by
Damien F. Mackey
“In the understanding of the people of
the Near East at that time,
[Ashurnasirpal II] really was “king of
the world”.”
Joshua J. Mark
Dreams, visions, superstition, megalomania,
cruelty, fiery furnace, messing with the rites, building of Babylon, mysterious
and enduring illness, madness, conquest of Egypt -
these were some of the ‘symptoms’
exhibited by the bunch of Assyro-Babylonian (Persian) ‘kings’ whom I lumped together
as being various faces of the one historical Nebuchednezzar.
Names such as:
Esarhaddon who,
deliberately reading the specified ritual number upside down, rebuilt Babylon,
who also suffered a long, dreadful and alienating illness, and who attacked
Egypt.
Ashurbanipal whose
43-year reign was the same length as Nebuchednezzar’s, who burned his brother
in a fiery furnace, and who absolutely smashed Egypt.
Nabonidus who is
regarded by some biblical commentators and historians as being the true model
for the ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ of the Book of Daniel. Highly pious, superstitious,
suffering from madness and foreboding dreams.
Cambyses who was
also quite mad, and whose other name was “Nebuchednezzar”, and who, too,
conquered Egypt.
And
there were other potential ones as well, such as Velikovsky’s choice for
Nebuchednezzar, Hattusilis of Hatti, another chronic illness sufferer.
All of
this is set out in my multi-part series:
beginning
with:
Now I
have a new candidate for consideration, Ashurnasirpal (especially II).
This
king has been, to date, a real headache for revisionists to place in any
satisfactory way. And that same statement applies even more to his supposed
son, Shalmaneser III, who initially ended up straddling the mid-C9th BC right
where Dr. I. Velikovsky had located the El Amarna [EA] period, prompting
Velikovsky to attempt identifying Shalmaneser III with the Kassite ruler of
Babylonia at the time of EA, Burnaburiash II (c. 1359 – 1333 BC, conventional dates).
A suggested folding of
‘Middle’ and ‘Neo’ Assyria
“As we
know from the correspondence left by the roya1 physicians and exorcists …
[Esarhaddon’s] days were governed by spells of fever and dizziness, violent fits
of vomiting, diarrhoea and painful earaches. Depressions and fear of impending
death”.
Following on from my tentative
identification of Tukulti-Ninurta I as the neo-Assyrian king, Sennacherib (a
connection originally suggested by Phillip Clapham):
Can Tukulti-Ninurta I be king Sennacherib?
I must now consider the possibility that “Ashurnasirpal”,
said to have been the son-successor of a Tukulti-Ninurta (II), was the actual
successor of Sennacherib, that is, Esarhaddon, who is, in turn, in my scheme of
things, Nebuchednezzar himself:
"As we know from the correspondence left by the roya1
physicians and exorcists … his days were governed by spells of fever and
dizziness, violent fits of vomiting, diarrhoea and painful earaches.
Depressions and fear of impending death... more
Nor is there any surprise in learning that ‘The Marduk Prophecy’
bears striking parallels with Esarhaddon’s inscriptions for the same reason
(Esarhaddon is Ashurbanipal). And, according to this present series, Esarhaddon
(Ashurbanipal) is... more
See also my:
Aligning Neo-Babylonia with Book of Daniel. Part Two: Merging
late neo-Assyrians with Chaldeans
Admittedly this is something of a long
stretch in the present scheme of things.
While, fittingly, the father of
Tukulti-Ninurta I is said to have been a Shalmaneser – just as in my revision
the father of (Sargon II =) Sennacherib was a Shalmaneser, his son is said to
have been one Ashur-nadin-apli.
Tukulti-Ninurta II, on the other hand, who
was the father of Ashurnasirpal II, is said to have had a father named
Adad-nirari (II). Tukulti-Ninurta II, though, does not even rate a mention in
the index at the back of Marc Van de Mieroop’s text, A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC. Putting it all
together, I would tentatively suggest this sequence:
Shalmaneser (I, III);
Tukulti-Ninurta (I, II);
Ashur-nadin-apli-Ashurnasirpal (I, II)
equates to, respectively:
Shalmaneser (V);
Sargon II-Sennacherib;
Esarhaddon-Ashurbanipal-Nebuchednezzar
Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 884-859 BCE) was the third king
of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. His father was Tukulti-Ninurta II (reigned (891-884 BCE) whose military
campaigns throughout the region provided his son with a sizeable empire and the resources to equip a formidable army.
My comment: If the revision that I am putting
together in this series - albeit tentatively - is heading in the right
direction, then these dates for Ashurnasirpal and his father are far too high.
The “father”,
Tukulti-Ninurta so-called II, who does not even rate an entry in the index at
the back of Van de Mieroop’s book (as we have already found), stands sorely in
need of a significant alter ego, that
being, as I have suggested, none other than Sargon II-Sennacherib.
Ashurnasirpal II is known for his ruthless
military conquests and the consolidation of the Assyrian Empire, but he is
probably most famous for his grand palace at Kalhu (also known as Caleh and Nimrud in modern-day Iraq), whose wall reliefs depicting his military successes
(and many victims) are on display in museums around the world in the modern
day. In addition to the palace itself, he is also known for throwing one of the
most impressive parties in history to inaugurate his new city of
Kalhu: he hosted over 69,000 people during a ten day festival. The menu for
this party still survives in the present day.
....
Esarhaddon, however, took a great deal of interest in the city. Around 672 BC,
towards the end of his reign, he rebuilt part of the city wall and made
significant improvements to Fort Shalmaneser. He
added a new terrace and created an impressive new entrance consisting of a
vaulted ramp which led from a newly-rebuilt postern gate TT
directly into the palace through a series of painted rooms. Inscriptions on
both sides of the gate commemorated this construction work, as did clay
cylinders which were perhaps originally deposited inside Fort Shalmaneser's walls
....
It is
possible that Esarhaddon's activities at Kalhu were intended as a prelude to
reclaiming it as royal capital. There is some, albeit very limited evidence,
that he may have lived at Kalhu briefly towards the end of his reign: a
partially preserved letter mentions that the king's courtiers "are all in
Kalhu", perhaps indicating that the court had moved there from Nineveh (SAA
13: 152). ....
My comment: As for Ashurnasirpal’s being
“ruthless”, his cruelty is legendary (see below). And in this he resembles his
other alter ego, Ashurbanipal (‘Ashur
is the creator of an heir’), whose name is almost identical to Ashurnasirpal (‘Ashur is guardian of the heir’).
The following piece tells of Ashurnasirpal’s, of
Ashurbanipal’s overt cruelty:
Many Kings
of Assyrian had displayed proudly their cruelty towards their enemies.
Sometimes in reliefs or in their annals, New Assyrian [kings] gave detail[s] of
their gory exploits against their opponents.
King Ashurnasirpal
laid out many of his sadistic activities in one of his annals. He liked
burning, skinning, and decapitating his enemies. When he defeated a rebelling
city, he made sure they [paid] a huge price. Disobedient cities were destroyed
and razed to the ground with fire, with their wealth and all material riches
taken by the king. Their youth and women were either burned alive or made into
slaves or placed into the harem. In the City of Nistun, Ashurnasirpal showed
how he cut [off] the heads of 260 rebelling soldiers and piled it together.
Their leader
named Bubu suffered horrific punishment. He was flayed and his skin was placed
in the walls of Arbail.
In the city
of Suri, rebelling nobles were also skinned and were displayed like trophies.
Some skin were left to rot but some were placed in a stake. Officials of the
city suffered decapitation of their limbs. The leader of the Suri rebellion,
Ahiyababa, underwent flaying and his skin was then placed in the walls of
Niniveh. After Ashurnasirpal defeated the city of Tila, he ordered to cut the
hands and feet of the soldiers of the fallen city. Other than that, some
soldiers found themselves without noses and ears. But also, many defeated
soldiers had their eyes gouged out. The heads of the leaders of the Tila were
hang[ed] in the trees around the city.
Ashurnasirpal
was not alone in having a psychotic mind. Many of his successors followed his
brutality towards enemies.
....
The
intellectual King Ashurbanipal also had a share of cruelty. Although he was known
for his great library in Nineveh, he was not as merciful as he seemed. One
time, an Arabian leader name Uaite instigated a rebellion. Ashurbanipal managed
to defeat Uaite and captured him and brought back to Niniveh. There, he brought
upon a humiliating punishment. He was tied like a dog and placed in a kennel
alongside with dogs and jackals guarding the gates of the great Assyrian
capital of Nineveh. ....
And setteth over it the basest of men — If this be applied to Nebuchadnezzar, it must be
understood, either with respect to his present condition, whose pride and
cruelty rendered him as despicable in the sight of God as his high estate made
him appear honourable in the eyes of men; and, therefore, was justly doomed to
so low a degree of abasement: or else it may be interpreted of his wonderful
restoration and advancement after he had been degraded from his dignity. ....
He reigned for 25 years and was succeeded
by his son, Shalmaneser III, who reigned from 859-824 BCE.
My comment: If the revision that I am putting
together in this series - albeit tentatively - is heading in the right
direction, then Ashurnasirpal’s reign was far longer than “25 years”, was 43
years. And Shalmaneser was not his “son”, but his grandfather.
Early Reign and Military Campaigns
... by the time Ashurnasirpal II came to
the throne, he had at his disposal a well-equipped fighting force and
considerable resources.
He put both of these to use almost at once.
He was not so much interested in expansion of the empire as in securing it
against invasion from without or rebellion from within.
My comment: Ashurnasirpal was very much
“interested in expansion of the empire”.
When fitted
with his alter egos, he becomes the
conqueror of even the distant land of Egypt.
He also was required, as an Assyrian king,
to combat the forces of chaos and maintain order. The historian Marc Van De
Mieroop writes, “The king, as representative of the god Assur, represented order.
Wherever he was in control, there was
peace, tranquility, and justice, and where he did not rule there was chaos. The
king’s duty to bring order to the entire world was the justification for
military expansion” (260). While Ashurnasirpal may not have considered
expansion a priority, he certainly took order in his realm very seriously and
would not tolerate insubordination or revolt.
His first campaign was in 883 BCE to the
city of Suru to put down a rebellion there. He then marched to the north where
he put down other rebellions which had broken out when he took the throne. He
was not interested in having to expend more time and resources on future
rebellions and so made an example of the rebels in the city of Tela. In his
inscriptions he writes:
I built a pillar over against the city gate and I flayed
all the chiefs who had revolted and I covered the pillar with their skins. Some
I impaled upon the pillar on stakes and others I bound to stakes round the
pillar. I cut the limbs off the officers who had rebelled. Many captives I
burned with fire and many I took as living captives. From some I cut off their
noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out their eyes. I made one
pillar of the living and another of heads and I bound their heads to tree trunks
round about the city. Their young men and maidens I consumed with fire. The
rest of their warriors I consumed with thirst in the desert of the Euphrates.
My comment: Interestingly, Joshua J. Mark
(“Assyrian Warfare”) applies this horrific Suru episode instead to
Ashurbanipal:
The Assyrian
kings were not to be trifled with and their inscriptions vividly depict the
fate which was certain for those who defied them. The historian Simon Anglim
writes:
The Assyrians created the world's first
great army and the world's first great empire. This was held together by two
factors: their superior abilities in siege warfare and their reliance on sheer,
unadulterated terror. It was Assyrian policy always to demand that examples be
made of those who resisted them; this included deportations of entire peoples
and horrific physical punishments. One inscription from a temple in the city of Nimrod records the fate of the leaders of
the city of Suru on the Euphrates River, who rebelled from, and were
reconquered by, King Ashurbanipal:
“I built a pillar at the city gate and I flayed all the
chief men who had revolted and I covered the pillar with their skins; some I
walled up inside the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes."
My comment: In the Babylonian Chronicles Nebuchednezzar mentions his conquest of Suru:
“The king of Suru; the king of Hazzati ...”.
This treatment of defeated cities would become Ashurnasirpal II’s trademark and would
include skinning insubordinate officials alive and nailing their flesh to the
gates of the city and “dishonoring the maidens and boys” of the conquered
cities before setting them on fire.
With Tela destroyed, he moved swiftly on to
other campaigns. He marched west, fighting his way through other rebel
outbreaks and subjugating the cities which opposed him. The historian John Boardman
notes that “a major factor behind the increasing resistance was probably the
heavy tribute exacted by Ashurnasirpal…one has the impression that a
particularly large amount of booty was claimed by this king and that corvee
[forced labor] was imposed universally” (259). Ashurnasirpal II led his army on
successful campaigns across the Euphrates River and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, where he washed his weapons as a symbol of his
conquests (an act made famous by the inscriptions of Sargon the Great of the earlier Akkadian Empire after he had established
his rule).
My comment: Ashurbanipal, likewise, ‘washed his
weapons in the Sea’ (Warfare, Ritual, and Symbol in Biblical and
Modern Contexts, p. 223):
“Inscriptions from ... Ashurnasirpal II ... and Ashurbanipal ... record washing
their weapons in the Mediterranean Sea and offering sacrifices ...”.
Although some sources claim he then
conquered Phoenicia, it seems clear he entered into diplomatic
relations with the region, as he did also with the kingdom of Israel. The surviving populaces of the cities and territories
he conquered were, as per Assyrian policy, relocated to other regions in the
empire in order to distribute skills and talent.
My comment: If Ashurnasirpal were also
Esarhaddon-Ashurbanipal-Nebuchednezzar, as I am proposing, then he most
certainly conquered Phoenicia, Israel, and more. For example:
Esarhaddon:
.... the Assyrian king
Esarhaddon (r.680-669) tightened the Assyrian grip on the cities of Phoenicia. Sidon was
sacked in 677/676 and its people were deported. In the next year, 676/675, the
cities of Syria and Cyprus were
ordered to contribute building materials for a monument in Nineveh.
The inscription mentions two groups of
contributing kings: those ruling over the Levantine cities and those ruling the
colonies in the west. It also mentions their tributes. The text has attracted
considerable attention because it also mentions King Manasseh of Judah, who
ruled from 687 to 642. ....
Esarhaddon's
Prism B
[1] I called up the kings of the
country Hatti and
(of the region) on the other side of the river Euphrates: Ba'al,
king of Tyre; Manasseh,
king of Judah; Qawsgabar, king of Edom; Musuri,
king of Moab; Sil-Bel,
king of Gaza; Metinti, king of Ashkelon; Ikausu, king of
Ekron; Milkiashapa, king of Byblos; Matanba’al, king of
Arvad; Abiba'al, king of Samisimuruna; Puduil, king of Beth-Ammon; Ahimilki,
king of Ashdod ....
Ashurbanipal:
Ashurbanipal overcame chaos by conquering Egypt,
campaigning against Phoenician Tyre, and warring against the Elamites of
south-western Iran. One of the most arresting sculptures in the exhibition
shows him dining with his wife in the luxurious gardens of his palace in the
aftermath of his victory over Elam. He reclines beneath a particularly luscious
grapevine (his gardens were irrigated by a network of artificial channels); the
head of the Elamite king is staked on the branch of a tree. ....
Nebuchednezzar:
...
in 589BC, Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem was
beseiged again for over a year and a half before finally falling in 587BC. The
Temple was destroyed and the population was taken into exile in Babylonia (see
2 Kings 25:1-10).
Nebuchadnezzar
then proceeded to conquer Phoenicia in 585BC and to invade Egypt
in 567BC. The dominance of Babylonia only came to an end when King Cyrus
of Persia captured Babylon in 539 BC, and Babylonia became
part of the Persian Empire (see Ezra 1:1).
Having accomplished what he set out to do
on campaign, he turned around and headed back to his capital city of Ashur. If there were any further revolts to be put down on his
march back, they are not recorded. It is unlikely that there were more revolts,
however, as Ashurnasirpal II had established a reputation for cruelty and
ruthlessness which would have been daunting to even the most ardent rebel. The
historian Stephen Bertman comments on this, writing:
Ashurnasirpal II set a standard for the future
warrior-kings of Assyria. In the words of Georges Roux, he `possessed to the
extreme all the qualities and defects of his successors, the ruthless,
indefatigable empire-builders: ambition, energy, courage, vanity, cruelty, magnificence’
(Roux 1992:288). His annals were the most extensive of any Assyrian ruler up to
his time, detailing the multiple military campaigns he led to secure or enlarge
his nation’s territorial dominion. From one raid alone he filled his kingdom’s
coffers with 660 pounds of gold an equal measure of silver, and added 460 horses to his stables. The sadistic
cruelty he inflicted upon rebel leaders was legendary, skinning them alive and
displaying their skin, and cutting off the noses and the ears of their
followers or mounting their severed heads on pillars to serve as a warning to
others (79-80).
.... His famous Standard Inscription told
again and again of his triumphs in conquest and vividly depicted the horrible fate of
those who rose against him. The inscription also let the dignitaries from his
own realm, and others, know precisely who they were dealing with. He claimed
the titles “great king, king of the world, the valiant hero who goes forth with
the help of Assur; he who has no rival in all four quarters of the world, the
exalted shepherd, the powerful torrent that none can withstand, he who has
overcome all mankind, whose hand has conquered all lands and taken all the mountain
ranges” (Bauer, 337). His empire stretched across the territory which today
comprises western Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and part of Turkey. Through his diplomatic relationships with
Babylonia and the Levant, he also had access to the resources of
southern Mesopotamia and the sea ports of Phoenicia. In the
understanding of the people of the Near East at that time, he really was “king
of the world”.
“Nebuchadnezzar Syndrome”:
Dreams, visions: “Assurnasirpal built a palace and a temple for the dream
god Mamu ...”:
Megalomania, cruelty: “Ashurnasirpal
II is the epitome of everything you
would ever want out of a psychotically deranged vengeance-sucking ancient
conquest-mongering megalomaniac who drove his jet-fuel-powered chariot across a road paved with
corpses so he could kill a lion with his fists”. http://www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=461274131521
Fiery furnace, lions’ den: “Many captives I burned with fire”
Messing with the rites (unorthodox):
“Ashurnasirpal II holding a bowl, detail of a
relief. Note the King’s facial expression, headgear, hair, earring, necklace,
mustache, beard, wrist bracelet, armlets, daggers, and the bowl he holds with
his right hand. The left hand holds a long royal staff. The King’s attire is
superb. What is unusual in this scene is that the King’s royal attendant is
“taller” than the King himself!”
Mysterious and enduring illness: His
prayer to the goddess Ishtar ... “lamentation over the kings underserved
suffering for a persistent illness” (Donald F. Murray, Divine
Perogative and Royal Pretension: Pragmatics, Poetics and Polemics ..., pp. 266-267):
....
I have cried to thee, suffering, wearied,
and distressed, as thy servant.
See me O my Lady, accept my prayers.
Faithfully look upon me and hear my supplication.
Promise my forgiveness and let thy spirit be appeased.
Pity! For my wretched body which is full of confusion and trouble.
Pity! For my sickened heart which is full of tears and suffering.
Pity! For my wretched intestines (which are full of) confusion and trouble.
Pity! For my afflicted house which mourns bitterly.
Pity! For my feelings which are satiated with tears and suffering.
O exalted Irnini, fierce lion, let thy heart be at rest.
O angry wild ox, let thy spirit be appeased.
Let the favor of thine eyes be upon me.
With thy bright features look faithfully upon me.
Drive away the evil spells of my body (and) let me see thy bright light.
How long, O my Lady, shall my adversaries be looking upon me,
In lying and untruth shall they plan evil against me,
Shall my pursuers and those who exult over me rage against me?
How long, O my Lady, shall the crippled and weak seek me out?
One has made for me long sackcloth; thus I have appeared before thee.
The weak have become strong; but I am weak.
I toss about like flood-water, which an evil wind makes violent.
My heart is flying; it keeps fluttering like a bird of heaven.
I mourn like a dove night and day.
I am beaten down, and so I weep bitterly.
With "Oh" and "Alas" my spirit is distressed.
I - what have I done, O my god and my goddess?
Like one who does not fear my god and my goddess I am treated;
While sickness, headache, loss, and destruction are provided for me;
So are fixed upon me terror, disdain, and fullness of wrath,
Anger, choler, and indignation of gods and men.
I have to expect, O my Lady, dark days, gloomy months, and years of trouble.
I have to expect, O my Lady, judgment of confusion and violence.
Death and trouble are bringing me to an end.
Silent is my chapel; silent is my holy place;
Over my house, my gate, and my fields silence is poured out.
As for my god, his face is turned to the sanctuary of another.
My family is scattered; my roof is broken up.
(But) I have paid heed to thee, my Lady; my attention has been turned to thee.
To thee have I prayed; forgive my debt.
Forgive my sin, my iniquity, my shameful deeds, and my offence.
Overlook my shameful deeds; accept my prayer;
Loosen my fetters; secure my deliverance;
Guide my steps aright; radiantly like a hero let me enter the streets with the
living.
....
