The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia
Date: 2012-01-30T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Bible. Old Testament -- Criticism; interpretation; etc.

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Title: The Old Testament in the Light of the Historical Records and Legends of Assyria and Babylonia

Author: Theophilus G. Pinches

Release date: January 31, 2012 [eBook #38732]

Language: English

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE LIGHT OF THE HISTORICAL RECORDS AND LEGENDS OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA ***

The Old Testament

In the Light of

The Historical Records and Legends
of Assyria and Babylonia

By

Theophilus G. Pinches

LL.D., M.R.A.S.

Published under the direction of the Tract Committee

Third Edition—Revised, With Appendices and Notes

London:

Society For Promoting Christian Knowledge

1908

Contents

- Foreword

- Chapter I. The Early Traditions Of The Creation.

- Chapter II. The History, As Given In The Bible, From The Creation To The Flood.

- Chapter III. The Flood.

- Appendix. The Second Version Of The Flood-Story.

- Chapter IV. Assyria, Babylonia, And The Hebrews, With Reference To The So-Called Genealogical Table.

- The Tower Of Babel.

- The Patriarchs To Abraham.

- Chapter V. Babylonia At The Time Of Abraham.

- The Religious Element.

- The King.

- The People.

- “Year of Šamaš and Rimmon.”

- Chapter VI. Abraham.

- Salem.

- Chapter VII. Isaac, Jacob, And Joseph.

- Chapter VIII. The Tel-El-Amarna Tablets And The Exodus.

- Chapter IX. The Nations With Whom The Israelites Came Into Contact.

- Amorites.

- Hittites.

- Jebusites.

- Girgashites.

- Moabites.

- Chapter X. Contact Of The Hebrews With The Assyrians.

- Sennacherib.

- Esarhaddon.

- Aššur-Banî-Âpli.

- Chapter XI. Contact Of The Hebrews With The Later Babylonians.

- Chapter XII. Life At Babylon During The Captivity, With Some Reference To The Jews.

- Chapter XIII. The Decline Of Babylon.

- Appendix. The Stele Inscribed With The Laws Of Ḫammurabi.

- Appendix To The Third Edition.

- Notes And Additions.

- Index.

- Footnotes

[pg i]

Bas-relief and inscription of Hammurabi, generally regarded as the Biblical Amraphel (Gen. xiv. 1), apparently dedicated for the saving of his life. In this he bears the title (incomplete) of “King of Amoria” (the Amorites), lugal Mar[tu], Semitic Babylonian sar mât Amurrî (see page 315).

[pg ii]

“There is a charm in finding ourselves, our common humanity, our puzzles, our cares, our joys, in the writings of men severed from us by race, religion, speech, and half the gulf of historical time, which no other literary pleasure can equal.”—Andrew Lang.

[pg iii]

Foreword

The present work, being merely a record of things for the most part well known to students and others, cannot, on that account, contain much that is new. All that has been aimed at is, to bring together as many of the old discoveries as possible in a new dress.

It has been thought well to let the records tell their story as far as possible in their own way, by the introduction of translations, thus breaking the monotony of the narrative, and also infusing into it an element of local colour calculated to bring the reader into touch, as it were, with the thoughts and feelings of the nations with whom the records originated. Bearing, as it does, upon the life, history, and legends of the ancient nations of which it treats, controversial matter has been avoided, and the higher criticism left altogether aside.

Assyriology (as the study of the literature and antiquities of the Babylonians and Assyrians is called) being a study still in the course of development, improvements in the renderings of the inscriptions will doubtless from time to time be made, and before many months have passed, things now obscure may have new light thrown upon them, necessitating the revision of such portions as may be affected thereby. It is intended to utilize in future editions any new discoveries which may come to light, and every effort will be made to keep the book up to date.

For shortcomings, whether in the text or in the translations, the author craves the indulgence of the reader, merely pleading the difficult and exacting nature of the study, and the lengthy chronological period to which the book refers.

A little explanation is probably needful upon the question of pronunciation. The vowels in Assyro-Babylonian should [pg iv] be uttered as in Italian or German. Ḫ is a strong guttural like the Scotch ch in “loch”; m had sometimes the pronunciation of w, as in Tiamtu (= Tiawthu), so that the spelling of some of the words containing that letter may later have to be modified. The pronunciation of s and š is doubtful, but Assyriologists generally (and probably wrongly) give the sound of s to the former and sh to the latter. T was often pronounced as th, and probably always had that sound in the feminine endings -tu, -ti, -ta, or at, so that Tiamtu, for instance, may be pronounced Tiawthu, Tukulti-âpil-Êšarra (Tiglath-pileser), Tukulthi-âpil-Êšarra, etc., etc., and in such words as qâtâ, “the hands,” šumāti, “names,” and many others, this was probably always the case. In the names Âbil-Addu-nathanu and Nathanu-yâwa this transcription has been adopted, and may be regarded as correct. P was likewise often aspirated, assuming the sound of ph or f, and k assumed, at least in later times, a sound similar to ḫ (kh), whilst b seems sometimes to have been pronounced as v. G was, to all appearance, never soft, as in gem, but may sometimes have been aspirated. Each member of the group ph is pronounced separately. Ṭ is an emphatic t, stronger than in the word “time.” A terminal m represents the mimmation, which, in later times, though written, was not pronounced.

The second edition, issued in 1903, was revised and brought up to date, and a translation of the Laws of Ḫammurabi, with notes, and a summary of Delitzsch's Babel und Bibel, were appended. For the third edition the work has again been revised, with the help of the recently-issued works of King, Sayce, Scheil, Winckler, and others. At the time of going to press, the author was unable to consult Knudtzon's new edition of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets beyond his No. 228, but wherever it was available, improvements in the translations were made. In addition to revision, the Appendix has been supplemented by paragraphs upon the discoveries at Boghaz-Keui, a mutilated letter from a personage named Belshazzar, and translations of the papyri referring to the Jewish temple at Elephantine.

New material may still be expected from the excavations in progress at Babylon, Susa, Ḫattu, and various other sites in the nearer East.

Theophilus G. Pinches.

[pg 009]

Chapter I. The Early Traditions Of The Creation.

The Hebrew account—Its principal points—The Babylonian account—The story of the Creation properly so called—The version given by the Greek authors—Comparison of the Hebrew and the Greek accounts—The likenesses—The differences—Bêl and the Dragon—The epilogue—Sidelights (notes upon the religion of the Babylonians).

To find out how the world was made, or rather, to give forth a theory accounting for its origin and continued existence, is one of the subjects that has attracted the attention of thinking minds among all nations having any pretension to civilization. It was, therefore, to be expected that the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians, far advanced in civilization as they were at an exceedingly early date, should have formed opinions thereupon, and placed them on record as soon as those opinions were matured, and the art of writing had been perfected sufficiently to enable a serviceable account to be composed.

This, naturally, did not take place all at once. We may take it for granted that the history of the Creation grew piece by piece, as different minds thought over and elaborated it. The first theories we should expect to find more or less improbable—wild stories of serpents and gods, emblematic of the conflicting powers of good and evil, which, with them, had their origin before the advent of mankind upon the earth.

But all men would not have the same opinion of the way in which the universe came into existence, [pg 010] and this would give rise, as really happened in Babylonia, to conflicting accounts or theories, the later ones less improbable than, and therefore superior to, the earlier. The earlier Creation-legend, being a sort of heroic poem, would remain popular with the common people, who always love stories of heroes and mighty conflicts, such as those in which the Babylonians and Assyrians to the latest times delighted, and of which the Semitic Babylonian Creation-story consists.

As the ages passed by, and the newer theories grew up, the older popular ones would be elaborated, and new ideas from the later theories of the Creation would be incorporated, whilst, at the same time, mystical meanings would be given to the events recorded in the earlier legends to make them fit in with the newer ones. This having been done, the scribes could appeal at the same time to both ignorant and learned, explaining how the crude legends of the past were but a type of the doctrines put forward by the philosophers of later and more enlightened days, bringing within the range of the intellect of the unlearned all those things in which the more thoughtful spirits also believed. By this means an enlightened monotheism and the grossest polytheism could, and did, exist side by side, as well as clever and reasonable cosmologies along with the strangest and wildest legends.

Thus it is that we have from the literature of two closely allied peoples, the Babylonians and the Hebrews, accounts of the Creation of the world so widely differing, and, at the same time, possessing, here and there, certain ideas in common—ideas darkly veiled in the old Babylonian story, but clearly expressed in the comparatively late Hebrew account.

It must not be thought, however, that the above theory as to the origin of the Hebrew Creation-story interferes in any way with the doctrine of its inspiration. We are not bound to accept the opinion so [pg 011] generally held by theologians, that the days of creation referred to in Genesis i. probably indicate that each act of creation—each day—was revealed in seven successive dreams, in order, to the inspired writer of the book. The opinion held by other theologians, that “inspiration” simply means that the writer was moved by the Spirit of God to choose from documents already existing such portions as would serve for our enlightenment and instruction, adding, at the same time, such additions of his own as he was led to think to be needful, may be held to be a satisfactory definition of the term in question.

Without, therefore, binding ourselves down to any hard and fast line as to date, we may regard, for the purposes of this inquiry, the Hebrew account of the Creation as one of the traditions handed down in the thought of many minds extending over many centuries, and as having been chosen and elaborated by the inspired writer of Genesis for the purpose of his narrative, the object of which was to set forth the origin of man and the Hebrew nation, to which he belonged, and whose history he was about to narrate in detail.

The Hebrew story of the Creation, as detailed in Genesis i., may be regarded as one of the most remarkable documents ever produced. It must not be forgotten, however, that it is a document that is essentially Hebrew. For the author of this book the language of God and of the first man was Hebrew—a literary language, showing much phonetic decay. The retention of this matter (its omission not being essential at the period of the composition of the book) is probably due, in part, to the natural patriotism of the writer, overruling what ought to have been his inspired common-sense. How this is to be explained it is not the intention of the writer of this book to inquire, the account of the Creation and its parallels being the subject in hand at present.

The question of language apart, the account of the [pg 012] Creation in Genesis is in the highest degree a common-sense one. The creation of (1) the heaven, and (2) the earth; the darkness—not upon the face of the earth, but upon the face of the deep. Then the expansion dividing the waters above from the waters below on the earth. In the midst of this waste of waters dry land afterwards appears, followed by the growth of vegetation. But the sun and the moon had not yet been appointed, nor the stars, all of which come into being at this point. Last of all are introduced the living things of the earth—fish, and bird, and creeping thing, followed by the animals, and, finally, by man.

It is noteworthy and interesting that, in this account, the acts of creation are divided into seven periods, each of which is called a “day,” and begins, like the natural day in the time-reckoning of the Semitic nations, with the evening—“and it was evening, and it was morning, day one.” It describes what the heavenly bodies were for—they were not only to give light upon the earth—they were also for signs, for seasons, for days, and for years.

And then, concerning man, a very circumstantial account is given. He was to have dominion over everything upon the earth—the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, the cattle, and every creeping thing. All was given to him, and he, like the creatures made before him, was told to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” It is with this crowning work of creation that the first chapter of the Book of Genesis ends.

The second chapter refers to the seventh day—the day of rest, and is followed by further details of the creation, the central figure of which is the last thing created, namely, man. This chapter reads, in part, like a recapitulation of the first, but contains many additional details. “No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb ... had sprung up: for the Lord [pg 013] God had not caused it to rain ..., and there was not a man to till the ground.” A mist, therefore, went up from the earth, and watered all the face of the ground. Then, to till the earth, man was formed from the dust of the ground, and the Lord God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.”

The newly-created man was, at this time, innocent, and was therefore to be placed by his Creator in a garden of delight, named Eden, and this garden he was to dress and keep. A hidden danger, however, lay in this pleasant retreat—the tree of knowledge of good and evil, of which he was forbidden to eat, but which was to form for him a constant temptation, for ever testing his obedience. All might have been well, to all appearance, but for the creation of woman, who, giving way to the blandishments of the tempter, in her turn tempted the man, and he fell. Death in the course of nature was the penalty, the earthly paradise was lost, and all chance of eating of the tree of life, and living for ever, disappeared on man's expulsion from his first abode of delight.

In the course of this narrative interesting details are given—the four rivers, the country through which they flowed, and their precious mineral products; the naming of the various animals by the man; the forming of woman from one of his ribs; the institution of marriage, etc.

Such is, in short, the story of the Creation as told in the Bible, and it is this that we have to compare with the now well-known parallel accounts current among the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians. And here may be noted at the outset that, though we shall find some parallels, we shall, in the course of our comparison, find a far greater number of differences, for not only were they produced in a different land, by a different people, but they were also produced under different conditions. Thus, Babylonian polytheism takes the place of the severe and uncompromising [pg 014] monotheism of the Hebrew account in Genesis; Eden was, to the Babylonians, their own native land, not a country situated at a remote distance; and, lastly, but not least, their language, thoughts, and feelings differed widely from those of the dwellers in the Holy Land.

The Babylonian story of the Creation is a narrative of great interest to all who occupy themselves with the study of ancient legends and folklore. It introduces us not only to exceedingly ancient beliefs concerning the origin of the world on which we live, but it tells us also of the religion, or, rather, the religious beliefs, of the Babylonians, and enables us to see something of the changes which those beliefs underwent before adopting the form in which we find them at the time this record was composed.

A great deal has been written about the Babylonian story of the Creation. As is well known, the first translation of these documents was by him who first discovered their nature, the late George Smith, who gave them to the world in his well-known book, The Chaldean Account of Genesis, in 1875. Since that time numerous other translations have appeared, not only in England, but also on the Continent. Among those who have taken part in the work of studying and translating these texts may be named Profs. Sayce, Oppert, Hommel, and Delitzsch, the last-named having both edited the first edition of Smith's book (the first issued on this subject on the Continent), and published one of the last and most complete editions of the whole legend yet placed before the public. To Prof. Sayce, as well as to Prof. Hommel, belongs the honour of many brilliant suggestions as to the tendency of the texts of the creation as a whole: Prof. Oppert was the first to point out that the last tablet of the series was not, as Smith thought, an “Address to primitive man,” but an address to the god Merodach as the restorer of order out of chaos; [pg 015] whilst Delitzsch has perhaps (being almost the last to write upon it) improved the translation more than many of his predecessors in the work.

Before proceeding to deal with the legend itself, a few remarks upon the tablets and the text that they bear will probably not be considered out of place. There are, in all likelihood, but few who have not seen in the British Museum or elsewhere those yellow baked terra-cotta tablets of various sizes and shapes, upon which the Babylonians and Assyrians were accustomed to write their records. And well it is for the science of Assyriology that they used this exceedingly durable material. I have said that the tablets are yellow in colour, and this is generally the case, but the tint varies greatly, and may approach dark grey or black, and even appear as a very good sage-green. The smaller tablets are often cushion-shaped, but, with some few exceptions, they are rectangular, like those of larger size. The writing varies so considerably that the hand of the various scribes can sometimes be distinguished. In the best class of tablets every tenth line is often numbered—a proof that the Assyrians and Babylonians were very careful with the documents with which they had to deal. The Babylonian tablets closely resemble the Assyrian, but the style of the writing differs somewhat, and it is, in general, more difficult to read than the Assyrian. None of the tablets of the Creation-series are, unfortunately, perfect, and many of the fragments are mere scraps, but as more than one copy of each anciently existed, and has survived, the wanting parts of one text can often be supplied from another copy. That copies come from Babylon as well as from Nineveh is a very fortunate circumstance, as our records are rendered more complete thereby.

Of the obverse of the first tablet very little, unfortunately, remains, but what there is extant is of the highest interest. Luckily, we have the beginning of [pg 016] this remarkable legend, which runs, according to the latest and best commentaries, as follows—

“When on high the heavens were unnamed,
Beneath the earth bore not a name:
The primæval ocean was their producer;

Mummu Tiamtu was she who begot the whole of them.

Their waters in one united themselves, and

The plains were not outlined, marshes were not to be seen.

When none of the gods had come forth,

They bore no name, the fates [had not been determined].

There were produced the gods [all of them?]:

Laḫmu and Laḫamu went forth [as the first?]:

The ages were great, [the times were long?].

Anšar and Kišar were produced and over th[em]....

Long grew the days; there came forth (?)...

The god Anu, their son.....

Anšar, the god Anu......”

Such is the tenor of the opening lines of the Babylonian story of the Creation, and the differences between the two accounts are striking enough. Before proceeding, however, to examine and compare them, a few words upon the Babylonian version may not be without value.

First we must note that the above introduction to the legend has been excellently explained and commented upon by the Syrian writer Damascius. The following is his explanation of the Babylonian teaching concerning the creation of the world—

“But the Babylonians, like the rest of the Barbarians, pass over in silence the one principle of the Universe, and they constitute two, Tauthé and Apason, [pg 017] making Apason the husband of Tauthé, and denominating her the mother of the gods. And from these proceeds an only-begotten son, Moumis, which, I conceive, is no other than the intelligible world proceeding from the two principles. From them, also, another progeny is derived, Daché and Dachos; and again a third, Kissaré and Assoros, from which last three others proceed, Anos, and Illinos, and Aos. And of Aos and Dauké is born a son called Belos, who, they say, is the fabricator of the world, the Creator.”

The likeness of the names given in this extract from Damascius will be noticed, and will probably also be recognized as a valuable verification of the certainty now attained by Assyriologists in the reading of the proper names. In Tiamtu, or, rather, Tiawthu, will be easily recognized the Tauthé of Damascius, whose son, as appears from a later fragment, was called Mummu (= Moumis). Apason he gives as the husband of Tauthé, but of this we know nothing from the Babylonian tablet, which, however, speaks of this Apason (apsû, “the abyss”), which corresponds with the “primæval ocean” of the Babylonian tablet.

In Daché and Dachos it is easy to see that there has been a confusion between Greek Λ and Δ, which so closely resemble each other. Daché and Dachos should, therefore, be corrected into Laché and Lachos, the Laḫmu and Laḫamu (better Laḫwu and Laḫawu) of the Babylonian text. They were the male and female personifications of the heavens. Anšar and Kišar are the Greek author's Assoros and Kisaré, the “Host of Heaven” and the “Host of Earth” respectively. The three proceeding from them, Anos, Illinos, and Aos, are the well-known Anu, the god of the heavens; Illil, for En-lila, the Sumerian god of the earth and the Underworld; and Aa or Ea, the god of the waters, who seems to have been [pg 018] identified by some with Yau or Jah. Aa or Ea was the husband of Damkina, or Dawkina, the Dauké of Damascius, from whom, as he says, Belos, i.e. Bel-Merodach, was born, and if he did not “fabricate the world,” at least he ordered it anew, after his great fight with the Dragon of Chaos, as we shall see when we come to the third tablet of the series.

After the lines printed above the text is rather defective, but it would seem that the god Nudimmud (Ae or Ea), “the wise and open of ear,” next came into existence. A comparison is then apparently made between these deities on the one hand, and Tiamtu, Apsû, and Mummu on the other—to the disadvantage of the latter. On Apsû complaining that he had no peace by day nor rest by night on account of the ways of the gods, their sons, it was at last determined to make war upon them.

“They have become hostile, and at the side of Tiamtu they advance,

Storming, planning, not resting night and day,

They make ready for battle, wrathful (and) raging.

They assemble themselves together, and make ready (for) the strife.

Ummu Ḫubur, she who created everything,

Added irresistible weapons, produced giant serpents,

Sharp of tooth, unsparing (their) stings (?)

She caused poison to fill their bodies like blood.

Raging dragons clothed she with terrors,

She endowed (them) with brilliance, she made (them) like the high ones (?)

‘Whoever sees them may fright overwhelm,

May their bodies rear on high, and may (none) turn aside their breast.’

[pg 019]

She set up the viper, the pithon, and the Laḫamu,

Great monsters, raging dogs, scorpion-men,

Driving demons, fish-men, and mountain-rams,

Bearing unsparing weapons, not fearing battle;

Powerful are (her) commands, and irresistible,

She made altogether eleven like that,

Among the gods her firstborn, he who had made for her a host,

Kingu, she raised among them, him she made chief.

Those going in front before the army, those leading the host,

Raising weapons, attacking, who rise up (for) the fray,

The leadership of the conflict

She delivered into his hand, and caused him to sit in state (?).

‘I have set firm thy word, in the assembly of the gods I have made thee great,

The rule of the gods, all of them, have I delivered into thy hand,

Only be thou great—thou, my only husband—

Let them exalt thy name over all the heavenly ones (?)’

She gave him then the tablets of fate, she placed them in his bosom:

‘As for thee, thy command shall not be changed, may thy utterances stand firm!’

Now Kingu is exalted, he has taken to him the godhood of Anu,

Among the gods her sons he determines the fates.

‘Open your mouths, let the Firegod be at rest.

Be ye fearful in the fight, let resistance be laid low (?).’ ”

[pg 020]

Such are the last verses of the first tablet of the so-called story of the Creation as known to the Babylonians, and though it would be better named if called the Story of Bêl and the Dragon, the references to the creation of the world that are made therein prevent the name from being absolutely incorrect, and it may, therefore, serve, along with the more correct one, to designate it still. As will be gathered from the above, the whole story centres in the wish of the goddess of the powers of evil to get creation—the production of all that is in the world—into her own hands. In this she is aided by certain gods, over whom she sets one, Kingu, her husband, as chief. In the preparations that she makes she exercises her creative powers to produce all kinds of dreadful monsters to help her against the gods whom she wishes to overthrow, and the full and vigorous description of her defenders, created by her own hands, adds much to the charm of the narrative, and shows well what the Babylonian scribes were capable of in this class of record.

The first tablet breaks off after the speech of Tiamtu to her husband Kingu. The second one begins by stating how Aa or Ea heard of the plot of Tiamtu and her followers against the gods of heaven. When his first wrath on account of this had somewhat abated, he went and related the whole, in practically the same words as the story is given on the two foregoing pages, to Anšar, his father, who in his turn became filled with rage, biting his lips, and uttering cries of deepest grief. In the mutilated lines which follow Apsû's subjugation seems to be referred to. After this is another considerable gap, and then comes the statement that Anšar applied to his son Anu, “the mighty and brave, whose power is great, whose attack irresistible,” saying that if he will only speak to her, the great Dragon's anger will be calmed and her rage disappear.

[pg 021]

“(Anu heard) the words of his father Anšar,

(Took the ro)ad towards her, and descended by her path,

Anu (went),—he examined Tiamtu's lair, and

(Not having power to resist her?), turned back.”

How the god excused himself to his father Anšar on account of his ignominious flight we do not know, the record being again defective at this point. With the same want of success the god Anšar then, as we learn from another part of the narrative, applied to the god Nudimmud, a deity who is explained in the inscriptions as being the same as the god Aa or Ea, but whom Professor Delitzsch is rather inclined to regard as one of the forms of Bêl.

In the end the god Merodach, the son of Aa, was asked to be the champion of the gods against the great emblem of the powers of evil, the Dragon of Chaos. To become, by this means, the saviour of the universe, was apparently just what the patron-god of the city of Babylon desired, for he seems immediately to have accepted the task of destroying the hated Dragon—

“The lord rejoiced at his father's word,

His heart was glad, and he saith to his father:

‘O lord of the gods, fate of the great gods!
If then I be your avenger,
(If) I bind Tiamtu and save you,

Assemble together, cause to be great, (and) proclaim ye, my lot.

In Upšukenaku assembled, come ye joyfully together,

Having opened my mouth, like you also, let me the fates decide,

That naught be changed that I do, (even) I.

May the word of my lips neither fail nor altered be!’ ”

[pg 022]

Anšar, without delay, calls his messenger Gaga, and directs him to summon all the gods to a festival, where with appetite they may sit down to a feast, to eat the divine bread and drink the divine wine, and there let Merodach “decide the fates,” as the one chosen to be their avenger. Then comes the message that Gaga was to deliver to Laḫmu and Laḫamu, in which the rebellion of Tiamtu is related in practically the same words as the writer used at the beginning of the narrative to describe Tiamtu's revolt. Merodach's proposal and request are then stated, and the message ends with the following words—

“Hasten, and quickly decide for him your fate—

Let him go, let him meet your mighty foe!”

Laḫmu and Laḫamu having heard all the words of Anšar's message, which his messenger Gaga faithfully repeated to them, they, with the Igigi, or gods of the heavens, broke out in bitter lamentation, saying that they could not understand Tiamtu's acts.

Then all the great gods, who “decided the fates,” hastened to go to the feast, where they ate and drank, and, apparently with loud acclaim, “decided the fate” for Merodach their avenger.

Here follow the honours conferred on Merodach on account of the mighty deed that he had undertaken to do. They erected for him princely chambers, wherein he sat as the great judge “in the presence of his fathers,” and they praised him as the highest honoured among the great gods, incomparable as to his ordinances, changeless as to the word of his mouth, uncontravenable as to his utterances. None of them would go against the authority that was to be henceforth his domain.

[pg 023]

“Merodach, thou art he who is our avenger,

(Over) the whole universe have we given thee the kingdom.”

His weapons were never to be defeated, his foes were to be smitten down, but as for those who trusted in him, the gods prayed him that he would grant them life, “pouring out,” on the other hand, the life of the god who had begun the evil against which Merodach was about to fight.

Then, so that he should see that they had indeed given him the power to which they referred, they laid in their midst a garment, and in accordance with their directions, Merodach spoke, and the garment vanished,—he spoke, and it reappeared—

“ ‘Open thy mouth, may the garment be destroyed,

Speak to it once more, and let it be restored again!’

He spoke with his mouth, and the garment was destroyed,

He spoke to it again, and the garment was reproduced.”

Then all the gods called out, “Merodach is king!” and they gave him sceptre, throne, and insignia of royalty, and also an irresistible weapon, which should shatter his enemies.

“ ‘Now, go, and cut off the life of Tiamtu,

Let the winds bear away her blood to hidden places!’

(Thus) did the gods, his fathers, fix the fate of Bel.

A path of peace and goodwill they set for him as his road.”

Then the god armed himself for the fight, taking spear (or dart), bow, and quiver. To these he added [pg 024] lightning flashing before him, flaming fire filling his body; the net which his father Anu had given him wherewith to capture “kirbiš Tiamtu” or “Tiamtu who is in the midst,” he set north and south, east and west, in order that nothing of her might escape. In addition to all this, he created various winds—the evil wind, the storm, the hurricane, “wind four and seven,” the harmful, the uncontrollable (?), and these seven winds he sent forth, to confuse kirbiš Tiamtu, and they followed after him.

Next he took his great weapon called âbubu, and mounted his dreadful, irresistible chariot, to which four steeds were yoked—steeds unsparing, rushing forward, flying along, their teeth full of venom, foam-covered, experienced (?) in galloping, schooled for overthrowing. Merodach being now ready for the fray, he fared forth to meet the Dragon.

“Then, they clustered around him, the gods clustered around him,

The gods his fathers clustered around him, the gods clustered around him.

And the lord advanced, Tiamtu's retreat regarding

Examining the lair of Kingu her consort.”

The sight of the enemy was so menacing, that even the great Merodach began to falter and lose courage, whereat the gods, his helpers, who accompanied him, were greatly disturbed in their minds, fearing approaching disaster. The king of the gods soon recovered himself, however, and uttered to the demon a longish challenge, on hearing which she became as one possessed, and cried aloud. Muttering then incantations and charms, she called the gods of battle to arms, and the great fight for the rule of the universe began.

“The lord spread wide his net, made it enclose her.

The evil wind following behind, he sent on before.

[pg 025]

Tiamtu opened her mouth as much as she could.

He caused the evil wind to enter so that she could not close her lips,

The angry winds filled out her body,

Her heart was overpowered, wide opened she her mouth.”

Being now at the mercy of the conqueror, the divine victor soon made an end of the enemy of the gods, upon whose mutilated body, when dead, he stood triumphantly. Great fear now overwhelmed the gods who had gone over to her side, and fought against the heavenly powers, and they fled to save their lives. Powerless to escape, however, they were captured, and their weapons broken to pieces. Notwithstanding their cries, which filled the vast region, they had to bear the punishment which was their due, and were shut up in prison. The creatures whom Tiamtu had created to help her and strike terror into the hearts of the gods, were also brought into subjection, along with Kingu, her husband, from whom the tablets of fate were taken by the conqueror as things unmeet for Tiamtu's spouse to own. It is probable that we have here the true explanation of the origin of this remarkable legend, for the tablets of fate were evidently things which the king of heaven alone might possess, and Merodach, as soon as he had overcome his foe, pressed his own seal upon them, and placed them in his breast.

He had now conquered the enemy, the proud opposer of the gods of heaven, and having placed her defeated followers in safe custody, he was able to return to the dead and defeated Dragon of Chaos. He split open her skull with his unsparing weapon, hewed asunder the channels of her blood, and caused the north wind to carry it away to hidden places. His fathers saw this, and rejoiced with shouting, and brought him gifts and offerings.

[pg 026]

And there, as he rested from the strife, Merodach looked upon her who had wrought such evil in the fair world as created by the gods, and as he looked, he thought out clever plans. Hewing asunder the corpse of the great Dragon that lay lifeless before him, he made with one half a covering for the heavens, keeping it in its place by means of a bolt, and setting there a watchman to keep guard. He also arranged this portion of the Dragon of Chaos in such a way, that “her waters could not come forth,” and this circumstance suggests a comparison with “the waters above the firmament” of the Biblical story in Genesis.

Passing then through the heavens, he beheld that wide domain, and opposite the abyss, he built an abode for the god Nudimmud, that is, for his father Aa as the creator.

“Then measured the lord the abyss's extent,

A palace in its likeness he founded:—Êšarra;

The palace Êšarra, which he made, (is) the heavens,

(For) Anu, Bêl, and Aa he founded their strongholds.”

With these words, which are practically a description of the creation or building, by Merodach, of the heavens, the fourth tablet of the Babylonian legend of the Creation comes to an end. It is difficult to find a parallel to this part of the story in the Hebrew account in Genesis.

Plate II. Fragments of tablets (duplicates), giving the words for the different fasts, festivals, etc., of the Babylonians and Assyrians. Line 4 of the small piece, and 16 of the large one, have the words ûm nûh libbi, "day of rest of the heart," explained by sapattum (from the Sumerian sa-bat, "heart-rest"), generally regarded as the original of the Hebrew Sabbath. Sapattum, however, was the 15th day of the month. The nearest approaches to Sabbaths were the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, and 19th, which were called u-hul-gallu or ûmu limnu, "the evil day" (the 19th being a week of weeks, from the 1st day of the preceding month), because it was unlawful to do certain things on those days.

The fifth tablet of the Babylonian story of the Creation is a mere fragment, but is of considerable interest and importance. It describes, in poetical language, in the style with which the reader has now become fairly familiar, the creation and ordering, by Merodach, of the heavenly bodies, as the ancient Babylonians conceived them to have taken place. The text of the first few stanzas is as follows—

[pg 027]

“He built firmly the stations of the great gods—

Stars their likeness—he set up the Lumaši,

He designated the year, he outlined the (heavenly) forms.

He set for the twelve months three stars each.

From the day when the year begins, ... for signs.

He founded the station of Nîbiru, to make known their limits,

That none might err, nor go astray.

The station of Bêl and Aa he placed with himself,

Then he opened the great gates on both sides,
Bolts he fixed on the left and on the right,
In its centre (?) then he set the zenith (?).

Nannaru (the moon) he caused to shine, ruling the night,

So he set him as a creature of the night, to make known the days,

Monthly, without failing, he provided him with a crown,

At the beginning of the month then, dawning in the land,

The horns shine forth to make known the seasons (?),

On the 7th day crown (perfect)ing (?).

The [Sa]bbath shalt thou then fall in with, half-monthly,

When the sun (is) in the base of the heavens, at thy [approach?].

...... hath caused to be cut off and

... nearing the path of the sun.

[The ...]th [day] shalt thou then fall in with, the sun shall change (?)...

...... the sign seeking its path.

... cause to approach and give the judgment.

........................ to injure (?)

........................... one.”

The final lines of this portion seem to refer to the moon on the 7th and other days of the month, and [pg 028] would in that case indicate the quarters. “Sabbath” is doubtful on account of the mutilation of the first character, but in view of the forms given on pl. II. and p. 527 (šapattum, šapatti) the restoration as šapattu seems possible. It is described on p. 527 as the 15th of the month, but must have indicated also the 14th, according to the length of the month.

An exceedingly imperfect fragment of what is supposed to be part of the fifth tablet exists. It speaks of the bow with which Merodach overcame the Dragon of Chaos, which the god Anu, to all appearance, set in the heavens as one of the constellations. After this comes, apparently, a fragment that may be regarded as recording the creation of the earth, and the cities and renowned shrines upon it, the houses of the great gods, and the cities Nippuru (Niffer) and Asshur being mentioned. Everything, however, is very disconnected and doubtful.

The sixth tablet, judging from the fragment recognized by Mr. L. W. King, must have been one of special interest, as it to all appearance contained a description of the creation of man. Unfortunately, only the beginning of the text is preserved, and is as follows:—

“Merodach, on hearing the word of the gods,

His heart urged him, and he made [cunning plans].

He opened his mouth and [said] to the god Aê—

[What] he thought out in his heart he communicates ...:

‘Let me gather my blood and let me ... bone,

Let me set up a man, and let the man ....

Let me make then men dwelling ....

May the service of the gods be established, and as for them, let ....

Let me alter the ways of the gods, let me chan[ge their paths]—

As one let them be honoured, as two let them be ....’

Aê answered him, and the word he spake.”

[pg 029]

Here come the remains of ten very imperfect lines, which probably related the consent of the other gods to the proposal, and must have been followed by a description of the way in which it was carried out. All this, however, is unfortunately not preserved. That the whole of Merodach's work received the approval of “the gods his fathers” is shown by the remains of lines with which the sixth tablet closes:—

“They rejoiced ....................

In Upšukenaku they caused .............

Of the son, the hero, who brought back [benefit for them]

‘As for us, whom, succouring, he ...........’

They sat down, and in their assembly they proclaimed

... they all announced ...............”

What they proclaimed and announced was apparently his glorious names, as detailed in the seventh and last tablet of the series, which was regarded by George Smith as containing an address to primitive man, but which proves to be really an address to the god Merodach praising him on account of the great work that he had done in overcoming the Dragon, and in thereafter ordering the world anew. As this portion forms a good specimen of Babylonian poetry at its best, the full text of the tablet, with the exception of some short remains of lines, is here presented in as careful a translation as is at present possible.

The Seventh Tablet Of The Creation-Series, Also Known As The Tablet Of The Fifty-One Names.

1 Asari, bestower of planting, establisher of irrigation.

2 Creator of grain and herbs, he who causes verdure to grow.

[pg 030]

3 Asari-alim, he who is honoured in the house of counsel, [who increases counsel?].

4 The gods bow down to him, fear [possesses them?].

5 Asari-alim-nunna, the mighty one, light of the father his begetter.

6 He who directs the oracles of Anu, Bel, [and Aa].

7 He is their nourisher, who has ordained....

8 He whose provision is fertility, sendeth forth....

9 Tutu, the creator of their renewal, [is he?].

10 Let him purify their desires, (as for) them, let them [be appeased].

11 Let him then make his incantation, let the gods [be at rest].

12 Angrily did he arise, may he lay low [their breast].

13 Exalted was he then in the assembly of the gods....

14 None among the gods shall [forsake him].

15 Tutu.1 “Zi-ukenna,” “life of the people”

16 “He who fixed for the gods the glorious heavens;”

17 Their paths they took, they set

18 May the deeds (that he performed) not be forgotten among men.

19 Tutu. “Zi-azaga,” thirdly, he called (him),—“he who effects purification,”

20 “God of the good wind,” “Lord of hearing and obedience,”

21 “Creator of fulness and plenty,” “Institutor of abundance,”

22 “He who changes what is small to great,”

23 In our dire need we scented his sweet breath.

24 Let them speak, let them glorify, let them render him obedience.

25 Tutu. “Aga-azaga,” fourthly, May he make the crowns glorious,

26 “The lord of the glorious incantation bringing the dead to life,”

27 “He who had mercy on the gods who had been overpowered,”

[pg 031]

28 “He who made heavy the yoke that he had laid on the gods who were his enemies,

29 (And) for their despite (?), created mankind.”

30 “The merciful one,” “He with whom is lifegiving,”

31 May his word be established, and not forgotten,

32 In the mouth of the black-headed ones (mankind) whom his hands have made.

33 Tutu. “Mu-azaga,” fifthly, May their mouth make known his glorious incantation,

34 “He who with his glorious charm rooteth out all the evil ones,”

35 “Sa-zu,” “He who knoweth the heart of the gods,” “He who looketh at the inward parts,”

36 “He who alloweth not evil-doers to go forth against him,”

37 “He who assembleth the gods,” appeasing their hearts,

38 “He who subdueth the disobedient,”...

39 “He who ruleth in truth (and justice”), ...

40 “He who setteth aside injustice,” ...

41 Tutu. “Zi-si” (“He who bringeth about silence”), ...

42 “He who sendeth forth stillness.” ...

43 Tutu. “Suḫ-kur,” “Annihilator of the enemy,” ...

44 “Dissolver of their agreements,” ...

45 “Annihilator of everything evil.” ...

About 40 lines, mostly very imperfect, occur here, and some 20 others are totally lost. The text after this continues:—

107 “Then he seized the back part (?) of the head,which he pierced (?),

108 And as Kirbiš-Tiamtu he circumvented restlessly,

109 His name shall be Nibiru, he who seized Kirbišu (Tiamtu).

[pg 032]

110 Let him direct the paths of the stars of heaven,

111 Like sheep let him pasture the gods, the whole of them.

112 May he confine Tiamtu, may he bring her life into pain and anguish,

113 In man's remote ages, in lateness of days,

114 Let him arise, and he shall not cease, may he continue into the remote future

115 As he made the (heavenly) place, and formed the firm (ground),

116 Father Bêl called him (by) his own name, “Lord of the World,”

117 The appellation (by) which the Igigi have themselves (always) called him.

118 Aa heard, and he rejoiced in his heart:

119 Thus (he spake): “He, whose renowned name his fathers have so glorified,

120 He shall be like me, and Aa shall be his name!

121 The total of my commands, all of them, let him possess, and

122 The whole of my pronouncements he, (even) he, shall make known.”

123 By the appellation “fifty” the great gods

124 His fifty names proclaimed, and they caused his career to be great (beyond all).

125 May they be accepted, and may the primæval one make (them) known,

126 May the wise and understanding altogether well consider (them),

127 May the father repeat and teach to the son,

128 May they open the ears of the shepherd and leader.

129 May they rejoice for the lord of the gods, Merodach,

130 May his land bear in plenty; as for him, may he have peace.

[pg 033]

131 His word standeth firm; his command changeth not—

132 No god hath yet made to fail that which cometh forth from his mouth.

133 If he frown down in displeasure, he turneth not his neck,

134 In his anger, there is no god who can withstand his wrath.

135 Broad is his heart, vast is the kindness (?) of (his) ...

136 The sinner and evildoer before him are (ashamed?).”

The remains of some further lines exist, but they are very uncertain, the beginnings and ends being broken away. All that can be said is, that the poem concluded in the same strain as the last twelve lines preserved.

In the foregoing pages the reader has had placed before him all the principal details of the Babylonian story of the Creation, and we may now proceed to examine the whole in greater detail.

If we may take the explanation of Damascius as representing fairly the opinion of the Babylonians concerning the creation of the world, it seems clear that they regarded the matter of which it was formed as existing in the beginning under the two forms of Tiamtu (the sea) and Apsû (the deep), and from these, being wedded, proceeded “an only begotten son,” Mummu (Moumis), conceived by Damascius to be “no other that the intelligible world proceeding from the two principles,” i.e. from Tiamtu and Apsû. From these come forth, in successive generations, the other gods, ending with Marduk or Merodach, also named Bêl (Bêl-Merodach), the son of Aa (Ea) and his consort Damkina (the Aos and Dauké of Damascius).

Judging from the material that we have, the Babylonians seemed to have believed in a kind of evolution, for they evidently regarded the first creative [pg 034] powers (the watery waste and the abyss) as the rude and barbaric beginnings of things, the divine powers produced from these first principles (Laḫmu and Laḫamu, Anšar and Kišar, Anu, Ellila, and Aa, and finally Marduk), being successive stages in the upward path towards perfection, with which the first rude elements of creation were ultimately bound to come into conflict; for Tiamtu, the chief of the two rude and primitive principles of creation, was, notwithstanding this, ambitious, and desired still to be the creatress of the gods and other inferior beings that were yet to be produced. All the divinities descending from Tiamtu were, to judge from the inscriptions, creators, and as they advanced towards perfection, so also did the things that they created advance, until, by contrast, the works of Tiamtu became as those of the Evil Principle, and when she rebelled against the gods who personified all that was good, it became a battle between them of life and death, which only the latest-born of the gods, elected in consequence of the perfection of his power, to be king and ruler over “the gods his fathers,” was found worthy to wage. The glorious victory gained, and the Dragon of Evil subdued and relegated to those places where her exuberant producing power, which, to all appearance, she still possessed, would be of use, Merodach, in the fulness of his power as king of the gods, perfected and ordered the universe anew, and created his crowning work, Mankind. Many details are, to all appearance, wanting on account of the incompleteness of the series, but those which remain seem to indicate that the motive of the whole story was as outlined here.

In Genesis, however, we have an entirely different account, based, apparently, upon a widely different conception of the origin of the Universe, for one principle only appears throughout the whole narrative, be it Elohistic, Jehovistic, or priestly. “In the beginning [pg 035] God created the heavens and the earth,” and from the first verse to the last it is He, and He alone, who is Creator and Maker and Ruler of the Universe. The only passage containing any indication that more than one person took part in the creation of the world and all that therein is, is in verse 26, where God is referred to as saying, “Let us make man,” but that this is simply the plural of majesty, and nothing more, seems to be proved by the very next verse, where the wording is, “and God made man in his own image,” etc. There is, therefore, no trace of polytheistic influence in the whole narrative.

Let us glance awhile at the other differences.

To begin with, the whole Babylonian narrative is not only based upon an entirely different theory of the beginning of all things, but upon an entirely different conception of what took place ere man appeared upon the earth. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” implies the conception of a time when the heavens and the earth existed not. Not so, seemingly, with the Babylonian account. There the heavens and the earth are represented as existing, though in a chaotic form, from the first. Moreover, it is not the external will and influence of the Almighty that originates and produces the forms of the first creatures inhabiting the world, but the productive power residing in the watery waste and the deep:

“The primæval ocean (apsû rêstū) was their producer (lit. seeder);

Mummu Tiamtu was she who brought forth the whole of them.”

It is question here of “seeding” (zaru) and “bearing” (âlādu), not of creating.

The legend is too defective to enable us to find out anything as to the Babylonian idea concerning the formation of the dry land. Testimony as to its non-existence [pg 036] at the earliest period is all that is vouchsafed to us. At that time none of the gods had come forth, seemingly because (if the restoration be correct) “the fates had not been determined.” There is no clue, however, as to who was then the determiner of the fates.

Then, gradually, and in the course of long-extended ages, the gods Laḫmu and Laḫamu, Anšar and Kišar, with the others, came into existence, as already related, after which the record, which is mutilated, goes on to speak of Tiamtu, Apsū, and Mummu.

These deities of the Abyss were evidently greatly disquieted on account of the existence and the work of the gods of heaven. They therefore took counsel together, and Apsū complained that he could not rest either night or day on account of them. Naturally the mutilated state of the text makes the true reason of the conflict somewhat uncertain. Fried. Delitzsch regarded it as due to the desire, on the part of Merodach, to have possession of the “Tablets of Fate,” which the powers of good and the powers of evil both wished to obtain. These documents, when they are first spoken of, are in the hands of Tiamtu (see p. 19), and she, on giving the power of changeless command to Kingu, her husband, handed them to him. In the great fight, when Merodach overcame his foes, he seized these precious records, and placed them in his breast—

“And Kingu, who had become great over (?) them—

He bound him, and with Ugga (the god of death) ... he counted him;

From him then he took the Fate-tablets, which were not his,

With his ring he pressed them, and took them to his breast.”

To all appearance, Tiamtu and Kingu were in unlawful possession of these documents, and the king [pg 037] of the gods, Merodach, when he seized them, only took possession of what, in reality, was his own. What power the “Tablets of Fate” conferred on their possessor, we do not know, but in all probability the god in whose hands they were, became, by the very fact, creator and ruler of the universe for ever and ever.

This creative power the king of the gods at once proceeded to exercise. Passing through the heavens, he surveyed them, and built a palace called Ê-šarra, “The house of the host,” for the gods who, with himself, might be regarded as the chief in his heavenly kingdom. Next in order he arranged the heavenly bodies, forming the constellations, marking off the year; the moon, and probably the sun also, being, as stated in Genesis, “for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years,” though all this is detailed, in the Babylonian account, at much greater length. Indeed, had we the whole legend complete, we should probably find ourselves in possession of a detailed description of the Babylonian idea of the heavens which they studied so constantly, and of the world on which they lived, in relation to the celestial phenomena which they saw around them.

Fragments of tablets have been spoken of that seem to belong to the fifth and sixth of the series, and one of them speaks of the building of certain ancient cities, including that now represented by the mounds known by the name of Niffer, which must, therefore, apart from any considerations of paleographic progression in the case of inscriptions found there, or evidence based on the depth of rubbish-accumulations, be one of the oldest known. It is probably on account of this that the Talmudic writers identified the site with the Calneh of Gen. x. 10, which, notwithstanding the absence of native confirmation, may very easily be correct, for the Jews of those days were undoubtedly in a better position to know than we are, after a lapse of two thousand years. The same text, strangely [pg 038] enough, also refers to the city of Aššur, though this city (which did not, apparently, belong to Nimrod's kingdom) can hardly have been a primæval city in the same sense as “Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh.”

The text of the Semitic Creation-story is here so mutilated as to be useless for comparative purposes, and in these circumstances the bilingual story of the Creation, published by me in 1891, practically covering, as it does, the same ground, may be held, in a measure, to supply its place. Instead, therefore, of devoting to this version a separate section, I insert a translation of it here, together with a description of the tablet upon which it is written.

This second version of the Creation-story is inscribed on a large fragment (about four and a half inches high) of a tablet found by Mr. Rassam at Sippar (Abu Habbah) in 1882. The text is very neatly written in the Babylonian character, and is given twice over, that is, in the original (dialectic) Akkadian, with a Semitic (Babylonian) translation. As it was the custom of the Babylonian and Assyrian scribes, for the sake of giving a nice appearance to what they wrote, to spread out the characters in such a way that the page (as it were) was “justified,” and the ends of the lines ranged, like a page of print, it often happens that, when a line is not a full one, there is a wide space, in the middle, without writing. In the Akkadian text of the bilingual Creation-story, however, a gap is left in every line, sufficiently large to accommodate, in slightly smaller characters, the whole Semitic Babylonian translation. The tablet therefore seems to be written in three columns, the first being the first half of the Akkadian version, the second (a broad one) the Semitic translation, and the third the last half of the Akkadian original text, separated from the first part to allow of the Semitic version being inserted between.

[pg 039]

The reason of the writing of the version already translated and in part commented upon is not difficult to find—it was to give an account of the origin of the world and the gods whom they worshipped. The reason of the writing of the bilingual story of the Creation, however, is not so easy to decide, the account there given being the introduction to one of those bilingual incantations for purification, in which, however, by the mutilation of the tablet, the connecting-link is unfortunately lost. But whatever the reason of its being prefixed to this incantation, the value and importance of the version presented by this new document is incontestable, not only for the legend itself, but also for the linguistic material which a bilingual text nearly always offers.

The following is a translation of this document—

“Incantation: The glorious house, the house of the gods, in a glorious place had not been made,

A plant had not grown up, a tree had not been created,

A brick had not been laid, a beam had not been shaped,

A house had not been built, a city had not been constructed,

A city had not been made, no community had been established,

Niffer had not been built, Ê-kura had not been constructed,

Erech had not been built, Ê-ana had not been constructed,

The Abyss had not been made, Êridu had not been constructed,

(As for) the glorious house, the house of the gods, its seat had not been made—

The whole of the lands were sea.

When within the sea there was a stream,

[pg 040]

In that day Eridu was made, Ê-sagila was constructed—

Ê-sagila, which the god Lugal-du-azaga founded within the Abyss.

Babylon he built, Ê-sagila was completed.

He made the gods (and) the Anunnaki together,

The glorious city, the seat of the joy of their hearts, supremely he proclaimed.

Merodach bound together a foundation before the waters,

He made dust, and poured (it) out beside the foundation,

That the gods might sit in a pleasant place.

He made mankind—

Aruru made the seed of mankind with him.

He made the beasts of the field and the living creatures of the desert,

He made the Tigris and the Euphrates, and set (them) in (their) place—

Well proclaimed he their name.

Grass, the marsh-plant, the reed and the forest, he made,

He made the verdure of the plain,

The lands, the marsh, the thicket also,

The wild cow (and) her young the steer; the ewe (and) her young—the sheep of the fold,

Plantations and forests also.

The goat and the wild goat multiplied for him (?).

Lord Merodach on the sea-shore made a bank,
... (which) at first he made not,
... he caused to be.

(He caused the plant to be brought forth), he made the tree,

(Everything?) he made in (its) place.

(He laid the brick), he made the beams,

(He constructed the house), he built the city,

(He built the city), the community exercised power,

[pg 041]

(He built the city Niffer), he built Ê-kura, the temple,

(He built the city Erech, he built Ê-a)na, the temple,”

Here the obverse breaks off, and the end of the bilingual story of the Creation-story is lost. How many more lines were devoted to it we do not know, nor do we know how the incantation proper, which followed it, and to which it formed the introduction, began. Where the text (about half-way down on the reverse) again becomes legible, it reads as follows—

“Thy supreme messenger, Pap-sukal, the wise one, counsellor of the gods.

Nin-aḫa-kudu, daughter of Aa,

May she make thee glorious with a glorious lustration (?),

May she make thee pure with pure fire,

With the glorious pure fountain of the abyss purify thou thy pathway,

By the incantation of Merodach, king of the universe of heaven and earth,

May the abundance of the land enter into thy midst,

May thy command be fulfilled for ever.

O Ê-zida, seat supreme, the beloved of Anu and Ištar art thou,

Mayest thou shine like heaven; mayest thou be glorious like the earth; mayest thou shine like the midst of heaven;

May the malevolent curse dwell outside of thee.

Incantation making (the purification of the temple).

Incantation: The star ... the long chariot of the heavens.”

The last line but one is apparently the title, and is followed by the first line of the next tablet. From [pg 042] this we see that this text belonged to a series of at least two tablets, and that the tablet following the above had an introduction of an astronomical or astrological nature.

It will be noticed that this text not only contains an account of the creation of gods and men, and flora and fauna, but also of the great and renowned sites and shrines of the country where it originated. It is in this respect that it bears a likeness to the fragmentary portions of the intermediate tablets of the Semitic Babylonian story of the Creation, or Bêl and the Dragon, and this slight agreement may be held to justify, in some measure, its introduction here. The bilingual version, however, differs very much in style from that in Semitic only, and seems to lack the poetical form which characterizes the latter. This, indeed, was to be expected, for poetical form in a translation which follows the original closely is an impossibility, though the poetry of words and ideas which it contains naturally remains. It is not unlikely that the original Sumerian text is in poetical form, as is suggested by the cesura, and the recurring words.

In the bilingual account of the Creation one seems to get a glimpse of the pride that the ancient Babylonians felt in the ancient and renowned cities of their country. The writer's conception of the wasteness and voidness of the earth in the beginning seems to have been that the ancient cities Babel, Niffer, Erech and Eridu had not yet come into existence. For him, those sites were as much creations as the vegetation and animal life of the earth. Being, for him, sacred sites, they must have had a sacred, a divine foundation, and he therefore attributes their origin to the greatest of the gods, Merodach, who built them, brick, and beam, and house, himself. Their renowned temples, too, had their origin at the hands of the Divine Architect of the Universe.

A few words are necessary in elucidation of what [pg 043] follows the line, “When within the sea there was a stream.” “In that day,” it says, “Êridu was made, Ê-sagila was constructed—Ê-sagila which the god Lugal-du-azaga founded within the Abyss. Babylon he built, Ê-sagila was completed.” The connection of Ê-sagila, “the temple of the lofty head,” which was within the Abyss, with Êridu, shows, with little or no doubt, that the Êridu there referred to was not the earthly city of that name, but a city conceived as lying also “within the Abyss.” This Êridu, as we shall see farther on, was the “blessed city,” or Paradise, wherein was the tree of life, and which was watered by the twin stream of the Tigris and the Euphrates.

But there was another Ê-sagila than that founded by the god Lugal-du-azaga within the Abyss, namely the Ê-sagila at Babylon, and it is this fane that is spoken of in the phrase following that mentioning the temple so called within the Abyss. To the Babylonian, therefore, the capital of the country was, in that respect, a counterpart of the divine city that he regarded as the abode of bliss, where dwelt Nammu, the river-god, and the sun-god Dumuzi-Abzu, or “Tammuz of the Abyss.” Like Sippar too, Babylon was situated in what was called the plain, the edina, of which Babylonia mainly consisted, and which is apparently the original of the Garden of Eden.

The present text differs from that of the longer (Semitic) story of the Creation, in that it makes Merodach to be the creator of the gods, as well as of mankind, and all living things. This, of course, implies that it was composed at a comparatively late date, when the god Merodach had become fully recognized as the chief divinity, and the fact that Aa was his father had been lost sight of, and practically forgotten. The goddess Aruru is apparently introduced into the narrative out of consideration for the [pg 044] city Sippar-Aruru, of which she was patron. In another text she is called “Lady of the gods of Sippar and Aruru.” There is also a goddess (perhaps identical with her) called Gala-aruru, “Great Aruru,” or “the great one (of) Aruru,” who is explained as “Ištar the star,” on the tablet K. 2109.

After the account of the creation of the beasts of the field, the Tigris and the Euphrates, vegetation, lands, marshes, thickets, plantations and forests, which are named, to all appearance, without any attempt at any kind of order, “The lord Merodach” is represented as creating those things which, at first, he had not made, namely, the great and ancient shrines in whose antiquity and glorious memories the Babylonian—and the Assyrian too—took such delight. The list, however, is a short one, and it is to be supposed that, in the lines that are broken away, further cities of the kingdom of Babylon were mentioned. That this was the case is implied by the reverse, which deals mainly—perhaps exclusively—with the great shrine of Borsippa called Ê-zida, and identified by many with the Tower of Babel. How it was brought in, however, we have no means of finding out, and must wait patiently for the completion of the text that will, in all probability, ultimately be discovered.

The reverse has only the end of the text, which, as far as it is preserved, is in the form of an “incantation of Êridu,” and mentions “the glorious fountain of the Abyss,” which to was to “purify” or “make glorious” the pathway of the personified fane referred to. As it was the god Merodach, “the merciful one,” “he who raises the dead to life,” “the lord of the glorious incantation,” who was regarded by the Babylonians as revealing to mankind the “incantation of Êridu,” which he, in his turn, obtained from his father Aa, we may see in this final part of the legend not only a glorification of the chief deity of the Babylonians, but also a further testimony of the fact that the composition [pg 045] must belong to the comparatively late period in the history of Babylonian religion, when the worship of Merodach had taken the place of that of his father Aa.

Of course, it must not be supposed that the longer account of the Creation was told so shortly as the bilingual narrative that we have introduced here to supply the missing parts of the longer version. Everything was probably recounted at much greater length, and in confirmation of this there is the testimony of the small fragment of the longer account, translated on p. 28. This simply contains the announcement that Merodach had made cunning plans, and decided to create man from his own blood, and [to form?] his bones, but there must have been, in the long gap which then ensues, a detailed account of the actual creation of the human race, probably with some reference to the formation of animals. One cannot base much upon this mutilated fragment, but, as the first translator has pointed out, the object in creating man was seemingly to ensure the performance of the service (or worship) of the gods, and the building of their shrines, prayer and sacrifice, with the fear of God, being duties from which there was no escape.

In the last tablet of the series—that recording the praises of Merodach and his fifty new names,—there are a few points that are worthy of examination. In the first place, the arrangement of the first part is noteworthy. The principal name that was given to him seems not to have been Merodach, as one would expect from the popularity of the name in later days, but Tutu, which occurs in the margin, at the head of six of the sections, and was probably prefixed to at least three more. This name Tutu is evidently an Akkadian reduplicate word, from the root tu, “to beget,” and corresponds with the explanation of the word given by the list of Babylonian gods, K. 2107; muâllid îlāni, mûddiš îlāni, “begetter of the gods, renewer [pg 046] of the gods”—a name probably given to him on account of his identification with his father, Aa, for, according to the legend, Merodach was rather the youngest than the oldest of the gods, who are even called, as will be remembered, “his fathers.” In the lost portion at the beginning of the final tablet he was also called, according to the tablet here quoted, Gugu = muttakkil îlāni, “nourisher of the gods”; Mumu = mušpiš îlāni, “increaser (?) of the gods”; Dugan = banî kala îlāni, “maker of all the gods”; Dudu = muttarrû îlāni, “saviour (?) of the gods”; Šar-azaga = ša šipat-su êllit, “he whose incantation is glorious”; and Mu-azaga = ša tû-šu êllit, “he whose charm is glorious” (cf. p. 31, l. 33). After this we have Ša-zu or Ša-sud = mûdê libbi īlāni or libbi rûḳu, “he who knoweth the heart of the gods,” or “the remote of heart” (p. 31, l. 35); Zi-uḳenna = napšat napḫar îlāni, “the life of the whole of the gods” (p. 30, l. 15); Zi-si = nasiḫ šabuti, “he who bringeth about silence” (p. 31, l. 41); Suḫ-kur = muballû aabi, “annihilator of the enemy” (p. 31, l. 43); and other names meaning muballû napḫar aabi, nasiḫ raggi, “annihilator of the whole of the enemy, rooter out of evil,” nasiḫ napḫar raggi, “rooter out of the whole of the evil,” êšû raggi, “troubler of the evil (ones),” and êšû napḫar raggi, “troubler of the whole of the evil (ones).” All these last names were probably enumerated on the lost part of the tablet between where the obverse breaks off and the reverse resumes the narrative, and the whole of the fifty names conferred upon him, which were enumerated in their old Akkadian forms and translated into Semitic Babylonian in this final tablet of the Creation, were evidently repeated in the form of a list of gods, on the tablet in tabular form from which the above renderings are taken.

Hailed then as the vanquisher of Kirbiš-Tiamtu, the great Dragon of Chaos, he is called by the name of Nibiru, “the ferry,” a name of the planet Jupiter as [pg 047] the traverser of the heavens (one of the points of contact between Babylonian and Greek mythology), the stars of which he was regarded as directing, and keeping (lit. pasturing) like sheep. (Gods and stars may here be regarded as convertible terms.) His future is then spoken of, and “father Bêl” gives him his own name, “lord of the world.” Rejoicing in the honours showered on his son, and not to be outdone in generosity, Aa decrees that henceforth Merodach shall be like him, and that he shall be called Aa, possessing all his commands, and all his pronouncements—i.e. all the wisdom which he, as god of deep wisdom, possessed. Thus was Merodach endowed with all the names, and all the attributes, of the gods of the Babylonians—“the fifty renowned names of the great gods.”

This was, to all intents and purposes, symbolic of a great struggle, in early days, between polytheism and monotheism—for the masses the former, for the more learned and thoughtful the latter. Of this we shall have further proof farther on, when discussing the name of Merodach. For the present be it simply noted, that this is not the only text identifying Merodach with the other gods.

The reference to the creation of mankind in line 29 of the obverse (p. 31) is noteworthy, notwithstanding that the translation of one of the words—and that a very important one—is very doubtful. Apparently man was created to the despite of the rebellious gods, but there is also just the possibility that there exists here an idiomatic phrase meaning “in their room.” If the latter be the true rendering, this part of the legend would be in striking accord with Bishop Avitus of Vienne, with the old English poet Caedmon, and with Milton in his Paradise Lost. In connection with this, too, the statement in the reverse, lines 113 and 114, where “man's remote ages” is referred to, naturally leads one to ask, Have we here [pg 048] traces of a belief that, in ages to come (“in lateness of days”), Merodach was to return and live among men into the remote future? The return of a divinity or a hero of much-cherished memory is such a usual thing among popular beliefs, that this may well have been the case likewise among the Babylonians.

The comparison of the two accounts of the Creation—that of the Hebrews and that of the Babylonians, that have been presented to the reader—will probably have brought prominently before him the fact, that the Babylonian account, notwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary, differs so much from the Biblical account, that they are, to all intents and purposes, two distinct narratives. That there are certain ideas in common, cannot be denied, but most of them are ideas that are inseparable from two accounts of the same event, notwithstanding that they have been composed from two totally different standpoints. In writing an account of the Creation, statements as to what are the things created must of necessity be inserted. There is, therefore, no proof of a connection between two accounts of the Creation in the fact that they both speak of the formation of dry land, or because they both state that plants, animals, and man were created. Connection may be inferred from such statements that the waters were the first abode of life, or that an expansion was created dividing the waters above from those below. With reference to such points of contact as these just mentioned, however, the question naturally arises, Are these points of similarity sufficient to justify the belief that two so widely divergent accounts as those of the Bible and of the Babylonian tablets have one and the same origin? In the mind of the present writer there seems to be but one answer, and that is, that the two accounts are practically distinct, and are the production of people having entirely different ideas upon the subject, though they may have influenced each other [pg 049] in regard to certain points, such as the two mentioned above. For the rest, the fact that there is—

No direct statement of the creation of the heavens and the earth;

No systematic division of the things created into groups and classes, such as is found in Genesis;

No reference to the Days of Creation;

No appearance of the Deity as the first and only cause of the existence of things—

must be held as a sufficient series of prime reasons why the Babylonian and the Hebrew versions of the Creation-story must have had different origins.

As additional arguments may also be quoted the polytheism of the Babylonian account; the fact that it appears to be merely the setting to the legend of Bêl and the Dragon, and that, as such, it is simply the glorification of Merodach, the patron divinity of the Babylonians, over the other gods of the Assyro-Babylonian Pantheon.

Sidelights:—Merodach.

To judge from the inscriptions of the Babylonians and Assyrians, one would say that there were not upon the earth more pious nations than they. They went constantly in fear of their gods, and rendered to them the glory for everything that they succeeded in bringing to a successful conclusion. Prayer, supplication, and self-debasement before their gods seem to have been their delight.

“The time for the worship of the gods was my heart's delight,

The time of the offering to Ištar was profit and riches,”

[pg 050]

sings Ludlul the sage, and one of a list of sayings is to the following effect—

“When thou seest the profit of the fear of God,

Thou wilt praise God, thou wilt bless the king.”

Many a penitential psalm and hymn of praise exists to testify to the piety of the ancient nations of Assyria and Babylonia. Moreover, this piety was, to all appearance, practical, calling forth not only self-denying offerings and sacrifices, but also, as we shall see farther on, lofty ideas and expressions of the highest religious feeling.

And the Babylonians were evidently proud of their religion. Whatever its defects, the more enlightened—the scribes and those who could read—seem to have felt that there was something in it that gave it the very highest place. And they were right—there was in this gross polytheism of theirs a thing of high merit, and that was, the character of the chief of their gods, Merodach.

We see something of the reverence of the Babylonians and Assyrians for their gods in almost all of their historical inscriptions, and there is hardly a single communication of the nature of a letter that does not call down blessings from them upon the person to whom it is addressed. In many a hymn and pious expression they show in what honour they held them, and their desire not to offend them, even involuntarily, is visible in numerous inscriptions that have been found.

“My god, who art displeased, receive (?) my (prayer?),

My goddess, who art wroth, accept (my supplication)—

Accept my supplication, and let thy mind be at rest.

[pg 051]

My lord, gracious and merciful, (let thy mind be at rest).

Make easy (O my goddess) the day that is directed for death,

My god, (grant that I be?) free (?).

My goddess, have regard for me, and receive my supplication.

Let my sins be separated, and let my misdeeds be forgotten—

Let the ban be loosened, let the fetter fall.

Let the seven winds carry away my sighing.

Let me tear asunder my evil, and let a bird carry it aloft to the sky.

Let a fish carry off my trouble, and let the stream bear it away.

Let the beasts of the field take (it) away from me.

Let the flowing waters of the stream cleanse me.

Make me bright as a chain of gold—

Let me be precious in thy eyes as a diamond ring!

Blot out my evil, preserve my life.

Let me guard thy court, and stand in thy sanctuary (?).

Make me to pass away from my evil state, let me be preserved with thee!

Send to me, and let me see a propitious dream—

Let the dream that I shall see be propitious—let the dream that I shall see be true,

Turn the dream that I shall see to a favour,

Let Mašara (?), the god of dreams, rest by my head,

Make me to enter into Ê-sagila, the temple of the gods, the house of life.

Deliver me, for his favour, into the gracious hands of the merciful Merodach,

[pg 052]

Let me be subject to thy greatness, let me glorify thy divinity;

Let the people of my city praise thy might!”

Here the text breaks off, but sufficient of it remains to show of what the devotion of the Babylonians and Assyrians to their gods consisted, and what their beliefs really were. For some reason or other, the writer recognizes that the divinity whom he worships is displeased with him, and apparently comes to the conclusion that the consort of the god is displeased also. He therefore prays and humbles himself before them, asking that his misdeeds may be forgotten, and that he may be separated from his sins, by which he feels himself to be bound and fettered. He imagines to himself that the seven winds, or a little bird, or a fish, or a beast of the field, or the waters of a stream, may carry his sin away, and that the flowing waters of the river may cleanse him from his sin, making him pure in the eyes of his god as a chain of gold, and precious to him as the most precious thing that he can think of, namely, a diamond ring (upon such material and worldly similes did the thoughts of the Babylonians run). He wishes his life (or his soul—the word in the original is napišti, which Zimmern translates Seele) to be saved, to pass away from his evil state, and to dwell with his god, from whom he begs for a sign in the form of a propitious dream, a dream that shall come true, showing that he is in reality once more in the favour of his god, who, he hopes, will deliver him into the gracious hands of the merciful Merodach, that he and all his city may praise his great divinity.

Fragment though it be, in its beginning, development, and climax, it is, to all intents and purposes, perfect, and a worthy specimen of compositions of this class.

It is noteworthy that the suppliant almost re-echoes [pg 053] the words of the Psalmist in those passages where he speaks of his guarding the court of the temple of his god and dwelling in his temple (Ê-sagila, the renowned temple at Babylon), wherein, along with other deities, the god Merodach was worshipped—the merciful one, into whose gracious hands he wished to be delivered. The prayer that his sin might be carried away by a bird, or a fish, etc., brings up before the mind's eye the picture of the scapegoat, fleeing, laden with the sins of the pious Israelite, into the desert to Azazel.

To all appearance, the worshipper, in the above extract, desires to be delivered by the god whom he worships into the hands of the god Merodach. This is a point that is worthy of notice, for it seems to show that the Babylonians, at least in later times, regarded the other deities in the light of mediators with the chief of the Babylonian Pantheon. As manifestations of him, they all formed part of his being, and through them the suppliant found a channel to reconciliation and forgiveness of his sins.

In this there seems to be somewhat of a parallel to the Egyptian belief in the soul, at death, being united with Osiris. The annihilation of self, however, did not, in all probability, recommend itself to the Babylonian mind any more than it must have done to the mind of the Assyrian. To all appearance, the preservation of one's individuality, in the abodes of bliss after death, was with them an essential to the reality of that life beyond the grave. If we adopt here Zimmern's translation of napišti by “soul,” the necessity of interpreting the above passage in the way here indicated seems to be rendered all the greater.

The Creation legend shows us how the god Merodach was regarded by the Babylonians as having attained his high position among the “gods his fathers,” and the reverence that they had for this deity is not only testified to by that legend, but also by the many documents of a religious nature that exist. [pg 054] This being the case, it is only natural to suppose, that he would be worshipped both under the name of Merodach, his usual appellation, and also under any or all of the other names that were attributed to him by the Babylonians as having been conferred upon him by the gods at the time of his elevation to the position of their chief.

Not only, therefore, was he called Marduk (Amaruduk, “the brightness of day”), the Hebrew Merodach, but he bore also the names of Asaru or Asari, identified by the Rev. C. J. Ball and Prof. Hommel with the Egyptian Osiris—a name that would tend to confirm what is stated above concerning the possible connection between the Egyptian and Babylonian beliefs in the immortality of the soul. This name Asaru was compounded with various other (explanatory) epithets, making the fuller names Asari-lu-duga (probably “Asari, he who is good”), Asari-lu-duga-namsuba (“Asari, he who is good, the charm”), Asari-lu-duga-namtî (“Asari, he who is good, the life”), Asari-alima (“Asari, the prince”), Asari-alima-nuna (“Asari, the prince, the mighty one”), etc., all showing the estimation in which he was held, and testifying to the sacredness of the first component, which, as already remarked, has been identified with the name of Osiris, the chief divinity of the Egyptians. Among his other names are (besides those quoted from the last tablet of the story of the Creation and the explanatory list that bears upon it) some of apparently foreign origin, among them being Amaru (? short for Amar-uduk) and Sal-ila, the latter having a decidedly western Semitic look.2 As “the warrior,” he seems to have borne the name of Gušur (? “the strong”); another of his Akkadian appellations was Gudibir, and as “lord” of all the world he was called Bêl, the equivalent of the Baal of the Phœnicians [pg 055] and the Beel of the Aramæans. In astronomy his name was given to several stars, and he was identified with the planet Jupiter, thus making him the counterpart of the Greek and Latin Zeus or Jove.

As has been said above, Merodach was the god that was regarded by the Babylonians and Assyrians as he who went about doing good on behalf of mankind. If he saw a man in affliction—suffering, for instance, from any malady—he would go and ask his father Aa, he who knew all things, and who had promised to impart all his knowledge to his royal son, what the man must do to be cured of the disease or relieved of the demon which troubled him. The following will give some idea of what the inscriptions detailing these charms and incantations, which the god was supposed to obtain from his father, were like—

“Incantation: The sickness of the head hath darted forth from the desert, and rushed like the wind.

Like lightning it flasheth, above and below it smiteth,

The impious man3 like a reed it cutteth down, and

His nerves like a tendril it severeth.

(Upon him) for whom the goddess Ištar hath no care, and whose flesh is in anguish,

Like a star of heaven it (the sickness) flasheth down, like a night-flood it cometh.

Adversity is set against the trembling man, and threateneth him like a lion—

It hath stricken that man, and

The man rusheth about like one who is mad—

Like one whose heart is smitten he goeth to and fro,

Like one thrown into the fire he burneth,

[pg 056]

Like the wild ass that runneth (?), his eyes are filled with cloud,

Being alive, he eateth, yet is he bound up with death.

The disease,4 which is like a violent wind, nobody knoweth its path—

Its completed time, and its connection nobody knoweth.”

(Here come abbreviations of the set phrases stating that the god Merodach perceived the man who was suffering, and went to ask his father Aa, dwelling in the Abyss, how the man was to be healed of the sickness that afflicted him. In the texts that give the wanting parts, Aa is represented as asking his son Merodach what it was that he did not know, and in what he could still instruct him. What he (Aa) knows, that Merodach shall also know. He then tells Merodach to go and work the charm.)

“The ḫaltigilla plant groweth alone in the desert

Like the sun-god entering his house, cover its head with a garment, and

Cover the ḫaltigilla plant, and enclose some meal, and

In the desert, before the rising sun
Root it out from its place, and
Take its root, and
Take the skin of a young goat, and
Bind up the head of the sick man, and

May a gust (?) of wind carry it (the disease) away, and may it not return to its place.

O spirit of heaven, exorcise; spirit of earth, exorcise.”

[pg 057]

The numerous incantations of this class, in which the god Merodach is represented as playing the part of benefactor to the sick and afflicted among mankind, and interesting himself in their welfare, are exceedingly numerous, and cover a great variety of maladies and misfortunes. No wonder, therefore, that the Babylonians looked upon the god, their own god, with eyes of affection, and worship, and reverence. Indeed, it is doubtful whether the Hebrews themselves, the most God-fearing nation of their time, looked upon the God of their fathers with as much affection, or reverence, as did the Babylonians regard the god Merodach. They show it not only in the inscriptions of the class quoted above, but also in numerous other texts. All the kings of Babylonia, and not a few of those of Assyria, with one consent pay him homage, and testify to their devotion. The names of princes and common people, too, often bear witness to the veneration that they felt for this, the chief of their gods. “Merodach is lord of the gods,” “Merodach is master of the word,” “With Merodach is life,” “The dear one of the gods is Merodach,” “Merodach is our king,” “(My, his, our) trust is Merodach,” “Be gracious to me, O Merodach,” “Direct me, O Merodach,” “Merodach protects,” “Merodach has given a brother” (Marduk-nadin-aḫi, the name of one of Nebuchadrezzar's sons), “A judge is Merodach,” etc., etc., are some of the names compounded with that of this popular divinity. Merodach was not so much in use, as the component part of a name, as the god of wisdom, Nebo, but it is not by any means improbable that this is due to the reverence in which he was held, which must, at times, have led the more devout to avoid the pronunciation of his name any more than was necessary, though, if that was the case, it never reached the point of an utter prohibition against its utterance, such as caused the pronunciation of the Hebrew Yahwah to become [pg 058] entirely lost even to the most learned for many hundred years. Those, therefore, who wished to avoid the profanation, by too frequent utterance, of this holy name, could easily do so by substituting the name of some other deity, for, as we have seen above, the names of all the gods could be applied to him, and the doctrine of their identification with him only grew in strength—we know not under what influence—as time went on, until Marduk or Merodach became synonymous with the word îlu, “God,” and is even used as such in a list where the various gods are enumerated as his manifestations. The portion of the tablet in question containing these advanced ideas is as follows—

81-11-3, 111.

“... is Merodach of planting.

Lugal-a-ki- ... is Merodach of the water-spring.

Ninip is Merodach of the garden (?).

Nergal is Merodach of war.

Zagaga is Merodach of battle.

Bêl is Merodach of lordship and dominion.

Nebo is Merodach of wealth (or trading).

Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night.

Šamaš is Merodach of truth (or righteousness).

Rimmon is Merodach of rain.

Tišḫu is Merodach of handicraft.

Sig is Merodach of....

Suqamuna is Merodach of the (irrigation-) reservoir.”

As this tablet is not complete, there is every probability that the god Merodach was identified, on the lost portion, with at least as many deities as appear on the part that time has preserved to us.

This identification of deities with each other would [pg 059] seem to have been a far from uncommon thing in the ancient East during those heathen times. A large number of deities of the Babylonian Pantheon are identified, in the Assyrian proper names, with a very interesting divinity whose name appears as Aa, and which may possibly turn out to be only one of the many forms that are met with of the god Ya'u or Jah, who was not only worshipped by the Hebrews, but also by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, and other nations of the East in ancient times. Prof. Hommel, the well-known Assyriologist and Professor of Semitic languages at Munich, suggests that this god Yâ is another form of the name of Ea, which is possible, but any assimilation of the two divinities is probably best explained upon the supposition that the people of the East in ancient times identified them with each other in consequence of the likeness between the two names.

In any case, the identification of a large number of the gods—perhaps all of them—with a deity whose name is represented by the group Aa, is quite certain. Thus we have Aššur-Aa, Ninip-Aa, Bel-Aa, Nergal-Aa, Šamaš-Aa, Nusku-Aa, Sin-Aa, etc., and it is probable that the list might be greatly extended. Not only, however, have we a large number of deities identified with Aa, but a certain number of them are also identified with the deity known as Ya, Ya'u, or Au, the Jah of the Hebrews. Among these may be cited Bêl-Yau, “Bel is Jah,” Nabû-Yâ', “Nebo is Jah,” Aḫi-Yau, “Aḫi is Jah,” a name that would seem to confirm the opinion which Fuerst held, that aḫi was, in this connection, a word for “god,” or a god. In Ya-Dagunu, “Jah is Dagon,” we have the elements reversed, showing a wish to identify Jah with Dagon, rather than Dagon with Jah, whilst another interesting name, Au-Aa, shows an identification of Jah with Aa, two names which have every appearance of being etymologically connected.

[pg 060]

There is then but little doubt that we have in these names an indication of an attempt at what may be regarded as concentration—a desire and tendency towards monotheism. When this began, and what the real opinions of the more thoughtful upon the subject of the unity or the plurality of the deity may have been, we have at present no means of finding out. There can be no doubt, however, that it sprang from more than one cause—the desire not to offend either heavenly or earthly powers by seeming to favour one divinity more than another, the difficulty of dividing and apportioning the domain in nature of every divinity, the wish to identify the divine patrons of the various nationalities with a view to understanding what they really were, and describing their nature for either religious or political purposes—all these things, and probably others, would tend to counteract not only polytheistic bigotry, but also the exclusive appropriation by one tribe or people of any particular divinity, who was their own special helper against their enemies, and to whose particular protection they defiantly laid claim. When in conflict or in dispute with another, there is no doubt that the man bearing the name of Šamaš-nûri, for instance, would be met with the fierce taunt, “The Sun-god is not more thy light than he is mine,” and, as an answer to Yâ-abî-ni, “Jah is our father too, and more so than he is yours,” would at once spring to the lips of any Jew with whom the bearer of the name may have had a dispute.

For the thoughtful, God was one, and all the various gods of the heathen were but His manifestations, misconceived and misunderstood by the ignorant and thoughtless, but, rightly regarded, full of deep significance. The Jews in later times had, in all probability, no tendency to polytheism, yet it is certain that they had but little objection to bearing heathen names, and of all the examples that might be adduced, there is probably not one that is more noteworthy than [pg 061] Mordecai, or Mardecai, the worshipper of Merodach as typical of the God beside whom there was none other, of whom, as we have seen,—and that from a Babylonian tablet,—all the other deities of the Babylonian Pantheon were but manifestations.

The God Aa, Ae, Or Ea.

As the primitive deity of the Babylonian Pantheon, and as apparently closely identified with the well-known deity Jah, who was worshipped by a large section of the Semitic nations, and whose name is one of the words for “god” in the Assyro-Babylonian language, the god Ea, Ae, or Aa, deserves notice here not only on account of his being the creator of all the gods, but also on account of his fatherhood to Merodach, who, in Babylonian mythology, was conceived as supplanting him—not by any unfair means, but by the right of being the fittest to exercise power and dominion over the world, the universe, and even over “the gods his fathers.”

Assyriologists early recognized the attributes of the god whose name they then read Hea. They saw that he was regarded by the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians as the god of streams, rivers, seas, and the watery abyss of the under-world—the waters under the earth. Of the god Ae or Ea all sorts of wonderful stories were told by the Babylonians, who attributed to him, as the god of wisdom and knowledge, the origin of the civilization which they enjoyed. His name, as god of deep wisdom, was Nin-igi-azaga, “the lord of the bright eye,” a name which would seem to show that the Akkadians (the names of most of the deities of the Assyro-Babylonian Pantheon are written in Akkadian) associated, as we also do at the present day, intelligence with brightness of the eyes, or, more correctly, with alertness of appearance.

But this god had many other names than those [pg 062] mentioned above. He was En-ki, “lord of the world”; Amma-ana-ki, “lord of heaven and earth”; Engur, “god of the Abyss”; Nudimmud, “god of creation”; Nadimmud, “god of everything”; Nun-ura, “god of the potter”; Nin-agal, “god of the smith”; Dunga, “god of the singer” (?); Nin-bubu, “god of the sailor”; Kuski-banda, “god of goldsmiths”;—in fact, he seems to have been the god of arts and crafts in general. He was also called Ellila-banda, “the powerful lord”; En-uru and Nin-uru, “the protecting lord”; Lugal-ida, “king of the river”; Lugal, En, Nuna, and Dara-abzu, “king,” “lord,” “prince,” and “ruler of the abyss”; Dara-dim, Dara-nuna, and Dara-banda, honorific titles as “creator,” “princely ruler,” and “powerful ruler”; Alima-nuna, Alima-banda, and Alima-šum-ki, “princely lord,” “powerful lord,” and “lord disposer of the earth.” He bore also besides these a large number of names, among which may be cited, as an example of his many-sidedness, the following—

Šaršara, apparently “the overwhelmer,” probably as lord of the sea and its teeming myriads.

En-tî, “lord of life.”

Gana-si, probably “the enclosure full (of life).”

Nam-zida, “righteousness.”

Idima (Akk.) or Naqbu (Bab.), “the deep.”

Sa-kalama, “ruler of the land.”

Šanabaku and Šanabi, the god “40.”

That the sea was the abode of the god of knowledge seems to have been the belief of the Babylonians from the earliest times. According to Berosus, whose record has been preserved by Apollodoros, Abydenus, and Alexander Polyhistor, there appeared more than once, from the Erythræan Sea (the Persian Gulf), “the Musaros Oannes, the Annedotos,” a creature half man and half fish, probably conceived in shape of the deity [pg 063] answering to this description found on certain Babylonian cylinder-seals, in a sculpture with representations of marine monsters, now preserved in the Louvre, and in the divine figures in the shape of a man clothed with a fish's skin, preserved in the form of clay statuettes and large sculptures (bas-reliefs) in the British Museum. Abydenus apparently understands Berosus differently, for he makes Annedotos and Oannes to be different personages. All those who have quoted Berosus, however, agree in the main point, that these beings, half man and half fish, came out of the sea to teach mankind. There is hardly any doubt that in some of these cases the deity that is intended is the god whose name is now read Ae or Ea, who was called Aos by Damascius. After the appearance of the fourth Annedotos, there came another person, also from the Erythræan Sea, named Odakon, having, like the former, the same complicated form, between a man and a fish. To these names Abydenus, still quoting Berosus, adds those of four more “double-shaped personages” named Euedocos, Eneugamos, Eneuboulos, and Anementos. These last came forth in the reign of Daos (probably Dumuzi (Duwuzi) or Tammuz) the shepherd, of Pantibiblon (Sippar or Sippara), who reigned for the space of ten sari (360,000 years)! “After these things was Anodaphos, in the time of Euedoreschos.”

Besides his son Merodach, who, in Babylonian mythology, became “king of the gods,”—like Jupiter, in the place of his father—Ae or Ea was regarded as having six other sons, Dumu-zi-abzu, “Tammuz of the abyss”; Ki-gulla, “the destroyer of the world”; Nira (meaning doubtful); Bara, “the revealer” (?); Bara-gula, “the great revealer (?)”; and Burnunta-sā, “the broad of ear.” One daughter is attributed to him, her name being Ḫi-dimme-azaga, “the glorious spirit's offspring,” called, in one of the incantations (W.A.I. iv., 2nd ed., col. ii., line 54), “the daughter of [pg 064] the abyss.” He had also two bull-like guardians (probably those composite creatures, winged bulls with human heads, representations of which guarded the approaches to the Assyrian palaces), one seemingly named Duga, “the good,” and the other Dub-ga, apparently meaning “he who causes (the bolt) to be raised,” giving the suppliant access to the palace of his lord. To all appearance, the gates giving access to his domain were guarded by eight porters, the names of most of whom are unfortunately broken away on the tablet that gives these details, but one of them seems to have borne the name of Eniw-ḫengala, “the bespeaker of fertility,” whilst another was named Igi-ḫen(?)gala, “the eye of fertility,” and the third had a name beginning, like that of the first, with the element Eniw, a circumstance which would lead one to ask whether this may not be the element Eneu found in the names of the two creatures Eneugamos and Eneuboulos, mentioned by Berosus.

His consort was called Damkina, “the lady of the earth,” the Dauké of Damascius, or Dam-gala-nuna, “the great princely lady.” She likewise had two bull-like attendants, A-eru and E-a-eru, of whom but little or nothing is known.

The tablet already quoted (W.A.I. iv., pl. 1, col. ii., ll. 36-39) names Engur (the deep) as being the mother of Ae or Ea, and attributes to him another daughter, Nina, with whom the name of Nineveh is apparently connected.

Down in the Abyss, in the city called Eridu, “the good city,” there dwelt Ae, with all his court. Sitting on his throne, he waited for the time when his son Merodach, the good of heart, came to ask him for those health-bringing incantations for the benefit of mankind. Sometimes, seemingly, instead of Merodach, his sixth son Burnunsia (Burnunta-sā), “the broad of ear,” would perform this office. Ae was always ready to help with his counsels, and no one whose case [pg 065] Merodach forwarded was spurned by the King of the Abyss.

Here, too, dwelt “Tammuz of the Abyss,” one of Ae's sons, but whether this was the well-known Tammuz who was the husband of the goddess Ishtar, is uncertain. Judging from the legends of the Babylonians, Ishtar's husband descended, not to the abode of the lord of the deep, but to the realms of the Babylonian Persephone, the consort of Nergal, in Hades, “the land of no return,” whither Ishtar once descended in search of him. Concerning the Babylonian paradise, where Ae dwelt, see the following chapter.

The second month of the Babylonian year, Iyyar, corresponding to April—May, was dedicated to Ae as lord of mankind, though in this the records contradict each other, for the Creation-stories of the Babylonians attribute the creation of mankind to Merodach, who has, therefore, the best right to be regarded as their lord.

Anšar And Kišar (pp. 16, 17, 20, etc.).

Anšar, “host of heaven,” and Kišar, “host of earth,” are, it will be remembered, given in the Semitic Babylonian account of the Creation as the names of the powers that succeeded Laḫmu and Laḫamu, according to Damascius, the second progeny of the sea and the deep (Tiamtu and Apsū). The Greek forms, Assoros and Kisaré, imply that Damascius understood the former to be masculine and the latter feminine, though there is no hint of gender in the wedge-written records. That the Babylonians regarded them as being of different genders, however, is conceivable enough. The Greek form of the first, Assoros, moreover, implies that, in course of time, the n of Anšar became assimilated with the š (as was usual in Semitic Babylonian), and on account of this, the etymology that connects Anšar with the name [pg 066] of the Assyrian national god Aššur, is not without justification, though whether it be preferable to that of Delitzsch which makes Aššur to be really Ašur, and connects it with ašaru, meaning “holy,” is doubtful. In favour of Delitzsch, however, is the fact that the Assyrians would more probably have given their chief divinity the name of “the Holy one” than that of one of the links in the chain of divinities which culminated in the rise of the god Merodach to the highest place in the kingdom of heaven.

The question naturally arises: Who were these deities, “the host of heaven” and “the host of earth”? and this is a question to which we do not get a very complete answer from the inscriptions. According to the explanatory lists of gods (as distinct from the mythological texts proper) Kišar is explained as the “host of heaven and earth” and also as Anu and Antum, in other words, as the male and female personifications of the heavens. Strange to say, this is just the explanation given in the inscriptions of the names Laḫmu and Laḫamu, for though they are not “the host of heaven and earth,” they are the same, according to the lists of gods, as the deities Anu and his consort Antum. This probably arises from the worship of Anu, the god of the heavens, and his consort, at some period preceding that of the worship of Merodach, or even that of his father Aa or Ea, whose cult, as we have seen, was in early times abandoned for that of the patron god of the city of Babylon. Concerning this portion of the legend of the Creation, however, much more light is required.

Besides the simple form Kišar, there occurs in the lists of gods also Kišaragala, which is likewise explained as a manifestation of Anu and Antum, and described moreover as “Anu, who is the host (kiššat) of heaven and earth.” In addition to Anšar and [pg 067] Kišar, the deities Enšara and Ninšara are mentioned. These names are apparently to be translated “lord of the host” and “lady of the host” respectively, and are doubtless both closely connected with, or the same as, the Anšar and Kišar of the Babylonian story of the Creation, in close connection with which they are, in fact, mentioned. En-kišara is given, in W.A.I., III., pl. 68, as one of the three mu-gala (apparently “great names”) of Anu, the god of the heavens. Another Nin-šara (the second element written with a different character) is given as the equivalent of both Antum and Ištar, the latter being the well-known goddess of love and war, Venus.

Tiamat.

Tiamat is the common transcription of a name generally and more correctly read as Tiamtu. The meaning of this word is “the sea,” and its later and more decayed pronunciation is tâmtu or tâmdu, the feminine t having changed into d after the nasal m, a phenomenon that also meets us in other words having a nasal before the dental. As this word is the Tauthé of the Greek writer Damascius, it is clear that in his time the m was pronounced as w (this peculiarity is common to the Semitic Babylonian and Akkadian languages, and finds its converse illustration in the provincialism of mir for wir, “we,” in German), though the decayed word tâmtu evidently kept its labial unchanged, for it is difficult to imagine w changing t into d, unless it were pronounced in a way to which wee are not accustomed. We have here, then, an example of a differentiation by which one and the same word, by a change of pronunciation, forms two “vocables,” the one used as a proper noun and the other—a more decayed form—as a common one.

Tiamtu (from the above it may be supposed that the real pronunciation was as indicated by the Greek form, namely, Tiauthu), meaning originally “the sea,” [pg 068] became then the personification of the watery deep as the producer of teeming animal life such as we find in the waters everywhere. Dominating and covering at first the whole earth, it was she who was the first producer of living things, but when the land appeared, and creatures of higher organization and intelligence began, under the fostering care of the higher divinities, to make their appearance, she saw, so the Babylonians seem to have thought, that with the advent of man, whom the gods purposed forming, her power and importance would, in a short time, disappear, and rebellion on her part was the result. How, in the Babylonian legends, this conflict ended, the reader of the foregoing pages knows, and after her downfall and destruction or subjugation, she retained her productive power under the immediate control and direction of the gods under whose dominion she had fallen.

Tiamtu is represented in the Old Testament by tehôm, which occurs in Gen. i. 2, where both the Authorised and Revised Versions translate “the deep.” The Hebrew form of the word, however, is not quite the same, the Assyrian feminine ending being absent.

To all appearance the legend of Tiamtu was well known all over Western Asia. As Gunkel and Zimmern have shown, there is a reference thereto in Ps. lxxxix. 10, where Rahab, who was broken in pieces, is referred to, and under the same name she appears also in Isaiah li. 9, with the additional statement that she is the dragon who was pierced; likewise in Job xxvi. 12 and ix. 13, where her followers are said to be referred to; in Ps. lxxiv. 14 the dragon whose heads (a plural probably typifying the diverse forms under which Nature's creative power appears) are spoken of. Tiamtu, as Rahab and the dragon, therefore played a part in Hebrew legends of old as great, perhaps, as in the mythology of Babylonia, where she seems to have originated.

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Chapter II. The History, As Given In The Bible, From The Creation To The Flood.

Eden—The so-called second story of the Creation and the bilingual Babylonian account—The four rivers—The tree of life—The Temptation—The Cherubim—Cain and Abel—The names of the Patriarchs from Enoch to Noah.

“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.” There also He made every pleasant and good tree to grow, including the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A river came out of Eden to water the garden, and this river was afterwards divided into four smaller streams, the Pishon, flowing round “the Hawilah,” a land of gold (which was good) and bdellium and onyx stone; the Gihon, flowing round the whole land of Cush; the Hiddekel or Tigris, and the Euphrates.

It is to be noted that it was not the garden itself that was called Eden, but the district in which it lay. The river too seems to have risen in the same tract, and was divided at some indeterminate point, either in the land of Eden or on its borders.

The whereabouts of the Garden of Eden and its rivers has been so many times discussed, and so many diverse opinions prevail concerning them, that there is no need at present to add to these theories yet another, more or less probable. Indeed, in the present work, theories will be kept in the background [pg 070] as much as possible, and prominence given to such facts as recent discoveries have revealed to us.

It had long been known that one of the Akkadian names for “plain” was edina, and that that word had been borrowed by the Babylonians under the form of êdinnu, but it was Prof. Delitzsch, the well-known Assyriologist, who first pointed out to a disbelieving world that this must be the Eden of Genesis. The present writer thought this identification worthless until he had the privilege of examining the tablets acquired by Dr. Hayes Ward in Babylonia on the occasion of his conducting the Wolfe expedition. Among the fragments of tablets that he then brought back was a list of cities in the Akkadian language (the Semitic Babylonian column was unfortunately broken away) which gave the following—

Transcription. | Translation.
Sipar, | D.S. Sippara.
Sipar Edina, | D.S. Sippara of Eden.
Sipar uldua, | D.S. Sippara the everlasting.
Sipar Šamaš, | D.S. Sippara of the Sun-god.

Here at last was the word Eden used as a geographical name, showing that the explanation of Delitzsch was not only plausible, but also, in all probability, true in substance and in fact. Less satisfactory, however, were the learned Professor's identifications of the rivers of Eden, for he regards the Pishon and the Gihon as canals—the former being the Pallacopas (the Pallukatu of the Babylonian inscriptions), and the latter the Guḫandê (also called the Araḫtu, now identified with a large canal running through Babylon). He conjectured that it might be the waterway known as the Shatt en-Nîl. Whatever doubt, however, attaches to his identifications of the rivers, he seems certainly to be right with regard to the Biblical Eden, and this is a decided gain, for it locates the position of that district beyond a doubt.

[pg 071]

To Prof. Sayce belongs the honour of identifying the Babylonian story of the nature and position of Paradise as they conceived it, and here we have another example of the important details that the incantation-tablets may contain concerning beliefs not otherwise preserved to us, for the text in question, like the bilingual story of the Creation, is simply an introduction to a text of that nature. This interesting record, to which I have been able to add a few additional words since Prof. Sayce first gave his translation of it to the world, is as follows—

“Incantation: ‘(In) Êridu a dark vine grew, it was made in a glorious place,

Its appearance (as) lapis-lazuli, planted beside the Abyss,

Which is Ae's path, filling Êridu with fertility.

Its seat is the (central) point of the earth,

Its dwelling is the couch of Nammu.

In the glorious house, which is like a forest, its shadow extends,

No man enters its midst.

In its interior is the Sun-god Tammuz.

Between the mouths of the rivers (which are) on both sides.’ ”

The lines which follow show how this plant, which was a miraculous remedy, was to be used in the cure of a sick man. It was to be placed upon his head, and beneficent spirits would then come and stay with him, whilst the evil ones would stand aside.

From the introductory lines above translated, we see that Êridu, “the good city,” which Sir Henry Rawlinson recognized many years ago as a type of paradise, was, to the Babylonians, as a garden of Eden, wherein grew a glorious tree, to all appearance a vine, for the adjective “dark” may very reasonably be regarded as referring to its fruit. Strange must [pg 072] have been its appearance, for it is described as resembling “white lapis-lazuli,” that is, the beautiful stone of that kind mottled blue and white. The probability that it was conceived by the Babylonians as a garden is strengthened by the fact that the god Aê, and his path, i.e. the rivers, filled the place with fertility, and it was, moreover, the abode of the river-god Nammu, whose streams, the Tigris and Euphrates, flowed on both sides. There, too, dwelt the Sun, making the garden fruitful with his ever-vivifying beams, whilst “the peerless mother of heaven,” as Tammuz seems to be called, added, by fructifying showers, to the fertility that the two great rivers brought down from the mountains from which they flowed. To complete still further the parallel with the Biblical Eden, it was represented as a place to which access was forbidden, for “no man entered its midst,” as in the case of the Garden of Eden after the fall.

Though one cannot be dogmatic in the presence of the imperfect records that we possess, it is worthy of note that Eden does not occur as the name of the earthly paradise in any of the texts referring to the Creation that have come down to us; and though it is to be found in the bilingual story of the Creation, it there occurs simply as the equivalent of the Semitic word ṣêrim in the phrase “he (Merodach) made the verdure of the plain.” That we shall ultimately find other instances of Eden as a geographical name, occurring by itself, and not in composition with another word (as in the expression Sipar Edina), and even a reference to gannat Edinni, “the Garden of Eden,” is to be expected.

Schrader5 has pointed out that whilst in Eden the river bears no name, it is only after it has left the sacred region that it is divided, and then each separate branch received a name. So, also, in the Babylonian [pg 073] description of the Eridu, the rivers were unnamed, though one guesses that the Tigris and the Euphrates are meant. The expression, “the mouth of the rivers [that are on] both sides” (pî nârãti ... kilallan), recalls to the mind the fact, that it was to “a remote place at the mouth of the rivers” that the Babylonian Noah (Pir-napištim) was translated after the Flood, when the gods conferred upon him the gift of immortality. To all appearance, therefore, Gilgameš, the ancient Babylonian hero who visited the immortal sage, entered into the tract regarded by the Babylonians of old times as being set apart for the abode of the blessed after their journeyings on this world should cease.

The connection of the stream which was “the path of Ae” with Eridu, seems to have been very close, for in the bilingual story of the Creation the flowing of the stream is made to be the immediate precursor of the building of Êridu and Êsagila, “the lofty-headed temple” within it—

“When within the sea there was a stream,

In that day Êridu was made, Êsagila was built—

Êsagila which the god Lugal-du-azaga had founded within the Abyss.”

In this Babylonian Creation-story it is a question of a stream and two rivers. In Genesis it is a question of a river and four branches. The parallelism is sufficiently close to be noteworthy and to show, beyond a doubt, that the Babylonians had the same accounts of the Creation and descriptions of the circumstances concerning it, as the Hebrews, though told in a different way, and in a different connection.

Two trees are mentioned in the Biblical account of the Creation, “the tree of life” and “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” By the eating of the former, a man would live for ever, and the latter would confer upon him that knowledge which God [pg 074] alone was supposed to possess, namely, of good and evil, carrying with it, however, the disadvantage of the loss of that innocence which he formerly possessed. Like the Hebrews, the Babylonians and Assyrians also had their sacred trees, but whether they attached to them the same deep significance as the Hebrews did to theirs we do not know. Certain, however, it is, that they had beliefs concerning them that were analogous.

The most familiar form of the sacred tree is that employed by the Assyrians, to a certain extent as a decorative ornament, on the sculptured slabs that adorned the walls of the royal palaces. This was the curious conglomeration of knots and leaves which various figures—winged genii with horned hats emblematic of divinity, eagle-headed figures, etc.—worship, and to which they make offerings, and touch with a conical object resembling the fruit of the fir or pine. An ingenious suggestion has been made to the effect that the genius with the pine-cone is represented in the act of fructifying the tree with the pollen (in an idealized form) from the flowers of another tree, just as it is necessary to fructify the date-palm from the pollen of the flowers growing on the “male” tree. This, however, can hardly be the true explanation of the mystic act represented, as similar genii are shown on other slabs not only holding out the conical object as if to touch therewith the figure of the king, but also doing the same thing to the effigies of the great winged bulls. Of course, the fructification of the king would be not only a possible representation to carve in alabaster, but one that we might even expect to find among the royal sculptures. The fructification of a winged bull, however, is quite a different thing, and in the highest degree improbable, unless the divine bull were a kind of representation of the king, which, though possible, is at present unprovable.

This symbolic scene, therefore, remains still a [pg 075] mystery for scholars to explain when they obtain the material to do so. It seems to be a peculiarly Assyrian design, for the offering of a pine-cone or similarly-shaped object to the sacred tree has not yet been found in Babylonian art. The Babylonian sacred tree is, moreover, a much more natural-looking object than the curious combination of knots and honeysuckle-shaped flowers found in the sculptures of Assyria. As in the case of the tree shown in the picture of the Temptation, described below, the sacred tree of the Babylonians often takes the form of a palm-tree, or something very like one. (See pl. III.)

As has been already remarked, the tree of Paradise of the Babylonians was, to all appearance, a vine, described as being in colour like blue and white mottled lapis-lazuli, and apparently bearing fruit (grapes) of a dark colour. That the Babylonian tree of life was a vine is supported by the fact that the ideograms composing the word for “wine” are geš-tin (for kaš-tin), “drink of life,” and “the vine,” giš geš-tin, “tree of the drink of life.” In the text describing the Babylonian Paradise and its divine tree, the name of the latter is given as kiškanû in Semitic, and giš-kin or giš-kan in Akkadian, a word mentioned in the bilingual lists among plants of the vine species. Whether the Hebrews regarded the tree of life as having been a vine or not, cannot at present be decided, but it is very probable that they had the same ideas as the Babylonians in the matter.

It is noteworthy, in this connection, that the Babylonians also believed that there still existed in the world a plant (they do not seem to have regarded it as a tree) which “would make an old man young again.” Judging from the statements concerning it, one would imagine that it was a kind of thorn-bush. As we shall see later, when treating of the story of the Flood, it was this plant which the Chaldean Noah gave the hero Gilgameš instructions how to find—for [pg 076] the desire to become young again had seized him—and he seems to have succeeded in possessing himself of it, only to lose it again almost immediately, for a lion, coming that way at a time when Gilgameš was otherwise occupied, carried it off—to his own benefit, as the hero remarks, for he naturally supposed that the lion who had seized the plant would have his life renewed, and prey all the longer upon the people.

The title of a lost legend, “When the kiškanû (? vine, see above) grew in the land” (referring, perhaps, to the tree of life which grew in Êridu), leads one to ask whether “The legend of Nisaba (the corn-deity) and the date-palm,” and “The legend of the luluppu-tree” may not also refer to sacred trees, bearing upon the question of the tree of knowledge referred to in Gen. ii. As, however, the titles (generally a portion of the first line only) are all that are at present preserved, there is nothing to be done but wait patiently until it pleases Providence to make them further known to us.

The kiškanû was of three kinds, white (piṣu), black (ṣalmi), as in the description of the tree of Paradise, and grey or blue (sâmi). In view of there being these three colours, it would seem that they refer rather to the fruit of the tree than to the tree itself. Now the only plant growing in the country and having these three colours of fruit, is the vine. Of course, this raises the question whether (1) the kiškanû is a synonym of gištin or karanu, or (2) the word gištin, which is generally rendered “vine,” is, in reality, correctly translated. Whatever be the true explanation, one thing is certain, namely, that in the description of Paradise, the word black or dark (ṣalmu), applied to the tree there mentioned, cannot refer to the tree itself, for that is described as being like “white lapis” (uknū êbbu), a beautiful stone mottled blue and white.

Babylonian Mythological Composition. Impression of a cylinder-seal showing a male figure on the right and a bull-man on the left, holding erect bulls by the horns and tails. In the centre is a form of the sacred tree on a hill. Date about 2500 b.c. British Museum.

Babylonian Mythological Composition. Impression of a cylinder-seal showing Istar, goddess of love and of war as archeress, standing on the back of a lion, which turns its head to caress her feet. Before her is a worshipper (priest) and two goats (reversed to form a symmetrical design), leaping. Behind her is a date-palm. Date about 650 b.c. British Museum.

Among other trees of a sacred nature is “the cedar [pg 077] beloved of the great gods,” mentioned in an inscription of a religious or ceremonial nature, though exactly in what connection the imperfectness of the document does not enable us to see. It would seem, however, that there were certain priests or seers to whom was confided the “tablet of the gods,” containing the secret of the heavens and earth (probably the “tablet of fate,” which Merodach took from the husband of Tiamat after his fight with her for the dominion of the universe). These persons, who seem to have been the descendants of En-we-dur-an-ki (the Euedoranchos of Berosus), king of Sippar, were those to whom was confided “the cedar beloved of the great gods”—perhaps a kind of sceptre. They had, however, not only to be of noble race, but also perfect physically and free from every defect and disease. Moreover, one who did not keep the command of Šamaš and Addu (Hadad) could not approach the place of Ae, Šamaš, Marduk, and Nin-edina, nor the number of the brothers who were to enter the seership; they were not to reveal to him the word of the oracle, and “the cedar beloved of the great gods” was not to be delivered into his hands.

There is hardly any doubt, then, that we have here the long-sought parallel to the Biblical “tree of knowledge,” for that, too, was in the domain of “the lord of knowledge,” the god Ae, and also in the land which might be described as that of “the lord of Eden,” the “hidden place of heaven and earth” for all the sons of Adam, who are no longer allowed to enter into that earthly Paradise wherein their first parents gained, at such a cost, the knowledge, imperfect as it must have been, and evidently undesirable, which they handed down to their successors.

Adam.

The name of the first man, Adam, is one that has tried the learning of the most noted Hebraists to [pg 078] explain satisfactorily. It was formerly regarded as being derived from the root ādam, “to be red,” but this explanation has been given up in favour of the root ādam, “to make, produce,” man being conceived as “the created one.” This etymology is that put forward by the Assyriologist Fried. Delitzsch, who quotes the Assyrian âdmu, “young bird,” and âdmi summāti, “young doves,” literally, “the young of doves,” though he does not seem to refer the Assyrian udumu, “monkey,” to the same root. He also quotes, apparently from memory, the evidence of a fragment of a bilingual list found by Mr. Rassam, in which Adam is explained by the usual Babylonian word for “man,” amēlu.

The writer of Genesis has given to the first man the name of Adam, thus personifying in him the human race, which was to descend from him. In all probability, the Babylonians had the same legends, but, if so, no fragment of them has as yet come to light. That the Hebrew stories of the Creation had their origin in Babylonia, will probably be conceded by most people as probable, if not actually proven, and the fact that the word a-dam occurs, as Delitzsch has pointed out, in a bilingual list would, supposing the text to which he refers to be actually bilingual, be a matter of peculiar significance, for it would show that this word, which does not occur in Semitic Babylonian as the word for “man,” occurred in the old Akkadian language with that meaning.

And the proof that Delitzsch was right in his recollection of the tablet of which he speaks, is shown by the bilingual Babylonian story of the Creation. There, in lines 9, 10, we read as follows—

Akkadian (dialectic): Uru nu-dim, a-dam nu-mun-ia.

Babylonian: Âlu ûl êpuš, nammaššu ûl šakin.

“A city had not been made, the community had not been established.”

[pg 079]

Here we have the non-Semitic adam translated by the Babylonian nammaššu, which seems to mean a number of men, in this passage something like community, for that is the idea which best fits the context. But besides this Semitic rendering, the word also has the meanings of tenišētu, “mankind,” amelūtu, “human beings.”

The word adam, meaning “man,” is found also in Phœnician, Sabean, and apparently in Arabic, under the form of atam, a collective meaning “creatures.”

The possibility that the Babylonians had an account of the Fall similar to that of the Hebrews, is not only suggested by the legends treated of above, but also by the cylinder-seal in the British Museum with what seems to be the representation of the Temptation engraved upon it. We have there presented to us the picture of a tree—a palm—bearing fruit, and on each side of it a seated figure, that on the right being to all appearance the man, and that on the left the woman, though there is not much difference between them, and, as far as the form of either goes, the sexes might easily be reversed. That, however, which seems to be intended for the man has the horned hat emblematic of divinity, or, probably, of divine origin, whilst from the figure which seems to be that of the woman this head-dress is absent. Behind her, moreover, with wavy body standing erect on his tail, is shown the serpent, towering just above her head, as if ready to speak with her. Both figures are stretching out a hand (the man the right, the woman the left) as if to pluck the fruit growing on the tree. Notwithstanding the doubts that have been thrown on the explanation here given of this celebrated and exceedingly interesting cylinder, the subject and its arrangement are so suggestive, that one can hardly regard it as being other than what it seems to be, namely, a Babylonian representation of the Temptation, according to records [pg 080] that the Babylonians possessed. The date of this object may be set down as being from about 2750 to 2000 b.c.

Future excavations in Babylonia and Assyria will, no doubt, furnish us with the legends current in those countries concerning the Temptation, the Fall, and the sequel thereto. Great interest would naturally attach to the Babylonian rendering of the details and development of the story, more particularly to the terms of the penalty, the expulsion, and the nature of the beings—the cherubim—placed at the east of the garden, and “the flaming sword turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”

Though the Babylonian version of this Biblical story has not yet come to light, the inscriptions in the wedge-writing give us a few details bearing upon the word “cherub.”

The Hebrews understood these celestial beings as having the form which we attribute to angels—a glorified human appearance, but with the addition of wings. They are spoken of as bearing the throne of the Almighty through the clouds (“He rode upon a cherub, and did fly”), and in Psalm xviii. 11 he is also represented as sitting upon them. In Ezekiel i. and x. they are said to be of a very composite form, combining with the human shape the face of a cherub (whatever that may have been), a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle. It has been supposed that Ezekiel was indebted to Assyro-Babylonian imagery for the details of the cherubic creatures that he describes, but it may safely be said that, though the sculptures furnish us with images of divine creatures in the form of a man with the face of an eagle, or having a modification of a lion's head, and bulls and lions with the faces of men, there has never yet been found a figure provided with a wheel for the purpose of locomotion, and having four heads, like those of which the prophet speaks. We may, therefore, safely conclude, that [pg 081] Ezekiel applied the word kerûb (cherub) to the creatures that he saw in his vision, because that was the most suitable word he could find, not because it was the term usually applied to things of that kind. It is hardly likely that the guardians of the entrance into the earthly Paradise and the creatures that bore up the throne of the Almighty were conceived as being of so complicated a form as the cherubim of Ezekiel.

Whatever doubt may exist as to the original form of this celestial being, the discussion of the origin of the Hebrew word kerûb may now be regarded as finally settled by the discovery of the Assyro-Babylonian records. It is undoubtedly borrowed from the Babylonian kirubu, a word meaning simply “spirit,” and conceived as one who was always in the presence (ina kirib) of God, and formed from the root qarābu, “to be near.” The change from q (qoph) to k (kaph) is very common in Babylonian, and occurs more frequently before e and i, hence the form in Hebrew, kerûb (cherub—the translators intended that ch should be pronounced as k) for qerûb (which the translators would have transcribed as kerub).

Originally the Assyro-Babylonian word kirubu seems to have meant something like “intimate friend,” or “familiar,” as in the expression kirub šarri, “familiar of the king,” mentioned between “daughter of the king,” and “the beloved woman of the king.” An illustration of its extended meaning of “spirit,” however, occurs in the following lines from “the tablet of Good Wishes”—

“In thy mouth may there be perfection of speech

(lû asim dababu);
In thine eye may there be brightness of sight
(lû namir niṭlu);

In thine ear may there be a spirit of hearing”

(lû kirub nišmû, lit. ‘a cherub of hearing’).”

[pg 082]

The cherubim were therefore the good spirits who performed the will of God, and, in the minds of the Assyrians and Babylonians, watched over and guarded the man who was the “son of his God,” i.e. the pious man.

The cherub upon which the Almighty rode, and upon whom he sat, corresponds more to the guzalū or “throne-bearer” of Assyro-Babylonian mythology. They were apparently beings who bore up the thrones of the gods, and are frequently to be seen in Babylonian sculptures thus employed, at rest, and waiting patiently, to all appearance, until their divine master, seated on the throne which rests on their shoulders, should again give them word, or make known that it was now his will to start and journey forth once more.

The story of Cain and Abel, and the first tragedy that occurred in the world after the creation of man, has always attracted the attention of the pious on that account, and because the first recorded murder was that of a brother. This is a story to which the discovery of a Babylonian parallel was least likely to be found, and, as a matter of fact, none has as yet come to light. Notwithstanding this, a few remarks upon such remote parallels which exist, and such few illustrations of the event that can be found, may be cited in this place.

These are contained in the story of Tammuz or Adonis, who, though not supposed to have been slain by his brother, was nevertheless killed by the cold of Winter, who might easily have been regarded as his brother, for Tammuz typified the season of Summer, the Brother-season, so to say, of Winter. As is well known, the name Tammuz is Akkadian, and occurs in that language under the form of Dumu-zi, or, more fully, Dumu-zida, meaning “the everlasting son,” in Semitic Babylonian âblu kênu. It is very noteworthy that Prof. J. Oppert has suggested that the name of Abel, in Hebrew Habel, is, in reality, none other than [pg 083] the Babylonian ablu, “son,” and the question naturally arises, May not the story of Cain and Abel have given rise to the legend of Tammuz, or Ablu kênu, as his name would be if translated into Semitic Babylonian?

Unless by a folk-etymology, however, the Semitic Babylonian translation of the name of Tammuz can hardly be a composition of Abel and Cain, because the first letter is q (qoph) and not k (kaph), the transcription Cain for Kain or Kayin being faulty in the A.V. Still, we feel bound to recognize that there is a possibility, though naturally a remote one, that the legend of Tammuz is connected with that of Cain and Abel, just as the division of the Dragon (in the Babylonian story of the Creation) by the god Merodach into two halves, with one of which he covered the heavens, leaving the other below upon the earth, typifies the division of the waters above the earth from those below in the Biblical story of the same event.

There is a legend, named by me (for want of a more precise title) “The Lament of the Daughter of the god Sin,” in which the carrying off (by death?) of “her fair son” is referred to. Here we have another possible Babylonian parallel to the story of the death of Abel, in which the driving forth of her who makes the lament from her city and from her palace might well typify the expulsion of Eve from Paradise, and her delivery into the power of her enemy, who is, to all appearance, the king of terrors, into whose hands she and her husband were, for their disobedience, consigned. In this really beautiful Babylonian poem her “enemy” seems to reproach her, telling her how it was she, and she alone, who had ruined herself.

Though there may be something in the comparisons with the story of Cain and Abel which are quoted here, more probably (as has been already remarked) there is nothing, and the real parallels have yet to be found. In any case, they are instances of the popularity among the Babylonians and Assyrians of those stories of one, greatly beloved and in the bloom of [pg 084] youth, coming, like Abel, to an untimely end through the perversity of fate, and by no fault of his own. Though neither may be the original of the Biblical story nor yet derived from it, they are of interest and value as beautiful legends of old time, possibly throwing light on the Biblical story.

As yet the Babylonian and Assyrian records shed but little light on the question of the patriarchs of the early ages succeeding Adam, the details that are given concerning them, and their long lives. Upon this last point there is only one remark to be made, and that is, that the prehistoric kings of Babylonia likewise lived and reigned for abnormally long ages, according to the records that have come down to us. Unfortunately, there is nothing complete in the important original of the Canon of Berosus first published by the late G. Smith, and the beginning is especially mutilated.

The likeness between Enoch and the Akkadian name of the city of Erech, Unug, has already been pointed out, and it has been suggested that the two words are identical. This, however, can hardly be the case, for the Hebrew form of Enoch is Ḫanôḳ, the initial letter being the guttural ḫeth, which, notwithstanding the parallel ease of Hiddekel, the Akkadian Idigna (the Tigris), weakens the comparison. The principal argument against the identification, however, is the fact that, in the bilingual story of the Creation, the god Merodach is said to have built the city, and such was evidently the Babylonian belief.6

The name of Enoch's great-grandson, Methusael, finds, as has many times been pointed out, its counterpart in the Babylonian Mut-îli, with the same meaning (“man of God”).

Lower part of the obverse of a terra-cotta tablet from Nineveh, inscribed with the names of Babylonian kings in Sumerian and Semitic Babylonian. The 13th line (that running across two columns) has the statement, "These are the kings who were after the Flood. They are not written in their proper order." The names of Sargina (Sargon of Agadé) and Hammurabi (Amraphel) also occur. Found by Sir A. H. Layard and Hormuzd Rassam.

[pg 085]

Chapter III. The Flood.

The Biblical account—Its circumstantial nature and its great length—The Babylonian account—The reason of the Flood and why Pir-napištim built the Ark—His devotion to the God Ea—Ea and Jah—Ea's antagonism to Bêl—The bloodless sacrifice—Ea's gift of immortality—Further observations—Appendix: The second version of the Flood-story.

Noah, son of Lamech, had reached the age of five hundred years, and had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet; and at this time men had begun to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them; then “the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all that they chose.”

The question naturally arises, “Who were these sons of God?” According to Job xxxviii. 7, where we have the statement that “The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy,” it would seem to be the angels that are intended by these words, and this is apparently the opinion generally held by scholars and divines on the subject. This view seems to be favoured by the Second Epistle of Peter (ii. 1), though, as the words do not actually agree with those of the text of Genesis quoted above, nothing very positive can be maintained concerning the apostle's dictum—in fact, his words in the passage referred to, “for if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains and darkness, to be reserved unto [pg 086] judgment,” can much more reasonably be regarded as referring, and therefore giving authority to, the story of the fall of the angels, as indicated in Avitus, Caedmon, and Milton, a legend of which the germs are found in the Babylonian account of the Creation, referred to in Chapter I. The other passages of Job where this expression occurs (i. 6, and ii. 2) are not conclusive as to the meaning “angels,” for the expressions “sons of God,” in those passages, who are said to have come before the Almighty, may very well have been merely men.

However the matter may stand, for the passages in Job, there is every probability that it is not the angels that are intended in the description we are examining as to the reasons of the coming of the Flood. As the late George Bertin was the first to point out, the Babylonians often used the phrase “a son of his god,” apparently to designate “a just man,” or something similar. The connection in which this expression occurs is as follows—

“May Damu, the great enchanter, make his thoughts happy,

May the lady who giveth life to the dead, the goddess Gula, heal him by the pressure of her pure hand,

And thou, O gracious Merodach, who lovest the revivification of the dead,

With thy pure incantation of life, free him from his sin, and

May the man, the son of his god, be pure, clean, and bright.”

In this passage the phrase in question is (in Akkadian) gišgallu dumu dingirana, and (in Assyrian) amēlu mâr îli-šu. It is a frequent expression in documents of this class, and always occurs in a similar connection. In some cases, instead of “the man, the son of his god,” the variation “the king, the [pg 087] son of his god” occurs, and is apparently to be paraphrased in the same way, and understood as “the pious king.”

May it not be, then, that “the sons of God,” who saw that the daughters of men were fair (lit. good), and took of them as many wives as they wanted, were those who were regarded as the pious men of the time? For who among the angels would at any time have thought of allying himself with an earthly and mortal spouse, and begetting children—offspring who should turn out to be “mighty men which were of old, men of renown,” as verse 4 has it? In this case, the “daughters of men” would be children of common people, not possessing any special piety or other virtue to recommend them, the only thing being that their daughters were fair, and good enough, in the opinion of those “sons of God,” to have as their wives.

It is apparently given as the result of these unions between the pious men and the daughters of the people that wickedness became rife in the earth, and man's imagination continually evil; and this was so to such an extent that the Almighty repented of having created man, and decided to destroy the wicked generation—both man, and beast, and creeping thing, and fowl of the air—dwelling upon the earth—all except Noah, who found favour in the eyes of Yahwah.

Having decided to destroy the life of the world by means of a flood, God communicated His intention and the reason thereof to the patriarch, and instructed him to build an ark in which he was to save both himself and his family from the impending destruction. The vessel is to be built of gopher-wood, to have rooms in it, and to be pitched within and without with pitch. The dimensions also are specified. Its length was to be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. He was to [pg 088] make the ark “with light” (צהר or רהצ), that is, with windows, and their length or height, apparently, was to be a cubit. The vessel was to have a door, and to be built with three stories, lower, second, and third. In accordance with God's covenant with the patriarch, he, his sons, and his sons' wives were to be saved, along with every living thing, male and female of each kind. For all this great multitude a sufficiency of food was directed to be provided.

Then comes the command (the ark having been duly built, and all the directions followed) to enter into the vessel, and further instructions are given with regard to the creatures that are to be saved, with a slight modification in the numbers, for the clean beasts are to be taken in “by sevens,” and all the rest, “the unclean,” by pairs. God then announces that in seven days' time He will cause rain to come upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. “All the fountains of the great deep” were broken up, and the Lord shut up those upon whom He had favour in the ark.

Then, as the rain continued, the waters “prevailed exceedingly” upon the earth, and the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered, the depth of the waters being “fifteen cubits and upwards.” Everything was destroyed, “Noah alone remained alive, and those who were with him in the ark.”

“And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.”

The “fountains of the deep” and “the windows of heaven” having been stopped, and the “rain from heaven” restrained, the waters abated, leaving the ark high and dry upon the mountains of Ararat; and after the tops of the mountains were seen, Noah looked out of the window that he had made. He then sent forth a raven and a dove, and the latter, not finding a resting-place, returned to him, to be sent forth again at the end of another week. The dove [pg 089] again returned bearing in her beak an olive-leaf. Seven days more passed, and the dove, having been sent out a third time, returned to him no more. Recognizing that the waters were now all returned into their old channels, and that the land was dry enough for him and his, Noah removed the covering of the vessel, and saw that his supposition was correct, and having received the command to come forth from the ark, which had been his abiding-place for so long, and to send forth the living creatures that were with him, the patriarch obeyed, and, when on dry land, built an altar to Yahwah, and offered burnt offerings thereon of every clean beast and every clean fowl.

“And the Lord smelled a sweet savour (lit. a savour of rest); and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.... While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”

Then comes, in the ninth chapter, the blessing of God, with a charge concerning the shedding of blood. He makes also a covenant with Noah, by the sign of the rainbow, declaring that a like calamity shall never again come upon the earth to destroy all life that is upon it.

Such is, in short, the Bible story of the great flood that destroyed, at a remote age of the world, all life upon the earth. It is a narrative circumstantially told, with day, month, and year all indicated, and it forms a good subject for comparison with the Babylonian account, with which it agrees so closely in all the main points, and from which it differs so much in many essential details.

As in the case of the Babylonian story of the Creation, it has been thought well not only to give a fairly full translation of the Babylonian story of the Flood, but also to indicate under what circumstances [pg 090] that story appears in the series of tablets in which it is found.

The first to detect the nature of the series of tablets giving the story of the Flood was the late George Smith, who had unrivalled opportunities of making himself thoroughly acquainted with the treasures of the British Museum in the matter of Assyrian records. As the story runs, it was whilst searching for the fragments of the Creation-series that he came across a fragment of a tablet mentioning that “the ship rested on the mountain of Niṣir,” and this at once suggested to him that this was a reference to the Flood, as, in fact, it turned out to be. Continued and unremitting research among the treasures of the Department in which he was employed enabled him to bring together a large number of other fragments of the series, leaving, in fact, very little indeed for any future student to do in the way of collecting together texts from the fragments that he had an opportunity of examining. The Daily Telegraph expedition to Assyria, which was conducted by Mr. Smith himself, enabled him to add many other fragments to those which he had already recognized in the Oriental Department of the British Museum, and Mr. Rassam's very successful excavations in the same place have since very considerably increased the list of additions.

The story of the Flood, as known to the Babylonians and Assyrians, is one chapter or book of a legend consisting of twelve similar divisions, the first line of the series beginning with the words Ša naqba imûru, “He who saw everything,” and to this is added in the colophons, “the legend of Gilgameš.” The number of fragments extant is large, but the individual tablets are very imperfect, that giving the account of the Flood being by far the most complete, though even that has very regrettable lacunæ. Incomplete as the legend is as a whole, an attempt will nevertheless be made here to give some sort of a connected story, [pg 091] which may be regarded as accurate in all its main details.

The first tablet begins with the words that have been quoted above, “He who saw everything, [who] ... the land.” This is followed, it would seem, by a description of the hero, who, apparently, knew “the wisdom of the whole (of the lands?),” and “saw secret and hidden things.... He brought news of before the flood, went a distant road, and (suffered) dire fatigue (?).” All his journeyings and toils were, apparently, inscribed on tablets of stone, and records thus left for future ages.

Gilgameš, as we learn in the course of the narrative, was lord or king of Uruk supuri, or “Erech the walled,” and at the time when the story begins, the fortifications were in a ruinous state, and the treasury (?) of the sanctuary Ê-anna, the temple of the goddess Ištar, which is mentioned in the legend immediately after, was, we may suppose, empty. Other details of the desolation of the temple are given, and the ruinous state of the walls of the city are spoken of, together with the decay of their foundations.

No other fragment of Col. I. of the first tablet of the Legend of Gilgameš seems to have been recognized, so that the further references to the city are lost. An interesting piece that Mr. G. Smith thought to be part of the third column of this text refers to some misfortune that came upon the city when the people moaned like calves, and the maidens grieved like doves.

“The gods of Erech the walled
Turned to flies, and hummed in the streets;
The winged bulls of Erech the walled

Turned to mice, and went out through the holes.”

The city was, on this occasion, besieged for three years, until at last the god Bêl and the goddess Ištar interested themselves in the state of things. As to [pg 092] who the enemy was who brought the people into such distress, there is no means at present of finding out, but Mr. G. Smith suggested, with at least some show of probability, that they were the Elamites under Ḫumbaba, who appears later as the opponent of our hero. The indifference of the gods and the divine bulls that were supposed to protect the city is well expressed in the statement that they respectively turned into flies and mice, buzzing about and active, but doing no good whatever.

After the reference to the state of Erech, the text is exceedingly mutilated, and the sense difficult to gather, but it would seem to have contained a further description of the hero, who, according to Jensen's translation, is described as “two parts god and the third part man.” To all appearance there was none in all his realm like him, and also no consort suitable for him, though he collected to him all the young men and maidens in the land. This was a matter for grief, which the (divine powers ?) heard, and they called upon the goddess Aruru to make another in his likeness. This being was Êa-banî,7 the mighty one, to all appearance made to be the rival of Gilgameš, but if this be the case, he did not fulfil his destiny, for his delight was to remain with the beasts of the field. All his body was covered with hair, and he had long tresses on his head, like those of a woman (recalling Samson's luxuriant locks). Far, too, from being the rival of Gilgameš, he became his most devoted friend and companion.

[pg 093]

“ ‘Thou, Aruru, hast created (mankind),
Now make thou (one in) his likeness.
The first day let his heart be (formed?),

Let him rival (?) and let him overcome (??) Erech.’

Aruru hearing this,

Made the likeness of Anu in the midst of her heart.

Aruru washed her hands,

She pinched off some clay, she threw it on the ground—

(Thus?) Êa-banî she made, the warrior,

The offspring, the seed, the possession of Ninip.

Covered with hair was all his body,

He had tresses like a woman,

The amount (?) of his hair grew thick like corn.

He knew not (?) people and land.

Clothed with a garment like the god Gira.

With the gazelles he eateth the grass,

With the wild beasts he drinketh drink,

With the dwellers in the water his heart delighteth.

The hunter, the destroyer, a man,

Beside the drinking-place he came across him,

The first day, the second day, the third day, beside the drinking-place he came across him.

The hunter saw him, and his (Êa-banî's) countenance became stern,

(He) and his wild beasts entered his house,

(He became an)gry, stern, and he called out.”

Apparently he did not like being watched so long by the hunter, and becoming suspicious of his intentions, showed resentment, and tried to drive him away. It may be noted by the way, that this description of Êa-banî would answer excellently to the state attributed for a time to Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel.

The hunter has a conversation with his father, who [pg 094] was with him, and the upshot of it is that they decide to communicate to Gilgameš an account of the terrible man whom they had seen. It was therefore decided to try to catch or, rather, entice him to Erech by means of a female named Samḫat. In accordance with the instructions received, therefore, the hunter took with him the woman who was intrusted to him, and they awaited Êa-banî in the same place, by the side of the water. After watching for him for two days, they got into communication with him, and the woman asked him why he dwelt with the wild animals, depicting at the same time all the glory of Erech the walled and the nobility of Gilgameš, so that he soon allowed himself to be persuaded, and, in the end, went and took up his abode there.

Various things are then narrated, the most important of them being the episode of the Elamite Ḫumbaba, the same name, though not the same person, as the Kombabos of the Greeks.

Gilgameš seems to have gone to a place where there was a forest of cedar-trees, accompanied by Êa-banî. Near this place, apparently, there was a splendid palace, the abode (?) of a great queen. Judging from what remains of the text, they ask their way of her, and she it is who seems to tell them how to reach the dominions of the potentate whom they seek.

“A distant road is the place of Ḫumbaba.

A conflict that he (Gilgameš) knoweth not he will meet,

A road that he knoweth not he will ride,
As long as he goeth and returneth,
Until he reach the forest of cedars,
Until the mighty Ḫumbaba he subdueth,

And whatever is evil, what ye hate, he shall destroy in the l(and).”

Evidently, from the extent of the record in this place, many adventures befell them, but the fragmentary [pg 095] lines and the numerous lacunæ make a connected narrative absolutely impossible, and it is not until we reach the first column of what Mr. G. Smith regarded as the fifth tablet that we get something more satisfactory than this. The hero has apparently come within measurable distance of his goal—

“They stood and looked on the forest,
They regarded the height of the cedar,
They regarded the depth of the forest,
Where Ḫumbaba walked, striding high (?),
The roads prepared, the way made good.

They saw the mountain of the cedar, the dwelling of the gods, the shrine of the god Irnini,

Before the mountain the cedar raised its luxuriance—

Good was its shade, full of delight.”

They had still a long way to go, however, and many things, seemingly, to overcome, before they should reach the abode of the dreaded Elamite ruler, but unfortunately, the details of their adventures are so very fragmentary that no connected sense whatever is to be made out. The last line of the tablet referring to this section, mentioning, as it does, the head of Ḫumbaba, leads the reader to guess the conclusion of the story, whatever the details may have been.

It is with the sixth tablet that we meet, for the first time, almost, with something really satisfactory in the matter of completeness, though even here one is sometimes pulled up sharp by a defective or doubtful passage.

Apparently, Gilgameš had become, at the time to which this tablet refers, very prosperous, and that, combined with his other attractions, evidently drew upon him the attention of the goddess Ištar—

[pg 096]

“Come, Gilgameš, be thou the bridegroom,
Give thy substance to me as a gift,
Be thou my husband, and let me be thy wife.

I will cause to be yoked for thee a chariot of lapis-lazuli and gold,

Whose wheels are gold and adamant its poles.

Thou shalt harness thereto the white ones, the great steeds.

Enter into our house mid the scent of the cedar.”

At his entering, the people were to kiss his feet, and kings, lords, and princes do him homage, and lastly, he was to have no rival upon the earth.

In the mutilated passage that follows, Gilgameš answers the goddess, reproaching her with her treatment of her former lovers or husbands, which seems to have been far from satisfactory. Reference to a “wall of stone,” and to “the land of the enemy,” seem to point to imprisonment and expulsion, and the words “Who is the bridegroom (whom thou hast kept?) for ever?” indicate clearly the opinion in which the hero held the goddess. From generalities, however, he proceeds to more specific charges—

“To Tammuz, the husband of thy youth,

From year to year thou causest bitter weeping.

Thou lovedst the bright-coloured Allala bird,
Thou smotest him and brokest his wings,
He stayed in the forests crying, ‘My wings!’

Thou lovedst also a lion, perfect in strength,

By sevens didst thou cut wounds in him.

Thou lovedst also a horse, glorious in war,

Harness, spur, and bit (?) thou laidest upon him,

Seven kaspu (49 miles) thou madest him gallop,

Distress and sweat thou causedst him,

To his mother Silili thou causedst bitter weeping.

Thou lovedst also a shepherd of the flock,

[pg 097]

Who constantly laid out before thee rich foods (?),

Daily slaughtering for thee suckling kids,

Thou smotest him and changedst him to a jackal,

His own shepherd-boy drove him away,

And his dogs bit his limbs.

Thou lovedst also Išullanu, thy father's gardener,

Who constantly transmitted (?) thy provisions (?),

Daily making thy dishes bright.

Thou raisedst thine eyes to him, and preparedst food.

‘My Išullanu, divide the food, let us eat,

And stretch forth thine hand, and taste of our dish.’

Išullanu said to thee:

‘Me, what (is this that) thou askest me?

My mother, do not cook (this), I have never eaten (of it)—

For should I eat foods of enchantments and witcheries?

[Food bringing?] cold, exhaustion, madness (?)?’

Thou heardest this [the speech of Išullanu],

Thou smotest him, and changedst him into a statue (?),

Thou settest him in the midst of (thy) dom(ain?),

He raiseth not the libation-vase, he descendeth (?) not....

And as for me, thou wouldst love me and (make me) even as these!”

Ištar being angry at these reproaches and accusations of the Babylonian hero, immediately ascended to heaven and complained to her father Anu and her mother Anatum that Gilgameš had reproached her with her enchantments and witcheries, and after a long conversation, a divine bull is sent against the hero and his friend. The heavenly animal is overcome, principally by the activity of Êa-banî, who after [pg 098] its death, when the goddess Ištar was lamenting its overthrow, cut off a portion of the body, and threw it at her. Great were the rejoicings at Erech the walled at the triumph of the hero and his counsellor, and after the feast that was held, they all lay down to sleep. Êa-banî also lay down with the rest, and during the night he saw a dream, of the details of which nothing is known, though, from the words with which it seems to be introduced, “My friend, on account of what do the gods take counsel,” it may be supposed that the defiance and opposition which these mortals had offered to the goddess Ištar was engaging the attention of the heavenly powers with a view to some action being taken. As it is with these words that Êa-banî begins to tell his dream to Gilgameš, there is no doubt that the Babylonians regarded the former as having been admitted, whilst asleep (as in the case of the Babylonian Noah), into the councils of the gods. The solitary line that is quoted above is the first of the seventh tablet.

The details of the legend now again become obscure, but thus much can be gathered, namely, that Gilgameš in his turn had a dream, and that, all appearance, Êa-banî interpreted it. Later on, Êa-banî falls ill, and lies without moving for twelve days. Though unwilling to regard his friend as dead, Gilgameš mourns for him bitterly, and decides to make a journey, apparently with the object of finding out about his friend Êa-banî, and ascertaining whether there were any means of bringing him back to earth again.

He sets out, and comes to the place where the “scorpion-men,” with their heads reaching to heaven, and their breasts on a level with Hades, guarded the place of the rising and the setting sun. The horror of their appearance, which was death to behold, is forcibly described on the tablet. The hero was struck with terror on seeing them, but as he was of [pg 099] divine origin (“his body is of the flesh of the gods,” as the scorpion-man says to his female), death has no power over him on account of them. He seems to describe to them his journey, and the object he had in view. Pir-napištim, the Babylonian Noah, is mentioned in the course of the conversation, and it may be supposed that it is on account of his desire to visit him that he asks these monsters for advice. He afterwards comes into contact with the goddess Siduri, “who sits upon the throne of the sea,” and she, on seeing him, shuts her gate. He speaks to her of this, and threatens to break it open. Having gained admission, he apparently tells the goddess the reason of his journey, and she, in return, describes to him the way that he would have to take, the sea that he would have to cross, and of the deep waters of death that bar the way to the abode of the Babylonian Noah, who had attained unto everlasting life, and whose pilot or boatman, Ur-Šanabi, was to take the Erechite hero to his presence.

After a long conversation with Ur-Šanabi, concerning the road that they will take, they start together, and after passing through a forest, they embark in a ship, and reach, at the end of a month and ten days, the “waters of death.” There Gilgameš does something a number of times, and afterwards sees afar off Pir-napištim, the Babylonian Noah, who apparently communes with himself concerning the visitor who has come to his shores. The conversation which follows is very mutilated, but in the course of his explanation of the reason of his visit, Gilgameš relates all his adventures—how he had traversed all the countries, and crossed difficult mountains, his visit to Siduri, and her refusal to open the door to him, with many other things. The conversation apparently, after a time, becomes of a philosophical nature, for, in the course of it, Pir-napištim says—

[pg 100]

“Always have we built a house,
Always do we seal (?) (the contract).
Always have brothers share together,
Always is the seed in (the earth?),
Always the river rises bringing a flood.”

He then discourses, apparently among other things, of death, and says—

“The Anunnaki, the great gods, are assembled (?).

Mammitum, maker of fate, sets with them the destinies.

They have made life and death,

(But) the death-days are not made known.”

With these words the tenth tablet of the Gilgameš series comes to an end.

The Eleventh Tablet Of The Gilgameš Series, Containing The Story Of The Flood.

As this tablet is the most complete of the series, it may not be considered out of place to give here a description of the outward appearance of the document—or, rather, of the documents, for there are many copies. This description will serve, to a certain extent, for all the other tablets of the series, when in their complete state.

The size of the document which best shows the form is about 8-½ inches wide, by 5-7/8 inches high. It is rectangular in form, and is inscribed on both sides with three columns of writing (six in all). The total number of lines, as given in the text published in the second edition of the fourth vol. of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, is 293, including the catch-line and colophon, but as many of these lines are, in reality, double ones (the scribes frequently squeezed two lines into the space of one, so as to economize space), the original number [pg 101] of the lines was probably nearer 326, or, with the catch-line and colophon, 330. It is probable that the other tablets of the series were not so closely written as this, and in these cases the number of lines is fewer.

The tablet opens with the continuation of the conversation between Gilgameš and “Pir-napištim the remote”—

“Gilgameš said also to him, to Pir-napištim the remote:

‘I perceive thee, O Pir-napištim,

Thy features are not changed—like me art thou,

And thou (thyself) art not changed, like me art thou.

Put an end in thine heart to the making of resistance,

(Here?) art thou placed, does that rise against thee,

(Now?) that thou remainest, and hast attained life in the assembly of the gods?’

Pir-napištim said also to him, to Gilgameš:

‘Let me tell thee, Gilgameš, the account of my preservation,

And let me tell thee, even thee, the decision of the gods.

Šurippak, the city which thou knowest,

Lies (upon the bank) of the Euphrates.

That city was old, and the gods within it.

The great gods decided in their hearts to make a flood.

There (?) was (?) their father Anu,
Their counsellor, the warrior Ellila,
Their throne-bearer, Ninip,
Their leader, En-nu-gi.

Nin-igi-azaga, the god Ae, communed with them, and

[pg 102]

Repeated their command to the earth:

“Earth, earth! Town, town!

O earth, hear: and town, understand!

Surippakite, son of Umbara-Tutu,

Destroy the house, build a ship,

Leave what thou hast (?), see to thy life.

Destroy the hostile and save life,

Take up the seed of life, all of it, into the midst of the ship.

The ship which thou shalt make, even thou,

Let its size be measured,

Let it agree (as to) its height and its length;

(Behold) the deep, launch her (thither).”

I understood and said to Ae, my lord:

“[Behol]d, my lord, what thou, even thou, hast said, verily (?)

It is excellent (?), (and) I will do (it).

(How?) may I answer the city—the young men and the elders?”

Ae opened his mouth and spake,
He said to his servant, to me:
“Thus, then, shalt thou say unto them;
‘It has been told me (that) Ellila hates me,
I will not dwell in ... and

In the territory of Ellila I will not set my face—

I will descend to the deep, with (Ae) my lord I shall (constantly) dwell.

(As for) you, he will cause abundance to rain down upon you, and

(Beasts and?) birds (shall be) the prey (?) of the fishes, and

... he will enclose, (?), and

... of a storm (?),

(In the night) the heavens will rain down upon (y)ou destruction.” ’ ”

With these words the second paragraph comes to an end, the total number of lost or greatly mutilated [pg 103] lines being about nine. Very little of the contents of these lines can be made out, as not much more than traces of words remain. Where the lines begin to become fairly complete, the text seems to refer to the building of the ship, upon which four days had already been spent, its form being laid down on the fifth day. The description of the building, which is somewhat minute, is exceedingly difficult to translate, and any rendering of it must therefore, at the present time, be regarded as tentative. Its bulwarks seem to have risen four measures, and a deck (apparently) is mentioned. Its interior was pitched with six šar of bitumen, and its outside with three šar of pitch, or bitumen of a different kind. The provisionment of the vessel is next described, but this part is mutilated. A quantity of oil for the crew and pilot is referred to, and oxen were also slaughtered, apparently as a propitiatory sacrifice on the completion of the vessel. Various kinds of drink were then brought on board, both intoxicating and otherwise, plentiful (this may be regarded as the word to be supplied here) “like the waters of a river.” After this we have references to the completion of certain details—holes for the cables above and below, etc., and with this the third paragraph comes to an end.

In the next paragraph Pir-napištim collects his goods and his family, and enters into the ark:—

“All I possessed I transferred thereto,

All I possessed I transferred thereto, silver,

All I possessed I transferred thereto, gold;

All I possessed I transferred thereto, the seed of life, the whole

I caused to go up into the midst of the ship. All my family and relatives,

The beasts of the field, the animals of the field, the sons of the artificers—all of them I sent up.

The god Šamaš appointed the time—

[pg 104]

Muir kukki—In the night I will cause the heavens to rain destruction,

Enter into the midst of the ship and shut thy door.”

“That time approached—

Muir kukki—In the night the heavens rained destruction.

I saw the appearance of the day:

I was afraid to look upon the day—

I entered into the midst of the ship, and shut my door.

For the guiding of the ship, to Buzur-Kurgala, the pilot,

I gave the great house with its goods.

At the appearance of dawn in the morning,

There arose from the foundation of heaven a dark cloud:

Rimmon thundered in the midst of it, and

Nebo and Šarru went in front

Then went the throne-bearers (over) mountain and plain.

Ura-gala dragged out the cables,
Then came Ninip, casting down destruction,
The Anunnaki raised (their) torches,

With their brilliance they illuminated the land.

Rimmon's destruction reached to heaven,

Everything bright to darkness turned,

... the land like ... it ...

The first day, the storm (?) ...

Swiftly it swept, and ... the land (?)....

Like a battle against the people it sought....

Brother saw not brother.

The people were not to be recognized. In heaven

The gods feared the flood, and

They fled, they ascended to the heaven of Anu.

The gods kenneled like dogs, crouched down in the enclosures.

[pg 105]

Ištar spake like a mother.8

The lady of the gods9 called out, making her voice resound:

‘All that generation has turned to corruption.

Because I spoke evil in the assembly of the gods,

When I spoke evil in the assembly of the gods,

I spoke of battle for the destruction of my people.

Verily I have begotten (man), but where is he?

Like the sons of the fishes he fills the sea.’

The gods of the Anunnaki were weeping with her.

The gods had crouched down, seated in lamentation,

Covered were their lips in (all) the assemblies,

Six days and nights

The wind blew, the deluge and flood overwhelmed the land.

The seventh day, when it came, the storm ceased, the raging flood,

Which had contended like a whirlwind,

Quieted, the sea shrank back, and the evil wind and deluge ended.

I noticed the sea making a noise,

And all mankind had turned to corruption.

Like palings the marsh-reeds appeared.

I opened my window, and the light fell upon my face,

I fell back dazzled, I sat down, I wept,

Over my face flowed my tears.

I noted the regions, the shore of the sea,

For twelve measures the region arose.

The ship had stopped at the land of Niṣṣir.

The mountain of Niṣir seized the ship, and would not let it pass.

The first day and the second day the mountain of Niṣir seized the ship, and would not let it pass,

[pg 106]

The third day and the fourth day the mountain of Niṣir, etc.,

The fifth and sixth the mountain of Niṣir, etc.,

The seventh day, when it came
I sent forth a dove, and it left,
The dove went, it turned about,

But there was no resting-place, and it returned.

I sent forth a swallow, and it left,

The swallow went, it turned about,

But there was no resting-place, and it returned.

I sent forth a raven, and it left,

The raven went, the rushing of the waters it saw,

It ate, it waded, it croaked, it did not return.

I sent forth (the animals) to the four winds, I poured out a libation,

I made an offering on the peak of the mountain,

Seven and seven I set incense-vases there,

In their depths I poured cane, cedar, and rosewood (?).

The gods smelled a savour,

The gods smelled a sweet savour,

The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer.

Then the goddess Maḫ, when she came,

Raised the great signets that Anu had made at her wish:

‘These gods—by the lapis-stone of my neck—let me not forget,

These days let me remember, nor forget them forever!

Let the gods come to the sacrifice,

But let not Ellila come to the sacrifice,

For he did not take counsel, and made a flood,

And consigned my people to destruction.’
Then Ellila, when he came,
Saw the ship. And Ellila was wroth,

Filled with anger on account of the gods and the spirits of heaven.

[pg 107]

‘What, has a soul escaped?

Let not a man be saved from the destruction.’

Ninip opened his mouth and spake,

He said to the warrior Ellila:

‘Who but Ae has done the thing

And Ae knows every event.’

Ae opened his mouth and spake,

He said to the warrior Ellila:

‘Thou sage of the gods, warrior,

Verily thou hast not taken counsel, and hast made a flood.

The sinner has committed his sin,

The evildoer has committed his misdeed,

Be merciful—let him not be cut off—yield, let (him) not perish.

Why hast thou made a flood?

Let the lion come, and let men diminish.

Why hast thou made a flood?

Let the hyæna come, and let men diminish.

Why hast thou made a flood?

Let a famine happen, and let the land be destroyed (?).

Why hast thou made a flood?

Let Ura (pestilence) come, and let the land be devastated (?).

I did not reveal the decision of the great gods—

I caused Atra-ḫasis to see a dream, and he heard the decision of the gods.’

When he had taken counsel (with himself),
Ae went up into the midst of the ship,
He took my hand and he led me up, even me

He brought up and caused my woman to kneel (?) at my side;

He touched us, and standing between us, he blessed us (saying):

‘Formerly Pir-napištim was a man:

Now (as for) Pir-napištim and his woman, let them be like unto the gods, (even) us,

[pg 108]

And let Pir-napištim dwell afar at the mouths of the rivers.’

He took me, and afar at the mouths of the rivers he caused me to dwell.

Now as for thee, who of the gods shall restore thee to health?

That thou see the life that thou seekest, even thou?

Well, lie not down to sleep six days and seven nights,

Like one who is sitting down in the midst of his sorrow (?),

Sleep like a dark cloud hovereth over him.

Pir-napištim then said to his wife:

‘See, the hero who desireth life,

Sleep like a dark cloud hovereth over him.’

His wife then said to Pir-napištim the remote:

‘Touch him, and let him awake a man—

Let him return in health by the road that he came,

Let him return to his country by the great gate by which he came forth.’

Pir-napištim said to his wife:

‘The suffering of men hurteth thee.

Come, cook his food, set it by his head.’

And the day that he lay down in the enclosure of his ship,

She cooked his food, she set it by his head:

And the day when he lay down in the enclosure of his cabin

First his food was ground,
Secondly it was sifted,
Thirdly it was moistened,
Fourthly she rolled out his dough,
Fifthly she threw down a part,
Sixthly it was cooked,

Seventhly he (or she) touched him suddenly, and he awoke a man!

[pg 109]

Gilgameš said to him (even) to Pir-napištim the remote:

‘That sleep quite overcame me

Swiftly didst thou touch me, and didst awaken me, even thou.’ ”

Pir-napištim, in answer to this, tells Gilgameš what had been done to him, repeating the description of the preparation of his food in the same words as had been used to describe the ceremony (for such it apparently is), and ending by saying, “Suddenly I touched thee, (even) I, and thou awokest, (even) thou.” Thus putting beyond question the personality of the one who effected the transformation which was brought about, though he leaves out the word “man,” which hid from the hero the fact that a transformation had in consequence taken place in him. The ceremonies were not by any means finished, however, for the boatman or pilot had to take him to the place of lustration to be cleansed, and for the skin, with which he seems to have been covered, to fall off. The Babylonian patriarch then tells him of a wonderful plant which would make an old man young again, and Gilgameš gets possession of one of these. On his way to his own country in the company of the boatman or pilot, he stops to perform what seems to be a religious ceremony, at a well, when a serpent smells the plant,10 and, apparently in consequence of that, a lion comes and takes it away. Gilgameš greatly laments his loss, saying that he had not benefited by the possession of this wonderful plant, but the lion of the desert had gained the advantage. After [pg 110] a journey only varied by the religious festivals that they kept, they at length reached Erech, the walled. Here, after a reference to the dilapidation of the place, and a statement seemingly referring to the offerings to be made if repairs had not, during his absence, been effected, the eleventh and most important tablet of the Gilgameš series comes to an end.

Of the twelfth tablet but a small portion exists, though fragments of more than one copy have been found. In this we learn that Gilgameš still lamented for his friend Êa-banî, whom he had lost so long before. Wishing to know of his present state and how he fared, he called to the spirit of his friend thus—

“Thou restest not the bow upon the ground,

What has been smitten by the bow surround thee.

The staff thou raisest not in thine hand,
The spirits (of the slain) enclose thee.
Shoes upon thy feet thou dost not set,
A cry upon earth thou dost not make:
Thy wife whom thou lovest thou kissest not,
Thy wife whom thou hatest thou smitest not;
Thy child whom thou lovest thou kissest not,
Thy child whom thou hatest thou smitest not.
The sorrowing earth hath taken thee.”

Gilgameš then seems to invoke the goddess “Mother of Nin-a-zu,” seemingly asking her to restore his friend to him, but to all appearance without result. He then turned to the other deities—Bêl, Sin, and Ea, and the last-named seems to have interceded for Êa-banî with Nerigal, the god of the under-world, who, at last, opened the earth, “and the spirit of Êa-banî like mist arose (?).” His friend being thus restored to him, though probably only for a time, and not in bodily form, Gilgameš asks [pg 111] him to describe the appearance of the world from which he had just come. “If I tell thee the appearance of the land I have seen,” he answers, “... sit down, weep.” Gilgameš, however, still persists—“... let me sit down, let me weep,” he answers. Seeing that he would not be denied, Êa-banî complies with his request. It was a place where dwelt people who had sinned in their heart, where (the young) were old, and the worm devoured, a place filled with dust. This was the place of those who had not found favour with their god, who had met with a shameful death (as had apparently Êa-banî himself). The blessed, on the other hand—

“Whom thou sawest [die] the death (?) [of] . .[I see]—

In the resting-place of .... reposing, pure water he drinketh.

Whom in the battle thou sawest killed, I see—
His father and his mother support his head
And his wife sitteth [? beside him].

Whose corpse thou hast seen thrown down on the plain, I see—

His spirit on earth reposeth not.

Whose spirit thou sawest without a caretaker, I see—

The leavings of the dish, the rejected of the food,

Which in the street is thrown, he eateth.”

And with this graphic description of the world of the dead the twelfth and concluding tablet of the Gilgameš series comes to an end.

With the Gilgameš series of tablets as a whole we have not here to concern ourselves, except to remark, that the story of the Flood is apparently inserted in it in order to bring greater glory to the hero, whom the writer desired to bring into connection with one who was regarded as the greatest and most renowned of old times, and who, on account of the favour that [pg 112] the gods had to him, had attained to immortality and to divinity. Except the great Merodach himself, no divine hero of past ages appealed to the Babylonian mind so strongly as Pir-napištim, who was called Atra-ḫasis, the hero of the Flood.

The reason of the coming of the Flood seems to have been regarded by the Babylonians as two-fold. In the first place, as Pir-napištim is made to say (see p. 100), “Always the river rises and brings a flood”—in other words, it was a natural phenomenon. But in the course of the narrative which he relates to Gilgameš, the true reason is implied, though it does not seem to be stated in words. And this reason is the same as that of the Old Testament, namely, the wickedness of the world. If it should again become needful to punish mankind with annihilation on account of their wickedness, the instrument was to be the lion, or the hyæna, or pestilence—not a flood. And we have not to go far to seek the reason for this. By a flood, the whole of mankind might—in fact, certainly would—be destroyed, whilst by the other means named some, in all probability, would escape. There was at least one of the gods who did not feel inclined to witness the complete destruction of the human race without a protest, and an attempt on his part to frustrate such a merciless design.

Little doubt exists that there is some motive in this statement on the part of the Babylonian author of the legend. It has been already noted that Merodach (the god who generally bears the title of Bêl, or “lord”) was, in Babylonian mythology, not one of the older gods, he having displaced his father Ea or Ae, in consequence of the predominance of Babylon, whose patron god Merodach was. Could it be that the Babylonians believed that the visitation of the flood was due to the vengeful anger of Merodach, aroused by the people's non-acceptance [pg 113] of his kingship? It seems unlikely. Pir-napištim was himself a worshipper of Ae, and on account of that circumstance, he is represented in the story as being under the special protection of that god. To all appearance, therefore, the reason which Pir-napištim is represented as having given, for the building of the ship, to his fellow-townsmen, was not intended to be altogether false. The god Ellila hated him, and therefore he was going to dwell with Ae, his lord—on the bosom of the deep which he ruled. An announcement of the impending doom is represented as having been made to the people by the patriarch, and it is therefore doubly unfortunate that the next paragraph is so mutilated, for it doubtless gave, when complete, some account of the way in which they received the notice of the destruction that was about to be rained down upon them.

It has been more than once suggested, and Prof. Hommel has stated the matter as his opinion, that the name of the god Aê or Ea, another possible reading of which is Aa, may be in some way connected with, and perhaps originated the Assyro-Babylonian divine name Ya'u, “God,” which is cognate with the Hebrew Yah or, as it is generally written, Jah. If this be the case, it would seem to imply that a large section of the people remained faithful to his worship, and the flood of the Babylonians may symbolize some persecution of them by the worshippers of the god Ellila, angry at the slight put upon him by their neglect or unwillingness to acknowledge him as the chief of the Pantheon. Some of the people may, indeed, have worshipped Ae or Aa alone, thus constituting a kind of monotheism. This, nevertheless, is very uncertain, and at present unprovable. It is worthy of note, however, that at a later date there was a tendency to identify all the deities of the Babylonian [pg 114] Pantheon with Merodach, and what in the “middle ages” of the Babylonians existed with regard to Merodach may very well have existed for the worship of Ae or Ea at an earlier date. The transfer, in the Semitic Babylonian Creation-story, of the name of Aê to his son Merodach may perhaps be a re-echo of the tendency to identify all the gods with Ae, when the latter was the supreme object of worship in the land. There is one thing that is certain, and that is, that the Chaldean Noah, Pir-napištim, was faithful in the worship of the older god, who therefore warned him, thus saving his life. Ae, the god who knew all things, knew also the design of his fellows to destroy mankind, and being “all and always eye,” to adopt a phrase used by John Bunyan, he bore, as a surname, that name Nin-igi-azaga, “Lord of the bright eye,” so well befitting one who, even among his divine peers, was the lord of unsearchable wisdom.

It is unfortunately a difficult thing to make a comparison of the ark as described in Genesis with a ship of the Babylonian story. It was thought, by the earlier translators of the Babylonian story of the Flood, that its size was indicated in the second paragraph of the story (p. 102, ll. 11, 12), but Dr. Haupt justly doubts that rendering. If the size of the vessel were indicated at all, it was probably in the next paragraph, where the building of the ship is described. This part, however, is so very mutilated, that very little clear sense can be made out of it. The Babylonian home-land of the story seems certainly to be indicated by the mention of two kinds of bitumen or pitch for caulking the vessel, Babylonia being the land of bitumen par excellence. Those who were to live on board were to sustain themselves with the flesh of oxen, and to all appearance they cheered the weary hours with the various kinds of drink of which they laid in store. They were not neglectful, [pg 115] either, of the oil that they used in preparing the various dishes, and with which they anointed their persons. All these points, though but little things in themselves, go to show that the story, in its Babylonian dress, was really written in the country of that luxury-loving people. The mention of holes for the cables, too, shows that the story is the production of maritime people, such as the Babylonians were.

Apparently the Babylonians found there was something inconsistent in the patriarch being saved without any of his relatives (except his sons), and the artificers who had helped him to build the ship which was to save him from the destruction that overwhelmed his countrymen and theirs. For this reason, and also because of the relationship that might be supposed to exist between master and servant, his relatives and the sons of the artificers11 are saved along with his own family, which, of course, would not only include his sons, but their wives also. On this point, therefore, the two accounts may be regarded as in agreement.

When all was ready, the Sun-god, called by the usual Semitic name of Šamaš, appointed the time for the coming of the catastrophe. This would seem to be another confirmation of the statement already made, that the Babylonians, like the Hebrews (see Gen. i. 14-18), regarded one of the uses of the sun as being to indicate seasons and times. It was a great and terrible time, such as caused terror to the beholder, and the patriarch was smitten with fear. Here, as in other parts of the Babylonian version, there is a human interest that is to a large extent wanting in the precise and detailed Hebrew account. Again the maritime [pg 116] nation is in evidence, where the consigning of the ship into the care of a pilot is referred to. Of course such an official could do but little more than prevent disastrous misfortune from the vessel being the plaything of the waves. In the description of the storm, the terror of the gods, Ištar's grief, and Maḫ's anger at the destruction of mankind, we see the production of a nation steeped in idolatry, but there are but few Assyro-Babylonian documents in which this fact is not made evident.

We have a return to the Biblical story in the sending forth of the birds, and the sacrifice of odoriferous herbs, when the gods smelled a sweet savour, and gathered like flies over the sacrificer. In the signets of Maḫ, “the lady of the gods,” by which she swears, we may, perhaps, see a reflection of the covenant by means of the rainbow, which the Babylonians possibly explained as being the necklace of the goddess. Instead of the promise that a similar visitation to destroy the whole of mankind should not occur again, there is simply a kind of exhortation on the part of the god Ae, addressed to Ellila, not to destroy the world by means of a flood again. To punish mankind for sins and misdeeds committed, other means were to be employed that did not involve the destruction of the whole human race.

Noah died at the age of 950 years (Gen. ix. 29), but his Babylonian representative was translated to the abode of the blessed “at the mouths of the rivers,” with his wife, to all appearance immediately after the Flood. In this the Babylonian account differs, and the ultimate fate of the patriarch resembles that of the Biblical Enoch, he who “was not, for God took him” (Gen. v. 24).

[pg 117]

Appendix. The Second Version Of The Flood-Story.

This was found by the late George Smith at Nineveh when excavating for the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph, and was at first supposed to belong to the text translated on pp. 101-109. This, however, is impossible, as the narrative is in the third person instead of the first, and in the form of a conversation between Atra-ḫasis (= Pir-napištim) and the god Aê—

Tablet D. T. 42.

......................

....... may it be

....... like the vault of

....... may it be strong above and below.

Enclose the ... and ...............

[At] the time that I shall send to thee

Enter [the ship] and close the door of the ship,

Into the midst of it [take] thy grain, thy furniture, and [thy] goods,

Thy . . ., thy family, thy relatives, and the artisans;

[The beasts] of the field, the animals of the field, as many as I shall collect (?),

[I will] send to thee, and thy door shall protect them.

[Atra]-ḫasis opened his mouth and spake,

Sa]ying to Aê, his lord:

“...... a ship I have not made .......

Form [its shape (?) upon the gr]ound.

Let me see the [plan], and [I will build] the ship.

[Form] ...... on the ground ........

........ what thou hast said .......

.........................

It is not improbable that the fragment published by the Rev. V. Scheil, O. P., belongs to this legend (see The King's Own,12 April 1898, pp. 397-400).

[pg 118]

Chapter IV. Assyria, Babylonia, And The Hebrews, With Reference To The So-Called Genealogical Table.

The Akkadians—The Semitic Babylonians—The Hebrews—Nimrod—Assur—The Tower of Babel and the confusion of tongues—Babylonian temple-towers—How the legend probably arose—The Patriarchs to the time of Abraham.

“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

“He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.

“And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

“Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth (or, the streets of the city), and Calah.

“And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.”

Such is the Biblical account of the origin of the two most powerful states of the ancient East, Babylonia and Assyria. It has been many times quoted and discussed, but there seems always to be something new to say about it, or to add to it, or what has already been said may be put in another and clearer way. It is for one or more of these reasons, as well as for the completeness of this work, that the author ventures again to approach the well-worn problems that these verses present.

[pg 119]

Every reader, on taking up a book dealing with this period of ancient Eastern history, will probably have noticed, that the word which most frequently meets his eye (if the book be an English one) is Akkad, the Semitic equivalent of the Biblical Accad. If, however, it be a continental work, the equivalent expression will be Šumer—which word, indeed, he will meet with also in English works, if the writer be at all under German or other foreign influence.

The reason for this divergence of opinion is very simple, the fact being that there were two tribes or nationalities, Šumer being before Akkad when the two countries are mentioned together, and as it is regarded as identical with the Shinar of Gen. x. 10, Šumer and Šumerian may possibly be preferable, but in all probability Akkad and Akkadian are not wrong.

As we see from the chapter of Genesis referred to, there were many nationalities in the Euphrates valley in ancient times, and the expression “Cush begat Nimrod,” would imply that the inhabitants of Babylonia were all Cushites. Yet the great majority of the inscriptions found in that country of a later date than about 2000 b.c. are Semitic.

Large additions have of late years been made to the number of ancient remains from Babylonia, and most of these are of a very early period. We are thus in a position to compare not only the different types of that early period with each other, but also with the sculptures of later date. The cylinder-seals show us a comparatively slim race, long-bearded, erect and dignified, and these characteristics are also recognizable among the various types revealed to us by the still earlier sculptures. The representations of kings and deities are often heavily bearded, but, on the other hand, high officials and others are generally clean shaven. These peculiarities, with the difference of costume, especially the thick-brimmed hats, [pg 120] would seem to imply distinct foreign influence, or, rather, in combination with the differences of racial type exhibited, considerable foreign admixture. Perhaps, however, the true explanation is, that the plain of Shinar represents the meeting-point of two different races—one Cushite and the other Semitic.

And this fact, as is well known, is confirmed by the existence of what is regarded as the language of the Akkadians, and also of a dialect of the same. This is not the place to discuss the question whether these non-Semitic idioms be really languages or only cryptographs—the author holds, in common with Sayce, Oppert, Hommel, and all the principal Assyriologists, that they are real languages—but a reference to the few passages where these idioms are spoken of may not be without interest.

One of these is the fragment known as S. 1190 in the British Museum, where the contents of the tablet of which it formed a part are referred to as “Two Šumerian incantations used” (seemingly) “for the stilling of a weeping child.” Another tablet refers to the languages, and states that the tongue of Šumer was like (the tongue of) Akkad, or assumed a likeness to it at some time or other. This document also refers to another form of speech that was the tongue of the prince, chief, or leader. Yet another fragment refers to Akkad as below (? to the south) and Šumer above (? to the north),13 but it is doubtful whether this refers to the position of the country. A fourth large fragment written partly in the “dialect” is referred to as a “Šumerian” text.

Both from the ethnographical and the linguistic side, therefore, ample testimony to the existence of a [pg 121] non-Semitic race (or non-Semitic races) in the plain of Shinar in ancient times is at hand. As to the language intended in the expression “Two Šumerian incantations” (spoken of above) there can be no doubt, the original idiom in question being the non-Semitic tongue already referred to—that tongue which was like the tongue of Akkad, of which it was apparently a more decayed form. The title given cannot refer to the translation into Assyro-Babylonian which accompanies it, as this is undoubtedly of later date than the composition itself.

There is then no doubt that the Akkadians and the Šumerians were two tribes of the same race, probably intermixed to a certain extent with foreign elements (people with oblique eyes being depicted on at least two of the sculptures of the early period from Tel-Loh), and speaking a language differing entirely from that of their Semitic fellow-countrymen,—a language which was of an agglutinative nature, introducing into its verbal forms whole rows of analytical particles, which sometimes gave to the phrase a precision of meaning to which the Semitic Babylonian has but little pretension, though Šumero-Akkadian is generally difficult enough in other respects, in consequence of the excessive number of the homophones that it contains. Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to see how the speakers of the latter language could have understood each other without resorting to some such distinctive aids similar to the tones used in modern—as probably also in ancient—Chinese, of which Šumero-Akkadian is regarded by the Rev. C. J. Ball as an exceedingly ancient form.

The question of the origin of the Akkadians is one concerning which there has been and is still much uncertainty, and which presents many problems for the future. It has been remarked that the fact that there is no special ideograph for “river,” and the fact that “mountain” and “country” are represented by the [pg 122] same character, imply that the people with whom the cuneiform script originated came from a mountainous country—probably the tract to the east or the north-east. This assumption, however, is not wholly dependent on what is here stated, for it is a well-known and admitted fact that the ideograph generally used for “Akkad” stands also for other tracts that are largely mountainous, namely, Phœnicia and Ararat.

It may be of interest here to quote the passage referring to this.

The text in question is the exceedingly important syllabary designated by Prof. Fried. Delitzsch “Syllabary B.” The text is unfortunately defective in the British Museum copy, but a duplicate found at Babylon by the German explorers completes it as follows:—

Uri | [Cuneiform] | Akkadū
Ari | [Cuneiform] | Amurrū
Tilla | [Cuneiform] | Urṭū.

From this we see that the ideograph for Akkad not only stood for that country, but also for the land of the Amorites (Amurrū), and for Ararat (Urṭū), both of them being more or less mountainous districts. That the ancient home of the Akkadians was of the same nature is, therefore, more than probable.

That the Akkadians were a conquering race is indicated by the legend of the god Ura, generally called “the Dibbara Legend,” where the hero, “the warrior Ura,” is represented as speaking prophetically as follows—

“Tâmtu with Tâmtu,
Subartu with Subartu,
Assyrian with Assyrian,
Elamite with Elamite,
Kassite with Kassite,

[pg 123]

Sutite with Sutite,
Qutite with Qutite,
Lullubite with Lullubite,

Country with country, house with house, man with man,

Brother with brother, shall not agree: let them annihilate each other,

And afterwards let the Akkadian come, and

Let him overthrow them all, and let him cast down the whole of them.”

The Akkadians had dominion, at one time or another, over all the above nationalities, some of whom were permanently subjected. Tâmtu, the region of the Persian Gulf, was under their domination constantly, though the inhabitants were apparently rather turbulent, and unwilling subjects. The Assyrians were apparently for a time under Akkadian (Babylonian) rule, but threw it off at a very early period, and later on conquered Akkad itself. The Elamites, too, were for a while conquered by the inhabitants of Babylonia, and the Sutites (people of Sutî) are said to have been all transported by Kadašman-Muruš (he reigned about 1209 b.c., according to Hilprecht). It will thus be seen that they played an important part in the history of the plain of Shinar where they settled, and to all appearance introduced their civilization.

In the earliest ages known to us, the land of Akkad was a collection of small states resembling the Heptarchy. These states differed considerably in power, influence, and prosperity, and the passing centuries brought many changes with them. From time to time one of the kings or viceroys of these small states would find himself more powerful than his contemporaries, and would gradually overcome all the others. One of the earliest instances of this is the ruler Lugal-zag-gi-si, whose reign is placed by Hilprecht [pg 124] at about 4500 b.c. He was son of Ukuš (the reading is doubtful), viceroy (patesi) of a district which seems to be that of which Kis was capital. “He had conquered all Babylonia and established an empire extending from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea” (Hilprecht).

Whether he and his successors were able to maintain real dominion over all this extensive tract or not, we do not know, but a few hundred years later we find Sargon of Agadé (known as “Šargani king of the city”) subduing the land of the west in the 11th year of his reign, and placing the districts under one control, whilst his son, Naram-Sin, apparently added Elam to his dominions, and Uruwuš (whom Prof. Sayce suggests as the original of the Horus of Pliny), at a later date, led a warlike expedition thither, and brought away much spoil, some of which is still extant as a lasting testimony to the reality of this historical fact.

Among the states which existed in Akkad before the whole country was united under one king may be mentioned Isin or Karrak, Ur (the supposed Ur of the Chaldees), Kêš, Nippur (or Niffur), the modern Niffer, Lagaš, Êridu, Êrech, and Larsa (identified with Ellasar), with some others. Akkad and Babylon were always important centres, the former being supreme before the date of the dynasty of Babylon (about 2200 b.c.), and the latter afterwards.

Until about the time of the dynasty of Babylon, the language principally used was to all appearance the non-Semitic Babylonian or Akkadian—in any case, the numerous texts (mainly temple-accounts) of the period of Dungi, Bûr-Sin, Gimil-Sin, and Ibi-Sin are written in that tongue. Nevertheless, Akkadian seems to have been the official language of the country for a considerable time after, if we may judge from the contracts, and especially the historical dates of these documents, which are always written in Akkadian. [pg 125] The names, too, which were before this period wholly Akkadian, gradually become more and more Semitic (Assyro-Babylonian), and finally the Akkadian element only exists as a remnant of the non-Semitic tongue which prevailed before the Semitic Dynasty of Babylon—that to which Ḫammurabi or Amraphel belonged—made the Semitic tongue, spoken by Sargon of Agadé more than 1500 years before, the official language of the country.

Such, then, is the history of the ancient Akkadians, from whose intermingled stock the later Semitic Babylonians sprang, and who inherited, at the same time, their method of writing, their literature, their arts and sciences, and also, to a great extent, their manners, customs, and religion. It was to all appearance with the Semitic dynasty of Ḫammurabi that the change from non-Semitic to Semitic predominance took place. This change must have been slow enough, and in all probability it occurred without any national upheaval, and without any interruption of the national life. Semitic names gradually replaced the Akkadian ones, most of the religious works, incantations, national histories, bilingual lists, and syllabaries were supplied with Semitic translations, and legal precedents in Semitic Babylonian for the information of the judges of later times were drawn up, whilst the old Akkadian laws, though retained, were translated for the use of students who no longer learned Akkadian as their mother-tongue, and who committed them to memory at the same time as they learned the set phrases they would have to use when, their education completed, they should attain to the dignity of full-fledged ministers to the legal needs of the community. By this time, or somewhat later, the racial type must have become fixed, for the sculptures from the thirteenth century b.c. downwards no longer show the slim, elegant form of the Akkadians, but the thick-set, well-developed figure of the Semites, such as at [pg 126] least some of the native Christians of Baghdad and the neighbourhood show at the present day.

As has been already noticed, the Assyrians spoke the same language, and had practically the same religion and literature (including the ancient Akkadian classics) as the Babylonians, whom they resembled in manners, customs, and outward appearance. The old translation of the verse referring to Assyria, “Out of that land (Babylonia) went forth Assur,” is, in all probability, perfectly correct, whatever may be the arguments in favour of the rendering, “He (Nimrod) went out into Assyria,” for it is exceedingly likely that the Babylonian civilization of Assyria is wholly due to emigration of settlers from Babylonia. Moreover, as will be seen later on, the enigmatical Nimrod is none other than the well-known head of the Babylonian Pantheon, Merodach, who is actually stated to have built Babel (= the city Babylon), Erech, and Niffer (identified in Rabbinical tradition, which in this case is probably correct, with Calneh). The Babylonian tradition as to the foundation of the city of Akkad is still wanting, but that its origin was attributed to Merodach is more than probable. If, however, there had been any grounds for honouring Calah, Nineveh, and Resen with the same divine origin, the Assyrians would certainly not have allowed the tradition to go unrecorded. Properly speaking the “land of Nimrod” (Micah v. 6) is Babylon, notwithstanding all arguments to the contrary, for that was the land which he loved, the land whose great cities he was regarded as having founded and as still favouring, and the land where, if we may trust the language of his name (in Akkadian it means “the brightness of day”), he ruled when he was king upon earth—the land, in fact, which gave him birth.

At first governed by patesis, or viceroys (many Assyriologists call them priest-kings or pontiffs), this title was abandoned for that of šarru, “king,” between [pg 127] 1600 and 1800 b.c. The use of the title patesi (in Assyrian iššaku, “chief”) implies that the earlier rulers of Assur acknowledged some overlord, and in all probability this overlord was the paramount king of Babylonia at the time. If we regard Nimrod (Merodach) as the first king of Babylonia (or the first really great ruler of the country), then it is certain that it was not he who founded the great cities of Assyria, for they can have no pretensions to the same antiquity as the great cities of Babylonia, any more than Assyrian civilization can be of the same period. Of course it is probable that the cities of Assyria were founded at an exceedingly early date, perhaps many of them are as old as any Babylonian foundation, but their importance was nothing like so great as those of Babylonia until the latter had already been renowned many hundreds—perhaps many thousands—of years, and to attribute the origin of these unimportant places to Nimrod would bring him no honour, even if it were probable that he had founded them.

The founder of Nineveh, Calah, Rehoboth Ir, and Resen was either a Babylonian emigrant named Asshur, the first viceroy of the district, or else Asshur, in the tenth chapter of Genesis, stands for the Assyrian nation. It is noteworthy that, in the verse in question, there is no mention of the foundation of the old capital, the city of Aššur. This is probably to be explained by the fact that the book of Genesis was compiled at a time when the primæval capital had already fallen into the background, and Nineveh, the city first mentioned in the enumeration, had assumed the first place—indeed, the fact that it is mentioned first seems to prove this contention.

Being far away from the centre of civilization, and apparently mingling with barbarous races to the north—the people of Urarṭu (Ararat), Van, Ukka, Muṣaṣir, etc.—in all probability the ancient Assyrians lost what polish they had brought with them from Babylonia, [pg 128] and, like all pioneers, developed into hardy, fearless, and cruel warriors, constantly striving for the mastery over all the other tribes and nationalities around. Thus it came to pass that, having ascertained her strength, Assyria refused to acknowledge the overlordship of the kings of Babylonia, and the rulers of the country abandoned the title of patesi or iššaku for that of šarru or “king.” The country from which the Assyrians had sprung did not long remain secure from the attacks of her offspring, and the conquest of Babylonia by the Assyrians took place more than once. Brave, warlike, and cruel, the Assyrians at last possessed for a time not only Babylonia, with the overlordship of Elam, but also the whole of Western Asia as far as the Mediterranean and Cyprus, and a large part of Egypt. Notwithstanding the polish that they had attained during the last years of the empire, the nations around remembered against them all the cruelties that they had committed during the foregoing centuries, and when the time of weakness came, when the ruling mind that should have held the empire together, and turned the tide of disaster into the channel of success, was wanting, then came the chance of the nations that had known the Assyrian empire in former ages, and the end of the seventh century before Christ saw the last of the power that had dominated Western Asia so long and so successfully.

Yet Assyria was a most remarkable power, and produced a number of really great rulers and generals. The Assyrian kings retained for a long time their dominion over fairly distant tracts, and made themselves greatly feared by all the nations around. As is well known, they had made great advances in the art of sculpture, so much so that visitors to the British Museum, on seeing the wonderful hunting-scenes in the Assyrian side-gallery, have been heard to express the opinion that Greek artists must either have originated them, or influenced their production. Their [pg 129] literature was naturally influenced by that of Babylonia, but one has only to read the historical records of Tiglath-pileser I., who declaims his successes in forceful and elegant paragraphs; Sennacherib, with his wealth of words; or Assur-banî-âpli, who in moderate and elegant phrases tells of the successes of his soldiers and generals, to see that, when occasion arose, they could produce literary works as good as the best of ancient times.

It will probably be a matter of regret to many people, but the name of Nimrod, which we have been accustomed to associate with the pleasures and perils of the chase for so many hundred years, must now be relegated to the domain of words misunderstood or purposely changed for reasons that can without much difficulty be divined.

It is not Nimrod alone that comes under this category—Nibhaz (2 Kings xvii. 31), judging from the Greek, is in the same case, Nisroch (2 Kings xix. 37) is certainly so, and Abed-nego for Abed-nebo is a well-known instance.

But why, it will be asked, should these names have been intentionally changed? The answer is simple. All these names were, or contained, the names of heathen deities, and this offended the strongly monotheistic Hebrew scribe who, at a certain period, was copying the portions of the Hebrew Bible in which they occur, so he defaced them, adding or changing a letter, and thus making them unrecognizable, and in all probability ridiculous as well. A different punctuation (vowelling) completed the work, and the names were then in such a form that pious and orthodox lips could pronounce them without fear of defilement.

Nibhaz is probably for some such name as Aba-hazar, Nisroch is for Assur or Assuraku, and Nimrod is, by similar changes, for Amaruduk or Amarudu (original Akkadian), Maruduk or Marduk (Assyro-Babylonian). The change was brought about by making the root triliteral, and the ending uk (ak in [pg 130] Merodach-baladan) disappearing first, Marduk appeared as Marad. This was connected with the root Marad, “to be rebellious,” and the word was still further mutilated, or, rather, deformed by having a (ni) attached, assimilating it to a certain extent to the “niphal forms” of the Hebrew verbs, and making a change altogether in conformity with the genius of the Hebrew language. This alteration is also clearly visible in Nibhaz and Nisroch, which fully confirm the explanation here given.

From a linguistic point of view, therefore, the identification of Nimrod as a changed form of Merodach is fully justified.

But there is another and a potent reason for eliminating Nimrod from the list of Babylonian heroes, and that is, the fact that his name is nowhere found in the extensive literature which has come down to us. His identification with Gišdubar was destroyed when it was discovered that the true reading of that doubtful name was not, as it was expected that it would be, a Babylonian form of Nimrod, but something entirely different, namely, Gilgameš. Moreover, there is some doubt whether the personage represented on the cylinder-seals struggling with lions and bulls be really Gilgameš (Gišdubar)—his prowess in hunting does not seem to be emphasized in the legend recounting his exploits (see pp. 92-111)—he is in all probability the wild man of the woods who became his great friend and counsellor, the satyr-like figure who is represented as accompanying and imitating the hunter being simply one of those beings who, the Babylonians imagined, existed in wild and waste places, for that this creature is not, as was at first supposed, Êa-banî, the friend of Gilgameš, is not only proved by the fact that in the legend he is described as a man with hairy body and hair long like that of a woman, but also by the incontestable circumstance that this satyr-like creature is, on certain cylinders, [pg 131] represented more than once, and in such a way that the repetition cannot be attributed to the exigencies of the design. Moreover, he is sometimes represented in positions that seem to have no connection with the Gilgameš-legend at all.

It would seem therefore to be certain that Gilgameš is not Nimrod; that as he had little or no fame as a “great hunter before the Lord,” it cannot be he who is represented on the cylinder-seals; and that, in all probability, the hunter there represented is Êa-banî, who overcame the divine bull before Erech, and a lion after the defeat of Ḫumbaba, in both cases, however, assisted by his royal patron.

But, it may be asked, how is it that Nimrod, otherwise Merodach, is described as “the mighty hunter before the Lord”?

The explanation is very simple, and remarkably conclusive in its way. Merodach, in the legend of the Creation, there appears as the greatest hunter (using the word in the Hebrew sense of “entrapper”) that ever lived. For did he not, when Tiamtu, the great dragon of chaos and disorder, tried to usurp the dominion of the gods, and bring ruin on their fair work, chase and entrap her, thereby winning the throne of the kingdom of heaven, and laying the universe under an everlasting debt to him? With his net he caught and held her fast, and, standing on her body, slew her. This was the feat of a real gibbor ṣayid, a “hero in hunting,” or entrapping with a net, for ṣayid, “hunting,” is from the same root as Sidon, the name of the ancient “fishing town,” renowned of old, and still existing at the present day.

[pg 132]

The Tower Of Babel.

There is no doubt that one of the most striking and attractive episodes of the sacred narrative of Genesis is the Tower of Babel. It has attracted the attention of all from its circumstantial details, and has, as an authoritative narrative, had the full belief of all the faithful for many thousand years. This being the case, it is needful to go rather carefully into the matter, not only to try to account for its origin, but also to satisfy the believer of to-day with regard to the story being a real historical fact.

“Of these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands,”—“These are the sons of Ham, after their families,”—“These are the sons of Shem, after their families,” says the author of Genesis in ch. x. 5, 20, and 31, and then he adds, in slightly varying words, “after their tongues, in their lands, in their nations.”

Yet, after this (ch. xi. 1) we have the statement, “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” Moreover, how was it possible that the whole of the nations of the earth there enumerated in the tenth chapter should have had their origin at Babel, the beginning of Nimrod's (Merodach's) kingdom, coeval with Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar? The effect of such a statement as this would surely be to make the language of Nimrod the primitive language of the world, unless, indeed, all the languages of the earth resulting from the confusion of tongues were regarded as new, the primitive speech of man having been destroyed on that occasion. Then, again, as we know, the building of the city was not stopped, for it continued until it became the greatest and most important centre in the known world when it was at the height of its glory.

With the best will in the world, therefore, there [pg 133] seems to be no escape from regarding both the story of the Tower of Babel, and the reference to Nimrod and Asshur in the foregoing chapter as interpolations, giving statements from ancient and possibly fairly well-known records, recording what was commonly believed in the ancient East in those early ages. It is also noteworthy, that both extracts, referring as they do, to Babylonia, are probably on that account from a Babylonian source. May it not be possible, that they have been inserted in the sacred narrative as statements of what was the common opinion among the more well-informed inhabitants of Western Asia at the time, without any claim to an inspired authority being either stated or implied? This would seem to be the most reasonable way of looking at the matter, and would take away what might well be regarded as a great difficulty to the believer in good faith.

If this be conceded, we can with the greater ease analyze this portion of the eleventh chapter of Genesis, and estimate it at its true value.

In any case, there is great improbability that the statement that the whole earth was of one language and of one speech, was ever believed, by thinking men at the time as an actual historical fact. A better translation would be “the whole land,” that is, the whole tract of country from the mountains of Elam to the Mediterranean Sea, rather than “the whole earth.” The same word is used when the “land” of Israel is spoken of, and also when “the land of Egypt” is referred to. It will thus be seen that no violence whatever is done to the text if the restricted use of the word be accepted.

That this is, in a sense, provable as an historical fact, we shall see in the sequel.

Having thus in a measure cleared the way, the various points of the first nine verses of the eleventh chapter of Genesis may be taken in order.

“As they journeyed in the east” apparently refers [pg 134] to the remembrance of the migrations that many a nation, handing down its traditions from mouth to mouth, must have preserved in ancient times. Whilst thus engaged, “they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there”—a statement which would seem to point to the migrants having been wandering about in various districts, some of them mountainous—like Armenia on the north of Assyria, and Elam and other mountainous tracts on the east. This would seem to agree with the migration which, from the evidence of the monuments of Babylonia, the Akkadians apparently made before they settled in that country. And here it may be noted, in support of that fact, that the ideograph14 for Akkad, Uri or Ura in Akkadian, and Akkadū in Semitic Babylonian, not only stood for Akkad, but also (often used in the Assyrian letters) for Ararat (Urṭū), and likewise (this in a syllabary only) for Amurrū, the land of the Amorites, or Phœnicia. Both these being districts more or less mountainous, it is only reasonable to suppose that the original home of the Akkadians was likewise of the same nature, and that they were not aborigines of the Babylonian plain. The Akkadians at least, therefore, “journeyed in the east.”

In the expression “they found a plain in the land of Shinar,” we have a reference to the old name of a district of Babylonia, generally regarded as the Šumer of the Babylonian inscriptions, called Kingi or Kengi “the country” par excellence in the native tongue of the inhabitants. The land of Shinar here spoken of, if this explanation be correct, not merely contained a plain—it was, in fact, itself a large plain, through which the rivers Tigris and Euphrates ran, and it was covered, when the land had been brought into a really good state of cultivation, by a network of canals connected with them. It must, when the ancient Akkadians first settled there, have been a land of remarkable [pg 135] fertility, and would be so still were it brought into the same efficient state of cultivation, with irrigation and drainage, such as the old inhabitants effected.

Here, having settled down, they built a city and a tower, using brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar—just as they are proved to have done from the remains of cities found in the country at the present day. That Babylon was the site of the first settlement of the nature of a city is conceivable, and it is very possible that the first tower in Babylonia, which in later times had many towers, as had also Assyria, was situated in that ancient city. Everything points, therefore, to the correctness of the statements made in this portion of the sacred narrative. According to native tradition, however (and this seems to be supported by the statements in ch. x. 10), there were other important cities on the Babylonian plain of almost equal antiquity, namely, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, which last is identified with Niffer (see p. 126). Notwithstanding the extensive ruins, proof of the same remote date for Babylon will doubtless be difficult to obtain, on account of the country around and a large portion of the site of the city being so marshy. The result of this condition of things will in all probability be, that very few remains of a really ancient date will be discovered in a condition to render services to archæology. To this must also be added the fact, that the city, being the capital for some thousands of years, underwent many changes at the hands of its various kings, partly from the necessity of keeping in good repair the many comparatively perishable brick monuments that the city contained, and partly from a desire to add more to the glories of the city than any of their predecessors had done.

“And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, and its top (lit. head) shall be in the heavens.” To all appearance, this means simply that they would [pg 136] build a very high structure,—to many a student of the sacred text it has seemed that the writer only intended to say, that the tower (migdol) that they were about to build was to be very high. The mountains of Elam were not so very far off, and travellers from that part would have been able to assure them that the heavens would not be appreciably nearer on account of their being a few hundred cubits above the surface of the earth, even if traditions of their fathers' wanderings had not assured them of the same thing. They wished simply to make them a name and a rallying-point, “lest,” as the sacred text has it, “we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

And here a few remarks upon the temple-towers of the Babylonians might not be out of place.

As has already been stated, most of the principal towns of Babylonia each possessed one. That of Babylon (called Šu-ana in the list published in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. ii., pl. 50) was named Ê-temen-ana, “the temple of the foundation-stone of Heaven”; that of Borsippa, near to Babylon, was called Ê-ur-imina-ana, generally translated “the temple of the seven spheres of heaven,” on account of its being dedicated to the sun, moon, and planets. This was a high and massive tower in seven stages, each coloured with an emblematic tint indicating the heavenly body with which each stage was associated. At Niffer the tower seems to have had three names, or else there were three towers (which is unlikely), the principal one being Im-ur-sag. Agade, the Akkad of Gen. x. 10, had two of these temple-towers, Ê-Dadia, apparently meaning “the temple of the (divine) Presence,” and Ê-šu-gala or Ê-igi-ê-di, the latter apparently meaning “the temple of the wonder (of mankind),” which was dedicated to the god Tammuz. At Cuthah there was the temple of Nannara (Nan-naros); at Ur the temple Ê-šu-gan-du-du; at Erech Ê-gipara-imina, “the temple of the seven enclosures”; [pg 137] at Larsa Ê-dur-an-ki, “the Temple of the bond of heaven and earth.”

The only temple-tower that contains in its name a distinct reference to the seven stages of which it was composed, is that at Borsippa, though that at Erech may possibly have in its name “seven enclosures” a suggestion of something of the kind. As, however, the ruins of the towers at Dûr-Sargina (Khorsabad) in Assyria, Erech, Niffer, and elsewhere, show distinctly this form of architecture, there is every probability that they were all, or almost all, built on the same plan. In his description of the glories of Babylon, Herodotus gives details, in his usual minute way, of the temple of Belos (Ê-sagila) there. He describes it as having eight stages (the platform upon which the tower proper was built being counted as one), and judging from his description, this building must have differed somewhat from the others, the various platforms being connected by a gradually rising ascent, arranged spirally as it were, so that by constantly walking upwards, and turning at the corners of the edifice, one at last reached the top. About the middle of this long ascending pathway there was a stopping-place, with seats to rest upon. Having reached the top of the structure, the visitor came upon a cell, within which there was a couch and a golden table. Here it was supposed that the god descended from time to time to dwell. Below, he relates, there was another cell, wherein was a large statue of Zeus (Belos) sitting. This image was of gold, as were also the table in front of it, the god's footstool, and his seat. It is probable that at the time to which the narrative in Genesis refers, the tower was neither so high, nor the workmanship so splendid and valuable, as in later times.

But was this the Tower of Babel? We do not know. The general opinion is that the great and celebrated temple-tower at Borsippa, extensive remains [pg 138] of which still exist, was that world-renowned erection. Its name, however, was Ê-zida, and it was not situated within Babylon. Notwithstanding the fact, therefore, that Borsippa, the town on the outskirts of the great city, was called “the second Babylon,” and that tradition associates the site of the Tower of Babel with that spot, it must still be held to be very doubtful whether that was really the place. Neither the renown of Ê-zida nor that of Ê-sagila prove that either of them must have been the place, for the populace is fickle-minded in this as in other matters, and holy fanes have the periods when they are in fashion, just like anything else.

This being the case, the question is, what was that Ê-temen-ana-kia which is apparently mentioned in the list of temple-towers quoted above? In many an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar, this temple-tower is referred to, though very shortly, as having been restored by him. Thus, in the great cylinder of Nebuchadnezzar, 85-4-30, i, the following occurs—

“I caused the fanes of Babylon and Borsippa to be rebuilt and endowed.

Ê-temen-ana-kia, the temple-tower of Babylon;

Ê-ur-imina-ana-kia, the temple-tower of Borsippa, all their structure with bitumen and brick

I made, I completed.”

In the above Ê-temen-ana-kia takes the place of Ê-sagila, and Ê-ur-imina-ana-kia that of Ê-zida, implying that they respectively belonged to each other. The passage corresponding to the above in the India House Inscription is greatly expanded, and recounted with much detail. The portion referring to Ê-temen-ana-kia is as follows—

“The vessels of the temple Ê-sagila with massive gold—

[pg 139]

the bark Ma-kua (Merodach's shrine) with electrum and stones—

I made glorious
like the stars of heaven.
The fanes of Babylon
I caused to be rebuilt and endowed.
Of Ê-temen-ana-kia
with brick and bright lapis stone
I reared its head.
To rebuild Ê-sagila
my heart urged me—
constantly did I set myself,” etc., etc.

According to the plan of Babylon drawn up by Weissbach, one of the German explorers, Ê-temen-ana-kia was situated to the north of Ê-sagila, which latter was evidently the temple connected with it. As both were dedicated to Merodach (Bel), they practically formed one centre of worship, and it is possibly on this account that the Tower is called “the Temple of Belus” in Herodotus. The description, from a Babylonian tablet probably in private hands, published by the late George Smith, agrees well with that given by Herodotus, but has some noteworthy differences—the great height of the lowest stage, the sloping (?) sides of the second stage, and the buildings grouped near it. Unfortunately, the baked brickwork of Ê-temen-ana-kia has been cleared away, practically destroying the remains.

Concerning the miracle of the confusion of tongues, there is, of course, no historical reference. The Babylonian inscriptions know nothing of it. Yet the stranger visiting Babylon could not have been otherwise than struck by the number of languages spoken there. There was the religious tongue, which is called by modern scholars Akkadian or Šumerian, and its dialect, together with the language known as Assyrian, or, more correctly, Semitic Babylonian. [pg 140] Besides this, there were various Aramaic dialects—Chaldee, Aramean (Syriac), and the language of the dockets on the trade-documents, which is also found in Assyria. In addition to these, the Elamite and Kassite conquerors of Babylonia brought with them large numbers of people, and each of these nations naturally introduced, in larger measure than before, the use of their respective languages. Speakers of other tongues long since dead must also have visited the city for the purposes of trade, and of this the so-called Hittite is in all probability an example (in the researches of Profs. Sayce and Jensen we shall, perhaps, see the beginnings of the recovery of this tongue), and a docket in an unknown script implies that yet another language heard there in later times has to be discovered, though this may simply be some other way of writing one of the tongues spoken there that is already known to scholars. With regard to the oneness of the language of the rest of the earth, in all probability this expression referred, as has been already remarked, to the tract enclosed between the mountains of Persia on the east, the Mediterranean on the west, Asia Minor and Armenia on the north, and Arabia on the south—a tract in which the lingua franca of diplomacy was, as is proved by the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, the tongue now called Assyrian, which could easily have been regarded as the proofs and the remains of the thing that had been.

To recapitulate: The story of the Tower of Babel is a break in the narrative of the genealogies, so striking that any thinking man must have been able to recognize it easily. It is a narrative that practically glorifies Babylonia, making it the centre of the human race, and the spot from which they all migrated after the dispersion caused by the confusion of tongues. It was probably given for, and recognized as, the legend current in Babylonia at the time, and must, [pg 141] therefore, have been recognized and valued by the people of the time at its true worth.

The Patriarchs To Abraham.

Little information is unfortunately to be obtained from Assyro-Babylonian sources concerning the patriarchs from Shem to Abraham. It is true that certain comparisons can be made in the matter of the names, but these, when more precise information comes to light, may be found to be more or less erroneous. As a matter of fact, with one or two exceptions, it is probable that we have nothing from Babylonian sources bearing on the patriarchs who preceded Abraham at all.

Nevertheless, there are one or two things that may be put forward in a more or less tentative way, and these may well be discussed with this reservation in this place.

As we have seen, it was the custom of the early Babylonians to deify the early rulers of their race, and as a well-known example of this, the case of the god Merodach will at once occur to the mind. As has been shown, this deity is none other than the long-known and enigmatical hero Nimrod, and it is probable that, if we had more and more complete sources of information, other instances would be found. This being the case, it may be permitted to the student to try to find similar instances of deification by the Babylonians of the men of old who were their ancestors in common with the Jews and other nations of the ancient East.

To begin with Shem, the name of the ancestor of the Semitic race. As a word, this means, in Hebrew, “name.” Now, the Assyro-Babylonian equivalent and cognate word is šumu, “name,” and this naturally leads one to ask whether Shem may not have been designated “He of the Name” par excellence, and [pg 142] deified under that appellation. If this be the case, we may perhaps see the word Shem in certain names of kings and others of the second dynasty of Babylon (that to which Ḫammurabi or Amraphel belonged, and which held the power from about 2230 to 1967 b.c.). Sumu-abi, the name of the first ruler of the dynasty, would then mean “Shem is my father,” Sumu-la-ili would mean “a name to his god,” with a punning allusion to the deified ancestor of the Semitic nations.

Other names, not royal, are Sumu-Upê, apparently, “Shem of Opis”; Sumu-Dagan, “Shem is Dagon,” or “Name of Dagon”; Sumu-ḫatnu, “Shem is a protection”; Sumu-atar, “Shem is great,” and the form Samu-la-ili for Sumu-la-ili leads one to ask whether Samia may not be for Sumia, “my Shem,” a pet name abbreviated from a longer one similar to those already quoted; Sumu-ya (= Sumia) also occurs. All these forms, being written with s, instead of š, like Samsu-iluna for Šamšu-iluna, betray foreign (so-called Arabic) influence, and are not native Babylonian. That the Babylonians had at this time names compounded with the native representative of Sumu is shown by the contracts of that time, where the name Šumum-libši, “let there be a name,” occurs. Many later instances of this are to be found.15

From other than Bible sources there is but little that can be gathered concerning the descendants of Shem, though in this, as in many other things, one lives in hopes of something coming to light later on. And such a record, as may readily be imagined, would be of the greatest interest and value. Shem, as one of those born before the Flood, must certainly on that [pg 143] account have been renowned (as we have just seen he was, if it be true that he was deified) among other nations of Semitic stock than the Hebrews. To all appearance, the lives of the patriarchs decreased greatly after the Flood, and are represented, in the Bible narrative, as gradually assuming the average duration of those who attain a hoary old age at the present day. It is noteworthy that his eldest son was born two years after the Flood, and if this have any ethnic meaning, it ought to point to the foundation of the settlement known as Arpachshad at about that period, though it could not have attained to the renown of a well-known and recognized community until some time after that date.

The theory that Arpachshad represents a community is rather supported by the fact that it is mentioned in Gen. x. 22, where it is accompanied by the names of Elam, Asshur, Lud, and Aram, which were later, as we know, names of nationalities. Indeed, the long lives of the patriarchs of this exceedingly early period are best explained if we suppose that they represent a people or community.

There is a considerable amount of difference of opinion as to the correct identification of the Arpachshad of Gen. ix. 10, though nearly every critic places the country it represents in the same tract. It has been identified with Arrapkha, or Arrapachitis, in Assyria. Schrader makes it to be for Arpa-cheshed, “the coast of the Chaldeans.” Prof. Hommel, who is always ready with a seductive and probable etymology, suggests that Arpachshad is an Egyptianized way of writing Ur of the Chaldees—Ar-pa-Cheshed, for Ur-pa-Cheshed.

This, it must be admitted, is a possible etymology, for Egyptianized words were really used in that district in ancient times. This is shown in the name of Merodach, Asari, which is apparently connected with the Egyptian Osiris, just as one of the [pg 144] names of the Sun-god Šamaš, Amna, is probably an Akkadianized form of the Egyptian Ammon, and even the Egyptian word for “year,” ronpet, made, probably by early Babylonian scribes, into a kind of pun, became, by the change of a vowel, ran pet, “name of heaven,” transcribed, by those same scribes, into mu-anna, which, in its ordinary signification, means likewise “name of heaven,” in Akkadian; the whole being used with the meaning of ronpet, i.e. “year.” It will thus be seen that there is but little that is unlikely in Prof. Hommel's etymology of Arpachshad, and that the explanation which he gives may turn out to be correct.16

In any case, we may take it that the consensus of opinion favours the supposition that the name in question refers to Babylonia, and if this be the case, Abraham, the father of the Hebrew nation, as well as of other peoples, was really, as has been supposed, of Babylonian or Chaldean origin. This is also implied by the statement in Gen. xi. 28, that Ur of the Chaldees was the land of the nativity of Haran, Abraham's brother, who died in the country of his birth before the family of Terah went to settle at Haran, on the way to Canaan. The theory of the identity of Arpachshad is moreover important, because it is contended that Ur of the Chaldees was not in Babylonia, but is to be identified with the site known as Urfa, in Mesopotamia.

Concerning the names of Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, and Nahor, there is not much that can be said. To all appearance they are not Babylonian names, or, rather, they receive little or no illustration from [pg 145] Babylonian sources. Nothing is recorded concerning these patriarchs except their ages at the time their eldest sons were born, and at what age they died. The question whether the Hebrews derived their name from their ancestor Eber is not set at rest by any passage in the Bible, nor is there any statement in secular literature which would enable this to be decided. To all appearance, it is needful to keep the name of Eber distinct from that of the Hebrews, notwithstanding that they are from the same root. If, however, the Hebrews were “the men from beyond,” then Eber may well have been “the man from beyond,” indicating for his time a migration similar to that of Abraham. In this way, if in no other, the names may be connected.

We have seen that in many cases the names of these “genealogical tables” are regarded as nationalities, and, indeed, there is sufficient justification for such a theory on account of many of the names appearing as those of well-known nations. This being conceded, it would probably not be too much to regard the names of the patriarchs from Shelah to Serug as indicating ethnical historical events. Thus Shelah might mean “extension,” indicating the time when the Semitic race began to go beyond its ancient borders. Treating the other names in the same way, Eber would mean the period when that race crossed some river into another district; Peleg would mean that, at the time referred to, that race, or a portion of it, was divided into small states, as Babylonia was at the period preceding that of the dynasty of Amraphel; whilst Reu would mean “friendliness,” denoting the time when those states were united under one head, and the old dissensions ceased. Serug would then mean something like “interweaving,” perhaps referring to the time when the various races (? of Babylonia) intermingled. These explanations of the names receive a certain amount of confirmation from [pg 146] the parallel list in Gen. x. 25, where to the name Peleg the note is added, “for in his days was the earth divided.”

With regard to Nahor and his son Terah the Jews had other traditions, and they speak thus concerning them—

“Terah, son of Nahor, was the chief officer of king Nimrod, and a great favourite with his royal master. And when his wife Amtheta, the daughter of Kar-Nebo, bare him a son, she called his name Abram, meaning ‘great father.’ And Terah was seventy years old when his son Abram was born.”

Here we have, in Amtheta, a doubtful Babylonian name, in Kar-Nebo a possible Babylonian name, and in the meaning of Abram a signification that does not militate against the indications given by the tablets of Babylonia and Assyria. This being the case, it would seem that there were trustworthy data to go upon for certain facts connected with Abraham's ancestors, and that these facts were known to the Jews of earlier ages. The Talmudic account of the wonders seen at the birth of Abram, however, are not sufficiently worthy of credence to allow of repetition here, notwithstanding their reference to Terah and Abraham's youth.

Eusebius quotes the following from Eupolemus concerning Abraham—

“He saith, moreover, that in the tenth generation in a city of Babylonia, called Camarina (which, by some, is called the city of Urie, and which signifyeth a city of the Chaldeans), there lived, the thirteenth in descent, (a man named) Abraham, a man of a noble race, and superior to all others in wisdom.

“Of him they relate that he was the inventor of astrology and the Chaldean magic, and that on account of his eminent piety he was esteemed by God. It is further said that under the directions of God he removed and lived in Phœnicia, and there taught the [pg 147] Phœnicians the motions of the sun and moon, and all other things; for which reason he was held in great reverence by their king” (Praep. Evan. 9).

Nicolas of Damascus, apparently wishing to glorify his own city, states that Abram was king of Damascus, and went there, with an army, from that part of the country which is situated above Babylon of the Chaldeans, afterwards transferring his dwelling to the land which was at that time called Canaan, but is now called Judea. Justin also states that Abraham lived at Damascus, from which city he traces the origin of the Jews.

According to the most trustworthy traditions, therefore, as well as from the Bible itself, Abraham was of Chaldean or Babylonian origin. If the city of Urie or Ur be, as he says, that which was also called Camarina, this would in all probability be the Aramean form of the Arabic qamar, “the moon,” and the name Camarina would be due to the fact that the Moon-god, Sin or Nannara, was worshipped there. It is also noteworthy that the city whither the family of Terah emigrated, Haran (in Assyro-Babylonian, Ḫarran), was likewise a centre of lunar worship, and some have sought to see in that a reason for choosing that settlement. In connection with this it may be remarked, that in the Talmud Terah, the father of Abraham, is represented as an idolater, reproved by his son Abraham for foolish and wicked superstition.

We see, therefore, from the eleventh chapter of Genesis, that Abraham was a Babylonian from Ur, now known as Mugheir (Muqayyar), or (better still) from that part of the country which lay north of Babylon, known by the non-Semitic inhabitants as Uri, and by the Semitic population as Akkad. As the family of Terah was a pastoral one, they must have pastured their flocks in this district until they heard of those more fruitful tracts in the west, and decided to emigrate thither. And here it may be noted that [pg 148] they did not, by thus quitting their fatherland, go to swear allegiance to another ruler, for the sway of the king of Babylon extended to the farthest limits of the patriarch's wanderings, and wherever he went, Babylonian and Aramean or Chaldean would enable him to make himself understood. He was, therefore, always as it were in his own land, under the governors of the same king who ruled in the place of his birth.

The name of the patriarch, moreover, seems to betray the place of his origin. The first name that he bore was Abram, which has already been compared with the Abu-ramu, “honoured father,” of the Assyrian eponym-lists (in this place an official by whose name the year 677, the 5th year of Esarhaddon, was distinguished). At an earlier date than this the name has not been found, and the element ram, ramu, rame, etc., seems to be rare. Ranke's list gives only Sumu-ramê, “the name is established,” or “Sumu (? Shem) is established,” or something similar, but ramê here is probably not connected with the second syllable of Abram's name. The name of Sarah has been compared with the Assyro-Babylonian šarratu, “queen,” but seems not to occur in the inscriptions. Isaak is also absent, but Ishmael, under the form of Išme-îlu (meaning “(the) god has heard”) occurs, as well as others in which îlu is replaced by Êa, Sin, and Addu or Adad (Hadad).

When, however, it was revealed to Abram that he was to stay in the Promised Land, a change was made in his name—he was no longer known by the Assyro-Babylonian name Abram, “honoured father,” but, in view of the destiny appointed for him, he was to be called Abraham, “father of a multitude of nations.”

The first stratum of the Hebrew nation was, therefore to all appearance, Babylonian, the second stratum Aramean, probably a kindred stock, whilst the third was to all appearance Canaanitish. All these must have left their trace on the Hebrew character, and, [pg 149] like most mixed races, they showed at all times superior intelligence in many ways. They were good diplomates, brave warriors, divine lawgivers, and they excelled in literary skill. One great defect they had—among their many defects—they were stiffnecked to a fatal degree. Had their kings been less obstinate and better rulers, conciliating their subjects instead of exasperating them, the nation might have outlasted the power of Rome, and built upon its ruins in their land a kingdom dominating the Semitic world in the nearer East to the present day.

Of all the characters of early Bible history, there is hardly one which stands out with greater prominence than the patriarch Abraham. And not only is it his history and personality that is important—the historical facts touched upon in the course of his biography are equally so. Facts concerning the ancient East, from Babylonia on the east to Egypt on the west, face the reader as he goes through that attractive narrative, and make him wonder at the state of society, the political situation, and the beliefs of the people which should have made his migrations possible, brought about the monotheistic belief which characterizes his life and that of his descendants, and enabled him and his sons after him to attain such a goodly store of the riches of this world.

To begin with Babylonia, his native place. As is well known, that country had already been in existence as a collection of communities far advanced in arts, sciences, and literature, at an exceedingly early date, and many of the small kingdoms of which it consisted had become united under Ḫammurabi (Amraphel) into one single state, making it one of the greatest powers at the time. Of course, it is not by any means improbable that something similar to this had existed before, but if so, we have no record of the fact, though it is certain that different states had from time to time become predominant and powerful to an extent hardly [pg 150] conceivable. The influence, if not the sway, of Sargon of Agadé, who reigned about 3800 years before Christ, for example, extended from Elam on the east to the Mediterranean on the west—a vast tract of territory to acknowledge the suzerainty of so small a state.

Babylonia, therefore, with a long history behind it, was beginning to feel, to all appearance, a new national life. It had passed the days when the larger states boasted strength begotten of mere size, and when the smaller states sought mutual protection against the larger, finding in that alone, or in the acknowledgment of an overlord, the security upon which their existence as separate states depended. There is every probability that it was at this time that the legends which formed the basis of Babylonian national literature were collected and copied, thus assuring their preservation. It is also probable that the translations from Akkadian of the numerous inscriptions written in that language, and the bilingual lists, syllabaries, and other texts of a similar nature, belong to this period.

The social condition of Babylonia itself at this time is now fairly well known. The ancient Akkadian laws were still in force, but as they did not provide for all the possibilities that might arise, a large series of legal enactments was compiled, in which points were decided in a very common-sense and just manner. It is noteworthy that the number of tablets of a legal nature is very numerous, and arouses the suspicion that the Babylonians were exceedingly fond of litigation, due, no doubt, to the tendency they had to overreach each other. It is therefore very probable that this is the reason why we meet with that remarkable contract of the purchase of the field of Machpelah from the children of Heth. One would have imagined that the frequent protestations, made by the head of the tribe there located, to the effect that he gave the field and the cave to Abraham, would have been sufficient, [pg 151] especially at that solemn moment of the burial of Sarah, and that the matter could have been put upon a legal footing later on. But no, the patriarch was determined to have the matter placed beyond dispute there and then, and knowing how prone the Babylonians (with whom he had passed his youth) were to deny a contract, and try to get back again, by perjury, what they had already parted with for value, the matter was at once placed beyond the possibility of being disputed in any court of law.17

[pg 152]

Chapter V. Babylonia At The Time Of Abraham.

The first dynasty of Babylon—The extent of its dominion—The Amorites—Life in Babylonia at this time—The religious element—The king—The royal family—The people—Their manners and customs as revealed by the contract-tablets—Their laws.

Much has been learnt, but there is still much to learn, concerning the early history of Babylonia.

During the period immediately preceding that of the dynasty of Babylon—the dynasty to which Amraphel (Ḫammurabi) belonged—there is a gap in the list of the kings, which fresh excavations alone can fill up. Before this gap the records, as far as we know them, are in the Akkadian language. After this gap they are in the Semitic-Babylonian tongue. To all appearance, troublous times had come upon Babylonia. The native rulers had been swept away by the Elamites, who, in their turn, had been driven out by the Semitic kings of Babylonia, but those Semitic kings were not Babylonians by origin, notwithstanding that the native scribes, who drew up the lists of kings, describe them as being a Babylonian dynasty.

Envelope (Printed upside down on account of seal-impressions 2 to 4) of a contract-tablet recording a sale of land by Sin-êribam, Pî-sa-nunu, and Idis-Sin, three brothers, to Sin-ikîsam. Reign of Immerum, contemporary with Sumula-îlu, about 2100 b.c. Seal Impressions. 1. (Here reversed.) Two deities, one (in a flounced robe) holding a sceptre. On the left, a worshipper; on the right, a man overcoming a lion. This scene is repeated, less distinctly, on the left. 2. Left: Two deities, one holding a sceptre and a weapon; right: deity, divine attendant adoring, and worshipper (?). 3. Men overcoming lions; winged creature devouring a gazelle. 4. Figure on plinth, holding basket and cup; worshipper; deity, holding sword; lion (or dog); deity, holding weapon. Inscription: Aa (the moon-goddess), Samas (the sun-god). (Tablet 92,649 in the British Museum (Babylonian and Assyrian Room, Table-case A, No. 62). The edges have also some very fine impressions.)

The change may have been gradual, but it was great. Many of the small states which had existed at the time of Dungi, Bûr-Sin, Gimil-Sin, Ibi-Sin, and their predecessors had to all appearance passed away, and become part of the Babylonian Empire long before the dynasty of Babylon came to [pg 153] an end, though some at least were in existence in the time of the great conqueror Ḫammurabi. But the change was, as it would seem, not one of overlordship only—another change which had been gradually taking place was, by this, carried one step farther, namely, the Semiticizing of the country. Before the period of the dynasty of Babylon, the two races of Akkadians and Semitic Babylonians had been living side by side, the former (except in the kingdom of which Sippar was the capital) having the predominance, the records being written in the Akkadian language, and the kings bearing mainly Akkadian names, though there were, for the Semitic inhabitants, translations of those names. Translations of the inscriptions and legends, as well as the old Akkadian laws, probably did not (except in the Semitic kingdom of Agadé) exist.

How it came about is not known, but it is certain that, about 2200 years b.c., a purely Semitic dynasty occupied the throne of the chief ruler in Babylonia. The first king was Sumu-abi, who reigned 14 years. This monarch was followed by Sumu-la-ili and Zabû, 36 and 14 years respectively. Then come two rulers with Babylonian names—Abil-Sin and Sin-mubaliṭ, 18 years and 20 years. These are followed, in their turn, by Ḫammurabi (43), Samsu-iluna (38), Ebišum (25), Ammi-ṭitana (25), Ammi-zaduga (21), and Samsu-ṭitana (31 years). This dynasty, therefore, lasted about 28518 years, and with two exceptions, Abil-Sin and Sin-mubaliṭ, the names, though Semitic, are not Babylonian.

[pg 154]

Yet it was called by Babylonians “the dynasty of Babylon!”

And this, in all probability, is correct. The dynasty must, on account of the name given to it, have come from that city, but was, at the same time, of foreign origin, its kings being descended from another dynasty which came from some other part of the Semitic world of that time. This is indicated by the following facts.

Three of the tablets of which we shall learn something more farther on, and which are preserved in the British Museum, have invocations of a personage, apparently a king, named Anmanila. The name of this ruler naturally recalls the Anman of the dynasty following that of Babylon—namely, the dynasty of Uru-ku; but the style of the writing of these three documents is not that of the later period, but of the beginning of the dynasty of Babylon, and there is, on that account, every probability that Anmanila was one of the predecessors of Sumu-abi, the first king of the dynasty of Babylon. It is, of course, possible that this ruler was simply a co-regent with one of the kings already known, like Immerum, who lived at the time of Sumu-la-îla, or Buntaḫun-îla,19 another associate with Sumu-la-îla on the throne, but there is a certain amount of improbability in this, as Anmanila is named alone, and not in connection with any other. Moreover, it is probable that, in the case of the two co-regents here mentioned, we have examples of sons associated with their father, and one replacing the other on account of the early death of his brother. Another ruler, probably of the period preceding that of the dynasty of Babylon, is Manamaltel, whose name [pg 155] is found on a tablet belonging to the Rev. Dr. J. P. Way, head-master of Rossall School, and it is noteworthy that one of the tablets bearing the name of Anmanila gives, among the witnesses, a certain Sumuentel,20 a name having the same termination as Manamaltel, a component which seems to have been common at this early period, and rare or non-existent later. Most, if not all, the above are foreign names.

The next question that arises is, what was the nationality of these rulers, who, though belonging to what was called “the dynasty of Babylon,” were not really of Babylonian origin?

The key to the matter is probably furnished by the following inscription of Ammi-ṭitana, the ninth king of the dynasty—

“Ammi-ṭi(tana), | his(?) ...
the powerful king, | (in) a seat of gladness
king of Babylon, | he has made him sit.
king of Kiš, |
king of Šumer and (Akkad), |
king of the vast land of Amoria, |
am I; | its wall.
descendant | Asari-lu-duga (Merodach)
of Sumu-la-îli, | has revealed him as his worshipper—
eldest son21 | may his name be established
of Abēšu',22 am I, | in heaven and earth.
Obedient(?) (to) Bel | “(Inscription) of Bêl-ušallim,
the seat(?)” | son of ... -bi, the enchanter.”

In this inscription, Ammi-ṭitana calls himself not only “king of Babylon,” and other important places in Babylonia, but “king of Amoria” (if the coining of a word for the district be allowed) also. Now, as we know from the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, Amurrū is [pg 156] the name that the Babylonians used for “the west,” which Assyriologists formerly read (on account of the polyphony of the Babylonian system of writing) Aḫarrū. In reality, however, this word, Amurrū, stands for the land of the Amorites, and the probability is, that the land of the Amorites belonged to the Babylonian Empire because it formed part of the original domain of the rulers of Babylonia at this time, who, if not of Amorite descent, may at least have had Amorite connections.

In any case, there is but little doubt that the population of Babylonia was very mixed 2000 years before Christ. As we know from the tablets, Amorites were, during this period, numerous in Babylonia, and the god whose name is written with the characters MARTU (a common group for Amurrū)—the fact is revealed by one of the tablets of late date published by Reisner—are to be read Amurrū, and the best translation is “the Amorite god,” whose name and worship seem to have been introduced into the Babylonian Pantheon at a much earlier date, and was known to the Akkadians under the name of Martu. It is noteworthy that, in the text in question (Mitteilungen aus den orientalischen Sammlungen, Heft. x. pl. 139, 147-81), the Akkadian Martu and Babylonian Amurrū is called “lord of the mountain,” probably because the country of the Amorites, especially when compared with Babylonia, is mountainous.

In addition to the god Amurrū, other deities of western origin appear in the inscriptions (generally in the names) from time to time. Thus we have Abdu-Ištara, interesting as giving an early form of the name Astarte (Ashtoreth), before it received the feminine termination; Ụsur-Malik, probably “protect, O Malik” (Moloch), Nabu-Malik, probably “Nebo is Malik” (Moloch), or “Nebo is king”; Ibi-Šân, probably “speak, O Shân,” which reminds the reader of Beth-Shean, the modern Beisan; and there are [pg 157] also, in all probability, other Amorite deities whom we cannot identify, on account of their names not occurring in other ancient literatures than the Babylonian. Ibaru, found in the name Arad-Ibari, “servant of Ibari,” Abâ, in the name Arad (Abdi)-Abâ, Alla, in the name Ur-Alla, “man of Alla” (though this is possibly a Babylonian [Akkadian] name), etc., are probably non-Babylonian, but not Amorite.

Besides the names of west Semitic deities, however, the names of west Semites themselves occur, and show that there was a considerable immigration in those ancient days into the country. Thus the word Amurrū, “the Amorite,” is exceedingly common, and one is not surprised to learn that, in consequence of the Amorites being so numerous, there was an Amorite district in the neighbourhood of Sippar. Other names of men which are apparently from the country spoken of are, Sar-îli, probably “prince of God,” and the same as Israel; Karanatum (probably for Qaranatum), which would seem to mean “she of the horned deity” (compare Uttatum, “he of the sun,” Sinnatum, “he of the moon”), and reminds us of Ashteroth Karnaim, “Ashteroth of the two horns,” the well-known site in Palestine. Besides these, we meet more than once with such names as Ya'kub, Jacob, with its longer form, Ya'kub-îlu, Jacob-el; and in like manner the name of Joseph and its longer form Joseph-el occur—Yasup and Yasup-îlu. Êsâ, the father of a man named Siteyatum, reminds us of Esau; Abdi-îli, “servant of God,” is the same as Abdeel; and Ya'zar-îlu, “God has helped” (compare Azrael), Yantin-îlu, “God has given” (compare Nethanel), with many others similar, receive illustration. In all probability, too, many of the bearers of names compounded with Addu (Hadad), Amurrū, and other names of deities naturalized in Babylonia, as well as some of the bearers of true Babylonian names, were, in reality, [pg 158] pure west Semites. Further examples will be found in the texts translated farther on, and the more noteworthy will be pointed out when they occur.

It will thus be seen that the population of Babylonia 2000 years before Christ had a considerable admixture of west Semites, many of whom would come under the designation of Amorites; besides other nationalities, such as Armenians or people of Aram-Naharaim (Mesopotamia)—at least two tablets refer exclusively to transactions between members of this northern race—Sutites, and Gutites, who were low-class people seemingly light-haired, “fair Gutian slaves” being in one place spoken of.

Life in Babylonia at this early period must have been exceedingly primitive, and differed considerably, as the East does even now, from what we in Europe are accustomed to. The city of which we can get the best idea, Sippar, the Sippara of the Greeks, generally regarded (though probably wrongly) as the Sepharvaim of the Bible, now represented by the mounds known as Abu-habbah, whence most of the early contract-tablets revealing to us the daily life of these ancient Babylonians came, was situated on the Euphrates, “the life of the land.” The name of this river is written, when phonetically rendered, by the characters Purattu (probably really pronounced Phuraththu), in Akkadian Pura-nunu, “the great water-channel,” often expressed (and then, of course, not phonetically) with characters meaning “the river of Sippar,” showing in what estimation the ancient Babylonians held both river and city. The mound of Abu-habbah is four miles from the river Euphrates, and situated, in reality, on the canal called Nahr-Malka, “the royal river,” which runs through it; but the tablets of the period of which we are now speaking refer not only to the city itself, but to the district all round from the Tigris on the east to the Euphrates on the west.

[pg 159]

The following paragraph from Mr. Rassam's Asshur and the Land of Nimrod will give a fair idea of what this district is like:—

“It is most interesting to examine this canal (the Nahr-Malka) all the way between the Euphrates and the Tigris, as it shows the magnitude of the Babylonian agricultural industry in days gone by, when it irrigated hundreds of miles of rich alluvial soil. The remains of countless large and small watercourses, which intersect the country watered by those two branches23 of Nahr-Malka, are plainly seen even now. Vestiges of prodigious basins are also visible, wherein a surplus supply must have been kept for any emergency, especially when the water of the Euphrates falls low in summer.”

The digging of canals, which was an exceedingly important work in those days, as indeed it is now, was evidently very systematically done, and the king often, to all appearance, made a bid for increased popularity by digging an important new canal for irrigation purposes, to which his name was attached. Thus we find the work of Sumu-la-ilu, Sin-mubaliṭ, Ḫammurabi, Samsu-iluna, and other kings recorded and chosen as the event of the year to date by. This, with the rebuilding or new decoration of the temples and shrines, endeared the king to the people and the priesthood, ensuring for him the faithful service of both, and willing submission to his rule. Indeed, there is but little doubt that the presence of foreign rulers in the country was often due to their having made friends of the priestly classes, and afterwards of the people, in this way.

The Religious Element.

As may be judged from the specimens of Babylonian names already given, the inhabitants of this part of the world were exceedingly religious. In [pg 160] every city of the land there were great temples, each of which made its claim on the people who formed the congregation—in other words, the whole population. In the district of which we are at present treating—the tract where the majority of early contract-tablets were found, namely, Sippar—the chief objects of worship were the Sun-god Šamaš; his consort, the Moon-goddess, Aa; Bunene, a deity of whom but little is known; Anunitum, a goddess identified with Ištar or Venus; Addu or Rammanu (Hadad or Rimmon), and, in later times at least, among others, “the divine Daughters of Ê-babbarra.24” All these deities were worshipped in the temple of the place, called Ê-babbarra, “the (divinely) brilliant house,” the earthly abode of the god Šamaš and his companions. In addition to this great and celebrated temple, of such renown in later times that even Egyptians, sun-devotees in their own country, attended the services and made gifts, temples were erected to the other gods of Babylon, notably Sin, the Moon-god; to Merodach, the chief deity of Babylon; and likewise in all probability to Merodach's consort, Zer-panitum, who was worshipped along with him. There was probably hardly a town in ancient Babylonia and Assyria where one or more of these gods were not honoured—indeed, the sun had also another centre of worship, namely, Larsa, the Ellasar of Gen. xiv. 1, as well as less renowned shrines. Ištar was venerated at Erech along with Anu; Sin, the moon, under the name of Nannar, had a great and celebrated temple at Ur (generally regarded as Ur of the Chaldees), and also at Haran, the city of Abraham's sojourning; Nebo was worshipped at Borsippa; Nergal at Cuthah; Gula, goddess of healing, at Babylon; Ê-girsu (“the lord of Girsu”) at the city of Girsu, apparently a part of Lagaš; Êa and Tammuz at Eridu, etc.

[pg 161]

In the province of which Sippar was capital, however, the people were more than usually religious, or else more records of their piety have come down to us. Numerous persons, more especially women, are described as devotees, or perhaps priestesses, of the Sun-god there, and sometimes similar devotees of Merodach are mentioned. Though we have no certain information, it is very probable that there were all over the country people dedicated to the various deities, “the gods of the land,” for what was customary in the district of Sippar (Sippar-Amnanu and Sippar-Ya'ruru) was in all probability equally so in the other provinces of the empire. From the earliest times the temples acquired and held large tracts of land, which the priests let to various people, agriculturists and others, to cultivate, a certain proportion of the produce being paid to them, added to the revenues of the temples, and passed into the treasury of the god. To this lucrative business of land-letting was added that of money-lending, and interest in the weaving-industry of the place, both of which increased enormously in later times. That the temples received from time to time rich gifts from the king, goes without saying, for the colophon-dates record many instances of this. Sumu-abu, for instance, rebuilt or restored the temples of the Lady of Isin, and the temple Ê-maḫ of Nannar (the Moon-god); Sumu-la-îla made a throne of gold and silver for the great shrine of Merodach; Abil-Sin seems to have given a similar object to the temple of the Sun at Babylon; Ḫammurabi restored or gave thrones to the temples of Zer-panitum, Ištar of Babylon, Nannar (the moon), and built a great shrine for Bel. Samsu-iluna, likewise, was not negligent of the gods, for it is related of him that he dedicated a bright shining mace (?) of gold and silver, the glory of the temple, to Merodach, and made Ê-sagila (the great temple of Belus at Babylon) to shine like the stars of heaven. It is needless to [pg 162] say, that the long lists of the pious works of the rulers of Babylon would be much too long to enumerate here.

All this the kings did from motives of policy, to conciliate the priests, and, through them, the people. Sometimes, though, they had need of the priests, who were able to render them service, and then, naturally, they bought their good-will cheerfully. The service which the priests rendered in return was to pray to the gods for the king's health and his success against his enemies, or in any undertaking in which he might be engaged, and to inquire of the gods for him whether he would be successful. Many, too, were the ceremonies and festivals in which king, priests, and people took part, and the king (who was himself a priest) and the priesthood thrived exceedingly.

Sometimes, too, it happened that a devotee or servant of another god than that which was the divinity of the place, struck with the neglect of the deities whom he worshipped, would decide to remedy that defect, and to this end he would found a small temple himself, and endow it. The following will show in what way this took place—

“Nûr-îli-šu has built for his god the temple of Šarru and Šullat. One šar (is the measure of) the temple of his god—he has dedicated it for his life. Pî-ša-Šamaš is the priest of the temple. Nûr-îli-šu shall not make a claim against the priesthood (i.e. demand the restitution of the property he has given). He is an enemy of Šamaš and Suma-îlu who brings an action.

“Before Bur-nunu, son of Ibubu (?);
before Ibik-ištar, son of Ibubu;
before Sin-rabu, son of Aba-Ellila-kime;
before Idin-Sin, son of Ilu-malik;
before Sin-idinnaššu, son of Lu-Ninsaḫ;
before Aḫum-ḫibum, son of Aḫu-šina;
before Sin-idinnaššu, son of Pi-ša-Nin-Karak,”

[pg 163]

“The light of his god,” Nûr-îli-šu apparently wished to justify his name, and to show what a faithful servant he was, and he therefore dedicated the temple to the deity mentioned. This, according to the inscriptions, should be Merodach, one of whose titles was šarru, “the king.” It is to be noted, however, that in the district of Sippar the Sun-god was “king,” and if this be the case, the pious giver of the temple, instead of wishing to honour the patron god of another district, merely intended to honour the patron god of his own in another aspect, namely, as king in the heavens, along with his consort, here called Šullat, a name which, to all appearance, simply means “the bride.” That the Sun-god was intended seems to be indicated by the name of the priest, Pî-ša-Šamaš, “Word of the Sun-god,” though it was not by any means impossible for a man bearing the name of another god as part of his own to officiate in this capacity, especially in the case of Merodach, for the latter was, in many respects, a sun-god, and therefore identified with Šamaš. In any case, the new temple was under the protection of the Sun-god, as the statement (“he is an enemy of Šamaš and Šuma-ilu”) shows. It is noteworthy that, in the names of the witnesses, Šamaš does not occur as a component part in any case.

But a small foundation like this must have had but little influence beside the great temple of the Sun-god at Sippara, with its revenues from lands, dues on grain, tithes, free-will offerings, and gifts on special occasions. In addition to all that has been mentioned above, the temple of the Sun-god was the great court of justice, and the people resorted thither to settle their disputes, and in all probability gifts were made to the Sun-god on those occasions. The gates of the city, too, were favourite places for this, especially that of Šamaš, and there is every probability that gifts to the god had to be made there also. The power and [pg 164] influence of the places of worship on account of all these temporal and sacerdotal duties invested in them can be easily imagined.

The King.

Around the Babylonian king is hedged a certain amount of mystery, for we see him but dimly. What he did year by year we know, but what his general way of life was the tablets do not reveal to us. He lived in a “great house,” ê-gala in Akkadian, êkallu in Semitic Babylonian, and there is hardly any doubt that the people looked upon him as a great high-priest, and often as being himself divine. Indeed, some, if not many, of the Babylonian kings were regarded as gods, and had their worshippers, apparently whilst they were still inhabitants of this earth. The deification of the early Babylonian kings is made known to us by the scribes placing the usual divine prefix before their names, and with certain rulers this is seldom or never wanting. Thus we know that Dungi (about 2650 b.c.) was deified, as were also Bûr-Sin, Gimil-Sin, and Ibi-Sin. This custom seems to have been continued until later times, for Rim-Sin of Larsa, the opponent of Ḫammurabi or Amraphel, was thus honoured, and even Ḫammurabi himself, who never has this divine prefix before his name, was sometimes paid this exceptional tribute, as such names as Ḫammurabi-Šamši, “Hammurabi is my Sun,” or “my Sun-god,” show. The East was ever the home of flattery, which could hardly reach a higher point than that of deification.

The Adoration of a Deified King. Impression of a cylinder inscribed "Danatum, son of Sin-tâar, servant ( = worshipper) of Rîm-Sin" (see p. 164). Published by permission of the owner, Mr. J. Offord, and the Society of Biblical Archæology.

The Adoration of a God. Impression of a cylinder-seal inscribed with the name of Appâni-îl (see p. 555). (The figure on the left has been added by a later hand to obliterate part of the inscription.) Published by permission of the owner, Mr. J. Offord, and the Society of Biblical Archæology.

Yet the king does sometimes come forth from his shell, and then we see him in his two aspects—as king, giving his orders to the officials of his court and army, and as the chief citizen of the country over which he ruled. The former is illustrated by the despatches and letters in which his name occurs, [pg 165] and the latter by such references to him as we find in the contracts—and these are very few, as the colophon-dates and invocations of his name in the legal oaths do not count.

Many letters of Ḫammurabi have been found, and indicate how active he was as a ruler. These texts, which, as far as they are published, are generally in a very incomplete state, nevertheless show that this most successful king paid every attention to the welfare of his subjects, even those in distant parts of the country. Thus in one of these communications he gives instructions to Sin-idinnam (who was apparently military governor of Larsa or Ellasar) to pronounce judgment against a certain person who laid claim to a field. Another letter to the same person refers to grain taken by Awel-îli, concerning which the king says, “I have seen these reports. The grain of the recorder (?), which Awel-îli has taken, let him return to the recorder.” In another place he writes to his officer rather angrily because Inuḫ-samar, apparently Sin-idinnam's lieutenant, had taken away from Sin-magir certain documents signed by the king. He asks Sin-idinnam why he had done this (placing the blame directly upon him), and concludes, “The documents, the property of Sin-magir ... with the impress of my seal, which thou hast taken, restore to him.” If Sin-idinnam had not been a very high-placed official, he would in all probability have been dismissed.

The following is a letter from king Ammi-ṭitana to his agent—

“To the agent of Sippar-Ya'rurum say thus: ‘It is Ammi-ṭitana. The wool-merchant has thus informed me: “I keep sending to the purveyor of Sippar-Ya'rurum concerning the wool ordered from him, to cause (it) to be sent to Babylon, but he has not caused the wool ordered from him to be sent.” Thus he informs me. Why hast thou not caused the wool [pg 166] ordered from thee to be sent to Babylon? As thou hast not feared to do this, when thou seest this tablet, cause the wool ordered from thee to be brought to Babylon.’ ”

It will thus be seen that the early kings of Babylonia identified themselves with the people of the country over which they ruled much more than the sovereigns of Europe have for many hundreds of years been accustomed to do. More than this—their families were accustomed to intermarry with the people, as did Elmešu—“Diamond” or “Crystal,” daughter of Ammi-ṭitana—

(“Tablet of) Elmešum, daughter of Ammi-ṭit[ana the king], whom Kizirtum, daughter of Ammi-ṭitana the king, by the consent of Šumum-libšî, her brother, Šamaš-lipir, son of Riš-Šamaš, and Taram-šullim (?), his wife, have married to Ibku-Annunitum, their son, as (his) consort. Four shekels of silver, the wedding-gift of Elmešu, daughter of Ammi-ṭitana, the king, Šumum-libšî, son of Ammi-ṭitana, the king, and Kizirtum, his sister, have received. If Ibku-Annunitum, son of Šamaš-lipir, say to Elmešum, his wife, ‘Thou art not my wife,’ he shall pay (1)[½] (?) mana of silver. If Elmešum say to Ibku-Annunitum, her husband, ‘Thou art not my husband,’ to.... Before Utul- ...; before ... -šemi, son of ... -um; before Ibni-Addu, son of ... -um; before Šumma-lum- ..., (son of) Ili-bani; before Addu-šarrum, son of Riš-Šamaš; before Baši-îlu (?), son of ... -mar; before Nabi-îlu (?), (son of) ... -be (?); before ... -pi- ....

“Month Sebat, day 2nd, year Ammi-ṭitana the king built (?) Kar- ... (and) the wall of....”

This is not only a curious document—it is also an interesting one, and shows under what conditions a woman of royal blood and race could in ancient Babylonia be wedded to a commoner. To all appearance the king himself, Elmešu's father, had nothing [pg 167] to do with the transaction—perhaps he purposely held aloof—and this being the case, it is the bride's brother and sister who have charge of the ceremony and contract; and, with the bridegroom's father and mother, marry her as consort to Ibku-Annunitum. The wording differs from that used in ordinary cases, and is more elegant and select. A wedding-gift of four shekels of silver is hardly, perhaps, what one would expect to be made to a royal bride, but perhaps it was the customary amount in such cases. The penalty if the husband afterwards divorced his wife was, as usual, a money-payment, but the amount is doubtful, though it seems to be above the average. The penalty if Elmešu forsook her husband is unfortunately wanting by the mutilation of the document, but in ordinary cases it was generally death.

Naturally, the members of the king's family were rich, and had a tendency to “add field to field,” for their own advantage. Or they would, like other people of means, hire land adjoining their own, in order to cultivate them both together, as did Iltani, daughter of king Abēšu'—

“1/3 gan, a field in the good tract, beside the field of the king's daughter, its first end (i.e. front) the river (or canal) Pariktum, from Melulatum, sun-devotee, daughter of Ibku-ša, owner of the field, Iltani, the king's daughter, has hired the field for cultivation, and for profit. At harvest-time, (upon) every gan, she will pay six gur of grain, the due of the Sun-god, in Kar-Sippar.

“Before Edi- ..., (son of) ...-te (?); before Abil (?)- ... (son of) ... -aqar; before Šumu-libšî, son of Pî-ša-Sin; before Addu-napišti-iddina, the scribe.

“Month Nisan, day 2nd, year Abēšu', the king (made ?) an image (?) of (gold) and silver.”

Thirty years, or thereabouts later, Iltani (or a younger namesake, daughter of Ammi-zaduga) is [pg 168] found providing the wherewithal for agricultural operations—

“One gur of grain, the property of the Sun-god, for the reaper, which was from Iltani, sun-devotee, daughter of the king, Šeritum, son of Ibni-Amurrū, has received. At harvest-time, (in) the month Adar, he will come—(if) he come not, he shall be like a king's thrall.

“Before Idin-Marduk, the officer, son of Idin-îli-šu; before Ina-lali-šu, son of Ibni-Marduk.

“Month Adar, day 25th, year Ammi-zaduga the king (made ?) a weapon (?) of gold.”

This contract is not quite clear without a little explanation. The grain advanced was, to all appearance, from the storehouse of the temple of the Sun-god at Sippara, and Iltani, as a sun-devotee, seems to have had it at her disposal for the benefit of the temple. In any case, the amount came from her, and was received by Šeritum, who seems to have been the reaper referred to. He promises to come to do the work in Adar, that very month, when the grain would have to be reaped, and the penalty for failing to fulfil his contract was apparently slavery. Evidently the work was urgent.

It is needless to say, that interesting as these texts are, they are very incomplete, and leave a great deal to the imagination, and still more altogether unrecorded. Nevertheless, they are very valuable as far as they go, and show us the royal family of Babylonia at the time working among the people as members of the community. Each one, however, evidently worked for his or her own interest, or for the interest of the religious community to which he or she belonged, and not for the people at large. It was only the king who worked for his people, and he did it, it is hardly going too far to say, because it was his interest to do so. Most people, however, acted for their own interest in those days, as now.

[pg 169]

The People.

In all probability the Babylonians consisted of what may be called the original Semites of that tract, with the Akkadians, also aboriginal, with whom they lived and had already, at the time of the dynasty of Babylon, mingled to such an extent that they must have become a homogeneous people, notwithstanding the racial differences which were probably noticeable at certain points—for example, a more strongly-marked Semitic type at Sippar and in that neighbourhood, and a more strongly-marked Akkadian type in the State to which Lagaš belonged. Other invasions, however, seem to have taken place, the principal being that of the Amorites, to which allusion has already been made—an invasion which the tablets of this period indicate to have been sufficiently numerous, and which must have left its mark on the population, to all appearance increasing the Semitic preponderance, and emphasizing the type. The existence of an “Amorite tract” in the district of Sippar, and the fact that Sin-idinnam, Ḫammurabi's general, is designated by the characters GAL-MAR-TU, in Semitic Babylonian Rab-Amurrî, “chief of the Amorite(s),” are in themselves sufficient testimony to this invasion. It is noteworthy, too, that the dynasty to which Ḫammurabi belonged is apparently that described by Berosus as “Arabic,” in which case we should have to recognize yet another invasion of Semites; but there is just the probability, that “Arabic” and “Amorite” were interchangeable terms, the Amorites being regarded as a collection of wandering hordes of whom a portion entered the country, and took possession of the government. In any case, they shared the fate of all invaders of the kind referred to, for they were speedily conquered by the superior civilization of the conquered, and became so naturalized that notwithstanding their [pg 170] western names, they were called by the Babylonians “the dynasty of Babylon.” This Amorite element was to all appearance a sufficiently large one, as the more easily recognizable names show. Thus we have Amurrū-bani, Karasumia, Asalia, Kuyatum, Bizizana, Izi-idrê, Sumu-raḳ, Betani, Sar-ili (Israel), Awel-Addî (“man of Hadad,” described an Amorite,) with many others, though the different nationalities cannot always be distinguished, as many Amorites bore Babylonian names, and vice versâ.

Naturally other nationalities than the Babylonians, Akkadians, Šumerians, and Amorites were represented in the country—Elamites from the invasions of earlier centuries, Kassites and Sutites who came, in all probability, to trade, Qutites or Gutians brought into the country as slaves, or possibly living there as freemen—all these and others helped to increase the confusion of tongues which existed in the land from remote ages, and reminded people of the legend of the Tower of Babel, when “the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth.”25

Documents of an earlier date than those now under our notice indicate that Babylonian civilization goes back no less than three thousand years before the period of the dynasty of Babylon, and this, in consideration of the date calculated for the foundation of Niffer (another three thousand years earlier), must be regarded as a moderate estimate. Babylonian civilization was already, at the time now treated of, exceedingly [pg 171] ancient. The early village settlement of primitive houses, clustered around an equally primitively-constructed temple, had grown into a large city, with many fanes therein. The scattered outlying smaller villages around this primitive settlement had gradually been incorporated with it, and formed its suburbs, each retaining its ancient name. Villages of more recent foundation were scattered all over the land, and the whole country was instinct with national life, due to the increase of importance which the comparatively recent union of several small states in a single large and therefore powerful kingdom had brought into existence.

Thus we find Babylonia at the period of the dynasty of Babylon. It could even then look back into a past stretching back into a remote and dim antiquity. Its laws, manners, customs, and religion were already old, and were our knowledge of this interesting period complete, we should probably find that there was much that was excellent in their laws, and interesting and instructive in the administration of those laws, as well as in their manners and customs with regard to legal matters in general.

Something of what the tablets of the period are able to inform us concerning the sacred person of the king and the position of his family has already been treated of, and we have now to turn to the next in the social scale—the people of the middle class. To this class belonged the priests, the leaders of the troops, the landowners, the employers of labour, the scribes, the physicians, the land-hirers, and the small farmers. In all probability artists and artisans also formed part of it, though their position may have been sometimes as bad as that of many who toiled in servitude, for the slaves seem, on the whole, to have been exceedingly well treated.

With regard to the scribes at least, the head and beard were shaven, they wore a simple garment like [pg 172] a toga thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm free, and in all probability had on their feet no shoes, but sandals, though this point is doubtful.

A member of this upper class was polite in his address. When he wrote to a friend, whether on business or otherwise, he said, “to so and so, whom Merodach preserve,” and after saying who it was who was writing, added, “may the Sun-god and Merodach grant thee to live for length of days—mayest thou have peace, mayest thou have life, may the god thy protector preserve thy head (rêš-ka) for happiness. I have sent to ask after thy health,—may thy health before the Sun-god and Merodach be lasting.” Other forms of address are found, generally shorter, but this may be taken as a fair specimen of the general style, which, however, seems to have been regulated by established usage, the form quoted here being that used in addressing a personage named Epišu, and it is always the same, though the letters, four or five in number, all come from different persons.

The following letter from a son to his father will show the general style of these missives—

“Say to my father thus: ‘It is Elmešum.’26

“May Šamaš and Merodach cause my father to live enduring days. My father, mayest thou have health and life. The god protecting my father preserve my father's happy head. I have sent (to ask) after my father's health—may my father's health before Šamaš and Merodach be lasting.

“From (the time) Sin and Amurrū recorded thy name, my father, and I humbly (?) answered, thou, my father, hast said thus: ‘As I am going to Dûr-Ammi-zaduga on the river Sarqu, one sheep with five mana of silver (?) I will cause to be brought for the young man (?).’ This, my father, thou saidst—my ear, my father, I made to attend—and thou hast not [pg 173] caused (these things) to be brought. And when thou, my father, sentest to the presence of Taribu, the queen, I caused a tablet to be brought to the presence of my father. My father, thou didst not (even) ask (concerning) the information of my tablet, when I caused the tablet of my father to be brought to the city, and he took it to my father for a shekel of silver. Like thy brother, thou hast not caused (the things) to be brought. Like Merodach (?) and Sin Amurrū who are gracious to my father, my ears are attentive. My father, cause (the things) to be brought, and my heart will not be downcast—Before Šamaš and Merodach for my father let me plead.”

Such is the way in which a son writes to his father, or to one who, from his age, might have stood in that relationship. It is one of the less difficult of a number of exceedingly difficult texts, and the translation is therefore given with all reserve. As, however, the words and phrases are for the most part fairly familiar, it is believed that the general drift of the whole is correctly indicated. Although it is a letter in which the writer seems to believe that he has just reason to find fault, the respectful and apparently reverent tone of the whole is very noteworthy.

In all probability the Babylonian household consisted of the man and his wife, children if he had any, and as many servants or slaves as he could afford. A second wife was taken if the man was rich enough to afford such an addition, though he seems to have sometimes married again for economic reasons, namely, the acquisition of a suitable attendant for his first wife without having to pay her wages.

The following is an example of the ordinary wedding contract—

“Ana-Aa-uzni is daughter of Salimatum. As Salimatum has set her free, she has given her in marriage to Bêl-šunu, son of Nemelum. Ana-Aa-uzni is a virgin—no one has anything against Ana-Aa-uzni. [pg 174] They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Merodach, and Šumu-la-îlu (the king). Whoever changes the words of this tablet (shall pay the penalty).

“Before Libit-Ištar; before Bûr-nunu; before Amurrū-bani; before Rammānu-rêmeni; before Nida-dum; before Šamaš-êmuki; before Imgurrum; before Sin-ikišam; before Belizunu; before Aa-šiti; before Lamazi; before Ḫunabia; before Betani; before Amat-Šamaš; before Nabritum; before Šad-Aa.”

Sometimes, however, the wedding contract contains severe penalties in case the newly-wedded wife should prove to be unfaithful, as in the following text—

“Aḫḫu-ayabi is daughter of Innabatum. Innabatum, her mother, has given her in marriage to Zukania. Should Zukania forsake her, he shall pay one mana of silver. Should Aḫḫu-ayabi deny him, he may throw her down from the tower. As long as Innabatum lives, Aḫḫu-ayabi shall support her, and Innabatum afterwards (shall have nothing?) against Aḫḫu-ayabi, ... (They have invoked the spirit of the Sun-god and Zabi)um (the king). Whoever changes the words of (th)is (tablet) (shall pay the penalty”).

Here follow the names of sixteen witnesses—seven males and nine females, one of the former being the priest of the devotees of the Sun-god.

When there were two wives, a marriage contract was given to each, and by a fortunate chance, the British Museum possesses two documents connected in this way, which have come together, though acquired at different times.27 The following is the document drawn up for the principal wife—

“Arad-Šamaš has taken in marriage Taram-Sagila and Iltani, daughter of Sin-abu-šu. (If) Taram-Sagila [pg 175] and Iltani say to Arad-Šamaš, their husband, ‘Thou art not (our) husband,’ he may throw them down from the tower; and (if) Arad-Šamaš say to Taram-Sagila or Iltani, his wives, ‘Thou art not my wife,’ she shall depart from house and goods. And Iltani shall wash the feet of Taram-Sagila, shall carry her seat to the house of her god; Iltani shall put on Taram-Sagila's ornaments, shall be well inclined towards her, shall not destroy her (marriage) contract, shall grind (?) her meal (?), and shall obey (?) her.”

Here follow the names of nine witnesses.

The marriage contract drawn up for Iltani, the second wife, is as follows—

“Iltani is sister of Taram-Sagila. Arad-Šamaš, son of Ili-ennam, has taken them in marriage from Uttatum, their father. Iltani, her sister, shall prepare her food, shall be well inclined towards her, (and) shall carry her seat to the temple of Merodach. The children, as many as have been born, and they shall bear, are their children. (If) Taram-Sagila say to Iltani, her sister, ‘Thou art not my sister,’ (then) ... (If Iltani say to Arad-Šamaš, her husband), ‘Thou (art not my husband),’ he may shave (her head), and sell her for silver. And (if) Arad-Šamaš say to his wives, ‘(Ye) are not my wives,’ he shall pay one mana of silver. And they, (if) they say to Arad-Šamaš, their husband, ‘Thou art not our husband,’ he may strangle (?) them, and throw them into the river.”

This document is attested by eleven witnesses.

To all appearance there was a kind of adoption of Iltani as daughter of Uttatum (she is called daughter of Sin-abu-šu in the first text), and having thus been raised in position so as to be somewhat the equal of Taram-Sagila in rank, she could become the second wife of Arad-Šamaš, to live with and wait upon her adopted sister.

[pg 176]

The household itself, however, seldom or never meets our gaze in these texts, though we get glimpses of it from time to time. One of the best is in all probability the following for the insight it gives—

“... He has made him his adopted son. The field, plantation, goods, and furniture of his house, which Êtel-pî-Sin and Sin-nada, his wife, possess—Êtel-pî-Sin and Sin-nada have five sons—to Bêl-êzzu, their son, like a son, they will give. If Bêl-êzzu say to Êtel-pî-Sin, his father, and Sin-nada, his mother, ‘Thou art not my father—thou art not my mother,’ they may sell him for silver. And if Êtel-pî-Sin, and Sin-nada, his wife, say to Bêl-êzzu, their son, ‘Thou art not my son,’ field, plantation, and goods, his share, he may take, and may carry away. He (apparently Êtel-pî-Sin) has invoked the spirit of the king.”

“Before Lugal-gištug, the lord of the oracle; Lu-Dingira, the inspector(?) of the deep(?); Îlu-dakullu, do.; Nidnat-Sin, do.; Ṣili-Ê-kišnugal, do.; Mu-batuga, son of Azagga-Innanna; Zarriqu, son of Nannara-manšum; Aappâ, son of Sin-êribam; Nûr-îli-šu, the ...; Êrib-Sin, the scribe; ... -Ningal, the sword-bearer; ... -Sin, son of Zazia;”

“(The seal of) the contracting parties (has been impressed).”

(The remainder of the text, containing the date, is lost.)

The above tablet from Tel-Sifr gives a most complete statement of the circumstances attending the adoption of a son (a very common thing during this period in Babylonia), omitting only the reason for this step. It is to be noted, however, that five of the witnesses belong, apparently, to the priestly class, and this may, perhaps, have been the reason, their influence being, at this time, to all appearance, very great, and the necessity for appeasing them proportionately so.

[pg 177]

The following is an example under different conditions, and presents other points of interest—

“Arad-Išḫara is son of Ibni-Šamaš. Ibni-Šamaš has taken him as his son. The day that Arad-Išḫara says to Ibni-Šamaš his father, ‘Thou art not my father,’ he may put him into fetters and sell him for silver. And (if) Ibni-Šamaš say to Arad-Išḫara, his son, ‘Thou art not my son,’ he shall depart from the house and the goods. And he may have sons, and with his sons he shall share.” (This last phrase is expressed clearer on the envelope of the tablet as follows: “And Ibni-Šamaš may beget sons, and Arad-Išḫara shall share like one.”)

The names of ten witnesses are attached to this document.

In this case the reason for the adoption of Arad-Išḫara probably was, that Ibni-Šamaš had no sons, though there was a possibility that he would have some later on.

The following refers to the adoption of a daughter, which was also a common custom—

“Karanatum is daughter of Nûr-Sin, with his sons and his daughters. No one has anything against Karanatum, daughter of Nûr-Sin. Damiqtum is sister of Karanatum. He (Nûr-Sin) will give her to a husband.”

Here follow the names of five witnesses.

Though the inscription is short, it is sufficient to suggest that Nûr-Sin adopted Karanatum for some special reason, though what that reason may have been is uncertain. Probably it was in order that she should accompany Damiqtum as second wife of a man who wished to marry two women, as in the case of Iltani and Taram-Sagila.

Tablets referring to adoption are, however, very numerous, and do not furnish much variety. Considerations of space also forbid any great multiplication of examples, so that it is needful to pass to [pg 178] the next stage, namely, the inscriptions referring to inheritance, which, though containing less information, are not without interest.

On the death of the father of the family, his children to all appearance met and divided his property as agreed upon, or in accordance with the will of their father. Thus we have the record of the three brothers Sin-ikišam, Ibni-Šamaš, and Urra-naṣir, who divided their inheritance after the death of their father—

1.

“1 ŠAR, a dwelling-house (and) domain, beside the house of Ibni-Šamaš, and beside the house of the street, its exit (being) to the street, is the share of Sin-ikišam, which he has shared with Ibni-Šamaš and Urra-naṣir. From the word to the gold the division of the property is completed. They shall not make claim against each other. They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Aa, and Sin-mubaliṭ (the king).

“Before Liširammu; before Sin-puṭram, son of Êa-balaṭi (?); before Sin-idinnam, son of Mannîa; before Arad-ili-šu, son of Nûr-Sin; before Ša-Išḫara, son of Ilâ; before Sin-magir, son of Etelum; before Arad-Amurri, before Sin-îlu, sons of Upîa; before Libur-nadi-šu, son of Uštašni-ili; before ... ; before ... ; before ... . Year of the river (canal) Tutu-ḫengal.”

2.

“1 ŠAR, a dwelling-place (and) domain, beside the house of Sin-ikišam, and beside the house of Ištar-umma-ša, the second exit to the street, is the share of Ibni-Šamaš, which he has shared with Sin-ikišam and Urra-naṣir. From the word to the gold they have shared the (property). They shall not make claim against each other. They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Aa, Marduk, and Sin-mubaliṭ.

“Before Sin-puṭram; before Sin-idinnam; before [pg 179] Liširram; before Arad-ili-šu; before Ša-Išḫara; before Sin-magir; before Arad-Amurri; before Sin-îlu; before Libur-nadi-šu. Year of the river Tutu-ḫengal.”

3.

“1 ŠAR, a dwelling-house and domain, beside the house of Ubarria, and beside the house of Puṭur-Sin, the second exit to the street, is the share of Urra-naṣir, which he has shared with Sin-ikišam and Ibni-Šamaš. From the word to the gold the division is completed. They shall not make claim against each other. They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Aa, Marduk, and Sin-mubaliṭ.

“Before Sin-puṭram; before Liširram; before Sin-magir; before Sin-idinnam; before Arad-ili-šu; before Ša-Išḫara; before Arad-Amurri; before Sin-îlu; before Libur-nadi-šu. Year of the river Tutu-ḫengal.”

That the first tablet translated above was that first written is proved by the fact that the fathers' names of several of the witnesses are given, and by the blank spaces with the word “before,” showing that the scribe did not know exactly how many witnesses there would be. In the other two documents he had the right number, and did not therefore write the word in question too many times. In all probability the three brothers are mentioned in the first document in the order of their age, and it is naturally the title-deed of the eldest which is written first. All three documents are attested by the same witnesses.

The following tablet in the possession of Sir Cuthbert Peek, Bart., shows a division of property consisting of goods and chattels, as well as land—

“3 GAN, a field by the territory of Kudma-bani, with 1 GAN, a field which (was) the share of Aḫḫati-šunu, (situated) beside the field of Amat-Samaš, daughter of Libit-Ištar, and beside the field of Bêl-šunu, its first end (being) the river Euphrates, (and) [pg 180] its second end the common. 2/3 of a ŠAR (and) 5 ZU (of ground by) the temple of Sippara, 1-½ ŠAR (by) the temple of Kudma-bani, 1 ox, 1 young bull, 1 'ikuše stone—all this is the share of Kubbutu, which, along with Ibku-Annunitum, Bêl-šunu, Bêl-bani, Il-šu-bani, Rêmum, and Marduk-naṣir, they have divided. The division is complete. They are satisfied. From the word to the gold they shall not at any future time bring claims against each other. They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Aa, Marduk, and Samsu-iluna the king.

“Before Dadu-ša, son of Aḫum; before Ṭaridum, the scribe; before Sin-idinnam, son of Ibku-Šala; before Anatum, son of Sin-âbu-šu; before Šamaš-naṣir-âbli.

“Month Iyyar, day 18th, second year after the completion (?) of the temple of Bêl.”

Where the division of the property and the drawing up of the tablets took place is uncertain, there being in the documents translated above no indication. In the case of the three brothers Urra-kaminiši, Riš-Urra, and Buria, the declaration of the division of the property which they inherited, and possibly the drawing up of their respective tablets as well, took place in the Beth-el (bêt îli) of the city, where legal matters were often transacted. Whether this Beth-el was the temple of the Sun and the Moon, where solemn contracts were also made, is uncertain, but not improbable.

It is noteworthy that there is sometimes a statement indicating that the inheritors chose their lots—

“1 ŠAR, a dwelling-house beside the house of Belaqu, and beside Awel-Nannara, is the share of Erištum, the sodomite, daughter of Ribam-îli, which she has shared with Amat-Šamaš, the priestess of the sun, her sister. The division is complete. From the word to the gold they shall not bring claim against each other. Choice of Amat-Šamaš, her sister. (The envelope has: Her choice—the place [pg 181] (which seems) good unto her she will give.) (They have invoked) the spirit of Šamaš, Merodach, Sin-mubaliṭ (the king), and the city of Sippar.”

Here follow the names of eighteen witnesses, all of them, apparently, men.

Another tablet, referring to the sharing of property, shows how brothers sometimes cared for their sister, all the property (at least in this case) being in their hands—

“Tablet (referring to) 1 GAN, a field in the karê, beside (the field of) Aḫi-daani (?) and Enkim-îlu, Kiš-nunu, Imgurrum, and Ilu-abi, her brothers, have given to Ḫudultum, daughter of Inib-nunu, as her share.

“Before Mašpirum (var. Mašparum), son of Ušlu-rum; before Bûr-ya, son of Munawirum; before Ḫayâbum, (before) Kiranum (?), sons of Sin-ennam; before Sin-naṣir.

“Year Sumulel the king built the wall of Sippar.”

Thus, in varying ways, did the ancient Babylonians live and wed, adopt children and inherit. Other incidents were there in their lives also, as when a man divorced his wife—an unpleasant experience for them both, in all probability—though often enough this must have taken place to the great joy of one or the other, or possibly of both, for it must have been a much less solemn thing with them than with us—the marriage tie. It is gratifying to know that documents referring to divorce are comparatively rare, though they are to be met with sometimes, as the following text shows—

“Šamaš-rabi has divorced Naramtum his wife. She has taken away her property (?) and received her portion (as a woman divorced). (If) Naramtum wed another, Šamaš-rabi shall not bring action against her. They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Aa, Marduk, and Sin-mubaliṭ.”

(Here follow the names of ten witnesses.)

[pg 182]

“Year of Šamaš and Rimmon.”

Sometimes the even tenor of early Babylonian life was interrupted by a lawsuit on the part of a relative (often one who ought to have known better), and, though less of a family convulsion than a divorce, it must have been sufficiently annoying, especially when the plaintiff was one's own father. The following gives details of such a case—

“(Tablet concerning) one slave, her maid, whom Ayatia, her mother, left to Ḫulaltum, her daughter, and Ḫulaltum (on that account) supported Ayatia, her mother. And Sin-naṣir (was) husband of Ayatia. Ayatia left to her (Ḫulaltum), in the 20th year, that which was in the city Buzu, but there was no tablet (?) (documentary evidence) concerning Ayatia's property. After Ayatia died, Sin-naṣir brought an action against Ḫulaltum on account of the maidservant, and Išarlim, scribe of the city of Sippar and the court (?) of Sippar, caused them to receive judgment. He declared him (Sin-naṣir) to be in the wrong. He is not again to bring action in the matter. (They have invoked) the spirit of Šamaš, Merodach, and Ḫammurabi. Judgment of Išarlim; Awat-Šamaš, the merchant; Itti-Bêl-kinni; Bûr-Sin; Gimil-bani. Month Adar, year of the canal Tišida-Ellilla.”

Many documents of this kind exist, though people did not generally bring actions against their own (step-) daughters, as Sin-naṣir is recorded as having done. The ancient Babylonians were at all times, however, very keen in standing up for their own rights, and went to law on the slightest provocation. The following records a claim upon some property, and its issue, which was as unsuccessful as that translated above—

“Sin-êribam, son of Upê-rabi, laid claim to the house of Šumu-râḫ, which is beside the house of Nidnu-ša and beside the house (temple) of Allat; and they went before the judges, and the judges pronounced [pg 183] judgment. And as for Sin-êribam, they declared him to be in the wrong, and made him deliver a document which could not be proceeded against. He shall not bring action, and Sin-êribam shall not again lay claim to the house of Šumu-râḫ.

“They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Zabium (the king), and the city of Sippar.”

It is noteworthy that the name of the first of the twelve witnesses attached to the document is Ya'kub-ilu, or Jacob-el, which is supposed to be connected with the name of the patriarch Jacob.

As in these days, many a man in those ancient times, for the better conducting of his business, would enter into partnership. As usual, all would go well for a time, but at last, in consequence of disagreements or disputes or some unpleasantness, they would decide to part. Several texts of this class exist, of which the following is a typical example—

“Ṣili-Ištar and Iribam-Sin made partnership, and, to dissolve it, they had a judge, and they went down to the temple of Šamaš, and in the temple of Šamaš the judge caused them to receive judgment. They give back their capital, and receive back their shares, 1 male-slave Luštamar-Šamaš, with a chain (?), and 1 female-slave Lišlimam, the share of Iribam-Sin; 1 male-slave Ibšina-ilu, and 1 female-slave Am-anna-lamazi, the share of Ṣili-Ištar, they have received as their shares. In the temple of the Sun-god and the Moon-god they declared that they would treat each other well. One shall not bring action against the other, nor act hostilely towards him. There is no cause for action on the part of the one against the other. They have invoked the spirit of Nannara, Šamaš, Merodach, Lugal-ki-ušuna, and Ḫammurabi the king.

“Before Utuki-šemi, son of Awiatum; before Abil-Sin, son of Nannara-manšum; before Sin-êreš, the provost; before Ipuš-Êa, the du-gab; before Šamašmubaliṭ, [pg 184] the priest of Gula; before Nabi-Sin, son of Idin-Sin; before Sin-uzeli, son of Ṣili-Ištar; before Ubar-Sin, son of Sin-šemi; before Sin-gimlanni, the attendant of the judges.

“He has impressed the seal of the contracting parties.

“Month Adar, year Ḫammurabi the king made (images of) Ištar and Nanaa.”28

Iribam-Sin, however, seems not to have been satisfied that he had been fairly dealt with, for notwithstanding that they were not to act hostilely towards each other, he immediately brought an action to get possession of property belonging to Ṣili-Ištar and his brothers, the result of which was the following declaration on the part of the latter—

“Concerning 1 ŠAR, a dwelling-house, and 2 ŠAR, a large enclosure, which Ṣili-Išstar and Awel-ili, his brother, sons of Ili-sukkalu, bought from Sin-mubaliṭ and his brothers, sons of Pirḫum. In the temple of the Sun-god Ṣili-Ištar said thus: ‘I verily bought (it) with the money of my mother—it was not bought with the money that was ours in common. Iribam-Sin, son of Ubar-Sin, has no share in the house and large enclosure.’29 He has invoked the spirit of the king.

“Before Utuki-šemi, son of Awiatum; before Abil-Sin, son of Nannara-manšum; before Sin-êreš, the provost; before Sin-uzelli, son of Nûr-îli; before Ipuš-Êa, the du-gab; before Nabi-Sin, son of Idin-Sin; before Ubar-Sin, son of Sin-šemi, his father; before Šamaš-mubaliṭ, the priest of Gula; before Singimlanni, [pg 185] the attendant of the judges. They have impressed the seal of the parties.

“Month Adar, year of the (images of) Ištar and Nanaa.”

The day of the month is not given, so that we are in doubt as to whether the second tablet preceded the first or followed it. In all probability the latter was the case, or else the two actions were simultaneous, and the fact that the witnesses and officials of the court are the same in both documents speaks in favour of this.

In Babylonia, as in all the ancient East, there was the great blot upon their civilization which has not even at the present time, the dawn of the twentieth century, disappeared from the earth, namely, that of slavery. Throughout the long ages over which Babylonian domestic literature extends, the student finds this to be always present, and one of the most striking examples is contained in the following document, which exhibits the blot with all its possible horrors—

“(Tablet of) Šamaš-nûri, daughter of Ibi-Šân. Bunini-âbi and Bêlisunu have bought her from Ibi-Šân, her father—for Bunini-âbi a wife—for Bêlisunu a servant. The day Šamaš-nûri says to Bêlisunu, her mistress, ‘Thou art not my mistress,’ they shall shave off her hair, and sell her for silver. As the complete price he has paid five shekels of silver. He has taken the key.30 The affair is concluded. He is content. (At no future time) shall one bring a claim against the other. They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Aa, Marduk, and Ḫammurabi.”

(Here follow the names of seven witnesses.)

“Month Iyyar, day 3rd, year of the throne of Zērpanitum” (the 12th year of Ḫammurabi or Amraphel).

That a father should part with his daughter for [pg 186] money in order that that daughter should become the wife of a man already married, agreeing at the same time that the young woman should become the slave of the first wife, would seem to the ordinary Western mind at the present day most barbarous. That it was not the lowest depth, however, is implied by the condition attached to the contract, and containing a kind of penalty, namely, that if the new wife denied that the first wife was her mistress, she might be sold as a slave. In what her position differed from that of a thrall, however, does not appear.

Naturally the case of Hagar, the slave of Sarah, Abraham's wife, will at once occur to the reader, though the two differ somewhat. Nevertheless, it is not improbable that the well-known Bible-story explains that of the tablet, in giving a reason for the purchase of Šamaš-nûri—namely, in order to give the purchaser, Bunini-âbi, a chance of having offspring, which, in all probability, his first wife Bêlisunu had not brought him. It is difficult to imagine that she would consent to the introduction of a rival for any other reason. Of course, the new wife may have been well treated, but a transaction of the kind here recorded naturally gave an opening to all possible abuses. Another case of the taking of a second wife, with the proviso that she is to be the servant of the first, is that of Iltani (see pp. 174-175), who, however, was not a slave, and had a regular marriage-deed. Moreover, she is described as the sister (âḫat), not the slave (âmat) of the first wife.

On the same plate of the British Museum publication from which the foregoing is taken, there is a more ordinary document referring to slavery, and in this case it is to all appearance the sale of a real slave-woman and her child—

“1 slave-woman, Bêlti-magirat by name, and her child, handmaid of Šarrum-Addu and Ḫammurabi-Šamši, Nabium-malik, son of Addu-naṣir, has bought [pg 187] from Šarrum-Addu, son of Addu-naṣir, and Ḫammurabi-Šamši, his wife. As the complete price he has paid 18-½ shekels of silver. At no future time shall they make claim against each other. They have invoked the spirit of Marduk and Ḫammurabi.”

(Here follow the names of eight witnesses, including two brothers of the contracting parties.)

“Month Tebet, day 21st, year Ḫammurabi the king destroyed, by command of Anu and Bêl, the fortification of Mair, and Malgia.”

Tablets referring to the sale and purchase of slaves are numerous, and do not present much variety, being nearly all written in accordance with the usual legal forms. In the hiring of slaves, however, there is a little more dissimilarity—

“Awel-Addi, son of Sililum, has hired Arad-îli-remeanni from Erišti-Šamaš, sun-devotee, daughter of Sin-bêl-âbli, for a year. The hire for a year, 5 shekels of silver, he will pay. A first instalment of the sum, 2 shekels of silver, she has received. He will be clothed by his hirer.

“He entered (upon his duties) on the 16th of Elul.

“Before Šamaš, Aa; before Taribatum; before Nûr-Marduk; before Laḫutum.

“Year Samsu-iluna (made) a throne of gold (shining like the stars, for Nin-gala”).

The following is a similar text with additional clauses—

“Asir-Addu, son of Libit-Urra, has hired Šamaš-bêl-ili from Aḫatani, sun-devotee, daughter of Šamaš-ḫazir, for his first year. As hire for his first year, he shall pay 3-½ shekels of silver. He shall clothe himself. He entered (on his duties) on the 4th of the month Dûr-Addi, in the month Mamitu he will complete (his term), and may leave.

“Before Asirum, son of Ea-rabi; before Nin-gira-âbi, son of Eribam; before Arad-Sin, son of Sin-idinnam.

[pg 188]

“The year of Samsu-iluna, the king.”

(The accession-year of Amraphel's successor.)

In the following the slave is hired for produce—

“Riš-Šamaš, son of Marduk-naṣir, has hired Nawir-nûr-šu from Šubtum for a year. He will pay 20 qa of oil as his hire for the year. He will clothe him. He entered in the month Elul, in the month Tirinu he may go forth.

“Before Rišutum; before Êrišti-Aa.

“Year the great fortification....”

When a man had no master—was his own master, in fact—he was hired “from himself”—

“Idin-Ittum has hired for wages Naram-ili-šu from himself, for six months. He will receive 2 shekels of silver as wages for the six months.

“Before Êtel-pî-Uraš, before Sin-îlu, before Aḫum, the scribe.

“Month Nisan, day 20th, year the throne ... was....”

Servants were not only hired from their masters and themselves, but also from their fathers, mothers, brothers, and whoever else might have charge of them. There are also lists of workmen hired for various purposes in batches. Those who went about doing reaping seem to have been of various nationalities, and interesting names are on that account found in the lists from time to time.

In all probability the towns at that early period resembled closely those of the Semitic East at the present day, the streets being as a rule narrow (from the necessity of obtaining protection from the excessive heat of the sun during the hot season) and exceedingly dirty. This is shown by the excavations at Niffer, where, at the earliest period, when the street in question was constructed, the houses were entered by going up a few steps. Later on, in consequence of the accumulations, the footpath became level with the floor of the house, and, at a later period still, a [pg 189] little staircase had to be built leading down into the building. As may easily be imagined, the conditions in which the ancient Babylonians lived were in the highest degree insanitary, and such as would probably not be tolerated for a day in Europe at the present time.

Judging from the remains of private houses which have been found, these buildings were not by any means large. In fact, they must have contained only a few small rooms. Where, however, there was space—as, for example, when the house was built in the middle of a field—the rooms were probably moderately large, and more numerous. They were of either unburnt or burnt brick, and the roofs were supported by beams. The floors seem to have been generally the bare earth.

Many lists of the furniture of these dwelling-places are extant, and allow us to estimate to a certain extent the amount of comfort which their inhabitants enjoyed. They reclined upon couches, and sometimes—perhaps often—it happened that the owner of the house possessed several of these articles of furniture. Apparently, too, it was their custom to sit upon chairs, and not upon the ground, as they do in the East at the present day, and have done for many centuries. Various vessels, of wood, earthenware, and copper, were also to be found there, together with measures of different kinds,31 implements needed in the trade of the owner, and certain objects of stone. In some cases things of precious stone are referred to, a circumstance which points to a considerable amount of prosperity on the part of the owner of the house and its contents.

[pg 190]

As will be seen farther on, when Babylonian life of a later period comes to be treated of, the leasehold system, with all its disadvantages, was in full force, and there is just the possibility that it was already in use during the time of the dynasty of Babylon. Even at this early date the question of party walls was an important one, as the tablet of Šamaš-în-mâtim and Êrišti-Aa, daughter of Zililum, shows. They were to set up the dividing wall (gušuru, apparently palings) aḫum mala aḫim, lit. “brother as much as brother,” i.e. one as much as the other. They managed things differently in ancient Babylonia, and if this was the usual arrangement, it must have given rise to endless disputes.

It is probable that, before the time of Ḫammurabi, the ancient Babylonians had no code of laws in the true sense of the term. All the legal decisions known seem to have been decided on their merits by the judges who tried the cases, and in such actions in which the judges could not come to a decision, the matter seems to have been referred to the king, whose word was, to all appearance, final. Naturally an enormous responsibility rested on the judges on account of this, but they were not entirely without help in the matter of deciding difficult and unusual questions. Lists of precedents were kept, and to these, in all probability, they constantly referred—indeed, the tablets of legal precedents were held in such high esteem, that copies of them were kept in the libraries of Assyria, and in Babylonia also, in all probability, until long after the destruction of the Assyrian power, notwithstanding that legal use and wont had by that time somewhat changed. One or two examples of these legal precedents may here be quoted to show their nature:—

“If a son say to his father, ‘Thou art not my father,’ they may shave him, put him in fetters, and sell him for silver.

[pg 191]

“If a son say to his mother, ‘Thou art not my mother,’ they may shave off his hair, lead him round the city, and drive him forth from the house.

“If a wife hate her husband, and say to him, ‘Thou art not my husband,’ they may throw her into the river.

“If a husband say to his wife, ‘Thou art not my wife,’ he shall pay her half a mana of silver.

“If a man hire a slave, and he dies, is lost, runs away, gets locked up, or falls ill, he shall pay as his hire every day half a measure of grain.”

Thus did the ancient Babylonians punish those who offended against their laws, and protect property (for the slave-hirer was undoubtedly saddled with a heavy responsibility). Was it that the death of a hired slave was regarded as testifying to the severity of his temporary hirer? In all probability it was so, and in that case, one cannot help regarding the law as a wise one. To all appearance, also, illness was attributed to his employer's cruelty. As to his running away, or falling into the hands of the police, these things would prove that his employer was not watchful enough with regard to him. A modern European lawyer would most likely not regard this particular law as being very exactly worded (there is no limit of time during which the slave's wages were payable, and one can only guess that the term of his service with his hirer was understood), but there seems to be no doubt as to its intention—to safeguard the slave, and his owner at the same time, by making his hirer responsible for every mishap and accident which might happen to him whilst he was with his temporary master.

[pg 192]

Chapter VI. Abraham.

A short account of this period, with the story of Chedorlaomer, Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal.

Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees, and afterwards Terah took Abram his son, Lot, his grandson, and Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth from Ur of the Chaldees to go to Canaan. Arriving at Haran, they dwelt there until Terah died at an exceedingly advanced age.

There have been many discussions as to the position of Ur of the Chaldees. Some, on account of the distance from Canaan, apparently, have contended that Ur of the Chaldees is the same as the site known for many hundreds of years as Urfa, in Mesopotamia—the district in which the proto-martyr, St. Stephen (Acts vii. 2, 41), places it. Mesopotamia, however, is an appellation of wide extent, and altogether insufficiently precise to enable the exact locality to be determined. To all appearance, though, Urfa or Orfa, called by the Greeks Edessa, was known as Orrha at the time of Isidore of Charax (date about 150 b.c.). Pocock, in his Description of the East, states that it is the universal opinion of the Jews that Orfa or Edessa was the ancient Ur of the Chaldees, and this is supported by local tradition, the chief place of worship there being called “the Mosque of Abraham,” and the pond in which the sacred fish are [pg 193] kept being called Bahr Ibrahím el-Halíl, “the Lake of Abraham the Beloved.” The tradition in the Talmud and in certain early Arabian writers, that Ur of the Chaldees is Warka, the Ὀρχόη of the Greeks, and Ὀρέχ of the Septuagint, need not detain us, as this site is certainly the Erech of Gen. x. 10, and is excluded by that circumstance.

Two other possibilities remain, the one generally accepted by Assyriologists, the other tentatively put forward by myself some years ago. The former has a series of most interesting traditions to support it, the latter simply a slightly greater probability. The reader may adopt that which seems to him best to suit the circumstances of the case.

The identification generally accepted is, that Ur of the Chaldees is the series of mounds now called Mugheir, or, more in accordance with correct pronunciation, Muqayyar, “the pitchy,” from the noun qír, “pitch,” that material having been largely used in the construction of the buildings whose ruins occupy the site. The identification of these ruins with those of Ur-kasdim or Ur of the Chaldees was first proposed by Sir Henry Rawlinson in 1855, on the ground that the name of the city on the bricks found there, which he read Hur, resembled that of the name as given in Gen. xi. 28 and 31. As a matter of fact, the Semitic Babylonian form of the name approaches even nearer than the celebrated Assyriologist then thought, for it is given in the bilingual texts as Uru. The Akkadian form (which is most probably the more ancient of the two), on the other hand, is not so satisfactory, as it contains an additional syllable, the full form being Uriwa (the vowel before the w only is a little doubtful). This, with the absence of any addition corresponding to the Hebrew Kasdim, is the principal flaw in what would otherwise be a perfect philological comparison.

Ur or Uriwa, the modern Mugheir, is situated [pg 194] about 140 miles S.E. of Babylon, and about 560 miles S.E. of Ḫaran. In ancient days it was a place of considerable importance, and the site of a celebrated temple-tower called Ê-šu-gan-dudu, probably the Ê-giš-nu-gala32 of other texts, the shrine of the god Nannara, also called Sin, the Moon-god, whose worship had gained considerable renown.

“Father Nannar, lord of Ur, prince of the gods, in heaven and earth he alone is supreme;

Father Nannar, lord of Ê-giš-nu-gala, prince of the gods, in heaven and earth he alone is supreme:

Father Nannar, lord, bright-shining diadem, prince of the gods, in heaven and earth he alone is supreme;

Father Nannar, whose dominion is greatly perfect, prince of the gods, in heaven and earth he alone is supreme;

Father Nannar, who in a princely garment is resplendent, prince of the gods, in heaven and earth he alone is supreme,” etc.

The above is the beginning of a long hymn written in the Sumerian dialect, in which an ancient Babylonian poet praises him, and in many another composition is his glory sung, and in adversity his name invoked—

“The temple of the Life of Heaven is destroyed—who, in the day of its glory, has cut off its glory?

The everlasting temple, the building of Uriwa,

The everlasting temple, the building of Ê-kiš-nu-gala.

The city Uriwa is a house of darkness in the land—

Ê-kiš-nu-gala (and) Nannara.”

[pg 195]

“Let heaven rest with earth, heaven enclosed with earth.

Father Nannar, lord of Uriwa,

To the great lady, the lady of Ê-kiš-nu-gala, give thou rest.

To heaven with earth, heaven and earth, (give thou rest).

To the heaven of Uraš, at še-gu-nu,

The god Enki, the goddess Ninki, the god Endu, the goddess Nindu,

The god En-da-u-ma, the goddess Nin-da-u-ma,

The god En-du-azaga, the goddess Nin-du-azaga,

The god En-u-tila, the god En-me-šarra,

The princess of the Life of Heaven, the lady of the mountain.”

“... he will restore the site of Ê-kiš-nu-gala.”33

Thus does the poet of ancient days, in a composition in the non-Semitic idiom of his time, lament the misfortunes which had come over the temple and city—how, whether by was by famine, or by some other mischance, we know not. It serves to show, however, not only the poetical spirit which animated the Akkadians at the time, but also the high esteem in which the temple and the deities venerated therein were held, and the power attributed to the Moon-god in the centre of his worship. The fact that Ur (Mugheir) was an important place for the worship of the Moon-god has been not seldom quoted in support of the identity of this city with Ur of the Chaldees, because Haran, the city to which Abram migrated with his father Terah, was also a centre of the worship of Sin. This, in itself, is not at all improbable, the Jewish tradition being, that Terah was an idolater.34 [pg 196] That Terah should go 560 miles simply for this reason, when he might have found a suitable settlement nearer, seems to be in the highest degree unlikely, minor shrines of the Moon-god being, in all probability, far from rare in Babylonia.35 He simply sojourned there because, in his journeyings, it suited him to stay there. If he were a devotee of the Moon-god, he was in all probability the more pleased to take up his abode there. But he may not have worshipped that divinity at all, or if he did do so, may not have honoured him more than the Sun-god, Anu, the god of the heavens, or the goddess Ištar.

Many legends concerning Abram—legends of sufficiently high antiquity—exist, but how far they are trustworthy must always be a matter of opinion. In any case, the writers had the advantage—if advantage it was—of living 2000 years nearer to Abraham's time than we have. Thus Eupolemus (as has already been pointed out on p. 146) states, that in the tenth generation, in the city of Babylonia called Camarina (which by some is called Urie, and which signifies a city of the Chaldeans), there lived, the thirteenth in descent, Abraham, a man of a noble race, and superior to all others in wisdom. They relate of him that he was the inventor of astrology and Chaldean magic, and that on account of his eminent piety he was esteemed by God. It is said, moreover, that under the direction of God he departed and lived in Phœnicia, and there taught the Phœnicians the motions of the sun and moon, and all other things, and was on that account held in great reverence by their king.

All this, naturally, points to Babylonia and the city of Uru or Uriwa as the original dwelling-place of [pg 197] Abram, Camarina being connected with the Arabic qamar, “the moon,” which, as we have seen, was the deity worshipped there. It is noteworthy that the transcription of the Babylonian name of the city, Urie, contains traces of the Akkadian termination -iwa (Uriwa) which is absent in the Hebrew form Ur. This is important, as it shows that at a comparatively late date (Eupolemus lived just before the Christian era), the ending in question made itself felt in the transcription of the word, and that the form in Genesis, Ur, does not quite agree, as traces of that termination (two syllables in the Akkadian form) are altogether wanting in it. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the theory that Abram lived and passed his earlier years at the Ur which is now represented by the ruins of Mugheir, originated with the Jews during their captivity at Babylon and in the cities of Babylonia. Eupolemus, as a student of Jewish history, would naturally get his information from a Jewish source, and the Jews had, in common with most of the nations of the earth, a tendency to attribute to their own forefathers, whom they venerated so highly, the glory of being connected with any renowned city or great discovery of earlier ages. Thus it arises that Eupolemus, following his Jewish informant, makes Abraham to be the inventor of astrology and Chaldean magic; and to have dwelt at Ur. It must have been the Jewish captives exiled in Babylonia who first identified Ur with the renowned city Uru or Uriwa, quite forgetting that the form of the name could not have been Ur in Hebrew, and that there was another Ur, much more suitable as the dwelling-place of a nomad family like that of Terah and his sons, namely, the country of Akkad itself, called, in the non-Semitic idiom, Uri or Ura, a tract which included the whole of northern Babylonia.

In whatever part of Babylonia, however, the [pg 198] patriarch may have sojourned, of one thing there is no doubt, and that is, that if he dwelt there, the life which he saw around him, and in which he must have taken part, was that depicted by the tablets translated in the foregoing chapter. He saw the idolatry of the people, and the ceremonies and infamies which accompanied it; he saw the Babylonians as they were in his day, with all their faults, and all their virtues—their industry, their love of trade, their readiness to engage in litigation, and all the other interesting characteristics which distinguished them. He must have been acquainted with their legends of the Creation, the Flood, and all their gods and heroes, and the poetry for which the Hebrew race has always been renowned must have had its origin in the land of Nimrod, whence Abraham of old went forth free, and his descendants, a millennium and a half later, returned as captives.

How it came about (if it be really true) that Terah was an idolater, whilst his son Abram was a monotheist, will probably never be known. It is only reasonable to suppose, however, that among a people so intelligent as the Babylonians, there were at least some who, thinking over the nature of the world in which they lived and the destiny of mankind, saw that the different gods whom the people worshipped could not all be governors of the universe, but, if they existed at all, must be only manifestations of the Deity who held the supreme power. Indeed, it was, to all appearance, this doctrine which really prevailed, as is shown by the text translated on p. 58. Whether taught generally to the learned class (the scribes) or not, is not known, but it must have been very commonly known to those who could read, otherwise it is hardly likely that such a tablet would have been drawn up and written out again at a later date (the text we possess being but a copy of a lost original). As the divinity with whom the [pg 199] others are identified is Merodach, it is most likely that this special doctrine of the unity of the Deity became general some time after the commencement of the Dynasty of Babylon (that to which Ḫammurabi or Amraphel belonged), when the city of Babylon became the capital of the country. Abram's monotheism would, therefore, naturally fit in with the new doctrine which apparently became the general belief of the learned class at this time.36

Concerning the journey of Abraham, there is naturally nothing to be said, the Bible narrative merely stating that Terah and his family migrated to Haran. The only thing worth noting is, that the distance they had to travel was sufficiently great—about 560 miles from Uriwa (Mugheir), and about 420 miles from Babylon, from the neighbourhood of which the family must have started if the Ur mentioned in Genesis be the Uri or Ura of the inscriptions, which was equivalent to the land of Akkad. The whole of this district was, in all probability, at this time, as later, under Babylonian rule, a state of things which must have contributed in some measure to the safe transit of the household to Haran, and also that of Abraham later on to Canaan, which, as we know from the inscriptions37 and from Gen. xiv., acknowledged Babylonian overlordship.

With regard to Haran, it is very probable that this ancient city was, by turns, under the rule either of Babylonia or Assyria until the absorption of the former power into the great Persian Empire, when Haran likewise, in all probability, shared the same fate. Concerning the early history of the city very little is known, but it is not improbable that it was [pg 200] an ancient Babylonian foundation, the name being apparently the Babylonian word ḫarranu, meaning “road.” The name given to this “road-city” is explained as originating in the fact, that it lay at the junction of several trade-routes—an explanation which is very probable.

The city itself was, at the time of its greatest prosperity, a considerable place, as the remains now existing show. There are the ruins of a castle, with square columns 8 feet thick, supporting a roof of 30 feet high, together with some comparatively modern ruins. The ancient walls, though in a very dilapidated state, are said to be continuous throughout. No houses remain, but there are several ruins, one of great interest, and considerable extent, which Ainsworth considered to be a temple. A rudely sculptured lion, found outside the walls, is regarded as giving evidence of Assyrian occupation, which, however, is otherwise known to have been an historical fact.

In Abraham's time the place had, in all probability, not attained its fullest development, and must have been a small city. The plain in which it is situated is described as very fertile, but not cultivated to its fullest extent, on account of half the land remaining fallow because not manured. This, at least, was the state of the tract 72 years ago, but it is very probable that, in the “changeless East,” the same description applies at the present day. That it was of old, as now, a fertile spot, may be gathered from the fact that the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser I. speaks of having taken or killed elephants in that district—

Ešrit pirê buḫali dannūti | Ten powerful bull-elephants
ina mât Ḫarrāni u šidi nâr | in the land of Haran and on
Ḫabur | the banks of the Ḫabour
lu-adûk; irbit pirê balṭūti | I killed; four elephants alive
lu-uṣabita. Maškani-šunu | I took. Their skins,
šinni-šunu itti pirê | their teeth, with the living
balṭūti, ana âli-ia Aššur ubla. | elephants, I brought to my city Asshur.

[pg 201]

If there were elephants in “the land of Haran” 1100 years before Christ, it is very probable that they were to be found in the neighbourhood a thousand years earlier, but notwithstanding any disadvantage which may have been felt from the presence of these enormous beasts, it was in all probability a sufficiently safe district for one possessing flocks and herds. There is no reason to suppose that the presence of elephants around Haran in any way influenced the patriarch to leave the place, for these animals were to be found (according to an inscription supposed to have been written for the same Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser I.) in Lebanon, and therefore in the country where Abraham settled after quitting Haran.

As has already been noted, this was the centre of the worship of the Moon-god Sin or Nannaru,38 and Terah and his family, in settling in this place, doubtless saw the same ceremonies in connection with the worship of this deity as they had been accustomed to see in Babylonia, slightly modified; and this would be the case whether Terah's family came from Uriwa or not, the Moon-god being worshipped in more cities than one in Babylonia. Something of the importance of the shrine of Nannaru at Haran may be gathered from the fact, that the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (to all appearance) was crowned there. As the text recording this is very interesting, and reveals something of the beliefs of the Assyrians and the natives of Haran, I quote here the passage referring to the ceremony, restoring the wording where defective. The writer is apparently addressing Aššur-banî-âpli, “the great and noble Asnapper”—

“When the father of the king my lord went to Egypt, he was crowned (?) in the qanni of Haran, the temple (lit. ‘Bethel’) of cedar. The god Sin remained over the (sacred) standard, two crowns upon [pg 202] his head, (and) the god Nusku stood before him. The father of the king my lord entered, (and) he39 placed (the crown?) upon his head, (saying) thus: ‘Thou shalt go and capture the lands in the midst.’ (He we)nt, he captured the land of Egypt. The rest of the lands not submitting (?) to Aššur and Sin, the king, the lord of kings, shall capture (them”).

[Here follow an invocation of the gods, and wishes for a long life for the king, the stability (?) of his throne, etc.]

In addition to the god Sin, the above extract refers to the deity known as Nusku, as being venerated there. That this was the case, is confirmed by several inscriptions of the time of Aššur-banî-âpli, who seems to have restored his temple. This fane, which the Assyrian king is said to have made to shine like the day, was called Ê-melam-anna, “the temple of the glory of heaven,” and the presence of its name in a list of the temples of Babylonia and Assyria testifies to its importance.

The temple of Sin or Nannaru, as we learn from the inscriptions of Nabonidus, was called Ê-ḫulḫul, “the temple of (great) joy.” The fane having been destroyed by the Medes, Nabonidus received, in a dream, command to rebuild it, and it is interesting to learn that, when the work was in progress, the records which Aššur-banî-âpli had placed there, according to custom, when restoring it, came to light. The letter of which an extract is given above was probably written to the Assyrian king upon this occasion.

So renowned was the place as a centre of heathen worship, that at a comparatively late date—running far into the Christian era, namely, the fifth century a.d.—the worship of heathen deities was still in full progress there, though the god Sin had fallen, to all appearance, somewhat into the background, and [pg 203] Bel-shamin, “the lord of the heavens,” i.e. the Sun-god, generally known as Shamash or Samas, and called later on by the Greek name of Helios, had taken his place. They also worshipped a goddess called Gadlat, generally identified with the Babylonian goddess Gula, and Atargatis, the feminine counterpart of Hadad, whose name is often found in Aramean inscriptions under the form of 'Atar-'ata.40 This goddess is called Derketo41 by Ktesias, and appears as Tar-'ata in Syriac and in the Talmud. According to Baethgen, Atargatis, or, better, Attargatis, was a double divinity, composed of Ištar and 'Ata or 'Atta (Attes). In consequence of the worship of the sun, the moon, and the planet Venus ('Atar = Ištar), a second centre of the worship denominated Sabean (which originated in south-west Arabia, the country of the Sabeans) was founded in Haran, where its devotees are said to have had a chapel dedicated to Abraham, whose renown had, to all appearance, brought to his memory the great honour of deification.

It was after a long sojourn at Haran that Abraham set out for his journey westwards, the patriarch being no less than seventy-five years old when he left that city. The next episode in his life was his journey, in obedience to the call which he had received, to Canaan, going first to Shechem, “unto the oak (terebinth) of Moreh,” afterwards to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and thence, later, towards the south. A famine caused him to continue his travels as far as Egypt, where the incident of Sarai being taken from him, in consequence of the deceit practised by him in describing her as his sister, took place.

This portion of the patriarch's history is not one which can be very easily dealt with, the incident being [pg 204] told very shortly, and no Egyptian names being given—in fact, it is altogether destitute of “local colouring” necessarily so, from the brevity of the narrative.

At Haran, the patriarch and the members of his family probably saw people to a great extent of the type to which they had been accustomed in Babylonia, but in the land of Canaan they would notice some difference, though they all spoke a Semitic language, like themselves. Indeed, it is not at all improbable that wherever the ancestor of the Hebrews went, he found the Semitic Babylonian language at least understood, for as the Babylonian king claimed dominion over all this tract as far as the Mediterranean, the language of his country was fast becoming what it certainly was a few hundred years later, namely, the lingua franca of the whole tract as far as Egypt, where also, to all appearance, Abraham and his wife had no difficulty in making themselves understood.

According to Gen. x. 6, Canaan, into whose country Abraham journeyed with the object of settling, was the descendant of Cush, and the inhabitants ought therefore to have spoken a Hamitic language. Historically, however, this cannot be proved, but it is certain that if the Canaanites spoke a Hamitic language, they soon changed it for the speech which they seem to have used as far back as history can go, this speech being closely akin to Hebrew. In fact, there is very little doubt that Abraham and his descendants, forsaking their mother-tongue, the language of Babylonia, adopted the dialect of the Canaanitish language, which they afterwards spoke, and which is so well known at the present day as Hebrew. To all appearance Abraham's relatives, who remained in Mesopotamia, in “the city of Nahor,” spoke a dialect of Aramaic, a language with which Abraham himself must have been acquainted, and which may have been spoken in Babylonia at that early date, as it certainly was, together with Chaldean, later on.

[pg 205]

It is noteworthy, that the country to which Abraham migrated, and which is called by the Hebrew writers Canaan, is called by the same name in the Tel-el-Amarna letters, and the fact that the Babylonian king Burra-buriaš uses the same term shows that it was the usual name in that part of the world. Among the Babylonians, however, it was called mât Amurrî, “the land of Amoria,” the common expression, among the Babylonians and the Assyrians, for “the West.” In later times the Assyrians designated this district mât Ḫatti, “the land of Heth,” the home of the Hittites. The inference from this naturally is, that at the time when the Babylonians became acquainted with the country, the Amorites were the most powerful nationality there, whilst the Hittites had the dominion, and were in greater force later on, when the Assyrians first traded or warred there. These two linguistic usages show, that the two great races in the country, both of them Hamitic, according to Gen. x. 15, 16, were the Amorites (who spread as far as Babylonia, and even had settlements there), and the Hittites, whose capital was Ḫattu (Pterium, now Boghaz-keui) in Asia Minor, and whose rule extended south as far as Carchemish and Hamath.

In addition to the above indications from the historical inscriptions of Assyria, and the contract-tablets of Babylonia belonging to the first dynasty of Babylon (a number of which are translated in Chap. V.), we have also the indications furnished by the bilingual geographical lists.

As these lists are of great importance for the geography of the ancient Semitic East, with special reference to Western Asia, it may be of interest, and perhaps also serve a useful purpose, to give, in the form in which they occur on the tablets, such portions as may bear on the question of the knowledge of the Babylonians of the countries which lay around them.

The most important of these geographical documents [pg 206] is that published in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. ii. p. 50. This text begins, as would be expected from the hand of a patriotic scribe, with the towns and cities of his own land, in two columns, Akkadian, and the Semitic equivalent. This was followed, in the same way, by the provinces of his country, ending with the two principal, Kengi-Ura, translated by Šumer and Akkad. This is followed by the four Akkadian groups for the land of Subartum and Gutium, probably a part of Media.

To all appearance a new section begins here, the scribe introducing in this place the four Akkadian words or groups for “mountain.” The text then proceeds as follows—

KUR MAR-TU KI | šad A-mur-ri-e | Mountain of Amoria (the Amorite land).
KUR TI-ID-NU-UM KI | šad A-mur-ri-e | Mountain of Amoria.
KUR GIR-GIR KI | šad A-mur-ri-e | Mountain of Amoria.
KUR SU-RU KI | šad Su-bar-ti | Mountain of Subarti.
KUR NUM-MA KI | šad Elamti | Mountain of Elam.
KUR Gu-ti-um KI | šad Gu-ti-i | Mountain of Gutû or Gutium.
KURZAG Gu-ti-um KI | šad pa-at Gu-ti-i | Mountain of the border of Gutium.
KUR ši-rum KI | šad Si-ri-i [?] | Mountain of Širû.
KUR [GIŠ] ERI-NA KI | šad E-ri-ni | Mountain of Cedar.
KUR MAR-ḪA-ŠI KI | šad Pa-ra-ši-i | Mountain of Parašû.
KUR Šir-rum KI | šad Bi-ta-lal | Mountain of Bitala. (Kaštala is possible.)
KUR Ê-AN-NA KI | šad Bi-ta-lal | Mountain of Bitala.
KUR ḪE-A-NA KI | šad Ḫa-ni-e | Mountain of Ḫanû.
KUR Lu-lu-bi KI | šad Lu-lu-bi-e | Mountain of Lulubû.

Here follows a list of adjectives combined with the word for country, forming descriptions such as “safe country,” “low-lying country,” etc.

In the above list of countries, the land of the Amorites holds the first place, and is repeated three times, there having, to all appearance, been three ways of writing its name in Akkadian. Why this was the case—whether [pg 207] in the older Akkadian literature the scribes distinguished three different districts or not, is not known, but is not at all improbable. The first of the three ways of designating the country is the usual one, and apparently means the land of the Amorites in general, the other two being less used, and possibly indicating the more mountainous parts. What the mountains of Suru or Subartu were is uncertain, but it may be supposed that, as this group is used in the late Babylonian inscriptions (as shown by the text containing the account of the downfall of Assyria) for the domain over which the kings of Assyria ruled, there is hardly any doubt that it stands for the Mesopotamian tract, extending from the boundaries of the Amorites to the frontiers of Babylonia. This would include not only Assyria, but also Aram-naharaim, or Syria, and is in all probability the original of this last word, which has given considerable trouble to students to explain.

In all probability, Siru, like Gutium and the border of Gutium, was a tract in the neighbourhood of Elam, which precedes. A comparison has been made between this Sirum and the Sirrum of the eleventh line of the extract, but as the spelling, and also, seemingly, the pronunciation, is different, it is in all likelihood a different place. The mountain of Cedar, however, is probably Lebanon, celebrated of old, and sufficiently wooded, in the time of Aššur-naṣir-âpli, to give cover to droves of elephants, which the Assyrian king hunted there. Marḫaši (Akk.) or Parašî (Assyr.) seems to have been a country celebrated for its dogs. Concerning Bitala or Kaštala nothing is known, but Ḫanê is supposed to have lain near Birejik on the Orontes.42 Lulumu, which is apparently the same as [pg 208] Lulubū, was an adjoining state, which the Babylonians claim to have devastated about the twenty-eighth century before Christ, a fact which contributes to the confirmation of the antiquity of Babylonian geographical lore, and its trustworthiness, for the nation which invades another must be well aware of the position and physical features of territory invaded.

It is interesting to note, that one of the ordinary bilingual lists (W.A.I. II. pl. 48) gives what are apparently three mountainous districts, the first being Amurru, translating the Akkadian GIRGIR, which we are told to pronounce Tidnu (see above, pp. 122, 206, and below, p. 312), the second Urṭū (Ararat), which we are told to pronounce in Akkadian Tilla, and the third Qutû, in Akkadian Gišgala šu anna, “the district with the high barriers,” likewise a part of the Aramean mountains.

After returning from Egypt, Abraham went and dwelt in the south of Canaan, between Bethel and Ai, Lot quitting him in consequence of the quarrel which took place between their respective herdsmen. Concerning the Canaanite and the Perizzite, who were then in the land, the Babylonian inscriptions of this period, as far as they are known, say nothing, but there is hardly any doubt that these nationalities were known to them, this tract being within the boundaries of the Babylonian dominions. That these names do not yet occur, is not to be wondered at, for the Babylonians had been accustomed to call the tract Amurrū, and names which have been long attached to a country do not change at all easily. The next resting-place of the patriarch was by the oaks or terebinths of Mamre in Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord.

At this point occurs Gen. ch. xiv., which contains the description of the conflict of the four kings against five—evidently one of the struggles of the Amorites and their allies to throw off the yoke of the Babylonians, [pg 209] who were in this case assisted by several confederate states.

Much has been written concerning this interesting chapter of the Bible. The earlier critics were of opinion that it was impossible that the power of the Elamites should have extended so far at such an early epoch. Later on, when it was shown that the Elamites really had power—and that even earlier than the time of Abraham—the objection of the critics was, that none of the names mentioned in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis really existed in the inscriptions. The history of Abraham was a romance, and the names of the Eastern kings with whom he came into contact equally so. It was true that there were Elamite names commencing with the element Kudur, the Chedor of the sacred text, but Chedorlaomer did not occur, Amraphel and Tidal were equally wanting, and that Arioch was the same as Eri-Aku or Rim-Aku could not be proved.

The first step in solving the riddle was that made by Prof. Eberhard Schrader, who suggested that Amraphel was none other than the well-known Babylonian king Ḫammurabi. This, naturally, was a theory which did not soon find acceptance—at least by all the Assyriologists. There were, however, two things in its favour—this king ruled sufficiently near to the time of Abraham, and he overcame a ruler named Rim-Sin or Rim-Aku, identified by the late George Smith with the Arioch of the chapter we are now considering. Concerning the latter ruler, Rim-Aku, there is still some doubt, but the difficulties which attended the identification of Ḫammurabi with Amraphel have now practically disappeared. The first step was the discovery of the form Ammurabi in one of the numerous contracts drawn up during his reign at Sippara, the city of the Sun-god. This form shows that the guttural was not the hard guttural kh, but the softer h. Yet another step [pg 210] nearer the Biblical form is that given by Ašaridu, who, in a letter to “the great and noble Asnapper,” writes as follows—

Ana šarri bêli-ia | To the king, my lord,
ârad-ka, (A)šaridu. | thy servant Ašaridu.
Nabû û Marduk ana šar mâtāti | Nebo and Merodach to the king of the countries,
bêli-ia likrubu. | my lord, be favourable.
Duppi ša šarru ippušu | The tablet which the king makes
...-ṭu û ul-šalim. | is bad(?) and incomplete.
(A)dū duppi. | Now a tablet,
(la)biru ša Ammurapi sarru. | an old one, of Ammurapi the king
(e)pušu-ma alṭaru— | I have made and written out—
(la?) pani Ammurapi šarru. | it is of the time (?) of Ammurapi the king.
Kî ašpuru | As I have sent (to inform the king),
ultu Bâbîli | from Babylon
attašâ | I will bring (it).
Šarru nipisu | The king (will be able to do) the work
[ina] pitti | at once.

[Here several lines are broken away.]

........................... | .............................
ša A-................... | which A-.......................
qat ....................... | the hand of....................
ulla ...................... | then (?) ......................
anaku ..................... | I .............................
likîpanni. | may he trust me.

As this is a late reference to Ḫammurabi, it is noteworthy not only on account of the form the name (which agrees excellently with the Biblical Amraphel) had assumed at the time (the hard breathing or aspirate having to all appearance completely disappeared), but also as a testimony to the esteem in which he was held a millennium and a half after his death. How it is that the Hebrew form has l at the [pg 211] end is not known, but the presence of this letter has given rise to numerous theories. One of these is, that Amraphel is for Ḫammurabi îlu, “Ḫammurabi the god,” many of the old Babylonian kings having been deified after their death. Another (and perhaps more likely) explanation is, that this additional letter is due to the faulty reading of a variant writing of the name, with a polyphonous character having the value of pil as well as bi,—which form may, in fact, still be found. However the presence of the final (and apparently unauthorized) addition to the name be explained, the identification of Amraphel and Ḫammurabi is held to be beyond dispute.

Thanks to important chronological lists of colophon-dates and to a number of trade-documents from Tel-Sifr, Sippara, and elsewhere, which are inscribed with the same dates in a fuller form, the outline of the history of the reign of Ḫammurabi is fairly well known, though it can hardly be said that we have what would be at the present time regarded as an important event for each year, notwithstanding that they may have been to the ancient Babylonians of all-absorbing interest. The following is a list of the principal dates of his reign, as far as they can at present be made out—

1 Year of Ḫammurabi the king.

2 Year he performed justice in the land.

3 Year he constructed the throne of the exalted shrine of Nannar of Babylon.

4 Year he built the fortification of Malgia.

5 Year he constructed the ... of the god.

6 Year of the fortification of (the goddess) Laz.

7 Year of the fortification of Isinna.

8 Year of the ... of Emutbālum.

9 Year of the canal Ḫammurabi-ḫêgalla.

10 Year of the soldiers and people of Malgia.

11 Year of the cities Rabiqa and Šalibi.

[pg 212]

12 Year of the throne of Zēr-panîtum.

13 Year (the city) Umu (?) set up a king in great rejoicing.43

14 Year of the throne of Ištar of Babylon.

15 Year of his 7 images.44

16 Year of the throne of Nebo.

17 Year of the images of Ištar and Addu (Hadad)....

18 Year of the exalted shrine for Ellila.

19 Year of the fortification Igi-ḫur-sagga.

20 Year of the throne of Merri (Rimmon or Hadad).

21 Year of the fortification of Baṣu.

22 Year of the image of Ḫammurabi king of righteousness.

23 Year of the ... of Sippar.

24 Year of the ... for Ellila.

25 Year of the fortification of Sippar.

26 Year a great flood (?)....

27 Year the supreme (?)....

28 Year of the temple of abundance.45

29 Year of the image of Šala (spouse of Rimmon or Hadad).

30 Year the army of Elam....

31 Year of the land Emutbālu.

32 Year the army of....

33 Year of the canal Ḫammurabi-nuḫuš-niši.

34 Year of Ištar and Nanaa.

35 Year of the fortification of....

36 Lost.

37 Practically lost.

38 Year the great....

39 Practically lost.

40 Lost.

41 Lost.

42 Practically lost.

[pg 213]

43 Year dust (? ruin) overwhelmed Sippar and the city Ul-Šamaš.

In the gaps indicated by the words “lost,” and “practically lost,” the following entries ought, perhaps, to be inserted, though it is to be noted that some of them may be merely additions to, or other forms of, dates preserved by the list—

“Year he (i.e. the king) built the supreme shrine of Bêl.” [? the eighteenth year.]

“Year of the ... of the fortification of Sippar.”[? the 25th year.]

“Year he made supplication to the goddess Taš-mêtu.”

“Year of the river (canal) Tišida-Ellilla” (p. 182).

“Year the soldiers of Ešnunna were smitten by the sword.”

“Year Ḫammurabi the king, by command of Anu and Bêl, destroyed the wall of Mair and Malgia”(p. 187).

“Year Ḫammurabi the king renewed the temple Ê-me-temena-ursag, and raised the head of the temple-tower, the supreme seat of Zagaga, high like heaven.”

“Year Ḫammurabi the king raised the top of the great wall on the bank of the Tigris high like a mountain, and caused its name to be called the embankment of the Sun.”

Besides these, there are additions in the entries in the chronological list, some of which are of sufficiently great importance—

“Year 31: Year Ḫammurabi the king, by the command of Anu and Bêl, established his advantage (and) captured the land Yamutbālum and the king Rîm-Sin.”

[pg 214]

“Year 34: Year Ḫammurabi the king made [images of] Ištar and Nanaa.”

Whether the following be another form of this date, or a different one altogether is uncertain:

“Year Ḫammurabi the king renewed E-tur-kalama for Anu, Ištar, and Nanaa.”

Year 38, which, in the chronological list, is called the year of the great ... is possibly to be completed, in accordance with the indications from the colophon-dates: “Year of Ḫammurabi the king (when) a great flood destroyed Ešnunna.”

With regard to the other undecided dates, it is practically certain that the three long ones—those which record the destruction of the wall of Mair and Malgia, the restoration of the temple Ê-me-temena-ursag and the temple tower dedicated to Zagaga, and the construction of the great dam of the Tigris—come into the gaps after the entry for the thirty-first year. The reason for this assumption is, that the thirty-first year of Ḫammurabi was the date of his conquest of Rîm-Sin, in whose dominions the town represented by the ruins of Tel-Sifr (the place whence the tablets came which bear these dates) lay. All the tablets from this place, bearing dates of the reign of Ḫammurabi, therefore belong to the thirty-first year of his reign and later.

In all probability there is one thing that will be considered as noteworthy, and that is, that as far as our records go, there is no reference whatever to any expedition to the West-land, and if that be due simply to the imperfection of the records which have come down to us, all that can be said is, that it is a noteworthy coincidence.46 It must not be supposed, however, that it in any wise invalidates the trustworthiness [pg 215] of the narrative in the 14th chapter of Genesis—there is plenty of room in the mutilated list (of which I have given such a translation as is possible) for a date referring to this to have been recorded, though we must keep in mind the possibility, that if the Babylonian king considered that disaster had in any way overtaken his arms, he may not have recorded it at all. Then there is the fact, that the expedition was undertaken in conjunction with allies—Chedorlaomer, Tidal, and Arioch—for none of whom, in all probability, Ḫammurabi had any sympathy. The Elamite was a conqueror from a land over which the Babylonians of earlier ages had held sway, and Arioch had dominion over a neighbouring tract, to which Ḫammurabi himself laid claim, and over which, as the texts above translated show, he afterwards ruled. Ḫammurabi, moreover, claimed also the West-land—mât Amurrī, the land of Amurrū—as his hereditary possession, and he found himself obliged to aid Chedorlaomer, Tidal, and Arioch to subjugate it—indeed, it was Chedorlaomer whom the five kings had acknowledged for twelve years as their overlord, and against whom, in the thirteenth, they rebelled. It is, therefore, likely that Ḫammurabi regarded himself as having been forced by circumstances to aid Chedorlaomer to reconquer what really belonged to Babylonia, and the probability that he would cause it to be used as one of the events to date by, is on that account still less, even if the news of any success which he might have considered himself entitled to reached his own domain in time to be utilized for such a purpose.

It has been shown on p. 155 that Ammi-ṭitana, the third in succession from Ḫammurabi, claimed the sovereignty of the land of Amurrū, and from an inscription accompanying a portrait of Ḫammurabi discovered by Mr. Rassam, we learn that he, too, claimed sovereignty over it. Sargon of Agadé held [pg 216] sway over the tract centuries before, so that he probably reckoned that, by right of inheritance, it was his. It would therefore be natural that he should omit to mention as an event to be remembered, an expedition to a country which ought never to have thrown off his dominion.

Of course, one of the principal things confirming the identification of Ḫammurabi with Amraphel would naturally be the occurrence of one or more of the names recorded in Gen. xiv., in conjunction with his, or in such a way that a connection could be established. This, naturally, is difficult, principally on account of our having no continuous history of the period to which these rulers belong. Nevertheless, a close examination of the inscriptions suggests in what way confirmation of the events narrated with reference to Amraphel and his allies might be sought.

Reference has already been made to Rîm-Sin, king of Yamutbālu (or Emutbālu), who appears to have been defeated by Ḫammurabi in the thirty-first regnal year. From this time the dominions of Rîm-Sin evidently formed part of the Babylonian Empire, and were never again separated from it as long as it existed.

Notwithstanding the early identification of Rîm-Sin with Eri-Sin or Eri-Aku by the late George Smith, considerable doubt has been thrown on the identity of these two names by the fact, that in inscriptions containing the name of Kudur-mabuk, the father, the name of his son is written with Eri as the first element—not Rîm. This, it must be admitted, is a considerable difficulty. Winckler, however, in the Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, Band III., 1 Hälfte, pp. 88-89, publishes a text given by Lenormant, Textes Inédits, No. 70, in which the name of the son of Kudur-mabuk is written Ri-im-Sin, and if this be correctly copied, it would seem to settle the matter of their identity. It is to be noted that they are both called [pg 217] king of Uriwa, king of Larsa, and king of Šumer and Akkad. In the inscriptions Eri-Aku or Eri-Sin also calls himself adda Emutbala, “father of Yamutbālu,” and, as the colophon-date of the 31st year of Ḫammurabi shows, Rîm-Sin or Rîm-Aku was also king of that region.

In these circumstances, there is hardly any doubt that they were at least closely connected, if not (as has been supposed since the time of the Assyriologist George Smith) actually identical. It is therefore worthy of mention, that M. F. Thureau-Dangin, the well-known French Assyriologist, suggests that Eri-Aku and Rîm-Sin were brothers, sons of Kudur-mabuk, and successively kings of Larsa (Les Inscriptions de Šumer et d'Akkad, p. 300, n. 3). This would not only account for their having the same parentage, but also for their claiming the same titles. It can therefore not be said, that Ḫammurabi became the enemy of his old ally—it was against his brother that he fought.

The date quoted on p. 214 (year 31) seems to include Rîm-Sin in the capture of the land of Yamutbālum, but this is not confirmed by the new Chronicle, which states that Ḫammurabi, king of Babylon, gathered his soldiers and went against Rîm-Sin, king of Larsa. His hand captured Ur and Larsa, he carried off their goods to Babylon, and overthrew and carried away other things—what they were the mutilation of the record does not allow us even to guess. It is noteworthy also that the mention of Ur as one of the cities of Rîm-Sin shuts out that state from the tract which, from the 14th chapter of Genesis, would otherwise be included in Shinar, and seems also to explain why Ur is designated as being “of the Chaldees.”

If, however, the colophon-date be right, and Rîm-Sin was really made prisoner, he must either have escaped, or been set at liberty again, for Samsu-iluna, son of Ḫammurabi, when he became king, had apparently [pg 218] to resist another attack on the part of that ruler, who seems to have been captured, and “(? burnt) alive in his palace.”

With regard to the names Eri-Aku and Rîm-Sin, one Sumero-Akkadian, and the other Semitic, the former means, as was thought from the first, “Servant of the Moon-god,” whilst the sense of the latter, as is made clear by the variant spelling in the new Babylonian chronicle, is “Sin's (the Moon-god's) wild bull.” A similar name is that of Rîm-Anu, another king of Larsa—“Anu's (the Heaven-god's) wild bull.” These are paralleled by such names as Bûr-Sin, “Sin's young steer,” in which the bearer is compared with a strong and willing animal of service. Possibly the substitution of the word for “wild bull” in Rîm-Sin and Rîm-Anu is symbolical of reckless courage.

Very little is known of the state of which Larsa (in Sumero-Akkadian Ararma) was the capital. It is interesting to note, however, that this city was a centre of the worship of the Sun-god Šamaš, as was also Sippar (now Abu-habbah). The temple in both cities bore the same name, Ê-bara (-para) or Ê-babbara (-barbara), “the house of brilliant light.” With the exception of Eri-Aku or Arioch, whose name is Sumero-Akkadian, all the rulers have Semitic names—Rîm-Anu, Nûr-Rammāni or Nûr-Addi, “light of Rimmon” or “of Hadad,” Sin-idinnam, “Sin has given,” and Rîm-Sin. If Eri-Aku was called, in the Semitic tongue, Arad-Sin, “Servant of Sin,” as is possible, this name must be added too, but in that case his identification with Arioch would be less probable. As he was of Elamite origin, his bearing a Sumero-Akkadian or a Semitic name was probably due to motives of policy, and one which, when written, could be read either way would give pleasure to both sections of the people, Sumero-Akkadian and Semitic.

The following inscriptions record architectural works of Kudur-mabuk, and his sons Eri-Aku and Rîm-Sin:—

[pg 219]

Tablet Of Kudur-Mabuk Mentioning Eri-Aku.

(Dingir) Nannara | To Nannara
lugala-ni-r | his king,
Kudur-mabuk | Kudur-mabuk,
adda kura Martu | father of Amoria,
dumu Simti-šilḫak | son of Simti-šilḫak.
Ud (dingir) Nannara | When Nannara
arazu-ni | his prayer
mu-igi-ginnā | received,
ne-zila-maḫa | ne-zila-maḫa
(dingir) Nannara-kam | for Nannara
nam-tila-ni-šu | for his life,
u nam-ti | and the life
Eri-Aku dumu-ni | of Eri-Aku, his son,
lugal Ararma-šu | king of Larsa,
munanindu. | he made.

“To Nannara, his king, Kudur-mabuk, father of the land of the Amorites, son of Simti-šilḫak. When Nannara received his prayer he made for Nannara ne-zila-maḫa for his life and the life of his son Arioch, king of Larsa.”

Tablet Of Eri-Aku Mentioning Kudur-Mabuk, His Father.

Eri-(dingir) Aku | Eri-Aku
uš kalagga | powerful hero
siba nig-zi | everlasting shepherd
ua Uri-(D. S.)-wa | installed by Bêl
(dingir) Ellilli garra | nourisher of Uriwa
lugal Arar-(D. S.)-ma | king of Larsa
lugal Kiengi-(D. S.)-Uragi | king of Šumer (and) Akkad
dumu Kudur-mabuk | son of Kudur-mabuk
Adda Emutbala-men | father of Yamutbālu am I.
Uriwa (D. S.) dagal-e-ne | In Uriwa broad,
mu maha dudune | possessing an exalted name,

Col. II.

ušu-na-bi | to the peerless (?)
ugul-immangaga | supplication I have made.
(dingir) Nannara lugala-mu | Nannara my king
mušinše | I have obeyed (?):
bad gala ḫursag illa-dim šu-nu-tutu | A great wall, high like a mountain, impregnable,
im-bi dul ea | inspiring (?) its fear,
munadu | have I made,
uru-ni ḫimmira | its city may it protect.
bada-ba | That wall
(dingir) Nannara suḫuš mada gengen | “Nannara the consolidator of the foundation of the land” is
mu-bi-im | its name.

“Arioch, the powerful hero, the everlasting shepherd installed by Bêl, the nourisher of Uriwa, the king of Larsa, the king of Šumer and Akkad, the son of Kudur-mabug, the father of Yamutbālu, am I. In broad Uriwa, possessing an exalted name, to the peerless one (?) have I made supplication, Nannara, my king, have I obeyed (?). The great wall, high like a mountain, impregnable, inspiring (?) its fear, have I built—may it protect its city. The name of that wall is ‘Nannara the consolidator of the foundation of the land.’ ”

[The above inscription is not without its difficulties, some of them formidable enough, but the general sense of the whole may be regarded as correctly made out.]

Tablet Of Rim-Sin.

(Dingir) Nin-saḫ | To Ninsaḫ
en galla abba age | great lord, beloved father
šaga-gu-sag-gi gala-zu | knowing the supplication of the heart
sukkala maḫa ša-kušša dingira galla | exalted messenger, (giving) heart-rest, great god
dugga-ni ši tul-du | he who sends forth his hidden word
lugal-a-ni-ir | his king
(dingir) Rim-(dingir) Sin | Rim-Sin.

siba gu kalama Nipri (D. S.) | shepherd of all the people of Nippur
me giškin Gurudug-(D. S.)-ga su-dudu | he who fulfils the word of the vine of Eridu
ua Uri-(D. S.)-wa | nourisher of Uriwa
ê-ud-da-im-te-ga | (and) Ê-udda-imtega
lugal Arar-(D. S.)-ma | king of Larsa

Col. II.

lugal Kengi-(D. S.)-Ura-gi | king of Šumer and Akkad.
Ud Ana (dingir) Ellila | When Anu, Bêl,
(dingir) En-ki | (and) Ea,
dingir-galgalene | the great gods,
Unuga (D. S.) uru du | Erech, the ruined (?) city,
šu-mu-šu manin-si-eša | into my hands delivered
(dingir) Ninsaḫ lugala-mu-r | to Ninsaḫ, my king,
gu-sagsaggi-da-mu-ta | after my making supplication;
ê-da-agga-šummu | Ê-dagga-šummu,
ki-dura ki-agga-ni | his beloved resting-place,
nam-ti-mu-šu | for my life
munadu. | I built.

“To Ninsaḫ, the great lord, the beloved father, he who is aware of the supplication of the heart; the exalted messenger, (giving) rest to the heart, the great god who sendeth forth his hidden word—his king, Rim-Sin, shepherd of all the people of Niffer, who fulfilleth the word of the vine of Êridu, nourisher of Uriwa (and) Ê-udda-imtega, king of Larsa, king of Šumer and Akkad. When Anu, Bêl, and Ea, the great gods, delivered Erech, the ruined (?) city, into my hands, I built to Ninsaḫ, my king, after making supplication, Ê-dagga-šummu, his beloved seat, for (the saving of) my life.”

This last text was found in the mound of Mugheir (Uriwa), and is of great interest, as it is dedicated to Ninsaḫ, the great messenger of the gods, and not to the god Sin or Nannara, the chief patron-deity of the city. It has also an interesting reference to the vine of Êridu (see pp. 71 ff.), and apparently to his capture of the city of Erech, delivered into his hands by the gods Anu, Bêl, and Ea. That he should represent [pg 222] himself as taking possession of the city by the will of Anu, the chief god of the city, whose name he mentions before the other two divinities, sheds a certain light upon the character of the man, whilst his military exploits, both at home and in the west, must have made him, like Chedorlaomer his fellow-countryman, and Ḫammurabi his rival, one of the heroes of his time.

There now remain to be treated of Chedorlaomer and Tidal, the remaining two of the four allies who fought in that memorable conflict by the Dead Sea to bring into subjection their revolted vassals.

From the time of their first discovery it has been felt that the occurrence of names containing the element Kudur—Kudur-mabuk, Kudur-Nanḫundi, Kudur-Naḫḫunte, etc.—was, in itself, excellent testimony to the correctness of the narrative in the 14th chapter of Genesis, where an Elamite king having Chedor as the first element of his name, attacks and conquers, in alliance with certain kings of Babylonia, five petty rulers of a district on the shores of the Dead Sea. It was, however, naturally a matter of disappointment that the name of Chedorlaomer himself did not occur, for it was soon recognized that the identification, made by Sir Henry Rawlinson, of Kudur-mabuk (read Kudur-mapula) with Chedorlaomer could not be sustained. What was wanted, was some such name as Kudur-Lagamar or Kudur-Lagamal, the second element having been recognized in other texts as the name of the Elamite deity Lagamaru. It was to all appearance thought to be probable that the name of Tidal would be found.

Accordingly, when two tablets were referred to at the Congress of Orientalists held at Geneva in 1894 as containing the names Tudḫula, Êri-Eaku (Êri-Ekua), and another name read doubtfully as Kudur-laḫ(gu)mal, no publicly-expressed objection to their possible identification with Tidal, Arioch, and Chedorlaomer [pg 223] was made. The names were placed before the Semitic section of the Congress of Orientalists referred to, as recent discoveries, which were certain as far as they went, their identification being a matter of opinion.

None of these documents are in a state of completeness, though one of them, a kind of poem, contains no less than 76 lines, more or less well preserved. The other two are of the nature, apparently, of historical legends, though they may be true historical documents, and, though imperfect, are of great importance. Concerning the names which are contained in these texts there is but little or no doubt, though there may be doubt as to the way in which they ought to be read in consequence of the fanciful way in which they are written.

The first document is Sp. III. 2, and contains all three names—or, rather, the names Tudḫula (Tidal), Êri-Eaku's son Durmaḫ-îlāni, and Kudur-laḫmal. The first portion of this text refers to the gods: “Šamaš, illuminator (of the earth),” “the lord of lords, Merodach, in the faithfulness of his heart,” aided (probably) his servant to subdue (?) some region, “all of it.” Then there is a reference to (soldiers) whom some ruler “caused to be slain,” and as the name of Durmaḫ-îlāni son of Êri-(E)aku follows, there is every probability that it was he who is referred to in the preceding lines. The carrying off of goods (?) is next spoken of, and waters which to all appearance came over Babylon and the great temple-tower called Ê-saggil (more usually written in earlier times Ê-sagila). The next line has an interesting reference to “the son (?)” of some one, who “slaughtered him like (?) a lamb with the weapon of his hands.” After this, we are told that “the elder and the child (were killed) with the sword.” To all appearance, another division of the subject begins with the next line, though the text goes on recording things of the same nature—“the [pg 224] child he cut off.” This is immediately followed by the words “Tudḫula the son of Gazza- ..,” or “Tidal son of Gazzā(ni?),” who, like Durmaḫ-îlāni (if we may form any opinion from the fact that the wording of the line following the mention of Tidal is the same as that following the name of the son of Êri-Eaku), carried off goods (?), and waters (he caused to flow?) over Babylon and Ê-saggil, the great temple of the city. The parallel between these two passages is still further emphasized by the words in the line immediately following, which says that “his son fell upon him with the weapon of his hand.” The next line is the last of the obverse, and speaks of (“the proclamation,” perhaps) of “his dominion before the temple of Annunit,” where we have the interesting archaism, An-nu-nit for D.P. (i.e. the determinative prefix indicating that the name of a deity follows) A-nu-nit.

The reverse begins with a reference to Elam, and some one (perhaps the king of that country) who “spoiled from the city Aḫḫê (?) to the land of Rabbātum.” Something was made, apparently by the same personage, into heaps of ruins, and the fortress of the land of Akkad, and “the whole of Borsippa(?)” are referred to. At this point comes the line mentioning Kudur-laḫmal, supposed to be Chedorlaomer. It reads as follows—

“Kudur-laḫmal, his son, pierced his heart with the steel sword of his girdle.”

After this there is a passage where the various kings mentioned seem to be referred to, and it is stated that Merodach, the king of the gods, was angry against them, and they were, to all appearance, made to suffer for what they had done. The scribe who had composed this record now speaks, in favourable words, of the king then reigning, and seems to refer to the restoration of the inscription to its place by the person (prince) who, in later days, should find it (as was the [pg 225] custom among the Babylonians and Assyrians). He ends with a pious wish that a sinful man might not exist, or something to that effect.

The second tablet, though in a more satisfactory state of preservation, is still sufficiently incomplete, none of the lines being altogether perfect.

After referring to Babylon, and to the property of that city, “small and great,” it is said that the gods (apparently)

“in their faithful counsel to Kudur-laḫgumal, king of the land of Elam ... said ‘Descend.’The thing which unto them was good (he performed, and) he exercised sovereignty in Babylon, the city of Kar-Duniaš.”

It would therefore appear that this Elamite ruler, by the will of the gods (such was the way with conquerors in those days—they annexed other countries to their dominions by the will of the gods of the lands annexed), took possession of Babylon, capital (such seems to be the meaning of the phrase) of Kar-Duniaš. This is followed by a long passage in which animals and birds, apparently the favourites of the Elamite king, are referred to, and the idea which one gains by reading it is, that he attended to these rather than to the welfare of his realm. This being the case, it is natural that something about the remissness of the king should follow, and this seems to be, in fact, intended in the next line, where some one whose name is lost seems to ask: “What king of Elam is there who has (erected?) the chapel (?) (it was something made of wood, as the determinative prefix shows) of E-saggil?” It was the Babylonians, the text seems to say, who had done things of this kind. The speaker then seems to begin to talk of “their work,” when another gap destroys the remainder of the phrase. He then speaks about “(a let)ter (?) which thou hast written thus: ‘I [pg 226] am a king, the son of a king,’ ” but whether it is the same personage who says that he is “the son of the daughter of a king, who has sat on the throne of dominion,” is doubtful—it may be a similarly boasting reply to the statement put into the mouth of the first speaker. The line which follows has the name of Durmaḫ-îlāni, son of Êri-Ekua (Êri-Eaku of the other historical text), who seems to have carried away spoil, but whether it is he who is referred to in the next line as having sat on the throne of dominion is doubtful. This is followed by the expression of the wish that the king might come who from eternal days ... was proclaimed lord of Babylon. The closing lines of the obverse, which is here described, do not give any clear sense, but there is a reference to the months Kislev and Tammuz, probably in connection with festivals, also (apparently) to certain priests, and to the taking of spoil. The remains of the reverse are too scanty to gather what the text inscribed upon it really refers to.

It is naturally difficult to judge which of these two inscriptions came first. Both of them seem to have a kind of peroration at the end containing similar phrases referring to the city of Babylon and its well-being, and either might therefore be the last tablet of a series. To all appearance, the order of the two records turns upon the question whether Durmaḫ-îlāni is the one who is referred to as having written a certain communication, or whether it is about him that some one has written. As he seems to be referred to in the third person, the probability is that “Durmaḫ-îlāni, son of Êri-Eaku, who (carried away?) the spoil of ... ,” is not the person speaking, but the person spoken of. In this case he was not necessarily alive at the time, and the order of the two tablets as here printed may be the correct one.

How far the record which they contain may be [pg 227] true is with our present knowledge impossible to find out. The style of the writing with which they are inscribed is certainly very late—later, in all probability, than the Persian period, and the possibility that it is a compilation of that period has been already suggested. That it is altogether a fiction, however, is in the highest degree improbable. If we have in the three names which these two tablets contain the Babylonian prototypes of Tidal, Arioch, and Chedorlaomer, they must refer to the events which passed between the first and thirty-first years of the reign of Amraphel or Ḫammurabi, in which it would seem that both Durmaḫ-îlāni and Tudḫula attacked and spoiled Babylon, cutting the canals so that the town and the temple were both flooded. Both of these royal personages, who, be it noted, are not called kings, were apparently killed by their sons, and Kudur-laḫmal seems to have been a criminal of the same kind, if we may judge from the words “Kudur-laḫmal, his son, pier(ced?) his heart with the steel sword of his girdle.” That three royal personages, contemporaries, should all dispose of their fathers in the same way seems, however, in the highest degree improbable. It also seems to be in an equal degree impossible that (as has been suggested) the tablets in question should refer to Tidal, Arioch, and Chedorlaomer, but not the same Tidal, Arioch, and Chedorlaomer as is spoken of in Genesis, unless it be meant thereby that the Biblical personages of that name are the historical ones, whilst those of the two tablets belong to the realm of fiction. The greater probability is, that they are the same personages, but that the accounts handed down to us on these two tablets are largely legendary.

And that this is the case is made more probable by the third document, couched in poetical form, which I have entitled The Legend of Chedorlaomer. The following are extracts from this remarkable piece—

[pg 228]

“... and they pressed on to the supreme gate.

He threw down, removed, and cast down the door of Ištar in the holy places,

He descended also, like Ura the unsparing, to Dû-maḫa;

He stayed also in Dû-maḫa, looking at the temple;

He opened his mouth, and spake with the children (of the place).

To all his warriors (then) he hastened the message:—

‘Carry off the spoil of the temple, take also its goods,

Destroy its barrier, cause its enclosures to be cut through.’

To the channel ... they pressed on....”

(Here comes a mutilated passage apparently referring to the destruction which he wrought.)

“He drove away the director's overseer, he took away the vail.

The enemy pressed on evilly to Ennun-dagalla.

The god was clothed with light before him,

He flashed like lightning, and shook the (holy) places.

The enemy feared, he hid himself.

There descended (?) also its chief man, and he spake to him a command.

... the god was clothed with light,

(He flashed like lightning), and shook the (holy) places.

‘(Draw near unto?) Ennun-dagalla, remove his crowns!

(Enter into?) his temple, seize his hand!’

..., he did not fear, and he regarded not his life.

‘(He shall not approach?) Ennun-dagalla, he shall not remove his crowns.’ ”

[pg 229]

(Here follows another mutilated passage, describing how “the Elamite, the wicked man,” proclaimed something to the lands, and how he dwelt and stayed in Dû-maḫa.)

(At this point is the end of the obverse, and there is a considerable gap before there are any further fairly complete passages.)

“When the guardian spoke peace (to the city)

The guardian-bulls of Ê-šarra, [the temple of the host of the gods], departed.

The enemy, the Elamite, multiplied evils,

And Bêl allowed evil to be planned against Babylon.”

“When righteousness was absent (?), then was decided (?) also the destruction

Of Ê-šarra, the temple of the host of the gods, the guardian-bulls departed.

The enemy, the Elamite, took its goods—

Bêl, dwelling upon it, had displeasure.”

“When the magicians repeated their evil words (?),

Gullum47 and the evil wind performed their evil (?).

Then their gods departed—they departed like a torrent.

Storm and evil wind went round in the heavens.

Anu, their creator, had displeasure.

He made pale their face, he made desolate his place,

He destroyed the barrier in the shrine of Ê-anna,

(He overthrew?) the temple, and the platform shook.”

“ .... he decreed destruction,

..... he had disfavour.

The people (?) of Bêl of Ê-zida barred (?) the road to Šumer.

[pg 230]

Who is Kudurlaḫgu(mal), the doer of the evils?

He has gathered also the Umman-man(da against?) the people (?) of Bêl—

He has laid in ruin . . . by their side.”

“When (the enclosure) of Ê-zida (was broken down?),

And Nebo was ruler of the host, there (came) down his (winged bulls).

Down to Tiamtu he se(t his face).

Ibi-Tutu, whom the Sun-god (?) hastened within Tiamtu,

Entered Tiamtu, and founded a pseudo-capital.

The enclosure of Ê-zida, the everlasting temple, was caused to be broken through.”

“(The enemy), the Elamite, caused his yoke of horses to be directed, (and)

Set his face (to go) down to Borsippa.

He traversed also the road of darkness, the road to Mesech.

The tyrant (?) Elamite destroyed the palace (?),

He subdued the princes of ... with the sword,

He carried off the spoil of all the temples.

He took their goods, and carried them away to Elam.

.... ruler, he destroyed the ruler (?),

.......... filled also the land.”

(The remainder is wanting.)

Apparently this is a poetical reproduction of the tablets of which translations have already been given. The enemy entered Babylon, according to the nine lines of the earlier portion of the inscription which are preserved, and spoiled and ravaged the place. The mention of the channel (îku, irrigation-channel) suggests a comparison with the first of the two historical fragments, where waters over Babylon and [pg 231] Ê-sagila are referred to, and cause one to ask whether Durmaḫ-îlāni and Tudḫula were not the lieutenants of Kudur-laḫgumal.

The description of the conditions under which the entry into Babylon was effected, when the god (possibly Ennundagalla) was clothed with light, flashed like lightning and shook the holy places, suggests that a severe thunderstorm acted on the superstitious hopes of the Babylonians, and the equally superstitious fears of their foes, so much so, that the Elamite did not carry out his intention of carrying away the crowns of the statue of the god. He seems, however, to have taken and retained possession of the place, and to have continued to extend his operations.

The reverse apparently states why all these misfortunes came, and what further happened. It was because they accepted a foreign ruler (he spoke peace to the city, and thereby became its master); because there was denial of righteousness or justice (righteousness was absent?); because the magicians repeated evil words. Even in the temple of Anu at Erech (the shrine called Ê-anna, “the temple of heaven,” or “of Anu”) the god of heaven was displeased, and caused something very like an earthquake. Some, however, were found who were willing to try to bar the passage of the conqueror, who had gathered the Umman-manda (barbarian hordes), possibly his followers and those of Tudḫula or Tidal, against the people (?) of Bêl (the Babylonians), and laid everything in ruins.

When the enclosure of Ê-zida (the great temple-tower of Borsippa, identified with the tower of Babel by modern scholars) was broken down, Ibi-Tutu, apparently a Babylonian prince, fled to Tiamtu, the region of the Persian Gulf, and there founded a temporary capital. The invader thereupon seems to have proceeded to Borsippa, and to have taken the road to Mesech—that is to say, to the north—where he continued his ravages. That he intended to go so [pg 232] far as Mesech, however, is very unlikely, his object being to subdue the princes of the immediate neighbourhood of Babylon, and after collecting the spoil and goods of all the temples, he carried them away with him to Elam.

Cyrus, when he entered Babylon, spoke peace to the city, and promised peace to all the land. In later documents even than the time of Cyrus, “the enemy, the Elamite,” is spoken of, and there is every probability that the legend here recounted was popular with the Babylonians as long as any national feeling was left, hence these incomplete remains which have come down to us—due, perhaps, to some period when the old hostility was aroused by some inroad from the mountains on the east, where the Elamites held sway apparently to a comparatively late date.

Whether Êri-Eaku (or Eri-Aaku), Tudḫula, and Kudur-laḫgumal be Arioch, Tidal and Chedorlaomer respectively, I leave to the reader to decide for himself. The first of these will probably be regarded as sufficiently near to be exceedingly probable. With regard to the two others, it may be noted that Tidal was pronounced, in Hebrew, Tidghal, as the Greek Thargal (for Thadgal, d and r being so much alike in Hebrew as to be easily interchanged) shows, and Chedorlaomer was Chedorlaghomer, as the Greek Chodollogomar likewise indicates. Doubt concerning the reading can only be entertained with regard to this last name.48

Whatever may be thought about the interesting and remarkable inscriptions of which an account has just been given, of one thing there can be no doubt, and that is, that the Elamites and Babylonians were quite powerful enough, at the time of Abraham, to make an expedition of the magnitude described in [pg 233] Genesis xiv. Sargon of Agadé held sway over this district, and he reigned, according to Nabonidus's indications, more than 1500 years earlier. His son, when he came to the throne, added Elam to his dominions as well. That the position should, at a considerably later period, be reversed, is easily conceivable, and it was to all appearance the Elamites who held sway in a part of Babylonia, of which country many of the states undoubtedly acknowledged Elamite overlordship, though with exceeding unwillingness. One point of the undoubted history is noteworthy. Kudur-mabuk, son of Simti-šilḫak, who ruled at Larsa, bears, like his father, an Elamite name. His son, Êri-Aku, has an Akkadian name—perhaps, as already suggested, from motives of policy, and likely enough from the same motive, he may have Semitizised it later on, making it Arad-Sin. Êri-Ekua (-Eaku) is likewise an Akkadian name, and must be a fanciful variant of that of Êri-Aku or Arioch. His son, however, bears the Semitic name of Durmaḫ-îlāni, “the bond with the gods.” This is apparently a case of carrying the policy of conciliation a step farther, for by doing this he not only bears a native name, but also claims to be the intermediary with the gods of his country.

After the retreat of the conquering army of Elamites and Babylonians with their booty, with Lot, Abraham's nephew, as prisoner, and his goods as part of the spoil, comes the interesting account of the way in which Abraham rescued his relative and recovered his property, with a portion of that belonging to the king of Sodom. On his return with the spoil, Melchizedek king of Salem meets him, offering him bread and wine, and blessing him as Abraham of El-Elyon, “the most high god.” Certain supposed confirmatory statements in the correspondence of Abdi-ṭâba, ruler of Jerusalem, which was found among the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, has been the subject of much discussion, and [pg 234] it is apparently regarded as being of much importance, though there are various opinions concerning it. The prince in question, when writing to his suzerain, the reigning king of Egypt, makes the remarkable statement that it was not his father nor his mother who had set him in that place (i.e. Uru-salim or Jerusalem) as king, but “the mighty king”—

“Behold, this land of Jerusalem, neither my father nor my mother gave (it) to me—the hand (arm49) of the mighty king gave it to me.”—(Tablet, Berlin, 103.)

“Behold, I am not a prefect, I am an employé of the king my lord,—behold, I am an officer of the king, and one who brings the tribute of the king. Neither my father nor my mother, (but) the arm of the mighty king has set me in the house of my father.”—(Tablet B. 104.)

“Behold, I, neither my father nor my mother set me in this place. The arm of the mighty king caused me to enter into the house of my father.”—(Tablet B. 102.)

As Abdi-ṭâba then goes on to emphasize his faithfulness to the king of Egypt, apparently on account of his having been made ruler of Jerusalem by him, these passages merely resolve themselves, to all appearance, into a statement of the writer's indebtedness to his royal master. It may be disappointing, but to all appearance the “mighty king” is the king of Egypt, and not the god of Uru-salim.

Nevertheless, the description of Melchizedek in Heb. vii. 3, “without father, without mother,” makes it a quite legitimate question to ask: may not Abdi-ṭâba, in what he said to his suzerain, have made some mental reservation when writing what he did? Or is [pg 235] it not possible that, when speaking about his independence of his father and his mother for the position that he occupied, he was unconsciously making use of words familiar to him, and recorded in some document of the archives of the city? We have yet to learn the history of the preceding period—we know not whether Abdi-ṭâba had really a right to the position which he occupied (he seems to have been placed as ruler of Jerusalem by the foreign power to which he refers), and until we get more information, there is no escape from the necessity of regarding him, from his own letters, as being in a different position from that which, in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis, Melchizedek occupies.

In connection with the question as to what divinity was worshipped at Jerusalem, the tablet known as B. 105 is of importance. Line 14 of the letter in question reads: “The city of the land of Jerusalem, its name is Bît-Ninip, the city of the king, is lost—(it is) a place of the men of Kelti.” What was this “city of the king,” or “royal city”? The general opinion at first was, that the place meant was Jerusalem itself, for that must have been from the earliest times “a royal city” par excellence. Winckler, however, translates “A city of the land of Jerusalem,” which certainly seems a reasonable rendering. Properly speaking, however, the idiomatic Semitic Babylonian expression for “a city” would be išten âlu, “one city.” Though Winckler's rendering is a perfectly reasonable one, therefore, the first translation is not excluded, and in any case there remains the clear statement that a city of the territory of Jerusalem—that is to say a city which owned the sway of her kings—possessed, as its patron-deity, the god whom the Babylonians and Assyrians called Ninip, and worshipped under many names. Among these may be mentioned Madanunu, explained as “the proclaimed (?), the renowned, the high”; En-banda, probably meaning [pg 236] “the distinguished lord,” a name which he bore as “Ninip, he who takes the decision of the gods.” Another of his names was Ḫalḫalla, “Ninip, protector of the decision, father of Bêl”; and, more interesting still, he was called Me-maḫa (“supreme word”), as “Ninip, guardian of the supreme commands.” The Assyrians worshipped him both under the name of Ninip and Apil-Êšarra, “son of the house (temple) of the host.” It is this deity whose name occurs in the Assyrian royal names Tukulti-Ninip and Tukulti-âpil-Ê-šarra, or Tiglath-pileser.

On these points, as on many others, we must wait for more light from the East.

In the matter of Sarai, Abraham's wife, giving her handmaid Hagar to Abraham as a second or inferior wife, because she had no children herself, it is not improbable that we have a record of what was a common custom at the time. On p. 174 ff. translations of Babylonian tablets are given, which seem to have some analogies with what is stated in the Biblical narrative. In these inscriptions, however, the woman of inferior position, though she is expected to be the servant of the other, is raised, to all appearance, into a higher position, and described as the sister of the first wife, apparently by adoption, this supposition being based on the statement that Iltani was daughter of Sin-âbu-šu, though both Iltani and Taram-sagila were taken in marriage from Uttatum, their father. Apparently there was to be no difference in the status of the children of either of them, and it was apparently on account of the hope that Hagar's son would be as her own, that the patriarch's wife acted as she did.

With regard to the contract at Machpelah, that is, as has already been noticed more than once, evidently a legal document, or at least an abstract of such a document, and bears some likeness to the ancient contracts of Assyria and Babylonia, though the latter are generally composed in much shorter form, and [pg 237] with different phraseology. The descriptions of landed property given on pp. 167, 178 ff., and also such sales of land as the following give material for comparing the document in question—

“¼ of a gan, a field by the crossing, in the upper district of Tenu, beside (the property of) Qaranu the son of the palace, and beside (the property of) Ili-midi, its first end the road Aštaba(tum ?), its second end the property of the enclosure Tenunam, Il-šu-banî has bought from Nannara-manšum and Sin-banî, his brother, sons of Sin-âbû-šu, for its complete price. He has paid the money, he has passed the barrier, his transaction is complete—the silver, the price of their field, is complete, they are content. They shall not say ‘We have not received the money’—they have received it before the witnesses. At no future time shall Nannara-manšum and Sin-banî make claim upon the field. They have invoked the spirit of Šamaš, Merodach, and Zabium (the king).

“Claim of his brothers and his sisters [this would be better ‘their brothers and their sisters’], children of Sin-âbû-šu, Nannara-manšum and Sin-banî shall answer for.

“Before Ili-'adiwa, son of Amurru-banî; before Nannara-itti, son of Sin-naṣir; before Sin-rêmeni, son of Išmê-Sin; before Nannara-ki-aga (?), son of Sin-idinnam; before Munawirum; before Sin-bêl-ili; before Sin-ûblam; before Nannara-manšum; before Ubar-Ninip, the scribe, before Sin-êribam.”

In the following text the nature of the trees on the ground sold is specified—

“12 measures, a date-palm plantation, beside the plantation of Rîš-Šamaš, priest of the Sun-god, son of the woman Sâla, its first end (the property of) Girum, Aḫatāni, sun-devotee, daughter of Marum, has bought for its price in silver from Rîš-Šamaš, son of Sâla. She has paid the money, (and) is content—she has passed the barrier. The transaction is ended. At no [pg 238] future time shall they make claim against each other. (They have invoked) the spirit of Šamaš, Merodach, and Ḫammurabi (Amraphel).

“Before Amri-ili-šu, son of Naram-Êa; before Yati-îlu, son of Abil-Sin; before Ibi-Šamaš, before Êtil-šêp-Šamaš (?), sons of Buzia; before Izi-zarê; before Êrib-Sin, son of Sârabi; before Manum, son of Sin-idinnam; before Iṭur-âšdum, son of Ilu-ma-rabi (?); before Ili-âbû-Sin (?); before Êrib-Sin, son of Su-...; before Šamaš-binî-pî-ia; before Dimaḫum; before Rîš-Šamaš; before Ikunia, (son of?) ...-ninibu.”

A comparison of these inscriptions, which are types of hundreds of others known to Assyriologists, with the transaction between Abraham and the Hittite Ephron, shows noteworthy differences. The boundaries are usually stated in the Babylonian documents with sufficiently great precision; but, on the other hand, the nature of the land is generally not stated except if it be actually under cultivation, and any trees growing on it are apparently mentioned only on account of their commercial value—when, for instance, they are fruit-bearing trees, as in the reference to the date-palms in the second document here translated. In Babylonia, as in Palestine, contracts and transactions of a legal nature often took place in the open space by the gate of the city in or near which the contracting parties lived, and where witnesses to the transaction could easily be found among those who passed in and out, or who had business in the neighbourhood. In the record contained in the 23rd chapter of Genesis, the names of the witnesses are naturally not given, but it is expressly stated that the contract was made “in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his city.”

[pg 239]

Salem.

One of the most interesting points revealed by the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, is the fact that the name of Jerusalem occurs, and is not called simply Salem (as in Gen. xiv. 18), but Uru-salim, the Aramaic (Syriac) Uri-shalem, a form which confirms the translation given to it, namely, “city of peace,” though the writing of the word in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets suggests the suppression of the particle “of,” making “the city Peace” simply, which would, perhaps, be to a certain extent a counterpart to or an explanation of the form Salem, “Peace,” in Genesis.

There is no doubt that the name is an exceedingly interesting one. Prof. Sayce has suggested that there was a god named Salem, or “Peace,” and that the city was so called as being the abode of that deity. This, of course, is by no means improbable, but in no place where the name occurs—neither in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets nor in the historical inscriptions of Sennacherib—has the element salim (in Sennacherib's texts salimmu) the divine prefix before it. That the divine prefix should be omitted in the inscriptions of Sennacherib is easily understood, as the name in question would be a foreign one to the Assyrian scribes of his time. To the writers of the letters from Jerusalem, however, it was a native name, and one would certainly expect the name of the city, in such documents, to be given fully at least once.

Nevertheless, that there was a god of peace among the Semites, is proved by the name of the Assyrian god Šulmanu or Shalman, a component part of the name Shalmaneser, the Assyrian Šulmanu-ašarid. It is noteworthy that there were no less than four Assyrian kings of this name, and that it means “the god Shalman is chief.” Šulmanu or Šalmanu nunu, “Shalman the fish,” also occurs, as the name of one [pg 240] of the gods of the city Tedi, or, as Prof. Sayce reads it, Dimmen-Silim (better Temmena-silima), but this latter reading would only be the correct one if the characters Tedi are to be read as an Akkadian group.

It is therefore very doubtful whether the element salim in the name of Jerusalem be the name of a god, notwithstanding the love that the peoples of the Semitic East naturally had for the blessings which the word implies. It formed part, as in Arabic at the present day, of many a greeting, and is one of the most noteworthy points of the Semitic languages. A poetic composition, apparently of the time of the dynasty of Babylon—probably contemporaneous with Abraham—seems to read as follows—

Mazzazam išu, | It has the resting-place,
Padanam išu— | It has the roadway,
Bab êkalli šalim; | The gate of the palace is sound—
Šulmu parku šakin. | Perfect (?) soundness exists;
Martum šalmât | The gall is sound,
Ubanum šalmât | The peak is sound,
Ḫašû (?) u libbu (?) šalmu | Entrails and heart are sound—
Sinšerit tiranu. | 12 (are) the coverings (?).

Tertum immer izzim | (If) the viscera (?) of a healthy sheep (?)
Šalmât | Be sound,
Mimma la tanakkud. | Naught shalt thou fear.

The above probably represents the signs which the extispices or “entrails-inspectors” looked for when working out their forecasts. A better translation than “peace” for salim would therefore probably be “safe and sound,” “intact,” or something similar (see the 13th edition of Gesenius's Lexicon, edited by Prof. F. Buhl, with the collaboration of Socin and Zimmern, also Fried. Delitzsch, Assyrisches Handwörterbuch), but the old and more poetic expression “peace,” “to be at peace,” may be held to sufficiently express the meaning.

[pg 241]

With regard to the first element of the name Jerusalem, Uru-salim in Assyrian, that is to all appearance the Sumero-Akkadian uru (from an older guru), “city,” in the dialect eri, from which the Hebrew 'ir, “city,” has to all appearance come. The vowel-change from u to e or i is shown in tu, dialectic te, “dove”; uru, dial. eri, “servant”; duga, dial. ṣiba, “good,” etc. As is usual with two nationalities dwelling at no great distance from each other, borrowings of words took place between the Semites on the one hand and the Sumero-Akkadians on the other, which have left traces on the vocabularies of both.

[pg 242]

Chapter VII. Isaac, Jacob, And Joseph.

Jacob, Yakub, and Yakub-ilu—Joseph, Yasup, and Yasup-ilu—Other similar names—The Egyptian monuments and the Semites.

With the disappearance of Abraham from the scene of his earthly wanderings, a prominent figure connecting Babylonia with Palestine vanishes from history. His son Isaac and his grandson Jacob retain, however, their connection with those of the family who resided at Haran, taking their wives from among their relatives there—Isaac because his father wished it, Jacob because the souls of his father and mother were vexed on account of the daughters of Heth whom Esau, Jacob's brother, had married. In this primitive story of three generations of a primitive family there is much to interest the student of ancient west Semitic manners and customs—the love of Isaac for Esau, because Isaac loved the savoury venison which the former provided for him; how Jacob, “the supplanter,” obtained his brother's birthright and the blessing which he ought to have had; Laban's covetousness and duplicity—all these things furnish material for the student of manners and customs and of human nature, but very little for the comparative archæologist who wishes to find connections between Abraham's descendants and the country which gave their father (or their grandfather) birth. Nevertheless there are points which deserve illustration.

[pg 243]

To all appearance the manners and customs of the families of the patriarchs had not changed since they came out of Babylonia. There is the same pastoral life, the same dislike (and probably mistrust) of strangers and foreigners, the same freedom on the part of the men, even the most honoured among them, with regard to the marriage-tie, the same tendency to add to this world's goods, and to become great and mighty chiefs in the land (would that Jacob had done this otherwise), as at first. The Babylonian spirit of commerce and the desire for “supplanting” was well developed in the father of the twelve tribes, and may be regarded as adding, as far as it goes, to the confirmation of the theory (but the question is more one of fact than of theory) that Abraham was of Babylonian race.

Exceedingly interesting are all the names borne by the patriarchs, and the reasons why they were given to them. Indeed, the punning references to circumstances concerning their birth are similar in their character to those of the patriarchs before the Flood. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that many of the names found in this part of the sacred narrative are not by any means unique. Thus the name of Jacob occurs many times in the tablets of the period of the first dynasty of Babylon under the forms of Yakubu, Yakubi, etc., and there are also forms with the word îlu attached—Ya'kubi-îlu, Yakub-îlu, etc. In like wise we find what is apparently the same name as that of Joseph, namely, Yašupum with its longer form Yašup-îlu, types of many others, such as Yakudum, Yakunam, etc., Yabnik-îlu, Yagab-îlu son of Yakub-îlu, etc. As far as I have at present been able to find out, however, none of the names of this class, except Yakub-îlu and Yašup-îlu, have as yet been discovered in both forms (i.e. with and without the element îlu), which may turn out to be of importance, or may be simply a remarkable coincidence.

[pg 244]

This, naturally, leads to the question: What are the meanings of these names? According to Genesis, Jacob means supplanter, or, rather, “he has supplanted,” and the further query then arises: What does the name mean when îlu is added to it? The meaning in this case ought to be “God has supplanted,” which clearly will not fit.

The best explanation probably is, that the name of Jacob was never Ya´kub-ilu, but Ya´kub simply, meaning, “he has supplanted,” and referring, naturally, to the person who bore the name. As the name “Supplanter” is not one which a man would be proud to bear, in all probability it was seen that it would be taken for the usual abbreviation for Ya´kub-îlu, with the probable meaning of “God hath restrained” (another signification of the root ´aqab), and thus it may be that there is no record of any one having reproached him on account of it, except the members of his own family, who knew why it was given to him, and recognized in his character as a man something which corresponded with the name given to him because of what was said to have happened at his birth.

Notwithstanding the two etymologies of the name of Joseph which are given (Gen. xxx. 23, 24), “He (God) hath taken away,” and “He (God) hath added,” there is but little doubt that the latter rendering is the correct one, agreeing, as it does, better with the root yāsaph, from which it is derived, the other rendering, from the root āsaph, “to take away,” being due to a kind of pun. (The former rendering is explained as being from the Elohist narrative, the other from that of the Jehovist, but it seems not at all improbable that a woman, even a Canaanitess of those primitive ages, should have made a joke sometimes—they seem always to have been given to making strange comparisons with regard to words, and even the ancient Babylonians were not free from that failing, as at least one of the bilingual tablets shows.) The meaning of the [pg 245] name Joseph is therefore “He (God) hath added,” corresponding with that of the Yašup-îlu, “God hath added,” of the tablets of the time of the dynasty of Babylon. The use of š for s must be due to the fact that Yašup-îlu was, for the Babylonians, a foreign name, and that, in Assyro-Babylonian, šin was pronounced like samech and samech like šin, as a general rule.

Besides the names of the patriarchs Jacob and Joseph, the name Sar-îli, “prince of God,” suggests a comparison with Israel, which is written Sir´ilâa, “Israelites,” in the time of Shalmaneser II. The meaning attributed to this name would seem to be somewhat strained, as it would signify rather “God hath striven,” than “he hath striven with God.” That word-play exists also here, and that the name was a changed form of Sar-îli, “prince of God,” is possible, and is at least justified as a suggestion by the form recorded by Shalmaneser II. already referred to.

The name of his brother Esau may possibly exist in the Babylonian Esê, found on a tablet dated in the reign of Samsu-iluna. Laban does not occur, except as the name of a god in a list of deities worshipped in the city of Aššur. With regard to Bethuel, one cannot help thinking that it must be the same as the place-name Bethel, the terminal u of the nominative being retained in the name of Abraham's nephew. If this be the case, he may have been so named after the “Bethel of cedar” (see p. 201), though there is just the possibility that, as Gesenius suggests, Bethuel may be for Methuel, the Babylonian Mut-îli, “man of god.” That the Bethel of Haran was a heathen place of worship, however, can hardly be regarded as any objection to one of the family to which Abraham and his descendants belonged bearing such a name. If the Hebrew text be correct, therefore, it is probably an abbreviation, forming part of a name similar to [pg 246] Ê-sagila-zērâ-êpuš, “Ê-sagila (the temple of Belus at Babylon) has created a name,” and others like it. It is also to be noted, that the name given by Leah to the son which Zilpah her handmaid bore to Jacob after she herself left off bearing was Gad, rendered in the Hebrew itself by “Fortunate,” and probably the name of a west Semitic deity, Gad, the god of good fortune.

But the heathenism of the portion of the family living at or near Haran is clearly proved by the matter of the teraphim, which Rachel stole from her father Laban. It is true that they are generally regarded as figures used for the purpose of magic, but as Laban himself calls them his “gods,” there is every probability that they were worshipped as such. It is to be regarded as simply an indication of the difficulty which most dwellers in the midst of polytheism in those days must have found in dissociating themselves from the practices of those with whom they came daily into contact. They may have had all the tendencies possible towards monotheism, but how were they to embrace it in all its perfection in the midst of a population recounting from time to time the many wonderful things which their gods and protecting genii did for them, and which the hearer had no opportunity of probing to the bottom and estimating at their true value? As these people were, to all appearance, but simple shepherds (though sufficiently wealthy), it is hardly to be expected of them that they would go deeply into philosophical considerations concerning the Deity, especially when we remember that the family of Laban was in close contact with the idolatry of Haran.

With regard to the teraphim which Rachel took with her when Jacob fled from her father, there is not much that can be said. Figures so called were in common use among the Jews and other nations for purposes of magic, and to all appearance they were [pg 247] statues of deities (as indicated in the passage now under consideration) which were consulted by some means when anything of importance was about to be undertaken. To all appearance they were the household gods, like the Lares and Penates of the Romans, though they were also used when on expeditions, as when Nebuchadnezzar is represented (Ezekiel xxi. 21-26 in the Heb.) standing at the parting of the ways to use divination, shaking arrows to and fro, consulting the teraphim, and looking at a liver to decide what his success in the operations which he was about to undertake against Jerusalem would be. In Zechariah x. 2 also, there is a reference to the teraphim, which, as oracles, had “spoken vanity,” and the diviners had “seen a lie.” Little doubt exists, therefore, as to what these things were used for. With regard to their form, it is supposed that they were similar to the small figures found in the ruins of the ancient palaces of Assyria, generally under the pavement, in all probability images of the gods of Assyria who, by their effigies, were supposed to protect the palace and its inhabitants. Some of these are four-winged figures similar to those found on the bas-reliefs, whilst others are representations of a deity, probably the god Êa or Aê, the god of the sea, who is represented clothed with a fish's skin, etc. The size of these teraphim must have differed greatly; that which was placed in David's bed by Michal, his wife, to deceive Saul's messengers, must necessarily have been of considerable height—probably not much under that of a man. Those hidden by Rachel when her father came to look for them, however, must have been comparatively small, and the figures found in the foundations of the Assyrian palaces rarely measure more than six inches in height.

In the light of what this incident of the teraphim reveals, it is not to be wondered at that Jacob, when about to go up to Bethel from Shechem, after the [pg 248] treacherous spoiling of the city by his sons, should have said, “Put away the strange gods that are among you,” and it shows also a considerable amount of tolerance on the part of the patriarch. Did he, too, believe that the gods which his relatives and dependents worshipped were in any sense divine beings? In any case, it is to be noted that, after they were given to him, he did not destroy them, but hid them, with the trinkets which they possessed—in all probability in many cases heathen emblems—under the terebinth-tree which was by Shechem.

To all appearance they were allowed to keep these strange gods and heathen emblems until they set out on the journey to make the commanded sacrifices to the God who had revealed Himself to Jacob at Bethel.

It was after this sacrifice at Bethel that God again revealed Himself as El-shaddai, His name in the text of “the priestly narrator” (Gen. xvii. 1), and in many other passages. The word Shaddai here is generally connected with the root shadād, “to act powerfully,” and the translation “God Almighty” is based on this. As the word is a very difficult one, however, there have been many attempts to find a more satisfactory etymology. It is to be noted, therefore, that there is in Semitic Babylonian a word šadû, often applied to deities, and expressed, in the old language of Akkad, by means of the same ideograph (KURA) as is used for mountain (šadû or šaddû in Semitic Babylonian). This word šadû, applied to divinities, Prof. Fried. Delitzsch regards as being distinct from the word for mountain, notwithstanding that they are both expressed by the same word in Akkadian, and renders it by the words “lord,” “commander.”

Have we, in this word, an Assyro-Babylonian form of the Hebrew Shaddai? We do not know, but the likeness between the two is worth referring to. The god Bêl, for example, is called šadû rabû, “the great [pg 249] mighty one,” and Sin, with other deities, bears a similar title, found in such names as Sin-šadûnu, “the Moon-god is our lord.” That the idea of almightiness should be expressed by means of the borrowed Akkadian idiomatic use of the word KURA, “mountain,” as that which towers up commandingly, a mighty mass, would seem to offer an acceptable explanation of what has long been felt as a difficulty. “But God knows best.”

After a long and noteworthy account of Esau and his descendants, the interest of the narrative shifts, and is transferred to Joseph, the youngest but one of Jacob's twelve sons, though the narrative is for a time interrupted by the story of Judah.

With the transfer of the interest of the narrative to Joseph, Egypt, the country into which he was sold as a slave, becomes the scene of the action. Here a vast and interesting store of material meets the student, which, unfortunately, we can only very imperfectly touch upon, partly from considerations of space, and partly because the present work is intended to be more the story of the Hebrews in connection with Babylonia and Assyria. It is necessary, however, to speak of Egypt not only on account of the continuity of the narrative, but also as an introduction to the chapter in which the Tel-el-Amarna tablets are examined—documents found in Egypt, and addressed to an Egyptian king.

There is no doubt, that in the story of Joseph there exists a considerable amount of what is known as “local colour.” This is shown by the freedom which the women of Egypt evidently enjoyed (as exhibited in the story of Potiphar's wife), the matter of Joseph shaving himself before going to see Pharaoh, the many undoubtedly Egyptian names, etc. These, of course, are undeniable points in favour of the authenticity of the narrative, which, perfect as it is, omits one important thing, namely, the name of [pg 250] the Pharaoh who ruled at the time. That there should be such an omission in the comparatively unimportant references to the visits of Abraham and Isaac to Egypt is, perhaps, not so very strange, but that there should be no clue to the identity of the Egyptian ruler under whom Joseph entered Egypt, nor to the persecutor of the Israelites under whose reign they went forth from what had become to them practically a hostile land, is noteworthy, and a matter for great regret. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at that scholars have arisen who doubt the whole story, for the least flaw in a narrative in the present day, when unbelief and the desire for scientific proof meet one on every hand, will cause a thinking man to doubt anything and everything.

The degree of civilization to which Egypt had attained at this period, and probably thousands of years earlier, is so remarkable that it is difficult for us at this distance of time to realize it. Whether the country was in reality more civilized than Babylonia is a matter of doubt—possibly we regard their civilization as superior on account of the monuments being so much better preserved, and because, in consequence of the nature of the climate (which is such as to preserve even perishable things), an untold wealth of material exists. This was not the case with Babylonia, in which country the annual rains have caused almost all woodwork to decay, and only objects of stone and clay, and much more rarely metal, remain, even these being in many instances more or less damaged and therefore defective as really useful historical documents.

Egyptian antiquities testify to the civilization of the Egyptians, as has already been remarked, from remote ages, and the inscriptions show that the kingdom was well organized, and governed by rulers whose sway was popular and in accordance with the wishes of the priesthood. This state of things lasted, according to Prof. Flinders Petrie, until about 2098 [pg 251] b.c., when suddenly this exceedingly conservative nation, possessing as great a dislike for foreigners as do the Chinese at the present time, found itself attacked and invaded by barbarian hordes from Western Asia. From what district these people came is not known. According to Josephus, they were regarded by some as Arabians, but Josephus himself regarded them as being of his own race, i.e. Jewish. Quoting from Manetho, he shows that, under a ruler called Timaios, these people from the east, “men of an ignoble race,” invaded the land, and easily made themselves master of it without a battle. When the rulers of Egypt fell into their hands, they burned the cities, destroyed the temples of the gods, and inflicted every kind of indignity upon the inhabitants. At last they raised one of themselves named Salatis (a name evidently derived from the Semitic root šālaṭ, “to rule”) to the throne. This king made Memphis his capital, both Upper and Lower Egypt become tributary to him, and he stationed garrisons in those places which were most suitable for the purpose. One interesting point is, that he directed his attention especially to the security of the eastern frontier, because he feared the Assyrians, who, he foresaw, would one day undertake an invasion of his kingdom. This, to all appearance, refers to the Babylonian dominion, which, as we have seen (see pp. 124 and 155) extended to the Mediterranean. As far as our historical knowledge extends, his fears were groundless, as no serious attempt (and certainly no successful attempt) to conquer Egypt was made until long after the time of Salatis, when Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, succeeded in subjugating the country, which remained under Assyrian overlordship until the reign of his son Aššur-banî-âpli.

Salatis ruled 19 years, and was succeeded by a king named Beon or Bnōn, who reigned 44 years. The next ruler of this race bears the Egyptian-sounding [pg 252] name of Apakhnas, and ruled for 37 years and 7 months. Next came Apophis, the Apepi of modern scholars, who occupied the throne no less than 61 years, Ianias, who ruled for 50 years and 1 month, having also a very long reign. After all these ruled Assis, 49 years and 2 months. These six, says Manetho, were the first of their rulers, and constantly strove to exterminate the Egyptians by making war upon them. Hyksos, or Shepherd kings, and their successors, he goes on to say, retained possession of Egypt 511 years.

In the end the kings of Thebais, and of other provinces of Egypt, arose against the Shepherds, and a long and mighty war was carried on between them, until the Shepherds were overcome by a king whose name was Misphragmouthosis, who, having expelled them from other parts of Egypt, shut them up in Avaris, a tract consisting of about 10,000 acres. All this tract the Shepherds fortified with great strength, whilst Thummosis, son of Misphragmouthosis, tried to force them to surrender by a siege, and surrounded them with an army of 480,000 men. He was beginning to despair of being able to reduce them, when they agreed to capitulate, stipulating that they should be permitted to leave Egypt, and go with all their families whithersoever they pleased. This was agreed to, and they bent their way through the desert towards Syria. Fearing the Assyrians (Babylonians), however, who then had dominion over Asia, they built a city in the country called Judea, of sufficient size to contain them all (they numbered not less than 240,000), and named it Jerusalem.

From this it would appear that, taking advantage of the disorganized state of Egypt about 2100 years before Christ, these Shepherd kings invaded the country, and gradually consolidated their power there. In process of time they had the whole of the country in their possession, and such rulers as remained [pg 253] were allowed to retain their provinces only as vassals, being really princes only in name. It is also very probable that if, as really appears, they were barbarians on entering Egypt, they became civilized by intercourse with the nation which they had conquered. This having been done, the monarchy which they established conformed more and more with that of the native Egyptian kings, so that their court and manner of administration were, to all intents and purposes, Egyptian; native administrators being appointed to many important posts in order to obtain the willing obedience of the people.

As the rule of these Shepherd kings began about 2100 b.c., and finished about 1587 b.c. (Petrie), it is clear that the visits of Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph, including Jacob and his family, all fall within this period. As will easily be understood, such a synchronism is not without its value, especially when considering the historical authority of the Pentateuch. That it was during the dominion of the above-named rulers that Joseph entered Egypt is or has been the opinion of all the best students of Egyptian history—Birch, Brugsch, Maspero, Naville, Wiedemann, and many others—and there can be but little doubt of its correctness. It is remarkable that there is no native record of Joseph's administration, but this is, after all, hardly to be wondered at, especially when we consider the disturbed state of the country at a later date, when many records, especially those of the hated conquerors, must have been destroyed, and in any case there is the ever-present chance of some untoward fate overtaking them, by which such documents, if they really existed, may have become lost to the world for ever.

The strange thing about the foreign rulers who held possession of Egypt so long is, as has already been pointed out by Prof. Petrie, that they remained throughout to all intents and purposes a distinct [pg 254] nationality. Intermarriage between the two races, even when they were on the most friendly terms, must have been comparatively rare, and it is on this account that the native princes succeeded at last in ridding the land of the “impure,” as the native recorder has it. From this same record we get the information that one of the Shepherd kings was 'Apop'i (Apepy), the Apophis of the Greeks, and that he ruled at Hawar, a town which is identified with Avaris. The only god which this ruler served was Sutekh, identified with Râ or Rê (in earlier times also, to all appearance, pronounced Ria), the Egyptian Sun-god. According to the Sallier papyrus, from which the above details are taken, it would seem that Râ-'Apop'i, as he is there called, sent to Seqnen-Rê, “king of the South,” proposing that the latter should clear away all the hippopotamuses on the canals of the country, in order that Râ-'Apop'i might sleep. If the king of the South did not succeed in doing this, then he was to embrace the worship of Sutekh, but if he did succeed, then Râ-'Apop'i promised not to bow down before any other god of Egypt except Amon-Râ, the king of the gods.

This, of course, was a distinction without a difference, and is evidently put forward by the writer as such, for the worship of Sutekh in all probability meant the renouncing of the worship of all the other gods of Egypt, a thing which no Egyptian was likely to consent to. On the other hand, the worship of Amon-Râ by the Hyksos king would have been no great hardship, as it would in all probability not have involved any change in his faith, seeing that it was generally recognized that this deity and Sutekh were identical.

The end of this story is lost, so that there is no means of finding out how matters were brought to a head, and the flame of revolt kindled which ended in the expulsion of Egypt's Semitic invaders. What the [pg 255] historical value of the fragment may be is uncertain, as it reads more like a romance than a true history. In all probability, however, its greatest importance will be found to lie in its local colour.50

Joseph, on arriving in Egypt, therefore, found himself, to all intents and purposes, among friends. The man to whom the Ishmaelites sold him was, as stated in the sacred narrative, Potiphar, “an officer of Pharaoh's, captain of the guard, an Egyptian.” The writer of the narrative evidently wished to convey the idea that a man in the service of the king of Egypt, and bearing an Egyptian name, was not necessarily a native of the country. One in the favour of the [pg 256] Semitic ruler of the country, and enjoying his confidence, would naturally be favourably disposed towards a person of Semitic race falling into his hands, and this was actually the case with the Hebrew youth, who “found grace in his sight,” and became overseer of all his house. Indeed, it is possibly on account of this kindly disposition towards him (though also, and perhaps chiefly, on account of his being of the same race as the then ruler of Egypt), that Joseph was not at once put to death by his enraged master on hearing his wife's lying accusation against him, for no man, in those days, would have looked leniently upon such a crime as that with which Joseph was charged. In connection with this, it is noteworthy that he is said to have been consigned to “the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound.” Here, being of Semitic race, and helped by his God, he obtained the favour of the keeper of the prison, whose trusted deputy he became. Later on, after interpreting to the king's imprisoned chief butler his dream, he asks this official, when he should again be restored to his place, to make mention of him to Pharaoh, stating that he had been stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and had also done nothing to merit being detained a prisoner in that place. To all appearance he firmly believed that his nationality would favour him.

In accordance with his wish, so it turned out, for after two years mention was made of him by the chief butler to Pharaoh, and he is careful to state that Joseph was “an Hebrew.” When called, by the ruler of Egypt, in accordance with the custom of the country, Joseph shaved himself, and put on other clothes, before entering the royal presence. The sympathy of the king towards him was manifested immediately after his interpretation of his dreams, and he was at once, with Oriental promptitude, made governor of all the land of Egypt, receiving from the [pg 257] king his ring in token of the authority conferred upon him. The hero's complete Egyptianizing is to all appearance terminated by his receiving an Egyptian name, Zaphnath-paaneah, and marrying an Egyptian wife, Asenath, daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On.

There are a great many points for consideration in these few statements.

As has been remarked, it was doubtless due to the custom of Egyptian etiquette that Joseph shaved himself, setting aside his Semitic prejudices to the fashion, for it is supposed that Semites abhorred such a ceremony. Surely, it might be objected, the Semitic ruler of Egypt would have liked Joseph none the worse if he had retained his hair, and thus proclaimed his nationality, as it were, on this occasion. And such an objection would possess a certain amount of force. There is hardly any doubt, however, that Semitic abhorrence to the practice has been greatly exaggerated, for it was the custom for high-placed personages in Babylonia, in Joseph's time, to do this, and it remained the custom in that country until a very late date. This was, in all probability, a sacred duty with certain classes of people, such as priests and those dedicated to a divinity. A Hebrew at that time would probably have had no objection, therefore, to adopting the practice, especially in such a climate as that of Egypt, where the necessity of keeping as cool as possible would probably be recognized.

That it should be desired that the new viceroy should try to assimilate himself as much as possible with the natives of the country was probably the reason of Joseph's assuming an Egyptian name and taking an Egyptian wife. A great deal of uncertainty exists, however, as to the true Egyptian form and meaning of the name Zaphnath-paaneah (better Zaphenath-pa'eneakh). Many conjectures have been made as to its true Egyptian form and meaning, but that of Steindorff, “(God), the living one, has spoken,” [pg 258] is undoubtedly the best of all.51 The meaning generally given to the name of Asenath, his wife, is “Belonging to (the goddess) Neith,” but a certain amount of doubt is attached to this rendering. As for the name of Poti-phera, her father, of that there is but little doubt: it is the Egyptian Pa-ti-pe-Ra', “the gift of Ra,” or “of the Sun,” and was naturally a very appropriate name for the priest of On, or Heliopolis, the centre of the worship of the Sun-god. Potiphar, the name of the Egyptian who bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites, is regarded as being a shortened form of this same name.

Another point, and that a very interesting one, is the question of the derivation of the word abrech, which the criers were ordered to call out before the newly-chosen viceroy. Professor Sayce compares this expression, with a great amount of probability, with the Babylonian abriqqu, from the Akkadian abrig, the meaning which he attributes to it being “seer.” He also refers to another word, namely, abarakku (fem. abarakkatu). Of these two, the latter etymology, on account of the consonants, is the more preferable, though the former one would probably suit better in the matter of vowels. But which is the right word?—they cannot both have been the original of abrech. The meaning of abriqqu is “wise one,” and that of abarakku “seer,” a high official of the Assyrian (and probably also the Babylonian) court. The Tel-el-Amarna tablets show that Assyro-Babylonian literature was known and studied in Egypt, and this would account for the word being introduced into Egyptian. It must be confessed, however, that seductive though these comparisons may be, the forms hardly fit, otherwise nothing would seem to be more appropriate than that a crier should be sent to precede Joseph during [pg 259] his triumphal progress through the streets of On or Avaris, announcing that this was the new grand vizier, or the great seer, who had successfully interpreted the king's dream. One would like to have, moreover, at least one instance of the occurrence of the word in Egyptian literature.

Naturally the Jews of later days were very much exercised in their minds that one of the favourites and primitive heroes of their race should have married a heathen woman, daughter of the priest of the Sun at On, and legends seem to have been invented to account for this undesirable circumstance and explain it away. It is regarded as being due to this that there exists a Christian legend, preserved in Greek, Syriac, Armenian, and Latin, purporting to give the history of Asenath. She is represented as the proud and beautiful daughter of Pentephres (Poti-phera), of Heliopolis, who lived in magnificent exclusion, and despised all men. Her parents wished her to marry Joseph, the great prime minister, but this she would not do. In the course of his visits to collect corn, Asenath sees him, and at once falls in love with him. Joseph, however, will have nothing to do with her because she worships idols. Shutting herself up for seven days in sackcloth and ashes, she threw her idols out of the window, and performed a strict penance. An angel in the form of Joseph then visits her, and blesses her, giving her to eat a mystic honeycomb, signed with the sign of the cross. Asenath, thus accepted, arrays herself in beautiful garments, and goes forth to meet Joseph. He had returned to the house in her parents' absence, but notwithstanding this, the betrothal at once takes place, and afterwards their marriage in the Pharaoh's presence. Her subsequent adventures include an attempt to carry her off on the part of Pharaoh's first-born, aided by Dan and Gad, and in this attempt the heir to the throne loses his life. The original legend made Asenath a Jewess by birth. (See Smith's Dictionary [pg 260]of Christian Biography, and Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible, sub voc.)

To what has already been said about the points tending to show that Joseph was viceroy in Egypt under one or more of the Hyksos or Shepherd kings, may be added the fact that, when his father and brethren came to settle in the land, they were instructed to say that they were shepherds, though it is at once added that “shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians.” The only thing, to all appearance, that can be argued from this is, that however the native Egyptians might be inclined to look upon the new-comers, the ruler of the land (who is also represented as being pleased that Joseph's brethren had come) had no objection to them on that account. In support of the contention that the period of Joseph was the Hyksos period, it must also be pointed out that this new viceroy introduced at least one measure which might be regarded as somewhat harsh. He appropriated the surplus produce of the seven years of plenty, and when the years of famine came, he compelled the Egyptians to buy back, “even to their own impoverishment,”52 what they had themselves previously parted with for nothing. The reason for this, however, seems to be clear. The Pharaoh upon the throne was of the same race as himself, and he and all Semitic foreigners in the land, including his father and brethren, were dependent on the same state of things continuing. What he then did would have the effect of placing the native Egyptians still more in the power of their ruler, consolidating the dynasty of Semites to which he belonged, and going far, therefore, to ensure the permanency of its rule. In acting as he did, Joseph was only doing what any other man in his position and of his race would have done.

As has been frequently pointed out, famines occurred from time to time in Egypt, and records [pg 261] of them are in existence. Even before the time of the Hyksos kings, a failure of the waters of the Nile to rise to their ordinary height would bring great want and distress. At such times the governors of the various provinces of the kingdom gloried, as Ebers says, in helping their subjects, and saving them from distress. Thus Ameni or Amen-em-ha, whose tomb is at Benihasan, praises himself in the following words—

“I cultivated the entire nome of Maḫ with many workpeople, I troubled no child and oppressed no widow, neither did I keep a fisherman from his fishing, or a herdsman from his herd. There was no head of the village whose people I had taken away for compulsory labour, and there was no one unhappy in my days or hungry in my time. When, however, a famine arose, I tilled all the fields in the nome of Maḫ, from its southern to its northern boundary, and gave nourishment and life to its inhabitants. So there was no one in the nome who died of hunger. To the widow I allowed as much as to the wife of a man, and in all that I did I never preferred the great man to the small one. When the Nile rose again, and everything flourished—fields, trees, and all else—I cut off nothing from the fields.”—Ebers in Bædeker's Upper Egypt, 1892, p. 15.

Amen-em-ha departed this life in the 43rd year of Usertesen I., or about 2714 b.c.

More interesting still, however, is the famine which occurred in the time of Baba, or Beby, as his name is also written. This functionary actually lived during the period of the dominion of the later Hyksos kings, and therefore very close to the time of Joseph. According to Brugsch, Baba lived and worked under the native king Ra-seqenen or Seqenen-Rê III., at the city now represented by the ruins of El-Kâb. Though the famine of which he speaks lasted [pg 262] “many years,” and notwithstanding that the ruler whom he served was a contemporary of 'Apop'i, the Apophis of Josephus, in whose reign, according to this Jewish historian, Joseph lived, it is thought that there is no reason to regard the calamity here referred to as being the famine of which so full an account is given in Genesis—such a supposition is “entirely gratuitous,” according to the writer in Bædeker's Upper Egypt. However this may be, there is no doubt that it is a very important parallel, and would imply that two disastrous famines took place in Egypt in close succession.

The following is Brugsch's translation of this text—

“The chief of the table of princes, Baba, the risen again, speaks thus: ‘I loved my father, I honoured my mother; my brother and my sisters loved me. I stepped out of the door of my house with a benevolent heart; I stood there with refreshing hand, and splendid were the preparations of what I collected for the feast-day. Mild was my heart, free from noisy angers. The god bestowed upon me a rich fortune on earth. The city wished me health and a life full of freshness. I punished the evildoers. The children who stood opposite me in the town during the days which I have fulfilled were, small as well as great, 60; there were prepared for them as many beds, chairs (?) as many, tables (?) as many. They all consumed 120 ephas of durra, the milk of three cows, 52 goats, and nine she-asses, of balsam a hin, and of oil two jars.

“ ‘My speech may appear a joke to some opponent. But I call as witness the god Month that my speech is true. I had all this prepared in my house; in addition I gave cream in the pantry and beer in the cellar in a more than sufficient number of hin measures.

“ ‘I collected the harvest, a friend of the harvest-god. I was watchful at the time of sowing. And now, [pg 263] when a famine arose, lasting many years, I issued corn to the city at each famine.’ ”53

As, in Hebrew, “seven” is often a round number, equivalent to the English “several,” the parallel is noteworthy. An additional remark upon the subject of the Pharaoh of Joseph by Ebers (Smith's Dict. of the Bible, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 1729) is sufficiently striking. He says that the Byzantine chronographer who is known under the name of Syncelles (he held the office of Syncellus or suffragan in his monastery), like Josephus and others, calls the Pharaoh of Joseph Apophis. Now Arab tradition, “in which little or no reliance can be placed,” says that he was an Amalekite of the name of Raian ibn el-Walid, and Naville, when excavating for the Egypt Exploration Fund, at Bubastis, found a block with the name of Apophis, and near it the lower part of a statue of black granite with the name of Ian-Ra or Ra-ian, in hieroglyphics. In consequence of this, Dr. Rieu and Mr. Cope Whithouse maintain that this Arab tradition was founded on fact. “We must therefore leave it uncertain,” adds Prof. Ebers, “whether Joseph came down into Egypt in the reign of Apophis, or in the reign of the hitherto unknown Raian.” Perhaps both are right, and Joseph was in Egypt during the reigns of two or more Egyptian kings. Traditions are sometimes strangely correct, in certain points, though grossly untrustworthy in others.

In Ebers's article to which reference has already been made, the writer is of opinion that Joseph met the king of Egypt on the occasion of the interpretation of the latter's dream, either at Tanis, the Zoan of the English translation (better Ṣo'an), the Arab. Ṣân, borrowed to all appearance from the Coptic Dzhane (Dzhani, Dzhaane, Dzhaani), from the Egyptian Dzha'an, or at Bubastis, the Egyptian Pi-Bast, the Pi-Beseth of Ezekiel xxx. 17, or at Memphis, the Egyptian [pg 264] Men-nofr, the Biblical Moph or Noph. Of these three sites the first (Tanis) is considered the most probable. It is situated at the north-east of the Delta, and was founded, according to Numbers xiii. 22, seven years after Hebron. From this statement, one would think that there must be some connection between these two places, or else some historical fact is to be associated with it. One thing is certain, and that is, that Tanis was the residence of the Hyksos kings, who held court there for a considerable period, as did also many who preceded and followed them. The ruins are extensive, and the place is noted for its Hyksos sphinxes, in whose faces “the coarse Hyksos type” is strongly marked. The officers under the Pharaoh of the Exodus speak, in their letters, of the life there as being sweet, and praise the neighbourhood for its fertility and the abundance of the food it produced (Ebers).

Nevertheless, Bubastis (the modern Tel-Basta) may have been the place where Joseph saw Pharaoh for the first time, as it was a place of great importance, and had a celebrated temple dedicated to the goddess Bast. Memphis, too, may be regarded as having claims, on account of its being situated so near to On, the abode of Joseph's father-in-law.

On, where Potiphera (“dedicated to the Sun”) was priest, was the celebrated city of the Sun-god in Egypt, whose foundation went back to an exceedingly remote antiquity. Besides Râ, Tum or Tmu (the evening sun), Râ-Harmachis (the morning sun), his companion Thoth, Sehu and Tefnut, children of Tum, and Osiris, who was venerated there as the soul of Râ, were among the deities of the place. To these must be added Horus, son of Osiris and Isis, god of the upper world or region of light. His mother Isis was worshipped at On under the name of Isis-Hathor, corresponding with Venus Urania. Besides these deities, various animals were held in honour, among them [pg 265] being two lions, perhaps representing Sehu and Tefnut, who were worshipped under the form of these animals; the bull Mnevis, sacred to Râ or Rê; and the Phœnix, called by the Egyptians Bennu, the bird of Râ, which was supposed to bring the ashes of its father to On once every 500 years, after the latter had been consumed by fire. Other sacred animals in this city were cats and a white sow. No wonder the Israelites of old winced at the thought that their hero Joseph, so perfect in character, wedded the daughter of a priest of this idolatrous city.

The shrine here was immensely wealthy. The staff of priests, officials, and subordinates connected with the temple is said to have numbered no less than 12,913. As the embodiment of the god Râ on earth, the king of the land naturally gave this shrine predominance, and increased its wealth by his gifts. This, added to the fact that the place had the honour of giving him a title (“Lord of On”) of which he, in his turn, was naturally proud, added greatly to the renown of the city. Besides the great temples, it is said to have been also “full of obelisks,” which were dedicated to the Sun-god in consequence of their being emblematic of his rays. “Cleopatra's Needle” on the Embankment, the obelisk bearing the same name at Cairo, the Flaminian obelisk at Rome, and probably many others, all came from this city. According to Herodotus, the priests of Heliopolis or On were renowned above all others in Egypt for learning.

The Hyksos who held rule in Egypt for so many centuries are regarded as having been wandering hordes of Bedouin Asiatics, called by the Egyptians “the impure,” though they also spoke of them under their name of Amu, regarded as being a word derived from the Semitic 'Am, from the root 'amam, meaning “people.” How early they entered the country is not exactly known, but Petrie's estimate, 2097 b.c., may be taken as the nearest at present possible. In [pg 266] connection with this it may be noted that, at the modern fishing-village of Sân, the present representative of the ancient Tanis, which was the city of the Hyksos kings described above, the faces and figures of the inhabitants are strange and unlike those of the remainder of Egypt. They call themselves Melakiyin, i.e. Melekites or “Royalists,” a name applied in the Christian period to a sect of the orthodox Church. They were anciently known as Pi-shemer, corrupted to Bashmurites, and also as Pi-Amu, corrupted to Biamites. There is, therefore, hardly any doubt that these people, the descendants of the wild and turbulent Bashmurites and Biamites who gave so much trouble to the khalifs Merwân II. (744-750) and Mamun (813-822), may claim for their ancestors either such of the followers of the Hyksos kings who, on the expulsion of the latter, decided to remain in the country, or else of those Semites whom the Hyksos found in Egypt when they conquered the country, and who helped them to consolidate their dominion, partly from sympathy and partly from interest.

Notwithstanding Joseph's long residence in Egypt, it is noteworthy that, like the Hyksos rulers of the land, he did not, to all appearance, become in any sense Egyptianized, but retained his Semitic nationality to the last, as is shown by his command to his Hebrew fellow-subjects to carry his remains away with them when they, in the fulness of time, should leave the country. This being the case, Kalisch has asked, very naturally, “Why did not Joseph, like Jacob, order his body to be conveyed at once to Canaan?” In all probability the explanation is, that the Apophis referred to by the Greek writers was, as has been suggested, a contemporary of Seqnen-Rê III., and therefore quite close to the end of the Hyksos period. Joseph must, then, have passed at least part of his life under native Egyptian rule, and at this time national [pg 267] feeling must have been more violently anti-Semitic than ever. It may therefore be supposed that it would not have been by any means politic for him to proclaim his nationality in this way, for this might have the effect of endangering the lives and prospects of his surviving countrymen, who were all related to him, by attracting to them the attention of the hostile populace and court—a thing which would, and did, happen soon enough.

A still more difficult question to answer would be, “Why did not the Hebrews go out of Egypt with the Hyksos?” The answer probably is, that Joseph was, to all appearance, still known and honoured by the native Pharaoh, when he came to the throne, for what he had done for the country. It was seemingly not until after Joseph's death that a Pharaoh arose who knew him not. It may therefore be supposed that, until that time, the Hebrews lived unmolested in the land which they had so long made their home.

[pg 268]

Chapter VIII. The Tel-El-Amarna Tablets And The Exodus.

Egypt and Syria before the Exodus—The testimony of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets—The relations between the two countries during the reigns of Amenophis III. and IV.—Burra-burias of Babylonia, Ašur-ubalit of Assyria—Yabitiri, and others in Palestine—The Ḫabati and the Ḫabiri—The Letters of Abdi-ṭâba (Ebed-tob, Abd-ḫiba)—The Pharaoh and the prince of the Amorites—Mahler and the date of the Exodus.

“Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal with them wisely, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they also join themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us: and get them out of the land.”

Such are the words which the new king who knew not Joseph, when he came to the throne, spoke to his people with regard to the alien population which had been allowed during a former reign to settle in the land of Goshen, a fruitful district on the north-east of Egypt, east of Bubastis (Zakāzik). It is the speech of one who feared that, if nothing were done to prevent them from becoming too powerful, they would be a source of danger to the state, as they might join, with every chance of success, in any attack which might be made on the kingdom over which he ruled. It was, in all probability, the presence of a similar foreign (Semitic) population in or near this district, about 2100 years b.c., which had contributed—or perhaps even made—the success of the Hyksos invaders, [pg 269] through which Egypt had been ruled by an alien dynasty for five hundred years. The repetition of such a catastrophe was at all hazards to be prevented. It would seem, therefore, that the persecution of the Hebrews was not undertaken altogether wantonly, but with the object of turning aside a possible misfortune.

As the historical nature of the Exodus has not as yet been absolutely disproved, it is here taken to be a matter of history, and this being the case, it is necessary to try to identify, or, rather, to state what are the most probable opinions, as to the rulers of Egypt at the time of the Oppression and the Exodus. Ramses II. of the nineteenth dynasty is generally held to be the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and Meneptah, his son and successor, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Lieblein, however, would regard this latter event as having occurred during the reign either of Amenophis III., or his son, Amenophis IV., of the eighteenth dynasty. This latter theory is based on the Tel-el-Amarna letters, which speak of the Ḫabiri, roving bodies of men which went about Palestine stirring up the people, and even compelling them by force to renounce Egyptian rule (which extended in those days over the whole of this district). It will be part of the scope of the present work to examine into this question.

After the death of Seqnen-Rê in battle (see p. 255), he was buried in the usual way at Thebes, implying, as Petrie points out, that the Egyptians had pushed their frontier some way to the north, “so that ceremonials at Thebes were uninterrupted.” Further advance, he thinks, was made in the reign of Kames, “the valiant prince,” as he calls himself, because Aah-mes was able to besiege the stronghold of the Hyksos down in the Delta at the beginning of his reign, about 1585 b.c. It is to be noted that two names come, to all appearance, between those of [pg 270] Kames and Aah-mes, but these are probably not those of important kings, though a part of the honour of the progress made ought to be accredited to them. To all appearance it was the efforts of the Thebans, who had been pushing their way northwards during these last three years, which prepared the way for the successes of Aah-mes—successes which placed him on the throne of Egypt, thus making him the founder of the eighteenth dynasty.

Before he became Pharaoh, he succeeded, within four or five years, not only in getting rid of the overlordship of the Hyksos kings, but also in driving them out of the Nile valley, taking possession of Avaris, and pursuing them into Palestine. Here, in the fifth year, he was able to capture Sharhana or Sharuhen, some miles south of Lachish. He then went on to Zahi (Phœnicia), and later defeated the Mentiu of Setet (the Bedouin of the hill-country), attacking afterwards the Anu Khenti. On his return to Egypt, he found that he had to deal with two outbreaks on the part of those of the Hyksos (probably half-breeds) who remained, and these having been reduced to subjection, there was apparently no further trouble from the Asiatics remaining in the country. So popular was this founder of a new dynasty in Egypt, that both he and his queen had divine honours paid to them beyond those rendered to any other Egyptian ruler. His son Amen-hotep I. shared largely in these testimonies of popular esteem.

After this the power of Egypt increased. The venerable captain of marines, Aah-mes, relates that 'Aa-kheper-ka-Rê (Thothmes I.) went against the Rutennu (Syrians) for the purpose of taking satisfaction, and marched as far as Naharaina (Upper Mesopotamia), where he found that an enemy had plotted conspiracy. On this occasion Thothmes gained many victories and took many captives. Another official mentioning the Syrian campaigns of this ruler is Pen-nekheb, who [pg 271] accompanied him to Naharaina. Thothmes III. also refers to his grandfather's conquest in Syria, stating that he placed another inscription where the tablet of his father 'Aa-kheper-ka-Rê was, and adds that “his majesty came to the city of Niy on his return. Then his majesty set up his tablet in Naharaina to enlarge the frontiers of Kemi,” i.e. Egypt. Niy was in the region of Aleppo, on the Euphrates.

Thothmes II. (1516-1503, Petrie) retained those portions of Syria which his father had conquered. An expedition thither is also mentioned by Pen-nekheb, who says: “I followed the king 'A-kheper-en-Rê (Thothmes II.), the blessed one. I brought away from the land of the Shasu (Bedouin, apparently the same tribes as those to which the Hyksos or hak shasu belonged) very many prisoners—I cannot reckon them.... The king 'A-kheper-en-Rê gave me two gold bracelets, six collars, three bracelets of lapis-lazuli, and a silver war-ax.”

Thothmes III. (1505-1449), son of Thothmes II., had one of the longest and most glorious reigns in all Egyptian history. He was born at Thebes, and crowned when about nine years old. On the death of Hatshepsut, the queen regent, his father's first wife, who, however, was not his own mother, his warlike expeditions began, and he assembled an army on the frontier of Zalu, preparatory to an expedition against the chiefs of Southern Syria, who had rebelled. This was his twenty-second year. Next year, on his coronation-day, he found himself, after a long march, at Gaza, on the way to Carmel and Megiddo, where he defeated the assembled Syrian chiefs, and utterly routed them on the plain of Esdraelon. The allies then took refuge in the town, which was besieged, and they were obliged to capitulate. Enormous spoils from this place, as well as from the other cities of Syria, was the result. This expedition was repeated in the two following years.

[pg 272]

In his twenty-ninth year he made his fifth expedition to the Syrian hill-country, Tunep, Arvad, and Phœnicia, from which latter district much spoil was obtained. The two following years found him in the same region. In his thirty-third year he set up a tablet on the boundaries of Naharaina. The next year he made a campaign to, and received tribute from Syria, Phœnicia, and Cyprus. In his thirty-fifth year he went to Phœnicia, and received tribute from Naharaina. The year following this he received tribute from Cyprus. After this he again went to Phœnicia, and he is supposed to have received tribute from Cyprus, Syria, and the Hittites in the fortieth and forty-first years of his reign. In his forty-second year there was an expedition to Tunep, Kadesh, etc. Besides the above, he either made himself, or dispatched, under his generals, during his long reign (fifty-four years) many expeditions into other lands than those mentioned above, and also took part in numerous works and public functions in his own country.

The expeditions in Syria made by this king are told very graphically and at great length. The march to Megiddo, the council of war, and the dispositions for the attack, are given in full, and the king claims to have himself protected his army when going through a narrow defile in which all might have been lost had the enemy against whom they were marching made an onslaught. Representations of the spoil taken accompany the lists enumerating the amount, and show that the ancient Syrians had attained to a skill, in the arts as then known, equal, if not superior, to that of the Egyptians. Among the places mentioned are Arvad, Kadesh, Gaza, Yemma, etc. Besides Thothmes III.'s own annals, there is an inscription of one of his officers, Amen-em-heb, who gives his version, which, however, is not divided into different years. This text mentions the Negeb, where he took some captives; Carchemish, from which place he obtained [pg 273] spoil, and other places. He speaks also of Thothmes III. having hunted elephants in the land of Niy, one hundred and twenty in number, for their tusks. This agrees with what has been stated from the Assyrian inscriptions (pp. 200, 201) concerning the existence of these animals in the Lebanon and around Haran.

Thothmes III. was succeeded by Amenophis II., a warlike and vigorous ruler, who followed in his father's footsteps, and by so doing maintained the power and influence of his country. Petrie (History, ii. p. 154) argues with great probability that he was not of age when he came to the throne, and that he was apparently not the eldest of his father's sons. His first expedition, which was a raid in Asia “to establish his renown,” was probably, as Prof. Petrie says, in the first or second year of his reign. “His majesty had success (in Shemesh-atuma of South Galilee), his majesty himself made captives there.... Account of what his majesty himself took in this day: living prisoners Satiu 18, oxen 19.” Later on he had some further success, and took spoil from the Satiu with whom he fought.

In his second year, six months after the above expedition, he seems to have made a promenade in force as far as the frontiers of the Egyptian domains in Asia, in order to assert his power, and as a check to any disaffection which might exist. After this there was a triumphal return to Egypt, where he held a festival on the occasion of the laying of the foundation-stone of the temple of Amadeh. Among the captives sent to Egypt were seven chiefs of the territory of Takhsi, near Aleppo, who were hung up by the feet on the fore-part of the king's barque. Of these six were afterwards hung up on the wall of Thebes in the same manner, a circumstance which suggests that the Egyptians were upon about the same level as the Assyrians with regard to their barbarous customs in [pg 274] war, notwithstanding their civilization and polish in other things.

He claims as his own nearly all the lands which his father had conquered—the South land, the Oases, the Lybians, Nubians, Semites, Kefto (according to W. Max Müller, Cilicia), and the Upper Rutennu, or district of Megiddo.

Amenophis II. died in 1423 b.c., and was succeeded by his son, Thothmes IV. His earlier years seem to have been occupied in asserting his power in Syria, and his later years were devoted to Nubia. Naharaina and the Kheta or Hittites occur in inscriptions referring to the former period. According to Manetho, he reigned nine years and eight months. He was succeeded by his son, Amenophis III. (1414-1379, according to Petrie).

At this time Syria was completely in the hands of the Egyptians. Constant intercourse went on between the princes of the two countries, who in Syria seem to have been contented with their subordinate position. It is during this reign that the now celebrated Tel-el-Amarna tablets come to our aid, and show how this was brought about. Alliance between the two countries by marriage had taken place, and the royal and various princely families were therefore related. Besides this, there was naturally reluctance on the part of a prince of Syria to take up a hostile attitude with regard to the king who had taken his daughter in marriage, as he would always be in fear of endangering his daughter's safety, and for the same cause he would naturally try to restrain the petty rulers of his own district, including those of his neighbours who were more of the nature of equals. In addition to this, the sons of the Syrian chiefs were sent to be educated in Egypt, and as the Egyptian ruler at the time had married Syrian princesses, it is probable, as Petrie says, that the sons of Syrian chiefs, educated in Egypt, were married to Egyptians at the close of their [pg 275] education. As it was only stipulated that they should be restored to their native country to succeed their fathers, they may, it is thought, have lived in Egypt until middle life. This being so, the rulers of Syria would naturally become imbued with the thoughts and ways of the Egyptians, and undesirous, therefore, of throwing off the yoke. If, however, things were all really as thus depicted, there is one thing which is strange, namely, that the correspondence which was carried on between the two districts was not in Egyptian (which the princes of Syria ought to have known sufficiently well to write), but in Assyro-Babylonian, which was a foreign tongue to them all, especially the king of Mitanni, whose native language was not even Semitic. That the kings of Babylonia should correspond with the king of Egypt in Babylonian was to be expected, but if the kings of Syria, or their sons, were educated in Egypt, it is remarkable that we find so many letters in the Babylonian language.

Apparently, therefore, everything pointed to a continuance of the state of things which existed at the time of the king's accession to the throne. It was evidently his desire that nothing should occur to change the cordial relations which existed between himself and the Egyptian dependencies, hence the mild suzerainty exercised. There was an Ethiopian campaign in his fifth year, after which, to all appearance, no warlike expeditions were undertaken—in fact, it was considered that there was no need for them.

The first wife of Amenophis III. was Teie, as the Tel-el-Amarna tablets call her, the Teyi of the Egyptian monuments. She was daughter of Yewea and Tewa, and was to all appearance of Asiatic nationality. Prof. Petrie thinks that she may have been of Syrian race, and as a matter of fact, her portrait shows her with a pleasant face of Semitic type and a pointed [pg 276] chin. To all appearance, she was a personage of great importance in the land, and when negotiations with the princes of the north were being carried on, she was one of those who were taken into consideration by the outlanders.

Colossal statue of Hadad, dedicated by Bar-Rekub, King of Sam'allu, to Hadad. El, Rekub-el, Shamash, and the gods of Yadî, in memory of his father, Panammû, about 730 B.C. The horned cap which the god wears probably shows Assyro-Babylonian influence. Gerchin N.E. of Zenjirli. From Mittheilungen aus den Orientalischen Sammlungen, Part XI., by permission of the publishing-house of Georg Reimer, Berlin.

In one of the tablets from Tel-el-Amarna, it would appear that, besides Teie, Amenophis III. had married a sister of Dušratta, king of Mitanni, named Gilu-ḫêpa, for news of whom Dušratta wrote to the Pharaoh, sending presents to him, as well as to his sister. Later on, the Egyptian king asks Dušratta for one of his daughters, sending a messenger named Manê with a tablet to that effect. As Dušratta in his letter to the Pharaoh Nimmuaria (Neb-mut-Ra,54 Amenophis III.) refers to her as the (future) mistress of Egypt, it is clear that she was intended as the consort of his son, Amenophis IV. From other letters which passed between them, it would seem that the princess in question was named Tâdu-ḫêpa, called, in Egyptian, Nefer-titi (perhaps a translation of her Mitannian name). It was to all appearance the custom in those days, as at the present time, for the kings of the various states to ally themselves by marriage with other royal houses; and at a time when kings, at least, were allowed more wives than one, it was possible for them to take pledges for the preservation of peace by making use of the privilege. Quite in accordance with this are the statements contained in other texts concerning intermarriages of this kind, both Amenophis III. and IV. having likewise espoused Babylonian princesses, daughters of Kallima-Sin and Burra-buriaš, the son of the latter being at the same time betrothed to Amenophis IV.'s daughter. They were also constantly making presents to each other, each trying to get as much as he possibly could of the things which were [pg 277] not common in his own land—gold, much gold, being the commodity that the king of Egypt was expected to supply. The other kings sent him, in return, various stones (lapis-lazuli being often mentioned), chariots, horses, and other things, both natural and manufactured products. The women by whose means these friendly relations had been established, made use of the messengers sent to their fatherland to transmit messages to their relatives and ask after their health.

From these tablets we obtain certain details as to the state of the Holy Land and the surrounding country before the entry of the Israelites. Besides the kingdom of Mitanni mentioned above, there were the states of Alašia (supposed to be Cyprus), Ziri-bašani (plain of Bashan), Hazor, Askelon, Lachish, Gaza, Qatna (west of Damascus), Accho, Simyra, Tyre, Sidon, the Amorites, the Hittites, Dunip (Tenneb), Jerusalem, etc., etc. Many of them were small states with the cities after which they are named as capital, and naturally were obliged to enter into a league for their common protection, or else accept the suzerainty of some more powerful state, falling, if its protector went under, into the power of the common invader. It must have been in consequence of this state of things in the east Mediterranean littoral that Egypt was able to extend her power so far, and subdue this large district.

From these tablets we learn something of their religion. To all appearance one of the gods most worshipped in the extreme west of Asia was Rimmon, the Rammānu (“thunderer”) of the Assyrians and Babylonians, the Addu or Hadad of the Semitic nations of this district (the name Addu afterwards became general as the appellation of the god in Babylonia and Assyria), and the Tešupa or Tešub of Mitanni (Aram-Naharaim) and district to the north (Armenia). At Tyre they seem to have worshipped [pg 278] a personage or deity called Šalmayātu, whilst the Phœnician Astarte is commemorated in âl Aštarti, “the city of Aštartu,” perhaps Ashtaroth, 29 miles east of Tiberias (Petrie). As the word Ashtoreth is evidently a lengthening of the name of the Assyro-Babylonian goddess Ištar, it is not to be wondered at that this goddess should be mentioned by the king of Mitanni, Dušratta, who refers to a statue of Ištar of Nineveh, which had been sent to Egypt, and requests that it may be returned to him soon. The name of Nergal, also, was evidently familiar to the king of Alašia, for he speaks of the hand of that god as having killed all his people, when wishing to refer to the prevalence of a pestilence there, Nergal being the Assyro-Babylonian god of disease and death. In the same way Dušratta speaks of Šamaš, the Assyro-Babylonian Sun-god, but he refers to him more as the luminary which men love than as a god, though there is every probability that he was worshipped in Mitanni.55 Another Assyro-Babylonian deity whose name occurs is Ninip, once in the name of Abdi-Ninip, “servant of Ninip,” apparently a Gebalite, and again in âl Bêth-Ninip, “(city of) the temple of Ninip,” in a district which Abdi-Aširta called upon to unite against Gebal—perhaps the Beth-Ninip in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. In the name of Abdi-Aširta it is to be noted that we have here, to all appearance, the name of the asherah or “grove” of the Authorised Version, the “token” of the goddess Ištar,56 with the ideogram for which the word once interchanges. The Egyptian god Amāna (Amon) is mentioned several times, invoked apparently as a god in whom the writer believed, though he was the special god of the Egyptians and the Egyptian king. [pg 279] In addition to the above deities, the names of men reveal Uraš, the god of Dailem near Babylon, Bidina, another Babylonian deity, and Merodach, the principal god of the Babylonians. Among west Semitic deities may be mentioned Dagan (Dagon), Milku (Melech, Moloch), and others.

Notwithstanding a considerable period of Egyptian rule, therefore, Babylonian influence, which had been predominant in the tract for many centuries, still held the upper hand. Merodach was to all appearance venerated, Nergal was worshipped as the god of death and disease, Ištar was held in high esteem. It must have been during those centuries of Babylonian rule that the worship of Tammuz or Adonis got into the country, becoming one of the stumbling-blocks of the Israelites in later days, when Hebrew women lamented for him, hidden in the realm of darkness where dwelt Persephone (Ereš-ki-gala, “the lady of the great domain” of the Babylonians), into whose realm, at great risk, Ištar, his spouse, descended to seek him, but only escaped from the rival's clutches by the intervention of the gods.

Exceedingly interesting are the various forms of government in Western Asia at this period. Among hereditary chiefs may be mentioned Etakama of Gidši (Kadesh), Šum-addu, who is probably the same as Šamu-Addu, prince of Šamḫuna, Mut-zu'u (see p. 286), and Azru, though this last is doubtful, as in one of the letters he calls himself a governor installed by the king of Egypt. The best example of an elected chief, however, is in all probability Yabitiri, governor of Gaza and Jaffa, who, when young, went down to Egypt and served in the Egyptian army, being afterwards appointed to the posts which he held later. The power of the Egyptian kings of a period somewhat preceding this is well exemplified by the fact, that Addu-nirari of Assyria attributes to an Egyptian ruler the appointment of his grandfather and father as [pg 280] kings of Nuḫašše, on account of which all three rulers seem to have acknowledged Egyptian overlordship. An interesting instance of female rule is that of Nin-Urmuru (?),57 who, in her letters, mentions Ajalon and Sarḫa (identified with Zorah), probably lying in her district.

Most interesting of all, however, is the case of Jerusalem, whose ruler, as will be seen from the letters quoted later on, was apparently elected by some of the magnates of the district which acknowledged his sway, and who were probably the members of a religious community. Nothing, however, is known of the electorate or the system of election employed—all that can be said is, that the ruler was not placed there by virtue of his father or his mother, but by the “mighty king.”

The matter of the government of Dunip, one of the most important towns of ancient Palestine, is also of importance, as it does not seem to have possessed an autocratic head of any kind, and may have been a kind of republic. Its government was probably similar to that of Irqata, which was ruled over by its elders, acknowledging the overlordship of the Egyptian king. A similar state of things seems to have prevailed in Babylonia, where, however, the king of Babylon was naturally recognized as lord of the country. In all probability the towns governed by their elders were regarded as royal cities of Egypt, whilst the others were semi-independent states.

The relations of the Egyptian king with foreign states is well illustrated by the following—

[pg 281]

Letter From The Babylonian King Burra-Buriaš (Burna-Buriaš) To Amenophis IV. King Of Egypt.

“(To) Napḫu'ruria the king of Egypt, my brother, say also thus: ‘It is Burra-buriaš, king of the land of Karu-duniaš, thy brother. My health is good. To thee, thy country, thine house, thy wives, thy sons, thy great men, thine horses, thy chariots, may there be very good health.

“I and my brother have spoken friendship with each other, and we said as follows: ‘As our fathers were with each other, let us be friendly.’ Now my merchants, who went with Aḫi-ṭâbu, remained in the land of Kinaḫḫi (Canaan) for trade. After Aḫi-ṭâbu proceeded to my brother,58 in the city Ḫinnatunu of the land of Kinaḫḫi (Canaan), when Šum-adda, son of Malummê, (and) Šutadna, son of Šarâtum, of the city of Akka (Accho), sent their people, they killed my merchants, and took their money away. When I have sent (Azzu (?)) to thy presence, ask him, and let him tell thee.”

(Reverse)

“(Ki)naḫḫi is thy land, and (its) king(s are thy servants). In thy land have I been ill-treated—res(train them): make (up) the money which they have taken away; and kill the people who have killed my subjects, and avenge them. And if thou kill not these people, they will return, and both kill my caravans and thy messengers, and the messenger will be broken off between us, and if (this happen), they will fall away from thee. One man (of) mine, when Šum-adda had cut off his feet,59 he held him prisoner; and [pg 282] another man, when Šutadna, the Akkaite (Acchoite), had caused him to be placed with the servants, became a servant before him.60 Let (them take) those men to thee, and see thou to (it). And mayest thou know how I fare. I have caused to be brought to thee 1 mana of lapis-stone (as a gi)ft. (Let) my (messe)nger (come back) quickly. Let me know how my brother fares. Do not de(tain) my (mess)enger—let him come (back) quickly.”

It is clear from this, and from other inscriptions of the series, that a kind of international law existed among the nations of the ancient East, by which they were expected to protect the caravans passing through each other's territory, and, in fact, see that no harm came to any of each other's subjects. They were expected to punish all persons who may have attacked and ill-treated or murdered them, and make restitution of property stolen. The law (probably an unwritten one) was evidently much the same as prevails among civilized nations at the present day. That these ancient rulers always obtained from their “brothers” the redress which they demanded, is more than doubtful. Burra-buriaš's entreaty that his messenger might be returned to him quickly points to vexatious delays on former occasions, and probable failure to obtain any justice or redress whatever.

The relations of Egypt with Assyria were similar to those with Babylonia, except that the Assyrian king, as has been shown, was, in some respects, a vassal.

Letter From The Assyrian King Ašur-Uballiṭ To Amenophis IV. King Of Egypt.

(Divided into paragraphs in accordance with the indications of the original text.)

“To Napḫurî, (the great king?), the king of Egypt, [pg 283] my brother, (say) thus: ‘It is Ašur-uballiṭ, king of Aššur, the great king, thy brother.’

“To thee, to thy house and thy country, may there be peace.

“When I saw thy messengers, I rejoiced greatly. Thy messengers are staying with me for a time.

“I have caused to be brought to thee as thy gift a fine royal chariot of my y(ok)e, and 2 white horses of m(y y)oke, and one chariot without yoke, and 1 seal of fine lapis-lazuli.

“The great king's return-gift may be thus: Gold in thy land is (as) dust—they gather it up. Why should it go round into thine eyes? I have undertaken to build a new palace. Cause gold, as much as its over-laying and its need (requires), to be sent.

“When Ašur-nadin-âḫi, my father, sent to the land of Egypt, they caused to be sent to him 20 talents of gold.

“When the Ḫanigalbatian king sent to Egypt to thy father, he caused 20 talents of go(ld) to be brought to him.

“(Behold), thou hast caused to be brought ... gold to the Ḫani(gal)ba(tian) king ... and to me, (but f)or the going and returning it suffices (?) not for wages for my messengers.

“If friendship be desirable unto thee, cause much gold to be brought; and as it will be thy house, send, and let them take what thou desirest.

“We are distant countries—in this wise let our messengers go about.

“Those who delayed thy messengers were the Sutites, their persecutors; dead (was I) until I had sent, and they had taken the persecuting Sutites. Their bands (?) shall verily not delay my messengers.

“As for messengers abroad, why should they be detained and die there? If they stay abroad, the king will have the advantage, so let him stay and let him die abroad—let the king then have the advantage. And if not, why should the messengers whom we [pg 284] send die abroad? ... attack the messengers and cause them to die abroad.”

The last paragraph is difficult to understand on account of its being so mutilated, but the sense of the whole seems now to be fairly clear. Ašur-uballiṭ desires to be on friendly terms with Egypt, but he is anxious to get, above all, the precious metal which was said to be so plentiful there, and for which all the rulers of Western Asia seem to have hungered. And this leads to the interesting statement in the fifth paragraph, in which gold in Egypt is said to have been as dust; and there is the question, “Why should it go round into thine eyes?” (Amminî ina ênē-ka isaḫḫur?) implying that, being dust, it behaved as dust, and was in that respect undesirable, and therefore to be got rid of. He would like to have some for the decoration of his palace—his father, and the king of Ḫanigalbat had been favoured in this way. Let it not be as little (apparently), as that sent to the Ḫanigalbatian king, for that would not suffice to pay his messengers. The interchange of things needed as presents made good friends. It was a lawless band of Sutites who had detained the Egyptian king's messengers, and he was as one dead until his people had stopped their depredations. It was useful to a king that his ambassadors lived and died abroad, but not that they should be attacked and killed there.

The relations of Egypt with another class of ruler is well illustrated by the following letter from a prince or governor brought up in Egypt—

Yabitiri Asserts His Faithfulness, And Touches Upon His Early Life.

“To the king my lord, my gods, my Sun-gods, say also thus: ‘(it is) Yabitiri thy servant, the dust of thy feet. At the feet of the king my lord, my gods, my Sun-gods, seven times, and twice seven times I fall. [pg 285] Furthermore, behold, I am a faithful servant61 of the king my lord. I look here, and I look there,62 and it is not clear; then I look upon the king my lord, and it is clear. And the brick-foundation may give way from beneath its wall, but I will not give way from beneath the feet of the king my lord. And the king my lord may ask Yanḫama, his official, (concerning) when I was young, and they sent me down to Egypt, where I served the king my lord, and stood in the city-gate of the king my lord. And the king my lord may ask his official when I guard the city-gate of Azzati (Gaza) and the city-gate of Yapu (Jaffa). And I am with the hired troops of the king my lord, where they go, I am with them, and I am also, therefore, with them now. The yoke of the king my lord is on my neck, and I bear it.’ ”

Apparently there had been spread abroad some statement reflecting on the faithfulness of the writer, who seeks to justify himself by appealing to his former services to the Egyptian king. His letter has a ring of sincerity in it which is wanting in many of the communications of this nature.

Reference has already been made to the caravans which passed through the territory of the various rulers, and the protection which those rulers were supposed to extend to them. Burra-buriaš, in his letter translated above, complains that Babylonian caravans had been attacked in the land of Canaan, and asks for the punishment of the persons involved. To all appearance the protection of the caravans was entrusted to certain chiefs, owing allegiance to the Egyptian king, who always held themselves ready to perform this duty. The following translation shows how one of the chiefs or governors of a Canaanitish district looked after the caravans, as his father did before him—

[pg 286]

Letter From Mut-Zu'u To The King Of Egypt.

“To the king, my lord and my sun, say thus: ‘It is Mut-zu'u63 thy servant, the dust of thy feet, the earth for thee to tread upon. Seven times, twice seven times, I fall down at the feet of the king my lord.’

“The king my lord has sent by Ḫâya to speak of the Ḫana-galbat64 caravan. This I have dispatched and have directed it. Who am I, that I should not dispatch the caravans of the king my lord? Behold, (Lab)'aya, my father, (who was faithful) to the king his lord, used to send (a caravan, and give directions concerning it. The cara)vans (which) the king (di)rected to the land of Ḫana-galbat (and) to the land of Kara-duniaš let the king my lord send. (As to) the caravan, I will bring it so that it is safe.”

As will be seen from this, Mut-zu'u was one of the humble vassals of “the king his lord,” who at that time—evidently the peaceful days of Amenophis III.—was the happy possessor of many such. As examples of the relations between the smaller rulers and their suzerain, may be quoted two of the numerous letters of Yidia of Askelon, who provided the necessaries for the Egyptian army in Palestine.

Yidia, The Askelonite, Concerning The King's Representative.

“To the king, my lord, my Sun, the Sun who (cometh) from the heavens, (say also) thus: ‘(It is) Yidia, the Askelonite, thy servant, the dust of thy [pg 287] feet, thy charioteer.65 I fall down before the feet of the king my lord seven times and twice seven times, back and breast.’

“Now (for) my (lord), (for) the gods of the king my lord, my god, my Sun, I guard this city, and again ... let me protect all his land.

“I have heard the words of the king my lord to his representative, when he is not able to protect the country of the king my lord. So now the king my lord has appointed Rianappa, the representative of the king my lord, to whom66 I will bring (?) good fortune for the king.

“Whatever cometh out of the mouth of the king my lord, lo, that will I keep day and night.”

Yidia Concerning The Commissariat.

“To the king my lord, my Sun, my god, the Sun who (cometh) from the heavens, (say also) thus: ‘(it is) Yidia thy servant, the dust of thy feet, thy charioteer. I fall down at the feet of the king my lord seven times and twice seven times, back and breast. Behold, I am keeping the commands of the king my lord, the son of the Sun, and behold, I have provided the food, drink, oil, grain, oxen, (and) sheep, for the soldiers of the king my lord—provisions, every kind, for the soldiers of the king my lord. Who would be a vassal, and not obey the words of the king my lord, the son of the Sun?’ ”

Letters similar to the above are numerous, and show that Egyptian rule was not regarded as burthensome—indeed, it may have been even welcome, tending in all [pg 288] probability to the preservation of peace. It must have been difficult, however, for the Egyptian king to hold the scales of justice always even, for among the governors were always men who professed faithfulness, but who aimed at throwing off the Egyptian yoke, light as it was.

In all probability the trouble began in the north, that district being farthest from the Egyptian marches, and what was going on there was on that account longer in reaching the knowledge of the king. Judging from a letter from Ili-rabiḫ, written from Gebal, Etakama, of Kinza and Kadesh, smote the whole of the lands of Amki, “the territory of the king.” “And now,” the inscription continues, “he has sent his people to seize the lands of Amki and the places. Further, the king of the land of Ḫatta (Heth), and the king of the land of Narima (Naharaim), have been unsuccessful (?), and” (here the writer breaks off the narrative).

Another account of this affair is as follows—

Bêri (Or Bieri) To The King About The Attack On Amki.

“To the king, my lord, (my god, my sungod), say then thus: ‘It is Bêri, (thy servant), the Ḫašabite.’ Down to the dust of the feet of the king my lord 7 (times) and 7 (times) I fall. Behold, we occupy, in Amki, the cities of the king, my lord, and Edagama, the Kinzite, has gone to meet the soldiers of Ḫatta (Heth), and set (the cities) of the king my lord on fire. And may the king my lord know, and may the king (my) lord give field-soldiers. And we will occupy the cities of the king my lord, and we will dwell in the cities of the king my lord, my god, my sungod.”

This and two other accounts, one of which is from “Ilu-dâya, the Ḫazite,” all agree, and show that three [pg 289] officials were occupying cities in the territory known as Amki (identified with 'Amq, a plain by Antioch, or 'Amqa, N.E. of Akka), when Edagama (whose name also appears as Etagama, Etakkama, Itatkama, Itakama, Aiṭugama, and Aidaggama) joined the Hittite troops who were hostile to Egypt. It was in consequence of this, in all probability, that the three officials decided to write to the king of Egypt to let him know how things were going, and this they did in identical terms, with the same expressions, and the same peculiarities of spelling, pointing to the probability that the same scribe wrote all three communications. In the letter of Ili-rabiḫ, from which a quotation is given on p. 288, Amki is called “the king's territory,” implying that it was a tract acknowledging Egyptian supremacy, which Etagama was trying to wrest from the Pharaoh's grasp. It was the king's friends who were occupying the king's cities (as Bêri, Ilu-dâya, and the unknown writer call them), because they desired to hold them against this active enemy. With help from the Egyptian king, they thought that they would be able to do this without difficulty. There seems to be (as far as can at present be judged) no reason to suppose that the beginning of the expulsion of the Egyptians from Palestine was due to the over-zeal of the supporters of Egyptian rule in that country, who, striving to extend the influence and the dominions of their suzerain, drew down upon him, and upon themselves, the hostility of all the independent states of Western Asia, as well as of those which wished to throw off the Egyptian yoke. The Egyptian kings would surely have warned their vassals in Palestine against the danger of such action on their part.

As an additional light upon the events here referred to, the following extract from a letter from Akizzi of Qaṭna to Amenophis III. may be of interest:—

“O lord, Teu(w)atti of the city L(apa)n(a) and Arzauia of the city Ruḫizzu are setting themselves [pg 290] with Aiṭugama (Etagama) and the land of (U)be. He is burning the territory of my lord with fire.

“O lord, as I love the king my lord, and likewise the king of the land Nuḫašše, the king of the land of Nî, the king of the land of Zinzar, and the king of the land of Tunanat; and all these kings are for the king my lord serviceable.

“If the king my lord will, then he will go forth. (But they say) thus: ‘The king my lord will not go forth.’ Then let my lord send out field-troops, and let them come, since this land, as also, my lord, these kings, is well disposed towards him. (They are) my lord's great ones, and whatever their gifts (contributions), let him speak, and they will give (them).

“O lord, if this land is to be off the mind of my lord, then let my lord send forth field-troops, and let them come. The messengers of my lord have arrived.

“O lord, if Arzauia of the city of Ruḫizzu and Teuwatti of the city Lapana remain in the land of Ube, and Daša remain in the land of Amki, then may my lord know concerning them, that the land of Ube is not my lord's. They send to Aiṭugama every day saying thus: ‘Come and take the land of Ube completely.’

“O lord, as the city Timašgi in the land of Ube is at thy feet, so also is the city Qaṭna at thy feet. And, my lord, with regard to my messenger, I ask for life, (and a)s I do not fear with regard to the field-troops of my lord, that the field-troops of my lord will come, as he will send (them) forth to me, I shall re(tire) into the city Qaṭna.”

Thus the trouble spread, and the Hittites and their allies took possession of the territories south of the tracts referred to, trying, at the same time, to win over to their side the governors who were faithful. All this time posing as a friend of the Pharaoh, Etagama complained of the others, particularly Namya-waza, one of Egypt's most trustworthy allies, who, in a [pg 291] letter couched in the usual humble style of the period, announces his readiness to serve “with his horses and chariots, and with his brothers, and with his SA-GAS, and with his Sutites, along with the hired soldiers, whithersoever the king his lord should command him.”

Now in this letter there is one noteworthy fact, and that is, that the SA-GAS and the Sutites are mentioned together as the allies of an important vassal of the Egyptian king, the latter being apparently wandering hordes of plunderers (see above, p. 283), whom Kadašman-Muruš, king of Babylonia, sent from east to west “until there were no more.” This took place at a somewhat later date, so that they still roamed about the eastern portion of the country, between Palestine and Babylonia, apparently giving their services to any power which might desire to make use of them.

The question of the identification of the troops or bands of warriors designated by the Akkadian compound SA-GAS is, however, of still greater importance. Most Assyriologists regard them as being identical with the Ḫabiri, mentioned in the letters of Abdi-tâbu or Ebed-tob. This, of course, is possible, but it is unfortunate that no direct confirmation of this identification exists. In the bilingual lists of Babylonia and Assyria, the expression SA-GAS, duly provided with the determinative prefix indicating a man or a class of men, occurs, and is always translated by the word ḳabbatu, the probable meaning of which is “robber,” from the root ḫabātu, “to plunder”. It is also noteworthy that there is a star called SA-GAS, and this is likewise rendered by the same word, namely, ḫabbatu. The fact that it is once provided with the determinative ki (“place”) does not help us, for this may be simply an oversight or a mannerism of the scribe. Moreover, the difficulty of identifying the SA-GAS with the Ḫabiri of the inscriptions of Abdi-ṭâba is increased [pg 292] by the word occurring in these texts (Winckler's No. 216, l. 11), followed by the explanation (amēlūti ḫabati), an arrangement which we find in others of these letters, when an ideograph has to be explained; and when they are, as here, Akkadian ideographs and Babylonian words, the second is always the pronunciation of the first—never the alternative reading. Indeed, in the present case, such an explanation would be misleading instead of helpful (were the word SA-GAS to be read Ḫabiri), for the scribe tells you to read it ḫabati—the same word as is given in the bilingual lists, but spelled with one b instead of two.

In all probability, therefore, the ḫabati were wandering hordes differing from the Sutites in not having any special nationality, and being composed of the offscourings of many peoples of the ancient East. They were probably included in the ḫabiri, together with the nations with which they were afterwards associated. The ḫabiri were not the Hebrews, neither the word nor the date being what we should expect for that nationality, who were still in Egypt. The best identification as yet published is that of Jastrow, who connects it with the Hebrew Heber, the patronymic of various persons. Better still, however, would be the Heb. ḥaber, pl. haberim, “companions,” also used of tribes joined together to form a nation. Whether an advance guard of the Hebrews is to be included in this term or not, must be left to the judgment of the student.

The gradual loss of the districts south of Damascus in all probability followed. A letter from Mut-Addu (the only one from him) to Yanḫamu speaks of the cities of the land of Garu (identified—though the identification is not quite satisfactory—with the Heb. Gur), namely Udumu (identified by Petrie with Adamah, though the form does not agree so well as might be wished, and Udumu is the usual way of rendering the word Edom, which is referred to in the [pg 293] cuneiform inscriptions both as a land and a city), Aduri (Petrie: et-Tireh), Araru (Petrie: Arareh), Meštu (Petrie: Mushtah), Magdali (Magdala), Ḫini-anabi (Ain-anab, if rightly identified—there is a certain difficulty in the word possessing a guttural at the beginning and not likewise as the first letter of the second component—probably 'Anab, south-west of Hebron, the Anab of Josh. xi. 21), and Sarki. At this time, according to the tablet, Hawani and Yabiši (Jabesh) had been captured. It is probably on account of the occupation of the country by so many hostile tribes that the protest of Burra-buriaš of Babylonia (see p. 281) was sent, but it was in all probability exceedingly difficult for the Egyptian king to afford any protection whatever to the caravans which passed through the disaffected area.

One of the things which the Tel-el-Amarna letters show very clearly is, that it must have been very difficult for the Pharaoh to know who were his friends and who were his enemies among the rulers of the Philistines. The Amorite Abdi-Aširta and his allies were from the first desirous to throw off the Egyptian yoke, but this prince at the same time constantly sent letters to Amenophis IV. protesting his fidelity. Other chiefs who were hostile to Egypt are Etakama, the sons of Lab'aya, Milkîli, Yapa-Addu, Zimrêda of Sidon, Aziru, and others. On the king's side were Namyawaza, who held Kumidi (Petrie: Kamid-el-Lauz), Rib-Addi, whose chief cities were Gebal, Beyrout, and Simyra, Zimrêda of Lachish, and Abdi-ṭâba of Jerusalem. Numbers of chiefs, at first faithful, went over to the enemy when they saw the success of the league against the foreign power.

It is impossible to suppose that the letters now known (about three hundred in number) represent all the correspondence which passed between Palestine and Egypt concerning the state of the country during the reigns of Amenophis III. and IV., and from the [pg 294] time the troubles there commenced, complaints and applications for help must have claimed the attention of the Egyptian translator literally in shoals. One of the most remarkable of these is the letter from the people of Dunip, who say that, in consequence of the state of things in Palestine, they belong no longer to the king of Egypt, to whom they had been sending for twenty years, but their messengers had been retained. Their prince (to all appearance) had been taken back to Egypt by the king's orders, after he had allowed him to return to his country, so that they had not seen him again. “And now Dunip, thy city, weeps, and its tears flow, and there is no one to take our hands (i.e. help us). We have sent to the king, the lord, the king of Egypt, and not a single word from our lord hath reached us.”

Were they really sorry to be no longer under Egyptian rule? or were they merely desirous that their prince should be restored to them?

During this period, naturally enough, recriminations were going on on every side. Those who were faithful very properly made complaints and uttered warnings concerning those who were unfaithful. The waverers, the unfaithful, and the hostile, on the other hand, were continually asserting their fidelity, and accusing those who were really well-disposed towards Egypt of all kinds of hostile acts against the supreme power. This is evident from the correspondence of Abdi-ṭâba of Jerusalem, who, in one of his letters, writes as follows—

“(T)o the king my lord say also thus: ‘It is Abdi-ṭâba, thy servant. At the feet of my lord the king twice seven times and twice seven times I fall. What have I done against the king my lord? They back-bite—they slander67 me before the king my lord, (saying): “Abdi-ṭâba has fallen away from the king [pg 295] his lord.” Behold, (as for) me, neither my father nor my mother set me in this place—the arm of the mighty king caused me to enter into the house of my father. Why should I commit a sin against the king my lord? As the king my lord lives, I said to the commissioner of the king (my) lord: “Why love ye the Ḫabiri and hate the gover(nors)? it is on account of this that they utter slander before the king my lord.” Then he said: “The countries of the king my lord have rebelled, therefore they utter slander to the king my lord.” ’ ”

The ruler of Jerusalem then seems to say, that the king had placed a garrison in some city or other, but it had been taken, apparently by Yanḫamu—there was no longer a garrison (in that place). The king's cities under Ili-milku had revolted, the whole of the land of the king was lost, so let the king have care for his land. He would like to go to the king, to urge him to take action, but the people in his district were too mighty for him, and he could not leave it. As long as the king lived, and as long as he sent a commissioner, he would continue to give warning. If troops were sent that year, things would be saved, otherwise the king's lands would be lost. Abdi-ṭâba ends with an appeal to the scribe to place the matter clearly before the king.

Another very important letter from Abdi-ṭâba is as follows—

“(T)o the king my lord, (my) Sun, (say also) thus: ‘It is Abdi-ṭâba, thy servant. Twice seven times and twice seven times I fall down before the feet of the king my lord. Behold, the king my lord has set his name to the rising of the sun and the setting of the sun. The slandering which they slander against me! Behold, I am not a governor, the king my lord's magnate. Behold, I am an officer of the king, and have brought the tribute of the king. (As for) me, it was not my father nor my mother—it was the arm of the [pg 296] mighty king who set me in the house of my father. (When so and so),68 the commissioner of the king, returned to me, 13 prisoners (?) (and a certain number69) of slaves I gave. Šûta, the commissioner of the king, came (back t)o me; 21 girls (and) 2070 (?) prisoners I gave (in)to the hand of Šûta (as) a gift for the king my lord. Let the king take counsel with regard to his land—the land of the king, all of it, has revolted, it has set itself against me.71 Behold, (as for) the lands of Šêri (Seir) as far as Guti-kirmil (Gath-Carmel), the governors have allied themselves72 and there is hostility against me. Even though one be a seer, one wishes not to see the tears of the king my lord, when enmity exists against me. As long as ships were in the midst of the sea, the power of the mighty king took Naḫrima (Naharaim) and the land of Kašsi,73 but now the Ḫabiru have taken the cities of the king. There is not one governor for the king my lord—all have rebelled. Behold, Turbazu has been killed at the gate of the city Zilû, (and) the king (?) remained inactive. Behold, (as for) Zimrêda of the city of Lakisu (Lachish), (his) servants lay in wait for him (?), they took (him) to kill (?) (him). Yapti'-Addu has been killed (at) the gate of the city of Zilû, (and) the king remained inactive ... ask (?) him ... (let) the kin(g have care for his land, and let) the king give attention ... (let him send) troops to the land of (the city of Jerusalem, (?), and) if there are not troops this year, the whole of the lands of the king my lord are lost. They do not tell the king my lord (this). When the country of the king my lord is lost, then are lost (also) all the governors. If there be not troops this year, let the [pg 297] king direct his commissioner and let him take me—(send him) to me with my brothers, and we will die with the king my lord.’ (To the) scribe of the king my lord (say also thus): ‘It is Abdi-ṭâba, (thy) servant. (I fall down) at (thy) feet. Cause (my) words to enter (pl)ainly to the king (my lord). I am thy (faith)ful servant.’ ”

The final phrase resembles that of an English letter.

According to Petrie, Sêri is Shaaraim (Josh. xv. 36), now Khurbet es-Sairah. If the character read as gu in Guti-Kirmil (Winckler, Gin(?)ti-Kirmil) be correctly drawn in the official published copy, there is considerable doubt as to the reading of the first syllable of this interesting name. Zilû, where Turbazu and Yapti'-Addu were killed, is identified by Petrie with Zelah, north of Jerusalem. This letter gives an excellent illustration of the state of the country at the time.

In another letter Abdi-ṭâba explains how all the lands had concluded a bond of hostility against him, and the districts of Gezer, Askelon, and Lachish had supplied these people with food. After this comes the usual request for troops, and the indication that, if troops be sent “this year,” the situation would be saved—next year there would be neither countries nor governors for the king (in Palestine). “Behold, this land of the city of Jerusalem, neither my father nor my mother gave it to me—the power of the mighty king gave it to me, (even) to me.” “See,” he continues, “this deed is the deed of Milki-îli, and the deed of the sons of Lab'aya, who have given the land of the king to the Ḫabiri.” He then goes on to speak of the Kaši, who seem to have supported the confederates with food, oil, and clothes. Next follows what Paura, the king's commissioner, had told him about the disaffection of Adaya. Caravans had been robbed in the field of the city of Yaluna (Ajalon), but [pg 298] Abdi-ṭâba could not prevent this: “(I mention this) in order to inform thee.” “Behold, the king has placed his name in the land of Jerusalem for ever, and the forsaking of the lands of Jerusalem is not possible.” After this comes the usual note to the scribe in Egypt, followed by a postscript referring to the people of Kâsi, disclaiming some evil deed which had been done to them. “Do not kill a worthy servant (on that account”).

Yet another letter refers to Milki-îli and Lab'aya: “Behold, has not Milki-îli fallen away from the sons of Lab'aya and from the sons of Arzawa to ask the land of the king for them?74 A governor, who has done this deed, why has the king not called him to account for this?” The narrative breaks off where Abdi-ṭâba begins to relate something further concerning Milki-îli and another named Tagi. When the text again becomes legible, Abdi-ṭâba is again referring to the fact that there is no garrison of the king in some place whose name is lost. “Therefore—as the king lives—Puuru (= Pauru) has entered it—he has departed from my presence, (and) is in the city of Gaza. So let the king indicate to him (the necessity) of a garrison to protect the country. All the land of the king has rebelled. Send Ya'enḫamu (Yanḫamu), and let him become acquainted with (lit. let him know) the country of the king (i.e. the true state of affairs”). Here follows a note to the scribe in Egypt similar to that translated above.

One of the most interesting and instructive of the letters of Abdi-ṭâba is that which Petrie regards as the latest of the series; and on account of its importance, it is given in full here—

“(To) the king, my lord, (s)ay also thus: ‘It is [pg 299] (Abdi)-ṭâba thy servant. At the feet of the (ki)ng my lord twice seven times and twice seven times I fall down. (Behold, the deed) which Milki-îli and Šu-ardatum have done to the land of the king my lord has been successful (?). The men of the city of Gazri (Gezer), the men of the city of Gimti (Gath), and the men of the city of Kîlti (Keilah) have been captured. The land of the city of Rubute has revolted. The land of the king (belongs to) the Ḫabiri. And now, moreover, a city of the land of Jerusalem, the city Beth-Ninip (“House” or “Temple of Ninip”)—(this is) its name—has revolted to the people of Kîlti. Let the king hearken to Abdi-ṭâba thy servant, and let him send hired soldiers, and let me bring back the land of the king to the king. And if there be no hired soldiers, the land of the king will go over to the men, the Ḫabiri. This deed (is the deed of) Šu-ardatum (and) Milki-îli ... city ... and let the king care for his land.’ ”

Whether the fall of Jerusalem followed or not is doubtful; nor is it certain that the Egyptians were ultimately driven out. Other letters seem to show how the influence of those whom Abdi-ṭâba calls the Ḫabiri, and others the Ḫabati—the “confederates” and the “plunderers”—spread still farther southward. Naturally more information is required to enable it to be known in what manner the Egyptians tried to retrieve their position, and how it was that Amenophis IV. delayed so long the sending of troops. All the governors who were in the least degree faithful to Egypt united in repeatedly warning him as to what was taking place, and urging him to send troops. Had the rebellion or invasion—whichever it was—been nipped in the bud, Palestine would have remained a faithful Egyptian province. All the king did, however, was to send his commissioner, and, occasionally, exhorting and even threatening letters, which had in all probability little or no effect, except [pg 300] to excite a little mild amusement on account of their erratic spelling. A very noteworthy communication of this class is the following—

The King Of Egypt Rebukes The Prince Of The Amorites.

“(To) the Amorite say then thus, (‘It is the king’). The king thy lord (hath hear)d thus: ‘The Gebalite whose brother drove him from the gate (hath spoke)n to thee thus: “Take me and cause me to enter into my city, (and a reward) then let me give thee—yea, however much, (though) it be not with me.” Thus did he speak to thee.’

“Writest thou (no)t to the king thy lord (th)us: ‘I am thy servant like all the former governors who (were each) in the midst of his city’? But thou doest wrong to receive a governor whose brother hath driven him from his gate out of his city.

“And (whilst) dwelling in Sidon, thou deliveredst him to the governors as was thy will. Knewest thou not the hatred of the people?

“If thou be in truth a servant of the king, why hast thou not made possible his transmission to the presence of the king thy lord, (saying) thus: ‘This governor sent to me thus: “Take me to thee, and cause me to enter into my city” ’?

“And if thou hast done according to right, then all the matters are not true concerning which thou wrotest: ‘They are trustworthy,’ for the king thought thus: ‘All that thou hast said is not correct.’

“And behold, the king hath heard thus: Thou art in agreement with the man of Kidša (Kadesh), food and drink together have ye supplied. And be it true, why doest thou thus? why art thou in agreement with a man with whom the king is on bad terms? And if thou hast done according to right, and hast regard to thy opinion, then his opinion [pg 301] existeth not. Thou hast no care for the things which thou hast done from the first. What hath been done to thee among them (the disaffected ones), that thou art not with the king thy lord?

“Behold, those who attract(?) thee to themselves seek to throw thee into the fire; and it is kindled, and thou findest everything very satisfactory.

“And if thou do homage to the king thy lord, what is there which the king would not do for thee? If on account of anything thou wish to work evil, and if thou set evil, and words of hate, in thine heart, then by the king's ax shalt thou die, together with all thy family.

“So do homage to the king thy lord, and thou shalt live. And thou knowest, even thou, that the king desireth not to attack the land of Kinaḫḫi (Canaan), the whole of it.

“And as thou hast sent thus: ‘Let the king leave me this year, and let me come in the second year before the king, my lord—my son is not here to ...;’ behold, then, the king thy lord will grant thee this year, according as thou hast said. Come thou (or if thy son, send), and thou shalt see the king at the sight of whom all the lands live. And say not thus: ‘Let him leave me this year in addition.’ If it be not possible to go into the presence of the king thy lord, direct thy son to the king thy lord instead. He (need) not (stay with thee), let him come.

“And, behold, the king thy lord hath heard that thou hast written to the king thus: ‘Let the king my lord allow Ḫanni, the king's messenger, to come a second time and let me cause the enemies of the king to be taken back by his hand.’ Behold, he hath come to thee, as thou hast said, and leave not one of them behind. Behold, the king thy lord causeth to be brought to thee the names of the enemies of the king in this letter at the hands of Ḫanni, the king's messenger, so cause them to be brought to the [pg 302] king thy lord, and do not leave one of them (behind). And brazen bonds shall be placed on their feet. Behold, the men whom thou shalt cause to be sent to the king thy lord (are):

“Šarru with all his sons;
Tûya;
Lêya with all his sons;
Wišyari with all his sons;

The son-in-law of Mania (or Ma-ili-ia) with his sons, (and) with his wives;

The pa-maḳâ of Ḫanni the pa-itêiu (? messenger) who reads (this) message;

Dâ-šartî; Pâlûma;

Nimmaḫê, the ḳapadu in the land of Amurru.

“ ‘And mayest thou know: well is the king, like the Sun in Heaven; his soldiers and chariots are many. From the upper country as far as the lower country, (from) sunrise as far as sunset (i.e. from the extreme east to the extreme west), great is the prosperity.’ ”

To all appearance Amenophis IV. trusted too much to his own prestige, and that of the country over which he ruled. He was “the son of the Sun,” “like unto the Sun in Heaven,” “the king at the sight of whom all the lands live,” and naturally took it for granted that he was everywhere looked upon with the same veneration as in his own country.

As may easily be imagined, the expulsion of the Egyptians from Palestine left the country in a very disturbed state, and marauding bands, having no longer anything to do in the way of wresting territory from the Egyptians, must have given considerable trouble to the native princes and governors, now once more independent in their own territories.

The loss of Palestine, on the other hand, probably brought with it a certain amount of loss of prestige [pg 303] to Egypt, which must have endured for some time. In any case, the Egyptian kings who succeeded Amenophis IV. seem to have made no attempt to regain the lost provinces.

Ankh-kheperu-Ra, the king who succeeded the ruler just named, lived for a while at Tel-el-Amarna, during which time, in all probability, the tomb of his predecessor's six daughters was finished. Several rings of this king exist, on two of which he calls himself “beloved of Nefer-kheperu-Ra” (or, in accordance with the indications of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets: Nafar-khoperu-Ria) and “beloved of Ua-en-Ra,” names of Amenophis IV. During his reign the worship of the sun's disc (Aten, or, if the derivation from the Semitic Adon, “lord,” be correct, Aton) began to give way to that of the national gods of Egypt. He reigned thirteen years (1365-1353 b.c.), and was succeeded by Ra-kheperu-neb (1353-1344). The paintings in the tomb of Hui at Thebes show that tribute was still received from the Syrians (Rutennu), as well as from the people of Kush in the Soudan. Evidently the road was being paved for the conquest of the lost provinces of Syria.

After this came a ruler who seems to have held the throne only on account of his wife being of royal blood. According to Petrie, he was “divine father Ay,” and his wife's name was Ty. He reigned thirteen years (1344-1332 b.c.). During his reign a complete reversion to the old worship took place.

Ay's successor, Ra-ser-kheperu (Hor-em-heb), 1332-1328 b.c., was apparently also a commoner, and is identified (Petrie) with the Hor-em-heb who was general in an earlier reign. He is represented being adored by negroes and Asiatics.

One or two other obscure names occur, and then begins the reign of king Rameses I., who came to the throne about 1300 b.c. This reign was short enough, but there is hardly any doubt that in it the [pg 304] prosperity of Egypt was renewed. From the treaty of the Khita with Rameses II., the grandson of Rameses I., we learn that the latter had a war with the Khita, and from the fact that he founded a storehouse for the temple of his divine father Hor-khem, and filled it with captive men-servants and maid-servants, we may conclude that he was fairly successful in his warlike expeditions.

With his son, Seti (Sethos) I., or Meneptah (“beloved of Ptah”), we attain firmer ground. In the very first year of his reign he warred in the east, among the Shasu Bedouin, “from the fortress of Khetam (Heb. Etham) in the land of Zalu, as far as Kan'ana (Canaan).” Kadesh, at that time a city of the Kheta (it had apparently fallen into the hands of the Hittites during the reign of Amenophis IV.), was conquered by him. Not only the Hittites, however, but also Naharain (Naharaim), the country of which Dušratta of old had been king, upper and lower Rutennu (Canaan and North Syria), Sinjar, the island of Cyprus, and Cappadocia, felt the force of his arms. His son, Rameses II., was associated with him on the throne, and afterwards succeeded him. This took place about 1300 b.c. It is to this ruler that the glory of the name of Rameses is principally due, and his grandfather, the first who bore it, shines mainly with a reflected light.

It is impossible here to do more than touch upon such of the details of his career as are essential in the present work. In all probability he is best known on account of his expedition into Syria, and the conquest of the Hittites, who, as recorded in the celebrated heroic poem of Pentaur, were allied with a number of other tribes, including the people of Naharaim, Aleppo, Gauzanitis, the Girgashites (?), Carchemish, etc. The result was success for the Egyptian arms, and the Hittites, on the whole, submitted, though some of the towns acknowledging [pg 305] Hittite rule, notably Tunep, refused to accept Egyptian suzerainty, necessitating another expedition, the result of which was, that the Egyptians found no more opposition to their overlordship. In his eighth and succeeding years he fought against the Canaanites, and in his descriptions of his operations there, many familiar names are to be found—names of great interest to all students of ancient Oriental history. It was in his eighth year, according to the texts in the Ramesseum, that he conquered Shalam (Salamis W. of Capernaum, according to Prof. Flinders Petrie), Marom (Merom), the spring of Anamimi (identified with Anamim), Dapur (identified with Tabor by Brugsch), and many other places.

Rameses II. is generally regarded as the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and one of the tasks placed upon the oppressed Israelites was the building of his store-cities, Pithom (Pi-tum, discovered by M. Naville when excavating for the Egypt Exploration Fund) and Raamses, the Pi-Ramessu of the inscriptions, concerning which there is a very interesting letter by an Egyptian named Panbesa, who visited it. As Brugsch says: “We may suppose that many a Hebrew, perhaps Moses himself, jostled the Egyptian scribe in his wandering through the gaily-dressed streets of the temple-city.”

The successor of Rameses, Meneptah II., is hardly the son which one would expect to follow such a father. According to Brugsch, he does not rank with those Pharaohs who transmitted their remembrance to posterity by grand buildings and the construction of new temples. And the monolith found by Petrie in 1896 seems to imply that his lists of conquests were not always so trustworthy as could be wished. Nevertheless, the reign of Meneptah is one of the greatest importance, for it was he, to all appearance, who was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, as seems also to be proved by the same document. As this is a [pg 306] text of the very first importance, a translation of the concluding lines is given here—

“Kheta (the land of the Hittites) is in peace, captive is Canaan and full of misery, Askelon is carried away, Gezer is taken, Yennuamma is non-existent, Israel is lost, his seed is not,75 Syria is like the widows of Egypt. The totality of all the lands is at peace, for whoever rebelled was chastised by king Meneptah.”

Now the statement concerning Israel has given rise to a considerable amount of discussion. Naville regards the reference to the condition in which the Israelites were as indicating that they had left Egypt, and were wandering, “lost” in the desert. There is also some probability that the expression, “his seed is not,” may be a reference to the decree of the king, who commanded the destruction of the male children of the Hebrews, which command, he may have imagined, had been finally carried out. The question also naturally arises, whether the last phrase, “whoever rebelled was chastised by king Meneptah,” may not have a reference to the Israelites, who, from their own showing, were sufficiently peremptory in their demands to be allowed to proceed into the wilderness to sacrifice to their god, to bring down upon themselves any amount of resentment.

Exceedingly noteworthy, and in many respects startling, however, are the researches and statements of Dr. Edouard Mahler. Following Spiegelberg as to the meaning of the phrase containing the name of the Israelites, “Jenoam has been brought to naught; Israel, the horde, destroyed his crops”—a statement which hardly seems worthy of the honour of being inscribed on the memorial stele of a king of Egypt—is the rendering he suggests. The translation of the word feket (which is rendered by other Egyptologists as “annihilated, lost,” or in some similar way) by [pg 307] “horde,” allows the learned chronologist to suggest, that the ideographs accompanying the word Israelites indicate that they had already entered the Holy Land, and were trying to obtain a foothold there.

Having made these statements, he proceeds to examine the whole question. He asserts the correctness of the view, that Amosis, the founder of the eighteenth dynasty, was the prince who knew not Joseph. The first king of this new dynasty, he calculates, came to the throne two years after Joseph's death. With regard to the reign of Rameses II., he refers to the festival of the Sothis period which was celebrated in the thirtieth year of his reign. Starting from this period,76 which, according to Oppolzer, was renewed in the year 1318 b.c., he calculates that the first year of Rameses II. was 1347 b.c., and that the Exodus took place in his thirteenth year, i.e. 1335 b.c.

According to the Pirke di Rabbi Elieser, Dr. Mahler says, the departure of the Israelites is said to have taken place on a Thursday. “This view is also held in the Talmud (cf. Sabbath 87B), and the Shulchan-Aroch also maintains that the 15th Nisan, the day of the Exodus, was a Thursday. This all agrees with the year b.c. 1335, for in that year the 15th Nisan fell on a Thursday, and indeed on Thursday the 27th of March (Julian calendar).”

If we accept the theory that Rameses II. was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, and that the Exodus took place in 1335 b.c., then Moses, who was eighty years old at the time of the Exodus, must have been born in the year 1415 b.c., i.e. the fifteenth year of Amenophis III. Now the chief wife of this ruler was queen Teie (see p. 275), a woman who was certainly [pg 308] of foreign, probably Asiatic, race. In all probability, therefore, Teie, being an alien and of a different religion from the Egyptians, was not by any means in favour with the Egyptian priesthood, however much the Pharaoh may have delighted in her. The daughter of such a woman, as will easily be understood, would find little or no opposition to the adoption by her of a child of one of the Hebrews, an Asiatic like her mother. This, of course, would explain excellently how it was that Moses came to be adopted and educated by an Egyptian princess at her father's court, and that he had no real sympathy with the people among whom he lived, though it raises somewhat of a difficulty, for it is hard to understand how the Egyptian king, sympathizing, as we may expect him to have done, with Asiatics, should have ordered the destruction of their children. Nevertheless, circumstances may easily have arisen to cause such a decree to be issued. Another difficulty is, to explain who the people hostile to Moses were, who in the thirteenth year of Rameses II. died (Exod. iv. 19). This has generally been understood to be the king and one or more of his advisers, though this objection, like the other, really presents no difficulty worthy of the name, as there was no indication that the king was included.

Of course there is no statement to the effect that Pharaoh was killed with his army by the returning flood after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea (in Ps. cxxxvi. 15 he must be regarded as having been overwhelmed therein in the persons of his warriors, who suffered the fate which ought to have stricken also the king), so that little or no difficulty exists in this portion of the narrative.77 On the other hand, a difficulty is got rid of if we suppose that the Exodus [pg 309] took place in the time of Rameses II. Dr. Mahler points out, that Meneptah was succeeded by his son and heir, User-kheperu-Ra', who did not die, but reigned thirty-three years. The eldest sons of Rameses II., on the other hand, all died during their father's lifetime, and it was the fourteenth of his numerous progeny who ultimately came to the throne.

Dr. Mahler clinches the matter by making the plague of darkness to have been a solar eclipse.

Whatever may be the defects of Dr. Mahler's seductive theory, it must be admitted that it presents fewer difficulties than any other that has yet been put forward, and on that account deserves special attention.

[pg 310]

Chapter IX. The Nations With Whom The Israelites Came Into Contact.

The Amorites—The Hittites—The Jebusites—The Girgashites—Moab.

Amorites.

The earliest mention of the Amorites in the Old Testament is the passage in Gen. x. 16, where the name occurs along with that of the Jebusites and the Girgashites, from which may be gathered that they were all three very powerful tribes, though their power is in all probability not to be measured by the order of their names, the most important of the three being the Amorites, whose name comes second. They were regarded by the ancient Jews as an iniquitous and wicked people (Gen. xv. 6; 2 Kings xxi. 11), though they may not, in reality, have been worse than other nations which were their contemporaries. That they were a powerful nation is implied by the statement in Gen. xlviii. 22, where Jacob speaks of the tract which he had taken out of the hand of the Amorite with his sword and his bow, as a feat of which a warrior might be proud.

The Amorites in Babylonia have already been referred to in Chap. V., and from that part of the present work it will easily be understood that they were an extensive and powerful nationality, capable, with organization, of extending their power, as they [pg 311] evidently did from time to time, far and wide. Indeed, as has been pointed out, there is great probability that the Babylonian dynasty called by Berosus Arabic, was in reality Amorite. In any case, the kings of this dynasty held sway over Amoria, as the inscription of Ammi-ṭitana, translated on p. 155, clearly shows. The importance of this nationality in the eyes of the Babylonians is proved by the fact that their designation for “west” was “the land of Amurrū,” and the west wind was, even with the Assyrians, “the wind of the land of Amurrū” (though the Hittites, in Assyrian times, seem to have been the more powerful nation), and this designation of the western point of the compass probably long outlived the renown of the nationality from which the expression was derived. Among other Biblical passages, testifying to the power of the Amorites, may be quoted as typical Amos ii. 9, 10, and in this the Babylonian and the Hebrew records are quite in agreement.

As has been pointed out by Prof. Sayce, in process of time a great many tribes—Gibeonites, Hivites, Jebusites, and even Hittites—were classed as Amorites by the ancient Jewish writers, a circumstance which likewise testifies to the power of the nationality. These identifications must be to a large extent due to the fact that all the tribes or nationalities referred to were mountaineers, and, as we have seen (p. 122), the Akkadian character for a mountainous region or nationality, stood not only for Armenia, and the land of the Amorites, but also for the land of Akkad, because the Akkadians came from a mountainous country, perhaps somewhere in the neighbourhood of the mountains of Elam. This character was pronounced Ari when it stood for Amoria, but ceased to be used for that on account of its signifying also the mountainous region of Armenia, and Akkad, for which it still continued to be employed, and it is only the context, [pg 312] in many cases, which enables the reader to gather which is meant. Other groups used for Amoria were the sign for foot, twice over (sometimes with one of them reversed), [Cuneiform], and [Cuneiform], the ordinary pronunciation of which is Saršar, though it is probable that the latter was pronounced, in Akkadian, like the former, i.e. Tidnu. In the inscriptions of Gudea, viceroy of Lagaš about 2700 b.c., there occurs the name of a country called Tidalum, “a mountain of Martu,” from which a kind of limestone was brought. This Hommel and Sayce regard as another form of Tidnu, by the interchange of l and n, which is not uncommon in Akkadian. The fact that Martu is also used in the inscriptions for Amurrū, (the land of) the Amorites, and also, with the prefix for divinity, for the Amorite god (îlu Amurrū), which was introduced into Babylonia at an exceedingly early date, confirms this explanation. In all probability there is not at present sufficient data for ascertaining the dates when these names first appear, but Tidnu or Tidalu was probably the earlier of the two.

What the exact boundaries of the district were are doubtful. Prof. Sayce, after examining the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, comes to the conclusion that it denoted the inland region immediately to the north of the Palestine of later days. In this Petrie concurs, the country being, according to him, the district of middle and lower Orontes, and certainly covering a large area. This, of course, would be the position of the tract over which they held sway in the earlier ages, but later they must have extended their power so as to embrace the Jebusites (Jerusalem), and even Mamre in Gen. xiv. 13. From this wide extension of the dominions of the Amorites in the book of the Bible dealing with the earliest period of Jewish history, and from the fact that the Assyro-Babylonians used the word to indicate the west in general, it is clear that the Amorites occupied a wide tract in the earlier [pg 313] ages, and must have been pushed gradually back, probably by the Babylonians under Sargon of Agadé, leaving, however, centres of Amorite influence in the south, which, when the power of Egypt, which followed that of Babylonia, waned and disappeared, left certain independent states under Amorite rulers. It is thus that, at the time of the Exodus, we find Og ruling at Bashan, who had threescore cities, all the region of Argob, his chief seats being Edrei and Ashtaroth. This ruler and his people were of the remnant of the Rephaim, regarded by Sayce as of Amorite origin (Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible, under “Amorites”). Whatever doubt there may be, however, about the origin of the Bashanites, there is none concerning Sihon king of the Amorites dwelling more to the south. A man of great courage and daring, he had driven the Moabites out of their territory, obliging them to retreat across the Arnon. On the entry of the Israelites, he gathered his troops and attacked them, but was defeated and killed. Josephus (Ant. iv. 5, sect. 2) has some curious details of this battle, in which he states that the Amorites were unable to fight successfully when away from the shelter of their cities, but in view of their successes against the Moabites, we may be permitted to doubt this.

In the Tel-el-Amarna tablets the ruler of the Amorites is apparently Abdi-Aširti,78 who, with his son Aziru, warred successfully against Rib-Addi (Rib-Hadad), governor of Phœnicia, driving him from Ṣumuru and Gublu (Gebal), which last city was occupied, according to Petrie's analysis, by the two hostile parties in turn. Naturally there are a great many recriminations on the part of Rib-Addi against Abdi-Aširti on account of the hostility between them, and the former is constantly complaining to the Pharaoh of what the latter had done, frequently calling him a dog, and once seemingly referring to the Amorites [pg 314] as “dogs.” (Elsewhere Abdi-Aširti applies this word to himself as an expression of humility.) His letters to the king of Egypt, however, are merely assurances of fidelity, and are all short:—

“To the king my lord say then thus: ‘(It is) Abdi-Aštarti, the king's servant. At the feet of the king my lord I fall down—seven (times at) the feet of the king my lord, and seven times again (?) both front part and back. And may the king my lord know that strong is the hostility against me, and let it be acceptable before the king my lord, and let him direct one of the great men to protect me.’

“ ‘Secondly, the king my lord has sent word to me, and I have heard—I have heard all the words of the king my lord. Behold, the ten women forgotten (?) I have brought’ ” (?).

(It is here worthy of note, that he does not, in this letter, call himself Abdi-Aširti, “servant of the Ashera,” but Abdi-Aštarti, “servant of Astarte,” using the Assyro-Babylonian ideograph for Ištar, the original of the goddess in question. On another document from him, the word is spelled out, Ab-di-aš-ta-ti, in which the scribe intended to write Ab-di-aš-ta-ar-ti, but omitted the last character but one. Yet another letter gives his name as Abdi-Aš-ra-tum, in the second element of which we must see another form of Abdi-Aširti, unless the scribe has also made a mistake in this case, and written Ašratum for Aštaratum, which is just possible. In any case, it shows a close connection between the goddess Aštarte or Ištar, and the Ashera, which was in Palestine, at that date, and for centuries before and after, her emblem. To be the servant of the one was to be the servant of the other, though the bearer of the name seems to have the desire rather to be considered the priest of the goddess. Even unintentional variants in names furnish valuable contributions at times to comparative mythology.)

If there are but few letters from the father, there is [pg 315] a sufficient number, and of considerable extent, from the son. He, too, is the faithful servant of the Pharaoh, and he writes also to Dûdu (a form of the name David) and Ḫâi, telling of the difficulties which he had with regard to the king of the Hittites. It is apparently this prince to whom the Pharaoh writes in the letter translated on pp. 300-302, a circumstance which leads to the belief that the complaints of Rib-Addi with regard to Abdi-Aširti and his son Aziru were well-founded. That the king of Egypt asks therein for the delivery to him of certain persons whom he names, implies that he had trustworthy information as to who the intriguers were, and though apparently willing to give Aziru the benefit of the doubt, he certainly did not hold him blameless.

It will probably be long ere the true order of these letters is known, and until this be found, much of the history of the period to which they refer must necessarily remain uncertain.

Hittites.

Another nationality which took a predominant part in the politics of ancient Palestine is the Hittites. To all appearance they were a later power than the Amorites, as their name does not occur in the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria until a comparatively late date, whilst the Amorites are mentioned 2200 years before Christ, and their name had become the common Assyro-Babylonian expression for “the west.” That the Hittites were nevertheless of considerable antiquity, however, is implied by the presence of the sons of Heth at Mamre in the time of Abraham, who purchased from Ephron the Hittite the cave of Machpelah in that place. It is difficult to assign to these people any definite limits, especially in early times, but it seems certain that they began to act far in the north, and gradually extended their power southwards. [pg 316] In the times of Joshua, the tract between the Lebanon and Euphrates is described as theirs, and their domain was, in fact, the country to the north of Palestine. It was no doubt due to their predominating power that the Assyrians of later days called the whole of Palestine “the land of Ḫatti,” a designation not altogether correct, but sufficient for their purpose, namely, that of indicating the position of the nationalities enumerated. Nevertheless, it had some justification, several colonies of these people inhabiting that district, as is indicated by Gen. xxiii. 3, xxv. 10; Numbers xiii. 29, etc. The statement in Ezekiel xvi. 3, that the father of Jerusalem was an Amorite and its mother a Hittite, shows what was the opinion of the more learned Jews of the time in the matter.

The earliest mention of the Hittites outside the Bible is in the Egyptian monuments, where, in the annals of Thothmes III., it is recorded for the year 1470 b.c., that the king proceeded to the banks of the Euphrates, and received tribute from “the greater” land of the Hittites. In the year 1463 b.c., the king of this district again paid tribute. During the reign of Thothmes IV., grandson of Thothmes III., the relations between the two countries must have changed, and the Egyptian king had to repel an attack made by the Hittites upon Tunib (now Tennib) in Northern Syria. This hostile policy was continued by them also at a later date, for the successors of Thothmes IV., Amenophis III. and his son, Amenophis IV., had often to oppose the Hittite king, who either attacked Northern Syria, or stirred up strife among the Egyptian vassals in Canaan.

Here, again, the Tel-el-Amarna tablets come in, and supply a mass of details. At times the Ḫatti still send tribute, both to Amenophis III. and IV., but at the close of the reign of the former, hostilities again broke out, the Hittites being, to all appearance, the aggressors. Dušratta, king of Mitanni, writes [pg 317] that he sends to the king of Egypt tribute of the spoils which he had taken from the Ḫatti; and the king of Nuḫašše, who bears the Assyrian name of Addu-nirari, and whose grandfather had been appointed by Thothmes III., complains that the king of the Ḫatti is against him, and asks for help. From these and other statements it would seem, that whoever was on the side of the king of Egypt was the enemy of the Hittites, and therefore to be attacked by them. Akizzi, king of Qatna, complains in one of the letters that the Ḫatti had burned down a city, and reports in another that they had tried to win him over to their side. Aziru, another prince in the neighbourhood, complains that the king of Ḫatti has entered Nuḫašše, and for this reason he could not leave his own territory to go to the king of Egypt. At the end of one of his communications, Akizzi states that the Sun-god had taken away the king of the Ḫatti, but as no name is given, any historical importance which this fact might have is greatly minimized. In other letters they are spoken of as despoiling the princes of Gebal, capturing a personage named Lupakku and the cities of Amki “even from the cities of Aaddu” (or Bin-Addu = Ben-Hadad). As we have seen (pp. 288-289), at least a portion of them was led by Etakama of Kinza.

As is well known, a large number of hieroglyphic inscriptions of a people regarded as the Hittites exist, and many attempts have been made to translate them. In addition to these, there are many sculptures, mostly on rocks, and still in situ. The most remarkable of these are at Bogaz Keui, Eyouk, Iasili-Kaia, Ghiaour-kalesi, Doganlu-deresi, Ibriz, Eflatun-bunar, Karabeli, and elsewhere in Asia Minor, as well as at Jerabis (anciently called Carchemish), Hamah (Hamath), and monuments of the Hittites have even been found at Babylon. How they came to this last place is not at present known, but they may have formed part [pg 318] of the spoils brought from the west by any of the later conquerors (such a supposition would probably be better than attributing to them a very early date), or sent thither as presents or as specimens of Hittite work. It is noteworthy that the inscriptions, with the exception of the bowl brought from Babylon, are all in relief and boustrophedon. A large number of seals, both of the ordinary kind and cylindrical, are known, and though there are bilingual inscriptions (Hittite and Babylonian), none of them are of sufficient length to make them really serviceable in translating other texts in the same character.

Notwithstanding the great difficulty attending such a task as the translation of these inscriptions, a certain amount of success has been attained. Those who have advanced the study most are Prof. Sayce in England, and Profs. Jensen and Hommel in Germany. It will be many years, however (unless some unexpected help come to light), before renderings in any real sense of the word useful can be made.

In the opinion of Prof. Sayce, Cappadocia was the earliest home of this nationality, which spread thence in every direction (except, perhaps, northwards), and made itself master of a part of Palestine, from which circumstance the district came to have, in Assyrian literature, the name of “the land of Ḫatti.” Though later than the Amorite invasion, it nevertheless took place at a very early date, as is shown by the fact that Abraham had dealings with Ephron, a Hittite or “son of Heth.”

Coming down to a later date, it is interesting to see what is said about them by the kings of Assyria. Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1120 B.C.) says as follows—

“... 4000 Kaškaians (and) Urumaians, people of the land of Ḫattê, disobedient, who in their strength had taken the cities of Subarte, subject [pg 319]unto the god Ašur, my lord, heard of my march to Subarte; the brilliance of my power overwhelmed them, they feared the conflict, my feet they embraced. With their goods and II. sos (120) of chariots of their system of yoking79I took from them, and delivered to the people of my land.”

Farther on in his record, Tiglath-pileser I. states that he collected his chariots and warriors, and took to the desert, going to the border-people of the Arameans, enemies of Ašur his lord. From before the land of Sūḫi (the Shuhites) as far as the city Carchemish of the land of Ḫattê, he boasts of having plundered in a single day, slaughtering their soldiers, and taking back to his own country all their property. Some of them fled across the Euphrates, followed by the Assyrians in boats of skins, and the result of this flight to seek safety was, that six of their cities at the foot of the mountain known as Bišru, were taken, plundered, and destroyed.

In other passages of his record also, this king refers to certain districts which were undoubtedly Hittite, but without calling them by that name. One of these—the interesting description of his operations in Commagene—is especially worthy of notice. It reads as follows—

“In those days the people of Qurḫê, who had come with the people of Kummuḫi to save and help the land of Kummuḫi, I caused to go down like šûbe.80 The corpses of their warriors I heaped up in heaps on the tops of the mountains, the carcases of their warriors the river Namê took forth to the Tigris. Kili-Tešub son of Kali-Tešub, whom Irrupi put to flight (?), their king, [pg 320] my hand took in the midst of the battle. His wives, children, offspring of his heart, his force, III. sos (180) plates of copper, 5 censers of bronze, with their gods, (objects) of gold and silver, and the best of their property, I carried off. Their spoil and their goods I sent forth, that city and its palace I burned with fire, destroyed (it), laid (it) waste.

“The city Urraḫinaš, their stronghold, situated in the land of Panari, fear dreading81 the glory of Ašur, my lord, overwhelmed them; to save their lives they carried away their gods (and their goods), they fled to the peaks of the lofty mountains like a bird. I collected my chariots and troops, (and) crossed the Tigris, Ša-di-Tešub, son of Ḫattu-šar, king of Urraḫinaš, not to be captured in his own country, took my feet. The children, offspring of his heart, and his family, I took as hostages. I. sos (60) plates of copper, libation-vases of bronze, offering-dishes of bronze, great ones, with II. sos (120) men, oxen, sheep, tribute and gifts, he brought, (and) I received it. I had mercy on him, spared his life, (and) set the heavy yoke of my dominion over him for ever. I captured the wide land of Kummuḫi to its (whole) extent (and) made it submit to my feet. At that time I offered one bronze offering-dish and one bronze libation-vase of the spoil and gifts of the land of Kummuḫi to Ašur my lord, (and) I. sos of copper plates, with their gods, I presented to Hadad who loveth me.”

In the above extract the names containing that of the god Tešub show clearly that we have here to do with nationalities in the neighbourhood of Mitanni (see p. 277), and a close relation with the Hittites is suggested by the other name Ḫattu-šar, father of Šadi-Tešub, which is an analogous formation to Ḫattu-šil, the Kheta-sir of Egyptologists, with whom Rameses II. made a treaty (cf. p. 304). Another reading of Ḫattu-šar is Ḫattuḫi, a name which Prof. [pg 321] Sayce translates, “the Hittite,” in the second series of the Records of the Past, vol. i. p. 97, note 2. In the same passage he analyzes the name of the city Urraḫinaš as being derived from Urra, with the termination ḫi-naš, denoting in Vannite, “the place of the people of.”

Another interesting reference to the Hittites is that of the Assyrian king Aššur-naṣir-âpli, renowned for his cruelty. The king ruling at the time was Sangara, who had as his capital the city of Carchemish. The text reads as follows—

“I drew near to the land of Carchemish. The tribute of Sangara, king of the land of Ḫatte—20 talents of gold, bangles (?) of gold, rings of gold, swords of gold, 100 talents of bronze, 250 talents of iron, dishes of bronze, vases of bronze, libation-vases of bronze, a brazier of bronze, and the numerous vessels of his palace, the weight of which was not taken; couches of oak, chairs of oak, tables of oak and ivory inlaid, 200 slave-girls (or virgins), cotton stuffs, woollen cloth, white and black and white and grey, white marble (?), tusks of elephants, a white chariot, an umbrella of gold filled with overlaying (?), the ornament of his royalty, I received. The chariots, horses, (and) grooms of the city Carchemish, (of the Hittites82) I set (aside) for myself.”

The riches and importance of the city of Carchemish are here well indicated, and to all appearance the place maintained its position to the end, long after the power of the Hittites had completely disappeared. Indeed, as will be recognized from the above, Sangara has every appearance of having been a local ruler, implying that the district under Hittite control was already broken up into small states practically independent of each other. Another prince of the Hittites, in the neighbourhood of Diarbekir, from whom this Assyrian [pg 322] king received tribute was “the son of Baḫiani.” Apparently he was called thus on account of his ancestor, Baḫiani, being chief of a tribe, the district over which he ruled bearing, in Aššur-naṣir-âpli's second reference to it, the name of Bît-Baḫiani, “the house of Baḫiani.” The special products of this tract are well indicated by the nature of the gifts sent to the Assyrian king: “chariots, harness, horses, silver, gold, lead, bronze, and vessels of bronze.” That these Hittite districts paid tribute so submissively would seem to indicate that they had no coherence among themselves, and did not feel called upon to aid each other in time of need.

Sargon of Assyria, who claims to have subjugated all the land of the Hittites, speaks, as do other Assyrian kings, of the people of Hamath, and what he did to Ilu-bi'idi or Yau-bi'idi, their king. This, too, was the capital of a Hittite principality, and it is in the modern town of Hamah, in which form the name still survives, that the so-called “Hamah-stones,” now generally regarded as Hittite, were found.

The disappearance of the Hittite confederate states (if such they really were), and the rise in their place from time to time of other powers, caused the Assyrians, who regarded this territory as their own special possession, won by conquest, to apply to the whole district the name of mât Ḫatti, “the land of Heth,” which would seem to have included (probably in its extended sense) Samaria, Sidon, Arvad, Gebal, Ashdod, Beth-Ammon, Moab, Edom, Askelon, and Judah.83 It thus, to all appearance, took the place of the ancient “land of the Amorites” (not, however, when indicating the points of the compass), and in this the inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Aššur-banî-âpli agree.

What the influence of the Hittites over the nations [pg 323] contemporary with them may have been is difficult to estimate. The Assyrians, to all appearance, borrowed from them a certain style of architecture, used for the entrance-hall of the royal palaces. Their style of art, of which numerous examples are preserved, shows that they had made considerable progress, and that they had individuality as artists. Neither in sculpture nor in engraving of hard stone, however, did they ever attain to the exquisite fineness and finish of the best work of the artists of Babylonia and Assyria. The subjects, too, seem to be usually more grotesque, though this suggestion, which their work gives, may be due merely to our ignorance of their religious beliefs and the legends on which the designs were probably based.

The inscribed vase in the British Museum, and the inscribed figure found by the German explorers at the same place have already been referred to (pp. 317-318), and it has been suggested as probable that they were sent as presents to one or more of the Babylonian kings, though the possibility that they were part of the spoils of an expedition to that part of the world, or specimens of Hittite art carried off at a later date, when the nations producing them had passed away, are also probable explanations. In any case, they seem to show that there were, at some period or other, political relations between the Hittites and the Babylonians.

Jebusites.

The importance of the Jebusites, who were, to all appearance, but a small tribe, lies in the circumstance, that their capital and stronghold, at the time the Israelites entered the Holy Land, was Jerusalem. In consequence of this, Jerusalem is mentioned, in one or two places (Jud. xix. 10; 1 Chron. xi. 4, 5, etc.), apparently poetically, under the name of Jebus, perhaps [pg 324] so called by the Jebusites because of its being the capital of their tribe. The original name of the city, however, as we know from Gen. xiv. and the Tel-el-Amarna tablets (see p. 239), was Uru-salim. When the Jebusites took possession of the city, however, is unknown, but in all probability neither Melchizedek nor Abdi-ṭâba belonged to the race.

Apart from the references to this tribe in connection with Jerusalem, there is no indication as to its origin and race. The name of their ruler, Adoni-zedek, however, seems to show clearly that they were Semites, and we may suppose, with Driver, that they were Canaanites (Hastings, Dict. of the Bible, s.v.). It is apparently one of the tribes of which the Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions know nothing as a body, but the name of Yabušu, which would be the old form of Jebus, occurs in a contract tablet of the time of the first dynasty of Babylon (about 2200 b.c.), and, if really the name of the tribe, as it would seem to be, confirms its antiquity, as indicated by the references to it in Genesis.

It is not improbable that future discoveries will give us more information concerning this tribe, interesting principally on account of its having come into contact with the Jews.

Girgashites.

This nation, descended from the fifth son of Canaan, seems to have inhabited the tract on the western bank of the Jordan, and on that account was not within easy reach of the Babylonians and Assyrians. The name, it is thought, is closely connected with that of Gergesa, where Christ healed the demoniac, and allowed the evil spirits to enter into the herd of swine which then ran down the slope into the sea. This Gergesa has, in its turn, been identified with Kersa, a ruined town near the mouth of the Wady [pg 325] Samakh. If this be the case, there is some probability that the Girgashites are the Kirkišāti of a tablet from Assyria which seemingly contains an early historical record, or an historical legend. Whether the Kirkišāti be identical with the Girgashites or not, the text is of sufficient importance to make it a valuable record, and a translation of the more perfect and interesting of the lines is given here—

“Gazzāni to the resting-place he has decided upon,84
to the fortress camp of Kirkišāti,
to Zakar-gimilli (king?) of the Siḫites,
to wide-spreading Kirkišāti,
to Ḫarri-si'iši, to Dûr-Dungi,
and the neighbourhood of Tengurgur (?) may he go forth, and
to the land of Ḫalman, the place to which his eyes are set, may he go.

By the command of the enemy, the Lullubite, may he accomplish (it)—

As for him, his horses, his soldiers, his chariots, in peace to the land of Ḫalman have approached, and the enemy, the Lullubite,
whether from before him, or from beside him, or from his right,
or from his left, did not cease (?) from him, and shall not destroy him,
shall not make him fail, shall not cause him to diminish.”

That the majority of the countries mentioned are near to Babylonia, is against the probability that Kirkišāti (if it be a country) is the land of the Girgashites, unless Ḫalman be Aleppo, and not the Mesopotamian tract of the same name; or unless, being a “numerous people,” they had sent out colonies to the neighbourhood [pg 326] of Babylonia, as did the Amorites; or emigrants, like the Jebusites. Whatever be the explanation, however, the above fragment is exceedingly interesting, the more so, that in the first line of the extract as given above, the person spoken of is to all appearance Gazzāni, which is possibly the completion of the name of the father of Tudḫula, and is written, as far as it is preserved, in the same way.85

It is noteworthy that the prefix for country is absent in every case, except that of Ḫalman.

Moabites.

Concerning the early history and state of the Moabites we get no information from the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria, though the name Muab occurs on the base of one of the six colossal inscriptions at Luxor (Patriarchal Palestine, p. 21). For a time, in all probability, it was like an Egyptian province, or, at least, greatly under Egyptian influence. It is not until comparatively late times that the Moabites come before us in Assyrian history, and the same thing may be said with regard to the Edomites, Ammonites, and other petty states. As these will be referred to incidentally in the chapters which follow, it has been thought well not to treat of them here, in order to avoid repetition as much as possible.

[pg 327]

Chapter X. Contact Of The Hebrews With The Assyrians.

Aššur-naṣir-âpli II.—Shalmaneser II.—Tiglath-pileser III. (Pul)—Shalmaneser IV. (Elulaeus)—Sargon—Sennacherib—Esarhaddon—Aššur-banî-âpli (the great and noble Asnappar)—The downfall of Assyria.

The Hebrew commonwealth had come into being, and given place to a monarchy, which, passing through many vicissitudes, reached its highest pitch of glory in the time of David and Solomon, to suffer, after the death of the latter, diminution by the falling away of the ten tribes. Thus weakened, the two parts of what had been erstwhile a powerful whole became tempting morsels to any power whose ruler was ambitious of conquest. It was probably more from unwillingness to attack with but little chance of success than inability from inherent weakness which caused the Assyrians to refrain whilst the nation was united. Generally, the kings of Assyria preferred making conquests nearer home, and Tukulti-Ninip I., who reigned in the 13th century b.c., annexed Babylonia and ruled there for seven years, Assyrian predominance in that land coming to an end on his death, which was due to a revolt, in which his son, Aššur-naṣir-âpli, took part. Though this was a check to Assyrian ambition in that quarter, its kings returned from time to time to the attack, but with very varying success, which probably caused them to turn their attention to other districts as the field of their warlike zeal. Tukulti-Ninip II. (891-885 b.c.) and his son, Aššur-naṣir-âpli II., therefore aimed at the conquest of the north and [pg 328] west, and though the latter came into conflict with Babylonia, no permanent accession of territory resulted therefrom.

It seems not to have been until somewhat late in his reign that he reached, in his numerous expeditions, the Mediterranean Sea, “the great western sea,” or “the great sea of the land of Amurrū,”86 as he calls it. Here, after performing ceremonies to the gods of Assyria, he received the tribute of the kings of the sea-coast—“of the land of the Tyrians, the land of the Sidonians, the land of the Gebalites, the land of the Maḫallatites, the land of the Maizites, the land of the Kaizites, the land of the Amorites, (and) the city of Arvad, which is amid the sea.” This is followed by a list of the objects received, and the statement that they (the rulers) paid him homage. Having thus spied out the nakedness of the land, and ascertained the willingness of the rulers to give tribute, the Assyrian king proceeded to the mountains of Ḫamanu (Amanus), and cut beams of cedar, cypress, and other wood for the temple Ê-šarra, for his house or temple (apparently that in which he worshipped), “a house of rejoicing, (and) for the temple of the moon and the sun, the glorious gods.”

Shalmaneser II., son of Aššur-naṣir-âpli, during the first six years of his reign, warred, like his father, on the north and west, his object being to complete what his father had begun, namely, the subjugation of the territory of Aḫuni, son of Adini, king of Til-barsip. This having been successfully accomplished, he was free to turn his attention to the more southern regions of the old land of the Amorites. In the year 854 b.c., therefore, he marched against Giammu, a ruler whose land lay on the river Belichus. To all appearance this chief wished to resist, but his people feared the power of the Assyrian king, and put Giammu to death. Taking possession of the [pg 329] district, he then proceeded to further successes, and after crossing the Euphrates again in boats of skins, he received the tribute of the kings on the farther side—Sangara of Carchemish, Kundašpu of Commagene, Aramu the son of Gusu, Lallu the Milidian, Ḫaianu the son of Gabaru, Kalparuda of the Patinians, and Kalparuda of the Gurgumians, “(at) the city Aššur-uttir-aṣbat, of the farther side of the Euphrates, which is upon the river Sajur, which the men of the Hittites call the city Pitru” (Pethor). Having reached Aleppo, he received also tribute there, and offered sacrifices before Hadad of Aleppo.

Next came the turn of Irḫulêni of Hamath (Amatâa), whose cities Adennu, Pargâ, and Arganâ were captured and spoiled, and his palaces set in flames.

“From Arganâ I departed, to Qarqara I drew near: Qarqara, his royal city, I ravaged, destroyed, (and) burnt with fire. One thousand two hundred chariots, 1200 yoke of horses, 20,000 trained soldiers of Adad-'idri (= Bin-Adad-idri = Ben-Hadad) of Ša-imērišu (= the province of Damascus); 700 chariots, 700 yoke of horses, (and) 10,000 soldiers of Irḫulêni of the land of the Hamathites; 2000 chariots (and) 10,000 men of Aḫabbu (regarded as Ahab) of the land of the Sir'ilites (regarded as the Israelites); 500 men of the Guites; 1000 men of the Musrites; 10 chariots (and) 10,000 men of the Irqanatites; 200 men of Matinu-ba'ali of the city of the Arvadites; 200 men of the land of the Usanatites; 30 chariots (and) 10,000 men of Adunu-ba'ali of the land of the Šianians;87 1000 camels of Gindibu'u of the Arbâa (regarded as the Arabians); ... 00 men of Ba'asa son of Ruḫubu of the land of the Amanians (Ammonites)—these 1288 kings he took to aid him, (and) to make war and battle they advanced against me. With the supreme powers which Aššur, the lord, has given; with the mighty weapons which ura-gala [pg 330] (Nergal89) going before me, has presented (me), I fought with them. From the city Qarqara as far as the city Gilzau90 I made an end of them. Fourteen thousand of their warriors I caused to be slain with the sword. Like Hadad I caused a torrent to rain down upon them....”

Such is the account of the first recorded contact of the Assyrians with the Jews—that is, if Sir'ilâa be rightly rendered “Israelites”; as to Ahab, there may have been more than one of the name, just as there were two Kalparudas, he of the Patinians, and he of the Gurgumians. Nevertheless, the probability that it really is Ahab of Israel is great, and this theory is held by most Assyriologists.

In truth, however, the Hebrew and the Assyrian histories of this period are not altogether easy to reconcile. Ben-Hadad II., the son and successor of Ben-Hadad I., was in almost continual conflict with the Israelites. The story is told in 1 Kings xx., according to which Ben-Hadad entered into an alliance with thirty-two other kings, who, with their armies, horses, and chariots, besieged Samaria. Too full of confidence, he sent to Ahab of Israel, who was in the besieged city, demanding his surrender, the second time with terms more than usually humiliating. In consequence of the words of a prophet who is unnamed, the rejection of these terms was followed by a sortie of the inhabitants, who seem to have taken the besiegers unawares, whilst they were feasting and drinking in their over-confidence. The result was the raising of the siege, and the complete defeat of the allied forces.

The next attack of Ben-Hadad upon Ahab was at Aphek, he hoping to obtain a victory over the Israelites because he considered their God to be a god [pg 331] of the mountains, and that they would not be under his protection in the plains. Here, too, the Israelites were victorious, and Ben-Hadad submitted, and agreed to restore cities taken by his father (xx. 34), and to allow the Israelites to build streets at Damascus (probably as a quarter for Jewish merchants).

Admitting the correctness of the general opinions of Assyriologists concerning Aḫabbu mât Sir'ilâa, it must have been between this period and his death that he joined the Syrian league against Shalmaneser II. of Assyria, with a force only half that of Ben-Hadad, though his chariots were nearly twice as many. Notwithstanding this, however, the Israelitish troops were sufficiently numerous, and the defeat of such a large army as that of the allies of the Syrian league, and the slaughter of a total of 14,000 men among them (another account says 20,500), many of them in all probability Israelites, finds no place, strange to say, in the sacred record, notwithstanding that the Hebrew writers do not, as a rule, in the least object to mentioning national defeat, and in this case it would have been a most important thing to refer to, the danger which threatened them and their allies being such as promised to overthrow their national existence altogether. Perhaps the compiler of the sacred record, however, did not realize to the full what the Assyrian invasion meant; or he may not have desired to justify Ahab's policy (which, in view of the danger which threatened, was a sound one), and so discredit with the people the fanatical behaviour and tragic warning of the prophet who reproached the king so mercilessly because he had made friends with Ben-Hadad instead of pressing on against him in hostility, even to the death.

The Rev. Joseph Horner (Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, 1898, p. 244), besides bringing in the chronological difficulty, which is very real, in spite of Prof. Oppert's Noli me tangere (P.S.B.A., [pg 332] 1898, pp. 24-47), notes (pp. 237, 238) the difficulty of the name. This is the only place where Israel is called in the Assyrian inscriptions Sir´ilâa—in all other passages it is bît Ḫumrî, “the house of Omri,” or mât bît Ḫumrî, “the land of the house of Omri,” and he regards it as incredible that a name never used before, and never afterwards found, should be employed. Elsewhere, when speaking of Jehu, Shalmaneser calls him “son” or “descendant of Omri,” apparently intending thereby to indicate his nationality, for, as is well known, the relationship expressed is not correct.

Nevertheless, allowance must be made for the uncertainty attending the introduction into the literature of a country of a name with which the people, including the scribes, are unfamiliar. Ḫumrî or Omri may have been, to the scribe who composed the account given by the Black Obelisk, very much easier to remember than the comparatively unfamiliar Sir´ilâa, and it may have been felt that the form used was not by any means certain—Isra´ilâa would, in fact, have been much better. The scribe of the monolith, however, may have inserted what he felt to be the Assyro-Babylonian form of the name, for something very similar to Sir´ilâa (or Ser´ilâa) exists in the Sar-îli of a contract tablet of the reign of Ammi-zaduga, translated in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1897, pp. 594-595 (cf. p. 157).

But, as before remarked, the chronological difficulty still remains, the date, from Hebrew sources, being, according to Prof. Oppert, before 900 b.c. (the last year of Ahab), whilst, according to Assyrian chronology, it should be 853 b.c. (cf. Sayce in Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible, vol. i. p. 272).

The importance of the city of Hamath is well indicated not only by the above extract, but also by the numerous other passages where Irḫulēni (or Urḫilēni) of Hamath is referred to. The Guites [pg 333] were regarded by the late Geo. Smith as the Biblical Goim—a rather doubtful identification. As for the Musrites, the same scholar thought them to be the Egyptians, Muṣrâa, “Muṣrites,” coming apparently from Muṣur, the name of Egypt in the Assyrian inscriptions. Others regard them as being a people of the north, and this is more probable, though it would perhaps be better to regard the name as unidentified. The mention of “camels” in connection with Gindibu'u of the Arbâa is regarded as stamping the nationality referred to as being Arabic, and this is very probable. In Ba'asa son of Ruḫubu of the Ammonites we have the comparatively familiar Biblical names Baasha and Rehob in their Assyrian forms. It will therefore be seen that the extract translated above is of considerable interest quite independently of its historical bearings, which are of great importance, whatever may be the ultimate opinion concerning them.

During the next three years Shalmaneser was occupied on the west and north-west and in Babylonia, so that it was not until 850 b.c. that he was again able to turn his attention to the neighbourhood of Palestine.

The clemency of Ahab towards Ben-Hadad had apparently ended, as has been seen, in an alliance between the two nationalities, but that alliance did not, to all appearance, last very long. There is every probability that it was an unwilling one on the part of Ben-Hadad, and in all probability he took advantage of the death of Ahab to repudiate it. In any case, Ben-Hadad is represented in 2 Kings vi. 24 ff., as again besieging Samaria, but with disastrous results. What interval there was between his raising the siege of Samaria and his death, the sacred narrative does not say, but according to Assyrian chronology, there should be from four to six years at least (850-846 b.c.).

[pg 334]

In the tenth year of his reign Shalmaneser II. of Assyria crossed the Euphrates for the eighth time, and advanced against Sangara of Carchemish, whose cities he destroyed, made waste, and burned in the flames. After this came the turn of Arame, whose capital city, with one hundred other places around it, was laid in ruins. Adad-idri of Damascus (Imēri-šu), however, set himself, with Irḫulēni of Hamath, and twelve of the kings of Syria, to resist the Assyrian king. Shalmaneser claims to have defeated them, put them to flight, and captured their chariots, horses, and war-material.

There is hardly any doubt, however, that his success was not by any means what he desired and expected, for he found himself obliged to march again to the same region in his eleventh year, when he crossed the Euphrates for the ninth time. On this occasion he says that he destroyed ninety-seven cities of Sangara of Carchemish and one hundred cities of Arame. Having reached the edge of the Ḫamanu (Amanus) range of mountains, he traversed the portion named Yaraqu, and descended to the land of the Hamathites, where he captured the city Aštamaku and ninety-nine other places, defeating their armies with great slaughter. Again he met Adad-idri, with Irḫulēni of Hamath and the twelve “kings of the sea-coast.” In the battle which follows he claims to have defeated them and killed 10,000 of their fighting-men with the sword. He also states that he took their chariots, horses, and war-material. On his way back he again turned his attention to Arame, capturing his capital Apparazu. At that time he likewise received the tribute of Kalparundu of the Patinians, consisting of silver, lead, gold, horses, oxen, sheep, and textile fabrics. Ascending again into the Amanus mountains, he brought away a further supply of cedar-wood for his palaces.

In the two following years (648 and 647 b.c., [pg 335] according to Assyrian reckoning), Shalmaneser was not to all appearance engaged in any expeditions of importance, or at least their importance is unknown. In his fourteenth year, 846 b.c., however, he crossed the Euphrates again, and met Ben-Hadad for the last time. As before, the latter was in alliance with Irḫulēni of Hamath and the “twelve kings of the sea-coast above and below.” Again the Assyrian king fought with them and defeated them, destroying their chariots and teams, and capturing, as before, their war-material, and “to save their lives, they fled.”

Naturally all these historical details are of great interest and value. The question naturally arises whether, being so much alike in wording and results, they may not all refer to the same expedition, which the Assyrian king repeated to fill up his annals? As a rule, however, the annals of the Assyrian rulers are exceedingly correct, and there is consequently but little reason to doubt the accuracy of Shalmaneser's statements. It is noteworthy that, in all these descriptions of expeditions to the west, twelve kings are mentioned, whilst in the first instance eleven only are enumerated, and in the other two the twelve are spoken of as if in addition to Adad-idri and Irḫulēni of Hamath. Ought we, therefore, to translate “the twelve kings,” meaning the eleven which are referred to along with and including Aḫabbu of the Sir'ilâa, or are the twelve kings referred to in the account of the second and third encounters with Ben-Hadad merely an indefinite number, meaning “a dozen,” i.e.“twelve more or less”? As it is impossible that Ahab of Israel should have been one of the Syrian league all this time, the latter must be held to be the more probable explanation—“In those days Adad-idri of the land of Imēri-šu (and) Irḫulēni of the land of Hamath with a dozen kings of the sea-coast trusted each other's might, and came against me to make war and battle.”

[pg 336]

Notwithstanding all his efforts, however, as detailed in his annals, Shalmaneser II. was still very far from the subjugation of the “sea-coast,” as he calls Palestine and Syria, and realizing that he had a hard task before him, he returned to his own country and occupied himself in the two following years in Mesopotamia, Ararat, and Namri, south-east of Assyria. The following year, 843 b.c., for the first time during his reign, he was at peace, superintending the felling of trees in the Amanus mountains for use in the palaces of Assyria. This period of rest was in all probability necessary to enable the army to be reorganized for further campaigns in that part of the world which he seems to have set his heart upon subjugating.

This being the case, he set out, in his eighteenth year (842 b.c.), and crossed the Euphrates for the sixteenth time. This expedition, however, was not against his old foe, Ben-Hadad or Adad-idri, but against Ḫaza'-îlu, the Hazael of 2 Kings viii. 8, etc., who had treacherously murdered his master, as related in this passage, and seized the throne. Hearing of the advance of the Assyrian army, he prepared for resistance, as is related in the following narrative.

Plates of Chased Bronze, which covered the Doors of an Enclosure at Balawat. (Left-hand portions, from right-hand leaf.) (Found by Mr. H. Rassam, in 1878, and now in British Museum, Assyrian Saloon.) Ia.—The expedition of Shalmaneser II. to the land of Nairi (Mesopotamia). Sacrificing to the gods by throwing meat-offerings into the lake. March of the army over the mountains. Ib.—Siege and capture of the city Suguni, in Ararat. IIa.—Bringing to Shalmaneser "the tribute of the ships of Tyre and Sidon." IIb.—March against the city Hazizi. Procession of prisoners. IIIa. and IIIb.—Crossing the tributaries of the Euphrates by pontoon bridges. Receiving tribute from Adinu, son of Dakaru, of Enzudu. (Page 337.)

“In my 18th year I crossed the Euphrates for the 16th time. Ḫaza-'îlu of the land of Imēri-šu trusted to the might of his troops, and called his troops together in great number. Saniru, the peak of a mountain which is before Lebanon, he made his stronghold. I fought with him, I accomplished his defeat: 16,000 of his fighting-men I slew with the sword: 1121 of his chariots, 470 of his horses, with his camp, I captured. He fled to save his life—I set out after him. I besieged him in Dimašqu (Damascus), his royal city. I cut down his orchards; I went to the mountains of the land of Ḫauranu (the Hauran), cities without number I destroyed, wasted, and burned in the flames. Untold spoil I carried away. I went [pg 337] to the mountains of Ba'ali-ra'asi” (Aramaic: “lord of the promontory”), “which is a headland” (lit., “head of the sea”)—“I set up an image of my majesty therein. In those days I received the tribute of the Tyrians, Sidonians, (and) of Yaua, son of Ḫumrî.”

The description of this campaign given by the Black Obelisk is as follows—

“In my 18th year I crossed the Euphrates for the 16th time. Ḫaza'-îlu of the land of Imēri-šu came forth to battle: 1121 of his chariots, 470 of his horses, with his camp, I took away from him.”

These two documents, as will easily be seen, are in perfect accord, and the story they have to tell agrees in its turn with that of the preceding years of Shalmaneser's reign. Indeed, this text may be regarded as confirming the opinions hitherto held concerning the identity of Aḫabbu mât Sir'ilâa with Ahab of Israel, and Adad-idri with Ben-Hadad of Damascus. This, be it noted, is due to the fact that, like Ben-Hadad, Adad-idri was succeeded by Hazael, who, in both the Bible narrative and the annals of Shalmaneser, is a contemporary of Jehu (Yaua, son of Ḫumrî or Omri). The Black Obelisk, probably for the sake of economizing space, does not refer to the receipt of tribute from Jehu when speaking of the battle with Hazael, on account of the bas-relief thereon referring to that event. The following is the translation of the epigraph in question which I gave in 188691—

“The tribute of Yaua, son of Ḫumrî: silver, gold, a golden cup, golden vases, golden vessels, golden buckets, lead, a staff for the hand of the king (and) sceptres, I received.”

The account of the conflict with Hazael indicates that certain changes had taken place in the Mediterranean [pg 338] coast-lands since Shalmaneser's former campaigns thither. It was no longer against the kings of Damascus and Hamath with “a dozen kings” in alliance with them, but against Hazael alone. Had they broken with Ben-Hadad? or did they hold aloof because they had no sympathy with his murderer? In any case, it would seem to be certain that they no longer feared the Assyrian king, who, they must have felt, had his hands full. In Israel, too, there had been changes, Ahab having been succeeded by Ahaziah, who, after a reign of one year, was succeeded by Jehoram. The latter tried to reduce Mesha king of Moab again to subjection, but without success. Ben-Hadad's attempt to capture Samaria was made during his reign, and the non-success of the Syrian king was probably the cause of Jehoram's attempt to recover Ramoth-gilead, where Ahab had found his fate some years before. The king of Israel did not fall on the field of battle, but received there a wound which obliged him to return to Jezreel. His death at the hands of Jehu in Naboth's vineyard is one of the most dramatic incidents of Israelitish history.

Jehu's payment of tribute to the Assyrian king in 842 b.c. was probably due to a question of policy, and in the main it may be considered as a cheap way of avoiding misfortune, for he might easily have been worsted in an encounter with Shalmaneser. What Tyre and Sidon thought fit to do, could hardly but be recognized as policy for Israel as well. It was important for Jehu that he should consolidate his power, hence this submission, though, to say the truth, he could not have been certain that he would be attacked. Was it that he felt strong enough to resist the Assyrian king which made him withhold the payment of tribute when, in 839 b.c., Shalmaneser again marched against Hazael? It would seem so. On this occasion four towns of the king of Damascus [pg 339] were captured, and tribute again received from Tyre and Sidon, Gebal likewise buying peace in the same way.

That Jehu, who destroyed the house of Omri, should be called “son of Omri” in the inscriptions of Shalmaneser II. of Assyria, is strange, and needs explanation. Perhaps the successor of a king could loosely be spoken of as his son, as occupying the place of such a relative; and, as is well known, Belshazzar, in the book of Daniel, is called son of Nebuchadnezzar, which, according to the Babylonian inscriptions, he certainly was not. That Jehu may have been in some way related with Jehoram, and therefore a descendant of Omri, is possible and even probable. That he was not descended from him in a direct line is certain.

It is noteworthy that the Assyrian form of the name, Yaua, shows that the unpronounced aleph at the end was at that time sounded, so that the Hebrews must have called him Yahua (Jehua). Omri was likewise pronounced in accordance with the older system, before the ghain became ayin. Ḫumrî shows that they said at that time Ghomrî.

After the rebellion which embittered the closing years of Shalmaneser's life, the great Assyrian king died, and his crown went to his younger son Šamši-Adad III. (825-812 b.c.). The first work of the new ruler was the pacification of his country, and this having been successfully done, he tried to restore Assyrian influence beyond the borders of his kingdom. During his reign of about thirteen years, he warred on the N., N.E., N.W. and S. (Babylonia), but never came nearer to Syria than Kar-Shalmaneser on the Euphrates, near Carchemish.

His son, Adad-nirari, who reigned from 812 to 783 b.c., followed in his footsteps, and began by making conquests on the east. The north and north-west, however, also felt the force of his arms. The [pg 340] only campaign of which details are given is one against Syria, the date of which, however, is not known. G. Smith thought that this could not have taken place earlier than 797 b.c., during the time of Amaziah king of Judah and Joash king of Israel—a conjecture which is based, to all appearance, upon the comparison of Mansuate with Manasseh. As the Assyrian form of this name is Minsē or Minasē, such an identification is impossible, and this being the case, it is more probable that the expeditions to the Holy Land and Syria took place either in 806, when he went to Arpad, 805, when he was at Ḫaza, or 804, when he marched against Ba'ali, the name, apparently, of a Phœnician city. The next year he went to the sea-coast, but whether this was the Mediterranean or not is not indicated, though it may be regarded as very probable, and if so, 803 b.c. must be added to the dates already named, or the operations to which he refers in his slab-inscription may have extended over one or more of the years here referred to.

So, when he was young and enthusiastic, King Adad-nirari III. of Assyria had the inscription carved of which the following is a translation, as far as it is at present known—

“Palace of Adad-nirari, the great king, the powerful king, king of the world, king of the land of Aššur; the king who, in his youth, Aššur, king of the Igigi, called, and delivered into his hand a kingdom without equal; his shepherding he (Aššur) made good as pasture for the people of the land of Aššur, and caused his throne to be firm; the glorious priest, patron of Ê-šarra, he who ceaseth not to uphold the command of Ê-kura, who continually walketh in the service of Aššur, his lord, and hath caused the princes of the four regions to submit to his feet. He who hath conquered from the land of Siluna of the rising of the sun, the mountains (?) of the land [pg 341] of Ellipu, the land of Ḫarḫar, the land of Araziaš, the land of Mesu, the land of the Medes, the land of Gizil-bunda, to its whole extent, the land of Munna, the land of Parsua (Persia), the land of Allapria, the land of Abdadana, the land of Na'iru (Mesopotamia), to the border of the whole of it, the land of Andiu, whose situation is remote, the range (?) of the mountains, to its whole border, as far as the great sea of the rising of the sun (the Persian Gulf); from the river Euphrates, the land of Ḫatti (Heth, the Hittites), the land of Amurri (Amoria, the Amorites), to its whole extent, the land of Tyre, the land of Sidon, the land of Ḫumrî (Omri, Israel), the land of Edom, the land of Palastu (Philistia) as far as the great sea of the setting of the sun (the Mediterranean), I caused to submit to my feet. I fixed tax and tribute upon them. I went to the land of Ša-imēri-šu (Syria of Damascus); Mari'u, king of Ša-imēri-šu, I shut up in Dimašqu (Damascus), his royal city. The fear and terror of Aššur, his lord, struck him, and he took my feet, performed homage. Two thousand three hundred talents of silver, 20 talents of gold, 3000 talents of bronze, 5000 talents of iron, cloth, variegated stuffs, linen, a couch of ivory, an inlaid litter of ivory, (with) cushions (?), his goods, his property, to a countless amount I received in Damascus, his royal city, in the midst of his palace. All the kings of the land of Kaldu (the Chaldean tribes in Babylonia) performed homage, tax and tribute for future days I fixed upon them. Babylon, Borsippa, Cuthah, brought the overplus (of the treasures) of Bêl, Nebo, (and) Nergal, (made) pure offerings....”

(The remainder of the inscription is said to be still at Calah, not yet uncovered.)

Schrader, in his Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, makes the campaign against Syria to have taken place in 803 b.c., and sees in Adad-nirari the [pg 342] deliverer sent by Yahwah in answer to the prayers of Jehoahaz. According to 2 Kings xiii. 3, the Israelites were subject to Hazael and Ben-Hadad, his son, all their days. There is every probability that the successor of the latter was the Mari'u mentioned in the translation given above, and the same inscription would seem to indicate that the Israelites submitted to the Assyrian king, and paid him tribute in order to secure his intervention, which, judging from the enormous amount of spoil which he secured, he did not regret. The saviour having come, and the tribute paid, “Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime” (2 Kings xiii. 5). Verses 22-25 are to all appearance a recapitulation, probably extracted from another source. They show that Joash, son of Jehoahaz, rebelled, and took from Ben-Hadad the cities which the last-named had captured from Israel, and defeated him three times (see ver. 19). Apparently “all their days” in ver. 3 is not to be taken literally, as the war of the Israelites against Syria took place before the death of Ben-Hadad III. It may also be conjectured that the reason of there being no more than three defeats of the Syrians was due to the death of Ben-Hadad, and his sceptre passing into younger and more vigorous hands, so that “a saviour” was still needed, and found in the person of the Assyrian king, as suggested by Schrader. The Syrian forces not being in a condition, after their defeats by the Israelites, to offer battle to Adad-nirari, apparently submitted without fighting, and after such a visit the country had too much need for peace to allow of reprisals being made against the Israelites.

The fame of Adad-nirari was great, and his queen seems to have shared in it. She was named Sammu-ramat, “(the goddess) Sammu loveth (her),” a name which is generally regarded as the original of the somewhat mythical Semiramis of Herodotus. That she [pg 343] was looked up to by the subjects of her royal spouse, however, is proved by the two statues in the British Museum (there were in all four of them, erected at Calah). According to the inscription on them, they were made and dedicated for one of the chief officers of the kingdom, Bêl-tarṣi-îli-ma (“a lord before God”), who furnished them with the following dedication—

“To Nebo, mighty, exalted, son of Ê-saggil,92 the wise one, high-towering, the mighty prince, son of Nudimmud, whose word is supreme; prince of intelligence, director of the universe of heaven and earth, he who knoweth everything, the wide of ear, he who holdeth the tablet-reed (and) hath the stilus; the merciful one, he who decideth, with whom is (the power of) raising and abasing; the beloved of Ea, lord of lords, whose power hath no equal, without whom there would be no counsel in heaven; the gracious one, pitiful, whose sympathy is good; he who dwelleth in E-zida, which is within Calah—the great lord, his lord—for the life of Adad-nirari, king of the land of Aššur, his lord, and the life of Sammu-ramat, she of the palace, his lady, Bêl-tarṣi-îli-ma, ruler of the city of Calah, the land of Ḫamedu, the land of Sudgana, the land of Temeni, the land of Yaluna, for the saving of his life, the lengthening of his days, the adding of days to his years, the peace of his house and his people (not the one evil to him), he has caused (this statue) to be made as a gift. Whoever (cometh) after: Trust to Nebo—trust not another god.”

It is rare that an Assyrian queen is mentioned in the inscriptions, especially on almost equal terms with the king, and additional interest is added by the fact, that she bears a name commonly regarded as the [pg 344] same as that of Semiramis. In Assyrian and Babylonian history, it is always the king who is the ruler, whatever influence his spouse may have had in determining his policy as such being always unmentioned, and therefore unknown to the world at large. The present inscription, however, seems to testify that Sammu-ramat was known outside the walls of the palace, and that one of the greatest in the kingdom thought fit to do her honour by associating her with the king in the dedication to Nebo which he made for the preservation of the lives of the king, the queen, and himself. Whether the history of Sammu-ramat, queen of Assyria, was laid under contribution to furnish details for the legend of Semiramis, will probably never be known; but it is nevertheless unfortunate that the slab recounting the warlike exploits of Adad-nirari, king of Assyria, her husband, should break off in the middle of his account of his successes in Babylonia.

Adad-nirari reigned 29 years, and was succeeded by Shalmaneser III. in 783 b.c. The expeditions of this king were principally against Armenia and Itu'u, a region on the Euphrates. In the year 775 b.c. he went to the cedar-country, but whether the mountain region of the Amanus, Lebanon, or of a district called Ḫašur be intended, is unknown. The necessity of expeditions against Syria, however, still continued, for in 773 b.c. we find Shalmaneser at Damascus, probably to bring the king then ruling there again into subjection.

Although doubt is now expressed as to whether Ḫatarika, whither Shalmaneser III. marched in 772 b.c., the last year of his reign, be really Hadrach (Zech. ix. 1) or not (the consonants do not agree so well as they ought to do), in all probability it was a district not far from Damascus to which he went.

Aššur-dan, his successor, ascended the throne in the following year, and at once began warring in [pg 345] Babylonia and on the east. In 765 b.c. he marched to Ḫatarika. Signs of revolt seem at this time to have broken out in Assyria, probably on account of the pestilence with which the land was afflicted, and it must have been for this reason that no expedition was undertaken in the year 764 b.c. Next year the rising, which was evidently expected, took place in the city of Aššur, and there was an eclipse of the sun in the month Sivan, an important astronomical occurrence which has been identified with an eclipse which passed over Assyria on the 15th of June, 763 b.c., and was supposed by Mr. Bosanquet to be referred to in Amos viii. 9, “I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and will darken the earth in the clear day.”

To all appearance this eclipse, taken in conjunction with the presence of pestilence and rebellion, was regarded as an evil omen. This revolt lasted into the next year, and spread, in 761 b.c., into Arrapḫa, where it continued three years. In 759 the revolt reached Gozan, and there was a recrudescence of the plague. There is no reference to the stamping out of the revolt in Assyria, but it seems very probable that the king and his supporters were active to that end, as he was able to march in the year 758 b.c., to Gozan, after which there is the entry, “Peace in the land.” Two years were to all appearance occupied in reorganizing the country and providing against a repetition of such risings, unless it be that Aššur-dan was too ill to take the field, for according to the received chronology, he died in 755 b.c. when Aššur-nirari II. ascended the throne.

This new ruler is represented to have made two expeditions, one in the year of his accession, to Ḫatarika, and the other, in 754 b.c., to Arpad. What the additional statement, “Return from the city of Aššur,” really refers to, is exceedingly doubtful—perhaps troops had been stationed there during the [pg 346] whole period since the breaking out of the revolt there in 763 b.c.

For four years no expeditions were made, pointing to a continued ferment of discontent in Assyria. In 749 and 748 b.c., however, Aššur-nirari made expeditions to Namri, south-west of Media. It is significant, however, that the Canon has, for the next year (747 b.c.), the usual words (“In the land”) when no expedition took place, the reason probably being the unsettled state of the country. The entry for the next year is “Revolt in Calah,” which, as has already been seen, was one of the principal cities of the kingdom. After this is the usual division-line, indicating the end of a reign, followed by the words “(Eponymy of Nabû-bêl-uṣur, governor of) Arrapḫa. In the month Aaru (Iyyar), day 13, Tiglath-pileser sat upon the throne. In the month Tisritu (Tisri) he made an expedition to (the district) between the rivers.” This corresponds with 745 b.c.

Thus is ushered in, in the Eponym Canon, one of the most important reigns in Assyrian history. By what right Tiglath-pileser III. took the throne is not known. To all appearance, he was not in any way related to his predecessor, Aššur-nirari, and it is therefore supposed that he was one of the generals of that king, who, taking advantage of the rising in Aššur (of which he may, indeed, have been the instigator), made away with his sovereign, and set himself in his place. Further light, however, is needed upon this period, before anything can be said as to the circumstances attending Tiglath-pileser's accession to the throne.

Tiglath-pileser III. in His Chariot. British Museum, Nimroud Central Saloon.

Though all Tiglath-pileser's inscriptions are imperfect, and most of them very fragmentary, they nevertheless contain enough to show of what enormous value they are. Their incompleteness and the absence of dates consequent thereon is fortunately compensated somewhat by the fact that the Eponym Canon is perfect in the part which refers to this king, [pg 347] and that we are therefore able to locate with certainty all the events of his reign.

As the entry translated above shows, his first campaign was “between the rivers,” that is, to Babylonia, the land lying between the Tigris and the Euphrates. His object in leading his forces thither was to break the power of the Aramean tribes, with the Arabs and others who were in alliance with them. Going first south-east, he subjugated the Chaldean tribes, including the Pekodites; turning afterwards west, he went against the Arameans, capturing Sippar, Dûr-Kuri-galzu, and other Babylonian cities, and it is supposed that it was on this occasion that he assumed the title “king of Šumer and Akkad.” To all appearance, however, he was not recognized by the Babylonians themselves as king, Nabonassar being then on the throne. There is hardly any doubt, however, that Babylonia acknowledged Assyrian overlordship on this occasion, thus giving Tiglath-pileser some justification for assuming the title.

Having arranged things to his satisfaction in Babylonia, Tiglath-pileser turned his attention to the East (Namri, 744), Ararat (743), and Arpad (same year), the last being his objective up to and including the year 740 b.c. Sardurri of Ararat, however, saw his influence threatened by this move, for he, too, was a conqueror, and had had such success, that he felt justified in calling himself “king of Suri,” or North Syria. How matters fell out is not known, but it may be supposed that the Assyrian king went and besieged Arpad, was attacked whilst doing so by Sardurri and his allies, and compelled to raise the siege. A pursuit of the Armenian forces by the Assyrians was the result of this attack, the end being, in all probability, a decisive victory for Tiglath-pileser. This, according to Rost, would seem to be the most reasonable supposition, for the Assyrian king was able to besiege Arpad again next year without any hindrance. [pg 348] The capture of the city in the third year brought the rulers of the district in which it stood to the feet of the Assyrian king—all except one, Tutamû king of Unqu, who was defeated and captured, and his territories annexed to Assyria.

During the campaigns in the north at the end of 739 b.c., risings took place in Syria and North Phœnicia, and this gave Tiglath-pileser the wished-for opportunity to bring these districts again under his sway. The Eponym Canon gives for this year the simple entry, “He captured the city of Kullanû,” which Rost supposes to have been in the neighbourhood of Hamath, and if so, must be the Calne of Isaiah x. 9, which is there mentioned with Hamath, Carchemish, Arpad, Samaria, and Damascus as having been subdued by Assyria. The mention of Kullanû as the object of the expedition is probably due to its having been one of the chief factors in the disturbances which took place. It would also seem that Azariah of Judah took part in the attempt to get rid of Assyrian influence, and though this was fully recognized by Tiglath-pileser, the Assyrian king to all appearance did not come into direct contact with his country.

Azriau or Izriau (Azariah—Rost's collation of the squeezes shows that both spellings of the name were used) of Judah is mentioned at least four times. The earlier references, however, are so very fragmentary that nothing certain can be said concerning their connection—in one of the passages containing his name the wording leads one to imagine that he was captured by the Assyrian king, though, as Rost has shown, this may simply mean that certain sympathizers of his had taken his part. But whatever may have taken place in Judah, Azariah's sympathizers did not get on so well as their leader. No less than nineteen places were captured by the Assyrian king, including “Usnû, Siannu, Ṣimirra (Simyra), Rašpûna, on the sea-coast, together with [pg 349] the cities of the Sauê-mountains (mountains which are in Lebanon), Ba'ali-ṣapuna (Baal-zephon) as far as Ammana (Amanus, or according to Winckler, the anti-Lebanon), the mountain of urkarinu-wood, the whole of the land of Sau, the province of Kar-Adad (fortress of Hadad), the city of Ḫatarikka, the province of Nuqudina, Ḫasu with the cities which are around it, the cities of Arâ, and the cities which are on each side of it, with the cities (= villages) which are around them, the mountain Sarbûa to its whole extent, the city Ašḫanu, the city Yadabu, the mountain Yaraqu to its whole extent, the city ... -ri, the city Elli-tarbi, the city Zitānu as far as the city Atinnu, the city ... (and) the city Bumamu—XIX. districts of the city of Hamath, with the cities which were around them, of the sea-coast of the setting of the sun, which in sin and wickedness had taken to Azriau, I added to the boundary of Assyria. I set my commander-in-chief as governor over them, 30,300 people I removed from the midst of their cities and caused the province of the city of Ku- ... to take them.”

Notwithstanding that there is no reference to the above in the Old Testament, there is no reason to doubt that it is substantially correct. Its omission is in all probability due to the fact, that neither Judah nor Israel were menaced by the forces of the Assyrian king. Notwithstanding this, the expedition and the success of Tiglath-pileser had its effect, the result being that all the princes of middle and north Syria showed their submission to the Assyrian king by paying tribute, thus ensuring the safety of their territory, at least for a time. This took place after the defeat of Kišî, the Aramean, and his forces, together with several other districts, and the transportation of the inhabitants from their homes to districts in other principalities, a proceeding calculated to destroy national feeling and thus contribute to the safety of [pg 350] the empire by rendering rebellion more unlikely. The following is the list of the princes who secured immunity from attack by paying tribute:—

“Kuštašpu of the city of the Comagenians; Raṣunnu (Rezon) of the land of the Sa-Imērišuites (Syria); Meniḫimme (Menahem) of the city of the Samarians; Ḫirummu (Hirom) of the city of the Tyrians; Sibitti-bi'ili of the city of the Gebalites; Urikku of the Kûites; Pisiris of the Carchemishites; Êni-îlu of the city of the Ḫammatites; Panammû of the city of the Sam'allites; Tarḫulara of the land of the Gurgumites; Sulumal of the land of the Melidites; Dadi-îlu of the land of the Kaskites; Uassurme of the land of the Tabalites; Ušḫitti of the land of the Tunites; Urballâ of the land of the Tuḫanites; Tuḫamme of the city of the Ištundites; Urimme of the city of the Ḫušimnites; Zabibê, queen of the land of Arabia. Gold, silver, lead, iron, elephant-skins, ivory, variegated cloth, linen, violet stuff, crimson stuff, terebinth-wood, oak (?), everything costly, the treasure of a kingdom, fat lambs whose fleeces were coloured crimson, winged birds of heaven, whose feathers were coloured violet, horses, mules, oxen and sheep, male camels and female camels with their young, I received.”

It was a rich booty, and was probably held to be a sufficient return for all the expense, and trials, and hardships of the campaign. Though the kingdom of Judah seems not to have suffered (we must not be too hasty to assume that this was the case, as the Assyrian records are exceedingly defective), Israel, as is mentioned above, paid tribute. It does not appear from the Assyrian account that Tiglath-pileser went against Samaria, but notwithstanding this, 2 Kings xv. 19 has the following—

“There came against the land Pul the king of Assyria; and Menahem gave Pul 1000 talents of silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the [pg 351] kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned back, and stayed not there in the land.”

It is to be noted that there is here nothing about buying the Assyrian king off—the money was paid him to confirm the kingdom in Menahem's hand. The writer apparently assumed that the Assyrian king might not altogether be hostilely inclined, notwithstanding that “he came against the land.” Perhaps by “land” we are to understand “district.” In any case, the two accounts can hardly be said to disagree. He did not war there, but he received Menahem's tribute—it was therefore needless to mention his visit, if such it was. Many a ruler in this district must have done the same thing on this occasion, and there could have been no reason to mention one more than the other—hence, probably, the absence of references to any threatening approach to the borders of Israel and other states on the part of the Assyrian king.

But whilst absent in the west, rebellion was rife nearer home, and was put down with vigour by the governors of the provinces of Lullumû and Na'iru (Mesopotamia). This led to further transportations of the inhabitants, who were sent west to Ṣimirra (Simyra), Arka, Usnu, Siannu, Tu'immu, and other places in Syria. Next year Tiglath-pileser himself marched to Madâa (the Medes), where he had a very successful campaign. As some of the places mentioned have the element Kingi as part of the name, it has been suggested that in all probability the Sumerians, whose Babylonian home was called Kingi, had their original seat in Media.

Campaigns against the district of the mountains of Nal and Ararat, the former as a preparation for the latter, follow, after which comes, according to the [pg 352] Eponym Canon, an expedition to the land Pilišta. This is set down as the event of 734 b.c. There is, it is needless to say, some uncertainty in this expression, as the question naturally arises, What is really included in the term? Assuming, with Rost, that the statements in the Canon indicate the point intended to be reached, and not the farthest point attained, it is very probable that Israel did not come into the sphere of the Assyrian king's operations, and this is all the more probable in that Rost's collation of one of the squeezes in the British Museum shows that instead of the Assyrian form of Abel-Beth-Maachah, we have to read Abil-akka, to which is added, however, the description “on the boundary of Israel (Bît-Ḫumria).” It will be seen, therefore, that though he may not have entered the country, or, at least, made any warlike operations there, he approached well within striking distance of its borders. On this occasion it would seem that he found it necessary to install six new governors so as to ensure the due obedience of the inhabitants. After this, Tiglath-pileser goes on to speak of Hanon of Gaza, who on seeing the approach of the Assyrians fled to Egypt, leaving his capital at the mercy of the invader. Having captured the city, Tiglath-pileser entered Hanon's royal palace, taking possession of all his property, and setting therein his royal couch. He speaks of having delivered something to the gods of the land, and of having laid upon its inhabitants (the payment of tribute and gifts). Further mutilated lines follow, referring to the spoil taken, and there is a reference to the land of Israel (mât Bît-Ḫumria). After this comes the words, “the whole of his people, (with their property) I sent to Assyria.” The gap between the reference to Israel and this line, however, makes it doubtful to what it really refers. The record immediately goes on, however, to speak of the death of Pekah.

[pg 353]

In the Eponym Canon the entries for the two years following the campaign to Pilišta (i.e. 733-732 b.c.) are, “to the land of Dimašqa.” It would therefore seem that, having assured himself of the submission of his north-Phœnician vassals, Tiglath-pileser attacked the northern district of Israel, taking Ijon, Abel-beth-maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali (2 Kings xv. 29). No account of this, however, occurs in the Assyrian inscriptions,93 which, as already pointed out, are very mutilated for this period. It is possible that the reference to Israel, in the mutilated passage quoted above, relates to this invasion, and possibly also to the payment of tribute by Pekah in order to secure himself against further attacks.

Whether before or after the above is not known, but possibly on the departure of the Assyrians, Rezin (Rezon), king of Syria, made alliance with Pekah, and their combined forces invaded Judah. Ahaz, who was at this time king of Judah, was apparently besieged in Jerusalem, and the king of Syria took advantage of this opportunity to recover possession of Elath, which never fell into the hands of the Jews again (2 Kings xvi. 6).

There is no doubt that Ahaz was hard pressed, and hearing, to all appearance, that the Assyrians were again in the neighbourhood, he sent to Tiglath-pileser a humble message: “I am thy servant, and thy son; come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which rise up against me.” This would in all probability have had but little effect, had it not been accompanied by a goodly amount of gold and silver, taken not only from his own treasury, but also from that of the Temple at Jerusalem. The result was, that Tiglath-pileser [pg 354] went up against Damascus. The Syrian king, however, decided to resist, and a battle was fought in which he was defeated, and obliged to seek safety in flight. With a grim, not to say barbarous, humour, Tiglath-pileser describes his flight and the treatment of his supporters—

“... (like) a mouse he entered the great gate of his city. His chiefs (I took) alive with my hands, (and) I caused them to be raised up and to view his land (on) stakes: 45 camps of soldiers I collected (in the provin)ce of his city, and shut him up like a bird in a cage. His plantations, (fields, orchards (?), and) woods, which were without number, I cut down, and did not leave one ... (the city) Ḫādara, the house (= dwelling-place) of the father of Raṣunnu (Rezon) of the land of the Ša-imērišuites, (the place where) he was born, I besieged, I captured: 800 people with their possessions, ... their oxen, their sheep, I carried off: 750 prisoners of the city Kurussa, ... (prisoners) of the city of the Irmaites, 550 prisoners of the city Metuna, I carried off: 591 cities ... of 16 districts of the land of Ša-imērišu I destroyed like flood-mounds.”94

This is immediately followed by an account of the operations against Samsi, queen of Arabia, and the tribes connected with that over which she held sway. After this he states that he set Idi-bi'ilu as governor over the land of Musru. All these passages, however, are exceedingly incomplete, as is also that referring to Samaria, which follows. The shorter account of the expeditions of Tiglath-pileser gives in this place lines of which the following is a translation—

“They overthrew Paqaḫa (Pekah), their king, and I set Ausi'a (Hosea) (upon the throne) over them. [pg 355] Ten talents of gold, ... talents of silver, ... their (tribute), I received, and (brought) them (to the land of Assyria).”

The longer account, from which most of the above extracts have been made, may therefore be completed, with Rost, provisionally, as follows—

“(Pekah, all of whose) cities (I had captured) in my earlier campaigns, and had given over (as a prey, and whose spoi)l I had carried off, abandoned the city of Samerina (Samaria) alone. (Pekah), their king, (they overthrew, and like) a hurricane (I ravaged the land).”

As will be seen, the above agrees closely with the statement in 2 Kings xv. 30—

“And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the 20th year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.”

Mutilated details concerning other cities captured by Tiglath-pileser follow the above extract from his annals, after which the narrative continues—

“(Mitinti, of the land) of the Askelonites, (sinned) against (my) agreement, (and revolted against me). He saw (the overthrow of Ra)ṣunnu (Rezon), and failure (of understanding (?) fell upon him (?), and Rûkipti, the son of Mitinti), sat upon the throne....”

In the account of the flight and death of Pekah, the Assyrian king suggests that the abandonment of the king of Israel of his capital was due to the fear of capture at his hands. One may also suppose that he wished it to be understood that Pekah incurred the displeasure of his subjects by his flight, and that they pursued after him, and having overtaken him, put him to death. As a matter of fact, Pekah must really have fled on account of the rebellion led by Hoshea, who, on learning of his flight, in all probability pursued after him, and thus encompassed his death. Hoshea then, by a payment of tribute to Tiglath-pileser, [pg 356] secured from the Assyrian king his recognition as king of Israel, and at the same time assured himself against attack at his hands.

Imitating Hoshea, Rûkipti, the new king of Askelon, also paid tribute, and thus secured his recognition. As to Rezon, the Assyrian text does not enable us to see what was his ultimate fate, but as it was such, apparently, as to terrify Mitinti of Askelon into madness, it may be supposed that it was death at the orders of the Assyrian king, as recorded in 2 Kings xvi. 9.

Tiglath-pileser was now complete master of the land of Ša-imēri-šu or Syria, and all the princes of the west acknowledged his overlordship. This being the case, it is only natural that Ahaz of Judah should visit and pay him homage at Damascus, the capital of the new province, as related in 2 Kings xvi. 10, and probably it was to that city that many of the other subject princes went for that purpose, and to offer him their tribute. The further result of the visit of Ahaz is detailed in the succeeding verses of the passage in 2 Kings referred to.

Thus ended Tiglath-pileser's successful expedition to Pilišta and Damascus, and there is no record that he ever went westward again. The Chaldeans, in combination with the Arameans, had made use of his absence to engage in new advances against Babylon. Nabonassar, the king of that country, had died, and been succeeded by his son, Nabû-nadin-zēri, who, however, only reigned two years, and gave place to Nabû-šum-ukîn, who murdered him. This last, however, only held the throne for somewhat more than two months, and Ukîn-zēr, chief of the Chaldean tribe Bît-Amukkāni, took possession of the throne, and ruled for three years—much against the inclination of the Babylonians, who, to all appearance, had no love for the Chaldean tribes inhabiting certain tracts of the country. The interference of Tiglath-pileser was therefore looked on with favour by the Babylonians, [pg 357] who welcomed him as a deliverer. Ukîn-zēr (the Chinzēros of Ptolemy) was besieged in his capital, Sapîa, though that city was not taken until the year 729 b.c. The result of this was, the submission of all the Chaldean tribes, including that of which Merodach-baladan (then only a young man) was the chief. Entering Babylon, Tiglath-pileser, in accordance with the custom, “took the hand of Bêl,” an expression apparently meaning that he performed the usual ceremonies, and was accepted by the god—and the priesthood—as king. This also took place again next year, from which it may be supposed that one acknowledged as king of Babylon had to perform the ceremony yearly in order to fulfil the conditions imposed upon all who held the reins of power. An entry in the Canon for this year suggests that there was a rebellion (?) in a city of which only the first character is preserved—possibly to be completed Dir, and perhaps situated in Babylonia. Operations against this place, in all probability, were taken in hand next year (727 b.c.), but whilst they were in progress, Tiglath-pileser died, and Shalmaneser IV. mounted the throne.

How it is that Tiglath-pileser III. of Assyria was called Pûlu is not known. The name only occurs, in native documents, in the Babylonian Canon of kings—to all appearance that from which the Canon of Ptolemy was copied. It is therefore practically certain that he only bore this name officially in Babylonia. Probably the most likely explanation is, that it was his original name, though it may have been given him by the compiler of the canon (supposing that he was a man who had no great admiration for the Assyrian conqueror) as a scornful expression, bûlu (which may also be read pûlu) meaning “the wild animal.” It occurs, however, as a personal name in the inscriptions of Assyria at least twice, the bearer of it being in one case a charioteer, one of nine officials of “the Ḫuḫamite.”

[pg 358]

The fact that the name Pûlu (in the Canon of Ptolemy Poros), applied to Tiglath-pileser, occurs only in a Babylonian document, suggests that the reference to the Assyrian conqueror in 2 Kings xv. 19 and 1 Chron. v. 26 are due to a Babylonian source, though, as it is the name by which he is at first called by the writer of the 2nd Book of Kings, this is a confirmation of the explanation that it was his original name. The glory attached to the name Tiglath-pileser in Assyrian history probably accounts for his having ultimately adopted the latter.

“On the 25th day of Tebet Šulmanu-ašarid (Shalmaneser) sat on the throne in Assyria. He destroyed Šabara'in.” (Babylonian Chronicle.)

“In the eponymy of Bêl-ḫarran-bêl-uṣur, of the city of Gozan, To the city ... Šalmanu-ašarid sat upon the throne.

In the eponymy of Marduk-bêl-uṣur, of the city of Amedi, In the land.

In the eponymy of Maḫdê, of the city of Nineveh, To....

In the eponymy of Aššur-ḫalṣani (?), of the city of Kalzi, To....

In the eponymy of Šalmanu-ašarid, king of Assyria, To....”

(Eponym Canon with historical notices.)

These two extracts give practically all that is known of the important reign of Shalmaneser IV. from native sources. The first is from the Babylonian Chronicle, and its brevity in all likelihood indicates the amount of sympathy that the Babylonians had for this king. Short as it is, however, it is probably of as much value historically as the Assyrian Eponym Canon in its present state, even including the restorations from that without historical notices. The completion of this important document from additional fragments and duplicates is greatly to be wished.

[pg 359]

It is therefore from the Old Testament and Josephus that we get the fullest history of the reign of this king. How it is that no records have been found is not known. They may have been destroyed, or nothing very extensive may have been written. That at least something of the kind existed is indicated by the fact that the late George Smith refers to at least one document, the whereabouts of which at present is not known.

What may have been the relationship of Shalmaneser IV. of Assyria to Tiglath-pileser does not appear. There is every probability that, like his great predecessor, he was an adventurer who, taking advantage of his popularity with the army, and the failing powers of his royal master, seized the throne. As will be seen from the Eponym Canon, an expedition was in progress when he assumed the reins of power, so that he may have taken advantage of the absence of Tiglath-pileser to carry out his design. Tebet being the tenth month of the Assyro-Babylonian year, the time of his accession corresponds with the winter of 727 b.c., a period at which warlike operations were impossible. In the year 726 b.c. also he remained at home, as was to be expected, consolidating his power.

His first campaign must therefore have taken place in 725 b.c., when, as recorded in 2 Kings xvii. 3, he went against Hoshea, who paid him homage and became tributary. Hearing that the king of Israel had sent privately to So,95 king of Egypt, asking for his help against the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser threw Hoshea into prison, and advancing against Samaria, called upon the city to surrender. Submission being refused, he laid siege against it, and although Josephus relates that he ultimately took it, this must be due simply to an inference, as there is no statement to [pg 360] that effect in the Book of Kings, the words recording the event being simply “the king of Assyria took Samaria,” and, as we know from the inscriptions, it is Sargon, successor of Shalmaneser, who claims the honour of capturing the city (see below, p. 363).96

During the siege, however, the Assyrian king busied himself with the subjugation of all the surrounding district. It was probably in the same year (725 b.c.) that he sent his army against Elulaeus, king of Tyre, whose king had just been very successful in subjugating the Cittaeans (people of Cyprus). According to Josephus (or, rather, Menander, whom he quotes), Phœnicia submitted (Menander tells the story from the native point of view, and states that “he soon made peace with them all”), but Sidon, Accho, and Old Tyre (Palaetyrus) revolted (this probably means “joined the Assyrians”), and several other cities yielded to the king of Assyria. Finding that the Tyrians97 would not submit, the Assyrian king returned against them (this must have been in the year 724 b.c.), and attacked them again, being aided on this occasion by the Phœnicians, who furnished him with threescore ships, and 800 men to row them. The attack of the Assyrian allies, however, must have been a very half-hearted one, for the Tyrians advanced against them with only twelve ships, and dispersed those of the enemy, taking 500 men prisoners.

The reputation—and also the confidence—of the citizens of Tyre being thus greatly increased, they continued their resistance, and Shalmaneser found himself obliged, in consequence of the inefficiency of his allies, to content himself with a mere blockade of the city, and the placing of guards over the water supply, so as to reduce the inhabitants of Tyre by [pg 361] thirst. The latter, however, dug wells, and were thus enabled to continue their resistance, which Meander states lasted all the time of the siege, namely, five years—i.e. until two years after the death of Shalmaneser.

To all appearance the Sabara'in of the Babylonian Chronicle is the place which should be supplied in the historical Eponym Canon, but, if so, the form is a strange one. One would rather expect mât Bît-Ḫumrî, “the land of Beth-Omri,” Pilišta, “Philistia,” or âl Ṣurri, “the city of Tyre.” There is also the possibility that one of these names may have appeared in each of the three lines which require completing, indicating three different stages of his conquests. Samerina, “Samaria,” may also have been the word, or one of the words, to be restored. In this last case, Delitzsch's suggestion that Sabara'in ought to be read Samara'in, and regarded as the Babylonian form of the Heb. Shomeron, “Samaria,” is worthy of note. The Babylonians do not state that he captured Sabara'in or Samara'in, but only that he destroyed (perhaps the word means “ravaged”) it, and the city may not have really fallen into the hands of the Assyrians until Sargon was actually on the throne.

“In the 5th year Šulmanu-ašarid died in the month Tebet. Šulmanu-ašarid had ruled the kingdom of Akkad and Aššur for five years. In the month Tebet, the 12th day, Sargon sat on the throne in Aššur, and in the month Nisan Marduk-âbla-iddina (Merodach-baladan) sat on the throne in Babylon.”

Thus does the Babylonian Chronicle record the change of rulers, which was to have wide-reaching results for both countries.

What the verse in Hoshea, “All thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle,” refers to, is not known. There is every probability that Shalman stands for Shalmaneser IV., but which is the Beth-arbel which is spoken of? There were two places of the name in Palestine, one [pg 362] west of the Sea of Galilee, and the other at the extreme north of Gilead. Both are now called Irbid. If it be one of these, the verse probably refers to some incident of Shalmaneser's invasion. George Smith, however, thought that the reference may have been due to some domestic strife in Assyria at the close of the reign of Shalmaneser, in which the Assyrian city of Arbela was involved. That it was one of the two places in Palestine, however, is more probable.

The month which, five years earlier, had seen the death of Tiglath-pileser, saw the departure of Shalmaneser IV. of Assyria to the abode of his god, and in Sargon, who succeeded him, the kingdom to all appearance accepted for the third time a ruler who might be described as an adventurer. Whether he, too, changed his name, in order to shine in borrowed plumes before the people, is unknown, but this is certain, that “Sargon the Later,” as he called himself, by assuming that style and title, challenged comparison with an old Babylonian king of great renown, who made the little state which was his original principality the centre of a wide-spreading domain.

Strange as it may seem, until the discovery of the Assyrian inscriptions and their decipherment, nothing was known of this ruler outside of the Old Testament, his name being regarded as another name of Shalmaneser in the passage (Isa. xx. 1) where it occurs. Scholars did not realize that the Arkeanos of Ptolemy was the king here mentioned, and that the change in the form of his name was simply due to the change of the initial s into a breathing, according to a rule which is common in Greek etymology.

On assuming the government of the country, Sargon threw himself with energy into the Syrian war, though in his slab-inscription found at Nimroud, and in his annals, he makes his campaign against Ḫumbanigaš of Elam to precede his operations in the west. The following is the text of his “State-Inscription”—

[pg 363]

“From the beginning of my reign to the 15th of my regnal-years, I accomplished the overthrow of Ḫumbanigaš the Elamite in the suburbs of Dêru. I besieged and captured Samerina (Samaria): 27,290 people dwelling in the midst of it I carried off. Fifty chariots I collected among them, and allowed them to have the rest of their goods. My commander-in-chief I placed over them, and imposed upon them the tribute of the former king.

“Ḫanunu (Hanon), king of Ḫazitu (Gaza), advanced against me with Sib'e, the Field-marshal of the land of Muṣuru (Egypt), to make war and battle in Rapiḫu (Raphia). I defeated them.98 Sib'e feared the sound of my weapons and fled, and his place was not found. Ḫanunu of Ḫazitu I took with my hands. I received the tribute of Pir'u, king of the land of Muṣuru, Samsê, queen of the land of Aribu (Arabia), (and) It'amara, of the land of the Saba'aa (Sabeans)—gold, the produce of the mountains, horses, (and) camels.”

“Yau-bi'idi of the land of the Amatâa (Hamathites), a loose fellow, a usurper, a frivolous, evil man, set his heart on the dominion of the land of Amattu (Hamath), and caused Arpadda (Arpad), Ṣimirra (Simyra), Dimašqa (Damascus), (and) Samerina (Samaria) to revolt against me, and caused them to agree together, and they assembled for battle. I collected the powerful troops of the god Aššur, and besieged (and) captured him in Qarqaru, his own city, with his warriors. I burned Qarqaru with fire. As for him, I flayed him. I slew the sinners in the midst of their (own) cities, and brought about peace. I embodied 200 chariots (and) 600 cavalry among the people of the land of Amattu, and added to the force of my kingdom.”

The general opinion of Assyriologists is, that Shalmaneser did not succeed in making himself master of Samaria, the capture of the city falling to the honour [pg 364] of Sargon, and this, as a matter of fact, is what the latter claims. As will be seen from the above extract, he states that he carried captive no less than 27,290 of the inhabitants of the city, but whither he transported them he does not say. According to 2 Kings xvii. 6, he placed them in Halah (probably the Ḫalaḫḫa of the inscriptions, near Haran), and by the river Habor (the Chaboras) in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. It is needless to say that these long journeys must in many cases have entailed much suffering.

According to the Babylonian Chronicle, the conflict with Ḫumbanigaš took place in the second year of Merodach-baladan of Babylonia, which was the second year of Sargon as well. It is therefore difficult to understand why Sargon, in his record, places this event first. The reason why he dismisses the account of his conflict with the Elamite king in so few words is supposed to be, that he was in reality, as the Babylonian Chronicle says, defeated on that occasion. Though he might have wished to keep it in the background, his successes were so many, that there was no need for him to change the chronological order of his campaigns.

Sargon was naturally unable to be present at the siege and occupation of Samaria, which occurred too close to the date of his assuming power to allow him to reach the place. Besides that, his presence was needed nearer home, lest conspiracies should deprive him of his newly-acquired regal dignity. That he considered the successes of his troops in the west as a most important circumstance, however, is proved by the fact, that he devotes so much space in his annals to the account of it—and, indeed, the capture of 27,290 people is a thing of which any ruler might boast. There can be no doubt that the Assyrian kings, like the Babylonians before them, always desired to possess the dominion of the Mediterranean provinces, where were marts for the products both of [pg 365] their lands and their people, and entry to the ports, for then, as now, all good rulers tried to further the interests of their subjects in distant lands, and were probably firmly of opinion, that “trade followed the standard.”99

In addition to this, there was the rivalry of Egypt, the country which had held these provinces in the past, and would have liked to regain them. Whether the rulers of the Mediterranean states realized this or not, is uncertain, but in any case, like the Israelites, they had no objection to making use of Egypt, “bruised reed” as she was by some considered. Seeing that there was danger from the Assyrians, Hanon of Gaza followed the example of Hoshea, in whom Shalmaneser had “found conspiracy,” and made overtures with Sib'e, the So of 2 Kings xvii. 4 (the word ought really to be pointed so as to read Seve, which was apparently the pronunciation of the Assyrian form, the aspirate having the effect of changing b into bh or v). This ruler is called “king of Egypt” in the passage cited, but Sargon says that he was “Tartan,” or commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army. This would imply that he was acting for another, a Pharaoh unnamed, and at present unknown. The general opinion is, that So or Sib'e is the same as Sabaco, and is called “king” by anticipation in 2 Kings xvii.100

The result was one exceedingly gratifying to the Assyrian king, for in the battle at Raphia, which followed, Sib'e fled in fear, whilst Hanon of Gaza was made prisoner. The defeat and flight of the Egyptian army does not seem to redound to the credit of its leader, who must have returned bitterly disappointed to his native land.

Immediately after, however, there is a reference to [pg 366] the receipt of tribute from “Pir'u, king of the land of Muṣuru.” This would be a natural result of the success of the Assyrians (so it seemed to the earlier Assyriologists), for surely Pir'u is Pharaoh, and Muṣuru is the Muṣur of other inscriptions, and stands for Egypt (the Heb. Misraim101). This however, is now denied, and Pir'u is said to be the name of a chief of an Arab tribe called Muṣuru. It reminds one of the Eri-Eaku of Larsa who is not Arioch of Elassar, contemporary of Kudur-laḫgumal of Elam who is not Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tudḫula who is admittedly the same in name as Tidal, all of them ruling at or near the same period, but not those referred to in Gen. xiv. as contemporaries. In Assyriology, more than in any other study whatever, things are not what they seem, and must always be identified with something else.

According to the annals, it would seem that Yau-bi'idi, who is there called Ilu-bi'idi, acted in concert with Sib'e of Egypt and Hanon of Gaza, the operations against him preceding those against the other two. The order of the translation given above would seem to be preferable, as it must have been in consequence of the flight of Sib'e “like a shepherd whose sheep had been lost,” that Yau-bi'idi and Hanon of Gaza were so easily defeated. The former appears to have made Qarqaru the centre from which he intended to press his claim to the throne of Hamath, and he managed so well, that he got Arpad, Simyra, Damascus, and Samaria to join him. The Assyrian king, however, soon disposed of the pretensions of this prince, whom he describes as “a loose (?) fellow, a usurper, a frivolous (?), evil man” (ṣab ḫubši, lâ-bêl-kussī, amēlu patû limnu). After this it is not surprising that he thought he was justified in flaying him alive.

[pg 367]

To all appearance the state of affairs in Syria was satisfactory. The great victory of the Assyrians at Raphia had convinced the leaders of the various states of the uselessness of continuing to struggle against the power of the Assyrian king, who had nothing further to fear from Egypt, and was therefore free to occupy himself with other conquests. In 719, therefore, he turned his attention to the region of the north, the kingdoms of Van and Urarṭu or Ararat, the result of the operations against the latter being, that the people were transported to Syria, or, as the original has it, “into Heth of the Amorites.” The operations in 718 b.c. were against Kiakki of Sinuḫtu, a city in Tabal.

The next year, 717 b.c., came the turn of Pisîris of Carchemish, who had tried to get Mitâ king of Musku to join him in a rebellion against Assyria. Assyrians were after this settled there, and Carchemish became an integral part of the Assyrian empire. The next entry in the Annals of Sargon is a reference to the Pâpites and the Lalluknites, “dogs brought up in his palace,” who planned treacherously against the land of Kakmê, though the full extent of their crime is not stated. These people were removed from their places, and sent down to the midst of Damascus of Amoria (Syria). In this year Ḫumbanigaš of Elam died, and was succeeded by Šutur-Nanḫundi, a man of a more peaceful character than his predecessor.

Extensive operations, chiefly in Ararat, are recorded for 716 b.c., in which year also Bêl-šarra-uṣur, the city-chief of Kišešim, a Median province, was deposed, and his territory added to the boundaries of Assyria, together with several other west-Median districts. Among these was Ḫarḫar, whose city-chief was driven away by the Assyrian king. This city was re-peopled with prisoners of war, and its name having been changed to Kar-Šarru-ukîn, made the capital of the province. The war against Ararat continued during the next year, resulting in the submission of Yanzû king of [pg 368] Na'iri or Mesopotamia. On the east, a rebellion in Ḫarḫar was put down, and the city fortified as a defence against Media. In this year people of Tumadu, Ibâdidu, Marsimanu, Ḫayapâ, and the remote Arbâa (Arabs?), an unlettered tribe which had never paid tribute to an Assyrian king, were overthrown, and the survivors transported to Samaria. The receipt of tribute from Pir'u king of Muṣuru, Samsi queen of Aribbu (Arabia), It'amra of the land of the Sabâa (Sabeans), kings of the sea-coast and the desert, consisting of “gold, the produce of the mountain, precious stones, ivory, seeds of the ûšû-tree, all kinds of spices, horses and camels,”102 is recorded.

To all appearance, Pir'u of Muṣuru is regarded as one of the kings of the sea-coast and the desert, but whether this is evidence against his being Pharaoh of Egypt or not, may be doubted. Egypt is as much a country of the sea-coast as any part of Palestine, but it is naturally on the south shore of the Mediterranean, and not on the east.

714 b.c. saw the continuance of the war with Ararat and its allies, and seems to have resulted in its becoming an Assyrian province. In 713 expeditions were made, among other places, to west Media and Cilicia. In 712 b.c. he found himself obliged to proceed against Tarḫunazi of Meliddu, who, driven from his capital by the Assyrians, shut himself up in Tilgarimme, which had been identified with the Biblical Togarmah. This city, having been conquered, was repeopled with the nomad Sutî103 and placed under Assyrian rule.

At this time, as Sargon says, he received the treasure (?) of the land of Heth (the high-lands of Syria), among the things sent being copper, iron, lead or tin, white marble from the Amanus mountains, royal garments of the colour of uknû-stone (lapis-lazuli), [pg 369] something which came from the mountain Ba'il-ṣapuna (Baal-zephon), “a great mountain,” and silver, which, in consequence of the large consignments received at Dûr-Sargina (Khorsabad), became in value like copper. The next year (711 b.c.) an expedition against Muttallu, son of Tarḫulara, one of the kings of “the land of Heth,” took place. The son had killed his father and mounted the throne, hence the necessity for this campaign.

A similar expedition also took place to Ashdod. It happened that Azuri, king of the district of which Ashdod was the capital, had withheld the tribute agreed upon, and Sargon had therefore deposed him, and set his brother Aḫi-miti in his place. The following is Sargon's own account of this, and the sequel—

“Azuri, king of Asdudu, planned in his heart not to send tribute, and sent to the kings around hostile expressions (towards) the land of Aššur, and on account of the evil he had done, I changed his dominion over the people of his land. Aḫi-miti, his brother next in order, I appointed to the kingdom over them. Men of Ḫattî,104 speaking treachery, hated his dominion, and raised up over them Yaana, a usurper, who like themselves knew no reverence for the dominion. In the anger of my heart I went hastily with the chariot of my feet and my cavalry, which for security quit not my side, to the city Asdudu, the city of his dominion, and the city Asdudu, the city Gimtu, (and) the city Asdudimma I besieged (and) captured. The gods dwelling in the midst of them, himself, with the people of his land, gold, silver, (and) the property of his palace, I counted as spoil. Their cities I rebuilt,105 and settled therein the people of the lands captured by my hands. I placed my commander-in-chief as governor over them, and counted [pg 370] them with the people of my land, and they bore my yoke.”

Another inscription calls Yaana by the name of Yawani, and states that, hearing from far of the advance of the Assyrian army, he fled to the border of Muṣuru, which lies on the boundary of Meluḫḫa, and there hid himself. The king of Meluḫḫa seems thereupon to have feared for his own land, and placing Yatna in chains, sent him to Assyria. A third text referring to this campaign adds the following details—

“(People) of the land of Pilište (Philistia), the land of Yaudu (Judah), the land of Udumu (Edom), the land of Ma'abi (Moab), dwellers by the sea, bringers of the tribute and the gift of Aššur my lord, (for) sedition-mongering without measure, and evil, which was against me to cause hostility, unto Pir'u, king of the land of Muṣri, a prince who could not save them, they brought their homage-offering, and asked him for aid. I, Sargina, the true prince, fearing the oath of Lag-gi (= Nebo) and Merodach, keeper of the commands of the god Aššur, caused (my troops) to cross the Tigris and the Euphrates at high water, the fulness of the flood, as on dry land. And he, Yawani, their king, who trusted to his own power, and had not submitted to my dominion, heard from afar of the march of my expedition, and the glory of Aššur, my lord, overthrew him, and ... of the region of the river ... depth of the waters ... possession (?) of his land ... afar ... he fled ... Asdudu....”

In this, too, there is a reference to Pir'u, here called king of Muṣrí, either Egypt, or that mysterious and otherwise unknown kingdom to whose help so many trusted.

The years 710 and 709 b.c. were devoted to the operations against Merodach-baladan, the Chaldean prince who had made himself master of Babylonia. This is the Merodach-baladan who is referred to in 2 Kings xx. 12, but as his embassy really belongs to [pg 371] a somewhat later date, reference will be made to it in its place. Suffice it here to say that he was a usurper on the Babylonian throne, head of the Chaldean tribe called Bît-Yakîn, and one of the most influential chieftains of the district. To all appearance, the Babylonians themselves (as in earlier days when they tried to seize the throne) preferred the Assyrians to the semi-barbarous Chaldeans and Arameans, with whom they were, in fact, in too close connection to have any great respect for. It is needless to say that this entirely fell in with the ambition of the kings of Assyria, who, from the time of Tukulti-Ninip, if not earlier, had desired, and sometimes obtained, dominion over Babylonia. Sargon, the successor of two kings of Assyria who were acknowledged to be at the same time kings of Babylonia, naturally regarded himself as inheriting that crown in virtue of his being king of Assyria, whilst the Babylonians themselves were probably not displeased with the idea that they formed part of the world-renowned and powerful Assyrian empire, whose kings spoke the same language as themselves, and with whose religion they were in sympathy. Thus it happened, therefore, that in the course of the operations against Merodach-baladan, success frequently crowned the arms of the Assyrians, and the inhabitants of Babylon, sending to Dûr-Ladinna, where Sargon was staying, brought him in solemn possession to Babylon, where he made the prescribed offerings to the gods, took up his abode in Merodach-baladan's palace, and received the tribute of the Babylonian tribes which he had subjugated. He still continued, however, his operations against Merodach-baladan, who was by no means willing to give up the struggle, to which there could be one end only, namely, the overthrow of the Chaldean king, which took place in 709 b.c.

Whilst Sargon was busy in Babylonia, the governor of Quê invaded Musku (Mesech) and brought the [pg 372] country to subjection. The seven kings of Cyprus also sent gifts, and a stele of Sargon was set up in the island, which, though mutilated, is of considerable importance, and is now preserved in the Berlin Museum. Kummuḫ (Comagene) was also added to the Assyrian empire (708 b.c.), and probably in the same year, a new king (in consequence of a dispute concerning the succession) set up in the land of Ellipu. In this reign also, the Elamites were generally against the Assyrians in their conflicts in Babylonia and on the eastern borders.

Concerning his death there is much uncertainty. The supposition is, that he was assassinated by one of his soldiers, as is indicated by the entry in an eponym-list with historical references—

Lîmme Upaḫḫir-bêlu, D.P. šakin âl Amedi ...

îna êli purussî Kulummâa....

amēl tidûki madaktam ša šar mât Aššur D.S....

âraḫ Abi, ûmu šinšēru, Sin-âḫê-êriba (îna
kussī ittušib).

“Eponymy of Upaḫḫir-bêlu, prefect of the city Amedu....

according to the oracle of the Kulummite(s)....

a soldier (entered) the camp of the king of Assyria (and killed him?).

month Ab, day 12th, Sennacherib (sat on the throne”).

Reception by Sennachereb of Prisoners and Spoil. British Museum, Nineveh Gallery, No. 57.

That he died a violent death seems to be nearly certain, and how many others of the overbearing rulers of Assyria had come to an end in the same way is not known. The fate of his son, to which reference will be made in its place, is a historical fact.

[pg 373]

Sennacherib.

Though in all probability young when he came to the throne in 705 b.c., Sennacherib had already some experience as a ruler, having been the representative of his father Sargon in Armenia, where he had to receive and transmit the reports of the Assyrian generals, and probably also to administer the country. For the nations over which he was to rule, however, he was practically a new and untried administrator, of whose strength or weakness of character nothing was known. Merodach-baladan therefore took advantage of the death of Sargon and the succession of his son to come forth from his hiding-place, with such of his followers who were available, and an army placed at his disposal by the king of Elam. To all appearance the Chaldean ruler had taken advantage of the occupation of the Assyrian army elsewhere to possess himself of Babylon, which city Sennacherib entered, occupying Merodach-baladan's palace, and seizing all his treasures. Merodach-baladan fled and took refuge in Nagitu, on the other side of the Persian Gulf, so as to be near his Elamite allies.

After this the Assyrian king records his expedition to the mountainous countries of Kassû (the Cossæans) and the Yasubigalleans, north of Elam, in the course of which he wasted the neighbouring district of Ellipu, taking, on his way, tribute from some of the more inaccessible tribes of the Medes. His third campaign was to the land of Ḫatti (Syria), and as this is of considerable importance, a translation of the whole, from the Taylor Cylinder, which gives a full account, is inserted here—

“In my third expedition I went to the land of Ḫatti. Lulî king of the city of Ṣidunnu (Sidon), fear of the glory of my dominion struck him, and he fled from the midst of Tyre to Yatnana106 (Cyprus), which [pg 374] is in the middle of the sea, and I subjugated his country. Great Ṣidunnu, little Ṣidunnu, Bît-zitte, Ṣareptu (Zarephath), Maḫalliba, Ûšû (Osah), Akzibi (Achzib), Akkû (Accho), his strong cities, fortresses, where were food and drink, his strongholds, the terror of the weapons of Aššur my lord struck them, and they submitted to my feet. Tu-ba'alu (Ethobaal) on the throne of dominion over them I set, and the tax and tribute of my overlordship yearly without fail I imposed upon him.

“As for Minḫimmu (Menahem) of the city of the Samsimurunâa;

Tu-ba'alu of the city of the Ṣidunnâa (Sidonians);

Abdi-li'iti of the city of the Arudâa (Arvadites);

Uru-milki of the city of the Gublâa (Gebalites);

Mitinti of the city of the Asdudâa (Ashdodites);

Budu-îlu of the land of the Bît-Ammanâa (Beth-Ammonites);

Kammusu-nadbi (Chemosh-nadab) of the land of the Ma'abâa (Moabites);

Aa-rammu (Joram) of the land of the Udummâa (Edomites);

kings of the land of Amoria all of them, brought numerous treasures, their valuable presents, as gifts to my presence and kissed my feet. And Ṣidqâ107 (Zedekiah), king of the city of Isqalluna (Askelon), who was not submissive to my yoke, the gods of his father's house, himself, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, (and) the seed of his father's house, I removed and brought to the land of Aššur. Šarru-lûdâri, son of Rûkibtu, their former king, I placed over the people of the city of Isqalluna, and the payment of tribute as the price of my overlordship I set for him, and he bore my yoke. In the course of my campaign the [pg 375] city Bît-Daganna (Beth-Dagon), Yappû (Joppa), Banâa-barqa (Bene-berak), Azuru (Azor), cities of Ṣidqâ which were not at once submissive to my yoke, I besieged, captured, (and) carried off their spoil.

“The prefects, the princes, and the people of the city Amqarruna (Ekron), who had thrown Padî, their king, who was faithful to the agreement and oath of the land of Aššur, into fetters of iron, and given him to Ḫazaqiau (Hezekiah), of the land of the Yaudâa (Jews)—hostilely in secret they had acted—feared in their hearts. The kings of the land of Muṣuru (Egypt), (and) the soldiers of the bow, the chariots, (and) the horses of the king of the land of Meluḫḫa, gathered to themselves a numberless force, and came to their help. Over against me in sight of Altaqû (Eltekah) their line of battle was set in array, they called for their weapons. In the service of Aššur my lord I fought with them and accomplished their defeat. The charioteers and the sons of the king of the Muṣurâa (Egyptians), with the charioteers of the king of the land of Meluḫḫa, my hands captured alive in the midst of the battle. (As for) the city of Altaqû (Eltekah) (and) the city of Tamnâ (Timnah), I besieged, captured, (and) carried off their spoil.

“I approached to the city of Amqarruna, and the prefects and princes who had caused the wrong to be, I killed, and on stakes around the city I hung their corpses. The sons of the city doing the crime and misdeed I counted as spoil. The rest of them, who did not commit sin and wickedness, whose evil deed was not, I commanded their release. I caused Padî, their king, to come forth from the midst of Ursalimmu (Jerusalem), and to sit on the throne of dominion over them, and the tribute of my overlordship I imposed upon him. And (as for) Hazaqiau (Hezekiah) of the land of the Yaudâa (Jews), who had not submitted to my yoke, 46 of his strong cities, fortresses, [pg 376] and small towns which were around them, which were innumerable, with overthrowing by battering-rams, and advance of towers, infantry-attack, breaching, cutting, and earthworks, I besieged (and) captured. 200,150 people, small and great, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep, which were without number, from their midst I caused to come forth and reckoned as spoil. As for him, like a cage-bird I shut him up within Ursalimmu, the city of his dominion. Redoubts I threw up around him, and I cut off the exit from the great gate of his city—it was (completely) covered. His cities, which I had spoiled, I detached from the midst of his country, and gave (them) to Mitintu, king of Asdudu (Ashdod), Padî, king of Amqarruna (Ekron), and Ṣilli-bêl, king of the city Ḫazitu (Gaza), and (thus) reduced his land. Over the former tribute, their yearly gift, I added a payment as to the due of my overlordship, and imposed it upon them. As for him, Ḫazaqiau (Hezekiah), fear of the magnificence of my lordship struck him, and the urbi and his chosen soldiers, which he had brought in for the defence of Ursalimmu, the city of his kingdom, and (who) had pay, with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious (stones), guḫli, daggassi,108 great carbuncles (?), couches of ivory, state thrones of ivory, elephant-skin, elephant-tooth (ivory), ebony (?), urkarinnu-wood, all sorts of things,109 a valuable treasure, and his daughters, the women of his palace, male singers (and) female singers, he110 caused to be brought after me to the midst of Ninua (Nineveh), the city of my dominion, and he sent his messenger to present the gift and pay homage.”

It is needless to say that the above long account differs considerably from that given in the Bible (2 Kings xviii. 13; Isa. xxxvi. 1 ff.), and it is very difficult to reconcile the two narratives. According to the account [pg 377] in Kings, Sennacherib came and took all the fenced cities of Judah, but there is no statement as to the reason why. The Assyrian king justifies his invasion of the country by stating that Hezekiah had sided with the inhabitants of Ekron in the deposition of their king, whom he had received from them and kept in prison. He even states that he brought him forth from Jerusalem and replaced him on the throne. That this circumstance is not referred to in the Biblical account, cannot be held to indicate that the Assyrian king's story is wrong, and only shows that the writer of the 2nd Book of the Kings did not think it of sufficient importance to record. In all probability, Hezekiah did not know at the time that Padî was an Assyrian vassal, otherwise he would not have incurred the risk of an invasion of his country by the dreaded Assyrians. The Biblical account then states that Hezekiah sent to the king at Lachish, saying that he had offended, and asking for terms, a fact which indicates that he was aware of having done something at which the king of Assyria might justly take offence. The answer was, the fixing of the amount of tribute which Hezekiah had to pay—300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold, this latter item agreeing with the statement of Sennacherib himself, though the amount of silver which he mentions—800 talents—is much greater. The sacrifice which Hezekiah made on this occasion (he had to strip off the gold from the doors of the Temple, and also from the pillars which he had overlaid, to make up the sum) was considerable. Concerning a siege of Jerusalem at this point, however, there is not a single word in the Biblical account, and the general opinion is, that the Assyrian king has purposely combined two accounts to give an appearance of success to what, in 2 Kings xix. 35-37, appears to have been a serious disaster to the Assyrian arms.

It is worthy of note, however, that Josephus makes [pg 378] the siege of Jerusalem to have taken place when Sennacherib was returning from Egypt, where he had spent a long time besieging Pelusium (Ant. x. i. 4), which was regarded as the key of Egypt. In support of this he quotes Herodotus, who, according to him, made a great mistake “when he called this king not king of the Assyrians, but of the Arabians.” This, however, is not quite correct, as Herodotus really says (book ii. 141), “Sennacherib king of the Arabians and of the Assyrians.” That it took place on his return from Egypt, however, is also stated by Berosus, whom Josephus quotes in full, as follows—

“Now when Sennacherib was returning from his Egyptian war to Jerusalem, he found his army under Rabshakeh in great danger, for God had sent a pestilential distemper upon his army; and on the very first night of the siege, a hundred and eighty-five thousand, with their captains and generals, were destroyed. So the king was in a great dread, and in a terrible agony at this calamity; and being in great fear for his whole army, he fled with the rest of his forces to his own kingdom, and to his city Nineveh, and when he had abode there a little while, he was treacherously assaulted, and died by the hands of his elder sons, Adramelech and Sarasar, and was slain in his own temple which was called Araske. Now these sons of his were driven away on account of the murder of their father, by the citizens, and went into Armenia, whilst Assarachoddas took the kingdom of Sennacherib.”

This would seem to be conclusive, especially as Sennacherib, according to his own records, made no expedition to Egypt before or at the time of that against the land of Ḫatti, which took place in the eponymy of Mitunu, prefect of Isana, i.e. 700 b.c., or the year immediately preceding. Now as Sennacherib died in 681 b.c., nearly twenty years elapsed between the campaign of which the account is above translated [pg 379] and his death. Berosus, however, states that, after the siege of Jerusalem, which ended so disastrously for him, he abode at Nineveh only “a little while” before he was murdered. There is then no doubt that there were two campaigns, and the events referred to in 2 Kings xviii. 13-xix. 37, though they seem to follow each other with little or no break, must have extended over a considerable period, the widest gap being in all probability between the sixteenth and seventeenth verses of ch. xviii. It is noteworthy that, at this point, the Hebrew indicates the end of a paragraph, though not a change of subject.

Affairs in Babylonia now occupied the attention of Sennacherib for many years, in consequence of the many revolutions there, which were largely fomented, aided and abetted by the Elamites. In 703 b.c., two pretenders, Marduk-zakir-šumi and Marduk-âbla-iddina, held the throne in succession for a few months, but Sennacherib put an end to this rule by setting on the throne a Chaldean named Bêl-ibnî (Belibus).111 This took place when he defeated Merodach-baladan, before the campaign against the West. Evidently, however, he was not satisfied with the rule of his nominee, who had probably been plotting against him, and therefore entered the country again in 699 b.c., carried away Bêl-ibnî prisoner, and set on the throne his own eldest son, Aššur-nadin-šum. After this seems to have occurred his fifth expedition, which was to the mountainous region where lay the cities Tumurru, Šarum or Šarma, Ezema, Kibšu, Ḫalbuda, Qûa, and Qana, in the neighbourhood of Cilicia, his objective being the city Ukku, which was taken and spoiled.

Whilst absent on this expedition, however, the Elamites seem to have been again plotting against the Assyrians in Babylonia. This being the case, Sennacherib went in “ships of the land of Ḫatti” to [pg 380] the place where Merodach-baladan112 had taken refuge, namely, “Nagitu of Elam.”113 On this occasion, he claims to have captured Šûzubu (otherwise Nergal-ušêzib), and carried him in chains to Assyria. This led to reprisals on the part of the Elamites, who invaded Babylonia, carried Aššur-nadin-šum, the king, Sennacherib's son, prisoner, and set on the throne Nergal-ušêzib, who, if he be the Šûzubu referred to by Sennacherib, must have escaped from the custody of the Assyrians. This was in 693 b.c.

Nergal-ušêzib only ruled for a year or eighteen months, and was captured (? again) by the Assyrians. The Assyrian king now ravaged Elam “from Râš to Bît-Burnaki,” but his army would have been better employed in watching over affairs in Babylonia, where another pretender, Mušêzib-Marduk, sat on the throne, and ruled for four years. During this time he, too, found that his seat was not altogether a bed of roses, for Menanu, king of Elam, after a battle with the Assyrians,114 captured Mušêzib-Marduk with an army composed of Elamites and Babylonians, and delivered him to the Assyrians. Sennacherib now again (688 b.c.) became king of Babylonia, and it is thought that, on taking possession of the capital again, out of revenge for the loss of his son, and on account of the trouble he had had in consequence of the Babylonians running after the many pretenders, with which the land seems to have teemed, he destroyed [pg 381] the city of Babylon, committing such cruelties that they were remembered to the end, and sowed the seeds of that hatred which were to bring forth for Assyria that deadliest of all fruit—her own destruction.

In the eight years which passed between his assuming the reins of power in Babylonia and his death, must be placed that expedition to Egypt spoken of by Berosus and Herodotus. The version of the former, which refers principally to the siege of Jerusalem, is quoted above (p. 378); the following is the account of the latter—

“After this, Sanacharib, king of the Arabians and of the Assyrians, marched a great host against Egypt. Then the warriors of the Egyptians refused to come to the rescue, and the priest (Hephaistos, whose name was Sethos),115 being driven into a strait, entered into the sanctuary of the temple and bewailed to the image of the god the danger which was impending over him; and as he was thus lamenting, sleep came upon him, and it seemed to him in his vision that the god came out and stood by him and encouraged him, saying that he should suffer no evil if he went forth to meet the army of the Arabians, for he would himself send him helpers. Trusting in these things seen in sleep, he took with him, they say, those of the Egyptians who were willing to follow him, and encamped in Pelusion, for by this way the invasion came; and not one of the warrior class followed him, but shopkeepers and artisans and men of the market. Then after they came, there swarmed by night upon the enemies mice of the fields, and ate up their quivers and their bows, and moreover the handles of their shields, so that on the next day they fled, and being without defence of [pg 382] arms great numbers fell. And at the present time this king stands in the temple of Hephaistos in stone, holding upon his head a mouse, and by letters inscribed he says these words, ‘Let him who looks upon me learn to fear the gods.’ ”

Josephus's quotation from Herodotus differs somewhat from the above, in that he makes the Egyptian king to pray to God (and not before his image), and omits all reference to the dream. This was doubtless to make the parallel with the case of Hezekiah more striking.

Sennacherib before Lachish. For the translation of the inscription, see the opposite page. British Museum, Assyrian Saloon. The face of the king is mutilated in the original bas-relief, and has been restored.

The precise date of this expedition to Egypt and second siege of Jerusalem is unknown, but it must have taken place between 688 and 680 b.c. It is not by any means improbable that the date may some time or other be fixed, for an account of it will probably be found in the ruins of the cities of Assyria somewhere. That Herodotus calls Sennacherib “king of the Arabians and the Assyrians” is probably due to the fact that he seems to have been in alliance with “the queen of the Aribi”—(šar)rat D.P. Aribi—or Arabians, at the time. Esarhaddon speaks of his father Sennacherib as having captured the Arabian city Adumū, and inscriptions of Aššur-banî-âpli also refer to Sennacherib's expedition thither, and to his connection with an Arabian king named Ḫaza-îlu (Hazael). With regard to Palestine itself, the reality of the siege of Lachish is testified to by the fact, that a large portion of Sennacherib's sculptures represent him as being present at the siege of Lachish in person, when the prisoners and the booty taken were passed before him in procession. The inscription accompanying this scene reads as follows—

“Sin-âḫê-iriba, king of the world, king of the land Aššur,
sat upon his throne of state, and
the spoil of Lakisu
passed before him.”

[pg 383]

It would be strange indeed if this event, of which he was evidently very proud, were omitted from the history of what he must have regarded as his glorious deeds. As it does not occur in the account of his expedition to the land of Ḫatti, there is hardly any doubt that it belongs to the later campaign there, when he took the city, though he failed, as has been seen, to take Jerusalem. In all probability there were two sieges of Lachish, and it was very possible that the city was taken only on the second occasion. In any case, it was from Lachish that Sennacherib sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh to Hezekiah, with a great army to besiege Jerusalem, and it is noteworthy that the Rabshakeh reproaches him with trusting to Egypt, the power with which Assyria was at that moment in conflict; and in Sennacherib's second message to Hezekiah (2 Kings xix. 9) the words accompanying it clearly show that the general opinion was, that it was the march of Tirhakah against him which called it forth. It is noteworthy in this connection, that Tirhakah cannot have been on the throne of Egypt so early as 700 b.c., the date of Sennacherib's first campaign against the West.

There are therefore many arguments in favour of two expeditions of Sennacherib to Palestine, with two sieges of Jerusalem, and also, to all appearance, two sieges of Lachish.

The following is the account of his death given in the Babylonian Chronicle—

“On the 20th day of Tebet, Sin-âḫê-eriba, king of Assyria, his son killed him in a revolt. For (? 25) years Sin-âḫê-eriba had ruled the kingdom of Assyria. From the 20th day of the month Tebet until the 2nd day of the month Adar, the revolt in Assyria continued. Month Adar, day 18th, Aššur-âḫâ-iddina (Esarhaddon), his son, sat upon the throne in Assyria.”

[pg 384]

According to Berosus, who agrees with the Biblical account in this, it was two of his sons who killed him, but it may be taken that, though they were both morally responsible, one only actually performed the deed. Shareser is not mentioned, either by Abydenus or Polyhistor, as taking part in the murder; it would seem to be very probable, that Adrammelech was the culprit. From Berosus it is also clear that Esarhaddon had nothing to do with it, and this is to a certain extent confirmed by his inscriptions, which, as will be seen farther on, represent him as warring in Armenia, whither his brothers had fled.

According to the received chronology, the assassination of Sennacherib and the accession of Esarhaddon took place in the year 680 b.c.

Esarhaddon.

It is a matter greatly to be regretted that the royal inscriptions of Esarhaddon have not come down to us in a complete state, and also that we do not possess the later portions of the Assyrian Eponym Canon with historical references, which would enable us to fix the date of the campaigns. Of course, there is every probability that they are mentioned in chronological order, but as their dates are not stated, at least some uncertainty must prevail.

Esarhaddon, King of Assyria. The kneeling figure, which has the negro type of features and wears the uraeus ornament, is apparently Tirhakah, his opponent in Egypt. The prisoners here represented are regarded as being treated as the same king treated Manasseh (2 Chr. xxxiii. 11, R.V. marg.). Found at Zenjirli. From Mittheilungen aus den Orientalischen Sammlungen, Part XI., by permission of the publishing-house of Georg Reimer, Berlin.

It is therefore impossible to say with certainty whether the recital, in forcible though apparently well-chosen language, of what took place in Ḫanigalbat, or Mesopotamia, belongs to the account of the conflict with his brothers (who would have liked to overthrow Esarhaddon that one of them might reign in his stead) or not. The wording, however, makes it very probable that the narrative does refer to them, for he overtook them on the Nineveh road, and the disappearance of their resistance was more than gratifying to the new king—

[pg 385]

“The Nineveh-road, with difficulty (but) speedily, I traversed—
before me, in the land of Ḫani-galbat, the whole of their mighty
warriors halted before my expedition, and prepared their weapons.

The fear of the great gods, my lords, overwhelmed them, and
the attack of my mighty battle they saw, and became as demented.

Ištar, lady of war and battle, lover of my priesthood,
stood by my side, and broke their bows.

She scattered their serried battle(-array), and
in their assembled mass they called out thus:

“This is our king.”

By her supreme command they came over to my side.”

Oracles encouraging Esarhaddon exist, and possibly refer to this expedition.

Unfortunately the mutilation of the record, by which the beginning is wanting, has deprived us of the names of both conspirators, which are, therefore, only preserved by the Bible, Berosus, Abydenus, and Polyhistor. Various have been the conjectures as to what the true Assyrian forms of the names would be, and only one, that of Adrammelech, has been found with any probability of its being the right one. The name in question is that of Aššur-munik, or, perhaps better, Aššur-mulik, for whom Sennacherib built a palace. From its form in Hebrew, Sharezer should be Šar-uṣur in Assyrian, i.e. “protect the king,” the name of the deity called upon being omitted.

Though Esarhaddon's inscriptions do not give any chronological data, the Babylonian chronicle indicates the dates of his campaigns with sufficient precision. From it we learn that in his first year he had to put [pg 386] down a rebellion in Ur, led by Zēru-kênu-lîšir, whom Esarhaddon calls Nabû-zēr-napišti-lîšir, son of Merodach-baladan. In the year 676 b.c., his expedition to Sidon took place, and Abdi-milkutti, the king, was beheaded in 675. After taking the spoil of the city, he says that he “assembled the kings of Ḫatti and the sea-coast, all of them,” and there is every probability that it was at this time that he “took Menasseh with hooks,” or, as the Revised Version has it, with chains, and bound him with fetters, and brought him to Babylon, where, as sovereign of that land also, he sometimes held court. Though severe, and probably also cruel sometimes, Esarhaddon was more mercifully inclined than his father, and allowed Menasseh to resume the reins of government at Jerusalem. There is no reference to this in the inscriptions of Esarhaddon, though he mentions, in his list of tributaries, Menasseh king of the city of Judah. This list, which is from a cylinder-inscription, is as follows—

“I gathered also the kings of Ḫatti and across the river ...

Ba'alu king of Ṣurru (Tyre): Menasê (Menasseh) king of the city of Yaudu:

Qauš-gabri, king of the city of Udumu (Edom); Muṣur'i, king of the city Ma'ab (Moab);

Ṣilli-bêlu, king of the city of Ḫazitu (Gaza); Mitinti, king of the city of Isqaluna (Askelon);

Ikausu, king of the city of Amqarruna (Ekron); Milki-ašapa, king of the city of Gublu (Gebal);

Matan-ba'al, king of the city of Aruadu (Arvad); Abi-baal, king of the city of Samsimuruna;

Budu-ilu, king of the city Bêt-Ammana (Beth-Ammon); Aḫi-milki, king of the city of Asdudu (Ashdod);

12 kings of the sea-coast. Ekištura, king of the city Edi'al (Idalium);

[pg 387]

Pilâgurâ, king of the city of Kidrusu; Kîsu, king of the city Sillûa;

Itûandar, king of the city Pappa (Paphos); Erêsu, king of the city of Sillu;

Damasu, king of the city Kurî (Kurium); Admezu, king of the city Tamesu (Tamessus);

Damûsi, king of the city Karti-ḫadasti (the new town, a Phœnician settlement);

Unasagusu, king of the city Lidir; Buṣusu, king of the city Nurîa:

10 kings of the land of Yatnana (Cyprus), within the sea—
altogether 22 kings of the land of Ḫatti, the sea-coast and the middle of the sea, all of them,

I directed, and great beams, enormous poles,
trunks of cedar and cypress from the midst of Sirara
and Libnana (Lebanon) (etc., etc., etc.),
from the midst of the wooded mountains,
the place of their growing,
for the requirements of my palace,
with toil and with difficulty
I caused them to be brought to Nineveh.”

The tribute which he exacted was not, therefore, a tribute of gold, silver, and other precious things, but simply the building materials which Esarhaddon required for his palace, and the kings of Heth, including Menasseh, contributed to this together with the kings of Cyprus—and to all appearance they had to transport these things to Nineveh! It was the labour and expense of transport rather than the material itself, which rendered this tribute so precious.

Judging from his records, Esarhaddon was fully as active as the other kings of Assyria in making conquests. He attacked the people of Armenia (the Mannâa), the rebellious land of Barnaku—“those who [pg 388] dwell in the land of Til-Ašurri,”116—the Medes, the Chaldeans, the Arabians (see p. 382), and Egypt, in the direction of which he had already made a little expedition (to the cities of Arzâ and Aaki (?) of the brook of Egypt—probably the river of Egypt of Gen. xv. 18, and other passages). His first real expedition to Egypt, however, was in the tenth year of his reign (670 b.c.). Three battles were fought there, and Memphis was captured by the Assyrians on the 22nd of Tammuz. Whether he really and effectually subjugated the country or not, is not known, but he again marched to the same place in the last year of his reign, and falling ill on the road, died on the 10th day of Marcheswan. He was succeeded by Aššur-banî-âpli (Asshur-bani-pal) in Assyria, and Šamaš-šum-ukîn (Saosduchinos) in Babylonia, and the two kingdoms, united by so much bloodshed, became once more separated (668 b.c.).

Aššur-Banî-Âpli.

Thus it happened, that Aššur-banî-âpli, on coming to the throne, found himself involved in a war with Egypt. To such a ruler, it must have seemed a hard thing to relinquish what his father had fought, and perhaps died, to acquire and retain. This being the case, he sent forth his army to reduce the country again to subjection, Tirhakah having taken advantage of the death of Esarhaddon to revolt. In the course of this campaign his representative (there is every probability that Aššur-banî-âpli never went westwards, or, indeed, made any warlike expedition in person whatever) received the tribute of the kings of the sea-coast and “the middle of the sea,” i.e. Phœnicia and Cyprus. This list is, with few exceptions, the same as that given by Esarhaddon, and [pg 389] includes Minsê (= Minasê, i.e. Menasseh) of the land of Yaudi or Judah. In some cases, however, changes had taken place and these are duly registered—Yakinlû instead of Matan-ba'al, king of the land of Aruada (Arvad); Ammi-nadbi (Amminadab), king of the land of Bît-Ammana (Beth-Ammon), instead of Budu-ilu. For the kings of Cyprus, however, no change is indicated, a circumstance which leads one to look upon the list with some suspicion, it being not impossible that the names of certain rulers are inserted to make a seeming addition to the Assyrian king's glory. They are all represented, however, as supporting, with their troops and their ships, on land and on sea, the army of Aššur-banî-âpli. The result was the defeat of Tirhakah, and the restoration of the kings, prefects, and governors whom Esarhaddon had appointed as rulers of the country.117

No sooner had the Assyrians departed, than Tirhakah won over all the princes they had installed to his side, and the work had to be done over again. The Assyrian generals, however, returned promptly, and the rebellion was at once put down. Of the princes who were captured, Necho alone was spared, and, with his son, set as ruler in Ḫatḫariba (Athribis). About this time Tirhakah died, and Urdamanê, son of Sabaco, mounted the throne, and made Thebes and On (Heliopolis) his principal strongholds, besieging the Assyrian army of occupation in Memphis. Another expedition on the part of the Assyrians therefore became necessary, and was at once undertaken, and with complete success, except that Urdamanê remained, to all appearance, still at large. Practically, however, the greater part of Egypt became at this time an Assyrian province.

[pg 390]

But many were the conquests of this really remarkable king, which his generals accomplished for him. Soon came the turn of Ba'al, king of Tyre, whose subjection brought about that of Yakinlû, king of Arvad, Mugallu, king of Tubal, and Sandasarme of the land of the Ḫilakkâa (Cilicians). Aššur-banî-âpli also speaks of the mission of Yakinlû, king of Arvad, who sent his sons to him with presents, and made obeisance. These princes bore the interesting names Azi-ba'al, Abi-ba'al, Aduni-ba'al, Sapati-baal, Pudi-baal, Ba'al-yašupu, Ba'al-ḫanunu, Ba'al-maluku, Abi-milki, and Aḫi-milki, showing the popularity of the element baal in the names of the people of Arvad. Azi-ba'al was designated as the next king, and all the brothers were sent back with rich gifts. He also tells the story of the dream of Guggu šar Luddi (Gyges, king of Lydia), to whom the god Aššur is said to have appeared, exhorting him to submit to Aššur-banî-âpli, and overcome his enemies by invoking his name. Following this advice, he succeeded in conquering the Gimmirrâa (people of Gomer), capturing their chiefs, of whom he sent two in fetters to the Assyrian king, with valuable gifts.

Gyges did not send any more embassies, however, and allied himself with Tušamilki, king of the land of Muṣur (generally regarded as Psammeticus of Egypt, but to all appearance another Muṣur—probably that to the north—is meant), and for this he received the curse of the Assyrian king. The result was, that the Gimmirrâa came and ravaged his country. This being the case, his son, who succeeded him, thought best to renew the Assyrian alliance, and therefore sent an embassy with a message to the following effect—“The king whom god hath chosen art thou; thou cursedst my father, and evil was wrought before him. As for me, the servant fearing thee, be gracious to me and let me bear thy yoke.”

Assur-banî-âpli (Assurbanipal), "The Great and Noble Asnapper," Hunting Lions. British Museum. Assyrian Saloon.

Gyges, in Assyrian Gug(g)u, is regarded as the [pg 391] original of the mystic Gog of Ezekiel xxxviii. 39, and his country, Lydia (Luddu), is generally explained as the Biblical Lud, though a certain amount of doubt regarding it exists.

Aššur-banî-âpli's other campaigns were against the Vannites, the Elamites, the Babylonians (on account of his brother Saosduchinos, king of that country, refusing to acknowledge his suzerainty), after that twice more against Elam, then against the Arabians, and finally against Ummanaldaš, king of Elam, whom he seized as a hawk does his prey. In all, however, he captured four Elamite princes, whom he caused to be attached to his carriage (ina marri šadadi, rukub šarruti-ia118), and as for the Arabian princes whom he had taken as prisoners, he caused them to wear chains and badges of service, and to work at the building of his palace, as was the custom in those days.

We can easily imagine him—the great and noble Aššur-banî-âpli, called by Ezra (iv. 10) Asnapper (better Asenappar), who transferred the Dinaites, Apharsathchites, Tarpelites, Apharsites, Archevites, Babylonians, Susanchites (Susanians), Dehavites, and Elamites, to swell the mixed multitudes in the cities of Samaria. Many a time is he represented in the beautiful bas-reliefs which he caused to be carved as the adornments of his palace at Nineveh, and we there see him, the patron of art, as the bold sportsman and hunter, just as his tablets show him as the greatest patron of literature of his time, one who knew the literature of his race, who took a pride in learning, and himself copied out tablets “in the assembly of the experts.”

The “great and noble Asnapper” is worthy of a statue in every land where the languages of Assyria and Babylonia are studied.

How the sudden downfall of the Assyrian empire [pg 392] really came about we do not know. In all probability it remained intact until the death of Aššur-banî-âpli, which took place in 626 b.c. His son, Aššur-êtil-îlāni-ukinni, has left no historical records, though it is not by any means impossible that some light may ultimately be thrown on his reign. One of the enigmas of his time is: What was the circumstance which called forth the following communication?—

“The message of the daughter of the king to Aššurâaitu the queen. As yet thou writest not thy tablet, and dictatest not thy letter? Shall they say thus: ‘Is this the sister of Šerû-êṭerat, the eldest daughter of the Harem-house of Aššur-êtil-îlāni-ukinni, the great king, the mighty king, the king of the world, the king of Assyria?’ And thou art the daughter of the bride, the lady of the house of Aššur-banî-âpli, the son of the great king of the Harem-house, who was Aššur-âḫa-iddina (Esarhaddon), king of Assyria.”

Some of the expressions in this letter seem obscure, but the probable explanation is, that the daughter of one of the last Assyrian kings—perhaps Sin-šarra-iškun (Saracos)—writes to the chief wife of Aššur-banî-âpli urging her to take action by exhorting the chiefs of the nation at a crisis in the history of the country, which crisis was probably that which led to the downfall of the mighty kingdom which had reached its zenith of power during the reign of Aššur-banî-âpli. At this time, according to Nabonidus, a king of the Umman-manda or Medes, whose name is doubtful, but which may be Iriba-tuktê, entered into alliance with a ruler who must be Nabopolassar of Babylon, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, and accomplished the vengeance of Merodach, the god of the Babylonians, who willed that the destruction wrought upon his city by Sennacherib should be amply avenged. This vengeance was apparently the downfall of the Assyrian empire and the destruction [pg 393] of Nineveh, in accordance with statements of Alexander Polyhistor, Abydenus, and Syncellus. It is Diodorus Siculus, however, who gives the fullest account. He relates that there was a legend (according to an oracle) that the city could not be taken until the river became its enemy. Arbaces, the Scythian, was besieging it, but was unable to make any great impression on it for two years. In the third year, however, the river119 was swollen by rains, and being very rapid in its current, a portion of the wall was carried away, by which the besiegers gained an entrance. The king, recognizing in this the fulfilment of the oracle, raised a funeral pyre, and gathering together his concubines and eunuchs, mounted it, and perished in the flames. Thus came the great Assyrian empire to an end.

“The oracle concerning Nineveh:

The Lord is a jealous God and avengeth.

Who can stand before His indignation?

With an overrunning flood He will make a full end of the place thereof, and will pursue His enemies into darkness.

The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace is dissolved.

Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, thy worthies are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the mountains, and there is none to gather them.”

And there is much more in the same strain that the Hebrew Oracle of Nahum concerning the fall of Nineveh gives.

But it was not simply the capture of an important [pg 394] city—it was the enslavement and ultimate annihilation of a whole nation. Who can imagine their despair? Less than fifty years earlier, Assyria had been the most powerful nation of the then known world, and the people suddenly saw themselves deprived of that proud position which they had enjoyed for so many centuries. Their national existence had, in fact, been brought to an abrupt end, but the few Assyrian names which appear in Babylonian contracts many years after their downfall show that theirs was a proud indomitable spirit, which could not give way to misfortune, and which probably hoped for better things and more prosperous times. Their descendants are still to be found among the Chaldean Roman Catholic Christians of the country which was the scene of their forefathers' dominion when they ruled the land of their inheritance. Their most worthy representatives in modern times are the family of the Rassams, one of whom was for many years British Consul at Mossoul (a post which his nephew now fills), and another is the well-known veteran, Hormuzd Rassam, Layard's helper, for some time Resident at Aden, and later a prisoner with that mad ruler, King Theodore of Abyssinia. To him we owe the discovery of Aššur-banî-âpli's palace, the ruins of Sippara and Cuthah, and many thousand cylinders and tablets bearing upon the manners, customs, history, religion, etc., of the Babylonians and Assyrians, which have been used freely in the compilation of this book.

[pg 395]

Chapter XI. Contact Of The Hebrews With The Later Babylonians.

Nabopolassar and the restoration of the power of Babylonia—Nebuchadnezzar—Evil-Merodach—Neriglissar and his son—Nabonidus—The Fall of Babylon—Nabonidus and Belshazzar—Cyrus and Cambyses—Darius and his successors.

How great the change which came over the Eastern world with the disappearance from the political horizon of the power of Assyria can hardly be estimated. In the time of Merodach-baladan, the Chaldean who had mounted the Babylonian throne, an embassy was sent to the Jewish king Hezekiah with a present and kind inquiries as to his health, apparently to see whether it was worth while making an alliance with him. Merodach-baladan felt that he would need all the outside help that he could get against the Assyrians, with whom he was in constant conflict. With the downfall of Assyria, however, all was changed. The Jews' whilom friend became their enemy, and, as indicated in 2 Kings xx. 17 ff., the Israelites were to lose their independence at the hands of the descendants of those who were then seeking their friendship.

There is hardly any doubt that the later Assyrian kings regarded Babylonia as an integral part of the Assyrian empire, and had perfect faith in the fidelity of the inhabitants. It may reasonably be doubted, however, whether the Babylonians had really forgotten [pg 396] the cruel treatment they had received at the hands of Sennacherib. In addition to this, there must have existed for a considerable period the feeling that they, the Babylonians, were the more ancient people of the two, and that the Assyrians were but a later offshoot of their own stock, owing to them all their civilization, manners, customs, laws, and literature. It will thus be seen that they were sufficiently of the same origin to be regarded as one people, and for this reason, many of the cities of Babylonia were satisfied and happy under Assyrian rule, which they preferred, to all appearance, to that of the Chaldeans, a nation which, though inhabiting their own borders, was in reality more alien to them than the Assyrians in language, manners, and customs, and whom they probably regarded as being only half civilized.

The general opinion is, that Nabû-âbla-uṣur (Nabopolassar), the general whom Sin-šarra-iškun (Saracos), the last king of Assyria, sent against his enemies (who seem to have invaded Babylonia by sea at the northern end of the Persian Gulf), was a Chaldean, and this is, in fact, confirmed by the quotation in Eusebius's Armenian Chronicle (p. 44) from Polyhistor, where it is stated that after Samuges (Šamaš-šum-ukîn, the brother of Aššur-banî-âpli), Sardanapallus (this is a mistake for Nabopollasarus), the Chaldean, reigned for twenty-one years. If this be the case, it is a matter of surprise that Sin-šarra-iškun should have given into the hands of one belonging to a tribe of old hostile to Assyria, the command of his army at such a critical time. In any case, the result was most disastrous for Assyria, as the foregoing chapter has shown.

In the opinion of Friedrich Delitzsch, Nabopolassar was not the general of Sin-šarra-iškun, but in all probability a viceroy installed by Aššur-êtil-îlāni-ukinni, and retained by Sin-šarra-iškun, in which case it is to be supposed that he made an alliance with the [pg 397] Medes (as related by Alexander Polyhistor and Abydenus), and cemented it by marrying his son Nebuchadrezzar to Amunhean, Amuhean, or Amytis, daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes; and according to the latter author, it was after this that he marched against Nineveh. Fried. Delitzsch may therefore be regarded as most probably right, for the king of the Medes would hardly have consented to bestow his daughter upon the son of one whom he could not otherwise have regarded as being of royal race.

Though Nabopolassar had close connection with Syria, his name is not mentioned in the Bible narrative. For our information concerning him we are indebted to Josephus, who, quoting the Babylonian writer Berosus, relates what was recorded in the Babylonian chronicles of that period. After the division of the territory of Assyria, of which Egypt took a part, the former allies began to quarrel among themselves, the result being that Nabopolassar, wishing to regain possession of Syria, which at this time acknowledged the suzerainty of Egypt, decided to attack that country. According to Berosus, he not only regarded himself as master of Coele-Syria and Phœnicia, but also of Egypt. Hearing, therefore, “that the governor which he had set over Egypt and over the parts of Coele-Syria and Phœnicia had revolted from him, he was not able to bear it any longer, but committing certain parts of his army to his son Nabuchodonosor, who was then but young, he sent him against the rebel.” This is regarded as having taken place in 605 b.c. The governor attacked by the young Nebuchadnezzar was apparently Necho, who was completely defeated at Carchemish, and expelled from Syria.

Whilst upon this expedition, Nebuchadnezzar heard of the death of his father at Babylon, in the twenty-first year of his reign, as Josephus, quoting Berosus, has it. This accords with the statement concerning [pg 398] him in the Canon of Ptolemy, and also with native Babylonian chronology, as may be seen from a tablet in the Museum of Edinburgh, of which the following is a translation—

“The 21st year of Nabopolassar a profit was made.

The 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar a profit was made.

The 2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar a profit was made.

The 3rd year the same.

The fourth year the same.”

Returning to Babylon, the young prince found that his supporters there had looked after his interests, and no pretender having appeared to dispute with him the throne, he was at once acknowledged king. The death of Nabopolassar and the accession of his son Nebuchadnezzar took place in the year 604 b.c.

Unfortunately, but few inscriptions of Nabopolassar have been found, and of them some are duplicates, and all refer to his architectural or engineering works. The principal treats of his restoration of the temple Ê-temen-ana-kia, the shrine at Ê-sagila, which the Babylonians regarded as the Tower of Babel. It is written in the archaic style of writing much affected by his son Nebuchadnezzar, and has certain peculiarities of spelling. Like most of the pious architectural inscriptions of Babylonia, there is no reference to historical events, but the king speaks of Nabium-kudurra-uṣur (Nebuchadrezzar), “the eldest, firstborn, and beloved of my heart,” and his younger brother, Nabû-šumam-lìšir. Both the king and his two sons took part in the restoration of the temple, bringing with their own hands material for the work, the younger son also assisting by pulling the cord of the [pg 399] cart which carried it. The receptacles which they used to carry the material were made of gold and silver. Other inscriptions of this king refer to the digging out of the canal of the Euphrates near the city Sippara, and to Nabopolassar's restoration of the temple of “the Lady of Sippar,” called Ê-edinna, “the house (temple) of the plain,” or “of Edina,” i.e. Eden.

When Nebuchadnezzar (in Babylonian Nabû-kudurri-uṣur—he was the second of the name) came to the throne, he found himself in possession of a mighty kingdom, consolidated by his father's talent, and he could himself boast of having had a hand in its enlargement and greater security. Everything was, to all appearance, at peace, and the new king had no reason to fear either a pretender to the throne, or the advent of enemies from without. One of his tributaries, namely, Jehoiakim, king of Judah, after paying tribute three years (604-602 b.c.), rebelled, but was again reduced to subjection (2 Kings xxiv. 1 ff.).

Later, however, uprisings of a more earnest nature came to the ears of the Babylonian king, constraining him to act. Apparently in consequence of the promises of Egypt, Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, brought against himself the hostility of the king of Babylon, who sent an army to besiege Jerusalem, afterwards journeying thither himself, the result being, that the city was taken, and the Jewish king, with his court, yielded, and were carried away to Babylon (598 b.c.). The number of captives on this occasion exceeded 10,000, and the treasures of the palace and the Temple formed part of the spoils sent to Babylon. The country was not annexed, however, for Nebuchadnezzar made Mattaniah king of Judah instead of Jehoiachin, changing his name to Zedekiah.

Gratitude to the power which had raised him, however, became weakened with years, and, encouraged by Pharaoh Hophra, he rebelled in the ninth year of his reign, the result being that Jerusalem was once [pg 400] more besieged. Pharaoh Hophra now marched with an army across the Egyptian border to the help of his ally, whereupon the Babylonians raised the siege of Jerusalem for a time to get rid of the invader (Jer. xxxvii. 5-7). According to Josephus, the Egyptians were totally defeated, and returned to their own land (Jer. xxxvii. 7). The siege of Jerusalem was then resumed, and the city was taken at the end of a year and a half, notwithstanding a very courageous resistance. The date set down for this event is July 586 b.c.

Zedekiah with his army fled, but was pursued by the Chaldeans, and captured in the plains of Jericho. Nebuchadnezzar was then at Riblah, where, to all appearance, a court was held (see 2 Kings xxv. 6), and sentence pronounced against the faithless vassal, whose sons were then slain before his eyes, his sight destroyed, and he himself carried captive to Babylon. It was a barbarous sentence, and was quite in accordance with the customs of the age, just as the legal formalities were to all appearance in conformity with Babylonian tradition. The destruction of the Temple and all the principal houses of the city by fire, followed, this destruction being wrought by Nebu-zar-adan (Nabû-zēr-iddina), the captain of Nebuchadnezzar's guard, who also carried captive all who remained in the city. Only the lowest class of the people remained to carry on the cultivation of the land. Others were sent to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, and by his orders put to death. Those of the Jews who remained, however, were not placed, as might reasonably have been expected, under a Babylonian governor, but under Gedeliah the son of Ahikam, who was made governor. His death at the hands of his own countrymen took place shortly after, thus putting an end to the last vestige of native Jewish rule in Palestine.

Next came the turn of Tyre, which the Babylonian king blockaded for no less than thirteen years (585-573 [pg 401] b.c.), but was apparently successful in the end, when the inhabitants acknowledged Babylonian overlordship. That its capture cost him great pains is testified by Ezekiel (xxix. 18), who states that, to take the city, “every head was bald, and every shoulder was peeled” in consequence of the carrying of material for the operations against the city, yet neither he nor his army reaped any material advantage from this conquest, “for the service that he had served against it.” The name of a city Ṣûru, which is probably Tyre, occurs on a tablet dated in Nebuchadnezzar's thirty-fifth year (569 b.c.—four years after the city was taken). It refers to a transaction in which sesame is sold, an official of the city being a party to the contract. Later on, in the fortieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, a contract was entered into between Milki-idiri, governor of Kidis (Kedesh), with regard to some cattle. This document is dated at Tyre (Ṣurru) on the 22nd of the month Tammuz. Not only Tyre, therefore, but the whole district, owned the dominion of Nebuchadnezzar at this time.

Just as successful were Nebuchadnezzar's operations against Egypt. According to an Egyptian inscription, the Babylonian king attacked Egypt in the year 572 b.c., penetrating as far as Syene and the borders of Ethiopia. Hophra, who still reigned, was defeated and deposed, the general Amasis being raised to the throne in his place to rule the land as a vassal of the Babylonian king. According to the only historical fragment of the reign of this king known, Nebuchadnezzar made an expedition to Egypt in his thirty-seventh year. This was to all appearance against his vassal Amasis, who, like Zedekiah, had revolted against the power which had raised him to the throne. The rebellion was suppressed, but the ultimate fate of Amasis is not stated.

According to Megasthenes, who lived in the time of Seleucus Nicator, Nebuchadnezzar conquered North [pg 402] Africa, crossing afterwards into Spain by the Strait of Gibraltar, returning to Babylonia through Europe and Asia Minor. Such an expedition, however, it is hardly likely that he ever undertook, and the account of this exploit may therefore be relegated to the domain of the fables with which the ancient historians sometimes ornamented their work.

Concerning the relations of Nebuchadnezzar with Daniel, the wedge-inscriptions of Babylonia give no indication whatever. Four hundred and fifty or more contract-tablets dated in his reign are known, but in none of them is there any reference to Daniel, at least in a form that can be recognized. The Babylonian name given to him, Belteshazzar, is apparently an abbreviated form, which would be, in Babylonian, Balaṭ-su-ûṣur, “Protect thou (O God), his life.” If this be the explanation, a better transcription of the Hebrew form would be Beletshazzar (making the first sheva vocal and the second silent instead of the reverse). The name of the deity has, in accordance with custom, been suppressed in the Hebrew form, but it is probable that either the patron-deity of Babylon, Bêl, or else the favourite deity of the Babylonians in general, Nebo, the god of learning, may have preceded the first element as the name now stands. In the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria, many examples of abbreviated names occur, on account of what we should consider their inordinate length, and to such an extent was this customary, that one element only, out of three or four, might alone be used. Thus, in the contracts of the time of Nebuchadnezzar, at least fourteen persons of the name of Balaṭu, and seven of the name of Balaṭ-su occur, and it may be safely taken that they are all abbreviations of names similar to that bestowed upon Daniel. Apart from the question whether the Book of Daniel is to be regarded as a part of the Hagiographa or not, the fact that his descent is not given there would [pg 403] make it impossible to recognize him, if his name was still further abbreviated by the Babylonians, among so many bearing names possibly the same as his. Even though his book be regarded as a romance, there is always the question, whether the personages mentioned therein may not really have existed.

With regard to the other names in Daniel, it is to be noted that Shadrach and Meshach, the names given to Hananiah and Mishael, are doubtful in Babylonian, the corresponding forms not having been found. Abednego, on the other hand, the Babylonian name of Azariah, has long been recognized as being written for Abed-Nebo, “servant of Nebo,” either by a scribal error, or (as seems more probable) in order to deface the name of a heathen deity. The name of Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, is still more doubtful, if anything; but that of Arioch, the “king's captain,” is one which has been well known for some time, being none other than the ancient name (cf. Genesis xiv.) corresponding with the Akkadian Êri-Aku or Êri-Eaku, “servant of the Moon-god,” a rare name in later times (see pp. 222 ff.).

Naturally nothing concerning Nebuchadnezzar's dreams occurs in the inscriptions of Babylonia, though dreams which were regarded as having a signification are sometimes recorded. This being the case, it might be supposed that something upon the subject would in all probability be sooner or later found. But what we should expect to find in the extant inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar is a reference to the golden image, threescore cubits high and six cubits wide, which he is said to have set up in the plain of Dura. Had he erected such an enormous thing, even if it had been merely gilt, and not of solid gold, one would expect that he would at least have made a slight reference to it. That he may have set up images of his gods is not only possible, but probable—indeed, he must have dedicated at least a few during his long [pg 404] reign, but it is evident that none of them was of sufficient importance to cause him specially to refer to it in his inscriptions. It is therefore not impossible that there is some exaggeration in the dimensions of the figure referred to in Daniel. There is also considerable uncertainty as to the position of the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. The most probable explanation is that of Prof. J. Oppert, the veteran Assyriologist, who found what appeared to be the base of a great statue near a mound known as Dúair,120 east of Babylon. It is not improbable, however, that “the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon,” means simply an extensive open space near one of the great fortifications (dûru) of the city. That all the principal officials of the kingdom should be expected to come to the dedication of such an image is exceedingly probable.

Bas-relief supposed to depict the triple wall of Babylon, with a portion of the palace within. In the original, water flows at the base of the lowest wall. The above is the upper part of slab No. 89 in the Assyrian Saloon of the British Museum, and apparently illustrates Assur-bani-âpli's campaign against his brother, Samas-sum-ukin (Saosduchinos), King of Babylon (cf. p. 391). (Two at least of the walls of Babylon were much older than the time of Nebuchadnezzar.)

The portion of Daniel referring to Nebuchadnezzar which receives the best illustration from the inscriptions is that referred to after the relation of his second dream, where he is represented as walking in or upon his palace, and one may imagine that he had gone up to enjoy the view of the city, and whilst doing so, with almost justifiable pride the words, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and the glory of my majesty?” escaped him. From his inscriptions (and they are fairly numerous) we learn, with regard to Babylon, that it owed most of its glories as they then existed to this, the greatest of its kings. That the king did not always distinguish between what he built and what he rebuilt—indeed, none of his predecessors seem to have done so either, a circumstance probably due to the poverty of the Akkadian [pg 405] and Semitic Babylonian languages in that respect—would explain the words attributed to him.

According to the great India-House inscription, which was carved by order of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabopolassar had built (= rebuilt) the two great walls of Babylon, called Imgur-Bêl and Nemitti-Bêl. He had dug the great city-moat, and raised two strong walls on its banks, similar, in all probability, to what other kings had done before him. To all appearance also he lined the banks of the Euphrates with embankments (probably the quays of which Herodotus speaks), and constructed, within the city, a road leading from Du-azaga, “the holy seat,” where the oracles were declared, to Aa-ibur-sabû, Babylon's “festival-street,” close to the gate of Beltis, for the yearly procession of the god Merodach.

Bas-relief, supposed to represent the Hanging Gardens at Babylon, about 645 b.c. On the slope is a temple, a stele with the figure of a king, and an altar on the path in front. On the right pointed arches support a terrace planted with trees. Streams water the sides of the wooded hill. British Museum, Assyrian Saloon, No. 92 (upper part). The above, with Plate XIV., apparently illustrate Assur-bani-âpli's campaign against his brother Samas-sum-ukin (cf. page 391).

All these erections Nebuchadnezzar completed or altered and improved. He added to the defences which his father had built, and raised the level of the street Aa-ibur-sabû from the “glorious gate” to the gate of Istar. The raising of the “festival-street” necessitated the raising of the gateways through which it ran. Gates were made of cedar covered with copper, probably after the style of the great gate found by Mr. Rassam at Balawat in Assyria, which was adorned with bands of bronze chased with scenes of Shalmaneser II.'s warlike exploits in relief. In all probability there were but few gates in Babylon of solid metal, notwithstanding that there is no mention in Herodotus of their having been constructed merely of wood covered with ornamented strips of bronze. The thresholds of these gates were of bronze, probably similar to that of which a part was found by Mr. Rassam at Borsippa (evidently the doorstep of one of the entrances to the temple called Ê-zida), and which may now be seen at the British Museum. These and other portals at Babylon were guarded by images of bulls and serpents, also of bronze. In [pg 406] addition to this, Nebuchadnezzar built a wall on the east side of the city, high like a mountain, so that no enemy could approach. Access to the city was gained by gates, the doors of which were likewise of cedar ornamented with bronze. For further protection, he “caused great waters like the volume of the sea to surround the land,” and to cross them was “like the crossing of the broad sea, the Salt Stream” (the Persian Gulf). He then rebuilt the palace of his father, its walls having been undermined by the waters of the Euphrates, which ran near. Advantage of the changes made in this building was taken to raise the gateways, which had become too low in consequence of the raising of the festival-street of Merodach. In addition to this, he built another palace, adjoining that of his father, decorating it with cedar, cypress, and other precious woods; gold, silver, and precious stones; and adorning it with sculptures and with gates overlaid with bronze. According to the India-House inscription of Nebuchadnezzar, the fabric of this building was completed in fifteen days, a fact so remarkable that it is specially mentioned by Berosus (see Josephus, Antiquities, x., xi. 1), whose word may be taken as proving the translation of the passage in question. Besides restoring the temples of the cities, or at least the principal ones, he restored all the chief temples of Babylonia, notably that at Sippar, the chief centre of the Sun-god worship, and the great temple-tower dedicated to Nebo at Borsippa. This last, indeed, was one of the works upon which he prided himself most, as is proved by the fact that it is mentioned in all his inscriptions, including those on his bricks, along with the temple known as Ê-sagila (later pronounced Ê-sangil), the “temple of Belus,” which he calls “the tower of Babylon,” the principal shrine of which seems to have been called “the House of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth,” indicating clearly the estimation in which the Babylonians held [pg 407] it (see p. 138). It was there that the god Merodach, the principal deity of the Babylonians, and the founder of the temple in question, was worshipped.

But one might go on for a long time describing what Nebuchadnezzar did for the city which, more than any other, he loved, and to which he brought the spoils of his many expeditions. There is no doubt that this, the last great king of Babylon, was a most successful ruler, of whom his people were proud. He was pious, and an intense lover of his country—two characteristics which endeared him, the one to the priesthood, the other to the people at large. Could we but find the real history of his reign, it would undoubtedly prove to be full of interest, and also of enormous importance, not only on account of the light that it would throw upon Jewish history during his period, but also on account of its bearing upon a most important epoch in the life of the Babylonian nation.

It is noteworthy that, in Herodotus, many of the great architectural works of his reign are attributed to Nitocris, who, he states, was the mother of Labynetus (Book I. 185-188). Now, who this Labynetus was, is clear from the statement that it was he against whom Cyrus marched—namely the Nabonidus of other Greek historians, and the Nabû-na'id of the inscriptions. Nitocris would therefore seem to have been the name of the queen of Nebuchadnezzar, and if so, it shows upon what grounds Nabonidus claimed the throne, and how Belshazzar, in the Book of Daniel, could be described as the son or descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. But in this case Nitocris must have been another wife of Nebuchadnezzar, and not the Median princess whom he had married when young. If she supplanted Amytis, Nebuchadnezzar's Median wife, in the affections of her husband, it is easy to see how she could have feared a Median invasion, as indicated by Herodotus.

Nebuchadnezzar died in the year 561 b.c., leaving [pg 408] his crown to Awēl-Maruduk, the Evil-Merodach of 2 Kings xxv. 27, and the Abilamarōdachos of Josephus, who, however, also gives, in his book against Apion (i. 20), the genuine Babylonian form as transcribed by Berosus, namely, Eueilmaradouchos. Two other sons of Nebuchadnezzar are also mentioned in the contract-tablets of his reign, namely, Marduk-šum-uṣur (in his fortieth year) and Marduk-nadin-âḫi (forty-first year). (See pp. 434, 435.)

The substitution of the mild rule of Evil-Merodach for the vigorous government of his father must have been witnessed by the Babylonians with considerable misgiving, for in the East, especially at that period, the successful ruler was he who was the most energetic. There is every reason to believe, however, that the character of Evil-Merodach was that of a man in every way kind and considerate, as is shown by the fact, that he released Jehoiachin (whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken prisoner), spoke kindly to him, and set his throne above those of the other vassal kings in Babylon. The only thing, according to Josephus, recorded about him by Berosus was, that “he governed public affairs lawlessly and extravagantly”—words which imply that he displeased the priestly class, of which Berosus was one. His name appears in certain contracts (published by Mr. Evetts) as ruler of Babylonia for about two years, from the 26th of Elul of his accession year to the 4th day of Ab of his second year—about two years and five months in all. According to Berosus, he was slain by his sister's husband, Nēriglissöoros, the Nergal-šar-uṣur of the inscriptions, who then ascended the throne.

The name is the same as that given as Nergal-sharezer in Jer. xxxix. 3, 13, one of the princes of the Babylonians who was present at the taking of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, and who at that time bore the title of Rab-mag, which is to all appearance the Rab-mugi of the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions. It is [pg 409] thought by many, and is not by any means improbable, that the Nergal-sharezer of the passage referred to and the Nergal-šar-uṣur of Babylonian history are one and the same, though there is no evidence that the latter ever bore the title of Rab-mag.

It was in the year 559 b.c. that Evil-Merodach was murdered, and Neriglissar at once seized the throne of his brother-in-law. Berosus (as quoted by Josephus) gives no details as to his reign. In his inscriptions he states that he was (like Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar before him) patron of Ê-sagila and Ê-zida, the temple of Belus at Babylon and that of Nebo at Borsippa, and that the great gods had established his dominion. After speaking of the god Nebo, he makes a reference to Ura, the god of death, which, under the circumstances, one can hardly regard as otherwise than significant—

“Nebo, the faithful son, a just sceptre has caused his hands to hold.

To keep the people, preserve the country,

Ura, prince of the gods, gave him his weapon.”

He then mentions his father, Bêl-šum-iškun, whom he calls “king of Babylon,” and describes the restoration and decoration of Ê-zida and Ê-sagila, together with the palace which he built for himself at Babylon, and other architectural work.

But to describe his father as “king of Babylon” was a statement somewhat removed from the truth. In the contract-tablets of the time of Nebuchadnezzar and Evil-Merodach, where the name of Neriglissar occurs somewhat frequently as a purchaser of houses, land, etc., he is called simply “son of Bêl-šum-iškun,” without any other title whatever (see p. 438). But perhaps Neriglissar's statement is due to some historical event of which we are ignorant.

Neriglissar died in the month Nisan or Iyyar of the [pg 410] fourth year of his reign, and was succeeded by his son Labāši-Marduk, the Labarosoarchod of the Greek writers. According to Berosus (Josephus against Apion, i. 20), he was no more than a child, and it may be supposed that he was a younger son of Neriglissar, though concerning this we have no information. He only reigned nine months, a plot having been laid against him by his friends, and he was tormented to death, “by reason of the very ill-temper and ill practices he exhibited to the world” (Berosus). After his death, according to the same historian, the conspirators met, and elected one of their number, Nabonnedus (Nabuna'id), as king. “In his reign it was that the walls of the city of Babylon were curiously built with burnt brick and bitumen,” is all that Berosus has to say with regard to the sixteen years of his reign which preceded his overthrow.

Many inscriptions of the reign of this king exist, and we are able to gain from them an excellent idea of the state of the country and the historical events of this important period. All that Nabonidus tells us concerning his origin is, that he was the son or descendant of Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî, whom he calls rubû êmqu, “the deeply-wise prince.” Who he may have been is not known, but there exist two tablets of the nature of letters written by a certain Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî to Aššur-banî-âpli, whose faithful servant he professed to be, protesting against the treatment which he had received at the hands of certain men who were hostile to him. If both these letters were written by the same person, they must belong to about the year 652 b.c. (the eponymy of Aššur-naṣir, which is mentioned in one of them). As that was about one hundred years before Nabonidus came to the throne, this personage, if related to him, must have been his grandfather or great-grandfather. Other persons of the same name are mentioned in the fifth, eleventh, eighteenth, and thirty-fourth years of Nebuchadnezzar, [pg 411] but it seems very unlikely that the father of Nabonidus should be one of these.

According to the Babylonian Chronicle, Nabonidus was at the beginning of his reign engaged in the west, to all appearance cutting down, among other things, trees on Mount Amanus for building purposes at Babylon. Something also took place by the Mediterranean (tâmtim ša mât Amurrî, “the sea of the land of Amoria”). Apparently he had also troops in this district, and sacrifices were performed there.

After this there is a gap until the sixth year of his reign, the entry for which, however, refers wholly to Astyages' operations against Cyrus, and its disastrous results, for he was made prisoner, Ecbatana sacked, and the spoil brought to Anšan, Cyrus's capital.

Previous to this, as Nabonidus informs us in his cylinder-inscription found by Mr. Rassam at Abu-habbah (Sippar), the Medes had been very successful in their warlike operations, and had even besieged Haran, making it impossible for Nabonidus to carry out the instructions of his god Merodach, revealed to him in a dream, to restore the temple of Sin in that city. On the king of Babylon reminding the deity of the state of things in that part, and speaking of the strength of the Median forces, he was told that in three years' time their power would be destroyed, which happened as predicted. He now caused his “vast army” to come from Gaza and elsewhere to do the needful work, and when completed, the image of the god Sin was brought from Babylon, and placed in the restored shrine with joy and shouting. Naturally the Babylonian king was overjoyed at the release of Haran from the power of the Medes—could he have foreseen that Cyrus, their conqueror, would one day hurl him from his throne, his enthusiasm concerning the success of “the young servant of Merodach” (as he calls him) would have been greatly abated.

[pg 412]

In his seventh and eighth years the king was in Temâ, and the crown prince (apparently Belshazzar is meant), with the great men and the army, was in Akkad (the northern part of Babylonia, of which the city of Agad or Agadé was the capital). The king did not go to Babylon, Nebo did not go to Babylon, Bel did not go forth, the festival akitu (new year's festival) was not performed, though the victims seem to have been offered in Ê-sagila and Ê-zida as usual, and (the king) appointed a priest (uru-gala) of the weapon (?) and the temple. In the ninth year also the same state of things existed, and this year the mother of the king died, to the great grief of the people. It is also recorded for this year that Cyrus, apparently in the course of one of his military expeditions, crossed the Tigris above Arbela.

From the fact that the religious processions and ceremonies are given as being unperformed every year from the seventh to the eleventh of his reign, it is clear that a great deal of discontent was caused thereby, as is, in fact, indicated by the cylinder-inscription of Cyrus detailing under what conditions he himself entered Babylon. It was evidently one of the duties of the Babylonian kings (and, as we have seen, the Assyrian kings conformed to this when they became kings of Babylonia) to perform the usual ceremonies, and the ruler neglecting this was certain to fall into disfavour with the priesthood, and, by their influence, with the people as well.

Whatever may have been the sins of omission of Nabonidus—whether they were trivial or otherwise—there is no doubt that they made a bad impression on the people, and gave rise to all kinds of statements against him when the days of misfortune came. For the scribe who drew up Cyrus's record after the taking of Babylon, all Nabonidus's doings with regard to the temples and statues of the gods were to be quoted against him. The temple dues had [pg 413] been allowed to fail, and the gods quitted their shrines, angry at the thought that Nabonidus had brought foreign gods to Šu-anna (a part of Babylon). With regard to this last accusation, it may be remarked that a popular ruler would in all probability have been praised for bringing the gods of other places to Babylon—it would have been either a tribute to the power of Babylonia in war (a power conferred upon her, in their opinion, by her gods); or else the payment of homage by the gods of other cities to those of Babylon, acknowledging at the same time their (and her) supremacy.

The fact is, Nabonidus was either the most intelligent, or one of the most intelligent, men in Babylonia. To all appearance he was not a ruler, but a learned man, full of love for his country and its institutions, and desirous of knowledge, which he obtained at all costs. Whenever he had to restore a temple, he at once excavated in its foundations for the records of early kings which he knew to be there, and he was often successful in finding what he wanted. As he always recorded what he found, his cylinder-inscriptions nearly always possess a value far beyond those of other kings of Babylon. He seems to have delighted in what he saw when engaged in this work—he not only tells you that he read the texts thus discovered, but he refers to their perfect condition, and nearly always says something about the ruler who caused them to be placed in the foundations. He, too, is worthy of a statue in every place where the language of his native land is studied.

Naturally, his antiquarian researches, necessitating, as they did, the destruction of a part of the fabric of the temple under repair at the time, were not looked upon altogether with favour by the priests and the people, hence the dissatisfaction to which the scribes, who were probably of the priestly caste, afterwards gave vent. Besides this, was it not necessary that [pg 414] they should justify themselves for accepting a foreign ruler, of a different religion from their own?

Nabonidus gives no hint in his inscriptions that he was aware of any dissatisfaction at what he was doing. In all probability he was as religious as any of his predecessors had been, and his son Belshazzar was as the second ruler in the kingdom. Records exist showing that Belshazzar sent offerings to the temple at Sippar whilst he was in that neighbourhood, and the king's own offerings are sometimes mentioned with them. The king had therefore a good deputy performing his work. With regard to the bringing of foreign gods to Šu-anna, Cyrus's scribe probably refers to the deities of Haran, which were taken thither before the siege of the place by the Medes. When the enemy had departed, Nabonidus restored the temple in that city, and replaced the deities referred to in their shrines. The transport of the idols may have been merely to place them for the time being in a place of greater security.

There is, then, every probability that Belshazzar, son of Nabonidus, was the real ruler. What an excellent understanding existed between him and his father may be gained from the inscription which Nabonidus caused to be composed to place in the foundations of the temple of the Moon (the god Sin) at Ur (identified with Ur of the Chaldees), the concluding lines of which run as follows—

“As for me, Nabonidus, king of Babylon,
from sin against thy great divinity
save me, and
a life of remote days
give as a gift;
and as for Belshazzar, the eldest son,
the offspring of my heart, the fear of thy great
divinity cause thou to exist in his heart, and
let not sin possess him, let him be satisfied with fulness of life.”

[pg 415]

The text being undated, there is no means of ascertaining in what year the restoration of the temple of the Moon at Ur took place.

The story of the downfall of the Babylonian empire and the end of native rule in Babylonia is told by the Babylonian Chronicle as follows—

“(Year 17th), Nebo to go forth (?) from Borsippa ... the king entered the temple E-tur-kalama. In the month (?) ... and the lower sea, revolted ... went (?). Bêl went forth, the festival Akitu (new year's festival) they held as usual (?). In the month ... the gods (?) of Marad, Zagaga and the gods of the city of Kiš, Beltis and the gods of Ḫursag-kalama, entered Babylon. At the end of the month Elul the gods of the land of Akkad who were above the atmosphere and below the atmosphere entered Babylon, the gods of Borsippa, Cutha, and Sippar did not enter. In the month Tammuz Cyrus made battle at Opis on the Tigris among the soldiers of Akkad. The people of Akkad raised a revolt; people were killed; Sippar was taken on the 14th day without fighting. Nabonidus fled. On the 16th day Ugbaru (Gobryas), governor of the land of Gutium, and the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting—after Nabonidus they pursued (?), he was captured in Babylon. At the end of the month the regiment (?) of the land of Gutium surrounded (?) the gates of Ê-sagila (the temple of Belus). A celebration (?) of anything, in Ê-sagila and the shrines, was not being made, and a (lunar ?) festival was not proceeding. Marcheswan, the third day, Cyrus descended to Babylon; they filled the roads before him. Peace was established to the city—Cyrus promised peace to Babylon, all of it. Gubaru (Gobryas), his governor, appointed governors in Babylonia, and from the month Kisleu to the month Adar the gods of the land of Akkad, whom Nabonidus had sent down to Babylon, returned to their places. The month [pg 416] Marcheswan, the night of the 11th day, Ugbaru (Gobryas) (went?) against ... and the son (?) of the king died. From the 27th of the month Adar to the third of the month Nisan, there was weeping in Akkad, all the people bowed down their heads. On the 4th day Cambyses, son of Cyrus, went to Ê-nig-ḫad-kalama-šummu (‘the house where the sceptre of the world is given,’ the temple of Nebo). The man of the temple of the sceptre of Nebo....”

(The remainder is mutilated, and the sense not clear—to all appearance it refers to religious ceremonies and sacrifices in which Cambyses took part.)

Here, again, the suggestion seems to be, that because the king thought fit to send the statues of the various gods of the land to other cities than their own “on a visit,” as it were, the priesthood was justified in renouncing allegiance to him (and in this the people naturally followed them), and in delivering the kingdom to a foreigner. It has been said that the success of Cyrus was in part due to the aid given to him by the Jews, who, sympathizing with him on account of his monotheism, helped him in various ways; but in all probability he could never have achieved success had not the Babylonian priests (as indicated by their own records) spread discontent among the people.

More important, however, are the details of the conquest by Cyrus. He must have entered Babylonia on the north-east, and met the Babylonian army at Opis. That the conflict went against the Babylonians may be taken for granted, though it is not stated. Apparently the country was divided into two parties—those for resistance, and those who were probably discontented on account of the king's reputed unorthodoxy. A conflict between these took place, and there was bloodshed, the result being that no resistance could be offered to the army of Cyrus, who entered Sippar, the seat of the worship of the [pg 417] Sun-god, without fighting. To all appearance Nabonidus was at his post, but recognizing that all was lost, fled. Two days later Gobryas (not Cyrus, be it observed) entered Babylon with the army of Cyrus without fighting, and apparently captured Nabonidus there. This took place about the end of June, and it was October before Cyrus entered the city. Judging from the text, he was well received, and the result of the conference between him and Gobryas was, that the latter “appointed governors in Babylon,” or “in Babylonia,” as the words may be also read. Another stroke of policy was the return to their habitations of the images of the gods which Nabonidus had transferred to other places, thus appeasing the priests.

At this point come some very important and difficult phrases. On the night of the 11th of Marcheswan, Gobryas descended (or went) upon or against something, and the king, or the son of the king, died. The combination of these two statements, taken in connection with the record in Daniel v. 30, suggests that the latter reading is the correct one, though the first, which would make it to mean that the king was slain, is not excluded, and would make very little difference in the record, it being possible that Belshazzar, as the successor of Nabonidus, might be meant. An earlier explanation was, that the doubtful group stood for “the wife” of the king, but in this case it would be difficult to explain how it is that the verbal form (which is ideographically written, and may be read either imât, “he dies,” tamât, “she dies,” or mêtat, “she died”) should differ from that used in the case of the king's mother, where imtût, the historical tense of the secondary form of the kal, is the form used. The use of imât for imût, “he died,” would be paralleled by the use of irab or irub, “he entered,” in other parts of the inscription.

Naturally, in a case of doubt, the seeker after truth in the matter of Babylonian history consults the record [pg 418] of the Babylonian historian Berosus. In the case of the taking of Babylon, however, there are such noteworthy differences, that one may well be excused for doubting his statements, notwithstanding his trustworthiness in other matters. He says that when Nabonnedus saw that Cyrus was coming to attack him, he met him with his forces, was beaten, and fled with a few of his troops to Borsippa. Cyrus then took Babylon, and gave order that the outer walls should be demolished, the city having proved very troublesome to him, and cost him much pains to capture. He then proceeded to besiege Nabonnedus in Borsippa, but the Babylonian king decided not to attempt to resist, and yielded. Cyrus therefore treated him kindly, and though he would not allow him to remain in Babylonia, he gave him Carmania as a place where he might dwell. “Accordingly Nabonnedus spent the rest of his time in that country, and there died.”

The Babylonian Chronicle, however, says nothing about Nabonidus having taken refuge in Borsippa, nor of his being besieged there, nor of his having submitted at that place. On the contrary, he was taken in Babylon, which city had been captured without fighting, and there was on that account no immediate excuse for demolishing the walls, which, as native records tell us, were dismantled in the time of the Seleucidæ. The fact is, Berosus did not wish it to be thought that the Babylonians had allowed their country to pass into the hands of a foreign ruler without resistance, hence this statement as to the capital holding out. To all appearance, Berosus is truthful where it is not to his interest to be otherwise.

The probability is, therefore, that “the son of the king,” Belshazzar, held out against the Persians in some part of the capital, and kept during that time a festival on the 11th of Marcheswan, when Gobryas pounced upon the place, and he, the rightful [pg 419] Chaldean king, was slain, as recorded in Daniel. In this case, Darius the Mede ought to be “Gobryas of Gutium,” who, like the former, appointed governors in Babylonia, and “received the kingdom” for Cyrus. If this be the case, Daniel would seem to have been in Belshazzar's power, though his knowledge of what was going on on the Persian side gave him courage to reject that prince's favours with scorn.

Officially, Belshazzar is never mentioned as king, though the Jewish captives must have regarded him as such, and probably spoke of him humorously as being the true ruler. This alone can account for his being called “king of the Chaldeans,” and for his appointing Daniel to be the “third ruler in the kingdom,” as has been already suggested. That he was also confused with his father is shown by the statement in Josephus, where he is spoken of (Antiq. x. xi. 2) as being called Nabonidus by the Babylonians (“Baltasaros, who by the Babylonians was called Naboandelos”), though Josephus's transcription of the names is as incorrect as a Greek's.

Cyrus now found himself master of Babylonia, without any pretender to molest him; and being the acknowledged ruler of the land, he made himself as popular as he could by protecting the various religions which were to be found in his new dominions. The Jews are said to have sympathized with him on account of his being a monotheist, but to the Babylonians he seemed to be of the same religion as themselves, and his inscriptions show that, whether with his consent or not, the gods of the Babylonians were spoken of and invoked on his behalf just as if this were the case, and we know that he allowed his son to take part in the Babylonian religious ceremonies.

But to show clearly the way in which Cyrus ruled, a portion of his cylinder-inscription, found by Mr. Rassam at Babylon, is given here—

[pg 420]

(To all appearance Nabonidus had tried to make various religious changes and reforms, the words “in the likeness of Ê-sagila” suggesting that he had at least thought of building another temple similar to that venerable fane.)

“The gods, who dwelt in the midst of them (i.e. the temples), forsook their dwellings in anger that he (Nabonidus) had made (them) enter within Šu-anna.121 Marduk in the presence of ... was going round to all the states whose seat had been founded, and the people of Šumer and Akkad, who had been like the dead,122 became active123 ... he had mercy upon the whole of the lands—all of them found (and) looked upon him. He sought also a just king, the desire of his heart, whose hand he might hold, Cyrus, king of the city Anšan, he called his title, to all the kingdoms together (his) na(me) was proclaimed.

“The land of Qutû, the whole of the troops of the Manda, he (Merodach) placed under his feet, he caused his hands to capture the people of the dark head,124 in righteousness and justice he cared for them. Merodach, the great lord, the protector of his people, looked with joy upon his fortunate work and his just heart. He commanded that he should go to his city Babylon, he caused him to take the road to Tindir,125 like a friend and a companion he walked by his side. His vast people, which, like the waters of a river, cannot be numbered,126 had their weapons girded, and marched by his side. Without fighting and battle he caused him to enter into Šu-anna. His city Babylon he protected in (its) trouble. Nabonidus, who [pg 421] did not fear him (i.e. Merodach), he delivered into his hand. The people of Tindir, all of them, the whole of the land of Šumer and Akkad, princes and high-warden, bowed down beneath him, and kissed his feet—they rejoiced for his sovereignty, their countenances were bright.

“The lord who, in trust that he (Merodach) gives life to the dead, spared on every side from destruction and injury. Well did they do him homage—they held in honour his name. I am Cyrus, king of the host, the great king, the powerful king, king of Tindir, king of the land of Šumer and Akkad, king of the four regions, son of Cambyses, the great king, king of the city of Anšan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, king of the city of Anšan, great-grandson of Šišpiš (Teispes), the great king, king of the city of Anšan, the all-enduring royal seed whose reign Bêl and Nebo love, for the contenting of their heart they desired his rule.

“When I entered in peace into (the midst) of Babylon, I founded in the king's palace a seat of dominion with pleasure and joy. Merodach, the great lord, broad-hearted for ... the sons ... Tindir and ... me, and daily I looked upon his image (?). My vast army marches in the midst of Babylon peacefully, the whole of (the people of Šumer and) Akkad I made to have no opposition. Within Babylon and all its districts in peace I had care for the sons of Tindir ... as without heart (?) ... and a yoke (which was) unseemliness for them was imposed (?). I comforted their sighing, I did away with their distress. For the work Merodach, the great lord, established the command—to me, Cyrus, the king his worshipper, and Cambyses, the son (who is) the offspring of my heart ... all of my army graciously he approached, and in peace before it kindly did he lead (?). (By his) supreme (command) the whole of the kings dwelling in the royal abodes of every region from the upper sea to [pg 422] the lower sea, (those) dwelling ... the kings of the Amorites127 (and) the dwellers in tents, all of them, brought their valuable tribute and kissed my feet within Šu-anna. From ... -a, the city of Aššur,128 and Susa, Agadé, the land of Ešnunak (Umliaš), Zamban, Mê-Turnu, (and) Dûr-îlu to the border of Qutû, the districts (on the banks) of the Tigris—from old time had their seats been founded—the gods dwelling within them I returned to their places, and caused eternal seats to be founded, all their people I collected and returned to their dwellings. And the gods of Šumer and Akkad, which Nabonidus, to the anger of the lord of the gods, had caused to enter within Šu-anna, by the command of Merodach, the great lord, I set in peace in their shrines—seats of joy of heart. May the whole of the gods whom I caused to enter into their places pray daily before Bêl and Nebo for the lengthening of my days, may they announce the commands for my happiness, and may they say to Merodach that ‘Cyrus, thy worshipper, and Cambyses, his son, ... (in) the countries (?), all of them, he has founded a seat of rest’....”

(Here follow the ends of nine more lines, from which, however, no certain sense can be gained.)

It will be seen, that this interesting and valuable inscription is in substantial agreement with the Chronicle. The grievance concerning the transference of the statues of the divinities is repeated and amplified, and the fact that Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting is confirmed (against Berosus, Xenophon, and the other Greek authors who describe the taking of Babylon).

Cyrus, however, here appears before us in quite a new character, namely, as the champion of Babylonian religious orthodoxy against Nabonidus's heterodoxy! [pg 423] That Cyrus was ignorant of the contents of this inscription (which must have been written by his orders) is in the highest degree improbable. That he may have been affected by Zoroastrian monotheism is likely, but if so, it was but a thin varnish, for he was to all appearance a polytheist at heart, as his Anzanian fathers (who, as we know from recent discoveries at Susa, were largely influenced by the religion of Babylonia) had been from the earliest times. He had chosen well the time of his invasion, as is shown by the revolt (apparently against Nabonidus) which is referred to in the Chronicle. It is strange how the Babylonians were in the main ready to accept a new ruler. In the earliest times we have mention of the Arabic dynasty which the native records call the dynasty of Babylon; later on came Cassites, Elamites and Assyrians, and now the country received an Elamite king who ruled over Persia. In the course of time other aliens would come and rule over them, but their acceptance of these was much less a matter of choice, or, rather, of apathetic acquiescence than on the occasion when they accepted Cyrus king of Anšan.

We see, moreover, from this inscription, that Cyrus did restore the various exiles to their homes, thus securing as far as possible the fidelity of those whom he wished to secure as his supporters. Among these were the Jews, and it is on account of this that his name is so favourably mentioned in the Old Testament. Cyrus himself says, that he caused all the gods whose statues had been brought to Babylon to be returned to the places whence they had come, and it is clear that, as the Jews had no divine statues, Cyrus did what he could for them, and sent back to Jerusalem the sacred vessels (Ezra i. 7), and also gave a grant for the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra iii. 7). In the decree quoted in Ezra (i. 2 ff.), where he is represented as saying that “the Lord God of heaven” [pg 424] had given him all the kingdoms of the earth, it is best to see in that, as in his Babylonian cylinder-inscription, a desire, for policy's sake, to be “all things to all men.” His success must have been largely due to the fact, that he had learned the art of ruling men.

It is to be supposed that he continued as he had begun, and that his rule was tolerated by the people. According to the contract-tablets, he associated his son with him on the throne during part of his first year, Cambyses becoming king of Babylon, whilst Cyrus retained the wider title of “king of countries.” Probably Gobryas had died, hence this change. Cyrus died in 529 b.c., and Cambyses took the throne. During his reign the Babylonians seem to have become discontented, desiring, perhaps, to have a ruler elected by themselves. Whilst, therefore, Cambyses was absent in Egypt, which country he conquered in the year 527 b.c., a Median, who was a Magian named Gomates, taking advantage of the dissatisfaction which prevailed, gave out that he was Bardes or Smerdis (called by the Babylonians Barzia), declared himself the son of Cyrus, whom Cambyses had murdered, and mounted the throne. Media, Persia, and Babylonia at once went over to him, and Cambyses hastened from Egypt to meet the pretender. Whilst in Syria, on the way home, he killed himself (521), perhaps by accident, though it is not impossible that it was a case of suicide, and the pretender retained for a very short period possession of the throne.

Another prince of the same family, Darius son of Hystaspes, now came forward, and after defeating Bardes and a number of other pretenders, among them Nidintu-Bêl, son of Aniru, who claimed to be Nebuchadnezzar the son of Nabonidus, mounted the throne. In fact, almost every province of the Persian empire had a pretender of its own, so that Darius found plenty of work ready to his hand. One by one, however, they were defeated, and “the lie” was put [pg 425] down in all the countries acknowledging Persian rule—Darius was sole and undisputed king.

It is unfortunate that no historical records referring to the reigns of Cyrus and Cambyses exist, except the Chronicle, which, however, ends with the accession year of the former. We have, therefore, no independent records of what took place in Syria, though it must be confessed, that there is great doubt whether the composer of the Chronicle at the time would have considered the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of the Temple as of sufficient importance to place on record there. The Bible and Josephus give circumstantial accounts of what occurred, but the official view of the circumstances of the granting of the permission to rebuild the Temple and the city by Cyrus, and its countermanding, at the instance of the Samaritans, during the reign of Cambyses, would be interesting in the extreme.

To find something about Zerubbabel, who is said to have been the friend of Darius (Jos., Ant. xi. iii. 1), would also be welcome, but this we can hardly dare to hope for. Zerubbabel (better Zeru-Babel, without the doubling of the b) is a name which is far from uncommon in the contracts of Babylonia. One, for instance, lived during the time of Nabonidus, and dwelt at Sippara. He was to all appearance of Assyrian origin. Another, the descendant of a smith, was the father of a man named Nabû-âḫê-bulliṭ, who lived in the third year of Darius. A third bearing the same name is he who is recorded as having acquired some ewes in the eleventh year of Darius. His father bore the unusual name of Mutêriṣu. For yet another example, see p. 441. It will thus be seen that the name was far from rare in ancient Babylonia.

And in the published contract-tables of Darius's reign, of which nearly 600 have been made available for study, there is little bearing upon Old Testament history. The same may also be said of his historical [pg 426] inscriptions, of which that engraved on the great rock at Behistun in Persia is the most important. It is in his historical inscriptions, however, that the character of the man may be read. In the first lines, where he tells of his origin, you read of his pride of descent, just as, farther on, he tells the story of his conflicts—how, with the help of his father, Hystaspes, who seconded him loyally and (there is hardly any doubt) affectionately, he overcame all the rebels, and having annihilated the lie which he hated so intensely, he could say, after his successes, that “the land was his.”

And through it all shines at every point, as it were, his adoration of the god whom he worshipped, Ahuramazda, by whose grace and favour he had been successful. There is no doubt about his religious faith—in his inscriptions he appears as a monotheist of the severest type, and for this reason he must have had but little sympathy with the polytheism of the Babylonians, and the other nationalities over which he ruled, whose faith was in a plurality of gods. It is true that offerings seem to have been made in his name in the temples of Babylonia, but these must have been due to old grants which had not been rescinded, and which the king and his advisers probably would have regarded as bad policy to abolish.

Naturally there is every probability that such a ruler as Darius would have sympathies with the Jews, on account of their monotheism, and it may be supposed that such a feeling towards them would have led him to consent to the upholding of Cyrus's decree that the Temple at Jerusalem should be finished, as detailed in Ezra vi. 1 ff. Darius relates in the Behistun inscription, that he restored the temples of the gods (Bab. bêtê ša îlāni, Median ziyan nappana, “temples of the gods,” Pers. āyadāna, “shrines”) which Gomates the Magian, the pseudo-Bardes [pg 427] or Smerdis, had destroyed. That a single word (āyadāna) is used in Persian, whilst the phrase “temples of the gods,” in the plural, is used in Babylonian and Median, shows merely the desire to speak to the latter nations in the language to which they were accustomed, and at the same time indicates that neither the one nor the other, unlike the Persians, were monotheists. Gomates was therefore not a monotheist, otherwise he would not have destroyed the temples, which would seem to have been those of Darius's own faith; for this king would hardly have thought it worth while to mention the fact of their destruction, had they been the sacred places of a creed which he despised, and it is only natural to suppose, from his very frequent mention of Ahuramazda, the god whom he worshipped, that he was proud of being a monotheist.

It may therefore be taken, that if Darius Hystaspis ordered the completion of the Temple at Jerusalem, and the giving of funds in aid of the work, it was out of sympathy with the Jews. As his reign was one of tolerance, he did not interfere with the religion of either the Babylonians or the Medians, but in all probability he did not imitate Cyrus by grants on his own account, and under a royal decree, to the temples of those, to him, heathen countries. There is considerable doubt, however, whether it is this king who is referred to in Ezra and Esdras, as Sir Henry Howorth has shown (Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, 1901, pp. 147 ff., 305 ff., 1902, pp. 16 ff.), the ruler intended being in all probability Darius Nothus, whose position agrees with the chronology of these books, and does away with much difficulty as to their acceptance as historical authorities.

According to Darius, twenty-three countries owned his sway: Persia, Elam, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia, Egypt, “by the sea,” Sarpada, Ionia, Media, Armenia, Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Aria, Chorasmia, [pg 428] Bactria, Sogdiana, Paruparaesana, Scythia, Sattagydia, Arachosia, and Maka. Palestine was evidently included in the district designated “by the sea.” After a most active reign, Darius died in the year 486 b.c., having appointed his son Xerxes as his successor.

The reign of this ruler, and his attempt to reduce Greece to submission, are well known. It was probably after his disastrous failure, when he had returned to Persia, that he took as one of his wives the Jewess Esther, as related in the book bearing her name. His inscriptions are short ones, referring to the buildings erected by his father and himself. In all probability he thought that his warlike exploits, overwhelmed as they were by misfortune, were not of a nature to bear recording. In his own inscriptions, his name is given as Ḫiši'arši or Ḫiši'arša'i in Babylonian, and Khshayarsha in Old Persian. In the contract-tablets, however, it appears as Aḫšiaršu, Aḫšiwaršu, Akšiaršu, Akkašiaršu, and Ḫišiarši. It is from one of the forms with prefixed a that the Hebrew Aḫashwērôs (A.V. Ahasuerus) has apparently come, the most probable original being one similar to the Aḫšuwaršu of a contract-tablet in the Museum at Edinburgh.

Xerxes died in the year 464 b.c., and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes, the Artakhshatra of the Old Persian inscriptions, and the Artakšatsu or Artakšassu of Babylonian inscriptions. Though it was not without bloodshed that he reached the throne, he proved to be a successful ruler—more so, in fact, than his predecessor, whose expedition against the Greeks had ended only in disgrace and the loss of an enormous number of troops taken from all the nations over which he ruled. It is therefore not to be wondered at that his reign should have been regarded as wise and temperate. In any case, he was well disposed towards the Jews, and gave permission, in his seventh year, to Ezra, to go up to Jerusalem with a [pg 429] royal grant, to settle affairs there, and sacrifice to the God of the Jews (Ezra vii., viii.). Later on, he gave permission to Nehemiah to return to the land of his fathers to restore and rebuild the walls of the city. As Nehemiah was his cupbearer, it is easily conceivable that he did this to please him, and to reward one who had evidently been a faithful servant, but it is not improbable that the king at the same time had in his mind the rebellion of his general Megabysus, who had risen against him in protest against the treatment meted out by his royal master to his captive Inarus. To have a well-fortified city defended by those who had benefited greatly by his rule, must have seemed to the Persian ruler good policy.

Artaxerxes died in the year 425 b.c., and was succeeded by his son, Xerxes II., who reigned only two months, at the end of which time he was murdered by Sogdianus, a bastard son of Artaxerxes, who then became king. Seven months only, however, was the length of this new ruler's reign, he being, in his turn, put to death by another of the bastard sons of Artaxerxes, Darius Ochus, after he had surrendered to him. This ruler is the Darius Nothus of history, who mounted the throne in 424 b.c. His reign was noted for the numerous insurrections against his dominion which took place, but is of special interest because of the resumption of the work of rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem, which had been stopped by the decree of Artaxerxes, as recorded in Ezra iv. 21-24. (See Sir H. Howorth in the P. S. B. A., 1901, pp. 307, 308.)

[pg 430]

Chapter XII. Life At Babylon During The Captivity, With Some Reference To The Jews.

The reign of Nebuchadnezzar—The earliest mention of Nabonidus—Neriglissar and his relations with his fellow-citizens before his accession—He marries his daughter Gigîtum to the director of Ê-zida—Prince Laborosoarchod—Nabonidus and the temples at Sippar—Prince Belshazzar's transactions—His offerings at Sippar—His sister's gift to her god (or goddess)—Princess Ukabu'sama's transaction—The Jews at Babylon—Babylonian business and other letters—Širku's slave—A loan at Erech—Work upon a plantation—Sale of an ass—Jews and Babylonians—The dead slave—A right of way—The story of Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitum—The outcast slave—The Egyptian slave and her infant—Širku's transactions—Babylon as the Jewish captives saw it.

I.

If trade-activity be a test of prosperity, then the Babylonians of the period extending from the end of the reign of Nabopolassar to the end of that of Darius could have had but little to complain of on the whole, notwithstanding the changes of dynasty which took place. Over three thousand inscriptions covering this period have been published, and there is every reason to believe that, if all the texts in the various museums were made known, twice this number might be reached. There is, therefore, an abundance of material with which to reconstruct the life of that period. Naturally, many of this enormous number of inscriptions are comparatively uninteresting, and some of the texts are of little or no value, even to specialists. This being the case, it will easily be understood that, [pg 431] as they are mostly of the nature of contracts, with a certain number of legal documents, the information which many of them give is comparatively meagre, and there is a great deal of repetition. That some of them, notwithstanding these disadvantages, are sufficiently interesting, will be seen from the examples which this chapter contains.

Among all these documents we find repeated, with some differences which the course of centuries had brought about, the same transactions, and the same daily life as has already been treated of in the fifth chapter, pp. 159-191. There are purchases and sales of land, property, and slaves, loans at interest and without interest, and all the various kinds of contracts which the daily needs of a large population call forth. Marriage-contracts and contracts of apprenticeship are also not uncommon, wills and divisions of property—generally in greater detail than of old—are also to be found. To these must be added the leasing and hire of houses, the purchase and hire of ships, divisions of property, inventories of the same, receipts of different kinds, etc. etc.

For the most part, the people who pass before us are slaves, servants, money-lenders, merchants, and other of the common folk, with a sprinkling of scribes, priests, both of the higher and the lower classes (generally the latter), palace officials, now and then a judge, or a governor, or one of the subordinate officials. Did we know them all, perhaps we should think more of them, and estimate them at their true worth; but in the appearance and reappearance of their names we see only the plaintiff or the defendant, the buyer or the seller, and it is but rarely that we can recognize them as men of note, though in many cases it is to be conjectured that they were so. It is only seldom that the crown prince or one of his brothers, appears, or a relative of the ruling king comes within our range—as for the king himself, except in the date of a [pg 432] document, his name is rare in the extreme, and when he appears actively, it is in the character of patron of the temples, or something of a similar nature.

Naturally the king was hedged about with a considerable amount of reverence, which must have manifested itself in many ways which we shall probably never know. This consideration for the name of the king would lead to his being represented by an agent, doing away with the necessity of his appearing in person, when dealing with his subjects. Though he prudently keeps out of sight, it is hardly a dignified thing that the great Nebuchadnezzar should appear as a moneylender, even by proxy, as he seems to do in the following document. But we do not know the whole history of the transaction, so must not hastily accuse him of an unkingly action—his appearance may be unauthorized, or the loan may be capable of a perfectly natural explanation.

“Ten shekels (in) ingots (?), the silver of Ina-êši-êṭir, son of Nadin, the king's agent. The king's silver, which was given for gold (? = as capital) to Ina-êši-êṭir, (is) due from Nabû-êṭir, son of Šulâ, descendant of the mead-dealer. At the end of the month Tisri he will give (it) back. His property, as much as there is, (is) the security, until Ina-êši-êṭir receives the king's silver. Witnesses: Nadin, son of Marduk, descendant of Irani; Nergal-iddina, son of Nabû-kaṣir, descendant of Êpeš-îli; and the scribe, Ana-Bêl-upâqu, son of Bêl-šum-iškun, descendant of the mead-dealer. Babylon, month Tammuz, day 28th, year 21st, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

Though security is referred to, there is no mention of interest, but Ina-êši-êṭir probably expected something of the kind. The question also arises, whether the sum may not have been advanced without the authority of his royal master. The original of the expression translated “ingots” suggests that the pieces may have been in the form of a sword-blade.

[pg 433]

Among the tablets referring to Nebuchadnezzar's offerings, 84-2-11, 23, and its duplicate 270 of the same collection, are probably the most interesting. This inscription is to the effect that Izkur-Marduk had given up with willingness the office of naš-paṭrūtu to Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî. His duty was to perform the king's sacrifices every year before the goddess Išḫara, “dwelling in Ê-ša-turra, which is within Šu-anna,” and before Pap-sukal, of “the temple Ê-kidur-kani, the house of the Lady of heaven, of the bank of the water-channel of âlu-eššu (the new city) which is within Babylon.” The animals sacrificed were oxen and sheep, and the parts offered before the two deities are fully specified. The contract ends with a longer curse than usual in tablets of this class: “Whoever the words and this gift changes, as much as has been conferred (?) on Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî, may Merodach, Zēr-panitum, Išḫara, and Pap-sukal bespeak his destruction; may Nebo, the scribe of Ê-sagila, shorten his long days. The spirit of Marduk, Zēr-panitum, (and) his gods, and Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, the king their lord, they have invoked.” The names of three witnesses and the scribe follow this, after which is the date, 29th day of Tammuz, 32nd year of Nebuchadnezzar. A portion of the sacrifices were to be made on the 8th day of Nisan, i.e. at the beginning of the second week of the new year.

As stated in his long inscriptions referring to the restoration of the temples at Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar looked upon that city as the one whose temples he especially delighted to honour, and this text referring to his offerings seems to bear out that statement. As, however, his inscribed cylinders from other places show that he did not neglect the shrines of his provincial capitals altogether, so certain inscriptions referring to his offerings elsewhere show that he did not withhold what was considered as due from him to the other shrines of his realm. Thus, in his thirty-fifth [pg 434] year he is recorded to have made a gift or offering of an object, made or set with some kind of stone, to the goddess of Sippar, Aa, the consort of the Sun-god, and another object of gold to the god himself. In all probability, the text referred to is only one of a number of inscriptions referring to the king's offerings, for even this great and popular ruler would hardly have dared to risk the hostility of the priests merely to gratify his desire to enrich and embellish his capital city. In addition to the king, the officials of his court sometimes made offerings at Sippar, as is indicated by the following short inscription—

“One ass, tithe which Nabû-šarra-uṣur, the king's captain, has given to the temple Ê-babbara. Month Iyyar, day 20 less 1, year 42nd, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

To all appearance, Nabû-šarra-uṣur was a man sufficiently well off, if, as may well be supposed, he possessed nine other asses besides the one which he was giving as tithe. From the nature of the offering, this could not have been made on account of the king, though he must from time to time have commissioned others to act on his behalf, as the following inscriptions inform us that his sons did—

“..., tithe of (Marduk)-šum-uṣur, the son of the king, Zubuduru, messenger of Marduk-šum-uṣur, the son of the king, has given to Ê-babbara. The sheep (is) in the cattle-house in the care of Šamaš-êreš. Month Adar, day 17th, year 40th, (Nabû-kud)urri-uṣur, (king of Babylon).”

The word to be restored at the beginning is probably “1 sheep,” this being the number implied farther on. If so, it cannot be said that he was by any means a large owner of these animals. The following refers to tithe in silver paid by the same prince—

“1/3 and 5 shekels (= 25 shekels) of silver (is) the tithe which Marduk-šum-uṣur, son of the king, has given by the hands of Šamaš-kain-âḫi and Aqabi-îlu to [pg 435] Ê-babbara. Month Iyyar, day 14th, year 42nd, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

Another inscription, dated in the forty-first year of Nebuchadnezzar, refers to another son, named Marduk-nadin-aḫi, whose servant, Sin-mâr-šarri-uṣur, had paid half a mana for fruit (dates). The name of the servant, which means “Moon-god, protect the son of the king,” is interesting, and testifies to the devotion of the family of its owner to the royal house.

These references to the sons of Nebuchadnezzar naturally raise the question of the parentage of Nabonidus, whose son, Belshazzar, is called, in Daniel, the son—i.e. descendant—of Nebuchadnezzar. As this is a historical point of some importance, even the most uncertain light, when thrown upon it, may turn out to be of considerable value. In all probability, therefore, this is the most appropriate place to introduce what may be called

The Earliest Mention Of Nabonidus.

This document is preserved on two tablets, the most correct being very much crowded in one part, and the other very neatly and clearly, but at the same time very incorrectly, written. Both are, therefore, in all probability, copies, made at dates some time after the original document was drawn up.

Though the more clearly-written copy is rather incorrect, it furnishes in some cases interesting variants, which will be noticed in their place. The value of the text as a historical document depends, in part, as will easily be recognized, upon the trustworthiness of a statement which the incorrect copyist has read into it.

Both these documents belong to the collection obtained by the late George Smith on his last ill-fated journey to the East. They are numbered S +, 769 and 734.

“Adi'îlu, son of Nabû-zēr-iddina, and Ḫulîti, his [pg 436] wife (the divine Ḫulîtum!129) have sold Marduka (Mordecai), their son, for the price agreed upon, to Šulâ, son of Zēr-ukîn. The liability to defeasor (?) and pre-emptor (?), which is upon Marduka, Adi'îlu and Akkadu respond for.”

“Witnesses: Nabû-na'id (Nabonidus), who is over the city130; Agar'u; Mušêzib-Bêl, son of Marduka131; Zērîa, son of Bâbîlâa; Ukîn-zēra, son of Yadi'-îlu132; Rêmut, son of Marduka; and the scribe Nabû-zēr-ikîša, son of Marduk- ... Ḫuṣṣiti-ša-Mušallim-Marduk, month Sebat, day 16th, year 8th, Nabû-kudurrî-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

It will probably seem strange to most readers that Babylonian parents, who were as a rule fond of children, should sell their son; but it is impossible to pronounce judgment against them without knowing more, so as to be able to take into consideration the circumstances in which the thing was done. Though the document resembles those recording the sale of slaves, certain phrases are left out (compare the inscriptions referred to on pp. 465 ff.).

The exclamatory addition of the scribe in one case, where he writes the name of the mother, Ḫulîtum, with the prefix for divinity, shows that he regarded her as being with the gods—to all appearance she had, at the time of making the copy, departed this life. It may be taken as implying respect, reverence, and something more.

[pg 437]

Naturally there is no suggestion that the Nabonidus who is given as the first witness, with the title “he who is over the city,” was the son of Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî, afterwards king of Babylon. The scribe of the second tablet calls him “the son of the king,” but there is no indication, from Babylonian sources, that he was one of the sons of Nebuchadnezzar. It is true that, in Daniel, Belshazzar is spoken of as if Nebuchadnezzar was his father (or, better, grandfather), but this is the first indication that the Babylonians ever thought of Nabonidus, his father, as one of the sons of the great Nebuchadnezzar. The question is, whether the scribe who made the second and more incorrect copy would have read into the doubtful characters which his original evidently contained, a statement which he must have known to be untrue, incorrect, or impossible. In view of the fact that the copy in question must have been made sufficiently near to the time of Nabonidus for the facts to be still known, a wilful error is to all appearance excluded, though, on the other hand, the incorrectness of other parts of the tablet obliges us to take the statement for what it is worth. The traces of a character after the words “son of the king” are doubtful—they look like the remains of three horizontal wedges, the two lower ones being fairly clear. As the topmost wedge is the most doubtful, it is possible that the traces which remain are really part of the sign for “city,” in which case the scribe wrote “son of the king of the city,” placing the determinative prefix for “man” before the character for “king”—a most unusual way of writing the word. It enables us to surmise, however, that the reading of his original was really ša muḫḫi âli, instead of ša êli âli (both phrases have the same meaning), that he regarded ša as a, that he thought muḫ-ḫi to be the characters for “man” and “king,” and that he read the last of the phrase, the character for “city,” correctly.

[pg 438]

They are a couple of as interesting, but, at the same time, as unsatisfactory, tablets, as could well be imagined.

It is to be noted that the name of Nabonidus is not altogether uncommon in the inscriptions. In most cases, however, we know that it is either not the well-known king of that name, or that his identity with him is doubtful. That the person here referred to was a man of some consequence is indicated by his title, “he who is over the city,” and it often happens in that case (as here) that the name of his father and other remoter ancestor is omitted. This is sometimes the case with Neriglissar, who is very often named in the contract-tablets of Babylonia, and his name is then either given without any indication of his parentage, or else with the simple addition “son of Bêl-šum-iškun.”

Another figure which appears at this time is that same Neriglissar who was to play so important a part in the affairs of Babylonia at a later date. In the case of this prince (unlike the Nabonidus of the inscription translated above) we are not tormented by any doubts whatever. It is really and truly Neriglissar, and none other. He first appears in Nebuchadnezzar's thirty-fourth year, in the following legal document—

“100 sheep of Kili(gug?), servant of Nergal-šarra-uṣur, concerning which Abî-nadib, son of Ya-ḫata, said to Nergal-šarra-uṣur, son of Bêl-šum-iškun, thus—

“ ‘Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ, servant of Nergal-šarra-uṣur, brought them by my hand.’

“If Abî-nadib (and) Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ prove (this), Abî-nadib is free; if he prove it (not), Abî-nadib will give to Nergal-šarra-uṣur 100 sheep, (with) wool (?) and young (?).

“Witnesses: Ṣilli-Bêl, son of Abî-yadiša; Kabtia, son of Marduk-zēr-ibnî, descendant of the potter; [pg 439] Nabû-naṣir, son of Zillâ; and the scribe, (Nabû)-âḫê-iddina, son of Šulâ, descendant of Êgibi. Takrētain (?), month Elul, day 2nd, year 34th, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

Neriglissar must therefore have been an extensive cattle-owner, and had many servants, some of whom at least must have been men of substance, like Abî-nadib, who engages to restore to his master the 100 sheep, if it could be proved that they had been lost by his fault. Judging from the name, Abî-nadib (= Abinadab) must have come from the west, his Biblical namesakes being Israelites. Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ elsewhere appears as the major-domo of the crown prince (? Laborosoarchod = Labâši-Marduk) during the reign of Neriglissar, and of Belshazzar during the reign of his father Nabonidus. The reader will meet his name again in the translations which follow.

A similar transaction to the above is one in which two servants of Neriglissar were concerned, but in which the prince himself seems not to have been directly interested. It is as follows—

“(At the end?) of the month Sivan, Šarru-îlûa, servant of Nergal-šarra-uṣur, will bring his witness and will prove to Ḫatānu, servant of Nergal-šarra-uṣur, that Šarru-îlūa gave to Ḫatānu the iron raqundu. If he prove it, Ḫatānu will give to Šarru-îlūa a raqundu.

“Witnesses: Mušêzib-Bêl, son of Nabû-iltama', and the scribe, Nabû-âḫê-iddina, descendant of Êgibi. Upia (Opis), month Nisan, day 29th, (year ...)th, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the “chief of the house” or major-domo of Neriglissar was Bêl-êṭiranni, who is mentioned as having borrowed money, whether on his own or his master's behalf is not known. This took place in the forty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar. The following is an order for the delivery of goods to the prince—

[pg 440]

“Cause ... iron implements (and) 80 kudutum to be taken to Nergal-šarra-uṣur by the hands of Nabû-šum-iddina, secretary of Nergal-šarra-uṣur. Month Iyyar, day 12th, year 43rd, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

To all appearance prince Neriglissar was a very busy man, who sought to add to his worldly goods by every means in his power, and did not disdain to engage in trade in the attainment of wealth. What he had apparently begun in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he continued in the time of Evil-Merodach, during whose reign there are several inscriptions referring to his transactions with regard to houses. In the first of these inscriptions he hires a house for 11 mana of silver from Nabû-âbla-iddina, by his agent, Nabû-kain-âbli (first year of Evil-Merodach, month and day lost).

In another contract he acquires 4 canes, 1 cubit, 8 fingers (of land) from Marduk-šakin-šumi, and 2 canes, 6-2/3 cubits from Kurbanni-Marduk, for a total of 4 mana 19 shekels of silver. (Babylon, month Tebet, day 9th, 1st year of Evil-Merodach.)

In the third contract it would seem that the property in land of Nabû-âbla-iddina had been given over to his creditors, of whom Nabû-banî-âḫi was one, the amount due to him being, in all, 53 shekels of silver, due to him from Nabû-âbla-iddina in the name of a third party. By the authority of Neriglissar it would seem that 42-1/3 shekels of silver were paid to Nabû-banî-âḫi, who then gave to Neriglissar a contract for 53 shekels of silver, promising, at the same time, to speak to the king's scribes, and draw up and deliver to Neriglissar a sealed document. If he did not do this, he was to be liable for the silver and its interest.

By advancing the money to this creditor, Neriglissar became himself a creditor of the estate of Nabû-âbla-iddina (15th of Adar, 1st year of Evil-Merodach), and it seems to have been his intention to get the whole [pg 441] of the land and the houses thereon into his own hands. He therefore acquired further interest in the property a few weeks later (26th of Nisan, 2nd year of Evil-Merodach), and again after a further interval of three months (14th of Tammuz, 2nd year of Evil-Merodach). To all appearance, the amounts advanced by Neriglissar to the creditors of the estate were less than the sums due to them from Nabû-âbla-iddina on account of their claims. He seems, however, to have got them to give him receipts in full, and they had to promise to deliver sealed documents. He must have made a considerable profit out of this species of bill-discounting.

The last tablet referring to the estate of Nabû-âbla-iddina is dated in the accession year of Neriglissar's own reign (9th of the 2nd Adar), and in this Nabû-âḫê-iddina secures an interest by paying 26-¼ shekels of silver on account of a sum of 52-½ shekels—just half. The land is stated to have been “sold for silver for a palace,” and the money was paid by the intermediary of Nabû-âḫê-iddina, Neriglissar's representative in such matters before he ascended the throne. The following is a translation of this interesting document—

“52-½ shekels of silver due to Ikîšâ, son of Gilûa, descendant of Sin-šadûnu, which is upon (i.e. due from) Nabû-âbla-iddina, son of Balaṭu, descendant of the butler (?), in (part payment) of the price of the house of Nabû-âbla-iddina, which has been sold for silver for the palace. In agreement with the creditors, Ikîša, son of Gilûa, descendant of Sin-šadûnu, has received 26-¼ shekels of silver from the hands of Nabû-âḫê-iddina, son of Šulâ, descendant of Êgibi, and has given the contract for 52-½ shekels of silver, which is upon (i.e. due from) Nabû-âbla-iddina, to Nabû-âḫê-iddina.

“Witnesses: Dâanu-šum-iddina, son of Zēru-Bâbîli, descendant of the dagger-bearer; Nabû-nadin-šumi, [pg 442] son of Ablâ, descendant of Sin-nadin-šumi; Bêl-šunu, son of Uššâa, descendant of Âḫi-banî;

“and the scribe, Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî, son of Ikîšâ, descendant of Sin-šadûnu. Babylon, month of the later Adar, day 9th, year of the beginning of dominion of Nergal-šarra-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

But Neriglissar was now king, and had no need and but little desire to appear before his subjects as a purchaser of houses, or as a trader in any way (it is probably on this account that his name does not occur in the above document). When he engaged in anything of the kind, it was henceforth through agents. The only exception known is the marriage-contract of his daughter Gigîtum, who espoused the high priest of Nebo at Borsippa. The following is a translation of this document, as far as it is preserved—

“Nabû-šum-ukîn, priest of Nebo, director of Ê-zida, son of Širiktum-Marduk, descendant of Išdē-îlāni-dannu, said to Nergal-šarra-uṣur, king of Babylon: ‘Give Gigîtum, thy virgin daughter, to wifehood, and let her be my wife.’ Nergal-šarra-uṣur (said) to Nabû-šum-ukîn, priest of Nebo, director of Ê-zida....”

(About twenty-eight lines are wanting here, the text becoming again legible at the end of the list of witnesses on the reverse.)

“..., son of Nabû-šum-lišir, ...; ...-ri, son of Nabû-šarra-uṣur, the judge (??);

“Nabû-šum-uṣur, the scribe, son of Aššur ... Babylon, month Nisan, day 1st, year 1st, (Nergal-šarra)-uṣur, king of Babylon. Copy of Ê-zida.”

The mutilation of the record is unfortunate, as the conclusion of the matter cannot be ascertained, but it may be regarded as fairly certain that Neriglissar really did give his daughter Gigîtum in marriage to Nabû-šum-ukîn, for had it been otherwise, there would have been but little need to draw up the document of which the fragment here translated [pg 443] has been preserved to us. The remainder of the tablet was probably taken up with the usual conditions—the penalty Nabû-šum-ukîn would have to pay should he divorce or abandon his wife; the penalty Gigîtum would have to suffer if she disowned or forsook her husband; directions with regard to the amount and disposal of her dowry, etc. This and similar inscriptions seem to suggest that Herodotus was probably wrongly informed with regard to the compulsory nature of the public prostitution of unmarried women which, he says, was practised in Babylonia, the expressions found in these inscriptions often pointing, as in the present case, to a belief, on the part of the bridegroom, in the chastity of the woman chosen by him to be his wife.

The date corresponds with the Babylonian New Year's Day, 559 b.c.

With this inscription we take leave of Neriglissar except as the ruler whose name the scribes used to date by.

Though, according to Berosus, Laborosoarchod (Labāši-Marduk) was a mere child when he came to the throne, there is no doubt, from the inscription which follows, that he was old enough to have an establishment of his own, and also to carry on the business of money-lender, Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ (see p. 439) being his representative in the transactions in which he engaged. As it is an inscription typical of its class, it is given here in full—

“12 mana of silver of the son of the king, which (has been advanced through) the hand of Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ, chief of the house of the son of the king, is upon (i.e. due from) Šum-ukîn, son of Mušallim-îlu. In the month Nisan the silver, 12 mana, in its full amount, he will repay. Everything of his, in town and country, all there is, is the security of the king's son—another creditor shall not have power over it until Nabû-sabit-qâtâ receives the money. Nabû-âḫê-iddina, [pg 444] son of Šulâ, descendant of Êgibi, takes responsibility for the receipt of the money.

“Witnesses: Šamaš-uballiṭ, son of Ikîšâ; Kalbâ, son of Bêl-êreš; the scribe Bêl-âḫê-ikîšâ, son of Bêl-êṭeru. Babylon, month Elul, day 10th, year 2nd, Nergal-šarra-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

What the crown prince did, it goes without saying that all the court officials sought to do. An instance of this is Bêl-âḫê-iddina, the king's captain, who is recorded as having lent 2/3 of a mana of silver to Ardîa and Šulâ, at an interest of one shekel upon every mana monthly—twenty per cent. yearly—a sufficiently high interest, though it was the usual rate in Babylonia. This inscription is dated at Babylon, 7th day of Kisleu, 2nd year of Neriglissar. It is noteworthy, however, that there is no mention of interest in the document drawn up for Labāši-Marduk's major-domo.

Interesting is the inscription in which two partners engage to meet two other men, also partners, at the gate of the house of the king's son to come to an arrangement concerning profits which they had made ša zallānu u dusê, i.e. with regard to two “lines” of leather goods (9th day of Tammuz, 3rd year of Neriglissar). It also furnishes further testimony to the fact that this prince had a separate establishment.

After Laborosoarchod's nine months came the reign of Nabonidus, whom, as will be remembered, the Babylonians and Cyrus, his conqueror, accused of neglecting the gods, and sending them forth from their shrines to the cities around. Perhaps his crime consisted in his preference for the gods of other cities than Babylon, the city which Nebuchadnezzar's lavish favours had somewhat spoilt, and who resented her neglect at the hands of the antiquarian king. However that may be, contemporary records show that he gave to the benefit of Sippar, the city of the Sun-god, not unfrequently. A mutilated inscription refers to full-grown oxen and sheep from the son of the king, [pg 445] for the king's sacrifices, divided between two temples at Sippar, one of them being that of Anunitu[m] (7th of Adar, 9th year of Nabonidus); and things from the bît makkur nidinit šarri (“warehouse of the king's gifts”) are often mentioned. Naturally he had to make gifts to many shrines in Babylonia.

Whether the following refers to oxen for sacrifice or not is doubtful—

“20 shekels of silver have been given to Nabû-šarra-uṣur, the sec(retary) of the king, for oxen for the husbandmen who are in the city Ḫa(buru). He has not given the oxen. Month Nisan, day 16th, year 7th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

The above inscription comes from Sippar, near which the city referred to must have stood.

Several inscriptions refer to the storehouse into which the king's gift was delivered. The following is a specimen of these texts—

“Fruit, the amount of the 10th year, Ana-âmat-Bêl-atkal has given into the storehouse of the gift of the king. Month Kisleu, day 14th, year 10th, Nabû-na'id, (king) of Êridu.

“35 gur, Šamaš-killi-anni.

“12 gur 90 qa, Šum-ukîn and Rêmut.

“65 gur 144 qa, Ikîšâ.

“45 gur 72 qa, Kinâ.

“62 gur, Niqu(du).

“17 gur 72 qa, ...

“Altogether 23(8 gur 18 qa).”

This and other inscriptions, especially one referring to 250 gur of grain, shows that Nabonidus was fairly liberal to the temples at Sippar. It is also very probable that he provided for the needful repairs of this and other temples from time to time, one of the inscriptions (dated in his third year) recording a contribution of half a talent and 7 mana of silver for work done on the great temple-tower of Sippar, [pg 446] Ê-babbara, besides 8 mana 20 shekels of silver as tithe, seemingly for grain for the city Ḫaburu, where, it is to be conjectured, an agricultural farm belonging to one of the temples of Sippar was situated.133

It is not by any means improbable that Nabonidus had a residence at Sippar, and if so, this would explain the reason of his favouring that city, and at the same time add to the causes of the discontent of the “sons of Babylon.” This is implied by a small tablet apparently inscribed with an account of the receipts and expenditure of the temple Ê-babbara at Sippar, which occupied the position of purveyor of water, and took the place of the water-company of the cities of modern Europe—

“2 mana 13 shekels of silver, the price of the king's water, which is from Bêl-âbla-iddina, the overseer of134 Kî-Bêl, the chief man of the king's water, has been brought by the hands of Šamaš-kain-âbli, son of Balatu.

“From the amount, 2 mana of silver have been given for 80 measures (?) of oil to Nabû-uṣur-šu, son of Dummuq, descendant of Gaḫal, in the presence of Kalbâ, the secretary. 13 shekels of silver are in the treasury.

“Silver, 2 mana, is with Nabû-dûr-pâniâ. Of the amount, 4 shekels of silver have been paid for 2 parrum135-stones, which were given to Aššur-rîmananni, son of Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî.

“Month later Adar, day 27th, year 6th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

Another tablet, dated in Nabonidus's accession year, indicates that the temple supplied water, for a fixed sum, to a part of Sippar called “the city of the Sun.”

From other tablets we obtain also information [pg 447] about the family of Nabonidus. Most of them, as is to be expected, refer to Belshazzar, the heir to the throne, who is conjectured to have been the second ruler in the kingdom, thus explaining how it was that the position of “third ruler in the kingdom” could be offered to the Prophet Daniel. Like the other rulers of Babylonia, Nabonidus had granted to Belshazzar, or at least permitted him to occupy, a separate house, which was situated within Babylon, beside the house of Marduk-îriba, son of Rêmut, descendant of Miṣrâa. From the inscription referring to this which has come down to us, it may be conjectured that Marduk-îriba was a minor, and his sister, Bau-êṭirat, therefore acted for him. Bêl-rêṣūa, servant of Belshazzar, approached her and succeeded in acquiring her brother's land for 45 shekels of silver, which was duly paid to Marduk-îriba. Though it is not stated, this transaction probably took place on behalf of Belshazzar, who wished to add to his possessions, and as it is dated in the month Adar, in the 1st year of Nabonidus, it would seem that he decided to enlarge the domain he was entitled to as crown prince shortly after he found himself occupying that position.

Another tablet referring to Belshazzar is a contract drawn up for one of his secretaries (on the one hand), by which he obtained the occupation of a house in exchange for a loan of silver—a common arrangement in those days in Babylonia. The following translation will enable the reader to see the terms of this, the type of a numerous series of documents—

“The house of Nabû-âḫê-iddina, son of Šulá, descendant of Êgibi, which is beside the house of Bêl-iddina, son of Rêmut, descendant of the dikû, (is granted) for 3 years to Nabû-kain-âḫî, secretary of Bêl-šarra-uṣur, the son of the king, for 1-½ mana of silver. He has let (it) upon (the condition that) ‘there is no rent for the house, and no interest for [pg 448] the money.’ He shall repair the woodwork and renew the dilapidation of the house. After 3 years, the silver, 1-½ mana, Nabû-âḫê-iddina shall (re)pay to Nabû-kain-âḫi, and Nabû-kain-âḫi shall leave the house in the possession of Nabû-âḫê-iddina.”

Here follow the names of three witnesses and the scribe, after which comes the date: “Babylon, month Nisan, day 21st, year 5th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

As the 1-½ mana of silver would have brought in 18 shekels at the usual rate of interest, that sum may be taken as representing the rent of the house in question.

Another inscription, dated two years later, shows that Nabû-kain-âḫi, Belshazzar's secretary, borrowed 35 shekels of silver from Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ, that prince's major-domo, to purchase a slave, and that the loan was duly repaid. The curious thing in connection with this transaction is, that the money advanced is stated to be “tithe of Bêl, Nebo, Nergal, and the lady (i.e. Ištar) of Erech,” implying that Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ was entitled to certain sums from this source, or else that he had control of them, and could advance money to others therefrom. Information concerning all the items of income and expenditure of the temples would probably furnish interesting reading, showing, as it should, who were the people who benefited from the funds available, and upon what grounds.

It is noteworthy that, in these inscriptions referring to transactions between the members of Belshazzar's household, no interest seems to have been charged on the loans granted; and if this was really so, it indicates a considerable amount of loyalty among these men towards each other—indeed, it is doubtful if it could be surpassed at the present day.

Strangest of all these contracts in which Belshazzar is mentioned, is probably that in which the prince himself seems to appear as one of the contracting [pg 449] parties—as a dealer in clothes. As it is the only one referring to him thus, a translation of the inscription in question is here given in full—

“20 mana of silver, the price of the garments136 (which were) the property of Bêl-šarra-uṣur, the son of the king, which (are due), through Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ, chief of the house of Bêl-šarra-uṣur, the son of the king, and the secretaries of the son of the king, from Iddina-Marduk, son of Ikîšā, descendant of Nûr-Sin. In the month Adar of the 1(1th) year, the silver, 20 mana, he shall pay. His house, which is beside the (plantation?), his slave, and his property in town and country, all there is, is the security of Bêl-šarra-uṣur, the son of the king, until Bêl-šarra-uṣur receives his money. (For) the silver, as much as (from the sum) is withheld, interest he shall pay.

“Witnesses: Bêl-iddina, son of Rêmut, descendant of the dikû; Êtel-pî, son of ..., descendant of ‘the father of the house’; Nadin, son of Narduk-šum-uṣur, descendant of the master-builder; Nergal-ušallim, son of Marduk-..., descendant of Gaḫal; Marduk-naṣir, son of Kur-..., descendant of Dabibu; and the scribe, Bêl-âḫê-ikîša, son of Nabû-balat-su-iqbî. Babylon, month ..., day 20th, year 11th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

But Belshazzar did not confine himself to dealing in woollen stuffs or clothes, as many another inscription indicates. This was but an unimportant incident in his life which chance has preserved to us, and how far the transaction may have taken place with (or without) his own knowledge, it is impossible to say. For a considerable time, however, he was with the army in Akkad, and whilst there, he interested himself greatly in the welfare of the temples at Sippar, making donations to them, not only on his own behalf, but also for his father. Thus, on the 11th of Iyyar, in the 9th year of his father's reign, he [pg 450] gave to the god Šamaš a tongue of gold weighing one mana; and on the 7th of Adar of the same year he gave two full-grown oxen for sacrifice (his father gave one on that occasion), together with fourteen sheep, and in addition other sacrifices were made on his and his father's behalf in the temple of the goddess Annunitum. The following little inscription, being rather out of the common, is probably above the average in the matter of interest—

“1 shekel and a quarter of silver for the hire of a ship for 3 oxen and 24 sheep, the sacrifices of the king's son, which went in the month Nisan for Šamaš and the gods of Sippar.

“In the presence of Bêl-šarra-bulliṭ, who has given the offerings of the king to Šamaš-iddina and Dannu-Âddu. He has given 60 qa of fruit as their offerings. Month Nisan, day 9th, year 10th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

Seemingly Belshazzar sent the sheep and oxen from his estate to Sippar by water.

Interesting to an equal degree is likewise the inscription recording a gift made by his sister—

“27 shekels of silver is the weight of one cup, tithe of Ina-Ê-sagila-rêmat, the daughter of the king. By the hands of Bêl-šarra-(bulliṭ), as a king's offering, she has given (it) to the god.... The cup is in the treasure-house.

“Month Ab, day 5th, year 17th, (Nabû-na'id) king of Babylon.”

Though this inscription is defective in places, there is every probability that little or nothing more than the name of the god is wanting. The name of Bêl-šarra-(bulliṭ) shows that the inscription must belong to the time of Nabonidus, and, in fact, the initial wedges of his name are visible.

The name of a second daughter of Nabonidus seems to appear in another inscription from Sippar, though, as it is rather carelessly written, this is doubtful. [pg 451] Notwithstanding the uncertainty attending the name, however, the inscription is worth quoting in full—

“3 gur 75 qa of sesame Ukabu'sama (?), daughter of the king, has sold, through Tattanu, for silver, to Ê-babbara. The silver has not been received.

“Month Ab, day 7th, year 16th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

With this we take leave of Nabonidus and his family, as revealed by the contracts and temple accounts from Babylon and Sippar. The picture these and the historical inscriptions give of the Babylonian royal family is not altogether unpleasing, and that this king, with his son, were the last rulers of their race, is greatly to be regretted. But, alas, they had offended the priesthood of Babylon, and all the people accepted, without a murmur, the alien ruler, of a differing faith from theirs, who presented himself, in hostile array, at their doors. It was the beginning of the end of their life as a nation, and who shall say that they did not deserve it? If they had made even a show of resistance, the world could hold them excused, but this was not the case, as their own records show, and whatever Nabonidus's faults may have been, they do not attain to the culpability of the nation, which, instead of protecting him—if for no other reason, it ought to have done this for his son's sake—practically betrayed him to the enemy.

II.

So far, in depicting the life which the Jews, during the Captivity, must daily have seen around them, we have given the tablets whereon the court and its officials are referred to, and though these reveal certain phases of life in Babylonia among the people, typical of the time, they can hardly be held to show the life of the people—those engaged in the life-struggle [pg 452] of which every great city is the battlefield, and has been the battlefield since the first gathering of large bodies of men in one place.

Who among us can estimate the misery caused by the tearing away of the slave from the home of the master with whom he had for many years dwelt in content?—it must have far outweighed the few cases in which a slave in those days benefited by such a change. That the loss of his slaves was sometimes also a wrench to the owner is indicated by the fact that he is generally—if not always—made to say, that he parts with them cheerfully. He had to admit this for the satisfaction of the buyer, who naturally feared that the old master would return and ask for the contract to be annulled, saying that it was all a mistake on his part—he did not really wish to get rid of them, and would like to have them back again.

Naturally the tablets do not reveal to us all this, nor the joys and sorrows, the successes and the failures, which those great cities of the ancient East must have contained. But they allow us to guess a great deal. Did the man ever get the money back which he had lent? Did he receive the money for the things he had sold and given credit for? These and other similar questions are always occurring to the student of these documents, which reveal always the grave side of life in that ancient land—never the gay side—even a wedding, being a contract, was a thing much too serious to allow its joyful nature to shine through at any point.

As the documents which best represent the character of the Babylonians are the letters, it has been thought well to begin (as in the case of the chapter upon the earlier Babylonians) with a few specimens of these, and in the forefront the following may be cited as not unworthy of a prominent place—

“Tablet of Nabû-zēr-ibnî to Ugarâ, Balaṭu, Nabû-bêl-šumāti, and Šamaš-udammiq, his brothers.

[pg 453]

“Now to Bêl and Nebo for the preservation of the life of my brothers I pray.

“Bêl-epuš, who is along with you, is my brother. Whoever speaks his evil words, as my brothers wish, let him be silent. As for him, from the beginning to the end, brothers of each other are we. As warning to my brothers I send this. Let my brothers do what is right. I should like to see an answer (to this) letter from my brothers.”

Whether we are to substitute “friend” and “friends” for “brother” and “brothers” is uncertain, but is very probable. In any case, the writer would seem to show considerable courage in the course he was taking, as well as confidence in the righteousness of his cause.

The following is apparently the letter of a father in poverty to his more successful son—

“(Letter of) Iddina-âḫâ (to) Rêmūt, his son.

“May (Bêl) and Nebo bespeak peace and life for my son.

“He, my son, knoweth that there is no corn in the house. Let my son cause 2 or 3 gur of corn to be brought by the hands of some one whom thou knowest. Wilt thou not send by the hands of the boatman whom thou indicatedst? As for him, (he is coming?) to me—send a gift, cause it to go forth to (thy) father. To-day I pray Bêl and Nebo for the preservation of the life of my son. Rêmat asks after the peace of Rêmūt, her son.”

The change from the third person to the second is noteworthy, and may have been caused by the necessity of distinguishing between the son and the messenger to whom the writer referred. Rêmat was evidently the writer's wife.

The following is a letter of a different nature, and leads to speculations as to the state of things—

“Letter of Marduk-zēr-ibnî to Šulâ his brother.

“May Bêl and Nebo bespeak the peace of my brother.

[pg 454]

“Why dost thou destroy my house? thou goest before the destruction of thine (own) house. When thou hadst taken the responsibility of holding the field, my field was sold, and the date-palms which I grow have been destroyed. And thou (remainest) contented in thy house!137 Now (as for) the corn which I have planted in my field, thou (always) takest the whole. I am now sending to my lord: Come, enter my field, and give me my harvests. Behold, the corn which has been got ready thou (always) deliverest: Ikîšā and Nabû-âḫa-iddina, if they wish, can take it. Speak to the judges about it.”

Apparently the writer of the letter was vexed because his friend (and lord) had not fulfilled his undertaking to look after his interests.

Letters of a business nature are not unfrequent, and are generally dry and uninteresting. The character of the inscriptions of this class which least exhibit these defects may be gathered from the following text, which also has an interest because the sender was a slave. The original belongs to the collection of tablets acquired by the late Sir Cuthbert Peek for his father, the late Sir Henry Peek:—

“Letter from Dâan-bêl-uṣur to Širku, my lord. I pray to-day to Bêl and Nebo for the preservation of the life of my lord.

“Concerning the lambs which my lord sent, Bêl and Nebo indeed know that there is a lamb (for them) from thee. I have made the irrigation-channel and the wall. Behold, send thy servant with the sheep and thy servant with the lambs, and a command that they may cause a sheep to be brought up as an offering (?) to Nebo (?), for I have not acquired a single lamb for money. (On) the 20th day I worked for Šamaš; lo, (there were) 56—I caused 20 head to be bought for my lord from his hand. (As for) the garlic [pg 455] for the governor, which my lord bought, the lord of the fields (? the chief overseer), when he came, took possession of (it), and it was sold to the governor of the district of our fields for silver, but enough (?) thereof I have retained (?); and as my lord said thus: ‘Why hast thou not sent the messenger? the ground is suitable (?)—I sent thee a number (?) of (them).’ Let one messenger take thy message (?), and depart.”

Portions of this inscription, especially towards the end, being very obscure, the translation is not so sure as could be wished. Nevertheless, it may be taken as indicating fairly well the drift of the whole, and thus answer the purpose for which it is given, namely, to show what texts of this class generally refer to, and how excellently they reveal to us the conditions of Babylonian life at the time when they were written.

This tablet belongs to the reign of Darius Hystaspis, and is addressed to one of the most prominent men of Babylon at the time, Širku, otherwise “Marduk-naṣir-âblu, son of Iddinā, descendant of Êgibi.”138 He was an active man, and his business transactions, which begin, as far as we have record of them, in the third year of the king named, consist of the usual loans, exchanges, purchases, sales, agreements, etc., which exist in large numbers during this period. In the third year of Darius he seems to have been in Elam, perhaps upon business of state, the name of a high Babylonian official being mentioned on the tablet which records this fact. Later on, he comes before us as a large owner and dealer in ships, some of which, of small size, he seems to have used for the construction of a bridge of boats. He owned Dâan-bêl-uṣur, the writer of the tablet translated above, Nanaa-bêl-uṣri, his wife, and their six children, who dwelt on his property in the city of Šuppatum. On one occasion, as recorded on a tablet in the Louvre, they formed part of the [pg 456] security for a sum of 45 mana of silver, advanced by Širku to Šarru-dûri, “the king's captain, son of Idra'.” Further references to both master and slave will be found farther on.

As the tablets referring to life at Babylon are exceedingly numerous, and many of them have special interesting points of their own, a few selected specimens are here translated, and may be regarded as characteristic and typical in their class and subject.

A Loan Granted On Security At Erech.

“One mana of silver of Nabû-banî-âḫi, son of Ablaa, son of the gatekeeper, unto Bâbîa, son of Marduk-êreš, and Ša-Nanaa-šî, his wife. The door of the gatekeepers of the Salimu-gate, and his property, of (both) town and country, all there is, are the security of Nabû-banî-âḫi.

“Witnesses: Bêl-âḫê-iddina, son of Gudadū; Nabû-zēr-ukin, son of Sumâ; Nabû-zēr-ikîša, son of Ginnâ; and the scribe Mušêzib-Bêl, son of Nanaa-têreš. Erech, month Tisri, day 15th, year 21st, Nabû-kudurri-usur, king of Babylon.”

In all probability, the possession of the door carried with it the right of receiving any toll or dues connected therewith. As Nabû-banî-âhi, the lender, belonged to the family or clan of gatekeepers, he would not be regarded altogether as an interloper. The name of one of the borrowers, Bâbîa, “my gate,” is suggestive, and shows the enthusiasm of his parents for their profession.

The Work Upon A Plantation.

“144 qa (is the amount needed for) the seeding of the plantation of Nabû-šum-lîšir, which Nabû-šar-îlāni has taken for cultivation.139 (During) 4 years, [pg 457] everything, whatever grows on the date-palms and in the earth, belongs to Nabû-šar-îlāni; (during the succeeding 4 ?) years a third, and 4 years (after that) a fourth. Nabû-šum-lîšir with Nabû-šar-îlāni (?) ... 10 years Nabû-šar-îlāni ... gardener of Nabû-šum-lîšir ... everything, whatever (gro)ws in the earth, belongs to Nabû-šar-îlāni.

“(The duty) of doing the work, digging (the irrigation-channels), raising (?) embankments (?), protecting the plantation, restoring what is wanting of the date-palms, raising water, Nabû-šar-îlāni undertakes. (If) he contravene (this contract), he shall compensate (to the extent of) 1 mana of silver.”

Here follow the names of three witnesses and the scribe, the date being—

“City of Sûqâain, month Elul, day 26th, year 11th, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

Sale Of An Ass.

“The ass of Ârad-Meme, son of Gimillu, descendant of Êpeš-ili, he (the owner) has sold to Šubabu-sara', son of Temišâa, for half a mana six and a half shekels of silver. Êtillu, son of Rêmut, descendant of Dabibi (and) Nergal-iddina, son of Dâanu-Marduk, descendant of Lugal-arazū, guarantee the serviceableness of the ass. It is a branded ass, upon whose front is a mark.”

Here come the names of three witnesses and the scribe, followed by the date—

“City of the land of Ṣuma', (or Ṣuba'), month Tammuz, day 16th, year 40th, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

From a tablet in the Edinburgh Museum it would seem that asses were branded to distinguish them, and that, in place of a mere mark, the name of the owner was somehow impressed. Cattle were marked with the letters of the Aramaic alphabet.

[pg 458]

Jews And Babylonians During The Captivity.

“When Nabû-na'id, son of Nabû-gamil, brings his witness, and proves to Aâḫḫa'u, son of Šanîāwa, that Nabû-na'id has given the proceeds of 2-½ mana of silver to Aâḫḫa'u and Baruḫi-îlu, (then) the profit which has been made with them (the 2-½ mana) belongs to Nabû-na'id, and all right to the share which belongs to him remains—one do. (? share) (belongs to) Aâḫḫa'u. If the witness do not prove it, his property, as much as Nabû-na'id has taken, one do. (? share) he will return and will give to Aâḫḫa'u.

“Witnesses: Iddina-Marduk, son of Akkîa, Yašum-ma, son of Âḫê-šu; Balaṭ-su, son of Âḫê-šu, and the scribe, Nabû-âḫê-iddina, son of Êgibi. Upê (Opis), month Tammuz, day 21st, year 40th, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

Apparently it was a dispute about profits, which was to be settled, as was usual in such cases, by producing a witness. Šanîāwa is one of those names ending in iāwa which were certainly not Babylonian, and which are generally regarded as Israelite, like Šubunu-yāwa = Shebaniah; Nathanu-yāwa = Nathaniah, and many others; and its later form would probably be Shaniah. Baruḫi-îlu is probably for Baruchiel, and, if so, would show that the pronunciation of the aspirated k (ch) as ḫ (kh), common among Jews on the Continent and in the East, is of very ancient date.

The Dead Slave.

“On the 5th day of the month Kisleu, Šarru-kînu, son of Ammanu, will bring his witness to the city Piqudu (Pekod), and he will testify to Idiḫi-îli, son of Dînâ, that Idiḫi-îli sent to Šarru-kînu thus: ‘Do not litigate against me concerning thy slave who was killed—I will make up to thee the life of thy slave.’ [pg 459] If he prove it, Idiḫi-îli shall pay to Šarru-kînu 1 mana of silver, the price of his slave. If he do not prove it (he is free).”

After the names of three witnesses and the scribe, is the date—

“Upê, month Marcheswan, day 7th, year 40th, Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, king of Babylon.”

A Right Of Way.

“Marduk-iriba, son of Rêmut, descendant of the Miṣirite,140 and Kalbâ, son of Balaṭu, descendant of the chief of the construction (?), in their going forth, shall go forth over the brook; they have no power over the exit of the wall of the house of Nabû-âḫê-iddina, son of Šulâ, descendant of Êgibi; the exit of the wall of the house of Nabû-âḫê-iddina belongs to Nabû-âḫê-iddina.”

Here come the names of five witnesses, including the scribe, and then the date—

“Babylon, month of the later Adar, day 24th, year 1st, Nabû-na'id,141 king of Babylon.”

The Story Of Abil-Addu-Nathanu And Bunanitum.

This is contained, as far as it is preserved, on a series of five tablets, four of which are in the British Museum, and the fifth in the Museum of Art at New York. Abil-Addu-nathānu would seem, from his name, which would be the West-Semitic Ben-Hadad-nathan, to have come from Damascus, and settled at Babylon, and afterwards at Borsippa. His wife Bunanitum (or Bunanith) was to all appearance a Babylonian.

[pg 460]

The Purchase Of The House At Borsippa.

“7 canes, 5 cubits, 18 fingers, a built house, the territory of a plantation142 which is within Borsippa, which Dâan-šum-iddina, son of Zērîa, descendant of Nabâa, has bought from Ibâ, son of Zillâ, descendant of the carpenter, for 11-½ mana of silver, for the price complete, by the authority of Abil-Addu-nathānu, son of Addîa, and Bunanitu, his wife, daughter of Ḫariṣâa. That house he has received, the silver of Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitu as the price of the house has been given. Dâan-šum-iddina has no share in the house or the silver. The tablet which Dâan-šum-iddina has sealed in his name, he has given to Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitu. The day a copy of the sealed document of the purchase or any contract for that house appears in the house of Dâan-šum-iddina or in any other place, it belongs to Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitu.”

Here follow the names of four witnesses and two scribes. The date is—

“Babylon, month Shebat, day 24th, year 2nd, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

The agent through whom the purchase was made has to declare that no part of the property or the money belonged to him, hence the final clause of the contract, which was intended to prevent trouble at any future time.

At the end are the seal-impressions of the two scribes.

The Loan To Make Up The Sum Required To Purchase The Property.

“1-½ mana 8-½ shekels of silver of Iddina-Marduk, son of Ikîšā, descendant of Nûr-Sin, upon (= due from) Abil-Addu-nathānu, son of Addîa, and Bunanitu, [pg 461] his wife. It increases to them monthly at the rate of 1 shekel of silver upon each mana. They shall pay the interest from the month Sivan of the 5th year of Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon. The silver was the balance of the silver for the price of a house, which was paid to Ibâ. They shall pay the interest monthly.”

After the names of two witnesses and the scribe comes the date—

“Barsip (Borsippa), month Iyyar, day 3rd, year 5th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”

As this tablet was written two years and three months after the house at Borsippa was bought, it is clear that the money had been advanced, but the indebtedness of Abil-Addu-nathānu had not been placed, until the date of the second tablet, on a legal footing. Probably he intended to pay the money, but had not the wherewithal, and this being the case, the lender agreed to allow the debt to remain unpaid, stipulating only that the interest should be paid at the usual rate of one mana upon every mana monthly. As will be seen from the other documents, the principal was not paid for many years after this. There is no record whether any payment of interest had been made in the meanwhile, but, in any case, the rate is far beyond what at the present time is considered fair.

A First Payment Made After The Death Of Abil-Addu-Nathānu.

This is a small tablet similar in shape to the last, and is now preserved in the Museum of Art at New York.

“8 shekels of silver Iddina-Marduk, son of Ikîšā, descendant of Nûr-Sin, has received from the hands of Bunanitu, with the first payment, which (has been made) since the death of Ablada-nathanu, her husband, from the interest of his money. In the presence of Tabnêa, son of Nabū-âḫê-iddina, descendant of the [pg 462] priest of ...; Nabû-kain-âbli, son of Marduk-šum-ibnî, descendant of Dannu-Nabû. Barsip (Borsippa), month Adar, day 18th, year 8th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.

“There is to be no abatement (?).”

As the loan was contracted in the second year of Nabonidus, it cannot be said that Iddina-Marduk had been by any means pressing in the matter. The numerous documents which exist show that the Babylonians were good at making contracts, but they were probably not so strict in keeping them, and certainly not so merciless (to judge from the history here unfolded) as the people of the modern West in enforcing them.

The phonetic spelling of the name of the husband, Ablada-nathānu, is interesting, as it shows the Babylonian pronunciation. Ben-Addu-nathan, however, was a possible form, and may have been even a fairly common one.

The Legal Action After The Death Of Abil-Addu-Nathānu.

“Bunanitu, daughter of Ḫariṣâa, said thus to the judges of Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon—

“ ‘Abil-Addu-nathān, son of Nikmadu’, had me to wife, and he took 3-½ mana of silver as my dowry, and one daughter I bore to him. I and Abil-Addu-nathān, my husband, traded with the silver of my dowry, and we bought 8 canes, a built house, the territory of a large property,143 which was within Barsip, for 9-2/3 of a mana of silver, with 2-½ mana of silver which was from Iddina-Marduk, son of Ikîšā, descendant of Nûr-Sin, as balance, and we fixed (it) as the price of that house, and we paid and received it together. In the 4th year of Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon, I made an agreement [pg 463] with Abil-Addu-nathān, my husband, concerning my dowry, and Abil-Addu-nathān, in the kindness of his heart, sealed the 8 canes, (and) that house which is within Barsip, and bequeathed it to me for future days, and on my tablet made it known thus: ‘2-½ mana of silver, which Abil-Addu-nathān and Bunanitu took from Iddina-Marduk, and paid as the price of that house, they received together.’ He sealed that tablet, and wrote thereon the curse of the great gods. In the 5th year of Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon, I and Abil-Addu-nathān, my husband, took Abil-Addu-amara as our son, and wrote the tablet of his sonship, and made known 2 mana 10 shekels of silver and the furniture of a house as the dowry of Nûbtâ, my daughter. Fate took my husband, and now Aqabi-îlu, the son of my father-in-law, has laid claim upon the house and everything which had been sealed and bequeathed to me, and upon Nabû-nûr-îli, (the slave) whom we had acquired by the hands of Nabû-âḫê-iddina for silver. I have brought it before you, make a decision.

“The judges heard their words, they read the tablets and contracts which Bunanitu brought before them, and they caused Aqabi-îlu not to have power over the house at Barsip, which had been bequeathed to Bunanitu instead of her dowry, over Nabû-nûr-îli, whom she and her husband had bought for silver, or over anything of Abil-Addu-nathānu; Bunanitu and Abil-Addu-amara, by their tablets, they caused to be confirmed. Iddina-Marduk pleads for (?), and will receive, the 2-½ mana of silver which had been given towards the price of that house. Afterwards Bunanitu will receive the 3-½ mana of silver, her dowry, and her share besides. Nûbtâ will receive Nabû-nûr-îli, according to the contracts of her father.

“By the decision of this judgment.

“Nergal-banû-nu, the judge, son of the builder;

“Nabû-âḫê-iddina, the judge, son of Êgibi;

[pg 464]

“Nabû-šum-ukîn, the judge, son of Irani;

“Bêl-âḫê-iddina, the judge, son of ...

“Bêl-êṭir, the judge, son of ...

“Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî, the judge, son of ...

“Nadinu, the scribe, son of ...

“Nabû-šum-iškun, the scribe, son of the ...

“Babylon, month Elul, day 26th, year 9th, Nabûna'id, king of Babylon.”

Two copies of this document exist, neither of them being the original. They were probably made for persons interested in the result of the judgment.

It has been suggested that the claim of Aqabi-îlu to all his brother's property was based upon the fact that he was the eldest of the family. This, however, is hardly likely to have been the case, the Babylonian law concerning the wife's dowry—i.e. that it was her own in any event—being clear and incontrovertible. The probability therefore is, that he claimed the property hoping that she might not be able to prove her right. The clear statements of this document, and the common-sense judgment delivered by Nabonidus's judges are full of simplicity and dignity, and show well the Babylonian character.

The Final Repayment Of The Loan To Iddina-Marduk.

A tablet recording the payment of interest has already been translated (p. 461), and from that it would seem that no repayment on account of the money lent to Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitu took place until after the former's death. When the last payment was made is unknown, but it must have been some time after the lawsuit. From the portion of the tablet recording it, it would seem that the amount remaining to be paid was 2 mana and 10 shekels, which was paid jointly by Abil-Addu-amari and [pg 465] “Bunaniti, his mother,” who probably lived on the property with him and her daughter.

Thus ends the life-story of this Babylonian family, as far as at present known.

In addition to the names Abil-addu-nathānu and Abil-Addu-amara (or -amari), both of which contain the name of the deity Abil-Addu or Ben-Hadad, the name of the brother, Aqabi-îlu, is interesting. It is naturally a synonym of a Hebrew name found under the form of Aqabi-yāwa, the Talmudic Aqabiah, with -yāwa or -iāwa for -iah, as in Šanîāwa, which appears on p. 458.

Ê-Sagila-Râmat And Her Father-In-Law's Slave.

“Ikîšā, son of Kudurru, descendant of Nûr-Sin, sealed a tablet of adoption for Rêmanni-Bêl, his slave, whose name is called Rêmut, for the giving of his food and his clothing. Rêmanni-Bêl, whose name is called Rêmut, after he had sealed the tablet of his adoption, ran away, and he did not give him food, oil, and clothing. Ê-sagila-râmat, daughter of Zērîa, descendant of Nabâa, wife of Iddina-Marduk, son of Ikîšā, descendant of Nûr-Sin, reverenced him, feared him, and befriended him, and gave him food, oil, and clothing. Ikîšā, son of Kudurru, descendant of Nûr-Sin, in the joy of his heart, annulled the tablet of the adoption of Rêmanni-Bêl, and sealed and bequeathed him to Ê-sagila-râmat and Nûbtâ, her daughter, daughter of Iddina-Marduk, descendant of Nûr-Sin. He shall reverence Ê-sagila-râmat and Nûbtâ, her daughter. Afterwards Ê-sagila-râmat shall leave him to Nûbtâ, her daughter. Whoever changes these words, and destroys the contract Ikîšā has drawn up and given to Ê-sagila-râmat and Nûbtâ, her daughter, may Merodach and Zēr-panitum command his destruction.”

[pg 466]

The names of four witnesses and the scribe follow. Date: “Babylon, month Iyyar, day 9th, year 13th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.” Postscript: “At the sitting of Bissā, daughter of Ikîšā, descendant of Nûr-Sin.”

From this it would seem that Ikîšā made Rêmanni-Bêl his heir, freeing him from the position of a bondsman, in exchange for his (Ikîšā's) keep, but that Rêmanni-Bêl, declining the advantage and the responsibility, ran away, whereupon the burden fell upon Ikîšā's daughter-in-law, Ê-sagila-râmat. This the last-named seems to have undertaken willingly, and in return, Ikîšā annulled Rêmanni-Bêl's adoption, and bequeathed him, as a slave, to Ê-sagila-râmat and her daughter. Means probably existed for bringing back the runaway, when the news of his return to his old condition would be communicated to him. Ê-sagila-râmat's husband, Iddina-Marduk, is the one who advanced to Abil-Addu-nathānu and Bunanitu the money to make up the price of their house.

Iddina-Nabû Sells His Egyptian Slave And Her Infant.

“Iddina-Nabû, son of Mušêzib-Bêl, has cheerfully sold Nanaa-ittîa, his slave, and her daughter, a child of three months, Egyptians captured by his bow, for 2 mana of silver, the complete price, to Itti-Marduk-balaṭu, son of Nabû-âḫê-iddina, descendant of Êgibi. Iddina-Nabû has received the money, 2 mana of silver, the price of Nanaa-ittîa and her daughter, from the hands of Itti-Marduk-balaṭu. Iddina-Nabû guarantees against the existence of any liability of defeasor (?), legal claimant, royal service, or freedmanship with regard to Nanaa-ittîa and her daughter.”

Here come the names of four witnesses and the scribe.

“Babylon, month Kisleu, day 23rd, year 6th, Kambuzîa (Cambyses), king of Babylon.

“Besides the contract of 240 gur of fruit, from [pg 467] Itti-Marduk-balaṭu, which was unto (or due from) Iddina-Nabû.”

This document may be held to testify to the reality of Cambyses' campaign in Egypt, which took place in his 5th year (525 b.c.). It is also a proof that the Babylonians took part in the campaign.

It is noteworthy that three copies of this document exist, one being in the British Museum, another in the Museum of Art at New York, and the third in the museum founded by the late Sir Henry Peek at Lyme Regis. The tablet recording the contract for the 240 gur of fruit also exists, and is preserved in the British Museum.

Among the tablets of the time of Nabonidus, translations of all the records known which refer to the family of Ben-Hadad-nathan or Abil-Addu-nāthanu have been given, and examination of the numerous other tablets of the reigns of his predecessors and his successors down to the time of Darius, and perhaps Xerxes, shows that similar more or less complete family histories could be made. One of the most interesting of these, and the most complete on account of the number of documents (by far the greater number of the contracts from Babylon and its neighbourhood, of the period to which he belongs, contain his name) are those referring to Širku, a tablet from whose slave Dâan-bêl-uṣur has been given above (p. 454). This man's history has been tentatively dealt with by the present author in Part IV. of the catalogue of tablets belonging to the late Sir Henry Peek. From a tablet in the Louvre, we find that Širku was not his real name, but that he was called Marduk-naṣir-âbli. The curious thing about this double naming of Širku, however, is that the majority of the tablets where he is called Širku say that he was the son of Iddina, and the majority of those calling him Marduk-naṣir-âbli say that he is the son of Itti-Marduk-balaṭu. Fortunately documents exist [pg 468] reversing this parentage, and showing conclusively that Širku and Marduk-naṣir-âbli are one and the same personage. Were it otherwise, we should have to credit his slaves with two masters, and his wife with two husbands, a state of things probably unknown in Babylonia.

From a tablet dated in the first year of Darius, we learn that he bought a field before the great gate of Uraš in the province of Babylon, this field being beside that of his wife Âmat-Bau, which she had brought as her dowry. Other documents record that he made loans of silver and produce, both alone and associated with his brothers. In these his proper name is generally used, but sometimes he was called Širku. The hiring and letting of houses, the buying and selling of slaves, etc., are also recorded of them. In the third year of Darius he and his brothers came into considerable property in Babylon, sharing it among them, and there is also record of Marduk-naṣir-âbli paying his father's debts. This increase in their resources naturally enabled them to deal in the produce of their fields, and in all probability they managed his wife's as well, whilst there is at least one record that she lent money on her own account. To enumerate all the interesting points which the tablets reveal to us concerning their various transactions, however, would naturally take too much time and space.

In exchange for the slave Dâan-bêl-uṣur, the slave's wife, their six children, and a cornfield upon the canal called Ṭupašu, which Marduk-naṣir-âbli gave to his wife Âmat-Bau, he received from her two sums of silver and one of gold, a ring, and two slaves, who had been part of her dowry. The slaves he gave her, though now her property, were in all probability still at his disposition, but Dâan-bêl-uṣur seems to have served him so well when in charge of his affairs, that after having parted with him, though only to his wife, he must have found, to his regret, that he and his [pg 469] family were naturally not so much at his disposition as when he could call them his own.

Under the name of Marduk-naṣir-âbli, he appears before us principally in the character of an agriculturalist and dealer in produce, combining with this money-lending on occasion. As Širku, he dealt largely in ships, and apparently also in boats for pontoon bridges. In the fifth year of Darius he was in Elam, and there is a reference to the sending to him of a messenger, “with the charioteers of Bêl-âbla-iddina, captain of Babylon.” Many years afterwards Širku is said to have received the rent of a house situated “upon the giššu of Borsippa,” and the question naturally arises, whether giššu may not be for gišru, “bridge,” though a house upon a bridge crossing a comparatively narrow canal near Babylon is certainly not what one would expect.

On the 16th of Sivan in the twenty-sixth year of Darius, Širku was the scribe who drew up a contract referring to two ships, one apparently for service on the Euphrates, the other for the bridge. Later on, he borrowed some money upon the security of two of his female slaves, Mušêzibtum and Narû, the wrist of the former being inscribed with the name of one of his relations, the other with his own name, Širku (it is given as Šišku on the tablet). This loan is distinctly stated to be for the purpose of acquiring “a ship for the bridge” (êlippu ša giširi), and this he seems to have bought two months later, unless there was another contract for a vessel which has not come down to us. In the Peek collection is a large tablet referring to the completed bridge, the traffic upon it, and the ships moored to it, suggesting that a portion of it at least was used as a quay or landing-stage. More research is needed, however, ere its precise nature will be clear—perhaps the etymology is misleading, and gišru or giširu means, in Babylonian, “pier” or “landing-stage” simply.

[pg 470]

The following is one of the inscriptions which refer to his hiring a ship—

“(Concerning) the ship of Iddina-Bêl which is with Šamaš-iddina, son of Bêl-iddina, for navigation. He has given the ship for hire as far as bištum ša ṣêrûa (= birtum ša ṣêrûa, ‘the fortress of ṣêrûa’) for 1/3 of a mana of white silver, coined, to Širik (Širku), son of Iddinā, descendant of Êgibi. The silver, 1/3 of a mana, the hire of the ship, and its provisions, he has received. The ship shall not cross the great (water), if it pass, he shall pay 5 mana of silver. Each has taken (a copy of this contract).”

The names of three witnesses and the scribe follow this, after which is the date—

“Babylon, month Adar, day 6th, year 26th, Darius, king of Babylon and countries.”

The tablets in which Marduk-naṣir-âbli, alias Širku, are mentioned, prove that Babylonia maintained its character as a maritime nation to a very late date. As, however, voyages on the ocean are not provable, it is doubtful whether their ships sailed to any great distance—in all probability they confined themselves to making coast-voyages only. Judging from the penalty attached to taking the ship across the great (water), the question naturally arises, whether the sea (the Persian Gulf) may not have been intended. The word used in the original is rabbu, which would then correspond with the last word of the poetic expression, “the rolling main.”

Such, as far as space allows, was life at Babylon and the chief cities of Babylonia, where the Israelites dwelt for so many years, and colonies of them existed until a very late date, as the drinking bowls inscribed with charms against sickness and evil spirits in Hebrew and Aramaic show. Some of the Hebrew names contained in the tablets from Babylonia have already been referred to (p. 458), and to these several others may be added, such as Banāwa or Beniah; [pg 471] Gamariāwa or Gemariah; Malakiāwa or Malchiah, who had a son bearing the heathen name of Nergal-êṭir; together with several similarly-formed but otherwise unknown names (as was to be expected). Examples of these are, Azziāwa, Ḫuliāwa, Nirîāwa and Agirîāwa. The Gemariah mentioned above was witness, with his compatriot Barikîa (Berechiah) and others, on the occasion when Ša-Nabû-duppu sold Nanaa-silim, his Bactrian slave-girl. The scribe's name on this occasion was Marduka (Mordecai), son of Épeš-îli. Mordecai means “the Merodachite,” and is interesting as showing how Babylonian monotheism, such as it was, reconciled the Jews to accept what they would otherwise have regarded as a heathen name.

Interesting in the extreme would it be, if we could know what the Jews thought of the country and the city of their captivity. In that enormous walled tract known as the city of Babylon were large open spaces covered with gardens, and cornfields, and orchards, mostly, perhaps almost exclusively, of date-palms, the fruit of which formed such an important part of the food of the people. These were the trees, in all probability, on which the Jewish captives hung their harps when, in their captivity, they mourned for the city of Sion, from which they were so far away. The rivers of Babylon, of which the well-known psalm speaks, were the Tigris and the Euphrates, with the innumerable canals and watering-channels which the nature of the country rendered so necessary to the fertility and productiveness of the land, and without which it would have been a desert.

There, too, they looked upon the buildings of old time, the fanes which were there when their forefather Abraham was a dweller in the land, changed, doubtless, beyond recognition. Chief among these was the great temple of Belus, joined to the tower called “the temple of the foundation of heaven and [pg 472] earth,” and which Nebuchadnezzar speaks of as “the tower of Babylon.” There, too, were the shrines dedicated to Zēr-panitum, consort of Merodach, the goddess Nin-maḫ; Nebo, the god of wisdom; Sin, the Moon-god; Šamaš, the Sun-god; Gula, the goddess of healing, and many other divinities. Whilst the Jews were there, they must have seen many of this king's building operations—the strengthening of the fortresses and the walls, and the repair and extension of the moats and ditches; the raising of the level of the great street, Aa-ibûr-sabû (the remains of which have just been found by the German explorers on the site of the city), along which, yearly, at the beginning of the year, processions went, and the images of the gods were in all probability carried. Then there was the rebuilding of the royal palace, with its roof and doors of cedar, the latter being also overlaid with bronze, probably after the manner of the bronze gates of Shalmaneser found by Mr. Rassam at Balawat. The thresholds were also of bronze, and the palace was adorned, in other parts, with gold, silver, precious stones, and various other costly things.

They must have seen, also, the construction, between the two great fortifications called Imgur-Bêl and Nē-mitti-Bêl, of that great building which was to serve as a castle and a royal residence at the same time. This was in connection with the old palace of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar's father, built, as already stated, in a fortnight. Chief among the shrines restored by Nebuchadnezzar with great magnificence must be mentioned Ê-kua, the sanctuary of Merodach, in the temple Ê-sagila (the temple of Belus), and that called Du-azaga (“the glorious seat”), otherwise described as “the place of fate,” where yearly, on the new year's festival (the 8th and 9th of Nisan) the statue of the god Merodach, “the king of the gods of heaven and earth,” was placed, and the king's future declared on the question being put. Doubtless the [pg 473] glory of the place attracted not a few, causing them to decide to stay there permanently, and these, mingling with the native population, were lost to Israel, like their brethren of the ten tribes, and even as Nergal-êṭir, son of Malakiāwa (see above) seems to have been.

[pg 474]

Chapter XIII. The Decline Of Babylon.

The Jews who remained at Babylon and other cities of the land—Alexander the Great's intentions with regard to the city, and the result of their non-fulfilment—A Babylonian lamentation dated in the reign of Seleucus Nicator and his son—The desolation of the city after the foundation of Seleucia—The temples still maintained—Antiochus Epiphanes and the introduction of Greek worship—His invasion of Egypt—The Arsacidæ—A contract of the time of Hyspasines—Materials for history—Further records of the time of the Arsacidæ—The latest date of Babylonian worship—The Christians of Irak or Babylonia.

Notwithstanding the return of large numbers of Jews to Jerusalem, a considerable portion of the nation had become attached to the land of their captivity, and remained in Babylon and the other cities of Chaldea, as well as in Persia. These, no longer captives, but settlers by their own free will, had probably decided to stay in the land either from the desire to continue the businesses which they had started there, the relinquishing of which would have meant, in all probability, ruin to themselves and their families; or because of aged relatives for whom the journey to Jerusalem, however much they might have desired it, would have been an impossibility; or because of official and civil positions which they held either at court or in the employment of rich or influential personages, by whose support they hoped to be able to aid their compatriots; or because of the attractions of a great city, whose origins must for them have possessed a [pg 475] special interest (notwithstanding the horrors of the captivity which their forebears must have experienced there), and whose position for thousands of years as the capital of a large province gave it a preponderating influence, not only in the country of which it was the capital, but in all the civilized world at the time.

This being the case, there numbers of the Jews stayed, and there they witnessed the gradual departure of the sceptre from that city which one of their own writers had described as the glory of kingdoms, and the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency. After the passing of the kingdom into the hands of the alien Persian kings, things went on as usual under their rule for a considerable time—the people lived on their land, and bought and sold, and transacted their ordinary business, and trade seems to have been good (judging from the number of documents which have been preserved) until the end of the reign of Darius Hystaspis. Thereafter there was either a great falling off, or else the documents were deposited in other places, or a more perishable material was used for them. In any case, they become comparatively scarce, and their rarity may be due to the departure of trade from the capital, brought about by the removal of the court from Babylon, and the consequent migration of her merchants to other places.

Things had been going, in fact, from bad to worse for Babylon, and among the clay records left, some of the royal names which we should like to see are to all appearance absent. It was still, however, a place of great importance, when, in the year 331 b.c., it opened its gates to Alexander the Great, surrendering, like Susa and Persepolis, without striking a blow. Doubtless to them it was perfectly indifferent under which foreign potentate they lived, and a change in that respect could not make their condition worse, and might be to their advantage. Had he not died long before the term which nature has fixed, the city [pg 476] might have taken upon it such a renewed lease of life as would have caused it to exist as a great capital to the present day. As it happened, the Babylonians began to see their fondest hopes realized, for it must soon have become noised abroad that the new conqueror of Asia intended to make Babylon his Eastern capital, and they saw the clearing away of the rubbish which was the preliminary to the restoration of the great and renowned temple of Belus, Ê-sagila (or Ê-sangil as they called it at that time), actually proceeding, not only during the reign of Alexander, but also during that of his successor, Philip, as well. The mental calibre of the latter, however, who came to the throne on the death of Alexander in the year 323 b.c., must soon have told the Babylonians that the realization of his great predecessor's schemes was hopeless, and the downward course of the city's star, arrested as it were for a moment, soon began again.

The next change of rulers was that following upon the unworthy bearing of Antigonus with regard to Seleucus, Alexander the Great's favoured general, who had espoused his claims to the throne of the Eastern empire. After aiding Ptolemy of Egypt against Demetrius, son of Antigonus, he set out with a small force, and gathering recruits in his course, especially among the Babylonians, with whom he was popular, he entered their capital without opposition in 312 b.c., from which date the era of the Seleucidæ is regarded as beginning. How the Babylonians took the foundation of Seleucia on the Tigris, which is often mentioned in the numerous astrological tablets of this period, is not recorded, but from the way in which they speak of the migration of the inhabitants of Babylonia to Seleucia implies that they took it greatly to heart.

“Blessed shall he be who serveth thee as thou hast served us,” sang the Psalmist when lamenting the captivity of the Jews at Babylon, and if success in conquest be a sign of blessedness, then Seleucus must [pg 477] have been happy indeed. The Babylonians could not have regarded the continual and increasing desolation of their city with indifference, however, and it is not impossible that their loyalty to their king suffered somewhat in consequence. This, to all appearance, found vent in expressions of regret, and an old lamentation, referring to the depredations of the Qutû at a period so remote that we can hardly, at this distance of time, estimate, and of which a copy was made for a certain Bêl-zēr-lîšir, might well express their feelings at this period:

“For the misfortunes of Erech, for the misfortunes of Agadé, I am stricken.

The Erechitess wept, that departed was her might, the Agaditess wept, that departed was her glory (?);

The daughter of Erech wept, the daughter of Agadé cried aloud;

As for the daughter of Larancha, in her garment her face was hidden.

The Ḫursagkalamitess wept, that her husband was in trouble;

The Ḫulḫutḫulitess wept, that cast down was her sceptre;

The Mašitess wept, that her 7 brothers were slain, that her brother-in-law was stricken.

The Agaditess wept, that her elder was slain, the lord of her well-being;

The Kešitess wept—they have wrought destruction (?) for the name of her house: ‘My helpers are shattered’;

The Dunnaitess wept, ‘Who has a resting-place, who has leave to go forth?

Whose is it to defeat (?) the enemy, (with) the exits cut off?’

The daughter of Niffer wept, for the raging (?) Qutû assembled,

[pg 478]

She bowed down her face on account of the trouble of the husband of her well-being.

The Dûr-îlitess wept, for the Qutû collected,

For the son of her city destroyed, the overthrow of her father's house.

Weep for Erech, ravaging (and) shame has she received—

As for me, in the storm a place of refuge I know not.

Weep for Larancha (for the spoiling?) of (my) mantle I am in trouble.

My eyes see not my ..., the mothers are cut off from the child.

Weep for Niffer, as for me, (with) abundance of affliction (?)

Heaven has bound me fast;

The throne of my glory has been caused to pass away from me;

The bridegroom, the husband of my well-being, Bêl has taken away from me.”

“Like its original written, made clear, and acquired.

Tablet of Bêl-zēr-lîšir, son of Bêl-âba-usur, descendant of the sculptor.

(By) the hands of Bêl-bulliṭ-su, his son. He who fears the king shall not take (?) (this) tablet (?) away.

“Babylon, month Elul, day 15th, year 25th, Siluku and Antiukusu (Seleucus and Antiochus), king of countries.

By those same “rivers of Babylon” where the Israelites had mourned in captivity, thinking of Jerusalem, there the Babylonians themselves came at last to lament the departed glories of their land. Many a time, it is true, they had seen the country which was their fatherland overrun by enemies, but it had always recovered, and risen to a greater height of prosperity. [pg 479] This time, however, there was to be no healing of her wound. The large and well-peopled space within the walls of the great city gradually became uninhabited, and the houses fell into ruin. A time even came at last when the great walls had to be demolished—or at least practically so—in order that they might not afford protection to the lawless bands which infested the country, and were only too ready to make the most of such an advantage.

Notwithstanding the desolation of the city, however, a certain number of people continued to inhabit the site, probably officials of the temples (whose services still continued), and tradesmen who supplied the wants of those whose duty held them attached to the place. Here, year after year, the usual sacrifices were offered to the old gods of the Babylonians, especially “My Lord and Lady,” i.e. Bêl (Merodach) and Beltis (Zēr-panitum, his consort), and prayers were made for the king at the time reigning, and also for his sons (if he had any). That inscriptions may come to light which will show more clearly the state of things in that vast ruined city is exceedingly probable, and a sufficient number of tablets referring to this period are known to exist even now, and show in some measure the state of the city and the kind of people who dwelt in such parts of it as had been reserved for that purpose.

To those who inhabited Babylon's desolation, the most important thing, in all probability, was the worship, with all the old rites and ceremonies, of the deities whose temples and shrines still existed there. But those old priests and temple scribes occupied their time in another way, namely, the keeping of careful records of every historical event for the purpose of being able to tell the future. These historical notices are preceded by indications of the positions of the moon and the planets, together with the price of grain or other produce, during the period referred [pg 480] to. The positions of the planets, etc., were combined afterwards, by the “monthly prognosticators,” with the historical happenings, for the purpose of foretelling events, which at that late period was probably done much more systematically than during earlier ages, to the great advantage of the modern student of this period.

The following will give an idea of these historical notices:—

(Month Ab, 143rd year, Anti'ukusu, king = 168 b.c., reign of Antiochus Epiphanes.)

“An., the king, marched victoriously among the cities of the land of Meluḫḫa, and ... the people (puliṭē144 the Greek πολίτης) (constructed?) idols (puppē, evidently a Greek word, probably meaning ‘images of gods’) and works like a shrine (of?) the Greek(s?)....”

The inscription then goes on to speak of the appointment of a zazak (apparently a grade of priests) by the king, the handing to him of the gold in the treasury of Ê-saggil for the great (shrine) of Bêl, the (dedication?) of an unsuitable or an untimely image of the god Uru-gala on the 8th day of the month, and other similar occurrences. From the lines translated above, it will be seen that the Babylonians had not by any means escaped from the influence of Greek civilization, not only Greek words, but also, to all appearance, Greek gods and shrines having made their appearance. The word used in speaking of the image of the god Uru-gala is tamšil, but the things which the citizens made were puppē, possibly used like our word “idol.” It is possibly to this period, or a little later, that the transcriptions into Greek of Babylonian [pg 481] tablets (which promise to be of considerable value for the study of the Assyro-Babylonian language) belong.

If the translation given above be correct, it would confirm the account in the second book of Maccabees (vi. 2), from which it would appear that this ruler tried to habituate the Jews to Greek customs, and also to the Greek religion, going even so far as “to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter Olympus; and that in Garizim, of Jupiter the Defender of strangers, as they did desire that dwelt in the place” (vi. 2). “The abomination of desolation” which was set on the altar at Jerusalem (1 Macc. i. 54) is understood by commentators to mean an idol-altar, though almost any heathen image would suit the sense, and a statue of a god, with or without a shrine, might be meant. The reference to Meluḫḫa in all probability refers to one of his expeditions to Egypt, and is generally supposed to indicate Ethiopia.

Another change which the Babylonians experienced was when the rule of their Greek masters was exchanged for that of the Parthians, and the Seleucidæ gave way to the Arsacidæ. Concerning the period of the change, and the way in which it came about, very little is known. The varied fortunes of the Seleucid princes is illustrated by the fact that a satrap of Media named Timarchus, in 161-160 b.c., had succeeded in proclaiming himself king of Babylon; and from 153-139 b.c., Arsaces VI. (Mithridates I.) was in possession of all the district east of the Euphrates—Babylonia, Elam, and Persia. After his death, however, all this portion seems to have returned to the rule of the Seleucidæ, and their era was in all probability restored. After the death of Antiochus Sidetes, in 129 b.c., the province of Kharacene became independent under a ruler named Hyspasines or Spasines, who, two years later, seems [pg 482] to have made himself master of Babylon. An interesting tablet dated in the reign of this king (who used the Seleucian era) shows something of the state of things on the site of the old city, and that somewhat vividly.

(The inscription is preceded by five introductory lines, which are unfortunately imperfect, but do not seem to affect the transaction as a whole.)

“In the month Iyyar, the 24th day, year 185th, Aspāsinē (being) king, Bêl-lûmur, director of Ê-saggil, and the Babylonians, the congregation of Ê-saggil, took counsel together, and said thus—

“'Itti-Marduk-balaṭu, chief of the construction over the artificers (?) of the houses of the gods, scribe of Anu-Bêl, son of Iddin-Bêl, who formerly stood (?) at the side of Aspāsinē, the king, who (relieved?) want in the gate of the king; lo, this is for Bêl-âḫê-uṣur and Nabû-mušêtiq-ûrri, his sons—

“ ‘(As) they find the whole of his keep, a sum (?) has been collected (?) in the presence of the aforesaid Bêl-lûmur and the Babylonians, the congregation of Ê-saggil.

“ ‘From this day of this year we will give 1 mana of silver, the sustenance of Itti-Marduk-balaṭu, for their father, to Bêl-âḫê-uṣur and Nabû-mušêtiq-ûrri, from our (own) necessities. The amount, as much as Itti-Marduk-balaṭu, their father, has taken, they shall keep for (his) keep, and they shall give the grant for this year.’

“(Done along) with Bêl-šunu; Nûr; Muranu; Iddin-Bêl; Bêl-uṣur-šu, the scribe of Anu-Bêl, and the deputy-scribes of Anu-Bêl.”145

Though the translation is necessarily, from the [pg 483] mutilation of the text, not altogether satisfactory, certain items of information which it contains will hardly admit of doubt. There were still inhabitants of the city, there were temple-servants, who were probably under a kind of overseer of the works, and these apparently attended to all the temples. Whether this man was too old to work or not is doubtful, but it would seem that it was considered too much that his sons should keep him altogether, hence the drawing up of the document here quoted.

It is noteworthy that, instead of Merodach, or Bêl-Merodach, the god of Babylon, who became the chief deity of all Babylonia, a new deity appears, namely, Anu-Bêl, i.e. Anu the Lord, or, paraphrased, the Lord God of Heaven, probably the god Merodach identified with Anu. The religion of the Babylonians probably underwent many changes during this later period, when those who belonged to it came into contact with foreigners, many of them most intelligent men, whose teaching must have had with them great weight.

Another important inscription, in the British Museum, gives many details of the period of this little-known king, Aspāsinē. From this we learn that the Elamites made incursions in the neighbourhood of the Tigris. Pilinussu, the general in Akkad, apparently carried on operations against another general, and seems to have gone to the cities of the Medes before Bāgā-asā, the brother of the king. A man named Te'udišī also seems to have opposed the general in Akkad. Yet another inscription of the same period states that Ti'imūṭusu, son of Aspāsinē, went from Babylon to Seleucia (on the Tigris), showing that the former renowned place was still regarded as one of the cities of the land. At this time one of the opponents of Aspāsinē's generals was “Pittit, the enemy, the Elamite.” Elam, to its whole extent, was smitten with the sword, and Pittit (was slain, or [pg 484] captured). Sacrifices were made to Bel, probably on account of this victory.

Similar inscriptions of the time of the Arsacidean rule in Babylonia also exist, and would probably be useful if published. Unfortunately, they are all more or less damaged and mutilated, but of those which I have been able to make notes of, one may be worth quoting. The following extract will show its nature:—

“This month I heard thus: Aršakā the king and his soldiers departed to the city of Arqania.... (I) heard thus: The Elamite and his soldiers departed to battle before the city Apam'a which is upon the river Ṣilḫu....”

The remainder is very mutilated, and requires studying in conjunction with all the other inscriptions of the same class, though even then much must necessarily be doubtful.

In many of these inscriptions each of the long paragraphs ends with a reference to the sacrifices which had been made in the temples of Babylon among the ruins, and sometimes, though rarely, they refer to something of the nature of an omen. The following will serve as an example:—

“... descended to Babylon from Seleucia which is upon the Tigris. Day 10, the governor of Akkad ... the congregation of Ê-saggil, (sacrificed) one ox and 4 lambs in the gate Ka-dumu-nuna of Ê-saggil, (and) made (prayer for the lif)e of the king and his preservation. On the 5., one ox and 3 lambs (they sacrificed). The congregation of Baby]lon came to Ka-dumu-nuna of Ê-saggil, offerings like the former ones were made ... went forth from Sippar. This month a goat brought forth, and the litter was 15.”

Contract-tablets, some of them of a very late date indeed, within a decade or two of the Christian era, show that the temples still existed, and that sacrifices and services still went on, probably uninterruptedly, at the temples of Babylon, and this implies that, [pg 485] though the country had no national existence, the beliefs of the people survived for many centuries the downfall of their power. In all probability, what took place at Babylon had its counterpart in other places in the country—the fanes renowned of old—as well. Indeed, it is known that, at the most perfectly preserved of the temple-towers of Babylonia at the present day—that at Borsippa, now and for many centuries known as the Birs Nimroud, “the tower (as it is explained) of Nimrod,”—the services and worship were continued as late as the fourth century of the Christian era. The worship of Nebo, the god of wisdom, or, rather, letters, had always been extremely popular, hence, in all probability, the continuation of his cult until this late date. But this was to all appearance the last remnant of the powerful and picturesque creed of old Babylon, and details of its slow and gradual disappearance from the religious beliefs of the world would probably be as interesting as the story of its growth and development.

“The Church at Babylon,” mentioned in 1 Peter v. 13, is generally understood allegorically, as of the Church in the world, or that in the great Babylon of the time when the apostle wrote, namely, Rome. Though it is unknown whether a Christian Church existed in his time anywhere in Babylonia, it is probably certain that the native Christians of Baghdad (and 'Irāq in general) are pure descendants of the ancient Babylonians, to whom, in form and stature, as well as in character, and their tendency to progress, they have a great likeness. The same may be said of the native Christians of Assyria.

Could we but know the history of Assyria at this period, it is very probable that we should find it to resemble in certain things—perhaps in the main—that of Babylonia after her downfall. From the religious point of view, also, there must have been similarity. They, too, knew the worship of the [pg 486] “merciful Merodach,” to them a type of Christ, and his father Êa (from whom he obtained the means of helping mankind), in name and position a type of Jah, God the Father, whom the Christians worshipped. But we shall never in all probability know whether they thus analyzed and compared the two faiths, though it is very possible that they did, for it is said that the Egyptians were attracted to Christianity by the comparison of Christ with their Osiris. Such, however, is the tendency of the mind of mankind. Ever unwilling to break with the old, he seeks for some analogy in the new, to form a bridge whereby to pass to higher things. Minor deities have ever tended to become Christian saints, and such may have been—indeed, probably was—the case with the Babylonians and the Assyrians.

[pg 487]

Appendix. The Stele Inscribed With The Laws Of Ḫammurabi.

This monument was found at Susa, in the excavations undertaken by the French Government, by MM. de Morgan and Prof. V. Scheil. It is a column of diorite, measuring about 7 feet in height, tapering slightly from the bottom upwards. The circumference of the base is about 2 yards, and at the summit about 5 feet 5-½ inches. As, however, the stone is not square, it may be described as measuring, roughly, 22 inches broad at the base, and 16 inches just above the bas-relief at the top, where it is rounded somewhat irregularly.

The bas-relief, which is in perfect condition, measures about 2 feet 2 inches in height, and represents Ḫammurabi standing, facing to the right, towards the sun-god Šamaš, who sits on a throne of the usual recessed design. The god is bearded, clothed in a flounced robe, and has his hair looped up behind. His hat is pointed, and is adorned with four (eight) horns, rising at the side, and coming forward, where their points are turned up. His right shoulder is bare, and in his right hand he holds a staff and a ring, emblematic of authority and eternity, or his apparent course in the heavens. His right hand is held against his breast, and wavy lines, probably representing his rays, arise from his shoulders.

Ḫammurabi, who stands before the seated god, is clothed in a long robe reaching to his feet, and held up by his left arm. His right shoulder and arm are bare, and the hand is raised as if to emphasize the words he is uttering. Like the god, he is heavily bearded. On his head he wears the globular thick-brimmed hat distinctive of men in authority for many hundred years before his time, and for a considerable period afterwards.

The inscription, which is in horizontal columns, covers all four sides of the stone, and is divided into two parts, called by [pg 488] Prof. Scheil, who first translated it, the “obverse” and the “reverse” respectively. The former is in 16 columns, after which come 5 columns which have been erased, probably, as Prof. Scheil remarks, to insert the name and titles of an Elamite king, Šutruk-Naḫḫunte, who has his inscription placed on several other monuments of Babylonian origin found there. For some reason or other, the space on the stele of Ḫammurabi still remains blank. The “reverse” has 28 columns of inscription. The columns are narrow, and the lines consequently short, but as the latter are no less than 3638 in number, the text is a very extensive one, and when complete, must have consisted of over 4000 lines.

The inscription consists of three portions: the Introduction, consisting of 4 columns and 25 lines, detailing all the benefits which Ḫammurabi had conferred on the cities and temples of the land; the Laws, which occupy the remainder of the obverse, and 23 columns of the reverse (in all, 40 columns less 25 lines); and the Conclusion, occupying the remaining 5 columns, in which he recounts his own virtues, and in a long curse, calls upon the gods whom he worshipped to punish and destroy any of his successors who should abolish or change what he had written, or destroy his bas-relief.

The Laws Of Ḫammurabi.

Introduction.

When the supreme God, king of the Annunaki,146 and Bel, lord of the heavens and the earth, who fixes the destinies of the land, had fixed for Merodach, the eldest son of Aê, the Divine Lordship over the multitude of the people, and had made him great among the Igigi, they called Babylon by its supreme name, caused it to be great among the countries (of the world), and caused to exist for him in its midst an everlasting kingdom, whose foundation is as firm as heaven and earth.

At that time Ḫammurabi, the noble prince—he who fears God—me—in order that justice might exist in the country, to destroy the evil and wicked, that the strong might not oppress the weak,—God and Bel, to gladden the flesh of the people, proclaimed my name as a Sungod147 for the black-headed ones,148 appearing and illuminating the land.

[pg 489]

Ḫammurabi, the shepherd proclaimed of Bel am I—the perfecter of abundance and plenty, the completer of everything for Niffur (and) Dur-an-ki,149 the glorious patron of Ê-kura;150

The powerful king who has restored the city Êridu to its first state, who has purified the service of Ê-apsû;151

The best of the four regions, who made great the name of Babylon, rejoicing the heart of Merodach, his lord, who daily stays (at service) in Ê-sagila;152

The kingly seed whom the god Sin has created, who endows with riches the city of Ur;153 humble, devout, he who brings abundance to Ê-kiš-nu-gala;154

The king of wisdom, favourite of Šamaš, the powerful one, he who founded (again) the city of Sippar, who clothed with green the burial-places of Aa,155 who made supreme the temple Ê-babbara,156 which is like a throne (in) the heavens;

The warrior benefiting Larsa,157 who renewed the temple Ê-babbara158 for Šamaš his helper;

The lord who gave life to Erech, procuring waters in abundance for its people, he who has raised the head of the temple Ê-anna, completing the treasures for Anu and Innanna;159

The protector of the land, who has reassembled the scattered people of Nisin, who has made abundant the riches of the temple E-gal-maḫ;160

The unique one, king of the city, twin brother of the god Zagaga, he who founded the seat of the city of Kiš, who has caused the temple Ê-mete-ursag161 to be surrounded with splendour, who has caused the great sanctuaries of the goddess Innanna to be increased;

Overseer of the temple of Ḫursag-kalama, the enemies' temple-court, the help of which caused him to attain his desire;162

He who has enlarged the city of Cuthah, made great everything for the temple Meslam;163

The mighty steer who overthrows the enemy, the beloved of the god Tutu;164

[pg 490]

He who causes the city of Borsippa to rejoice, the supreme one, he who is tireless for the temple Ê-zida;165

The divine king of the city, wise, alert, he who has extended the agriculture of Dilmu,166 who has heaped up the (grain) receptacles for the powerful god Uraš;167

The lord (who is) the adornment of the sceptre and the crown, with which the wise goddess Mama has crowned him;

Who has defined the sanctuaries of Kêš, who has made plentiful the glorious feasts for the goddess Nin-tu;

The provident and careful one, who set pasturages and watering-places for Lagaš and Girsu, he who procured great offerings for Ê-ninnû;168

He who holds fast the enemy, the favourite of the divinity, he who fulfils the portents of the city Ḫallabu, he who has gladdened the heart of Ištar;169

The prince undefiled, whose prayer170 Addu171 has heard, he who gives rest to the heart of Addu, the warrior, in the city Muru;

He who set up the ornaments in the temple E-para-galgala, the king who gave life to the city of Adab;

He who directs the temple E-maḫ, the prince who is the city-king, the warrior who is without rival;

He who has given life to the city Maškan-šabri, who has caused abundance to arise for the temple Mešlam;

The wise, the active one, who has captured the robbers' hiding-places, sheltered the people of Malkâ in (their) misfortune, caused their seats to be founded in abundance, (and) instituted pure offerings for Aê and Damgal-nunna, who have made his kingdom great for ever.

The prince who is city-king, who subjugated the settlements of the Euphrates, the boundary (of) Dagan, his creator, who spared the people of Mera and Tutul;

The supreme prince, who has made the face of the goddess Ištar to shine, set pure repasts for the divinity Nin-azu, who cared for his people in (their) need, fixing their dues within Babylon peacefully;

The shepherd of the people, whose deeds are good unto Ištar, who set Ištar in the temple Ê-ulmaš within Agadé of the (broad) streets; he who makes the faithful obedient, who guides the Race;172

Who returned its good genius to the city of Asshur, who caused (its) splendour (?) to shine forth;

[pg 491]

The king who in Nineveh has caused the names of Ištar to be glorified in Ê-mešmeš;173

The supreme one, devoted in prayer to the great gods, descendant of Sumula-ilu, the mighty son of Sin-mubaliṭ, the eternal seed of royalty;

The powerful king, the Sun of Babylon, he who sends forth light for the land of Šumer and Akkad, the king causing the four regions to obey him, the beloved of the goddess Ištar, am I.

When Merodach chose me to govern the people, to rule and instruct the land, law and justice I set in the mouth of the land—in that day did I bring about the well-being of the people.

The Laws.

1. If a man ban a man, and cast a spell upon him, and has not justified it, he who has banned him shall be killed.

2. If a man has thrown a spell upon a man, and has not justified it, he upon whom the spell has been thrown shall go to the river,174 (and) shall plunge into the river, and if the river take him, he who banned him may take his house. If the river show that man to be innocent, and save (him), he who threw the spell upon him shall be killed; he who plunged into the river may take possession of the house of him who banned him.

3. If a man in a lawsuit has come forward (to bear) false witness, and has not justified the word he has spoken, if that lawsuit be a lawsuit of life,175 that man shall be killed.

4. If he has come forward (to bear) witness concerning wheat or silver, he shall bear the guilt of that lawsuit.

5. If a judge has given judgment, and decided a decision, and delivered a tablet (thereupon), and afterwards his judgment is found faulty, that judge, for the fault in the judgment he had judged, they shall summon, and the claim which is in question176 he shall (re)pay twelvefold, and in the assembly they shall make him rise up from his judgment-seat, and he shall not return, and he shall not sit again with the judges in judgment.

6. If a man has stolen the property of a god, or of the palace, that man shall be killed; and he who has received the stolen thing from his hand shall be killed.

[pg 492]

7. If a man has bought either silver, or gold, or a man-slave, or a woman-slave, or an ox, or a sheep, or an ass, or anything whatever, from the hands of the son of a man or the slave of a man, without witness or contract, or has received it on deposit, that man is a thief—he shall be killed.

8. If a man has stolen either an ox, or a sheep, or an ass, or a pig, or a ship—if it be from a god or from the palace, he shall (re)pay thirtyfold; if it be from a poor man, he shall restore tenfold. If the thief have not wherewith to (re)pay, he shall be killed.

9. If a man who has lost his property meet with his lost property in the hands of a man, (and) the man in whose hands the lost thing has been found say “a certain seller sold it—I bought it before certain witnesses,” and the owner of the lost object say “Let me bring witnesses who will recognize my lost object,” the buyer shall bring forward the seller who sold it, and the witnesses before whom he bought (it), and the owner of the lost object shall bring forward the witnesses who will recognize his lost object. The judge shall see what they have to say, and the witnesses before whom the purchase was made, and the witnesses knowing the object lost shall speak before God,177 and (if) the seller is the thief, he shall be killed. The owner of the lost object shall take (back) his lost object; the buyer shall receive (back) from the house of the seller the silver which he has paid.

10. If the buyer has not brought forward the seller who sold it to him and the witnesses before whom he bought (it), (and) the owner of the lost object has brought forward witnesses recognizing his lost object, the buyer is a thief—he shall be killed; the owner of the object lost shall take (back) the lost object.

11. If the owner of the lost object has not brought forward witnesses recognizing his lost object, he is a rogue, (and) has made a false accusation—he shall be killed.

12. If the seller has gone to his fate, the buyer shall receive from the house of the seller the claims of that judgment fivefold.

13. If that man have not his witnesses at hand, the judge shall grant him a delay of six months,178 and if he have not procured his witnesses in six months,179 that man is a rogue—he shall bear the guilt of that judgment.

14. If a man has stolen the young son of a man, he shall be killed.

[pg 493]

15. If a man has caused to go forth from the gate either a slave of the palace, or a handmaid of the palace, or the slave of a poor man, or the handmaid of a poor man, he shall be killed.

16. If a man has sheltered the escaped male or female slave of the palace or of a poor man in his house, and at the request of the steward has not sent him forth, the master of that house shall be killed.

17. If a man has met the escaped male or female slave in the fields, and has taken him back to his master, the master of the slave shall give him two shekels of silver.

18. If that slave will not name his master, he shall take him to the palace, his intention shall be inquired into, and they shall return him to his master.

19. If he has shut up that slave in his house, and afterwards the slave has been found in his hands, that man shall be killed.

20. If a slave escape from the hands of the man who has found him, that man shall call God to witness180 unto the master of the slave, and shall be held blameless.

21. If a man has made a breach in a house, in front of that breach they shall kill him and bury him.

22. If a man has exercised brigandage, and has been taken, that man shall be killed.

23. If the brigand has not been captured, the man who has been robbed shall take the thing which he has lost before God, and the city and the authorities within whose territory and boundaries the brigandage has been exercised shall make up to him what he has lost.

24. If (it be a question of) a life, the city and authorities shall pay one mana of silver to his people.

25. If the house of a man has been set on fire,181 and a man who went to extinguish it has raised his eyes to the property of the owner of the house, and taken the property of the owner of the house, that man shall be thrown into that same fire.

26. If an army-leader or a soldier, who has been commanded to go his way on a royal expedition, does not go, and has hired a mercenary, and his substitute is taken, that army-leader or soldier shall be killed, he who changed with him shall take his house.

27. If an army-leader or a soldier, who by the king's misfortune is kept prisoner, afterwards they have given his field and plantation to another, and he has carried on its administration; if (the original owner) then return and reach his city, they shall return to him his field and plantation, and he himself shall carry on its administration.

[pg 494]

28. If the son of an army-leader or a soldier, who is kept prisoner by the king's misfortune, is able to carry on the administration, they shall give to him the field and plantation, and he shall carry on the administration for his father.

29. If his son is young, and is unable to carry on the administration for his father, the third part of the field and plantation shall be given to his mother, and his mother shall bring him up.

30. If an army-leader or a soldier neglect his field, his plantation, and his house on account of the burden, and leave it waste, (and) another after him has taken his field, his plantation, and his house, and has carried on its administration for three years, if he return and wish to cultivate his field, his plantation, and his house, it shall not be given to him—he who took and has carried on its administration shall continue to administer.

31. If for one year (only) he has let (them) lie waste, and has returned, his field, his plantation, and his house they shall give to him, and he shall carry on his administration himself.

32. If a merchant has redeemed an army-leader or a soldier who has been kept prisoner upon a royal expedition, and has caused him to regain his city—if in his house there be (the wherewithal) for his redemption, he shall then redeem himself. If in his house there be not (the wherewithal) for his redemption, in the house of his city's god he shall be redeemed. If in the house of his city's god there be not (the wherewithal) for his redemption, the palace shall redeem him. His field, his plantation, and his house shall not be given for his redemption.

33. If a governor or a prefect have a substitute,182 or for a royal expedition accept a mercenary as substitute and incorporate (him), that governor or prefect shall be killed.

34. If a governor or a prefect take the property of an army-officer, ruin an army-officer, lend an army-officer for hire, grant an army-officer in a lawsuit to a magnate, take the gift which the king has given to an army-officer, that governor or prefect shall be killed.

35. If a man purchase from the hands of an army-officer the cattle and sheep which the king has given to the army-officer, he shall forfeit his money.

36. Field, plantation, and house of an army-officer, soldier, and tax-payer he183 shall not sell for silver.

37. If a man buy the field, plantation, or house of an army-officer, soldier, or tax-payer, his contract shall be broken, and he shall forfeit his money. The field, plantation, or house shall return to its owner.

[pg 495]

38. Army-officer, soldier, or tax-payer shall not leave to his wife or his daughter (anything) from the field, plantation, and house of his administration, and shall not give them for his indebtedness.

39. He may leave to his wife and his daughter (any part) of the field, plantation, or house which he has bought and owns, and may give it for his indebtedness.

40. But to an agent or other official, he may give his field, his plantation, or his house for silver, (and) the purchaser shall carry on the administration of the field, plantation, and house which he has bought.

41. If a man has enclosed the field, plantation, or house of an army-officer, soldier, or tax-payer, and given substitutes, the army-officer, soldier, or tax-payer may return to his field, plantation, or house, and take the substitutes which have been given to him.

42. If a man has hired a field for cultivation, and has not caused wheat to be in that field, they shall summon him for not having done work in the field, and he shall give to the owner of the field wheat like his neighbour.

43. If he has not planted the field, and has let it lie, he shall give to the owner of the field wheat like his neighbour, and the field which he has let lie he shall break up for cultivation, shall enclose (it) and return (it) to the owner of the field.

44. If a man has hired an uncultivated field for cultivation184 for three years, and he has been idle and has not cultivated the field, in the fourth year he shall break up the field for cultivation, shall hoe (it), and shall enclose (it) and return (it) to the owner of the field, and for every 10 gan he shall measure (to him) 10 gur of wheat.

45. If a man has given his field for rent to a planter, and has received the rent of his field, and afterwards a storm185 has inundated the field, or has (otherwise) destroyed the produce, the loss belongs to the planter.

46. If he have not received the rent of his field, and has let the field for a half or a third (of the produce), the planter and the owner of the field shall share the wheat which has been produced in the field proportionately.

47. If the planter, because his husbandry did not yield profit186 in the first year, direct the field to be cultivated (by another), the owner of the field shall not object. The planter then shall cultivate his field, and shall take the wheat at harvest-time, according to his contract.

48. If there be interest (upon a loan) against a man, and a [pg 496] storm187 inundate his field, or has (otherwise) destroyed the produce, or by want of water there is no wheat in the field, that year he shall not return any wheat to the creditor.188 He shall damp his tablet (? to alter it), and shall not pay interest189 for that year.

49. If a man has borrowed money from an agent, and has given to the agent a field laboured for wheat or sesame, (and) has said to him: “Plant the field, and gather and take the wheat or the sesame which will be produced;” if the planter has caused wheat or sesame to be in the field, at harvest-time the owner of the field may take the wheat or sesame which has been produced in the field, and shall give to the agent wheat for his silver and his interest190 which he received from the agent, and (for) the cost of the cultivation.

50. If he has given (as security) a planted field, or a field planted with sesame, the owner of the field shall take the wheat or sesame which is produced in the field, and shall return the silver and its interest to the agent.

51. If there be no silver (wherewith) to repay, he shall give to the agent sesame at their market-price for his silver and his interest, which he received from the agent, according to the tariff of the king.

52. If the planter has not caused wheat or sesame to be in the field, it does not annul his contract.

53. If a man has neglected to stren[gth]en his [dyke], and has not streng[thened his] dyke, [and] a breach has o[pened] in [his] dyke, and water has inundated the enclosure, the man in whose dyke the breach has been opened shall make good the wheat which it has destroyed.

54. If the wheat does not suffice to make good (the damage), they shall sell that (man) and his goods for silver, and the people191 of the enclosure, whose wheat the water carried away, shall share together.

55. If a man has opened his irrigation-channel to water, (and) has been negligent, and the water has flooded the field of his neighbour, he shall measure (to him) wheat like192 (that of) his neighbour.

56. If a man has opened the water, and the water flood the work of the field of his neighbour, he shall measure (to him) 10 gur of wheat for each 10 gan.

57. If a shepherd has not agreed with the owner of a field for grass to pasture his sheep, and without the owner of the field has pastured sheep (in) the field, the owner shall reap his fields; the [pg 497] shepherd who, without the owner of the field, pastured sheep (in) the field, shall pay to the owner of the field 20 gur of wheat for every 10 gan besides.

58. If, after the sheep have left the enclosure, (and) the whole flock has passed through the gate, the shepherd place the sheep (again) in the field, and cause the sheep to pasture (in) the field, the shepherd shall keep the field (where) he has pastured them, and shall measure to the owner of the field, at harvest-time, 60 gur of wheat for every 10 gan.

59. If a man, without (the permission of) the owner of a plantation, has cut down a tree in the plantation of a man, he shall pay half a mana of silver.

60. If a man has given a field to a gardener to plant as a plantation, (and) the gardener has planted the plantation, he shall tend the plantation for four years. In the fifth year the owner of the plantation and the gardener shall share equally; (thereafter) the owner of the plantation shall apportion and take his share.

61. If a gardener has not completed the plantation of a field, and has left an uncultivated place, they shall set for him the uncultivated place in his share.

62. If he has not planted the field which has been given him for a plantation, if (it be) grain, the gardener shall measure to the owner of the field the produce of the field, for the years during which it has been neglected, like his neighbour; and he shall do the work of the field, and return (it) to the owner of the field.

63. If the field (was) waste land, he shall do the work of the field, and return (it) to the owner of the field, and he shall measure for every year 10 gur of wheat for each 10 gan.

64. If a man has given his plantation to a gardener to cultivate, the gardener, as long as he holds the plantation, shall give two-thirds of the produce of the plantation to the owner of the plantation, (and) shall take a third himself.

65. If the gardener has not cultivated the plantation, and has diminished the produce, the gardener [shall measure to the owner of the field] produce (like) his neighbour.

(Five columns have here been erased, apparently by the Elamite king who intended to inscribe his name upon the monument. Prof. Scheil estimates that this contained about 35 sections of the laws, containing the remaining sections referring to the cultivation of plantations or orchards, the letting of houses, and the laws relating to commercial transactions, of which a portion is preserved after the gap. As pointed out by Prof. Scheil, the following sections, from fragments of tablets [pg 498] found at Nineveh by Hormuzd Rassam and the late Geo. Smith, probably came in here.)

[If a man has borrowed silver from an agent, and has given] to the agent [a date-orchard, and] has said to him: “Take for thy money the dates, [as much as] will be produced in [my] orchard, for thy money;” (if) that agent be not in agreement, the owner of the orchard shall take the dates which are produced in the orchard, and return to the agent the silver and its interest, according to his tablet; and the owner of the orchard may ta[ke] the surplus dates which have been produced in the orchard.

[If a man has hired a house, and] the man has paid to the owner of [the house] the complete money for his rent for a year, [and] the owner of the house, before the days are full, command the ten[ant] to go [forth],—the owner of the house, [as] he sends the tenant [forth] from his house before the time,193 [shall return to the tenant a proportionate sum, for having gone forth from his house], from the money which the tenant has pai[d to him].

[If a man] owe (?) wheat (or) silver, and has not wheat or silver [wherewith] to [pay], but possess (other) goods, whatever is in his hands he shall gi[ve] to the agent, before witnesses, as profit, [and] the agent shall not f[ind fault], and shall ac[cept it].

(Portions of other laws are also preserved, but they are too fragmentary to enable the sense to be gathered.)

100. [If an agent has advanced silver to a commissioner, and he has had good fortune in the place to which he went], he shall write down the profits of his silver, as much as he has received, and the day when they make up their accounts he shall pay (it) to his agent.

101. If he found no profit where he went, he shall make up the silver which he took, and the commissioner shall repay it to the agent.194

102. If an agent has advanced silver to a commissioner for profit, and he found loss where he went, he shall return the capital of the silver to the agent.

103. If, whilst going on his way, an enemy caused him to lose what he was carrying, the commissioner shall call God to witness195 and shall go free.

104. If an agent has given to a commissioner grain, wool, oil, or any other goods for trading, the commissioner shall write down the silver (received), and shall return it to the agent. The [pg 499] commissioner shall take a sealed document of the silver which he gives to the agent.196

105. If the commissioner has been negligent, and has not taken a sealed document of the silver which he has given to the agent, the silver not certified shall not be placed in the business.197

106. If a commissioner has taken silver from an agent, and dispute (withhold it from) his agent, that agent shall summon the commissioner before God and the witnesses concerning the money taken; the commissioner shall repay to the agent the silver, as much as he has taken, threefold.

107. If an agent act unjustly to a commissioner, and the commissioner has returned to the agent everything which the agent had given to him, (and) the agent dispute with the commissioner (concerning) anything which the commissioner has repaid to him, that commissioner shall summon the agent before God and the witnesses, and the agent, for having disputed (with) his commissioner, anything which he has received he shall repay to the commissioner sixfold.

108. If a wine-woman has not accepted wheat as the price of drink, (but) has accepted silver by the large stone, or has set the tariff of the drink below the tariff of the wheat, they shall summon that wine-woman, and shall throw her into the water.

109. If a wine-woman, (when) riotous fellows are assembled at her house, does not seize those riotous fellows and take them to the palace, that wine-woman shall be killed.

110. If a devotee who dwells not in a cloister open a wine-house, or enter a wine-house for drink, that female they shall burn.

111. If a wine-woman has given 60 qa of second (?) quality drink, for thirst, she shall take 50 qa of corn at harvest-time.

112. If a man is travelling,198 and has given to (another) man silver, gold, (precious) stones, and his other property199 and has caused him to take them for delivery, (and) that man has not delivered what he was to transmit at the place to which he was to transmit (it), and has taken it away, the owner of the consignment shall summon that man for anything which he took and did not deliver, and that man shall give (back) to the owner of the consignment fivefold anything which had been given to him.

113. If a man have (an account of) wheat or silver against a man, and without the owner of the wheat has taken wheat from the barn or the depository, they shall summon that man, for having taking wheat, without the owner of the wheat, from the barn or depository, and he shall return the wheat, as much as he [pg 500] took, and he shall forfeit whatever it may be, as much as he lent.200

114. If a man have no (account of) wheat or silver against a man, and make his distraint, for every distraint he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

115. If a man have (an account of) wheat or silver against a man, and make his distraint, and the person distrained201 die, by his fate, in the house of the distrainer, that lawsuit has no claim.

116. If the person distrained die in the house of the distrainer by blows or by ill-treatment, the owner of the person distrained shall summon his agent;202 and if (the person distrained) was the son of the man, they shall kill his (the distrainer's) son; if he was the servant (slave) of the man, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver; and he shall forfeit whatever it may be, as much as he lent.

117. If a man has contracted a debt, and has given his wife, his son, (or) his daughter for the money, or has let (them) out for service, three years they shall serve the house of their purchaser or master, in the fourth year he shall grant their freedom.

118. If he let out a male or female slave for service, (and) the agent pass (them) on (and) give them for silver, there is no claim.

119. If a man has contracted a debt, and has sold his female-slave who has borne him children, the owner of the slave may (re)pay the silver which the agent has paid, and redeem his slave.

120. If a man has delivered his grain for storage in the house of a man, and a deficiency appears in the granary, or the master of the house has opened the storehouse and taken the grain, or he has disputed as to the total of the grain which was delivered at his house, the owner of the grain shall claim his grain before God, and the master of the house shall cause the grain which he has taken to be made up, and shall give (it) to the owner of the grain.

121. If a man has delivered grain (for storage) at the house of a man, he shall pay yearly 5 qa of grain for every gur (as) the price of the storage.

122. If a man give silver, gold, or anything else, to a man on deposit, he shall show the witnesses everything, whatever he gives; he shall make contracts, and (then) give (it) on deposit.

[pg 501]

123. If he has given it on deposit without witnesses and contracts, and they dispute (this) to him where he gave it, that lawsuit has no claim.

124. If a man has given silver, gold, or anything else, to a man, before witnesses, on deposit, and (the man) dispute with him, he shall summon that man, and whatever he has disputed, he shall make up and give (back).

125. If a man has given his property on deposit, and where he gave (it), his property disappeared, with the property of the owner of the house, either through a breaking in or through a trespass, the master of the house which was in fault shall compensate for his property which he gave him on deposit and (which) was lost, and he shall make (it) up to the owner of the property. The master of the house shall seek his lost property, and take it from the thief.

126. If a man, his property not being lost, say that his property is lost, he shall bring forward his deficiency. As his property has not been lost, he shall state his deficiency before God, and whatever he has claimed they shall cause him to make up, and he shall give (it) to (make up) his deficiency.

127. If a man has caused the finger to be raised against a devotee or the wife of a man, and has not justified it, they shall set that man before the judges, and mark his forehead.

128. If a man has taken a wife, and has not made her contract,203 that woman is not a wife.

129. If the wife of a man is taken in adultery with another male, they shall tie them together, and throw them into the water. If the owner of the wife spare his wife, and the king spare his servant....

130. If a man force the wife of a man who has not yet known a male, and (who) dwells in the house of her father, and has lain in her bosom, and they have found him, that man shall be killed, the woman shall be allowed to go.

131. If the wife of a man has been accused by her husband,204 and he has not found her on the couch with another male, she shall swear by God,205 and return to her house.

132. If, on account of another male, the finger has been pointed at the wife of a man, and she has not been found with another male on the couch, she shall plunge into the river for her husband('s sake).

133. If a man has been made captive, and there is in his house the wherewithal to eat, (and) his [wife] has [gone] forth [from] her [house], [and afterwards?] has [en]tered into another [pg 502] house, [as] that woman has not guarded her homestead, and has entered another house, they shall summon that woman, and throw her into the water.

134. If a man has been made captive, and there is not in the house the wherewithal to eat, his wife may enter another house; that woman is not in fault.

135. If a man has been made captive, and there is not in his house the wherewithal to eat,206 (and) his wife has entered another house, and has borne children, (and) afterwards her husband return, and reach his city, that woman shall207 return to her husband; the children shall go to their father.

136. If a man has abandoned his city and fled, (and) afterwards208 his wife has entered another house, if that man return, and (wish to) take his wife, as he hated his city and fled, the wife of the deserter shall209 not return to her husband.

137. If a man set his face to repudiate a concubine who has borne him children, or a wife who has caused him to have children, he shall return to that woman her (marriage) gift, and shall give to her the usufruct of field, plantation, and goods, and she shall bring up her children. After she has brought up her children, they shall give to her, from the property which has been given to her children, (a share of) the produce like (that of) one son, and she may marry the husband of her choice.210

138. If a man (wish to) repudiate his spouse, who has not borne him children, he shall give to her silver, as much as was her dower, and he shall restore to her the wedding-gift which she brought from the house of her father, and shall repudiate her.

139. If there be no dower, he shall give her one mana of silver for the repudiation.

140. If (he be) a poor man, he shall give her one-third of a mana of silver.

141. If the wife of a man, who dwells in the house of the man, set her face to go forth, commit foolishness (?), ruin her house, despise her husband, they shall summon her, and if her husband say: “I have divorced her,” he shall let her go her way. (As for) her repudiation(-gift), nothing shall be given to her. If her husband say: “I have not repudiated her,” her husband may marry211 another woman; that woman shall dwell in her husband's house like a servant.

142. If a woman hate her husband, and say: “Thou shalt not possess me,” her reason for that which she lacks shall be [pg 503] examined, and if she has been continent, and have no fault, and her husband go out, and neglect her greatly, that woman has no defect; she shall take her wedding-gift, and shall go to the house of her father.

143. If she has not been continent, and has gone about, she has ruined her house, (and) despised her husband; they shall throw that woman into the water.

144. If a man has married a wife, and that wife has given a maid-servant to her husband, and she has had children, (if) that man set his face to take a concubine, they shall not allow that man—he shall not take a concubine.

145. If a man has married a wife, and she has not caused him to have children, and he set his face to take a concubine, that man may take a concubine, (and) may introduce her into his house, (but) he shall not make that concubine equal with (his) wife.

146. If a man has married a wife, and she has given a maid-servant to her husband, and (the maid-servant) has borne children, (if) afterwards that maid-servant make herself equal with her mistress, as she has borne children, her mistress shall not sell her for silver; she shall place a mark212 upon her, and count her with the maid-servants.

147. If she has not borne children, her mistress may sell her for silver.

148. If a man has married a wife, and a malady has seized her, (and) he has set his face to marry a second, he may marry. He shall not divorce the wife whom the malady has seized; she may stay in the house he has made, and he shall support her as long as she lives.

149. If that woman is not content to dwell in the house of her husband, he shall deliver to her her marriage-gift, which she brought from the house of her father, and she shall go her way.

150. If a man has presented to his wife a field, a plantation, a house, and property, (and) has left her a sealed tablet, after her husband('s death) her sons shall make no claim against her. The mother may give her property213 to the son whom she loves,—to the brother she need not give.

151. If a woman who dwells in the house of a man contract with her husband, and cause (him) to deliver a tablet, so that a creditor214 of her husband may not seize her, if that man have interest of money against him before he marries that woman, his creditor shall not seize his wife, and if that woman have interest of money against her before she enter the house of the man, her creditor shall not seize her husband.

[pg 504]

152. If interest accrue against them after that woman has entered the house of the man, they shall both be responsible to the agent.

153. If the wife of a man cause her husband to be killed on account of another male, they shall impale that woman.215

154. If a man has known his daughter, they shall expel that man from the city.

155. If a man has chosen a bride for his son, and his son has known her, (and if) he (himself) then afterwards has lain in her bosom, and they have found him, they shall bind that man, and cast her into the water.216

156. If a man has chosen a bride for his son, and his son has not known her, and he (himself) has lain in her bosom, he shall pay her half a mana of silver, and shall restore to her whatever she brought from the house of her father, and she shall marry the husband of her choice.

157. If a man, after his father, has lain in the bosom of his mother, they shall burn them both.

158. If a man, after his father, be found in the bosom of her who brought him up, (and) who has brought forth children, that man shall be turned out of (his) father's house.

159. If a man, who has brought to his father-in-law's house furniture217 (and) has given a dower, pay attention to another woman, and say to his father-in-law: “I will not marry thy daughter,” the father of the girl shall take the property which has been brought to him.

160. If a man has brought furniture to the house of his father-in-law, (and) given a dower, and the father of the girl say: “I will not give thee my daughter,” the property, as much as has been brought to him, he shall cause to be equal,218 and shall return.

161. If a man has brought furniture to the house of his father-in-law, (and) given a dower, and his friend slander him, (and) his father-in-law say to the husband of the wife:219 “Thou shalt not marry my daughter,” he shall cause to be equal the property, as much as has been brought to him, and return (it), and his friend shall not marry his wife.

162. If a man has married a wife, (and) she has borne him children, and that woman has gone to (her) fate, her father shall [pg 505] have no claim upon her marriage-gift—her marriage-gift belongs to her sons.

163. If a man has married a wife, and she has not caused him to have children, (and) that woman has gone to (her) fate, if his father-in-law has returned to him the dower which that man took to the house of his father-in-law, her husband shall have no claim upon the marriage-gift of that woman—her marriage-gift belongs to the house of her father.

164. If his father-in-law has not returned to him the dower, he shall deduct from her marriage-gift all her dower, and return (the balance of) her marriage-gift to her father's house.

165. If a man has presented to his son, who is foremost in his eyes, a field, a plantation, and a house, (and) has written for him a tablet, (and) afterwards the father has gone to (his) fate, when the brothers share together, he shall take the gift which the father gave him, and they shall share equally in the property of the house of the father besides.

166. If a man has taken wives for the sons which he has had, (and) has not taken a wife for his youngest son, (and) afterwards the father has gone to (his) fate, when the brothers share together, they shall set aside the money of a dower for their youngest brother, who has not taken a wife, from the property of the father's house, besides his (lawful) share, and shall cause him to take a wife.

167. If a man has married a wife, and she has borne him sons, (and) that woman has gone to (her) fate, (and) after her he has married another woman, and she has brought forth sons, (and) afterwards the father has gone to (his) fate, the sons shall not share according to the mothers. They shall take the marriage-gifts of their mothers, and the property of the father's house they shall share equally.

168. If a man set his face to discard his son, he shall say to the judge: “I discard my son;” the judge shall inquire into his reasons. If the son has not committed a grave fault which cuts him off from sonhood, the father shall not cut off his son from sonhood.220

169. If he has committed against his father a grave fault which cuts him off from sonhood, the first time (the father) shall refrain. If he has committed a grave fault a second time, the father shall cut his son off from the sonhood.

170. If a man's wife has borne him children, and his maid-servant has borne him children, (and) the father in his lifetime say to the children whom the maid-servant has borne to him: “My children,” he has reckoned them with the children of the [pg 506] wife. After the father has gone to (his) fate, the children of the wife and the children of the maid-servant shall share in the property of the father's house equally; the son (who is) the child of the wife shall choose and take at the sharing.

171. And if the father, during his lifetime, has not said to the children whom the maid-servant has borne to him: “My children,” after the father has gone to (his) fate, the children of the maid-servant shall not share in the property of the father's house with the children of the wife. (If) he has set free the maid-servant and her children, the children of the wife shall not claim the children of the maid-servant for service. The wife shall take her marriage-gift and the dowry which her husband gave her (and) recorded upon a tablet, and she shall sit in the seat of her husband; as long as she lives, she shall enjoy (them)—she shall not sell them for money—they belong to her children after her.

172. If her husband has not given her a dowry, they shall make up to her her marriage-gift, and she shall take, from the property of her husband's house, a share like (that of) one son. If her sons afflict her, to send her forth from the house, the judge shall inquire into her reasons, and (if) he set the fault upon the children, that woman shall not go forth from her husband's house. If that woman set her face to go forth, she shall leave to her children the dowry which her husband gave her. She shall take the marriage-gift of her father's house, and the husband of her choice shall marry her.

173. If that woman, in the place where she has entered, has borne to her second husband children, after that woman has died, the former and latter children shall share her marriage-gift.

174. If she has not borne children to her second husband, then the children of her (first) spouse shall take her marriage-gift.

175. If a slave of the palace or the slave of a poor man has married the daughter of a (free) man, and has borne children, the owner of the slave shall not make a claim upon the children of a (free) man's daughter for servitude.

176a. And if a slave of the palace or a slave of a poor man has married a (free) man's daughter, and when he has married her, she has entered the house of the slave of the palace or the slave of the poor man with a wedding-gift from the house of her father, and after they have been established, they have built a house and have property, (if) afterwards the slave of the palace or the slave of the poor man has gone to (his) fate, the daughter of the (free) man shall take her marriage-gift, and they shall divide the property, which her husband and she had after they were established, into two parts, and the owner of the slave shall [pg 507] take half, (and) the daughter of the (free) man shall take half for her children.

176b. If the daughter of the (free) man had no marriage-gift, the property which her husband and she possessed after they were established they shall divide into two parts, and the master of the slave shall take half, the daughter of the (free) man shall take half for her children.

177. If a widow whose children are young set her face to enter another house,221 she shall not enter without the judge. When she enters another house, the judge shall inquire concerning what remains of her first husband's house, and they shall entrust the first husband's house to the second husband and to that woman, and shall cause them to deliver a tablet. They shall keep that house and bring up the young (children). They shall not sell (any) utensil for silver. The buyer who buys a utensil of the children of a widow shall forfeit his money; the property shall return to its owner.

178. If a devotee, or a public woman, to whom her father has presented a gift, (and) has written for her a tablet, (and) on the tablet which he has written for her has not written for her (concerning) the giving of what she should leave to whomsoever she pleased, and has not let her follow the desire of her heart, after the father has gone to (his) fate, her brothers shall take her field and her plantation, and according to the amount of her share shall give to her food, oil, and clothing, and shall satisfy her heart. If her brothers have not given her food, oil, and clothing according to the amount of her share, and have not satisfied her heart, she may give her field and plantation to the farmer who may seem good to her, and her farmer shall support her. Field, plantation, and property, which her father gave her, she shall enjoy as long as she lives—she shall not give (them) for silver, nor shall she be answerable (to) another (therewith)—her share as daughter belongs to her brothers.222

179. If a devotee or a public woman, to whom her father has presented a gift, (and) has written for her a sealed tablet, (and) on the tablet which he has written for her has written for her (concerning) the giving of what she should leave to whomsoever she pleased, and has let her follow the desire of her heart, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall give what she leaves to whomsoever she pleases—her brothers have no claim upon her.

180. If a father has not presented a gift223 to his daughter, who is a recluse or a public woman, after the father has gone to (his) [pg 508] fate, she shall take a share in the property of the father's house like a son, and enjoy (it) as long as she lives. What she leaves belongs to her brothers.

181. If a father has brought to a god a hierodule or a virgin, and has not presented to her a gift,224 after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall share in the property of the father's house a third (as) her inheritance, and she shall enjoy (it) as long as she lives. What she leaves belongs to her brothers.

182. If a father has not presented a gift to his daughter, priestess of Merodach of Babylon, (and) has not written for her a sealed tablet, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall share, with her brothers, in the property of the father's house a third part (as) her inheritance, and she shall not carry on its administration. The priestess of Merodach may give what she leaves to whomsoever she pleases.

183. If a father has presented a marriage-gift to his concubine-daughter, given her to a husband, (and) written for her a sealed tablet, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall not share in the property of the father's house.225

184. If a man has not presented to his concubine-daughter a marriage-gift, (and) has not given her to a husband, after the father has gone to (his) fate, her brothers shall give her a wedding-gift according to the amount (of the property) of the father's house, and shall give her to a husband.

185. If a man has adopted226 a child by its name,227 and has brought it up, that foster-child cannot be claimed back.

186. If a man has adopted a child, and when he had adopted him, he rebelled against his (foster-)father and his (foster-)mother, that foster-child shall return to his father's house.

187. The son of a favourite attending the palace, and the son of a public woman, cannot be claimed back.228

188. If an artizan229 has taken a child to bring up,230 and has taught him his handicraft, he cannot be claimed back.

189. If he has not taught him his handicraft, that foster-child231 may return to his father's house.

190. If a man has not reckoned with his sons a young child which he has adopted and brought up, that foster-child may return to the house of his father.

191. If a man who has adopted a child and brought him up, has built a dwelling, (and) after he has children (of his own) set [pg 509] his face to cut off the foster-child, that child shall not go his way. His foster-father shall give him one-third of his property as his inheritance and (then) he shall go. He shall give him nothing of the field, plantation, and house.

192. If the son of a favourite or the son of a public woman say to his foster-father and his foster-mother, “Thou art not my father, thou art not my mother,” they shall cut out his tongue.232

193. If the child of a favourite or the child of a public woman come to know his father's house, and despise his foster-father and his foster-mother, and go to his father's house, they shall tear out his eyes.233

194. If a man has given his child to a nurse, and that child has died in the hands of the nurse, and the nurse, without [his] father and his mother, rear another child, they shall summon her, and as she has rear[ed] another child without [his] father and mother, they shall cut off her breasts.

195. If a son smite his father, they shall cut off his hands.

196. If a man has destroyed the eye of the son of a man, they shall destroy his eye.

197. If he has broken the limb of a man, they shall break his limb.

198. If he has destroyed the eye of a poor man, or broken the limb of a poor man, he shall pay one mana of silver.

199. If he has destroyed the eye of a man's slave, or broken the limb of a man's slave, he shall pay half his value.234

200. If a man has knocked out the teeth of a man of his rank, they shall knock out his teeth.

201. If he has knocked out the teeth of a poor man, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

202. If a man has struck the head235 of a man who is greater than he, he shall be struck in the assembly sixty times with an ox-hide whip.

203. If the son of a man236 has struck the head of the son of a man who is like himself, he shall pay one mana of silver.

204. If a poor man has struck the head of a poor man, he shall pay ten shekels of silver.

205. If the slave of a man has struck the head of the son of a man, they shall cut off his ear.

206. If a man has struck a man in a quarrel, and do him hurt, [pg 510] that man shall swear: “I did not strike him knowingly,” and he shall be responsible for the physician.

207. If he die of his blows, he shall swear (the same). If (it was) the son of a man, he shall pay one-half a mana of silver.

208. If it was the son of a poor man, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

209. If a man has struck the daughter of a man, and caused what was within her to fall from her, he shall pay ten shekels of silver for what was within her.

210. If that woman die, they shall kill his daughter.

211. If by blows he has made what was within the daughter of a poor man to fall from her, he shall pay five shekels of silver.

212. If that woman die, he shall pay one-half a mana of silver.

213. If he has struck a man's slave-woman and made that which was within her fall from her, he shall pay two shekels of silver.

214. If that slave-woman die, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

215. If a physician has treated a man for a grave injury with a bronze lancet, and cured the man, or opened the cataract of a man with a bronze lancet, and cured the eye of the man, he shall receive ten shekels of silver.

216. If it was the son of a poor man, he shall receive five shekels of silver.

217. If it was a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall pay to the physician two shekels of silver.

218. If a physician has treated a man for a grave injury with a bronze lancet, and caused the man to die, or opened the cataract of a man with a bronze lancet, and destroyed the eye of a man, they shall cut off his hands.

219. If a physician has treated a poor man's slave for a grave injury with a bronze lancet, and has caused (him) to die, he shall make good slave for slave.237

220. If he has opened his cataract with a bronze lancet, and destroyed his eye, he shall pay half his value in silver.238

221. If a physician has made sound the broken limb of a man, or saved a diseased part, the patient239 shall pay to the physician five shekels of silver.

222. If it be the son of a poor man, he shall pay three shekels of silver.

223. If it was a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall pay to the physician two shekels of silver.

[pg 511]

224. If an ox-doctor or an ass-doctor has treated an ox or an ass for a grave injury, and has saved (it), the owner of the ox or the ass shall pay to the physician one-sixth (of a shekel) of silver (as) his hire.

225. If he has treated the ox or the ass for a grave injury, and caused (it) to die, he shall give to the owner of the ox or the ass a quarter of its price.

226. If a barber, without the (knowledge of the) owner of a slave, has marked an inalienable slave with a mark, they shall cut off the hands of that barber.240

227. If a man has deceived a barber, and he has marked an inalienable slave with a mark, they shall kill that man, and bury him in his house; the barber shall swear: “I did not mark knowingly,” and shall go free.

228. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has finished it (well), for a house of one šar, he shall give him two shekels of silver as his pay.

229. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has not done his work strongly, and the house he has made has fallen down, and killed the owner of the house, that builder shall be killed.

230. If it cause the son of the owner of the house to die, they shall kill the son of that builder.

231. If it cause the slave of the owner of the house to die, he shall give to the owner of the house a slave like (his) slave.

232. If it has destroyed the property, whatever it has destroyed, he shall make good. And as he did not make strong the house he constructed, and it fell, from his own property he shall rebuild the house which fell.

233. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has not caused his work to be firm, and the wall has fallen over, that builder shall strengthen that wall with his own money.

234. If a boatman has calked a vessel of 60 gur (burthen) for a man, he shall give him two shekels of silver as his pay.

235. If a boatman has calked a vessel for a man, and has not perfected his work, and in that (same) year that vessel sail, (if) it have a defect, the boatman shall alter that vessel, and repair (it) with his own capital, and give the repaired vessel to the owner of the vessel.241

236. If a man has given his vessel to a boatman for hire, and the boatman has been neglectful, and sunk or lost the vessel, the boatman shall replace the vessel to the owner of the vessel.

[pg 512]

237. If a man has hired a boatman and a vessel, and has freighted it with wheat, wool, oil, dates, and any other kind of freight; (if) that boatman be neglectful, and sink the vessel, and lose what is within (it), the boatman shall replace the vessel which he has sunk, and whatever he lost, which was within it.

238. If a boatman has sunk a man's vessel, and refloated it, he shall pay half its value242 in silver.

239. If a man [has hired] a boatman, he shall give him 6 gur of wheat yearly.

240. If a down-stream vessel collide with an up-stream vessel, and sink (it), the owner of the sunken vessel shall declare before God whatever has been lost in his vessel, and (he) of the down-stream vessel which sank the up-stream vessel shall replace for him his vessel and whatever was lost.

241. If a man has driven the ox (of another) to work, he shall pay one-third of a mana of silver.

242 and 243. If a man has hired for a year, (as) hire of a draught-ox he shall pay to its owner 4 gur of wheat. (As) hire of a carrier(?)-ox, 3 gur of wheat.

244. If a man has hired an ox (or) an ass, and a lion kill it in the field, (the loss) is its owner's.

245. If a man has hired an ox, and cause it to die by negligence or by blows, to the ox's owner he shall make up ox for ox.243

246. If a man has hired an ox, and has broken its foot or cut its nape,244 to the ox's owner he shall make up ox for ox.

247. If a man has hired an ox, and has poked out its eye, he shall pay to the ox's owner half its value in silver.

248. If a man has hired an ox, and has broken its horn, cut off its tail, or pierced245 its nostril, he shall pay a quarter of its value in silver.

249. If a man has hired an ox, and God has stricken it and it has died, the man who hired the ox shall swear by God,246 and shall go free.

250. If a mad bull, in its onset, has gored a man, and caused (him) to die, that case has no claim.247

251. If a man's ox—goring for goring—has made known to him its vice,248 and he has not sawn off its horns, (if) he has not shut up his ox, and that ox has gored the son of a man, and caused him to die, he shall pay half a mana of silver.

[pg 513]

252. [If] it be a man's servant, he shall give one-third of a mana of silver.

253. If a man has hired a man to stay upon his field, and [ha]nded to him the produce (?), confided to him the oxen, [and] contracted with him [to] cultivate the field, if that man has stolen the wheat or the vegetables, and it is found in his hands, they shall cut off his hands.

254. If he has taken away the produce and deprived249 the oxen, he shall replace the amount of the wheat which he has wasted (?).

255. If he has let out250 the oxen of a man for hire, or stolen the wheat, and not made (it) to grow in the field, they shall summon that man, and for every 10 bur-gan he shall measure 60 gur of wheat.

256. If his borough cannot respond for him, they shall leave him in that field with the oxen.

257. If a man has hired a field-labourer, he shall give him 8 gur of wheat yearly.

258. If a man has hired an ox-herd (?), he shall give him 6 gur of wheat yearly.

259. If a man has stolen a watering-machine from the enclosure, he shall give to the owner of the watering-machine five shekels of silver.

260. If he has stolen a shadoof or a plough, he shall give three shekels of silver.

261. If a man has hired a herdsman to pasture oxen and sheep, he shall give him 8 gur of wheat yearly.

262. If a man an ox or sheep for....

263. ... If he has lost [an ox] or a sheep which has been given to [him], he shall restore to [their] owner, ox for [ox], sheep for [sheep].

264. If a [herdsman], to whom oxen or sheep have been given to pasture, has received his wages, everything (?) as agreed (?), and is satisfied,251 has reduced the oxen, (or) reduced the sheep, (or) lessened (their) young, he shall give (back) young and increase according to his contracts.

265. If a herdsman, to whom oxen and sheep have been given to pasture, has acted wrongly, and changed the natural increase,252 and has given (it) for silver, they shall summon him, and ten times what he has stolen, oxen and sheep, he shall make good to their owner.

266. If in the fold an act of God has taken place, or a lion has killed, the herdsman shall declare his innocence before God, and the owner of the fold shall meet the destruction of the fold.

[pg 514]

267. If the herdsman has been in fault, and has caused damage in the fold, the herdsman shall make up the loss caused by253 the damage which he has brought about in the fold, (both) oxen and sheep, and shall give (them) to their owner.

268. If a man has hired an ox for treading out (the corn), 20 qa of wheat is his hire.

269. If he has hired an ass for treading out (the corn), 10 qa of wheat is his hire.

270. If he has hired a young animal for treading out (the corn), 1 qa of wheat is his hire.

271. If a man has hired oxen, a cart, and its driver, he shall give 180 qa of wheat daily.

272. If a man has hired the cart by itself, he shall give 40 qa of wheat daily.

273. If a man has hired a workman, from the beginning of the year to the fifth month he shall give six grains254 of silver daily; from the sixth month to the end of the year, he shall give five grains of silver daily.

274. If a man hire an artizan, (as) wages of a ... five [grains] of silver; (as) wages of a brickmaker (?)255 five grains of silver; (as) wages of a linen-weaver256 five grains of silver; (as) wages of a stone-worker(?)257 ... grains of silver; (as) wages of a milkman (?) ... [grains] of silver; (as) [wages] of a ... ... [grains] of silver; (as) [wages] of a carpenter four grains of silver; (as) wages of a ... four grains of silver; (as) [wages] of a house-superintendent (?) ... grains of silver; (as) [wages] of a builder (?), ... grains of silver. [dai]ly [he shall g]ive.

275. [If] a man has hired a small boat (?), three grains of silver is its hire daily.

[pg 515]

276. If he has hired a down-stream (vessel), he shall give two grains and a half of silver (as) its hire daily.

277. If a man has hired a vessel of 60 gur, he shall give one-sixth (of a shekel) of silver daily (as) its hire.

278. If a man has bought a male or female slave, and before he has fulfilled his month an infirmity has fallen upon him, he shall return him to his seller, and the buyer shall receive back the silver he has paid.

279. If a man has bought a male or female slave, and he is liable to be reclaimed,258 his seller shall respond to the claim.259

280. If a man, in a foreign country, has bought a male (or) female slave of a man, (and) when they have arrived in the midst of the land, a (former) owner of the male or female slave recognize his male or female slave, if their male and female slave are children of the land, he shall set them free without payment.260

281. If they are children of another land, the buyer shall declare before God the money261 he has paid, and the (former) owner of the male or female slave shall give to the agent the money he has paid, and shall recover his male or female slave.

282. If a slave has said to his master: “Thou art not my master,” he shall summon him as his slave, and his master shall cut off his ear.

Decrees of equity, which Ḫammurabi, the able king, has established, and has procured (for) the country lasting security and a happy rule. Ḫammurabi, the accomplished king, am I. For the head-dark (ones),262 whom Bel assigned, (and whose) shepherding Merodach has given, I have not been neglectful, I have not relaxed—peaceful localities have I found for them,263 I have opened the narrow defiles, light have I caused to go forth to them. With the powerful weapon which Zagaga and Ištar have conferred upon me, with the acuteness which Aê has bestowed, with the might which Merodach has bestowed, I have rooted out the enemy above and below.264 I have dominated the depths,265 I have made happy the flesh of the land, the people of the dwellings (therein) have I caused to lie down in security—fear caused I not to possess them. The great gods have elected266 me, and I am the shepherd giving peace, whose sceptre is just, setting up my good shadow in my city. I have pressed the people of the land of Šumer and Akkad in my [pg 516] bosom; by my protective spirit fraternally (?) have I guided them in peace; in my wisdom have I protected them. For the strong not to oppress the weak, to direct the fatherless (and) the widow, I have raised its267 head in Babylon, the city of God and Bel. In Ê-sagila, the house whose foundations are firm like heaven and earth, I have written on my monument my most precious words to judge the justice of the land, to decide the decisions of the land, to direct the ignorant; and I have placed (them) before my image as king of righteousness.

The king who is great among the city-king(s) am I; my words are renowned, my power has no equal; by the command of Šamaš, the great judge of heaven and earth, may righteousness have power in the land;268 by the word of Merodach, my lord, may my bas-reliefs not have a destroyer; in Ê-sagila, which I love, may my name be commemorated in happiness for ever. The ignorant man, who has a complaint,269 let him come before my image (as) king of righteousness, and let him read my inscribed monument and let him hear my precious words, and my monument explain to him the matter. Let him see his judgment, let his heart expand, (saying): “Ḫammurabi is a lord who is like a father, a parent to the people; he has caused the word of Merodach, his lord, to be reverenced, and has gained the victory for Merodach above and below. He has rejoiced the heart of Merodach, his lord, and fixed for the people happiness270 for ever, and (well) has he governed the land.” Let him pronounce (it) aloud, and with his heart perfect, let him pray before Merodach, my lord, (and) Zērpanitum, my lady. May the winged bull, (and) the protecting spirit, the gods of the entrance of Ê-sagila, (and) the wall of Ê-sagila, daily further (his) desires271 in the presence of Merodach, my lord, and Zērpanitum, my lady.

For the future, the course272 of days for all time: May the king who is in the land protect the words of righteousness which I have written on my monument. Let him not change the law of the land which I have adjudged, the decisions of the country which I have decided; let him not cause my bas-relief to be destroyed. If that man have intelligence, and wish to govern his country well, let him pay attention to the words which I have written on my monument, and may this monument show him the path, the direction, the law of the land which I have pronounced, the decisions of the land which I have decided. [pg 517] And let him rule his people,273 let him pronounce justice for them, let him decide their decision. Let him remove the evil and the wicked from his land, let him rejoice the flesh of his people.

Ḫammurabi, the king of righteousness, to whom Šamaš has given (these) enactments,274 am I. My words are noble, my works have no equal—they have brought forth the proud (?) to humility (?) the humble (?) to wisdom (?) (and) to renown. If that man275 is attentive to my words, which I have written on my monument, and set not aside my law, change not my word, alter not my bas-relief—that man like me, the king of righteousness, may the god Šamaš make his sceptre to endure, may he guide his people in righteousness. If that man regard not my words, which I have written on my monument, and despise my curse, and fear not the curse of God, and do away the law which I have ordained—(if) he change my word, alter my bas-relief, destroy my written name, and write his (own) name, (or) on account of these curses cause another to do so,276 that man, whether king, or lord, or viceroy, or personage who has been elected,277 may the great God, the father of the gods, proclaimer of my reign, take back from him the glory of my kingdom, break his sceptre, curse his destiny. May Bel, the lord who determines the destinies, whose command is unchangeable, he who has magnified my kingdom, rouse against him revolts which his hand cannot suppress, causing (?) his destruction upon his seat.278 A reign of sighing, days (but) few, years of want, darkness without light, death the vision of (his) eyes, may they set for him as (his) destiny. May he decree with his grave lips the destruction of his city, the dispersion of his people, the taking away of his royalty, the annihilation of his name and his record in the land. May Beltis, the great mother whose command is supreme279 in E-kura, the lady who makes my thoughts propitious, instead of judgment and decision, make his word evil before Bel, may she accomplish the ruin of his country, the loss of his people, the pouring out of his life like water by the command of Bel the king. May Aê, the great prince, whose decisions have the precedence,280 the sage of the gods, he who knows everything, who lengthens the days of my life, take back from him understanding281 and wisdom, bring him back into forgetfulness.282 May he dam up his rivers at (their) sources, (and) cause grain, the life of the people, not to exist in his land. May Šamaš, the [pg 518] great judge of heaven and earth, he who rules living things, the lord my trust, destroy his dominion; may he not pronounce his judgment, may he confuse his path, may he annihilate the course of his army. May he place for him, in his oracles,283 an evil design to snatch away the foundation of his dominion and to destroy his country. May Šamaš's word of misfortune speedily attack him; may he snatch him from the living on high, beneath in the earth may he deprive his spirit284 of water. May Sin, lord of the heavens, the god my creator, whose brightness285 shines resplendent among the gods, withdraw from him crown and throne of dominion. May he fix upon him a grave misdeed, his great fault, which will not disappear from his body, and may he cause the days, the months, the years of his reign to end in sighing and tears. May he increase for him the burthen of his dominion, may he fix for him as (his) fate a life which is comparable286 with death. May Hadad, lord of fertility, dominator of heaven and earth, my helper, withhold from him the rains in the heavens, the flood in the springs. May he destroy his country with want and famine, may he angrily rage over his city, and turn his country to mounds of the flood.287 May Zagaga, the great warrior, the eldest son of (the temple) Ê-kura, he who goes at my right hand, break his weapons on the battle-field. May he turn for him day into night, and may he set his enemy over him. May Ištar, lady of war and battle, who lets loose my weapons, my propitious genius, lover of my reign, in her angry heart, in her great wrath, curse his dominion, his favours into evils may she turn, may she turn.288 In the place of war and battles may she break his weapons, may she make for him confusion and revolt, may she cast down his warriors, may she cause the earth to drink their blood, may she cast down in the plain a heap of corpses of his warriors, may she not cause his soldiers to have [burial?]. As for him, may she deliver him into the hand of his enemy, and bring him as a captive to the land which is hostile to him. May Nergal, the strong one among the gods, unrivalled battle,289 he who causes me to attain my victory, in his great might burn290 his people like [pg 519] a tiny bundle of reeds. With his strong weapon may he subjugate him, and may he crush his members like an image of clay. May Nintu, the supreme lady of the lands, the mother my creator, withhold from him his son, and cause him to have no name, in the midst of his people may she not produce a human seed. May Nin-Karrak, daughter of Anu, she who announces my happiness, let forth from Ê-kura upon his members a grave sickness, an evil pestilence, a grievous injury, which they cannot cure, whose nature the physician does not know, which he cannot ease with a bandage, (and which), like the bite of death, cannot be removed. Until she take possession of his life, may he groan for his manliness.291

May the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunna292 in their assembly, the divine bull of the house,293 the bricks of Ê-babbara,294 curse that (man), his reign, his country, his army, his people, and his nation, with a deadly curse—with powerful curses may Bel, by his word which cannot be changed, curse him, and speedily may they overtake him.

These laws, as being the oldest known, have attracted considerable attention, and much has been said concerning their connection with the Mosaic Code. Whatever connection there may be between them, however, it must be kept well in mind, that they have been formulated and compiled from totally different standpoints. Notwithstanding the references in the Code of Ḫammurabi to religious things, there is no doubt that the laws given therein are purely civil, and compiled either by the king as temporal ruler of the land, or by his advisers, or by the judges who “decided the decisions of the land.” Charitable enactments were therefore as far from the intention of the compilers of the Babylonian code as such things are from the intention of the legislation of this or any other modern civilized community or nationality. The Law of Moses, on the other hand, has long been recognized as a Priestly Code, into which all kinds of provisions for the poor, the fatherless, the necessitous, were likely to enter, and have, in fact, entered. From this point of view, Moses' code is immeasurably superior to that of the Babylonian law-giver, and can hardly, on that account, be compared with it.

From existing duplicates of this inscription, we know that it bore a title which, in accordance with the usual custom in ancient times, was taken from the first few words of the [pg 520] inscription, in this case Ninu îlu ṣîrum, “When the supreme God.” In the Ninevite duplicate in the British Museum, however, a kind of title in the modern sense of the word is given, namely, Dinani Ḫammurabi, “The Laws of Ḫammurabi,” the first word being from the common Semitic root which appears, in Semitic Babylonian, under the form of dânu, “to judge.” As far as our information goes, it would seem that, whilst the Hebrew tôrah was both judicial, ceremonial, and moral, the Babylonian dînu was judicial only. Ceremonial enactments are entirely foreign to it, and morality, in the modern sense of the word, though represented, does not hold a very high place, though it must not be forgotten that five columns of the text are wanting.

That there should be, therefore, but few parallels between the Codes of Moses and of Ḫammurabi was to be expected, though naturally likenesses and parallelisms are to be found, the Hebrews being practically of the same stock as the Babylonians, and also, as has been shown, under the influence of the same civilization. It will be noticed, in reading through the code, that not only are there no laws against sorcery, worshipping other than the national god or gods, and prostitution, but there are actually enactments referring to the first and the last, showing that they were recognized. Moral, religious, ceremonial, and philanthropic enactments are, in fact, entirely absent.

3-4. With the enactments concerning false witness, cp. Ex. xx. 16; Deut. v. 20, etc. More especially, however, are the directions in Deut. xix. 16 ff. noteworthy. Here the direction is, to do to the false witness “as he had thought to do to his brother.” In this case, too, the logical penalty would be death, in a matter involving the life of a man.

7 (liability to be regarded as a thief on account of the purchase or receiving of things without witnesses or a contract) is to a certain extent paralleled by Lev. vi. 2 ff., where, however, the penalty for wrongful possession is not death, but the restoration of the object detained, with a fifth part of the value added thereto.

8 (theft of live-stock) is illustrated by Ex. xxii. 1, where it is ordered that the thief restore five oxen for a stolen ox, and four sheep for a stolen sheep. All laws dealing with theft seem to have been more severe among the Babylonians than among the Hebrews, and inability to make the object good, with the penalties attached thereto, was visited with death (6-11, 14, 15, etc.).

14. This enactment is exactly parallel with Ex. xxi. 16: “He that stealeth a man ... shall surely be put to death.”

[pg 521]

21 (housebreaking). Ex. xxii. 2-4, justifies the killing of a burglar caught in the act before sunrise, but not otherwise.

57. In the case of unlawful pasturing, it is probable that Ex. xxii. 5 may furnish the key to the obscurities of this Babylonian enactment. According to the Mosaic law, the owner of the cattle had to make the damage good with the best of his field or vineyard. To ensure getting the best, and his due share, the most satisfactory way would be to reap the offender's field, if he had one.

110. The opening (seemingly in the English sense) of a wine-house by a temple-devotee, or her merely entering such a place, was in all probability equivalent to prostituting herself, and if so, this law may be compared with Lev. xxi. 9, in which the daughter of a priest, if she profaned herself (and her father) by playing the whore, was to be put to death by burning.

117. As is shown by the preceding enactments, the person of a man might be seized for debt, but this shows that he might allow his wife, his son, or his daughter to be taken to work it off, and in that case they were to be set free in the fourth year. In Hebrew law (Ex. xxi. 2) an ordinary purchased slave was free after six years' service, but if a man sold his daughter (v. 7), she did not “go out as the men-servants do.”295

125. The theft of things on deposit entailed only restitution if the person with whom they were deposited were not in fault. In Ex. xxii. 7-9 the person condemned had to pay or restore double the value of the things stolen.

129. In this law the conditional clause at the end is incomplete, but it may be supposed that liberty was accorded therein to the king and to the injured husband to exercise mercy, and commute the death-penalty in any way they thought fit, attaching thereto any other penalty which might seem good to them. According to Lev. xx. 10, the adulterer and the adulteress were to be put to death, but in what manner is not stated. To all appearance no mercy was given.

130. As this is a case of a married woman living in her father's house, Ex. xxii. 16 is not an exact parallel. The woman being unbetrothed, the man who had violated her had to endow and marry her.

155. Incest of the nature referred to here is practically a complete parallel with Lev. xx. 12, where, however, the nature of the death-penalty is not stated. If the correction of the code of Ḫammurabi suggested in the footnote (“they shall bind that man, and cast him into the water”) be the true one, the man [pg 522] would seem to have been regarded as the chief sinner, and the woman was probably left to be dealt with by the son's family. The mere binding of the man, as in the text, would be no adequate punishment, and the correction: “They shall bind them, and cast them into the water,” pre-supposes a very serious mistake on the part of the scribe.

157. This is a parallel with Lev. xviii. 8, and xx. 11, and the penalty is death in both codes. The word “mother” in the Babylonian Code probably includes “step-mother” as well.

195. This is parallel with Ex. xxi. 15, where, however, the smiting of the mother is included, and the more severe penalty of death is prescribed, instead of merely cutting off the offending members as a punishment.

196, 197, 200, 210. These illustrate the dictum: “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for tooth” (Ex. xxi. 24, 25; Lev. xxiv. 20; Deut. xix. 21; Matt. v. 38). They were naturally the common punishments of the period when the penalty of imprisonment could not be imposed.

199. The destruction of the eye of a man's slave, or the fracture of his limb, was apparently held to entail the diminution of his value by one-half, which the person who inflicted the injury had to pay. Nothing is said, however, concerning injury to a slave by his master, and this law, therefore, has no parallel in the Mosaic ordinance given in Ex. xxi. 26, 27, where the master is spoken of as the possible aggressor, and had to set his slave free on account of the injury he had received.296

206. The law regarding injuries inflicted upon a man in a quarrel is parallel with Ex. xxi. 18, 19, except that the latter decrees that the person inflicting the injury, in addition to causing the injured man to be completely healed, has also to pay for his loss of time. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that, in the Code of Ḫammurabi, he who committed the injury had to swear that he did not do it knowingly—that is, with the intention of injuring the man, otherwise he probably came under the law of retaliation, Nos. 196, 197, and 200.

209. This is parallel with Ex. xxi. 22, but whereas the penalty for the injury to the woman was fixed at ten shekels of silver, the law of Moses allowed the husband to estimate the compensation, which was certified and probably revised by the judges.

210. It was not only “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” but also “a daughter for a daughter,” even when a mortal injury may not have been intended. This is practically [pg 523] the same as Ex. xxi. 23: “And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life.”

241. As this law stands, it refers to the unlawful working of another man's ox, and not to an ox taken in pledge, for the working of which there could be no remedy, any more than there was for taking a man's wife, child, or slave, in pledge to work out a debt.

244 (loss of an animal through attack by a wild beast). Compare Ex. xxii. 13: “If it (an animal delivered into the care of another) be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.” Apparently there was no obligation to place the animal in a safe place. Cf. Gen. xxxi. 39 (Jacob's reproof to Laban): “That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it.”

245 ff. These are to a certain extent illustrated by Ex. xxii. 14, 15, in which passage, if the owner of the injured animal was not present, the borrower had to make good any loss. If, however, the owner was there to protect it, there was no penalty, as he could in all probability have prevented the injury from being inflicted, and in any case might be supposed to have control over the animal.

250. The owner of a furious bull was protected from loss, even though the result was fatal, if he did not know that the animal was vicious. In Ex. xxi. 28, though the owner of the offending ox was to go free, the animal itself was to be stoned to death, and its flesh not eaten. There is no doubt that this was hard on the owner, but it must have had an excellent effect, and ensured the proper enclosing of all doubtful animals.

251. Even when the master knew that his ox was vicious, the Babylonians were more lenient than the Hebrews, who, in such a case, besides the destruction of the ox, decreed the death of the owner as a punishment for his negligence (Ex. xxi. 29). As will be seen from verse 30, however, he might be spared by paying such ransom as might be imposed upon him.

252. One-third of a mana of silver is equivalent to 20 shekels, so that the sum here indicated as compensation for the death of a slave who has been gored by a bull differs from that awarded in Ex. xxi. 32, by ten shekels—one-sixth of a mana more.

266. This is in part covered by 244 (destruction of cattle by a lion), and is parallel with Ex. xxii. 10, 11, where, also, an oath had to be sworn between the parties, and the herdsman in whose care the cattle were, went free of all obligation. The accident causing the loss, however, is not there described as “an act of God.”

[pg 524]

267. The wording of this law clearly indicates that it would apply if the herdsman were in fault, and suggests that the same condition must be read into Ex. xxii. 12, where, if the cattle were stolen from him, he had to make the loss good.

Besides the enactments in the Code of Moses, however, we find, in the interesting and important monument translated above, and in the legal documents of the period to which it belongs, noteworthy parallels to other parts of the Old Testament. Reference has already been made (pp. 174, 175, and 185, 186) to the contracts of the period of Ḫammurabi's dynasty which illustrate the matter of Sarah giving Hagar to Abraham because she herself was childless (Gen. xvi. 1, 2). That this was the custom in Babylonia is now confirmed by law 144, which also furnishes the reason why it was the wife who chose her partner in the husband's affections. It was because the first wife preferred to choose herself the woman who was to replace her, and in doing this, she chose one who would be her subordinate, not one who might become a really serious rival. A parallel case is that of Bilhah (Gen. xxx. 4). Hagar's despising her mistress (Gen. xvi. 4) is illustrated by law No. 146, which allows the mistress to reduce her to the position of a slave again, which was agreed to by the patriarch, the result being that Hagar fled (v. 6).

The determination to have the possession of the cave of Machpelah placed upon a thoroughly legal footing (Gen. xxiii. 14-20) may, perhaps, be illustrated by law No. 7, though there is not much parallelism between the two instances, a field with a cave and trees being a difficult thing to steal. There is hardly any doubt, however, that the patriarch desired that no accusation should be brought against him or his descendants for unlawfully using it, as is suggested by the fact that when Ephron offered to give it, he said that he did so “in the presence of the sons of my people” only, but when the transaction was completed as Abraham wished, it was done not only in the presence of the children of Heth, but before all who went in at the gate of his city (Gen. xxiii. 18), and naturally included strangers as well.

Abraham's seeking a wife for his son (Gen. xxiv. 4) is in conformity with laws 155, 156, and 166; gifts are given (Gen. xxiv. 53 and laws No. 159, 160, etc.); seemingly the father-in-law retained the presents given by his son-in-law, if he could get possession of them (Gen. xxxi. 15 and laws 159-161), and these belonged to the wife (wives) and the children (xxxi. 16 and laws 162, 167, 171, ff.).

Whether the theft of her father's teraphim by Rachel (Gen. xxxi. 19) could be construed as sacrilege or not is doubtful, but this may well have been the penalty thought of by Jacob when Laban accused some of his household of theft (Gen. xxxi. [pg 525] 32 and law No. 6), though theft, if there were no restitution, was in Babylonian law always punishable with death.

The punishment of death by burning, which Judah decreed for his daughter-in-law Tamar (Gen. xxxviii. 24), is parallel with that meted out to a devotee opening or entering a wine-house (probably a place of ill-repute), but the parallel ends there—there is no law in the code of Ḫammurabi, as at present preserved, decreeing death by burning for a widow who became a harlot.

Theft from a palace (law No. 6) is parallel with Gen. xliv. 9, where the sons of Jacob admit the justice of a death-penalty if Joseph's cup were found in the possession of any of them. Whether the purchase of the Egyptians and their land for bread by Joseph had any analogy in Western Asia or not, is uncertain, though law No. 115, as well as those which precede it, refer to something similar, but in these cases the servitude was terminable, which does not appear from Gen. xlvii. 19 ff. Thereafter the Egyptian ruler took from these farmer-thralls a fifth part of the produce, which compares well with the half or third exacted by the owner of a field in Babylonia from the hirer (law 46). Finally, the clauses of the laws of Ḫammurabi referring to adoption (No. 185) might be quoted in illustration of the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh by their grandfather Jacob (Gen. xlviii. 5), especially when read in connection with the inscriptions translated on pp. 176 and 177, where the sharing of the adopted son “like a son” is expressly referred to.

In the New Testament, Gal. iv. 30: “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman,” finds illustration in law 171 of Ḫammurabi's code, and the parable of the talents (Matt. xxv. 14 ff.) reminds one of the agent sending forth commissioners to get gain for him by trafficking, as in laws 100-102. 103-107 do not bear directly upon this parallel, but are worth noting in connection with it.

It will be long ere all that can be said about this noteworthy inscription finds expression. There is much needing comment, and much to study therein, and the precise rendering of many a word has still to be found out.

Babylon And The Bible.

A great deal has been written concerning the two lectures which the renowned Assyriologist, Friedrich Delitzsch, delivered some time ago before the German Emperor, under the title of Babel und Bibel. These lectures have now been published, [pg 526] and from their style and contents, one can easily judge how great was the interest which they aroused. Those who were privileged to hear them must have enjoyed a true archæological feast, all the more exquisite in that the subject was that which throws more light upon the Old Testament than any other known.

His lectures deal, for the most part, with the things which are touched upon at greater length in this book—the early records of Babylonia and Assyria, the history, the literature, the arts, and the sciences of those countries, and of the great cities of which they were so proud. Beginning with “the great mercantile firm of Murašû and Sons in the time of Artaxerxes,” about 450 b.c., and the Hebrew names found therein, he speaks of Ur of the Chaldees, Carchemish, Sargon of Agadé, Ḫammurabi, the Bronze Gates of Shalmaneser II., Sargon of Assyria, Sennacherib, Assurbanipal (Aššur-banî-âpli or Sardanapalus), the Laws of Ḫammurabi (translated in full in this volume), the processions of gods,297 the blessing of Aaron,298 the advanced civilization of Babylonia 2250 years b.c., and many other things. To touch upon all his points would be to repeat much that has been treated of in this book, and that being the case, all the most important of them are referred to in the following pages under special headings:—

Canaan.

That he is right in calling Canaan at the time of the Exodus “A domain of Babylonian culture” is indicated by the testimony of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, and is fully shown in the present work, Chapters V.-VII. In the notes appended to the first lecture he refers to the fact that there existed, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, a town called Bît (or Beth) Ninip, after the Babylonian god—“even though there may not have been in Jerusalem itself a bît Ninip, a temple of the god Ninip.”

The Sabbath.

In the present work, the Sabbath is referred to on pl. II., where photographs of two fragments (duplicates) explaining the word are given. Prof. Delitzsch calls attention, in the notes to his first lecture, to this text, together with the British Museum syllabary 82-9-18, 4159, col. I., l. 24, where ud (weakened to û), [pg 527] meaning “day,” is explained by šabattum, “Sabbath,” as “the day” par excellence, and from other passages he reasons that the old rendering of the word as “day of rest,” ûm nûḫ libbi, “day of rest of the heart”—cf. pl. II.—is the correct one.

The following list of Sumerian and Babylonian days of the month will serve to show exactly how the matter stands:—

Sumerian. | Semitic Babylonian. | Translation.
U | ûmu | day.
U-maš-am | [mišil] ûmu | half a day.
U-gi-kam | [ûmu] kal | first day (Sum.), the whole day (Sem.).
U-mina-kam | ši-na [ûmu] | second day.
U-eši-kam | šela[štu ûmu] | third day.
U-lama-kam | irbit | fourth (day).
U-ia-kam | ḫamil[tu] | fifth (day).
U-âša-kam | šeš[šitu] | sixth (day).
U-imina-kam | sib[itu] | seventh (day).
U-ussa-kam | saman[atu] | eighth (day).
U-ilima-kam | tilti do. | ninth day.
U-ḫu-kam | êširti do. | tenth day.
U-ḫuia-kam | šapatti | fifteenth day (Sum.), Sabbath (Sem.).
U-mana-gi-lal-kam | ibbû | twentieth day less 1 (Sum.), the wrathful (Sem.).
U-mana-kam | êšrû | twentieth day.
U-mana-ia-kam | ârḫu bat[tu] | twenty-fifth day (Sum.), festival month (Sem.).
U-eša-kam | šelašâ | thirtieth day.
U-na-am | bubbulum | rest-day (Sum.), (day of) desire (Sem.).
U-ḫul-gala | u-ḫulgallum | evil day.
U-ḫul-gala | ûmu lim[nu] | evil day.
U-šu-tua | ûmu rimku | libation-day.
U-elene | ûmu têliltum | purification-day.

From the above it will be seen, that the šapattum or Sabbath was the 15th day of the month, and that only. That it was a day of rest, is shown by the etymology, the word being derived from the Sumerian ša-bat, “heart-rest,” which probably has, therefore, no connection with the Semitic root šabātu, which, as far as at present known, is a synonym of gamāru, “to complete.” It was the day of rest of the heart, but being the 15th, it was also the day when the moon reached the full in the heart or middle of the month, and its name may, therefore, contain a [pg 528] play upon the two ideas which the word libbu contains. In accordance with the general rule, the consonants of words borrowed from the Sumerian were often sharpened when transferred to Semitic Babylonian, hence the form šapattum instead of šabattum, though the latter is also found.

The nearest approach to the Sabbath, in the Jewish sense, among the Babylonians, is the û-ḫulgala or ûmu limnu, “the evil day,” which, as we know from the Hemerologies, was the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, and 19th day of each month, the last so called because it was a week of weeks from the 1st day of the foregoing month. It is this, therefore, which contains the germ of the idea of the Jewish Sabbath, but it was not that Sabbath in the true sense of the term, for if the months had 30 days, the week following the 28th had 9 days instead of 7, and weeks of 8 and 9 days therefore probably occurred twelve times each year. The nature of this original of the Sabbath is shown by the Hemerologies, which describe how it was to be kept in the following words:—

(The Duties Of The 7th Day).

“The 7th day is a fast of Merodach and Zēr-panitum, a fortunate day, an evil day. The shepherd of the great peoples shall not eat flesh cooked by fire, salted (savoury) food, he shall not change the dress of his body, he shall not put on white, he shall not make an offering. The king shall not ride in his chariot, he shall not talk as ruler; a seer shall not do a thing in a secret place; a physician shall not lay his hand on a sick man;299 (the day) is unsuitable for making a wish. The king shall set his oblation in the night before Merodach and Ištar, he shall make an offering, (and) his prayer300 is acceptable with god.”

For the 14th, 21st, 28th, and 19th, the names of the deities differ, and on the last-named the shepherd of the great peoples is forbidden to eat “anything which the fire has touched.” Otherwise the directions are the same, and though generally described as a lucky or happy day, it was certainly an evil day for work, or for doing the things referred to. It is to be noted, however, that there is no direction that the day was to be observed by the common people.

[pg 529]

Was The Flood A “Sin-Flood”?

That the Flood was a “sin-flood” (“dass die Sintflut eine Sündflut301 war”) among the Babylonians as among the Hebrews has already been stated (p. 112—cf. p. 107, I, II ff.), and with this Prof. Delitzsch, answering the criticisms of Oettli, agrees. Replying to König, he energetically repudiates the idea that “the Babylonian hero saves his dead and living property, but in both Biblical accounts there appears, instead of that, the higher point of view of the preservation of the animal-world.” He then cites Berosus, according to whom Xisuthros received the command to take into the ark winged and four-footed animals, and quotes the line translated on p. 103: “I caused to go up into the midst of the ship ... the beasts of the field and the animals of the field—all of them I sent up.”

The Dragon And The Serpent-Tempter.

Prof. Delitzsch's notes upon the Dragon of Chaos are exceedingly interesting, as is also the picture which he gives, from a little seal in the form of a long bead, of the god Merodach “clothed in his majestic glory, with powerful arm, and broad eye and ear, the symbols of his intelligence, and at the feet of the god the captive Dragon of the primæval waters.” From our point of view the deity does not look very majestic, but it is an exceedingly interesting representation, the more especially as he bears in his left hand (in the drawing) the circle and staff of Šamaš, the sun, showing the correctness of the theory which made Merodach likewise a sun-god. It is noteworthy, however, that a similar object found by the German expedition to Babylonia shows a figure of Hadad, the wind-god, as the Babylonians conceived him, and accompanying him are a winged dragon and another creature—indeed, each deity seems to have had his own special attendant of this nature. Are we, therefore, to understand that each deity overcame a dragon or other animal? or may it not be, that Merodach had a kind of dragon as his attendant, and the one depicted sitting by his side, close to his feet, is the creature devoted to him, and not the Dragon of Chaos at all?

The Dragon of Chaos, Tiamtu or Tiawthu, appears in the inscriptions as the representative of the Hebrew tehôm, which [pg 530] is the same word without the feminine ending. It is also regarded, however, as being represented in the Old Testament by liwyāthān (leviathan), tannîn, and rahab, explained as “the winding one,” “the dragon,” and “the monster” respectively. As far as our knowledge at present goes, none of these names occur in the Babylonian inscriptions, but there is sufficient analogy between the Biblical passages which contain them and the story of Tiamtu to establish an identity between the two sources.

In the passage “Awake, awake,” etc. (Is. li. 9), the cutting of Rahab in pieces, and the piercing of the dragon, are made into similes typifying the drying up of the Red Sea, so that the Israelites might pass over, and on this account the words standing for these creatures seem to have become an allegorical way of referring to Egypt, caught, like Tiamtu, in a net (Ezek. xxxii. 2, 3). In Job ix. 13 the “helpers of Rahab” are mentioned, recalling the gods who aided Tiamtu, and in xxvi. 12 “he smiteth through Rahab” is a reminiscence of the piercing of the head of Merodach's opponent.

In Job xli. 3 the words “Lay thine hand upon him; remember the battle, and do so no more,” evidently refer to leviathan in v. 1, here typical of Tiamtu, the battle being that which Merodach fought with her. “Shall not one be cast down even at the sight of him?” in verse 9, recalls the dreadful appearance of Tiamtu and her helpers, whose aspect filled the gods of the Babylonians with fear. Still another parallel is to be found in the verse “Their (the enemies') wine is the poison of dragons (tanninim),” Deut. xxxii. 33, reminding us of the monsters created by Tiamtu, whose bodies were filled with poison like blood.

All these passages naturally prove that the legend was well known to the Hebrews, and must also have been current among their neighbours. Though they identified her with the sea (tehom), they did not, to all appearance, use that word to indicate the Dragon of Chaos, as did the Babylonians—she was a serpent, a dragon, or a monster. Though she may be the type of the serpent-tempter (the difference of sex makes a little difficulty), the compiler of the first two chapters of Genesis rigorously excluded her from the Hebrew Creation-story. The story of leviathan, the dragon, or the monster, was a legend current among the people, and used by the Hebrew sacred writers as a useful simile, but it seems to have formed no part of orthodox Hebrew religious belief.

Prof. Delitzsch has boldly reproduced, on p. 36 of his Babel und Bibel (German edition), what has been regarded in England as the driving of the evil spirit from the temple built at Calah by Aššur-naṣir-âpli (885 b.c.), but he calls it “Fight with the [pg 531] Dragon.” The evil spirit represented is certainly a kind of dragon, but on the original slab in the British Museum the creature is a male, and not a female, as in the Babylonian Creation-story. Identification with the Dragon of Chaos is therefore in the highest degree improbable, and as it would seem from his answer to Jensen, Delitzsch does not regard it as having anything to do with the Creation-story, but a representation of “a fight between the power of light and the power of darkness in general.” This seems exceedingly probable, as is also his statement that in such a conception as that of Tiamtu, it may easily be imagined that plenty of room for fancy existed.

The serpent-tempter in Gen. iii. 1 is an ordinary serpent, naḫas, the type of the evil one. He had no part in the creation, and was to all appearance one of the beasts of the field created by God. Tiamtu, his Babylonian parallel, on the other hand, does not seem to have been in any sense a tempter—she simply tried to overcome the gods of heaven, aided by her followers and offspring, among whom were some of the divine beings created by the gods. That in consequence of this, she may have been regarded as having tempted those of her followers who were the offspring of the gods of heaven, is not only possible, but probable, and if provable, we should have here the identification of the Dragon of Chaos with the serpent-tempter.

And this leads him to the question as to whether the celebrated cylinder-seal referred to on p. 79 is really intended to be a picture of the circumstance of the fall of man. Delitzsch points out, that the clothed condition of the figures prevents him from recognizing in the tree the tree “of knowledge of good and evil”—perhaps there glimmers through the Biblical account in Gen. ii. and iii. another and older form of the story, in which only one tree, the tree of life, appeared. The words in ii. 9: “and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” seem, as it were, patched on, and the narrator completely forgets this newly-introduced “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” to the extent, that he even, by oversight, makes God allow man, in contradiction to iii. 22, to eat of the Tree of Life (ii. 16). All this seems very plausible, but may it not be, that man, before eating of the tree of knowledge, was permitted to eat of the tree of life, which was denied to him after the Fall? If this be the case, there was probably no forgetfulness on the part of the narrator, and the story hangs excellently together. And here it is to be noted that both the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, were in the midst of the garden (ii. 9), that the woman seems to be aware of the existence of one tree only (iii. 3), and there is no statement that the man knew the nature of the fruit which his wife handed to him (6), though [pg 532] it may be surmised that, with the prohibition with regard to one of them in his mind, he ought to have inquired. The heaviest punishment therefore falls upon the tempter, the woman coming next, and the man having the lightest though even his is sufficiently severe.

In the design on the cylinder Delitzsch sees a male and a female figure, with a serpent, and in this both Hommel and Jensen agree. Delitzsch, moreover, says: “The distinguishing of the one figure by horns, which was, in Babylonia, as in Israel, equally the common symbol of strength and victoriousness, I regard as a very delicate device of the artist to introduce into the two clothed human figures the sex-distinction in an unmistakable manner.” He is of opinion that nothing very decisive can as yet be pronounced concerning the serpent, but one might connect therewith the appearance of Tiamtu, who also, like leviathan in Job iii. 8 and “the old serpent” in the Apocalypse, may be assumed to have been still existing. (Compare p. 32 of the present work, lines 112 and 113.)

He points out that in a list of rivers, etc., there is one called “the river of the Serpent-god destroying302 the abode of life” (Id-Sir-tindir-duba), which is also a confirmation of the theory that the Babylonians possessed the legend of the serpent-tempter. Noteworthy also is the following text, which he refers to “by the way,” with a slight indication of the contents:—

“... sin, fixing the command.
... of the ordinance, the man of lamentation.
... the maid, has eaten the evil thing—
... Ama-namtagga has done what is evil
The fate of Ama-namtagga is hard303—

Her fate is hard, her face is troubled with a tear.

She has sat on a glorious throne,
She has lain on a glorious couch,
She has learned to love aright,
She has learned to kiss.”

The mutilation of this inscription renders the true interpretation doubtful, but it would seem to be exceedingly probable that there is in it some reference to the fate of our first mother, inherited by all her daughters to the end of time.

Ama-namtagga means “The Mother of Sin,” and her having eaten and done what is evil makes an interesting parallel with the case of Eve.304

[pg 533]

The Cherubim.

Concerning the Cherubs something has been said in this book, pp. 80-82, and to this Prof. Delitzsch adds a few more instances. As others have done, he regards the cherubim of the Babylonians and Assyrians as being the winged bulls, with heads of men. As an angel he gives a picture of a winged female figure holding a necklace305; the demons he depicts are from the slabs in the Assyrian Saloon of the British Museum, where two of these beings are fighting with each other; and devils he regards as being typified by a small but mutilated statuette of a creature with an animal's head, long erect ears, and open mouth with threatening teeth. For the existence of guardian-angels he quotes the letter of Ablâ to the queen-mother: “Bel and Nebo's messenger of grace (âbil šipri ša dunqi ša Bêl u Nabû) will go with the king of the countries, my lord.” Of especial interest, however, is his reference to the inscription of Nabopolassar, in which that founder of the latest of the Babylonian empires states that Merodach “called him to rule over the land and the people, caused a guardian-god (cherub) to go by his side, and caused all the work which he undertook to succeed.” Besides the cherubs or guardian-angels, the Babylonians believed in numerous evil gods and devils, besides Tiamtu and the serpent-tempter of mankind.

Babylonian Monotheism.

The question of Babylonian monotheism, and of the antiquity of the name Yahweh (Jehovah) attracted a considerable amount of attention, and has been supplemented by Delitzsch very fully in the notes to his first lecture. Upon this point something was said in the present volume (pp. 47 and 58-61), and the author is practically at one with Prof. Delitzsch. As the inscription translated on p. 58 shows, the Babylonians were monotheists, and yet they were not. They believed in all their various gods, and at the same time identified those gods with Merodach. Just as, in the beliefs of India, each soul may be regarded as emanating from, and returning to, the Creator, and forming one with Him at the final death of the body, so the gods of the Babylonians were apparently regarded as parts of, and emanations from, Merodach, the chief of the gods, who, [pg 534] when they conferred upon him their names, conferred upon him in like manner their being. It is in this way alone that Merodach, the last-born of the great gods, can be regarded as the father and begetter of the gods (see pp. 45, 46).

Prof. Delitzsch has therefore done a service in bringing more prominently to the notice of students and scholars the text of which the obverse is printed on p. 58, and mentioning the paper where it first appeared.306 The study of the religion of the Babylonians and Assyrians has been greatly furthered thereby.

With regard to the question, whether besides this tablet, there be other indications that the Babylonians—or a section of them—believed in one god, Delitzsch quotes, as did also the present author, many names supporting this idea. Thus he gives the following:—

Ilu-ittîa, “God is with me.”

Ilu-amtaḫar, “I called upon God.”

Ilu-âbi, “God is my father.”307

Ilu-milki, “God is my counsel.”

Yarbi-îlu, “God is great.”

Yamlik-îlu, “God rules.”

Ibšî-ina-ili, “He existed through God.”308

Awel-ili, “Man of God.”309

Mut(um)-ili, “Man of God.”

Ilûma-le'i, “God is mighty.”

Ilûma-âbi, “God is my father.”

Ilûma-ilu, “God is God.”

Šumma-îlu-lâ-îlîa, “If God were not my god?”

And if more be wanted, to these may be added Ya'kub-îlu, Yasup-îlu, Abdi-îlu, Ya'zar-îlu, and Yantin-îlu, on p. 157; Ili-bandi, “God is my creator,” p. 166; Sar-îli, “Prince of God,” p. 170; Uštašni-îli, “My God has made to increase twofold,” p. 178; Nûr-ili, “Light of God,” p. 184; Arad-îli-rêmeanni, “The servant of God, (who) had mercy on me,” p. 187; Yabnik-îlu, “God has been gracious (?),” p. 243; and many others. Remarks upon some of these names will be found on pp. 244, 245. Similar names occurring during the time of the later Babylonian empire will be found on pp. 434, 463 (Aqabi-îlu), 435, 436 (Adi'-ilu and Yadi'îlu), 458 (Baruḫi-ilu, probably a Jew, and Idiḫi-îlu). It will therefore be seen that names of a monotheistic nature were common in Babylonia at all periods, but as they are greatly outnumbered by the polytheistic ones,310 their exact value as testimony to monotheism, or to a tendency to it, is doubtful. In certain cases, the deity intended by the word îlu is the family god, but [pg 535] in the above examples, names implying this have been as far as possible avoided.

“Of what kind and of what value this monothesis was, our present sources of knowledge do not allow us to state, but we can best conclude from the later development of Jahvism.” (Delitzsch.)

Jahweh (Jehovah).

Most important of all, however, from the point of view of the history of the religion of the Jews, is what Delitzsch states concerning the name Jahweh (Jehovah). On p. 46 of his first lecture (German edition) he gives half-tone reproductions of three tablets preserved in the British Museum, which, according to him, contain three forms of the personal name meaning “Jahwe is God”—Ya'we-îlu, Yawe-îlu, and Yaum-îlu. The last of these names we may dismiss at once, the form being clearly not that of Yahweh, but of Yah, the Jah of Ps. civ. 35 and several other passages. The other two, however, are not so lightly dealt with, notwithstanding the objections of other Assyriologists and Orientalists. It is true that Ya'pi-îlu and Yapi-îlu are possible readings, but Delitzsch's objections to them are soundly based, and can hardly be set aside. The principal argument against the identification of Ya'we or Yawe with Yahwah is, that we should have here, about 2000 years before Christ, a form of the word which is really later than that used by the Jewish captives at Babylon 500 years before Christ, when it was to all appearance pronounced Ya(')awa or Yâwa (see pp. 458, 465, 470, 471). If, however, we may read the name Ya'wa (Ya'awa) or Yâwa, as is possible, then there is nothing against the identification proposed by Delitzsch. That [Cuneiform] was used with the value of wa is proved by such words as warka, “after,” where the reading wearka seems to be impossible, and the necessary distinction between ma and wa (the former was written with a different character) would be maintained. It is worthy of note that Ya'wa must have been more of a name than Yau, which was a primitive Babylonian word for “God,” it is doubtful whether it could always be written without the divine prefix. As, however, the divine name Ae or Ea, with others, is often written so unprovided, such an objection as this could not be held to invalidate Delitzsch's contention.

The probability therefore is, that Delitzsch is right in transcribing [pg 536] the name as he has done, if we may change the final e to a, and he is also probably right in his identification. Nevertheless, we require more information from the records of ancient Babylonia before we can say, with certainty, that the first component of the name Ya'wa-îlu is the Yahweh of the Hebrews, though we are bound to admit that the identification is in the highest degree probable. Delitzsch speaks of the possibility of ya've being a verbal form (it would be parallel to names like Yabnik-îlu), only to reject it, as a name meaning “God exists” (Hommel and Zimmern) is certainly not what one would expect to find. On the other hand, Zimmern admits the possibility that Yaum may be the name of a god, and possibly the name Yahu, Yahve may be present in it. As he is against Delitzsch on the whole, this is an important admission.

Additional Notes To Ḫammurabi's Laws.

P. 492, §. 8. The “poor man” who is mentioned here and in several other places, is referred to under a Sumerian term translated by the Semitic muškinu, Arabic miskīn, from which the French mesquin is derived (through the Spanish mezquino). With the Babylonians, however, the “poor man,” as expressed by this term, was only one who was comparatively wanting in this world's goods. That he was able to pay a fine, presupposes that he was the possessor of property, and this is confirmed by a bilingual explanatory list, which reads as follows:

Giš šar | kirû | Plantation.
giš šar êgal | kirû êkalli | plantation of the palace.
giš šar lugal | kirû šarri | plantation of the king.
giš šar mašdu | kirû muškini | plantation of a poor man.

Muškinu is rendered by Winckler “freedman.”

P. 493, § 26 ff. It is difficult to find a satisfactory rendering for the words translated “army-leader” and “soldier.” Winckler translates “soldier” and “slinger.” Perhaps the latter should be rendered “scout.”

P. 495, §§ 43 and 44. The word translated “shall enclose (it)” is in accordance with the meaning given for the root šakāku in Delitzsch's Handwörterbuch. If, however, the rendering “plough” in § 260 (p. 513), first proposed by Scheil, be correct, then in all probability the translation in the two sections should be “shall plough (it).”

P. 498, l. 12. Literally, “the man the tenancy, the silver of his rent complete for a year, to the lord of the house has given.”

P. 499, § 108. The “large stone” was seemingly large only by comparison with the “small stone” which weighed 1/3 of a shekel.

P. 500, § 116, etc. “The son of a man” Winckler translates as “a free-born person.”

P. 501, § 126. Or “As (in the case of) his property (which) has not been lost, he shall state his deficiency before God.”

P. 510, §§ 215, 218, 220. Instead of “cataract” Winckler translates “tumour,” but thinks “lachrymal fistula” still better, though “cataract” is possible.

P. 513, § 257. Here, as in other places, the character for field-labourer is the archaic form of [Cuneiform] ikkaru or îrrišu.

[pg 537]

Appendix To The Third Edition.

The Hittites.

In consequence of the very important discoveries of the German explorers at Boghaz-Köi, the site of the ancient Hittite capital Ḫattu,311 much light will be thrown on the ancient history, religion, manners, and customs of that portion of Western Asia, and Syria as well, together with the relations of the empire of the Hittites with Egypt. As far as can at present be judged, the language of the Hittites was Aryan, and the similar terminations in such Kassite312 words as are known point to its being of the same family, and the same may, perhaps, be said of Mitannian.313 The excavations at Boghaz-Köi began where fragments of tablets had already been found, namely, on the slope of the hill at Böyük-kale, the documents becoming more complete as the explorers went higher. Another mass of records was found at the foot of the hill, by the ruins of the temple. It was in the upper find that the Babylonian version of the treaty between Rameses II. and the Hittite king Ḫattušil was found. The founder of the dynasty was Šubbiluliuma, the name read Sapalulu in the Egyptian version of the treaty. He was evidently a warrior-king, whose overlordship the state of Mitanni acknowledged, and seems to have been succeeded by his son Arandaš. The next ruler was Muršil, the Maurasar of Egyptologists, who appears to have been a great conqueror. Muršil's successor was his brother Mutallu (Mautenel), who, however, was apparently killed in a revolt, whereupon the renowned Ḫattušil (the Khetasir of Egyptologists) mounted the throne. His queen was Pudu-ḫipa, and they had a son Dudḫalia, whose name recalls the Tidal (Tid'al) of the 14th chapter of Genesis, and the Tudḫula (or Tudḫul) of the tablets which apparently refer to Chedorlaomer and his allies.314 In the Babylonian version of the treaty of Ḫattušil with Rameses II., we learn that the titles of the Egyptian king were Wašmua-ria šatepuaria Ria-mašeša mâi Amana mâr Mim-mua-Ria binbin Min-paḫirita-Ria, i.e. User-maat-ra Ra-messu Mery Amen, son of Men-maat-ra (Seti I.), grandson of Men-peḫti-ra (Rameses I.).315

[pg 538]

The Ḫabiri.

Dr. Hugo Winckler, the explorer of Boghaz-Köi, who has published many interesting details of the result of his researches, states that parallel passages prove the identity of the Sa-gas (see pp. 291, 292) of the Tel-al-Amarna tablets with the Ḫabiri, and that not only the Sa-gas people, but also the Sa-gas gods are referred to. For these latter, he says, compare the image of the “valley of the 'oberim” (translated “them that pass”) in Ezekiel (xxxix. 11), in which further justification of the comparison of ḫabiri and 'eber (Eber, regarded as the ancestor of the 'Ibrim or Hebrews) results. One would like to have further details of the learned explorer's opinions upon this point. To all appearance the connection of 'oberim with 'eber would involve a change in the vocalization. For the author, the difficulty of connecting ḫabiri with 'Ibrim (Hebrews) still continues to exist. The connection of ḫabiri with 'Ibri (Hebrew) requires that the ain should have been pronounced as ghain, and the Septuagint generally gives gh when it was so pronounced.316 In 'Ibrim, however, this is not the case, and Prof. Swete has only the soft breathing in his edition.

A Letter Apparently From Prince Belshazzar (see pp. 446-451).

This is evidently one of the documents obtained by Mr. Hormuzd Rassam at Sippar (Abu-habbah), as the reference to Bunene, one of the deities of the city, shows. Unfortunately, it is very defective, there being only eight lines (five of them incomplete) on the obverse, and the remains of the last three lines of the communication on the reverse. What makes it probable that the Belshazzar who sent the letter is the son of Nabonidus, and the hero of the fall of Babylon, is, that no honorific expressions are used with reference to the person to whom it is addressed—he does not call Mušêzib-Marduk his lord, or father, or brother, as was the custom in private correspondence. As far as it is preserved, the following is a rendering of this document, which is of interest mainly on account of the personality of its assumed writer—

“Letter of Bêl-šarra-uṣur to Mušêzib-Marduk. May the gods grant thee prosperity. Behold, I have sent Bêl-šunu and ... the (two) mašmašē, to.... Send the requirements for the robes (?) of the deity Bunene....

(Several lines are wanting here.)

[pg 539]

... I have caused ... to be ... the threshold ... may all....”

The documents referring to Belshazzar's residence at Sippar, are mentioned on pp. 414, 449, 450.

The Aramaic Papyri From Elephantine.

These noteworthy documents, which have attracted considerable attention, were found in the ruins of the city which lie at the southern point of the island. Almost all the brick-built private houses of Elephantine are in a ruinous state, partly due to the ravages of time, but principally to the Fellahin, who have for many years dug there for garden-mould. To the south of the place where Mr. Mond's Aramaic papyri317 are said to have been found, Greek papyri were discovered, but proceeding north of that point, the German explorers soon came upon the Aramaic fragments. Those first found are said to have been in earthen vessels, but the most important of them (the texts translated below) were buried, without any protective covering, close to the eastern and southern walls of the room in which they lay. To all appearance these last had escaped the notice of the earlier excavators, who had thrown them away with the rubbish cast aside as containing nothing more worth carrying off.

The text of the most perfect of them reads as follows—

“To our lord Bagohi, governor of Judea, thy servants Yedoniah and his companions, the priests in the fortress of Yeb, salutation! May our Lord, the God of heaven, grant (thee) prosperity at all times, and set thee in favour before Darius the king, and the sons of the (royal) house a thousandfold more than now, and may He give thee long life. Be at all times joyful and firm. Now speak thy servants Yedoniah and his companions as follows—

“In the month Tammuz in the 14th year of Darius the king, when Arsâm (Asames) had marched forth and gone to the king, the priests of the god Khnub, who are in Yeb, the fortress, [made] with Waidrang, who is the governor here, a secret union of the following nature—

“ ‘The temple of Yahû, the god who is in Yeb, the fortress, shall be removed318 from that place.’

“Thereupon that Waidrang, the laḫya,319 sent letters to Nephayan, his son, who was commander-in-chief in Syene, the fortress, saying—

“ ‘The temple which is in Yeb, the fortress, they shall destroy.’

[pg 540]

“Thereupon Nephayan brought in Egyptians, together with other warriors; they came to the fortress of Yeb together with their tali,320 penetrated into that temple, destroyed it down to the ground. And they shattered the stone columns which were there. It also happened, (that) they shattered the seven stone doors,321 built out of a hewn block of stone, which were in that temple, and their heads, they ...322 and their hinges which were in the marble, those were of brass,323 and the roofing, consisting wholly of cedar beams, together with the plaster pavement (?) of the forecourt (?) and other (things) which were there—all this have they burned with fire. And the sacrificial dishes of gold and silver, and the things which were in that temple, all have they taken and have used as their own. And since the days of the kings of Egypt have our fathers built that temple in Yeb, the fortress. And when Cambyses came up to Egypt, he found that temple (already) built, but they pulled all the temples of the gods of Egypt down. In that temple, on the contrary, no one had destroyed anything.

“And after they had done this, we, with our wives and children, wore mourning-garments, fasted, and prayed to Yahû, the lord of heaven, who had given us warning concerning that Waidrang, the kalbya.324 They have taken the chains325 away from his feet, and all the treasures, which he had acquired, have gone to ruin. And all the men who wished evil to that temple, have all been killed, and we have been witnesses thereof.

“Also before this, at the time when this evil was committed upon us, did we send a letter to our lord, and to Yehoḥanan, the high-priest, and his companions, the priests who were in Jerusalem, and to Ostan (Ostanes), his brother, that is, 'Anani,326 and the free ones (princes) of the Jews. They have not sent us one letter (in reply).

“Also since the days of Tammuz of the 14th year of Darius the king, and until this day, we wear mourning-garments and fast, our wives have been made as a widow, we have not anointed (ourselves with) oil nor drunk wine. Also since then and until (this) day of the 17th year of Darius the king they have not made food-offerings, incense-offerings, and burnt-offerings in that temple.

[pg 541]

“Moreover, thy servants, Yedoniah and his companions, and the Jews, all citizens of Yeb, speak as follows—

“ ‘If it be good to our lord, mayest thou consider upon that temple, for its rebuilding, as they do not allow us to rebuild it. Look to the receivers of thy benefits and favours, who are here in Egypt. Let a letter be sent from thee to them with regard to the temple of the god Yahû, to rebuild it in Yeb, the fortress, even as it was heretofore built. And they shall offer food-offerings and incense-offerings and burnt-offerings upon the altar of the god Yahû in thy name. And we will pray for thee at every time—we and our wives and our children and all the Jews who are here, if they327 have then worked until that temple is rebuilt.

“ ‘And a share shall be thine before Yahû the god of heaven from the man who offers to him a burnt-offering and a sacrifice, a value equal to the worth of a silver (shekel) for (every) 1000 talents.328 And with regard to the gold, concerning that we have sent and given instruction. We have also sent everything in a letter in our name to Delaiah and Shelemiah, sons of Sanaballat, governor of Samaria. Also Arsames had no knowledge of all that which has been done unto us.’

“On the 20th of Marcheswan in the year 17 of Darius the king.”

A fragment of a duplicate gives some instructive variants of this exceedingly interesting document, from which it would appear that gold and treasure was given to Waidrang to induce him to act against the temple of Yahû at Yeb.

To this plea on the part of Yedoniah and the Jewish congregation at Yeb a favourable answer was given, as the following document shows—

“Memorandum of what Bagohi and Delaiah said to me—Memorandum as follows—

“ ‘Thou shalt speak in Egypt before Arsames concerning the temple of the sacrificial altar of the God of Heaven which is in Yeb, the fortress, before our time, before Cambyses, which Waidrang, that lahia,329 destroyed in the 14th year of Darius the king, to rebuild it in its place, as it was formerly. And they shall offer food-offerings and incense upon that altar, even as was wont to be done formerly.’ ”

Nothing could be more satisfactory than this little episode of the Jewish colony at Yeb—it needs but the discovery of the record of the rebuilding and the inauguration of the temple to round it off.

[pg 542]

Bagohi governor of Judea is the Bagoas or Bagoses of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, xi. 7. The high-priest Johannes or John (the Yoḫanan mentioned on p. 539) had slain his brother Jesus in the temple, because the latter, supported by Bagoas, sought to dispute with him the High-priesthood. Notwithstanding the protests of the Jews, Bagoas penetrated into the temple, and imposed upon it a fine of 50 drachmas for every lamb sacrificed therein. It will thus be seen, that in offering to him a percentage of the sacrifices in return for his support in rebuilding the temple at Yeb, Yedoniah and his companions were acting in accordance with what was known to be his character. The reference to Yohanan's refraining from helping them, it is reasonable to suppose, also occurred to them as likely to further their desires.

Yedoniah, the chief of the Jewish colony at Yeb and the writer of the longer document, is probably likewise named in the Oxford papyri—he was either Yedoniah ben Hosea or Yedoniah ben Meshullam, but could not have been identified with a third of the name, Yedoniah ben Nathan, as this last is stated to have been an Aramean of Syene. We have to await further light upon his identity.

Arsames, who is mentioned in the second paragraph (p. 537), is probably, as Sachau points out, the Arsanes of Ktesias, who was governor of Egypt when Darius II. mounted the throne. He left Egypt and went to the court of Darius, and the priests of Chnum330 in Elephantine profited by his absence to destroy the Jewish temple there. In this they were supported by Waidrang, who, in the absence of Arsames, seems to have exercised the office of governor. To all appearance he had been commander-in-chief of the army in Egypt, a post held, at the time this document was written, by Nephyan his son. There is some doubt as to the reading and vocalization of the name Waidrang, and consequently, also, as to its true form, but it is regarded as certainly Persian. It is thought that its Persian prototype may have been Vayu-darengha,331 “companion of the wind-god,” whilst his son's name, in Persian, is possibly Napâo-yâna, “favour of the god Napâo.” Should these identifications be found correct, they will have, as Sachau remarks, considerable value in ascertaining the principle upon which names in Persian were given.

To all appearance Arsames returned to Egypt, and a reaction followed which ended in the disgrace of Waidrang and his followers, who were deprived of the spoils which they had stolen from the temple at Yeb, and the Jews also became, in [pg 543] the end, witnesses of the death of all their persecutors. It seems probable that the central government was greatly displeased at the action of Waidrang and the priests of Chnub, for the Persians seem always to have been well-disposed towards the Jews—moreover, cupidity, and not the good of the state, was at the bottom of Waidrang's action. The destruction wrought, however, was not immediately made good, hence this document, which throws such a vivid light upon the state of Egypt and the Jews in those days. It is but just to the Persians of that period to say, that notwithstanding their seemingly Persian names, Waidrang and his son were apparently not Persians, but possibly Semites, as the (probably gentilic) adjectives applied to the former seem to show.

The date of this document is regarded as not admitting of any doubt, as may be gathered by the references to the regnal years of Darius in conjunction with the names of historical personages—Bagohi (Bagoas or Bagoses of Josephus), governor of Judea, Yehoḥanan or John, the high-priest at Jerusalem, and the two sons of Sanaballaṭ,332 the governor of Samaria in the time of Artaxerxes I. (Longimanus). The ruler of the Persian empire when these documents were written, must therefore have been Darius II. (Nothus), who reigned for 19 years, namely, 424-405 b.c. The 14th year of Darius II.—the date of the destruction of the temple at Yeb—was 410 b.c., and his 17th year—the date when the appeal was sent to Bagohi—corresponds with 407 b.c. This fixes, among others, the date of Yehoḥanan, and Sachau points out as noteworthy that one of his brothers, named Manasseh, was son-in-law of the governor of Samaria, Sanaballaṭ, as related in Nehemiah xiii. 28. Another brother of the high-priest was the one whom he killed in the temple (Jesus). In this record, however, a third brother, Ostan or Ostanes, appears. To all appearance this last bore also another name, to wit, 'Ahani, which would be his true Hebrew appellation. If, however, the Babylonian construction has been followed here, this Ostan or Ostanes would be brother of 'Ahani, a personage of importance in Jerusalem, but not otherwise known. Adopting the rendering given in the translation, however, it is noteworthy that two brothers named Yehoḥanan and 'Ahani are mentioned in 1 Chronicles iii. 24. These, however, were descendants of David, whereas the brothers mentioned in the papyrus must have been descendants of Aaron.

A high Persian official named Uštanu or Uštannu (Ostanu [pg 544] or Ostan) occurs on two Babylonian tablets in the British Museum, and also on one in the possession of Lord Amherst of Hackney. He bears the title “governor of Babylon and across the river,” possibly meaning all the tract west of the Euphrates. This man, however, can hardly at the same time have been governor of Egypt, and the texts in which he is mentioned seem, moreover, to belong to the time of Darius Hystaspis, in which case he lived at a much too early date.

The Egyptians called the island of Elephantine Yeb, and its capital bore the same name as the island. It is transcribed Ab by those who follow the old system of reading Egyptian, so that the present documents seem to support the philological views of the Berlin school. A common ideograph for the name of the island is an elephant with an upturned trunk, showing that Yeb really means “elephant-island,” and that Elephantine is simply the Greek translation of the native name. The temple of Khnum (Khnumba, Khnub), whose priests are referred to in the papyri, was destroyed by Moḥammed Ali in 1822.

The Hebrew divine name is written Yahu, which is apparently the longer form of the biblical Jah, seen in such names as Hezekiah (Assyrian Ḫazaqi-yau), Gemariah or Gemariahu (Jer. xxix. 3; xxxvi. 10, etc.). As is shown on p. 471, this termination was pronounced iāwa by the Babylonian Jews, which raises the question whether the Yahu of these papyri may not have been pronounced Yāwa also.

Dr. L. Belleli, of the Philological Section of the Instituto di Studi Superiori in Florence, doubts the genuineness of the papyri found at Elephantine on account of chronological difficulties. In the case of the documents here translated, however, no such difficulties can be said to exist, and the forger of such things would have to be not only a splendid Aramaic scholar acquainted with the Berlin scheme of transcribing Egyptian, but also a historian and the possessor of an exceedingly lively imagination.

The above description is based upon Eduard Sachau's noteworthy monograph, Drei aramäische Papyrusurkunden aus Elephantine, Berlin, Königliche Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1907. The documents in question were discovered by Dr. Otto Rubensohn, and the collection included some papyri still in roll-form, and various fragments. The principal document translated above belonged to the former category, and was successfully unrolled by Herr Ibscher, the keeper of the Royal Museum. The reproduction shows it as a large sheet of papyrus, folded in two, and certain damaged portions, on the left, imply that it was rolled upon itself about six times.

[pg 545]

Notes And Additions.

P. 11. It is needful to state, as has been pointed out to the writer, that “our English translation would make all (the Biblical Creation-story) appear English.” In other words, the test of language is not an unfailing one.

Pp. 14-15. To the names of translators of the Babylonian Creation-stories must be added P. Jensen, and W. L. King, who has published important additions to the text.

P. 21, l. 4. Alternative rendering: “He beheld Tiamtu's snarling” (see the note to p. 24).

P. 22. With the first paragraph on this page the contents of the third tablet, and with the last paragraph those of the fourth, begin.

P. 24. Instead of “they clustered around him,” Jensen translates (doubtfully), “they ran round about him,” and King, “they beheld him.” Something may be said in favour of each, but the rendering of the text seems more probable. Also, instead of “Examining the lair,” I am inclined to return to my earlier rendering, “Noting the snarling of Kingu, her consort.” The four succeeding lines read:—

“He looks, and his advance333 becomes confused,

His understanding is destroyed, and his action fails (?),

And the gods, his helpers, going by his side,

Saw the [con]fusion (??) of their leader, (and) their sight was troubled (too).”

King attributes this fear and confusion not to Merodach, but to Kingu and his followers, which would seem to be more consistent, but the difficulty is, that the original gives no indication that this was the case. Further discoveries may throw light upon the point.

P. 27. The Lumaši (l. 2), according to Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. III., pl. 57, were seven constellations, and seem to have been included in the thirty-six stars or constellations mentioned two lines lower down. A list of these will [pg 546] be found in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1900, pp. 573-575.

P. 28, l. 29. The translation of this line is based on that of Mr. L. W. King, who first published the text. The word for “bone” is iṣṣimtum, the Heb. 'eṣem, Arab. 'adhm. If the word be correctly read (the character tum is doubtful), it is possibly connected with êṣimtum, which translates the Sumerian character standing for a weapon or a long straight object.

Pp. 29-31. Tutu and other names given to Merodach in this section are referred to on pp. 45-46. By “the people” in line 15 (p. 30) are apparently to be understood the gods.

P. 44. Other names of the goddess Aruru, who assisted Merodach in the creation of man, are “the lady potter,” “the constructor of the world,” “the constructor of the gods,” “the constructor of mankind,” “the constructor of the heart.” Aruru was the goddess of progeny, and is one of the forty-one names by which “the lady of the gods” was known. An interesting Sumerian (dialectic) hymn to her exists in the Brussels Museum.

P. 47, ll. 29-32. Instead of “in their (the fallen gods') room,” Jensen suggests, “for their redemption.” That the fallen gods were to be redeemed (lit.: “spared”) by the merits of the race of men which Merodach created is a new idea, which further information may confirm.334

P. 59, l. 13. Ea is the Aê of the preceding pages, the Oannes of Damascius. There is reason to believe that the name was also read Aa, which would account for the Greek form which he employs, and likewise for the identification of this god with the Aa of l. 4 and the following paragraph.

P. 63, l. 27. Perhaps the most interesting of recent discoveries is the identification (by Prof. Zimmern) of Euedoreschos with the Enweduranki of the tablet described on p. 77. The original Greek form must have been Euedoranchos (see the note to the page mentioned). Euedocus (l. 21) is probably the Sumero-Akkadian En-me-duga.

P. 67. For further notes in connection with Tiamat, see the discussion of Delitzsch's Babel und Bibel at the end, pp. 529-532. It is noteworthy that this name heads the list of abodes of the gods published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology for Dec., 1900, pp. 367-369. The explanation is unfortunately broken away, but it may be surmised that as the goddess of the watery wastes of the earth she was described as the abode of the gods who were regarded as her followers.

[pg 547]

P. 72. The description of Tammuz as “the peerless mother of heaven” is probably to be explained by the fact, that ama-gala, “great mother,” is one of the Sumerian words for “forest,” and Tammuz was identified with the forest of Eridu, the divine abode where he dwelt.

P. 73. For Pir-napištim, Ut-napištim is a possible reading (see below, note to p. 99).

For further notes upon the trees of Paradise, see pp. 531.

P. 77. Euedoranchos. The forms of this name, as handed down, are Εὐεδωραχος, Εὐεδωρεσχος, and Εὐερωδεσχος. Eusebius's Chronicle, however, gives the best form, namely, Edoranchus.

P. 78, l. 20. Perhaps it would be better to say that the Hebrew accounts of the Creation “probably came from Babylonia”—they may not have originated there.

Pp. 80-82. For further remarks upon the cherubin, see p. 533. In “the kurub of Anu, Bel,” etc., which also occurs, we probably have a variant form.

P. 83, ll. 1-5. It is noteworthy that Ablum (“Son”) as a personal name actually occurs (De Sarzec, Découvertes, pl. 30 bis, No. 19). Compare Ablaa, “my son,” p. 533, l. 12.

P. 90. For further information about the name Gilgameš, see the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology for 1903, pp. 198-199. Prof. Hommel has pointed out that an inscription exists stating that he built the fortress of Erech, thus bringing him almost within the domain of history.

P. 99. (The Legend of Gilgameš.) Dr. Meissner's discovery of a fragment of a new version of the Gilgameš-legend335 is a most welcome addition to our knowledge. A description of this text will be found in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology for March and May, 1903, where a comparison of the two versions is also given. It speaks of his visit to the land of darkness in quest of his friend Ea-banî (whose name, as this inscription indicates, should properly be read Enki-du or Ea(Aê, Aa)-du). In the second column it details his conversation with Siduri (“the Sabitu”), in which he refers to the death of his beloved companion, since whose departure he had not sought to live, but having seen her face, he expresses the hope that he will now not see death. The Sabitu, however, answers him to the effect that he would not find the life which he sought—death was the lot which the gods had set for mankind. Eat, therefore, make festival, rejoice day and night, put on fine apparel, take pleasure in child and wife—such was her advice. In the last [pg 548] column of this version the hero meets with Sur-Sunabu (Ur-Šanabi), who asks him his name. Gilgameš tells him who he is and whence he came, and asks to be shown Uta-naištim, the remote, as the Babylonian Noah seems to be called in this version of the legend. About one-third of the tablet, giving the lower parts of columns 1 and 2, and the upper parts of columns 3 and 4, is the amount preserved.

The above seems to show, that the name of the friend of Gilgameš was Êa-du, (Aa-du, Aê-du, or Enki-du), not Êa-banî; whilst Ur-Šanabi the boatman, was really called Sur-Sunabu (or Sur-Šanabi); and Pir-napištim, the Babylonian Noah, was Ut-napištim.

P. 104, ll. 1 and 6. Jensen suggests, for muir kukki, the translation “rulers of darkness(?)”:—

“(If) the rulers of darkness cause to rain down one evening a rain of dirt (?),

Enter into the ship, and shut thy door!”

That period arrived;

“The rulers of darkness rain down one evening a rain of dirt (?).”

Muir, however, seems to be singular, not plural. Another meaning of the word is “messenger.”

P. 108, l. 35. If this translation be correct, the throwing down of a part of the food recalls the casting of meal on the ground as an offering to the gods. It is not unlikely that the preparation of the food, and setting it by his head, was accompanied by some prayer or incantation to secure his recovery, as in the inscription translated in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, May, 1901, pp. 193 and 205-210. Sleeping with a cruse of water near the head (1 Sam. xxvi. 11-12) was probably simply a provision against thirst, with no special meaning. On p. 111, there is just the possibility that “The leavings of the dish” were what was allowed to remain therein for the gods, and “the rejected of the food” may have been that which was thrown on the ground as an offering.

P. 113, ll. 19 ff. A number of the deities identified with the god Ea or Aa are given in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. II., pl. 58, and form a parallel with the inscription printed on p. 58. Deities seem also to have been identified with Nebo. The centres where these gods were worshipped therefore had likewise their monotheistic system, in which all the other gods were identified with the patron-deity of the place, just as those Babylonians who worshipped Merodach identified all the other gods with him.

P. 119. There has been a great deal of discussion as to the way in which Šumer could be connected with Shinar, the chief [pg 549] reasons against their identification being that the latter must have come from a Babylonian form, of whose existence there is no evidence, and that it stood for the whole country (except, possibly, Larsa), whereas Šumer was the name of the southern part only. Hommel derives the Biblical Shinar from Ki-Imgir, through the intermediate forms Shingar, Shumir (Šumer) and Shimir. This is based upon the tendency which k had to change into š, whilst the substitution of m for an older g or ng can be proved. As, however, Shinar corresponds practically with the whole of Babylonia, a modification of Prof. Hommel's etymology may, perhaps, best meet the case. The whole of the country was called by the Sumerians Kingi (or Kengi) Ura, and the expression mâda Kingi-Ura is rendered, in the lists, mât Šumeri u Akkadī, “the land of Sumer and Akkad.” It is therefore clear, that Kingi-Ura corresponds with the whole tract, and is practically synonymous with the Biblical Shinar. The change from k to š (sh) being provable, it is possible that Kingi-Ura, pronounced Shingi-Ura, may have originated the Hebrew form Shinar (better Shin'ar), through the intermediate forms Shingura and Shingar.

The statement that Elam was the firstborn of Shem (Gen. x. 22) receives illustration from the fact, that many inscriptions have been found showing that Semitic Babylonian was not only well known, but also used in that country. From the order in which the names occur in Genesis, it ought to be the earliest of the Semitic settlements, coming before Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. If, however, Arpachshad stand, as is generally thought, for Babylonia, it is quite clear that there is no indication of chronological order in this, for Assyria was certainly younger, as a Semitic settlement, than Babylonia, and it would seem that Elam was colonized with Semites from the last-named country. This would make Elam to be simply the first Semitic colony, as Prof. Scheil has already suggested.

A good example of the slim racial type is shown on pl. V., second seal-impression. For a long time after the Sumerians had become one nation with the Semitic Babylonians, the type of the figures represented on the cylinder-seals and sculptures remained unchanged, and it is on this account that Ḫammurabi is portrayed, on the slab reproduced as pl. I., in the old non-Semitic costume. The early Semitic type is shown on pl. III., no. 1 (no. 2 shows the late Assyrian type). In pl. VI. the Sumerian style is there, but the type is rather thick. This, however, may be partly due to the sliding of the cylinder when the impression was taken.

P. 124. Sargon of Agadé's conquests, according to the omens [pg 550] referring to his reign, were as follows:—(paragraph 1) Elam, (2) the land of the Amorites, (4 and 5) the land of the Amorites (twice), (6) doubtful, (7) he crossed the sea of the rising of the sun, and the reference to three years in that district seems to refer to the time he stayed there, (8) apparently no expedition, (9) he ravaged the land of Kazalla, (10) he put down a revolt in his own country, (11) he fought against Suri or Sumaštu.

P. 125, l. 27. The old Sumerian or Akkadian laws are only known to us from a few specimens preserved in the tablets of grammatical paradigms (the series Ana itti-šu), and will be found on pp. 190-191. It is probable that they were made use of in compiling the Code of Ḫammurabi.

P. 127, l. 21 ff. But perhaps it was the city of Aššur which came forth from Babylonia (i.e. was a Babylonian colony), and its ever-increasing inhabitants who founded the other cities mentioned.

P. 130 (the derivation of Nimrod). Another suggestion is, that Nimrod may be the name of Merodach, as “Lord of Marad” (Nin-Marad). As far as I have been able to see, however, this name of Merodach does not occur, and moreover, it was Nergal, and not Merodach, who was lord of Marad—Merodach's city was Babylon. Prof. Hommel's acute suggestion, that Namra-ṣit may be a Babylonian form of Nimrod, would seem to be doubtful.

P. 131 (Merodach's net). The bow of Merodach, after his fight with Tiamtu, was placed in the heavens, and seemingly became one of the constellations, but we do not hear of any similar honour having been conferred on his net, notwithstanding the great service which it had rendered him. In Habakkuk i. 15-17 there is a curious passage in which “the Chaldean” is described as catching men with his angle and his net, as fishes are caught, and making sacrifice to his net and his drag on account of his success with them. Heuzey, the well-known French Assyriologist and antiquarian, makes a comparison between this passage and the Vulture-stele, on which an ancient Babylonian prince is represented as having placed his conquered foes in a great net. This, however, does not explain the statement that the Chaldean sacrificed and offered incense to his net and his drag, and it is doubtful whether the Prophet had either that or any similar sculpture or picture in his mind. There is, nevertheless, just the possibility that the Babylonians were accustomed to pay divine honours to the net of Merodach, and this may have given rise to the statement in the passage quoted. Whether the relief on the Vulture-stele be derived from the legend of Merodach or not, is doubtful—in all probability it [pg 551] merely expresses a simile derived from catching wild animals with a net, as exhibited by the sculptures of Aššur-banî-âpli in the Assyrian Saloon of the British Museum.

Pp. 132-133. With regard to the statements on these pages, the Rev. John Tuckwell writes: “Gen. xi. 1 must in all fairness be regarded as going back prior to ch. x, in order to tell the history of Babylon from its foundation. Again:—Why contradict Genesis? We do not know who ‘began’ to build Babylon—Sayce suggests ‘Etana.’ It is quite possible that ‘they left off to build the city,’ and resumed the work under Nimrod. There is no need to regard any of the statements as ‘interpolations’ if thus read. If all mankind perished by the Flood, as both stories appear to teach, there must surely have been a time when ‘the whole earth was of one language.’ ”

P. 134. For the derivation of Shinar, see the note to p. 119.

P. 136. The Mohammedan legend of the Tower of Babel, as told in the Persian work, Rauzat-us-Safa,336 may be interesting. It is as follows:—

“When Nimrud had witnessed the extinction of the pile of fire, and had beheld the roses produced therein by the benign Creator, he aspired to ascend to heaven.... Nimrud ... spent many years in erecting a tower, which was so high that the bird of imagination could not reach its summit. When it was completed, he ascended to the pinnacle of the spire, but the aspect of the heavens remained precisely the same as from the surface of the earth. This astonished and perplexed him. The next day the tower fell, and such a fearful noise struck the ears of the inhabitants of Babel that most of them fainted from the effects thereof; and when they had recovered their senses they forgot their own language, so that every tribe spoke a different idiom, and seventy-two tongues became current among them.”

P. 136, l. 3 from below. Nannara was the moon-god, the same as Sin. L. 6 from below, read Ê-bar-igi-ê-di.

P. 144, l. 9 from below. The Rev. C. H. W. Johns, in his Assyrian deeds and documents, has pointed out the likeness of the names Naḫiri and Naḫarau (or Naḫarâu) to Nahor, referred to by Kittel in his little book upon Delitzsch's Babel und Bibel.337 Naḫiru, however, is the common Assyro-Babylonian word for “nostril,” and is also the name of a creature of the sea supposed to be the dolphin. Naḫarâu it may be noted, notwithstanding [pg 552] the absence of the prefix of divinity, bears every appearance of being a name like Bêl-Yau on p. 59, the initial y or i being omitted as in the case of Au-Aa seven lines lower down. Judging from analogy, Naharâu should mean “Naḫar is Jah,” but whether this has anything to do with the name Nahor or not is doubtful—as Assyrian equivalent we should rather expect Naḫuru.

P. 145, l. 11 from below. The name of a Babylonian district called Pulug occurs in a Babylonian geographical list, and may be the same as Peleg. Though the ideogram is different, this is possibly the same as the Pulukku of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. II., pl. 52, l. 53, where it is explained as Bît ḫarê, “the house of the cutting,” or “excavation.” The Babylonians would therefore seem to have regarded Pulug or Pulukku as referring to the division of the land of Babylon by the cutting of the irrigation-channels which gave it its fertility.

P. 146, l. 4. There is no great probability that the name Terah has anything to do with Tarḫu, which occurs in certain names found in Assyrian contracts (Johns, Assyrian Deeds, pp. 127, 458, etc.).

P. 147, l. 4 from below. The family of Terah may, however, have become pastoral on leaving Ur of the Chaldees.

P. 148 (Abram). According to Prof. Breasted (American Journal of Semitic Studies, Oct. 1904) mention is made in the geographical list of Shishak at Karnak of “the field of Abram,” and if this identification be correct, it is the earliest reference to the great ancestor of the Hebrews and the nations associated with them, though it cannot be said that the date (time of Jeroboam and Rehoboam) is a very remote one. Owing to the same Egyptian character being used for both r and l, Maspéro read the word as the plural of 'abel, “meadow.”

P. 150, l. 23. Illustrations of the old Akkadian (or Sumerian) laws will be found in the contracts of adoption of Bêl-êzzu and Arad-Išḫara on pp. 176 and 177. The laws themselves are given on p. 190.

P. 152, second paragraph. It is needful to state that a few Semitic Babylonian inscriptions of an exceedingly early date (seemingly before 3000 b.c.) exist, likewise a few Sumero-Akkadian texts after 2300 b.c., and the periods of the two languages therefore overlap. Judging from the inscriptions, however, Sumero-Akkadian goes back to a date much earlier than the earliest Semitic, but it was to all appearance hardly used after the period of the dynasty of Ḫammurabi.

P. 158, l. 11. The Gutites were probably Medes.

P. 161, l. 11. It is not improbable that Sippar-Amnanu means simply “Amonite Sippar,” the second word of the compound [pg 553] being apparently from Amna,338 which is possibly the Babylonian form of the name of the Egyptian sun-god, Amon. Ya'ruru is seemingly the old form of Aruru, one of the names of Ištar, who was also worshipped there.

P. 166. The wedding-gift was to all appearance the price paid by the bridegroom for the bride, in this case handed to the bride's brother and sister. For the laws concerning this payment, see Ḫammurabi's Code, sections 163 and 164 (p. 505). It was generally handed to the bride's father (upon a dish, according to Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. v., pl. 24, ll. 48-51cd).339 Instead of “Ammi-ṭitana the king,” Dr. Schor reads Ammi-ṭitana-šarrum, i.e. as the name of a man, meaning “Ammi-ṭitana is king.” If this be correct, the document is not a record of the marriage of a princess.

P. 168. The grain given to Šeritum was probably of the nature of a deposit—according to Ḫammurabi's Code, sect. 257, the wages of a reaper were not one gur of grain, but eight.

P. 173-174. Upon the question of adoption, see Ḫammurabi's Code, sections 185-193. As there is no indication, in these enactments, that female children were included, it is doubtful whether Ana-Aa-uzni and Aḫḫ-ayabi had any remedy in case of repudiation, or refusal to perform all the conditions. Calling the gods to witness was probably regarded as being a sufficient safeguard. Nevertheless, the usage of the language was such that “daughtership” could be included in “sonship.”

Pp. 174 ff. It is noteworthy that, in this contract, there is no indication of the second wife having been taken to vex the first (Lev. xviii. 18, A.V.), and as the second was to be subordinate to the first, rivalling (as the R.V. translates) was as far as possible prevented. As the children already born are referred to (p. 175, l. 20), the second marriage could not have been due to the absence of offspring, and it may therefore be supposed that the second wife was taken on account of the ill-health of the first (Ḫammurabi's Code, sect. 148). This is supported by the clauses referring to the services which Iltani was to perform for her “sister.”

P. 176. The adoption of Bêl-êzzu illustrates section 191 of Ḫammurabi's Code. Both are based upon the Sumerian laws translated on pp. 190 and 191. The word translated “deep” (line 19) is one generally used for the ocean, the abode of Ea (Aa), god of the waters. It may have been something similar to “the brazen sea” in the temple at Jerusalem.

[pg 554]

P. 177. Arad-Išḫara was evidently adopted under the same law and enactment as the foregoing. The declaration of the foster-father of his right to have children is interesting.

Upon the adoption of Karanatum, compare pp. 173 and 174, with the note thereon.

Pp. 178 and 179. The three tablets giving equal portions to each of the three brothers, illustrate sections 165 and 167 of the Code, which enacts that all brothers shall share equally. Any gift or share in the property left by the mother would probably be recorded on another document.

P. 180. Laws 178 ff. of Ḫammurabi's Code show that votaries and priestesses had special privileges in the matter of inheriting property, and it would seem from the tablet of Erištum, the sodomite or public woman, that her station did not allow her the choice, that being the right of her sister, Amat-Šamaš, priestess of the sun.

P. 181. Naramtum apparently had no children, and seems to have been divorced in accordance with section 138 of Ḫammurabi's Code.

P. 185. The case of Šamaš-nûri is illustrated by sections 144-146 of Ḫammurabi's Code.

Pp. 187 and 188. The conditions of the hiring of a slave were probably those of the old Sumerian law translated on p. 191.

P. 199, l. 26. Elamite overlordship was naturally coextensive with that of Babylon as long as the latter power acknowledged Elamite supremacy.

P. 201, l. 5 from below. Qanni is probably one of the Assyro-Babylonian words for “sanctuary.”

P. 203. In addition to the deities mentioned, Aššur-banî-âpli (Assurbanipal) speaks of the goddess Nin-gala, the “great lady” or “queen,” as having a temple called Ê-gipara at Haran. She is mentioned with Nusku (p. 202) and is called “the mother of the gods,” Šamaš, the sungod, being described as her firstborn. To all appearance she was the consort of the Moongod, Nannar.

P. 208, last line. “Yoke of the Elamites” would probably have been the better term. (See the note to p. 199.)

P. 209, l. 8 from below. Oppert always refused to accept the identification of Amraphel with Ḫammurabi.

P. 222, l. 4 from below. It would appear from the Babylonian lists that Tudḫula may be read simply Tudḫul, notwithstanding the final a at the end.

P. 243, ll. 25 ff. The name Aqabi-îlu (p. 463, l. 15) is similarly formed to that of Ya'kubi-îlu, and from the same root, but it is not identical with it. There is no probability that Egibi (p. 439, l. 2, etc.) has any connection with the name Jacob, as has been suggested. Its connection with the (? Assyrian) name [pg 555] Ḫakkubu seems to be still more unlikely. Upon these and similar names, see Hommel, “Ancient Hebrew Tradition,”340 p. 112.

P. 246, l. 5. If my memory serves me, the name Gadu-ṭâbu, “the fortune is good,” occurs on a contract-tablet in the British Museum. (I unfortunately forgot to make note of it at the time, hence my inability to give the reference.)

P. 249, after the first paragraph. Jacob's wrestling with “a man” (Gen. xxxii. 24 ff.) brings out the interesting name Peniel or Penuel (vv. 30 and 31), explained as “the face of God,” so called because he had there “seen God face to face.” A similar name to this is the Babylonian Ana-pâni-îli, “to the face of God,” sometimes shortened to Appâni-îli. The documents bearing the latter are of the time of Samsu-iluna, and are therefore rather earlier than the time of Jacob. Besides the meaning given above, other renderings are possible, and the question arises, whether Ana-pâni-îli means “(let me go) to the presence” or “before the face of God,” or that its bearer was asked for by his father “at the presence of God.” Many other possible renderings will also, in all probability, occur to the reader, but it is noteworthy, that in this case, the Biblical narrative may, by chance, serve to explain this Babylonian compound, for as “the man” with whom Jacob wrestled was the representative of the Almighty, so pâni in the Babylonian name may be interpreted in the same way, and the person bearing it may have been offered or dedicated to the face, or presence (that is, the representative) of God. It is to be noted that the owner of the name on Mr. Offord's cylinder (pl. vi. no. 2) was a worshipper of the god Hadad or Rimmon, and was not, therefore, a monotheist.

P. 273, l. 8. The date of Amenophis II., according to Petrie, was about 1449 to 1423.

P. 278. The non-Semitic pronunciation of Ninip was possibly Nirig, and the Semitic reading En-mašti (so Prof. A. T. Clay). An earlier reading of the Aramaic character regarded as m was n, which would give Ênu-rêštū, “the primæval lord,” or the like, a title of Ninip and of other gods. For other suggestions, see Hrozný in the Revue Sémitique, July 1908.

P. 279, l. 2. The name Bidina may also be read Kaština, apparently a variant of the Babylonian Bidinnam or Kaštinnam.

L. 12 ff. The mention of Dumu-zi, i.e. Tammuz or Adonis, goes back to about 3500 b.c., or earlier. Hymns to Tammuz in the dialect of the Sumerian language exist, dating from about 2000 years before Christ, the most noteworthy of these compositions [pg 556] at present known being that preserved in the Manchester Museum.

L. 27. Mutzu'u. It is doubtful whether this name is complete on the tablet where it occurs. Possibly Mutzuata, a name occurring on the Bronze Gates found by Mr. Rassam at Balawat, furnishes an indication as to the way in which it should be completed. (Knudtzon reads Mut-baḫlu, written for Mut-ba'la, possibly meaning “the man of his lord.”)

L. 31. Yabitiri. The inscription referring to his early life is translated on pp. 284-285.

L. 37. For Addu-nirari, read Adad-nirari, the Assyrian form.

P. 280, line 4 and note. Nin-Urmuru (?) Knudtzon reads as Bêlit(= Ba'lat)-Ur-Maḫ-Meš. In Assyro-Babylonian this would probably be read Bêlit-nêši, a name meaning “the lady of the lions.”

P. 286, note 1. For the name Mut-zu'u, compare the note to p. 279, l. 27, above. Knudtzon's new translation differs somewhat from that given here.

P. 293, l. 26. Another Zimrêda (to all appearance) is mentioned in an inscription in the British Museum. This text comes from Babylonia, and is possibly of an earlier date. It apparently refers to the affairs of the Babylonian principality of Suḫu and Maër.

P. 319, l. 14. Suḫi and Maër are mentioned together in the document referred to above, note to p. 293, and in the inscription of Šamaš-rêš-uṣur, governor of that district, published by Dr. Weissbach in his Babylonische Miscellen. This district lay, according to that scholar, somewhere near the point where the Habûr runs into the Euphrates. As the western boundary of this state is entirely unknown, the full value of Tiglath-pileser I.'s boast cannot be estimated, but the district ravaged must have been a considerable stretch of country.

P. 325. The inscription referring to Gazzāni probably forms part of one of those in which the ruler asks the gods (generally Šamaš and Hadad) for success against the countries which he intended to invade. Sargon of Assyria, Esarhaddon, and Aššur-banî-âpli (Assurbanipal) all had similar inscriptions composed for them. From the manner in which the text is written, however, it is probable that it antedates these.

P. 329, l. 4 from below. Instead of “advanced,” another possible translation is “rose up.”

P. 330, l. 3. Instead of Gilzau, Kirzau and several other readings are possible.

The “battle of Qarqara,” as it is generally called, is illustrated by strip I (old mark C) of the Bronze Gates of Shalmaneser [pg 557] II.341 The scenes only represent the capture of the cities Pargâ, Adâ, and Qarqara of Urḫilêni (= Irḫulêni) of the land of the Hamathites, there being no reference either to Ahab, or to his allies. The city of Qarqara was later on taken by Sargon (see p. 363).

P. 341, l. 4. Instead of Persia, read Pahlav as the identification of Parsua (Hommel).

P. 343, l. 22. As the character translated “lady” means also “sister,” it may in reality indicate the relationship of Sammu-ramat to Bêl-tarṣi-îli-ma.

P. 346, l. 22. Tiglath-pileser “III.,” or “IV.”

P. 347, l. 25. Sardurri of Ararat is the Sardaris (II.) of the Armenian cuneiform texts.

P. 349, l. 6. Ḫatarikka is also spelled with one k, as on pp. 344 and 345.

P. 374, l. 20. In Kammusu-nadbi we have an instance of the occurrence of the name of Chemosh, the national god of the Moabites. This name is also found in that of Kamušu-šarra-uṣur, apparently a Babylonian, perhaps of Moabite origin (see the note to p. 466).

P. 376, l. 21. Urbi occurs as the name of a city or district in a Babylonian geographical list, from which we learn also that there was an “upper” and a “lower” Urbi. It is immediately followed by Pulug (see the note to p. 145).

L. 8. from below. Kallima-Sin is now read Kadašman-Ḫarbe (or Muruš).

P. 381, foot-note. According to Prof. W. Max Müller, Orientalische Literaturzeitung, Nov., 1902, Mer-en-Ptah and “the great sorcerer and high-priest of Memphis” were brothers, and the incident of the vision took place before Mer-en-Ptah's battle with the Libyans, when, as he himself states, he saw in a dream a figure like that of Ptah, who said to him “Take,” giving him the sword, and “Put away from thee thy faintheartedness.” Max Müller attributes the chronological error neither to Herodotus nor to the Egyptian scribes who supplied him with information, but to Hecataeus of Miletus, whose work Herodotus used—“an Egyptian would not have made such a chronological blunder.” This, naturally, much diminishes the value of the extract as a parallel to the account of the destruction of Sennacherib's army before Jerusalem.

P. 384, l. 1 ff. The following is Nabonidus's account of the murder of Sennacherib and the events which led up to it, from [pg 558] the inscription published by the Rev. V. Scheil in the Recueil des Travaux relatifs à la Philologie et à l'Archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes, vol. XVIII., pp. 1 ff.:—

“He (this must be Sennacherib) went to Babylon, he laid its sanctuaries in ruin, he destroyed the reliefs,342 the statues he overthrew. He took the hands of the prince, Merodach, and caused him to enter within Aššur343—according to the anger of the god then he treated the land. The prince, Merodach, did not cease from his wrath—for 21 years he set up his seat within Aššur. (In) later days a time arrived, the anger of the king of the gods, the lords, was then appeased. He remembered E-sagila and Babylon, the seat of his dominion. The king of Mesopotamia,344 who during the anger of Merodach had accomplished the ruin of the land, the son born of his body slew him with the sword.”

For the Babylonians, the Assyrian king was the instrument of Merodach's wrath.

P. 385. The British Museum “black stone” mentions Esarhaddon's elder brothers: “I, Esarhaddon, whom thou (O Merodach) hast called, in the assembly of my elder brothers, to restore those buildings” (i.e. the temples, etc., damaged by floods).

P. 393. Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, in an inscription found by the German expedition, and published by Dr. Weissbach in his Babylonische Miscellen, refers to the downfall of Assyria in the following words:—

“The Assyrian, who from remote days ruled all people, and with his heavy yoke oppressed the people of the land,345 I, the weak, the humble, the worshipper of the lord of lords, by the mighty force of Nebo and Merodach, my lords, cut off their feet from the land of Akkad, and caused their yoke to be thrown off.”

As the text is not of any great length, Nabopolassar could not give details, but notwithstanding his humility, it is noteworthy that he takes all the credit to himself. The inscription is written on four cylinders from Ê-ḫatta-tila, the temple of Ninip in Šu-anna.

P. 399, l. 8. The spelling of the name of Nebuchadnezzar differs somewhat in the various inscriptions, but the meaning is always practically the same—“Nebo, protect the boundary” or “my boundary,” according as the second component ends in a or i. In Nabium (p. 398, l. 7 from below) we have an old form fully spelt out.

Emblems used by Esarhaddon, and carved on the upper surface of the black stone presented to the British Museum by Lord Aberdeen. It represents a divine tiara upon an altar, a priest, the sacred tree of the Assyrians, a bull, a mountain (?), a plough, a date-palm, and a rectangular object—perhaps the walls of a town. The same emblems, arranged in a circle, are found on the cylinders from Babylon inscribed with his architectural works in that city.

P. 400, l. 25. The name of at least one Nabû-zer-iddina (son [pg 559] of Ab[laa?], descendant of Irani) occurs in the contracts of the time of Nebuchadnezzar. This man, however, was a scribe, and there is no indication that he had ever been captain of the guard.

P. 403, ll. 7 ff. The penalty of death by fire, inflicted on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, receives illustration from the notes to p. 480.

P. 405, l. 21. The German excavations at Babylon have revealed the appearance of the gate of Ištar as a plain opening in a wall of the city, covered with glazed brickwork, ornamented with bulls and dragons alternately, arranged in vertical rows, a decoration which is repeated in the thickness of the wall and in the inner recesses. (See Delitzsch's Im Lande des einstigen Paradieses, figures 25 and 26.) For the position of the gate, see the note to pp. 471, 472.

P. 406, ll. 2 and 3 from below. “The House of the Foundation of Heaven and earth” is the Ê-temen-ana-kia of p. 138.

P. 413, above. As an example of the sending of the statues of deities temporarily away from their shrines, see p. 278, where mention is made of the image of Ištar of Nineveh, sent to Egypt by king Dušratta.

P. 415, l. 23, and four following pages. Ugbaru and Gubaru are generally regarded as two forms of the name Gobryas, and though this seems certain, there is just the possibility, that they are the names of two different persons.

P. 425, l. 10 from below. The tablet mentioning Zēru-Bâbîli son of Mutêriṣu exists in two examples, one being in the British Museum, and the other (which has an Aramaic docket) in the possession of Mr. Joseph Offord. It is translated in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, July, 1900, pp. 264 ff.

P. 439, l. 26. The raqundu was probably a weaver's or embroiderer's tool, returned in exchange for that lent.

P. 446, ll. 8 ff. from below. The inscription referred to is published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, Dec. 1895, pp. 278, 279.

P. 453, ll. 6-8. Prof. Campbell Thompson translates: “I send this as a trouble to my brothers”—i.e. “I am sorry to trouble you, but I hope you will do what is right.”

P. 457, l. 19. Arad-Mede may also be read Arad-Gula. In the next line Šubabu-sara' may be Šumabu-sara'.

P. 466 (the sale of an Egyptian slave). Another text of the same nature, dated in the same year, is in the De Clercq collection. It refers to the sale of an Egyptian slave-woman named Tamūnu (“she of Amon”). The text is published, with a translation by Prof. J. Oppert, in the second vol. of the [pg 560] Catalogue.346 The slave in question belonged to Itti-Nabû-balaṭu, son of Kamušu-šarra-uṣur, “Chemosh, protect the king”—probably indicating that the bearer of the name was of Moabite origin, or the introduction of the god of the Moabites into Babylonia.

Pp. 471-472. The German excavations have already settled many doubtful points concerning the topography of Babylon, and it is certain that, after the destruction of the city, exaggerated accounts of its enormous extent obtained credence. According to Delitzsch, it was not larger than Munich or Dresden, though even that is a good size for an Oriental city. The principal ruins are on the right bank of the river, and included Babil (“Probably a palace”), to protect which the city-wall makes a considerable angle on the north. From this point the wall continues its course in a south-easterly direction for a considerable distance, and turning at a right angle at its farthest point from the river, runs back in a south-westerly direction to meet it again. About a mile south of Babil the visitor comes upon the great ruin known as the Kasr, where stood Nebuchadnezzar's second palace. On the eastern side of this is the “procession-street” of the god Merodach, from which came some very fine reliefs of “the Lion of Babylon,” beautifully wrought in coloured and enamelled brick. The temple of the goddess Nin-maḫ lay to the south-east of the southern end of the street, and between the two was situated the celebrated Gate of Ištar, adorned with lions and strangely-formed dragons, already referred to (p. 551). Proceeding to the south-west from the temple of Nin-maḫ, we reach Nebuchadnezzar's earlier palace, a very extensive structure, with a spacious court-yard and a large hall used as a throne-room, on the south side of which the recess for the throne is still visible. The palace of his father Nabopolassar, which adjoined it on the west, has not yet been excavated. About half-a-mile to the south of these palaces lie the ruins of the great temple of Belus, in the mound now known as Amran-ibn-Ali (see pp. 137 ff., 476, 480, ff.). The German excavations have thus confirmed the identification of the site, as indicated in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. I., pl. 48, no. 9 (published in 1861). This text, which is a brick-inscription of Esarhaddon, reads as follows:—

“Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, king of Babylon, has caused the brickwork of Ê-saggil, Ê-temen-ana-kia, to be built anew for Merodach his lord.”

[pg 561]

According to the German plan, the portion of the city on the west of the river was of exceedingly small extent.

Artists will soon be able to depict the scenery of Babylon as a background for pictures of this world-renowned city with considerable accuracy.

P. 478, l. 24. An alternative rendering instead of “sculptor,” is “seal-engraver.”

P. 480. On account of the Greek words, I give here a transcription of the late Babylonian text of the extract printed on this page:—

An(tiukkusu) šarru ina âlāni ša mât Meluḫḫa šalṭaniš itta-luku-ma ... (amēlu) puliṭê puppê u êpšētam ša kima uṣurtu (amēlu) Yāwannu....

Uṣurtu may be translated “bas-relief” instead of “shrine,” but the rendering would not be materially changed thereby.

The remainder of the inscription, which is exceedingly interesting, is rather mutilated, and a trustworthy translation of it is at present exceedingly difficult. Certain thieves (šarraqa), however, seem to be mentioned, and had to all appearance stripped (iqlubū) the image of Uru-gala and another, “a deity whose name was called Ammani'ita.” On the 10th of Marcheswan these thieves were captured and imprisoned, and on the 13th to all appearance judged and condemned. Ûmu šuati ina išati qalû, “That day they were burnt in the fire”—such is the end of the story.

This seems not to be in accordance with the laws of sacrilegious theft, as stated in sections 6 and 8 of Ḫammurabi's code. Perhaps the law had changed in the 1800 years which had elapsed since the time of that ruler; or stripping a sacred image was a much more heinous crime than mere theft from a temple, which, in the first degree, was punishable with death.

It is noteworthy that refusal to worship the image set up by Nebuchadnezzar was visited, in Dan. iii, with the same penalty, probably as showing contempt for the divinity.

P. 484, l. 13. The river Ṣilḫu is probably the Sellas in Messinia, where one of the numerous cities named Apameia (Apam'(i)a) lay.

Pp. 489-491. Not the least interesting of this long list of temples and cities are Aššur and Nineveh, of which we have here the earliest mention.

[pg 563]

Index.

Aa, Aê, Ea (Aos), 17, 26, 56, 61, 77;
? the same name as Yâ, 59, 112;
transferred to Merodach, 32, 113;
his other names and titles, 62;
abode and form, 62, 63;
offspring, attendants, and consort, 63, 64;
parentage, 17, 64;
god of handicrafts, rivers, and water, the sea and life therein, 62, 63;
ever ready with counsel, 64;
warns Pir-napištim of the coming of the Flood, commands him to build a ship, and tells him what to say to the people, 102;
reproaches Ellila, 107;
deifies Pir-napištim, 107, 108;
worshipped at Eridu, 160;
month Iyyar dedicated to him, 65;
figures of Aa, 247

Aa (Aê, Ea), Yâ, Ya'u, names containing, 59, 546

Aa (goddess), 160

Aah-mes, Egyptian captain of marines, 270

Aah-mes, Pharaoh, 269, 270

Aa-ibur-sabû, Babylon's festival street, 405, 472

Aa-rammu of Edom, 374

Abarakku, 258

Abdi-Aširta (Abdi-Aširti, Abdi-Ašratum, Abdi-Aštarti), the Amorite, 278, 293;
the forms of his name, 313;
writes to the king of Egypt, 314

Abdi-îli (Abdeel), 157

Abdi-li'iti of Arvad, 374

Abdi-milkutti of Sidon beheaded, 386

Abdi-tâba of Jerusalem, 233;
in a different position from Melchizedek, 235;
writes to the king of Egypt, 294, 295, 297-299;
see also 293

Abed-nego (Abed-nebo), the Babylonian name of Azariah, 129, 403

Abel-Beth-Maachah, 352, 353

Abēšu' (Ebisum), king, 153, 155;
his daughter hires a field, 167

Abi-baal of Samsimuruna, 386

Abil-Addu-nathānu, life of, 459 ff.

Abil-akka, 352

Abil-Sin, king, 153

Abi-nadib (Abinadab), 438, 439

Ablum, “son,” as a personal name, 547

Abram, Abraham, his parentage, meaning of his first name, and traditions concerning him, 146, 147, 196;
a Chaldean or Babylonian, 147;
probable Assyrian form of his name, 148;
the importance of his period, 149 ff.;
his seeming mistrust of the sons of Heth, 150, 151;
was there a movement towards monotheism in his time? 198, 199;
the Sabeans dedicate a chapel to him, 203;
the field of Abram, 552

Abrech, Sayce's explanation of, 258

Abriqqu, 258

Absence of names of Egyptian kings, 250

Abubu, one of the weapons of Merodach, 24

[pg 564]

Abu-habbah (Sippar), 158, 411

Abu-ramu, 148

Abydenus, 63, 384, 385, 393

Abyss, the, measured by Merodach, 26.

See Apsū, Apason

Accad, a city of Nimrod's kingdom, 118.

See Akkad

Accho, 277;
lawless acts of the people, 281, 282, 360, 374

Accusation, false, 501 (127)

Achzib (Akzibi), 374

Act of God, 513, 523

Adad-'idri, 329;
resists the Assyrian king, 334, 335;
= Ben-Hadad, 337

Adad-nirari of Assyria, 279

Adad-nirari, king of Nuḫašše, 317

Adad-nirari III., king, 339, 342, 344;
inscriptions of, 340, 341, 343

Adam, various etymologies of the word, 78;
adam in the bilingual story of the Creation, 78, 79

Adamah, 292

Adaya, 297

Addu (Hadad), 157, 170, 277

Adini of Til-barsip, 328

Administration, 493, 494

Adonis (see Dumuzi, Tammuz), 82, 279

Adoni-zedek, 324

Adoption, 173, 175 177, 463, 465, 508, 509, 525, 553 ff.

Adram(m)elech, 378, 384, 385

Adultery, 501, 502

Aesculapius, the serpent, and the magic herb, 109 n.

Agad, Agadé, 124, 412, 422;
its temple-tower, 136;
misfortunes sung, 477.
See Akkad

Agaditess, lamentation of the, 477

Agents and travelling merchants, laws concerning, 495

Agricultural implements, theft of, 513

Ahab (Ahabbu of the Sir'ilâa), 329-331, 335, 337, 338

Ahaz and Tiglath-pileser, 353, 356

Aḫi-milki of Ashdod, 386

Aḫi-miti of Ashdod, 369

Aḫi-tâbu (Ahiṭub), 281

Ahuni of Til-barsip, 328

Ahuramazda, 426, 427

Ain-anab, 293

Ainsworth, W. F., his description of the ruins of Haran, 200

Ajalon, 280, 297

Akizzi, king of Qatua, 289-290, 317

Akkad (Accad), 119;
references to the country and its language, 121, 412;
the ideograph for, 122;
in early times a collection of small states, 123;
names of their capitals, 124;
the gods of, 415;
revolt in, 415;
weeping in, 416

Akkad, the city (Agadé), 124, 135

Akkadian, Akkadians, 119, 120, 121;
probably migrants, 134;
will overthrow the nations, 123;
their language that of most of the earlier inscriptions, 124;
its gradual disuse, 125;
disappearance of their specific racial type, 125;
their literature current also in Assyria, 126;
their laws retained, 125;
transcription and translations of inscriptions, 219-221

Akkû (Accho), 374

Alašia (? Cyprus), 277

Al Aštarti, city, 278

Al bêth Ninip, “the city of the temple of Ninip,” 278

Aleppo, 304, 329

Allala-bird, Ištar breaks his wings, 96

Allat, the temple of, 182

Alliance by marriage, 276

Amadeh, 273

Amāna, the god Ammon, 278

Ama-namtagga, “the mother of sin,” 532

Amanus mountains, 349, 368

Amaru, a name of Merodach, 54

Amar-uduk (Merodach), 54

Amasis, pharaoh, Babylonian vassal, 401

Amattu (Hamath), 363

[pg 565]

Amedi, city, 372

Amen-em-heb, officer of Thothmes III., 272

Ameni (Amen-em-ha), inscription of, 261

Amenophis II., 273;
Amenophis III., 274, 316;
Amenophis IV., 269, 293, 299, 302;
his names, 303

Amherst of Hackney, Lord, his tablet mentioning Ostanes, 544

Amki, the cities of, 288, 289, 317

Ammani'ita, goddess, 561

Amminadab (Ammi-nadbi) of Beth-Ammon, 389

Ammi-ṭitana, king, 153;
extent of his dominions, 155;
letter from, 165;
lord of Amurrū, 215

Ammi-zaduga, king, 153;
tablet dated in his reign, 168, 332

Ammonites (Amanians), 329, 333

Ammurabi, a form of the name Hammurabi, 209

Ammurapi (Hammurabi), 210

Amna, a name of the sun-god, 144

Amon (the god Ammon), 278

Amoria (the land of the Amorites), 155, 205, 206, 207, 208, 374, 422

Amorite, Amorites, 156, 157, 300;
in Babylonia, 169, 277, 310;
tribute from the, 328, 341;
their kings do homage to Cyrus, 422;
their deities, 156, 170 n.;
names, 170

Amorite tract, the, 169, 312

Amorite, an, the father of Jerusalem, 316

Amosis, the prince who knew not Joseph, 307

'Amq, identified with Amki, 289

Amraphel (Hammurabi), 125, 152;
identified with Hammurabi by Prof. Schrader, 209;
explanations of the final l, 211;
colophon-dates of his reign, 211-214;
his successor, 153, 187, 188

Amtheta, mother of Abram, 146

Amu, the ethnic name of the “impure” Hyksos kings, 265

Amurrū (the land of the Amorites), 122, 134, 155, 205, 206 (207), 208, 328, 341;
ruled over by Sargon of Agadé, 215;
claimed by Ḫammurabi, 215;
ruled by Ammi-ṭitana, 311;
the cuneiform ideographs for, 122, 311, 312;
used for “west,” 311

Amurrū (the god), 156, 312

Amurrū (personal name), 157

Amytis, 407

Anab, 293

Anamimi, the spring of, 305

“An eye for an eye,” etc., 509, 522

Animals created by Merodach, 40;
animals sent into the ark, 103, 117;
animals held in honour at On, 264, 265

Ankh-kheperu-Ra, “the beloved” of Amenophis IV., 303

Anman-ila, king, 54 n., 154

Annihilation, the, of Assyria, 393

Annunit, 224. See Anunitum

Anos (= Anu), 17

Ansan, city, 411, 420, 421

Anšar and Kišar, production of, 16;
their names, 65;
connection of Anšar with Asshur, 66;
identity of the two deities, 66;
similar names, 67

Anšar and the revolt of Tiamtu, 20

Antiochus (Epiphanes), tablet referring to his reign, 480, 561

Anu, god of the heavens, 16;
asked to subdue Tiamtu, 20;
fails, 21;
mentioned with Ištar, 41;
worshipped at Erech, 160, 231;
Merodach founds a place for him, 26;
he joins with other deities to send a flood, 101

Anu-Bêl, the god, 482, 483

Anunitum, goddess of Sippar, 160;

Nabonidus' and Belshazzar's offerings to her temple, 445, 450

Anunnaki (spirits or gods of the earth), creation of, 40;
present at the Flood, 104

Aos (Aa, Aê, or Ea), 17. See Aa

Apam'a (Apameia), city, 484

Apason (Apsū, the primæval ocean), [pg 566] 16;
husband of Tauthé (Tiamtu), 17

Apharsathchites, the, 391

Apharsites, the, 391

Aphek, city, 330

Apophis ('Apop'i), 262

Apparazu, city, 334

Apprenticeage, 508

Apsū (= Apason), the primæval ocean, the abyss, 17;
non-existent at the beginning, 39;
its fountain, 41, 44;
E-sagila there, 40, 43;
the abode of Tammuz, 43

Arabia, Sennacherib, king of, 378, 381

Arabians (Arbâa), 329, 333, 388, 391;
help Sennacherib, 382

“Arabic” dynasty, the, 169

Arabs, 347

Araḫtu, the canal, 70

Aramaic dialects, 140;
papyri, 539 ff.

Arame, king, 334

Aramean tribes, 347, 356

Arameans, 371

Aram-naharaim, 207

Arandaš, Hittite king, 537

Ararat (Urarṭu), 127, 336, 347, 351, 367, 368

Arareh, 293

Ararma (Larsa), 218

Araske (Nisroch, the god Assur), 378

Arazias, land of, 341

Arbaces, the Scythian, 393

Arbela, 412

Archevites, the, 391

Arganâ, city, 329

Argob, 313

Ari, the land of the Amorites in Sumerian, 312

Arioch, 164;
identified with Eri-Aku, 209

Arioch, the king's captain, 403

Ark (ship), command to build the, given by Aê (Ea, Aa), 102, 117;
description of the, 103;
entered by Pir-napištim, his family, etc., 103;
given into the hands of a pilot, 104;
stopped by the mountain of Niṣir, 105;
Bel's anger on seeing it, 106;
its building and provisionment, 103, 115

Armenia, 311, 344, 373;

Sennacherib's sons take refuge there, 378

Armenians (Mannâa), 387

Arnon, 313

Arpachshad, possible etymologies of, 143, 144 n.

Arpad, 340, 345, 347

Arqania, city, 484

Arrapha (Arrapachitis), 345, 346

Arsakā (Arsaces), departs to Arqania, 484

Arsâm (Arsames), 539, 542

Art of the Hittites, 323

Artaxerxes, friendly to the Jews, 428;
his death, 429

Artificers of the ark saved in the vessel, 103, 115, 117

Aruada (Arvad), 386, 390

Aruru, the goddess of Sippar-Aruru, 43, 44;
aids Merodach to create the seed of mankind, 40;
creates Ea-banî, 93;
her names, 546

Arvad, city, 272, 322, 328, 386, 390

Arvadites (Arudâa), 329, 374

Arzauya of Ruhizzu, 289

Arzawa, 298

Ašaridu, letter of, 210

Asari-lu-duga (Merodach), 54, 155

Asaru or Asari (Merodach), 54, 143

Asdudimma, city, 369

Asenath, the name, 258;
legend concerning her, 259

Ashdod, 322, 369, 370, 376, 386

Ashdodites (Asdudâa), 374

Asherah, the, 278, 314

Ashtoreth, Ashtaroth, 156, 157, 278, 313

Askelon, 277, 297;
conquered by Meneptah II., 306, 374, 386

Asnapper (Assur-banî-âpli), 391;
letter apparently addressed to him, 210

Aspāsinē (Hyspasines), Kharacenian king, 482, 483

[pg 567]

Assarachoddas (Esarhaddon), 378

Asshur, builder of the cities of Assyria, 118

Asshur (Aššur), city, creation or foundation of, 28, 38, 374, 422;
earliest mention of, 490;
revolts, 345, 346;
land of, 340

Assignment for loan, 498

Aššur, the national god of the Assyrians, 202, 329, 340;

Delitzsch's etymology of, 66

Aššurâaitu, queen, 392

Aššur-âḫâ-iddina (Esarhaddon), 392

Aššur-banî-âpli, 129;
letters to, 201, 410;
restores the temple of Nusku at Haran, 202;
see also 251;
refers to Sennacherib, 382;
his reign, 388-392;
his palace discovered, 394

Aššur-dan, king, 344;
wars in Babylonia, etc., 345

Aššur-êtil-îlāni-ukînni, 392

Aššur-mulik (Aššur-munik), 385

Aššur-nadin-šum, son of Sennacherib, made king of Babylon, 379;
his deposition, 380

Aššur-naṣir, eponym, 410

Aššur-naṣir-apli, I., 327

Aššur-naṣir-âpli II., 327;
attacks Carchemish, 321;
marches to the Mediterranean, 328

Aššur-nirari II. marches to Hatarika, Arpad, 345;
and Namri, 346

Aššur-uballiṭ to Amenophis III., 282

Aššur-uttir-aṣbat = Pitru, 329

Assyria, Assyrians, 122, 123;
spoke the same language as the Babylonians, 126;
their origin, 126;
character, rulers, artistic skill, 128;
invasion by, 331;
revolt of, 345, 374;
downfall of, 391 ff., 395;
Christians of, 485

Assyro-Babylonian language, the, widely known, 140, 275

Astamaku, city, 334

Aštarte (Istar) and the Asherah, 314

Astyages captured by Cyrus, 411

Ašur-nadin-âḫi of Assyria, 283

'Atar-'ata ('Atar-ghata), Tar-'ata, Atargatis, or Derketo, 203

Atargatis, goddess of Haran, 203

Aten, the sun's disc, its suggested etymology, 303

Athribis, 389

Atra-ḫasis (Gk. Xisuthrus), a name of Pir-napištim, 107, 117;
the coming of the Flood revealed to him in a dream, 107

Augury from entrails, 240

Avaris, the Hyksos shut up in, 252;
the centre of their rule, 254;
taken by the Egyptians, 270

Avitus of Vienne, Bishop, 47

Ay, pharaoh, 303

Azariah, 338, 348

Aziru, 279, 293, 313, 315

Azor (Azuru), 375

Azriau or Izriau (Azariah), 348, 349

Azuri of Ashdod, 369

Azzati (Gaza), 285

Ba'ali, city, 340

Ba'ali-ra'asi, 337

Ba'al(u) of Tyre, 386

Baal-zephon (Ba'ali-ṣapuna), 349;

(Ba'il-ṣapuna), 369

Ba'asa (Baasha), 333

Baba (Beby), 261;
his inscription, 262

Babel = Babylon, 118, 135

Babel, Tower of, supposed, 44, 132-141, 398

Bâbîa, name, 456

Babylon, founded by Merodach, 40;
principal centre, 124;
Dynasty of Babylon, 142, 152, 153;
city destroyed by Sennacherib, 380, 381;
Jehoiachin carried to, 399;
the gods of Akkad enter, 415;
at the time of the Captivity, 471-473;
the proposed new capital under Alexander the Great, 476;
its walls dismantled under the Seleucidæ, 418;
as revealed by the German excavations, 560;
the Church at, 485;
tablets dated at, 432, 440-444, 448, 449, 459, 460, 464, 466, 478

[pg 568]

“Babylon and the Bible,” 525, ff.

Babylonia (Sumer and Akkad, Shinar), 118, 119;
majority of inscriptions Semitic, 119;
federated under Ḫammurabi, 149;
change in its rule, 152;
under Assyrian rule, 327, 356, 357, 371, 379, 380, 386, 391;
under Cyrus, 419 ff.;
Darius and his successors, 424 ff.;
the Greeks, 475 ff.;
Kharacenians, 481;
Parthians, 484

Babylonia at the time of Abraham, 171, 347

Babylonian, Babylonians, character, 150;
dress, 171;
manners, 172, 391;
racial characteristics, 119, 120;
downfall of their empire, 415;
fought in the army of Cambyses, 467;
their religion, 49 ff., 159 ff.;
gods worshipped at a late date, 479

Babylonian Chronicle, the, 361, 383, 385

Bactrian slave-girl, the, 471

Bāgā-asā, brother of Hyspasines, 483

Baghdad, the Christians of, 126

Bagohi (Bagoas, Bagoses), 539 ff.

Baḫiani, 322

Balawat, gates of, 405

Ball, the Rev. C. J., 54;
compares Akkadian with Chinese, 121

Barbers and slave-marking, 511

Bardes (Barzia), 424

Baruḫi-îlu (? Baruchiel), 458

Bashan, the plain of, 277

Bashmurites, origin of the, 266

“Battle,” the, 530

Behistun (rock), 426

Bêl, “the lord,” a name given to Merodach, 32, l. 116, 54;

= Baal, Beecl, etc., 55;
as god of lordship and dominion, 58;
his dislike for Pir-napištim, 102;
his anger at the escape of the patriarch and his people from the Flood, 107.

See Anu-Bêl

Bêl, “the lord” = Ellila (Illil) = Illinos, 17;
called “the father,” 32, l. 116

Bel and the Dragon, story of (= the Semitic Babylonian story of the Creation), 20

Bêl-âbla-iddina, captain of Babylon, 469

Bêl-âḫê-iddina, one of Neriglissar's captains, 444

Bêl-bulliṭ-su (a scribe), 478

Bêl-êṭiranni, major-domo of Neriglissar, 438

Bêl-ibnî (Belibus), 379

Belichus (river), 328

Bel-Merodach, 18

Belos (Bel-Merodach), 17, 18;
his temple, 471, 472, 552

Bêl-rêṣuā, Belshazzar's servant, 447

Bêl-šarra-bulliṭ, agent of Nabonidus and Belshazzar, 450

Bêl-šarra-uṣur, chief of a Median province, 367

Bel-shamin worshipped at Haran, 203

Belshazzar (Bêl-šarra-uṣur), son of Nabonidus, 414;
was he descendant of Nebuchadnezzar? 339, 407;
as crown prince, 412, 447 ff.;
in Akkad, 412, 449;
his position, 414;
though heir to the throne, 447; never mentioned as king, 419;
a sale of clothes, 449;
his appointment of Daniel, 419;
a letter apparently from, 538;
his death, 417-419

Bêl-šum-iškun, father of Neriglissar, 409, 438

Bêl-tarṣi-îli-ma, of Calah, 343

Belteshazzar (Daniel), explanation of the name, 402

Beltis, goddess, 415

Bêl-ušallim, the enchanter, tablet of, 155

Bêl-Yau, “Bel is Jah,” name, 59

Bêl-zēr-lîšir, copy of an old lamentation made for, 447, 478

Bene-berak (Banâa-barqa), 375

Ben-Hadad II. (son of Ben-Hadad I.), 330;
restores cities, 331;
besieges Samaria, 333;
meets Shalmaneser, 335;
see also 329, [pg 569] 337, 338, 342;
Ben-Hadad (god), 317

Bennu, the bird of Râ or Rê, 265

Berechiah, 471

Bêri, the Ḫašabite, to the king of Egypt, 288

Berlin Museum, 372

Berosus, the Babylonian author, 63, 378, 379 (siege of Jerusalem), 384, 385 (death of Sennacherib), 406, 408, 409, 410, 418, 422

Bertin, George, his suggestion with regard to the “sons of god,” 86

Beth-Ammon, 322, 386, 389

Beth-Ammonites, the, 374

Beth-arbel, 361

Beth-Dagon (Bît-Daganna), 375

Bethel (bêt-îli), the, at Haran, 201;
division of property declared in the, 180

Beth-Ninip, the city, 235, 299

Bethuel, the name, 245

Beyrout, 293

Biamites, origin of the, 266

Bigamy, 503

Bilingual Creation story, 38-41

Bin-Addu, 317

Bin-Addu-'idri, 329.

See Ben-Hadad

Birch, Dr. S., 253

Birds, sending forth of the, 106, 116

Birejik, 207

Birs-Nimroud (Tower of Nimrod), services in, 485.

See E-zida

Bît-Amukkāni (Chaldean tribe), 356

Bît-Baḫiani, 322

Bît Ḫumrî, Bît Ḫumrîa (Israel), 332, 352, etc.

Bît Ninip in the province of Jerusalem, 2, 235, 299

Bît-Yakin, 371

Black Obelisk, 332, 337

Blessed, the abode of the, at the mouths of the rivers, 73

Blessing of Aaron, Delitzsch's parallel to, 526

Boatmen's wages and penalties, 511-512

Boats and ships, hire of, 514, 515;
boats of skins, 319

Body, the, of Joseph not taken at once to Canaan, 266, 267

Boghaz Keui (Köi), 205, 317, 537, 538

Bond and free, marriages between, 506, 507, 525

Borrowers, liabilities and rights of, 495, 496

Borsippa, the temple tower at, 137;
tablets dated at, 461, 462.
See Birs-Nimroud, E-zida

Bosanquet (Mr.), 345

Bow of Merodach, 28

Branding of animals, 457

Breasted, Prof., 552

Brick in Babylonia, 135

Brigandage, 493

Brugsch, Prof., 253, 304, 305;
his translation of the inscription of Baba, 262

Bubastis, 263

Budu-îlu of Beth-Ammon, 374, 386

Builders, their pay and liabilities, 511;

Babylonian kings as, 398

Building of the ship or ark, 102, 103, 117

Bull, divine, sent against Gilgameš and his friend, 97;
killed and mutilated by the latter, 97, 98

Buntaḫtun-ila, king, 54 n., 154

Burial of Seqnen-Rê, 269

Burra-buriaš (Burna-burias), king, 276, 293;
speaks of Canaan, 205;
his letter to Amenophis III., 281

Bûr-Sin, king, 124, 164;
meaning of his name, 217, 218

Buzu, city, 182

Buzur-Kurgala, the pilot or boatman of the ship (ark), 104

Caedmon, 47

Cain and Abel, parallel to the story of, 82-84

Calah (Nimroud), built by Asshur, 118, 126, 341;
statues at, 343;
revolt in, 346

Calne, 348

Calneh, one of the cities of Nimrod's [pg 570] kingdom, 118;
identified with Niffer, 126, 135

Camarina (Urie), 146;
its probable etymology, 147, 197

Cambyses (Kambuzîa), performs ceremonies, 416;
becomes king, 424;
tablet of his reign, 466;
his campaign in Egypt, 467

Canaan, 204, 205;
mentioned by the Pharaoh, 301, 304, 306;
“a domain of Babylonian culture,” 526

Canaanites, Rameses II. and the, 305

Canals, the Babylonian, 159

Canon, the Babylonian, agrees with that of Ptolemy in naming Pûlu or Poros, 357, 358

Canon of Ptolemy, 358, 398

Canons, the eponym, 352, 353, 358

Cappadocia, 318

Captives asked for, 301, 302

Caravans, attacks on, 281, 285, 286

Carchemish, 272, 304, 319, 321, 329-334, 339, 367

Carchemishites, 350

Carmania, Nabonidus exiled to, 418

Carmel, Thothmes III. at, 271

“Cedar, beloved of the great gods,” the, 76

Carrier's responsibility, 499

Cart, oxen and driver, hire of, 514

Chaboras (Habor), river, 364

Chaldean, Chaldeans, the tribes, 341, 347, 356;
not liked by the Babylonians, 371;
Esarhaddon and the, 388;
Nabopolassar supposed to be a, 396

Chaldean Christians, the, 394

Characters, Assyrian, 312;

Babylonian, 122

Changelings, 509

Chariots of the Hittites, 319

Chedor-, 209.

See Kudur-

Chedorlaomer, 209, 215;
at first identified with Kudur-mabuk, 222;
probably the Kudur-laḫmal, or Kudur-laḫgumal of the inscriptions, 223, 232

Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, 557, 559 ff.

Cherub, cherubim, 80-82, 533, 547

Chiefs of Takhsi made captive, 273

Chinzeros (Ukîn-zēr), 356, 357

Chnub, Chnum, priests of, plot against Jews, 539, 542, 543

Choosing the inheritance, 180

Christians, of Mossoul and its neighbourhood, 394;
of Baghdad and Irak, 485

Chronological trade-document, a 398

Cilicia (Kefto), 274, 368;
places near, conquered by Sennacherib, 379

Cilicians, the, 390

Cities, creation of, in Babylonia, 28;
their growth, 171;
invoked as deities, 181;
those benefited by Ḫammurabi, 489, 491

Cities, etc., of the western states, before the Hebrews, 277

Cittaeans, 360

Civilization in Babylonia, antiquity of, 170

Clay, Prof. A. T., 555

Cleopatra's Needle, 265

Coast-lands, Mediterranean, pay tribute to Aššur-banî-âpli, 388

Code of Ḫammurabi, 491-515;
notes upon, 519, ff., 545, 546;
illustrations of, 166, 168, 173 ff., 176, ff., 179, ff.

Collisions at sea, 512

Colophon-dates, 178-182, 184, 185, 187, 188, 211-214

Combat with the Dragon, 18 ff.

Commagene, 319, 329, 372

Commissariat, letter concerning the, 287

Commissioner and agent, relations between, 498, 499

Compensation for slaves, 458, 459, 513, 523

Conciliation, Elamite policy of, 233

Concubines, 502, 503, 508

Confusion of tongues, the, 132, 133, 139, 140, 170

[pg 571]

Congregation, the, of, E-saggil, 126 b.c., 482

Constellations, Merodach sets the, 27

Consulting the teraphim, 247

Contempt for gods, 553, (480)

Cossaeans (Kaššû), 373, 537

Costume of the people in Babylonia 2000 b.c., 171

Countries known to the Babylonians and Assyrians, list of, 206

Courts of Justice in the temples and at the gates of cities, 163

Creation, the Hebrew story of, 11 ff.;
how it grew, 9 ff.;
differences between it and the Babylonian accounts, 34 ff., 48-49

Creation-legend, the Semitic, an heroic poem, 10;
extracts from, 18, 19, 21-23, 35, 36;
remarks upon, 20, 33-38

Creation-legend, the bilingual, 38-45;
why compiled, 39

Creation-legends, though differing, contain similar ideas, 10

Creation-tablet, the first, 16;
Damascius' version, 16;
remarks thereon, 20;
the second, 20, 21;
third, 22;
fourth, 22-26;
fifth, 26-28;
sixth, 28, 29;
last, 29-33

Cruelty of the Egyptians to captives, 273

Cultivation, tablet referring to, 456, 457

Cure of Gilgameš, the, 108, 109

Cush, the father of Nimrod, 118, 204

Cuthah, the temple-tower at, 136;
tribute from, 341;
its site found by Rassam, 394

Cylinder-seal with supposed representation of Adam's fall, 79

Cyprus (Yatnana or Ya(w)anana), 128, 304, 373;
its kings, 386, 387;
tributary to Egypt, 272;
aids Aššur-banî-âpli, 389

Cyrus, his operations against Astyages, 411;
crosses the Tigris, 412;
subjugates Babylonia and enters the capital, 415;
helped by the Jews, 416;
his treatment of Nabonidus, 418;
master of Babylonia, 419;
his inscription, 420 ff.;
champion of the Babylonian gods, 422;
restores exiles to their homes, 423;
his death, 424

Daché and Dachos, miswritten for Laché and Lachos, 17

Dagon (Dagunu), 59;

(Dagan), 142, 279

Daily Telegraph expedition, the, 90;
finds a fragment of a second story of the Flood, 117

Damage by herdsmen, 514

Damascius, his version of the Babylonian Creation-story, 16, 17, 63

Damascus, the city (Dimasqu, Dimasqa), Israelites build streets there, 331;

Mari'u, the king besieged there, 341;
“land of,” 353;
Ahaz goes there, 356, 363

Damascus, the country (Ša-imēri-šu, Imēri-su), 329, 334, 336-338;

Mari'u, king of, 341;
subdued by Assyria, 348 (353);
Rezon of, 354

Damu, goddess, “the great enchanter,” 16

Daniel, 402, 417

Daos, the shepherd of Pantibiblon, his long reign, 63

Dapur (Tabor), 305

Darius Hystaspis, mounts the throne of Babylon, 424;
the contract-tablets of his reign, 425, 468-471;
his monotheism, 426, 427;
the extent of his dominions, 427

Darius II., 539, 542

Dark head, people of the, 420

“Dark vine,” the, of the Babylonian Paradise, Eridu, 71, 75

Dâ-šartî, a captive, 302

Date, probable, of the Hyksos invasion, 265;
of the Exodus, 306

“Daughter for daughter,” 510, 522

Daughter (? adopted), sale of a, 185

[pg 572]

Dauké (= Damkina), 17, 18;
consort of Aa or Ea, 64

Day, the evil, 528

Days of creation, no reference to, 49;
days of the month, 526, ff.

Dead slave, the, 458, 459

Death of Shalmaneser II., 339;
IV., 361;
Sargon, 372;
Sennacherib, 383;
Esarhaddon, 388;
the last king of Assyria, 393;
Belshazzar, 419

Death-penalty for adultery, 501, 521

Debt, working off of, 500, 521;
responsibility of husband and wife for, 503, 504

De Clercq collection, the, 560

Decoration, Babylonian, 551 (405), 552 (471-472)

Defamation, 501

Dehavites, the, 391

Deified kings, 164

Deities as witnesses, 187

Deities of Mitanni, 277, 278

Deities of west Asian origin, 156

Deities probably foreign, 157

Delaiah, son of Sanballat, 541

Delitzsch, Prof., Friedrich, 14, 15, 36, 78;
restorations by, 122, 361;
his etymology of sadû, 248;
Babel und Bibel, etc., 525, ff., 546, 559

Deposit, goods on, 499, 500, 501, 521

Derketo (Atargatis), goddess, 203

Dêru, Babylonian city, 363

Desertion, 502

Devotees, recluses, priestesses, and public women, 161, 499, 507, 508

“Dibbara Legend,” the, 122

Digging of canals, dating by the, 159

Dimasqa, Dimasqu (Damascus), 336, 341, 353, 363

Dinaites, the, 391

Diodorus Siculus upon the taking of Nineveh, 393

Disaster, the Assyrian, at the siege of Jerusalem, 378

Disowning of a son, 176, 177, 505

Distraint, 500;
a parallel to the case of the Egyptian farmers, 525

Divination, 247

“Divine Daughters,” the, 160

Divine honours paid to Egyptian rulers, 270

Division of property, 178-181

Divorce, 181, 502

Double-formed and bull-like monsters, Ea and his attendants, 63, 64

Dove, swallow, and raven sent forth from the ship (ark), 106

Dower, return of, 502, 504

Dowers and gifts to virgins, priestesses, etc., 508

Downfall of Assyria, the, 392, 393;

Nabopolassar upon the, 550

Dragon of Chaos, the, 18;
dragon and the serpent-tempter, 529 ff.

Dreams, royal, 390, 411

Dress of the scribes in early Babylonia, 171, 172

Driver, Prof., 260 n.

Du-azaga, “the holy seat,” 405

Dûdu, name, 315

Dudḫalia, 537

“Due of the Sun-god,” the, 167

Dū-maḫa, a sacred place, 228

Dumuzi-Abzu, “Tammuz of the Abyss,” 43, 63

Dungi, Babylonian king, 124, 152, 164

Dunip (Tenneb), city, 277;
resists the enemies of Egypt, 294

Dunnaitess, lamentation of the, 477

Dura, plain of, 403, 404

Dûr-Ammi-zaduga, city, 172

Dûr-Dungi, 325

Dûr-îlitess, lamentation of the, 478

Dûr-Kuri-galzu, 347

Dûr-Ladinna, 371

Dûr-maḫ-îlāni, son of Eri-Eaku, 223, 224, 226, 227, 231, 233

Dûr-Sargina (Khorsabad), the temple-tower there, 137, 369

Dusratta, king of Mitanni, 276, 278, 304, 316

[pg 573]

Dynasty of Babylon, 142, 152, 153;

Babylonia at the period of the, 169 ff.

Ea, the god, 17, 26, 56, etc.

See Aa

Eaašarri, 278 n.

Ea-banî (Aê-banî, Aa-banî), the man of the wilds, 92;
his creation and appearance, 93;
is seen by a hunter, enticed, and induced to go to Erech, 94;
he accompanies Gilgameš against Ḫumbaba, 94, 95;
kills a divine bull, 97, 98;
his dreams and death, 98;
his resurrection, 110 (Ea-du, Enki-du)

Ea-du or Enki-du, 92 n., 548

E-ana, E-anna, the temple at Ecrech, 39, 229;
its sanctuary, 91

Early life of a Syrian prince, 285

E-babbara (the temple at Sippar), 160, 434;
expenditure of, 446;
(the temple at Larsa), 218

E-bara. See E-babbara

Ebed-tob (Abdi-ṭâba), 291

Ebers, Prof., his translation of the inscription of Ameni, 261;
upon Apophis, 263

Ebisum (Abēšu'), king, 153, 155

Eden, Garden of 13, 69;
the native land of the Babylonians, 14;
Sippar of Eden, 70, 72;

Eden not referred to as the earthly paradise in the Babylonian inscriptions, 72

Edina, “the plain” (Eden), 43, 72

Edom (Udumu), 322, 341, 370, 374, 386

Edrei, 313

Egypt (Musuru, Musru, Musur, Miṣir), 249-309;
the Hyksos invasion, 251;
gradually loses Palestine, 290;
governors still faithful to, 293;
invaded by Sennacherib, 381;
an Assyrian province;
see also 363, 365, 375

Egypt, the brook (? river) of, 388

Egypt Exploration Fund, the, 305

Egyptian civilization, 250

Egyptian king, the, to the prince of the Amorites, 300

Egyptian loan-words, 143, 144

Egyptian slave, sale of an, 466, 551;
testifies to Cambyses' campaign in Egypt, 467

Egyptians (Muṣurâa), 375;
their decision with regard to the Israelites, reason of, 268

E-ḫulḫul, the temple of Sin or Nannara at Haran, 202

Ejectment before the end of the term, 498

E-kidur-kani, temple at Babylon, 433

Ekron (Amqarruna), 375, 376, 377, 386

E-kua, sanctuary of Merodach, 472

Elah, 355

Elam, a mountainous country, 206;
firstborn of Shem, 549;
its power, 209;
conquered by Sargon, 362 (363);
Merodach-baladan in, 373;
ravaged by Sennacherib, 380;
conquered by Aššur-banî-âpli, 391;
acknowledges the sway of Darius, 427

Elamite, Elamites: Ḫumbaba, 94, 95;

Chedorlaomer, 209, 215, 222, 224, 227;

Kudur-mabuk, Kudur-laḫ(gu)mal, etc., 222-225, 230, 232;
hostile to Assyria, 372, 379, 380, 391;
their incursions near the Tigris, 483;
see also 122, 140, 170, 229

Elath, 353

Elders, rule of, 280

Elephantine, the Aramaic papyri from, 539 ff.

Elephants killed by Tiglath-pileser I. in the land of Haran, 200;
and in Lebanon, 201;
elephants in the district of Niy, 273

Elephants' tusks, 321

El-Kâb, 261

Ellasar, city, 124

Ellila (v. Bel)

Ellipu, country of, 341, 372

[pg 574]

Elmesum, princess, marriage-contract of, 166

Elmešum's letter to his father, 172

Eltekah (Altaqû), 375

Elulaeus of Tyre, 360

E-maḫ (temple), 161

Embankment of the Sun-god, the 213

E-melam-anna, the temple of Nusku at Haran, 202

Emutbālu or Yamutbālu, conquered by Ḫammurabi, 211, 212, 213, 216, 217, 219, 220

Enchantments, Istar's, 97

Endowment of an adopted daughter, 173

Engur, mother of Aa or Ea, 64

Enki-du, the friend of Gilgameš, 92 n., 540

En-nu-gi and the Flood, 101

Ennun-dagalla, 228

Enoch, 84

Enšara and Ninšara, 67

Enweduranki (Euedoreschos), 63, 77, 538, 539

Ephron, 315

Eponym dates in the reign of Shalmaneser IV., 358

Erech non-existent at the beginning, 39;
built by Merodach, 41;
called “Erech the walled,” and ruled over by Gilgameš, 91;
besieged, 91;
other references to the city, 92, 93, 94;
rejoicing there on the death of the divine bull, 98;

Gilgameš returns thither after seeing Pir-napištim, 110;
one of the cities of Nimrod's kingdom, 118, 124, 135;
its temple-tower, 136;
the city delivered to Rîm-Sin, 221;
lamentation over its misfortunes, 477, 478;
tablet dated at, 456

Ereš-ki-gala (Persephone), 279

Eri-Aku (Eri-Sin), 216, 217, 218, 233;
inscription of, 219

Eridu, the Babylonian Paradise, 71, 72, 73;
non-existent at first, 39, 42;
made, 40;
not the earthly city of that name, 43;
a type of Paradise, 43;
the incantation of, 44;
one of the principal cities of Babylonia, 124

Esâ (? = Esau), 157, 245

E-saggil, 223, 224. See E-sagila

E-sagila (E-saggil, E-sangil), completed by Merodach, 40, 43;
meaning of the name, 43, 139;
the temple of Belus, 137, 246, 472;
restored by Samsu-iluna, 161;
restoration attempted under Alexander and Philip, 476;
offerings at, 412, 480;
its congregation, 482;
see also 409, 415

E-sagila, the temple “within the Abyss,” founded by Lugal-du-azaga, 40, 73

E-sagila-râmat and her father-in-law's slave, 465, 466

Esarhaddon (Aššur-âḫâ-iddina), 383, 384-388;
apparently crowned at Haran, 201-202;
in Ḫanigalbat, 384, 385;
in Babylonia and the Mediterranean states, 386, 387;
in Armenia, and on the east of Assyria, 388;
in Egypt, 251, 388;
he restores the temple of Belos, 560;
mentions his brothers, 558, and his father's campaign against the Arabs, 382;
his death, 388

E-šarra, the heavens, 26

E-šarra, an Assyrian temple, 328, 340

E-ša-turra, a temple at Su-anna, 433

Esau, the name, 157, 245

Escaped slaves, 493

Esdraelon, defeat of Syrians at, 271

Ešnunna(k) (Umliaš), soldiers of, defeated by Ḫammurabi, 213;
destroyed by a flood, 214;
its gods restored by Cyrus, 422

Etakama (Edagama), of Kinza and Kadesh, 279;
pretending to be faithful to Egypt, attacks Amki, 288, 289;
hostile to Egypt, 293

E-temen-ana(-kia), the tower of [pg 575] Babylon, 136, 138, 139, 406, 559;
and shrine of E-sagila, 398, 560

E-temena-ursag, temple, 213

Etham, 304

Ethobaal (Tu-ba'alu), 374

E-tur-kalama, a Babylonian temple, 214, 415

Euedoreschos, 63, 546, 547

E-ur-imina-ana(-kia), the tower of Borsippa, 136, 138

Euphrates, creation of, 40;
mentioned, 329, 334, 335, 336, 339, 341, 344, 471, etc.

Eupolemus concerning Abraham, 146, 196

Eusebius, 396

Eve, a Babylonian type of, 532

Events chosen to date by, 159

Evetts, Mr. B. T. A., 408

Evil-Merodach (Awel-Maruduk), 408;
murdered, 409;
tablets dated in his reign, 440, 441

Evil spirit, the, driven from the temple, 530

Evolution in the Babylonian story of the Creation, 33, 34

Exodus, date of the, 306;
pharaoh of the, 309

Expulsion of Eve, a parallel to, 83

Expulsion of the Egyptians from Palestine, 302

“Eye for an eye,” 509, 522

E-zida, the temple-tower at Borsippa, restored by Nebuchadnezzar, 138, 139, 406;

Evil-Merodach, 409;
its people resist Kudur-laḫgu(mal), 229, 230;
its bronze doorstep, 405;
incantation concerning, 41;
see also 412, 415, 485

Ezra, Sir H. Howorth upon, 427, 429

“Fair son,” the, his carrying off, 83

Faithlessness, 503

Fall? did the Babylonians possess the legend of the, 79, 531, 532

False witness, 491

Family of the hero of the Flood saved with him, 103, 115, 117

Famines in Egypt, 260, 261

Father's lawsuit, a, 182

Fear of God, lines upon, 50

Female rule, 280

Fifteenth day = Sabbath, 527

Fire, penalty of death by, 480

Flood, the Biblical story, 87 ff.;
the Babylonian story, 100 ff.;
introduction to, 89, ff.;
first read by G. Smith, 90;
a chapter of the Legend of Gilgameš, 90;
related to him by Pir-napištim, 101;
decided upon by the gods, 101, 102;
its approach, arrival, and effect, 104, 105;
duration and subsidence, 105, 106;
due to the god Bel, 106;
why sent, 107, 112;
Pir-napištim dreads its coming, 104, 116;
the second Babylonian story of the, 117;
was it a “Sin Flood”? 529;
description of the tablets recording, 100, 101

Followers of Tiamtu, the, 530

Food, incantation in which it is used, 540

Foster-children and their disowning, 176, 177, 505

Four kings against five, the, 208

Fraudulent practices, 513

Furious cattle, laws concerning, 512, 523

Furniture, lists of, 189

Future life, 111

Gad, the name, 246 (Gadu-ṭâbu)

Gadlat, goddess of Haran, 203

Gadu-ṭâbu, name, 547

Gala-Aruru = Istar the star = the planet Venus, 44

Galilee, attacked by Tiglath-pileser, 353

Galilee, South, invaded by Amenophis II., 273

Garden of Eden, 69

Garizim, temple at, re-dedicated to Jupiter, 481

Garment, the vanishing, 23

[pg 576]

Garu, Petrie's identification of, 292

Gate of Istar at Babylon, 551, 552

Gates of city, judgment in the, 163

Gath (Gimti), 299

Gath-Carmel, 296

Gauzanitis, 304

Gaza (Ḫazitu), 277, 376 386, 411;
Thothmes III. at, 271;
Yabitiri guards, 285;
Hanon of, 352, 363, 365, 366

Gazzāni (a ruler), 224, 325, 556

Gebal (Gublu), 278, 293, 313, 317, 322, 339, 386

Gebalite, whose brother drove him from the gate, 300

Gebalites (Gublâa), 350, 374

Gedaliah, governor of Jerusalem, put to death, 400

Gemariah, 471

Gergesa, 324

Gezer, 297, 299, 306

Giammu, prince, 328

Gift to a son, 505

Gigîtum, Neriglissar's daughter, 442

Gihon, river, 69, 70

Gilead, 353

Gilgameš, ancient hero, king of Erech, 73, 91;
the legend concerning him, 90 ff.;
and his friend Ea-banî, 92;
who consents to go to him, 94;
he seeks the place of Ḫumbaba, 94;
who is killed, 95;
Ištar makes love to him, 95, 96;
he reproaches her, 96, 97;
and she sends a divine bull against them, 97;
dreams concerning him, 98;
he mourns for Ea-banî and sets out on his great journey, 98;
he meets Ur-Sanabi, the pilot, and Pir-napištim, 99;
who tells him the story of the Flood, 101 ff.;
he is restored to health, 108, 109;
finds the magic plant, 109;
loses it, and reaches Erech, 110;
sees the spirit of Ea-banî, 111;
the new version of the legend referring to him, 547 ff.

Gilgameš-series, the getting together of the, 90

Gilu-ḫêpa, wife of Amenophis II., 276

Gimil-Sin, king, 124, 164

Gimmirrâa, the, 390

Gimti (Gath), 299

Gimtu (Gath?), 369

Gindibu'u, an Arabian tribe, 333

Girgashites, the, 310, 324-326

Gišdubar, Gišṭubar, Gisdhubar. See Gilgameš

Glosses in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, 234 n.

Gobryas (Gubaru, Ugbaru) of Gutium, enters Babylon, and appoints governors there, 415, 417, 418, 419;

(goes) against ..., 416, 417;
receives the kingdom for Cyrus, 419

“God,” names for, in the chief tongues of the ancient East, 170, n.

Gods and their seats, 160, 415;
tithe granted to, 448;
processions of, 526;
they fear the Flood, 105;
those who joined Tiamtu, 20, 25;
their punishment, 25

Gods, figures of, found under the pavement of palaces, 247

Gods identified with Merodach, 58

Gods of On (Heliopolis), 264

Gods of the west of Asia, 277

Gog, 391

“Gold, much gold,” 277, 283

Gomer, people of, 390

“Good wishes,” the tablet of, 81

Goshen, 268

Government of states, 279

Gozan, 345, 364

Greek words in Babylonia, 480

Greetings, Babylonian, 172, 452, 453, 454

Gublu (Gebal), 313

Guites, 329;

(= Goim?), 332, 333

Gula, goddess of healing, 86, 472

Gutians, Gutites, 158, 170, 552

Guti-kirmil, 296

Gutû or Gutium, 206, 207, 415

Gyges' son, the dream of, 390

[pg 577]

Ḫabati, the, 292, 299

Ḫabbatu, 291. See Habati

Ḫabiri, the, 269, 291, 295, 296, 297, 538;
they possess the land, 299

Ḫaburu, city in Babylonia, 446

Hadad, 160, 277, 330;
of Aleppo, 329.
See Addu

Ḫādara, Rezon's birthplace, 354

Hades, “the land of no-return,” 65

Hagar, her position, 186;
parallels (with differences) to the case of, 174, 175, 185, 236, 524

Ḫâi, 315

Halah (Ḫalaḫḫa), 364

Ḫalman, 325

Hamah (Hamath), 317

Ḫamanu (Amanus), mountains, 328, 334, 336, 349

Hamath (Amatte), Hamathites (Amatâa), Irhulêni of, 329, 334;
districts of, 349;
Yau-bi'idi (Ilu-bi'idi) of, 322, 363;
see also 348

Ḫammatites (? = Hamathites), Eni-îlu of the, 350

Ḫammurabi (Amraphel), changes during his reign, 125;
its length, 153;
tablets dated therein 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187;
references to his conquest of “Mair and Malgia,” 187;
other references to him, 209-215, 238;
his code of laws, 491-515;
his image on the stele, 487;
the benefits he had conferred on the cities of Babylonia, 488-491;
his opinions of his reign, 515, 516;
his curse upon any destroying or changing his record, 517-519

Ḫammurabi-ḫêgalla, canal, 211

Ḫammurabi-nuḫuš-niši, canal, 212

Ḫammurabi-Samši, name, 164, 187

Ḫana-galbat, Ḫani-galbat, king of, 283;
the caravans of, 286;

Esarhaddon fights (? against his brothers) there, 384, 385

Ḫanni, messenger of Egypt, 301

Hanon of Gaza, 352

Ḫanû, land of, 206

Haran born at Ur of the Chaldees, 144

Haran (city, the Bab. Ḫarran), a centre of lunar worship, 147, 195;

Terah and his family migrate thither, 192, 195;
its probable origin, 199, 200;
its ruins, 200;
elephants in the neighbourhood in early times, 200, 201;
its gods and temples, 201, 202, 534;
Esarhaddon (?) crowned there, 201, 202;
Nabonidus restores the temple of Sin, 202;
its renown in later days, 202, 203;
the city besieged, 411;
deities restored, 414

Ḫarḫar, called by the Assyrians Kar-Sarru-ukîn, 367, 368

Ḫarri-si'isi, 325

Ḫatānu, servant of Neriglissar, 439

Ḫatarika, Ḫatarikka, 344, 345, 349

Hatred of Bel for the hero of the Flood, 102, 113

Hatshepsut, queen regent, 271

Ḫatta, 288. See Hatti

Ḫatti, Ḫattî (Hittites, Kheta, people of Heth), 205, 288, 319, 341;
their depredations, 317;
ships of, used by Sennacherib, 379;
Syria and the Holy Land, 386.
See Heth, Hittites

Ḫattu, city, 205

Ḫattu-šil, (Kheta-sir), 320, 537

Haupt, Prof. Paul, upon the description of the ship or ark, 114

Hauran, the (Ḫauranu), 336

Ḫâya, a messenger, 286

Ḫaza, 340

Hazael of Arabia, 382

Hazael of (Ša-)Iamēri-šu (Damascus), 337, 338, 342

Ḫaza-îlu, 336, etc. See Hazael

Hazor, 277, 353

Heathen images, the, of Jacob's household, 247, 248

Heavens, Merodach arranges the, 27

[pg 578]

Hebrews, their ancestor and his language, 204;
in Egypt, 268;
did not leave with the Hyksos, 267;
their commonwealth, 327;
were they the Ḫabiri? 538

Heliopolis, 258

Helios (Samas), 203

Hellenizing influence, the, of Antiochus Epiphanes, 480

Helpers of Rahab, the, 530

Hephaistos (Sethos), 381, 382

Herdsmen, their duties and liabilities, 213, 214, 524

Hereditary chiefs, 279

Herodotus upon the Temple of Belus, 137, 405;
Sennacherib's expedition to Egypt, 381, 382;
Nitocris' architectural works, 407;
see also 342, 443

Heth, 368, 369; the sons of, 315.

See Ḫatti, Hittites

Hezekiah (Ḫazaqiau), 375, 376, 377, 395

Hiddekel, the Tigris, Babylonian form of the name, 84

Hiding heathen images, 248

Hieroglyphic inscriptions of the Hittites, 317

Hilprecht, Prof. H. V., 124

Hire of animals for agricultural work, 514;
field labourers and herdsmen, 513;
fields, 495;
of a ship (by Belshazzar), 450;
(by Sirku), 470

Hired “from himself,” 188

Hired men, their responsibilities, 513

Hiring of slaves and freemen, for money, 187, 188;
for produce, 188;
risks of the hirer, 191

Hirom (Ḫirummu) of Tyre, 350

Hittite, Hittites, 140, 205, 274, 277, 315-323, 341;
attack Tuneb, 316;
tributary, 272, 316, 320;
their architecture borrowed by the Assyrians, 323;
inscriptions, where found, 317;
their language, 537

Hittite, a, the mother of Jerusalem, 316

Holy Land, 340;
its state before the entry of the Israelites, 277

Home, the, of the Hittites, 318

Hommel, Prof., 14, 54;
suggests a connection of Ea, Aê, or Aa, with Ya'u (Jah), 113;
his early etymology of Arpachshad, 143;
his work upon Egyptian culture 144 n.;
the Hittite inscriptions, 318;
Gilgameš, 547;
Shinar, 549;
early names, etc., 555, 557

Hophra encourages Zedekiah against Nebuchadnezzar, 399;
marches to support him, 400;
deposed, 401

Hor-em-heb, 303

Horner, Rev. J., 331

Horse, glorious in war, loved by Istar, 96

Horus, 264

Hosea, Hoshea (Ausi'a), king, 354, 355, 359;
the prophet, 361

House of Belshazzar, its situation, 447

Household goods, 189;
gods, 247

Housebreaking, 493, 521

Houses and cities, built by Merodach, 40

Houses, private, 188, 189

Howorth, Sir H., 427, 429

Hui, his tomb at Thebes, 303

Ḫulḫutḫulitess, lamentations of the 477

Ḫumbaba, apparently an Elamite, 94;
Gilgameš and Ea-banî seek his domain, 94, 95;
his end, 95

Ḫursag-kalama, Babylonian city, 415

Ḫursag-kalamitess, lamentations of the, 477

Husband, causing death of, 504

Ḫuṣṣiti-ša-Mušallim-Marduk, tablet dated at, 436

Hyksos, or shepherd-kings, legends concerning, 252;
their fear of an Assyrian (Babylonian) invasion, 251;
their policy in time of famine, 260;
quit Egypt, 252, [pg 579] 270;
at Tanis, 264;
those who remained reduced to subjection, 270;
their descendants, 266

Hyspasines, 481. See Aspāsinē

Ian-Ra (Ra-ian), was he the pharaoh of Joseph? 263

Iāwa, the ending of names, 470, 471.

See -yāwa

Ibi-Sân sells his daughter, 185

Ibi-Sin, king, 124, 152, 164

Ibi-Tutu, king (?), 230, 231

Ibscher, Herr, 544

Idalium, 386

Idigna, Akkado-Babylonian form of the name of the Tigris, 84

Igigi, address to Merodach by the, 29-33;
his title among them, 32

Ijon, 353

Ikausu of Ekron, 386

Ili-milki (Elimelech), 295

Ili-rabiḫ, 288, 289

Illegitimate children, acknowledgement of, 505, 506

Illinos (Illil, the god Bel), 17

Iltani, princess, hires a field, 167

Iltani, princess, sun-devotee, hires a reaper, 168

Ilu-bi'idi (Yau-bi'idi) of Hamath, 322, 363, 366

Ilu-dâya, the Hazite, writes to the king of Egypt, 288

Imgur-Bêl, wall of Babylon, 405

Immerum, king, 154

Immortality, the Chaldean Noah attains, 101, 108

“Impure,” the name given by the Egyptians to the Hyksos, 254

Inaction of the Egyptian king, 296, etc.

Ina-E-sagila-rêmat, daughter of Nabonidus, 450

Ina-êši-êṭir, Nebuchadnezzar's agent, 432

Incantation for E-zida (the Birs-Nimroud), 41;
against “sickness of the head,” 55;
to purify, 86

Incest, 504, 521, 522

India-House Inscription, extract from the, 138, 139;
references to Babylon, 405, 406

Inheritance, 178-181, 503-507;
of virgins, priestesses, etc., 508

Injuries, penalties for, to slaves, 509, 522;
to a woman, 510, 522;
in a quarrel, 509, 510, 522

Inscriptions, the Hittite, 317, 318

'Ir, the Hebrew for “city,” and uru, 241

Irḫulēni of Hamath, 329; = Urhi-lēni, 332;
resists the Assyrian king, 334, 335

Irnini, a god, 95

Irqata, rule of, 280

Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, 242

Išḫara, goddess, invoked, 433

Isidore of Charax, 192

Isin, Isinna (Karrak), city, 124, 211

Isis, 264

Isis-Hathor (Venus Urania), 264

Isqal(l)una (Askelon), 374, 386

Israel, 351, 352, 355;
on the monolith of Meneptah, 306

Israel, the name, probable Assyro-Babylonian forms, 157, 245

Israelites, allied with Ben-Hadad, 329-333, 337;
subject to Hazael, 342

Iššaku, “chief” (= patesi), 127

Ištar, 55;
her search for Tammuz in Hades, 65;
makes love to Gilgameš, 96;
her cruelty to her lovers, 96, 97;
sends a divine bull against Gilgameš and Ea-banî, 97;
which they kill, 98;
her grief on account of the Flood, 105, 116;
worshipped at Erech, 160;
her spouse Tammuz, 279;
Ištar's gate, at Babylon, 405, 559, 560

Ištar and the asherah, 278

Ištar of Babylon, 212;
Haran, 203;
Nineveh, 278, 491, 551

Ištara, goddess, 156

Išullanu, Ištar's treatment of, 97

Itu'u, on the Euphrates, 344

[pg 580]

Iyyar, the month of Ea (Aa, Aê), 65

Izdubar. See Gilgameš

Jabesh, 293

Jacob, Jacob-el, 157, 183, 243, 244, 547

Jaffa, Yabitiri guards, 285

Jah, 113, 535

Jahweh (Jehovah), 535

Janoah, 353

Jebus (Jerusalem), 323

Jebusites, 312, 323, 324

Jehoahaz, 342

Jehoiachin, captive in Babylon, 399;
released by Evil-Merodach, 408

Jehoiakim, 399

Jehoram, 338, 339

Jehu, “son of Omri,” 332, 337-339

Jensen, Prof., 140, 318, 546, 548

Jerabis (Carchemish), 317

Jerusalem (Uru-salim, Ursalimmu), 234, 277, 280, 375, 376, 377, 378, 379;
legend attributing its foundation to the Hyksos, 252;

Ahaz besieged there, 353;
invested twice by the Babylonians, 399, 400;
Temple destroyed, 400;
Temple polluted, 481

Jesus, brother of Johanan, murdered, 542

Jews (Yaudâa), 375;
at Damascus, 331;
last vestiges of their rule, 400;
Cyrus helped by, 416;
probably thought him a monotheist, 419;
names of Jews at Babylon, 470, 471;
why did they remain in the cities of their exile? 474 ff.

Jezreel, 338

Jilting, 504

Joash, king of Israel, 340, 342

Johns, the Rev. C. H. W., 551, 552

Joppa (Yappû). See Jaffa, Yapu

Joseph, the name, 243;
its probable meaning, 244

Joseph in Egypt, 255 ff.;
as viceroy, 260;
no native record of his administration, 253;
his death, 266, 267

Josephus, 359, 382, 408-410;
upon the Hyksos, 251;
the period of Joseph, 262;
the Amorites, 313;
the siege of Jerusalem, 377, 378;
the murder of the high-priest's brother, 542

Jotham, 355

Judah, 353;
one of the states regarded by the Assyrians as Hittite, 322, 386 (Yaudu)

Judeans (Yaudâa), 375. See Jews

Justin upon Abraham, 147

Kadašman-ḫarbe or Kadašman-Murus, 123;
transports the Sutites, 291

Kadesh, 279;
(Kidša), 300;
conquered by Seti I., 304;
(Kidiš), 401

Ka-dumu-nuna, the gate of E-saggil, 484

Kaldu (the Chaldean tribes in Babylonia), 341

Kalisch, 266

Kallima-Sin (now read Kadašman-ḫarbe), king, 276

Kames, king of Egypt, 269

Kamid-el-Lauz, 293

Kammusu-nadbi of Moab, 374

Kan'ana (Canaan), 304

Karanatum, her adoption, 177;
her name and that of Ashteroth Karnaim, 157

Kar-Adad (fortress of Hadad), 349

Kar-Duniaš, Kara-Dunias, Karu-Dunias (Babylonia), 120 n.;
ruled by Kudur-laḫgumal, 225;
see also 281, 286

Kar-Nebo, maternal grandfather of Abram, 146

Kar-Shaimaneser (-Shalmanu-aša-rid), city, 339

Kar-Sippar, 167

Kaši (= Kašši), 297, 298

(see Kassite)

[pg 581]

Kassite, Kassites, 122, 140, 170, 537

Kedesh, 272, 353

Kefto, identification of, 274

Keilah, 299

Kemi (Egypt), 271

Kêš, a Babylonian city, 124

Kêšitess, lamentations of the, 477

Kheta (Hittites), 274;
their treaty with Egypt, 304;
Meneptah's reference to, 306

Kheta-sir = Ḫattu-šil, 320, 537

Khorsabad (Dûr-Sargina), 137, 369

Kidnapping, 492, 493, 520

Kidiš (Kadesh), 401

Kili(gug ?), Neriglissar's servant, 438

Kili-Tešub son of Kali-Tešub, 319

Killing and mutilating hired animals, 512, 523

Kinaḫḫi (Canaan), 281, 301

King, Mr. L. W., 28, 545, 546

King, the, 164-168

Kingi or Kengi (a part of Babylonia), 134, 351

Kingi-Ura or Kengi-Ura = Sumer and Akkad (Babylonia), 206

Kingu, Tiamtu's husband, exalted, receives the Tablets of Fate, 19;
is overcome by Merodach and deprived of them, 25;
bound, 36

Kirbiš Tiamtu, 24, 31

Kirkišâti, 324, 325

Kirubu = Heb, kerûb, “cherub”;
kirub nismû, kirub šarri, 81

Kiš, a Babylonian city, 415

Kišar, “host of earth,” 16

Kišara-gala, 66

Kisi, Aramean leader, 349

Kiškanū-tree in Eridu, 75;
its fruit, 76

Kissaré and Assoros (Kišar and Anšar), 17

Kizirtum, princess, 166

Knudtzon, Prof., 556

Ktesias, 203

Kudma-bani, district, 179, 180

Kudur in Elamite names, 209, 222

Kudur-laḫgumal, 230, 231

Kudur-mabuk, inscription of, 219;
his sons Eri-Aku and Rîm-Sin, 216

Kûites, the, 350

Kullanû, city, 348

Kulummite(s), 372

Kummuhi (Commagene), 319, 320, 329

Kundaspu of Commagene, 329

Kurium, 387

Laban, the name, 245

Labaya, father of Mut-zu'u, 286;
his sons, 293, 297, 298

Laborosoarchod (Labāši-Marduk), son of Neriglissar, 410;
lends money, 443, 444

Labynetus, Cyrus marches against, 407.

See Nabonidus

Lachish, 277, 297, 377

Lachish epigraph, the, 382

Lagamal (Lagamar, Lagamaru), 222

Lagaš, a Babylonian city, 124

Laḫamu, consort of Laḫmu, 16

Laḫamu, creatures produced by Tiamtu, 19

Laḫmu and Laḫamu, production of, 16;
these names in Damascius, 17

“Lake of Abraham the Beloved,” 192, 193

“Lament of the Daughter of Sin,” 83

Lamentations, Babylonian, 194, 195, 477, 478

“Land of the city of Jerusalem,” 297

Landed property acquired by Neriglissar, 440-442

Lands, etc., created by Merodach, 40

Language of Canaan, 204

Larancha, lamentation of, 477, 478

Larsa (Ellasar), 124;
the temple-tower at, 137;
a centre of sun-worship, 160

Laws, Sumero-Akkadian, 190, 191, [pg 582] 550;

Ḫammurabi's, 491-515, 553, 554

Lawsuit of Bunanitu, the, 462-464

Lawsuits, 182, 184

Layard, Sir A. H., discoverer of the palaces of Nineveh and Calah;
and Rassam, his helper and successor, 394

Laz (goddess), 211

Leasehold system, the, 190

Lebanon, elephants in, 201;
Saniru (Shenir) before, 336;
see also 387

Legal precedents, 190, 191

Legend of Asenath, 259

Legend of Chedorlaomer, 227-230

Legend of Râ-'Apop'i, 254

Lenormant, inscription published by, 216

Letter concerning an inscription of Ammurapi (Hammurabi), 210

Letters from Abdi-ṭâba (Ebed-ḫiba, Ebed-ṭâba, Ebed-tob), 294-299;

Ammi-ṭitana, 165;
Akizzi of Qatna, 289;
Ašur-uballiṭ, 382;
Bêri, 288;
Burra-buriaš, 281;
Ilu-dayan, 289;
Mut-zu'u, 286;
Yabitiri, 284;
Yidia, 286, 287;
the king of Egypt, 300;
the king's daughter to Queen Aššu-râaitu, 392

Leviathan, 530

Leviticus xviii. 18, the tablet illustrating, 545

Lex talionis, 509, 522

Lêya, a captive, 302

Libation, the, of the Babylonian Noah, 106

Lieblein upon the pharaohs of the Oppression and the Exodus, 269

Life at Tanis in Egypt, 264

Lingua franca, the, of Western Asia, 140

Lion (divine), loved by Ištar, 96

Liver, the, in divination, 247

Loan to make up purchase-money and its repayment by instalments, 460, 461, 464, 465

“Lord and Lady, my,” 479

Lud, 391

Ludlul the Sage, lines by, 50

Lugal-zag-gi-si, early Akkadian king, 123, 124

Luli of Sidon, 373

Lullubite, Lullubites, 123, 325

Lulubū (Lullubū), country, 206, 208

Lulumu (Lulubū), 207, 351

Luluppu-tree, the legend of the, 76

Lumaši-constellation, 545

Luxor, 326

Lydia (Luddu), 390, 391

Machpelah, differences between Babylonian contracts and that referring to, 236-238, 524

Mad bull or vicious ox, death or injury from, 512, 513

Maër (and Suḫi), principality, 548

Magdala, 293

Maḫ, Babylonian goddess, 105, 106, 116

Mahler, Dr. Edouard, upon the stele of Meneptah II. and the Exodus, 306

Mair, city, 213, 214

Majesty, plural of, in addressing the king, 284;

(in the Chedor-laomer-legend it refers to the god)

Malgia, city, 211, 213, 214

Malik (Moloch), 156;

Maliku, 170 n.

Mamre, 315

Mamun, khalif, 266

Man, creation of, 28, 40, 45, 47

Manamaltel, king, 154, 155

Manasseh (Minsê, Minasê), 340;
pays tribute to Esarhaddon, 386;
to Assur-banî-âpli, 389

Manda barbarians, Medes, 420

Manê, a messenger, 276

Manetho, 251, 274

Mankind, destruction of, in the Flood, 105;
in future other means to be used, 107, 112, 116

Man's duties, 45

Marad, city, 415;
its patron-deity, 542

[pg 583]

Marduk (Merodach), 33, etc.

Marduk-âbla-iddina (Merodach-baladan) of Babylonia, 379

Marduk-îriba, one of Belshazzar's neighbours, 447

Marduk-nadin-aḫi, son of Nebuchadnezzar, 435

Marduk-našṣi-abli. See Sirku

Marduk-šum-uṣur, son of Nebuchadnezzar, 434

Marduk-zakir-šumi of Babylonia, 379

Maritime nation, Babylonia a, 115, 116

Mari'u of Ša-îmēri-šu, 341, 342

Marking of slaves, 469

Marriage, 173-175, 186

Marriage-contracts, 173, 174;
of Princess Elmešu, 166;
of Neriglissar's daughter, 442;
indispensable, 501

Martu = Amurrû, 312

Mašitess, lamentation of the, 477

Maspero, Prof., 253;
upon the Sallier Papyrus, 255 n.

Matan-ba'al of Arvad, 386

Mattaniah (Zedekiah), 399

Max Müller, Prof. W., 274

Medes, the (Madâa, Umman-manda), in alliance against Assyria, 392;
at Haran, 411, 414;
see also 341, 351, 364, 388

Media, 206, 346, 351, 368

Mediation, 53

Mediterranean, the, 340, 341;
states of, 365

Megasthenes, 401

Megiddo, 274;

Thothmes III. at, 271

Meissner, Dr., 547

Melakiyin, the, 266

Melchizedek, 324;
in Heb. vii. 3, 234

Meluḫḫa, 370, 375, 480, 481

Memphis, 263;
captured by Esarhaddon, 388, 389 n.

Menahem (Meniḫimme, Minḫimmu), 350, 351, 374

Menander, 360

Menanu of Elam, 380

Menant, M. J., 560

Menasê (Manasseh), 386

Meneptah II. (Merenptah), the pharaoh of the Exodus, 269, 305

Mentiu (Bedouin), 270

Mer, Merri, a name of Hadad or Rimmon, 207, 212

Merchants of Babylonia killed, 281

Merodach, the god, his parentage, 33, 63;
the same as Nimrod, 126;
the gods' champion against Tiamtu, 21, 22;
installed as king, 23 (163);
prepares for the fight, 23, 24;
attacks and conquers Tiamtu, 25, 537;
takes the Tablets of Fate, 25;
cuts Tiamtu asunder, 26;
orders the universe anew, 26 ff.;
receives new names, etc., 29-33;
his “incantation,” 41;
founds Babylon, Niffer, and Erech, 40, 41, 42, 126;
creator of the gods, 43;
his titles, 44;
explanations of some of his names, 45, 54, 56;
identified with other gods, 47, 58;
glorified above them all, 49;
prayer to be delivered into his gracious hands, 51;
the other deities mediators with him, and his manifestations, 53, 58;
heavenly bodies, identified with him, 55;
the benefactor of mankind, 56, 57;
the begetter of the gods, 533, 534;
his description, 529;
his weapons, 550;
names compounded with his, 57;
which in the end was almost = îlu, 58, 61;
he was the “great hunter,” 131;
worshipped especially at Babylon, 160, 407;
his yearly procession, 405;
his vengeance, 392;
his merciful nature, 486;
replaced in the end by Anu-Bel, 483

Merodach in West Asia, 279

Merodach-baladan, king of Babylon, 357, 361, 364, 370, 371, 373, 379, 380, 395

Merom, 305

[pg 584]

Merwân II., khalif, 266

Mesech, 230

Mesha of Moab, 338

Mesopotamia, 204, 207, 336, 351

Messengers dying abroad, concerning, 283, 284

Mesu, the land of, 341

Methusael, 84

Middle class, the, 171

“Mighty king,” the, 234, 280

Milki-asapa of Gebal, 386

Milki-idiri, governor of Kedesh, 401

Milki-îli, Milkîli, 293, 297, 298, 299

Milku (Melech, Moloch), 279

Milton, 47

Minsê (Manasseh), 389

Mitâ of Musku (Mesech), 367

Mitanni (Naharain, Naharaim), 276, 277, 304;
its language not Semitic, 275;
vassal state, 537

Mitinti of Ashdod, 374, 376

Mitinti of Askelon, 355, 386

Mitunu, the eponyme of, Sennacherib's campaign against Hezekiah, 378

Mnevis, the bull, 265

Moab (Ma'ab, Ma'abi), 322, 338, 370, 386

Moabites, the, 326, 374;
driven out, 313

Moloch, 279

Mond, Mr., his papyri, 539

Monotheism and polytheism in Babylonia, 47, 198, 533

Monotheistic names, 534;
systems, 541

Monster, the, 530

Monsters, produced by Tiamtu, 18 ff.

Month, Egyptian god, 262

Months and stars, 27

Moon, purpose of the, 27, 37

Moph or Noph (Men-nofr, Memphis), 264

Mordecai (Mardecai), 61, 436, 471

Moses, notes upon his date, 306;
was he saved by Teie's daughter? 307

Mosque of Abraham at Urfa (Orfa or Edessa), 192

“Mother of Sin,” the, 532

Moumis (= Mummu), son of Tauthé and Apason, 17

Mouths of the rivers, a sacred place, 71, 108

Mugallu of Tubal, 290

Mugheir, regarded as Ur of the Chaldees, 147, 193;
but not altogether certain, 197

Müller, Prof. W. Max, 557

Mummu Tiamtu, the first producer.

See Tiamtu

Muršil, Hittite king, 537

Muru, a centre of the worship of Hadad, 490

Muṣaṣir, 127

Mušêzib-Marduk of Babylonia, 380

Mushtah, 293

Muškinu, 536

Musku (Mesech), 371

Muṣrites, 329;

(Muṣrâa), 333

Muṣru, the land of, 354

Muṣur'i of Moab, 386

Muṣuru, Muṣur, Miṣraim (Egypt), 366, 370

Mut-Addu to Yanhama, 292

Mutallu, Hittite king, 537

Mut-îli = Methusael, 84, 245

Mut-zu'u, 279;
letter from, 286

Nabonassar, 347;
his death, 356

Nabonidus, “who is over the city,” witness to a contract, 436;
described on one copy as the son of the king, 436 n., 437

Nabonidus, king, his parentage, 410;
expeditions, and reference to Cyrus, 411;
said to have neglected the gods, 412;
and brought strange deities, 413;
his antiquarian researches, 413;
his son Belshazzar, 414, 447 ff.;
his daughters, 450, 451;
his flight before the army of Cyrus, and capture, 415;
sent to Carmania, 418;
his record of the downfall of Assyria, 392;
of the death of Sennacherib, 537 ff.;

[pg 585]

other inscriptions, 411, 414;
tablets dated in his reign, 444-451;
his pious works, 445, 446;
Berosus upon his reign, 410

Nabopolassar, king, supposed to have been a Chaldean, 396;
his alliance with the Medes, 392, 397;
marches against Nineveh, 392, 393, 397;
his connection with Syria, 397;
he builds the two great walls of Babylon, 410;
his guardian-god, 533;
frees Akkad from Assyrian yoke, 558

Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî, the father or ancestor of Nabonidus, 410, 437

Nabû-bêl-uṣur, governor, 346

Nabû-kain-âḫi, secretary of Belshazzar, 447, 448

Nabû-nadin-zēri, 356

Nabû-ṣabit-qâtâ, servant of Neriglissar, 438;
Laborosoarchod, 443;
and Belshazzar, 448 ff.

Nabû-šarra-uṣur, one of Nebuchadnezzar's captains, 434;
a secretary of Nabonidus, 445

Nabû-šum-iddina, secretary of Neriglissar, 440

Nabû-šum-ukîn, Babylonian king, 356;
a priest of Nebo, 442

Nagitu, the three cities called, 373, 380

Naharaina, Naharaim (Upper Mesopotamia), 270, 271, 272, 274, 288, 296, 304.

See Nahrima, Narima, Na'iru

Naḫarâu and Nahor, 551

Nahor, the city of, 204

Nahor, 551;
traditions concerning, 146

Nahrima (Naharaim), 296.

See Naharaina

Nahr-Malka, 158;
referred to by Mr. Rassam, 159

Nahum upon the fall of Nineveh, 393

Na'iru (Mesopotamia), 341, 351

Nal mountains, 351

Names given to Merodach, 30-32

Names of captives, 302

Nammu, a river-god, 43

Namri, 336, 346, 347

Namyawaza, an Egyptian vassal, 290, 293

Nannar(a), worshipped at Ur and Haran (Ḫarran), 147, 160, 219 ff.;
hymns referring to him, 194, 195

Naphtali, 353

Napḫu'ruria, Napḫuri (Amenophis IV.), 281, 282

Naram-Sin conquers Elam, 124

Narima (Naharaim), 288

Navigation, Babylonian, 470, 512

Naville, Prof. E., 253, 305;
upon the stele of Meneptah II., 306

Nebo identified with Merodach, 58;
takes part at the coming of the Flood, 104;
worshipped at Borsippa, 160, 409, 415;
named also Lag-gi, 370;
his titles, 343

Neb-mut-Râ (Amenophis III.), 276

Nebuchadnezzar (Nebuchadrezzar), son of Nabopolassar, 392;
marries Amytis, sent against the army of Egypt, 397;
aids, with his brother, in the restoration of the temple E-sagila, 398;
mounts the throne, 398, 399;
affairs in Palestine, Syria, Egypt, etc., 399-402;
his dreams and the golden image, 403, 404;
his buildings, 405-407;
his sons, 408;
was Nabonidus his son-in-law? 407, 437, 438;
tablets dated in his reign, 432-440;
his offerings, 433;
his use of divination, 247;
his name, 558

Nebuzaradan, 400, 558 ff.

Necho of Memphis and Sais, 389 n.

Nefer-titi, the Egyptian name of Tâdu-ḫêpa, 276

Negeb, the, 272

Negligence, loss or damage from, 496, 513

Nemitti-Bêl, wall of Babylon, 405

Nephayan, commander-in-chief at Syene, 539 ff.

Nergal, Nerigal, god of war, etc., 279, 330;
identified with Merodach, 58;
worshipped at Cuthah, 160;
and in Alašia, 278

[pg 586]

Nergal-sharezer, 408, 409

Nergal-ušêzib of Babylonia, 380

Neriglissar (Nergal-šarra-uṣur), son of Bêl-šum-iškun, 409, 438;
cattle-owner, 339;
trader, 440;
banker, 441;
mounts the throne, 408, 409;
his daughter's marriage, 442;
tablets dated in his reign, 441-444;
his death, 410

Net, Merodach's, wherewith he catches Tiamtu, 24, 131, 550

Nibhaz, god of the Avvites, 129

Nîbiru, planet Jupiter, 27

Nicolas of Damascus upon Abraham, 147

Niffer (Calneh), non-existent at the beginning, 39;
built by Merodach, 41;
called Nippur (Niffer), 124;
its temple-tower, 136;
its streets and houses, 188, 189;
the daughter of Niffer laments, 477, 478

Nimmalḫê, an Amorite captive, 302

Nimmuaria (Neb-mut-Râ, Amenophis III.), 276

Nimrod, son of Cush, his power and kingdom, 118, 119;
the same as Merodach, 126, 127, 129, 130;
“the mighty hunter,” 131;
his land, 126;
how his name assumed this form, 129, 550;
Arabic Nimrud, 551

Nina, goddess, 64

Nin-aḫa-kudu, goddess, 41

Nin-edina, 77

Nineveh (Ninua), 376, 378, 387;
probably named after Nina, daughter of Ea or Aa, 64;
built by Asshur, 118, 126, 127;
earliest mention of, 491;
its destruction, 393

Nineveh-road, the, 384, 385

Nina-gala, goddess of Haran, 546

Nin-igi-azaga (Aa or Ea), 114

Ninip identified with Merodach, 58;
his names, 235, 236, 555;
worshipped near or at Jerusalem and in the west, 235, 278;
in the Flood-story, 101, 104, 107

Ninšaḫ inscription dedicated to, 220

Nin-Urmuru (?), 280;
possible reading Bêlit-nêši, 548

Nippuru, 28, 37.

See Calneh, Niffer

Nisaba, the legend of, 76

Niṣir, the mountain on which the “ship” rested, 90, 106

Nisroch, the god Asshur, 129

Nitocris, queen, 407

Niy, city, 271;
elephant-hunting near, 273

Non-existent things at the beginning, 16, 39

Nudimmud (= Aa, Aê, or Ea), 18;
asked to subdue the Dragon, fails, 21;
an abode made for him, 26

Nuḫašše, 317;
an Assyrian district, 280

Nûr-îli-šu, builds and dedicates a temple, 162

Nûr-Rammāni (Nûr-Addi), king of Larsa, 218

Nusku, one of the gods of Haran, 202

Obelisk, the, emblematic, 265

Offerings, royal, to the gods, 433, 444-446

Officials' rights, duties, and responsibilities, 493, 494

Offord, Mr. J., his cylinder, pl. vi. and p. 548;
his tablet, 559

Og of Bashan, 313

Omri (Ḫumrî), the “house of Omri,” 332;
“son of Omri,” 337, 339;
“land of Omri,” 341

On (Heliopolis), 258, 264;
the shrine of, 265

Opis on the Tigris, the battle of, 415, 416;
tablets dated at, 439, 450, 459

Oppert, Prof., 14;
his suggested Babylonian etymology of Abel, 82, 83;
dates from Hebrew sources, 332

Oppolzer upon the Sothis period, 307

[pg 587]

Oracles (for Esarhaddon), 385;

(concerning Nineveh), 393

Osah (Ušû), 374

Osiris, Merodach identified with, 54;
worshipped at On, 264

Ostâu (Ostanes), 540, 543 ff.

Oxen, the hire of, 512

Padî of Ekron, 375, 376, 377

Palace, house bought for a, 441;
theft from a, 491, 492, 525

Palaces of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon, 552

Palastu (Philistia), 341 (see Pilišta)

Palestine, Egyptian successes in, 270;

Assyrian do., 329, 336, etc. (Amurrū, Ḫattî)

Pallukatu (the Pallacopas), 70

Pâlûma, a captive, 302

Panbesa, letter of, 305

Pantibiblon, supposed to be Sippar, 63

Paphos, 387

Pap-sukal, the god, 433

Papyri of Elephantine, the, 539-544

Paradise, the Babylonian, description of, 71, 72;
its inaccessibility, 72

Pariktum (canal), 167

Partnership, 183

Party-walls or fences, 190

Pasturing, 496, 497

Patesi (priest-kings or viceroys), 126

Patinians, Kalparundu of the, 334

Patriarchs before Abraham, 141 ff.

Paura (Pauru, Puuru), the king's commissioner, 297, 298

Peek, Sir Cuthbert, 179

Pekah, 352-355

Pekod, 458

Pekodites, the, 347

Peleg, 145, 552

" 544 (note to p. 145)

Pelusium besieged, 378, 381

Penalties, for changing the words of a contract, 174;
for divorcing a wife, or denying a husband, and denying sisterhood (by adoption), 175;
for denying an adopted son, an adopted father, 176, 177;
for denying a mistress (by a female slave), 185;
see also 190, 191

Peniel or Penuel, 547

Pen-nekheb, officer of Thothmes I., 270

Pentaur, Egyptian poet, 304

People, the, in early Babylonia, 169-191

Persian rule in Babylonia, 423 ff.

Pethor (Pitru), 329

Petrie, Prof. Flinders, 250, 253, 274, 275, 292, 293, 297, 303, 312, 313;
upon the revival of native Egyptian power, 269;
on Amenophis II., 273;
monolith found by, 305

Pharaoh not drowned in the Red Sea, 307

Philistia (Pilišta, Palastu), 341, 352, 353, 361, 370

Phœnicia, 272, 360

Phœnix, the, 265

Physicians' fees and liabilities, 510, 511

Pi-Beseth (Pi-Bast, Bubastis), 263

Piercing of Rahab, the, 530

Pilinussu, general of Hyspasines, 483

Pilišta (Philistia), 352, 353, 361

Pilot or boatman (of Gilgameš), 99;

(of the ship or ark), 104, 116

Pirke di Rabbi Eliezer, 307

Pir-napištim, the Babylonian Noah, 73;
Gilgameš sees him afar off, 99;
they converse, 100;
tells Gilgameš the story of the Flood, 101-108;
directs his wife to cure Gilgameš, 108;
tells him of a wonderful plant, 109;
he was a worshipper of Ea (Aê, Aa), 113, 114;
and was called also Atra-ḫasis, 107, 112, 117;
his faithfulness to the old deity Aê, 114;
his name probably Ut-napištim, 547

Pir'u of Musuri or Musri, 366, 370;
one of the kings of the sea-coast and the desert, 368

[pg 588]

Pishon, river, 69, 70

Pisiris of Carchemish, 350, 367

Pithom, 305

Pittit, an Elamite, 483

Place of fate, the, 472

Plague of darkness, the, 309

Plantation, concerning a, 456, 457

Planting and plantations, 497

Plant making the old young, the, 75

Plants, Merodach creates, 40

Pliny, his reference to king Horus, 124

Polyhistor, 393

Polytheism, the difficulty of escaping it, 246

Potiphar, 255;
the name, 258

Poti-phera, meaning of, 258

Prayer to be freed from sin, 50-52

Presents, interchange of, 276

Priestesses and votaries, privileges of, 507, 508, 546 (180)

Priest of Nebo marries the daughter of Neriglissar, 442

Priests of On, the, 265

Primæval Ocean, the, 16

Principal cities, the, of Babylonia, 124

Procession-street at Babylon, the, 552

Profaning herself, of a temple-devotee, 499, 521

Property of officials, 493-495

Prostitution probably not compulsory, 443

Protection of caravans, the, 282

Prove purchase and gift, contracts to, 438, 439, 458

Ptolemy, 357, 358

Pul (= Pûlu, Poros), 357, 358

Pulug, Pulukku, or Peleg, 544

Pura-nunu (the Euphrates), 158

Purattu (Phuraththu), the Euphrates, 158

Purchase of a house, 460

Qarqara, royal city, 329, 330, 363;
the battle there, 556 ff.

Qatna, 290, 317

Qauš-gabri of Edom, 386

Quê, 371

Qutite, Qutites, 123, 170

Qutû, the land of, 420, 422;
old lamentation referring to the, 477.
See Qutite

Râ or Rê, the Egyptian Sun-god, 254, 264

Râ-'Apop'i and the king of the south, 254

Rabbātum, land of, 224

Rabi-mur of Gebal, 288

Rab-mag (? = Rab-mugi), 408

Races, many, in Babylonia, 119, 169, 170, 541, 542

Rahab, 68, 530

Râ-Harmachis, 264

“Raian ibn el-Walid,” pharaoh, 263

Raising the spirit of Ea-banî, 110

Rameses I., 303

Rameses II., the pharaoh of the Oppression, 269, 304, 305, 307, 537

Rammānu (Rimmon), 160, 277

Ramoth-Gilead, 338

Ranke, Dr. Hermann, 148, 154 n.

Raphia (Rapiḫu), 363

Râ-seqenen (Seqenen-Rê) III., 261

Rassam, Mr. Hormuzd, 38;
finds the gates of Balawat, 405, 556;
his reference to the Nahr-Malka, 159;
finds bas-relief and inscription of Ḫammurabi, 215;
cylinder of Cyrus, 411, 419;
his family in the East, 394

Raven, sending forth of the, 106

Rawlinson, Sir Henry, recognizes Eridu as a type of Paradise, 71;
his identification of Ur (Mugheir), 193;
and Kudur-mabuk, 222

Reaper, hire of a, 168

Receiver, liabilities of a, 492, 520

Rehoboth, Rehoboth-Ir, built by Asshur, 118, 127

Reisner, Dr. G. A., 156

Religion of the Western states, 277-279

Religious element, the, 159 ff.

Rent, 448

Reproaching the Amorite, 300

[pg 589]

Repudiation of master by slave, 515 (law 282)

Resen, its origin, 126, 127

Respect for parents, 509, 522

Retaliation, the law of, 509, 510

Rezin, Rezon (Rasunnu), 350, 353, 355

Ria (the Egyptian Râ or Rê), 254

Rianappa, the representative of Egypt, 287

Rib-Addi of Gebal, etc., 293, 313

Rieu, Dr., 263

Right of way, tablet concerning, 459

Rim-Anu, king, 217

Rimmon (or Hadad), god of the atmosphere, identified with Merodach, 58;
in the Flood-story, 104, 277 (Addu, Rammānu)

Rîm-Sin, 164;
connection of this name with Eri-Aku, 216, 217;
capture of, 213, 214, 217;
inscription of, 220, 221

Rivers, the mouths of [which are on] both sides, 73;
the place of the Babylonian Paradise, 71, 72

Rost, Dr. P., 347, 348, 352

Royal family, the, among the people, 166-168

Royal letters, 165

Rubenstein, Dr. Otto, 544

Rubute, city, 299

Rûkipti of Askelon, 355, 356

Rutennu (Syrians), 303;
the Upper, 274;
Upper and Lower, 304;
conquered by Thothmes I., 270

Sabbath, the Babylonian, 27, 527, 528, pl. ii.

Sabeans, the, 203, 363

Sachau, Prof. E., 539 ff., 542

Sacrifice, the, on coming out of the ship (ark), 106

Sacrilegious theft, the punishment of, 553

Sadi-Tesub, son of Hattu-šar, 320

Šadû, Šaddu, “mountain,” “lord,” “commander,” 248

SA-GAS = ḫabatu, ḫabbatu, 291, 292, 538

Ša-imērišu, Imērisu (Syria of Damascus), 329, 334, 336, 337, 341, 354, 356

Sajur (river), 329

Šala, consort of Rimmon or Hadad, 212

Salatis, Hyksos king, 251

Salem, 239-241

Sale of a son by his parents, 435, 436

Sales of land, 237, 238;
slaves, 466, 559 ff.

Šalim, šalimmu, Šulmanu (Salmanu), Šalmanu nunu, šalāmu, 239-241

Salmayātu, worshipped at Tyre, 278

Salvation, Babylonian desire for, 52

Samaria, 322;
Ben-Hadad's attempts upon, 330, 333, 338;
Pekah's flight from, 354, 355;
revolts, 363;
Menahem of, 350

Samarians, city of the, 350

Šamaš, the Sun-god, 77;
identified with Merodach, 58;
monsters guard him, 98;
appoints the time for the coming of the Flood, 103, 104, 115;
in Mitanni, 278

Šamaš-šum-ukîn, king of Babylon, 388

Sammu-ramat (Semiramis), 342, 343

Samsê, Samsi, queen of Arabia, 354, 363

Samsi-Adad III., king, 339

Samsimuruna, city, 386

Samsimurunâa, Menahem, the, 374

Samsu-iluna (king), 142;
length of his reign, 153;
tablets dated therein, 179, 180, 187, 188

Samsu-ṭitana, king, 153

Sân (deity), 156

Sân (Zoan), 263;
the inhabitants said to be of a different type from those of other places in Egypt, 266

Sanaballat (Sinuballiṭ), governor of Samaria, 541, 543

Sanacharib (Sennacherib), 378, 381

[pg 590]

Sangara of Carchemish, 329, 334;
called king of the Hattê, 321

Šaniāwa, name, 458

Saniru (Shenir), 336

Saosduchinos (Samaš-šum-ukîn), 388;
refuses to acknowledge his brother's suzerainty, 391

Sapîa, city, 357

Saracos (Sin-šarra-iškun), 392, 396

Sarah, 148

Sarasar (Shareser), 378

Sardurri of Ararat, 347

Šargani (Sargon of Agadé), 124

Sargon of Agadé, 124, 313;
ruler of Amurrū, 215;
period and extent of his rule, 150;
see also 549 ff.

Sargon (Sargina) the later, the Arkeanos of Ptolemy, 362;
his annals, 367;
his conquests, 322, 363-372;
his death, 372

Sarḫa (Zorah), 280

Sar-îli, name, 157, 245

Šarru and Šullat, foundation of a temple to, 162

Šarru, a captive, 302

Sarru-dûri, one of Darius's captains, 456

Šarru-îlûa, servant of Neriglissar, 439

Šarru-lû-dâri of Askelon, 374

Šarru-lû-dâri of Zoan, 389 n.

Sauê mountains, 349

Sayce, Prof., 14;
identifies the Babylonian story of Paradise, 71; 124;
researches in Hittite, 140, 318;
upon the Amorites and Tidalum, 311, 312;
his analysis of a Hittite name, 321;
see also 283 n., 332, 539 n.

Scape-goat, Babylonian parallel to the, 53

Scheil, the Rev. V., 117, 487 ff., 536, 549, 558

Schrader, Prof. Eberhard, 143;
identifies Amraphel with Ḫammurabi, 209;
see also 341, 342

Sea, the, personified by Tiamtu, 16, 67;
the abode of the god of knowledge, 62

Sea-coast, kings of the, 334, 335, 340

Seir, 296

Seizing the person for debt, 500, 521

Seleucia upon the Tigris, 476, 483, 484

Seleucus and the Babylonians, 476;

Seleucus and Antiochus, tablet dated in the reign of, 477, 478

Sellas river. See Ṣilḫu

Semiramis, 342, 344

Semitic names replace the Akkadian, 125;

Semitic inscriptions more numerous, 119

Sennacherib, 129, 372, 373-384;
in Armenia, against Merodach-baladan, the Cosseans and Yasubigalleans, Ḫatti (Sidon, Ekron, Hezekiah, etc.), 373-376;
before Lachish, 377, 382;
in Babylonia, 379;
Elam, 380;
against Egypt, 381;
his treatment of the Babylonians, 396;
his death, 383, 384, 550

Seqnen-Rê, the death of, 255 n.

Šêri (Seir), 296

Serpent and magic plant, 109;
serpent-god and the abode of life, 532;
serpent-tempter, the 531

Serû-êṭirat, princess, 392

Sethos and Hephaistos, 549 (381)

Seti I., Meneptah, 304

“Seven” a round number, 263

Seven kings of Cyprus send tribute, 372

Seventh day, the Flood stops on the, 105;
the birds sent forth seven days later, 106;
duties of the, 528 (see Sabbath)

Shaaraim, 297

Shaddai, a possible etymology of, 248

Shalam (Salamis), 305

Shalman, 239

Shalmaneser II., his accession, 328;
refers to Ahab and Ben-Hadad, 331 ff.;
Jehu son of Omri, 332, 337-339;
his death, 339

[pg 591]

Shalmaneser III., his accession and expeditions, 344

Shalmaneser IV., his accession and expeditions, 357, 358-362

Share of the cultivator, the, 495, 525

Shareser, Sarasar, 378, 384, 385

Shasu Bedouin, the, 271, 304

Shaving the head in Egypt and Western Asia, 257

Sheep, the, of Neriglissar's servant, 438

Shelemiah, son of Sauballaṭ, 541

Shem, 141

Shepherd kings, the, in Egypt, 251, 252 ff.

Shepherd loved by Ištar, her treatment of him, 96, 97

Sheshonq of Busiris, 389 n.

Shinar (Babylonia), 118;
regarded as equivalent to Sumer, 119, 134;
its etymology, 548 ff.

Ship, Gilgameš and Ur-Šanabi embark in a, 99;

Gilgameš lies down in its “enclosure,” 108

Ship, Pir-napištim commanded to build one to escape the Flood, 102, 113;
its building and provisionment, 103, 114;
the embarkation, 103, 104, 115;
the pilot, 104, 116;
the god Uragala, 104;
Pir-napištim looks forth, 105;
the mountain of Niṣir, and the sending of the birds, 105;

Ellila's anger and Aê's kindness, 106, 107

Shrine of Râ at On, 265

Shrines of the gods at Babylon, 472

Shuhites, 319

Shulchan Aroch, the, 306

Sibitti-bi'ili of Gebal, 350

Sickness of the head, incantation against, 55, 56

Sidon in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, 277, 300;
its tribute to Shalmaneser II. (337), 338, 339;
conquered by Adad-nirari, 341;
Tiglate-pileser III., 360;
Sennacherib, 373;
Esarhaddon, 386;
Great and Little Sidon, 374

Sidonians (Ṣidunâa), 328, 337, 374

Ṣidqâ of Askelon, 374

Siduri, goddess, consulted by Gilgameš, 99

Sihon, 313

Ṣilḫu, river (the Sellas ?), 484, 561

Ṣili-Ištar and Iribam-Sin, their dissolution of partnership and the lawsuit following, 183-185

Silili, mother of the horse beloved of Ištar, 96

Ṣilli-bêl of Gaza, 376, 386

Siluna, country of, 340

Similes, Babylonian, 52

Ṣimirra (Simyra), 348, 351

Simti-Šilhak, king, 219

Simyra (Ṣimirra, Ṣumuru), 277, 293, 313, 348, 351, 363

Sin, the Moon-god, identified with Merodach, 58;
worshipped at Ur and Sippar, 160, 194, 195;
also at Haran, 201, 202, 411

Sin-idinnam of Larsa, 165, 169, 218

Sinjar, 304

Sin-mâr-šarri-uṣur, servant of one of Nebuchadnezzar's sons, 435

Sin-mubaliṭ, king, 153;
tablets of his reign, 178, 179, 180, 181

Sin-šarra-iškun (Saracos), the last king of Assyria, 392, 396

Sippar or Sippara (now Abu-Habbah), discovered by H. Rassam, 394;
its four names, 70;
supposed to be Sepharvaim, 158;
dated tablets from, 211;
captured by Tiglath-pileser, 347;
by Cyrus, 415, 416;
its gods, 415;
see also 38, 63, 484

Sippara of Eden, 70

Sippar-Amnanu(m), 161, 552 ff.

Sippar-Ya'ruru (Aruru), 161, 165, 553

Sirara, forests of, 387

Sir'ilites (Sir'ilâa, Israelites), 329, 330, 332, 335, 337

Sirku, a Babylonian magnate, 454, 467 ff.

Širru, land of, 206, 207

Sirû, land of, 206, 207

[pg 592]

Sisters, the, of Belshazzar, 450, 451

Slander, 504 (law 161)

Slavery, 182, 185-187, 515

Small Hittite states, 322

Smerdis, 424

Smith, George, publishes the Babylonian Creation-story, 14;
the original of Berosus' Canon, 84; the Gilgameš-series, 90;
conducts the Daily Telegraph expedition, 90;
and finds a fragment of the second Flood-story, 117;
arranges the series, 91, 93, 95;
identifies Arioch, 209;
concerning Shalmaneser IV., 359, 362

Smiting a father, 509 (law 195)

So, king of Egypt, 359, 365, 366

“Son of his God,” the, 86

“Sons of God,” the, 85

Sons of Syrian chiefs educated in Egypt, 274

Sons, the, of Yakinlû of Arvad, 390

Sothis period, 307

Spells, 491 (laws 1 and 2)

Sphinxes, Hyksos, 264

Spiegelberg upon the stele of Meneptah II., 306

Spirit of Ea-banî, the raising of, 110

Spirits of heaven and earth, invocation of, 56

Spirits of the departed, their lot, 111

Stars, creation of, 27

States regarded by the Assyrians as Hittite, 322

Steindorff's translation of Zaphnath-paaneah, 257

Stele of Meneptah II., extract from the, 306

Stephen, Saint, 192

Storage and deposit, 500 (laws 120 ff.)

Storm at the coming of the Flood, description of the, 104, 105

Streets of Babylonian cities, 188, 189

Šu-anna (Su-ana), a part of Babylon, foreign gods taken thither, 414, 420;

Cyrus enters and receives tribute there, 420, 422;
see also 433

Šu-ardatum, 299

Ṣuba' or Ṣuma', city of the land of, tablet dated at, 457

Subarte, 318

Šubbiluliuma, Hittite king, 537

Sūḫu and Maër, states, 319, 556

Šulmanu-ašarid (Shalmaneser), 239

Ṣuma', land of. See Ṣuba'

Šum-Addu (Šamu-Addu) of Šam-ḫuna, 279

Suma-îlu, king, 162, 163

Šumer (= Kengi), Sumerian, 119, 134;
texts (incantations), 39 ff., 55, 86, 120, 121

Šumer and Akkad, 541;
mentioned by Cyrus, 420;
in titles, 347, 421

Sumero-Akkadian, its nature, 120, 121;
early period, 552

Sumu, apparently a deity, 142;
names compounded with his, 142

Sumu-âbi, king, 153, 154

Sumu-Dagan, name, 142

Sumu-la-îli (king), his name, 142, 153, 154;
tablet dated in his reign, 173, 174;
(Sumulel), 181

Sumulel (= Sumu-la-îli), 181

Šumu-libšî, a witness, 167

Sun, a title of the kings of Egypt, 284, 286, 287, 289, 295

Sun, the city of the, 446

Sun the indicator of the seasons, 115

Sun-devotees, Babylonian, 161, 168

Sun-god, the, 58, 77, 92, 103, 115;

(see Šamaš), worshipped at Sippar and Larsa, 160;
the centre of his worship in Egypt, 258

Sûqâain, tablet dated at, 457

Surgeons' fees and penalties, 510

Surippak, where the gods decided to make a flood, 101;
the native place of Pir-napištim, 102

Suri or North Syria, the king of, 347

Sur-Šanabi (Ur-Šanabi), 540

Suru, land of, 206, 207

Susa, city of, 422

Susanchites, the, 391

Šûta, royal commissioner, 296

Šutadna of Akka (Accho), 281

Sutekh, the god of the Hyksos, 254

[pg 593]

Sutî (Sutite, Sutites), 123, 158, 170, 291, 292, 368;
brigands, 283

Šûzubu (Nergal-usêzib), 380

Swallow, the, sent forth, 106

Swearing by the gods and the king, 162, 163, 174 ff.

Syncellus, 393

Syria, Egyptian successes in, 270, 271;
(Rameses II.), 304;
Syria in the time of Amenophis III., 274;
on the stele of Meneptah, 306;
Shalmaneser II. there, 336 ff.;
Adad-nirari, 341;
Shalmaneser III., 344;
Tiglath-pileser, 347, 351;
Sargon, 367;
Sennacherib, 373 ff.

Syrian campaigns, Thothmes I., 270

Tabal (Tubal), 367

Tablet of Good Wishes, the, 81

Tablets of Fate given to Kingu, 19;
taken by Merodach, who presses his seal upon them, 25

Tablets referring to Chedorlaomer, Tidal, and Arioch, 223 ff.

Tâdu-hêpa, princess of Mitanni, asked in marriage (? for Amenophis IV.), 276

Takhsi, near Aleppo, 273

Takrētain (?), tablet dated at, 439

Talents, parable of the, 525

Talmud, the, 195 n., 203

Tamessus, 387

Tamar, the case of, 525

Tammuz, in Akk. Dumu-zi or Du-mu-zida, 72, 82;
his names, 539;
possible parallel to the story of Cain and Abel, 83;
his wife, Ištar, causes him grief, 96;
his temple-tower at Agadé (Akkad), 136;
worshipped also at Eridu, 160;
in the west, 279;
early date of his worship, 555;
see also 547

Tammuz of the Abyss, 43, 63, 65

Tâmtu, the coast-land, 122, 123

Tanis (Zoan), 264.

See Sân

Taribu, queen, 173

Tarpelites, the, 391

Tašmêtum, spouse of Nebo, 213

Tauthé (= Tiamtu), 16, 67

Taylor Cylinder, 373

Teie (Teyi), the first wife of Amenophis III., 275, 276

Tel-Aššur (Til-Ašurri), 388

Tel-Basta (Bubastis), 264

Tel-el-Amarna tablets, 249, 275-302

Tel-Sifr ruin-mound, 176, 211, 214

Temâ, Babylonian city, 412

Temeni, land of, 343

Temple, gift of a, 162

Temple (Jewish) at Elephantine, 539 ff.;
destroyed, 540

Temple of Belus, the, 552

Temple of the Sun-god, declaration made in the, 184

Temples restored by the early kings, 161, 162;
benefited by Ḫammurabi, 489-491

Temple-towers, Babylonian, 136 ff.

Tenneb (Tunep, Dunip), 277;
its government, 280

Terah, traditions concerning, 146;
stated to have been an idolater, 147, 195;
his journey from Ur to Haran, 192, 195, 196;
his name compared, 544

Teraphim, the, 246, 524

Tešupa or Tešub, Hadad of Mitanni, 277

Teuwatti of Lapana, 289

Thargal, for Thadgal = Tidal, 232.

See Tudḫula

Thebais, kings of, 252

Thebes and the Thebans, their aid in expelling the Hyksos, 269, 270;
the birthplace of Thothmes III., 271;
stronghold of Tirhakah, 389

Theft (death-penalty for), 491, 492;
by an employé, 513;
of things deposited, 501, 521;
see also 520, 561

Thompson, Prof. Campbell, 559

Thoth, 264

Thothmes I., 270

Thothmes II., 271

Thothmes III., 271, 316

Thothmes IV., 274, 316

[pg 594]

“Throne-bearers” of the gods, 82

Thureau-Daugin, Morsiem F., 218

Tiamat, 67. See Tiamtu

Tiamtu or Tiawthu (= Tauthé), 16, 17, 33;
being joined by certain gods, prepares to fight, 18 ff.;
her husband Kingu, 19, 20;
terrifies the gods Anu and Nudimmud, 21;
caught by Merodach, 24, 131;
conquered, 25;
cut asunder, 26;
her head pierced, 31;
meaning of her name, 33, 67;
why applied, 68;
her desire to be the creator or producer, 34, 35;
how typified in the O. T., 68

Tiamtu, the sea-coast, 230

Tidal, 222.

See Tudḫula

Tidalum = Tidnu = Amurrū, 312

Tidnu, the Akkadian name of Amurrū (the land of the Amorites), 206, 208, 312;
ideograph for, 312

Tiglath-pileser I., 129;
kills elephants in Mesopotamia and Lebanon, 200, 201;
attacks the Hittites, 318

Tiglath-pileser III., 346;
“king of Sumer and Akkad,” 347;
captures Arpad, 347;
Kullanû, etc., 348;
tribute from Syria, 350;
marches to Madâa, Nal, and Ararat, 351;
takes Gaza, 352;
marches to Damascus, helps Ahaz, 353;
describes the flight of the Syrian king, 354;
his conquests, 355, 356;
submission of Chaldean tribes, entry into Babylon, death, 357;

= Pul, 357, 358

Tigris and Euphrates, creation of, 40;
mentioned in Gen. i., 69;
rivers of the district of Sippar, 158;
and of Babylon, 471

Tigris, the, flows close to Nineveh, 393;
Cyrus and the districts of, 422;
Elamite incursions thither, 483.
See Seleucia

Ti'imūṭusu, son of Aspāsinē, 483

Til-barsip, 328

Til-garimme (Togarmah), 271, 368

Tilla (= Ararat), 122, 208

Timašgi (regarded as Dimaški = Damascus), 290

Timnah (Tamnâ), 375

Tindir (Babylon), 420, 421

el-Tireh, 293

Tirhakah, 383, 388, 389

Tithes, payments of, 434

Title of the Gilgameš legend, 91

Togarmah (Tilgarimme), 271, 368

“Tooth for tooth,” 509

Topography of Babylon, 552

Tower of Babel, the Mohammedan legend of the, 551

Transcription of lines referring to Antiochus's rule in Babylonia, 553

Tree-felling, 497 (law 59)

Towns in the ancient East, 188

Trade between Canaan and Babylonia, 281

Translation of the hero of the Flood, 108, 116

Translation, Semitic, inserted in the divided Akkadian lines, 38

“Tree of the drink of life” = the vine, 75

“Tree of knowledge,” 73;
the Babylonian parallel of the, 77

“Tree of life,” 73;
a Babylonian parallel of the, 75

Trees, sacred, of the Babylonians and Assyrians, 74-77, pl. III.

Tribes classed as Amorites, 311

Tribute of Carchemish of the Hittites, 321

Tubal, 367, 390

Tuckwell, the Rev. J., 551

Tudḫula, the probable Babylonian form of Tidal, 222, 223, 224, 227, 231, 232, 537, 554

Tukulti-Ninip I. annexes Babylonia, 327, 371

Tum or Tmu, 264

Tunep, Syrian town, 272;
its resistance, 305
(Dunip, Tenneb)

Ṭpašu, canal, 468

Turbazu killed, 296

Tušamilki of Muṣur, 390

Tutamû, king of Unqu, 348

[pg 595]

Tutu, a name of Merodach, 30;
the explanation given, 45

Tûya, a captive, 302

Two wives, marriage-contracts for, 174, 175

Ty, Ay's queen, 303

Tyre (Ṣurru), 277, 338, 339, 360, 373, 386, 400;
blockaded by Nebuchadnezzar, 490;
Ṣûru =? Tyre, 401;
contract dated at, 401

Tyre, the land of, conquered by Adad-nirari, 341

Tyre, Old (Palaetyrus), 360

Tyrians, the land of the, pays tribute, 328, 337, 350;
resists Shalmaneser IV., 360

Ube, Syria of Damascus, 290

Udumu, 310;

(Edom), 322, 341, 370, 374, 386

Ugga, the god of Death, 36

Ukabu'šama, daughter of Nabonidus, 451

Ukîn-zēr (Chinzeros), 356, 357

Ukka, 127

Ukus, patesi, 124

Ul-Šamaš, city, 213

Umbara-Tutu, father of Pir-napištim, 102

Ummanaldas of Elam, 391

Umman-manda, the, 230, 392

Ummu Ḫubur, a designation of Tiamtu, 18

Unknown tongue, an, 140

Unlawful pasturing, 496, 521

Unqu, 348

Unskilful surgical treatment, penalties for, 510, 511

Unug, Akkadian form of the name of Erech, 84

Upaḫḫir-bêlu, eponymy of, 372

Upê, Upia (Opis), 439, 458, 459

Upê-rabi, “Opis is great,” name, 182

Upšukenaku, the place of assembly of the gods, 21

Ur (of the Chaldees), 124;
its temple-tower, 136, 193-195;
= Urie or Camarina, 146, 147, 196, 197;
identified with Mugheir, 193;
possibly really Uri or Ura (Akkad), 197;
rebels against Assyria, 386;
Nabonidus's inscriptions at, 414, 415;
name of its wall or fortification, 220

Ura, god of pestilence, 107;
legend of Ura, 122;
“Ura the unsparing,” 228;
invoked by Evil-Merodach, 409

Ura-gala and the ship (ark), 104

Urarṭu (Ararat), 127.

See Urtū

Uraš, god of Dailem, 279;
the great gate of, 468

Urbi, the, 376, 557

Urdamanê, son of Sabaco, 389

Urfa (Orfa), the traditional Ur of the Chaldees, 192, 193

Uri or Ura = Akkad, 122, 134

Urie (Ur of the Chaldees), 146;
a centre of lunar worship, 147

Urikku of the Kûites, 350

Uriwa, the Akkadian form of Ur (Mugheir), 193 ff.

Ur-kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees), 193.

See Ur of the Chaldees

Urraḫinaš, Hittite city, 320

Ursalimmu (Jerusalem), 375, 376

Ur-Šanabi, the pilot or boatman, accompanies Gilgameš to see Pir-napištim, 99;
takes the hero to be cleansed, 109;
returns with him to Erech, 109, 110;
Sur-Šanabi, 548

Urṭū (apparently short for Urarṭu), Ararat, 122, 208

Uru (in Uru-salim), probably from the Akkadian, 241

Uru-gala, the image of, 480, 561

Uruk supuri, “Erech the walled,” 91

Uru-ku, the dynasty of, 154

Urumaians (Hittites), 318

Uru-milki of Gebal, 374

Uru-salim (Jerusalem), 234, 239

Uruwuš (king), 124

Usertesen I., 261

Uštan(n)u (Ostanes), 543 ff.

Ut-napištim, 548

[pg 596]

Van, 127, 367

Vannites, 391

Venus, 203.

See Istar

Veterinary surgeons' fees and penalties, 511

Vicious cattle, laws concerning, 512, 523

Village settlements, growth of, 171

Vine, the, 75

Vine of the Babylonian Paradise, 71

Violation, penalty for, 501, 521

Virgins, priestesses, and hierodules, 508

Vowel-changes in the Akkadian dialects, 241

Waidrang, governor of Elephantine, 539

Wall built at Ur (Uriwa) by Eri-Aku, 220

Ward, Dr. W. Hayes, conductor of the Wolfe expedition, 70

“Warehouse of the king's gifts,” the, 445

Water, concerning the king's, etc., 446

“Waters of death,” the, 99

Way, the Rev. Dr. J. P., 155

Weissbach, Dr., 556, 558

Wedding-gift, the bridegroom's, 553

West called Amurrū (Amoria, the land of the Amorites), 205

West-land, no record of an expedition to, in the reign of Ḫammurabi, 214, 215;
his claim to this tract, 215

West-Semitic deities, 156;
names, 157

Whitehouse, Mr. F. Cope, 263

Wiedemann, Prof., 253

Wife of Pir-napištim prepares the magic food, 108, 109

Wife-seeking, Abraham's, for his son, parallels to, 524

Wild animals damage by, 512, 523

Winckler, Dr. Hugo, 235, 297, 537, 538

Wine-women, 499 (laws 108 ff.)

Wišyari, a captive, 302

Witnesses necessary, 500, 501;
names of, 162, 237, 238, etc.

Working an ox unlawfully, 512, 523

Working-off debt, 500 (law 117)

Workmen, hire of, 188, 514

Worship, lines upon, 49

Xenophon, 422

Xerxes, forms of his name, 428

Yaana or Yawani, a Hittite, 369, 370

Yaanana. See Yatnana.

Yâ, Ya'u, Au, Aa, names containing, 59

Yâ-abî-ni, name, 60

Yabitiri, governor of Gaza and Jaffa, 279;
to the king of Egypt, 284

Yabušu, name, 324

Ya-Dagunu, name, 59

Ya'enḫamu (Yanḫamu), 298

Yahu (Jah, Jehovah), temple of, at Elephantine, 539 ff., 544

Yahwah, 342.

See -yāwa

Yakinlû of Arvad, 389;
sends his sons to Assur-banî-âpli, 390

Yakubu, Yakubi, Yakub-îlu, Ya'kubi-îlu (Jacob, Jacob-el), and other similarly-formed names, 157, 183, 243-245, 554

Yamutbālu, Emutbālu, conquered by Ḫammurabi, 211, 212, 214, 216

Yanḫamu, an Egyptian official, 285, 295, 298

Yanzû, king of Na'iri or Mesopotamia, 367

Yapa-Addu, 293

Yapti'-Addu killed, 296

Yapu, Yappu (Jaffa), 285, 375

Yaraqu traversed by Shalmaneser, 334, 349

Yasubigalleans, 373

Yašupum, Yašup-îlu (Joseph, Joseph-el), and other similarly-formed names, 157, 243

Yatnana (Yaanana), Cyprus, 387

[pg 597]

Ya'u, Yaum, etc., 535, 536;
suggested etymology of, 113;
supposed to have been identified with Aa or Ea, 18

Yaua (Jehu), 337, 339

Yau-bi'idi (= Ilu-bi'idi) of Hamath, 322, 363, 366

Yaudu, Yaudi (Judah), 370, 386, 389

Yaum-îlu, name, meaning “Jah is God” (Joel), 199 n.

Ya'wa, Yâwa, 535

-yāwa, names ending in, 458, 465, 470, 471

Ya(')we-îlu, name, 535

Yeb (Elephantine), 539 ff.;
meaning of the name, 544

Yedoniah of Elephantine, 539 ff.

Yehohanan (Johanan or John), 540, 542

Yidia of Askelon to the king of Egypt, 286, 287

Yoke of Assyria thrown off by Nabopolassar, 550

Young, plant to make the old, 109

Zabibé, queen of Arabia, 350

Zabû, Zabium (king), 153;
tablets dated in his reign, 174, 183, 237

Zagaga, god of battle, identified with Merodach, 58;
temple of, at Kiš, 213, 214, 415, 489

Zahi (Phœnicia), 270

Zaphnath-paaneah, Steindorff's translation of, 257

Zarephath (Sareptu), 374

Zedekiah, captured, 400.

See Mattaniah

Zelah, 297

Zēru-kênu-lîsir, son of Merodach-baladan, 386

Zēr-panitum, consort of Merodach, 160, 212;
swearing by, 433;
invocation of, 466;
see also 472, 479

Zērû-Bâbîli (Zerubbabel, better Zeru-Babel), a frequent name, 425, 441, 559

Zeus (Belos), 137

Zikurat Babili, 139

Zilû city, 296

Zimmern, Prof. H., 68, 536, 546

Zimrêda of Sidon, hostile to Egypt, 293;
Zimrêda of Lachish, threatened, 296;
another Z., 556

Ziri-Bašani (field of Bashan), 277

Zoan, supposed place where Joseph met Pharaoh, 253

Zubuduru, messenger of Nebuchadnezzar's son, 434

Footnotes

1.

Written on the edge of the tablet in the Assyrian copy.

2.

Cf. the royal names, Anman-ila, Buntaḫtun-ila, etc., in the so-called Arabic Dynasty of Babylon. (P. 154.)

3.

Literally “he who feareth not his god.”

4.

The Akkadian line has “the sickness (disease) of the head.”

5.

Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O.T., 2nd edit. vol. i. p. 28.

6.

A later explanation by Prof. Sayce is, that Enoch may be Ḫana, “on the east side of Babylonia,” with the determinative suffix ki (making Ḫanaki) added. See Expository Times, Jan. 1902, p. 179.

7.

In this description of the contents of the 12 tablets referring to Gilgameš, the common reading of the name of his friend and companion has been retained, partly to keep a form which was more or less familiar, and partly because the reading is doubtful. From the new text discovered by Meissner, however, the name would seem not to be Êa-bani, but Êa-du or Enki-du. Future discoveries may ultimately give us the true reading.

8.

Variant, “with loud voice.”

9.

Variant, “Maḫ.”

10.

Compare the story of Aesculapius, who, when in the house of Glaucus, killed a serpent, upon which another of these reptiles came with a herb in its mouth, wherewith it restored its dead companion to life. Aesculapius was to all appearance luckier than Gilgameš, for it was with this herb that he restored the sick and dead, whereas the Babylonian hero seems to have lost the precious plant.

11.

Apparently meaning the same as if the word “artificers” only had been used. Compare the expression “a son of Babylon” for “a Babylonian.”

12.

Marshall Brothers, Paternoster Row.

13.

The Assyrians, when referring to Babylonia, generally call it “Akkad,” which ought rather, therefore, to be the district nearest to them—that is, the northern part of the country, immediately south of their own borders. They also called this part Karduniaš, one of the names by which it was known in Babylonia.

14.

See p. 122.

15.

Other possible instances of the occurrence of this element in names of this time are Zumu-rame, Šumu-ḫammu (apparently for Sumu-ḫammu), Sumu-ḫala, Samu-abum, Samukim, Sumu-entel (so probably to be read instead of Sumu-ente-al), Sumu-ni-Ea, “Our Shem is Ea,” and in all probability many others could be found. (See Hommel, Ancient Hebrew Tradition.)

16.

For further information upon Babylonia and Egypt, compare Prof. F. Hommel's “Der babylonische Ursprung der ägyptischen Kultur,” München, G. Franz, 1892. A new etymology of Arpachshad, very similar to that of Prof. Schrader, has, however, lately been suggested by Prof. Sayce, and afterwards by Prof. Hommel, who has apparently abandoned that given above.

17.

See the tablet translated on pp. 182-183, and compare the documents quoted on pp. 174, 178 ff., 180, 184, 185, 186-7.

18.

In consequence of variations in the lists, there is doubt as to the total of the reigns of the above kings. The shorter indications have been given above, as far as the reign of Samsu-iluna. A small tablet from Babylon (Rassam excavations) gives Sumu-abi 15, Sumu-la-ila 35, Zabû 14, Abil-Sin 18, Sin-mubaliṭ 30, Ḫammurabi 55, and Samsu-iluna 35—total, with the others, 304 years instead of 285. Perhaps there were usurpers, whose reigns have not been included. There seems to have been an interregnum after the reign of Samu-abi (Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, 1899, p. 161).

19.

Or Buntaḫtun-ila, in an inscription published by Hermann Ranke (Pennsylvania Expedition, vol. VI., part 1, 1906).

20.

The name really seems, however, to be Sumuenteal, probably a scribe's error.

21.

Or “heroic son”—dumu ursa[ga?].

22.

The Ebišum of the chronological lists.

23.

Yosephia and Habe-Ibraheem.

24.

See the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, July 1900, pp. 262, 263.

25.

An interesting commentary on this is furnished by the British Museum tablet K, 2100, which informs us that the god Rimmon or Hadad was called Addu or Dadu in Amorite, Tešsub in the language of Su (Mesopotamia), Maliku in the language of Suḫ, (the Shuites), Kunzibami in Elamite, and Buriaš in Kassite. The same inscription also states that the word for “God” was ene in Su, nab in Elamite, malaḫum in Amorite, kiurum in Lulubite, mašḫu in Kassite, and gives the additional synonyms (? in Babylonian) qadmu, “he who was first,” digirū (from the Akkadian dingir, “god”), and also, seemingly, ḫilibu.

26.

To all appearance letters were originally read out to the person addressed by a professional reader.

27.

This often happens, the most interesting case being the tablets referring to Bunanitum, four in number, acquired in 1876, 1877, and a year or two later. Another of the series is in New York. Cf. pp. 459-465.

28.

I have purposely given the translation of the inner tablet, that of the envelope being less simply worded, and therefore not quite so easy to understand. The list of witnesses, however, is from the envelope, this being much more satisfactory in that it gives the father's name and the title of the person in some cases.

29.

The envelope here adds: “At no future time shall he make a claim.”

30.

This is apparently an expression taken from the contracts referring to the purchase of houses, in which the same set phrases were used.

31.

In the list of household goods inscribed on the tablet Bu. 91-5-9, 337, are enumerated 1 bed, 1 couch, 2 tables, other objects, mostly of wood, to the number of 42; 7 pots, 1 chair, 4 ušratum (probably vessels containing the tenth part of some measure), 5 hamsatum (probably vessels containing the fifth part of a measure), 31 qa of sesame, and a few other things.

32.

Generally read Ê-giš-šir-gal.

33.

Probably the first line of the next tablet.

34.

The Talmud says that Terah worshipped twelve divinities, one for each month of the year.

35.

There was a temple of the sun and the moon at a town at no great distance from Ur [Mugheir], now represented by the mounds of Tel-Sifr, where a number of tablets with envelopes were found.

36.

One of the most interesting names found in the texts of this period is that of Yaum-îlu, “Jah is God,” occurring in a letter. Yau (Jah) was one of the Babylonian words indicating the Supreme God, only used, however, in special cases. (Cf. pp. 58 ff.)

37.

See the inscription translated on p. 155.

38.

In inscriptions referring to Haran the Moon-god bears this name.

39.

Apparently the god Sin, through the priest, his representative. For Esarhaddon's successes in Egypt, see p. 388.

40.

The ayin of the second element must have been pronounced like the Arabic ghain, making 'Atar-ghata, which would probably be a better transcription.

41.

A corrupt form of the same name.

42.

This is probably not the land of Ḫana referred to on p. 84, note, which was apparently a Babylonian principality, and retained its independence to a comparatively late date. It was a district which had especially skilful stone- and metal-workers.

43.

A doubtful rendering.

44.

Or “Year of the images of the 7 gods.”

45.

Or “Year of (the temple) Ê-namḫe.”

46.

It may just be mentioned that date 30, “Year of the army of Elam,” if correctly rendered, may refer to the Elamite expedition to the West, but it seems more likely that it records a disaster to the Elamite arms, which enabled Ḫammurabi to overthrow Rîm-Sin of Emutbālu next year.

47.

A deity, probably the god of destruction.

48.

Further details will be found in the paper, Certain Inscriptions and Records, etc. in the Journal of the Victoria Institute, 1895-96, pp. 43-90. Published also separately.

49.

The word ḳâtu, “hand,” in Semitic Babylonian, means also “power,” and as an explanatory gloss, the scribe has introduced the Hebrew זרוע or עורז, zuruḫ in Assyrian transcription, meaning “arm,” or, here, “power.” Apparently he was afraid that ḳâtu would not be understood.

50.

In this connection Maspero's remarks upon this fragment (Records of the Past, 2nd series, vol. ii. p. 43) are worth repeating. He points out that there were three Pharaohs named Soqnun-rî (= Seqnen-Rê), and he implies that it was in all probability the last of these which is referred to. He perished by a violent death, perhaps in battle against the Hyksos themselves. “He had shaved his head the morning before, ‘arraying himself for the combat like the god Montu,’ as the Egyptian scribes would say. His courage led him to penetrate too far into the ranks of the enemy; he was surrounded and slain before his companions could rescue him. The blow of an axe removed part of his left cheek and laid bare the teeth, striking the jaw and felling him stunned to the ground; a second blow entered far within the skull, a dagger or short lance splitting the forehead on the right side a little above the eye. The Egyptians recovered the body and embalmed it in haste, when already partly decomposed, before sending it to Thebes and the tomb of his ancestors.... The author of the legend may probably have continued the story down to the tragic end of his hero. The scribe to whom we owe the papyrus on which it is inscribed must certainly have intended to complete the tale; he had recopied the last lines on the reverse of one of the pages, and was preparing to continue it when some accident intervened to prevent his doing so.... It is probable, however, that it went on to describe how Soqnun-rî, after long hesitation, succeeded in escaping from the embarrassing dilemma in which his powerful rival had attempted to place him. His answer must have been as odd and extraordinary as the message of 'Apôpi, but we have no means even of conjecturing what it was.”

51.

Compare the name of the well near which Hagar the Egyptian woman fell down exhausted when fleeing from Sarai, Abraham's wife: “The well of the living one who seeth me.”

52.

Driver, in Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible, under Joseph.

53.

Or “to each hungry person.”

54.

This and other transcriptions of the name into cuneiform character suggests that it was generally pronounced Neb-mu'a-Re'a.

55.

Another god of Mitanni seems to have been Eaašarri, probably from the Babylonian Êa šarru, “Êa (Aê) the king.” Other Mitannian deities are Šimîgi and Sušbi.

56.

Compare the Arabic eshāra, “sign.”

57.

Nin-urmuru (?) is only a provisional transcription, being at least partly Akkadian. Her name in all probability began with Bêlit, “lady of” = Bâalat. As the name ends with the plural sign, the question naturally arises whether it may not be practically a title—“Lady of the Urmuru” (?), or something of the kind.

58.

I.e. to king Amenophis, to whom he was writing.

59.

In all probability this is metaphorically spoken, and means simply that he captured him. The feet of those vanquished in battle were sometimes cut off, but it is hardly likely that a man would survive this without medical treatment.

60.

Lit. “stood before him.”

61.

Lit. “a servant of faithfulness.”

62.

Lit. “I look thus, and I look thus.”

63.

It is doubtful whether the full form of the name is preserved, the tablet being broken at this point.

64.

Ḫani-galbat is identified with northern Mesopotamia (Aram-Naharaim), and was the land ruled over by Dušratta, king of Mitanni, a synonym of which, at least in part, the district known as Ḫani-galbat was. Ḫana-galbat is apparently a variant spelling.

65.

Or “the keeper of thy horses.” The dual sign before the word “horses” suggests that “attendant,” “guardian,” or “driver” of the two horses of the king's chariot is meant. The expression is apparently intended merely to indicate the writer's position as vassal.

66.

Lit. “to whose head,” apparently meaning “to whose self” = “to whom.”

67.

Thus in the original—apparently Abdi-ṭâba thought that “they backbite” (îkalu karsi) might not be understood.

68.

The name is lost.

69.

The number is lost.

70.

This number is incomplete.

71.

Lit. “taken hostility against me.”

72.

Lit. “there is alliance to all the governors.”

73.

The scribe has left out a wedge in the middle character, making the name Kapasi.

74.

Apparently meaning that Milki-îli, pretending to be faithful to the king of Egypt, intended to ask him, later on, for the territory governed by Lab'aya and Arzawa, in order to give it back to them, they having forfeited it by their rebellion.

75.

So Naville and others.

76.

Sothis rose heliacally on the 9th of Epiphi of the 9th year (1545 b.c.) of Amenophis I. Amosis, his predecessor, ruled twenty-two years, so that his first year must be 1575 b.c. Subtract 240 years, the period of oppression, from 1575, and we obtain 1335 as the date of the Exodus.

77.

Mahler suggests that it was one of the sons of Rameses II. who met with his death in the Red Sea when pursuing the departing Israelites.

78.

Also Abdi-Aširta, Abdi-Ašratum.

79.

Lit. “chariots of the harness of their yoke.”

80.

Prof. Sayce translates “like moon-stone I laid low.”

81.

Or “fear which dreaded.”

82.

These words (ša mât Ḫat-ta-a-a) are inserted in this place in squeeze 84.

83.

See the list, p. 374 (with 373 and 378). Amurrū (Amoria, p. 374) appears as in Ḫatti (p. 373), or synonymous with it.

84.

Lit. “of his decision.”

85.

See p. 224.

86.

The land of the Amorites.

87.

Or Šizanians.

88.

Only eleven are mentioned.

89.

The god of death and battle.

90.

Thus in the inscription, but translators generally read Gilzanu.

91.

Guide to the Nimroud Central Saloon, p. 31. This rendering is based on a careful comparison of the inscription with the bas-relief.

92.

“Son of Ê-saggil” means that he was one of the deities worshipped in the temple bearing that name. The god Ninip is called “son of E-sarra,” for the same reason. Nebo was especially worshipped, however, at Ê-zida.

93.

“The broad (land of) ... li,” however, occurs, and, as Professor Hommel actually suggests, may be a reference to Nap-ta-li or Naphtali.

94.

I.e. like the ruins of cities which had been swept away by a flood. In both Assyria and Babylonia floods were common things, and the devastation they caused naturally gave rise to the simile.

95.

According to Fried. Delitzsch, this is incorrectly given for Sewe, the Sib'e of the Assyrian inscriptions.

96.

If it be Sargon, then it was naturally he who carried Israel captive to Assyria, placing them in Halah, Habor, and the cities of the Medes.

97.

I.e. those of the island of Tyre, which still held out.

98.

Lit. “I smote their overthrow.”

99.

See the chapter upon the Tel-el-Amarna letters (p. 281 ff.).

100.

It is noteworthy, however, that Sabaco is elsewhere called Sabaku (see below, p. 389).

101.

“The two borders,” see Sayce. The Assyrian form is singular, as is also the Babylonian Miṣir, which has i for u in both syllables. The Arabic form is Miṣr. Muṣur(u), Misir(u), Miṣraim, and Misr are all forms of the same name.

102.

Compare p. 366, where the earlier payment of tribute is referred to.

103.

See pp. 283, 291, 292.

104.

The land of Heth, Syria in general.

105.

Lit. “wrought anew.”

106.

Or Ya(w)anana. (This is added from the bull-inscription.)

107.

Or Ṣidqaa (for Ṣidqaia = Zedekiah).

108.

Unknown objects—perhaps gold bangles or similar things.

109.

Lit. “whatever its name.”

110.

Or “I.”

111.

Elibus in Alexander Polyhistor, as quoted by Eusebius, Armenian Chronicle, 42.

112.

It is impossible, with our present knowledge, to determine the date of Merodach-baladan's envoy to Hezekiah (2 Kings xx. 12), but if at the late period indicated, he must have been in hiding, and waiting for the chance to mount the throne again.

113.

This, together with Nagitu, and Nagitu-di'ibina, are apparently different from the Nagite-raqqi or Nagitu-raqqu mentioned above. Apparently Merodach-baladan had fled from the Nagitu “within the sea” to the mainland.

114.

The Babylonian Chronicle claims victory for the allies, and Sennacherib for the Assyrians. The sequel implies that the latter is the more trustworthy.

115.

I.e. Mer-en-Ptah, Seti I. As, however, this king reigned as early as 1350 b.c., Herodotus must have been misinformed. Tirhakah, “king of Ethiopia,” was Sennacherib's opponent at the period of the siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings xix. 9).

116.

Tel-Assar (Isaiah xxxvii. 12)—Assar probably = Asari (p. 54).

117.

There were twenty provinces in all, including those of Nikû, king of Mempi and Sâa (Necho of Memphis and Sais); Šarru-lû-dâri (an Assyrian name), king of Ṣi'anu (Zoan or Tanis), Susinqu (Sheshonq), king of Buširu (Busiris), and many others.

118.

“To the long chariot, the vehicle of my royalty.”

119.

As pointed out by Commander Jones in 1852, the river responsible for the disaster was not the Tigris, but must have been the Khosr, which flows through Nineveh from the N.E., and runs into the Tigris W.S.W. of the village of Armushieh.

120.

Apparently Duwair, S.S.E. of Babylon. This, however, is probably not a real place-name, the word really meaning “mound.”

121.

A part of Babylon.

122.

Lit. “like as a corpse.”

123.

Lit. “went round” or “about.”

124.

Probably meaning Asiatics, in contradistinction to the fair inhabitants of Europe.

125.

The old name of Babylon as “the seat of life” = old Babylon.

126.

Lit. “their number cannot be announced.”

127.

Lit. “of the land of Amoria.”

128.

The old capital of Assyria.

129.

An addition by the scribe of the first tablet (the more correct copy), seemingly partly erased.

130.

The second copy (the less correct) has, instead of “who is over the city,” the words “the son of the king ...,” which (judging from the word for “man” before “king”) the scribe must have read into the traces which he saw.

131.

This must be another Marduka—it is most unlikely that it is the son of Adi'îlu and Ḫulîtu, concerning whom the document was written.

132.

Variant, Adi'îlu, possibly the seller of Marduka, and if so, Ukîn-zēra must have been the brother of the man sold.

133.

See above, p. 445, where the husbandmen are referred to.

134.

Probably = “under.”

135.

Apparently from the root par, “to be bright.” These stones were probably sacred to the Sun-god.

136.

Or “the woollen stuffs.”

137.

Lit. “thou (art) in thy house, in thy heart (there is) good to thee.”

138.

It seems to have been sometimes the custom for a man to be known by more than one name.

139.

Lit. “gardenership.”

140.

This may mean “the Egyptian,” but as there were more than one Miṣir, this is doubtful.

141.

Nabonidus.

142.

Or, perhaps, “(in) the plantation-territory.”

143.

Or, perhaps, “the territory of the great farther side.”

144.

As the Babylonians had no means of indicating the sound of o, characters containing u had to be used in such words as these. The Babylonian pronunciation of the Greek πολίτης was, therefore, poliṭē. Another form of this plural word, namely, puliṭannu (poliṭānu), also occurs.

145.

In 1890, when this inscription was copied, it was in the possession of Mr. Lucas, who kindly gave me permission to publish it. I do not know who possesses the tablet at present. The seal-impression at the end is exceedingly indistinct.

146.

The spirits of the earth.

147.

The Sungod was the god of justice, hence this comparison.

148.

The inhabitants of the land.

149.

The temple-tower of Niffur.

150.

The temple of Bel at Niffur.

151.

The temple of Eridu.

152.

The temple of Bel at Babylon.

153.

See p. 193.

154.

The temple of Ur—see p. 194 ff.

155.

The moon-goddess of Sippar.

156.

The temple of the sun at Sippar.

157.

Ellasar.

158.

The temple of the sun at Larsa (Ellasar).

159.

The god and goddess of Ê-anna, the temple of Erech.

160.

The temple of Isin or Nisin.

161.

The temple of Kiš.

162.

Apparently a conflict had taken place here, and the success of the Babylonian arms was attributed to the god of the place.

163.

The temple of Cuthah.

164.

Merodach—see p. 30 ff.

165.

The temple of Borsippa.

166.

The modern Dailem.

167.

The god of Dilmu.

168.

The temple at Lagas.

169.

Goddess of Ḫallabu.

170.

Lit.: “the raising of the hand.”

171.

Hadad.

172.

Or, with Scheil: who has rectified the course of the Tigris. As, however, the sign for “river” is wanting, the meaning “family,” “race,” which this word has, is to be preferred.

173.

The temple of Ištar of Nineveh, later called E-masmas.

174.

Lit.: “to the river-god,” and so throughout the clause.

175.

A matter of life and death.

176.

Lit.: “which is in that judgment.”

177.

Cf. 126, 131.

178.

Lit.: “a period to the sixth month.”

179.

Lit.: “in the sixth month.”

180.

Lit.: “shall call upon the spirit of God.”

181.

Lit.: “In the house of a man fire has been kindled.”

182.

Lit.: “a man of substitution.”

183.

The officer, etc.

184.

Lit.: “for opening.”

185.

Lit.: “the god Hadad.”

186.

Or, “did not cover the cost.”

187.

Lit.: “the god Hadad.”

188.

Lit.: “the lord of the interest.”

189.

Lit.: “profit.”

190.

Or, “its interest.”

191.

Lit.: “sons,” or “children.”

192.

I.e. in the same proportion.

193.

Lit.: “in days not full.”

194.

In the British Museum fragment 80-11-12, 1235, found by Mr. Rassam in Babylonia, 100 and 101 form a single section, the last one of the 5th tablet.

195.

Lit.: “invoke the spirit of God.”

196.

In other words, “he shall take a receipt for the amount.”

197.

Probably = “shall not be placed to his credit.”

198.

Lit.: “dwells on the road.”

199.

Lit.: “the possessions of his hand.”

200.

Lit.: “and to whatever its name, as much as he gave, he shall renounce.”

201.

Lit.: “the distraint.”

202.

Apparently the agent who lent him the money, and who is called “the distrainer” in the foregoing lines.

203.

Has not made a contract for her.

204.

Lit.: “If the wife of a man her husband accuse her.”

205.

Lit.: “she shall invoke the spirit of God.”

206.

The original text adds “before him,” probably meaning “before he left.”

207.

Or “may.”

208.

Lit.: “after him.”

209.

Or “need.”

210.

Lit.: “she may take the husband of her heart.”

211.

Lit.: “take.”

212.

Or “a chain.”

213.

Lit.: “her after (property).”

214.

Lit.: “a lord of interest.”

215.

Lit.: “set her upon a stake.”

216.

There is a mistake in the text here, the most probable reading being “cast him into the water.”

217.

Lit.: “movable(s),” French du meuble.

218.

Perhaps “shall add to it an equal amount,” as a kind of compensation. Scheil has “il égalera.”

219.

That is, to the man himself.

220.

In all probability it is an adopted son who is meant—it is doubtful whether a man could do more than disinherit his own child.

221.

I.e. decide to marry again.

222.

Lit.: “her sonhood, of her brothers it is.”

223.

The same word is used as in the case of a marriage-gift.

224.

The same word is used as in the case of a marriage-gift.

225.

That is, she must content herself with the marriage-gift.

226.

Lit.: “taken to childship.”

227.

Or “in his name.”

228.

These were in the position of orphans, having no proper home.

229.

Lit.: “the son of a worker.”

230.

Or “as a foster-child.”

231.

Here the term would seem to be equivalent to “apprentice.”

232.

Evidently such a denial on the child's part was regarded as the height of ingratitude (see the footnote to § 187).

233.

In the original “his eye.”

234.

Lit.: “price.”

235.

Or “skull,” Scheil: “cerveau.” Peiser's rendering, “cheek” (Backe), seems to be the best. (This applies to laws 203-205 as well.)

236.

According to Winckler, this expression (“son of a man”) means “a free-born man.”

237.

Lit.: “slave like slave.”

238.

Lit.: “the silver of half his price.”

239.

Lit.: “lord of the injury.”

240.

This was regarded as a fraud, and punished as such.

241.

Or “the boatman shall repair that vessel, and strengthen (it) with his own capital, and give the strengthened vessel (back) to the owner of the vessel.”

242.

Lit.: “price.”

243.

Lit.: “ox like ox.”

244.

Such is the general translation. An injury of this kind would render the animal useless, as it would be unable to bear the yoke, hence this enactment.

245.

Or “slit.”

246.

Lit.: “shall invoke the spirit of God.”

247.

As the dog his first bite, so the bull was allowed his first toss free.

248.

Or “failing,” “defect.”

249.

Or “weakened,” “starved.”

250.

Lit.: “given.”

251.

Lit.: “it is good to his heart.”

252.

Lit.: “the fate,” i.e., divine decree concerning them.

253.

Lit.: “of.”

254.

The character used is the same as that for grain (wheat, etc.), but the weight is unknown.

255.

Winckler: “potter.”

256.

Lit.: “man of linen.” Scheil, Winckler, and Johns translate “tailor.”

257.

A part only of the word is preserved.

258.

Lit.: “he has had a claim.”

259.

Lit.: “shall answer the claim.”

260.

Lit.: “he shall make their freedom without silver.” This law seems to indicate that neither owner was regarded as having a right to them.

261.

Lit.: “silver.”

262.

The people.

263.

The Ninevite duplicate has a different reading.

264.

Probably = “north and south,” or “in mountain and valley.”

265.

Winckler: “put an end to battles.”

266.

Lit.: “proclaimed.”

267.

Apparently meaning the head of the stone bearing this inscription.

268.

The Nineveh duplicate has: “by the command of Šamaš and Hadad, judges of justice, deciders of decisions, may justice have power.”

269.

Lit.: “a word.”

270.

Lit.: “good flesh.”

271.

Lit.: “thoughts.”

272.

Lit.: “the going forth.”

273.

Lit.: “his dark of head.”

274.

Scheil: “given rectitude.”

275.

The future king.

276.

Lit.: “cause another to take (this responsibility).”

277.

Lit.: “whose name has been proclaimed.”

278.

I.e., his throne.

279.

Lit.: “honourable.”

280.

Lit.: “go before.”

281.

Lit.: “ear.”

282.

Or “oblivion.”

283.

Or “visions.”

284.

Lit.: “spirits” (utukke). Perhaps the “soul” and “spirit” are meant, the plural being indicated by writing the character twice, though nothing certain can be deduced from this.

285.

Scheil and Winckler: “sickle” (= crescent), but this seems to be a different word.

286.

Scheil: “is in conflict.”

287.

Mounds of an inundation, such as the great Flood was supposed to have produced.

288.

Probably repeated by an error of the stone-cutter.

289.

The Nineveh duplicate has: “whose battle has no equal.”

290.

Or “bind.”

291.

Or “strength,” apparently meaning the imperfectness of that quality.

292.

Generally referred to under the fuller form Anunnaki.

293.

Or “temple,” either that of Merodach at Babylon, or Ê-babbara.

294.

The temple of the Sun at Sippar or at Larsa—probably the former.

295.

In Ex. xxi. 8 it is presumed that the master of the girl betrothed her to himself, as in the case of Šamaš-nûri (p. 185), who, however, could be sold as a slave if she denied her mistress.

296.

The old Sumerian law referring to injuries to slaves (p. 191) inflicts a fine on the hirer, not on the owner.

297.

Isaiah xlv. 20: “They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their graven images.” R. V.

298.

Num. vi. 26: “The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee,” equivalent to “to raise the eyes” in Assyro-Babylonian.

299.

Lit.: “shall not bring his hand to the sick.”

300.

Lit.: “the raising of his hands.”

301.

This form is due to a false etymology, but it is used by Delitzsch as a very convenient compound word.

302.

The word may also be translated “inhabiting,” but this does not seem to be so good.

303.

Lit.: “ill.”

304.

For parallels to the Babylonian legend of Tiamtu in the Talmud and Midrash, see S. Daiches in the Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, xvii. (1903), pp. 394-399.

305.

Similar figures are shown on the slabs in the British Museum (Nimroud Gallery) standing before the sacred tree.

306.

The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians, in the Journal of the Transactions of the Victoria Institute, 1895.

307.

P. 181.

308.

P. 183, where the reading is Ibsina-ili.

309.

P. 184.

310.

For a list of these, see “Observations sur la Religion des Babyloniens 2000 ans avant Jésus-Christ,” by Th. G. Pinches, in the Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, 1901.

311.

See Hugo Winckler, Die im Sommer 1906 in Kleinasien ausgeführten Ausgrabungen, Orientalische Literatur-Zeitung, Dec. 15, 1906; Vorläufige Nachrichten über die Ausgrabungen in Boghaz-Köi im Sommer 1907, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft, Dec. 1907 (No. 35).

312.

See pp. 297, 298, where Cassites (Kâsi) are referred to. The Kassites east of Babylonia were the Cosssæans of the Greeks. (Cf. pp. 122, 140, 170.)

313.

See pp. 275 ff.

314.

See pp. 222 ff.

315.

It will be noticed that the Hittite-Babylonian transcription is of considerable value for the pronunciation of Egyptian.

316.

See p. 232.

317.

Aramaic Papyri discovered at Assuan, edited by A. H. Sayce and A. E. Cowley. London, 1906.

318.

Lit.: “they shall remove.”

319.

Sachau suggests that this may be gentilic, and mean “the Lachite.”

320.

Possibly “companions” (Sachau).

321.

Variant: “the 7 great doors.”

322.

QYMu, a word of doubtful meaning.

323.

Or “bronze.”

324.

Sachau suggests that this may be the name of Waidrang's tribe—that of Caleb, or the like.

325.

Possibly signs of dignity or wealth, made of some precious metal.

326.

In the original Ostan âḫûhi zi 'Anani, a construction which reminds us of the Babylonian âbli-šu ša, “son of.” May we, therefore, read “Ostanes, brother of 'Anani?”

327.

That is, the receivers of Bagohi's benefits.

328.

As such a reward would be much too small, Sachau suggests that the kinkar (? talent) was much below the value of an ordinary talent.

329.

See page 539.

330.

Chnub, the Greek Chnubis, Knuphis, or Kneph.

331.

If this be the case, Waidareng is also a possible reading.

332.

Sanballat in Nehemiah. The transcription here used is that of the Septuagint, but the vocalization is in both cases incorrect—it should be Sin-uballiṭ. This name, which is Babylonian, means “the moon-god has given life.” He is called a Horonite in Neh. ii. 10, 19.

333.

Lit.: “going.”

334.

See the Author's Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (A. Constable & Co., 1906), pp. 43-44.

335.

Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1902, I.: Ein Altbabylonisches Fragment des Gilgamosepos, von Bruno Meissner. Berlin, Wolf Peiser Verlag.

336.

Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, I. The Rauzat-us-Safa; or Garden of Purity, by Mirkhond. Translated by E. Rehatsek. Royal Asiatic Society, 1891.

337.

The Babylonian Excavations and Early Bible History, by Prof. Kittel, translated by Edmund McClure, M.A., with a preface by Henry Wace, D.D. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1903.

338.

Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. v., pl. 2, l. 40, and Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, part xii., pl. 6. Cf. p. 144.

339.

Probably illustrating the Sumerian Laws.

340.

Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1897.

341.

The Bronze Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balawat, with an introduction by Walter de Gray Birch, and descriptions and translations by Theophilus G. Pinches. Published at the Offices of the Society of Biblical Archæology, Bloomsbury, W.C.

342.

Or “images.”

343.

Assyria.

344.

See p. 207, upper part.

345.

That is, Babylonia.

346.

Collection de Clercq. Catalogue méthodique et raisonné, par M. de Clercq, avec la collaboration de M. J. Menant. Paris, Leroux, 1885, etc.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword

Chapter I. The Early Traditions Of The Creation.

- Sidelights:—Merodach.

- The God Aa, Ae, Or Ea.

- Anšar And Kišar (pp. 16, 17, 20, etc.).

- Tiamat.

Chapter II. The History, As Given In The Bible, From The Creation To The Flood.

- Adam.

Chapter III. The Flood.

- The Eleventh Tablet Of The Gilgameš Series, Containing The Story Of The Flood.

- Appendix. The Second Version Of The Flood-Story.

Chapter IV. Assyria, Babylonia, And The Hebrews, With Reference To The So-Called Genealogical Table.

- The Tower Of Babel.

- The Patriarchs To Abraham.

Chapter V. Babylonia At The Time Of Abraham.

- The Religious Element.

- The King.

- The People.

- 1.

- 2.

- 3.

- “Year of Šamaš and Rimmon.”

Chapter VI. Abraham.

- Salem.

Chapter VII. Isaac, Jacob, And Joseph.

Chapter VIII. The Tel-El-Amarna Tablets And The Exodus.

Chapter IX. The Nations With Whom The Israelites Came Into Contact.

- Amorites.

- Hittites.

- Jebusites.

- Girgashites.

- Moabites.

Chapter X. Contact Of The Hebrews With The Assyrians.

- Sennacherib.

- Esarhaddon.

- Aššur-Banî-Âpli.

Chapter XI. Contact Of The Hebrews With The Later Babylonians.

Chapter XII. Life At Babylon During The Captivity, With Some Reference To The Jews.

- I.

- The Earliest Mention Of Nabonidus.

- II.

- A Loan Granted On Security At Erech.

- The Work Upon A Plantation.

- Sale Of An Ass.

- Jews And Babylonians During The Captivity.

- The Dead Slave.

- A Right Of Way.

- The Story Of Abil-Addu-Nathanu And Bunanitum.

- The Purchase Of The House At Borsippa.

- The Loan To Make Up The Sum Required To Purchase The Property.

- A First Payment Made After The Death Of Abil-Addu-Nathānu.

- The Legal Action After The Death Of Abil-Addu-Nathānu.

- The Final Repayment Of The Loan To Iddina-Marduk.

- Ê-Sagila-Râmat And Her Father-In-Law's Slave.

- Iddina-Nabû Sells His Egyptian Slave And Her Infant.

Chapter XIII. The Decline Of Babylon.

Appendix. The Stele Inscribed With The Laws Of Ḫammurabi.

- The Laws Of Ḫammurabi.

- Introduction.

- The Laws.

- Babylon And The Bible.

- Canaan.

- The Sabbath.

- (The Duties Of The 7th Day).

- Was The Flood A “Sin-Flood”?

- Jahweh (Jehovah).

- Additional Notes To Ḫammurabi's Laws.

Appendix To The Third Edition.

- The Hittites.

- The Ḫabiri.

- A Letter Apparently From Prince Belshazzar (see pp. 446-451).

- The Aramaic Papyri From Elephantine.

Notes And Additions.

Index.

Footnotes

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