T NE

BLACK S O CO NTRACT T A B LET OF M AR U D U K N D IN

- A -AH I
,

p age 96 .
 ANCIENT HISTORY FROM THE
MONUMENTS .

THE

HISTORY OF BABYLONIA ,

BY TH E L A TE

GE O R GE S M I TH , E S Q , .

OF TH E D EPA R T M EN T OF O R I EN TAL A N T I Q U I T I ES ,
B RI T I S H M US E UM .

ED I T ED B Y
R EV . A . H S AY C E,
.

A SS I STANT P R O FE S S O R O F C O M PA RA T I V E P H I L O L O GY , O X FO R D .

P U B L I S H E D U N D E R T H E D I R EC T IO N O F
T H E C O M M I T TEE O F G EN E RAL L I T E RAT U R E A N D ED U CA T IO N
AP POI NTE D B Y T H E SOC I ETY FO R P R O M O T I N G
C H R I S T I A N K NO W L E DG E .

L O N D ON
S O C I ETY FO R P R O M OT I N G C H R I S T I A N K NO W LEDG E .

SO LD A T T H E D EP O S I T O RI ES
77, G REAT QU EEN S T R EE T L NCO N s I N N Ex E LDs ;
, I L
’
-

4 ROY AL E X C H AN E ; 4 8 P I CCAD I LLY ;

, G ,

A ND ALL B O O K SE LL E R S .

N ew Y o rk : P o tt , Y o u ng , Co .
 LO N DON
AN
WY M A ND S ONS , r m NTE Rs , G R EAT QU EEN STR EET ,

N s x NN FI E L S w c
'
LrNC O L -
D . .
 P RE FA CE .

M R GEO R GE S M I T H left his

.
“ H istory of B abyloni a
in so ne arly complete a sta te th a t a n editor h a d little
,

more to do th an to see it through the press correct ,

one or two errors and m ake a few a dditions

, .

I n the perform a nce of this work which h as been ,

one of m ingled p ain a nd ple a sure I h ave ch a nged ,

’
the a uthor s words and spelling only where there was
a n Obvious oversight throwing other correcti ons into
,

footnotes My own responsibility for these as well as

.

'
,

for other footnotes conta in ing a dditions to the text is ,

indica ted by a ca pita l S I h ave also to t ake upon

.

myself th e responsibility of th e Appen dix upon the

me a ning of the proper n a mes a s well as of the table ,

of B abylonia n kings and the l arger p a rt of the first

introductory ch apter of which only the first page or
,

two were written by Mr S mith B ra ckets m a rk the

. .

inserted portion Th e I nde x is due to the kindness

.

of Mr Greenwood H ir d
. .

Two expressions which will b e met wi th in th e

b ook need a short exp la na tion Th e abbrevi a tion .

W A I denotes th e series of volumes cont ai ning the

. . .

cruciform I nscriptions of Western Asi a published

”
,

20 9 29 7 3
6 P R EFA C E.

by the Truste es of the B ri tish Museum and forming

“
,

a collectiono f texts for th e us e of As syri a n students .

”
T he eponyms mentioned in th e course of the
‘

work refer to the Assyria n mode of reckoning time .

Each ye ar was ca lled after a p a rticul a r o fficer or

“
”
eponym who gave his n am e to it like the Ep o ny

“
, ,

mous Archons a t Athens A new yea r was m a rked

.

”
by a new eponym and hence th e eponymy

“
,

o f such and—
- -
such a pe rs on b eca me equivalent to
”
the year so and so Th ose who wish to investi

“
- -
.

gate the subj ect further ca nnot do better th a n con

’ ”
sult Mr George S mith s Assyri a n C a non one of
.
,

the la st producti ons of a schol ar whose loss to

Assyri an rese arch cannot be over estim ated -
.

A H S AY C E
. . .
 T ABLE O F CO NT E T S N .

Li st of B abyloni a n Kings ,
Wi th their a pproxi m at e da t es p age 9

C HAP TER I — I N TRO D U C T I O N

.
p age 13

C HA P TE R I I — TH E M YT HI C A L P ER I O D
. .

O rigin and chronolo gy of B a b yloni a n h is tory — Th e t en a n t e

dil uvi a n kings of B erosus — Th e Flood — Th e G a r d en of Ed e n
— The I zdh u b a r or Ni m rod legen ds p age 33

C HA P TER I I I — C HA L D E A ,
. OR S O U T H B A BYLO NIA .

Nip ur a ndU r— U rukh a nd his b uil dings — Th e reli gion a nd

ci viliza tion of U r— Dungi — The kings of Ka rra k — Th e ris e of
Page 63

C HAP TE R I V —U P P E R B A BYL O NI A
. .

Cities of U pper B ab yloni a— Agu -k ak ri mi — S a rgon I —Naram -

.

S in— H a m m ura b i — B a b ylon m a d e th e c a pi ta l— Th e succ essors

of H am m ur ab i , and t he K a ssi t e d yn a sty — I nt ercourse wi th
As syr i a— Th e A ss yri a n conques t of B a b ylonia p age 75

C HAPTER V — TH E E LA M I TES IN B A BYL O NIA

. .

Elam or S usi a n a — I nva sions of B a b yloni a by Ku dur -na nh undi

and Ched orl a o m er— Ku d ur -M a b uk — F loo d a t B a b ylon — Wa rs

b e tween B a b ylon a nd A ssyri a — Neb ucha dnezza r I and M a .

t uduk n a di n a h i
- -
S e ven unknown kings page 90

C HAPTER V L — TH E P E R I O D T H E A SSYR IAN WA RS

OF .

O bscur e kings — Na b u p al i d in a an d Ass ur na zi r p aJ— Dispu t e d

- - - -

suc c ession — Con quests of S ha lm m ese r— Th e Chal dees—M a

t u d uk za kir iz k u r—S e m i ra m i s— Th e e ra of Na bo nassa r— Th e
- -

B ab yloni a n ca m p a igns of Tigla th p ile se r -

page 1 0 0
 8 TA B L E O F CO N T E N T S .

C HAPTER V IL— M ERO D A C H B A L AD AN -

A ND TH E
D ESTR UC T I O N o r B A BYLO N .

Meroda ch bal ada n the Ch a l de an con quers B a bylon— Defea ted

-
, ,

b y S a rgon — S a rgon king of Ba b ylon for five yea rs — H agi sa

Merod a ch ba l ad a n reta kes B a bylon— B attle of Kisu— B e libni
-

governor of B abylon—A ssur n a din s um — S enn a cheri b s na v a l

- -
’

expedi tion t o Nagitu — R evol t of S uzub — El am d eva stat ed b y

the Assyria ns —Ba t tle of Kh a lu le — Dest ruct ion of B ab ylon
b y S enn a cheri b .
page I I 5

C HA P TER VI I I .
—TH E R U LE OF TH E A SSYR IAN S .

Th e successors of Assur na din su m — Nab u zir na p is ti es ir

- - - - -

B a bylon reb uil t b y Es ar h a dd on — S ucce ed ed b y his son S a ul

-

m ugin a — Wa rs wi th El a m — R evol t of B a b yloni a — C rushe d

by A ssur b a ni p a l— S a ul Mugin a perishes in th e fl am es of his
- - -

p al a ce— Na b op olas sa r a ppoint ed governor— H e m a rries t he

da ught er of C y ax a re s of Me d i a —The fall of Nineveh p age I 37

C HAP TER I X .
— TH E N EB U C HA D N E ZZA R
E M PI RE OF .

R ise of the B ab yloni a n Em pire— Egypt a nd Me di a — Ne b u ch a d

ne zzar his conquests a nd b uil dings — Des truc t ion of Jerus a le m
—I nva sion of E gyp t— S iege of T r e — Th e kingd o m of Ly di a
,

y
— B a b ylon a dorned Ch a ra c ter of Neb ucha d nezz a r— Evil
-

Merodach— H is m urd er— Ne rgalsha reze r p age 1 5 2

C HAPTE R X .
— TH E D E C L IN E A ND FA LL O F THE
BA BYLO NI AN EM PI R E .

La b o roso a rch od— Nab oni dus — B ab ylon fo rtifi ed — A st a e s a nd

y g
—
Cyrus Cyrus b esieges B abylon— B ab ylon ta ken by the Per
S ia ns— Th e D a rius of D a niel R et urn of the Jews from exil e
-

—C am byses and S m e rdis— D a rius H sta s e s— R evol t a nd

y p
ca p ture of B a bylon— S econ d revol t of B a bylon under A rah u
-
B abylon ta ken — Decline of Bab ylon
page 1 70
LIS T OF BABY LONIAN KIN GSJ WIT H T HEIR

APP ROXIMAT E DAT ES .

(Fr om B erosus a nd A by de n us .
)
—
T HE MY T HI C A L P ERI O D B EFO R E T HE D ELUG E .

Alorus of Bab ylon

the P eopl e f
,
the She pherd
s ri ye rs of ,
”
or 1 0 a , or a .

Al p
a Al p
a ru s , o r f P ntibibl ) f as 3 s ri aru s ye rs o a a , or a , or a .

Am l n e o Am i ll
, or f P ntibibl f 3 s ri 46 8
a ru s o ye rs a a, or 1 a , or , 0t a .

A mm n n f Ch l d e (in w hose ti m e the M

e o o a O nnes Ann d t h l f
a u sa ru s a , or e o us, a
m n nd h l f fi h
a a s ended from the P ersi n G ul f) f
a s ,
s ri
a c a ,
or 1 2 a , or
ye s ar .

Am g l r
e a a M g l
u s, o r M t l f P ntibibl
e f 8 s ri o
a aru s , or e a a ru s , o a a, or T a , r
ye rs a .

D n
ao D o the she‘p h d f P ntib ibl (in who e ti m e four doub l e sh p d
or o a a
dO
us , a s, er ,
a s -
e
be ings n m ed E ,k En g nn
a En b l n d An m nt
ue us , eu a u s, eu u us, a e e us , as
cend d from the e ) f s ri ye rs se a , or 1 0 a , or a .

E d
ue kh
o re s E d kh f P ntibibl (in w hose ti m e noth er Ann d t
u s, or ue o ra us, o a a a e o us ,
ca ll ed O d k n A n d p h s ended from th
a o or) f 8 s ri o- a o s, a c e se a , or 1 a , or

y e rs
,

a .

A m m p im
e s C h l de n f L nkh f
us , a s ri a ye rs a o a ra a, or 1 0 a , or a .

O ti ta r es (O p t ) A d t C h ld n f L
ar e s , nkh
or ( ll ed U b r Tutu
r a es , a a a o a ra a ca a a
th Glow f S nset n th ins ri p ti on ) f 8 s ri
”
e f S ip p k o S ip kh u , o ur a or ur u i e c s or a
ye rs
, , ,

or 2 8 8 , 00 a .

S i ith
s rus , X i th hior n f 8 s ri
su ye rs Kronos ( H )
ru s. s so , or 1 a , or a . ea
ordered hi m t bui l d n k fter b uryi ng hist ry f B by l ni in S ip
o a ar , a a o o a o a
p r nd h D el ug beg n n the 5 th f h m nth D i (M y nd
a a , a t e e a o 1 o t e o ae s u s a a

J ne) S i ith
u w. tr nsl ted fter h D e l uge b t h i om p nions
s ru s as a a a t e , u s c a te

turned t Ch l de nd ex hum ed the buried re rd s t S ipp

o a a a From the co a ara .

reign f Al t th D e l u g e were n
o s ri
o rus o ye rs e o a , or a .

A FT E R THE D ELUG E .

F irst Dy na sty of 86 K fo r ing s ye rs he ded or oor a b Ev e kh ous , o r

a
i ent ifi ed w i fi N i m r d by S yn
3 , ,

E ve x iu s, or E u ty kh iu s ( d t o ce l us ) fo r 4 n e n ,
ye rs nd hi son C m b l
o r 2 , 40 0 a , aneri s o os e u s, o r Kh oma s be lus , fo r 4 and 5
sossi ye rs or a .

Their fi v next successors w ere

e
Por s f 35 y ea rs u or .

N kh b f 4 3 ye rs e u es or a .

N bi f 4 8 y e rs a us or a .

O nib ll f 4 ye rs a us or 0 a .

Zi f 46 y rs n ze ru s or ea .

W ar f Tit n
o E t nn ) B l P r m etheus
a nd O gy gus g inst K a a , e , o ,
a a a ronu s
B il ding f the Tow er f B be l nd d is p ersion f m nkind
,

u o o a ,
a o a .
IO LIST OF B A B Y LON I A N K I N GS ,

HIS T O RI C A L P ER lO D .

S econd dyn st f 8 M edi nkings f o a or Arkea nu s ye rs( S a rgon) 5 a

4 y e rs h
a ,

H gi s
.

22 e ded b y Zoro ster

a a a a Aki
53 or s es , 30 da y .

M erod h B l d n (restored ) 6
, ,

T hird dy st y f kings na o rr ac a a a
m ont h s
.

F ourth dyn sty f 49 Ch l de n kings a o a a

f 4 5 8 ye rs
or a B lib
e
(B l ibni) 3 y e rs
us e -
,
a

F ifth dy sty f 9 A bi n kings f (Assur n din m ) 6

.

na o ra a or Ap n d ro a i us -
a -
su ,

45 Ye rs
2 a y e rs a

r. M d k t 4 5 ye rs
ar o e n e s, a R ig b l e ye r
e u s, 1 a .

4 ye rs
.

2 nti g a n M e sesim d k or a u s, a

[B by lon destroy ed B C 6 89 ]
.

8 ye rs
.

3 i im d s ar a os , 2 a a .

37 ye rs I nterre m 8 y e rs
.

4 N bi a u s, a u , a
A ss r in s ( E ss r h ddon)
.

4 ye rs
.

5 P ara n nu s , a a u 3 a a 1
-
0 a .
,

“5 ye rs mi m y e rs
.

6 N b nn b a o a u s, 2 a a
S mm i gh
.

S i th dyn sty ons i st ing f S e r is

.

x a c o a Sa os d h in uc u s, or a i es
S eve th dy n s y f 4 5 Assyri n kings
n a t o a ( S u l m u ina S u l m ug n )
-
c , or a - i a ,

f 5 6 ye rs or 2 a y e rs
20 a 6 68 .

(Ass u r b i i p l)
. .

Ph l d N bon ss r
u us a n a a a . Kinil d n a a us -
a i - a , 22
ye rs a 6 48 .

(From the C a non o f P tole my )

N bo p l
a ye rs
o a ssaru s , 2 r 6 6 a 2

( N eb u h dnezz r)
.

a b k l o o as a r c a a ,

B C 4 3 y e rs a 6 5 0
d m ( E vi l M erod h)
.

Na bo nasa r ( N a bu e rs
. .

na ts ir ) , r4 y a , 747 Ilou aro a ac ,

2
Na biu s (N ebo - ) 2 y e rs a .
733 y e rs a 56 . 2
Ch inziru s and spsi om cin m a nd N ik
er l N igli
a s so a sar , or er sso r
Pul) 5 ye rs s ,
a 7 31 ( N erg l s rr y u t ) 4 y rs 5 6
a a a- su r , ea 0
I lu lz u s, or Y u gacu s (Y agina) , 5 L b
a h d
oro s oarc 3 m onths 5 56 o us,

y m rs 726 N bonidus L by n t ( N bu
a or a e us a

(M eroda ch
,

M ardoke m pa d us -
Ba l a n hi d) 7 y e rs
a 1 556 a
e rs
,

da n) . 12 y a 721 Cyrus t kes B bylon a 5 39 8 a -

A FT ER T HE D ELUG E .

Eta nna .

N er
T mm u C
.

B 30 00
th husb nds
a z
f 1 m g s ing y oni
.

o f a ll B a b l
e a o s B a a , Ic
b nn
E
g
lI -
a a a a .

B nini wi th hi wife M ilili nd seven

a s a li a ss im ir w as one of his r vice oys ]
u gi
.
, ,

sons the el dest f whom w M i

, o as n , his son .

m ng b th thunderbo l t
a a ,
‘
e
’

the
.

I dh b
z f D nn t
u a r, the so n o a a S n Agu-
.

strong wom n
,
a .

D im ir illa t his son

M ul—
,

g nim na
.

e
a
-
.

A ne kts -

ro
dyn ty f the ns ri ptions
y t b i denti fi ed with the se ond C ssite o K sa a n
ty is
p ba bl o e c a os
as I n this
o
se the n m ber f kings
I c well the . ca u o as as
dur ti n f their reigns given b the co ists f B erosus wi ll h ve
t b l rg e l y
,
a o o
y py o a o e a
inc e sed
r a .
,
 W I T H TH E I R AP P R O X I M AT E D AT E S . I I

“
Me -sa - N n —l a a ca a m a , so n o f B e khuk ,
Of E ridh u .
S rgon f
a or ye rs a
, 45 .

Ida du , f En dhu N r m Si
a a - n, his son .

o .
E ll t G l
a u a, a ueen

(Conqu ere gby Kha mm ura gas

'
-
.

Adi-An n, o e rgh ul
.

G udea , of Ze rgh u l .
K ings of B a by lo n .

.
I
E nu An u , o f Ze rgh u l
S IIm u o o o

I st r
fe é
. .
Za bfi b i ilt th e t e m p le s of a a nd

I In m u ta bIl, lat er da te) fl nu a t s Ip p ara )

of D Iru ( of a
Ab il -’S in .

’
S in
E la m i te K i ng : i n B a by lo nia .

Fi rs t Ca s s zte Dy n a s ty
'

RC . 2 2 80
.

U mm ikh zir ritu -

Chedor l omer (G n a e
A h is
.

so n.
S! f
' g
.

Ag r p t f S m (S hm
a -
e o a ar ) A . B. so n .

An oc h f 1311
T g l f G ut m
. O 3 5 3 13
3 T si g
as -
u ru m as , h is so n .

ur a , o iu .
Agu -ka k -
ri m i ,
h is so n .

C u dur m a bu g, h is
-
s on .

r a b za ns o f B er o sus )
'

N R im mon
ur-
Kha m m u ra gas , cotem por ry a
.

S msu l n a -
I u a.
Am m i—di ca a .

C uri g l
S im m —
-
a zu
si p k I as a .

Ul m b ya ~
ur a s .

N zi m d I
a -
ur u as .

Rim :Agu , E ri A r och ) On

i
cu (A -
, s of
C u dur-M a bu g .

Sa ga -
ra k tiy s a .

B C 2 0 0 0 —1 700
. M u riI das si p k -
a
r ( l s king
. .

G a mi l Ada
-
a o of U r) .

C r ind s
a a- a
Libitz
.

N n ( l so king f U )
a a a o r . B um b y a- II ur as .

C r m md
a a- u as
Da
.

I m iz g n ( l so i U ) N zi bug s
'

s o a o r . a -
a

Gu ngu nnu v, his s o n. C ri g l I I

u -
a zu
M e l i si p k I I
.

'
-
a .

Ili za t . M erod h B l d n I ac -
a a a .

N zi m d I I
a -
u ru as .

B la —
e t sun t ( queen) a a .

sit
S in-ga . B C . 1 2 70
 1 2 L IS T OF B A B Y L ON I A N K I N GS ,
ETC .

Meroda ch -
Bala da n II his son .

N end r y t
a bu u a - u s ur (N ebucha d hon-za Cira -y u tsu r
R im r
rezz r)
.

a 1 1 50
Cr b S outh A iia )
.

a a u as 1 1 20
S ibir ( inva ded
'
ss y
n d in
.

M d ero - a I 100

M erod h s pik i z rra t Ne bO—

ba la da n B C 830
23
3 M erod h i i
ac -
a - 1 .

85 3 1
ac -
za c ra - z cu r
M ero d h b l su ikhu 8 ac -
a a - 20
k the n Of I b ZS in
.

S i n h si pa
‘
r I a S- , so r a ,

r igned 7 ye rs
e N bu n t i
1 a
747 .
a - a s r
H m u in ziri th
ea - nc f C tm N -
bu y p ,
e
7 33
so o u ar a -
usa SI
( n usurper) f 3 months
a U i i ru ,
73
or .
c n-z 1
C ssu n din khi n f S pp i f 6 l igl th P il ( Pom s) f Assy ria7 9
a a -
a , so o a a , or a - e se r o 2
ye rs a .
V g in hief f the C l d i 7 6 a a, c o a a 2

M erod h B l d n I I I h i n 7 ac a a a ,
s so . 21
S rgon f A ssy ri
.

7 9 a o a 0

Dy n ty f m th P as i G lf M erod h B l d n restored
ro 7 4 e ers a n u ac a a a 0

B l i bni
.

-
7 3 e 0

U lb i id in
a r-sur C n f B zi f 5 Assur n d in—
-
sumi a , so 7 o a , or 1 - a 00

y e rs a S b 69 3 u zu
N ebu h drezz r I I n f B zi f
.

c a E h dd n f A ss y ri
a 68 .
,
so o a ,
or ssa r a o o a x
S ul m u c i nu
Sk m n
2 a
f B zi f
u a 3 A ssur b i p l
u a, son o a , or - an -
a
m onths B l. i n e -
za c r a - I s c u
After these n E l m ite f 6 ye rs N b p l
a a or a . a o a as sa r
N b hd III
Ri m m
e uc a re zza r
on p I idin
.

-
aA m il M r d h
-
a. e o ac
N erg l s rr y t a a a- u su r
N bu n hid a a .

M er d h s rr i t o ac a a- su r
I B IM
I a di h er o Cyr s c . u
 HIS TORY O F BABY LONIA .
.

C H A P T E R I .

I N T R OD U CTI ON .

B A B Y L ON I A was bounded on the north by Assyria on ,

the e ast by E l am or S usi an a on the west by the

, ,

Desert of Arabia ,
a nd on the south by Arabia an d

the Persia n Gulf . T he country is wa tered by the

lower courses of the Euphra tes a nd Tigris ,
a nd in fa ct
it m ay be considered as entirely the gift of those
strea ms B abylonia is in general a long level tra ct
.

of a lluvial soil which h as been deposited through

,
'

several thous and ye ars a t the mouths of these

rivers . Through the a ccumul a tion of new ground at

the poin ts where the Tigris an d Euphra tes disch ar ge

themselves into the Persia n Gulf the Babyloni an ,

territory h as stea dily incre ased from age to age I n .

ea rly Cha lde an times the s ea re ached to Abu S hahr e in , -

in the time of S enn acherib it had receded to B ab

I 4 H I STO R Y OF BA BY L O N I A .

S alim ItI ; in the days of N ebucha dnezz a r the port was

moved out to Te re don ,

and since the fall of B abylon

m any miles have been a dded to the l a nd .

The i nh abita nts of B abylonia h a ve always m ai nl y

consisted of two c lasses the a gricultural popu la tion
,

a nd dwellers in towns on one side and the wandering , ,

p astoral tent dwelling tribes on the other

,
- . T he
gre atest fe ature of the country was its agr icultu re ,

which was m a inly c arried on through a rt ifi ci al irriga

tion the whole country being intersected wi th c a n al s
, ,

some of them na vigable and of great size their b a nks ,

in some places being from twenty to thirty feet high .

The long deserted lines of mounds which even now ,

exist in hundreds m arking the lines of these a rtifici al

,

rivers form ,
far more rem ar kable obj ects th an the
ruined citi es and p ala ces O nce these ch a nnel s.

teemed with life and industry a nd were lined with ,

cities conta ining thous ands of peop l e ; now they are

an a rid desert waste support ing only a few wan dering
,

tribes of Arabs . Babylonia is without doubt the oldest

civil ized country in As ia, and even outside tha t con

tinent only Egypt can rival it in this respect but the

history of B abylonia has an interest beyond tha t of
Egypt on account of its more intima te conn ection
,

with the origin of our own civilization Babyl onia .

 H I STO R Y OF B A BY LO N I A . 1
5

was the centre from which civiliza tion sprea d into

Assyri a from thence to Asi a M inor and Ph oenici a
, ,

from these to Greece a nd R ome, and from R ome to

modern E urope .

O ur a stronomica l system ca me originally from the

pl a ins of Ch al dea . The B abyloni ans divided the face
of the he avens into constella tions of st ar s and n amed ,

these after their supposed i nfluence, or from their

resembl ance to va rious fa nt astic forms .

M a them a tics ,
mea sures of time and c ap a city ,

weights and scal es l aws and government and every

, ,

thing known in a ncient times received study and ,

a ttenti on whi le the arts of buil ding sculpture p a int

, , ,

ing gem engraving met a l work we a ving

,
-
,
-
, , and m a ny
others m a de p rop ortionate p rogre ss .

I n spite of the skill i

a nd knowledge of the B aby
loni a ns , and their wonderful progress in ar ts and

sciences they h ad a religion of the lowest and most

,

degra ding kind True insight into n a tura l phenomen a

.

was prevented and progress beyond the surfa ce of

,

thin gs stopped by a religion which h a d a mult itude

of gods who were supposed to bring
,
a bout in an

irregula r and capricious ma nner all the changes in ,

na ture a nd al l the misfortunes which h appened to th e

people 3 thus foresight and medicine wer e neglected ,
I 6 H I STO R Y OF B A BY L ON I A .

'

a nd una va il ing prayers and useless sa crifices o fi e re d

to propitiate the deities who were im agined to hold

the destiny of the huma n race in their h ands .

I n the h ands of some of the nobler poets of the

B abyloni a ns their mythology received a polish a nd
finish ,
and was woven together into such gra ceful
mythical form s th at their works
,
m ay comp are with
those of Greece a nd R ome ; but a mong the bulk of
the people ,
a low a nd sensu al view was taken of all

these m a tters and their worship was nothing better

,

than an a doration of stocks and stones .

T he B abyloni an s were essentia lly a pe a ceful r a ce .

War was seldom indul ged in by them except it was ,

forced upon them either by their politica l position

,

or through the a ction of sta tes outside their own

borders . O nly once in their history are they known
to h ave m ade a gre a t empire ,
a nd th a t wa s in th e
time of N e bu c h a dn e zza r .

The wonderful system of writing c a lled from the , ,

sh ape of the ch ar acters cuneiform or wedge sh aped

, ,
-
,

wasinvented by the origin al Turani a n inhabit ants of

Babylonia .

[The ch aracters were origin ally hieroglyphics ,

re
p re
senting obj ects or combin ations of obj ects or symbol ,

izing ideas . The pronunci ation a tt a ched to the

1 8 H I S TO R Y OF B AB YL ON I A .

Now represe nted by

B abylon
C a—
or
dimirra ,
“
B abel , originall y call ed
Gate of God
”
H ill ah .

Agané ,ne ar S ip p a ra P a rt of S ura .

Tiggaba or Kute (Cuth ah ) T el Ibr ahim .

Kis u or Kis Hym a r .

S ipp ara or Seph a rvaim the city of ,

the sun god

“
-

Zirgu lla
Dur or D iru literal ly ,
The F ortress D é yr .

Eridh u , in the south e ast of -

B aby
loni a S ite unknown .

Dur an or Dub a n S i te unknown .

Ka rrak or N isin S ite unknown .

Am arda or M ara d S ite unknown .

Abnunna or Mulli a s or U m liyas S ite unknown .

Acc adian litera ture was very extensive ,

and the
libra ries with which the coun try was stocked were full
of tre a tises on all the branches of knowledge p ursued
by the a ncient Ch aldea ns O ne of the most fa mous .

of these libraries was th a t a t Agané est ablished by ,

S argon . I t conta ined the gre at B abylon ia n

work on
s ronomy and
a t a s trology in seventy books which ,

was called the I llumin ati on of B el and was a fter

”
,

war ds transl ated into Greek by the histori an Berosu s .

 H IS T O R Y OF B A BY L O N I A . 1
9

P art of the ca talogue of the library h as come down to

us h a ving b een preserved in a copy m a de for the
,

l ibra ry of Assur b a ni —p al
-
, at N ineveh ,
a nd it includes
trea tises on th e conj unction of the sun and the moon ,
on the movements of M ars and Venus
which ar e termed “ st ars with a
, and

t a il behind
on comets
and a
,

”
coron a in front , as well as a direction to the student ,

who is told to wr ite down the number of the t ablet

or book he wa nts to consult a nd the librari a n will ,

thereupon h a nd it to him I t must be remembered .

th a t most of the liter ature of the Babyloni a ns was

st amped upon th e cl a y so abunda nt in the country,
the cl ay being a fterw a rds h ardened in the fire ,
a

comp ar a tively sm a ll portion of it being written upon

p apyrus ,
and hence a cl ay t ablet beca m e synonymous
with a book . Another famous library was a t S e nkereh ,

or La rsa which, was rich in m a them atic a l works .

S ome of these one , a t able of squ a res and a nother

of cubes , are now in the B ritish Museum . Under
N ebu ch a dne zzar B abylon enj oyed two libraries , and

there seems to h ave been a very old one a t Ur The .

legends rela ting to the Deluge were brought to

N ineveh from the libra ry of Erech ,
and
one of th e
legends of th e Creation fi om the libra ry of Cutha h .

Atta ched to the libra ry wa s an observa tory , and th e

C 2
20 H IS TO R Y O F B A BY LON I A .

a stronom er royal
-
, as we m ay term him , h ad to send fort
nightly reports of his observations to the king .
-
S ome
of these we possess ,
a nd transl a tions of them will be
found in the R ecords of the P a st ,
”
Vol . I .
,
1 —
55 1 59 .

Avery curious portion of the Acc a di an literature is

a collection of ch arms a nd formul ae of exorcism which ,

seems to belong to the very e arliest period of B aby

lonia n history There are m a gic formul ae of all kinds
.
,

some to ward off sorcery some to bewitch other

,

persons . Closely connected with these are v arious

treatises on divin ation and lists of omens by which it
‘

was believed the future might be known . T hus there

a re tables of omens from dre a ms from births from , ,

the inspection of the h and or the entr a ils of anim als ,

a nd from the obj ects a traveller meets with on the

road The following transl ation will give some ide a
.

of these curious t ables

(I f a blue d o g enters a p al a ce th at p al ace ) will b e

,

burned .

(I f) a yell o w dog enters a p al a ce exit from th a t

.

p al ace will be b a neful .

(I f) a Spotte d dog enters a p al a ce th a t p al ace will ,

give its pea ce to the enemy .

( i f) a dog goes to a p al a ce a nd kills som e one th at ,

p al a ce is deprived of pe a ce .
 H IS T OR Y O F BA B Y LONI A . 21

I
( )f dog goes to a p al a c e and lies down on a bed
a ,

th a t p al a ce none with his h and will t a ke .

(I f) a dog goes to a p al a ce a nd lies down on the

”
throne th a t p al a ce will be burned
,
.

S ome of the omens are hardly likely to h a ppen

“
,

however desirable their consequences m ay be . T hus

we are told tha t when a sheep be ars a lion the a rm s
,

of the king will be powerful a nd the king will h a ve

“
,

”
no rival O thers of them a re ob vious enough in

“ “
.

the ir connection ; to dre a m of bright fire for ,

insta nce , forebodes a fire in the city , and the

sight of a dec ayin g house wa s a sign of misfortu ne
to its occup ant . H ere is a specimen of the exorcisms
a dopted to drive a wa y evil spirits an d the dise a ses
they were im agined to occa sion

The noxious god the noxious spirit of the neck

, ,

th e spirit of the desert the Spirit of the mount a ins

, ,

the Spirit of the se a the spirit of the mora ss the

, ,

noxious cherub of the city this noxious wind which ,

seizes the body (and) the he al th of the body : 0 ,

spirit of he a ven remember ! 0 spirit of e arth

“
, , ,

remember !
T he burning spirit of th e neck which seizes the
m an, the burning spirit which seizes the m an the ,

spirit which works evil the crea tion of the evil spirit
,
22 HIS T ORY O F B AB L Y ON I A .

O, spirit of hea ven, remember ! 0 spirit of e arth

“
, ,

remember !
Was ting want of health the evil spiri t of the
, ,

ul cer sprea ding quinsey of the gullet the violent

, ,

ul cer the nox ious ulcer : 0 Spiri t of hea ven, remem

, ,

ber ! O spirit of e arth remember !

, ,

S ickn ess of the entra ils sickness of th e he a rt the

, ,

p alpita tion of a sick he a rt sickness of bile sickness of

, ,
'

the hea d noxious colic the agila tzon of terror fla tu

, ,
.
,

le ncy of the entrails noxious illness lingering sickness

, , ,

nightm a re : O sp rit of he aven remember 1 O

,
i
, ,
”
spirit of e arth remember !
,

se ven “
The most dr e aded of the powers of evil were the
”
b aleful spiri ts or winds originally the storm ,

clouds of whom it was s aid by an a ncient poet of

,

Eridhu Those seven in the mount a in of the

sunset were begotten : tho se seven in th e mounta in of
th e sunrise did grow up . I n the deep pl a ces of the
e a rth h ave they their dwelling in the high pl a ces of
the e ar th have they their n a me .
”
O ne of the formul ae
of exorcism conta ins the following hymn in reference
to them

Seven (are) they seven (are ) they

, .

I n the abyss of the deep seven (are ) they .

I n the brightness of hea ven seven (are ) they .

 HIS T OR Y O F BAB Y LON IA . 2
3

I n the a byss of th e dee p in a p al a ce (was ) their

M al e they (are ) not fem al e they (are ) not 1

, .

M oreover the deep (is) their p a thway .

Wife they h a ve not ch ild is not born to them ,

.

La w (and) kin dn ess know they not .

Prayer and supplica tion he ar they not .

) ai n (was) their
(Among the thorns of th e mount
growth .

To H e a (the god of the sea ) (are) they hostil e .

2
The throne be ar ers of th e gods (are ) they
-
.

Disturbing the lilies in the tor r ent are they set .

W ick ed (ar e ) they wicked (are) they , .

S even (are ) they seven (are ) they seven twice

, ,
”
ag a in (are ) they .

The hymns to the seven wicked sp iri ts introduce us

to the gre a t c ollection of hymns to the gods whi ch ,
'

was compil ed R C 2 0 0 0 an d formed at once th e

.
,

Chal de a n B ible and liturgy M L morm a nt h as . .

a ptly comp ared it with the R ig Ved a of a ncient I ndia -

.

L ike the la tter it emb odied hymns of v ari ous da tes

,

a nd a uthorship ,
a nd it seems to have been put

Th e A cca dia n t ex t in ac cordance wi th the res pe ct pa i d to

,

wo m en in Acc ad reverse s this order

“
, .

This ill us tra tes th e ve rse in th e a ccount of the D el uge

w hi ch des cr ibe s how in the course of the st o rm
, th e throne ,

bea rers w ent ove r m ount ain and pl ain .

24 m sr onv o r B AB Y LONI A .

together a t the time of a gre at religious reform when ,

the S h am anistic beliefs of the e arly Acc adia ns were

fused into the organized polytheism of their S emitic
conquerors As an example of these hymns m ay b e
.

quoted one of those which a re a ddressed to S a m as ,

“
the sun god
-

O L ord the illumin ator of d arkness thou th at

, ,

openest the fa ce (of sorrow ) ,

Merciful God the setter up of the fallen the sup

, ,

porter of the sick ,

Unto thy light look the gre a t gods ,

The spirits of ea rth all of them b ow b efore thy fa ce ,

The l angu age of praise like one word thou directest ,

The host of their he ads bow before the light of th e

mid day sun
-
.

L ike a wife thou subm ittest thyself j oyfully and ,

kindly
Y e a thou art their light in the v a ult of the dist a nt
,

he aven ,

O f the bro a d e arth their b a nner a rt thou .

Men far and wide bow before thee a nd rej oice .

I n a nother hymn Merod ach form of the sun god

, , a -

a nd benefa ctor of m a nkind is thus m a de to a ddress

,

the lightning which is met aphoric ally cal led the

,

s cimitar wherewi th he smote the dragon Tiham tu in

,

the war of the gods

26 HIS T OR Y or BAB Y LON I A .

and e arth ,
the we a pon of (seven ) he a ds , (I
be ar).

T ha t which m aketh the light come forth like day the ,

god of the e ast my burning power (I b e a r)

, ,
.

The estab lisher of he aven a nd e arth the fi re god who ,

-
,

h as not his riva l (I b ea r) ,

.

T he we apo n which (fills) the worl d (with ) overwhelm

I n my right h a nd mightily m a de to go (the we apon

th a t) of gold (and) cryst al
I s wrought for a dmira tion my God who ministers to ,

life (I
,

S ti ll more rem ark able is a penitenti a l p sa lm , from

which the following verses m ay b e selected
O my L o rd my tra nsgression (is ) gre a t m a ny (are )
, ,

my sins .

O my God my tra nsgression (is ) gre a t my sins (ar e

, ,

m any ) ,

0 my Goddess my tra nsgression (is ) gre a t my sin s

, ,

(are m a ny ) .

0 my God tha t knowest (th a t ) I knew not my tran s

, ,

gre ssion (is ) gre at my sins (a re m a ny ) ,

.

0 my Goddess th a t knowest (th a t ) I knew not my

, ,

transgression (is ) gre a t my sins (are m an y ) ,

.

The transgression (th at ) I committed I knew not .

The sin (th a t ) I sinned I kn ew not . z .

‘ '

The forbidden thing did I e at .

The forbidden thing d id I tra mple upon ; .

 H IS T OR Y O F BA B YLONI A . 27

My L ord in the wr a th of his he art h as punished me .

God in the strength of his he a rt h as overpowered me .

The Goddess upon me has la id a ffliction and in p a in

h as set me .

God , who knew (th a t ) I knew not, h a th pierced me .

The Goddess who knew (th at ) I knew not h a th

, ,

c a used d arkness .

I lay on the ground a nd no m an seized me by th e

h and .

I wept and my p alms none took

, .

I cried aloud there wa s none th a t would he a r me .

I a m in d ar kness a nd trouble I lifted not myself up .

T0 my God my (distress ) I referred ; my pra yer I

a ddressed .

The feet of my Goddess I embra ced .

T0 (my) God who knew (th at ) I kn ew not (my

, ,

prayer ) I a ddressed .

X
‘
as

O my God seven times seven (a re ) my transgr essions,

,
”
my transgressions (are ) b efore me .

O f a very different ch ar acter is the following pra yer

alt er a ba d dre a m (W A . . I .
,
iv .
,
66 -
2
)
M ay my God give rest to my pra yer .

May my L ord (gr ant ) a merciful return (from trouble ) .

This day d irects unto de ath the terrors (of night) .

0 my Goddess b e fa vour able unto me

,
and he ar my
prayer .
28 H IS TORY or BAB YLON I A .

a i
'

fi
M ay she deliver ( )
me from my sin m y my o e r ng
be accepted .

May the Deity deliver m ay she b e gr a cious to (my )

,

gift
.

My transgression m ay the seven winds ca rry a wa y .

May th e worm destroy (it ) m ay the bird be ar (it )

.
,

aloft to he a ven .

M ay the sho a l of fish c arry (it ) a wa y into the river .

M ay their t a il a nd b a c k receive (it ) for me m ay the

wa ters of the river a s they flow dissolve (it )
for me .

Enlighten me a lso like a n im age of gold ,

L ike rich fat m ake me fat before th ee .

S eize the worm bury it a live : bury (it bene a th ) thy

,

a lt ar thy multitudes seize

, .

With the worm ca use (me ) to p a ss and let me find

protection with thee .

Dismiss me and let a favourable dre a m come

, .

May the dre a m I dre a m b e fa vourable ; m ay the

dre a m I drea m be true .

The dre a m I dre am to prosperity turn .

May M akh ir the god of dre a ms rest upon my he a d

, ,
.

M ake me gre a t and to B it S agg al the temple of the

,
-
,

gods the temple of Ad a r

, ,

Unto Merod ach the merciful for prosperity to his

, , ,

prospering h a nds deliver me .

May thy descent be m a de kno wn m a y thy divinity ,

be glorious ,

May the men of my city celebra te thy migh ty deeds .

 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLONI A . 29

tr ansl ated from

’

All these hymns are A c ca dia n into

Assyri an the origin a l Acca dia n text being pl a ced in a
,

p a ra llel column on the left ha nd side of the Assyri a n

-

tra nsla tion .

The mythologica l poems given in Mr S mith s

.
’

Chal de a n Account of Genesis are a nother proo f

of the extent to which poetry wa s cultiva ted in a ncient
B abyloni a . S ome of thes e
noticed subsequently are ,

more especi a lly th e a ccount of the Deluge a nd the

gre a t I zdh u b ar epic of which it forms an episode .

This epic is a red a ction of a number of independent

poems of e arlier d a te the thre a d which runs through
,

the whole a nd connects it together being the a dve n

tu res of I zdh ub a r . Th e epic wa s prob ably put

together in its present form a b out 20 0 0 ye ars BC . .

it is compiled on an a stronomic al principle being ,

'

divide d intotwelve books e a ch a nswering to a sign

,

of the Zodi a c a nd the Acca di a n month which w a s

n amed a fter it . Thus the a ccount of the Deluge is
introduced into the eleventh book or lay, which cor
responds with th e sign Aqu a rius a nd the ra iny
month of the Acc a di a n c alend a r .

Th e people of Acca d were not neglectful of law .

Prob a bly the oldest ta ble of l a ws in existence is th e

one which was copied and trans l ated for the libr a ry
30
HIS TOR Y O F BAB Y LON I A .

of N ineveh , and in which we fi nd th a t the life and

status of the sl ave are recognized and provided for ,

an d the mother is regarded as of more importa nce

th an the fa ther as is still the ca se with m a ny Al ta ic
,

tribes T he first two columns of the table are u n

.

fortun ately too much broken to b e re a d ; the l a st two

run as follows beginning it wi ll be observed with
, , ,
a

list of legal precedents

A certa in m an s brother in law hired (workmen ) a nd
’
- -

built a n enclosure on his found ation F rom .

the house (the j udge ) e x pelled him .

I n every ca se let a m a rried m an put his child in pos

session o f property provided th a t he does not
,

m ake him inh abit it .

F or the future (the j udge m ay) a llow a s an ctu a ry to

be erected in a private demesne .

(A m an) h as full possession of a s a nctu a ry on his own

high pl a ce .

The sanctu a ry (a m an) h a s r a ised is confirmed to the

son who inherits .

(A m an ) sh all not (deny ) hi s fa ther and his mother .

(I f a m an) h as n amed a town but not l a id the ,

foundation stone he m ay ch ange (the n ame )

-
, .

This imperi al rescript must be le arnt .

 H IS T ORY O F B AB Y LONI A .
31

E verything which a m arried wom a n enclo ses, she

all ) possess
( sh .

I n all ca ses for the future (these rul es sh all hold good ) .

A decision A son s ays to his fa ther : T hou art not

.

my fa ther (a nd) confirms it by (his ) n a il m a rk

,
-

(on the deed) ; (th e son) gives him a pledge

a nd p ays him silver .

A decision A son s ay s to his mother T hou art n ot

.

my mother ; his h a ir is cut o ff (in ) the city ,

they exclude him from e arth a nd w a ter a nd in ,

the house imprison him .

A decision A father s ays to his son : T hou art not

.

my son in house a nd brick building they

imprison him .

A decision A mother s ays to her son : Thou a rt not

.

my son ; in house and property they imprison

her .

A decision A wom a n is unfa ithful to her husb an d

.
,

and s a ys to him : T hou a rt not my husb a nd

into the river they throw her .

A decision A husb a nd s ays to his wife Thou ar t

.

not my wife h al f a m a neh of silver he weighs

out (in compens a tion ) .

A decision A m a ster kills (his ) sl a ves cuts them to

.
,

pieces inj ures their o ffspring drives them from

, ,

the l a nd and m akes them sick ; his h and every

day sh all me a sure out a h alf me asure of corn -

(in
32 HIS TORY O F B AB YLONI A .

I t is h ardly necessa ry to describe B abyloni a n litera

ture in further deta il . I t comprised b ea st fable s ~
,

riddles of a somewh a t elementa ry kind contra ct ,

t ablets deeds of sale geogr aphica l lists chronologica l

, , ,

tables historica l documents copies of correspondence

, , ,

a nd ca talogues of the var ious a nim als trees stones

, , ,

a nd other obj ects known to the Babyloni a ns . M a the

m a ties were not disrega rded an d the figures of geo
,

metry were even m a de to serve the purposes of a

supers titious divin a tion . T he insight thus a ff orded
us into the litera ry a ctivity and interests of a people
whose very existence was al most forgotten but a few
yea rs ago is one of the most rem a rk able revel a tion s
,

of the present century .

C YLIN D RI CAL S E A LS .
34
HIS TORY O F BAB YLON I A .

through this wonderful people become the herit age ,

of a ll m ankind while its science an d civiliz a tion ,

,

through the medium of the Greeks a nd R om ans h ave ,

become the b a ses of modern rese arch a nd a dva nce

ment .

The extent of country comprehended under the

n a me of B abyloni a varied a t d ifferent times and it is ,

impossible to fix the ex a ct bound aries of the cou ntry

a t any period during the empire for a ltern a te conquest ,

a nd defe at ca used the bounda ries to fluctu a te con

tinu a lly General ly spe aking it comprehended the
.
,

country fr om ne ar the Lower l ab to the Persia n Gulf ,

a bout 40 0 miles long , a nd from El a m e a st of the ,

Tigris to the Arabia n Desert west of the Euphr ates

, , ,

an a verage bre a dth Of I 5 0 m iles .

W ithin this sp a ce in e arly times , there were severa l

,

kingdoms ; and Often , at a l a ter period loca l chiefs ,

m ade themselves independent ; for the country being , ,

peopled by several distinct tri bes there , was a want of

n ational ity a nd p a tri otism .

I t is generally supposed th a t B abyloni a wa s peopled

in e ar ly times by T ura ni a n tribes (tribes all ied to th e

Turks and Ta tars ) a nd th a t these were conquered
,

a nd dispossessed by the S emites . This ch a nge is very

doubtful, al though supported by much le a rned a rgu
 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLON I A .
35

ment grounded on the n ature of the

,
B abyloni an
1
l anguage and
writing .

The history O f B abylonia from its own records , , wa s

tr ansl ated into Greek by a Ch alde an priest n a med ,

B erosus , who lived in the third century before the

Christia n e ra . The history Of B erosus is lost except
,

ing an imperfect outline of his chr onology a nd an

a ccount of the a ntediluvi a ns the Fl ood ,

a nd the time
of N ebuch adnezz ar a nd his successors .

The fr a gments of B erosus are so few , a nd it is so

di fficult to a rrange his ep ochs th a t they afford littl e ,

a id in composing the history O f the country .

O n the other h and, the B abyloni an and Assyri an

I h a ve left th e cont radicti on be tw ee n th is p a ssa g e and th a t

on p x 6 b ec a use i t expresses Mr S m i th s hesi ta tion on the
.
, .
’

m att er .W hether or no t the e a rly inh ab i ta n ts a nd civilizers of

Ch al de a were a llied t o the Turks and Ta ta rs O f the present day
— a poin t which is ex trem ely doubtful— a t all events th ey spoke
an agglut ina t ive l a ngu age ; th a t is a l a ngu age in which th e
,

rela t ions of gram m a r a re d enot ed no t by inflect ions b ut by the

, ,

a tta ch m en t of in d epen den t or se mi in depen den t word s - Th e .

Ac cadi an la nguage as i t is usually t erm ed w as closely a llie d t o

, ,

the di alec ts spo ken in El am as well as t o th a t o f the P rotom edic

,

subjects o f the Persia n kings M Lenorm ant has a rgue d ab ly

. .

in b ehal f of the view that this whole group of l anguages though ,

stan ding by i t self ye t ul t i m at el y goes b a ck to th e sam e source

,

as th e Fi nni c fam il y of t o ngues — S . .

36 H IS TORY O F B AB YLON I A .

inscriptions which supply most of our historic al infor

m a tion give very little insight into the chronology
, ;
so even with the a ids from a ncient authors the e arlier
, ,

p art of th e history is merely fragment a ry T he .

B abyloni a n histories commenced with a description

of the cre a tion simil a r in some respects to the one i n
,

Genesis ,
an d then went on to rel a te th a t the B a by

lonians were first ruled by a king n a med A lo ru s, in

whose time there ca me up out Of the Persi a n Gulf a
being n amed O a nnes who , wa s h alf m a n, h alf fish ,

something like the D agon of the Philistines O a nnes .

is sa id to h a ve taught the B abyloni a ns al l their le arn

ing ,
and to h a ve imp a rted to them the a rts of civilized
life .

According to the B a byloni ans , there were ten kings ,

beginning with Aloru s, before the F lood ; these ten

a greeing in number with the ten p a tri archs in G enesis
but an extrav aga nt length was given by the B abylo
nia ns to this period their st a tement being th a t the ten
,

kings reigned for ye ars .

B eside the cre a ture O a nnes ,

they rel ated th a t
several simil a r beings c a me out O f th e Persi a n Gulf ;
a nd the y otherwi se a do rned their n a rr a tive with
m arvels and legends to m ake up for the tot al w ant Of

re al h istorv .
 H IS TORY O F BA B YLON I A .

The nrnth O f the kings before the F lood , a ccording

to the B a byloni a ns , was n a med Ub a ra tutu -
,
a nd he
corresponds in position to the Lamech Of the B ible ,

w h o wa sfa ther of N o ah .

Ub ara tutu was succeeded by his son A drah asis or

-
,

H asisa dra who corresponds to the N o ah of the

,

B ible . I n his time it is recorded th a t the whole of

m a nkind had becom e wicked ,
a nd the B a byloni a n

deities resolved to des troy the e arth by a deluge .

H a s isa dra being a pious m an wa s comm a nded to ,

build an a rk wherein himself his fa mily a nd friends

, , , ,

a nd p a irs O f all anim als should be preserved during

the F lood . The Ch a lde a n mon arch a ccordingly built
this vessel ,
a nd in it wa s s a ved .

The Ch alde a n story of the D eluge is so rem ark able

th a t I repe a t it here as it is given on the t ablets ,

n a mely as a speech put into the mouth of H asisa dra ,

or N o a h I append a Series of notes of the p a ra llel

.

p a ss ages in Genesis for comp arison .

38 H IS T ORY O F B AB YLONI A .

tlze E leven”: f
'
E x tra ct f r om Ta blet o l lze I za fi u ba r

Legend s, gi ving l lze Clza la eem a eeou m of fli e D eluge

’ ’ ‘
.

COL U M N I .

Line
8 . Xisithrusto him a lso s a id even to I zdh u bar
1

B e reve a led to thee I z dh u b a r the conce aled

9 .

story ,

10 and the ora cle of the gods to thee b e rel a ted even
.

to thee .

I I The city S uripp ak the city which thou est ab

.

lish e de st situ a ted ,

I 2 th at city is a ncient and the gods (dwell ) within it

.

I3 . their serv a nt the gre a t gods

I4 . the god Anu
I5 . th e god Elu
1 6 . the god Ninip
I 7 a nd the god
. the lord O f H a des ,

18 their will he repe a ted to the midst (of it) a nd

.
,

19 I his will was he aring an d he sp a ke to me

.

or rather X isuthrus is the n a m e given t o the

Xis ith ru s, ,

Babyloni a n No a h b y B erosus I t is q ues t ion able whether Mr

. .

S m i th was right in reg a rding th e words a a r a kfi as ir which occur’

,

i n the Fl ood tab let s as th e n am e o f t he hero of the m Th e na rrie

“
'

.
,

of the l atter is usu ally wri tten wi th t wo i deographs read Tam zi ,

o

in A cca di a n the first of which signifies the sun and th e secon d

, ,
”

lik .
”
—S .
 H IS T ORY O F B AB YLONI A .
39

Line
20 . son O f Ub ara—tutu
S u rip p akite , ,

21 . m ake a ship after this (m a nner)

22 . I remember the sinner 1 a nd life
23 . c a use to a scend the seed O f life a ll of it to th e ,

midst of the ship .

24 . The ship which thou sh al t m a ke

2 5 . 60 0 cubits sh all b e the me asure O f its length ,

(and)
26 . 60 cubits the a moun t O f its bre a dth and its
height .

27 . into the deep l a unch it .

28 . I perceived a nd s a id to H e a my lord
29 . the ship m aking which thou comm a ndest thus ,

30 . when (P) by me it sh al l b e done ,

a ll be derided by] young men a nd O ld men

31 .
[I sh .

32 . H e a opened his mouth and sp ake and s a id to m e

his servant ,

33 . thou sh alt say unto them ,

34 . h e h a s turned from me a nd
35 . fixed over m e
36 . like c a ves
37 . above a nd below

38 . close th e shi p
39 . the flood which I will send to you ,

40 . into it enter a nd the door of the ship turn .

41 I nto the midst of it tlry gra in thy furniture a nd

, , ,

“
.

thy goods ,

Or seed
.
40 HIS TORY O F BA B YLON I A .

Line

42 . thy we alth thy women serva nts thy fem al e sl aves

, , ,

a nd the young m en ,

43 . the be asts of the field the a nim als O f the fi eld

, , , ,

a ll I will g a ther a nd

44 . I will send to thee and they sh all b e enclosed in

,

thy door .

45 . X isithru s his mouth O pened a nd sp ake a nd

46 . s a id to H e a his lord
47 . whosoever the ship will not m a ke
48 . in the e arth enclosed
49 . m ay I see a lso the ship

50 . on the ground the ship

5 1 . the shi p m aking which thou comm andest (thus )
52 . which in

COLU M N I I .

strong
on the fifth day it
in its circuit 1 4 me a sures (in ) its fra me
1 4 me a sures it me a sures over it
I pl a ced its roof it
,
I enclosed it .

I rode in it for the sixth time I (exa mined its ex

,

te rio r) for the seventh time ,

its interior I exa mined for the eighth time

with pl a nks the wa ter from within it I stopped ,

I sa w rents and the wa nting p arts I a dded ,

42 HIS T OR Y O F BAB YLON I A .

Line
28 .
I c aused to go up into the ship all my m al e s er ,

v ants and my fem ale serv a nts ,

29 . the bea st of the field the a nim al of the fi eld the

, ,

sons of the people all of them I c aused to

,

go up .

30 . A flood S h am a s m a de and
31 . he Sp a ke s aying (P) in the night I will c a use it to
r a in from he aven he a vily ,

32 . enter into the midst O f the ship a nd shut thy door .

33 . Th a t flood h appened (of which )

34 . he sp ake s aying : in the night I will ca use it to
r ain from he aven he avily .

35 . I n the day I celebra ted his festival ,

36 . during the day wa tch fe a r I h a d to wa tch .

37 . I entered into the midst O f the ship a nd shut my

doon
38 . TO close the ship to B uzur—s a di r abi the bo at -

m an
39 . the p al ace (the ark) I gave with its goods .

40 . A storm at d awn in the morning

41 . arose from the horizon of he a ven extending
, a nd

wide 1 .

42 . Vul 2 in the midst of it thundered a nd ,

43 . N ebo a nd S am went in front ,

Ra ther ra in and da rkness S .

-
.

R ea d R i m m on (A ssyri a n R am m a n )
2
. R i m m on shoul d be
sub stitu te d for Vul wherever i t occurs —S .
 H IS T ORY O F B AB YLON I A .
43

Line

44 the throne b earers l went over mount a ins

-

pl ains ,

the des troyer N ergal overturned ,

Ninip went in front (and) c a st down ,

the spirits of ea rth ca rried d estruction ,

in their glory they swept the e arth

the flood of Vul re a ched to he a ven .

The bright earth to a wa ste was turned .

COL U M N I I I .

The surfa ce of the ea rth lik e it swept ,

(it destroyed ) a ll life (from ) the fac e of the

e arth
the strong (deluge ) over the people re a ched to ,

(he a ven ) .

B rother saw not his brother it did not sp a re the ,

people I n he a ven
.

the gods fe a red the flood a nd ,

sought refuge ; they a scended to the he aven of

2
Ann .

The gods like dogs fixed in droves were pros tra te .

3
S p ake I sht a r like a child ,

“
Th at is the seven wicked spiri t s or st orm god s
,
-
.

9
Tha t is the h ighes t he a ven
, .

Ra ther m ot her
3 ”
.
44 H IS TORY O F BA B YLON I A .

Line
1
uttered Rub at her speech
9 .

10 All to corruption are turned a nd

. ,

I I when I in the presence of the gods h a d prophesied

.

evil ,

1 2 thus I prophesied in the presence of the gods evil

.

1 3 to evil a re devoted (all) my people a nd I pro

.
,

p h e sie d
1 I the mother h a ve begotten my people a nd
4 .
,

1 5 like the young O f the fishes they fill th e sea

. .

I6 The gods concerning the Spirits of e a rth were

.

weeping with her ,

1 7 the gods in se a ts were s e a ted in l a ment a tion

.
,

1 8 covered were their lips for th e coming fl ood

. .

1 9 S ix da ys and nights
.

20 p assed th e wind deluge a nd storm Overwhelmed

.
, , .

21 O n the seventh day in its course (th e ra in from )

.

he aven (and) all the deluge

22 which ha d destroyed like an e a rthqu ake
.
,

2 3 quieted
. The se a one c a used to dry a nd the wind
.
,

a nd deluge ended .

2
24 I perceived the se a m aking a tossing
2
5 a nd the whole of m a nkind wa s turned to cor
.

ruption ,

26 like reeds the corpses flo ated

.
.

27 I opened the window a nd the light broke over

.
,

“
my fa ce ,

Th a t
is , Gre at La d y ,
”
I s ta r .

2
Rather noise .
-
S .
 H IS T ORY OF BA B YLON I A .
45

Line
28 . it p assed and I sa t down a nd wept
,

29 . over m y face flowed my te ars .

30 . I perceived the shore and the bounda ry O f the sea ,

31 . for twelve me a sures the l and rose .

32 . To the country of N izir went the ship

33 . the mounta in O f N izir stopped the ship a nd to ,

p a ss over it it wa s not able

, .

34 . The first d ay a nd the s econd day the mounta in

of N izir stopped it .

35 . The third day a nd the fourth day the mount a in

O f N izir stopp e d it .

36 . The fifth an d sixth th e mount a in of N izir stopped

,

It
.

37 O n the seventh day in the course of it

.

38 I sent forth a dove , a nd it left The dove went

. .

a nd tu rned a nd

39 a resting pl ace it could not enter a nd it returned

-
. .
,

4 0 I sent forth a swa llow and it left

. The swa llow .

went and turned and

4 1 a resting pl a ce it coul d not enter, a nd it returned
-
. .

4 2 I sent forth a r a ven a nd it left

. .

4 3 The ra ven went a nd the corpses which were on

.

the wa ter it sa w a nd
44 it did e a t it swam it w andered a wa y it did not
.
, , ,

return .

4 5 I sent forth (the a nim a ls ) to the four winds I

.
,

po ured out a lib ation ,

4 6 I bui l t an altar on the pe ak O f the mounta in

.
,
46
H IS T ORY OF BA B YLON I A .

Line

47 .
by sevens j ugs of wine I took ,

48 . a t the bottom of them I pl a ced reeds pines a nd , ,

spices .

49 .
The gods collected at its burning the gods col ,

le c te d a t its good burning ;

5 0 . the gods like flies over the s a crifi ce g athered .

51 . From of old also R ub a t in her course

52 .
ca rried the gr ea t brightness ! which Anu h a d
crea ted W hen the glory
.

53 . those gods the ch a rm of cryst al round my neck

,

m ay I not le a ve

COL U M N I V .

1 . in those d ays I desir ed tha t for ever m ay I not

le ave them .

M ay the gods come to m y alt ar ,

M ay E lu not come to my al ta r ,

for he did not consider and h ad m a de a deluge ,

and m y people he h a d consigned to the deep 1

-
.

From wh a t time also Elu in his course

saw the ship Elu took ; with a nger b e filled the
,

gods even spirits of e a rth

8 . L et not life ever com e out, let not a m an b e
s aved from the deep 2 .

Ninip his mouth Opened, and sp ake ; he s a id to

the warrior Elu
Rather a vessel .
” —S .
2
Rathe r in th e vessel — S
. .
 H IS TORY O F BA B YLON I A .
47

Line
IO . Who then will ask H ea the m a tter he h as done ,

I I O a nd H e a knowing a lso a ll things

1 2 . H e a his mouth Opened a nd sp ake he s a id to ,

the war rior Elu

I 3 . Thou j ust prince O f the gods warrior ,

1 4 . When thou a ngry b e c o m e st a deluge thou m akest

,

1
5 . the doer of sin punish his sin the doer of evil ,

punish his evil ,

1 6 . the j ust prince let him not be cut o ff the fa ithful ,

let him not b e (destroyed )

1 7 . in stea d O f thee m aking a deluge m ay lions in ,

1
cre ase a nd men be reduced
1 8 . inste a d of thee m aking a deluge m ay leop ards ,

increas e and men be reduced

1 9 . inste a d O f thee m aking a deluge m ay a famin e ,

h appen and the country be destroyed

20 . in stea d of thee m aking a deluge m ay pesti lence ,

incre a s e a nd the country be destroyed

°
I . I did not peer into the ora cle of the gre a t gods .

22 . A drah asis a dre a m they sent 3 and the ora cl e of ,

the gods he he a rd .

23 . When his j udgm ent was a ccomplished, E lu went

up to the midst of the ship .

24 H e t oo k my h a nd and raised m e up

“
.
,

1
Ra ther
“
co m e — S
. .
3
Ra t her
“ hy aen a s — S
. .

R a t her
ca use d t o reve al t o h im th e no t e on th e
”
3
. S ee
n am e Xisith rus p 38 S , . .
-
.
48 H IS T ORY O F B AB YLONI A .

Line
2
5 .
he c aused to ra ise a nd to bring my wi fe to my
S i de ;
26 . he m a de a bo nd a nd esta blished in a coven a n t
,

he blesses us
2 7 . in the presence of H asisa dra a nd the people ,

thus
28 . When H a sisa dra a nd his wife a nd the people t o
, ,

be like the gods a re c a rried a wa y

29 . then sh a ll dwell H a sis a dra in a remote pl a ce a t
the mouth of the rivers .

30 . They took m e a nd in a remote pl a ce a t the mouth

of the rivers they se ated m e .

This extra ct from one Of the cuneiform ta blets will

serve to show the light which these documents thro w
on the B ible . The C h a lde a n le gend Of the F lood was
I n e x rste nc e a t le a st ye ar s b efore the Christia n
e ra , a nd the scenes O f the series of legends to which
it belongs a re c a rved on som e Of the most a ncient
B abyloni a n se a ls .

The B ible s ays nothing a bout the n a tive country

of N o ah . The Ch alde an legend line ,
2, rel ates th a t
he belonged to S urip p ak a port ne ar the entra nce O f
,

the Euphra tes into the Persi a n Gul f The Ch a lde a n .

legend agrees with Genesis vi in a scribing the Deluge .

to the anger of th e D eity at the wickedness Of the

5 0 HIS T ORY O F BA B YLON I A .

on the mounta ins of Ar ara t This however I be .

, ,

lieve does not me a n the mount a in now c a lled Arara t ,

but a moun ta inous country south of this a nd ne a r ,

the present La ke Van F rom this region severa l

.

mount ain ch ains run down towa rds the Persia n Gulf
-
,

on the e ast of the Tigris I n this region to th e e as t

.
,

o f A ss yria w as the l a nd of N izir where the ark rested

, , ,

a ccording to the ccount (col iii lines

C h a lde an a . .

3 2 There must be however a t present con

, , ,

side rab le difle renc e of opinion a s to the exa ct loca li ty

‘

of th e descent from the a rk as the limits of thes e ,

geographic al n ames ar e not defined .

The s acrifice of N o a h (Gen viii . . a nd the ple a

sure a nd blessing of God re a ppe a r in col iii lines
, . .

6 — 0 and
the resolution of the L ord not to destroy
4 5
the world ag ain by a flood comp ares with the st a te
ment in the inscription (col iv lines 1 7 Th e . .

coven ant a nd blessing of N o a h (Gen ix 1 —1 7 ) is . .

given in col iv lines 2 6—2 9 but this includes a sin

. .

gul ar difference from the B iblic a l text I n the book .

( 4 ) it is rel a ted th a t Enoch was tra ns

O f Genesis v 2 .

l ated This rem ark able p a ss age is illustra ted by col

.
.

iv l ines 2 8 30 and other pl a ces ; but the Ch aldea n

. -
,

legend m akes it H a sisadra or N o ah who is transl ated

for his piety and not Enoch , .
 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLON I A .
SI

T he whole of the C h al de a n a ccount of the Deluge

is worthy Of minute comp a rison with th a t in the book
of Genesis ,
a nd will be found interesti ng both in the ,
'

po ints where it a grees with and those where it difi e rs

from the B ib lic a l record Until a few ye ars b a ck
.

there was no confirm a tion of the book of Genesis

e ar lier tha n the time O f Al exa nder the Grea t ; now ,

however a flood of light is thrown on it by the

,

cuneiform inscri ptions ,

a nd it is highly prob able th a t
much more of the e arlier p a rt of Genesis will b e
found in these Ch alde a n texts Fr a gments h a ve been .

fo u nd of the account O f the cre a tion and buil ding of

the tower of B abel and I h a ve rea son to believe th a t
,

these are only p arts of a series of histories giving full

l
a ccounts Of these e arly periods .

A full a ccoun t of t hes e tab le ts is given in M r S m ith s .

’

C ha ld e an A cco u n t of Genesis Tw o versions of the his t ory

.

O f t he crea t ion h a ve b een d iscovere d one a n ol d er one whi ch

, ,

see ms t o agr ee with th at a dop ted by B erosus a nd a no ther which ,

m us t b elong t o a m uch l a t er pe rio d prob ab ly t he seven th cen

,

tury B C Accor ding t o th e firs t version th e : e arth was origi na lly

. .
,

a d esert , a nd w as then i nh a b i t e d b y non descrip t cre a tures

m e n wi th th e b o dies of b ird s and the fa ces of r a vens — un t il i t

'

w as fi tt e d for the a b od e of th e presen t r a ces of living b eings .

Th e second version O f t he a ccoun t O f the cre at ion a grees very

closely wi th th at recorded in t he fi rs t ch apt er of Genesis Th e .

E 2
5 2 H IS T ORY O F BAB YLON I A .

T he history of no other country is so likely to throw

light on the e arlier p a rts of the B ible as B a byloni a ,

for here it is st a ted th a t the garden of Eden wa s

situ ated the first home of the hum a n ra ce (Gen ii
,
. .

8 ,
Four rivers a re given in this p a ss age ; two ,

the Euphr ates a nd Tigr is ,

a re w e ll known the other
two considered with gre at prob a bility to be tw o
a re , ,

other stre ams of the s ame river system in B abyloni a .

S ir H enry R awlinson h as identified Eden with the

region of Ga n -
duni or Kar d unia s in
,
-
, B abyloni a , an

worl d is stat e d to h a ve b eenm a d e in six successive da ys th e ,

sun m oon a nd s ta rs b eing form e d on th e fourth day; a nd the

, ,

a ni m a ls prob a bly on th e six th Th e a ccoun t b egins in this

.

w ay

At th at ti m e the heaven ab ove (w as) unn a m e d

I n the e a rth b ene ath a n a m e (was ) u nrecorde d
Ch a os too (was ) unopened a roun d t he m
, , .

By n a m e th e m o ther Tih a m tu (the Deep ) (w a s ) th e b ege tter of

them all .

Their w at ers in one pl a ce were no t e m b oso m e d a nd th e frui t ful ,

herb (w as ) uncollecte d th e m a rsh pl a n t (w as) ungrown

, .

A t th a t t i m e th e go ds (the sta rs ) were no t m a d e t o go none o f

the m by n am e (were ) record e d ; or der (w a s ) not a m ong

them .

Then were m ade the (gre a t ) go ds

; (and these ) La kh m u a nd
Lakh a m u c a use d to go until they were gro w n (they '

nurtured the m ) .

The go ds A ssu r and K is sar we re m ade b their h a n ds

( y ) .
 HIS T ORY O F BA B YLONI A . 5
U 3

identific ation which a lthough not proved h as m a ny ,

.
,

prob abilities in its fa vour I n the inscriptions of .

Tigla th P ile s e r -
I I it is s ta ted th a t the l a nd of Ga n
.

d u nias was w atered by four rivers— the Euphra tes the ,

Tigris the , U kni, a nd the S ura pp i .

A length of da ys a long (t i m e p assed a nd ) the gods A nu (Be l

, , ,

a nd H e a were crea te d ) the go d s A ss u r a nd Kissa r (b eg a t

,

Connec te d wi th these crea t ion ta blets a re o thers which descrro e

Ti am a t (Tih a m tu ) or th e “
the fal l of m a n b rough t ab ou t b y the te m pter the grea t dr agon
Deep a s w e ll a s a no ther series ,
,

which recoun ts the w a r of Mero da ch the sun god with Tia m a tu ,

-
,

a nd her a llies This w a r re m in ds us of th e B i blic a l p a ss age

.

( R e v xii 7 ) i n which i t is s a id th a t there w as w a r in hea ven

. .

Mich a el a nd his a ngels fough t against the d ra gon ; a nd th e

d r agon fough t a nd his a ngels an d prev a ile d no t Th e fr a g
”
.
,

m ent s rel a t ing t o the Tower O f B ab el a re unfor t un a t ely very

sc a nty They confirm the stat e m ents of Greek wri ters a ccord
.
,

ing t o which the B abyloni a ns rel a te d th a t th e go ds d es t roye d

the Tower b y wi nds Th e na m e B ab e l signifies G a t e of God
.
-
,

a nd is a S e m iti c tra nsl at ion of the ol d er A cca d i a n n a m e of the

pl a ce C a dim irra which m a y possi bly refer to the b uil ding of

“
-
, ,

the Tower A s the A cca di a n n a m e O f the m onth Tizri ( S e p

.

t em ber ) w a s the m onth of the holy m oun d while th e deity ,

”

who w a s connec te d with th e b uil ding of th e To w er w as t er m e d

the k ing of th e holy m oun d i t is prob a ble th at th e event in,
”

q ues t ion w as suppose d t o h a ve t a ken pl a ce a t the a utu m n a l

equinox S .
-
.
54 H IS TORY O F BAB YLONI A .

The Babyloni ans a sserted th a t they h ad records

written before the Flood ,
a nd th a t the cities of B abel ,

or B abylon , S ipp ara , Laranc h a , a nd S u rip p ak were

1
gre a t cities before the Deluge . Cert ainly if there ,

was a civilized race here for to r, 5 oo yea rs

before the F lood we might expect one day to
,

find some tra ces of it ; but as yet no contempo

ra ry monuments h ave been discovered which c an

be pla ced e arlier th an B C 2 30 0 a nd even this .

,

d ate m ay be too e arly for our oldest known monu

ments .

The B abyloni a n tra ditions rel ate th at after the F lood

the people who were s aved returned to B abyl oni a and
repeopled the country ; and Greek tra nsl a tions h ave
preserved a few n ames of mon archs supposed to b e
long to the subsequent epoch but nothing wh a tever
is known of the sta te of the country or n a ture of the
government .

T he cuneiform inscriptions throw little light on

a

this O bs cure interv al but some, Of the a ccounts are

overloa ded with mir a culous a nd impossibl e stories ,

La ranch a m ust b e i d entifie d

wit h Suripp ak (or S uripkh u a s ,

the na m e m ay also b e read ) since Xis u th ru s is m a d e a n at ive o f

,

La ra ncha by B erosus wh ile he is ca lle d a n a t ive of S uri ak in

, pp
the cuneiform Deluge Tablets —S . .
 H IS T O R Y OF BA B YLON I A .
55

from which it is difli c u lt to sep a ra te the historic a l

F rom these it a ppea rs th a t in e arly times this p art

of the world was divided into ma ny sma ll princip ali
ties when there
,
a rose a hero whom I provisionall y
c all I zdh u bar, but who corresponds in my Opinion to
the N imrod of the B ible . The B iblic al a ccount of
N imrod wil l be found in Gen x this . . 8 —1 2, and

re al ly forms th e only cert a in a nd a uthentic notice of

the hero There is how ever, a m ass of l ater tra dition
.
,

with respect to him which m ay b e p a rtly founded on

the st a tements of B abyloni a n history some Of it ,

however is evidently fa lse

,
.

I zdhu b ar whom I identify with N imrod is reported

, ,

to h ave been a loc al B abyloni a n chief ce l ebra ted for

,

his prowess a mighty hunter a nd ruler Of men , w hen

some enemy prob ably th e chief of

,
a neighbouring
r a ce c ame down with a force of men
, and ships and

a t ta cked the city of Erech .

Erech was a l a rge Cha lde a n city ne ar the ,

Eup hra

tes , a bout 1 20 mil es south of B abylon . I t is men

tione d in Genesis as one of the c apit als of N imrod ,

a nd is now represented by the m ounds of Wa rk a .

Accord ing to the B a byloni a n tr adition it , was then

devoted to the worship of Anu god , of he aven , a nd
56 H IS TORY O F BA B Y LON I A .

his wife or consort

, ,
Ana tu, a nd its ruler wa s a queen
or goddess n amed I sht ar celebra ted for her b ea uty
, ,

1
a nd for her dissolute ch ara cter .

The enemy att a cked the city a nd c aptured it hold ,

ing it in subj ection for three ye a rs when by the will , ,

of the gods it was delivered by I z dhu bar who then

, ,

m ade it the chief cit y of his dominions I zdh ub ar .

,

a fter g a ining Erech wa s desirous to secure for his

,

celebra ted s age n a med H e abani who

ne w c o u rt a
'

, ,

appe ars to h ave been in the power O f a m o nste r ,

.

The monster was killed by order of I zdh u b a r,

a nd H e ab ani ca me to Erech to the court of

I zdh ub a n

After the a rrival of H e abani he a cted a s a strologer ,

a nd assist a nt to I zdh ub ar a nd a ccomp a nied him in his

,

va rious expeditions I zdh ubar then m a de war upon a

.

chief n amed H umb ab a who ruled in a mount a inous

,

region clothed with pine—trees and conquered him , ,

a nnexing his dominions to B a byloni a . Another chief ,

n amed B e le su , wa s then conquered ,

a nd prob ably
m any others whose n ames h ave been lost Accord .

ing to the legend the dominions of I zdhu ba r now

,

re ached from the Persi a n Gulf to the Armeni a n

.

I sh ta r w as th e A shtore th of the B i ble , th e A sta rt e of Greek

wri ters .
58 H I S TORY O F BA B Y LON I A .

h ad the a ni mal cut up ,

and dedica ted the horns in
one of his temples .

I zdh u b ar now m a de a triumph a l entry into Erech ,

and fe a sted his chiefs in th e h all of his p ala ce ,

at the
s ame time m aking procl a m ati on of his gre a t deeds
ro und the city . The tablets go on to describe various
other exploits of I zdh u bar a nd H e ab a ni, but we ar e

told tha t misfortune ca me an d put an end to this

prosperi ty . H e abani was kil led by some poisonous
a nim al ,
a nd I zdh ub ar himse lf was struck wi th disea se .

Up to this point lthough the n a rra tive is full Of

'

,
a

a bsurdities a nd mira cles it possibly h a d some

,
fou nda

tion in fact ; but the subsequent p art of the history

must b e entir ely mythica l .

This la tter portion of th e n arr a tive rel ates th a t

I zdub ar bitterl y m ourned over the de a th of H eabani ,

and then set out from th e ci ty of E rech to seek H a sis

a dra the hero of the F lood who
, , was supposed by
the Ba byloni ans to be living with the gods somewhere
ne ar the Persi an Gul f . I t is rem a rk able th a t the
B abyloni a n
tr aditions s u rrounded with interest the
region to the south of the country where their own ,

gre at rivers the Tigris , and E uphr a tes poured into

,

the sea .
O ut of this se a they rela te th a t there a rose
O annes the composite monster who
, , a ccording to
 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLON I A .
59

B erosus , ta ught civil iza tion to the B a byloni a ns . The

building of the ar k was pl aced here a nd this s ea was

considered p art of the gre a t ch a otic deep out O f which

the world w as formed ; while in this neighbourhood
was the celestia l region where the gods and spirits
dwelt .

The description of the j ourn ey of I zdh ubar is pur ely

a rom ance . H e visits the region where the gi a nts
control the rising a nd setting sun ; he p a sses through
a district of d a rkness a nd emerges into a p a ra dise
, .

H e afterw ards visited the se a co a st c a me into conta ct

-
,

wi th a m an n a med S idu ri and a wom a n n amed S abitu

, ,

a nd l ater with a wom an n a med M u a, to whom h e

rel a tes the history of his connection with H e abani .

About this time he fal ls in with a bo a tm a n n a med

U rh am si,l and they get out a bo at an d go to seek
H asisa dra .

The purpose of I zdh ub ar is to ask the s age to c u re

him O f his il lness an d to a tta in himself if he c an to
, , ,

the s a me immortal ity as th a t enj oyed by H as isa dra .

O n the invita tion of I zdhu b ar H asisa dra is supposed ,

to rela te to him the story the F lood (alre a dy given

Of

a bove ; a nd then he instructs U rh am s i how to cure

)

The re ading of this n a m e is very dou b tfu L— S .

60 H IS T ORY O F BAB YLONI A .

Izdh ub ar of his illness . I zdh ub a r a fter this returns to

Erech where he once more mourns over the l ost
,

H e a b a ni .

S uch is the outline of the story of I z dh u b ar from

the
cuneiform inscriptions . H ow much historic a l m a tter ,

if any underlies the story I c a nnot tell but cert a inly

, ,

no monuments of his age a re kno wn a nd no c onfi ,

~

dence c a n be put in a ny of the det a ils in their present

.

“
form The book of Genesis rel a tes th a t a fter the F lood
the people j ourneyed from the e a st to S hin a r in ”

B abyloni a a nd this st atement Of the B ible shows th a t

the writer of Genesis pointed to the s a me region as

the inscriptions for the descent from the ark N iz ir .

lies to the e a st of the Euphra tes v alley a nd in j our ,

ne ying from it to S hin ar a western course would be

t aken . O n the other h a nd the mo unt a in now ca lled

,

Ar ar a t lies quite to the north of th e E uphra tes

v alley .

Arrived in Ba byloni a from N izir the B ible des cribes ,

the people as building th e city of Ba bylon a nd com ,

m e nc ing there the erection of a tower which work

,

w as stopped by Divine intervention . After the return

to B abyloni a , there a ros e a C ushite n amed N imrod ,

who commenced an empire in the districts of B a bel

(B abylon ) Erech (modern Wa rk a south
, , Of B abyl on ),
 HI S T ORY O F BA B YLON I A . 6l

1
Akka d (nea r S ipp ara north of B abylon ) a nd C alneh
, , ,

which the Ta lmud iden tifi es with Nip u r or N iffer ,

e ast of B abylon , but which more prob ably la y ne a r

the Tigris . These fou r . c itie s a ppe a r to h a ve formed
the centres or c apit als of four sta tes or districts into
which in O ld times B abyloni a was divided .

I h ave a lre ady suggested the identity of N imrod

with the I zd h u b ar of the inscriptions . Although this
i s not proved it is prob able ,
a nd there is cert a inly
n o other h e ro in the r ange of th e B a byloni a n insc rip

tions likely to correspond with N imrod .

T he e a rly Christi an writers identified N imrod with

a king in the list of B erosus c a lled Eve c h ou s who is ,

s a id to h a ve reigned over B abyloni a a fter the re turn

of the inh abita nts for ye ars a nd they give a fter ,

h im the n ame of a second king C h o m osb o lu s for

ye a rs According to the history of B erosus there
.
,

reigned a fter the D eluge commencing w ith Eve ch o u s , ,

eighty six kings for a period of

-
,
or ye ars ,

do wn to the ti m e when the M edes conquered B abylon .

The long a vera ge of the reigns in this period proves

A cc a d w as r a ther a dis tric t dis tinc t fro m S hin a r (c alled
S u m er in th e inscrip tions ) a nd so c a lle d fro m i t s inh a b i t a nt s th e
, ,

A cca da i or H ighl a n d ers

,
”
\Vh a t Mr S m i t h re a d as A g a d e
. .
,

a nd i den tifie d wi t h t he B i b li cal Acc ad is re a d b

y o ther schol a rs
,

A gane .
-
S .
62 H IS TORY O F BA B YLON I A .

th a t we ar e not de aling here with history but with ,

mythica l personages ,
or at best with tra dition ary
heroes whose reigns a re gre a tly ex aggera ted
,
.

I t is curious th a t the n arr ative of B erosus after this ,

period of ye ar s commences the historica l p art ,

of the work not with a n a tive dyn a sty but w ith a

, ,

foreign conquest the first dyn a sty being st a te d to b e

,

Medi n 1
a , a nd to h ave consisted of eight kings who ,

reign ed for 2 24 ye a rs . B eside the n a me of I zdh ub ar ,

the cuneiform inscriptions supply two or three other

n ames of kings b elonging to th e l ong mythic a l or
tra dition a ry period after the F lood a mong these are

Eta nna , who built a city which m ay h a ve been th e

s a me as B abel , Ta mmuz ,
a nd N er . N O monuments
or rem a ins of this period are known but it is prob abl e ,

th a t there existed a t one time in B abyloni a rude a nd

e arly monuments which were a scribed to this period
for we are told in the I zdhu b ar l egends th a t th a t h ero
ra ised stone monuments in memory of his celebra ted
j ourney to H asisa dra .

As the Medi an dyna sty of B erosus see m s t o h ave derive d i t s

A cca di a n word m ad a “
n am e not from the Me di a o f cl a ssical ge ogra phy bu t fr om the
,

country i t is possi b le t ha t the dyn a st y

,
”
,

“
m y a fter al l h ave b een a na t iv e one b elongi ng t o th e
a , , coun t ry
of Babyloni a — S .
 H IS T OR Y O F BA B Y LON I A . 63

C H AP T E R I I I .

C H AL D EA , OR SO UT H BA B YLON I A .

Nipur a nd U r—U rukh and his b uil dings — The religion and
civilization of U r— D ungi — Th e k ings of Ka rra k— The rise of

IN e arly times B abylonia a ppe a rs to h a ve con

sisted of sever al st ates which ,
in tim e b ec am e con
solid a ted into one O f these st a tes our monuments
.

m ake us first a cqu a inted with one in th e south the ,

c apit al O f whi ch was Ur At this time our indic a

.

tions suggest th a t the p ar ent city of Ur wa s Nip u r ,

now N iffer a city lying south west of B abylon b e

,
-
,

tween the Euphr ates an d Tigris O n the site of Nifi e r

'

there are now the ruins of a considerable city divided ,

into two p a rts by the dry b ed of a river prob ably in

,

a ncient times a b ra nch o f the Euphra tes .

Nip u r w as devoted to th e worship O f B el the gre a t ,

d eity of the B abyloni ans , who w as one of the three

64 HIS T ORY O F BA B YLON I A .

supreme gods a nd j oined with his worship was th a t

of his consort B el a t, or Mylitta ,
a nd the god Ninip ,
l ord of war a nd hunting who , wa s ca lled his son .

O f the time when Nip u r wa s the le a ding city in

this p a rt of B abyloni a we h a ve discovered n o monu
,

ments but immedia tely a fter we find when th e

“
, ,

mona rchy of Ur arose it was cla imed th a t th e god of

,

Ur the moon
, , wa s the eldest son of B el the god of ,

Nip u r ,
”
the cl a im ca rrying with it evidently the a sser
tion th a t he inh erited the rule Of his fa ther ,
a nd his
city the position of his fa ther s se a t Nip u r ’
,
.

Ur th e city which thus a ppe a rs to h a ve succeeded

,

Nip u r a s ca pit al is represented by the m ounds of

,

Mugheir about six miles from the Euphr a tes on its

,

°
western b a nk about la t 31 I t wa s prob ably not
, .

far from the O ld mouth of th e Euphr ates but the ,

river in comp any with the Tigris brings down so

,
.
,

l a rge a n a mount of m a teria l to deposit a t its m outh ,

th a t the l a nd rapidly a ccumul a tes at the he a d of the

Persia n Gulf ,
a nd the present m outh of the Euphra tes
is fa r from the origin a l outlet Of the river . The
ruins of Ur a re enclosed by a wa ll something in th e ,

sh ape of a pe ar a nd me a suring about two miles

,

round T he sp a ce round the town is full of gra ves

.

of all ages showing the long period through which

,
66 H IS T OR Y O F BA B YLON I A .

re a d provision ally by S ir H R awlinson . as Urukh ,

an d

comp a red with the O rch amus of O vid a nd the Ari och
Of Ge nesis : these identifica tions are , however very ,

uncert a in 1 . W e h a ve no knowledge of th e a ge of
Urukh but he ca nnot well be pl a ced l a ter th a n
,
th e

twentieth century B C while h e m ay h av e been . .

,

much e a rlier The period of Urukh m a rks the age

.

when our known contemporary monu ments begin ;

there must h a ve been in m any pl a ces e arlier build
ings works of
,
art, and inscriptions but excava tions
in B abyloni a h a ve b een so limited th a t none h a ve ,

yet b een brought to ligh t I t is evident tha t th e a ge

of Urukh ca nnot b e the star ting point O f B abyloni a n -

civiliza tion b ec ause the rem ains of this peri od show

,

the country well a dva nced in a rts a nd sciences .

The art of buil ding was well known ,

and h ad

rea ched a high sta te of excellence ; the m a teri al in

g e neral consisted Of brick either burnt or dried in
,

It is probable tha t the true rea ding of the na m e is Lig

B aga s . At all events a n insc rip tion h as b een foun d on a cylin
d er which call s the king D ungi the son of Lig B a ga s a nd this -
,

ki ng Du ngi is prob ab ly i dentica l wi th the m ona rch of th a t na m e

t o be m ent ioned presently Th e fi rst p art of the n am e in q ues
.

ti on is cer ta i nly t o b e re ad n

“
a lion the seco n d p a rt is the
,

na m e of th e pri m eval godd ess th e m o ther of the gods ca ll ed , ,

Zicu m or Ziga ta
, h ea ven ”by the Acca di a ns —S
, , .
 H I S TORY O F BAB YLONI A . . 67

th e sun ; but c a rving in stone wa s known and p ra c

ti se d a nd inscribed stone t ablets
,
a n d cylindrica l ,

stone se als of this a ge ar e in e x istence showing the

a dvance of the people in these directions . W riting
with the convention a l cuneiform ch a r acters wa s well
kn ovim a nd pr a ctised most of the bricks
, a nd stone
Obj ects being inscribed with legends in these c ha

ra c ters . These in scriptions show th a t the l a ngu age

of the people wa s S emitic , a lthough th ey were using
a syll ab ary a nd style O f writing which m a ny schol ars
1
h a ve supposed to be derived from a much e a rlier ra ce .

The government of the country a ppe a rs then to

ha ve been in the h a nds of kings of whom there were ,

”
prob ably three or four a nd under them were p a tesi ,

or vi ce roys who ruled in the di fferent di stricts

,
.

T he re ligion of B abylonia which was O ften modi ,

fi e d in subsequent a ges was alre a dy woven into a ,

poetic system in which th e gods were conceived of

,

as b egetting ea ch other holding rank in reference to

,

ea ch other engaging in p articul ar o ffi ces

, , a nd fa vour
ing ea ch a p articul ar loca lity or ci ty .

This is no t q ui te correct a s severa l of the inscrip tions of

,

this age like the proper n a m es they con ta i n a re no t in S e m i t ic

, , ,

b u t i n the A cca d i an or agglu t in at ive l anguage O f a n c ie n t

,

Ch a l dea —S
. .
68 H IS T ORY OF B AB YLON I A .

The three gre a t gods were Anu l ord of the he a vens ,

B e l, lord of the visible w orld a nd H ea, lord of the

se a a nd infern a l regions . Anu wa s origin a lly wor
shipped at the city of Erech but in l a ter times the ,

goddess I sht ar took his pl a ce at this se a t ; B el h a d

his chief se a t at Nip u r , a nd Hea at the city of Eridu .

S in or the moon —god

,
Of the new ca pit al Ur was c all e d ,

eldest son of B el ; S a m a s the sun god ; N ergal god

,
-
,

of war ; Ninip a Simil r divinity

,
god of the a ; V l
u ,
l

a tmosphere with m a ny Others were in gre a t repute ;

, ,

while a mong the fem a le divinities A natu goddess of ,

life a nd de a th w h o w as the female form a nd comple

,

2
m ent of A ; Annuit goddess O f Akk d ; N a n a
n n a ,

goddess of Erech B eltis wife of B e l a nd D avkina , ,

consort of H e a were the most celebra ted

, .

From the engravings on the se als of this period it

appe a rs th a t long flowing embroidered dresses we re
, ,

used and orna ment al a rticles of furniture Urukh

, .
,

the ea rliest kno wn king of Ur prob ably bega n , h is

reign only in the district ro und his c a pita l , a nd a fter
w a rds extended his dominion over most of B a byloni a .

We entirely ignorant of the conflicts and tri umphs

a re

which led to the est ablishment O f his empire a nd c an ,

R ather R i mm on .
—
S . R ather Aga ne
'

.
—S .
 HI S T ORY O F BAB YLONI A . 69

only tr ace his power by the cities he ruled over , a nd

the splendid edifices he r aised . H is reign a ppe a rs to

ha ve been long and prosperous a nd he was a grea ter ,

builder th an any other king excepting Nebu c h a d

ne zzar . At the city Of Ur he built the temple of th e
moon god
-
,
a nd a ziggura t or temple tower lying in
,
-
,

the northern p a rt of the town This tower w as built .

on a mound a bout twenty feet high The building .

,

so fa r a s it h a s been explored consists of two sta ges , ,

with some tr a ces of a third or upper sta ge the lower ,

stage is 1 9 8 feet long by 1 33 feet bro a d a nd the ,

middle s tage 1 1 9 feet long by 7 5 feet bro a d The .

form of the superstructure and height of the sta ges

ha ve not b een m ade out a nd it is quite likely th a t,

there were origin ally more st ages The b ody of the .

building consists of sun dried bricks with a fa c ing ten

-
,

feet thick composed of burnt bricks e a ch side being

, ,

further strengthened by sh allow but tress es of the s am e

m a teria l .

This temple tower -

w as building during the reign of
Urukh a nd w a s left unfinished a t his dea th
,
.

N umerous other buildings at the city of Ur were

r aised by Urukh
-
, a nd a

hous e of R ubu ts iru or the supreme prince

,
“
mong them a p al ace ca lled th e
.
”

At the city of L ars a Urukh built the temple ,

Of the
 “
70 H IS T OR Y O F BA B YLON I A .

sun ca lled the house of P a rr a , a nd at the city of

,

Erech h e built the temple of the he avens which ,

ha d

origin ally been dedic a ted to the god Anu but ,

w as

now devoted to the worship of I sht a r or Venus ,

. At
N ipu t he built a temple to B e l, a nd a second to the
goddess B el a t or B eltis the consort of B el At Zer
,
.
~

ghul he built a temple to S ar il i or the king of -

,

the gods I t is prob able th a t further exca v ations

.

woul d reve a l numerous other buildings r aised by this

m on arch, but our present inform ation is in every w ay

sc anty .

Urukh w as succeeded by his son D ungi who ruled ,

as far north as B abylon . Dungi finished the tower at

Ur rebuilt the temple of Erec h

, ,
a nd built a templ e
at B a bylon .

A fine cylindric al se al of the age of Urukh was dis

covered by Ker Porter but subsequently lost , a nother ,

very simil a r of the ,

a ge of D ungi , is now in the B ritish
Museum .

S everal successors of Dungi known these kings are

ha ve in most c a ses their na mes compounded w ith the

n ame of the moon god but the pronuncia tion of this
-

1
element is uncert ain the inscriptions render it U r,

R a ther H u r -ci — S .
 HIS TORY O F BAB YLON IA .
71

Agu Aku I da a nd S in The worship of the moon

, , ,
.

beca me very celebra ted on a ccount of this deity being

god of the ca pit a l city .

The city of Ur in time declined ,

a nd a nothe r
c a pit al a rose n amed N isin or K arra k
, ,
: the position
of this pl a ce is unknown but it ,
was prob ably not fa r

from Nip ur .

There is a difference in cha ra cter between th e in

of the kings of Ur an d those of K a rra k
s c rip tions ,

which suggests the ide a tha t they b elonged to two

di fferent r a ces .

Among the kings O f K arrak the two most importa nt

a ppe ar to h a ve been Tsmi—d aga n and Lib it—ist ar . I sm i

d aga n rep a ired some of the buildings of Urukh . S ome

writers h a ve pl a ced him in the nineteenth century
B C . .
, supposing him to be the s ame as a n I sm i d ag a n
-

who then ruled in Assyri a Libit ista r h a s a lso left .

-

some rem a ins There is in the B ri tish Museum a

.

fra gm ent of a bea utiful inscription rel a ting his O ffer

ings in the temple Of B e l, a nd a dre am which the king
a fterw a rds h a d .

The city of Ka rrak like Ur declined , , ,

a nd the
ruling power p a ssed to the city of L ars a on the e ast ,

side of the Euphra tes now represented by the ruins ,

of S e nk ere h . The kings of La rs a h a d, however , at

 HIS T OR Y O F BAB Y LONI A .

B RO NZE I M A G E OF K IN G GU D E A .
74 H IS TOR Y O F BA B YLONI A .

first a very limited kingdom , only embra cing the

region of Ur a nd L ars a but it gra du ally grew in im
port ance until it c a me under the influence of the
rulers of Y am u tb al, on the e a st Of th e Tigris . Th e
first of these kno wn w a s S im ti silha k : his son w a s -

n amed Kudur—m abuk Kudur m abuk ga ined such

.
-

influence th a t h e virtu ally ruled a t La rs a and pl a ced ,

his own son R iIn agu or R iagu on the throne there

,
-
, ,
.

Kudur m abuk -
a nd his son then m ade a j oint att ack
on Ka rrak ,
a nd c apturing th e city put , an end to th e

p ower of th a t ca pita l S ubse quent conquests com .

p l e te d their do minion which extended over most of,

B a byloni a The C h al dea ns considered the fa ll o f

.

Ka rr ak so importa nt t ha t they commenced to count

from it as a n era, an d used it for the ir computa tion s
until the fa ll of La rsa .

R iagu governed well under the regency of his

father , a nd built temples exc av a ted ca n a ls, ,

a nd en

gaged in v arious other v a l ua ble works . After about

thirty ye ars of pe a ce the dominions of R ia gu were
,

a tt a cked by H a mmur a bi 1 a nother of these kings a nd, ,

the south of the country w as conquered never ag a in ,

to b e th e chief sea t of power .

Or H am m u raga s .
 H IS TORY O F BA B YLON IA .
75

C H A P T E R IV .

U PP ER B AB YLON IA .

Cities of U pper B a by loni a— Agu k ak ri m i — S ar gon L — Na r am

- -

S in— H a m m ur ab i — B a b ylon m a d e the c a pi ta l — Th e successors

of H a m m urab i and th e Ka ssi t e d ynas ty — I nt ercourse wi th
,

As syri a — Th e A ssyri a n conques t of Ba b yloni a .

TH E region of Upper Ba bylonia, prob a bly the

Akka d of the inscriptio ns ,
included a ll the country
north of the city O f N ip ur or N iffer Thi s region was
, .

the cl assica l l a nd of cuneiform liter a tur e and from ,

its terr a cotta libr aries ca me most of the gre a t works

-

which were copied in Assyri a .

The foll owing were th e princip a l tow ns

B a bylon a city s a id to h a ve been built in very e a rly
,

times but which rem a ined for some centuries

, Of

second a ry importa nce I t bec a me a t length c a p ita l of

.

the country a position it held for more th an

,

ye ars until the Greek conquest of Asi a

,
.

B o rsip p a , south west of

-
B abylon , a famous city ,

supposed to b e the site of the Tower of C onfusion .

 H IS T ORY O F BAB Y LONI A .

S ip p ara , which consisted of two cities one dedi ,

c a te d to S h a m a s th e other to Anunit
, .

TH E TEMP LE OF N E BO AT B O RS I P P A : B I RS NI M RUD .

Akka d, I ne ar S ip p ara , the c a pita l before the rise of

B a bylon ; Kisu a nd H arrisk alam a , two twin cities
n e a r B a bylon .

C u tha , a gre a t city e ast of Babylon .

R a ther A ga né .
—S .
 . H IS T ORY O F B AB YLON I A .
77

T he e arly history of Upper B abyloni a is unknown .

All we c an do respecting it is to notice some of the

n ames Of the mon a rchs a nd their w orks their d a tes
a nd succession h a ve not been discovered ; but it i s
prob able th a t they were contempora ry with the kings
of L ower B abyloni a .

O ne of these kings wa sAgu or Agu kak rimi wh o

,
- -
,

ruled at B a bylon , a nd restored the temple of B e l a t

th a t site I t appea rs by his inscription th at before his
.

time B a bylonia h a d been worsted in w a r a nd the ,

im ages of Merod a ch a nd his consort Zira t b a nit the -

,

gre a t gods of B abylon , h a d been c a rried ca ptive into

the l and of H a ni a region the position of which is
, ,

uncerta in but which prob ably lay somewhere nort h

,

e a st of B abylon . Agu sent an o fficer ,

a nd recovered
the im ages ; but his n a rra tive le aves the impression
th a t th ey w ere ra nsomed and th a t , B abylon h a d at

this time only a subordin a te position .

Z abu a nother of these kings is only kn o wn , as

the builder of the temples of S a m a s a nd Anunit at

S ipp ara .

Th e most celebra ted l ine of sovereigns in Upp e r

1
B abyloni a was the ra ce of the kings of Akk a d , a nd

Rat her Aga né — S . .

78 H IS T ORY O F BAB Y LON I A .

so far we j udge they reigned a bout B C

“
as ca n 1 70 0

“
, .

to 1
550 . The gre a test of thes e sovereigns wa s n amed
”
S a rgon which me ans
,
the right or tru e king .
”

H e emerged from a position of obscurity being hus ,

b a ndm an to a wa ter c arrier -

,
a nd he h as left a curiou s
inscription in which he cl a ims rel a tionship with the
former roya l fa mily . H e rel a tes th a t his fa ther s ’

brother ruled over the country ,

a nd th a t his mother
concealed his birth ,
a nd pl a cing h im in a n ark of reeds
d a ubed over with bitumen , a b a ndoned him on the
Euphrates . Akki , a wa ter ca rrier going to the river
-
, ,

i s s a id to h a ve discovered the ark a nd brought up the

child as his own .
1 We are ignora nt of th e circum
st ances which led to the a ccession of S ar gon but ,
°

a no ther of his inscriptions rel a tes a number of th e

prominent events of his reign .

The El amites ,
on the ea st of B abyloni a, being
troublesome , h e m a de an expe dition a ga inst them ,

a nd defea ted them ; then he a tta cked the H ittites ,

or S yria ns , on the Upper Euphr ates ,

a nd con
quered these , cl a iming th e rule of the four ra ces
or regions .

W ithin B abylonia its elf were other sta tes wi th which

The inscript ion which rel at es this legen d ca n h a r dly b elong
to th e age of S a rgon bu t m ust b e of m uch l at er date —S
, .
 H IS TORY O F BAB YLON I A .
79

S argon now c a me in conta ct ,

a nd which he subdued ,

reducing the whole O f the country to his swa y .

After this two expeditions a g a inst the S yri a ns fol

,

lowed in both of which the

, . B abyloni a n mon a rch
cl aims the victory . Then he st arted on a long m arch
of conquest to the M editerr a ne an . He a ppe ars to
h a ve met with considerabl e O pposition a nd the ex
, pe
dition l a sted for three ye ars . During it he re a ched
the Mediterr a ne an ,
a nd pl a nting his sta nd ard by its
shores left there
,
a t ablet to commemorate the extent
of his conquests . The next expedition of S a rgon wa s

a gainst Kastu bila of K a zal la

-
,
a nd a fter defe a ting him ,

he wa sted the country .

S a rgon h a d hitherto be en su ccessful ,

a nd h a d im

posed his yoke on several of his neighbours . H e had

no w to meet a formid a ble revolt . We are tol d th a t
th e elders of all the people revolted ag a inst him , a nd

his people besieged him in his c a pita l Ak ka d When 1

.

his prep ara tions were completed S argon s allied out ,

of his city , a nd a tta cked a nd routed th e revolters ,

putting an end to this dis affection . O nce more

a ssured at home S argon recommenced his foreign
,

wars , a nd inv a ding the neighbouring l a nd of S ubarti 2 ,

Or Age n e .

S ub a rti w a s the highla nds of Meso potam i a .

80 H IS T ORY O F BA B Y LONI A .

w a sted it with fire a nd sword bringing b a ck much

,

spoil to his c a pit al .

S argon wa s a gre at builder as well as a wa rrior .

1
H e rebuilt the city of Akk d a , r a ised a p al a ce there ,

a nd either built or restored the gre a t temple of

A nu nit ; a nd he founded a city which he c alled Dur

,

S argina , on the site of a n old Ch alde a n town . S argon

prob ably reigned forty—fi ve ye a rs during , which time
53
he h a d extended th e power of the kingdom of Akk a d
from D ilm u n on the Persi a n Gulf to the shores of th e
Mediterra ne a n but on every side lay kingdoms only
under tribute which revolted ,
as soon as the sceptre
p a ssed into less vigorous h a nds .

S argon was succeeded by Na ra m S in, his son who ,

conquered the kingdom of A p irak a nd l a ter on the ,

l and of M aganna the shi p region This n a m e

, .
’7

M a ganna is a lso a pplied to Egypt in l ater times ,

3
bu t
it is more prob able th a t the M aganna of N a ra m S in -

w as a region on the Persi a n Gulf .

N ara m S in completed
-
B it u lba r,
-
the temple of Anu
nit which
, was left unfinished at his father s de a th ’
.

O r A g a me
' '

O r Aga ne . .

3
O r r ather t o
the peninsul a of S in a i I t is very quest ion able .

whether Mr S m i th w as righ t in int erpret ing the word as ship s

.
’

” —
region S
. .
82 '

H IS T OR Y O F B AB YLON I A .

Th e influence a nd politica l power of the southern

cities now dep arted ,
a nd henceforth B a bylon sta nds
forth as the sole c apita l of the country . H a mmura bi
took the titles of king of B abylon , king of S umir a nd

Ak k a d ,
a nd king of the four r a ces , a nd fixed his court
at the city of B abylon , where he incre as ed the m agni
fi c e nc e or the worship of M eroda ch , or B el, th e

B elus of the Greeks ; and this deity ever afterwards

held the first position a mong the gods of th e
country .

Excepting a short st a tement of his conquest of

R im agu -
and his fa ther ,
an d an in cident al notice of
h is conquest of S urip p ak, nothing is kno wn of the
wa rs and triumphs of H a mmurabi but he h as left
s e ver al notices of his buil dings showing the reso u rces ,

of his kingdom th e extent of his dominion

, ,
an d th e

a ctivity of his rule .

At the ci ty of Kisu on the e ast of ,

B abylon , no w

repres ented by the mounds of H ym er H a mmurab i ,

u rris, l
resto red the temple ca lled Mite -
dedica ted to

the god Za m am a and built a ziggura t or tower th e

, ,

top of which is s a id to h a ve rea ched to he a ven Thi s .

m on arch a lso restored the temple c all ed S ilim—ka la m a ,

Ra th er Mite tes sak

-
, th e d welling 0) of th e hero .
 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLON I A . 83

a nd built a city on the Tigris n amed K ar a s am a s

,
-
.

At the city of Zarilab in Ch a lde a he built a templ e

, ,

to the goddess of the pl ace a nd he rebuilt the templ e ,

of S am a s L ars a (now S e nkereh ) r a ising there

at ,

a nother of those rem ark ab l e ziggur a ts .

Another gre a t work of H a mmurabi wa s a c an a l ,

ca lled H ammurabi nu hu s nisi he a lso built

- -
a p al a ce
atthe city of K ilm a d (now Kalwa dh a) ne ar B aghd a d , ,

and here bronz e rings belongin g to som e of his ,

m a ce -
h e ads , h ave been discovered During the reign .

Of H ammura bi one of the a nnu a l floods of gre a ter ,

volume tha n usual destroyed , th e city of Abnu na or ,

U m liyas . H ammurabi prob ably reigned a bout ten

ye a rs after he conquered the kingdom of La rs a . He
was succeeded by S amsu iluna -
,
a mon arch of whose
reign little is known . Samsu ilu na exca v a ted a fa mous
-

ca n al ,
fterwards reckoned a m ong th e
which was a

rivers of Ba byloni a This can al h e na med Sa msu

.

ilu na n agab nu h si
-
H e a lso rep a ired the ci ty of Dur
-
.

sa rgin a a nd m a de im a ges overl a id with gold whi ch

, ,

he d edica ted in the temple of S aggal at B abylon to , ,

Meroda ch and in the temple of Par ra a t La rsa t o

, , ,

Sa m a s After the reign of S a msu iluna complete

.
-

d arkness comes over B abylonia n history no records

of the succeeding period h a ve been found ,
a nd o nl y
G 2
84 H I S T ORY O F B AB YLONI A .

a few obscure and doubtful n ames a re kno wn Among .

these we m ay p erh aps count the n a me of S aga

saltiyas , a mon arch who is only known as the restorer
of the temples of S ipp ara T here were two cities of
.

S ipp ara one devoted to the worship of Anu nit the

, ,

other to the worship of S a m a s the temples at these

pl a ces were r aised by a n ancient king n a med Z abu , ,

a nd h aving fal l en into dec a y were rebuilt by S ag a

sa ltiyas .

D uring the reign of a nother of these mon archs ,

n amed H arbi sip ak there were som e controversies

-
,

between Assyri a a nd B abylonia These disputes for m .

the first intercourse between the two countries known

directly from the inscriptions . Prob ably a little time
after th e reign of H arbi sip ak connected history b e
- 1

gins in B abyloni a with the reign of Ka ra inda s wh o -

,

lived about the middle of the fifteenth century B C .

K a r a ind a s t akes the titles king of B abylon king O f

-

“
,

S umir and Akk ad king of K a ssu

, ,
a nd king of K a m
”
du niyas From this time the title king of Kar
du niyas was the genera l title given to B abyloni a n

sovereigns by the Assyri ans in their records . During

Th e n am e shoul d probably be rather re ad Murg as S ip ak -

.

S .
 H IS T OR Y O F BAB Y LON I A . 85

the reign of K ara ind a s Assur bel nisi -

,
- - -
su rul ed over
Assyria , and a tre a ty was m a de between the two
powers respecting the bound ary line of thes e sta tes -
.

I t is very likely th a t some provinces were in dispute ,

a nd th a t the limits of e a ch territory va ried a ccording

to the power of successive kings . T he line of sep ar a
tion at this time is not known but it , wa s prob ably a

littl e north of the 35 th p ar allel of l a ti tude between the ,

L ower Za b which was considered an Assyri a n river

, ,

on the one Side a nd the river Turnat (modern Adhem )

, ,

which was considered to b e B abyloni an on the other , .

After Kar a ind a s B urna bu riyas reigned over B a by

- -

loni a about B C 1 4 2 5 B urn a bu riyas restored some

,
. .
-

B abyloni a n buildings H e continued the pea ce with.

Assyri a and confirm ed the tre a ty which his p re dec e s

,

sor h ad m a de respecting the bound aries of B abylonia .

S hortly after this ,

a bout B C . 1 40 0 , Assur—ubalid king ,

of Assyria to cement the pe a ce between B abyloni a

,

a nd his o wn country g ave his d aughter M ub allida t ,

S eru a in m arri age to the king of B a bylon . I t is not

known who was then on the B abyloni an thr one but ,

l
Shortly afterwards a bout B C ,
. 1 38 0 , K ar a h arda s the
-
,

Ra ther to b e rea d K ara Murda s-

, serva nt of the go d Mur u
d as,
’
or Bel — S
. .
’
86 HIS T ORY OF BA B YLON I A .

fruit of this m arria ge a nd therefore the gr andson of

, , ,

the king of Assyria b eg a n to reign in B abyloni a Th e

,
.

tri be of K assu now a ppe ar on the s cene as the l ea d

ing people in B abylonia They were first m e n ti one d
.

in an inscription of Agu kak—rimi a nd a gai n in th e-

,

time of Kara in das -

they were perh aps rel a ted to th e

tri be of th e s a me n a m e living north of El a m ; b ut

nothing is known of their previous history or t heir
a dvent in B abyloni a . The Ka ssu b eing diss a tisfied
with the As syria n in fluence at court , an d dis liking th e
foreign connections of th e king m a de ,
a revolt against
h im , and sle w him setting up in his pl ace
,
a m an

na med N a zi buga s whom th e Assyri ans a ssert to h a ve

-
,

h ad no right to the throne , a nd not to h a ve been

connected with the roy al fa mily .

It a ppea rs th a t this revolution wa s not e ffected

without opposition , a nd there was a p arty fa vour able
to the restora tion of the old line . B e l nirari,-
king of
Assyria BC
37 5 who wa s son of Assur ub alid a nd
. 1 ,
-
,

therefore uncle of the murdered kin g of B abylon ,

resolved to a venge his dea th ; and m arching into

B abyloni a routed th e Ka ssu a nd slew N azi bug as -
,

pl a cing the crown on the he a d of a son Of B urn a

buriyas , supposed to b e Kur galzu or K u ri galzu -

,
-
.

This interference of Assyri a in th e a ffa irs of Babylonia

 H IS T ORY O F BAB YLONI A . 87

was the commencement of an unfortun a te policy , a nd

in a ugura ted a series of wars between the two countries

which l a sted two hundred ye ars .

Kuri— g a lzu a lthough he a tta in ed his throne through

,

Assyria n a id does not appe ar to h a ve trusted his

,

a llies a nd he built a strong city c alled Dur kuri —

, galzu ,
-

( now Akk e rku f) nea r B aghd a d , to form a defence in

the northern p a rt of his dominion . H e a lso restored
s ome of the Ch alde a n temples ,
a nd wa s consider e d
o ne of the most successful B abyloni a n mon archs .

Kuri galzu -
wa s succeeded by his son Mili sip a k -
,

a bout B C . 1 35 0 , an d he by his son Merodac h b a la -

dan I .
,
a bout B C . 1 32 5 . I n his time w ar broke out
with Assyri a ,
a nd Vul mira ri king of Assyri a rav a ged
-
, ,

Upper B abyloni a , a nd defe a ted the forces of the

K a ssu . Assyri a now conquered th e region of the
Kh abur , a nd ca me down p a st the j uncti on of th a t
river with th e Euphra tes to the ci ty of R a piku , which
now formed the border between th e two countries .

Merod a ch b al a d a n is known only from a fine

-

b ound ary stone in the B ritish Museum on which

-
, a

gr a nt of l a nd is recorded .

S oon fter this a nother wa r took pl a ce between

a

Assyri a a nd B abylonia a nd the king of Assyria de ,

fe a ted N azi -
m u ru da s, king Of B abyloni a , at th e city
88 H I S T OR Y OF B AB YLON I A .

of Kar—
ist ar a garsal -
. N 0 other det a ils of this wa r a re

known ; a nd from our broken notice it a ppe a rs to

h ave been a bout some question of b ounda ry . A
rectifica tion of the frontier took pl a ce in fa vour of
Assyria ,
it be ing now m a rked close to th e river
T urnat .

The n a me of the Assyri a n sovereign who defe a ted

N a zi m u ru das is lost
-
; but this m ay h ave been con
ne c te d with the conquest of B abyloni a by Tugu lti ‘

ninip , king of Assyria . Tugulti ninip , -

son of S h al
m a ne s e r, ruled over Assyri a prob ably a t the beginning
of the thirteenth century B C . .
, a nd we h a ve the b are
record left with re sp ect to him th a t he conquered

“ “
,

B abyloni a a nd a nnexed it to Assyri a ruling und e r

“
, ,

the titles of king of As syri a conqueror of K a r H

” ”
d u niyas, an d king of S umir a nd Akka d This
conquest of B a byl oni a prob ably forms an import a nt
e rain the history a nd m ay b e th e st arting point of
,
-

the period of 5 2 6 yea rs of Assyria n empire a ccording ,

to H erod otus a nd B erosus . The d a te of the event is

supp o sed to be B C . 1 27
3, but it must b e noticed
th a t a ll the d a tes in this p a rt of th e history a re ex
tre m e ly doubtful b eing rough
, ca lcul a tions on which
Assyri a n schol ars themselves a re not a greed .

The united dominion of Assyri a a nd B abyloni a did

9 0 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLONI A .

C H APTE R V .

TH E E LA M I T E S I N B AB Y LON I A .

E la m or S usia n a— I nv asions of B ab yloni a by Kudur nanhu nd i -

a nd Che dorl a o m er Ku d ur M ab uk —F lood a t B ab ylon —l Wa rs

-

b e tw een B ab ylon a nd A ssy ri a — Neb uch ad nezz a r I a nd M a .

t u d uk na di n ah i— S even unknown kin gs

- -
.

TH E diffi culties in the w ay of wri ting a history of

B abyloni a present are well shown by our in ability
at

to fix with precision the va rious El amite inva sions of

th a t country . El am or S usi an a embra ced the country
, ,

on the e ast of the river Tigris including m ost of th e

.
,

pl a in south of the mount a ins ,

a nd a considerabl e
district in th e mount a ins which on this side bound
, , ,

the gre a t Euphra tes Va lley . El a m m ay b e s a id

roughly to h ave l a in to the e a st of Babyl onia the ,

chief sea ts of th eS usi a n mon archy b eing on or ne a r

the river Ul a i which m ay b e c alled th e a rtery from
,

El am . The El a mites were of a tota lly di fferent ra ce

 H IS TO RY O F BA B YLON I A .
9 1

from the B abyloni ans ; for while the

,
B abyloni a ns in
historic times were S emitic th a t is b elonged to th e , ,

sa me stock as the Ar abs J ews, , a nd Assyri a ns th e ,

El a mites were Tura nia ns ,

a nd cert a inly di ffered in
l angu age a nd religion from their western neighbours .

The Ela mites were a restless wa rlike ra ce ever ,

rea dy to take up the sword ,

and often m aking a tta cks
upo n B a byloni a The country was prob ably split up
.

into v a rio us kingdoms and only a t tim es subj ect to

,

a Single ruler . The grea t cities were S hush an M a ,

d a ktu, a nd H idalu b ut there were m a ny Others the ,

s e a ts of l oca l chiefs or kings only sometim es subject ,

to the power of the king .

The power a nd influence of El a m are shown by

the numerous notices in th e gre a t B abylonia n work
on a strology where a llusions
,
a re const a ntly m a de to
the wa rs b e tween B abyloni a and the El a mites .

O ne of the Assyri an mon a rchs Assurb a nip a l (B C ,

. .

6 68 gives a curious rel a tion to the e fle c t th a t a ,

king of El a m n a med Kudur nanh u ndi

,
-
, h a d invad ed
B a byloni a , a nd ca rried awa y an im age of the goddess
N a na , which was worshipped in B abyloni a ; a nd

Assurb a nip a l appe ars to sta te th a t this event w as

ye a rs before his own conquest of El a m This .

would give us the d a te of about BC . 2 280 for the

9 2 H IS T OR Y O F BA B YLONI A .

r aid of Kudur nanhu ndi into -

B abyloni a but som e
doubt h angs over the interpreta tion of the inscription ,

a nd it a ppe a rs likely th a t this e arly d a te m a y a fte r ,

a ll, refer to the origi na l m a king of the im age an d not

to its c aptivity . O ther mutil a ted texts a ppe a r to

mention a ra id of Kudur nanhu ndi king of El a m in
-
, ,

the t welfth century B C . a nd a nother El a mite

monarch of th e s am e n am e sent an a rmy into B aby

loni a during the reig n of S enn a cherib .

There is a nother det ached notice of the El a mites

in the 1 4 th ch apter of Genesis where we , are informed
th a t an Ela mite mon arch n a med Chedorl a omer th a t , ,

is Kudur l aga m a r ruled o ve rB abo nia h aving under

,
-
, ,

him Amra phel or , A m a rp u l, king of S hin a r Arioch of ,

Ell a s a r , a nd king of the Goim (th e

Tid a l or ,
Turgal,
Gutium of the inscriptions ) Kudur l aga m a r is s a id to .
-

h a ve ruled over S yria a nd p a rt a t le a st of P a lestine

, ,

for twelve years a nd then on the revolt of the Cities

,

of the Pl a in he m arched into P a lestine in the four

, ,

te e nth yea r , and r a vaged a considera ble p art of th e

country . We are further told tha t on his return , ,

he
w as defe a ted by Abr ah a m ne a r D a m a scus ,
a nd lost
a consid era ble portion of his booty . The ordin a ry
m a rgina l chronology of our B ibles pl a ces these event s
a bout nineteen centuries B C . . but this d a te is by no
 H IS T ORY OF BA B YLON I A .
93

m e ans cert a in schol a rs being very divided in opinio n

,

as to the d ate of Abrah a m .

There c an be no doubt th a t the 1 4 th ch a pter of

Genesis has preserved a most va lu able fra gment of
B abyloni a n history , a nd the n a mes a nd circumst ances
of the war so well correspond with wh a t we should
expect in ea rly B abyloni a n history th a t it must b e ,

considered a serious misfortune th a t we h a ve not yet

been a ble to fix the ex act pl a ce a nd epoch of these
events 1 .

Just before the time of H a mmurabi the influenc e ,

of El am is again n o tic e d S im ti silh ak a nd his S on,

-

Kudur— m abuk who a tta ined such power in B abyloni a

, ,

belonging to the north western p a rt of th a t country

-
.

Th e El a mite origin of these rulers h as been recog

nize d from the time when their n a mes were first
discovered a nd there h as even been some sus
,

p ic ion of a connection b etween Kudur m abuk a nd

-

the Kudur l aga m ar who wa s contempor a ry with

-
,

Abr ah am .

O ur next notice of E l a mite influence in B abyloni a

is from the inscriptions of Esarh a ddon ,
king of

It is possi ble t ha t Arioch is to b e i dentifie d wi th Eri Aku -

( as the na m e o f Rim Agu is also wri tten ) the son of Ku dur

-
,

m a b ug — S . .
 94 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLONI A .

As syria a nd B a bylonia B C . 681 . H e rel a tes th a t

60 0 ye a rs before his time or ,
a bout B C . 1 280 , there
wa s wa r in Babyloni a , an d one p arty broke O pen the
tre a suries of the gods B el a nd N ebo , a nd sent the
gold a nd silver into El a m . F or this it was suppos ed
the venge a nce of the gods fell upon B abylon , a nd one
of the grea t ca n als ,
c a lled th e A ra h tu , or Ara xes ,

broke its b a nks during a flood ,

a nd overwhelmed the
city sweeping
,
a wa y both temples a nd houses in its
irruption . This dis a ster is s a id to h a ve so ruined the
city th a t the inh a bita nts who esca ped went
,
a wa y ,

c arrying their gods with them , and founded a city on

a nother site .

H ere aga in comes a d iffi culty ; such a ca l a m ity wa s

quite likely to h a ppen but ,
at present it is impossibl e
to fit the circumsta nce into a ny pl a ce in contem
p o rary B abyloni a n history .

T he vigorous rule of th e B a byloni a n mon arch who

conquered and killed B el -
kudur uzur king of Assyria
-
, ,

put a stop for a time to El a mite r a ids into Ba bylonia

but a fter him reigned a king n a med Za m a m a -
za kir
idin a B C . under whom they once more com
1 20 0 ,

m enc e d . The El amite king m a de the usu a l fora ys

a cross the border while on the o ther h an d Assur
, , ,

d ayan king of Assyri a to revenge the l a te

, ,
B abyloni a n
 HI S T ORY O F BA B YLON I A .
95

inv a sion of th a t country crossed the frontier ea st of ,

the Tigris a nd wa sted the region of the river Tu rna t

,

with fire a nd sword . During the l a te wa rs the terri ,

tory ne ar the L ower Za b h a d been an nexed to B aby

lonia ,
a nd th e cities here including La b a
, , I rriya , and

A ga rsa lu , were c a ptured by the Assyri a ns a nd l

p un
dered .

B el -
z akir uzur the next king of
-
,
B abylonia , was un ~

fortun a te . I n his ti me the El amites were ruled by

Kudur nanh u ndi who is s a id to h a ve exceeded
-
, all his
a ncestors in his violence and inj u ry to B abyloni a .

H e inva ded th e c ou ntry, and swept over it lik e a

fl ood le a ving
,
a terrible memory of the misfortunes
he ca used .

Ag a in a ch ange ha ppened : a k ing n a med N abu

,
~

kudur—uzur (N ebucha dnezz a r ) , as cended the B a bylo

nia n throne , a nd soon revived the power of th e

country N ebucha dnezz ar inva ded Assyria t hree

.

t imes ; of hi s first exp e dition no deta il s are known .

I n his second ra id he did not a ctu a lly come into con

,

ta ct with the Assyria ns ,

a lthough Assur ris ilim king- -
,

of As syria ra ised , a force to Oppose him . The B ab y

lonian monarch meeting some difli cul tie s burned his ,

ba gg age ,
and retrea ted into his o wn co untry . I n the
third expedition N ebucha dnezzar met th e forces of
96 H IS T OR Y OF B AB YLONI A .

Assur—riS ilim -
,
a nd the Assyri a n a ccount s ta tes that th e
B a byloni a ns were defe a ted with some los s but there
is some slight doubt over these deta ils .

N ebuch adnezz ar inva ded El a m in revenge for th e

continu a l plundering expeditions sent out from th a t
country ,
a nd a rem a rka ble circumst a nce is mentioned
with respect to this time . W hen the king wa s on the
expedition , an enormous comet a ppe a red the t a il of
,

which str etched like ,

a gre a t reptile from the north to ,

the south of the he a vens .

The reviva l of the country under N ebuch a dnezz a r

was continued under his successor M a ru duk n a din ,
-

ah i . Maru duk n a din - -

ah i inva ded S outh Assyri a , a nd

h a ving worsted Tu gu lti—

p al -
es a r , or Tigla th p ile se r,
-

king of Assyria in b a ttle ca ptured the city of H ek ali

, , ,

a nd ca rried o ff from there the images of the Assyri a n

deities Vul,
a nd S al a .

Tigla th p ile se r,
-
a mon arch of gre a t cour age a nd

milita ry ability did not rest under his defe a t The war
, .

was renewed with fury next ye a r ,

a nd a b a ttle wa s

fought ne a r the j unction of the S u b a n a with the

L ower Zab , in S outh Assyria . H ere M aru du k na din -

ah i w as tota lly defe a ted a nd the Assyrian mon a rch

, ,

following up his a dva ntage ra vaged the region of th e ,

river Tu rna t then m arching down the Tigris , c ap

98 H IS T OR Y O F BA B Y LON I A .

of history should b e p l a ced which gives , an a ccount

of the following seven kings .

S imm as -
sip ak son of I rib a S in
,
-
, w as the governor
or le a der of th e tribes by the Lake Ne dj if H e took .

the crown ruled with ability and success for seventeen

,

ye ars ,
a nd was buried in the cemetery of S argon .

There is a ta blet in the B ritish M use IIm d a ted in his

twelfth ye a r .

After him c ame H e a m ukin—ziru son of Qutm ar -

, ,

who set himself up as king but wa s not recognized , ,

and only ruled three months . K a ssu n adin ah u son

- -
,

of S app a i followed , h e ruled for six ye ars . These

three kings are s a id to h a ve belonged to the region of
the se a (Ne dj if L ak e
) , and to h a ve ruled for twenty
three ye a rs .

After them ca m e U lbar—surki -

idina son of
,
B azi ,

who reigned for fifteen ye ars . He had been lea der of

the prefects during the reign of M aru du k n adin a h i - -
,

a nd is mentioned as a wi tness on severa l lega l docu

ments .

T o him succeeded his brother ,

-
kudur uzur -
,

for two ye ars , and then a nother brother

mun a for three months : the reigns of the three
,

a mounting it is s a id to twenty ye ars

, ,
an d three
months . After the ru l e of th e sons of Bazi the king ,
 H IS T O R Y O F BA B YLON I A .
99

dom fell into the h a nds of the El a mites , and a

mon ar ch of this ra ce ruled for six yea rs then ca me

a nother revolution the a ccount of which is lost
, .

CO NTRACT TA B L E T .

H 2
1 00 H IS T OR Y O F BA B Y LON IA .

C H AP T E R V I .

TH E P E RIO D O F TH E A SS Y RI A N

O b scure kings —Nabu p al i din a a nd A ssur n azir p al—Disput ed

- - - -

succession — Conques ts of S h al m a neser— Th e Ch a l dees—Ma

ru d u k za kir izk u r— S e m ir a m is
- -
Th e e ra of Na bo nassa r—Th e
-

B a byloni a n c a m p ai gns of Tigla th p ile se r -

.

A FEW obscure notices are a ll th a t rem ain of the next

peri od of Babyloni a n histo ry .

A king n a med Vul -

p a l-
idin a restored the wa lls of
N ip u r, a nd rebuilt the temple at Kisu .

Vul z akir uz ur
- -
was engaged in controversy with
Assur n a ra ri
-
a nd Nabud ayan kings of Assyria
, .

I rib a -
m aru duk is only known from an inscription
on weight
a .

Meroda ch b a l a d a n I I his son restored the temple

-
.
, ,

of Erech . S ibir inva ded Assyri a , and burnt the city

of A dlil . N abu za kir iskun
- -
wa s at war with Assyri a ,

a nd during his reign the king of Assyri a inva ded

1 02 H I ST OR Y O F BA B Y LONI A .

Kh ab u r to its j unction with the Euph ra tes , and then

m arching down the Euphr a tes ,
a rrived at S uru where ,

h e found the S h u ite s and B abyloni ans entrenched .

Assur n azir p al
- -
at once a tta cked the pl a ce , a nd a fter
’
two d ays fighting ca rried it by a ss aul t , . S a du du , with
seven ty of his men threw hims elf into the E uphra tes
,

to sa ve his life a nd esca ped the h a nds of the Assy

, .

ri ans . I n th e ci ty Assur n a zir p al ca ptured fifty

,
- -
car

riage s a nd their men belonging to N abu p al idina king - -

,

of B abyloni a with Zab dan his brother three thousa nd

, ,

troops ,
a nd B el pal —
-
idin a , the lea der of the a rmy . Be
sides these numbers , of th e soldiers were sl ain, and

much trea sure of all descriptions fell into th e h a nds

Of the Assyri an s .

T h is dis astrous end to his a ttempt to c heck th e

Assyrian power led N abu—p al idin a to -
a dopt in future
a policy Of non i n tervention
-
a nd when next yea r the
whole region of the Kh abur a nd th e l an d of S hu a
revolted a gai nst Assyria the , B abyloni a n mon arch did
“
not interfere .

An a greement w as subsequently ar rived a t by which ,

the frontiers of Assyri a and B abylonia were definitely

settled and a trea ty followed b etween N ab u p al idin a
,
- -

and S h alm aneser son o f A ssu r n a zir

p al king of A ssyr ia
- -
.
, ,

These bound aries were as follows : on the E u

 H IS T OR Y O F BA B Y LON I A . 10
3

p h rate s, the city of R ap iqu south of S hu a , a bout

la titude on the ea st of the Tigris th e lin e p ass ,

ing along by the cities of Tul— b ari th e mounds

of Zab da n and Ab tani to the cities of H irim u and
H arutu these pl a ces al l lying south of the L ower
Zab . These lines of bounda ry were re al ly the tra

ditional li m its of the two powers ; and a lthough they

ha d fluctu ated fr om time to time there , had been no
real a dvance on e ither side for the p a st five hundred
yea rs .

About C 8 5 3 N abu p al—idin a died a nd wa s suc

B . .
-
,

c e e de d by his son M a ru du k za ki r izkur but anoth er - -

cl aim ant for the throne a ppe a red in the person of

M a ru duk— bel—usa ti a bro ther of the new king who
, ,

ra ised a revolt and seized a considerable p art of the

S hal ma neser king of Assyri a , been on , wh o h a d

friendl y terms with the fa ther of the two contending

princes in B C 8 5 2 m a rched into B abyloni a to settle
,
. .

the m a tter H e p assed th e L ower Zab and m arching

.
,

to the region of th e river Tu rnat he c a ptured Me ,

T urnat and La h iru .

N ext ye ar he went a ai
g n to B abyloni a , B C 8 5 1 , . .

and brought M aru du k be l—us ati to bay in Ga nana ti

-

here he defe a ted h im and theBabyloni an prince fled

,
1 04 H IS T OR Y O F BA B Y LONI A .

to H al m a n i n the mounta ins e a st of the Tigris H e re .

h e was followed by the Assyria ns and killed with his ,

princip a l a dherents . After the de a th of M aruduk

bel us a ti S h alm a neser m arched in triumph to B abylon
-
, ,

B orsip p a, a nd C u th a , a nd o ffered high s a crifices on

the a lta rs there to the chief divinities of the country .

S h al m a neser then went to the home of the Ch a ldees ,

the region of the l ake of Ne dj if ca lled then the , se a

of Ma ru te This is the second time the Ch a ldees

. a re

mentioned in the inscriptions the first notice being ,

a poetic a l st a tement of Assur na zrr p al - -

, B C . . 8 79 ,

who st a tes th a t th e terror of his soldiers swept over

Cha lde a .

O f the origin of the Ch al dees we kn ow nothing .

S ome of the e arly B abyloni a n

dyn a sties are c alled
Ch aldea n by B erosus a nd we sometimes use the word
,

to designa te these ea rly sovereign s ; but nothing is

re ally kn o wn of the Ch al dees at tha t period , a nd they
are not mentioned in a ny known document before
B C . . 8 79 . They were prob ably a new ra ce which ,

ha d not long a ppe a red in B abyloni a ; a nd their b eing

loca ted on the west of B abyl oni a and in th e region of
the Persia n Gulf m akes it prob able th a t they were
,

immigrants from the p a rt of Arabi a lying ne a r the

Shore of the Persi an Gulf . A theory has been pro
1 06 H IS T ORY OF BA B YLON I A .

diversion of a lion hunt on the

-
way, re a ched the
region of th e river Turn a r where he besi eged the city ,

of Me Turnat -
. The people of this city submitted ,
a nd

were sent as ca ptives to Assyri a ; a nd then crossing,

the river Turnat the Assyri an king a tta cked and de

,

stroyed the city o f Garsale and two hundred citie s

round it . Then p a ssing , Yal m an a nd besi eging D i
h ib ina , which submitted but w as h ardly tre a ted thr ee
, ,

hundred villages round were Spoiled then m a rching

,

to D a te b ir, he destroyed two hundred more pla ces ,

trampling down the pl a nta tions burning the villages , ,

killing the men , a nd ca rrying a wa y the women a nd

valuables . S ome of the fugitives fled to K iribti—

al a n i

for shelter ; but the Assyria ns followed them ,

an d de
stroyed the city killing there five hundred men , . T he
fugiti ves who esca ped fled to the city Of D u r p ap suku l,
‘

which was Situ a ted in the midst Of a

‘

stre a m ,
and was

very diffi cult to a ppro a ch T he Assyri a ns a ttacked .

a nd c aptu red the city a nd took four hundred a nd ,

forty '
s e ve n vill ages putting to the sword three th ou
,

s an d p eople ,
a nd car ryin g a wa y about an equ al num
ber . H ere the Assyria n s s a cked a p al ace of the king
of Babylonia car ried a way rich spoil M aru du k
,
a nd .

b ala dsu iqb i king of B a bylon in the me a n time w as

-
, ,

prep aring to resist this inva sion and collected a m is , .

 H I S T ORY O F BA B YLONI A . 1 0 7

c ellan e o us a rmy p artly of

,
B abyloni ans and p artly o f
mercen aries from Ch al de a El am Zimri
, , , , and Aram
these he posted a t Ab a d ab a ne a r Dur p ap su ku l H ere ,
-
.

he w as a tt a cked by S amsi—Vul , a nd completely de

fea ted ; five thous and of his troops were sl a in , a nd

two thous and c aptured ; one hundred ch ariots ,

two

hundred c a rri ages his p a vilion couch , , , a nd his c amp

al so fell into the h a nds of the victors .

N othing is known of the frui ts of this w ar and

it is
uncert ain if the Assyrian s re aped a ny b enefit but
plunder from the expedition .

A little l a ter in the reign of S a msi—

Vul king of ,

Assyria war wa s renewed in Ba bylon I n B C 8 1 6

,
. . .
,

the Assyri a ns m arched to Zara tu and next ye ar aga in ,

to the region of the Turnat where they took the city

of Dur and celebra ted
,
a festiva l to the gre a t god
of th a t pl a ce I n B C . . . 8 1 4 the Assyri ans a tt a cked

A hs ana, a nd in B C 8 1 3 a dvan ced to Ch alde a

. .
,

then in a fin a l ca mp aign m arched to B abylon in

B C 812
. . .

Unfor tun a tely no detai ls are preserved of thes e

w a rs and thus we h a ve no knowledge of the condi
,

tion of the country a nd the events which took pla ce .

I t is a pp ar ent however th a t the Assyri ans were now

, ,

gain ing ground ; a nd, besides the country Open to

1 08 H I S T OR Y O F BA B YLON I A .

their inroa ds it is prob able th a t they now a nnexed

,

th e region of the river Tu rnat on the ea s t of the

Tigris At any ra te the boundary between the Za b
.
,

and T urma t is not mentioned ag a in .

The de a th of S a msi Vul took pl ace a bout this time

-
,

B C 812
. . a nd Vul nirari I I I
-
. a scended the t h rone of
Assyri a .

The n ew king w as eng aged for severa l yea rs in

expeditions to S yria and Medi a , a nd it was not unt il
B C 79 6
. . th at he m arched a ga inst B abylonia . I n this
and the next ye a r the town of Dur which ,
wa s a fron
tier town of B abylonia , wa s the point of att a ck no ,

a dvance being m a de into the interior of the country .

A little l a ter in ,
B C 79 1 ,
. . an expedition wa s m a de
by the Assyri a ns aga inst a border tribe n a med th e
I tuba ; these prob a bly lay above H it on the E u
, ,

p h ra te s .

T hese three slight expeditions of the Assyri a ns ,

which m ay not h ave been directed a ga inst th e B a by !

l oni an m on archy indic a te , a ch ange .

of policy ,
a nd a

period of pe ace between B abyloni a a nd Assyri a After .

the long wa rs of th e l a st reign the lea dership o f ,

Assyri a h a d been generally a cknowledged and th e ,

Ch al dea n kings now ga ve tri bute to Assyri a .

The wife of Vul nirari king of Assyri a was n a med

-
, ,
I IO HI S T OR Y O F BAB YLON I A .

According to the ca non of Ptolemy , a rul er n amed

N abona ss a r commenced his first yea r at B abylon in
B C
. .
7 4 7, and reigned down to B C 7 34
. . . I n the
Assyria n inscriptions no mention is m a de of N a bo
n a ss ar but much light is thrown on the condition of
,

the country I n the ye a r B C 7 4 6 a revolt took pl a ce

. . .

in C al a h which ended in the eleva tion of Tiglath

,

p ile se r to the Assyr ia n throne ,

B C
. .
74 5 a nd the
s ame ye ar th e new king prep aring for a more vigor
,

ous policy m arched his army a ga inst B abyloni a

, .

It a ppe ars from the notices of these ca mp a igns

th at there h ad been a gre a t declin e of the central
power in B a byloni a, wh ile various tribes of Ch al de a ns ,

Ar a me ans , and Arabs ha d -

incre ased in every dire c
tion . These tribes now spre a d a ll over the country ,

owning little subj ection to B abylon , an d encro a ching

on every side on the settled popul ation Among them .

a re enumera ted the I tu h a , R u bu h a , H a va r a n L uhu ,

a tu,H arilu , R u bb u , R ap iqu , H iranu , R ab ili, N aziru,

N ab a tea ns , B agdadite s, H indaru , H agarenes, a nd
m any others . T he Ch alde ans were now no longer
divided into only two tribes beside the D akku ri and
Yakin there h a d
, a risen the tribes of S il a ni S a h al a , ,

and Am u kkan a nd a nother br an ch had esta blished

themselves at the ancient city of La rak or Larancha .
 H IS T OR Y O F B AB L Y ONI A . I I I

The original n ative popul a tion of the country appear s

to h ave dec ayed ,
a nd the Ch alde a ns were r apidly
taking their pl a ce .

The O bj ect of the first c a mp a ign of Tiglath p ile ser

-

was to check the power of the v a rious wa ndering

tribe s now overrunning th e coun try . The ca mp aign
wa s conducted through the region of the river D ij aleh ,

on the e ast of the Tigris ; and from thence the Assyria n

mon arch crossed the Tigris ,
a nd ca ptured D ur kuri -

galzu a nd S ipp a ra of S h a m a s together with the sm aller

,

cities K al a in Qu rbu t, P ahh az Kinnip u r

, , , and P azitu .

At the close of the expedition Tigla th ,

-

p ile se r pos
sessed a ll the region of the Tigris ,
as low down as

Nip u r (now N iffe r) ,

a nd a ppointed mil it a ry governors
to a dminister the districts but he does not yet appea r
to h ave a tt a cked the west of the country a nd all the ,

region of B abylon and the E uphr a tes rema ined inde

pendent N umbers of the people conquered in this
.

e xpedition were c a rried a w a y by T igla th p ile se r to -

people the new city Kar As sur which he now founded -

,

in S outh Assyri a .

T he Ch aldea ns were but little affected by the wa r in

B C 74 5 ,
. . as their princip a l se a ts lay in the west of the
country which this time esca ped the Assyria n inro a ds
,
.

According to Ptol emy s C an on N abon assar died ’

,
I I 2 H IS T ORY O F B AB Y LONI A .

B C 7 34,
. . and was succeeded by Nabiu s or Na dius ,

who m ay be represented by the N abu -

u sab si of the
Assyri an inscriptions . This is however doubtful, , , as

Nab iu s prob ably died B C 7 32 whil e N abu u sab si . .

,
-

is mentioned in the next ye ar B C 7 31 when Tigla th , . .

,

p ile se r m a de his second expedition to B abylonia .

I n this expedition , B C 7 31 , Tiglath p ile se r directed

. .
-

his efforts aga inst the Ch aldeans who ,

h ad possession
of the E uphra tes region the Ara me ans , and Gam b u li
on the Tigris h aving been subdued in B C
. .
745 ,

Atta cked by Tiglath p ile se r,-

the var ious tribes sh owed
no union , a nd m a de no concerted resistance ; e a ch
kingdom stood on its own defence ,
and consequently
most of them felt the full force of the Assyri a n att a ck .

The first tribe met by Tigla th p ile se r wa s th a t of the -

S il a ni . N abu—
usab si, king of the S ila ni shut himself ,

up in his ca pita l , S arap anu, where he was a tt a cked by

the Assyr ians who ca ptured the pl ace
, a nd destroyed
u sab si
it N a bu fell into the h ands of Tigla th p ile se r,
.
- -

an dwas imp al ed in front of his capital . H is wife a nd

children gods , a nd weal th with ,

people were ,

ca rried c aptive . T he tribe of S ah al a was next at

t acked ; Zakiru of S ah al a was ca ptured ,

and sent in
fetters to Assyri a . Tiglath p ile ser - then proceeded
g inst Kinziru, king of the tribe of Amukkan whose
a a
,
I I 4 H IS T OR Y O F BAB YLON I A .

H ere he a lso m a de s acrifices to B e l, or M erod a ch ,

an d his consort Zirat b anit -

. At B orsip p a , he s a cri
fi ce d to N eb o a nd his consort Ta sm it an d a t C u th a ,
to N ergal a nd his consort Laz . O fferings were al so
m ade in the cities of Kisu , S ipp ara , Nip u r ,
a nd U1 .

The can on of Ptolemy gives here t h e two n a mes of

C h inziru s a nd Porus which represent K inziru
, a nd

Pul their first ye ar in Ptolemy being

,
B C
. .
7 31 , and

their l a st B C 72 7. . .

S ome schol ars cons ider th a t the n a m e of Porus or ,

Pul here given

,
a mong the B abyloni a n kings ,
re p re

sents Tigla th p ile ser, -

who ,
a bout this time cl aimed ,

the title of king of B a bylon . At the close of the

reign of T igla th -
il
p e se r at N ineveh , a nd of Kinziru
a nd Pul at B abylon , B C 7 2 7 , th e
. . ca non of Ptolemy
gives the n a me Of I lu laeu s, or Y u gmu s, at B abylon ,

and S h a lm a neser at N in eveh . N othing is known of

the connection between these two , a nd it is prob able
tha t S halm a neser wa s, during all his short reign too ,

busily engaged in P a lestine to visit B abyloni a but one

mil itary report to the king of Assyri a connects his n a me
with some events at the city Of Dur and the l and of
Ch alde a . I t is believed tha t the difficulties m et with
by S h alma neser in S yri a led to a revolt on a ch a nge
Of dyn a sty at Nineveh S a rgon the new Assyria n
, ,

mon a rch , a scending the throne B C 722

. . .
 H IS T OR Y O F BA B YLONI A . I I S

C H APT E R V I I .

ME RO D AC H -
L
BA AD A N A ND TH E D E S T R U CT ION OF

BAB YLON .

Mero da ch bala dan t he Cha l d ea n con que rs B ab ylon —D efe at ed

-
, ,

b y S a rgon— S a rgon king of B ab ylon for five ye a rs— H agisa

Mero dach ba lada n re ta kes B abylon— B attle of Kisu — B el
-

i b ni governor of Babylon— A ssur n adin su m — S enn a cheri b s - -

’

n a val exped it ion t o Nagi tu — R evol t o f S uzub— El a m devas

ta te d b y the A ssyri a ns — B a ttle of Khal ul e— D estr uc tion of
B ab ylon by S enna ch e ri b .

TH E circumstan ces which h appened at N ineveh

at the time of S argon s a ccession to the throne ’

fa voured an a ttempt to sn a tch B abylonia from the

gra sp of Assyria , a nd this was a ccomplished by
Merod a ch b al a dan one of
-
, th e most remarka ble men
in B a bylonian history .

H e is first he ard of in B C 7 31
. . sending presents
of gold a nd s ilver v a ses of gold neckl a ces of gold
, ,

and pearls precious woods robes spices oxen

, , , , , and

I 2
1 1 6 HI S T OR Y OF BA B Y LON I A .

sheep as presents to Tiglath p ile se r -

to w ard O ff an

l
a tta ck of the Assyria n a rmy .

H is territory then lay along the E uphr ates ,

a nd he
had a powerful c a stle ne a r the river ca lled Dur ya kin ,
-
,

or the fortress of Yakin which formed his centre of ,

g overnment H e ruled a people h alf tra ders h alf

.
-
,

pira tes , and by his a ctivity extended his power until

the whole region of the Persian Gulf was under
his swa y . H is next step was to unite all th e Ch a l ~

de a n tribes , and then ta king a dvanta ge of the ch ange

,

of dyn asty at N ineveh he m a rched to , Ba bylon , B C . .

7 2 2, put a n end to the Assyr ia n dominion , a nd pro

cl a imed himself king of B abylonia .

S a rgon , the new king of Assyri a , a fter crushing th e

revolt in P alestine which , h ad impeded his p re de c e s
sor m arched
, ,
B C 7 2 1 , a ga inst B abyloni a
. . . M erod a ch
b al a d an un able to meet S argon
, a lone m a de a llia nce
,

with H umb a nigas the king of El a m -

, a nd when
S argon descended a a g inst th em he , wa s met by the
forces of the S usia n king who ,
h ad crossed the Ela
mite frontier to the city of Dur or Duran ,
.

H ere a b a ttle took pl ace , and the Assyri ans drove

Merod ach b al adan is c alled the son of

-
Y agina or Y akin , th e

Y ugaeu s of P tole m y s C a n on —S
’
. .
1 1 8 H IS T OR Y O F B AB YLONI A .

the rising sun , had his country on the s e a a nd to the

flood trusted the worship ,
and pledges of the gre a t
gods forsook , and ceas ed his presents . H umb a
niga s, the El amite to his , aid he had brought , a nd all

the S uti the people of the desert he h a d m ade hostil e

, ,

he h ad prep ared wa r, and the countries of S umir

and Akka d for twelve yea rs g i st the will of
a a n

the gods , a nd B abylon , the city of B e l, he h a d p os

”
sessed a nd controlled .

B oth p a rties in the coming struggle appe aled to the

s ame deities , and both a ccused the other of impie ty ;
while the B abyloni a n priests stood rea dy to bless
either if victorious .

Merod a ch b al a d a n -
, a ware of the coming a tta ck ,

was not idle . H e rep a ired the fortifica tions ,

and col
le c te d his a rmy c alling , , a mong others the tribe of,

C ambul to ga rrison the city of D ur a th ara which -

, lay
ne ar the river S urapp i, on the roa d of S a rgon '
to

B a bylon ; a nd he strengthened the fortific a tions in ,

the hope th a t the pl a ce would stop th e a dvance of

S argon . To the help of the Gam bu la i he threw into
the city 60 0 horses an d troops ,
a nd to incre a se
the defence they pierced the b anks of the
, S urap p i,
a nd flooded the region round the city . These pre
c a utions were of no a v a il . S argon invested the city ,
 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLON IA . 1 1 9

and ca ptured it in the evening taki ng , pri

soners with horses a sses ca mel s oxen
, , , , , a nd sheep .

A considerable body of people under eight chie fs , ,

who ha d sheltered the m selves in the m a rshes and

ree d be ds beside the river

-
U kn i, hea ring of the ca pture
of the city were terrified , , a nd sent a present of oxen
and sheep to S argon as a tok e n of submission The .

As syria n mona rch rebuilt the ci ty cal ling it Dur N abu ,

-
.

H e a ppointed a general in comm and , and directed

the p a yment of an a nnu al tribute of I talent 30 ma n as
of silver a qu antity of gr a in one ox and one sheep
, , , .

S evera l other pla ces fell a mong them Qarinani , ,

the ci ty of N abu uz a lla chief of the Ga m bu lai Three

-
, .

other tribes the H in daru , ,

th e Y a tbu r, a nd the P u qu du

(the Pekod of J eremi a h l fled in th e night and .

,

ta king to the wa ter of the river U kni m a de the ca na l ,

of U mliya s their refuge S argon Shut them in by buil d.

ing two forts O f reeds and mud and they were starved
.

in to a surrender Y anu qu of Za me N abu uzalla of

.
,
-

Aburi I zm as unu an d H aukanu of N u bani and S a ha l i

, ,

of Ib u li five chiefs of the Pekod — A bhata chief of the

, , ,

R uh ua and B e l ninu S am ih a S aph a r an d R ap ih a

-
, , , ,

chiefs of the H inda ru were th e le a ders who sub ,

m itt ed an d their tribute was p a id in oxen and sheep

, ,

delivered in the city of Atha ra F ou rteen of th e .

1 20 H IS T OR Y O F B AB Y LON IA .

princip a l cities by the river U kni were now ra v aged ,

and Sa rgon then a tta cked S a m b a n a a nd Dur—sar two ,

fortresses of S utur—nanh u ndi king of El a m which , ,

were si tua ted in the district of Y a tbu r on the e ast of ,

the Tigris S ingu sibu the Ela mite comm a nder a nd

.
, ,

of the El amite troops people wi th , ,

horses c a mels a sses mules and much spoil were

, , , , ,

ca ptured . Up to this time the region of La hiru h ad

belonged to El a m now S a rgon c a ptured it , a nd

a dded it to the Assyri a n borders ; then p a ssing the

E la mite cities of Tul humb a -
, B ube , and H a m ann in ,

the district of Ra si he a tta cked B it imbi a nd entered

,
-
,

it During this r a id into his territories S utur nan

.
,
-

hundi king of Ela m retired with his

, ,
a rmy to the
mounta ins fe aring to meet the l a rge a nd well equipped
,
-

a rmy brought into his country by S argon . The mo

tive of the As syri a n mon a rch was to drive b a ck the
S usi ans ,
a nd prevent them from giving a id to Meroda ch
b al a d a n a nd for this purpose he ga rrisoned the cities
he h ad c aptured from the E l a mites in Y a tb u r, a nd

held them to protect his rea r while he m a rched west ,

wa rd a cross the Tigris to a tta ck Meroda ch b a l a dan -

P a ssing over the intermedi a te country h e crossed to ,

the west of the Euphr a tes ,

and took up his he a d
qu arters at Dur l a dini in the district inh abited by the
-
,
1 22 HIS T ORY O F BAB YLON I A .

from B abylon to B orsippa, a nd to offer rich s acrifi c es

to the gods of the country . During the a dva n c e of
th e a rmy of S a rgon a tribe n a med the H a m ata n, ,

took a dvant age of the confusion to plunder Throw .

ing themselves into the city of S ipp ara, they issued

from it from time to time to ra vage the la nds of
the Babylonia ns .

S ar gon a s soon
,
as he took poss ession of B aby l on,

sent a force a ga inst them ,

a nd besiege d th e city of
'

S ip p ara, which h e ca p tured m aking ,

a severe exa mple
of the whole tribe . These opera tions concluded the
ca mp aign ,
an d S a rgon prep a red to drive Merodac h
b ala dan out of Cha lde a . N ext ye ar , B C . .
70 9, in
the month I yya r the Assyria n mon a rch star ted from
,

B a bylon a nd m ar che d towa rds I qb i B e l -

.

M e an while Meroda ch ba lad an

,
-
ha d retrea ted from
I qb i B e l ,
-
ca rrying his gods with him , an d entering the
city of Dur ya kin ne a r
-
, the Euphr a tes he cal led toge
,

ther the tribes who were still fa ithful to him , an d the

people of Ur Erech Eridu La rs a
, , , ,
Za rilab , Kisik , and

N imit—
l aguda, the cities in the south which still , ac

knowledged his a uthority a nd m as sing a l a rge a rmy ,

pla ced D ur yakin in-

a state of defence . With him
were the remn ants of th e tribes which Sa rgon h ad
conquered— th e Ga m bu la i, P ekod D a mun
, , R uhu a,
 H IS T ORY O F B AB YLONI A . 1 2
3

a nd H indaru — a nd he set his people to work to di g a

wide cubits wide (34 0 feet ) and 1 5 gurs
trench ,
20 0 »

(30 feet ) deep round the city of Dur y akin ; then

,
-

opening a ch a nnel to the Euphra tes he flooded this ,

ditch , a nd bre a king down the bridges which he ha d

b uilt a cross it prep a red to resist , a Siege S a rgon
.

p a ssed his troops a cross the ditch ,

a nd a tta cked the

Chalde ans who were ca ught in

, a net ,
an d defe a ted
with gre a t sl aughter The roya l p a vilion O f Meroda ch
.

b al a dan his couch of gold throne of gold ch a ir of

, , ,

gold sceptre of gold cha riot of silver covered

, , ,
c ar

ria ge of gold with his other goods

, , and a ll his camp ,

fel l into the h a nds of the Assyri ans while the Ch al ,

dea n mon a rch impelled by fe a r fled into his cit ad el

, ,

with the remna nt of his forces This b a ttle h a d .

t aken pl a ce in the sp a ce between th e ditch and the

c ity wal ls a nd S ar gon n ow investe d the city which ,

he soon a fter stormed and ca p tured M eroda ch .

b al a d a n now submitted and l a id down his sceptr e ,

before S a rgon who ca rried him into ca ptivity together

, ,

with his wife his children and his tre a sures

, ,
.

Thus the whole of B abylonia fell into the h ands of

S a rgon who set to work to reverse the po licy of Me
,

roda ch b a la d an
-
H e expelled the milita ry desert
.

tribes whom the Ch alde an h a d settled in the B aby

1 24 H I S T OR Y O F BA B Y LON I A .

loni a n cities , and everywhere m a de friends with the

priesthood by restoring the rites and o fferings of the
va rious gods . S a rgon a lso for some tim e held his
court at B a bylon ; a nd while here there ca me two
emb a ssies from Opposite sides of the empire to ac

knowledge the power of the Assyri a n mon a rch . O ne

of these wa s from U p e ri, king of Nituk or D ilm u n, a

sta te which is sa id to h ave l a in thirty kasp u , or a bout

’

210 miles in the

, sea on the e ast b eing re a ched
,

through the Persia n Gul f . D ilm un h as not been id en

tifi e d, an d if it were not for the sta tement of dista nce ,

it would be likely to represent the region of the I ndus ,

for it wa s not the n am e of a sm all obscure pl a ce but

, ,

of a region known from remote times , a nd a lw ays

1
spoken of as the e a stern bound a ry on the sea .

The second emb a ssy c a me from the West from the ,

seven kings of Ya h a, a district of Y a tnan a pl ace s a id ,

’
to be seven d ays s ail in the M editerra ne a n This .

emb a ssy is usu a lly supposed to h a ve come from

Cyprus ; but this isl a nd a ppe a rs too close to the
co a st to require such a voyage .

S argon reigned at B abylon a fter his conquest of

Merod a ch b al a d a n for five ye ars
-
, and died B C 70 5
. . .

D ilm u n, or r ather D ilvun, is probab ly t he m od ern B un der

D cllim .
—S .
1 26 H IS T O R Y O F BA B YLON I A .

were routed the Ch alde an mon a rch t aking refuge in

,

flight . I t is prob able th a t B a bylon at this time was

not prep ared to sta nd a siege ,

a nd therefore Meroda ch
b al a da n at once h a stened to the south to take refuge
in the reeds and swa mps which in all a ges h a ve formed
the shelter of politic a l refugees . H ere in the distr ict
of Guzu m an he hid himself s a fely from his foes while ,

the Assyri an s sea rched the reeds an d m arshes in va in

to find him .

I mmedi ately after th e b attle of Kisu S enn a cherib ,

entered Babylon a nd plundered the p al a ce c arrying ,

a wa y everything . A like fa te a waited all the oth er

cities within e ch
r a . Accord ing to one record, 89

cities and 8 20 vill ages were destroyed while , an

other gives 7 6 cities and 4 2 0 vill ages Among these few .

na mes rem a in but S arrap anu and Laranc h a are men

tio ne d, Erech (Wa rka), Nip u r (N i ffer ) Kisu (Hy
a nd ,

mer ) H rris k ala m a (ne a r H ymer ) a nd C u th a (I bra

,
a 1-
,

him ) are given as se a ts of the Ch alde ans After the .

coun try within rea ch of the Assyri a n army had been

conquered an d ra vaged S enn a cherib set to work
,

to reconstruct the government . With him he h ad

“
a young m an n amed B el -
ibni , S on of a B abl nian

R a ther Kh ars ak -k al a ma , th e m oun ta in of the worl d ,

so
c all ed from the nam e of its p rincip a l t e m pl e —S .
 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLONI A . 1 27

o ffi c r e . He had gr own up in the p al ace of the king

of Assyri a , and w as now raised by S emi ach e rib to the
throne of B abyloni a his a ppointment dating , B C 70 3
. . .

It a ppea rs th a t a further c a mp aign was necess a ry in

this ye a r to ch a stise the v a rious nom a d tribes wan

dering over the country . I t is s a id tha t at the close

of these opera tions people with mult itudes ,

of flocks and herds were c a rried ca ptive to Assyri a

, .

bel—
N ab u — za kri, governor of H ararti , wa s the only ruler
who volunta rily submitted ; an d he prob ably fe a ring
,

a visit from the As syri a n a rmy sent rich presen ts to

,

Se nn a cherib The work of spoiling being finished,

.

the Assyr i a n mon a rch rebuilt the city of H irim m u ,

which he h ad destroyed ,
a nd a ppointed a tribute from
it of one ox ten sheep ten homers of wine
, , , a nd twenty

hom ers of fi rst -

fruits , as an o ffering to the Assyri an

S enna cherib returned to Assyri a in B C . .

7 0 3, le a ving
th e government in th e h a nds of B el ibni -
, a nd a ppoint
ing a force to wa tch for Meroda ch b ala da n -
. The
Cha ldean prince finding the Assyri a n ga rrisons too
,

strong for him and desp a iring of rega ining his B aby
,

lonian throne c al led together his

, a dherents , and col
le cting the images of his gods , resolved to le a d a

Chal de ancolony to a new distri ct on the Persian

1 28 H IS T ORY OF BAB Y LONI A .

Gul f . Taking ship wi th his a dherents he ab a ndoned ,

the country where he h ad struggled for thirty ye a rs

a ga inst the Assyri a n power , a nd ca rried his people
down the Persia n Gulf to the district Of Nagitu on ,

the Asia tic shore within the territory of Ela m

, . H ere ,

an exile from his n ative l a nd , Merod a ch b a l a da n -

died ; but he left severa l sons destined to continue ,

their father s work a nd continue his Opposition to

’

Assyri a . After the dep a rture of Meroda ch b a l a d an -

to Nagitu a nother Ch a lde a n chief a rose S u zub son

, , ,

of Gah ul who collected a b and of followers a t the

,

city Of B ittu t, in the m a rsh district ne a r the mouth of

the river E uphrates and de fi ed the power O f the ,

Assyri ans To punish him S enn a cherib orga nized a

.
,

second expedition to Ch aldea in , B C 700,

. . and de
fe a ted S uzub , who esca ped a nd hid himsel f . Then
turn i ng to Bit yakin the district of Merod a ch b ala da n
-
,
-
,

the Assyria n a rmy ravaged the pl a ce ca rry ing captive ,

those who h a d not emigr ated with Merod a ch b al a -

da n T he rule O f Be l ibni was prob ably uns a tisfa ctory

.
-

to S enn cherib for the Assyri an mon arch

a , , at
'

th e clos e
Of the expedition ga ve the government O f the country
,

to his own eldest son Assur n a din sum who com ,

- -
,

me nc e dhis reign B C 7 0 0 The new Ch a ldea n esta

. . .

blishm ent at Nagitu on the Persi a n Gulf was beyond

, ,
‘
1 30 H IS T ORY O F BAB Y LONI A .

been five d ays descending the river until they re a ched ,

th e shore Of the Persia n Gulf at B ab -

salim iti . At
the pl a ce where the r iver issued into the se a , S enn a
c h e rib m a de a gre a t festiva l in honour Of H e a , the
presiding deity of the ocea n I m ages O f fishes . and

vessels m a de of gold were ca rried out to se a

,
an d
,

dropped with grea t ceremony into the oce a n by the

Assyri a n mon arch while victims ,
and lib a tions were
o ffered to H e a the Assyri a n N eptune
,
. I t being sup
posed th a t the gods were propiti ated the ex pedition ,

s a iled out to sea a nd m ade for the Persi a n co ast ,

where the d istrict of Nagitu was situ a ted . H ere they

ca me to the mouth Of the river Ul a i which formed
,

the a rtery of Nagitu ,

and in the vicinity Of which the
cities colonized by the Ch a lde ans were situ a ted . It
is quite evident th a t since the time Of S enn acherib
'

considerable ch anges h a ve t aken p la ce in the gee

gra phy of this region ; the soil r apidly a ccumul a tes
at the he ad Of the Persia n Gulf , and now the mouth
Of the Ul ai no longer Opens into the se a , but dis
ch arges itse lf into the E uphr ates .

O n the a rriva l of the Assyri a n fleet at the mouth Of

the Ul a i they found the Ch a lde a ns ga thered to

, re

c e ive them . The colonists inh abited the cities O f

Nagitu a nd Nagitu dih ibin and they c alled to their
-
,
 H I S T OR Y O F BAB YLON I A . 1 31

assistance the people of H ilm u B ellatu and H up a , ,

p anu drawing up their forces on the flat fr onting the

Ul ai T he As syria n troops were disemb arked and
.
,

a tta cked with fury the Ch a lde a ns an d their all ies ,

routing them and pursuing them to their cities which ,

they c aptured and spoiled The people were . ca p

tu re d in l arge numbers and with their goods

, and

ca ttle forced into the As syrian ships an d sent over to

the city of B ab—
salimiti to S enn a cherib .

While this expedition wa s a way a t the Persian Gulf,

who had escaped during the former war r a ised
S uzub , ,

a force in the re a r of S enna cherib and the king of ,

E la m who h a d hitherto onl y given secret help to the

,

B abyloni ans , now m arched his a rmy to B abylon , an d

with them ca me numbers of the Ch al dea n emigra nts

retu rning to their country The Ela mite and Cha ldean
.

forces ca ptured Babylon and procl a imed S uzub kin g ;

,

but reinforcements being sent to the Assyri an army ,

they turned and defe a ted the rebels ca p turing

,
S uzu b ,
who was sent bound to N ineveh .

At thi s time one of the p arties fell upon the city of

E rech and plundered it ca rrying away the im ages of
, ,

the gods but the notice of this event is so a mbigu

'

ous tha t it is uncert a in if it

, was the Assyri a n or the
Ela mite army which plundered the temples . The
K 2
1 32 H IS T OR Y O F BAB Y LON I A .

direct interference of the El a mites at B abyl on during

these Opera tions ,
a nd their const ant hostility to
Assyri a now led to a war between the two countri es
, .

S enn a cherib in resolving to a tta ck the El amites wa s

, ,

al so influenced by a desire to recover a sm a ll portion

of Assyria n territory ne a r Duran , which h ad been

a tta cked an d c ap tured by the E la mites just before the
cl ose of the reign of S argon . H ere th e E l a mites h ad
taken the two cities Of B it h a iri
-
and Raza , and this
l oss h a d not been recovered About B C 6 9 7 the . . .
,

Assyria n mon arch set out with a l a rge a rmy to m ak e

war with El a m , a nd a fter recovering the lost distri ct
he went on to a tta ck the El a mite cities which he cap ,
.

ture d an d burned one a fter an other T hirty four .

-

l a rger cities and numerous sm aller vill ages were

, ,

destroyed ,
an d the Assyr i a n records rel a te tha t th e

smoke of these c onflagrations rose like a c l oud , and

obscured the fa ce of the hea vens .

During this destruction of his cities Kudur nan ,

-

hundi the El a mite king did not d are to meet S enn a

, ,

c h e rib in the field ; but fe aring for his own safety ,

he c aused his peop l e to retire into the other cities ,

and he himse lf left Ma daktu his ca pital and fled , ,

into the mount ains to H ida lu E verything now .

seemed at the mercy of the Assyri an ki ng, who was

1 34 H IS T O R Y O F BAB Y LON I A .

Aware of his in abil i ty to hold the throne a lone ,

S uzu b broke Open the s a cred trea sures of B el at

B abyl on , N eb o at B orsipp a, and N ergal at C u th a,

and sent the gold an d silver as a present to U mm a n
min an king of El a m
, , s aying Ga ther thy a r my ,

collect thy c a mp to ,
B abylon come an d strengthen
our h ands for ,
a m a ster of war art thou .
”
Umm a n
min an and his peopl e were equ ally rea dy to m ake war
with Assyria a nd to a venge the ra vages of the Assyria n
,
'

a rmy during S enn a cherib s l a te c a mp a ign , ’

a nd ca ll
ing to his st a nda rd a ll the tribes subj ect to E l a m he ,

took the ro a d to B abylon An immense host now .

ga thered a t this city consisting of Ela mites Persia ns

, , ,

people of Anza n P a siru Ellip i Yaza n Lagap ri H ar

, , , , ,

zunu D u m m u q S ul a i S a mun a Adini Am ukkan,

, , , , ,

S ila n S ah al a,
, Lar a nc h a, Lah iru , Pekod , Ga m bu l,
and other tri bes . Umm a n min an and S u zub m arched
-

out from B abylon , a bout B C

. . 6 9 6, feeling s trong
enough to meet S enn acherib in the Open field They .

therefore posted their troops at H alule on the T igris , ,

to check the Assyr i a n mon arch before h e overran th e

heart of the country .

S enn a cherib ad v anced to H al ule e ager to meet the

rebels , and j oined b attle with them utterly routing ,

their troops . T he chiefs of the El amites and B aby

 H IS T OR Y OF BA B YLON I A . 1
35

l oni an s h ad gone out to the b a ttle richly a dorn ed ,

with a rm s inl ai d with gold bra celets , an d rings of

gold riding in ch a riots pl a ted with silver ; and most
,

of these tr appings fell into the h ands of th e Assy

ria ns . The B abyloni an a rmy ga thered at H alule
must h ave been very numerous ,
for the Assyri a ns
count the sl a in at the incredible number of
men . We ar e informed , however th a t the pursuit ,

an dsl a ughter l a sted for fo ur hours a fter sunset A .

multi tude of prisoners an d heaps of spoil rema ined

with the vi ctors , several of the chiefs ,
includi ng
N abu za kir iskun a son of Merod a ch
- - -
B a l a da n , falling
into the h ands of S enn a cherib .

The dis a strous b attle of H a lule closed for th a t ye ar

opera tions in B abyloni a . There wa s a long ma rch
to B abylon ; the sea son was prob ably l a te , an d the
Assyri an a rmy crippled and encumbered with spoil
,
.

These rea sons prob ably determined the close of the

ca mp aign ; but next ye a r S enn acherib once more
mar ched out resolved this time to m ake a n ex
,

ample o f B abylon This was about B C 6 9 5 S u zub

. . . .

and Umm an min an a fter the b a ttle of H a lule h a d

-
, ,

esca ped to their respective countries and when S en ,

nac h erib a a g in inva ded B abyloni a there was no at

tempt at opposition in the open field ; he a dvanced

1 36 H IS T OR Y OF BA B Y LO N I A .

at once to B abyl on , and a ppea red before the city ,

which was ill prep ared to resist him

-
. T he fortifi ca
tions were stormed and ca p tured , and the whole c ity
given up to spoil . S u zub, with p art of his fa mily fel l ,

into the ha nds of S enn acherib wh o sent them to As ,

syria th e trea sures of the city were plundered by the

soldiers the images of the gods were brought out of
,

the temp l es and broken up the houses were pulled

,

down and burned the wa lls were leve ll ed the tem

, ,

ples overturned, an d the towers thrown down ; the

city was levell ed ,
as far as the fury of the Assyrian
m ona rch co ul d do it , and the gr e a t ca n al c alled ,

Arax es , was filled up with the ruins .

1 38 H IS T OR Y O F B AB YLON I A .

During this time ,

a son of Merod a ch b a l a d an -
,

nam ed N a bu zir nap isti e sir took possession of his

- - -
,

fa ther s origin al territory ne ar the Persi a n Gulf ; a nd

’

a fter strengthening himself there he ,

a spir ed to th e
domin ion of the whole of B abyloni a . After the
murder of S enn acherib his sons disputed the crown ,

and t aki ng a dva ntage of the confusion the Ch a ldea n ,

prince in , B C 68 1 ,
. . m a rched a a g inst the city of U r
( Mugheir ) then governed by N i
,
ng al idin a who -
, wa s

faithful to the Assyri an empire . H aving fa il ed to

sep a ra te the governor of Ur from the interest of the
Assyr i ans he besieged the city
, ,
a nd when Es ar h a ddon ,

h aving ga ined a decisive victory over his brothers , was

procl aimed king a t N ineveh N abu zir—nap isti e sir disre ,

- -

garded his a ccession , a nd continued his hostilities

a a g inst Assyri a . Es arh a ddon he a ringof this ordered
, ,

the Assyri a n general s who were sta tioned in B a b y

l oni a to m arch aga inst him ; and un able to meet
their forces th e Ch al dea n prince fled into E l a m the
, ,

ol d refuge of his father . T he rei gn of E s ar h a ddon

h ad opened with grea t promise ,
a nd he had a ssumed
the cro wns of both Assyri a and B abyloni a . T he
El amites now a ppeared disinclined to qu arrel with
him , a nd did not t ake up the c a use of the s on o f . their
old a lly , Meroda ch b al a d a n -
. N abu -
zir nap isti—
-
e sir
 H IS T OR Y O F B AB Y LON IA . 1 39
“
thus found El a m an insecure refuge ,
and soon a fter
his a rriva l there was tre a cherously murdered . H is
brother N a hid—M aru du k who
, , ha d followed his for
tunes and sha red his flight to E la m when he , saw

the dea th of N abu -

i
z r~na
p isti
-
e sir, a a l rmed for his
own s a fety fled out of the country a nd threw himself
, ,

upon the mercy of Es arh a ddon T he As syr i a n mo .

nar ch received him favoura bly a ccepting his hom age , ,

and a ppoin ting him to the government of the district

of the sea - co ast which his brother
, h ad forfeited by
rebel lion .

As soon as he had settled his affa irs in Assyria ,

E s ar h addon c a me in person to Ba bylon (J a nu a ry ,

B C
. . and set to work to restore the city which ,

h ad been ruined by the l ate wars . H e rebuilt the

gre a t temples and towers restored the fortifi ca tions , ,

an d brought b a ck the ca ptive im ages of the gods .

Under the fostering ca re of E s arh a ddon B abylon ,

soon aga in bec a me a grea t city an d the rival of N in e ,

veh . Duri ng the depression of B abylon in the l atter ,

p a rt of the reign of S enn acherib the chief of the ,

Ch alde an tribe of D akku ri whose home was on the ,

edge of the desert west of B abylon , h a d encroached

upon the gr ounds of the people of B abylon an d B or

sip p a These peopl e E s arh a ddon checked

. , and put
1 40 H I S T OR Y OF BA B Y LON I A .

a stop to their inroa ds . H e seized S a m a s ibni the ir -

,

king , an d b u rned him , as a punishment ,

and set up
in his pla ce a chief na med N abu -
u sallim . S oon after
this the n ew chief sent an urgent desp a tch to E s ar
h a ddon beca use the m a rsh tribes
,
ha d ga th ered in
B it a m ukkan,
-
an d endea voured to renew the depre
d a tions which ha d been c a rried on in the time of
S a m a s ibni
-
. H e pra ys the king to send to S a du,
governor of Am ukka n , and check these r aids . S ub
sequently E s a rh a ddon was informed th at N abu—
usa l

lim whom he h a d ra ised to o ffice

, , was endea vouring to
purch a se horses ; a nd the governor of B abylon, for
Es a rh a ddon sta ted th a t the governor of the
,
D akku ri
desired to ra ise a force to a tt a ck the Assyri a n a rmy,
a nd renew the r aids of S a m a s ibni in consequence of
-
,

which he as Viceroy of the king of Assyria forb a de

, ,

the s ales in the n a me of Es arh a ddon .

I n the s a me letter the governor of B abylon in forms

Es arh a ddon of the a rrival of B e l b a s a son of B un an u -
, ,

at B abylon and B orsip p a, fr om which cities he went

to the l a nd of the tribe of D akkuri . B e l b as a was
-

chief of the tribe of Gambu l, which lived in the

m a rshes by the Tigris close to the Ela mite frontier
, .

He was induced to submit to E sa rh a ddon and in

considera tion of his a llia nce E s a rh a ddon
, a ssiste d
1 42 H I S T OR Y O F BAB Y LONI A .

mugina, the elder son As sur b —

ni al being alrea dy
a p
-
, ,

instal l ed as king O f Assyri a 1

.

Pe a ce continued in B abyloni a under the rule of

S a ul mugina who
-
,
a nswers to the S a osdu chinos of
Ptolemy and the S am m ugh e s of Polyhistor .

This general quiet was however b roken a fter about , ,

tenye ars; by U rtaki king of E l am H e h a d been on ,

.

good terms with E sar ha ddon and a fterwa rds with his ,

sons but suddenly ch anging his policy he persu a ded ,

B e l b as a,
-
king of the . Gam b ulai, and some other l oc al
chiefs , to j oin him in hostil ity a ga inst As sur b ani p al - -

and S a ul mugin a
-
. U rtaki then with these chiefs in
,

h is : tr a in , m a de an irruption into B abyloni a, a nd

spre a ding his troops over the country ga ve it up to ,

plunder . S a ul mugina who

-
, was in B abylon , was

l rmed at this inro a d and sent a t once to a sk the

a a ,

ai d of his brother Assur b a ni —

pal king of Assyri a At
-
, .

this t ime l though S a ul mugi na

‘

, a -
was king of Babylon ,

be .
wa s tributary and subj ect to his el der brother ,

whil e Es arha ddon w as hol ding hi s court a t B ab ylon

I t was
t ha t Ma na sseh of Ju dah w as b rought there ca p ti ve a ccording t o ,

2 C ronicles xxxii i I I Th e ch a ra c t er and r ule of Es ar ha ddon

h . .

seem t o h ave b een m il d a nd the rel ease o f M anasseh from cap

,

tivity Is p arall eled b

y o t her si m il a r a c t s of clem ency upon h is
p a rt —S .
 H IS T OR Y O F B AB YLONI A . 1 43

B abylon being dependent upon N ineveh Assur .

b a ni pal
-
himself a ppointed the provinci al governors in
B abyloni a . He ha d his own garri sons a nd com
m anders , an d his generals reported to himself instea d
of to his brother . B esides this ,
be rep aired the B a by
lonian temples and m a de o fferings a t the var ious
,

shrines in his own n ame thus h aving the priesthood ,

immediately connected with himsel f . The a ctive

control of affa i rs being thus in the h ands of the king
of Assyria, As sur b ani p al responded to the a ppe al of
- -

his brother , and a f ter sending a n o fli c e r to report to

himself on the E l a mite ra id he suddenly moved , a

force into B abyloni a , and, coming up with U rtaki

before he coul d retre a t into El a m with his spoil ,

inflicted upon him a defe a t and drove him a cross the

border .

This war led to -

a succession of contests with El am ,

which belong ra ther to the history of Assyri a tha n to

th a t Of B abyloni a The result of these expeditions
.

was , th a t Assur b ani p al conquered El a m and set

- -
,

upon the throne of th a t country Umman igas -

, a son
of U rtaki, who engaged to p ay tribute to Assyri a .

The El amites who were a brave war like ra ce were

, , ,

restless under the yoke of Assyri a an d S aul mugin a -

,

king of B abylon , was a lso tired of his subordin ate

1 44 H IS T OR Y o r BA B YLONI A .

General disaflec tion sprea d over Cha l

’

p osi tion .

dea , Ar abia S yria, ,

and P al estin e ; while P sam m e ti

ch us king of Egypt,
,
h ad revolted , and, expell ing th e

Assyria ns from tha t country in , a llia nce with Gyges ,

king of Lydia ma de war a gai nst As sur b a ni p al Th e

,
- -
.

moment seemed propitious for a genera l revolt and the ,

As syrian mon ar ch foreseeing th a t trou ble was coming

, ,

issued a procla m a tion to the B a bylon ia ns , da ted on

th e a 3rd day of the month Iyy ar, in the eponymy of
Assur dur uzur
- -
a bout B C . . 650 . I n this document
he reminds them of the benefits he ha d given them ,

an d of the cl ose brotherhood bet ween Assyri a an d

B abyl onia .

Sa ul mugina -
at th a t time meditat ed a revolt but
to mas k hi s proceedi ngs he sent an emb a ssy to
N ineveh , to assure his brother of his fidelity , and to
deceive th e Assyria n monarch until his prep ar a tions
were completed . Th e first obj ect of the B abyloni an
monarch was to seek a llies, an d his a ttention was

natural ly turned to El a m . S aul mugina foll owi ng th e

-
,

ex a mple of several former rulers broke open th e ,

treasuries of B el at B abylon , N ebo at B orsipp a, and

N ergal at Cu th a, an d sent the gold and sil ver as a

present to Umm an igas king of E l a m -

, ,
in p a yment for
his a ssista n ce ; and the two monarchs made an a gree
1 46 H IS T OR Y O F BAB YLON I A .

an d the Ar abi a ns j oined the confedera tes at B abylon .

The combined forces then a tta cked the Assyria n gar

risons ,
and everywhere expelled the ofli c e rs of Assur
b ani p al
~
. S aul mugin a chose four cities for milit ary
-

centres : S ippara , B abylon, B orsipp a , an d C u th a .

T hese he fortifi ed , an d prep ared to resist a siege , as

his brother was gathering a force to reconquer the

country .

B efore however the Assyri ans re a ched the scene

, , ,

divisions a ppeared a mong the insurgents . As soon as

Umm an iga s king of E la m

-
, , ha d sent his a rmy to
B abylon , his son Tamm ar itu m a de a conspir a cy
g i st him
a a n , and, raising a force defe a ted the royal
,

troops . C apturing his fa ther in the b a ttle he cut ,

of
f
his hea d , and sent it to Assur b a ni p al - -
. After this,
Ta mm aritu , who h ad a ssumed the crown of El am ,

was induced by the B abylonia ns to assist them , and

he m arched into their country with his ar my .

Assur b an i p al
- -
was now a dvan cing , an d his forces ,

under the lea dership of a general n amed B el -

ibni ,

defe a ted the con federates , a nd, overrunning the open

coun try shut them up in the four cities
, , B abyl on ,
B orsipp a, C u th a, an d S ip p ara . Wh en Tam m aritu
h ad gone to B abylonia, I nda—
bigas, one of his ser
vants set up , as king in E l am , an d, the people going
 H IS T ORY O F BAB YLON I A . 1 47

over to his side ,

Tam m aritu found himself cut O ff

from his own country . Ta m m ar itu , with th e Assyr ian

a rmy on one side , and I nda bigas on the other
-
, was

in a gre at stra it and t aking flight with some of his

,

friends he found hi s way to the se a co ast where he

,
-
,

took Ship an d tried to esc a pe T he vessel in which .

Tam m aritu s ail ed was, however , soon a fterwa rds

ca ught in storm an d driven b a ck on the co ast, and
a

Tam m aritu being ill was ca rried on shore wh ere he

, , ,

took refuge in the m arshes but on receiving a promise

of protection from Ass ur b ani p al, he surrendered - -
to

th e As syri ans .

Me anwhil e the As syri an general s were crushing the

B abyloni an revolt ; the strongholds successively fell ,

and B a bylon , the la st hope of the reb els , was closely

besieged . Fa mine and pestilence the ,
fi uits Of war,

were desola ting the country whil e the As syrians wer e ,

completing its ruin .

I n the yea r . fell and S a ul mugin a

B C 6 4 8 B abylon
.
,
-
,

finding th a t the city was ca ptu red set fire to his p al a ce , ,

an d perished in the fla mes After the fa ll of B abylon .

,

th e Assyri ans proceeded to punish the smal ler chiefs

who h ad a ided in the revolt ; but one of the most
a ctive of these N abu bel z ikri,
- -
,
a grandson of Mero ~

dac h -
B al a da n , who ruled the region of the se a-co ast,
L 2 .
1 48 H IS T OR Y O F BAB Y LON IA .

esca ped from the o ffi cers of As sur b ani p al - -

,
an d fled to
E l am to the court of I nda bigas
,
-
. I nda biga s find ing
-
,

the B abyloni an revolt h ad fa iled desired to m ake his

,

peac e with Assur b a ni p al - -

, and sent an emb a ssy to
As syri a to propiti ate the N inevite mon a rch . Assur
b ani p al met the e nvoy with a dem a nd for the surrender
-

of N abu bel zikri the gra ndson of Meroda ch

- -
,
-
B al a da n ,
then a refugee at the court of I nda bigas -
, an d thre at
ened to inva de E l am ,
a nd wa ste it with fire and

sword if this dem an d was not complied with . B efore

the return of the messenger with this messa ge I nd a ,

biga s wa s dea d Umm a n al da s .

-
, an E lamite com
ma nder h a d revolted aga inst him
, ,
a nd ki ll ed him an d

his fa mily in his turn ascendi ng the E la mite throne

, .

Assur b ani p al now sent

- -
an emb assy to the n ew
monar ch to dem and the surrender of the Ch al dea n
,

prince and U mm an al das received the envoys of the

,
-

Assyrian mon arch .

N abu—
bel -
zikri now fea ring tha t he shoul d be de
,

l ivered up by the king of E l a m to Assur bani p al ca ll ed - ~

,

on his a rmour bearer to despa tch him and the two

-
,

I an ea ch other through with th eir swords Umm an .

a ldas too k the body of N abu be l zi kri and the hea d of - -

his rmour bearer and delivered them to th e messen

a -

gers of Assur b ani p al who ca rried them to As syri a

- -
, .
1 50 H IS T OR Y O F BAB YLONI A .

Assyri a Nab O p O lassar sent and Offered to m ake an

,

all ia nce with him for this purpose the tre a ty to be ,

cemented by the m a rri a ge of Am uh ia or Amytis the ,

d a ughter of Cyax are s l with N ab u kudur—uzu r or N ebu

,
-

son of NabO p O las sar T his tr e aty pro

c h a dne zzar, .

b ably included a lso th e king of E gypt for b e a ssist e d ,

in the war g inst Assyri a m arching up through

a a ,

P alestine to C archemish on the E uphra tes which he ,

captured .

T he a ccount of the siege and fal l of N ineveh , and

is very prob ab le t ha t som e m ut il ated tab lets d iscovered

It
by Mr S mi th refer t o C y ax ares a nd the closi ng d a ys of th e
.

A ssyr ia n m ona rchy Th e wr i ting upon the m is ex t re m ely ba d

. ,

a nd they seem t o be rough c opies ha s til y ex e cu ted and never ,

ca re q y copi ed ou t ag a in Th e na m e of the A ssy ri a n k ing for

.

who m they were wri tten is E sar ha ddon whi ch m ay be com -

,

pa re d wi th the na m e S ara cus assign ed t o th e la s t m on arch of

,

Ninev eh by clas si cal wri t ers W e le arn fro m them tha t Kazta riti
.

king of the Kar kas si the fort ress of the Kass i perh a ps ) ha d
-
,
”
,

a llied hi ms el f wi th M am itarsu
, the chi ef of the Med es th e ,

Ki mm e rians the Minnia ns of La ke Van and the peo pl e o f

, ,

S a p a rda (the S epha ra d of O b a d on the B la ck S ea and

.
,

i nvad ed As sy ria M a ny of the Assyri a n ci t i e s were taken and

.
,

th e Ki ng o f Nineveh or der ed a fas t of one hun dred da ys and

nigh ts t o the go ds in ord er t o a vert th e d a nger wi th whi ch th e

,

e m pire w as threa t ene d I t w as a t t his cris is wh en the ene my

.
,

w as hourly exp ec te d to a tta ck Ninev e h i ts elf tha t the ta b le ts

w er e c o m pose d —
,

S . .
 HIS T OR Y O F BA B Y LON I A . 1 51

the extinction of th e Assyri an empire will be found ,

8 9 —1 9 1
”
in the H istory of Assyri a , pp . 1 . N o trust
worthy history Of this period from any a ncient source
is known , an d one di ffi culty in the ca se is to know ,

how to choose between wh a t is prob able and wha t is

unlikely in the va rious notices which ha ve come down
to us .
1 5 2 HIS TOR Y o r BA B Y LON IA .

C H APT ER IX .

TH E EM P I R E OF N E B U C H AD N E ZZA R .

Rise of the Babyloni a n Em pi re — Egyp t and Me d i a— Nebucha d

ne zza r his con q ues ts a nd b uil dings—D est ruc t ion of Jerus al e m
,

—I nv asion of Egyp t— S iege of Ty re —The king dom of Lydi a

—B ab ylon ado rn ed— C h ara c t er of Neb uch a dnezza r— Evil
Merod ach h is m urder— Nergalsha reze r
, .

AFT E R the fall of Assyria , a n atural division of the

territories of th e dep arted emp ire was m a de . Th e
Medi a n provin ces and the north of Assyri a as far as

Cilici a , fell to Cyax a re s of Media ; th e south of

Assyria a nd p art of Ar abia fell to B abylon the ,

western boundary of NabO p Olassar being the Upper

E uphra tes . All west of C archemish a nd south Of

Cilici a wa s j oined to Egypt .

It w as evident th at the division wa s only pro

v ision a l ,
and could only l a st until the thr ee powers
could determine in conflict their rel a tive strength ;
and a ccordingly afte r a bout three ye ars the whole
, ,
1 54 H IS T OR Y O F BAB Y LON I A .

impetus due to individu al ability quickly fa iled

, , , an d

only left B abyloni a a richer and more tempting prize

for the rising power of Persi a . The fall of N ineveh
an d sudden extinction of the Assyri an power was fol
lowed by a p ause in the events then so rapidly hurry
ing al ong Although the h a mmer of the e arth was
.

broken it seemed for the moment a s if there was no

,

sta te able to ta ke the m antle of the dep ar ted empire .

The sm all er s ta tes were now independent whil e on ,

the ruins of the Assyri a n mon a rchy stood three

powers , a pp arently equ ally b al anced and equ ally re

luc tant to disturb their neighbours .

E gyp t on the west was now a gre a t sta te . I ts king

held court in N orthern S yri a ,
a nd its soldiers eu

ca mped by the b a nks of the river E uphr a tes All .

the country west of this gre a t n a tural bound a ry

a cknowledged the swa y of Ph a r a oh N echo the extent ,

of whose empire riv alled the dominions of Egypt in

her most p almy days under the gre a t
, Th oth m e s and

R a meses of the eighteenth and nineteenth dyn asties .

O n th e south , B abylonia h ad a ttai ned a power

which she h ad not possessed for severa l centuries
the south of Assyri a and the region of the Khabur
were a dded to her empire and wh atever culture and
,

a dvancement Assyr ia h ad possessed had at once gra

 HIS T ORY O F BAB Y LONI A . 1 55

vita te d
towards B abylon O n th e north an d ea st
.

M edia h a d risen within a few years from a con di tion

of division and l awlessness to a comp a ct an d powerfu l
mon archy ; an d the empire of Cyax are s king of Media , ,

extended from the river H al ys in Asia Minor to the , ,

e a st of Pers ia .

There was a mutu al agreement between the three

powers and the m a rri age of the son of the king of
,

Ba bylon with the da ughter of the king of Media a ssured

the pe ace between these sta tes ; besides which , all

had so recently a cquired their possessions th a t much

orga niza tion wa s necessa ry b efore any further exten
sion Of th em coul d b e m ade .

I t seems th a t the fir st power to recover was B aby

lon . Nabo po las sar was a ctive from the first , and

orga nized his new possessions so as to be quickly

rea dy for war ; and then , as generall y h appens ,
a pre
text for hostilities was soon found by one who was

l ooking out for it .

So me discussion ar ose with N echo , king of E gypt ,

prob ably about the rights or boundaries of the Egyp

tians and B abylonian s an d in B C 6 0 5 war was de
,
. .

between the two powers Nab O p O las sar was now

c lar e d .

too O ld and infirm for ac tive opera tions in the field

and being a nxious to prosecute the wa r with vigour ,
156 H IS T OR Y O F BAB Y LON I A .

pl a ced his tr oops under comm a nd of his eldest son ,

N ebuch a dnezz ar , a young m an of gr e a t promise T h e .

E gypti an a rmy mea nwhile lay idly at C archemish , on

the Upper Euphra tes N echo not h aving the j udg ,

ment to prep are aga inst his young a nta gonist .

N ebuch a dnezza r a dvanced to C a rchemish , a nd

a tta cked a nd routed the E gyp tia n a rmy there ga ining ,

by this movement the control of a ll S yria . The Egyp

tians appe a r to h ave h ad no reserves , an d the B a by
lonia ns m ar ched through S yria an d P alestine u nO p

posed receiving the submission in turn of

, all the
petty princes as far as the b orde rs of Egypt .

Among these tributa ries was Jehoiakim king of

Juda h who ,
ha d been set on the throne by N ech o ,

but who was now forced to submit to the B abyloni an

yoke .

While N ebuch a dnezz ar was a bsent in S yri a his

fa ther, Nab op olassar, died , a nd N ebuch a dnezz a r
ha stened b a ck to B abylon to a ssume the govern
ment . The B abyloni a n a rmy now return ed l a den
wi th the spoils of the west an d the tribute of S yri a ,

and B abylon a ssumed the position Of metropolis of

the world .

So on a fter N ebuch a dnezzar h a d re turned to B abylon ,

a bout BC
. . 6 0 2, P alestine revolted the rising being ,
1 58 H IS T OR Y OF BAB YLO N IA .

reign of Assur b ani p al but - -

,
a fter the defe a t of the
Assyrians by the Medes and B abyloni an s they had

revived and rega ined considerable strength O f th e

,
.

circumstan ces which brought them into conta ct with

the B abyloni ans we are ignorant ,
and we know nothing
of the history of the war ; the fin al result of the
struggle wa s however to extinguish once more the
, ,

independence of El am the country being now annexed

,

to B abylonia .

S oon ter this N ebu c h adne zzar B C 5 8 9 moved

af , ,
. .
,

into S yri a and t a king up his he a d qu arters at R ibl a h in

,
-
,

th e l and of H a m a th directed his troops , a gain st

P al estine . Nebu zara dan l his general l a id siege to
, ,

Jerus alem the centr e of the revolt where the Jews

, ,

within the city were divided into two p arties one for ,

submission to the Ch alde ans the other for resista nce , .

At this time Ap ries or H O p hra wa s king of E gypt he

h ad entered with spirit into the P alestini an le a gue ,

and with his fleet h ad occupied some p arts of the

Phoenici an coa st on the a dvance of N ebuch a dnezz ar
he a ssembled his a rmy ,
and m a rched aga inst Jerus alem
to endeavou r to ra ise the siege of th e city . I n this
e ffort he was unsuccessful though a t first the Ch a lde a n
,

In Assyri a n Nab u zira - iddina

- Neb o gave a s ee d .
—S .
 H IS T OR Y O F BA B Y LONI A
. 1 59

general a a l rmed by the a dv an ce of the E gypti ans ,

retired from the siege . Whether the l a tter engaged

th e a rmy of Ph aro ah we do not kn ow but certa inly ,

be forced the E gyptians to ab a ndon their enterprise ,

and le ave Jerus alem to its fa te . O n his return accord

ingly N ebuz ara d an pressed th e siege with vigour , a nd

in B C . .
5 8 7, Jeru sa lem fell . T he Ch aldean a rmy
marched in and destroyed the city burning the ,

T emple an d c arrying away its s a cred vessels an d trea

,

sures Zedekia h a ttempted to s ave himself by flight

.
,
i

but was ca p ture d and ca rried before N ebuch a dnezz ar

, ,

who put his sons to de ath before his fa ce and then ,

put out his eyes .

B esides Jerus al em several other cities O f Jud a h were

p l undered and destroyed and the people ca rried into ,

ca ptivity .

The surrounding n a ti ons of P a lestine which h a d

j oined in the revolt were punished in th eir turn and ,

in B C 5 8 6 the B abylonia n mon a rch la id Siege to

. .

Tyre Tyre a t this time w as the central ci ty o f

.

Mediterra ne an commerce and h a ving possession of a ,

powerful fle et and a position on the s ea co a st it wa s

, ,

in an exce llent condition for resisting a block ade by

la nd F or thirteen ye ars the a rmy of N ebuch a dnezza r
.

sat round its wa lls and even when the city was ta ken
,
1 60 H IS T OR Y O F BA B Y LON I A .

(B C 5 7 3)
. . the conqueror ga ined ve rv littl e to reward
1
his toil .

M e anwhile events were h appening elsewhere to call

o ff the a ttention of the B abylonian mon arch .

N ebuch a dnezz a r ha d wedded the da ughter of th e

king of Medi a and this a llia nce insured the pea ce
,

b etween these two n a tions T he warlike Media n .

monar ch did not interfere with the conquests of h is

grea t son in law but he - -
, , at the s ame tim e sought , an

empire outside the circle of the Babylonia n conquests .

O n th e e a st of Medi a in Armeni a , , and the e a stern

p a rt of Asia Minor the Media n empire wa s extende d , ,

a nd its western border now touched the dominions

of the rising Lydia n kingdom . S ince the time of
Gyges Lydi a had enj oyed gre a t prosperity , and its
territory now embra ced a considerable portion of Asia
M inor . A dispute a rose between Lydia a nd M edi a
on a ccount Of some fugitives who fled from the court
,

of C yax ares king of Medi a and to ok refuge wi th

, ,

Alya ttes king of Lydia I n B C 5 9 0 war broke out

, . . .

be tween the two powers in c onsequence of the Lyd ia ns

refusing to deliver up the fu gitives .

This war is s a id to ha ve l asted five year s wi th n o ,

I t is by no m e an s
cle a r th a t Neb uchadnezza r did ta ke Tyre .

SO ju dicious a hi stori an as Mr Grot e thinks no t —S

. .
162 H IS TOR Y O F BAB YLON I A .

rane a n, then in the h an ds of the Tyria n fleet ,

en abled them to remove th e b ul k of their weal th

before the fall of th e city . W ithin the rea ch of the
B abyloni an sovereign there stil l rema ined E gypt ,

which h ad fomented and encouraged every successive

rebell ion in P ales tine . In B C 5 72
. . N ebucha dnezz ar
m arch ed in person into th a t country , a nd de fe a ting
the a rmy of H O p h ra overra n E gyp t and p lundered it
, ,

O f a ll its we al th H O ph ra fell into his h ands a nd wa s

.
,

deposed ,
a general n amed Ah m e s or Ama sis being
a cknowle dged as king of Egypt in hi s stea d ,
th e new
mon arch being ins ta lled as a v ass a l of B abyloni a .

The conquest of E gypt prob ably closed the e ra of

the foreign wa rs of N ebuch a dnezz ar : th es e contests
ha d l asted at lea st thirt y thr ee ye ars
-
, and had extended
from the c onfines of Persia in the e a st to L ibya in
the west , an d from Cilici a in the north to A rabia in
the south . The bou ndaries of the B abylonia n king
d om at this time comprised so ,
far as we know E l a m ,

or Khuzista n on the e ast ,

and p arts north of this ,

including Zimri and the region as far as th e Zagr o s

mounta ins ta king , in all the best p a rt of Assyria , and

proba bly all the region south of the Mar d in mou ntains ,

a cross to Cilici a where the bou n dar y touched th e

,

Mediterranea n . All Syri a, as far as the M e diterrane an ,

 H IS T ORY O F B AB Y LON I A . 1 63

was inc luded, and E gypt with pa rt of L ibya on the

, ,

we st . I t is uncertai n if Cyprus owned the sway of

N ebucha dnezza r an d
nothing is known O f most of the
,

sta tes of Asia M inor O n the south th e empire w a s

.

bordered by the L ibya n desert the c a t ar a cts of th e

,

N ile ,
a nd an uncerta in line running through Ara bi a .

The Persia n Gulf w as under B abyloni a n control both ,

shores being subj e ct to N e bu ch a dn e zzar , a nd a con

s ide rab le commerce w as c a rried on from it to I n di a .

The ra pidity wi th which this empire had been ac

q uired Shows the genius of Nab O p O las sar an d his son

N e bu c h adne zzar . O nly fo rty yea rs before, B a byloni a
had been subj ect to Assyria ,
an d within tha t spa ce
th e B a byloni a ns h a d , in
conj unction with the Medes ,

crushed the power of Assyri a conque red its depen ,

d e nc ie s broken the power of the mona rchy ra ised by

,

P sa m m etic h u s in Egypt overrun Ar a bia an d a nnexed

, ,

The fame of N ebuch a dnezza r rests however more , ,

on his buildings th a n his conquests . S hort outlines

a nd notes in th e B ible and various ancient a uthors
, ,

are a ll th a t re m a in of th e politic a l events of his reign ,

a nd it is a t present impossible to fill in the detai ls of

h is va rious c amp a igns ; but he hi mself h as left us in

his insc riptions min ute a nd rem ark able a ccounts of
M 2
1 64 H I S T ORY OF BAB Y LONI A .

his va rious a rchitectural works . T hese show precisely

the spirit mentioned in the book of D aniel . All his
l abour a nd a ll his glory were to m ake , B a bylon the
gran dest city of the world ; nothing w as sp a red th a t
a bsolute power could dicta te a nd th a t we alth or genius
could supply ,
a nd under N e bu c h adne zzar B abylon

bec ame the glory and wonder of the world .

The gre a t temple of B abylon , ca lled S a gg al which ,

wa s dedic a ted to Merod a ch or B el , l h e rebuilt a nd

richly a dorned with gol d silver and precious stones ;

“
, ,

and here he once more re a red the he a d of the z iggu r

ra t or tower c alled Temin s a mi irtsiti - -
, the found a tion
”
of he a ven (and) e a rth The s anctu a ry of B e l he roofe d
’

with ced a r brought from the mount ains of L eb a non ,

a nd overl a id with gold ; the temples of B irbir a nd

Ziru dedic a ted to

, B el a nd R ub a t th e temple of the
,

Moon god , th e temple of the S un the temple of Vul , , th e

a tmospheric god the temple of th e goddess Gul a the

, ,

temple of Venus , a nd other buildings , be reconstructed

B e l-Mero da ch w as
t er me d t he younger B e l t o d is tinguish

“
,

h im fro m th e el der B e ] one of t he m e m b ers of the t rini t y A nu

, , ,

B e l and H e a
, Th e ol d er B e l w a s c a lle d Mul or Mul ge
. th e -
,

lord of th e ab yss in A cc a di an a nd presi d e d over the e a rt h and

,

un derground worl d B e l A ssyri a n B ilu is the H e b rew B a a l

.
, , ,

lord —S . .
1 66 H IS T ORY OF BA B L Y ONI A .

I n the court , a nd a mong the upper cla sses there ,

was a t this tim e a luxury equ a l to the magnificence of

the buildings . Leb an on furnished its ced ars Tyre its ,

goods a nd m anufa ctures H elbon the S huite distri ct

, , ,

the north of Assyri a and S yri a furnished various wines

, ,

which flowed on the roya l and priestly t ables like

rivers ca ttle ,
a nim a ls of all sorts str ange b irds
, , a nd

fish , some presents from dista nt l a nds others ,

th e

plunder of conquered and oppressed n a tions filled ,

the fi elds a nd w a ters of B abylon ; a nd the noblest

youths of conquered pe oples se rve d in the presen ce of
the king a nd courti ers .

Th e las t ten years of the reign of N eb u c h ad ne zzar

a ppe ar to h ave been sp ent in pe a ce surroun ded by ,

a ll this pomp a nd luxury During this peri od ao .

,

cording to the book of D a niel the k ing ,

su fle re d
'

for a

time under a form of m a dness conceiving himself to,

be a be a st of the field . N o inscription or notice in

confi rm a tion of this h as yet been discove red ; but it
must be remembered th a t our knowledge of the whole
of the reign is very sca nty .

S O far as we c an tr a ce th e ch ara cter of N e buc h a d

nezza r, he a ppe ars to h a ve been a sovereign of great
a bility , a good general bold in de sign
, , and reso lute in
a c tion .
The long wa rs he waged over most of the
 H IS TOR Y or BA B Y LO NIA . 1 67

then kn own world his defea t of , th e Egypti a ns at

C a rchemi sh at the outs e t of his car eer , a nd his long

and determ in e d blocka de of Tyre Show ,
hi s milita ry
ch a ra cter ; but like most O rienta l sovereigns his
, , a cts
were sta ined with cruelty . As a builder N e buc h ad ,

ne zzar st ands in the first ran k and h e was a gr ea t ,

p a tron of a rts and sciences H is system of govern .

ment was the usu al Ea stern one of drai ning a nd

oppressin g conquered countri es and subj ect provin ces

to increa se the glory and m agnificence of his ca pital .

I n reli gion N ebuch a dnezzar w as l ike most rulers , ,

fa ithful to the orthodoxy of his da y . Merod a ch or Be l

and N ebo were his grea t divinities , a nd a fter them

c am e a tr ai n of le sser gods who ea ch sh ared ,
th e

d e votion and gifts of the sovereign . H is go ds are

s a id to inspire his he art ; he a cknowledges th a t his life

and success were from them ,
and he ra ises at their
holy sea ts pra yer a nd th a nks giving to the m .

S uch was N ebu c h adne zzar the grea test of the Baby ,

lonia n sovereigns H e reigned over Western As ia

.

from his ca mpa ign ag a inst C a rchemish in B C 6 0 5 ,

. .
,

until his de a th B C 5 6 2 O n the d ea th of Ne bu cha d

,
. . .

n e zzar h is crown descended to his son Amil M ar -

uduk the E vil Meroda ch of the

,
-
B ible , ca lle d by the
Greeks I lou aro da m .
1 68 H IS T OR Y o r BAB Y LONI A .

E vil Merodach a ppe ars so far

-
, as we c an j udge to ,

h a ve been a p a cific sovereign ; but the a ncient a uthors

who mention him condemn his government N ebu .

c h a dne zza r h ad ta ken c a ptive Jehoi a chin king of ,

Jud ah , an d kept him in prison at B a bylon . Evil Mero -

d a ch however rele a sed the ca ptive when he ca me to

, ,

the throne , and se a ted him in honour at B abylon .

It is prob able th a t in other respects E vil Merod a ch -

reversed the policy of his fa ther , and this led to

discontent a mong the proud overbe a ring nobles of
B abylon . I n consequence of this a conspir a cy was

formed g i st him led by his

a a n , o wn brother in law - -

N ergal -
sar- uzur ,
the Nergalsh are ze r of the B ibl e ,

ca lled N eri glissor-

by the Greek writers , a nd E vil
Meroda ch wa s a ss assin a ted af ter a reign of two years ,

B C . .
5 60 .

O n the murder of Evil M erod a ch the conspira tors -

ra ised to the throne Ne rgalsh are ze r their le a der , . He

was the son of B e l z akir isku n,
- -
who h ad ruled at

B a bylon during the troublous period towa rds the close

of the Assyri a n mon archy . I t is unkn own whether
he was the sa me as the Be l -
za kir isku n who ruled in
-

Assyri a a bout the s a me time . Ne rgalsh are ze r h a d

been appointed r u bu emga
(the Rabm a g of the B ible ),

which a ppe ars to h ave been one of the highest titles

1 70 H IS TO RY O F BA B Y LONI A .

C H APTE R X .

D EC LIN E A ND F AL L OF TH E BAB YLON I A N

E MPI RE .

L abo ro soa rc h od Na b oni dus — B a b ylon fo rtifi e d— As ty ages and

Cyrus — Cyrus b esieges B a b ylon — B abylon ta ken b y t he Per
si an s —Th e D a rius of D a niel — R e turn of the Jews fro m ex il e

—C a m byses an d S m e rdis — D a rius H y s tas p e S — R evol t and

c a ptu re of B ab ylon — S econ d revol t O f B ab ylon un der A rah u
B ab ylon t a ken — Decline of B a bylon
-
.

TH E successor of Ne rga lsh are ze r wa s c alled

son a nd

by the Greeks Lab oro soarch o d perh a ps a corruption ,

of the B abylonia n n a me U lb ar surki idin a Thi s - -

.

prince ha d only reigned nine months when a new

cons piracy was formed and he was a ssa ssi nat ed ; a
,

ma n n a med N ab u imtuk or Nab u n a hi d cal led by

-
,
-
,

the Greeks La byne tu s or N aboni dus ,

son of the

r ubu m g: or ra bm ag N abu bala tsu - -

iqb i, be ing ra is e d
to the throne B C 5 56
. . . N abonidus either
de was a

sc e nda nt of N ebuch a dnezz a r on the fem a le side or ,

m a rried into the fa mily to strengthen his right to th e

 HI STOR Y O F BA B Y LO NIA . 1 71

throne . In c o nne c tio n with h im we find mentioned

in H erodotus a queen na med Nitoc ris to wh o m some ,

of the grea t works at B abylon a re a scribed .

During the reign of N abo nidu s the ina cti vity abro a d
con tin ued while poli tical events o utside B abylonia
,

were ripen ing for the destruction of th a t sta te .

N aboni dus rebuilt and restored the va rious temples ,

and did all he could to propiti a te the priesthood .

Se eing tha t B abyloni a , which had been so long in a c

tive , would soon h a ve to prep are to resist the Medes
a nd Persi ans N abonidus rep a ired
, a nd incre a sed the
de fences of the ca pital . Towa rds the close of his
reign ,
N abonidus a ssoci a ted wi th h imself on the throne
his el dest son Bel -
sar- uzur the ,
B elsh a zz a r of the book
of D a niel 1 . About the ye ar B C . .
540 tta ck wa s
an a

m a de upon B abylon by th e Med e s a nd Persia ns the ,

immedia te pretext of whi ch is not known .

Since the pea ce be tween Lydia and Media in B C . .

585, a general cessa tion of ho stilities ha d cont inued

This is dou b tful B elsh azz a r (B ilu s a rra u tsur ) is c alled the ’
- -
.

eld es t son of Nabo nidu s in one of the l a tter s inscrip ti ons ; b u t ’

a da te d ta b le t fro m B ab ylon m en t ions the third ye a r of Mero

d ach Sa r r a u tsur a nd not B e l Sa rr a utsu r

- -
,
H owever Merod ach
- -
.
,

w as a lso ad d res se d as B e l an d a ccord ing t o the b ook of D a niel

, , ,

B elsh a zz a r w as in comm an d in B ab ylon a t the t i m e of th e ca p

ture of th a t ci ty by Cyru s — S .
[ 72 H IS T OR Y O F BAB LO Y N IA .

for some ye ars in those countries . Cyax a re s, king of

Medi a ,
h ad died , a nd his son A styage s, who succeeded
him being , a p a cific prince ,
had not sought to emul a te
the gre a t milita ry expeditions of his father .

A styage s h a d a d a ughter whom he m a rried to

, Ca m
byse s, king of Persia th a t country being a t the time
,

o ne of the tributa ries of Media O f this m a rri age .

born Cyrus the future m ster of the world 1 Cyrus

w as a ,
.

Of
’
on coming to m an s esta te conceived th e proj ect
freeing Persi a from the dominion of Media , a nd h aving
persu a ded the Persi a ns to follow him in the enterprise ,

he threw off the Media n yoke The d a te of this event .

is supposed to h ave been a bout B C 5 5 9 A long and . . .

obstin a te war followed which ended in the ultim a te ,

triumph of Persi a . D uring this struggle L ydi a on the

west , an d B abylon on the south west -
,
a lthough directly
interested m a int a ined , a policy of non intervention -
,

an d a llowed the Median power to fall into the h ands

of Cyrus , a m an destined to conquer them both .

‘
It m us
t be re m e m bered t h at the d escen t of C yrus from
As ty age s rest s on very d oub tful a u thori t y Th e very n am e of

“
.

A s ty age s h as a m ythic a l a spec t as i t is m erely the Greek form

,

o f th e Zen d A d a hak the b iting sn ake of nigh t a nd da rk

”
j -
,

n ess t he Ah i of t he H in d u Ved a and the Zoh ak o f F irdusi

, .
,

—S .
I 74 H IS T OR Y O F BAB Y LON IA .

was in the h a nds of B elsh a zza r , who is m entioned in

an inscripti on of the peri od a onl g with his fa ther
N abonidus .

Bab ylon w as strongly fort ified , an d its pe o ple were

trusting in their defences an d holding high festiv al ,

when th e Persi ans who ,

ha d m a de a ca na l a bove the .

city , and diverted p art of th e wa ters of the river forded ,

the Euphr a tes in the night ,

a nd entered the city by
the river g ates which ,
h as been left ungu arded during
the festival . B elsh az z ar , son of N abonidus , was

sl a in in the a tta ck , a nd the city fell into the h a nds of

Cyrus ,
B C 5 39
. . .

Th e b ook of D a niel here sta tes th a t D a rius , son

of Ah as uerus took , th e kingdom while a ncient a uthors
,

genera lly represent C yrus as sole le ader of the con

quest Much discussion h a s a risen as to th e person
.

a li ty of this D a rius some suppose hi m to b e As tyage s ,

the gra n dfa ther O f Cyrus others m ake him the s a me

a s C ax are s son of A s t a es
y y g ; whi l e a third section
,

consider him to be a Media n prince otherwise ,

un

known to h istory . O ne inquirer Mr ,

. B osa nquet ,
adheres to the unlikel y theory th a t he is the s a m e as

D arius H ysta spe s 1 .

The ex ist enc e

of C y ax a res the son of As tyages is m ore
, ,

tha n d oub tful as i t d epen ds on X en ophon s rom ance of th e Gy m

,
’
 HIS T ORY O F BA B YLON IA . 1 75

The inscripti o ns ha ve as yet a fforded n o inform at ion

on th is p o int , bu t we may be certa in th a t the rule of
this D ar ius was short , and Ptolemy s C a non our best
’
,

chr onologica l a uthority pl a ces the first ye ar of Cyrus

,

B C 5 38 .

Cyrus , a fter the conqu est of B abylon , a d m in istered

the government with car e an d attention to the l a ws
a nd religion of the country . The Persia ns were
Monotheists and I n principle opposed to th e degra d
,

ing religions of Western Asia but in the time of

Cyrus they a dopted the rul e of governing the subj ect
coun tries in a c c ord a nce wi th their na tive tra ditions .

Thus we find C yrus , who by reli gion b elieved in one

God only , a nd ra ised no ima ges for his worship ,
re

p ai ring in B abyloni a the temples of S aggal a t B a bylon ,

S idd a a t B orsip pa and P a rra a t La rs a a nd preserving

, ,

the B abylonia n worship in these temples .

The s a me desire to concilia te th e n a tions under his

sw ay led Cyrus to permit the Jews to retu rn to their
own country , an d to reb u il d the temple which

p aedi a . Th e H eb rew A has ue rus

represent s the Greek X erxes .

Th e da t ed tab le ts r e cently procure d fro m B a b ylon record only

the reigns of Nebuch a dnezz a r and his successors d ow n to Na
bonidus and Me m d ach sa rra a ts a r and th e n p ass on t o Cy rus
'
- -
,
1 76 H I S T ORY OF B AB Y LON I A .

N ebuch a dnezz ar had destroyed . Cyrus died B C

. .

5 30 , le aving his crown to his son C ambyses under ,

whom there was littl e ch ange in the condition of

B abyloni a . The people however , , w ere diss a tisfied

with the foreign dominion and secretly prep a red to ,

revolt aga inst Persi a only wa iting for a n opportunity

,

to throw O ff the yoke of their conquerors .

An opportunity soon occurred : C ambyses was absent

in Egypt (which h e conquered B C 5 2 7 ) during the . .

l a tter p a rt of his reign and some diss a tisfa ction a rose

,

in Medi a a nd Persi a in consequence . The d issatis

faction a mong the Medes wa s incre a sed by the feeling
th a t where a s Media had been the chief st ate it , wa s

now subj ect to Persi a which ,

had once been tribut a ry
to it .

C a mbyses h ad secretly murdered his younger

brother B a rdes , or S m erdis, a nd this fa ct a ppe a rs to
h a ve been unknown a mong the people . A Medi a n ,

one of the M agi n amed , Gu m atu or Gom a tes t aking ,

a dva ntage of the dis affection during the a bsence of

C ambyses , person a ted the de a d prince S m e rdis,

a nd decl aring himself son of Cyrus rose in rebellion ,

B C 5 2 2,
. . a nd Medi a a nd Pe rsi a went over to him .

C a mbyses on he a ring of the revolt left Egypt in h a ste

, ,

to meet the pretender but killed himself (perh aps by

,
1 78 H IS T OR Y O F BAB YLON I A .

p a rt Of their forces driven into the river . Nad intu

B el fled with a few of his soldiers , and took refu ge in
where h e wa s followed and ca ptured by
B a bylon ,
D arius who executed him for his rebel lion about
,

B C 521
. . .

F or some ye ars after this B abylon rem a ined subj ect

to Persi a but ,
a bout B C 515
. . a m an n a med Ar ah u,

son of H andita ,
a rose at a town n a m ed Du b an , and,

like Na dintu —
B e l persona ted N ebuch a dne zz a r son of
, ,

N abonidus . The people of B abylon a a g in revolte d ,

and m aking this ma n king prep ared to resist D arius , .

The Persi an mon arch sent a general who a dva nced to ,

B abylon , and besieged Arabu there . H ow long th e

siege l asted we a re not told but , the Persia ns ca p ~

tu re d th e city , and t aking Arah u prisoner cruc ifie d him , .

With th e crushing of the second revolt g inst

a a

Persia ends th e monumenta l hist o ry of Ba bylonia ; its

hi story after this is only th e h istory of a pr ovince of
the successive em pire s of the Ea st . I t is tru e tha t
the B abyloni a n religion survived , and the cuneiform
writing continued to be used for some centuries ; but
these al so in ti me pe rished , a nd a t the time of the
Christi a n e ra e verything but the B abylonia n su per
stitions and a strology h ad p assed away .

After the Persia n conquest B abylon rem ained one

 HIS T OR Y O F B AB YLON I A . 1 79

of the c apit als of the empire , a nd it retai ned this posi

tion until the rise of the city of S eleucia after which ,

B a bylon gra du ally deca yed until its p al aces becam e

,

mounds of rubbish in which it is impossible to recog

,

niz e th e outlines and fea tures of the origin al buildings .

The fall of Babylon wa s brought about through the

vice and c orruption of the religion and moral s of the
country The numerous deities the sl avish sup ersti
.
,

tions ,
the obs cene ri tes of the goddesses the debas ing ,

ignora nce of the bulk of the people and the indolence ,

begotten of triumph and pill age combined with a gene

,

ral moral and ment al deca y were more disas trous to

,

the country th an the a rms of the Per sian conquerors .

 EXP LANATI O N O F B ABY LO NI A N P R O P ER
NAM ES
'

[Added by fire E dztor .

]

TH E d eriv a tion of B abyloni a n proper n am es h as t o b e so ugh tj n

four difle re nt l a ngu ages The ol d es t n a m es b elong to the
'

agglu tina tive A cca d i an the l a ter to th e infle c tio nal S e m i t ic,
.

B esi d es these there are o ther proper n am es the expl a n a t ion of

, ,

which is t o be foun d in the allied d i a lects of El am a nd the C assi

( Kossaea ns ) which b elong t o the s a m e fa m il y of speech as the
,

A cc adi an .

AC CAD I A N NA M E S .

Uba r a Ta tu Th e glow of the se tting sun , .

M er oda ch Th e b rilli a nce of the sun

, .

H ea Th e god of the house

, .

D a v ki nd Th e m is tress of t he e arth
-
, .

Na (or A n u ) Th e sky , .

Na na La d y , .

D u m u zz ( Ta m m uz) Th e o ffspring or only son

’

.
, ,

S id u r i Th e eye of you th
, .

L ig B aga s A lion (is ) t he go ddess B ag a s

-
, .

D u ngi Th e powerful , .

R i Ag u (or E r i A ku or R im Agu ) Th e serv a n t of the m oon

- -
,
-
,

god .

Agu -ka k -n m i, Th e m oon -god (is ) th e m a ker of our ligh t

’

S zp a r (S ipp a r a ), Th e sh ri ne of th e sun
'

A cca d (A ca ci a ), Th e highl a n d s .

Ur (or M u m , or E n ) , Th e ci ty .

E r ech ( Uru ki ), Th e city of t he l a n d .

E -S agga l, H ouse of the high he a d .

S zlzm -kal a m a , Couch of the worl d

' '

E LA M I T E NAM E S .

K u d u r -M a bu l , S erv a n t of M a b uk '
.

K ud u r S erv a n t of Na nkh u nta .

K u d u r La ga m a r -
S erv a n t of Lag a m a r .

Te u m m z m, VVorshippe r of U m m a n
-
.
1 82 E X P LA N A T I ON OF P RO P E R N A ME S .

A ssu r -du r -u tm r , A ssur, d efen d he for ress t t .

S zn-tc bm u tsu r , S in, d efen d he o fls p ring t

' ’ '

-
.

M a n nu -ti -ba bil z, W h a (is ) like B a bylon t

’

H ea -m u ba ra , H e a (is ) he h a ma kes e x is t t t .

Na bop ol rra r (Na bu -p a l — utm r ), Ne b o, pro t ec t (or h as crea te d )

fie son
t .

E d i -Mer odach (A m rl Th e m an of Merod a ch

’

M rga l-fa r r a -u tm r , Nergal , prot ec t (or h as crea ted ) th e king .

Th e go d of Bit-U lb ar g a ve presen ts
’

Ulba r -ru r kz .

Na bonid us (Na bu Ne b o is glorious (Th e Acc a di a n .

equiv alen t of 720 s is

Na dzntu -B el, Th e gift of B e l
’

B el (B ilu ), Lor d .

Na bo (Na bi a , or Na b u), Th e prophet .

Tar m zt, Th e b e are r

’

S a m , Th e win d .

B ab G a t e of pe a ce .

B a by lon (B a b-iii ), Ga t e of God .

E la m (E la m a ), Th e H ighl a n ds (the S e m i t ic re n d ering of th e

native n am e M a ba r tz, o r H u bs” ; Nu m ma in A cc a
’

dian) .

M e Tu m a t, Th e w at ers o f th e To rna dotus .

[f a r -A ssu r , F ort of A ssur .

I mgu r -B el, Th e b e love d of B el .

Nzm zt-B el (or r a ther Nem id -B el ), Th e foundati on of B e l

’ ’

.
 I ND E X .

“
ACCAD , o r AKK A D , a dis tri ct originally na m e d fro m i ts ih
h ab i ta n ts , the A cc ad ai, highl a n ders also re a d A ga né ,
n p 6 1 firs t four ci ties , Babe l , E rech, A kka d, a nd
. .

C a lneh, p 6 1 the coun try of cla ssica l cuneifo rm li tera

.

t ure , fro m whi ch all the great A ssyria n works were C opie d,
75
Ac ca d ia nla ngu age a nd li t erature , 1 8 ; li bra ries a tAg ame, S enk e re h ,
U r, Ere ch, a nd Cu t ha h , 1 9 ; ch a rm s , o r magic for m u lae, d ivi n a
ti on a nd o m ens, drea d of the powers of evil, hym n to the
seve n bal eful spiri ts, 2 0 — 22 hym ns to the god s co m pile d
B C
. . com p ared with th e Rig-Veda , 23, 24 ; hym ns
to M e ro da c h and S am a s , 24, 2 5 ; peni t en ti al psa l m , 2 6 , 2 7
pra yer, 2 7 m ythologica l poe m s founde d on a stronom y, 29
hym ns transl a ted int o A ssyri an , 2 9 la ws rel a ting t o
sl a ves , lega l prece dent s and d ecisions , 30 , 31 respect for
wo m en , 30 ; l a ngu age aggluti na tive, 35 , n .

A dra h as is, or H as isa d ra com p a re d wi th Noah , 37 .

Agu -ka k - ri m i res t ore d the t e m ple of Be l a t B a bylon , and

r a nsom ed the i m ages of Mero da ch a nd Zira t-bani t fro m the
la n d of Ha ni , 7 7 .

A s h dod b esieged b y the Egyp t i a ns, who also wres ted C a r

chemi sh from the A ssyria ns, 1 4 9 , 1 5 1 .

Am ra phel, or Am a rp u l, 9 2 .

A rnil- M aru du k , the B i b lica l E vil -Merod a ch , a m ild a nd pea cefu l

ruler rele ase d Jehoi a chin , b u t d eta ine d him in honoura b le
ca ptivi ty ; m urd ered by his b rother -in-la w , 1 6 7, 1 68 .

A ntiq uity a nd ext en t of B a byloni a n civ ili za t ion , 1 4 , 32 .

Ann, th e god of he a ven Ana tu , his consort, 5 7 .

A rab u, a B a byloni a n pre t en d er crucifie d by D a rius , 1 78 .

A rioch, Eri -a k u , or Rim -agu , son of Ku dur -ma b u g, 9 3, 11 .

Arts a nd sciences cul tivated b y the B a bylonia ns , 1 5 .

A st rono m y d erive d fro m Cha l daea , 1 5 .

A ssur -d a ya n sent e x pe ditions a ga ins t I t ub a and Ga nana ti, 1 0 9 .

A ssur n a zir p a l d efe a t ed th e S h u ite s a nd B a b ylonia ns , and su b

- -

du e d he region
t of the Kh a b ur 1 0 1 1 02
, , .

A ssur ubal id s da ugh ter m a rried to th e king of B aby lonia 85

’
-
, .
1 84 H IS TOR Y or BAB Y LON I A .

“
Ath a ra ,
ci ty where the chiefs of Peko d and H inda ru s ub
th e
m itte d a nd p a i d tri b ut e t o S a rgon 1 1 9 , .

B AB E L g a te of God the S e m itic ren d ering of C a D im irra ” -

, , ,

possi bly in reference t o th e b uil ding of the Tower 5 3 n , , .

B ab salim iti a ci t y on t he Persi a n Gulf 1 3 1 4 1 31

-
, , , , .

Babylon city of b uil t in very e a rly ti m es 7 5 a sserte d by the

, , ,

B ab yloni a ns to h a ve been a gre a t ci ty b efore th e Del uge ,

5 3 a pl a ce of li ttle i m porta nce t ill i t b eca m e t he c a pi ta l ,

a nd hel d t h is posi t ion m ore th a n ye a rs 7 5 ; fi rs t ,

m a d e sole c a pi ta l b y Kh am m u ragas who gre a tly enriched ,

i t a nd a dd ed splen dour t o i ts worship of Merod a ch or Be l

, ,

8 1 8 2 ; c a p t ured by Tigla th p ile se r 9 7 by S h al m a neser

,
-
, ,

1 04 ; b y S a rgon 1 21 1 22 ; by S enna cheri b 1 2 6 ; b y th e

, , ,

E l a m i t es and Ch al daea ns 1 31 aga in by S enn a cheri b given , ,

up t o indi scrim in a t e plun der com ple tely d es troyed a nd the , ,

gre at ca n a l fille d up with the ruins 1 35 1 36 ; re b uil t by ,

'

E sa r h add on- 1 39 ; c a p tured by Ass ur ba ni p a l when

,
- -
,

S a ul m ugi n a se t fire to his o wn p a la ce a nd perishe d in t he

-

fl am es 1 4 7 ; th e ci ty rose int o gre ater i m po rta nce un de r

,

Nab op olas sa r a nd his son Neb ucha dn ezza r b eca m e the

, , ,

centr e of th e po li tic a l worl d 1 5 3 ; th e la tt er restored its

“
,

w a lls t e m ples a nd p a l aces o na s ca le of grea t m agni ficence

, ,

whilst enga g ed in wa rs wi t h the a djoining coun tri e s 1 5 6 ,

1 6 5 ; b o a st I s no t this gre a t B a bylon & c 1 6 5 ; its ”

, , .
,

we a lth a nd luxury 1 6 6 1 6 7 ; th e Persi a n conquest un der , ,

Cy rus 1 73 1 74 the ci ty ca p t ured by D a rius who pu t th e

, , ,

pre tender Na dintu B e l t o d ea th a nd a ga in a few ye a rs

,
-
, , ,

a ft erwa rd s when A rah u who h ad person a t e d a son of

, ,

Nab oni dus w a s t aken p risoner a nd crucifie d 1 77 1 78

, ,
-

ca uses of its fall 1 8 1 , .

B ab yloni a boun da ries of v a rie d a t difle re nt periods 34 ;

, , ,

though t t o h a ve been firs t peopled b y Tura ni a ns who were ,

conquere d a nd dispossesse d by S e m it e s 34 35 history o f , ,

th e coun try tra nsl at e d by B erosus fro m i t s own records

into C re e k i n th e third cent ury B C now los t excep t a ,
. .
,

few fragm ents 35 , .

B ab yloni a n kings lists of & c 8—1 2 , , .

, .

B abyloni a n li b ra ries 1 9 m a the m a t ica l works ta b les o f s q ua res

, ,

a nd cu b es now in B ritish Museum fro m S e nk e re h 19 ; ,

li tera ture includ ed b e a st fab les con tra c t tab lets d eed s o f
,
-
, ,

St i le geogra phica l lists chronologic a l tab les hi stori ca l

, , ,

d ocum en ts copies of correspo n dence ca ta logues of a ni m a ls

, , ,

t rees stones &c & c 31 32

, , .
, .
, , .

B ab yloni a n proper n a m es : A cca di a n El a m i t e C assi t e a nd , , ,

S e m itic 1 80 —2 , .

B ab yloni a n religion a m ixt ure of gr a ceful m yth s a nd th e

,
 HI S T ORY O F BAB YLONI A .

Be l, the pre t en de d son of Nab oni dus his gen e ra l ca p tu red

A rah u , a no ther pre t en d er, a nd crucifie d h im , 1 77, 1 78 .

D est ruc t ion of B a b ylon b y S enn a cheri b , 1 36 .

Divis ion O f A ssyri a on th e fa ll of Nineveh , 1 5 2—1 5 5 .

D u ngi , a grea t b uil d er of t em ples , 72 .

Dur or D iru , 1 8, 1 0 8 , 1 1 6 .

D uran or Duba n, 1 8, 1 32 .

D ur-a tha ra taken b y S a rgon reb uil t, and i ts n am e ch a ng ed t o

D u r-Na b u , 1 1 9 .

Dur -kuri ga lz u (Akk e rku f) , bu i lt by Kur-galzu , 8 7 ; seiz e d b y

-

Tigla th -p ilese r, 9 6 , 9 7 .

D ur -p a p sakul ca p ture d by S a rgon , 1 0 6 , 1 0 7 .

D ur -sar, a n Elam i t e fortress , ta ken fro m S a m si -V ul, 1 22 .

D ur ya ln n, the fi rs t se at of Mer oda ch b ala dan s governm en t ,

’
’

- -

1 1 8 , 1 2 3, 1 2 4 .

E D E N i d en tifi ed wi th Ga n-du niyas , 5 2 , 5 3 .

E l am , p eopl ed b y w a rlike Tura ni a ns , often ru led by s evera l petty

princes ; chi ef cities , S hush a n , Mada k tu , a nd H idalu, 9 1 .

E levent h d eluge , Ta b le t throws ligh t on Genesis a ccoun t, 38 .

E s a r -h a dd on re b uil t B a bylon , rest ore d th e i m a ges of th e go d s

1 39 ; checke d t he D a kk u ri , b urn t t heir king S a m a s i b ni -

and receive d Be l ba sa s sub m ission ; relea se d M a n a sseh ,

’
-

& c , 1 40 —
. 2 .

E vil -M e rod a ch .
( S e e A M IL -M A RU D U
K ) .

E ta nna , t he m ythica l foun d er of Ba b el , Ta m m uz , a nd Ne r, 6 2 .

FA LL of A ssyri a , t he e ra of a purer fa i th, 1 5 3 .

F a s t of 1 00 da ys a t Ni neveh , 1 5 1 , n .

F ront iers of A ssyri a d efin it ely settle d by tre a ty , 1 0 2, 1 0 3 .

G A N- D U NI , or K AR -B U NI AS i d en t ifie d wi th Ed en , b y S ir H C . .

R a wlinson , 5 2 , 5 3 .

H AMMU R A B I , or K H A M M U RA GA S , th e C a ssi t e con q ueror of

B a b yloni a , a nd foun d er of a new dyn a st y m a d e B ab ylon ,

sole ca pi tal , a nd a dde d splendour t o the wo rship of Mero

d a ch or Be l w a s a b uil d er of t e m ples , p ala ces , a nd
foun d e d severa l cities, b esi des exc a va t ing th e ca n al n am ed
i n his honour, H a m m u -ra b inuh us nisi , 8 1 3 - -
.

H a rb i S ipa k , or Murga s - S ip ak , 84
-
.

H a rris k a la m a , or K h a rsak -ka l a m a , 76 , 1 2 6

-
.

H ea -b ani , the a strologer, an d frien d of I zd uba r, 5 8 .

H e a m u ba sa, a C h a l daea n chief, 1 4 5

-
.

H ea -m u k in -ziru , a Ch a l daean usurp er, 9 8 .

I LU LIEU S , or Y U G /‘EU S , king of B a bylon , 1 1 4 .

I nd a -b iga s , king of El a m , 1 4 7, 1 4 8 .

I ri b a -M a ru duk , n a m e of a king , only foun d on a weight, 1 0 0 .

I sh ta r, the celeb ra t ed queen of E rech , 5 5 o ffers t o m a rry

I zduba r, a nd her revenge on his r e fusa l , 5 5 —7 .
 I N D EX .
1 87

I sm i-d ag an , and Libit- I sh a r , kin s of Ka rrak t

g , 73 .

I z du bar, su pposed o be Ni m rod , m a d e Erech h is ca pi a l ; t t

fri en dsh i p with H e a -b a ni , exploi s a nd m ythical a dven u res , t t
—
5 4 7 j ourney o H asisa dra, who rela es to him he s ory t t t t
of the Fl o od , 5 8, 5 9 .

KARA HAR D AS or KA RA MU RD AS son of a

-
,
-
, da ugh t er of A ssur
u ba lid , 8 5 , 86 .

K in da s t itles a ssu m ed by him a nd hi s t rea ty wi th A ssur

a ra - , ,
bc l nisi su 8 4 8 5
- -
, , .

K a ra sa m a s a city on the Ti gris found ed by Hamm ura b i 8 2

-
, , , .

K a rra k fa ll of used as a n e ra 74
, , , .

K a ssu t ri b e of first m entione d in a n inscri ption of A ga kak

, , -

ri ni m urd ered the king of B ab ylon and se t up Na zi b ugas

g
é
-
, , ,

‘
Kassu na di n ahi the s uccessor of He a m u kin ziru 9 8
- -
,
- -
, .

Kisu ( Hy m er) a city whe re H amm u ra bi restored the tem ple O f

,
-

Za m am a and b ui lt a fam ous t ower 82 , , .

Kudur la ga m a r (see C H E D O RLA O M E R) 9 2

-
, .

Ku dur na nh undi inva de d B ab yloni a and ca rried a wa y the i ma ge

-
,

of Na n a 9 1 9 2 , , .

Kuri gal zu restore d seve ra l C h aldzea n tem ples a nd foun ded a

-
,
s tro ng city nea r B agh da d 8
7 , .

L ARS A (S e nke e h ) b eca m e the ca pi ta l of Riagu s dom inions a fter

r
’

the fa ll of Ka rra k 7 1 74 , , .

M ANN U KA B I L I a c h ief of the D akkuri 1 4 5

- o

, , .

M arud uk b a la dsu iqbi v a nqu ishe d by S a m si Vul w h o ca p tu re e d

- - -
,

hi s whole c a m p the roya l ch a rio ts p a vil ion a nd cou ch 1 0 5 7 , , , ,

-
.

M aru d uk z a kir izkur a ssis ted by the A ssyr i a ns quelled a re

- -
, ,

b ellion he a d e d b y his o w n b ro th er who w as sla in a fter ,

his flight to H a lm a n 1 0 3 1 0 4 , , .

Mero da ch bal a da n I the su ccessor of Mili S ipa k routed by Vul

-
.
-
,

nirari who ra vaged U p p er B a by lonia a nd wreste d from

, ,

h im the region of the Kh a b ur 8 7 , .

M erod ach ba l a da n I I re b uilt the te m ple of Erech 1 00

-
.
, .

Meroda ch ba l ada n the contem pora ry of S argon and S enna

-
,
~

c h e ib struggled b ra vely for nea rly thirty ye a rs t o m a in ta in

r ,

th e ind epen d ence of B a bylon ia ; for m e d a lli a nces wi th the

El a m ites a nd sent a n e m ba ssy t o H ezeki a h was twice
,

d efe a te d a nd c a p t ure d a nd sen t prisoner to Nineveh b u t , ,

a ga in esc a ped m ur d ere d H agisa or A k ises and m ounted ,

the B a byloni an thr one 1 1 5 —1 2 5 ; thi s d efection b rought ,

S enna cheri b aga ins t h im who a fter the d isas trous ba ttle a t , ,

Kis u en tere d B aby lon i n triu m ph plundered the p al a ce

, , ,

a nd d estr oye d near ly a ll t he neigh b ouring cities and vill ages ,

a nd a ppointe d B e l i b ni as gove rnor ; left a force to w a tch -

for Meroda ch b ala da n and ret urne d t o A ssyri a 1 26 1 2 7 -

, , ,

in d espa ir the fugi ti ve king collec t ed his adhe rents and the
 i m ages o f his god s sa iled d own the Pe rsi a n G ulf and , ,

foun d ed a Ch a l daea n colony in El a m where he di ed 1 26 , , .

Meroda ch na din a h i wors ted Tugu lti p a l esa r a nd c a rried a wa y

- -
,

t he 1m ages of Vul a nd S a la from H ek a li b ut w as h i m sel f ,

co m pletely overthrown th e nex t y ea r when th e As syria ns ,

seiz ed Bab ylon a nd ne a rly all th e im porta n t ci ties 9 6 9 7

, , , .

Meroda ch s apit zirra t m a d e pea ce wi th A ssur be l ka l a 9 7

- - - -
, .

Merod a ch s w ar w ith Ti am a t com p a r ed wi th th a t of Mich a el a nd

’

th e gre a t d ragon 5 2 5 3 11 , , ,

Med i a ri se of un d er C ya x a re s 1 49
, , , .

Med o Persi ans excell ed th e ol der e m pires in govern m en t a nd

-

m ili ta ry d iscipline 1 5 3 , .

Mili S ip ak son of Kuri ga lzu father of Merod ach b a l a da n I 8 7

-
,
-
,
-
.
,
.

NA B U I MT U K or NAB U NA HI D a scend ed the t hrone a fter th e

-
,
-
,

a ss a ssin a t ion of Labo roso a rch od 1 70 ; w as a grea t b uil d er , ,

a nd in t he l att er p a rt of h is reign a llowe d his son B e l s ha zza r -

(B e l sa r uzur ) to sh a re wi th him the rega l d igni ty 1 7 1 fled

- -
,

a fter his d efea t b y Cyrus t o Bo rs ipp a le a ving his son to

, , ,

d efen d B a b ylon (see C Y R U S ) 1 7 2 —4 , .

Nab u ku d ur uzur (Neb uch a d nezza r ) the son of Na b u p a l uzur

- -
,
- -
,

m a d e B ab yloni a th e m is t ress of the surroun ding coun t ries ,

1 53 5 -
surpri se d a nd rou ted the Egy p ti a ns a t C a rchem ish ,

a nd pushe d his w a y a l m os t unoppose d to t he fron ti ers o f

, ,

E gyp t 1 5 6 ; received t he subm ission of Jehoi a ki m a nd a

, ,

few ye a rs l at er d eposed Jehoi a chin a nd set up his uncle , ,

Ze d eki a h in his ste a d as king of Juda h 1 5 7 c rush ed th e

, , ,

power of El a m an d ret urne d t o S yri a fixed his h ea d

, ,

qua rters a t R i bl ah b es iege d Tyre and sen t his gen era l

, , ,

Neb uza r a da n a ga ins t Jerus a le m who ca p t ured the k ing ,

whils t att e m p t ing t o esca pe plundere d the ci ty b urn t a nd , ,

ra ze d i t t o th e ground b esi d es ca rry ing a wa y m os t of th e,

inha b ita n ts as prisoners 1 5 6—1 5 9 ; left Ge dali ah a s governor , ,

w ho w as m urd er e d by so m e d isaffec t ed Jews a nd t he coun ,

try w as ag ain r a vaged and depo pul ate d as a punish m en t ,

161 he then went forwa r d overr a n a nd plund ered Egyp t , ,

d epos ed H op h ra a nd se t up A hm es as a v a ssa l king 1 6 2

, ,

his conques ts 1 6 2 1 63 m ore fa m ous as a b uil d er th a n a

, ,

conqueror reb uilt a nd a dorned all the grea t te m ples bu t

, ,

l a vi shed his weal th m os t on B a bylon m a king i t th e grand es t ,

ci ty in th e worl d 1 6 3 6 ; the chief and les ser d ivini ties

,
-

sha r ed a like his d evotion a nd gifts 1 6 7 , .

Na b u p a l i d in a j oine d the S hu ite s aga ins t th e Assy rians b u t

- -
,

susta ined a terri b le reverse (see AS S U R NAZI R P A L) 1 0 1 - -

, .

Na b u p al uzur ra pi dly i m prov ed the d efences of B a b ylonia a nd

- -
,

b ega n th e ca reer of conques t so a bly car rie d on by hi s

illus tri ous son Ne b uch a dnezza r 1 5 3 6
, , .

Na bu za k ir iskun w as un ab le t o repel the A ssyri a n inv a de rs w h o

- -
,
 H IS T ORY O F BA B YLON I A .

by Ak ki , conquere d the El a m i t es , S yri a ns , a nd Kazal la, 7 8 ,

7 9 b esiege d in his own ca pi t a l, su ccessful sa lly and rou t
of the re bels , r a v age d S uba rti with fire and sword, 79 , 80
a gr ea t bu il d er of t e m pl e s a nd p a l a ces , a n d foun d er of the

city D u r- S argi na , left nea rly all t he surro u n ding countr i es

t ri b u ta ry t o his successor, 80 .

S a rgon I L , soon a fter his a ccession c ru she d t he revol t in Pa les

tine , and then m a rched aga ins t Merod a ch b a l a da n and his
-

E l a m ite a llies , d rove the l a tt er in t o the ir own terri t ory , a nd

w a s te d a p a rt of Babyloni a , 1 1 6, I I 7 engaged in w a rs th e
nex t te n yea rs with S yri a , Med i a, a nd A rm eni a , 1 1 6, 1 1 7
Mero da ch ba l a da n rule d well , and prep a red for the renewa l
of host il i t ies , a nd fortifie d Dur a th a ra to s t op S a rgon 5 a d ’

v a nce ; b u t the ci ty w a s c ap ture d with i m m e nse boo ty a nd

prisoners , fourteen of th e prin cip a l cities b y the ri ver U kni
were ta ken and plund ered, and two El a m i t e forts, a nd S u tur
na nh u ndi co m pell e d t o re t rea t wi t h his ar m y t o his m oun
ta in t erri tories , 1 1 8- 20 ; nex t a d va nce d t owa r d s B a bylon , a nd
Merod ach -ba l ad an retre a t ed to I qbi-B e l, 1 2 1 he entered
B a b ylon in triu m ph a nd o ffere d costly s a crifices t o the god s ,
,

1 2 1 , 1 22 Me roda ch -bal a da n nex t retired with all his forces

to Dur -ya kin , where he w as d efe a ted with gr e a t sl a ughter,
a nd a ll his t rea sures c a p t ure d he then su b m it te d to S a rgon ,
a nd w a s c a rrie d in t o c a ptivity with his wife a nd child ren ,

1 23 the conqueror secure d th e fri en d ship of the pri es thood

b y res toring th e ri t es a nd offerings of the v a rious gods , a nd
reigned a t B ab ylon five ye a rs , where he received tw o
e m ba ssies fro m d is ta n t countries, 1 2 3, 1 24 .

S enna cheri b , on a scen d ing th e throne , r e si d e d a t Nineveh , a nd

a p oin t e d his b ro ther governor of B a b ylon , b u t Meroda ch
p
b ala da n esc a pe d fro m c a ptivi ty , m u rd ere d h im , and res um e d
th e Ba byloni a n crown , 1 2 5 b urning with the d esire of
revenge S enna cheri b h as t ene d to K isu , u tterly rou t e d the
B ab yloni a ns , a nd Merod a ch ba la da n fle d for sa fe ty to t he
-
.

m a rshes , 1 2 5 , 1 2 6 ; B a b ylon a nd the neighb ouring ci ties

were plund ered, a nd hun dre ds of vi ll a ges d es t royed, 1 26
B e l-i b ni , a c o urt fa vo u ri t e , w as pla ce d on th e t hrone , the
Nom ad tr ib es were severely punished , a nd prisoners ,
wi th their ca ttle , c a rrie d a wa y t o A ssy ri a a force w as a lso
left t o wa tch for Merod a ch -b al ada n , who collec ted his
a dheren ts a nd a ba n d one d h is coun try ; foun d e d a Cha l daea n
colony i n El am , 1 27 , 1 2 8 ; S u zu b nex t d e fi ed S enna cher i b s ’

po wer, b u t w as d efea ted , a nd fled for s afet y t o the swa m ps ;

B e l i bn i d epose d, a nd A ssur - nad in -m a , se t up as king in
his s tea d, 1 2 8 , a powerful expe di tion sen t b y se a agai nst
th e new colony , l a n d ed , d efe a ted t he m and the ir a l lies, and
 I N D EX .
1 91

co nveyed the m t o Ba b sa li m iti 1 28—31 B ab ylon ca ptured -

,

in the interi m b y the C ha ldm a nd Ela m ites and S uzub ,

a ga i n procla i m e d king b u t d efea ted b
y the A ssyri a n rein , .

force m ents a nd ta ken c a ptive sent b oun d to Nineveh ; a ,

lar ge a rm y ra vage d Ela m wi th fire and sword a nd destr oyed ,

m ost of the l a rge cities S u u b esca pe d fro m con finem en t z
,
revolted a nd a t firs t sough t sa fety in the m a rshes and after
,
,
wa rd s in El a m where he r a ise d a consi dera b le a rmy re
,
,

turned to Ba bylon m ounted the throne a nd exp elled the ,

As sy ri a ns fro m the count ry 1 31 —

,

3 ; the a ssis tan ce of the ,

E l a m ites w as o b t a ine d b y S uzu b with the trea sures of B e l

,
Ne bo a nd Nerga l sent as a present to U m ma n m in a n 1 4 ;
3
-
, , ,
S enn a cheri b e agerly m e t th e rebels a t H a lul e where he ,

gaine d a d ecisive victo ry ta king a n incre d i ble num ber of ,

p risoners a nd hea ps of spoil bu t retired on the a pproa ch

, ,

o f win ter 1 34 1 35 th e nex t yea r B a b ylon was storm ed

, , ,

gi ven up to pl un d er the i m ages of the god s b rok en up the , ,

city b urn t a nd levell e d wi th the groun d a nd S uzub wi th

, , ,

p a rt of his fam ily ca p tured 1 35 , , ,

S ha l m a neser I I I sent three exp ed itions t o I tu h a 1 0 9

.
, , .

S imt i si lha k fa ther of Ku dur ma b uk 74

-
,
-
, .

S in ta b ni uzur son of Ningal i dina 1 4 5

- -
,
-
, .

S uzub see l a tter p a rt of S enna cher i b s wars & c 1 2 8—

’
, 36 , .
, .

TA B L ETS rel a ting to the close ofthe A ssyri a n m on a rchy 1 5 0 1 5 1 n , , , .

Tamm a ri tu a n El a m i te pa rricid e surren dere d to As sur b a ni

, ,
-

p al on a prom ise of p a rd on 1 4 6 1 4 7 , , .

f er ed o u a port on the Persi an Gulf 1 4

, , .

Tigla th p ile se r subd ue d severa l B a b yloni a n tri bes a ppo in te d

-
,

m ilit a ry governors buil t Ka r A ssur a nd peopled i t w i th ,

-
,

ca ptives ; c a pture d Na bu u sa b s i a nd i m p a le d h i m in fron t of -

,

his c a pit al c a rrying off his wife chi l d ren a nd gods a nd a

, , , ,

vas t nu m b er of prisoners 1 1 1 1 1 2 took a nd sent Za kh iru , ,

c a ptive to A ssyria bu t w as foile d in the siege of S a p iya , ,

a nd ra vage d the surroun d ing c ount ry 1 1 2 1 1 3 procla i m ed , ,

king of B abylon a nd institu t ed festiva ls to the gre a t god s

,

in the principa l cities 1 1 3 1 1 4 , ,

Tower of B a bel notices of 5 3 n , , , .

Tagnlti Ninip son of S h a l m a neser annexe d B a bylonia a nd

-
, , ,

t ook the ti tles of King of A ssyri a Conqueror of Ka r ,

”

d u niy as and ,
King of S u m ir a nd A kka d b u t the ,
”

B a b yloni a ns rega ine d their in d epen dence shortly a fter his

d e a th 8 8 89
, ,
.

U L B A R S A R K I I D INA succee de d by his tw o b rothers 9 8 9 9

- -
, , .

U m m a n A l da s king of El a m m urd ere d b y his b rothers U rtak i

-
, , ,

a nd Te u m m a n for refusin g to m a ke w a r on E sa r h a ddon

- -
, ,

when the form er a ss u m ed the crown b u t did not follow his ,

own pre vi ou s policy 1 4 1 , .

192 HI S TORY O F BAB Y LONI A .

U m m a n Al das , a n El am i t e co m ma n der, kille d I n da -b iga s , a nd

-

m oun t e d t he t hrone ga ve up th e d e a d b od y of Na b u be l -

—
zik ri a nd th e head of his arm our b e a rer to A ssur ba ni p a l s ’
- -

envoys , 1 4 8 .

U m m a n -ig a s , b ri be d b y S a ul -m ugin a t o j oin t he confe d er a cy

a g a ins t th e A ssyri a ns , sen t his a rm y t o B a b ylon , when his

son , Ta m m aritu, reb ell ed, d efe ate d the roya l troops , a nd
sen t his he a d as a presen t to A ssur -b a ni p a l, a nd assum ed -

the crown of El a m , 1 4 5 , 1 4 6 .

U r (Mugheir ) succee de d Nip u r a s the c a pi ta l of S outh C h a ldma,

6 3, 64 ; ou t si d e t he w a lls fille d wi th gr a ves of a ll ages ;
prob ably t he b irth pl a ce of A b r ah a m ; d evo te d t o th e -

worship of the m oon go d, 6 5 ; firs t ruler, perh a ps , Lig -

B a g a s , 66, n high s ta te o f its a rts, lea rning , and civiliza

.

t ion ; ca rving, cylin d ric al se als , inscriptions la ngu age

genera lly S e m i t ic , bu t A cc a di a n s till used religion highly
poetic wi th respect t o r a nk d escen t a nd loc a l ch a ra ct er of , ,

d ei t ies 6 7 6 8 t he gre a t go ds A nu B e l a nd H e a 68
, , , , , .

U r h am si c u res I z d ub a r 6 1
-
, .

U rta ki king of E l a m j oined B e l b a s a a nd so m e pe tt y chiefs in

, ,
-
,

a plun d ering expe d i t ion in t o B a b yloni a which a l a rm ed ,

S a ul m ugin a 1 4 2 1 43 ; th e El am i t es were pursue d whils t

-
, ,

re tre ating wi th the spoil rou te d a nd d riven a cross th e fron ,

tiers b y A ssur b a ni p a l who soon a fter wa rd s conquere d - -

,

th e coun try a nd pl a ce d U m m a n iga s on t he throne a s a

,
-

tri b u ta ry 1 4 3 ,
.

V U L NI KA R I I I I eng age d sever a l ye a rs in w a rs with S yri a

-
.
, ,

Med i a Dur a nd I t ub a 1 0 8 , , ,
.

Vul p al i din a restore d the w a lls of Nip u r a nd reb uil t th e t e m pl e

- -
,

a t Kisu 1 00 , .

Vul za kir uzur h a d som e d ispu tes with his A ssyri a n con te m
- -

p o ra ri e s, 1 00 .

W IN G E D Monst er sl a in by I z dub a r a nd H e ab a ni 5 7 ,
.

X IS I I H R U S X i s u r u nu s H AS I S A D R A the B ab yloni a n No ah
' ‘

, ,
-
, ,

38 n resi d ence 5 3
, .
,
.

Z AB U th e b uilder of th e te m ples of S a m a s a nd A nnui t a t

,

S ipp ara , 7 5 .

Z am am a zikir i d in a un ab le t o repress
- - th e ra i ds of the El am i tes
a nd A ssyri a ns 9 4 9 5 , , .
 R EC E N T P U B L I C A T I O NS .

AFR I CA UN VE IL E D B y the R ev H R O W L E Y . . . .

W ith M p d E ight full p ge I ll ustr tions n toned p per

a , an -
a a o a .

Crown 8 v o . Cl t/ B d o t oa r s 5 0

B I BLE PLA CE S ; OR T H E TO P O G RA P H Y O F TH E ,

H L A ND A S u in t A ount f ll th Pl c s R ivers d
O LY cc c cc o a e a e , , an
M unt ins f h L nd f I sr e l m entioned i h Bi bl e f
o a o t e a o a n t e , so ar

as the h ve been i dentifi ed Together w ith their M od em

y a
l R eferen es B y h R C non T ST R A M
.

N m nd H istori
a es a ca c . t e ev . a RI .

CH IN A TH E LAN D AN D TH E P E O P L E o r
, A .

short A ount f the G eog phy H istory R eli gion S n l

cc o ra , , oc
A rt I ndu tries nd Governm ent f Ch i n nd it P eop l e B y
,

s, s a o a a s

J TH MS N E q
.
,

O A uthor f I l l ustr tions f Chin

O , s .
, o a o a
Peop le & W ith M p T w e lve full p ge
.

”
and i ts nd , c . a , a -
a
I ll ustr tions n toned p per C rown 8w
a Cl t/ B a d
o a . o. o I o r s

I N D I A TH E H IS T ORY O F from th e Ea rli est

“
, ,
Ti m es t th Present D y B y L J T R TT E R Author f
o e a . . . O , o
S tud ies n B iogr phy Post 8 vo W th M p nd 3
.

I a .
”
. 1 a a a 2

E ngr vi ngs a C l té B d o oar : to 6

I SRA E L LA N D O F
: A Journ a l of T ra vels
TH E .

in P l estine undert k en w itl i l R eferen e t it Phy sic l

C h r t r Thi d E dition re ipB y the R C non T R ST R A M
a . a i ec a . c o s a
a ac e . r , ‘ rls ev . a I .

W ith num ero s I ll ustra tions u 10 6

J E W ISH N A T ION A H IS T OR Y O F TH E From ,

.

the E r liest Ti mes t the P resent D y B y E H P A M E R E q

a o a . . . L , s .
,

M A .Fell ow f S J ohn s Coll ege n Lord Alm oner s

.
, o t .
'

, a
'

Prof s r f A r b ic in th University f C m b ridg e A uthor f

es o o a e o a , o
t f the E x d us W ith M p ”
Th D & & 8
°

e ese r o o , c . c . vo . a

and numerous I ll str tions Cl t/ B d u a o z oa r s 5 o

L ES S E R L I G HTS ; or S ome of the M inor

,
tr ed with View t Instr ction nd
ac a o u a
B y the R v F BO
,

D LLO N MA e . . UR I , . .
,
 R I: C E N T P U B L I C A T I O N S -
(coxa ix zzza l
’

N ATU RA L H I S TORY OF TH E B I B L E TH E : being ,

Review f th P hy m l G eogr phy G e l
a
nd M et eorol
o

H l y L nd w ith d es ription f 5v Anim l slid

e s a o 0 a
,
f th o e o a , a c o a
Pl nt m entioned in Hol y S n p t
a
By h R v C non c ur e . t e e a
T R ST RA M Third E dition Crown 8 v W ith n m ro s
.

I .
. o. u e u

NARRAT I V E
th e R e v
O x ford ;
or A MO D E RN PI LG RI M AG E
T H RO L G H P A L EST I N E O N H O RS E B A C K A N D
A L FR ED C H A R LE S S M I T H
.
IT H T R N T S By
Ch rist Ch ur c h
R ec t or o f l a te s bu ry Wi l t A utho r of Th e
,

s
““ .

A ttra c tions o f t he N i l e & c & c C ro w n 8 v0 W i th nu m erou s

, ,
”
, . .

I ll ustra t io ns a nd Four C oloured P la tes

.

“
S CE N E S I N TH E EA S T . Conta ining Twelve
C l o red Ph ot gr phi Vi w s
o u o a c e o f Pl es m nti nedacth B i b l e e o In e
C non T T M A uthor f L nd f
.

Py h R t e e\ . a R LS RA , Th o e a o
I sr el & 4 t a , c . o. Clo t/t B oa r d s 7 6

S C RI P TU R E M A NN E RS A ND C U S T O M S ; being an
A unt f th D m fi H bits A rts & f E st rn N tion
c co o e o es c a c , o a e a s
m entioned in H l y S ri p ture S ixteent h E diti n F p 8
, , .

o c . o . ca . vo
With numerous Wood c ts
.

Cl t/ B d -a o z oa r s 4 o

S I N A I A ND J E R U S A L EM or Scenes from B ible ,

L nd a n i ti n f Co lou ed P h b g phi View s f Pl es
s, co s s o r o o ra c o ac
m nti on d
e in t e B ib le in l uding
e P nor mi View f , c a a a c o
With D es ri p tive Letterp ress h y th R v E W
{l A N D M A Honor ry S r
m l m
e sa er c e e . . .

01 1 . .
, t th . .
, a ec e o e
Clot/t , B et: Boa rd s,

ST . P AU L TH E CI T I E S VISI T E D B Y
,
B y the .

R Profess r S N
e v. L H M A King s Co ll ege
o TA LE V E AT ES , . .
,
'
,

London F p 8 W it h N ine W d ts
. L i m) l t/
ca . vo . oo v
cu c o t t o

“
T U RNIN G POIN T S OF EN G LISH C H U RC H
H v B y th R
IS T O R E w L C TTS B A Aut h r e ev D A RD U . .
. o

C dd s Gro &
. . ,

S m e C hief Trut hs f Rel igion

.

! ' !
f o o S o , t o g . c
.

C rown 8 vo

T U RN IN G POINT S OF G E N E RAL CH U RCH

H STORY By th Rev E DWAR D L C u m B A Au thor f
I . e . , . .
, o

I rni ng P i nts f E ng l is h Ch u h H istory & &c Cr wn

'

u o o rc c .
, . o

8 vo Glot/t B oa rd: 5 o
AN CIE N T HIST OR Y FR OMTHE MON UME N TS .

Foop 8 7/o , C101k i 1

I llustr a l zom
’

. . boa r ds , p r i ce 233 671 0 1 , w it/ .

AS S YRIA, FROM THE EARLIES T TIMES TO THE FALL OF

B y th e la te G E O RG E S M I T H , Esq , of the D ep a rt m en t . of
O rient a l A nt i qui t ies ,
B ri t ish Museu m .

BABYLONI A, THE HIS TORY OF .

B y t he l at e G E O R G E S M I T H , Esq . Edi ted b y th e R ev .

A H S AY C E , Assis ta n t P ro fessor
. . O f Co m p a ra t ive Philo
logy, O x ford .

EGY P T, F ROM THE EARLI ES T TI MES TO B C 300 . . .

By S . B I RC H, LL D . .
, &c .

GREEK CITIES AND IS LANDS or AS IA MINOR .

By w . s . w VA U X M
.
, . A .
, FR . S .

P ERS IA , FROM THE EARLIEST PERI OD TO THE ARAB

CONQUES T .

By W . S . W VA u x.
, M A FR
. . . S .

NON CHR IST IA N -

R E LIGIOUS S YST E MS .

Fcap 8 71 0
. . Clotb boa rds , pr i ce 23 . 6d . ea r/z ,w il l: M ap .

B U DDH I S M
B ei ng a S ketch of the Li fe a nd Teachings o f G a u t am a , th e
B u ddh a By J W R HYS D AV 1 D S , o f t he Middle Te m ple
. . . .

H I ND U I S M .

By M O NI E R W ILLI AM S M A , . .
, D C L. . &c .

I S LAM AND I TS P OUNDER .

B y J \V H S TO BA RT, B A
. . . . .
,
Princip al , La Ma rtime re
College , Lucknow .

D E P OSI T ORI E S
7 7, G R E A T Q U EE N ST RE E T , LI NC O LN s - I NN
'
FE
I LD S , WC
.

4, RO A E Y L X C H A N G E, B C ;. . A ND 4 8 , P ICC A D I LLv, W
LO N DO N .