Through the labors of M. Botta, it has been placed beyond dispute that Sargon was the builder of the palace of Khorsabad, and in its ruins full details of his reign are given. He had seized and annexed to Assyria some of the towns of Media, and hence the minute reference in Scripture to what, in such circumstances, would be most natural-his sending Hebrew captives "to the cities of the Medes." Although the inscription which contained an account of his campaign against Samaria has been almost completely destroyed, there is another which has been well preserved, in which it is stated that he carried 27,280 Israelites into captivity "from Samaria and the several districts or provincial towns dependent on that city," and there is some evidence of his having compelled the kings of Egypt to pay him tribute.† It is agreeably surprising to find a minute reference to a comparatively insignificant fact in a great campaign, like that made by Isaiah to the taking of Ashdod by Sargon, fully confirmed by the Assyrian records. The description by Isaiah, in the twentieth chapter, of the approaching humiliation of the Egyptians and the shame of those who put their trust in "their glory," is strikingly verified by Sargon's account of his campaign against Ashdod. In his annals, Egypt is described "as a weak power, always stirring up revolts against Assyria," yet unable to help the revolters when attacked. Egypt was then truly a "broken reed," and "trust in the shadow of Egypt was confusion." There can be little doubt that † Ibid., p. 620. * Layard's "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 618. See "Assyrian Discoveries-Inscriptions of Sargon," pp. 288-294. the description in the tenth chapter of Isaiah has reference to Sargon as having been the conqueror of Carchemish as well of Samaria, and evidence is adduced from an inscription found at Nineveh, in which, among other things, it is said, "The mighty king Sargon waged war against the wicked, and having overcome Pisiri, king of Syria, placed a governor in the city of Carchemish." SENNACHERIB, it is admitted, was Sargon's successor, and there is a remarkable correspondence between the account in the Bible and the recently discovered Assyrian annals. Of the outset of his movements, it is said in the Bible: "Now, in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them. And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house." 2 Kings 18:13-15. In the inscriptions which have been translated, the Bible references to "all the fenced cities of Judah," and to the thirty talents of gold, have their counterpart. The following statement by Sennacherib thoroughly coalesces with that of the Bible: "Because Hezekiah king of Judah would not submit to my yoke, I came up against him, and by force of arms, and by the might of my power, I took forty-six of his strong fenced cities; and of the smaller towns which were scattered about, I took and plundered a countless number; and from their places I captured and carried off as spoil 200,150 people, old and young, male and female, together with horses and mares, asses and camels, oxen and sheep, a countless multitude. And Hezekiah himself I shut up in Jerusalem, like a bird in a cage, building towers round the city to hem him in, and raising banks of earth against the gates to prevent escape.... Then, upon this Hezekiah there fell the fear of the power of my arms, and he sent out to me the chiefs and the elders of Jerusalem with thirty talents of gold, and eight hundred talents of silver, and divers treasures—a rich and immense booty.... All these things were brought to me at Nineveh, the seat of my government, Hezekiah having sent them by way of tribute, and as a token of submission to my power."* The eight hundred talents as against the three hundred specified in the Bible include, obviously, all the silver which was obtained at first from every source, while the three hundred constituted the annual tribute. Is not the coincidence of these two descriptions very remarkable? The agreement of the Bible statement with the annals is still more striking when the passages in Isaiah are collated with those of the historical books. Of the above passage there is a slightly different translation by Dr. Hincks, in Layard's "Nineveh and Babylon," but substantially the agreement is such that the two may be held as one.† * "Ancient Monarchies," vol. 3, pp. 161, 162. Sennacherib undertook a second expedition to Jerusalem, and it would seem that in both he occupied Lachish, 2 Kings 23:14, 17; 19: 3; Isa. 29: 1-8; 24, and in either the one or the other a serious resistance to his arms was made, but in vain. Sennacherib triumphed, and in his annals there is an inscription confirmatory of his attack on Lachish, as it is stated in the Bible: "After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (but he himself laid siege against Lachish, and all his power with him,) unto Hezekiah king of Judah, and unto all Judah, that were at Jerusalem," &c.* 2 Chron. 32:9. In the Assyrian annals it is said, "Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment, before the city Lachish, (Lakkisha,) I gave permission for its slaughter." In his expedition directed chiefly against Egypt, he was disastrously unsuccessful. He bent his arms towards Jerusalem, and "was purposed to fight against" it, but Hezekiah made most vigorous preparations for its defence. In the nineteenth chapter of 2 Kings, there is an almost matchless description of the arrogance, the pride, and the blasphemies of the Assyrian king and his representatives, which led to the profound heart-pleadings of Hezekiah with the God of Israel; and all this is followed by Isaiah's defiant scorn, and his prohetic denunciations of the Assyrian king and his hosts. "Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor * Layard's "Nineveh and Babylon,” p. 152. come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord.... And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch, his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, smote him with the sword, . . . and Esar-haddon, his son, reigned in his stead." To the very letter in every particular has this striking statement been confirmed. How sudden and complete this overthrow of Sennacherib, when success seemed certain! His plans were laid with skill, and prosecuted with energy. As Sethos, one of the native princes, was near with his army, Sennacherib had resolved to crush him before the great Ethiopian monarch, Tirhakah, could unite forces with him. But this terrible disaster overwhelmed his army and humbled his pride. The Egyptians ascribed his overthrow to the power of their own gods and added to his humiliation by harassing his straggling forces as they fled. The Assyrian annals, as was the practice, take no notice of this fearful calamity; but the Egyptian historians record the disaster: they account for it in their own way, and the priests informed Herodotus that Sethos erected a monument in commemoration of the event, |