Sargon claims as his first act the conqnest of Samaria, from which he says that he .carried off 27,290 captives.1 He is, perhaps, the king intended in eh. xvii. 6 and xviii. 11; and he obtains distinct mention in Isa. xx. l. Hezekiah seems to have revolted from him (eh. xviii. 7); but he was successful in most other quarters. He put down a rebellion in which Hamath, Arpad, Zimirra, Damascus, and Samaria were combined, about B.C. 720, defeated an Egyptian army, and took Raphia and Gaza in the 11ame year, conquered Ashdod in B.C. 711, and Babylon in B.C. 710; invaded Edom in B.C. 707, and established his authority over Cyprns and over some of the islands of the Persian Gulf about the same time.2 In his reign the .Assyrian empire advanced itself to the borders of Egypt, and from thence- forth until about B.C. 650 the two countries were engaged in almost perpetual hostilities, J udrea and Syria furnishing for the most part the battle-ground between the contending forces. Sargon's first adversary was a certain Sibache,8 who is probably identical with the Shabak or Shabatok of the hieroglyphics, the Sabaco of Herodotus,' and the So or Seveh 6 of Scripture (eh. xvii. 4). He afterwards contended with a monarch whom he calls the King of Meroe,6 who is perhaps Tirhakah, perhaps Shabatok. After reigning seventeen years, Sargon died, and was succeeded on the .Assyrian throne by the world-famous Sennacherib, the most widely known, if not really the greatest, of Assyrian monarchs. It was in the middle of the reign of Sargon-about B.C. 714 or 713-that the first contact occurred between Judiea and Babylon. A native prince, named Merodach-Baladan, .rose in insurrection against the Assyrians on the death of Shalmaneser, and succeeded in re-establishing Babylonian independence for a short space.' Threatened by Sargon, and anxious to strengthen himself by alliances, this king sent, about B.c. 714, an embassy into Palestine, under the pretence of congratnlating Hezekiah on his recovery from his severe illness (eh. xx. 12). The ambassadors were received with favour, and shown all Hezekiah's treasures (eh. xx. 13); and it is most likely that an alliance was concluded ; bnt a few years later, B.O. 710, Sargon marched an army into Babylonia, defeated Merodach- Baladan, and expelled him from the country, took Babylon, and, following the examples of Tiglath-pileser and Shalmaneser, established himself as king. The Canon of Ptolemy calls him Arkeanos (equivalent to Sarkina), and assigns him the space from B.O. 710 to B.C. 705. It was in this latter year that Sargon died. The death of Sargon and the accession of the untried Sennacherib gave the 1 ' Eponym Co.non,' p. 125, line 24. ' See 'Ancient Monaroliiea,' vol. ii. pp.. 141-147. 1 'Eponym Canon,' pp. 125, 126; Oppert, 'lnsoripUona des Scugonides,' p. 22; Sir IL Rawlinson, Athenreum, No. 1869, p. 534. • Herod., ii. 137. ' The proper pointing of the word N1D in eh. xv!L 4 is probably N1~• and not M'lo. • 'EvJny111 Canon,' p. 128, lino 61; p. 130, line 36. Oppcrt, • Inscri11tions des Sargonidcs,' p. 28. xii lNTilODUC'rION 'l'O - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- signal for a series of revolts. In Babylonia several pretenders arose 1 and 11.fter a time Merodach-Baladan re-established himself as king; but h; only wore the crown for six months, In n.c. 702 Sennacherib drove him ont recovered the country to Assyria, and placed a viceroy npon the Babylonia~ throne. 11 The next year he made his great expedition into Syria, Phmnicia, and Palestine, chastised Sidon and other Phrenician towns which had thrown off the Assyrian yoke, took .A.scalon and Ekron, defeating a force of Egyptians and Ethiopians, which had come to help the people of the ,latter city, and then overran Judrea, and attacked Jerusalem. "Because 0
·Hezekiah King of Judah," he says, "would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms and by the might of my power I took forty-six of his strong-fenced cities, and of the smaller towns which were scattered about I took and plundered a countless number. And from these •places I captured and carried off as spoil 200,150 people, old and young, male and £em.ale, together with horses and mares, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude. And Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, his capital, like a bird in a cage, building towers round about .the city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the gates, so as to prevent escape. , .. Then upon this Hezekiah there £ell the £ear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of J ernsalem, with thirty talents of gold, and eight hundred talents of silver, and divers treasures, a rich and immense booty. . . . .A.11 these things were brought to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government, Hezekiah having sent them by way of tribute, and as a token of submission to my power," 8 The close accord of this entire account with the notice contained in the Second Book of Kings ( eh. xviii. 13-16) is very striking. The "fenced cities " are the first object of attack; then J ernsalem is threatened; Heze- kiah is shut up in the place (comp. 2 Chron. xxxii. 2-8); then submission is made; a sum of money in gold and silver is paid for a ransom; even the number of the talents of gold is the same in both narratives. The only dis- crepancy is with respect to the silver, in which Sennacherib may include all -that he carried off from the country. ~'inally, the invading host retires, the siege is broken up, and peace restored between the countries. One serious difficulty alone presents itself-viz. the date of the expedition in the present Hebrew text. This is given as "the fourteenth year of Hezekiah," or eight years only after the capture of Samaria. But in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, B.c. 714, Sargon was still upon the throne; the Assyrian arms were engaged in Media and Armenia; and there was no Assyrian expedition into Palestine.• Sennacherib's invasion cannot possibly have taken place nntil n.c. 705, nine years later, for not till then did he ascend the throne ; 0 ; and by his annals 8 it appears not to have actually taken place till his fourth 1 Polyhistor. ap. Euseb., 'Chron. Ca.u,,' L 5, § I. • 'Ancient Monarchies,' vol ii. p. 157. 1 Sir H. Rawlinson, in' Ancient Mona.rchiee,' vol. ii. pp. 161, 162, • See 'Eponym Ca.non,' p. 66. • Ibid., p. 67. • Ibid., pp. 131-136; cowp. 'Ancient Mona1'chics,' vol. ii. p. 158, THE SECOND BOOK OF TfIE KINGS. xiii