Tiglath-pileser's wars do not generally appear to have been of much importance. In Armenia he re- duced the rebel princes, and afterwards conquered the city of Arpad after a year's resistance. In Babylonia he took Sippara (Sepharvaim) and several places of less note in the northern portion of the country ; but he does not seem to have penetrated far, or to have come into contact with Nabonassar, who reigned from B.C. 747 to 733 at Babylon. In INIedia and Upper Mesopo- tamia he obtained certain successes, but made no per- manent conquests. It was on his western frontier only that his victories advanced the limits of the empire. Among the conquered cities appear to be reckoned Me- giddo (Magidu) and Dor (Duru), both connected with Manasseh (Manatsuah). Before he left Syria, Tiglath- pileser received submission, not only from Ahaz, but from the kings of the neighboring countries. He re- cords his taking tribute from a king of Judah called Vahu-khazi — a name which might represent Jehoahaz; but, as shown by the chronology, it i)robably stands for Ahaz, whose name inay have been changed by his As- syrian suzerain, as ha[>f)ened afterwards to Eliakim and Zedekiah (2 Kings xxiii, 34; xxiv, 17). The destruc- tion of Damascus, the absorption of Syria, and the ex- tension o^Assyrian influence over Judaea are the chief events of Tiglath-pileser's reign, which seems to have had fewer external triumphs than those of most As- s3-rian monarchs. Probably his usurpation was not en- dured quite patiently, and domestic troubles or dangers acted as a check upon his expeditions against foreign countries.
TIGRE VERSION"
403
TIGRIS
No palace or great building can be ascribed to this king. His slabSj. which are tolerably numerous, show that he must have built or adorned a residence at Ca- lah (V Nimrud), where they were found; but, as they were not discovered in situ, we cannot say anything of the editice to which they originally belonged. They l)ear marksof wanton defacement; and it is plain that the later kings purposely injureil them; for, not only is the writing oi'ten erased, l)ut the slabs have been torn down, broken, and used as building materials by J^sar-haddon in the great palace which he erected at Calah, the southern capital. The dynasty of Sargon was hostile to the first two princes of the Lower Kingdom, and the result of their hostility is that we have far less monu- mental knowledge of Shalmaneser and Tiglath-pileser than of various kings of the Upper Empire. See Nix-
KVEII.
See Eawlinson, Ancient Monarchie/!, ii, 127-132; Smith, A gsj/riit J rom the Momiments, p. 77 sq. (Ain. ed.); Joiirn. Sac. Lit. April, 1854, p. 253. See Isuael, King-
1>03I Of.
Tigie Version. Tigre is a language spoken throughout Eastern Abj'ssiuia, from the eastern banks of the Hiver Tacazze to the Shoho country, which sep- arates Abyssinia from the Ked Sea. Consequently, the 'i'igre is spoken throughout five degrees of latitude, be- ginning three days' journey from the lied Sea, and by a population amounting to about three millions. The characters of the Tigre alphabet are, like the Amharic, of Ethiopic origin, and the Tigre laiiguage itself is more closely related to the Ethiopic than the Amharic or any other dialect of Abyssinia. The first attempt to translate the New Test, into that language was made by an Englishman named Nathanael Pearce about the year 181!). He had acquired varied and extensive in- formation by constant wanderings through various coun- tries, and had resided for fourteen years in Abyssinia. He translated Mark and John ; but as, owing to his restless habits, he had never acquired skill in form- ing the Ethiopic cliaracters, he was obliged to write his translation in Roman characters. His MS. is in the possession of the British and Foreign Bible Society; it has never been published, and its comjiarative value is still unascertained. In 1831 part of Luke was trans- lated by ]\Ir. Kugler, a missionary of the Church Mis- sionary Society ; and after his death the work was con- tinued by Mr. Isenberg, of tlie same society, who, at his death, in 18G3, left a revised maiuiscript copy of the four gospels. This IMS. having been put into the hands of the Kev. Dr. Krapf, the colleague of the deceased in Abyssinia, an application was made at once to the com- mittee of the British and Foreign Bible Society to have this translation printetl. Dr. Krapf, who is well versed in the African languages, accompanied his application with a commendation of the character of Mr. Isenberg's translation. The committee consented to meet the ex- pense of an edition of the four gospels, and thus for the first time a portion of the word of God was published in this vernacular in 1865. Since that time nothing further has been done towards completing the New Test. See Bible of Everrj Land, p. 60. (B. P.)
Ti'gris (T/ypif; Vulg. Tyr/ris, Tir/ris) is used in the Sept. as the (ireek equivalent of the Hebrew Chiddekel (bp'in) among the rivers of Eden (Gen. ii, 14), and is there described (so some render) as '"running eastward to Assyria." After this we hear no more of it, if we except one doubtful allusion in Nahum (ii, G), until the (Japtivity, when it becomes well known to the prophet Daniel, who had to cross it in his journeys to and from Susa (Shushan). With Daniel it is " the Great Kiver" — isTtSn "Hiij — an expression commonly applied to the Euphrates; and by its side he sees some of his most important visions (Dan. x-xii). No other men- tion of the Tigris seems to occur except in the Apocry- phal books, and there it is unconnected with any real