104 



Nineveh was the city of Istar, the Ashtaroth of the 

 Zidonians, and her temple was the chief fane of the city. 

 '' She was the Queen of Heaven and the StarS;" and was 

 attended by her two maids, Samkhat and Kharimat, per- 

 sonifications of Pleasure and. Lust. The knowledge of 

 these facts add point to the bitter curse of the prophet, 

 "Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the well- 

 favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts " (JSTahum iii. 4). 

 The trade of Nineveh, which was very great, is amply illus- 

 trated by the large collection of contract tablets in the British 

 Museum, which show how indeed the merchants of Nineveh 

 were ''^multiplied above the stars of heaven ^^ (Nahum iii. 

 16). The fall of Nineveh is closely connected with the fall of 

 the house of Judah, and must have indeed been anxiously 

 waited for by the nations under her iron rule. The monu- 

 ments and the Greek writers all agree in placing the fall of 

 Assyria, or the siege of Nineveh, in or about B.C. 625. There 

 are now many additional proofs of the accuracy of this date, 

 and, as they have an important bearing on Hebrew prophecy, 

 I will give them. 



The Canon of Ptolemy, which is founded upon astronomical 

 data, gives the following series of Babylonian rulers during 

 this period : — 



First year. 



Asaridinus 13 years B.C. 680. 



Saosduchinus 20 „ B.C. 667. 



Isinladanus ^ 



or 22 „ B.C. 647. 



Kinlidinus ) 



Nabapalassar 21 „ B.C. 625. 



The accession of Esarhaddon, the Asaridinus of the Canon 

 of Ptolemy, is fixed by an entry in the Assyrian Eponym 

 Canon as occurring in the Eponymous year of Nahii-alvhi-eris, 

 that is B.C. 681. His first year as distinguished from his 

 accession year would be, therefore, B.C. 680, as Ptolemy states. 

 His son Assurbanipal succeeded him in B.C. 668 as King of 

 Assyria, the throne or viceroyalfcy of Babylon being given to 

 the younger brother, Skamas-Snma-ITkin, the Saosduchinus 



11) must be "Out of that land he (Ninirod) ■went forth into Assyria, and 

 builded Nineveh," the City of Streets, "and Calah, and Kesen between 

 Nineveh and Calah." Esaxhaddon (W. A. I., vol. i., pi. 40) speaks of the 



*-| I<y v^f: -^*- >-<|< ri-i-bii-fi, or streets of Nineveh, throuoh wliicli lie 

 made his captives to pass. 



