The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2: Assyria: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.Rawlinson, George
History
The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2: Assyria: The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.
Asshur-ris-ilim, the fourth king of the series, the son and successor of
Mutaggil-Nebo, whose reign may be placed between B.C. 1150 and B.C.
1130, is a monarch of greater pretensions than most of his predecessors.
In his son’s Inscription he is called “the powerful king, the subduer of
rebellious countries, he who has reduced all the accursed.” These
expressions are so broad, that we must conclude from them, not merely
that Asshur-ris-ilim, unlike the previous kings of the line, engaged in
foreign wars, but that his expeditions had a great success, and paved
the way for the extensive conquests of his son and successor,
Tiglath-Pileser. Probably he turned his arms in various directions, like
that monarch. Certainly he carried them south-wards into Babylonia,
where, as we learn from the synchronistic tablet of Babylonian and
Assyrian history, he was engaged for some time in a war with
Nebuchadnezzar (_Nabuk-udor-uzur_), the first known king of that name.
It has been conjectured that he likewise carried them into Southern
Syria and Palestine, and that, in fact, he is the monarch designated in
the book of Judges by the name of Chushan-ris-athaim, who is called “the
king of Mesopotamia (Aram-Naharaim),” and is said to have exercised
dominion over the Israelites for eight years. This identification,
however, is too uncertain to be assumed without further proof. The
probable date of Chushan-ris-athaim is some two (or three) centuries
earlier; and his title, “king of Mesopotamia,” is one which is not
elsewhere applied to Assyrians monarchs.
A few details have come clown to us with respect to the Babylonian war
of Asshur-ris-ilim. It appears that Nebuchadnezzar was the assailant. He
began the war by a march up the Diyalch and an advance on Assyria along
the outlying Zegros hills, the route afterwards taken by the great
Persian road described by Herodotus. Asshur-ris-ilim went out to meet
him in person, engaged him in the mountain region, and repulsed his
attack. Upon this the Babylonian monarch retired, and after an interval;
the duration of which is unknown, advanced a second time against
Assyria, but took now the direct line across the plain. Asshur-ris-ilim
on this occasion was content to employ a general against the invader. He
“sent” his chariots and his soldiers towards his southern border, and
was again successful, gaining a second victory over his antagonist, who
fled away, leaving in his hands forty chariots and a banner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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