SECTION III.* OF THE BABYLONIANS, ASSYRIANS, AND MEDES, 1. [BABYLONIA included the extensive plain between the Tigris and Euphrates, where Belus or Babylon was situated, now called Irak Arabia. The most ancient names of this plain were Shinar and Padan-Aram; then Babylonia, and afterwards Chaldea, from the name of the people that conquered it. The Greeks called it Mesopotamia, the country between the two rivers. The soil was extremely rich, and irrigated by the inundations of the Tigris and Euphrates, more especially the latter. ASSYRIA comprehended the country to the north of the Tigris, now called Khurdistan; but the Greeks included under that name Babylonia and all the adjacent countries. MEDIA extended to the east of the Caspian Sea, to Armenia on the west, and Persia proper on the south, including the provinces now called Shirvan, Adserbijan, Ghilan, Masanderan, and Irak Adjemi. It covered a territory larger than Spain, and was one of the most fertile and earliest cultivated among the kingdoms of Asia. It had two grand divisions; of which the northwest was called Lesser Media, and the southern, Greater Media. The former corresponds to the modern Adserbijan, and the latter to Irak Adjemi, or Persian Irak. 2. The plain of Shinar or Babylonia, is celebrated in Scripture as the first location of men after the deluge, and as forming the first kingdom. Nimrod was its founder, and from thence extended his conquests over Assyria (Gen. 10, 8-10). The Greek and Roman writers knew nothing of Nimrod; with them Bel or Baal, which signifies lord, was the founder of the Babylonian empire. But as Bel or Belus may have been the general title of the earliest kings, as the Pharaohs of Egypt, so Belus and Nimrod may be the same person. Several centuries later, in the time of Abraham, we hear of Amraphel, king of Shinar or Babylon (Gen. 14, 1); but from that time until the reign of Nabonassar, in 747 B. C., there is no mention of Babylonia in the historical books of the Old Testament. 3. The kingdom of Assyria, according to the authorized translation of the Bible, was founded by Asshur, who was driven from Shinar by Nimrod (Gen. 10, 10, 11); but modern biblical scholars adopt the marginal reading of the passage: "Out of that land, he (Nimrod) went forth into Asshur or Assyria, and builded Nineveh, Rehoboth, and Calah," probably as fortresses to keep Asshur or the Assyrians in subjection. There is no mention of the successors of Nimrod, or of the Assyrians, until the time of David (2 Sam. 10, 15). Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, in the time of Abraham, and Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, about 1400 B. C. (Judg. 3, 8), were probably Assyrians. Belus reigned about a century later, and is said to have driven the Arabs from Babylonia, after an occupation of 216 years, which he united with Assyria, and reigned fifty-five years. He was succeeded by his son Ninus, in whose reign, and in that of his celebrated queen Semiramis, the Assyrian empire is supposed to have been greatly extended, including all the adjacent countries, and raised to a very high degree of splendour. 4. From the death of Ninias, the son of Ninus and Semiramis, down to the revolt of the Medes, in the reign of Sardanapalus, there is an interval of 800 years, in which there is an absolute void in the history of Assyria. The names of the supposed sovereigns are given, but there are no traces of historical events. We only know that in the reign of Arbaces, the conqueror of Sardanapalus, Nineveh was a large and a populous city. The prophet Jonah, who went thither about 825 B. C., in the reign of Jeroboam II., king of Israel, states that the circuit of Nineveh was three days' journey, and that it contained 120,000 persons who could not distinguish their right hand from their left-that is, young children. By this mode of computation the population had exceeded 600,000, which is a proof that it had been the capital of a powerful kingdom for many years. According to Diodorus Siculus, its walls were 100 feet high, and so broad that three chariots could drive abreast, the towers of which were 150 and 200 feet high. 5. Arbaces, the Median governor, and Belesis, chief-priest at Babylon, who revolted against Sardanapalus, besieged and took Nineveh; when the king fired his palace, and perished in the flames. On the death of Sardanapalus, the Assyrian empire was divided into the three kingdoms of Media, Assyria, and Babylon. Arbaces retained to himself the supreme power, fixing his residence in Media, and appointing satraps or governors of Babylonia and Assyria, with the title of kings, but subject and tributary to the Median empire. Arbaces established no regular government, which led to great confusion after his death, during which period the Assyrians and Babylonians rendered themselves independent of the Medes. 6. After the death of Sardanapalus, the high-priest Belesis obtained the government of Babylon, and was succeeded by priests, of whom only one, Nabonassar, is deserving of being named. He began to reign, B. C. 747, and is famous for having adopted the Egyptian solar year, which first introduced among the Babylonians an exact method of reckoning time. The era of Nabonassar is important in chronology, as the epoch from which it was reckoned is precisely determined by numerous celestial phenomena recorded by Ptolemy, and corresponds to Wednesday at mid-day, the 26th February, B. C. 747. The six immediate successors of Nabonassar are undeserving of notice. The dissensions which prevailed favoured the designs of Esarhaddon, who united the kingdom of Babylon to Assyria, B. C. 680. 7. Second Empire of Assyria.-After the death of Sardanapalus, there is little mention of Assvria, until the reign of Pul, when it emerged from obscurity, and became the predominant empire. Pul invaded Israel in 771, and compelled the usurper Menahem to pay 1000 talents of silver (£375,000) to confirm him in the government, and also to become tributary. Pul's power was acknowledged over Syria; and after a reign of twentyone years, he was succeeded by his son Tiglath-Pileser, 753 B. C. Tiglath invaded Israel as the ally of Ahaz, king of Judah, who despoiled the temple of Jerusalem of all its gold and silver, and acknowledged his kingdom tributary to Assyria, to purchase his support against the kings of Israel and Damascus. He defeated and killed Resin, king of Damascus, entered Israel, captured various cities, and carried numbers of the people into captivity. Tiglath-Pileser died in the midst of his conquests, and was succeeded by Shalmaneser, about 734, who renewed the war against Hoshea, king of Israel, and again obliged him to become tributary. Hoshea, in afterwards attempting to shake off the yoke, brought upon himself the vengeance of Shalmaneser, who once more subjected the country, and laid siege to Samaria, which capitulated, after a defence of three years. Hoshea was imprisoned, the principal inhabitants removed into Assyria, and Israel colonized from other parts of the empire, 721. Afterwards, when the Assyrians were engaged in an unsuccessful war with the Tyrians, Hezekiah king of Judah revolted; but Sennacherib, who soon after succeeded Shalmaneser, about 713, invaded Judah, and compelled Hezekiah to submit, and to pay 300 talents of silver, and 30 talents of gold (£287,700). Notwithstanding, Sennacherib having afterwards determined to occupy Jerusalem, he ordered his army to march against it, when it was smitten by "the angel of the Lord," 185,000 perishing in one night. Sennacherib then fled to Nineveh; and acting in a tyrannical manner, more especially towards the Jewish captives, he was shortly after murdered by two of his sons, whilst at prayers in the temple of Nisroch (2 Kings 19, 8—37). 8. Sennacherib was succeeded by his third son, Esar-Haddon, in 707 B.C., who raised the Assyrian empire to its greatest splendour. Babylonia, Syria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Israel, and Judah, acknowledged his authority; and he led Manasseh a captive to Babylon. Sardochæus, or Nebuchadnezzar I., succeeded him, in 667, and in 655 vanquished and destroyed the Median army, killing their king Phraortes, and taking Ecbatan. Before confirming his power in Media, he turned his arms against the east, resolving to subdue all the country to the Mediterranean, and then to attack Egypt;-his general Holofernes devastating the kingdoms of Tyre, of Sidon, of Syria, and all the countries north of Judea; everywhere exercising cruelties, and causing his master to be worshipped as a god. Holofernes then advanced into Judea, and laid siege to Bethulia, where he was killed by Judith, the widow of Manasseh, under the circumstances related in the book of Judith. The army was seized with a panic, and dispersed, leaving the country enriched with the spoil. The conquered countries then revolted: Nebuchadnezzar I. lost all his conquests, was defeated by Cyaxares I. king of the Medes, and besieged even in Nineveh, B.C. 649. The decay of the empire continued under his successors, Chynaladan and Sarac, whose effeminacy and cowardice led him to allow the Scythians to ravage his provinces without opposition. Nabopolassar, the governor of Babylon, revolted, and allied himself with the Scythians, then with Cyaxares; and, with the assistance of his son Astyages, he took and destroyed Nineveh, and obliged Sarac to kill himself, B. c. 625. That catastrophe put an end to the kingdom of Nineveh, or Assyria; but the Babylonians inherited the latter name, and perpetuated it for another age. 9. The Median Empire.-After the death of Arbaces, there followed a period of anarchy, in which each of the six provinces of Media was governed by its own magistrate, until these chose Dejoces for their king, about 733 B. C. Dejoces founded Ecbatan, administered justice with promptitude and severity, and inspired the greatest respect for his authority. He was succeeded by his son Phraortes in 690, who subjected Persia, Ar- . menia, and all Asia Minor, as far as the river Halys, including Cappadocia. Phraortes was killed, and his army defeated, before Nineveh, in 655, when Assyria became the predominant empire. Cyaxares I. invaded Assyria, to avenge the defeat and death of his father; when he was recalled to oppose an irruption of the Scythians, who defeated him, and maintained themselves in Media for twenty-eight years. After the expulsion of the Scythians, Cyaxares I. conquered Assyria, and then turned his arms against Halyattes, king of Lydia, for receiving and protecting the Scythians who escaped from Media. During this war, the total eclipse of the sun, predicted by Thales in 597, took place in the midst of a battle on the banks of the Halys, and separated the combatants, September 20, 601. Astyages (the Ahasuerus of Scripture) succeeded in 595, and was content to enjoy in peace the extensive conquests and great wealth of his father. He was the father of Cyaxares II., and the grandfather of Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, and the founder of the Medo-Persian empire. 10. The Chaldee-Babylonian Empire, 625.-Babylon was subject to the Assyrian kings fifty-five years, from 680 to 625, when the Chaldean,* Nabopolassar, who had been governor under Chynaladan and Sarac, made it the capital of the new empire. This prince had to contend with Pharaoh-Necho, king of Egypt, for predominance; by whom he was defeated, and deprived of Carchemish (Circeisum) and many other cities. Encouraged by these disasters, the governors of Syria and Palestine revolted; but his son Nebuchadnezzar, who became associated in the government, defeated Necho at Circeisum, and overran Syria, Judea, Phoenicia, and Egypt; from which he hastened on the death of his father, leaving to his generals the charge of bringing to Chaldea The Chaldeans were a warlike people who inhabited the mountains of Assyria, and brought to Babylon for its defence in the time of Shalmaneser, the captives and spoil taken in these countries, in 606 B. C. Nebuchadnezzar II. was one of the greatest conquerors of antiquity. He invaded Judea a second time in 586, and destroyed Jerusalem, carrying away all the vessels of gold and silver, which Solomon had caused to be made for the service of the temple, and thousands of captives, including Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the royal family, among the number. He took Tyre after a siege of eleven years; and whilst it was carried on, he subdued the Sidonians, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Idumeans. He traversed Egypt as a conqueror. He was the scourge of his age, trampling on the nations of the earth at his pleasure. The immense plunder he had collected, he employed in the enlargement and embellishment of Babylon. Towards the latter period of his life, he lost his reason for a period of seven years, when the government was administered by his queen Nitocris. The grandeur of the Chaldeo-Babylonian empire ended with Nebuchadnezzar II. He left two sons, Evil-Merodach and Labynetus. Evil-Merodach succeeded in 561,-an odious despot, who was assassinated in the third year of his reign, by Niriglissor, his brother-in-law and successor, who quarrelled with the Medes, and was defeated and killed in battle by Cyrus, in 557. Labosarchad, who succeeded, was murdered after a few months' reign. Nabonned, or Labynetus,(Belshazzar,) one of the conspirators, succeeded. He indulged in the greatest excesses, and entered into a league with the Lydians and Egyptians against the Medes and the Persians, which led to the invasion of Babylonia, and the siege of the city. Belshazzar had confidence in the strength of its walls; and in honour of the success he expected, he gave the feast described by the prophet Daniel in the night the city was entered by Cyrus, when "the king of the Chaldeans" was slain, and the empire of Babylon transferred to Persia, 540 B. C.] SECTION IV.* ON THE GOVERNMENT, RELIGION, CUSTOMS AND MANNERS, AND ARTS AND SCIENCES OF THE EARLY BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS. 1. [THE GOVERNMENT of the Babylonians and Assyrians was despotic. The will of the king was the law, without being controlled by established customs. He was the director of religious worship, and claimed the adoration of his subjects, as if he were an incarnation of the Deity. The people, not only, neither possessed civil or religious rights, but they were not even assured of their natural rights as men, of personal freedom, and security of property. The sovereignty was hereditary; but the people having no attachment to their rulers, frequent changes of dynasties took place. 2. THE RELIGION of the Babylonians consisted of the adoration of nature, which they personified in its different attributes, |