"Su

their freedom" by Deioces, a Mede, who collected the Medes into one nation, over which he ruled. After a reign of fiftythree years, he was succeeded by his son, Phraortes, who reduced the Persians under the dominion of the Medes. preme of these two great and powerful nations, he overran Asia, alternately subduing the people of whom it was composed. He came at length to the Assyrians, and began to attack that part of them which inhabited Nineveh. These were formerly the most powerful nation in Asia: their allies at this period had separated from them; but they were still, with regard to their internal strength, respectable. In the twenty-second year of his reign, Phraortes, in an excursion against this people, perished, with the greater part of his army." He was succeeded by his son, Cyaxares, "who proceeded with all his forces to the attack of Nineveh, being equally desirous of avenging his father and becoming master of the city. He vanquished the Assyrians in battle; but when he was engaged in the siege of Nineveh, he was surprised by an army of Scythians," who beat him in a fixed battle, gaining not only the victory, but the empire of Asia.3

After a space of twenty-eight years, "The Medes recovered their possessions and all their ancient importance; after which they took Nineveh. They moreover subdued the Assyrians, those only excepted which inhabited the Babylonian district."

Thus far Herodotus, who, instead of contradicting Ctesias, confirms and completes his statement, provided we bear in mind that Ctesias speaks of the advance and victory of Arbaces, and of his establishment on the throne of Nineveh; and Herodotus of another Median, who, more than a hundred years after, gathered strength sufficient to overthrow the elder race.

The warlike character of the four kings, whose victories are recounted in Scripture, has led to the exceedingly probable opinion that they were not predecessors of Sardanapalus, but monarchs of the dynasty formed by Arbaces. The Median king Phraortes is the Arphaxad slain by Nebuchodonosor, as related in the previous chapter. Herodotus states that Cyaxares, his son, was assisted in the expedition which destroyed Nineveh by Labynitus, king of Babylon, probably Nabopolassar, the Ahasuerus of Tobit.

From this time we hear no more of Nineveh nor of the As1 Clio, 96. 2 Idem, 101, 102. 3 Idem, 103, 104. * Idem, 106

74

NEBUCHADNEZZAR-BABYLON TAKEN BY CYRUS.

syrian state, and Babylon became the seat of the imperial power. The grand era of Babylonian greatness commences with Nebuchadnezzar, who succeeded his father shortly after the overthrow of Nineveh. Most of the great works for which his capital became famous are due to him or Nitocris, his queen. It is under this monarch that the Chaldeans, an old but hitherto powerless race, appeared on the scene as a great and warlike nation. It was they who invaded Judea, and carried away its people into captivity. Under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon became the mistress of the East, and its vast power caused the jealousy of surrounding nations. Pharaoh-Necho was the first to take up arms against it; and after meeting with a rebuff in the kingdom of Judah, joined battle with the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar at Charchemish, was defeated, and driven out of Asia. It was immediately after this that the Chaldeans marched upon Jerusalem, dethroned the king whom the Egyptians had set up, and carried away a great number of prisoners, among whom were Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Michael, and Azariah. The conquest of Egypt seems to have been the crowning work of Nebuchadnezzar's active life; and on his return to Babylon, that monarch appears to have spent the remainder of his reign in improving and beautifying the city. Of the story of the Hanging Gardens, familiar to every reader, it is unnecessary to speak; the grandeur of the city has been a constant theme for poets.

The Chaldæo Babylonian empire, comprehending all Western Asia, as far as the Mediterranean, never exceeded the limits it had attained under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar, and on the death of its founder it began to decline. The book of Daniel relates how it fell under his third or fourth successor, before the assault of Cyrus the Mede. Xenophon gives us the military details:

"He came at last to Babylon" (Institution, Book VII.), "bringing with him a mighty multitude of horse, a mighty multitude of archers and javelin men, but slingers innumerable!" He made preparations as if to blockade it, and the "people," says the historian, "laughed," for they knew that they had provisions for twenty years. It was then that Cyrus 1 Jer. xxiv. 5; xxv. 12. Ezekiel, xii. 13. Dan. i. 1, 2. Diod. Sic. b. ii. c. 12. Ptol. v. Joseph. i. Euseb. ix.

discovered that great plan of ruining them which has always been so celebrated.

"He, Cyrus, dug round the wall on every side a very great ditch, and they threw up the earth towards themselves. In the first place, he built the turrets on the river, laying their foundations on palm trees that were not less than a hundred feet in length; for there are some of them that grow to a yet greater length than that; and palm trees that are pressed bend under their weight as asses do that are used to the pack-saddle. He placed the turrets on these for this reason, that it might carry the stronger appearance of his preparing to block up the city."

Of course this stratagem diverted the minds of the citizens from his real design. They laughed louder than ever-but— "the ditches were now finished," says Xenophon.

The ditches lying there-gaping, as it were, like graves for the town-the Babylonians had a great festival. Cyrus, then, when it grew dark, "took a number of men with him, and opened the ditches by the river. When this was done, the water ran off in the night into the ditches, and the passage of the city through the river became passable.”

Cyrus marched in-gained possession-and thus Babylon was taken, B.C. 538.

Babylon now remained subject to the Persian power. The army assembled in the city, at the close of the year in which it was taken, consisted, according to Xenophon, of "120,000 horses; 2000 chariots armed with scythes; and 60,000 foot." Cyrus's empire at this period of glory was "bounded to the east," to quote the same writer, "by the Red Sea to the north by the Euxine (Black) Sea; to the west by Cyprus and Egypt; to the south by Ethiopia."

During the two centuries which had elapsed since the taking of the city by Cyrus, the Persian power had fluctuated, and soon after his death there began dissension and degeneracy. Under Xerxes the Persians invaded Greece in the most famous expedition of all antiquity, and were defeated and destroyed by land and sea-so that the attempt of their monarch became a proverbial illustration of the insanity of ambition.

Babylon of course fell under the sway of the all-conquering Alexander. "He traversed the whole province of Babylon," says Plutarch," which immediately made its submission. It

76

DECLINE OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE.

was in this famous city that the great hero died of a fever, brought on by eastern habits."

Seleucus, to whom fell the province of Babylon as his share of the conquests of his master, soon removed the seat of empire to Antioch, and Babylon became only a distant and insignificant fragment of the Roman empire, growing dimmer and dimmer in fame and importance, until it eventually shared the fate of its sister Nineveh, and sunk beneath the very surface of the earth.

The foregoing historical abstract has been drawn up without any attempt to analyse the dynastic lists found in Greek and Armenian historians, because we strongly felt the difficulty of arriving at any just conclusions from the data they have handed down to us. Nevertheless, chronology is so essential a part of our history, that its omission might be esteemed a mark of carelessness and with a view, therefore, to obtain the best possible information on this branch of our subject, we applied to our valued friend, Mr. Samuel Sharpe, the learned author of "The History of Egypt," &c., for assistance. He at once acceded to our request, and we take this opportunity of expressing our warm acknowledgments for his liberality in placing at our disposal the results of his diligent researches, which appear in the important chronological table and historical sketch forming the following chapter.

Fig. 11-BABYLONIAN AND EGYPTIAN SEALS. a. BABYLONIAN. b. EGYPTIAN.

Fig. 12.-COLOSSAL LION FROM THE GREAT MOUND, NIMROUD. "Where is the dwelling-place of the lions, and the feeding-place of the young lions?" NAHUM, ii. 2.

CHAPTER III.

BY SAMUEL SHARPE.

THE Assyrian records have saved for us the names of thirtysix kings who reigned in Nineveh, on the banks of the Tigris, before what we must now consider the beginning of Assyrian history. The last of these was Sardanapalus, whose true name was, perhaps, Asser-Hadan-Pul, syllables which we shall find used in the names of many of the later kings. His throne was overturned by an invasion of the Medes, a people who