108 



belonging to this period. They were obtained from the 

 excavations at Koyuujik by Sir Henry Layard. Here we have 

 Assurbanipal mentioned in conjunction with his son Assur- 

 akha-iddina, or Esarhaddon 11.^ and the tablets dated in the 



eponym of T >->-Y dt ^^ )^ Natri-sdrra-idzur. There is, as 



I have pointed out in my paper on the Egibi tablets [Trans. 

 Soc. Bib. Arch., vol. vi., pt. i., pp. 1-133), no ground for 

 identifying this monarch with Esarhaddon, the son of 

 Sennacherib. From these tablets it appears that a great 

 rebellion had broken out in the north-east provinces of 

 Assyria, and a powerful confederation, consisting of the 



^11-4 mil! Tf Ir Gi-^^^>--ah B] ^IT Ty Tf ^<^'-^''-''h 



Medes, and // *~^T Ty Ty Man-na-ai, or Mineans, was 



marching against Assyria under the leadership of a chieftain 



named Y >-^T>-| ^ ^1 '"II'^I '^T^ Ka-as-tu-ri-U. The name 



of this leader very closely resembles that of Cyaxeres, the son 

 of Phraotes, and the date between B.C. 648 and B.C. 625 

 agrees with the classical authorities. We are told that 

 Cyaxeres marched against Nineveh to revenge tbe death of 

 his father, who was slain by Sardanapalus. As Kastariti is 

 here only called "^ general ^^ or leader, the war probably took 

 place during the life of Phraotes and prior to B.C. 625. The 

 effect of this invasion upon Nineveh and its king is recorded in 

 the tablet, and it is a valuable comment upon the repentance 

 of Nineveh as described in the book of Jonah, though hardly 

 of that date. The passage is thus translated : — 



" O Sun-god, great lord, I have prayed to thee. 



God of fixed destiny, remove our sin ! 



From the current day, ord day of this same month, 

 Airu (2nd month), to the 15th day of the month, 

 Abu (5th month), of the current year, for one 

 hundred days and one hundred nights consecutive, let 

 the chiefs 'proclaim rites and festivals.^' 



The revolt spreading to Babylonia, Egypt, and the other 

 provinces, the fall of Nineveh was accomplished. The 

 Babylonian revolt taking place in B.C. 626, headed by 

 Nabupalassar, was the most important ; and soon after this, 

 apparently in B.C. 609-10, Necho '^^ marched against [the 

 weak] King of Assyria,-" and slew Josiah, his ally, at 

 Mageddo (B.C. 609). The allied armies of Nabupalassar, 

 Cyaxeres, and Necho accomplished the overthrow of Assyria, 



