from 1198-1167 B. C. In his reign the Philistines were coming over the sea and invading northern Egypt along with other wanderers from different parts of the Mediterranean, the Thekel, the Danaoi, and the Sicilians. Upon being repelled from Egypt by Ramses, they passed on and invaded Palestine. As the report of Wenamon shows, the Thekel were in possession of Dor by the year 1100, and no doubt the Philistines had gained a foothold also in the cities farther to the south, where we find them in the Biblical records (Judges 13-16; 1 Sam. 4-7; 13, 14; 17, 18, etc.).

Amos says the Philistines came from Caphtor (Amos 9:7). This has long been supposed to be Crete. Eduard Meyer thinks that confirmation of this has now been found. A disc inscribed in a peculiar writing, which has not yet been deciphered, was found in July, 1908, at Phæstos in Crete in strata of the third middle Minoan period, i. e., about 1600 B. c.1 This writing is pictographic, and although not yet translated, appears to be a contract.2 One of the frequently recurring signs represents a human head surmounted by a shock of hair (see Fig. 38), almost exactly like the hair of the Philistines as they are pictured by the artists of Ramses III on the walls of his palace at Medinet Habu (see Fig. 36). This sign was probably the determinative for man. This likeness would make the proof of the Cretan origin of the Philistines complete, were it not that some scholars think that the disc exhumed at Phæstos had been brought thither from across the sea. This is possible, but does not seem very probable. The doubt will, perhaps, be resolved when we learn to read the inscription.

1 See Evans, Scripta Minoa, Oxford, 1909, pp. 22, ff., 273, ff.

2 See R. A. S. Macalister, The Philistines, Their History and Civilization, London, 1913, p. 83, ff.

CHAPTER XVII

ARCHEOLOGICAL LIGHT ON THE BOOKS OF KINGS

GUDEA AND CEDAR-WOOD FOR HIS PALACE. THE EPONYM CANON. THE SEAL OF SHEMA. SHISHAK'S LIST Of Conquered ASIATIC CITIES. ASHURNASIRPAL'S DESCRIPTION OF HIS EXPEDITION TO MEDITERRANEAN LANDS. SHALMANESER III'S CLAIMS REGARDING TRIBUTE FROM THE KINGS OF ISRAEL. THE MOABITE STONE. ADADNIRARI IV'S MENTION OF THE "LAND OF OMRI." INSCRIPTION DESCRIBING TIGLATHPILESER IV'S CAMPAIGN. SARGON'S CONQUESTS. SENNACHERIB'S WESTERN CAMPAIGNS. THE SILOAM INSCRIPTION. ESARHADDON'S LIST OF CONQUERED KINGS. ASHURBANIPAL'S ASSYRIAN CAMPAIGN. NECHO OF EGYPT. NEBUCHADREZZAR II. EVIL-MERODACH. DISCOVERIES IN SHEBA.

1. Gudea and Cedar-Wood for His Palace.

Gudea, a ruler of Lagash in Babylonia (the modern Telloh; see p. 45), who lived about 2450 B. C., rebuilt Eninnû, the temple of Ningirsu, at Lagash. In his account of the work he makes the following statement:1

From Amanus, the mountain of cedar, cedar wood, the length of which was 60 cubits, cedar-wood, the length of which was 50 cubits, ukarinnu-wood, the length of which was 25 cubits, for the dwelling he made; (from) their mountain they were brought.

The Amanus mountains lay along the Mediterranean to the north of the river Orontes. They belong to the same general range as the Lebanons. Again, in the same inscription, Gudea says:2

From Umanu, the mountain of Menua, from Basalla, the mountain of the Amorites, great cut stones he brought; into pillars he made them and in the court of Eninnû he erected them. From Tidanu, the mountain of the Amorites, marble in fragments (?) he brought.

This passage shows that a ruler of Babylonia came to this region for cedar-wood and stones for his temple, as Solomon is said to have done (1 Kings 5, especially vs. 6 and 17; 2 Chron. 2:8, ff.). That Egyptian rulers did the same is clearly shown by the report of Wenamon. (See p. 352, ff.)

1 See Sarzec, Découvertes en Chaldée, p. ix, col. v, 28, ff. See also Thureau-Dangin, Les inscriptions de Sumer et d'Akkad, Paris, 1905, p. 109, and his Sumerischen und akkadischen Königsinschriften, Leipzig, 1907, p. 68, f.

2 Ibid., col. vi, 3, ff.

2. The Eponym Canon.

The Assyrians kept chronological lists called by scholars "Eponym Canons," which are of great importance in determining the chronology of Hebrew history at a number of obscure points. A translation of them has not been included in this work, since so few Biblical names occur in them that they would be of little use except to experts. Any who wish to consult them will find them translated in Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament, pp. 219–238. 3. Jeroboam.

During Schumacher's excavation at Megiddo (see p. 96), a seal was found in the palace; it is shown in Fig. 27. Its inscription reads:

Belonging to Shema, servant of Jeroboam.

We have no means of knowing whether the Jeroboam referred to was Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12: 12, ff.), or Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14: 23, ff.).

4. Shishak.

Sheshonk I (954–924 B. C.), the founder of the twenty-second Egyptian dynasty, the Shishak of the Bible (1 Kings 14 : 25-28), has left on the walls of a pylon which he erected at the temple of Karnak a relief picturing his victory. The pictures are of the conventional type, but they are accompanied by a list of conquered Asiatic cities. Of these the names of about one-hundred and twenty are legible, though it is possible to identify but a small proportion of these with known localities. As it would be of no interest to the general reader to place before him the Egyptian spelling of unidentified place names, only those are here given which have been identified or have some Biblical interest. The numbers before each name designate its distance from the beginning of Sheshonk's list. Among his conquered towns, then, are the following:1

=

=

=

=

=

11. Gimty Gath. 13. Rub'ty Rabbith (Josh. 19:20). 14. T"nqy Taanach (Josh. 12: 21; Judges 5: 19). 15. Sh'nm'y = Shunem (Josh. 19: 18; 2 Kings 4:8). 16. B'tysh'nry Beth-shean (Josh. 17:11; 1 Sam. 31: 10; 1 Kings 4:12). 17. Rwh'b'iy = Rehob (Judges 1:31). 18. H'pwrwmy Haphraim (Josh. 19: 19). 22. Myh'nm' Mahanaim (Gen. 32: 2; Josh. 13: 26; 2 Sam. 2: 8; 17: 24). Q-b'-"-n' Gibeon (Josh. 10:1, f.). 24. B'tyhwr'rwn Beth-horon (Josh. 10: 10; 1 Sam. 13: 18). 26. Iywrwn 10:12; 19:42). 27. Myqdyw

=

Idyrw

=

=

=

Aijalon (Josh. Megiddo (Josh. 12: 21; Judges 1:27). 28. Edrei (Num. 21:33; Deut. 1:4; Josh. 12:4). 32. "rin' = Elon

=

1 Translated from W. Max Müller's Egyptological Researches, Washington, D. C., 1906, Plates 75-87, with a comparison of Breasted's Ancient Records, IV, pp. 350-354.

According to 1 Kings 14 : 25, ff., Sheshonk's campaign was directed against Judah, and there is no hint that the northern kingdom suffered too. This may be because the interest of the author of Kings in the house of David and in Jerusalem was greater than his interest in the north. It is clear from the list of places just quoted that Sheshonk conquered both kingdoms. He either took or received tribute from Megiddo, Taanach, Shunem, and Beth-shean, cities in the great plain of Jezreel, but crossed the Jordan and captured Mahanaim and Edrei.

5. Ashurnasirpal.

Ashurnasirpal, King of Assyria, 884-860 B. c., in describing his expedition to the Mediterranean lands, makes the following statement:1

At that time I marched along Mount Lebanon, unto the great sea of the land of the Amorites I went up. In the great sea I cleansed my weapons. I made sacrifices to the gods. The tribute of the kings by the side of the sea, from the land of the Tyrian, the land of the Sidonian, the land of the Gebalite, the land of the Mahallatite, the land of the Maisite, the land of the Kaisite, the land of the Amorite, and the city Arvad, which is in the midst of the sea; silver, gold, lead, copper, copper vessels, garments of bright colored stuffs, cloth, a great pagutu, a small pagutu, ushu-wood, ukarinnu-wood, teeth of a sperm-whale porpoise, a creature of the sea, as their tribute I received; they embraced my feet. To Mount Amanus I ascended; beams of cedar, cypress, juniper, pine, I cut. Sacrifices to my gods I offered. A pillar recording my warlike deeds I set up.

This inscription records the first approach of an Assyrian king to Hebrew territory. He did not actually come into contact with the Israelites, though he took tribute from their neighbors, the Tyrians and Sidonians. The expedition of Ashurnasirpal was, however, the precursor of many others which progressed further.

Ashurnasirpal, like Gudea and Hrihor, secured wood from this region for his buildings, thus affording another parallel to Solomon's procedure.

6. Shalmaneser III.

Shalmaneser III, the son and successor of Ashurnasirpal, reigned from 859 to 825 B. C. He not only approached more closely to Palestine, but claims to have taken tribute from her kings. In the

1 See Le Gac, Les Inscriptions d'Aššur-nasir-aplu III, Paris, 1908, p. 111, line 84, ff.; cf. also Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament, New York, 1912, p. 277, ff.

case of King Jehu the claim is no doubt true. The following extracts give the accounts in Shalmaneser's own words.1

In the eponym year of Dan-Ashur (i. e., 854 B. C.), month Aru, 14th day, I departed from the city of Nineveh; I crossed the river Tigris.. to the city Qarqar I approached. Qarqar, his royal city, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire. 1,200 chariots, 1,200 horsemen, 20,000 men of Hadadidri (Benhadad) of Damascus; 700 chariots, 700 horsemen, 10,000 men of Irhulina, the Hamathite; 2,000 chariots, 10,000 men of Ahab, the Israelite; 500 men of the Quæan (i. e., Que, in Cilicia); 1,000 men of the Musræan; 10,000 chariots, 10,000 men of the Irqantæan; 200 men of Matinu-ba'li, the Arvadite; 200 men of the Usantæan; 30 chariots, 10,000 men of Adunu-ba'li, the Shianian; 1,000 camels of Gindibu, the Arabian; 1,000 (?) men of Basa, son of Ruhubi, the Ammonitethese 12 kings he took as his helpers and they came to make battle and war against me. With the exalted power which Ashur, the lord, had given me, with powerful weapons, which Nergal, who goes before me, had presented me, I fought with them; from Qarqar to Gilzan I accomplished their defeat. 14,000 of their troops I overthrew with arms, like Adad I poured out a flood upon them; I flung afar their corpses, I filled the plain with their mighty troops. With weapons I made their blood to flow... .The field was too narrow for smiting (?) them, the broad plain (?) was used (?) for burying their bodies. With their corpses I dammed the Orontes as with a dam (?). In that battle their chariots, their horsemen, their horses, harnesses, and yokes I took.

It is of especial interest that Ahab and Benhadad, two kings well known from the Bible, formed a part of the coalition that attempted to repel this first Assyrian invasion. Shalmaneser's claim of victory is probably exaggerated, for he retired without further effort to subdue the country. Had it been as sweeping a triumph as he would have us believe, he would surely have pressed forward. Another of his inscriptions describes the battle of Qarqar as follows:2

.unto Qarqar

In the 6th year of my reign from Nineveh I set out. I approached. Hadadidri of Damascus, Irhulina, the Hamathite, together with twelve kings of the sea-coast, trusted in their own power and came to make war and fight with me. With them I fought. 25,000 of their fighting men I destroyed with arms. Their chariots, their horses, their implements of war I took from them. They fled to save their lives. I embarked on a ship and went out to sea.

Four years later Shalmaneser records the subjugation of Carchemish, on the Euphrates (cf. Isa. 10:9; Jer. 46:2). His account of it is brief and runs thus:3

1 The text is published in Rawlinson's Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, III, 7, 8. These lines are at the bottom of p. 8. Cf. also Craig, Hebraica, III, 220, ff., and Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament, 295, ff.

2 From Layard's Inscriptions in the Cuneiform Character from the Assyrian Monuments, London, 1851, p. 15. Cf. Delitzsch in Beiträge zur Assyriologie, VI, 146.

Layard, op. cit., line 84, ff.