NINEVEH
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NINEVEH
character in wliich these are inscribed is so ancient and so mixed with Babylonian forms tliat they are assigned to tliis period, though the same effects might possibly have been produced at a later period of Babylonian as- cendencj'. After these names, we are enabled to trace a continuous line of six hereditary monarchs, who, with the exception of the last, are enumerated on the oldest historic relic yet discovered in Assyria. This is the oc- tagonal prism of Kalah Sherghat, on which Tiglath- Pileser I records the events of the first five years of his reign, and traces back his pedigree to the fourth gener- ation. He calls himself the son of Asshur-rish-ili; the grandson of Mutaggil Nebu; the great grandson of As- shur-dapal-il, whose father was Nin-pala-kura, the sup- posed successor of Shalmabar or Shalmarish. Of his great-grandfather he relates that, sixty years previous- ly, he had taken down the temple of Anu and Iva be- fore alluded to, which had stood for 641 years, but was then in a ruined condition. His father seems to have been a great conqueror, and perhaps was the first to raise the character of the Assyrian arms, and to gain a foreign reputation. But whatever fame he acquired in this way was eclipsed by that of his son, who says that he won victories in Cappadocia, Syria, and in the Me- dian and Armenian mountains. Particularly a people called Nairi, who probably dwelt at the north-west of Assyria proper, are conspicuous among his conquests. Now it so happens that the date of this king can be fixed in a remarkable way, by a rock inscription of Sen- nacherib at Bavian, which states that a Tiglath-Pileser occupied the throne of Assyria 418 years before the tenth year of his own reign, and as Sennacherib was reigning towards the end of the eighth, or the beginning of the seventh century, this would throw back the time of Tiglath-Pileser's reign to the latter part of the twelfth century B.C. We also learn from this same rock in- scription that Tiglath-Pileser was himself defeated by Merodach-adan-akhi, the king of Babylon, who carried away with him images of certain Assyrian gods, show- ing that Babylon at this period was independent of As- syria, and a formidable rival to her power. Of Asshur- bani-pal I, the son and successor of Tiglath-Pileser, nothing is known. Only one record of him has been hitherto discovered, and this was foimd at Ku}'unjik. This name was softened or corrupted by the Greeks into Sardanapalus. After this king a break occurs in the line of succession which cannot be supplied. It is tliought, however, not to have been long, as Asshur- adan-akhi is supposed to have begun to reign about 1050, and therefore to have been contemporary with David. This monarch, and the three kings who suc- ceeded him, are obscure and unimportant, not being known for anything else than repairing and adding to the palaces at Kalah Sherghat. Their names are As- sluir-danin-il, Iva-lush II, and Tiglathi-Nin.
With the last of these, however, Asshur ceased to be the royal residence. The seat of government was transferred by his son Asshur-bani-pal to Calah, now supposed to be represented by Nirnrud, forty miles to the north, near the confluence of the upper Zab and the Tigris, and on the east bank of the latter river. The reason of this change is not known ; but it is thought that it was connected with the extension of the empire in the direction of Armenia, which would therefore demand greater vigilance in that quarter. This king, Sardanapalus II, pushed his conijuests to the shores of the Mediterranean, levied tribute of the kings of Tyre and Sidon, and therefore perhaps of Ethbaal, the father of Jezebel. He was also the founder of the north-west palace at Ximrud, which is second only to that of Sen- nacherib, at Kuyunjik, in magnificence and extent. The next monarch who sat on the Assyrian throne was Shalmanu-bar, the son of Sardanapalus. He reigned thirty-one years, spread his conquests farther than any ©f his predecessors, and recorded them on the black obelisk now in the British Museum. In his reign the power of the first Assyrian empire seems to have culmi-
nated. He carried his victorious army over all the neighboring countries, imposing tribute u])oii all Babj'- lonia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Media, Armenia, and the scriptural kingdoms of Ilamath and Damascus. The latter under Benhadad and Hazael are alike conspicuous among his vanquislied enemies. But what is of para- mount interest in the records of this king is the identi- fication in the second epigraph in the above-named obe- lisk of the name of Jehu the king of Israel, who there ap- pears as Yahua the son of Khumri, and is said to have given the Assyrian monarch tribute of gold and silver. This name was discovered independently, but almost on the self-same day, both bj' Dr. Hincks and colonel Kawlinson, the latter being at Bagdad and the former in the north of Ireland. It is supposed that Jehu is called the son of Khumri or Omri, either as being king of Samaria, the city which Omri built, or as claiming descent from the founder of that city to strengthen his right to the throne, and possibly even as being descended from him on the mother's side.