Damascus besieged by the Assyrians; the tribes beyond the Jordan carried away; Jehoahaz (Ahaz) of Judah becomes a vassal of Tiglath-Pileser 734 Damascus taken and Rezon slain; Ahaz at Damascus 732 Samaria besieged by Shalmaneser V 723 Accession of Sargon 722 Merodach-baladan conquers Babylonia 721 Capture of Samaria by Sargon 720 Hamath conquered by Sargon; Sabako (So) of Egypt defeated at Raphia 719 Embassy of Merodach-baladan to Hezekiah 712 Capture of Jerusalem and Ashdod by Sargon 711 Merodach-baladan driven from Babylonia 710 Merodach-baladan recovers Babylonia for six months 703 Sennacherib's campaign against Judah; battle of Eltekeh; overthrow of the Assyrian army at Jerusalem 701 Murder of Sennacherib by his two sons 681 Manasseh appears among the Assyrian tributaries; Egypt conquered by Esar-haddon 676 Destruction of Thebes (No-Amun) by the Assyrians 665 * * * * * ASSYRIA: ITS PRINCES, PRIESTS, AND PEOPLE. CHAPTER I. THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. Assyria was the name given to the district which had been called 'the land of Assur' by its own inhabitants. Assur, however, had originally been the name, not of a country, but of a city founded in remote times on the western bank of the Tigris, midway between the Greater and the Lesser Zab. It was the primitive capital of the district in which it stood, and to which, accordingly, it lent its name. It seems to have been built by a people who spoke an agglutinative language, like the languages of the modern Fins and Turks, and who were afterwards supplanted by the Semitic Assyrians. The name in their language probably signified 'water-boundary.' When the country was occupied by the Semitic Assyrians the name was slightly changed, so as to assume the form of a word which in Assyrian meant 'gracious.' It so happened that Assyrian mythology knew of a deity who represented the firmament, and was addressed as Sar. The name of Sar came in time to be confused with that of Assur, the divine patron of the Assyrian capital, the result being that Assur signified not only a city and country, but also the supreme deity worshipped by their inhabitants. Assur, in fact, became the divine impersonation of the power and constitution of Assyria; at the same time he was also 'the gracious' god and the primæval firmament of heaven.