The name Esar-haddon means “victorious,” or “conqueror.” One of the greatest of all the mighty kings of Assyria, he was a worthy successor of Sargon, Shalmaneser, and Sennacherib. His name occurs but three times in Holy Writ. The first occurrence is II Kings 19:37, where it speaks of his ascent to the throne. The next occurrence is in Isaiah 37:28 where this record of II Kings 19:37 is confirmed by the hand of the prophet, who was an active participant in those stirring events. Later, Ezra refers to him in the second verse of his fourth chapter. In this latter reference, the remnant who returned from the Babylonian captivity name him as the cause of their captivity and acknowledged that he gave them the freedom to worship their own God in their own way. In the reign of Menasseh, Esar-haddon died and was succeeded by two sons. The elder of these was the famous Assur-bani-pal, who was made over-lord of the entire kingdom, with the section that was once called Assyria as his particular domain. His younger brother, Shamis-shum-ukim was given dominion over Babylon, where he reigned as vassal to his wealthy brother. The British Museum is replete with the records and materials from the reign of Assur-bani-pal and from the brief and tragic rule of Shamis-shum-ukim as well. The fine hand of Egyptian intrigue enters into the record at this point, again tangling up the Assyrian records in a triangular bout between Judah, Egypt, and Babylonia. The Pharaoh Necho, alarmed by the growing power of Babylonia, gathered together a mighty host and invaded the territory of the great Assyrian king. As a preliminary to this invasion, the Pharaoh Necho persuaded Shamis-shum-ukim to rebel against his older brother and to declare his independence. Into this conspiracy Necho succeeded in drawing Syria and Judah. The blow was struck at the dominion of Assur-bani-pal while he was battling certain tribes near his Eastern border. When the couriers brought him word of the revolt of his brother, and of the coalition formed against him at the instigation of Necho, Assur-bani-pal made a swift and remarkable march, returning to his threatened territory. Necho hastily assembled his army, and the major battles were fought on the terrain of Syria. Syria was quickly reduced, Babylon pacified, and Assur-bani-pal emerged completely victorious. Necho, not having had time to prepare his defenses, was overthrown, defeated, and forced to bow in subjection to Assur-bani-pal. From the record of the victorious king, we offer the following paragraph as a condensed but detailed account of these tremendous events: