EXCURSUS

Extract from the Prism-Inscription (Taylor cylinder) of Sennacherib, narrating his Palestinian campaign (701 B.C.).

(Col. ii. 34-col. iii. 41 in Bezold's revised text in Schrader, KIB., ii. pp. 90 föll.)

(Col. ii. 34) In my third campaign I marched to the land Ḥatti (Hittite) (35) Luli (Elulaeus), king of Sidon, the terror (inspired by) the splendour (36) of my rule had overwhelmed; far away (37) amid the sea he fled, and his land I subjugated, (38) Şidôn the great, and Sidon the less, (39) Bêt-zitti, Sarepta, Maḥalliba, (40) Ushu, Akzibi (Ekdippa), Akko, (41) his strong towns, the fortresses, spots of pasturage (42) and of watering, his garrisontowns, the power of the weapons (43) of Ashur, my lord, overwhelmed. They subjected themselves (44) to my feet. Tuba'lu (Ethba'al) I placed on the royal throne (lit. throne of royalty) (45) over them, and imposed upon him payment of (46) yearly unceasing tribute of my supremacy. (47) Minḥimmu (Menahem) of Samsimuruna, (48) Tuba'lu (Ethba'al) of Sidon, (49) Abdili'ti of Arvad (Arados), (50) Urumilk (Jerumelech ?) of Gebal (Byblus), (51) Mitinti of Ashdod, (52) Buduilu of Bêth-Ammon, (53) Kammusunadab (Chemoshnadab) of Moab, (54) Malikrammu (Malchiram) of Edom, (55) all kings of Martu (the Western country), (56) brought large gifts, rich products as well as possessions, (57) into my presence, and kissed my feet'. (58) But as for Sidka, king of Ashkelon, (59) who had not submitted himself to my yoke, the gods of his ancestral house (lit. of the house of his father), himself, (60) his wife, his sons, his brothers, the seed (posterity) of his ancestral house, (61) I carried off and brought to Assyria; (62) Sharruludari, son of Rukibti, their former king, (63) I set over the inhabitants of Ashkelon, the payment of the tribute (64) of subjection I appointed, imposed (?) my yoke. (65) In the onward advance of my campaign I besieged, captured, and plundered of their booty Beth Dagon, (66) Joppa, Benê-barka (Benê-barak), Azuru, (67) towns of Sidka which had not speedily (68) subjected themselves to my feet. (69) The rulers, the chief men, and the [other] inhabitants of Amkarruna (Ekron) (70) who had cast Padi (who according to law and covenant with Assyria (71) was their king) into iron chains, and had delivered him up (72) to Hezekiah of Judah with hostile purpose. He bound him in prison. (73) Their heart feared. The kings of the land Muşri (Mușuri)

1 The usual token of homage from the representative of a subject state to his overlord: cf. Ps. й. 12.

summoned (74) archers, chariots, the steeds of the king of
Meluhḥi, (75) an innumerable host, and came (76) to their aid.
Before Altaku (Eltekeh) (77) the battle array was set confronting
me, they raised (?) (78) their weapons. In reliance upon Ashur,
my lord, with them (79) I fought and brought about their defeat.
(80) The commander of chariots and the sons of the king of (the
land) Muşri, (81) as well as the commander of chariots of the king
of (the land) Meluḥḥi alive, (82) in the midst of the battle, my
hand captured. Altaķu (83) (and) Tamnâ (Timnath) I besieged,
captured, and carried off their booty.

(Col. iii. 1) I advanced to Amķarruna (Eķron), the rulers, (2) the
chief men who had incurred sin (i. e. revolted), I slew.
(3) On
poles (? pillars) around the town I hung (bound) their corpses.
(4) The inhabitants of the town who had practised evil deeds and
outrages (5) I reckoned as prisoners of war (spoil); as for the
remainder of them (6) who had not instigated (?) sin or misdeed,
(7) who had not committed their trespasses, their pardon I pro-
claimed. Padi (8) their king I brought forth from [the midst of]
Jerusalem, (9), (and) placed (him) on the throne of rule over them.
(10) The tribute of my rule (11) I imposed on him. And as for
Hezekiah (12) the Jew, who had not submitted himself to my
yoke, (13) forty-six strong towns, fortresses, and smaller towns (14)
in their circuit which are innumerable, (15) by destruction through
battering-rams and advancing of siege-engines, (16) assault.
(17) I besieged, I captured; 200,150 men, young (and) old, male
(and) female, (18) horses, mules, asses, oxen, (19) and flocks with-
out number I brought forth from their midst (20) I reckoned as
spoil. Himself like a bird in a cage in the midst of Jerusalem,
(21) his royal town, I shut, ramparts around him (22) I drew;
those who came forth from the gateway of his town I caused to
return. (23) His towns which I had plundered (24) I separated
from his land and gave it to Mitinti king of Ashdod, (25) Padi
king of Amkarruna (Eķron), and Şil-Bêl (26), king of Haziti (Gaza),
(and so) diminished his land. (27) To their former tribute, their
yearly gift, (28) the payment due to my rule I added (29) (and)
imposed it upon them. Hezekiah himself (30) the dread of the
splendour of my rule overpowered. (31) The Urbi (Arabians) and
his faithful soldiers (32) which he had introduced to strengthen
(defend) Jerusalem, his royal town (?), (33) laid down their arms.
(34) Along with thirty talents of gold, 800 talents of silver,
precious stones (35) of value, large lapis-lazuli stones, (36) ivory
couches, ivory seats made of elephant-hide, (37) ivory... wood,
urkarinnu wood, all kinds of valuable treasure (38), and his
daughters, his palace-wives, male and (39) female attendants (?),
I caused to be brought after me into Nineveh my royal town;
(40) and he sent his (mounted) envoy to present tribute (41) and
render homage.

ADDENDA

Pp. 17-19. The present writer is unable to follow recent
critics from Nowack (1880) to Harper (1905) in abandoning the
tradition contained in the superscription to Hosea's oracles, and
in making 735 the terminus ad quem of Hosea's prophetic
activity. Far too much has been made of the absence of express
allusion to the Syro-Ephraimite War. On the other hand, the
clear references to Assyria and to the utter social disorganization
of the northern kingdom, to which numerous passages allude,
point to a period subsequent to rather than before the Assyrian
invasion in 734-2.
Chap. vi. 1, 2, 8-9; vii. 9 (foreigners have
devoured his strength); viii. 4 (presupposing an interval of several
reigns since the end of the dynasty of Jehu); ix. 15; xii. 12
(altars in Gilgal transformed into ruined stone-heaps) are best
explained when Tiglath-Pileser's campaign is placed in retro-
spect. Winckler, KAT3, p. 264, thinks that it is owing to this
invasion and dismemberment of the northern kingdom that
Hosea hardly ever speaks of Israel but of Ephraim.

Pp. 20-24. Among the O. T. data for placing the beginning
of Hezekiah's reign before the capture of Samaria must be
included the significant passage Jer. xxvi. 18 f., which cannot
be so summarily dismissed from consideration as Cornill (Introd.
to the O. T. under the section devoted to Micah) is disposed to
insist. That the name of Hezekiah should displace that of Aḥaz
for the years 726-715 is easily explicable when the atmosphere
of religious legalism is duly considered from which men and
policies were estimated after 622 B. C.

P. 88 ad fin. p. 183. It is impossible in this work to explain
Hebrew poetic metre based on special accentual stress on certain
syllables. The English student of Hebrew is referred to Har-
per's recently-published commentary on Amos and Hosea, Introd.
pp. clxvi-clxviii, and on the Kînah metre, p. 109. Comp. also Enc.
Bibl. under 'Poetical Literature,' col. 3,802 foll.

INDEX