Chapter 3

After the death of Hatshopsitu, the young Pharaoh set out with his army. It was at the beginning of the twenty-fourth year of his reign that he reached Gaza. Marching forward he reached the spurs of Mount Carmel and won a decisive victory at Megiddo over the allied Syrian princes. The inscriptions at Karnak contain long lists of the titles of the king's Syrian subjects. The Pharaoh had now no inclination to lay down his arms, and we have a record of twelve military expeditions of this king. When the Syrian conquest had been effected, Egypt gave permanency to its results by means of a series of international decrees, which established the constitution of her empire, and brought about her concerted action with the Asiatic powers. She had already occupied an important position among them when Thutmosis III. died in the fifty-fifth year of his reign.

Of his successors the most prosperous was the renowned Amenothes III., who is immortalised by the wonderful monumental relics of his long and peaceful reign. Amenothes devoted immense energy to the building of temples, palaces and shrines, and gave very little of his time to war.

_IV.--The Last Days of the Theban Empire_

When the male line failed, there was no lack of princesses in Egypt, of whom any one who happened to come to the throne might choose a consort after her own heart, and thus become the founder of a new dynasty. By such a chance alliance Harmhabi, himself a descendant of Thutmosis III., was raised to the kingly office as first Pharaoh of the XIXth Dynasty. He displayed great activity both within Egypt and beyond it, conducting mighty building enterprises and also undertaking expeditions against recalcitrant tribes along the Upper Nile.

Rameses I., who succeeded Harmhabi, was already an old man at his accession. He reigned only six or seven years, and associated his son, Seti I., with himself in the government from his second year of power. No sooner had Seti celebrated his father's obsequies than he set out for war against Southern Syria, then in open revolt. He captured Hebron, marched to Gaza, and then northward to Lebanon, where he received the homage of the Phoenicians, and returned in triumph to Egypt, bringing troops of captives.

By Seti I. were built the most wonderful of the halls at Karaak and Luxor, which render his name for ever illustrious. He associated with him his son, still very young, who became renowned as Ramses II., one of the greatest warriors and builders amongst all the rulers of Egypt The monuments and temples erected by this king also are among the wonders of the world. He married a Hittite princess when he was more than sixty. This alliance secured a long period of peace and prosperity. Syria once more breathed freely, her commerce being under the combined protection of the two Powers who shared her territory.

Ramses II. was, in his youth, the handsomest man of his time, and old age and death did not succeed in marring his face sufficiently to disfigure it, as may be seen in his mummy to-day. Ramses the Great, who was thus the glory of the XIXth Dynasty, reigned sixty-eight years, and lived to the age of 100, when he passed away peacefully at Thebes. Under his successors, Minephtah, Seti II., Amenemis and Siphtah, the nation became decadent, though there were transient gleams of prosperity, as when Minephtah won a great victory over the Libyans. But after the death of Siphtah, there were many claimants for the Crown, and anarchy prevailed from one end of the Nile valley to the other.

_V.--The Rise of the Assyrian Empire_

Ramses III., a descendant of Ramses II., was the founder of the last dynasty which was able to retain the supremacy of Egypt over the Oriental world. He took for his hero Ramses the Great, and endeavoured to rival him in everything, and for a period the imperial power revived. In the fifth year of his reign he was able to repulse the confederated Libyans with complete success. Victories over other enemies followed, and also peace and prosperity.

The cessation of Egyptian authority over those countries in which it had so long prevailed did not at once do away with the deep impression it had made on their constitution and customs. Syria and Phoenicia had become, as it were, covered with an African veneer, both religion and language being affected by Egyptian influence. But the Phoenicians became absorbed in commercial pursuits, and failed to aspire to the inheritance which the Egyptians were letting slip. Coeval with the decline of the power of the latter was that of the Hittites.

The Babylonian Empire likewise degenerated under the Cossæan kings, and gave way to the ascendancy of Assyria, which came to regard Babylon with deadly hatred. The capitals of the two countries were not more than 185 miles apart. The line of demarcation followed one of the many canals between the Tigris and Euphrates. It then crossed the Tigris and was formed by one of the rivers draining the Iranian table-land--the Upper Zab, the Radanu, or the Turnat. Each of the two states strove by every means in its power to stretch its boundary to the farthest limits, and the narrow area was the scene of continual war.

Assyria was but a poor and insignificant country when compared with that of her rival. She occupied, on each side of the middle course of the Tigris, the territory lying between the 35th and 37th parallels of latitude. This was a compact and healthy district, well watered by the streams running from the Iranian plateau, which were regulated by a network of canals and ditches for irrigation of the whole region. The provinces thus supplied with water enjoyed a fertility which passed into a proverb. Thus Assyria was favoured by nature, but she was not well wooded. The most important of the cities were Assur, Arbeles, Kalakh and Nineveh.

Assur, dedicated to the deity from which it took its name, placed on the very edge of the Mesopotamian desert, with the Tigris behind it, was, during the struggle with the Chaldæan power, exposed to the attacks of the Babylonian armies; while Nineveh, entrenched behind the Tigris and the Zab, was secure from any sudden assault. Thus it became the custom for the kings to pass at Nineveh the trying months of the year, though Assur remained the official capital and chief sanctuary of the empire, which began its aggrandisement under Assurballit, by his victory over the Cossæan kings of Babylon. But the heroic age comes before us in the career of Shalmaneser I., a powerful sovereign who in a few years doubled the extent of his dominions. He beautified Assur, but removed his court to Kalakh. His son, Tukulti-ninip I., made himself master of Babylon, and was the first of his race who was able to assume the title of King of Sumir and Akkad.

This first conquest of Chaldæa did not produce lasting results, for the sons of the hero fought each other for the Crown, and Assyria became the scene of civil wars. The fortunes of Babylon rose again, but the depression of Assyria did not last long. Nineveh had become the metropolis. Confusion was increased in the whole of this vast region of Asia by the invasion and partial triumph of the Elamites over Babylon. But these were driven back when Nebuchadrezzar arose in Babylon. To Merodach he prayed, and "his prayer was heard," and he invaded Elam, taking its king by surprise and defeating him.

Nebuchadrezzar no longer found any rival to oppose him save the king of Assyria, whom he attacked; but now his aggression was checked, for though his forces were successful at first, they were ultimately sent flying across the frontiers with great loss, through the prowess of Assurishishi, who became a mighty king in Nineveh. But his son, Tiglath-pileser, is the first of the great warrior kings of Assyria to stand out before us with any definite individuality. He immediately, on his accession, began to employ in aggressive wars the well-equipped army left by his father, and in three campaigns he regained all the territories that Shalmaneser I. had lost, and also conquered various regions of Asia Minor and Syria. In a rising of the Chaldæans he met with a severe defeat, which he did not long survive, dying about the year 1100 B.C.

There is only one gleam in the murky night of this period. A certain Assurirba seems to have crossed Northern Syria, and, following in the footsteps of his great ancestor, to have penetrated as far as the Mediterranean; on the rocks of Mount Amanus, facing the sea, he left a triumphal inscription in which he set forth the mighty deeds he had accomplished. His good fortune soon forsook him. The Arameans wrested from him the fortresses of Pitru and Mutkinu, which commanded both banks of the Euphrates near Carchemish.

What were the causes of this depression from which Babylon suffered at almost regular intervals, as though stricken with some periodic malady? The main reason soon becomes apparent if we consider the nature of the country and the material conditions of its existence. Chaldæa was neither extensive nor populous enough to afford a solid basis for the ambition of her princes. Since nearly every man capable of bearing arms was enrolled in the army, the Chaldæan kings had no difficulty in raising, at a moment's notice, a force which could be employed to repel an invasion, or to make a sudden attack on some distant territory; it was in schemes that required prolonged and sustained effort that they felt the drawbacks of their position. In that age of hand-to-hand combats, the mortality in battle was very high; forced marches through forests and across mountains entailed a heavy loss of men, and three or four campaigns against a stubborn foe soon reduced the army to a condition of weakness.

When Nebuchadrezzar I. made war on Assurishishi, he was still weak from the losses he had incurred during the campaign against Elam, and could not conduct his attack with the same vigour as had gained him victory on the banks of the Ulai. In the first year he only secured a few indecisive advantages; in the second he succumbed.

The same reasons which explain the decadence of Babylon show us the causes of the periodic eclipses undergone by Assyria after each outburst of her warlike spirit. The country was now forced to pay for the glories of Assurishishi and of Tiglath-pileser by falling into an inglorious state of languor and depression. And ere long newer races asserted themselves which had gradually come to displace the nations over which the dynasties of Thutmosis and Ramses had held sway as tributary to them. The Hebrews on the east, and the Philistines on the southwest, were about to undertake the conquest of Kharu, as the land which is known to us as Canaan was styled by the Egyptians.

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The Passing of the Empires

Maspero, in the third volume of his great archæological trilogy, completing his "History of the Ancient Peoples of the Classic East," deals with the passing in succession of the supremacies of the Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldæan, Medo-Persian and Iranian Empires. The period dealt with in this graphic narrative covers fully five centuries, from 850 B.C. to 330 B.C. M. Maspero in cinematographic style passes before us the actors in many of the most thrilling of historic dramas. One excellent feature of his method is his balancing of evidences. Where Xenophon and Herodotus absolutely differ he tells what each asserts. With consummate skill also he arranges his recital like a series of dissolving views, showing how epochs overlap, and how as Babylon is fading Assyria is rising, and as the latter in turn is waning Media is looming into sight. We are, in this third instalment of Maspero's monumental work, brought to understand how the decline of one mighty Asiatic empire after another, culminating in the overthrow of the Persian dominion by Alexander, prepared at length for the entry of Western nations on the stage, and how Europe became the heir of the culture and civilisation of the Orient.

_I.--The Assyrian Revival_

Since the extinction of the race of Nebuchadrezzar I. Babylon had been a prey to civil discord and foreign invasion. It was a period of calamity and distress, during which the Arabs or the Arameans ravaged the country, and an Elamite usurper overthrew the native dynasty and held authority for seven years. This intruder having died about the year 1030 B.C., a Babylonian of noble extraction expelled the Elamites and succeeded in bringing the larger part of the dominion under his rule. Five or six of his descendants passed away and another was feebly reigning when war broke out afresh with Assyria, and the two armies encountered each other again on their former battlefield between the Lower Zab and the Turnat. The Assyrians were victorious under their king, Tukulti-ninip II., who did not live long to enjoy his triumph. His son, Assur-nazir-pal, inherited a kingdom which embraced scarcely any of the countries that had paid tribute to former sovereign, for most of these had gradually regained their liberty.

Nearly the whole empire had to be re-conquered under much the same conditions as in the first instance, but Assyria had recovered the vitality and elasticity of its earlier days. Its army now possessed a new element. This was the cavalry, properly so called, as an adjunct to the chariotry. But it must be remembered that the strength and discipline which the Assyrian troops possessed in such high degree were common to the military forces of all the great states--Elam, Damascus, Nairi, the Hittites and Chaldea. Thus, the armies of all these states being, as a rule, both in strength and numbers much on a par, no single power was able to inflict on any of the rest such a defeat as would be its destruction. Twice at least in three centuries a king of Assyria had entered Babylon, and twice the Babylonians had forced the intruder back.

Profiting by the past, Assur-nazir-pal resolutely avoided those conflicts in which so many of his predecessors had wasted their lives. He was content to devote his attention to less dangerous enemies than the people of Babylonia. Invading Nummi, he quickly captured its chief cities, then subdued the Kirruri, attacked the fortress of Nishtu, and pillaged many of the cities around. Bubu, the Chief of Nishtu, was flayed alive. After a reign of twenty-five years he died in 860 B.C.

A summary of the events in the reign of thirty-five years of his successor, Shalmaneser III., is contained on the Black Obelisk of Nimroud, discovered by Layard and preserved in the British Museum. He conquered the whole country round Lake Van, ravaging the country "as a savage bull ravages and tramples under his feet the fertile fields." An attack on Damascus led to a terrible but indecisive battle, Benhadad, King of Syria, proving himself fully a match for the invader. But a war with Babylon, lasting for a period of two years, ended with victory for Assyria, and Shalmaneser, entering the city, went direct to the temple of E-shaggil, where he offered worship to the local gods.

Memorable events followed, first in connection with Damascus, Ahab, King of Isræl, Benhadad's ally, and other confederates, had not been faithful to his suzerainty. Ahab had by treaty agreed to surrender the city of Ramoth-gilead to the Syrian monarch and had not fulfilled his pledge. He and Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, had concluded an alliance against Benhadad, who seized the disputed fortress, and the two had organised an expedition, which led to the death of Ahab in battle. Isræl lapsed once more into the position of a vassal to Benhadad, and long remained in that subjection.

The last days of Shalmaneser were embittered by the revolt of his son, Assur-dain-pal, and his death occurred in 824 B.C. The kingdom was shaken by the struggle that ensued between his sons. Samsi-ramman IV., the brother of Assurdain-pal, reigned for twelve years; his son, Ramman-nirari III., had married the Babylonian princess Sammuramat, and so had secured peace. He was an energetic and capable ruler. To him at length Damascus made submission and paid tribute. But Menuas, a bold and able King of Urartu, proved himself a thorn in the side of the Assyrian king, for he delivered from the yoke of Nineveh the tribes on the borders of Lake Urmiah and all the adjacent regions.

Everywhere along the Lower Zab, and on the frontier as far as the Euphrates, the Assyrian outposts were driven back by Menuas, who also overcame the Hittites and by his campaigns formed that kingdom of Van, or Armenia, which was quite equal in size to Assyria. He died shortly before the death of Ramman-nirari, in 784 B.C. His son, Argistis, spent the first few years of his reign in completing his conquests in the country north of the Araxes. He was attacked by Shalmaneser IV., son of Ramman-nirari, but defeated the Assyrians.

Misfortunes accumulated for the rulers and people who had exercised so wide a sway, and the end of the Second Assyrian Empire was not far off. Syria was lost under Assur-nirari III., who was also driven from Calah by sedition in 746 B.C. He died some months later and the dynasty came to an end, and in 745 a usurper, the leader of the revolt at Calah, proclaimed himself king under the name of Tiglath-pileser III. The Second Empire had lasted rather less than a century and a half.

_II.--To the Destruction of Babylon_

Events proved that, at this period at any rate, the decadence of Assyria was not due to any exhaustion of the race or impoverishment of the country, but was owing Mainly to the incapacity of its kings and the lack of energy displayed by their generals. The Assyrian troops had lost none of their former valour, but their leaders had shown less foresight and skill. As soon as Tiglath-pileser assumed leadership, the armies regained their former prestige and supremacy.

The empire still included the original patrimony of Assur and its ancient colonies on the Upper Tigris, but the buffer provinces, containing the tribes on the borders of Syria, Namri, Nairi, Melitene, had thrown off the yoke, as had the Arameans, while Menuas of Armenia and his son Argistis had by their invasions laid waste the Median territory. Sharduris III., son of Argistis, succeeded to the throne of Armenia about 760, and at once overran the district of Babilu, carrying by storm three royal castles, 23 cities, and 60 villages. He also captured the castles of the mountaineers of Melitene. Crossing Mount Taurus about 756, he forced the Hittites to swear allegiance.

It was in the middle of this eighth century B.C., in the days of Tiglath-pileser III. of Assyria, and Sharduris III. of Armenia, that Isræl, under Jehoash, and his son Jeroboam II.; inspired by the exhortations of Elisha the prophet, was rehabilitated for a season, winning victories over the Syrians and taking vengeance on Damascus, and then attacking the Moabites. The sudden collapse of Damascus led to the decline of Syria, but though Jeroboam II. seemed to be firmly seated as king in Samaria, the downfall of Isræl and Judah alike, as well as of Tyre, Edom, Gaza, Moab, and Ammon, was foretold by the prophet Amos, while from the midst of Ephraim the priest-seer, Hosea, was never weary of reproaching the tribes with their ingratitude and of predicting their coming desolation.

Ere long, Tiglath-pileser began his campaigns against them by attacking the Arameans, dwelling on the banks of the Tigris. He overthrew them at the first encounter. Nabunazir, then king in Babylon, bowed before him and swore fidelity to him, and he visited Sippar, Nipur, Babylon, Borsippa, Kuta, Kishu, Dilbat and Uruk, Babylonian "cities without a peer," and offered sacrifices to all their gods--to Bel Zirbanit, Nebo, Tashmit, and Nir-gal. This settlement took place in 745 B.C.

His next exploit was the rapid conquest of the mountainous and populous regions on the shores of the Caspian. And now he ventured to try conclusions with Armenia and to attack the famous kingdom of Urartu in the difficult fastnesses round Lakes Van and Urumiah. Crossing the Euphrates in the spring of 743 B.C., he captured Arpad, and soon afterwards marched forth to meet the great army of Sharduris. The rout of the latter was complete, and he fled, after losing 73,000 men. The victor was covered with glory; yet the triumph cost him dear, for the forces left him were not sufficient to finish the campaign, nor to extort allegiance from the Syrian princes who had allied themselves with Sharduris.

After spending the winter in Nineveh, reorganising his troops, the Assyrian inaugurated a campaign which ended in the subjugation of Northern Syria and its incorporation in the empire. Only one difficulty foiled Tiglath-pileser. He failed to capture the impregnable fortress of Dhuspas, in which Sharduris had taken refuge. This capital of Urartu held out against a long siege, and at length the Assyrian army withdrew. Sharduris remained king as before, but he was utterly spent, and his power had received a blow from which it never recovered. Since then, Armenia has more than once challenged fortune, but always with the same result; it fared no better under Tigranes in the Roman epoch than under Sharduris in the time of the Assyrians.

As for Egypt at this period, it was ruled over by what is known as the Bubastite dynasty, so called from the city of Bubastis, in the Delta, where the Pharaohs of the time, Osorkon I., his son Takeloti I., and his grandson, Osorkon II., for an interval of fifty years chiefly resided, abstaining from politics, so that the country enjoyed an interval of profound peace. But the old cause brought about the fall of this dynasty also. Military feudalism again developed and Egypt split up into many petty states. The sceptre at length passed to another dynasty, this time of Tanite origin. Petubastis was the first of the line, but the power was really in the hands of the priests, one of whom, Auiti, actually declared himself king, together with Pharaoh.

Sensational events followed. The weakness of Egypt tempted an uprising of the Ethiopians, who overran a great part of the country. And it was at this period that Tiglath-pileser crushed the kingdom of Isræl, King Pekah being compelled to flee from Samaria into the mountains, while the inhabitants of Naphtali and Gilead were carried into captivity.

Nabonazir, King of Babylon, who had never swerved from the fidelity he had sworn to his mighty ally after the events of 745, died in 734 B.C., and was succeeded by his son Nabunadinziri, who at the end of two years was assassinated in a popular rising, and one of his sons, Nabushumukin, who was concerned in the rising, usurped the crown. He wore it for two months and twelve days, and then abdicated in favour of a certain Ukinzir, an Aramean chief.

But Tiglath-pileser gave the new dynasty no time to settle itself firmly on the throne. The year after his return from Syria he marched against it. After two years of fighting Ukinzir was overcome and captured. Tiglath-pileser entered Babylon as conqueror, and caused himself to be proclaimed King of Sumir and Akkad within its walls. Many centuries had passed since the two empires had been united under one ruler. His Babylonian subjects seem to have taken a liking for him; but he did not long survive his triumph, dying after having reigned eighteen years over Assyria, and less than two years over Babylon and Chaldæa.