116 



THEOPHILUS G. PINCUES^ LL.D.^ M.E.A.S., OX 



he made an expedition against an Egyptian king, who seems, 

 from the remains of his name, to have been Amasis. In this 

 record a city — or, perhaps, a province — called Putu-yaman is 

 referred to, and described, apparently, as being a distant district 

 ''within the sea," This idiom is used by Assur-bani-apli when 

 speaking of Cyprus. 



Notwithstanding the doubt which exists with regard to Tyre, 

 it is certain that the Babylonian king ultimately became master 

 of the city, for a contract exists dated there on the 20th of 

 Tammuz, in Xebuchadrezzar's fortieth year. Another tablet, 

 dated at dl mat Suba, " the city of the land of Zobah," on the 

 16th of Tammuz in the same year — that is, six days earher — is 

 noteworthy, as it may point to the march of Xebuchadrezzar's 

 army to take possession of the seaport, or, possibly, to some 

 movement of troops thither for the consolidation of Babylonian 

 power. The tablet dated at Tyre, in the fortieth year of Nebu- 

 chadrezzar, however, must have been drawn up during the rule 

 of the judges who governed Tyre after the end of the reign of 

 Baal, and suggests that they acted under Babylonian suzerainty. 

 From this tablet we learn that the governor of Kades (Kidis) at 

 the time was Milki-idiri, but all the witnesses to the document 

 seem to have been Babylonians, possibly present in Tyre in 

 some official capacity. (See pp. 126-130.) 



The destruction of Babylon by Sennacherib has already been 

 referred to, as well as Esarhaddon's work there. In addition to 



V 



these two rulers, however, both his sons — Samas-sum-ukin or 

 Saosduchinos and Assur-bani-aph, " the great and noble 

 Asnapper " — worked at restoring the temples. Xebuchadrezzar, 

 in spite of this, doubtless found much to do there, and numerous 

 records bearing his name deal at length with his architectural 

 work. The great temple^ of Belus (Slerodach), in Babylonian 

 E-sagila. together with E-temen-ana-ki, " the temple of the 

 foundation of heaven and earth," also called "the tower of 

 Babylon," connected with it, were restored by him, as were like- 

 wise many, if not all, of the other fanes of the great city. His 

 inscriptions also confirm what the classical authors say in 

 recording that he made Babylon practically impregnable by 

 means of high and massive walls and a well-constructed moat. 

 To the above must be added the quays which he built along the 

 banks of the Euphrates, which flowed through the city, and the 

 augmentation of the great palace which Xabopolassar, his father, 

 had built, by another just as extensive, which, he states (and this 

 is confirmed by Herodotus), was erected in fifteen days ! It is to 

 be noted, however, that all the provisions for the defence of 



