the capital itself was taken. But Assyria was not yet strong enough to dominate the southern kingdom for any length of time, and at the close of the period Babylon may still be regarded as in occupation of a great part of her former territory, but with sorely diminished prestige.

To appreciate the motives which impelled Assyria from time to time to intervene in Babylonian politics, and to attempt spasmodically a southward expansion, it would be necessary to trace out her own history, and note the manner in which her ambition in other quarters reacted upon her policy in the south. As that would be out of place in the present volume, it will suffice here to summarize events so far as Babylon was affected. The friendly attitude of Puzur-Ashur to Burna-Buriash was maintained by the more powerful Assyrian king Ashur-uballit, who cemented an alliance between the two countries by giving Burna-Buriash his daughter Muballitat-Sherûa in marriage. On the death of Burna-Buriash, his son Kara-indash II., who was Ashur-uballit's grandson, ascended the throne, and it was probably due to his Assyrian sympathies that the Kassite party in Babylon revolted, slew him and set Nazi-bugash in his place. Ashur-uballit invaded Babylonia, and having taken vengeance on Nazi-bugash, put Kurigalzu III., another son of Burna-Buriash, upon the throne.[53] But the young Kurigalzu did not fulfil the expectations of his Assyrian relatives, for after Ashur-uballit's death he took the initiative against Assyria,[54] and was defeated at Sugagi on the Zabzallat by Enlil-nirari, to whom he was obliged to cede territory. A further extension of Assyrian territory was secured by Adad-nirari I., when he defeated Kurigalzu's son and successor, Nazi-maruttash, at Kâr-Ishtar in the frontier district of Akarsallu.[55] We have already seen from the Boghaz Keui correspondence how the Hittite Empire and Babylon were drawn together at this time by dread of their common foe, doubtless in consequence of the aggressive policy of Shalmaneser I. We do not know whether Kadashman-Enlil II. followed the promptings of Khattusil, and it is not until the reign of Kashtiliash II.[56] that we have record of fresh conflicts. Then it was that Babylon suffered her first serious disaster at Assyrian hands. Up to this time we have seen that two Assyrian kings had defeated Babylonian armies, and had exacted cessions of territory as the result of their victories. Tukulti-Ninib I. was only following in their steps when he in turn defeated Kashtiliash. But his achievement differed from theirs in degree, for he succeeded in capturing Babylon itself, deported the Babylonian king, and, instead of merely acquiring a fresh strip of territory, he subdued Karduniash[57] and administered it as a province of his kingdom till his death.[58] The revolts which closed Tukulti-Ninib's reign and life[59] were soon followed by Babylon's only successful campaign against Assyria.