Patriarchal PalestineSayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
History
Patriarchal Palestine
Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)
Jews -- History -- To 953 B.C.; Palestine -- History
The next year (B.C. 1468) there was a campaign against the king of
Naharaim, who had collected his soldiers and horses "from the extreme
ends of the world." But the Mesopotamian army was utterly defeated. Its
booty fell into the hands of the Egyptians, who, however, took only ten
prisoners, which looks as if, after all, the battle was not on a very
large scale.
In B.C. 1464 Thothmes was again in Northern Syria. Among the booty
acquired during the expedition were "bowls with goats' heads on them,
and one with a lion's head, the work of the land of Zahi." Horses, asses
and oxen, 522 slaves, 156 jars of wine, 1752 jars of butter, 5
elephants' tusks, 2822 pounds of gold besides copper and lead, were
among the spoils of the campaign. The annual tribute was only received
from Cyprus, consisting this time of copper and mares, as well as from
Aripakh, a district in the Taurus.
The next year the Pharaoh led his troops against some country, the name
of which is lost, in "the land of the hostile Shasu" or Beduin. The
plunder which was carried off from it shows that it was somewhere in
Syria, probably in the region of the Lebanon. Gold and silver, a silver
double-handled cup with a bull's head, iron, wine, balsam, oil, butter
and honey, were among the spoils of the war. Tribute arrived also from
"the king of the greater Hittite land," which included a number of negro
slaves.
Revolt, however, now broke out in the north. Tunip rebelled, as did also
the king of Kadesh, who built a "new" fortress to protect his city from
attack. Thothmes at once marched against them by the road along "the
coast," which led him through the country of the Fenkhu or Phoenicians.
First he fell upon the towns of Alkana and utterly destroyed them, and
then poured his troops into the neighbouring land of Tunip. The city of
Tunip was taken and burnt, its crops were trodden under-foot, its trees
cut down, and its inhabitants carried into slavery. Then came the turn
of Kadesh. The "new" fortress fell at the first assault, and the whole
country was compelled to submit.
The king of Assyria again sent presents to the Pharaoh which the
Egyptian court regarded in the light of tribute. They consisted chiefly
of large blocks of "real lapis-lazuli" as well as "lapis-lazuli of
Babylon." More valuable gifts came from the subject princes of Syria.
Foremost among these was "a king's daughter all glorious with [a vesture
of] gold." Then there were four chariots plated with gold and six
chariots of gold, iron armour inlaid with gold, a jug of silver, a
golden helmet inlaid with lapis-lazuli, wine, honey and balsam, ivory
and various kinds of wood, wheat in such quantities that it could not be
measured, and the sixty-five slaves who had to be furnished each year as
part of the annual tax.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account