- Bap mat!” of B ib l e B u o m l cbgc .

v .

BA BY L O N I A N L I FE

AN D H I T R Y S O .

E A W A L L I BU D B A . . S G E, .

' ' ' T r'wlzit H ebrew S elzolar late S cholar and xlz b tz oner y t , E z z ’ Cltrzlct s Colle e Cam brid qf g , ge .

' A ssistant in tlze D e artm ent o Oriental A ntz u ities Britts/z il p f y , l useu m .

T R I O S T R A C T S C I ET Y H E E L I G U O ,

' ER R o w A N D 6 ST . P A U L S CBURCHYARD . 56, P AT ERN OST 5,

1 884. fl

The thin been is which sha be and which is g that hath , it that ll that do ne is that which shall be do ne a and there is no new thing under the ”— s E l un. cc esiastes i. 9. I N T R O D U CT I O N .

TH E following pages have bee n written with the view o f ff stude nt c o ering to the Bible , in a small ompass, a l e he a n tho u ht ittl of t history of B bylo , her g , religion , and s e manner , and cons quently the means whereby he may understand better some of the allusions of the prophets and Bible historians . When they wrote, they knew they were addressing a nation fully acquainted with the knowledge necessary for the understanding of their words . We inhabitants of the West are obliged to have recourse to whatever contemporaneous records we can find fo r the explanation of the history of the

o ns time which is no t clearly stated in the Bible. C e quently the notices of Bible events and Bible history which are obtained from the nation which had so much

s to do with the Jew are of particul ar value.

The cuneiform writings possess one wonderful attri bute, and that is, they are records of events written at f the time o their occurrence. Manuscript histories can w h be tampered it , letters altered or e rased, additions

e o s out o ut nd s i r ins rted, wh le part , a , tart ng with eve y A 2 I N TR DU CTI O ON .

thing correct, a careless scribe will make mistakes that after generations will never be able to put right . For

x m th e n e a ple, in oldest Egyptian papyri , words, and eve h whole c apters, are written in such a way as to prove that the scribe canno t have understood what he was

. h writing Fortunately, alterations in t ese cuneiform

m docu ents have been rendered impossible, because they have been buried under the dust and dirt of

th e centuries, out of reach of the hands alike of the

. “ m e destructive Arab and Tourist, and , in a easur , u naffected by the hand of slowly but surely destroying

Time .

The decipherment of the clay tablets is not by any means easy, especially of the unbaked, which have recently been brought to England from o ld Babylon and n ffi Sepharvaim . The writi g is complex and di cult, and in many cases the sharp edge of the writing has

e b en sadly rubbed, while the wedge itself is partly or wholly filled in with dust and silica. When the tablets are dug up they are wet and brittle ; when they dry, they often fall i nto dust or cru mble away slowly. Very much that has been done in cuneiform decipher ment is quite certain, but there is much that is still uncertain . The small body of cuneiform scholars is l h working hard to c ear up these doubts, some of w ich day by day disappear. The great need is more

o n find syllabaries and bilingual tablets, which we may n the words expl ai ed which at present are unknown. A T IN ROD UCTION . 3 little patience and forbearance too from those who are sceptical as to the results obtained from cuneiform decipherment are necessary ; when cuneiform has been

as and studied long as Greek Latin , there will be very little in it unknown . See what it has already done for Bible history ! It has told us of the land of Abraham ; it has given us a version of the story of the flood ; it has told us of Babylon and Nineveh it has brought us face to face with

Ti lath - P ileser Sennacherib, g , Sargon, and Esarhaddon the it has revealed to us the home, the language, and thought of the haughty Nebuchadnezzar it has given f us some of the belie s, superstitions, religion, learning, “ and th e f w wisdom of ello citizens of Abraham, the friend of God ; it has caused us to know intimately a branch of the great Semitic race akin to the Jewish n nation from which spra g the Christ, and it carries us back through the long dark vista of centuries and shadowy time to a period when mankind was learning

v n its letters, and step by step was slowly ad a cing to civilisation .

The meanings of the names of the cities and countries

no w mentioned in the Bible are made clear, as are also the meanings of the names of the kings and titles of

ffi N the o cers . Thus, Nebuchadnezzar is ebo protects ” n N abo o lassar N la dmark, p is ebo protects the son ,

ab z ra an N is N u a d is ebo gave a seed, Sargon the “ ” established king, Esarhaddon is Assur gave a brother, A 2 T T 4 IN RODUC ION .

“ the - Sennacherib is moon god increases brothers,

T i lath - P ileser g is the servant, the son Of the Holy ” “ u Of m Ho se, Chedorlaomer is the landmark Laga ar, ” “ i “ t Rabshakeh is chief of the princes, Tartan s he ” mighty son, and so on .

It is necessary to refer here to the inscription O f

Of Si ara S argon I . pp , and to state plainly that the

o Of pinions Assyriologists are divided as to its antiquity. A deeply learned French scholar denies that the first

character in the name is rightly read, and says that the form Of the name is not what it should be ; and with

this latter statement a renowned English scholar agrees.

The arguments, however, which they bring forward are

no t n O co clusive, in my pinion, although future discoveries

Of may prove them to be right . In favour the inscription ,

there are many points ; among others, the form Of the

Of characters the inscription and the inscription itself, and above all the date given by N abo nidu s in his

cylinder. The Assyrians and Babylonians kept a good and Of strict reckoning events past, and their general correctness goes to show that there is no reason to doubt f f he O e O . o t accuracy the statem nt Nabonidus More ver, the date is found on more than one cylinder clearly and

carefully written . The king could have no Object in

fal h giving a se antiquity to his kingdom, or rat er in

- limiting it to the time of Naram Sin and Sargon I .

Of m There were kings Babylon before this ti e , why

s n s then did he choose the e two mo arch , when he might INTRODUCTION . 5

C Of have hosen others greater antiquity, if he had wished merely to say that his kingdom existed for ever ?

o ne Finally, I think that the evidence we have leads to the conclusion that the inscription is Of the period Of

B C new s about . . 3800. If in future days inscription f the r come to light, and su ficient evidence to contra y

rw r u can be brought fo ard, I for one will chee fully give p the belief in what I now think a fact .

The land that is tod ay a howling wilderness was once a flourishing country ; its cities were queens, and

no w their inhabitants were the richest Of the rich . But its cities are ruined, its temples desolate, their gods w broken, and the makers have passed a ay together

Of with their works . European travellers tell the desola tion and misery Of the land the wretched Arab prowls around the mounds which are the ruins Of th e former

C Of ities the ancient highways the country are empty,

C its emporiums are losed , and want, misery, and scarcity

Of d are the kings the land to ay . It is a land with no

’ share in the world s progress, a land given over to a

u Of superstition , the utterly corr pt and debased form its

n ancient pagan religion, with its belief in gen , ghosts, ghouls, and monsters . What was good in it has departed, with its might, its power, and its glory . The l wood devil dances there, and , as Isaiah prophesied,

is the m - it ho e Of the satyr and the screech owl . God

s has for aken it, and its glory has perished .

saiah xxxiv I . I . 4 T I N 6 IN RODUCT O .

In this little book but few references by name have been m Of ade to the works other Assyrian scholars, as the s Of pace allowed would not admit it . Here. however, I take the opportunity Of expressing my Obligations to e r his ve y scholar who may find work used or quoted .

d ue d am e t Of . G t My thanks are also to Dr Richar , the

fo r - Of British Museum , reading the proof sheets the book,

fo r and his thoughtful suggestions .

c f s As new ex avations are made in Babylon , new act

e will be brought to light, and it is hop d that these will be embodied in this work from time to time .

E T E. ES . G RN A W. BUD C N T N T O E S .

C TE HAP R I.

B N D G I S ABYLO ACCOR I N TO T H E CUNE FORM INSCRI P TI ON . P AG E Bab o i — — Ex — m d riv ed n a. I ts reat an i uit tent o f co untr . a e e yl g t q y. y N — — fro m c a ita cit I ts p ld nam e . am es Of Bab o n in th e in p l y. N yl scri tio n a i m anin a i B Ta m udic s nd h r e s e n n Of abe . p t e g . M g l l — — — disc ussio n thereo n. I ts situatio n . I ts siz I ts wa s and their e . ll nam es —Trans atio n f a n bu z ri o n Obtained . l o lo g Ne chadne z ar insc pti fro m two barre c inders in the British um — ebuchadnez z ar l yl Muse . N rebui t the To wer o f Bab e c o l 1 ine — ist o f tem es o f l l, . , l 53 . L pl — — ’ B b ra r. a o n. H e wro te an acc o u nt o f hem bucha z z ar s e yl t . Ne dne p y — — The two r at tem s o f Bab o n anin o f th ir nam es. g e ple yl . Me g e Birs- im rud th si o f rsi a — Bab o and rsi a acc o rdin N e te Bo pp . yl n Bo pp g to the Ta m ud —Their bad nam e am o n the ews — em ains Of l . g J R ’ — — ebuchadnez z ar s bui din s The to wer in seven sta es. Their N l g . g — c o o u rs etc . ain o f D an e the sam e as the ain Of u ra o f l , Pl pl D — — — anie Eu hrates. I ts nam e Si ara the Bib ica Se harvaim . D l p . pp l l p — ts m and m e nin — iver Ti ris and ineveh I na e a g. R g N

C TE HAP R II .

BABYLON ACCORD I NG TO THE CLASSI CAL AUTHORS.

The statem ent Of H r u abo Bab o n —Views o f o ther C assic al e o do t s ut yl . l autho rs as to its si xt n —I ts ates ho uses streets defenc es z e and e e t. g , , , , h and a T m o f u iter Be us. Co m ariso n o f t es w lls. e ple J p l p e acc o unts with tho Of th uneif rm inscri tio ns -Extract fro m se e C o p . East ndia o use in ri io n — ebuchad nez z ar u sed cedar c o v ered I H sc pt . N with o d fo r th i in s o f his tem es — nsc ri tio ns Of this g l e ce l g pl . I p m o narch near ib ah - Want o f definite histo r co ncernin his R l . y g Syrian cam paigns 8 CONTENTS

C TE HAP R III .

B YLO I I S O Y F OM B. C 0 8004 . AB N AN H T R R ABOUT . 3 33 P AGE etho d o f rec ko nin tim i am th Bab nians - Th M g e n u se o ng e ylo . e ’ — — - e o n m c ano n. Sir . aw inso n s disc o v er . im m o n N irari I . p y H R l y R , — B. C. I 0 caused his insc ri tio n to be dated Co ntract tab ets. 33 , p . l — Extrac t fro m epo nym cano n Th e Assyrians kept a strict acco unt — — Of events. m a f th ess ana Bab o nians m ad their I ge O e go dd N . yl e ca cu atio ns b n m abo nidu m entio ns l l y the help Of astro o y . N s

- — aram Sin who rei ned 200 ears befo re his tim e . nsc ri tio n Of N , g 3 y I p — ar o n I . B C 800 Extrac t fro m inscri tio n o f abo nidus. S g , . . 3 . p N e end abo ut ar o —Bab o nian kin s aram - in r-B S n. S U a as L g g yl g N , g ,

- - — un i I sm i a an L ibit star and o thers. am m urabi the oo d D g , D g , I , H , g kin — — . H is cana his o o d o ic . Co ntrac t tab ets dated in his g l, g p l y l — — re i n. eviva o f c o m m rce in Bab o nia The kin s his suc g R l e yl . g — c esso rs Tablet giving list o f kings after the flo o d

TE V CHAP R I . — B YLO I I S O Y F OM D. C 1 0 668. AB N AN H T R R . 33

h s i n - r 1 0 Em i irar B. C ise o f t e s r a re under im m o n N . . R A y p R , 33 ran atio n o f is insc ri tio n —Extent o f is em ire — Ti lath T sl h p . h p g r I — H i im n kin do m — i u ntin x ditio ns in P ilese . s m e se g H s h g e pe — is o f th ish w u nd r avid and o o m o n . Lebano n . R e e Jew po er e D S l — — Assum a ir al kin Of ss ria. ha m ane ser . Tribu te o f ehu . s p , g A y S l II J — z at B a a —W r h rian and The bro n e g es Of al w t. a s between t e Assy i kin — ar n Of s ria nds th an a ainst Babylo n an gs . S go A sy se e Tart g — - — — Ast d ez e kiah and ero dac h Ba adan. ennach erib . H is . H M l S - — h ero dac h Ba adan ennach rib destro s Bab o n. wars wit M l . S e y yl — Terrible dam age to buildings and libraries The bo ast o f the ’ n h b d a E r h kind and abshakeh . en ac eri s e th . sa haddo n t e R S , — — m r ifu kin . H is r s ec t fo r the Ba o n m T rans e c l g e p byl ian te ples. latio n o f an insc riptio n in Babylo nian

TE V CHAP R .

— — - T LL OF I N Bv BI I . N BBU CI I ADN BZZAR B. c . 668 60. H E FA N . 5

’ h Elam —H is care fo r the ibraries - a o f Assurbanipal s wars wit l . F ll — — ’ h Th c ven eanc e o f the Bab o nians. ebuchadnez z ar s N inev e . g yl N — — r with th e E tians. o siah kin o f udah . N ebu c had wa gyp J , g J T T CON EN S . 9

P AGE ’ nez z ar s bu i din and cana s — nsc ri tio o n a br nz ste —The l gs l I p n o e p. sie e o f T re —The destruc tio n Of erusa em and c a tivit o f its g y . J l p y — — eo e. ebuchadnez z ar and anie . Bib ica nam es o f dam p pl N D l l l A , ' bel b raham and ethuse ah fo und o n the tab ets A , A , M l l

C TE HAP R VI .

TH E CUN EI FORM ACCOUNT OF T H E CAP TURE OF BABYLON BY — — - CY US TH E C S S W H I CH L ED TO I T. B.c . 60 O. R . AU E 5 53

- - Rab Ma . abo nidus kin o f Bab o n and Be shaz z ar m aster o f g N , g yl , l , h — — — f t e arm . C rus ise o f his o wer. eath o f the m o ther O y y . R p D abo ni — N dus Chief events o f the years o f the reign o f Nabo nidus. —Ex — tract fro m an i i tio n o f this m o narch H is researches. nscr p . H is resto rati h m — - hi er o ns o f t e te ples Nabo nidus a sun wo rs pp . — — rriv a o f C rus ab o n . H is ind r art o f cuneifo rm A l y at B yl cyl e . P — — text re atin to the ca ture o f Bab o n Trans atio n o f it. C rus l g p yl . l y “ — th e sh e herd the oo d kin . H is conci iato r o ic . H is p , g g l y p l y — kindness to the ews. H is resto ra i n o f ci i s and tem J t o the t e ples. ’ Bib e acco unt o f th fa o f Bab —Be shaz z ar feas l e ll ylo n. l s t

C TE VI I HAP R .

BA YLO NDER THE L OF THE RSI NS AND NDER B N U RU E PE A , U

SEL EU CU s.

- Bab l o under he ersia . The o c m y n t P ns pr la atio n o f Cyrus to the Jews. — ’ m us m b ses and Go m ates —Sir enr aw inson s trans D , Ca y , . H y R l - - atio n o f the Behistun nscr tio . Extr r m Kindness l I ip n act the efro . - Of arius to the ew . Co nfirm ati n o s D J s o f the decree o f Cyru . Xerxes gave th e Jews perm issio n to build the walls o f Jerusalem hi i and xander the Great kin s o f Bab lom —B b n und er P l p Ale , g y a ylo — — e e ucus. Extxa t fro m an in cri tio n Of ti ack o f S l c s p An o chus. L — histo rical cuneifo rm inscriptio ns after this period Gradual decay o f Bab o n — ro e i r atin to its fa yl . P ph c es el g ll

C TE V I HAP R I I .

BABYL ON I AN WRI TI N G A N D LI TERATURE. — Babylo nian wedge -writing Manner in which the characters were

writ n o m ari o n Of si ns. Cuneifo rm si ns were o nce te . C p s g g — — — i s rn und i ns. o ho n o f the characters The p cture . Co po s g P lyp y — i o syllabaries in two and three co lu m ns B lingual lists o f w rds. I O CONTENTS.

GE — — P A i in ua readin bo o s. e thod Of m akin tab ets. Their sha e Bl g l g k M g l p , — — siz e co o ur and texture . Writin instrum ent. Bab o nian m athe , l , g yl m aties - T eir m etho d Of un — b o cube . h co ting Extract fro m a ta le f

ro o ts. Bab o nian as r n m Trans i n Of h eir re o rts. yl t o o y. lat o s t p - ist o f m o nths am f o d o . L . N es o g s t who m they were dedicated — — nventio n o f the ca ndar Bab o ni n b m ts. I le . yl a o servato ries Co e Ec i — — — ses. a ica tab ets. ncantatio ns Be ief in evi s irits l p M g l l I . l l p — — c urrent in the tim e o f saiah . Co ntract tab ets ea s o fwitnesses I l S l , n i k — a m ar s hoenician and Greek si natures etc . Trans atio ns o f l , P g , l two s ave co ntrac ts — b k n —Great l The an ing firm o f Egibi and So . — im po rtance o f th ese dated docum ents The latest dated co ntract — ’ — tab et. Dr O ert s trans atio n o f it. Text o f a co ntract tab et. l . pp l l — rans —Trans atio n o f n ract t b t o f the 1 th ear o f T latio n. l co t a le 7 y a i t n o r N bo n dus. Translatio n o f a Babylo nian bo undary s o e

andm ark m en tab ets. o rtents. tandard inscri tio n. l . O l P S p — C inders th eir sha e num ber o f sides etc . isco ver o f c inder yl , p , , D y yl o f ssurbani a containin I 00 ines —Gis ubar e ends A p l, g , 3 l t l g

C TE I X HAP R .

TH E BABYLONI AN RELI GI ON . — — ab i f iri Their ur i f d en rated . The B ylo nian bel e in sp ts. p e bel e eg e — Greeks bo rro wed fro m their m ths. Diflicult o f reducin the — y y g re i io n into a s stem Bab o nian trinit Anu Ea and Bel. l g y yl y, , , — —Ea ardu the so n Of Ea. ardu the savio ur o f m an ind M k, M k , k u h m nin e —Ea received thro u h arduk ta g t en lear g and kno wledg . g M — “ ”— the ra ers Of m an . star the ad o f war H er two fo rm s. p y I , l y . — — H er search after Tam m uz i ades H er address to Esarhaddo n. n H . — — — m n to star. Extract therefro m Ea the su rem e od the Hy I p g , — — o ri inato r and m aker o f all . Th shi o Ea H is wea o ns g things e p f . p — - — an o w r un o d wo hi ab r n i r f. d p e . S g rs p. T let rep ese ting wo rsh p the eo — m ns to the sum —Sin the m o o n- o d Nini er al ebo and Hy , g , p, N g , N , — — im m o n. The seven evi s iri Bab o nian e and heaven . R l p ts. yl h ll — En o m ents o f the Bab o nian after death . escri tio n o f he the j y yl D p ll, ” — — and o f no return. Tiam at H er rebe io n ainst the o d s. l . ll ag g — arduk the so n o f Ea sent to do batt e with hen H is arm o ur. M , , l — — The fi ht. ara h rase o f th e Bab o nian ac co unt. Tiam at the g P p yl , ” — ro to t e Of the Old ser ent the devil . Tem tatio n o f dam . p yp p , p A — — Babylo nian seal giving representatio n o f it Babylonian acco unt h e r ti n - h o f t C ea o . T e penitent C TE TS I ON N . I

CHAPTER X .

BABYLON I AN LI FE AN D ART. — — P AGE e i io us du i im B b o nian nam es Crem atio n. R l g t es o fgreat po rtance . a yl — — — — —En rav ar m m in and writin . . o er av r . ead W C ce . Sl e y R g g g in —Th Bab o ni o b g. e yl ans g o d uilders

S OF LI T ILLUSTRATIONS .

i h The F g t between Merodach (Bel) and the Drago n (Frontiweee) .

to ne o b ec t bearin the nam e o f ar o n kin Of Si ara B. C. 800 S j g S g , g pp , 3

- Co ntrac t Tab et and its Case bearin the nam e Of Rim Sin B. C. 2 00 l , g , 3

to ne Ob ec t c o ntainin an nsc ri tio n o f ebuchadnez zar I . . C. 1 1 20 S j g I p N , B abo u t reco rdin a rant o f riv i e es to itti- arduk kin Of ( ), g g p l g R M , g BI T KARZI YABK U o un at Ab - bbah h m b . F d fi Ha (Sep arvai ) y M r Bassam . H .

nscri tio n o n the ed e o f the Bro nz e Ste bearin the nam e o f I p g p, g N ebuchadnez z ar

Bro nz te i o f ebuchadnez z ar e S p ( ) N II .

Bab o nian Co ntrac t Tab et with ea m ressio ns dated 8th da o f yl l S l I p , y ebat accessio n ear Of e rI lI ssar kin o f Bab o n S , y N g , g yl Terra-co tta Cylinder c o ntaining the Histo ry Of the Capture Of Babylo n b C rus the Great kin Of ersia y y , g P

- — Terra co tta C inder o f ntio chu s kin Of Bab o n B. C. 280 26 1 yl A , g yl , ” cene fro m the so -ca ed Sun- o d Tab et re resentin riests and S ll g l , p g p ’ ki ado rin t u n s disk o r im a . bo ut B C. 00 ng g he S ge A . 9 Babylo nian Seals

BABYI. ONIAN LI E AND HISTO F RY.

C HAPTER I .

BABYLON ACCORDIN G TO TH E C U N EIFORM C T INS RIP IONS .

— s anti uit —Extent r — ab lonia. 1 t reat . cou nt B y g q y of y. 1Vam e derived from ca ital cit —1ts old nam e —N am es o ab lon in t i p y. . f B y he nsm ptio ns and their m eanin s —M eanin o Babel —Talm udic discussion g . g f . thereon . a lo ng N ebuchadnez z ar inscription obtained from two barrel cylinders in — t e British M u seu m . N ebu chad nez z ar rebu ilt the Tower o Bab l col 1 h f e , . — — line L ist o Tem les o Bab lo n. l¥e wrote an accou nt o them 53 . f p f y f . ’ — N ebu chadnez z ar s ra er The two reat tem les o Bab lon . eanin p y . g p f y M g — - — heir Birs N m rud the site o Borsi a. Bab l a d of t nam es. i f pp y on n — Borsz a ac cordin to the Talm ud . Their bad nam e am on the ews pp g g j . — } R em ains o N ebuchad nez z ar s bu ildin s. The tower in seven sta es f g g . Their c lou rs tc —P lain o Burn the sam e as the lain o D a ra o o , e . f p f f - — - z r e Bibl aniel Eu hrates ]ts nam e. S a a th ical S e ai D . p . pp pharv m . s a nd m nin —R v r Ti ris and N ines/eh I t n m e a ea g i e g .

FAR , very far back, at a period involved and shrouded Of in the mists antiquity, the city Babylon began its O existence. N exact date can be assigned to this event, n m n but, judgi g by the evidence gained fro the inscriptio s, it m ust have been at a ti m e when all the nations aro und

Of m . were in a state rude barbaris Egypt existed, no a m m doubt, and had alre dy beco e a settled e pire, and its people had reached a re markably high state Of Civiliza I B B A I E AN D T R 4 A YLONI N L F HIS O Y.

. if the tion At present it seems as these two peoples, n Babylo ians and Egyptians, were the only nations who have left definite traces of their very early civilization . I n later days Babylonia was comprised between the o th 6th a u rd 3 and 3 parallels of l tit de, and the 43 and I s 5 t degrees of longitude. What its extent was in the - w very early days of its career is unkno n .

The name Babylonia is derived from its capital City . Old Kaldu e Kaldai Its name was , the p ople were called ,

K dim . i e. as . , the of the Old Testament They took their l f m Chesed name ro an ancestor called , just as the f Hebrews took theirs rom Eber, the Hittites from Heth and many others . Still more anciently it was designated

two m a d i. e by the names Su ir n Akkad, . , South and

North Babylonia. Babylon , the city, is called by various f names in the inscriptions . They are as ollows

In? at O m Assyrian ==Ii4 2172105!

A liq —i la. I 3 i i «??

” ” z >> »» rt - 4. g zgz ; YY or Y EU.

KA D I N GI RRA KI The first name reads , that is, “ Of gate god the place, meaning the place which n is the gate of God . The second ame reads TI N “ ” TI R KI . E KI , that is, the wood of life The third is “ n and means, accordi g to some scholars, the house llence a exce . p r ; according to others, the hollow It is m quite true that it can ean hollow, but the Babylonian m eant that it was the m ost im portant dwelling- place in m the world, in fact, the etropolis of the universe . The

Gen. xxu . 2 2 .

1 6 B B E D A YLONIAN LIF AN HISTORY .

Unfortunately no v ery trustworthy account of the o f size Babylon has come down to us . Only one thing is certain, and that is that it was of enormous extent . ff Every historian di ers as to his measurements, as will be C seen in the following hapter, and when huge numbers are given the suburbs of the city are probably taken into consideration . The city was surrounded by two I m u r- N im itti-Be l walls, the one called g Bel, the other .

They are mentioned by Herodotus . The outer wall is said to have been built by Belus, and repaired by

Nebuchadnezzar. The following is a translation made from two barrel cylinders which cam e to the British Museum in 1 878 ; it will give an idea of the extent of the works under taken by Nebuchadnezzar the Great.

COLUMN I . K Nebuchadnezzar, the ing of Babylon , i W Of M the exalted pr nce, the orshipper the god arduk,

the supreme lord , the beloved of the god Nebo,

the unwearied prince of the gate, SAG- the restorer of the temple ILI, and the temple

ZIDA, who to the god Nebo and the god Marduk his lords

worship has performed before their persons, itu ti e the exalted one, who causes the to be d ep, the

messenger of the great gods,

- - abo o lassar the eldest son of Nabu pal usur (N p ) ,

the King of Babylon am 1.

Prince Marduk, the great lord, then caused me to hold firm ly a sceptre to rule the people [as a]shephe rd C P CU NEIFORM INS RI TION S .

e e m to r stor the fortresses, and to renew the te ples greatly he encouraged me . m m I put y trust in Marduk, y lord, my judge, h his supreme fortress, the citadel his igh place, [the walls] I m u r- im itti- g Bel, N Bel I caused to be completed over against [their]great

fortresses.

Upon the threshold of its great gates , mighty lords (gods) and [images]of poisonous snakes

I set up , an ec m the which never had y king my pred essor ade . Of The quay ( the fortress) , its ditch (moat), with bitumen and brick

the father, my begetter, built and completed fo r a bulwark

As for me, the paths of the ancient quay n o ce, twice 1 and I built up with bitumen brick, and the quay which my father had worked at I e x

cavated . f u a o be I caused its o nd ti n to laid with huge flat slabs, and u su a I raised p its mmit like mountain . The quay of brick at the ford of the setting sun

within Babylon I completed . The paths along the quay with bitumen and brick the father my begetter had worked at its buttresses with bric k

1 . e he bui t two a ers o f bri . , l l y ck wo rk . I 8 B B I N E AN D T A YLON A LIF H IS ORY.

r n 39 . along the river of S ippa a I bou d together

0 . 4 and I fully completed its banks . I 4 . As for me, his eldest son eldest son of N abo o lassar p ) , 2 4 . the beloved of his heart, u 43 . the paths along the q ay

44. with bitumen and brick , h . e 45 in addition to the quay w ich my father had mad ,

I renewed . 6 Of SAG- kissra se 4 . In the temple ILU the I t.

47 . The palace of heaven and earth, the seat of tran

quillity, 8 E K -A 4 . U , the shrine of Bel, the temple of the gods,

and of Marduk , H ilisu d 49. the gate of , the seat of the goddess Z ir anitu m p , h ZI - - 0. t e 5 and temple of DA, the dwelling place of the

divine king of heaven and earth ,

1 . and 5 I caused them to be covered with shining gold, 2 5 . I made them brilliant as the day .

53 . The temple, the foundation of heaven and earth, the tower of Babel

54. I built anew. m e l 55. The te ple of ZIDA, the eternal, the (t mp e) beloved of Nebo 6 n Bo rsi a 5 . I built anew withi pp , and

UM COL N II .

1 i u . w th gold and sc lptured stones

2 m Of . . I ade [it]like the brilliance heaven e c dar and 3 . I caus d it to be covered over with durable e gold CU N E R M I N SCRI I 'TI ON S 1 IFO . 9

U in p to the ceil g of the great tem ple of Life . The shrine of Nebo f I caused to be erected be ore those three . “ m m The great te ple, the te ple of the lady of the n headla d within Babylon , “ the S 7 . the temple (called) he gives ceptre of the ” m Of c world , the te ple of Nebo Hari , 8 N am an m . the temple of g , the te ple of the wind w K ithin umari , th e tem ple of the dwelling before the tem ple Of the

lady of heaven , near the fortress I rebuilt within Babylon , and I reared up their summits ss e the which never had any king my predece or don . l Four thousand cubits square, the citadel with wa ls w r to e ing and inaccessible, the everlasting fortress of Babylon at the ford of the rising su n

I caused to surround . du o ut m h e a I g the moat, I e ptied away t water th t h ad e e gath red th re, m e be o f u I ad its d bit m en and brick, and I excavated m a had at the quay which y f ther worked , the lofty fortress with bitumen and bri c k m n e I built up like a ountain upo its sid s . The height of the fortress of Bo rsipp a thoroughly

I rebuilt . The quay and the moat [lined and built] with bitu m en and b rick u I made to surro nd the citadel fo r a prote ctio n . T u rkit e the For the god , the lord, the break r of weapons of m y ene m ies u m Bo rsi I reb ilt his te ple within ppa. 20 BABYLON IAN LIFE AND HISTORY .

u n - The temple of the S , the temple of the Sun god S i ara of pp , m the the te ple the established seat, the temple of god a of the city B tz ,

the tem ple Of the eyes of the god Anum, the temple of the god Dar C of the ity of the planet Venus, m the te ple of heaven, the temple of Istar of Erech , S u n - the temple of the , the temple of the Sun god of

Larsa, KI -KU R -GAL the temple of S , the temple of the Moon

god of Ur, these tem ples of the great gods I rebuilt and u e o I ca sed their beautiful ado rnments to b c mpleted . The restorations (or furniture) of the tem ples of SAG- ILI and ZIDA, the new places of Babylon which m ore than before I have made extensive e u su m s and I have rear d them p even to their m it . An account of all m y m agnificent works and of m y restorations of the tem ples of the great gods above what the kings my fathers wrote upon a stone tablet I wrote and

I set it up for future days . The account of all m y works which I have written upon the stone tablet with understanding m ayest thou look u pon

and upon the glorious things of the gods . May [men]understand that CU N E R I CRI I’ TI S 2 I IFO M N S ON .

h 54. I built the fortresses of the gods and of t e goddess

Istar,

. Of Of 55 the great lord and Marduk .

COLUMN III .

I . As for myself Marduk urged me on , 2 . he girded me up in heart,

. f him 3 reverently, and not ailing

4. I completed his beautiful [works]. m 5. [I rebuilt] fo r the god the king Of Marad y lord 6 his . temple within Marad the

7 . which had been built from a remote time n 8 . its ancient foundation sto e n 9 . which no former king had ever see ,

1 0. I took hold of, I uncovered and 1 1 n fo . upo the undation stone, the beloved of the Moon

god , the king,

1 2 m f . . y ancient ather, I laid down its foundation 1 an n 3 . I made inscriptio in my name and I 4. I placed it within it. I o 5. O God the king of Marad, lord of all warri rs, I 6 . to the brickwork which my happy hands [have made] 1 7 . be favourable joyfully and 1 8 . my life to a far distant day 1 r 9 . with abundance of glo y, 20 fixit t . y of throne, and leng h of rule

2 1 . . to eternity do thou lengthen 2 2 . Sweep away the disobedient,

2 . m 3 s ash their weapons, 2 n 4. devastate the la ds of the enemies,

2 a . 5. sweep them all aw y BA T 22 BYLONIAN LIFE AND HIS ORY.

Thy mighty weapons which benefit not m y en emies m ay they draw near and m ay the y fight m e m a for the subjugation of my ene i s, y they go by m y sides . In the presence Of Marduk king of heaven and earth upon my works pronounce blessing a comm nd my prosperity.

Within Babylon there were two temples of great w O importance, and these ere the bjects chosen for restoration by all the Babylonian kings one was called “ E- SAGI L I , the temple of the lofty head the other “ E- m ZIDA, the te ple of life . A third temple existed , “ which was called the temple of the firm am e nt of ” m heaven and earth . The te ple of Zida had four gates ; one was called the gate of the rising sun the names ffi of the others are di cult to interpret, and no satis r facto y translation has yet been given . This temple was m dedicated to Marduk, and is the sa e as that said to be dedicated to Belus by the Greeks . H erodotus says that the two principal buildings in Babylon were this temple of Belus and the royal palace ; he says moreover that the river ran between them . Now as this temple of Belus of seven spheres was so large (being a stade 1 Of square) , we ought to find some remains it . The only spot, however, where ruins are found such as one would expect to find of such an edifice is at a place called Birs- Ol Bo rsi d a. Nimrud , the site of the pp This place is eight or nine miles distan t from the site of the Old and m i Babylon , as in a hy n we find an expression l ke “ Bo rsi a this, O Bel, Babylon is thy dwelling, pp thy

1 . e . 606 fee t i ches , 9 n .

2 N D T 4 BABYLONIAN LIFE A HIS ORY .

2 2 f and 26 fee h The first stage is 7 eet square, t igh ; originally its colour was black . The second stage is

- 2 0 26 . 3 feet square, and feet high ; it was orange coloured 1 88 2 6 f The third is feet square, and eet high ; it was 1 6 coloured bright red . The fourth is 4 feet square, and 1 5 feet high ; it was coloured bright yellow. The fifth 1 0 1 was 4 feet square, and 5 feet high ; it was coloured 6 2 1 pale yellow. The sixth is feet square, and 5 feet 2 0 high ; it was coloured d ark blue . The seventh is feet

- 1 . square, and 5 feet high ; it was silver coloured These n stages were dedicated to Satur , Jupiter, Mars, the Sun ,

Venus, Mercury, and the Moon respectively . We have in the British Museum fragments Of coloured glazed “ S bricks from this pot . This temple was called the “ Seven Spheres according to some, and the Seven Lights according to others and its ruins were thoroughly excavated and exam ined by Sir Henry

R a . wlinson, and the above measurements are his In a geographical list three places in Babylon are D arn mentioned called , and very possibly one of these ” m a y be the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon, l mentioned by Daniel . Through Babylon ran the ” great river, the river Euphrates . The Bible also calls “ ” “ ” it Euphrates, and the river Euphrates . The Baby lo nian P u rat P uratu name was , or ; its old Akkadian m P ara-m enu na e , the great stream and this corres 1 8 ponds to the name given it in Gen . xv . , etc . Its “ ” a meaning in Assyrian texts ppears to be the water. The explanations of the meaning of this word generally given that are not derived from these native sources “ Of are incorrect. The Euphrates was called the soul the land i er. xii . x vi 2 6 . J 4, 5, 7 ; l . , C E M SC T 2 UN IFOR IN RIP IONS . 5

One of the most im portant parts Of Babylon was S i ara; w s pp It was a double to n, ituated upon the left bank of the Euphrates . One part was called “ ” “ S i ara - i ara Of pp of the sun god , and the other S pp ”

A nu nit. Z im bir Its old name was , and it became ” S e m itic ise d i ara u nc e r to S pp . Its exact meaning is Si ara tain, and the name pp has nothing to do with the “ ” se her Hebrew word p , a book, with which it has been r r Often compa ed . S ippa a is the same town a s the 2 K xv n 2 1 Sepharvaim of ings . 4, 3 , and the dual termination is a reminder of the “ double ” form of the

- - - . u t nun hi city Its name in the inscriptions is t . The

- chief god of the city was Samas, or the Sun god ; his E-babbara 2 K xv n 1 temple was called , and in ings . 3 , we read that “ the Sepharvites burnt their children in and fire to Adrammelech Anammelech, the gods of ” i Sepharva m . The Euphrates was called the river of ” S ippara ; and Sipp ara is also called Agade in the inscription of Cyrus, which we shall notice farther on . This name is probably the same as the Accad of 1 “ Gen . x . 0 ; it means according to some the fire ” f - crown, and may perhaps re er to the sun god worship . It has been recently shown that the correct reading n f S in of the [cu ei orm ign for Akkad is Um , and I th k that there is no doubt that this is the Ur from which

Abraham came. The temple of A nu nit which existed C was - ak- - in the ity built by a king called Sagar ti as, and E- u l- was called bar. Around the city Of Babylon (according to Herodotus) was a moat, and the soil which was excavated from this fo r s was made into bricks the wall . The builders u ed m hot bitumen for cement, and pieces of this bitu en . with the impression of the king’s stamp on the brick 2 6 B B E AN D T A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY .

u n r n po them, emai to this day, and are in the National

. A S m Collection to the hanging gardens, there see s to e be a representation of them upon a sculptur , and their dimensions are known from other sources . The next most important river in Babylonia was the ’ ’ I az clat D i clat Tigris . It is called in the inscriptions l , or l . f 1 O . . It corresponds to the Hiddekel Gen ii 4, and “ ” appears to mean the river with the high banks . On this river the City Nineveh was situated . The name is “ - - non Semitic, and means the dwelling place of the god ” Ninua . Each of the kings Assurbanipal, Esarhaddon, and Sennacherib built palaces there . Other cities of Bo rsi a K b i ur Babylonia were pp , ut a, Erech, N pp , Ur, a and Lars . CHAPTER II .

B CC G TO S T BA YLON A ORDIN CLAS ICAL AU HORS .

he stat m e t o H r d bout Bab lon Views other Classical authors T e n f e o otus a y . of — s to its siz e and xtent I ts ates houses streets d ences and walls. a e . g , , , ef , Tem le o u iter B lu s — Com arison o these accou nts with those the p f j p e . p f qf — cu nei orm inscri tions xtract rom East I ndia H ouse inscri tio n . f p . E f p N ebu chad nez z ar used cedar cov red with old or the ceilin s his tem les e g f g of p . —l cr his arc r ib ah Wa e it ns iptions of t m o n h nea R l . nt of d fin e history concernin his S rian cam ai ns g y p g .

H ERODOTUS tells us that the city Babylon stands an 1 2 0 in on a broad plain , and is exact square, furlongs C 80 length each way, so that the entire ircuit is 4 furlongs . in It is surrounded , the first place, by a broad and deep Of a 0 moat, full water, behind which rises a w ll 5 royal 2 A n 00 . d n cubits in width, and in height here I may o t omit to tell the use to which the mould dug out of the l great moat was turned , nor the manner wherein the wa l was wrought . As fast as they dug the moat, the soil m which they got fro the cutting was made into bricks, ffi m and when a su cient nu ber were completed , they n baked the bricks in kilns . Then they set to buildi g , and n a began with bricki g the borders of the moat, fter which they proceeded to construct the wall itself. using ho t o throughout for their cement bitumen, and interp sing a layer of wattled reeds at every thirtieth course Of the bricks . On the top, along the edges of the wall , they 2 8 B B A YLONIAN LIFE AN D HISTORY. constructed buildings of a single chamber facing one fo r - another, leaving between them room a four horse C Of chariot to turn . In the ircuit the wall are a hundred ”l gates all of brass, with brazen lintels and side posts . “ Herodotus then goes o n to say that the river

Euphrates, a broad, deep and swift stream which rises two C in Armenia, divides the city into parts . The ity wall is brought down on both sides to the edge Of the a s stre m . The houses are mostly three and four storey ll high ; the streets a run in straight lines, not only those parallel to the river, but also the cross streets which lead d down to the water si e . The outer wall is the main r defence of the city. The e is, however, an inner wall of fi b u t less thickness than the rst, very little inferior to it

in strength . The centre of each division of the town was o ne occupied by a fortress . In the stood the Of e Of palace the kings, surround d by a wall great strength and size ; in the other was the sacred precinct 2 f of Jupiter Belus, a square enclosure urlongs each a way, with gates of solid brass, which was lso remaining

in my time. In the middle of the precinct there was a h tower of solid masonry, a furlong in length and breadt ,

upon which was raised a second tower, and on that a

third , and so on up to eight . The ascent to the top is

on the outside, by a path which winds round all the towers On the topmost tower there is a spacious n temple, and inside the temple stands a couch of u usual

b . size, richly adorned, with a golden table y its side e m Below, in the same pr cinct, there is a second te ple, in ” which is a sitting figu re of Jupiter, all of gold . Other historians give different lengths for the Circuit C 60 Clitarch u s 6 of the ity. Ctesias, 3 furlongs ; , 3 5 ;

’ — aw inso n s e ro d o tus Vo l. . . 2 0 1 . R l H , I pp 97 3 B B 2 A YLON ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL AU THORS . 9

. 68 8 . Q Curtius, 3 Strabo, 3 5 There are also conflicting statements as to the height of the walls Of Babylon . The statem ent of Ct esias goes to confirm that of

0 m . Herodotus, for he says they were 5 fatho s high

200 . Pliny gives , and others 7 5 feet as the measurement Sir Henry Rawlinson thinks that Herodotus referred to f u hands, our of which were eq al to the cubit, and does not think that the heigh t of the walls of Babylon e 6 0 0 . exce ded or 7 English feet One thing is certain , and that is that the defences of Babylon must have m been re arkable in their day for their strength . One 1 O f the greatest evils prophesied by the prophet Jerem i ah Of n was the broad walls Babylon shall be utterly broke , ” and her high gates shall be burned with fire. The cuneiform inscriptions do not bear out the account of the classical writers as to the height of the walls and the extent of the City. The chief authority on the buildings of Babylon is the large inscription of e s N buchadnezzar pre erved in the India House . It “ m consists of ten colu ns, and is engraved on a short m 6 1 colu n of black basalt in 9 lines . In the first column i Of m he g ves a list his own titles, entions his father

- - s Nabu pal usur, and peaks of his delight to do the works

of the gods Nabu , Marduk, Istar, and others . He a t m e t ributes his enthrone nt and origin to the god Nebo . In the second and third colu m ns an account of the

restoration of the great temple of Marduk, the prince of

the gods , is given . It appears that various parts of the m te ple had fallen into decay, so the pious king collected e f all sorts and kinds of b auti ul and precious stones, and

b - egan the restoration . He rebuilt the gates of E Zida and E- S a ili g , he brought cedar wood from Lebanon,

erem iah ll. 8 J 5 . O B B NI L FE AN D 3 A YLO AN I HISTORY .

(like the Jewish king Solomon) to embellish the temple the inner walls he covered over with pi ne and lofty cedar Bo rsi a wood in pp he built the temple of Zida, and

parts Of it he covered with bright silver. In column 4 e he gives a list of the t mples he built, and of their gods . m m two At the end of this colu n he entions the walls, an

C . outer and an inner, which formed the defences of his ity He says

m u r- l 66 . of I g Be 6 and N im itti-Bel 7 . 68 e n . the mighty fortress s of Babylo , 6 - - 9 . which Nabu pal usur Tintirhi the m 0. o 7 the king of (Babyl n) , father y begetter had 1 . 7 had made, but not completed 2 e 7 . th ir beauty.

C N OLU M V .

1 He x . e cavated its ditch [with] 2 m . two huge e bankments , w 3 . with brick and ith bitumen

n . 4. he bound (li ed) its interior arahti 5. The ditch 6 . he made, and buttresses 7 . with of brick 8 . the bank of the Euphrates

9 . he bound, but

1 0 w . . he did not complete (his ork)

f e The text here becomes very di ficult, but is clear r I m u r- N im itti- when it speaks of g Bel and Bel . Nebu ’ nez z ar u ch ad followed p his father s buildings, and joined the parts of the fortresses which he built with those that

2 B B E AN 3 A YLONIAN LIF D HISTORY . one of which bears the impression o f the name of n so n N abo o lassar Nebuchad ezzar, the of p , and this alone S m will how how great were his building operations. Fro this too an inference can be drawn as to the enormous number of men that were compelled by him to serve “ ” Of k with the service bricks . In the Boo of Daniel

- Nebuchadnezzar is regarded as a builder king, and the r inscriptions suppo t this view most completely. The history of other nations tells us of his wars and ex p e ditio ns undertaken to subdue the inhabitants of

Palestine and elsewhere, but about his military exploits the inscriptions are almost silent the only piece of his history at present known is found upon a s m all fragment ’ ” d a m of y about half the size of a an s hand . H R C APTE III .

B - T B T B. C. 8 1 BA YLONIAN HIS ORY FROM A OU 3 00 330 .

Ill ethod o reckonin tim e in use am o n the ab lo nians The on m f g g B y . ep y ’ — — - canon. S ir H nson s d scov er Rim m irari B. 1 0 R awli i y. on N l . , C. 33 , caused his inscri tio to be date Cont act tablets —Extract rom e on p n d. r . f p ym

— - canon The Ass r ans ke t strict acc u nt o events. l m a . y i p a o f ge qf the ' oddess N ana — b n ans ade th r calcu latio ns b the hel g . Ba ylo i m ei y p of astro no m — t s a - n who re ned 2 y. N abon idu s m en io n N ar m Si , ig 3 00 years be b re his — —Extr tim r 800. act ro e. l scrz on S a on B. C. m f n pti of g I . 3 f inscri tion o — b u t r n —Bab lonia N abo idu s e end a o Sa o . n hin r p f n . L g g y g

N aram -S in Ur-Ba as D u n i [sm i-D a an L ibit-l star and oth , g , g , g , , a m u rabi t ood h — c na is lic o c bl m he in . H is a l h ood o . C ntra t ta et H , g g , g p y s dated in his rei n — R eo io al o com m erce in Bab lonia The kin s his — g f y . g su ccessors. Tablet iv in list kin s a ter the ood g g of g f fl .

T H E Babylonian empire is certainly one Of the Oldest n ? in the world, and the questio , How old is it has been o asked over and over again. This questi n is extremely ffi di cult to answer, even with a moderate amount of n w accuracy, considering our prese t knowledge. It ill

perhaps be well, before we begin our sketch of the in history of Babylonia, to give an idea of the way which the Assyrians and Babylonians managed their chronology. They reckoned twelve lunar months to - n each year, and each of these had either twenty ni e or thirty days . Their year began about the vernal “ t equinox , as Mr. Smith said , the new moon nex before the equ inox marking the com mencement of ” e d the new year. Wh never the twelfth month ende C B BY N E AN D H Y 34 A LO IAN LIF ISTOR .

a f x e e more th n thirty days be ore the equino , th y int r la e d m V e - c a t . a thirteenth onth This was called Adar,

and they had also an intercalary Nisan and Elul . These d two latter, however, are only found on Babylonian date ’ o ned tablets . The first year of a king s reign was reck ’ from the new year s day after his accession to th e throne ; though there are instances in whic h this rule

has no t been adhered to . Now just as there were archons at Athens and consuls at Rome who were n a elected annually, so among the Assyria s there was custom of electing one man to be over the year whom “ ” linen n m . n they called , or epo y Ge erally each district and m lim u i portant town had its , so there is no doubt and that the custom was widespread well known . Babylonian and Assyrian docu m ents were more gene rally dated by the names Of these eponyms than by

that o f the reigning king. A common wayof recko ning in Olden times was by referring to some important event which at that time A n was well known . instance of this is given in the 1 Of Bible, where we read of the words Amos which he ” saw concerning Israel two years before the earthquake. I n 1 862 Sir Henry Rawlinson discovered the frag m Of Of ent the eponym canon Assyria. It was one of and i the grandest most mportant discoveries ever made, for it has decided definitely a great many points which

‘ n n C otherwise could ever have bee leared up . Fragments Of of seven copies this canon were found , and from these the chronology of Assyria has been definitely 1 0 B B. C. . C 6 2 settled from 33 to about . 0. There is an n —N irari historical i scription of Rimmon I . in the British

1 Am o s is t i B 8 - 1 B B L NI ST . C. 00 0 A Y O AN HI ORY FROM 3 33 . 3 5

Museum (for a translation of it see page which is dated on the side by the name of the eponym of the

B. I f 0 . O year about C. 3 3 After the fall the Assyrian

B C. 6 20 empire, about . , the dated Babylonian contract tablets serve to keep our reckoning correct down to a h few years before the birth of C rist. The following extract from the eponym canon will explain itself

P rinci al ev ents o N m p f a e of epo nym . the year.

- r a Assur nirari the king o f Assy ia pe ce in the land. am si- ilu the tartan eace in th lan S p e d. Marduk-salim -anni Chief o f the alac e eac e in th land p p e .

’ Bel-da an rab-bztu r eac e in the land y p . S am as-m ukin-duru th e tu hu lu ex ditio n to Zim ri g pe . Ram m anu-bel-u in the o verno r ex editio n to Zim ri k g p . Sin- sa im -anni o verno r o f Re z a h eace in the and l g p p l . N er a -na ir o v erno r o f N isibin rev o lt in alah g l s g C . N abu-bel-usur go verno r o f Arbaba Tiglath P ileser as cended the thro ne o n the 1 3th day o f ar H m Iyy . e arch ed to neighbo ur h o o d o f the river i n the m o nth Tisri.

The historical inscriptions of the Babylonian and Assyrian kings often give notices of events which took

. an place a great number of years before For inst ce, r Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, tells us in his la ge n m d m inscriptio that he a e an expedition into Ela . K - nan u ndi Now udur h , an ancient king of Elam , had carried o ff from Assyria or Babylonia the image of the i goddess Nana. While Assurbanipal was n Elam the goddess put it into the heart of the king to carry he r C 2 6 B B N E AN D ST 3 A YLONIA LIF HI ORY .

l “ m E A N N A e i age back into , or the temple of heav n . m Of r d The king, indful of the wishes the goddess, ca rie back the i m age which had been brought to Elam ” six - fi e one thousand hundred and thirty v years before .

l 668 B . 6 26 B C. . C Assurbanipa reigned from about . to r (about) , and therefore a ve y good guess can be made the o f Of K - nan undi at date this raid udur h , king of

Elam, upon Babylon . It must never be forgotten that a Of - the B bylonians were a nation star gazers, and that they kept a body of men to do nothing but report

e Of S . eclipses, app arances the moon, sun pots, etc , etc . Their calculations then m ay be relied upon for a large

amount of accuracy generally. Now this brings us back to the earliest date we are f able to fix in the history O Babylonia . A king called

a B. C. N bonidus began to reign over Babylon about 554, and as he was anything but a warlike king he appears to

have spent his time in meditation and retirement. He appears also to have been an arche ologist and an enthusiastic student of antiquity. He was a votary of h - w t e Sun god, and adorned his temple ith the most

. f la beautiful decorations He caused several cylinders O c y, most important to us, to be inscribed, giving an account of all his works and pious deeds to the gods, and the greater part ofthem were brought in fragments to England in 1 882 b . assam . s y Mr R Among other things, he tell us that he uncovered the part of the tem ple which h Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, had made, and that e

“ I t m ust be bo rne in m ind that E m eans tem e which would pl , be read in ss rian bitu . Wh en refixed to the nam es o f c ities and co untries A y p , it m ans ac e o r ho use and is the sam e wo rd as Beth in th n m e pl , e a es o f

- - - aces in the Bib e. Fo r exam e Be th e em Beth o ro n B sh pl l pl , l h , b , eth em esh , - th - th da on etc. Be e], Be g , — B R 8 1 0 . B T B C. A YLONIAN HIS ORY F OM . 3 00 33 37 saw the inscription which the Assyrian king had caused to be put there . Nabonidus did not remove it, but, in c s and accordan e with the request upon it, he clean ed it, Off ered up sacrifices . He then put the inscription back in its place, together with one of his own, and restored 1 o the place t its former condition . Nabonidus then made excavations under the temple ” S u n- d n of the god, the ju ge of heave and earth, in S i ara h pp , whic Nebuchadnezzar, a preceding king, had m b t d . u ade He sought for the foundation stone, foun it no t , and as the temple had much decayed , he brought

- out the Sun god and placed it in another tem ple .

Nabonidus made further excavations, and having gone to a depth of 1 5 square or earth cubits he made a great

A s. discovery. his account of it is of such importance to C us and to hronology generally, I quote his own words

COLUMN II . L I N E

r 55. at El ll fi =El Eri i El

bit su - a - tim ad - kI - e - m a that tem ple 1 excavated

1 The co ncluding lines insc ribed o n a large cylinder o f Assurbanipal in the British M useum read th us

Ma he who m soever am o n the kin s m d c n n s o l 1 0 . 1 0 . es e da ts sur C . , l 9 y , g g y A and Istar shall pro claim fo r the do m inio n o f the c o untry and its eo e p pl , h n this tem e o f Riduti h as beco m e o ld and dec a ed 1 1 0. w e pl y m a he re air its dec a the insc ri tio n in m nam e m father and 1 1 1 . y p y, p y , y ,

1 2 . m randfathers an ever astin ro a seed m a he oo k u o n the 1 y g , l g y l , y l p , cham ber a tar m a he c eanse ( l ) y l ,

1 1 . m a he o ffer u sac rific es m a he ace m inscri tio n with his o wn 3 y p , y pl ( y p ) . And m a the reat o ds who se nam es are writ en do wn n 1 14. y g g t i this inscriptio n 1 1 e xtend unto him o wer and o r even as the have u t m e f 5. p gl y y n o ys l . 38 BABYLONIAN L I FE AN D HISTORY.

L I N ! ‘ X l 4 El { El r lhl EB El l 1. te - m e - en su la bi ri u ba - m a t st ne I sou ht its ancient founda ion o g ,

( W lllil: 5131 $112 r ll

u sap - pi il - m a te - m e - eu - na I dug down [fo r] the foundation stone of

‘ l “ I R E »l EF l I g r llsh i l i n D in ab D . P . sar a P . a ram . P . S D . N il g the son of S argo n

8 » d ’ 5 . E78 m ( I ll 1 Ei l e l sa 3 x 1 000 2 x ro o m u an na - m es m a na - m a which for three thousand two hundred years no

’ r r r “ ll ltil i ll lhl Ell El E Q fill sarru a - lik m ah ri ya li - i - m u - ru

hing my p redecessor had seen.

In other words, Nabonidus, king of Babylon, dug among the foundations Of the temple Of the Sun-god to - find the foundation stone which Naram Sin, the son of f Sargon, who ruled over Babylonia years be ore, had deposited . Now this statement fixes the date of

m - the very early king Nara Sin, and it also gives his f ’ Of ather s name . We have at present no notice an anterior date or king . m m - A very short ti e ago a s all, perforated , oval shaped

- object, made of mottled , pinkish grey, hard stone, arrived

B E I I I STORY 40 ABYLONIAN LIF AND .

fairly accu rate chronology begins . It would be ab su rd to suppose that there were no Babylonian kings before Sargon or Naram- Sin the only difficu lty in the m atter is to estim ate the num ber of years which m ust have passed

to ne Ob ect bearin th e nam e o f ar o n kin o f Si ara B.C. 800. S j g S g , g pp , 3 before the Babylonians had arrived at the high state Of culture and civilization necessary to enable them to d Th e produce such an object as that describe above . m l stone is ost beautifully dri led and polished , and the characters are carefully and remarkably well executed . n r Babylo ian histo y, then, as known to us, begins with 8 B. C. 00. s e Sargon I , king of Agade, 3 A curiou leg nd is x ff e tant respecting this king, to the e ect that he was n a born in a city on the ba ks of the Euphr tes, that his u f mother conceived him in secret, and bro ght him orth in a hum ble place ; that she placed him in an ark o f rushes and closed it with pitch that S he cast him upon the river in the water- tight ark ; that the river carrie d him n alo g ; that he was rescued by a man called Akki , - L B C. SOO I o . 1 BABY ONIAN HISTORY FROM . 3 33 4

who brought him Up to his own trade and that from a n this po sition the goddess Istar made him king. Sargo I . “ w r r s was a mighty a rior, and in cha iots of bronze pa sed

through diffi cult countries . He rebuilt the palace at A A nu ni and t. gade, the temple dedicated to the goddess

‘ ‘ - a ca A irak m Naram Sin conquered city lled p , and ade in' n n n wars a country called Maga . The ame of the ki g re of Magan is lost, so it is impossible to say whe this t are ff coun ry was, as there three di erent lands of Magan n h n mentio ed in t e inscriptio s . The most i m po rtant king who reigned after Naram - Sin U r- H e u was called Bagas . b ilt in the city Ur a temple t o - Sin a the Moon god , and also at L rsa a temple dedicated to - N i u r e the Sun god , and at p and Lagas he rear d up m m any fine buildings and te ples . A king called Dungi reigned after U r- Bagas over b ildin ' a Babylonia, whose chief works were u g tower at ’ m Of f Ur, a te ple at Erech, and repairing some his ather s works. There are in the British Museum some bronze images and a mutilated torso in black marble of this n ki g. The next rulers of Babylonia we find sprang from K C w m o un arrak, a ity hich became of great i p rtance der s I sm i- a L ibi - f the ruling hand of Dag n and t Istar. A ter “ ” ' atesi vi wo rd is these kings, several p or ceroys (as the s m at tran lated) ruled, aking Zergulla their se of royalty and o t g vernment. The most importan among these was

Gudea . There are to be seen very many fine cylinders a nd inscribed cones which were made in his reign .

n n Sim tiS ilha . wh o Another very importa t ki g was h,

a . e c me from Larsa He appears to have been an Elamit , nd u a under his r le Larsa became a most important city . H is so n K -Mabu his n - , udur g, and gra dson, Rim Agu, 2 BA ON AN E AN D S Y 4 BYL I LIF HI TOR .

ri o u t his c ar ed policy, and succeeded in making them lv o f se es masters of a large part of Babylonia . A list kings Of Babylonia following after Rim-Agu gives the following particulars o f this period

u -Abi 1 S mu reigned 5 years . S um ulau 35 S um ulau u Zabu, son of , b ilt the temples of Samas and A nuni i ara I t, in S pp 4 - 1 8 Abil Sin, son of Zabu - Mu alli OfAbil- Sin b t, son Sin 35

2 1 him B. C 00 o a About . a p werful king (some think K H K u assite) , called ammurabi, made war against ud r - f Mabu A u . an g and his son, Rim g He de eated them d - became m aster of all Babylonia . Rim Agu appea rs e al e the the r to hav c l d in aid of Elamites, fo a tablet is dated “ 2 2nd e day of Sebat, in the y ar when Hammurabi the king in the service of A nu and Bel marched Victoriously w and Rim -A u and overthre the king of Elam g .

H a u - ammurabi was devout, pio s, and broad minded

. r r king He epaired the temple of eve y god, and dug a huge canal fo r the benefit of the people of Sumir and H u Akkad, which he called amm rabi, the benefactor of ” u mankind . Commerce m st have revived considerably u fo r r n under his r le, there are a ve y large umber of con in tract tablets the British Museum dated in his reign . o Of The contract, or deed of sale, was written on b th sides a flat piece of clay, which piece of clay was then covered o e c e C u h v r ompl tely with other lay, and pon this t e deed b t and its Case be ari f Ri - i B C Co ntrac t Ta e n the nam e o m S n . . 2 00. l , g , 3

T 8 —1 B B. C. BA YLONIAN HIS ORY FROM 3 00 330. 43

m was again inscribe d . It must have been about this ti e ” that Abraham went forth from Ur of the Chaldees . m n fif -fiv e Ha murabi reig ed ty years . He was followed m -ilu na Ebisu m by Sa su , his son, who reigned 35 years . 2 was the next king, he reigned 5 years . He had a son - n n 2 called Ammi sata a, who reig ed 5 years . The next m - sa- and m -satz m a two kings were called A mi duga Sa su , 2 1 and 1 who reigned 3 years respectively. There are no u details of the reigns of these kings. On a biling al ’ tablet lately discovered there are nearly a hundred kings m e d a na es given ; and som y, when the other parts are

discovered, it is hoped that it will be possible to recon uct the m e str chronology of that early ti with accuracy. The nam es of the kings that followed close after the — 1 S in 2 Sin Flood are given , they are , ,

- - - . m 6 m 3 Amil Gula, 4. Sa as nasir, 5. Amil Sin , . A il

m - - i 8 M b id - nu ku rt . ua b Kissati Sa as, 7 . Sapin mat , , 9 . Abil Ea sar 1 0 1 1 S ar ina mati, . Abil Bel usum same, . g ,

- 1 2 . B lli au e t.

art The first p of the column, where probably the names n o ff of the kings before the Flood were, is broke . It is to n m be oticed that the above na es are Semitic . 1 B C About 700 years . . we find a Kassite dynasty ruling

- in Babylon , the first king of which was called Agu kak

- - m Of . ri i, the son Tassi gur umas His sway extended A snu nak n m over Babylon , , Pada , Al an, and Guti . He K A kkadi was king of assi and , and he restored the

- ani u m temples of the gods Marduk and Zir p t . He also A nu nitu m prays to Anu and , Bel and Beltis, Ea and m n 1 Da ki a, to grant him a long life . About the year 450

K - we find a king called ara Indas ruling over Babylon ,

-bil- s - su and he made a covenant with Assur ni i , the king Of e Assyria, regarding the boundaries of th ir dominions. AB A E N D T 44 B YLONI N LIF A HIS ORY.

-Bu r as e B 1 2 .C. The next king, Burna y , reign d about 4 5.

Of Bu rsu r- He likewise made a covenant peace with Assur, Of n - Bu r as the then king Assyria . Bur a y is called “ -d u ni as king of Gan y , a district which has been identified by some with the Garden of Eden . He d Mu balli at- Of -u balli marrie t Serua, the daughter Assur t, f - O . K king Assyria His son was called ara Hardas, and he reigned over Babylon . During his reign (we are told Of K by a tablet of synchronous history) , men the assi ” - revolted and slew him, and they placed Nazi bugas, “ ” ss the son of nobody, upon the throne. The A yrian ki ng went to Babylon to take vengeance upon the - as so n murderers, slew Nazi bug , and placed the of -Bu r as K - alz u G . Burna y , uri , upon the throne Mili i - K —Galz u S pak, or Mili Sihu, the son of uri , next reigned ,

- and after him Merodach Baladan I . reigned . Mr. Smith attribu ted to this king a boundary-stone which is now m s -N ir ri . wa a in the Museu This king attacked by Bel , king of Assyria, and was defeated .

Y N FE AN D HI S RY 46 BAB LO IAN LI TO .

m n 3 . establisher of fortresses (and) de olished buildi gs . L u lu m i 4 of the host of the Cassi, Gutium , , d r . an Su 5 bari, dest oyer of all 6 and . enemies above below, the trampler L u bdi R a iku 7 . on their countries from and p 8 Zabidadi . to the confines of and Nisi , u 9 . the (remover) of bo ndaries and landmarks, 1 0 K . the (overthrower) of ings and Princes 1 I S N . (whom) the gods ANU, AS UR, SAMAS, RIMMO , 1 2 T f . and IS AR to his eet subjected BEL 1 . 3 . the supreme worshipper of P D BEL 1 . U I L 4 The son of , established by , 1 o f 5. Vicegerent ASSUR, the conqueror 1 6 T u ruc i N irkhi . of the lands of and hest 1 . u rt 7 as far as the frontiers of his f castles, 1 8 u . r ling the mountains and the forests

1 . m 9 of the frontiers of wide Gutiu , 20 Gu nu khlam i S . of the and the uti,

2 1 . their streams and lands ; f 2 2 . O n a the remover boundaries and la dm rks . BEL - N I 2 . RAR I 3 The g randson of , 2 w . ho 4 worshipper of Assur also, on the army of the Cassi 2 a e e s f . th 5 l id his yok , and poil of his oes

2 6 . s his hand captured , the remover of boundarie

- 2 . d 7 and lan marks . The great grandson 2 8 - YU BAL L I D H . K of ASSUR , the powerful ing

- 2 . K d 9 whom as a worshipper in Bit urra I fixe .

30. The restoration and peace of his kingdom 1 e 3 . to distant r gions like a mountain he extended 2 m 3 . the sweeper away of the ar ies o f - S 3 3 . the wide spread ubari , h . t e dm 34 remover of boundaries and lan arks . B B 1 -6 8 6 . Y . C 0 BA YLONIAN H ISTOR FROM . 33 47

the 3 5. At that time ascent to the temple of ASSUR my o d L r , f m en Of 36 . which (was be ore) the gate of the my country

EVE E R RS .

the es and the gate of stars (called) Judg , e which exist d in former times, was decayed, and was stopped up and was ruined

this place I selected,

its strength I took, s u rs e e e with clay and and 4 g I c m nt d,

I made, to its place I restored, and my inscription I placed e for future days. The future Princ at the time (when) this place shall grow Old and decay its ruins let him renew ; my inscriptions (and) my written name

to its place let him restore . The god ASSUR

his prayers heareth . Whoever my written name

shall erase and his own name shall write, and the re cord of my inscription shall cause to wash

out,

to destruction shall devote, d in the floo shall lay, in the fire

shall burn, in the water shall lay,

with the dust shall cover, e no t se into a house underground, a plac en,

shall cause to descend and place, then I appoint these curses e the i (even) the en my, the stranger, w cked o ne and

the injurer, th e u s hostile tong e, and who oever 3 B BY N N E AN D I I T 4 A LO IA LIF I S ORY.

2 6 . . a rival shall urge on and excite, 2 7 . and whatever he devises he shall accomplish.

2 8 . S R A SU , the mighty god , who dwells in the temple of Kharsak- kurra, 2 BEL H EA and T I R . S U 9 the gods ANU , , , ,

0. 3 the great gods, the spirit of heaven , 1 h t . t e r 3 (and) spirit of ear h, in their minist y, 2 e 3 . mightily may th y injure him, and

33 . with a grievous curse quickly him . s d 34 may they curse his name, his ee , his forces

"

3 5. and his family in the land may they destroy ; 6 r e 3 . the glory of his count y, the duration of his peopl

. t 3 7 and his landmarks, by their august mou h,

may it go forth, and may RIMMON in inundation

. m w 39 align inundate (with) whirl ind,

0. m a n ff 4 y the wind dry up, and amo gst his o spring

I . u w 4 destr ction, ant of crops,

2 . h e w t 4 curse (and) famine in his country may lay, i h e rain his country lik a whirlwind may he fill, o nd w ins 43 . t a mound a may he turn ; may RIMMON

in his evil devouring his country devour.

- li . m n i 20th n 44 (Dated) the o th Mukhur , the day, duri g H - KAR R AD U the eponymy of S ALMAN .

After the time of Rimmon -N irari the history beco mes doubtful, and all that is known with certainty is that Tu kulti N ini n p, king of Assyria. conquered Babylo ia .

- Following in his steps, the Assyrian king Assur Danan and Z a a a- -iddina attacked defeated g g suma , king of I rri a Babylonia, and captured the cities of Zaba, y , and

Agarsal . The next king of Babylonia appears to have been Bel zakir-isku n and during his life the Elamites made several —668 I ST B.C 1 O . BABYLONIAN H ORY FROM . 3 3 49

“ e a o f fierce attacks upon Babylonia, und r the le dership K - - udur nan hundi . About this time Nebuchadnezzar the First became in king of Babylon, and he made three wars aga st Assur - h ilim . a a t e ris isi (or ) , king of Assyria The p rticul rs of first campaign are not given ; in the second we read that Nebuchadnezzar burnt his baggage and retreated f and in the third he was de eated by the Assyrians, and

- - forty of his chariots taken . Assur ris isi was the grand o f - i lath-P ilese r son Assur Danan , and the father of T g I

B.C 1 1 20 king of Assyria, who reigned about . . With

l - P ile s r I - - i x T i ath e . a g , Marduk nadin h , the ne t king of f th Babylon, ought ; he marched into Assyria, pillaged e

m o ff R m . te ples, and carried the images of the gods a l - m a a. Ti ath P ileser anu ( Rimmon) and S l g , however, m gathered together his ar y, made an attack on Babylon, and captured it, overrunning at the same time all Baby

“ . e Si ara lonia He captur d both parts of the city pp , also R a ku Upe and pi . Under the powerful rule Of Tiglath-P ile ser I Assyria m t m became a truly igh y e pire . He attacked and de feated on all sides the nations that had rebelled after the o f f m death his ather. His armies arched through diffi cult countries, and crossed the rivers on rafts of inflated e f skins . He penetrat d as far west as the shores O the M editerranean Sea, and he records that he went into a u n ship at Arvad , and killed a dolphin . D ri g his journey through the Lebanon forests and m ountains he slew and m one hundred and twenty lions many other ani als .

- He cared also for the well being of his people, for he se -cut the canal which Assur-Danan had m ade to bring ss water to the city A ur, and put it in good repair . He s m w u ndertook various building , and fro one of the to ers D 0 BAB E AN D T 5 YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY.

which he m ade for one o f these were obtained three cylinders which record the principal events of five years ’ of his reign . After this king s death (which took place - - f B. 1 1 o about C. 00) Assur bel kala ascended the throne

- - a i . Assyri , Marduk sapik kullat being king over Babylon a When the latter died the Babylonians set R am m anu ” - i i dd na . abla , son of nobody, upon the throne A very important inscription of this m onarch exists

on a fine large white stone, which records that a grant m - - K of land was ade to Ritti Marduk, king of Bit arzi

abku . y , in this reign An English translation was m ade by Mr. Pinches and myself, and appeared in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archae ology for 1 8 Of April, 8 4 a copy it is given below.

I . Translation of an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar ,

B. C. 1 1 20 , recording a grant of land and privileges to - - Karz i abku Ritti Marduk, king of Bit y

Of N ebuc had 1 . When Marduk the king the gods sent nez z ar the glorious prince ff B b lo n the n 2 . O a s the mighty, the spring of y , chief of ki g ,

3 . the warlike ruler, the governor of Eridu

4. the sun of his country rejoicing his people, f . e e O 5 prot ctor of the boundari s, the establisher the

sons [of Babylonia], n s w o 6 . the ki g of ju tice who judges ith righte us n judgme t, s h is 7 . the warlike MAN who to make battle increa ed m ar y, 8 . the bearer of the mighty bow, fearless in battle, w w 9 . who ith his weapons struck down the po er of the L u llu bi country of ,

1 0 . oe s Of K ss t the subduer of Ph nicia, the poiler the a i e s, ni l n ri ti n f e ne o b co ntai n an c o o N uchadnez z ar l . B. C . “ so a o ut S t o j g s p b , ( b ) , a t f n v fle e s to R im -M ar uk kin o f Brr-Ka nz xw re co rding o p g , g w xu . . d - h Se harv aim b M r. H . Kassam . Fo und at Ab Habba. ( p ) y

I F T 52 BABYLON IAN L E AND HIS ORY .

In the storm of their battle

a hero, the possessor of a chariot, could not recog m him nize the co panion with . - -Karz i abk u Ritti Marduk, lord of the house of Bit y , - I m itti who his fortress, Bit , — (to) the king his lord he did not give up he burnt

his fortress, (1 m he feared not the battle, he 1512232?lto the ene y, m m r and to the ene ies of his lord he ca e down with fu y . m m n By the co and of the gods Istar and Rimmo ,

lords of battle, him evil surrounded , then to the king of Elam his

country was subjugated . But king Nebuchadnezzar took his part powerfully

he captured the land of Elam and spoiled its goods . When he returned to Akkad with glory and joy o f

heart, he looked favourably upon Ritti -M arduk lord of the -Karz i abku house of Bit y , who with those hostile and inimical to the king his

lord [had contended]. e - Karz i abk u As regards all the citi s of Bit y , of the m land of Na ar,

which by a former king had been freed, through m ene ies, against their agreement, had come under

the boundaries of Namar,

Nebuchadnezzar, the king, his lord, restored, and

the king pacified the princes, [he gave] the cities m their freedo as in days of old . r o f N In the whole boundary of the count y amar, the m essengers of the king,

H . the am a and chief, the governo r of N ar, sh ll not enter

the city, B B —668 T F B 1 . R M . C 0 A YLONIAN HIS ORY O . 33 53

no master of the horse, foals, or mares, shall cause to go into the m idst of the cities taxes of oxen and sheep by the king and governor N of amar shall not be taken, a measure or homer of fo dder - an ass shall not be given to the tax gatherer,

stallion keepers shall not enter the city, m m stallions shall not be taken a ong the ares, (and) the fruit of the plantations and the sakal tree shall

not be cut down .

COL U MN II .

1 - -Baéa . The castle of Bit Sam as and of the city Ilu

shall not be made, 2 . the bridge shall not be made, the road shall not be

opened . N i u r From the people of p , (and) of Babylon, for the m ar y of the king, o f -Karz i abku as many as dwell in the cities Bit y , in whether town or whether in country, a seizure of

men shall not take place. From the time when the god Tuk spoke to him

in the boundary of the country of Namar,

. t 7 Nebuchadnezzar king of mul itudes, the cities of

- Ritti Marduk,

8 . Karz i abku the son of y , all the ground of the land of Namar f in reed for future days, and the multitudes dwelling those cities fo r he appointed a compensation to the chief, the

governor of Namar,

at the freeing of those cities . ’ S4 BABVL ON I AN LIFE AN D HISTORY.

Here follows the list of witnesses

Nazi- Marduk son of Ku rkam e the kalu man) of

Akkad . Arad- Nanathe son of Damik-Kammann the recorder

of the land .

- - Marduk kudurri usur the priest of Bel .

Tubiyaenna the captain .

- - the Ardu tarig biti the son of Zabri , the man of

palace gate . Sam as- nadin -éu m i the son of Atta- ilu -ma the

governor of the city Isin . Bau - éu m - iddina the son of Hunna the governor of

Babylo n .

- -E f Balatsu Gula son of Arad a the pre ect . Marduk -kén-abli son of Him ilé the satam of the

- treasure house .

- Arad Gula the son of Kalbi governor of Usti . Tab- asab -Marduk the son of E- saggil-zir governor of H the land of alman . — Bél-nadin éu m l the son of Kirban the governor of m Na ar. And Nebuchadnezzar the prince of Namar are the

witnesses . The scribe who wrote this tablet was [called] Bél-tabni- bullit, the GASSU . When in future days m o f Kirban o e whoever a ong the sons , or any n else, shall be appointed to the governorship of the land o f m Na ar, o r the f o f s to pre ectship of the land Namar, mall [and]great all there are [o f] the -Karz i abku cities of Bit y , 1 - 668 B. C 0 . BABYLONIAN H I STORY FROM . 33 55 which the king in the boundary of the country of f Namar has reed, f shall not ear the king and his gods, and shall bring [them]back and establish the [old]boundary and shall destroy the name of god and king, and

another shall write, h sakla sakka sam a an whet er a , or a , or a , or evil

man, e and s shall instigat , hall destroy this tablet with

stones, the (or) with fire shall burn , or in river shall sink, or shall hide it in a field unseen man are that , may all the great gods, whose names r recorded in heaven and ea th,

curse him angrily, may God and king mightily ffl a ict him, N ini e r the ss may p king of h aven and ea th, and godde

Gula, the mighty one of the house of righteous n s es ,

his m x e hi . destroy land ark, e p l s seed

May Rimmon, the great chief of heaven and earth, o f lord watercourses and rain, his fill up rivers with slime . fo r him May he establish hunger and want , and may oppression, degradation, and evil, by day and

by night, be bound to him, and may he press down his hand upon the inhabitant[s]

of his wretched city . S u m ali a May y , lady of the shining mountains, th e she who dwells on the heights, and walks upon

- hill tops, K a n and a o d may amm n , Nergal Nan , the g s of N amar, B B N N I E AN D T RY A YLO IA L F HIS O .

m u Of the ay Siru, and Sup the son of the temple D er city of , m A ay the god Sin , and the lady of kkad , the gods Kirban of the house of ,

1 . e 5 may the great gods, in strength of h art, 2 5 . for evil destine him , and

53 . m ay another become master of the house which he

shall build, [and may he be]

his and . 54. a sharp goad in side, a running in his eye

55. May he bow down his face to his conqueror, 6 m him 5 . may he not accept his weeping fro , o ff f 57 . may he cut his li e speedily 8 u e 5 . by the destr ction of his house may his hands ent r m u d the , may he the conqueror]send afflictions to him as n lo g as his life lasts, 60 and m a l . and as long as heaven earth exist y he expe

his seed .

Sim m as- Sihu (or Sipak) , the son of Iriba Sin, next fo r e s m reigned sev nteen year . The Ela ites pillaged r i i a n id m i . S pp a i his reign, and d great sch ef His suc s Ea-m u kin- so n m ce sor was ziri, of Kut ar, who reigned m K - - fo r . c m three onths Next a e assu nadin ahi, son of and e E-U lbar Sappai , who ruled for six years, aft r him - m hi sakin su i, son of Bazi . He reigned for fifteen years, s N ini -ku durri-u s brother p ur reigned for two years, and m another brother, whose na e is uncertain , for three

m onths . An Elamite dynasty then assumed the govern m ent of the country for six years . The history is again doubtful until the tim e of

- - Merodach Baladan II . , a son of Iriba Marduk . We find that a king called Sibir marched into Assyria and A dlil n - destroyed a city called . A ki g called Nabu sum B B I T RY - 8 M B. 66 H S C 1 0 . A YLONIAN O FRO . 33 57

d R am m anu damik next reigne , but he was defeated by N irari f - -d find , of Assyria. A ter Nabu sum amik we a k l - m - isku n u e ing ca led Nabu su a r ling ov r Babylon, f A n who likewise was de eated by the Assyrian king. r T ukulti-N ini f . t e r o r Assy ian king, p IV , h n uled Babylon s even years. About this time the Jewish nation and kingdom rose o a e an t gre t pow r under David d Solomon. Curiously “ ” e n a u w o nough, one of the nations ro nd ere p werful enough to attack or to harm the kingdom of David after h is — ea . def t of Hadar ezer, king of Zobah Egypt was a d u r t e t quiet, n the nf iendly Assyrian little by li tl los all his importance until the empire revived unde r Assur n r~ asi p al. h u - as - o r a W ile Ass r n ir pal was ruling ver Assy ia, N bu a - idd a a u bla in held sway in Babylonia. He joined in le g e w t u i em is th e o f i h the S h , and they att pted to res t power

th e s n i . u As yria k ng They were, however, uns ccessful, ’ f Z abdan and were defeated a ter two days battle. , the b e roth r of the king of Babylon, was taken captive

- - e r w iddina. tog the ith the chief of the host, Bel pal The leader of the Suhi and seventy of his followers fled by way of the river. Afterwards the Babylonian king made a treaty with Shalmaneser II . , king of Assyria, the son

- - of Assur nasir pal, who was now dead . This king was ” - so - - a votary of the Sun god , and in the called Sun god tablet, he relates that a wicked enemy, called the Sutu, m had invaded Babylon before his ti e, had attacked the temple of the Sun, and had wrought considerable f e d amage and destruction therein . Other kings be or d r his time ha executed several conside able repairs, but no one had done so much as he did . He apportioned a fixed revenue from the royal farms for the su pport of 8 I ND RY 5 BABYLONIAN L FE A HISTO .

and the e this temple, presented priests with valuabl a g rments. The next legitimate claimant o f the throne was - -iskun so n - al-iddina Marduk suma , the of Nabu p , but it - - s was also claimed by an usurper called Marduk bel u ati,

. who, aided by the populace, took possession of the country

The Assyrian king, Shalmaneser II ., took the part of the lawful heir to the throne, and marched to his assistance. fled bu t f The heir to Halman, was ollowed by the Assyrians and slain ; the rebel was defeated at Gan nanati by the Assyrian king, who then marched to

Babylon . It must not be forgotten that it was this king who made Jehu, the son of Nimshi, pay him tribute ; and “ ” on the black obelisk, which stands in the British u Museum , the pict re of Jehu kneeling down doing rever the ence to Assyrian lord may be seen . This king erected most magnificent gates covered with plates of h bronze, having in relief upon t em beautifully executed s cenes from his wars and expeditions. Bau -ahi-iddin and Marduk-b alatsu-ikbi were the next s i n h e king of Babylon . L ttle is know of eit er sav that the latter was king during th e reign of Sam si -Kammann over Assyria, who made many raids on Babylonia. In

- . a sukal one of these raids he took Dur p p , and in another he defeated the Babylonian army . Babylonian history is now silent as to the names of its kings ; but we f know rom the annals of the sister kingdom Assyria, x u that many e peditions were made by its kings, Ramman N irari - III ., Shalmaneser III . , and Assur Dan against R n - N ir ri s . am m a u a wa Babylon III . the son of Samas

m B 8 1 2 . a . Ri mon, who died about .C. Shalm neser III made three expeditions against Babylon between the

B C. 8 B 6 . C. . years 7 3 and . 7 7

60 B B E AN D T A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY .

B C. 2 2 who . king of Assyria, began to reign about 7 , for

1 2 B C. about 7 . we find him sending an ambassador to him Hezekiah to solicit aid against . He then sent to —ni as him Humba g , the king of Elam, and supported by the Babylonians rebelled . The Assyrian king, Sargon , r conquered them and ravaged the count y . This is one r of the most interesting periods of Assyrian histo y, for the great king of Assyria comes into very close contact w with the Jews . Isaiah in his t entieth chapter tells us that he sent his Tartan to besiege Ashdod and took it and on a fragment of clay cylinder of Sargon a most graphic description is given of the means taken by the

Assyrian king to capture the city. The siege took place ’

B. C. 1 1 : 7 , and the following is Sargon s account of it “ In my ninth expedition I went to Philistia and

Ashdod, and to the land beside the , Great Sea the r Medite ranean) . “ A z u ri , king of Ashdod, hardened his heart against bringing tribute to me, and he also sent to the kings round about who were unfriendly to Assyria, and worked wickedness . I shattered his power over his people, and carried o ff spoil After this I appointed his brother i Ah m u t to be lord of the realm . I fixed the taxes and tribute which he should pay to me like the other r kings round about him . His wicked people, howeve , hardened their hearts against the paym ent of tribute ; they revolted against their king, and because he had l l nd been o ya a good to me they drove him away . After Y this they established aman, a usurper in the kingdom ; and they seated a man who was not the lawful heir on the thro ne of their lord . They assembled their forces f for war, and they ortified the town against me . They made an excavation like a ditch all round the city to a - 6 B B T B C. 1 0 668 . 1 A YLONIAN HIS ORY FROM . 33

h n depth of 34 feet, and into it t ey directed all the spri gs

m . of the city, to for a moat All the inhabitants of w Philistia, Judah, Edom . and Moab, d elling by the sea, whose duty it was to bring gifts and offerings to m Assur, y lord , spoke treason . These people and their

rebellious chiefs carried their presents to Pharaoh, the — king of Egypt a monarch who could not deliver them

- and entreated his assistance . Then I, Sargon , the

majestic prince, the worshipper of Assur and Merodach , j ealous for the honour of Assur, passed over the Tigris and Y Euphrates at their flood time. aman, who relied tO upon himself, and who would not submit my authority, heard of the advance of my expedition to the land of e the H ittit s and the might of Assur overwhelmed him . -o ff He fled to Meroe, near Egypt, to a far place, and was ” no more seen . H - ezekiah did not support Merodach Baladan, who K -N ahh unte then sent to udur , king of Elam, and they

became allies . Having prepared his army, he made strong his fortifications to resist the march of Sargon of - a Assyria . But his city Dur athar was captured, himself f in put to flight, and obliged to seek re uge his own

country Beth Yakur. On the road thither he retreated c t e - n to a i y call d Ikbi Bel , and Sargon havi g captured

- Babylon marched against it . Merodach Baladan and his followers forsook Ikbi-Bel and took refuge in Dur

Y . akin , which they strongly fortified This was useless, Off however, for Sargon took the city and carried

- M erodach Baladan and all his family . d B. C. 0 an Sargon died 7 5, was succeeded by his son , i Sennacherib. He reigned qu etly for two years, when a man called by Eusebius H agisa (probably Marduk - u n e Zakir s mi of the i scriptions) came to the thron , 62 B AN D ST BA YLONIAN LIFE HI ORY .

- Sennacherib being deposed . Merodach Baladan gathere d him his armies together, attacked this rebel and slew . e n nn H the set himself upon the throne. Se acherib re-assembled his armies and marched from Nineveh n and - a agai st him, utterly routed Merodach Baladan t K him in the city of isu, and compelled to seek refuge Guz u m m anu e . Afterwards he gather d together what e ver people were willing to follow his fortune, and led m t l N a itu n the to a dis rict ca led g , dow by the Persian u Gulf, where he died an exile. Sennacherib placed pon n m an -e s the thro e of Babylon a young called Bel p u . S u z u b so n Another Babylonian rebel arose called , the of n r e Gabul, but Sennacherib soo supp ess d him and ravaged

. n v his country He was take captive and sent to Nine eh . Sennacherib was now occupied in trying to de stroy ’ - Baladan s N a itu Merodach settlement in g ; and , while fo r S u z u b labouring this object, escaped, and , aided by

the king of Elam, marched to Babylon and became

king. He was routed by the Assyrians and obliged to h e h keep in hiding, but soon after gat ered together another army and again taking Babylon proclaimed h n n imself ki g. He met the Assyria army in battle at H o n so n alub, the Tigris he was utterly defeated , and the - - m -isku m who of Merodach Baladan, Nabu su u , had joined f l the n him , el into the hands of victorious Assyria army. S u z ub -Minanu fled, and Umman , his helper, the king of

n m . Elam , retreated to his own ki gdo ’ Sennacherib s vengeance upon Babylon was most n m m l severe. He pulled dow the te ples, re oved wa ls m and towers, and hurled the into the river Araxes .

Everything capable of being destroyed he destroyed . It is very hard to form even an idea of the dam age which this king must have done. In Babylon was the - B B N T . 6 1 6 8. 6 A YLO IAN HIS ORY FROM D C. 3 30 3 accumulated learning of ages and of hundreds of gene o f rations the children of men . The libraries were the repository of all the science and knowledge which the th had o most civilized of e Semitic races . The bo ks of astronom y and observations of the heavenly bodies were a all there, in ddition to their beautiful collection of myths ” r and stories of the childhood of the world . With eve y t r ff other grea building, the libra ies must have su ered, and very possibly many of the stories and legends which have supplied th e other nations of the world with the r o f m g oundwork their ythology, perished under the needlessly cruel vengeance which Sennacherib wreaked “ ” n a . upo the city, the g te of God Every one is familiar with the boastful speeches of 1 the Rabshakeh (in Assyrian Em EY» i nfl: and without doubt they were the very words which the king himself had commanded to be spoken. In deeds he was c r insc ri ruel, in speech haughty, and eve y word of his p “ am tions breathes the spirit of his boast, I the mighty ” king, the powerful . Sennacherib deposed Bel -epus and raised to the Baby

- - m . lonian throne his son , Assur nadin su i The particulars o f r these battles belong properly to the histo y of Assyria, but it is necessary to touch upon them briefly for the r right understanding of the histo y of Babylon . Assur n - adin sumi reigned about six years, and was succeeded by - s M use sib Nergal edir, who, in his turn, was ucceeded by

B C. 68 1 Marduk . Sennacherib was murdered about . , - - m and his son, Assur nadin su i , whom he had appointed

6 . B. C. so n over Babylon , had died about 94 Another 6 B . 8 m .C 0 Esarhaddon , ca e to the Assyrian throne , but,

1 — n xv iii 1 . 2 Ki gs . 9 35 B B E AN D T 64 A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY .

a - - me nwhile, a son of Merodach Baladan, called Nabu zir

‘ ’ na isti—e sir p , had seized his father s dominions near the u Persian Gulf, and wished to r le Babylonia . The sons of

Sennacherib after his death quarrelled as to the succession . While this quarrel was going on Nabu -zir-napisti-esir N attacked the city of Ur, which was ruled over by ingal i ina S fo r dd . His iege was unsuccessful, however, Esar haddon, having defeated his brothers, marched against - -na isti-e sir him , and Nabu zir p was compelled to take

- refuge in Elam . His brother, Nahid Marduk, submitted to Esarhaddon , and was appointed by him to the govern - ment of the sea coast . The judicious king, Esarhaddon, went to Babylon and began to repair the damages which d his father had done . He not only was merciful an kind , but he did his best to show that he honoured the ancient city Babylon . He built ten temples there, and there are inscriptions in the British Museum in Babylonian as well as in Assyrian, which go to prove that he wished to conform to the usages of the people and their kings h far as he could . His mild but firm policy pacified t e excitable and angry breasts of the various tribes ever ready for war, and rendered his short reign of thirteen years very glorious . During his reign he associated his son , Assurbanipal, with him in the kingdom of Assyria, and left the government of Babylon to another son , u- - - - n Sam ull sum ukin or Samas sum uki . C H APTER V

E — EB T H E EV . UC E FALL OF NIN H N HADN ZZAR . 668— 6 B. C . 5 0 . — — rb n ? ars wit/z Elam H i.r care or l b ar l Assu a i al w . tke i r ies Fa l o p f . f ’ e T/ze ven ance o the Bab lo nians -N ebu ekad nez z ar s M neo /z . g e f y . — ’ t/z tlz E tian ariak kin u aak. bu ildin : wi e y p n f , g ofj g — t a br z ste Tke si e o T e Tk nd eanak I nren ion on on e . e r . e a . } p g f y tion r salern and ca tivit o its eo e —N ekuekadnez z ar and destruc off e u p y f p pl . — iblical na s o Adam Abe] Abr kam an t/zu sela D aniel B m e f , , a , d M e k nd n tlze tablets fou o .

F R O ten or a dozen years we have peace in the land . Of U rtaki After this a king Elam , called , made a league

- Gam bu lu m with Bel basa, king of the , and began to ake

war against Assurbanipal and his brother. Assurbanipal hearing of this, sent an army to fight these kings, and it t a succeeded in driving U taki back into El m , which country he subsequently conq uered and placed U m m an ki U rta . igas, a son of , upon the throne Another serious ’ no trouble w awaited Assurbanipal . His brother s spirit him and chafed at the idea of his being in subjection to , knowing that the king of Elam was ill-disposed to n Assurba ipal , the sacrilegious monarch opened the an treasuries of the temples of the gods Bel, Nebo, d

Nergal, and taking out their gold and silver he sent it to

- m Umman igas, the king of Ela , and prayed for his A ssu rbani assistance to make a war against his brother, pal . The Elamite king was quite ready to take up arm s

against his benefactor, and raising a large army, he,

together with the Babylonian king, began a series of E 66 B BA YLONIAN LIFE AN D HISTORY .

s r de perate and fierce wa s . The Elamite king had no so n sooner left his city on this expedition than his own , P arritu him , rebelled , and, attacking his father, slew ,

sending his head as a present to Assurbanipal . He, m - however, followed the policy of his father U man igas, n and joined the Babylo ian faction . The Assyrian army conquered the Babyloni an king and his ally and took

B C. 6 8 Babylon about . 4 . The king set fire to his palace, and perished in the flames .

Assurbanipal severely punished the insurgents, but

- - - one Nabu bel zikri , the ruler of the sea coast, a grand so n - of Merodach Baladan III . , found his way to Elam, - i and took refuge with Inda bigas, its king, who, be ng m well disposed to Assyria, sent an a bassador to its m v king to infor him of the e ent. Naturally enough, Assurbanipal demanded that Nabu -bel- zikri should be delivered up to him . Before this request could be brought to the Elamite king, he and his family had been

- slain by Umman aldas, who had ascended the throne . Assurbanipal sent to this new king dem anding that - - n Nabu bel zikri should be give up ; he, fearing this u m - res lt, called for his ar our bearer, and they ran each

m - other through with their swords . Um an aldas , the o f m - - king Ela , sent the body of Nabu bel zikri, together

- with the head of the armour bearer, to Assurbanipal . Samas - sum -ukin reigned over Babylon abo ut twenty Kandalanu n years, and was succeeded by , who reig ed

- abo ut twenty two years . 6 B. C 6 2 n Then followed peace until about . , whe another revolt broke out in Babylonia, and the Assyrian - - s king sent a general called Nabu pal u ur to quell it . Nabu-pal -usur was a general of great ability and tact ; and the govern m ent of Assyria appear to have made

68 B B E AN D ST . . A YLONIAN LIF HI ORY

ceased to exist. The Babylonians remembered the m vengeance taken upon the by Sennacherib, and the destruction he wrought and there is very little doubt but m that N abo po lassar took care to avenge this treat ent . m About this ti e Josiah, the king ofJudah, went out with 1 his sm all army against the Egyptian hosts . The fate of

this courageous, fearless monarch is known to all, and

needs no repetition here . ’ f t N abo o lassar In the our h year of Jehoiakim , p , king a of Babylon, sent his son , Nebuchadnezzar, to m ke war m against the Egyptians ; war, for so e reason or other, a having been declared . While Nebuch dnezzar was

carrying out the instructions of his father, news reached him of the death of N abo po lassar he therefore ’ is n hastened back to Babylon to receive h father s crow . The battle which Nebuchadnezzar fought with th e B 6 C. 08 Egyptian king took place at Carchemish about . . When Nebuchadnezzar reached Babylon he found n him that the thro e had been kept for . When he had becom e established in the kingdom he set his variou s oe captives, Jews, Ph nicians, Syrians, and Egyptians at

work to make Babylon the greatest city in the world . m e And as a builder he re ains almost unsurpassed . H

surrounded Babylon with two huge walls, an inner and u an outer. The o ter wall he simply repaired , but the

inner he built entirely. He reared a huge palace in 3 e a s fifteen days, and dug the gr at can l, the remain of which Sir Henry Rawlinson traced from Hit to the a 00 bay of Graine, a dist nce of nearly 5 miles .

1 i xxiii 2 0. 2 K ngs , 9, 3 2 r x vi z . Je . l . 3 S ee Co l. 8 ine 6 o f his lar e insc ri tio n and this is m entio ned b , l 3, g p , y Berosus

T H E N EVE 6 FALL OF IN H . 9

N BR N ZE T P I SCR I P TI ON ON A O S E OF N EBU CH ADN EZZAR .

” “ Y Y I : r>T D P - - k - - . i m . N a b u u du ri u su

’ YVebuekaanez z ar

sar ka dingi t a ki t/ze king of Babylon (tke gate of god)

‘x r > —s » t < YYflE a, in +YY215EH ( YL YTaYYY22EYY

z a ni in :E S I L I u E 2 1 DA

' tke restorer of tko temple S agilz and tke temple Zida

" ” " " — r- C Z r- 5. m YYYYY EYSY Y YYYa r S R ablu asaridu sa D P N abu abla tke eldest of N abu -pal

’ > N =YYfl= d > - YY59 A iii -YYE] YY YIEY

ur sar tin tir ki a na ku

li am usu r tko king of Babylon (tke seat of fe) 1 .

J ” r f fi : fl — YY Y Y Y: r h

bi u m bil u i a na D . P . N a

For tke god N abo tke sup rem e lord

m u sa ri - ku u - u m m a la ki ya t/ze lengtkener of tko day of my rule (o r kingdom )

> t “ SEY YY§§ EY

> >

n u After Nebuchad ezzar had ret rned from Syria, u dm a o ff oe J threw his yoke together with Ph nicia, n expecting help from the ki g of Egypt. He marched at once against Tyre, but was unable to take it . He m therefore left an ar y encamped before the city . and 1 m h went to Jerusale . Je oiakim, who was king of Judah

m 2 . K . at that ti e, rebelled ( ings xxiv and although rw no he afte ards submitted , it was to purpose, for Nebuchadnezzar put him in fetters and established 2 h n Jeconia in his stead . Soon after Nebuchad ezzar m m h came to Jerusale again , re oved Jeconia from the m throne, carried him to Babylon, and ade Zedekiah 3 . m e t king in his stead The Babylonian king, however, t m m wi h uch resistance fro the Tyrians, for it took d an n thirteen years to capture the city . So goo historia m as Mr. Grote thinks it never was taken ; Jere iah and 4 Ezekiel both prophesy its downfall, and speaking generally it seem s impossible that iron -willed N ebu c had ne z z ar should be defeated in this matter, having all his oe him army and the whole naval force of Ph nicia to help .

Three years before the fall of Tyre, however, and in the ninth year of Zedekiah, Jerusalem rebelled, hoping to m obtain assistance fro the new king of Egypt, Pharaoh 5 H o hra p , and with this end in view the Jewish king,

Zedekiah , sent messengers to Egypt . But before help could come from this quarter Nebuchadnezzar h ad

- m ar 2 hro n. xxxvi 6 2 Kin s xxiv . 1 6 . Co p e C . g 9 3 - r x n -6 2 r xxxvi. 8 . 2 Kin xxiv I 1 1 . e . xv . Ez e . xxv Ch o n . s i g . 7 J 3 ; k . 5 — Ez k x - The Bib ica H o e r xxxv n . 1 1 e . vii 1 20. harao h h ra J. 5 . 5 l l P p

(o therwise kno wn as Apries) is the G) o f the iero hs H glyp . TH E EVE 1 FALL OF NIN H . 7

‘ and besieged Jerusalem , hearing that the Egyptian force was on the march, he raised the siege and went to m H o hra do battle with it . So e say that Pharaoh p was b defeated , others that he retreated as the Ba ylonians advanced . N ebu c hadnez z ar returned to the siege of m and f the Jerusale , a ter two years city surrendered in his 2 ’ the nineteenth year o f reign . Zedekiah s eyes were 3 an put out d he was carried to Babylon . Nebuchadnezzar m destroyed the te ple, the city and its walls, and trans 4 r ported the g eater part of the people to his own land . A few years after this he again marched through Syria and Palestine into Egypt to make war with the far Egyptian king, ravaging the country and wide. As O s usual he was successful , and btained much poil and m ‘5 n any captives. Nebuchad ezzar is the subject of the l iveliest interest to us, for it was this king that threw the three children into the fiery fu rnace ; and it m u st never be forgotten that he was very kind to the prophet 6 Jeremiah. Daniel was called Belteshazzar ; this is

- - i e a . . probably a corruption of Beltis s rra usur, , Beltis pro ’ e te ts the king.

The question has been asked over and over again , Is ’ m Daniel s na e found in the inscriptions The answer is, an n No but this fact is easily explained . When easter m king perfor ed any great work or deed, or carried on

1 r. xxxv n Je . 5. 2 r lii 1 2 Je . . . 3 wi brin him to Bab o n to the and o f the Cha deans et sha he I ll g yl l l , y ll ”— no t see it tho u h he sha die there . Ez ek . xii. 1 . , g ll 3

4 - - 2 2 Kin s xxv 8 1 2 . Iii. 1 0 . Jer. 3 ; g

5 — - - Ez k . xxix 1 2 xxx 2 3o m are er. x vi. 1 26 e . 0 . 10 6 m m C p J l 3 , 3 ; 7 ; 1 1 —1 6 5 Dan. iv . 8 .

7 I n cuneifo rm it wo u d be >> > l Y n{fl ycg 31 A . 2 B B E T 7 A YLONIAN LIF AND HIS ORY. an y war, not only his own share in the labour, but the n him share of his ge erals was attributed to , and every ’ one s glory became merged in that of the monarch . There is no reason whatever why the name may not be found in future days when all Babylon is excavated .

Many another Biblical name is found on the tablets, for “ ” ” A bra/nu Adam u m A blu example, Abraham, Ada , “ ” M u tu -sa-ili Abel, (the man of god) , Methuselah, and so on . When Sennacherib and his mighty army besieged ” r Je usalem the Rabshakeh did all the work, but his name is not even mentioned in the accou nt Of the siege ’ n written by the king s orders . Whe Sargon besieged “ Ashdod, the Tartan did all the work, but the king

. 5 0 claimed the glory , however great a man Daniel was v in Babylon, and howe er important his work, it is not likely that Nebuchadnezzar would concede to him his “ ” due and mention his name . The plain of Dura mentioned in Daniel is probably one of the districts in ”

i . s u .e Babylon which are called in the in criptions Dur , , f ortress . was Nebuchadnezzar died after a reign of 43 years , and succeeded by his son Amil -Marduk (the Evil Mero dach B 62 C. of the Bible) , . 5 . It is necessary to mention ’ that the form of this monarch s name, Nebuchadrezzar

. . 1 8 1 . (Ezek xxvi 7 ; xxix . , 9 ; xxx is the more correct according to the inscriptions for Nebu N abu c h ad r kudu r e z z ar u ur ; and s .

Ba o nian Co ntrac t Ta et with sea -im re ssio ns ate 8th da o f Se at byl bl l p , d d y b ,

c essio n ear f N eri lissar kin o f Ba o n. a c y o g , g byl CHAPTER VI .

T H E CUN EIFORM ACCOUNT OF TH E CAPTURE OF B BY — T H E E W L ED T BA YLON CYRUS . CAUS S HICH o — — I T . 6 . B. C 0 0 5 53 .

- — R ab bl a . N abonidus kin B l and elskaz z ar m aster Me g , g Qf aby on , B , of — — arm C ru s. R i o tb r N abo i u . se kis ower D eatk o tire m o e o n d s. y y f p . f f Ckie ev nts the e r o — x r an f e of y a s f the reig n of N abonidu s. E tract f om i s r io n o tbis r — t n c i t m a ck H is r s arclzes. H restora ions o tbc p f on . e e is f

- - — tem les. N abonidus a su n worsh er A rent al o C rus at Bab lo n . p ipp . f y y — H is C linder . P art o cu nei orm text relatin to ke ca tu re o Bab lon y f f g t p f y . — — ” — Translation o it. C rus tbc ske kerd tk ood kin is con f y p , e g g H — — ciliat or olic . H is kindness to tke etus H is restoration ke cities yp y f . of t ’ ~ — — and tem les. Bible accou nt o tbc all o Bab lon Belskaz z ar s ast p f f f y . fe .

V E C two E IL M RODA H, after a reign of years, was ’ - - assassinated by his sister s husband, Nergal sarra usur i li s or N e r g s ar. Some think that he was the Nergal

- Sharezer, the Rab Mag, who was with Nebuchadnezzar 1 e m at the siege of J rusale . He reigned three years, and d 6 ab- . R Ma ru B. C . ba em a ied 55 g is in Babylonian g , i- the glorious prince . His son L abas Marduk (the L abo ro so arc ho d m him of Ptole y) succeeded , and was t assassinated af er a reign of nine months .

- The next successor to the throne was Nabu Nahid , - -su - Nabonidus, the son of Nabu balat ikbi, who began

B C. 6 . o to reign about . 55 And now sl wly but surely the n Babylo ian empire began to decay. Cyrus was be abo nid us coming a powerful king, and the inertness of N

er. xxxi J x. 3 and 1 3 . T 74 BABYLONIAN LIFE AN D HIS ORY .

prepared the way for his future capture of Babylon .

Nabonidus dwelt in the city Tema, and to his son

Belshazzar was entrusted the care of the army. In the first year of the reign of Nabo nidu s we find that he made war with a king whose name is lost in the second there was a S light rebellion in Hamath . In his third year he m m n nu went to a country called A a a . In his sixth year

Cyrus, the king of Anzan , went to a country whose name A es o . st a is l st Hearing of this, the soldiers of y g revolted

him . in this year, and delivered into the hands of Cyrus abo nidu s On the cylinder of N , quoted further on, the king says that Cyrus himself conquered A styage s ; but the statem ent which makes the soldiers of A styage s deliver their king into the hands of Cyrus agrees with that of i Herodotus . Cyrus was push ng on his fortunes rapidly,

for he captured the royal city in Ecbatana, and carried

the silver, gold, furniture, and goods which he had taken

there to A nzan . In the seventh year of his reign abo nidus N was still in Tema, while his army was in

Akkad . We have no notice of what took place in the s eighth year. In his ninth year he was till in Tema, and m n his army was in Akkad . In the o th Nisan of this year the mother of the king died ; there was mourning

and . for three days much weeping Cyrus, the king of

Anzan or Persia, gathered his army together, crossed the

Tigris by Arbela, and went to attack a king who lived

. B. C. in there In the tenth year, 549, Nabonidus was

a and . Tem , the army in Akkad The priests made o Bo rsi a sacrifices to the g ds of Babylon and pp , asking 2 1 5 t n for peace . In this year, on the of Siva , Cyrus f marched from the land of the Elamites into Akkad . O

the eleventh year of Nabonidus we know little, save that

the king was in Tema, the army in Akkad , and that they T T ACCOUN OF H E CAPTURE OF BABYLON . 7 5 sacrificed victims to the gods presiding over Babylon and Bo rsi a pp , entreating peace. The tablet which gives these particulars also tells us that the god Bel did not ” go to Babylon , nor did Nebo come forth during these years, which means that even the worship of the gods began to be neglected . This would make the priests r and c aste whic h ang y, as they were a always carried n great influence, it makes us wonder why the ki g dared ff m to o end the .

B C. In the seventeenth year of Nabonidus ( . 539) Cyrus captured Babylon but we must give some notice of the work of Nabonidus before we deal with this event . m R ass m Some little ti e ago Mr. a brought to England “ ” abo nidu s fragments of some N cylinders . One of these n is a very important docume t, and we shall describe here is briefly its contents . The cylinder in three columns, 1 - and contains 59 well written lines . He begins by “ - -su - m calling himself the son of Nabu balat ikbi, the ighty abm an a prince . It appears that an enemy called the S d had gone to Harran and had destroyed the temple of ” n- the Moo god . The god Bel wished Nabonidus to undertake the re -erection of this temple and the re S in establishment of the city, and Marduk and , the - him Moon god, appeared to him in a dream and told ’ n what Bel desired . The following is Nabo idus own account of the matter

the 1 5. In the beginning of my long reign, Marduk great lord and Sin 1 6 n h . the illuminator of heaven and earth, the stre gt ener of all showed me a 1 7 . a dream . M rduk spoke with me (saying) 6 B B E T 7 A YLONIAN LIF AND HIS ORY .

l Nabonidus, king of Baby on , with the horses of thy chariots rear up the walls of E-hu lhu l and of Sin the great

lord,

- fix the dwelling place within it .

Reverently I spoke to the lord of the gods Marduk ,

that house of which thou speakest I will build . Sabm anda The of which thou speakest destroyed it ,

strong was their might. Marduk spoke with m e saying the Sabm anda of which th ou speakest

they, their country and the kings going by their side

shall not exist . In the third year with his small army he made Cyrus the king of Anzan his young servant to go - Sabm anda he overthrew the wide spreading , he captured A styages king of Sabm and a and took his treasures

to his own land .

Nabonidus began the work of restoration, and brought h his army from Gaza for the purpose . He tells us t at

Assurbanipal, the son of Esarhaddon, had restored it in

his time. During the excavations for the necessary repairs of the foundations he found the cylinders which

had been deposited by Shalmaneser II . (who reigned

86 . a o nid u s B C. b about . 0) and Assurbanipal N gave all e d his nergies to the work, and had the bricks ma e like

i. e. . white marble, , he glazed them white He set figures o f the god Lahmu on each side of the doors m of the temple . He then had the i age of the Moon god brought from S u -anna and placed it in the shrine CC T TH E T E B B A OUN OF CAP UR OF A YLON . 77

h set at Harran . He made an inscription , w ich he side by side with that of Assurbanipal, which he tells

- us he saw. Having done his duty to the Moon god , S u n- i ara he next speaks of the god at S pp . Nebu c had ne z z ar m e , it will be re emb red, had restored the m te ple, but this inscription tells us that he looked r -fi for the cylinders and found them not . Fo ty v e years after this restoration Nabonidus looked for them, and m found the not . Thinking that the image of the Sun abo nid u s god had been placed in the wrong shrine, N i had it removed and set in another temple. After th s he “ ” e tells us that he excavated as much as ighteen cubits, - in and found the foundation stone of Naram S , the son s of Sargon , which for three thousand two hundred year ” no king going before me had seen . He goes on to say

- E- that Samas, the Sun god, the great lord of parra, revealed to me the house “ the seat of the joy of his ” heart . The king was very pleased with this success, ” and he sacrificed a victim . The pious king next restored the temple of A nu nitum “ i ara (in S pp ) , the lady who walks before the gods it E-u l r was called ba . While excavating for the found atio ns n he found two fou dation stones of earlier kings, S a asalti- Bu r as Ku d u rri- namely those of g y and Bel . This remarkably interesting cylinder ends by a prayer to the ni god s Samas and A nu t. This brings us back to the tablet contai ni ng the f annals of the reign of Nabonidus . A ter th e eleventh

year we know not what took place, for the tablet is fo rd etails e broken, andwe are at a loss until the sevente nth the year of the reign of Nabonidus, of which year tablet

gives u s information . The period of the inertness of N abonidus appears to be over ; the gods were brought 8 B B E N D T 7 A YLONIAN LIF A HIS ORY .

the forth and sacrifices were made, all the images of gods they could find were taken in p rocession around Bo rsi a Cu tha S i ara Babylon , and only those of pp , , and pp were allowed to remain in their places . The tablet of annals gives the following account of this year At the end o f the month Elul (August) the gods of m m Akkad, who were above the at osphere, ca e down to Bo rsi a u h i ar . C t a S a Babylon The gods of pp , , and pp n m came not dow . In the month Tam uz (June) Cyrus R u tu m N iz allat made battle in against of the river .

The men of Akkad made a revolt. The soldiers took Si ara 1 pp on the 4th day without fighting, and Nabonidus 1 6 Go br as fled away . On the th day y , the governor of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus came to Babylon n without any opposition . Afterwards, having bou d o f Nabonidus, he took him to Babylon . At the end the m onth Tam muz the rebels of Gutium closed the gates of E- S agili; but neither in that tem ple nor any other temples of the country was there found a weapon for its defence . M arc he sv an rd da In the month (October) , the 3 y, Cyrus came to Babylon , the roads were dark before him . He m ade peace to the city and prom ised peace to all Go br as Babylon . Cyrus appointed y to be governor in

Babylon together with others . From the month Kislev (November) to the month Adar (February) they brought N abo back to their shrines the gods of Akkad , whom nidus had sent down to Babylon . In the month of an r 1 1 th d a G o b r as M arc he sv (October) the da k, the y, y i and the king (Nabonidus) d ed . From the 2 7 th of the month Adar (February) to the 3rd day of the month Nisan (March) there was weeping in Akkad . 1 All the people were free from their chief. On the 1 Com are o b iii. 1 p J 9,

CC T OF T H E C T E OF B B A OUN AP UR A YLON . 79

th m m 4 day Ca byses, the son of Cyrus, in the Te ple of ” the Sceptre of the World , established a festival . This is the brief history o f the conquest of Babylon as recorded in the annals ; and it will be easy to see that n m it was brought about by other things tha force of ar s . m abo nid u s There was a revolt a ong the troops of N , and S i ara he fled, hence pp was easily taken , and the rebels S E- sa ili m who hut themselves up in g were without ar s, ffi therefore they were subdued without di culty . There is a fragment of a cylinder in the British Museum which was drawn up by the command of Cyrus, and which l gives his account of the taking of Babylon . As this m e famous record is so i portant, a paraphrase is her given

The first few lines of the fragment are much broken, and only a few words are readable, but the general import of them seems to be that under the care of th e m Nabonidus rites of the te ples were discontinued , and that the ordinary offerings and sacrifices were left

. s unperformed At this Merodach, the lord of the god , n grieved , and the gods left their respective shri es . At th e Kal- n sacred feasts which were celebrated within a na,

Merodach did not appear, he had taken himself away to was other peoples . Merodach kind to the people of m Su ir and Akkad, and he returned, and rejoiced all the S countries . He ought out a king for himself who would ’ perform according to the heart s desire of the go d what ever was entrusted to his hand . He proclaim ed the renown of Cyrus, the king of Anzan (Persia), throughout

I n the insc riptio ns o f Nabo nidus no m entio n is m ade o f any resto ratio n o f the tem e o f arduk b him and it seem s that he ne ec ted ntir pl M y , gl e ely h o rshi o f this ve r favo urite deit o f Bab o ni T is wo d t e w p y y yl a. h ul o f aro use the indi natio n o f the riests o f arduk c o urse g p M . 80 B B N E T A YLO IAN LIF AND HIS ORY. 8 1 ACCOUNT OF TH E CAPTURE OF BABYLON .

e the length and breadth of the land , and he proclaim d m his glory to all . He made all the people of Gutiu w f hom he had gathered to his eet, and all the dark races whom he had caused his hand to take, to dwell under and d law righteousness . Mero ach; the great lord , ’ directed his (Cyrus ) hand and heart he lived happily . The god com manded him to m ake the m arch to his city Tintir Babylon, he made him take the road to (Babylon) , the forces of Cyrus marched like a cloud and an earth m - - wall . His ar y was wide spreading and far reaching

w m e . like the aters of a river, his forces were without nu b r He made them enter Kal- anna without fighting and i without contest ; he m ade breaches all round the c ty,

and he (the god) delivered Nabonidus, who did not him reverence , into the hands of Cyrus . All the people Tintir m s of and all the people of Akkad and Su ir, noble e and priests who had opposed the king, he crush d A nd beneath him, and they came and kissed his feet . m the then the god Merodach, who by his service akes difli c u l dead to live, and who in ty and trouble aids him m a every one, drew near to favourably and de known “ m am u . his procla ation , saying, I Cyr s the king m Tintir o f the great king, the ighty king, king of , king S m i the t u r and Akkad, king of four regions of the ear h , m the son of Ca byses, the great king, king of the city a Anz n , grandson of Cyrus, the great king, king of the

Of - Te is e s n city Anzan, great grandson of p , the great ki g o f e the city of Anzan, of the ancient s ed of royalty , whose dominion (reign) Bel and Nebo had exalted n fic according to the b e e e nc e of their hearts .

After Cyrus entered Babylon with joy and gladness , e a Of and h enlarged the royal palace , the se t royalty, i re Merodach , whom the Babylonians had gr eved, daily F 82 B B E T A YLONIAN LIF AND HIS ORY .

o ic ed e - e j the h art ofhis follower. His wide spr ading forces S were pread over the land peacefully, and he repaired the cities and made joyful the children of Babylon . Cyrus was careful to repair im m ediately the temple of the god Merodach, and the god was pleased to approach oe him favourably. All the kings of Ph nicia and round

about brought their tribute, and kissed the feet of Cyrus . He rest ored the shrines and dwelling- places of the gods e I snu m nak Z am ban of the towns of Agad , , , and else o f m where . The gods Akkad and Su ir, which Nabo m n n nidus had brought fro their shri es for the fi al festival,

Cyrus restored to their places . The last line or two of the inscription tells us that he prayed daily to Nebo ] e n his and Be that th y would be pleased to prolo g days, to bless the decree for his prosperity, and that Merodach a him would reg rd as his faithful follower and son . Such is t h e account given of this rem arkable fragm ent m m of the fall of Babylon . It will be re e bered that the old histori an Herodotus tells us that Cyrus drained the river Euphrates nearly dry by means of a canal running m into a lake, and that the Persians arched up through e f the river gates, which were car lessly le t open by the in Babylonians . No mention of this is made in the sc riptio ns but there is no reason why Cyrus should not m have had recourse to this eans as well as to fighting. We have m enti o ned that Nabonidus h ad entrusted the m charge of the Babylonian ar y to his son Belshazzar, and the Bible tells us that he was slain on the awful n m night of the capture of Babylo . It akes no m ention

. w N e ri of Nabonidus Josephus says, and hen glissar m m a was dead the kingdo ca e to Balt sar, who by th e ” l N abo and e lu s Babylonians was ca led , and in another “ ” N abo nn part of his book he calls Nabonidus e do n . CC T TH E C T U E B B A OUN OF AP R OF A YLON . 83

Now it is evident that the father Nabo nidus and th e so n Belshazzar becam e confuse d in the mind s of th e writers th e sa a of the histories, but one and me king is me nt. It was natural that foreigners shou ld consider Belshazzar e c w as m s m to be the king, b ause he a ter of the ar y. ’ The Bible and Josephus record an event in this king s l o d m no t ife which the inscriptions and Her otus ention . 1 n It is said, Belshazzar the ki g made a great feast to a t housand of his lords, and drank wine before the thou

sand . Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father his ancestor) Nebuchad nezzar had taken out of the m th e te ple which was in Jerusalem , that king and his

princes, his wives and his concubines, might drink therein In the same hour came forth fingers of a ’ m w n an s hand, and rote over agai st the candlestick upon ’ the plaister of the wall of the king s palace ; and the ”

n . ki g saw the part of the hand that wrote Belshazzar, l exceedingly terrified at this, ca led for all the astrologers, s n sooth ayers, and augurs, and dema ded an interpreta

tion but none could read it . At last came Daniel, the m servant of the Lord , and read the awful dictu to the — “ i e. E E E E EKEL . king M N , M N , T , UPHARSIN , , God hath nu m bered thy kingdom and finished it thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting ; thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. A verse

“ ‘ o Be lsh az z ar th or tw later we read, In that night was , e ” king of the Chaldeans, slain . The Babylonians had heard for years of the conquests of Cyrus , but they felt secure when they remembered the walls o f their city and the huge gates which broke

1 anie v D l . 84 BABYLONIAN LIFE AND HISTORY .

their line at short distances . They thought of their past Old conquests, of their glories, of their lines of kings, and l were insolent y secure in their hearts . The prophets o f Israel denounced Babylon in their prophecies all nations u c r h e r took p the y of joy at downfall, and the cry m Babylon is fallen resounded fro city to city, and

from one end of the earth to the other .

86 BABYLONIAN LIFE AN D HISTORY .

: d be shut I will go before thee, and make the crooke places straight : I will break in pieces the gates of : brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron and I will a s give thee the tre sures of darkness, and hidden riche of secret places, that thou mayest know that I , the d m Lor , which call thee by thy na e, am the God of ’

ae . v s Isr l For Jacob My ser ant s ake, and Israel Mine ve e m : elect, I have e n called th e by thy na e I have

m . am surna ed thee, though thou hast not known Me I the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside : n Me I girded thee, though thou hast not know Me m that they may know fro the rising of the sun, and m : am th e fro the west, that there is none beside Me I ”l

n . Lord , and there is no e else “ - n U d er his rule we are told Dan iel prospered . r ff When Cyrus had ar anged the a airs of Babylon , he " t n ur ed his attention to the Jews , and in his first year th e ki o f a Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, ng Persi , that he m ade a proclam ation throughout all his king d o m h , and put it also in writing, saying, T us saith

Cyrus, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given m e all the kingdom s of the earth ; and He hath C m e H im m harged to build an house at Jerusale , which o is in Judah . Who is there among you of all His pe ple ? and him m his God be with him , let go up to Jerusale , h and the which is in Juda , build house of the Lord God H e h . of Israel ( is the God) . w ich is in Jerusalem And wh osoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with e w gold , and with goods, and with beasts, beside the fr e ill ” ff n in a o eri g for the house of God that is Jerus lem . Not

1 - 3 I s. xlv . 6 1 . Dan . v i. 2 8. 3 - 2 Chro n. xxxvi 2 2 2 Ez r . a i 1 , 3 . 4 . E T H E E N 8 RUL OF P RSIA S . 7

t he only did Cyrus speak to heart to the Jews, but he brought forth the vessels of Jehovah (which N ebu c had ne z z ar had carried away from Jerusalem t o the house of t ha s his gods) , thir y c rgers of gold , a thousand charger

v n - - e n O f d of sil er, ni e and tw ty knives, thirty basons gol ,

silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten , and e e e other vess ls a thousand , altogeth r vess ls , and 1 m v z o f . handed the o er to Sheshbaz ar, the prince Judah The actual dec ree which Cyrus m ade as to th e re — is l o f m . bui ding the te ple is given in Ezra vi 3 5, and , m e Let the house of God at Jerusale be builded , the plac ff d fi n ns where they o ere sacri ces, and let the fou datio thereof be strongly laid the height thereof threescore

r c h cubits, and the breadth thereof th eescore ubits, wit ne w three rows of great stones, and a row of timber ; i ’ and let the expenses be g ven out of the king s house . And also let the golden and silver vessels of th e u Go d b o o f ho se of , which Ne uchadnezzar took f rth out m m the te p le which is at Jerusale , and brought unto m Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the te ple w h o ne c hic is at Jerusalem , every to his place, and pla e ” m u h am the in the ho se of God . Josephus tells us t at C b se s s th e y , the son of Cyru , was unfavourable to Jews and stopped the building ; but in the reign of Darius the l m origina decree of Cyrus was confir ed , and the building o m f pro ceeded . Thus were c nfir ed the prophecies O 2

m . Jere iah, recorded in the various parts of his book u m m Cyr s being hi self a onotheist, was no doubt much attracted to the Jews with their one Al m ighty Jehovah but fo r all that he was most to lerant to the othe r

nations who believed in many gods . It is generally thought that Cyru s was the sole king of Babjf lon afte r

- - er; xItv . 1 2 xxix. 10 x i i 1 1 xx ii . 1 . Ez ra . 7 . J 7 4 8 8 B B E AN D T A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY .

1 had l a he captured Baby on . Daniel , however, s ys, and m u Darius, the Median , took the kingdo , being abo t threescore and two years old ; and Josephus tells us u that both Cyr s, the king of P ersia . and Darius, the king m du of Media, ade war with Naboni s . It is a very hard m atter to settle the question as to the m m e n who this Darius was, for inscriptions ake no him n tion of , and if he reigned his reign could o ly have e fe w m n s m b en for a o th , as the canon of Ptole y places ’

B. 8 C. m Cyrus first year 53 . There has been uch argu ment on this point ; som e chronologists m ake this Darius A st a e s the u h e to be y g , grandfather of Cyr s, others say C axare s A st a e s was y , the son of y g , others say he was a and the Median prince, some say he was a general in fe w t him army of Cyrus, while a hink to be Darius s e s m h t H ysta p . The argu ents which ave been brough forward to prove these various theories it would be use m less to repeat here, for it would occupy too uch space, and when given nothing would be proved . We must wait, and perhaps when Babylon is excavated we shall w ff m find tablets which ill o er a solution of the ystery . The Babylonian contract tablets m ake no mention of the name of this Darius the Median . B C . 0 Cyrus died . 53 , and his son , Cambyses (who had been associated with him during the last year or two of his reign) , reigned in his stead . Whatever reason there may have been fo r disaffection among the Babylonians under the reign of Cam byses is unknown ; it has been thought that they wished to do away with their Persian lord and his rule. Shortly after his ascending the throne

B C. 2 he made an expedition into Egypt, about . 5 7 , and c o nquered it .

1 D an v . . . 3 1

90 BABYLONIAN LIFE AND HISTORY .

was e m e . h our race, he here king befor T ere was of that Cam byses a brother nam ed Bardes he was of the m m sam e fath e r and other as Ca byses . Afterwards m Ca byses slew this Bardes. When Cambyses slew Bardes it was not known to the state that Bardes w as !

m . killed . Then Ca byses proceeded to Egypt When Cam byses had gone to Egypt the state beca m e wicked ; t n he the lie became abounding in the land , both in Persia nd a in Media and in the other prov inces . was a m an Afterwards there a cert in , a Magian , m a P issiachada m named Go tes . He arose from , the oun m A rakad re s 1 tain na ed , from thence ; on the 4th day o f the m onth Viyakhana (the 1 2 th m onth) the n it was h he e t at arose. To the stat he thus falsely declared ‘ am u the Cam I Bardes, the son of Cyr s, brother of ’ b e s m ys . Then the whole state became rebellious ; fro Cam byses it went over to him both Persia and Media m and the other provinces. He seized the e pire ; on the 9th day of the m onth Garm apad a (the sth m onth) then h e e th e m m it was thus seiz d e pire. Afterwards Ca byses, m killing hi self, died . “ The empire of which Gomates the Median dis m h m possessed Ca byses, t at e pire had been in our family m m a from the olden ti e . After Go tes the Magian had dispossessed Cam byses of Persia and Media and the he a dependent provinces, acted with his own p rty he ” becam e ki ng.

There was not a man , neither Persian, nor Median , m nor any one of our fa ily, who could dispossess of the m The f e pire that Gomates the Magian . state eared e n m h ad w him exc edi gly. He slew any people who kno n ‘ the Old Bardes ; for that re ason he slew the people lest h n e so n they s all recog ize me that I am not Bard s, the 1 RULE OF T H E PERSI ANS . 9

’ of Cyrus . There was not any one bold enough to say

aught against Gom ates the Magian until I a rrived . Then I prayed to Orm azd ; Orm a z d brought help to m e l th m Ba a ad ish I st . On the o day of the onth g y (the m n it was t m m e n a o th) then , wi h y faithful I slew th t Gom ates the Magian and the chief m e n who were his i t c h o e . m S c a t s followers The fort na ed , in the district m N isae a h w him of Media, na ed , t ere I sle ; I dispos m m sessed him of the e pire . By the grace of Or azd I ” e m m e b came king Or azd granted the sceptre . Darius restored all the tem ples which the rebel

Magian had injured or destroyed , and established the n his royalty of the old Achaeme ian line . He gives genealo gy thus ° My father was H ystaspe s ; of Hystaspe s the father was A rsam e s ; of A rsam e s the father was A riyaram ne s of A riyaram ne s the father was T e is e s T e is e s f m n p ; of p the ather was Achae enes . O v m that account we ha e been called Achae enians . There are eight of m y race who have been ki ngs before ” m e n n v , I am the ni th . Sir He ry Rawlinson gi es the royal line in a double series provisionally thus

1 m Achae enes .

2 Te is pe s.

i r m u . r a n s 3 Cyr s 7 A a e .

am . r m s 4 C byses 8 A sa e .

H stas e s. 5 Cyrus the Great. ( y p )

6 . s s. Camby es. 9 Dariu 9 2 BABYLONIAN LIFE AND HISTORY .

H stas e s and y p appears to have been a private person , he certainly played a secondary part in the war of his

son Darius against the rebellious Parthians . Darius c m a A trine s the onquered Go tes the Magian, Susian , N adintu - Bel the Babylonian , Martes the Persian , P h rao rte s S itratac hm es S a artian the Median , the g , P h raate s V e isdate s A rac u s the Magian , the Persian , and m the Ar enian , each of whom personated some one else A rac u s b and pretended to be a king. This , or Ara u, personated Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus, in

h e 1 B. t C. year 5 5 He was the son of Bandita, and his n rebellion took place at a tow called Duban . It was probably in the reign of this Darius that Daniel was cast ’ into the lions den . m Darius was ost kind to the Jews, endorsing and con firming the decree of Cyrus whic h allowed the Jews to rebuild their tem ple: He added to the gifts which had m m Cyrus ordered to be ade, and appointed the Y oung bullocks and rams and lambs , for the burnt ff o erings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil , accordi ng to the appointment of the priests which are at m Jerusale , let it be given them day by day without fail that they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and of ”1 his sons . The prophets Zechariah and Haggai lived during the reign of this king. We find Babylonian contract tablets dated in the thirty- fifth year of the reign f hi n of Darius, which act goes to prove that s reig was nd r long a successful . Under him Babylon emained an important town ; b u t it be came absorbed entirely into 8 m B. C. the Persian kingdo . Darius died about 4 5, and w as X succeeded by his son erxes, who was favourable and 1 1 . Ez ra vi. 9, 0

B B E AN D I I I ST 94 A YLONIAN LIF ORY.

h important, for it s ows that the Greek had so far i nfluenced t he Babylonian at that early age as to cause him to use Greek words to express what he could h in ave expressed so easily his own Semitic tongue. “ th e Antiochus prays Nebo, eldest son , to grant and establish by thy command the prosperity of Antiochus, ” his S trato nic e the Seleucus son, and queen . He m o BC 2 8 1 - 2 80 B 26 —2 6 . C. 1 0 reigned fro ab ut to . Like m Cyrus, he had the good policy to restore the te ples of th e n s gods, and to sacrifice to the ancient divi itie of the nations which it was his lot to conquer. This little cylinder was brought to England by K Mr. assam from Babylon, and the writing upon it is the most curious and co m plex of all the various styles and kinds of Babylonian varieties. The cylinder is figured on the opposite page, and as the writing is so curious, we have reproduced a few lines of it with a transcript in r m a ordina y Babylonian and Assyrian, that the reader y be able to observe ho w different the style is ; a trans i l teration and translation are also added . Though the account of the reign of Antiochus given upon this r m cylinder is ve y short, yet it is ost valuable, for it shows that Antiochus wished to conciliate the Babylonians by rebuilding their temples, and also to restore to the city a little of its former glory.

E OF T CYLIND R AN IOCHUS.

k rab D . P . An ti u

Antiochus - - Terra c o tta C in e r o f Antiach us kin o f Ba o n. B. C 2 80 2 6 1 . yl d , g byl .

6 B B E T 9 A YLONIAN LIF AND HIS ORY.

z a - ni in E - SAG E - z i - da restorer of E - S agili

h a f th e T us, little by little, B bylon aded away ; and city with a venerable and hoary antiquity was at last broken and utterly c rushed by the Persian and the had a - Greek . For ages Babylonia been a b ttle ground for contending nations ; she had looked on and seen e n ation after nation vanish and disappear. Ages befor m m f Abraha ca e rom Ur of the Chaldees, was Babylon a city ; she was flourishing when Joseph and his people were in Egypt ; before Homer sung or Romulus founded

sh e was . his city an established power Her mythology,

distorted , formed the base for the beautiful superstructure of the Greek myths and fables ; her learning and know ledge furnished food for the m inds of the nations her she successors, and, together with Egypt, taught the

nations around their letters . Her children were always insolent ; in the infancy of their nation they dared to ” w “ make a to er whose top should reach unto heaven . A notice of this event is recorded in the Assyrian : m m inscriptions, for we read S all and great ingled on

the m ound , Babylon went to sin corruptly . Their work

they laid down all day long, of their tower they made

an end entirely in th e night . In his anger he poured his out secret counsel , and set face to scatter abroad . H e gave a command to m ake their counsel of none ” effect . After they had become a mighty nation they dared to brave the threats and denunciations which m e Isaiah, Jere iah, and oth r prophets hurled against r re fi them . Babylon was the home of luxu y and ne m and fo r - ent, her children only cared to toil self grati RULE OF TH E PERSIANS . 97

fic io n h at and delight . Isaiah in his prop ecy called he r “ ”1 u the golden city, and with his majestic lang age : Th m describes her downfall, saying y po p is brought th down to the grave, and the noise of y viols : the ” the worm is spread under thee, and worms cover thee . “ And of her king he says : How art thou fallen from ! h o w heaven , O Lucifer, son of the morning art thou

cut down to the ground , which didst weaken the nations ! h For thou ast said in thine heart, I will ascend into

heaven , I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit also upon the m ount of the congregation in the sides of the north I will ascend above the heights of the ” clouds ; I will be like the Most High . And the prophet Of goes on The fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars f m e m Lebanon . Hell ro ben ath is oved for thee to meet ”2 thee at thy com ing. And again Isaiah says : Com e wn and v do , sit in the dust, O irgin daughter of Babylon , sit h e on the ground t ere is no thron , O daughter of the Chaldeans : for thou shalt no more be called tender and

. m m : delicate Take the illstones, and grind eal uncover c m h thy lo ks, ake bare the leg, uncover the t igh, pass

over the rivers . Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, h : t thy shame s all be seen I will ake vengeance, and I m and will not eet thee as a man Sit thou silent, get 0 ns : thee into darkness, daughter of the Chaldea for ” m o f thou shalt no ore be called, The lady kingdoms . The renown of Babylon filled the earth but her haughtiness and pride brought along with them their

own punishment. Her king, Nebuchadnezzar, trod down th e land of Palestine, and wasted Jerusalem with fire and sword he sacked the temple and brought out from

1 I s. rm . 8 and f in I s. xiv. o o w verses 4. , ll g .

3 ” - XIV 1 . I S. . 3, 5 B B E AN D T 98 A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY .

thence the vessels of the Lord, and marched back to his r v w capital with joy and glo y . He made the capti e Je s w assist in building the walls of his to n , and probably the m and walls of the te ples of his pagan gods . His fate the fate of his city have been accurately described by “ Jeremiah in his book, saying And Babylon shall

m - beco e heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonish i an n . ment and an hiss ng, without i habitant Her cities n d r s are a desolatio , a y land , and a wildernes , a land m an m an wherein no dwelleth, neither doth any son of

pass thereby . And I will punish Bel in Babylon , and I will bring forth out of his m outh that which he hath swallowed up and the nations shall not flow together f him : e a . any more unto y , the wall of Babylon shall all f As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to all, so at

Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth . Thus saith the Lord of hosts : The broad walls of Babylon shall be

utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with

fire ; and the people shall labour in vain , and the folk in ” 1 the fire, and they shall be weary. We th e - r , people of to day, see how ve y surely all these l m threats have been fu filled . We look for Sodo and m Go orrah, and their place is not known, and but for the enterprise of our nation and the inscribed bricks of S m Babylon, its exact ite would still re ain unnoticed and “ n Of m unknown . And Babylo , the glory kingdo s , the ’ n beauty of the Chaldees excelle cy, shall be as when God m overthrew Sodom and Go orrah . It shall never be m inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in fro generation to generation : neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there m neither shall the shepherds ake their fold there . But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there and their houses

et . li. 8 J 37. 43, 44. 49. 5

CHAPTER VIII .

BABYLONIAN WRITIN G AN D LITERATURE.

’ - — b i n ed wm n anner i whick tbc ckarac ters were written . Ba ylo n a w ge ti g . M n — — — om arison o si ns. Cu nci orm si ns were once ictu res Co m o u nd C p f g f g p . p — P ol lzo n o tbc ckarac ters. Tbe s llabaries in two and tkree sig ns. yp y f y — — —M od o colu m ns Bilin u al lists o wo rds. Bilin u al readin books . etk . g f g g f tabl t l r sba e siz e c l a d xtu r Writi m akin e s T tei o ou r n te e. n g . p , , , g

— xtrac t ro m a table o cu be roots Bab lonian astrono m . Translat ions E f f . y y tkeir re orts — L ists m o ntks —N am es ods to wkom tlz / w ere of p . of . of g q — — dedicated . [nv ention o tke calendar Bab lonian observatories Com ets. f . y . — i se — M a ablets - nca ti — l s cl s. ical t 1 nta s Belie in evi s irit cu rr ent E p g . on . f p a l t a t tab — in tbc tim e o [s ia n Con r c lets. S eals o witnesses nail m a rks f f , ,

P kwnici an and Greek si n atu res etc. Translations two slav e co ntract g , of s. — — Tbc banking fi rm of Egibi and S am Great im portance of tkese dated — ’ docu m ents. Tbe latest dated contrac t tabla D r. O ert s translatio n o . pp f c act ablet Tra i ransl o tr it. Text o a ontr t . nslat o n T ation con ac t f . f tablet o tire 1 th ear o N abonidu s Translation a ab lo nian f 7 y f . qf B y

boundar stone or landm ark. Om en t b s P r s S t nd y a let . o tent . a ard nscri t s t r — i ion . C linder kei ska e nu m ber sides etc D iscover p y , p , of , . y of — c linder o A ssu rban al containin 1 00 lines. Gistubar le ends. y f ip , g 3 , g

TH Egroups of wedges in Babylonian writing which form syllables were originally pictures of objects. At first, fe w when but inscriptions were inscribed , they were u caref lly done, and bore some rude resemblance to the objects copied . It is uncertain what material was used for writing upon besides stone, metal , clay, etc . , but that the cuneiform writers had a substance which they used for the purpose besides these is certain, and this is, s perhap , represented on a sculpture in the British B B W I T G TE T E A YLONIAN R IN AND LI RA UR .

r ffi Museum (Assyrian Galle y, No . An o cial is por t raye d noting down the am ount of spoil upon a scroll m O ade of some material . The word ften translated ” lik/nisi and has papyrus is called in Babylonian , the n determi ative for wood before it, which shows that it m N o w was so e vegetable substance . when clay became m was the aterial generally used for writing purposes, it found d ifficult to form circles and therefore the original

i.e. s picture of the sun, O , in wedges became O . Thi e f we ven was found di ficult to write, and consequently m ‘ find the Assyrian for of this to be Y . As the scribe wrote from left to right [the wedges being in a slanting w direction], custom gradually discarded all the edges that could not be written easily in this direction, with a few T e r exceptions . h following small table of charac te s will S m how how the for s of the characters varied, and how they m 1 beca e simplified . In column a few of the characters are given, selected from inscriptions of the early m 2 Babylonian e pire . Column gives a short list of characters found on the inscribed clay cylinder of B 2 8 r . C. 0 . Antiochus, Column 3 shows the ordina y form of Babylonian writing as found upon contract and other tablets ; and colum n 4 the ordinary Assyrian as found ’ s u rbani al s upon the tablets of A s p library .

N I NEV I TE

B. C. 2000 . B. C. 2 80. SSY I A R AN .

iiii—fi 1 02 BABYLONIAN LIFE AND HISTORY .

B. C. 2000. B. C. 2 80 .

222§E1>< Y

In som e cases the character still shows what the b re re o ject they originally represented was . Thus 9K p

m i. e. sented a star, and the ho e of a star, , the heavens ; ’ f n m S it is also placed be ore a god s a e . The ign for gate was the wedges at the ends representing

- posts, and joining them cross bars . Sometimes i two s gns are placed together to express a word , and their two meanings added together give a new one . " , a m Thus k } represented a circul r object, and eant “ ” 2 m f thirty ; but 2 > eant month, called a ter the ” n “ rou d moon and its thirty days. means house,

BABYLONIAN LIFE AN D HI STORY .

n se tence of two words in Akkadian , and explains them “ ” in Assyrian as m eaning the going forth of the sun .

No . 3 has the character to be explained in the middle katam u column, the signs on the right hand read , and w n f sho that the sign mea t cover, while those on the le t d ul tell one that its sound is . Syllabaries in three m n S u m irian colu s have been found written in Akkadian, , b and Assyrian . The ilingual lists were exceedingly m useful to foreigners who ca e to Assyria, and they were used by the native children and others ; and to u s to day they are among the most important necessaries for the right decipherment of the inscriptions . The quantity of tablets that were drawn up in two languages must have been enormous . Indeed , at one

period nearly all documents were thus written . But, though these syllabaries were necessary and explanatory for the students of Assyrian or Babylonian and Ak was kadian, yet there another indispensable, and that m was a reading book . So e of these have come down to us among other things, and the following is an extract from one of them

a price .

his price. for his price

for his price he fixed . m a co plete price .

an incomplete price . m his co plete price .

his incomplete price .

for his complete price.

for the ending of his incom plete price. (Tablet K B B T T T E A YLONIAN WRI ING AND LI ERA UR .

Am ong the last collections of unbaked clay tablets ”

t m i e. hat ca e from Babylon were trial tablets, . , tablets upon which the scribe exerci sed hi m self in writing short s s Of entences, and on others lists of signs ; and the ight the ill- form ed and badly written attempts rem ind one of the o - first attempts f children of to day in their copy books . It requires no great stretch of im agination to picture the l ittle Babylonian boy with his oblique eyes and thick m form bending over his piece of oist clay, laboriously and m m clu sily i pressing his wedges thereon . Human m nature is so persistently the sa e. And now we m ust speak of the manner in which the t m n ablet was for ed . Fine clay was selected , k eaded , and mou lded into the shape of the required tablet. One s n ide was flat, and the other rounded . The writi g was t e in hen inscribed on both sides, holes were prick d the c lay, and then it was baked . The holes allowed the steam which was generated during the process of baking t o d m escape. It is thought that the clay use in so e of w the tablets was not only ell kneaded , but ground in s m m fo r as o e kind of ill, the texture of the clay is fine as m so e of our best m odern pottery . The wedges appear to have been i m pressed by a square-headed r m m inst ument . So uch for the writ ing aterials and elem entary m atters ; we now come to the literature itself.

The Babylonians were essentially calculators, as their e 1 astrology required . A wedge, Y , repres nted , two 2 1 0 2 0 » 1 00 and wedges, , and so on . , ; Y ; » x Y or ( Yv In Babylonian the year 1 884 » » r would be [( Y I“; Y Y« W. The wedge Y epresented T 60 as well as one . ables of squares and cubes were S enke re k 60 found at ; the square of , was given , 1 06 B B E AN D T A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY. which shows they had need of these high numbers for m w so e kind of reckoning. An example ill make this clear. the cube of 1

W« i YYY

Astronom y mixed with astrology occupied a large m Of nu ber tablets in the Babylonian libraries, and Isaiah 1 “ refers to this when he says to Babylon , Thou . art

wearied in the multitude of thy counsels . Let now the

astrologers (the viewers of the heavens, the star ”

n l n . gazers, the mo th y prog osticators, stand up The largest astrological work of the Babylonians contained

seventy tablets, and was compiled by the command of - e f Sargon of Agade, thirty eight hundr d years be ore “ ” m Christ . It was called the illu ination of Bel . Their r t w m z z u a e. observations ere ade in towers, gg The following are speci m ens of their purely astronomical portents and reports

The star Marbu da passed into an eclipse . The s tar Of the Upper Sphere aforesaid causes fo g and rain . n The star Lula porte ds extended mists .

1 u 1 I s. xlv . 3 .

D 1 08 BABYLON IAN LIFE AN HISTORY .

2 n m n s. . co tinuously in the outh of the people conti ue

3 . The king of the land the throne perpetuates .

. u n n 4 The Moon and the S are separated . The ki g of

the land enlarges (his) ears. h . T e 5 ( report) of Sumai .

No . II .

1 . n n r The Moo and the Sun are balanced . The cou t y

is established .

2 . the t the Daily food is in mou h of people,

3 . The king of the land the throne perpetuates .

4. The Moon and the Sun are separated . The king of the country the ear

5. enlarges. The fourteenth day the Moon and the Sun with o ne

another are seen . firm nd The face (is) , the heart of the la good, 8 . the gods of Akkad

9 . for prosperity d t o . evise . ’ 1 1 r s . . Joy is in the soldie heart 1 2 Of . The heart the king (is) good . 1 3 . The cattle of Akkad

1 n. 4. in the desert safely lie dow 1 - - 5. ( The report) of Istar sum esses.

N O. III .

ar The Moon and the Sun e balanced .

Daily food is in the mouth of the people . m e The king of ultitudes the throne p rpetuates .

The fourteenth day (the Moon) is seen . n A favourable wi d . Prosperity

to the king my lord . In the midst of a cloud B B W T G TE T E A YLONIAN RI IN AND LI RA UR .

m o (the o n) goes . We did not see (it) . n The Moon at its appearance in clouds was hidde .

Rain comes down . an There is fog d movement. The Moon at its appearance piles the sky (with

clouds) .

Rain falls . In a thick cloud it is seen ; and

- - (this is the report) of Nebo akhi erba .

No. IV.

I n - . The Moon out of its recko ed time is seen . ff m 2 0 The tari is s all . » a The twelfth day with the Sun it is seen and

e- contrary to their calculated tim ethe Moon and the S u n n wwith one another are see . a a s A strong enemy r vages the land .

The king of Akkad under the enemy is placed . The twelfth day with the Sun (the Moon) is seen ; and

9 . the twelfth day it is seen ; and evil to Akkad,

m oe . I 0. prosperity to Ela and Ph nicia

I . I . Evil to Akkad it (is) Bala i 2 é . I . (The report) of

The months were called after the signs of the Zodiac, and each was dedicated to some god . The following is a list

ic at d Ann and B1 1. I . N isannu was ded e

iru Ea. 2 . A

ivanu Sin. 3 . S

Duz u dar. 4. A “ " Abu The ueen o fthe Bo w. 5. Q

6 u u star. . Ul l I

Tasritu am as. 7. S E I I O BABYLONIAN LIF AND HISTORY .

- ra sam na cto ber was dedicated to ero dac h . 8 . A b [O ] M

Kislim u o v em ber e r a . 9 . [N ] N g l

1 Tabitu ecem ber P a sukal. 0. [D ] p

I I abatu anuar im m o n. . S [J y] R

1 2 Addaru ebruar The seven reat o d s. . [F y] g g - th int ca ar m o nth Arabu m ahru ( e er l y ) . d The Akka ians invented the calendar, and for their m time were great astrono ers . They built observatories

in all the great cities, and reports like the above were n regularly sent to the king. They were the inve tors of ” the Zodiac . They found out that the sun was spotted,

and they knew of comets. During the reign of Nebu “ h a ne z z ar c d I . it is related that a comet arose whose m a body shone like the day, and fro its brilliant body ” n tail like the sti g of a scorpion extended . They were

able to calculate eclipses, and had long lists of them, e for th y were supposed to portend future events . There are fragm ents of two planispheres in the British Museu m m with figures and calculations inscribed upon the . The “ the th e ecliptic was called yoke of the sky, and “ ” Milky Way the long road ; such was the wisdom of

the Babylonians. Geology was represented among the Babylonians by

. and lists of stones, earth, etc , Geography by lists of m countries and lands. Fro a tablet brought to the Museu m in 1 88 1 it appears that their cardinal points ff m N W . . N . were rather di erent fro ours, our being their ,

W . W. . . N E S . S . . . a their , S E their , and . their E N tural r e histo y was repr sented by lists of animals, insects , and r i . n birds, drawn up in two languages The histo y given the form er pages of this book is derived from their own

. n records If we except the physical scie ces, it can easily be proved that the greater part of our learning was known to them .

B B E AN D T A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY .

The belief that evil spirits took possession of human ’ 1 “ was m A nd bodies current in our Lord s ti e, for we read, in the synagogue there was a m an which had a spirit o f an unclean devil and other allusions to this dem oniacal

possession are scattered throughout the Bible . In ’ m Isaiah s ti e, too, the belief was prevalent, and these baneful spirits were supposed to dwell particularly in 2 . a S l desert places Isai h says, The screech owl also hal ” rest there, and find for herself a place of rest . The “ lilitk word translated screech owl is , and the same “ ” word is found in Babylonian ; it means the night spirit, m which was especially alignant and harmful . The m Rabbis have any stories about her. Another very important branch of Babylonian litera “ m ture is for ed by the contract tablets . The Semite

was always a trader, and was always able to lend money u m n or prod ce to his ore needy brother or foreig er. The m historical documents, indeed, reveal the im ense wars d s un ertaken by the various kings, and the other tablet n t record their learni g, either ac ual or theoretical ; but these tablets open to our view the very innerm ost work m ings of their co m ercial business. One serious draw m back exists, and that is that very any of the words are

. are quite unknown to us Contract tablets of all shapes, n oval, oblo g, square their colour varies, sometimes r all m black, then b own, dark and light, and inter ediate m m shades. So eti es they are baked , often they are not. m n We have any thousa ds in our national collection, as many as were unpacked at one time . They record l and oans of money produce, the sale of houses, fields, and e m s wh at, arriage deeds and dowries, sales of slave , Of m notices loans paid , pro issory notes, and all sorts and 1 3 I k iv . s. xxxiv 1 . Lu e 3 . 4 W T G TE T BABYLONIAN RI IN AND LI RA URE. kinds of traffic carried on by o ne Babylonian with find h another. At times we t at the contract tablet has been placed in a clay envelope, and upon the outside a hi h s it n . a copy of the contract w been inscribed . There h is in the British Museum a fine collection of t ese, which

n 2 00 B. C belo g to a period as far back as 4 . On the one side (obverse) the contract and contracting parties’ names are stated , on the other (reverse) comes the list of witnesses, and at the bottom follows the date, the name of the king and his country . Often these tablets bear im pressions of the seals of the witnesses the poor n impressed the mark of his nail . Ofte we find signatures oe m in Ph nician , so etimes the reverse is in Greek, and upon one tablet we find some curious writing which at m present no one has been able to ake out . As the tab let is interesting we give a translation of it

- ila- - - - - 1 . E sa su g lissi son of Nabu kusur , Bel balat éu N idintu m - E-sa ila-lil r 2 . bi son of , and Ina g son of Bel e de ru

- - . sininni 3 in the joy of their heart, Nana Babili , their servant

- - 4. whose right hand with the name of Ina E saglla lilbir the slave dealer - n m 5. son of Bel eder , is inscribed, for one aneh eight Shekels of silver 6 . r refined , for the price complete to U m anfi L isir 7 . son of they have given ; the money one maneh eight S hekels of silver - - i i i 8 . s n nn refined, the price of Nana Babili , the servant of the men E-sa ila- Bel- -éu -E- - . sa il i 9 g lissi, balat and Ina g a l lbir

‘ U rm anri 1 0 . . by the hands of have received 1 1 - - . In the day when a claim upon Nana Babili S ininni H [1 B BY 4 A LONIAN LIFE AND HISTORY.

- - 1 2 . rv E sa ila the se ant of the men, is made, g lissi

- - - - - I . Be l éu E sa ila lilbir 3 balat , and Ina g , 1 u 4 the slave dealer, the amo nt have collected and

1 . r n 5 to U m a ii shall give.

EVE E R RS .

6 - - - 1 . Witnesses Bel upahhir son of Bel balat su ;

- - 1 . I ddin I ku bu u iddannu 7 Bel , son of ; Nab ,

8 - - 1 . u su son of Nab balat Sua, the son of Nadin ;

- - - 1 . su S am saa. 9 Nabu balat , son of Umas ; Bel eres, son of [Here follows the line of unknown characters ] 2 1 Ea-c - . pus, the scribe, son of Nabu ludda Babylon ,

2 2 . 2 rd month Adar, day eleventh, year 3 Artaxerxes

king of countries .

U rm anfi the That is to say, bought female slave Nana Babili -sininni for one maneh and eight S hekels of refined E-sa ila- - - su silver from the three men g lissi, Bel balat , and Ina-E-sagila-lilbir ; and a clause is inserted whereby

‘ it is provided that if anyone claims the slave U rm anii shall receive compensation . The above and the following translations are specimens o f slave contracts, which were made by my colleague , .

Mr. Theo. G . Pinches .

I Su m -iddina S a . , son of ul , son of the priest of Gula, 2 -Bél- fiz u . in the joy of his heart, Itti g the Me éki u . v t 3 his ser ant, whose left wrist to name of - a 4. his wife, is inscribed, for one (and) two thirds of mana S c o m 5. of silver by the one hekel piece coined , for the plete price to ddina- -é I S - 6 . I Nabu, son of Nabu p sin , son of the black smith

1 1 6 BABYLONIAN LIFE AN D HISTORY .

beginning with Nebuchadnezzar the Great, and going on for some five generations or so to the time of Darius . The tablets are dated month after month and year after ' afio rd year, and thus they us a sure method of fixing the chronology of that very uncertain period of history . There is a small contract tablet in the Museum at Ziiric h rt th . O e , discovered by Dr pp , dated in the s year P ac o rus t of , king of Persia, who reigned about the ime of Domitian . There is a little doubt about the reading he e of one of the characters in t name, but if it is corr ct, it will prove that the use of cuneiform did not fall into disuse until after the Christian Era. I give here Dr. ’ Oppert s translation of the curious little document

Owed 40 tetradrachma . L arassib - b - the an , son of Bel ak e irib will pay into h ds of

- Zir Idin, 0 son of Hablai, in the month Iyar, 4 tetradrachma, in the

temple of the Sun , in Babylon . : U rram e Allit Witnesses , son of Puya ; , son of Airad ; Kistar n , son of Si am

- Zir Idin, son of Hablai, writer. K rd th Babylon, in the mouth of islev, the 3 day, in the s P ikharis K of , ing of Persia. s In the British Museum, however, there are tablet 2 1 8th A rsace s dated in the year of the era of , that is,

B C. 2 . . 9

Some have tried to show that Egibi is the Babylonian m for of Jacob, which would lead one to suspect the tam ily to have been Jews ; but this is not certain at c o p resent . The following is a py of one of the contract tablets in Babylonian characters dated in the 6th e B C c ntury . T E BABYLONIAN WRITING AND LI ERATUR .

m

‘ wxl lfl l g — ‘ b fl- i + fil » A 1‘ fi

l 4 — b Lul E [ I XX% E% 4) 5: B A T 1 1 8 BA YLONIAN LIFE N D HIS ORY .

BVE E O RS .

Literally translated, it reads 1 - - - - - h e -sa ili . Bel hai iddin and Nabu ahi bul lit t sons of E g suma-epus 2 - . the son of Sin damak and the woman Rimat their h mot er, daughter “ z b . u u 3 of S son of the priest of the altar, in the joy

of their heart, - -d - - - a . e u 4 Nabu ahi , the woman Bani tum umm his wife, ri i isi 5. the woman Kis nn and the woman G nni his sister(s) 6 . in all four people, for two manehs of silver for the price m - - i 7 . Co plete to Nabu ahi idd n the son of Sula ' E i i - é - z - z -kir-r -nu 8 . b bu u t i i a a the son of g has given, l p m ar - -tu - -iddin 9 . and ban u of the people Bel ahi - - - -sa ili- m - n o . and Nabu ahi bul lit the sons of E g su a ep s I - . the son of Sin damak and the woman Rimat their mother have brought

1 2 h it . . one double they bring

EVE E R RS .

I : -c u - u z ub . Witnesses Nabu p s ahi the son of S son of the altar priest -ridu the son of Marduk-nasir the son of the

priest of the god,

- - - 3 . Marduk basu anni the son of Bani ya the son o f Ellat-nahid

- - 4. the son of Dup zir the son of Nergal ukin the son o f ” m Sin heard y prayers . -iddin -Sibsi 5. Bel the son of Bel the priest of the god Z ariku

- - - 6 . Rim m on ibni the son of Z ariku zir e pu s the son of the priest of the god Z ariku

1 2 B B E T 0 A YLONIAN LIF AND HIS ORY .

’ u incl ding the deposit, belongs to his the testator s) r t son Zi ya will decide, hat he does not know this kind ’ u of inheritance of the testator s property, nor abo t the o s right of taking p session of it, as if the deposit would

- - belong to the son . Itti Marduk balat will render it with Kiribtu m a - his seal in presence of , the gistrate, Edir Bel, - ah - s - the magistrate, Nirgal u ur, and Ziki ukin , the judges, -rim anni and will give it to Bel .

- -éin- Da Marduk, the scribe, son of Banu ilu . t th The royal ci y of Babylon , in the month Elul , the s 1 day, the 7th year of Nabonidus, king of Babylon. - - s im The seal of Nergal ah u ur, the judge (the ’ efiaced - pression is rather ) ; the seal of Zikir ukin , the judge (represents a priest standing before a large bird, over which is a star) . Kiribtu n a The seal of (a priest sta ding before an ltar, over which on the top of a pole a cock is seated) . - m The seal of Edir Bel, the agistrate ; a priest standing before an animal seated on an altar, behind which two poles are standing . Sometimes Babylonian legal documents were inscribed on large stones, which then formed landmarks . Such a stone is generally inscribed on one side with the agree W ment, names of witnesses, and a hole string of curses on the person who shall dare to move it, and on the other

are figured in relief various gods and signs . The Michaux stone is a fair specimen of this kind of ’ O ert s document, and I therefore give Dr. pp translation of it

COLUMN I . Twenty hin of corn is the quantity for seeding an Kar- ru m . d The field is situated near the town of Nabu , B W T G TE T E BA YLO NIAN RI IN AND LI RA UR .

Me kaldan on the bank of the river , depending on the KI L N AMAN DU property of . — The field is measured as follows Three stades in

length towards the East, in the direction of the town of

Bagdad ; three stades in length towards the West, adjoining the house of T U N AM I SSAH ; one stade fifty

fathoms in breadth towards the North, adjoining the property of KI L N AMAN D U one stade fifty fathoms up K AM N D I L N A U . in the South, adjoining the property of I R U SU R KI L N AMAN D U S , son of , gave it for all future - AR GI N AI TI days to DUR S , his daughter, the bride of

TAB- - K -E-SAGGAT U - I RBU ASAP MARDU , son of INA (the TAB- A - K pretended) , who wrote this ; and SAP MARDU , -E-SAGGAT U -I R BU son of INA , who wrote this in order to u perpetuate without interr ption the memory of this gift, and commem orated on this stone the will of the great E gods and the god S RAH .

COLUMN II .

n Whosoever in the process of time, amo g the brothers,

the sons, the family, the men and women, the servants KI L N AMAN D U both male and female, of the house of ,

either a foreigner, or a guest, or whosoever he may be

(or anyone else) , who will destroy this field, who will r - venture to take away the bounda y stone, or will vindi

cate it whether he consecrate this field to a god , or earn m n it for his superior, or clai it for himself, or cha ge the

extent, the surface, or the limits, that he reaps new h arvests (crops) or who will say of the field with its “ ” m a f easures, There is no granter ; whether he c ll orth m alediction and hostility on the tablets or establish on S a it anyone other who change these curses, in we ring : “ The head is not the head and in asserting : There 1 E ST 2 2 BABYLONIAN LIF AND HI ORY . is no evil eye ; whosoever will carry elsewhere those tablets ; or will throw them into the waters ; will bury them in the earth ; will hide them under stones ; will burn them with fire, will alter what is written on them, will confine them into a place where they might not be seen that man shall be cursed H EA May the gods ANU , EL, , the great goddess, the him e xtir great gods, inflict upon the utmost contumely,

pate his name, annihilate his family . K May MARDU , the great Lord of eternity without

end , bind him in fetters which cannot be broken . rt May SAMAS, the great Judge of heaven and ea h , in judge his unpunished misdeeds, and surprise him

flagrant deeds . N annar - May S I N, the brilliant ( ) who dwells in the

sacred heavens, clothe him in leprosy as in a garment, and give him up to the wild beasts that wander in the

outsides of the town . T u n him May IS AR, the Q ee of heaven and earth, carry

o ff . , and deliver him for vengeance to the god and the king N I N I P May , son of the zenith, son of EL the sublime,

take away his lands, funds, and limits . N I N I P infiltre May GULA, the great Queen, the wife of ,

into his bowels a poison which cannot be pushed out, and

may he void blood and pus like water.

May BIN, the great Guardian of heaven and earth, the

son of the warrior ANU , inundate his field . May S ERAH destroy his firstborn may he torture his

flesh and load his feet with chains . B May NA U , the supreme Watcher, strike him with

misfortune and ruin , and blast his happiness that he not h obtain it, in the wrat of his face. May all the great gods whose names are recorded on

B E T 1 24 ABYLONIAN LIF AND HIS ORY .

prism, or cylinder, as it is technically called . The large ones have usually six sides, but the finest one of Assur banipal has ten . Some of these documents take the form of a barrel, on which are two or more columns . When a king built a palace it was customary for him to bury one of these in each of the four corners and it is owing to this that we have so many perfect ones remain l ing. Occasionally they are solid . That of Assurbanipa mentioned above has a curious history. Once, when R assam men of the great excavator, Mr. , were digging, they came to a stop, for they had dug some time and “ had found nothing. They asked, Shall we go on Mr. “ ” R assam Yes . said , , clear that little pile away They began to do this, and found the pile to consist of bricks. On opening it they found the noble cylinder containing lines standing upright ; it is the finest in the

British Museum . These cylinders are of wonderful value . It was a fragment of a cylinder of Sargon which proved beyond all doubt that Sargon went and besieged

Ashdod , as Isaiah had said in his twentieth chapter.

Historical records are also written upon tablets, like the rest of the literature . A small but remarkably interesting class of literature is m so - co posed ofthe called Izdubar Legends . The world has already taken great interest in the Deluge tablet ” t which gives the account of the Flood, and this table is one of the series . There were twelve tablets in this series, fragments of five or six of which are in the British

Museum . Though they are written in Assyrian, yet the run of thought and many of the expressions give proofs that they are only translations from the very late Akka dian . The story of the Flood is told sometimes in the m third , and so etimes in the first person, and the same B B N W T G TE AT E A YLONIA RI IN AND LI R UR .

idea is given occasionally in different language . There existed Babylonian copies of this story, for there are f ragments of them to be seen in the British Museum, giving important variant readings . Every one knows h o w long tradition lives in the Orient, and how it is handed down from generation to generation . Who shall say, then , how long these stories were current before they were written down ? CHAPTER I X.

TH E BABYLONIAN RELIGION .

Bab lonian belie in s irits eir r elie de e rated . The Greeks y f p . Th pu e b f g ne — ° borrowed ro m their m ths. D z cult redu cin the reli ion into a f y _fi y of g g — — s stem Bab lonian Trinit A n u Ea and Bel. M ardu h the son o y . y y, , , , f — — Ea. M ardu h the saviou r m ankind Ea tau ht m en learn in and , of . g g k — a —I star the nowl d e. a ceiv th h rd h t e ra ers o m m e g E re ed roug M a u h p y f , ”— — lad o war. er o s r arch a t r Tam m u z in H ades . y f H tw form . H e se f e H er addr ss h — — x t ther rom —Ea e to sar ad m t te trac . E don . Hy n o [s m E ef — the su rem e od the ori in and l thin s 7 he shi Ea. p g , g ator m aker of al g . p of —Afis wea ons and w —S u n- od worshi Tablet re resentin p po er. g p. p g worshi thereo —H m ns t he su n —S in the m oon- od N ini N er al p f y o t . , g , p, g , — — N ebo and Rim m on The seven evil s irits Bab lonian hell and heav en . , . p y - En o m ent he t r — es tio n o ll the j y s of t Babylo nian af e death D crip f he , — — land no retu rn . Ti m at H er rebellion a ainst the od s. of a . g g M ardu k th s a do battl with r -H is arm ou r — The , e on of E , sent to e he . . ht —P ara hrase t a lonian ac cou nt Tiam at the ot t e o fig . p of he B by . , pr o yp f h d s — t e ol er ent the devil Tem tation Adam . Bab lonian seal p , . p of y ivin r resent n — ab lon an accou t he r T g g ¢ atio of it. B y i n of t C eation. he enitent sin p ner.

WITH our present knowledge it is most difficult to give anything like a perfect account ofthe religious views of the

Babylonians . All that can be done is to gather together

the statements made in the texts about the gods, and draw our o wn conclusions ; whether they are right or

wrong, texts discovered in the future will decide . The greater portion of the texts relating to the mythology and religion of the Babylonians is in the Assyrian Nine

vite character, and these of course are copies of older l As tab ets . is well known, the great literary king, Assur

1 2 8 B B E I T A YLONIAN LIF AND H S OR Y .

of their empire frequently fell into disuse and neglect in

after times . The most important ennead among the Babylonians was as follows

E F ' M ale lem ent. em ale Ele en s in m t. O r fi p g .

m Anu Anat Ri mon . m Ea Da kina Samas.

Bel Beltis Sin . The oldest Babylonian Semitic inscription that we B I . . 8 C. 00 have, namely, that of Sargon , 3 , mentions the

- i Sun god of S ppara. The very early bricks and cones

speak often of the god Bel, who appears to have been

worshipped to the last days of the empire. He was one

of the great Trinity of Anu, Ea, and Bel their wives, m w or feminine ele ents, ere called Nana, Beltis, and l “ m Da kina ; and Jeremiah says, Bel is confounded , Mero ” dach is broken in pieces, which goes to prove that his worship was wide-spread and very important am ong the the destru c Babylonians, and his downfall the signal of 2 tion of the city . He is mentioned by Isaiah , and again 8 he m in Jeremiah . He was the Jupiter of t Ro ans, and

the Zeus of the Greeks . There appears to be a confusion between Bel and Merodach (the names occur together on a tablet which applies num bers to the gods) , and the temple dedicated to Merodach (as we know by the

inscriptions) is the temple of the Belus of the Greeks. tt was But Merodach himself now claims a ention . He ” the son of Ea, the god of the abyss. He was the lord m of life and light , and the greatest and best na es were him t given to . Wi h the Oriental fire has ever been the o d bject of a oration , and as the signs which form his

3 3 e r. . 2 . I s. x vi. I . er li Jl l J. . 44. TH E B B E 1 2 A YLONIAN R LIGION . 9

e sun nam mean either the circle, or radiance of the , it is not hard to see that the god was a solar hero . His m “ old na e meant, the god who orders good for man ” kind . His worship goes far back into the early days of the m Babylonia, for hy ns addressed to him which have come down to us are written in the ancient Akkadian , and our translations are made generally from the Assy

f . rian translation appended . His ather Ea was the per so nific atio n of all knowledge and learning ; the omni present and om nipotent Marduk (Merodach) was the “ ” god who went before Ea, and was the healer and fo r m mediator mankind . He revealed to ankind the knowledge of Ea in all incantations he is invoked as the ” god mighty to save against evil and ill . He was the s healer of men troubled with evil spirits and disease , he m an ff taught how to exorcise demons, and he o ered to

fath er a Ea his the prayers of penitent man . He was, perhaps, the brightest and best of the conceptions of u the Babylonians, for his sole d ty in the Pantheon was S m to how mercy to ankind . To the last days of the empire his nam e was revered and his temples kept in ir ani u Z t m . order. His w ife was called p Another lofty conception was that of the goddess “ ” Istar, the lady of battles . Nineveh boasted an Istar ; and Arbela also . She was the spirit or goddess of the planet Venus ; and a debased form of her worship was 1 carried on by the Jews, who called her Ashtoreth . Her m m e k husband was called Ta uz, and she went to s e him “ ” in the land of no return . An allusion is made to him in “ I m fo r Ezek . viii . 4, where it says, There sat wo en weeping ” e r Tammuz . It was the good goddess Istar that app a ed to

Assurbanipal in a dream the night before a battle, and

I Kings xi. 33. T 1 30 BABYLONIAN LIFE AND HIS ORY .

told him that he should be victorious . The king sac ri h e fic ed to t goddess Istar of Arbela, and he made a prayer to her in which he recalled to her mind the benefits that she had done to his father Esarhaddon he to ld her that the enemy Teu m m an had spread o ut his f him orces against , and then entreated her to crush him and overcome him in battle. That night a seer slept and had a vision, and he went to the king saying, Istar of Arbela drew near me surrounded with glory on the right hand and on the left . She held a bow in her hand r with the st ing stretched by an arrow pointed for battle . was She Her face fixed, and was in pain concerning thee, i even as a mother bring ng forth . Istar the beloved of e the gods has decreed a decre saying thus, Whither o u thou g est I will go ; I will g ard thee, and I will cause

' a th e thee to obt in the desire of thy heart . Before thee enemy shall not stand in battle, neither shall he oppose ” thy steps. n h And farther back, whe the father of t is same king, and Esarhaddon, was in trouble grief because of the war brought against him by his brothers, the goddess Istar him spake to by the oracle of Arbela, saying

0 Fear not, Esarhaddon , am I , (as) Bel , thy strength

I will ease the supports of thy heart. Each of the sixty great gods m y strong ones u with his life will g ide thee.

- - the Moon god at thy right hand, the Sun god at

thy left . 1 u Upon mankind tr st not, bend thine eyes upon me, ” I am Istar of Arbela.

Co m are sa m i. v c x v c x iii. 8 . p P l l 3 , 9

T I 3 2 BABYLONIAN LIFE AND HIS ORY .

m a 1 0. O Lady, Queen of the House of heaven , y thy

heart (rest) .

I I . O Lady, Queen of the land of Erech, may thy liver

(be magnified) . 1 2 . O Lady, Queen of the land of the four rivers of

Erech, may thy heart (rest) . I 3 . O Lady, Queen of Mountain of the World, may thy m n liver (be ag ified) . - I . 4 O Lady, Queen of Temple of the Resting place of

m a r . the World, y thy hea t (rest) 1 5. O Lady, Queen of Babylon, may thy liver (be m agnified) .

1 6 . o O Lady, Queen of the Mem rial of Nana, may thy

heart (rest) . 1 7 . O Queen of the Temple, Queen of the gods, may

thy liver (be magnified) .

1 8 . Prayer of the heart to Istar.

A cuneiform tablet mentions an Istar of Erech, but

S k - very little is known of her. The y god Anu is generally m m mentioned a ong a nu ber of gods, but no especial a worship appears to have been p id to him . Ea was another god of great importance in the Baby lo nian Pantheon . He was the father of the mighty

Merodach, and to the Babylonians was the personification s of wisdom and ecret knowledge . He was the soul that pervaded all, which animated all, and he is often invoked ” m in the bilingual hy ns as the spirit of earth. He had f - no ather, but was self begotten, and perpetually renewed f m himself from the watery element which or ed his home, fo r the he is always called the lord of abyss or deep . He was the god that knew how to frustrate the powers dem o ns and s of the z sp irits, for he knew their ecrets ; and I TH E BABYLONIAN RELIGION . 33

by the intervention of no other god could their attacks be warded o ff: In a tablet containing warnings to the i k ng against injustice Ea fills the place of avenger, for “ if we are told, the king avenges not according to the

law of his country, the god Ea, the king of destinies, is ” hostile to his destiny and replaces him by another. On if the other hand , the king avenges according to the

writing of the god Ea, the great gods seat him in stability

and the praise of justice . Together with his wife, Dam

kina, he was the originator of all created moving things “ m he was the spirit of the earth, and Da kina was the ” substance ; her name means the lady of the great earth, and she was the personification of the mass of the earth . ”

i. e. It has been said that his name means habitation, ,

- the dwelling place of created things, and so he has been m co pared with the Noah of the Bible . The Babylonian ” m f hy ns attribute to him a ship unparalleled by ate, in which he sailed over the sea to the help of his son m Marduk when he was fighting Tia at . It was in this ship S isith ru s that Ea saved from the flood , as we are told in the account of it . Among other attributes of Ea we find w him called a warrior, and he was furnished ith armour m ade of all sorts of precious stones . His principal “ f s weapon was one with seven rays and fifty ace , which d ” turned every way estroying the bodies of the fighters, which rem inds us of the flaming sword which turned 2 every way mentioned in Gen . iii . 4 The serpent is one b ofhis forms, and ewas represented as having seven heads . - i s The worship of Samas, the Sun god , was w de pread “ and his votaries numerous . He was called the king ” ’ so n of judgment, the of Ea his wives names were

Malkit nu . h , Gula and An it The cities in whic his wor c nker h ship was particularly favoured were Larsa or S e , 1 34 BABYLONIAN LIFE AND HISTORY .

S i ara was and pp in Babylon, where he associated with A n ni Zi ni u m u t r a t . , Marduk, and p In the tablet of warnings to kings alluded to above we find it stated that if the king smites the son of the city of S ipp ara and - h gives him to another, the Sun god , who judges eaven rth a o u and ea , shall pp int another judge in his co ntry and n a just prince and a just judge i nstead of unjust o es . “ ” This agrees with his title of king of judgm ent. His was r worship ve y old , and goes back to a time when the e great powers of nature wer worshipped . The Sun ” go d of S ipp ara was evidently a well-known deity in t e B 8 fo r h . C. 00 time of Sargon, 3 , he mentions this god n was and no other. One of his truest a d best votaries N e bo baladan , the king of Babylon, who began to reign

B. C e fi about . 900. Ther is a ne tablet in the British

Museum made by the order of this king, which contains b d six columns of eautifully execute Babylonian writing,

- and also a picture of the worship of the Sun god . It is

figured o n the opposite page . The god is seated upon a square seat (having carvings of two fig ures on one side) - o h n set in a pillar supported p rch, and holding in his a d “ 1 S a ring and a hort rod . Above is written the crown of ” - S un- the Sun god , the of the god , and above this are three circles, which represent the new

moon, the Sun , and Istar or Venus . Two lines of writing “ - S u n run above the roof which read the Moon god, the ” 9 god and Istar in Before the pillar stands a stool with legs supporting a figure of the disk of the sun . It appears to be supported by cords which are held in the

“ 1 k This m a b e also read the disk o f the sun- o d and the L a , dis . y g ” rays fro m his eyes. 3 Th e m eanings o f the wo rds which o c cur here o n the table t are no t

kno wn .

B BY E G TH E A LONIAN R LI ION .

hands of two attendant spirits by the roof. Three figures : stand with their faces towards the disk the first, a priest , is holding the stool by his left hand wh ile with his right u th e he grasps the left hand of the second fig re, king, whose right hand is raised in adoration to the god . The third figure follows at a short distance with both hands raised in adoration . Above the heads of the three

figures run the three lines of inscription , which read the - m image of the Sun god, the ighty lord, the dweller in ” the Temple of Parra (or Bara) which is within Sippara.

T TH E U N HYMNS o S .

I .

Magical incantation .

Sun, from the foundations of heaven thou art risen thou hast unfastened the bolts of the shining skies

thou hast opened the door of heaven . i i Sun, above the countr es thou hast ra sed thy head , Sun,thou hast covered the im m ensity of the heavens

and the terrestrial countries.

II .

I i rc es . e t Lord, illuminator of the darkness, who p the

face of darkness . 2 . Merciful God , who settest up those that are bowed su stainest down , who the weak . e Towards the light the great gods direct their glanc s, m the archangels of the abyss, every one of the , con f template eagerly thy ace . o f o The language praise, as one w rd, thou directest it . The host of their heads seeks the light of the Sun in

the South . re s a Like a bridegroom thou ste t joyful and gr cious. B B E AN D T 1 36 A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY.

8 . In thy illumination thou dost reach afar to the

boundaries of heaven .

art a . 9 . Thou the banner of the v st earth ‘ 1 ! o fi 0. O God the men who dwell afar contemplate

thee and rejoice.

- Side by side with Samas, the Moon god , Sin , held a prominent place in the Babylonian Pantheon ; he was m the personification of the oon, and the eldest son of

Bel . Though we Westerns regard the moon as a m a fe inine and the sun as a masculine object, the Orient ls the (like Germans) held just the opposite idea, namely, the m th e that moon is asculine and sun feminine, for the ” latter is called the lady of the world . In the Hebrew text of the Bible the sun is regarded as of common

- gender. The wife of the Moon god was called Nana, but the moon is represented as a female, hence arose m the idea of her her aphrodite nature . Her chief city ’ was Ur, and her daughter s name was Istar. N ini The other principal gods , p , Nergal, Nebo, and i N ini R mmon, call for little comment . p was the god of a the pl net Saturn , and was the Hercules of the Baby lonian Pantheon ; he was both the son and husband of m Beltis . He was, perhaps, the odern representative of ” the Akkadian god Nindar, the night sun . Nergal m was the god of the planet Mars, and his na e forms part

l r- i - - o f m e er a sa . e. the na N g eser, , Nergal sara usur, Nergal ” protects the king. Rimmon was the son of Anu, and the governor of heaven and earth . He represented the m and m generally atmosphere, the stor , the te pest, and his commonest name is the inundator. 1 s The god Nebo was al o called Nusku, and his wife was

I x vi I . s. l .

1 8 B B E AN D I T 3 A YLONIAN LIF H S ORY .

- s terror to them . They appear to have been storm cloud and originally, were supposed to attack the moon during an eclipse. A hymn tells us that during the eclipse of - and the moon, the Sun god fled away Istar went to the ” th e f o highest heaven . The god Bel, ather of the mo n, saw the attack of the evil spirits upon his son, and sent

Nebo, the Mercury of the Greeks, to ask the assistance s and advice of Ea , the lord of wisdom . Ea ent the lordly

w . Merodach to do battle ith these dreadful spirits, and by his fiery and brilliant arm our he completely defeated

them, even as he did Tiamat . These evil spirits were born and reared in the mountains of the sunset and the

dawn but, ho wever powerful, they had no part in the fo r hierarchy of heaven, we read,

Among the gods their couch they have not .

o They went to the depths of the earth, and their domini n

extended to highest heaven . In a large tablet contain o ing incantations we find a description of them, and th ugh

it has been quoted often before, it appears necessary to

‘ give a translation of the part relating to them here . It reads ! Seven are they, seven are they t In the abyss of the deep seven are hey,

In the brightness of heaven seven are they .

In the abyss of the deep in a place was their growth . m Male they are not, fe ale they are not .

Moreover the deep is their pathway .

m . Wife they have not, child is not born to the

Law and order know they not . no Prayer and supplication hear they t . m m o A ong the thorns of the ountain was their gr wth .

To Ea are they hostile . TH E B B A YLONIAN RELIGION .

The throne bearers ( P) of the gods are they Disturbers in the are they se t ” Evil are they, baleful are they. The Babylonian implored every spirit in heaven and ‘ o fi th e t m earth to ward attack of the evil spirits from he , fo r they were the originators of all diseases and evils. ”1 Christ tells us of seven other spirits which m ay enter a m an ; and we are all fam iliar with the story of His “ casting out seven devils from Mary Magdalene . There was one evil spirit which was a great terror to the

- Babylonian, and this was the spirit of the South West h Wind, w ich brought disease and death with it . There are fou r models of this monster in the British Museum n u e (there is a other at Paris) , with h ge staring ey balls and gaunt features and lantern jaws . Amulets were worn as a protection against these spirits and a few of these em ble m s i of superst tion have come down to us, telling us very plainly what torments these people must have

‘ s e re n u fi d through terror of the monsters of their religio . This belief was current in the early ages of the world ’s history ; the prophets knew of it, and appealed to the

- nations by it ; and to day the Arab, when praying with his face towards Mecca, salaams to the right and to the I m a m es left, to pacify the spirits that he g are present there .

Did the Babylonians know of a heaven or a hell, a place m v ? of tor ent for the wicked , or of a de il We will give all the evidence we can from the inscriptions, and perhaps we S hall find that their Hades was not so very far difle re nt f “ ” l rom the Sheol, or the pit, of the Bib e, nor the devil e much to b distinguished from the Satan we read of.

3 1m . u k xi. 26. rk xv i. u vi i att. e a k i . 2 M 45 L M 9 ; L e . 1 0 B B N E T 4 A YLO IAN LIF AND HIS ORY .

Heaven, the place where the spirits of good Babylonians “ ” was and reposed, called the land of the shining sky, th e was seat of the gods . It cannot at present be decided whether they attained the conception of one God the ” m it s Al ighty, but seems improbable, for to the last day m and of the duration of their kingdo , in the prayers m m s histories they ention ore than one god . The Jew were the people who enunciated the grand idea of the 1 “ . o f unity of God In the Babylonian heaven, the house “ ” f fo r life, the land of li e, the warrior found his reward, u he reclined on a couch, and drank p re drinks toge

ther with his friends and associates . Not a strange idea f for a nation that was at war with its ellows perpetually, o f but far, very far, from the holy conception of heaven m the prophet of the New Testa ent, with God for its sun , e its tree of life for the healing of the nations, its pur no r river of water of life, where there is no more curse, m f sorrow, nor pain, nor death, and where God Hi sel

wipes away all tears . The Babylonian conception of hell is made known to us by a tablet which relates the descent of Istar thither I . t in search of her lovely young husband, Tammuz i e has been stated that the same word for Hades, . . , Sheol, d as that used in the Hebrew Scriptures, has been foun in Babylonian texts ; but this assertion has been m ade while the means for definitely proving it do not at present exist. The lady of the Babylonian Hades was in-ki- and called N gal, the place itself had a river running through it, over which spirits had to cross . There was “ ” also a porter of the waters (which reminds us of the

1 h o n D ent. vi. ear O srae t e o rd o u r G d is o e o rd o r 4 H , I l L L , ac co rdin to th e true trans atio n ear O srae the o rd o ur Go d i g l , H , I l , L s ” O N E.

( 2 B B O E T 4 A YL NIAN LIF AND HIS ORY .

f e the Babylonian hell. It is di ficult to say where th y e imagined their Hades to be, but it has b en conjectured by l r some that they thought it to be in the west . Whethe n they believed in a final judgment or not is unknow , as is likewise the principle which decided whether a man “ ” “ d should go to the land of the shining sky, or the lan ” of no return . The seven evil spirits dwelt in the deep, and there appears to be some connexion between them e and the seven wicked gods which dwelt in Hades. Th y were probably the com panions of the awful monster

Tiamat, who made war against the gods, of whom we are

now able to give some account .

Tiamat dwelt in the sea, and was a kindred demon of B hu a . . Bahu (the of Gen i or disorder, and is the

- prototype of the sea serpent of to day. Last year a piece of tablet was discovered which gave about 64 lines of the account o f the conflic t between her and Merod ach ; and the following paraphrase is made from the fragment

of a tablet written in Babylonian, and two or three

pieces of an. Assyrian copy . The first lines open by saying that the gods had set Merodach upon his th rone

in the dwelling of the great ones. Then follows a kind of pa an of praise repeated thus

O Merodach thou art honourable also, among the gre at gods “ su m ar o d A nu thy destiny is unequalled , thy g is the g . d O Merodach thou art honourable, among the great go s

thy fate is unequalled, thy sumgar is the god Anu .

The pious Egyptian always prayed fo r a happy burial in the ” h West and in the Co tic v i m enti i. e. t e ers o ns o f the N ew T A , , p esta ” m ent th is sam e wo rd am enti is used to ex ress he o r ad p ll, H es. 3 The exac t m eanin o f th e wo rd su m ar is no t kno w g g n. Jut it a ears ” pp it to m ean pro tec ting divin y. TH E B B E 1 A YLONIAN R LIGION . 43

The narrative then proceeds with the statement that ’ Marduk s command is unchangeable and unalterable ,

. f and that high and low seek his hand A prayer ollows, which entreats that whatever goes forth from thy m 0 th f r outh, Marduk, may it be established , y o tune not ai f ling. Next there appears to be a reference to the ” n a s gifts of the gods, and the another pr yer aying, in

the dwelling of the gods, at the place of their crown, may ” s thy place be established . Again follow a pae an of praise

e r o u r O M rodach thou art also the returne of benefits, s we ascribe to thee royalty, thou ha t in the assembly of o f r the gods the multitude of the whole eve ything, m a y thy command be high, may they not force thy

weapon,

m ay thy enemy tremble .

nd 0 A the beautiful line of prayer, lord , who trusts ” m thee, do thou benefit his soul, co es next. The gods ’ then approved of Merodach s mission against the wicked fo r Tiamat, we are told they rejoiced, they drew near t to Merodach the king, they endowed him wi h sceptre,

throne, and reign, they gave him an unequalled weapon fo r a destroying his enemies, and s id Go, make an

end of the life of Tiamat, and may the wind carry away ” her blood to a dismal place. The gods decreed his

a and . f te, made him set out on his enterprise Now

follows the record of the equipment of the god . He

had a bow, a club, his right hand held the bow, and he

hung the skin quiver at his side . H e set the lightning f f be ore him , and filled his body with swi t destruction . ” Then he obtained a scimitar (or as some re ad net ) to a his f attack Tiamat . We are told th t Anu ather m ad e

1 6 B B E AN D T 4 A YLONIAN LIF HIS ORY .

go d . It is another form of an old Semitic idea ; th e Jews fo r wrote copies of the law each man himself, every king was bound to do so ; to-day the Mahommedans t K o wri e copies of their oran . To go back t the Baby lonian tablet, however. The story is told in very concise and and brief language, and the expressions are here h h t ere somewhat obscure. The sense of a few of t e lines I cannot make out, owing to a number of words the meanings of which at present are unknown . If one puts aside the weird and mystic imagery of the Oriental from it, it is the account of the battle of light against ” a d rkness . Merodach is the brilliance of the sun, and r he goes armed with the bow of his fathe Anu, the sky ” 1 m ul-m ul-lu m god, and the , or principle of the stars and fire ; he takes the lightning and gathers together to his the w n . side the inds, powers of the heave s With this w armour he does battle against Tiamat . The Hebre equivalent of this word we meet with in the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis. We read that there k was dar ness upon the face of the deep, and the word ’

hom i e. n t . . re dered deep is , , Tiamat, in Babylonian Tiamat is represented as the abyss from whence all things noxious sprang ; she herself is personified in the w form of a being with scales, feathers, ings, , claws, gaping jaws, and a tail, and over this hideous being the e glorious light sprang. St . John, in the Apocalypse, spok ” tim e when of the there shall be no more sea, intimating that the abolition of the sea with its monsters and terrors was to be a part of the glorious future. In the tablet spoken of above the line

’ who u his 0 lord, tr sts in thee, do thou benefit soul ,

1 ' The wo rd is rend ered c lub ; perhaps fire stic k wo uld be a be tte r translatio n. B 1 TH E BA YLONIAN RELIGION . 47

f P sa reminds one orcibly of various passages in the lms, and reveals to us the craving of the soul of th e Baby lonian for the assistance and support of a mighty and m powerful god . Whether they had a deeper eaning no t all veiled under the words is hard to say, but it is at improbable that the ideas of right and wrong were rep re

sented by them under the symbols of light and darkness . o e a t she A curi us name is given to Tiamat in th t ble , is called the great serpent (we have already S poken o f her shape above and of her being the personificatio n of c v l e haos), which reminds one of the Re e ation wher ” 1 Th e to o Satan is called the great dragon . Jews, , a have called Satan the prince over chaos . This Tiam t then is clearly the Babylonian tempter which led m an t the astray, and which brought death and des ruction into m world . There is a seal in the British Museu bearing an engraving which se ems to be a picture of the fall of I 6 has sh man . It is figured on page 5 , and been publi ed f 2 a e be ore . In the middle of the scene there st nds a tr e c the t u with bran hes, and on either side of r nk there f m an o n is a ruit. Seated on the right is a , and up

n s . the left is a woma , behind whom stands the erpent “ f re The tree is the tree of li e, which played a g at part ss s was in the Babylonian and A yrian religion , and understood too by the Babylonians to be the symbol r of immo tality. As to the views o f the Babylonians about the creation w few we kno but little, for only a lines on this subject, a and these on a fragment of a tablet, h ve come down to us They read

n e a Whe on high the heavens wer not n med,

1 - Rev. xu . 7 9 ; xx. 2 . 3 m ith Cha dean Genesis . 1 . S , l , p 9 1 8 R 4 BABYLON IAN LI FE AN D HI STO Y .

and be eat th e s e n h, abys recorded not a nam , the b water deep first egot them, the lady Tiamat

was the bringer forth of all . s w The water first were collected , but the clouds ere not

r and . collected togethe , in the earth was not a seed ” Then none of the gods had come forth .

These words evidently refer to a time when the earth was “ f ” without orm and void . Apparently the pious Babylonian repented deeply at fo r l times, we find the ament of one which says, From the d ays of my youth I am bound fast to the yoke of sin ; and his conscience was at times sorely troubled . s When in distress, through a calamity or any other cau e, h e a m f sks hi self, Have I estranged ather and son , ? brother and brother, or friend and friend Have I not freed the captive, released the bound , and delivered him who was confined in prison 1 Have I resisted my god or despised my goddess ? Have I taken territory not o wn my , or entered with wrong motives the house of my fellow Have I approached the wife of my fellow man ? ’ ” Have I shed man s blood or robbed one of his clothing ? S n The Babylonian could bewail his ins, i iquities, and s ignorance in very pathetic words, and the following line will S how how nearly the words and ideas approach some of o u r own prayers of to-day

‘ O my lord, my transgression is great, many are my

sins. O my god O my goddess n O my god that knowest that I knew not, my tra s ressio n g is great, many are my sins .

1 Co m are att. xxv . p M 44.

0 B B E T 1 3 A YLONIAN LIF AND HIS ORY . have feared the attacks of the evil spirits more than he f trusted in his great gods to defend him rom them . At the beginning he peopled all nature and everything in nature t with spirits, but by degrees he a tributed more power s to some of these than to other , and hence arose the m great gods. His religion was a mixture of subli ity and absurdity, of purity and impurity, of refined ideas and coarse conceptions ; in short, he made the gods in his own image. He never grasped the idea of one God

o f making and ruling all things, the Ruler and Governor nations and individuals alike, but he multiplied idols and ’ gods without end . This brought down Jeremiah s j ust 1 observation, It is the land of graven images, and they are m ad upon their idols . He was superstitious and easily terrified by the supernatural, and was slavish in his m led obedience to it. His ind was easily captive by the m po p and religious processions, which the priests took care to make as attractive as possible . To these were added the practices of nature worship so strongly de no u nc ed in the Bible under the names of Baal, Baal m Peor, Ashtoreth, and the groves ; and thus the ind of the Babylonian was led astray, and whatever good he n had lying in his soul was crushed and blotted out. I the day of retribution when Babylon fell his idols were him powerless to save , as he found to his bitter cost . Though the Babylonians asked the Jews to sing them ” ne o of the songs of Zion, yet they profited nought by 5 i n t, neither did they learn a ything of Jehovah, who had ” done m ighty deeds and driven out mighty nations fo r o this pe ple. Though Daniel and the three children were in living witnesses of God Babylon, its people repented not, as Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah .

1 r Je . l . 38. TH E B B N I A N E 1 1 A YLO R LIGION . 5

Its gods are gone, its people, and its tributary kings, like n their conquerors . have va ished ; there is nothing but the accum ulated dust of centuries in the land instead of its o f former glory, and it is beholden to the children the i West for the discov ery n recent times of its ancient site . X C HAPTER .

B E AN D AR T BA YLONIAN LIF .

ON E of the chief concerns of the Babylonian was to attend to his religious duties, and to take part in the r worship and p aise due to his gods . We are ignorant of the exact ceremonies that were carried out in their temples, but it seems that processions of priests bearing the image of a god were common and frequent . The kings richly endowed the temples with part of the spoils in n a which they obtained war, and each perso , ccording to his ability, no doubt did the same . They craved for a visible representation of their deities, and were not h satisfied with an invisible presence, even if t ey had any conception of it . Every person, high or low, rich or - poor, took part in the nature worship which was carried out under the beautiful sky of Chaldea. It is probable that they chanted hymns and praises to their gods, for the Babylonian copy of the fou rth tablet of the

Creation series, recording the fight between Merodach n and Tiamat, exhibits a rhythm and a parallelism in ma y r of its lines . One would think that the narrative pa t

was recited or sung by a few voices, and the lines of r praise by a huge chorus in which eve yone joined . so - Gis ubar Their sacred books were the called t legends ,

I S4 BABYL ONIAN LIFE AND HISTORY .

are th e earthenware still to be seen . On the death of “ Sk Babylonian his soul went to the land of the silver y, and dwelt with the heroes of bygone times and the kings u f who r led ages be ore . Isaiah describes the home of 1 n o these spirits in almost ide tical w rds . The numerous temples must have given occupation to an enormous m b and nu er of people and servants, even the body of priests necessary for performing the various services

must have been large . The ch ief occupation of the Babylonian was war ; as all r soon as one king was dead, the tributa y kingdoms

tried to assert their independence . This, of course, necessitated expeditions to all parts of the country to put w w as do n the various rebellions. There a set time of

. fo r w the year arlike expeditions, as we learn from

2 . . I s Sam xi . The Babylonian were armed with swords,

bows and arrows, and staves in the later days they had

helmets and shields . Their battles consisted more of surprises and skirmishes than what we should call r definite wa fare. They showed no mercy, and once

having captured a city they destroyed it utterly, slaying the unfortunate inhabitants and burning everything l fe w the that cou d be burnt . A of the kings took s captives to their capitals, and made them build wall

. i and temples, etc , for them . In besieg ng cities they

used scaling ladders , and men were set under cover m f to dig out the stones fro the oundations, that the

city walls might fall . They used horses and chariots

in battle, but the greater part of the army must have

gone on foot. It will be remembered that the Rabshakeh ff of Sennacherib o ered Hezekiah horses, saying, I will give thee two thousand horses if thou be able on thy part 1 saiah xiv I . 9 E AN D RT 1 BABYLONIAN LIF A . 55

”1 to set riders upon them . A list was kept of the people destroyed in each city, and of the spoil taken . Wars r were unde taken on various pretexts, such as rebellion and invasion of territory ; but the kings often made raids 011 slight provocation when the funds of their treasuries ’ were low . It was the wealth of Hezekiah s palace and of the Tem ple that attracted Merodach-Baladan and Nebuchadnezzar ; and the riches of Tyre always made it an attractive obj e ct for conquest in the eyes of the

Babylonians and Assyrians .

Many of the Babylonians were engaged in commerce, m w for the Se ite was al ays a trader, and we know for certainty that it was respected , inasmuch as we find that the business of the firm of Egibi and Son was carried on throughout all the wars and civil commotions which con v lse d u Babylon . The Babylonians made legal promises a h ad to pay cert in debts they contracted . They bought and sold land, and they lent money or merchandise on i E ibi nterest. This business firm of g and Son arranged fo r dowries unwedded women, and some records of this sort are in our national collection. f The Babylonians bought slaves, male and emale, and it appears that some of the owners went so far as to brand their own name upon them with hot irons . In stature the Babylonians were short and thick-set ; and they had the characteristic Semitic nose, thick lips, ”

. c oblique eyes Their hair was thick and urly, and of course black whether they plaited or knotted it in the way we see it represented is doubtful, for the dressing fo r shown on the sculptures may be the sake of ornament . m They wore dyed rai ent, probably of a brilliant colour, f girdles round their waist, and sandals on their eet.

1 saiah xxxvi. 8 I . 1 6 B BY E AN D T 5 A LONIAN LIF HIS ORY.

The Babylonian youth learned to read and write early . o f r The task learning the huge syllaba y was no easy one, ef he ther ore copied the characters over and over again , until the eye, the hand , and the memory all helped him m to gain a perfect knowledge of the . Those who were intended for priests or astronomers learnt the omens, the astrological and the astronomical texts, and the old

Akkadian language . The king was absolute monarch he heard complaints and redressed wrongs the power of his n life and death was in ha ds . How the Babylonian king amused himself is not known the Assyrian hunted lions, etc . The Babylonian libraries were well stored f with tablets by generations gone by, and there ore they became the centre of attraction for the literati and savants of that day. The Babylonians were very superstitious, r f and ve y earful of the evil spirits and genii, which they m m i agined were always ready to attack the . They were great astrologers and moderately good astronomers we owe a very great deal to them . They drew maps upon { c la and y, there are fragments of their planispheres, which are divided into divisions corresponding to degrees, among the treasures of our national collection . The Babylonian was a skilful engraver upon the hardest stones, of which the polish and smoothness is a marvel even in the nineteenth century. The little stone ’ B 8 C. 00 which contains Sargon s inscription ( . 3 ) is beauti n fully rounded and smooth, the inscription bei g admirably e in cut . Th y excelled seal cutting, and delighted in inscribing figures of the bei ngs of their Pantheon upon ae agate, chalcedony, jasper, h matite, etc . Drawings of some of these seals are shown on the opposite page . u u The Babylonians were good b ilders, as the r ins and re m n m ai s of their te ples and walls testify . Some of

R 1 BABYLONIAN LIFE AN D A T . 57

- their bricks they burnt, others they sun dried, and each brick bore the impression of the seal of the king its

maker. Some bricks were glazed with one colour (these were probably used to lay the foundations in dam p n places) , others for or ament in two or more colours, and

occasionally we find them both fluted and glazed . They

knew the use of the arch, and they used pillars in their

buildings . Their palaces were decorated with all kinds of beautiful stones ; it has been thought that they were

is . but one storey high, but this scarcely credible Owing to our ignorance of the meaning of many of the i architectural terms employed in their bu ldings, we

cannot make exact statements about them, but their

palaces and temples were very extensive. They made

plantations around them, and a little tablet gives us the names of the various plants and trees that were in the - gardens of Merodach Baladan. Of the houses of the poo rer classes we know nothing ; their dwellings have

long since passed away. There were beautiful objects of ’ art in the king s palaces , bronze statuettes , glass bottles r and vases, alabaster jars, ivo ies with gold and beautiful h colours, though t ese belong probably to the later period the x w of empire. The objects of art and lu ury hich the Babylonians were unable to produce for themselves they c o ould obtain from Ph enicia and Egypt, and no doubt

they availed themselves of the opportunity. Every single tablet that is recovered from the mounds of Babylonia reveals fresh facts and gives new testimony of the enormous amount of knowledge possessed by the m Babylonians . It will be i possible to obtain an exact idea of what they knew until all the mounds have be en x e cavated and all the literature read and u nderstood . Already there is enough work for many life time s ; the 1 58 BABYLONIAN LIFE AN D HISTORY .

quantity of work to be done is enormous, and the labourers in the field are very few. The task of reading a m the cuneiform inscriptions is a h rd one, and uch patient wo rk is necessary before it can be done but surely it is a study attractive enough ! In this little book only a few of the most important f acts have been touched upon , and we have tried to state are only such things as admit of proof and certain . It is l - e se f evident, however, how very necessary the knowledg of the facts obtained from the cuneiform inscriptions is for the right understanding of that part of Bible history which relates to Babylon and Assyria.

1 60 I N DEx.

P AGE stro no m 1 06 Bab o n destructio n o f b A y yl , , y Ast a es revo t o f his so diers ennacherib 6 y g , l l 74 S 3 Atrines the usian 2 c a ture o f b C rus —8 S 9 p , y y 73 4 ssur fo rtress o f v ario us statem ents as A , 59 u - - iz f I ts two wa s I 6 Ass r akh bal 1 03 to the s e o . ll Assurbanipal 65 its antiq uity 96 c inder o f 1 2 Bab o nia extent in ater tim es yl 4 yl , l ; Assur-bel-kala 50 its o ld nam e Kaldu Assur-bil-nisu -su 43 Babylo nian c o py bo o ks ssu r-D an 8 histo r b ank in A 5 y, l , Assur-Danan 48 fo r twenty years Assur-iz ir-pal 103 m anners and cus Assur-nadin -sum i 63 l 544 57 Assur-nasir-pal 57 heaven 1 40 Assur-ris-isi 49 wisd o m 1 I O Assur-uballit 44 Sabbath I 53 ss ria rise o f under im m o n si ns co m ariso n I OI A y , , R g , p irari Bab o nians anti uit o f 1 N I . yl , q y 4 Assyrian annals their pro genito r cylinders c alled Chesed year Bagayadish a tas Az ut i B l ar. Bardes

Bani-tum -u m m a Barre l cylinders Basia Babylo n do es no t m ean co n Bau -ahi-iddin fusio n Jews played o n the Bau -ellit wo rd Baz i Talm udic discussio n o n Behistun inscriptio n the wo rd 1 Bel his tem e in Bab o n 5 , pl yl acc o rding to Hero do tu s 27 Bel and Merodach siz e o f the cit 2 8 Be us tem e o f y l , pl its nam e in the in Bel-ahi-irba sc riptio ns ; the gate o f Bel-akhe -irib ” “ ” God the ho use the Bel-ba at-su , , l wo o d o f life Bel-basa situated o n the Bel-edem Eu phrates called the dwell Bel-edem ing-plac e o f Bel and to wn o f Bel-epns M arduk Bel-eres EX 6 IND . 1 1

Bel-hai-iddur Case tablets Bel-idannu Chinz irus Bel-iddin Co lo ssi Bel-lu m ur Co m ets Bel-nirari Co ntrac t tablets Beli-sunu Cyaxares Belshaz z ar Cyrus a m o no theist ’ Belshaz zar s Feast m akes peace with Baby Bel-tem enna lo n Belteshaz z ar entry into Babylo n Beltis rise o f his kingdo m Bel-upabhir m arch to Akkad Belu U sum gallu Cuneifo rm text (part 8) o f the Bel-z akir-ishun capture o f Babylo n 80 Beth -Yakur Cu neifo rm writing u sed after Birs-Nim ru d the Ch ristian era Bit-I m itti Bit-Karz iyabku Bitum en Black Obelisk Dam kina B i a anie his nam e no t fo und in o rs pp D l, Talm udic pu ns o n the insc riptio ns D ar a the nam e , go d Bricks fro m the tem ple in Darius the Median n a s u ck and un uc k sev e stages D y , l y l y glaz ed white Deluge tablet Bro nz e ste o f ebu chadnez z ar em o ns p N , D insc ri tio n u o n and transla uban p p , D tio n Dungi Buria o f the Bab o nians Dura ain o f l yl , pl Burna-Buryas D ur-Athara Buz uz u D ur-papsuk al

D u u = D u n r ra, Da . 111. 1 D ur-yakin D uz u = J une

Calendar Cam b es his ex editio n into ys , p Egypt 88 Ea Carc hem ish 68 Fa-e pus Cardinal po ints I 1 0 Eu-m ukin -z iri X 1 6 2 INDE .

Gananati Gan-duniyas G arm apada Geo graphy Geo lo gy the banker Gisinni

tians anti uit o br as Egyp , q y o f G y E-Bulbu l a tem ple Go d triads

- E ki Go ds, eno rm o us num ber

E-ku -a sh rine o f Bel Bab o n , yl E-Parra (o r Barra) Go m ates Epo nym c ano n Go m o rrah

E u ino x Graine b a o f q , y Erec h Gre at Sea Istar o f Gudea E-Sagila-lissi Gula E-Sagili Gula-z ir-tepus E-Sagili-sum a-c pus Guti Esarhaddo n Guz um m anu

E-Ul bar

E-U lbar-sakin-sum i

Eu hrates its p , nam es and their m eanings drained dry by

Hadar-ez er H aggai c ontem po rary Cyru s exo rcism s against H a ira sev en g Halm an E- ida a tem e o f Bab o n Z , pl yl a ub cit o n the Ti ri H l , y g s am ath rebe io n in H , ll Ham m urabi

H andita o rtress o f Kuri-Galz u F H anging gardens Harran Hatim Hell

16 4 I N D Ex.

P AG E Muabbid-Kissati Muballitat Serua Musesib -Marduk I I 5 Mytho lo gy

Magan Magic tablets I 1 I a sun-wo rshipper Malkit 1 33 co ntrac t in 1 7th year Man po ssessed o f a dev il I 1 2 o f 1 1 9 Marad a od his dream , g 2 1 75 Marbuda 1 06 his exc avatio ns 76 arduk his fi ht with Tiam his death M , g at 1 42 78 Murduk -balatsu -ikbi 58 N abo nnedo n 82 Marduk -Bel -usati 58 Nabo po lassar (Nabu -pal-usur) 66 Marduk-irba 1 1 5 the rise o f his Marduk -nadin-ahi 49 kingdo m Marduk-sapik -kullat 50 Nabu-abla-iddina Marduk -sum a-iskun 58 Nabu -ahi-bullit Marduk -z akir-sum i 6 1 Nabu -balat-su Marriage do wry 1 1 2 Nabu -balatsu -ikbi Martes 92 Nabu -bel-z iku Meli-Sipak Nabu -bullitsu Mene Me ne Nabu -e -du -ahi erodach o r abu -e is-eu M , N p erodach Ba adan abu-I ddannu M l II . N Merodach Baladan Nabu -kissir M eskitu Nabu -kusur-su Methuselah Nabu -ludda Michaux stone Nabu -nadin-z iri Milky Way Nabu -nasir M o ney-lo an table ts o nths o ds to who m each abu -rim anni M , g N was dedicated 10 1 10 ab u -sab -sunu 9, N Mo o n-go d 1 36 Nabu -sum a-iskun Mo o n o d his t m in abu -su m a-ukin g , e ple N Harran N abu -sum -dam ik INDEX. 1 65

P AGE in a -iddina 6 Nabu-sum -esir N g l 4 - N unitti Bel a wal o f Bab o n 1 6 Nabu -uhi su , l yl N inip-kudurri-usur 56 26 Nabu -usitik -urri N abu-usur-napistu 9 1 N isann arch 1 0 Nabu -z ir-napisti-esit u M 9 k 1 6 Nadin Nus u 3 Nadintu -Bel Nagitu Nahid -Marduk Nail m arks Nam ar ana o dde N , g Nana-Babili-sininni Naram Sin Naz i bugas ebo hi m N s te ple at Haric . tem ple called Life P aco rus ebuchadnez z ar I his wars N . , Padan against Assyn a ’ P atiz ithes ebuchadnez z ar 5 cit Bab o n N y, yl Pharao h H 0phra ebuchadnez z ar I L his war N , Pharao h Necho against Tyre Philip o f Macedo n his war Philistia against Egypt P hraates the agian his kind M P hrao rtes ness to Jerem iah P issiachada East India Planisphere House insc riptio n P rexashes bro ught Pro m isso ry no tes woo d fro m Lebano n P udil his prayer u a to Marad P y translation hi in ri tio n 1 6 2 o f two o f s sc p s , 2 Nergal 1 36 Nergal -baht 1 1 5 - h n n Nergal edir 63 Rabbi Jo fi fi N eriglissar 73 Rab -Mag Nindar 1 36 Rabshak eh - - inev h destruc tio n o f 6 Ram m anu ab a iddina N e , 7 l 1 66 I EX ND .

Ram m anu-N irari III Seleu cus R am m anu-sea Senkereh

R assam H his disc o veries ennacherib , ., S aw inso n Sir his dis er ent the reat R l , H S p , g co veries 68 ha m an 33, S l Religio us belief o f th e Baby Shalm an Karradu

o nians. um ar 1 0 ha m aneser l S m y. 5 S l II . e ent f i ha m an ser R p ance o the Babylo n ans 1 48 S l e III . ib ah insc ri tio ns o f ebu heo R l , p N S l chadnez z ar Siatu Rim -Agu Sibir Rim at Sic tac ho te s - i ari Sim m as- i u Rim m o n N r I . S h Rim -Sin co ntrac t tab et o f Sim ilbah , l S Ritti Marduk Sinam his wars Sin-Dam ak Sin-kudurri-usu r Sin-Muballit Sin-Nasir Si ara o r e harvaim bui t in pp S p , l Sabatu = anuar J y two arts the ld nam p ; o e , abbath S nam e in insc riptio ns called Sa asatli-Bur as g y Agade by Cyrus Sa -ili a tem e o f Bab o n g , pl yl Sim al a a o d S , g Sitratachm es the Sagartian - i Sam as Nas r Sivanu May - - Sam as sum ukin Sm erdis Sam saa Snake go ds am si-Ram m anu S So do m m u - tana Sa s sa Spirit wo rship Sam ullu -sum -ukin S tar o f the Wo lf a in - - k r i S p m at nu u t Star Nin-si Sappai Strato nice Sargina Sua

ar o n I date o f hi - . s i S g , re gn Su anna ’ fro m abo nidus c inder 8 u i a natio n N yl 3 S h , legend o f his birth 40 Sula ar o n and th e sie e o f shdo d 60 Sum ali a ad o f S g g A y , l y r ch o wl Sc ee 1 1 2 m o untains ks Seal m ar I 1 3 Sum -iddina

168 I N DEx.

Zabu Xerxes Zagaga-su m a-I ddina Zakim Zam ban Zechariah c o ntem po rary Yakin Cym s Yam an the usurper Zedekiah Yugaeus Ze rgu lla Ziggurat Zir-Idin Zirpanitum Zo diac

’ H arriso n and So ns P rinte rs in Or inar to H e r M a est S t . M art in s L ane L o n o n . d y j y, , d .