116 



The epithet applied to Cyrus in the inscription^ 



" Cyrus, king of Anzan, his little servant," 



is a remarkable one on account of its resemblance to the 

 words o£ the prophet Isaiah, '' That saith of Cyrus^ He is my 

 shepherd [prince], and shall perform all ray pleasure/' 

 Again, " Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose 

 right hand I have holden to subdue nations before him " 

 (Isaiah xliv. 28; xlv. 1). 



There we may conclude that in B.C. 550 Cyrus, by over- 

 throwing the allied tribes under Astyages^ and assuming the 

 crown of Media himself, acted as a deliverer to the weakened 

 empire of Babylonia, and was regarded by the people as a 

 saviour raised up by the great god, Bel-Merodach. 



The Median affairs and the war with Croesus, king of Lydia, 

 which culminated in the burning of Sardis occupied the 

 attention of Cyrus for the next ten years, and it was not 

 until B.C. 540 he began his war against Babylon. The move- 

 ments of Cyrus appear to have been very carefully watched 

 by the Babylonians and recorded in the Chronicle. Thus, 

 under date of the ninth year of Nabonidus, that is B.C. 547, 

 we read : " Nabonidus, the king, was in the city of Teva, the 

 son of the king (Belshazzar), the chieftains, and the soldiers 

 were in the land of Akkad (North Babylonia).''^ '"'The king 

 till the month Nisan (first month) to Babylon went not, Nebo 

 to Babylon came not, Bel went not forth." '' In the month 



Nisan, the mother of the king (Sft^^T ^:^^ um sarri) in the 

 fortified camp on the Euphrates above Sippara H*^ ^^ ^Y^Y 



Si-par) died. The son of the king and the soldiers for three 



days weeping was made. Also in the month 



Sivan (third month) in the land of Akkad there was weeping- 

 made over the mother of the king. In the month Nisan 



Cyrus, King of Persia (V" -^Y *^YY Mat Par-su), his army 



gathered and below Arbela the river Tigris he crossed. 

 The chronicle is here mutilated, and it can only be seen that 

 Cyrus marching across the northern portion of the Euphrates 

 valley levied tribute of a distant king. This was probably 

 one of the campaigns connected with the war against Croesus, 

 and the rising power of the now united Medes and Persians 

 was anxiously watched by the Babylonians. Nabonidus, judg- 

 ing from this chronicle, appears to have been a weak ruler, 

 neglecting the affairs of state and religion, and leaving the 

 government, or, at least, the command of the army in the 



