* Proplietlc literature clearly shows that Uzziah was his only name, as also does the well-linown old Ileb. Seal *of Shebanyo, servant of Uzziyo,' ivy 13y vja;:*^.
ASSYRIA
ASSYRIA
187
(Europe and Asia Minor) upon Syria and Egypt in the (lays of Hamses 111.
Tiglath-pileser was followed by Slialman-asliarid IV., the Shalmaneser oithv Bible (li.c. 726-722), who waa probably his son. As Iving of Babylon he was called llulai (Eluheus), i.e. 'lie who was born in the nienlh Elul.' Immediately after liis accession to tlie throne, before the year B.C. 727 was over (720 wiis tlie firet official year of his reign), he conquered the Assyr. town Shabarain(Sepharvaim, 2 K 17-* ?). In the year H.C. 724 he began to invest Samaria, which fell at the end of a three yeai's' siege, in the fir.st month of the reign of his suc- cessor Saryon, wlio took all the credit for this achievement, as well as for the transportation of the tin tribes, without thinking of his predecessor. Tlie Bible account, however, very justly connects the name of Shahiianeser with the fall of the Northern Kingdom (li.c. 722).
Israel now, like the kingdom of Damascus before, became an Assyr. province, Samaria being tlie seat of the governor.
The zenith of Assyr. power was reached in the reign of the usurper Sargon* (Assyr. Sharru-ukiu = ' the king has restored order'), li.c. 721-7()-'), who is only (mce mentioned in the Bible (Is 20'), in connexion with tlie taking of Aslidod. In tlie very year that he entered upon his reign ('at the beginning of his reign,' as the official e.xpression runs), li.c. 722, he carried of the inhabitants of Samaria, 27,2'.H) men, to the rivers Belikh and Kliabor, the river of Gozan, and the cities of Media (2 K 17"), .settling Babylonian (Cuthiiites) and other colonists in the territories of the conquered city.
Sargon's main political ambition was the con- solidation of Babylonia, as well as the provinces of A.s.syrla which bonU'red upon Armenia, and finally Syria. This ambition was realised by the final reduction of Armenia, whose king at that time was Uusa (or Ursa), the son of Irimenas, and also by the humiliation of the Mannseans t ('--? Jer 51-'), who were the most powerful allies Armenia po.s.sc.ssed, and of the Sagartmans (Assyr. Zikirtu), an Eranian nomadic tribe which lived to the east of the .Mannscans ; and finally by the war against Elam. The last-named state was henceforth the most dangerous foe the power of A.ssyria possessed, and was always in firm alliance with the small states of South Babylonia (the so- called Chaldseans), and above all with liii-yakiii. The prince of Bit-yakin, Marduk-pal-idina, im- mediately after the death of Shalinane.ser, had seized the throne of Babylonia for himself. In li.c. 721 Sargon, who had till then been occupied with other duties, marched again.st him and his ally Kliuinbanigas of Elam. The battle was inde- cisive ; and Sargon had to march against the Armenians; so that it was not till li.c. 710 that he was successful in defeating Marduk-pal-idina, and getting himself crowned king of Babylon (li.c. 700-705). This Marduk-i)al-idina is the Merodach- baladan of the liibli', whose embas.sy to Ilezekiah, which is related in 2 K 20'-"'- as a supplement to Sennacherib's campaign, belongs either to li.c. 715 (first year of Ilczekiairs reign) or to 703, in whicli year Merodach-baladan was king of Babylon a second time.
Of Sargon's other camiiaigns, those against
♦ The Hebrew PJ"^P Is based u]nm a ^llnltn^ word In |inpulitr ».H0, Saru'unn (= ' mik'hty ').
t In llic yi'iir n.c, T-l.'* a Slanna^ari povcrnor Dainkkn In nten- tloned In the annals of Sargon. and In u.c. "l.S a land of liit- llalukkti between Man and lllip On the west of Media). In Assyrian It In called .lAi^ /y/Mliilllkkn. ' Lunrl of the Dynasty (House of the I'rlncu) of Dalitkkn.' This llalukkll Is evldently the DfjoA'fti (Deloces) of (Jreek trailltion. who. aeeonllnif to tin- later story, was the Ilrst klnt'of Meilia. (ianiir also ^(ioIner, On 10') Is mentioned as havinif broken into Armenia even In the time of Sargon.
Syria, Palestine, and Arabia have special interest for the OT student. The first, li.C. 720, was an expedition to suppress an insurrection which a certain Ilu-bi'di,* who is al.so called la'u-bi'di, had raised in Uamath. This Ilu-bi'di had not only induced the Assyr. provinces of Arpad, Simyra, Damascus, and Samaria to revolt, but had also formed an alliance with Khanunu (Ilanno) of Gaza and Sib'i (nid 2 K 17*, i.e. Sev'e) of Egypt. Probably Judah, where Ahaz was still on the throne, was al.so included in the alliance, since Sargon once calls himself (indeed before he speaks of Haniath at all) the ' Conqueror of the remote land of Judah.' The Egyp. army was, however, defeated at Kapikhu (Raphia, south of Gaza), and llanno found him.self in an Assyr. prison, while Ilu-bi'di and his other allies were defeated and destroyed at Karkar (in the neighbourhood of Hamath).
In the year 715 Sargon undertook a campaign into the interior of North Arabia 'against the remote Arabians of the Desert, of whom the wisi' and learned knew nothing.' The tribes of Tliamfid, Ibadid, Marsiman (Gn 25'^ oz'zz, accoi-ding to LXX iMaa-ffa/n, 1 Ch i-'> Maffc/aaM?), and Khayappa ('"'?':'., L.\.\ Valipa.) were conquered, and partially settled in Samaria. Thereupon Pir'u (cf. ax-i; Jos 10^, scarcely ei|uivalent to Pharaoh) of Musur (the territory called .Ma'iu-Muzran of the South Arabian in-scriptions, in the north of the peninsula of Sinai ?), queen Samsi of Aribi (a part of North Arabia), and the Sabajan Ita'amar (ncNyn' of the South Arabian inscriptions), ' the kings of the sea- coast and the de.sert,' brought rich presents, among which were 'sweet-smelling spices of the moun- tains' (frankincense), gold, precious stones, hor.ses, and camels.