The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginian 21

The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginian 21

This temple stood till the time of Xerxes;(994) but he, on his return from his Grecian expedition, demolished it entirely, after having first plundered it of all its immense riches. Alexander, on his return to Babylon from his Indian expedition, purposed to have rebuilt it; and in order thereto, set ten thousand men to work, to rid the place of its rubbish; but, after they had laboured herein two months, Alexander died, and that put an end to the undertaking. Such were the chief works which rendered Babylon so famous; the greater part of them are ascribed by profane authors to Semiramis, to whose history it is now time to return. When she had finished all these great undertakings, she thought fit to make a progress through the several parts of her empire;(995) and, wherever she came, left monuments of her magnificence by many noble structures which she erected, either for the conveniency or ornament of her cities; she was particularly careful to have water brought by aqueducts to such places as wanted it, and to make the highways easy, by cutting through mountains, and filling up valleys. In the time of Diodorus, there were still monuments to be seen in many places, with her name inscribed upon them. The authority this queen had over her people seems very extraordinary, since we find her presence alone capable of appeasing a sedition.(996) One day, as she was dressing herself, word was brought her of a tumult in the city. Whereupon she went out immediately, with her head half dressed, and did not return till the disturbance was entirely appeased. A statue was erected in remembrance of this action, representing her in that very attitude and undress, which had not hindered her from flying to her duty. Not satisfied with the vast extent of dominions left her by her husband, she enlarged them by the conquest of a great part of Æthiopia. Whilst she was in that country, she had the curiosity to visit the temple of Jupiter Ammon, to inquire of the oracle how long she had to live. According to Diodorus, the answer she received was, that she should not die till her son Ninyas conspired against her, and that after her death one part of Asia would pay her divine honours. Her greatest and last expedition was against India; on this occasion she raised an innumerable army out of all the provinces of her empire, and appointed Bactra for the rendezvous. As the strength of the Indians consisted chiefly in their great number of elephants, she caused a multitude of camels to be accoutred in the form of elephants, in hopes of deceiving the enemy. It is said that Perseus long after used the same stratagem against the Romans; but neither of them succeeded in this artifice. The Indian king having notice of her approach, sent ambassadors to ask her who she was, and with what right, having never received any injury from him, she came out of wantonness to attack his dominions; adding, that her boldness should soon meet with the punishment it deserved. Tell your master (replied the queen) that in a little time I myself will let him know who I am. She advanced immediately towards the river(997) from which the country takes its name; and having prepared a sufficient number of boats, she attempted to pass it with her army. Their passage was a long time disputed, but after a bloody battle she put her enemies to flight. Above a thousand of their boats were sunk, and above a hundred thousand of their men taken prisoners. Encouraged by this success, she advanced directly into the country, leaving sixty thousand men behind to guard the bridge of boats, which she had built over the river. This was just what the king desired, who fled on purpose to bring her to an engagement in the heart of his country. As soon as he thought her far enough advanced, he faced about, and a second engagement ensued, more bloody than the first. The counterfeit elephants could not long sustain the shock of the real ones: these routed her army, crushing whatever came in their way. Semiramis did all that lay in her power to rally and encourage her troops, but in vain. The king, perceiving her engaged in the fight, advanced towards her, and wounded her in two places, but not mortally. The swiftness of her horse soon carried her beyond the reach of her enemies. As her men crowded to the bridge, to repass the river, great numbers of them perished, through the disorder and confusion unavoidable on such occasions. When those that could save themselves were safely over, she destroyed the bridge, and by that means stopt the enemy; and the king likewise, in obedience to an oracle, had given orders to his troops not to pass the river, nor pursue Semiramis any farther. The queen, having made an exchange of prisoners at Bactra, returned to her own dominions with scarce one-third of her army, which (according to Ctesias) consisted of three million foot, and five hundred thousand horse, besides the camels and chariots armed for war, of which she had a very considerable number. I have no doubt that this account is highly exaggerated, or that there is some mistake in the numeral characters. She, and Alexander after her, were the only persons that ever ventured to carry the war beyond the river Indus. I must own, I am somewhat puzzled with a difficulty which may be raised against the extraordinary things related of Ninus and Semiramis, as they do not seem to agree with the times so near the deluge: I mean, such vast armies, such a numerous cavalry, so many chariots armed with scythes, and such immense treasures of gold and silver; all which seem to be of a later date. The same thing may likewise be said of the magnificence of the buildings, ascribed to them. It is probable, the Greek historians, who came so many ages afterwards, deceived by the similarity of names, by their ignorance in chronology, and the resemblance of one event with another, may have ascribed such things to more ancient princes, as belonged to those of a later date; or may have attributed a number of exploits and enterprises to one, which ought to be divided amongst a series of them, succeeding one another. Semiramis, some time after her return, discovered that her son was plotting against her, and one of her principal officers had offered him his assistance. She then called to mind the oracle of Jupiter Ammon; and believing that her end approached, without inflicting any punishment on the officer, who was taken into custody, she voluntarily abdicated the throne, put the government into the hands of her son, and withdrew from the sight of men, hoping speedily to have divine honours paid to her according to the promise of the oracle. And indeed we are told, she was worshipped by the Assyrians, under the form of a dove. She lived sixty-two years, of which she reigned forty-two. There are in the _Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres_(998) two learned dissertations upon the Assyrian empire, and particularly on the reign and actions of Semiramis. What Justin(999) says of Semiramis, namely, that after her husband’s decease, not daring either to commit the government to her son, who was then too young, or openly to take it upon herself, she governed under the name and habit of Ninyas, and that, after having reigned in that manner above forty years, falling passionately in love with her own son, she endeavoured to induce him to comply with her criminal desires, and was slain by him: all this, I say, is so void of all appearance of truth, that to go about to confute it would be but losing time. It must however be owned, that almost all the authors who have spoken of Semiramis, give us but a disadvantageous idea of her chastity. I do not know but that the glorious reign of this queen might partly induce Plato to maintain, in his Commonwealth,(1000) that women as well as men ought to be admitted into the management of public affairs, the conducting of armies, and the government of states; and, by necessary consequence, ought to be trained up in the same exercises as men, as well for the forming of the body as the mind. Nor does he so much as except those exercises, wherein it was customary to fight stark naked, alleging(1001) that the virtue of the sex would be a sufficient covering for them. It is just matter of surprise to find a philosopher so judicious in other respects, openly combating the most common and most natural maxims of modesty and decency, virtues which are the principal ornament of the female sex, and insisting so strongly upon a principle, sufficiently confuted by the constant practice of all ages, and of almost all nations in the world. Aristotle, wiser in this than his master Plato, without doing the least injustice to the real merit and essential qualities of the sex, has with great judgment marked(1002) out the different ends to which man and woman are ordained, from the different qualities of body and mind, wherewith they are endowed by the Author of nature, who has given the one strength of body and intrepidity of mind to enable him to undergo the greatest hardships, and face the most imminent dangers; whilst the other, on the contrary, is of a weak and delicate constitution, accompanied with a natural softness and modest timidity, which render her more fit for a sedentary life, and dispose her to keep within the precincts of the house, and to employ herself in the concerns of prudent and industrious economy. Xenophon is of the same opinion with Aristotle;(1003) and in order to set off the occupation of the wife, who confines herself within her house, agreeably compares her to the mother-bee, commonly called the queen-bee, who alone governs and has the superintendence of the whole hive, who distributes all their employments, encourages their industry, presides over the building of their little cells, takes care of the nourishment and subsistence of her numerous family; regulates the quantity of honey appointed for that purpose, and at fixed and proper seasons sends abroad the new swarms in colonies, to ease and disburthen the hive of its superfluous inhabitants. He remarks, with Aristotle, the difference of constitution and inclinations, designedly made by the Author of nature between man and woman, to point out to each of them their proper and peculiar offices and functions. This allotment, far from degrading or lessening the woman, is really for her advantage and honour, in confiding to her a kind of domestic empire and government, administered only by gentleness, reason, equity, and good nature; and in giving her frequent occasions of concealing the most valuable and excellent qualities under the inestimable veil of modesty and submission. For it must ingenuously be owned, that at all times, and in all conditions, there have been women, who by a real and solid merit have distinguished themselves above their sex; as there have been innumerable instances of men, who by their defects have dishonoured theirs. But these are only particular cases, which form no rule, and which ought not to prevail against an establishment founded in nature, and prescribed by the Creator himself. (M158) NINYAS.(1004) This prince was in no respect like those from whom he received his birth, and to whose throne he succeeded. Wholly intent upon his pleasures, he kept himself shut up in his palace, and seldom showed himself to his people. To keep them in their duty, he had always at Nineveh a certain number of regular troops, furnished every year from the several provinces of his empire, at the expiration of which term they were succeeded by the like number of other troops on the same conditions; the king putting a commander at the head of them, on whose fidelity he could depend. He made use of this method, that the officers might not have time to gain the affections of the soldiers, and so form any conspiracies against him. His successors for thirty generations followed his example and even surpassed him in indolence. Their history is absolutely unknown, there remaining no footsteps of it. (M159) In Abraham’s time the Scripture speaks of Amraphael, king of Shinar, the country where Babylon was situated, who with two other princes followed Chedorlaomer, king of the Elamites, whose tributary he probably was, in the war carried on by the latter against five kings of the land of Canaan. (M160) It was under the government of these inactive princes, that Sesostris, king of Egypt, extended his conquests so far in the East. But as his power was of a short duration, and not supported by his successors, the Assyrian empire soon returned to its former state. (M161) Plato, a curious observer of antiquities, makes the kingdom of Troy, in the time of Priam, dependent on the Assyrian empire.(1005) And Ctesias says, that Teutamus, the twentieth king after Ninyas, sent a considerable body of troops to the assistance of the Trojans, under the conduct of Memnon, the son of Tithonus, at a time when the Assyrian empire had subsisted above a thousand years; which agrees exactly with the time, wherein I have placed the foundation of that empire. But the silence of Homer concerning so mighty a people, and one which must needs have been well known, renders this fact exceeding doubtful. And it must be owned, that whatever relates to the times of the ancient history of the Assyrians, is attended with great difficulties, into which my plan does not permit me to enter. (M162) PUL. The Scripture informs us, that Pul, king of Assyria, being come into the land of Israel, had a thousand talents of silver given him by Menahem, king of the ten tribes, to engage him to lend him assistance, and secure him on his throne.(1006) This Pul is supposed to be the king of Nineveh, who repented, with all his people, at the preaching of Jonah. He is also thought to be the father of Sardanapalus, the last king of the Assyrians, called, according to the custom of the eastern nations, Sardanpul, that is to say, Sardan, the son of Pul. (M163) SARDANAPALUS. This prince surpassed all his predecessors in effeminacy, luxury, and cowardice.(1007) He never went out of his palace, but spent all his time amongst a company of women, dressed and painted like them, and employed like them at the distaff. He placed all his happiness and glory in the possession of immense treasures, in feasting and rioting, and indulging himself in all the most infamous and criminal pleasures. He ordered two verses to be put upon his tomb, which imported, that he carried away with him all that he had eaten, and all the pleasures he had enjoyed, but left all the rest behind him.     Hæc habeo quæ edi, quæque exaturata libido     Hausit: at illa jacent multa et præclara relicta.(1008) An epitaph, says Aristotle, fit for a hog. Arbaces, governor of Media, having found means to get into the palace, and having with his own eyes seen Sardanapalus in the midst of his infamous seraglio; enraged at such a spectacle, and not able to endure that so many brave men should be subject to a prince more soft and effeminate than the women themselves, immediately formed a conspiracy against him. Belesis, governor of Babylon, and several others, entered into it. On the first rumour of this revolt, the king hid himself in the inmost part of his palace. Being obliged afterwards to take the field with some forces which he had assembled, he at first gained three successive victories over the enemy, but was afterwards overcome, and pursued to the gates of Nineveh; wherein he shut himself, in hopes the rebels would never be able to take a city so well fortified, and stored with provisions for a considerable time: the siege proved indeed of very great length. It had been declared by an ancient oracle, that Nineveh could never be taken, unless the river became an enemy to the city. These words buoyed up Sardanapalus, because he looked upon the thing as impossible. But when he saw that the Tigris, by a violent inundation, had thrown down twenty stadia(1009) of the city wall, and by that means opened a passage to the enemy, he understood the meaning of the oracle, and thought himself lost.(M164) He resolved, however, to die in such a manner, as, according to his opinion, should cover the infamy of his scandalous and effeminate life. He ordered a pile of wood to be made in his palace, and setting fire to it, burnt himself, his eunuchs, his women, and his treasures. Athenæus makes these treasures amount to a thousand myriads of talents of gold,(1010) and ten times as many talents of silver, which, without reckoning any thing else, is a sum that exceeds all credibility. A myriad contains ten thousand; and one single myriad of talents of silver is worth thirty millions of French money, or about one million four hundred thousand pounds sterling. A man is lost, if he attempts to sum up the whole value; which induces me to believe, that Athenæus must have very much exaggerated in his computation; however, we may be assured, from his account, that the treasures were immensely great. Plutarch, in his second treatise,(1011) dedicated to the praise of Alexander the Great, wherein he examines in what the true greatness of princes consists, after having shown that it can arise from nothing but their own personal merit, confirms it by two very different examples, taken from the history of the Assyrians, in which we are now engaged. Semiramis and Sardanapalus (says he) both governed the same kingdom; both had the same people, the same extent of country, the same revenues, the same forces and number of troops; but they had not the same dispositions, nor the same views. Semiramis, raising herself above her sex, built magnificent cities, equipped fleets, armed legions, subdued neighbouring nations, penetrated into Arabia and Ethiopia, and carried her victorious arms to the extremities of Asia, spreading consternation and terror everywhere. Whereas Sardanapalus, as if he had entirely renounced his sex, spent all his time in the heart of his palace, perpetually surrounded with a company of women, whose dress and even manners he had adopted, applying himself with them to the spindle and the distaff, neither understanding nor doing any other thing than spinning, eating and drinking, and wallowing in all manner of infamous pleasure. Accordingly, a statue was erected to him, after his death, which represented him in the posture of a dancer, with an inscription upon it, in which he addressed himself to the spectator in these words: _Eat, drink, and be merry; every thing else is nothing_: an inscription very suitable to the epitaph he himself had ordered to be put upon his monument.(1012) Plutarch in this place judges of Semiramis, as almost all the profane historians do of the glory of conquerors. But, if we would make a true judgment of things, was the unbounded ambition of that queen much less blamable, than the dissolute effeminacy of Sardanapalus? Which of the two vices did most mischief to mankind? We are not to wonder that the Assyrian empire should fall under such a prince; but undoubtedly it was not till after having passed through various augmentations, diminutions, and revolutions, common to all states, even to the greatest, during the course of several ages. This empire had subsisted above 1450 years. Of the ruins of this vast empire were formed three considerable kingdoms; that of the Medes, which Arbaces, the principal head of the conspiracy, restored to its liberty; that of the Assyrians of Babylon, which was given to Belesis, governor of that city; and that of the Assyrians of Nineveh, the first king whereof took the name of Ninus the younger. In order to understand the history of the second Assyrian empire, which is very obscure, and of which little is said by historians, it is proper, and even absolutely necessary, to compare what is said of it by profane authors with what we are informed concerning it by holy Scripture; that by the help of that double light we may have the clearer idea of the two empires of Nineveh and Babylon, which for some time were separate and distinct, and afterwards united and confounded together. I shall first treat of this second Assyrian empire, and then return to the kingdom of the Medes. Chapter II. The Second Assyrian Empire, both of Nineveh and Babylon. This second Assyrian empire continued two hundred and ten years, reckoning to the year in which Cyrus, who was become absolute master of the East by the death of his father Cambyses and his father-in-law Cyaxares, published the famous edict, whereby the Jews were permitted to return into their own country, after a seventy years’ captivity at Babylon. (M165) _Kings of Babylon._(_1013_)—BELESIS. He is the same as Nabonassar, from whose reign began the famous astronomical epocha at Babylon, called from his name the _Æra of Nabonassar_. In the holy Scriptures he is called Baladan. He reigned but twelve years, and was succeeded by his son: (M166) MERODACH-BALADAN. This is the prince who sent ambassadors to king Hezekiah, to congratulate him on the recovery of his health, of which we shall speak hereafter.(1014) After him there reigned several other kings of Babylon,(1015) with whose story we are entirely unacquainted. I shall therefore proceed to the kings of Nineveh. (M167) _Kings of Nineveh_.—TIGLATH-PILESER. This is the name given by the holy Scripture to the king, who is supposed to be the first that reigned at Nineveh, after the destruction of the ancient Assyrian empire. He is called Thilgamus, by Ælian.(1016) He is said to have taken the name of Ninus the younger, in order to honour and distinguish his reign by the name of so ancient and illustrious a prince. Ahaz, king of Judah,(1017) whose incorrigible impiety could not be reclaimed, either by the divine favours or chastisements, finding himself attacked at the same time by the kings of Syria and Israel, robbed the temple of part of its gold and silver, and sent it to Tiglath-Pileser, to purchase his assistance; promising him besides to become his vassal, and to pay him tribute. The king of Assyria finding so favourable an opportunity of adding Syria and Palestine to his empire, readily accepted the proposal. Advancing that way with a numerous army, he beat Rezin, took Damascus, and put an end to the kingdom erected there by the Syrians, as God had foretold by his prophets Isaiah and Amos(1018). From thence he marched against Pekah, and took all that belonged to the kingdom of Israel beyond Jordan, as well as all Galilee. But he made Ahaz pay very dear for his protection, still exacting of him such exorbitant sums of money, that for the payment of them he was obliged not only to exhaust his own treasures, but to take all the gold and silver of the temple. Thus this alliance served only to drain the kingdom of Judah, and to bring into its neighbourhood the powerful kings of Nineveh; who afterwards became so many instruments in the hand of God for the chastisement of his people. (M168) SHALMANEZER. Sabacus, the Ethiopian, whom the Scripture calls So, having made himself master of Egypt, Hoshea, king of Samaria, entered into an alliance with him, hoping by that means to shake off the Assyrian yoke.(1019) To this end he withdrew from his dependence upon Shalmanezer, refusing to pay him any further tribute, or make him the usual presents. Shalmanezer, to punish him for his presumption, marched against him with a powerful army; and after having subdued all the plain country, shut him up in Samaria, where he kept him closely besieged for three years; at the end of which he took the city, loaded Hoshea with chains, and threw him into prison for the rest of his days; carried away the people captive, and planted them in Halah and Habor, cities of the Medes. And thus was the kingdom of Israel, or of the ten tribes, destroyed, as God had often threatened by his prophets. This kingdom, from the time of its separation from that of Judah, lasted about two hundred and fifty years. It was at this time that Tobit, with Anna his wife, and his son Tobias, was carried captive into Assyria, where he became one of the principal officers of king Shalmanezer.(1020) Shalmanezer died, after having reigned fourteen years, and was succeeded by his son: (M169) SENNACHERIB. He is also called Sargon in Scripture.(1021) As soon as this prince was settled on the throne, he renewed the demand of the tribute exacted by his father from Hezekiah. Upon his refusal he declared war against him, and entered into Judea with a mighty army. Hezekiah, grieved to see his kingdom pillaged, sent ambassadors to him, to desire peace upon any terms he would prescribe. Sennacherib, seemingly mollified, entered into treaty with him, and demanded a very great sum of gold and silver. The holy king exhausted both the treasures of the temple, and his own coffers, to pay it. The Assyrian, regarding neither the sanction of oaths nor treaties, still continued the war, and pushed on his conquests more vigorously than ever. Nothing was able to withstand his power, and of all the strong places of Judah, none remained untaken but Jerusalem, which was likewise reduced to the utmost extremity. At this very juncture,(1022) Sennacherib was informed, that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, who had joined his forces with those of the king of Egypt, was coming up to succour the besieged city. Now it was contrary to the express command of God, as well as the remonstrances of Isaiah and Hezekiah, that the chief men at Jerusalem had required any foreign assistance. The Assyrian prince marched immediately to meet the approaching enemy, after having written a letter to Hezekiah, full of blasphemy against the God of Israel, whom he insolently boasted he would speedily vanquish, as he had done all the gods of the other nations round about him. In short, he discomfited the Ægyptians, and pursued them even into their own country, which he ravaged, and returned laden with spoil. It was probably during Sennacherib’s absence, which was pretty long, or at least some little time before, that Hezekiah fell sick, and was cured in a miraculous manner;(1023) and that (as a sign of God’s fulfilling the promise he had made him of curing him so perfectly, that within three days he should be able to go to the temple,) the shadow of the sun went ten degrees backwards upon the dial of the palace. Merodach-Baladan, king of Babylon, being informed of the miraculous cure of king Hezekiah, sent ambassadors to him with letters and presents, to congratulate him upon that occasion, and to acquaint themselves with the miracle that had happened in the land at this juncture, with respect to the sun’s retrogradation ten degrees. Hezekiah was extremely sensible of the honour done him by that prince, and very forward to show his ambassadors the riches and treasures he possessed, and to let them see the whole magnificence of his palace. Humanly speaking, there was nothing in this proceeding but what was allowable and commendable; but in the eyes of the supreme Judge, which are infinitely more piercing and delicate than ours, this action discovered a lurking pride, and secret vanity, with which his righteousness was offended. Accordingly, he instantly informed the king by his prophet Isaiah, that the riches and treasures which he had been showing to those ambassadors with so much ostentation, should one day be transported to Babylon; and that his children should be carried thither, to become servants in the palace of that monarch. This was then utterly improbable; for Babylon, at the time we are speaking of, was in friendship and alliance with Jerusalem, as appears by her having sent ambassadors thither: nor did Jerusalem then seem to have any thing to fear, but from Nineveh; whose power was at that time formidable, and who had entirely declared against her. But the fortune of those two cities was to change, and the word of God was literally accomplished. But to return to Sennacherib.(1024) After he had ravaged Egypt, and taken a vast number of prisoners, he came back with his victorious army, encamped before Jerusalem, and besieged it anew. The city seemed to be inevitably lost: it was without resource, and without hope from the hands of men; but had a powerful protector in Heaven, whose jealous ears had heard the impious blasphemies uttered by the king of Nineveh against His sacred name. In one single night a hundred and eighty-five thousand men of his army perished by the sword of the destroying angel. After so terrible a blow this pretended king of kings, (for so he called himself,) this triumpher over nations, and conqueror even of gods, was obliged to return to his own country with the miserable remnant of his army, covered with shame and confusion: nor did he survive his defeat more than a few months, only to make a kind of open confession of his crime to God, whose supreme majesty he had presumed to insult, and who now, to use the Scripture terms, having “put a ring into his nose, and a bridle into his mouth,” as a wild beast, made him return in that humbled, afflicted condition, through those very countries, which a little before had beheld him so haughty and imperious. Upon his return to Nineveh, being enraged at his disgrace, he treated his subjects in the most cruel and tyrannical manner. The effects of his fury fell more heavily upon the Jews and Israelites, of whom he caused great numbers to be massacred every day, ordering their bodies to be left exposed in the streets, and suffering no man to give them burial.(1025) Tobit, to avoid his cruelty, was obliged to conceal himself for some time, and suffer all his effects to be confiscated. In short, the king’s savage temper rendered him so insupportable to his own family, that his two eldest sons conspired against him, and killed him in the temple,(1026) in the presence of his god Nisroch, as he lay prostrate before him. But these two princes, being obliged after this parricide to fly into Armenia, left the kingdom to Esarhaddon, their youngest brother. (M170) ESARHADDON. We have already observed, that after Merodach-Baladan there was a succession of kings at Babylon, of whom history has transmitted nothing but the names.(1027) The royal family becoming extinct, there was an eight years’ interregnum, full of troubles and commotions. Esarhaddon, taking advantage of this juncture, made himself master of Babylon, and annexing it to his former dominions, reigned over the two united empires thirteen years. After having reunited to the Assyrian empire Syria and Palestine, which had been rent from it in the preceding reign, he entered the land of Israel, where he took captive as many as were left there, and carried them into Assyria, except an inconsiderable number that escaped his pursuit. But that the country might not become a desert, he sent colonies of idolatrous people, taken out of the countries beyond the Euphrates, to dwell in the cities of Samaria. The prediction of Isaiah was then fulfilled;(1028) _within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be no more a people_. This was exactly the space of time which elapsed between the prediction and the event: and the people of Israel did then truly cease to be a visible nation, what was left of them being altogether mixed and confounded with other nations. This prince, having possessed himself of the land of Israel, sent some of his generals with part of his army into Judea, to reduce that country likewise under his subjection.(1029) These generals defeated Manasseh, and having taken him prisoner, brought him to Esarhaddon, who put him in chains, and carried him with him to Babylon. But Manasseh, having afterwards appeased the wrath of God by a sincere and lively repentance, obtained his liberty, and returned to Jerusalem. Meantime the colonies, that had been sent into Samaria, in the room of its ancient inhabitants, were grievously infested with lions.(1030) The king of Babylon being told that the cause of this calamity was their not worshipping the God of the country, ordered an Israelitish priest to be sent to them, from among the captives brought from that country, to teach them the worship of the God of Israel. But these idolaters did no more than admit the true God amongst their ancient divinities, and worshipped him jointly with their false deities. This corrupt worship continued afterwards, and was the primary source of the aversion entertained by the Jews against the Samaritans. Esarhaddon, after a prosperous reign of thirty-nine years over the Assyrians, and thirteen over the Babylonians, was succeeded by his son: (M171) SAOSDUCHINUS. This prince is called in Scripture Nabuchodonosor, which name was common to the kings of Babylon. To distinguish this from the others, he is called Nabuchodonosor the First. Tobit was still alive at this time, and dwelt among other captives at Nineveh.(1031) Perceiving his end approaching, he foretold to his children the sudden destruction of that city; of which at that time there was not the least appearance. He advised them to quit the city, before its ruin came on, and to depart as soon as they had buried him and his wife. “The ruin of Nineveh is at hand,” says the good old man, “abide no longer here, for I perceive the wickedness of the city will occasion its destruction.” These last words are very remarkable, “the wickedness of the city will occasion its destruction.” Men will be apt to impute the ruin of Nineveh to any other reason, but we are taught by the Holy Ghost, that her unrighteousness was the true cause of it, as it will be with other states that imitate her crimes. Nabuchodonosor defeated the king of the Medes in a pitched battle,(1032) fought the twelfth year of his reign, upon the plain of Ragau, took Ecbatana, the capital of his kingdom, and returned triumphant to Nineveh. When we come to treat of the history of the Medes, we shall give a more particular account of this victory. It was immediately after this expedition, that Bethulia was besieged by Holofernes, one of Nabuchodonosor’s generals; and that the famous enterprise of Judith was accomplished. (M172) SARACUS, otherwise called CHYNALADANUS. This prince succeeded Saosduchinus;(1033) and having rendered himself contemptible to his subjects, by his effeminacy, and the little care he took of his dominions, Nabopolassar, a Babylonian by birth, and general of his army, usurped that part of the Assyrian empire, and reigned over it one and twenty years. (M173) NABOPOLASSAR. This prince, the better to maintain his usurped sovereignty, made an alliance with Cyaxares, king of the Medes. With their joint forces they besieged and took Nineveh, killed Saracus, and utterly destroyed that great city. We shall speak more largely of this great event, when we come to the history of the Medes. From this time forwards the city of Babylon became the only capital of the Assyrian empire. The Babylonians and the Medes, having destroyed Nineveh, became so formidable, that they drew upon themselves the jealousy of all their neighbours. Necho, king of Egypt, was so alarmed at their power, that to stop their progress he marched towards the Euphrates at the head of a powerful army, and made several considerable conquests. See the history of the Egyptians(1034) for what relates to this expedition, and the consequences that attended it. Nabopolassar finding,(1035) that after the taking of Carchemish by Necho, all Syria and Palestine had revolted from him, and neither his age nor infirmities permitting him to go in person to recover them, he made his son Nabuchodonosor partner with him in the empire, and sent him with an army to reduce those countries to their former subjection. (M174) From this time the Jews begin to reckon the years of Nabuchodonosor, _viz._ from the end of the third year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, or rather from the beginning of the fourth. But the Babylonians compute the reign of this prince only from the death of his father, which happened two years later. (M175) NABUCHODONOSOR II. This prince defeated Necho’s army, near the Euphrates, and retook Carchemish.(1036) From thence he marched towards Syria and Palestine, and reunited those provinces to his dominions. He likewise entered Judea, besieged Jerusalem, and took it:(1037) he caused Jehoiakim to be put in chains, with a design to have him carried to Babylon; but being moved with his repentance and affliction, he restored him to the throne. Great numbers of the Jews, and, among the rest, some children of the royal family, were carried captive to Babylon, whither all the treasures of the king’s palace, and a part of the sacred vessels of the temple, were likewise transported. Thus was the judgment which God had denounced by the prophet Isaiah to king Hezekiah accomplished. From this famous epocha, which was the fourth year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, we are to date the captivity of the Jews at Babylon, so often foretold by Jeremiah. Daniel, then but twelve years old,(1038) was carried captive among the rest; and Ezekiel some time afterwards. Towards the end of the fifth year of Jehoiakim died Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, after having reigned one and twenty years.(1039) As soon as his son Nabuchodonosor had news of his death, he set out with all expedition for Babylon, taking the nearest way through the desert, attended only with a small retinue, leaving the bulk of his army with his generals, to be conducted to Babylon with the captives and spoils. On his arrival, he received the government from the hands of those that had carefully preserved it for him, and so succeeded to all the dominions of his father, which comprehended Chaldea, Assyria, Arabia, Syria, and Palestine, over which, according to Ptolemy, he reigned forty-three years. (M176) In the fourth year of his reign he had a dream,(1040) at which he was greatly terrified, though he could not call it again to mind. He thereupon consulted the wise men and soothsayers of his kingdom, requiring of them to make known to him the substance of his dream. They all answered, that it was beyond the reach of their art to discover it; and that the utmost they could do, was to give the interpretation of his dream, when he had made it known to them. As absolute princes are not accustomed to meet with opposition, but will be obeyed in all things, Nabuchodonosor, imagining they dealt insincerely with him, fell into a violent rage, and condemned them all to die. Now Daniel and his three companions were included in the sentence, as being ranked among the wise men. But Daniel, having first invoked his God, desired to be introduced to the king, to whom he revealed the whole substance of his dream. “The thing thou sawest,” says he to him, “was an image of an enormous size, and a terrible countenance. The head thereof was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the feet part of iron and part of clay. And as the king was attentively looking upon that vision, behold a stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and the stone smote the image upon his feet, and brake them to pieces; the whole image was ground as small as dust, and the stone became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” When Daniel had related the dream, he gave the king likewise the interpretation thereof, showing him how it signified the three great empires, which were to succeed that of the Assyrians, namely, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman, or (according to some,) that of the successors of Alexander the Great. “After these kingdoms (continued Daniel) shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and this kingdom shall not be left to other people, but shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and shall stand for ever.” By which Daniel plainly foretold the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The king, ravished with admiration and astonishment, after having acknowledged and loudly declared, that the God of the Israelites was truly the God of gods, advanced Daniel to the highest offices in the kingdom, made him chief of the governors over all the wise men, ruler of the whole province of Babylon, and one of the principal lords of the council, that always attended the court. His three friends were also promoted to honours and dignities. At this time Jehoiakim revolted from the king of Babylon, whose generals, that were still in Judea, marched against him, and committed all kinds of hostilities upon this country.(1041) “He slept with his fathers,” is all the Scripture says of his death. Jeremiah had prophesied, that he should neither be regretted nor lamented; but should “be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem:” this was no doubt fulfilled, though it is not known in what manner. Jechonias(1042) succeeded both to the throne and iniquity of his father. Nabuchodonosor’s lieutenants continuing the blockade of Jerusalem, in three months’ time he himself came at the head of his army, and made himself master of the city. He plundered both the temple and the king’s palace of all their treasures, and sent them away to Babylon, together with all the golden vessels remaining, which Solomon had made for the use of the temple: he carried away likewise a vast number of captives, amongst whom was king Jechonias, his mother, his wives, with all the chief officers and great men of his kingdom. In the room of Jechonias, he set upon the throne his uncle Mattaniah, who was otherwise called Zedekiah. This prince had as little religion and prosperity as his forefathers.(1043) Having made an alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, he broke the oath of fidelity he had taken to the king of Babylon. The latter soon chastised him for it, and immediately laid siege to Jerusalem. The king of Egypt’s arrival at the head of an army gave the besieged a gleam of hope; but their joy was very short-lived; the Egyptians were defeated, and the conqueror returned against Jerusalem, and renewed the siege, which lasted near a twelvemonth.(M177) At last the city was taken by storm, and a terrible slaughter ensued. Zedekiah’s two sons were, by Nabuchodonosor’s orders, killed before their father’s face, with all the nobles and principal men of Judah. Zedekiah himself had both his eyes put out, was loaded with fetters, and carried to Babylon, where he was confined in prison as long as he lived. The city and temple were pillaged and burnt, and all their fortifications demolished. Upon Nabuchodonosor’s return to Babylon, after his successful war against Judea, he ordered a golden statue to be made,(1044) sixty(1045) cubits high, assembled all the great men of the kingdom to celebrate the dedication of it, and commanded all his subjects to worship it, threatening to cast those that should refuse into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Upon this occasion it was that the three young Hebrews, Ananias, Misael, and Azarias, who with an invincible courage refused to comply with the king’s impious ordinance, were preserved after a miraculous manner in the midst of the flames. The king, himself a witness of this astonishing miracle, published an edict, whereby all persons whatsoever were forbidden, upon pain of death, to speak any thing amiss against the God of Ananias, Misael, and Azarias. He likewise promoted these three young men to the highest honours and employments. Nabuchodonosor, in the twenty-first year of his reign, and the fourth after the destruction of Jerusalem, marched again into Syria, and besieged Tyre, at the time when Ithobal was king thereof. Tyre was a strong and opulent city, which had never been subject to any foreign power, and was then in great repute for its commerce: by which many of its citizens were become like so many princes in wealth and magnificence.(1046) It had been built by the Sidonians two hundred and forty years before the temple of Jerusalem. For Sidon being taken by the Philistines of Ascalon, many of its inhabitants made their escape in ships, and founded the city of Tyre. And for this reason we find it called in Isaiah “the daughter of Sidon.”(1047) But the daughter soon surpassed the mother in grandeur, riches, and power. Accordingly, at the time we are speaking of, she was in a condition to resist, thirteen years together, a monarch, to whose yoke all the rest of the East had submitted. It was not till after so long an interval, that Nabuchodonosor made himself master of Tyre.(1048) His troops suffered incredible hardships before it; so that, according to the prophet’s expression, “every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled.”(1049) Before the city was reduced to the last extremity, its inhabitants retired, with the greatest part of their effects, into a neighbouring isle, half a mile from the shore, where they built a new city; the name and glory whereof extinguished the remembrance of the old one, which from thenceforward became a mere village, retaining the name of ancient Tyre. Nabuchodonosor and his army having undergone the utmost fatigues during so long and difficult a siege,(1050) and having found nothing in the place to requite them for the service they had rendered Almighty God (it is the expression of the prophet) in executing his vengeance upon that city, to make them amends, God was pleased to promise by the mouth of Ezekiel, that he would give them the spoils of Egypt. And indeed they soon after conquered that country, as I have more fully related in the history of the Egyptians.(1051) When this prince had happily finished all his wars, and was in a state of perfect peace and tranquillity, he employed himself in putting the last hand to the building, or rather to the embellishing of Babylon. The reader may see in Josephus(1052) an account of the magnificent structures ascribed to this monarch by several writers. I have mentioned a great part of them in the description already given of that stately city. Whilst nothing seemed wanting to complete this prince’s happiness, a frightful dream disturbed his repose, and filled him with great anxiety.(1053) “He saw a tree in the midst of the earth, whose height was great: the tree grew, and was strong, and the height of it reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of the earth. The leaves were fair, and the fruit much; and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof; and all flesh was fed of it. Then a watcher and a holy one came down from heaven, and cried; Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from man’s; and let a beast’s heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones; to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” The king, justly terrified at this dreadful dream, consulted all his wise men and magicians, but to no purpose. He was obliged to have recourse to Daniel, who expounded the dream, and applied it to the king himself, plainly declaring to him, “That he should be driven from the company of men for seven years, should be reduced to the condition and fellowship of the beasts of the field, and feed upon grass like an ox; that his kingdom nevertheless should be preserved for him, and he should repossess his throne, when he should have learnt to know and acknowledge, that all power is from above, and cometh from Heaven. After this he exhorted him to break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.” All these things came to pass upon Nabuchodonosor, as the prophet had foretold. At the end of twelve months, as he was walking in his palace, and admiring the beauty and magnificence of his buildings, he said: “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” Would a secret impulse of complacency and vanity in a prince, at the sight of such noble structures erected by himself, appear to us so very criminal? And yet, hardly were the words out of his mouth, when a voice came down from Heaven, and pronounced his sentence: “In the same hour his understanding went from him; he was driven from men, and did eat grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of Heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.” After the expiration of the appointed time, he recovered his senses, and the use of his understanding: “He lifted up his eyes unto Heaven (says the Scripture) and blessed the Most High; he praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:” Confessing, “That all the inhabitants of the earth are as nothing before him, and that he doeth according to his will, in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” Now he recovered his former countenance and form. His courtiers went out to seek him; he was restored to his throne, and became greater and more powerful than ever. Penetrated with the heartiest gratitude, he caused, by a solemn edict, to be published through the whole extent of his dominions, what astonishing and miraculous things God had wrought in his person.