The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 7 (of 12)
Title: History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 7 (of 12)
Author: G. Maspero
Editor: A. H. Sayce
Translator: M. L. McClure
Release date: December 16, 2005 [eBook #17327]
Most recently updated: December 13, 2020
Language: English
Credits: Produced by David Widger
Character set: ISO-8859-1
HISTORY OF EGYPT
CHALDEA, SYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND ASSYRIA
By G. MASPERO,
Honorable Doctor of Civil Laws, and Fellow of
Queen’s College,
Oxford; Member of the Institute and Professor at
the College of France
Edited by A. H. SAYCE,
Professor of Assyriology, Oxford
Translated by M. L. McCLURE,
Member of the Committee of the Egypt
Exploration Fund
CONTAINING OVER TWELVE HUNDRED COLORED PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS
Volume VII.
LONDON
THE GROLIER SOCIETY
PUBLISHERS
Slumber Song—After painting bv P. Grot. Johann
THE ASSYRIAN REVIVAL AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SYRIA
ASSUR-NAZIR-PAL (885-860 B.C.) AND SHALMANESER III. (860-825 B.C.)—THE KINGDOM OF URARTU AND ITS CONQUERING PRINCES: MENUAS AND ARGISTIS.
The line of Assyrian kings after Assurirba, and the Babylonian dynasties: the war between Rammân-nirâri III. and Shamash-mudammiq; his victories over Babylon; Tukulti-ninip II. (890-885 B.C.)—The empire at the accession of Assur-nazir-pal: the Assyrian army and the progress of military tactics; cavalry, military engines; the condition of Assyria’s neighbours, methods of Assyrian conquest.
The first campaigns of Assur-nazir-pal in Nairi and on the Khabur (885-882 B.C.): Zamua reduced to an Assyrian province (881 B.C.)—The fourth campaign in Naîri and the war on the Euphrates (880 B.C.); the first conquest of BU-Adini—Northern Syria at the opening of the IXth century: its civilisation, arts, army, and religion—The submission of the Hittite states and of the Patina: the Assyrians reach the Mediterranean.
The empire after the wars of Assur-nazir-pal—Building of the palace at Calah: Assyrian architecture and sculpture in the IXth century—The tunnel of Negub and the palace of Balawât—The last years of Assur-nazir-pal: His campaign of the year 867 in Naîri—The death of Assur-nazir-pal (860 B.C.); his character.
Shalmaneser III. (860-825 B.C.): the state of the empire at his accession—Urartu: its physical features, races, towns, temples, its deities—Shalmaneser’s first campaign in Urartu: he penetrates as far as Lake Van (860 B.C.)—The conquest of Bît-Adini and of Naîri (859-855 B.C.)
The attack on Damascus: the battle of Qarqar (854 B.C.) and the war against Babylon (852-851 B.C.)—The alliance between Judah and Israel, the death of Ahab (853 B.C.); Damascus successfully resists the attacks of Assyria (849-846 B.C.)—Moab delivered from Israel, Mesha; the death of Ben-hadad (Adadidri) and the accession of Hazael; the fall of the house of Omri-Jehu (843 B.C.)—The defeat of Hazael and the homage of Jehu (842-839 B.C.). Wars in Cilicia and in Namri (838-835 B.c.): the last battles of Shalmaneser III.; his building works, the revolt of Assur-dain-pal—Samsi-rammân IV. (825-812 B.C.), his first three expeditions, his campaigns against Babylon—Bammdn-nirdri IV, (812-783 B.C.)—Jehu, Athaliah, Joash: the supremacy of Hazael over Israel and Judah—Victory of Bammdn-nirdri over Mari, and the submission of all Syria to the Assyrians (803 B.C.).
The growth of Urartu: the conquests of Menuas and Argistis I., their victories over Assyria—Shalmaneser IV. (783-772 B.C.)—Assurdân III. (772-754 B.C.)—Assur-niruri III. (754-745 B.C.)—The downfall of Assyria and the triumph of Urartu.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I—THE ASSYRIAN REVIVAL AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SYRIA
CHAPTER II—TIGLATH-PILESER III. AND THE ORGANISATION OF THE ASSYRIAN
CHAPTER III—SARGON OF ASSYRIA (722-705 B.C.)
List of Illustrations
009.jpg an Assyrian Horseman Armed With the Sword
010.jpg a Mounted Assyrian Archer With Attendant
012.jpg the Movable Sow Making a Breach in The Wall of A Fortress
013.jpg the Turreted Battering-ram Attacking The Walls Of A Town
014.jpg the Besieged Endeavouring to Cripple Or Destroy The Battering-ram
017.jpg the Escarpments of The Zab
021.jpg the Campaigns of Assur-nazir-pal in Nairi
022.jpg the Site of Shadikanni at Arban, on The Khabur
024.jpg One of the Winged Bulls Found at Arban
024b.jpg No. 1. Enameled Brick (nimrod). No. 2. Fragment Of Mural Painting (nimrod).
033.jpg the Campaigns of Assur-nazir-pal in Zamua
037.jpg the Zab Below The Passes of Alan, The Ancient Ilaniu
044.jpg the Campaigns of Assur-nazir-pal in Mesopotamia
050.jpg Campaigns of Assur-nazir-pal in Syria
052.jpg Bas-relief from a Building at Sinjirli
053.jpg JibrÎn, a Village of Conical Huts, on the Plateau Of Aleppo
054.jpg the War-chariot of The KhÂti Op The Ninth Century
055.jpg the Assyrian War-chariot of The Ninth Century B.c.
056.jpg a King of the KhÂti Hunting A Lion in His Chariot
058.jpg Religious Scene Displaying Egyptian Features
068.jpg Stele of Assur-nazir-pal at Calah
070.jpg the Winged Bulls Op Assur-nazir-pal
071.jpg Glazed Tile from Palace of Calah
072.jpg Lion from Assur-nazir-pal’s Palace
074.jpg a Corner of the Ruined Palace Of Assur-nazir-pal
079.jpg the Two Peaks of Mount Ararat
080.jpg End of the Harvest—cutting Straw
083.jpg Fragment of a Votive Shield Of Urartian Work
084.jpg Site of an Urartian Town at Toprah-kaleh
085.jpg the Ruins of a Palace Of Urartu at Toprah-kaleh
086.jpg Temple of Khaldis at Muzazir
089.jpg Assyrian Soldiers Carrying off Or Destroying The Furniture of an Urartian Temple
090.jpg Shalmanesee Iii. Crossing the Mountains
093.jpg the People of Shugunia Fighting Against The Assyrians
094.jpg Prisoners from Shugunia, With Their Arms Tied And Yokes on Their Necks
094b.jpg Sacrifice Offered by Shalmaneser Iii.
095.jpg Costumes Found in the Fifth Tomb
100.jpg Shua, King of Gilzan, Bringing a War-horse Fully Caparisoned to Shalmaneser
101.jpg Dromedaries from Gilzan
105.jpg Tribute from Garparuda, King of the Patina
123.jpg the Moabite Stone of Stele Of Mesha
131.jpg Jehu, King of Israel, Sends Presents To Shalmaneser
137.jpg Elephant and Monkeys Brought As a Tribute To Nineveh by the People of Muzbi
142.jpg Stag and Lions of the Country Of Sukhi
144.jpg the Bronze-covered Gates of BalawÀt
156.jpg Triumphal Stele of Menuas at Kelishin
164.jpg Urartian Stele on the Rocks of Ak-keupbu
169.jpg Table of the Dynasty Of The Kings Of Assyria
180.jpg a Vista of the Asianic Steppe
188.jpg Specimens of Hebrew Pottery
189.jpg Israelites of the Higher Class in The Time Of Shalmaneser Iii
202.jpg Egyptian Altar at Deik-el-bahari
216.jpg Map of Campaigns Of Tiglath-pileser Iii. In Media
218.jpg Principal Pak of Mount Bikni (demavend)
221.jpg View of the Mountains Which Guard The Southern Border of Uartu
226a.jpg Plan of the Ancient City Of Zinjirli.
226b.jpg One of the Gates Of Zinjirli Restored
227.jpg Bird’s-eye View of the Royal Castle Of Zinjirli As Restored
232.jpg Tiglath-pileser Iii. In his State Chariot
235.jpg the Rock and Citadel of Van at The Present Day
236.jpg Entrance to the Modern Citadel of Van from The Westward
241.jpg Hebrew Inscription on the Siloam Aqueduct
243.jpg the Great Temple of Bubastis Duringnaville’s Excavations
244.jpg Picture in the Hall of The Harps In The Fifth Tomb
245.jpg Gate of the Festival Hall at Bubastis
248.jpg Small Bronze Sphinx of Siamun
249.jpg Ruins of the Temple at Khninsu After Naville’s Excavations
252.jpg Table of Pharaohs Of the Xxiith Dynasty
253.jpg King Petubastis at Prayer
255.jpg View of a Part Of the Ruins Of Napata
256.jpg Gebel-barkal, the Sacred Mountain of Napata
257.jpg Ruins of the Temple Of Amon at Napata
258.jpg Plan of the Temple Of Amon at Napata
260a.jpg a Nearly Pure Ethiopian Type
260b.jpg Mixed Negro and Ethiopian Type
262.jpg Map of Middle Egypt During the Campaign Of Pionkhi
262.jpg Ruins of Oxyrrhynchos and the Modern Town Of Bahnesa
266.jpg King NamrÔti Leading a Horse to PiÔnkhi
267.jpg Ruins of the Temple Of Thoth, at Hermopolis The Great
276.jpg King Tafnakhti Presents a Field to Tumu and To Bastit
282.jpg Map the Kingdom of Damascus
289b.jpg List of the Kings Of Damascus
290.jpg Arab Meharis Ridden Down by the Assyrian Cavalry
292.jpg Table of This Babylonian Dynasty
298.jpg Map of the Assyrian Empire Under Tiglath-pileser Iii.
312.jpg Tiglath-pileser Iii. Besieging a Revellious City.
314.jpg a Herd of Horses Brought in As Tribute
315.jpg a Typical Cappadocian Horse
317.jpg the Foundatins of a Bît-khil.ni
318.jpg Base of a Column at Zinjireli
320.jpg Stele Or Bel-harran-beluzur.
322.jpg Manuscript on Papyrus in Hieroglyphics
323.jpg Cone Bearing the Name of Kashta and Of His Daughter Amenertas
333.jpg Table of Kings Of Israel
334.jpg Sargon of Assyria and his Vizier
343.jpg Assyrian Soldiers Pursuing Kalda Refugees in A Bed of Reeds
344.jpg a Reed-hut of the Bedawin Of Irak
346.jpg Brick Bearing the Name of The Susian King Shilkhak-inshushinak
348.jpg Bas-relief of Nakam-sin, Tkansported to Susa By Shutkuk-nakhunta
349.jpg the Great Rock Bas-relief of MalamÎr
356.jpg IaubÎdi of Hamath Being Flayed Alive.
364.jpg Taking of a Castle in Zikartu
369.jpg Taking of the City Of KishÎsim by The Assyrians
372.jpg the Town of BÎt-bagaÎa Burnt by The Assyrians
373.jpg Table of Dynasties Of Tanis and Sais
374.jpg King Bocchoris Giving Judgment Between Two Women, Rival Claimants to a Child
378.jpg Taking of a Town in Urartu by the Assyrians
379.jpg the Seal of Urzana, King Of MuzazÎr
379.jpg the Assyrians Taking a Median Town
398.jpg Plan of the Royal City Of Dur-sharrukÎn
400.jpg Part of the Enamelled Course Of a Gate
402.jpg Bird’s Eye View of Sargon’s Palace At Dur-sharrukîn
403.jpg One of the Gates Of The Palace at Dur-sharrukÎn
404.jpg Plan of the Excavated Portions Of The Palace At Dur-sharrukÎn
405.jpg One of the Bronze Lions from Dur-sharrukÎn
406.jpg a Hunting Expedition in the Woods Near Dur-sharrukÎn
408.jpg the Ziggurat at Dur-sharrukin
CHAPTER I—THE ASSYRIAN REVIVAL AND THE STRUGGLE FOR SYRIA
Assur-nazir-pal (885-860) and Shalmaneser III. (860-825)—The kingdom of Urartu and its conquering princes: Menuas and Argistis.
Assyria was the first to reappear on the scene of action. Less hampered by an ancient past than Egypt and Chaldæa, she was the sooner able to recover her strength after any disastrous crisis, and to assume again the offensive along the whole of her frontier line.
of the time of Sennacherib. The initial cut, which is also
by Faucher-Gudin, represents the broken obelisk of Assur-
nazir-pal, the bas-reliefs of which are as yet unpublished.
During the years immediately following the ephemeral victories and reverses of Assurirba, both the country and its rulers are plunged in the obscurity of oblivion. Two figures at length, though at what date is uncertain, emerge from the darkness—a certain Irbarammân and an Assur-nadinakhê II., whom we find engaged in building palaces and making a necropolis. They were followed towards 950 by a Tiglath-pileser II., of whom nothing is known but his name.* He in his turn was succeeded about the year 935 by one Assurdân II., who appears to have concentrated his energies upon public works, for we hear of him digging a canal to supply his capital with water, restoring the temples and fortifying towns. Kammân-nirâri III., who followed him in 912, stands out more distinctly from the mists which envelop the history of this period; he repaired the gate of the Tigris and the adjoining wall at Assur, he enlarged its principal sanctuary, reduced several rebellious provinces to obedience, and waged a successful warfare against the neighbouring inhabitants of Karduniash. Since the extinction of the race of Nebuchadrezzar I., Babylon had been a prey to civil discord and foreign invasion. The Aramaean tribes mingled with, or contiguous to the remnants of the Cossoans bordering on the Persian gulf, constituted possibly, even at this period, the powerful nation of the Kaldâ.**
on which he is mentioned as being the grandfather of Rammân-
nirâri II.
** The names Chaldæa and Chaldæans being ordinarily used to
designate the territory and people of Babylon, I shall
employ the term Kaldu or Kaldâ in treating of the Aramæan
tribes who constituted the actual Chaldæan nation.
It has been supposed, not without probability, that a certain Simashshikhu, Prince of the Country of the Sea, who immediately followed the last scion of the line of Pashê,* was one of their chiefs. He endeavoured to establish order in the city, and rebuilt the temple of the Sun destroyed by the nomads at Sippar, but at the end of eighteen years he was assassinated. His son Eâmukinshurnu remained at the head of affairs some three to six months; Kashshu-nadinakhê ruled three or six years, at the expiration of which a man of the house of Bâzi, Eulbar-shakinshumi by name, seized upon the crown.** His dynasty consisted of three members, himself included, and it was overthrown after a duration of twenty years by an Elamite, who held authority for another seven.***
Peiser, a reading adopted by Rost; Simbarshiku would have
been shortened into Sibir, and we should have to identify it
with that of the Sibir mentioned by Assur-nazir-pal in his
Annals, col. ii. 1. 84, as a king of Karduniash who lived
before his (Assur-nazir-pal’s) time (see p. 38 of the
present volume).
** The name of this king may be read Edubarshakîn-shumi. The
house of Bâzi takes its name from an ancestor who must have
founded it at some unknown date, but who never reigned in
Chaldæa. Winckler has with reason conjectured that the name
subsequently lost its meaning to the Babylonians, and that
they confused the Chaldæan house of Bâzi with the Arab
country of Bâzu: this may explain why in his dynasties
Berosos attributes an Arab origin to that one which
comprises the short-lived line of Bît-Bâzi.
*** Our knowledge of these events is derived solely from the
texts of the Babylonian Canon published and translated by G.
Smith, by Pinches, and by Sayce. The inscription of
Nabubaliddin informs us that Kashu-nadînakhê and Eulbar-
shâkinshumu continued the works begun by Simashshiku in the
temple of the Sun at Sippar.
It was a period of calamity and distress, during which the Arabs or the Aramæans ravaged the country, and pillaged without compunction not only the property of the inhabitants, but also that of the gods. The Elamite usurper having died about the year 1030, a Babylonian of noble extraction expelled the intruders, and succeeded in bringing the larger part of the kingdom under his rule.*
* The names of the first kings of this dynasty are destroyed in the copies of the Royal Canon which have come down to us. The three preceding dynasties are restored as follows:—
Five or six of his descendants had passed away, and a certain Shamash-mudammiq was feebly holding the reins of government, when the expeditions of Rammân-nirâri III. provoked war afresh between Assyria and Babylon. The two armies encountered each other once again on their former battlefield between the Lower Zab and the Turnat. Shamash-mudammiq, after being totally routed near the Yalmân mountains, did not long survive, and Naboshumishkun, who succeeded him, showed neither more ability nor energy than his predecessor. The Assyrians wrested from him the fortresses of Bambala and Bagdad, dislodged him from the positions where he had entrenched himself, and at length took him prisoner while in flight, and condemned him to perpetual captivity.*
Naboshumishkun probably reigned only one or two years, from
900 to 899 or to 898. The name of his successor is destroyed
in the Synchronous History; it might be Nabubaliddin, who
seems to have had a long life, but it is wiser, until fresh
light is thrown on the subject, to admit that it is some
prince other than Nabubaliddin, whose name is as yet unknown
to us.
His successor abandoned to the Assyrians most of the districts situated on the left bank of the Lower Zab between the Zagros mountains and the Tigris, and peace, which was speedily secured by a double marriage, remained unbroken for nearly half a century. Tukulti-ninip II. was fond of fighting; “he overthrew his adversaries and exposed their heads upon stakes,” but, unlike his predecessor, he directed his efforts against Naîri and the northern and western tribes. We possess no details of his campaigns; we can only surmise that in six years, from 890 to 885,* he brought into subjection the valley of the Upper Tigris and the mountain provinces which separate it from the Assyrian plain. Having reached the source of the river, he carved, beside the image of Tiglath-pileser I., the following inscription, which may still be read upon the rock. “With the help of Assur, Shamash, and Rammân, the gods of his religion, he reached this spot. The lofty mountains he subjugated from the sun-rising to its down-setting; victorious, irresistible, he came hither, and like unto the lightning he crossed the raging rivers.” **
in 893, about the end of the reign of Rammân-nirâri IL The
line which distinguishes the two reigns from one another is
drawn between the name of the personage who corresponds to
the year 890, and that of Tukulti-ninip who corresponds to
the year 889: Tukulti-ninip II., therefore, begins his reign
in 890, and his death is six years later, in 885.
** This inscription and its accompanying bas-relief are
mentioned in the Annals of Assur-nazir-pal.
He did not live long to enjoy his triumphs, but his death made no impression on the impulse given to the fortunes of his country. The kingdom which he left to Assur-nazir-pal, the eldest of his sons, embraced scarcely any of the countries which had paid tribute to former sovereigns. Besides Assyria proper, it comprised merely those districts of Naîri which had been annexed within his own generation; the remainder had gradually regained their liberty: first the outlying dependencies—Cilicia, Melitene, Northern Syria, and then the provinces nearer the capital, the valleys of the Masios and the Zagros, the steppes of the Khabur, and even some districts such as Lubdi and Shupria, which had been allotted to Assyrian colonists at various times after successful campaigns. Nearly the whole empire had to be reconquered under much the same conditions as in the first instance. Assyria itself, it is true, had recovered the vitality and elasticity of its earlier days. The people were a robust and energetic race, devoted to their rulers, and ready to follow them blindly and trustingly wherever they might lead. The army, while composed chiefly of the same classes of troops as in the time of Tiglath-pileser I.,—spearmen, archers, sappers, and slingers,—now possessed a new element, whose appearance on the field of battle was to revolutionize the whole method of warfare; this was the cavalry, properly so called, introduced as an adjunct to the chariotry. The number of horsemen forming this contingent was as yet small; like the infantry, they wore casques and cuirasses, but were clothed with a tight-fitting loin-cloth in place of the long kilt, the folds of which would have embarrassed their movements. One-half of the men carried sword and lance, the other half sword and bow, the latter of a smaller kind than that used by the infantry. Their horses were bridled, and bore trappings on the forehead, but had no saddles; their riders rode bareback without stirrups; they sat far back with the chest thrown forward, their knees drawn up to grip the shoulder of the animal.
gate of Balawât. The Assyrian artist has shown the head and
legs of the second horse in profile behind the first, but he
has forgotten to represent the rest of its body, and also
the man riding it.
Each horseman was attended by a groom, who rode abreast of him, and held his reins during an action, so that he might be free to make use of his weapons. This body of cavalry, having little confidence in its own powers, kept in close contact with the main body of the army, and was not used in independent manouvres; it was associated with and formed an escort to the chariotry in expeditions where speed was essential, and where the ordinary foot soldier would have hampered the movements of the charioteers.*