·
Notable
Kings of Assyria
1.
Tiglath-Pileser
I (1116-1076):
Conquered most of Syria, Urartu and Babylon
2.
Shamshi-Adad
V (824-810):
Jonah revival?
3.
Adad-Nirari III (810-783):
Assyrian trend toward monotheism (brought about by Jonah?). Besieged Damascus,
but did not take the city. These attacks on Syria were beneficial to Israel and
allowed Jeroboam II to expand his kingdom.
4.
Tiglath-Pileser III
(745-727): His name was originally
"Pul." He gained the throne via assassination. Conquered
Merodach-baladan of Babylon. Raided Galilee (2 Kings 15:29). Bribed by Ahaz of
Judah to attack Aram (2 Kings 16:7-10). Inaugurated regular system of
deportation of conquered peoples.
5.
Shalmaneser V (726-722): At the beginning of his reign, Hoshea of Israel entered
into an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. Shalmaneser besieged Samaria for
three years.
6.
Sargon II (721-705): Younger brother of Shalmaneser V. Completed conquest of
Samaria and deported 10 tribes into captivity.
7.
Sennacherib (705-681): Younger brother of Sargon II, took throne when his brother
was assassinated. Besieged Jerusalem, but failed to capture it in the days of
Hezekiah (2 Kings 19), despite loss of 185,000 Assyrian troops (2 Kings
18:13-19:36). Assassinated (2 Kings 19:37)
a. Accounts of the Campaign of Sennacherib, 701 B.C.
8.
Esarhaddon
(681-669):
Invaded Egypt. Imprisoned Manasseh, king of Judah.
9.
Assurbanipal
(669-626):
Scholar-king; collected a library of over 6000 cuneiform texts.
The Fall of Assyria
·
The
Old Testament prophets foretold the fall of Assyria, predicting that their
capital city of Nineveh would be so completely destroyed that even her location
would be forgotten.
·
"Woe
to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hands is My
indignation." (Isaiah 10:5).
·
“And
He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria, and He will
make Nineveh a desolation, parched like the wilderness. And flocks will lie
down in her midst, all beasts which range in herds; both the pelican and the
hedgehog will lodge in the tops of her pillars; birds will sing in the window,
desolation will be on the threshold; for He has laid bare the cedar work. This
is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, ‘I am, and
there is no one besides me.’ How she has become a desolation, a resting place
for beasts! For everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in
contempt.” (Zephaniah 2:13-15).
·
Entire
Book of Nahum in the Bible gives details of God’s judgment on Ninevah
·
This
fall which was promised by the prophets came to pass within a single
generation. It began with an alliance of two of Assyria’s traditional enemies,
Nabopolassar of Babylon and Cyaxeres of the Medes. In 614 B.C. they sealed
their alliance by the marriage of their children.
·
The
Assyrians sought aid from the Scythians to the north and the Scythians
initially agreed to attack the Medes. But when Cyaxeres offered them a portion
of the spoils of Nineveh, the Scythians changed sides and all three groups
converged on the Assyrians. The city fell to this coalition in the summer of
612 B.C. Remnants of the Assyrian military retreated westward to Haran and
from there to Carchemish.
·
The
Assyrians formed an alliance with Pharaoh Necho of Egypt who agreed to come to
their aid at Carchemish. Josiah was ruling in Jerusalem at this time and he was
determined to stop help from coming to the beleaguered Assyrians. Going against
the advice of Jeremiah, he intercepted Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo, but was
defeated and killed in the ensuing battle. Pharaoh Necho continued unimpeded to
link up with the Assyrians at Carchemish. The battle which was fought there in
605 B.C. is one of the classic military engagements of history. The winner of this
conflict was the young Babylonian prince Nebuchadnezzar.
Neo-Babylonia
Nebuchadnezzar
(605-562 B.C.)
·
Name
is Akkadian, Nebo-kudurri-ussur, meaning "Nebo has protected my
inheritance."
·
Described
as a very tall, very strong man.
·
Chased
Egyptian armies from Euphrates River into Palestine
·
Jehoiakim,
king of Judah, to swear allegiance to him and pay a tribute. Jehoiakim complied
and was permitted to retain his throne.
·
Nebuchadnezzar
also took hostages from among the Hebrew nobility at this time. Among these
hostages were Daniel and his three friends, Hannaniah, Mishael and Azariah. We
know them by their Babylonian names: Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego. His
plan in taking these hostages was that they be indoctrinated into Chaldean
culture so that they could he future leaders of their people who would be loyal
to Chaldean rule
·
War
with Egypt (601 B.C.) - After several years of fighting, the Syrian frontier
was thoroughly subdued, leaving Nebuchadnezzar free to invade Egypt. The two
armies clashed on the Egyptian frontier and the outcome of the battle was
indecisive with each side inflicting heavy casualties upon the other. As a
result, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to regroup and strengthen his
forces.
·
Jehoiakim
of Judah saw this and interpreted it as a defeat for Nebuchadnezzar. He
promptly rebelled and allied himself with the Egyptians. Retribution from
Babylon was quick in coming.
In the seventh year, the month of kislev, the king of Akkad
mustered his troops, marched to Hatti-land, and encamped against the city of
Judah and on the second day of the month of Adar he seized the city and
captured the king. (Chronicles Tablet 21946, British Museum).
In
597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar marched west into Syria and down into Judah. He
captured Jerusalem, threw Jehoiakim into chains, and placed his 16 year old son
Jehoiachin on the throne. Then he marched south to deal with Egypt. While
Nebuchadnezzar was in Egypt, the young Jewish King Jehoiachin foolishly
rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar returned, took Jerusalem, and
took Jehoiachin, his family, servants and princes, threw them into chains, and
marched them away to Babylon. This second deportation was made up of about 10,
000 of the nobles of Judah. Among them was the prophet Ezekiel.
·
The
Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.) -On July 10, 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar’s forces
broke through the northern wall of Jerusalem. It would be another month before
the southern wall could be taken. During this siege, Zedekiah and the remnants
of his army broke out of Jerusalem and fled east toward Jericho, only to be
captured and brought to Riblah where Nehuchadnezzar still maintained his
headquarters.
Zedekiah... fled out of the city, through the fortified ditch, and
through the desert; and when certain of the deserters had informed the
Babylonians of this, at break of day, they made haste to pursue after Zedekiah
and overtook him not far from Jericho... When he was come, Nebuchadnezzar began
to call him a wicked wretch and a covenant-breaker and one that had forgotten
his former words, when he promised to keep the country for himi (Antiquities
10:8:2).
·
Zedekiah
was forced to watch his sons being executed and then his eyes were put out. He
was thrown into chains to be dragged back to Babylon where he would die in
prison.
·
By
August of 586 B.C. Jerusalem belonged to the Babylonians. The vast majority of
survivors were herded together and led across the Syrian Desert in a 22-day
death march. One Jewish tradition has it that the 22 divisions of Psalm 119
correspond to these 22 days.
·
The
Southern Kingdom of Judah had ceased to exist. Jerusalem was burned and the
walls of the city were torn down. All military, civil and religious leaders
were either executed or carried away into captivity. Only the poorest of the
peasants of Judah were allowed to remain in the land that was by now completely
desolate.
Nebuchadnezzar’s
Babylon
1. Physical Description
of the City
·
Herodotus,
writing 150 years after Nebuchadnezzar, tells us that the city of Babylon was a
vast square in design, each side having a length of 14 miles and making a
complete circuit of 56 miles. He adds that the walls of the city were 300 feet
high and were so wide that three chariots could race along the top side by
side.
·
The
Euphrates River ran straight through the center of the city. The banks of the
river were lined with brick and large gates crossed the river where it entered
and exited from the city.
·
A
large part of the city was given over to farmland. With both a food and water
supply, Babylon could withstand a siege indefinitely.
2. The Defenses of the
City.
·
Herodotus
states that the outer wall of the city was 300 feet high and 80 feet thick.
Surrounding this outer wall was a huge moat which was fed through canals from
both the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers.
·
Around
the center of the city was a second double-wall. If an invader managed to pass
the outer wall and thcn also passed through the inner wall, he would find
himself within a narrow space between the first and second inner wall which
could be flooded in times of emergency.
3. The Hanging Gardens.
·
The
Hanging Gardens of Babylon were considered by the Greeks to be one of the seven
wonders of the world. They were 400 feet square and were raised on terraces one
above the other to the height of the city wall. Viewed from a distance, they
had the appearance of a forest-covered mountain, standing in marked contrast to
the level plains of the Mesopotamian Valley.
·
It
is said that Nebuchadnezzar built the Gardens for his wife, Amyhia, the
daughter of Cyaxeres, the king of the Medes. The Gardens were to relieve her
homesickness for the mountains of her native Media.
·
In
order to maintain the exotic plants of the Gardens under the blazing sun of the
Babylonian plains, a powerful pump was built inside the terraced wall which kept
a steady flow of water, insuring that the soil was always moist.
4. Temples.
·
Under
Nebuchadnezzar, every temple in Babylon was rebuilt. He lists eight which were
built within the city itself.
·
The
greatest of all was the Temple of Bal-Merodach. It stood in a square enclosure
with each side measuring 1200 feet and entered by 12 gates. In the middle rose
a tower of solid brick, like a pyramid. The sanctuary on the top rose in eight
stories and was 300 feet high.
[Some text for this lesson is excerpted from, and
based in part upon, John
T. Stevenson, Mesopotamia In The
Age Of The Empires]
**ACTIVITIES:
1.
What
is the most effective way to earn the allegiance of conquered peoples? Compare
the methods of the Assyrians and Babylonians with those of the Hittites. Defend
your answers.
2.
Use
your Bible to look up references to Assyria. Does the biblical testimony square
with evidence from other sources?
TOMORROW: Cyrus lays
siege to Babylon…