From: Subject: ESARHADDON IN EGYPT Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 18:22:19 +0300 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="windows-1255" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://localhost:8780/pubs/journals/kronos/vol0903/001egypt.htm X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198 ESARHADDON IN EGYPT

Esarhaddon In Egypt

IMMANUEL VELIKOVSKY

Editor's Note: This article is a section of Velikovsky's = forthcoming book=20 The Assyrian Conquest - LMG

ESARHADDON'S RECONQUEST OF EGYPT

Several years after Sennacherib returned from his ill-fated campaign = against=20 Judah and Egypt, he was slain by two of his sons (- 681), while = worshipping in=20 the temple of Nergal (Mars).(1) Esarhaddon, his heir, pursued his = brothers, but=20 they escaped over the mountains to the north.(2) Then he tried to = re-establish=20 the shattered authority of Assyria in Syria and on the Phoenician shore. =

"I besieged, I captured, I plundered, I destroyed, I devastated, I = burned=20 with fire", wrote Esarhaddon.(3) "I hung the heads of the kings upon the = shoulders of their nobles and with singing and music I paraded."(4) He=20 threatened Tyre whose king "had put his trust in his friend Tirhakah = (Tarku),=20 king of Ethiopia". He "threw up earthworks against the city" and = captured it,=20 and made a vassal of its king Ba'lu.(5) He also marched into the desert = "where=20 serpents and scorpions cover the plain like ants".(6) And having thus = ensured=20 the safety of his rear and flank along the roads to Egypt, he moved his = army=20 against that country.

"In the sixth year the troops of Assyria went to Egypt; they fled = before a=20 storm." This laconic item in the short "Esarhaddon Chronicle"(7) was = written=20 more than one hundred years after his death; if it does not refer to the = debacle=20 of Sennacherib, one may conjecture that - at certain ominous signs in = the sky -=20 the persistent recollection of the disaster which only a few years = earlier had=20 overtaken Sennacherib's army threw the army of his son into a panic.

Thereafter, "in the tenth year, the troops of Assyria went to = Egypt".(8)=20 Esarhaddon marched along the military road running across Syria and = along the=20 coast of Palestine. He conquered Sidon and "tore up and cast into the = sea its=20 walls and its foundations". This ancient Phoenician city was situated on = a=20 promontory jutting into the sea. Its king Abdimilkutti tried to escape = on a=20 boat, but was "pulled out of the sea, like a fish. (9) The Assyrian king = cut off=20 the head of this Sidonian king and sent off to Assyria a rich booty, to = wit:=20 "gold, silver, precious stones, elephant hides, ivory, maple and = boxwood,=20 garments of brightly colored wool and linen.''(10) He took away the = king's wife,=20 his children and his courtiers: "His people from far and near, which = were=20 countless . . . I deported to Assyria.''(11)

Following the fall of Sidon he "called up the kings of the country of = Hatti"-namely Ba'lu, king of Tyre, Manasseh (Me-na-si-i), king of Judah=20 (Ia-u-di), also kings of Edom, Moab, Gaza, Ashkelon, Ekron, Byblos, = Arvad,=20 Beth-Ammon and Ashdod, all named by their names and spoken of also as = "twelve=20 kings of the seacoast''.(12) Esarhaddon summoned also ten kings from = Cyprus=20 (Iadnana)-their names are given, too - altogether "twenty-two kings of = Hatti,=20 the seashore and the islands". He made them "transport, under terrible=20 difficulties, to Nineveh as building material for my palace" logs and = long beams=20 of cedar of Lebanon which had grown for a long time into "tall and = strong=20 timber"; the vassal kings also had to deliver to Nineveh slabs of stones = from=20 the quarries of the entire region.(13)

The king of Tyre "bowed down and implored me as his lord". He "kissed = my=20 feet" and was ordered to pay heavy tribute, and to send "his daughters = with=20 dowries''.(14) "As for Hazail, king of Arabia, the splendor of my = majesty=20 overwhelmed him and with gold, silver, precious stones he came into my = presence=20 [and also] kissed my feet.''(15) Into Arabia Esarhaddon sent "bowmen = mounted on=20 horseback" and brought the villages of the desert under his yoke.

The road to Egypt and its flanks having been made secure, Esarhaddon = wrote:=20 "I trod upon Arzani [to] the Brook of Egypt.''(16) I have already had = occasion=20 to explain the geographical term Arzani as the Hebrew Arzenu, "ourland", = by=20 which the Scriptures (Joshua 9:11, Judges 16:24, Psalms 85:10, Micah = 5:4)=20 repeatedly refer to Israel and Judah; by the same term ('rezenu) this = land was=20 known to the rulers of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Thutmose and others.(17) = "Brook=20 of Egypt" or, in the Assyrian text, Nahal-Musur is the Nahal Mizraim of = Hebrew=20 texts; it is also the Wadi el-Arish, the historical frontier of Egypt = and=20 Palestine. The "town of the Brook of Egypt" in Esarhaddon's inscription = is=20 el-Arish, the ancient Avaris.(18)

It was in his tenth year, or -671, that Esarhaddon entered Egypt: he = marched=20 unopposed only as far as a place he calls Ishupri: there he met his = adversary,=20 Tirhaka, king of Ethiopia (Nubia) and Egypt. The progress from here on = was slow;=20 it took fifteen days to advance from Ishupri to Memphis, close to the = apex of=20 the Delta a few miles south from present-day Cairo.

"From the town of Ishupri as far as Memphis, his royal residence, a = distance=20 of fifteen days' march, I fought daily, without interruption, very = bloody=20 battles against Tirhakah, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, the one accursed = by all=20 the great gods. Five times I hit him with the point of my arrows, = inflicting=20 wounds from which he should not recover, and then I laid siege to = Memphis, his=20 royal residence, and conquered it in half a day by means of mines, = breaches and=20 assault ladders; I destroyed it, tore down its walls and burned it=20 down.''(19)

ISHUPRI, THE TOWN OF SETHOS

Before we go on to recount the events that followed, we should = examine more=20 closely the question of the identity of the "town of Ishuprit' that = Esarhaddon=20 mentions as the starting point in his confrontation with Tirhaka. Its = name was=20 not known from the list of cities compiled from hieroglyphic texts of = the=20 Imperial Age of Egypt, and it intrigued the Orientalists. When their = efforts to=20 find its derivation were crowned with success, the solution raised a = rather=20 grave problem.

Ishupri was understood as an Assyrian transcription of the throne = name of=20 Pharaoh Sethos (Wesher-khepru-re) and meaning "Sethosburg", or the like. = The=20 late leading German Orientalist Albrecht Alt came to this conclusion(20) = and the=20 solution was accepted by other Orientalists. The problem raised by this = solution=20 was in the enormous time-span between Sethos and Esarhaddon on the = conventional=20 timetable. Sethos (in conventional history Seti II) is placed in the = second part=20 of the thirteenth century, and Esarhaddon ruled Assyria from -681 to = -668,=20 invading Egypt in -671; in between there lie some five hundred and = seventy=20 years. The survival of the name Sethos-burg (Ishupri) was considered by = Alt as=20 "remarkable", and even more remarkable ("um so bemerkenswerter") is the = fact=20 that, for these almost six hundred years, this locality remained = unmentioned in=20 the hieroglyphic texts and appeared for the first time in the annals of=20 Esarhaddon. In his inscriptions, Esarhaddon refers to Ishupri no less = than three=20 times. How did an Assyrian king of the seventh century come to call a = fortress=20 or a locality east of the Delta, possibly Kantara of today,(21) by the = name of=20 an obscure pharaoh of an age long past? Or why did this city name, = familiar to=20 Esarhaddon, escape all texts - Egyptian or otherwise - prior to -671 ? = Should it=20 not have been preserved on some document belonging to the king who built = it or=20 the generations following, if the city was named after him?

In my own historical reconstruction, Sethos is recognized as the = grandfather=20 of Seti the Great; we find him in the history of Herodotus as the = adversary of=20 Sennacherib, father of Esarhaddon.(22) He was considered a savior of = Egypt and=20 it was therefore only natural to find that a city or fortress guarding = the=20 Asiatic frontier was named after him: Esarhaddon on his campaign to = recover=20 Egypt, only a few years after the events of -687, called it by the name = it then=20 carried: "House of Sethos", or "Sethos-burg". Sethos, the adversary of=20 Esarhaddon's father, could even have still been alive.

ESARHADDON ON THE NILE

Upon seizing Memphis Esarhaddon captured Tirhaka's queen, his = children, the=20 women of his palace, as well as horses and cattle "beyond counting", and = all=20 this he sent as booty to Assyria.

"All Ethiopians I deported from Egypt-leaving not even one to do = homage to=20 me. Everywhere in Egypt I appointed new kings, governors, = officers.''(23) The=20 word "new" means that kings and governors had already been appointed by = his=20 father Sennacherib - but Haremhab was not among those who were now=20 re-appointed.(24) The Assyrian king obliged Egypt with sacrificial dues = "for=20 Ashur and the other great gods my lords, for all times". He also imposed = tribute=20 to the Assyrian crown to be paid "annually without ceasing". Besides = prisoners=20 of war, Esarhaddon also sent civilians to Nineveh, namely physicians, = divination=20 experts, goldsmiths, cabinet-makers, cartwrights, and shipwrights.

Esarhaddon continued along the Nile towards the Sudan (Ethiopia). = "From Egypt=20 I departed, to Melukha (Ethiopia) I marched straightway."(25) He = described=20 briefly the march of thirty days from Egypt to Melukha - on none of the = existing=20 steles, however, have the details of this part of his campaign remained=20 preserved. Tirhaka retreated before the Assyrian king, who had already = covered=20 an immense distance from Nineveh to the cataracts on the Nile.

Summing up the campaign of his tenth year, Esarhaddon wrote: "I = conquered=20 Egypt, Upper Egypt, and Ethiopia (Musur, Patursi, and Kusi). Tirhakah, = its king,=20 five times I fought with him with my javelin, and I brought all of his = land=20 under my sway, I ruled it."(26)

Esarhaddon called himself "king of Sumur and Akkad, king of the kings = of=20 Egypt, Upper Egypt and Ethiopia, the son of Sennacherib, king of = Assyria".

Egypt reconquered, Esarhaddon returned home. At Sendjirli in eastern=20 Anatolia, he erected a memorial stele to glorify his lord Ashur by = recounting=20 his own mighty deeds when he marched against the enemy "upon the = trustworthy=20 oracles" of his lord Ashur.(27) Less than two years passed and Tirhaka = again=20 emerged from Nubia and once more took possession of Egypt. Esarhaddon = put his=20 army on a hurried march.

REFERENCES

1. II Kings 19: 36-37; Luckenbill, Records = of=20 Assyria II.302, 795 & 796. In the biblical account the temple = is=20 identified as that of Nisroeh, apparently the same as Nergal, or Mars. =
2.=20 Esashaddon's text runs as follows: " . . . they heard the march of my = expedition=20 and deserted the troops who were helping them, and fled to an unknown = land." R.=20 C. Thomson, The Prisms of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal Found at = Nineveh,=20 1927-8 (London, 1931), p. 12. Though younger than his two = brothers-parricides,=20 Esarhaddon had been chosen for the kingship by an oracle, and was made=20 crown-prince already in Sennacherib's lifetime.
3. Referring to his = Cilician=20 campaign: Luckenbill, Records of Assyria II 516; Thompson, = The=20 Prisms of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, p. 18.
4. Referring to = the=20 execution of Abdi-milkutti of Sidon and Sansuarri of Kundi: Luckenbill,=20 Records of Assyria II. 556.
5. Luckenbill, Records of=20 Assyria II. 556.
6. Ibid., 11. 520.
7. "The = Esarhaddon=20 Chronicle" in Sidney Smith, Babylonian Historical Texts Relating to = the=20 Capture and Downfall of Babylon (London,1924), p. 14.
8.=20 Ibid
9. Luckenbill, Records of Assyria II.527. =
10.=20 Ibid.
11. Ibid.
12. It is worth noting that = Esarhaddon=20 refers to these rulers and to their lands as kings and lands of Hatti, = which is=20 nearly synonymous with the designation "the other side of the = Euphrates." Hatti=20 is obviously a broad geographical term. Luckenbill, Records of = Assyria=20 II. 690.
13. Ibid., II. 527.
14. Ibid., II. 547.
15. = Luckenbill,=20 Records of Assyria II . 551.
16. Ibid., II. 710.
17. = See=20 Ages in Chaos, Vol. I, Section "God's Land and Rezenu".
18. = See=20 Ages in Chaos, Vol. I, Section "The Location of Avaris". [Also = see M.=20 A. Luckerman, "A Note on the Location of Avaris," KRONOS 1:2, pp. 85-88. = - LMG]=20
19. The Sendjirli Stele, trans. by Luckenbill, Records of = Assyria=20 II. 580
20. "Ishupri", Oricntalistische Literaturzeitung = (1925), Nr.=20 9/10, pp. 574-578.
21. Alt, "Ishupri", p. 578.
23. See I. = Velikovsky,=20 "From the End of the Eighteenth Dynasty to the Time of Ramses II," = KRONOS III:3,=20 pp. 12-15, 20, 21.
24. Luckenbill, Records of Assyria II. 580. =
25.=20 However, the reader is referred to I. Velikovsky, op. cit., pp. = 17 and=20 20 and the letter by S. Kogan in KRONOS VIII:2, pp. 89-90, for the = possible=20 pharaonic appointment of Haremhab by Esarhaddon. - LMG
26. The = campaigns of=20 Esarhaddon in Egypt and Ethiopia are recorded on his steles, =
particularly on=20 that found at Sendjirli; his stele at Nahr el-Kalb (Dog River), close=20 to
Beirut, also describes the campaign against Egypt and the capture = of=20 Memphis.
Luckenbill, Records of Assyria II. 557 ff.
27.=20 Luckenbill, Records of Assyria II. 710.
28. E. Schrader,=20 Inschrift Asarhaddon's Konigs von Assyrien {681-668 v. = Chr.)=20 gefunden zu Sendschirli (Berlin, 189 3); Luckenbill, = Records of=20 Assyria II . 580.=20

\cdrom\pubs\journals\kronos\vol0903\001egypt.htm=20