As a ruler and warrior, as a builder, as a littera- teur, he is well deserving the title given him in Ezrii". The last years of his reign are compara- tively wrapped in obscurity.
Literati-re. — In the original. G. Smith, Hist, of As»urb., original and interlinear tr, 1^71 : An. Disc. p. 317 ff.; KawllnsoD, Went. Asiutic JiiKciij,. iii. 17-27, 8(1-84, v. 1-10. iii. 2S, 35-38, iv.' ■15— i" ; S. A. Smith, Ktihckriftte^te Aaurb. Heften ii. una ill. In tr. JIP Tol. 1. Ist series, p. 55 f. ; Keilinsch. Bibliot, ii. pp. 162-2C9 ; 8. A. Smith, Keilnchrifttexte Amirb. Heft. i.
IKA M. PRICE.
ASSWAGE (so AV, after the common, though not invariable, spelling of the 16th to 18th cent., RV 'assuage') is used trans. Job \&-^, Sir 18"> ' shall not the . dew a. the heat ? ' ; and intrans. Gn 81 ' the waters a''*.' J. HASTINGS.
"ASSYRIA C"-!*).—
i. Natural Features and Civilization, ii. History.
1. Sources.
2. Chronolo^.
3. Annals of the Kings. Iii. Literature.
A. is the country, famed in antiquity, on the east of the middle Tigris between 35° and 37° N. lat. The only town on the west of the Tigris, on the Jlesopotamian tableland, was the old capital of the kingdom, Assur, from which the whole land takes its name. Its northern boundary is formed by the wilds of the Arinenian-Ivurdish mountains, in which the Tigris rises, and through which it flows till it enters the plain near Nineveh, ovei against the town which is now called jlosul. On the east it is bounded by the ranges of Zagros, which derive their name from the Assyrian zakru, 'pointed, higli.' These ranges form a continuation of the Armenian mountain.s, and reach as far as Elam. They are the source of the great and little Zab, which flow into the valley of the Tigris. Of the other tributaries of the Tigris the Khusnr may be mentioned (the Khuser, Khosr-Su of to-day), which empties itself into the Tigris between the ruin-mounds of Kouyunjik and Nebi-yunus, and thus flows right through the midst of ancient Nineveh. Ancient Assyria ex- tended in later times beyond these narrow boundaries ; on the north-west to the left source of the Tigris, the Subnat (now Sebbeneh-Su) ; on the west to Ivhabur and Belikh, two well-known tributaries of the Euphrates in Mesopotamia ; and on the south to the Radinu and Turnat, tributaries of the Tigris — one of wliich is to be identified with the modern Diy^la.
'i'he Climate of Assyria— as we might imagine from its comparatively northern situation — may be said to be really very temperate. The general nature of the country Is preponderatingly moun- tainous. Only the capitals were situated on the Tigris in the valley, e.r/. ancient Assur, Nineveh, and Kal.akh (Cahih Gn lO'-). The new royal residence built by Sargon, Bur-Sarrnkin (Sargon's ca-stle), the modern l^horsabad, was situated to the north of Nhieveh, just at the foot of the mountains; while the well-known city of Istar, the market-town Arbela (Arbailu, i.e. Town of the Four Gods — now called Erbil), together with the great juilitary place to the south-west of it, Kakzi (modern Shemamek), etc., were situated in the higher p,arts of Assyria.
With regard to the Flora of Assyria, the slopes of the last-mentioned mountain districts were
Charles Scribner's .Simj*
ASSYRIA
ASSYKIA
i:
covered with oak, plane, and wild pine trees ; while on the plain proper, besides abundance iif nuts, fig and olive trees flourished, together with the vine plant. These last were originally unknown to the East-Semitic districts, and were first iniiwrted by the Assyrian kings from Syria. Agriculture was confined mainly to the cultivation of wheat, barley, hemp, and millet.
The Fauna was formerly far more varied than it is to-day, as the pictures on the monuments and the statements in tlie inscriptions prove beyond the possibility of doubt. In addition to hares, roes, stags, and mountain goats, lions and wild oxen (rimu, Heb. rii'eni) were found in great numbers — the former in the tall reed plantations on the banks of the Tigris, the latter in the moun- tain districts, the happy hunting-grounds of the Assyrians. Magnificent horses — the famous Assyrian chargers, which were probably of the Medo-Elaraite type — and cattle, goats, and sheep pastured on the slopes ; while wild asses and camels are known only in later times, through the As.syrian incursions into the Syro-Arabian desert. The culture of bees was also actively carried on. Of domestic animals, the dog may be mentioned ; of wild beasts, the panther, the wolf, the bear, and some othere.
Witli regard to hinds of sto)ie — alabaster (pilu), which was employed for the Assyrian ba.s-reliefs, was found on the left bank of theTigris in abundance. Of metals — iron, copper, and lead were found in any quantity in the Tiyari mountains near Nineveh.
Not only is Assyria far more rugged by nature than Babylonia, which is mucli more southerly and lies nearer the sea, but the in- habitants of the two countries differed in character, the Assyrians being of a much more powerful and rugged type than their Babylonian brothers, in spite of the fact of their common Semitic origin and speech. The Babylonians have been very appropriately called the Greeks, and the Assyrians the Komans of the ancient East. Especially striking is the resemblance between the Assyrian type of face, as it appears in pictorial representa- tions on the monuments, and the features which we meet with to-<lay in the majority of Jews ; while the pictures of the Babylonian kings suggest no such associations to our minds. The ancient Assyrians had purer Semitic blood in their veins than the Babylonians, for the latter in very early times show traces of an admixture of other races. The best authorities advocate the view implied in the table of races in Gn 10, which reckons only Assur and Aram (not Babel or Shinar) among the sons of Shem. In proof of thi.s, v." may be cited ('out of that land,' viz. Shinar or Babylonia, 'he [i.e. Nimrod] went forth into Assyria and builded Nineveh,' etc.), a statement which is confirmed by thc^ mommients. As Assyria was originally only an offshoot from Babylonia, its language — at any rate tlie language of its litera- ture, which is the only one known to us — is also Babylonian. The writings themselves, as well as the art and science, bear the clearest witness that they are equally dependent upon the motherland of Babylonia. It is noteworthy lliat while the oldest Assyrian inscriptions exhibit most clearly the old I!al)yloMian cuneiform characters, after the time of T'iglath-pileser i. (c lie. 1100) they evolved a style of writing which fell back upon what can be proved to be a deb;ised form of Babylonian writing, which previously existed only in North Mesopo- tamia. Hence there arose, in distinction fnun the new Bab. writing, a special form of new Assyr., in which were written most of the As.syr. royal inscriptions, and, above all, the many clay tablets of the Assyr. court libraries, up to the time of Assurbanipal.