Xerxes died in the year 464 b.c., and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes, the Artakhshatra of the Old Persian inscriptions, and the Artakšatsu or Artakšassu of Babylonian inscriptions. Though it was not without bloodshed that he reached the throne, he proved to be a successful ruler—more so, in fact, than his predecessor, whose expedition against the Greeks had ended only in disgrace and the loss of an enormous number of troops taken from all the nations over which he ruled. It is therefore not to be wondered at that his reign should have been regarded as wise and temperate. In any case, he was well disposed towards the Jews, and gave permission, in his seventh year, to Ezra, to go up to Jerusalem with a [pg 429] royal grant, to settle affairs there, and sacrifice to the God of the Jews (Ezra vii., viii.). Later on, he gave permission to Nehemiah to return to the land of his fathers to restore and rebuild the walls of the city. As Nehemiah was his cupbearer, it is easily conceivable that he did this to please him, and to reward one who had evidently been a faithful servant, but it is not improbable that the king at the same time had in his mind the rebellion of his general Megabysus, who had risen against him in protest against the treatment meted out by his royal master to his captive Inarus. To have a well-fortified city defended by those who had benefited greatly by his rule, must have seemed to the Persian ruler good policy.
Artaxerxes died in the year 425 b.c., and was succeeded by his son, Xerxes II., who reigned only two months, at the end of which time he was murdered by Sogdianus, a bastard son of Artaxerxes, who then became king. Seven months only, however, was the length of this new ruler's reign, he being, in his turn, put to death by another of the bastard sons of Artaxerxes, Darius Ochus, after he had surrendered to him. This ruler is the Darius Nothus of history, who mounted the throne in 424 b.c. His reign was noted for the numerous insurrections against his dominion which took place, but is of special interest because of the resumption of the work of rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem, which had been stopped by the decree of Artaxerxes, as recorded in Ezra iv. 21-24. (See Sir H. Howorth in the P. S. B. A., 1901, pp. 307, 308.)
Chapter XII. Life At Babylon During The Captivity, With Some Reference To The Jews.
The reign of Nebuchadnezzar—The earliest mention of Nabonidus—Neriglissar and his relations with his fellow-citizens before his accession—He marries his daughter Gigîtum to the director of Ê-zida—Prince Laborosoarchod—Nabonidus and the temples at Sippar—Prince Belshazzar's transactions—His offerings at Sippar—His sister's gift to her god (or goddess)—Princess Ukabu'sama's transaction—The Jews at Babylon—Babylonian business and other letters—Širku's slave—A loan at Erech—Work upon a plantation—Sale of an ass—Jews and Babylonians—The dead slave—A right of way—The story of Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitum—The outcast slave—The Egyptian slave and her infant—Širku's transactions—Babylon as the Jewish captives saw it.
I.
If trade-activity be a test of prosperity, then the Babylonians of the period extending from the end of the reign of Nabopolassar to the end of that of Darius could have had but little to complain of on the whole, notwithstanding the changes of dynasty which took place. Over three thousand inscriptions covering this period have been published, and there is every reason to believe that, if all the texts in the various museums were made known, twice this number might be reached. There is, therefore, an abundance of material with which to reconstruct the life of that period. Naturally, many of this enormous number of inscriptions are comparatively uninteresting, and some of the texts are of little or no value, even to specialists. This being the case, it will easily be understood that, [pg 431] as they are mostly of the nature of contracts, with a certain number of legal documents, the information which many of them give is comparatively meagre, and there is a great deal of repetition. That some of them, notwithstanding these disadvantages, are sufficiently interesting, will be seen from the examples which this chapter contains.
Among all these documents we find repeated, with some differences which the course of centuries had brought about, the same transactions, and the same daily life as has already been treated of in the fifth chapter, pp. [159-191]. There are purchases and sales of land, property, and slaves, loans at interest and without interest, and all the various kinds of contracts which the daily needs of a large population call forth. Marriage-contracts and contracts of apprenticeship are also not uncommon, wills and divisions of property—generally in greater detail than of old—are also to be found. To these must be added the leasing and hire of houses, the purchase and hire of ships, divisions of property, inventories of the same, receipts of different kinds, etc. etc.
For the most part, the people who pass before us are slaves, servants, money-lenders, merchants, and other of the common folk, with a sprinkling of scribes, priests, both of the higher and the lower classes (generally the latter), palace officials, now and then a judge, or a governor, or one of the subordinate officials. Did we know them all, perhaps we should think more of them, and estimate them at their true worth; but in the appearance and reappearance of their names we see only the plaintiff or the defendant, the buyer or the seller, and it is but rarely that we can recognize them as men of note, though in many cases it is to be conjectured that they were so. It is only seldom that the crown prince or one of his brothers, appears, or a relative of the ruling king comes within our range—as for the king himself, except in the date of a [pg 432] document, his name is rare in the extreme, and when he appears actively, it is in the character of patron of the temples, or something of a similar nature.