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AS the Gods or ancient Deified Kings and
Princes of Greece, Egypt, and Syria of Damascus, have been made much ancienter than
the truth, so have those of Chaldæa and Assyria:
for DiodorusAlexander the
great was in Asia, the Chaldæans reckoned
473000 years since they first began to observe
the Stars; and Ctesias, and the ancient Greek
and Latin writers who copy from him, have
made the Assyrian Empire as old as Noah's flood
within 60 or 70 years, and tell us the names of
all the Kings of Assyria downwards, from Belus
and his feigned son Ninus, to Sardanapalus the
last King of that Monarchy: but the names
of his Kings, except two or three, have no affi
nity with the names of the Assyrians mentioned
in Scripture; for the Assyrians were usually
named after their Gods, Bel or Pul; Chaddon, Hadon, Adon, or Adonis; Melech or Moloch; Atsur or Assur; Nebo; Nergal; Merodach: as in
these names, Pul, Tiglath-Pul-Assur, Salman- or Assur,Assur, Adra-Melech, Shar-Assur, Assur-Hadon, SardanapalusAssur-Hadon-Pul, Nabonassar or Nebo-Adon-Assur, Bel Adon, Chiniladon or Chen-El-Adon, Nebo-Pul-Assur, Nebo-Chaddon-Assur, Nebuzaradon or Nebo-Assur-Adon, Nergal-Assur, Nergal-Shar-Assur, Labo-Assur-dach, Sheseb-Assur, Beltes-Assur, Evil-Merodach, Shamgar-Nebo, Rabsaris or Rab-Assur, Nebo-Shashban, Mardocempad or Merodach-Empad. Such were the Assyrian
names; but those in Ctesias are of another sort,
except Sardanapalus, whose name he had met
with in Herodotus. He makes Semiramis as old as
the first Belus; but Herodotus tells us, that she
was but five Generations older than the mother
of Labynetus: he represents that the city Ninus
was founded by a man of the same name, and Babylon by Semiramis; whereas either Nimrod or Assur founded those and other cities, without giving
his own name to any of them: he makes the Assyrian Empire continue about 1360 years,
whereas Herodotus tells us that it lasted only 500
years, and the numbers of Herodotus concerning
those ancient times are all of them too long: he
makes Nineveh destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians, three hundred years before the Reign
of Astibares and Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed
it, and sets down the names of seven or eight
feigned Kings of Media, between the destruction Nineveh and the Reigns of Astibares and Nebuchadnezzar, as if the Empire of the Medes,
erected upon the ruins of the Assyrian Empire,
had lasted 300 years, whereas it lasted but 72:
and the true Empire of the Assyrians described
in Scripture, whose Kings were Pul, Tiglath-pilesar, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, Asserhadon, &c.
he mentions not, tho' much nearer to his own
times; which shews that he was ignorant of the
antiquities of the Assyrians. Yet something of
truth there is in the bottom of some of his
stories, as there uses to be in Romances; as, that Nineveh was destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians; that Sardanapalus was the last King of
the Assyrian Empire; and that Astibares and Astyages were Kings of the Medes: but he has
made all things too ancient, and out of vain
glory taken too great a liberty in feigning names
and stories to please his reader.
When the Jews were newly returned from
the Babylonian captivity, they confessed their
Sins in this manner, Now therefore our God, —— let not all the trouble seem little before thee that hath come upon us, on our Kings, on our Princes, and on our Priests, and on our Prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the Kings of Assyria, unto this day; Nehem. ix. 32.
that is, since the time of the Kingdom of As, or since the rise of that Empire: and syriasyria
therefore the Assyrian Empire arose when the
Kings of Assyria began to afflict the inhabitants
of Palestine; which was in the days of Pul:
he and his successors afflicted Israel, and con
quered the nations round about them; and up
on the ruin of many small and ancient King
doms erected their Empire, conquering the Medes as well as other nations: but of these
conquests Ctesias knew not a word, no not so
much as the names of the conquerors, or that
there was an Assyrian Empire then standing;
for he supposes that the Medes Reigned at that
time, and that the Assyrian Empire was at an
end above 250 years before it began.
However we must allow that Nimrod found
ed a Kingdom at Babylon, and perhaps extend
ed it into Assyria: but this Kingdom was but
of small extent, if compared with the Empires
which rose up afterwards; being only within
the fertile plains of Chaldæa, Chalonitis and Assyria, watered by the Tigris and Euphrates: and
if it had been greater, yet it was but of short
continuance, it being the custom in those early
ages for every father to divide his territories
amongst his sons. So Noah was King of all the
world, and Cham was King of all Afric, and Japhet of all Europe and Asia minor; but they Nimrod, we hear no more of an Assyrian Empire 'till
the days of Pul. The four Kings who in the days
of Abraham invaded the southern coast of Canaan
came from the countries where Nimrod had Reign
ed, and perhaps were some of his posterity who
had shared his conquests. In the time of the
Judges of Israel, Mesopotamia was under its own
King, Judg. iii. 8. and the King of Zobah Reign
ed on both sides of the River Euphrates 'till David conquered him, 2 Sam. viii, and x. The
Kingdoms of Israel, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Philistia, Zidon, Damascus, and Hamath the great,
continued subject to other Lords than the Assyrians 'till the days of Pul and his successors; and
so did the house of Eden, Amos i. 5. 2 Kings
xix. 12. and Haran or Carrhæ, Gen. xii. 2 Kings
xix. 12. and Sepharvaim in Mesopotamia, and Calneh near Bagdad, Gen. x. 10, Isa. x. 9, 2 Kings
xvii. 31. Sesac and Memnon were great conque
rors, and Reigned over Chaldæa, Assyria, and Persia, but in their histories there is not a word
of any opposition made to them by an Assyrian
Empire then standing: on the contrary, Susiana, Media, Persia, Bactria, Armenia, Cappadocia, &c.
were conquered by them, and continued sub
ject to the Kings of Egypt 'till after the long
Reign of Ramesses the son of Memnon, as above. HomerHomer mentions Bacchus and Memnon Kings of Egypt and Persia, but knew nothing of an Assyrian Empire. Jonah prophesied when Israel was
in affliction under the King of Syria, and this
was in the latter part of the Reign of Jehoahaz,
and first part of the Reign of Joash, Kings of Israel, and I think in the Reign of Mœris the
successor of Ramesses King of Egypt, and about
sixty years before the Reign of Pul; and Nineveh was then a city of large extent, but full of
pastures for cattle, so that it contained but about
120000 persons. It was not yet grown so great
and potent as not to be terrified at the preach
ing of Jonah, and to fear being invaded by its
neighbours and ruined within forty days: it
had some time before got free from the domi
nion of Egypt, and had got a King of its
own; but its King was not yet called King of Assyria, but only King of Nineveh, Jonah iii.
6, 7. and his proclamation for a fast was not
published in several nations, nor in all Assyria,
but only in Nineveh, and perhaps in the villages
thereof; but soon after, when the dominion of Nineveh was established at home, and exalted
over all Assyria properly so called, and this King
dom began to make war upon the neighbouring
nations, its Kings were no longer called Kings of Nineveh, but began to be called Kings of Assyria.
Amos prophesied in the Reign of Jeroboam
the Son of Joash King of Israel, soon after Jeroboam had subdued the Kingdoms of Damascus
and Hamath, that is, about ten or twenty years
before the Reign of Pul: and he Israel for being lifted up by those conquests; Ye which rejoyce in a thing of nought, which say, have we not taken to us horns by our strength? But behold I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of Hosts, and they shall afflict you from the entring in of Hamath unto the river of the wilderness. God here threatens to
raise up a nation against Israel; but what nation
he names not; that he conceals 'till the Assyrians should appear and discover it. In the prophe
sies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Micah, Nahum, Zephaniah and Zechariah, which were writ
ten after the Monarchy grew up, it is openly
named upon all occasions; but in this of Amos
not once, tho' the captivity of Israel and Syria
be the subject of the prophesy, and that of Israel be often threatned: he only saith in gene
ral that Syria should go into captivity unto Kir,
and that Israel, notwithstanding her present
greatness, should go into captivity beyond Damascus; and that God would raise up a nation to
afflict them: meaning that he would raise up
above them from a lower condition, a nation Hebrew
word Amos v. 2. 1 Sam. xii. 11. Psal. cxiii. 7. Jer. x.
20. l. 32. Hab. i. 6. Zech. xi. 16. As Amos names not the Assyrians; at the writing
of this prophecy they made no great figure in
the world, but were to be raised up against Israel, and by consequence rose up in the days
of Pul and his successors: for after Jeroboam had
conquered Damascus and Hamath, his successor Menahem destroyed Tiphsah with its territories up
on Euphrates, because they opened not to him:
and therefore Israel continued in its greatness
'till Pul, probably grown formidable by some
victories, caused Menahem to buy his peace. Pul therefore Reigning presently after the pro
phesy of Amos, and being the first upon record
who began to fulfill it, may be justly reckoned
the first conqueror and founder of this Empire.
For God stirred up the spirit of Pul, and the spirit of Tiglath-pileser King of Assyria, 1 Chron.
v. 20.
The same Prophet Amos, in prophesying a
gainst Israel, threatned them in this manner,
with what had lately befallen other Kingdoms: Pass ye, unto Calneh and see, and from thence go ye to Hamath the great, then go down to Gath of the Philistims. Be they better than than these Kingdoms? These Kingdoms were
not yet conquered by the Assyrians, except that
of Calneh or Chalonitis upon Tigris, between Babylon and Nineveh. Gath was newly van
quished Uzziah King of Judah, and Hamath Jeroboam King of Israel: and while
the Prophet, in threatning Israel with the Assyrians, instances in desolations made by other
nations, and mentions no other conquest of
the Assyrians than that of Chalonitis near Nineveh; it argues that the King of Nineveh was
now beginning his conquests, and had not yet
made any great progress in that vast career of
victories, which we read of a few years after.
For about seven years after the captivity of
the ten Tribes, when Sennacherib warred in Syria, which was in the 16th Olympiad, he Judah: Behold, thou hast heard what the Kings of Assyria have done to all Lands by destroying them utterly, and shalt thou be delivered? Have the Gods of the nations delivered them which the Gods of my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan and Haran and Reseph, and the children of Eden which were in [the
Kingdom of] Thelasar? Where is the King of
Hamath, and the King of Arpad, and the King of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Hena and
Ivah? And Isaiah AssyriaAssyria boasting: Are not my Princes altogether as Kings? Is not Calno [or Calneh] as Carche
mish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath found the Kingdoms of the Idols, and whose graven Images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; shall I not as I have done unto Samaria and her Idols, so do to
Jerusalem and her Idols? All this desolation is re
cited as fresh in memory to terrify the Jews,
and these Kingdoms reach to the borders of Assyria, and to shew the largeness of the conquests
they are called all lands, that is, all round about Assyria. It was the custom of the Kings of Assyria, for preventing the rebellion of people newly
conquered, to captivate and transplant those of
several countries into one another's lands, and
intermix them variously: and thence it appears Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and Gozan,
and the cities of the Medes into which Galilee
and Samaria were transplanted; and Kir into
which Damascus was transplanted; and Babylon
and Cuth or the Susanchites, and Hamath, and Ava, and Sepharvaim, and the Dinaites, and the Apharsachites, and the Tarpelites, and the Archevites, and the Dehavites, and the Elamites,
or Persians, part of all which nations were led
captive by Asserhadon and his predecessors into Samaria; were all of them conquered by the Assyrians not long before.
In these conquests are involved on the west
and south side of Assyria, the Kingdoms of Mesopotamia, whose royal seats were Haran or Carrhæ, and Carchemish or Circutium, and Sepharvaim, a city upon Euphrates, between Babylon
and Nineveh, called Sipparæ by Berosus, Abydenus, and Polyhistor, and Sipphara by Ptolomy;
and the Kingdoms of Syria seated at Samaria, Damascus, Gath, Hamath, Arpad, and Reseph,
a city placed by Ptolomy near Thapsacus: on the
south side and south-east side were Babylon and Calneh, or Calno, a city which was founded by Nimrod, where Bagdad now stands, and gave
the name of Chalonitis to a large region under
its government; and Thelasar or Talatha, a city
of the children of Eden, placed by Ptolomy in Babylonia, upon the common stream of Tigris
and Euphrates, which was therefore the river
of Paradise; and the Archevites at Areca or Erech, a city built by Nimrod on the east side
of Pasitigris, between Apamia and the Persian Gulph; and the Susanchites at Cuth, or Susa,
the metropolis of Susiana: on the east were Elymais, and some cities of the Medes, and Kir, Media, between Elymais, and Assyria, called Kirene by the Chaldee
Paraphrast and Latin Interpreter, and Carine by Ptolomy: on the north-east were Habor or Chaboras,Chaboras, a mountainous region between Assyria
and Media; and the Apharsachites, or men of Arrapachitis, a region originally peopled by Arphaxad, and placed by Ptolomy at the bottom
of the mountains next Assyria: and on the
north between Assyria and the Gordiæan moun
tains was Halah or Chalach, the metropolis of Calachene: and beyond these upon the Caspian
sea was Gozan, called Gauzania by Ptolomy.
Thus did these new conquests extend every way
from the province of Assyria to considerable
distances, and make up the great body of that
Monarchy: so that well might the King of Assyria boast how his armies had destroyed all
lands. All these nations
several Gods, and each accounted his God the
God of his own land, and the defender there
of, against the Gods of the neighbouring
countries, and particularly against the Gods of Assyria; and therefore they were never 'till
now united under the Assyrian Monarchy, es
pecially since the King of Assyria doth not
boast of their being conquered by the Assyrians oftner than once: but these being small
Kingdoms the King of Assyria easily overflow
ed them: Know ye not, saith Sennacherib to
the Jews, what I and my fathers have done unto all the people of other lands? —for no God of any any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people out of mine hand, and out of the hand of my fathers: how much less shall your God deliver you out of mine hand? He and his fathers therefore, Pul, Tiglath-pileser, and Shalmaneser, were great con
querors, and with a current of victories had
newly overflowed all nations round about Assyria, and thereby set up this Monarchy.
Between the Reigns of Jeroboam II, and his
son Zachariah, there was an interregnum of
about ten or twelve years in the Kingdom of Israel: and the prophet Hosea
of that interregnum, or soon after, mentions
the King of Assyria by the name of Jareb,
and another conqueror by the name of Shalman;
and perhaps Shalman might be the first part of
the name of Shalmaneser, and Iareb, or Irib,
for it may be read both ways, the last part of
the name of his successor Sennacherib: but who
ever these Princes were, it appears not that
they Reigned before Shalmaneser. Pul, or Belus,
seems to be the first who carried on his con
quests beyond the province of Assyria: he con
quered Calneh with its territories in the Reign
of Jerboam, Amos i. 1. vi. 2. & Isa. x.
8, 9. and invaded Israel in the Reign of Menahem, 2 King. xv. 19. but stayed not in the
land, being bought off by Menahem for a thou
the Kingdom of Assyria was advanced on this
side Tigris: for he was a great warrior, and
seems to have conquered Haran, and Carchemish,
and Reseph, and Calneh, and Thelasar, and might
found or enlarge the city of Babylon, and build
the old palace.
Herodotus tells us, that one of the gates of Babylon was Semiramis, and
that she adorned the walls of the city, and
the Temple of Belus, and that she
Generations older than Nitocris the mother of Labynitus, or Nabonnedus, the last King of Babylon; and therefore she flourished four Gene
rations, or about 134 years, before Nebuchadnezzar , and by consequence in the Reign of Tiglath-pileser the successor of Pul: and the fol
lowers of Ctesias tell us, that she built Babylon,
and was the widow of the son and successor
of Belus, the founder of the Assyrian Empire;
that is, the widow of one of the sons of Pul:
but Berosus a Chaldæan blames the Greeks for
ascribing the building of Babylon to Semiramis;
and other authors ascribe the building of this
city to Belus himself, that is to Pul; so Curtius Semiramis Babylonem condiderat, vel ut plerique credidere Belus, cujus regia ostenditur
and Abydenus, who had his history from the Chaldæans, writes,
τωι χρόνω δὲ τωι ἰκνευμένω α᾽φανισθηναι. τειχίσαι
δὲ ἀυθις Ναβουχοδονόσορον, τὸ μέχρι της Μακεδο
νίων α᾽ρχης διαμειναν ἐὸν χαλκόπυλον.'Tis reported that Belus compassed Babylon with a wall, which in time was abolished: and that Nebuchad
nezzar afterwards built a new wall with brazen gates, which stood 'till the time of the Macedonian Empire: and so Dorotheus Sidon;
That is, by the Syrian or Assyrian Belus;
the words Tyrian, Syrian, and Assyrian, being
anciently used promiscuously for one another: Herennius
of Belus; and this son might be Nabonassar.
After the conquest of Calneh, Thelasar, and Sippare, Belus might seize Chaldæa, and begin to
build Babylon, and leave it to his younger son:
for all the Kings of Babylon in the Canon of Ptolemy are called Assyrians, and Nabonassar is
the first of them: and Nebuchadnezzar
oned himself descended from Belus, that is,
from the Assyrian Pul: and the building of BabylonBabylon is ascribed to the Assyrians by Isaiah: Behold, saith he, the land of the Chaldeans: This people was not 'till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness, [that is, for
the Arabians.] They set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof. From all this it
seems therefore that Pul founded the walls and
the palaces of Babylon, and left the city with
the province of Chaldæa to his younger son Nabonassar; and that Nabonassar finished what his
father began, and erected the Temple of Jupiter Belus to his father: and that Semiramis lived
in those days, and was the Queen of Nabonassar, because one of the gates of Babylon was
called the gate of Semiramis, as Herodotus af
firms: but whether she continued to Reign
there after her husband's death may be doubted.
Pul therefore was succeeded at Nineveh by
his elder son Tiglath-pileser, at the same time that
he left Babylon to his younger son Nabonassar. Tiglath-pileser, the second King of Assyria, warred
in Phœnicia, and captivated Galilee with the
two Tribes and an half, in the days of Pekah
King of Israel, and placed them in Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and at the river Gozan, places
lying on the western borders of Media, between Assyria and the Caspian sea, 2 King. xv. 29, &
1 Chron. v. 26. and about the fifth or sixth Nabonassar, he came to the assistance of
the King of Judah against the Kings of Israel
and Syria, and overthrew the Kingdom of Syria, which had been seated at Damascus ever
since the days of King David, and carried a
way the Syrians to Kir in Media, as Amos had
prophesied, and placed other nations in the re
gions of Damascus, 2 King. xv. 37, & xvi.
5, 9. Amos i. 5. Joseph. Antiq. l. 9. c. 13.
whence it seems that the Medes were conquer
ed before, and that the Empire of the Assyrians
was now grown great: for the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul King of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath-pileser King of Assyria to
make war, 1 Chron. v. 26.
Shalmaneser or Salmanasser, called Enemessar by Tobit, invaded Phœnicia, took the city of Samaria, and captivated Israel, and placed them in Chalach and Chabor, by the river Gozan, and in
the cities of the Medes; and Hosea
say that he took Arbela: and his successor Sennacherib said that his fathers had conquered al
so Gozan, and Haran or Carrhæ, and Reseph or Resen, and the children of Eden, and Arpad or
the Aradii, 2 King. xix. 12.
Sennacherib the son of Shalmaneser in the
14th year of Hezekiah invaded Phœnicia, and
took several cities of Judah, and attempted EgyptEgypt; and Sethon or Sevechus King of Egypt
and Tirhakah King of Ethiopia coming against
him, he lost in one night 185000 men, as
some say by a plague, or perhaps by lightning,
or a fiery wind which blows sometimes in the
neighbouring deserts, or rather by being sur
prised by Sethon and Tirhakah: for the Egyptians in memory of this action erected a statue
to Sethon, holding in his hand a mouse, the Egyptian symbol of destruction. Upon this
defeat Sennacherib returned in haste to Nineveh,
and Tobit could not go into Media, the Medes I
think at this time revolting: and he was soon
after slain by two of his sons who fled into Armenia, and his son Asserhadon succeeded him.
At that time did Merodach Baladan or Mardocempad King of Babylon send an embassy to Hezekiah King of Judah.
Asserhadon, Sarchedon by Tobit, Asordan by the LXX, and Assaradin in Ptolomy's
Canon, began his Reign at Nineveh, in the year
of Nabonassar 42; and in the year 68 extend
ed it over Babylon: then he carried the remain
der of the Samaritans into captivity, and peo
pled Samaria with captives brought from seve
ral parts of his Kingdom, the Dinaites, the Apharsachites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Arche-Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, the Elamites, Ezra iv. 2, 9. and
therefore he Reigned over all these nations. Pekah and Rezin Kings of Samaria and Damascus,
invaded Judæa in the first year of Ahaz, and
within 65 years after, that is in the 21st year
of Manasseh, Anno Nabonass. 69, Samaria by
this captivity ceased to be a people, Isa. vii. 8.
Then Asserhadon invaded Judæa, took Azoth, car
ried Manasseh captive to Babylon, and
vated also Egypt, Thebais, and Ethiopia above Thebais: and by this war he seems to have put
an end to the Reign of the Ethiopians over Egypt, in the year of Nabonassar 77 or 78.
In the Reign of Sennacherib and Asserhadon,
the Assyrian Empire seems arrived at its great
ness, being united under one Monarch, and
containing Assyria, Media, Apolloniatis, Susiana, Chaldæa, Mesopotamia, Cilicia, Syria, Phœnicia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and part of Arabia, and reach
ing eastward into Elymais, and Parætacene, a
province of the Medes: and if Chalach and Chabor be Colchis and Iberia, as some think, and as
may seem probable from the circumcision used
by those nations 'till the days of Herodotus, we
are also to add these two Provinces, with the
two Armenia's, Pontus and Cappadocia, as far as
to the river Halys: for Herodotus tells us, that Cappadocia as far as to that river
were called Syrians by the Greeks, both before
and after the days of Cyrus, and that the Assyrians were also called Syrians by the Greeks.
Yet the Medes revolted from the Assyrians in
the latter end of the Reign of Sennacherib, I
think upon the slaughter of his army near Egypt
and his flight to Nineveh: for at that time the
estate of Sennacherib was troubled, so that Tobit
could not go into Media as he had done be
fore, Tobit i. 15. and some time after, Tobit
advised his son to go into Media where he
might expect peace, while Nineveh, according
to the prophesy of Jonah, should be destroy
ed. Ctesias wrote that Arbaces a Mede being
admitted to see Sardanapalus in his palace, and
observing his voluptuous life amongst women,
revolted with the Medes, and in conjunction
with Belesis a Babylonian overcame him, and
caused him to set fire to his palace and burn
himself: but he is contradicted by other au
thors of better credit; for Duris and
others wrote that Arbaces upon being admitted
into the palace of Sardanapalus, and seeing his
effeminate life, slew himself; and Cleitarchus, that Sardanapalus died of old age, after he had lost
his dominion over Syria: he lost it by the re
volt of the western nations; and Herodotus Medes revolted first, and de
fended their liberty by force of arms against
the Assyrians, without conquering them; and
at their first revolting had no King, but after
some time set up Dejoces over them, and built Ecbatane for his residence; and that Dejoces
Reigned only over Media, and had a peace
able Reign of 54 years, but his son and suc
cessor Phraortes made war upon his neighbours,
and conquered Persia; and that the Syrians also,
and other western nations, at length revolted
from the Assyrians, being encouraged thereunto
by the example of the Medes; and that after
the revolt of the western nations, Phraortes in
vaded the Assyrians, but was slain by them in
that war, after he had Reigned twenty and two
years. He was succeeded by Astyages.
Now Asserhadon seems to be the Sardanapalus
who died of old age after the revolt of Syria,
the name Sardanapalus being derived from Asserhadon-Pul. Sardanapalus was the Anacyndaraxis, Cyndaraxis, or Anabaxaris, King
of Assyria; and this name seems to have been
corruptly written for Sennacherib the father of Asserhadon. Sardanapalus built Tarsus and Anchiale in one day, and therefore Reigned over Cilicia, before the revolt of the western nations:
and if he be the same King with Asserhadon, Saosduchinus in the year
of Nabonassar 81; and by this revolution Manasseh was set at liberty to return home and for
tify Jerusalem: and the Egyptians also, after the Assyrians had harrassed Egypt and Ethiopia three
years, Isa. xx. 3, 4. were set at liberty, and
continued under twelve contemporary Kings
of their own nation, as above. The Assyrians
invaded and conquered the Egyptians the first
of the three years, and Reigned over them two
years more: and these two years are the inter
regnum which Africanus, from Manetho, places
next before the twelve Kings. The Scythians of Touran or Turquestan beyond the river Oxus be
gan in those days to infest Persia, and by one
of their inroads might give occasion to the re
volt of the western nations.
In the year of Nabonassar 101, Saosduchinus, after a Reign of twenty years, was succeed
ed at Babylon by Chyniladon, and I think at Nineveh also, for I take Chyniladon to be that Nabuchodonosor who is mentioned in the book
of Judith; for the history of that King suits
best with these times: for there it is said that
Nabuchodonosor King of the Assyrians who Reigned at Nineveh, that great city, in the twelfth year of his Reign made war upon Ar
phaxad King of the Medes, and was then left Cilicia, Damascus, Syria, Phœnicia, Moab, Ammon, and Egypt; and without their help rout
ed the army of the Medes, and slew Arphaxad:
and Arphaxad is there said to have built Ecbatane and therefore was either Dejoces, or his
son Phraortes, who might finish the city founded
by his father: and Herodotus
of a King of Assyria, who routed the Medes,
and slew their King Phraortes; and saith that
in the time of this war the Assyrians were left
alone by the defection of the auxiliary nations,
being otherwise in good condition: Arphaxad
was therefore the Phraortes of Herodotus, and by
consequence was slain near the beginning of
the Reign of Josiah: for this war was made
after Phœnicia, Moab, Ammon, and Egypt had
been conquered and revolted, Judith i. 7,
8, 9. and by consequence after the Reign of Asserhadon who conquered them: it was made
when the Jews were newly returned from cap
tivity, and the Vessels and Altar and Temple were sanctified after the profanation, Judith
iv. 3. that is soon after Manasseh their King
had been carried captive to Babylon by Asserhadon; and upon the death of that King, or
some other change in the Assyrian Empire, had
been released with the Jews from that captivity,
crifices and worship of the Temple, 2 Chron.
xxxiii. 11, 16. In the Greek version of the
book of Judith, chap. v. 18. it is said, that the Temple of God was cast to the ground; but
this is not said in Jerom's version; and in the Greek version, chap. iv. 3, and chap. xvi. 20,
it is said, that the vessels, and the altar, and the house were sanctified after the prophanation, and in
both versions, chap. iv. 11, the Temple is re
presented standing.
After this war Nabuchodonosor King of Assyria, in the 13th year of his Reign, according
to the version of Jerom, sent his captain Holofernes with a great army to avenge himself on
all the west country; because they had disobeyed
his commandment: and Holofernes went forth
with an army of 12000 horse, and 120000
foot of Assyrians, Medes and Persians, and re
duced Cilicia, Mesopotamia, and Syria, and Damascus, and part of Arabia, and Ammon, and Edom, and Madian, and then came against Judæa: and this was done when the government
was in the hands of the High-Priest and Antients
of Israel, Judith iv. 8. and vii. 23. and by
consequence not in the Reign of Manasseh or Amon, but when Josiah was a child. In times
of prosperity the children of Israel were apt to
to repent and turn to the Lord. So Manasseh a
very wicked King, being captivated by the Assyrians, repented; and being released from
captivity restored the worship of the true God:
So when we are told that Josiah in the eighth year of his Reign, while he was yet young, began to seek after the God of David his father, and in the twelfth year of his Reign began to purge
Judah and Jerusalem from Idolatry, and to destroy the High Places, and Groves, and Altars and Images of Baalim, 2 Chron. xxxiv. 3. we
may understand that these acts of religion were
occasioned by impending dangers, and escapes
from danger. When Holofernes came against the
western nations, and spoiled them, then were
the Jews terrified, and they fortified Judæa,
and cryed unto God with great fervency, and humbled themselves in sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads, and cried unto the God of Israel that he would not give their wives and their children and cities for a prey, and the Temple for a profanation: and the High-priest, and all the Priests put on sackcloth and ashes, and offered daily burnt offerings with vows and free gifts of the people, Judith iv. and then began Josiah to seek after
the God of his father David: and after Judith
had slain Holofernes, and the Assyrians were fled, Jews who pursued them were returned
to Jerusalem, they worshipped the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and gifts, and continued feasting before the sanctuary for the space of three months, Judith xvi. 18, and then did Josiah
purge Judah and Jerusalem from Idolatry.
Whence it seems to me that the eighth year of Josiah fell in with the fourteenth or fifteenth of Nabuchodonosor, and that the twelfth year of Nabuchodonosor, in which Phraortes was slain,
was the fifth or sixth of Josiah. Phraortes Reign
ed 22 years according to Herodotus, and there
fore succeeded his father Dejoces about the 40th
year of Manasseh, Anno Nabonass. 89, and was
slain by the Assyrians, and succeeded by Astyages, Anno Nabonass. 111. Dejoces Reigned 53
years according to Herodotus, and these years
began in the 16th year of Hezekiah; which
makes it probable that the Medes dated them
from the time of their revolt: and according
to all this reckoning, the Reign of Nabuchodonosor fell in with that of Chyniladon; which
makes it probable that they were but two names
of one and the same King.
Soon after the death of Phraortes Scythians under Madyes or Medus invaded Media,
and beat the Medes in battle, Anno Nabonass.
113, and went thence towards Egypt, but Phœnicia by Psammitichus and bought
off, and returning Reigned over a great part of Asia: but in the end of about 28 years were
expelled; many of their Princes and comman
ders being slain in a feast by the Medes under
the conduct of Cyaxeres, the successor of Astyages, just before the destruction of Nineveh, and
the rest being soon after forced to retire.
In the year of Nabonassar 123, Nabopolassar
the commander of the forces of Chyniladon the
King of Assyria in Chaldæa revolted from him,
and became King of Babylon; and Chyniladon
was either then, or soon after, succeeded at Nineveh by the last King of Assyria, called Sarac
by Polyhistor: and at length Nebuchadnezzar, the
son of Nabopolassar, married Amyite the daugh
ter of Astyages and sister of Cyaxeres; and by
this marriage the two families having contract
ed affinity, they conspired against the Assyrians;
and Nabopolasser being now grown old, and Astyages being dead, their sons Nebuchadnezzar and Cyaxeres led the armies of the two
nations against Nineveh, slew Sarac, destroyed
the city, and shared the Kingdom of the Assyrians. This victory the Jews refer to the Chaldæans; the Greeks to the Medes; Tobit, Polyhistor, Josephus, and Ctesias to both. It gave a
beginning to the great successes of Nebuchadnezzarnezzar and Cyaxeres, and laid the foundation
of the two collateral Empires of the Babylonians
and Medes; these being branches of the Assyrian Empire: and thence the time of the fall of
the Assyrian Empire is determined, the conque
rors being then in their youth. In the Reign of Josiah, when Zephaniah prophesied, Nineveh and
the Kingdom of Assyria were standing, and
their fall was predicted by that Prophet, Zeph.
i. 1, and ii. 13. and in the end of his Reign Pharaoh Nechoh King of Egypt, the successor of Psammitichus, went up against the King of Assyria to the river Euphrates, to fight against Carchemish or Circutium, and in his way thither slew Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 29. 2 Chron. xxxv. 20.
and therefore the last King of Assyria was not
yet slain. But in the third and fourth year of Jehoiakim the successor of Josiah, the two con
querors having taken Nineveh and finished their
war in Assyria, prosecuted their conquests west
ward, and leading their forces against the King
of Egypt, as an invader of their right of con
quest, they beat him at Carchemish, and
from him whatever he had newly taken from
the Assyrians: and therefore we cannot err above
a year or two, if we refer the destruction of Nineveh, and fall of the Assyrian Empire, to the
second year of Jehoiakim, Anno Nabonass. 140. Sarac might perhaps
be contracted from Sarchedon, as this name was
from Asserhadon, Asserhadon-Pul, or Sardanapalus.
While the Assyrians Reigned at Nineveh, Persia was divided into several Kingdoms; and
amongst others there was a Kingdom of Elam,
which flourished in the days of Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, and Jehoiakim Kings of Judah,
and fell in the days of Zedekiah, Jer. xxv. 25,
and xlix. 34, and Ezek. xxxii. 24. This Kingdom
seems to have been potent, and to have had
wars with the King of Touran or Scythia beyond
the river Oxus with various success, and at
length to have been subdued by the Medes and Babylonians, or one of them. For while Nebuchadnezzar warred in the west, Cyaxeres reco
vered the Assyrian provinces of Armenia, Pontus,
and Cappadocia, and then they went eastward a
gainst the provinces of Persia and Parthia.
Whether the Pischdadians, whom the Persians
reckon to have been their oldest Kings, were
Kings of the Kingdom of Elam, or of that of
the Assyrians, and whether Elam was conquered
by the Assyrians at the same time with Babylonia and Susiana in the Reign of Asserhadon, and
soon after revolted, I leave to be examined.