History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 8 (of 12) — John Shaqi
History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 8 (of 12)Maspero, G. (Gaston)
History
History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Volume 8 (of 12)
Maspero, G. (Gaston)
Civilization, Ancient; Egypt -- History -- To 640 A.D.; History, Ancient; Middle East -- History
* Haupt attributes to the name the signification _holes,
bogs_, and this interpretation agrees well enough with the
state of the country round the mouths of the Diyala, in the
low-lying district which separates that river from the
Tigris; he compares it with the name Haulayeh, quoted by
Arab geographers in this neighbourhood, and with that of the
canton of Haleh, mentioned in Syrian texts as belonging to
the district of Radhan, between the Adhem and the Diyala.
At this point the Turnat, flowing through the plain, divides into
several branches, which ramify again and again, and form a kind of delta
extending from the ruins of Nayan to those of Reshadeh. During the whole
of the day the engagement between the two hosts raged on this unstable
soil, and their leaders themselves sold their lives dearly in the
struggle. Sennacherib invoked the help of Assur, Sin, Shamash, Nebo,
Bel, Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh, and Ishtar of Arbela, and the gods heard
his prayers. "Like a lion I raged, I donned my harness, I covered my
head with my casque, the badge of war; my powerful battle-chariot, which
mows down the rebels, I ascended it in haste in the rage of my heart;
the strong bow which Assur entrusted to me, I seized it, and the
javelin, destroyer of life, I grasped it: the whole host of obdurate
rebels I charged, shining like silver or like the day, and I roared as
Kamman roareth." Khumba-undash, the Elamite general, was killed in one
of the first encounters, and many of his officers perished around him,
"of those who wore golden daggers at their belts, and bracelets of
gold on their wrists." They fell one after the other, "like fat bulls
chained" for the sacrifice, or like sheep, and their blood flowed on the
broad plain as the water after a violent storm: the horses plunged in it
up to their knees, and the body of the royal chariot was reddened with
it. A son of Merodach-baladan, Nabu-shumishkun, was taken prisoner, but
Umman-minanu and Mushezib-marduk escaped unhurt from the fatal field. It
seems as if fortune had at last decided in favour of the Assyrians, and
they proclaimed the fact loudly, but their success was not so evident as
to preclude their adversaries also claiming the victory with some show
of truth. In any case, the losses on both sides were so considerable as
to force the two belligerents to suspend operations; they returned each
to his capital, and matters remained much as they had been before the
battle took place.*
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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