The Scriptures inform us, that when _Sennacherib_ invaded _Judaea_ and besieged _Lachish_ and _Libnah_, which was in the 14th year of _Hezekiah_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 34. the King of _Judah_ trusted upon _Pharaoh_ King of _Egypt_, that is upon _Sethon_, and that _Tirhakah_ King of _Ethiopia_ came out also to fight against _Sennacherib_, 2 _King._ xviii. 21. & xix. 9.
which makes it probable, that when _Sennacherib_ heard of the Kings of _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_ coming against him, he went from _Libnah_ towards _Pelusium_ to oppose them, and was there surprized and set upon in the night by them both, and routed with as great a slaughter as if the bow-strings of the _a.s.syrians_ had been eaten by mice. Some think that the _a.s.syrians_ were smitten by lightning, or by a fiery wind which sometimes comes from the southern parts of _Chaldaea_. After this victory _Tirhakah_ succeeding _Sethon_, carried his arms westward through _Libya_ and _Afric_ to the mouth of the _Straits_: but _Herodotus_ tells us, that the Priests of _Egypt_ reckoned _Sethon_ the last King of _Egypt_, who Reigned before the division of _Egypt_ into twelve contemporary Kingdoms, and by consequence before the invasion of _Egypt_ by the _a.s.syrians_.
For _a.s.serhadon_ King of _a.s.syria_, in the 68th year of _Nabona.s.sar_, after he had Reigned about thirty years over _a.s.syria_, invaded the Kingdom of _Babylon_, and then carried into captivity many people from _Babylon_, and _Cuthah_, and _Ava_, and _Hamath_, and _Sepharvaim_, placing them in the Regions of _Samaria_ and _Damascus_: and from thence they carried into _Babylonia_ and _a.s.syria_ the remainder of the people of _Israel_ and _Syria_, which had been left there by _Tiglath-pileser_. This captivity was 65 years after the first year of _Ahaz_, _Isa_. vii. 1, 8. & 2. _King._ xv.
37. & xvi. 5. and by consequence in the twentieth year of _Mana.s.seh_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 69. and then _Tartan_ was sent by _a.s.serhadon_ with an army against _Ashdod_ or _Azoth_, a town at that time subject to _Judaea_, 2 _Chron._ xxvi. 6. and took it, _Isa._ xx. 1: and this post being secured, the _a.s.syrians_ beat the _Jews_, and captivated _Mana.s.seh_, and subdued _Judaea_: and in these wars, _Isaiah_ was saw"d asunder by the command of _Mana.s.seh_, for prophesying against him. Then the _a.s.syrians_ invaded and subdued _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_, and carried the _Egyptians_ and _Ethiopians_ into captivity, and thereby put an end to the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ over _Egypt_, _Isa._ vii. 18. & viii. 7. & x. 11, 12, & xix.
23. & xx. 4. In this war the city _No-Ammon_ or _Thebes_, which had hitherto continued in a flourishing condition, was miserably wasted and led into captivity, as is described by _Nahum_, chap. iii. ver. 8, 9, 10; for _Nahum_ wrote after the last invasion of _Judaea_ by the _a.s.syrians_, chap.
i. ver. 15; and therefore describes this captivity as fresh in memory: and this and other following invasions of _Egypt_ under _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Cambyses_, put an end to the glory of that city. _a.s.serhadon_ Reigned over the _Egyptians_ and _Ethiopians_ three years, _Isa._ xx. 3, 4. that is until his death, which was in the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 81, and therefore invaded _Egypt_, and put an end to the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ over the _Egyptians_, in the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 78; so that the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_, and his successors _Sethon_ and _Tirhakah_, Reigned over _Egypt_ about 80 years: _Herodotus_ allots 50 years to _Sabacon_, and _Africa.n.u.s_ fourteen years to _Sethon_, and eighteen to _Tirhakah_.
The division of _Egypt_ into more Kingdoms than one, both before and after the Reign of the _Ethiopians_, and the conquest of the _Egyptians_ by _a.s.serhadon_, the prophet _Isaiah_ [340] seems allude unto in these words: _I will set_, saith he, _the _Egyptians_ against the _Egyptians_, and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour, city against city, and Kingdom against Kingdom, and the Spirit of _Egypt_ shall fail.--And the _Egyptians_ will I give over into the hand of a cruel Lord _[viz. _a.s.serhadon_]_ and a fierce King shall Reign over them.--Surely the Princes of _Zoan_ _[Tanis]_ are fools, the counsel of the wise Councellors of _Pharaoh_ is become brutish: how long say ye unto _Pharaoh_, I am the son of the ancient Kings.--The Princes of _Zoan_ are be come fools: the Princes of _Noph_ _[Memphis]_ are deceived,--even they that were the stay of the tribes thereof.--In that day there shall be a high-way out of _Egypt_ into _a.s.syria_, and the _Egyptians_ shall serve the _a.s.syrians__.
After the death of _a.s.serhadon_, _Egypt_ remained subject to twelve contemporary Kings, who revolted from the _a.s.syrians_, and Reigned together fifteen years; including I think the three years of _a.s.serhadon_, because the _Egyptians_ do not reckon him among their Kings. They [341] built the Labyrinth adjoining to the Lake of _Mris_ which was a very magnificent structure, with twelve Halls in it, for their Palaces: and then _Psammitichus_, who was one of the twelve, conquered all the rest. He built the last Portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_, founded by _Menes_ about 260 years before, and Reigned 54 years, including the fifteen years of his Reign with the twelve Kings. Then Reigned _Nechaoh_ or _Nechus_, 17 years; _Psammis_ six years; _Vaphres_, _Apries_, _Eraphius_, or _Hophra_, 25 years; _Amasis_ 44 years; and _Psammenitus_ six months, according to _Herodotus_. _Egypt_ was subdued by _Nebuchadnezzar_ in the last year but one of _Hophra_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 178, and remained in subjection to _Babylon_ forty years, _Jer._ xliv. 30. & _Ezek._ xxix. 12, 13, 14, 17, 19.
that is, almost all the Reign of _Amasis_, a plebeian set over _Egypt_ by the conqueror: the forty years ended with the death of _Cyrus_; for he Reigned over _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_, according to _Xenophon_. At that time therefore those nations recovered their liberty; but after four or five years more they were invaded and conquered by _Cambyses_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 223 or 224, and have almost ever since remained in servitude, as was predicted by the Prophets.
The Reigns of _Psammitichus_, _Nechus_, _Psammis_, _Apries_, _Amasis_, and _Psammenitus_, set down by _Herodotus_, amount unto 146 years: and so many years there were from the 78th year of _Nabona.s.sar_, in which the dominion of the _Ethiopians_ over _Egypt_ came to an end, unto the 224th year of _Nabona.s.sar_, in which _Cambyses_ invaded _Egypt_, and put an end to that Kingdom: which is an argument that _Herodotus_ was circ.u.mspect and faithful in his narrations, and has given us a good account of the antiquities of _Egypt_, so far as the Priests of _Egypt_ at _Thebes_, _Memphis_, and _Heliopolis_, and the _Carians_ and _Ionians_ inhabiting _Egypt_, were then able to inform him: for he consulted them all; and the _Cares_ and _Ionians_ had been in _Egypt_ from the time of the Reign of the twelve contemporary Kings.
_Pliny_ [342] tells us, that the _Egyptian_ Obelisks were of a sort of stone dug near _Syene_ in _Thebais_, and that the first Obelisk was made by _Mitres_, who Reigned in _Heliopolis_; that is, by _Mephres_ the predecessor of _Misphragmuthosis_; and that afterwards other Kings made others: _Sochis_, that is _Sesochis_, or _Sesac_, four, each of 48 cubits in length; _Ramises_, that is _Ramesses_, two; _Smarres_, that is _Mris_, one of 48 cubits in length; _Eraphius_, or _Hophra_, one of 48; and _Nectabis_, or _Nectenabis_, one of 80. _Mephres_ therefore extended his dominion over all the upper _Egypt_, from _Syene_ to _Heliopolis_, and after him, _Misphragmuthosis_ and _Amosis_, Reigned _Ammon_ and _Sesac_, who erected the first great Empire in the world: and these four, _Amosis_, _Ammon_, _Sesac_, and _Orus_, Reigned in the four ages of the great G.o.ds of _Egypt_; and _Amenophis_ was the _Menes_ who Reigned next after them: he was Succeeded by _Ramesses_, and _Mris_, and some time after by _Hophra_.
_Diodorus_ [343] recites the same Kings of _Egypt_ with _Herodotus_, but in a more confused order, and repeats some of them twice, or oftener, under various names, and omits others: his Kings are these; _Jupiter Ammon_ and _Juno_, _Osiris_ and _Isis_, _Horus_, _Menes_, _Busiris_ I, _Busiris_ II, _Osymanduas_, _Uch.o.r.eus_, _Myris_, _Sesoosis_ I, _Sesoosis_ II, _Amasis_, _Actisanes_, _Mendes_ or _Marrus_, _Proteus_, _Remphis_, _Chembis_, _Cephren_, _Mycerinus_ or _Cherinus_, _Gnephacthus_, _Bocchoris_, _Sabacon_, twelve contemporary Kings, _Psammitichus_, * * _Apries_, _Amasis_. Here I take _Sesoosis_ I, and _Sesoosis_ II, _Busiris_ I, and _Busiris_ II, to be the same Kings with _Osiris_ and _Orus_: also _Osymanduas_ to be the same with _Amenophis_ or _Menes_: also _Amasis_, and _Actisanes_, an _Ethiopian_ who conquered him, to be the same with _Anysis_ and _Sabacon_ in _Herodotus_: and _Uch.o.r.eus_, _Mendes_, _Marrus_, and _Myris_, to be only several names of one and the same King. Whence the catalogue of _Diodorus_ will be reduced to this: _Jupiter Ammon_ and _Juno_; _Osiris_, _Busiris_ or _Sesoosis_, and _Isis_; _Horus_, _Busiris_ II, or _Sesoosis_ II; _Menes_, or _Osymanduas_; _Proteus_; _Remphis_ or _Ramesses_; _Uch.o.r.eus_, _Mendes_, _Marrus_, or _Myris_; _Chembis_ or _Cheops_; _Cephren_; _Mycerinus_; * * _Gnephacthus_; _Bocchoris_; _Amasis_, or _Anysis_; _Actisanes_, or _Sabacon_; * twelve contemporary Kings; _Psammitichus_; * * _Apries_; _Amasis_: to which, if in their proper places you add _Nitocris_, _Asychis_, _Sethon_, _Nechus_, and _Psammis,_ you will have the catalogue of _Herodotus_.
The Dynasties of _Manetho_ and _Eratosthenes_ seem to be filled with many such names of Kings as _Herodotus_ omitted: when it shall be made appear that any of them Reigned in _Egypt_ after the expulsion of the Shepherds, and were different from the Kings described above, they may be inserted in their proper places.
_Egypt_ was conquered by the _Ethiopians_ under _Sabacon_, about the beginning of the _aera_ of _Nabona.s.sar_, or perhaps three or four years before, that is, about three hundred years before _Herodotus_ wrote his history; and about eighty years after that conquest, it was conquered again by the _a.s.syrians_ under _a.s.serhadon_: and the history of _Egypt_ set down by _Herodotus_ from the time of this last conquest, is right both as to the number, and order, and names of the Kings, and as to the length of their Reigns: and therein he is now followed by historians, being the only author who hath given us so good a history of _Egypt_, for that interval of time.
If his history of the earlier times be less accurate, it was because the archives of _Egypt_ had suffered much during the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ and _a.s.syrians_: and it is not likely that the Priests of _Egypt_, who lived two or three hundred years after the days of _Herodotus_, could mend the matter: on the contrary, after _Cambyses_ had carried away the records of _Egypt_, the Priests were daily feigning new Kings, to make their G.o.ds and nation look ancient; as is manifest by comparing _Herodotus_ with _Diodorus Siculus_, and both of them with what _Plato_ relates out of the Poem of _Solon_: which Poem makes the wars of the great G.o.ds of _Egypt_ against the _Greeks_, to have been in the days of _Cecrops_, _Erechtheus_ and _Erichthonius_, and a little before those of _Theseus_; these G.o.ds at that time inst.i.tuting Temples and Sacred Rites to themselves. I have therefore chosen to rely upon the stories related to _Herodotus_ by the Priests of _Egypt_ in those days, and corrected by the Poem of _Solon_, so as to make these G.o.ds of _Egypt_ no older than _Cecrops_ and _Erechtheus_, and their successor _Menes_ no older than _Theseus_ and _Memnon_, and the Temple of _Vulcan_ not above 280 years in building: rather than to correct _Herodotus_ by _Manetho_, _Eratosthenes_, _Diodorus_, and others, who lived after the Priests of _Egypt_ had corrupted their Antiquities much more than they had done in the days of _Herodotus_.
CHAP. III.
_Of the _a.s.sYRIAN_ Empire._
As the G.o.ds or ancient Deified Kings and Princes of _Greece_, _Egypt_, and _Syria_ of _Damascus_, have been made much ancienter than the truth, so have those of _Chaldaea_ and _a.s.syria_: for _Diodorus_ [344] tells us, that when _Alexander_ the great was in _Asia_, the _Chaldaeans_ reckoned 473000 years since they first began to observe the Stars; and _Ctesias_, and the ancient _Greek_ and _Latin_ writers who copy from him, have made the _a.s.syrian_ Empire as old as _Noah_"s flood within 60 or 70 years, and tell us the names of all the Kings of _a.s.syria_ downwards, from _Belus_ and his feigned son _Ninus_, to _Sardanapalus_ the last King of that Monarchy: but the names of his Kings, except two or three, have no affinity with the names of the _a.s.syrians_ mentioned in Scripture; for the _a.s.syrians_ were usually named after their G.o.ds, _Bel_ or _Pul_; _Chaddon_, _Hadon_, _Adon_, or _Adonis_; _Melech_ or _Moloch_; _Atsur_ or _a.s.sur_; _Nebo_; _Nergal_; _Merodach_: as in these names, _Pul_, _Tiglath-Pul-a.s.sur_, _Salman-a.s.sur_, _Adra-Melech_, _Shar-a.s.sur_, _a.s.sur-Hadon_, _Sardanapalus_ or _a.s.sur-Hadon-Pul_, _Nabona.s.sar_ or _Nebo-Adon-a.s.sur_, _Bel Adon_, _Chiniladon_ or _Chen-El-Adon_, _Nebo-Pul-a.s.sur_, _Nebo-Chaddon-a.s.sur_, _Nebuzaradon_ or _Nebo-a.s.sur-Adon_, _Nergal-a.s.sur_, _Nergal-Shar-a.s.sur_, _Labo-a.s.sur-dach_, _Sheseb-a.s.sur_, _Beltes-a.s.sur_, _Evil-Merodach_, _Shamgar-Nebo_, _Rabsaris_ or _Rab-a.s.sur_, _Nebo-Shashban_, _Mardocempad_ or _Merodach-Empad_. Such were the _a.s.syrian_ names; but those in _Ctesias_ are of another sort, except _Sardanapalus_, whose name he had met with in _Herodotus_. He makes _Semiramis_ as old as the first _Belus_; but _Herodotus_ tells us, that she was but five Generations older than the mother of _Labynetus_: he represents that the city _Ninus_ was founded by a man of the same name, and _Babylon_ by _Semiramis_; whereas either _Nimrod_ or _a.s.sur_ founded those and other cities, without giving his own name to any of them: he makes the _a.s.syrian_ Empire continue about 1360 years, whereas _Herodotus_ tells us that it lasted only 500 years, and the numbers of _Herodotus_ concerning those ancient times are all of them too long: he makes _Nineveh_ destroyed by the _Medes_ and _Babylonians_, three hundred years before the Reign of _Astibares_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_ who destroyed it, and sets down the names of seven or eight feigned Kings of _Media_, between the destruction of _Nineveh_ and the Reigns of _Astibares_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_, as if the Empire of the _Medes_, erected upon the ruins of the _a.s.syrian_ Empire, had lasted 300 years, whereas it lasted but 72: and the true Empire of the _a.s.syrians_ described in Scripture, whose Kings were _Pul_, _Tiglath-pilesar_, _Shalmaneser_, _Sennacherib_, _a.s.serhadon_, &c. he mentions not, tho" much nearer to his own times; which shews that he was ignorant of the antiquities of the _a.s.syrians_. Yet something of truth there is in the bottom of some of his stories, as there uses to be in Romances; as, that _Nineveh_ was destroyed by the _Medes_ and _Babylonians_; that _Sardanapalus_ was the last King of the _a.s.syrian_ Empire; and that _Astibares_ and _Astyages_ were Kings of the _Medes_: but he has made all things too ancient, and out of vainglory taken too great a liberty in feigning names and stories to please his reader.
When the _Jews_ were newly returned from the _Babylonian_ captivity, they confessed their Sins in this manner, _Now therefore our G.o.d, ---- let not all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us, on our Kings, on our Princes, and on our Priests, and on our Prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the Kings of _a.s.syria_, unto this day_; _Nehem._ ix. 32. that is, since the time of the Kingdom of _a.s.syria_, or since the rise of that Empire; and therefore the _a.s.syrian_ Empire arose when the Kings of _a.s.syria_ began to afflict the inhabitants of _Palestine_; which was in the days of _Pul_: he and his successors afflicted _Israel_, and conquered the nations round about them; and upon the ruin of many small and ancient Kingdoms erected their Empire, conquering the _Medes_ as well as other nations: but of these conquests _Ctesias_ knew not a word, no not so much as the names of the conquerors, or that there was an _a.s.syrian_ Empire then standing; for he supposes that the _Medes_ Reigned at that time, and that the _a.s.syrian_ Empire was at an end above 250 years before it began.
However we must allow that _Nimrod_ founded a Kingdom at _Babylon_, and perhaps extended it into _a.s.syria_: but this Kingdom was but of small extent, if compared with the Empires which rose up afterwards; being only within the fertile plains of _Chaldaea_, _Chalonitis_ and _a.s.syria_, watered by the _Tigris_ and _Euphrates_: and if it had been greater, yet it was but of short continuance, it being the custom in those early ages for every father to divide his territories amongst his sons. So _Noah_ was King of all the world, and _Cham_ was King of all _Afric_, and _j.a.phet_ of all _Europe_ and _Asia minor_; but they left no standing Kingdoms. After the days of _Nimrod_, we hear no more of an _a.s.syrian_ Empire "till the days of _Pul_. The four Kings who in the days of _Abraham_ invaded the southern coast of _Canaan_ came from the countries where _Nimrod_ had Reigned, and perhaps were some of his posterity who had shared his conquests. In the time of the Judges of _Israel_, _Mesopotamia_ was under its own King, _Judg._ iii. 8. and the King of _Zobah_ Reigned on both sides of the River _Euphrates_ "till _David_ conquered him, 2 _Sam._ viii, and x. The Kingdoms of _Israel_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, _Edom_, _Philistia_, _Zidon_, _Damascus_, and _Hamath_ the great, continued subject to other Lords than the _a.s.syrians_ "till the days of _Pul_ and his successors; and so did the house of _Eden_, _Amos_ i. 5. 2 _Kings_ xix. 12. and _Haran_ or _Carrhae_, _Gen._ xii. 2 _Kings_ xix. 12. and _Sepharvaim_ in _Mesopotamia_, and _Calneh_ near _Bagdad_, _Gen._ x. 10, _Isa._ x. 9, 2 _Kings_ xvii. 31. _Sesac_ and _Memnon_ were great conquerors, and Reigned over _Chaldaea_, _a.s.syria_, and _Persia_, but in their histories there is not a word of any opposition made to them by an _a.s.syrian_ Empire then standing: on the contrary, _Susiana_, _Media_, _Persia_, _Bactria_, _Armenia_, _Cappadocia_, &c. were conquered by them, and continued subject to the Kings of _Egypt_ "till after the long Reign of _Ramesses_ the son of _Memnon_, as above.
_Homer_ mentions _Bacchus_ and _Memnon_ Kings of _Egypt_ and _Persia_, but knew nothing of an _a.s.syrian_ Empire. _Jonah_ prophesied when _Israel_ was in affliction under the King of _Syria_, and this was in the latter part of the Reign of _Jehoahaz_, and first part of the Reign of _Joash_, Kings of _Israel_, and I think in the Reign of _Mris_ the successor of _Ramesses_ King of _Egypt_, and about sixty years before the Reign of _Pul_; and _Nineveh_ was then a city of large extent, but full of pastures for cattle, so that it contained but about 120000 persons. It was not yet grown so great and potent as not to be terrified at the preaching of _Jonah_, and to fear being invaded by its neighbours and ruined within forty days: it had some time before got free from the dominion of _Egypt_, and had got a King of its own; but its King was not yet called King of _a.s.syria_, but only King of _Nineveh_, _Jonah_ iii. 6, 7. and his proclamation for a fast was not published in several nations, nor in all _a.s.syria_, but only in _Nineveh_, and perhaps in the villages thereof; but soon after, when the dominion of _Nineveh_ was established at home, and exalted over all _a.s.syria_ properly so called, and this Kingdom began to make war upon the neighbouring nations, its Kings were no longer called Kings of _Nineveh_ but began to be called Kings of _a.s.syria_.
_Amos_ prophesied in the Reign of _Jeroboam_ the Son of _Joash_ King of _Israel_, soon after _Jeroboam_ had subdued the Kingdoms of _Damascus_ and _Hamath_, that is, about ten or twenty years before the Reign of _Pul_: and he [345] thus reproves _Israel_ for being lifted up by those conquests; _Ye which rejoyce in a thing of nought, which say, have we not taken to us horns by our strength? But behold I will raise up against you a nation, O house of _Israel_, saith the Lord the G.o.d of Hosts, and they shall afflict you from the entring in of _Hamath_ unto the river of the wilderness_. G.o.d here threatens to raise up a nation against _Israel_; but what nation he names not; that he conceals "till the _a.s.syrians_ should appear and discover it. In the prophesies of _Isaiah_, _Jeremiah_, _Ezekiel_, _Hosea_, _Micah_, _Nahum_, _Zephaniah_ and _Zechariah_, which were written after the Monarchy grew up, it is openly named upon all occasions; but in this of _Amos_ not once, tho" the captivity of _Israel_ and _Syria_ be the subject of the prophesy, and that of _Israel_ be often threatned: he only saith in general that _Syria_ should go into captivity unto _Kir_, and that _Israel_, notwithstanding her present greatness, should go into captivity beyond _Damascus_; and that G.o.d would raise up a nation to afflict them: meaning that he would raise up above them from a lower condition, a nation whom they yet feared not: for so the _Hebrew_ word ??? signifies when applied to men, as in _Amos_ v. 2. 1 _Sam._ xii. 11. _Psal._ cxiii. 7.
_Jer._ x. 20. l. 32. _Hab._ i. 6. _Zech._ xi. 16. As _Amos_ names not the _a.s.syrians_; at the writing of this prophecy they made no great figure in the world, but were to be raised up against _Israel_, and by consequence rose up in the days of _Pul_ and his successors: for after _Jeroboam_ had conquered _Damascus_ and _Hamath_, his successor _Menahem_ destroyed _Tiphsah_ with its territories upon _Euphrates_, because they opened not to him: and therefore _Israel_ continued in its greatness "till _Pul_, probably grown formidable by some victories, caused _Menahem_ to buy his peace. _Pul_ therefore Reigning presently after the prophesy of _Amos_, and being the first upon record who began to fulfill it, may be justly reckoned the first conqueror and founder of this Empire. For _G.o.d stirred up the spirit of _Pul_, and the spirit of _Tiglath-pileser_ King of _a.s.syria__, 1 _Chron._ v. 20.
The same Prophet _Amos_, in prophesying against _Israel_, threatned them in this manner, with what had lately befallen other Kingdoms: _Pa.s.s ye_, [346]
saith he, _unto _Calneh_ and see, and from thence go ye to _Hamath_ the great, then go down to _Gath_ of the _Philistims_. Be they better than these Kingdoms?_ These Kingdoms were not yet conquered by the _a.s.syrians_, except that of _Calneh_ or _Chalonitis_ upon _Tigris_, between _Babylon_ and _Nineveh_. _Gath_ was newly vanquished [347] by _Uzziah_ King of _Judah_, and _Hamath_ [348] by _Jeroboam_ King of _Israel_: and while the Prophet, in threatning _Israel_ with the _a.s.syrians_, instances in desolations made by other nations, and mentions no other conquest of the _a.s.syrians_ than that of _Chalonitis_ near _Nineveh_; it argues that the King of _Nineveh_ was now beginning his conquests, and had not yet made any great progress in that vast career of victories, which we read of a few years after.
For about seven years after the captivity of the ten Tribes, when _Sennacherib_ warred in _Syria_, which was in the 16th Olympiad, he [349]
sent this message to the King of _Judah_: _Behold, thou hast heard that the Kings of _a.s.syria_ have done to all Lands by destroying them utterly, and shalt thou be delivered? Have the G.o.ds of the nations delivered them which the G.o.ds of my fathers have destroyed, as _Gozan_ and _Haran_ and _Reseph_, and the children of _Eden_ which were in _[the Kingdom of] Thelasar_? Where is the King of _Hamath_, and the King of _Arpad_, and the King of the city of _Sepharvaim_, and of _Hena_ and _Ivah__? And _Isaiah_ [350] thus introduceth the King of _a.s.syria_ boasting: _Are not my Princes altogether as Kings? Is not _Calno [or _Calneh_]_ as _Carchemish_? Is not _Hamath_ as _Arpad_? Is not _Samaria_ as _Damascus_? As my hand hath found the Kingdoms of the Idols, and whose graven Images did excel them of _Jerusalem_ and of _Samaria_; shall I not as I have done unto _Samaria_ and her Idols, so do to _Jerusalem_ and her Idols?_ All this desolation is recited as fresh in memory to terrify the _Jews_, and these Kingdoms reach to the borders of _a.s.syria_, and to shew the largeness of the conquests they are called _all lands_, that is, all round about _a.s.syria_. It was the custom of the Kings of _a.s.syria_, for preventing the rebellion of people newly conquered, to captivate and transplant those of several countries into one another"s lands, and intermix them variously: and thence it appears [351] that _Halah_, and _Habor_, and _Hara_, and _Gozan_, and the cities of the _Medes_ into which _Galilee_ and _Samaria_ were transplanted; and _Kir_ into which _Damascus_ was transplanted; and _Babylon_ and _Cuth_ or the _Susanchites_, and _Hamath_, and _Ava_, and _Sepharvaim_, and the _Dinaites_, and the _Apharsachites_, and the _Tarpelites_, and the _Archevites_, and the _Dehavites_, and the _Elamites_, or _Persians_, part of all which nations were led captive by _a.s.serhadon_ and his predecessors into _Samaria_; were all of them conquered by the _a.s.syrians_ not long before.
In these conquests are involved on the west and south side of _a.s.syria_, the Kingdoms of _Mesopotamia_, whose royal seats were _Haran_ or _Carrhae_, and _Carchemish_ or _Circutium_, and _Sepharvaim_, a city upon _Euphrates_, between _Babylon_ and _Nineveh_, called _Sipparae_ by _Berosus_, _Abydenus_, and _Polyhistor_, and _Sipphara_ by _Ptolomy_; and the Kingdoms of _Syria_ seated at _Samaria_, _Damascus_, _Gath_, _Hamath_, _Arpad_, and _Reseph_, a city placed by _Ptolomy_ near _Thapsacus_: on the south side and south east side were _Babylon_ and _Calneh_, or _Calno_, a city which was founded by _Nimrod_, where _Bagdad_ now stands, and gave the name of _Chalonitis_ to a large region under its government; and _Thelasar_ or _Talatha_, a city of the children of _Eden_, placed by _Ptolomy_ in _Babylonia_, upon the common stream of _Tigris_ and _Euphrates_, which was therefore the river of Paradise; and the _Archevites_ at _Areca_ or _Erech_, a city built by _Nimrod_ on the east side of _Pasitigris_, between _Apamia_ and the _Persian Gulph_; and the _Susanchites_ at _Cuth_, or _Susa_, the metropolis of _Susiana_: on the east were _Elymais_, and some cities of the _Medes_, and _Kir_, [352] a city and large region of _Media_, between _Elymais_, and _a.s.syria_, called _Kirene_ by the _Chaldee_ Paraphrast and _Latin_ Interpreter, and _Carine_ by _Ptolomy_: on the north-east were _Habor_ or _Chaboras_, a mountainous region between _a.s.syria_ and _Media_; and the _Apharsachites_, or men of _Arrapachitis_, a region originally peopled by _Arphaxad_, and placed by _Ptolomy_ at the bottom of the mountains next _a.s.syria_: and on the north between _a.s.syria_ and the _Gordiaean_ mountains was _Halah_ or _Chalach_, the metropolis of _Calachene_: and beyond these upon the _Caspian_ sea was _Gozan_, called _Gauzania_ by _Ptolomy_. Thus did these new conquests extend every way from the province of _a.s.syria_ to considerable distances, and make up the great body of that Monarchy: so that well might the King of _a.s.syria_ boast how his armies had destroyed all lands. All these nations [353] had "till now their several G.o.ds, and each accounted his G.o.d the G.o.d of his own land, and the defender thereof, against the G.o.ds of the neighbouring countries, and particularly against the G.o.ds of _a.s.syria_; and therefore they were never "till now united under the _a.s.syrian_ Monarchy, especially since the King of _a.s.syria_ doth not boast of their being conquered by the _a.s.syrians_ oftner than once: but these being small Kingdoms the King of _a.s.syria_ easily overflowed them: _Know ye not_, saith [354] _Sennacherib_ to the _Jews_, _what I and my fathers have done unto all the People of other lands?--for no G.o.d of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your G.o.d deliver you out of mine hand?_ He and his fathers therefore, _Pul_, _Tiglath-pileser_, and _Shalmaneser_, were great conquerors, and with a current of victories had newly overflowed all nations round about _a.s.syria_, and thereby set up this Monarchy.
Between the Reigns of _Jeroboam_ II, and his son _Zachariah_, there was an interregnum of about ten or twelve years in the Kingdom of _Israel_: and the prophet _Hosea_ [355] in the time of that interregnum, or soon after, mentions the King of _a.s.syria_ by the name of _Jareb_, and another conqueror by the name of _Shalman_; and perhaps _Shalman_ might be the first part of the name of _Shalmaneser_, and _Iareb_, or _Irib_, for it may be read both ways, the last part of the name of his successor _Sennacherib_: but whoever these Princes were, it appears not that they Reigned before _Shalmaneser_. _Pul_, or _Belus_, seems to be the first who carried on his conquests beyond the province of _a.s.syria_: he conquered _Calneh_ with its territories in the Reign of _Jerboam_, _Amos_ i. 1. vi.
2. & _Isa._ x. 8, 9. and invaded _Israel_ in the Reign of _Menahem_, 2 _King._ xv. 19. but stayed not in the land, being bought off by _Menahem_ for a thousand talents of silver: in his Reign therefore the Kingdom of _a.s.syria_ was advanced on this side _Tigris_: for he was a great warrior, and seems to have conquered _Haran_, and _Carchemish_, and _Reseph_, and _Calneh_, and _Thelasar_, and might found or enlarge the city of _Babylon_, and build the old palace.
_Herodotus_ tells us, that one of the gates of _Babylon_ was [356] called the gate of _Semiramis_, and than she adorned the walls of the city, and the Temple of _Belus_, and that she [357] was five Generations older than _Nitocris_ the mother of _Labynitus_, or _Nabonnedus_, the last King of _Babylon_; and therefore she flourished four Generations, or about 134 years, before _Nebuchadnezzar_ , and by consequence in the Reign of _Tiglath-pileser_ the successor of _Pul_: and the followers of _Ctesias_ tell us, that she built _Babylon_, and was the widow of the son and successor of _Belus_, the founder of the _a.s.syrian_ Empire; that is, the widow of one of the sons of _Pul_: but [358] _Berosus_ a _Chaldaean_ blames the _Greeks_ for ascribing the building of _Babylon_ to _Semiramis_; and other authors ascribe the building of this city to _Belus_ himself, that is to _Pul_; so _Curtius_ [359] tells us; _Semiramis Babylonem condiderat, vel ut plerique credidere Belus, cujus regia ostenditur_: and _Abydenus_, who had his history from the ancient monuments of the _Chaldaeans_, writes, [360] ?e?eta? ????? ?a????a te??e? pe??a?e??? t?? ?????? de t??
???e?e??? afa??s???a?. te???sa? de a???? ?a????d???s????, t? e??? t??
?a?ed????? a???? d?ae??a? e?? ?a???p????. _"Tis reported that _Belus_ compa.s.sed _Babylon_ with a wall, which in time was abolished: and that _Nebuchadnezzar_ afterwards built a new wall with brazen gates, which stood "till the time of the _Macedonian_ Empire_: and so _Dorotheas_ [361] an ancient Poet of _Sidon_;
???a?? ?a????, ?????? ?????? p???sa.
_The ancient city _Babylon_ built by the _Tyrian Belus__;
That is, by the _Syrian_ or _a.s.syrian_ _Belus_; the words _Tyrian_, _Syrian_, and _a.s.syrian_, being anciently used promiscuously for one another: _Herennius_ [362] tells us, that it was built by the son of _Belus_; and this son might be _Nabona.s.sar_. After the conquest of _Calneh_, _Thelasar_, and _Sippare_, _Belus_ might seize _Chaldaea_, and begin to build _Babylon_, and leave it to his younger son: for all the Kings of _Babylon_ in the Canon of _Ptolemy_ are called _a.s.syrians_, and _Nabona.s.sar_ is the first of them: and _Nebuchadnezzar_ [363] reckoned himself descended from _Belus_, that is, from the _a.s.syrian_ _Pul_: and the building of _Babylon_ is ascribed to the _a.s.syrians_ by [364] _Isaiah_: _Behold_, saith he, _the land of the _Chaldeans_: This people was not "till the _a.s.syrian_ founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness, _[that is, for the _Arabians_.]_ They set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof_. From all this it seems therefore that _Pul_ founded the walls and the palaces of _Babylon_, and left the city with the province of _Chaldaea_ to his younger son _Nabona.s.sar_; and that _Nabona.s.sar_ finished what his father began, and erected the Temple of _Jupiter Belus_ to his father: and that _Semiramis_ lived in those days, and was the Queen of _Nabona.s.sar_, because one of the gates of _Babylon_ was called the gate of _Semiramis_, as _Herodotus_ affirms: but whether she continued to Reign there after her husband"s death may be doubted.
_Pul_ therefore was succeeded at _Nineveh_ by his elder son _Tiglath-pileser_, at the same time that he left _Babylon_ to his younger son _Nabona.s.sar_. _Tiglath-pileser_, the second King of _a.s.syria_, warred in _Phnicia_, and captivated _Galilee_ with the two Tribes and an half, in the days of _Pekah_ King of _Israel_, and placed them in _Halah_, and _Habor_, and _Hara_, and at the river _Gozan_, places lying on the western borders of _Media_, between _a.s.syria_ and the _Caspian_ sea, 2 _King._ xv.
29, &: 1 _Chron._ v. 26. and about the fifth or sixth year of _Nabona.s.sar_, he came to the a.s.sistance of the King of _Judah_ against the Kings of _Israel_ and _Syria_, and overthrew the Kingdom of _Syria_, which had been seated at _Damascus_ ever since the days of King _David_, and carried away the _Syrians_ to _Kir_ in _Media_, as _Amos_ had prophesied, and placed other nations in the regions of _Damascus_, 2 _King._ xv. 37, & xvi. 5, 9.
_Amos_ i. 5. _Joseph. Antiq._ l. 9. c. 13. whence it seems that the _Medes_ were conquered before, and that the Empire of the _a.s.syrians_ was now grown great: for _the G.o.d of _Israel_ stirred up the spirit of _Pul_ King of _a.s.syria_, and the spirit of _Tiglath-pileser_ King of _a.s.syria__ to make war, 1 _Chron._ v. 26.
_Shalmaneser_ or _Salmana.s.ser_, called _Enemessar_ by _Tobit_, invaded [365] all _Phnicia_, took the city of _Samaria_, and captivated _Israel_, and placed them in _Chalach_ and _Chabor_, by the river _Gozan_, and in the cities of the _Medes_; and _Hosea_ [366] seems to say that he took _Arbela_: and his successor _Sennacherib_ said that his fathers had conquered also _Gozan_, and _Haran_ or _Carrhae_, and _Reseph_ or _Resen_, and the children of _Eden_, and _Arpad_ or the _Aradii_, 2 _King._ xix. 12.
_Sennacherib_ the son of _Shalmaneser_ in the 14th year of _Hezekiah_ invaded _Phnicia_, and took several cities of _Judah_, and attempted _Egypt_; and _Sethon_ or _Sevechus_ King of _Egypt_ and _Tirhakah_ King of _Ethiopia_ coming against him, he lost in one night 185000 men, as some say by a plague, or perhaps by lightning, or a fiery wind which blows sometimes in the neighbouring deserts, or rather by being surprised by _Sethon_ and _Tirhakah_: for the _Egyptians_ in memory of this action erected a statue to _Sethon_, holding in his hand a mouse, the _Egyptian_ symbol of destruction. Upon this defeat _Sennacherib_ returned in haste to _Nineveh_, and [367] his Kingdom became troubled, so that _Tobit_ could not go into _Media_, the _Medes_ I think at this time revolting: and he was soon after slain by two of his sons who fled into _Armenia_, and his son _a.s.serhadon_ succeeded him. At that time did _Merodach Baladan_ or _Mardocempad_ King of _Babylon_ send an emba.s.sy to _Hezekiah_ King of _Judah_.
_a.s.serhadon_, [368] called _Sarchedon_ by _Tobit_, _Asordan_ by the LXX, and _a.s.saradin_ in _Ptolomy_"s Canon, began his Reign at _Nineveh_, in the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 42; and in the year 68 extended it over _Babylon_: then he carried the remainder of the _Samaritans_ into captivity, and peopled _Samaria_ with captives brought from several parts of his Kingdom, the _Dinaites_, the _Apharsachites_, the _Tarpelites_, the _Apharsites_, the _Archevites_, the _Babylonians_, the _Susanchites_, the _Dehavites_, the _Elamites_, _Ezra_ iv. 2, 9. and therefore he Reigned over all these nations. _Pekah_ and _Rezin_ Kings of _Samaria_ and _Damascus_, invaded _Judaea_ in the first year of _Ahaz_, and within 65 years after, that is in the 21st year of _Mana.s.seh_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 69, _Samaria_ by this captivity ceased to be a people, _Isa._ vii. 8. Then _a.s.serhadon_ invaded _Judaea_, took _Azoth_, carried _Mana.s.seh_ captive to _Babylon_, and [369]
captivated also _Egypt_, _Thebais_, and _Ethiopia_ above _Thebais_: and by this war he seems to have put an end to the Reign of the _Ethiopians_ over _Egypt_, in the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 77 or 78.
In the Reign of _Sennacherib_ and _a.s.serhadon_, the _a.s.syrian_ Empire seems arrived at its greatness, being united under one Monarch, and containing _a.s.syria_, _Media_, _Apolloniatis_, _Susiana_, _Chaldaea_, _Mesopotamia_, _Cilicia_, _Syria_, _Phnicia_, _Egypt_, _Ethiopia_, and part of _Arabia_, and reaching eastward into _Elymais_, and _Paraetacene_, a province of the _Medes_: and if _Chalach_ and _Chabor_ be _Colchis_ and _Iberia_, as some think, and as may seem probable from the circ.u.mcision used by those nations "till the days of _Herodotus_, we are also to add these two Provinces, with the two _Armenia"s_, _Pontus_ and _Cappadocia_, as far as to the river _Halys_: for [370] _Herodotus_ tells us, that the people of _Cappadocia_ as far as to that river were called _Syrians_ by the _Greeks_, both before and after the days or _Cyrus_, and that the _a.s.syrians_ were also called _Syrians_ by the _Greeks_.
Yet the _Medes_ revolted from the _a.s.syrians_ in the latter end of the Reign of _Sennacherib_, I think upon the slaughter of his army near _Egypt_ and his flight to _Nineveh_: for at that time the estate of _Sennacherib_ was troubled, so that _Tobit_ could not go into _Media_ as he had done before, _Tobit_ i. 15. and some time after, _Tobit_ advised his son to go into _Media_ where he might expect peace, while _Nineveh_, according to the prophesy of _Jonah_, should be destroyed. _Ctesias_ wrote that _Arbaces_ a _Mede_ being admitted to see _Sardanapalus_ in his palace, and observing his voluptuous life amongst women, revolted with the _Medes_, and in conjunction with _Belesis_ a _Babylonian_ overcame him, and caused him to set fire to his palace and burn himself: but he is contradicted by other authors of better credit; for _Duris_ and [371] many others wrote that _Arbaces_ upon being admitted into the palace of _Sardanapalus_, and seeing his effeminate life, slew himself; and _Cleitarchus_, that _Sardanapalus_ died of old age, after he had lost his dominion over _Syria_: he lost it by the revolt of the western nations; and _Herodotus_ [372] tells us, that the _Medes_ revolted first, and defended their liberty by force of arms against the _a.s.syrians_, without conquering them; and at their first revolting had no King, but after some time set up _Dejoces_ over them, and built _Ecbatane_ for his residence; and that _Dejoces_ Reigned only over _Media_, and had a peaceable Reign of 54 years, but his son and successor _Phraortes_ made war upon his neighbours, and conquered _Persia_; and that the _Syrians_ also, and other western nations, at length revolted from the _a.s.syrians_, being encouraged thereunto by the example of the _Medes_; and that after the revolt of the western nations, _Phraortes_ invaded the _a.s.syrians_, but was slain by them in that war, after he had Reigned twenty and two years. He was succeeded by _Astyages_.
Now _a.s.serhadon_ seems to be the _Sardanapalus_ who died of old age after the revolt of _Syria_, the name _Sardanapalus_ being derived from _a.s.serhadon-Pul_. _Sardanapalus_ was the [373] son of _Anacyndaraxis_, _Cyndaraxis_, or _Anabaxaris_, King of _a.s.syria_; and this name seems to have been corruptly written for _Sennacherib_ the father of _a.s.serhadon_.
_Sardanapalus_ built _Tarsus_ and _Anchiale_ in one day, and therefore Reigned over _Cilicia_, before the revolt of the western nations: and if he be the same King with _a.s.serhadon_, he was succeeded by _Saosduchinus_ in the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 81; and by this revolution _Mana.s.seh_ was set at liberty to return home and fortify _Jerusalem_: and the _Egyptians_ also, after the _a.s.syrians_ had harra.s.sed _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_ three years, _Isa._ xx. 3, 4. were set at liberty, and continued under twelve contemporary Kings of their own nation, as above. The _a.s.syrians_ invaded and conquered the _Egyptians_ the first of the three years, and Reigned over them two years more: and these two years are the interregnum which _Africa.n.u.s_, from _Manetho_, places next before the twelve Kings. The _Scythians_ of _Touran_ or _Turquestan_ beyond the river _Oxus_ began in those days to infest _Persia_, and by one of their inroads might give occasion to the revolt of the western nations.
In the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 101, _Saosduchinus_, after a Reign of twenty years, was succeeded at _Babylon_ by _Chyniladon_, and I think at _Nineveh_ also, for I take _Chyniladon_ to be that _Nabuchodonosor_ who is mentioned in the book of _Judith_; for the history of that King suits best with these times: for there it is said that __Nabuchodonosor_ King of the _a.s.syrians_ who Reigned at _Nineveh_, that great city, in the twelfth year of his Reign made war upon _Arphaxad_ King of the _Medes__, and was then left alone by a defection of the auxiliary nations of _Cilicia_, _Damascus_, _Syria_, _Phnicia_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, and _Egypt_; and without their help routed the army of the _Medes_, and slew _Arphaxad_: and _Arphaxad_ is there said to have built _Ecbatane_ and therefore was either _Dejoces_, or his son _Phraortes_, who might finish the city founded by his father: and _Herodotus_ [374] tells the same story of a King of _a.s.syria_, who routed the _Medes_, and slew their King _Phraortes_; and saith that in the time of this war the _a.s.syrians_ were left alone by the defection of the auxiliary nations, being otherwise in good condition: _Arphaxad_ was therefore the _Phraortes_ of _Herodotus_, and by consequence was slain near the beginning of the Reign of _Josiah_: for this war was made after _Phnicia_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, and _Egypt_ had been conquered and revolted, _Judith_ i. 7, 8, 9.
and by consequence after the Reign of _a.s.serhadon_ who conquered them: it was made when the _Jews_ were newly returned from captivity, _and the Vessels and Altar and Temple were sanctified after the profanation_, _Judith_ iv. 3. that is soon after _Mana.s.seh_ their King had been carried captive to _Babylon_ by _a.s.serhadon_; and upon the death of that King, or some other change in the _a.s.syrian_ Empire, had been released with the _Jews_ from that captivity, and had repaired the Altar, and restored the sacrifices and worship of the Temple, 2 _Chron._ x.x.xiii. 11, 16. In the _Greek_ version of the book of _Judith_, chap. v. 18. it is said, that _the Temple of G.o.d was cast to the ground_; but this is not said in _Jerom_"s version; and in the _Greek_ version, chap. iv. 3, and chap. xvi. 20, it is said, that _the vessels, and the altar, and the house were sanctified after the prophanation_, and in both versions, chap. iv. 11, the Temple is represented standing.
After this war _Nabuchodonosor_ King of _a.s.syria_, in the 13th year of his Reign, according to the version of _Jerom_, sent his captain _Holofernes_ with a great army to avenge himself on all the west country; because they had disobeyed his commandment: and _Holofernes_ went forth with an army of 12000 horse, and 120000 foot of _a.s.syrians_, _Medes_ and _Persians_, and reduced _Cilicia_, _Mesopotamia_, and _Syria_, and _Damascus_, and part of _Arabia_, and _Ammon_, and _Edom_, and _Madian_, and then came against _Judaea_: and this was done when the government was in the hands of the High-Priest and Antients of _Israel_, _Judith_ iv. 8. and vii. 23. and by consequence not in the Reign of _Mana.s.seh_ or _Amon_, but when _Josiah_ was a child. In times of prosperity the children of _Israel_ were apt to go after false G.o.ds, and in times of affliction to repent and turn to the Lord. So _Mana.s.seh_ a very wicked King, being captivated by the _a.s.syrians_, repented; and being released from captivity restored the worship of the true G.o.d: So when we are told that _Josiah in the eighth year of his Reign, while he was yet young, began to seek after the G.o.d of _David_ his father, and in the twelfth year of his Reign began to purge _Judah_ and _Jerusalem_ from Idolatry, and to destroy the High Places, and Groves, and Altars and Images of Baalim_, 2 _Chron_. x.x.xiv. 3. we may understand that these acts of religion were occasioned by impending dangers, and escapes from danger. When _Holofernes_ came against the western nations, and spoiled them, then were the _Jews_ terrified, and they fortified _Judaea_, and _cryed unto G.o.d with great fervency, and humbled themselves in sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads, and cried unto the G.o.d of _Israel_ that he would not give their wives and their children and cities for a prey, and the Temple for a profanation: and the High-priest, and all the Priests put on sackcloth and ashes, and offered daily burnt offerings with vows and free gifts of the people_, _Judith_ iv. and then began _Josiah_ to seek after the G.o.d of his father _David_: and after _Judith_ had slain _Holofernes_, and the _a.s.syrians_ were fled, and the _Jews_ who pursued them were returned to _Jerusalem_, _they worshipped the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and gifts, and continued feasting before the sanctuary for the s.p.a.ce of three months_, _Judith_ xvi. 18, and then did _Josiah_ purge _Judah_ and _Jerusalem_ from Idolatry. Whence it seems to me that the eighth year of _Josiah_ fell in with the fourteenth or fifteenth of _Nabuchodonosor_, and that the twelfth year of _Nabuchodonosor_, in which _Phraortes_ was slain, was the fifth or sixth of _Josiah_. _Phraortes_ Reigned 22 years according to _Herodotus_, and therefore succeeded his father _Dejoces_ about the 40th year of _Mana.s.seh_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 89, and was slain by the _a.s.syrians_, and succeeded by _Astyages_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 111. _Dejoces_ Reigned 53 years according to _Herodotus_, and these years began in the 16th year of _Hezekiah_; which makes it probable that the _Medes_ dated them from the time of their revolt: and according to all this reckoning, the Reign of _Nabuchodonosor_ fell in with that of _Chyniladon_; which makes it probable that they were but two names of one and the same King.
Soon after the death of _Phraortes_ [375] the _Scythians_ under _Madyes_ or _Medus_ invaded _Media_, and beat the _Medes_ in battle, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 113, and went thence towards _Egypt_, but were met in _Phnicia_ by _Psammitichus_ and bought off, and returning Reigned over a great part of _Asia_: but in the end of about 28 years were expelled; many of their Princes and commanders being slain in a feast by the _Medes_ under the conduct of _Cyaxeres_, the successor of _Astyages_, just before the destruction of _Nineveh_, and the rest being soon after forced to retire.
In the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 123, [376] _Nabopola.s.sar_ the commander of the forces of _Chyniladon_ the King of _a.s.syria_ in _Chaldaea_ revolted from him, and became King of _Babylon_; and _Chyniladon_ was either then, or soon after, succeeded at _Nineveh_ by the last King of _a.s.syria_, called _Sarac_ by _Polyhistor_: and at length _Nebuchadnezzar_, the son of _Nabopola.s.sar_, married _Amyite_ the daughter of _Astyages_ and sister of _Cyaxeres_; and by this marriage the two families having contracted affinity, they conspired against the _a.s.syrians_; and _Nabopola.s.ser_ being now grown old, and _Astyages_ being dead, their sons _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Cyaxeres_ led the armies of the two nations against _Nineveh_, slew _Sarac_, destroyed the city, and shared the Kingdom of the _a.s.syrians_.
This victory the _Jews_ refer to the _Chaldaeans_; the _Greeks_ to the _Medes_; _Tobit_, _Polyhistor_, _Josephus_, and _Ctesias_ to both. It gave a beginning to the great successes of _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Cyaxeres_, and laid the foundation of the two collateral Empires of the _Babylonians_ and _Medes_; these being branches of the _a.s.syrian_ Empire: and thence the time of the fall of the _a.s.syrian_ Empire is determined, the conquerors being then in their youth. In the Reign of _Josiah_, when _Zephaniah_ prophesied, _Nineveh_ and the Kingdom of _a.s.syria_ were standing, and their fall was predicted by that Prophet, _Zeph._ i. 1, and ii. 13. and in the end of his Reign _Pharaoh Nechoh_ King of _Egypt_, the successor of _Psammitichus_, went up against the King of _a.s.syria_ to the river _Euphrates_, to fight against _Carchemish_ or _Circutium_, and in his way thither slew _Josiah_, 2 _Kings_ xxiii. 29. 2 _Chron._ x.x.xv. 20. and therefore the last King of _a.s.syria_ was not yet slain. But in the third and fourth year of _Jehoiakim_ the successor of _Josiah_, the two conquerors having taken _Nineveh_ and finished their war in _a.s.syria_, prosecuted their conquests westward, and leading their forces against the King of _Egypt_, as an invader of their right of conquest, they beat him at _Carchemish_, and [377] took from him whatever he had newly taken from the _a.s.syrians_: and therefore we cannot err above a year or two, if we refer the destruction of _Nineveh_, and fall of the _a.s.syrian_ Empire, to the second year of _Jehoiakim_, _Anno Nabona.s.s._ 140. The name of the last King _Sarac_ might perhaps be contracted from _Sarchedon_, as this name was from _a.s.serhadon_, _a.s.serhadon-Pul_, or _Sardanapalus_.
While the _a.s.syrians_ Reigned at _Nineveh_, _Persia_ was divided into several Kingdoms; and amongst others there was a Kingdom of _Elam_, which flourished in the days of _Hezekiah_, _Mana.s.seh_, _Josiah_, and _Jehoiakim_ Kings of _Judah_, and fell in the days of _Zedekiah_, _Jer._ xxv. 25, and xlix. 34, and _Ezek._ x.x.xii. 24. This Kingdom seems to have been potent, and to have had wars with the King of _Touran_ or _Scythia_ beyond the river _Oxus_ with various success, and at length to have been subdued by the _Medes_ and _Babylonians_, or one of them. For while _Nebuchadnezzar_ warred in the west, _Cyaxeres_ recovered the _a.s.syrian_ provinces of _Armenia_, _Pontus_, and _Cappadocia_, and then they went eastward against the provinces of _Persia_ and _Parthia_. Whether the _Pischdadians_, whom the _Persians_ reckon to have been their oldest Kings, were Kings of the Kingdom of _Elam_, or of that of the _a.s.syrians_, and whether _Elam_ was conquered by the _a.s.syrians_ at the same time with _Babylonia_ and _Susiana_ in the Reign of _a.s.serhadon_, and soon after revolted, I leave to be examined.
CHAP. IV.
_Of the two Contemporary Empires of the _Babylonians_ and _Medes_._
By the fall of the _a.s.syrian_ Empire the Kingdoms of the _Babylonians_ and _Medes_ grew great and potent. The Reigns of the Kings of _Babylon_ are stated in _Ptolemy"s_ Canon: for understanding of which you are to note that every King"s Reign in that Canon began with the last _Thoth_ of his predecessor"s Reign, as I gather by comparing the Reigns of the _Roman_ Emperors in that Canon with their Reigns recorded in years, months, and days, by other Authors: whence it appears from that Canon that _a.s.serhadon_ died in the year of _Nabona.s.sar_ 81, _Saosduchinus_ his successor in the year 101, _Chyniladon_ in the year 123, _Nabopola.s.sar_ in the year 144, and _Nebuchadnezzar_ in the year 187. All these Kings, and some others mentioned in the Canon, Reigned successively over _Babylon_, and this last King died in the 37th year of _Jechoniah_"s captivity, 2 _Kings_ xxv. 27.
and therefore _Jechoniah_ was captivated in the 150th year of _Nabona.s.sar_.