The New York herald., 1851-09-27
Assyrian Antiquities.

from the LONDON AtheD8um, August %
We have received from Colonel Ra Wlinson the
following important communication relative to q
discovery made by him lin an inscription upon an
Afsyrian bull-of an account Of the campaign be-
tween Sennacherib and Hezekiah. 1t is . most
satisfactory step to have established the identity of
the kirg who built the great palace of Koyunjik,
with the Sennacherib Of scripture. We have now
tangible starting place for historical research,
and shall Colonel Rawlinson asserts) make rapid
progress in fixing the Assyrian chronology.
AS the scientific societies of the metropolis are
closed at the present season, perhaps you will allow
me to announce in the columns of the AthenGwn tbs
which have made within these few days in con.
necton with Assyrian antiquities. / have succeed
ed in determinately idestifyipg the Assyrian kings
Of the lower dynasty, whose palaces have been re-
Gently excavated in the vicinity Of Mosul; and
have obtained from the annals Of those kings coa-
temporary notices of events which agree in the most
remarkable way with the statements preserved in
sacred and profane history. The king who bsilt
the palace Of Khorsabad, excavated by the French,
is named Sargina but he also bears in some of the
inscriptions the epithe. Of Shalmaneser, by which
title he was better known to the Jews. In the first
year Of his reign he came up against the city Of Sa
maria (called Samarina) and the tribes Of the coun
try Of Beth Homr (or 'Omri, being the name of the
founder Of Samaria, Kings xviii. l6, 50: sc He
and settled in their places colonists brought from
Babylona-apponting projects to administer the
country, and imposing the same tribute whi:h had
been paid to former kings: The only tablet at
tail (plate 10Y is unfortunately much mutiated.
Should Monsieur dc Saulcy, however, whom the
French are now sending to Assyria, find duplicate
Of Shalmaneser's annals in good preservation,
think it probable that the of the king Of Israel
may yet be recovered In the second year of Shal.
maneser's reign be subugated the kings tLibnah(O
and khazita (the Cadytis of Herodotus) who were
SP he a % bas drse e U@ ny sii Iss
of that country, who is named Pirhu, probably for
Pharaoh" the title by which the kings of Egypt
were known to the Jew, and other Semitic nations
IhispuDishment of the Egyptians by Sargon, or
Shalmaneser, is alluded to in The 20h cha pter Of
Isaiah. Among the other exploits Of Shalm aneser,
found in his annals are-the conquest Of Ashdod,
also alluded to in Isaiah land his reduction
of the neghboring city Of Jamnai, called Jab2eh
Jamneh in the Bible, and Jamnaan in Judith. In
conformity with Menander's statement that Shal-
maneser assisted the Citt@ans agaios; Sidon, We
find statue I'D inscription of this king, Sargina,
in Cyprus, recording the event I; and to complete
the chain ofevidence, the city, built by him and
named after him, the ruins Of which are now called
Khorsabad, retained among the Syrians the title Of
Sarghun as late as the Arab cOnqust. am not
sure how long Shalmaneser reigned, or whether
he made Sc ,ond expe ton into Palestine. His
annals at Khorsabad, extend only to the 18th year
and although the names are given Of nu-
Syria and on the Euphrates-sueh as Klamath,
Beraa, Damascus, Bambyce, and Carche-
msh-I am unable to trace his steps into Jud@a
towards the close of his reign in the Palace Of the
first Sardanapalus at Nimrud, he styles himself
"conqusror Of the remote Jud@a;" and rather
think, therefore, that the expedition in which, after
three years siege Of Ssmaria, he carried off the
great body Of the tribes of Israel and which is com
memorated in the Bible, as having been concluded
in the sixth year of Hezekiah, mus. have taken
place subsequently to the building OF he palace Of
khorsabad. Without this explanati9- indeed, we
shall be embarrassed abeut dates, for , shall pre-
sently show that we have distinct notice Of Semi
acheribs attack upon Jerusalem, in the third year
of that kings reign, and We are thus able to deter
mine an interval Of eighteen years at least to have
elapsed between the last-named event and the
Samaritan campaign; whereas, In the Bible, We
find the great captivity to date from the sixth year
OF Hezekiah, and the invasion Of Sennacherib from
the fourteenth.
/ now 20 to the annals of Sennacherib This
is the king who built the great palace of Koyunjk,
which Mr.. Layard has recently been excavating.
name, expressed entirely by monograms, may have
been pronounced Sennachi riba. The events, at any
rate, Of his reign place beyond the reach Of dispute
his historic identity He commenced his career by
subjugatng the Babylonians, under their king, Me
rodach Baadan, who had also been the ant agonist of
his fatner-two important points of agreement
being thus obtained both with Scripture and with
the account ofPolyhistor. The annals of the third
have just deciphered alter the copy Of an inscrip
tion taken from Mr.. Layard, from one of the bulls
at the grand entrance Of the Koyunjk palace, coz
attracted my attention and which, being once more
recognized, have naturally led TO TIE complete pn-
folding Of all this period Of history. In his third
year, Sennacheyib undertook in the Grst instance,
in expedition against Luliga, King Of sidoh, in
which be was completely successful; He was after
cities Of Syria, which have not yet identi6ed-
and whilst so employed learned Of an insurrection
in Palestine. The Inhabitants, indeed, Of that
the cfi.ers who had been placed in authority over
them, on the part of the Assyrian monarch-and
had driven them out Of the province obliging them
to take refuge with Hezekiah, King Of Jerusalem,
for assistance to the kings Of Egypt and large
army Of horse and foot marched TO their assistance
under the command Of the King OF Peusium %.
Sennacherib at once pro,eeded to meet this army ;
and fighting action with them in the vicinity Of
the city Of Allaku ~, completely defeated them
lie made many prisoners also, whom he exec ed
or otherwise disposed Of. Padiya then returned
from jerusalem, and vas renstated in his govern
between Sennacherib and Hezekiih on the subject
OF tribute. Sennact crib raveged the open country
taking "al the fenced cities Of JUDAH, and at last
threatened Jerusalem. Hezekiah then made his
submission, and tenderedto the King Of Assyria,
tribute, 30 talents Of gold, 200 talents Of silver, the
ornaments Of the temple, slaves, boys and girls, and
men servants and maid servants for the use Of the
palace. All these things Sennacherib resolved ;
kiah's villages, and placed them in dependence
on the cities which had been faithful to
him, such as Hebron, Ascalon, and Cady-
ts. lie then retired to ASsyria. Now, this Is
evidently the campaign which is alluded TO in
Scripture q Kings xviii, I3 to l7); and il is
IeThap the same which is obscurely noticed by
Herodotus, lib. ii, c. lil, and which is further
described by Josephus, Ant lib. T. c. l. Tue
agreement, at any rate, between the resori Of the
sacred historian and the contem porary chronicle OF
Sennacheiib, which ibaye here copied, extends even
to the number Of the talents ofgold and silver which
were given as tribute. | havs not yet examined
with the care whicht requires, the continuation OF
Sebnaeheribs chronicles but believe that most o!
the events attributed to that monarch by Polyhistor
and Abydenus will be found in the annals His
pretended conflict with the Greeks on the coast o.
CT ica, will, suspect, turn out to be his reduction
Of the city Of Javnsi, near Ashdod-the mistake
having arisen from the similarity Of the name OF
Jaynai TO that Of Javani, OF Ionians, by which the
Greeks we're generally known 70 the nations Of the
Last. At any rate, when Polyhistor says that
"Sennaeheiib erected statue Of himself as monu.
ment Of his victory tov.r the Creeks, and ordered