8 In n ' '-1 &&' tty* State

Bas-relief and inscription of Hammurabi, generally regarded as the
Biblical Amraphel (Gen. xiv. i), apparently dedicated for the saving of his
life. In this he bears the title (incomplete) of "King of Amoria " (the
Amorites), lugal Mar\tu\, Semitic Babylonian sar mat Amurri (see page
315).

Frontispiece.

The Old Testament
In the Light of
The Historical Records and Legends of Assyria
and Babylonia

THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES
LL.D., M.R.A.S.

PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE

SECOND EDITION— REVISED, WITH
APPENDICES AND NOTES

LONDON:
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
horthumberland avenue, w.c. ; 43, queen victoria street, e.c.
Brighton : 129, North Street.
1903

" There is a charm in finding ourselves, our common humanity, our
puzzles, our cares, our joys, in the writings of men severed from
us by race, religion, speech, and half the gulf of historical time,
which no other literary pleasure can equal." — ANDREW LANG,

FOREWORD
The present work, being merely a record of things for the
most part well known to students and others, cannot, on
that account, contain much that is new, All that has been
aimed at is, to bring together as many of the old discoveries
as possible in a new dress.
It has been thought well to let the records tell their story
as far as possible in their own way, by the introduction of
translations, thus breaking the monotony of the narrative,
and also infusing into it an element of local colour calculated
to bring the reader into touch, as it were, with the thoughts
and feelings of the nations with whom the records originated.
Bearing, as it does, upon the life, history, and legends of
the ancient nations of which it treats, controversial matter
has been avoided, and the higher criticism left altogether
aside. Assyriology (as the study of the literature and antiquities
of the Babylonians and Assyrians is called) being a study
still in the course of development, improvements in the
renderings of the inscriptions will doubtless from time to
time be made, and before many months have passed, things
now obscure may have new light thrown upon them, necessi
tating the revision of such portions as may be affected
thereby. It is intended to utilize in future editions any new
discoveries which may come to light, and every effort will be
made to keep the book up to date.
For shortcomings, whether in the text or in the trans
lations, the author craves the indulgence of the reader,
merely pleading the difficult and exacting nature of the
study, and the lengthy chronological period to which the
book refers.
A little explanation is probably needful upon the question
of pronunciation. The vowels in Assyro-Babylonian should

IV FOREWORD
be uttered as in Italian or German. H is a strong guttural
like the Scotch ch in " loch " ; m had sometimes the pro
nunciation of w, as in Tiamtu (= Tiawthu), so that the
spelling of some of the words containing that letter may
later have to be modified. The pronunciation of J and / is
doubtful, but Assyriologists generally (and probably wrongly)
give the sound of s to the former and sh to the latter. T was
often pronounced as th, and probably always had that sound
in the feminine endings -tu, -ti, -ta, or at, so that Tiamtu,
for instance, may be pronounced Tiawthu, Tukulti-apil-
Esarra (Tiglath-pileser), Tukulthi-apil-£sarra, etc., etc., and
in such words as qata, "the hands," sumati, "names," and
many others, this was probably always the case. In the
names Abil-Addu-nathanu and Nathanu-yawa this transcrip
tion has been adopted, and may be regarded as correct.
P was likewise often aspirated, assuming the sound of ph
or/, and k assumed, at least in later times, a sound similar
to h (kh), whilst b seems sometimes to have been pronounced
as v. G was, to all appearance, never soft, as in gem, but
may sometimes have been aspirated. Each member of the
group ph is pronounced separately. J" is an emphatic t,
stronger than in the word "time."
Exigencies of space have prevented certain interesting
points from being touched upon, but the author hopes to
deal with these in other works which he has in view.

The second edition has been revised and brought up to
date. The translation of the stele inscribed with the Laws
of king IJammurabi will probably be looked upon as a
welcome addition, this document being a record of the
highest importance. Notes upon Prof. Fried. Delitzsch's
Babel und Bibel have been added, together with others
bearing upon the subject of which this book treats.
It is needless to say that a large amount of new material
may be expected from the excavations in progress at
Babylon, Susa, Niffer, Nineveh, and elsewhere.
Theophilus G. Pinches.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter I.— The Early Traditions of the
Creation ...  p. I
The Hebrew account — Its principal points — The Babylonian
account — The story of the Creation properly so called — The
version given by the Greek authors — Comparison of the Hebrew
and the Greek accounts — The likenesses— The differences —
Bel and the Dragon— The epilogue— Sidelights (notes upon the
religion of the Babylonians).
Chapter II. — The History, as given in the
Bible, from the Creation to the Flood ... p. 69
Eden — The so-called second story of the Creation and the
bilingual Babylonian account — The four rivers — The tree of
life-AThe Temptation — The Cherubim — Cain and Abel — The
names of the Patriarchs from Enoch to Noah.
Chapter III.— The Flood  p. 85
The Biblical account — Its circumstantial nature and its great
length — The Babylonian account — The reason of the Flood and
why Pir-napistim built the Ark — His devotion to th( God Ea —
Ea and Jah — Ea's antagonism to Bel — The bloodless sacrifice —
Ea's gift of immortality — Further observations — Appendix : The
second version of the Flood-story.
Chapter IV. — Assyria, Babylonia, and the
Hebrews, with reference to the so-called
Genealogical Table  p. 118
The Akkadians — The Semitic Babylonians — The Hebrews —
Nimrod — Asshur — The Tower of Babel and the confusion of
tongues — Babylonian temple-towers — How the legend probably
arose — The Patriarchs to the time of Abraham.

VI CONTENTS
Chapter V — Babylonia at the time of
Abraham  p- i52
The first dynasty of Babylon— The extent of its dominion—
The Amorites— Life in Babylonia at this time— The religious
element— The king— The royal family— The people— Their
manners and customs as revealed by the contract-tablets —
Their laws.
Chapter VI. — Abraham  p. 192
A short account of this period, with the story of Chedorlaomer,
Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal.
Chapter VII. — Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph ... p. 242
Jacob, Yakub, and Yakub-ilu — Joseph, Yasup, and Yasup-ilu
— Other similar names — The Egyptian monuments and the
Semites.Chapter VIIL— The Tel-el- Amarna tablets and
the Exodus  ... ... p. 268
Egypt and Syria before the Exodus — The testimony of the
Tel-el- Amarna tablets — The relations between the two countries
during the reigns of Amenophis III. and IV. — Burra-burias of
Babylonia, Asur-ubali{ of Assyria— Yabitiri, and others in
Palestine— Tbe Habati and the Habiri — The Letters of Abdi-
taba (Ebed-tob, Abd-hiba)— The Pharaoh and the prince of the
Amorites— Mahler upon the date of the Exodus.
Chapter IX. — The Nations with whom the
Israelites came into contact  P- 310
The Amorites— The Hittites— The Jebusites— The Gir-
gashites — Moab.
Chapter X.— Contact of the Hebrews with the
Assyrians ,.. ... ... ... p, 527
Assur-nasir-apli IL— Shalmaneser II. — Tiglath-pileser III.
(Pul)— Shalmaneser IV. (Elulaeus)— Sargon— Sennacherib—
Esarhaddon — Assur-bani-apli (the great and noble Asnappar)—
The downfall of Assyria.

CONTENTS Vll
Chapter XI. — Contact of the Hebrews with
the Later Babylonians  p. 395
Nabopolassar and the restoration of the power of Babylonia
— Nebuchadnezzarr-Evil-Merodach — Neriglissar and his son —
Nabonidus — The Fall of Babylon — Nabonidus and Belshazzar —
Cyrus and Cambyses — Darius and his successors.
Chapter XII. — Life at Babylon during the
Captivity, with some reference to the
Jews  ... p. 430
The reign of Nebuchadnezzar — The earliest mention of Na
bonidus — Neriglissar and his relations with his fellow-citizens
before his accession — He marries his daughter Gigitum to the
director of E-zida — Prince Laborosoarchod — Nabonidus and
the temples at Sippar — Prince Belshazzar's transactions — His
offerings at Sippar — His sister's gift to her god (or goddess) —
Princess Ukabu'sama's transactions — The Jews at Babylon —
Babylonian business and other letters — Sirku's slave — A loan
at Erech — Work upon a plantation — Sale of an ass — Jews
and Babylonians — The dead slave — A right of way — The story
of Abil-Addu-nathanu and Bunanitum — The outcast slave —
The Egyptian slave and her infant — Sirku's transactions —
Babylon as the Jewish captives saw it.
Chapter XIII. — The Decline of Babylon ... p. 474
The Jews who remained at-Babylon and other cities of the
land — Alexander the Great's intentions with regard to the city
and the result of their non-fulfilment — A Babylonian lamentation
dated in the reign of Seleucus Nicator and his son— The deso
lation of the city after the foundation of Seleucia — The temples
still maintained — Antiochus Epiphanes and the introduction of
Greek worship — His invasion of Egypt — TheArsacidas — Aeon-
tract of the time of Hyspasines — Materials for history — Further
records of the time of the Arsacida? — The latest date of Baby
lonian worship — The Christians of Irak or Babylonia.

viii CONTENTS
Appendix. — The stele inscribed with the Laws
of Hammurabi  p. 4^7
Description of the Monument — Hammurabi's introduction —
The Laws— Hammurabi's concluding paragraphs— Notes and
comparisons with the Mosaic Code.
" Babylon and the Bible "  P- 525
Delitzsch's lectures— Canaan— The Sabbath— Was the Flood
a " Sin-flood "?— The Dragon and the Serpent-tempter— The
Cherubim— Babylonian Monotheism— Jahweh (Jehovah).
Notes and Additions  P- 537

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
I. Hammurabi (Amraphel) .... Frontispiece
II. Fragments of tablets giving, among others, the word
which is probably the original of " Sabbath " to face p. 49
Hi. Babylonian and Assyrian mythological scenes, from
cylinder-seals (see also Plate V.) . . . -77 §5
152

iv. The list of kings in which the Flood is referred to
v. Envelope of a contract-tablet ....
VI. The adoration of king Rim-Sin, and the adoration
of a God, from Babylonian cylinder-seals .
VII. Hadad of Zenjirli 
VIII. Pictures from the bronze gates of Balawat
IX. Tiglath-pileser in his chariot
X. Reception by Sennacherib of prisoners and spoil
XI. Sennacherib before Lachish ....
XII. Esarhaddon and his captives ....
XIII. Esarhaddon's devices on his Babylonian inscriptions
XIV. ASsur-bani-apli hunting lions ....
XV. The walls of Babylon 
XVI. The Hanging Gardens 

164
277 337
346 373
382 3S4
388
39i
404406

THE OLD TESTAMENT
CHAPTER I
THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION
The Hebrew account— Its principal points— The Babylonian
account — The story of the Creation properly so called — The
version given by the Greek authors — Comparison of the Hebrew
and the Greek accounts — The likenesses — The differences — Bel
and the Dragon — The epilogue — Sidelights (notes upon the
religion of the Babylonians).
To find out how the world was made, or rather,
to give forth a theory accounting for its origin and
continued existence, is one of the subjects that has
attracted the attention of thinking minds among all
nations having any pretension to civilization. It was,
therefore, to be expected that the ancient Babylonians
and Assyrians, far advanced in civilization as they
were at an exceedingly early date, should have formed
opinions thereupon, and placed them on record as
soon as those opinions were matured, and the art of
writing had been perfected sufficiently to enable a
serviceable account to be composed.
This, naturally, did not take place all at once. We
may take it for granted that the history of the Crea
tion grew piece by piece, as different minds thought
over and elaborated it. The first theories we should
expect to find more or less improbable — wild stories
of serpents and gods, emblematic of the conflicting
powers of good and evil, which, with them, had their
origin before the advent of mankind upon the earth.
But all men would not have the same opinion of
the way in which the universe came into existence,
9

IO THE OLD TESTAMENT
and this would give rise, as really happened in Baby
lonia, to conflicting accounts or theories, the later ones
less improbable than, and therefore superior to, the
earlier. The earlier Creation-legend, being a sort of
heroic poem, would remain popular with the common
people, who always love stories of heroes and mighty
conflicts, such as those in which the Babylonians and
Assyrians to the latest times delighted, and of which
the Semitic Babylonian Creation-story consists.
As the ages passed by, and the newer theories grew
up, the older popular ones would be elaborated, and
new ideas from the later theories of the Creation
would be incorporated, whilst, at the same time,
mystical meanings would be given to the events
recorded in the earlier legends to make them fit in
with the newer ones. This having been done, the
scribes could appeal at the same time to both ignorant
and learned, explaining how the crude legends of the
past were but a type of the doctrines put forward by
the philosophers of later and more enlightened days,
bringing within the range of the intellect of the un
learned all those things in which the more thoughtful
spirits also believed. By this means an enlightened
monotheism and the grossest polytheism could, and
did, exist side by side, as well as clever and reason
able cosmologies along with the strangest and wildest
legends. Thus it is that we have from the literature of two
closely allied peoples, the Babylonians and the
Hebrews, accounts of the Creation of the world
so widely differing, and, at the same time, possessing,
here and there, certain ideas in common — ideas darkly
veiled in the old Babylonian story, but clearly ex
pressed in the comparatively late Hebrew account.
It must not be thought, however, that the above
theory as to the origin of the Hebrew Creation-story
interferes in any way with the doctrine of its inspira
tion. We are not bound to accept the opinion so

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION II
generally held by theologians, that the days of creation
referred to in Genesis i. probably indicate that each act
of creation — each day — was revealed in seven successive
dreams, in order, to the inspired writer ofthe book. The
opinion held by other theologians, that " inspiration "
simply means that the writer was moved by the Spirit
of God to choose from documents already existing
such portions as would serve for our enlightenment
and instruction, adding, at the same time, such addi
tions of his own as he was led to think to be needful,
may be held to be a satisfactory definition of the term
in question.
Without, therefore, binding ourselves down to any
hard and fast line as to date, we may regard, for the
purposes of this inquiry, the Hebrew account of the
Creation as one of the traditions handed down in the
thought of many minds extending over many centuries,
and as having been chosen and elaborated by the in
spired writer of Genesis for the purpose of his narra
tive, the object of which was to set forth the origin of
man and the Hebrew nation, to which he belonged,
and whose history he was about to narrate in detail.
The Hebrew story of the Creation, as detailed in
Genesis i., may be regarded as one of the most
remarkable documents ever produced. It must not
be forgotten, however, that it is a document that is
essentially Hebrew. For the author of this book the
language of God and of the first man was Hebrew —
a literary language, showing much phonetic decay.
The retention of this matter (its omission not being
essential at the period of the composition of the book)
is probably due, in part, to the natural patriotism of
the writer, overruling what ought to have been his
inspired common-sense. How this is to be explained
it is not the intention of the writer of this book to
inquire, the account of the Creation and its parallels
being the subject in hand at present.
The question of language apart, the account of the

12 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Creation in Genesis is in the highest degree a common-
sense one. The creation of (i) the heaven, and (2)
the earth ; the darkness — not upon the face of the
earth, but upon the face of the deep. Then the
expansion dividing the waters above from the waters
below on the earth. In the midst of this waste of
waters dry land afterwards appears, followed by the
growth of vegetation. But the sun and the moon had
not yet been appointed, nor the stars, all of which
come into being at this point. Last of all are intro
duced the living things of the earth — fish, and bird,
and creeping thing, followed by the animals, and,
finally, by man.
It is noteworthy and interesting that, in this account,
the acts of creation are divided into seven periods,
each of which is called a " day," and begins, like the
natural day in the time-reckoning of the Semitic
nations, with the evening — " and it was evening, and
it was morning, day one." It describes what the
heavenly bodies were for — they were not only to give
light upon the earth — they were also for signs, for
seasons, for days, and for years.
And then, concerning man, a very circumstantial
account is given. He was to have dominion over
everything upon the earth — the fish of the sea, the
fowl of the air, the cattle, and every creeping thing.
All was given to him, and he, like the creatures made
before him, was told to " be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth." It is with this crowning work
of creation that the first chapter of the Book of
Genesis ends.
The second chapter refers to the seventh day — the
day of rest, and is followed by further details of the
creation, the central figure of which is the last thing
created, namely, man. This chapter reads, in part,
like a recapitulation of the first, but contains many
additional details. " No plant of the field was yet in
the earth, and no herb . . . had sprung up : for the Lord

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 1 3
God had not caused it to rain . . . , and there was not
a man to till the ground." A mist, therefore, went up
from the earth, and watered all the face of the ground.
Then, to till the earth, man was formed from the dust
of the ground, and the Lord God " breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul."
The newly-created man was, at this time, innocent,
and was therefore to be placed by his Creator in a
garden of delight, named Eden, and this garden he
was to dress and keep. A hidden danger, however,
lay in this pleasant retreat — the tree of knowledge
of good and evil, of which he was forbidden to eat,
but which was to form for him a constant tempt
ation, for ever testing his obedience. All might have
been well, to all appearance, but for the creation of
woman, who, giving way to the blandishments of the
tempter, in her turn tempted the man, and he fell.
Death in the course of nature was the penalty, the
earthly paradise was lost, and all chance of eating of
the tree of life, and living for ever, disappeared on
man's expulsion from his first abode of delight.
In the course of this narrative interesting details
are given — the four rivers, the country through which
they flowed, and their precious mineral products ; the
naming of the various animals by the man ; the
forming of woman from one of his ribs ; the institution
of marriage, etc.
Such is, in short, the story of the Creation as told in
the Bible, and it is this that we have to compare with
the now well-known parallel accounts current among
the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians. And here
may be noted at the outset that, though we shall find
some parallels, we shall, in the course of our com
parison, find a far greater number of differences, for
not only were they produced in a different land, by a
different people, but they were also produced under
different conditions. Thus, Babylonian polytheism
takes the place of the severe and uncompromising

14 THE OLD TESTAMENT
monotheism of the Hebrew account in Genesis ; Eden
was, to the Babylonians, their own native land, not a
country situated at a remote distance ; and, lastly,
but not least, their language, thoughts, and feelings
differed widely from those of the dwellers in the
Holy Land.
The Babylonian story of the Creation is a narrative
of great interest to all who occupy themselves with
the study of ancient legends and folklore. It intro
duces us not only to exceedingly ancient beliefs
concerning the origin of the world on which we live,
but it tells us also of the religion, or, rather, the
religious beliefs, of the Babylonians, and enables us
to see something of the changes which those beliefs
underwent before adopting the form in which we find
them at the time this record was composed.
A great deal has been written about the Babylonian
story of the Creation. As is well known, the first
translation of these documents was by him who first
discovered their nature, the late George Smith, who
gave them to the world in his well-known book, The
Chaldean Account of Genesis, in 1875. Since that
time numerous other translations have appeared, not
only in England, but also on the Continent. Among
those who have taken part in the work of studying
and translating these texts may be named Profs.
Sayce, Oppert, Hommel, and Delitzsch, the last-named
having both edited the first edition of Smith's book
(the first issued on this subject on the Continent), and
published one ofthe last and most complete editions of
the whole legend yet placed before the public. To
Prof. Sayce, as well as to Prof. Hommel, belongs
the honour of many brilliant suggestions as to the
tendency of the texts of the creation as a whole :
Prof. Oppert was the first to point out that the last
tablet of the series was not, as Smith thought, an
"Address to primitive man," but an address to the
god Merodach as the restorer of order out of chaos ¦

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION IS
whilst Delitzsch has perhaps (being almost the last
to write upon it) improved the translation more than
many of his predecessors in the work.
Before proceeding to deal with the legend itself, a
few remarks upon the tablets and the text that they
bear will probably not be considered out of place.
There are, in all likelihood, but few who have not seen
in the British Museum or elsewhere those yellow
baked terra-cotta tablets of various sizes and shapes,
upon which the Babylonians and Assyrians were
accustomed to write their records. And well it is
for the science of Assyriology that they used this
exceedingly durable material. I have said that the
tablets are yellow in colour, and this is generally the
case, but the tint varies greatly, and may approach
dark grey or black, and even appear as a very good
sage-green. The smaller tablets are often cushion-
shaped, but, with some few exceptions, they are rect
angular, like those of larger size. The writing varies so
considerably that the hand of the various scribes can
sometimes be distinguished. In the best class of
tablets every tenth line is often numbered — a proof
that the Assyrians and Babylonians were very careful
with the documents with which they had to deal.
The Babylonian tablets closely resemble the Assyrian,
but the style of the writing differs somewhat, and it
is, in general, more difficult to read than the Assyrian.
None of the tablets of the Creation-series are, un
fortunately, perfect, and many of the fragments are
mere scraps, but as more than one copy of each
anciently existed, and has survived, the wanting
parts of one text can often be supplied from another
copy. That copies come from Babylon as well as
from Nineveh is a very fortunate circumstance, as our
records are rendered more complete thereby.
Of the obverse of the first tablet very little,
unfortunately, remains, but what there is extant is of
the highest interest. Luckily, we have the beginning of

l6 THE OLD TESTAMENT
this remarkable legend, which runs, according to the
latest and best commentaries, as follows —
" When on high the heavens were unnamed,
Beneath the earth bore not a name :
The primaeval ocean was their producer ;
Mummu Tiamtu was she who begot the whole of
them.
Their waters in one united themselves, and
The plains were not outlined, marshes were not
to be seen.
When none of the gods had come forth,
They bore no name, the fates [had not been
determined].
There were produced the gods [all of them ?] :
Lahmu and Lahamu went forth [as the first ?] :
The ages were great, [the times were long ?].
Ansar and Kisar were produced and over
th[em] ....
Long grew the days ; there came forth (?) . . .
The god Anu, their son 
Ansar, the god Anu  "

Such is the tenor of the opening lines of the
Babylonian story of the Creation, and the differences
between the two accounts are striking enough.
Before proceeding, however, to examine and compare
them, a few words upon the Babylonian version may
not be without value.
First we must note that the above introduction to
the legend has been excellently explained and com
mented upon by the Syrian writer Damascius. The
following is his explanation of the Babylonian teach
ing concerning the creation of the world —
" But the Babylonians, like the rest of the Bar
barians, pass over in silence the one principle of the
Universe, and they constitute two, Tauthe and Apason,

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 1 7
making Apason the husband of TautM, and denomin
ating her the mother of the gods. And from these
proceeds an only-begotten son, Moumis, which, I con
ceive, is no other than the intelligible world proceeding
from the two principles. Froni them, also, another
progeny is derived, Dache and Dachos ; and again a
third, Kissare and Assoros, from which last three
others proceed, Anos, and Illinos, and Aos. And
of Aos and Dauk6 is born a son called Belos,
who, they say, is the fabricator of the world, the
Creator." The likeness of the names given in this extract
from Damascius will be noticed, and will probably
also be recognized as a valuable verification of the
certainty now attained by Assyriologists in the
reading of the proper names. In Tiamtu, or, rather,
Tiawtu, will be easily recognized the Tauthe of
Damascius, whose son, as appears from a later frag
ment, was called Mummu (= Moumis). Apason he
gives as the husband of Tauth6, but of this we know
nothing from the Babylonian tablet, which, however,
speaks of this Apason (dpsu, "the abyss"), which
corresponds with the " primaeval ocean " of the Baby
lonian tablet.
In Dache" and Dachos it is easy to see that there
has been a confusion between Greek A and A, which
so closely resemble each other. Dache and Dachos
should, therefore, be corrected into Ladie" and Lachos,
the Lahmu and Lahamu (better Lahwu and Lahawu)
of the Babylonian text. They were the male and
female personifications of the heavens. Ansar and
Kisar are the Greek author's Assoros and Kisare, the
" Host of Heaven " and the " Host of Earth " respect
ively. The three proceeding from them, Anos,
Illinos, and Aos, are the well-known Anu, the god of
the heavens ; Ellila, the Akkadian name of the god
Bel, afterwards identified with Merodach ; and Aa or
Ea, the god of the waters, who seems to have been
B

1 8 THE OLD TESTAMENT
identified by some with Yau or Jah. Aa or Ea was
the husband of Damkina, or Dawkina, the Dauke
of Damascius, from whom, as he says, Belus, i.e.
Bel-Merodach, was born, and if he did not "fabri
cate the world," at least he ordered it anew, after
his great fight with the Dragon of Chaos, as we
shall see when we come to the third tablet of the
series. After the lines printed above the text is rather
defective, but it would seem that the god Nudimmud
(Ae or Ea), " the wise and open of ear," next came
into existence. A comparison is then apparently made
between these deities on the one hand, and Tiamtu,
Apsu, and Mummu on the other — to the disadvantage
of the latter. On Apsu complaining that he had no
peace by day nor rest by night on account of the ways
of the gods, their sons, it was at last determined to
make war upon them.
"They have become hostile, and at the side of
Tiamtu they advance,
Storming, planning, not resting night and day,
They make ready for battle, wrathful (and) raging.
They assemble themselves together, and make
ready (for) the strife.
Ummu Hubur, she who created everything,
Added irresistible weapons, produced giant ser
pents,
Sharp of tooth, unsparing (their) stings (?)
She caused poison to fill their bodies like blood.
Raging dragons clothed she with terrors,
She endowed (them) with brilliance, she left
(them) on high :
' Whoever sees them may fright overwhelm,
May their bodies rear on high, and may (none;
turn aside their breast.'

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 1 9
She set up the viper, the pithon, and the Lahamu,
Great monsters, raging dogs, scorpion-men,
Raging storms, fish-men, and mountain-rams,
Bearing unsparing weapons, not fearing battle ;
Powerful are (her) commands, and irresistible,
She made altogether eleven like that,
Among the gods her firstborn, he who had made
for her a host,
Kingu, she raised among them, him she made
chief.
Those going in front before the army, those
leading the host,
Raising weapons, attacking, who rise up (for) the
fray,
The leadership of the conflict
She delivered into his hand, and caused him to
sit in state (?).
' I have set firm thy word, in the assembly of the
gods I have made thee great,
The rule of the gods, all of them, have I delivered
into thy hand,
Only be thou great — thou, my only husband —
Let them exalt thy name over all the heavenly
ones (?) '
She gave him then the tablets of fate, she placed
them in his bosom :
' As for thee, thy command shall not be changed,
may thy utterances stand firm ! '
Now Kingu is exalted, he has taken to him the
godhood of Anu,
Among the gods her sons he determines the fates.
' Open your mouths, let the Firegod be at rest.
Be ye fearful in the fight, let resistance be laid
low (?).' "

20 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Such are the last verses of the first tablet of the so-
called story of the Creation as known to the Babylon
ians, and though it would be better named if called
the Story of Bel and the Dragon, the references to
the creation of the world that are made therein pre
vent the name from being absolutely incorrect, and it
may, therefore, serve, along with the more correct one,
to designate it still. As will be gathered from the
above, the whole story centres in the wish of the god
dess of the powers of evil to get creation — the pro
duction of all that is in the world — into her own
hands. In this she is aided by certain gods, over
whom she sets one, Kingu, her husband, as chief.
In the preparations that she makes she exercises
her creative powers to produce all kinds of dread
ful monsters to help her against the gods whom
she wishes to overthrow, and the full and vigorous
description of her defenders, created by her own
hands, adds much to the charm of the narrative,
and shows well what the Babylonian scribes were
capable of in this class of record.
The first tablet breaks off after the speech of
Tiamtu to her husband Kingu. The second one
begins by stating how Aa or Ea heard of the plot of
Tiamtu and her followers against the gods of heaven.
When his first wrath on account of this had somewhat
abated, he went and related the whole, in practically
the same words as the story is given on the two fore
going pages, to Ansar, his father, who in his turn
became filled with rage, biting his lips, and uttering
cries of deepest grief. In the mutilated lines which
follow Apsu's subjugation seems to be referred to.
After this is another considerable gap, and then
comes the statement that Ansar applied to his son
Anu, "the mighty and brave, whose power is great,
whose attack irresistible," saying that if he will only
speak to her, the great Dragon's anger will be calmed
and her rage disappear.

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 21
" (Anu heard) the words of his father Ansar,
(Took the ro)ad towards her, and descended by
her path,
Anu (went), — he examined Tiamtu's lair, and
(Not having power to resist her ?), turned back."
How the god excused himself to his father Ansar
on account of his ignominious flight we do not know,
the record being again defective at this point. With
the same want of success the god Ansar then, as we
learn from another part of the narrative, applied to
the god Nudimmud, a deity who is explained in the
inscriptions as being the same as the god Aa or Ea,
but whom Professor Delitzsch is rather inclined to
regard as one of the forms of Bel.
In the end the god Merodach, the son of Aa, was
asked to be the champion of the gods against the
great emblem of the powers of evil, the Dragon of
Chaos. To become, by this means, the saviour of
the universe, was apparently just what the patron-
god of the city of Babylon desired, for he seems
immediately to have accepted the task of destroying
the hated Dragon — ,
" The lord rejoiced at his father's word,
His heart was glad, and he saith to his father :
' O lord of the gods, fate of the great gods !
If then I be your avenger,
(If) I bind Tiamtu and save you,
Assemble together, cause to be great, (and) pro
claim ye, my lot.
In Upsukenaku assembled, come ye joyfully
together,
Having opened my mouth, like you also, let me
the fates decide,
That naught be changed that I do, (even) I.
May the word of my lips neither fail nor altered
be ! ' "

22 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Ansar, without delay, calls his messenger Gaga, and
directs him to summon all the gods to a festival,
where with appetite they may sit down to a feast,
to eat the divine bread and drink the divine wine,
and there let Merodach "decide the fates," as the
one chosen to be their avenger. Then comes the
message that Gaga was to deliver to Lahmu and
Lahamu, in which the rebellion of Tiamtu is related
in practically the same words as the writer used at
the beginning of the narrative to describe Tiamtu's
revolt. Merodach's proposal and request are then
stated, and the message ends with the following
words —

" Hasten, and quickly decide for him your fate —
Let him go, let him meet your mighty foe ! "
Lahmu and Lahamu having heard all the words
of Ansar's message, which his messenger Gaga faith
fully repeated to them, they, with the Igigi, or gods
of the heavens, broke out in bitter lamentation,
saying that they could not understand Tiamtu's
acts. Then all the great gods, who " decided the fates,"
hastened to go to the feast, where they ate and drank,
and, apparently with loud acclaim, "decided the
fate" for Merodach their avenger.
Here follow the honours conferred on Merodach on
account of the mighty deed that he had undertaken
to do. They erected for him princely chambers,
wherein he sat as the great judge " in the presence of
his fathers," and they praised him as the highest
honoured among the great gods, incomparable as to
his ordinances, changeless as to the word of his mouth,
uncontravenable as to his utterances. None of them
would go against the authority that was to be hence
forth his domain.

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 23
" Merodach, thou art he who is our avenger,
(Over) the whole universe have we given thee the
kingdom."
His weapons were never to be defeated, his foes
were to be smitten down, but as for those who trusted
in him, the gods prayed him that he would grant them
life, " pouring out," on the other hand, the life of the
god who had begun the evil against which Merodach
was about to fight.
Then, so that he should see that they had indeed
given him the power to which they referred, they laid
in their midst a garment, and in accordance with their
directions, Merqdach spoke, and the garment vanished,,
— he spoke, and it reappeared —
" ' Open thy mouth, may the garment be destroyed,
Speak to it once more, and let it be restored
again ! '
He spoke with his mouth, and the garment was
destroyed,
He spoke to it again, and the garment was
reproduced."
Then all the gods called out, " Merodach is king ! "
and they gave him sceptre, throne, and insignia of
royalty, and also an irresistible weapon, which should
shatter his enemies.
" ' Now, go, and cut off tbe life of Tiamtu,
Let the winds bear away her blood to hidden
places ! '
(Thus) did the. gods, his fathers, fix the fate of
Bel.
A path of peace and goodwill they set for him as
his road."
Then the god armed himself for the fight, taking
spear (or dart), bow, and quiver. To these he added

24 THE OLD TESTAMENT
lightning flashing before him, flaming fire filling his
body; the net which his father Anu had given him
wherewith to capture "kirbis Tiamtu" or "Tiamtu
who is in the midst," he set north and south, east and
west, in order that nothing of her might escape. In
addition to all this, he created various winds — the
evil wind, the storm, the hurricane, "wind four and
seven," the harmful, the uncontrollable (?), and these
seven winds he sent forth, to confuse kirbis Tiamtu,
and they followed after him.
Next he took his great weapon called dbubu, and
mounted his dreadful, irresistible chariot, to which
four steeds were yoked — steeds unsparing, rushing
forward, flying along, their teeth full of venom, foam-
covered, experienced (?) in galloping, schooled for
overthrowing. Merodach being now ready for the
fray, he fared forth to meet the Dragon.
" Then, they clustered around him, the gods
clustered around him,
The gods his fathers clustered around him, the
gods clustered around him.
And the lord advanced, Tiamtu's retreat re
garding
Examining the lair of Kingu her consort."
The sight of the enemy was so menacing, that even
the great Merodach began to falter and lose courage,
whereat the gods, his helpers, who accompanied him,
were greatly disturbed in their minds, fearing approach
ing disaster. The king of the gods soon recovered
himself, however, and uttered to the demon a longish
challenge, on hearing which she became as one pos
sessed, and cried aloud. Muttering then incantations
and charms, she called the gods of battle to arms, and
the great fight for the rule of the universe began.
" The lord spread wide his net, made it enclose her.
The evil wind following behind, he sent on before.

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 2$
Tiamtu opened her mouth as much as she could.
He caused the evil wind to enter so that she
could not close her lips,
The angry winds filled out her body,
Her heart was overpowered, wide opened she her
mouth."
Being now at the mercy of the conqueror, the divine
victor soon made an end of the enemy of the gods,
upon whose mutilated body, when dead, he stood tri
umphantly. Great fear now overwhelmed the gods
who had gone over to her side, and fought against the
heavenly powers, and they fled to save their lives.
Powerless to escape, however, they were captured, and
their weapons broken to pieces. Notwithstanding
their cries, which filled the vast region, they had to
bear the punishment which was their due, and were
shut up in prison. The creatures whom Tiamtu had
created to help her and strike terror into the hearts of
the gods, were also brought into subjection, along with
Kingu, her husband, from whom the tablets of fate
were taken by the conqueror as things unmeet for
Tiamtu's spouse to own. It is probable that we
have here the true explanation of the origin of
this remarkable legend, for the tablets of fate were
evidently things which the king of heaven alone might
possess, and Merodach, as soon as he had overcome
his foe, pressed his own seal upon them, and placed
them in his breast.
He had now conquered the enemy, the proud
opposer of the gods of heaven, and having placed her
defeated followers in safe custody, he was able to
return to the dead and defeated Dragon of Chaos.
He split open her skull with his unsparing weapon,
hewed asunder the channels of her blood, and caused
the north wind to carry it away to hidden places.
His fathers saw this, and rejoiced with shouting, and
brought him gifts and offerings.

26 THE OLD TESTAMENT
And there, as he rested from the strife, Merodach
looked upon her who had wrought such evil in the fair
world as created by the gods, and as he looked, he
thought out clever plans. Hewing asunder the corpse
of the great Dragon that lay lifeless before him, he
made with one half a covering for the heavens, keeping
it in its place by means of a bolt, and setting there a
watchman to keep guard. He also arranged this por
tion of the Dragon of Chaos in such a way, that " her
waters could not come forth," and this circumstance
suggests a comparison with "the waters above the
firmament " of the Biblical story in Genesis.
Passing then through the heavens, he beheld that
wide domain, and opposite the abyss, he built an
abode for the god Nudimmud, that is, for his father
Aa as the creator.
" Then measured the lord the abyss's extent,
A palace in itsA likeness he founded : — Esarra ;
The palace Esarra, which he made, (is) the
heavens,
(For) Anu, Bel, and Aa he founded their strong
holds."
With these words, which are practically a descrip
tion of the creation or building, by Merodach, of the
heavens, the fourth tablet of the Babylonian legend of
the Creation comes to an end. It is difficult to find a
parallel to this part of the story in the Hebrew account
in Genesis.
The fifth tablet of the Babylonian story of the
Creation is a mere fragment, but is of considerable
interest and importance. It describes, in poetical
language, in the style with which the reader has now
become fairly familiar, the creation and ordering, by
Merodach, of the heavenly bodies, as the ancient
Babylonians conceived them to have taken place.
The text of the first few stanzas is as follows —

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 27
" He built firmly the stations of the great gods —
Stars their likeness — he set up the Lumasi,
He designated the year, he outlined the (heavenly)
forms.
He set for the twelve months three stars each.
From the day when the year begins, ... for signs.
He founded the station of Nibiru, to make known
their limits,
That none might err, nor go astray.
The station of B£l and Aa he placed with himself,
Then he opened the great gates on both sides,
Bolts he fixed on the left and on the right,
In its centre (?) then he set the zenith (?).
Nannaru (the moon) he caused to shine, ruling
the night,
So he set him as a creature ofthe night, to make
known the days,
Monthly, without failing, he provided him with a
crown,
At the beginning of the month then, dawning in
the land,
The horns shine forth to make known the
seasons (?),
On the 7th day crown(perfect)ing (?)."
Here the text becomes imperfect and very uncer
tain — so uncertain, indeed, that Professor Delitzsch
does not venture to translate it, merely contenting
himself with quoting the translations of Zimmern and
Jensen, with the remark, " Who will prove to be right,
Jensen or Zimmern — or neither?" This mutilated
portion, however, seems to refer to the moon in con
nection to the sun, and Zimmern translates one por
tion as follows — "When at sun[set] thou [risest] on
the horizon, then stand thou opposite him (on the
14th) in fullest brilliancy," a translation which, if correct,
would prove that the Babylonians had, at an extremely
early date, found that the source from which the moon

28 THE OLD TESTAMENT
borrowed her light was the sun, and that would imply
that they had already calculated, notwithstanding the
difficulty that a primitive and comparatively uncivil
ized people would have in reasoning out such a
problem, that a line drawn through the centre of the
bright part of the moon, would pass through the
centre of the sun also. ,
An exceedingly imperfect fragment of what is
supposed to be part of the fifth tablet exists. It
speaks of the bow with which Merodach overcame the
Dragon of Chaos, which the god Anu, to all appear
ance, set in the heavens as one of the constellations.
After this comes, apparently, a fragment that may
be regarded as recording the creation of the earth,
and the cities and renowned shrines upon it, the
houses of the great gods, and the cities Nippuru
(Niffer) and Asshur being mentioned. Everything,
however, is very disconnected and doubtful.
The sixth tablet, judging from the fragment recog
nized by Mr. W. L. King, must have been one of special
interest, as it to all appearance contained a description
of the creation of man. Unfortunately, only the be
ginning of the text is preserved, and is as follows : —
" Merodach, on hearing the word of the gods,
His heart urged him, and he made [cunning plans].
He opened his mouth and [said] to the god AS —
[What] he thought out in his heart he com
municates . . . :
' Let me gather my blood and let me .... bone,
Let me set up a man, and let the man ....
Let me make then men dwelling ....
May the service of the gods be established, and
as for them, let ... .
Let me alter the ways of the gods, let me chanfge
their paths] —
As one let them be honoured, as two let them
be 
Ae answered him, and the word he spake."

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 29
Here come the remains of ten very imperfect lines,
which probably related the consent of the other gods
to the proposal, and must have been followed by a
description of the way in which it was carried out.
All this, however, is unfortunately not preserved.
That the whole of Merodach's work received the
approval of "the gods his fathers" is shown by the
remains of lines with which the sixth tablet closes : —
" They rejoiced 
In Upsukenaku they caused 
Of the son, the hero, who brought back [benefit
for them] 
•' As for us, whom, succouring, he  '
They sat down, and in their assembly they
proclaimed 
. . . . they all announced  "
What they proclaimed and announced was appar
ently his glorious names, as detailed in the seventh
and last tablet of the series, which was ¦ regarded by
George Smith as containing an address to primitive
man, but which proves to be really an address to
the god Merodach praising him on account of the
great work that he had done in overcoming the
Dragon, and in thereafter ordering the world anew.
As this portion forms a good specimen of Babylonian
poetry at its best, the full text of the tablet, with
the exception of some short remains of lines, is here
presented in as careful a translation as is at present
possible.
THE SEVENTH TABLET OF THE CREATION-SERIES,
ALSO KNOWN AS THE TABLET OF THE FIFTY-
ONE NAMES.
1 Asari, bestower of planting, establisher of irrigation.
2 Creator of grain and herbs, he who causes verdure
to grow.

30 THE OLD TESTAMENT
3 Asari-alim, he who is honoured in the house of
counsel, [who increases counsel ?].
4 The gods bow down to him, fear [possesses them ?].
5 Asari-alim-nunna, the mighty one, light of the
father his begetter.
6 He who directs the oracles of Anu, Bel, [and Aa].
7 He is their nourisher, who has ordained ....
8 He whose provision is fertility, sendeth forth ....
9 Tutu, the creator of their renewal, [is he ?].
io Let him purify their desires, (as for) them, let
them [be appeased].
1 1 Let him then make his incantation, let the gods
[be at rest].
12 Angrily did he arise, may he lay low [their breast].
13 Exalted was he then in the assembly ofthe gods ....
14 None among the gods shall [forsake him].
1 5 Tutu} " Zi-ukenna," " life of the people " . .
16 " He who fixed for the gods the glorious heavens ; "
17 Their paths they took, they set ... .
18 May the deeds (that he performed) not be for
gotten among men.
19 Tutu. "Zi-azaga," thirdly, he called (him), — "he
who effects purification,"
20 " God of the good wind," " Lord of hearing and
obedience,"
21 "Creator of fulness and plenty," "Institutor of
abundance,"
22 " He who changes what is small to great,"
23 In our dire need we scented his sweet breath.
24 Let them speak, let them glorify, let them render
him obedience.
25 Tutu. "Aga-azaga," fourthly, May he make the
crowns glorious,
26 "The lord of the glorious incantation bringing
the dead to life,"
27 " He who had mercy on the gods who had been
overpowered,"
1 Written on the edge of the tablet in the Assyrian copy.

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 3 1
28 " He who made heavy the yoke that he had laid
on the gods who were his enemies,
29 (And) for their despite (?), created mankind."
30 " The merciful one," " He with whom is lifegiving,"
3 1 May his word be established, and not forgotten,
32 In the mouth of the black-headed ones (mankind)
whom his hands have made.
33 Tutu. " Mu-azaga," fifthly, May their mouth
make known his glorious incantation,
34 " He who with his glorious charm rooteth out all
the evil ones,"
35 "Sa-zu," "He who knoweth the heart of the
gods," " He who looketh at the inward
parts,"
36 " He who alloweth not evil-doers to go forth
against him,"
37 " He who assembleth the gods," appeasing their
hearts,
38 " He who subdueth the disobedient," ....
39 " He who ruleth in truth (and justice "), ....
40 " He who setteth aside injustice," 
41 Tutu. "Zi-si" ("He who bringeth about
silence"), 
42 " He who sendeth forth stillness." 
43 Tutu. " Suh-kur," " Annihilator of the enemy," .
44 " Dissolver of their agreements," 
45 " Annihilator of everything evil." 
About 40 lines, mostly very imperfect, occur here,
and some 20 others are totally lost. The text after
this continues : —
107 " Then he seized the back part (?) of the head,
which he pierced (?),
108 And as Kirbis-Tiamtu he circumvented rest
lessly,
109 His name shall be Nibiru, he who seized Kirbisu
(Tiamtu).

32 THE OLD TESTAMENT
no Let him direct the paths of the stars of
heaven,
1 1 1 Like sheep let him pasture the gods, the whole
of them.
112 May he confine Tiamtu, may he bring her life
into pain and anguish,
113 In man's remote ages, in lateness of days,
114 Let him arise, and he shall not cease, may he
continue into the remote future
115 As he made the (heavenly) place, and formed the
firm (ground),
116 Father Bel called him (by) his own name, " Lord
of the World,"
117 The appellation (by) which the Igigi have them
selves (always) called him.
1 1 8 Aa heard, and he rejoiced in his heart :
1 19 Thus (he spake) : " He, whose renowned name his
fathers have so glorified,
1 20 He shall be like me, and Aa shall be his name !
121 The total of my commands, all of them, let him
possess, and
122 The whole of my pronouncements he, (even) he,
shall make known."
123 By the appellation " fifty " the great gods
124 His fifty names proclaimed, and they caused his
career to be great (beyond all).
125 May they be accepted, and may the primaeval
one make (them) known,
1 26 May the wise and understanding altogether well
consider (them),
127 May the father repeat and teach to the son,
128 May they open the ears of the shepherd and
leader.
129 May they rejoice for the lord of the gods,
Merodach,
1 30 May his land bear in plenty ; as for him, may he
have peace.

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 33
131 His word standeth firm ; his command changeth
not^-
I32 No god hath yet made to fail that which cometh
forth from his mouth.
133 If he frown down in displeasure, he turneth not
his neck,
1 34 In his anger, there is no god who can withstand
his wrath.
135 Broad is his heart, vast is the kindness (?) of
(his) . . .
13° The sinnerand evildoer beforehimare(ashamed?)."
The remains of some further lines exist, but they
are very uncertain, the beginnings and ends being
broken away. All that can be said is, that the poem
concluded in the same strain as the last twelve lines
preserved. In the foregoing pages the reader has had placed
before him all the principal details of the Babylonian
story of the Creation, and we may now proceed to
examine the whole in greater detail.
If we may take the explanation of Damascius as
representing fairly the opinion of the Babylonians
concerning the creation of the world, it seems clear
that they regarded the matter of which it was formed
as existing in the beginning under the two forms of
Tiamtu (the sea) and Apsu (the deep), and from these,
being wedded, proceeded " an only begotten son,"
Mummu (Moumis), conceived by Damascius to be " no
other that the intelligible world proceeding from the
two principles," i. e. from Tiamtu and Apsu. From
these come forth, in successive generations, the other
gods, ending with Marduk or Merodach, also named
Bel (Bel-Merodach), the son of Aa (Ea) and his con
sort Damkina (the Aos and Dauke of Damascius).
Judging from the material that we have, the
Babylonians seemed to have believed in a kind of
evolution, for they evidently regarded the first creative

34 THE OLD TESTAMENT
powers (the watery waste and the abyss) as the rude
and barbaric beginnings of things, the divine powers
produced from these first principles (Lahmu and
Lahamu, Ansar and Kisar, Anu, Ellila, and Aa,
and finally Marduk), being successive stages in the
upward path towards perfection, with which the first
rude elements of creation were ultimately bound to
come into conflict ; for Tiamtu, the chief of the two
rude and primitive principles of creation, was, not
withstanding this, ambitious, and desired still to be
the creatress of the gods and other inferior beings
that were yet to be produced. All the divinities
descending from Tiamtu were, to judge from the
inscriptions, creators, and as they advanced towards
perfection, so also did the things that they created
advance, until, by contrast, the works of Tiamtu
became as those of the Evii Principle, and when she
rebelled against the gods who personified all that
was good, it became a battle between them of life and
death, which only the latest-born of the gods, elected
in consequence of the perfection of his power, to be
king and ruler over " the gods his fathers," was found
worthy to wage. The glorious victory gained, and
the Dragon of Evil subdued and relegated to those
places where her exuberant producing power, which,
to all appearance, she still possessed, would be of use,
Merodach, in the fulness of his power as king of the
gods, perfected and ordered the universe anew, and
created his crowning work, Mankind. Many details
are, to all appearance, wanting on account of the
incompleteness of the series, but those which remain
seem to indicate that the motive of the whole story
was as outlined here.
In Genesis, however, we have an entirely different
account, based, apparently, upon a widely different
conception of the origin of the Universe, for one prin
ciple only appears throughout the whole narrative, be
it Elohistic, Jehovistic, or priestly. " In the beginning

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 35
God created the heavens and the earth," and from the
first verse to the last it is He, and He alone, who is
Creator and Maker and Ruler of the Universe. The
only passage containing any indication that more than
one person took part in the creation of the world and
all that therein is, is in verse 26, where God is referred
to as saying, ." Let US make man," but that this is
simply the plural of majesty, and nothing more, seems
to be proved by the very next verse, where the word
ing is, " and God made man in HIS own image," etc.
There is, therefore, no trace of polytheistic influence in
the whole narrative.
Let us glance awhile at the other differences.
To begin with, the whole Babylonian narrative is
not only based upon an entirely different theory of
the beginning of all things, but upon an entirely
different conception of what took place ere man
appeared upon the earth. " In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth," implies the concep
tion of a time when the heavens and the earth existed
not. Not so, seemingly, with the Babylonian account.
There the heavens and the earth are represented as
existing, though in a chaotic form, from the first.
Moreover, it is not the external will and influence of
the Almighty that originates and produces the forms
of the first creatures inhabiting the world, but the
productive power residing in the watery waste and
the deep :
"The primaeval ocean {apsu ristu) was their
producer (lit. seeder) ;
Mummu Tiamtu was she who brought forth the
whole of them."
It is question here of "seeding" (zaru) and "bear
ing " (dladu), not of creating.
The legend is too defective to enable us to find out
anything as to the Babylonian idea concerning the
formation of the dry land. Testimony as to its non-

36 THE OLD TESTAMENT
existence at the earliest period is all that is vouchsafed
to us. At that time none of the gods had come forth,
seemingly because (if the restoration be correct) " the
fates had not been determined." There is no clue,
however, as to who was then the determiner of the fates.
Then, gradually, and in the course of long-extended
ages, the gods Lahmu and Lahamu, Ansar and Kisar,
with the others, came into existence, as already related,
after which the record, which is mutilated, goes on to
speak of Tiamtu, Apsu, and Mummu.
These deities of the Abyss were evidently greatly
disquieted on account of the existence and the work
of the gods of heaven. They therefore took counsel
together, and Apsu complained that he could not rest
either night or day on account of them. Naturally
the mutilated state of the text makes the true reason of
the conflict somewhat uncertain. Fried. Delitzsch re
garded it as due to the desire, on the part of Merodach,
to have possession of the " Tablets of Fate," which the
powers of good and the powers of evil both wished to
obtain. These documents, when they are first spoken
of, are in the hands of Tiamtu (see p. 19), and she, on
giving the power of changeless command to Kingu, her
husband, handed them to him. In the great fight,
when Merodach overcame his foes, he seized these
precious records, and placed them in his breast —
" And Kingu, who had become great over (?)
them —
He bound him, and with Ugga (the god of death)
... he counted him ;
From him then he took the Fate-tablets, which
were not his,
With his ring he pressed them, and took them to
his breast."
To all appearance, Tiamtu and Kingu were in
unlawful possession of these documents, and the king

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 37
of the gods, Merodach, when he seized them, only
took possession of what, in reality, was his own.
What power the " Tablets of Fate" conferred on their
possessor, we do not know, but in all probability the
god in whose hands they were, became, by the very
fact, creator and ruler of the universe for ever and ever.
This creative power the king of the gods at once
proceeded to exercise. Passing through the heavens,
he surveyed them, and built a palace called E-sarra,
" The house of the host," for the gods who, with him
self, might be regarded as the chief in his heavenly
kingdom. Next in order he arranged the heavenly
bodies, forming the constellations, marking off the year;
the moon, and probably the sun also, being, as stated
in Genesis, " for signs, and for seasons, and for days
and years," though all this is detailed, in the Babylo
nian account, at much greater length. Indeed, had
we the whole legend complete, we should probably
find ourselves in possession of a detailed description
of the Babylonian idea of the heavens which they
studied so constantly, and of the world on which they
lived, in relation to the celestial phenomena which
they saw around them.
Fragments of tablets have been spoken of that seem
to belong to the fifth and sixth of the series, and one
of them speaks of the building of certain ancient cities,
including that now represented by the mounds known
by the name of Niffer, which must, therefore, apart
from any considerations of paleographic progression
in the case of inscriptions found there, or evidence
based on the depth of rubbish-accumulations, be one
ofthe oldest known. It is probably on account of
this that the Talmudic writers identified the site with
the Calneh of Gen. x. 10, which, notwithstanding the
absence of native confirmation, may very easily be
correct, for the Jews of those days were undoubtedly
in a better position to know than we are, after a lapse
of two thousand years. The same text, strangely

38 THE OLD TESTAMENT
enough, also refers to the city of Assur, though this
city (which did not, apparently, belong to Nimrod's
kingdom) can hardly have been a primaeval city in
the same sense as " Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and
Calneh." The text of the Semitic Creation-story is here so
mutilated as to be useless for comparative purposes,
and in these circumstances the bilingual story of
the Creation, published by me in 1891, practically
covering, as it does, the same ground, may be held,
in a measure, to supply its place. Instead, therefore,
of devoting to this version a separate section, I insert
a translation of it here, together with a description
of the tablet upon which it is written.
This second version of the Creation-story is
inscribed on a large fragment (about four and a half
inches high) of a tablet found by Mr. Rassam at Sip
par (Abu Habbah) in 1882. The text is very neatly
written in the Babylonian character, and is given
twice over, that is, in the original (dialectic) Akkadian,
with a Semitic (Babylonian) translation. As it was
the custom of the Babylonian and Assyrian scribes,
for the sake of giving a nice appearance to what they
wrote, to spread out the characters in such a way that
the page (as it were) was "justified," and the ends of
the lines ranged, like a page of print, it often happens
that, when a line is not a full one, there is a wide
space, in the middle, without writing. In the Akka
dian text of the bilingual Creation-story, however, a
gap is left in every line, sufficiently large to ac
commodate, in slightly smaller characters, the whole
Semitic Babylonian translation. The tablet therefore
seems to be written in three columns, the first being
the first half of the Akkadian version, the second (a
broad one) the Semitic translation, and the third the
last half of the Akkadian original text, separated from
the first part to allow of the Semitic version being
inserted between.

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 39
The reason of the writing of the version already
translated and in part commented upon is not difficult
to find — it was to give an account of the origin of the
world and the gods whom they worshipped. The
reason of the writing of the bilingual story of the
Creation, however, is not so easy to decide, the account
there given being the introduction to one of those
bilingual incantations for purification, in which, how
ever, by the mutilation of the tablet, the connecting-
link is unfortunately lost. But whatever the reason
of its being prefixed to this incantation, the value and
importance of the version presented by this new
document is incontestable, not only for the legend
itself, but also for the linguistic material which a
bilingual text nearly always offers.
The following is a translation of this document —
" Incantation : The glorious house, the house of
the gods, in a glorious place had not been
made,
A plant had not grown up, a tree had not
been created,
A brick had not been laid, a beam had not been
shaped,
A house had not been built, a city had not been
constructed,
A city had not been made, no community had
power,
Niffer had not been built, E-kura had not been
constructed,
Erech had not been built, E-ana had not been
constructed,
The Abyss had not been made, Eridu had not
been constructed,
(As for) the glorious house, the house ofthe gods,
its seat had not been made —
The whole of the lands were sea.
When within the sea there was a stream,

40 THE OLD TESTAMENT
In that day Eridu was made, E-sagila was con
structed —
E-sagila, which the god Lugal-du-azaga founded
within the Abyss.
Babylon he built, E-sagila was completed.
He made the gods (and) the Anunnaki together,
The glorious city, the seat of the joy of their
hearts, supremely he proclaimed.
Merodach bound together a foundation before
the waters,
He made dust, and poured (it) out beside the
foundation,
That the gods might sit in a pleasant place.
He made mankind —
Aruru made the seed of mankind with him.
He made the beasts of the field and the living
creatures of the desert,
He made the Tigris and the Euphrates, and set
(them) in (their) place —
Well proclaimed he their name.
Grass, the marsh-plant, the reed and the forest,
he made,
He made the verdure of the plain,
The lands, the marsh, the thicket also,
The wild cow (and) her young the steer ; the
ewe (and) her young — the sheep of the fold,
Plantations and forests also.
The goat and the wild goat multiplied for him (?).
Lord Merodach on the sea-shore made a bank,
. . . . (which) at first he made not,
 he caused to be.
(He caused the plant to be brought forth), he
made the tree,
(Everything?) he made in (its) place.
(He laid the brick), he made the beams,
(He constructed the house), he built the city,
(He built the city), the community exercised
power,

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 41
(He built the city Niffer), he built E-kura, the
temple,
(He built the city Erech, he built E-a)na, the
temple,"
Here the obverse breaks off, and the end of the
bilingual story of the Creation-story is lost. How
many more lines were devoted to it we do not know,
nor do we know how the incantation proper, which
followed it, and to which it formed the introduction,
began. Where the text (about half-way down on the
reverse) again becomes legible, it reads as follows —
" Thy supreme messenger, Pap-sukal, the wise one,
counsellor of the gods.
Nin-aha-kudu, daughter of Aa,
May she make thee glorious with a glorious
lustration (?),
May she make thee pure with pure fire,
With the glorious pure fountain of the abyss
purify thou thy pathway,
By the incantation of Merodach, king of the
universe of heaven and earth,
May the abundance of the land enter into thy
midst,
May thy command be fulfilled for ever.
O E-zida, seat supreme, the beloved of Anu and
I star art thou,
Mayest thou shine like heaven ; mayest thou be
glorious like the earth ; mayest thou shine like
the midst of heaven ;
May the malevolent curse dwell outside of thee.
Incantation making (the purification ofthe temple).
Incantation : The star . . . the long chariot
of the heavens."
The last line but one is apparently the title, and
is followed by the first line of the next tablet. From

42 THE OLD TESTAMENT
this we see that this text belonged to a series of at
least two tablets, and that the tablet following the
above had an introduction of an astronomical or
astrological nature.
It will be noticed that this text not only contains
an account of the creation of gods and men, and flora
and fauna, but also of the great and renowned sites
and shrines of the country where it originated. It is
in this respect that it bears a likeness to the frag
mentary portions of the intermediate tablets of the
Semitic Babylonian story of the Creation, or Bel and
the Dragon, and this slight agreement may be held to
justify, in some measure, its introduction here. The
bilingual version, however, differs very much in style
from that in Semitic only, and seems to lack the
poetical form which characterizes the latter. This,
indeed, was to be expected, for poetical form in a
translation which follows the original closely is an
impossibility, though the poetry of words and ideas
which it contains naturally remains. It is not unlikely
that the original Sumerian text is in poetical form, as
is suggested by the cesura, and the recurring words.
In the bilingual account of the Creation one seems
to get a glimpse of the pride that the ancient Babylo
nians felt in the ancient and renowned cities of their
country. The writer's conception of the wasteness
and yoidness of the earth in the beginning seems to
have been that the ancient cities Babel, Niffer, Erech
and Eridu had not yet come into existence. For
him, those sites were as much creations as the vegeta
tion and animal life of the earth. Being, for him,
sacred sites, they must have had a sacred, a divine
foundation, and he therefore attributes their origin to
the greatest of the gods, Merodach, who built them,
brick, and beam, and house, himself. Their renowned
temples, too, had their origin at the hands of the
Divine Architect of the Universe.
A few words are necessary in elucidation of what

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 43
follows the line, " When within the sea there was a
stream." " In that day," it says, " Eridu was made,
E-sagila was constructed — E-sagila which the god
Lugal-du-azaga founded within the Abyss. Babylon
he built, E-sagila was completed." The connection of
E-sagila, " the temple of the lofty head," which was
within the Abyss,A with Eridu, shows, with little or no
doubt, that the Eridu there referred to was not the
earthly city of that name, but a city conceived as
lying also "within the Abyss." This Eridu, as we
shall see farther on, was the " blessed city," or Para
dise, wherein was the tree of life, and which was
watered by the twin stream of the Tigris and the
Euphrates. But there was another E-sagila than that founded
by the god Lugal-du-azaga within the Abyss, namely
the E-sagila at Babylon, and it is this fane that is
spoken of in the phrase following that mentioning the
temple so called within the Abyss. To the Babylo
nian, therefore, the capital of the country was, in that
respect, a counterpart of the divine city that he
regarded as the abode of bliss, where dwelt Nammu,
the river-god, and the sun-god Dumuzi-Abzu, or
" Tammuz of the Abyss." Like Sippar too, Babylon
was situated in what was called the plain, the
edina, of which Babylonia mainly consisted, *and
which is apparently the original of the Garden of
Eden. The present text differs from that of the longer
(Semitic) story of the Creation, in that it makes
Merodach to be the creator of the gods, as well as
of mankind, and all living things. This, of course,
implies that it was composed at a comparatively late
date, when the god Merodach had become fully
recognized as the chief divinity, and the fact that Aa
was his father had been lost sight of, and practically
forgotten. The goddess Aruru is apparently intro
duced into the narrative out of consideration for the

44 THE OLD TESTAMENT
city Sippar-Aruru, of which she was patron. In
another text she is called " Lady of the gods of Sippar
and Aruru." There is also a goddess (perhaps
identical with her) called Gala-aruru, " Great Aruru,"
or "the great one (of) Aruru," who is explained as
" Istar the star," on the tablet K. 2109.
After the account of the creation of the beasts of
the field, the Tigris and the Euphrates, vegetation,
lands, marshes, thickets, plantations and forests, which
are named, to all appearance, without any attempt at
any kind of order, " The lord Merodach " is represented
as creating those things which, at first, he had not
made, namely, the great and ancient shrines in whose
antiquity and glorious memories the Babylonian —
and the Assyrian too — took such delight. The list,
however, is a short one, and it is to be supposed that,
in the lines that are broken away, further cities of the
kingdom of Babylon were mentioned. That this was
the case is implied by the reverse, which deals mainly
— perhaps exclusively — with the great shrine of Bor-
sippa called E-zida, and identified by many with the
Tower of Babel. How it was brought in, however, we
have no means of finding out, and must wait patiently
for the completion of the text that will, in all proba
bility, ultimately be discovered.
The reverse has only the end of the text, which, as
far as it is preserved, is in the form of an " incantation
of Eridu," and mentions "the glorious fountain of
the Abyss," which to was " purify " or " make glorious"
the pathway of the personified fane referred to. As
it was the god Merodach, " the merciful one," " he who
raises the dead to life," "the lord of the glorious
incantation," who was regarded by the Babylonians
as revealing to mankind the " incantation of Eridu,"
which he, in his turn, obtained from his father Aa, we
may see in this final part of the legend not only a
glorification of the chief deity of the Babylonians, but
also a further testimony of the fact that the com-

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 45
position must belong to the comparatively late period
in the history of Babylonian religion, when the worship
of Merodach had taken the place of thatof his father Aa.
Of course, it must not be supposed that the longer
account of the Creation was told so shortly as the
bilingual narrative that we have introduced here to
supply the missing parts of the longer version.
Everything was probably recounted at much greater
length, and in confirmation of this there is the testi
mony of the small fragment of the longer account,
translated on p. 28. This simply contains the an
nouncement that Merodach had made cunning plans,
and decided to create man from his own blood, and
[to form ?] his bones, but there must have been, in
the long gap which then ensues, a detailed account
of the actual creation of the human race, probably
with some reference to the formation of animals.
One cannot base much upon this mutilated fragment,
but, as the first translator has pointed out, the object
in creating man was seemingly to ensure the perform
ance of the service (or worship) of the gods, and the
building of their shrines, prayer and sacrifice, with
the fear of God, being duties from which there was
no escape.
In the last tablet of the series — that recording the
praises of Merodach and his fifty new names, — there
are a few points that are worthy of examination. In
the first place, the arrangement of the first part is
noteworthy. The principal name that was given to him
seems not to have been Merodach, as one would expect
from the popularity of the name in later days, but
Tutu, which occurs in the margin, at the head of six
of the sections, and was probably prefixed to at least
three more. This name Tutu is evidently an Akka
dian reduplicate word, from the root tu, " to beget,"
and corresponds with the explanation of the word
given by the list of Babylonian gods, K. 2107 ; mu&l-
lid tlani, muddis Hani, " begetter of the gods, renewer

46 THE OLD TESTAMENT
of the gods " — a name probably given to him on
account of his identification with his father, Aa, for,
according to the legend, Merodach was rather the
youngest than the oldest of the gods, who are even
called, as will be remembered, " his fathers." In the
lost portion at the beginning of the final tablet he
was also called, according to the tablet here quoted,
Gugu = muttakkil Hani, " nourisher of the gods " ;
Mumu = muspis Hani, " increaser (?) of the gods";
Duga.n = bani kala Hani, "maker of all the gods";
Dudu = muttarru Hani, " saviour (?) of the gods " ;
Sar-azaga = sa sipat-su ellit, " he whose incantation is
glorious"; and Mu-azaga = /«a: tu-su illit, "he whose
charm is glorious" (cf. p. 31, 1. 33). After this we
have Sa-zu or Sa-sud = mud£ libbi Hani or libbi ruku,
"he who knoweth the heart ofthe gods," or "the remote
of heart" (p. 31, 1. 35) ; Zi-ukenna = napsat naphar
Hani, " the life of the whole of the gods " (p. 30, 1. 15);
Zi-si = nasih. sabuti, " he who bringeth about silence "
(p. 31, 1. 41); Suh-kur = muballu aabi, "anni
hilator of the enemy" (p. 31, 1. 43); and other
names meaning muballH. naphar aabi, nasih. raggi,
" annihilator of the whole of the enemy, rooter out of
evil," nasih naphar raggi, " rooter out of the whole of
the evil," isu raggi, " troubler of the evil (ones)," and
isu naphar raggi, " troubler of the whole of the evil
(ones)." All these last names were probably enumer
ated on the lost part of the tablet between where the
obverse breaks off and the reverse resumes the narra
tive, and the whole of the fifty names conferred upon
him, which were enumerated in their old Akkadian
forms and translated into Semitic Babylonian in this
final tablet of the Creation, were evidently repeated in
the form of a list of gods, on the tablet in tabular form
from which the above renderings are taken.
Hailed then as the vanquisher of Kirbis-Tiamtu,
the great Dragon of Chaos, he is called by the name of
Nibiru, " the ferry," a name of the planet Jupiter as

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 47
the traverser of the heavens (one of the points of
contact between Babylonian and Greek mythology),
the stars of which he was regarded as directing, and
keeping (lit. pasturing) like sheep. (Gods and stars
may here be regarded as convertible terms.) His
future is then spoken of, and " father Bel " gives him
his own name, " lord of the world." Rejoicing in the
honours showered on his son, and not to be outdone
in generosity, Aa decrees that henceforth Merodach
shall be like him, and that he shall be called . Aa,
possessing all his commands, and all his pronounce
ments — i. e. all the wisdom which he, as god of deep
wisdom, possessed. Thus was Merodach endowed
with all the names, and all the attributes, of the gods
of the Babylonians — " the fifty renowned names of the
great gods."
This was, to all intents and purposes, symbolic of a
great struggle, in early days, between polytheism and
monotheism — for the masses the former, for the more
learned and thoughtful the latter. Of this we shall
have further proof farther on, when discussing the
name of Merodach. For the present be it simply
noted, that this is not the only text identifying
Merodach with the other gods.
The reference to the creation of mankind in line
29 of the obverse (p. 31) is noteworthy, notwith
standing that the translation of one of the words —
and that a very important one — is very doubtful.
Apparently man was created to the despite ofthe rebel
lious gods, but there is also just the possibility that
there exists here an idiomatic phrase meaning " in
their room." If the latter be the true rendering, this
part of the legend would be in striking accord with
Bishop Avitus of Vienne, with the old English poet
Caedmon, and with Milton in his Paradise Lost. In
connection with this, too, the statement in the reverse,
lines 113 and 114, where "man's remote ages" is
referred to, naturally leads one to ask, Have we here

48 THE OLD TESTAMENT
traces of a belief that, in ages to come (" in lateness of
days "), Merodach was to return and live among men
into the remote future ? The return of a divinity or a
hero of much-cherished memory is such a usual thing
among popular beliefs, that this may weir have been
the case likewise among the Babylonians.
The comparison of the two accounts of the Creation
— that of the Hebrews and that of the Babylonians,
that have been presented to the reader — will probably
have brought prominently before him the fact, that
the Babylonian account, notwithstanding all that has
been said to the contrary, differs so much from the
Biblical account, that they are, to all intents and
purposes, two distinct narratives. That there are
certain ideas in common, cannot be denied, but most
of them are ideas that are inseparable from two
accounts of the same event, notwithstanding that
they have been composed from two totally different
standpoints. In writing an account of the Creation,
statements as to what are the things created must of
necessity be inserted. There is, therefore, no proof of
a connection between two accounts of the Creation in
the fact that they both speak ofthe formation of dry
land, or because they both state that plants, animals,
and man were created. Connection may be inferred
from such statements that the waters were the first
abode of life, or that an expansion was created
dividing the waters above from those below. With
reference to such points of contact as these just men
tioned, however, the question naturally arises, Are
these points of similarity sufficient to justify the belief
that two so widely divergent accounts as those of the
Bible and of the Babylonian tablets have one and the
same origin ? In the mind of the present writer there
seems to be but one answer, and that is, that the two
accounts are practically distinct, and are the production
of people having entirely different ideas upon the
subject, though they may have influenced each other

II.

Fragments of tablets (duplicates), giving the words for the different fasts,
festivals, etc., of the Babylonians and Assyrians. Line 4 of the small piece,
and 16 of the large one, have the words iim n-iih libbi, "day of rest of the
heart," explained by sapattum (from the Sumerian sa-bat, " heart-rest "),
generally regarded as the original of the Hebrew Sabbath. Sapattum, how
ever, was the 15th day of the month. The nearest approaches to Sabbaths
were the 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, and 19th, which were called u-hul-gallu or
umu limnu, "the evil day" (the 19th being a week of weeks, from the 1st day
of the preceding month), because it was unlawful to do certain things on
those days.

(Page 49.)

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 49
in regard to certain points, such as the two mentioned
above. For the rest, the fact that there is —
No direct statement of the creation of the heavens
and the earth ;
No systematic division of the things created into
groups and classes, such as is found in Genesis ;
NO REFERENCE TO THE DAYS OF CREATION ;
No appearance of the Deity as the first and only
cause of the existence of things —
must be held as a sufficient series of prime reasons why
the Babylonian and the Hebrew versions of the
Creation-story must have had different origins.
As additional arguments may also be quoted the
polytheism of the Babylonian account ; the fact that
it appears to be merely the setting to the legend of
Bel and the Dragon, and that, as such, it is simply the
glorification of Merodach, the patron divinity of the
Babylonians, over the other gods of the Assyro-
Babylonian Pantheon.

SIDELIGHTS :— MERODACH.
To judge from the inscriptions of the Babylonians
and Assyrians, one would say that there were not
upon the earth more pious nations than they. They
went constantly in fear of their gods, and rendered to
them the glory for everything that they succeeded in
bringing to a successful conclusion. Prayer, supplica
tion, and self-debasement before their gods seem to
have been their delight.
" The time for the worship of the gods was my
heart's delight,
The time of the offering to Istar was profit and
riches," D

50 THE OLD TESTAMENT
sings Ludlul the sage, and one of a list of sayings is
to the following effect —
" When thou seest the profit of the fear of God,
Thou wilt praise God, thou wilt bless the king."
Many a penitential psalm and hymn of praise
exists to testify to the piety of the ancient nations of
Assyria and Babylonia. Moreover, this piety was, to
all appearance, practical, calling forth not only self-
denying offerings and sacrifices, but also, as we shall
see farther on, lofty ideas and expressions of the
highest religious feeling.
And the Babylonians were evidently proud of their
religion. Whatever its defects, the more enlightened
— the scribes and those who could read — seem to have
felt that there was something in it that gave it the
very highest place. And they were right — there was
in this gross polytheism of theirs a thing of high
merit, and that was, the character of the chief of their
gods, Merodach.
We see something of the reverence of the Babylo
nians and Assyrians for their gods in almost all of
their historical inscriptions, and there is hardly a single
communication of the nature of a letter that does not
call down blessings from them upon the person to
whom it is addressed. In many a hymn and pious
expression they show in what honour they held them,
and their desire not to offend them, even involuntarily,
is visible in numerous inscriptions that have been
found. "My god, who art displeased, receive (?) my
(prayer?),
My goddess, who art wroth, accept (my supplica
tion) —
Accept my supplication, and let thy mind be at
rest.

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 5 1
My lord, gracious and merciful, (let thy mind be
at rest).
Make easy (O my goddess) the day that is
directed for death,
My god, (grant that I be ?) free (?).
My goddess, have regard for me, and receive my
supplication.
Let my sins be separated, and let my misdeeds
be forgotten —
Let the ban be loosened, let the fetter fall.
Let the seven winds carry away my sighing.
Let me tear asunder my evil, and let a bird carry
it aloft to the sky.
Let a fish carry off my trouble, and let the stream
bear it away.
Let the beasts of the field take (it) away from
me.
Let the flowing waters of the stream cleanse me.
Make me bright as a chain of gold —
Let me be precious in thy eyes as a diamond
ring!
Blot out my evil, preserve my life.
Let me guard thy court, and stand in thy
sanctuary (?).
Make me to pass away from my evil state, let me
be preserved with thee !
Send to me, and let me see a propitious
dream —
Let the dream that I shall see be propitious — let
the dream that I shall see be true,
Turn the dream that I shall see to a favour,
Let Masara (?), the god of dreams, rest by my
head,
Make me to enter into E-sagila, the temple of the
gods, the house of life.
Deliver me, for his favour, into the gracious
hands of the merciful Merodach,

52 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Let me be subject to thy greatness, let me glorify
thy divinity ;
Let the people of my city praise thy might ! "
Here the text breaks off, but sufficient of it remains
to show of what the devotion of the Babylonians and
Assyrians to their gods consisted, and what their
beliefs really were. For some reason or other, the
writer recognizes that the divinity whom he worships
is displeased with him, and apparently comes to the
conclusion that the consort of the god is displeased
also. He therefore prays and humbles himself before
them, asking that his misdeeds may be forgotten, and
that he may be separated from his sins, by which he
feels himself to be bound and fettered. He imagines
to himself that the seven winds, or a little bird, or a
fish, or a beast of the field, or the waters of a stream,
may carry his sin away, and that the flowing waters of
the river may cleanse him from his sin, making him
pure in the eyes of his god as a chain of gold, and
precious to him as the most precious thing that he
can think of, namely, a diamond ring (upon such
material and worldly similes did the thoughts of the
Babylonians run). He wishes his life (or his soul —
the word in the original is napisti, which Zimmern
translates Seele) to be saved, to pass away from his
evil state, and to dwell with his god, from whom he
begs for a sign in the form of a propitious dream, a
dream that shall come true, showing that he is in
reality once more in the favour of his god, who, he
hopes, will deliver him into the gracious hands of the
merciful Merodach, that he and all his city may praise
his great divinity.
Fragment though it be, in its beginning, develop
ment, and climax, it is, to all intents and purposes, per
fect, and a worthy specimen of compositions of this class.
It is noteworthy that the suppliant almost re-echoes

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 53
the words of the Psalmist in those passages where he
speaks of his guarding the court of the temple of his
god and dwelling in his temple (E-sagila, the renowned
temple at Babylon), wherein, along with other deities,
the god Merodach was worshipped — the merciful one,
into whose gracious hands he wished to be delivered.
The prayer that his sin might be carried away by a
bird, or a fish, etc., brings up before the mind's eye the
picture of the scapegoat, fleeing, laden with the sins of
the pious Israelite, into the desert to Azazel.
To all appearance, the worshipper, in the above
extract, desires to be delivered by the god whom he
worships into the hands of the god Merodach. This
is a point that is worthy of notice, for it seems to show
that the Babylonians, at least in later times, regarded
the other deities in the light of mediators with the
chief of the Babylonian Pantheon. As manifestations
of him, they all formed part of his being, and through
them the suppliant found a channel to reconciliation
and forgiveness of his sins.
In this there seems to be somewhat of a parallel to
the Egyptian belief in the soul, at death, being united
with Osiris. The annihilation of self, however, did
not, in all probability, recommend itself to the Baby
lonian mind any more than it must have done to the
mind of the Assyrian. To all appearance, the preserv
ation of one's individuality, in the abodes of bliss
after death, was with them an essential to the reality
of that life beyond the grave. If we adopt here
Zimmern's translation oinapisti by "soul," the necessity
of interpreting the above passage in the way here
indicated seems to be rendered all the greater.
The Creation legend shows us how the god
Merodach was regarded by the Babylonians as having
attained his high position among the "gods his
fathers," and the reverence that they had for this deity
is not only testified to by that legend, but also by the
many documents of a religious nature that exist.

54 THE OLD TESTAMENT
This being the case, it is only natural to suppose, that
he would be worshipped both under the name of
Merodach, his usual appellation, and also under any
or all of the other names that were attributed to him
by the Babylonians as having been conferred upon
him by the gods at the time of his elevation to the
position of their chief.
Not only, therefore, was he called Marduk (Amar-
uduk, " the brightness of day "), the Hebrew Merodach,
but he bore also the names of Asaru or Asari, identi
fied by the Rev. C. J. Ball and Prof. Hommel with
the Egyptian Osiris — a name that would tend to
confirm what is stated above concerning the possible
connection between the Egyptian and Babylonian
beliefs in the immortality of the soul. This name
Asaru was compounded with various other (explana
tory) epithets, making the fuller names Asari-lu-duga
(probably " Asari, he who is good "), Asari-lu-duga-
namsuba (" Asari, he who is good, the charm "),
Asari-lu-duga-namti (" Asari, he who is good, the
life"), Asari-alima (" Asari, the prince "), Asari-
alima-nuna (" Asari, the prince, the mighty one "),
etc., all showing the estimation in which he was
held, and testifying to the sacredness of the first
component, which, as already remarked, has been
identified with the name of Osiris, the chief divinity of
the Egyptians. Among his other names are (besides
those quoted from the last tablet of the story of the
Creation and the explanatory list that bears upon it)
some of apparently foreign origin, among them being
Amaru (? short for Amar-uduk) and Sal-ila, the lattei
having a decidedly western Semitic look.1 As " the
warrior," he seems to have borne the name of Gusur
(? "the strong ") ; another of his Akkadian appellations
was Gudibir, and as " lord " of all the world he was
called Bel, the equivalent of the Baal ofthe Phoenicians
1 Cf. the royal names, Anman-ila, Bungun-ila, etc., in the
so-called Arabic Dynasty of Babylon.

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 55
and the Beel of the Aramaeans. In astronomy his
name was given to several stars, and he was identified
with the planet Jupiter, thus making him the counter
part of the Greek and Latin Zeus or Jove.
As has been said above, Merodach was the god that
was regarded by the Babylonians and Assyrians as
he who went about doing good on behalf of mankind.
If he saw a man in affliction — suffering, for instance,
from any malady — he would go and ask his father Aa,
he who knew all things, and who had promised to
impart all his knowledge to his royal son, what the
man must do to be cured of the disease or relieved of
the demon which troubled him. The following will
give some idea of what the inscriptions detailing these
charms and incantations, which the god was supposed
to obtain from his father, were like —
" Incantation : The sickness of the head hath
darted forth from the desert, and rushed like
the wind.
Like lightning it flasheth, above and below it
smiteth,
The impious man x like a reed it cutteth down,
and
His nerves like a tendril it severeth.
(Upon him) for whom the goddess Istar hath no
care, and whose flesh is in anguish,
Like a star of heaven it (the sickness) flasheth
down, like a night-flood it cometh.
Adversity is set against the trembling man, and
threateneth him like a lion —
It hath stricken that man, and
The man rusheth about like one who is mad —
Like one whose heart is smitten he goeth to and
fro,
Like one thrown into the fire he burneth,
» Literally " he who feareth not his god."

56 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Like the wild ass that runneth (?), his eyes are
filled with cloud,
Being alive, he eateth, yet is he bound up with
death.
The disease,1 which is like a violent wind, nobody
knoweth its path —
Its completed time, and its connection nobody
knoweth."
(Here come abbreviations of the set phrases stating
that the god Merodach perceived the man who was
suffering, and went to ask his father Aa, dwelling in
the Abyss, how the man was to be healed of the sick
ness that afflicted him. In the texts that give the
wanting parts, Aa is represented as asking his son
Merodach what it was that he did not know, and in
what he could still instruct him. What he (Aa)
knows, that Merodach shall also know. He then tells
Merodach to go and work the charm.)
" The haltigilla plant groweth alone in the desert
Like the sun-god entering his house, cover its
head with a garment, and
Cover the haltigilla plant, and enclose some meal,
and
In the desert, before the rising sun
Root it out from its place, and
Take its root, and
Take the skin of a young goat, and
Bind up the head of the sick man, and

May a gust (?) of wind carry it (the disease) away,
and may it not return to its place.
O spirit of heaven, exorcise ; spirit of earth,
exorcise."
The Akkadian line has " the sickness (disease) of the head,"

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 57
The numerous incantations of this class, in which
the god Merodach is represented as playing the part
of benefactor to the sick and afflicted among mankind,
and interesting himself in their welfare, are exceed
ingly numerous, and cover a great variety of maladies
and misfortunes. No wonder, therefore, that the
Babylonians looked upon the god, their own god,
with eyes of affection, and worship, and reverence.
Indeed, it is doubtful whether the Hebrews themselves,
the most God-fearing nation of their time, looked upon
the God of their fathers with as much affection, or
reverence, as did the Babylonians regard the god
Merodach. They show it not only in the inscrip
tions of the class quoted above, but also in numerous
other texts. All the kings of Babylonia, and not
a few of those of Assyria, with one consent pay him
homage, and testify to their devotion. The names
of princes and common people, too, often bear
witness to the veneration that they felt for this, the
chief of their gods. " Merodach is lord of the gods,"
" Merodach is master of the word," " With Merodach
is life," " The dear one of the gods is Merodach,"
" Merodach is our king," " (My, his, our) trust is
Merodach," " Be gracious to me, O Merodach,"
"Direct me, O Merodach," "Merodach protects,"
" Merodach has given a brother " (Marduk-nadin-ahi,
the name of one of Nebuchadrezzar's sons), " A judge
is Merodach," etc., etc., are some of the names com
pounded with that of this popular divinity. Merodach
was not so much in use, as the component part of a
name, as the god of wisdom, Nebo, but it is not by
any means improbable that this is due to the reverence
in which he was held, which must, at times, have led
the more devout to avoid the pronunciation of his
name any more than was necessary, though, if that
was the case, it never reached the point of an utter
prohibition against its utterance, such as caused the
pronunciation of the Hebrew Yahwah to become

58 THE OLD TESTAMENT
entirely lost even to the most learned for many
hundred years. Those, therefore, who wished to avoid
the profanation, by too frequent utterance, of this
holy name, could easily do so by substituting the
name of some other deity, for, as we have seen above,
the names of all the gods couid be applied to him, and
the doctrine of their identification with him only grew
in strength — we know not under what influence — as
time went on, until Marduk or Merodach became
synonymous with the word Hu, " God," and is even
used as such in a list where the various gods are
enumerated as his manifestations. The portion of the
tablet in question containing these advanced ideas is
as follows — 81-11-3, in.
"... .is Merodach of planting.
Lugal-a-ki-. . is Merodach of the water-spring.
Ninip is Merodach of the garden (?).
Nergal is Merodach of war.
Zagaga is Merodach of battle.
Bel is Merodach of lordship and dominion.
Nebo is Merodach of wealth (or trading).
Sin is Merodach the illuminator of the night.
Samas is Merodach of truth (or righteousness).
Rimmon is Merodach of rain.
Tishu is Merodach of handicraft.
Sig is Merodach of ... .
Suqamuna is Merodach of the (irrigation-)
reservoir."

As this tablet is not complete, there is every prob
ability that the god Merodach was identified, on the
lost portion, with at least as many deities as appear
on the part that time has preserved to us.
This identification of deities with each other would

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 59
seem to have been a far from uncommon thing in the
ancient East during those heathen times. A large
number of deities of the Babylonian Pantheon are
identified, in the Assyrian proper names, with a very
interesting divinity whose name appears as Aa, and
which may possibly turn out to be only one of the
many forms that are met with of the god Ya'u or Jah,
who was not only worshipped by the Hebrews, but
also by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, and other
nations of the East in ancient times. Prof. Hommel,
the well-known Assyriologist and Professor of Semitic
languages at Munich, suggests that this god Yi is
another form of the name of Ea, which is possible,
but any assimilation of the two divinities is probably
best explained upon the supposition that the people
of the East in ancient times identified them with each
other in consequence of the likeness between the two
names. In any case, the identification of a large number of
the gods — perhaps all of them — with a deity whose
name is represented by the group Aa, is quite certain.
Thus we have Assur-Aa, Ninip-Aa, Bel-Aa, Nergal-
Aa, Samas-Aa, Nusku-Aa, Sin-Aa, etc., and it is
probable that the list might be greatly extended.
Not only, however, have we a large number of deities
identified with Aa, but a certain number of them are
also identified with the deity known as Ya, Ya'u, or
Au, the Jah of the Hebrews. Among these may be
cited Bel-Yau,"Bel is Jah," Nabu-Ya', " Nebo is Jah,"
Ahi-Yau, "Ahi is Jah," a name that would seem to
confirm the opinion which Fuerst held, that ahi was, in
this connection, a word for " god," or a god. In Ya-
Dagunu, "Jah is Dagon," we have the elements
reversed, showing a wish to identify Jah with Dagon,
rather than Dagon with Jah, whilst another interesting
name, Au-Aa, shows an identification of Jah with Aa,
two names which have every appearance of being
etymologically connected.

60 THE OLD TESTAMENT
There is then but little doubt that we have in these
names an indication of an attempt at what may be
regarded as concentration — a desire and tendency
towards monotheism. When this began, and what
the real opinions of the more thoughtful upon the
subject of the unity or the plurality of the deity may
have been, we have at present no means of finding
out. There can be no doubt, however, that it sprang
from more than one cause — the desire not to offend
either heavenly or earthly powers by seeming to
favour one divinity more than another, the difficulty
of dividing and apportioning the domain in nature of
every divinity, the wish to identify the divine patrons
of the various nationalities with a view to understand
ing what they really were, and describing their nature
for either religious or political purposes — all these
things, and probably others, would tend to counteract
not only polytheistic bigotry, but also the exclusive
appropriation by one tribe or people of any particular
divinity, who was their own special helper against their
enemies, and to whose particular protection they
defiantly laid claim. When in conflict or in dispute
with another, there is no doubt that the man bearing
the name of Samas-nuri, for instance, would be met
with the fierce taunt, " The Sun-god is not more thy
light than he is mine," and, as an answer to Ya-abi-ni,
" Jah is our father too, and more so than he is yours,"
would at once spring to the lips of any Jew with whom
the bearer of the name may have had a dispute.
For the thoughtful, God was one, and all the various
gods of the heathen were but His manifestations, mis
conceived and misunderstood by the ignorant and
thoughtless, but, rightly regarded, full of deep signi
ficance. The Jews in later times had, in all probability,
no tendency to polytheism, yet it is certain that they
had but little objection to bearing heathen names, and
of all the examples that might be adduced, there is
probably not one that is more noteworthy than

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 6l
Mordecai, or Mardecai, the worshipper of Merodach
as typical of the God beside whom there was none
other, of whom, as we have seen, — and that from a
Babylonian tablet, — all the other deities of the Baby
lonian Pantheon were but manifestations.

THE GOD AA, AE, OR EA.
As the primitive deity of the Babylonian Pantheon,
and as apparently closely identified with the well-
known deity Jah, who was worshipped by a large
section of the Semitic nations, and whose name is one
of the words for " god " in the Assyro-Babylonian lan
guage, the god Ea, Ae, or Aa, deserves notice here not
only on account of his being the creator of all the
gods, but also on account of his fatherhood to Mero
dach, who, in Babylonian mythology, was conceived
as supplanting him — not by any unfair means, but by
the right of being the fittest to exercise power and
dominion over the world, the universe, and even over
" the gods his fathers."
Assyriologists early recognized the attributes of the
god whose name they then read Hea. They saw that
he was regarded by the ancient Babylonians and
Assyrians as the god of streams, rivers, seas, and the
watery abyss of the under-world — the waters under the
earth. Of the god Ae or Ea all sorts of wonderful
stories were told by the Babylonians, who attributed
to him, as the god of wisdom and knowledge, the
origin of the civilization which they enjoyed. His
name, as god of deep wisdom, was Nin-igi-azaga,
" the lord of the bright eye," a name which would
seem to show that the Akkadians (the names of most
of the deities of the Assyro-Babylonian Pantheon are
written in Akkadian) associated, as we also do at the
present day, intelligence with brightness of the eyes,
or, more correctly, with alertness of appearance.
But this god had many other names than those

62 THE OLD TESTAMENT
mentioned above. He was En-ki, " lord of the world " ;
Amma-ana-ki, " lord of heaven and earth " ; Engur,
" god of the Abyss " ; Nudimmud, " god of creation " ;
Nadimmud, " god of everything " ; Nun-ura, " god of
the potter " ; Nin-agal, " god of the smith " ; Dunga,
"god of the singer" (?) ; Nin-bubu, "god of the
sailor " ; Kuski-banda, " god of goldsmiths " ; — in fact,
he seems to have been the god of arts and crafts in
general. He was also called Ellila-banda, " the power
ful lord " ; En-uru and Nin-uru, " the protecting lord" ;
Lugal-ida, " king of the river " ; Lugal, En, Nuna, and
Dara-abzu, " king," " lord," " prince," and " ruler of the
abyss " ; Dara-dim, Dara-nuna, and Dara-banda,
honorific titles as "creator," "princely ruler," and
" powerful ruler " ; Alima-nuna, Alima-banda, and
Alima-sum-ki, " princely lord," " powerful lord," and
" lord disposer of the earth." He bore also besides
these a large number of names, among which may
be cited, as an example of his many-sidedness, the
following —
Sarsara, apparently " the overwhelmer," probably
as lord of the sea and its teeming myriads.
En-tf," lord of life."
Gana-si, probably "the enclosure full (of life)."
Nam-zida, " righteousness."
Idima (Akk.) or Naqbu (Bab.), " the deep."
Sa-kalama, " ruler ofthe land."
Sanabaku and Sanabi, the god " 40."
That the sea was the abode of the god of know
ledge seems to have been the belief of the Babylonians
from the earliest times. According to Berosus, whose
record has been preserved by Apollodoros, Abydenus,
and Alexander Polyhistor, there appeared more than
once, from the Erythraean Sea (the Persian Gulf), " the
Musaros Oannes, the Annedotos," a creature half man
and half fish, probably conceived in shape of the deity

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 63
answering to this description found on certain Baby
lonian cylinder-seals, in a sculpture with representa
tions of marine monsters, now preserved in the Louvre,
and in the divine figures in the shape of a man clothed
with a fish's skin, preserved in the form of clay
statuettes and large sculptures (bas-reliefs) in the
British Museum. Abydenus apparently understands
Berosus differently, for he makes Annedqtos and
Oannes to be different personages. All those who
have quoted Berosus, however, agree in the main
point, that these beings, half man and half fish, came
out of the sea to teach mankind. There is hardly any
doubt that in some of these cases the deity that is
intended is the god whose name is now read Ae or
Ea, who was called Aos by Damascius. After the
appearance of the fourth Annedotos, there came
another person, also from the Erythraean Sea, named
Odakon, having, like the former, the same compli
cated form, between a man and a fish. To these names
Abydenus, still quoting Berosus, adds those of four
more " double-shaped personages " named Euedocos,
Eneugamos, Eneuboulos, and Anementos. These
last came forth in the reign of Daos (probably Dumuzi
(Duwuzi) or Tammuz) the shepherd, of Pantibiblon
(Sippar or Sippara), who reigned for the space of ten
sari (360,000 years) ! " After these things was
Anodaphos, in the time of Euedoreschos."
Besides his son Merodach, who, in Babylonian
mythology, became " king of the gods," — like Jupiter,
in the place of his father — Ae or Ea was regarded as
having six other sons, Dumu-zi-abzu, " Tammuz of
the abyss " ; Ki-gulla, " the destroyer of the world " ;
Nira (meaning doubtful) ; Bara, " the revealer " (?) ;
Bara-gula, " the great revealer (?) " ; and Burnunta-sa,
" the broad of ear." One daughter is attributed to
him, her name being Hi-dimme-azaga, " the glorious
spirit's offspring," called, in one of the incantations
(W.A.I. iv., 2nd ed., col. ii., line 54), " the daughter of

64 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the abyss." He had also two bull-like guardians
•(probably those composite creatures, winged bulls
with human heads, representations of which guarded
the approaches to the Assyrian palaces), one seem
ingly named Duga, " the good," and the other Dub-ga,
apparently meaning " he who causes (the bolt) to be
raised," giving the suppliant access to the palace of
his lord. To all appearance, the gates giving access
to his domain were guarded by eight porters, the
names of most of whom are unfortunately broken
away on the tablet that gives these details, but one of
them seems to have borne the name of Eniw-hengala,
" the bespeaker of fertility," whilst another was named
Igi-hen(?)gala, " the eye of fertility," and the third
had a name beginning, like that of the first, with the
element Eniw, a circumstance which would lead one
to ask whether this may not be the element Eneu
found in the names of the two creatures Eneugamos
and Eneuboulos, mentioned by Berosus.
His consort was called Damkina, " the lady of the
earth," the Dauke of Damascius, or Dam-gala-nuna,
"the great princely lady." She likewise had two
bull-like attendants, A-eru and E-a-eru, of whom but
little or nothing is known.
The tablet already quoted (W.A.I, iv., pi. 1, col. ii.,
11. 36-39) names Engur (the deep) as being the mother
of Ae or Ea, and attributes to him another daughter,
Nina, with whom the name of Nineveh is apparently
connected. Down in the Abyss, in the city called Eridu, "the
good city," there dwelt Ae, with all his court. Sitting
on his throne, he waited for the time when his son
Merodach, the good of heart, came to ask him for
those health-bringing incantations for the benefit of
mankind. Sometimes, seemingly, instead of Merodach,
his sixth son Burnunsia (Burnunta-sa), " the broad of
ear," would perform this office. Ae was always ready
to help with his counsels, and no one whose case

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 65
Merodach forwarded was spurned by the King of the
Abyss. Here, too, dwelt "Tammuz of the Abyss," one of
Ae's sons, but whether this was the well-known
Tammuz who was the husband of the goddess Ishtar,
is uncertain. Judging from the legends of the Baby
lonians, Ishtar's husband descended, not to the abode
of the lord of the deep, but to the realms of the Baby
lonian Persephone, the consort of Nergal, in Hades,
" the land of no return," whither Ishtar onCe descended
in search of him. Concerning the Babylonian para
dise, where Ae dwelt, see the following chapter.
The second month of the Babylonian year, Iyyar,
corresponding to April — May, was dedicated to Ae as
lord of mankind, though in this the records contradict
each other, for the Creation-stories of the Babylonians
attribute the creation of mankind to Merodach, who
has, therefore, the best right to be regarded as their
lord.

ANSAR AND KISAR (pp. 1 6, 1 7, 20, etc.).
Ansar, " host of heaven," and Kisar, " host of
earth," are, it will be remembered, given in the
Semitic Babylonian account of the Creation as the
names of the powers that succeeded Lahmu and
Lahamu, according to Damascius, the second progeny
of the sea and the deep (Tiamtu and Apsu). The
Greek forms, Assoros and Kisare, imply that Damas
cius understood the former to be masculine and the
latter feminine, though there is no hint of gender in
the wedge-written records. That the Babylonians
regarded them as being of different genders, however,
is conceivable enough. The Greek form of the first,
Assoros, moreover, implies that, in course of time,
the n of Ansar became assimilated with the / (as was
usual in Semitic Babylonian), and on account of this,
the etymology that connects Ansar with the name

66 THE OLD TESTAMENT
of the Assyrian national god Assur, is not without
justification, though whether it be preferable to that
of Delitzsch which makes Assur to be really Asur,
and connects it with asaru, meaning " holy," is
doubtful. In favour of Delitzsch, however, is the
fact that the Assyrians would more probably have
given their chief divinity the name of " the Holy
one" than that of one of the links in the chain of
divinities which culminated in the rise of the god
Merodach to the highest place in the kingdom of
heaven. The question naturally arises : Who were these
deities, "the host of heaven" and "the host of
earth " ? and this is a question to which we do not
get a very complete answer from the inscriptions.
According to the explanatory lists of gods (as
distinct from the mythological texts proper) Kisar
is explained as the " host of heaven and earth " and
also as Anu and Antum, in other words, as the male
and female personifications of the heavens. Strange
to say, this is just the explanation given in the
inscriptions of the names Lahmu and Lahamu, for
though they are not " the host of heaven and earth,"
they are the same, according to the lists of gods,
as the deities Anu and his consort Antum. This
probably arises from the worship of Anu, the god of
the heavens, and his consort, at some period pre
ceding that of the worship of Merodach, or even that
of his father Aa or Ea, whose cult, as we have seen,
was in early times abandoned for that of the patron
god of the city of Babylon. Concerning this portion
of the legend of the Creation, however, much more
light is required.
Besides the simple form Kisar, there occurs in the
lists of gods also Kisaragala, which is likewise ex
plained as a manifestation of Anu and Antum, and
described moreover as " Anu, who is the host [kissaf)
of heaven and earth." In addition to Ansar and

THE EARLY TRADITIONS OF THE CREATION 67
Kisar, the deities Ensara and Ninsara are mentioned.
These names are apparently to be translated " lord of
the host " and " lady of the host " respectively, and
are doubtless both closely connected with, or the
same as, the Ansar and Kisar of the Babylonian
story of the Creation, in close connection with which
they are, in fact, mentioned. En-kisara is given, in
W.A.I., III., pi. 68, as one of the three mu-gala
(apparently " great names ") of Anu, the god of the
heavens. Another Nin-sara (the second element
written with a different character) is given as the
equivalent of both Antum and Istar, the latter being
the well-known goddess of love and war, Venus.
TIAMAT.
Tiamat is the common transcription of a name
generally and more correctly read as Tiamtu. The
meaning of this word is " the sea," and its later and
more decayed pronunciation is tdmtu or tdmdu, the
feminine t having changed into d after the nasal m,
a phenomenon that also meets us in other words
having a nasal before the dental. As this word is
the Tauthe of the Greek writer Damascius, it is clear
that in his time the m was pronounced as w (this
peculiarity is common to the Semitic Babylonian and
Akkadian languages, and finds its converse illustra
tion in the provincialism of tnir for wir, "we," in
German), though the decayed word tdmtu evidently
kept its labial unchanged, for it is difficult to imagine
w changing t into d, unless it were pronounced in a
'"ay to which we are not accustomed. We have here,
then, an example ot a differentiation by which one and
the same word, by a change of pronunciation, forms
two "vocables," the one used as a proper noun and
the other — a more decayed form — as a common one.
Tiamtu (from the above it may be supposed that
the real pronunciation was as indicated by the Greek
form, namely, Tiauthu), meaning originally "the sea,"

68 THE OLD TESTAMENT
became then the personification of the watery deep
as the producer of teeming animal life such as we
find in the waters everywhere. Dominating and
covering at first the whole earth, it was she who was
the first producer of living things, but when the land
appeared, and creatures of higher organization and
intelligence began, under the fostering care of the
higher divinities, to make their appearance, she saw,
so the Babylonians seem to have thought, that with
the advent of man, whom the gods purposed forming,
her power and importance would, in a short time,
disappear, and rebellion on her part was the result.
How, in the Babylonian legends, this conflict ended,
the reader of the foregoing pages knows, and after
her downfall and destruction or subjugation, she
retained her productive power under the immediate
control and direction of the gods under whose
dominion she had fallen.
Tiamtu is represented in the Old Testament by
tehSm, which occurs in Gen. i. 2, where both the
Authorised and Revised Versions translate "the
deep." The Hebrew form of the word, however, is
not quite the same, the Assyrian feminine ending
being absent.
To all appearance the legend of Tiamtu was well
known all over Western Asia. As Gunkel and
Zimmern have shown, there is a reference thereto
in Ps. lxxxix. 10, where Rahab, who was broken in
pieces, is referred to, and under the same name
she appears also in Isaiah li. 9, with the additional
statement that she is the dragon who was pierced ;
likewise in Job xxvi. 1 2 and ix. 1 3, where her followers
are said to be referred to; in Ps. lxxiv. 14 the dragon
whose heads (a plural probably typifying the diverse
forms under which Nature's creative power appears)
are spoken of. Tiamtu, as Rahab and the dragon,
therefore played a part in Hebrew legends of old as
great, perhaps, as in the mythology of Babylonia,
where she seems to have originated.

CHAPTER II
THE HISTORY, AS GIVEN IN THE BIBLE, FROM THE
CREATION TO THE FLOOD
Eden — The so-called second story of the Creation and the
bilingual Babylonian account — The four rivers — The tree of
life — The Temptation — The Cherubim — Cain and Abel — The
names of the Patriarchs from Enoch to Noah.
" AND the Lord God planted a garden eastward in
Eden ; and there He put the man whom He had
formed." There also fie made every pleasant and
good tree to grow, including the tree of life, and the
tree of knowledge of good and evil. A river came
out of Eden to water the garden, and this river was
afterwards divided into four smaller streams, the
Pishon, flowing round " the Hawilah," a land of gold
(which was good) and bdellium and onyx stone ; the
Gihon, flowing round the whole land of Cush ; the
Hiddekel or Tigris, and the Euphrates.
It is to be noted that it was not the garden itself
that was called Eden, but the district in which it lay.
The river too seems to have risen in the same tract,
and was divided at some indeterminate point, either
in the land of Eden or on its borders.
The whereabouts of the Garden of Eden and its
rivers has been so many times discussed, and so
many diverse opinions prevail concerning them, that
there is no need at present to add to these theories
yet another, more or less probable. Indeed, in the
present work, theories will be kept in the background
69

70 THE OLD TESTAMENT
as much as possible, and prominence given to such
facts as recent discoveries have revealed to us.
It had long been known that one of the Akkadian
names for " plain " was edina, and that that word had
been borrowed by the Babylonians under the form of
idinnu, but it was Prof. Delitzsch, the well-known
Assyriologist, who first pointed out to a disbelieving
world that this must be the Eden of Genesis. The
present writer thought this identification worthless
until he had the privilege of examining the tablets
acquired by Dr. Hayes Ward in Babylonia on the
occasion of his conducting the Wolfe expedition.
Among the fragments of tablets that he then brought
back was a list of cities in the Akkadian language
(the Semitic Babylonian column was unfortunately
broken away) which gave the following —
Transcription. Translation.
Sipar, D.S. Sippara.
Sipar Edina, D.S. Sippara of Eden.
Sipar uldua, D.S. Sippara the everlasting.
Sipar Samas, D.S. Sippara of the Sun-god.
Here at last was the word Eden used as a geo
graphical name, showing that the explanation of
Delitzsch was not only plausible, but also, in all pro
bability, true in substance and in fact. Less satisfactory,
however, were the learned Professor's identifications
of the rivers of Eden, for he regards the Pishon and
the Gihon as canals — the former being the Pallacopas
(the Pallukatu of the Babylonian inscriptions), and
the latter the Guhande (also called the Arahtu, and
identified by some with the Araxes). He conjectures
that this may be the river now known as the Shatt
en-Nil. Whatever doubt, however, attaches to his
identifications of the rivers, he seems certainly to be
right with regard to the Biblical Eden, and this is a
decided gain, for it locates the position of that district
beyond a doubt.

FROM THE CREATION TO THE FLOOD 7 1
To Prof. Sayce belongs the honour of identifying
the Babylonian story of the nature and position of
Paradise as they conceived it, and here we have
another example of the important details that the
incantation-tablets may contain concerning beliefs
not otherwise preserved to us, for the text in question,
like the bilingual story of the Creation, is simply an
introduction to a text of that nature. This interest
ing record, to which I have been able to add a few
additional words since Prof. Sayce first gave his
translation of it to the world, is as follows —
"Incantation: '(In) Eridu a dark vine grew, it
was made in a glorious place,
Its appearance (as) lapis-lazuli, planted beside
the Abyss,
Which is Ae's path, filling Eridu with fertility.
Its seat is the (central) point of the earth,
Its dwelling is the couch of Nammui
In the glorious house, which is like a forest, its
shadow extends,
No man enters its midst.
In its interior is the Sun-god Tammuz.
Between the mouths of the rivers (which are) on
both sides.' "
The lines which follow show how this plant, which
was a miraculous remedy, was to be used in the cure
of a sick man. It was to be placed upon his head,
and beneficent spirits would then come and stay with
him, whilst the evil ones would stand aside.
From the introductory lines above translated, we
see that Eridu, "the good city," which Sir Henry
Rawlinson recognized many years ago as a type of
paradise, was, to the Babylonians, as a garden of
Eden, wherein grew a glorious tree, to all appearance
a vine, for the adjective " dark " may very reasonably
be regarded as referring to its fruit. Strange must

72 THE OLD TESTAMENT
have been its appearance, for it is described as
resembling " white lapis-lazuli," that is, the beautiful
stone of that kind mottled blue and white. The
probability that it was conceived by the Babylonians
as a garden is strengthened by the fact that the god
Ae, and his path, i. e. the rivers, filled the place with
fertility, and it was, moreover, the abode of the river-
god Nammu, whose streams, the Tigris and Euphrates,
flowed on both sides. There, too, dwelt the Sun,
making the garden fruitful with his ever-vivifying
beams, whilst "the peerless mother of heaven," as
Tammuz seems to be called, added, by fructifying
showers, to the fertility that the two great rivers
brought down from the mountains from which they
flowed. To complete still further the parallel with
the Biblical Eden, it was represented as a place to
which access was forbidden, for " no man entered its
midst," as in the case of the Garden of Eden after the
fall. Though one cannot be dogmatic in the presence of
the imperfect records that we possess, it is worthy of
note that Eden does not occur as the name of the
earthly paradise in any of the texts referring to the
Creation that have come down to us ; and though it
is to be found in the bilingual story of the Creation, it
there occurs simply as the equivalent of the Semitic
word serim in the phrase " he (Merodach) made the
verdure of the plain." That we shall ultimately find
other instances of Eden as a geographical name,
occurring by itself, and not in composition with
another word (as in the expression Sipar Edina), and
even a reference to gannat Edinni, " the Garden of
Eden," is to be expected.
Schrader x has pointed out that whilst in Eden the
river bears no name, it is only after it has left the
sacred region that it is divided, and then each separate
branch received a name. So, also, in the Babylonian
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions and the O. T., vol. i. p. 28.

FROM THE CREATION TO THE FLOOD 73
description of the Eridu, the rivers were unnamed,
though one guesses that the Tigris and the Euphrates
are meant. The expression, " the mouth of the rivers
[that are on] both sides " {pi ndrati . . kilallan), recalls
to the mind the fact, that it was to " a remote place
at the mouth of the rivers " that the Babylonian Noah
(Pir-napistim) was translated after the Flood, when
the gods conferred upon him the gift of immortality.
To all appearance, therefore, Gilgames, the ancient
Babylonian hero who visited the immortal sage,
entered into the tract regarded by the Babylonians
of old times as being set apart for the abode of the
blessed after their journeyings on this world should
cease. The connection of the stream which was " the path
of Ae " with Eridu, seems to have been very close,
for in the bilingual story of the Creation the flowing
of the stream is made to be the immediate precursor
of the building of Eridu and Esagila, "the lofty-headed
temple " within it —
" When within the sea there was a stream,
In that day Eridu was made, Esagila was built —
Esagila which the god Lugal-du-azaga had
founded within the Abyss."
In this Babylonian Creation-story it is a question of
a stream and two rivers. In Genesis it is a question
of a river and four branches. The parallelism is
sufficiently close to be noteworthy and to show,
beyond a doubt, that the Babylonians had the same
accounts of the Creation and descriptions of the
circumstances concerning it, as the Hebrews, though
told in a different way, and in a different connection.
Two trees are mentioned in the Biblical account of
the Creation, " the tree of life " and " the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil." By the eating of the
former, a man would live for ever, and the latter
would confer upon him that knowledge which God

74 THE OLD TESTAMENT
alone was supposed to possess, namely, of good and
evil, carrying with it, however, the disadvantage of
the loss of that innocence which he formerly possessed.
Like the Hebrews, the Babylonians and Assyrians
also had their sacred trees, but whether they attached
to them the same deep significance as the Hebrews
did to theirs we do not know. Certain, however, it
is, that they had beliefs concerning them that were
analogous. The most familiar form of the sacred tree is that
employed by the Assyrians, to a certain extent as a
decorative ornament, on the sculptured slabs that
adorned the walls of the royal palaces. This was the
curious conglomeration of knots and leaves which
various figures — winged genii with horned hats em
blematic of divinity, eagle-headed figures, etc. —
worship, and to which they make offerings, and touch
with a conical object resembling the fruit of the fir or
pine. An ingenious suggestion has been made to the
effect that the genius with the pine-cone is represented
in the act of fructifying the tree with the pollen (in an
idealized form) from the flowers of another tree, just
as it is necessary to fructify the date-palm from the
pollen of the flowers growing on the " male " tree.
This, however, can hardly be the true explanation of
the mystic act represented, as similar genii are shown
on other slabs not only holding out the conical object
as if to touch therewith the figure of the king, but
also doing the same thing to the effigies of the great
winged bulls. Of course, the fructification of the king
would be not only a possible representation to carve
in alabaster, but one that we might even expect to
find among the royal sculptures. The fructification
of a winged bull, however, is quite a different thing,
and in the highest degree improbable, unless the
divine bull were a kind of representation of the king,
which, though possible, is at present unprovable.
This symbolic scene, therefore, remains still a

FROM THE CREATION TO THE FLOOD 75
mystery for scholars to explain when they obtain the
material to do so. It seems to be a peculiarly
Assyrian design, for the offering of a pine-cone or
similarly-shaped object to the sacred tree has not yet
been found in Babylonian art. The Babylonian
sacred tree is, moreover, a much more natural-looking
object than the curious combination of knots and
honeysuckle-shaped flowers found in the sculptures of
Assyria. As in the case of the tree shown in the
picture of the Temptation, described below, the sacred
tree of the Babylonians often takes the form of a
palm-tree, or something very like one. (See pi. III.)
As has been already remarked, the tree of Paradise
of the Babylonians was, to all appearance, a vine,
described as being in colour like blue and white
mottled lapis-lazuli, and apparently bearing fruit
(grapes) of a dark colour. That the Babylonian tree
of life was a vine is supported by the fact that the
ideograms composing the word for " wine " are
ges-tin (for kas-tin), " drink of life," and " the vine,"
gis ges-tin, "tree of the drink of life." In the text
describing the Babylonian Paradise and its divine
tree, the name of the latter is given as kiskanu in
Semitic, and gis-kin or gis-kan in Akkadian, a word
mentioned in the bilingual lists among plants of the
vine species. Whether the Hebrews regarded the
tree of life as having been a vine or not, cannot at
present be decided, but it is very probable that they
had the same ideas as the Babylonians in the matter.
It is noteworthy, in this connection, that the
Babylonians also believed that there still existed in
the world a plant (they do not seem to have regarded
it as a tree) which " would make an old man young
again." Judging from the statements concerning it,
one would imagine that it was a kind of thorn-bush.
As we shall see later, when treating of the story of
the Flood, it was this plant which the Chaldean Noah
gave the hero Gilgames instructions how to find —

76 THE OLD TESTAMENT
for the desire to become young again had seized him
— and he seems to have succeeded in possessing
himself of it, only to lose it again almost immediately,
for a lion, coming that way at a time when Gilgames
was otherwise occupied, carried it off — to his own
benefit, as the hero remarks, for he naturally supposed
that the lion who had seized the plant would have
his life renewed, and prey all the longer upon the
people. The title of a lost legend, " When the kiskanu (? vine,
see above) grew in the land " (referring, perhaps, to
the tree of life which grew in Eridu), leads one to ask
whether " The legend of Nisaba (the corn-deity) and
the date-palm," and " The legend of the luluppu-tree "
may not also refer to sacred trees, bearing upon the
question ofthe tree of knowledge referred to in Gen. ii.
As, however, the titles (generally a portion of the
first line only) are all that are at present preserved,
there is nothing to be done but wait patiently until it
pleases Providence to make them further known to us.
The kiskanu was of three kinds, white {pisu), black
{salmi), as in the description of the tree of Paradise,
and grey or blue {sdmi). In view of there being these
three colours, it would seem that they refer rather to
the fruit of the tree than to the tree itself. Now the
only plant growing in the country and having these
three colours of fruit, is the vine. Of course, this
raises the question whether (i) the kiskanu is a
synonym of gistin or karanu, or (2) the word gistin,
which is generally rendered " vine," is, in reality,
correctly translated. Whatever be the true explana
tion, one thing is certain, namely, that in the descrip
tion of Paradise, the word black or dark {sahnu),
applied to the tree there mentioned, cannot refer to
the tree itself, for that is described as being like " white
lapis " {uknu ibbu), a beautiful stone mottled blue and
white. Among other trees of a sacred nature is " the cedar

III.

(I)

tl>

'fr~%

Babylonian Mythological Composition.
Impression of a cylinder-seal showing a male figure on the right and a
bull-man on the left, holding erect bulls by the horns and tails. In the centre
is a form of the sacred tree on a hill. Date about 2500 b.c. British Museum.

(2)

Assyrian Mythological Composition.

Impression of a cylinder-seal showing Istar, goddess of love and of war
as archeress, standing on the back of a lion, which turns its head to caress
her feet. Before her is a worshipper (priest) and two goats (reversed to
form a symmetrical design), leaping. Behind her is a date-palm. Date
about 650 B.C. British Museum. (Page 77.)

FROM THE CREATION TO THE FLOOD <J"J
beloved of the great gods," mentioned in an inscription
of a religious or ceremonial nature, though exactly in
what connection the imperfectness of the document
does not enable us to see. It would seem, however,
that there were certain priests or seers to whom was
confided the "tablet of the gods," containing the secret
of the heavens and earth (probably the "tablet of
fate," which Merodach took from the husband of
Tiamat after his fight with her for the dominion of
the universe). These persons, who seem to have been
the descendants of En-we-dur-an-ki (the Euedoranchos
of Berosus), king of Sippar, were those to whom was
confided "the cedar beloved of the great gods" —
perhaps a kind of sceptre. They had, however, not
only to be of noble race, but also perfect physically
and free from every defect and disease. Moreover,
one who did not keep the command of Samas and
Addu (Hadad) could not approach the place of Ae,
Samas, Marduk, and Nin-edina, nor the number of
the brothers who were to enter the seership ; they
were not to reveal to him the word of the oracle, and
" the cedar beloved of the great gods " was not to be
delivered into his hands.
There is hardly any doubt, then, that we have here
the long-sought parallel to the Biblical " tree of know
ledge," for that, too, was in the domain of " the lord of
knowledge," the god Ae, and also in the land which
might be described as that of " the lord of Eden," the
" hidden place of heaven and earth " for all the sons
of Adam, who are no longer allowed to enter into
that earthly Paradise wherein their first parents
gained, at such a cost, the knowledge, imperfect as it
must have been, and evidently undesirable, which
they handed down to their successors.
ADAM.
The name of the first man, Adam, is one that has
tried the learning of the most noted Hebraists to

78 THE OLD TESTAMENT
explain satisfactorily. It was formerly regarded as
being derived from the root ildam, " to be red," but
this explanation has been given up in favour of the
root ddam, " to make, produce," man being conceived
as " the created one." This etymology is that put
forward by the Assyriologist Fried. Delitzsch, who
quotes the Assyrian ddmu, " young bird," and ddmi
summati, " young doves," literally, " the young of
doves," though he does not seem to refer the Assyrian
udumu, " monkey," to the same root. He also quotes,
apparently from memory, the evidence of a fragment
of a bilingual list found by Mr. Rassam, in which
Adam is explained by the usual Babylonian word for
" man," amelu.
The writer of Genesis has given to the first man the
name of Adam, thus personifying in him the human
race, which was to descend from him. In all pro
bability, the Babylonians had the same legends, but,
if so, no fragment of them has as yet come to light.
That the Hebrew stories of the Creation had their
origin in Babylonia, will probably be conceded by
most people as probable, if not actually proven, and
the fact that the word a-dam occurs, as Delitzsch has
pointed out, in a bilingual list would, supposing the
text to which he refers to be actually bilingual, be a
matter of peculiar significance, for it would show that
this word, which does not occur in Semitic Babylonian
as the word for " man," occurred in the old Akkadian
language with that meaning.
And the proof that Delitzsch was right in his recol
lection of the tablet of which he speaks, is shown by
the bilingual Babylonian story ofthe Creation. There,
in lines 9, 10, we read as follows —
Akkadian (dialectic) : JJru nu-dim, a-dam nu-mun-ia.
Babylonian : Alu ul epus, nammassu ul sassu.
" A city had not been made, the community had not
been ordered."

FROM THE CREATION TO THE FLOOD 79
Here we have the non-Semitic adam translated by
the Babylonian nammassu, which seems to mean a
number of men, in this passage something like com
munity, for that is the idea which best fits the context.
But besides this Semitic rendering, the word also has
the meanings of tenisetu, " mankind," amelutu, " human
beings." The word adam, meaning " man," is found also
in Phoenician, Sabean, and apparently in Arabic,
under the form of atam, a collective meaning
" creatures." The possibility that the Babylonians had an
account of the Fall similar to that of the Hebrews, is
not only suggested by the legends treated of above, but
also by the cylinder-seal in the British Museum with
what seems to be the representation of the Temptation
engraved upon it. We have there presented to us the
picture of a tree — a palm — bearing fruit, and on each
side of it a seated figure, that on the right being to all
appearance the man, and that on the left the woman,
though there is not much difference between them,
and, as far as the form of either goes, the sexes might
easily be reversed. That, however, which seems to be
intended for the man has the horned hat emblematic
of divinity, or, probably, of divine origin, whilst from
the figure which seems to be that of the woman this
head-dress is absent. Behind her, moreover, with
wavy body standing erect on his tail, is shown the
serpent, towering just above her head, as if ready to
speak with her. Both figures are stretching out a
hand (the man the right, the woman the left) as if to
pluck the fruit growing on the tree. Notwithstanding
the doubts that have been thrown on the explanation
here given of this celebrated and exceedingly inter
esting cylinder, the subject and its arrangement are
so suggestive, that one can hardly regard it as being
other than what it seems to be, namely, a Babylonian
representation of the Temptation, according to records

80 THE OLD TESTAMENT
that the Babylonians possessed. The date of this
object may be set down as being from about 2750 to
2000 B.C.
Future excavations in Babylonia and Assyria will,
no doubt, furnish us with the legends current in those
countries concerning the Temptation, the Fall, and the
sequel thereto. Great interest would naturally attach
to the Babylonian rendering ofthe details and develop
ment of the story, more particularly to the terms of
the penalty, the expulsion, and the nature of the
beings — the cherubim — placed at the east of the
garden, and "the flaming sword turning every way,
to keep the way of the tree of life."
Though the Babylonian version of this Biblical
story has not yet come to light, the inscriptions in the
wedge-writing give us a few details bearing upon the
word " cherub."
The Hebrews understood these celestial beings as
having the form which we attribute to angels — a
glorified human appearance, but with the addition of
wings. They are spoken of as bearing the throne of
the Almighty through the clouds (" He rode upon a
cherub, and did fly "), and in Psalm xviii. 11 he is
also represented as sitting upon them. In Ezekiel i.
and x. they are said to be of a very composite form,
combining with the human shape the face of a cherub
(whatever that may have been), a man, an ox, a lion,
and an eagle. It has been supposed that Ezekiel was
indebted to Assyro-Babylonian imagery for the details
of the cherubic creatures that he describes, but it may
safely be said that, though the sculptures furnish us
with images of divine creatures in the form of a man
with the face of an eagle, or having a modification of
a lion's head, and bulls and lions with the faces of
men, there has never yet been found a figure pro
vided with a wheel for the purpose of locomotion, and
having four heads, like those of which the prophet
speaks. We may, therefore, safely conclude, that

FROM THE CREATION TO THE FLOOD 8 1
Ezekiel applied the word kerub (cherub) to the
creatures that he saw in his vision, because that was
the most suitable word he could find, not because it
was the term usually applied to things of that kind.
It is hardly likely that the guardians of the entrance
into the earthly Paradise and the creatures that bore
up the throne of the Almighty were conceived as
being of so complicated a form as the cherubim of
Ezekiel. Whatever doubt may exist as to the original form
of this celestial being, the discussion of the origin of
the Hebrew word kerttb may now be regarded as
finally settled by the discovery of the Assyro-Baby
lonian records. It is undoubtedly borrowed from the
Babylonian kirubu, a word meaning simply " spirit,"
and conceived as one who was always in the presence
{ina kirib) of God, and formed from the root qarabu,
" to be near." The change from q (qoph) to k (kaph)
is very common in Babylonian, and occurs more fre
quently before e and i, hence the form in Hebrew,
ker&b (cherub — the translators intended that ch should
be pronounced as k) for qerub (which the translators
would have transcribed as kerub).
Originally the Assyro-Babylonian word kirubu
seems to have meant something like " intimate friend,"
or "familiar," as in the expression kirub sarri,
"familiar ofthe king," mentioned between "daughter
of the king," and " the beloved woman of the king."
An illustration of its extended meaning of "spirit,"
however, occurs in the following lines from "the
tablet of Good Wishes "—
" In thy mouth may there be perfection of speech
{lu asim dababu) ;
In thine eye may there be brightness of sight
{lit namir nitlu) :
In thine ear may there be a spirit of hearing "
{lu KIRUB nismil, lit. " a cherub of hearing ").
F

32 THE OLD TESTAMENT
The cherubim were therefore the good spirits who
performed the will of God, and, in the minds of the
Assyrians and Babylonians, watched over and guarded
the man who was the " son of his God," i.e. the pious
man. The cherub upon which the Almighty rode, and
upon whom he sat, corresponds more to the guzalu or
" throne-bearer " of Assyro-Babylonian mythology.
They were apparently beings who bore up the thrones
of the gods, and are frequently to be seen in Baby
lonian sculptures thus employed, at rest, and waiting
patiently, to all appearance, until their divine master,
seated on the throne which rests on their shoulders,
should again give them word, or make known that it
was now his will to start and journey forth once more.
The story of Cain and Abel, and the first tragedy
that occurred in the world after the creation of man,
has always attracted the attention of the pious on
that account, and because the first recorded murder
was that of a brother. This is a story to which the
discovery of a Babylonian parallel was least likely to
be found, and, as a matter of fact, none has as yet
come to light. Notwithstanding this, a few remarks
upon such remote parallels which exist, and such few
illustrations of the event that can be found, may be
cited in this place.
These are contained in the story of Tammuz or
Adonis, who, though not supposed to have been slain
by his brother, was nevertheless killed by the cold of
Winter, who might easily have been regarded as his
brother, for Tammuz typified the season of Summer,
the Brother-season, so to say, of Winter. As is well
known, the name Tammuz is Akkadian, and occurs in
that language under the form of Dumu-zi, or, more
fully, Dumu-zida, meaning " the everlasting son," in
Semitic Babylonian dblu kinu. It is very noteworthy
that Prof. J. Oppert has suggested that the name of
Abel, in Hebrew Habel, is, in reality, none other than

FROML.THE CREATION TO THE FLOOD 83
the Babylonian ablu, " son," and the question naturally
arises, May not the story of Cain and Abel have given
rise to the legend of Tammuz, or Ablu kinu, as his
name would be if translated into Semitic Babylonian ?
Unless by a folk-etymology, however, the Semitic
Babylonian translation of the name of Tammuz can
hardly be a composition of Abel and Cain, because the
first letter is q (qoph) and not k (kaph), the transcrip
tion Cain for Kain or Kayin being faulty in the A.V.
Still, we feel bound to recognize that there is a possi
bility, though naturally a remote one, that the legend
of Tammuz is connected with that of Cain and Abel,
just as the division of the Dragon (in the Babylonian
story of the Creation) by the god Merodach into two
halves, with one of which he covered the heavens,
leaving the other below upon the earth, typifies the
division of the waters above the earth from those
below in the Biblical story of the same event.
There is a legend, named by me (for want of a
more precise title) " The Lament of the Daughter of
the god Sin," in which the carrying off (by death ?) of
" her fair son " is referred to. Here we have another
possible Babylonian parallel to the story of the death
of Abel, in which the driving forth of her who makes
the lament from her city and from her palace might
well typify the expulsion of Eve from Paradise, and
her delivery into the power of her enemy, who is, to
all appearance, the king of terrors, into whose hands
she and her husband were, for their disobedience, con
signed. In this really beautiful Babylonian poem
her " enemy " seems to reproach her, telling her how it
was she, and she alone, who had ruined herself.
Though there may be something in the comparisons
with the story of Cain and Abel which are quoted
here, more probably (as has been already remarked)
there is nothing, and the real parallels have yet to be
found. In any case, they are instances of the popu
larity among the Babylonians and Assyrians of those
stories of one, greatly beloved and in the bloom of

84 THE OLD TESTAMENT
youth, coming, like Abel, to an untimely end through
the perversity of fate, and by no fault of his own.
Though neither may be the original of the Biblical
story nor yet derived from it, they are of interest and
value as beautiful legends of old time, possibly throw
ing light on the Biblical story.
As yet the Babylonian and Assyrian records shed
but little light on the question of the patriarchs of
the early ages succeeding Adam, the details that are
given concerning them, and their long lives. Upon
this last point there is only one remark to be made,
and that is, that the prehistoric kings of Babylonia
likewise lived and reigned for abnormally long ages,
according to the records that have come down to
us. Unfortunately, there is nothing complete in
the important original of the Canon of Berosus first
published by the late G. Smith, and the beginning is
especially mutilated.
The likeness between Enoch and the Akkadian
name of the city of Erech, Unug, has already been
pointed out, and it has been suggested that the two
words are identical. This, however, can hardly be
the case, for the Hebrew form of Enoch is Handk, the
initial letter being the guttural heth, which, notwith
standing the parallel ease of Hiddekel, the Akkadian
Idigna (the Tigris), weakens the comparison. The
principal argument against the identification, however,
is the fact that, in the bilingual story of the Creation,
the god Merodach is said to have built the city, and
such was evidently the Babylonian belief.1
The name of Enoch's great-grandson, Methusael,
finds, as has many times been pointed out, its coun
terpart in the Babylonian Mut-ili, with the same
meaning (" man of God").
1 A later explanation by Prof. Sayce is, that Enoch may be
Hana, " on the east side of Babylonia," with the determinative
suffix ki (making Hanaki) added. See Expository Times, Jan.
1902, p. 179-

IV.

Lower part ofthe obverse of a terra-cotta tablet from Nineveh, inscribed
with the names of Babylonian kings in Sumerian and Semitic Babylonian.
The 13th line (that running across two columns) has the statement, "These
are the kings who were after the Flood. They are not written in their proper
order." The names of Sargina (Sargon of Agade) and Hammurabi (Am
raphel) also occur. Found by Sir A. H. Layard and Hormuzd Rassam.

(Page 85.)

CHAPTER III
THE FLOOD
The Biblical account — Its circumstantial nature and its great
length — The Babylonian account — The reason of the Flood and
why Pir-napistim built the Ark — His devotion to the God Ea —
Ea and Jah — Ea's antagonism to B61 — The bloodless sacrifice
— Ea's gift of immortality — Further observations — Appendix :
The second version of the Flood-story.
Noah, son of Lamech, had reached the age of five
hundred years, and had three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japhet ; and at this time men had begun to multiply
on the face of the earth, and daughters were born
unto them ; then " the sons of God saw the daughters
of men that they were fair, and they took them wives
of all that they chose."
The question naturally arises, "Who were these
sons of God ? " According to Job xxxviii. 7, where
we have the statement that " The morning stars
sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for
joy," it would seem to be the angels that are intended
by these words, and this is apparently the opinion
generally held by scholars and divines on the subject.
This view seems to be favoured by the Second Epistle
of Peter (ii. 1), though, as the words do not actually
agree with those of the text of Genesis quoted above,
nothing very positive can be maintained concerning
the apostle's dictum — in fact, his words in the passage
referred to, " for if God spared not the angels that
sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered
them into chains and darkness, to be reserved unto
85

86 THE OLD TESTAMENT
judgment," can much more reasonably be regarded as
referring, and therefore giving authority to, the story
of the fall of the angels, as indicated in Avitus,
Caedmon, and Milton, a legend of which the germs
are found in the Babylonian account of the Creation,
referred to in Chapter I. The other passages of Job
where this expression occurs (i. 6, and ii. 2) are not
conclusive as to the meaning " angels," for the expres
sions " sons of God," in those passages, who are said
to have come before the Almighty, may very well
have been merely men.
However the matter may stand, for the passages in
Job, there is every probability that it is not the angels
that are intended in the description we are examining
as to the reasons of the coming of the Flood. As the
late George Bertin was the first to point out, the
Babylonians often used the phrase " a son of his god,"
apparently to designate " a just man," or something
similar. The connection in which this expression
occurs is as follows —
" May Damu, the great enchanter, make his
thoughts happy,
May the lady who giveth life to the dead, the
goddess Gula, heal him by the pressure of her
pure hand,
And thou, O gracious Merodach, who lovest the
revivification of the dead,
With thy pure incantation of life, free him from
his sin, and
May the man, the son of his god, be pure, clean,
and bright."
In this passage the phrase in question is (in Ak
kadian) gisgallu dumu dingirana, and (in Assyrian)
amelu mdr ili-su. It is a frequent expression in
documents of this class, and always occurs in a simi
lar connection. In some cases, instead of " the man,
the son of his god," the variation "the king, the

THE FLOOD 87
son of his god " occurs, and is apparently to be para
phrased in the same way, and understood as " the pious
king." May it not be, then, that " the sons of God," who
saw that the daughters of men were fair (lit. good),
and took of them as many wives as they wanted,
were those who were regarded as the pious men of
the time ? For who among the angels would at any
time have thought of allying himself with an earthly
and mortal spouse, and begetting children — offspring
who should turn out to be " mighty men which were
of old, men of renown," as verse 4 has it ? In this
case, the "daughters of men" would be children of
common people, not possessing any special piety or
other virtue to recommend them, the only thing being
that their daughters were fair, and good enough, in
the opinion of those " sons of God," to have as their
wives. It is apparently given as the result of these unions
between the pious men and the daughters of the
people that wickedness became rife in the earth, and
man's imagination continually evil ; and this was so
to such an extent that the Almighty repented of
having created man, and decided to destroy the
wicked generation — both man, and beast, and creep
ing thing, and fowl of the air — dwelling upon the
earth — all except Noah, who found favour in the eyes
of Yahwah.
Having decided to destroy the life of the world by
means of a flood, God communicated His intention
and the reason thereof to the patriarch, and instructed
him to build an ark in which he was to save both
himself and his family from the impending destruc
tion. The vessel is to be built of gopher-wood, to
have rooms in it, and to be pitched within and with
out with pitch. The dimensions also are specified.
Its length was to be three hundred cubits, its width
fifty cubits, and its- height thirty cubits. He was to

88 THE OLD TESTAMENT
make the ark " with light " P^S), that is, with windows,
and their length or height, apparently, was to be a
cubit. The vessel was to have a door, and to be
built with three stories, lower, second, and third. In
accordance with God's covenant with the patriarch,
he, his sons, and his sons' wives were to be saved,
along with every living thing, male and female of
each kind. For all this great multitude a sufficiency
of food was directed to be provided.
Then comes the command (the ark having been
duly built, and all the directions followed) to enter
into the vessel, and further instructions are given with
regard to the creatures that are to be saved, with a
slight modification in the numbers, for the clean
beasts are to be taken in " by sevens," and all the
rest, "the unclean," by pairs. God then announces
that in seven days' time He will cause rain to come
upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. " All
the fountains of the great deep " were broken up, and
the Lord shut up those upon whom He had favour in
the ark.
Then, as the rain continued, the waters " prevailed
exceedingly " upon the earth, and the high hills that
were under the whole heaven were covered, the depth
of the waters being " fifteen cubits and upwards."
Everything was destroyed, " Noah alone remained
alive, and those who were with him in the ark."
"And the waters prevailed upon the earth an
hundred and fifty days."
The " fountains of the deep '' and " the windows of
heaven " having been stopped, and the " rain from
heaven" restrained, the waters abated, leaving the
ark high and dry upon the mountains of Ararat ; and
after the tops of the mountains were seen, Noah
looked out of the window that he had made. He
then sent forth a raven and a dove, and the latter, not
finding a resting-place, returned to him, to be sent
forth again at the end of another week. The dove

THE FLOOD 89
again returned bearing in her beak an olive-leaf.
Seven days more passed, and the dove, having been
sent out a third time, returned to him no more.
Recognizing that the waters were now all returned
into their old channels, and that the land was dry
enough for him and his, Noah removed the covering
of the vessel, and saw that his supposition was correct,
and having received the command to come forth from
the ark, which had been his abiding-place for so long,
and to send forth the living creatures that were with
him, the patriarch obeyed, and, when on dry land,
built an altar to Yahwah, and offered burnt offerings
thereon of every clean beast and every clean fowl.
" And the Lord smelled a sweet savour (lit. a savour
of rest) ; and the Lord said in His heart, I will not
again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.
. . . While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day
and night shall not cease."
Then comes, in the ninth chapter, the blessing of
God, with a charge concerning the shedding of blood.
He makes also a covenant with Noah, by the sign of
the rainbow, declaring that a like calamity shall never
again come upon the earth to destroy all life that is
upon it.
Such is, in short, the Bible story of the great flood
that destroyed, at a remote age of the world, all life
upon the earth. It is a narrative circumstantially
told, with day, month, and year all indicated, and it
forms a good subject for comparison with the Baby
lonian account, with which it agrees so closely in all
the main points, and from which it differs so much in
many essential details.
As in the case of the Babylonian story of the
Creation, it has been thought well not only to give a
fairly full translation of the Babylonian story of the
Flood, but also to indicate under what circumstances

88 THE OLD TESTAMENT
make the ark " with light " P^S), that is, with windows,
and their length or height, apparently, was to be a
cubit. The vessel was to have a door, and to be
built with three stories, lower, second, and third. In
accordance with God's covenant with the patriarch,
he, his sorts, and his sons' wives were to be saved,
along with every living thing, male and female of
each kind. For all this great multitude a sufficiency
of food was directed to be provided.
Then comes the command (the ark having been
duly built, and all the directions followed) to enter
into the vessel, and further instructions are given with
regard to the creatures that are to be saved, with a
slight modification in the numbers, for the clean
beasts are to be taken in " by sevens," and all the
rest, "the unclean," by pairs. God then announces
that in seven days' time He will cause rain to come
upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. " All
the fountains of the great deep " were broken up, and
the Lord shut up those upon whom He had favour in
the ark.
Then, as the rain continued, the waters " prevailed
exceedingly " upon the earth, and the high hills that
were under the whole heaven were covered, the depth
of the waters being " fifteen cubits and upwards."
Everything was destroyed, " Noah alone remained
alive, and those who were with him in the ark."
"And the waters prevailed upon the earth an
hundred and fifty days."
The " fountains of the deep " and " the windows of
heaven " having been stopped, and the " rain from
heaven" restrained, the waters abated, leaving the
ark high and dry upon the mountains of Ararat ; and
after the tops of the mountains were seen, Noah
looked out of the window that he had made. He
then sent forth a raven and a dove, and the latter, not
finding a resting-place, returned to him, to be sent
forth again at the end of another week. The dove

THE FLOOD 89
again returned bearing in her beak an olive-leaf.
Seven days more passed, and the dove, having been
sent out a third time, returned to him no more.
Recognizing that the waters were now all returned
into their old channels, and that the land was dry
enough for him and his, Noah removed the covering
of the vessel, and saw that his supposition was correct,
and having received the command to come forth from
the ark, which had been his abiding-place for so long,
and to send forth the living creatures that were with
him, the patriarch obeyed, and, when on dry land,
built an altar to Yahwah, and offered burnt offerings
thereon of every clean beast and every clean fowl.
" And the Lord smelled a sweet savour (lit. a savour
of rest) ; and the Lord said in His heart, I will not
again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.
. . . While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day
and night shall not cease."
Then comes, in the ninth chapter, the blessing of
God, with a charge concerning the shedding of blood.
He makes also a covenant with Noah, by the sign of
the rainbow, declaring that a like calamity shall never
again come upon the earth to destroy all life that is
upon it.
Such is, in short, the Bible story of the great flood
that destroyed, at a remote age of the world, all life
upon the earth. It is a narrative circumstantially
told, with day, month, and year all indicated, and it
forms a good subject for comparison with the Baby
lonian account, with which it agrees so closely in all
the main points, and from which it differs so much in
many essential details.
As in the case of the Babylonian story of the
Creation, it has been thought well not only to give a
fairly full translation of the Babylonian story of the
Flood, but also to indicate under what circumstances

90 THE OLD TESTAMENT
that story appears in the series of tablets in which it
is found.The first to detect the nature of the series of tablets
giving the story of the Flood was the late George
Smith, who had unrivalled opportunities of making
himself thoroughly acquainted with the treasures of
the British Museum in the matter of Assyrian records.
As the story runs, it was whilst searching for the
fragments of the Creation-series that he came across a
fragment of a tablet mentioning that " the ship rested
on the mountain of Nisir," and this at once suggested
to him that this was a reference to the Flood, as, in
fact, it turned out to be. Continued and unremitting
research among the treasures of the Department in
which he was employed enabled him to bring together
a large number of other fragments of the series,
leaving, in fact, very little indeed for any future
student to do in the way of collecting together texts
from the fragments that he had an opportunity of
examining. The Daily Telegraph expedition to
Assyria, which was conducted by Mr. Smith himself,
enabled him to add many other fragments to those
which he had already recognized in the Oriental
Department of the British Museum, and Mr. Rassam's
very successful excavations in the same place have
since very considerably increased the list of additions.
The story of the Flood, as known to the Babylonians
and Assyrians, is one chapter or book of a legend
consisting of twelve similar divisionsvthe first line of
the series beginning with the words Sa naqba imD.ru,
"He who saw everything," and to this is added in
the colophons, " the legend of Gilgames." The number
of fragments extant is large, but the individual tablets
are very imperfect, that giving the account of the
Flood being by far the most complete, though even
that has very regrettable lacunae. Incomplete as the
legend is as a whole, an attempt will nevertheless be
made here to give some sort of a connected story,

THE FLOOD 9 1
which may be regarded as accurate in all its main
details. The first tablet begins with the words that
have been quoted above, " He who saw everything,
[who]  the land." This is followed,
it would seem, by a description of the hero, who,
apparently, knew " the wisdom of the whole (of the
lands ?)," and " saw secret and hidden things. ....
He brought news of before the flood, went a
distant road, and (suffered) dire fatigue (?)." All
his journeyings and toils were, apparently, inscribed on
tablets of stone, and records thus left for future ages.
Gilgames, as we learn in the course of the narrative,
was lord or king of Uruk supuri, or "Erech the
walled," and at the time when the story begins, the
fortifications were in a ruinous state, and the treasury
(?) of the sanctuary E-anna, the temple of the goddess
Istar, which is mentioned in the legend immediately
after, was, we may suppose, empty. Other details of
the desolation of the temple are given, and the ruinous
state of the walls of the city are spoken of, together
with the decay of their foundations.
¦ No other fragment of Col. I. of the first tablet of
the Legend of Gilgames seems to have been recognized,
so that the further references to the city are lost. An
interesting piece that Mr. G. Smith thought to be part
of the third column of this text refers to some mis
fortune that came upon the city when the people
moaned like calves, and the maidens grieved like
doves. " The gods of Erech the walled
Turned to flies, and hummed in the streets ;
The winged bulls of Erech the walled
Turned to mice, and went out through the holes."
The city was, on this occasion, besieged for three
years, until at last the god Bel and the goddess Istar
interested themselves in the state of things. As to

94 THE OLD TESTAMENT
was with him, and the upshot of it is that they decide
to communicate to Gilgames an account of the terrible
man whom they had seen. It was therefore decided
to try to catch or, rather, entice him to Erech by
means of a female named Samhat. In accordance
with the instructions received, therefore, the hunter
took with him the woman who was intrusted to him,
and they awaited Ea-bani in the same place, by the
side of the water. After watching for him for two
days, they got into communication with him, and the
woman asked him why he dwelt with the wild
animals, depicting at the same time all the glory
of Erech the walled and the nobility of Gilgames, so
that he soon allowed himself to be persuaded, and, in
the end, went and took up his abode there.
Various things are then narrated, the most im-
poitant of them being the episode of the Elamite
Humbaba, the same name, though not the same
person, as the Kombabos of the Greeks.
Gilgames seems to have gone to a place where there
was a forest of cedar-trees, accompanied by Ea-bani.
Near this place, apparently, there was a splendid
palace, the abode (?) of a great queen. Judging from
what remains of the text, they ask their way of her,
and she it is who seems to tell them how to reach the
dominions of the potentate whom they seek.
" A distant road is the place of Humbaba.
A conflict that he (Gilgames) knoweth not he will
meet,
A road that he knoweth not he will ride,
As long as he goeth and returneth,
Until he reach the forest of cedars,
Until the mighty Humbaba he subdueth,
And whatever is evil, what ye hate, he shall
destroy in the l(and)."
Evidently, from the extent ofthe record in this place,
many adventures befell them, but the fragmentary

THE FLOOD 95
lines and the numerous lacunae make a connected
narrative absolutely impossible, and it is not until we
reach the first column of what Mr.G. Smith regarded as
the fifth tablet that we get something more satisfactory
than this. The hero has apparently come within
measurable distance of his goal —
" They stood and looked on the forest,
They regarded the height of the cedar,
They regarded the depth of the forest,
Where Humbaba walked, striding high (?),
The roads prepared, the way made good.
They saw the mountain of the cedar, the dwelling
of the gods, the shrine of the god Irnini,
Before the mountain the cedar raised its
luxuriance —
Good was its shade, full of delight."
They had still a long way to go, however, and
many things, seemingly, to overcome, before they
should reach the abode of the dreaded Elamite ruler,
but unfortunately, the details of their adventures are
so very fragmentary that no connected sense whatever
is to be made out. The last line of the tablet re
ferring to this section, mentioning, as it does, the
head of Humbaba, leads the -reader to guess the
conclusion of the story, whatever the details may
have been.
It is with the sixth tablet that we meet, for the
first time, almost, with something really satisfactory
in the matter of completeness, though even here one
is sometimes pulled up sharp by a defective or
doubtful passage.
Apparently, Gilgames had become, at the time to
which this tablet refers, very prosperous, and that,
combined with his other attractions, evidently drew
upon him the attention of the goddess Istar —

96 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" Come, Gilgames, be thou the bridegroom,
Give thy substance to me as a gift,
Be thou my husband, and let me be thy wife.
I will cause to be yoked for thee a chariot of
lapis-lazuli and gold,
Whose wheels are gold and adamant its poles.
Thou shalt harness thereto the white ones, the
great steeds.
Enter into our house mid the scent of the cedar."
At his entering, the people were to kiss his feet,
and kings, lords, and princes do him homage, and
lastly, he was to have no rival upon the earth.
In the mutilated passage that follows, Gilgames
answers the goddess, reproaching her with her treat
ment of her former lovers or husbands, which seems
to have been far from satisfactory. Reference to a
" wall of stone," and to " the land of the enemy,"
seem to point to imprisonment and expulsion, and
the words " Who is the bridegroom (whom thou hast
kept ?) for ever ? " indicate clearly the opinion in which
the hero held the goddess. From generalities, how
ever, he proceeds to more specific charges —
" To Tammuz, the husband of thy youth,
From year to year thou causest bitter weeping.
Thou lovedst the bright-coloured Allala bird,
Thou smotest him and brokest his wings,
He stayed in the forests crying, ' My wings ! '
Thou lovedst also a lion, perfect in strength,
By sevens didst thou cut wounds in him.
Thou lovedst also a horse, glorious in war,
Harness, spur, and bit (?) thou laidest upon him,
Seven kaspu (49 miles) thou madest him gallop,
Distress and sweat thou causedst him,
. To his mother Silili thou causedst bitter
weeping.
Thou lovedst also a shepherd of the flock,

THE FLOOD 97
Who constantly laid out before thee rich foods (?),
Daily slaughtering for thee suckling kids,
Thou smotest him and changedst him to a
jackal,
His own shepherd-boy drove him away,
And his dogs bit his limbs.
Thou lovedst also Isullanu, thy father's gardener,
Who constantly transmitted (?) thy provisions (?),
Daily making thy dishes bright.
Thou raisedst thine eyes to him, and preparedst
food.
' My Isullanu, divide the food, let us eat,
And stretch forth thine hand, and taste of our
dish.'
Isullanu said to thee :
' Me, what (is this that) thou askest me ?
My mother, do not cook (this), I have never
eaten (of it) —
For should I eat foods of enchantments and
witcheries ?
[Food bringing?] cold, exhaustion, madness (?)?'
Thou heardest this [the speech of Isullanu],
Thou smotest him, and changedst him into a
statue (?),
Thou settest him in the midst of (thy) dom(airi ?),
He raiseth not the libation- vase, he descendeth
(?) not. . .
And as for me, thou wouldst love me and (make
me) even as these ! "
Istar being angry at these reproaches and accusa
tions of the Babylonian hero, immediately ascended
to heaven and complained to her father Anu and her
mother Anatum that Gilgames had reproached her
with her enchantments and witcheries, and after a
long conversation, a divine bull is sent against the
hero and his friend. The heavenly animal is over
come, principally by the activity of Ea-bani, who after
G

98 THE OLD TESTAMENT
its death, when the goddess Istar was lamenting its
overthrow, cut off a portion of the body, and threw it
at her. Great were the rejoicings at Erech the walled
at the triumph of the hero and his counsellor, and
after the feast that was held, they all lay down to
sleep. Ea-bani also lay down with the rest, and
during the night he saw a dream, of the details of
which nothing is known, though, from the words with
which it seems to be introduced, " My friend, on
account of what do the gods take counsel," it may be
supposed that the defiance and opposition which
these mortals had offered to the goddess Istar was
engaging the attention of the heavenly powers with a
view to some action being taken. As it is with these
words that Ea-bani begins to tell his dream to
Gilgames, there is no doubt that the Babylonians
regarded the former as having been admitted, whilst
asleep (as in the case of the Babylonian Noah), into
the councils of the gods. The solitary line that is
quoted above is the first of the seventh table.
The details of the legend now again become obscure,
but thus much can be gathered, namely, that Gilgames
in his turn had a dream, and that, all appearance,
Ea-bani interpreted it. Later on, Ea-bani falls ill,
and lies without moving for twelve days. Though
unwilling to regard his friend as dead, Gilgames
mourns for him bitterly, and decides to make a
journey, apparently with the object of finding out
about his friend Ea-bani, and ascertaining whether
there were any means of bringing him back to earth
again. He sets out, and comes to the place where the
" scorpion-men," with their heads reaching to heaven,
and their breasts on a level with Hades, guarded the
place of the rising and the setting sun. The horror
of their appearance, which was death to behold, is
forcibly described on the tablet. The hero was
struck with terror on seeing them, but as he was of

THE FLOOD 99
divine origin (" his body is of the flesh of the gods,"
as the scorpion-man says to his female), death has no
power over him on account of them. He seems to
describe to them his journey, and the object he had
in view. Pir-napistim, the Babylonian Noah, is
mentioned in the course of the conversation, and it
may be supposed that it is on account of his desire to
visit him that he asks these monsters for advice. He
afterwards comes into contact with the goddess Siduri,
"who sits upon the throne of the sea," and she, on
seeing him, shuts her gate. He speaks to her of this,
and threatens to break it open. Having gained admis
sion, he apparently tells the goddess the reason of his
journey, and she, in return, describes to him the way
that he would have to take, the sea that he would
have to cross, and of the deep waters of death that
bar the way to the abode of the Babylonian Noah,
who had attained unto everlasting life, and whose
pilot or boatman, Ur-Sanabi, was to take the Erechite
hero to his presence.
After a long conversation with Ur-Sanabi, con
cerning the road that they will take, they start
together, and after passing through a forest, they
embark in a ship, and reach, at the end of a month
and ten days, the "waters of death." There
Gilgames does something a number of times, and
afterwards sees afar off Pir-napistim, the Babylonian
Noah, who apparently communes with himself con
cerning the visitor who has come to his shores. The
conversation which follows is very mutilated, but in
the course of his explanation of the reason of his visit,
Gilgames relates all his adventures — how he had
traversed all the countries, and crossed difficult
mountains, his visit to Siduri, and her refusal to
open the door to him, with many other things. The
conversation apparently, after a time, becomes of
a philosophical nature, for, in the course of it, Pir-
napistim says —

IOO THE OLD TESTAMENT
" Always have we built a house,
Always do we seal (?) (the contract).
Always have brothers share together,
Always is the seed in (the earth ?),
Always the river rises bringing a flood."
He then discourses, apparently among other things,
of death, and says—
" The Anunnaki, the great gods, are assembled (?).
Mammitum, maker of fate, sets with them the
destinies.
They have made life and death,
(But) the death-days are not made known."
With these words the tenth tablet of the Gilgames
series comes to an end.

THE ELEVENTH TABLET OF THE GILGAMES SERIES,
CONTAINING THE STORY OF THE FLOOD.
As this tablet is the most complete of the series, it
may not be considered out of place to give here a
description of the outward appearance of the docu
ment — or, rather, of the documents, for there are
many copies. This description will serve, to a certain
extent, for all the other tablets of the series, when in
their complete state.
The size of the document which best shows the
form is about 8| inches wide, by sf inches high.
It is rectangular in form, and is inscribed on
both sides with three columns of writing (six in
all). The total number of lines, as given in the
text published in the second edition of the fourth
vol. of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia,
is 293, including the catch-line and colophon, but as
many of these lines are, in reality, double ones (the
scribes frequently squeezed two lines into the space of
one, so as to economize space), the original number

THE FLOOD IOl
of the lines was probably nearer 326, or, with the
catch-line and colophon, 330. It is probable that the
other tablets of the series were not so closely written
as this, and in these cases the number of lines is
fewer. The tablet opens with the continuation of the con
versation between Gilgames and " Pir-napistim the
remote " —
"Gilgames said also to him, to Pir-napistim the
remote :
I perceive thee, O Pir-napistim,
Thy features are not changed — like me art thou,
And thou (thyself) art not changed, like me art
thou.
Put an end in thine heart to the making of
resistance,
(Here?) art thou placed, does that rise against
thee,
(Now?) that thou remainest, and hast attained
life in the assembly of the gods ?
Pir-napistim said also to him, to Gilgames :
' Let me tell thee, Gilgames, the account of my
preservation,
And let me tell thee, even thee, the decision of
the gods.
Surippak, the city which thou knowest,
Lies (upon the bank) of the Euphrates.
That city was old, and the gods within it.
The great gods decided in their hearts to make a
flood.
There (?) was (?) their father Anu,
Their counsellor, the warrior Bel,
Their throne-bearer, Ninip,
Their leader, En-nu-gi.
Nin-igi-azaga, the god Ae, communed with them,
and

102 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Repeated their command to the earth :
' Earth, earth ! Town, town !
O earth, hear : and town, understand !
Surippakite, son of Umbara-Tutu,
Destroy the house, build a ship,
Leave what thou hast (?), see to thy life.
Destroy the hostile and save life,
Take up the seed of life, all of it, into the midst
of the ship.
The ship which thou shalt make, even thou,
Let its size be measured,
Let it agree (as to) its height and its length ;
(Behold) the deep, launch her (thither).'
I understood and said to Ae, my lord :
' [Behol]d, my lord, what thou, even thou, hast
said, verily (?)
It is excellent (?), (and) I will do (it).
(How ?) may I answer the city — the young men
and the elders ? '
Ae opened his mouth and spake,
He said to his servant, to me :
' Thus, then, shalt thou say unto them :
"It has been told me (that) Bel hates me,
I will not dwell in . . . and
In the territory of Bel I will not set my face —
I will descend to the deep, with (Ae) my lord I
shall (constantly) dwell.
(As for) you, he will cause abundance to rain
down upon you, and
(Beasts and ?) birds (shall be) the prey (?) of the
fishes, and
 he will enclose, (?), and
 of a storm (?),
(In the night) the heavens will rain down upon
(y)ou destruction. ' ' "
With these words the second paragraph comes to
an end, the total number of lost or greatly mutilated

THE FLOOD 103
lines being about nine. Very little of the contents of
these lines can be made out, as not much more than
traces of words remain. Where the lines begin to
become fairly complete, the text seems to refer to the
building of the ship, upon which four days had already
been spent, its form being laid down, on the fifth day.
The description of the building, which is somewhat
minute, is exceedingly difficult to translate, and
any rendering of it must therefore, at the present
time, be regarded as tentative. Its bulwarks seem to
have risen four measures, and a deck (apparently) is
mentioned. Its interior was pitched with six sar
of bitumen, and its outside with three sar of pitch,
or bitumen of a different kind. The provisionment
of the vessel is next described, but this part is
mutilated. A quantity of oil for the crew and pilot
is referred to, and oxen were also slaughtered, appar
ently as a propitiatory sacrifice on the completion
of the vessel. Various kinds of drink were then
brought on board, both intoxicating and otherwise,
plentiful (this may be regarded as the word to be
supplied here) " like the waters of a river." After
this we have references to the completion of certain
details — holes for the cables above and below, etc.,
and with this the third paragraph comes to an end.
In the next paragraph Pir-napistim collects his
goods and his family, and enters into the ark : —
" All I possessed I transferred thereto,
All I possessed I transferred thereto, silver,
All I possessed I transferred thereto, gold ;
All I possessed I transferred thereto, the seed of
life, the whole
I caused to go up into the midst of the ship. All
my family and relatives,
The beasts of the field, the animals of the field,
the sons of the artificers — all of them I sent up.
The god Samas appointed the time —

104 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Muir kukki — In the night I will cause the heavens
to rain destruction,
Enter into the midst of the ship and shut thy
door."
" That time approached —
Muir kukki — In the night the heavens rained
destruction.
I saw the appearance of the day :
I was afraid to look upon the day —
I entered into the midst of the ship, and shut my
door.
For the guiding of the ship, to Buzur-Kurgala,
the pilot,
I gave the great house with its goods.
At the appearance of dawn in the morning,
There arose from the foundation of heaven a dark
cloud :
Rimmon thundered in the midst of it, and
Nebo and Sarru went in front
Then went the throne-bearers (over) mountain and
plain.
Ura-gala dragged out the cables,
Then came Ninip, casting down destruction,
The Anunnaki raised (their) torches,
With their brilliance they illuminated the land.
Rimmon's destruction reached to heaven,
Everthing bright to darkness turned,
. . . the land like .... it . .
The first day, the storm (?) 
Swiftly it swept, and . . . the land (?) . .
Like a battle against the people it sought . . .
Brother saw not brother.
The people were not to be recognized. In heaven
The gods feared the flood, and
They fled, they ascended to the heaven of Anu.
The gods kenneled like dogs, crouched down in
the enclosures,

THE FLOOD 105
Istar spake like a mother.1
The lady of the gods 2 called out, making her voice
resound :
' All that generation has turned to corruption.
Because I spoke evil in the assembly of the gods,
When I spoke evil in the assembly of the gods,
I spoke of battle for the destruction of my
people.
Verily I have begotten (man), but where is he ?
Like the sons of the fishes he fills the sea.'
The gods of the Anunnaki were weeping with
her.
The gods had crouched down, seated in lament
ation,
Covered were their lips in (all) the assemblies,
Six days and nights
The wind blew, the deluge and flood overwhelmed
the land.
The seventh day, when it came, the storm ceased,
the raging flood,
Which had contended like a whirlwind,
Quieted, the sea shrank back, and the evil wind
and deluge ended.
I noticed the sea making a noise,
And all mankind had turned to corruption.
Like palings the marsh-reeds appeared.
I opened my window, and the light fell upon my face,
I fell back dazzled, I sat down, I wept,
Over my face flowed my tears.
I noted the regions, the shore of the sea,
For twelve measures the region arose.
The ship had stopped at the land of Nisir.
The mountain of Nisir seized the ship, and would
not let it pass.
The first day and the second day the mountain
of Nisir seized the ship, and would not let it
pass,
1 Variant, " with loud voice." 2 Variant, " Sirtu."

106 THE OLD TESTAMENT
The third day and the fourth day the mountain of
Nisir, etc.,
The fifth and sixth the mountain of Nisir, etc.,
The seventh day, when it came
I sent forth a dove, and it left,
The dove went, it turned about,
But there was no resting-place, and it returned.
I sent forth a swallow, and it left,
The swallow went, it turned about,
But there was no resting-place, and it returned.
I sent forth a raven, and it left,
The raven went, the rushing of the waters it
saw,
It ate, it waded, it croaked, it did not return.
I sent forth (the animals) to the four winds, I
poured out a libation,
I made an offering on the peak of the mountain,
Seven and seven I set incense-vases there,
In their depths I poured cane, cedar, and rose
wood (?).
The gods smelled a savour,
The gods smelled a sweet savour,
The gods gathered like flies over the sacrificer.
Then the goddess Sirtu, when she came,
Raised the great signets that Anu had made at
her wish :
' These gods — by the lapis-stone of my neck — let
me not forget,
These days let me remember, nor forget them for
ever!
Let the gods come to the sacrifice,
But let not Bel come to the sacrifice,
For he did not take counsel, and made a flood,
And consigned my people to destruction.'
Then Bel, when he came,
Saw the ship. And Bel was wroth,
Filled with anger on account of the gods and the
spirits of heaven.

THE FLOOD 107
'What, has a soul escaped?
Let not a man be saved from the destruction.'
Ninip opened his mouth and spake,
He said to the warrior Bel :
' Who but Ae has done the thing
And Ae knows every event.'
Ae opened his mouth and spake,
He said to the warrior Bel :
' Thou sage of the gods, warrior,
Verily thou hast not taken counsel, and hast made
a flood.
The sinner has committed his sin,
The evildoer has committed his misdeed,
Be merciful — let him not be cut off — yield, let
(him) not perish.
Why hast thou made a flood ?
Let the lion come, and let men diminish.
Why hast thou made a flood ?
Let the hyaena come, and let men diminish.
Why hast thou made a flood ?
Let a famine happen, and let the land be de
stroyed (?).
Why hast thou made a flood ?
Let Ura (pestilence) come, and let the land be
devastated (?).
I did not reveal the decision of the great gods—
I caused Atra-hasis to see a dream, and he
heard the decision of the gods.'
When he had taken counsel (with himself),
Ae went up into the midst of the ship,
He took my hand and he led me up, even me
He brought up and caused my woman to kneel (?)
at my side ;
He touched us, and standing between us, he
blessed us (saying) :
' Formerly Pir-napistim was a man :
Now (as for) Pir-napistim and his woman, let
them be like unto the gods, (even) us,

108 THE OLD TESTAMENT
And let Pir-napistim dwell afar at the mouths
of the rivers.'
He took me, and afar at the mouths of the
rivers he caused me to dwell.
Now as for thee, who of the gods shall restore
thee to health ?
That thou see the life that thou seekest, even
thou?
Well, lie not down to sleep six days and seven
nights,
Like one who is sitting down in the midst of
his sorrow (?),
Sleep like a dark cloud hovereth over him.
Pir-napistim then said to his wife :
' See, the hero who desireth life,
Sleep like a dark cloud hovereth over him.'
His wife then said to Pir-napistim the remote :
' Touch him, and let him awake a man —
Let him return in health by the road that he
came,
Let him return to his country by the great
gate by which he came forth.'
Pir-napistim said to his wife :
' The suffering of men hurteth thee.
Come, cook his food, set it by his head.'
And the day that he lay down in the enclosure of
his ship,
She cooked his food, she set it by his head :
And the day when he lay down in the enclosure of
his cabin
First his food was ground,
Secondly it was sifted,
Thirdly it was moistened,
Fourthly she rolled out his dough,
Fifthly she threw down a part,
Sixthly it was cooked,
Seventhly he (or she) touched him suddenly,
and he awoke a man !

THE FLOOD IO9
Gilgames said to him (even) to Pir-napistim the
remote :
' That sleep quite overcame me
. Swiftly didst thou touch me, and didst awaken
me, even thou.' "
Pir-napistim, in answer to this, tells Gilgames what
had been done to him, repeating the description of
the preparation of his food in the same words as
had been used to describe the ceremony (for such it
apparently is), and ending by saying, "Suddenly I
touched thee, (even) I, and thou awokest, (even) thou."
Thus putting beyond question the personality of the
one who effected the transformation which was
brought about, though he leaves out the word " man,"
which hid from the hero the fact that a transformation
had in consequence taken place in him. The cere
monies were not by any means finished, however, for
the boatman or pilot had to take him to the place
of lustration to be cleansed, and for the skin, with
which he seems to have been covered, to fall off.
The Babylonian patriarch then tells him of a wonderful
plant which would make an old man young again, and
Gilgames gets possession of one of these. On his
way to his own country in the company of the boat
man or pilot, he stops to perform what seems to be
a religious ceremony, at a well, when a serpent smells
the plant,1 and, apparently in consequence of that, a
lion comes and takes it away. Gilgames greatly
laments his loss, saying that he had not benefited
by the possession of this wonderful plant, but the
lion of the desert had gained the advantage. After
1 Compare the story of Aesculapius, who, when in the
house of Glaucus, killed a serpent, upon which another of
these reptiles came with a herb in its mouth, wherewith it
restored its dead companion to life. Aesculapius was to all
appearance luckier than Gilgames, for it was with this herb
that he restored the sick and dead, whereas the Babylonian
hero seems to have lost the precious plant.

1 10 THE OLD TESTAMENT
a journey only varied by the religious festivals that
they kept, they at length reached Erech, the walled.
Here, after a reference to the dilapidation of the place,
and a statement seemingly referring to the offerings
to be made if repairs had not, during his absence,
been effected, the eleventh and most important tablet
of the Gilgames series comes to an end.
Of the twelfth tablet but a small portion exists,
though fragments of more than one copy have been
found. In this we learn that Gilgames still lamented
for his friend Ea-bani, whom he had lost so long
before. Wishing to know of his present state and
how he fared, he called to the spirit of his friend
thus —
" Thou restest not the bow upon the ground,
What has been smitten by the bow surround
thee.
The staff thou raisest not in thine hand,
The spirits (of the slain) enclose thee.
Shoes upon thy feet thou dost not set,
A cry upon earth thou dost not make :
Thy wife whom thou lovest thou kissest not,
Thy wife whom thou hatest thou smitest not ;
Thy child whom thou lovest thou kissest not,
Thy child whom thou hatest thou smitest not.
The sorrowing earth hath taken thee."
Gilgames then seems to invoke the goddess
" Mother of Nin-a-zu," seemingly asking her to restore
his friend to him, but to all appearance without
result. He then turned to the other deities — Bel,
Sin, and Ea, and the last-named seems to have
interceded for Ea-bani with Nerigal, the god of the
under-world, who, at last, opened the earth, " and
the spirit of Ea-bani like mist arose (?)." His friend
being thus restored to him, though probably only
for a time, and not in bodily form, Gilgames asks

THE FLOOD III
him to describe the appearance of the world from
which he had just come. " If I tell thee the appear
ance of the land I have seen," he answers, "... sit
down, weep." Gilgames, however, still persists —
"... let me sit down, let me weep," he answers.
Seeing that he would not be denied, Ea-bani com
plies with his request. It was a place where dwelt
people who had sinned in their heart, where (the
young) were old, and the worm devoured, a place
filled with dust. This was the place of those who
had not found favour with their god, who had met
with a shameful death (as had apparently Ea-bani
himself). The blessed, on the other hand —
" Lying upon a couch,
Drinketh pure (or holy) water.
He who hath been killed in battle
(Thou hast seen — I myself have seen),
His father and his mother support his head,
And his wife sitteth (?) on (her seat ?).
He whose corpse has been thrown on the ground
(Thou hast seen — I myself have seen),
His spirit lieth not within the earth.
He whose spirit hath not a caretaker
(Thou hast seen — I myself have seen),
Food in the trough, the leavings of the feast,
Which in the street is thrown, he eateth."
And with this graphic description of the world of
the dead the twelfth and concluding tablet of the
Gilgames series comes to an end.
With the Gilgames series of tablets as a whole we
have not here to concern ourselves, except to remark,
that the story of the Flood is apparently inserted in
it in order to bring greater glory to the hero, whom
the writer desired to bring into connection with one
who was regarded as the greatest and most renowned
of old times, and who, on account of the favour that

112 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the gods had to him, had attained to immortality
and to divinity. Except the great Merodach himself,
no divine hero of past ages appealed to the Babylonian
mind so strongly as Pir-napistim, who was called
Atra-hasis, the hero of the Flood.
The reason of the coming of the Flood seems to
have been regarded by the Babylonians as two-fold.
In the first place, as Pir-napistim is made to say
(see p. 100), "Always the river rises and brings a
flood " — in other words, it was a natural phenomenon.
But in the course of the narrative which he relates
to Gilgames, the true reason is implied, though it
does not seem to be stated in words. And this
reason is the same as that of the Old Testament,
namely, the wickedness of the world. If it should
again become needful to punish mankind with
annihilation on account of their wickedness, the
instrument was to be the lion, or the hyaena, or
pestilence — not a flood. And we have not to go far
to seek the reason for this. By a flood, the whole
of mankind might — in fact, certainly would — be de
stroyed, whilst by the other means named some, in all
probability, would escape. There was at least one
of the gods who did not feel inclined to witness
the complete destruction of the human race without
a protest, and an attempt on his part to frustrate
such a merciless design.
Little doubt exists that there is some motive in
this statement on the part of the Babylonian author
of the legend. It has been already noted that
Merodach (the god who generally bears the title of
Bel, or " lord ") was, in Babylonian mythology, not
one of the older gods, he having displaced his
father Ea or Ae, in consequence of the predomin
ance of Babylon, whose patron god Merodach was.
Could it be that the Babylonians believed that the
visitation of the flood was due to the vengeful
anger of Merodach, aroused by the people's non

THE FLOOD 113
acceptance of his kingship? It would seem so.
Pir-napistim was himself a worshipper of Ae, and
on account of that circumstance, he is represented
in the story as being under the special protection
of that god. To all appearance, therefore, the reason
which Pir-napistim is represented as having given,
for the building of the ship, to his fellow-townsmen,
was not intended to be altogether false. The god
Bel hated him, and therefore he was going to dwell
with Ae, his lord — on the bosom of the deep which
he ruled. An announcement of the impending
doom is represented as having been made to the
people by the patriarch, and it is therefore doubly
unfortunate that the next paragraph is so mutilated,
for it doubtless gave, when complete, some account
of the way in which they received the notice of the
destruction that was about to be rained down upon
them. It has been more than once suggested, and Prof.
Hommel has stated the matter as his opinion, that
the name of the god AS or Ea, another possible
reading of which is Aa, may be in some way
connected with, and perhaps originated the Assyrcn
Babylonian divine name Ya'u, "God," which is
cognate with the Hebrew Yah or, as it is generally
written, Jah. If this be the case, it would seem to
imply that a large section of the people remained
faithful to his worship, and the flood of the
Babylonians may symbolize some persecution of
them by the worshippers of the god Merodach,
angry at the slight put upon him by their neglect
or unwillingness to acknowledge him as the chief
of the Pantheon. Some of the people may, indeed,
have worshipped Ae or Aa alone, thus constituting
a kind of monotheism. This, nevertheless, is very
uncertain, and at present unprovable. It is worthy
of note, however, that at a later date there was a
tendency to identify all the deities of the Babylonian 8

114 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Pantheon with Merodach, and what in the "middle
ages" of the Babylonians existed with regard to
Merodach may very well have existed for the worship
of Ae or Ea at an earlier date. The transfer, in the
Semitic Babylonian Creation-story, of the name of
Ae to his son Merodach may perhaps be a re-echo
of the tendency to identify all the gods with Ae, when
the latter was the supreme object of worship in the
land. There is one thing that is certain, and that
is, that the Chaldean Noah, Pir-napistim, was faith
ful in the worship of the older god, who therefore
warned him, thus saving his life. Ae, the god who
knew all things, knew also the design of his fellows
to destroy mankind, and being " all and always eye,"
to adopt a phrase used by John Bunyan, he bore, as
a surname, that name Nin-igi-azaga, " Lord of the
bright eye," so well befitting one who, even among
his divine peers, was the lord of unsearchable wisdom.
It is unfortunately a difficult thing to make a
comparison of the ark as described in Genesis with
a ship of the Babylonian story. It was thought,
by the earlier translators of the Babylonian story
of the Flood, that its size was indicated in the
second paragraph of the story (p. 102, 11. 11, 12), but
Dr. Haupt justly doubts that rendering. If the
size of the vessel were indicated at all, it was
probably in the next paragraph, where the build
ing of the ship is described. This part, however,
is so very mutilated, that very little clear sense can
be made out of it. The Babylonian home-land of
the story seems certainly to be indicated by the
mention of two kinds of bitumen or pitch for
caulking the vessel, Babylonia being the land of
bitumen par excellence, f Those who were to live
on board were to sustain themselves with the flesh
of oxen, and to all appearance they cheered the
weary hours with the various kinds of drink of
which they laid in store. They were not neglect-

THE FLOOD 115
ful, either, of the oil that they used in preparing
the various dishes, and with which they anointed
their persons. All these points, though but little
things in themselves, go to show that the story,
in its Babylonian dress, was really written in the
country of that luxury-loving people. The men
tion of holes for the cables, too, shows that the
story is the production of maritime people, such
as the Babylonians were. <.
Apparently the Babylonians found there was
something inconsistent in the patriarch being saved
without any of his relatives (except his sons),
and the artificers who had helped him to build
the ship which was to save him from the destruc
tion that overwhelmed his countrymen and theirs.
For this reason, and also because of the relation
ship that might be supposed to exist between
master and servant, his relatives and the sons of
the artificers1 are saved along with his own family,
which, of course, would not only include his sons,
but their wives also. On this point, therefore, the
two accounts may be regarded as in agreement.
When all was ready, the Sun-god, called by the
usual Semitic name of Samas, appointed the time
for the coming of the catastrophe. This would seem
to be another confirmation of the statement already
made, that the Babylonians, like the Hebrews
(see Gen. i. 14 — 18), regarded one of the uses
of the sun as being to indicate seasons and
times. It was a great and terrible time, such
as caused terror to the beholder, and the patriarch
was smitten with fear. Here, as in other parts of
the Babylonian version, there is a human interest
that is to a large extent wanting in the precise and
detailed Hebrew account. Again the maritime
1 Apparently meaning the same as if the word" " artificers "
only had been used. Compare the expression " a son of
Babylon" for "a Babylonian."

Il6 THE OLD TESTAMENT
nation is in evidence, where the consigning of the
ship into the care of a pilot is referred to. Of
course such an official could do but little more
than prevent disastrous misfortune from the vessel
being the plaything of the waves. In the descrip
tion of the storm, the terror of the gods, and Istar's
anger and grief at the destruction of mankind, we
see the production of a nation steeped in idolatry,
but there are but few Assyro-Babylonian documents
in which this fact is not made evident.
We have a return to the Biblical story in the
sending forth of the birds, and the sacrifice of
odoriferous herbs, when the gods smelled a sweet
savour, and gathered like flies over the sacrificer.
In the signets of Istar (for she and Slrtu, the
supreme goddess, are apparently one), by which
she swears, we may, perhaps, see a reflection of
the covenant by means of the rainbow, which the
Babylonians possibly regarded as the necklace of the
goddess — a pretty and poetical idea. Instead of the
promise that a similar visitation to destroy the whole
of mankind should not occur again, there is simply
a kind of exhortation on the part of the god Ae,
addressed to Bel, not to destroy the world by means
of a flood again. To punish mankind for sins and
misdeeds committed, other means were to be em
ployed that did not involve the destruction of the
whole human race.
Noah died at the age of 950 years (Gen. ix. 29),
but his Babylonian representative was translated
to the abode of the blessed " at the mouths of the
rivers," with his wife, to all appearance immediately
after the Flood. In this the Babylonian account
differs, and the ultimate fate of the patriarch resem
bles that of the Biblical Enoch, he who "was not,
for God took him" (Gen. v. 24).

THE FLOOD 117
APPENDIX
THE SECOND VERSION OF THE FLOOD-STORY
This was found by the late George Smith at Nineveh
when excavating for the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph,
and was at first supposed to belong to the text translated on
pp. 10 1 — 109. This, however, is impossible, as the narra
tive is in the third person instead of the first, and in the
form of a conversation between Atra-hasis ( = Pir-napistim)
and the god Ae — Tablet D. T. 42.
. . . . may it be 
. . . . like the vault of 
. . . . may it be "strong above and below.
Enclose the . . . and 
[At] the time that I shall send to thee
Enter [the ship] and close the door of the ship,
Into the midst of it [take] thy grain, thy furniture, and
[thy] goods,
Thy . . . , thy family, thy relatives, and the
artisans ;
[The beasts] of the field, the animals of the field, as
many as 1 shall collect (?),
[I will] send to thee, and thy door shall protect them.
EAtra]-hasis opened his mouth and spake,
Sa]ying to Ae, his lord :
" .... a ship I have not made ....
Form [its shape (?) upon the gr]ound.
Let me see the [plan], and [I will build] the ship.
[Form] . . . . on the ground ....
 what thou hast said .....
It is not improbable that the fragment published by the
Rev. V. Scheil, O. P., belongs to this legend (see The King's
Own} April 1898, pp. 397 — 400).
1 Marshall Brothers, Paternoster Row.

CHAPTER IV
ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS, WITH
REFERENCE TO THE SO-CALLED GENEALOGICAL
TABLE.
The Akkadians — The Semitic Babylonians — The Hebrews —
Nimrod — Assur — The Tower of Babel and the confusion of
tongues — Babylonian temple-towers— How the legend probably
arose — The Patriarchs to the time of Abraham.
" AND Cush begat Nimrod : he began to be a mighty
one in the earth.
" He was a mighty hunter before the Lord : where
fore it is said, Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter
before the Lord.
" And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and
Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
" Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded
Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth (or, the streets of the
city), and Calah.
" And Resen between Nineveh and Calah : the
same is a great city."
Such is the Biblical account of the origin of the two
most powerful states of the ancient East, Babylonia
and Assyria. It has been many times quoted and
discussed, but there seems always to be something
new to say about it, or to add to it, or what has
already been said may be put in another and clearer
way. It is for one or more of these reasons, as well
as for the completeness of this work, that the author
ventures again to approach the well-worn problems
that these verses present. 118

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 119
Every reader, on taking up a book dealing with this
period of ancient Eastern history, will probably have
noticed, that the word which most frequently meets
his eye (if the book be an English one) is Akkad, the
Semitic equivalent of the Biblical Accad. I f, however,
it be a continental work, the equivalent expression
will be Sumer — which word, indeed, he will meet with
also in English works, if the writer be at all under
German or other foreign influence.
The reason for this divergence of opinion is very
simple, the fact being that there were two tribes or
nationalities, Sumer being before Akkad when the
two countries are mentioned together, and as it is
regarded as identical with the Shinar of Gen. x. 10,
Sumer and Sumerian may possibly be preferable, but
in all probability Akkad and Akkadian are not
wrong. As we see from the chapter of Genesis referred to,
there were many nationalities in the Euphrates valley
in ancient times, and the expression " Cush begat
Nimrod," would imply that the inhabitants of
Babylonia were all Cushites. Yet the great majority
of the inscriptions found in that country of a later
date than about 2000 B.C. are Semitic.
Large additions have of late years been made to
the number of ancient remains from Babylonia, and
most of these are of a very early period. We are
thus in a position to compare not only the different
types of that early period with each other, but also
with the sculptures of later date. The cylinder-seals
show us a comparatively slim race, long-bearded,
erect and dignified, and these characteristics are also
recognizable among the various types revealed to us
by the still earlier sculptures. The representations of
kings and deities are often heavily bearded, but, on
the other hand, high officials and others are generally
clean shaven. These peculiarities, with the differ
ence of costume, especially the thick-brimmed hats,

120 THE OLD TESTAMENT
wouldseem to implydistinct foreign influence.or, rather,
in combination with the differences of racial type
exhibited, considerable foreign admixture. Perhaps,
however, the true explanation is, that the plain of
Shinar represents the meeting-point of two different
races — one Cushite and the other Semitic.
And this fact, as is well known, is confirmed by
the existence of what is regarded as the language of
the Akkadians, and also of a dialect of the same.
This is not the place to discuss the question whether
these non-Semitic idioms be really languages or only
cryptographs — the author holds, in common with
Sayce, Oppert, Hommel, and all the principal
Assyriologists, that they are real languages — but a
reference to the few passages where these idioms are
spoken of may not be without interest.
One of these is the fragment known as S. 1190 in
the British Museum, where the contents of the tablet
of which it formed a part are referred to as " Two
Sumerian incantations used " (seemingly) " for the
stilling of a weeping child." Another tablet refers to
the languages, and states that the tongue of Sumer
was like (the tongue of) Akkad, or assumed a likeness
to it at some time or other. This document also
refers to another form of speech that was the tongue
of the prince, chief, or leader. Yet another frag
ment refers to Akkad as below (? to the south) and
Sumer above (? to the north),1 but it is doubtful
whether this refers to the position of the country. A
fourth large fragment written partly in the " dialect "
is referred to as a " Sumerian " text.
Both from the ethnographical and the linguistic
side, therefore, ample testimony to the existence of a
1 The Assyrians, when referring to Babylonia, generally call it
"Akkad," which ought rather, therefore, to be the district nearest
to them — that is, the northern part of the country, immediately
south of their own borders. They also called this part Kardunias,
one of the names by which it was known in Babylonia.

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 121
non-Semitic race (or non-Semitic races) in the plain
of Shinar in ancient times is at hand. As to the
language intended in the expression " Two Sumerian
incantations " (spoken of above) there can be no doubt,
the original idiom in question being the non-Semitic
tongue already referred to — that tongue which was
like the tongue of Akkad, of which it was apparently
a more decayed form. The title given cannot refer
to the translation into Assyro-Babylonian which
accompanies it, as this is undoubtedly of later date
than the composition itself.
There is then no doubt that the Akkadians and the
Sumerians were two tribes of the same race, probably
intermixed to a certain extent with foreign elements
(people with oblique eyes being depicted on at least
two of the sculptures of the early period from Tel-
Loh), and speaking a language differing entirely from
that of their Semitic fellow-countrymen, — a language
which was of an agglutinative nature, introducing into
its verbal forms whole rows of analytical particles,
which sometimes gave to the phrase a precision of
meaning to which the Semitic Babylonian has but
little pretension, though Sumero-Akkadian is generally
difficult enough in other respects, in consequence of
the excessive number of the homophones that it
contains. Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to see how
the speakers of the latter language could have under
stood each other without resorting to some such dis
tinctive aids similar to the tones used in modern — as
probably also in ancient — Chinese, of which Sumero-
Akkadian is regarded by the Rev. C. J. Ball as an
exceedingly ancient form.
The question of the origin of the Akkadians is one
concerning which there has been and is still much
uncertainty, and which presents many problems for the
future. It has been remarked that the fact that there
is no special ideograph for " river," and the fact that
" mountain " and " country " are represented by the

122 THE OLD TESTAMENT
same character, imply that the people with whom the
cuneiform script originated came from a mountainous
country — probably the tract to the east or the north
east. This assumption, however, is not wholly
dependent on what is here stated, for it is a
well-known and admitted fact that the ideograph
generally used for "Akkad" stands also for other
tracts that are largely mountainous, namely, Phoenicia
and Ararat.
It may be of interest here to quote the passage
referring to this.
The text in question is the exceedingly important
syllabary designated by Prof. Fried. Delitzsch
" Syllabary B." The text is unfortunately incomplete
in the part we have to quote, but according to the
Babylonian school-practice lists, and the restorations
of Prof. Delitzsch, it was as follows —

Uri
Tidnu Tilla

Akkadu Amurru Urtu.

From this we see that the ideograph for Akkad not
only stood for that country, but also for the land of
the Amorites (Amurru), and for Ararat (Urtu), both
of them being more or less mountainous districts.
That the ancient home of the Akkadians was of the
same nature is, therefore, more than probable.
That the Akkadians were a conquering race is
indicated by the legend of the god Ura, generally
called "the Dibbara Legend," where the hero, "the
warrior Ura," is represented as speaking prophetically
as follows —
"Tamtu with Tamtu, Subartu with Subartu.
Assyrian with Assyrian,
Elamite with Elamite,
Kassite with Kassite,

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 1 23
Sutite with Sutite,
Qutite with Qutite,
Lullubite with Lullubite,
Country with country, house with house, man with
man,
Brother with brother, shall not agree : let them
annihilate each other,
And afterwards let the Akkadian come, and
Let him overthrow them all, and let him cast
down the whole of them."
The Akkadians had dominion, at one time or
another, over all the above nationalities, some of whom
were permanently subjected. Tamtu, the region of
the Persian Gulf, was under their domination con
stantly, though the inhabitants' were apparently rather
turbulent, and unwilling subjects. The Assyrians
were apparently for a time under Akkadian (Baby
lonian) rule, but threw it off at a very early period,
and later on conquered Akkad itself. The Elamites,
too, were for a while conquered by the inhabitants of
Babylonia, and the Sutites (people of Suti) are said
to have been all transported by Kadasman-Murus
(he reigned about 1209 B-c-> according to Hilprecht).
It will thus be seen that they played an important
part in the history of the plain of Shinar where
they settled, and to all appearance introduced their
civilization. In the earliest ages known to us, the land of Akkad
was a collection of small states resembling the
Heptarchy. These states differed considerably in
power, influence, and prosperity, and the passing
centuries brought many changes with them. From
time to time one of the kings or viceroys of these
small states would find himself more powerful than
his contemporaries, and would gradually overcome all
the others. One of the earliest instances of this is the
ruler Lugal -zag-gi-si, whose reign is placed by Hilprecht

124 THE OLD TESTAMENT
at about 4500 B.C. He was son of Ukus (the read
ing is doubtful), viceroy {patesi) of a district which I
identify provisionally with that of which Opis was
capital. " He had conquered all Babylonia and
established an empire extending from the Persian
Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea " (Hilprecht).
Whether he and his successors were able to main
tain real dominion over all this extensive tract or
not, we do not know, but a few hundred years later
we find Sargon of Agade (known as " Sargani king of
the city ") maintaining undisputed sway not only
over all the tract in question, but over the island
of Cyprus as well, whilst his son, Naram-Sin, ap
parently added Elam tb his dominions, and Uruwus
(whom Prof. Sayce suggests as the original of the
Horus of Pliny), at a later date, led a warlike expe
dition thither, and brought away much spoil, extant
still as a lasting testimony to the reality of this
historical fact.
Among the states which existed in Akkad before
the whole country was united under one king may be
mentioned Isin or Karrak, Ur (the supposed Ur of
the Chaldees), Kes, Nippur (or Niffur), the modern
Niffer, Lagas, Eridu, Erech, and Larsa (identified with
Ellasar), with some others. Akkad and Babylon
were always important centres, the former being
supreme before the date of the dynasty of Babylon
(about 2200 B.C.), and the latter afterwards.
Until about the time of the dynasty of Babylon, the
language principally used was to all appearance the
non-Semitic Babylonian or Akkadian — in any case,
the numerous texts (mainly temple-accounts) of the
period of Bur-Sin, Ine-Sin, Gimil-Sin, etc., are written
in that tongue. Nevertheless, Akkadian seems to
have been the official language of the country for a
considerable time after, if we may judge from the
contracts, and especially the historical dates of these
documents, which are always written in Akkadian.

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 125
The names, too, which were before this period wholly
Akkadian, gradually become more and more Semitic
(Assyro-Babylonian), and finally the Akkadian ele
ment only exists as a remnant of the non-Semitic
tongue which prevailed before the Semitic Dynasty
of Babylon — that to which Hammurabi or Amraphel
belonged — made the Semitic tongue, spoken by
Sargon of Agade more than 1 500 years before, the
official language of the country.
Such, then, is the history of the ancient Akkadians,
from whose intermingled stock the later Semitic Baby
lonians sprang, and who inherited, at the same time,
their method of writing, their literature, their arts and
sciences, and also, to a great extent, their manners,
customs, and religion. It was to all appearance
with the Semitic dynasty of Hammurabi that the
change from non-Semitic to Semitic predominance
took place. This change must have been slow
enough, and in all probability it occurred without any
national upheaval, and without any interruption of the
national life. Semitic names gradually replaced the
Akkadian ones, most of the religious works, incanta
tions, national histories, bilingual lists, and syllabaries
were supplied with Semitic translations, and legal pre
cedents in Semitic Babylonian for the information of
the judges of later times were drawn up, whilst the
old Akkadian laws, though retained, were translated
for the use of students who no longer learned Akka
dian as their mother-tongue, and who committed
them to memory at the same time as they learned the
set phrases they would have to use when, their educa
tion completed, they should attain to the dignity of
full-fledged ministers to the legal needs of the com
munity. By this time, or somewhat later, the racial
type must have become fixed, for the sculptures from
the thirteenth century B.C. downwards no longer show
the slim, elegant form of the Akkadians, but the thick
set, well-developed figure of the Semites, such as at

126 THE OLD TESTAMENT
least some of the native Christians of Baghdad and
the neighbourhood show at the present day.
As has been already noticed, the Assyrians spoke
the same language, and had practically the same
religion and literature (including the ancient Akka
dian classics) as the Babylonians, whom they resembled
in manners, customs, and outward appearance. The
old translation of the verse referring to Assyria, " Out
of that land (Babylonia) went forth Assur," is, in all
probability, perfectly correct, whatever may be the
arguments in favour of the rendering, " He (Nimrod)
went out into Assyria," for it is exceedingly likely
that the Babylonian civilization of Assyria is wholly
due to emigration of settlers from Babylonia. More
over, as will be seen later on, the enigmatical Nimrod
is none other than the well-known head of the Baby
lonian Pantheon, Merodach, who is actually stated to
have built Babel ( = the city Babylon), Erech, and
Niffer (identified in Rabbinical tradition, which in
this case is probably correct, with Calneh). The Baby
lonian tradition as to the foundation of the city of
Akkad is still wanting, but that its origin was attri
buted to Merodach is more than probable. If, how
ever, there had been any grounds for honouring Calah,
Nineveh, and Resen with the same divine origin, the
Assyrians would certainly not have allowed the tradi
tion to go unrecorded. Properly speaking the " land of
Nimrod " (Micah v. 6) is Babylon, notwithstanding
all arguments to the contrary, for that was the land
which he loved, the land whose great cities he was
regarded as having founded and as still favouring, and
the land where, if we may trust the language of his
name (in Akkadian it means " the brightness of
day"), he ruled when he was king upon earth — the
land, in fact, which gave him birth.
At first governed by patesis, or viceroys (many
Assyriologists call them priest-kings or pontiffs), this
title was abandoned for that of sarru, " king," between

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 1 27
1600 and 1800 B.C. The use of the title patesi (in
Assyrian issaku, " chief") implies that the earlier rulers
of Assur acknowledged some overlord, and in all
probability this overlord was the paramount king
of Babylonia at the time. If we regard Nimrod
(Merodach) as the first king of Babylonia (or the first
really great ruler ofthe country), then it is certain that
it was not he who founded the great cities of Assyria,
for they can have no pretensions to the same anti
quity as the great cities of Babylonia, any more than
Assyrian civilization can be of the same period. Of
course it is probable that the cities of Assyria were
founded at an exceedingly early date, perhaps many
of them are as old as any Babylonian foundation, but
their importance was nothing like so great as those 01
Babylonia until the latter had already been renowned
many hundreds — perhaps many thousands — of years,
and to attribute the origin of these unimportant places
to Nimrod would bring him no honour, even if it were
probable that he had founded them.
The founder of Nineveh, Calah, Rehoboth Ir, and
Resen was either aBabylonian emigrant named Asshur,
the first viceroy of the district, or else Asshur, in the
tenth chapter of Genesis, stands for the Assyrian
nation. It is noteworthy that, in the verse in question,
there is no mention of the foundation of the old capital,
the city of Assur. This is probably to be explained
by the fact that the book of Genesis was compiled at
a time when the primaeval capital had already fallen
into the background, and Nineveh, the city first men
tioned in the enumeration, had assumed the first place
— indeed, the fact that it is mentioned first seems
to prove this contention.
Being far away from the centre of civilization, and
apparently mingling with barbarous races to the north
— the people of Urartu (Ararat), Van, Ukka, Musasir,
etc. — in all probability the ancient Assyrians lost what
polish they had brought with therh from Babylonia)

128 THE OLD TESTAMENT
and, like all pioneers, developed into hardy, fearless,
and cruel warriors, constantly striving for the mastery
over all the other tribes and nationalities around. Thus
it came to pass that, having ascertained her strength,
Assyria refused to acknowledge the overlordship of
the kings of Babylonia, and the rulers of the country
abandoned the title oipatesi or issaku for that of sarru
or " king." The country from which the Assyrians
had sprung did not long remain secure from the
attacks of her offspring, and the conquest of Babylonia
by the Assyrians took place more than once. Brave,
warlike, and cruel, the Assyrians at last possessed
for a time not only Babylonia, with the overlord
ship of Elam, but also the whole of Western Asia
as far as the Mediterranean and Cyprus, and a large
part of Egypt. Notwithstanding the polish that they
had attained during the last years of the empire, the
nations around remembered against them all the
cruelties that they had committed during the fore
going centuries, and when the time of weakness came,
when the ruling mind that should have held the empire
together, and turned the tide of disaster into the
channel of success, was wanting, then came the chance
of the nations that had known the Assyrian empire in
former ages, and the end of the seventh century before
Christ saw the last of the power that had dominated
Western Asia so long and so successfully.
Yet Assyria was a most remarkable power, and pro
duced a number of really great rulers and generals.
The Assyrian kings retained for a long time their
dominion over fairly distant tracts, and made them
selves greatly feared by all the nations around. As
is well known, they had made great advances in the
art of sculpture, so much so that visitors to the British
Museum, on seeing the wonderful hunting-scenes in
the Assyrian side-gallery, have been heard to express
the opinion that Greek artists must either have
originated them, or influenced their production. Their

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 129
literature was naturally influenced by that of Babylonia,
but one has only to read the historical records of Tiglath-
pileser I., who declaims his successes in forceful and
elegant paragraphs ; Sennacherib, with his wealth of
words ; or Assur-bani-apli, who in moderateand elegant
phrases tells ofthe successes of his soldiers and generals,
to see that, when occasion arose, they could produce
literary works as good as the best of ancient times.
It will probably be a matter of regret to many
people, but the name of Nimrod, which we have been
accustomed to associate with the pleasures and perils
of the chase for so many hundred years, must now be
relegated to the domain of words misunderstood or
purposely changed for reasons that can without much
difficulty be divined.
It is not Nimrod alone that comes under this
category — Nibhaz (2 Kings xvii. 31), judging from the
Greek, is in the same case, Nisroch (2 Kings xix. 37) is
certainly so, and Abed-nego for Abed-nebo is a well-
known instance.
But why, it will be asked, should these names have
been intentionally changed ? The answer is simple.
All these names were, or contained, the names of
heathen deities, and this offended the strongly mono
theistic Hebrew scribe who, at a certain period, was
copying the portions of the Hebrew Bible in which
they occur, so he defaced them, adding or changing a
letter, and thus making them unrecognizable, and in
all probability ridiculous as well. A different punc
tuation (vowelling) completed the work, and the names
were then in such a form that pious and orthodox
lips could pronounce them without fear of defilement.
Nibhaz is probably for some such name as Aba-
hazar, Nisroch is for Assur or Assuraku, and Nimrod
is, by similar changes, for Amaruduk or Amarudu
(original Akkadian), Maruduk or Marduk (Assyro-
Babylonian). The change was brought about by
making the root triliteral, and the ending uk (ak in
I

I30 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Merodach-baladan) disappearing first, Marduk appeared
as Marad. This was connected with the root Marad,
" to be rebellious," and the word was still further
mutilated, or, rather, deformed by having a {ni)
attached, assimilating it to a certain extent to the
" niphal forms " of the Hebrew verbs, and making a
change altogether in conformity with the genius of
the Hebrew language. This alteration is also clearly
visible in Nibhaz and Nisroch, which fully confirm the
explanation here given.
From a linguistic point of view, therefore, the iden
tification of Nimrod as a changed form of Merodach
is fully justified.
But there is another and a potent reason for elim
inating Nimrod from the list of Babylonian heroes,
and that is, the fact that his name is nowhere found
in the extensive literature which has come down to
us. His identification with Gisdubar was destroyed
when it was discovered that the true reading of that
doubtful name was not, as it was expected that it
would be, a Babylonian form of Nimrod, but some
thing entirely different, namely, Gilgames. Moreover,
there is some doubt whether the personage represented
on the cylinder-seals struggling with lions and bulls
be really Gilgames (Gisdubar) — his prowess in hunting
does not seem to be emphasized in the legend recount
ing his exploits (see pp. 92-1 11) — he is in all pro
bability the wild man of the woods who became his
great friend and counsellor, the satyr-like figure who
is represented as accompanying and imitating the
hunter being simply one of those beings who, the
Babylonians imagined, existed in wild and waste
places, for that this creature is not, as was at first
supposed, Ea-bani, the friend of Gilgames, is not only
proved by the fact that in the legend he is described
as a man with hairy body and hair long like that of a
woman, but also by the incontestable circumstance
that this satyr-like creature is, on certain cylinders,

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 131
represented more than once, and in such a way that
the repetition cannot be attributed to the exigencies of
the design. Moreover, he is sometimes represented
in positions that seem to have no connection with the
Gilgames- legend at all.
It would seem therefore to be certain that Gilgames
is not Nimrod ; that as he had little or no fame as a
" great hunter before the Lord," it cannot be he who
is represented on the cylinder-seals ; and that, in all
probability, the hunter there represented is Ea-bani,
who overcame the divine bull before Erech, and a
lion after the defeat of Humbaba, in both cases, how
ever, assisted by his royal patron.
But, it may be asked, how is it that Nimrod, other
wise Merodach, is described as "the mighty hunter
before the Lord"?
The explanation is very simple, and remarkably
conclusive in its way. Merodach, in the legend of
the Creation, there appears as the greatest hunter
(using the word in the Hebrew sense of " entrapper ")
that ever lived. For did he not, when Tiamtu, the
great dragon of chaos and disorder, tried to usurp
the dominion of the gods, and bring ruin on their fair
work, chase and entrap her, thereby winning the
throne of the kingdom of heaven, and laying the
universe under an everlasting debt to him ? With his
net he caught and held her fast, and, standing on her
body, slew her. This was the feat of a real gibbor
sayid, a " hero in hunting," or entrapping with a net,
for sayid, " hunting," is from the same root as Sidon,
the name of the ancient " fishing town," renowned of
old, and still existing at the present day.

I32 THE OLD TESTAMENT

THE TOWER OF BABEL.

There is no doubt that one of the most striking
and attractive episodes of the sacred narrative of
Genesis is the Tower of Babel. It has attracted the
attention of all from its circumstantial details, and
has, as an authoritative narrative, had the full belief of
all the faithful for many thousand years. This being
the case, it is needful to go rather carefully into the
matter, not only to try to account for its origin, but
also to satisfy the believer of to-day with regard to
the story being a real historical fact.
"Of these were the isles of the Gentiles divided
in their lands," — " These are the sons of Ham, after
their families," — " These are the sons of Shem, after
their families," says the author of Genesis in ch. x.
S, 20, and 31, and then he adds, in slightly vary
ing words, "after their tongues, in their lands, in their
nations." Yet, after this (ch. xi. 1) we have the state
ment, " And the whole earth was of one language,
and of one speech." Moreover, how was it possible
that the whole of the nations of the earth there
enumerated in the tenth chapter should have had their
origin at Babel, the beginning of _Nimrod's (Mero-
dach's) kingdom, coeval with Erech, Akkad, and
Calneh, in the land of Shinar ? The effect of such a
statement as this would surely be to make the
language of Nimrod the primitive language of the
world, unless, indeed, all the languages of the earth
resulting from the confusion of tongues were regarded
as new, the primitive speech of man having been
destroyed on that occasion. Then, again, as we
know, the building of the city was not stopped, for
it continued until it became the greatest and most
important centre in the known world when it was at
the height of its glory.
With the best will in the world, therefore, there

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 1 33
seems to be no escape from regarding both the story
of the Tower of Babel, and the reference to Nimrod
and Asshur in the foregoing chapter as interpolations,
giving statements from ancient and possibly fairly
well-known records, recording what was commonly
believed in the ancient East in those early ages. It
is also noteworthy, that both extracts, referring as
they do, to Babylonia, are probably on that account
from a Babylonian source. May it not be possible,
that they have been inserted in the sacred narrative
as statements of what was the common Opinion among
the more well-informed inhabitants of Western Asia
at the time, without any claim to an inspired authority
being either stated or implied ? This would seem to
be the most reasonable way of looking at the matter,
and would take away what might well be regarded as
a great difficulty to the believer in good faith.
If this be conceded, we can with the greater ease
analyze this portion of the eleventh chapter of Genesis,
and estimate it at its true value.
In any case, there is great improbability that the
statement that the whole earth was of one language
and of one speech, was ever believed by thinking men
at the time as an actual historical fact. A better
translation would be "the whole land," that is, the
whole tract of country from the mountains of Elam
to the Mediterranean Sea, rather than "the whole
earth." The same word is used when the "land " of
Israel is spoken of, and also when " the land of Egypt "
is referred to. It will thus be seen that no violence
whatever is done to the text if the restricted use of
the word be accepted.
That this is, in a sense, provable as an historical
fact, we shall see in the sequel.
Having thus in a measure cleared the way, the
various points of the first nine verses of the eleventh
chapter of Genesis may be taken in order.
" As they journeyed in the east " apparently refers

134 THE OLD TESTAMENT
to the remembrance of the migrations that many a
nation, handing down its traditions from mouth to
mouth, must have preserved in ancient times. Whilst
thus engaged, "they found a plain in the land of
Shinar ; and they dwelt there " — a statement which
would seem to point to the migrants having been
wandering about in various districts, some of them
mountainous — like Armenia on the north of Assyria,
and Elam and other mountainous tracts on the east.
This would seem to agree with the migration which,
from the evidence of the monuments of Babylonia,
the Akkadians apparently made before they settled
in that country. And here it may be noted, in
support of that fact, that the ideograph1 for Akkad,
Uri or Ura in Akkadian, and Akkadii in Semitic
Babylonian, not only stood for Akkad, but also (often
used in the Assyrian letters) for Ararat (Urtu), and
likewise (this in a syllabary only) for Amurru, the
land of the Amorites, or Phoenicia. Both these being
districts more or less mountainous, it is only reason
able to suppose that the original home of the Akkad
ians was likewise of the same nature, and that they
were not aborigines of the Babylonian plain. The Ak
kadians at least, therefore, " journeyed in the east."
In the expression " they found a plain in the land
of Shinar," we have a reference to the old name of a
district of Babylonia, generally regarded as the Sumer
of the Babylonian inscriptions, called Kingi or Kengi
"the country" par excellence in the native tongue of
the inhabitants. The land of Shinar here spoken of,
if this explanation be correct, not merely contained a
plain — it was, in fact, itself a large plain, through
which the rivers Tigris and Euphrates ran, and it was
covered, when the land had been brought into a really
good state of cultivation, by a network of canals con
nected with them. It must, when the ancient Akkad
ians first settled there, have been a land of remark-
1 See p. 122.

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS r"35
able fertility, and would be so still were it brought
into the same efficient state of cultivation, with irri
gation and drainage, such as the old inhabitants
effected. Here, having settled down, they built a city and a
tower, using brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar
— just as they are proved to have done from the
remains of cities found in the country at the present
day. That Babylon was the site of the first settle
ment of the nature of a city is conceivable, and it is
very possible that the first tower in Babylonia, which
in later times had many towers, as had also Assyria,
was situated in that ancient city. Everything points,
therefore, to the correctness of the statements made
in this portion of the sacred narrative. According
to native tradition, however (and this seems to be
supported by the statements in ch. x. 10), there
were other important cities on the Babylonian plain
of almost equal antiquity, namely, Erech, Akkad, and
Calneh, which last is identified with Niffer(see p. 126).
Proof of the superior — or even the equal — antiquity
of Babylon will doubtless be difficult to obtain, on
account of the country around and a large portion of
the site of the city being so marshy. The result of this
condition of things will in all probability be, that very
few remains of a really ancient date will be discovered
in a condition to render services to archaeology. To
this must also be added the fact, that the city, being
the capital for some thousands of years, underwent
many changes at the hands of its various kings, partly
from the necessity of keeping in good repair the many
comparatively perishable brick monuments that the
city contained, and partly from the desire that nearly
every one of them had, to add more to the glories of
the city than any of their predecessors had done.
" And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a
tower, and its top {lit. head) shall be in the heavens."
To all appearance, this means simply that they would

136 THE OLD TESTAMENT
build a very high structure, — to many a student of
the sacred text it has seemed that the writer only
intended to say, that the tower {migdol) that they
were about to build was to be very high. The moun
tains of Elam were not so very far off, and travellers
from that part would have been able to assure them
that the heavens would not be appreciably nearer on
account of their being a few hundred cubits above the
surface of the earth, even if traditions of their fathers'
wanderings had not assured them of the same thing.
They wished simply to make them a name and a
rallying-point, " lest," as the sacred text has it, " we
be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
And here a few remarks upon the temple-towers of
the Babylonians might not be out of place.
As has already been stated, most of the principal
towns of Babylonia each possessed one. That of
Babylon (called Su-ana in the list published in the
Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. ii.,
pi. 50) was named E-temen-ana, " the temple of the
foundation-stone of Heaven " ; that of Borsippa, near
to Babylon, was called E-ur-imina-ana, generally trans
lated " the temple of the seven spheres of heaven," on
account of its being dedicated to the sun, moon, and
planets. This was a high and massive tower in seven
stages, each coloured with an emblematic tint indicat
ing the heavenly body with which each stage was
associated. At Niffer the tower seems to have had
three names, or else there were three towers (which is
unlikely), the principal one being Im-ur-sag. Agade,
the Akkad of Gen. x. 10, had two of these temple-towers,
E-Dadia, apparently meaning "the temple of the
(divine) Presence," and E-su-gala or E-igi-e-di,the latter
apparently meaning " the temple of the wonder (of
mankind)," which was dedicated to the god Tammuz.
At Cuthah there was the temple of Nannara (Nan-
naros) ; at Ur the temple E-su-gan-du-du ; at Erech
E-gipara-imina, " the temple of the seven enclosures " ;

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 1 37
at Larsa E-dur-an-ki, "the Temple of the bond of
heaven and earth."
The only temple-tower that contains in its name a
distinct reference to the seven stages of which it was
composed, is that at Borsippa, though that at Erech
may possibly have in its name " seven enclosures " a
suggestion of something of the kind. As, however,
the ruins of the towers at Dur-Sargina (Khorsabad)
in Assyria, Erech, Niffer, and elsewhere, show dis
tinctly this form of architecture, there is every proba
bility that they were all, or almost all, built on the
same plan. In his description of the glories of
Babylon, Herodotus gives details, in his usual minute
way, of the temple of Belos (E-sagila) there. He
describes it as having eight stages (the platform upon
which the tower proper was built being counted as
one), and judging from his description, this building
must have differed somewhat from the others, the
various platforms being connected by a gradually
rising ascent, arranged spirally as it were, so that by
constantly walking upwards, and turning at the corners
of the edifice, one at last reached the top. About
the middle of this long ascending pathway there was
a stopping-place, with seats to rest upon. Having
reached the top of the structure, the visitor came upon
a cell, within which there was a couch and a golden
table. Here it was supposed that the god descended
from time to time to dwell. Below, he relates, there
was another cell, wherein was a large statue of Zeus
(Belos) sitting. This image was of gold, as were also
the table in front of it, the god's footstool, and his
seat. It is probable that at the time to which the
narrative in Genesis refers, the tower was neither so
high, nor the workmanship so splendid and valuable,
as in later times.
But was this the Tower of Babel ? We do not
know. The general opinion is that the great and
celebrated temple-tower at Borsippa, extensive re-

138 THE OLD TESTAMENT
mains of which still exist, was that world-renowned
erection. Its name, however, was E-zida, and it was
not situated within Babylon. Notwithstanding the
fact, therefore, that Borsippa, the town on the out
skirts of the great city, was called "the second
Babylon," and that tradition associates the site of the
Tower of Babel with that spot, it must still be held
to be very doubtful whether that was really the place.
Neither the renown of E-zida nor that of E-sagila
prove that either of them must have been the place,
for the populace is fickle-minded in this as in other
matters, and holy fanes have the periods when they
are in fashion, just like anything else.
This being the case, the question is, what was that
E-temen-ana-kia which is apparently mentioned in
the list of temple-towers quoted above? In many
an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar, this temple-tower
is referred to, though very shortly, as having been
restored by him. Thus, in the great cylinder of
Nebuchadnezzar, 85-4-30, 1, the following occurs —
" I caused the fanes of Babylon and Borsippa to
be rebuilt and endowed.
E-temen-ana-kia, the temple-tower of Babylon ;
E-ur-imina-ana-kia, the temple-tower of Bor
sippa, all their structure with bitumen and
brick
I made, I completed."
In the above E-temen-ana-kia takes the place of
E-sagila, and E-ur-imina-ana-kia that of E-zida, from
which it would appear that they were respectively
identical. The passage corresponding to the above
in the India House Inscription is greatly expanded,
and recounted with much detail. The portion refer
ring to E-temen-ana-kia is as follows —
" The vessels of the temple E-sagila
with massive gold —

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 1 39
the bark Ma-kua (Merodach's shrine) with elec-
trum and stones —
I made glorious
like the stars of heaven.
The fanes of Babylon
I caused to be rebuilt and endowed.
Of E-temen-ana-kia
with brick and bright lapis stone
I reared its head.
To rebuild E-sagila
my heart urged me —
constantly did I set myself," etc., etc.
From this, too, it would seem as if E-temen-ana-
kia, " the temple-tower of Babylon " {zikurat Bdbili),
and E-sagila were one and the same structure, the
reference to it coming between the description of the
restoration of the shrines of E-sagila and the decora
tion of the vessels used in that temple with gold and
precious stones, and the record of his great desire to
restore E-sagila, the carrying out of which he immedi
ately proceeds to recount, suggest that the longer
name was only the ancient appellation of the same
place. The name, moreover, E-sagila, " the house of
the high head," leads one to suppose that it was a
taller structure than was usual even among buildings
which generally reached a great height, and was
intended to be a tower " whose top should be in the
heavens." Concerning the miracle of the confusion of tongues,
there is, of course, no historical reference. The Baby
lonian inscriptions know nothing of it. Yet the
stranger -visiting Babylon could not have been other
wise than struck by the number of languages spoken
there. There was the religious tongue, which is
called by modern scholars Akkadian or Sumerian,
and its dialect, together with the language known as
Assyrian, or, more correctly, Semitic Babylonian.

14° THE OLD TESTAMENT
Besides this, there were various Aramaic dialects —
Chaldee, Aramean (Syriac), and the language of the
dockets on the trade-documents, which is also found
in Assyria. In addition to these, the Elamite and
Kassite conquerors of Babylonia brought with them
large numbers of people, and each of these nations
naturally introduced, in larger measure than before,
the use of their respective languages. Speakers of
other tongues long since dead must also have visited
the city for the purposes of trade, and of this the
so-called Hittite is in all probability an example
(in the researches of Profs. Sayce and Jensen we
shall, perhaps, see the beginnings of the recovery
of this tongue), and a docket in an unknown script
implies that yet another language heard there in later
times has to be discovered, though this may simply
be some other way of writing one of the tongues
spoken there that is already known to scholars. With
regard to the oneness of the language of the rest of
the earth, in all probability this expression referred,
as has been already remarked, to the tract enclosed
between the mountains of Persia on the east, the
Mediterranean on the west, Asia Minor and Armenia
on the north, and Arabia on the south — a tract in
which the lingua franca of diplomacy was, as is proved
by the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, the tongue now called
Assyrian, which could easily have been regarded as
the proofs and the remains of the thing that had
been. To recapitulate : The story of the Tower of Babel
is a break in the narrative of the genealogies, so
striking that any thinking man must have been able
to recognize it easily. It is a narrative that practically
glorifies Babylonia, making it the centre of the human
race, and the spot from which they all migrated after
the dispersion caused by the confusion of tongues
It was probably given for, and recognized as, the
legend current in Babylonia at the time, and must,

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 14I
therefore, have been recognized and valued by the
people of the time at its true worth.

THE PATRIARCHS TO ABRAHAM.
Little information is unfortunately to be obtained
from Assyro-Babylonian sources concerning the
patriarchs from Shem to Abraham. It is true that
certain comparisons can be made in the matter of the
names, but these, when more precise information
comes to light, may be found to be more or less
erroneous. As a matter of fact, with one or two
exceptions, it is probable that we have nothing from
Babylonian sources bearing on the patriarchs who
preceded Abraham at all.
Nevertheless, there are one or two things that may
be put forward in a more or less tentative way, and
these may well be discussed with this reservation in
this place.
As we have seen, it was the custom of the early
Babylonians to deify the early rulers of their race, and
as a well-known example of this, the case of the god
Merodach will at once occur to the mind. As has
been shown, this deity is none other than the long-
known and enigmatical hero Nimrod, and it is
probable that, if we had more and more complete
sources of information, other instances would be found.
This being the case, it may be permitted to the
student to try to find similar instances of deification
by the Babylonians of the men of old who were their
ancestors in common with the Jews and other nations
of the ancient East.
To begin with Shem, the name of the ancestor of
the Semitic race. As a word, this means, in Hebrew,
" name." Now, the Assyro-Babylonian equivalent
and cognate word is sumu, " name," and this naturally
leads one to ask whether Shem may not have been
designated "He of the Name" par excellence, and

142 THE OLD TESTAMENT
deified under that appellation. If this be the case, we
may perhaps see the word Shem in certain names of
kings and others of the second dynasty of Babylon
(that to which Hammurabi or Amraphel belonged,
and which held the power from about 2230 to 1967
B.C.). Sumu-abi, the name of the first ruler of the
dynasty, would then mean " Shem is my father,"
Sumu-la-ili would mean " a name to his god," with
a punning allusion to the deified ancestor of the
Semitic nations.
Other names, not royal, are Sumu-Upe, apparently,
" Shem of Opis " ; Sumu-Dagan, " Shem is Dagon," or
" Name of Dagon " ; Sumu-hatnu, " Shem is a protec
tion " ; Sumu-atar, " Shem is great," and the form
Samu-la-ili for Sumu-la-ili leads one to ask whether
Samia may not be for Sumia, " my Shem," a pet
name abbreviated from a longer one similar to those
already quoted ; Sumu-ya ( = Sumia) also occurs. All
these forms, being written with s, instead of s, like
Samsu-iluna for Samsu-iluna, betray foreign (so-called
Arabic) influence, and are not native Babylonian.
That the Babylonians had at this time, names com
pounded with the native representative of Sumu is
shown by the contracts of that time, where the name
Sumum-libsi, " let there be a name," occurs. Many
later instances of this are to be found.1
From other than Bible sources there is but little
that can be gathered concerning the descendants of
Shem, though in this, as in many other things, one
lives in hopes of something coming to light later on.
And such a record, as may readily be imagined, would
be of the greatest interest and value. Shem, as one
of those born before the Flood, must certainly on that
1 Other possible instances of the occurrence of this element
in names of this time are Zumu-rame, Sumu-hammu (apparently
for Sumu-l)ammu), Sumu-hala, Samu-abum, Samukim, Sumu-
entel (so probably to be read instead of Sumu-ente-al), Sumu-
ni-Ea, " Our Shem is Ea," and in all probability many others
could be found; (See Hommel, Ancient Hebrew Tradition)

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 143
account have been renowned (as we have just seen he
was, if it be true that he was deified) among other
nations of Semitic stock than the Hebrews. To all
appearance, the lives of the patriarchs decreased
greatly after the Flood, and are represented, in the
Bible narrative, as gradually assuming the average
duration of those who attain a hoary old age at the
present day. It is noteworthy that his eldest son was
born two years after the Flood, and if this have any
ethnic meaning, it ought to point to the foundation of
the settlement known as Arpachshad at about that
period, though it could not have attained to the
renown of a well-known and recognized community
until some time after that date.
The theory that Arpachshad represents a com
munity is rather supported by the fact that it is
mentioned in Gen. x. 22, where it is accompanied by
the names of Elam, Asshur, Lud, and Aram, which
were later, as we know, names of nationalities.
Indeed, the long lives of the patriarchs of this exceed
ingly early period are best explained if we suppose
that they represent a people or community.
There is a considerable amount of difference of
opinion as to the correct identification of the Arpach
shad of Gen. ix. 10, though nearly every critic places
the country it represents in the same tract. It has
been identified with Arrapkha, or Arrapchitis, in
Assyria. Schrader makes it to be for Arpa-cheshed,
" the coast of the Chaldeans." Prof. Hommel, who is
always ready with a seductive and probable etymology,
suggests that Arpachshad is an Egyptianized way of
writing Ur of the Chaldees — Ar-pa-Cheshed, for Ur-
pa-Cheshed. This, it must be admitted, is a possible etymology,
for Egyptianized words were really used in that
district in ancient times. This is shown in the
name of Merodach, Asari, which is apparently con
nected with the Egyptian Osiris, just as one of the

144 THE OLD TESTAMENT
names of the Sun-god Samas, Amna, is probably an
Akkadianized form of the Egyptian Ammon, and
even the Egyptian word for "year," ronpet, made,
probably by early Babylonian scribes, into a kind of
pun, became, by the change of a vowel, ran pet, "name
of heaven," transcribed, by those same scribes, into
mu-anna, which, in its ordinary signification, means
likewise " name of heaven," in Akkadian ; the whole
being used with the meaning of ronpet, i. e. " year." It
will thus be seen that there is but little that is unlikely
in Prof. Horhmel's etymology of Arpachshad, and that
the explanation which he gives may turn out to be
correct.1 In any case, we may take it that the consensus of
opinion favours the supposition that the name in
question refers to Babylonia, and if this be the case,
Abraham, the father of the Hebrew nation, as well as
of other peoples, was really, as has been supposed, of
Babylonian or Chaldean origin. This is also implied
by the statement in Gen. xi. 28, that Ur ofthe Chaldees
was the land of the nativity of Haran, Abraham's
brother, who died in the country of his birth before
the family of Terah went to settle at Haran, on the
way to Canaan. The theory of the identity of
Arpachshad is moreover important, because it is con
tended that Ur of the Chaldees was not in Babylonia,
but is to be identified with the site known as Urfa,
in Mesopotamia.
Concerning the names of Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu,
Serug, and Nahor, there is not much that can be said.
To all appearance they are not Babylonian names, or,
rather, they receive little or no illustration from
1 For further information upon Babylonia and Egypt, compare
Prof. F. Hommel's " Der babylonische Ursprung der agypt-
ischen Kultur," MUnchen, G. Franz, 1892. A new etymology of
Arpachshad, very similar to that of Prof. Schrader, has, how
ever, lately been suggested by Prof. Sayce, and afterwards by
Prof. Hommel, who has apparently abandoned that given above,

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 145
Babylonian sources. Nothing is recorded concerning
these patriarchs except their ages at the time their
eldest sons were born, and at what age they died.
The question whether the Hebrews derived their name
from their ancestor Eber is not set at rest by any
passage in the Bible, nor is there any statement in
secular literature which would enable this to be
decided. To all appearance, it is needful to keep the
name of Eber distinct from that of the Hebrews, not
withstanding that they are from the same root. If,
however, the Hebrews were " the men from beyond,"
then Eber may well have been "the man from beyond,"
indicating for his time a migration similar to that of
Abraham. In this way, if in no other, the names may
be connected.
We have seen that in many cases the names of
these " genealogical tables " are regarded as national
ities, and, indeed, there is sufficient justification for
such a theory on account of many of the names
appearing as those of well-known nations. This
being conceded, it would probably not be too much
to regard the names of the patriarchs from Shelah to
Serug as indicating ethnical historical events. Thus
Shelah might mean " extension," indicating the time
when the Semitic race began to go beyond its ancient
borders. Treating the other names in the same way,
Eber would mean the period when that race crossed
some river into another district ; Peleg would mean
that, at the time referred to, that race, or a portion of
it, was divided into small states, as Babylonia was at
the period preceding that of the dynasty of Amraphel ;
whilst Reu would mean "friendliness," denoting
the time when those states were united under one
head, and the old dissensions ceased. Serug would
then mean something like " interweaving," perhaps
referring to the time when the various races (?of
Babylonia) intermingled. These explanations of the
names receive a certain amount of confirmation from

146 The old Testament
the parallel list in Gen. x. 25, where to the name
Peleg the note is added, " for in his days was the earth
divided." With regard to Nahor and his son Terah the Jews
had other traditions, and they speak thus concerning
them —
" Terah, son of Nahor, was the chief officer of king
Nimrod, and a great favourite with his royal master.
And when his wife Amtheta, the daughter of Kar-
Nebo, bare him a son, she called his name Abram,
meaning ' great father.' And Terah was seventy years
old when his son Abram was born."
Here we have, in Amtheta, a doubtful Babylonian
name, in Kar-Nebo a possible Babylonian name, and
in the meaning of Abram a signification that does
not militate against the indications given by the
tablets of Babylonia and Assyria. This being the
case, it would seem that there were trustworthy data
to go upon for certain facts connected with Abraham's
ancestors, and that these facts were known to the
Jews of earlier ages. The Talmudic account of the
wonders seen at the birth of Abram, however, are not
sufficiently worthy of credence to allow of repetition
here, notwithstanding their reference to Terah and
Abraham's youth.
Eusebius quotes the following from Eupolemus con
cerning Abraham —
" He saith, moreover, that in the tenth generation
in a city of Babylonia, called Camarina (which, by
some, is called the city of Urie, and which signifyeth
a city of the Chaldeans), there lived, the thirteenth in
descent, (a man named) Abraham, a man of a noble
race, and superior to all others in wisdom.
"Of him they relate that he was the inventor of
astrology and the Chaldean magic, and that on
account of his eminent piety he was esteemed by God.
It is further said that under the directions of God he
removed and lived in Phoenicia, and there taught the

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 147
Phoenicians the motions of the sun and moon, and all
other things ; for which reason he was held in great
reverence by their king " {Praep. Evan. 9).
Nicolas of Damascus, apparently wishing to glorify
his own city, states that Abram was king of Damascus,
and went there, with an army, from that part of the
country which is situated above Babylon of the
Chaldeans, afterwards transferring his dwelling to the
land which was at that time called Canaan, but is
now called Judea. Justin also states that Abraham
lived at Damascus, from which city he traces the
origin of the Jews.
According to the most trustworthy traditions, there
fore, as well as from the Bible itself, Abraham was of
Chaldean or Babylonian origin, if the city of Urie
or Ur be, as he says, that which was also called
Camarina, this would in all probability be the Aramean
form of the Arabic qaniar, " the moon," and the name
Camarina would be due to the fact that the Moon-god,
Sin or Nannara, was worshipped there. It is also
noteworthy that the city whither the family of Terah
emigrated, Haran (in Assyro-Babylonian, Harran),
was likewise a centre of lunar worship, and some have
sought to see in that a reason for choosing that settle
ment. In connection with this it may be remarked,
that in the Talmud Terah, the father of Abraham, is
represented as an idolater, reproved by his son
Abraham for foolish and wicked superstition.
We see, therefore, from the eleventh chapter of
Genesis, that Abraham was a Babylonian from Ur,
now known as Mugheir (Muqayyar), or (better still)
from that part of the country which lay north of
Babylon, known by the non-Semitic inhabitants as Uri,
and by the Semitic population as Akkad. As the
family of Terah was a pastoral one, they must have
pastured their flocks in this district until they heard
of those more fruitful tracts in the west, and decided
to emigrate thither. And here it may be noted that

I48 THE OLD TESTAMENT
they did not, by thus quitting their fatherland, go to
swear allegiance to another ruler, for the sway of the
king of Babylon extended to the farthest limits of the
patriarch's wanderings, and wherever he went, Baby
lonian and Aramean or Chaldean would enable him
to make himself understood. He was, therefore,
always as it were in his own land, under the governors
of the same king who ruled in the place of his birth.
The name of the patriarch, moreover, seems to
betray the place of his origin. The first name that
he bore was Abram, which has already been compared
with the Abu-ramu, " honoured father," of the Assyrian
eponym-lists (in this place an official by whose name
the year 677, the 5th year of Esarhaddon, was dis
tinguished). At an earlier date than this, however,
the same or a similar name occurs on a contract-tablet
of the reign of Abil-Sin, the fourth king of the dynasty
of Babylon (about 1950 B.C.), under the form of Abe-
ramu — not quite the same, but very near. The person
bearing this name was father of a certain Sa-Amurrl,
"(the man) of the Amorite god," a name testifying
to the fact already revealed to us historically, namely,
that at this time intercourse between the people of the
Euphrates valley, including Babylonia, and the shores
of the western sea was very common, and emigration
and immigration on both sides took place.
When, however, it was revealed to Abram that he
was to stay in the Promised Land, a change was made
in his name — he was no longer known by the Assyro-
Babylonian name Abram, "honoured father," but,
in view of the destiny appointed for him, he was
to be called Abraham, "father of a multitude of
nations." The first stratum of the Hebrew nation was, there
fore, to all appearance, Babylonian, the second stratum
Aramean, probably a kindred stock, whilst the third
was to all appearance Canaanitish. All these must
have left their trace on the Hebrew character, and,

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 149
like most mixed races, they showed at all times
superior intelligence in many ways. They were good
diplomates, brave warriors, divine lawgivers, and they
excelled in literary skill. One great defect they had
— among their many defects — they were stiffnecked
to a fatal degree. Had their kings been less obstinate
and better rulers, conciliating their subjects instead of
exasperating them, the nation might have outlasted
the power of Rome, and built upon its ruins in their
land a kingdom dominating the Semitic world in the
nearer East to the present day.
Of all the characters of early Bible history, there is
hardly one which stands out with greater prominence
than the patriarch Abraham. And not only is it his
history and personality that is important — the his
torical facts touched upon in the course of his biography
are equally so. Facts concerning the ancient East,
from Babylonia on the east to Egypt on the west, face
the reader as he goes through that attractive narrative,
and make him wonder at the state of society, the
political situation, and the beliefs of the people which
should have made his migrations possible, brought
about the monotheistic belief which characterizes his
life and that of his descendants, and enabled him and
his sons after him to attain such a goodly store of the
riches of this world.
To begin with Babylonia, his native place. As is
well known, that country had already been in existence
as a collection of communities far advanced in arts,
sciences, and literature, at an exceedingly early date, and
the many small kingdoms of which it consisted had
become consolidated under Hammurabi (Amraphel)
into one single state, making it one of the greatest
powers at the time. Of course, it is not by any means
improbable that something similar to this had existed
before, but if so, we have no record of the fact, though
it is certain that different states had from time to time
become predominant and powerful to an extent hardly

150 THE OLD TESTAMENT
conceivable. The influence, if not the sway, of Sargon
of Agade\ who reigned 3800 years before Christ, for
example, extended from Elam on the east to the
island of Cyprus on the west — a vast tract of territory
to acknowledge the suzerainty of so small a state.
Babylonia, therefore, with a long history behind it,
was beginning to feel, to all appearance, a new national
life. It had passed the days when the larger states
boasted strength begotten of mere size, and when the
smaller states sought mutual protection against the
larger, finding in that alone, or in the acknowledg
ment of an overlord, the security upon which their
existence as separate states depended. There is every
probability that it was at this time that the legends
which formed the basis of Babylonian national litera
ture were collected and copied, thus assuring their
preservation. It is also probable that the translations
from Akkadian of the numerous inscriptions written
in that language, and the bilingual lists, syllabaries,
and other texts of a similar nature, belong to this
period. The social condition of Babylonia itself at this time
is now fairly well known. The ancient Akkadian
laws were still in force, but as they did not provide
for all the possibilities that might arise, a large series
of legal enactments was compiled, in which points were
decided in a very common-sense and just manner. It
is noteworthy that the number of tablets of a legal
nature is very numerous, and arouses the suspicion
that the Babylonians were exceedingly fond of litiga
tion, due, no doubt, to the tendency they had to over
reach each other. It is therefore very probable that
this is the reason why we meet with that remarkable
contract of the purchase ofthe field of Machpelah from
the children of Heth. One would have imagined that
the frequent protestations, made by the head of the
tribe there located, to the effect that he gave the field
and the cave to Abraham, would have been sufficient,

ASSYRIA, BABYLONIA, AND THE HEBREWS 151
especially at that solemn moment of the burial of
Sarah, and that the matter could have been put upon
a legal footing later on. But no, the patriarch was
determined to have the matter placed beyond dispute
there and then, and knowing how prone the Baby
lonians (with whom he had passed his youth) were to
deny a contract, and try to get back again, by perjury,
what they had already parted with for value, the
matter was at once placed beyond the possibility of
being disputed in any court of law.1
1 See the tablet translated on pp. 182-183, and compare the
documents quoted on pp. 174, 178 ff., 180, 184, 185, 186-7.

CHAPTER V
BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM
The first dynasty of Babylon — The extent of its dominion —
The Amorites — Life in Babylonia at this time — The religious
element— The king — The royal family — The people —Their
manners and customs as revealed by the contract-tablets —
Their laws.
Much has been learnt, but there is still much to
learn, concerning the early history of Babylonia.
During the period immediately preceding that of
the dynasty of Babylon — the dynasty to which
Amraphel (Hammurabi) belonged — there is a gap in
the list of the kings, which fresh excavations alone
can fill up. Before this gap the records, as far as we
know them, are in the Akkadian language. After
this gap they are in the Semitic-Babylonian tongue.
To all appearance, troublous times had come upon
Babylonia. The native rulers had been swept away
by the Elamites, who, in their turn, had been driven
out by the Semitic kings of Babylonia, but those
Semitic kings were not Babylonians by origin, notwith
standing that the native scribes, who drew up the
lists of kings, describe them as being a Babylonian
dynasty. The change may have been gradual, but it was
great. All the small kingdoms and viceroyships
which had existed at the time ef Ine-Sin, Bur-Sin II.,
Gimil-Sin, and their predecessors had to all appear
ance passed away, and become part of the Babylonian
152

V.

Envelope (reverse*) of a contract-tablet recording a sale of land by
Sin-eribam, Pi-sa-nunu, and Idis-Sin, three brothers, to Sin-ikisam. Reign
of Immerum, contemporary with Sumula-ilu, about 2100 B.C.
Seal Impressions.
1. (Here reversed.) Two deities, one (in a flounced robe) holding a sceptre.
On the left, a worshipper; on the right, a man overcoming a lion.
This scene is repeated, less distinctly, on the left.
2. Left: Two deities, one holding a sceptre and a weapon; right: deit}',
divine attendant adoring, and worshipper (?).
3. Men overcoming lions ; winged creature devouring a gazelle.
4. Figure on plinth, holding basket and cup; worshipper; deity, holding
sword ; lion (or dog) ; deity holding weapon. Inscription : Aa (the
moon-goddess), Samas (the sun-god).
[Tablet 92,649 in the British Museum (Babylonian and Ass3'rian Room,
Table-case A, No. 62). The edges have also some very fine impressions.]
* Printed upside down on account of seal-impressions 2 to 4.
(Page 152.),

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 1 53
Empire long before the dynasty of Babylon came to
an end, though some at least were in existence in the
time of the great conqueror Hammurabi. But the
change was, as it would seem, not one of overlordship
only — another change which had been gradually
taking place was, by this, carried one step farther,
namely, the Semiticizing of the country. Before the
period of the dynasty of Babylon, the two races of
Akkadians and Semitic Babylonians had been living
side by side, the former (except in the kingdom of
which Sippar was the capital) having the predomi
nance, the records being written in the Akkadian
language, and the kings bearing mainly Akkadian
names, though there were, for the Semitic inhabitants,
translations of those names.1 Translations of the
inscriptions and legends, as well as the old Akkadian
laws, probably did not (except in the Semitic kingdom
of Agade*) exist.
How it came about is not known, but it is certain
that, about 2200 years B.C., a purely Semitic dynasty
occupied the throne of the chief ruler in Babylonia.
The first king was Sumu-abi, who reigned 14 years.
This monarch was followed by Sumu-la-ili and Zabu,
36 and 14 years respectively. Then come two rulers
with Babylonian names — Abil-Sin and Sin-mubalit,
18 years and 20 years. These are followed, in their
turn, by Hammurabi (43), Samsu-iluna (38), Ebisum
(25), Ammi-titana(25), Ammi-zaduga(2i),and Samsu-
titana (31 years). This dynasty, therefore, lasted about
294 years, and with two exceptions, Abil-Sin and Sin-
mubalit, all the names of the kings, though Semitic,
are not Babylonian.
1 It is here worthy of note, that Assyriologists are not always
consistent with regard to the transcriptions that they give of the
names, on account of the possibility that there was generally
more than one reading for each component part. Thus instead
of Ine-Sin, Ine-Aku would probably be a better reading, and
for Bur-Sin and Gimil-Sin, Amar-Aku and Su-Aku are at least
possible.

1 54 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Yet it was called by Babylonians " the dynastv of
Babylon ! "
And this, in all probability, is correct. The dynasty
must, on account of the name given to it, have come
from that city, but was, at the same time, of foreign
origin, its kings being descended from another dynasty
which came from some other part of the Semitic
world of that time. This is indicated by the following
facts. Three of the tablets of which we shall learn some
thing more farther on, and which are preserved in
the British Museum, have invocations of a personage,
apparently a king, named Anmanila. The name of
this ruler naturally recalls the Anman of the dynasty
following that of Babylon — namely, the dynasty of
Uru-ku ; but the style of the writing of these three
documents is not that of the later period, but of the
beginning of the dynasty of Babylon, and there is, on
that account, every probability that Anmanila was one
of the predecessors of Sumu-abi, the first king of the
dynasty of Babylon. It is, of course, possible that
this ruler was simply a co-regent with one of the
kings already known, like Immerum, who lived at the
time of Sumu-la-ili, or Bungun-ila, another associate
with Sumu-la-fli on the throne, but there is a certain
amount of improbability in this, as Anmanila is named
alone, and not in connection with any other. More
over, it is probable that, in the case of the two co-
regents here mentioned, we have examples of sons
associated with their father, and one replacing the
other on account of the early death of his brother.
This, however, can hardly be the case with regard to
Anmanila, who must have been already a man of
advanced years, for one of the witnesses mentioned
on the tablet 91-5-9, 877, where he is named, is
Akaya, the son of Ahima, the son of the king.
Another ruler, probably of the period preceding that
of the dynasty of Babylon, is Manamaltel, whose name

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 155
is found on a tablet belonging to the Rev. Dr. J. P.
Way, head-master of Rossall School, and it is note
worthy that one of the tablets bearing the name of
Anmanila gives, among the witnesses, a certain Su-
muentel,1 a name having the same termination as
Manamaltel, a component which seems to have been
common at this early period, and rare or non-existent
later. Most, if not all, the above are foreign names.
The next question that arises is, what was the
nationality of these rulers, who, though belonging to
what was called " the dynasty of Babylon," were not
really of Babylonian origin?
The key to the matter is probably furnished by the
following inscription of Ammi-titana, the ninth king
of the dynasty —
" Ammi-ti(tana), his(?) ....
the powerful king, . . (in) a seat of gladness . .
king of Babylon, he has made him sit.
king of Kis, 
king of Sumer and (Akkad), 
king of the vast land of Amoria,
am I ; its wall.
descendant Asari-lu-duga (Merodach)
of Sumu-la-ili, has revealed him as his wor
shipper —
eldest son 2 may his name be established
of Abesu',3 am I, in heaven and earth."
Obedient (?) (to) Bel " (Inscription) of BSl-usallim,
the seat (?) .... son of . . . -bi, the en
chanter."
In this inscription, Ammi-titana calls himself not
only " king of Babylon," and other important places
in Babylonia, but " king of Amoria " (if the coining
of a word for the district be allowed) also. Now, as
we know from the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, Amurru is
1 The name really seems, however, to be Sumuenteal, probably
a scribe's error.
2 Or " heroic son " — dumu ursqg[ga?~\.
8 The Ebisura of the chronological lists.

156 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the name that the Babylonians used for " the west,"
which Assyriologists formerly read (on account of the
polyphony of the Babylonian system of writing)
Aharru. In reality, however, this word, Amurru,
stands for the land of the Amorites, and the pro
bability is, that the land of the Amorites belonged to
the Babylonian Empire because it formed part of the
original domain of the rulers of Babylonia at this
time, who, if not of Amorite descent, may at least
have had Amorite connections.
In any case, there is but little doubt that the popu
lation of Babylonia was very mixed 2000 years before
Christ. As we know from the tablets, Amorites were,
during this period, numerous in Babylonia, and the
god whose name is written with the characters MAR-
TU (a common group for Amurru) — the fact is revealed
by one of the tablets of late date published by
Reisner — are to be read Amurru, and the best trans
lation is " the Amorite god," whose name and worship
seem to have been introduced into the Babylonian
Pantheon at a much earlier date, and was known to
the Akkadians under the name of Martu. It is note
worthy that, in the text in question {Mitteilungen aus
den orientalischen Sammlungen, Heft. x. pi. 139, 147-
81), the Akkadian Martu and Babylonian Amurru is
called " lord of the mountain," probably because the
country of the Amorites, especially when compared
with Babylonia, is mountainous.
In addition to the god Amurru, other deities of
western origin appear in the inscriptions (generally in
the names) from time to time. Thus we have Abdu-
Istara, interesting as giving an early form of the
name Astarte (Ashtoreth), before it received the
feminine termination ; Usur-Malik, probably " protect,
O Malik " (Moloch), Nabu-Malik, probably " Nebo is
Malik" (Moloch), or "Nebo is king"; Ibi-San,
probably " speak, O Shan," which reminds the reader
of Beth-Shean, the modern Beisan ; and there are

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 1 57
also, in all probability, other Amorite deities whom
we cannot identify, on account of their names not
occurring in other ancient literatures than the Baby
lonian. Ibaru, found in the name Arad-Ibari,
" servant of Ibari," Aba, in the name Arad (Abdi)-
Aba, Alia, in the name Ur-Alla, "man of Alia"
(though this is possibly a Babylonian [Akkadian]
name), etc., are probably non-Babylonian, but not
Amorite. Besides the names of west Semitic deities, however,
the names of west Semites themselves occur, and
show that there was a considerable immigration in
those ancient days into the country. Thus the word
Amurru, " the Amorite," is exceedingly common, and
one is not surprised to learn that, in consequence of
the Amorites being so numerous, there was an Amorite
district in the neighbourhood of Sippar. Other names
of men which are apparently from the country spoken
of are, Sar-ili, probably " prince of God," and the same
as Israel ; Karanatum (probably for Qaranatum),
which would seem to mean " she of the horned deity "
(compare Uttatum," he of the sun," Sinnatum," he of
the moon "), and reminds us of Ashteroth Karnaim,
" Ashteroth of the two horns," the well-known site in
Palestine. Besides these, we meet more than once
with such names as Ya'kub, Jacob, with its longer
form, Ya'kub-ilu, Jacob-el ; and in like manner the
name of Joseph and its longer form Joseph-el occur
— Yasup "and Yasup-ilu. Esa, the father of a man
named Siteyatum, reminds us of Esau ; Abdi-ili,
" servant of God," is the same as Abdeel ; and Ya'zar-
llu, " God has helped " (compare Azrael), Yantin-ilu,
" God has given " (compare Nethanel), with many
others similar, receive illustration. In all probability,
too, many of the bearers of names compounded with
Addu (Hadad),' Amurru, and other names of deities
naturalized in Babylonia, as well as some of the
bearers of true Babylonian names, were, in reality,

158 THE OLD TESTAMENT
pure west Semites. Further examples will be found
in the texts translated farther on, and the more note
worthy will be pointed out when they occur.
It will thus be seen that the population of Babylonia
2000 years before Christ had a considerable admixture
of west Semites, many of whom would come under the
designation of Amorites ; besides other nationalities,
such as Armenians or people of Aram-Naharaim
(Mesopotamia) — at least two tablets refer exclusively
to transactions between members of this northern
race — Sutites, and Gutites, who were low-class people
seemingly light-haired, " fair Gutian slaves " being in
one place spoken of.
Life in Babylonia at this early period must have
been exceedingly primitive, and differed considerably,
as the East does even now, from what we in Europe
are accustomed to. The city of which we can get the
best idea, Sippar, the Sippara of the Greeks, generally
regarded (though probably wrongly) as the Sepharvaim
of the Bible, now represented by the mounds known
as Abu-habbah, whence most of the early contract-
tablets revealing to us the daily life of these ancient
Babylonians came, was situated on the Euphrates,
" the life of the land." The name of this river is
written, when phonetically rendered, by the characters
Purattu (probably really pronounced Phuraththu), in
Akkadian Pura-nunu, " the great water-channel," often
expressed (and then, of course, not phonetically) with
characters meaning " the river of Sippar," showing in
what estimation the ancient Babylonians held both
river and city. The mound of Abu-habbah is four
miles from the river Euphrates, and situated, in
reality, on the canal called Nahr-Malka, " the royal
river," which runs through it ; but the tablets of the
period of which we are now speaking refer not
only to the city itself, but to the district all round
from the Tigris on the east to the Euphrates on the
west.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM *59
The following paragraph from Mr. Rassam's Asshur
and the Land of Nimrod will give a fair idea of what
this district is like : —
"It is most interesting to examine this canal (the
Nahr-Malka) all the way between the Euphrates and
the Tigris, as it shows the magnitude of the Babylonian
agricultural industry in days gone by, when it irrigated
hundreds of miles of rich alluvial soil. The remains
of countless large and small watercourses, which
intersect the country watered by those two branches1
of Nahr-Malka, are plainly seen even now. Vestiges
of prodigious basins are also visible, wherein a surplus
supply must have been kept for any emergency,
especially when the water of the Euphrates falls low
in summer."
The digging of canals, which was an exceedingly
important work in those days, as indeed it is now, was
evidently very systematically done, and the king often,
to all appearance, made a bid for increased popularity
by digging an important new canal for irrigation
purposes, to which his name was attached. Thus we
find the work of Sumu-la-ilu, Sin-mubalit, Hammurabi,
Samsu-iluna, and other kings recorded and chosen as
the event of the year to date by. This, with the re
building or new decoration of the temples and shrines,
endeared the king to the people and the priesthood,
ensuring for him the faithful service of both, and
willing submission to his rule. Indeed, there is but
little doubt that the presence of foreign rulers in the
country was often due to their having made friends of
the priestly classes, and afterwards of the people, in
this way. THE RELIGIOUS ELEMENT.
As may be judged from the specimens of Baby
lonian names already given, the inhabitants of this
part of the world were exceedingly religious. In
1 Yosephia and Habe-Ibraheem.

160 THE OLD TESTAMENT
every city of the land there were great temples, each
of which made its claim on the people who formed
the congregation — in other words, the whole popu
lation. In the district of which we are at present
treating — the tract where the majority of early
contract-tablets were found, namely, Sippar — the chief
objects of worship were the Sun-god Samas ; his
consort, the Moon-goddess, Aa ; Bunene, a deity of
whom but little is known ; Anunitum, a goddess
identified with Istar or Venus ; Addu or Rammanu
(Hadad or Rimmon), and, in later times at least,
among others, " the divine Daughters of E-babbarra.1 "
All these deities were worshipped in the temple of the
place, called E-babbarra, "the (divinely) brilliant
house," the earthly abode of the god Samas and his
companions. In addition to this great and celebrated
temple, of such renown in later times that even Egyp
tians, sun-devotees in their own country, attended the
services and made gifts, temples were erected to the
other gods of Babylon, notably Sin, the Moon-god ;
to Merodach, the chief deity of Babylon ; and likewise
in all probability to Merodach's consort, Zir-panitum,
who was worshipped along with him. There was
probably hardly a town in ancient Babylonia and
Assyria where one or more of these gods were not
honoured — indeed, the sun had also another centre of
worship, namely, Larsa, the Ellasar of Gen.xiv. i,as well
as less renowned shrines. Istar was venerated at Erech
along with Anu ; Sin, the moon, under the name of
Nannar, had a great and celebrated temple at Ur
(generally regarded as Ur of the Chaldees), and also at
Haran, the city of Abraham's sojourning ; Nebo was
worshipped at Borsippa ; Nergal at Cuthah ; Gula,
goddess of healing, at Babylon ; E-girsu (" the lord of
Girsu") at the city of Girsu, apparently a part of
Lagas ; Ea and Tammuz at Eridu, etc.
1 See the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration
Fund, July 1900, pp. 262, 263.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM l6l
In the province of which Sippar was tapital, how
ever, the people were more than usually religious, or
else more records of their piety have come down to
us. Numerous persons, more especially women, are
described as devotees, or perhaps priestesses, of the
Sun-god there, and sometimes similar devotees of
Merodach are mentioned. Though we have no certain
information, it is very probable that there were all
over the country people dedicated to the various
deities, " the gods of the land," for what was customary
in the district of Sippar (Sippar-Amnanu and Sippar-
Ya'ruru) was in all probability equally so in the other
provinces of the empire. From the earliest times the
temples acquired and held large tracts of land, which
the priests let to various people, agriculturists and
others, to cultivate, a certain proportion of the produce
being paid to them, added to the revenues of the
temples, and passed into the treasury of the god. To
this lucrative business of land-letting was added that
of money-lending, and interest in the weaving-
industry of the place, both of which increased
enormously in later times. That the temples received
from time to time rich gifts from the king, goes with
out saying, for the colophon-dates record many
instances of this. Sumu-abu, for instance, rebuilt of
restored the temples of the Lady of Isin, and the
temple E-mah of Nannar (the Moon-god) ; Sumu-la-
ilu made a throne of gold and silver for the great
shrine of Merodach ; Abil-Sin seems to have given a
similar object to the temple of the Sun at Babylon ;
Hammurabi restored or gave thrones to the temples of
Zir-panitum, Istar of Babylon, Nannar (the moon), and
built a great shrine for Bel. Samsu-iluna, likewise,
was not negligent of the gods, for it is related of him
that he dedicated a bright shining mace (?) of gold
and silver, the glory of the temple, to Merodach, and
made E-sagila (the great temple of Belus at Babylon)
to shine like the stars of heaven. It is needless to

162 THE OLD TESTAMENT
say, that the long lists of the pious works of the rulers
of Babylon would be much too long to enumerate here.
All this the kings did from motives of policy, to
conciliate the priests, and, through them, the people.
Sometimes, though, they had need of the priests, who
were able to render them service, and then, naturally,
they bought their good-will cheerfully. The service
which the priests rendered in return was to pray to the
gods for the king's health and his success against his
enemies, or in any undertaking in which he might be
engaged, and to inquire of the gods for him whether
he would be successful. Many, too, were the cere
monies and festivals in which king, priests, and people
took part, and the king (who was himself a priest) and
the priesthood thrived exceedingly.
Sometimes, too, it happened that a devotee or
servant of another god than that which was the
divinity of the place, struck with the neglect of the
deities whom he worshipped, would decide to remedy
that defect, and to this end he would found a small
temple himself, and endow it. The following will
show in what way this took place —
"Nur-ili-sji has built for his god the temple of
Sarru and Sullat. One sar (is the measure of) the
temple of his god — he has dedicated it for his life.
Pl-sa-Samas' is the priest of the temple. Nur-ili-su
shall not make a claim against the priesthood (J. e.
demand the restitution of the property he has given).
The curse of the Sun-god and Suma-ilu (shall be upon
him) who brings an action.
" Before Bur-nunu, son of Ibubu (?) ;
before Ibik-istar, son of Ibubu ;
before Sin-rabu, son of Aba-Ellila-kime ;
before Idin-Sin, son of Uu-malik ;
before Sin-idinnassu, son of Lu-Ninsah ;
before Ahum-hibum, son of Ahu-sina ;
before Sin-idinnassu, son of Pi-sa-Nin-Karak."

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 163
"The light of his god," Ntir-ili-su apparently
wished to justify his name, and to show what a
faithful servant he was, and he therefore dedicated
the temple to the deity mentioned. This, according
to the inscriptions, should be Merodach, one of whose
titles was sarru, " the king." It is to be noted, how
ever, that in the district of Sippar the Sun-god was
" king," and if this be the case, the pious giver of the
temple, instead of wishing to honour the patron god
of another district, merely intended to honour the
patron god of his own in another aspect, namely, as
king in the heavens, along with his consort, here
called Sullat, a name which, to all appearance, simply
means " the bride." That the Sun-god was intended
seems to be indicated by the name of the priest,
Pi-sa-Samas, " Word of the Sun-god," though it was
not by any means impossible fora man bearing the name
of another god as part of his own to officiate in this
capacity, especially in the case of Merodach, for the
latter was, in many respects, a sun-god, and therefore
identified with Samas. In any case, the new temple
was under the protection of the Sun-god, as the in
vocation (" the curse of Samas and Suma-ilu ") shows.
It is noteworthy that, in the names of the witnesses,
Samas does not occur as a component part in any
case. But a small foundation like this must have had but
little influence beside the great temple of the Sun-god
at Sippara, with its revenues from lands, dues on
grain, tithes, free'-will offerings, and gifts on special
occasions. In addition to all that has been mentioned
above, the temple of the Sun-god was the great court
of justice, and the people resorted thither to settle
their disputes, and in all probability gifts were made
to the Sun-god on those occasions. The gates of the
city, too, were favourite places for this, especially that
of Samas, and there is every probability that gifts to
the god had to be made there also. The power and

164 THE OLD TESTAMENT
influence of the places of worship on account of all
these temporal and sacerdotal duties invested in them
can be easily imagined.

THE KING.
Around the Babylonian king is hedged a certain
amount of mystery, for we see him but dimly. What
he did year by year we know, but what his general
way of life was the tablets do not reveal to us. He
lived in a "great house," £-gala in Akkadian, ikallu
in Semitic Babylonian, and there is hardly any doubt
that the people looked upon him as a great high-
priest, and often as being himself divine. Indeed,
some, if not many, of the Babylonian kings were
regarded as gods, and had their worshippers, ap
parently whilst they were still inhabitants of this
earth. The deification of the early Babylonian kings
is made known to us by the scribes placing the usual
divine prefix before their names, and with certain
rulers this is seldom or never wanting. Thus we
know that Dungi (about 2650 B.C.) was deified, as
were also Gimil-Sin, Ine-Sin, and Bur-Sin. This
custom seems to have been continued until later
times, for Rim-Sin (or Rim-Aku, identified with Eri-
Aku or Arioch), at first the ally (cf. Gen. xiv. 1),
afterwards the opponent of Hammurabi or Amraphel,
was thus honoured, and even Hammurabi himself,
who never has this divine prefix before his name, was
sometimes paid this exceptional tribute, as such names
as Hammurabi-Samsi, " Hammurabi is my Sun," or
" my Sun-god," show. The East was ever the home
of flattery.
Yet the king does sometimes come forth from his
shell, and then we see him in his two aspects — as
king, giving his orders to the officials of his court
and army, and as the chief citizen of the country
over which he ruled. The former is illustrated by

VI.

(I)

The Adoration of a Deified King.
Impression of a cylinder inscribed " Danatum, son of Sin-taar, servant
(= worshipper) of Rim-Sin" (see p. 164).

(2)

The Adoration of a God.

Impression of a cylinder-seal inscribed with the name of Appani-ili
(see pp. 547, S48). (The figure on the left has been added by a later hand
to obliterate part of the inscription.)
Published by permission of the owner, Mr. J. Offord, and the Society of Biblical Archaeology.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 165
the despatches and letters in which his name occurs,
and the latter by such references to him as we find
in the contracts — and these are very few, as the
colophon-dates and invocations of his name in the
legal oaths do not count.
Many letters of Hammurabi have been found, and
indicate how active he was as a ruler. These texts,
which, as far as they are published, are generally in
a very incomplete state, nevertheless show that this
most successful king paid every attention to the wel
fare of his subjects, even those in distant parts of the
country. Thus in one of these communications he
gives instructions to Sin-idinnam (who was apparently
military governor of Larsa or Ellasar) to pronounce
judgment against a certain person who laid claim to
a field. Another letter to the same person refers to
grain taken by Awel-ili, concerning which the king
says, " I have seen these reports. The grain of the
recorder (?), which Awel-ili has taken, let him return
to the recorder." In another place he writes to his
officer rather angrily because Inuh-samar, apparently
Sin-idinnam's lieutenant, had taken away from Sin-
magir certain documents signed by the king. He
asks Sin-idinnam why he had done this (placing the
blame directly upon him), and concludes, " The docu
ments, the property of Sin-magir. . . with the impress
of my seal, which thou hast taken, restore to him."
If Sin-idinnam had not been a very high-placed
official, he would in all probability have been
dismissed. The following is a letter from king Ammi-titana to
his agent —
" To the agent of Sippar- Ya'rurum say thus : ' It is
Ammi-titana. The wool-merchant has thus informed
me : I have communicated the command to the pur
veyor of Sippar- Ya'rurum, it has been sent to Babylon.
I keep on sending, and the wool I ordered he has
not transmitted. Thus he informs me. Why hast

166 THE OLD TESTAMENT
thou not sent to Babylon the wool he orders of thee ?
Fearest thou not to act thus ? When thou seest this
tablet, cause the wool that he orders to be taken to
Babylon.'" It will thus be seen that the early kings of
Babylonia identified themselves with the people of
the country over which they ruled much more than
the sovereigns of Europe have for many hundreds of
years been accustomed to do. More than this — their
families were accustomed to intermarry with the
people, as did Elmesu — "Diamond" or "Crystal,"
daughter of Ammi-titana —
("Tablet of) Elmesum, daughter of Ammi-tit[ana
the king], whom Kizirtum, daughter of Ammi-titana
the king, by the consent pf Sumum-libsi, her brother,
Samas-lipir, son of Ris-Samas, and Taram-sullim (?),
his wife, have married to Ibku-Annunitum, their son,
as (his) consort. Four shekels of silver, the wedding-
gift of Elmesu, daughter of Ammi-titana, the king,
Sumum-libsi, son of Ammi-titana, the king, and
Kizirtum, his sjster, have received. If Ibku-Annu
nitum, son of Samas-lipir, say to Elmesum, his wife,
'Thou art not my wife,' he shall pay (i)£ (?) mana
of silver. If Elmesum say to Ibku-Annunitum, her
husband, ' Thou art not my husband,' to . . . Before
Utul- . . . ; before . . . -semi, son of . . . -um ; be
fore Ibni-Addu, son of . . . -um ; before Summa-lum-
. . ., (son of) Ili-bani ; before Addu-sarrum, son of
Ris-Samas ; before Basi-ilu (?), son of . . . -mar ;
before Nabi-ilu (?), (son of) . . . -be (?); before . . .
-pi- . . .
" Month Sebat, day 2nd, year Ammi-titana the king
built (?) Kar- . . . (and) the wall of . ." ."
This is not only a curious document — it is also an
interesting one, and shows under what conditions a
woman of royal blood and race could in ancient
Babylonia be wedded to a commoner. To all appear
ance the king himself, Elmesu's father, had nothing

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 167
to do with the transaction — perhaps he purposely
held aloof— and this being the case, it is the bride's
brother and sister who have charge of the ceremony
and contract ; and, with the bridegroom's father and
mother, marry her as consort to Ibku-Annunitum.
The wording differs from that used in ordinary cases,
and is more elegant and select. A wedding-gift of four
shekels of silver is hardly, perhaps, what one would
expect to be made to a royal bride, but perhaps it
was the customary amount in such cases. The
penalty if the husband afterwards divorced his wife
was, as usual, a money-payment, but the amount is
doubtful, though it seems to be above the average.
The penalty if Elmesu forsook her husband is
unfortunately wanting by the mutilation of the
document, but in ordinary cases it was generally
death. Naturally, the members of the king's family were
rich, and had a tendency to " add field to field," for
their own advantage. Or they would, like other
people of means, hire land adjoining their own, in
order to cultivate them both together, as did Utani,
daughter of king Abesu' —
" Six gan, a field in the good tract, beside the field
of the king's daughter, its first end {i. e. front) the
river (or canal) Pariktum, from Melulatum, sun-de
votee, daughter of Ibku-sa, owner of the field, Iltani,
the king's daughter, has hired the field for cultivation,
and for profit. At harvest-time, (upon) each ten gan,
she will pay six gur of grain, the due of the Sun-god,
in Kar-Sippar.
"Before Edi- . . ., (son of) . . . -te (?) ; before Abil
(?)- . . . (son of) . . . -aqar ; before Sumu-libsi, son
of Pi-sa-Sin ; before Addu-napisti-iddina, the scribe.
" Month Nisan, day 2nd, year Abesu', the king
(made ?) an image (?) of (gold) and silver."
Thirty years, or thereabouts later, Iltani (or a
younger namesake, daughter of Ammi-zaduga) is

1 68 THE OLD TESTAMENT
found providing the wherewithal for agricultural
operations —
" One gur of grain, the property of the Sun-god,
for the reaper, which was from Iltani, sun-devotee,
daughter of the king, Seritum, son of Ibni-Amurru,
has received. At harvest-time, (in) the month Adar,
he will come — (if) he come not, he shall be like a
king's thrall.
" Before Idin-Marduk, the officer, son of Idin-ili-su ;
before Ina-lali-su, son of Ibni-Marduk.
"Month Adar, day 25th, year Ammi-zaduga the
king (made ?) a weapon (?) of gold."
This contract is not quite clear without a little
explanation. The grain advanced was, to all appear
ance, from the storehouse of the temple of the Sun-
god at Sippara, and Iltani, as a sun-devotee, seems
to have had it at her disposal for the benefit of the
temple. In any case, the amount came from her, and
was received by Seritum, who seems to have been the
reaper referred to. He promises to come to do the
work in Adar, that very month, when the grain would
have to be reaped, and the penalty for failing to fulfil
his contract was apparently slavery. Evidently the
work was urgent.
It is needless to say, that interesting as these texts
are, they are very incomplete, and leave a great deal
to the imagination, and still more altogether unre
corded. Nevertheless, they are very valuable as far
as they go, and show us the royal family of Babylonia
at the time working among the people as members
of the community. Each one, however, evidently
worked for his or her own interest, or for the interest
of the religious community to which he or she be
longed, and not for the people at large. It was only
the king who worked for his people, and he did it, it
is hardly going too far to say, because it was his
interest to do so. Most people, however, acted for
their own interest in those days, as now.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM v6g

THE PEOPLE.
In all probability the Babylonians consisted of
what may be called the original Semites of that
tract, with the Akkadians, also aboriginal, with whom
they lived and had already, at the time of the
dynasty of Babylon, mingled to such an extent
that they must have become a homogeneous people,
notwithstanding the racial differences which were
probably noticeable at certain points — for example, a
more strongly-marked Semitic type at Sippar and in
that neighbourhood, and a more strongly-marked
Akkadian type in the State to which Lagas belonged.
Other invasions, however, seem to have taken place,
the principal being that of the Amorites, to which
allusion has already been made — an invasion which
the tablets of this period indicate to have been suffi
ciently numerous, and which must have left its mark
on the population, to all appearance increasing the
Semitic preponderance, and emphasizing the type.
The existence of an " Amorite tract " in the district
of Sippar, and the fact that Sin-idinnam, Hammu
rabi's general, is designated by the characters GAL-
MAR-TU,in Semitic Babylonian Rab-Amurri, "chief
of the Amorite(s)," are in themselves sufficient testi
mony to this invasion. It is noteworthy, too, that
the dynasty to which Hammurabi belonged is ap
parently that described by Berosus as "Arabic," in
which case we should have to recognize yet another
invasion of Semites ; but there is just the probability,
that " Arabic " and " Amorite " were interchangeable
terms, the Amorites being regarded as a collection of
wandering hordes of whom a portion entered the
country, and took possession of the government.
In any case, they shared the fate of all invaders of
the kind referred to, for they were speedily conquered
by the superior civilization of the conquered, and
became so naturalized that notwithstanding their

1 70 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Amorite names, they were called by the Babylonians
"the dynasty of Babylon." This Amorite element
was to all appearance a sufficiently large one, as the
more easily recognizable names show. Thus we have
Amurril-bani, Karasumia, Asalia, Kuyatum, Bizizana,
Izi-idre, Sumu-ra', Betani. Sar-ili {Israel), Awel-Addi
(" man of Hadad," described an Amorite), with many
others, though the different nationalities cannot always
be distinguished, as many Amorites bore Babylonian
names, and vice versd.
Naturally other nationalities than the Babylonians,
Akkadians, Sumerians, and Amorites were repre
sented in the country — Elamites from the invasions
of earlier centuries, Kassites and Sutites who came,
in all probability, to trade, Qutites or Gutians brought
into the country as slaves, or possibly living there as
freemen — all these and others helped to increase the
confusion of tongues which existed in the land from
remote ages, and reminded people of the legend of
the Tower of Babel, when " the Lord did there con
found the language of all the earth." 1
Documents of an earlier date than those now under
our notice indicate that Babylonian civilization goes
back no less than three thousand years before the
period of the dynasty of Babylon, and this, in con
sideration of the date calculated for the foundation of
Niffer (another three thousand years earlier), must be
regarded as a moderate estimate. Babylonian civiliz
ation was already, at the time now treated of, ex-
1 An interesting commentary on this is furnished by the
British Museum tablet K, 2100, which informs us that the god
Rimmon or Hadad was called Addu otDadu in Amorite, Tessub
in the language of Su (Mesopotamia), Maliku in the language of
Suh, (the Shuites), Kunzibami in Elamite, and Burias in Kas
site. The same inscription also states that the word for " God "
was ene in Su, nab in Elamite, malahum in Amorite, kiurum in
Lulubite, mashu in Kassite, and gives the additional synonyms
(? in Babylonian) qadmu, " he who was first," digiril (from the
Akkadian dingir, " god "), and also, seemingly, hilibu.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM I7I
ceedingly ancient. The early village settlement of
primitive houses, clustered around an equally primi
tively-constructed temple, had grown into a large
city, with many fanes therein. The scattered out
lying smaller villages around this primitive settle
ment had gradually been incorporated with it, and
formed its suburbs, each retaining its ancient name.
Villages of more recent foundation were scattered all
over the land, and the whole cbuntry was instinct
with national life, due to the increase of importance
which the comparatively recent union of several
small states in a single large and therefore powerful
kingdom had brought into existence.
Thus we find Babylonia at the period of the
dynasty of Babylon. It could even then look back
into a past stretching back into a remote and dim
antiquity. Its laws, manners, customs, and religion
were already old, and were our knowledge of this
interesting period complete, we should probably find
that there was much that was excellent in their laws,
and interesting and instructive in the administration
of those laws, as well as in their manners and customs
with regard to legal matters in general.
Something of what the tablets of the period are
able to inform us concerning the sacred person of the
king and the position of his family has already been
treated of, and we have now to turn to the next in
the social scale — the people of the middle class. To
this class belonged the priests, the leaders of the
troops, the landowners, the employers of labour, the
scribes, the physicians, the land-hirers, and the small
farmers. In all probability artists and artisans also
formed part of it, though their position may have
been sometimes as bad as that of many who toiled in
servitude, for the slaves seem, on the whole, to have
been exceedingly well treated.
With regard to the scribes at least, the head and
beard were shaven, they wore a simple garment like

172 THE OLD TESTAMENT
a toga thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right
arm free, and in all probability had on their feet no
shoes, but sandals, though this point is doubtful.
A member of this upper class was polite in his
address. When he wrote to a friend, whether on
business or otherwise, he said, " to so and so, whom
Merodach preserve," and after saying who it was who
was writing, added, " may the Sun-god and Merodach
grant thee to live for length of days — mayest thou
have peace, mayest thou have life, may the god thy
protector preserve thy head {ris-ka) for happiness. I
have sent to ask after thy health, — may thy health
before the Sun-god and Merodach be lasting." Other
forms of address are found, generally shorter, but this
may be taken as a fair specimen of the general style,
which, however, seems to have been regulated by
established usage, the form quoted here being that
used in addressing a personage named Episu, and it
is always the same, though the letters, four or five in
number, all come from different persons.
The following letter from a son to his father will
show the general style of these missives —
" Say to my father thus : ' It is Elmesum.' 1
" May Samas and Merodach cause my father to
live enduring days. My father, mayest thou have
health and life. The god protecting my father pre
serve my father's happy head. I have sent (to ask)
after my father's health — may my father's health
before Samas and Merodach be lasting.
"From (the time) Sin and Amurru recorded thy
name, my father, and I humbly (?) answered, thou, my
father, hast said thus : ' As I am going to Dur-
Ammi-zaduga on the river Sarqu, one sheep with five
mana of silver (?) I will cause to be brought for the
young man (?).' This, my father, thou saidst — my
ear, my father, I made to attend — and thou hast not
1 To all appearance letters were originally read out to the
person addressed by a professional reader.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 173
caused (these things) to be brought. And when thou,
my father, sentest to the presence of Taribu, the
queen, I caused a tablet to be brought to the presence
of my father. My father, thou didst not (even) ask
(concerning) the information of my tablet, when I
caused the tablet of my father to be brought to the
city, and he took it to my father for a shekel of
silver. Like thy brother, thou hast not caused (the
things) to be brought. Like Merodach (?) and Sin
Amurru who are gracious to my father, my ears are
attentive. My father, cause (the things) to be brought,
and my heart will not be downcast — Before Samas
and Merodach for my father let me plead."
Such is the way in which a son writes to the father
with whom, to all appearance, he had every right to
be displeased. It is one of the less difficult of a
number of exceedingly difficult texts, and the transla
tion is therefore given with all reserve. As, however,
the words and phrases are for the most part fairly
familiar, it is believed that the general drift of the
whole is correctly indicated. Although it is a letter
in which the writer seems to believe that he has just
reason to find fault, the respectful and apparently
reverent tone of the whole is very noteworthy.
In all probability the Babylonian household con
sisted of the man and his wife, children if he had
any, and as many servants or slaves as he could
afford. A second wife was taken if the man was
rich enough to afford such an addition, though he
seems to have sometimes married again for economic
reasons, namely, the acquisition of a suitable attendant
for his first wife without having to pay her wages.
The following is an example of the ordinary
wedding contract —
"Ana-Aa-uzni is daughter of Salimatum. Sali-
matum has endowed her, and given her in marriage
to Bel-sunu, son of Nemelum. Ana-Aa-uzni is a
virgin — no one has anything against Ana-Aa-uzni.

174 THE OLD TESTAMENT
They have invoked the spirit of Samas, Merodach,
and Sumu-la-tlu (the king). Whoever changes the
words of this tablet (shall pay the penalty).
" Before Libit-Istar ; before Bur-nunu ; before
Amurru-bani; before Rammanu-remeni ; before Nida-
dum ; before Samas-emuki ; before Imgurrum ; before
Sin-ikisam ; before Belizunu ; before Aa-siti ; before
Lamazi ; before Hunabia ; before Betani ; before
Amat-Samas ; before Nabritum ; before Sad-Aa."
Sometimes, however, the wedding contract contains
severe penalties in case the newly-wedded wife should
prove to be unfaithful, as in the following text —
"Ahhu-ayabi is daughter of Innabatum. Inna-
batum, her mother, has given her in marriage to
Zukania. Should Zukania forsake her, he shall pay
one mana of silver. Should Ahhu-ayabi deny him,
he may throw her down from the tower. As long as
Innabatum lives, Ahhu-ayabi shall support her, and
Innabatum afterwards (shall have nothing?) against
Ahhu-ayabi, . . . (They have invoked the spirit of
the Sun-god and Zabi)um (the king). Whoever
changes the words of (th)is (tablet) (shall pay the
penalty ").
Here follow the names of sixteen witnesses — seven
males and nine females, one of the former being the
priest of the devotees of the Sun-god.
When there were two wives, a marriage contract
was given to each, and by a fortunate chance, the
British Museum possesses two documents connected
in this way, which have come together, though
acquired at different times.1 The following is the
document drawn up for the principal wife —
"Arad-Samas has taken in marriage Taram-Sagila
and Iltani, daughter of Sin-abu-su. (If) Taram-Sagila
1 This often happens, the most interesting case being the
tablets referring to Bunanitum, four in number, acquired in
1876, 1877, and a year or two later. Another of the series is in
New York. Cf. pp. 459-465.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 175
and Iltani say to Arad-Samas, their husband, ' Thou
art not (our) husband,' he may. throw them down
from the tower ; and (if) Arad-Samas say to Taram-
Sagila or Iltani, his wives, 'Thou art not my wife,'
she shall depart from house and goods. And Iltani
shall wash the feet of Taram-Sagila, shall carry her
seat to the house of her god ; Iltani shall put on
Taram-Sagila's ornaments, shall be well inclined
towards her, shall not destroy her (marriage) con
tract, shall grind (?) her meal (?), and shall obey (?)
her." Here follow the names of nine witnesses.
The marriage contract drawn up for Iltani, the
second wife, is as follows —
" Iltani is sister of Taram-Sagila. Arad-Samas,
son of Ili-ennam, has taken them in marriage from
Uttatum, their father. Iltani, her sister, shall prepare
her food, shall be well inclined towards her, (and)
shall carry her seat to the temple of Merodach. The
children, as many as have been born, and they shall
bear, are their children. (If) Taram-Sagila say to
Iltani, her sister, ' Thou art not my sister,' (then) . . .
(If Iltani say to Arad-Samas, her husband), ' Thou
(art not my husband),' he may shave (her head), and
sell her for silver. And (if) Arad-Samas say to his
wives, '(Ye) are not my wives,' he shall pay one
mana of silver. And they, (if) they say to Arad-
Samas, their husband, 'Thou art not our husband,'
he may strangle (?) them, and throw them into the
river." This document is attested by eleven witnesses.
To all appearance there was a kind of adoption of
Iltani as daughter of Uttatum (she is called daughter
of Sin-abu-su in the first text), and having thus been
raised in position so as to be somewhat the equal of
Taram-Sagila in rank, she could become the second
wife of Arad-Samas, to live with and wait upon her
adopted sister.

176 THE OLD TESTAMENT
The household itself, however, seldom or never
meets our gaze in these texts, though we get glimpses
of it from time to time. One of the best is in all
probability the following for the insight it gives —
" . . . . He has made him his adopted son. The
field, plantation, goods, and furniture of his house,
which Etel-pi-Sin and Sin-nada, his wife, possess —
Etel-pi-Sin and Sin-nada have five sons — to Bel-ezzu,
their son, like a son, they will give. If Bel-6zzu say
to Etel-pi-Sin, his father, and Sin-nada, his mother,
'Thou art not my father — thou art not my mother,'.
they may sell him for silver. And if Etel-pi-Sin, and
Sin-nada, his wife, say to Bel-ezzu, their son, ' Thou
art not my son,' field, plantation, and goods, his
share, he may take, and may carry away. He
(apparently Etel-pt-Sin) has invoked the spirit of the
king." " Before Lugal-gistug, the lord of the oracle ; Lu-
Dingira, the inspector (?) of the deep(?); Ilu-dakullu,
do.; Nidnat-Sin, do.; Sili-fi-kisnugal, do. ; Mu-batuga,
son of Azagga-Innanna; Zarriqu, son of Nannara-
mansum ; Aappa, son of Sin-eribam ; Nur-ili-su, the
. . . ; Erib-Sin, the scribe ; . . -Ningal, the sword-
bearer; . . -Sin, son of Zazia;"
" (The seal of) the contracting parties (has been
impressed)." (The remainder of the text, containing the date, is
lost.) The above tablet from Tel-Sifr gives a most com
plete statement of the circumstances attending the
adoption of a son (a very common thing during this
period in Babylonia), omitting only the reason for this
step. It is to be noted, however, that five of the
witnesses belong, apparently, to the priestly class,
and this may, perhaps, have been the reason, their
influence being, at this time, to all appearance, very
great, and the necessity for appeasing them propor
tionately so.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 177
The following is an example under different con
ditions, and presents other points of interest —
"Arad-Ishara is son of Ibni-Samas. Ibni-Samas
has taken hirn^as his son. The day that Arad-Ishara
says to Ibni-Samas his father, 'Thou art not "my
father,' he may put him into fetters and sell him for
silver. And (if) Ibni-Samas say to' Arad-Ishara, his
son, ' Thou art not my son,' he shall depart from the
house and the goods. And he may have sons, and
with his sons he shall share." (This last phrase is
expressed clearer on the envelope of the tablet as
follows: "And Ibni-Samas may beget sons, and Arad-
Ishara shall share like one.")
The names of ten witnesses are attached to this
document. In this case the reason for the adoption of Arad-
Ishara probably was, that Ibni-Samas had no sons,
though there was a possibility that he would have
some later on.
The following refers to the adoption of a daughter,
which was also' a common custom —
" Karanatum is daughter of Nur-Sin, with his sons
and his daughters. No one has anything against
Karanatum, daughter of Nur-Sin. Damiqtum is sister
of Karanatum. He (Nur-Sin) will give her to a
husband." Here follow the names of five witnesses.
Though the inscription is short, there is abundant
evidence that Nur-Sin adopted Karanatum for some
special reason, though what that reason may have
been is uncertain. Probably it was in order that she
should accompany Damiqtum as second wife of a
man who wished to marry two women, as in the case
of Iltani and Taram-Sagila
Tablets referring to adoption are, however, very
numerous, and do not furnish much variety. Con
siderations of space also forbid any great multipli
cation of examples, so that it is needful to pass to
M

I7& THE OLD TESTAMENT
the next stage, namely, the inscriptions referring to
inheritance, which, though containing less information,
are not without interest.
On the death of the father of the family, his children
to all appearance met and divided his property as
agreed upon, or in accordance with the will of their
father. Thus we have the record of the three brothers
Sin-ikisam, Ibni-Samas, and Urra-nasir, who divided
their inheritance after the death of their father —
i.
" I SAR, a dwelling-house (and) domain, beside the
house of Ibni-Samas, and beside the house of the
street, its exit (being) to the street, is the share of
Sin-ikisam, which he has shared with Ibni-Samas and
Urra-nasir. From the word to the gold the division
of the property is completed. They shall not make
claim against each other. They have invoked the
spirit of Samas, Aa, and Sin-mubalit (the king).
" Before Lisirammu ; before Sin-putram, son of Ea-
balati (?) ; before Sin-idinnam, son of Mannia ; before
Arad-ili-su, son of Nur-Sin ; before Sa-Ishara, son
of Ila ; before Sin-magir, son of Etelum ; before
Arad-Amurri, before Sin-ilu, sons of Upia ; before
Libur-nadi-su, son of Ustasni-ili ; before ; before
; before . Year of the river (canal)
Tutu-hengal." 2.
" I SAR, a dwelling-place (and) domain, beside the
house of Sin-ikisam, and beside the house of Istar-
umma-sa, the second exit to the street, is the share of
Ibni-Samas, which he has shared with Sin-ikisam and
Urra-nasir. From the word to the gold they have
shared the (property). They shall not make claim
against each other. They have invoked tbe spirit of
Samas, Aa, Marduk, and Sin-mubalit.
" Before Sin-putram ; before Sin-idinnam ; before

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 1 79
Lisirram ; before Arad-ili-su ; before Sa-Ishara ; before
Sin-magir ; before Arad-Amurri ; before Sin-ilu ;
before Libur-nadi-su. Year of the river Tutu-hengal."
3-
" i §AR, a dwelling-house and domain, beside the
house of Ubarria, and beside the house of Putur-Sin,
the second exit to the street, is the share of Urra-
nasir, which he has shared with Sin-ikisam and Ibni-
Samas. From the word to the gold the division is
completed. They shall not make claim against each
other. They have invoked the spirit of Samas, Aa,
Marduk, and Sin-mubalit.
" Before Sin-putram ; before Lisirram ; before Sin-
magir ; before Sin-idinnam ; before Arad-ili-su ; be
fore Sa-Ishara ; before Arad-Amurri ; before Sin-ilu ;
before Libur-nadi-su. Year ofthe river Tutu-hengal."
That the first tablet translated above was that first
written is proved by the fact that the fathers' names
of several of the witnesses are given, and by the blank
spaces with the word " before," showing that the scribe
did not know exactly how many witnesses there would
be. In the other two documents he had the right
number, and did not therefore write the word in
question too many times. In all probability the
three brothers are mentioned in the first document
in the order of their age, and it is naturally the title-
deed of the eldest which is written first. All three
documents are attested by the same witnesses.
The following tablet in the possession of Sir
Cuthbert Peek, Bart., shows a division of property
consisting of goods and chattels, as well as land —
" 3 GAN, a field by the territory of Kudma-bani,
with I GAN, a field which (was) the share of Ahhati-
sunu, (situated) beside the field of Amat-Samas,
daughter of Libit-Istar, and beside the field of Bel-
sunu, its first end (being) the river Euphrates, (and)

180 THE OLD TESTAMENT
its second end the common. § of a SAR (and) 5 ZU
(of ground by) the temple of Sippara, i| SAR (by)
the temple of Kudma-bani, i ox, i young bull, i
'ikuse stone — all this is the share of Kubbutu, which,
along with Ibku-Annunitum, Bel-sunu, Bel-bani, II-
su-bani, Remum, and Marduk-nasir, they have divided.
The division is complete. They are satisfied. From
the word to the gold they shall not at any future time
bring claims against each other. They have invoked
the spirit of Samas, Aa, Marduk, and Samsu-iluna the
king. " Before Dadu-sa, son of Ahum ; before Taridum,
the scribe ; before Sin-idinnam, son of Ibku-Sala ;
before Anatum, son of Sin-abu-su ; before Samas-
nasir-abli. " Month Iyyar, day 1 8th, second year after the
exhortation (?) of Bel."
Where the division of the property and the drawing
up of the tablets took place is uncertain, there being
in the documents translated above no indication. In
the case of the three brothers Urra-kaminisi, Ris-
Urra, and Buria, the declaration of the division of the
property which they inherited, and possibly the draw
ing up of their respective tablets as well, took place in
the Beth-el {bit Hi) of the city, where legal matters
were often transacted. Whether this Beth-el was the
temple of the Sun and the Moon, where solemn con
tracts were also made, is uncertain, but not improbable.
It is noteworthy that there is sometimes a state
ment indicating that the inheritors chose their lots —
" i SAR, a dwelling-house beside the house of
Belaqu, and beside Awel-Nannara, is the share of
Eristum, the sodomite, daughter of Ribam-ili, which
she has shared with Amat-Samas, the priestess of
the sun, her sister. The division is complete. From
the word to the gold they shall not bring claim
against each other. Choice of Amat-Samas, her
sister. (The envelope has : Her choice — the place

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM l8l
(which seems) good unto her she will give.) (They
have invoked) the spirit of Samas, Merodach, Sin-
mubalit (the king), and the city of Sippar."
Here follow the names of eighteen witnesses, all of
them, apparently, men.
Another tablet, referring to the sharing of property,
shows how brothers sometimes cared for their sister,
all the property (at least in this case) being in their
hands —
" Tablet (referring to) 10 GAN, a field in the kare,
beside (the field of) Ahi-daani (?) and Enkim-ilu,
Kis-nunu, Imgurrum, and Ilu-abi, her brothers, have
given to Hudultum, daughter of Inib-nunu, as her
share. " Before Maspirum (var. Masparum), son of Uslu-
rum ; before Bur-ya, son of Munawirum ; before
Hayabum, (before) Kiranum (?), sons of Sin-ennam ;
before Sin-nasir.
" Year Sumulel the king built the wall of Sippar."
Thus, in varying ways, did the ancient Babylonians
live and wed, adopt children and inherit. Other
incidents were there in their lives also, as when a man
divorced his wife — an unpleasant experience for them
both, in all probability — though often enough this
must have taken place to the great joy of one or the
other, or possibly of both, for it must have been a
much less solemn thing with them than with us — the
marriage tie. It is gratifying to know that documents
referring to divorce are comparatively rare, though they
are to be met with sometimes, as the following text
shows —
" Samas-rabi has divorced Naramtum his wife. She
has taken away her property (?) and received her
portion (as a woman divorced). (If) Naramtum wed
another, Samas-rabi shall not bring action against her.
They have invoked the spirit of Samas, Aa, Marduk,
and Sin-mubalit."
(Here follow the names of ten witnesses.)

1 82 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" Year of Samas and Rimmon."
Sometimes the even tenor of early Babylonian life
was interrupted by a lawsuit on the part of a relative
(often one who ought to have known better), and,
though less of a family convulsion than a divorce, it
must have been sufficiently annoying, especially when
the plaintiff was one's own father. The following
gives details of such a case —
"(Tablet concerning) one slave, her maid, whom
Ayatia, her mother, left to Hulaltum, her daughter,
and Hulaltum (on that account) supported Ayatia,
her mother. And Sin-nasir (was) husband of Ayatia.
Ayatia left to her (Hulaltum), in the 20th year, that
which was in the city Buzu, but there was no tablet
(?) (documentary evidence) concerning Ayatia's prop
erty. After Ayatia died, Sin-nasir brought an action
against Hulaltum on account of the maidservant, and
Isarlim, scribe of the city of Sippar and recorder (?) of
Sippar, caused them to receive judgment. He de
clared him (Sin-nasir) to be in the wrong. He is not
again to bring action in the matter. (They have
invoked) the spirit of Samas, Merodach, and Hammu
rabi. Judgment of Isarlim ; Awat-Samas, the agent ;
Itti-Bel-kinni ; Bar-Sin ; Gimil-bani. Month Adar,
year of the canal Tisida-Kllilla."
Many documents of this kind exist, though people
did not generally bring actions against their own
(step-) daughters, as Sin-nasir is recorded as having
done. The ancient Babylonians were at all times,
however, very keen in standing up for their own
rights, and went to law on the slightest provocation.
The following records a claim upon some property,
and its issue, which was as unsuccessful as that
translated above —
" Sin-eribam, son of Upe-rabi, laid claim to the house
of Sumu-ra', which is beside the house of Nidnu-§a
and beside the house (temple) of Allat ; and they
went before the judges, and the judges pronounced

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 183
judgment. And as for Sin-eribam, they declared
him to be in the wrong, and made him deliver a
document which could not be proceeded against. He
shall not bring action, and Sin-eribam shall not again
lay claim to the house of Sumu-ra'.
" They have invoked the spirit of Samas, Zabium
(the king), and the city of Sippar."
It is noteworthy that the name of the first of the
twelve witnesses attached to the document is Ya'kub-
ilu, or Jacob-el, which is supposed to be connected
with the name of the patriarch Jacob.
As in these days, many a man in those ancient
times, for the better conducting of his business, would
enter into partnership. As usual, all would go well
for a time, but at last, in consequence of disagreements
or disputes or some unpleasantness, they would decide
to part. Several texts of this class exist, of which the
following is a typical example —
" Sili-Istar and Iribam-Sin made partnership, and,
to dissolve it, they, had a judge, and they went down
to the temple of Samas, and in the temple of Samas
the judge caused them to receive judgment. They
give back their capital, and receive back their shares.
1 male-slave Lustamar-Samas, with a chain (?), and
1 female-slave Lislimam, the share of Iribam-Sin ;
1 male-slave Ibsina-ilu, and 1 female-slave Am-anna-
lamazi, the share of Sili-Istar, they have received as
their shares. In the temple of the Sun-god and the
Moon-god they declared that they would treat each
other well. One shall not bring action against the
other, nor act hostilely towards him. There is no
cause for action on the part of the one against the
other. They have invoked the spirit of Nannara,
Samas, Merodach, Lugal-ki-usuna, and Hammurabi
the king.
" Before Utuki-semi, son of Awiatum ; before Abil-
Sin, son of Nannara-mansum ; before Sin-erg§, the
provost ; before Ipus-Ea, the du-gab ; before Sama§-

184 THE OLD TESTAMENT
mubalit, the priest of Gula ; before Nabi-Sin, son of
Idin-Sin ; before Sin-uzeli, son of Sili-Istar ; before
Ubar-Sin, son of Sin-semi ; before Sin-gimlanni, the
attendant of the judges.
"He has impressed the seal of the contracting
parties. "Month Adar, year Hammurabi the king made
(images of) Istar and Nanaa." l
Iribam-Sin, however, seems not to have been
satisfied that he had been fairly dealt with, for not
withstanding that they were not to act hostilely
towards each other, he immediately brought an action
to get possession of property belonging to Sili-Istar
and his brothers, the result of which was the following
declaration on the part of the latter —
" Concerning 1 SAR, a dwelling-house, and 2
SAR, a large enclosure, which Sili-Istar and Awel-ili,
his brother, sons of Ili-sukkalu (?), bought from Sin-
mubalit and his brothers, sons of Pirhum. In the
temple of the Sun-god Sili-Istar said thus : ' I verily
bought (it) with the money of my mother — it was not
bought with the money that was ours in common.
Iribam-Sin, son of Ubar-Sin, has no share in the house
and large enclosure.' 2 He has invoked the spirit of
the king.
" Before Utuki-semi, son of Awiatum ; before Abil-
Sin, son of Nannara-mansum ; before Sin-eres, the
provost ; before Sin-uzelli, son of Nur-ili ; before
Ipus-Ea, the du-gab ; before Nabi-Sin, son of Idin-
Sin ; before Ubar-Sin, son of Sin-semi, his father ;
before Samas-mubalit, the priest of Gula ; before Sin-
1 I have purposely given the translation of the inner tablet,
that of the envelope being less simply worded, and therefore not
quite so easy to understand. The list of witnesses, however, is
from the envelope, this being much more satisfactory in that it
gives the fathers name and the title of the person in some
cases. 2 The envelope here adds : " At no future time shall he make
a, claim,"

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 1 85
gimlanni, the attendant of the judges. They have
impressed the seal of the parties.
" Month Adar, year of the (images of) Istar and
Nanaa." The day of the month is not given, so that we are
in doubt as to whether the second tablet preceded the
first or followed it. In all probability the latter was
the case, or else the two actions were simultaneous,
and the fact that the witnesses and officials of the
court are the same in both documents speaks in favour
of this.
In Babylonia, as in all the ancient East, there was
the great blot upon their civilization which has not even
at the present time, the dawn of the twentieth century,
disappeared from the earth, namely, that of slavery.
Throughout the long ages over which Babylonian
domestic literature extends, the student finds this to
be always present, and one of the most striking
examples is contained in the following document,
which exhibits the blot with all its possible horrors —
"(Tablet of) Samas-nuri, daughter of Ibi-San.
Bunini-abi and Belisunu have bought her from Ibi-
San, her father — for Bunini-abi a wife — for Belisunu a
servant. The day Samas-nuri says to Belisunu, her
mistress, ' Thou art not my mistress,' they shall shave
off her hair, and sell her for silver. As the complete
price he has paid five shekels of silver. He has taken
the key.1 The affair is concluded. He is content.
(At no future time) shall one bring a claim against
the other. They have invoked the spirit of Samas,
Aa, Marduk, and Hammurabi."
(Here follow the names of seven witnesses.)
" Month Iyyar, day 3rd, year of the throne of Zir-
panitum " (the 12th year of Hammurabi or Amraphel).
That a father should part with his daughter for
1 This is apparently an expression taken from the contracts
referring to the purchase of houses, in which the same set
phrases were used.

1 86 THE OLD TESTAMENT
money in order that that daughter should become the
wife of a man already married, agreeing at the same
time that the young woman should become the slave
of the first wife, would seem to the ordinary Western
mind at the present day most barbarous. That it was
not the lowest depth, however, is implied by the con
dition attached to the contract, and containing a kind
of penalty, namely, that if the new wife denied that
the first wife was her mistress, she might be sold as a
slave. In what her position differed from that of a
thrall, however, does not appear.
Naturally the case of Hagar, the slave of Sarah,
Abraham's wife, will at once occur to the reader,
though the two differ somewhat. Nevertheless, it is
not improbable that the well-known Bible-story ex
plains that of the tablet, in giving a reason for the
purchase of Samas-nuri— namely, in order to give the
purchaser, Bunini-abi, a chance of having offspring,
which, in all probability, his first wife Belisunu had
not brought him. It is difficult to imagine that she
would consent to the introduction of a rival for any
other reason. Of course, the new wife may have been
well treated, but a transaction of the kind here re
corded naturally gave an opening to all possible
abuses. Another case of the taking of a second wife,
with the proviso that she is to be the servant of the
first, is that of Iltani (see pp. 174-175), who, however,
was not a slave, and had a regular marriage-deed.
Moreover, she is described as the sister {ahaf), not the
slave {dmat) of the first wife.
On the same plate of the British Museum publica
tion from which the foregoing is taken, there is a more
ordinary document referring to slavery, and in this
case it is to all appearance the sale of a real slave-
woman and her child —
" 1 slave-woman, Belti-magirat by name, and her
child, handmaid of Sarrum-Addu and Hammurabi-
Samsi, Nabium-malik, son of Addu-nasir, has bought

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 1 87
from Sarrum-Addu, son of Addu-nasir, and Hammu-
rabi-Samsi, his wife. As the complete price he has
paid 18 J shekels of silver. At no future time shall
they make claim against each other. They have
invoked the spirit of Marduk and Hammurabi."
(Here follow the names of eight witnesses, includ
ing two brothers of the contracting parties.)
" Month Tebet,day 21st, year Hammurabi the king
destroyed, by command of Bel, the fortification of
Mair, and Malgia."
Tablets referring to the sale and purchase of slaves
are numerous, and do not present much variety, being
nearly all written in accordance with the usual legal
forms. In the hiring of slaves, however, there is a
little more dissimilarity —
"Awel-Addi, son of Sililum, has hired Arad-lli-
remeanni from Eristi-Samas, sun-devotee, daughter of
Sin-bel-abli, for a year. The hire for a year, 5 shekels
of silver, he will pay. A first instalment of the sum,
2 shekels of silver, she has received. He will be
clothed by his hirer.
" He entered (upon his duties) on the 16th of Elul.
" Before Samas, Aa ; before Taribatum ; before
Nur-Marduk ; before Lahutum.
" Year Samsu-iluna (made) a throne of gold (shining
like the stars, for Nin-gala").
The following is a similar text with additional
clauses —
" Asir-Addu, son of Libit-Urra, has hired Samas-
bel-ili from Ahatani, sun-devotee, daughter of Samas-
hazir, for his first year. As hire for his first year, he
shall pay 3^ shekels of silver. He shall clothe him
self. He entered (on his duties) on the 4th of the
month Dur-Addi, in the month Mamitu he will com
plete (his term), and may leave.
" Before Asirum, son of Ea-rabi ; before Nin-gira-
abi, son of Eribam ; before Arad-Sin, son of Sin-
idinnam.

1 88 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" The year of Samsu-iluna, the king."
(The accession-year of Amraphel's successor.)
In thefollowing the slave is hired for produce —
" Ris-Samas, son of Marduk-nasir, has hired Nawir-
nur-su from Subtum for a year. He will pay 16 qa
of oil as his hire for the year. He will clothe him.
He entered in the month Elul, in the month Tirinu
he may go forth.
"Before Risutum ; before Eristi-Aa.
" Year the great fortification . . ."
When a man had no master — was his own master,
in fact — he was hired " from himself" —
" Idin-Ittum has hired for wages Naram-ili-su from
himself, for six months. He will receive 2 shekels of
silver as wages for the six months.
" Before Etel-pt-Uras, before Sin-ilu, before Ahum,
the scribe.
" Month Nisan, day 20th, year the throne . . .
was . . ."
Servants were not only hired from their masters
and themselves, but also from their fathers, mothers,
brothers, and whoever else might have charge of them.
There are also lists of workmen hired for various pur
poses in batches. Those who went about doing
reaping seem to have been of various nationalities,
and interesting names are on that account found in
the lists from time to time.
In all probability the towns at that early period
resembled closely those of the Semitic East at the
present day, the streets being as a rule narrow (from
the necessity of obtaining protection from the exces
sive heat of the sun during the hot season) and
exceedingly dirty. This is shown by the excavations
at Niffer, where, at the earliest period, when the street
in question was constructed, the houses were entered
by going up a few steps. Later on, in consequence
of the accumulations, the footpath became level with
the floor of the house, and, at a later period still, a

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 189
little staircase had to be built leading down into the
building. As may easily be imagined, the conditions
in which the ancient Babylonians lived were in the
highest degree insanitary, and such as would probably
not be tolerated for a day in Europe at the present time.
Judging from the remains of private houses which
have been found, these buildings were not by any
means large. In fact, they must have contained only
a few small rooms. Where, however, there was space
— as, for example, when the house was built in the
middle of a field — the rooms were probably moderately
large, and more numerous. They were of either un-
burnt or burnt brick, and the roofs were supported by
beams. The floors seem to have been generally the
bare earth.
Many lists of the furniture of these dwelling-places
are extant, and allow us to estimate to a certain extent
the amount of comfort which their inhabitants enjoyed.
They reclined upon couches, and sometimes — perhaps
often — it happened that the owner of the house pos
sessed several of these articles of furniture. Appar
ently, too, it was their custom to sit upon chairs, and
not upon the ground, as they do in the East at the
present day, and have done for many centuries.
Various vessels, of wood, earthenware, and copper,
were also to be found there, together with measures
of different kinds,1 implements needed in the trade of
the owner, and certain objects of stone. In some
cases things of precious stone are referred to, a cir
cumstance which points to a considerable amount of
prosperity on the oart of the owner of the house and
its contents.
1 In the list of household goods inscribed on the tablet Bu.
91-5-9, 337, are enumerated 1 bed, 1 couch, 2 tables, other
objects, mostly of wood, to the number of 42 ; 7 pots, 1 chair, 4
usratum (probably vessels containing the tenth part of some
measure), 5 hamsatum (probably vessels containing the fifth part
of a measure), 31 qa of sesame, and a few other things.

190 THE OLD TESTAMENT
As will be seen farther on, when Babylonian life of
a later period comes to be treated of, the leasehold
system, with all its disadvantages, was in full force,
and there is just the possibility that it was already in
use during the time of the dynasty of Babylon. Even
at this early date the question of party walls was an
important one, as the tablet of Samas-in-matim and
Eristi-Aa, daughter of Zililum, shows. They were to
set up the dividing wall {gusuru, apparently palings)
ahum mala ahim, lit. "brother as much as brother,"
ue. one as much as the other. They managed things
differently in ancient Babylonia, and if this was the
usual arrangement, it must have given rise to endless
disputes. It is probable that, before the time of Hammurabi,
the ancient Babylonians had no code of laws in the
true sense of the term. All the legal decisions known
seem to have been decided on their merits by the
judges who tried the cases, and in such actions in
which the judges could not come to a decision, the
matter seems to have been referred to the king, whose
word was, to all appearance, final. Naturally an
enormous responsibility rested on the judges on
account of this, but they were not entirely without
help in the matter of deciding difficult and unusual
questions. Lists of precedents were kept, and to these,
in all probability, they constantly referred — indeed,
the tablets of legal precedents were held in such high
esteem, that copies of them were kept in the libraries
of Assyria, and in Babylonia also, in all probability,
until long after the destruction of the Assyrian power,
notwithstanding that legal use and wont had by that
time somewhat changed. One or two examples of
these legal precedents may here be quoted to show
their nature : —
" If a son say to his father, ' Thou art not my
father,' they may shave him, put him in fetters, and
sell him for silver.

BABYLONIA AT THE TIME OF ABRAHAM 191
"If a son say to his mother, 'Thou art not my
mother,' they may shave off his hair, imprison him in
the city, or drive him forth from the house.
" If a wife hate her husband, and say to him, ' Thou
art not my husband,' they may throw her into the
river. " If a husband say to his wife ' Thou art not my
wife,' he shall pay her half a mana of silver.
" If a man hire a slave, and he kill himself, (or) is
otherwise lost : runs away, is neglectful (?), or falls ill,
he shall pay as his hire every day half a measure of
grain." Thus did the ancient Babylonians punish those who
offended against their laws and protect property (for
the slave-hirer was undoubtedly saddled with a heavy
responsibility). Was it that a hired slave who com
mitted suicide was regarded, by that act, as testifying
to the severity of his temporary hirer? In all prob
ability it was so, and in that case, one cannot help
regarding the law as a wise one. To all appearance,
also, illness was attributed to his employer's cruelty.
As to his running away, that would prove that his
employer was not watchful enough with regard to
him, and if the slave were idle, probably it was thought
that his employer did not beat him enough. A
modern European lawyer would most likely not regard
this particular law as being very exactly worded (there
is no limit of time during which the slave's wages
were payable, and one can only guess that the term of
his service with his hirer was understood), but there
seems to be no doubt as to its intention — to safeguard
the slave, and his owner at the same time, by making
his hirer responsible for every mishap and accident
which might happen to him whilst he was with his
temporary master.

CHAPTER VI
ABRAHAM
A short account of this period, with the story of Chedorlaomer,
Amraphel, Arioch, and Tidal.
Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in
the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees, and
afterwards Terah took Abram his son, Lot, his grand
son, and Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went
forth from Ur of the Chaldees to go to Canaan.
Arriving at Haran, they dwelt there until Terah died
at an exceedingly advanced age.
There have been many discussions as to the position
of Ur of the Chaldees. Some, on account of the
distance from Canaan, apparently, have contended
that Ur of the Chaldees is the same as the site known
for many hundreds of years as Urfa, in Mesopotamia
— the district in which the proto-martyr, St. Stephen
(Acts vii. 2, 41), places it. Mesopotamia, however,
is an appellation of wide extent, and altogether
insufficiently precise to enable the exact locality to
be determined. To all appearance, though, Urfa or
Orfa, called by the Greeks Edessa, was known as
Orrha at the time of Isidore of Charax (date about
150 B.C.). Pocock, in his Description of the East,
states that it is the universal opinion of the Jews that
Orfa or Edessa was the ancient Ur of the Chaldees,
and this is supported by local tradition, the chief
place of worship there being called " the Mosque of
Abraham," and the pond in which the sacred fish are
192

ABRAHAM 1 93
kept being called Bahr Ibrahim el-Halil, " the Lake
of Abraham the Beloved." The tradition in the
Talmud and in certain early Arabian writers, that Ur
of the Chaldees is Warka, the 'Op\6r\ of the Greeks,
and 'Opix °f the Septuagint, need not detain us, as
this site is certainly the Erech of Gen. x. 10, and is
excluded by that circumstance.
Two other possibilities remain, the one generally
accepted by Assyriologists, the other tentatively put
forward by myself some years ago. The former has
a series of most interesting traditions to support it,
the latter simply a slightly greater probability. The
reader may adopt that which seems to him best to
suit the circumstances of the case.
The identification generally accepted is, that Ur of
the Chaldees is the series of mounds now called
Mugheir, or, more in accordance with correct pro
nunciation, Muqayyar, "the pitchy," from the noun
qtr, " pitch," that material having been largely used
in the construction of the buildings whose ruins
occupy the site. The identification of these ruins
with those of Ur-kasdim or Ur of the Chaldees was
first proposed by Sir Henry Rawlinson in 1855, on
the ground that the name of the city on the bricks
found there, which he read Hur, resembled that of
the name as given in Gen. xi. 28 and 31. As a
matter of fact, the Semitic Babylonian form of the
name approaches even nearer than the celebrated
Assyriologist then thought, for it is given in the
bilingual texts as Uru. The Akkadian form (which
is most probably the more ancient of the two), on the
other hand, is not so satisfactory, as it contains an
additional syllable, the full form being Uriwa (the
vowel before the w only is a little doubtful). This,
with the absence of any addition corresponding to
the Hebrew Kasdim, is the principal flaw in what
would otherwise be a perfect philological comparison.
Ur or Uriwa, the modern Mugheir, is situated N

194 THE OLD TESTAMENT
about 140 miles S.E. of Babylon, and about 560
miles S.E. of Haran. In ancient days it was a place
of considerable importance, and the site of a cele
brated temple-tower called E-su-gan-dudu, probably
the E-gis-sir-gala of other texts, the shrine of the
god Nannara, also called Sin, the Moon-god, whose
worship had gained considerable renown.
" Father Nannar, lord of Ur, prince of the gods, in
heaven and earth he alone is supreme ;
Father Nannar, lord of E-gis-sir-gala, prince ofthe
gods, in heaven and earth he alone is supreme :
Father Nannar, lord, bright-shining diadem,
prince of the gods, in heaven and earth he
alone is supreme ;
Father Nannar, whose dominion is greatly perfect,
prince of the gods, in heaven and earth he
alone is supreme;
Father Nannar, who in a princely garment is
resplendent, prince of the gods, in heaven and
earth he alone is supreme," etc.
The above is the beginning of a long hymn written
in the Sumerian dialect, in which an ancient Baby
lonian poet praises him, and in many another com
position is his glory sung, and in adversity his name
invoked —
" The temple of the Life of Heaven is destroyed —
who, in the day of its glory, has cut off its
glory?
The everlasting temple, the building of Uriwa,
The everlasting temple, the building of E-kis"-
nu-gala.1
The city Uriwa is a house of darkness in the
land —
E-kis-nu-gala (and) Nannara."
1 A dialectic form of E-gis-sir-gala.

ABRAHAM 195
" Let heaven rest with earth, heaven enclosed with
earth.
Father Nannar, lord of Uriwa,
To the great lady, the lady of E-kis-nu-gala, give
thou rest.
To heaven with earth, heaven and earth, (give
thou rest).
To the heaven of Uras, at se-gu-nu,
The god Enki, the goddess Ninki, the god Endu,
the goddess Nindu,
The god En-da-u-ma, the goddess Nin-da-u-ma,
The god En-du-azaga, the goddess Nin-du-azaga,
The god En-u-tila, the god En-me-sarra,
The princess of the Life of Heaven, the lady of
the mountain."
" . . .he will restore the site of E-kis-nu-gala." 1
Thus does the poet of ancient days, in a composi
tion in the non-Semitic idiom of his time, lament the
misfortunes which had come over the temple and
city — how, whether by was by famine, or by some
other mischance, we know not. It serves to show,
however, not only the poetical spirit which animated
the Akkadians at the time, but also the high esteem
in which the temple and the deities venerated therein
were held, and the power attributed to the Moon-god
in the centre of his worship. The fact that Ur
(Mugheir) was an important place for the worship of
the Moon-god has been not seldom quoted in support
of the identity of this city with Ur of the Chaldees,
because Haran, the city to which Abram migrated
with his father Terah, was also a centre of the worship
of Sin. This, in itself, is not at all improbable, the
Jewish tradition being, that Terah was an idolater.2
1 Probably the first line of the next tablet.
, 2 The Talmud says that Terah worshipped twelve divinities,
one for each month of the year.

I96 THE OLD TESTAMENT
That Terah should go 560 miles simply for this
reason, when he might have found a suitable settle
ment nearer, seems to be in the highest degree
unlikely, minor shrines of the Moon-god being, in all
probability, far from rare in Babylonia.1 He simply
sojourned there because, in his journeyings, it suited
him to stay there. If he were a devotee of the Moon-
god, he was in all probability the more pleased to
take up his abode there. But he may not have
worshipped that divinity at all, or if he did do so,
may not have honoured him more than the Sun-god,
Anu, the god ofthe heavens, or the goddess Istar.
Many legends concerning Abram — legends of
sufficiently high antiquity — exist, but how far they
are trustworthy must always be a matter of opinion.
In any case, the writers had the advantage — if
advantage it was — of living 2000 years nearer to
Abraham's time than we have. Thus Eupolemus
(as has already been pointed out on p. 146) states,
that in the tenth generation, in the city of Baby
lonia called Camarina (which by some is called Urie,
and which signifies a city of the Chaldeans), there
lived, the thirteenth in descent, Abraham, a man of
a noble race, and superior to all others in wisdom.
They relate of him that he was the inventor of
astrology and Chaldean magic, and that on account
of his eminent piety he was esteemed by God. It is
said, moreover, that under the direction of God he
departed and lived in Phoenicia, and there taught the
Phoenicians the motions of the sun and moon, and all
other things, and was on that account held in great
reverence by their king.
All this, naturally, points to Babylonia and the
city of Uru or Uriwa as the original dwelling-place of
1 There was a temple of the sun and the moon at a town at
no great distance from Ur [Mugheir], now represented by the
mounds of Tel-Sifr, where a number of tablets with envelopes
were found.

ABRAHAM 1 97
Abram, Camarina being connected with the Arabic
qamar, " the moon," which, as we have seen, was the
deity worshipped there. It is noteworthy that the
transcription of the Baylonian name of the city, Urie,
contains traces of the Akkadian termination -iwa
{Uriwa) which is absent in the Hebrew form Ur.
This is important, as it shows that at a comparatively
late date (Eupolemus lived just before the Christian
era), the ending in question made itself felt in the
transcription of the word, and that the form in
Genesis, Ur, does not quite agree, as traces of that
termination (two syllables in the Akkadian form) are
altogether wanting in it. There can be no doubt,
therefore, that the theory that Abram lived and
passed his earlier years at the Ur which is now
represented by the ruins of Mugheir, originated with
the Jews during their captivity at Babylon and in the
cities of Babylonia. Eupolemus, as a student of
Jewish history, would naturally get his information
from a Jewish source, and the Jews had, in common
with most of the nations of the earth, a tendency to
attribute to their own forefathers, whom they venerated
so highly, the glory of being connected with any
renowned city or great discovery of earlier ages.
Thus it arises that Eupolemus, following his Jewish
informant, makes Abraham to be the inventor of
astrology and Chaldean magic ; and to have dwelt at
Ur. It must have been the Jewish captives exiled
in Babylonia who first identified Ur with the re
nowned city Uru or Uriwa, quite forgetting that the
form of the name could not have been Ur in Hebrew,
and that there was another Ur, much more suitable
as the dwelling-place of a nomad family like that of
Terah and his sons, namely, the country of Ak
kad itself, called, in the non-Semitic idiom, Uri or
Ura, a tract which included the whole of northern
Babylonia. In whatever part of Babylonia, however, the

I98 THE OLD TESTAMENT
patriarch may have sojourned, of one thing there
is no doubt, and that is, that if he dwelt there, the
life which he saw around him, and in which he must
have taken part, was that depicted by the tablets
translated in the foregoing chapter. He saw the
idolatry of the people, and the ceremonies and
infamies which accompanied it ; he saw the Baby
lonians as they were in his day, with all their faults,
and all their virtues — their industry, their love of
trade, their readiness to engage in litigation, and all
the other interesting characteristics which distinguished
them. He must have been acquainted with their
legends of the Creation, the Flood, and all their gods
and heroes, and the poetry for which the Hebrew race
has always been renowned must have had its origin
in the land of Nimrod, whence Abraham of old went
forth free, and his descendants, a millennium and a
half later, returned as captives.
How it came about (if it be really true) that Terah
was an idolater, whilst his son Abram was a
monotheist, will probably never be known. It is
only reasonable to suppose, however, that among a
people so intelligent as the Babylonians, there were
at least some who, thinking over the nature of the
world in which they lived and the destiny of mankind,
saw that the different gods whom the people wor
shipped could not all be governors of the universe,
but, if they existed at all, must be only manifestations
of the Deity who held the supreme power. Indeed,
it was, to all appearance, this doctrine which really
prevailed, as is shown by the text translated on p.
58. Whether taught generally to the learned class
(the scribes) or not, is not known, but it must have
been very commonly known to those who could
read, otherwise it is hardly likely that such a tablet
would have been drawn up and written out again
at a later date (the text we possess being but a copy
of a lost original). As the divinity with whom the

ABRAHAM 199
others are identified is Merodach, it is most likely
that this special doctrine of the unity of the Deity
became general some time after the commencement
of the Dynasty of Babylon (that to which Hammurabi
or Amraphel belonged), when the city of Babylon
became the capital of the country. Abram's mono
theism would, therefore, naturally fit inwith the new
doctrine which apparently became the general belief
of the learned class at this time.1
Concerning the journey of Abraham, there is
naturally nothing to be said, the Bible narrative
merely stating that Terah and his family migrated to
Haran. The only thing worth noting is, that the dis
tance they had to travel was sufficiently great — about
560 miles from Uriwa (Mugheir), and about 420 miles
from Babylon, from the neighbourhood of which the
family must have started if the Ur mentioned in
Genesis be the Uri or Ura of the inscriptions, which
was equivalent to the land of Akkad. The whole of
this district was, in all probability, at this time, as later,
under Babylonian rule, a state of things which must
have contributed in some measure to the safe transit
of the household to Haran, and also that of Abraham
later on to Canaan, which, as we know from the
inscriptions 2 and from Gen. xiv., acknowledged Baby
lonian overlordship.
With regard to Haran, it is very probable that this
ancient city was, by turns, under the rule either of
Babylonia or Assyria until the absorption of the
former power into the great Persian Empire, when
Haran likewise, in all probability, shared the same
fate. Concerning the early history of the city very
little is known, but it is not improbable that it was
1 One of the most interesting names found in the texts of
this period is that of Yaura-uu, " Jah is God," occurring in a
letter. Yau (Jan) was one of the Babylonian words indicating
the Supreme God, only used,, however, in special cases. (Cf.
PP;58ffi) ...
2 See the inscription translated on p. 155.

200 THE OLD TESTAMENT
an ancient Babylonian foundation, the name being
apparently the Babylonian word harranu, meaning
"road." The name given to this "road-city" is
explained as originating in the fact, that it lay at the
junction of several trade-routes — an explanation which
is very probable.
The city itself was, at the time of its greatest
prosperity, a considerable place, as the remains now
existing show. There are the ruins of a castle, with
square columns 8 feet thick, supporting a roof of 30
feet high, together with some comparatively modern
ruins. The ancient walls, though in a very dilapi
dated state, are said to be continuous throughout.
No houses remain, but there are several ruins, one of
great interest, and considerable extent, which Ains
worth considered to be a temple. A rudely sculp
tured lion, found outside the walls, is regarded as
giving evidence of Assyrian occupation, which, how
ever, is otherwise known to have been an historical fact.
In Abraham's time the place had, in all probability,
not attained its fullest development, and must have
been a small city. The plain in which it is situated is
described as very fertile, but not cultivated to its
fullest extent, on account of half the land remaining
fallow because not manured. This, at least, was the
state of the tract 66 years ago, but it is very probable
that, in the " changeless East," the same description
applies at the present day. That it was of old, as
now, a fertile spot, may be gathered from the fact that
the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser I. speaks of having
taken or killed elephants in that district —
Esritpiri buhali dannitti Ten powerful bull-elephants
ina mdt Harrani u h'di ndr in the land of Haran and on
Habur the banks of the Habour
lu-aduk; irbitpiri balfuti I killed ; four elephants alive
lu-usabita. Mdikani-sunu I took. Their skins,
linni-sunu ittipiri their teeth, with the living
balfuti, ana dli-ia Assur tibia, elephants, I brought to my city
Asshur.

ABRAHAM 201
If there were elephants in "the land of Haran " 1100
years before Christ, it is very probable that they were
to be found in the neighbourhood a thousand years
earlier, but notwithstanding any disadvantage which
may have been felt from the presence of these enor
mous beasts, it was in all probability a sufficiently
safe district for one possessing flocks and herds.
There is no reason to suppose that the presence of
elephants around Haran in any way influenced the
patriarch to leave the place, for these animals were
to be found (according to an inscription supposed to
have been written for the same Assyrian king, Tiglath-
pileser I.) in Lebanon, and therefore in the country
where Abraham settled after quitting Haran.
As has already been noted, this was the centre of
the worship of the Moon-god Sin or Nannara,1 and
Terah and his family, in settling in this place,
doubtless saw the same ceremonies in connection
with the worship of this deity as they had been accus
tomed to see in Babylonia, slightly modified ; and
this would be the case whether Terah's family came
from Uriwa or not, the Moon-god being worshipped in
more cities than one in Babylonia. Something of the
importance of the shrine of Nannaru at Haran may
be gathered from the fact, that the Assyrian king
Esarhaddon (to all appearance) was crowned there.
As the text recording this is very interesting, and
reveals something of the beliefs of the Assyrians and
the natives of Haran, I quote here the passage refer
ring to the ceremony, restoring the wording where
defective. The writer is apparently addressing Assur-
banl-apli, " the great and noble Asnapper " —
" When the father of the king my lord went to
Egypt, he was crowned (?) in the qanni of Haran, the
temple (lit. "Bethel") of cedar. The god Sin re
mained over the (sacred) standard, two crowns upon
1 In inscriptions referring to Haran the Moon-god bears this
name.

202 THE OLD TESTAMENT
his head, (and) the god Nusku stood before him.
The father of the king my lord entered, (and) he1
placed (the crown ?) upon his head, (saying) thus :
' Thou shalt go and capture the lands in the midst.'
(He we)nt, he captured the land of Egypt. The rest
of the lands not submitting (?) to Assur and Sin,
the king, the lord of kings, shall capture (them").
[Here follow an invocation of the gods, and wishes
for a long life for the king, the stability (?) of his
throne, etc.]
In addition to the god Sin, the above extract refers
to the deity known as Nusku, as being venerated
there. That this was the case, is confirmed by several
inscriptions of the time of Assur-bani-apli, who seems
to have restored his temple. This fane, which the
Assyrian king is said to have made to shine like the
day, was called E-melam-anna, "the temple of the
glory of heaven," and the presence of its name in a
list of the temples of Babylonia and Assyria testifies
to its importance.
The temple of Sin or Nannaru, as we learn from
the inscriptions of Nabonidus, was called E-hulhul,
" the temple of (great) joy." The fane having been
destroyed by the Medes, Nabonidus received, in a
dream, command to rebuild it, and it is interesting to
learn that, when the work was in progress, the records
which Assur-bani-apli had placed there, according to
custom, when restoring it, came to light. The letter
of which an extract is given above was probably
written to the Assyrian king upon this occasion.
So renowned was the place as a centre of heathen
worship, that at a comparatively late date — running
far into the Christian era, namely, the fifth century
A.D. — the worship of heathen deities was still in full
progress there, though the god Sin had fallen, to all
appearance, somewhat into the background, and
1 Apparently the god Sin, through the priest, his representative.
For Esarhaddon's successes in Egypt, see p. 388.

ABRAHAM 203
Bel-shamin, "the lord of the heavens," i.e. the Sun-
god, generally known as Shamash or Samas, and
called later on by the Greek name of Helios, had
taken his place. They also worshipped a goddess
called Gadlat, generally identified with the Babylonian
goddess Gula, and Atargatis, the feminine counterpart
of Hadad, whose name is often found in Aramean
inscriptions under the form of 'Atar-'ata.1 This
goddess is called Derketo 2 by Ktesias, and appears
as Tar-'ata in Syriac and in the Talmud. According
to Baethgen, Atargatis, or, better, Attargatis, was a
double divinity, composed of Istar and 'Ata or 'Atta
(Attes). In consequence of the worship of the sun,
the moon, and the planet Venus ('Atar = Istar), a
second centre of the worship denominated Sabean
(which originated in south-west Arabia, the country
of the Sabeans) was founded in Haran, where its
devotees are said to have had a chapel dedicated to
Abraham, whose renown had, to all appearance,
brought to his memory the great honour of deification.
It was after a long sojourn at Haran that Abraham
set out for his journey westwards, the patriarch being
no less than seventy-five years old when he left that
city. The next episode in his life was his journey, in
obedience to the call which he had received, to Canaan,
going first to Shechem, " unto the oak (terebinth) of
Moreh," afterwards to the mountain on the east of
Bethel, and thence, later, towards the south. A
famine caused him to continue his travels as far as
Egypt, where the incident of Sarai being taken from
him, in consequence of the deceit practised by him in
describing her as his sister, took place.
This portion of the patriarch's history is not one
which can be very easily dealt with, the incident being
1 The ayin of the second element must have been pronounced
like the Axabicghain, making 'Atar-ghata, which would probably
be a better transcription.
2 A corrupt form of the same name.

204 THE OLD TESTAMENT
told very shortly, and no Egyptian names being given
— in fact, it is altogether destitute of " local colouring "
necessarily so, from the brevity of the narrative.
At Haran, the patriarch and the members of his
family probably saw people to a great extent of the
type to which they had been accustomed in Baby
lonia, but in the land of Canaan they would notice
some difference, though they all spoke a Semitic
language, like themselves. Indeed, it is not at all
improbable that wherever the ancestor of the Hebrews
went, he found the Semitic Babylonian language at
least understood, for as the Babylonian king claimed
dominion over all this tract as far as the Mediterra
nean, the language of his country was fast becoming
what it certainly was a few hundred years later, namely,
the lingua franca of the whole tract as far as Egypt,
where also, to all appearance, Abraham and his wife
had no difficulty in making themselves understood.
According to Gen. x. 6, Canaan, into whose country
Abraham journeyed with the object of settling, was the
descendant of Cush, and the inhabitants ought there
fore to have spoken a Hamitic language. Historic
ally, however, this cannot be proved, but it is cer
tain that if the Canaanites spoke a Hamitic language,
they soon changed it for the speech which they seem
to have used as far back as history can go, this speech
being closely akin to Hebrew. In fact, there is very
little doubt that Abraham and his descendants, for
saking their mother-tongue, the language of Baby
lonia, adopted the dialect of the Canaanitish language,
which they afterwards spoke, and which is so well
known at the present day as Hebrew. To all appear
ance Abraham's relatives, who remained in Mesopo
tamia, in "the city of Nahor," spoke a dialect of
Aramaic, a language with which Abraham himself
must have been acquainted, and which may have
been spoken in Babylonia at that early date, as it
certainly was, together with Chaldean, later on.

ABRAHAM 205
It is noteworthy, that the country to which Abraham
migrated, and which is called by the Hebrew writers
Canaan, is called by the same name in the Tel-el-
Amarna letters, and the fact that the Babylonian
king Burra-burias uses the same term shows that it
was the usual name in that part of the world. Among
the Babylonians, however, it was called mdt Amurrt,
" the land of Amoria," the common expression, among
the Babylonians and the Assyrians, for " the West."
In later times the Assyrians designated this district
mdt Hatti, "the land of Heth," the home of the
Hittites. The inference from this naturally is, that at
the time when the Babylonians became acquainted
with the country, the Amorites were the most power
ful nationality there, whilst the Hittites had the
dominion, and were in greater force later on, when
the Assyrians first traded or warred there. These
two linguistic usages show, that the two great races
in the country, both of them Hamitic, according to
Gen. x. 1 5, 16, were the Amorites (who spread as far
as Babylonia, and even had settlements there), and the
Hittites, known from other sources to have extended
their empire far into the north among the Cappa-
docians, and south as far as Carchemish and Hamath.
In addition to the above indications from the his
torical inscriptions of Assyria, and the contract-tablets
of Babylonia belonging to the first dynasty of Baby
lon (a number of which are translated in Chap. V.),
we have also the indications furnished by the bilingual
geographical lists.
As these lists are of great importance for the
geography of the ancient Semitic East, with special
reference to Western Asia, it may be of interest, and
perhaps also serve a useful purpose, to give, in the
form in which they occur on the tablets, such portions
as may bear on the question of the knowledge of the
Babylonians of the countries which lay around them.
The most important of these geographical docu-

206

THE OLD TESTAMENT

ments is that published in the Cuneiform Inscriptions
of Western Asia, vol. ii. p. 50. This text begins, as
would be expected from the hand of a patriotic scribe,
with the towns and cities of his own land, in two
columns, Akkadian, and the Semitic equivalent.
This was followed, in the same way, by the provinces
of his country, ending with the two principal, Kengi-
Ura, translated by Sumer and Akkad. This is fol
lowed by the four Akkadian groups for the land of
Subartum and Gutium, probably a part of Elam.
To all appearance a new section begins here, the
scribe introducing in this place the four Akkadian
words or groups for "mountain." The text then
proceeds as follows —

KUR MAR-TU KI sad A-mur-ri-e

KUR TI-ID-NU-
UM KI
KURGIR-GIR KI
KUR SU-RU KI
KUR NUM-MA KI
KUR Gu-ti-um KI
KURZAGGu-ti-umKI
JCUR si-rum KI
KUR [Gl£] ERI-
NA y KI
KUR MAR-HA-SI KI
KUR Sir-rum KI

KUR E-AN-NA
KUR HE.-A-NA
KUR £u-lu-bi

KIKIKI

sad A-mur-ri-e
sad A-mur-ri-e
sad Su-bar-ti
sad Elamti
lad Gu-ti-i
sad pa-at Gu-ti-i
sad Si-ri-i [?]
sad E-ri-ni
sad Pa-ra-si-i
Sad Bi-ta-lal
sad Bi-ta-lal
sad Ha-ni-e
sad Lu-lu-bi-e

Mountain of Amoria
(the Amorite land).
Mountain of Amoria.
Mountain of Amoria.
Mountain of Subarti.
Mountain of Elam.
Mountain of Gutd or
Gutium.
Mountain ofthe bor
der of Gutium.
Mountain of Siru.
Mountain of Cedar.
Mountain of Parasd.
Mountain of Bitala.
(Kastala is possible.)
Mountain of Bitala.
Mountain of Hanu.
Mountain of Culubfi.

Here follows a list of adjectives combined with the
word for country, forming descriptions such as " safe
country," " low-lying country," etc.
In the above list of countries, the land of the
Amorites holds the first place, and is repeated three
times, there having, to all appearance, been three ways
of writing its name in Akkadian. Why this was the case

ABRAHAM 207
— whether in the older Akkadian literature the scribes
distinguished three different districts or not, is not
known, but is not at all improbable. The first of the
three ways of designating the country is the usual
one, and apparently means the land of the Amorites
in general, the other two being less used, and
possibly indicating the more mountainous parts.
What the mountains of Suru or Subartu were is
uncertain, but it may be supposed that, as this group
is used in the late Babylonian inscriptions (as shown
by the text containing the account of the downfall of
Assyria) for the domain over which the kings of As
syria ruled, there is hardly any doubt that it stands for
the Mesopotamian tract, extending from the bound
aries of the Amorites to the frontiers of Babylonia.
This would include not only Assyria, but also
Aram-naharaim, or Syria, and is in all probability
the original of this last word, which has given
considerable trouble to students to explain.
In all probability, Gutium, the border of Gutium,
and Siru, are all tracts in the neighbourhood of Elam,
which precedes. A comparison has been made be
tween this Sirum and the Sirrum of the eleventh line
of the extract, but as the spelling, and also, seemingly,
the pronunciation, is different, it is in all likelihood a
different place. The mountain of Cedar, however,
is probably Lebanon, celebrated of old, and sufficiently
wooded, in the time of Assur-nasir-apli, to give cover
to droves of elephants, which the Assyrian king
hunted there. Marhasi (Akk.) or Parasi (Assyr.)
seems to have been a country celebrated for its dogs.
Concerning Bitala or Kastala nothing is known, but
Hane is supposed to have lain near Birejik on the
Orontes.1 Lulumu, which is apparently the same as
} This is probably not the land of Hana referred to on p. 84,
note, which was apparently a Babylonian principality, and
retained its independence to a comparatively late date. It was a
district which had especially skilful stone- and metal-workers.

208 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Lulubii, was an adjoining state, which the Babylonians
claim to have devastated about the twenty-eighth cen
tury before Christ, a fact which contributes to the con
firmation of the antiquity of Babylonian geographical
lore, and its trustworthiness, for the nation which
invades another must be well aware of the position
and physical features of territory invaded.
It is interesting to note, that one of the ordinary
bilingual lists (W.A.I. II. pi. 48) gives what are
apparently three mountainous districts, the first being
Amurru, translating the Akkadian GIRGIR, which
we are told to pronounce Tidnu (see above, pp. 1 22,
206, and below, p. 312), the second Urtu (Ararat),
which we are told to pronounce in Akkadian Tilla,
and the third Qutu, in Akkadian Gisgala su anna,
" the district with the high barriers," likewise a part
of the Aramean mountains.
After returning from Egypt, Abraham went and
dwelt in the south of Canaan, between Bethel and Ai,
Lot quitting him in consequence of the quarrel which
took place between their respective herdsmen. Con
cerning the Canaanite and the Perizzite, who were
then in the land, the Babylonian inscriptions of this
period, as far as they are known, say nothing, but
there is hardly any doubt that these nationalities were
known to them, this tract being within the boundaries
of the Babylonian dominions. That these names
do not yet occur, is not to be wondered at, for the
Babylonians had been accustomed to call the tract
Amurru, and names which have been long attached
to a country do not change at all easily. The next
resting-place of the patriarch was by the oaks or
terebinths of Mamre in Hebron, where he built an
altar to the Lord.
At this point occurs Gen. ch. xiv., which contains
the description of the conflict of the four kings against
five — evidently one of the struggles of the Amorites
and their allies to throw off the yoke of the Baby-

ABRAHAM 209
lonians, who were in this case assisted by several
confederate states.
Much has been written concerning this interesting
chapter of the Bible. The earlier critics were of
opinion that it was impossible that the power of the
Elamites should have extended so far at such an early
epoch. Later on, when it was shown that the Elamites
really had power — and that even earlier than the time
of Abraham — the objection of the critics was, that
none ofthe names mentioned in the fourteenth chapter
of Genesis really existed in the inscriptions. The
history of Abraham was a romance, and the names
of the Eastern kings with whom he came into contact
equally so. It was true that there were Elamite
names commencing with the element Kudur, the
Chedor of the sacred text, but Chedorlaomer did
not occur, Amraphel and Tidal were equally want
ing, and that Arioch was the same as Eri-Aku or
Rim-Aku could not be proved.
The first step in solving the riddle was that made
by Prof. Eberhard Schrader, who suggested that Am
raphel was none other than the well-known Baby
lonian king Hammurabi. This, naturally, was a theory
which did not soon find acceptance — at least by all
the Assyriologists. There were, however, two things
in its favour — this king ruled sufficiently near to the
time of Abraham, and he overcame a ruler named
Rim-Sin or Rim-Aku, identified by the late George
Smith with the Arioch of the chapter we are now
considering. Concerning the latter ruler, Rim-Aku,
there is still some doubt, but the difficulties which ,
attended the identification of Hammurabi with Am
raphel have now practically disappeared. The first
step was the discovery of the form Ammurabi in
one of the numerous contracts drawn up during his
reign at Sippara, the city of the Sun-god. This form
shows that the guttural was not the hard guttural kh,
but the softer h, the Arabic 'C. Yet another step

216

THE OLD TESTAMENT

nearer the Biblical form is that given by Asaridu, who,
in a letter to " the great and noble Asnapper," writes
as follows —

Ana sarri beli-ia
arad-ka, (A)saridu.
Nabu u Marduk ana sar matati
b§li-ia likrubu.
Duppi Ja sarru ippusu
*-tu u ul-salim.
(A)du duppi.
(la)biru sa Ammurapi sarru.
(e)pusu-ma altaru —
(la ?) pani Ammurapi sarru.
Ki aspuru
ultu Babili
attasa Sarru nipisu

[ina] pitti

To the king, my lord,
thy servant Alaridu.
Nebo and Merodach to theking
of the countries,
my lord, be favourable.
The tablet which the king
makes
is bad(?) and incomplete.
Now a tablet,
an old one, of Ammurapi the
king
I have made and written out —
it is of the time (?) of Ammurapi
the king.
As I have serit (to inform the
king),
from Babylon
I will bring (it).
The king (will be able to do)
the work
at once.

[Here several lines are broken away.]

sa A-. .
qat . .
ulla . .
anaku .
likipanni.

which A-. . . .
the hand of . .
then(?). . . .
I 
may he trust me.

As this is a late reference to Hammurabi, it is note
worthy not only on account of the form the name
(which agrees excellently with the Biblical Amraphel)
had assumed at the time (the hard breathing or
aspirate having to all appearance completely dis
appeared), but also as a testimony to the esteem in
which he was held a millennium and a half after his
death. How it is that the Hebrew form has / at the

ABRAHAM 211
end is not known, but the presence of this letter has
given rise to numerous theories. One of these is, that
Amraphel is for Hammurabi ilu, " Hammurabi the
god," many of the old Babylonian kings having been
deified after their death. Another (and perhaps more
likely) explanation is, that this additional letter is due
to the faulty reading of a variant writing of the name,
with a polyphonous character having the value of pil
as well as bi, — which form may, in fact, still be found.
However the presence of the final (and apparently
unauthorized) addition to the name be explained, the
identification of Amraphel and Hammurabi is held to
be beyond dispute.
Thanks to an important chronological list of colo
phon-dates and to a number of trade-documents from
Tel-Sifr, Sippara, and elsewhere, which are inscribed
with the same dates in a fuller form, the outline of
the history of the reign of Hammurabi is fairly well
known, though it can hardly be said that we have
what would be at the present time regarded as an
important event for each year, notwithstanding that
they may have been to the ancient Babylonians of
all-absorbing interest. The following is a list of the
principal dates of his reign, as far as they can at
present be made out —
Year i Hammurabi ascended the throne of Babylonia.
2 He performed justice {ig-sisa garrd).
3 He made (?) a throne for the sanctuary of Nannar.
4 He built Dur-Malgia (z. e. the wall or fortress of
that city).
5 and 6 doubtful.
7 Something happened in or to Isin.
8 Year .... the bank of the canal of Dilmu . . .
9 Year of the river (canal) " Hammurabi the king "
(Mu Idda Hammurabi lugald).
10 Another reference to Malgia.

212 THE OLD TESTAMENT
II Doubtful.
12 Year ofthe throne of Zirpanitum (the consort of
Merodach).
13 Doubtful.
14 Year ofthe throne of (Istar?) of Babylon.
15 Year ofthe image of Imina.
16 Year of the throne of Nebo.
17 Doubtful (seems to refer to an image of
Samas).
1 8 Year of the sanctuary of Bel.
19 Do.
20 Year of the throne of Merri (?) (Rim mon or
Hadad).
21 Year of the fortress of Basu.
22 (Year ofthe image? of Ham)murabi.
23 Doubtful.
24 Do.
25 Year of the fortress of Sippar.
26 Do.
27 Doubtful — perhaps the year an image was
made.
28 Year of the temple of abundance.
29 Year of the image of the goddess Sala (consort of
Rimmon or Hadad).
30 Year kisululu sa nim-ma 
31 Year of THE LAND EMUTBALU.
32 Year kisululu sa ma- 
33 Year of the canal Hammurabi-nuhus-nisi.
34 Year of Istar and Nana (?).
35 Year of the wall ....
36 Lost.
37 Practically lost.
38 Year of the great ....
39 Practically lost.
40 Lost.
41 Do.
42 Practically lost.
43 Doubtful.

ABRAHAM 213
In the gaps indicated by the words " lost,"
"practically lost," and "doubtful," the following
entries ought, perhaps, to be inserted, though it
is to be noted that some of them may be merely
additions to, or other forms of, dates preserved by
the list—
" Year he (*. e. the king) built the supreme shrine
of Bel." [? the eighteenth year.]
"Year ofthe . . . of Dur-Sippar."
" Year he made supplication to the goddess Tas-
metu."
"Year of the city Rabiqu." [? the twenty-fifth
year.]
" Year of the river (canal) TiSida-Ellilla."
"Year the soldiers of ESnunna were smitten by
the sword."
" Year Hammurabi the king, by command of Anu
and Bel, destroyed the wall of Mair and
Malgia."1
" Year Hammurabi the king renewed the temple
E-me-temena-ursag, and raised the head of the
temple-tower, the supreme seat of Zagaga, high
like heaven."
" Year Hammurabi the king raised the top of
the great wall on the hank of the Tigris
high like a mountain, and caused its name
to be called the embankment of the Sun-
god."
Besides these, there are additions in the entries in
the chronological list, some of which are of sufficiently
great importance —
1 E. Lindl (Beitrdge zur Assyriologie, 1901, pp. 368-369)
makes this to be the full date of 1. 10 of the tablet of colophon-
dates. This, however, is doubtful, as it ought to be later than
Hammurabi's 31st year.

214 THE OLD TESTAMENT
"Year 31: "Year Hammurabi the king, by the
command of Anu and Bel, established his
advantage (and) captured the land Yamutbalum
and the king Rim-Sin."
"Year 34: "Year Hammurabi the king made
[images of] Istar and Nanaa."
Whether the following be another form of this date,
or a different one altogether is uncertain :
" Year Hammurabi the king renewed E-tur-kalama
for Anu, Istar, and Nanaa."
Year 38, which, in the chronological list, is called
the year of the great ... is possibly to be completed,
in accordance with the indications from the colophon-
dates : " Year of Hammurabi the king (when) a great
flood destroyed Esnunna."
With regard to the other undecided dates, it is
practically certain that the three long ones — those
which record the destruction of the wall of Mair and
Malgia, the restoration of the temple E-me-temena-
ursag and the temple tower dedicated to Zagaga, and
the construction of the great dam of the Tigris — come
into the gaps after the entry for the thirty-first year.
The reason for this assumption is, that the thirty-first
year of Hammurabi was the date of his conquest of
Rim-Sin, in whose dominions the town represented by
the ruins of Tel-Sifr (the place whence the tablets came
which bear these dates) lay. All the tablets from
this place, bearing dates of the reign of Hammurabi,
therefore belong to the thirty-first year of his reign and
later. In all probability there is one thing that will be
considered as noteworthy, and that is, that as far as
our records go, there is no reference whatever to any
expedition to the West-land, and if that be due simply
to the imperfection of the records which have come
down to us, all that can be said is, that it is a note
worthy coincidence. It must not be supposed, how
ever, that it in any wise invalidates the trustworthiness

ABRAHAM 215
of the narrative in the 14th chapter of Genesis — there
is plenty of room in the mutilated list (of which I have
given such a translation as is possible) for a date
referring to this to have been recorded, though we
must keep in mind the possibility, that if the
Babylonian king considered that disaster had in
any way overtaken his arms, he may not have re
corded it at all. Then there is the fact, that the
expedition was undertaken in conjunction with allies
— Chedorlaomer, Tidal, and Arioch — for none of
whom, in all probability, Hammurabi had any sym
pathy. The Elamite was a conqueror from a land
over which the Babylonians of earlier ages had held
sway, and Arioch had dominion over a neighbouring
tract, to which Hammurabi himself laid claim, and
over which, as the texts above translated show, he
afterwards ruled. Hammurabi, moreover, claimed
also the West-land — mdt Amurrl, the land of Amurru
— as his hereditary possession, and he found himself
obliged to aid Chedorlaomer, Tidal, and Arioch to
subjugate it — indeed, it was Chedorlaomer whom the
five kings had acknowledged for twelve years as their
overlord, and against whom, in the thirteenth, they
rebelled. It is, therefore, likely that Hammurabi
regarded himself as having been forced by circum
stances to aid Chedorlaomer to reconquer what really
belonged to Babylonia, and the probability that he
would cause it to be used as one of the events to
date by, is on that account still less, even if the news
of any success which he might have considered him
self entitled to reached his own domain in time to be
utilized for such a purpose.
It has been shown on p. 155 that Ammi-titana, the
third in succession from Hammurabi, claimed the
sovereignty of the land of Amurru, and from an
inscription accompanying a portrait of Hammurabi
discovered by Mr. Rassam, we learn that he, too,
claimed sovereignty over it. Sargon of Agade held

2l6 THE OLD TESTAMENT
sway over the tract centuries before, so that he
probably reckoned that, by right of inheritance, it
was his. It would therefore be natural that he should
omit to mention as an event to be remembered, an
expedition to a country which ought never to have
thrown off his dominion.
Of course, one of the principal things confirming
the identification of Hammurabi with Amraphel
would naturally be the occurrence of one or more of
the names recorded in Gen. xiv., in conjunction with
his, or in such a way that a connection could be
established. This, naturally, is difficult, principally
on account of our having no continuous history of
the period to which these rulers belong. Nevertheless,
a close examination of the inscriptions suggests in
what way confirmation of the events narrated with
reference to Amraphel and his allies might be sought.
Reference has already been made to Rim-Sin, king
of Yamutbalu (or Emutbalu), who appears to have
been defeated by Hammurabi in the thirty-first regnal
year. From this time the dominions of Rim-Sin
evidently formed part of the Babylonian Empire, and
were never again separated from it as long as it
existed. Notwithstanding the early identification of Rim-Sin
with Eri-Sin or Eri-Aku by the late George Smith,
considerable doubt has been thrown on the identity
of these two names by the fact, that in inscriptions
containing the name of Kudur-mabuk, the father, the
name of his son is written with Eri as the first
element — not Rim. This, it must be admitted, is a
considerable difficulty. Winckler, however, in the
Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek, Band III., I Halfte, pp.
88-89, publishes a text given by Lenormant, Textes
Inddits, No. 70, in which the name of the son of Kudur-
mabuk is written Ri-im-Sin, and if this be correctly
copied, it practically settles the matter of their
identity.

ABRAHAM 21 7
Even without this identification, however, it is
exceedingly probable that these are two forms of the
same name, and that in all cases it is the same ruler
who is meant. They are both called king of Uriwa,
king of Larsa, and king of Sumer and Akkad. In the
inscriptions Eri-Sin or Eri-Aku also calls himself
adda Emutbala, "father of Yamutbalu," and, as will
be seen from the colophon of the thirty-first year
of Hammurabi, the king whose name he writes
Rim-Sin or Rim-Aku is called by him king of that
region. Of course, the difference between these two forms
of the name has to be taken into consideration, and,
if possible, explained, and this being the case, it
would probably be well to say a few words upon the
subject here.
The difference between the elements eri, the Ak
kadian (dialectic) for " servant," and rim, apparently
a Semitic word, is naturally very great. It is in the
highest degree improbable that rim is an abbreviation
of eri, or another form of it, as, quite apart from the
possibility or otherwise of the falling away of the first
letter," there is the final m, regarded by scholars as
a kind of mimmation, a peculiarity of the Semitic
Babylonian language, as the so-called nunnation is of
Arabic. That rim has, in all probability, nothing to
do with eri, is also suggested by the occurrence of
another similarly-formed name, that of Rim-Anum,
one of Rim-Sin's predecessors. What the name
really means must therefore be regarded as doubtful,
though in all probability if the name or form Eri-Aku
had not been found, Assyriologists would have derived
the element rim from rimu or remu, "grace," "favour,"
and translated Rim-Sin "grace of Sin," Rim- Anu,
"grace of Anu." Other meanings for these words
would be "Sin's wild bull," and "Anu's wild bull,"
respectively, names similar in meaning to Bur-Sin,
"Sin's young steer," the name of three kings of a

2l8 THE OLD TESTAMENT
preceding dynasty. In such a name as this, as
may easily be understood, " servant " and " bull," the
latter a strong and willing animal of service, may be
regarded as, in a way, interchangeable terms, and it
is probably to this idea that those of this class are
due. As, therefore, the text published by Lenormant, if
correctly copied, absolutely proves that Rim-Sin and
Eri-Aku (for thus must we read the alternative form
of the name) are one and the same, the identification
of Eri-Aku with the Arioch of Gen. xiv., and Hammu
rabi or Ammurapi with the Amraphel of the same
book, can hardly admit of doubt.
Very little is known of the state of which Larsa (in
Akkadian Ararma) was the capital. One point of
special interest, however, there is, and that is, that this
city was a centre ofthe worship of the Sun-god Samas,
as was Sippar, the temple in both cities bearing the same
name, E-bara (-para) or E-babbara (-barbara), " the
house of brilliant light." It is also noteworthy, that the
kings of this city, as far as they are known, all seem to
have had Semitic names — Sin-idinnam,"Sin has given,"
Nur-Rammani or Nur-Addi, "light of Rimmon," or
" Hadad," Rim-Anum, and Rim-Sin. As the last is
called son of Kudur-mabuk, and grandson of Simti-
silhak, there is hardly any doubt that he was of foreign
(Elamite) origin, and it is very probable that he
occupied the throne under Elamite protection. It is
therefore to be supposed, that Kudur-mabuk gave his
son the name of Eri-Aku from motives of policy, the
Akkadians being natives of the country, though the
Semitic population had become more numerous ; and
it was to all appearance likewise from motives of
policy that Eri-Aku translated (as he seems to have
done) his name from Akkadian into Semitic Baby
lonian, and it may have been from the same cause
that he modelled the Semitic form of his name upon
that of his predecessor Rim-Anu.

ABRAHAM

219

TABLET OF KUDUR-MABUK MENTIONING ERI-AKU.

(Dingir) Nannara
Iugala-ni-rKudur-mabuk
adda kura Martu
dumu Simti-silhak
Ud (dingir) Nannara
arazu-ni mu-igi-ginna
ne-zila-maha (dingir) Nannara-kam
nam-tila-ni-suu nam-ti
Eri-Aku dumu-ni
lugal Ararma-su
munanindu.

To Nannara
his king,
Kudur-mabuk,
father of Amoria,
son of Simti-silhak.
When Nannara
his prayer
received,
ne-zila-mahafor Nannara
for his life,
and the life
of Eri-Aku, his son,
king of Larsa,
he made.

"To Nannara, his king, Kudur-mabuk, father of
the land of the Amorites, son of Simti-lilhak. When
Nannara received his prayer he made for Nannara
ne-zila-maha for his life and the life of his son Arioch,
king of Larsa."
TABLET OF ERI-AKU MENTIONING KUDUR-MABUK,
HIS FATHER.

Eri-(dingir) Aku
us1 kalagga
siba nig-zi
(dingir) Ellilli garra
ua Uri-(D. S.)-wa
lugal Arar-(D. S.)-ma
lugal Kiengi-
(D. S.)-Uragi
dumu Kudur-mabuk
Adda Emutbala- men
Uriwa (D. S.) dagal-e-ne
mu maha dudune

usu-na-biugul-immangaga (dingir) Nannara lugala-mu

Eri-Aku
powerful hero
everlasting shepherd
installed by Bel
nourisher of Uriwa
king of Larsa
king of Sumer
(and) Akkad
son of Kudur-mabuk
father of Yamutbalu
am I.
In Uriwa broad,
possessing an exalted name,
Col. II.
to the peerless (?)
supplication I have made.
Nannara my king

220

THE OLD TESTAMENT

musinse
bad gala hursag ilia-dim
su-nu-tutu
im-bi dul ea
munadu
uru-ni himmira
bada-ba
(dingir) Nannara suha (?) mada
gengen
mu-bi-im

I have obeyed (?) :
A great wall, high like a
mountain, impregnable,
inspiring (?) its fear,
have I made,
its city may it protect.
That wall
"Nannara the consolidator of
the foundation ofthe land" is
its name.

" Arioch, the powerful hero, the everlasting shepherd
installed by Bel, the nourisher of Uriwa, the king of
Larsa, the king of Sumer and Akkad, the son of
Kudur-mabug, the father of Yamutbalu, am I. In
broad Uriwa, possessing an exalted name, to the
peerless one (?) have I made supplication, Nannara,
my king, have I obeyed (?). The great wall, high
like a mountain, impregnable, inspiring (?) its fear,
have I built — may it protect its city. The name of
that wall is " Nannara the consolidator of the found
ation of the land."
[The above inscription is not without its difficulties,
some of them formidable enough, but the general
sense of the whole may be regarded as correctly made
out.] TABLET OF RIM-SIN.

(Dingir Nin-sah
en galla abba age
saga-gu-sag-gi gala-zu
sukkala maha sa-kussa
dingira galla
dugga-ni si tul-du
lugal-a-ni-ir (dingir) Rim-(dingir) S
siba gu kalama Nipri (D. S.)
me giskin Gurudug-(D. S.)-ga
su-dudu

in

To Ninsah
great lord, beloved father
knowing the supplication ofthe
heart
exalted messenger, (giving)
heart-rest, great god >
he who sends forth his hidden
word
his king
Rim-Sin.
shepherd of all the people
of Nippur
he who fulfils the word of the
vine of Eridu

ABRAHAM 221
ua Uri-(D. S.)-wa nourisher of Uriwa
e-ud-da-im-te-ga (and) E-udda-imtega
lugal Arar-(D. S.)-ma king of Larsa
Col. II.
lugal Kengi- king of Sumer and Akkad.
(D. S.)-Ura-gi
Ud Ana (dingir) Ellila When Anu, Bel
(dingir) En-ki (and) Ea,
dingir-galgalene the great gods,
Unugav(D. S,) uru du Erech, the ruined (?) city,
su-mu-su manin- into my hands deliv-
. si-esa ered
(dingir) Ninsah lugala-mu-r to Ninsah, my king,
gu-sagsaggi- after my making suppli-
da-mu-ta^ cation ;
e'-da-agga-summu E-dagga-summu,
ki-dura ki-agga-ni his beloved resting-place,
nam-ti-mu-su for my life
munadu. I built.

" To Ninsah, the great lord, the beloved father, he
who is aware of the supplication of the heart ; the
exalted messenger, (giving) rest to the heart, the great
god who sendeth forth his hidden word — his king,
Rim-Sin, shepherd of all the people of Niffer, who
fulfilleth the word of the vine of Eridu, nourisher of
Uriwa (and) E-udda-imtega, king of Larsa, king of
Sumer and Akkad. When Anu, Bel, and Ea, the
great gods, delivered Erech, the ruined (?) city, into
my hands, I built to Ninsah, my king, after making
supplication, E-dagga-summu, his beloved seat, for
(the saving of) my life."
This last text was found in the mound of Mugheir
(Uriwa), and is of great interest, as it is dedicated to
Ninsah, the great messenger of the gods, and not to
the god Sin or Nannara, the chief patron-deity of the
city. It has also an interesting reference to the vine of
Eridu (see pp. 71 ff.),and apparently to his capture of
the city of Erech, delivered into his hands by the
gods Anu, Bel, and Ea. That he should represent

222 THE OLD TESTAMENT
himself as taking possession of the city by the will of
Anu, the chief god of the city, whose name he mentions
before the other two divinities, sheds a certain light
upon the character of the man, whilst his military
exploits, both at home and in the west, must have
made him, like Chedorlaomer his fellow-countryman,
and Hammurabi his rival, one of the heroes of his
time. There now remain to be treated of Chedorlaomer
and Tidal, the remaining two of the four allies who
fought in that memorable conflict by the Dead Sea to
bring into subjection their revolted vassals.
From the time of their first discovery it has been
felt that the occurrence of names containing theelement
Kudur — Kudur-mabuk, Kudur-Nanhundi, Kudur-
Nahhunte, etc. — was, in itself, excellent testimony
to the correctness of the narrative in the 14th
chapter of Genesis, where an Elamite king having
Chedor as the first element of his name, attacks and
conquers, in alliance with certain kings of Babylonia,
five petty rulers of a district on the shores of the
Dead Sea. It was, however, naturally a matter of
disappointment that the name of Chedorlaomer him
self did not occur, for it was soon recognized that the
identification, made by Sir Henry Rawlinson, of
Kudur-mabuk (read Kudur-mapula) with Chedor
laomer could not be sustained. What was wanted,
was some such name as Kudur-Lagamar or Kudiir-
Lagamal, the second element having been recognized
in other texts as the name of the Elamite deity
Lagamaru. It was to all appearance thought to be
probable that the name of Tidal would be found.
Accordingly, when two tablets were referred to at
the Congress of Orientalists held at Geneva in 1894
as containing the names Tudhula, Eri-Eaku (Eri-
Ekua), and another name read doubtfully as Kudur-
lah(gu)mal, no publicly-expressed objection to their
possible identification with Tidal, Arioch, and Chedor-

ABRAHAM 223
laomer was made. The names were placed before
the Semitic section of the Congress of Orientalists
referred to, as recent discoveries, which were certain
as far as they went, their identification being a matter
of opinion.
None of these documents are in a state of complete
ness, though one of them, a kind of poem, contains
no less than 76 lines, more or less well preserved.
The other two are ofthe nature, apparently, of historical
legends, though they may be true historical documents,
and, though imperfect, are of great importance. Con
cerning the names which are contained in these texts
there is but little or no doubt, though there may be
doubt as to the way in which they ought to be read
in consequence of the fanciful way in which they are
written. The first document is Sp. III. 2, and contains all
three names — or, rather, the names Tudhula (Tidal),
Eri-Eaku's son Dur-slr-ilani, and Kudur-lahmah The
first portion of this text refers to the gods : " Samas\
illuminator (ofthe earth)," "the lord of lords, Merodach,
in the faithfulness of his heart," aided (probably) his
servant to subdue (?) some region, " all of it." Then
there is a reference to (soldiers) whom some ruler
" caused to be slain," and as the name of Dur-sir-ilani
son of Eri-(E)aku follows, there is every probability
that it was he who is referred to in the preceding lines.
The carrying off of goods (?) is next spoken of, and
waters which to all appearance came over Babylon
and the great temple-tower called E-saggil (more
usually written in earlier times E-sagila). The next
line has an interesting reference to " the son (?) " of
some one, who " slaughtered him like (?) a lamb with
the weapon of his hands." After this, we are told
that " the elder and the child (were killed) with the
sword." To all appearance, another division of the
subject begins with the next line, though the text
goes on recording things of the same nature — "the

224 THE OLD TESTAMENT
child he cut off." This is immediately followed by
the words " Tudhula the son of Gazza-. . ," or " Tidal
son of Gazza(ni ?)," who, like Dur-sir-ilani (if we may
form any opinion from the fact that the wording of
the line following the mention of Tidal is the same as
that following the name of the son of Eri-Eaku),
carried off goods (?), and waters (he caused to flow?)
over Babylon and E-saggil, the great temple of the
city. The parallel between these two passages is still
further emphasized by the words in the line im
mediately following, which says that "his son fell
upon him with the weapon of his hand." The next
line is the last of the obverse, and speaks of ("the
proclamation," perhaps) of "his dominion before the
temple of Annunit," where we have the interesting
archaism, An-nu-nit for D. P. (/. e. the determinative
prefix indicating that the name of a deity follows)
A-nu-nit. The reverse begins with a reference to Elam, and
some one (perhaps the king of that country) who
" spoiled from the city Ahhe (?) to the land of Rab-
batum." Something was made, apparently by the
same personage, into heaps of ruins, and the fortress
ofthe land of Akkad, and "the whole of Borsippa(?)"
are referred to. At this point comes the line mention
ing Kudur-lahmal, supposed to be Chedorlaomer. It
reads as follows —
" Kudur-lahmal, his son, pierced his heart with the
steel sword of his girdle."
After this there is a passage where the various kings
mentioned seem to be referred to, and it is stated
that Merodach, the king of the gods, was angry against
them, and they were, to all appearance, made to suffer
for what they had done. The scribe who had com
posed this record now speaks, in favourable words, of
the king then reigning, and seems to refer to the
restoration of the inscription to its place by the person
(prince) who, in later days, should find it (as was the

ABRAHAM 225
custom among the Babylonians and Assyrians). He
ends with a pious wish that a sinful man might not
exist, or something to that effect.
The second tablet, though in a more satisfactory
state of preservation, is still sufficiently incomplete,
none of the lines being altogether perfect.
After referring to Babylon, and to the property
of that city, " small and great," it is said that the gods
(apparently) "in their faithful counsel to Kudur-lahgumal,
king of the land of Elam . . . said ' Descend.'
The thing which unto them was good (he per
formed, and) he exercised sovereignty in Babylon,
the city of Kar-Dunias."
It would therefore appear that this Elamite ruler,
by the will of the gods (such was the way with con
querors in those days — they annexed other countries
to their dominions by the will of the gods of the lands
annexed), took possession of Babylon, capital (such
seems to be the meaning of the phrase) of Kar-Dunias.
This is followed by a long passage in which animals
and birds, apparently the favourites of the Elamite
king, are referred to, and the idea which one gains by
reading it is, that he attended to these rather than
to the welfare of his realm. This being the case, it is
natural that something about the remissness ofthe king
should follow, and this seems to be, in fact, intended
in the next line, where some one whose name is lost
seems to ask : " What king of Elam is there who has
(erected?) the chapel (?) (it was something made of
wood, as the determinative prefix shows) of E-saggil ? "
It was the Babylonians, the text seems to say, who
had done things of this kind. The speaker then seems
to begin to talk of "their work," when another gap
destroys the remainder ofthe phrase. He then speaks
about " (a let)ter (?) which thou hast written thus : * I
p

226 THE OLD TESTAMENT
am a king, the son of a king . . ,' " but whether it is
the same personage who says that he is " the son of
the daughter of a king, who has sat on the throne of
dominion," is doubtful — it may be a similarly boasting
reply to the statement put into the mouth of the first
speaker. The line which follows has the name of
Dur-sir-ilani, son of Eri-Ekua (Eri-Eaku of the other
historical text), who seems to have carried away spoil,
but whether it is he who is referred to in the next line
as having sat on the throne of dominion is doubtful.
This is followed by the expression of the wish that
the king might come who from eternal days . . . was
proclaimed lord of Babylon. The closing lines of
the obverse, which is here described, do not give any
clear sense, but there is a reference to the months
Kislev and Tammuz, probably in connection with
festivals, also (apparently) to certain priests, and to
the taking of spoil. The remains of the reverse are
too scanty to gather what the text inscribed upon it
really refers to.
It is naturally difficult to judge which of these two
inscriptions came first. Both of them seem to have
a kind of peroration at the end containing similar
phrases referring to the city of Babylon and its well-
being, and either might therefore be the last tablet of
a series. To all appearance, the order of the two
records turns upon the question whether Dur-sir-ilani
is the one who is referred to as having written a
certain communication, or whether it is about him
that some one has written. As he seems to be
referred to in the third person, the probability is that
" Dur-sir-ilani, son of Eri-Eaku, who (carried away?)
the spoil of . . . .," is not the person speaking, but
the person spoken of. In this case he was not
necessarily alive at the time, and the order of
the two tablets as here printed may be the correct
one. How far the record which they contain may be

ABRAHAM 227
true is with our present knowledge impossible to find
out. The style of the writing with which they are
inscribed is certainly very late — later, in all proba
bility, than the Persian period, and the possibility
that it is a compilation of that period has been
already suggested. That it is altogether a fiction,
however, is in the highest degree improbable. If we
have in the three names which these two tablets con
tain the Babylonian prototypes of Tidal, Arioch, and
Chedorlaomer, they must refer to the events which
passed between the first and thirty-first years of the
reign of Amraphel or Hammurabi, in which it would
seem that both Dur-sir-ilani and Tudhula attacked and
spoiled Babylon, cutting the canals so that the town
and the temple were both flooded. Both of these
royal personages, who, be it noted, are not called
kings, were apparently killed by their sons, and
Kudur-lahmal seems to have been a criminal of the
same kind, if we may judge from the words " Kudur-
lahmal, his son, pier(ced r) his heart with the steel
sword of his girdle." That three royal personages,
contemporaries, should all dispose of their fathers in
the same way seems, however, in the highest degree
improbable. It also seems to be in an equal degree
impossible that (as has been suggested) the tablets
in question should refer to Tidal, Arioch, and Chedor
laomer, but not the same Tidal, Arioch, and Chedor
laomer as is spoken of in Genesis, unless it be meant
thereby that the Biblical personages of that name are
the historical ones, whilst those of the two tablets
belong to the realm of fiction. The greater proba
bility is, that they are the same personages, but that
the accounts handed down to us on these two tablets
are largely legendary.
And that this is the case is made more probable by
the third document, couched in poetical form, which
I have entitled The Legend of Chedorlaomer. The
following are extracts from this remarkable piece —

228 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" . . . . and they pressed on to the supreme gate.
He threw down, removed, and cast down the
door of Istar in the holy places,
He descended also, like Ura the unsparing, to
Du-maha ;
He stayed also in Du-maha, looking at the
temple ;
He opened his mouth, and spake with the
children (of the place).
To all his warriors (then) he hastened the mes
sage : —
' Carry off the spoil of the temple, take also its
goods,
Destroy its barrier, cause its enclosures to be cut
through.'
To the channel .... they pressed on . . ."
(Here comes a mutilated passage apparently refer
ring to the destruction which he wrought.)
" He drove away the director's overseer, he took
away the vail.
The enemy pressed on evilly to Ennun-dagalla.
The gods were clothed with light before him,
He flashed like lightning, and shook the (holy)
places.
The enemy feared, he hid himself.
There descended (?) also its chief man, and he
spake to him a command.
 the gods were clothed with light,
(He flashed like lightning), and shook the (holy)
places.
'(Draw near unto?) Ennun-dagalla, remove his
crowns !
(Enter into ?) his temple, seize his hand ! '
 , he did not fear, and he regarded
not his life.
1 (He shall not approach ?) Ennun-dagalla, he shall
not remove his crowns.' "

ABRAHAM 229
(Here follows another mutilated passage, describing
how "the Elamite, the wicked man," proclaimed
something to the lands, and how he dwelt and stayed
in Du-maha.)
(At this point is the end of the obverse, and there
is a considerable gap before there are any further
fairly complete passages.)
" When the guardian spoke peace (to the city)
There came down his winged bulls, which (pro
tect?) the temple.
The enemy, the Elamite, multiplied evils,
And Bel allowed evil to be planned against
Babylon."
"When righteousness was absent (?), then was
decided (?) also the destruction
Of the temple, the house of the multitude of the
gods. (Then) came down his winged bulls.
The enemy, the Elamite, took its goods —
B£l, dwelling upon it, had displeasure."
" When the magicians repeated their evil words (?),
Gullum 1 and the evil wind performed their evil (?).
There came down also their gods, they came
down like a torrent.
Storm and evil wind went round in the heavens.
Anu, their creator, had displeasure.
He made pale their face, he made desolate his
place,
He destroyed the barrier in the shrine of E-anna,
(He overthrew?) the temple, and the platform
shook."
"  he decreed destruction,
 he had disfavour.
The people (?) of BS1 of E-zida barred (?) the road
to Sumer.
1 A deity, probably the god of destruction.

230 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Who is Kudurlahgu(mal), the doer of the evils ?
He has gathered also the Umman-man(da
against?) the people (?) okBel —
He has laid in ruin .... by their side."
" When (the enclosure) of E-zida (was broken
down ?),
And Nebo was ruler of the host, there (came)
down his (winged bulls).
Down to Tiamtu he se(t his face).
Ine-Tutu, whom the Sun-god (?) hastened within
Tiamtu,
Entered Tiamtu, and founded a pseudo-capital.
The enclosure of E-zida, the everlasting temple,
was caused to be broken through."
"(The enemy), the Elamite, caused his yoke of
horses to be directed, (and)
Set his face (to go) down to Borsippa.
He traversed also the road of darkness, the road
to Mesech.
The tyrant (?) Elamite destroyed the palace (?),
He subdued the princes of ... . with the sword,
He carried off the spoil of all the temples.
He took their goods, and carried them away to
Elam.
 ruler, he destroyed the ruler (?),
 filled also the land."
(The remainder is wanting.)
Apparently this is a poetical reproduction of the
tablets of which translations have already been given.
The enemy entered Babylon, according to the nine
lines of the earlier portion of the inscription which
are preserved, and spoiled and ravaged the place.
The mention of the channel {iku, irrigation-channel)
suggests a comparison with the first of the two his
torical fragments, where waters over Babylon and

ABRAHAM 23 1
E-sagila are referred to, and cause one to ask
whether Dur-sir-llani and Tudhula were not the
lieutenants of Kudur-lahgumal.
The description of the conditions under which the
entry into Babylon was effected, when the gods were
clothed with light, and one of them (possibly Ennun-
dagalla) flashed like lightning and shook the holy
places, suggests that a severe thunderstorm acted on
the superstitious hopes of the Babylonians, and the
equally superstitious fears of their foes, so much so,
that the Elamite did not carry out his intention of
carrying away the crowns of the statue of the god.
He seems, however, to have taken and retained
possession of the place.
The reverse apparently states why all these mis
fortunes came, and what further happened. It was
because they accepted a foreign ruler (he spoke peace
to the city, and thereby became its master) ; because
there was denial of righteousness or justice (righteous
ness was absent ?) ; because the magicians repeated
evil words. Even in the temple of Anu at Erech (the
shrine called E-anna, " the temple of heaven," or " of
Anu ") the god of heaven was displeased, and caused
something very like an earthquake. Some, however,
were found who were willing to try to bar the passage
of the conqueror, who had gathered the Umman-
manda (barbarian hordes), possibly his followers and
those of Tudhula or Tidal, against the people (?) of
Bel (the Babylonians), and laid everything in ruins.
When the enclosure of E-zida (the great temple-
tower of Borsippa, identified with the tower of Babel
by modern scholars) was broken down, Ine-Tutu,
apparently a Babylonian prince, fled to Tiamtu, the
region of the Persian Gulf, and there founded a tem
porary capital. The invader thereupon seems to have
proceeded to Borsippa, and to have taken the road
to Mesech — that is to say, to the north — where he
continued his ravages. That he intended to go so

232 THE OLD TESTAMENT
far as Mesech, however, is very unlikely, his object
being to subdue the princes of the immediate neigh
bourhood of Babylon, and after collecting the spoil
and goods of all the temples, he carried them away
with him to Elam.
Cyrus, when he entered Babylon, spoke peace to
the city, and promised peace to all the land. In later
documents even than the time of Cyrus, " the enemy,
the Elamite," is spoken of, and there is every proba
bility that the legend here recounted was popular
with the Babylonians as long as any national feeling
was left, hence these incomplete remains which have
come down to us — due, perhaps, to some period when
the old hostility was aroused by some inroad from the
mountains on the east, where the Elamites held sway
apparently to a comparatively late date.
Whether Eri-Eaku (or Eri-Aaku), Tudhula, and
Kudur-lahgumal be Arioch, Tidal and Chedorlaomer
respectively, I leave to the reader to decide for him
self. The first of these will probably be regarded as
sufficiently near to be exceedingly probable. With
regard to the two others, it may be noted that Tidal
was pronounced, in Hebrew, Tidghal, as the Greek
Thargal (for Thadgal, d and r being so much alike
in Hebrew as to be easily interchanged) shows, and
Chedorlaomer was Chedorlaghomer, as the Greek
Chodollogomar likewise indicates. Doubt concerning
the reading can only be entertained with regard to
this last name.1
Whatever may be thought about the interesting
and remarkable inscriptions of which an account has
just been given, of one thing there can be no doubt,
and that is, that the Elamites and Babylonians were
quite powerful enough, at the time of Abraham, to
make an expedition of the magnitude described in
1 Further details will be found in the paper, Certain Inscrip
tions and Records, etc. in the Journal of the Victoria Institute,
1895-96, pp. 43-90. Published also separately.

ABRAHAM 233
Genesis xiv. Sargon of Agade held sway over this
district, and he reigned, according to Nabonidus's
indications, more than 1500 years earlier. His son,
when he came to the throne, added Elam to his
dominions as well. That the position should, at a
considerably later period, be reversed, is easily con
ceivable, and it was to all appearance the Elamites
who held sway in a part of Babylonia, of which
country many of the states undoubtedly acknow
ledged Elamite overlordship, though with exceeding
unwillingness. One point of the undoubted history
is noteworthy. Kudur-mabuk, son of Simti-silhak,
who ruled at Larsa, bears, like his father, an Elamite
name. His son, Eri-Aku, has an Akkadian name —
perhaps, as already suggested, from motives of policy,
and likely enough from the same motive, he seems to
have Semitizised it later on, making it Rim-Sin. Eri-
Ekua (Eaku) is likewise an Akkadian name, and
must be a fanciful variant of that of Eri-Aku or
Arioch. His son, however, bears the pure Semitic
name of Dur-srr-llani, "the exalted defence of the
gods." This is undoubtedly a case of carrying the
policy of conciliation a step further, for by doing this
he not only bears a native name, but also claims to
be the defender of the gods of his country.
After the retreat of the conquering army of Elamites
and Babylonians with their booty, with Lot, Abraham's
nephew, as prisoner, and his goods as part of the spoil,
comes the interesting account of the way in which
Abraham rescued his relative and recovered his pro
perty, with a portion of that belonging to the king of
Sodom. On his return with the spoil, Melchizedek
king of Salem meets him, offering him bread and
wine, and blessing him as Abraham of El-Elyon, "the
most high god." Certain supposed confirmatory state
ments in the correspondence of Abdi-taba, ruler of
Jerusalem, which was found among the Tel-el-Amarna
tablets, has been the subject of much discussion, and

234 THE OLD TESTAMENT
it is apparently regarded as being of much import
ance, though there are various opinions concerning it.
The prince in question, when writing to his suzerain,
the reigning king of Egypt, makes the remarkable
statement that it was not his father nor his mother
who had set him in that place {i.e. Uru-salim or
Jerusalem) as king, but "the mighty king" —
" Behold, this land of Jerusalem, neither my father
nor my mother gave (it) to me — the hand (arm1) of
the mighty king gave it to me." — (Tablet, Berlin, 103.)
" Behold, I am not a prefect, I am an employ^ of
the king my lord, — behold, I am an officer of the
king, and one who brings the tribute of the king.
Neither my father nor my mother, (but) the arm of
the mighty king has set me in the house of my
father."— (Tablet B. 104.)
" Behold, I, neither my father nor my mother set
me in this place. The arm of the mighty king caused
me to enter into the house of my father." — (Tablet B.
102.) As Abdi-taba then goes on to emphasize his faith
fulness to the king of Egypt, apparently on account
of his having been made ruler of Jerusalem by him,
these passages merely resolve themselves, to all ap
pearance, into a statement of the writer's indebted
ness to his royal master. It may be disappointing,
but to all appearance the " mighty king " is the king
of Egypt, and not the god of Uru-salim.
Nevertheless, the description of Melchizedek in
Heb. vii. 3, " without father, without mother," makes
it a quite legitimate question to ask : may not Abdi-
tiba, in what he said to his suzerain, have made some
mental reservation when writing what he did ? Or is
1 The word %dtu, " hand," in Semitic Babylonian, means also
" power," and as an explanatory gloss, the scribe has introduced
the Hebrew "STU, zuruh in Assyrian transcription, meaning
" arm," or, here, " power." Apparently he was afraid that kdtu
would not be understood.

. ABRAHAM 235
it not possible that, when speaking about his inde
pendence of his father and his mother for the position
that he occupied, he was unconsciously making use of
words familiar to him, and recorded in some document
of the archives of the city ? We have yet to learn the
history ofthe preceding period— we know not whether
Abdi-taba had really a right to the position which
he occupied (he seems to have been placed as ruler of
Jerusalem by the foreign power to which he refers),
and until we get more information, there is no escape
from the necessity of regarding him, from his own
letters, as being in a different position from that which,
in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis, Melchizedek
occupies. In connection with the question as to what divinity
was worshipped at Jerusalem, the tablet known as
B. 105 is of importance. Line 14 of the letter in
question reads : " The city of the land of Jerusalem,
its name is Bit-Ninip, the city of the king, is lost — (it
is) a place of the men of Kelti." What was this " city
of the king," or " royal city " ? The general opinion
at first was, that the place meant was Jerusalem itself,
for that must have been from the earliest times " a
royal city "par excellence. Winckler, however, trans
lates "A city of the land of Jerusalem," which
certainly seems a reasonable rendering. Properly
speaking, however, the idiomatic Semitic Babylonian
expression for " a city " would be istin dlu, " one city."
Though Winckler's rendering is a perfectly reasonable
one, therefore, the first translation is not excluded,
and in any case there remains the clear statement
that a city of the territory of Jerusalem — that is to say
a city which owned the sway of her kings — possessed,
as its patron-deity, the god whom the Babylonians
and Assyrians called Ninip, and worshipped under
many names. Among these may be mentioned
Madanunu, explained as "the proclaimed (?), the
renowned, the high " ; En-banda, probably meaning

236 THE OLD TESTAMENT
"the distinguished lord," a name which he bore as
"Ninip, he who takes the decision of the gods."
Another of his names was Halhalla, " Ninip, protector
of the decision, father of Bel " ; and, more interesting
still, he was called Me-maha (" supreme word "), as
" Ninip, guardian of the supreme commands." The
Assyrians worshipped him both under the name of
Ninip and Apil-Esarra, " son of the house (temple) of
the host." It is this deity whose name occurs in the
Assyrian royal names Tukulti-Ninip and Tukulti-apil-
E-sarra, or Tiglath-pileser.
On these points, as on many others, we must wait
for more light from the East.
In the matter of Sarai, Abraham's wife, giving her
handmaid Hagar to Abraham as a second or inferior
wife, because she had no children herself, it is not
improbable that we have a record of what was a
common custom at the time. On p. 174 ff. translations
of Babylonian tablets are given, which seem to have
some analogies with what is stated in the Biblical nar
rative. In these inscriptions, however, the woman of in
ferior position, though she is expected to be the servant
of the other, is raised, to all appearance, into a higher
position, and described as the sister of the first wife,
apparently by adoption, this supposition being based
on the statement that Iltani was daughter of Sin-abu-
su, though both Iltani and Taram-sagila were taken in
marriage from Uttatum, their father. Apparently
there was to be no difference in the status of the
children of either of them, and it was apparently on
account of the hope that Hagar's son would be as her
own, that the patriarch's wife acted as she did.
With regard to the contract at Machpelah, that is,
as has already been noticed more than once, evidently
a legal document, or at least an abstract of such a
document, and bears some likeness to the ancient
contracts of Assyria and Babylonia, though the latter
are generally composed in much shorter form, and

ABRAHAM 237
with different phraseology. The descriptions of landed
property given on pp. 167, 178 ff, and also such sales of
land as the following give material for comparing the
document in question —
" 45 (?) gan, a field by the crossing, in the upper
district of Tenu, beside (the property of) Qaranu the
son of the palace, and beside (the property of) III-
midi, its first end the road Astaba(tum ?), its second
end the property of the enclosure Tenunam, Il-su-bani
has bought from Nannara-mansum and Sin-bant, his
brother, sons of Sin-abu-su, for its complete price.
He has paid the money, he has passed the barrier, his
transaction is complete — the silver, the price of their
field, is complete, they are content. They shall not
say ' We have not received the money ' — they have
received it before the elders. At no future time shall
Nannara-mansum and Sin-bani make claim upon
the field. They have invoked the spirit of Samas,
Merodach, and Zabium (the king).
" Claim of his brothers and his sisters [this would
be better " their brothers and their sisters "], children
of Sin-abu-su, Nannara-mansum and Sin-bani shall
answer for.
" Before Ili-'adiwa, son of Amurru-bani ; before
Nannara-ki (?), son of Sin-nasir; before Sin-remeni,
son of Ism£-Sin ; before Nannara-ki-aga (?), son of
Sin-idinnam ; before Munawirum ; before Sin-bel-ili ;
before Sin-ublam ; before Nannara-man§um ; before
Ubar-Ninip, the scribe, before Sin-Sribam."
In the following text the nature of the trees on the
ground sold is specified —
"12 measures, a date-palm plantation, beside the
plantation of Ri§-Samas, priest of the Sun-god, son of
the woman Sala, its first end (the property of) Girum,
Ahatani, sun-devotee, daughter of Marum, has bought
for its price in silver from Ris-Samas, son of Sala.
She has paid the money, (and) is content — she has
passed the harrier. The transaction is ended. At no

238 THE OLD TESTAMENT
future time shall they make claim against each other.
(They have invoked) the spirit of Samas, Merodach,
and Hammurabi (Amraphel).
" Before Amri-ili-su, son of Naram-Ea ; before Yati-
ilu, son of Abil-Sin ; before Ibi-Samas, before Etil-
s£p-Samas (?), sons of Buzia ; before Izu-zariku; before
£rib-Sin, son of Sarabi ; before Zunum (?), son of
Sin-idinnam ; before Igara-asdum (?), son of Ilu-ma-
rabi (?) ; before Ili-abu-Sin (?) ; before Erib-Sin, son
of Su-*-* ; before Samas-bini-pi-ia ; before Dimahum ;
before Ris-Samas ; before Ikunia, (son of?) *-ninibu."
A comparison of these inscriptions, which are types
of hundreds of others known to Assyriologists, with the
transaction between Abraham and the Hittite Ephron,
shows noteworthy differences. The boundaries are
usually stated in the Babylonian documents with
sufficiently great precision ; but, on the other hand,
the nature of the land is generally not stated except
if it be actually under cultivation, and any trees
growing on it are apparently mentioned only on
account of their commercial value — when, for instance,
they are fruit-bearing trees, as in the reference to the
date-palms in the second document here translated.
In Babylonia, as in Palestine, contracts and trans
actions of a legal nature often took place in the open
space by the gate of the city in or near which the
contracting parties lived, and where witnesses to the
transaction could easily be found among those who
passed in and out, or who had business in the
neighbourhood. In the record contained in the 23rd
chapter of Genesis, the names of the witnesses are
naturally not given, but it is expressly stated that the
contract was made " in the presence of the children
of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of his
city."

ABRAHAM 239

SALEM.

One of the most interesting points revealed by the
Tel-el-Amarna tablets, is the fact that the name of
Jerusalem occurs, and is not called simply Salem (as
in Gen. xiv. 18), but Uru-salim, the Aramaic (Syriac)
Uri-shalem, a form which confirms the translation
given to it, namely, "city of peace," though the
writing of the word in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets
suggests the suppression of the particle " of," making
"the city Peace" simply, which would, perhaps, be
to a certain extent a counterpart to or an explanation
of the form Salem, " Peace," in Genesis.
There is no doubt that the name is an exceedingly
interesting one. Prof. Sayce has suggested that
there was a god named Salem, or " Peace," and that
the city was so called as being the abode of that
deity. This, of course, is by no means improbable,
but in no place where the name occurs — neither in
the Tel-el-Amarna tablets nor in the historical inscrip
tions of Sennacherib — has the element salim (in Sen
nacherib's texts salimmu) the divine prefix before
it. That the divine prefix should be omitted in the
inscriptions of Sennacherib is easily understood, as
the name in question would be a foreign one to
the Assyrian scribes of his time. To the writers of
the letters from Jerusalem, however, it was a native
name, and one would certainly expect the name of
the city, in such documents, to be given fully at least
once. Nevertheless, that there was a god of peace among
the Semites, is proved by the name of the Assyrian
god Sulmanu or Shalman, a component part of the
name Shalmaneser, the Assyrian Sulmanu-asarid. It
is noteworthy that there were no less than four
Assyrian kings of this name, and that it means " the
god Shalman is chief." Sulmanu or Salmanu nunu,
" Shalman the fish," also occurs, as the name of one

240 THE OLD TESTAMENT
of the gods of the city Tedi, or, as Prof. Sayce reads
it, Dimmen-Silim ^better Temmena-silima), but this
latter reading would only be the correct one if the
characters Tedi are to be read as an Akkadian group.
It is therefore very doubtful whether the element
salim in the name of Jerusalem be the name of a god,
notwithstanding the love that the peoples of the
Semitic East naturally had for the blessings which the
word implies. It formed part, as in Arabic at the
present day, of many a greeting, and is one of the
most noteworthy points of the Semitic languages. A
poetic composition, apparently of the time of the
dynasty of Babylon — probably contemporaneous with
Abraham — seems to read as follows —
Mazzazam isu, A resting-place there is,1
Padanam isu — A plain there is — 1
Bab gkalli salim ; The gate of the palace is peace ;
Sulmu parku sakha. Peace forms the bolt.
Martum salmat The daughter has peace,
Ubanum salmat The mountain-peak has peace,
Hasft (?) u libbu (?) salmu Mind and heart have peace —
Sinserit tiranu. 12 (are) the ramparts (?).

Telitum immeni izzim The boundary, our (?) strong
defence (?)
Salmat has peace —
Minima la tanakkud. Naught shalt thou fear.
In all the above passages, however, as in the name
of Jerusalem itself, the exact meaning of the root
salamu is doubtful. A better translation than " peace"
would probably be "safe and sound," "intact," or
something similar (see the 1 3th edition of Gesenius's
Lexicon, edited by Prof. F. Buhl, with the collaboration
of Socin and Zimmern, also Fried. Delitzsch, As-
syrisches Handworterbuch), but the old and more
1 Or "he has." Isu may also come from naM, in which case
it would be imperative — " take thou the resting-place, take thou
the plain," but the rendering given above is probably the correct

ABRAHAM 24 1
poetic expression " peace," " to be at peace," may be
held to sufficiently express the meaning.
With regard to the first element of the name
Jerusalem, Uru-salim in Assyrian, that is to all
appearance the Sumero-Akkadian uru (from an older
guru), "city," in the dialect eri, from which the
Hebrew 'ir, " city," has to all appearance come. The
vowel-change from utoeox i is shown in tu, dialectic
te, " dove " ; uru, dial, eri, " servant " ; duga, dial.
siba, " good," etc. As is usual with two nationalities
dwelling at no great distance from each other, borrow
ings of words took place between the Semites on the
one hand and the Sumero-Akkadians on the other,
which have left traces on the vocabularies of both.

CHAPTER VII
ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH
Jacob, Yakub, and Yakub-ilu— Joseph, Yasup, and Yasup-ilu
— Other similar names — The Egyptian monuments and the
Semites. With the disappearance of Abraham from the
scene of his earthly wanderings, a prominent figure
connecting Babylonia with Palestine vanishes from
history. His son Isaac and his grandson Jacob retain,
however, their connection with those of the family
who resided at Haran, taking their wives from among
their relatives there — Isaac because his father wished
it, Jacob because the souls of his father and mother
were vexed on account of the daughters of Heth
whom Esau, Jacob's brother, had married. In this
primitive story of three generations of a primitive
family there is much to interest the student of ancient
west Semitic manners and customs — the love of Isaac
for Esau, because Isaac loved the savoury venison
which the former provided for him ; how Jacob, " the
supplanter," obtained his brother's birthright and the
blessing which he ought to have had ; Laban's
covetousness and duplicity — all these things furnish
material for the student of manners and customs and
of human nature, but very little for the comparative
archaeologist who wishes to find connections between
Abraham's descendants and the country which gave
their father (or their grandfather) birth. Nevertheless
there are points which deserve illustration.
242

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 243
To all appearance the manners and customs of the
families of the patriarchs had not changed since they
came out of Babylonia. There is the same pastoral
life, the same dislike (and probably mistrust) of
strangers and foreigners, the same freedom on the
part of the men, even the most honoured among them,
with regard to the marriage-tie, the same tendency
to add to this world's goods, and to become great
and mighty chiefs in the land (would that Jacob had
done this otherwise), as at first. The Babylonian
spirit of commerce and the desire for " supplanting "
was well developed in the father pf the twelve tribes,
and may be regarded as adding, as far as it goes, to
the confirmation of the theory (but the question is
more one of fact than of theory) that Abraham was of
Babylonian race.
Exceedingly interesting are all the names borne by
the patriarchs, and the reasons why they were given
to them. Indeed, the punning references to circum
stances concerning their birth are similar in their
character to those of the patriarchs before the Flood.
Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that many of the names
found in this part of the sacred narrative are not by
any means unique. Thus the name of Jacob occurs
many times in the tablets of the period of the first
dynasty of Babylon under the forms of Yakubu,
Yakubi, etc., and there are also forms with the word
ilu attached — Ydkubi-ilu, Yakub-ilu, etc. In like
wise we find what is apparently the same name as
that of Joseph, namely, Yasupum with its longer form
Yasup-tlu, types of many others, such as Yakudum,
Yakunam, etc., Yabnik-ilu, Yagab-Hu son of Yakub-
ilu, etc. As far as I have at present been able to
find out, however, none of the names of this class
have as yet been discovered in both forms {i. e. with
and without the element ilu), which may turn out to
be of importance, or may be simply a remarkable
coincidence.

244 THE OLD TESTAMENT
This, naturally, leads to the question : What are the
meanings of these names? According to Genesis,
Jacob means supplanter, or, rather, " he has sup
planted," and the further query then arises : What
does the name mean when Hu is added to it ? The
meaning in this case ought to be "God has sup
planted," which clearly will not fit.
The best explanation probably is, that the name
of Jacob was never Ya'kub-ilu, but Ya'kub simply,
meaning, " he has supplanted," and referring, natur
ally, to the person who bore the name. As the name
" Supplanter " is not one which a man would be proud
to bear, in all probability it was seen that it would be
taken for the usual abbreviation for Ya'kub-ilu, with
the probable meaning of "God hath restrained"
(another signification of the root 'aqab), and thus it
may be that there is no record of any one having
reproached him on account of it, except the members
of his own family, who knew why it was given to him,
and recognized in his character as a man something
which corresponded with the name given to him be
cause of what was said to have happened at his birth.
Notwithstanding the two etymologies of the name
of Joseph which are given (Gen. xxx. 23, 24), "He
(God) hath taken away," and " He (God) hath added,"
there is but little doubt that the latter rendering is
the correct one, agreeing, as it does, better with the
root yasaph, from which it is derived, the other render
ing, from the root dsaph, " to take away," being due
to a kind of pun. (The former rendering is explained
as being from the Elohist narrative, the other from
that of the Jehovist, but it seems not at all improbable
that a woman, even a Canaanitess of those primitive
ages, should have made a joke sometimes — they seem
always to have been given to making strange compari
sons with regard to words, and even the ancient Baby
lonians were not free from that failing, as at least one
of the bilingual tablets shows.) The meaning of the

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 245
name Joseph is therefore "He (God) hath added,"
corresponding with that of the Yasup-ilu, " God hath
added," of the tablets of the time of the dynasty of
Babylon. The use of / for s must be due to the fact
that Yasup-Hu was, for the Babylonians, a foreign
name, and that, in Assyro-Babylonian, sin was pro
nounced like samech and samech like sin, as a general
rule. Besides the names of the patriarchs Jacob and
Joseph, the name Sar-ili, " prince of God," suggests
a comparison with Israel, which is written Sir'ilaa,
" Israelites," in the time of Shalmaneser II. The
meaning attributed to this name would seem to be
somewhat strained, as it would signify rather " God
hath striven," than " he hath striven with God." That
word-play exists also here, and that the name was
a changed form of Sar-ili, " prince of God," is
possible, and is at least justified as a suggestion by
the form recorded by Shalmaneser II. already re
ferred to.
The name of his brother Esau may possibly exist
in the Babylonian Ese, found on a tablet dated in the
reign of Samsu-iluna. Laban does not occur, except
as the name of a god in a list of deities worshipped
in the city of Assur. With regard to Bethuel, one
cannot help thinking that it must be the same as the
place-name Bethel, the terminal u of the nominative
being retained in the name of Abraham's nephew.
If this be the case, he may have been so named after
the " Bethel of cedar " (see p. 201), though there is just
the possibility that, as Gesenius suggests, Bethuel may
be for Methuel, the Babylonian Mut-ili, "man of
god." That the Bethel of Haran was a heathen place
of worship, however, can hardly be regarded as any
objection to one of the family to which Abraham and
his descendants belonged bearing such a name. If
the Hebrew text be correct, therefore, it is probably
an abbreviation, forming part of a name similar to

246 THE OLD TESTAMENT
E-sagila-zera-epus, " E-sagila (the temple of Belus at
Babylon) has created a name," and others like it. It
is also to be noted, that the name given by Leah to
the son which Zilpah her handmaid bore to Jacob
after she herself left off bearing was Gad, rendered in
the Hebrew itself by " Fortunate," and probably the
name of a west Semitic deity, Gad, the god of good
fortune. But the heathenism of the portion of the family
living at or near Haran is clearly proved by the
matter of the teraphim, which Rachel stole from her
father Laban. It is true that they are generally
regarded as figures used for the purpose of magic, but
as Laban himself calls them his " gods," there is every
probability that they were worshipped :as such. It is
to be regarded as simply an indication of the difficulty
which most dwellers in the midst of polytheism in
those days must have found in dissociating themselves
from the practices of those with whom they came
daily into contact. They may have had all the
tendencies possible towards monotheism, but how
were they to embrace it in all its perfection in the
midst of a population recounting from time to time
the many wonderful things which their gods and pro
tecting genii did for them, and which the hearer
had no opportunity of probing to the bottom and
estimating at their true value ? As these people were,
to all appearance, but simple shepherds (though
sufficiently wealthy), it is hardly to be expected of
them that they would go deeply into philosophical
considerations concerning the Deity, especially when
we remember that the family of Laban was in close
contact with the idolatry of Haran.
With regard to the teraphim which Rachel took
with her when Jacob fled from her father, there is not
much that can be said. Figures so called were in
common use among the Jews and other nations for
purposes of magic, and to all appearance they were

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 247
statues of deities (as indicated in the passage now
under consideration) which were consulted by some
means when anything of importance was about to be
undertaken. To all appearance they were the house
hold gods, like the Lares and Penates of the Romans,
though they were also used when on expeditions, as
when Nebuchadnezzar is represented (Ezekiel xxi.
21 — 26 in the Heb.) standing at the parting of the
ways to use divination, shaking arrows to and fro,
consulting the teraphim, and looking at a liver to
decide what his success in the operations which he
was about to undertake against Jerusalem would be.
In Zechariah x. 2 also, there is a reference to the
teraphim, which, as oracles, had " spoken vanity," and
the diviners had " seen a lie." Little doubt exists,
therefore, as to what these things were used for.
With regard to their form, it is supposed that they
were similar to the small figures found in the ruins of
the ancient palaces of Assyria, generally under the
pavement, in all probability images of the gods of
Assyria who, by their effigies, were supposed to
protect the palace and its inhabitants. Some of these
are four-winged figures similar to those found on the
bas-reliefs, whilst others are representations of a deity,
probably the god Ea or Ae, the god of the sea, who
is represented clothed with a fish's skin, etc. The
size of these teraphim must have differed greatly ; that
which was placed in David's bed by Michal, his wife,
to deceive Saul's messengers, must necessarily have
been of considerable height — probably not much
under that of a man. Those hidden by Rachel when
her father came to look for them, however, must have
been comparatively small, and the figures found in
the foundations of the Assyrian palaces rarely measure
more than six inches in height.
In the light of what this incident of the teraphim
reveals, it is not to be wondered at that Jacob, when
about to go up to Bethel from Shechem, after the

248 THE OLD TESTAMENT
treacherous spoiling of the city by his sons, should
have said, "Put away the strange gods that are
among you," and it shows also a considerable amount
of tolerance on the part of the patriarch. Did he,
too, believe that the gods which his relatives and
dependents worshipped were in any sense divine
beings? In any case, it is to be noted that, after
they were given to him, he did not destroy them, but
hid them, with the trinkets which they possessed — in
all probability in many cases heathen emblems —
under the terebinth-tree which was by Shechem.
To all appearance they were allowed to keep these
strange gods and heathen emblems until they set out
on the journey to make the commanded sacrifices to
the God who had revealed Himself to Jacob at
Bethel. It was after this sacrifice at Bethel that God again
revealed Himself as El-shaddai, His name in the text
of "the priestly narrator" (Gen. xvii. i), and in many
other passages. The word Shaddai here is generally
connected with the root shaddd, " to act powerfully,"
and the translation " God Almighty " is based on this.
As the word is a very difficult one, however, there
have been many attempts to find a more satisfactory
etymology. It is to be noted, therefore, that there is
in Semitic Babylonian a word sadu, often applied to
deities, and expressed, in the old language of Akkad,
by means of the same ideograph (KURA) as is used
for mountain {sadu or saddA in Semitic Babylonian).
This word sadu, applied to divinities, Prof. Fried.
Delitzsch regards as being distinct from the word
for mountain, notwithstanding that they are both
expressed by the same word in Akkadian, and
renders it by the words " lord," " commander."
Have we, in this word, an Assyro-Babylonian form
of the Hebrew Shaddai ? We do not know, but the
likeness between the two is worth referring to. The
god Bel, for example, is called sadu rabu, " the great

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 249
mighty one," and Sin, with other deities, bears a
similar title, found in such names as Sin-sadfinu,
" the Moon -god is our lord." That the idea of almighti-
ness should be expressed by means of the borrowed
Akkadian idiomatic use of the word KURA, " moun
tain," as that which towers up commandingly, a
mighty mass, would seem to offer an acceptable
explanation of what has long been felt as a difficulty.
" But God knows best."
After a long and noteworthy account of Esau and
his descendants, the interest of the narrative shifts,
and is transferred to Joseph, the youngest but one
of Jacob's twelve sons, though the narrative is for a
time interrupted by the story of Judah.
With the transfer of the interest of the narrative to
Joseph, Egypt, the country into which he was sold as
a slave, becomes the scene of the action. Here a
vast and interesting store of material meets the
student, which, unfortunately, we can only very im
perfectly touch upon here, partly from considerations
of space, and partly because the present work is in
tended to be more the story of the Hebrews in
connection with Babylonia and Assyria. It is neces
sary, however, to speak of Egypt not only on account
of the continuity of the narrative, but also as an
introduction to the chapter in which the Tel-el-
Amarna tablets are examined — documents found in
Egypt, and addressed to an Egyptian king.
There is no doubt, that in tthe story of Joseph
there exists a considerable amount of what is known
as "local colour." This is shown by the freedom
which the women of Egypt evidently enjoyed (as
exhibited in the story of Potiphar's wife), the matter
of Joseph shaving himself before going to see Pharaoh,
the many undoubtedly Egyptian names, etc. These,
of course, are undeniable points in favour of the
authenticity of the narrative,, which, perfect as it is,
omits one important thing, namely, the name of

250 . THE OLD TESTAMENT
the Pharaoh who ruled at the time. That there
should be such an omission in the comparatively un
important references to the visits of Abraham and
Isaac to Egypt is, perhaps, not so very strange,
but that there should be no clue to the identity of
the Egyptian ruler under whom Joseph entered
Egypt, nor to the persecutor of the Israelites under
whose reign they went forth from what had become
to them practically a hostile land, is noteworthy, and
a matter for great regret. It is, therefore, not to be
wondered at that scholars have arisen who doubt the
whole story, for the least flaw in a narrative in the
present day, when unbelief and the desire for scientific
proof meet one on every hand, will cause a thinking
man to doubt anything and everything.
The degree of civilization to which Egypt had
attained at this period, and probably thousands of
years earlier, is so remarkable that it is difficult for
us at this distance of time to realize it. Whether the
country was in reality more civilized than Babylonia
is a matter of doubt — possibly we regard their civiliza
tion as superior on account of the monuments being
so much better preserved, and because, in consequence
of the nature of the climate (which is such as to
preserve even perishable things), an untold wealth of
material exists. This was not the case with Babylonia,
in which country the annual rains have caused almost
all woodwork to decay, and only objects of stone and
clay, and much more rarely metal, remain, even these
being in many instances more or less damaged and
therefore defective as really useful historical documents.
Egyptian antiquities testify to the civilization of
the Egyptians, as has already been remarked, from
remote ages, and the inscriptions show that the
kingdom was well organized, and governed by rulers
whose sway was popular and in accordance with the
wishes of the priesthood. This state of things lasted,
according to Prof. Flinders Petrie, until about 2098

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 25 1
B.C., when suddenly this exceedingly conservative
nation, possessing as great a dislike for foreigners as
do the Chinese at the present time, found itself
attacked and invaded by barbarian hordes from
Western Asia. From what district these people came
is not known. According to Josephus, they were
regarded by some as Arabians, but Josephus himself
regarded them as being of his own race, i. e. Jewish.
Quoting from Manetho, he shows that, under a ruler
called Timaios, these people from the east, " men of
an ignoble race," invaded the land, and easily made
themselves master of it without a battle. When the
rulers of Egypt fell into their hands, they burned the
cities, destroyed the temples of the gods, and inflicted
every kind of indignity upon the inhabitants. At
last they raised one of themselves named Salatis
(a name evidently derived from the Semitic root s&lai,
" to rule ") to the throne. This king made Memphis
his capital, both Upper and Lower Egypt become
tributary to him, and he stationed garrisons in those
places which were most suitable for the purpose.
One interesting point is, that he directed his attention
especially to the security of the eastern frontier, be
cause he feared the Assyrians, who, he foresaw, would
one day undertake an invasion of his kingdom. This,
to all appearance, refers to the Babylonian dominion,
which, as we have seen (see Chap. V.) extended as far
as the Mediterranean. As far as our historical know
ledge extends, his fears were groundless, as no serious
attempt (and certainly no successful attempt) to
conquer Egypt was made until long after the time of
Salatis, when Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, succeeded
in subjugating the country, which remained under
Assyrian overlordship until the reign of his son
Assur-bani-apli. Salatis ruled 19 years, and was succeeded by a king
named Beon or Bnon, who reigned 44 years. The
next ruler of this race bears the Egyptian-sounding

252 THE OLD TESTAMENT
name of Apakhnas, and ruled for 37 years and 7
months. Next came Apophis, the Apepi of modern
scholars, who occupied the throne no less than 61
years, lanias, who ruled for 50 years and I month,
having also a very long reign. After all these ruled
Assis, 49 years and 2 months. These six, says
Manetho, were the first of their rulers, and constantly
strove to exterminate the Egyptians by making war
upon them. Hyksos, or Shepherd kings, and their
successors, he goes on to say, retained possession of
Egypt 511 years.
In the end the kings of Thebais, and of other pro
vinces of Egypt, arose against the Shepherds, and a long
and mighty war was carried on between them, until
the Shepherds were overcome by a king whose name
was Misphragmouthosis, who, having expelled them
from other parts of Egypt, shut them up in Avaris,
a tract consisting of about 10,000 acres. All this
tract the Shepherds fortified with great strength,
whilst Thummosis, son of Misphragmouthosis, tried
to force them to surrender by a siege, and surrounded
them with an army of 480,000 men. He was beginning
to despair of being able to reduce them, when they
agreed to capitulate, stipulating that they should be
permitted to leave Egypt, and go with all their families
whithersoever they pleased. This was agreed to, and
they bent their way through the desert towards Syria.
Fearing the Assyrians (Babylonians), however, who
then had dominion over Asia, they built a city in the
country called Judea, of sufficient size to contain them
all (they numbered not less than 240,000), and named
it Jerusalem. From this it would appear that, taking advantage
of the disorganized state of Egypt about 2 100 years
before Christ, these Shepherd kings invaded the
country, and gradually consolidated their power there.
In process of time they had the whole of the
country in their possession, and such rulers as re-

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 253
mained were allowed to retain their provinces only
as vassals, being really princes only in name. It is
also very probable that if, as really appears, they were
barbarians on entering Egypt, they became civilized
by intercourse with the nation which they had con
quered. This having been done, the monarchy which
they established conformed more and more with that
of the native Egyptian kings, so that their court and
manner of administration were, to all intents and
purposes, Egyptian ; native administrators being ap
pointed to many important posts in order to obtain
the willing obedience of the people.
As the rule of these Shepherd kings began about
2100 B.C., and finished about 1587 B.C. (Petrie), it is
clear that the visits of Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph,
including Jacob and his family, all fail within this
period. As will easily be understood, such a syn
chronism is not without its value, especially when
considering the historical authority of the Pentateuch.
That it was during the dominion of the above-named
rulers that Joseph entered Egypt is or has been the
opinion of all the best students of Egyptian history —
Birch, Brugsch, Maspero, Naville, Wiedemann, and
many others — and there can be but little doubt of its
correctness. It is remarkable that there is no native
record of Joseph's administration, but this is, after all,
hardly to be wondered at, especially when we con
sider the disturbed state of the country at a later
date, when many records, especially those of the
hated conquerors, must have been destroyed, and in
any case there is the ever-present chance of some
untoward fate overtaking them, by which such docu
ments, if they ever existed, may have become lost to
the world for ever.
The strange thing about the foreign rulers who
held possession of Egypt so long is, as has already
been pointed out by Prof. Petrie, that they remained
throughout to all intents and purposes a distinct

254 THE OLD TESTAMENT
nationality. Intermarriage between the two races,
even when they were on the most friendly terms,
must have, been comparatively rare, and it is on this
account that the native princes succeeded at last in
ridding the land of the "impure," as the native
recorder has it. From this same record we get the
information that one of the Shepherd kings was
'Apop'i (Apepy), the Apophis of the Greeks, and that
he ruled at Hawar, a town which is identified with
Avaris. The only god which this ruler served was
Sutekh, identified with Ra or Re (in earlier times
also, to all appearance, pronounced Ria), the Egyptian
Sun-god. According to the Sallier papyrus, from
which the above details are taken, it would seem that
Ri-'Apop'i, as he is there called, sent to Seqnen-Re,
" king of the South," proposing that the latter should
clear away all the hippopotamuses on the canals of
the country, in order that Ri-'Apop'i might sleep.
If the king of the South did not succeed in doing
this, then he was to embrace the worship of Sutekh,
but if he did succeed, then Ra-'Apop'i promised not
to bow down before any other god of Egypt except
Amon-Ra, the king of the gods.
This, of course, was a distinction without a differ
ence, and is evidently put forward by the writer as
such, for the worship of Sutekh in all probability
meant the renouncing of the worship of all the other
gods of Egypt, a thing which no Egyptian was likely
to consent to. On the other hand, the worship of
Amon-Ra by the Hyksos king would have been no
great hardship, as it would in all probability not
have involved any change in his faith, seeing that it
was generally recognized that this deity and Sutekh
were identical.
The end of this story is lost, so that there is no
means of finding out how matters were brought to a
head, and the flame of revolt kindled which ended in
the expulsion of Egypt's Semitic invaders. What the

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 255
historical value of the fragment may be is uncertain,
as it reads more like a romance than a true history.
In all probability, however, its greatest importance
will be found to lie in its local colour.1
Joseph, on arriving in Egypt, therefore, found him
self, to ah intents and purposes, among friends. The
man to whom the Ishmaelites sold him was, as stated
in the sacred narrative, Potiphar, " an officer of
Pharaoh's, captain of the guard, an Egyptian." The
writer of the narrative evidently wished to convey the
idea that a man in the service of the king of Egypt,
and bearing an Egyptian name, was not necessarily
a native of the country. One in the favour of the
1 In this connection Maspero's remarks upon this fragment
(Records of the Past, 2nd series, vol. ii. p. 43) are worth repeat
ing. He points out that there were three Pharaohs named
Soqnun-ri (=»=Seqnen-RS), and he implies that it was in all prob
ability the last of these which is referred to. He perished by a
violent death, perhaps in battle against the Hyksos themselves.
" He had shaved his head the morning before, ' arraying himself
for the combat like the god Montu,' as the Egyptian scribes
would say. His courage led him to penetrate too far into the
ranks of the enemy ; he was surrounded and slain before his
companions could rescue him. The blow of an axe removed
part of his left cheek and laid bare the teeth, striking the jaw
and felling him stunned to the ground ; a second blow entered
far within the skull, a dagger or short lance splitting the forehead
on the right side a little above the eye. The Egyptians recovered
the body and embalmed it in haste, when already partly decom
posed, before sending it to Thebes and the tomb of his ancestors.
. . . The author of the legend may probably have continued the
story down to the tragic end of his hero. The scribe to whom
we owe the papyrus on which it is inscribed must certainly have
intended to complete the tale ; he had recopied the last lines on
the reverse of one of the pages, and was preparing to continue
it when some accident intervened to prevent his doing so. . . .
It is probable, however, that it went on to describe how Soqnun-
ri, after long hesitation, succeeded in escaping from the embar
rassing dilemma in which his powerful rival had attempted to
place him. His answer must have been as odd and extra
ordinary as the message of 'Ap&pi, but we have no means even
of conjecturing what it was."

256 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Semitic ruler of the country, and enjoying his confid
ence, would naturally be .favourably disposed towards
a person of Semitic race falling into his hands, and
this was actually the case with the Hebrew youth,
who " found grace in his sight," and became overseer
of all his house. Indeed, it is possibly on account of
this kindly disposition towards him (though also, and
perhaps chiefly, on account of his being of the same
race as the then ruler of Egypt), that Joseph was not
at once put to death by his enraged master on hearing
his wife's lying accusation against him, for no man, in
those days, would have looked leniently upon such a
crime as that with which Joseph was charged. In
connection with this, it is noteworthy that he is said
to have been consigned to " the prison, the place
where the king's prisoners were bound." Here, being
of Semitic race, and helped by his God, he obtained
the favour of the keeper of the prison, whose trusted
deputy he became. Later on, after interpreting to
the king's imprisoned chief butler his dream, he asks
this official, when he should again be restored to his
place, to make mention of him to Pharaoh, stating
that he had been stolen away out of the land of the
Hebrews, and had also done nothing to merit being
detained a prisoner in that place. To all appearance
he firmly believed that his nationality would favour
him. In accordance with his wish, so it turned out, for
after two years mention was made of him by the chief
butler to Pharaoh, and he is careful to state that
Joseph was " an Hebrew." When called, by the ruler
of Egypt, in accordance with the custom of the
country, Joseph shaved himself, and put on other
clothes, before entering the royal presence. The
sympathy of the king towards him was manifested
immediately after his interpretation of his dreams, and
he was at once, with Oriental promptitude, made
governor of all the land of Egypt, receiving from the

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 257
king his ring in token of the authority conferred upon
him. The hero's complete Egyptianizing is to all
appearance terminated by his receiving an Egyptian
name, Zaphnath-paaneah, and marrying an Egyptian
wife, Asenath, daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On.
There are a great many points for consideration in
these few statements.
As has been remarked, it was doubtless due to the
custom of Egyptian etiquette that Joseph shaved
himself, setting aside his Semitic prejudices to the
fashion, for it is supposed that Semites abhorred such
a ceremony. Surely, it might be objected, the Semitic
ruler of Egypt would have liked Joseph none the
worse if he had retained his hair, and thus proclaimed
his nationality, as it were, on this occasion. And such
an objection would possess a certain amount of force.
There is hardly any doubt, however, that Semitic
abhorrence to the practice has been greatly exagger
ated, for it was the custom for high-placed personages
in Babylonia, in Joseph's time, to do this, and it re
mained the custom in that country until a very late
date. This was, in all probability, a sacred duty with
certain classes of people, such as priests and those
dedicated to a divinity. A Hebrew at that time
would probably have had no objection, therefore, to
adopting the practice, especially in such a climate as
that of Egypt, where the necessity of keeping as cool
as possible would probably be recognized.
That it should be desired that the new viceroy
should try to assimilate himself as much as possible
with the natives of the country was probably the
reason of Joseph's assuming an Egyptian name and
taking an Egyptian wife. A great deal of uncertainty
exists, however, as to the true Egyptian form and
meaning of the name Zaphnath-paaneah (better
Zaphenath-pa'eneakh). Many conjectures have been
made as to its true Egyptian form and meaning, but
that of Steindorff, " (God), the living one, has spoken," R

258 THE OLD TESTAMENT
is undoubtedly the best of all.1 The meaning gener
ally given to the name of Asenath, his wife, is " Belong
ing to (the goddess) Neith," but a certain amount of
doubt is attached to this rendering. As for the name
of Poti-phera, her father, of that there is but little
doubt: it is the Egyptian Pa-ti-pe-Ra', "the gift of
Ra," or " of the Sun," and was naturally a very appro
priate name for the priest of On, or Heliopolis, the
centre of the worship of the Sun-god. Potiphar, the
name of the Egyptian who bought Joseph from the
Ishmaelites, is regarded as being a shortened form of
this same name.
Another point, and that a very interesting one, is
the question of the derivation of the word abrech,
which the criers were ordered to call out before the
newly-chosen viceroy. Professor Sayce compares this
expression, with a great amount of probability, with
the Babylonian abriqqu, from the Akkadian abrig, the
meaning which he attributes to it being " seer." He
also refers to another word, namely, abarakku (fem.
abarakkatu). Of these two, the latter etymology, on
account of the consonants, is the more preferable,
though the former one would probably suit better in
the matter of vowels. But which is the right word ? —
they cannot both have been the original of abrech.
The meaning of abriqqu is " wise one," and that of
abarakku " seer," a high official of the Assyrian (and
probably also the Babylonian) court. The Tel-el-
Amarna tablets show that Assyro-Babylonian literature
was known and studied in Egypt, and this would
account for the word being introduced into Egyptian.
It must be confessed, however, that seductive though
these comparisons may be, the forms hardly fit, other
wise nothing would seem to be more appropriate than
that a crier should be sent to precede Joseph during
1 Compare the name of the well near which Hagar the
Egyptian woman fell down exhausted when fleeing from Sarai,
Abraham's wife : " The well of the living one who seeth me."

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 259
his triumphal progress through the streets of On or
Avaris, announcing that this was the new grand vizier,
or the great seer, who had successfully interpreted the
king's dream. One would like to have, moreover, at
least one instance of the occurrence of the word in
Egyptian literature.
Naturally the Jews of later days were very much
exercised in their minds that one of the favourites and
primitive heroes of their race should have married a
heathen woman, daughter of the priest of the Sun at
On, and legends seem to have been invented to account
for this undesirable circumstance and explain it away.
It is regarded as being due to this that there exists a
Christian legend, preserved in Greek, Syriac, Armenian,
and Latin, purporting to give the history of Asenath.
She is represented as the proud and beautiful daughter
of Pentephres (Poti-phera), of Heliopolis, who lived in
magnificent exclusion, and despised all men. Her
parents wished her to marry Joseph, the great prime
minister, but this she would not do. In the course of
his visits to collect corn, Asenath sees him, and at
once falls in love with him. Joseph, however, will
have nothing to do with her because she worships
idols. Shutting herself up for seven days in sackcloth
and ashes, she threw her idols out of the window, and
performed a strict penance. An angel in the form of
Joseph then visits her, and blesses her, giving her to
eat a mystic honeycomb, signed with the sign of the
cross. Asenath, thus accepted, arrays herself in beau
tiful garments, and goes forth to meet Joseph. He
had returned to the house in her parents' absence, but
notwithstanding this, the betrothal at once takes place,
and afterwards their marriage in the Pharaoh's
presence. Her subsequent adventures include an
attempt to carry her off on the part of Pharaoh's first
born, aided by Dan and Gad, and in this attempt the
heir to the throne loses his life. The original legend
made Asenath a Jewess by birth. (See Smith's Die-

26b THE OLD TESTAMENT
tionary of Christian Biography, and Hastings's Dic
tionary of the Bible, sub voc.)
To what has already been said about the points
tending to show that Joseph was viceroy in Egypt
under one or more of the Hyksos or Shepherd kings,
may be added the fact that, when his father and
brethren came to settle in the land, they were in
structed to say that they were shepherds, though it is
at once added that " shepherds were an abomination to
the Egyptians." The only thing, to all appearance,
that can be argued from this is, that however the
native Egyptians might be inclined to look upon the
new-comers, the ruler of the land (who is also repre
sented as being pleased that Joseph's brethren had
come) had no objection to them on that account. In
support of the contention that the period of Joseph
was the Hyksos period, it must also be pointed out
that this new viceroy introduced at least one measure
which might be regarded as somewhat harsh. He
appropriated the surplus produce of the seven years
of plenty, and when the years of famine came, he
compelled the Egyptians to buy back, " even to their
own impoverishment,"1 what they had themselves
previously parted with for nothing. The reason for
this, however, seems to be clear. The Pharaoh upon
the throne was of the same race as himself, and he and
all Semitic foreigners in the land, including his father
and brethren, were dependent on the same state of
things continuing. What he then did would have the
effect of placing the native Egyptians still more in the
power of their ruler, consolidating the dynasty of
Semites to which he belonged, and going far, therefore,
to ensure the permanency of its rule. In acting as he
did, Joseph was only doing what any other man in his
position and of his race would have done.
As has been frequently pointed out, famines
occurred from time to time in Egypt, and records
1 Driver, in Hastings's Dictionary ofthe Bible, under Joseph.

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 26 1
of them are in existence. Even before the time
of the Hyksos kings, a failure of the waters of the
Nile to rise to their ordinary height would bring
great want and distress. At such times the gover
nors of the various provinces of the kingdom gloried,
as Ebers says, in helping their subjects, and saving
them from distress. Thus Ameni or Amen-em-ha,
whose tomb is at Benihasan, praises himself in the
following words —
" I cultivated the entire nome of Mah with many
workpeople, I troubled no child and oppressed no
widow, neither did I keep a fisherman from his
fishing, or a herdsman from his herd. There was
no head of the village whose people I had taken
away for compulsory labour, and there was no one
unhappy in my days or hungry in my time. When,
however, a famine arose, I tilled all the fields in the
nome of Mah, from its southern to its northern
boundary, and gave nourishment and life to its
inhabitants. So there was no one in the nome
who died of hunger. To the widow I allowed as
much as to the wife of a man, and in all that I did
I never preferred the great man to the small one.
When the Nile rose again, and everything flourished —
fields, trees, and all else — I cut off nothing from the
fields." — Ebers in Baedeker's Upper Egypt, 1892,
p. IS-
Amen-em-ha departed this life in the 43rd year of
Usertesen I., or about 2714 B.C.
More interesting still, however, is the famine which
occurred in the time of Baba, or Beby, as his name
is also written. This functionary actually lived during
the period of the dominion of the later Hyksos kings,
and therefore very close to the time of Joseph.
According to Brugsch, Baba lived and worked
under the native king Ra-seqenen or Seqenen-R6
III., at the city now represented by the ruins of El-
Kab. Though the famine of which he speaks lasted

262 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" many years," and notwithstanding that the ruler
whom he served was a contemporary of 'Apop'i,
the Apophis of Josephus, in whose reign, according
to this Jewish historian, Joseph lived, it is thought
that there is no reason to regard the calamity here
referred to as being the famine of which so full an
account is given in Genesis — such a supposition is
"entirely gratuitous," according to the writer in
Baedeker's Upper Egypt. However this may be, there
is no doubt that it is a very important parallel, and
would imply that two disastrous famines took place
in Egypt in close succession.
The following is Brugsch's translation of this text—
" The chief of the table of princes, Baba, the risen
again, speaks thus : ' I loved my father, I honoured
my mother ; my brother and my sisters ioved me. I
stepped out of the door of my house with a
benevolent heart ; I stood there with refreshing hand,
and splendid were the preparations of what I col
lected for the feast-day. Mild was my heart, free
from noisy angers. The god bestowed upon me a
rich fortune on earth. The city wished me health
and a life full of freshness. I punished the evil
doers. The children who stood opposite me in the
town during the days which I have fulfilled were,
small as well as great, 60; there were prepared for
them as many beds, chairs (?) as many, tables (?)
as many. They all consumed 120 ephas of durra,
the milk of three cows, 52 goats, and nine she-asses,
of balsam a hin, and of oil two jars.
" ' My speech may appear a joke to some opponent.
But I call as witness the god Month that my speech
is true. I had all this prepared in my house;
in addition I gave cream in the pantry and beer in
the cellar in a more than sufficient number of hin
measures. " ' I collected the harvest, a friend of the harvest-god.
I was watchful at the time of sowing. And now,

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 263
when a famine arose, lasting many years, I issued
corn to the city at each famine.' " 1
As, in Hebrew, " seven " is often a round number,
equivalent to the English "several," the parallel is
noteworthy. An additional remark upon the subject
of the Pharaoh of Joseph by Ebers (Smith's Diet.
of the Bible, vol. i. pt. ii. p. T729) is sufficiently
striking. He says that the Byzantine chronographer
who is known under the name of Syncelles (he held
the office of Syncellus or suffragan in his monastery),
like Josephus and others, calls the Pharaoh of Joseph
Apophis. Now Arab tradition, " in which little or no
reliance can be placed," says that he was an Amale-
kite of the name of Raian ibn el-Walid, and Naville,
when excavating for the Egypt Exploration Fund,
at Bubastis, found a block with the name of Apophis,
and near it the lower part of a statue of black granite
with the name of Ian-Ra or Ra-ian, in hieroglyphics.
In consequence of this, Dr. Rieu and Mr. Cope
Whithouse maintain that this Arab tradition was
founded on fact. " We must therefore leave it uncer
tain," adds Prof. Ebers, " whether Joseph came down
into Egypt in the reign of Apophis, or in the reign
of the hitherto unknown Raian." Perhaps both are
right, and Joseph was in Egypt during the reigns of
two or more Egyptian kings. Traditions are some
times strangely correct, in certain points, though
grossly untrustworthy in others.
In Ebers's article to which reference has already
been made, the writer is of opinion that Joseph met the
king of Egypt on the occasion of the interpretation
of the latter's dream, either at Tanis, the Zoan of the
English translation (better So'an), the Arab. San,
borrowed to all appearance from the Coptic Dzhane
(Dzhani, Dzhaane, Dzhaani), from the Egyptian
Dzha'an, or at Bubastis, the Egyptian Pi-Bast, the Pi-
Beseth of Ezekiel xxx. 17, or at Memphis, the Egyp-
1 Or " to each hungry person."

264 THE OLD TESTAMENT
tian Men-nofr, the Biblical Moph or Noph. Of these
three sites the first (Tanis) is considered the most
probable. It is situated at the north-east of the Delta,
and was founded, according to Numbers xiii. 22,
seven years after Hebron. From this statement, one
would think that there must be some connection
between these two places, or else some historical fact
is to be associated with it. One thing is certain, and
that is, that Tanis was the residence of the Hyksos
kings, who held court there for a considerable period,
as did also many who preceded and followed them.
The ruins are extensive, and the place is noted for its
Hyksos sphinxes, in whose faces " the coarse Hyksos
type " is strongly marked. The officers under the
Pharaoh of the Exodus speak, in their letters, of the
life there as being sweet, and praise the neighbour
hood for its fertility and the abundance of the food it
produced (Ebers)."
Nevertheless, Bubastis (the modern Tel-Basta) may
have been the place where Joseph saw Pharaoh for the
first time, as it was a place of great importance, and
had a celebrated temple dedicated to the goddess
Bast. Memphis, too, may be regarded as having
claims, on account of its being situated so near to
On, the abode of Joseph's father-in-law.
On, where Potiphera (" dedicated to the Sun ") was
priest, was the celebrated city of the Sun-god in Egypt,
whose foundation went back to an exceedingly remote
antiquity. Besides Ra, Turn or Tmu (the evening sun),
Ra-Harmachis (the morning sun), his companion
Thoth, Sehu and Tefnut, children of Turn, and Osiris,
who was venerated there as the soul of Ra, were
among the deities of the place. To these must be
added Horus, son of Osiris and Isis, god of the upper
world or region of light. His mother Isis was
worshipped at On under the name of Isis-Hathor, cor
responding with Venus Urania. Besides these deities,
various animals were held in honour, among them

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 265
being two lions, perhaps representing Sehu and Tef-
nut, who were worshipped under the form of these
animals ; the bull Mnevis, sacred to Ra or Re ; and
the Phoenix, called by the Egyptians Bennu, the bird
of Ra, which was supposed to bring the ashes of its
father to On once every 500 years, after the latter
had been consumed by fire. Other sacred animals
in this city were cats and a white sow. No wonder
the Israelites of old winced at the thought that their
hero Joseph, so perfect in character, wedded the
daughter of a priest of this idolatrous city.
The shrine here was immensely wealthy. The staff
of priests, officials, and subordinates connected with
the temple is said to have numbered no less than
12,913. As the embodiment of the god Ra on earth,
the king of the land naturally gave this shrine pre
dominance, and increased its wealth by his gifts.
This, added to the fact that the place had the honour
of giving him a title (" Lord of On ") of which he,
in his turn, was naturally proud, added greatly to the
renown of the city. Besides the great temples, it is
said to have been also " full of obelisks," which were
dedicated to the Sun-god in consequence of their
being emblematic of his rays. " Cleopatra's Needle "
on the Embankment, the obelisk bearing the same
name at Cairo, the Flaminian obelisk at Rome, and
probably many others, all came from this city. Ac
cording to Herodotus, the priests of Heliopolis or On
were renowned above all others in Egypt for learning.
The Hyksos who held rule in Egypt for so many
centuries are regarded as having been wandering hordes
of Bedouin Asiatics, called by the Egyptians " the im
pure," though they also spoke of them under their
name of Amu, regarded as being a word derived
from the Semitic 'Am, from the root 'amam, meaning
" people." How early they entered the country is
not exactly known, but Petrie's estimate, 2097 B.C.,
may be taken as the nearest at present possible. In

266 THE OLD TESTAMENT
connection with this it may be noted that, at the
modern fishing-village of Sin, the present repre
sentative of the ancient Tanis, which was the city
of the Hyksos kings described above, the faces and
figures of the inhabitants are strange and unlike those
of the remainder of Egypt. They call themselves
Melakiyin, i.e. Melekites or "Royalists," a name
applied in the Christian period to a sect of the
orthodox Church. They were anciently known as
Pi-shemer, corrupted to Bashmurites, and also as
Pi- Amu, corrupted to Biamites. There is, therefore,
hardly any doubt that these people, the descendants
of the wild and turbulent Bashmurites and Biamites
who gave so much trouble to the khalifs Merwan II.
(744 — 750) and Mamun (813 — 822), may claim for
their ancestors either such of the followers of the
Hyksos kings who, on the expulsion of the latter,
decided to remain in the country, or else of those
Semites whom the Hyksos found in Egypt when they
conquered the country, and who helped them to con
solidate their dominion, partly from sympathy and
partly from interest.
Notwithstanding Joseph's long residence in Egypt,
it is noteworthy that, like the Hyksos rulers of the
land, he did not, to all appearance, become in any
sense Egyptianized, but retained his Semitic nation
ality to the last, as is shown by his command to his
Hebrew fellow-subjects to carry his remains away with
them when they, in the fulness of time, should leave
the country. This being the case, Kalisch has asked,
very naturally, " Why did not Joseph, like Jacob, order
his body to be conveyed at once to Canaan ? " In all
probability the explanation is, that the Apophis
referred to by the Greek writers was, as has been
suggested, a contemporary of Seqnen-Re III., and
therefore quite close to the end of the Hyksos period.
Joseph must, then, have passed at least part of his life
under native Egyptian rule, and at this time national

ISAAC, JACOB, AND JOSEPH 267
feeling must have been more violently anti-Semitic
than ever. It may therefore be supposed that it would
not have been by any means politic for him to pro
claim his nationality in this way, for this might have
the effect of endangering the lives and prospects of
his surviving countrymen, who were all related to him,
by attracting to them the attention of the hostile
populace and court — a thing which would, and did,
happen soon enough.
A still more difficult question to answer would be,
"Why did not the Hebrews go out of Egypt with
the Hyksos ? " The answer probably is, that Joseph
was, to all appearance, still known and honoured by
the native Pharaoh, when he came to the throne, for
what he had done for the country. To all appear
ance it was not until after Joseph's death that a
Pharaoh arose who knew him not. It may therefore
be supposed that, until that time, the Hebrews lived
unmolested in the land which they had so long made
their home.

CHAPTER VIII
THE TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS
Egypt and Syria before the Exodus — The testimony of the
Tel-el-Amarna tablets — The relations between the two countries
during the reigns of Amenophis III. and IV. — Burra-burias of
Babylonia, Asur-ubalit of Assyria— Yabitiri, and others in
Palestine— The Habati and the Habiri— The Letters of Abdi-
taba (Ebed-tob, Abd-hiba) — The P haraoh and the prince of the
Amorites — Mahler anci the date of the Exodus.
" Behold, the people of the children of Israel are
more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal with
them wisely, lest they multiply, and it come to pass,
that, when there falleth out any war, they also join
themselves unto our enemies, and fight against us :
and get them out of the land."
Such are the words which the new king who knew
not Joseph, when he came to the throne, spoke to his
people with regard to the alien population which had
been allowed during a former reign to settle in the
land of Goshen, a fruitful district on the north-east
of Egypt, east of Bubastis (Zakazik). It is the speech
of one who feared that, if nothing were done to pre
vent them from becoming too powerful, they would
be a source of danger to the state, as they might join,
with every chance of success, in any attack which
might be made on the kingdom over which he ruled.
It was, in all probability, the presence of a similar
foreign (Semitic) population in or near this district,
about 2100 years B.C., which had contributed — or
perhaps even made — the success of the Hyksos in-
268

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 269
vaders, through which Egypt had been ruled by an
alien dynasty for five hundred years. The repetition
of such a catastrophe was at all hazards to be pre
vented. It would seem, therefore, that the persecution
of the Hebrews was not undertaken altogether
wantonly, but with the object of turning aside a
possible misfortune.
As the historical nature of the Exodus has not as
yet been absolutely disproved, it is here taken to be a
matter of history, and this being the case, it is neces
sary to try to identify, or, rather, to state what are the
most probable opinions, as to the rulers of Egypt at
the time ofthe Oppression and the Exodus. Ramses 1 1.
of the nineteenth dynasty is generally held to be the
Pharaoh of the Oppression, and Meneptah, his son
and successor, the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Lieblein,
however, would regard this latter event as having
occurred during the reign either of Amenophis III.,
or his son, Amenophis IV, of the eighteenth dynasty.
This latter theory is based on the Tel-el-Amarna
letters, which speak of the Habiri, roving bodies of
men which went about Palestine stirring up the
people, and even compelling them by force to re
nounce Egyptian rule (which extended in those days
over the whole of this district). It will be part of
the scope of the present work to examine into this
question. After the death of Seqnen-Re in battle (see p. 255),
he was buried in the usual way at Thebes, implying,
as Petrie points out, that the Egyptians had pushed
their frontier some way to the north, " so that cere
monials at Thebes were uninterrupted." Further
advance, he thinks, was made in the reign of Kames,
" the valiant prince," as he calls himself, because
Aah-mes was able to besiege the stronghold of the
Hyksos down in the Delta at the beginning of his
reign, about 1585 B.C. It is to be noted that two
names come, to all appearance, between those of

270 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Kames and Aah-mes, but these are probably not those
of important kings, though a part of the honour of
the progress made ought to be accredited to them.
To all appearance it was the efforts of the Thebans,
who had been pushing their way northwards during
these last three years, which prepared the way for the
successes of Aah-mes — successes which placed him
on the throne of Egypt, thus making him the founder
of the eighteenth dynasty.
Before he became Pharaoh, he succeeded, within
four or five years, not only in getting rid of the over
lordship of the Hyksos kings, but also in driving
them out of the Nile valley, taking possession of
Avaris, and pursuing them into Palestine. Here, in
the fifth year, he was able to capture Sharhana or
Sharuhen, some miles south of Lachish. He then
went on to Zahi (Phoenicia), and later defeated the
Mentiu of Setet (the Bedouin of the hill-country),
attacking afterwards the Anu Khenti. On his return
to Egypt, he found that he had to deal with two out
breaks on the part of those of the Hyksos (probably
half-breeds) who remained, and these having been
reduced to subjection, there was apparently no further
trouble from the Asiatics remaining in the country.
So popular was this founder of a new dynasty in
Egypt, that both he and his queen had divine honours
paid to them beyond those rendered to any other
Egyptian ruler. His son Amen-hotep I. shared
largely in these testimonies of popular esteem.
After this the power of Egypt increased. The
venerable captain of marines, Aah-mes, relates that
' Aa-kheper-ka-Re (Thothmes I.) went against the Ru-
tennu (Syrians) for the purpose of taking satisfaction,
and marched as far as Naharaina (Upper Mesopotamia),
where he found that an enemy had plotted conspiracy.
On this occasion Thothmes gained many victories and
took many captives, Another official mentioning the
Syrian campaigns of this ruler is Pen-nekheb, who

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 27 1
accompanied him to Naharaina. Thothmes III. also
refers to his grandfather's conquest in Syria, stating
that he placed another inscription where the tablet of
his father 'Aa-kheper-ka-Re was, and adds that " his
majesty came to the city of Niy on his return. Then
his majesty set up his tablet in Naharaina to enlarge
the .frontiers of Kemi," i. e. Egypt. Niy was in the
region of Aleppo, on the Euphrates.
Thothmes II. (1516-1503, Petrie) retained those
portions of Syria which his father had conquered.
An expedition thither is also mentioned by Pen-
nekheb, who says : " I followed the king 'A-kheper-
en-R€ (Thothmes II.), the blessed one. I brought
away from the land of the Shasu (Bedouin, apparently
the same tribes as those to which the Hyksos or hak
shasu belonged) very many prisoners — I cannot
reckon them. . . . The king 'A-kheper-en-Re gave me
two gold bracelets, six collars, three bracelets of lapis-
lazuli, and a silver war-ax."
Thothmes III. (1505-1449), son of Thothmes II.,
had one of the longest and most glorious reigns in all
Egyptian history. He was born at Thebes, and
crowned when about nine years old. On the death of
Hatshepsut, the queen regent, his father's first wife,
who, however, was not his own mother, his warlike
expeditions began, and he assembled an army on the
frontier of Zalu, preparatory to an expedition against
the chiefs of Southern Syria, who had rebelled. This
was his twenty-second year. Next year, on his
coronation-day, he found himself, after a long march,
at Gaza, on the way to Carmel and Megiddo, where
he defeated the assembled Syrian chiefs, and utterly
routed them on the plain of Esdraelon. The allies
then took refuge in the town, which was besieged,
and they were obliged to capitulate. Enormous
spoils from this place, as well as from the other cities
of Syria, was the result. This expedition was repeated
in the two following years.

272 THE OLD TESTAMENT
In his twenty-ninth year he made his fifth expedition
to the Syrian hill-country, Tunep, Arvad, and Phoenicia,
from which latter district much spoil was obtained.
The two following years found him in the same region.
In his thirty-third year he set up a tablet on the
boundaries of Naharaina. The next year he made a
campaign to, and received tribute from Syria, Phoe
nicia, and Cyprus. In his thirty-fifth year he went to
Phoenicia, and received tribute from Naharaina. The
year following this he received tribute from Cyprus.
After this he again went to Phoenicia, and he is sup
posed to have received tribute from Cyprus, Syria,
and the Hittites in the fortieth and forty-first years
of his reign. In his forty-second year there was an
expedition to Tunep, Kadesh, etc. Besides the above,
he either made himself, or dispatched, under his
generals, during his long reign (fifty-four years) many
expeditions into other lands than those mentioned
above, and also took part in numerous works and
public functions in his own country.
The expeditions in Syria made by this king are
told very graphically and at great length. The march
to Megiddo, the council of war, and the dispositions
for the attack, are given in full, and the king claims
to have himself protected his army when going through
a narrow defile in which all might have been lost had
the enemy against whom they were marching made
an onslaught. Representations of the spoil taken
accompany the lists enumerating the amount, and
show that the ancient Syrians had attained to a skill,
in the arts as then known, equal, if not superior, to
that of the Egyptians. Among the places mentioned
are Arvad, Kadesh, Gaza, Yemma, etc. Besides
Thothmes III.'s own annals, there is an inscription of
one of his officers, Amen-em-heb, who gives his ver
sion, which, however, is not divided into different
years. This text mentions the Negeb, where he took
some captives ; Carchemish, from which place he ob-

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 273
tained spoil, and other places. He speaks also of
Thothmes III. having hunted elephants in the land of
Niy, one hundred and twenty in number, for their
tusks. This agrees with what has been stated from
the Assyrian inscriptions (pp. 200, 201) concerning the
existence of these animals in the Lebanon and around
Haran. Thothmes III. was succeeded by Amenophis II.,
a warlike and vigorous ruler, who followed in his
father's footsteps, and by so doing maintained the
power and influence of his country. Petrie {History,
ii. p. 154) argues with great probability that he was
not of age when he came to the throne, and that he
was apparently not the eldest of his father's sons. His
first expedition, which was a raid in Asia " to estab
lish his renown," was probably, as Prof. Petrie says,
in the first or second year of his reign. " His majesty
had success (in Shemesh-atuma of South Galilee), his
majesty himself made captives there. . . . Account of
what his majesty himself took in this day : living
prisoners Satiu 18, oxen 19." Later on he had some
further success, and took spoil from the Satiu with
whom he fought.
In his second year, six months after the above
expedition, he seems to have made a promenade in
force as far as the frontiers of the Egyptian domains
in Asia, in order to assert his power, and as a check
to any disaffection which might exist. After this
there was a triumphal return to Egypt, where he held
a festival on the occasion of the laying of the founda
tion-stone of the temple of Amadeh. Among the
captives sent to Egypt were seven chiefs of the terri
tory of Takhsi, near Aleppo, who were hung up by
the feet on the fore-part of the king's barque. Of these
six were afterwards hung up on the wall of Thebes in
the same manner, a circumstance which suggests that
the Egyptians were upon about the same level as the
Assyrians with regard to their barbarous customs in

274 THE OLD TESTAMENT
war, notwithstanding their civilization and polish in
other things.
He claims as his own nearly all the lands which his
father had conquered — the South land, the Oases, the
Lybians, Nubians, Semites, Kefto (according ro W.
Max Muller, Cilicia), and the Upper Rutennu, or
district of Megiddo.
Amenophis II. died in 1423 B.C., and was succeeded
by his son, Thothmes IV. His earlier years seem to
have been occupied in asserting his power in Syria,
and his later years were devoted to Nubia. Naharaina
and the Kheta or Hittites occur in inscriptions refer
ring to the former period. According to Manetho, he
reigned nine years and eight months. He was suc
ceeded by his son, Amenophis III. (1414-1379, accord
ing to Petrie).
At this time Syria was completely in the hands of
the Egyptians. Constant intercourse went on between
the princes of the two countries, who in Syria seem to
have been contented with their subordinate position.
It is during this reign that the now celebrated Tel-el-
Amarna tablets come to our aid, and show how this
was brought about. Alliance between the two
countries by marriage had taken place, and the royal
and various princely families were therefore related.
Besides this, there was naturally reluctance on the
part of a prince of Syria to take up a hostile attitude
with regard to the king who had taken his daughter
in marriage, as he would always be in fear of endan
gering his daughter's safety, and for the same cause
he would naturally try to restrain the petty rulers of
his own district, including those of his neighbours
who were more of the nature of equals. In addition
to this, the sons of the Syrian chiefs were sent to be
educated in Egypt, and as the Egyptian ruler at the
time had married Syrian princesses, it is probable, as
Petrie says, that the sons of Syrian chiefs, educated in
Egypt, were married to Egyptians at the close of their

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 275
education. As it was only stipulated that they should
be restored to their native country to succeed their
fathers, they may, it is thought, have lived in Egypt
until middle life. This being so, the rulers of Syria
would naturally become imbued with the thoughts
and ways of the Egyptians, and undesirous, therefore,
of throwing off the yoke. If, however, things were all
really as thus depicted, there is one thing which is
strange, namely, that the correspondence which was
carried on between the two districts was not in
Egyptian (which the princes of Syria ought to have
known sufficiently well to write), but in Assyro-
Babylonian, which was a foreign tongue to them all,
especially the king of Mitanni, whose native language
was not even Semitic. That the kings of Babylonia
should correspond with the king of Egypt in Baby
lonian was to be expected, but if the kings of Syria, or
their sons, were educated in Egypt, it is remarkable
that we find so many letters in the Babylonian
language. Apparently, therefore, everything pointed to a con
tinuance of the state of things which existed at the
time of the king's accession to the throne. It was
evidently his desire that nothing should occur to
change the cordial relations which existed between
himself and the Egyptian dependencies, hence the
mild suzerainty exercised. There was an Ethiopian
campaign in his fifth year, after which, to all appear
ance, no warlike expeditions were undertaken — in
fact, it was considered that there was no need for
them. The first wife of Amenophis III. was Teie, as the
Tel-el-Amarna tablets call her.theTeyi of the Egyptian
monuments. She was daughter of Yewea and Tewa,
and was to all appearance of Asiatic nationality.
Prof. Petrie thinks that she may have been of Syrian
race, and as a matter of fact, her portrait shows her
with a pleasant face of Semitic type and a pointed

276 THE OLD TESTAMENT
chin. To all appearance, she was a personage of
great importance in the land, and when negotiations
with the princes of the north were being carried on,
she was one of those who were taken into considera
tion by the outlanders.
In one of the tablets from Tel-el-Amarna, it would
< appear that, besides Teie, Amenophis III. had married
a sister of Dusratta, king of Mitanni, named Gilu-hepa,
for news of whom Dusratta wrote to the Pharaoh,
sending presents to him, as well as to his sister.
Later on, the Egyptian king asks Dusratta for one of
his daughters, sending a messenger named ManS with
a tablet to that effect. As Dusratta in his letter to
the Pharaoh Nimmuaria (Neb-mut-Ra,1 Amenophis
III.) refers to her as the (future) mistress of Egypt, it
is clear that she was intended as the consort of his
son, Amenophis IV. From other letters which passed
between them, it would seem that the princess in
question was named Tadu-hepa, called, in Egyptian,
Nefer-titi (perhaps a translation of her Mitannian
name). It was to all appearance the custom in those
days, as at the present time, for the kings of the various
states to ally themselves by marriage with other royal
houses ; and at a time when kings, at least, were
allowed more wives than one, it was possible for them
to take pledges for the preservation of peace by mak
ing use of the privilege. Quite in accordance with
this are the statements contained in other texts con
cerning intermarriages of this kind, both Amenophis
III. and IV. having likewise espoused Babylonian
princesses, daughters of Kallima-Sin and Burra-burias,
the son ofthe latter being at the same time betrothed to
Amenophis I V.'s daughter. They were also constantly
making presents to each other, each trying to get as
much as he possibly could of the things which were
1 This and other transcriptions of the name into cuneiform
character suggests that it was generally pronounced Neb-mu'a-
Re'a.

VII.

Colossal statue of Hadad, dedicated by Bar-Rekub, King of Sam'allu, to
Hadad, El, Rekub-el, Shamash, and the gods of Yadi, in memory of his
father, Panammu, about 730 B.C. The horned cap which the god wears
probably shows Assyro-Babylonian influence.
Gerchin N.E. of Zenjirl. From Mittheilungen aus den Orientalischen.
Sammlungen, Part XI., by permission of the
(Page 277.) publishing-house of Georg Reimer, Berlin.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 277
not common in his own land — gold, much gold, being
the commodity that the king of Egypt was expected
to supply. The other kings sent him, in return,
various stones (lapis-lazuli being often mentioned),
chariots, horses, and other things, both natural and
manufactured products. The women by whose means
these friendly relations had been established, made
use of the messengers sent to their fatherland to
transmit messages to their relatives and ask after their
health. From these tablets we obtain certain details as to
the state of the Holy Land and the surrounding
country before the entry of the Israelites. Besides
the kingdom of Mitanni mentioned above, there were
the states of Alasia (supposed to be Cyprus), Ziri-
basani (plain of Bashan), Hazor, Askelon, Lachish,
Gaza, Qatna (west of Damascus), Accho, Simyra,
Tyre, Sidon, the Amorites, the Hittites, Dunip
(Tenneb), Jerusalem, etc., etc. Many of them were
small states with the cities after which they are named
as capital, and naturally were obliged to enter into
a league for their common protection, or else accept
the suzerainty of some more powerful state, falling, if
its protector went under, into the power of the common
invader. It must have been in consequence of this
state of things in the east Mediterranean littoral that
Egypt was able to extend her power so far, and
subdue this large district.
From these tablets we learn something of their
religion. To all appearance one of the gods most
worshipped in the extreme west of Asia was Rimmon,
the Rammanu (" thunderer ") of the Assyrians and
Babylonians, the Addu or Hadad of the Semitic
nations of this district (the name Addu afterwards
became general as the appellation of the god in Baby
lonia and Assyria), and the Tesupa or Tesub of
Mitanni (Aram-Naharaim) and district to the north
(Armenia). At Tyre they seem to have worshipped

2;8 THE OLD TESTAMENT
~ „<¦ Hpitv called Salmayatu, whilst the
kPerl?ang Astartef commemorated in al Astarti,
«?hTcity otSSrtu," perhaps Ashtaroth 29 miles
east of Tiberias (Petrie). As the word Ashtoreth is
evidently a lengthening of the name of the Assyro-
Babylonian goddess Istar, it is not to be wondered at
that this goddess should be mentioned by the king of
Mitanni, Dusratta, who refers to a statue of Istar of
Nineveh, which had been sent to Egypt, and requests
that it may be returned to him soon. The name of
Nergal, also, was evidently familiar to the king of
Alasia, for he speaks of the hand of that god as having
killed all his people, when wishing to refer to the
prevalence of a pestilence there, Nergal being the
Assyro-Babylonian god of disease and death. In
the same way Dusratta speaks of Samas, the Assyro-
Babylonian Sun-god, but he refers to him more as
the luminary which men love than as a god, though
there is every probability that he was worshipped in
Mitanni.1 Another Assyro-Babylonian deity whose
name occurs is Ninip, once in the name of Abad-
Ninip, " servant of Ninip," apparently a Gebalite, and
again in dl Bith-Nimp, "(city of) the temple of
Ninip," in a district which Abad-Asirta called upon
to unite against Gebal — perhaps the Beth-Ninip in
the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. In the name of
Abad-Asirta it is to be noted that we have here, to
all appearance, the name of the asherah or " grove " of
the Authorised Version, the " token " of the goddess
Istar,2 with the ideogram for which the word once
interchanges. The Egyptian god Amana (Amon) is
mentioned several times, invoked apparently as a
god in whom the writer believed, though he was the
special god of the Egyptians and the Egyptian king.
1 Another god of Mitanni seems to have been Eaalarri,
probably from the Babylonian £a sarru, " Ea (Ae) the king."
Other Mitannian deities are Simigi and Susbi.
2 Compare the Arabic eshdra, " sign."

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 279
In addition to the above deities, the names of men
reveal Uras, the god of Dailem near Babylon, Bidina,
another Babylonian deity, and Merodach, the principal
god of the Babylonians. Among west Semitic deities
may be mentioned Dagan (Dagon), Milku (Melech,
Moloch), and others.
Notwithstanding a considerable period of Egyptian
rule, therefore, Babylonian influence, which had been
predominant in the tract for many centuries, still held
the upper hand. Merodach was to all appearance
venerated, Nergal was worshipped as the god of death
and disease, Istar was held in high esteem. It must
have been during those centuries of Babylonian rule
that the worship of Tammuz or Adonis got into the
country, becoming one of the stumbling-blocks of the
Israelites in later days, when Hebrew women lamented
for him, hidden in the realm of darkness where dwelt
Persephone (Eres-ki-gala, "the lady of the great
domain" of the Babylonians); into whose realm, at
great risk, Istar, his spouse, descended to seek him,
but only escaped from the rival's clutches by the
intervention of the gods.
Exceedingly interesting are the various forms of
government in Western Asia at this period. Among
hereditary chiefs may be mentioned Etakama of
Gidji (Kadesh), Sum-addu, who is probably the same
as Samu-Addu, prince of Samhuna, Mut-zu'u (see p.
286), and Aziru, though this last is doubtful, as in one
of the letters he calls himself a governor installed by
the king of Egypt. The best example of an elected
chief, however, is in all probability Yabitiri, governor
of Gaza and Jaffa, who, when young, went down to
Egypt and served in the Egyptian army, being after
wards appointed to the posts which he held later.
The power of the Egyptian kings of a period somewhat
preceding this is well exemplified by the fact, that
Addu-nirari of Assyria attributes to an Egyptian
ruler the appointment of his grandfather and father as

280 THE OLDNTESTAMENT
kings of Nuhasse, on account of which all three rulers
seem to have acknowledged Egyptian overlordship.
An interesting instance of female rule is that of Nin-
Urmuru Q),1 who, in her letters, mentions Ajalon and
Sarha (identified with Zorah), probably lying in her
district. Most interesting of all, however, is the case of
Jerusalem, whose ruler, as will be seen from the letters
quoted later on, was apparently elected by some of
the magnates of the district which acknowledged his
sway, and who were probably the members of a
religious community. Nothing, however, is known
ofthe electorate or the system of election employed —
all that can be said is, that the ruler was not placed
there by virtue of his father or his mother, but by the
" mighty king."
The matter of the government of Dunip, one of the
most important towns of ancient Palestine, is also of
importance, as it does not seem to have possessed an
autocratic head of any kind, and may have been a
kind of republic. Its government was probably similar
to that of Irqata, which was ruled over by its elders,
acknowledging the overlordship of the Egyptian king.
A similar state of things seems to have prevailed in
Babylonia, where, however, the king of Babylon was
naturally recognized as lord of the country. In all
probability the towns governed by their elders were
regarded as royal cities of Egypt, whilst the others
were semi-independent states.
The relations of the Egyptian king with foreign
states is well illustrated by the following —
1 Nin-urmuru (?) is only a provisional transcription, being at
least partly Akkadian. Her name in all probability began with
Bilit, ."lady oi"=Bdalat. As the name ends with the plural
sign, the question naturally arises whether it may not be practi
cally a title — " Lady of the Urmuru " (?), or something of the
kind.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 28 1
LETTER FROM THE BABYLONIAN KING BURRA-BURIAS
(BURNA-BURIA§) TO AMENOPHIS IV. KING OF EGYPT.
" (To) Naphu'ruria the king of Egypt, my brother,
say also thus : * It is Burra-burias, king of the land of
Karu-dunias, thy brother. My health is good. To
thee, thy country, thine house, thy wives, thy sons, thy
great men, thine horses, thy chariots, may there be very
good health.
"'I and my brother have spoken friendship with
each other, and we said as follows : " As our fathers
were with each other, let us be friendly." Now my
merchants, who went with Ahi-tabu, remained in the
land of Kinahhi (Canaan) for trade after Ahi-tabu
proceeded to my brother,1 in the city Hinnatunu of
the land of Kinahhi (Canaan). Sum-adda, son of
Malumme, (and) Sutadna, son of Saratum, of the city
of Akka (Accho), have sent their people, have killed
my merchants, and taken their money away. (They
are) in (service) wi(th them). When (I heard this), I
sent to thee. Ask him (the messenger) — let him tell
thee.'" (REVERSE)
" (Ki)nahhi is thy land, and thou art king. In thy
land have I been ill-treated — res( train them) : make
(up) the money which they have taken away ; and
kill the people who have killed my subjects, and
avenge them. And if thou kill not these people, they
will return, and both kill my caravans and thy
messengers, and the messenger will be broken off
between us, and his name will become strange to thee.
One man (of) mine, when Sum-adda had cut off his
feet,2 he held him prisoner ; and another man, when
1 I. e. to king Amenophis, to whom he was writing.
2 In all probability this is metaphorically spoken, and means
simply that he captured him. The feet of those vanquished in
battle were sometimes cut off, but it is hardly likely that a man
would survive this without medical treatment.

282 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Sutadna, the Akkaite (Acchoite), had caused him to
be placed with the servants, became a servant before
him.1 Let (them return) those men to me. Behold,
(my brother), thou knowest (my) health. Now I am
causing to be brought to thee i mana of lapis-stone
(as a gi)ft. (Let) my (messe)nger (come back) quickly,
(that) I may know my brother's (heal)th. (But) do
not de(tain) my (mess)enger — let him be sent (back)
quickly." It is clear from this, and from other inscriptions of
the series, that a kind of international law existed
among the nations of the ancient East, by which they
were expected to protect the caravans passing through
each other's territory, arid, in fact, see that no harm
came to any of each other's subjects. They were
expected to punish all persons who may have attacked
and ill-treated or murdered them, and make restitution
of property stolen. The law (probably an unwritten
one) was evidently much the same as prevails among
civilized nations at the present day. That these
ancient rulers always obtained from their " brothers "
the redress which they demanded, is more than doubt
ful. Burra-burias's entreaty that his messenger might
be returned to him quickly points to vexatious delays
on former occasions, and probable failure to obtain any
justice or redress whatever.
The relations of Egypt with Assyria were similar
to those with Babylonia, except that the Assyrian king,
as has been shown, was, in some respects, a vassal.
LETTER FROM THE ASSYRIAN KING ASUR-UBALLIT
TO AMENOPHIS IV. KING OF EGYPT.
(Divided into paragraphs in accordance with the
indications of the original text.)
" To Naphuri, (the great king ?), the king of Egypt,
1 Lit. " stood before him." *

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 283
my brother, (say) thus : ' It is Asur-uballit, king of
Assur, the great king, thy hrother.'
" To thee, to thy house and thy country, may there
be peace.
" When I saw thy messengers, I rejoiced greatly.
Thy messengers are staying with me for a time.
" I am causing to be brought to thee as thy gift a
harnessed royal chariot of my . . ., and 2 white horses
. . . and one chariot without harness, and one seal of
lapis-lazuli. " Thy gift for the great king is this : Gold in thy
land is as dust — let them collect it. Why should I be
of little worth in thine eyes ? I have undertaken to
build a new palace. Cause gold, as much as is its
need and requirement, to be brought.
" When Asur-nadin-^hi, my father, sent to the land
of Egypt, they caused to be brought to him 20 talents
of gold.
"When the Haligalbatian king sent to Egypt to
thy father, he caused 20 talents of gold to be brought
to him.
"(And as he caused gold to be broug)ht to the
Hali(gal)batian king, so shouldst thou cause gold to
be brought to me, (thy brother (?). Thy gift) suffi-
ceth not to pay for the going and returning of my
messengers. " If thou wilt be generous, kindly cause much gold
to be brought, and (the palace will be) thy house. Send,
and thou mayest take what thou desiresf.1
" We are distant countries, therefore go our messen
gers backwards and forwards.
" As for thy messengers, the Sutites retarded (them)
to thee. They were threatening (?) them with death,
until I sent, and the Sutites took flight.1 I have killed
them, my messengers therefore will not be delayed.
1 Compare Prof. jSayce's translation in the Records of the Past,
2nd series, vol. iii. p. 63. 11. 37-40. The rendering given above
was made quite independently, ^hus favouring the translation
here proposed.

284 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" As for messengers abroad, why should they not
stay and die there ? If they stay abroad, the king will
have the property, so let him stay and let him die
abroad, the king will have the property. Is (it) not
(so)? Why should he die abroad ? The messengers
whom we s(end) . . . messengers . . . they ... die
abroad." The last paragraph is difficult to understand on
account of its being so mutilated. It would seem,
however, that the Assyrian king was making a proposal
that there should be permanent resident representatives
of Egypt in his capital, as is the case among all civilized
nations at the present time. Whether the reference
to the property of the ambassador owned by him in
Egypt be of the nature of a joke or not is uncertain.
It implies, however, that the property of a person
absenting himself from his native land for a lengthened
period became sequestrated to the Crown. But in
whatever light the suggestion to the Egyptian king
be viewed, the proposal is undoubtedly a strange one,
and throws a curious light on the turn of mind of the
writer of the letter. His desire for gold, which he
possessed in common with many contemporary
princes, is indicated by the earlier paragraphs of his
letter. The relations of Egypt with another class of ruler is
well illustrated by the following letter from a prince or
governor brought up in Egypt —

YABITIRI ASSERTS HIS FAITHFULNESS, AND TOUCHES
UPON HIS EARLY LIFE.
" To the king my lord, my gods, my Sun-gods, say
also thus : ' (it is) Yabitiri thy servant, the dust of thy
feet. At the feet of the king my lord, my gods, my
Sun-gods, seven times, and twice seven times I fall.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 285
Furthermore, behold, I am a faithful servant1 of the
king my lord. I look here, and I look there,2 and it
is not clear ; then I look upon the king my lord, and
it is clear. And the brick-foundation may give way
from beneath its wall, but I will not give way from
beneath the feet of the king my lord. And the king
my lord may ask Yanhama, his official, (concerning)
when I was young, and they sent me down to Egypt,
where I served the king my lord, and stood in the
city-gate of the king my lord. And the king my
lord may ask his official when I guard the city-gate
of Azzati (Gaza) and the city-gate of Yapu (Jaffa).
And I am with the hired troops of the king my
lord, where they go, I am with them, and I am
also, therefore, with them now. The yoke of the
king my lord is on my neck, and I bear it.'"
Apparently there had been spread abroad some
statement reflecting on the faithfulness of the writer,
who seeks to justify himself by appealing to his
former services to the Egyptian king. His letter
has a ring of sincerity in it which is wanting in many
of the communications of this nature.
Reference has already been made to the caravans
which passed through the territory ofthe various rulers,
and the protection which those rulers were supposed to
extend to them. Burra-burias, in his letter translated
above, complains that Babylonian caravans had been
attacked in the land of Canaan, and asks for the
punishment of the persons involved. To all appear
ance the protection of the caravans was entrusted to
certain chiefs, owing allegiance to the Egyptian king,
who always held themselves ready to perform this
duty. The following translation shows how one of
the chiefs or governors of a Canaanitish district
looked after the caravans, as his father did before
him — 1 Lit. "a servant of faithfulness."
2 Lit. " I look thus, and I look thus."

286 THE OLD TESTAMENT
LETTER FROM MUT-ZU'U TO THE KING OF EGYPT.
" To the king, my lord and my sun, say thus : ' It
is Mut-zu'u1 thy servant, the dust of thy feet, the
earth for thee to tread upon. Seven times, twice
seven times, I fall down at the feet of the king my
lord.' " The king my lord has sent by Haya to speak of
the Hana-galbat2 caravan. This I have dispatched
and have directed it. Who am I, that I should not
dispatch the caravans of the king my lord ? Behold,
(Lab)'aya, my father, (who was faithful) to the king
his lord, used to send (a caravan, and give directions
concerning it. The cara)vans (which) the king
(di)rected to the land of Hana-galbat (and) to the
land of Kara-dunias let the king my lord send. (As
to) the caravan, I will bring it so that it is safe."
As will be seen from this, Mut-zu'u was one of the
humble vassels of " the king his lord," who at that
time — evidently the peaceful days of Amenophis
III. — was the happy possessor of many such. As
examples of the relations between the smaller rulers
and their suzerain, may be quoted two of the numer
ous letters of Yidia of Askelon, who provided the
necessaries for the Egyptian army in Palestine.

YIDIA, THE ASKELONITE, CONCERNING THE KING'S
REPRESENTATIVE.
"To the king, my lord, my Sun, the Sun who
(cometh) from the heavens, (say also) thus : ' (It is)
Yidia, the Askelonite, thy servant, the dust of thy
1 It is doubtful whether the full form of the name is preserved,
the tablet being broken at this point.
2 Hani-galbat is identified with northern Mesopotamia (Aram-
Naharaim), and was the land ruled over by Dusratta, king of
Mitanni, a synonym of which, at least in part, the district known
as Hani-galbat was. Hana-galbat is apparently a variant spelling.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 287
feet, thy charioteer.1 I fall down before the feet of
the king my lord seven tirnes and twice seven times,
back and breast.'
" Now (for) my (lord), (for) the gods of the king
my lord, my god, my Sun, I guard this city, and
again  let me protect all his land.
" I have heard the words of the king my lord to his
representative, when he is not able to protect the
country of the king my lord. So now the king my
lord has appointed Rianappa, the representative of
the king my lord, to whom 2 I will bring (?) good
fortune for the king.
" Whatever cometh out of the mouth of the king
my lord, lo, that will I keep day and night."
YIDIA CONCERNING THE COMMISSARIAT.
" To the king my lord, my Sun, my god, the Sun
who (cometh) from the heavens, (say also) thus : ' (it is)
Yidia thy servant, the dust of thy feet, thy charioteer.
I fall down at the feet of the king my lord seven
times and twice seven times, back and breast. Behold,
I am keeping the commands of the king my lord, the
son of the Sun, and behold, I have provided the food,
drink, oil, grain, oxen, (and) sheep, for the soldiers of
the king my lord — provisions, every kind, for the
soldiers of the king my lord. Who would be a
vassal, and not obey the words of the king my lord,
the son of the Sun ? ' "
Letters similar to the above are numerous, and show
that Egyptian rule was not regarded as burthensome —
indeed, it may have been even welcome, tending in all
1 Or " the keeper of thy horses." The dual sign before the
word "horses" suggests that "attendant," "guardian," or
" driver " of the two horses of the king's chariot is meant. The
expression is apparently intended merely to indicate the writer's
position as vassal.
2 Lit. " to whose head," apparently meaning " to whose
self" = "to whom."

288 THE OLD TESTAMENT
probability to the preservation of peace. It must
have been difficult, however, for the Egyptian king to
hold the scales of justice always even, for among the
governors were always men who professed faithful
ness, but who aimed at throwing off the Egyptian
yoke, light as it was.
In all probability the trouble began in the north,
that district being farthest from the Egyptian marches,
and what was going on there was on that account
longer in reaching the knowledge of the king. Judg
ing from a letter from Rabi-mur, written from Gebal,
Etakama, of Kinza and Kadesh, smote the whole of
the lands of Amki, " the territory of the king." " And
now," the inscription continues, "he has sent his
people to seize the lands of Amki and the places
which his enemies, the king of the land of Hatta
(Heth), and the land of Narima (Naharaim), have
destroyed, and" (here the writer breaks off the
narrative). Other accounts of this affair are as follows —
BERI- ... TO THE KING ABOUT THE ATTACK
ON AMKI.
" To the king (my) lord say also thus : ' (it is) Beri-
. . . the Hasabite. Down to the dust of the feet
of the king my lord seven (times) and seven (times) I
fall. Behold, we were besieging in the land of Amki
cities for (?) the king my lord, and there came
E(dagama) the Kinzite(at) the head of soldiers (ofthe
land of H)at(ti). And he sent . . . the king my
lord J ... to E(dagama). And may the king my
lord know, and may the king (my) lord give hired
soldiers and we will take the cities (for) the king my
lord, and we will dwell in the cities of the king my
lord, my god, my Sun.' "
1 Probably better if corrected in accordance with the third
account, "to take the cities of the king my lord," instead of
"and he sent . . . the king my lord.''

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 289
ILU-DAYAN TO THE KING UPON THE SAME SUBJECT.
" (To) the king my lord, (my) god, my (Sun), say
also thus : '(It is) Ilu-dayan (?) the Hazite. Down to
the dust of the feet of the king my lord seven (times)
and seven (times) I fall. Behold, we were besieging
in the land of Amki the cities of the king my lord,
and there came E(dagama) the Kinzite (at the head
of) soldiers of the Hatfti] . . . and ... for
the king my lord.' "

ANOTHER ACCOUNT FROM A LEADER WHOSE NAME
IS LOST.
" (To the king my lord, my god, my Sun, say also
thus : ' (it is) A . . the . . . Down) to the
feet of the king my lord seven (times) and seven
(times) I fall. Behold we we besieging in the land of
Amki the cities of the king my lord, and there came
Eda(gama) the Kinzite at the head of (the soldiers) of
the Hatta to take the cities of the king my lord
. . . and we will take the cities of the king my
lord, my god, my Sun, and we will dwell in the cities
of the king my lord.' "
As will easily be seen, all these accounts agree.
The three persons whose letters are translated here
were besieging cities in the territory known as Amki
(identified with 'Amq), when Edagama (also called
Etagama, Etakkama, Itatkama, Itakama, and Aidag-
gama) swooped down on them at the head of an army
of Hittites, and to all appearance compelled them to
desist. On the field of battle, in all probability, they
decided to write to the king of Egypt, to let him know
how things were going, and this they did practically
in identical terms, with the same expressions, and
the same peculiarities of spelling, pointing to the
probability that the same scribe wrote all three com-
T

290 THE OLD TESTAMENT
munications. In the letter of Rabi-mur, of which a
quotation is given above, Amki is called " the king's
territory," implying that it was a tract acknowledging
Egyptian supremacy, which the Hittites were trying
to wrest from the Pharaoh's grasp. It was the king's
friends who were besieging the king's cities (as Ilu-
dayan and the unknown writer calls them), because
they desired to recover them from the hands of the
enemy. With help from the Egyptian king, they
thought that they would be able to do this without
difficulty. There seems to be (as far as can at present
be judged) no reason to suppose that the beginning
of the expulsion of the Egyptians from Palestine was
due to the over-zeal of the supporters of Egyptian
rule in that country, who, striving to extend the
dominions of their suzerain, drew down upon him,
and on themselves, the hostility of all the independent
states of Western Asia. The Egyptian kings, in their
wisdom, must have warned their vassals in Palestine
against the danger of such action on their part.
Gradually the trouble spread, and the Hittites and
their allies took possession of the territories south of
the tracts referred to, trying at the same time to win
over to their side the governors who were faithful to
Egypt. Wherever the enemy makes his appearance,
the message sent to the Egyptian king announcing
the fact always, or nearly always, contains a request
for troops. The fact that Etakama had allied himself
with the Hittites against the supporters of Egyptian
rule is confirmed by other documents, notably the
letters of Akizzi, governor of Qatna, a city which
Petrie places west of Damascus. Akizzi also men
tions Teuwatti of Lapana, and Arzauya of Ruhizzu,
together with a ruler named Dasa, as being leagued
against them. All this time, it may be noted, Eta
kama was posing as a friend of the Egyptian king,
and complaining of the others, particularly Namya-
waza, one of Egypt's most faithful allies, who, in a

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 29 1
letter couched in the usual humble style of the period,
announces his readiness to serve " with his horses and
chariots, and with his brothers, and with his SA-GAS,
and with his Sutites, along with the hired soldiers,
whithersoever the king his lord should command him."
Now in this letter there is one noteworthy fact, and
that is, that the SA-GAS and the Sutites are men
tioned together as the allies of an important vassal of
the Egyptian king, the latter being apparently wan
dering hordes of plunderers (see above, p. 283), whom
Kadasman-Murus, king of Babylonia, sent from east
to west " until there were no more." This took place
at a somewhat later date, so that they still roamed
about the eastern portion of the country, between
Palestine and Babylonia, apparently giving their ser
vices to any power which might desire to make use of
them. The question of the identification of the troops
or bands of warriors designated by the Akkadian
compound SA-GAS is, however, of still greater
importance. Most Assyriologists regard them as
being identical with the Habiri, mentioned in the
letters of Abdi-tabu or Ebed-tob. This, of course, is
possible, but it is unfortunate that no direct confirma
tion of this identification exists. In the bilingual
lists of Babylonia and Assyria, the expression
SA-GAS, duly provided with the determinative
prefix indicating a man or a class of men, occurs,
and is always translated by the word habbatu, the
probable meaning of which is " robber," from the root
habatu, " to plunder " It is also noteworthy that
there is a star called SA-GAS, and this is likewise
rendered by the same word, namely, habbatu. The
fact that it is once provided with the determinative
ki ("place") does not help us, for this may be simply
an oversight or a mannerism of the scribe. Moreover,
the difficulty of identifying the SA-GAS with the
Habiri of the inscriptions of Abdi-taba is increased

292 THE OLD TESTAMENT
by the word occurring in these texts (Winckler's No.
216, 1. 11), followed by the explanation {ameluti
habati), an arrangement which we find in others of
these letters, when an ideograph has to be explained ;
and when they are, as here, Akkadian ideographs and
Babylonian words, the second is always the pro
nunciation of the first — never the alternative reading.
Indeed, in the present case, such an explanation
would be misleading instead of helpful (were the word
SA-GAS to be read Habiri), for the scribe tells you
to read it habati — the same word as is given in the
bilingual lists, but spelled with one b instead of two.
In all probability, therefore, the habati were wan
dering hordes differing from the Sutites in not having
any special nationality, and being composed of the
offscourings of many peoples of the ancient East
They were probably included in the habiri, together
with the nations with which they were afterwards
associated. The habiri were not the Hebrews, neither
the word nor the date being what we should expect
for that nationality, who were still in Egypt. The
best identification as yet published is that of Jastrow,
who connects it with the Hebrew Heber, the patron
ymic of various persons. Better still, however, would
be the Heb. haber, pi. haberim, " companions," also
used of tribes joined together to form a nation.
Whether an advance guard of the Hebrews is to be
included in this term or not, must be left to the
judgment of the student.
The gradual loss of the districts south of Damascus
in all probability followed. A letter from Mut-Addu
(the only one from him) to Yanhamu speaks of the
cities of the land of Gam (identified — though the
identification is not quite satisfactory — with the Heb.
Gur), namely Udumu (identified by Petrie with
Adamah, though the form does not agree so well as
might be wished, and Udumu is the usual way of
rendering the word Edom, which is referred to in the

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 293
cuneiform inscriptions both as a land and a city),
Aduri (Petrie : et-Tireh),Araru (Petrie: Arareh),Mestu
(Petrie: Mushtah), Magdali (Magdala), Hini-anabi
(Ain-anab, if rightly identified — there is a certain
difficulty in the word possessing a guttural at the
beginning and not likewise as the first letter of the
second component — probably 'Anab, south-west of
Hebron, the Anab of Josh. xi. 21), and Sarki. At this
time, according to the tablet, Hawani and Yabisi
(Jabesh) had been captured. It is probably on
account of the occupation of the country by so
many hostile tribes that the protest of Burra-burias
of Babylonia (see p. 281) was sent, but it was in all
probability exceedingly difficult for the Egyptian king
to afford any protection whatever to the caravans
which passed through the disaffected area.
One of the things which the Tel-el-Amarna letters
show very clearly is, that it must have been very
difficult for the Pharaoh to know who were his friends
and who were his enemies among the rulers of the
Philistines. The Amorite Abdi-Asirta and his allies
were from the first desirous to throw off the Egyptian
yoke, but this prince at the same time constantly
sent letters to Amenophis IV. protesting his fidelity.
Other chiefs who were hostile to Egypt are Etakama,
the sons of Lab'aya, Milktli, Yapa-Addu, Zimreda of
Sidon, Aziru, and others. On the king's side were
Namyawaza, who held Kumidi (Petrie : Kamid-el-
Lauz), Rib-Addi, whose chief cities were Gebal,
Beyrout, and Simyra, Zimreda of Lachish, and Abdi-
tiba of Jerusalem. Numbers of chiefs, at first faith
ful, went over to the enemy when they saw the
success of the league against the foreign power.
It is impossible to suppose that the letters now
known (about three hundred in number) represent all
the correspondence which passed between Palestine
and Egypt concerning the state of the country during
the reigns of Amenophis III. and IV., and from the

294 THE OLD TESTAMENT
time the troubles there commenced, complaints and
applications for help must have claimed the attention
of the Egyptian translator literally in shoals. One of
the most remarkable of these is the letter from the
people of Dunip, who say that, in consequence of the
state of things in Palestine, they belong no longer to
the king of Egypt, to whom they had been sending
for twenty years, but their messengers had been
retained. Their prince (to all appearance) had been
taken back to Egypt by the king's orders, after he
had allowed him to return to his country, so that they
had not seen him again. "And now Dunip, thy
city, weeps, and its tears flow, and there is no one to
take our hands {i. e. help us). We have sent to the
king, the lord, the king of Egypt, and not a single
word from our lord hath reached us."
Were they really sorry to be no longer under
Egyptian rule? or were they merely desirous that
their prince should be restored to them ?
During this period, naturally enough, recriminations
were going on on every side. Those who were faithful
very properly made complaints and uttered warn
ings concerning those who were unfaithful. The
waverers, the unfaithful, and the hostile, on the other
hand, were continually asserting their fidelity, and
accusing those who were really well-disposed towards
Egypt of all kinds of hostile acts against the supreme
power. This is evident from the correspondence of
Abdi-taba of Jerusalem, who, in one of his letters,
writes as follows —
" (T)o the king my lord say also thus : ' It is Abdi-
taba, thy servant. At the feet of my lord the king
twice seven times and twice seven times I fall. What
have I done against the king my lord ? They back
bite — they slander l me before the king my lord,
(saying) : ' Abdi-t&ba has fallen away from the king
1 Thus in the original — apparently Abdi-taba thought that
" they backbite " (ikalu karsi) might not be understood.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 295
his lord." Behold, (as for) me, neither my father nor
my mother set me in this place— the arm of the
mighty king caused me to enter into the house of my
father. Why should I commit a sin against the king
my lord ? As the king my lord lives, I said to the
commissioner of the king (my) lord : " Why love ye
the Habiri and hate the gover(nors) ? it is on account
of this that they utter slander before the king my
lord." Then he said : " The countries of the king my
lord have rebelled, therefore they utter slander to the
king my lord." ' "
The ruler of Jerusalem then seems to say, that the
king had placed a garrison in some city or other, but
it had been taken, apparently by Yanhamu — there
was no longer a garrison (in that place). The king's
cities under Ili-milku had revolted, the whole of the
land of the king was lost, so let the king have care for
his land. He would like to go to the king, to urge
him to take action, but the people in his district were
too mighty for him, and he could not leave it. As
long as the king lived, and as long as he sent a com
missioner, he would continue to give warning. If
troops were sent that year, things would be saved,
otherwise the king's lands would be lost. Abdi-taba
ends with an appeal to the scribe to place the matter
clearly before the king.
Another very important letter from Abdi-taba is as
follows —
" (T)o the king my lord, (my) Sun, (say also) thus :
' It is Abdi-taba, thy servant. Twice seven times and
twice seven times I fall down before the feet ofthe king
my lord. Behold, the king my lord has set his name
to the rising of the sun and the setting of the sun.
The slandering which they slander against me !
Behold, I am not a governor, the king my lord's mag
nate. Behold, I am an officer of the king, and have
brought the tribute of the king. (As for) me, it was
not my father nor my mother — it was the arm of the

296 THE OLD TESTAMENT
mighty king who set me in the house of my father.
(When so and so),1 the commissioner of the king, re
turned to me, 1 3 prisoners (?) (and a certain number 2)
of slaves I gave. Suta, the commissioner of the king,
came (back t)o me ; 21 girls (and) 20 3 (?) prisoners I
gave (in)to the hand of Suta (as) a gift for the king
my lord. Let the king take counsel with regard to
his land — the land of the king, all of it, has revolted,
it has set itself against me.4 Behold, (as for) the lands
of Seri (Seir) as far as Guti-kirmil (Gath-Carmel), the
governors have allied themselves 5 and there is hostility
against me. Even though one be a seer, one wishes
not to see the tears of the king my lord, when enmity
exists against me. As long as ships were in the midst
ofthe sea, the power of the mighty king took Nahrima
(Naharaim) and the land of Kassi,6 but now the Habiru
have taken the cities of the king. There is not one
governor for the king my lord — all have rebelled.
Behold, Turbazu has been killed at the gate of the
city Zilu, (and) the king (?) remained inactive. Be
hold, (as for) Zimreda of the city of Lakisu (Lachish),
(his) servants lay in wait for him (?), they took (him)
to kill (?) (him). Yapti'-Addu has been killed (at) the
gate of the city of Zilu, (and) the king remained in
active . . . ask (?) him . . . (let) the kin(g have care
for his land, and let) the king give attention . . . (let
him send) troops to the land of (the city of Jerusa
lem (?), and) if there are not troops this year, the
whole ofthe lands of the king my lord are lost. They
do not tell the king my lord (this). When the country
of the king my lord is lost, then are lost (also) all the
governors. If there be not troops this year, let the
1 The name is lost. 2 The number is lost. 3 This number is
incomplete. 4 Lit. " taken hostility against me."
6 Lit. " there is alliance to all the governors."
6 The scribe has left out a wedge in the middle character,
making the name Kapasi.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 297
king direct his commissioner and let him take me —
(send him) to me with my brothers, and we will die
with the king my lord.' (To the) scribe of the king
my lord (say also thus): 'It is Abdi-taba, (thy)
servant. (I fall down) at (thy) feet. Cause (my)
words to enter (pl)ainly to the king (my lord). I am
thy (faith)ful servant.' "
The final phrase resembles that of an English
letter. According to Petrie, Seri is Shaaraim (Josh. xv. 36),
now Khurbet es-Sairah. If the character read as gu
in Guti-Kirmil (Winckler, Gin(?)ti-Kirmil) be cor
rectly drawn in the official published copy, there is
considerable doubt as to the reading of the first
syllable of this interesting name. Zilu, where Turbazu
and Yapti'-Addu were killed, is identified by Petrie
with Zelah, north of Jerusalem. This letter gives an
excellent illustration of the state of the country at the
time. In another letter Abdi-taba explains how all the
lands had concluded a bond of hostility against him,
and the districts of Gezer, Askelon, and Lachish had
supplied these people with food. After this comes
the usual request for troops, and the indication that,
if troops be sent " this year," the situation would be
saved — next year there would be neither countries nor
governors for the king (in Palestine). " Behold, this
land of the city of Jerusalem, neither my father nor
my mother gave it to me — the power of the mighty
king gave it to me, (even) to me." " See," he con
tinues, " this deed is the deed of Milki-ili, and the
deed of the sons of Lab'aya, who have given the land
of the king to the Habiri." He then goes on to speak
of the Kasi, who seem to have supported the con
federates with food, oil, and clothes. Next follows
what Paura, the king's commissioner, had told him
about the disaffection of Adaya. Caravans had been
robbed in the field of the city of Yaluna (Ajalon), but

298 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Abdi-tiba could not prevent this : "(I mention this)
in order to inform thee." "Behold, the king has
placed his name in the land of Jerusalem forever, and
the forsaking of the lands of Jerusalem is not possible."
After this comes the usual note to the scribe in
Egypt, followed by a postscript referring to the
people of Kasi, disclaiming some evil deed which had
been done to them. " Do not kill a worthy servant
(on that account ").
Yet another letter refers to Milki-ili and Lab'aya :
" Behold, has not Milki-ili fallen away from the sons of
Lab'aya and from the sons of Arzawa to ask the land
ofthe king for them?1 A governor, who has done
this deed, why has the king not called him to account
for this ? " The narrative breaks off where Abdi-taba
begins to relate something further concerning Milki-ili
and another named Tagi. When the text again
becomes legible, Abdi-taba is again referring to the
fact that there is no garrison of the king in some
place whose name is lost. " Therefore — as the king
lives — Puuru ( = Pauru) has entered it — he has de
parted from my presence, (and) is in the city of Gaza.
So let the king indicate to him (the necessity) of a
garrison to protect the country. All the land of the
king has rebelled. Send Ya'enhamu (Yanhamu), and
let him become acquainted with (lit. let him know)
the country of the king {i. e. the true state of affairs ").
Here follows a note to the scribe in Egypt similar to
that translated above.
One of the most interesting and instructive of the
letters of Abdi-taba is that which Petrie regards as
the latest of the series ; and on account of its import
ance, it is given in full here —
" (To) the king, my lord, (s)ay also thus : ' It is
1 Apparently meaning that Milki-ili, pretending to be faithful
to the king of Egypt, intended to ask him, later on, for the
territory governed by Lab'aya and Arzawa, in order to give it
back to them, they having forfeited it by their rebellion.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 299
(Abdi)-taba thy servant. At the feet of the (ki)ng
my lord twice seven times and twice seven times
I fall down. (Behold, the deed) which Milki-ili and
Su-ardatum have done to the land of the king my
lord has been successful (?). The men of the city
of Gazri (Gezer), the men of the city of Gimti
(Gath), and the men of the city of Kilti (Keilah)
have been captured. The land of the city of
Rubute has revolted. The land of the king (belongs
to) the Habiri. And now, moreover, a city of the
land of Jerusalem, the city Beth-Ninip (" House " or
" Temple of Ninip ") — (this is) its name — has revolted
to the people of Kilti. Let the king hearken to
Abdi-taba thy servant, and let him send hired soldiers,
and let me bring back the land of the king to the
king. And if there be no hired soldiers, the land of
the king will go over to the men, the Habiri. This
deed (is the deed of) Su-ardatum (and) Milki-ili . . .
city . . . and let the king care for his land.' "
Whether the fall of Jerusalem followed or not is
doubtful ; nor is it certain that the Egyptians were
ultimately driven out. Other letters seem to show
how the influence of those whom Abdi-taba calls the
Habiri, and others the Habati — the " confederates "
and the " plunderers " — spread still farther southward.
Naturally more information is required to enable it to
be known in what manner the Egyptians tried to
retrieve their position, and how it was that Amenophis
IV. delayed so long the sending of troops. All the
governors who were in the least degree faithful to
Egypt united in repeatedly warning him as to what
was taking place, and urging him to send troops.
Had the rebellion or invasion — whichever it was —
been nipped in the bud, Palestine would have re
mained a faithful Egyptian province. All the king
did, however, was to send his commissioner, and,
occasionally, exhorting and even threatening letters,
which held in all probability little or no effect, except

300 THE OLD TESTAMENT
to excite a little mild amusement on account oftheir
erratic spelling. A very noteworthy communication
of this class is the following —
THE KING OF EGYPT REBUKES THE PRINCE OF
THE AMORITES.
" (To) the Amorite say also (thus) : ' The king thy
lord (says) thus : " The Gebalite is thy brother, whose
brother drove him from the gate. 'Take me and
cause me to enter into my city — (do this (?)), and I
will give thee this, (namely), everything whatever
(there is), (though) I have it not now.' Thus he spoke
to thee.
" ' Behold, thou sentest to the king thy lord thus :
" I am thy servant like every faithful governor who is
in the midst of his city," and thou hast done wrong
by not receiving a governor whose brother drove him
from the gate of the city.
" ' And he dwelt in Sidon, and thou deliveredst him
to the governors according to thine (own) determina
tion. Knewest thou not the hostility of the people ?
" ' If thou be in truth a servant of the king, why hast
thou not made possible his transmission to the
presence of the king my lord, (saying) thus : " This
governor sent to me thus : ' Take me to thee, and
cause me to enter into my city ' " ?
" ' And if thou hast done according to right, and all
the matters are not true concerning which thou
wrotest, that is bad (?), for the king thought thus :
" All is not true which thou hast said."
" ' And now some one has heard thus : " Thou art
on good terms with the man of Kidsa (Kadesh), food
and drink together have ye supplied." And it is true.
Why doest thou thus ? why art thou on good terms
with a man with whom a man is hostile ? If thou
hast done according to right, and had regard for thy
opinion and his opinion, it is impossible (that) thou

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 301
shouldst disregard the promises which thou madest
from the first. What has been done to thee among
them {i. e. those hostile to the king of Egypt) that
thou art not with the king thy lord ?
" ' Now those concerning whom thou wishest (?) to
turn, seek to throw thee into the midst of the fire, and
all, even whatever thou lovest.
" ' And if thou do the service of the king thy lord,
what is there which the king would not do for thee ?
If on account of anything thou wish to work evil, and
if thou set evil, (and) words of hostility, in thine
heart, then in the prison of the king thou shalt die,
together with all thy family.
" ' So do the service of the king thy lord, and thou
shalt live. And thou knowest, (even) thou, that the
king desireth not to the land of Kinahhi (Canaan),
that it should be infuriated, the whole of it.
" ' And as thou hast sent thus : " Let the king leave
me this year, and let me come in the second year
before the king my lord. I have not my son with
me," therefore the king thy lord will grant thee this
year, as thou hast said. Come thou ! If (thou hast)
thy son, send (him), and thou shalt see the king at
the sight of whom all the lands live. And say not
thus : " Let him leave me this year in addition " to go
into the presence of the king thy lord. Let it not be
that thou direct thy son to the king thy lord — let him
not come instead of thee.
" ' Now the king thy lord hath heard that thou hast
sent to the king thus : " Let the king my lord allow
Hanni, the messenger of the king, (to come) a second
time, and let me cause (him) to take (back) the
enemies of the king by his hand." He therefore is
going to thee, as thou hast said, so send them, and
leave not one among them (behind). Now the king
thy lord causes to be brought to thee the names of
the enemies of the king in (this) letter by the hand of
Hanni, the king's messenger, so send them to the

302 THE OLD TESTAMENT
king thy lord, and do not leave one of them (behind).
And brazen bonds shall be placed on their feet. Be
hold, the men whom thou shalt cause to be sent to
the king thy lord (are):
" ' Sarru with all his sons ;
Tuya ;
Leya with all his sons ;
Yisyari with all his sons ;
The son-in-law of Mania (or Ma-ili-ia) with his
sons, (and) with his wives ;
The pa-mahd of Hanni the pa-itiiu (? messenger)
who reads (this) message ;
Da-garti; Paluma;
Nimmahe, the hapadu in the land of Amurru.
" ' And mayest thou know : well is the king, like the
Sun in Heaven ; his soldiers and chariots are many.
From the upper country as far as the lower country,
(from) sunrise as far as sunset {i. e. from the extreme
east to the extreme west), great is the prosperity.' "
To all appearance Amenophis IV. trusted too much
to his own prestige, and that of the country over
which he ruled. He was " the son of the Sun," " like
unto the Sun in Heaven," " the king at the sight of
whom all the lands live," and naturally took it for
granted that he was everywhere looked upon with the
same veneration as in his own country.
As may easily be imagined, the expulsion of the
Egyptians from Palestine left the country in a very
disturbed state, and marauding bands, having no
longer anything to do in the way of wresting territory
from the Egyptians, must have given considerable
trouble to the native princes and governors, now once
more independent in their own territories.
The loss of Palestine, on the other hand, probably
brought with it a certain amount of loss of prestige

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 303
to Egypt, which must have endured for some time.
In any case, the Egyptian kings who succeeded
Amenophis IV. seem to have made no attempt to
regain the lost provinces.
Ankh-kheperu-Ra, the king who succeeded the
ruler just named, lived for a while at Tel-el-Amarna,
during which time, in all probability, the tomb of his
predecessor's six daughters was finished. Several
rings of this king exist, on two of which he calls
himself" beloved of Nefer-kheperu-Ra " (or, in accord
ance with the indications of the Tel-el-Amarna
tablets : Nafar-khoperu-Ria) and " beloved of Ua-en-
Ra," names of Amenophis IV. During his reign the
worship of the sun's disc (Aten, or, if the derivation
from the Semitic Adon, "lord," be correct, Aton)
began to give way to that of the national gods of
Egypt. He reigned thirteen years (1365 — 1353 B.C.),
and was succeeded by Ra-kheperu-neb (1353 — 1344).
The paintings in the tomb of Hui at Thebes show
that tribute was still received from the Syrians
(Rutennu), as well as from the people of Kush in
the Soudan. Evidently the road was being paved
for the conquest of the lost provinces of Syria.
After this came a ruler who seems to have held
the throne only on account of his wife being of royal
blood. According to Petrie, he was "divine father
Ay," and his wife's name was Ty. He reigned thirteen
years (1344 — 1332 B.C.). During his reign a complete
reversion to the old worship took place.
Ay's successor, Ra-ser-kheperu (Hor-em-heb), 1332
— 1328 B.C., was apparently also a commoner, and is
identified (Petrie) with the Hor-em-heb who was
general in an earlier reign. He is represented being
adored by negroes and Asiatics.
One or two other obscure names occur, and then
begins the reign of king Rameses I., who came to
the throne about 1300 B.C. This reign was short
enough, but there is hardly any doubt that in it the

304 THE OLD TESTAMENT
prosperity of Egypt was renewed. From the treaty
of the Khita with Rameses II., the grandson of
Rameses I., we learn that the latter had a war with
the Khita, and from the fact that he founded a store
house for the temple of his divine father Hor-khem,
and filled it with captive men-servants and maid
servants, we may conclude that he was fairly success
ful in his warlike expeditions.
With his son, Seti (Sethos) I., or Meneptah (" be
loved of Ptah "), we attain firmer ground. In the very
first year of his reign he warred in the east, among
the Shasu Bedouin, "from the fortress of Khetam
(Heb. Etham) in the land of Zalu, as far as Kan'ana
(Canaan)." Kadesh, at that time a city of the Kheta
(it had apparently fallen into the hands of the Hittites
during the reign of Amenophis IV), was conquered
by him. Not only the Hittites, however, but also
Naharain (Naharaim), the country of which Dusratta of
old had been king, upper and lower Rutennu (Canaan
and North Syria), Sinjar, the island of Cyprus, and
Cappadocia, felt the force of his arms. His son,
Rameses II., was associated with him on the throne,
and afterwards succeeded him. This took place
about 1 300 B.C. It is to this ruler that the glory of
the name of Rameses is principally due, and his
grandfather, the first who bore it, shines mainly with
a reflected light.
It is impossible here to do more than touch upon
such of the details of his career as are essential
in the present work. In all probability he is best
known on account of his expedition into Syria, and
the conquest of the Hittites, who, as recorded in the
celebrated heroic poem of Pentaur, were allied with
a number of other tribes, including the people of
Naharaim, Aleppo, Gauzanitis, the Girgashites (?),
Carchemish, etc. The result was success for the
Egyptian arms, and the Hittites, on the whole, sub
mitted, though some of the towns acknowledging

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 305
Hittite rule, notably Tunep, refused to accept Egyptian
suzerainty, necessitating another expedition, the result
of which was, that the Egyptians found no more
opposition to their overlordship. In his eighth and
succeeding years he fought against the Canaanites,
and in his descriptions of his operations there, many
familiar names are to be found — names of great
interest to all students of ancient Oriental history.
It was in his eighth year, according to the texts in
the Ramesseum, that he conquered Shalam (identified
with Jerusalem), Marom (Merom), the spring of
Anamini (identified with Anim or Engannim), As-
kelon, Damascus, Dapur (identified with Tabor by
Brugsch), and many other places.
Rameses II. is generally regarded as the Pharaoh
of the Oppression, and one of the tasks placed upon
the oppressed Israelites was the building of his store-
cities, Pithom (Pi-tum, discovered by M. Naville when
excavating for the Egypt Exploration Fund) and
Raamses, the Pi-Ramessu of the inscriptions, con
cerning which there is a very interesting letter by
an Egyptian named Panbesa, who visited it. As
Brugsch says : " We may suppose that many a
Hebrew, perhaps Moses himself, jostled the Egyptian
scribe in his wandering through the gaily-dressed
streets of the temple-city."
The successor of Rameses, Meneptah 1 1., is hardly
the son which one would expect to follow such a
father. According to Brugsch, he does not rank with
those Pharaohs who transmitted their remembrance
to posterity by grand buildings and the construction
of new temples. And the monolith found by Petrie
in 1896 seems to imply that his lists of conquests
were not always so trustworthy as could be wished.
Nevertheless, the reign of Meneptah is one of the
greatest importance, for it was he, to all appearance,
who was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, as seems also
to be proved by the same document. As this is a
u

3P6 THE OLD TESTAMENT
text of the very first importance, a translation of the
concluding lines is given here —
"Kheta (the land of the Hittites) is in peace,
captive is Canaan and full of misery, Askelon is
carried away, Gezer is taken, Yennuamma is non
existent, Israel is lost, his seed is not,1 Syria is like
the widows of Egypt. The totality of all the lands
is at peace, for whoever rebelled was chastised by
king Meneptah."
Now the statement concerning Israel has given
rise to a considerable amount of discussion. Naville
regards the reference to the condition in which the
Israelites were as indicating that they had left Egypt,
and were wandering, " lost " in the desert. There is
also some probability that the expression, " his seed
is not," may be a reference to the decree of the
king, who commanded the destruction of the male
children of the Hebrews, which command, he may
have imagined, had been finally carried out. The
question also naturally arises, whether the last phrase,
" whoever rebelled was chastised by king Meneptah,"
may not have a reference to the Israelites, who,
from their own showing, were sufficiently peremptory
in their demands to be allowed to proceed into the
wilderness to sacrifice to their god, to bring down
upon themselves any amount of resentment.
Exceedingly noteworthy, and in many respects
startling, however, are the researches and statements
of Dr. Edouard Mahler. Following Spiegelberg as
to the meaning of the phrase containing the name
of the Israelites, " Jenoam has been brought to naught ;
Israel, the horde, destroyed his crops " — a statement
which hardly seems worthy of the honour of being
inscribed on the memorial stele of a king of Egypt-
is the rendering he suggests. The translation of the
word feket (which is rendered by other Egyptologists
as "annihilated, lost," or in some similar way) by
1 So Naville and others.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 307
" horde," allows the learned chronologist to suggest,
that the ideographs accompanying the word Israelites
indicate that they had already entered the Holy
Land, and were trying to obtain a foothold there.
Having made these statements, he proceeds to
examine the whole question. He asserts the correct
ness of the view, that Amosis, the founder of the
eighteenth dynasty, was the prince who knew not
Joseph. The first king of this new dynasty, he
calculates, came to the throne two years after Joseph's
death. With regard to the reign of Rameses II., he
refers to the festival of the Sothis period which was
celebrated in the thirtieth year of his reign. Start
ing from this period,1 which, according to Oppolzer,
was renewed in the year 13 18 B.C., he calculates that
the first year of Rameses II. was 1 347 B.C., and that the
Exodus took place in his thirteenth year, i. e. 1 335 B.C.
According to the Pirke di Rabbi Elieser, Dr. Mahler
says, the departure of the Israelites is said to have
taken place on a Thursday. " This view is also held
in the Talmud (cf. Sabbath 87s), and the Shulchan-
Aroch also maintains that the i$th Nisan, the day of
the Exodus, was a Thursday. This all agrees with
the year B.C. 1335, for in that year the 15th Nisan
fell on a Thursday, and indeed on Thursday the 27th
of March {fulian calendar)."
If we accept the theory that Rameses II. was the
Pharaoh of the Exodus, and that the Exodus took
place in 1335 B.C., then Moses, who was eighty years
old at the time of the Exodus, must have been
born in the year 1415 B.C., i. e. the fifteenth year of
Amenophis III. Now the chief wife of this ruler
was queen Teie (see p. 275), a woman who was cer-
1 Sothis rose heliacally on the 9th of Epiphi of the 9th year
(1545 B.C.) of Amenophis I. Amosis, his predecessor, ruled
twenty-two years, so that his first year must be 1575 B.C.
Subtract 240 years, the period of oppression, from 1575, and we
obtain 1335 as the date ofthe Exodus.

308 THE OLD TESTAMENT
tainly of foreign, probably Asiatic, race. In all
probability, therefore, Teie, being an alien and of a
different religion from the Egyptians, was not by any
means in favour with the Egyptian priesthood, how
ever much the Pharaoh may have delighted in her.
The daughter of such a woman, as will easily be
understood, would find little or no opposition to the
adoption by her of a child of one of the Hebrews,
an Asiatic like her mother. This, of course, would
explain excellently how it was that Moses came to
be adopted and educated by an Egyptian princess at
her father's court, and that he had no real sympathy
with the people among whom he lived, though it
raises somewhat of a difficulty, for it is hard to under
stand how the Egyptian king, sympathizing, as we
may expect him to have done, with Asiatics, should
have ordered the destruction of their children. Never
theless, circumstances may easily have arisen to cause
such a decree to be issued. Another difficulty is, to
explain who the people hostile to Moses were, who
in the thirteenth year of Rameses II. died (Exod. iv.
19). This has generally been understood to be the
king and one or more of his advisers, though this
objection, like the other, really presents no difficulty
worthy of the name, as there was no indication that
the king was included.
Of course there is no statement to the effect that
Pharaoh was killed with his army by the returning
flood after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea (in Ps.
cxxxvi. 15 he must be regarded as having been
overwhelmed therein in the persons of his warriors,
who suffered the fate which ought to have stricken
also the king), so that little or no difficulty exists in
this portion of the narrative.1 On the other hand, a
difficulty is got rid of if we suppose that the Exodus
1 Mahler suggests that it was one of the sons of Rameses II.
who met with his death in the Red Sea when pursuing the
departing Israelites.

TEL-EL-AMARNA TABLETS AND THE EXODUS 309
took place in the time of Rameses II. Dr. Mahler
points out, that Meneptah was succeeded by his son
and heir, User-kheperu-Ra', who did not die, but
reigned thirty-three years. The eldest sons of Rameses
II., on the other hand, all died during their father's
lifetime, and it was the fourteenth of his numerous
progeny who ultimately came to the throne.
Dr. Mahler clinches the matter by making the
plague of darkness to have been a solar eclipse.
Whatever may be the defects of Dr. Mahler's
seductive theory, it must be admitted that it presents
fewer difficulties than any other that has yet been
put forward, and on that account deserves special
attention.

CHAPTER IX
THE NATIONS WITH WHOM THE ISRAELITES CAME
INTO CONTACT
The Amorites — The Hittites — The Jebusites — The Girgashites
— Moab.
AMORITES.
THE earliest mention of the Amorites in the Old
Testament is the passage in Gen. x. 16, where the
name occurs along with that of the Jebusites and the
Girgashites, from which may be gathered that they
were all three very powerful tribes, though their
power is in all probability not to be measured by the
order of their names, the most important of the three
being the Amorites, whose name comes second.
They were regarded by the ancient Jews as an
iniquitous and wicked people (Gen. xv. 6 ; 2 Kings
xxi. 1 1), though they may not, in reality, have been
worse than other nations which were their contem
poraries. That they were a powerful nation is im
plied by the statement in Gen. xlviii. 22, where Jacob
speaks of the tract which he had taken out of the
hand of the Amorite with his sword and his bow, as a
feat of which a warrior might be proud.
The Amorites in Babylonia have already been
referred to in Chap. V., and from that part of the
present work it will easily be understood that they
were an extensive and powerful nationality, capable,
with organization, of extending their power, as they
310

THE ISRAELITES AND OTHER NATIONS 311
evidently did from time to time, far and wide. In
deed, as has been pointed out, there is great proba
bility that the Babylonian dynasty called by Berosus
Arabic, was in reality Amorite. In any case, the
kings of this dynasty held sway over Amoria, as
the inscription of Ammi-titana, translated on p. 1 5 5,
clearly shows. The importance of this nationality in
the eyes ofthe Babylonians is proved by the fact
that their designation for "west" was "the land of
Amurru," and the west wind was, even with the
Assyrians, " the wind ofthe land of Amurru " (though
the Hittites, in Assyrian times, seem to have been
the more powerful nation), and this designation of
the western point of the compass probably long out
lived the renown of the nationality from which the
expression was derived. Among other Biblical pas
sages, testifying to the power of the Amorites, may
be quoted as typical Amos ii. 9, 10, and in this the
Babylonian and the Hebrew records are quite in
agreement. As has been pointed out by Prof. Sayce, in pro
cess of time a great many tribes — Gibeonites, Hivites,
Jebusites, and even Hittites — were classed as Amorites
by the ancient Jewish writers, a circumstance which
likewise testifies to the power of the nationality. These
identifications must be to a large extent due to the fact
that all the tribes or nationalities referred to were
mountaineers, and, as we have seen (p. 122), the Akka
dian character for a mountainous region or nationality,
stood not only for Armenia, and the land of the
Amorites, but also for the land of Akkad, because the
Akkadians came from a mountainous country, perhaps
somewhere in the neighbourhood of the mountains of
Elam. This character was pronounced Tidnu when
it stood for Amoria, but ceased to be used for that
on account of its signifying also the mountainous
region of Armenia, and Akkad, for which it still
continued to be employed, and it is only the context,

312 THE OLD TESTAMENT
in many cases, which enables the reader to gather
which is meant. Other groups used for Amoria were
the sign for foot, twice over (sometimes with one
of them reversed), <EE53X an(I ^ "^ ^ tbe ordinary
pronunciation of which is Sarsar, though it is probable
that both were pronounced, in Akkadian, like the
first, namely, Tidnu. In the inscriptions of Gudea,
viceroy of Laga§ about 2700 B.C., there occurs the
name of a country called Tidalum, " a mountain of
Martu," from which a kind of limestone was brought.
This Hommel and Sayce regard as another form of
Tidnu, by the interchange of / and n, which is not
uncommon in Akkadian. The fact that Martu is also
used in the inscriptions for Amurru, (the land of) the
Amorites, and also, with the prefix for divinity, for
the Amorite god {ilu Amurru), which was introduced
into Babylonia at an exceedingly early date, confirms
this explanation. In all probability there is not at
present sufficient data for ascertaining the dates when
these names first appear, but Tidnu or Tidalu was
probably the earlier of the two.
What the exact boundaries of the district were are
doubtful. Prof. Sayce, after examining the Tel-el-
Amarna tablets, comes to the conclusion that it de
noted the inland region immediately to the north of
the Palestine of later days. In this Petrie concurs,
the country being, according to him, the district of
middle and lower Orontes, and certainly covering a
large area. This, of course, would be the position of
the tract over which they held sway in the earlier
ages, but later they must have extended their power
so as to embrace the Jebusites (Jerusalem), and even
Mamre in Gen. xiv. 13. From this wide extension of
the dominions of the Amorites in the book of the
Bible dealing with the earliest period of Jewish history,
and from the fact that the Assyro-Babylonians used
the word to indicate the west in general, it is clear
that the Amorites occupied a wide tract in the earlier

THE ISRAELITES AND OTHER NATIONS 313
ages, and must have been pushed gradually back,
probably by the Babylonians under Sargon of Agade,
leaving, however, centres of Amorite influence in the
south, which, when the power of Egypt, which fol
lowed that of Babylonia, waned and disappeared, left
certain independent states under Amorite rulers. It is
thus that, at the time of the Exodus, we find Og ruling
at Bashan, who had threescore cities, all the region of
Argob, his chief seats being Edrei and Ashtaroth.
This ruler and his people were of the remnant of the
Rephaim, regarded by Sayce as of Amorite origin
(Hastings's Dictionary ofthe Bible, under "Amorites").
Whatever doubt there may be, however, about the
origin of the Bashanites, there is none concerning
Sihon king of the Amorites dwelling more to the
south. A man of great courage and daring, he had
driven the Moabites out of their territory, obliging
them to retreat across the Arnon. On the entry of
the Israelites, he gathered his troops and attacked
them, but was defeated and killed. Josephus {Ant.
iv. 5, sect. 2) has some curious details of this battle, in
which he states that the Amorites were unable to
fight successfully when away from the shelter of their
cities, but in view of their successes against the
Moabites, we may be permitted to doubt this.
In the Tel-el-Amarna tablets the ruler of the
Amorites is apparently Abdi-Asirti,1 who, with his
son Aziru, warred successfully against Rib-Addi (Rib-
Hadad), governor of Phoenicia, driving him from
Sumuru and Gublu (Gebal), which last city was occu
pied, according to Petrie's analysis, by the two hostile
parties by turns. Naturally there are a great many
recriminations on the part of Rib-Addi against Abdi-
asirti on account of the hostility between them, and
the former is constantly complaining to the Pharaoh
of what the latter had done, frequently calling him
a dog, and once seemingly referring to the Amorites
1 Also Abdi-Asirta, Abdi-Asratum.

314 THE OLD TESTAMENT
as " dogs." (It is noteworthy that Abdi-Asirti applies
this word to himself as an expression of humility.)
The Amorite's letters to the king of Egypt, however,
are merely assurances of fidelity. They are all short,
and the following will give some idea of their nature —
" To the king my lord say also thus : ' (It is) Abdi-
Astarti, the king's servant. At the feet of the king my
lord I fall down — seven (times at) the feet of the king
my lord, and seven times, both body and arms. And
may the king my lord be informed that strong is the
hostility against me, and let it be acceptable before
the king my lord, and let him direct one of the great
men to protect me.'
" Secondly, the king my lord has sent word to me,
and I hear — I hear all the words of the king my lord.
The ten women of the harem (?) I have sent away "(?).
(It is here worthy of note, that he does not, in this
letter, call himself Abdi-Asirti, "servant ofthe Ashera,"
but Abdi-Astarti, "servant of Astarte," using the
Assyro-Babylonian ideograph for Istar, the original
of the goddess in question. On another document
from him, the word is spelled out, Ab-di-as-ta-ti, in
which the scribe intended to write Ab-di-as-ta-ar-ti,
but omitted the last character but one. Yet another
letter gives his name as Abdi-As-ra-tum, in the second
element of which we must see another form of Abdi-
Asirti, unless the scribe has also made a mistake in
this case, and written Asratum for Astaratum, which
is just possible. In any case, it shows a close connec
tion between the goddess Astarte or Istar, and the
Ashera, which was in Palestine, at that date, and for
centuries before and after, her emblem. To be the
servant of the one was to be the servant of the other,
though the bearer of the name seems to have the de
sire rather to be considered the priest of the goddess.
Even unintentional variants in names furnish valuable
contributions at times to comparative mythology.)
If there are but few letters from the father, there is

THE ISRAELITES AND OTHER NATIONS 31 5
a sufficient number, and of considerable extent, from
the son. He, too, is the faithful servant of the
Pharaoh, and he writes also to Dudu (a form of the
name David) and Hai, telling of the difficulties which
he had with regard to the king of the Hittites. It is
apparently this prince to whom the Pharaoh writes in
the letter translated on pp. 300 — 302, a circumstance
which leads to the belief that the complaints of Rib-
Addi with regard to Abdi-Asirti and his son Aziru were
well-founded. That the king of Egypt asks therein
for the delivery to him of certain persons whom he
names, implies that he had trustworthy information
as to who the intriguers were, and though apparently
willing to give Aziru the benefit of the doubt, he
certainly did not hold him blameless.
1 It will probably be long ere the true order of these
letters is known, and until this be found, much of the
history of the period to which they refer must neces
sarily remain uncertain. HITTITES.
Another nationality which took a predominant part
in the politics of ancient Palestine is the Hittites. To
all appearance they were a later power than the
Amorites, as their name does not occur in the inscrip
tions of Babylonia and Assyria until a comparatively
late date, whilst the Amorites are mentioned 2200 years
before Christ, and their name had become the common
Assyro-Babylonian expression for " the west." That
the Hittites were nevertheless of considerable anti
quity, however, is implied by the presence of the sons
of Heth at Mamre in the time of Abraham, who
purchased from Ephron the Hittite the cave of Mach-
pelah in that place. It is difficult to assign to these
people any definite limits, especially in early times,
but it seems certain that they began to act far in the
north, and gradually extended their power south-

3l6 THE OLD TESTAMENT
wards. In the times of Joshua, the tract between the
Lebanon and Euphrates is described as theirs, and
their domain was, in fact, the country to the north of
Palestine. It was no doubt due to their predominat
ing power that the Assyrians of later days called the
whole of Palestine " the land of Hatti," a designation
not altogether correct, but sufficient for their purpose,
namely, that of indicating the position of the nation
alities enumerated. Nevertheless, it had some justifi
cation, several colonies of these people inhabiting that
district, as is indicated by Gen. xxiii. 3, xxv. 10 ;
Numbers xiii. 29, etc. The statement in Ezekiel xvi.
3, that the father of Jerusalem was an Amorite and
its mother a Hittite, shows what was the opinion of
the more learned Jews of the time in the matter.
The earliest mention of the Hittites outside the
Bible is in the Egyptian monuments, where, in the
annals of Thothmes III., it is recorded for the year
1470 B.C., that the king proceeded to the banks ofthe
Euphrates, and received tribute from " the greater "
land of the Hittites. In the year 1463 B.C., the king
of this district again paid tribute. During the reign
of Thothmes IV, grandson of Thothmes III., the
relations between the two countries must have
changed, and the Egyptian king had to repel an
attack made by the Hittites uponTunib (nowTennib)
in Northern Syria. This hostile policy was continued
by them also at a later date, for the successors of
Thothmes IV, Amenophis III. and his son, Ameno
phis IV, had often to oppose the Hittite king, who
either attacked Northern Syria, or stirred up strife
among the Egyptian vassals in Canaan.
Here, again, the Tel-el-Amarna tablets come in,
and supply a mass of details. At times the Hatti
still send tribute, both to Amenophis III. and IV.,
but at the close of the reign of the former, hostilities
again broke out, the Hittites being, to all appearance,
the aggressors. Dusratta, king of Mitanni, writes

THE ISRAELITES AND OTHER NATIONS 3 17
that he sends to the king of Egypt tribute of the
spoils which he had taken from the Hatti, and the
king of Nuhasse, who bears the Assyrian name of
Addu-nirari, and whose grandfather had been ap
pointed by Thothmes III., complains that the king
of the Hatti is against him, and asks for help. From
these and other statements it would seem, that who
ever was on the side of the king of Egypt was the
enemy of the Hittites, and therefore to be attacked
by them. Akizzi, king of Qatna, complains in one of
the letters that the Hatti had burned down a city, and
reports in another that they had tried to win him over
to their side. Aziru, another prince in the neighbour
hood, complains that the king of Hatti has entered
Nuhasse, and for this reason he could not leave his
own territory to go to the king of Egypt. At the
end of one of his communications, Akizzi states that
the Sun-god had taken away the king of the Hatti,
but as no name is given, any historical importance
which this fact might have is greatly minimized. In
other letters they are spoken of as despoiling the
princes of Gebal, capturing a personage named Lu-
pakku and the cities of Amki " even from the cities of
Aaddu " (or Bin- Addu = Ben-Hadad). As we have
seen (pp. 288 — 289), at least a portion of them was led
by Etakama of Kinza.
As is well known, a large number of hieroglyphic
inscriptions of a people regarded as the Hittites exist,
and many attempts have been made to translate them.
In addition to these, there are many sculptures, mostly
on rocks, and still in situ. The most remarkable of
these are at Bogaz Keui, Eyouk, Iasili-Kaia, Ghiaour-
kalesi, Doganlu-deresi, Ibriz, Eflatun-bunar, Karabeli,
and elsewhere in Asia Minor, as well as at Jerabis
(anciently called Carchemish), Hamah (Hamath), and
monuments of the Hittites have even been found at
Babylon. How they came to this last place is not
at present known, but they may have formed part

31 8 THE OLD TESTAMENT
ofthe spoils brought from the west by any of the later
conquerors (such a supposition would probably be
better than attributing to them a very early date), or
sent thither as presents or as specimens of Hittite
work. It is noteworthy that the inscriptions, with the
exception of the bowl brought from Babylon, are all
in relief and boustrophedon. A large number of seals,
both of the ordinary kind and cylindrical, are known,
and though there are bilingual inscriptions (Hittite
and Babylonian), none of them are of sufficient length
to make them really serviceable in translating other
texts in the same character.
Notwithstanding the great difficulty attending such
a task as the translation of these inscriptions, a certain
amount of success has been attained. Those who
have advanced the study most are Prof. Sayce in
England, and Profs. Jensen and Hommel in Germany.
It will be many years, however (unless some unex
pected help come to light), before renderings in any
real sense of the word useful can be made.
In the opinion of Prof. Sayce, Cappadocia was the
earliest home of this nationality, which spread thence
in every direction (except, perhaps, northwards), and
made itself master of a part of Palestine, from which
circumstance the district came to have, in Assyrian
literature, the name of " the land of Hatti." Though
later than the Amorite invasion, it nevertheless took
place at a very early date, as is shown by the fact that
Abraham had dealings with Ephron, a Hittite or
" son of Heth."
Coming down to a later date, it is interesting to see
what is said about them by the kings of Assyria.
Tiglath-pileser I. (about 1120 B.C.) says as follows —
"... 4000 Kaskaians (and)
Urumaians, people of the land of Hattd,
disobedient, who in their strength
had taken the cities of Subarte, subject

THE ISRAELITES AND OTHER NATIONS 319
unto the god Asur, my lord,
heard of my march to Subarte ;
the brilliance of my power overwhelmed them,
they feared the conflict, my feet
they embraced.
With their goods and II. sos (120)
of chariots of their system of yoking^
I took from them, and delivered to the
people of my land."
Farther on in his record, Tiglath-pileser I. states
that he collected his chariots and warriors, and took
to the desert, going to the border-people of the Ara-
means, enemies of Asur his lord. From before the
land of Suhi (the Shuhites) as far as the city Carchemish
of the land of Hatt6, he boasts of having plundered
in a single day, slaughtering their soldiers, and taking
back to his own country all their property. Some of
them fled across the Euphrates, followed by the
Assyrians in boats of skins, and *he' result of this
flight to seek safety was, that six of their cities at the
foot of the rhountain known as Bisru, were taken,
plundered, and destroyed.
In other passages of his record also, this king refers
to certain districts which were undoubtedly Hittite,
but without calling them by that name. One of these
— the interesting description of his operations in
Commagene — is especially worthy of notice. It reads
as follows —
" In those days the people of Qurhe, who had come
with the people of Kummuhi to save and help the land
of Kummuhi, I caused to go down like sube? The
corpses of their warriors I heaped up in heaps on the
tops of the mountains, the carcases of their warriors the
river Name took forth to the Tigris. Kili-Tesub son
of Kali-Tesub, whom Irrupi put to flight (?), their king,
1 Lit. "chariots ofthe harness of their yoke."
2 Prof. Sayce translates " like moon-stone I laid low."

320 THE OLD TESTAMENT
my hand took in the midst of the battle. His wives,
children, offspring of his heart, his force, III. sos (180)
plates of copper, 5 censers of bronze, with their gods,
(objects) of gold and silver, and the best of their
property, I carried off. Their spoil and their goods I
sent forth, that city and its palace I burned with fire,
destroyed (it), laid (it) waste.
" The city Urrahinas, their stronghold, situated in
the land of Panari, fear dreading 1 the glory of Asur,
my lord, overwhelmed them ; to save their lives they
carried away their gods (and their goods), they fled to
the peaks ofthe lofty mountains like a bird. I collected
my chariots and troops, (and) crossed the Tigris. Sa-
di-Tesub, son of Hattu-sar, king of Urrahinas, not to
be captured in his own country, took my feet. The
children, offspring of his heart, and his family, I took
as hostages. I. sos (60) plates of copper, libation-
vases of bronze, offering-dishes of bronze, great ones,
with II. joj (120) men, oxen, sheep, tribute and gifts,
he brought, (and) I received it. I had mercy on him,
spared his life, (and) set the heavy yoke of my dominion
over him for ever. I captured the wide land of
Kummuhi to its (whole) extent (and) made it submit
to my feet. At that time I offered one bronze offering-
dish and one bronze libation-vase of the spoil and
gifts of the land of Kummuhi to Asur my lord, (and)
I. sos of copper plates, with their gods, I presented to
Hadad who loveth me."
In the above extract the names containing that of
the god Tesub show clearly that we have here to do
with nationalities in the neighbourhood of Mitanni
(see p. 277), and a close relation with the Hittites is
suggested by the other name Hattu-sar, father of Sadi-
Tesub. Hattu-sar is also singularly like the name of
the prince of the Hittites, Heta-sira, with whom
Rameses II. made a treaty (cf. p. 304). Another
reading of Hattu-sar is Hattuhi, a name which Prof.
1 Or "fear which dreaded."

THE ISRAELITES AND OTHER NATIONS 32 1
Sayce translates, " the Hittite," in the second series of
the Records of the Past, vol. i. p. 97, note 2. In the
same passage he analyzes the name of the city Urra
hinas as being derived from Urra, with the termination
hi-nas, denoting in Vannite, " the place of the people
of." Another interesting reference to the Hittites is that
of the Assyrian king Assur-nasir-apli, renowned for
his cruelty. The king ruling at the time was Sangara,
who had as his capital the city of Carchemish. The
text reads as follows —
" I drew near to the land of Carchemish. The
tribute of Sangara, king of the land of Hatte — 20
talents of gold, bangles (?) of gold, rings of gold,
swords of gold, IOO talents of bronze, 250 talents of
iron, dishes of bronze, vases of bronze, libation-vases
of bronze, a brazier of bronze, and the numerous ves
sels of his palace, the weight of which was not taken ;
couches . of oak, chairs of oak, tables of oak and
ivory inlaid, 200 slave-girls (or virgins), cotton stuffs,
woollen cloth, white and black and white and grey,
white marble (?), tusks of elephants, a white chariot,
an umbrella of gold filled with overlaying (?), the
ornament of his royalty, I received. The chariots,
horses, (and) grooms of the city Carchemish, (of the
Hittites1) I set (aside) for myself."
The riches and importance ofthe city of Carchemish
are here well indicated, and to all appearance the place
maintained its position to the end, long after the power
of the Hittites had completely disappeared. Indeed,
as will be recognized from the above, Sangara has
every appearance of having been a local ruler, implying
that the district under Hittite control was already
broken up into small states practically independent of
each other. Another prince of the Hittites, in the
neighbourhood of Diarbekir, from whom this Assyrian
1 These words Qa mdt tjat-ta-a-a) are inserted in this place
in squeeze 84. x

322 THE OLD TESTAMENT
king received tribute was "the son of Bahiani."
Apparently he was called thus on account of his
ancestor, Bahiani, being chief of a tribe, the district
over which he ruled bearing, in Assur-nasir-apli's
second reference to it, the name of Bit-Bahiani, " the
house of Bahiani." The special products of this tract
are well indicated by the nature of the gifts sent to
the Assyrian king : " chariots, harness, horses, silver,
gold, lead, bronze, and vessels of bronze." That these
Hittite districts paid tribute so submissively would
seem to indicate that they had no coherence among
themselves, and did not feel called upon to aid each
other in time of need.
Sargon of Assyria, who claims to have subjugated
all the land ofthe Hittites, speaks, as do other Assyrian
kings, of the people of Hamath, and what he did to
Ilu-bi'idi or Yau-bi'idi, their king. This, too, was
the capital of a Hittite principality, and it is in the
modern town of Hamah, in which form the name still
survives, that the so-called " Hamah-stones," now
generally regarded as Hittite, were found.
The disappearance of the Hittite confederate states
(if such they really were), and the rise in their place
from time to time of other powers, caused the
Assyrians, who regarded this territory as their own
special possession, won by conquest, to apply to the
whole district the name of mdt Hatti, " the land of
Heth," which would seem to have included (probably
in its extended sense) Samaria, Sidon, Arvad, Gebal,
Ashdod, Beth-Ammon, Moab, Edom, Askelon, and
Judah.1 It thus, to all appearance, took the place of
the ancient " land of the Amorites " (not, however,
when indicating the points of the compass), and in
this the inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Assur-bani-
apli agree.
What the influence of the Hittites over the nations
1 See the list, p. 374 (with 373 and 378). Amurru (Amoria, p.
374) appears as in §atti (p. 373), or synonymous with it.

THE ISRAELITES AND OTHER NATIONS 323
contemporary with them may have been is difficult to
estimate. The Assyrians, to all appearance, borrowed
from them a certain style of architecture, used for the
entrance-hall of the royal palaces. Their style of art,
of which numerous examples are preserved, shows that
they had made considerable progress, and that they
had individuality as artists. Neither in sculpture nor
in engraving of hard stone, however, did they ever
attain to the exquisite fineness and finish of the best
work of the artists of Babylonia and Assyria. The
subjects, too, seem to be usually more grotesque,
though this suggestion, which their work gives, may
be due merely to our ignorance of their religious
beliefs and the legends on which the designs were
probably based.
The inscribed vase in the British Museum, and
the inscribed figure found by the German explorers
at the same place have already been referred to
(pp. 317-318), and it has been suggested as probable
that they were sent as presents to one or more
of the Babylonian kings, though the possibility that
they were part of the spoils of an expedition to that
part of the world, or specimens of Hittite art carried
off at a later date, when the nations producing them
had passed away, are also probable explanations. In
any case, they seem to show that there were, at some
period or other, political relations between the Hittites
and the Babylonians. JEBUSITES.
The importance of the Jebusites, who were, to all
appearance, but a small tribe, lies in the circumstance,
that their capital and stronghold, at the time the
Israelites entered the Holy Land, was Jerusalem. In
consequence of this, Jerusalem is mentioned, in one
or two places (Jud. xix. 10 ; 1 Chron. xi. 4, 5, etc.),
apparently poetically, under the name of Jebus, per-

324 THE OLD "TESTAMENT
haps so called by the Jebusites because of its being
the capital of their tribe. The original name of the
city, however, as we know from Gen. xiv. and the
Tel-el-Amarna tablets (see p. 239), was Uru-salim.
When the Jebusites took possession of the city,
however, is unknown, but in all probability neither
Melchizedek nor Abdi-taba belonged to the race.
Apart from the references to this tribe in connection
with Jerusalem, there is no indication as to its origin
and race. The name of their ruler, Adoni-zedek,
however, seems to show clearly that they were Semites,
and we may suppose, with Driver, that they were
Canaanites (Hastings, Diet, of the Bible, s. v.). It is
apparently one of the tribes of which the Babylonian
and Assyrian inscriptions know nothing as a body, but
the name of Yabusu, which would be the old form
of Jebus, occurs in a contract tablet of the time of
the first dynasty of Babylon (about 2200 B.C.), and,
if really the name of the tribe, as it would seem to be,
confirms its antiquity, as indicated by the references
to it in Genesis.
It is not improbable that future discoveries will
give us more information concerning this tribe, inter
esting principally on account of its having come into
contact with the Jews. GIRGASHITES.
This nation, descended from the fifth son of Canaan,
seems to have inhabited the tract on the western
bank of the Jordan, and on that account was not
within easy reach of the Babylonians and Assyrians.
The name, it is thought, is closely connected with
that of Gergesa, where Christ healed the demoniac,
and allowed the evil spirits to enter into the herd of
swine which then ran down the slope into the sea.
This Gergesa has, in its turn, been identified with
Kersa, a ruined town near the mouth of the Wady

THE ISRAELITES AND OTHER NATIONS 325
Samakh. If this be the case, there is some probability
that the Girgashites are the Kirkisati of a tablet from
Assyria which seemingly contains an early historical
record, or an historical legend. Whether the Kirki
sati be identical with the Girgashites or not, the text
is of sufficient importance to make it a valuable
record, and a translation of the more perfect and
interesting of the lines is given here —
"Gazzani to the resting-place he has decided
upon,1
to the fortress camp of the Kirkisati,
to Zakar-gimilli (king ?) of the Sihites,
to the wide-spreading Kirkisati,
to Harri-si'isi, to Dfir-Dungi,
and the neighbourhood of Tengurgur (?) may he
go forth, and
to the land of Halman, the place to which his
eyes are set, may he go.
By the command of the enemy, the Lullubite, he
accomplished (it) —
As for him, his horses, his soldiers, his chariots,
in peace to the land of Halman he led, and the
enemy, the Lullubite,
whether from before him, or from beside him, or
from his right,
or from his left, did not cease (?) from him, and
shall not destroy him,
shall not make him fail, shall not cause him to
diminish."
That the majority of the countries mentioned are
near to Babylonia, is against the probability that the
Kirkisati (if they be a nationality) are the Girgashites,
unless Halman be Aleppo, and not the Mesopotamian
tract of the same name ; or unless, being a " numerous
people," they had sent out colonies to the neighbour-
1 Lit., " of his decision."

326 THE OLD TESTAMENT
hood of Babylonia, as did the Amorites ; or emigrants,
like the Jebusites. Whatever be the explanation,
however, the above fragment is exceedingly interest
ing, the more so, that in the first line of the extract
as given above, the person spoken of is to all appear
ance Gazzani, which is possibly the completion of the
name of the father of Tudhula, and is written, as far
as it is preserved, in the same way.1
It is noteworthy that the prefix for country is
absent in every case, except that of Halman.
MOABITES.
Concerning the early history and state of the
Moabites we get no information from the inscriptions
of Babylonia and Assyria, though the name Muab
occurs on the base of one of the six colossal in
scriptions at Luxor {Patriarchal Palestine, p. 21).
For a time, in all probability, it was like an Egyptian
province, or, at least, greatly under Egyptian influence.
It is not until comparatively late times that the
Moabites come before us in Assyrian history, and
the same thing may be said with regard to the
Edomites, Ammonites, and other petty states. As
these will be referred to incidentally in the chapters
which follow, it has been thought well not to treat
of them here, in order to avoid repetition as much as
possible. 1 See p. 224.

CHAPTER X
CONTACT OF THE HEBREWS WITH THE ASSYRIANS
ASsur-nasir-apli II. — Shalmaneser II. — Tiglath-pileser III.
(Pul) — Shalmaneser IV. (Elulaeus) — Sargon — Sennacherib—'
Esarhaddon — Assur-bant-apli (the great and noble Asnappar)
— The downfall of Assyria.
The Hebrew commonwealth had come into being,
and given place to a monarchy, which, passing through
many vicissitudes, reached its highest pitch of glory
in the time of David and Solomon, to suffer, after the
death of the latter, diminution by the falling away of
the ten tribes. Thus weakened, the two parts of what
had been erstwhile a powerful whole became tempting
morsels to any power whose ruler was ambitious of
conquest. It was probably more from unwillingness
to attack with but little chance of success than in
ability from inherent weakness which caused the
Assyrians to refrain whilst the nation was united.
Generally, the kings of Assyria preferred making
conquests nearer home, and Tukulti-Ninip, who
reigned from 891 to 885 B.C., and was therefore con
temporary of Asa of Judah and Omri of Israel,
annexed Babylonia and ruled there for seven years,
Assyrian predominance in that land coming to an
end on his death, which was due to a revolt, in which
his son, Assur-nasir-apli, took part. It seems strange
that this ruler did not attempt to regain for himself
the dominion over Babylonia which the rising that
had led to the death of his father lost to him. His
desire, however, seems to have been, to subjugate the
327

328 THE OLD TESTAMENT
territories to the north and west, and though he came
into conflict with Babylonia, no permanent accession
of territory resulted therefrom.
It seems not. to have been until somewhat late in
his reign that he reached, in his numerous expeditions,
the Mediterranean Sea, " the great western sea," or
" the great sea of the land of Amurru," 1 as he calls
it. Here, after performing ceremonies to the gods
of Assyria, he received the tribute of the kings of
the sea-coast — " of the land of the Tyrians, the land
of the Sidonians, the land of the Gebalites, the land
of the Mahallatites, the land of the Maizites, the land
of the Kaizites, the land of the Amorites, (and) the
city of Arvad, which is amid the sea," This is
followed by a list of the objects received, and the
statement that they (the rulers) paid him homage.
Having thus spied out the nakedness of the land,
and ascertained the willingness of the rulers to give
tribute, the Assyrian king proceeded to the moun
tains of Hamanu (Amanus), and cut beams of cedar,
cypress, and other wood for the temple E-sarra, for
-his house or temple (apparently that in which he
worshipped), "a house of rejoicing, (and) for the
temple of the moon and the sun, the glorious gods."
Shalmaneser II., son of As§ur-nasir-&pli, during the
first six years of his reign, warred, like his father,
on the north and west, his object being to complete
what his father had begun, namely, the subjugation
of the territory of Ahuni, son of Adini, king of
Til-barsip. This having been successfully accom
plished, he was free to turn his attention to the more
southern regions of the old land of the Amorites. In
the year 854 B.C., therefore, he marched against
Giammu, a ruler whose land lay on the river Belichus.
To all appearance this chief wished to resist, but his
people feared the power of the Assyrian king, and
put Giammu to death. Taking possession of the
1 The land of the Amorites.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 329
district, he then proceeded to further successes, and
after crossing the Euphrates again in boats of skins,
he received the tribute of the kings on the farther side
— Sangara of Carchemish, Kundaspu of Commagene,
Aramu the son of Gusu, Lallu. the Milidian, Haianu
the son of Gabaru, Kalparuda of the Patinians, and
Kalparuda of the Gurgumians, " (at) the city Assur-
uttir-asbat, of the farther side of the Euphrates,
which is upon the river Sajur, which the men of the
Hittites call the city Pitru " (Pethor). Having reached
Aleppo, he received also tribute there, and offered
sacrifices before Hadad of Aleppo.
Next came the turn of Irhuleni of Hamath(Amataa),
whose cities Adennu, Parg&, and Argan& were
captured and spoiled, and his palaces set in flames.
"From Argan& I departed, to Qarqara I drew
near: Qarqara, his royal city, I ravaged, destroyed,
(and) burnt with fire. One thousand two hundred
chariots, 1 200 yoke of horses, 20,000 trained soldiers
of Addu-'idri ( = Bin-Addu-idri = Ben-Hadad) of Sa-
imerisu ( = the province of Damascus) ; 700 chariots,
700 yoke of horses, (and) 10,000 soldiers of Irhuleni
of the land of the Hamathites ; 2000 chariots (and)
10,000 men of Ahabbu (regarded as Ahab) of the land
of the Sir'ilites (regarded as the Israelites) ; 500 men
ofthe Guites; 1000 men ofthe Musrites ; 10 chariots
(and) 10,000 men of the Irqanatites; 200 men of
Matinu-ba'ali of the city of the Arvadites ; 200 men
of the land of the Usanatites ; 30 chariots (and)
10.000 men of Adunu-ba'ali of the land of the
Sianians ; x 1000 camels of Gindibu'u of the Arbaa
(regarded as the Arabians) ; . . 00 men of Ba'asa son
of Ruhubu of the land of the Amanians (Ammonites)
— these 12 2 kings he took to aid him, (and) to make
war and battle they advanced against me. With
the supreme powers which Assur, the lord, has
given ; with the mighty weapons which ura-gala
* Or Sizanians. 2 Only eleven are mentioned.

330 THE OLD TESTAMENT
(Nergal l) going before me, has presented (me), I fought
with them. From the city Qarqara as far as the city
Gilzau 2 I made an end of them. Fourteen thousand
of their warriors I caused to be slain with the sword.
Like Hadad I caused a torrent to rain down upon
them. ..."
Such is the account of the first recorded contact
of the Assyrians with the Jews — that is, if Sir'ilaa be
rightly rendered " Israelites " ; as to Ahab, there may
have been more than one of the name, just as there
were two Kalparudas, he of the Patinians, and he of
the Gurgumians. Nevertheless, the probability that
it really is Ahab of Israel is great, and this theory is
held by most Assyriologists.
In truth, however, the Hebrew and the Assyrian
histories of this period are not altogether easy to
reconcile. Ben-Hadad II., the son and successor of
Ben-Hadad I., was in almost continual conflict with
the Israelites. The story is told in I Kings xx.,
according to which Ben-Hadad entered into an
alliance with thirty-two other kings, who, with their
armies, horses, and chariots, besieged Samaria. Too
full of confidence, he sent to Ahab of Israel, who
was in the besieged city, demanding his surrender,
the second time with terms more than usually humili
ating. In consequence of the words of a prophet who
is unnamed, the rejection of these terms was followed
by a sortie of the inhabitants, who seem to have
taken the besiegers unawares, whilst they were feast
ing and drinking in their over-confidence. The result
was the raising of the siege, and the complete defeat
of the allied forces.
The next attack of Ben-Hadad upon Ahab was
at Aphek, he hoping to obtain a victory over the
Israelites because he considered their God to be a god
1 The god of death and battle.
2 Thus in the inscription, but translators generally read
Gilzanu.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 33 1
of the mountains, and that they would not be under
his protection in the plains. Here, too, the Israelites
were victorious, and Ben-Hadad submitted, and agreed
to restore cities taken by his father (xx. 34), and to
allow the Israelites to build streets at Damascus
(probably as a quarter for Jewish merchants).
Admitting the correctness of the general opinions
of Assyriologists concerning Ahabbu mdt SiPilda, it
must have been between this period and his death
that he joined the Syrian league against Shalmaneser
II. of Assyria, with a force only half that of Ben-
Hadad, though his chariots were nearly twice as
many. Notwithstanding this, however, the Israelitish
troops were sufficiently numerous, and the defeat of
such a large army as that of the allies of the Syrian
league, and the slaughter of a total of 14,000 men among
them (another account says 20,500), many of them in
all probability Israelites, finds no place, strange to
say, in the sacred record, notwithstanding that the
Hebrew writers do not, as a rule, in the least object
to mentioning national defeat, and in this case it
would have been a most important thing to refer to,
the danger which threatened them and their allies
being such as promised to overthrow their national
existence altogether. Perhaps the compiler of the
sacred record, however, did not realize to the full
what the Assyrian invasion meant ; or he may not
have desired to justify Ahab's policy (which, in view
of the danger which threatened, was a sound one),
and so discredit with the people the fanatical be
haviour and tragic warning of the prophet who
reproached the king so mercilessly because he had
made friends with Ben-Hadad instead of pressing on
against him in hostility, even to the death.
The Rev. Joseph Horner {Proceedings ofthe Society
of Biblical ArchcBology, 1898, p. 244), besides bringing
in the chronological difficulty, which is very real, in
spite of Prof. Oppert's Noli me tangere (P.S.B.A.,

332 THE OLD TESTAMENT
1898, pp. 24-47), notes (pp. 237, 238) the difficulty of
the name. This is the only place where Israel is
called in the Assyrian inscriptions Sir'ilaa — in all
other passages it is bit Humri, " the house of Omri,"
or mdt bit Humri, " the land of the house of Omri,"
and he regards it as incredible that a name never
used before, and never afterwards found, should be
employed. Elsewhere, when speaking of Jehu, Shal
maneser calls him " son " or " descendant of Omri,"
apparently intending thereby to indicate his national
ity, for, as is well known, the relationship expressed
is not correct.
Nevertheless, allowance must be made for the un
certainty attending the introduction into the literature
of a country of a name with which the people, in
cluding the scribes, are unfamiliar. Humri or Omri
may have been, to the scribe who composed the
account given by the Black Obelisk, very much
easier to remember than the comparatively unfamiliar
Sir'ilaa, and it may have been felt that the form used
was not by any means certain — Isra'ilaa would, in
fact, have been much better. The scribe of the
monolith, however, may have inserted what he felt
to be the Assyro-Babylonian form of the name, for
something very similar to Sir'ilaa (or Ser'ilaa) exists
in the Sar-ili of a contract tablet of the reign of
Ammi-zaduga, translated in the Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society, 1897, pp. 594-595 (cf. p. 157).
But, as before remarked, the chronological difficulty
still remains, the date, from Hebrew sources, being,
according to Prof. Oppert, before 900 B.C. (the last
year of Ahab), whilst, according to Assyrian chro
nology, it should be 853 B.C. (cf. Sayce in Hastings's
Dictionary of the Bible, vol. i. p. 272).
The importance of the city of Hamath is well
indicated not only by the above extract, but also
by the numerous other passages where Irhuleni (or
Urhileni) of Hamath is referred to. The Guites

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 333
were regarded by the late Geo. Smith as the Biblical
Goim — a rather doubtful identification. As for the
Musrites, the same scholar thought them to be the
Egyptians, Musraa, "Musrites," coming apparently
from Musur, the name of Egypt in the Assyrian
inscriptions. Others regard them as being a people
of the north, and this is more probable, though it
would perhaps be better to regard the name as un
identified. The mention of " camels " in connection
with Gindibu'u of the Arbaa is regarded as stamping
the nationality referred to as being Arabic, and this
is very probable. In Ba'asa son of Ruhubu of the
Ammonites we have the comparatively familiar
Biblical names Baasha and Rehob in their Assyrian
forms. It will therefore be seen that the extract
translated above is of considerable interest quite
independently of its historical bearings, which are
of great importance, whatever may be the ultimate
opinion concerning them.
During the next three years Shalmaneser was
occupied on the west and north-west and in Babylonia,
so that it was not until 850 B.C. that he was again
able to turn his attention to the neighbourhood of
Palestine. The clemency of Ahab towards Ben-Hadad had
apparently ended, as has been seen, in an alliance
between the two nationalities, but that alliance did
not, to all appearance, last very long. There is every
probability that it was an unwilling one on the
part of Ben-Hadad, and in all probability he took
advantage of the death of Ahab to repudiate it. In
any case, Ben-Hadad is represented in 2 Kings vi.
24 ff., as again besieging Samaria, but with disastrous
results. What interval there was between his raising
the siege of Samaria and his death, the sacred
narrative does not say, but according to Assyrian
chronology, there should be from four to six years
at least (850-846 B.C.).

334 THE OLD TESTAMENT
In the tenth year of his reign Shalmaneser II. of
Assyria crossed the Euphrates for the eighth time, and
advanced against Sangara of Carchemish, whose cities
he destroyed, made waste, and burned in the flames.
After this came the turn of Arame, whose capital
city, with one hundred other places around it, was
laid in ruins. Addu-idri of Damascus (Imeri-su),
however, set himself, with Irhuleni of Hamath, and
twelve of the kings of Syria" to resist the Assyrian
king. Shalmaneser claims to have defeated them,
put them to flight, and captured their chariots, horses,
and war-material.
There is hardly any doubt, however, that his
success was not by any means what he desired and
expected, for he found himself obliged to march again
to the same reigon in his eleventh year, when he
crossed the Euphrates for the ninth time. On this
occasion he says that he destroyed ninety-seven cities
of Sangara of Carchemish and one hundred cities of
Arame. Having reached the edge of the Hamanu
(Amanus) range of mountains, he traversed the portion
named Yaraqu, and descended to the land of the
Hamathites, where he captured the city Astamaku
and ninety-nine other places, defeating their armies
with great slaughter. Again he met Addu-idri, with
. Irhuleni of Hamath and the twelve " kings of the
sea-coast." In the battle which follows he claims to
have defeated them and killed 10,000 of their fighting-
men with the sword. He also states that he took
their chariots, horses, and war-material. On his way
back he again turned his attention to Arame, captur
ing his capital Apparazu. At that time he likewise
received the tribute of Kalparundu of the Patinians,
consisting of silver, lead, gold, horses, oxen, sheep,
and textile fabrics. Ascending again into the Amanus
mountains, he brought away a further supply of cedar-
wood for his palaces.
In the two following years (648 and 647 B.C.,

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 335
according to Assyrian reckoning), Shalmaneser was
not to all appearance engaged in any expeditions of
importance, or at least their importance is unknown.
In his fourteenth year, 846 B.C., however, he crossed
the Euphrates again, and met Ben-Hadad for the
last time. As before, the latter was in alliance with
Irhuleni of Hamath and the " twelve kings of the
sea-ceast above and below." Again the Assyrian king
fought with them and defeated them, destroying their
chariots and teams, and capturing, as before, their
war-material, and " to save their lives, they fled."
Naturally all these historical details are of great
interest and value. The question naturally arises
whether, being so much alike in wording and results,
they may not all refer to the same expedition, which
the Assyrian king repeated to fill up his annals ? As
a rule, however, the annals of the Assyrian rulers are
exceedingly correct, and there is consequently but
little reason to doubt the accuracy of Shalmaneser's
statements. It is noteworthy that, in all these de
scriptions of expeditions to the west, twelve kings are
mentioned, whilst in the first instance eleven only are
enumerated, and in the other two the twelve are
spoken of as if in addition to Addu-idri and Irhuleni
of Hamath. Ought we, therefore, to translate "the
twelve kings," meaning the eleven which are referred
to along with and including Ahabbu of the Sir'ilaa,
or are the twelve kings referred to in the account of
the second and third encounters with Ben-Hadad
merely an indefinite number, meaning "a dozen," i.e.
"twelve more or less"? As it is impossible that
Ahab of Israel should have been one of the Syrian
league all this time, the latter must be held to be
the more probable explanation — " In those days
Addu-idri of the land of Imeri-su (and) Irhuleni of
the land of Hamath with a dozen kings of the sea-
coast trusted each other's might, and came against
me to make war and battle."

336 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Notwithstanding all his efforts, however, as detailed
in his annals, Shalmaneser II. was still very far from
the subjugation of the " sea-coast," as he calls Palestine
and Syria, and realizing that he had a hard task
before him, he returned to his own country and
occupied himself in the two following years in
Mesopotamia, Ararat, and Namri, south-east of
Assyria. The following year, 843 B.C., for the first
time during his reign, he was at peace, superintending
the felling of trees in the Amanus mountains for
use in the palaces of Assyria. This period of rest
was in all probability necessary to enable the army
to be reorganized for further campaigns in that part
of the world which he seems to have set his heart
upon subjugating.
This being the case, he set out, in his eighteenth
year (842 B.C.), and crossed the Euphrates for the
sixteenth time. This expedition, however, was not
against his old foe, Ben-Hadad or Addu-idri, but
against Haza'-ilu, the Hazael of 2 Kings viii. 8, etc.,
who had treacherously murdered his master, as
related in this passage, and seized the throne. Hear
ing of the advance of the Assyrian army, he prepared
for resistance, as is related in the following narrative.
" In my 18th year I crossed the Euphrates for the
1 6th time. Haza-'llu of the land of Imeri-su trusted
to the might of his troops, and called his troops
together in great number. Saniru, the peak of a
mountain which is before Lebanon, he made his
stronghold. I fought with him, I accomplished his
defeat : 1600 of his fighting-men I slew with the
sword : 1 1 2 1 of his chariots, 470 of his horses, with
his camp, I captured. He fled to save his life — I set
out after him. I besieged him in Dimasqu (Damascus),
his royal city. I cut down his orchards ; I went to
the mountains of the land of Hauranu (the Hauran),
cities without number I destroyed, wasted, and burned
in the flames. Untold spoil I carried away. I went

VIII.j^Plates of Chased Bronze, which covered the Doors of an Enclosure at Balawat. [Left-hand portions, from right-hand leaf.]
(Found by Mr. H. Rassam, in 1878, and now in British Museum, Assyrian Saloon.)
Ia. — The expedition of Shalmaneser II. to the land of Nairi (Mesopotamia). Sacrificing to the gods by throwing meat-offerings into the lake. March
of the army over the mountains. lb. — Siege and capture of the city Suguni, in Ararat.
II«. — Bringing to Shalmaneser " the tribute o/tke skips of Tyre and Sidon ." lib. — March against the city Hazizi. Procession of prisoners.
Ilia, and 1 11^.— Crossing the tributaries ofthe Euphrates by pontoon bridges. Receiving tribute from Adinu, son of Dakuru, of Enzudu. (Page 337.)

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 337
to the mountains of Ba'ali-ra'asi " (Aramaic : " lord of
the promontory "), "which is a headland " (lit., " head of
the sea") — " I set up an image of my majesty therein.
In those days I received the tribute of the Tyrians,
Sidonians, (and) of Yaua, son of Humri."
The description of this campaign given by the
Black Obelisk is as follows —
" In my 18th year I crossed the Euphrates for the
j6th time. Haza'-ilu of the land of Imeri-su came
forth to battle: 1121 of his chariots, 470 of his
horses, with his camp, I took away from him."
These two documents, as will easily be seen, are in
perfect accord, and the story they have to tell agrees
in its turn with that of the preceding years of
Shalmaneser's reign. Indeed, this text may be
regarded as confirming the opinions hitherto held
concerning the identity of Ahabbu m&t Sir'il&a with
Ahab of Israel, and Addu-idri with Ben-Hadad of
Damascus. This, be it noted, is due to the fact that,
like Ben-Hadad, Addu-idri was succeeded by Hazael,
who, in both the Bible narrative and the annals of
Shalmaneser, is a contemporary of Jehu (Yaua, son
of Humri or Omri). The Black Obelisk, probably
for the sake of economizing space, does not refer to
the receipt of tribute from Jehu when speaking of the
battle with Hazael, on account of the bas-relief thereon
referring to that event. The following is the transla
tion of the epigraph in question which I gave in
18861— " The tribute of Yaua, son of Humri : silver, gold,
a golden cup, golden vases, golden vessels, golden
buckets, lead, a staff for the hand of the king (and)
sceptres, I received."
The account of the conflict with Hazael indicates
that certain changes had taken place in the Medi-
1 Guide to the Nimroud Central Saloon, p. 31. This render
ing is based on a careful comparison of the inscription with the
bas-relief.

338 THE OLD TESTAMENT
terranean coast-lands since Shalmaneser's former
campaigns thither. It was no longer against the
kings of Damascus and Hamath with "a dozen
kings" in alliance with them, but against Hazael
alone. Had they broken with Ben-Hadad? or did
they hold aloof because they had no sympathy with
his murderer? In any case, it would seem to be
certain that they no longer feared the Assyrian king,
who, they must have felt, had his hands full. In
Israel, too, there had been changes, Ahab having
been succeeded by Ahaziah, who, after a reign of one
year, was succeeded by Jehoram. The latter tried to
reduce Mesha king of Moab again to subjection, but
without success. Ben-Hadad's attempt to capture
Samaria was made during his reign, and the non-
success of the Syrian king was probably the cause of
Jehoram's attempt to recover Ramoth-gilead, where
Ahab had found his fate some years before. The
king of Israel did not fall on the field of battle, but
received there a wound which obliged him to return
to Jezreel. His death at the hands of Jehu in
Naboth's vineyard is one of the most dramatic
incidents of Israelitish history.
Jehu's payment of tribute to the Assyrian king in
842 B.C. was probably due to a question of policy, and
in the main it may be considered as a cheap way of
avoiding misfortune, for he might easily have been
worsted in an encounter with Shalmaneser. What
Tyre and Sidon thought fit to do, could hardly but be
recognized as policy for Israel as well. It was import
ant for Jehu that he should consolidate his power,
hence this submission, though, to say the truth, he
could not have been certain that he would be
attacked. Was it that he felt strong enough to
resist the Assyrian king which made him withhold
the payment of tribute when, in 839 B.C., Shalmaneser
again marched against Hazael? It would seem so.
On this occasion four towns of the king of Damascus

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 339
were captured, and tribute again received from Tyre
and Sidon, Gebal likewise buying peace in the same
way. That Jehu, who destroyed the house of Omri,
should be called " son of Omri " in the inscriptions
of Shalmaneser II. of Assyria, is strange, and needs
explanation. Perhaps the successor of a king could
loosely be spoken of as his son, as occupying the
place of such a relative ; and, as is well known,
Belshazzar, in the book of Daniel, is called son of
Nebuchadnezzar, which, according to the Babylonian
inscriptions, he certainly was not. That Jehu may
have been in some way related with Jehoram, and
therefore a descendant of Omri, is possible and even
probable. That he was not descended from him in a
direct line is certain.
It is noteworthy that the Assyrian form of the name,
Yaua, shows that the unpronounced aleph at the
end was at that time sounded, so that the Hebrews
must have called him Yahua (Jehua). Omri was
likewise pronounced in accordance with the older
system, before the ghain became ayin. Humri shows
that they said at that time Ghomri.
After the rebellion which embittered the closing
yearsof Shalmaneser's life, the great Assyrian king died,
and his crown went to his younger son Samsi-Addu
III. (825-812 B.C.). The first work of the new ruler
was the pacification of his country, and this having
been successfully done, he tried to restore Assyrian
influence beyond the borders of his kingdom. During
his reign of about thirteen years, he warred on the
N., N.E., N.W. and S. (Babylonia), but never came
nearer to Syria than Kar-Shalmaneser on the
Euphrates, near Carchemish.
His son, Adad-nirari, who reigned from 812 to
783 B.C., followed in his footsteps, and began by
making conquests on the east. The north and north
west, however, also felt the force of his arms. The

340 THE OLD TESTAMENT
only campaign of which details are given is one
against Syria, the date of which, however, is not
known. G. Smith thought that this could not have
taken place earlier than 797 B.C., during the time
of Amaziah king of Judah and Joash king of Israel
— a conjecture which is based, to all appearance, upon
the comparison of Mansuate with Manasseh. As
the Assyrian form of this name is Minse or Minase,
such an identification is impossible, and this being
the case, it is more probable that the expeditions to
the Holy Land and Syria took place either in 806,
when he went to Arpad, 805, when he was at Haza,
or 804, when he marched against Ba'ali, the name,
apparently, of a Phoenician city. The next year he
went to the sea-coast, but whether this was the
Mediterranean or not is not indicated, though it may
be regarded as very probable, and if so, 803 B.C.
must be added to the dates already named, or the
operations to which he refers in his slab-inscription
may have extended over one or more of the years
here referred to.
So, when he was young and enthusiastic, King
Adad-nirari III. of Assyria had the inscription carved
of which the following is a translation, as far as it is
at present known —
" Palace of Adad-nirari, the great king, the powerful
king, king of the world, king of the land of A§§ur ;
the king who, in his youth, Assur, king of the Igigi,
called, and delivered into his hand a kingdom without
equal ; his shepherding he (Assur) made good as
pasture for the people of the land of Assur, and
caused his throne to be firm ; the glorious priest,
patron of E-sarra, he who ceaseth not to uphold the
command of E-kura, who continually walketh in the
service of AsSur, his lord, and hath caused the
princes of the four regions to submit to his feet.
He who hath conquered from the land of Siluna of
the rising of the sun, the mountains (?) of the land

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 34 1
of Ellipu, the land of Harhar, the land of Arazias,
the land of Mesu, the land" of the Medes, the land
of Gizil-bunda, to its whole extent, the land of
Munna, the land of Parsua (Persia), the land of
Allapria, the land of Abdadana, the land of Na'iru
(Mesopotamia), to the border of the whole of it, the
land of Andiu, whose situation is remote, the range
(?) of the mountains, to its whole border, as far as
the great sea of the rising of the sun (the Persian
Gulf) ; from the river Euphrates, the land of Hatti
(Heth, the Hittites), the land of Amurri (Amoria, the
Amorites), to its whole extent, the land of Tyre, the
land of Sidon, the land of Humri (Omri, Israel), the
land of Edom, the land of Palastu (Philistia) as far
as the great sea of the setting of the sun (the
Mediterranean), I caused to submit to my feet. I
fixed tax and tribute upon them. I went to the
land of .Sa-imeri-su (Syria of Damascus); Mari'u,
king of Sa-imeri-su, I shut up in Dimasqu (Damascus),
his royal city. The fear and terror pf Assur, his
lord, struck him, and he took my feet, performed
homage. Two thousand three hundred talents of
silver, 20 talents of gold, 3000 talents of bronze, 5000
talents of iron, cloth, variegated stuffs, linen, a couch
of ivory, an inlaid litter of ivory, (with) cushions (?),
his goods, his property, to a countless amount I
received in Damascus, his royal city, in the midst of
his palace. All the kings of the land of Kaldu (the
Chaldean tribes in Babylonia) performed homage,
tax and tribute for future days I fixed upon them.
Babylon, Borsippa, Cuthah, brought the overplus (of
the treasures) of Bel, Nebo, (and) Nergal, (made) pure
offerings. . . ."
(The remainder of the inscription is said to be still
at Calah, not yet uncovered.)
Schrader, in his Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old
Testament, makes the campaign against Syria to have
taken place in 803 B.C., and sees in Adad-nirari the

342 THE OLD TESTAMENT
deliverer sent by Yahwah in answer to the prayers
of Jehoahaz. According to 2 Kings xiii. 3, the
Israelites were subject to Hazael and Ben-Hadad,
his son, all their days. There is every probability
that the successor of the latter was the Mari'u men
tioned in the translation given above, and the same
inscription would seem to indicate that the Israelites
submitted to the Assyrian king, and paid him
tribute in order to secure his intervention, which,
judging from the enormous amount of spoil which
he secured, he did not regret. The saviour having
come, and the tribute paid, " Israel dwelt in their
tents, as beforetime " (2 Kings xiii. 5). Verses 22-25
are to all appearance a recapitulation, probably ex
tracted from another source. They show that Joash,
son of Jehoahaz, rebelled, and took from Ben-Hadad
the cities which the last-named had captured from
Israel, and defeated him three times (see ver. 19).
Apparently "all their days" in ver. 3 is not to be
taken literally, as the war of the Israelites against
Syria took place before the death of Ben-Hadad III.
It may also be conjectured that the reason of there
being no more than three defeats of the Syrians was
due to the death of Ben-Hadad, and his sceptre
passing into younger and more vigorous hands, so
that " a saviour " was still needed, and found in the
person of the Assyrian king, as suggested by Schrader.
The Syrian forces not being in a condition, after their
defeats by the Israelites, to offer battle to Adad-
nirari, apparently submitted without fighting, and
after such a visit the country had too much need for
peace to allow of reprisals being made against the
Israelites. The fame of Adad-nirari was great, and his queen
seems to have shared in it. She was named Sammu-
ramat, " (the goddess) Sammu loveth (her)," a name
which is generally regarded as the original of the some
what mythical Semiramis of Herodotus. That she

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 343
was looked up to by the subjects of her royal spouse,
however, is proved by the two statues in the British
Museum (there were in all four of them, erected at
Calah). According to the inscription on them, they
were made and dedicated for one of the chief officers
of the kingdom, Bel-tarsi-lli-ma (" a lord before God "),
who furnished them with the following dedication —
" To Nebo, mighty, exalted, son of E-saggil,1 the
wise one, high-towering, the mighty prince, son of
Nudimmud, whose word is supreme ; prince of the
hosts, director of the universe of heaven and earth, he
who knoweth everything, the wide of ear, he who
holdeth the tablet-reed (and) hath the stilus ; the
merciful one, he who considereth, who maketh known
(and) settleth those who are with him ; the beloved
of Ea, lord of lords, whose power hath no equal,
without whom there would be no counsel in heaven ;
the gracious one, pitiful, whose sympathy is good ; he
who dwelleth in E-zida, which is within Calah — the
great lord, his lord — for the life of Adad-nirari, king
of the land of Assur, his lord, and the life of Sammu-
ramat, she of the palace, his lady, Bel-tarsi-ili-ma,
ruler of the city of Calah, the land of Hamedu, the
land of Sudgana, the land of Temeni, the land of
Yaluna, for the saving of his life, the lengthening of
his days, the adding of days to his years, the peace of
his house and his people (not the one evil to him), he
has caused (this statue) to be made as a gift. Who
ever (cometh) after: Trust to Nebo — trust not another
god." It is rare that an Assyrian queen is mentioned in
the inscriptions, especially on almost equal terms with
the king, and additional interest is added by the fact,
that she bears a name commonly regarded as the
1 " Son of E-saggil " means that he was one of the deities
worshipped in the temple bearing that name. The god Ninip
is called "son of E-sarra," for the same reason. Nebo was
especially worshipped, however, at £-zida.

344 the old Testament
same as that of Semiramis. In Assyrian and Baby
lonian history, it is always the king who is the ruler,
whatever influence his spouse may have had in deter
mining his policy as such being always unmentioned,
and therefore unknown to the world at large. The
present inscription, however, seems to testify that
Sammu-ramat was known outside the walls of the
palace, and that one of the greatest in the kingdom
thought fit to do her honour by associating her with
the king in the dedication to Nebo which he made
for the preservation of the lives of the king, the queen,
and himself. Whether the history of Sammu-ramat,
queen of Assyria, was laid under contribution to fur
nish details for the legend of Semiramis, will probably
never be known ; but it is nevertheless unfortunate
that the slab recounting the warlike exploits of Adad-
nirari, king of Assyria, her husband, should break
off in the middle of his account of his successes in
Babylonia. Adad-nirari reigned 29 years, and was succeeded
by Shalmaneser III. in 783 B.C. The expeditions
of this king were principally against Armenia and
Itu'u, a region on the Euphrates. In the year 775 B.C.
he went to the cedar-country, but whether the
mountain region of the Amanus, Lebanon, or of a
district called Hasur be intended, is unknown. The
necessity of expeditions against Syria, however, still
continued, for in 773 B.C. we find Shalmaneser at
Damascus, probably to bring the king then ruling
there again into subjection.
Although doubt is now expressed as to whether
Hatarika, whither Shalmaneser III. marched in 772
B.C., the last year of his reign, be really Hadrach
(Zech. ix. 1) or not (the consonants do not agree so
well as they ought to do), in all probability it was a
district not far from Damascus to which he went.
A§§ur-dan, his successor, ascended the throne in
the following year, and at once began warring in

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 345
Babylonia and on the east. In 765 B.C. he marched
to Ijjatarika. Signs of revolt seem at this time to
have broken out in Assyria, probably on account of
the pestilence with which the land was afflicted, and
it must have been for this reason that no expedition
was undertaken in the year 764 B.C. Next year the
rising, which was evidently expected, took place in
the city of Assur, and there was an eclipse of the sun
in the month Sivan, an important astronomical occur
rence which has been identified with an eclipse which
passed over Assyria on the 15th of June, 763 B.C.,
'and was supposed by Mr. Bosanquet to be referred
to in Amos viii. 9, " I will cause the sun to go
down at noon, and will darken the earth in the clear
day." To all appearance this eclipse, taken in conjunction
with the presence of pestilence and rebellion, was
regarded as an evil omen. This revolt lasted into the
next year, and spread, in 761 B.C., into Arrabha,
where it continued three years. In 769 the revolt
reached Gozan, and there was a recrudescence of the
plague. There is no reference to the stamping out of
the revolt in Assyria, but it seems very probable that
the king and his supporters were active to that end,
as he was able to march in the year 758 B.C., to Gozan,
after which there is the entry, " Peace in the land."
Two years were to all appearance occupied in re
organizing the country and providing against a repe
tition of such risings, unless it be that Assur-dan was
too ill to take the field, for according to the received
chronology, he died in 755 B.C., when Assur-nirari II.
ascended the throne.
This new ruler is represented to have made two
expeditions, one in the year of his accession, to
Hatarika, and the other, in 754 B.C., to Arpad. What
the additional statement, " Return from the city of
Ailsur," really refers to, is exceedingly doubtful —
perhaps troops had been stationed there during the

346 THE OLD TESTAMENT
whole period since the breaking out of the revolt
there in 763 B.C.
For four years no expeditions were made, pointing
to a continued ferment of discontent in Assyria. In
749 and 748 B.C., however, Assur-nirari made expe
ditions to Namri, south-west of Media. It is significant,
however, that the Canon has, for the next year (747
B.C.), the usual words (" In the land ") when no expe
dition took place, the reason probably being the
unsettled state of the country. The entry for the
next year is " Revolt in Calah," which, as has already
been seen, was one of the principal cities of the king
dom. After this is the usual division-line, indicating
the end of a reign, followed by the words " (Eponymy
of Nabu-bel-usur, governor of) Arrabha. In the month
Aaru (Iyyar), day 13, Tiglath-pileser sat upon the
throne. In the month Tisritu (Tisri) he made an
expedition to (the district) between the rivers." This
corresponds with 745 B.C.
Thus is ushered in, in the Eponym Canon, one of
the most important reigns in Assyrian history. How
it was that Tiglath-pileser came to the throne is not
known. To all appearance, he was not in any way
related to his predecessor, Assur-nirari, and it is there
fore supposed that he was one of the generals of that
king, who, taking advantage of the rising in AsSur (of
which he may, indeed, have been the instigator), made
away with his sovereign, and set himself in his place.
Further light, however, is needed upon this period,
before anything can be said as to the circumstances
attending Tiglath-pileser's accession to the throne.
Though all Tiglath-pileser's inscriptions are imper
fect, and most of them very fragmentary, they never
theless contain enough to show of what enormous
value they are. Their incompleteness and the ab
sence of dates consequent thereon is fortunately com
pensated somewhat by the fact that the Eponym
Canon is perfect in the part which refers to this king,

Tiglath-pileser III. in His Chariot.
British Museum, Nimrond Centra] Saloon.

(Page 346.)

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 347
and that we are therefore able to locate with certainty
all the events of his reign.
As the entry translated above shows, his first cam
paign was " between the rivers," that is, to Babylonia,
the land lying between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
His object in leading his forces thither was to break
the power of the Aramean tribes, with the Arabs and
others who were in alliance with them. Going first
south-east, he subjugated the Chaldean tribes, includ
ing the Pekodites ; turning afterwards west, he went
against the Arameans, capturing Sippar, Dur-Kuri-
galzu, and other Babylonian cities, and it is supposed
that it was on this occasion that he assumed the title
"king of Sumer and Akkad." To all appearance,
however, he was not recognized by the Babylonians
themselves as king, Nabonassar being then on the
throne. There is hardly any doubt, however, that
Babylonia acknowledged Assyrian overlordship on
this occasion, thus giving Tiglath-pileser some justifi
cation for assuming the title.
Having arranged things to his satisfaction in Baby
lonia, Tiglath-pileser turned his attention to the East
(Namri, 744), Ararat (743), and Arpad (same year),
the last being his objective up to and including the
year 740 B.C. Sardurri of Ararat, however, saw his
influence threatened by this move, for he, too, was a
conqueror, and had had such success, that he felt
justified in calling himself "king of Suri," or North
Syria. How matters fell out is not known, but it
may be supposed that the Assyrian king went and
besieged Arpad, was attacked whilst doing so by
Sardurri and his allies, and compelled to raise the
siege. A pursuit of the Armenian forces by the
Assyrians was the result of this attack, the end being,
in all probability, a decisive victory for Tiglath-pileser.
This, according to Rost, would seem to be the most
reasonable supposition, for the Assyrian king was able
to besiege Arpad again next year without any hin-

348 THE OLD TESTAMENT
drance. The capture of the city in the third year
brought the rulers of the district in which it stood to
the feet of the Assyrian king — all except one, Tutamu
king of Unqu, who was defeated and captured, and
his territories annexed to Assyria.
During the campaigns in the north at the end of
739 B.C., risings took place in Syria and North Phoe
nicia, and this gave Tiglath-pileser the wished-for
opportunity to bring these districts again under his
sway. The Eponym Canon gives for this year the
simple entry, " He captured the city of Kullanu," which
Rost supposes to have been in the neighbourhood of
Hamath, and if so, must be the Calne of Isaiah x. 9,
which is there mentioned with Hamath, Carchemish,
Arpad, Samaria, and Damascus as having been sub
dued by Assyria. The mention of Kullanu as the
object of the expedition is probably due to its having
been one of the chief factors in the disturbances which
took place. It would also seem that Azariah of
Judah took part in the attempt to get rid of Assyrian
influence, and though this was fully recognized by
Tiglath-pileser, the Assyrian king to all appearance
did not come into direct contact with his country.
Azriau or Izriau (Azariah — Rost's collation of the
squeezes shows that both spellings of the name were
used) of Judah is mentioned at least four times.
The earlier references, however, are so very frag
mentary that nothing certain can be said concerning
their connection — in one of the passages containing
his name the wording leads one to imagine that he
was captured by the Assyrian king, though, as Rost
has shown, this may simply mean that certain sym
pathizers of his had taken his part. But whatever
may have taken place in Judah, Azariah's sympa
thizers did not get on so well as their leader. No
less than nineteen places were captured by the
Assyrian king, including "Usnu, Siannu, $imirra
(Simyra), Raspuna (?), on the sea-coast, together with

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 349
the cities of the Saue-mountains (mountains which
are in Lebanon), Ba'ali-sapuna (Baal-zephon) as far
as Amanu (Amanus, or 'according to Winckler, the
anti-Lebanon), the mountain of urkarinu-wood, the
whole of the land of Sau, the province of Kar-Addi
(fortress of Hadad), the city of Hatarikka, the pro
vince of Nuqudina, Hasu with the cities which are
around it, the cities of Ara, and the cities which are
on each side of it, with the cities ( = villages) which
are around them, the mountain Sarbua to its whole
extent, the city Ashanu, the city Yadabu, the moun
tain Yaraqu to its whole extent, the city . . . -ri,
the city Elli-tarbi, the city Zitanu as far as the city
Atinnu, the city . . . (and) the city Bumamu — XIX.
districts of the city of Hamath, with the cities which
were around them, of the sea-coast of the setting of
the sun, which in sin and wickedness had taken to
Azriau, I added to the boundary of Assyria. I set my
commander-in-chief as governor over them, 30,300
people I removed from the midst of their cities and
caused the province of the city of Ku- ... to take
them." Notwithstanding that there is no reference to the
above in the Old Testament, there is no reason to
doubt that it is substantially correct. Its omission is
in all probability due to the fact, that neither Judah
nor Israel were menaced by the forces of the Assyrian
king. Notwithstanding this, the expedition and the
success of Tiglath-pileser had its effect, the result
being that all the princes of middle and north Syria
showed their submission to the Assyrian king by
paying tribute, thus ensuring the safety of their terri
tory, at least for a time. This took place after the
defeat of Kisi, the Aramean, and his forces, together
with several other districts, and the transportation of
the inhabitants from their homes to districts in other
principalities, a proceeding calculated to destroy
national feeling and thus contribute to the safety of

350 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the empire by rendering rebellion more unlikely.
The following is the list of the princes who secured
immunity from attack by paying tribute : —
" Kustaspu of the city of the Comagenians ; Ra-
sunnu (Rezon) of the land of the Sa-Imerisuites
(Syria); Menihimme (Menahem) of the city of the
Samarians ; Hirummu (Hirom) of the city of the
Tyrians ; Sibitti-bi'ili of the city of the Gebalites ;
Urikku of the Kuites ; Pisiris of the Carchemishites ;
£ni-ilu of the city of the Hammatites ; Panammu of
the city of the Sam'allites ; Tarhulara of the land of
the Gurgumites ; Sulumal of the land of the Meli-
dites ; Dadi-ilu of the land of the Kaskites ; Uassur-
me of the land of the Tabalites; Ushitti of the
land of the Tunites ; Urballa of the land of the
Tuhanites ; Tuhamme of the city of the Istundites ;
Urimme of the city of the Husimnites ; Zabib£,
queen of the land of Arabia. Gold, silver, lead, iron,
elephant-skins, ivory, variegated cloth, linen, violet
stuff, crimson stuff, terebinth-wood, oak (?), everything
costly, the treasure of a kingdom, fat lambs whose
fleeces were coloured crimson, winged birds of heaven,
whose feathers were coloured violet, horses, mules,
oxen and sheep, male camels and female camels with
their young, I received."
It was a rich booty, and was probably held to be a
sufficient return for all the expense, and trials, and
hardships of the campaign. Though the kingdom of
Judah seems not to have suffered (we must not be too
hasty to assume that this was the case, as the Assyrian
records are exceedingly defective), Israel, as is men
tioned above, paid tribute. It does not appear from
the Assyrian account that Tiglath-pileser went against
Samaria, but notwithstanding this, 2 Kings xv. 19 has
the following —
"There came against the land Pul the king of
Assyria ; and Menahem gave Pul 1000 talents of
silver, that his hand might be with him to confirm the

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 351
kingdom in his hand. And Menahem exacted the
money of Israel, even of all the mighty men of
wealth, of each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to
the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria turned
back, and stayed not there in the land."
It is to be noted that there is here nothing about
buying the Assyrian king off — the money was paid
him to confirm the kingdom in Menahem's hand.
The writer apparently assumed that the Assyrian
king might not altogether be hostilely inclined, not
withstanding that " he came against the land." Per
haps by " land " we are to understand " district." In
any case, the two accounts can hardly be said to
disagree. He did not war there, but he received
Menahem's tribute — it was therefore needless to men
tion his visit, if such it was. Many a ruler in this
district must have done the same thing on this occa
sion, and there could have been no reason to mention
one more than the other — hence, probably, the absence
of - references to any threatening approach to the
borders of Israel and other states on the part of the
Assyrian king.
But whilst absent in the west, rebellion was rife
nearer home, and was put down with vigour by the
governors of the provinces of Lullumu and Na'iru
(Mesopotamia). This led to further transportations
of the inhabitants, who were sent west to Simirra
(Simyra), Arka, Usnu, Siannu, Tu'immu, and other
places in Syria. Next year Tiglath-pileser himself
marched to Madaa (the Medes), where he had a very
successful campaign. As some of the places men
tioned have the element Kingi as part of the name, it
has been suggested that in all probability the Sumer-
ians, whose Babylonian home was called Kingi, had
their original seat in Media.
Campaigns against the district of the mountains of
Nal and Ararat, the former as a preparation for the
latter, follow, after which comes, according to the

352 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Eponym Canon, an expedition to the land Pilista.
This is set down as the event of 734 B.C. There is, it
is needless to say, some uncertainty in this expression,
as the question naturally arises, What is really in
cluded in the term ? Assuming, with Rost, that the
statements in the Canon indicate the point intended
to be reached, and not the farthest point attained, it is
very probable that Israel did not come into the sphere
of the Assyrian king's operations, and this is all the
more probable in that Rost's collation of one of the
squeezes in the British Museum shows that instead
of the Assyrian form of Abel-Beth-Maachah, we
have to read Abil-akka, to which is added, how
ever, the description " on the boundary of Israel
(Btt-Humria)." It will be seen, therefore, that though
he may not have entered the country, or, at least,
made any warlike operations there, he approached
well within striking distance of its borders. On this
occasion it would seem that he found it necessary to
install six new governors so as to ensure the due
obedience of the inhabitants. After this, Tiglath-
pileser goes on to speak of Hanon of Gaza, who on
seeing the approach of the Assyrians fled to Egypt,
leaving his capital at the mercy of the invader.
Having captured the city, Tiglath-pileser entered
Hanon's royal palace, taking possession of all his
property, and setting therein his royal couch. He
speaks of having delivered something to the gods of
the land, and of having laid upon its inhabitants (the
payment of tribute and gifts). Further mutilated
lines follow, referring to the spoil taken, and there is
a reference to the land of Israel (mat Bit-Humria).
After this comes the words, " the whole of his people,
(with their property) I sent to Assyria." The gap
between the reference to Israel and this line, however,
makes it doubtful to what it really refers. The record
immediately goes on, however, to speak of the death
ofPekah.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 353
In the Eponym Canon the entries for the two years
following the campaign to Pilista {i. e. 733-732 B.C.)
are, " to the land of the Dimasqa." It would there
fore seem that, having assured himself of the submis
sion of his north-Phcenician vassals, Tiglath-pileser
attacked the northern district of Israel, taking Ijon,
Abel-beth-maachah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, . GUead,
Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali (2 Kings xv, 29).
No account of this, however, occurs in the Assyrian
inscriptions,1 which, as already pointed out, are very
mutilated for this period. It is possible that the refer
ence to Israel, in the mutilated passage quoted above,
relates to this invasion, and possibly also to the
payment of tribute by Pekah in order to secure
himself against further attacks.
Whether before or after the above is not known,
but possibly on the departure of the Assyrians, Rezin
(Rezon), king of Syria, made alliance with Pekah, and
their combined forces invaded Judah. Ahaz, who was
at this time king of Judah, was apparently besieged
in Jerusalem, and the king of Syria took advantage
of this opportunity to recover possession of Elath,
which never fell into the hands of the Jews again
(2 Kings xvi. 6).
There is no doubt that Ahaz was hard pressed, and
hearing, to all appearance, that the Assyrians were
again in the neighbourhood, he sent to Tiglath-pileser
a humble message : " I am thy servant, and thy son ;
come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of
Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, which
rise up against me." This would in all probability
have had but little effect, had it not been accompanied
by a goodly amount of gold and silver, taken not
only from his own treasury, but also from that of the
Temple at Jerusalem. The result was, that Tiglath-
1 " The broad (land of) ... . li," however, occurs, and, as
Professor Hommel actually suggests, may be a reference to
Nap-ta-li or Naphtali. Z

354 THE OLD TESTAMENT
pileser went up against Damascus. The Syrian king,
however, decided to resist, and a battle was fought in
which he was defeated, and obliged to seek safety in
flight. With a grim, not to say barbarous, humour,
Tiglath-pileser describes his flight and the treatment
of his supporters —
"... (like) a mouse he entered the great gate oi
his city. His chiefs (I took) alive with my hands,
(and) I caused them to be raised up and to view his
land (on) stakes : 45 camps of soldiers I collected
(in the provin)ce of his city, and shut him up like a
bird in a cage. His plantations, (fields, orchards (?),
and) woods, which were without number, I cut down,
and did not leave one  (the city) Hadara,
the house ( = dwelling-place) of the father of Rasunnu
(Rezon) of the land of the Sa-imerisuites, (the place
where) he was born, I besieged, I captured : 800
people with their possessions,  their oxen,
their sheep, I carried off: 750 prisoners of the city
Kurussa, .... (prisoners) of the city of the Irmaites,
550 prisoners of the city Metuna, I carried off: 591
cities .... of 16 districts of the land of Sa-imerisu
I destroyed like flood-mounds." 1
This is immediately followed by an account of the
operations against Samsi, queen of Arabia, and the
tribes connected with that over which she held sway.
After this he states that he set Idi-bi'ilu as governor
over the land of Musru. All these passages, however,
are exceedingly incomplete, as is also that referring to
Samaria, which follows. The shorter account of the
expeditions of Tiglath-pileser gives in this place lines
of which the following is a translation —
" They overthrew Paqaha (Pekah), their king, and
placed Ausi'a (Hosea) (upon the throne) over them.
1 I.e. like the ruins of cities which had been swept away by a
flood. In both Assyria and Babylonia floods were common
things, and the devastation they caused naturally gave rise to
the simile.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 355
Ten talents of gold, . . talents of silver, . . . their
(tribute), I received, and (brought) them (to the land
of Assyria)."
The longer account, from which most of the above
extracts have been made, may therefore be completed,
with Rost, provisionally, as follows —
"(Pekah, all of whose) cities (I had captured) in my
earlier campaigns, and had given over (as a prey, and
whose spoi)l I had carried off, abandoned the city of
Samerina (Samaria) alone. (Pekah), their king, (they
overthrew, and like) a hurricane (I ravaged the land)."
As will be seen, the above agrees closely with the
statement in 2 Kings xv. 30 —
" And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy
against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him,
and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the 20th
year of Jotham the son of Uzziah."
Mutilated details concerning other cities captured
by Tiglath-pileser follow the above extract from his
annals, after which the narrative continues —
" (Mitinti, of the land) of the Askelonites, (sinned)
against (my) agreement, (and revolted against me).
He saw (the overthrow of Ra)sunnu (Rezon), and
failure (of understanding (?) fell upon him (?), and
Rukipti, the son of Mitinti), sat upon the throne

In the account of the flight and death of Pekah, the
Assyrian king suggests that the abandonment of the
king of Israel of his capital was due to the fear of
capture at his hands. One may also suppose that he
wished it to be understood that Pekah incurred the
displeasure of his subjects by his flight, and that they
pursued after him, and having overtaken him, put him
to death. As a matter of fact, Pekah must really have
fled on account of the rebellion, led by Hoshea, who,
on learning of his flight, in all probability pursued
after him, and thus encompassed his death. Hoshea
then, by a payment of tribute to Tiglath-pileser,

356 THE OLD TESTAMENT
secured from the Assyrian king his recognition as
king of Israel, and at the same time assured himself
against attack at his hands.
Imitating Hoshea, Rukipti, the new king of Askelon,
also paid tribute, and thus secured his recognition. As
to Rezon, the Assyrian text does not enable us to see
what was his ultimate fate, but as it was such, appar
ently, as to terrify Mitinti of Askelon into madness, it
may be supposed that it was death at the orders of
the Assyrian king, as recorded in 2 Kings xvi. 9.
Tiglath-pileser was now complete master of the land
of Sa-imeri-su or Syria, and all the princes of the west
acknowledged his overlordship. This being the case,
it is only natural that Ahaz of Judah should visit
and pay him homage at Damascus, the capital of
the new province, as related in 2 Kings xvi. 10,
and probably it was to that city that many of
the other subject princes went for that purpose, and
to offer him their tribute. The further result of the
visit of Ahaz is detailed in the succeeding verses of
the passage in 2 Kings referred to.
Thus ended Tiglath-pileser's successful expedition
to Pilista and Damascus, and there is no record that
he ever went westward again. The Chaldeans, in
combination with the Arameans, had made use of his
absence to engage in new advances against Babylon.
Nabonassar, the king of that country, had died, and
been succeeded by his son, Nabu-nadin-zeri, who,
however, only reigned two years, and gave place to
Nabu-sum-ukin, who murdered him. This last, how
ever, only held the throne for somewhat more than
two months, and Ukin-zer, chief of the Chaldean tribe
Bit-Amukkani, took possession of the throne, and
ruled for three years — much against the inclination of
the Babylonians, who, to all appearance, had no love
for the Chaldean tribes inhabiting certain tracts of
the country. The interference of Tiglath-pileser was
therefore looked -on with favour by the Babylonians,

CONTACT OF HEBREWS^ WITH ASSYRIANS 357
who welcomed him as a deliverer. Ukin-zer (the
Chinzeros of Ptolemy) was besieged in his capital,
Sapia, though that city was not taken until the year
729 B.C. The result of this was, the submission of all
the Chaldean tribes, including that of which Merodach-
baladan (then only a young man) was the chief
Entering Babylon, Tiglath-pileser, in accordance with
the custom, "took the hand of Bel," an expression
apparently meaning that he performed the usual cere
monies, and was accepted by the god — and the priest
hood — as king. This also took place again next year,
from which it may be supposed that one acknowledged
as king of Babylon had to perform the ceremony yearly
in order to fulfil the conditions imposed upon those
who held the post of ruler. An entry in the Canon
for this year suggests that there was a rebellion (?) in
a city of which only the first character is preserved —
possibly to be completed Dir, and perhaps situated
in Babylonia. Operations against this place, in all
probability, were taken in hand next year (727 B.C.),
but whilst they were in progress, Tiglath-pileser died,
and Shalmaneser IV. mounted the throne.
How it is that Tiglath-pileser III. of Assyria was
called Pulu is not known. The name only occurs, in
native documents, in the Babylonian Canon of kings
— to all appearance that from which the Canon of
Ptolemy was copied. It is therefore practically certain
that he only bore this name officially in Babylonia.
Probably the most likely explanation is, that it was
his original name, though it may have been given him
by the compiler of the canon (supposing that he was
a man who had no great admiration for the Assyrian
conqueror) as a scornful expression, ibtllu (which may
also be read pillu) meaning " the wild animal." It
occurs, however, as a personal name in the inscriptions
of Assyria at least twice, the bearer of it being in
one case a charioteer, one of nine officials of " the
Huhamite."

358 THE OLD TESTAMENT
The fact that the name Pulu (in the Canon of
Ptolemy Poros), applied to Tiglath-pileser, occurs only
in a Babylonian document, suggests that the reference
to the Assyrian conqueror in 2 Kings xv. 19 and
1 Chron. v. 26 are due to a Babylonian source, though,
as it is the name by which he is at first called by the
writer of the 2nd Book of Kings, this is a confirmation
of the explanation that it was his original name. The
glory attached to the name Tiglath-pileser in Assyrian
history probably accounts for his having ultimately
adopted the latter.
"On the 25th day of Tebet Sulmanu-asarid (Shal
maneser) sat on the throne in Assyria. He destroyed
Sabara'in." (Babylonian Chronicle.)
" In the eponymy of Bel-harran-bel-usur, of the
city of Gozan, To the city .... Salmanu-asarid
sat upon the throne.
In the eponymy of Marduk-bel-usur, of the city
of Amedi, In the land.
In the eponymy of Mahde, of the city of
Nineveh, To 
In the eponymy of Assur-halsani (?), of the city
of Kalzi, To 
In the eponymy of Salmanu-asarid, king of
Assyria, To  "
(Eponym Canon with historical notices.)
These two extracts give practically all that is
known of the important reign of Shalmaneser IV.
from native sources. The first is from the Babylonian
Chronicle, and its brevity in all likelihood indicates
the amount of sympathy that the Babylonians had
for this king. Short as it is, however, it is probably of
as much value historically as the Assyrian Eponym
Canon in its present state, even including the restora
tions from that without historical notices. The com
pletion of this important document from additional
fragments and duplicates is greatly to be wished.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 359
It is therefore from the Old Testament and
Josephus that we get the fullest history of the reign
of this king. How it is that no records have been
found is not known. They may have been destroyed,
or nothing very extensive may have been written.
That at least something of the kind existed is indi
cated by the fact that the late George Smith refers to
at least one document, the whereabouts of which at
present is not known.
What may have been the relationship of Shal
maneser IV. of Assyria to Tiglath-pileser does not
appear. There is every probability that, like his
great predecessor, he was an adventurer who, taking
advantage of his popularity with the army, and the
failing powers of his royal master, seized the throne.
As will be seen from the Eponym Canon, an expedi
tion was in progress when he assumed the reins of
power, so that he may have taken advantage of the
absence of Tiglath-pileser to carry out his design.
Tebet being the tenth month of the Assyro-Baby
lonian year, the time of his accession corresponds
with the winter of 727 B.C., a period at which war
like operations were impossible. In the year 726 B.C.
also he remained at home, as was to be expected,
consolidating his power.
His first campaign must therefore have taken place
in 725 B.C., when, as recorded in 2 Kings xvii. 3, he
went against Hoshea, who paid him homage and
became tributary. Hearing that the king of Israel
had sent privately to So,1 king of Egypt, asking for
his help against the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser threw
Hoshea into prison, and advancing against Samaria,
called upon the city to surrender. Submission being
refused, he laid siege against it, and although Josephus
relates that he ultimately took it, this must be due
simply to an inference, as there is no statement to
1 According to Fried. Delitzsch, this is incorrectly given fox
Sewe, the Sib'e of the Assyrian inscriptions.

360 THE OLD TESTAMENT
that effect in the Book of Kings, the words recording
the event being simply "the king of Assyria took
Samaria," and, as we know from the inscriptions, it
is Sargon, successor of Shalmaneser, who claims the
honour of capturing the city (see below, p. 363).1
During the siege, however, the Assyrian king busied
himself with the subjugation of all the surrounding
district. It was probably in the same year (725 B.C.)
that he sent his army against Elulaeus, king of Tyre,
whose king had just been very successful in subju
gating the Cittaeans (people of Cyprus). According
to Josephus (or, rather, Menander, whom he quotes),
Phoenicia submitted (Menander tells the story from
the native point of view, and states that "he soon
made peace with them all "), but Sidon, Accho, and
Old Tyre (Palaetyrus) revolted (this probably means
" joined the Assyrians "), and several other cities
yielded to the king of Assyria. Finding that the
Tyrians2 would not submit, the Assyrian king returned
against them (this must have been in the year 724 B.C.),
and attacked them again, being aided on this occasion
by the Phoenicians, who furnished him with threescore
ships, and 800 men to row them. The attack of the
Assyrian allies, however, must have been a very half
hearted one, for the Tyrians advanced against them
with only twelve ships, and dispersed those of the
enemy, taking 500 men prisoners.
The reputation — and also the confidence — of the
citizens of Tyre being thus greatly increased, they
continued their resistance, and Shalmaneser found
himself obliged, in consequence of the inefficiency of
his allies, to content himself with a mere blockade of
the city, and the placing of guards over the water
supply, so as to reduce the inhabitants of Tyre by
1 If it be Sargon, then it was naturally he who carried Israel
captive to Assyria, placing them in Halah, Habor, and the cities
of the Medes.
2 I. e. those of the island of Tyre, which still held out.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 361
thirst. The latter, however, dug wells, and were thus
enabled to continue their resistance, which Meander
states lasted all the time ofthe siege, namely, five years
— i.e. until two years after the death of Shalmaneser.
To all appearance the Sabara'in of the Babylonian
Chronicle is the place which should be supplied in the
historical Eponym Canon, but, if so, the form is a
strange one. One would rather expect mat Blt-Humr!,
" the land of Beth-Omri," Pilista, " Philistia,"" or il
§urri, "the city of Tyre." There is also the possi
bility that one of these names may have appeared in
each of the three lines which require completing,
indicating three different stages of his conquests.
Samerina, " Samaria," may also have been the word,
or one of the words, to be restored. In this last case,
Delitzsch's suggestion that Sabara'in ought to be read
Samara'in, and regarded as the Babylonian form of
the Heb. Shomeron, " Samaria," is worthy of note.
The Babylonians do not state that he captured Saba
ra'in or Samara'in, but only that he destroyed (perhaps
the word means " ravaged ") it, and the city may not
have really fallen into the hands of the Assyrians
until Sargon was actually on the throne.
" In the 5th year Sulmanu-asarid died in the month
Tebet. Sulmanu-asarid had ruled the kingdom of
Akkad and Assur for five years. In the month Tebet,
the 1 2th day, Sargon sat on the throne in A§sur, and
in the month Nisan Marduk-abla-iddina (Merodach-
baladan) sat on the throne in Babylon."
Thus does the Babylonian Chronicle record the
change of rulers, which was to have wide-reaching
results for both countries.
What the verse in Hoshea, " All thy fortresses shall
be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day
of battle," refers to, is not known. There is every
probability that Shalman stands for Shalmaneser IV.,
but which is the Beth-arbel which is spoken of?
There were two places of the name in Palestine, one

362 THE OLD TESTAMENT
west of the Sea of Galilee, and the other at the extreme
north of Gilead. Both are now called Irbid. If it be
one of these, the verse probably refers to some incident
of Shalmaneser's invasion. George Smith, however,
thought that the reference may have been due to some
domestic strife in Assyria at the close of the reign of
Shalmaneser, in which the Assyrian city of Arbela
was involved. That it was one of the two places in
Palestine, however, is more probable.
The month which, five years earlier, had seen the
death of Tiglath-pileser, saw the departure of Shal
maneser IV. of Assyria to the abode of his god, and
in Sargon, who succeeded him, the kingdom to all
appearance accepted for the third time a ruler who
might be described as an adventurer. Whether he,
too, changed his name, in order to shine in borrowed
plumes before the people, is unknown, but this is
certain, that " Sargon the Later," as he called himself,
by assuming that style and title, challenged comparison
with an old Babylonian king of great renown, who
made the little state which was his original principality
the centre of a wide-spreading domain.
Strange as it may seem, until the discovery of the
Assyrian inscriptions and their decipherment, nothing
was known of this ruler outside of the Old Testament,
his name being regarded as another name of Shal
maneser in the passage (Isa. xx. 1) where it occurs.
Scholars did not realize that the Arkeanos of Ptolemy
was the king here mentioned, and that the change in
the form of his name was simply due to the change of
the initial s into a breathing, according to a rule which
is common in Greek etymology.
On assuming the government ofthe country, Sargon
threw himself with energy into the Syrian war, though
in his slab-inscription found at Nimroud, and in his
annals, he makes his campaign against Humbanigas
of Elam to precede his operations in the west. The
following is the text of the latter document —

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 363
"From the beginning of my reign to the 15th of
my regnal-years, I accomplished the overthrow of
Humbanigas the Elamite of the city Dur-ili. I
besieged and captured Samerina (Samaria) : 27,290
people dwelling in the midst of it I carried off. Fifty
chariots I collected among them, and allowed them to
have the rest of their goods. My commander-in-chief
I placed over them, and imposed upon them the
tribute of the former king.
" Hanunu (Hanon), king of Hazitu (Gaza), advanced
against me with Sib'e, the Field-marshal of the land
of Musuru (Egypt), to make war and battle in Rapihu
(Raphia). I defeated them.1 Sib'e feared the sound
of my weapons and fled, and his place was not found.
Hanunu of Hazitu I took with my hands. I received
the tribute of Pir'u, king ofthe land of Musuru, SamsS,
queen of the land of Aribu (Arabia), (and) It'amara,
ofthe land ofthe Saba'aa (Sabeans) — gold, the produce
of the mountains, horses, (and) camels.
" Yau-bi'idi of the land of the Amataa (Hamathites),
a man of ... a pretender, a man of evil origin, set
his heart on the dominion of the land of Amattu
(Hamath), and caused Arpadda (Arpad), Simirra
(Simyra), Dimasqa (Damascus), (and) Samerina
(Samaria) to revolt against me, and caused them to
agree together, and they assembled for battle. I col
lected the powerful troops of the god Assur, and
besieged (and) captured him in Qarqaru, his own city,
with his warriors. I burned Qarqaru with fire. As
for him, I flayed him. I slew the sinners in the midst
of their (own) cities, and brought about peace. I
embodied 200 chariots (and) 600 cavalry among the
people of the land of Amattu, and added to the force
of my kingdom."
The general opinion of Assyriologists is, that Shal
maneser did not succeed in making himself master of
Samaria, the capture of the city falling to the honour
1 Lit. " I smote their overthrow."

364 THE OLD TESTAMENT
of Sargon, and this, as a matter of fact, is what the
latter claims. As will be seen from the above extract,
he states that he carried captive no less than 27,290 of
the inhabitants of the city, but whither he transported
them he does not say. According to 2 Kings xvii. 6,
he placed them in Halah (probably the Halahha of the
inscriptions, near Haran), and by the river Habor (the
Chaboras) in Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.
It is needless to say that these long journeys must in
many cases have entailed much suffering.
According to the Babylonian Chronicle, the conflict
with Humbanigas took place in the second year of
Merodach-baladan of Babylonia, which was the second
year of Sargon as well. It is therefore difficult to
understand why Sargon, in his record, places this
event first. The reason why he dismisses the account
of his conflict with the Elamite king in so few words
is supposed to be, that he was in reality, as the Baby
lonian Chronicle says, defeated on that occasion.
Though he might have wished to keep it in the back
ground, his successes were so many, that there was no
need for him to change the chronological order of his
campaigns. Sargon was naturally unable to be present at the
siege and occupation of Samaria, which occurred too
close to the date of his assuming power to allow him
to reach the place. Besides that, his presence was
needed nearer home, lest conspiracies should deprive
him of his newly-acquired regal dignity. That he
considered the successes of his troops in the west as
a most important circumstance, however, is proved
by the fact, that he devotes so much space in his
annals to the account of it — and, indeed, the capture
of 27,290 people is a thing of which any ruler might
boast. There can be no doubt that the Assyrian
kings, like the Babylonians before them, always desired
to possess the dominion of the Mediterranean pro
vinces, where were marts for the products both of

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 365
their lands and their people, and entry to the ports,
for then, as now, all good rulers tried to further the
interests of their subjects in distant lands, and were
probably firmly of opinion, that " trade followed the
standard." 1
In addition to this, there was the rivalry of Egypt,
the country which had held these provinces in the
past, and would have liked to regain them. Whether
the rulers of the Mediterranean states realized this or
not, is uncertain, but in any case, like the Israelites,
they had no objection to making use of Egypt,
" bruised reed " as she was by some considered. Seeing
that there was danger from the Assyrians, Hanon of
Gaza followed the example of Hoshea, in whom
Shalmaneser had " found conspiracy," and made
overtures with Sib'e, the So of 2 Kings xvii. 4 (the
word ought really to be pointed so as to read Seve,
which was apparently the pronunciation of the
Assyrian form, the aspirate having the effect of
changing b into bh or v). This ruler is called " king
of Egypt " in the passage cited, but Sargon says that
he was " Tartan," or commander-in-chief of the
Egyptian army. This would imply that he was
acting for another, a Pharaoh unnamed, and at present
unknown. The general opinion is, that So or Sib'e
is the same as Sabaco, and is called " king " by
anticipation in 2 Kings xvii.2
The result was one exceedingly gratifying to the
Assyrian king, for in the battle at Raphia, which
followed, Sib'e fled in fear, whilst Hanon of Gaza
was made prisoner. The defeat and flight of the
Egyptian army does not seem to redound to the
credit of its leader, who must have returned bitterly
disappointed to his native land.
Immediately after, however, there is a reference to
1 See the chapter upon the Tel-el-Amarna letters (p. 281 ft".).
2 It is noteworthy, however, that Sabaco is elsewhere called
Sabaku (see below, p. 389).

366 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the receipt of tribute from " Pir'u, king of the land of
Musuru." This would be a natural result of the success
of the Assyrians (so it seemed to the earlier Assyrio
logists), for surely Pir'u is Pharaoh, and Musuru is the
Musur of other inscriptions, and stands for Egypt
(the Heb. Misraim 1). This however, is now denied,
and Pir'u is said to be the name of a chief of an Arab
tribe called Musuru. It reminds one of the Eri-Eaku
of Larsa who is not Arioch of Elassar, contemporary
of Kudur-lahgumal of Elam who is not Chedorlaomer
of Elam, and Tudhula who is admittedly the same in
name as Tidal, all of them ruling at or near the same
period, but not those referred to in Gen. xiv. as
contemporaries. In Assyriology, more than in any
other study whatever, things are not what they seem,
and must always be identified with something else.
According to the annals, it would seem that Yau-
bi'idi, who is there called Ilu-bi'idi, acted in concert
with Sib'e of Egypt and Hanon of Gaza, the operations
against him preceding those against the other two.
The order of the translation given above would seem
to be preferable, as it must have been in consequence
of the flight of Sib'e "like a shepherd whose sheep had
been lost," that Yau-bi'idi and Hanon of Gaza were
so easily defeated. The former appears to have made
Qarqaru the centre from which he intended to press
his claim to the throne of Hamath, and he managed
so well, that he got Arpad, Simyra, Damascus, and
Samaria to join him. The Assyrian king, however,
soon disposed of the pretensions of this prince, whom
he describes as " an overbearing (?) fellow, a usurper,
a man frivolous (?), (and) evil" {sab hubsu, Id-bil-kussi,
amelu patu limnu). After this it is not surprising that
he thought he was justified in flaying him alive.
1 "The two borders," see Sayce. The Assyrian form is
singular, as is also the Babylonian Misir, which has i for u in
both syllables. The Arabic form is Misr. Musur(u), Misir(u),
Misraim, and Misr are all forms of the same name.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 367
To all appearance the state of affairs in Syria was
satisfactory. The great victory of the Assyrians at
Raphia had convinced the leaders of the various states
of the uselessness of continuing to struggle against the
power of the Assyrian king, who had nothing further
to fear from Egypt, and was therefore free to occupy
himself with other conquests. In 719, therefore, he
turned his attention to the region of the north, the
kingdoms of Van and Urartu or Ararat, the result of
the operations against the latter being, that the people
were transported to Syria, or, as the original has it,
" into Heth of the Amorites." The operations in 718
B.C. were against Kiakki of Sinuhtu, a city in Tabal.
The next year, 717 B.C., came the turn of Pisiris of
Carchemish, who had tried to get Mita king of Musku
to join him in a rebellion against Assyria. Assyrians
were after this settled there, and Carchemish became
an integral part of the Assyrian empire. The next
entry in the Annals of Sargon is a reference to the
P&pites and the Lalluknites, " dogs brought up in his
palace," who planned treacherously against the land
of Kakme, though the full extent of their crime is not
stated. These people were removed from their places,
and sent down to the midst of Damascus of Amoria
(Syria). In this year Humbanigas of Elam died, and
was succeeded by Sutur-Nanhundi, a man of a more
peaceful character than his predecessor.
Extensive operations, chiefly in Ararat, are recorded
for 716 B.C., in which year also Bel-sarra-usur, the city-
chief of Kisesim, a Median province, was deposed, and
his territory added to the boundaries of Assyria, to
gether with several other west-Median districts. Among
these was Harhar, whose city-chief was driven away
by the Assyrian king. This city was re-peopled with
prisoners of war, and its name having been changed
to Kar-Sarru-ukin, made the capital of the province.
The war against Ararat continued during the next
year, resulting in the submission of Yanzu king of

368 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Na'iri or Mesopotamia. On the east, a rebellion in
Harhar was put down, and the city fortified as a
defence against Media. In this year people of Tumadu,
Ibadidu, Marsimanu, Hayap&, and the remote Arbaa
(Arabs?), an unlettered tribe which had never paid
tribute to an Assyrian king, were overthrown, and the
survivors transported to Samaria. The receipt of
tribute from Pir'u king of Musuru, Samsi queen of
Aribbu (Arabia), It'amra of the land of the Sabaa
(Sabeans), kings of the sea-coast and the desert, con
sisting of " gold, the produce of the mountain, precious
stones, ivory, seeds of the dsu-tree, all kinds of spices,
horses and camels," l is recorded.
To all appearance, Pir'u of Musuru is regarded as
one of the kings of the sea-coast and the desert, but
whether this is evidence against his being Pharaoh of
Egypt or not, may be doubted. Egypt is as much a
country of the sea-coast as any part of Palestine, but
it is naturally on the south shore of the Mediterranean,
and not on the east.
714 B.C. saw the continuance of the war with Ararat
and its allies, and seems to have resulted in its be
coming an Assyrian province. In 713 expeditions
were made, among other places, to west Media and
Cilicia. In 712 B.C. he found himself obliged to pro
ceed against Tarhunazi of Meliddu, who, driven from
his capital by the Assyrians, shut himself up in Til-
garimme, which had been identified with the Biblical
Togarmah. This city, having been conquered, was
repeopled with the nomad Suti2 and placed under
Assyrian rule.
At this time, as Sargon says, he received the
treasure (?) of the land of Heth (the high-lands of
Syria), among the things sent being copper, iron,
lead or tin, white marble from the Amanus mountains,
royal garments of the colour of uknu-stone (lapis-
1 Compare p. 366, whore the earlier payment of tribute is
referred to. 2 See pp. 283, 291, 292,

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 369
lazuli), something which came from the mountain
Ba'iKsapuna (Baal-zephon), "a great mountain," and
silver, which, in consequence of the large consignments
received at Dur-Sargina (Khorsabad), became in value
like copper. The next year (711 B.C.) an expedition
against Muttallu, son of Tarhulara, one of the kings
of "the land of Heth," took place. The son had
killed his father and mounted the throne, hence the
necessity for this campaign.
A similar expedition also took place to Ashdod.
It happened that Azuri, king of the district of which
Ashdod was the capital, had withheld the tribute
agreed upon, and Sargon had therefore deposed him,
and set his brother Ahi-miti in his place. The follow
ing is Sargon's own account of this, and the sequel —
"Azuri, king of Asdudu, planned in his heart
not to send tribute, and sent to the kings around
hostile expressions (towards) the land of Assur, and
on account of what he had done, I changed his
dominion over the people of his land. Ahi-miti,
his brother next in order, I appointed to the kingdom
over them. Men of Hatti,1 speaking treachery, hated
his dominion, and raised up over them Yatna, a
usurper, who like themselves knew no reverence for
the dominion. In the anger of my heart I went with
the chariot of my feet and my cavalry, which for
security quit not my side, to the city Asdudu, the
city of his dominion, and the city Asdudu, the city
Gimtu, (and) the city Asdudimma I besieged (and)
captured. The gods dwelling in the midst of them,
himself, with the people of his land, gold, silver,
(and) the property of his palace, I counted as spoil.
Their cities I rebuilt,2 and settled therein the people
of the lands captured by my hands. I placed my com
mander-in-chief as governor over them, and counted
1 The land of Heth, Syria in general.
2 Lit. " wrought anew." A A

370 THE OLD TESTAMENT
them with the people of my land, and they bore my
yoke." Another inscription calls Yatna by the name of
Yamani, and states that, hearing from far of the
advance of the Assyrian army, he fled to the border
of Musuru, which lies on the boundary of Meluhha,
and there hid himself. The king of Meluhha seems
thereupon to have feared for his own land, and placing
Yatna in chains, sent him to Assyria. A third text
referring to this campaign adds the following details —
" (People) of the land of Piliste (Philistia), the land
of Yaudu (Judah), the land of Udumu (Edom), the
land of Ma'abi (Moab), dwellers by the sea, bringers
of the tribute and the gift of Assur my lord, (for)
sedition-mongering without measure, and evil, which
was against me to cause hostility, unto Pir'u, king of
the land of Musri, a prince who could not save them,
they brought their homage-offering, and asked him
for aid. I, Sargina, the true prince, fearing the oath
of Lag-gi ( = Nebo) and Merodach, keeper of the
commands of the god Assur, caused (my troops)
to cross the Tigris and the Euphrates at high water,
the fulness of the flood, as on dry land. And he,
Yamani, who trusted to his own power, and had not
submitted to my dominion, heard from afar of the
march of my expedition, and the glory of Assur, my
lord, overthrew him, and  of the region of
the river ....... depth of the waters  pos
session (?) of his land  afar  he fled
 Asdudu  "
In this, too, there is a reference to Pir'u, here called
king of Musri, either Egypt, or that mysterious and
otherwise unknown kingdom to whose help so many
trusted. The years 710 and 709 B.C. were devoted to the
operations against Merodach-baladan, the Chaldean
prince who had made himself master of Babylonia.
This is the Merodach-baladan who is referred to in
2 Kings xx. 12, but as his embassy really belongs to

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 371
a somewhat later date, reference will be made to it in
its place. Suffice it here to say that he was a usurper
on the Babylonian throne, head of the Chaldean
tribe called Bit-Yakin, and one of the most influential
chieftains of the district. To all appearance, the
Babylonians themselves (as in earlier days whqn they
tried to seize the throne) preferred the Assyrians to
the semi-barbarous Chaldeans and Arameans, with
whom they were, in fact, in too close connection to
have any great respect for. It is needless to say that
this entirely fell in with the ambition of the kings of
Assyria, who, from the time of Tukulti-Ninip, if not
earlier, had desired, and sometimes obtained, dominion
over Babylonia. Sargon, the successor of two kings
of Assyria who were acknowledged to be at the same
time kings of Babylonia, naturally regarded himself as
inheriting that crown in virtue of his being king of
Assyria, whilst the Babylonians themselves were
probably not displeased with the idea that they
formed part of the world-renowned and powerful
Assyrian empire, whose kings spoke the same language
as themselves, and with whose religion they were
in sympathy. Thus it happened, therefore, that in
the course ofthe operations against Merodach-baladan,
success frequently crowned the arms of the Assyrians,
and the inhabitants of Babylon, sending to Dur-
Ladinna, where Sargon was staying, brought him
in solemn possession to Babylon, where he made the
prescribed offerings to the gods, took up his abode
in Merodach-baladan's palace, and received the tribute
of the Babylonian tribes which he had subjugated.
He still continued, however, his operations against
Merodach-baladan, who was by no means willing to
give up the struggle, to which there could be one end
only, namely, the overthrow of the Chaldean king,
which took place in 709 B.C.
Whilst Sargon was busy in Babylonia, the governor
of Que invaded Musku (Mesech) and brought the

372 THE OLD TESTAMENT
country to subjection. The seven kings of Cyprus also
sent gifts, and a stele of Sargon was set up in the
island, which, though mutilated, is of considerable
importance, and is now preserved in the Berlin
Museum. Kummuh (Comagene) was also added to
the Assyrian empire (708 B.C.), and probably in the
same year, a new king (in consequence of a dispute
concerning the succession) set up in the land of
Ellipu. In this reign also, the Elamites were generally
against the Assyrians in their conflicts in Babylonia
and on the eastern borders.
Concerning his death there is much uncertainty.
The supposition is, that he was assassinated by one
of his soldiers, as is indicated by the entry in an
eponym-list with historical references —
Limme Upahhir-bilu, D.P. sakin dl Amedi . . .
ina ilipurussi Kulummda. . . .
amel tiduki madaktam sa sar mdt Assur
D.S. ...
drah Abi, Amu sanseru, Sin-dhi-Sriba {ina
kussi ittusib).
" Eponymy of Upahhir-belu, prefect of the city
Amedu. . . .
according to the oracle of the Kulummite(s). . . .
a soldier (entered) the camp of the king of
Assyria (and killed him ?).
month Ab, day 12th, Sennacherib (sat on the
throne ").
That he died a violent death seems to be nearly
certain, and how many others of the overbearing
rulers of Assyria had come to an end in the same
way is not known. The fate of his son, to which
reference will be made in its place, is a historical
fact.

X.

Reception ey Sennacherib of Prisoners and Spoil.
British Museum, Nineveh Gallery, No. 57.

(Page 373-)

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 373
SENNACHERIB.
Though in all probability young when he came to
the throne in 705 B.C., Sennacherib had already some
experience as a ruler, having been the representative
of his father Sargon in Armenia, where he had to
receive and transmit the reports of the Assyrian
generals, and probably also to administer the country.
For the nations over which he was to rule, however,
he was practically a new and untried administrator,
of whose strength or weakness of character nothing
was known. Merodach-baladan therefore took advan
tage of the death of Sargon and the succession of his
son to come forth from his hiding-place, with such of
his followers who were available, and an army placed
at his disposal by the king of Elam. To all appear
ance the Chaldean ruler had taken advantage of the
occupation of the Assyrian army elsewhere to possess
himself of Babylon, which city Sennacherib entered,
occupying Merodach-baladan's palace, and seizing
all his treasures. Merodach-baladan fled and took
refuge in Nagitu, on the other side of the Persian
Gulf, so as to be near his Elamite allies.
After this the Assyrian king records his expedition
to the mountainous countries of Kassu (the Cossseans)
and the Yasubigalleans, north of Elam, in the course
of which he wasted the neighbouring district of Ellipu,
taking, on his way, tribute from some of the more
inacessible tribes of the Medes. His third campaign
was to the land of Hatti (Syria), and as this is of
considerable importance, a translation of the whole,
from the Taylor Cylinder, which gives a full account,
is inserted here —
"In my third expedition I went to the land of
Hatti. Lull king of the city of Sidunnu (Sidon), fear
of the glory of my dominion struck him, and he fled
from the midst of Tyre to Yatnana 1 (Cyprus), which
1 So one of the inscriptions.

374 THE OLD TESTAMENT
is in the middle of the sea, and I subjugated his
country. Great Sidunnu, little Sidunnu, Bit-zitte,
Sareptu (Zarephath), Mahalliba, Usu (Osah), Akzibi
(Achzib), Akku (Accho), strong cities, fortresses,
where were food and drink, his strongholds, the terror
of the weapons of Assur my lord struck them, and
they submitted to my feet. Tu-ba'alu (Ethobaal) on
the throne of dominion over them I set, and the tax
and tribute of my overlordship yearly without fail I
imposed upon him.
" As for Minhimmu (Menahem) of the city of the
Samsimurunaa ;
Tu-ba'alu of the city of the Sidunnaa (Si-
donians) ;
Abdi-li'iti of the city of the Arudaa (Arvadites) ;
Uru-milki of the city of the GublSa (Gebalites) ;
Mitinti of the city of the Asdudaa (Ashdodites) ;
Budu-ilu of the land of the Bit-Ammania (Beth-
Ammonites) ;
Kammusu-nadbi (Chemosh-nadab) of the land of
the Ma'abaa (Moabites) ;
Aa-rammu (Joram) of the land of the Udummaa
(Edomites) ;
kings of the land of Amoria all of them, extensive
coasts, brought their valuable presents as gifts to my
presence and kissed my feet. And Sidqa J (Zedekiah),
king of the city of Isqalluna (Askelon), who was not
submissive to my yoke, the gods of his father's house,
himself, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers,
(and) the seed of his father's house, I removed and
brought to the land of Assur. Sarru-ludari, son of
Rukibtu, their former king, I placed over the people
of the city of Isqalluna, and the payment of tribute
as the price of my overlordship I set for him, and he
bore my yoke. In the course of my campaign the
1 Or Sidqaa (for Sidqaia = Zedekiah).

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 375
city Bit-Daganna (Beth-Dagon), Yappu (Joppa),
Banaa-barqa (Bene-berak), Azuru (Azor), cities of
Sidqa which were not at once submissive to my
yoke, I besieged, captured, (and) carried off their
spoil. " The prefects, the princes, and the people of the
city Amqarruna (Ekron), who had thrown Padi, their
king, who was faithful to the agreement and oath
of the land of Assur, into fetters of iron, and given
him to Hazaqiau (Hezekiah), of the land of the
Yaud&a (Jews)-1— hostilely in secret they had acted —
feared in their hearts. The kings of the land of
Musuru (Egypt), (and) the soldiers of the bow, the
chariots, (and) the horses of the king of the land of
Meluhha, gathered to themselves a numberless force,
and came to their help. Over against me in sight of
Altaqu (Eltekah) their line of battle was set in array,
they called for their weapons. In the service of
A§sur my lord I fought with them and accomplished
their defeat. The charioteers and the sons of the
king of the Musuraa (Egyptians), with the charioteers
of the king of the land of Meluhha, my hands captured
alive in the midst of the battle. (As for) the city of
Altaqu (Eltekah) (and) the city of Tamna (Timnah),
I besieged, captured, (and) carried off their spoil.
" I approached to the city of Amqarruna, and the
prefects and princes who had caused the wrong to be,
I killed, and on stakes around the city I hung their
corpses. The sons of the city doing the crime and
misdeed I counted as spoil. The rest of them, who
did not commit sin and wickedness, whose evil deed
was not, I commanded their release. I caused Padi,
their king, to come forth from the midst of Ursalimmu
(Jerusalem), and to sit on the throne of dominion
over them, and the tribute of my overlordship I
imposed upon him. And (as for) Hazaqiau (Heze
kiah) of the land of the Yaudaa (Jews), who had not
submitted to my yoke, 46 of his strong cities, fort-

376 THE OLD TESTAMENT
resses, and small towns which were around them,
which were innumerable, with overthrowing by batter
ing-rams, and advance of towers, infantry-attack,
breaching, cutting, and earthworks, I besieged (and)
captured. 200,150 people, small and great, male and
female, horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and sheep,
which were without number, from their midst I caused
to come forth and reckoned as spoil. As for him,
like a cage-bird I shut him up within Ursalimmu, the
city of his dominion. Redoubts I threw up around
him, and I cut off the exit from the great gate of his
city — it was (completely) covered. His cities, which
I had spoiled, I detached from the midst of his
country, and gave (them) to Mitintu, king of Asdudu
(Ashdod), Padi, king of Amqarruna (Ekron), and
Silli-bel, king of the city Hazitu (Gaza), and (thus)
reduced his land. Over the former tribute, their
yearly gift, I added a payment as the due of my
overlordship, and imposed it upon him. As for him,
Hazaqiau (Hezekiah), fear of the magnificence of my
lordship struck him, and the urbi and his chosen
soldiers, which he had brought in for the defence of
Ursalimmu, the city of his kingdom, and had as
guards (?), with 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver,
precious (stones), guhli, daggassi,1 great carbuncles (?),
couches of ivory, state thrones of ivory, elephant-skin,
elephant-tooth (ivory), ebony (?), urkarinnu-wood, all
sorts of things,2 and his daughters, the women of his
palace, male singers (and) female singers, he 3 caused
to be brought after me to the midst of Ninua (Nineveh),
the city of my dominion, and he sent his messenger
to present the gift and pay homage."
It is needless to say that the above long account
differs considerably from that given in the Bible(2 Kings
xviii. 13 ; Isa. xxxvi. 1 ff), and it is very difficult to re
concile the two narratives. According to the account
1 Unknown objects — perhaps gold bangles or similar things.
? Lit. "whatever its name." 3 Or " I."

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 377
in Kings, Sennacherib came and took all the fenced
cities of Judah, but there is no statement as to the
reason why. The Assyrian king justifies his invasion
of the country by stating that Hezekiah had sided
with the inhabitants of Ekron in the deposition of
their king, whom he had received from them and kept
in prison. He even states that he brought him forth
from Jerusalem and replaced him on the throne.
That this circumstance is not referred to in the Biblical
account, cannot be held to indicate that the Assyrian
king's story is wrong, and only shows that the writer
of the 2nd Book of the Kings did not think it of
sufficient importance to record. In all probability,
Hezekiah did not know at the time that Padi was an
Assyrian vassal, otherwise he would not have incurred
the risk of an invasion of his country by the dreaded
Assyrians. The Biblical account then states that
Hezekiah sent to the king at Lachish, saying that he
had offended, and asking for terms, a fact which in
dicates that he was aware of having done something
at which the king of Assyria might justly take offence.
The answer was, the fixing of the amount of tribute
which Hezekiah had to pay — 300 talents of silver and
30 talents of gold, this latter item agreeing with the
statement of Sennacherib himself, though the amount
of silver which he mentions — 800 talents — is much
greater. The sacrifice which Hezekiah made on
this occasion (he had to strip off the gold from the
doors of the Temple, and also from the pillars which
he had overlaid, to make up the sum) was con
siderable. Concerning a siege of Jerusalem at this
point, however, there is not a single word in the
Biblical account, and the general opinion is, that the
Assyrian king has purposely combined two accounts
to give an appearance of success to what, in 2 Kings
xix. 35-37. appears to have been a serious disaster to
the Assyrian arms.
It is worthy of note, however, that Josephus makes

378 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the siege of Jerusalem to have taken place when
Sennacherib was returning from Egypt, where he had
spent a long time besieging Pelusium {Ant. x. i. 4),
which was regarded as the key of Egypt. In support
of this he quotes Herodotus, who, according to him,
made a great mistake " when he called this king not
king of the Assyrians, but of the Arabians." This,
however, is not quite correct, as Herodotus really says
(book ii. 141), "Sanacharib king of the Arabians and
of the Assyrians." That it took place on his return
from Egypt, however, is also stated by Berosus, whom
Josephus quotes in full, as follows —
"Now when Sennacherib was returning from his
Egyptian war to Jerusalem, he found his army under
Rabshakeh in great danger, for God had sent a
pestilential distemper upon his army; and on the
very first night of the siege, a hundred and eighty-
five thousand, with their captains and generals, were
destroyed. So the king was in a great dread, and in
a terrible agony at this calamity ; and being in great
fear for his whole army, he fled with the rest of his
forces to his own kingdom, and to his city Nineveh,
and when he had abode there a little while, he was
treacherously assaulted, and died by the hands of his
elder sons, Adramelech and Sarasar, and was slain in
his own temple which was called Araske. Now these
sons of his were driven away on account of the
murder of their father, by the citizens, and went into
Armenia, whilst Assarachoddas took the kingdom of
Sennacherib." This would seem to be conclusive, especially as Sen
nacherib, according to his own records, made no expe
dition to Egypt before or at the time of that against the
land of Hatti, which took place in the eponymy of
Mitunu, prefect of Isana, i.e. 700 B.C., or the year
immediately preceding. Now as Sennacherib died
in 681 B.C., nearly twenty years elapsed between the
campaign of which the account is above translated

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 379
and his death. Berosus, however, states that, after
the siege of Jerusalem, which ended so disastrously
for him, he abode at Nineveh only " a little while "
before he was murdered. There is then no doubt that
there were two campaigns, and the events referred to
in 2 Kings xviii. 13 — xix. 37, though they seem to
follow each other with little or no break, must have
extended over a considerable period, the widest gap
being in all probability between the sixteenth and
seventeenth verses of ch. xviii. It is noteworthy that,
at this point, the Hebrew indicates the end of a para
graph, though not a change of subject.
Affairs in Babylonia now occupied the attention of
Sennacherib for many years, in consequence of the
many revolutions there, which were largely fomented,
aided and abetted by the Elamites. In 703 B.C.,
two pretenders, Marduk-zakir-sumi and Marduk-abla-
iddina, held the throne in succession for a few months,
but Sennacherib put an end to this rule by setting on
the throne a Chaldean named Bel-ibni (Belibus).1 This
took place when he defeated Merodach-baladan, before
the campaign against the West. Evidently, however,
he was not satisfied with the rule of his nominee, who
had probably been plotting against him, and therefore
entered the country again in 699 B.C., carried away
Bel-ibni prisoner, and set on the throne his own
eldest son, Assur-nadin-sum. After this seems to
have occurred his fifth expedition, which was to the
mountainous region where lay the cities Tumurru,
Sarum or Sarma, Ezema, Kibsu, Halbuda, Qua, and
Qana, in the neighbourhood of Cilicia, his objective
being the city Ukku, which was taken and spoiled.
Whilst absent on this expedition, however, the
Elamites seem to have been again plotting against
the Assyrians in Babylonia. This being the case,
Sennacherib went in " ships of the land of Hatti " to
1 Elibus in Alexander Polyhistor, as quoted by Eusebius,
Armenian Chronicle, 42.

380 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the place where Merodach-baladan x had taken refuge,
namely, " Nagitu of Elam." 2 On this occasion, he
claims to have captured Suzubu (otherwise Nergal-
u§£zib), and carried him in chains to Assyria. This
led to reprisals on the part of the Elamites, who
invaded Babylonia, carried Assur-nadin-sum, the
king, Sennacherib's son, prisoner, and set on the
throne Nergal-usezib, who, if he be the Suzubu referred
to by Sennacherib, must have escaped from the
custody of the Assyrians. This was in 693 B.C.
Nergal-usezib only ruled for a year or eighteen
months, and was captured (? again) by the Assyrians.
The Assyrian king now ravaged Elam " from Rfis to
Bit-Burnaki," but his army would have been better
employed in watching over affairs in Babylonia,
where another pretender, Musezib-Marduk, sat on the
throne, and ruled for four years. During this time
he, too, found that his seat was not altogether a bed
of roses, for Menanu, king of Elam, after a battle with
the Assyrians,8 captured Musezib-Marduk with an
army composed of Elamites and Babylonians, and
delivered him to the Assyrians. Sennacherib now
again (688 B.C.) became king of Babylonia, and it is
thought that, on taking possession of the capital
again, out of revenge for the loss of his son, and on
account of the trouble he had had in consequence of
the Babylonians running after the many pretenders,
with which the land seems to have teemed, he de-
1 It is impossible, with our present knowledge, to determine
the date of Merodach-baladan's envoy to Hezekiah (2 Kings
xx. 12), but if at the late period indicated, he must have been in
hiding, and waiting for the chance to mount the throne again.
2 This, together with Nagitu, and Nagitu-di'ibina, are appar
ently different from the Nagite-raqqi or Nagitu-raqqu mentioned
above. Apparently Merodach-baladan had fled from the Nagitu
" within the sea " to the mainland.
3 The Babylonian Chronicle claims victory for the allies, and
Sennacherib for the Assyrians. The sequel implies that the
latter is the more trustworthy.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 38 1
stroyed the city of Babylon, committing such cruelties
that they were remembered to the end, and sowed
the seeds of that hatred which were to bring forth for
Assyria that deadliest of all fruit — her own destruction.
In the eight years which passed between his
assuming the reins of power in Babylonia and his
death, must be placed that expedition to Egypt
spoken of by Berosus and Herodotus. The version
of the former, which refers principally to the siege of
Jerusalem, is quoted above (p. 378) ; the following is
the account of the latter —
" After this, Sanacharib, king of the Arabians and
of the Assyrians, marched a great host against
Egypt. Then the warriors of the Egyptians refused
to come to the rescue, and the priest (Hephaistos,
whose name was Sethos),1 being driven into a strait,
entered into the sanctuary of the temple and bewailed
to the image of the god the danger which was im
pending over him ; and as he was thus lamenting,
sleep came upon him, and it seemed to him in his
vision that the god came out and stood by him and
encouraged him, saying that he should suffer no evil
if he went forth to meet the army of the Arabians,
for he would himself send him helpers. Trusting in
these things seen in sleep, he took with him, they
say, those of the Egyptians who were willing to
follow him, and encamped in Pelusion, for by this
way the invasion came ; and not one of the warrior
class followed him, but shopkeepers and artisans and
men of the market. Then after they came, there
swarmed by night upon the enemies mice of the
fields, and ate up their quivers and their bows, and
moreover the handles of their shields, so that on the
next day they fled, and being without defence of
1 I. e. Mer-en-Ptah, Seti I. As, however, this king reigned as
early as 1350 B.C., Herodotus must have been misinformed.
Tirhakah, " king of Ethiopia," was Sennacherib's opponent at
the period of the siege of Jerusalem (2 Kings xix. 9).

382 THE OLD TESTAMENT
arms great numbers fell. And at the present time
this king stands in the temple of Hephaistos in
stone, holding upon his head a mouse, and by letters
inscribed he says these words, ' Let him who looks
upon me learn to fear the gods.'"
Josephus's quotation from Herodotus differs some
what from the above, in that he makes the Egyptian
king to pray to God (and not before his image), and
omits all reference to the dream. This was doubtless
to make the parallel with the case of Hezekiah more
striking. The precise date of this expedition to Egypt and
second siege of Jerusalem is unknown, but it must
have taken place between 688 and 680 B.C. It is not
by any means improbable that the date may some
time or other be fixed, for an account of it will pro
bably be found in the ruins of the cities of Assyria
somewhere. That Herodotus calls Sennacherib " king
of the Arabians and the Assyrians " is probably due
to the fact that he seems to have been in alliance
with " the queen of the Aribi " — {sar)rat D.P. Aribi —
or Arabians, at the time. Esarhaddon speaks of his
father Sennacherib as having captured the Arabian city
Adumii, and inscriptions of Assur-bani-apli also refer
to Sennacherib's expedition thither, and to his con
nection with an Arabian king named Haza-ilu
(Hazael). With regard to Palestine itself, the reality
of the siege of Lachish is testified to by the fact, that
a large portion of Sennacherib's sculptures represent
him as being present at the siege of Lachish in
person, when the prisoners and the booty taken were
passed before him in procession. The inscription
accompanying this scene reads as follows —
" Sin-ahe-iriba, king of the world, king of the land
Assur,
sat upon his throne of state, and
the spoil of Lakisu
passed before him."

XI.



Sennacherib before Lachish.
For the translation of the inscription, see the opposite page.
British Museum, Assyrian Saloon.
The face of the king is mutilated in the original bas relief, and has been restored.
(Page 382.)

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 383
It would be strange indeed if this event, of which
he was evidently very proud, were omitted from the
history of what he must have regarded as his glorious
deeds. As it does not occur in the account of his
expedition to the land of Hatti, there is hardly any
doubt that it belongs to the later campaign there,
when he took the city, though he failed, as has been
seen, to take Jerusalem. In all probability there
were two sieges of Lachish, and it was very possible
that the city was taken only on the second occasion.
In any case, it was from Lachish that Sennacherib
sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh to
Hezekiah, with a great army to besiege Jerusalem,
and it is noteworthy that the Rabshakeh reproaches
him with trusting to Egypt, the power with which
Assyria was at that moment in conflict ; and in Sen
nacherib's second message to Hezekiah (2 Kings xix.
9) the words accompanying it clearly show that the
general opinion was, that it was the march of Tirhakah
against him which called it forth. It is noteworthy
in this connection, that Tirhakah cannot have been
on the throne of Egypt so early as 700 B.C., the
date of Sennacherib's first campaign against the
West. There are therefore many arguments in favour of
two expeditions of Sennacherib to Palestine, with
two sieges of Jerusalem, and also, to all appearance,
two sieges of Lachish.
The following is the account of his death given in
the Babylonian Chronicle —
" On the 20th day of Tebet, Sin-ahe-iriba, king of
Assyria, his son killed him in a revolt. For(?25)
years Sin-ahe-iriba had ruled the kingdom of Assyria.
From the 20th day of the month Tebet until the
2nd day of the month Adar, the revolt in Assyria
continued. Month Adar, day 18th, As§ur-aha-iddina
(Esarhaddon), his son, sat upon the throne in
Assyria."

384 THE OLD TESTAMENT
According to Berosus, who agrees with the Biblical
account in this, it was two of his sons who killed
him, but it may be taken that, though they were both
morally responsible, one only actually performed the
deed. Shareser is not mentioned, either by Abydenus
or Polyhistor, as taking part in the murder; it would
seem to be very probable, that Adrammelech was the
culprit. From Berosus it is also clear that Esar
haddon had nothing to do with it, and this is to a
certain extent confirmed by his inscriptions, which, as
will be seen farther on, represent him as warring in
Armenia, whither his brothers had fled.
According to the received chronology, the assassin
ation of Sennacherib and the accession of Esarhaddon
took place in the year 680 B.C.
ESARHADDON.
It is a matter greatly to be regretted that the royal
inscriptions of Esarhaddon have not come down to
us in a complete state, and also that we do not
possess the later portions of the Assyrian Eponym
Canon with historical references, which would enable
us to fix the date of the campaigns. Of course, there
is every probability that they are mentioned in
chronological order, but as their dates are not stated,
at least some uncertainty must prevail.
It is therefore impossible to say with certainty
whether the recital, in forcible though apparently
well-chosen language, of what took place in Hani-
rabbat, or Mesopotamia, belongs to the account of the
conflict with his brothers (who would have liked to
overthrow Esarhaddon that one of them might reign
in his stead) or not. The wording, however, makes
it very probable that the narrative does refer to them,
for he overtook them on the Nineveh road, and the
disappearance of their resistance was more than
gratifying to the new king —

XII.

(Page 3S4.) Esarhaddon, King of Assyria.
The kneeling figure, which has the negro type of features and wears
the uraeus ornament, is apparently Tirhakah, his opponent in Egypt. The
prisoners here represented are regarded as being treated as the same king
treated Manasseh (2 Chr. xxxiii. II, R.V. marg.). Found at Zenjirli.
From Mittheilungen aus den Orientalisehen Sammlungen, Part XI., by permission of
the publishing-house of Georg Reimer, Berlin.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 385
" The Nineveh-road, with difficulty (but) speedily,
I descended —
before me, in the land of Hani-rabbat, the whole
of their chosen
warriors betook themselves to the presence of
my expedition, and prepared their weapons.
The fear of the great gods, my lords, over
whelmed them,
the approach of my mighty battle they saw, and
became as demented.
Istar, lady of war and battle, lover of my priest
hood,
stood by my side, and broke their bows.
She opened out their close battle, and
in their assembled mass they called out thus:
' This is our king.'
By supreme command to my side they rallied
and came."
Oracles encouraging Esarhaddon exist, and possibly
refer to this expedition.
Unfortunately the mutilation of the record, by
which the beginning is wanting, has deprived us of
the names of both conspirators, which are, therefore,
only preserved by the Bible, Berosus, Abydenus, and
Polyhistor. Various have been the conjectures as to
what the true Assyrian forms of the names would be,
and only one, that of Adrammelech, has been found
with any probability of its being the right one. The
name in question is that of Assur-munik, or, perhaps
better, Assur-mulik, for whom Sennacherib built a
palace. From its form in Hebrew, Sharezer should
be Sar-usur in Assyrian, i. e. " protect the king," the
name of the deity called upon being omitted.
Though Esarhaddon's inscriptions do not give any
chronological data, the Babylonian chronicle indicates
the dates of his campaigns with sufficient precision.
From it we learn that in his first year he had to put
B B

386 THE OLD TESTAMENT
down a rebellion in Ur, led by Zer-blti-lisir, whom
Esarhaddon calls Nabfi-zer-napisti-lisir, son of Mero
dach-baladan. In the year 676 B.C., his expedition to
Sidon took place, and Abdi-milkutti, the king, was
beheaded in 675. After taking the spoil of the city,
he says that he " assembled the kings of Hatti and the
sea-coast, all of them," and there is every probability
that it was at this time that he " took Menasseh with
hooks," or, as the Revised Version has it, with chains,
and bound him with fetters, and brought him to
Babylon, where, as sovereign of that land also, he
sometimes held court. Though severe, and probably
also cruel sometimes, Esarhaddon was more merci
fully inclined than his father, and allowed Menasseh
to resume the reins of government at Jerusalem.
There is no reference to this in the inscriptions of
Esarhaddon, though he mentions, in his list of
tributaries, Menasseh king of the city of Judah
This list, which is from a cylinder-inscription, is as
follows —
" I gathered also the kings of Hatti and across
the river . . .
Ba'alu king of Surru (Tyre) : Menase (Menas
seh) king of the city of Yaudu :
Qaus-gabri, king of the city of Udumu (Edom);
Musur'i, king of the city Ma'ab (Moab) ;
Silli-belu, king of the city of Hazitu (Gaza) ;
Mitinti, king ofthe city of Isqaluna (Askelon) ;
Ikausu, king of the city of Amqarruna (Ekron);
Milki-asapa, king of the city of Gublu (Gebal) ;
Matan-ba'al, king of the city of Aruadu (Arvad);
Abi-baal, king of the city of Samsimuruna ;
Budu-ilu, king of the city Bet-Ammana (Beth-
Ammon) ; Ahi-milki, king of the city of Asdu
du (Ashdod) ;
1 2 kings of the sea-coast. Ekistura, king of the
city Edi'al (Idalium) ;

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 387
Pilagura, king of the city of Kidrusu ; Kisu, king
of the city Sillua ;
Ituandar, king ofthe city Pappa (Paphos) ; Eresu,
king of the city of Sillu ;
Damasu, king ofthe city Kurt (Kurium) ; Admezu,
king of the city Tamesu (Tamessus) ;
Damusi, king of the city Karti-hadasti (the new
town, a Phoenician settlement) ;
Unasagusu, king of the city Lidir ; Bususu, king
of the city Nuria :
10 kings of the land of Yatnana (Cyprus), within
the sea —
altogether 22 kings of the land of Hatti, the
sea-coast and the middle of the sea, all of
them,
I directed, and great beams, enormous poles,
trunks of cedar and cypress from the midst of
Sirara
and Libnana (Lebanon) (etc., etc., etc.),
from the midst of the wooded mountains,
the place of their growing,
for the requirements of my palace,
with toil and with difficulty
I caused them to be brought to Nineveh."
The tribute which he exacted was not, therefore,
a tribute of gold, silver, and other precious things, but
simply the building materials which Esarhaddon re
quired for his palace, and the kings of Heth, including
Menasseh, contributed to this together with the kings
of Cyprus — and to all appearance they had to trans
port these things to Nineveh ! It was the labour and
expense of transport rather than the material itself,
which rendered this tribute so precious.
Judging from his records, Esarhaddon was fully as
active as the other kings of Assyria in making con
quests. He attacked the people of Armenia (the
Mannaa), the rebellious land of Barnaku — " those who

388 THE OLD TESTAMENT
dwell in the land of Til-Asurri," 1— the Medes, the
Chaldeans, the Arabians (see p. 382), and Egypt, in the
direction of which he had already made a little expe
dition (to the cities of Arza and Aaki (?) of the brook
of Egypt — probably the river of Egypt of Gen. xv. 1 8,
and other passages). His first real expedition to
Egypt, however, was in the tenth year of his reign
(670 B.C.). Three battles were fought there, and
Memphis was captured by the Assyrians on the 22nd
of Tammuz. Whether he really and effectually sub
jugated the country or not, is not known, but he
again marched to the same place in the last year of
his reign, and falling ill on the road, died on the 10th
day of Marcheswan. He was succeeded by Assur-
bani-apli (Asshur-bani-pal) in Assyria, and Samas-
sum-ukin (Saosduchinos) in Babylonia, and the two
kingdoms, united by so much bloodshed, became
once more separated (668 B.C.).
as§ur-bani-Afli.
Thus it happened, that Assur-bani-apli, on coming
to the throne, found himself involved in a war with
Egypt. To such a ruler, it must have seemed a hard
thing to relinquish what his father had fought, and
perhaps died, to acquire and retain. This being the
case, he sent forth his army to reduce the country
again to subjection, Tirhakah having taken advan
tage of the death of Esarhaddon to revolt. In the
course of this campaign his representative (there is
every probability that Assur-bani-apli never went
westwards, or, indeed, made any warlike expedition
in person whatever) received the tribute of the kings
of the sea-coast and "the middle of the sea," i.e.
Phoenicia and Cyprus. This list is, with few ex
ceptions, the same as that given by Esarhaddon, and
1 Tel-Assur (Isaiah xxxvii. 12).

XIII.

Emblems used by Esarhaddon ; on the base of the black stone presented
to the British Museum by Lord Aberdeen. It represents a divine tiara
upon an altar, a priest, the sacred tree of the Assyrians, a bull, a moun
tain (?), a plough, a date-palm, and a rectangular object — perhaps the walls
of a town. The same emblems, arranged in a circle, are found on the
cylinders from Babylon inscribed with his architectural works in that city.

(Page 388.)

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 389
includes Minse ( = Minase, i. e. Menasseh) of the land
of Yaudi or Judah. In some cases, however, changes
had taken place and these are duly registered —
Yakinlu instead of Matan-ba'al, king of the land of
Aruada (Arvad) ; Ammi-nadbi (Amminadab), king
of the land of Bit-Ammana (Beth-Ammon), instead
of Budu-ilu. For the kings of Cyprus, however, no
change is indicated, a circumstance which leads one
to look upon the list with some suspicion, it being
not impossible that the names of certain rulers are
inserted to make a seeming addition to the Assyrian
king's glory. They are all represented, however, as
supporting, with their troops and their ships, on land
and on sea, the army of Assur-bani-apli. The result
was the defeat of Tirhakah, and the restoration of
the kings, prefects, and governors whom Esarhaddon
had appointed as rulers of the country.1
No sooner had the Assyrians departed, than
Tirhakah won over all the princes they had in-
Stalled to his side, and the work had to be done
over again. The Assyrian generals, however, re
turned promptly, and the rebellion was at once put
down. Of the princes who were captured, Necho
alone was spared, and, with his son, set as ruler in
Hathariba (Athribis). About this time Tirhakah died,
and Urdamane, son of Sabaco, mounted the throne,
and made Thebes and On (Heliopolis) his principal
strongholds, besieging the Assyrian army of occupa
tion in Memphis. Another expedition on the part
of the Assyrians therefore became necessary, and was
at once undertaken, and with complete success, except
that Urdamane remained, to all appearance, still at
large. Practically, however, the greater part of Egypt
became at this time an Assyrian province.
1 There were twenty provinces in all, including those of Niku,
king of Mempi and Sia (Necho of Memphis and Sais) ; Sarru-
lu-dari (an Assyrian name), king of Si'anu (Zoan or Tanis),
Susinqu (Sheshonq), king of Busiru (Busiris), and many others.

390 THE OLD TESTAMENT
But many were the conquests of this really remark
able king, which his generals accomplished for him.
Soon came the turn of Ba'al, king of Tyre, whose
subjection brought about that of Yakinlu, king of
Arvad, Mugallu, king of Tubal, and Sandasarme of
the land of the tlilakkaa (Cilicians). Assur-bani-apli
also speaks of the mission of Yakinlu, king of Arvad,
who sent his sons to him with presents, and made
obeisance. These princes bore the interesting names
Azi-ba'al, Abi-ba'al, Aduni-ba'al, Sapati-baal, Pudi-
baal, Ba'al-yasupu, Ba'al-hanunu, Ba'al-maluku, Abi-
milki, and Ahi-milki, showing the popularity of the
element baal in the names of the people of Arvad.
Azi-ba'al was designated as the next king, and all the
brothers were sent back with rich gifts. He also tells
the story of the dream of Guggu sar Luddi (Gyges,
king of Lydia), to whom the god Assur is said to have
appeared, exhorting him to submit to Assur-bani-apli,
and overcome his enemies by invoking his name.
Following this advice, he succeeded in conquering
the Gimmirraa (people of Gomer), capturing their
chiefs, of whom he sent two in fetters to the Assyrian
king, with valuable gifts.
Gyges did not send any more embassies, however,
and allied himself with Tusamilki, king of the land
of Musur (generally regarded as Psammeticus of
Egypt, but to all appearance another Musur — pro
bably that to the north — is meant), and for this lie
received the curse of the Assyrian king. The result
was, that the Gimmirraa came and ravaged his country.
This being the case, his son, who succeeded him,
thought best to renew the Assyrian alliance, and
therefore sent an embassy with a message to the
following effect — " The king whom god hath chosen
art thou ; thou cursedst my father, and evil was
wrought before him. As for me, the servant fearing
thee, be gracious to me and let me bear thy yoke."
Gyges, in Assyrian Gug(g)u, is regarded as the

XIV. Assur-bani-apli (Assurbanipal), "The Great and Noble Asnapper," Hunting Lions.
British Museum, Assyrian Saloon. (Page 391.)

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 391
original of the mystic Gog of Ezekiel xxxviii. 39, and
his country, Lydia (Luddu), is generally explained as
the Biblical Lud, though a certain amount of doubt
regarding it exists.
Assur-banl-apli's other campaigns were against the
Vannites, the Elamites, the Babylonians (on account
of his brother Saosduchinos, king of that country,
refusing to acknowledge his suzerainty), after that
twice more against Elam, then against the Arabians,
and finally against Ummanaldas, king of Elam, whom
he seized as a hawk does his prey. In all, however,
he captured four Elamite princes, whom he caused
to be attached to his carriage {ina marri sadadi,
rukub sarruti-ia1), and as for the Arabian princes
whom he had taken as prisoners, he caused them to
wear chains and badges of service, and to work at
the building of his palace, as was the custom in those
days. We can easily imagine him — the great and noble
Assur-bani-apli, called by Ezra (iv. 10) Asnapper
(better Asenappar), who transferred the Dinaites,
Apharsathchites, Tarpelites, Apharsites, Archevites,
Babylonians, Susanchites (Susanians), Dehavites, and
Elamites, to swell the mixed multitudes in the cities
of Samaria. Many a time is he represented in the
beautiful bas-reliefs which he caused to be carved
as the adornments of his palace at Nineveh, and
we there see him, the patron of art, as the bold
sportsman and hunter, just as his tablets show him
as the greatest patron of literature of his time, one
who knew the literature of his race, who took a pride
in learning, and himself copied out tablets "in the
assembly of the experts."
The " great and noble Asnapper " is worthy of a
statue in every land where the languages of Assyria
and Babylonia are studied.
How the sudden downfall of the Assyrian empire
1 " To the long chariot, the vehicle of my royalty.''

392 THE OLD TESTAMENT
really came about we do not know. In all probability
it remained intact until the death of Assur-bani-apli,
which took place in 626 B.C. His son, Assur-6til-
ilani-ukinni, has left no historical records, though it
is not by any means impossible that some light may
ultimately be thrown on his reign. One of the
enigmas of his time is : What was the circumstance
which called forth the following communication ? —
"The message of the daughter of the king to
Ailiuraaitu the queen. As yet thou writest not thy
tablet, and dictatest not thy letter? Shall they say
thus : 'Is this the sister of Seru-etirat, the eldest
daughter of the Harem-house of As§ur-etil-ilani-
ukinni, the great king, the mighty king, the king of
the world, the king of Assyria ? ' And thou art the
daughter of the bride, the lady of the house of
A§sur-bani-apli, the son of the great king of the
Harem-house, who was Assur-aha-iddina (Esarhaddon),
king of Assyria."
Some of the expressions in this letter seem obscure,
but the probable explanation is, that the daughter
of one of the last Assyrian kings — perhaps Sin-sarra-
iskun (Saracos) — writes to the chief wife of Assur-
bani-apli urging her to take action by exhorting the
chiefs of the nation at a crisis in the history of the
country, which crisis was probably that which led to
the downfall of the mighty kingdom which had
reached its zenith of power during the reign of As§ur-
bani-apli. At this time, according to Nabonidus, a
king of the Umman-manda or Medes, whose name
is doubtful, but which may be Iriba-tukte, entered
into alliance with a ruler who must be Nabopolassar
of Babylon, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, and
accomplished the vengeance of Merodach, the god of
the Babylonians, who willed that the destruction
wrought upon his city by Sennacherib should be
amply avenged. This vengeance was apparently the
downfall of the Assyrian empire and the destruction

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH ASSYRIANS 393
of Nineveh, in accordance with statements of Alex
ander Polyhistor, Abydenus, and Syncellus. It is
Diodorus Siculus, however, who gives the fullest
account. He relates that there was a legend (accord
ing to an oracle) that the city could not be taken
until the river became its enemy. Arbaces, the
Scythian, was besieging it, but was unable to make
any great impression on it for two years. In the
third year, however, the Tigris was swollen by rains,
and being very rapid in its current, a portion of the
wall was carried away, by which the besiegers gained
an entrance. The king, recognizing in this the fulfil
ment of the oracle, raised a funeral pyre, and gathering
together his concubines and eunuchs, mounted it, and
perished in the flames. Thus came the great Assyrian
empire to an end.
"The oracle concerning Nineveh :
The Lord is a jealous God and avengeth.
Who can stand before His indignation ?
With an overrunning flood He will make a full
end of the place thereof, and will pursue His
enemies into darkness.
The gates of the rivers are opened, and the palace
is dissolved.
Thy shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria, thy
worthies are at rest ; thy people are scattered
upon the mountains, and there is none to
gather them."
And there is much more in the same strain that
the Hebrew Oracle of Nahum concerning the fall of
Nineveh gives.
But it was not simply the capture of an important
city — it was the enslavement and ultimate annihila
tion of a whole nation. Who can imagine their
despair? Less than fifty years earlier, Assyria had
been the most powerful nation of the then known

394 THE OLD TESTAMENT
world, and the people suddenly saw themselves
deprived of that proud position which they had
enjoyed for so many centuries. Their national exist
ence had, in fact, been brought to an abrupt end, but
the few Assyrian names which appear in Babylonian
contracts many years after their downfall show that
theirs was a proud indomitable spirit, which could not
give way to misfortune, and which probably hoped
for better things and more prosperous times. Their
descendants are still to be found among the Chaldean
Roman Catholic Christians of the country which
was the scene of their forefathers' dominion when
they ruled the land of their inheritance. Their most
worthy representatives in modern times are the family
of the Rassams, one of whom was for many years
British Consul at Mossoul (a post which his nephew
now fills), and another is the well-known veteran,
Hormuzd Rassam, Layard's helper, for some time
Resident at Aden, and later a prisoner with that mad
ruler, King Theodore of Abyssinia. To him we
owe the discovery of Assur-bani-apli's palace, the
ruins of Sippara and Cuthah, and many thousand
cylinders and tablets bearing upon the manners,
customs, history, religion, etc., of the Babylonians
and Assyrians, which have been used freely in the
compilation of this book.

CHAPTER XI
CONTACT OF THE HEBREWS WITH THE LATER
BABYLONIANS
Nabopolassar and the restoration of the power of Babylonia —
Nebuchadnezzar — Evil-Merodach — Neriglissar and his son —
Nabonidus — The Fall of Babylon — Nabonidus and Belshazzar
— Cyrus and Cambyses — Darius and his successors.
How great the change which came over the Eastern
world with the disappearance from the political hori
zon of the power of Assyria can hardly be estimated.
In the time of Merodach-baladan, the Chaldean who
had mounted the Babylonian throne, an embassy was
sent to the Jewish king Hezekiah with a present and
kind inquiries as to his health, apparently to see
whether it was worth while making an alliance with
him. Merodach-baladan felt that he would need all
the outside help that he could get against the
Assyrians, with whom he was in constant conflict.
With the downfall of Assyria, however, all was
changed. The Jews' whilom friend became their
enemy, and, as indicated in 2 Kings xx. 17 ff, the
Israelites were to lose their independence at the
hands of the descendants of those who were then
seeking their friendship.
There is hardly any doubt that the later Assyrian
kings regarded Babylonia as an integral part of the
Assyrian empire, and had perfect faith in the fidelity
of the inhabitants. It may reasonably be doubted,
however, whether the Babylonians had really forgotten
395

396 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the cruel treatment they had received at the hands of
Sennacherib. In addition to this, there must have
existed for a considerable period the feeling that
they, the Babylonians, were the more ancient people
of the two, and that the Assyrians were but a later
offshoot of their own stock, owing to them all their
civilization, manners, customs, laws, and literature.
It will thus be seen that they were sufficiently of the
same origin to be regarded as one people, and for this
reason, many of the cities of Babylonia were satisfied
and happy under Assyrian rule, which they preferred,
to all appearance, to that of the Chaldeans, a nation
which, though inhabiting their own borders, was in
reality more alien to them than the Assyrians in
language, manners, and customs, and whom they
probably regarded as being only half civilized.
The general opinion is, that Nabu-abla-usur (Nabo
polassar), the general whom Sin-sarra-iskun (Saracos),
the last king of Assyria, sent against his enemies (who
seem to have invaded Babylonia by sea at the
northern end of the Persian Gulf), was a Chaldean,
and this is, in fact, confirmed by the quotation in
Eusebius's Armenian Chronicle (p. 44) from Polyhis-
tor, where it is stated that after Samuges (Samas-sum-
ukin, the brother of Assur-bani-apli), Sardanapallus
(this is a mistake for Nabopollasarus), the Chaldean,
reigned for twenty-one years. If this be the case, it is
a matter of surprise that Sin-sarra-iskun should have
given into the hands of one belonging to a tribe of old
hostile to Assyria, the command of his army at such
a critical time. In any case, the result was most
disastrous for Assyria, as the foregoing chapter has
shown. In the opinion of Friedrich Delitzsch, Nabopolassar
was not the general of Sin-sarra-iskun, but in all
probability a viceroy installed by Assur-etil-ilani-
ukinni, and retained by Sin-sarra-iskun, in which case
it is to be supposed that he made an alliance with the

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 397
Medes (as related by Alexander Polyhistor and Aby
denus), and cemented it by marrying his son Nebucha
drezzar to Amunhean, Amuhean, or Amytis, daughter
of Astyages, king ofthe Medes; and according to the
latter author, it was after this that he marched against
Nineveh. Fried. Delitzsch may therefore be regarded
as most probably right, for the king of the Medes
would hardly have consented to bestow his daughter
upon the son of one whom he could not otherwise
have regarded as being of royal race.
Though Nabopolassar had close connection with
Syria, his name is not mentioned in the Bible narra
tive. For our information concerning him we are
indebted to Josephus, who, quoting the Babylonian
writer Berosus, relates what was recorded in the
Babylonian chronicles of that period. After the
division of the territory of Assyria, of which Egypt
took a part, the former allies began to quarrel among
themselves, the result being that Nabopolassar, wish
ing to regain possession of Syria, which at this time
acknowledged the suzerainty of Egypt, decided to
attack that country. According to Berosus, he not
only regarded himself as master of Coele-Syria and
Phoenicia, but also of Egypt. Hearing, therefore,
" that the governor which he had set over Egypt and
over the parts of Coele-Syria and Phoenicia had
revolted from him, he was not able to bear it any
longer, but committing certain parts of his army to his
son Nabuchodonosor, who was then but young, he
sent him against the rebel." This is regarded as having
taken place in 605 B.C. The governor attacked by the
young Nebuchadnezzar was apparently Necho, who
was completely defeated at Carchemish, and expelled
from Syria.
Whilst upon this expedition, Nebuchadnezzar heard
of the death of his father at Babylon, in the twenty-
first year of his reign, as Josephus, quoting Berosus,
has it. This accords with the statement concerning

398 THE OLD TESTAMENT
him in the Canon of Ptolemy, and also with native
Babylonian chronology, as may be seen from a tablet
in the Museum of Edinburgh, of which the following
is a translation —
"The 2 1 st year of Nabopolassar a profit was
made.
The ist year of Nebuchadnezzar a profit was
made.
The 2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar a profit was
made.
The 3rd year the same.
The fourth year the same."
Returning to Babylon, the young prince found that
his supporters there had looked after his interests,
and no pretender having appeared to dispute with
him the throne, he was at once acknowledged
king. The death of Nabopolassar and the accession
of his son Nebuchadnezzar took place in the year
604 B.C.
Unfortunately, but few inscriptions of Nabopolassar
have been found, and of them some are duplicates,
and all refer to his architectural or engineering works.
The principal treats of his restoration of the temple
E-temen-ana-kia, the shrine at E-sagila, which the
Babylonians regarded as the Tower of Babel. It is
written in the archaic style of writing much affected
by his son Nebuchadnezzar, and has certain peculiari
ties of spelling. Like most of the pious architectural
inscriptions of Babylonia, there is no reference to
historical events, but the king speaks of Nabium-
kudurra-usur (Nebuchadrezzar), " the eldest, firstborn,
and beloved of my heart," and his younger brother,
Nabu-sumam-lisir. Both the king and his two sons
took part in the restoration of the temple, bringing
with their own hands material for the work, the
younger son also assisting by pulling the cord of the

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 399
cart which carried it. The receptacles which they used
to carry the material were made of gold and silver.
Other inscriptions of this king refer to the digging out
of the canal of the Euphrates near the city Sippara,
and to Nabopolassar's restoration of the temple of
"the Lady of Sippar," called E-edinna, "the house
(temple) of the plain," or " of Edina," i. e. Eden.
When Nebuchadnezzar (in Babylonian Nabu-
kudurri-usur — he was the second of the name) came
to the throne, he found himself in possession of a
mighty kingdom, consolidated by his father's talent,
and he could himself boast of having had a hand in
its enlargement and greater security. Everything was,
to all appearance, at peace, and the new king had no
reason to fear either a pretender to the throne, or the
advent of enemies from without. One of his tribut
aries, namely, Jehoiakim, king of Judah, after paying
tribute three years (604-602 B.C.), rebelled, but was
again reduced to subjection (2 Kings xxiv. 1 ff.).
Later, however, uprisings of a more earnest nature
came to the ears of the Babylonian king, constraining
him to act. Apparently in consequence of the pro
mises of Egypt, Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, brought
against himself the hostility of the king of Babylon,
who sent an army to besiege Jerusalem, afterwards
journeying thither himself, the result being, that the
city was taken, and the Jewish king, with his court,
yielded, and were carried away to Babylon (598 B.C.).
The number of captives on this occasion exceeded
10,000, and the treasures of the palace and the Temple
formed part of the spoils sent to Babylon. The
country was not annexed, however, for Nebuchadnezzar
made Mattaniah king of Judah instead of Jehoiachin,
changing his name to Zedekiah.
Gratitude to the power which had raised him, how
ever, became weakened with years, and, encouraged
by Pharaoh Hophra, he rebelled in the ninth year of
his reign, the result being that Jerusalem was once

400 THE OLD TESTAMENT
more besieged. Pharaoh Hophra now marched with
an army across the Egyptian border to the help of his
ally, whereupon the Babylonians raised the siege of
Jerusalem for a time to get rid of the invader (Jer.
xxxvii. 5-7). According to Josephus, the Egyptians
were totally defeated, and returned to their own land
(Jer. xxxvii. 7). The siege of Jerusalem was then
resumed, and the city was taken at the end of a year
and a half, notwithstanding a very courageous resist
ance. The date set down for this event is July
586 B.C.
Zedekiah with his army fled, but was pursued by
the Chaldeans, and captured in the plains of Jericho.
Nebuchadnezzar was then at Riblah, where, to all
appearance, a court was held (see 2 Kings xxv. 6),
and sentence pronounced against the faithless vassal,
whose sons were then slain before his eyes, his sight
destroyed, and he himself carried captive to Babylon.
It was a barbarous sentence, and was quite in accord
ance with the customs of the age, just as the legal
formalities were to all appearance in conformity with
Babylonian tradition. The destruction of the Temple
and all the principal houses ofthe city by fire, followed,
this destruction being wrought by Nebu-zar-adan
(Nabu-zer-iddina), the captain of Nebuchadnezzar's
guard, who also carried captive all who remained in
the city. Only the lowest class of the people remained
to carry on the cultivation of the land. Others were
sent to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, and by his orders
put to death. Those of the Jews who remained, how
ever, were not placed, as might reasonably have been
expected, under a Babylonian governor, but under
Gedeliah the son of Ahikam, who was made governor.
His death at the hands of his own countrymen took
place shortly after, thus putting an end to the last
vestige of native Jewish rule in Palestine.
Next came the turn of Tyre, which the Babylonian
king blockaded for no less than thirteen years (585-

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 401
573 B.C.), but was apparently successful in the end,
when the inhabitants acknowledged Babylonian over
lordship. That its capture cost him great pains is
testified by Ezekiel (xxix. 18), who states that, to take
the city, " every head was bald, and every shoulder
was peeled " in consequence of the carrying of material
for the operations against the city, yet neither he nor
his army reaped any material advantage from this
conquest, " for the service that he had served against
it." The name of a city Suru, which is probably Tyre,
occurs on a tablet dated in Nebuchadnezzar's thirty-
fifth year (569 B.C. — four years after the city was taken).
It refers to a transaction in which sesame is sold, an
official of the city being a party to the contract.
Later on, in the fortieth year of Nebuchadnezzar, a
contract was entered into between Milki-idiri, governor
of Kidis (Kedesh), with regard to some cattle. This
document is dated at Tyre (Surru) on the 22nd of the
month Tammuz. Not only Tyre, therefore, but the
whole district, owned the dominion of Nebuchadnezzar
at this time.
Just as successful were Nebuchadnezzar's operations
against Egypt. According to an Egyptian inscription,
the Babylonian king attacked Egypt in the year
572 B.C., penetrating as far as Syene and the borders
of Ethiopia. Hophra, who still reigned, was defeated
and deposed, the general Amasis being raised to the
throne in his place to rule the land as a vassal of the
Babylonian king. According to the only historical
fragment of the reign of this king known, Nebuchad
nezzar made an expedition to Egypt in his thirty-
seventh year. This was to all appearance against his
vassal Amasis, who, like Zedekiah, had revolted against
the power which had raised him to the throne. The
rebellion was suppressed, but the ultimate fate of
Amasis is not stated.
According to Megasthenes, who lived in the time
pf Seleucus Nicator, Nebuchadnezzar conquered North
c Q

402 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Africa, crossing afterwards into Spain by the Strait
of Gibraltar, returning to Babylonia through Europe
and Asia Minor. Such an expedition, however, it is
hardly likely that he ever undertook, and the account
of this exploit may therefore be relegated to the
domain of the fables with which the ancient historians
sometimes ornamented their work.
Concerning the relations of Nebuchadnezzar with
Daniel, the wedge-inscriptions of Babylonia give no
indication whatever. Four hundred and fifty or more
contract-tablets dated in his reign are known, but in
none of them is there any reference to Daniel, at least
in a form that can be recognized. The Babylonian
name given to him, Belteshazzar, is apparently an
abbreviated form, which would be, in Babylonian,
Balat-su-usur, "Protect thou (O God), his life." If
this be the explanation, a better transcription of the
Hebrew form would be Beletshazzar (making the
first sheva vocal and the second silent instead of the
reverse). The name of the deity has, in accordance
with custom, been suppressed in the Hebrew form,
but it is probable that either the patron-deity of
Babylon, Bel, or else the favourite deity of the
Babylonians in general, Nebo, the god of learning,
may have preceded the first element as the name now
stands. In the inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria,
many examples of abbreviated names occur, on account
of what we should consider their inordinate length,
and to such an extent was this customary, that one
element only, out of three or four, might alone be
used. Thus, in the contracts of the time of Nebu
chadnezzar, at least fourteen persons of the name of
Balatu, and seven of the name of Balat-su occur, and
it may be safely taken that they are all abbreviations
of names similar to that bestowed upon Daniel.
Apart from the question whether the Book of Daniel
is to be regarded as a part of the Hagiographa or
not, the fact that his descent is not given there would

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 403
make it impossible to recognize him, if his name was
still further abbreviated by the Babylonians, among
so many bearing names possibly the same as his.
Even though his book be regarded as a romance,
there is always the question, whether the personages
mentioned therein may not really have existed.
With regard to the other names in Daniel, it is
to be noted that Shadrach and Meshach, the names
given to Hananiah and Mishael, are doubtful in Baby
lonian, the corresponding forms not having been
found. Abednego, on the other hand, the Babylonian
name of Azariah, has long been recognized as being
written for Abed-Nebo, "servant of Nebo," either
by a scribal error, or (as seems more probable) in
order to deface the name of a heathen deity. The
name of Ashpenaz, the master of the eunuchs, is still
more doubtful, if anything ; but that of Arioch, the
" king's captain," is one which has been well known for
sQtne time, being none other than the ancient name
(cf. Genesis xiv.) corresponding with the Akkadian
Eri-Aku or Eri-Eaku, " servant of the Moon-god," a
rare name in later times (see pp. 222 ff.).
Naturally nothing concerning Nebuchadnezzar's
dreams occurs in the inscriptions of Babylonia, though
dreams which were regarded as having a signification
are sometimes recorded. This being the case, it
might be supposed that something upon the subject
would in all probability be sooner or later found. But
what we should expect to find in the extant inscrip
tions of Nebuchadnezzar is a reference to the golden
image, threescore cubits high and six cubits wide,
which he is said to have set up in the plain of Dura.
Had he erected such an enormous thing, even if it had
been merely gilt, and not of solid gold, one would
expect that he would at least have made a slight
reference to it. That he may have set up images of
his gods is not only possible, but probable — indeed, he
must have dedicated at least a few during his long

404 THE OLD TESTAMENT
reign, but it is evident that none of them was of
sufficient importance to cause him specially to refer to
it in his inscriptions. It is therefore not impossible
that there is some exaggeration in the dimensions of
the figure referred to in Daniel. There is also con
siderable uncertainty as to the position of the plain of
Dura, in the province of Babylon. The most probable
explanation is that of Prof. J. Oppert, the veteran
Assyriologist, who found what appeared to be the
base of a great statue near a mound known as Diiair,1
east of Babylon. It is not improbable, however, that
" the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon," means
simply an extensive open space near one of the great
fortifications {duru) of the city. That all the principal
officials of the kingdom should be expected to come
to the dedication of such an image is exceedingly
probable. The portion of Daniel referring to Nebuchadnezzar
which receives the best illustration from the inscrip
tions is that referred to after the relation of his second
dream, where he is represented as walking in or upon
his palace, and one may imagine that he had gone up
to enjoy the view of the city, and whilst doing so,
with almost justifiable pride the words, " Is not this
great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwell
ing-place, by the might of my power and the glory of
my majesty?" escaped him. From his inscriptions
(and they are fairly numerous) we learn, with regard
to Babylon, that it owed most of its glories as they
then existed to this, the greatest of its kings.
That the king did not always distinguish between
what he built and what he rebuilt — indeed, none of
his predecessors seem to have done so either, a cir
cumstance probably due to the poverty of the Akka-
1 Apparently Duwair, S.S.E. of Babylon. This, however,
is probably not a real place-name, the word really meaning
"mound."

XV.

Bas-relief supposed to depict the triple wall of Babylon, with a poition of
the palace within. In the original, water flows at the base of the lowest wall .
The above is the upper part of slab No. 89 in the Assyrian Saloon of the British Museum,
and apparently illustrates As>ur-bani-apli's campaign against his brother, Samas-sum-ukin
(Saosduchinos), King of Babylon {cf. p. 391). [Two at least of the walls of Babylon were
much older than the time of Nebuchadnezzar.]

(To face p. 404.)

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 405
dian and Semitic Babylonian languages in that respect
— would explain the words attributed to him.
According to the great India-House inscription,
which was' carved by order of Nebuchadnezzar, Nabo
polassar had built ( = rebuilt) the two great walls
of Babylon, called Imgur-Bel and Nemitti-Bel. He
had dug the great city-moat, and raised two strong
walls on its banks, similar, in all probability, to what
other kings had done before him. To all appearance
also he lined the banks of the Euphrates with embank
ments (probably the quays of which Herodotus speaks),
and constructed, within the city, a road leading from
Du-azaga, "the holy seat," where the oracles were
declared, to Aa-ibur-sabu, Babylon's " festival-street,"
close to the gate of Beltis, for the yearly procession
of the god Merodach.
All these erections Nebuchadnezzar completed or
altered and improved. He added to the defences
which his father had built, and raised the level of the
street Aa-ibur-sabu from the " glorious gate " to the
gate of Istar. The raising of the " festival-street "
necessitated the raising of the gateways through
which it ran. Gates were made of cedar covered with
copper, probably after the style of the great gate
found by Mr. Rassam at Balawat in Assyria, which
was adorned with bands of bronze chased with scenes
of Shalmaneser I I.'s warlike exploits in relief. In all
probability there were but few gates in Babylon of
solid metal, notwithstanding that there is no mention
in Herodotus of their having been constructed merely
of wood covered with ornamented strips of bronze.
The thresholds of these gates were of bronze, pro
bably similar to that of which a part was found by
Mr. Rassam at Borsippa (evidently the doorstep of
one of the entrances to the temple called E-zida),
and which may now be seen at the British Museum.
These and other portals at Babylon were guarded by
images of bulls and serpents, also of bronze. In

406 THE OLD TESTAMENT
addition to this, Nebuchadnezzar built a wall on the
east side of the city, high like a mountain, so that
no enemy could approach. Access to the city was
gained by gates, the doors of which were likewise
of cedar ornamented with bronze. For further pro
tection, he " caused great waters like the volume
of the sea to surround the land," and to cross them
was " like the crossing of the broad sea, the Salt
Stream" (the Persian Gulf). He then rebuilt the
palace of his father, its walls having been under
mined by the waters of the Euphrates, which ran near.
Advantage of the changes made in this building was
taken to raise the gateways, which had become too
low in consequence of the raising of the festival-street
of Merodach. In addition to this, he built another
palace, adjoining that of his father, decorating it with
cedar, cypress, and other precious woods ; gold, silver,
and precious stones ; and adorning it with sculptures
and with gates overlaid with bronze. According to
the India-House inscription, of Nebuchadnezzar, the
fabric of this building was completed in fifteen days, a
fact so remarkable that it is specially mentioned by
Berosus (see Josephus, Antiquities, x., xi. i), whose
word may be taken as proving the translation of the
passage in question. Besides restoring the temples
of the cities, or at least the principal ones, he restored
all the chief temples of Babylonia, notably that at
Sippar, the chief centre of the Sun-god worship, and
the great temple-tower dedicated to Nebo at Borsippa.
This last, indeed, was one of the works upon which he
prided himself most, as is proved by the fact that it is
mentioned in all his inscriptions, including those on
his bricks, along with the temple known as E-sagila
(later pronounced E-sangil), the "temple of Belus,"
which he calls " the tower of Babylon," the principal
shrine of which seems to have been called " the House
of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth," indicating
clearly the estimation in which the Babylonians held

XVI.

Bas-relief, supposed to represent the Hanging Gardens at Babylon,
about 645 b.c. On the slope is a temple, a stele with the figure of a king,
and an altar on the path in front. On the right pointed arches support a
terrace planted with trees. Streams water the sides of the wooded hill.
British Museum, Assyrian Saloon, No. 92 'upper part).

The above, with Plate XV., apparently illustrate Assur-bani-apli's campaign against his
brother Samas-sum-ukin (cf. page 391).
(Page 406.)

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 407
it (see p. 138). lt was there that the god Merodach,
the principal deity of the Babylonians, and the founder
ofthe temple in question, was worshipped.
But one might go on for a long time describing
what Nebuchadnezzar did for the city which, more
than any other, he loved, and to which he brought the
spoils of his many expeditions. There is no doubt
that this, the last great king of Babylon, was a most
successful ruler, of whom his people were proud. He
was pious, and an intense lover of his country — two
characteristics which endeared him, the one to the
priesthood, the other to the people at large. Could
we but find the real history of his reign, it would
undoubtedly prove to be full of interest, and also of
enormous importance, not only on account of the light
that it would throw upon Jewish history during his
period, but also on account of its bearing upon a most
important epoch in the life of the Babylonian nation.
It is noteworthy that, in Herodotus, many of the
great architectural works of his reign are attributed
to Nitocris, who, he states, was the mother of Laby-
netus (Book I. 185-188). Now, who this Labynetus
was, is clear from the statement that it was he against
whom Cyrus marched — namely the Nabonidus of
other Greek historians, and the Nabu-na'id of the
inscriptions. Nitocris would therefore seem to have
been the name of the queen of Nebuchadnezzar, and
if so, it shows upon what grounds Nabonidus claimed
the throne, and how Belshazzar, in the Book of Daniel,
could be described as the son or descendant of Nebu
chadnezzar. But in this case Nitocris must have
been another wife of Nebuchadnezzar, and not the
Median princess whom he had married when young.
If she supplanted Amytis, Nebuchadnezzar's Median
wife, in the affections of her husband, it is easy to see
how she could have feared a Median invasion, as
indicated by Herodotus.
Nebuchadnezzar died in the year 561 B.C., leaving

408 THE OLD TESTAMENT
his crown to Awel-Maruduk, the Evil-Merodach of
2 Kings xxv. 27, and the Abilamarodachos of Josephus,
who, however, also gives, in his book against Apion
(i. 20), the genuine Babylonian form as transcribed by
Berosus, namely, Eueilmaradouchos. Two other sons
of Nebuchadnezzar are also mentioned in the con
tract-tablets of his reign, namely, Marduk-sum-usur
(in his fortieth year) and Marduk-nadin-ahi (forty-
first year). (See pp. 434, 435.)
The substitution of the mild rule of Evil-Merodach
for the vigorous government of his father must have
been witnessed by the Babylonians with considerable
misgiving, for in the East, especially at that period, the
successful ruler was he who was the most energetic.
There is every reason to believe, however, that the
character of Evil-Merodach was that of a man in
every way kind and considerate, as is shown by the
fact, that he released Jehoiachin (whom Nebuchad
nezzar had taken prisoner), spoke kindly to him, and
set his throne above those of the other vassal kings in
Babylon. The only thing, according to Josephus, re
corded about him by Berosus was, that " he governed
public affairs lawlessly and extravagantly" — words
which imply that he displeased the priestly class, of
which Berosus was one. His name appears in certain
contracts (published by Mr. Evetts) as ruler of Baby
lonia for about two years, from the 26th of Elul of his
accession year to the 4th day of Ab of his second
year — about two years and five months in all. Ac
cording to Berosus, he was slain by his sister's
husband, Neriglissooros, the Nergal-sar-usur of the
inscriptions, who then ascended the throne.
The name is the same as that given as Nergal-
sharezer in Jer. xxxix. 3, 13, one ofthe princes ofthe
Babylonians who was present at the taking of Jeru
salem by Nebuchadnezzar, and who at that time bore
the title of Rab-mag, which is to all appearance the
Rab-mugi of the Assyro-Babylonian inscriptions. It is

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 4°9
thought by many, and is not by any means improb
able, that the Nergal-sharezer of the passage referred
to and the Nergal-sar-usur of Babylonian history are
one and the same, though there is no evidence that
the latter ever bore the title of Rab-mag.
It was in the year 559 B.C. that Evil-Merodach was
murdered, and Neriglissar at once seized the throne
of his brother-in-law. Berosus (as quoted by Josephus)
gives no details as to his reign. In his inscriptions
he states that he was (like Nabopolassar and Nebu
chadnezzar before him) patron of E-sagila and E-zida,
the temple of Belus at Babylon and that of Nebo at
Borsippa, and that the great gods had established his
dominion. After speaking of the god Nebo, he
makes a reference to Ura, the god of death, which,
under the circumstances, one can hardly regard as
otherwise than significant —
Nebo, the faithful son, a just sceptre
has caused his hands to hold.
To keep the people, preserve the country,
Ura, prince of the gods, gave him his weapon."
He then mentions his father, Bel-sum-iskun, whom
he calls " king of Babylon," and describes the restora
tion and decoration of E-zida and E-sagila, together
with the palace which he built for himself at Babylon,
and other architectural work.
But to describe his father as " king of Babylon "
was a statement somewhat removed from the truth.
In the contract-tablets of the time of Nebuchadnezzar
and Evil-Merodach, where the name of Neriglissar
occurs somewhat frequently as a purchaser of houses,
land, etc., he is called simply " son of Bel-sum-iskun,"
without any other title whatever (see p. 438). But
perhaps Neriglissar's statement is due to some his
torical event of which we are ignorant.
Neriglissar died in the month Nisan or Iyyar of the

4IO THE OLD TESTAMENT
fourth year of his reign, and was succeeded by his son
Labasi-Marduk, the Labarosoarchod of the Greek
writers. According to Bercsus (Josephus against
Apion, i. 20), he was no more than a child, and it
may be supposed that he was a younger son of Neri
glissar, though concerning this we have no informa
tion. He only reigned nine months, a plot having
been laid against him by his friends, and he was
tormented to death, " by reason of the very ill-temper
and ill practices he exhibited to the world " (Berosus).
After his death, according to the same historian, the
conspirators met, and elected one of their number,
Nabonnedus (Nabuna'id), as king. " In his reign it
was that the walls of the city of Babylon were curi
ously built with burnt brick and bitumen," is all that
Berosus has to say with regard to the sixteen years of
his reign which preceded his overthrow.
Many inscriptions of the reign of this king exist,
and we are able to gain from them an excellent idea
of the state of the country and the historical events
of this important period. All that Nabonidus tells us
concerning his origin is, that he was the son or de
scendant of Nabu-balat-su-iqbi, whom he calls rubti
imqu, " the deeply-wise prince." Who he may have
been is not known, but there exist two tablets of the
nature of letters written by a certain Nabu-balat-su-
iqbi to Assur-bani-apli, whose faithful servant he
professed to be, protesting against the treatment
which he had received at the hands of certain men
who were hostile to him. If both these letters were
written by the same person, they must belong to
about the year 652 B.C. (the eponymy of Assur-nasir,
which is mentioned in one of them). As that was
about one hundred years before Nabonidus came to
the throne, this personage, if related to him, must
have been his grandfather or great-grandfather. Other
persons of the same name are mentioned in the fifth,
eleventh, eighteenth, and thirty-fourth years of Nebu-

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 41I
chadnezzar, but it seems very unlikely that the father
of Nabonidus should be one of these.
According to the Babylonian Chronicle, Nabonidus
was at the beginning of his reign engaged in the
west, to all appearance cutting down, among other
things, trees on Mount Amanus for building purposes
at Babylon. Something also took place by the
Mediterranean {tdmtim sa mdt Amurri, "the sea of
the land of Amoria "). Apparently he had also troops
in this district, and sacrifices were performed
there. After this there is a gap until the sixth year of his
reign, the entry for which, however, refers wholly to
Astyages' operations against Cyrus, and its disastrous
results, for he was made prisoner, Ecbatana sacked,
and the spoil brought to Ansan, Cyrus's capital.
Previous to this, as Nabonidus informs us in his
cylinder-inscription found by Mr. Rassam at Abu-
habbah (Sippar), the Medes had been very successful
in their warlike operations, and had even besieged
Haran, making it impossible for Nabonidus to carry
out the instructions of his god Merodach, revealed to
him in a dream, to restore the temple of Sin in that
city. On the king of Babylon reminding the deity
of the state of things in that part, and speaking of
the strength of the Median forces, he was told that in
three years' time their power would be destroyed,
which happened as predicted. He now caused his
" vast army " to come from Gaza and elsewhere to do
the needful work, and when completed, the image of
the god Sin was brought from Babylon, and placed
in the restored shrine with joy and shouting. Natur
ally the Babylonian king was overjoyed at the release
of Haran from the power of the Medes — could he
have foreseen that Cyrus, their conqueror, would one
day hurl him from his throne, his enthusiasm concern
ing the success of "the young servant of Merodach"
(as he calls him) would have been greatly abated.

412 THE OLD TESTAMENT
In his seventh and eighth years the king was in
Tema, and the crown prince (apparently Belshazzar
is meant), with the great men and the army, was in
Akkad (the northern part of Babylonia, of which the
city of Agad or Agade was the capital). The king
did not go to Babylon, Nebo did not go to Babylon,
Bel did not go forth, the festival akitu (new year's
festival) was not performed, though the victims seem
to have been offered in E-sagila and E-zida as usual,
and (the king) appointed a priest {uru-gald) of the
weapon (?) and the temple. In the ninth year also
the same state of things existed, and this year the
mother of the king died, to the great grief of the
people. It is also recorded for this year that Cyrus,
apparently in the course of one of his military
expeditions, crossed the Tigris above Arbela.
From the fact that the religious processions and
ceremonies are given as being unperformed every
year from the seventh to the eleventh of his reign, it
is clear that a great deal of discontent was caused
thereby, as is, in fact, indicated by the cylinder-
inscription of Cyrus detailing under what conditions
he himself entered Babylon. It was evidently one
of the duties of the Babylonian kings (and, as we have
seen, the Assyrian kings conformed to this when they
became kings of Babylonia) to perform the usual
ceremonies, and the ruler neglecting this was certain
to fall into disfavour with the priesthood, and, by
their influence, with the people as well.
Whatever may have been the sins of omission of
Nabonidus — whether they were trivial or otherwise —
there is no doubt that they made a bad impression
on the people, and gave rise to all kinds of state
ments against him when the days of misfortune
came. For the scribe who drew up Cyrus's record
after the taking of Babylon, all Nabonidus's doings
with regard to the temples and statues of the gods
were to be quoted against him. The temple dues had

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 413
been allowed to fail, and the gods quitted their
shrines, angry at the thought that Nabonidus had
brought foreign gods to Su-anna (a part of Babylon).
With regard to this last accusation, it may be re
marked that a popular ruler would in all probability
have been praised for bringing the gods of other
places to Babylon — it would have been either a
tribute to the power of Babylonia in war (a power
conferred upon her, in their opinion, by her gods) ; or
else the payment of homage by the gods of other
cities to those of Babylon, acknowledging at the
same time their (and her) supremacy.
The fact is, Nabonidus was either the most intelli
gent, or one of the most intelligent, men in Babylonia.
To all appearance he was not a ruler, but a learned
man, full of love for his country and its institutions,
and desirous of knowledge, which he obtained at all
costs. Whenever he had to restore a temple, he at
once excavated in its foundations for the records of
early kings which he knew to be there, and he was
often successful in finding what he wanted. As he
always recorded what he found, his cylinder-inscrip
tions nearly always possess a value far beyond those
of other kings of Babylon. He seems to have
delighted in what he saw when engaged in this work
— he not only tells you that he read the texts thus
discovered, but he refers to their perfect condition,
and nearly always says something about the ruler
who caused them to be placed in the foundations.
He, too, is worthy of a statue in every place where
the language of his native land is studied.
Naturally, his antiquarian researches, necessitating,
as they did, the destruction of a part of the fabric of
the temple under repair at the time, were not looked
upon altogether with favour by the priests and the
people, hence the dissatisfaction to which the scribes,
who were probably of the priestly cast, afterwards
gave vent. Besides this, was it not necessary that

414 THE OLD TESTAMENT
they should justify themselves for accepting a foreign
ruler, of a different religion from their own ?
Nabonidus gives no hint in his inscriptions that he
was aware of any dissatisfaction at what he was
doing. In all probability he was as religious as any
of his predecessors had been, and his son Belshazzar
was as the second ruler in the kingdom. Records
exist showing that Belshazzar sent offerings to the
temple at Sippar whilst he was in that neighbour
hood, and the king's own offerings are sometimes
mentioned with them. The king had therefore a good
deputy performing his work. With regard to the
bringing of foreign gods to Su-anna, Cyrus's scribe
probably refers to the deities of Haran, which were
taken thither before the siege of the place by the
Medes. When the enemy had departed, Nabonidus
restored the temple in that city, and replaced the
deities referred to in their shrines. The transport of
the idols may have been merely to place them for
the time being in a place of greater security.
There is, then, every probability that Belshazzar,
son of Nabonidus, was the real ruler. What an
excellent understanding existed between him and his
father may be gained from the inscription which
Nabonidus caused to be composed to place in the
foundations of the temple of the Moon (the god Sin)
at Ur (identified with Ur of the Chaldees), the
concluding lines of which run as follows —
" As for me, Nabonidus, king of Babylon,
from sin against thy great divinity
save me, and
a life of remote days
give as a gift ;
and as for Belshazzar, the eldest son,
the offspring of my heart, the fear of thy great
divinity cause thou to exist in his heart, and
let not sin possess him, let him be satisfied with
fulness of life."

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 415
The text being undated, there is no means of
ascertaining in what year the restoration of the
temple of the Moon at Ur took place.
The story of the downfall of the Babylonian empire
and the end of native rule in Babylonia is told by
the Babylonian Chronicle as follows —
"(Year 17th), Nebo to go forth (?) from Borsippa
. . . the king entered the temple E-tur-kalama. In
the month (?) . . . and the lower sea, revolted . . .
went (?). Bel went forth, the festival Akitu (new
year's festival) they held as usual (?). In the month
. . . the gods (?) of Marad, Zagaga and the gods of
the city of Kis, Beltis and the gods of Hursag-kalama,
entered Babylon. At the end of the month Elul the
gods of the land of Akkad who were above the
atmosphere and below the atmosphere entered
Babylon, the gods of Borsippa, Cutha, and Sippar
did not enter. In the month Tammuz Cyrus made
battle at Opis on the Tigris among the soldiers of
Akkad. The people of Akkad raised a revolt ;
people were killed; Sippar was taken on the 14th
day without fighting. Nabonidus fled. On the 16th
day Ugbaru (Gobryas), governor ofthe land of Gutium,
and the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without
fighting — after Nabonidus they pursued (?), he was
captured in Babylon. At the end of the month the
regiment (?) of the land of Gutium surrounded (?)
the gates of E-sagila (the temple of Belus). A cele
bration (?) of anything, in E-sagila and the shrines,
was not being made, and a (lunar ?) festival was not
proceeding. Marcheswan, the third day, Cyrus de
scended to Babylon ; they filled the roads before him.
Peace was established to the city — Cyrus promised
peace to Babylon, all of it. Gubaru (Gobryas), his
governor, appointed governors in Babylonia, and from
the month Kisleu to the month Adar the gods of
the land of Akkad, whom Nabonidus had sent down
to Babylon, returned to their places. The month

4l6 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Marcheswan, the night of the nth day, Ugbaru
(Gobryas) (went?) against . . . and the son (?) of
the king died. From the 27th of the month Adar
to the third of the month Nisan, there was weeping
in Akkad, all the people bowed down their heads.
On the 4th day Cambyses, son of Cyrus, went to
E-nig-had-kalama-summu ('the house where the
sceptre of the world is given,' the temple of Nebo).
The man of the temple of the sceptre of Nebo . . ."
(The remainder is mutilated, and the sense not
clear — to all appearance it refers to religious cere
monies and sacrifices in which Cambyses took part.)
Here, again, the suggestion seems to be, that be
cause the king thought fit to send the statues of the
various gods of the land to other cities than their
own "on a visit," as it were, the priesthood were
justified in renouncing allegiance to him (and in
this the people naturally followed them), and in de
livering the kingdom to a foreigner, tt has been
said that the success of Cyrus was in part due to
the aid given to him by the Jews, who, sympathizing
with him on account of his monotheism, helped him
in various ways ; but in all probability he could never
have achieved success had not the Babylonian priests
(as indicated by their own records) spread discontent
among the people.
More important, however, are the details of the
conquest by Cyrus. He must have entered Baby
lonia on the north-east, and met the Babylonian
army at Opis. That the conflict went against the
Babylonians may be taken for granted, though it is
not stated. Apparently the country was divided into
two parties — those for resistance, and those who were
probably discontented on account of the king's re
puted unorthodoxy. A conflict between these took
place, and there was bloodshed, the result being that
no resistance could be offered to the army of Cyrus,
who entered Sippar, the seat of the worship of the

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 417
Sun-god, without fighting. To all appearance Na
bonidus was at his post, but recognizing that all was
lost, fled. Two days later Gobryas (not Cyrus, be it
observed) entered Babylon with the army of Cyrus
without fighting, and apparently captured Nabonidus
there. This took place about the end of June, and it
was October before Cyrus entered the city. Judging
from the text, he was well received, and the result
of the conference between him and Gobryas was, that
the latter " appointed governors in Babylon," or " in
Babylonia,'' as the words may be also read. Another
stroke of policy was the return to their habitations
of the images of the gods which Nabonidus had
transferred to other places, thus appeasing the priests.
At this point come some very important and
difficult phrases. On the night of the nth of
Marcheswan, Gobryas descended (or went) upon or
against something, and the king, or the son of the
king, died. The combination of these two statements,
taken in connection with the record in Daniel v. 30,
suggests that the latter reading is the correct one,
though the first, which would make it to mean that
the king was slain, is not excluded, and would make
very little difference in the record, it being possible
that Belshazzar, as the successor of Nabonidus, might
be meant. An earlier explanation was, that the
doubtful group stood for "the wife" of the king,
but in this case it would be difficult to explain how
it is that the verbal form (which is ideographically
written, and may be read either imdt, "he dies,"
tamdt, " she dies," or mitat, " she died ") should differ
from that used in the case of the king's mother, where
imtUt, the historical tense of the secondary form of
the kai, is the form used. The use of imdt for imut,
"he died," would be paralleled by the use of irab
or irub, " he entered," in other parts of the inscription.
Naturally, in a case of doubt, the seeker after truth
in the matter of Babylonian history consults the record
D D

418 THE OLD TESTAMENT
of the Babylonian historian Berosus. In the case of
the taking of Babylon, however, there are such note
worthy differences, that one may well be excused for
doubting his statements, notwithstanding his trust
worthiness in other matters. He says that when
Nabonnedus saw that Cyrus was coming to attack
him, he met him with his forces, was beaten, and fled
with a few of his troops to Borsippa. Cyrus then
took Babylon, and gave order that the outer walls
should be demolished, the city having proved very
troublesome to him, and cost him much pains to
capture. He then proceeded to besiege Nabonnedus
in Borsippa, but the Babylonian king decided not to
attempt to resist, and yielded. Cyrus therefore treated
him kindly, and though he would not allow him to
remain in Babylonia, he gave him Carmania as a
place where he might dwell. " Accordingly Nabonne
dus spent the rest of his time in that country, and
there died."
The Babylonian Chronicle, however, says nothing
about Nabonidus having taken refuge in Borsippa,
nor of his being besieged there, nor of his having
submitted at that place. On the contrary, he was
taken in Babylon, which city had been captured
without fighting, and there was on that account no
immediate excuse for demolishing the walls, which, as
native records tell us, were dismantled in the time of
the Seleucidas. The fact is, Berosus did not wish it
to be thought that the Babylonians had allowed their
country to pass into the hands of a foreign ruler with
out resistance, hence this statement as to the capital
holding out. To all appearance, Berosus is truthful
where it is not to his interest to be otherwise.
The probability is, therefore, that " the son of the
king," Belshazzar, held out against the Persians
in some part of the capital, and kept during that
time a festival on the nth of Marcheswan, when
Gobryas pounced upon the place, and he, the rightful

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 419
Chaldean king, was slain, as recorded in Daniel. In
this case, Darius the Mede ought to be " Gobrius of
Gutium," who, like the former, appointed governors
in Babylonia, and " received the kingdom " for Cyrus.
If this be the case, Daniel would seem to have been
in his power, though the Hebrew prophet's knowledge
of what was going on on the Persian side gave him
courage to reject Belshazzar's favours with scorn.
Officially, Belshazzar is never mentioned as king,
though the Jewish captives must have regarded him
as such, and probably spoke of him humorously as
being the true ruler. This alone can account for his
being called " king of the Chaldeans," and for his
appointing Daniel to be the " third ruler in the king
dom," as has been already suggested. That he was
also confused with his father is shown by the state
ment in Josephus, where he is spoken of {Antiq. x.
xi. 2) as being called Nabonidus by the Babylonians
(" Baltasaros, who by the Babylonians was called
Naboandelos "),, though Josephus's transcription of
the names is as incorrect as a Greek's.
Cyrus now found himself master of Babylonia, with
out any pretender to molest him ; and being the
acknowledged ruler of the land, he made himself as
popular as he could by protecting the various religions
which were to be found in his new dominions. The
Jews are said to have sympathized with him on
account of his being a monotheist, but to the Baby
lonians he seemed to be of the same religion as
themselves, and his inscriptions show that, whether
with his consent or not, the gods of the Babylonians
were spoken of and invoked on his behalf just as
if this were the case, and we know that he allowed
his son to take part in the Babylonian religious
ceremonies. But to show clearly the way in which Cyrus ruled,
a portion of his cylinder-inscription, found by Mr.
Rassam at Babylon, is given here —

420 THE OLD TESTAMENT
(To all appearance Nabonidus had tried to make
various religious changes and reforms, the words " in
the likeness of E-sagila" suggesting that he had at
least thought of building another temple similar to
that venerable fane.)
" The gods, who dwelt in the midst of them {i. e.
the temples), forsook their dwellings in anger that he
(Nabonidus) had made (them) enter within Su-anna.1
Marduk in the presence of . . . was going round to
all the states whose seat had been founded, and the
people of Sumer and Akkad, who had been like the
dead,2 became active8 .... he had mercy upon the
whole of the lands — all of them found (and) looked
upon him. He sought also a just king, the desire of
his heart, whose hand he might hold, Cyrus, king of
the city Ansan, he called his title, to all the kingdoms
together (his) na(me) was proclaimed.
" The land of Qutu, the whole of the troops of the
Manda, he (Merodach) placed under his feet, he caused
his hands to capture the people of the dark head,4 in
righteousness and justice he cared for them. Mero
dach, the great lord, the protector of his people,
looked with joy upon his fortunate work and his just
heart. He commanded that he should go to his city
Babylon, he caused him to take the road to Tindir,5
like a friend and a companion he walked by his
side. His vast people, which, like the waters of a
river, cannot be numbered,6 had their weapons girded,
and marched by his side. Without fighting and battle
he caused him to enter into Su-anna. His city
Babylon he protected with difficulty. Nabonidus, who
1 A part of Babylon.
2 Lit. "like as a corpse." 3 Lit. " went round" or "about"
4 Probably meaning Asiatics, in contradistinction to the fair
inhabitants of Europe.
6 The old name of Babylon as " the seat of life " = old
Babylon. 6 Lit. " their number cannot be announced."

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 42 1
did not fear him {i. e. Merodach), he delivered into his
hand. The people of Tindir, all of them, the whole of
the land of Sumer and Akkad, princes and high-
warden, bowed down beneath him, and kissed his
feet — they rejoiced for his sovereignty, their counten
ances were bright.
" The lord who, in trust that he (Merodach) gives
life to the dead, spared on every side from destruction
and injury. Well did they do him homage — they
held in honour his name. I am Cyrus, king of the
host, the great king, the powerful king, king of
Tindir, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king
of the four regions, son of Cambyses, the great king,
king of the city of Ansan, grandson of Cyrus, the
great king, king of the city of Ansan, great-grandson
of Sispis (Teispes), the great king, king of the city of
Ansan, the all-enduring royal seed whose reign Bel
and Nebo love, for the contenting of their heart they
desired his rule.
" When I entered in peace into (the midst) of Baby
lon, I founded in the king's palace a seat of dominion
with pleasure and joy. Merodach, the great lord, broad-
hearted for . . . the sons . . . Tindir and . . . me, and
daily I looked upon his image (?). My vast army
marches in the midst of Babylon peacefully, the whole
of (the people of Sumer and) Akkad I made to have
no opposition. Within Babylon and all its districts
in peace I had care for the sons of Tindir ... as
without heart (?) . . . and a yoke (which was) unseem
liness for them was imposed (?). I comforted their
sighing, I did away with their distress. For the work
Merodach, the great lord, established the command —
to me, Cyrus, the king his worshipper, and Cambyses,
the son (who is) the offspring of my heart ... all of
my army graciously he approached, and in peace
before it kindly did he lead (?). (By his) supreme
(command) the whole of the kings dwelling in the
royal abodes of every region from the upper sea to

422 THE OLD TESTAMENT
the lower sea, (those) dwelling . . . the kings of the
Amorites1 (and) the dwellers in tents, all of them,
brought their valuable tribute and kissed my feet
within Su-anna. From ... -a, the city of Assur,2
and Susa, Agade, the land of Esnunak (Umlias),
Zamban, Me-Turnu, (and) Dur-ilu to the border of
Qutu, the districts (on the banks) of the Tigris — from
old time had their seats been founded — the gods
dwelling within them I returned to their places, and
caused eternal seats to be founded, all their people I
collected and returned to their dwellings. And the
gods of Sumer and Akkad, which Nabonidus, to the
anger of the lord of the gods, had caused to enter
within Su-anna, by the command of Merodach, the
great lord, I set in peace in their shrines — seats of
joy of heart. May the whole of the gods whom I
caused to enter into their places pray daily before
Bel and Nebo for the lengthening of my days, may
they announce the commands for my happiness,
and may they say to Merodach that ' Cyrus, thy
worshipper, and Cambyses, his son, . . . (in) the
countries (?), all of them, he has founded a seat of
rest'. . . ."
(Here follow the ends of nine more lines, from
which, however, no certain sense can be gained.)
It will be seen, that this interesting and valuable
inscription is in substantial agreement with the
Chronicle. The grievance concerning the transfer
ence of the statues of the divinities is repeated and
amplified, and the fact that Cyrus entered Babylon
without fighting is confirmed (against Berosus, Xeno-
phon, and the other Greek authors who describe the
taking of Babylon).
Cyrus, however, here appears before us in quite a
new character, namely, as the champion of Baby
lonian religious orthodoxy against Nabonidus's hetero-
1 Lit. " of the land of Amoria."
2 The old capital of Assyria.

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 423
doxy ! That Cyrus was ignorant of the contents of
this inscription (which must have been written by his
orders) is in the highest degree improbable. That he
may have been affected by Zoroastrian monotheism
is likely, but if so, it was but a thin varnish, for he
was to all appearance a polytheist at heart, as his
Anzanian fathers (who, as we know from recent dis
coveries at Susa, were largely influenced by the
religion of Babylonia) had been from the earliest
times. He had chosen well the time of his invasion,
as is shown by the revolt (apparently against Naboni
dus) which is referred to in the Chronicle. It is
strange how the Babylonians were in the main ready
to accept a new ruler. In the earliest times we have
mention of the Arabic dynasty which the native
records call the dynasty of Babylon ; later on came
Cassites, Elamites and Assyrians, and now the country
received an Elamite king who ruled over Persia. In
the course of time other aliens would come and rule
over them, but their acceptance of these was much
less a matter of choice, or, rather, of apathetic acqui
escence than on the occasion when they accepted
Cyrus king of Ansan.
We see, moreover, from this inscription, that Cyrus
did restore the various exiles to their homes, thus
securing as far as possible the fidelity of those whom
he wished to secure as his supporters. Among these
were the Jews, and it is on account of this that his
name is so favourably mentioned in the Old Testa
ment. Cyrus himself says, that he caused all the gods
whose statues had been brought to Babylon to be
returned to the places whence they had come, and it
is clear that, as the Jews had no divine statues, Cyrus
did what he could for them, and sent back to Jerusa
lem the sacred vessels (Ezra i. 7), and also gave a
grant for the rebuilding of the Temple (Ezra iii. 7).
In the decree quoted in Ezra (i. 2 ff), where he is
represented as saying that " the Lord God of heaven "

424 THE OLD TESTAMENT
had given him all the kingdoms of the earth, it is best
to see in that, as in his Babylonian cylinder-inscrip
tion, a desire, for policy's sake, to be "' all things to all
men." His success must have been largely due to
the fact, that he had learned the art of ruling men.
It is to be supposed that he continued as he had
begun, and that his rule was tolerated by the people.
According to the contract-tablets, however, he associ
ated his son with him on the throne the year before
he died, Cambyses becoming king of Babylon, whilst
Cyrus retained the wider title of " king of countries."
This took place in 530 B.C., and in 529 Cyrus died.
To all appearance, however, the fickle Babylonians
had become discontented with foreign rule, and
desired a change, were it but to have a ruler elected
by themselves. Whilst, therefore, Cambyses was
absent in Egypt, which country he conquered in the
year 527 B.C., a Median, who was a Magian named
Gomates, taking advantage ofthe dissatisfaction which
prevailed, gave out that he was Bardes or Smerdis
(called by the Babylonians Barzia), declared himself
the son of Cyrus, whom Cambyses had murdered, and
mounted the throne. Media, Persia, and Babylonia
at once went over to him, and Cambyses hastened
from Egypt to meet the pretender. Whilst in Syria,
on the way home, he killed himself (521), perhaps by
accident, though it is not impossible that it was a case
of suicide, and the pretender retained for a very short
period possession of the throne.
Another prince of the same family, Darius son of
Hystaspes, now came forward, and after defeating
Bardes and a number of other pretenders, among
them Nidintu-Bel, son of Aniru, who claimed to be
Nebuchadnezzar the son of Nabonidus, mounted the
throne. In fact, almost every province of the Persian
empire had a pretender of its own, so that Darius
found plenty of work ready to his hand. One by one,
however, they were defeated, and " the lie " was put

Contact of Hebrews with Babylonians 425
down in all the countries acknowledging Persian rule
— Darius was sole and undisputed king.
It is unfortunate that no historical records referring
to the reigns of Cyrus and Cambyses exist, except
the Chronicle, which, however, ends with the accession
year of the former. We have, therefore, no inde
pendent records of what took place in Syria, though
it must be confessed, that there is great doubt whether
the composer of the Chronicle at the time would have
considered the return of the Jews and the rebuilding
of the Temple as of sufficient importance to place on
record there. The Bible and Josephus give circum
stantial accounts of what occurred, but the official
view of the circumstances of the granting of the per
mission to rebuild the Temple and the city by Cyrus,
and its countermanding, at the instance of the
Samaritans, during the reign of Cambyses, would be
interesting in the extreme.
To find something about Zerubbabel, who is said
to have been the friend of Darius (Jos., Ant. xi. iii. 1),
would also be welcome, but this we can hardly dare
to hope for. Zerubbabel (better Zeru-Babel, without
the doubling of the b) is a name which is far from
uncommon in the contracts of Babylonia. One, for
instance, lived during the time of Nabonidus, and
dwelt at Sippara. He was to all appearance of
Assyrian origin. Another, the descendant of a smith,
was the father of a man named Nabu-ahe-bullit, who
lived in the third year of Darius. A third bearing the
same name is he who is recorded as having acquired
some ewes in the eleventh year of Darius. His father
bore the unusual name of Muterisu. For yet another
example, see p. 441. It will thus be seen that the
name was far from rare in ancient Babylonia.
And in the published contract-tables of Darius's
reign, of which nearly 600 have been made available
for study, there is little bearing upon Old Testament
history. The same may also be said of his historical

426 THE OLD TESTAMENT
inscriptions, of which that engraved on the great
rock at Behistun in Persia is the most important.
It is in his historical inscriptions, however, that the
character of the man may be read. In the first lines,
where he tells of his origin, you read of his pride of
descent, just as, farther on, he tells the story of his
conflicts — how, with the help of his father, Hystaspes,
who seconded him loyally and (there is hardly any
doubt) affectionately, he overcame all the rebels, and
having annihilated the lie which he hated so intensely,
he could say, after his successes, that " the land was
his." And through it all shines at every point, as it
were, his adoration of the god whom he worshipped,
Ahuramazda, by whose grace and favour he had been
successful. There is no doubt about his religious
faith — in his inscriptions he appears as a monotheist
of the severest type, and for this reason he must have
had but little sympathy for the polytheism of the
Babylonians, and the other nationalities over which
he ruled, whose faith was in a plurality of gods. It
is true that offerings seem to have been made in his
name in the temples of Babylonia, but these must
have been due to old grants which had not been
rescinded, and which the king and his advisers
probably would have regarded as bad policy to
abolish. Naturally there is every probability that such a
ruler as Darius would have sympathies with the
Jews, on account of their monotheism, and it may
be supposed that such a feeling towards them would
have led him to consent to the upholding of Cyrus's
decree that the Temple at Jerusalem should be
finished, as detailed in Ezra vi. i ff. Darius relates
in the Behistun inscription, that he restored the
temples of the gods (Bab. biti sa Hani, Median ziyan
nappana, "temples of the gods," Pers. dyaddna,
"shrines") which Gomates the Magian, the pseudo-

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 427
Bardes or Smerdis, had destroyed. That a single
word {ayadana) is used in Persian, whilst the phrase
" temples of the gods," in the plural, is used in
Babylonian and Median, shows merely the desire to
speak to the latter nations in the language to which
they were accustomed, and at the same time indicates
that neither the one nor the other, unlike the Persians,
were monotheists. Gomates was therefore not a
monotheist, otherwise he would not have destroyed
the temples, which would seem to have been those of
Darius's own faith ; for this king would hardly have
thought it worth while to mention the fact of their
destruction, had they been the sacred places of a
creed which he despised, and it is only natural to sup
pose, from his very frequent mention of Ahuramazda,
the god whom he worshipped, that he was proud of
being a monotheist.
It may therefore be taken, that if Darius Hystaspis
ordered the completion of the Temple at Jerusalem,
and the giving of funds in aid of the work, it was out
of sympathy with the Jews. As his reign was one
of tolerance, he did not interfere with the religion
of either the Babylonians or the Medians, but in all
probability he did not imitate Cyrus by grants on
his own account, and under a royal decree, to the
temples of those, to him, heathen countries. There
is considerable doubt, however, whether it is this king
who is referred to in Ezra and Esdras, as Sir Henry
Howorth has shown {Proceedings of the Society of Bib
lical Archceology, 1901, pp. 147 ff*., 305 ff., 1902, pp.
16 ff.), the ruler intended being in all probability
Darius Nothus, whose position agrees with the chrono
logy of these books, and does away with much diffi
culty as to their acceptance as historical authorities.
According to Darius, twenty-three countries owned
his sway : Persia, Elam, Babylonia, Assyria, Arabia,
Egypt, " by the sea," Sarpada, Ionia, Media, Armenia,
Cappadocia, Parthia, Drangiana, Aria, Chorasmia,

428 THE OLD TESTAMENT
Bactria, Sogdiana, Paruparaesana, Scythia, Sattagydia,
Arachosia,and Maka. Palestine was evidently included
in the district designated " by the sea." After a most
active reign, Darius died in the year 486 B.C., having
appointed his son Xerxes as his successor.
The reign of this ruler, and his attempt to reduce
Greece to submission, are well known. It was prob
ably after his disastrous failure, when he had returned
to Persia, that he took as one of his wives the Jewess
Esther, as related in the book bearing her name.
His inscriptions are short ones, referring to the build
ings erected by his father and himself. In all proba
bility he thought that his warlike exploits, over
whelmed as they were by misfortune, were not of a
nature to bear recording. In his own inscriptions,
his name is given as Hisi'arsi or Hisi'arsa'i in Baby-
lonion, and Khshayarsha in Old Persian. In the
contract-tablets, however, it appears as Ahsiarsu,
Ahsiwarsu, Aksiarsu, Akkasiarsu, and Hisiarsi. It
is from one of the forms with prefixed a that the
Hebrew Ahashwer6s (A.V. Ahasuerus) has apparently
come, the most probable original being one similar to
the Ahsuwarsu of a contract-tablet in the Museum at
Edinburgh. Xerxes died in the year 464 B.C., and was succeeded
by his son Artaxerxes, the Artakhshatra of the Old
Persian inscriptions, and the Artaksatsu or Artak-
sassu of Babylonian inscriptions. Though it was not
without bloodshed that he reached the throne, he
proved to be a successful ruler — more so, in fact,
than his predecessor, whose expedition against the
Greeks had ended only in disgrace and the loss of an
enormous number of troops taken from all the nations
over which he ruled. It is therefore not to be
wondered at that his reign should have been regarded
as wise and temperate. In any case, he was well
disposed towards the Jews, and gave permission, in
his seventh year, to Ezra, to go up to Jerusalem with a

CONTACT OF HEBREWS WITH BABYLONIANS 429
royal grant, to settle affairs there, and sacrifice to the
God of the Jews (Ezra vii., viii.). Later on, he gave
permission to Nehemiah to return to the land of his
fathers to restore and rebuild the walls of the city.
As Nehemiah was his cupbearer, it is easily conceiv
able that he did this to please him, and to reward one
who had evidently been a faithful servant, but it is
not improbable that the king at the same time had in
his mind the rebellion of his general Megabysus, who
had risen against him in protest against the treatment
meted out by his royal master to his captive Inarus.
To have a well-fortified city defended by those who
had benefited greatly by his rule, must have seemed
to the Persian ruler good policy.
Artaxerxes died in the year 425 B.C., and was
succeeded by his son, Xerxes 1 1., who reigned only
two months, at the end of which time he was murdered
by Sogdianus, a bastard son of Artaxerxes, who then
became king. Seven months only, however, was the
length of this new ruler's reign, he being, in his turn,
put to death by another of the bastard sons of
Artaxerxes, Darius Ochus, after he had surrendered
to him. This ruler is the Darius Nothus of history,
who mounted the throne in 424 B.C. His reign was
noted for the numerous insurrections against his
dominion which took place, but is of special interest
because of the resumption of the work of rebuilding
the Temple of Jerusalem, which had been stopped
by the decree of Artaxerxes, as recorded in Ezra iv.
21-24. (See Sir H. Howorth in the P. S. B. A., 1901,
PP- 307. 3°8-)

CHAPTER XII
LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY, WITH
SOME REFERENCE TO THE JEWS
The reign of Nebuchadnezzar — The earliest mention of
Nabonidus — Neriglissar and his relations with his fellow-
citizens before his accession — He marries his daughter Gigitum
to the director of £-zida — Prince Laborosoarchod — Nabonidus
and the temples at Sippar — Prince Belshazzar's transactions —
His offerings at Sippar — His sister's gift to her god (or goddess)
— Princess Ukabu'sama's transaction — The Jews at Babylon —
Babylonian business and other letters — Sirku's slave — A loan at
Erech — Work upon a plantation — Sale of an ass — Jews and
Babylonians — The dead slave — A right of way — The story of
Abil-Addu-nathanu and Bunanitum — The outcast slave — The
Egyptian slave and her infant — Sirku's transactions — Babylon
as the Jewish captives saw it. I
If trade-activity be a test of prosperity, then the
Babylonians of the period extending from the end of
the reign of Nabopolassar to the end of that of Darius
could have had but little to complain of on the whole,
notwithstanding the changes of dynasty which took
place. Over three thousand inscriptions covering this
period have been published, and there is every reason
to believe that, if all the texts in the various museums
were made known, twice this number might be
reached. There is, therefore, an abundance of material
with which to reconstruct the life of that period.
Naturally, many of this enormous number of inscrip
tions are comparatively uninteresting, and some of
the texts are of little or no value, even to specialists.
This being the case, it will easily be understood that,
430

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 43 1
as they are mostly of the nature of contracts, with a
certain number of legal documents, the information
which many of them give is comparatively meagre,
and there is a great deal of repetition. That some of
them, notwithstanding these disadvantages, are suffi
ciently interesting, will be seen from the examples
which this chapter contains.
Among all these documents we find repeated, with
some differences which the course of centuries had
brought about, the same transactions, and the same
daily life as has already been treated of in the fifth
chapter, pp. 1 59-191. There are purchases and sales
of land, property, and slaves, loans at interest and
without interest, and all the various kinds of contracts
which the daily needs of a large population call forth.
Marriage-contracts and contracts of apprenticeship are
also not uncommon, wills and divisions of property
— generally in greater detail than of old — are also to
be found. To these must be added the leasing and
hire of houses, the purchase and hire of ships, divisions
of property, inventories of the same, receipts of
different kinds, etc. etc.
For the most part, the people who pass before us
are slaves, servants, money-lenders, merchants, and
other of the common folk, with a sprinkling of scribes,
priests, both of the higher and the lower classes (gener
ally the latter), palace officials, now and then a judge,
or a governor, or one of the subordinate officials.
Did we know them all, perhaps we should think more
of them, and estimate them at their true worth ; but
in the appearance and reappearance of their names
we see only the plaintiff or the defendant, the buyer
or the seller, and it is but rarely that we can recognize
them as men of note, though in many cases it is to
be conjectured that they were so. It is only seldom
that the crown prince or one of his brothers, appears,
or a relative of the ruling king comes within our range
— as for the king himself, except in the date of a

432 THE OLD TESTAMENT
document, his name is rare in the extreme, and when
he appears actively, it is in the character of patron of
the temples, or something of a similar nature.
Naturally the king was hedged about with a con
siderable amount of reverence, which must have mani
fested itself in many ways which we shall probably
never know. A nation which interested itself to a
certain extent in antiquities, however, might be
expected also to think something of curios, and it is
this side of the Babylonian character which possibly
explains the following transaction, in which the name
of King Nebuchadnezzar appears, seemingly not alto
gether as an uninterested party.
" Ten shekels (is the weight) of the silver dagger of
Ina-esl-etir, son of Nadin, the agent of the king. The
silver (object) of the king, which has been given for
gold to Ina-est-etir, (is) with Nabu-etir, son of Sula,
descendant of the mead-dealer. At the end of the
month Tisri he will give (it back). His property, as
much as there is, is the security, until Ina-esl-etir
receives the king's silver (dagger). Witnesses : Nadin,
son of Marduk, descendant of Irani; Nergal-iddina,
son of Nabu-kasir, descendant of Epes-ili ; and the
scribe, Ana-Bel-upaqu, son of Bel-sum-iskun, de
scendant of the mead-dealer. Babylon, month Tam
muz, day 28th, year 21st, Nabu-kudurri-usur, king of
Babylon." Why Nebuchadnezzar's dagger (or short sword)
was lent to Nabu-etir is not stated, and it is difficult
to guess the reason. That it was simply to show to
other persons is rather unlikely. Perhaps the bor
rower wanted it in order to copy it, or maybe he had
some idea of finding a purchaser for it. It is worthy
of note that Ina-esl-etir, who was probably a kind of.
commission-agent and purveyor, had paid a sum of
gold — not silver — for it, implying that he thought that
it was worth more than its intrinsic value. This is
also indicated by the security mentioned,

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 433
Among the tablets referring to Nebuchadnezzar's
offerings, 84-2-1 1, 23, and its duplicate 270 of the same
collection, are probably the most interesting. This
inscription is to the effect that Izkur-Marduk had
given up with willingness the office of nas-patriitu to
Nabu-balat-su-iqbi. His duty was to perform the
king's sacrifices every year before the goddess Ishara,
" dwelling in E-sa-turra, which is within Su-anna," and
before Pap-sukal, of "the temple E-kidur-kani, the
house of the Lady of heaven, of the bank of the water-
channel of dlu-essu (the new city) which is within
Babylon." The animals sacrificed were oxen and
sheep, and the parts offered before the two deities are
fully specified. The contract ends with a longer curse
than usual in tablets of this class : " Whoever the
words and this gift changes, as much as has been con
ferred (?) on Nabu-balat-su-iqbi, may Merodach, Zer-
panitum, Ishara, and Pap-sukal bespeak his destruc
tion ; may Nebo, the scribe of E-sagila, shorten his
long days. The spirit of Marduk, Zer-panitum, (and)
his gods, and Nabu-kudurri-usur, the king their lord,
they have invoked." The names of three witnesses
and the scribe follow this, after which is the date,
29th day of Tammuz, 32nd year of Nebuchadnezzar.
A portion ofthe sacrifices were to be made, on the
8th day of Nisan, i. e. at the beginning of the second
week of the new year.
As stated in his long inscriptions referring to the
restoration of the temples at Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar
looked upon that city as the one whose temples he
especially delighted to honour, and this text referring
to his offerings seems to bear out that statement. As,
however, his inscribed cylinders from other places
show that he did not neglect the shrines of his pro
vincial capitals altogether, so certain inscriptions
referring to his offerings elsewhere show that he did
not withhold what was considered as due from him to
the other shrines of his realm. Thus, in his thirty-fifth E E

434 THE OLD TESTAMENT
year he is recorded to have made a gift or offering of
an object, made or set with some kind of stone, to the
goddess of Sippar, Aa, the consort of the Sun-god, and
another object of gold to the god himself. In all
probability, the text referred to is only one of a number
of inscriptions referring to the king's offerings, for
even this great and popular ruler would hardly have
dared to risk the hostility of the priests merely to
gratify his desire to enrich and embellish his capital
city. In addition to the king, the officials of his court
sometimes made offerings at Sippar, as is indicated by
the following short inscription —
" One ass, tithe which Nabu-sarra-usur, the king's
captain, has given to the temple E-babbara. Month
Iyyar, day 20 less 1, year 42nd, Nabu-kudurri-usur,
king of Babylon."
To all appearance, Nabu-sarra-usur was a man
sufficiently well off, if, as may well be supposed, he
possessed nine other asses besides the one which he
was giving as tithe. From the nature of the offering,
this could not have been made on account of the
king, though he must from time to time have com
missioned others to act on his behalf, as the following
inscriptions inform us that his sons did —
" . . . , tithe of (Marduk)-sum-usur, the son of
the king, Zubuduru, messenger of Marduk-sum-usur,
the son of the king, has given to E-babbara. The
one sheep (is) in the cattle-house with Samas-iddina.
Month Adar, day 7th, year 40th, (Nabu-kudur) ri-usur,
(king of Babylon)."
The word to be restored at the beginning is probably
" 1 sheep," this being the number referred to farther on.
If so, it cannot be said that he was by any means a
large owner of these animals. The following refers
to tithe in silver paid by the same prince —
"\ and S shekels ( = 25 shekels) of silver (is) the
tithe which Marduk-sum-usur, son of the king, has
given by the hands of Samas-kain-ahi and Aqabi-ilu to

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 435
E-babbara. Month Iyyar, day 14th, year 42nd, Nabu-
kudurri-usur, king of Babylon."
Another inscription, dated in the forty-first year of
Nebuchadnezzar, refers to another son, named Marduk-
nadin-ahi, whose servant, Sin-mar-sarri-usur, had paid
half a mana for fruit (dates). The name of the servant,
which means " Moon-god, protect the son of the king,"
is interesting, and testifies to the devotion of the
family of its owner to the royal house.
These references to the sons of Nebuchadnezzar
naturally raise the question of the parentage of
Nabonidus, whose son, Belshazzar, is called, in Daniel,
the son — i.e. descendant — of Nebuchadnezzar. As
this is a historical point of some importance, even the
most uncertain light, when thrown upon it, may turn
out to be of considerable value. In all probability,
therefore, this is the most appropriate place to intro
duce what may be called '
THE EARLIEST MENTION OF NABONIDUS.
This document is preserved on two tablets, the most
correct being very much crowded in one part, and the
other very neatly and clearly, but at the same time
very incorrectly, written. Both are, therefore, in all
probability, copies, made at dates some time after the
original document was drawn up.
Though the more clearly-written copy is rather
incorrect, it furnishes in some cases interesting
variants, which will be noticed in their place. The
value of the text as a historical document depends,
in part, as will easily be recognized, upon the trust
worthiness of a statement which the incorrect copyist
has read into it.
Both these documents belong to the collection
obtained by the late George Smith on his last ill-fated
journey to the East. They are numbered S +, 769
and 734.
"Adi'ilu, son of Nabu-zer-iddina, and Huliti, his

43^ THE OLD TESTAMENT
wife (the divine Hulitum ! *) have sold Marduka
(Mordecai), their son, for the price agreed upon, to
Sula, son of Zer-uktn. The liability to defeasor (?)
and pre-emptor (?), which is upon Marduka, Adi'ilu
and Akkadu respond for.
" Witnesses : Nabu-na'id (Nabonidus), who is over
the city 2 ; Agar'u ; Musezib-Bel, son of Marduka 3 ;
Zeria, son of Babllaa ; Ukln-zera, son of Yadi'-tlu * ;
Remut, son of Marduka ; and the scribe Nabu-zer-
iklsa, son of Marduk- . . . Hussiti-sa-Musallim-Mar-
duk, month Sebat, day 16th, year 8th, Nabu-kudurri-
usur, king of Babylon."
It will probably seem strange to most readers that
Babylonian parents, who were as a rule fond of
children, should sell their son ; but it is impossible
to pronounce judgment against them without know
ing more, so as to be able to take into consider
ation the circumstances in which the thing was done.
Though the document resembles those recording the
sale of slaves, certain phrases are left out (compare
the inscriptions referred to on pp. 465 ff).
The exclamatory addition of the scribe in one case,
where he writes the name of the mother, Hulitum,
with the prefix for divinity, shows that he regarded
her as being with the gods — to all appearance she
had, at the time of making the copy, departed this
life. It may be taken as implying respect, reverence,
and something more.
1 An addition by the scribe of the first tablet (the more correct
copy), seemingly partly erased.
* The second copy (the less correct) has, instead of " who is
over the city," the words " the son of the king . . . ," which
(judging from the word for " man " before " king ") the scribe
must have read into the traces which he saw.
3 This must be another Marduka — it is most unlikely that it
is the son of Adi'ilu and Hulitu, concerning whom the document
was written.
4 Variant, Adi'ilu, possibly the seller of Marduka, and if so,
UkJn-zera must have been the brother of the man sold.
6 The name of the place where the document was drawn up.

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 437
Naturally there is no suggestion that the Nabonidus
who is given as the first witness, with the title " he
who is over the city," was the son of Nabu-balat-su-
iqbi, afterwards king of Babylon. The scribe of the
second tablet calls him "the son of the king," but
there is no indication, from Babylonian sources, that
he was one of the sons of Nebuchadnezzar. It is true
that, in Daniel, Belshazzar is spoken of as if Nebu
chadnezzar was his father (or, better, grandfather),
but this is the first indication that the Babylonians
ever thought of Nabonidus, his father, as one of the
sons of the great Nebuchadnezzar. The question is,
whether the scribe who made the second and more
incorrect copy would have read into the doubtful
characters which his original evidently contained, a
statement which he must have known to be untrue,
incorrect, or impossible. In view of the fact that the
copy in question must have been made sufficiently
near to the time of Nabonidus for the facts to be still
known, a wilful error is to all appearance excluded,
though, on the other hand, the incorrectness of other
parts of the tablet obliges us to take the statement
for what it is worth. The traces of a character after
the words " son of the king " are doubtful — they look
like the remains of three horizontal wedges, the two
lower ones being fairly clear. As the topmost wedge
is the most doubtful, it is possible that the traces
which remain are really part of the sign for " city," in
which case the scribe wrote " son of the king of the
city," placing the determinative prefix for " man "
before the character for " king " — a most unusual way
of writing the word. It enables us to surmise, how
ever, that the reading of his original was really sa
muhhi dli, instead of sa Hi dli (both phrases have the
same meaning), that he regarded sa as a, that he
thought muh-hi to be the characters for " man " and
"king," and that he read the last of the phrase, the
character for " city," correctly.

438 THE OLD TESTAMENT
They are a couple of as interesting, but, at the
same time, as unsatisfactory, tablets, as could well be
imagined. It is to be noted that the name of Nabonidus is
not altogether uncommon in the inscriptions. In
most cases, however, we know that it is either not
the well-known king of that name, or that his identity
with him is doubtful. That the person here referred
to was a man of some consequence is indicated by his
title, " he who is over the city," and it often happens
in that case (as here) that the name of his father and
other remoter ancestor is omitted. This is sometimes
the case with Neriglissar, who is very often named in
the contract-tablets of Babylonia, and his name is
then either given without any indication of his parent
age, or else with the simple addition " son of Bel-sum-
iskun." Another figure which appears at this time is that
same Neriglissar who was to play so important a
part in the affairs of Babylonia at a later date. In
the case of this prince (unlike the Nabonidus of the
inscription translated above) we are not tormented by
any doubts whatever. It is really and truly Neri
glissar, and none other. He first appears in Nebu
chadnezzar's thirty-fourth year, in the following legal
document —
" 100 sheep of Kili(gug?), servant of Nergal-sarra-
usur, concerning which Abi-nadib. son of Ya-hata,
said to Nergal-sarra-usur, son of Bel-sum-i§kun,
thus —
" ' Nabu-sabit-qata, servant of Nergal-sarra-usur,
brought them by my hand.'
" If Abi-nadib (and) Nabu-sabit-qata prove (this),
Abl-nadib is free ; if he prove it (not), Abi-nadib will
give to Nergal-sarra-usur 100 sheep, (with) wool (?)
and young (?).
" Witnesses : §illi-B61, son of Abi-yadisa ; Kabtia,
son of Marduk-zer-ibni, descendant of the potter ;

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 439
Nabu-nasir, son of Zilla ; and the scribe, (Nabu)-ahe-
iddina, son of Sula, descendant of Egibi. Takretain (?),
month Elul, day 2nd, year 34th, Nabu-kudurri-usur,
king of Babylon."
Neriglissar must therefore have been an extensive
cattle-owner, and had many servants, some of whom
at least must have been men of substance, like Abi-
nadib, who engages to restore to his master the 100
sheep, if it could be proved that they had been lost
by his fault. Judging from the name, Abi-nadib
( = Abinadab) must have come from the west, his
Biblical namesakes being Israelites. Nabu-sabit-qata
elsewhere appears as the major-domo of the crown
prince (? Laborosoarchod = Labisi-Marduk) during
the reign of Neriglissar, and of Belshazzar during the
reign of his father Nabonidus. The reader will meet
his name again in the translations whichfollow.
A similar transaction to the above is one in which
two servants of Neriglissar were concerned, but in
which the prince himself seems not to have been
directly interested. It is as follows —
" (At the end ?) of the month Sivan, Sarru-ilua,
servant of Nergal-sarra-usur, will bring his witness
and will prove to Hatanu, servant of Nergal-sarra-
usur, that Sarru-ilua gave to Hatanu the iron raqundu.
If he prove it, Hatanu will give to Sarru-ilua a
raqundu. " Witnesses : Musezib-Bel, son of Nabu-iltama', and
the scribe, Nabu-ahe-iddina, descendant of Egibi.
Upia (Opis), month Nisan, day 29th, (year . . )th,
Nabu-kudurri-usur, king of Babylon."
During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the " chief of
the house" or major-domo of Neriglissar was Bel-
etiranni, who is mentioned as having borrowed money,
whether on his own or his master's behalf is not known.
This took place in the forty-third year of Nebuchad
nezzar. The following is an order for the delivery of
goods to the prince —

440 THE OLD TESTAMENT
"Cause . . . iron implements (and) 80 kudutum
to be taken to Nergal-sarra-usur by the hands of
Nabu-sum-iddina, secretary of Nergal-sarra-usur.
Month Iyyar, day 12th, year 43rd, Nabu-kudurri-usur,
king of Babylon."
To all appearance prince Neriglissar was a very
busy man, who sought to add to his worldly goods
by every means in his power, and did not disdain to
engage in trade in the attainment of wealth. What
he had apparently begun in the reign of Nebuchad
nezzar, he continued in the time of Evil-Merodach,
during whose reign there are several inscriptions
referring to his transactions with regard to houses.
In the first of these inscriptions he hires a house for
1 1 mana of silver from Nabu-ibla-iddina, by his agent,'
Nabu-kain-abli (first year of Evil-Merodach, month
and day lost).
In another contract he acquires 4 canes, 1 cubit,
8 fingers (of land) from Marduk-sakin-sumi, and
2 canes, 6§ cubits from Kurbanni-Marduk, for a total
of 4 mana 19 shekels of silver. (Babylon, month
Tebet, day 9th, ist year of Evil-Merodach.)
In the third contract it would seem that the property
in land of Nabu-abla-iddina had been given over to
his creditors, of whom Nabfi-bani-ahi was one, the
amount due to him being, in all, 53 shekels of silver,
due to him from Nabu-&bla-iddina in the name of a
third party. By the authority of Neriglissar it would
seem that 42J shekels of silver were paid to Nabu-
bani-rahi, who then gave to Neriglissar a contract for
53 shekels of silver, promising, at the same time, to
speak to the king's scribes, and draw up and deliver
to Neriglissar a sealed document. If he did not do
this, he was to be liable for the silver and its interest.
By advancing the money to this creditor, Neriglissar
became himself a creditor of the estate of Nabu-abla-
iddina (15th of Adar, 1st year of Evil-Merodach), and
it seems to have been his intention to get the whole

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 44 1
of the land and the houses thereon into his own hands.
He therefore acquired further interest in the property
a few weeks later (26th of Nisan, 2nd year of Evil-
Merodach), and again after a further interval of three
months (14th of Tammuz, 2nd year of Evil-Merodach).
To all appearance, the amounts advanced by Neri
glissar to the creditors of the estate were less than the
sums due to them from Nabu-abla-iddina on account
of their claims. He seems, however, to have got
them to give him receipts in full, and they had to
promise to deliver sealed documents. He must have
made a considerable profit out of this species of bill-
discounting. The last tablet referring to the estate of Nabu-abla-
iddina is dated in the accession year of Neriglissar's
own reign (9th of the 2nd Adar), and in this Nabfl-
ah£-iddina secures an interest by paying 26f shekels
of silver on account of a sum of 52^ shekels — just
half. The land is stated to have been " sold for silver
for a palace," and the money was paid by the inter
mediary of Nabu-&h£-iddina, Neriglissar's representa
tive in such matters before he ascended the throne.
The following is a translation of this interesting
document —
" 52 J shekels of silver due to Ikisa, son of Gilua,
descendant of Sin-sadunu, which is upon {i.e. due
from) Nabu-ibla-iddina, son of Balatu, descendant of
the butler (?), in (part payment) of the price of the
house of Nabu-abla-iddina, which has been sold for
silver for the palace. In agreement with the creditors,
Ikisa, son of Gilua, descendant of Sin-sadunu, has
received 26^ shekels of silver from the hands of Nabu-
&M-iddina, son of Sula, descendant of Egibi, and has
given the contract for 52^ shekels of silver, which is
upon {i. e. due from) Nabu-abla-iddina, to Nabu-ahe-
iddina. " Witnesses : Daanu-sum-iddina, son of Zeru-Babili,
descendant of the dagger-bearer; Nabu-nadin-sumi,

442 THE OLD TESTAMENT
son of Abla, descendant of Sin-nadin-sumi ; Bel-sunu,
son of Ussaa, descendant of Ahi-bani ;
"and the scribe, Nabu-balat-su-iqbi, son of Ikisa,
descendant of Sin-sadfmu. Babylon, month of the
later Adar, day 9th, year of the beginning of dominion
of Nergal-sarra-usur, king of Babylon."
But Neriglissar was now king, and had no need and
but little desire to appear before his subjects as a
purchaser of houses, or as a trader in any way (it is
probably on this account that his name does not occur
in the above document). When he engaged in any
thing of the kind, it was henceforth through agents.
The only exception known is the marriage-contract
of his daughter Gigitum, who espoused the high priest
of Nebo at Borsippa. The following is a translation
of this document, as far as it is preserved —
" Nab<X-sum-ukin, priest of Nebo, director of E-zida,
son of Siriktum-Marduk, descendant of Isde-ilani-
dannu, said to Nergal-sarra-usur, king of Babylon :
' Give Gigitum, thy virgin daughter, to wifehood,
and let her be my wife.' Nergal-sarra-usur (said)
to Nabu-sum-ukin, priest of Nebo, director of E-
zida ..."
(About twenty-eight lines are wanting here, the
text becoming again legible at the end of the list of
witnesses on the reverse.)
" . . . , son of Nabu-sum-lisir, ...;... -ri, son of
Nabu-sarra-usur, the judge (? ?) ;
" Nabu-sum-usur, the scribe, son of Assur . . .
Babylon, month Nisan, day ist, year ist, (Nergal-
sarra-usur, king of Babylon. Copy of E-zida."
The mutilation of the record is unfortunate, as
the conclusion of the matter cannot be ascertained,
but it may be regarded as fairly certain that Neri
glissar really did give his daughter Gigitum in marriage
to Nabu-sum-ukin, for had it been otherwise, there
would have been but little need to draw up the
document of which the fragment here translated

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 443
has been preserved to us. The remainder of the
tablet was probably taken up with the usual conditions
— the penalty Nabu-sum-ukin would have to pay
should he divorce or abandon his wife ; the penalty
Gigitum would have to suffer if she disowned or for
sook her husband ; directions with regard to the
amount and disposal of her dowry, etc. This and
similar inscriptions seem to suggest that Herodotus
was probably wrongly informed with regard to the
compulsory nature of the public prostitution of un
married women which, he says, was practised in
Babylonia, the expressions found in these inscriptions
often pointing, as in the present case, to a belief, on
the part of the bridegroom, in the chastity of the
woman chosen by him to be his wife.
The date corresponds with the Babylonian New
Year's Day, 559 B.C.
With this inscription we take leave of Neriglissar
except as the ruler whose name the scribes used to
date by.
Though, according to Berosus, Laborosoarchod
(Labasi-Marduk) was a mere child when he came to
the throne, there is no doubt, from the inscription
which follows, that he was old enough to have an
establishment of his own, and also to carry on the
business of money-lender, Nabu-sabit-qata (see p. 439)
being his representative in the transactions in which
he engaged. As it is an inscription typical of its
class, it is given here in full —
"12 mana of silver of the son of the king, which
(has been advanced through) the hand of Nabu-sabit-
qat^, chief of the house of the son of the king, is
upon (/*. e. due from) Sum-ukin, son of Musallim-ilu.
In the month Nisan the silver, 12 mana, in its full
amount, he will repay. Everything of his, in town
and country, all there is, is the security of the king's
son — another creditor shall not have power over it
until Nabu-sabit-qata receives the money. Nabu-

444 THE OLD TESTAMENT
ahe-iddina, son of Sula, descendant of fegibi, takes
responsibility for, the receipt of the money.
"Witnesses: Samas-uballit, son of Ikisa; Kalba,
son of Bel-eres ; the scribe Bel-ahS-ikisa, son of Bel-
eteru. Babylon, month Elul, day 10th, year 2nd,
Nergal-sarra-usur, king of Babylon."
What the crown prince did, it goes without saying
that all the court officials sought to do. An instance
of this is Bel-ah6-iddina, the king's captain, who is
recorded as having lent § of a mana of silver to
Ardia and Sula, at an interest of one shekel upon
every mana monthly — twenty per cent, yearly — a suffi
ciently high interest, though it was the usual rate in
Babylonia. This inscription is dated at Babylon, 7th
day of Kisleu, 2nd year of Neriglissar. It is noteworthy,
however, that there is no mention of interest in the
document drawn up for Labasi-Marduk's major-domo.
Interesting is the inscription in which two partners
engage to meet two other men, also partners, at the
gate of the house of the king's son to come to an
arrangement concerning profits which they had made
sa zallanu u dusi, i. e. with regard to two " lines " of
leather goods (9th day of Tammuz, 3rd year of Neri
glissar). It also furnishes further testimony to the
fact that this prince had a separate establishment.
After Laborosoarchod's nine months came the
reign of Nabonidus, whom, as will be remembered,
the Babylonians and Cyrus, his conqueror, accused
of neglecting the gods, and sending them forth from
their shrines to the cities around. Perhaps his crime
consisted in his preference for the gods of other cities
than Babylon, the city which Nebuchadnezzar's lavish
favours had somewhat spoilt, and who resented her
neglect at the hands of the antiquarian king. How
ever that may be, contemporary records show that he
gave to the benefit of Sippar, the city of the Sun-god,
not unfrequently —
" He has given 5 shekels of silver and 90 (?) qa of

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 445
provisions to Samas-etir-napsati as the offering of the
king. " He has given 2 shekels to Marduk-sum-ibni, son
of Nabu-bel-sumati. Month Iyyar, day 17th, year
2nd, Nabu-na'id, king of Babylon."
Whether the following refers to oxen for sacrifice
or not is doubtful —
"20 shekels of silver have been given to Nabu-
sarra-usur, the sec(retary) of the king, for oxen for the
husbandmen who are in the city Ha(buru). He has
not given the oxen. Month Nisan, day 16th, year 7th,
Nabu-na'id, king of Babylon."
The above inscription comes from Sippar, near
which the city referred to must have stood.
Several inscriptions refer to the storehouse into
which the king's gift was delivered. The following
is a specimen of these texts —
" Fruit, the amount of the 10th year, Ana-£mat-Bel-
atkal has given into the storehouse of the gift of the
king. Month Kisleu, day 14th, year 10th, Nabu-na'id,
(king) of Eridu.
"35 £*"> Samas-killi-anni.
"12 gur 90 qa, Sum-ukln and Remut.
"65 gur 144 qa, Ikisa.
" 45 gur 72 qa, Kina.
" 62 gur, Niqu(du).
"17 gur 72 qa, . . .
"Altogether 23(8 gur 18 qa)."
This and other inscriptions, especially one referring
to 250 gur of grain, shows that Nabonidus was fairly
liberal to the temples at Sippar. It is also very
probable that he provided for the needful repairs of
this and other temples from time to time, one of the
inscriptions (dated in his third year) recording a con
tribution of half a talent and 7 mana of silver for
work done on the great temple-tower of Sippar,

446 THE OLD TESTAMENT
ETbabbara, besides 8 mana 20 shekels of silver as
tithe, seemingly for grain for the city Haburu, where,
it is to be conjectured, an agricultural farm belonging
to one of the temples of Sippar was situated.1
It is not by any means improbable that Nabonidus
had a residence at Sippar, and if so, this would explain
the reason of his favouring that city, and at the same
time add to the causes of the discontent of the " sons
of Babylon." This is implied by a small tablet ap
parently inscribed with an account of the receipts and
expenditure of the temple E-babbara at Sippar, which
occupied the position of purveyor of water, and took
the place of the water-company of tbe cities of modern
Europe —
" 2 mana 1 3 shekels of silver, the price of the king's
water, which is from Bel-abla-iddina, the overseer of2
Ki-Bel, the chief man of the: king's water, has been
brought by the hands of Samas-kain-abli, son of
Balatu. " From the amount, 2 mana of silver have been
given for 80 measures (?) of oil to Nabu-usur-su, son
of Dummuq, descendant of Gahal, in the presence of
Kalba, the secretary. 1 3 shekels of silver are in the
treasury. " Silver, 2 mana, is with Nabu-dur-pania. Of the
amount, 4 shekels of silver have been paid for 2
parrum3-stones, which were given to Assur-rimananni,
son of Nabu-balat-su-iqbi.
" Month later Adar, day 27th, year 6th, Nabu-na'id,
king of Babylon."
Another tablet, dated in Nabonidus's accession year,
indicates that the temple supplied water, for a fixed
sum, to a part of Sippar called " the city of the Sun."
From other tablets we obtain also information
1 See above, p. 445, where the husbandmen are referred to.
2 Probably = " under."
3 Apparently from the root par, "to be bright." These
stones were probably sacred to the Sun-god.

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 447
about the family of Nabonidus. Most of them, as is
to be expected, refer to Belshazzar, the heir to the
throne, who is conjectured to have been the second
ruler in the kingdom, thus explaining how it was
that the position of " third ruler in the kingdom "
could be offered to the Prophet Daniel. Like the
other rulers of Babylonia, Nabonidus had granted to
Belshazzar, or at least permitted him to occupy, a
separate house, which was situated within Babylon,
beside the house of Marduk-lriba, son of Remut,
descendant of Misria. From the inscription refer
ring to this which has come down to us, it may be
conjectured that Marduk-iriba was a minor, and his
sister, Bau-etirat, therefore acted for him. Bel-resua,
servant of Belshazzar, approached her and succeeded
in acquiring her brother's land for 45 shekels of silver,
which was duly paid to Marduk-iriba. Though it is
not stated, this transaction probably took place on
behalf of Belshazzar, who wished to add to his posses
sions, and as it is dated in the month Adar, in the
1 st year of Nabonidus, it would seem that he decided
to enlarge the domain he was entitled to as crown
prince shortly after he found himself occupying that
position. Another tablet referring to Belshazzar is a contract
drawn up for one of his secretaries (on the one hand),
by which he obtained the occupation of a house in
exchange for a loan of silver — a common arrange
ment in those days in Babylonia. The following
translation will enable the reader to see the terms of
this, the type of a numerous series of documents —
" The house of Nabu-ahe-iddina, son of Sula,
descendant of £gibi, which is beside the house of
Bel-iddina, son of Remut, descendant of the diku, (is
granted) for 3 years to Nabu-kain-ahi, secretary of
B£l-sarra-usur, the son of the king, for \\ mana of
silver. He has let (it) upon (the condition that)
'there is no rent for the house, and no interest for

44^ THE OLD TESTAMENT
the money.' He shall repair the woodwork and
renew the dilapidation of the house. After 3 years,
the silver, i£ mana^ Nabu-ahe"-iddina shall (re)pay
to Nabu-kain-ahi, and Nabu-kain-ahi shall leave the
house in the possession of Nabu-ahe-iddina."
Here follow the names of three witnesses and the
scribe, after which comes the date : "Babylon, month
Nisan, day 21st, year 5th, Nabu-na'id, king of
Babylon." As the 1 \ mana of silver would have brought in
18 shekels at the usual rate of interest, that sum
may be taken as representing the rent of the house
in question.
Another inscription, dated two years later, shows
that Nabu-kain-ahi, Belshazzar's secretary, borrowed
35 shekels of silver from Nabu-sabit-qata, that prince's
major-domo, to purchase a slave, and that the loan
was duly repaid. The curious thing in connection
with this transaction is, that the money advanced
is stated to be " tithe of Bel, Nebo, Nergal, and the
lady {i. e. Istar) of Erech," implying that Nabu-sabit-
qata was entitled to certain sums from this source,
or else that he had control of them, and could advance
money to others therefrom. Information concerning
all the items of income and expenditure of the temples
would probably furnish interesting reading, showing,
as it should, who were the people who benefited from
the funds available, and upon what grounds.
It is noteworthy that, in these inscriptions referring
to transactions between the members of Belshazzar's
household, no interest seems to have been charged
on the loans granted ; and if this was really so, it
indicates a considerable amount of loyalty among
these men towards each other — indeed, it is doubtful
if it could be surpassed at the present day.
Strangest of all these contracts in which Belshazzar
is mentioned, is probably that in which the prince
himself seems to appear as one of the contracting

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 449
parties — as a dealer in clothes. As it is the only one
referring to him thus, a translation of the inscription
in question is here given in full —
"20 mana of silver, the price of the garments1
(which were) the property of Bel-sarra-usur, the son
of the king, which (are due), through Nabu-sabit-qati,
chief of the house of Bel-sarra-usur, the son of the
king, and the secretaries of the son of the king, from
Iddina-Marduk, son of Ikisa., descendant of Nur-Sin.
In the month Adar of the i(ith) year, the silver,
20 mana, he shall pay. His house, which is beside
the (plantation ?), his slave, and his property in town
and country, all there is, is the security of Bel-sarra-
usur, the son of the king, until Bel-sarra-usur receives
his money. (For) the silver, as much as (from the
sum) is withheld, interest he shall pay.
" Witnesses : Bel-iddina, son of Remut, descendant
of the diku; Etel-pi, son of ... , descendant of ' the
father of the house' ; Nadin, son of Narduk-sum-usur,
descendant of the master-builder ; Nergal-usallim, son
of Marduk- . . . , descendant of Gahal ; Marduk-nasir,
son of Kur- . . ., descendant of Dabibu; and the
scribe, Bel-ah£-ikisa, son of Nabu-balat-su-iqbi. Baby
lon, month . . . , day 20th, year nth, Nabu-na'id, king
of Babylon."
But Belshazzar did not confine himself to dealing
in woollen stuffs or clothes, as many another inscrip
tion indicates. This was but an unimportant incident
in his life which chance has preserved to us, and how
far the transaction may have taken place with (or
without) his own knowledge, it is impossible to say.
For a considerable time, however, he was with the
army in Akkad, and whilst there, he interested him
self greatly in the welfare of the temples at Sippar,
making donations to them, not only on his own
behalf, but also for his father. Thus, on the nth
of Iyyar, in the 9th year of his father's reign, he
* Or "the woollen stuffs." F F

450 THE OLD TESTAMENT
gave to the god Samas a tongue of gold weighing
one mana ; and on the 7th of Adar of the same year
he gave two full-grown oxen for sacrifice (his father
gave one on that occasion), together with fourteen sheep,
and in addition other sacrifices were made on his
and his father's behalf in the temple of the goddess
Anunitum. The following little inscription, being
rather out of the common, is probably above the
average in the matter of interest —
" 1 shekel and a quarter of silver for the hire of
a ship for 3 oxen and 24 sheep, the sacrifices of the
king's son, which went in the month Nisan for Samas
and the gods of Sippar.
" In the presence of Bel-sarra-bullit, who has given
the offerings of the king to Samas-iddina and Dannu-
Addu. He has given 60 qa of fruit as their offerings.
Month Nisan, day 9th, year 10th, Nabu-na'id, king of
Babylon.'" Seemingly Belshazzar sent the sheep and oxen
from his estate to Sippar by water.
Interesting to an equal degree is likewise the
inscription recording a gift made by his sister —
"27 shekels of silver is the weight of one cup,
tithe of Ina-E-sagila-remat, the daughter of the king.
By the hands of Bel-sarra-(bullit), as a king's offering,
she has given (it) to the god. . . . The cup is in the
treasure-house. " Month Ab, day 5th, year 17th, (Nabu-na'id) king
of Babylon."
Though this inscription is defective in places, there
is every probability that little or nothing more than
the name of the god is wanting. The name of
Bel-sarra-(bullit) shows that the inscription must
belong to the time of Nabonidus, and, in fact, the
initial wedges of his name are visible.
The name of a second daughter of Nabonidus
seems to appear in another inscription from Sippar,
though, as it is rather carelessly written, this is doubt-

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 45 1
ful. Notwithstanding the uncertainty attending the
name, however, the inscription is worth quoting in
full— " 3 gur 75 qa of sesame Ukabu'sama (?), daughter
of the king, has sold, through Tattanu, for silver, to
E-babbara. The silver has not been received.
" Month Ab, day 7th, year 16th, Nabu-na'id, king
of Babylon."
With this we take leave of Nabonidus and his
family, as revealed by the contracts and temple
accounts from Babylon and Sippar. The picture
these and the historical inscriptions give of the
Babylonian royal family is not altogether unpleas-
ing, and that this king, with his son, were the last
rulers of their race, is greatly to be regretted. But,
alas, they had offended the priesthood of Babylon,
and all the people accepted, without a murmur, the
alien ruler, of a differing faith from theirs, who pre
sented himself, in hostile array, at their doors. It
was the beginning of the end of their life as a nation,
and who shall say that they did not deserve it ? if
they had made even a show of resistance, the world
could hold them excused, but this was not the case,
as their own records show, and whatever Nabonidus's
faults may have been, they do not attain to the
culpability of the nation, which, instead of protecting
him — if for no other reason, it ought to have done
this for his son's sake — practically betrayed him to
the enemy. II
So far, in depicting the life which the Jews, during
the Captivity, must daily have seen around them, we
have given the tablets whereon the court and its
officials are referred to, and though these reveal
certain phases of life in Babylonia among the people,
typical of the time, they can hardly be held to show
the life of the people — those engaged in the life-

452 THE OLD TESTAMENT
struggle of which every great city is the battlefield,
and has been the battlefield since the first gathering
of large bodies of men in one place.
Who among us can estimate the misery caused by
the tearing away of the slave from the home of the
master with whom he had for many years dwelt in
content ? — it must have far outweighed the few cases
in which a slave in those days benefited by such a
change. That the loss of his slaves was sometimes
also a wrench to the owner is indicated by the fact
that he is generally — if not always — made to say, that
he parts with them cheerfully. He had to admit this
for the satisfaction of the buyer, who naturally feared
that the old master would return and ask for the
contract to be annulled, saying that it was all a
mistake on his part — he did not really wish to get rid
of them, and would like to have them back again.
Naturally the tablets do not reveal to us all this,
nor the joys and sorrows, the successes and the
failures, which those great cities of the ancient East
must have contained. But they allow us to guess
a great deal. Did the man ever get the money back
which he had lent ? Did he receive the money for
the things he had sold and given credit for ? These
and other similar questions are always occurring to
the student of these documents, which reveal always
the grave side of life in that ancient land — never the
gay side — even a wedding, being a contract, was a
thing much too serious to allow its joyful nature to
shine through at any point.
As the documents which best represent the character
of the Babylonians are the letters, it has been thought
well to begin (as in the case of the chapter upon the
earlier Babylonians) with a few specimens of these,
and in the forefront the following may be cited as not
unworthy of a prominent place —
" Tablet of Nabu-zer-ibni to Ugar&, Balatu, Nabu-
bSl-sumati, and Samas-udammiq, his brothers.

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 453
" Now to Bel and Nebo for the preservation of the
life of my brothers I pray.
" Bel-epus, who is along with you, is my brother.
Whoever speaks his evil words, as my brothers wish,
let him be silent. As for him, from the beginning
to the end, brothers of each other are we. As warn
ing to my brothers I send this. Let my brothers do
what is right. I should like to see an answer (to this)
letter from my brothers."
Whether we are to substitute "friend" and "friends"
for "brother" and "brothers" is uncertain, but is very
probable. In any case, the writer would seem to show
considerable courage in the course he was taking, as
well as confidence in the righteousness of his cause.
The following is apparently the letter of a father in
poverty to his more successful son —
" (Letter of) Iddina-aha (to) Remut, his son.
" May (Bel) and Nebo bespeak peace and life for
my son.
" He, my son, knoweth that there is no corn in the
house. Let my son cause 2 or 3 gur of corn to
be brought by the hands of some one whom thou
knowest. Wilt thou not send by the hands of the
boatman whom thou indicatedst? As for him, (he
is coming ?) to me — send a gift, cause it to go forth
to (thy) father. To-day I pray Bel and Nebo for the
preservation of the life of my son. Remat asks after
the peace of Remut, her son."
The change from the third person to the second
is noteworthy, and may have been caused by the
necessity of distinguishing between the son and the
messenger to whom the writer referred. Remat was
evidently the writer's wife.
The following is a letter of a different nature, and
leads to speculations as to the state of things —
" Letter of Marduk-zer-ibni to Suli his brother.
" May Bel and Nebo bespeak the peace of my
brother

454 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" Why dost thou destroy thy house ? thou goest
before the destruction of thine (own) house. Takest
thou the right of holding the field so? My field
has been given up, and the date-palms which grow
(therein) have been thrown down, and thou (remainest)
contented in thy house ! 1 Lo, all the corn which
had been planted therein has been taken away ! Lo,
I will send to my lord ! Go to, and enter my field,
and get me my harvest ! Behold, the corn which it
contained has been delivered up, and Nabu-aha-eres,
when he had acquired it, took (it) away. Speak to
the judges about (it)."
Evidently the writer of the letter was angry because
his brother had not secured the crops of his field, with
which, for some reason or other, he was parting.
Letters of a business nature are not unfrequent, and
are generally dry and uninteresting. The character
of the inscriptions of this class which least exhibit
these defects may be gathered from the following
text, which also has an interest because the sender
was a slave. The original belongs to the collection of
tablets acquired by the late Sir Cuthbert Peek for his
father, the late Sir Henry Peek : —
" Letter from Daan-bel-usur to Sirku, my lord. I
pray to-day to Bel and Nebo for the preservation of
the life of my lord.
" Concerning the lambs which my lord sent, Bel
and Nebo indeed know that there is a lamb (for them)
from thee. I have made the irrigation-channel and
the wall. Behold, send thy servant with the sheep
and thy servant with the lambs, and a command that
they may cause a sheep to be brought up as an offer
ing (?) to Nebo (?), for I have not acquired a single
lamb for money. (On) the 20th day I worked for
Samas ; lo, (there were) 56 — I caused 20 head to be
bought for my lord from his hand. (As for) the garlic
1 Lit. "thou (art) in thy house, in thy heart (there is) good
to thee."

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 455
for the governor, which my lord bought, the lord of
the fields (apparently Sirku's chief overseer) took
possession of (it), and it was sold the governor of
the district of our fields for silver, but enough (?)
thereof I have retained (?) ; and as my lord said thus :
' Why hast thou not sent the messenger ? the ground
is suitable (?) — I sent thee a number (?) of (them).' Let
one messenger take thy message (?), and depart."
Portions of this inscription, especially towards
the end, being very obscure, the translation is not
so sure as could be wished. Nevertheless, it may be
taken as indicating fairly well the drift ofthe whole, and
thus answer the purpose for which it is given, namely,
to show what texts of this class generally refer to, and
how excellently they reveal to us the conditions of
Babylonian life at the time when they were written.
This tablet belongs to the reign of Darius Hystaspis,
and is addressed to one of the most prominent men
of Babylon at the time, Sirku, otherwise "Marduk-nasir-
iblu, son of Iddina, descendant of Egibi." x He was an
active man, and his business transactions, which begin,
as far as we have record of them, in the third year of
the king named, consist of the usual loans, exchanges,
purchases, sales, agreements, etc., which exist in large
numbers during this period. In the third year of
Darius he seems to have been in Elam, perhaps upon
business of state, the name of a high Babylonian
official being mentioned on the tablet which records
this fact. Later on, he comes before us as a large
owner and dealer in ships, some of which, of small
size, he seems to have used for the construction of a
bridge of boats. He owned Daan-bel-usur, the writer
of the tablet translated above, Nanaa-bel-usri, his wife,
and their six children, who dwelt on his property in
the city of Suppatum. On one occasion, as recorded
on a tablet in the Louvre, they formed part of the
1 It seems to have been sometimes the custom for a man to
be known by more than one name.

456 THE OLD TESTAMENT
security for a sum of 45 mana of silver, advanced by
Sirku to Sarru-dfiri, " the king's captain, son of Idra'."
Further references to both master and slave will be
found farther on.
As the tablets referring to life at Babylon are
exceedingly numerous, and many of them have special
interesting points of their own, a few selected specimens
are here translated, and may be regarded as character
istic and typical in their class and subject.
A LOAN GRANTED ON SECURITY AT ERECH.
" One mana of silver of Nabu-bani-^hi, son of Ablaa,
son of the gatekeeper, unto Babia, son of Marduk-
eres, and Sa-Nanaa-sl, his wife. The door of the
gatekeepers of the Salim u-gate, and his property, of
(both) town and country, all there is, are the security
of Nabu-bani-ahi.
" Witnesses : Bel-ihe-iddina, son of Gudadu ; Nabu-
zer-ukin, son of buma ; Nabu-zer-ikisa, son of Ginna ;
and the scribe Musezib-Bel, son of Nanaa-teres.
Erech, month Tisri, day 15th, year 21st, Nabu-kudurri-
usur, king of Babylon."
In all probability, the possession of the door carried
with it the right of receiving any toll or dues con
nected therewith. As Nabu-bani-ahi, the lender,
belonged to the family or clan of gatekeepers, he
would not be regarded altogether as an interloper.
The name of one of the borrowers, Babia, " my gate,"
is suggestive, and shows the enthusiasm of his parents
for their profession. THE WORK UPON A PLANTATION.
" 144 qa (is the amount needed for) the seeding of
the plantation of Nabu-sum-lisir, which Nabu-sar-
ilani has taken for cultivation.1 (During) 4 years,
1 Lit. " gardenership."

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 457
everything, whatever grows on the date-palms and
in the earth, belongs to Nabu-sar-llani ; (during the
succeeding 4 ?) years a third, and 4 years (after that)
a fourth. Nabu-sum-lisir with Nabu-sar-ilani (?)•••
10 years Nabu-sar-ilani . . . gardener of Nabu-sum-
lisir . . . everything, whatever (gfo)ws in the earth,
belongs to Nabu-sar-ilani.
" (The duty) of doing the work, digging (the irriga
tion-channels), raising (?) embankments (?), protect
ing the plantation, restoring what is wanting of
the date-palms, raising water, Nabu-sar-llani under
takes. (If) he contravene (this contract), he shall
compensate (to the extent of) 1 mana of silver."
Here follow the names of three witnesses and the
scribe, the date being —
" City of Suqaain, month Elul, day 26th, year nth,
Nabu-kudurri-usur, king of Babylon."
SALE OF AN ASS.
" The ass of Arad-Meme, son of Gimillu, descendant
of Epes-ili, he (the owner) has sold to Subabu-sara',
son of Temisla, for half a mana six and a half shekels
of silver. Etillu, son of Remut, descendant of Dabibi
(and) Nergal-iddina, son of Daanu-Marduk, descendant
of Lugal-arazu, guarantee the serviceableness of the
ass. It is a branded ass, upon whose front is a
mark." Here come the names of three witnesses and the
scribe, followed by the date —
" City of the land of Suma', (or Suba'), month Tam
muz, day 1 6th, year 40th, Nabu-kudurri-usur, king of
Babylon." From a tablet in the Edinburgh Museum it would
seem that asses were branded to distinguish them, and
that, in place of a mere mark, the name of the owner
was somehow impressed. Cattle were marked with
the letters of the Aramaic alphabet.

458 THE OLD TESTAMENT
JEWS AND BABYLONIANS DURING THE CAPTIVITY.
"When Nabu-na'id, son of Nabu-gamil, brings his
witness, and proves to A&hha'u, son of Saniawa, that
Nabu-na'id has given the proceeds of 2 J mana of silver
to Aahha'u and Baruhi-ilu, (then) the profit which
has been made with them (the 2\ mana) belongs
to Nabu-na'id, and all right to the share which belongs
to him remains — one do. (? share) (belongs to) Aahha'u.
If the witness do not prove it, his property, as much as
Nabu-na'id has taken, one do. (? share) he will return
and will give to Aahha'u.
" Witnesses : Iddina-Marduk, son of Akkla, Yasum-
ma, son of Ahe-su ; Balat-su, son of Ahe-su, and the
scribe, Nabu-ah6-iddina, son of Egibi. Upe (Opis),
month Tammuz, day 21st, year 40th, Nabu-kudurri-
usur, king of Babylon."
Apparently it was a dispute about profits, which
was to be settled, aswas usual in such cases, by pro
ducing a witness. Saniawa is one of those names
ending in idwa which were certainly not Babylonian,
and which are generally regarded as Israelite, like
Subunu-yawa = Shebaniah ; Nathanu-yawa = Nathan-
iah, and many others ; and its later form would pro
bably be Shaniah. Baruhi-ilu is probably for Baru-
chiel, and, if so, would show that the pronunciation of
the aspirated k {ch) as h {kh), common among Jews
on the Continent and in the East, is of very ancient
date. THE DEAD SLAVE.
" On the 5th day of the month Kisleu, Sarru-kinu,
son of Ammanu, will bring his witness to the city
Piqudu (Pekod), and he wilLtestify to Idihi-ilu, son of
Dina, that Idihi-ilu sent to Sarru-klnu thus : ' Do not
litigate against me concerning thy slave who was
killed — I will make up to thee the life of thy slave.'

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 459
If he prove it, Idihi-ilu shall pay to Sarru-kinu 1 mana
of silver. If he do not prove it (he is free)."
After the names of three witnesses and the scribe,
is the date —
" Upe, month Marcheswan, day 7th, year 40th,
Nabu-kudurri-usur, king of Babylon."
A RIGHT OF WAY.
" Marduk-iriba, son of Remut, descendant of the
Misirite,1 and Kalba, son of Balatu, descendant of
the chief of the construction (?), in their going forth,
shall go forth over the brook ; they have no power
over the exit of the wall of the house of Nabu-ahe-
iddina, son of Sula, descendant of Egibi ; the exitof
the wall of the house of Nabu-ihg-iddina belongs to
Nabu-ahe-iddina." Here come the names of five witnesses, including
the scribe, and then the date —
" Babylon, month of the later Adar, day 24th, year
ist, Nabu-na'id,2 king of Babylon."

THE STORY OF ABIL-ADDU-NATHANU
AND BUNANITUM.
This is contained, as far as it is preserved, on a
series of five tablets, four of which are in the British
Museum, and the fifth in the Museum of Art at
New York. Abil-Addu-nathanu would seem, from
his name, which would be the West-Semitic Ben-
Hadad-nathan, to have come from Damascus, and
settled at Babylon, and afterwards at Borsippa. His
wife Bunanitum (or Bunanith) was to all appearance a
Babylonian. 1 This may mean "the Egyptian," but as there were more
than one Misir, this is doubtful.
2 Nabonidus.

460 THE OLD TESTAMENT
THE PURCHASE OF THE HOUSE AT BORSIPPA.
" 7 canes, 5 cubits, 1 8 fingers, a built house, the
territory of a plantation x which is within Borsippa,
which Daan-sum-iddina, son of Zeria, descendant of
Nabaa, has bought from Iba, son of Zilla, descendant
of the carpenter, for 1 1£ mana of silver, for the price
complete, by the authority of Abil-Addu-nathanu, son
of Addia, and Bunanitu, his wife, daughter of Harisaa.
That house he has received, the silver of Abil-Addu-
nathanu and Bunanitu as the price of the house has
been given. Daan-sum-iddina has no share in the
house or the silver. The tablet which Daan-sum-
iddina has sealed in his name, he has given to Abil-
Addu-nathanu and Bunanitu. The day a copy of the
sealed document of the purchase or any contract for
that house appears in the house of Daan-sum-iddina
or in any other place, it belongs to Abil-Addu-nathanu
and Bunanitu."
Here follow the names of four witnesses and two
scribes. The date is —
" Babylon, month Shebat, day 24th, year 2nd, Nabu-
na'id, king of Babylon."
The agent through whom the purchase was made
has to declare that no part of the property or the
money belonged to him, hence the final clause of the
contract, which was intended to prevent trouble at
any future time.
At the end are the seal-impressions of the two
scribes.

THE LOAN TO MAKE UP THE SUM REQUIRED TO
PURCHASE THE PROPERTY.
" 1 1 mana 8£ shekels of silver of Iddina-Marduk,
son of Ikisa, descendant of Nur-Sin, upon ( = due
from) Abil-Addu-nathanu, son of Addia, and Bunanitu,
1 Or, perhaps, " (in) the plantation-territory."

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 461
his wife. It increases to them monthly at the rate of
I shekel of silver upon each mana. They shall pay
the interest from the month Sivan of the 5th year of
Nabu-na'id, king of Babylon. The silver was the
balance of the silver for the price of a house, which
was paid to Ibi. They shall pay the interest monthly."
After the names of two witnesses and the scribe
comes the date —
" Barsip (Borsippa), month Iyyar, day 3rd, year 5th,
Nabu-na'id, king of Babylon."
As this tablet was written two years and three
months after the house at Borsippa was bought, it is
clear that the money had been advanced, but the
indebtedness of Abil-Addu-nathanu had not been
placed, until the date of the second tablet, on a legal
footing. Probably he intended to pay the money, but
had not the wherewithal, and this being the case, the
lender agreed to allow the debt to remain unpaid,
stipulating only that the interest should be paid at the
usual rate of one mana upon every mana monthly.
As will be seen from the other documents, the principal
was not paid for many years after this. There is no
record whether any payment of interest had been
made in the meanwhile, but, in any case, the rate is far
beyond what at the present time is considered fair.
A FIRST PAYMENT MADE AFTER THE DEATH OF
ABIL-ADDU-NATHAN U.
This is a small tablet similar in shape to the last,
and is now preserved in the Museum of Art at New
York. "8 shekels of silver Iddina-Marduk, son of Ikisa,
descendant of Nur-Sin, has received from the hands
of Bunanitu, with the first payment, which (has been
made) since the death of Ablada-nathanu, her husband,
from the interest of his money. In the presence of
Tabnea, son of Nabu-ihe-iddina, descendant of the

462 THE OLD TESTAMENT
priest of ... ; Nabu-kain-abli, son of Marduk-5um-
ibnl, descendant of Dannu-Nabu. Barsip (Borsippa),
month Adar, day 18th, year 8th, Nabu-na'id, king of
Babylon. " There is to be no abatement (?)."
As the loan was contracted in the second year of
Nabonidus, it cannot be said that Iddina-Marduk had
been by any means pressing in the matter. The
numerous documents which exist show that the Baby
lonians were good at making contracts, but they wera
probably not so strict in keeping them, and certainly
not so merciless (to judge from the history here un
folded) as the people of the modern West in enforcing
them. The phonetic spelling of the name of the husband,
Ablada-nathanu, is interesting, as it shows the Baby
lonian pronunciation. Ben-Addu-nathan, however, was
a possible form, and may have been even a fairly
common one.

THE LEGAL ACTION AFTER THE DEATH OF ABIL-
ADDU-NATHANU.
" Bunanitu, daughter of Harisaa, said thus to the
judges of Nabu-na'id, king of Babylon —
" ' Abil-Addu-nathan, son of Nikmadu', had me to
wife, and he took 3 J mana of silver as my dowry, and
one daughter I bore to him. I and Abil-Addu-nathan,
my husband, traded with the silver of my dowry, and
we bought 8 canes, a built house, the territory of a large
property,1 which was within Barsip, for 9§ of a mana of
silver, with 2| mana of silver which was from Iddina-
Marduk, son of Ikisa, descendant of Nur-Sin, as
balance, and we fixed (it) as the price of that house,
and we paid and received it together. In the 4th year
of Nabu-na'id, king of Babylon, I made an agreement
1 Or, perhaps, " the territory of the great farther side,"

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 463
with Abil-Addu-nathan, my husband, concerning my
dowry, and Abil-Addu-nathan, in the kindness of his
heart, sealed the 8 canes, (and) that house which is
within Barsip, and bequeathed it to me for future days,
and on my tablet made it known thus : " 2\ mana of
silver, which Abil-Addu-nathan and Bunanitu took from
Iddina-Marduk, and paid as the price of that house,
they received together." He sealed that tablet, and
wrote thereon the curse of the great gods. In the 5th
year of Nabu-na'id, king of Babylon, I and Abil-Addu-
nathan, my husband, took Abil-Addu-amara as our
son, and wrote the tablet of his sonship, and made
known 2 mana 10 shekels of silver and the furniture
of a house as the dowry of Nubti, my daughter. Fate
took my husband, and now Aqabi-ilu, the son of my
father-in-law, has laid claim upon the house and
everything which had been sealed and bequeathed to
me, and upon Nabu-nur-ili, (the slave) whom we had
acquired by the hands of Nabu-ahS-iddina for silver.
I have brought it before you, make a decision.'
" The judges heard their words, they read the tablets
and contracts which Bunanitu brought before them,
and they caused Aqabi-ilu not to have power over
the house at Barsip, which had been bequeathed to
Bunanitu instead of her dowry, over Nabu-nur-ili,
whom she and her husband had bought for silver, or
over anything of Abil-Addu-nathanu ; Bunanitu and
Abil-Addu-amari, by their tablets, they caused to be
confirmed. Iddina-Marduk pleads for (?), and will
receive, the 2\ mana of silver which had been given
towards the price of that house. Afterwards Bunanitu
will receive the 3 \ mana of silver, her dowry, and her
share besides. Nubta will receive Nabu-nur-ili,
according to the contracts of her father.
" By the decision of this judgment.
" Nergal-banu-nu, the judge, son of the builder ;
" Nabu-ahe-iddina, the judge, son of Egibi ;

464 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" Nabu-sum-ukin, the judge, son of Irani ;
" Bel-ahe-iddina, the judge, son of . . .
" Bel-£tir, the judge, son of . . .
" Nabu-balat-su-iqbi, the judge, son of . . .
" Nadinu, the scribe, son of . . .
" Nabu-sum-iskun, the scribe, son of the . . .
" Babylon, month Elul, day 26th, year 9th, Nabu-
[na'id, king of Babylon]."
Two copies of this document exist, neither of them
being the original. They were probably made for
persons interested in the result of the judgment.
It has been suggested that the claim of Aqabi-ilu
to all his brother's property was based upon the fact
that he was the eldest of the family. This, however,
is hardly likely to have been the case, the Babylonian
law concerning the wife's dowry — i. e. that it was her
own in any event — being clear and incontrovertible.
The probability therefore is, that he claimed the
property hoping that she might not be able to prove
her right. The clear statements of this document,
and the common-sense judgment delivered by Nabo-
nidus's judges are full of simplicity and dignity, and
show well the Babylonian character.
THE FINAL REPAYMENT OF THE LOAN TO
IDDINA-MARDUK.
A tablet recording the payment of interest has
already been translated (p. 461), and from that it would
seem that no repayment on account of the money
lent to Abil-Addu-nathanu and Bunanitu took place
until after the former's death. When the last pay
ment was made is unknown, but it must have been
some time after the lawsuit. From the portion of the
tablet recording it, it would seem that the amount
remaining to be paid was 2 mana and 10 shekels,
which was paid jointly by Abil-Addu-amari and

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 465
" Bunaniti, his mother," who probably lived on the
property with him and her daughter.
Thus ends the life-story of this Babylonian family,
as far as at present known.
In addition to the names Abil-addu-nathanu and
Abil-Addu-amara (or -amari), both of which contain
the name of the deity Abil-Addu or Ben-Hadad, the
name of the brother, Aqabi-ilu, is interesting. It is
naturally a synonym of a Hebrew name found under
the form of Aqabi-yawa, the Talmudic Aqabiah,
with -yawa or -iawa for -iah, as in Saniawa, which
appears on p. 458.

E-SAGILA-RAMAT AND HER FATHER-IN-LAW'S
SLAVE.
" Ikisa, son of Kudurru, descendant of Nur-Sin,
sealed a tablet of born-sonship for Remanni-Bel, his
slave, whose name is called Remut, (promising) to
give (him) his food and his clothing. Remanni-Bel,
whose name is called Remut, after he had sealed
the tablet of his born-sonship, ran away, and he
did not give him food, oil, and clothing. E-sagila-
ramat, daughter of Zeria, descendant of Nabaa, wife
of Iddina-Marduk, son of Ikisa, descendant of Nur-
Sin, reverenced him, protected him, and befriended
him, and gave him food, oil, and clothing. Ikisa, son
of Kudurru, descendant of Nur-Sin, in the kindness
of his heart (that is, willingly), annulled the tablet of
the born-sonship of Remanni-Bel, and sealed and
bequeathed him to E-sagila-ramat and Nubta, her
daughter, daughter of Iddina-Marduk, descendant of
Nur-Sin. He shall reverence E-sagila-rimat and
Nubta, her daughter. Afterwards E-sagila-ramat shall
leave him to Nubta, her daughter. Whoever changes
these words, and destroys the contract Ikisa has
drawn up and given to E-sagila-ramat and Nubta,
G G

466 The old testament
her daughter, may Merodach and Zer-panitum com
mand his destruction."
The names of four witnesses and the scribe follow,
the date being " Babylon, month Iyyar, day 9th, year
13th, Nabu-na'id, king of Babylon." At the end are
the words, " At the sitting of Bissa, daughter of Ikisa,
descendant of Nur-Sin."
It has been suggested that it was the slave who
was to keep the master, instead of the master keeping
the slave, and that the slave, running away, refused
to perform his part of the contract. This, however,
seems to be improbable, in view of the fact that it is
the master's daughter-in-law who takes pity on him,
befriending him and giving him just those things
which he required (or, with the other reading of the
document, which he had declined to supply her father-
in-law with). Her husband, Iddina-Marduk, is the
one who advanced toAbil-Addu-nathanu and Bunanitu
the money to make up the price of their house.
IDDINA-NABU SELLS HIS EGYPTIAN SLAVE AND
HER INFANT.
" Iddina-Nabu, son of Musezib-Bel, has cheerfully
sold Nanaa-ittia, his slave, and her daughter, a child
of three months, Egyptians captured by his bow, for
2 mana of silver, the complete price, to Itti-Marduk-
balatu, son of Nabu-ah£-iddina, descendant of Egibi.
Iddina-Nabu has received the money, 2 mana of silver,
the price of Nanaa-ittia and her daughter, from the
hands of Itti-Marduk-balatu. Iddina-Nabu guaran
tees against the existence of any liability of defeasor (?),
legal claimant, royal service, or freedmanship with
regard to Nanaa-ittia and her daughter."
Here come the names of four witnesses and the scribe.
" Babylon, month Kisleu, day 23rd, year 6th, Kam-
buzia (Cambyses), king of Babylon.
"Besides the contract of 240 gur of fruit, from

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 467
Itti-Marduk-balatu, which was unto (or due from)
Iddina-Nabu." This document may be held to testify to the reality
of Cambyses' campaign in Egypt, which took place in
his 5th year (525 B.C.). It is also a proof that the
Babylonians took part in the campaign.
It is noteworthy that three copies of this document
exist, one being in the British Museum, another in
the Museum of Art at New York, and the third in the
museum founded by the late Sir Henry Peek at Lyme
Regis. The tablet recording the contract for the 240
gur of fruit also exists, and is preserved in the British
Museum. Among the tablets of the time of Nabonidus, trans
lations of all the records known which refer to the
family of Ben-Hadad-nathan or Abil-Addu-nathanu
have been given, and examination of the numerous
other tablets of the reigns of his predecessors and his
successors down to the time of Darius, and perhaps
Xerxes, shows that similar more or less complete
family histories could be made. One of the most
interesting of these, and the most complete on account
of the number of documents (by far the greater num
ber of the contracts from Babylon and its neighbour
hood, of the period to which he belongs, contain his
name) are those referring to Sirku, a tablet from
whose slave Dian-bel-usur has been given above
(p. 454). This man's history has been tentatively
dealt with by the present author in Part IV. of the
catalogue of tablets belonging to the late Sir Henry
Peek. From a tablet in the Louvre, we find that
Sirku was not his real name, but that he was called
Marduk-nasir-abli. The curious thing about this
double naming of Sirku, however, is. that the majority
of the tablets where he is called birku say that he
was the son of Iddina, and the majority of those call
ing him Marduk-nasir-abli say that he is the son of
Itti-Marduk-balatu. Fortunately documents exist

468 THE OLD TESTAMENT
reversing this parentage, and showing conclusively
that Sirku and Marduk-nasir-abli are one and the
same personage. Were it otherwise, we should have
to credit his slaves with two masters, and his wife
with two husbands, a state of things probably unknown
in Babylonia.
From a tablet dated in the first year of Darius, we
learn that he bought a field before the great gate of
Uras in the province of Babylon, this field being beside
that of his wife Amat-Bau, which she had brought as
her dowry. Other documents record that he made
loans of silver and produce, both alone and associated
with his brothers. In these his proper name is gener
ally used, but sometimes he was called Sirku. The
hiring and letting of houses, the buying and selling
of slaves, etc., are also recorded of them. In the third
year of Darius he and his brothers came into con
siderable property in Babylon, sharing it among them,
and there is also record of Marduk-nasir-abli paying
his father's debts. This increase in their resources
naturally enabled them to deal in the produce of their
fields, and in all probability they managed his wife's
as well, whilst there is at least one record that she
lent money on her own account. To enumerate all
the interesting points which the tablets reveal to us
concerning their various transactions, however, would
naturally take too much time and space.
In exchange for the slave Daan-bel-usur, the slave's
wife, their six children, and a cornfield upon the canal
called Tupasu, which Marduk-nasir-abli gave to his
wife Amat-Bau, he received from her two sums of
silver and one of gold, a ring, and two slaves, who
had been part of her dowry. The slaves he gave her,
though now her property, were in all probability still
at his disposition, but Daan-bel-usur seems to have
served him so well when in charge of his affairs, that
after having parted with him, though only to his wife,
he must have found, to his regret, that he and his

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 469
family were naturally not so much at his disposition
as when he could call them his own.
Under the name of Marduk-nasir-abli, he appears
before us principally in the character of an agricultur
alist and dealer in produce, combining with this
money-lending on occasion. As Sirku, he dealt
largely in ships, and apparently also in boats for
pontoon bridges. In the fifth year of Darius he was
in Elam, and there is a reference to the sending to
him of a messenger, " with the charioteers of Bel-abla-
iddina, captain of Babylon." Many years afterwards
Sirku is said to have received the rent of a house
situated " upon the gissu of Borsippa," and the ques
tion naturally arises, whether gissu may not be for
gisru, " bridge," though a house upon a bridge cross
ing a comparatively narrow canal near Babylon is
certainly not what one would expect.
On the 1 6th of Sivan in the twenty-sixth year of
Darius, Sirku was the scribe who drew up a contract
referring to two ships, one apparently for service on
the Euphrates, the other for the bridge. Later on, he
borrowed some money upon the security of two of his
female slaves, Musezibtum and Naru, the wrist of the
former being inscribed with the name of one of his
relations, the other with his own name, Sirku (it is
given as Sisku on the tablet). This loan is distinctly
stated to be for the purpose of acquiring " a ship for
the bridge " {ilippu sa gisiri), and this he seems to
have bought two months later, unless there was
another contract for a vessel which has not come
down to us. In the Peek collection is a large tablet
referring to the completed bridge, the traffic upon it,
and the ships moored to it, suggesting that a portion
of it at least was used as a quay or landing-stage.
More research is needed, however, ere its precise
nature will be clear — perhaps the etymology is mis
leading, and gisru or gisiru means, in Babylonian,
"pier" or "landing-stage" simply.

470 THE OLD TESTAMENT
The following is one of the inscriptions which refer
to his hiring a ship —
" (Concerning) the ship of Iddina-Bel which is with
Samas-iddina, son of Bel-iddina, for navigation. He
has given the ship for hire as far as bistum sa sirila
(= birtum sa sirua, "the fortress of sirtla") for J
of a mana of white silver, coined, to Sirik (Sirku),
son of Iddina, descendant of Egibi. The silver, J of
a mana, the hire of the ship, and its provisions, he has
received. The ship shall not cross the great (water),
if it pass, he shall pay 5 mana of silver. Each has
taken (a copy of this contract)."
The names of three witnesses and the scribe follow
this, after which is the date —
"Babylon, month Adar, day 6th, year 26th, Darius,
king of Babylon and countries."
The tablets in which Marduk-nasir-abli, alias Sirku,
are mentioned, prove that Babylonia maintained its
character as a maritime nation to a very late date.
As, however, voyages on the ocean are not provable,
it is doubtful whether their ships sailed to any great
distance — in all probability they confined themselves
to making coast-voyages only. Judging from the
penalty attached to taking the ship across the great
(water), the question naturally arises, whether the sea
(the Persian Gulf) may not have been intended. The
word used in the original is rabbu, which would then
correspond with the last word of the poetic expression,
"the rolling main."
Such, as far as space allows, was life at Babylon
and the chief cities of Babylonia, where the Israelites
dwelt for so many years, and colonies of them existed
until a very late date, as the drinking bowls inscribed
with charms against sickness and evil spirits in
Hebrew and Aramaic show. Some of the Hebrew
names contained in the tablets from Babylonia have
already been referred to (p. 458), and to these several
others may be added, such as Banawa or Beniah ;

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 47 1
Gamariawa or Gemariah ; Malakiawa or Malchiah,
who had a son bearing the heathen name of Nergal-
etir; together with several similarly-formed but
otherwise unknown names (as was to be expected).
Examples of these are, Azziawa, Huliawa, Niriawa
and Agiriawa. The Gemariah mentioned above was
witness, with his compatriot Barjkla (Berechiah) and
others, on the occasion when Sa-Nabu-duppu sold
Nanaa-silim, his Bactrian slave-girl. The scribe's
name on this occasion was Marduka (Mordecai), son
of Epes-ili. Mordecai means "the Merodachite," and
is interesting as showing how Babylonian monotheism,
such as it was, reconciled the Jews to accept what
they would otherwise have regarded as a heathen
name. Interesting in the extreme would it be, if we could
know what the Jews thought of the country and the
city of their captivity. In that enormous walled tract
known as the city of Babylon were large open spaces
covered with gardens, and cornfields, and orchards,
mostly, perhaps almost exclusively, of date-palms, the
fruit of which formed such an important part of the
food of the people. These were the trees, in all pro
bability, on which the Jewish captives hung their
harps when, in their captivity, they mourned for the
city of Sion, from which they were so far away. The
rivers of Babylon, of which the well-known psalm
speaks, were the Tigris and the Euphrates, with the
innumerable canals and watering-channels which the
nature of the country rendered so necessary to the
fertility and productiveness of the land, and without
which it would have been a desert.
There, too, they looked upon the buildings of old
time, the fanes which were there when their fore
father Abraham was a dweller in the land, changed,
doubtless, beyond recognition. Chief among these
was the great temple of Belus, which the Babylonians
called " the temple of the foundation of heaven and

472 THE OLD TESTAMENT
earth," and which Nebuchadnezzar speaks of as " the
tower of Babylon." There, too, were the shrines
dedicated to Zer-panitum, consort of Merodach, the
goddess Nin-mah ; Nebo, the god of wisdom ; Sin, the
Moon-god ; Samas, the Sun-god ; Gula, the goddess of
healing, and many other divinities. Whilst the Jews
were there, they must have seen many of this king's
building operations — the strengthening of the fort
resses and the walls, and the repair and extension of
the moats and ditches ; the raising of the level of the
great street, Aa-ibur-sabu (the remains of which have
just been found by the German explorers on the site
of the city), along which, yearly, at the beginning of
the year, processions went, and the images of the
gods were in all probability carried. Then there was
the rebuilding of the royal palace, with its roof and
doors of cedar, the latter being also overlaid with
bronze, probably after the manner of the bronze gates
of Shalmaneser found by Mr. Rassam at Balawat.
The thresholds were also of bronze, and the palace
was adorned, in other parts, with gold, silver, precious
stones, and various other costly things.
They must have seen, also, the construction, between
the two great fortifications called Imgur-Bel and Ne-
mitti-Bel, of that great building which was to serve as
a castle and a royal residence at the same time. This
was in connection with the old palace of Nabopolassar,
Nebuchadnezzar's father, built, as already stated, in
a fortnight. Chief among the shrines restored by
Nebuchadnezzar with great magnificence must be
mentioned E-kua, the sanctuary of Merodach, in the
temple E-sagila (the temple of Belus), and that
called Du-azaga ("the glorious seat"), otherwise
described as " the place of fate," where yearly, on the
new year's festival (the 8th and 9th of Nisan) the
statue of the god Merodach, " the king of the gods of
heaven and earth," was placed, and the king's future
declared on the question being put. Doubtless the

LIFE AT BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY 473
glory of the place attracted not a few, causing them
to decide to stay there permanently, and these,
mingling with the native population, were lost to
Israel, like their brethren of the ten tribes, and even
as Nergal-etir, son of Malakiawa (see above) seems to
have been.

CHAPTER XIII
THE DECLINE OF BABYLON
The Jews who remained at Babylon and other cities of the
land — Alexander the Great's intentions with regard to the city,
and the result of their non-fulfilment — A Babylonian lament
ation dated in the reign of Seleucus Nicator and his son — The
desolation of the city after the foundation of Seleucia — The
temples still maintained — Antiochus Epiphanes and the intro
duction of Greek worship — His invasion of Egypt — The Arsa-
cidae — A contract of the time of Hyspasines — Materials
for history — Further records of the time of the Arsacidae — The
latest date of Babylonian worship — The Christians of Irak or
Babylonia. NOTWITHSTANDING the return of large numbers
of Jews to Jerusalem, a considerable portion of the
nation had become attached to the land of their
captivity, and remained in Babylon and the other
cities of Chaldea, as well as in Persia. These, no
longer captives, but settlers by their own free will, had
probably decided to stay in the land either from the
desire to continue the businesses which they had started
there, the relinquishing of which would have meant,
in all probability, ruin to themselves and their families ;
or because of aged relatives for whom the journey to
Jerusalem, however much they might have desired it,
would have been an impossibility ; or because of official
and civil positions which they held either at court or
in the employment of rich or influential personages,
by whose support they hoped to be able to aid their
compatriots ; or because of the attractions of a great
city, whose origins must for them have possessed a
474

THE DECLINE OF BABYLON 475
special interest (notwithstanding the horrors of the
captivity which their forebears must have experienced
there), and whose position for thousands of years as
the capital of a large province gave it a preponderating
influence, not only in the country of which it was
the capital, but in all the civilized world at the time.
This being the case, there numbers of the Jews
stayed, and there they witnessed the gradual departure
of the sceptre from that city which one of their own
writers had described as the glory of kingdoms, and
the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency. After the
passing of the kingdom into the hands of the alien
Persian kings, things went on as usual under their rule
for a considerable time — the people lived on their land,
and bought and sold, and transacted their ordinary
business, and trade seems to have been good (judging
from the number of documents which have been pre
served) until the end of the reign of Darius Hystaspis.
Thereafter there was either a great falling off, or else
the documents were deposited in other places, or a
more perishable material was used for them. In any
case, they become comparatively scarce, and their rarity
may be due to the departure of trade from the capital,
brought about by the removal of the court from
Babylon, and the consequent migration of her mer
chants to other places.
Things had been going, in fact, from bad to worse
for Babylon, and among the clay records left, some of
the royal names which we should like to see are to
all appearance absent. It was still, however, a place
of great importance, when, in the year 331 B.C., it
opened its gates to Alexander the Great, surrendering,
like Susa and Persepolis, without striking a blow.
Doubtless to them it was perfectly indifferent under
which foreign potentate they lived, and a change in
that respect could not make their condition worse,
and might be to their advantage. Had he not died
long before the term which nature has fixed, the city

476 THE OLD TESTAMENT
might have taken upon it such a renewed lease of life
as would have caused it to exist as a great capital to
the present day. As it happened, the Babylonians
began to see their fondest hopes realized, for it must
soon have become noised abroad that the new con
queror of Asia intended to make Babylon his Eastern
capital, and they saw the clearing away of the rub
bish which was the preliminary to the restoration of
the great and renowned temple of Belus, E-sagila (or
E-sangil as they called it at that time), actually pro
ceeding, not only during the reign of Alexander, but
also during that of his successor, Philip, as well. The
mental calibre of the latter, however, who came to the
throne on the death of Alexander in the year 323 B.C.,
must soon have told the Babylonians that the realiza
tion of his great predecessor's schemes was hopeless,
and the downward course of the city's star, arrested
as it were for a moment, soon began again.
The next change of rulers was that following upon
the unworthy bearing of Antigonus with regard to
Seleucus, Alexander the Great's favoured general, who
had espoused his claims to the throne of the Eastern
empire. After aiding Ptolemy of Egypt against
Demetrius, son of Antigonus, he set out with a small
force, and gathering recruits in his course, .especially
among the Babylonians, with whom he was popular,
he entered their capital without opposition in 312 B.C.,
from which date the era of the Seleucidae is regarded
as beginning. How the Babylonians took the founda
tion of Seleucia on the Tigris, which is often mentioned
in the numerous astrological tablets of this period, is
not recorded, but from the way in which they speak
of the migration of the inhabitants of Babylonia to
Seleucia implies that they took it greatly to heart.
" Blessed shall he be who serveth thee as thou hast
served us," sang the Psalmist when lamenting the
captivity of the Jews at Babylon, and if success in
conquest be a sign of blessedness, then Seleucus must

THE DECLINE OF BABYLON 477
have been happy indeed. The Babylonians could
not have regarded the continual and increasing deso
lation of their city with indifference, however, and it
is not impossible that their loyalty to their king
suffered somewhat in consequence. This, to all
appearance, found vent in expressions of regret, and
an old lamentation, referring to the depredations of
the Qutu at a period so remote that we can hardly, at
this distance of time, estimate, and of which a copy
was made for a certain Bel-zer-lisir, might well express
their feelings at this period :
" For the misfortunes of Erech, for the misfortunes
of Agade", I am stricken.
The Erechitess wept, that departed was her
might, the Agaditess wept, that departed was
her glory (?) ;
The daughter of Erech wept, the daughter of
Agad£ cried aloud ;
As for the daughter of Larancha, in her garment
her face was hidden.
The Hursagkalamitess wept, that her husband
was in trouble;
The Hulhuthulitess wept, that cast down was her
sceptre ;
The Masitess wept, that her 7 brothers were
slain, that her brother-in-law was stricken.
The Agaditess wept, that her elder was slain,
the lord of her well-being ;
The Kesitess wept — they have wrought destruc
tion (?) for the name of her house : ' My
helpers are shattered ' ;
The Dunnaitess wept, ' Who has a resting-place,
who has leave to go forth ? '
Whose is it to defeat (?) the enemy, (with) the
exits cut off?'
The daughter of Niffer wept, for the raging (?)
Qutu assembled,

478 THE OLD TESTAMENT
She bowed down her face on account of the
trouble of the husband of her well-being.
The Dur-ilitess wept, for the Qutu collected,
For the son of her city destroyed, the overthrow
of her father's house.
Weep for Erech, ravaging (and) shame has she
received —
As for me, in the storm a place of refuge I know
not.
Weep for Larancha (for the spoiling ?) of (my)
mantle I am in trouble.
My eyes see not my . . . , the mothers are cut
off from the child.
Weep for Niffer, as for me, (with) abundance of
affliction (?)
Heaven has bound me fast ;
The throne of my glory has been caused to pass
away from me ;
The bridegroom, the husband of my well-being,
Bel has taken away from me."
"Like its original written, made clear, and
acquired. Tablet of Bel-zer-lisir, son of Bel-aba-usur, de
scendant of the . . .
(By) the hands of Bel-bullit-su, his son. He who
fears the king shall not take (?) (this) tablet (?) away.
Babylon, month Elul, day 15th, year 25th, Siluku
and Antiukusu (Seleucus and Antiochus), king of
countries." By those same " rivers of Babylon " where the
Israelites had mourned in captivity, thinking of Jeru
salem, there the Babylonians themselves came at last
to lament the departed glories of their land. Many a
time, it is true, they had seen the country which was
their fatherland overrun by enemies, but it had always
recovered, and risen to a greater height of prosperity.

THE DECLINE OF BABYLON 479
This time, however, there was to be no healing of her
wound. The large and well-peopled space within the
walls of the great city gradually became uninhabited,
and the houses fell into ruin. A time even came at last
when the great walls had to be demolished — or at least
practically so — in order that they might not afford
protection to the lawless bands which infested the
country, and were only too ready to make the most of
such an advantage.
Notwithstanding the desolation of the city, how
ever, a certain number of people continued to inhabit
the site, probably officials of the temples (whose
services still continued), and tradesmen who supplied
the wants of those whose duty held them attached to
the place. Here, year after year, the usual sacrifices
were offered to the old gods of the Babylonians, espe
cially " My Lord and Lady," *'. e. Bel (Merodach) and
Beltis (Zer-panitum, his consort), and prayers were
made for the king at the time reigning, and also for
his sons (if he had any). That inscriptions may come
to light which will show more clearly the state of
things in that vast ruined city is exceedingly pro
bable, and a sufficient number of tablets referring
to this period are known to exist even now, and show
in some measure the state of the city and the kind of
people who dwelt in such parts of it as had been
reserved for that purpose.
To those who inhabited Babylon's desolation, the
most important thing, in all probability, was the
worship, with all the old rites and ceremonies, of the
deities whose temples and shrines still existed there.
But those old priests and temple scribes occupied
their time in another way, namely, the keeping of
careful records of every historical event for the pur
pose of being able to tell the future. These historical
notices are preceded by indications of the positions
of the moon and the planets, together with the price
of grain or other produce, during the period referred

480 THE OLD TESTAMENT
to. The positions of the planets, etc., were combined
afterwards, by the "monthly prognosticators," with
the historical happenings, for the purpose of foretelling
events, which at that late period was probably done
much more systematically than during earlier ages,
to the great advantage of the modern student of this
period. The following will give an idea of these historical
notices : —
(Month Ab, 143rd year, Anti'ukusu, king =168 B.C.,
reign of Antiochus Epiphanes.)
" An., the king, marched victoriously among the
cities of the land of Meluhha, and . . . the people
{pulite} the Greek TroXlrrfs) (constructed ?) idols {puppe,
evidently a Greek word, probably meaning "images
of gods") and works like a shrine (of?) the Greek(s ?)
The inscription then goes on to speak of the appoint
ment of a zazak (apparently a grade of priests) by
the king, the handing to him of the gold in the
treasury of E-saggil for the great (shrine) of Bel, the
(dedication ?) of an unsuitable or an untimely image
of the god Uru-gala on the 8th day of the month, and
other similar occurrences. From the lines translated
above, it will be seen that the Babylonians had not
by any means escaped from the influence of Greek
civilization, not only Greek words, but also, to all
appearance, Greek gods and shrines having made
their appearance. The word used in speaking of the
image of the god Uru-gala is tamsil, but the things
which the citizens made were puppe, possibly used like
our word " idol." It is possibly to this period, or a
little later, that the transcriptions into Greek of Baby-
1 As the Babylonians had no means of indicating the sound
of o, characters containing u had to be used in such words as
these. The Babylonian pronunciation of the Greek iroXirije was,
therefore, polite. Another form of this plural word, namely,
pulitannu {politanu), also occurs.

THE DECLINE OF BABYLON 48 1
Ionian tablets (which promise to be of considerable
value for the study of the Assyro-Babylonian language)
belong. If the translation given above be correct, it would
confirm the account in the second book of Macca
bees (vi. 2), from which it would appear that this
ruler tried to habituate the Jews to Greek customs,
and also to the Greek religion, going even so far as
" to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, and to call
it the temple of Jupiter Olympus ; and that in Garizim,
of Jupiter the Defender of strangers, as they did desire
that dwelt in the place " (vi. 2). " The abomination
of desolation " which was set on the altar at Jerusalem
(1 Mace. i. 54) is understood by commentators to
mean an idol-altar, though almost any heathen image
would suit the sense, and a statue of a god, with or
without a shrine, might be meant. The reference to
Meluhha in all probability refers to one of his expedi
tions to Egypt, and is generally supposed to indicate
Ethiopia. Another change which the Babylonians experienced
was when the rule of their Greek masters was ex
changed for that of the Parthians, and the Seleucidae
gave way to the Arsacidae. Concerning the period
of the change, and the way in which it came about,
very little is known. The varied fortunes of the
Seleucid princes is illustrated by the fact that a
satrap of Media named Timarchus, in 161-160 B.C.,
had succeeded in proclaiming himself king of Baby
lon ; and from 153-139 B.C., Arsaces VI. (Mith-
ridates I.) was in possession of all the district
east of the Euphrates — Babylonia, Elam, and Persia.
After his death, however, all this portion seems to
have returned to the rule of the Seleucidae, and their
era was in all probability restored. After the death
of Antiochus Sidetes, in 129 B.c, the province of
Kharacene became independent under a ruler named
Hyspasines or Spasines, who, two years later, seems

482 THE OLD TESTAMENT
to have made himself master of Babylon. An inter
esting tablet dated in the reign of this king (who used
the Seleucian era) shows something of the state of
things on the site of the old city, and that somewhat
vividly. (The inscription is preceded by five introductory
lines, which are unfortunately imperfect, but do not
seem to affect the transaction as a whole.)
"In the month Iyyar, the 24th day, year 185th,
Aspasine (being) king, Bel-lumur, director of E-saggil,
and the Babylonians, the congregation of E-saggil,
took counsel together, and said thus —
" ' Itti-Marduk-balatu, chief of the construction over
the artificers (?) of the houses of the gods, scribe of
Anu-Bel, son of Iddin-Bel, who formerly stood (?) at
the side of Aspasine, the king, who (relieved ?) want
in the gate of the king; lo, this is for Bel-ahe-usur
and Nabu-musetiq-urri, his sons —
" ' (As) they find the whole of his keep, a sum (?)
has been collected (?) in the presence of the aforesaid
Bel-lumur and the Babylonians, the congregation of
E-saggil. " ' From this day of this year we will give 1 mana
of silver, the sustenance of Itti-Marduk-balatu, for
their father, to Bel-ahe-usur and Nabu-musetiq-urri,
from our (own) necessities. The amount, as much as
Itti-Marduk-balatu, their father, has taken, they shall
keep for (his) keep, and they shall give the grant for
this year.'
"(Done along) with Bel-sunu; Nur ; Muranu;
Iddin-Bel ; Bel-usur-su, the scribe of Anu-Bel, and
the deputy-scribe of Anu-Bel." 1
Though the translation is necessarily, from the
1 In 1890, when this inscription was copied, it was in the
possession of Mr. Lucas, who kindly gave me permission to
publish it. I do not know who possesses the tablet at present.
The seal-impression at the end is exceedingly indistinct.

THE DECLINE OF BABYLON 483
mutilation of the text, not altogether satisfactory,
certain items of information which it contains will
hardly admit of doubt. There were still inhabitants
of the city, there were temple-servants, who were
probably under a kind of overseer of the works, and
these apparently attended to all the temples. Whether
this man was too old to work or not is doubtful, but
it would seem that it was considered too much that
his sons should keep him altogether, hence the draw
ing up of the document here quoted.
It is noteworthy that, instead of Merodach, or Bel-
Merodach, the god of Babylon, who became the
chief deity of all Babylonia, a new deity appears,
namely, Anu-Bel, i. e. Anu the Lord, or, paraphrased,
the Lord God of Heaven, probably the god Merodach
identified with Anu. The religion of the Babylonians
probably underwent many changes during this later
period, when those who belonged to it came into con
tact with foreigners, many of them most intelligent
men, whose teaching must have had with them great
weight. Another important inscription, in the British
Museum, gives many details of the period of this
little-known king, Aspasine. From this we learn that
the Elamites made incursions in the neighbourhood
of the Tigris. Pilinussu, the general in Akkad,
apparently carried on operations against another
general, and seems to have gone to the cities of the
Medes before Baga-asa, the brother of the king. A
man named Te'udisi also seems to have opposed the
general in Akkad. Yet another inscription of the
same period states that Ti'imutusu, son of Aspasine,
went from Babylon to Seleucia (on the Tigris), show
ing that the former renowned place was still regarded
as one of the cities of the land. At this time one of
the opponents of Aspasine's generals was " Pittit, the
enemy, the Elamite." Elam, to its whole extent, was
smitten with the sword, and Pittit (was slain, or

484 THE OLD TESTAMENT
captured). Sacrifices were made to Bel, probably on
account of this victory.
Similar inscriptions of the time of the Arsacidean
rule in Babylonia also exist, and would probably be
useful if published. Unfortunately, they are all more
or less damaged and mutilated, but of those which I
have been able to make notes of, one may be worth
quoting. The following extract will show its nature : —
" This month I heard thus : Arsaka the king and
his soldiers departed to the city of Arqania. ... (I)
heard thus : The Elamite and his soldiers departed
to battle before the city Apam'a which is upon the
river Silhu . . ."
The remainder is very mutilated, and requires
studying in conjunction with all the other inscriptions
of the same class, though even then much must
necessarily be doubtful.
In many of these inscriptions each of the long
paragraphs ends with a reference to the sacrifices
which had been made in the temples of Babylon
among the ruins, and sometimes, though rarely, they
refer to something of the nature of an omen. The
following will serve as an example : —
"... descended to Babylon from Seleucia which
is upon the Tigris. Day 10, the governor of Akkad
. . . the congregation of E-saggil, (sacrificed) one ox
and 4 lambs in the gate Ka-dumu-nuna of E-saggil,
(and) made (prayer for the lif)e of the king and his
preservation. On the 5., one ox and 3 lambs (they
sacrificed). The congregation of Babyjlon came to
Ka-dumu-nuna of E-saggil, offerings like the former
ones were made . . . went forth from Sippar. This
month a goat brought forth, and the litter was 15."
Contract-tablets, some of them of a very late date
indeed, within a decade or two of the Christian era,
show that the temples still existed, and that sacrifices
and services still went on, probably uninterruptedly,
at the temples of Babylon, and this implies that,

THE DECLINE OF BABYLON 485
though the country had no national existence, the
beliefs of the people survived for many centuries the
downfall of their power. In all probability, what took
place at Babylon had its counterpart in other places
in the country — the fanes renowned of old — as well.
Indeed, it is known that, at the most perfectly pre
served of the temple-towers of Babylonia at the present
day — that at Borsippa, now and for many centuries
known as the Birs Nimroud, " the tower (as it is
explained) of Nimrod," — the services and worship
were continued as late as the fourth century of the
Christian era. The worship of Nebo, the god of
wisdom, or, rather, letters, had always been extremely
popular, hence, in all probability, the continuation of
his cult until this late date. But this was to all ap
pearance the last remnant of the powerful and pictur
esque creed of old Babylon, and details of its slow
and. gradual disappearance from the religious beliefs
of the world would probably be as interesting as the
story of its growth and development.
" The Church at Babylon," mentioned in 1 Peter
v. 13, is generally understood allegorically, as of the
Church in the world, or that in the great Babylon of
the time when the apostle wrote, namely, Rome.
Though it is unknown whether a Christian Church
existed in his time anywhere in Babylonia, it is prob
ably certain that the native Christians of Baghdad
(and Irak in general) are pure descendants of the
ancient Babylonians, to whom, in form and stature,
as well as in character, and their tendency to progress,
they have a great likeness. The same may be said
of the native Christians of Assyria.
Could we but know the history of Assyria at this
period, it is very probable that we should find it
to resemble in certain things — perhaps in the main —
that of Babylonia after her downfall. From the
religious point of view, also, there must have been
similarity. They, too, knew the worship of the

486 THE OLD TESTAMENT
" merciful Merodach," to them a type of Christ, and
his father Ea (from whom he obtained the means of
helping mankind), in name and position a type of Jah,
God the Father, whom the Christians worshipped.
But we shall never in all probability know whether
they thus analyzed and compared the two faiths,
though it is very possible that they did, for it is said
that the Egyptians were attracted to Christianity by
the comparison of Christ with their Osiris. Such,
however, is the tendency of the mind of mankind.
Ever unwilling to break with the old, he seeks for
some analogy in the new, to form a bridge whereby
to pass to higher things. Minor deities have ever
tended to become Christian saints, and such may
have been — indeed, probably was — the case with the
Babylonians and the Assyrians.

APPENDIX

THE STELE INSCRIBED WITH THE LAWS OF
HAMMURABI
This monument was found at Susa, in the excavations under
taken by the French Government, by MM. de Morgan and
Prof. V. Scheil. It is a column of diorite, measuring about
7 feet in height, tapering slightly from the bottom upwards.
The circumference of the base is about 2 yards, and at the
summit about 5 feet 5^ inches. As, however, the stone is not
square, it may be described as measuring, roughly, 22 inches
broad at the base, and 16 inches just above the bas-relief at
the top, where it is rounded somewhat irregularly.
The bas-relief, which is in perfect condition, measures about
2 feet 2 inches in height, and represents Hammurabi
standing, facing to the right, towards the sun-god Samas, who
sits on a throne of the usual recessed design. The god is
bearded, clothed in a flounced robe, and has his hair looped
up behind. His hat is pointed, and is adorned with four
(eight) horns, rising at the side, and coming forward, where
their points are turned up. His right shoulder is bare, and in
his right hand he holds a staff and a ring, emblematic of
authority and eternity, or his apparent course in the heavens.
His right hand is held against his breast, and wavy lines,
probably representing his rays, arise from his shoulders.
Hammurabi, who stands before the seated god, is clothed in
a long robe reaching to his feet, and held up by his left arm.
His right shoulder and arm are bare, and the hand is raised
as if to emphasize the words he is uttering. Like the god, he
is heavily bearded. On his head he wears the globular thick-
brimmed hat distinctive of men in authority for many hundred
years before his time, and for a considerable period afterwards.
The inscription, which is in horizontal columns, covers all
four sides of the stone, and is divided into two parts, called by

488 APPENDIX
Prof. Scheil, who first translated it, the "obverse" and the
"reverse" respectively. The former is in 16 columns, after
which come 5 columns which have been erased, probably, as
Prof. Scheil remarks, to insert the name and titles of an Elamite
king, Kudur-Nahhunte, who has his inscription placed on
several other monuments of Babylonian origin found there.
For some reason or other, the space on the stele of Hammurabi
still remains blank. The " reverse " has 28 columns of inscrip
tion. The columns are narrow, and the lines consequently
short, but as the latter are no less than 3638 in number, the
text is a very extensive one, and when complete, must have
consisted of over 4000 lines.
The inscription consists of three portions : the Introduction,
consisting of 4 columns and 25 lines, detailing all the benefits
which Hammurabi had conferred on the cities and temples of
the land ; the Laws, which occupy the remainder of the
obverse, and 23 columns of the reverse (in all, 40 columns less
25 lines) ; and the Conclusion, occupying the remaining 5
columns, in which he recounts his own virtues, and in a long
curse, calls upon the gods whom he worshipped to punish and
destroy any of his successors who should abolish or change
what he had written, or destroy his bas-relief.

THE LAWS OF HAMMURABI.
INTRODUCTION.
When the supreme God, king of the Annunaki,1 and Bel,
lord of the heavens and the earth, who fixes the destinies of the
land, had fixed for Merodach, the eldest son of Ae, the Divine
Lordship over the multitude of the people, and had made him
great among the Igigi, they called Babylon by its supreme
name, caused it to be great among the countries (of the world),
and caused to exist for him in its midst an everlasting kingdom,
whose foundation is as firm as heaven and earth.
At that time Hammurabi, the noble prince — he who fears God
— me — in order that justice might exist in the country, to
destroy the evil and wicked, that the strong might not oppress
the weak, — God and Bel, to gladden the flesh of the people,
proclaimed my name as a Sungod 2 for the black-headed ones,3
appearing and illuminating the land.
1 The spirits of the earth.
2 The Sungod was the god of justice, hence this comparison.
3 The inhabitants of the land.

APPENDIX 489
Hammurabi, the shepherd proclaimed of Bel am I— the
perfecter of abundance and plenty, the completer, of everything
for Niffur (and) Dur-an-ki,1 the glorious patron of E-kura ; 2
The powerful king who has restored the city Eridu to its first
state, who has purified the service of E-apsu ; 3
The best of the four regions, who made great the name of
Babylon, rejoicing the heart of Merodach, his lord, who daily
stays (at service) in E-sagila ; 4
The kingly seed whom the god Sin has created, who endows
with riches the city of Ur ; 6 humble, devout, he who brings
abundance to E-kiS-nu-gala ; 6
The king of wisdom, favourite of Samas, the powerful one, he
who founded (again) the city of Sippar, who clothed with green
the burial-places of Aa,r who made supreme the temple E-
babbara,8 which is like a throne (in) the heavens ;
The warrior benefiting Larsa,0 who renewed the temple
E-babbara 10 for Samas' his helper ;
The lord who gave life to Erech, procuring waters in
abundance for its people, he who has raised the head of the
temple E-anna, completing the treasures for Anu and
Innanna ; u
The protector of the land, who has reassembled the scattered
people of Nisin, who has made abundant the riches of the
temple E-gal-mah ; 12
The unique one, king of the city, twin brother of the god
Zagaga, he who founded the seat of the city of Ki§, who has
caused the temple E-mete-ursag 13 to be surrounded with
splendour, who has caused the great sanctuaries of the goddess
Innanna to be increased ;
Overseer of the temple of Hursag-kalama, the enemies'
temple-court, the help of which caused him to attain his
desire ; 14
He who has enlarged the city of Cuthah, made great every
thing for the temple Meslam ; 15
The mighty steer who overthrows the enemy, the beloved of
the god Tutu;16
1 The temple-tower of Niffur. 2 The temple of Bel at Niffur.
3 The temple of Eridu. 4 The temple of Bel at Babylon.
8 See p. 193. 6 The temple of Ur — see p. 194 ff.
7 The moon-goddess of Sippar. 8 The temple of the sun at Sippar.
9 Ellasar. A10 The temple of the sun at Larsa (Ellasar).
11 The god and goddess of E-anna, the temple of Erech.
12 The temple of Isin or Nisin.
13 The temple of Kis.
11 Apparently a conflict had taken place here, and the success of the
Babylonian arms was attributed to the god of the place.
15 The temple of Cuthah. ls Merodach — see p. 30 ff.

490 APPENDIX
He who causes the city of Borsippa to rejoice, the supreme
one, he who is tireless for the temple £-zida ; '
The divine king of the city, wise, alert, he who has extended
the agriculture of Dilmu,2 who has heaped up the (grain)
receptacles for the powerful god Uras ; 3
The lord (who is) the adornment of the sceptre and the
crown, with which the wise goddess Mama has crowned him ;
Who has defined the sanctuaries of Kes, who has made
plentiful the glorious feasts for the goddess Nin-tu ;
The provident and careful one, who set pasturages and
watering-places for Lagas and Girsu, he who procured great
offerings for E-ninnu ; 4
He who holds fast the enemy, the favourite of the divinity (?),
he who fulfils the portents of the city Hallabu, he who has
gladdened the heart of I Star ; 6
The prince undefiled, whose prayer 6 Addu 7 has heard, he who
gives rest to the heart of Addu, the warrior, in the city Muru ;
He who set up the ornaments in the temple E-para-galgala,
the king who gave life to the city of Adab ;
He who directs the temple E-mah, the prince who is the
city-king, the warrior who is without rival ;
He who has given life to the city MaSkan-sabri, who has
caused abundance to arise for the temple Meslam ;
The wise, the active one, who has attained the whole of (his)
desires, sheltered the people of Malka in (their) misfortune.
caused their seats to be founded in abundance for At and
Damgal-nunna, who have made his kingdom great for ever,— he
has instituted pure offerings ;
The prince who is city-king, who subjugated the settlements
of the Euphrates, the boundary (of) Dagan, his creator, who
spared the people of Mera and Tutul ;
The supreme prince, who has made the face of the goddess
IStar to shine, set pure repasts for the divinity Nin-azu, who
cared for his people in (their) need, fixing their dues within
Babylon peacefully ;
The shepherd ofthe people, whose deeds are good unto I Star,
who set IStar in the temple E-ulmas within Agade' of the (broad)
streets ; he who makes the faithful obedient, who guides the Race ; 8
Who returned its good genius to the city of Asshur, who
caused (its) splendour (?) to shine forth ;
1 The temple of Borsippa. 2 The modern Dailem.
3 The god of Dilmu. 4 The temple at Lagas. 5 Goddess of Hallabu.
6 Lit.: "the raising of the hand." " 7 Hadad.
8 Or, with Scheil : who has rectified the course of the Tigris. As,
however, the sign for "river" is wanting, the meaning "family, "race,"
which this word has, is to be preferred.

APPENDIX 491
The king who in Nineveh has caused the names of Istar to
be glorified in E-mesmeS ; l
The supreme one, devoted in prayer to the great gods,
descendant of Sumula-ilu, the mighty son of Sin-mubalit, the
eternal seed of royalty ;
The powerful king, the Sun of Babylon, he who sends forth
light for the land of Sumer and Akkad, the king causing the
four regions to obey him, the beloved of the goddess I Star,
am I.
When Merodach chose me to govern the people, to rule and
instruct the land, law and justice I set in the mouth of the land
— in that day did I bring about the well-being of the people.

THE LAWS.
1. If a man ban a man, and cast a spell upon him, and has
not justified it, he who has banned him shall be killed.
2. If a "man has thrown a spell upon a man, and has not
justified it, he upon whom the spell has been thrown shall
go to the river,2 (and) shall plunge into the river, and if the
river take him, he who banned him may take his house. If the
river show that man to be innocent, and save (him), he who threw
the spell upon him shall be killed ; he who plunged into the
river may take possession of the house of him who banned
him. 3. If a man in a lawsuit has caused to go forth defamation
against the witnesses, and hds not justified the word he has
spoken, if that lawsuit be a lawsuit of life,3 that man shall be
killed. 4. If he has offered to the witnesses wheat or silver, he shall
bear the guilt of that lawsuit.
5. If a judge has given judgment, and decided a decision,
and delivered a tablet (thereupon), and afterwards has changed
his judgment, that judge, for having changed the judgment he
had judged, they "shall summon, and the claim which is in
question 4 he shall (re)pay twelvefold, and in the assembly they
shall make him rise up from his judgment-seat, and he shall
not return, and he shall not sit again with the judges in
judgment. 6. If a man has stolen the property of a god, or of the
palace, that man shall be killed ; and he who has received the
stolen thing from his hand shall be killed.
1 The temple of Istar of Nineveh, later called E-masmas.
3 Lit. : " to the river-god," and so throughout the clause.
3 A matter of life and death. * Lit. : " which is in that judgment."

492 APPENDIX
7. If a man has bought either silver, or gold, or a man-slave,
or a woman-slave, or an ox, or a sheep, or an ass, or anything
whatever, from the hands of the son of a man or the slave of a
man, without witness or contract, or has received it on deposit,
that man is a thief — he shall be killed.
8. If a man has stolen either an ox, or a sheep, or an ass, or
a pig, or a ship — if it be from a god or from the palace, he
shall (re)pay thirtyfold ; if it be from a poor man, he shall
restore tenfold. If the thief have not wherewith to (re)pay, he
shall be killed.
9. If a man who has lost his property meet with his lost
property in the hands of a man, (and) the man in whose hands
the lost thing has been found say " a certain seller sold it — I
bought it before certain witnesses," and the owner of the lost
object say " Let me bring witnesses who will recognize my
lost object," the buyer shall bring forward the seller who sold it,
and the witnesses before whom he bought (it), and the owner of
the lost object shall bring forward the witnesses who will
recognize his lost object. The judge shall see what they have
to say, and the witnesses before whom the purchase was made,
and the witnesses knowing the object lost shall speak before
God,1 and (if) the seller is the thief, he shall be killed. The
owner of the lost object shall take (back) his lost object ; the
buyer shall receive (back) from the house of the seller the silver
which he has paid.
10. If the buyer has not brought forward the seller who sold
it to him and the witnesses before whom he bought (it), (and)
the owner of the lost object has brought forward witnesses
recognizing his lost object, the buyer is a thief — he shall be
killed ; the owner of the object lost shall take (back) the lost
object. 1 1. If the owner of the lost object has not brought forward
witnesses recognizing his lost object, he is a rogue, (and) has
made a false accusation — he shall be killed.
12. If the seller has gone to his fate, the buyer shall receive
from the house of the seller the claims of that judgment
fivefold. 13. If that man have not his witnesses at hand, the judge
shall grant him a delay of six months,2 and if he have not
procured his witnesses in six months,3 that man is a rogue — he
shall bear the guilt of that judgment.
14. If a man has stolen the young son of a man, he shall be
killed. 1 Cf. 126, 131. 2 Lit. : "a period to the sixth month."
3 Lit, : "in the sixth month."

APPENDIX 493
15. If a man has caused to go forth from the gate either a
slave of the palace, or a handmaid of the palace, or the slave of
a poor man, or the handmaid of a poor man, he shall be killed.
16. If a man has sheltered the escaped male or female slave
of the palace or of a poor man in his house, and at the request
of the steward has not sent him forth, the master of that house
shall be killed.
17. If a man has met the escaped male or female slave in the
fields, and has taken him back to his master, the master of the
slave shall give him two shekels of silver.
18. If that slave will not name his master, he shall take him
to the palace, his intention shall be inquired into, and they shall
return him to his master.
19. If he has shut up that slave in his house, and afterwards
the slave has been found in his hands, that man shall be killed.
20. If a slave escape from the hands of the man who has
found him, that man shall call God to witness 1 unto the master
of the slave, and shall be held blameless.
21. If a man has made a breach in a house, in front of that
breach they shall kill him and bury him.
22. If a man has exercised brigandage, and has been taken,
that man shall be killed.
23. If the brigand has not been captured, the man who has
been robbed shall take the thing which he has lost before God,
and the city and the authorities within whose territory and
boundaries the brigandage has been exercised shall make up to
him what he has lost.
24. If (it be a question of) a life, the city and authorities shall
pay one mana of silver to his people.
25. If the house of a man has been set on fire,2 and a man
who went to extinguish it has raised his eyes to the property of
the owner of the house, and taken the property of the owner of
the house, that man shall be thrown into that same fire.
26. If an army-leader or a soldier, who has been commanded
to go his way on a royal expedition, does not go, and has hired
a mercenary, and his substitute is rejected, that army-leader or
soldier shall be killed, he who changed with him shall take
his house.
27. If an army-leader or a soldier, who is in a strong place
of the king, is detained (there), (and) his successor has given his
field and plantation to another, and he has carried on its
administration ; if (the original owner) then return and reach
his city, they shall return to him his field and plantation, and he
himself shall carry on its administration.
1 Lit. : "shall call upon the spirit of God."
2 Lit. : " In the house of a man fire has been kindled. '

494 APPENDIX
28. If an army-leader or a soldier, who is in a strong place of
the king, his son is able to carry on the administration, they
shall give to him the field and plantation, and he shall carry on
the administration for his father.
29. If his son is young, and is unable to carry on the admin
istration for his father, the third part of the field and plantation
shall be given to his mother, and his mother shall bring
him up.
30. If an army-leader or a soldier (with regard to) his field,
his plantation, and his house has beforehand neglected the
administration, and it has been left waste, (and if) another
after him has taken his field, his plantation, and his house, and
has carried on its administration for three years, if he return
and wish to cultivate his field, his plantation, and his house, he
shall not give (them) to him — he who took and has carried on
his administration shall continue to administer.
31. If for one year (only) he has let (them) lie waste, and has
returned, his field, his plantation, and his house they shall give
to him, and he shall carry on his administration himself.
32. If an army-leader or a soldier who has been detained
upon a royal expedition, a merchant has redeemed him and has
caused him to regain his city — if in his house there be (the
wherewithal) for his redemption, he shall then redeem himself.
If in his house there be not (the wherewithal) for his redemption,
in the house of his city's god he shall be redeemed. If in the
house of his city's god there be not (the wherewithal) for his
redemption, the palace shall redeem him. His field, his planta
tion, and his house shall not be given for his redemption.
33. If a governor or a prefect have a substitute,1 or for a
royal expedition accept a mercenary as substitute and incor
porate (him), that governor or prefect shall be killed.
34. If a governor or a prefect take the property of an army-
officer, ruin an army-officer, lend an army-officer for hire, grant
an army-officer in a lawsuit to a magnate, take the gift 2 which
the king has given to an army-officer, that governor or prefect
shall be killed.
35. If a man purchase from the hands of an army-officer the
cattle and sheep which the king has given to the army-officer,
he shall forfeit his money.
36. Field, plantation, and house of an army-officer, soldier,
and tax-gatherer he shall not sell for silver.
37. If a man buy the field, plantation, or house of an army-
officer, soldier, or tax-gatherer, his contract shall be broken, and
he shall forfeit his money. The field, plantation, or house shall
return to its owner.
1 Lit. : "a man of substitution." * Or, perhaps, "pay."

APPENDIX 495
38. Army-officer, soldier, or tax-gatherer shall not leave to
his wife or his daughter (anything) from the field, plantation,
and house of his administration, and shall not give them for
his indebtedness.
39. He may leave to his wife and his daughter (any part) of
the field, plantation, or house which he has bought and owns,
and may give it for his indebtedness.
40. A priestess, an agent (travelling merchant), or other official,
may give his field, his plantation, or his house for silver, (and)
the purchaser shall carry on the administration of the field,
plantation, and house which he has bought.
41. If a man has exchanged the field, plantation, or house of
an army-officer, soldier, or tax-collector, and given substitutes,
the army-officer, soldier, or tax-gatherer may return to his field,
plantation, or house, and take the substitutes which have been
given to him.
42. If a man has hired a field for cultivation, and has not
caused wheat to be in that field, they shall summon him for not
having done work in the field, and he shall give to the owner of
the field wheat like his neighbour.
43. If he has not planted the field, and has let it lie, he shall
give to the owner of the field wheat like his neighbour, and the
field which he has let lie he shall break up for cultivation, shall
enclose (it) and return (it) to the owner of the field.
44. If a man has hired an uncultivated field for cultivation *
for three years, and he has been idle and has not cultivated
the field, in the fourth year he shall break up the field for
cultivation, shall hoe (it), and shall enclose (it) and return (it) to
the owner ofthe field, and for every 10 gan he shall measure (to
him) 10 gur of wheat.
45. If a man has given his field for rent to a planter, and has
received the rent of his field, and afterwards a storm 2 has inun
dated the field, or has (otherwise) destroyed the produce, the
loss belongs to the planter.
46. If he have not received the rent of his field, and has let
the field for a half or a third (of the produce), the planter and
the owner of the field shall share the wheat which has been
produced in the field proportionately.
47. If the planter, because his husbandry did not yield profit 3
in the first year, direct the field to be cultivated (by another), the
owner of the field shall not prosecute the planter, and (when)
his field has been sown, he shall take the wheat at harvest-time,
according to his contract.
48. If there be interest (upon a loan) against a man, and a
1 Lit. : " for opening. " 2 Lit. : " the god Hadad."
3 Or, " did not cover the cost,"

496 APPENDIX
storm x inundate his field, or has (otherwise) destroyed the
produce, or by want of water there is no wheat in the field, that
year he shall not return any wheat to the creditor.2 He shall
damp his tablet (? to alter it), and shall not pay interest 3 for that
year. 49. If a man has borrowed money from an agent, and has
given to the agent a field laboured for wheat or sesame, (and)
has said to him : " Plant the field, and gather and take the wheat
or the sesame which will be produced ; " if the planter has caused
wheat or sesame to be in the field, at harvest-time the owner of
the field may take the wheat or sesame which has been produced
in the field, and shall give to the agent wheat for his silver and
his interest 4 which he received from the agent, and (for) the cost
of the cultivation.
50. If he has given (as security) a planted field, or a field
planted with sesame, the owner of the field shall take the wheat
or sesame which is produced in the field, and shall return the
silver and its interest to the agent.
51. If there be no silver (wherewith) to repay, he shall give
to the agent sesame at their market-price for his silver and
his interest, which he received from the agent, according to the
tariff of the king.
52. If the planter has not caused wheat or sesame to be in the
field, it does not annul his contract.
53. If a man has neglected to stren[gth]en his [dyke], and has
not strengthened his] dyke, [and] a breach has ofpened] in [his]
dyke, and water has inundated the enclosure, the man in whose
dyke the breach has been opened shall make good the wheat
which it has destroyed.
54. If the wheat does not suffice to make good (the damage),
they shall sell that (man) and his goods for silver, and the
people6 of the enclosure, whose wheat the water carried away,
shall share together.
55. If a man has opened his irrigation-channel to water, (and)
has been negligent, and the water has flooded the field of his
neighbour, he shall measure (to him) wheat like 6 (that of) his
neighbour. 56. If a man has opened the water, and the water flood the
work of the field of his neighbour, he shall measure (to him) 10
gur of wheat for each 10 gan.
57. If a shepherd has not agreed with the owner of a field for
grass to pasture his sheep, and without the owner of the field has
pastured sheep (in) the field, the owner shall reap his fields ; the

Lit. :

' ' the god Hadad. '

2 Lit. : "the lord of the interest/

Lit. :

" profit."

4 Or, " its interest."

Lit. :

"sons," or " children."

6 I,e. in the same proportion.

APPENDIX 497
shepherd who, without the owner of the field, pastured sheep (in)
the field, shall pay to the owner of the field 20 gur of wheat for
every 10 gan besides.
58. If, after the sheep have left the enclosure, (and) the whole
flock has passed through the gate, the shepherd place the sheep
(again) in the field, and cause the sheep to pasture (in) the field,
the shepherd shall keep the field (where) he has pastured them,
and shall measure to the owner of the field, at harvest-time, 60
gur of wheat for every 10 gan.
59. If a man, without (the permission of) the owner of a
plantation, has cut down a tree in the plantation of a man, he
shall pay half a mana of silver.
60. If a man has given a field to a gardener to plant as a
plantation, (and) the gardener has planted the plantation, he
shall tend the plantation for four years. In the fifth year the
owner of the plantation and the gardener shall share equally ;
(thereafter) the owner of the plantation shall apportion and take
his share.
61. If a gardener has not completed the plantation of a field,
and has left an uncultivated place, they shall set for him the
uncultivated place in his share.
62. If he has not planted the field which has been given him
for a plantation, if (it be) grain, the gardener shall measure to
the owner of the field the produce of the field, for the years
during which it has been neglected, like his neighbour ; and he
shall do the work of the field, and return (it) to the owner of the
field. 63. If the field (was) waste land, he shall do the work
of the field, and return (it) to the owner of the field, and
he shall measure for every year 10 gur of wheat for each
\ogan. 64. If a man has given his plantation to a gardener to culti
vate, the gardener, as long as he holds the plantation, shall give
two-thirds of the produce of the plantation to the owner of the
plantation, (and) shall take a third himself.
65. If the gardener has not cultivated the plantation, and has
diminished the produce, the gardener [shall measure to the
owner of the field] produce (like) his neighbour.
(Five columns have here been erased, apparently by the
Elamite king who intended to inscribe his name upon the
monument. Prof. Scheil estimates that this contained about
35 sections of the laws, containing the remaining sections
referring to the cultivation of plantations or orchards, the letting
of houses, and the laws relating to commercial transactions, of
! which a portion is preserved after the gap. As pointed out by
Prof. Scheil, the following sections, from fragments of tablets
1 I

498 APPENDIX
found at Nineveh by Hormuzd Rassam and the late Geo. Smith,
probably came in here.)
[If a man has borrowed silver from an agent, and has given]
to the agent [a date-orchard, and] has said to him : " Take for
thy money the dates, [as much as] will be produced in [my]
orchard, for thy money ; " (if) that agent be not in agreement,
the owner of the orchard shall take the dates which are pro
duced in the orchard, and return to the agent the silver and
its interest, according to his tablet ; and the owner of the
orchard may ta[ke] the surplus dates which have been produced
in the orchard.
[If a man has hired a house, and] the man has paid to the
owner of [the house] the complete money for his rent for a year,
[and] the owner of the house, before the days are full, command
the ten[ant] to go [forth], — the owner of the house, [as] he sends
the tenant [forth] from his house before the time,1 [shall return to
the tenant a proportionate sum, for having gone forth from his
house], from the money which the tenant has pai[d to him].
[If a man] owe (?) wheat (or) silver, and has not wheat or silver
[wherewith] to [pay], but possess (other) goods, whatever is in
his hands he shall gi[ve] to the agent, before witnesses, as profit,
[and] the agent shall not f[ind fault], and shall ac[cept it].
(Portions of other laws are also preserved, but they are too
fragmentary to enable the sense to be gathered.)
ioo. [If an agent has advanced silver to a commissioner, and
he has had good fortune in the place to which he went], he shall
write down the profits of his silver, as much as he has received,
and the day when they make up their accounts he shall pay (it)
to his agent.
101. If he found no profit where he went, he shall make up the
silver which he took, and the commissioner shall repay it to
the agent.2
102. If an agent has advanced silver to a commissioner for
profit, and he found loss where he went, he shall return the
capital of the silver to the agent.
103. If, whilst going on his way, au enemy caused him to lose
what he was carrying, the commissioner shall call God to
witness 3 and shall go free.
104. If an agent has given to a commissioner grain, wool, oil,
or any other goods for trading, the commissioner shall write
down the silver (received), and shall return it to the agent. The
1 Lit. : "in days not full."
2 In the British Museum fragment 80-11-12, 1235, found by Mr. Rassam
in Babylonia, 100 and 101 form a single section, the last one of the 5th
tablet. 3 Lit. : "invoke the spirit of God."

APPENDIX 499
commissioner shall take a sealed document of the silver which he
gives to the agent.1
105. If the commissioner has been negligent, and has not taken
a sealed document of the silver which he has given to the agent,
the silver not certified shall not be placed in the business.2
106. If a commissioner has taken silver from an agent, and
dispute (withhold it from) his agent, that agent shall summon
the commissioner before God and the witnesses concerning the
money taken ; the commissioner shall repay to the agent the
silver, as much as he has taken, threefold.
107. If an agent act unjustly to a commissioner, and the com
missioner has returned to the agent everything which the agent
had given to him, (and) the agent dispute with the commissioner
(concerning) anything which the commissioner has repaid to
him, that commissioner shall summon the agent before God and
the witnesses, and the agent, for having disputed (with) his
commissioner, anything which he has received he shall repay to
the commissioner sixfold.
108. If a wine-woman has not accepted wheat as the price of
drink, (but) has accepted silver by the large stone, or has set
the tariff of the drink below the tariff of the wheat, they shall
summon that wine-woman, and shall throw her into the water.
109. If a wine-woman, (when) riotous fellows are assembled at
her house, does not seize those riotous fellows and take them to
the palace, that wine-woman shall be killed.
1 10. If a devotee who dwells not in a cloister open a wine-
house, or enter a wine-house for drink, that female they shall
burn. in. If a wine-woman has given 60 qaol second (?) quality
drink, for thirst, she shall take 50 qa of corn at harvest-time.
112. If a man is travelling,3 and has given to (another) man
silver, gold, (precious) stones, and his other property 4 and has
caused him to take them for delivery, (and) that man has not
delivered what he was to transmit at the place to which he
was to transmit (it), and has taken it away, the owner of the con
signment shall summon that man for anything which he took and
did not deliver, and that man shall give (back) to the owner of
the consignment fivefold anything which had been given to him.
113. If a man have (an account of) wheat or silver against a.
man, and without the owner of the wheat has taken wheat from
the barn or the depository, they shall summon that man, for
having taking wheat, without the owner of the wheat, from the
barn or depository, and he shall return the wheat, as much as he
1 In other words, " he shall take a receipt for the amount."
2 Probably =" shall not be placed to his credit."
3 Lit.: " dwells on the road." * Lit.: " the possessions of his hand."

500 APPENDIX
took, and he shall forfeit whatever it may be, as much as he
lent.1 114. If a man have no (account of) wheat or silver against a
man, and make his distraint, for every distraint he shall pay
one-third of a mana of silver.
115. If a man have (an account of) wheat or silver against a
man, and make his distraint, and the person distrained 2 die, by
his fate, in the house of the distrainer, that lawsuit has no
claim. 116. If the person distrained 2 die in the house of the dis
trainer by blows or by ill-treatment, the owner of the person
distrained 2 shall summon his agent ; 3 and if (the person dis
trained) was the son of the man, they shall kill his (the dis
trainer's) son ; if he was the servant (slave) of the man, he shall
pay one-third of a mana of silver ; and he shall forfeit whatever
it may be, as much as he lent.1
117. If a man has contracted a debt, and has given his wife,
his son, (or) his daughter for the money, or has let (them) out
for service, three years they shall serve the house of their
purchaser or master, in the fourth year he shall grant their
freedom. 118. If he let out a male or female slave for service, (and)
the agent pass (them) on (and) give them for silver, there is no
claim. 1 19. If a man has contracted a debt, and has sold his female-
slave who has borne him children, the owner of the slave may
(re)pay the silver which the agent has paid, and redeem his
slave. 120. If a man has delivered his grain for storage in the house
of a man, and a deficiency appears in the granary, or the master
of the house has opened the storehouse and taken the grain, or
he has disputed as to the total of the grain which was delivered
at his house, the owner of the grain shall claim his grain before
God, and the master of the house shall cause the grain which he
has taken to be made up, and shall give (it) to the owner of the
grain. 121. If a man has delivered grain (for storage) at the house of
a man, he shall pay yearly 5 qa of grain for every gur (as)
the price of the storage.
122. If a man give silver, gold, or anything else, to a man on
deposit, he shall show the witnesses everything, whatever he
gives ; he shall make contracts, and (then) give (it) on deposit.
1 Lit. : ' ' and to whatever its name, as much as he gave, he shall renounce. ' '
2 Lit.: " the distraint"
3 Apparently the agent who lent him the money, and who is called ' ' the
distrainer" in the foregoing lines.

APPENDIX S01
123. If he has given it on deposit without witnesses and
contracts, and they dispute (this) to him where he gave it, that
lawsuit has no claim.
124. If a man has given silver, gold, or anything else, to a
man, before witnesses, on deposit, and (the man) dispute with
him, he shall summon that man, and whatever he has disputed,
he shall make up and give (back).
125. If a man has given his property on deposit, and where he
gave (it), his property disappeared, with the property of the
owner of the house, either through a breaking in or through a
trespass, the master of the house which was in fault shall com
pensate for his property which he gave him on deposit and
(which) was lost, and he shall make (it) up to the owner of the
property. The master of the house shall seek his lost property,
and take it from the thief.
126. If a man, his property not being lost, say that his property
is lost, he shall bring forward his deficiency. As his property
has not been lost, he shall state his deficiency before God, and
whatever he has claimed they shall cause him to make up, and
he shall give (it) to (make up) his deficiency.
127. If a man has caused the finger to be raised against a
devotee or the wife of a man, and has not justified it, they shall
set that man before the judges, and mark his forehead.
128. If a man has taken a wife, and has not made her contract,1
that woman is not a wife.
129. If the wife of a man is taken in adultery with another
male, they shall tie them together, and throw them into the
water. If the owner of the wife spare his wife, and the king
spare his servant. . . .
130. If a man force the wife of a man who has not yet known
a male, and (who) dwells in the house of her father, and has
lain in her bosom, and they have found him, that man shall be
killed, the woman shall be allowed to go.
131. If the wife of a man has been accused by her husband,2
and he has not found her on the couch with another male, she
shall swear by God,3 and return to her house.
132. If, on account of another male, the finger has been
pointed at the wife of a man, and she has not been found with
another male on the couch, she shall plunge into the river for
her husband('s sake).
133. If a man has been made captive, and there is in his
house the wherewithal to eat, (and) his [wife] has [gone] forth
[from] her [house], [and afterwards ?] has [en]tered into another
1 Has not made a contract for her.
2 Lit. : " If the wife of a man her husband accuse her."
3 Lit. . " she shall invoke the spirit of God."

502 APPENDIX
house, [as] that woman has not protected her body (?), and has
entered another house, they shall summon that woman, and
throw her into the water.
134. If a man has been made captive, and there is not in the
house the wherewithal to eat, his wife may enter another house ;
that woman is not in fault.
135. If a man has been made captive, and there is not in his
house the wherewithal to eat,1 (and) his wife has entered another
house, and has borne children, (and) afterwards her husband
return, and reach his city, that woman shall2 return to her
husband ; the children shall go to their father.
136. If a man has abandoned his city and fled, (and) after
wards 3 his wife has entered another house, if that man return,
and (wish to) take his wife, as he hated his city and fled, the
wife of the deserter shall 4 not return to her husband.
137. If a man set his face to repudiate a concubine who has
borne him children, or a wife who has caused him to have
children, he shall return to that woman her (marriage) gift, and
shall give to her the usufruct of field, plantation, and goods, and
she shall bring up her children. After she has brought up her
children, they shall give to her, from the property which has
been given to her children, (a share of) the produce like (that
of) one son, and she may marry the husband of her choice.6
138. If a man (wish to) repudiate his spouse, who has not
borne him children, he shall give to her silver, as much as was
her dower, and he shall restore to her the wedding-gift which
she brought from the house of her father, and shall repudiate
her. 139. If there be no dower, he shall give her one mana of
silver for the repudiation.
140. If (he be) a poor man, he shall give her one-third of a
mana of silver.
141. If the wife of a man, who dwells in the house of the man,
set her face to go forth, commit foolishness (?), ruin her house,
despise her husband, they shall summon her, and if her husband
say : " I have divorced her," he shall let her go her way. (As
for) her repudiation(-gift), nothing shall be given to her. If her
husband say : " I have not repudiated her," her husband may
marry 6 another woman ; that woman shall dwell in her husband's
house like a servant.
142. If a woman hate her husband, and say : "Thou shalt not
possess me," her reason for that which she lacks shall be
1 The original text adds "before him," probably meaning "before he
left." 2 Or " may." 3 Lit.: "after him." 4 Or "need."
s Lit. : " she may take the husband of her heart. " ° Lit. : "take,"

APPENDIX 503
examined, and if she has been continent, and have no fault, and
her husband go out, and neglect her greatly, that woman has
no defect ; she shall take her wedding-gift, and shall go to the
house of her father.
143. If she has not been continent, and has gone about, she
has ruined her house, (and) despised her husband ; they shall
throw that woman into the water.
144. If a man has married a wife, and that wifehas given a
maid-servant to her husband, and she has had children, (if)
that man set his face to take a concubine, they shall not allow
that man — he shall not take a concubine.
145. If a man has married a wife, and she has not caused him
to have children, and he set his face to take a concubine, that
man may take a concubine, (and) may introduce her into his
house, (but) he shall not make that concubine equal with (his)
wife. 146. If a man has married a wife, and she has given a maid
servant to her husband, and (the maid-servant) has borne children,
(if) afterwards that maid-servant make herself equal with her
mistress, as she has borne children, her mistress shall not sell
her for silver ; she shall place a mark ' upon her, and count her
with the maid-servants.
147. If she has not borne children, her mistress may sell her
for silver.
148. If a man has married a wife, and a malady has seized
her, (and) he has set his face to marry a second, he may marry.
He shall not divorce the wife whom the malady has seized ; she
may stay in the house he has made, and he shall support her as
long as she lives.
149. If that woman is not content to dwell in the house of her
husband, he shall deliver to her her marriage-gift, which she
brought from the house of her father, and she shall go her way.
150. If a man has presented to his wife a field, a plantation, a
house, and property, (and) has left her a sealed tablet, after her
husband('s death) her sons shall make no claim against her.
The mother may give her property 2 to the son whom she loves,
— to the brother she need not give.
151. If a woman who dwells in the house of a man contract
with her husband, and cause (him) to deliver a tablet, so that a
creditor3 of her husband may not seize her, if that man have
interest of money against him before he marries that woman,
his creditor shall not seize his wife, and if that woman have
interest of money against her before she enter the house of the
man, her creditor shall not seize her husband.
1 Or "a chain." 2 Lit. : "her after (property)."
3 Lit.: " a lord of interest. "

504 APPENDIX
152. If interest accrue against them after that woman has
entered the house of the man, they shall both be responsible to
the agent.
1 53. If the wife of a man cause her husband to be killed on
account of another male, they shall impale that woman.1
154. If a man has known his daughter, they shall expel that
man from the city.
155. If a man has chosen a bride for his son, and his son has
known her, (and if) he (himself) then afterwards has lain in her
bosom, and they have found him, they shall bind that man, and
cast her into the water.2
156. If a man has chosen a bride for his son, and his son has
not known her, and he (himself) has lain in her bosom, he shall
pay her half a mana of silver, and shall restore to her whatever
she brought from the house of her father, and she shall marry
the husband of her choice.
157. If a man, after his father, has lain in the bosom of his
mother, they shall burn them both.
158. If a man, after his father, be found in the bosom of her
who brought him up, (and) who has brought forth children, that
man shall be turned out of (his) father's house.
159. If a man, who has brought to his father-in-law's house
furniture 3 (and) has given a dower, pay attention to another
woman, and say to his father-in-law : " I will not marry thy
daughter," the father of the girl shall take the property which
has been brought to him.
160. If a man has brought furniture to the house of his father-
in-law, (and) given a dower, and the father of the girl say : " I
will not give thee my daughter," the property, as much as has
been brought to him, he shall cause to be equal,4 and shall
return. 161. If a man has brought furniture to the house of his father-
in-law, (and) given a dower, and his friend slander him, (and)
his father-in-law say to the husband of the wife : 6 " Thou shalt
not marry my daughter," he shall cause to be equal 4 the pro
perty, as much as has been brought to him, and return (it), and
his friend shall not marry his wife.
162. If a man has married a wife, (and) she has borne him
children, and that woman has gone to (her) fate, her father shall
1 Lit. : "set her upon a stake."
2 There is a mistake in the text here, the most probable reading being
" cast him into the water. "
3 Lit. : " movable(s)," French liii meulle.
* Perhaps " shall add to it an equal amount," as a kind of compensation.
Scheil has ' ' il egalera. ' '
5 That is, to the man himself.

APPENDIX 505
have no claim upon her marriage-gift — her marriage-gift belongs
to her sons.
163. If a man has married a wife, and she has not caused him
to have children, (and) that woman has gone to (her) fate, if his
father-in-law has returned to him the dower which that man
took to the house of his father-in-law, her husband shall have
no claim upon the marriage-gift of that woman — her marriage-
gift belongs to the house of her father.
164. If his father-in-law has not returned to him the dower, he
shall deduct from her marriage-gift all her dower, and return
(the balance of) her marriage-gift to her father's house.
165. If a man has presented to his son, who is foremost in his
eyes, a field, a plantation, and a house, (and) has written for
him a tablet, (and) afterwards the father has gone to (his) fate,
when the brothers share together, he shall take the gift whieh
the father gave him, and they shall share equally in the property
of the house of the father besides.
166. If a man has taken wives for the sons which he has had,
(and) has not taken a wife for his youngest son, (and) afterwards
the father has gone to (his) fate, when the brothers share
together, they shall set aside the money of a dower for their
youngest brother, who has not taken a wife, from the property
of the father's house, besides his (lawful) share, and shall cause
him to take a wife.
167. If a man has married a wife, and she has borne him sons,
(and) that woman has gone to (her) fate, (and) after her he has
married another woman, and she has brought forth sons, (and)
afterwards the father has gone to (his) fate, the sons shall not
share according to the mothers. They shall take the marriage-
gifts of their mothers, and the property of the father's house
they shall share equally.
168. If a man set his face to discard his son, he shall say to
the judge : " I discard my son ; " the judge shall inquire into his
reasons. If the son has not committed a grave fault which cuts
him off from sonhood, the father shall not cut off his son from
sonhood.1 169. If he has committed against his father a grave fault
which cuts him off from sonhood, the first time (the father) shall
refrain. If he has committed a grave fault a second time, the
father shall cut his son off from the sonhood.
170. If a man's wife has borne him children, and his maid
servant has borne him children, (and) the father in his lifetime
say to the children whom the maid-servant has borne to him :
" My children," he has reckoned them with the children of the
1 In all probability it is an adopted son who is meant — it is doubtful
whether a man could do more than disinherit his own child.

5o6 APPENDIX
wife. After the father has gone to (his) fate, the children of the
wife and the children of the maid-servant shall share in the
property of the father's house equally ; the son (who is) the
child of the wife shall choose and take at the sharing.
171. And if the father, during his lifetime, has not said to the
children whom the maid-servant has borne to him : " My
children," after the father has gone to (his) fate, the children of
the maid-servant shall not share in the property of the father's
house with the children of the wife. (If) he has set free the
maid-servant and her children, the children of the wife shall not
claim the children of the maid-servant for service. The wife
shall take her marriage-gift and the dowry which her husband
gave her (and) recorded upon a tablet, and she shall sit in the
seat of her husband ; as long as she lives, she shall enjoy (them)
— she shall not sell them for money — they belong to her children
after her.
172. If her husband has not given her a dowry, they shall
make up to her her marriage-gift, and she shall take, from the
property of her husband's house, a share like (that of) one son.
If her sons afflict her, to send her forth from the house, the
judge shall inquire into her reasons, and (if) he set the fault
upon the children, that woman shall not go forth from her
husband's house. If that woman set her face to go forth, she
shall leave to her children the dowry which her husband gave
her. She shall take the marriage-gift of her father's house, and
the husband of her choice shall marry her.
173. If that woman, in the place where she has entered, has
borne to her second husband children, after that woman has
died, the former and latter children shall share her marriage-
gift. 174. If she has not borne children to her second husband,
then the children of her (first) spouse shall take her marriage-gift.
175. If a slave of the palace or the slave of a poor man has
married the daughter of a (free) man, and has borne children,
the owner of the slave shall not make a claim upon the children
of a (free) man's daughter for servitude.
1 76a. And if a slave of the palace or a slave of a poor man
has married a (free) man's daughter, and when he has married
her, she has entered the house of the slave of the palace or the
slave of the poor man with a wedding-gift from the house of her
father, and after they have been established, they have built a
house and have property, (if) afterwards the slave of the palace
or the slave of the poor man has gone to (his) fate, the daughter
of the (free) man shall take her marriage-gift, and they shall
divide the property, which her husband and she had after they
were established, into two parts, and the owner of the slave shall

APPENDIX 507
take half, (and) the daughter of the (free) man shall take half
for her children.
176b. If the daughter of the (free) man had no marriage gift,
the property which her husband and she possessed after they
were established they shall divide into two parts, and the master
of the slave shall take half, the daughter of the (free) man shall
take half for her children.
177. If a widow whose children are young set her face to
enter another house,1 she shall not enter without the judge.
When she enters another house, the judge shall inquire con
cerning what remains of her first husband's house, and they
shall entrust the first husband's house to the second husband
and to that woman, and shall cause them to deliver a tablet.
They shall keep that house and bring up the young (children).
They shall not sell (any) utensil for silver. The buyer who buys
a utensil of the children of a widow shall forfeit his money ; the
property shall return to its owner.
178. If a devotee, or a public woman, to whom her father has
presented a gift, (and) has written for her a tablet, (and) on the
tablet which he has written for her has not written for her
(concerning) the giving of what she should leave to whomsoever
she pleased, and has not let her follow the desire of her heart,
after the father has gone to (his) fate, her brothers shall take
her field and her plantation, and according to the amount of her
share shall give to her food, oil, and clothing, and shall satisfy
her heart. If her brothers have not given her food, oil, and
clothing according to the amount of her share, and have not
satisfied her heart, she may give her field and plantation to the
farmer who may seem good to her, and her farmer shall support
her. Field, plantation, and property, which her father gave her,
she shall enjoy as long as she lives — she shall not give (them)
for silver, nor shall she be answerable (to) another (therewith) —
her share as daughter belongs to her brothers.2
179. If a devotee or a public woman, to whom her father has
presented a gift, (and) has written for her a sealed tablet,
(and) on the tablet which he has written for her has written for
her (concerning) the giving of what she should leave to whom
soever she pleased, and has let her follow the desire of her
heart, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall give what
she leaves to whomsoever she pleases — her brothers have no
claim upon her.
180. If a father has not presented a gift3 to his daughter, who
is a recluse or a public woman, after the father has gone to (his)
1 /. e. decide to marry again.
2 Lit. : " her sonhood, of her brothers it is."
3 The same word is used as in the case of a marriage-gift.

508 APPENDIX
fate, she shall take a share in the property of the father's house
like a son, and enjoy (it) as long as she lives. What she leaves
belongs to her brothers.
181. If a father has brought to a god a hierodule or a virgin,
and has not presented to her a gift,1 after the father has gone to
(his) fate, she shall share in the property of the father's house a
third (as) her inheritance, and she shall enjoy (it) as long as she
lives. What she leaves belongs to her brothers.
182. If a father has not presented a gift1 to his daughter,
priestess of Merodach of Babylon, (and) has not written for her
a sealed tablet, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall
share, with her brothers, in the property of the father's house a
third pa'rt (as) her inheritance, and she shall not carry on its
administration. The priestess of Merodach may give what she
leaves to whomsoever she pleases.
1 83. If a father has presented a marriage-gift to his concubine-
daughter, given her to a husband, (and) written for her a sealed
tablet, after the father has gone to (his) fate, she shall not share
in the property of the father's house.2
184. If a man has not presented to his concubine- daughter a
marriage-gift, (and) has not given her to a husband, after the
father has gone to (his) fate, her brothers shall give her a
wedding-gift according to the amount (of the property) of the
father's house, and shall give her to a husband.
185. If a man has adopted3 a child by its name,4 and has
brought it up, that foster-child cannot be claimed back.
1 86. If a man has adopted 3 a child, and when he had adopted
him, he rebelled against his (foster-)father and his (foster-)mother,
that foster-child shall return to his father's house.
187. The son of a favourite attending the palace, and the son
of a public woman, cannot be claimed back.5
188. If an artizan6has taken a child to bring up,7 and has
taught him his handicraft, he cannot be claimed back.
189. If he has not taught him his handicraft, that foster-child8
may return to his father's house.
190. If a man has not reckoned with his sons a young child
which he has adopted and brought up, that foster-child shall
return to the house of his father.
191. If a man who has adopted a child and brought him up,
has built a dwelling, (and) after he has children (of his own) set
1 The same word is used as in the case of a marriage-gift.
2 That is, she must content herself with the marriage-gift.
3 Lit. : " taken to childship." 4 Or " in his name."
6 These were in the position of orphans, having no proper home.
8 Lit. : "the son of a worker. " 7 Or " as a foster-child."
8 Here the term would seem to be equivalent to " apprentice."

APPENDIX 509
his face to cut off the foster-child, that child shall not go his
way. His foster-father shall give him one-third of his property
as his inheritance and (then) he shall go. He shall give him
nothing of the field, plantation, and house.
192. If the son of a favourite or the son of a public woman
say to his foster-father and his foster-mother, " Thou art not my
father, thou art not my mother," they shall cut out his tongue.1
193. If the child of a favourite or the child of a public woman
come to know his father's house, and despise his foster-father
and his foster-mother, and go to his father's house, they shall
tear out his eyes.2
194. If a man has given his child to a nurse, and that child
has died in the hands of the nurse, and the nurse, without [his]
father and his mother, rear another child, they shall summon
her, and as she has rear[ed] another child without [his] father
and mother, they shall cut off her breasts.
195. If a son smite his father, they shall cut off his hands.
196. If a man has destroyed the eye of the son of a man, they
shall destroy his eye.
197. If he has broken the limb of a man, they shall break his
limb. 198. If he has destroyed the eye of a poor man, or broken the
limb of a poor man, he shall pay one mana of silver.
199. If he has destroyed the eye of a man's slave, or broken
the limb of a man's slave, he shall pay half his value.3
200. If a man has knocked out the teeth of a man of bis rank,
they shall knock out his teeth.
201. If he has knocked out the teeth of a poor man, he shall
pay one-third of a mana of silver.
202. If a man has struck the head4 of a man who is greater
than he, he shall be struck in the assembly sixty times with an
ox-hide whip.
203. If the son of a man 6 has struck the head of the son of a
man who is like himself, he shall pay one mana of silver.
204. If a poor man has struck the head of a poor man, he
shall pay ten shekels of silver.
205. If the slave of a man has struck the head 6 of the son of
a man, they shall cut off his ear.
206. If a man has struck a man in a quarrel, and do him hurt,
1 Evidently this was regarded as the height of ingratitude (see the footnote
to § 187).
2 In the original "his eye." 3 Lit. : " price."
4 Or " skull," Scheil : " cerveau." Winckler has "body" (K6rper), Johns
"strength." 5 According to Winckler, this expression (" son of a man") means "a
free-born man."

510 APPENDIX
that man shall swear : " I did not strike him knowingly,'' and he
shall be responsible for the physician.
207. If he die of his blows, he shall swear (the same). If (it
was) the son of a man, he shall pay one-half a mana of silver.
208. If it was the son of a poor man, he shall pay one-third of
a mana of silver.
209. If a man has struck the daughter of a man, and caused
what was within her to fall from her, he shall pay ten shekels of
silver for what was within her.
210. If that woman die, they shall kill his daughter.
211. If by blows he has made what was within the daughter
of a poor man to fall from her, he shall pay five shekels of
silver. 212. If that woman die, he shall pay one-half a mana of
silver. 213. If he has struck a man's slave-woman and made that
which was within her fall from her, he shall pay two shekels of
silver. 214. If that slave-woman die, he shall pay one-third' of a mana
of silver.
215, If a physician has treated a man for a grave injury with
a bronze lancet, and cured the man, or opened the cataract of a
man with a bronze lancet, and cured the eye of the man, he
shall receive ten shekels of silver.
216. If it was the son of a poor man, he shall receive five
shekels of silver.
217. If it was a man's slave, the owner ofthe slave shall pay
to the physician two shekels of silver.
218. If a physician has treated a man for a grave injury with a
bronze lancet, and caused the man to die, or opened the cataract
of a man with a bronze lancet, and destroyed the eye of a man,
they shall cut off his hands.
219. If a physician has treated a poor man's slave for a grave
injury with a bronze lancet, and has caused (him) to die, he
shall make good slave for slave.1
220. If he has opened his cataract with a bronze lancet, and
destroyed his eye, he shall pay half his value in silver.2
221. If a physician has made sound the broken limb of a man,
or saved a diseased part, the patient 3 shall pay to the physician
five shekels of silver.
222. If it be the son of a poor man, he shall pay three shekels
of silver.
223. If it was .a man's slave, the owner of the slave shall pay
to the physician two shekels of silver.
1 Lit. : "slave like slave." 2 Lit. : " the silver of half his price. "
3 Lit.. " lord of the injury."

APPENDIX 5 1 1
224. If an ox-doctor or an ass-doctor has treated an ox or an
ass for a grave injury, and has saved (it), the owner of the ox or
the ass shall pay to the physician one-sixth (of a shekel) of silver
(as) his hire.
225. If he has treated the ox or the ass for a grave injury, and
caused (it) to die, he shall give to the owner of the ox or the ass
a quarter of its price.
226. If a barber, without the (knowledge of the) owner of a
slave, has marked an inalienable slave with a mark, they shall
cut off the hands of that barber.1
227. If a man has deceived a barber, and he has marked an
inalienable slave with a mark, they shall kill that man, and bury
him in his house ; the barber shall swear : " I did not mark
knowingly," and shall go free.
228. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has finished
it (well), for a house of one sar, he shall give him two shekels
of silver as his pay.
229. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has not
done his work strongly, and the house he has made has fallen
down, and killed the owner of the house, that builder shall be
killed. 230. If it cause the son of the owner of the house to die, they
shall kill the son of that builder.
231. If it cause the slave of the owner of the house to die, he
shall give to the owner of the house a slave like (his) slave.
232, If it has destroyed the property, whatever it has destroyed,
he shall make good. And as he did not make strong the house
he constructed, and it fell, from his own property he shall
rebuild the house which fell.
233. If a builder has made a house for a man, and has not
caused his work to be firm, and the wall has fallen over, that
builder shall strengthen that wall with his own money.
234. If a boatman has calked a vessel of bo gur (burthen) for
a man, he shall give him two shekels of silver as his pay.
235. If a boatman has calked a vessel for a man, and has not
perfected his work, and in that (same) year that vessel sail, (if)
it have a defect, the boatman shall take that vessel to pieces,
and repair (it) with his own capital, and give the repaired vessel
to the owner of the vessel.3
236. If a man has given his vessel to a boatman for hire, and
the boatman has been neglectful, and sunk or lost the vessel,
the boatman shall replace the vessel to the owner of the vessel.
] This was regarded as a fraud, and punished as such.
2 Or "the boatman shall repair that vessel, and strengthen (it) with his
own capital, and give the strengthened vessel (back) to the owner of the
vessel."

512 APPENDIX
237. If a man has hired a boatman and a vessel, and has
freighted it with wheat, wool, oil, dates, and any other kind of
freight ; (if) that boatman be neglectful, and sink the vessel,
and lose what is within (it), the boatman shall replace the vessel
which he has sunk, and whatever he lost, which was within it.
238. If a boatman has sunk a man's vessel, and refloated it,
he shall pay half its value ' in silver.
239. If a man [has hired] a boatman, he shall give him 6 gur
of wheat yearly.
240. If a sailing (?) vessel collide with a rowing (?) vessel, and
sink (it), the owner of the sunken vessel shall declare before
God whatever has been lost in his vessel, and (he) of the sailer
which sank the rowing vessel shall replace for him his vessel
and whatever was lost.
241. If a man has driven the ox (of another) to work, he shall
pay one-third of a mana of silver.
242 and 243. If a man has hired for a year, (as) hire of a
draught-ox he shall pay to its owner 4 gur of wheat. (As) hire
of a carrier(?)-ox, 3 gur of wheat.
244. If a man has hired an ox (or) an ass, and a lion kill it in
the field, (the loss) is its owner's.
245. If a man has hired an ox, and cause it to die by negli
gence or by blows, to the ox's owner he shall make up ox for ox.2
246. If a man has hired an ox, and has broken its foot or cut
its nape,3 to the ox's owner he shall make up ox for ox.
247. If a man has hired an ox, and has poked out its eye, he
shall pay to the ox's owner half its value in silver.
248. If a man has hired an ox, and has broken its horn, cut
off its tail, or pierced 4 its nostril, he shall pay a quarter of its
value in silver.
249. If a man has hired an ox, and God has stricken it and it
has died, the man who hired the ox shall swear by God,5 and
shall go free.
250. If a mad bull, in its onset, has gored a man, and caused
(him) to die, that case has no claim.6
251. If a man's ox — goring for goring — has made known to
him its vice,7 and he has not sawn off its horns, (if) he has not
shut up his ox, and that ox has gored the son of a man, and
caused him to die, he shall pay half a mana of silver.
1 Lit. : "price." 2 Lit. : "ox like ox."
3 Such is the general translation. An injury of this kind would render
the animal useless, as it would be unable to bear the yoke, hence this
enactment. 4 Or "slit." « Lit. : " shall invoke the spirit of God."
s As the dog his first bite, so the bull was allowed his first toss free.
7 Or "failing," "defect."

APPENDIX 513
252. [If] it be a man's servant, he shall give one-third of a
mana of silver.
253. If a man has hired a man to stay upon his field, and
[ha]nded to him the produce (?), confided to him the oxen, [and]
contracted with him [to] cultivate the field, if that man has
stolen the wheat or the vegetables, and it is found in his hands,
they shall cut off his hands.
254. If he has taken away the produce and deprived 1 the oxen,
he shall replace the amount of the wheat which, he has wasted (?).
255. If he has let out 2 the oxen of a man for hire, or stolen
the wheat, and not made (it) to grow in the field, they shall
summon that man, and for every 10 bur-gan he shall measure
60 gur of wheat.
256. If his borough cannot respond for him, they shall leave
him in that field with the oxen.
257. If a man has hired a field-labourer, he shall give him
8 gur of wheat yearly.
258. If a man has hired an ox-herd (?), he shall give him 6
gur of wheat yearly.
259. If a man has stolen a watering-machine from the
enclosure, he shall give to the owner of the watering-machine
five shekels of silver.
260. If he has stolen a shadoof or a plough, he shall give
three shekels of silver.
261. If a man has hired a herdsman to pasture oxen and
sheep, he shall give him 8 gur of wheat yearly.
262. If a man an ox or sheep for ... .
263  If he has lost [an ox] or a sheep which has been
given to [him], he shall restore to [their] owner, ox for [ox],
sheep for [sheep].
264. If a [herdsman], to whom oxen or sheep have been given
to pasture, has received his wages, everything (?) as agreed (?),
and is satisfied,3 has reduced the oxen, (or) reduced the sheep,
(or) lessened (their) young, he shall give (back) young and
increase according to his contracts.
265. If a herdsman, to whom oxen and sheep have been
given to pasture, has acted wrongly, and changed the natural
increase,4 and has given (it) for silver, they shall summon him,
and ten times what he has stolen, oxen and sheep, he shall
make good to their owner.
266. If in the fold an act of God has taken place, or a lion has
killed, the herdsman shall declare his innocence before God,
and the owner of the fold shall meet the destruction of the fold.
1 Or "weakened," "starved." i Lit. . "given."
' Lit. : " it is good to his heart."
* Lit. : "the fate," i.e., divine decree concerning them.
K K

514 APPENDIX
267. If the herdsman has been in fault, and has caused
damage in the fold, the herdsman shall make up the loss caused
by 1 the damage which he has [brought about in the fold, (both)
oxen and sheep, and shall give (them) to their owner. -
268. If a man has hired an ox for treading out (the corn),
20 qa of wheat is his hire.
269. If he has hired an ass for treading out (the corn), 10 qa
of wheat is his hire.
270. If he has hired a young animal for treading out (the
corn), 1 qa of wheat is his hire.
271. If a man has hired oxen, a cart, and its driver, he shall
give 180 qa of wheat daily.
272. If a man has hired the cart by itself, he shall give 40 qa
of wheat daily.
273. If a man has hired a workman, from the beginning of
the year to the fifth month he shall give six grains 2 of silver
daily ; from the sixth month to the end of the year, he shall
give five grains of silver daily.
274. If a man hire\ (as) wages of a ... . five [grains] of
an artizan,/ silver;
(as) wages of a brickmaker (?) 3 five
grains of silver ;
(as) wages of a linen-weaver4 five grains
of silver ;
(as) wages of a stone-worker (?) 6 ... .
grains of silver ;
(as) wages of a milkman 6 (?) ....
[grains] of silver ;
(as) [wages] of a .... ....
[grains] of silver.
(as) [wages] of a carpenter four grains
of silver ;
(as) wages of a .... four grains
of silver ;
(as) [wages]of ahouse-superintendent (?)
.... grains of silver ;
(as) [wages] of a builder (?), .... grains
of silver.
[daijly [he shall g]ive.
275. [If] a man has hired a small boat (?), three grains of
silver is its hire daily.
1 Lit. : "of."
2 The character used is the same as that for grain (wheat, etc.), but the
weight is unknown. 3 Winckler : "potter."
4 Lit. : " man of linen." Scheil, Winckler, and Johns translate " tailor."
5 A part only of the word is preserved.

APPENDIX 515
276. If he has hired a sailing vessel (?), he shall give two
grains and a half of silver (as) its hire daily.
277. If a man has hired a vessel of 60 gur, he shall give
one-sixth (of a shekel) of silver daily (as) its hire.
278. If a man has bought a male or female slave, and before
he has fulfilled his month an infirmity has fallen upon him, he
shall return him to his seller, and the buyer shall receive back
the silver he has paid.
279. If a man has bought a male or female slave, and he is
liable to be reclaimed,1 his seller shall respond to the claim.2
280. If a man, in a foreign country, has bought a male (or)
female slave of a man, (and) when they have arrived in the
midst of the land, a (former) owner of the male or female slave
recognize his male or female slave, if their male and female slave
are children of the land, he shall set them free without payment.3
281. If they are children of another land, the buyer shall
declare before God the money 4 he has paid, and the (former)
owner of the male or female slave shall give to the agent the
money he has paid, and shall recover his male or female slave.
282. If a slave has said to his master : " Thou art not my
master," he shall summon him as his slave, and his master shall
cut off his ear.
Decrees of equity, which Hammurabi, the able king, has
established, and has procured (for) the country lasting security
and a happy rule. Hammurabi, the accomplished king, am I.
For the head-dark (ones),5 whom Bel assigned, (and whose)
shepherding Merodach has given, I have not been neglectful,
I have not relaxed — peaceful localities have I found for them,8
I have opened the narrow defiles, light have I caused to go
forth to them. With the powerful weapon which Zagaga and
Istar have conferred upon me, with the acuteness which Ae has
bestowed, with the might which Merodach has bestowed, I have
rooted out the enemy above and below.7 I have dominated the
depths,8 I have made happy the flesh of the land, the people
of the dwellings (therein) have I caused to lie down in security —
fear caused I not to possess them. The great gods have
elected 8 me, and I am the shepherd giving peace, whose
sceptre is just, setting up good for evil in my city. I have
pressed the people of the land of Sumer and Akkad in my
1 Lit. . " he has had a claim. " 2 Lit. : " shall answer the claim. "
' Lit. : " he shall make their freedom without silver. " This law seems
to indicate that neither owner was regarded as having a right to them.
4 Lit. : "silver." 6 The people.
6 The Ninevite duplicate has a different reading.
7 Probably=" north and south," or " in mountain and valley."
8 Winckler: " subjugated the earth." 9 Lit. : "proclaimed."

5 16 APPENDIX
bosom ; by my protective spirit fraternally (?) have I guided
them in peace ; in my wisdom have I protected them. For the
strong not to oppress the weak, to direct the fatherless (and)
the widow, I have raised its : head in Babylon, the city of God
and Bel. In E-sagila, the house whose foundations are firm
like heaven and earth, I have written on my monument my
most precious words to judge the justice of the land, to decide
the decisions of the land, to direct the ignorant ; and I have
placed (them) before my image as king of righteousness.
The king who is great among the city-king(s) am I ; my
words are renowned, my power has no equal ; by the command
of Samas, the great judge of heaven and earth, may righteous
ness have power in the land ; 2 by the word of Merodach, my
lord, may my bas-reliefs not have a destroyer ; in E-sagila,
which I love, may my name be commemorated in happiness for
ever. The ignorant man, who has a complaint,3 let him come
before my image (as) king of righteousness, and let him read
my inscribed monument and let him hear my precious words,
and my monument explain to him the matter. Let him see
his judgment, let his heart expand, (saying) : " Hammurabi
is a lord who is like a father, a parent to the people ; he has
caused the word of Merodach, his lord, to be reverenced, and
has gained the victory for Merodach above and below. He
has rejoiced the heart of Merodach, his lord, and fixed for the
people happiness 4 for ever, and (well) has he governed the
land." Let him pronounce a vow, and with his heart perfect,
let him offer (it) before Merodach, my lord, (and) Zirpanitum,
my lady. May the winged bull, his protecting spirit, the gods
who enter E-sagila, (and) the wall of E-sagila, daily further
(his) desires6 in the presence of Merodach, my lord, and
Zirpanitum, my lady.
For the future, the course6 of days for all time : May the king
who is in the land protect the words of righteousness which I
have written on my monument. Let him not change the law
of the land which I have adjudged, the decisions of the country
which I have decided ; let him not cause my bas-relief to be
destroyed. If that man have intelligence, and wish to govern
his country well, let him pay attention to the words which I
have written on my monument, and may this monument show
him the path, the direction, the law of the land which I have
pronounced, the decisions of the land which I have decided.
1 Apparently meaning the head of the stone bearing this inscription.
2 The Nineveh duplicate has : " by the command of Samas and Hadad,
judges of justice, deciders of decisions, may justice have power."
3 Lit. : "a word." 4 Lit. : "good flesh."
* Lit.: "thoughts." 'Lit.: " the going forth."

APPENDIX 517
And let him rule his people,1 let him pronounce justice for
them, let him decide their decision. Let him remove the evil
and the wicked from his land, let him rejoice the flesh of his
people. JJammurabi, the king of righteousness, to whom SamaS has
given faithful subjects,2 am I. My words are noble, my works
have no equal — they have brought forth the proud (?) to
humility (?) the humble (?) to wisdom (?) (and) to renown. If
that man 3 is attentive to my words, which I have written on my
monument, and set not aside my law, change not my word,
alter not my bas-relief — that man like me, the king of righteous
ness, may the god SamaS make his sceptre to endure, may he
guide his people in righteousness. If that man regard not my
words, which I have written on my monument, and despise my
curse, and fear not the curse of God, and do away the law which
I have ordained — (if) he change my word, alter my bas-relief,
destroy my written name, and write his (own) name, (or) on
account of these curses cause another to do so,4 that man, whether
king, or lord, or viceroy, or personage who has been elected,6
may the great God, the father of the gods, proclaimer of my
reign, take back from him the glory of my kingdom, break his
sceptre, curse his destiny. Man Bel, the lord who determines
the destinies, whose command is unchangeable, he who has
magnified my kingdom, rouse against him revolts which his
hand cannot suppress, causing (?) his destruction upon his seat.6
A reign of sighing, days (but) few, years of want, darkness
without light, death the vision of (his) eyes, may they set for
him as (his) destiny. May he decree with his grave lips the
destruction of his city, the dispersion of his people, the taking
away of his royalty, the annihilation of his name and his record
in the land. May Beltis, the great mother whose command is
supreme 7 in E-kura, the lady who makes my thoughts propitious,
instead of judgment and decision, make his word evil before
Bel, may she accomplish the ruin of his country, the loss of his
people, the pouring out of his life like water by the command of
Bel the king. May AS, the great prince, whose decisions have
the precedence,8 the sage of the gods, he who knows everything,
who lengthens the days of my life, take back from him under -
standing ° and wisdom, bring him back into forgetfulness. 10
May he dam up ;his rivers at (their) sources, (and) cause grain,
the life of the people, not to exist in his land. May SamaS, the
1 Lit. : "his dark of head." 2 Scheil : " given rectitude. "
3 The future king. 4 Lit, : " cause another to take (this responsibility)."
5 Lit. : " whose name has been proclaimed." e I.e., his throne.
7 Lit. : "honourable." a Lit.: "go before."
3 Lit.: "ear." 10 Or "oblivion."

5l8 APPENDIX
great judge of heaven and earth, he who rules living things, the
lord my trust, destroy his dominion ; may he not pronounce his
judgment, may he confuse his path, may he annihilate the course
of his army. May he place for him, in his oracles,1 an evil
design to snatch away the foundation of his dominion and to
destroy his country. May SamaS's word of misfortune speedily
attack him ; may he snatch him from the living on high,
beneath in the earth may he deprive his spirit2 of water.
May Sin, lord of the heavens, the god my creator, whose
brightness3 shines resplendent among the gods, withdraw
from him crown and throne of dominion. May he fix upon
him a grave misdeed, his great fault, which will not disappear
from his body, and may he cause the days, the months, the
years of his reign to end in sighing and tears. May he increase
for him the burthen of his dominion, may he fix for him as (his)
fate a life which is comparable 4 with death. May Hadad, lord
of fertility, dominator of heaven and earth, my helper, withhold
from him the rains in the heavens, the flood in the springs.
May he destroy his country with want and famine, may he
angrily rage over his city, and turn his country to mounds of
the flood.6 May Zagaga, the great warrior, the eldest son of
(the temple) E-kura, he who goes at my right hand, break his
weapons on the battle-field. May he turn for him day into
night, and may he set his enemy over him. May IStar, lady of
war and battle, who lets loose my weapons, my propitious genius,
lover of my reign, in her angry heart, in her great wrath, curse
his dominion, his favours into evils may she turn, may she turn.6
In the place of war and battles may she break his weapons, may
she make for him confusion and revolt, may she cast down his
warriors, may she cause the earth to drink their blood, may she
cast down in the plain a heap of corpses of his warriors, may
she not cause his soldiers to have [burial ?]. As for him, may
she deliver him into the hand of his enemy, and bring him as a
captive to the land which is hostile to him. May Nergal, the
strong one among the gods, unrivalled battle,7 he who causes
me to attain my victory, in his great might burn 8 his people like
1 Or "visions."
2 Lit. : "spirits" (utukke). Perhaps the "soul" and "spirit " are meant,
the. plural being indicated by writing the character twice, though nothing
certain can be deduced from this.
3 Scheil and Winckler: "sickle" (= crescent), but this seems to be a
different word. 4 Scheil: " is in conflict. "
5 Mounds of an inundation, such as the great Flood was supposed to
have produced.
6 Probably repeated by an error of the stone-cutter.
7 The Nineveh duplicate has : " whose battle has no equal."
« Or "bind."

APPENDIX 519
a tiny bundle of reeds. With his strong weapon may he sub
jugate him, and may he crush his members like an image of
clay. May Nintu, the supreme lady of the lands, the mother
my creator, withhold from him his son, and cause him to have
no name, in the midst of his people may she not produce a
human seed. May Nin-Karrak, daughter of Anu, she who
announces my happiness, let forth from E-kura upon his
members a grave sickness, an evil pestilence, a grievous injury,
which they cannot cure, whose nature the physician does not
know, which he cannot ease with a bandage, (and which), like
the bite of death, cannot be removed. Until she take possession
of his life, may he groan for his manliness.1
May the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunna2 in
their assembly, the divine bull of the house,3 the bricks of
E-babbara,4 curse that (man), his reign, his country, his army,
his people, and his nation, with a deadly curse — with powerful
curses may Bel, by his word which cannot be changed, curse
him, and speedily may they overtake him.
These laws, as being the oldest known, have attracted
considerable attention, and much has been said concerning
their connection with the Mosaic Code. Whatever connection
there may be between them, however, it must be kept well in
mind, that they have been formulated and compiled from
totally different standpoints. Notwithstanding the references
in the Code of liammurabi to religious things, there is no
doubt that the laws given therein are purely civil, and compiled
either by the king as temporal ruler of the land, or by his
advisers, or by the judges who " decided the decisions of the
land." Charitable enactments were therefore as far from the
intention of the compilers of the Babylonian code as such
things are from the intention of the legislation of this or any
other modern civilized community or nationality. The Law of
Moses, on the other hand, has long been recognized as a
Priestly Code, into which all kinds of provisions for the poor,
the fatherless, the necessitous, were likely to enter, and have, in
fact, entered. From this point of view, Moses' code is im
measurably superior to that of the Babylonian law-giver, and
can hardly, on that account, be compared with it.
From existing duplicates of this inscription, we know that it
bore a title which, in accordance with the usual custom in
ancient times, was taken from the first few words of the
1 Or " strength," apparently meaning the imperfectness of that quality.
2 Generally referred to under the fuller form Anunnaki.
3 Or " temple," either that of Merodach at Babylon, or E-babbara.
4 The temple of the Sun at Sippar or at Larsa— probably the former.

520 APPENDIX
inscription, in this case Nintt ilu strum, " When the supreme
God. In the Ninevite duplicate in the British Museum,
however, a kind of title in the modern sense of the word is
given, namely, Dinani Hammurabi, "The Laws of Hammurabi,"
the first word being from the common Semitic root which
appears, in Semitic Babylonian, under the form of ddnu, " to
judge." As far as our information goes, it would seem that,
whilst the Hebrew tSrah was both judicial, ceremonial, and
moral, the Babylonian dlnu was judicial only. Ceremonial
enactments are entirely foreign to it, and morality, in the
modern sense of the word, though represented, does not hold a
very high place, though it must not be forgotten that five
columns of the text are wanting.
That there should be, therefore, but few parallels between
the Codes of Moses and of Hammurabi was to be expected,
though naturally likenesses and parallelisms are to be found,
the Hebrews being practically of the same stock as the
Babylonians, and also, as has been shown, under the influence
of the same civilization. It will be noticed, in reading through
the code, that not only are there no laws against sorcery,
worshipping other than the national god or gods, and pro
stitution, but there are actually enactments referring to the first
and the last, showing that they were recognized. Moral,
religious, ceremonial, and philanthropic enactments are, in fact,
entirely absent.
3-5. From these we see that the majesty of the law was
severely upheld. With the enactment concerning the defamation
of witnesses, Ex. xxiii. 2, which deals with the wresting of
judgment, may be compared. Bribery (4) carried with it damage
to the briber, but in Ex. xxiii. 8 it is the judge who is warned,
though there is no penalty.
7 (liability to be regarded as a thief on account of the
purchase or receiving of things without witnesses or a contract)
is to a certain extent paralleled by Lev. vi. 2 ff., where, however,
the penalty for wrongful possession is not death, but the
restoration of the object detained, with a fifth part of the value
added thereto.
8 (theft of live-stock) is illustrated by Ex. xxii. 1, where it is
ordered that the thief restore five oxen for a stolen ox, and four
sheep for a stolen sheep. All laws dealing with theft seem to
have been more severe among the Babylonians than among the
Hebrews, and inability to make the object good, with the
penalties attached thereto, was visited with death (6-1 1,
14, 15, etc.).
14. This enactment is exactly parallel with Ex. xxi. 16 : "He
that stealeth a man .... shall surely be put to death."

APPENDIX 521
21 (housebreaking). Ex. xxii. 2-4, justifies the killing of a
burglar caught in the act before sunrise, but not otherwise.
57. In the case of unlawful pasturing, it is probable that
Ex. xxii. 5 may furnish the key to the obscurities of this
Babylonian enactment. According to the Mosaic law, the
owner of the cattle had to make the damage good with the best
of his field or vineyard. To ensure getting the best, and his
due share, the most satisfactory way would be to reap the
offender's field, if he had one.
1 10. The opening (seemingly in the English sense) of a wine-
house by a temple-devotee, or her merely entering such a place,
was in all probability equivalent to prostituting herself, and if
so, this law may be compared with Lev. xxi. 9, in which the
daughter of a priest, if she profaned herself (and her father) by
playing the whore, was to be put to death by burning.
117. As is shown by the preceding enactments, the person of
a man might be seized for debt, but this shows that he might
allow his wife, his son, or his daughter to be taken to work it
off, and in that case they were to be set free in the fourth year.
In Hebrew law (Ex. xxi. 2) an ordinary purchased slave was .
free after six years' service, but if a man sold his daughter (v. 7),
she did not " go out as the men-servants do." J
125. The theft of things on deposit entailed only restitution if
the person with whom they were deposited were not in fault.
In Ex. xxii. 7-9 the person condemned had to pay or restore
double the value of the things stolen.
129. In this law the conditional clause at the end is incomplete,
but it may be supposed that liberty was accorded therein to the
king and to the injured husband to exercise mercy, and commute
the death-penalty in any way they thought fit, attaching thereto
any other penalty which might seem good to them. According
to Lev. xx. 10, the adulterer and the adulteress were to be put to
death, but in what manner is not stated. To all appearance no
mercy was given.
130. As this is a case of a married woman living in her
father's house, Ex. xxii. 16 is not an exact parallel. The
woman being unbetrothed, the man who had violated her had
to endow and marry her.
155. Incest of the nature referred to here is practically a
complete parallel with Lev. xx. 12, where, however, the nature
of the death-penalty is not stated. If the correction of the code
of Hammurabi suggested in the footnote (" they shall bind that
man, and cast him into the water ") be the true one, the man
„. > In Ex. xxi. 8 it is presumed that the master of the girl betrothed her to
himself, as in the case of Samas-nuri (p. 185), who, however, could be sold
as a slave if she denied her mistress.

522 APPENDIX
would seem to have been regarded as the chief sinner, and the
woman was probably left to be dealt with by the son's family.
The mere binding of the man, as in the text, would be no
adequate punishment, and the correction : " They shall bind
them, and cast them into the water," pre-supposes a very serious
mistake on the part of the scribe.
157. This is a parallel with Lev. xviii. 8, and xx. 11, and
the penalty is death in both codes. The word "mother" in
the Babylonian Code probably includes "step-mother" as
well. 195. This is parallel with Ex. xxi. 15, where, however, the
smiting of the mother is included, and the more severe penalty
of death is prescribed, instead of merely cutting off the offending
members as a punishment.
196, 197, 200, 210. These illustrate the dictum: "An eye for
an eye, and a tooth for tooth " (Ex. xxi. 24, 25 ; Lev. xxiv. 20 ;
Deut. xix. 21 ; Matt. v. 38). They were naturally the common
punishments of the period when the penalty of imprisonment
could not be imposed.
199. The destruction of the eye of a man's slave, or the
fracture of his limb, was apparently held to entail the diminution
of his value by one-half, which the person who inflicted the
injury had to pay. Nothing is said, however, concerning injury
to a slave by his master, and this law, therefore, has no parallel
in the Mosaic ordinance given in Ex. xxi. 26, 27, where the
master is spoken of as the possible aggressor, and had to set his
slave free on account of the injury he had received.1
206. The law regarding injuries inflicted upon a man in a
quarrel is parallel with Ex. xxi. 18, 19, except that the latter
decrees that the person inflicting the injury, in addition to
causing the injured man to be completely healed, has also to
pay for his loss of time. On the other hand, it is noteworthy
that, in the Code of Hammurabi, he who committed the injury
had to swear that he did not do it knowingly — that iSj with the
intention of injuring the man, otherwise he probably came
under the law of retaliation, Nos. 196, 197, and 200.
209. This is parallel with Ex. xxi. 22, but whereas the
penalty for the injury to the woman was fixed at ten shekels of
silver, the law of Moses allowed the husband to estimate the
compensation, which was certified and probably revised by the
judges. 210. It was not only "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth," but also "a daughter for a daughter," even when a
mortal injury may not have been intended. This is practically
1 The old Sumerian law referring to injuries to slaves (p. 191) inflicts a
fine on the hirer, not on the owner.

APPENDIX 523
the same as Ex. xxi. 23 : " And if any mischief follow, then
thou shalt give life for life."
241. As this law stands, it refers to the unlawful working of
another man's ox, and not to an ox taken in pledge, for the
working of which there could be no remedy, any more than
there was for taking a man's wife, child, or slave, in pledge to
work out a debt.
244 (loss of an animal through attack by a wild beast).
Compare Ex. xxii. 13 : " If it (an animal delivered into the
care of another) be torn in pieces, then let him bring it for
witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn."
Apparently there was no obligation to place the animal in a
safe place. Cf. Gen. xxxi. 39 (Jacob's reproof to Laban) :
" That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee ; I
bare the loss of it."
245 ff. These are to a certain extent illustrated by Ex. xxii.
14, 15, in which passage, if the owner ofthe injured animal was
not present, the borrower had to make good any loss. If,
however, the owner was there to protect it, there was no
penalty, as he could in all probability have prevented the
injury from being inflicted, and in any case might be supposed
to have control over the animal.
250. The owner of a furious bull was protected from loss,
even though the result was fatal, if he did not know that the
animal was vicious. In Ex. xxi. 28, though the owner of the
offending ox was to go free, the animal itself was to be stoned
to death, and its flesh not eaten. There is no doubt that this
was hard on the owner, but it must have had an excellent
effect, and ensured the proper enclosing of all doubtful animals.
251. Even when the master knew that his ox was vicious, the
Babylonians were more lenient than the Hebrews, who, in such
a case, besides the destruction of the ox, decreed the death of
the owner as a punishment for his negligence (Ex. xxi. 29).
As will be seen from verse 30, however, he might be spared by
paying such ransom as might be imposed upon him.
252. One-third of a mana of silver is equivalent to 20 shekels,
so that the sum here indicated as compensation for the death
of a slave who has been gored by a bull differs from that
awarded in Ex. xxi. 32, by ten shekels — one-sixth of a mana
more. 266. This is in part covered by 244 (destruction of cattle by
a lion), and is parallel with Ex. xxii. 10, 11, where, also, an
oath had to be sworn between the parties, and the herdsman in
whose care the cattle were, went free of all obligation. The
accident causing the loss, however, is not there described as " an
act of God."

524 APPENDIX
267. The wording of this law clearly indicates that it would
apply if the herdsman were in fault, and suggests that the same
condition must be read into Ex. xxii. 12, where, if the cattle
were stolen from him, he had to make the loss good.
Besides the enactments in the Code of Moses, however, we find,
in the interesting and important monument translated above,
and in the legal documents of the period to which it belongs,
noteworthy parallels to other parts of the Old Testament.
Reference has already been made (pp. 174, 175, and 185, 186) to
the contracts ofthe period of rjammurabi's dynasty which
illustrate the matter of Sarah giving Hagar to Abraham because
she herself was childless (Gen. xvi. 1, 2). That this was the
custom in Babylonia is now confirmed by law 144, which also fur
nishes the reason why it was the wife who chose her partner in
the husband's affections. It was because the first wife preferred
to choose herself the woman who was to replace her, and in
doing this, she chose one who would be her subordinate, not one
who might become a really serious rival. A parallel case is that
of Bilhah (Gen. xxx. 4). Hagar's despising her mistress (Gen.
xvi. 4) is illustrated by law No. 146, which allows the mistress to
reduce her to the position of a slave again, which was agreed to
by the patriarch, the result being that Hagar fled (v. 6).
The determination to have the possession of the cave of
Machpelah placed upon a thoroughly legal footing (Gen. xxiii. 14-
20) may, perhaps, be illustrated by law No. 7, though there is not
much parallelism between the two instances, a field with a cave
and trees being a difficult thing to steal. There is hardly any
doubt, however, that the patriarch desired that no accusation
should be brought against him or his descendants for unlawfully
using it, as is suggested by the fact that when Ephron offered to
give it, he said that he did so " in the presence of the sons of my
people " only, but when the transaction was completed as
Abraham wished, it was done not only in the presence of the
children of Heth, but before all who went in at the gate of his
city (Gen. xxiii. 18), and naturally included strangers as well.
Abraham's seeking a wife for his son (Gen. xxiv. 4) is in con
formity with laws 155, 156, and 166 ; gifts are given (Gen. xxiv. 53
and laws No. 1 59, 160, etc.) ; seemingly the father-in-law retained
the presents given by his son-in-law, if he could get possession
of them (Gen. xxxi. 15 and laws 159-161), and these belonged to
the wife (wives) and the children (xxxi. 16 and laws 162, 167,
171, ff).
Whether the theft of her father's teraphim by Rachel (Gen.
xxxi. 19) could be construed as sacrilege or not is doubtful,
but this may well have been the penalty thought of by Jacob
when Laban accused some of his household of theft (Gen. xxxi.

APPENDIX 525
32 and law No. 6), though theft, if there were no restitution, was
in Babylonian law always punishable with death.
The punishment of death by burning, which Judah decreed for
his daughter-in-law Tamar (Gen. xxxviii. 24), is parallel with that
meted out to a devotee opening or entering a wine-house
(probably a place of ill-repute), but the parallel ends there —
there is no law in the code of Hammurabi, as at present pre
served, decreeing death by burning for a widow who became a
harlot. Theft from a palace (law No. 6) is parallel with Gen. xliv. 9,
where the sons of Jacob admit the justice of a death-penalty if
Joseph's cup were found in the possession of any of them.
Whether the purchase of the Egyptians and their land for bread
by Joseph had any analogy in Western Asia or not, is uncertain,
though law No. 1 1 5, as well as those which precede it, refer to
something similar, but in these cases the servitude was ter
minable, which does not appear from Gen. xlvii. 19 ff. There
after the Egyptian ruler took from these farmer-thralls a fifth
part of the produce, which compares well with the half or third
exacted by the owner of a field in Babylonia from the hirer (law
46). Finally, the clauses of the laws of Hammurabi referring to
adoption (No. 185) might be quoted in illustration ofthe adoption
of Ephraim and Manasseh by their grandfather Jacob (Gen.
xlviii. 5), especially when read in connection with the inscriptions
translated on pp. 176 and 177, where the sharing ofthe adopted
son "like a son" is expressly referred to.
In the New Testament, Gal. iv. 30 : " Cast out the bond
woman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be
heir with the son of the freewoman," finds illustration in law 171
of Hammurabi's code, and the parable of the talents (Matt.
xxv. 14 ff.) reminds one of the agent sending forth commissioners
to get gain for him by trafficking, as in laws 100-102. 103-107
do not bear directly upon this parallel, but are worth noting in
connection with it.
It will be long ere all that can be said about this noteworthy
inscription finds expression. There is much needing comment,
and much to study therein, and the precise rendering of many a
word has still to be found out.

"BABYLON AND THE BIBLE."
A great deal has been written concerning the two lectures
which the renowned Assyriologist, Friedrich Delitzsch, delivered
some time ago before the German Emperor, under the title of
Babel und Bibel. These lectures have now been published,

526 APPENDIX
and from their style and contents, one can easily judge how
great was the interest which they aroused. Those who were
privileged to hear them must have enjoyed a true archaeological
feast, all the more exquisite in that the subject was that which
throws more light upon the Old Testament than any other
known. His lectures deal, for the most part, with the things which are
touched upon at greater length in this book — the early records
of Babylonia and Assyria, the history, the literature, the arts,
and the sciences of those countries, and of the great cities of
which they were so proud. Beginning with " the great mer
cantile firm of Murasu and Sons in the time of Artaxerxes,"
about 450 B.C., and the Hebrew names found therein, he
speaks of Ur of the Chaldees, Carchemish, Sargon of Agade",
Hammurabi, the Bronze Gates of Shalmaneser II., Sargon of
Assyria, Sennacherib, Assurbanipal (ASSur-bant-ipli or Sar-
danapalus), the Laws of Hammurabi (translated in full in this
volume), the processions of gods,1 the blessing of Aaron,2 the
advanced civilization of Babylonia 2250 years B.C., and many
other things. To touch upon all his points would be to repeat
much that has been treated of in this book, and that being the
case, all the most important of them are referred to in the
following pages under special headings : —
CANAAN.
That he is right in calling Canaan at the time of the Exodus
" A domain of Babylonian culture " is indicated by the testimony
of the Tel-el-Amarna tablets, and is fully shown in the present
work, Chapters V.-VII. In the notes appended to the first
lecture he refers to the fact that there existed, in the neigh
bourhood of Jerusalem, a town called Bit (or Beth) Ninip, after
the Babylonian god — " even though there may not have been in
Jerusalem itself a bit Ninip, a temple ofthe god Ninip."
THE SABBATH.
In the present work, the Sabbath is referred to on pi. 1 1.,
where photographs of two fragments (duplicates) explaining the
word are given. Prof. Delitzsch calls attention, in the notes to
his first lecture, to this text, together with the British Museum
syllabary 82-9-18, 4159, col. I., 1. 24, where ud (weakened to it),
1 Isaiah xiv. 20 : " They have no knowledge that carry the wood of their
graven images." R. V.
2 Num. vi. 26 : " The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee," equivalent
to "to raise the eyes" in Assyro-Babylonian.

APPENDIX

527

meaning "day," is explained by iabattum, "Sabbath," as "the
day " par excellence, and from other passages he reasons that the
old rendering of the word as " day of rest," um nuh libbi, " day
of rest ofthe heart"— cf. pi. II. —is the correct one.
The following list of Sumerian and Babylonian days of the
month will serve to show exactly how the matter stands :—

SUMERIAN.

SEMITIC
BABYLONIAN.

TRANSLATION.

u

umu

day.

U-maS-am

[miSil] umu
[umu] kai

half a day.

U-gi-kam

first day (Sum.), the whole
day (Sem.).

U-mina-kam

si-na [umu]

second day.

U-eSi-kam

Sela[Stu umu]

third day.

U-lama-kam

fourth (day).

U-ia-kam

hamil[tu] . .

fifth (day).

U-aSa-kam

ses[situ] . . .
sib[itu] ....
saman[atu] .

sixth (day).

U-imina-kam

seventh (day).

U-ussa-kam

eighth (day).

U-ilima-kam

batti do.

ninth day (Sum.), festival
(day) (Sem.).

U-hu-kam

Skisti do.

tenth day (Sum.), mourn
ing (?) (day) (Sem.).

U-buia-kam

sapatti

fifteenth day (Sum.), Sabbath
(Sem.).

U-mana-gi-lal-kam

ibbu

twentieth day less 1 (Sum.),
the wrathful (Sem.).

U-mana-kam

dSrii

twentieth day.

U-mana-ia-kam

arfeu bat[tu]

twenty-fifth day (Sum.), fes
tival month (Sem.).

U-esa-kam

Selasa

thirtieth day.

U-na-am

bubbulum

rest-day (Sum.), (day of)
desire (Sem.).

U-hul-gala

u-hulgallum

evil day.

U-hul-gala

umu lim[nu]

evil day.

From the above it will be seen, that the sapattum or Sabbath
was the 15th day of the month, and that only. That it was a
day of rest, is shown by the etymology, the word being derived
from the Sumerian ia-bat, "heart-rest," which probably has,
therefore, no connection with the Semitic root "sabatu, which, as
far as at present known, is a synonym oigamdru, " to complete.''
It was the day of rest ofthe heart, but being the 15th, it was
also the day when the moon reached the full in the heart or
middle of the month, and its name may, therefore, contain a

528 APPENDIX
play upon the two ideas which the word libbu contains. In
accordance with the general rule, the consonants of words
borrowed from the Sumerian were often sharpened when trans
ferred to Semitic Babylonian, hence the form Sapattum instead
of iabattum, though the latter is also found.
The nearest approach to the Sabbath, in the Jewish sense,
among the Babylonians, is the 6-hulgala or umu limnu, " the
evil day," which, as we know from the Hemerologies, was the
7th, 14th, 21st, 28th, and 19th day of each month, the last so
called because it was a week of weeks from the ist day ofthe fore
going month. It is this, therefore, which contains the germ of
the idea of the Jewish Sabbath, but it was not that Sabbath in
the true sense of the term, for if the months had 30 days, the
week following the 28th had 9 days instead of 7, and weeks of 8
and 9 days therefore probably occurred twelve times each year.
The nature of this original of the Sabbath is shown by the
Hemerologies, which describe how it was to be kept in the
following words : —

(THE DUTIES OF THE 7TH DAY).
" The 7th day is a holiday of Merodach and Zir-panitum, a
fortunate day, an evil day. The shepherd of the great peoples
shall not eat flesh cooked by fire, which is smoked (?), he shall
not change the dress of his body, he shall not put on white, he
shall not make an offering. The king shall not ride in his
chariot, the priestess shall not declare (a divine decision), in
secret spot the seer shall not make (an oracle), a physician
shall not lay his hand on a sick man,1 (the) day is unsuitable for
doing business. The king shall bring his offering in the night
before Merodach and I Star, he shall make an offering, (and) his
prayer 2 is acceptable with god."
For the 14th, 21st, 28th, and 19th, the names of the deities
differ, aad on the last-named the shepherd of the great peoples
is forbidden to eat " anything which the fire has touched."
Otherwise the directions are the same, and though generally
described as a lucky or happy day, it was certainly an evil day
for work, or for doing the things referred to. It is to be noted,
however, that there is no direction that the day was to be
observed by the common people.
1 Lit. : "shall not bring his hand to the sick."
2 Lit. : "the raising of his hands."

APPENDIX 529

WAS THE FLOOD A "SIN-FLOOD"?
That the Flood was a "sin-flood" ("dass die Sintflut eine
Siindflut 1 war ") among the Babylonians as among the Hebrews
has already been stated (p. 112 — cf. p. 107, 1, 11 ff.), and with
this Prof. Delitzsch, answering the criticisms of Oettli, agrees.
Replying to Konig, he energetically repudiates the idea that
" the Babylonian hero saves his dead and living property, but
in both Biblical accounts there appears, instead of that, the
higher point of view of the preservation of the animal-world."
He then cites Berosus, according to whom Xisuthros received
the command to take into the ark winged and four-footed
animals, and quotes the line translated on p. 103 : " I caused to
go up into the midst of the ship . . . the beasts of the field and
the animals of the field — all of them I sent up."

THE DRAGON AND THE SERPENT-TEMPTER.
Prof. Delitzsch's notes upon the Dragon of Chaos are exceed
ingly interesting, as is also the picture which he gives, from a
little seal in the form of a long bead, of the god Merodach
"clothed in his majestic glory, with powerful arm, and broad
eye and ear, the symbols of his intelligence, and at the feet of
the god the captive Dragon of the primaeval waters." From
our point of view the deity does not look very majestic, but it is
an exceedingly interesting representation, the more especially
as he bears in his left hand (in the drawing) the circle and staff
of SamaS, the sun, showing the correctness of the theory which
made Merodach likewise a sun-god. It is noteworthy, however,
that a similar object found by the German expedition to
Babylonia shows a figure of Hadad, the wind-god, as the
Babylonians conceived him, and accompanying him are a
winged dragon and another creature — indeed, each deity seems
to have had his own special attendant of this nature. Are we,
therefore, to understand that each deity overcame a dragon or
other animal ? or may it not be, that Merodach had a kind of
dragon as his attendant, and the one depicted sitting by his
side, close to his feet, is the creature devoted to him, and not
the Dragon of Chaos at all ?
The Dragon of Chaos, Tiamtu or Tiawthu, appears in the
inscriptions as the representative of the Hebrew tehbm, which
1 This form is due to a false etymology, but it is used by Delitzsch as a
yery convenient compound word, L L

530 APPENDIX
is the same word without the feminine ending. It is also
regarded, however, as being represented in the Old Testament
by liwyathan (leviathan) tannin, and rahab, explained as " the
winding one," " the dragon," and " the monster " respectively.
As far as our knowledge at present goes, none of these names
occur in the Babylonian inscriptions, but there is sufficient
analogy between the Biblical passages which contain them and
the story of Tiamtu to establish an identity between the two
sources. In the passage "Awake, awake," etc. (Is. li. 9), the cutting of
Rahab in pieces, and the piercing of the dragon, are made into
similes typifying the drying up of the Red Sea, so that the
Israelites might pass over, and on this account the words
standing for these creatures seem to have become an allegorical
way of referring to Egypt, caught, like Tiamtu, in a net (Ezek.
xxxii. 2, 3). In Job ix. i3the " helpers of Rahab " are mentioned,
recalling the gods who aided Tiamtu, and in xxvi. 12 "he
smiteth through Rahab " is a reminiscence of the piercing of
the head of Merodach's opponent.
In Job xli. 3 the words " Lay thine hand upon him ; remember
the battle, and do so no more," evidently refer to leviathan in v.
1, here typical of Tiamtu, the battle being that which Merodach
fought with her. " Shall not one be cast down even at the sight
of him ?" in verse 9, recalls the dreadful appearance of Tiamtu
and her helpers, whose aspect filled the gods of the Babylonians
with fear. Still another parallel is to be found in the verse
" Their (the enemies') wine is the poison of dragons (tanninim),"
Deut. xxxii. 33, reminding us of the monsters created by Tiamtu,
whose bodies were filled with poison like blood.
All these passages naturally prove that the legend was well
known to the Hebrews, and must also have been current among
their neighbours. Though they identified her with the sea
(tehom), they did not, to all appearance,"use that word to indicate
the Dragon of Chaos, as did the Babylonians — she was a
serpent, a dragon, or a monster. Though she may be the type
of the serpent-tempter (the difference of sex makes a little
difficulty), the compiler of the first two chapters of Genesis
rigorously excluded her from the Hebrew Creation-story. The
story of leviathan, the dragon, or the monster, was a legend
current among the people, and used by the Hebrew sacred
writers as a useful simile, but it seems to have formed no part
of orthodox Hebrew religious belief.
Prof. Delitzsch has boldly reproduced, on p. 36 of his Babel
und Bibel (German edition), what has been regarded in England
as the driving of the evil spirit from the temple built at Calah
by ASSur-nasir-apli (885 B.C.), but he calls it " Fight with the

APPENDIX 531
Dragon." The evil spirit represented is certainly a kind of
dragon, but on the original slab in the British Museum the
creature is a male, and not a female, as in the Babylonian
Creation-story. Identification with the Dragon of Chaos is
therefore in the highest degree improbable, and as it would
seem from his answer to Jensen, Delitzsch does not regard it as
having anything to do with the Creation-story, but a representa
tion of " a fight between the power of light and the power of
darkness in general." This seems exceedingly probable, as is
also his statement that in such a conception as that of Tiamtu,
it may easily be imagined that plenty of room for fancy existed.
The serpent-tempter in Gen. iii. 1 is an ordinary serpent,
nahas, the type of the evil one. He had no part in the creation,
and was to all appearance one of the beasts of the field created
by God. Tiamtu, his Babylonian parallel, on the other hand,
does not seem to have been in any sense a tempter — she simply
tried to overcome the gods of heaven, aided by her followers
and offspring, among whom were some of the divine beings
created by the gods. That in consequence of this, she may
have been regarded as having tempted those of her followers
who were the offspring of the gods of heaven, is not only
possible, but probable, and if provable, we should have here the
identification of the Dragon of Chaos with the serpent-tempter.
And this leads him to the question as to whether the celebrated
cylinder-seal referred to on p. 79 is really intended to be a
picture of the circumstance of the fall of man. Delitzsch points
out, that the clothed condition of the figures prevents him from
recognizing in the tree the tree " of knowledge of good and
evil " — perhaps there glimmers through the Biblical account in
Gen. ii. and iii. another and older form of the story, in which
only one tree, the tree of life, appeared. The words in ii. 9 :
" and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," seem, as it
were, patched on, and the narrator completely forgets this
newly-introduced " tree of the knowledge of good and evil " to
the extent, that he even, by oversight, makes God allow man, in
contradiction to iii. 22, to eat of the Tree of Life (ii. 16). All
this seems very plausible, but may it not be, that man, before
eating of the tree of knowledge, was permitted to eat of the
tree of life, which was denied to him after the Fall ? If this be
the. case, there was probably no forgetfulness on the part of the
narrator, and the story hangs excellently together. And here it
is to be noted that both the tree of life, and the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, were in the midst of the garden (ii.
9), that the woman seems to be aware of the existence of one
tree only (iii. 3), and there is no statement that the man knew
the nature of the fruit which his wife handed to him (6), though

532 APPENDIX
it may be surmised that, with the prohibition with regard to one
of them in his mind, he ought to have inquired. The heaviest
punishment therefore falls upon the tempter, the woman coming
next, and the man having the lightest, though even his is
sufficiently severe.
In the design on the cylinder Delitzsch sees a male and a
female figure, with a serpent, and in this both Hommel and
Jensen agree. Delitzsch, moreover, says : " The distinguishing
ofthe one figure by horns, which was, in Babylonia, as in Israel,
equally the common symbol of strength and victoriousness, I
regard as a very delicate device of the artist to introduce into
the two clothed human figures the sex-distinction in an unmis
takable manner." He is of opinion that nothing very decisive
can as yet be pronounced concerning the serpent, but one might
connect therewith the appearance of Tiamtu, who also, like
leviathan in Job iii. 8 and " the old serpent " in the Apocalypse,
may be assumed to have been still existing. (Compare p. 32 of
the present work, lines 112 and 113.)
He points out that in a list of rivers, etc., there is one called
"the river of the Serpent-god destroying1 the abode of life"
(Id-Sir-tindir-duba), which is also a confirmation of the theory
that the Babylonians possessed the legend of the serpent-
tempter. Noteworthy also is the following text, which he refers
to " by the way," with a slight indication of the contents : —
"... sin, fixing the command.
... of the ordinance, the man of lamentation.
. . . the maid, has eaten the evil thing —
. . . Ama-namtagga has done what is evil
The fate of Ama-namtagga is hard2 —
Her fate is hard, her face is troubled with a tear.
She has sat on a glorious throne,
She has lain on a glorious couch,
She has learned (? the love of man),
She has learned to kiss."
The mutilation of this inscription renders the true interpreta
tion doubtful, but it would seem to be exceedingly probable that
there is in it some reference to the fate of our first mother,
inherited by all her daughters to the end of time.
Ama-namtagga means "The Mother of Sin," and her having
eaten and done what is evil makes an interesting parallel with
the case of Eve.3
1 The word may also be translated "inhabiting," but this does not seem
to be so good.
2 Lit. : "ill."
3 For parallels to the Babylonian legend of Tiamtu in the Talmud and
Midrash, see S. Daiches in the Zeitsehrift fiir Assyriologie, xvii. (1903),
PP- 394-399-

APPENDIX 533

THE CHERUBIM.
Concerning the Cherubs something has been said in this
book, pp. 80-82, and to this Prof. Delitzsch adds a few more
instances. As others have done, he regards the cherubim of
the Babylonians and Assyrians as being the winged bulls, with
heads of men. As an angel he gives a picture of a winged
female figure holding a necklace x ; the demons he depicts are
from the slabs in the Assyrian Saloon of the British Museum,
where two of these beings are fighting with each other ; and
devils he regards as being typified by a small but mutilated
statuette of a creature with an animal's head, long erect ears,
and open mouth with threatening teeth. For the existence of
guardian-angels he quotes the letter of Abla to the queen-
mother : " Bel and Nebo's messenger of grace (Mil sipri sa
dutiqi sa Bit u Nabfi) will go with the king of the countries, my
lord." Of especial interest, however, is his reference to the
inscription of Nabopolassar, in which that founder of the latest
of the Babylonian empires states that Merodach " called him to
rule over the land and the people, caused a guardian-god
(cherub) to go by his side, and caused all the work which he
undertook to succeed." Besides the cherubs or guardian-angels,
the Babylonians believed in numerous evil gods and devils,
besides Tiamtu and the serpent-tempter of mankind.

BABYLONIAN MONOTHEISM.
The question of Babylonian monotheism, and of the antiquity
of the name Yahweh (Jehovah) attracted a considerable amount
of attention, and has been supplemented by Delitzsch very fully
in the notes to his first lecture. Upon this point something
was said in the present volume (pp. 47 and 58—61), and the
author is practically at one with Prof. Delitzsch. As the
inscription translated on p. 58 shows, the Babylonians were
monotheists, and yet they were not. They believed in all their
various gods, and at the same time identified those gods with
Merodach. Just as, in the beliefs of India, each soul may be
regarded as emanating from, and returning to, the Creator, and
forming one with Him at the final death of the body, so the
gods of the Babylonians were apparently regarded as parts of,
and emanations from, Merodach, the chief of the gods, who,
1 Similar figures are shown on the slabs in the British Museum (Nimroud
Gallery) standing before the sacred tree.

534 APPENDIX
when they conferred upon him their names, conferred upon him
in like manner their being. It is in this way alone that Merodach,
the last-born of the great gods, can be regarded as the father
and begetter of the gods (see pp. 45, 46).
Prof. Delitzsch has therefore done a service in bringing more
prominently to the notice of students and scholars the text of
which the obverse is printed on p. 58, and mentioning the paper
where it first appeared.1 The study of the religion of the
Babylonians and Assyrians has been greatly furthered thereby.
With regard to trie question, whether besides this tablet,
there be other indications that the Babylonians — or a section of
them — believed in one god, Delitzsch quotes, as did also the
present author, many names supporting this idea. Thus he
gives the following : —
Ilu-ittfa, " God is with me." Ibsi-ina-ili, " He existed
through God."2
Ilu-amtahar, "I called upon Awel-ili, " Man of God."3
God."
Ilu-abi, " God is my father." * Mut(um)-ili, " Man of God."
Ilu-milki, " God is my counsel.'' Iluma-le'i, " God is mighty."
Yarbi-ilu, " God is great." Iliima-abi, " God is my father."
Yamlik-jlu, " God rules." • Iluma-ilu, " God is God."
Summa-ilu-Ia-ilia, " If God were not my god?"
And if more be wanted, to these may be added Ya'kub-tlu,
Yasup-ilu, Abdi-ilu, Ya'zar-ilu, and Yantin-ilu, on p. 157; Ili-
bandi, " God is my creator," p. 166 ; Sar-ili, " Prince of God,"
p. 170 ; UstaSni-ili, " My God has made to increase twofold," p.
178 ; Ntir-ili, " Light of God," p. 184 ; Arad-ili-remeanni, "The
servant of God, (who) had mercy on me," p. 1 87 ; Yabnik-ilu,
" God has been gracious (?)," p. 243 ; and many others. Remarks
upon some of these names will be found on pp. 244, 245. Similar
names occurring during the time of the later Babylonian empire
will be found on pp. 434, 463 (Aqabi-ilu), 435, 436 (Adi'-ilu and
Yadi'ilu), 458 (Baruhi-ilu, probably a Jew, and Idihi-ilu). It
will therefore be seen that names of a monotheistic nature were
common in Babylonia at all periods, but as they are greatly out
numbered by the polytheistic ones,6 their exact value as testimony
to monotheism, or to a tendency to it, is doubtful. In certain
cases, the deity intended by the word ilu is the family god, but
1 The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians, in the Journal of the Trans
actions of the Victoria Institute, 1895.
2 P. 183, where the reading is Ibsina-ili. 3 P. 184. 4 P. 181.
5 For a list of these, see "Observations sur la Religion des Babyloniens
2000 ans avant Jesus-Christ," by Th. G. Pinches, in the Revue de t Histoire
des Religions, 1901.

APPENDIX 535
in the above examples, names implying this have been as far as
possible avoided.
" Of what kind and of what value this monothesis was, our
present sources of knowledge do not allow us to state, but we
can best conclude from the later development of Jahvism."
(Delitzsch.)

JAHWEH (JEHOVAH).
Most important of all, however, from the point of view of the
history of the religion of the Jews, is what Delitzsch states
concerning the name Jahweh (Jehovah). On p. 46 of his first
lecture (German edition) he gives half-tone reproductions of
three tablets preserved in the British Museum, which, according
to him, contain three forms of the personal name meaning
" Jahwe is God " — Ya'we-ilu, Yawe-ilu, and Yaum-ilu. The
last of these names we may dismiss at once, the form being
clearly not that of Yahweh, but of Yah, the Jah1 of Ps. civ. 35
and several other passages. The other two, however, are not
so lightly dealt with, notwithstanding the objections of other
Assyriologists and Orientalists. It is true that Ya'pi-ilu and
Yapi-ilu are possible readings, but Delitzsch's objections to
them are soundly based, and can hardly be set aside. The
principal argument against the identification of Ya'we or Yawe
with Yahwah is, that we should have here, about 2000 years
before Christ, a form of the word which is really later than that
used by the Jewish captives at Babylon 500 years before Christ,
when it was to all appearance pronounced Ya(')awa or Yawa
(see pp. 458, 465, 470, 471). If, however, we may read the name
Ya'wa (Ya'awa) or Yawa, as is possible, then there is nothing
against the identification proposed by Delitzsch. That $- was
used with the value of wa is proved by such words as warka,
" after," where the reading wearka seems to be impossible, and
the necessary distinction between ma and wa (the former was
written with a different character) would be maintained. It is
worthy of note that Ya'wa must have been more of a name than
Yau, which was a primitive Babylonian word for " God," it is
doubtful whether it could always be written without the divine
prefix. As, however, the divine name Ae or Ea, with others, is
often written so unprovided, such an objection as this could not
be held to invalidate Delitzsch's contention.
The probability therefore is, that Delitzsch is right in trans-
1 See p. 199, note. Yaumilu is the Heb. Joel (Observations sur la
Religion, etc., in the Revue de V Histoire des Religions, 1901, p. 16 of the
tirage-a-fart.

536 APPENDIX
cribing the name as he has done, if we may change the final e
to a, and he is also probably right in his identification. Never
theless, we require more information from the records of ancient
Babylonia before we can say, with certainty, that the first
component of the name Ya'wa-ilu is the Yahweh of the Hebrews,
though we are bound to admit that the identification is in the
highest degree probable. Delitzsch speaks of the possibility of
ya've being a verbal form (it would be parallel to names like
Yabnik-ilu), only to reject it, as a name meaning " God exists "
(Hommel and Zimmern) is certainly not what one would expect
to find. On the other hand, Zimmern admits the possibility
that Yaum may be the name of a god, and possibly the name
Yahu, Yahve may be present in it. As he is against Delitzsch
on the whole, this is an important admission.

ADDITIONAL NOTES TO HAMMURABI'S LAWS.
P. 492, 1. 8. The "poor man" who is mentioned here and in several
other places, is referred to under a Sumerian term translated by the Semitic
muskinu, Arabic miskin, from which the French mesquin is derived
(through the Spanish mezquind). With the Babylonians, however, the
"poor man," as expressed by this term, was only one who was com
paratively wanting in this world's goods. That he was able to pay a fine,
presupposes that he was the possessor of property, and this is confirmed by
a bilingual explanatory list, which reads as follows :
Gis sar kiru Plantation.
gis sar egal kiru gkalli plantation of the palace.
gis sar lugal kiru sarri plantation of the king.
gis sar masdu kiru muskini plantation of a poor man.
P. 493, § 26 ff. It is difficult to find a satisfactory rendering for the words
translated "army-leader" and "soldier." In all probability they corre
spond to the terms " police-officer " and " constable " respectively. More
precise translations will probably be found later on.
P. 495, §§ 43 and 44. The word translated "shall enclose (it)" is in
accordance with the meaning given for the root iakdku in Delitzsch's
Handworterbuch. If, however, the rendering " plough " in § 260 (p. 513),
first proposed by Scheil, be correct, then in all probability the translation in
the two sections should be ' ' shall plough (it). "
P. 498, 1. 12. Literally, " the man the tenancy, the silver of his rent
complete for a year, to the lord of the house has given."
P. 499, § 108. The " large»stone " was seemingly large only by comparison
with the ' ' small stone " which weighed i of a shekel.
P. 501, § 126. Or " As (in the case of) his property (which) has not been
lost, he shall state his deficiency before God."
P- S!3. § 257- Here^as in other places, the character for field-labourer is
the archaic form of >-<jE|T, ikkaru or trrisu.

NOTES AND ADDITIONS
P. n. It Is needful to state, as has been pointed out to the
writer, that " our English translation would make all (the Biblical
Creation-story) appear English." In other words, the test of
language is not an unfailing one.
Pp. 14-15. To the names of translators of the Babylonian
Creation-stories must be added P. Jensen, and W. L. King, who
has published important additions to the text.
P. 21, 1. 4. Alternative rendering: "He beheld Tiamtu's
snarling " (see the note to p. 24).
P. 22. With the first paragraph on this page the contents of
the third tablet, and with the last paragraph those of the fourth,
begin. P. 24. Instead of " they clustered around him," Jensen trans
lates (doubtfully), " they ran round about him," and King, " they
beheld him." Something may be said in favour of each, but the
rendering of the text seems more probable. Also, instead of
" Examining the lair," I am inclined to return to my earlier
rendering, " Noting the snarling of Kingu, her consort." The
four succeeding lines read : —
" He looks, and his advance 1 becomes confused,
His understanding is destroyed, and his action fails (?),
And the gods, his helpers, going by his side,
Saw the [con]fusion (??) of their leader, (and) their sight was
troubled (too)."
King attributes this fear and confusion not to Merodach, but
to Kingu and his followers, which would seem to be more con
sistent, but the difficulty is, that the original gives no indication
that this was the case. Further discoveries may throw light
upon the point.
P. 27. The LumaSi (1. 2), according to Cuneiform Inscrip
tions of Western Asia,vo\. IIL, pi. 57, were seven constellations,
and seem to have been included in the thirty-six stars or con
stellations mentioned two lines lower down. A list of these will
1 Lit. : " going."

53§ NOTES AND ADDITIONS
be found in the fournal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1900,
PP- 573-575-
The uncertainty in the translation of the remaining lines still
exists, but that which follows the reference to the seventh day
may be completed and rendered somewhat as follows : —
"A[sa]bbath1 mayest thou then encounter, half [of each
month ?]/'
This would be the fifteenth day, and would agree with what
is stated on p. 527.
P. 28, 1. 29. The translation of this line is based on that of
Mr. W. L. King, who first published the text. The word for
" bone " is issimtum, the Heb. 'esem, Arab. 'adhm. If the word
be correctly read (the character turn is doubtful), it is possibly
connected with isimtum, which translates the Sumerian character
standing for a weapon or a long straight object.
Pp. 29-31. Tutu and other names given to Merodach in this
section are referred to on pp. 45-46. By " the people " in line
1 5 are apparently to be understood the gods.
P. 44. Other names of the goddess Aruru, who assisted Mero
dach in the creation of man, are " the lady potter," " the con
structor of the world," " the constructor of the gods," " the
constructor of mankind," " the constructor of the heart." Aruru
was the goddess of progeny, and is one of the forty- one names
by which " the lady of the gods " was known. An interesting
Sumerian (dialectic) hymn to her exists in the Brussels
Museum. P. 47, 11. 29-32. Another suggested translation, instead of
"in their (the fallen gods') room," is "for their redemption."
That the fallen gods were to be redeemed (lit. : " spared ") by
the merits of the race of men which Merodach created is a new
idea, which further information may confirm.
Plate II. facing p. 49. The difference between the Babylonian
and the Hebrew Sabbaths is treated fully on pp. 526-528.
P. 59, 1. 13. Ea is the Ae of the preceding pages, the Oannes
of Damascius. There is reason to believe that the name was
also read Aa, which would account for the Greek form which he
employs, and likewise for the identification of this god with the
Aa of 1. 4 and the following paragraph.
P. 63, 1. 27. Perhaps the most interesting of recent discoveries
is the identification (by Prof. Zimmern) of Euedoreschos with
the Enweduranki of the tablet described on p. 77. The original
Greek form must have been Euedoranchos (see the note to the
page mentioned).
P. 67. For further notes in connection with Tiamat, see the
1 \Sa~\pattu.

NOTES AND ADDITIONS 539
discussion of Delitzsch's Babel und Bibelai the end, pp. 529-532.
It is noteworthy that this name heads the list of abodes of the
gods published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical
Archeology for Dec, 1900, pp. 367-369. The explanation is
unfortunately broken away, but it may be surmised that as the
goddess of the watery wastes of the earth she was described as
the abode of the gods who were regarded as her followers.
P. 72. How Tammuz could possibly be described as "the
peerless mother of heaven " is a difficulty. Perhaps the first
component stands for " parent " simply, as a bilingual list implies.
It is noteworthy, however, that Istar, the spouse of Tammuz,
was hermaphrodite, and it is not impossible that the Babylonians
regarded him as having been the same. A similarly-formed
name, seemingly of Tammuz, occurs in the hymns to Tammuz
preserved in the Manchester Museum, namely, Ama-elag-gi.
The question as to whether these names are really rebuses has
also to be taken into consideration.
In the footnote the reference is to the Cuneiform Inscriptions
and the Old Testament as Schrader himself last edited it
(London, 1888).
P. 73. For Pir-napiStim, Ut-napiStim is a possible reading (see
below, note to p. 99).
For further notes upon the trees of Paradise, see pp. 531.
P. 77. Euedoranchos. The forms of this name, as handed
down, are EveSmpaxos, EiieSwpcoxoQ, and Evep<i>$ia%o<;. Eusebius's
Chronicle, however, gives the best form, namely, Edoranchus.
P. 78, 1. 20. Perhaps it would be better to say that the Hebrew
accounts of the Creation " probably come to us from Babylonia"
— they may not have originated there.
Pp. 80-82.- For further remarks upon the cherubin, see p. 533.
In " the kurub of Anu, Bel," etc., which also occurs, we probably
have a variant form.
P. 83, 11. 1-5. It is noteworthy that Ablum ("Son") as a
personal name actually occurs (De Sarzec, Decouvertes, pi. 30
bis, No. 19). Compare Ablaa, "my son," p. 533, 1. 12.
P. 90. For further information about the name GilgameS, see
the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archeology for 1903,
pp. 198-199. Prof. Hommel has pointed out that an inscription
exists stating that he built the fortress of Erech, thus bringing
him almost within the domain of history.
P. 99. (The Legend of GilgameS.) Dr. Meissner's discovery of
a fragment of a new version of the GilgameS-legend 1 is a most
1 Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatischm Gesellschaft, 1902, I.: Ein Altbaby-
lonisches Fragment des Gilgamosefos, von Bruno Meissner. Berlin, Wolf
Peiser Verlag.

54° NOTES AND ADDITIONS
welcome addition to our knowledge. A description of this text
will be found in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical
Archeology for March and May, 1903, where a comparison of
the two versions is also given. It speaks of his visit to the land
of darkness in quest of his friend Ea-bani (whose name, as this
inscription indicates, should properly be read Enki-du or
Ea(AS, Aa)-du. In the second column it details his conversation
with Siduri (" the Sabitu "), in which he refers to the death of
his beloved companion, since whose departure he had not sought
to live, but having seen her face, he expresses the hope that he
will now not see death. The Sabitu, however, answers him to
the effect that he would not find the life which he sought — death
was the lot which the gods had set for mankind. Eat, therefore,
make festival, rejoice day and night, put on fine apparel, take
pleasure in child and wife — such was her advice. In the last
column of this version the hero meets with Sur-Sunabu (Ur-
Sanabi), who asks him his name. GilgameS tells him who he is
and whence he came, and asks to be shown Uta-naiStim, the
remote, as the Babylonian Noah seems to be called in this
version of the legend. About one-third of the tablet, giving the
lower parts of columns 1 and 2, and the upper parts of columns
3 and 4, is the amount preserved.
From the above we see, that Ea-bani, the friend of GilgameS ;
Ur-Sanabi, the boatman ; and Pir-napistim, the Babylonian
Noah ; would be better read Enki-du, Ea-du, A6-du, or
Aa-du ; Sur-Sanabi, and Ut-napiStim respectively. Whether
the vocalization should also be altered in accordance with
the indications of this new inscription is doubtful, but not
unlikely. P. 104, 11. 1 and 6. Jensen suggests, for muir kukki, the
translation " rulers of darkness (?) " : —
" (If) the rulers of darkness cause to rain down one evening a
rain of dirt (?),
Enter into the ship, and shut thy door ! "
That period arrived ;
"The rulers of darkness rain down one evening a rain of
dirt (?)."
Muir, however, seems to be singular, not plural. Another
meaning of the word is "' messenger."
P. 108, 1. 35. If this translation be correct, the throwing down
of a part of the food recalls the casting of meal on the ground as
an offering to the gods. It is not unlikely that the preparation
of the food, and setting it by his head, was accompanied by
some prayer or incantation to secure his recovery, as in the
inscription translated in the Proceedings ofthe Society of Biblical
Archeology, May, 1901, pp. 193 and 205-210. Sleeping with

NOTES AND ADDITIONS 541
a cruse of water near the head (1 Sam. xxvi. 11-12) was
probably simply a provision against thirst, with no special
meaning. P. 113, 11. 19 ff. A number of the deities identified with the
god Ea or Aa are given in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western
Asia, vol. II., pi. 58, and form a parallel with the inscription
printed on p. 58. Deities seem also to have been identified
with Nebo. The centres where these gods were worshipped
therefore had likewise their monotheistic system, in which all
the other gods were identified with the patron-deity of the
place, just as those Babylonians who worshipped Merodach
identified all the other gods with him.
P. 119; There has been a great deal of discussion as to the
way in -which Sumer could be connected with Shinar, the chief
reasons against their identification being that the latter must
have come from a Babylonian form, of whose existence there is
no evidence, and that it stood for the whole country (except,
possibly, Larsa), whereas Sumer was the name of the southern
part only. Hommel derives the Biblical Shinar from Ki-Imgir,
through the intermediate forms Shingar, Shumir (Sumer) and
Shimir. This is based upon the tendency which k had to
change into s, whilst the substitution of m for an older g or ng
can be proved. As, however, Shinar corresponds practically
with the whole of Babylonia, a modification of Prof. Hommel's
etymology may, perhaps, best meet the case. The whole of the
country was called by the Sumerians Kingi (or Kengi) Ura,
and the expression mdda Kingi- Ura is rendered, in the lists, mdt
Sumeri u Akkadi, "the land of Sumer and Akkad." It is
therefore clear, that Kingi-Ura corresponds with the whole tract,
and is practically synonymous with the Biblical Shinar. The
change from k to i (sh) being provable, it is possible that
Kingi-Ura, pronounced Shingi-Ura, may have originated the
Hebrew form Shinar (better Shin'ar), through the intermediate
forms Shingura and Shingar.
The statement that Elam was the firstborn of Shem (Gen. x.
22) receives illustration from the fact, that many inscriptions
have been found showing that Semitic Babylonian was not
only well known, but also used in that country. From the
order in which the names occur in Genesis, it ought to
be the earliest of the Semitic settlements, coming before
Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. If, however, Arpach
shad stand, as is generally thought, for Babylonia, it is quite
clear that there is no indication of chronological order in this,
for Assyria was certainly younger, as a Semitic settlement,
than Babylonia, and it would seem that Elam was colonized
with Semites from the last-named country. This would make

542 NOTES AND ADDITIONS
Elam to be simply the first Semitic colony, as Prof. Scheil has
already suggested.
A good example of the slim racial type is shown on pi. V.,
second seal-impression. For a long time after the Sumerians
had become one nation with the Semitic Babylonians, the type
of the figures represented on the cylinder-seals and sculptures
remained unchanged, and it is on this account that Hammurabi
is portrayed, on the slab reproduced as pi. I., in the old non-
Semitic costume. The early Semitic type is shown on pi. III.,
no. i (no. 2 shows the late Assyrian type). In pi. VI. the
Sumerian style is there, but the type is rather thick. This, how
ever, may be partly due to the sliding of the cylinder when the
impression was taken.
P. 122. German discoveries in Babylonia include a duplicate
of the syllabary here referred to, which confirms Prof. Delitzsch's
restorations of Uri and Tilla. Instead of Tidnu, however, it
gives Art as the Sumerian equivalent of Amttrrii, the land of
the Amorites.
P. 124. Sargon of Agad^'s conquests, according to the omens
referring to his reign, were as follows : — (paragraph 1) Elam,
(2) the land of the Amorites, (4 and 5) the land of the Amorites
(twice), (6) doubtful, (7) he crossed the sea of the setting of
the sun, and the reference to three years in that district
seems to refer to the time he stayed there, (8) apparently no
expedition, (9) he ravaged the land of Kazalla, (10) he put
down a revolt in his own country, (1 1) he fought against Suri or
SumaStu. It has been denied that he visited Cyprus, but whither
he went when he crossed the sea of the setting sun, if it was not
to that island, is very difficult to say. He also set up images of
himself " in the setting of the sun," and wherever it was, it must,
therefore, have been a place of sufficient importance. It is note
worthy that Sargon of Assyria, surnamed "the Later," who tried
to imitate him, also invaded Cyprus and set up his image there.
This ruler calls the island Yatnana, Yamani, or Yamna, and
states that it lay a journey of seven days in the midst of the
sea of the setting of the sun.
P. 125, 1. 27. The old Sumerian or Akkadian laws are only
known to us from a few specimens preserved in the tablets of
grammatical paradigms (the series Ana itti-su), and will be
found on pp. 190-191. It is probable that they were made use
of in compiling the Code of Hammurabi.
P. 130 (the derivation of" Nimrod). Another suggestion is,
that Nimrod may be the name of Merodach, as " Lord of
Marad" (Nin-Marad). As far as I have been able to see,
however, this name of Merodach does not occur, and moreover,
it was Nergal, and not Merodach, who was lord of Marad—

NOTES AND ADDITIONS 543
Merodach's city was Babylon. Prof. Hommel's acute suggestion,
that Namra-sit may be a Babylonian form of Nimrod, would
seem to be doubtful.
P. 131 (Merodach's net). The bow of Merodach, after his
fight with Tiamtu, was placed in the heavens, and seemingly
became one of the constellations, but we do not hear of any
similar honour having been conferred on his net, notwithstanding
the great service which it had rendered him. In Habakkuk i.
15-17 there is a curious passage in which "the Chaldean" is
described as catching men with his angle and his net, as fishes
are caught, and making sacrifice to his net and his drag on
account of his success with them. Heuzey, the well-known
French Assyriologist and antiquarian, makes a comparison
between this passage and the Vulture-stele, on which an ancient
Babylonian prince is represented as having placed his conquered
foes in a great net. This, however, does not explain the state
ment that the Chaldean sacrificed and offered incense to his net
and his drag, and it is doubtful whether the Prophet had either
that or any similar sculpture or picture in his mirid. There is,
nevertheless, just the possibility that the Babylonians were
accustomed to pay divine honours to the net of Merodach, and
this may have given rise to the statement in the passage quoted.
Whether the relief on the Vulture-stele be derived from the
legend of Merodach or not, is doubtful — in all probability it
merely expresses a simile derived from catching wild animals
with a net, as exhibited by the sculptures of ASSur-bani-apli in
the Assyrian Saloon of the British Museum.
Pp. 132-133. With regard to the statements on these pages,
the Rev. John Tuckwell writes : " Gen. xi. 1 must in all fairness
be regarded as going back prior to ch. x, in order to tell the
history of Babylon from its foundation. Again : — Why contradict
Genesis ? We do not know who ' began ' to build Babylon —
Sayce suggests ' Etana.' It is quite possible that ' they left
off to build the city,' and resumed the work under Nimrod.
There is no need to regard any ofthe statements as ' interpola
tions ' if thus read. If all mankind perished by the Flood, as
both stories appear to teach, there must surely have been a time
when ' the whole earth was of one language.' "
P. 134. For the derivation of Shinar, see the note to p. 119.
P. 136. The Mohammedan legend of the Tower of Babel, as
told in the Persian work, Rauzat-us-Safa,1 may be interesting.
It is as follows : —
1 Oriental Translation Fund, New Series, I. The Rauzat-us-Safa ; or
Garden of Purity, by Mirkhond. Translated by E. Rehatsek. Royal
Asiatic Society, 1891.

544 NOTES AND ADDITIONS
" When Nimrud had witnessed the extinction of the pile of
fire, and had beheld the roses produced therein by the benign
Creator, he aspired to ascend to heaven. . . . Nimrud . . .
spent many years in erecting a tower, which was so high that
the bird of imagination could not reach its summit. When it
was completed, he ascended to the pinnacle of the spire, but the
aspect of the heavens remained precisely the same as from the
surface of the earth. This astonished and perplexed him. The
next day the tower fell, and such a fearful noise struck the ears
of the inhabitants of Babel that most of them fainted from the
effects thereof; and when they had recovered their senses they
forgot their own language, so that every tribe spoke a different
idiom, and seventy-two tongues became current among them."
P. 136, 1. 3 from below. Nannara was the moon-god, the same
as Sin.
P. 144, 1. 9 from below. The Rev. C. H. W. Johns, in his
Assyrian deeds and documents, has pointed out the likeness of
the names Nahiri and Naharau (or Nahardu) to Nahor, referred
to by Kittel in his little book upon Delitzsch's Babel und Bibel.1
Nahiru, however, is the common Assyro-Babylonian word for
" nostril," and is also the name of a creature ofthe sea supposed
to be the dolphin. Nahardu, it may be noted, notwithstanding
the absence of the prefix of divinity, bears every appearance of
being a name like Bel- Yau on p. 59, the initial y or i being
omitted as in the case of Au-Aa seven lines lower down. Judg
ing from analogy, Nahardu should mean " Nahar is Jah," but
whether this has anything to do with the name Nahor or not
is doubtful — as Assyrian equivalent we should rather expect
Nahuru. P. 145, 1. 11 from below. The name of a Babylonian district
called Pulug occurs in a Babylonian geographical list, and may
be the same as Peleg. Though the ideogram is different, this is
possibly the same as the Pulukku of the Cuneiform Inscriptions
of Western Asia, vol. II., pi. 52, 1. 53, where it is explained as
Bit hari, "the house of the cutting," or "excavation." The
Babylonians would therefore seem to have regarded Pulug or
Pulukku as referring to the division of the land of Babylon by
the cutting of the irrigation-channels which gave it its fertility.
P. 146, 1. 4. There is no great probability that the name Terah
has anything to do with Tarku, which occurs in certain names
found in Assyrian contracts (Johns, Assyrian Deeds, pp. 127,
458, etc.).
1 The Babylonian Excavations and Early Bible History, by Prof. Kittel,
translated by Edmund McCiure, M.A., with a preface by Henry Wace,
D,D. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1903.

NOTES AND ADDITIONS 545
P. 147, 1. 4 from below. The family of Terah may, however,
have become pastoral on leaving Ur of the Chaldees.
P. 150, 1. 23. Illustrations of the old Akkadian (or Sumerian)
laws will be found in the contracts of adoption of Bel-6zzu and
Arad-IShara on pp. 176 and 177. The law itself is given on
p. 190. v
P. 161, 1. 11. It is not improbable that Sippar-Amnanu means
simply "Amonite Sippar," the second word of the compound
being apparently from Amna,1 which is possibly the Babylonian
form of the name of the Egyptian sun-god, Amon. YcCruru is
seemingly the old form of Aruru, one of the names of Istar, who
was also worshipped there.
P. 166. The wedding-gift was to all appearance the price paid
by the bridegroom for the bride, in this case handed to the
bride's brother and sister. For the laws concerning this pay
ment, see Hammurabi's Code, sections 163 and 164. It was
generally handed to the bride's father (upon a dish, according
to Cuneiforn Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. V., pi. 24, 11.
48-5 1 erf).2 As in this case the bride was a princess, the usual
custom was apparently, in certain points, departed from.
P. 168. The grain given to Seritum was probably of the nature
of a deposit — according to Hammurabi's Code, sect. 257, the
wages of a reaper were not one gur of grain, but eight.
P. 173-174. Upon the question of adoption, see Hammurabi's
Code, sections 185-193. As there is no indication, in these
enactments, that female children were included, it is doubtful
whether Ana-Aa-uzni and Ahhu-ayabi had any remedy in case
of repudiation, or refusal to perform all the conditions. Calling
the gods to witness was probably regarded as being a sufficient
safeguard. Nevertheless, the usage of the language was such
that " daughtership " could be included in " sonship."
Pp. 174 ff. It is noteworthy that, in this contract, there is no
indication of the second wife having been taken to vex the first
(Lev. xviii. 18, A.V.), and as the second was to be subordinate
to the first, rivalling (as the R.V. translates) was as far as
possible prevented. As the children already born are referred
to (p. 175, 1. 20), the second marriage could not have been due
to the absence of offspring, and it may therefore be supposed
that the second wife was taken on account of the ill-health of
the first (Hammurabi's Code, sect. 148). This is supported by
the clauses referring to the services which Iltani was to perform
for her " sister."
1 Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. V., pi. 2, 1. 40, and
Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, part xii. , pi. 6. Cf. p. 144.
2 Probably illustrating the Sumerian Laws.
M M

546 NOTES AND ADDITIONS
P. 176. The adoption of Bel-6zzu illustrates section 191 of
Hammurabi's Code. Both are based upon the Sumerian laws
translated on pp. 190 and 191.
P. 177. Arad-IShara was evidently adopted under the same law
and enactment as the foregoing. The declaration ofthe foster-
father of his right to have children is interesting.
Upon the adoption of Karanatum, compare pp. 173 and 174,
with the note thereon.
Pp. 178 and 179. The three tablets giving equal portions to
each of the three brothers, illustrate sections 165 and 167 of
the Code, which enacts that all brothers shall share equally.
Any gift or share in the property left by the mother would
probably be recorded on another document.
P. 180. Laws 178 ff. of Hammurabi's Code show that votaries
and priestesses had special privileges in the matter of inheriting
property, and it would seem from the tablet of Eristum, the
sodomite or public woman, that her station did not allow her
the choice, that being the right of her sister, Amat-SamaS,
priestess of the sun.
P. 181. Naramtum apparently had no children, and seems
to have been divorced in accordance with section 138 of
Hammurabi's Code.
P. 185. The case of Samas-nuri is illustrated by sections 144-
146 of Hammurabi's Code.
Pp. 187 and 188. The. conditions ofthe hiring of a slave were
probably those ofthe old Sumerian law translated on p. 191.
P. 191, 1. 10. An alternative rendering, instead of " is neglect
ful (?)," would be " becomes useless," in which case want of
nourishment, or overwork, or both, would probably be the
assigned cause.
P. 194, 11. 5, 10, and the foot-note; The bilingual tablets and
syllabaries imply that E -gis- sir-gala ought to be read E-giS-
nu-gala. P. 199, 1. 26. Elamite overlordship was naturally coextensive
with that of Babylon as long as the latter power acknowledged
Elamite supremacy.
P. 201, 1. 5 from below. Qanni is probably one of the Assyro-
Babylonian words for " sanctuary."
P. 203. In addition to the deities mentioned, ASSur-bani-apli
(Assurbanipal) speaks of the goddess N in-gala, the "great
lady" or " queen,?' as having a temple called E-gipara at Haran.
She is mentioned with Nusku (p. 202) and is called " the mother
ofthe gods," SamaS, the sungod, being described as her firstborn.
To all appearance she was the consort of the Moongod, Nannar.
P. 208, last line. " Yoke of the Elamites " would probably
have been the better term. (See the note to p. 199.)

NOTES AND ADDITIONS 547
P. 209, 1. 8 from below. Oppert still refuses to accept the
identification of Amraphel with rjammurabi.
P. 222, 1. 4 from below. It would appear from the Baby
lonian lists that Tudhula may be read simply Tudhul, notwith
standing the final a at the end.
P. 223, 1. 19. D&r-sir-ilani may be read Dur-mah-ildni, in
which case the name would mean "the supreme bond of (= con
necting link with) the gods " — which is probably preferable to
the form in the text. See, however, below.
P. 233, 1. 21. If read Dur-mah-ilani, the name of the son of
Eri-Eaku would not be pure Semitic. An objection to this
form may here, however, be noted, namely, that this alternative
reading is one of the titles of Merodach, and it is doubtful
whether it would be given to a man.
P. 243, 11. 25 ff. The name Aqabi-ilu (p. 463, 1. 1 5) is simi
larly formed to that of Ya'kubi-ilu, and from the same root, but
it is not identical with it. There is no probability that Egibi
(P- 439> 1- 2> etc.) has any connection with the name Jacob, as
has been suggested. Its connection with the (? Assyrian) name
Hakkubu seems to be still more unlikely. Upon these and
similar names, see Hommel, " Ancient Hebrew Tradition? "
p. 112.
P. 246, 1. 5. If my memory serves me, the name Gadu-tabu,
" the fortune is good," occurs on a contract-tablet in the British
Museum. (I unfortunately forgot to make note of it at the time,
hence my inability to give the reference.)
P. 249, after the first paragraph. Jacob's wrestling with " a
man" (Gen. xxxii. 24 ff.) brings out the interesting name Peniel
or Penuel (vv. 30 and 31), explained as " the face of God," so
called because he had there " seen God face to face." A similar
name to this is the Babylonian Ana-pdni-ili, "to the face of
God," sometimes shortened to Appdni-ili. The documents
bearing the latter are of the time of Samsu-iluna, and are there
fore rather earlier than the time of Jacob. Besides the meaning
given above, other renderings are possible, and the question
arises, whether Ana-pdni-ili means "(let me go) to the pre
sence " or "before the face of God," or that its bearer was asked
for by his father " at the presence of God." Many other possi
ble renderings will also, in all probability, occur to the reader,
but it is noteworthy, that in this case, the Biblical narrative
may, by chance, serve to explain this Babylonian compound,
for as " the man " with whom Jacob wrestled was the repre
sentative of the Almighty, so pdni in the Babylonian name may
be interpreted in the same way, and the person bearing it may
1 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1897.

548 NOTES AND ADDITIONS
have been offered or dedicated to the face, or presence (that is,
the representative) of God. It is to be noted that the owner of
the name on Mr. Offord's cylinder (pi. vi. no. 2) was a wor
shipper of the god Hadad or Rimmon, and was not, therefore, a
monotheist. P. 273, 1. 8. The date of Amenophis 1 1., according to Petrie,
was about 1449 t0 I423-
P. 279, 1. 2. The name Bidina may also be read KaStina,
apparently a variant of the Babylonian Bidinnam or KaStinnam.
L. 12 ff. The mention of Dumu-zi, i.e. Tammuz or Adonis,
goes back to about 2700 B.C., or earlier. Hymns to Tammuz
in the dialect of the Sumerian language exist, dating from about
2000 years before Christ, the most noteworthy of these composi
tions at present known being that preserved in the Manchester
Museum. L. 27. Mutzu'u. It is doubtful whether this name is complete
on the tablet where it occurs. Possibly Mutzuata, a name
occurring on the Bronze Gates found by Mr. Rassam at
Balawat, furnishes an indication as to the way in which it
should be completed.
L. 31. Yabitiri. The inscription referring to his early life is
translated on pp. 284-285.
P. 286, note 1. Compare the note to p. 279, 1. 27, above.
P. 293, 1. 26. Another Zimrida (to all appearance) is mentioned
in an inscription in the British Museum. This text comes
from Babylonia, and is possibly of an earlier date. It apparently
refers to the affairs of the Babylonian principality of Suhu and
Mae'r. P. 312, 1. 7. Besides Tidnu, the land ofthe Amorites was also
called Ari by the non-Semitic Babylonians (see the note to
p. 122).
P. 319, 1. 14. Suhi and Maer are mentioned together in the
document referred to above, note to p. 293, and in the inscrip
tion of Samas-res-usur, governor of that district, published by
Dr. Weissbach in his Babylonische Miscellen. This district lay,
according to that scholar, somewhere near the point where the
Habur runs into the Euphrates. As the western boundary of
this state is entirely unknown, the full value of Tiglath-pileser
I.'s boast cannot be estimated, but the district ravaged must
have been a considerable stretch of country.
P. 325, 1. 22. Instead of "he led," "let him lead" (lit. : "let
him take ") would probably be better. This inscription forms
part of one of those in which the ruler asks the gods (generally
SamaS and Hadad) for success against the countries which he
intended to invade. Sargon of Assyria, Esarhaddon, and AsSur-
bani-apli (Assurbanipal) all had similar inscriptions composed

NOTES AND ADDITIONS 549
for them. From the manner in which the text is written, how
ever, it is probable that it antedates these.
P. 329, 1. 4 from below. Instead of "advanced," another
possible translation is " rose up."
P. 330, 1. 3. Instead of Gilzau, Kirzau and several other
readings are possible.
The "battle of Qarqara," as it is generally called, is illustrated
by strip I (old mark C) of the Bronze Gates of Shalmaneser
II.1 The scenes only represent the capture of the cities Parga,
Ada, and Qarqara of Urhil£ni (=Irhul£ni) of the land of the
Hamathites, there being no reference either to Ahab, or to his
allies. The city of Qarqara was later on taken by Sargon (see
P- 363)-
P. 246, 1. 22. The Tiglath-pileser who is referred to here and
in the pages which follow, was the third of the name.
P. 349, 1. 6. Hatarikka is also spelled with one k, as on pp.
344 and 345.
P. 374, 1. 20. In Kammusu-nadbi we have an instance of the
occurrence of the name of Chemosh, the national god of the
Moabites. This name is also found in that of KamuSu-Sarra-
usur, apparently a Babylonian, perhaps of Moabite origin (see
the note to p. 466).
P. 376, 1. 21. Urbi occurs as the name of a city or district in
a Babylonian geographical list, from which we leam also that
there was an "upper" and a "lower" Urbi. It is immediately
followed by Pulug (see the note to p. 145).
P. 381, foot-note. According to Prof. W. Max Muller, Orient-
alische Literaturzeitung, Nov., 1902, Mer-en-Ptah and "the
great sorcerer and high-priest of Memphis " were brothers, and
the incident of the vision took place before Mer-en-Ptah's battle
with the Libyans, when, as he himself states, he saw in a dream
a figure like that of Ptah, who said to him " Take," giving him
the sword, and "Put away from thee thy faintheartedness."
Max Muller attributes the chronological error neither to Her
odotus nor to the Egyptian scribes who supplied him with
information, but to Hecataeus of Miletus, whose work Herodotus
used — " an Egyptian would not have made such a chronological
blunder." This, naturally, much diminishes the value of the
extract as a parallel to the account of the destruction of
Sennacherib's army before Jerusalem.
P. 384, 1. 1 ff. The following is Nabonidus's account of the
murder of Sennacherib and the events which led up to it, from
1 The Bronze Ornaments of the Palace Gates of Balawat, with an intro
duction by Walter de Gray Birch, and descriptions and translations by
Theophilus G. Pinches. Published at the Offices pf the Society of Biblical
Archeology, Bloomsbury, W.C.

550 NOTES AND ADDITIONS
the inscription published by the Rev. V. Scheil in the Recueil
des Travaux relatifs a la Philologie et a I'Archdologie dgyp-
tiennes et assyriennes, vol. XVIII., pp. I ff. : —
" He (this must be Sennacherib) went to Babylon, he laid its
sanctuaries in ruin, he destroyed the reliefs,1 the statues he
overthrew. He took the hands of the prince, Merodach, and
caused him to enter within ASsur2— according to the anger of
the god then he treated the land. The prince, Merodach, did
not cease from his wrath — for 21 years he set up his seat within
ASSur. (In) later days a time arrived, the anger ofthe king of
the gods, the lords, was then appeased. He remembered
E-sagila and Babylon, the seat of his dominion. The king of
Mesopotamia,3 who during the anger of Merodach had accom
plished the ruin of the land, the son born of his body slew him
with the sword."
For the Babylonians, the Assyrian king was the instrument of
Merodach's wrath.
P. 386 ff. As the Assyrian forms of the name Manasseh are
Menase and Minse, and these agree with the Hebrew, which
has e (represented by sheva) in the first syllable, the spelling
with e has been adopted as being the more correct.
P. 393. Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great,
in an inscription found by the German expedition, and published
by Dr. Weissbach in his Babylonische Miscellen, refers to the
downfall of Assyria in the following words : —
" The Assyrian, who from remote days ruled all people, and
with his heavy yoke oppressed the people of the land,* I, the
weak, the humble, the worshipper of the lord of lords, by the
mighty force of Nebo and Merodach, my lords, cut off their
feet from the land of Akkad, and caused their yoke to be
thrown off."
As the text is not of any great length, Nabopolassar could
not give details, but notwithstanding his humility, it is note
worthy that he takes all the credit to himself. The inscription
is written on four cylinders from E-hatta-tila, the temple of
Ninip in Su-anna.
P. 399, 1. 8. The spelling of the name of Nebuchadnezzar
differs somewhat in the various inscriptions, but the meaning is
always practically the same — " Nebo, protect the boundary " or
"my boundary," according as the second component ends in a
or *. In Nabium (p. 398, 1. 7 from below) we have an old form
fully spelt out.
P. 400, 1. 25. The name of at least one Nabu-zer-iddina (son
1 Or "images." 2 Assyria.
3 See p. 207, upper part. * That is. Babylonia.

NOTES AND ADDITIONS 55 1
of Abflaa ?], descendant of Irani) occurs in the contracts of the
time of Nebuchadnezzar. This man, however, was a. scribe,
and there is no indication that he had ever been captain of the
guard. P. 403, 11. 7 ff. The penalty of death by fire, inflicted on
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, receives illustration from
the notes to p. 480.
P. 405, 1. 21. The German excavations at Babylon have
revealed the appearance of the gate of Istar as a plain opening
in a wall of the city, covered with glazed brickwork, orna
mented with bulls and dragons alternately, arranged in vertical
rows, a decoration which is repeated in the thickness of the wall
and in the inner recesses. (See. Delitzsch's Im Lande des
einstigen Paradieses, figures 25 and 26.) For the position of
the gate, see the note to pp. 471, 472.
P. 406, 11. 2 and 3 from below. " The House of the Founda
tion of Heaven and earth" is the £-temen-ana-kia of p. 138.
P. 413, above.. As an example of the sending ofthe statues of
deities temporarily away from their shrines, see p. 278, where
mention is made of the image of IStar of Nineveh, sent to Egypt
by king DuSratta.
P. 415, 1. 23, and four following pages. Ugbaru and Gubaru
are generally regarded as two forms of the name Gobryas, and
though this seems certain, there is just the possibility, that they
are the names of two different persons.
P. 425, 1. 10 from below. The tablet mentioning Zeru-Babili
son of Muterisu exists in two examples, one being in the British
Museum, and' the other (which has an Aramaic docket) in the
possession of Mr. Joseph Offord. It is translated in the
Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, July,
1900, pp. 264 ff.
P. 434, 11. 25-30. The translation is made from the copy
published by the Rev. J. N. Strassmaier, S.J. A revision of
the cuneiform text, indicates that the word " one " at the be
ginning of L 28 ought to be omitted, and that SamaS-ereS is
better than SamaS-iddina.
P. 446, 11. 8 ff. from below. The inscription referred to is
published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archeo
logy, Dec. 1895, pp. 278, 279.
P. 457, 1. 19. Arad-Meme may also be read Arad-Gula. In
the next line Subabu-sara' may be Sumabu-sara'.
P. 466 (the sale of an Egyptian slave). Another text of the
same nature, dated in the same year, is in the De Clercq collec
tion. It refers to the sale of an Egyptian slave-woman named
Tamunu ("she of Amon"). The text is published, with a
translation by Prof. J. Oppert, in the second vol, of the Cata-

552 NOTES AND ADDITIONS
logue.1 The slave in question belonged to Itti-Nabu-balatu,
son of KamuSu-Sarra-usur, "Chemosh, protect the king" —
probably indicating that the bearer of the name was of
Moabite origin, or the introduction of the god of the Moabites
into Babylonia.
Pp. 471-472. The German excavations have already settled
many doubtful points concerning the topography of Babylon,
and it is certain that, after the destruction of the city, ex
aggerated accounts of its enormous extent obtained credence.
According to Delitzsch, it was not larger than Munich or
Dresden, though even that is a good size for an Oriental city.
The principal ruins are on the right bank of the river, and
included Babil ("Probably a palace"), to protect which the city-
wall makes a considerable angle on the north. From this point
the wall continues its course in a south-easterly direction for a
considerable distance, and turning at a right angle at its farthest
point from the river, runs back in a south-westerly direc
tion to meet it again. About a mile south of Babil the visitor
comes upon the great ruin known as the Kasr, where stood
Nebuchadnezzar's second palace. Some distance to the east of
this is the " procession-street " of the god Merodach, from
which came some very fine reliefs of " the Lion of Babylon,"
beautifully wrought in coloured and enamelled brick. The
temple of the goddess Nin-mah lay to the south-east of the
southern end of the street, and between the two was situated
the celebrated Gate of I Star, adorned with lions and strangely-
formed dragons, already referred to (p. 551). Proceeding to
the south-west from the temple of Nin-mah, we reach Nebu
chadnezzar's earlier palace, a very extensive structure, with a
spacious court-yard and a large hall used as a throne-room, on
the south side of which the recess for the throne is still visible.
The palace of his father Nabopolassar, which adjoined it on the
west, has not yet been excavated. About half-a mile to the
south of these palaces lie the ruins of the great temple of Belus,
in the mound now known as Amran-ibn-Ali (see pp. 137 ff., 476,
480, ff). The German excavations have thus confirmed the
identification of the site, as indicated in the Cuneiform Inscrip
tions of Western Asia, vol. I., pi. 48, no. 9 (published in 1861).
This text, which is a brick-inscription of Esarhaddon, reads as
follows : —
"Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, king of Babylon, has caused
the brickwork of E-saggil, E-temen-ana-kia, to be built anew
for Merodach his lord."
1 Collection de Clercq. Catalogue m'ethodique et ra'isonn'e, par M. de
Clercq, avec la collaboration de M. J. Menant. Paris, Leroux, 1885, etc.

NOTES AND ADDITIONS 553
According to the German plan, the portion of the city on the
west of the river was of exceedingly small extent.
Artists will soon be able to depict the scenery of Babylon as
a background for pictures of this world-renowned city with con
siderable accuracy.
P. 480. On account of the Greek words, I give here a tran
scription of the late Babylonian text of the extract printed on
this page : —
An(tiukkusu) sarru ina dlclni sa mdt Meluhha ialtanis itta-
luku-ma . . . (amelu) puliti pupp$ u £psetatn sa kima usurlu
(amelu) Yawannu. . . .
Usurlu may be translated " bas-relief" instead of " shrine,"
but the rendering would not be materially changed thereby.
The remainder of the inscription, which is exceedingly inter
esting, is rather mutilated, and a trustworthy translation of it is
at present exceedingly difficult. Certain thieves (sarraqa), how
ever, seem to be mentioned, and had to all appearance stripped
(iqlubu) the image of Uru-gala and another, "a god whose
name was called Ammani'ita." On the 10th of Marches wan
these thieves were captured and imprisoned, and on the 13th to
all appearance judged and condemned. Umu htati ina isati
qalti, " That day they were burnt in the fire " — such is the end
of the story.
This seems not to be in accordance with the laws of sacri
legious theft, as stated in sections 6 and 8 of Hammurabi's code.
Perhaps the law had changed in the 1800 years which had
elapsed since the time of that ruler ; or stripping a sacred image
was a much more heinous crime than mere theft from a temple,
which, in the first degree, was punishable with death.
It is noteworthy that refusal to worship the image set up by
Nebuchadnezzar was visited, in Dan. iii, with the same penalty,
probably as showing contempt for the divinity.
P. 484, 1. 13. As indicated in the Index (p. 515), the river
Silfcu is probably the Sellas in Messinia, where one of the
numerous cities named Apameia (Apam'a) lay.
P. 485, 1. 28. According to the system of transcription adopted
in this book, the name of the province in which Bagdad is
situated would be better transcribed as 'Iraq.
Pp. 489-491. Not the least interesting of this long list of
temples and cities are ASSur and Nineveh, of which we have
here the earliest mention.

INDEX

Aa, Ae, Ea (Aos), 17, 26, 56, 6i,
77 ; ? the same name as Ya, 59,
112; transferred to Merodach,
32, 113; his other names and
titles, 62 ; abode and form, 62,
63 ; offspring, attendants, and
consort, 63, 64; parentage, 17,
64 ; god of handicrafts, rivers,
and water, the sea and life therein,
62, 63 ; ever ready with counsel,
64 ; warns Pir-napistim of the
coming of the Flood, commands
him to build a ship, and tells him
what to say to the people, 102;
reproaches Bel, 107 ; enters the
ship and deifies Pir-napistim,
107, 108; worshipped at Eridu,
160 ; month Iyyar dedicated to
him, 65
Aa, etc., figures of, 247
Aa (A6, Ea), Yl, Ya'u, names con
taining, 59
Aa (goddess), 160
Aah-mes, Egyptian captain of
marines, 270
Aah-mes, Pharaoh, 269, 270
Aa-ibur-sabfl, Babylon's festival
street, 405, 472
Aa-rammu of Edom, 374
Abarakku, 258
Abdi-Asirta (Abdi-Asirti, Abdi-
Asratum, Abdi-Astarti), the
Amorite, 278, 293 ; the forms
of his name, 314 ; writes to the
king of Egypt, 314
Abdi-Sli (Abdeel), r57
Abdi-li'iti of Arvad, 374

Abdi-milkutti of Sidon beheaded,
386
Abdi-taba of Jerusalem, 233 ; in a
different position from Mel
chizedek, 235 ; writes to the king
of Egypt, 294, 295, 297-299 ; see
also 293
Abed-nebo (Abed-nego), the Baby
lonian name of Azariah, 403
Abed-nego; 129, 403
Abel-Beth-Maachah, 352, 353
Ab8-ramu, 148
Abesu' (Ebisum), king, 153, 155; his
daughter hires a field, 167
Abi-baal of Samsimuruna, 386
Abil-Addu-nathanu, the story of,
459 ff.
Abil-akka, 352
Abil-Sin, king, 148, 153
Abi-nadib (Abinadab), 438, 439
Abram, Abraham, his parentage,
meaning of his first name, and
traditions concerning him, 146,
147, 196 ; a Chaldean or Baby
lonian, 147 ; probable Babylonian
and Assyrian forms of his name,
148 ; the importance of his period,
149 ff. ; his seeming mistrust of
the sons of Heth, 150, 151 ; was
there a movement towards mono
theism in his time? 198, 199 ; the
Sabeans dedicate a chapel to him,
203
Abrech, Sayce's explanation of, 258
Abriqqu, 258
Absence of names of Egyptian
kings, 250

556

INDEX

Ahubu, one of the weapons of
Merodach, 24
Abu-habbah (Sippar), 158, 41 1
Abu-ramu, 148
Abydenus, 63, 384, 385, 393
Abyss, the, measured by Merodach,
26. See Apsu, Apason
Accad, a city of Nimrod's kingdom,
118. See Akkad
Accho, 277 ; lawless acts of the
people, 281, 282, 360, 374
Achzib (Akzibi), 374
Adad (Hadad). See Addu
Adad-nirari IIL, king, 339, 342,
344; inscriptions of, 340, 341,
343. See Addu-nirari
Adam, various etymologies of the
word, 78 ; a similar word in the
bilingual story of the Creation,
78, 79
Adamah, 292
Adaya, 297
Addu (Hadad), 157, 277
Addu-'idri, 329 ; resists the Assyrian
k'ng> 334. 335 ; = Ben-Hadad,
337
Addu-nirari of Assyria, 279
Addu-nirari, king of Nuhasse, 317
Adini of Til-barsip, 328
Adonis (see Dumuzi, Tammuz), 82,
279
Adoni-zedek, 324
Adoption, 173, 175-177. 4^3
Adram(m)elech, 378, 384, 385
Aesculapius, the serpent, and the
magic herb, 109
Agad, Agade, 124, 412, 422; its
temple-tower, 136; misfortunes
sung, 477. See Akkad
Agaditess, lamentation of the, 477
Ahab (Ahabbu of the Sir'ilaa), 329-
33', 335. 337. 338
Ahaz and Tiglath-pileser, 353, 356
Ahima, prince, 154
Ahi-milki of Ashdod, 386
Ahi-miti of Ashdod, 369
Ahi-tabu (Ahitub), 281
Ahuni of Til-barsip, 328
Ahuramazda, 426, 427
Ain-anab, 293

Ainsworth, W. F., his description
of the ruins of Haran, 200
Ajalon, 280, 297
Akaya, prince, 154
Akizzi, king of Qatua, 290, 317
Akkad (Accad), 119; references to
the country and its language,
121, 412 ; the ideograph for, 122;
in early times a collection of
small states, 123 ; names of their
capitals, 124; the gods of, 415;
revolt in, 415 ; weeping in, 416
Akkad, the city (Agade'), 124, 135
Akkadian, Akkadians, 119, 120,
121; probably migrants, 134;
will overthrow the nations, 123 ;
their language that of most of the
earlier inscriptions, 124 ; its
gradual disuse, 125 ; disappear
ance of their specific racial type,
125 ; their literature current also
in Assyria, 126 ; their laws re
tained, 125 ; transcription and
translations of inscriptions, 219-
221
Akku (Accho), 374
Alasia (? Cyprus), 277
Al Astarti, the city of Astarte,
278
Al beth Ninip, "the city of the
temple of Ninip," 278
Aleppo, 304, 329
Allala-bird, Istar breaks his wings,
96
Allat, the temple of, 182
Alliance with commoners, 166 ;
alliance by marriage, 276
Amadeh, 273
Amana, the god Amon (Ammon),
278
Amanus mountains, 349, 368
Amaru, a name of Merodach, 54
Amar-uduk, the full form of Mero
dach, 54
Amasis, pharaoh, Babylonian vassal,
401
Amattu (Hamath), 363
Amedi, city, 372
Amen-em-heb, officer of Thothmes
III., 272

INDEX

557

Ameni (Amen-em-ha), inscription
of, 261
Amenophis IL, 273; Amenophis
IIL, 274, 316 ; Amenophis IV.,
269. 293, 299, 302; his names,
303
Amki, the cities of, 288, 289, 317
Amminadab (Ammi-nadbi) of Beth-
Ammon, 389
Ammi-titana, king, 153 ; extent of
his dominions, 155; his daughter's
wedding-contract, 166 ; lord of
Amurru, 215
Ammi-zaduga, king, 153 ; tablet
dated in his reign, 168, 332
Ammonites (Amanians), 329, 333
Ammurabi, a form of the name
Hammurabi, 209
Ammurapi, a late form of Hammu
rabi, 210
Amna, a name of the sun-god,
144
Amon (Amnion), the Egyptian god,
278
Amoria (the land of the Amorites),
*55» 205, 206, 207, 208, 374,
422
Amorite, Amorites, 156, 157 ; in
Babylonia, 169, 277, 310 ; tribute
from the, 328, 341 ; their kings
do homage to Cyrus, 422
Amorite deities, 156, 170 n.
Amorite names, 170
Amorite tract, the, 169, 312
Amorite, an, the father of Jerusalem,
3>6
Amosis, the prince who knew not
Joseph, 307
'Amq, identified with Amki, 289
Amraphel (Hammurabi), 125, 152;
his successor, 153, 187, 188;
Amraphel identified with Hammu
rabi by Prof. Schrader, 209 ; ex
planations of the final /, 211 ;
colophon-dates of his reign, 2ri-
214
Amtheta, mother of Abram, 146
Amu, the ethnic name of the "im
pure " Hyksos kings, 265
Amurru (the land of the Amorites),

122, 134, 155, 205, 206 (207),
208, 328, 341 ; ruled over by
Sargon of Agade, 215 ; claimed
by Hammurabi, 215 ; ruled by
Ammi-titana, 311 ; the cuneiform
ideographs for, 122, 311, 312;
used for "west," 311
Amurru (the god), 156, 312
Amurru (personal name), 157
Amytis, 407
Anab, 293
Anamini, the spring of, 305
Animals created by Merodach, 40 ;
animals sent into the ark, 103,
117; animals held in honour at
On, 264, 265
Ankh-kheperu-Ra, "the beloved"
of Amenophis IV., 303
Anman-ila, king, 54 «., 154
Annihilation, the, of a nation,
393
Annunit (Anunit), 224. See Anuni
tum
Anos ( = Anu), 17
Ansan city, 411, 420, 421
Ansar and Kisar, production of, 16;
their names, 65 ; connection of
Ansar with Asshur, 66 ; identity
of the two deities, 66 ; similar
names, 67
Ansar hears of the revolt of Tiamtu,
20
Antiochus (Epiphanes), tablet re
ferring to his reign, 480
Anu, god ofthe heavens, 16 ; asked
to subdue Tiamtu, 20; fails, 21 ;
mentioned with Istar, 41.; wor
shipped at Erech, 160, 231 ;
Merodach founds a place for him,
26 ; he joins with other deities to
send a flood, 101
Anu-Bel, the god, 482, 483
Anunitum, goddess of Sippar, 160 ;
Nabonidus' and Belshazzar's offer
ings to her temple, 450
Anunnaki (spirits or gods of the
earth), creation of, 40; present
at the Flood, 104
Aos (Aa, AS, or Ea), 17. See Aa
Apam'a (Apameia), city, 484

558

INDEX

Apason (Apsu, the primaeval ocean),
16 ; husband of Tauthe (Tiamtu),
Apharsathchites, the, 391
Apharsites, the, 391
Aphek, city, 330
Apophis f Apop'i), 262
Apparazu, city, 334
Apsu (= Apason), the primaeval
ocean, the abyss, 17; non-existent
at the beginning, 39 ; its fountain,
41, 44; E-sagila there, 40, 43;
the abode of Tammuz, 43
Arabia, Sennacherib king of, 378,
381
Arabians (Arbaa), 329, 333, 388,
391 ; in alliance with Sennacherib,
382
" Arabic " dynasty, the, 169
Arabs, 347
Aramaic dialects, 140
Arame, king, 334
Aramean tribes, 347, 356
Arameans, 371
Aram-naharaim, 207
Ararat (Urartu), 127, 336, 347,
35'. 367, 368
Arareh, 293
Ararma, Akk, name of Larsa,
218
Araske (Nisroch, the god Assur),
37?
Arazias, land of, 341
Arbaces, the Scythian, 393
Arbela, 412
Archevites, the, 391
Argana, city, 329
Argob, 313
Arioch, 164 ; identified with Rim-
Aku or Eri-Aku, 209
Arioch, the king's captain, 403
Ark (ship), command to build the,
given by Ae (Ea, Aa), 102, 117 ;
description of the, 103 ; entered
by Pir-napistim, his family, etc.,
103 ; given into the hands of a
pilot, 104 ; stopped by the moun
tain of Nisir, 105 ; Bel's anger on
seeing it, 106 ; its building and
provisionment, 103, 115

Armenia, 311, 344, 373 i the sons
of Sennacherib take refuge there,
378
Armenians (Mannaa), 387
Arnon, 313
Arpachshad, possible etymologies ot,
143, 144 n.
Arpad, 340, 345, 347
Arqania, city, 484
Arrabha (Arrapchitis), 346
Arsaka. (Arsaces), departs to Ar
qania, 484
Art of the Hittites, 323
Artaxerxes, friendly to the Jews,
428 ; his death, 429
Artificers of the ark saved in the
vessel, 103, 115, 117
Aruada (Arvad), 386, 390
Aruru, the goddess of Sippar- Aruru,
43, 44 ; aids Merodach to create
the seed of mankind, 40 ; creates
Ea-bani, 93
Arvad, city, 272, 322, 328, 386,
390
Arvadites (Arudaa), 329, 37
Arzauya of Ruhizzu, 290
Arzawa, 298
Asa of Judah, 327
Asaridu, letter of, 210
Asari-lu-duga (Merodach), 54, 155
Asaru or Asari, a name of Merodach,
54. 143
Asdudimma, 369
Asenath, the name, 258 j legend
concerning her, 259
Ashdod, 322, 369, 370, 376,
386
Ashdodites (Asdudaa), 374
Asherah, the, 278, 314
Ashtoreth, Ashtaroth, 156, 157,
278, 313
Askelon, 277, 297 ; conquered by
Rameses II. , 305 ; by Meneptah
II., 306, 374, 386
Asnapper (Assur-bant-apli), 391 ;
letter apparently addressed to ,
him, 210
Aspasine (Hyspasines), Kharacenian
king, 482, 483
Assarachoddas (Esarhaddon), 378

INDEX

559

Asshur, builder of the cities of
Assyria, 118
Asshur, city, creation or foundation
of, 28, 38
Assur (Asshur), city, 28; land of,
340; revolts, 345, 346,374; city,
422
Assur, the national god of the
Assyrians, 202, 329, 340; De
litzsch's etymology of, 66
Assuraaitu, queeri, 392
Assur-dha-iddina (Esarhaddon), 392
Assur-bani-apli, 129; letters to,
201, 410; restores the temple of
Nusku at Haran, 202 ; see also
25 1 ; refers to Sennacherib, 382 ;
his reign, 388-392 ; his palace
discovered, 394
Assur-dan, king, 344 ; wars in
Babylonia, etc., 345
Assur-Stil-ilani-ukinni, 392
Assur-mulik (Assur-munik), 385
Assur-nadin-sum, son of Sen
nacherib, made king of Babylon,
379 ; his deposition, 380
Assur-nasir, eponym, 410
Assur-nasir-apli revolts against his
father, 327 ; attacks Carchemish,
321 ; marches to the Mediter
ranean, 328
Assur-nirari II. marches to Hata-
rika, Arpad, 345 ; and Namri,
346
Assur-uballit to Amenophis III.,
282
Assur-uttir-asbat = Pitru, 329
Assyria, Assyrians, 122, 123 ; spoke
the same language as the Baby
lonians, 126 ; their origin, 126 ;
character, rulers, artistic skill,
128 ; invasion by, 331 ; revolt of,
345. 374; downfall of, 391 ff.,
395 ; Christians of, 485
Assyro-Babylonian language, the,
widely known, 140, 275
Astamaku, city, 334
Astarte (Istar) and the Asherah, 314
Astyages' operations against Cyrus,
411
Asur-nadin-ahi of Assyria, 283

'Atar-'ata ('Atar-ghata), Tar-'ata,
Atargatis, or Derketo, 203
Atargatis, goddess of Haran, 203
Aten, the sun's disc, its suggested
etymology, 303
Athribis, 389
Atra-hasis (Gk. Xisuthrus), a name
of Pir-napistim, 107, 117; the
coming of the Flood revealed to
him in a dream, 107
Avaris, the Hyksos shut up in, 252 ;
the centre of their rule, 254;
taken by the Egyptians, 270
Avitus of Vienne, Bishop, 47
Ay, pharaoh, 303
Azariah, 338, 348
Aziru, 279, 293, 313, 315
Azor (Azuru), 375
Azriau or Izriau (Azariah), 348, 349
Azuri of Ashdod, 369
Azzati (Gaza), 285
Ba'ali, city, 340
Ba'ali-ra'asi, 337
Ba'al(u) of Tyre, 386
Baal-zephon (Ba'ali-sapuna), 349 ;
(Ba'il-sapuna), 369
Ba'asa (Baasha), 333
Baba (Beby), 261 ; his inscription,
262
Babel = Babylon, 118, 135
Babel, Tower of, supposed, 44,
132-141, 398
Babia, name, 456
Babylon, founded by Merodach, 40 ;
principal centre, 1 24 ; Dynasty of
Babylon, 142, 152, 153 ; city de
stroyed by Sennacherib, 380, 381 ;
Jehoiachin carried to, 399 ; the
gods of Akkad enter, 415 ; at the
time of the Captivity, 471-473 ;
the proposed new capital under
Alexander the Great, 476 ; its
wallsdismantled under the Seleu-
cidse, 418 ; the Church at, 485 ;
tablets dated at, 432, 440-444,
448, 449, 459, 460, 464, 466, 478
Babylonia (Sumer and Akkad, Shi
nar), 118, 119; majority of in
scriptions Semitic, 119; feder-

56o

INDEX

ated under Hammurabi, 149 ;
change in its rule, 152 ; under
Assyrian rule, 327, 356, 357, 371,
379. 380, 386, 391 ; under Cyrus,
419 ff. ; Darius and his successors,
424 ff.; the Greeks, 475 ff.; Khar-
acenians, 481 ; Parthians, 484
Babylonia at the time of Abraham,
171. 347
Babylonian, Babylonians, character,
150; dress, 171 ; manners, 172,
391 ; racial characteristics, 119,
120 ; downfall of their empire,
415 ; fought in the army of Cam
byses, 467 ; their religion, 49 ff.,
1 59 ff- > gods worshipped at a late
date, 479
Babylonian Chronicle, the, 361, 383,
385 ,
Bactrian slave-girl, the, 471
Ba.ga.-asa, brother of Hyspasines, 483
Baghdad, the Christians of, 126
Bahiani, 322
Balawat, gates of, 405
Ball, the Rev. C. J., 54 ; compares
Akkadian with Chinese, 121
Bardes (Barzia), 424
Baruhi-ilu (? Baruchiel), 458
Bashan, the plain of, 277
Bashmurites, origin of the, 266
Behistun (rock), 426
Bel, " the lord," a name given to
Merodach, 32, 1. 116, 54 ;= Baal,
Beel, etc., 55 ; as god of lordship
and dominion, 58 ; his dislike for
Pir-napistim, 102 ; his anger at
the escape of the patriarch and his
people from the Flood, 107. See
Anu-Bel
B6I, " the lord" = Ellila (Illila) =
Illinos, 17; called "the father,"
32, I. 116
Bel and the Dragon, story of ( = the
Semitic Babylonian story of the
Creation), 20
Bel-abla-iddina, captain of Babylon,
^469 _
Bel-ahe-iddina, one of Neriglissar's
captains, 444
Bel-bullit-su (a scribe), 478

Bel-etiraniii, major-domo of Neri
glissar, 439
Bel-ibnt (Belibus), 379
Belichus (river), 328
Bel-Merodach, 18
Belos (Bel-Merodach), 17, 18
Bel-re'sua servant of Belshazzar,
447
Bel-sarra-bullit, agent of Nabonidus
and Belshazzar, 450
Bel-sarra-usur, chief of a Median
province, 367
Bel-shamin worshipped at Haran,
203
Belshazzar (Bel-sarra-usur), son of
Nabonidus, 414 ; was he descend
ant of Nebuchadnezzar? 339,
407; as crown prince, 412, 447 ff.;
in Akkad, 412, 449 ; his position,
414 ; though heir to the throne,
447, never mentioned as king,
419 ; a sale of clothes, 449 ; his
appointment of Daniel, 419 ; his
death, 417-419
Bel-sum-iskun, father of Neriglissar,
409. 438
Bel-tarsi-ili-ma, of Calah, 343
Belteshazzar (Daniel), explanation
of the name, 402
Beltis, goddess, 415
Bel-usallim, the enchanter, tablet
of. 155
Bel-Yau, " Bel is Jah," name, 59
Bel-zer-lisir, copy of an old lament
ation made for, 477, 478
Bene-berak (Banaa-barqa), 375
Ben-Hadad II. (son of Ben-Hadad
!¦)> 33°; restores cities, 331;
besiegesSamaria,333;meets Shal
maneser, 335 ; see also 329, 337,
338, 342
Bennu, the bird of Ra or RS, 265
Berechiah, 471
Beri- . . . ., the Hasabite, to the
king of Egypt, 288
Berlin Museum, 372
Berosus, the Babylonian author,
63 378, 379 (siege of Jerusalem),
384, 385 (death of Sennacherib),
406, 408, 409, 410, 418, 422

INDEX

56l

Berlin, George, his suggestion with
regard to the " sons of god," 86
Beth-Ammon, 322, 386, 389
Beth-Ammonites (Btt-Ammanaa),
374
Beth-arbel, 361
Beth-Dagon (Bit-Daganna), 375
Bethel, the, at Haran, 201 (see Bet-
ili) ; division of property declared
in the, 180
Beth-Ninip, the city, 299
Bethuel, the name, 245
Bet-ili ( = Beth-el), the place where
declarations were made, 180 ; the
Bethel at Haran, 201
Beyrout, 293
Biamites, origin of the, 266
Bilingual story of the Creation,
38-41
Bin- Addu, 317
Bin-Addu-'idri, 329. See Ben-
Hadad
Birch, Dr. S., 253
Birds, sending forth of the, 106,
116
Birejik, 207
Birs-Nimroud (Tower of Nimrod),
services in, 485. See E-zida
Btt-Amukkani (Chaldean tribe), 356
Bit-Bahiani, 322
Bit Humrt, Bit Humrla, 332, 352,
etc.
Bit Ninip in the province of
Jerusalem, 235
Bit-Yakin, 371
Black Obelisk, 332, 337
Blessed, the abode of, at the mouths
of the rivers, 73
Boats of skins, 319
Body, the, of Joseph not taken at
once to Canaan, 266, 267
Boghaz Keui, 317
Borsippa, the temple tower at, 137 ;
tablets dated at, 461, 462. See
Birs-Nimroud, E-zida
Bosanquet (Mr.), 345
Bow of Merodach, 28
Branding of animals, 457
Brick in Babylonia, 135
Brugsch, Prof., 253, 304, 305 ; his

translation of the inscription of
Baba, 262
Bubastis, 263
Budu-flu of Beth-Ammon, 374, 386
Builders, Babylonian kings as, 398
Building of the ship or ark, 102,
!03, 117
Bull, divine, sent against Gilgames
and his friend, 97 ; killed and
mutilated by the latter, 97, 98
Bungun-ila, king, 54 «., 154
Burial of Seqnen-R6, 269 '"
Burra-burias (Bmna-burias), king,
276, 293 ; speaks of Canaan,
205 ; his letter to Amenophis
III., 281
Bur-Sin, king, 124, 164 ; meaning
of his name, 217, 218
Buzu, city, 182
Buzur-Kurgala, the pilot or boat
man of the ship (ark), 104
Caedmon, 47
Cain and Abel, parallel to the story
of, 82-84
Calah (Nimroud), built by Asshur,
118, 126, 341; statues at, 343;
revolt in, 346
Calne, 348
Calneh, one of the cities of Nim-
rod's kingdom, 1 1 8 ; identified with
Niffer, 126, 135
Camarina (Urie), 146 ; its probable
etymology, 147, 197
Cambyses (Kambuzta), performs
ceremonies, 416 ; becomes king,
424 ; tablet of his reign, 466 ; his
campaign in Egypt, 467
Canaan, 204, 205, 301, 304, 306
Canaanites, Rameses II. and the,
3°5
Canals, Babylonian, importance of,
159
Canon, the Babylonian, agrees with
that of Ptolemy in naming Pulu
orPoros, 357, 358
Canon of Ptolemy, 358, 398
Canons, the eponym, 352, 353, 358
Cappadocia, 318
Captives asked for, 301
N N

562

INDEX

Caravans, attacks on, 281, 285, 286
Carchemish, 272, 304, 319, 321,
3^9-334. 339, 367
Carchemishites, 350
Carmania, Nabonidus exiled to, 418
Carmel, Thothmes III. at, 271
" Cedar, beloved of the great
gods," the, 76
Chaboras (Habor), river, 364
Chaldean, Chaldeans, the tribes,
341, 347, 356; not liked by
the Babylonians, 371 ; Esar
haddon and the, 388 ; Nabo
polassar supposed to be a, 396
Chaldean Christians, the, 394
Characters, Assyrian, 312; Baby
lonian, 122
Chariots ofthe Hittites, 319
Chedor-, 209. See Kudur-
Chedorlaomer, 209, 215 ; at first
identified with Kudur-mabuk,
222 ; probably the Kudur-lahmal,
or Kudur-lahgumal of the inscrip
tions, 223, 232
Cherub, cherubim, 80-82
Chiefs of Takhsi made captive, 273
Chinzeros (Uktn-zer), 356, 357
Choosing the inheritance, 180
Christians, of Mossoul and its
neighbourhood, 394 ; of Baghdad
and Irak, 485
Chronological trade-document, a,
398
Cilicia (Kefto), 274, 368 ; places
near, conquered by Sennacherib,
379
Cilicians, the, 390
Cities, creation of, in Babylonia,
28; their growth, 171 ; invoked
as deities, 181
Cities, etc. of the western states,
before the Hebrews, 277
Cittaeans, 360
Civilization in Babylonia, antiquity
of, 170
Cleopatra's Needle, 265
Coast-lands, Mediterranean, pay
tribute to Assur-bant-apli, 388
Colophon-dates, 178-182, 184, 185,
187, 188, 211-214

Combat with the Dragon, 18 ff.
Commagene (Kummuh), 319, 329,
372.
Commissariat, letter concerning the,
287
Conciliation, Elamite policy of, 233
Confusion of tongues, the, 132,
133, 139, 140, J70
Congregation, the, of E-saggil 126
B.C., 482
Constellations, Merodach sets the,
27
Consulting the teraphim, 247
Cordial relations between Syria and
Egypt in the time of Amenophis
II. , 275
Cossaeans (Kassu), 373
Costume of the people in Babylonia
2000 b.c, 171
Countries known to the Babylonians
and Assyrians, list of, 206
Courts of Justice in the temples and
at the gates of cities, 163
Creation, the Hebrew story of, 11
ff. ; how it grew, 9 ff. ; differences
between it and the Babylonian
accounts, 34 ff. , 48-49
Creation-legend, the Semitic, an
heroic poem, 10 ; extracts from,
18, 19, 21-23, 35, 36 J remarks
upon, 20, 33-38
Creation-legend, the bilingual, 38-
45 > why compiled, 39
Creation-legends, though differing,
have the same ideas in common,
10
Creation-tablet, the first, 16; Da
mascius' version, 16 ; remarks
thereon, 20 ; the second, 20, 21 ;
third, 22; fourth, 22-26; fifth,
26-28 ; sixth, 28, 29 ; last, 29-33
Cruelty of the Egyptians to cap
tives, 273
Cultivation, tablet referring to, 456,
457
Cure of Gilgames, the, 108, 109
Cush, the father of Nimrod, 118, 204
Cuthah, the temple-tower at, 136 ;
tribute from, 341 ; its site found
by Rassam, 394

INDEX

5^3

Cylinder-seal with supposed repre
sentation of Adam's fall, 79
Cyprus (Yatnana, or, better, Ya-
anana), 128, 304, 373 ; its kings,
386, 387; tributary to Egypt,
272 ; aids Assur-bani-apli, 389
Cyrus, his operations against Astya
ges, 411 ; crosses the Tigris, 412 ;
subjugates Babylonia and enters
the capital, 415 ; helped by the
Jews, 416; his treatment of
Nabonidus, 418; master of Baby
lonia, 419; his inscription, 420
ff. ; champion of the Babylonian
gods, 422 ; restores exiles to their
homes, 423 ; his death, 424
Dache and Dachos, miswritten for
Lache and Lachos, 17
Dagger of Nebuchadnezzar, the, 432
Dagon (Dagunu), 59 ; (Dagan), 142,
279
Daily Telegraph expedition, the,
90; results in the finding of a
fragment of a second story of the
Flood, 117
Damascius, his version of the Baby
lonian Creation-story, 16, 17, 63
Damascus, the city (Dimasqu, Di-
masqa), conquered by Rameses II. ,
305 ; Israelites build streets there,
331 ; Mari'u, the king besieged
there, 341 ; "land of," 353; Ahaz
goes there, 356, 363
Damascus, the country (Sa-imeri-su,
Imeri-su), 329, 334, 336-338;
Mari'u, king of, 341 ; subdued by
Assyria, 348 (353) ; Rezon of, 354
Damu, goddess, " the great en
chanter," 86
Daniel, 402, 417
Daos, the shepherd of Pantibiblon,
his long reign, 63
Dapur, 305
Darius Hystaspis, mounts the throne
of Babylon, 424; the contract-
tablets of his reign, 425, 468-47 1;
his monotheism, 426, 427 ; the
extent of his dominions, 427
Dark head, people of the, 420

' ' Dark vine," the, of the Babylonian
Paradise, Eridu, 71, 75
Da-sarti, a captive, 302
Date, probable, of the Hyksos inva
sion, 265 ; of the Exodus, 306
Daughter (perhaps adopted), sale of
a, 185
Dauk£ ( = Damkina), 17, 18; consort
of Aa or Ea, 64
Day the Israelites quitted Egypt,
306
Days of creation, no reference to, 49
Dead slave, the, 458, 459
Death of Shalmaneser II. , 339 ;
IV., 361 ; Sargon, 372; Senna
cherib, 383 ; Esarhaddon, 388 ;
the last king of Assyria, 393;
Belshazzar, 419
Dehavites, the, 391
Deified kings, 164
Deities as witnesses, 187
Deities of Mitanni, 277, 278
Deities of west Asian origin, 156
Deities probably foreign, 157
Delitzsch, Prof., Friedrich, 14, 15,
27, 36, 78 ; restorations by, 122,
361 ; his etymology of sadil, 248
Derketo (Atargatis), goddess, 203
Devotees to the gods, 161
Diarbekir, 321
"Dibbara Legend," the, 122
Digging of canals, dating by the,
»59
Dimasqa, Dimasqu (Damascus), 336,
34L 353. 363
Dinaites, the, 391
Diodorus Siculus upon the taking of
Nineveh, 393
Disaster, the Assyrian, at the siege
of Jerusalem, 378
Divination, 247
"Divine Daughters," the, 160
Divine honours paid to Egyptian
rulers, 270
Division of property, 178-181
Divorce, 181
Double-formed and bull-like mon
sters, Ea and his attendants, 63, 64
Dove, swallow, and raven sent forth
from the ship (ark), 106

564

INDEX

Downfall of Assyria, the, 392, 393
Dragon of Chaos, the, 18
Dreams, royal, 390, 411
Dress of the scribes in early Baby
lonia, 171, 172
Driver, Prof. , 260 n.
Du-azaga, "the holy seat," 405
Dfidu, 315
"Due ofthe Sun-god," the, 167
Du-maha, a sacred place, 228
Dumuzi-Abzu, "Tammuz of the
Abyss," 43, 63
Dungi, Babylonian king, 164
Dunip (Tenneb), city, 277 ; resists
the enemies of Egypt, 294
Dunnaitess, lamentation of the,
477'
Dura, plain of, 403, 404
Dur- Ammi-zaduga, city, 172
Dur-Dungi, 325
Dur-ili, city, 363
Dur-llitess, lamentation of the, 478
Dur-Kuri-galzu, 347
DCir-Ladinna, 371
Dur-Sargina (Khorsabad), the tem
ple-tower there, 137, 369
Dur-sir-ilani, son of Eri-Eaku, 223,
224, 226, 227
Dusratta, king of Mitanni, 276, 278,
304, 316
Dynasty of Babylon, 142, 152, 153 ;
Babylonia at the period of the,
169 ft".
Ea, the god, 17, 26, 56, etc. See Aa
Eaasarri, 278 n.
Ea-banl (Ae-bani, Aa-bani), the
man of the wilds, 92 ; his
creation and appearance, 93 ; is
seen by a hunter, enticed, and
induced to go to Erech, 94 ; he
accompanies Gilgames against
Humbaba, 94, 95 ; kills a divine
bull, 97, 98 ; his dreams and
death, 98 ; his resurrection, III
E-ana, E-anna, the temple at Erech,
39, 229 ; its sanctuary, 91
Early life of a Syrian prince, 285
E-babbara (the temple at Sippar),
160, 434; expenditure of, 446;

(the temple of the same name at
Larsa), 218
E-bara. See E-babbara
Ebed-tob (Abdi-taba), 291
Ebers, Prof., his translation of the
inscription of Ameni, 261 ; upon
Apophis, 263
Ebisum (Abesu'), king, 153, 155
Eden, Garden of, 13, 69; the native
land of the Babylonians, 14;
Sippar of Eden, 70, 72 ; Eden not
referred to as the earthly paradise
in the Babylonian inscriptions, 72
Edina, " the plain" (Eden), 43, 72
Edom (Udumu), 322, 341, 370, 374,
386
Edrei, 313
Egypt (Musuru, Musru, Musur,
Misir), 249-309; the Hyksos
invasion, 251 ; gradually loses
Palestine, 290 ; governors still
faithful to, 293; invaded by Sen
nacherib, 381 ; an Assyrian pro
vince ; see also 363, 365, 375
Egypt, the brook (? river) of, 388
Egypt Exploration Fund, the, 305
Egyptian civilization, 250
Egyptian king, the, to the prince of
the Amorites, 300
Egyptian linguistic affinities, 143,
144
Egyptian slave, sale of an, 466
Egyptians (MusurSa), 375 ; their de
cision with regard to the Israelites,
reason of, 268
E-hulhul, the temple of Sin or
Nannara at Haran, 202
E-kidur-kani, temple at Babylon,
433
Ekron (Amqarruna), 375, 376, 377,
386
E-kua, sanctuary of Merodach, 472
Elah, 355
Elam, a mountainous country, 206 ;
its power, 209 ; conquered by
Sargon, 362 (363); Merodach-
baladan in, 373 ; ravaged by
Sennacherib, 380 ; conquered by
Assur-bani-apli, 391 ; acknow
ledges the sway of Darius, 427

INDEX

565

Elamite, Elamites, Humbaba, 94,
95 ; Chedorlaomer, 209, 215, 222,
224, 227 ; Kudur-mabuk, Kudur-
lah(gu)mal, etc., 222-225, 230,
232 ; hostile to Assyria, 372, 379,
380, 391; their incursions near
the Tigris, 483 ; see also 122,
140, 170, 229
Elath, 353
Elders, -rule of, 280
Elephants killed by Tiglath-pileser I.
in the land of Haran, 200 ; and in
Lebanon, 201 ; elephants in the
district of Niy, 273
Elephants' tusks, 321
El-iab, 261
Ellasar, city, 124
Ellipu, country of, 341, 372
Elmesum, princess, marriage-con
tract of, 1 66
Elmesum, letter from, to his father,
172
Eltekah (Altaqu), 375
Elulaeus of Tyre, 360
E-mah (temple), 161
Embankment of the Sun-god, the,
213
E-melam-anna, the temple of Nusku
at Haran, 202
Emutbalu or Yamutbalu, conquered
by Hammurabi, 212, 213, 216,
217, 219, 220
Enchantments, Istar's, 97
Endowment of an adopted daughter,
>73
Engur, mother of Aa or Ea, 64
En-nu-gi and the Flood, 101
Ennun-dagalla, 228
Enoch, 84
Ensara and Ninsara, 67
Ephron, 315
Eponym dates in the reign of
Shalmaneser IV., 358
Erech non-existent at the begin
ning, 39; built by Merodach, 41
called " Erech the walled," and
ruled over by Gilgames, 91; be
sieged, 91; other references to the
city, 92, 93, 94; rejoicing there
on the death of the divine bull,

98 ; Gilgames returns thither after
seeing Pir-napistim, no; one of
the cities of Nimrod's kingdom,
118, 124, 135 ; its temple-tower,
136; the city delivered to Rim-
Sin, 221; lamentation over its
misfortunes, 477, 478; tablet
dated at, 456
Eres-ki-gala ( Persephone), 279
Eri-Aku (Eri-Sin), Rim-Aku, 164,
216; inscription of, 219
Eridu, the Babylonian Paradise, 71,
72, 73; non-existent at first, 39,
42 ; made, 40 ; not the earthly
city of that name, 43 ; a type of
Paradise, 43 ; the incantation of,
44 ; one of the principal cities of
Babylonia, 124
Esa (? = Esau), 157, 245
E-saggil, 223, 224. See E-sagila
E-sagila (E-saggil, E-sangil), com
pleted by Merodach, 40, 43 ;
meaning of the name, 43, 139;
the temple of Belus, 137, 246, 472;
restored by Samsu-iluna, 161 ;
restoration attempted under Alex
ander and Philip, 476 ; offerings
at, 412, 480; its congregation,
482 ; see also 409, 415
E-sagila, the temple "within the
Abyss," founded by Lugal-du-
azaga, 40, 73
E-sagila-ramat and her father-in-
law's slave, 465, 466
Esarhaddon (Assur-aha-iddina), 383,
384-388; apparently crowned at
Haran, 201-202; in Hani-rabbat,
384, 385 ; in Babylonia and the
Mediterranean states, 386, 387 ;
in Armenia, and on the east of
Assyria, 388 ; in Egypt, 251, 388 ;
his death, 388
Esarhaddon upon his father's ex
pedition against the Arabs, 382
E-sarra, the heavens, 26
E-sarra, an Assyrian temple, 328,
34°
E-sa-turra, a temple at Su-anna,
433
Esau, the name, 157, 245

566

INDEX

Esdraelon, defeat of Syrians at, 271
Esnunna(k) (Umlias), soldiers of,
defeated by Hammurabi, 213 ;
destroyed by a flood, 214 ; its
gods restored by Cyrus, 422
Etakama (Edagama), of Kinza and
Kadesh, 279 ; pretending to be
faithful to Egypt, attacks Amki,
288, 289; hostile to Egypt, 293
E-temen-ana(-kia), the tower of
Babylon, 136, 138, 139 ; and
shrine of E-sagila, 398
E-temena-ursag, temple, 213
Etham, 304
Ethobaal (Tu-ba'alu), 374
E-tur-kalama, a Babylonian temple,
214, 415
E-ur-imina-ana(-kia), the tower of
Borsippa, 136, 138
Euphrates, creation of, 40; men
tioned, 329, 334, 335, 336, 339,
341, 344, 47i, etc.
Eupolemus concerning Abraham,
146, 196
Eusebius, 396
Events chosen to date by, 159
Evetts, Mr. B. T. A., 408
Evil-Merodach (Awel-Maruduk),
408 ; murdered, 409 ; tablets
dated in his reign, 440, 441
Evolution in the Babylonian story
of the Creation, 33, 34
Exodus, the pharaoh of the, 309
Expulsion of Eve, a parallel to, 83
Expulsion of the Egyptians from
Palestine, 302
E-zida, the temple-towerat Borsippa,
restored by Nebuchadnezzar, 138,
139, 406 ; Evil-Merodach, 409 ;
its people resist Kudur-lahgu-
(mal), 229, 230 ; its bronze door
step, 405 ; incantation concerning,
41 ; see also 412, 415, 485
Ezra, Sir H. Howorth upon, 427, 429
' ' FAI R son, ' ' the, his carrying off, 83
Fall? did the Babylonians possess
the legend of the, 79
Family of the hero of the Flood
saved with him, 103, 115, 117

Famines in Egypt, 260, 261
Father's lawsuit, a, 182
Fear of God, lines upon, 50
Female rule, 280
Flood, the Biblical story, 87 ff. ;
the Babylonian story, 100 ff. ;
introduction to, 89 ff. ; first read
by G. Smith, 90 ; a chapter of the
Legend of Gilgames, 90 ; related
to Gilgames by Pir-napistim, 101 ;
decided upon by the gods, IOl,
102 ; its approach, arrival, and
effect, 104, 105 ; duration and sub
sidence, 105, 106 ; due to the god
Bel, 106; why sent, 107, 112;
Pir-napistim dreads its coming,
104, 116; the second Babylonian
story of the, 117
Flood-tablets ofthe Gilgames-series,
description of the, IOO, IOl
Four kings against five, the, 208
Fragment of ancient history, a,
325
furniture, lists of, 189
Gad, the name, 246
Gadlat, goddess of Haran, 203
Gala-Aruru = Istar the star = the
planet Venus, 44
Galilee, attacked by Tiglath-pileser,
353
Galilee, South, invaded by Ameno
phis II., 273
Garden of Eden, 69
Garizim, temple at, re-dedicated to
Jupiter, 481
Garment, the vanishing, 23
Garu, Petrie's identification of, 292
Gates of city, judgment in the, 163
Gath (Gimti), 299
Gath-Carmel, 296
Gauzanitis, 304
Gaza (Hazitu), 277, 376, 386, 411 ;
Thothmes III. at, 271 ; Yabitiri
guards, 285 ; Hanon of, 352, 363,
365, 366
Gazzani decides upon an expedition,
325
Gebal (Gublu), 278, 293, 313, 317,
322, 339, 386

INDEX

56;

Gebalite, whose brother drove him
from the gate, 300
Gebalites (Gublaa), 350, 374
Gedeliah, governor of Jerusalem,
put to death, 400
Gemariah, 471
Gergesa, 324
Gezer, 297, 299, 306
Giammu, of the region of the
Belichus, 328
Gigitum, Neriglissar's daughter, 442
Gihon, river, 69, 70
Gilead, 353
Gilgames, ancient hero, king of
Erech, 73, 91 ; the legend con
cerning him, 90 ff. ; and concern
ing his friend Ea-bani, 92 ; who
consents to go to him, 94 ; he
seeks the place of Humbaba, 94 ;
who is killed, 95 ; Istar makes
love to him, 95, 96 ; he reproaches
her, 96, 97 ; and she sends a
divine bull against them, 97 ;
dreams concerning him, 98 ; he
mourns for Ea-bani and sets out
on his great journey, 98 ; to visit
Pir-napistim, 99 ; meets Ur-
Sanabi, the pilot, and Pir-na
pistim, 99 ; who tells him the
story of the Flood, 101 ff. ; he is
restored to health, 108, 109 ; finds
the magic plant, 109 ; loses it, and
reaches Erech, 1 10 ; sees the
spirit of Ea-bani, in
Gilgames-series, the getting together
of the, 90
Gilu-h£pa, wife of Amenophis II.,
276
Gimil-Sin, king, 124, 164
Gimmirraa, the, 390
Gimti (Gath), 299
Gimtu (Gath ?), 369
Gindibu'u, an Arabian tribe, 333
Girgashites, the, 310, 324-326
Gisdubar, Gistubar, Gisdhubar. See
Gilgames
Glosses in the Tel-el-Amarna
tablets, 234 re.
Gobryas (Gubaru, Ugbaru) of Gu-
tium.enters Babylon, and appoints

governors there, 415, 417, 418,
419 ; (goes) against . . . , 416,
417; receives the kingdom fot
Cyrus, 419
" God," names for, in the chief
tongues of theancient East, 170, re.
Gods and their seats, 160, 415 ;
tithe granted to, 448
Gods, figures of, found under the
pavement of palaces, 247
Gods identified with Merodach, 58
Gods of On (Heliopolis), 264
Gods of the west of Asia, 277
Gods, the, fear the Flood, 105
Gods, the, who joined Tiamtu, 20,
25 ; their punishment, 25
Gog, 391
"Gold, much gold," 277, 283
Gomer, people of, 390
"Good Wishes," the tablet of, 81
Goshen, 268
Government of states, 279
Gozan, 345, 364
Greek words in Babylonia, 480
Greetings, Babylonian, 172, 452,
453,454
Gublu (Gebal), 313
Guites, 329; (= Goim?), 332, 333
Gula, goddess of healing, 86, 472
Gutians, 158, 170
Guti-kirmil, 296
Gutu or Gutium, 206, 207, 415
Gyges' son, the dream of, 390
Habati, the, 292, 299
Habbatu, 291. See Habati
Habiri, the, 269, 291, 295, 296,
297 ; they possess the land, 299
Haburu, city in Babylonia, 446
Hadad, 160, 277, 330 ; of Aleppo,
329. See Addu
Hadara, Rezon's birthplace, 354
Hades, "the land of no-return," 65
Hagar, her position, 186 ; parallels
(with differences) to the case of,
174, 175, 185, 236
Hli, 315
Halah (Halahha), 364
Haligalbatian king, the, 283
Halman, 325

568

INDEX

Hamah (Hamath), 317
Hamanu (Amanus), mountains, 328,
334, 336, 349
Hamath (Amatte), Hamathites
(Amataa) ; Irhuleni of, 329, 334 ;
districts :of, 349 ; Yau-bi'idi (Ilu-
bi'idi) of, 322, 363 ; see also 348
Hammatites (? = Hamathites), Eni-
ilu of the, 350
Hammurabi (Amraphel), changes
during his reign, 125 ; its length,
153 ; tablets dated therein 182,
183, 184, 185, 186, 187; refer
ences to his conquest of "Mair
and Malgia," 187 ; other refer
ences to him, 209-215, 238
" Hammuiabi the king," canal,
211
Hammurabi-Samsi, name, 164, 187
Hana-galbat, the caravans of, 286
Hanni, messenger of Egypt, 301
Hanon of Gaza, 352
Hand, land of, 206
Haran born at Ur of the Chaldees,
144
Haran (city, the Bab. Harran), a
centre of lunar worship, 147, 195 ;
Terah and his family migrate
thither, 192, 195 ; its probable
origin, 199, 200 ; its ruins,
200 ; elephants in the neighbour
hood in early times, 200, 201 ;
the importance of its temples, 201 ;
their names, 202 ; Esarhaddon
(?) crowned there, 201, 202 ; Na
bonidus restores the temple of
Sin, 202 ; its renown in later
days, 202, 203 ; the city besieged,
411 ; deities restored, 414
Harhar, called by the Assyrians
Kar-Sarru-ukin, 367, 368
Harri-si'isi, 325
Hatanu, servant of Neriglissar, 439
Hatarika, Hatarikka, 344, 345, 349
Hatred of Bel for the hero of the
Flood, 102, 113
Hatshepsut, queen regent, 271
Hatta, 288. See Hatti
Hatti, Hatti (Hittites, Kheta,
people of Heth), 205, 288, 319,

341 ; their depredations, 317 ;
ships of, used by Sennacherib,
379 ! Syria and the Holy Land,
386. See Heth, Hittites
Haupt, Prof. Paul, his view as to
the description of the ship or ark,
114
Hauran, the (Hauranu), 336
Haya, a messenger, 286
Haza, 340
Hazael of Arabia, 382
Hazael of (Sa)-Imeri-su (Damascus),
337, 338, 342
Haza-ilu, 336, etc. See Hazael
Hazor, 277, 353
Heathen images, the, of Jacob s
household, 247, 248
Heavens, Merodach arranges the, 27
Hebrews, their ancestor and his
language, 204 ; in Egypt, 268 ;
did not leave with the Hyksos,
267 ; their commonwealth, 327
Heliopolis, 258
Helios (Samas), 203
Hellenizing influence, the, of Anti
ochus Epiphanes, 480
Hephaistos (Sethos), 381, 382
Hereditary chiefs, 279
Herodotus upon the Temple of
Belus, 137, 405 ; Sennacherib's
expedition to Egypt, 381, 382 ;
Nitocris' architectural works, 407 ;
see also 342, 443
Heta-sira, 320
Heth, 368, 369 ; the sons of, 315.
See Hatti, Hittites
Hezekiah (Hazaqiau), 375, 376, 377,
395
Hiddekel, the Tigris, Babylonian
form ofthe name, 84
Hiding heathen images, 248
Hieroglyphic inscriptions of the
Hittites, 317
Hilprecht, Prof. II. V., 124
Hire of a ship (by Belshazzar), 450 ;
(by Sirku), 470
Hired "from himself," 188
Hiring of slaves and freemen, or
money, 187, 188 ; for produce,
188 ; risks ofthe hirer, 191

INDEX

569

Hirom (Hirummu) of Tyre, 350
Hittite, Hittites, 140, 205, 274,
277, 315-323, 341 ; attack Tuneb,
316 ; tributary, 272, 316, 320
Hittite architecture borrowed by the
Assyrians, 323
Hittite, a, the mother of Jerusalem,
31.6
Hittite inscriptions, where found,
317
Holy Land, 340; its state before
the entry of the Israelites, 277
Home, the, ofthe Hittites, 318
Hommel, Prof., 14, 54; suggests a
connection of Ea, Ae, or Aa,
with Ya'u (Jah), 113 ; his early
etymology of Arpachshad, 143 ;
his work upon Egyptian culture,
144 re. ; upon the Hittite in
scriptions, 318
Hophra encourages Zedekiah against
Nebuchadnezzar, 399 ; marches
to support him, 400 ; deposed,
401
Hor-em-heb, 303
Horner, Rev. J., 331
Horse, glorious in war, loved by
Istar, 96
Horus, 264
Hosea, Hoshea (Ausi'a), king, 354,
355, 359 ! the prophet, 361
House of Belshazzar, its situation,
447
Household goods, 189 ; gods, 247
Houses and cities, built by Mero
dach, 40
Houses, private, 188, 189
Howorth, Sir H., 427, 429
Hui, his tomb at Thebes, 303
Hulhuthulitess, lamentations of the,
477
Humbaba, apparently an Elamite,
94 ; Gilgames and Ea-bani seek
his domain, 94, 95 ; his end, 95
Hursag-kalama, Babylonian city,
415
Hursag-kalamitess, lamentations of
the, 477
Hussiti-sa-Musallim-Mard uk, tablet
dated at, 436

Hyksos, or shepherd-kings, legends
concerning, 252 ; their fear of an
Assyrian (Babylonian) invasion,
251 ; their policy in time of
famine, 260 ; quit Egypt, 252,
270 ; at Tanis, 264 ; those who
remained reduced to subjection,
270 ; their descendants, 266
Hyspasines, 481. See Aspasine
Ian-Ra (Ra-ian), was he the pharaoh
of Joseph? 263
-Iawa, the ending of names, 470,
471. See -yawa
Ibi-San sells his daughter, 185
Idalium, 386
Idigna, Akkado-Babylonian form of
the name of the Tigris, 84
Igigi, address to Merodach by the,
29-33 ! name by which they call
him, 32
Ijon, 353
Ikausu of Ekron, 386
Ili-milki (Elimelech), 295
Illinos (Ellila, the god Bel), 17
Iltani, princess, hires a field, 167
Iltani, princess, sun-devotee, hires
a reaper, 168
Ilu-bl'idi (Yau-bi'idi) of Hamath,
322, 363, 366
Ilu-dayan(?), the Hazite, to the king
of Egypt, 289
Imgur-fiel, wall of Babylon, 405
Immerum, king, 154
Immortality, the Chaldean Noah
attains, 101, 108
"Impure," the name given by the
Egyptians to the Hyksos, 254
Inaction of the Egyptian king,
296, etc.
Ina-E-sagila-re'mat, daughter of
Nabonidus, 450
Incantation for E-zida (the Birs-
Nimroud), 41 ; against "sickness
of the head," 55 ; to purify, 86
India-House Inscription, extract
from the, 138, 139; references to
Babylon, 405, 406
Ine-Sin, king, 124, 152, 153 »., 164
Ine-Tutu, king(?), 230

57©

INDEX

Inheritance, 178-181
Inscriptions, the Hittite, 317, 318
'Ir, the Hebrew for "city," and
uru, 241
Irhuleni of Hamath, 329 ; = Urhi-
leni, 332 ; resists the Assyrian
king, 334, 335
Irnini, a god, 95
Irqata, rule of, 280
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, 242
Ishara, goddess, invoked, 433
Isidore of Charax, 192
Isin (Karrak), city, 124
Isis, 264
Isis-Hathor (Venus Urania), 264
Isqal(l)una, 374, 386
Israel, 351, 352, 355 ; on the mono
lith of Meneptah, 306
Israel, the name, and its probable
Assyro-Babylonian forms, 157,
245
Israelites, allied with Ben-Hadad,
329-333, 337 5 subject to Hazael,
342
Issaku, "chief" (= patesi), 127
Istar, 55 ; her search for Tammuz
in Hades, 65 ; makes love to Gil
games, 96 ; her cruelty to her
lovers, 96, 97 ; sends a divine
bull against Gilgames and Ea-
bani, 97 ; which they kill, 98 ;
her grief on account of the flood,
103, 106, 107 ; worshipped at
Erech, 160; her spouse Tammuz,
279 ; Istar's gate, at Babylon,
405
Istar and the asherah, 278
Istar of Haran (Atargatis), 203
Istar of Nineveh, 278
Istara, goddess, 156
Isullanu, Istar's treatment of him,
V
Itu u, a region on the Euphrates,
344
Iyyar, the month of Ea (Aa, Ae), 65
Izdubar. See Gilgames
JABESH, 293
Jacob, Jacob-el, 157, 183, 243, 244
Jaffa, Yabitiri guards, 285

Jah, suggested etymology of, 1 13
Janoah, 353
Jebus (Jerusalem), 323
Jebusites, 312, 323, 324
Jehoahaz, 342
Jehoiachin, carried away to Babylon,
399 ; released by Evil-Merodach,
408
Jehoiakim, 399
Jehoram, 338, 339
Jehu, "son of Omri," 332, 337-339
Jensen, Prof., 27,; his Hittite re
searches, 140, 318
Jerabis (Carchemish), 317
Jerusalem (Uru-salim, Ursalimmu),
234, 277, 280, 305, 375, 376, 377,
378, 379 ; legend attributing its
foundation to the Hyksos, 252 ;
Ahaz besieged there, 353 ; in
vested twice by the Babylonians,
399, 400 ; Temple destroyed,
400 ; Temple polluted, 481
Jews (Yaudaa), 375 ; at Damascus,
331 ; last vestiges of their rule,
400; Cyrus helped by, 416;
probably thought him a mono
theist, 419 ; names of Jews at
Babylon, 470, 471 ; why did they
remain in the cities of their exile ?
474 ff.
Jezreel, 338
Joash, king of Israel, 340, 342
joppa (Yappu). See Jaffa, Yapu
Joseph, the name, 243 ; its probable
meaning, 244
Joseph in Egypt, 255 ff. ; as vice
roy, 260 ; no native record of his
administration, 253 ; his death,
266, 267
Josephus, 359, 382, 408-410 ; upon
the Hyksos, 251 ; upon the
period of Joseph, 262 ; upon the
Amorites, 313; upon the siege of
Jerusalem, 377, 378
Jotham, 355
Judah, 353 ; one of the states re
garded by the Assyrians as Hittite,
322, 386 (Yaudu)
Judeans (Yaudaa), 375. See Jews
Justin upon Abraham, 147

INDEX

571

Kadasman-Murus, I2j ; Kadas-
man-Murus and the Sutites, 291
Kadesh, 279 ; (Kidsa), 300 ; con
quered by Seti I., 304
Ka-dumu-nuna, the gate of E-saggil,
484
Kaldu (the Chaldean tribes in
Babylonia), 341
Kalisch, 266
Kallima-Sin, king, 276
Kames, king of Egypt, 269
Kamid-el-Lauz, 293
Kammusu-nadbi of Moab, 374
Kan'ana (Canaan), 304
Karanatum, her adoption, 177 ; her
name and that of Ashteroth Kar-
naim, 157
Kar-Addi (fortress of Hadad), 349
Kar-Dunias, Kara-Dunias, Karu-
Dunias (Babylonia), I20«. ; ruled
by Kudur-lahgumal, 225 ; see also
281,286
Kar-Nebo, maternal grandfather of
Abram, 146
Kar- Shalmaneser (-Shalmann-asa-
rid), city, 339
Kar-Sippar, 167
Kasi ( = Kassi), 297 ; ( = Kassi),
298
Kassite, Kassites, 122, 140, 170
Kedesh, 272, 353
Kefto, identification of, 274
Keilah, 299
Kemi (Egypt), 271
Re's, a Babylonian city, 124
Kesitess, lamentations of the, 477
Kheta (Hittites), 274 ; their treaty
with Egypt, 304; Meneptah's
reference to, 306
Khorsabad (Dfir-Sargina), 137, 369
Kili(gug?), Neriglissar's servant, 438
Kili-Tesub son of Kali-Tesub, 319
Kinahhi (Canaan), 281, 301
King, the, 164-168
Kingi or Kengi (a part of Babylonia),
•34,35! Tr . TT
Kingi-Ura or Kengi-Ura = Sumer
and Akkad (Babylonia), 206
Kingu, Tiamtu's husband, exalted,
receives the Tablets of Fate, 19;

is overcome by Merodach and
deprived of them, 25 ; and bound,
36
Kirbis Tiamtu, 24, 31
Kirkisati, 324, 325
Kirubu = Heb. kerlib, "cherub";
kirub nismti, kirub sarri, 81
Kis, a Babylonian city, 415
Kisar, "host of earth," 16
Kisara-gala, 66
Kisi, Aramean leader, 349
Kiskanii-tree in Eridu, 75 > its
fruit, 76
Kissare and Assoros (Kisar and
Ansar), 17
Kizirtum, princess, 166
Ktesias, 203
Kudma-bani, district, 179, 180
Kudur- in Elamite names, 209, 222
Kudur-lahgumal, 230, 231
Kudur-mabuk, inscription of, 219 ;
his son Rim-Sin (Eri-Aku), 216
Kiiites, the, '350
Kullanu, city, 348
Kulummite(s), 372
Kummuhi (Commagene), 319, 320,
329
Kundaspu of Commagene, 329
Kurium, 387
Laban, the name, 245
Labaya, father of Mut-zu'u, 286 ;
his sons, 293, 297, 298
Laborosoarchod (Labasi-Marduk),
son of Neriglissar, 410 ; lends
money, 443, 444
Labynetus, Cyrus marches against,
407. See Nabonidus
Lachish, 277, 297, 377
Lachish epigraph, the, 382
Lagamal (Lagamar, Lagamaru),
222
Lagas, a Babylonian city, 124
Lahamu, consort of Lahmu, 16
Lahamu, creatures produced by
Tiamtu, 19
Lahmu and Lahamu, production of,
16 ; these names in Damascius, 17
" Lake of Abraham the Beloved,"
'92, «93

572

INDEX

" Lament of the Daughter of Sin,"
83
Lamentations, Babylonian, 194,
195, 477, 478 ,
"Land of the city of Jerusalem,"
297
Landed property acquired by Neri
glissar, 440-442
Lands, etc., created by Merodach,
40
Language of Canaan, 204
Larancha, lamentation of, 477, 478
Larsa (Ellasar), 124 ; the temple-
tower at, 137 ; a centre of sun
worship, 160
Laws, Babylonian, 1 90, 191
Lawsuit of Bunanitu, the, 462-464
Lawsuits, 182, 184
Layard, Sir A. H., discoverer of
the palaces of Nineveh and Calah ;
and Rassam, his helper and suc
cessor, 394
Leasehold system, the, 190
Lebanon, elephants in, 201 ; Saniru
(Shenir) before, 336 ; see also
' 387
Legal precedents, 190, 191
Legend of Asenath, 259
Legend of Chedorlaomer, 227-230
Legend of Ra-'Apop'i, 254
Lenormant, inscription published
by, 216
Letter concerning an inscription of
Ammurapi (Hammurabi), 210
Letters from Abdi-taba (Ebed-hiba,
Ebed-taba, Ebed-tob), 294-299 ;
Ammi-titana, 165 ; an unknown,
289 ; Asur-uballit, 382 ; Beri-
. . . 288 ; Burra-burias, 281 ;
Uu-dayan, 289 ; Mut-zu'u, 286 ;
Yabitiri, 284 ; Yidia, 286, 287 ;
the king of Egypt, 300 ; the king's
daughter to Queen Assuraaitu,
392
Leya, a captive, 302
Libation, the, of the Babylonian
Noah, 106
Lieblein upon the pharaohs of the
Oppression and the Exodus, 269
Life at Tanis in Egypt, 264

Lingua franca, the, of Western
Asia, 140
Lion (divine), loved by Istar, 96.
Liver, the, in divination, 247
Loan to make up purchase-money
and its repayment by instalments,
460, 461, 464, 465
" Lord and Lady, my," 479
Lud, 391
Ludlul the Sage, lines by, 50
Lugal-zag-gi-si, early Akkadian
king, 123 ; a great conqueror,
124
Luli of Sidon, 373
Lullubite, Lullubites, 123, 325
Lulubfl (Lullubu), country, 206, 208
Lulumu (Lulubu), 207, 351
Zuluppu-tree, the legend of the, 76
Luxor, 326
Lydia (Luddu), 390, 391
Machpelah, differences between
Babylonian contracts and that
referring to, 236-238
Magdala, 293
Mah, the Egyptian nome of, 261
Mahler, Dr. Edouard, upon the
stele of Meneptah II. and the
Exodus, 306
Mair, city, 213, 214
Majesty, plural of, in addressing the
king, 284
Malgin, city, 213, 214
Malik (Moloch), 156; Maliku,l7ore.
Mamie, 315
Mamun, khalif, 266
Man, creation of, 28, 40, 45, 47
Manamaltel, king, 154, 155
Manasseh (MinsS, Minasg), 340 ;
pays tribute to Esarhaddon, 386 ;
to Assur-bani-apli, 389
Manda barbarians, Medes, 420
Mane", a messenger, 276
Manetho, 251, 274
Mankind, destruction of, in the
Flood, 105 ; other means rather
than this to be used, 107, 112,
116
Man's duties, 45
Marad, city, 415

INDEX

573

Marduk-abla-iddina of Babylonia,
379
Marduk-iriba, one of Belshazzar's
neighbours, 447
Marduk-nadin-ahi, son of Nebu
chadnezzar, 435
Marduk-nasir-abli. See Sirku
Marduk-sum-usur, son of Nebu
chadnezzar, 434
Marduk-zakir-sumi of Babylonia,
379
Maritime nation, Babylonia a, iij,
116
Mari'u of Sa-imeri-su, 341, 342
Marking of slaves, 469
Marriage, 173-175, 186
Marriage-contracts, 173, 174; of
Princess Elmesu, 166 ; of Neri
glissar's daughter, 442
Martu = Amun-u, 312
Masitess, lamentation of the, 477
Maspero, Prof., 253; upon the
Sallier Papyrus, 255 re.
Matan-ba'al of Arvad, 386
Mattaniah (Zedekiah), 399
Max Miiller, Prof. W., 274
Medes, the (Madaa, Umman-man-
da), in alliance against Assyria,
392; at Haran, 411, 414; see
also 341, 351, 364, 388
Media, 346, 351, 368; (west M.), 368
Mediation, 53
Mediterranean, the, 340, 341 ; states
of, 365
Megasthenes, 401
Megiddo, 274 ; Thothmes III. at,
271
Melakiyin, the, 266
Melchizedek, 324 ; in Heb. vii. 3,
234
Meluhha, 370, 375, 480, 481
Memphis ; 263 ; captured by Esar
haddon, 388, 389 re.
Menahem (Menihimme, Minhim-
H 35°, 351, 374
Menander, 360
Menanu of Elam, 380
Menase (Menasseh), 386
Meneptah II. (Merenptah), the
pharaoh of the Exodus, 269, 305

Mentiu (Bedouin), 270
Mer, a name of Hadad orRimmon,
207
Merchants of Babylonia killed, 281
Merodach, the god, his parentage,
J7> 33. 63 ; the same as Nimrod,
126 ; chosen to destroy Tiamtu,
21 ; the gods' champion, 22 ; in
stalled as king, 23 (163); pre
pares for the fight, 23, 24 ; con
quers Tiamtu, 25 ; takes the
Tablets of Fate, 25 ; cuts Tiamtu
asunder, 26 ; orders the universe
anew, 26 ff.; receives new names,
etc., 29-33; his "incantation,"
41 ; founds Babylon, Niffer, and
Erech, 40, 41, 42, 126 ; creator of
the gods, 43 ; his titles, 44; explan
ations of some of his names, 45,
54, 56 ; identified with other
gods, 47, 58 ; glorified above
them all, 49 ; prayer to be de
livered into his gracious hands,
51 ; the other deities mediators
with him, and his manifestations,
53, 58; heavenly bodies identified
with him, 55 ; the benefactor of
mankind, 56, 57 ; names com
pounded with his, 57 ; which in
the end was almost = ilu, 58, 61 ;
he was the " great hunter," 131 ;
worshipped especially at Babylon,
160, 407 ; his yearly procession,
405 ; his vengeance, 392 ; his
merciful nature, 486 ; replaced in
the end by Anu-Bel, 483
Merodach in West Asia, 279
Merodach-baladan, king of Baby
lon, 357, 361, 364, 37°, 371, 373,
379, 380, 395
Merom, 305
Merwan IL, khalif, 266
Mesech, 230
Mesha of Moab, 338
Mesopotamia, 204, 207, 336, 351
Messengers dying abroad, concern
ing, 284
Mesu, the land of, 341
Methusael, 84
Middle class, the, 171

574

INDEX

" Mighty king,'' the, 234, 280
Milki-asapa of Gebal, 386
Milki-idiri, governor of Kedesh,
401
Milki-ili, Milkili, 293, 297, 298,
299
Milku (Melech, Moloch), 279
Milton, 47
Minse (Menasseh), 389
Mita of Musku (Meseoh), 367
Mitanni (Naharain, Naharaim), 276,
277> 304 ; its language not Se
mitic, 275
Mitinti of Ashdod, 374, 376
Mitinti of Askelon, 355, 386
Mitunu, eponymy of, in which Sen
nacherib went against Hezekiah,
378
Mnevis, the bull, 265
Moab (Ma'ab, Ma'abi), 322, 338,
37°, 386
Moabites, the, 326, 374 ; driven out,
313
Moloch, 279
Monotheism and polytheism in
Babylonia, 47, 198
Monsters produced by Tiamtu, 18 ff.
Month, Egyptian god, 262
Months and stars, 27
Moon, purpose of the, 27, 37 ; light
borrowed from the sun, 28
Moph or Noph (Men-nofr, Mem
phis), 264
Mordecai (Mardecai), 61, 436, 471
Moses, notes upon his date, 306 ;
was he saved by Teie's daughter ?
3°7
Mosque of Abraham at Urfa (Orfa
or Edessa), 192
Moumis ( = Mummu), son of
TautM and Apason, 17
Mouths of the rivers, a sacred place,
71, 108
Mugallu of Tubal, 290
Mugheir, regarded as Ur of the
Chaldees, 147, 193 ; this identi
fication not altogether certain,
197
Mummu Tiamtu, the first producer.
See Tiamtu

Musasir, 127
Musezib-Marduk of Babylonia, 380
Mushtah, 293
Musku (Mesech), 371
Musrites, 329 ; (Musraa), 333
Musru, the land of, 354
Musur'i of Moab, 386
Musuru, Musur, Misraim (Egypt),
366, 370
Mut-Addu to Yanhama, 292
Mut-ili = Methusael, 84, 245
Mut-zu'u, 279 ; letter from, 286
Nabonassar, 347 ; his death, 356
Nabonidus, "who is over the city,"
witness to a contract, 436 ; de
scribed on one copy as the son of
the king, 436 »., 437
Nabonidus, king, his parentage,
410 ; expeditions, and reference
to Cyrus, 411; said to have neg
lected the gods, 412 ; and brought
strange deities, 413 ; his antiqua
rian researches, 413 ; his son
Belshazzar, 414, 447 ff.; his
daughters, 450, 451 ; his flight
before the army of Cyrus, and
capture, 415 ; sent to Carmania,
418 ; his record of the downfall of
Assyria, 392 ; other inscriptions,
411, 414; tablets dated in his
reign, 444-45 1 ; his pious works,
445, 446 ; Berosus upon his reign,
410
Nabopolassar, king, supposed to
have been a Chaldean, 396 ; his
alliance with the Medes, 392,397 ;
marches against Nineveh, 392,
393, 397 5 his connection with
Syria, 397 ; he builds the two
great walls of Babylon, 410
Nabu-balat-su-iqbu, the father or
ancestor of Nabonidus, 410, 437
Nabu-bel-usur, governor, 346
Nabu-kain-ahi, secretary of Bel
shazzar, 447, 448
Nabd-nadin-zeri, 356
Nabu-sabit-qata, servant of Neriglis
sar, 438 ; Labofosoarchod, 443 ;
and Belshazzar, 448 ff.

INDEX

575

Nabu-sarra-usur, one of Nebuchad
nezzar's captains, 434 ; a. secre
tary of Nabonidus, 445
Nabfl-sum-iddina, secretary of Ne
riglissar, 440
NaM sum-ukin, Babylonian king,
356 ; a priest of Nebo, 442
Nagitu, the three cities called, 373,
380
Naharaina, Naharaim (Upper Meso
potamia), 270, 271, 272, 274, 288,
296, 304. See Nahrima, Narima.
Na'iru
Nahor, the city of, 204
Nahor, traditions concerning, 146
Nahr-Malka, 158 ; referred to by
Mr. Rassam, 159
Nahrima (Naharaim), 296. See
Naharaina
Nahum upon the fall of Nineveh,
393
Na'iru (Mesopotamia), 341, 351
Nal, 351
Name of the wall or fortification at
Ur, 220
Names given to Merodach, 30-32
Names of captives, 302
Nammu, a river-god, 43
Namri, 336, 346, 347
Namyawaza, an Egyptian vassal,
290, 293
Nannar(a), worshipped at Ur and
Haran (Harran), 147, 160 ;
hymns referring to him, 194, 195
Naphtali, 353
Naphu'ruria, Naphuri (Amenophis
IV.), 281, 282
Naram-Sin conquers Elam, 124
Narima (Naharaim), 288
Navigation, Babylonian, 470
Naville, Prof. E., 253, 305 ; upon
the stele of Meneptah II. , 306
Nebo identified with Merodach,
58 ; takes part at the coming of
the Flood, 104; worshipped at
Borsippa, 160, 409, 415 ; named
also Lag-gi, 370
Neb-mut-RS (Amenophis III.), 276
Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopo
lassar, 392 ; marries Amytis, sent

against the army of Egypt, 397 ;
aids, with his brother, in the re
storation of the temple E-sagila,
398 ; mounts the throne, 398,
399; affairs in Palestine, Syria,
Egypt, etc., 399-402 ; his dreams
and the golden image, 403, 404 ;
his buildings, 405^407 ; his sons,.
408 ; was Nabonidus his son-in-
law ? 407, 437, 438 ; tablets dated
in his reign, 432-440 ; his offer
ings, 433 ; his use of divination,
247. See Nebuchadrezzar
Nebuchadrezzar (Nabium-kudurra-
usur, Nabu-kudurri-usur), 432 ff.
See Nebuchadnezzar
Necho of Memphis and Sais, 389 re.
Nefer-titi, the Egyptian name of
Tidu-hepa, 276
Negeb, the, 272
Nemitti-Bel, wall of Babylon,
4°5
Nergal, Nerigal, god of war, etc.,
279, 33o; identified with Mero
dach, 58 ; worshipped at Cuthah,
160 ; and in Alasia, 278
Nergal-sharezer, 408, 409
Nergal-usezib of Babylonia, 380
Neriglissar (Nergal-sarra-usur), son
of Bel-sum-iskun, 409, 438; cattle-
owner, 339; trader, 440 ; banker,
441 ; mounts the throne, 408,
409 ; his daughter's marriage,
442 ; tablets dated in his reign,
441-444 ; his death, 410
Net, Merodach's, wherewith he
catches Tiamtu, 24
Nibhaz, god of the Avvites, 129
Ntbiru, planet Jupiter, 27
Nicolas of Damascusupon Abraham,
.147
Niffer (Calneh), non-existent at the
beginning, 39; built by Merodach,
41 ; called Nippur (Niffur), 124 ;
its temple-tower, 136 ; its streets
and houses, 188, 189; the daughter
of Niffer laments, 477, 478
Nimmahe\ an Amorite captive, 302
Nimmuaria (Neb-mut-Ra, Ameno
phis III.), 276

576

INDEX

Nimrod, son of Cush, his power and
kingdom, 118, 119; the same as
Merodach, 126, 127, 129, 130 ;
how he is described as "the
mighty hunter," 131 ; his land,
126; how his name assumed this
form, 129
Nina, goddess, 64
Nin-aha-kudu, goddess, 41
Nin-edina, 77
Nineveh, (Ninua), 376, 378, 387 ;
probably named after Nina,
daughter of Ea or Aa, 64 ; built
by Asshur, 118, 126, 127 ; its de
struction, 393
Nineveh-road, the, 384, 385
Nin-igi-azaga (Aa or Ea), 1 14
Ninip identified with Merodach, 58;
his names, 235, 236 ; worshipped
near or at Jerusalem and in the
west, 235, 278; in the Flood-
story, 101, 104, 107
Ninsah, inscription dedicated to,
220
Nin-Urmuru (?), 280
Nippuru, 28, 37. See Calneh, Niffer
Nisaba, the legend of, 76
Nisir, the mountain on which the
"ship" rested, 90, 106
Nisroch, the god Asshur, 129
Nitocris, queen, 407
Niy, city, 271 ; elephant-hunting
near, 273
Non-existent things at the begin
ning, 16, 39
Nudimmud ( = Aa, AB, or Ea), 18 ;
asked to subdue the Dragon, fails,
21 ; an abode made for him, 26
Nuhasse, 317 ; an Assyrian district,
280
Ndr-ili-su builds and dedicates a
temple, 162
Nfir-Rammani (Nur-Addi), king of
Larsa, 218
Nusku, one of the gods of Haran,
202
Obelisk, the, emblematic, 265
Offerings, royal, to the gods, 433,
444-446

Og of Bashan, 313
Omri (Humri), his contemporaries,
327 ; the " house of Omri," 332 ;
"son of Omri," 337, 339; "land
of Omri," 341
On (Heliopolis), 258, 264 ; the
shrine of, 265
Opis on the Tigris, the battle of,
415, 416 ; tablets dated at, 439,
458, 459
Oppert, Prof., 14 ; his suggested
Babylonian etymology of Abel,
82, 83; dates from Hebrew
sources, 332
Oppolzer upon the Sothis period,
3°7
Oracles for Esarhaddon, 385 ; con
cerning Nineveh, the, 393
Osah (Usu), 374
Osiris, Merodach identified with,
54 ; worshipped at On, 264
Padi of Ekron, 375, 376, 377
Palace, house bought for a, 441
Palastu (Philistia), 341
Palestine, Egyptian successes in,
270; Assyrian do., 329, 336, etc.
(Amurru, Hatti)
Pallukatu (the Pallacopas), 70
Paluma, a captive, 302
Panbesa, letter of, 305
Pantibibloii, supposed to be Sippar,
63
Paphos, 387
Pap-sukal, the god, 433
Paradise, the Babylonian, descrip
tion of, 71, 72; its inaccessibility,
72
Partnership, 183
Party-walls or fences, 190
Potest (priest-kings or viceroys), 126
Patinians, Kalparundu ofthe, 334
Patriarchs before Abraham, 141 ff.
Paura (Pauru, Puuru), the king's
commissioner, 297, 298
Peace, poem in praise of, 240
Peek, Sir Cuthbert, 179
Pekah, 352-355
Pekod, 458
PekoditeSj the, 347

INDEX

577

Pelusium besieged, 378, 381
Penalties, for changing the words
of a contract, 174; for divorcing
a wife, or denying a husband, and
denying sisterhood (by adoption),
175 ; for denying an adopted son,
an adopted father, 176, 177 ; for
denying a mistress (by a female
slave), 185 ; see also 1 90, 191
Pen-nekheb, officer of Thothmes I.,
270
Pentaur, Egyptian poet, 304
People, the, in early Babylonia,
169-191
Persia (Parsua), 341
Pethor (Pitru), 329
Petrie, Prof. Flinders, 250, 253,
274, 275, 292, 293, 297, 303,
312, 313 ; upon the revival of
native Egyptian power, 269 ; on
Amenophis II. , 273; monolith
found by, 305
Pharaoh not drowned in the Red
Sea, 307
Philistia (Piliste, Palastu), 341, 352,
353, 361, 370
Phoenicia, 272, 360
Phoenix, the, 265
Pi-Beseth (Pi-Bast, Bubastis), 263
Pilinussu, general of Hyspasines,
483
Pilista (Philistia), 352, 353, 361
Pilot or boatman (of Gilgames), 99;
(of the ship or ark), 104, 116
Pirke di Rabbi Eliezer, 307
Pir-napistim, the Babylonian Noah,
73 ; Gilgames sees him afar off,
99 ; they converse, 100 ; tells
Gilgames the story of the Flood,
101-108 ; directs his wife to cure
Gilgames, 108; tells him of a
wonderful plant, 109 ; he was a
worshipper of Ea (A6, Aa), 113,
114; and was called also Atra-
hasis, 107, 112, 117; his faithful
ness to the old deity Ag, 114
Pir'u of Musuri or Musri, 366, 370;
one ofthe kings of the sea-coast
and the desert, 368
Pishon, river, 69, 70

Pisiris of Carchemish, 350, 367
Pithom, 305
Pittit, Elamite, 483
Place of fate, the, 472
Plague of darkness, the, 309
Plant making the old young, the, 75
Plantation, concerning a, 456, 457
Plants, creation of, by Merodach,
40
Pliny, his reference to king Horus,
124
Poem in praise of peace or well-
being, 240
Polyhistor, 393
Polytheism, the difficulty of escaping
it, 246
Potiphar, 255 ; the name, 258
Poti-phera, meaning of, 258
Prayer to be freed from sin, 50-52
Presents, interchange of, 276
Priest of Nebo marries the daughter
of Neriglissar, 442
Priests of On, tiie, 265
Primaeval Ocean, the, personified,
16
Principal cities, the, of Babylonia,
124
Prostitution probably not compul
sory, 443
Protection of caravans, the, 282
Prove purchase and gift, contracts,
to, 438, 439, 458
Ptolemy, 357, 358
Pul ( = Pulu, Poros), 357, 358
Pura-nunu (the Euphrates), 158
Purattu(Phuraththu), the Euphrates;
158
Purchase of a house, 460
Qarqara, royal city, 329, 330, 363
Qatna, 317
Qaus-gabri of Edom, 386
Que-, 371
Qutite, Qutites, 123, 170
Qutu, the land of, 420, 422 ; old
lamentation referring to the, 477.
See Qutite
Ra or Re, the Egyptian Sun-god,
254, 264
o o

578

INDEX

Ra-'Apop'i and the king of the
south, 254
Rabbatum, land of, 224
Rabi-mur of Gebal, 288
Rab-mag (?=Rab-mugi), 408
Races, many, in Babylonia, 169, 170
Rahab, 68
Ra-Harmachis, 264
"Raian ibn el-Walid," pharaoh, 263
Raising the spirit of Ea-bani, no
Rameses I. , 303
Rameses IL, the pharaoh of the
Oppression, 269, 304, 305, 307
Rammanu (Rimmon), 160, 277
Ramoth-Gilead, 338
Raphia (Rapihu), 363
Ra-seqenen (Seqenen-RS) IIL, 261
Rassam, Mr. Hormuzd, 38 ; finds
the gates of Balawat, 405 ; his
reference to the Nahr-Malka, 159 ;
finds bas-relief and inscription of
Hammurabi, 215 ; cylinder, 411,
419 ; his family in the East, 394
Raven, sending forth of the, J.06
Rawlinson, Sir Henry, recognizes
Eridu as a type of Paradise, 71 ;
his identification of Ur (Mugheir),
193 ; and Kudur-mabuk, 222
Reaper, hire of a, 168
Rehoboth, Rehoboth-Ir, built by
Asshur, 118, 127
Reisner, Dr. G. A., 156
Religion of the Western states, 277-
279
Religious element, the, 159 ff.
Rent, 448
Reproaching the Amorite, 300
Resen, its origin, 126, 127
Rezin, Rezon(Rasunnu), 350, 353, 355
Ria (RS or Re), 254
Rianappa, the representative of
Egypt, 287
Rib-Addi of Gebal, etc., 293, 313
Rieu, Dr., 263
Right of way, tablet concerning, 459
Rim- Anu, king, 217
Rimmon (or Hadad), god of the
atmosphere, identified with Mero
dach, 58 ; in the Flood-story, 104,
277 (Addu, Rammanu)

Rim-Sin (Rim-Aku, Arioch), 164 ;
connection of this name with Eri-
Aku, 216, 217; capture of, 214;
inscription of, 220, 221
Rivers, the mouths of [which are on]
both sides, 73 j the place of the
Babylonian Paradise, 71, 72
Rost, Dr. P., 347, 348, 352
Royal family, the, among the people,
166-168
Royal letters, 165
Rubute, city, 299
Riikipti of Askelon, 355, 356
Rutennu (Syrians), 303 ; the Upper,
274 ; Upper and Lower, 304 ;
conquered by Thothmes I., 270
Sa- Amurri, son of Abe-ramu, 148
Sabeans, the, 203, 363
Sacrifice, the, on coming out of
the ship (ark), 106
Sadi-Tesub, son of Hattu-sar, 320
Sadu, Saddu, "mountain," "lord,"
"commander," 248
SA-GAS = habatu, habbatu, 291, 292
Sa-imerisu, Imerisu (Syria of
Damascus), 329, 334, 336, 337,
341, 354, 356
Sajur (river), 329
Sala, consort of Rimmon or Hadad,
212
Salatis, Hyksos king, 25 1
Sale of a son by his parents, 435,
436
Salem, 239-241
Sales of land, 237, 238
Salim, salimmu, Sulmanu (Sal-
manu), Salmanu nunu, saldmu,
239, 240
Salmayatu, worshipped at Tyre, 278
Salvation, the Babylonian desire for,
52
Samaria, 322 ; Ben-Hadad's at
tempts upon, 330, 333, 338;
Pekah s flight from, 354, 355;
revolts, 363 ; Menahem of, 350
Samarians, city of the, 350
Samas, the Sun-god, 77; identi
fied with Merodach, 58 ; monsters
guard him, 98 ; appoints the

INDEX

579

time for the coming of the Flood,
103, 104, 115 ; in Mitanni, 278
Samas-sum-ukin, 388
Sammu-ramat (Semiramis), 342,
343A
Samse, Samsi, queen of Arabia,
354, 363
Samsi-Addu III., king, 339
Samsimuruna, city, 386
Samsimurunaa, the, 374
Samsu-iluna (king), 142 ; length of
his reign, 153 ; tablets dated
therein, 179, 180, 187, 188
Samsu-titana, king, 153
San (deity), 156
San (Zoan), 263 ; the inhabitants
said to be of a different type from
those of other places in Egypt, 266
Sanacharib (Sennacherib), 378, 381
Sangara of Carchemish, 329, 334 ;
called king ofthe HattS, 321
Saniawa, name, 458
Saniru (Shenir), 336
Saosduchinos (Samas-sum-ukin),
388 ; refuses to acknowledge his
brother's suzerainty, 391
Sapia, city, 357
Saracos (Sin-sarra-iskun), 392, 396
Sarasar (Shareser), 378
Sardurri of Ararat, 347
Sargani (Sargon of Agade), 1 24
Sargon of Agade, 124, 313 ; ruler
of Amurru, 215 ; period and ex
tent of his rule, 150
Sargon (Sargina) the later, the
Arkeanos of Ptolemy, 362; his
annals, 367; his conquests, 322,
363-372; his death, 372
Sarha, city, 280
Sar-ili, name, 157, 245
Sarru and Sullat, foundation of a
temple to, 162
Sarru, a captive, 302
Sarru-duri, one of Darius's captains,
456
Sarru-ilua, servant of Neriglissar,
439
Sarru-lu-dari of Askelon, 374
Sarru-lu-dari of Zoan, 389 re.
Sau£ mountains, 349

Sayce, Prof., 14 ; identifies the
Babylonian story of Paradise, 7 1 ;
his identification of Uruwus, 124;
researches in Hittite, 140, 318 ;
upon the Amorites and Tidalum,
311,312; his analysis of a Hittite
name, 32 1 ; see also 283 »., 332
Scape-goat, Babylonian parallel to
the, 53
Scheil, the Rev. V., 117
Schrader, Prof. Eberhard, 143 ;
identifies Amraphel with Ham
murabi, 209 ; see also 341, 342
Sea, the, personified by Tiamtu, 16,
67 ; the abode of the god of
knowledge, 62
Sea-coast, kings of the, 334, 335,
34°
Seir, 296
Seleucia upon the Tigris, 476, 483,
484
Seleucus and the Babylonians, 476 ;
Seleucus and Antiochus, tablet
dated in the reign of, 477, 478
Sellas river. See Silhu
Semiramis, 342
Semitic names replace the Akka
dian, 125 ; Semitic inscriptions
more numerous, 119
Sennacherib, 129, 372, 373-384;
in Armenia, against Merodach-
baladan, the Cosseans and Yasu-
bigalleans, Hatti (Sidon, Ekron,
Hezekiah, etc.), 373-376; before
Lachish, 377, 382 ; in Babylonia,
379 ; Elam, 380 ; against Egypt,
381 ; his treatment of the Baby
lonians, 396; his death, 383, 384
Seqnen-Re, the death of, 255 re.
Seri (Seir), 296
Serpent and magic plant, 109
Seru-etirat, princess, 392
Seti I., Meneptah, 304
"Seven" a round number, 263
Seven kings of Cyprus send tribute,
372
Seventh day, the Flood stops on the,
105 ; the birds sent forth seven
days later, 106
Shaaraim, 297

58o

INDEX

Shaddai, a possible etymology of,
248
Shalam, 305
Shalman, 239
Shalmaneser II. , his accession, 328 ;
his reference to Ahab and Ben-
Hadad, 331 ff.; Jehu son of
Omri, 332, 337-339 ; his death,
339
Shalmaneser III., his accession and
expeditions, 344
Shalmaneser IV., his accession and
expeditions, 357, 358-362
Shareser, Sarasar, 378, 384, 385
Shasu Bedouin, the, 271, 304
Shaving the head in Egypt and
Western Asia, 257
Sheep, the, of Neriglissar's servant,
438
Shem, 141
Shepherd kings, the, in Egypt, 251,
252 ff.
Shepherd loved by Istar, her treat
ment of him, 96, 97
Sheshonq of Busiris, 389 re.
Shinar (Babylonia), 118 ; regarded
as equivalent to Sumer, 119, 134
Ship, Gilgames and Ur-Sanabi em
bark in a, 99; Gilgames lies
down in its " enclosure," 108
Ship, Pir-napistim commanded to
build one that he and his might
escape the Flood, 102 ; why built,
102, 113 ; its building and pro-
visionment, 1 03, 1 14; the em
barkation, 103, 104, 115; the
pilot, 104, 116; the god Ura-
gala, 104 ; Pir-napistim looks
forth, 105 ; the mountain of Nisir,
and the sending of the birds, 105 ;
Bel's anger and Aa's (AS's, Ea's)
kindness, 106, 107
Shrine of Ra at On, 265
Shrines of the gods at Babylon,
472
Shuhites, 319
Shulchan Aroch, the, 306
Sibitti-bi'ili of Gebal, 350
Sickness of the head, incantation
against, 55, 56

Sidon in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets,
277. 300 ; its tribute to Shalma
neser II. (337), 338, 339; con
quered by Adad-nirari, 341 ; Tig
lath-pileser III., 360 ; Senna
cherib, 373 ; Esarhaddon, 386 ;
Great and Little Sidon, 374
Sidonians (Sidunaa), 328, 337, 374
Sidqa of Askelon, 374
Siduri, goddess, consulted by Gil
games, 99
Sihon, 313
Silhu, river (the Sellas ?), 484
Sili-Istar and Iribam-Sin, their dis
solution of partnership and the
lawsuit following, 183-185
Silili, mother of the horse beloved
of Istar, 96
Silli-bel of Gaza, 376, 386
Siluna, country of, 340
Similes, Babylonian, 52
Simirra (Simyra), 348, 351
Simti-Silhak, king, 219
Simyra (Simirra, Sumuru), 277,
293, 3*3, 348, 351, 363
Sin, the Moon-god, identified with
Merodach, 58 ; worshipped at Ur
and Sippar, 160, 194, 195 ; also
at Haran, 201, 202, 411
Sin-idinnam of Larsa, 165, 169,
218
Sinjar, 304
Sin-mar-sarri-usur, servant of one
of Nebuchadnezzar's sons, 435
Sin-mubalit, king, 153; tablets of
his reign, 178, 179, 180, 181
Sin-sarra-iskun (Saracos), the last
king of Assyria, 392, 396
Sippar or Sippara (now Abu-Hab-
bah), discovered by H. Rassam,
394 ; its four names, 70 ; supposed
to be Sepharvaim, 158 ; dated
tablets from, 211; captured by
Tiglath-pileser, 347 ; by Cyrus,
415, 416; its gods, 415; see
also 38, 63, 484
Sippar-Amnanu(m), 161
Sippar- Ya'ruru (Aruru), 161, 165
Sippara of Eden, 70
Sirara, forests of, 387

INDEX

581

Sir'ilites (Sir'ilaa, Israelites), 329,
33°, 332, 335, 337
Sirku, a Babylonian magnate, 454,
467 ff
Sirru, land of, 206, 207
Strtu, goddess, her grief and resent
ment at the destruction of man
kind, 105, 106; her oath, 106
Siru, land of, 206, 207
Sisters, the, of Belshazzar, 450, 451
Slavery, 182, 185-187
Small Hittite states, 322
Smerdis, 424
Smith, George, publishes the Baby
lonian Creation-story, 14 ; the
original of Berosus' Canon, 84;
the Gilgames-series, 90; con
ducts the Daily Telegraph expe
dition, 90 ; and finds a fragment
of the second Flood-story, 117;
arranges the series, 91, 93, 95 ;
identifies Arioch, 209 ; concern
ing Shalmaneser IV., 359, 362
So, king of Egypt, 359, 365, 366
" Son of his God," the, 86
" Sons of God," the, 85
Sons of Syrian chiefs educated in
Egypt, 274
Sons, the, of Yakinlu of Arvad, 390
Sothis period, 307
Sphinxes, Hyksos, 264
Spiegelberg upon the stele of
Meneptah IL, 306
Spirit of Ea-bant, the raising of, 1 10
Spirits of heaven and earth, invoca
tion of, 56
Spirits of the departed, their lot,
in
Stars, creation of, 27
States regarded by the Assyrians as
Hittite, 322
Steindorff's translation of Zaphnath-
paaneah, 257
Stele of Meneptah IL, extract from
the, 306
Stephen, Saint, 192
Storm at the coming of the Flood,
description of the, 104, 105
Streets of Babylonian cities, 188,
189

Su-anna (Su-ana), a part of Babylon,
foreign gods taken thither, 414,
420 ; Cyrus enters and receives
tribute there, 420, 422 ; see also
433
Su-ardatum, 299
Suba' or Suma', city of the land of,
tablet dated at, 457
Subarte, 318
Sulmanu-asarid (Shalmaneser), 239
Suma', land of. See Suba'
Sum Addu (Samu-Addu) of Sam-
huna, 279
Suma-ilu, king, 162, 163
Sumer (= Kengi), Sumerian, 119,
134; texts (incantations), 39 ff.,
55, 86, 120, 121
Sumer and Akkad mentioned by
Cyrus, 420; title, 347, 421
Sumero-Akkadian, its nature, 120,
121
Sumu, apparently a deity, 142 ;
names compounded with his, 142
Sumu-abi, king, 153, 154
Sumu-Dagan, name, 142
Sumu-la-ili (king), his name, 142,
153, 154; tablet dated in his
reign, 173, 174; (Sumulel), 181
Sumulel (= Sumu-la-ili), 181
Sumu-libst, a witness, 167
Sun, a title of the kings of Egypt,
284, 286, 287, 289, 295
Sun, the city of the, 446
Sun the indicator ofthe seasons, 115
Sun-devotees, Babylonian, 161, 168
Sun-god, the, 58, 77, 92, 103, 115 ;
(see Samas), worshipped at Sippar
and Larsa, 160
Sun-god in Egypt, the centre of his
worship, 258
Suqaain, tablet dated at, 457
Surippak, where the gods decided
to make a flood, 101 ; the native
place of Pir-napistim, 102
Suri or North Syria, the king of, 347
Suru, land of, 206, 207
Susa, city of, 422
Susanchites, the, 391
Suta, royal commissioner, 296
Sutadna of Akka (Accho), 281

582

INDEX

Sutekh, the god of the Hyksos, 254
Suti (Sutite, Sutites), 123, 158,
170, 291, 292, 368; as brigands,
283
Suzubu (Nergal-use'zib), 380
Swallow, the, sent forth, 106
Swearing by the gods and the king,
162, 163, 174 ff.
Syncellus, 393
Syria, Egyptian successes in, 270,
271 ; (Rameses II.), 304; Syria in
the time of Amenophis III., 274;
on the stele of Meneptah, 306;
Shalmaneser II. there, 336 ff. ;
Adad-nirari, 341 ; Shalmaneser
III., 344; Tiglath-pileser IIL,
347, 35 1 ; Sargon, 367; Senna
cherib, 373 ff.
Syrian campaigns, Thothmes I., 270
Tabal (Tubal), 367
Tablet of Good Wishes, the, 81
Tablets of Fate given to Kingu, 19 ;
taken by Merodach, who presses
his seal upon them, 25
Tablets referring to Chedorlaomer,
Tidal, and Arioch, 223 ff.
Tadu-hepa, princess of Mitanni,
asked in marriage (?for Ameno
phis IV.), 276
Takhsi, near Aleppo, 273
Takretaj're (?), tablet dated at, 439
Talmud, the, 195 «. , 203
Tamessus, 387
Tammuz, in Akk. Dumu-zi or Du-
mu-zida, 82 ; possible parallel to
the story of Cain and Abel, 83 ;
his wife, Istar, causes him grief,
96 ; his temple-tower at Agade
(Akkad), 136 ; worshipped also
at Eridu, 160; in the west, 279
Tammuz of the Abyss, 43, 63, 65
Tamtu, the coast-land, 122, 123
Tanis (Zoan), 264. See San
Taribu, queen, 173
Tarpelites, the, 391
Tauthe ( = Tiamtu), 16, 67
Taylor Cylinder, 373
Teie (Teyi), the first wife of Ameno
phis III., 275 276

Tel-Assur (Til-Asurri), 388
Tel-Basta (Bubastis), 264
Tel-el-Amarna tablets, 249, 275-
302
Tel-Sifr ruin-mound, 176, 211
Tema, Babylonian city, 412
Temeni, land of, 343
Temple, gift of a, 162
Temple of the Sun-god, declaration
made in the, 184
Temples restored by the early
kings, 161, 162
Temple-towers, Babylonian, 136 ff.
Tenneb (Tunep, Dunip), 277 ; its
government, 280
Terah, traditions concerning, 146 ;
stated to have been an idolater,
H7> '95 > his journey from Ur to
Haran, 192, 195, 196
Teraphim, the, 246
Tesupa or Tesub, Hadad of Mitanni,
277
Teuwatti of Lapana, 290
Thargal, for Thadgal = Tidal, 232.
See Tudhula
Thebais, kings of, 252
Thebes and the Thebans, their aid
in expelling the Hyksos, 269,
270 ; the birthplace of Thothmes
III., 271 ; stronghold of Tir
hakah, 389
Thoth, 264
Thothmes I., 270
Thothmes II. , 271
Thothmes IIL, 271, 316
Thothmes IV., 274, 316
"Throne-bearers" ofthe gods, 82
Tiamat, 67. See Tiamtu
Tiamtu or Tiawtu(= TautW), 16,
'7, 33! being joined by certain
gods, prepares to fight, 18 ff. ;
her husband Kingu, 19, 20 ; ter
rifies the gods Anu and Nudim-
mud, 21 ; caught by Merodach,
24, 131 ; conquered, 25 ; cut
asunder, 26 ; her head pierced,
31 ; meaning of her name, 33,
67 ; why applied, 68 ; her desire
to be the creator or producer, 34,
35 ; how typified in the O. T., 68

INDEX

583

Tiamtu, the sea-coast, 230
Tidal, 222. See Tudhula
Tidalum = Tidnu = Amurru, 312
Tidnu, the Akkadian name of
Amurru (the land of the Amor
ites), 122, 206, 208, 312 ; ideo
graph for, 122, 311
Tiglath-pileser I., 129; kills ele
phants in Mesopotamia and
Lebanon, 200, 201 ; attacks the
Hittites, 318
Tiglath-pileser III., 346 ; "king of
Sumer and Akkad," 347 ; captures
Arpad, 347 ; Kullanu, etc. , 348 ;
tribute from Syria, 350 ; marches
to Madaa, Nal, and Ararat 351 ;
takes Gaza, 352; marches to
Dimasqa, helps Ahaz, 353 ; de
scribes tie flight of the Syrian
king, 354; his conquests, 355,
356; submission of Chaldean
tribes, entry into Babylon,
death, 357 ; his name Pul, 357,
358
Tigris and Euphrates, creation of,
40 ; mentioned in Gen. i. , 69 ;
rivers of the district of Sippar,
158 ; and of Babylon, 471
Tigris, the, becomes the enemy of
Nineveh, 393 ; Cyrus and the dis
tricts of, 422 ; Elamite incursions
thither, 483. See Seleucia
Ti'imutusu, son of Aspasine, 483
Til-barsip, 328
Til-garimme (Togarmah), 271, 368
Tilla (=Ararat), 122, 208
Timnah (Tamna), 375
Tindir (Babylon), 420, 421
et-Tireh, 293
Tirhakah, 383, 388, 389
Tithes, payments of, 434
Title of the Gilgames legend, 91
Togarmah (Tilgarimme), 271, 368
Towns in the ancient East, 188
Trade between Canaan and Baby
lonia, 281
Translation of the hero ofthe Flood,
108, 116
Translation, Semitic, inserted m
the divided Akkadian lines, 38

"Tree of the drink of life " = the
vine, 75
"Tree of knowledge," 73; the
Babylonian parallel of the, 77
"Tree of life/' 73 ; a Babylonian
parallel of the, 75
Trees, sacred, of the Babylonians
and Assyrians, 74-77 pi. HI.
Tribes classed as Amorites, 311
Tribute of Carchemish of the Hit
tites, 321
Tubal, 367, 390 , , .
Tudhula, the probable Babylonian
form of Tidal, 222, 223, 224, 227,
231, 232
Tukulti-Ninip, the contemporaries
of, 327 ; annexes Babylonia, 327,
371
Turn or Tmu, 264
Tunep, Syrian town, 272 ; its re
sistance, 305 (Dunip, Tenneb)
Tupasu, canal, 468
Turbazu killed, 296
Tusamilki of Musur, 390
Tutamu, king of Unqu, 348
Tutu, a name of Merodach, 30 ; the
explanation given, 45
Tuya, a captive, 302
Two wives, marriage-contracts for,
174, 175
Ty, Ay's queen, 303
Tyre (Surra), 277, 338, 339, 360,
373, 386, 3°° j blockaded by
Nebuchadnezzar, 490 ; Suru = ?
Tyre, 401 ; contract dated at, 401
Tyre, the land of, conquered by
Adad-nirari, 341
Tyre, Old (Palaetyrus), 360
Tyrians, the land of tHe, pays
bute, 328, 337, 350 ; resists Shal
maneser IV. , 360
Udumu, 310; (Edom), 322, 341,
370, 374, 386 ,
Ugga, the god of Death, 31
Ukabu'sama, daughter of Nabon
idus, 451
Ukin-zer (Chinzeros), 356, 337
Ukka, 127
Ukus, patesi, 124

584

INDEX

Umbara-Tutu, father of Pir-napis
tim, 102
Ummanaldas of Elam, 391
Umman-manda, the, 230, 392
Ummu Hubur, a designation of
Tiamtu, 18
Unknown tongue, an, 140
Unqu, 348
Unug, Akkadian form of the name
of Erech, 84
Upahhir-belu, eponym of, 372
UpS, Upia (Opis), 439, 458, 459
UpS-rabi, "Opis is great," name, 182
Upsukenaku, the place of assembly
ofthe gods, 21
Ur (of the Chaldees), 124 ; its
temple-tower, 136, i93-!95 ; =
Urie or Camarina, 146, 147, 196,
197 ; identified with Mugheir,
193 ; possibly really Uri or Ura
(Akkad), 197 ; rebels against
Assyria, 386 ; Nabonidus's in
scriptions at Ur (Mugheir), 414,
415
Ura, god of pestilence, 107 ; legend
of Ura, 122; "Ura the unspar
ing," 228 ; invoked by Evil-Mero
dach, 409
Ura-gala and the ship (ark), 104
Urartu (Ararat), 127. See Urtu
Uras, god of Dailem, 279 ; the
great gate of, 468
Urdamanfi, son of Sabaco, 389
Urfa (Orfa), the traditional Ur of
the Chaldees, 192, 193
Uri or Ura = Akkad, 122, 134
Urie (Ur of the Chaldees), 146 ; a
centre of lunar worship, 147
Urikku of the Kuites, 350
Uriwa, the Akkadian form of Ur
(Mugheir), 193 ff.
Ur-kasdim (Ur of the Chaldees),
193. See Ur of the Chaldees
Urrahinas, Hittite city, 320
Ursalimmu (Jerusalem), 375, 376
Ur-Sanabi, the pilot or boatman,
accompanies Gilgames to see Pir-
napistim, 99 ; takes the hero to
be cleansed, 109 ; goes with him
to Erech, 109, 1 10

Urtu (apparently short for Urartu),
Ararat, 122, 208
Uru (in Uru-salim), probably from
the Akkadian, 241
Uru-gala, the image of, 480
Uruk supuri, " Erech the walled,"
91
Uru-ku, the dynasty of, 154
Urumaians (Hittites), 318
Uru-milki of Gebal, 374
Uru-salim (Jerusalem), 234, 239
Uruwus (king), 124
Usertesen L, 261
Van, 127, 367
Vannites, 391
Venus, 203. See Istar
Village settlements, growth of, 171
Vine, the, 75
Vine of the Babylonian Paradise, 71
Vowel-changes in the Akkadian
dialects, 241
Wall built at Ur (Uriwa) by Eri-
Aku, 220
Ward, Dr. W. Hayes,' conductor of
the Wolfe expedition, 70
Water, concerning the king's, etc.,
446
"Waters of death," the, 99
Way, the Rev. Dr. J. P., 155
West called Amurru (Amoria, the
land of the Amorites), 205
West-land, no record of an ex
pedition to, in the reign of
Hammurabi, 214, 215 ; his claim
to this tract, 215
West-Semitic deities, 156
West-Semitic names, 157
Whitehouse, Mr. F. Cope, 263
Wiedemann, Prof., 253
Wife of Pir-napistim prepares the
magic food, 108, 109
Winckler, Dr. Hugo, 235, 297
Witnesses' names, 162, 237, 238, etc.
Workmen, hire of, 188
Worship, lines upon, 49
Xenophon, 422
Xerxes, forms of his name, 428

INDEX

585

Ya, Ya'u, Au, Aa, names contain
ing, 59
Ya-abi-ni, name, 60
Yabitiri, governor of Gaza and Jaffa,
279 ; to the king of Egypt, 284
Yabusu, name, 324
Ya-Dagunu, name, 59
Ya'enhamu (Yanhamu), 298
Yahwah, 342. See -yawa
Yakinlu of Arvad, 389 ; sends his
sons to Assur-bani-apli, 390
Yakubu, Yakubi, Yakub-ilu, Ya'-
kubi-Slu (Jacob, Jacob-el), and
other similarly-formed names,
157, 183, 243-245_
Yamutbalu, Emutbalu, conquered
by Hammurabi, 212, 214, 216
Yanhamu, an Egyptian official, 285,
295, 298
Yanzii, king of Na'iri or Mesopo
tamia, 367
Yapa-Addu, 293
Yapti'-Addu killed, 296
Yapu, Yappu (Jaffa), 285, 375
Yaraqu traversed by Shalmaneser,
334, 349
Yasubigalleans, 373
Yasupum, Yasup-tlu (Joseph,
Joseph-el), and other similarly-
formed names, 157, 242
Yatna (better Yaana), or Yamani
of the Hatti, 369, 370
Yatnana (better Yaanana), Cyprus,
387
Ya'u, Yau, etc., suggested etymology
of, 113; supposed to have been
identified with Aa or Ea, 18
Yaua (Jehu), 337, 339
Yau-bi'idi ( = Ilu-bi'idi) of Hamath,
322, 363, 366
Yaudu, Yaudi (Judah), 370, 386, 389
Yaum -Ilu, name, meaning "T^h i=
God" (Joel), 199 «.

'Jah is

-yawa, names ending in, 458, 465,
47°, 471
Yidia of Askelon to the king of
Egypt, 286, 287
Yisyari, a captive, 302
Young, plant to make the old, 109
Zabibe, queen of Arabia, 350
Zabu, Zabium (king), 1 53 ; tablets
dated in his reign, 174, 183, 237
Zagaga, god of battle, identified
with Merodach, 58 ; temple of,
213, 214, 415
Zahi (Phoenicia), 270
Zaphnath-paaneah, Steindorff's
translation of, 257
Zarephath (Sareptu), 374
Zedekiah, captured, 400. See
Mattaniah
Zelah, 297
Zer-biti-lisir, son of Merodach-
baladan, 386
Zer-panitum, consort of Merodach,
160, 212; swearing by, 433;
invocation of, 466 ; see also 472,
479
Zeru-Bablli (Zerubbabel), father of
a witness, 441
Zerubbabel (better Zera-Babel), a
not uncommon name, 425
Zeus (Belos), 137
Zikurat Babili, 139
Zilu, city, 296
Zimmern, Prof. H., 27, 68
Zimreda of Sidon, hostile to Egypt,
293 ; Zimreda of Lachish, threat
ened, 296
Ziri-Basani (field of Bashan), 277
Zoan, supposed place where Joseph
met Pharaoh, 263
Zubuduru, messenger of Nebuchad
nezzar's son, 434

SUPPLEMENTARY INDEX

(The words "note to p." or "notes to pp." refer to the "Notes and
Additions " on pp. 537-553 only.)

Ablum, "son," as a personal name,
note to p. 83
Accusation, false, 501
Act of God, 513,523
Administration, 493-494
Adoption and apprenticeage, 505,
508, 509, 525
Adultery, 501, 502
Agents and travelling merchants,
laws concerning, 495
Agricultural implements, theft of,
513
Ama-namtagga, * ' the mother of
sin," 532
" An eye for an eye," etc., 509, 522
Ari, the Sumerian word for the land
ofthe Amorites, note to p. 122
Aruru, names of the goddess, note
to p. 44
Assignment for loan, 498
Assur, the city (earliest mention of),
490
"Babylon and the Bible," 525
Babylon as revealed by the German
excavations, note to pp. 471-472
Barbers arid slave-marking, 511
" Battle," the, 530
Belus, the temple of, note to pp.
471-472
Bigamy, 503
Blessing of Aaron, Delitzsch's paral
lei to, 526
Boatmen's wages and penalties, 511-
512
Boats and ships, hire of, 5I4-5I5
Bond and free, marriages between,
506, 5°7, 525

Borrowers, liabilities and rights of,
495-496
Bribery, 491
Brigandage, 493
Builders' wages and liabilities, 511
Canaan a "domain of Babylonian
culture," 526
Carrier's responsibility, 499
Cart, oxen, and driver, hire of, 514
Changelings, 509
Chemosh, the god of the Moabites,
note to p. 374
Cherubim, the, 533
Cities benefited by IJammurabi,
489-491
Code of Hammurabi, illustrations
of, notes to pp. 166, 168, 173,
174 ff., 176, 177, 178 and 179,
180, 181, 185, etc.
Collisions at sea, 512
Commissioner and Agent, relations
between, 498-499
Compensation for slave gored by
bull, 513, 523
Concubines, 502, 503, 508
Contempt for the gods, note to p.
480
Damage by herdsman, 514
" Daughter for daughter," 510, 522
Death-penalty for adultery, 501,
521
Debt, working off of, 500, 521 ;
responsibility of husband and wife
for, 503, 504
Decoration, Babylonian, notes to
PP- 4°5, 471-472

587

588

SUPPLEMENTARY INDEX

Defamation, 491, 501
Delitzsch's Babel und Bibel, 525
Deposit, goods on, 499, 500, 501,
521
Desertion, 502
Devotees, recluses, priestesses, and
public women, 499, 507.
Disavowal of son, 505
Distraint, 500 ; a parallel to the
case of the Egyptian farmers, 525
Divorce, 502
Dower, return of, 502, 504
Dowers and gifts to virgins, priest
esses, etc., 508
Downfall of Assyria, Nabopolassar's
reference to, note to p. 393
Dragon and the Serpent-tempter,
529 ff.
Dur-mah-ilani, possible reading for
Dvk-sir-ilani, note to p. 223
Ea-bani, probable true reading
Ea-du or Enki-du, note to p. 99
Ea-du or Enki-du, note to p. 99
Egyptian slave, sale of an (testify
ing to Cambyses' campaign in
Egypt), note to p. 466
Ejectment before the end of the
term, 498
Elam, firstborn of Shem, note to p.
119
Enweduranki (Euedoreschos), p. 63
and the note thereto, also that to
P- 77
Esarhaddon restores the temple of
Belus, note to pp. 471-472.
Escaped slaves, 493
Eve, a Babylonian type of, 532
Evil spirit, the, driven from the
temple, 530
" Eye for eye," 509, 522
Faithlessness, 503
Fall, the, 531, 532
Fifteenth day = Sabbath, 527
Fire, penalty of death by, notes to
pp. 403 and 480
Followers of Tiamtu, the, 530
Food, incantation in which it is used,
note to p. 108

Foster-children and their disowning,
5°5
Fraudulent practices, 513
Furious cattle, laws concerning, 512,
523
Gadu-tabu, name, note to p. 246
Gate of Istar at Babylon, notes to
PP- 4°5, 471-472
Gift to a son, 505
Gilgames, the new version of the
Legend of, note to p. 99.
Hagar, the case of, 524
I^ammurabi, his image on his stele,
487 ; the benefits he had conferred
on the cities of Babylonia, 488-
491 ; his code of laws, 491-515 ;
his opinions of his reign, 515,
516 ; his curse upon any destroy
ing or changing his record, 517—
519
Helpers of Rahab, the, 530
Herdsmen, their duties and liabili
ties, 513, 514, 524
Hire of animals for agricultural
work, 514 ; field-labourers and
herdsmen, 513 ; fields, 495
Hired men, their responsibilities,
513
Housebreaking, 493, 521
Husband, causing death of, 504
Illegitimate children, acknow
ledgment of, 505-506
Imprisonment non-existent, hence
the lex talionis, 522
Incest, 504, 521, 522
Inheritance, 503-504, 505, 506,
507 ; of virgins, priestesses, etc.,
508
Injuries, penalties for, to slaves,
509, 522 ; to a woman, 510, 522 ;
in a quarrel, 509-510, 522
Istar's Gate at Babylon, notes to pp.
405, 471-472
Istar of Nineveh, 491
Jacob, names similar to, and identi
fied with, note to p. 243

SUPPLEMENTARY INDEX

589

Jah (Yah), 535
Jahweh (Jehovah), 535
Jilting, 504
Kidnapping, 492-493, 520
Killing and mutilating hired animals,
5", 523
Law upheld, 491, 520
Laws of Hammurabi, 491-515
Laws, the old Sumerian, notes to,
pp. 125, 150, 166, 176, 187, and
188, 191
Leviathan, 530
Leviticus xviii. 18, the tablet illus
trating, note to pp. 174 ff.
Lex talionis, 509, 522
Z«»za.?j-consteilations, the, note to
p. 27
Machpelah, the contract at, 524
Mad bull or vicious ox, death or
injury from, 512-513
Maer (and Suhi), principality, notes
to pp. 293, 319
Marad and its patron-deity, note to
p. 130
Marriage-contract necessary, 501
Merodach the begetter of the gods,
533-534_; his description, 529;
his attack on Tiamtu, note to p.
24 . .
Monotheism in Babylonia, 533
Monotheistic names, 534 ; systems,
note to p. 113
Monster, the, 530
Month, days of the, in Sumerian
and Semitic Babylonian, 527
" Mother of sin," the, 532
Muru, a centre of the worship of
Hadad, 490
Nabopolassar's guardian-god, 533
Naharau and Nahor, note to p. 144
Nahor, the name, and its cognates,
note to p. 144
Nebuchadnezzar, meaning of the
name, note to p. 399.
Negligence, loss or damage from,
496, 5'3

Net, the, of Merodach, note to p.
131
Nineveh (earliest mention of), 491
Nin-gala, goddess of Haran, note to
p. 203
Officials' rights, duties, and re
sponsibilities, 493-494
Offord, Mr. J., his cylinder, pi. vi.
and the note to p. 249 ; his tablet,
note to p. 425
Oxen, the hire of, 512
Palace, theft from a, 491, 492, 525
Palaces of Nebuchadnezzar at Baby
lon, note to pp. 471-472
Parallels in the case of Abraham
seeking a wife for his son, 524
Pasturing, 496-497
Peleg, note to p. 145
Peniel or Penuel, note to p, 249
Physicians' fees and liabilities, 510-
5"
Piercing of Rahab, the, 530
Pir-napistim, probable true reading
Ut-napistim, note to p. 99
Planting, 497
Priestesses and votaries, privileges
of, note to p. 180
Processions of gods referred to, 526
Procession-street at Babylon, the,
note to pp. 471-472
Profaning herself, of a temple-
devotee, 499, 521
Property of officials, 493-495
Pulug or Pulukku and Peleg, note
to p. 145
Qarqara, illustrations of the battle
of, note to p. 330
Racial types, note to p. 119
Rahab, 530
Receiver, liabilities of a, 492, 520
Repudiation of master by slave, 515
Respect for parents, 509, 522
Retaliation, the law of, 509-510
Sabbath, 526 ; the 15th day of the
month with the Babylonians,

590

SUPPLEMENTARY INDEX

527 ; nearest approach to the
Hebrew Sabbath in Babylonia,
528 ; the word nevertheless bor
rowed from Babylonia, 527 ; in
the Babylonian creation-story, note
to p. 27
Sacrilegious theft, the punishment
of, note to p. 480
Sargon of Agaii, the events of his
reign, note to p. 124
Seizing the person for debt, 500, 521
Sennacherib, Nabonidus's account
of the murder of, note to p. 384
Serpent-god and the abode of life,
532
Serpent-tempter, the, 531
Sethos and Hephaistos, note to p.
38i
Seventh day, duties of the, 528
Share of the cultivator, 495, 525
Shinar, Sumer, and Akkad, note to
p. 119
Sippar- Amnanu, note to p. 161
Slander, 504
Slaves, conditions of their purchase,
515
Smiting a father, 509
Spells, laws concerning, 491
Storage, 500
Suhu and Maer, notes to pp. 293
and 319
Sur-Sanabi, note to p. 99
Talents, parable ofthe, 525
Tamar, the case of, 525
Tammuz, the names of, note to p.
72, dates referring to his worship,
note to p. 279, 1. 12
Temples of Babylonia benefited by
Hammurabi, 489-491
Teraphim, the taking ofthe, 524
Terah and Tarhu, note to p. 146
Theft (death-penalty), 491, 492;
by an employe", 513, of things
deposited, 501, 521 ; see also 520

"Tooth for tooth," 509
Topography of Babylon, note to pp.
471-472.
Tower of Babel, the Mohammedan
legend of the, note to p. 136.
Transcription of lines referring to
Antiochus's rule in Babylonia,
note to p. 480
Tree-felling, 497
Tudhul, note to p. 222
Unlawful pasturing, 496, 521
Unskilful surgical treatment, penal
ties for, 5 10-5 1 1
Ur-Sanabi, probable pronunciation
Sur-Sanabi, note to p. 99
Ut-napistim, note to p. 99
Veterinary surgeon's fees and
liabilities, 511
Vicious cattle, laws concerning, 512,
523
Violation, penalty for, 501, 521
Virgins, priestesses, and hierodules,
508
Was the Flood "Sin Flood"
529
Wedding-gift, the bridegroom's, note
to p. 166
Wild animals, damage by, 512, 523
Wine-women, 499
Witnesses necessary, 500, 501
Working an ox unlawfully, 512, 523
Working off debt, 500
Workmen, hire of, 514
Yau or Yaum, 535, 536
Ya'wa, Yawa, 535
Ya(')we-!lu, 535
Yoke of Assyria thrown off by
Nabopolassar, note to p. 393
Zagaga, the god of KiS, 489

59i

BIBLICAL PASSAGES REFERRED TO IN THE
NOTES ON HAMMURABI'S LAWS, pp. 520-525.
Gen. xiv. I, 2, 4; xxiii. 14-18-20; xxiv. 4, 53; xxx. 4, 6; xxxi.
15, 16, 19, 32, p. 524; 39, note to § 244; xxxviii. 24; xliv. 9 ; xlvii.
19 ; xlviii. 5, p. 525.
Ex. xxi. 2, 7, note to § 117 ; 8, p. 521 (footnote) ; 15, note to § 195 ;
16, to § 14 ; 18, 19, to § 206 ; 22, to § 209 ; 23, to § 210 ; 24, 25, to
§§ 196, etc. ; 26, 27, to § 199 ; 28, to § 250 ; 29, to § 251 ; 32, to §
252 ; xxii. 1, note to § 8 ; 2-4, to § 21 ; 5, to § 57 ; 7-9, to § 125 ; 10-
11, to § 266 ; 12, to § 267 ; 13, to § 244 ; 14, 15, to §§ 245 ff. ; 16, to
§ 130 ; xxiii. 2, 8, note to §§ 3-5.
Lev. vi. 2 ff., note to § 7 ; xviii. 8, to § 157 ; xx. 10, to § 129 ; 11,
to § 157 ; 12, to § 155 ; xxi. 9, to § no ; xxiv. 20, to §§ 196, etc.
Deut. xix. 21, to §§ 196, etc.
Matt. v. 38, to §§ 196, etc. ; xxv. 14 ff., p. 525.
Gal. iv. 30, p. 525.

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