The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended · Isaac Newton
CHAP. III.
Now _Asserhadon_ seems to be the _Sardanapalus_ who died of old age after the revolt of _Syria_, the name _Sardanapalus_ being derived from _Asserhadon-Pul_. _Sardanapalus_ was the [373] son of _Anacyndaraxis_, _Cyndaraxis_, or _Anabaxaris_, King of _Assyria_; and this name seems to have been corruptly written for _Sennacherib_ the father of _Asserhadon_. _Sardanapalus_ built _Tarsus_ and _Anchiale_ in one day, and therefore Reigned over _Cilicia_, before the revolt of the western nations: and if he be the same King with _Asserhadon_, he was succeeded by _Saosduchinus_ in the year of _Nabonassar_ 81; and by this revolution _Manasseh_ was set at liberty to return home and fortify _Jerusalem_: and the _Egyptians_ also, after the _Assyrians_ had harrassed _Egypt_ and _Ethiopia_ three years, _Isa._ xx. 3, 4. were set at liberty, and continued under twelve contemporary Kings of their own nation, as above. The _Assyrians_ invaded and conquered the _Egyptians_ the first of the three years, and Reigned over them two years more: and these two years are the interregnum which _Africanus_, from _Manetho_, places next before the twelve Kings. The _Scythians_ of _Touran_ or _Turquestan_ beyond the river _Oxus_ began in those days to infest _Persia_, and by one of their inroads might give occasion to the revolt of the western nations.
In the year of _Nabonassar_ 101, _Saosduchinus_, after a Reign of twenty years, was succeeded at _Babylon_ by _Chyniladon_, and I think at _Nineveh_ also, for I take _Chyniladon_ to be that _Nabuchodonosor_ who is mentioned in the book of _Judith_; for the history of that King suits best with these times: for there it is said that __Nabuchodonosor_ King of the _Assyrians_ who Reigned at _Nineveh_, that great city, in the twelfth year of his Reign made war upon _Arphaxad_ King of the _Medes__, and was then left alone by a defection of the auxiliary nations of _Cilicia_, _Damascus_, _Syria_, _Phœnicia_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, and _Egypt_; and without their help routed the army of the _Medes_, and slew _Arphaxad_: and _Arphaxad_ is there said to have built _Ecbatane_ and therefore was either _Dejoces_, or his son _Phraortes_, who might finish the city founded by his father: and _Herodotus_ [374] tells the same story of a King of _Assyria_, who routed the _Medes_, and slew their King _Phraortes_; and saith that in the time of this war the _Assyrians_ were left alone by the defection of the auxiliary nations, being otherwise in good condition: _Arphaxad_ was therefore the _Phraortes_ of _Herodotus_, and by consequence was slain near the beginning of the Reign of _Josiah_: for this war was made after _Phœnicia_, _Moab_, _Ammon_, and _Egypt_ had been conquered and revolted, _Judith_ i. 7, 8, 9. and by consequence after the Reign of _Asserhadon_ who conquered them: it was made when the _Jews_ were newly returned from captivity, _and the Vessels and Altar and Temple were sanctified after the profanation_, _Judith_ iv.
3. that is soon after _Manasseh_ their King had been carried captive to _Babylon_ by _Asserhadon_; and upon the death of that King, or some other change in the _Assyrian_ Empire, had been released with the _Jews_ from that captivity, and had repaired the Altar, and restored the sacrifices and worship of the Temple, 2 _Chron._ xxxiii. 11, 16. In the _Greek_ version of the book of _Judith_, chap. v. 18. it is said, that _the Temple of God was cast to the ground_; but this is not said in _Jerom_'s version; and in the _Greek_ version, chap. iv. 3, and chap. xvi. 20, it is said, that _the vessels, and the altar, and the house were sanctified after the prophanation_, and in both versions, chap. iv. 11, the Temple is represented standing. After this war _Nabuchodonosor_ King of _Assyria_, in the 13th year of his Reign, according to the version of _Jerom_, sent his captain _Holofernes_ with a great army to avenge himself on all the west country; because they had disobeyed his commandment: and _Holofernes_ went forth with an army of 12000 horse, and 120000 foot of _Assyrians_, _Medes_ and _Persians_, and reduced _Cilicia_, _Mesopotamia_, and _Syria_, and _Damascus_, and part of _Arabia_, and _Ammon_, and _Edom_, and _Madian_, and then came against _Judæa_: and this was done when the government was in the hands of the High-Priest and Antients of _Israel_, _Judith_ iv. 8. and vii. 23. and by consequence not in the Reign of _Manasseh_ or _Amon_, but when _Josiah_ was a child. In times of prosperity the children of _Israel_ were apt to go after false Gods, and in times of affliction to repent and turn to the Lord.
So _Manasseh_ a very wicked King, being captivated by the _Assyrians_, repented; and being released from captivity restored the worship of the true God: So when we are told that _Josiah in the eighth year of his Reign, while he was yet young, began to seek after the God of _David_ his father, and in the twelfth year of his Reign began to purge _Judah_ and _Jerusalem_ from Idolatry, and to destroy the High Places, and Groves, and Altars and Images of Baalim_, 2 _Chron_. xxxiv. 3. we may understand that these acts of religion were occasioned by impending dangers, and escapes from danger. When _Holofernes_ came against the western nations, and spoiled them, then were the _Jews_ terrified, and they fortified _Judæa_, and _cryed unto God with great fervency, and humbled themselves in sackcloth, and put ashes on their heads, and cried unto the God of _Israel_ that he would not give their wives and their children and cities for a prey, and the Temple for a profanation: and the High-priest, and all the Priests put on sackcloth and ashes, and offered daily burnt offerings with vows and free gifts of the people_, _Judith_ iv. and then began _Josiah_ to seek after the God of his father _David_: and after _Judith_ had slain _Holofernes_, and the _Assyrians_ were fled, and the _Jews_ who pursued them were returned to _Jerusalem_, _they worshipped the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and gifts, and continued feasting before the sanctuary for the space of three months_, _Judith_ xvi. 18, and then did _Josiah_ purge _Judah_ and _Jerusalem_ from Idolatry.
Whence it seems to me that the eighth year of _Josiah_ fell in with the fourteenth or fifteenth of _Nabuchodonosor_, and that the twelfth year of _Nabuchodonosor_, in which _Phraortes_ was slain, was the fifth or sixth of _Josiah_. _Phraortes_ Reigned 22 years according to _Herodotus_, and therefore succeeded his father _Dejoces_ about the 40th year of _Manasseh_, _Anno Nabonass._ 89, and was slain by the _Assyrians_, and succeeded by _Astyages_, _Anno Nabonass._ 111. _Dejoces_ Reigned 53 years according to _Herodotus_, and these years began in the 16th year of _Hezekiah_; which makes it probable that the _Medes_ dated them from the time of their revolt: and according to all this reckoning, the Reign of _Nabuchodonosor_ fell in with that of _Chyniladon_; which makes it probable that they were but two names of one and the same King. Soon after the death of _Phraortes_ [375] the _Scythians_ under _Madyes_ or _Medus_ invaded _Media_, and beat the _Medes_ in battle, _Anno Nabonass._ 113, and went thence towards _Egypt_, but were met in _Phœnicia_ by _Psammitichus_ and bought off, and returning Reigned over a great part of _Asia_: but in the end of about 28 years were expelled; many of their Princes and commanders being slain in a feast by the _Medes_ under the conduct of _Cyaxeres_, the successor of _Astyages_, just before the destruction of _Nineveh_, and the rest being soon after forced to retire.
In the year of _Nabonassar_ 123, [376] _Nabopolassar_ the commander of the forces of _Chyniladon_ the King of _Assyria_ in _Chaldæa_ revolted from him, and became King of _Babylon_; and _Chyniladon_ was either then, or soon after, succeeded at _Nineveh_ by the last King of _Assyria_, called _Sarac_ by _Polyhistor_: and at length _Nebuchadnezzar_, the son of _Nabopolassar_, married _Amyite_ the daughter of _Astyages_ and sister of _Cyaxeres_; and by this marriage the two families having contracted affinity, they conspired against the _Assyrians_; and _Nabopolasser_ being now grown old, and _Astyages_ being dead, their sons _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Cyaxeres_ led the armies of the two nations against _Nineveh_, slew _Sarac_, destroyed the city, and shared the Kingdom of the _Assyrians_. This victory the _Jews_ refer to the _Chaldæans_; the _Greeks_ to the _Medes_; _Tobit_, _Polyhistor_, _Josephus_, and _Ctesias_ to both. It gave a beginning to the great successes of _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Cyaxeres_, and laid the foundation of the two collateral Empires of the _Babylonians_ and _Medes_; these being branches of the _Assyrian_ Empire: and thence the time of the fall of the _Assyrian_ Empire is determined, the conquerors being then in their youth.
In the Reign of _Josiah_, when _Zephaniah_ prophesied, _Nineveh_ and the Kingdom of _Assyria_ were standing, and their fall was predicted by that Prophet, _Zeph._ i. 1, and ii. 13. and in the end of his Reign _Pharaoh Nechoh_ King of _Egypt_, the successor of _Psammitichus_, went up against the King of _Assyria_ to the river _Euphrates_, to fight against _Carchemish_ or _Circutium_, and in his way thither slew _Josiah_, 2 _Kings_ xxiii. 29. 2 _Chron._ xxxv. 20. and therefore the last King of _Assyria_ was not yet slain. But in the third and fourth year of _Jehoiakim_ the successor of _Josiah_, the two conquerors having taken _Nineveh_ and finished their war in _Assyria_, prosecuted their conquests westward, and leading their forces against the King of _Egypt_, as an invader of their right of conquest, they beat him at _Carchemish_, and [377] took from him whatever he had newly taken from the _Assyrians_: and therefore we cannot err above a year or two, if we refer the destruction of _Nineveh_, and fall of the _Assyrian_ Empire, to the second year of _Jehoiakim_, _Anno Nabonass._ 140. The name of the last King _Sarac_ might perhaps be contracted from _Sarchedon_, as this name was from _Asserhadon_, _Asserhadon-Pul_, or _Sardanapalus_.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.