Page:Jewish Encyclopedia Volume 2.pdf/276

238 Assyriology Astarte second 92

series, edited

Kihrader,



K. B.

bv A. H. Savoe, 6 vols., London, 1888Berlin, 1889-190(1.

JR.

J.

J.

P.

McC.

ASSYRIOLOGY AND THE OLD TESTA-

MENT



The

science of Assyriology (the interpre-

which has originated and developed with such marked rapidity within the past fifty years, stands in intimate relations with the Old Testament. The history, philology, and archeology of Assyria are valuable aids to the student of the ancient Hebrews. The most salient allusions in Assyriology to events and customs mentioned in the Old Testament may most conveniently be divided into the following periods: viz., the antediluvian, the patriarchal, the Egyptian, the early regal, the last century of Assyria, and the new tation of the cuneiform inscriptions),

Babylonian.

The Antediluvian Period The Genesis records of the antediluvian period are paralleled by a number of traditions and customs found in the cuneiform records of Mesopotamia. These are: (1) Thoroughly Semitic traditions of the creatioD of the world and of life (2) traces of the observance of a seventh day, not unlike the Hebrew Sabbath (3) references to a sacred garden (4) possible similarities between the cherubic guardians of Eden and the colossi of Baby:







and (5) remarkable resemblances between Genand the Babylonian traditions of the Deluge. The Patriarchal Period The remarkable list of nations enumerated iu Gen. x. is helpfully elucidated by the ethnological revelations of the cuneiform reclonia



esis



ords. Trof the Chaldees has been definitely located at the modern mound Mugheir, on the right bank of the Euphrates, about one hundred and fifty miles above the Persian gulf, though in ancient times it is supposed to have been a seaport city. The patron deity of Ur, as of Harran, to which Abram migrated,

Abram's journey to the the moon-god Sin. West-land was made along one of the regular cara-

was

van routes of that day.

The fourteenth chapter

of Genesis has also received interesting confirmation of its historical basis in the facts: (1) That such raids as are there mentioned were made many centuries before Abram's day, and (2) that names discovered on the monuments, if not identical with those of this chapter, contain some of their elements. The Egyptian Period The discovery at Tell

el-Amarna in 1887 of more than three hundred cuneiform documents correspondence between the kings of Asia and Egypt belonging to the fifteenth century B.C. has disclosed some startling facts. It is learned from these that the civilization of Babylonia had swept westward as far as Egypt, and had so

—

—

upon

western subjects that its language was adopted as the medium of diplomacy. These letters also reveal with considerable detail the

impressed

238

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

itself

its

political and social conditions and relations in western Asia in this hitherto obscure period. A glimpse is obtained of the peoples who were settled in Canaan, and who constituted the background of the Joshua's earliest settlements of Israel in this land. conquests were made in the face of strong cities and great fortifications.

The Early Regal Period Though the early influence of Babylonia- Assyria is eviden t in the life and customs of the Hebrews in Canaan in the time of

David and Solomon,

its first

direct

and potent bear-

seen in the treaty made by Ahab with Benhadad (I Kings xx. 26-34). This was a wise stroke of statesmanship on the part of Ahab, in that it put the Syrian army in the foreground to withstand the invasion of the oncoming hosts of Shalmaneser II. Damascus and the Syrian army now beof Assyria. came Ahab's advance guard. The full import of this mysterious league is seen within a few years at the battle between Shalmaneser II. and the combined At the famous battle of Karkar allies of the West. (854 B.C.) Shalmaneser II. had to face among other forces "1,200 chariots, 1,200 horsemen, 20, 000 men of 2,000 chariots, 10,000 Ben-hadad of Damascus,

ing

is

.

men

of

Ahab

of Israel.

The Old Testament does

"

not mention this battle, nor is any intimation given This same Assyrian king, of its disastrous results. in his records of a campaign twelve years later (842 B.C.), says: "At that Shalmaneser II. time I received the tribute of the Syrians, the Sidonians, and of Jehu, the son of Omri." According to this statement, the kingdom of Israel was probably still paying the trib-

ute originally levied on the defeated Ahab. "Jehu, the son of Omri," was doubtless used in the sense of " successor " on the throne of Israel. Within a few years Shalmaneser II. turned his attention to other quarters and the new king of Damascus, Hazael, entered upon ambitious designs in the West. It was not until 797 B.C. that another Assyrian king, Adad-nirari III., grandson of Shal;

maneser II., set out on a western campaign. He conquered Damascus, and brought to his feet Samaria, Edom, and Philistia, and made them tributary provinces of Assyria.

The power

of Syria

was

so

broken by this campaign that she never recovered her former strength, nor thereafter proved so formidable an enemy of Israel. Assyria's political power gradually receded toward the Tigris and the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah were left free to expand until they reached the limits of the Solomonic kingdom. The Last Century of Assyria After forty years of comparative peace and prosperity (783-743), the two kingdoms heard a rumor of the approach of Assyrian hosts. Tiglath-pileser III. (Pul) crossed the Euphrates; and he recounts " nineteen districts of the city of Hamath, together with the towns in their circuit, situated on the sea of the setting sun [the Mediterranean], which in their faithlessness had joined faith with Azariah, I restored to the territory of the land of Asshur. " In another fragment it is stated that this was Azariah the Judean. " In his list of kings paying tribute are found Hiram of Tyre, Bezon of Damascus, and Menahem of Samaria (II Kings xv. 19). In one of these campaigns, at the end of a two years' siege, Damascus fell (732 b.c), and Samaria likewise experienced the vengeance of the Assyrian king. One of the king's records says: "Pekah, their king, they overthrew Hoshea, I appointed' over them " (compare II Kings xv. 30). In a list of petty tributary kings of the east coast of the Mediterranean sea, Tiglath-pileser mentions Ahaz of Judah. In all, this monarch of Assyria mentions in his fragmentary annals three kings of Israel and two kings of Judah.



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