Sargon II

“ Sargon had scarcely seated himself securely on a throne to which he was not the direct heir, when he was menaced by Elam and repudiated by Chaldæa, and it remained to be seen whether his resources would prove equal to maintaining the integrity of his empire, or whether the example set by Merodach-baladan would not speedily be imitated by all who groaned under the Assyrian yoke. ”

“ So Sargon became an agriculturist and gardener like his adopted father, till the goddess Istar beheld and loved him, and eventually gave him his kingdom and crown.
Whatever may have been the real history of Sargon's rise to power, certain it is that he showed himself worthy of it. He built himself a capital, which perhaps was Akkad near Sippara, and there founded a library stocked with books on clay and well provided with scribes. The standard works on astronomy and terrestrial omens were compiled for it, the first of which was translated into Greek by Berossos in days long subsequent. ”

“ In this “palace of incomparable splendor, which he had built for the abode of his royalty,” are found Sargon’s own descriptions of the glories of his reign. “I imposed tribute on Pharaoh, of Egypt; on Tsamsi, Queen of Arabia; on Ithamar, the Sabæan, in gold, spices, horses, and camels.” Among the spoils of the Babylonian king, he enumerates his golden tiara, scepter, throne and parasol, and silver chariot. In the old age of Sargon, Merodach-baladan recovered his throne, and the Assyrian king was murdered in a conspiracy. ”

“ The inscription gives the extent of the dominion of Sargon; relates the most important events of his reign; mentions the temples he has built, the offering of the tribute of the seven princes of the land of Yatnan at Babylon—then the erection of the image—and threatens with curses and annihilation those who alter the tablet and change Sargon's name or anything else written on the tablet: if any one attempts such a thing, Nebo and the gods who dwell in the middle of the wide sea will destroy him and his race. ”

“ We learn from them that Sargon not only established his rule over Babylonia and the adjoining districts, he also defeated the Elamites, and made four expeditions into Syria, 'the land of the Amorites.' The last of these expeditions occupied three years, and ended with the erection of images of the Chaldaean king on the shores of the Mediterranean, and with the conquest of the countries 'of the sea of the setting sun,' which he united 'into a single empire.' His last campaign was against the Aram-Naharaim of Scripture in north-western Mesopotamia. ”

“ Sargon, who defeated the Egyptians and the Ethiopians, who subjugated Syria and Babylonia, who had gone through so many battles, came to a violent end, but not in war. He was murdered. The list of the rulers announces the naked fact in the year 705B.C., and adds the accession of his son Sennacherib, on whom fell the heavy task of maintaining the wide dominion which Sargon had won. ”

“ Military success is the best means of confirming a doubtful title to the leadership of a warlike nation. No sooner, therefore, was Sargon accepted by the Ninevites as king than he commenced a series of expeditions, which at once furnished employment to unquiet spirits, and gave the prestige of military glory to his own name. He warred successively in Susiana, in Syria, on the borders of Egypt, in the tract beyond Amanus, in Melitene and southern Armenia, in Kurdistan, in Media, and in Babylonia. ”

“ Sargon, like his predecessors, was a great warrior. He even extended his conquests beyond Syria to the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, and a tablet set up by him has been found in Cyprus. He warred also in Babylonia, Susiana, Armenia, and Media, and apparently received tribute from the kings of Egypt.
Colonel Rawlinson believed that the names “Tiglath Pileser” and “Shalmaneser,” were found on the monuments of Khorsabad as epithets of Sargon, and that they were applied in the Old Testament to the same king. ”

“ An inscription recently deciphered makes this king to have reigned as early as 3800 B.C. He appears to have been the first great organizer of the peoples of the Chaldæan plains.
Yet not as a warrior, but as a patron and protector of letters, is Sargon's name destined to a sure place in history. He classified and translated into the Semitic, or Assyrian tongue the religious, mythological, and astronomical literature of the Accadians, and deposited the books in great libraries, which he established or enlarged,—the oldest and most valuable libraries of the ancient world. ”

“ Elsewhere his apparel is less superb, and indeed it presents almost every degree of richness, from the wonderful embroidery of the robe just mentioned to absolute plainness. In the celebrated picture of the lion-hunt. [PLATE LXXXVI., Fig. 2.] With Sargon, the next king who has left many monuments, the case is remarkably different. Sargon is represented always in the same dress—a long fringed robe, embroidered simply with rosettes, which are spread somewhat scantily over its whole surface. ”

“ Sargon does not, however, seem to have conducted this campaign in person; for we read in Isa. xx. 1 that he sent his Turtan—i.e., his commander-in-chief, [540] whose name seems to have been Zir-bâni—to Ashdod, who fought against it and took it. The wretched Philistines had put their trust in Sabaco. "The people," says Sargon, "and their evil chiefs sent their presents to Pharaoh, King of Egypt, a prince who could not save them, and besought his alliance." ”

“ Had he remained, his discomfiture might have been even greater to observe the queen in deep consultation with Assarac, while Sargon, the king's shield-bearer, remained, as if in waiting, a few paces off. The eunuch's head was erect and his face bright with triumph; he wore the air of a man on the eve of some great enterprise requiring skill, courage, and intellect, but having at the same time perfect confidence in his own power to carry it through. ”

“ Sargon, with the same scowl that had never left his face, went down on hands and knees for his lord to mount with greater advantage from off his back, and Ninus, settling himself in the saddle, while the war-horse plunged with a force that would have unseated many a younger rider, looked his son fixedly in the face, observing in a tone of marked reproach,
"Couches for women! chariots for eunuchs! May you never learn to your cost, boy, that his good horse is the only secure throne for an Assyrian king!" ”

“ Sargina or Sargon I. was a Babylonian monarch who reigned at the city of Akkad about b.c. 1600. The name of Sargon signifies the right, true, or legitimate king, and may have been assumed on his ascending the throne. Sargon was probably of obscure origin, and desiring to strengthen his claim to the throne put out the story given in this tablet to connect himself with the old line of kings. This curious story is found on fragments of tablets from Kouyunjik, and reads as follows:
1. ”

“ The expeditions of Sargon to the north and north-east had results less splendid than those which he undertook to the south-west and the south; but it may be doubted whether they did not more severely try his military skill and the valor of his soldiers. The mountain tribes of Zagros, Taurus, and Niphates,—Medes, Armaenians, Tibarini, Moschi, etc.,—were probably far braver men and far better soldiers than the levies of Egypt, Susiana, and Babylon. ”

“ When the host marches into Babylon, and the women come out with song and timbrel to welcome the conquerors; when each man makes his boast, showing his treasure, his spoil, and the captives of his bow and spear; when my lord the king rewards his servants, giving gifts—to this a dress of honour, to that a beautiful slave, to another a talent of gold and spoil of household stuff—what shall be done for Sargon, the king's shield-bearer, returning childless and bereaved by the king's own hand? ”

“ Cilicia and the Tibareni also submitted as well as the city of Malatia, eastern Cappadocia being annexed to the Assyrian Empire. A league was now formed between Merodach-baladan and the princes of the west, but before the confederates could move, an Assyrian army was sent against Ashdod, and Edom, Moab and Judah submitted to Sargon, who was thus free to turn his attention to Babylonia, and Merodach-baladan was accordingly driven from Babylon, where Sargon was crowned king. Shortly after this Sargon sent a statue of himself to Cyprus and annexed the kingdom of Commagene. ”

“ This is no unusual origin for the founders of empires and dynasties; witness the cases of Cyrus and Bomulus.* Sargon, like Moses, and many other heroes of history or fable, is exposed to the waters: he owes his safety to a poor fellah who works his shadouf on the banks of the Euphrates to water the fields, and he passes his infancy in obscurity, if not in misery. Having reached the age of manhood, Ishtar falls in love with him as she did with his fellow-craftsman, the gardener Ishullanu, and he becomes king, we know not by what means. ”

“ Sargon’s own account of the siege and of the captivity remarkably agrees with the statement in the book of Kings. These facts are derived from the Assyrian tablets.
4. In regard to this king of Assyria, Sargon by name, the verse in Isaiah 20:1 was for twenty-five centuries the only known evidence of his existence. It was not until recently, when the mound which covered his palace was excavated, that the name came to view. It was then discovered that he was one of the greatest kings of Assyria, and his history was recorded upon the large alabaster slabs which lined a part of his palace. ”

“ Sargon kept the frontier towns acquired by him in previous years, and which he had annexed to the border provinces, retaining also his suzerainty over Muzazîr, the Mannai, and the Median states implicated in the struggle; Argistis, on his side, strengthened himself in the regions around the sources of the Euphrates and Lake Van—in Biaînas, in Etius, and in the plains of the Araxes. ”

“ Proceeding from thence in an oblique direction, Sargon reached Andia and took prisoner its king Tilusînas. Having by this exploit reduced the province of Mannai to order, he restored the twenty-two towns to Ullusunu, and halting some days in Izirtu, erected there a statue of himself, according to his custom, as a visible witness of Assyrian supremacy, having done which, he retraced his steps to the south-east. ”

“ They and the surrounding peoples sought the aid of Egypt, which could not help them. For the honour of Asshur, Sargon then engaged in an expedition against the Hittites, and turned his attention to the state of affairs in Philistia (c. 711 B.C.) , hearing which Yaran, for fear of Asshur, fled to Meroc on the borders of Egypt, where he hid ignominiously. Sargon besieged and [Pg 211] captured the city of Ashdod, with the gods, wives, children, and treasures of Yaran. ”

“ Sargon resolutely faced the enemy at all three points of attack. As in the previous year, he reserved for himself the position where danger was most threatening, directing the operations against the Mannai. He captured one by one the twenty-two strongholds of Ullusunu which Rusas had seized, and laying hands on Dayaukku, sent him and his family into exile to Hamath. This display of energy determined Ianzu of Naîri to receive the Assyrian monarch courteously within the royal residence of Khubushkia and to supply him with horses, cattle, sheep, and goats in token of homage. ”

“ Sargon set fire to Dur-Yakîn, levelled its towers and walls with the ground, and demolished its houses, temples, and palaces. It had been a sort of penal settlement, to which the Kaldâ rulers used to consign those of their subjects belonging to the old aboriginal race, who had rendered themselves obnoxious by their wealth or independence of character; the number of these prisoners was considerable, Babylon, Borsippa, Nipur, and Sippar, not to speak of Uni, Uruk, Eridu, Larsam, and Kishîk, having all of them furnished their share. Sargon released them all, and restored their gods to the temples ”

“ His successors imitate this example, though each one chooses his own combinations. Shalmaneser II.'s pantheon embraces Ashur, Anu, Bel, Ea, Sin, Shamash, Nin-ib, Nergal, Nusku, Belit, and Ishtar—eleven in all. Sargon's practice varies. The best list is furnished by his account of the eight gates of his palace and of two walls, which he names after the gods in the following order: [328]
Shamash, who grants victory. ”

“ Sabaco, whom Sargon calls "the Sultan of Egypt" (Siltannu Muzri) , had been defeated, and fled precipitately, but Sargon was not then sufficiently free from other complications to advance to the Nile. The hoarded vengeance of Assyria was inflicted upon Egypt nearly a century later by Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal.
In the two suppressions of revolt at Ashdod, Sargon or his Turtan must have come perilously near Jerusalem, and perhaps he may have inflicted sufficient damage to admit of the boast that he had "conquered" Judæa. ”

“ To the Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian scribes Sargon appears as a king of Agade, or Akkad, and the father of Narâm-Sin, who succeeded him upon his throne. It is clear, therefore, that the name of the earlier king of Kish has been borrowed for the king of Akkad, whose real name, Shar-Gani-sharri, has disappeared in the tradition. Are we to imagine that the great achievements, which later ages ascribed to Sargon of Akkad, were also borrowed along with his name from the historical Sargon of Kish? ”