Assyria, Its Princes, Priests and People

ustoms; Trade

the pomp of the court and the conquest of foreign nations than scenes taken from ordinary Assyrian life. It is only incidentally that the manners and customs of the lower classes are depicted. It is true that we can learn a good deal from the contract-tablets and other kinds of what may be called the private literature of Babylonia and Assy

was furnished with two long bandelettes which fell down behind. The robe and mantle were alike richly embroidered and edged with fringes. The arms were left bare, except in so far as they could be covered by the mantle, and a heavy pair of bracelets encircled each, the workmanship of the jewelry being similar to that of the chain which was worn round the neck. The feet were shod with sandals which had a raised part behind to pro

n all probability the long robe of the wealthy was worn, and which did not quite reach the knees. Sometimes a sort of jacket was put on above it, and, in a few instances, a simple kilt seems to take its place. The kilt was frequently worn under the tunic, which was fastened round the waist by a girdle or sword-belt. The arms, legs, and feet, were bare. Some of the soldiers, h

of a long tunic and mantle, and

ly the king but an umbrella-bearer and a charioteer as well. The latter held the reins in both hands, each rein being single and fastened to either side of a snaffle-like bit. When in the field the royal chariot was followed by a bow-bearer and a quiver-bearer, as well a

King in h

rst Assyrian Empire the cavalry-soldier rode on the bare back of the horse, with his knee

owever, belonged to the infantry. The Assyrians were particularly skilled in the use of the bow, and their superiority in war was probably in great measure due to it. Besides the bow they employed the spear, the

t only, however, was a sleeping-tent carried for the king, a cooking-tent was carried also. So also was the royal chair, called a nimedu, on which the monarch sat when stationary in camp. The chair may be seen in the bas-relief, now in the British Museum, which rep

and pickaxes; sometimes a battering-ram was employed armed with one or two spear-like projections; sometimes fire was applied to the enemy's ga

of a

se fate; men were impaled, flayed alive, blinded, or deprived of their hands and feet, of their ears and noses, while the women and children were carried into slavery, the captured city plundered and reduced to ashes, and the trees in its neighbourhood cut down. During the second Assyrian Empire warfare was a little mor

the Greeks when eating. In the luxurious days of Assur-bani-pal the couch seems to have partially taken the place of the chair, since in the scene alluded to above the king is depicted reclining, though the queen sits in a chair by his side. The number of different

from abroad. Among the most highly prized was the wine of Khilbun or Helbon, which is mentioned in Ezek. xxvii. 18, and was grown near Damascus at a village still called Halb?n. Besides grape-wine, palm-wine, ma

known, among them the harp, the lyre, and the tambourine. The lyre seems to have been specially employed at feasts, and the harp for the performance of

nd war. Another attendant must not be forgotten-the servant who stood behind the king armed with a fly-flap, and was almost a necessity in hot weather. Considering the number of captives carried away every year to Assyria in the successful c

ith lesser game. The reem or wild bull and the lion became their favourite sport, smaller animals like the gazelle, the hare, and the wild ass being left to their subjects to pursue. It was not until the reign of Assur-bani-pal that the lion-hunt ceased to be a dangerous and exciting pastime. With Esar-haddon, howev

garden, in which he tried to acclimatise some of the trees he had met with in his campaigns. He tells us of it: 'As for the cedar, the likkarin tree, and the almug, from the countries I have conquered, these trees, which none of the kings my fathers that were before me had planted, I took, and in the gardens of my land I planted, and by the name of garden I

t a rod. The fisherman sat on the bank, or else swam

ficers, along with their chariots and commissariat, were ferried across in boats, but the soldiers had to strip,

ersed. Western Asia was more thickly populated then than is at present the case, and the roads were not only more numerous than they are to-day, but better kept. Hence the ease and rapidity with which large bod

re as soldiers, they never became sailors. The boats of the Tigris and Euphrates were either rafts or circular coracles of skins stretched on a wooden framework. When Sennacherib wished to attack the Chaldeans of Beth-Yagina in their

ecame the common language of trade. Not unfrequently an Aramaic docket accompanies an Assyrian contract tablet, stating briefly what were its contents and the names of the chief contracting parties. These contract tablets have to do with the sale and lease of houses, slaves, and other property, as well as with the amount of interest to be paid upon loans. We learn from them that the rate of interest was usually as low as four per cent., and when objects like bronze were borrowed as three per cent. House property naturally varied in value. A house sold at Nineveh on the sixteenth of Sivan or May, b.c. 692, fetched one maneh of silver or ￡9, the averag

, if they were too poor to possess any, their nail-marks, to the documents. It was then enclosed in an outer coating of clay, o

the document should be lodged in the imperial archives. It runs as follows: 'I, Sennacherib, king of legions, king of Assyria, bequeathe armlets of gold, quantities of ivory, a platter of gold, ornaments and chains for the neck, all these beautiful things of which there are heaps, and three sorts of precious stones, 1-1/2 manehs and 2-1/2 s

hered from the documents themselves which have been left to us. It will, therefo

]; the silver is to have interest paid upon it at four per cent. The silver has been given on the third day of the month. (Dated) the third day of Sebat, in the epony

of Aramaic, the first of which co

resence of Samas-akhi-erba; if they are given, interest shall be paid on them at three per cent. (Dated) the eleventh day of Siva

sabad), lends out at five shekels of silver per month interest. (Dated) the twenty-sixth day of the month of Iyyar, in the eponymy of Gabbaru (b.c. 667). The witnesses are: Nebo-pal-iddin, Nebo-nirar, th

, the astronomer, an Egyptian, has received it for one maneh of silver, according to the royal standard (￡9), in the presence of Sar-ludari, Atar-suru, and Amat-suhla, the wife of Bel-dur. The full price has been paid. This house has been bought. Withdrawal from the contract and agreement is forbidden. Whoever shall act fraudulently (?) at any time, or from among these men who have sworn to the contract

awal from the contract and agreement is forbidden. Whoever shall act fraudulently (?) at any time, and shall deceive and injure me (?), whether Dagon-melech or his brothers, or the sons of his brothers, whether small or great, who have sworn to the contract and agreement on behalf of Enuma-ili, his sons and grandsons, shall pay ... (manehs) of silver, and one maneh of gold to Istar of Arbela, and shall return the price to the owne

the service of the state. Among the earliest known examples of Israelitish or Jewish writing are seals which probably belong to a period anterior to the Babylonish Exile, and have been found at Diarbekr and other places in the neighbourhood of the Tigris and Euphrates. It is also possible that the great banking firm of Egibi, which

e ruler who listens to the evil advice of his courtiers, and does not deliver judgment 'according to the statutes,' 'the law-book,' and 'the writing of the god Ea.' The earliest existing code of laws is one which goes back to the Accadian epoch, and contains an express enactment for protecting the slave against his master. How far it was made the basis of subsequent Semitic legislation it is difficult to say; in one respect, at all events, it differed considerably from the law which followed it. This w

nance of them. Unfortunately we know but little at present of the precise way in which the taxes were levied, and the principle on which they were distributed among the various classes of the population. In Babylonia, however, the tenant does not seem

rate provinces and large towns. Thus Nineveh itself was assessed at thirty talents. The best way, however, of giving an idea of th

d on linen cloths

bute of Nineveh. Ten ta

from the same city, for t

fresh assessment. In all (

harem of the palace. Ex

ute of Calah. To be ex

rom the same city. Thirty

the city of Enil,

city of Nisibis. Twen

m the city of Alik

x vestures of linen.

) for keeping the

ax-gatherer. Two talents

for chariots

astronomer. Three tal

the palace in the middle of the c

palace (in the middle of the city).

city of Ass

u, [7] two talents (

city of Enil, for the

use of the tax-gatherer; two talents for the right side (of th

and two talents from the librari

n cloths: ten talents

of the palace and t

from their attendants (Levied)

tax-gatherer: two talents fo

ster of the Singers: one

se of the singin

e war-chariot. In all

is awning. To be

eets of the public road: sev

and (?) a sleeved dress; t

shekel let him put out th

en. Fifteen talents ten man

the custom-house. Thirty tale

ses. The money to be put

e north side (of the city). In all,

ts twenty-one manehs ou

inces the money raised on

endorsement of t

bribes: we giv

s (are annually re

talents from

from the city o

alents fr

ents from M

from Zemar (

rom Hadrach (

at interest; fifty talents

n the presence

Arpad, Carchemish, Kue, Tsu

cracy which managed the government under him. In military matters alone he was supreme, though even here two commanders-in-chief stood at his side, ready to take his place in the command of the troops whenever age or disinclination detained him at home. The lists of Assyrian officials which we possess are very lengthy, and their titles seem almost endless. At the head came the two commanders-in-chief, the Turtannu or Tartan of the right, and the Turtannu of the left, doubtless so called from their position on the right and left of the king. Next to them were the Chamberlain or superintend

e, and in preparing the way for the ages that were to come, and for a while, therefore, it was allowed to 'make the earth empty' and 'waste.' But the day came when its work was accomplished, and the measure of its iniquity was full. Nineveh, 'the bloody city,' fell, never to rise again and the doom pronounced by Na

PE

s relating to the History of th

found at Kurkh, on the right bank of t

d, bronze, and vases of bronze (in) the city of Assur-tamsukha-atsbat, on the further bank of the Euphrates, and above the river Saguri [the Sajur], which the Hittites call the city of Pethor, in the midst (of it) I received. From the Euphrates I departed. The city of Khalman [Aleppo] I approached; they feared battle; they embraced my feet. Silver and gold I received as their tribute; I offered sacrifices before the god Rimmon of Khalman. From the city of Khalman I departed; to two cities of Irkhulena of Hamath I approached. The cities of Adennu [the Eden of Amos i. 5], Barga and Argana his royal city I captured. [9] His spoil, his goods, and the treasures of his palaces I brought out. To his palaces I set fire. From the city of Argana I departed, the city of Karkar [Aroer] I approached. (His) royal city of Karkar I threw down, dug up, and burned with fire. 1,200 chariots, 1,200 horsemen, and 20,000 men of Hadadezer of Damascus, 700 chariots, 700 horsemen, and 10,000 men of Ahab [Akhabbu] of Israel, 500 men of Kue, 1,000 men from Egypt, 10 chariots, and 10,000 men from the land of Irkanat, 2

k Obelisk of

rates. Hazael, of Damascus, advanced to battle; 1,121 of his cha

of the Annals of

him; 16,000 of his fighting men I slew with weapons, 1,121 of his chariots, 470 of his horsemen, along with his camp, I took from him. To save his life he ascended (the country); I pursued after him. In Damascus, his royal city, I shut him up; his plantations I cut down. To the mountains of the Hauran I w

iption of Rimm

Euphrates, and the lands of the Hittites, of Ph?nicia to its whole extent, of Tyre, of Sidon, of Omri [Samaria], of Edom, and of Philistia as far as the great sea of the setting sun [the Mediterranean], to my yoke I subjected (them), payment of tribute I imposed upon them. To the land of Damascus I went; I shut up Marih, king of Syria, in Damascus, his royal city. The fear of the

the Annals of Ti

ies in the circuit of the city of Ara, the cities, all of them, the cities in their circuit, the mountain of Sarbua to its whole extent, the cities of Askhan and Yadab, Mount Yaraku to its whole extent, the cities of ... ri, Ellitarbi, and Zitanu as far as the midst of the city of Atinni ... and the cit

una, Urpalla of Tukhan, Tukhamme of Istunda, Urimme of Khusimna, and Zabibieh, queen of the Arabians, gold, silver, lead, iron, elephants' hides, elephants' tusks, tapestries of blue and purple, oak-wood, weapons for service, a royal tent, sheep with bundles of their wool, purple dye, the dyed feat

of Gaza (his royal city I captured. Its spoils), its gods (I carried away. My name) and the image of my majesty (I set up) in the midst of the temple of ... the gods of their land I counted (as a spoil) and ... like a bird ... to his land I restored him and (imposed tribute upon him. Gold), silver, garments of damask and linen

nscription

itants I carried away; fifty chariots in the midst of them I collected, and the rest of their good

rsimanites, and the Khapayans, [10] the remainder of whom was carried

desert, of whom no scholar or envoy knew, and who had never brought their tribute to the kings my (fathers), I

king of Egypt, a prince who could not save them, and sent him homage. I, Sargon, the established prince, the reverer of the worship of Assur and Merodach, the protector of the renown of Assur, caused the warriors who belonged to me entirely to pass the rivers Tigris and Euphrates during full

inder of E

Melech-asaph king of Gebal, Matan-Baal king of Arvad, Abi-Baal king, of Shamesh-merom, Pedael king of Beth-Ammon, and Ahimelech king of Ashdod, twelve kings of the sea-coast; Ekistor king of Idalion, Pylagoras king of Khytros, Kissos king of

N

ed the Latin of Asia, 24; the Accadians first used hieroglyphics or pictures painted on papyrus leaves, from which the cuneiform characters were formed; afterwards soft cl

of name not quite certain; it forms

onists settled there; probably representing some particular attribute of

scriptions; bribed Pul to attack the Syrians a

ess queen of th

ssyrian texts relating to the

Shalmaneser II, fo

belisk of Shalm

agment of Shal

ription of Rimmon

the Annals of Tiglath

nscriptions of

ylinder of Es

, after the captivity, and became

iglath-Pileser II invaded the country, invested

y armed cavalry and infantry, and were various

nflated skins; the chief officers, chariots, and

after the time of Tiglath-Pileser II; the places

as slightly changed by the Semitic conquerors so as to mean 'gracious;' the name of Sar, the god of the firmament, in time, was confused with that of the patron deity, and Assur thus came to signify

ts compared with those of his warlike predecessors; Egyptian revolt crushed, and Tirhakah again a fugitive, No-Amon plundered, and two obelisks carried as trophies to Nineveh, 51; Tyre surrendered and the Lydians paid tribute; fall of Elam, Shushan razed, and captive kings compelled to drag Assur-bani-pal's chariot through Nineveh, 51-2; the Arabs severely punished,

kings, also a great builder of palaces; restored Calah, form

capital, rose in revolt; the cities and outlying districts were surging with disconten

tration from the original

nder and exacting tribute; made but little effort to retai

ssyrian power and influence, and revived by Assur-dayan II and his warlike

e king supreme, and appointed the judges; in its general pr

tory, legend, poetry, astronomy, and astrology, &c.; lett

ambers; the observatory built in stages on the west side; exaggerated forms of columnar architec

ds traceable; characteristics and comparison with

am?ans, and Arabs; the Babylonians a mixed race, partly Semites a

Babylonians co

ables of squares and cubes and geometrical figures have been

f, and the dis

st the moon; flight of Samas and Istar; and the demons

ing the lightning of Bel compared wi

of the bronze framework and reliefs; explanatory texts relating to S

ighly prized; other luxuries common; the tables ornamented wi

om of Assur; its extent and varying f

seventy-two books tran

of Ea-bani described in t

ation brought to light D

n the earliest ages; used for war and trade; the country the

; it became the seat of royalty under Assur-natsir-pal and Shalmaneser II

and couches us

s relation to the Scriptural narrative

men, or animals; the royal chariot contained the king and tw

s; the knotted cord and leaves from a sacred

nces and courtiers; earliest Accadian l

ges, and on rivers and canals by rafts; Sennacherib direct

ty: tablets translated: i. Loan of silver and interest paid on it; ii. Loan o

the Assyrians and

llowed by more perfect creatures; the legend from Assur-bani-pal's library and

ry characters, 104-5; compared with one of Nebuchadnezzar's inscriptio

rn to their old capital, and released

the Chald?an Noah after his translation; but in later times the entrance to Hade

by Jewish females in th

ce of witness, or nail marks made by those unable t

caused by the ignorance

ishment for the wick

ular old Babylonian myths; her passage through the seven gates of th

magic; referred to in hy

me of peace; the upper classes, sold

d by walls forty-six feet thick; the outer wall was flanked with towers; description o

Eridu the chief seat of his worship, near the sacred grove where the tree of life and knowledge had its roots; Ea, a bene

n and revolt of c

raders conversant with s

hroughout Babylonia; few un

erib and Esar-haddon, to Darius and Xerxes; the nam

was named; lists determine both the

completely defeated near

was subdued; Babylon rebuilt, and the plunder and the gods returned to the inhabitants; Manasseh brought captive before him; trade diverted into Assyrian channels, and secured by a daring march to Huz and Buz; terrified the Arabs; drove Teispes westwards; w

the frontier towns fell quickly, and a public fast was proclaimed and prayers offered to the

, and his exploits, 83; leg

s now, the delight of Orientals; riddle pr

iniquity was full; the ver

d on with a li

nd humiliations in times

contained in the eleventh book; Gisdhubar a solar hero, and his adventures compared with the labours of Hêraclês; resemblance of Accadi

king, probably comprised i

federacy with Hamath and Israel against the Assyrians; Aha

heroes; palace of Allat, where the waters of life, near the golden throne, restored

watered by mean

e heights of Shenir; camp, chariots, and carr

its wines; still

yards placed under

tion; children burnt to death as exp

ure of exalted thought and

sacred book; Semitic translations made, but the hymns reci

'the 300 spirits of heaven' and

zekiah's name translitera

ls witnesses of d

s those of the gods, and was known as the evening star, 57; she became the Semitic Ashtoreth, and was the goddess of love, w

gold and silver drinking vessels

ylonish exile found at Diarbekr and other

lon twenty-two years; the

of, and defeat of Benh

n by Gisdhubar 'in the la

assisted by two commanders-in-chief; lists

nd Erech, and its partial resemblance to the angel of the Lord standing

grammatical phrase books, and lists of the names of animals, birds, reptiles, fish, stones, vegetables, and titles of military and civil officers, were contained in the different boo

to the gods, psalms, and songs; songs to Assur of Assyrian origin, the e

for particular days, and d

owmen and infantry variously equipped, 125-6; king and nobles only allowed tents; a royal chair call

of diseases, prescriptions

ng between earth and heaven, informing Ea of the sufferings of mankind, and striving to alleviate them; he destro

of the Egyptians; Merodach-Baladan in his own country made vigorous efforts to repel the attack of the conqueror on his return; but the Elamite allies were put to flight, and Sargon entered Babylon in triumph; the following year Merodach-Baladan was

owns, and fearful atrocities co

s, resolved the various deities into manifestations of on

all old forms

to Nineveh, and prepared the way for

yrian kings

ted to him; his worship carried to Canaan, as seen in the names of a city and a mountain; had a temple at Bahrein under the na

war, also presided with Anu o

r period; after the fall of Assyrian Empire its site was forgotten for ages; Rich's conject

, mostly a record of eclipses of the sun and moon, conjunctions and phases of Venus and Mars;

ities; specimens of the astronom

almost endless; rank and o

ompiled for Sargon, known to t

bour song in t

ardens and shrubberies containing summer-h

very remote period, one of the

d by Sennacherib on the Persian Gulf in his a

veh, and a table of l

he king, and the palace

ter a bad

syrian court fo

rious deities on diff

nacherib in favour

ut exalting his throne above the stars, a

nd turn the trade of Asia Minor into Assyrian channels, and render Syria and Ph?nicia tributary, 34; he annexed Northern Babylonia, punished the Kurds, utterly defeated Sarduris and his confederates, and captured Arpad after a siege of two years; he stormed Hamath, and transplanted part of the inhabitants to Armenia; he received tribute from the Syrian kings, and Menahem, Rezon, Hiram, and Pisiris; he block

en in Accadian and B

d by demoniacal possession, and only curable by exorcisms and charms; the spirits most dreaded those who had been raised to the position of gods, as Anu, Mul-ge, and Ea; spirits of the heavenly bodies, 5

nants of land in

ames of the gods, a

iptions, but the site not yet

and storms; his cult extended to Syria, and he appears to have been

of: his wars against the Babyl

d kept in good

the mountain of the world,' and 'the mountain of the East;' thought to

under Esar-haddon had degenerated into a battue of t

the New Moon; kept on the seventh, fourteenth, twenty-

her sale afterwards of seven persons included a

form of Merodach, though in historical times the two were separated, and received different cults; originally identical with T

quelled the revolt against his father, a

nfused with the name of the patron deity of

put Yahu-bihdi or Ilu-bihdi to a horrible death, marched along the coast of Palestine, and roused the Egyptian army at Raphia, taking its ally the king of Gaza captive, 38-9; he stormed Carchemish, took Pisiris prisoner, and the allies fled northward; the city was plundered, and an Assyrian satrap appointed over it; he had now gained the high road of the caravan trade between Eastern and Western Asia; the Hittite allies continued the struggle six years, when Van submitted, and its king Ursa committed suicide; Cilicia and Tubal were placed under an Assyrian governor, and the city of Malatiyeh was razed to the ground, 39; Merodach-Baladan had

the observation of nature with augury, 115; modes of meas

fined, and continued nearly the same till the fall of Nineveh; clay tablets small, but well baked in a k

but entire silence about the terrible disaster he sustained near Jerusalem, and his precipitate flight; the following year he suppressed Nergal-yusezib's revolt, and appointed Assur Nadin-sumi viceroy of Babylon, 42-5; pursued the Chald?an refugees and destroyed their last settlements on the Persian Gulf, 45; Elam next invaded Babylonia, and placed Nergal-yusezib on the throne; defeated the Assyrians near Nipur, but died soon afterwards; he was succeeded by Musezib, who defied the pow

alah, and his descendants reigned

and the Manna or Minni; compelled the Hittites to sue for peace, and recaptured Pethor, 29-31; defeated Benhadad and his allies at Aroer or Karkar, and twelve years afterwards completely crushed the power of Hazael on the heights of Shenir, laid siege to Damascus, ravaged the Hauran, and

gan a war against Israel, but had scarcely laid siege to Samaria when he

y of Ur; had a famous temple in the ancient city of Harran, where he was s

ged in dynasties, which traces them bac

so geometrical figures used for augury; the ma

s of the gods, great and small, which were supposed to confer special sanctity on the place; offerings of two kinds, sacrifices and meal offerings; no traces of human sacrifices am

n, destroyed by M

ear the sources of the Tigris; he garrisoned Pethor with Assyrian soldiers, and on his return to Nineveh planted a park with strange trees brought back wi

in the night, and 'great and small,' as we

Carchemish and the Ph?nician cities; the standard of weigh

y far and near was wasted for a space of 450 miles, 36; submitted to Sargon, and i

ards held in hi

n in Accad and

as at its height, sent out a raven, dove, and swallow, to ascertain how far the waters had abated; his vessel rested on Rowan

e the lightning of Bel, the parallel

CRIPTURE R

A

x.

x.

xiv

iii.

xxii

xv.

xix.

s viii

gs x.

gs xv

s xvi.

xvii.

s xvii

xviii.

xviii.

s xix.

s xx.

. xxxii

ii.

iv.

x. 3

xiv.

v. 13,

xix.

xx.

xii.

liv.

li.

li.

viii

xxiii.

xxvii.

m i.

i. 6, 8

iii. 8

ix.

rs in Ordinary to Her M

tno

hr. xxx

tions of the different Assyrian roy

Rimmon (the Air-

the god of peace) directs.' The Babylonians chang

'The servant of (the god Adar) the s

, 'Assur

, 'Assur is prot

Sun-god is also Rim

kunu), 'the co

-erba), 'The Moon-god

-akh-iddina), 'Ass

'Assur is crea

, 'Assur is prin

r 2 Kings

. 'congr

V. 's

ative Prefix.' There are thir

aven,' or anything in heaven, i

ng 'country,' is put befo

g 'city,' is put before th

mameh, sout

as ingeniously suggested that in 1 Kings x. 28, we ought to read (with a slight change of vowel punctuation),

of Balawat Adennu is wri

zsch with the Ephah of G

Egyptian;' cf. 2 S

riber'

d with additional entri

has been s

have been replaced with t

darized in their spelling. Numerous words have multiple spelling vari

urbani-pal for consistency (

ed T-shaped symbo

added at end ('Post h

ere else in the book called Beth

' corrected to (th

iam' corrected to

adan' corrected to ( Mer

ostrophe 'Sallimanu (Solomon,