Identifier: mythslegendsofba00spenuoft (find matches)
Title: Myths and legends of Babylonia & Assyria
Year: 1916 (1910s)
Authors: Spence, Lewis, 1874-1955
Subjects: Assyro-Babylonian religion Mythology, Assyro-Babylonian Legends Cults
Publisher: London : Harrap
Contributing Library: Kelly - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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heory thathis collection of literature had a religious-politicalbasis. The Last Kings of Assyi-ia After the death of Assur-bani-pal the Scythianssucceeded in penetrating into Assyria, through whichthey pushed their way as far as the borders of Egypt,and the remains of the Assyrian army took refugein Nineveh. The end was now near at hand. Thelast King of Assyria was probably Sin-sar-iskin, theSarakos of the Greeks, who reigned for some yearsand who even tells us through the medium of in-scriptions that he intended to restore the ruinedtemples of his land. War broke out with Baby-lonia, however, and Cyaxares, the Scythian King ofEcbatana, came to the assistance of the Babylonians.Nineveh was captured by the Scythians, sacked anddestroyed, and the Assyrian empire was at an end. Nebuchadrezzar But strangely enough the older seat of power,Babylon, still flourished to some extent. By super-human exertions, Nebuchadrezzar II (or Nebuchad-nezzar), who reigned for forty-three years, sent the36
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The Library of King Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh Fernand Le Quesne By ■permission of Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. 36 NEBUCHADREZZAR standard of Babylonia far and wide through the knownworld. In 567 b.c. he invaded Egypt. In one of hiscampaigns he marched against Jerusalem and put itsking, Jehoiakim, to death, but the king whom theBabylonian monarch set up in his place was deposedand the royal power vested in Zedekiah. Zedekiahrevolted in 558 B.C. and once more Jerusalem wastaken and destroyed, the principal inhabitants werecarried captive to Babylon, and the city was reducedto a condition of insignificance. This, the first exileof the Jews, lasted for seventy years. The story ofthis captivity and of Nebuchadrezzars treatmentof the Jewish exiles is graphically told in the Bookof Daniel, whom the Babylonians called Belteshazzar.Daniel refused to eat the meat of the Babylonians,probably because it was not prepared according toJewish rite. He and his companions ate pulse anddrank water, and

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