678 | ... | ... | ... | Phœnicia subdued by | Asarhaddon. | 678 676 |Manasseh |tributary to | | | Assyria. | 676 671 | ... | ... | ... | Tyre taken by | Asarhaddon on his | 671 | | | | march to Egypt, and conquest of Memphis. | 668 | ... | ... | ... | ... | Assurbanipal. | 668 666 |Manasseh |and the | | other Syrian kings | tributary to Assyria. | 666 641_c._|Amon. | ... | ... | Tyre assists | Assurbanipal against | 641 | | | | the Phœnician Arvad. | | 639_c._|Josiah. | | | | | -------+-------------+-----------------+---------+------------------------------+-----------------------+----- FOOTNOTE: [2] This date is very uncertain. It may have been 690, or according to some 685. _INTRODUCTION_ Καὶ τῶν ιβ' προφητῶν τὰ ὀστᾶ ἀναθάλοι ἐκ τοῦ τόπου αὐτῶν, Παρεκάλεσαν δὲ τὸν Ἰακώβ καὶ ἐλυτρώσαντο αὐτοὺς ἐυ πίστει ἐλπίδος. _And of the Twelve Prophets may the bones_ _Flourish again from their place,_ _For they comforted Jacob_ _And redeemed them by the assurance of hope._ ECCLESIASTICUS xlix. 10. CHAPTER I _THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE_ In the order of our English Bible the Minor Prophets, as they are usually called, form the last twelve books of the Old Testament. They are immediately preceded by Daniel, and before him by the three Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah (with Lamentations) and Ezekiel. Why all sixteen were thus gathered at the end of the other sacred books, we do not know. Perhaps, because it was held fitting that prophecy should occupy the last outposts of the Old Testament towards the New.