Part 33 (2/2)
(Ishpuinis, son of Sharduris II). The Urartian kingdom had extended rapidly and bordered on a.s.syrian territory. To the west were the tribes known as the Mannai, the northern enemies of the Medes, a people of Indo-European speech.
When Adad-nirari IV waged war against the Urarti, their king was Menuas, the son of Ishpuinis. Menuas was a great war-lord, and was able to measure his strength against a.s.syria on equal terms. He had nearly doubled by conquest the area controlled by his predecessors.
Adad-nirari endeavoured to drive his rival northward, but all along the a.s.syrian frontier from the Euphrates to the Lower Zab, Menuas forced the outposts of Adad-nirari to retreat southward. The a.s.syrians, in short, were unable to hold their own.
Having extended his kingdom towards the south, Menuas invaded Hitt.i.te territory, subdued Malatia and compelled its king to pay tribute. He also conquered the Mannai and other tribes. Towards the north and north-west he added a considerable area to his kingdom, which became as large as a.s.syria.
Menuas's capital was the city of Turushpa or Dhuspas (Van), which was called Khaldinas[502] after the national G.o.d. For a century it was the seat of Urartian administration. The buildings erected there by Menuas and his successors became a.s.sociated in after-time with the traditions of Semiramis, who, as Queen Sammu-rammat of a.s.syria, was a contemporary of the great Urartian conqueror. Similarly a sculptured representation of the Hitt.i.te G.o.d was referred to by Herodotus as a memorial of the Egyptian king Sesostris.
The strongest fortification at Dhuspas was the citadel, which was erected on a rocky promontory jutting into Lake Van. A small garrison could there resist a prolonged siege. The water supply of the city was a.s.sured by the construction of subterranean aqueducts. Menuas erected a magnificent palace, which rivalled that of the a.s.syrian monarch at Kalkhi, and furnished it with the rich booty brought back from victorious campaigns. He was a lover of trees and planted many, and he laid out gardens which bloomed with brilliant Asian flowers. The palace commanded a n.o.ble prospect of hill and valley scenery on the south-western sh.o.r.e of beautiful Lake Van.
Menuas was succeeded by his son Argistis, who ascended the throne during the lifetime of Adad-nirari of a.s.syria. During the early part of his reign he conducted military expeditions to the north beyond the river Araxes. He afterwards came into conflict with a.s.syria, and acquired more territory on its northern frontier. He also subdued the Mannai, who had risen in revolt.
For three years (781-778 B.C.) the general of Shalmaneser IV waged war constantly with Urartu, and again in 776 B.C. and 774 B.C. attempts were made to prevent the southern expansion of that Power. On more than one occasion the a.s.syrians were defeated and compelled to retreat.
a.s.syria suffered serious loss of prestige on account of its inability to hold in check its northern rival. Damascus rose in revolt and had to be subdued, and northern Syria was greatly disturbed. Hadrach was visited in the last year of the king's reign.
Ashur-dan III (771-763 B.C.) occupied the a.s.syrian throne during a period of great unrest. He was unable to attack Urartu. His army had to operate instead on his eastern and southern frontiers. A great plague broke out in 765 B.C., the year in which Hadrach had again to be dealt with. On June 15, 763 B.C., there was a total eclipse of the sun, and that dread event was followed by a revolt at a.s.shur which was no doubt of priestly origin. The king's son Adad-nirari was involved in it, but it is not certain whether or not he displaced his father for a time. In 758 B.C. Ashur-dan again showed signs of activity by endeavouring to suppress the revolts which during the period of civil war had broken out in Syria.
Adad-nirari V came to the throne in 763 B.C. He had to deal with revolts in a.s.shur in other cities. Indeed for the greater part of his reign he seems to have been kept fully engaged endeavouring to establish his authority within the a.s.syrian borders. The Syrian provinces regained their independence.
During the first four years of his successor Ashurnirari IV (753-746 B.C.) the army never left a.s.syria. Namri was visited in 749-748 B.C., but it is not certain whether he fought against the Urartians, or the Aramaeans who had become active during this period of a.s.syrian decline. In 746 B.C. a revolt broke out in the city of Kalkhi and the king had to leave it. Soon afterwards he died--perhaps he was a.s.sa.s.sinated--and none of his sons came to the throne. A year previously Nabu-natsir, known to the Greeks as Nabona.s.sar, was crowned king of Babylonia.
Ashur-nirari IV appears to have been a monarch of somewhat like character to the famous Akhenaton of Egypt--an idealist for whom war had no attractions. He kept his army at home while his foreign possessions rose in revolt one after another. Apparently he had dreams of guarding a.s.syria against attack by means of treaties of peace. He arranged one with a Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of Agusi, who pledged himself not to go to war without the consent of his a.s.syrian overlord, and it is possible that there were other doc.u.ments of like character which have not survived to us. During his leisure hours the king engaged himself in studious pursuits and made additions to the royal library. In the end his disappointed soldiers found a worthy leader in one of its generals who seized the throne and a.s.sumed the royal name of Tiglath-pileser.
Ashur-nirari IV was the last king of the Middle Empire of a.s.syria. He may have been a man of high character and refinement and worthy of our esteem, although an unsuitable ruler for a predatory State.
CHAPTER XIX.
a.s.sYRIA'S AGE OF SPLENDOUR
Tiglath-pileser IV, the Biblical Pul--Babylonian Campaign--Urartian Ambitions in North Syria--Battle of Two Kings and Flight of Sharduris--Conquest of Syro-Cappadocian States--Hebrew History from Jehu to Menahem--Israel subject to a.s.syria--Urartu's Power broken--Ahaz's Appeal to a.s.syria--Damascus and Israel subdued--Babylonia united to a.s.syria--Shalmaneser and Hoshea--Sargon deports the ”Lost Ten Tribes”--Merodach Baladan King of Babylonia--Egyptian Army of Allies routed--Ahaz and Isaiah--Frontier Campaigns--Merodach Baladan overthrown--Sennacherib and the Hitt.i.te States--Merodach Baladan's second and brief Reign--Hezekiah and Sennacherib--Destruction of a.s.syrian Army--Sack of Babylon-- Esarhaddon--A Second Semiramis--Raids of Elamites, Cimmerians, Scythians, and Medes--Sack of Sidon--Mana.s.seh and Isaiah's Fate--Esarhaddon conquers Lower Egypt--Revolt of a.s.syrian n.o.bles--Ashurbanipal.
We now enter upon the last and most brilliant phase of a.s.syrian civilization--the period of the Third or New Empire during which flourished Tiglath-pileser IV, the mighty conqueror; the Shalmaneser of the Bible; ”Sargon the Later”, who transported the ”lost ten tribes” of Israel; Sennacherib, the destroyer of Babylon, and Esarhaddon, who made Lower Egypt an a.s.syrian province. We also meet with notable figures of Biblical fame, including Ahaz, Hezekiah, Isaiah, and the idolatrous Mana.s.seh.
Tiglath-pileser IV, who deposed Ashur-nirari IV, was known to the Babylonians as Pulu, which, some think, was a term of contempt signifying ”wild animal”. In the Bible he is referred to as Pul, Tiglath-pilneser, and Tiglath-pileser.[503] He came to the a.s.syrian throne towards the end of April in 745 B.C. and reigned until 727 B.C.
We know nothing regarding his origin, but it seems clear that he was not of royal descent. He appears to have been a popular leader of the revolt against Ashur-nirari, who, like certain of his predecessors, had p.r.o.nounced pro-Babylonian tendencies. It is significant to note in this connection that the new king was an unswerving adherent of the cult of Ashur, by the adherents of which he was probably strongly supported.
Tiglath-pileser combined in equal measure those qualities of generals.h.i.+p and statesmans.h.i.+p which were necessary for the reorganization of the a.s.syrian state and the revival of its military prestige. At the beginning of his reign there was much social discontent and suffering. The national exchequer had been exhausted by the loss of tribute from revolting provinces, trade was paralysed, and the industries were in a languis.h.i.+ng condition. Plundering bands of Aramaeans were menacing the western frontiers and had overrun part of northern Babylonia. New political confederacies in Syria kept the north-west regions in a constant state of unrest, and the now powerful Urartian kingdom was threatening the Syro-Cappadocian states as if its rulers had dreams of building up a great world empire on the ruins of that of a.s.syria.
Tiglath-pileser first paid attention to Babylonia, and extinguished the resistance of the Aramaeans in Akkad. He appears to have been welcomed by Nabona.s.sar, who became his va.s.sal, and he offered sacrifices in the cities of Babylon, Sippar, Cuthah, and Nippur.
Sippar had been occupied by Aramaeans, as on a previous occasion when they destroyed the temple of the sun G.o.d Shamash which was restored by Nabu-aplu-iddina of Babylon.
Tiglath-pileser did not overrun Chaldaea, but he destroyed its capital, Sarrabanu, and impaled King Nabu-ushabs.h.i.+. He proclaimed himself ”King of Sumer and Akkad” and ”King of the Four Quarters”. The frontier states of Elam and Media were visited and subdued.
Having disposed of the Aramaeans and other raiders, the a.s.syrian monarch had next to deal with his most powerful rival, Urartu.
Argistis I had been succeeded by Sharduris III, who had formed an alliance with the north Mesopotamian king, Mati-ilu of Agusi, on whom Ashur-nirari had reposed his faith. Ere long Sharduris pressed southward from Malatia and compelled the north Syrian Hitt.i.te states, including Carchemish, to acknowledge his suzerainty. A struggle then ensued between Urartu and a.s.syria for the possession of the Syro-Cappadocian states.
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