198 A CHANGE OF MASTERS. 



army to fetch away the treasures of the temple and the 

 palace. The ten tribes seceded, and two distinct king- 

 doms were established. 



The ten tribes of Israel, or the kingdom of the 

 North extended over the lands of Samaria and Galilee. 

 Its capital was Sechem ; its sanctuary, Mount Gerizim. 



Judah and Benjamin, the royal tribes, occupied the 

 highlands of Judsea. Jerusalem was their capital ; 

 its temple was their sanctuary, and the Levites, whom 

 the Israelites had discarded, were their priests. It is 

 needless to relate the wars which were almost inces- 

 santly being waged between these two miserable king- 

 doms. When the Empire of the Tigris took the place 

 of Egypt as suzerain of Syria, both Israel and Judah 

 sent their tribute to Nineveh ; and as the cuneiform 

 history relates, both of them afterwards rebelled. Sen- 

 nacherib marched against them, and carried off the ten 

 tribes into captivity. Judasa was more mountainous, 

 and on that account more difficult to conquer than the 

 land of the North. The Jews, as they may now be 

 called, defended themselves stoutly ; and a camp plague 

 broke up the army before Jerusalem. By this occur- 

 rence, Egypt also was preserved from conquest. At 

 that time, Sethos, the priest, was king ; and the sol- 

 diers, whose lands he had taken, refused to fight. 

 Both the Egyptians and the Jews ascribed their escape 

 to a miracle performed by their respective gods. 



Great events now took place. The Assyrian Empire 

 fell to pieces, and Nineveh was destroyed. The 

 Medes inherited its power on the east of the 

 Euphrates ; the Chaldaeans inherited its power on the 

 west. Egypt under the Phil-Hellenes was again 

 spreading into Asia, and a terrific duel took place be- 

 tween the two powers. The Jews managed so well, 



