The History of Antiquity, Vol. 3 (of 6)Duncker, Max
History
The History of Antiquity, Vol. 3 (of 6)
Duncker, Max
History, Ancient
Sargon's contests in Syria did not end with the battle at Raphia (720
B.C.). After the inscription on the bulls has narrated the victory over
the army of Egypt, it continues immediately: "I fought against the
tribes of the Thammud, Ibadid, Marsiman, and Chayapa, who had invaded
the land of Bit Omri, _i.e._ Israel."[203] On the other hand, the annals
tell us, under Sargon's seventh year (716 B.C.): "I marched against the
tribes of Tasid, Ibadid, Marsiman, and Chayapa; against the distant
dwellers in the land of Bari, which the scholars and the wise knew not.
None of the kings my forefathers had heard this name. I compelled them
to obey Asshur, and those who remained I drove out of their dwellings,
and placed them in the city of Samaria." On this campaign Sargon must
have advanced into the peninsula of Sinai, and far into Arabia, for the
annals continue: "Pharaoh (Pirhu), the king of Egypt (Muzur), Samsieh
the queen of the Arabs, Iathamir the Sabæan, are kings from the distant
coast of the sea and from the land (chasm). As their tribute I received
herbs of the East of various kinds, metals, horses, and camels."[204]
The Fasti, which compress events, have the following words after the
account of the battle of Raphia: "I received the tribute of Pharaoh the
king of Egypt, of Samsieh the queen of the Arabs, of Iathamir the
Sabæan; gold, herbs, horses, camels."[205] We remember that Samsieh,
like the Sabæans, had already paid tribute to Tiglath Pilesar.
The stubborn obstinacy of the Syrians was not broken even by the
desolation of Hamath and the battle at Raphia. Building on the
assistance of Shabataka of Meroe and Egypt, the son and successor of
Sabakon, Ashdod, the city of the Philistines, revolted in the eleventh
year of Sargon, _i.e._ in the year 711 B.C. The hope in Egypt was shared
by their neighbours in Judah, Edom, and Moab. But Ashdod was soon
invested by the Assyrians and taken, and the invasion of Egypt by the
Assyrians was expected in Judah. In Isaiah we are told: "In the year in
which Tartan, _i.e._ the Assyrian general-in-chief, came unto Ashdod,
when Sargon sent him, and besieged Ashdod and took it, at that time
spoke Jehovah: Go and loose the sackcloth from thy loins, and put off
the shoes from thy feet; and Isaiah did so, and walked naked and
barefoot. Then spake Jehovah: As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and
barefoot three years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and Ethiopia
(Cush), so shall the king of Assyria lead the Egyptians prisoners, and
the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their
nakedness uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. Then shall they be ashamed
of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. And the
inhabitants of these coasts said on the same day: Behold, such is our
expectation, whither we fled for help, to be delivered from the king of
Assyria: how shall we escape?"[206]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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