118 



THEOPHILUS G. PIXCHES, LL.D., M.R.A.S.^ OX 



Statement in 2 Kings xxv, 27-30, where we learn that he 

 honoured the captive King Jehoiachin of Judah, and placed his 

 throne, in the latter's thirty-seventh year, above the thrones of 

 the kings who were in captivity with him, changed his prison 

 garments, and let him eat at the royal table for the remainder 

 of his days. The Babylonian king doubtless felt that this was 

 an honour due to an unfortunate prince no longer young. That 

 Evil-Merodach displeased the Babylonians, there is no doubt, 

 for, according to Josephus, Berosus states that he governed 

 pubhc affairs lawlessly and extravagantly,'" probably meaning 

 that he displeased tbe priestly and military classes. The 

 Babylonian priest states that he was slain by his sister's 

 husband, Xeriglissooros (Xeriglissar, the Babylonian Xerigal- 

 sarra-usur), who then mounted the throne (559 B.C.). 



Being an adorer of Xerigal, the god of war, pestilence, and, as 

 we may believe, sudden and ^-iolent death in general, it seems 

 hkely that the Babylonians — if they knew, which is doubtful — did 

 not regard his having murdered his brother-in-law as a crime 

 barring his mountino^ the throne. He himself, it is true, does 

 not refer to the circumstances of his succession. He is content 

 to describe himself as " son of Bel-sum-iskun,'"' a personage prob- 

 ably of some importance, but of whom nothing is known except 

 that Xeriglissar makes him to be of royal rank. It is note- 

 worthy that, before assuming the crown, Xeriglissar was 

 engaged in inany commercial transactions, which, perhaps, 

 indicate that he and Ms family were originally " princes of the 

 people — rich men who, by their commercial activity, had 

 become known to a large section of the population ; and it is 

 probable that Xeriglissar had used this popularity, together 

 mth his royal connections, as a stepping-stone to the supreme 

 position to which he aspired. That he favoured the priestly 

 class may be assumed from the fact that, in the first year of his 

 reign, his daughter Gigitu"" wedded Xabu-sum-ukin, a priest of 

 the celebrated temple of Xebo at Borsippa, on the Xew Year's 

 Day. 



Like Xabopolassar and Xebuchadrezzar, he poses as patron ol 

 E-sagila, the great temple of Belus (Merodach) at Babylon, and 

 E-zida, at Borsippa, to which his son-in-law belonged. With 

 regard to the government of liis kingdom, he states that Xebo 

 had caused his hands to hold a just sceptre, and Ura, prince of 

 the gods (he was identified with Xerigal, god of war, referred to 

 above ) had given him his weapon to keep the people and preserve 

 the country. This looks as though the god of pestilence was 

 also the god of the assassin. After mentioning his father, Bel- 



