A triad is an association of three kindred or correlated deities. In ancient Egypt, cycles of this type usually arose out of the association with the chief local god of other deities; in some instances the members were deemed to stand in the relationship of father, mother and child. Such were the Theban triad of Amen, Nut and Khons; the Memphite of Ptah, Sekhet and Nefertum; and the Osiris-Isis-Horus triad, which, n the Alexandrian form, comprised Serapis, Isis and Harpocrates.
In Babylonia, triads were derived from early conceptions of a cosmic trinity, such as Anu, Enlil and Ea representing sky, earth and water: and shin, Shamash and Ishtar, representing sun, moon and star. Early Aryan thought moved in the same direction in the Vedic triad of Agni, Indra and Surya, representing fire, wind and sun. out of this emerged the Brahman Trimurti, or three aspects, portrayed as a three-headed image in a famous sculpture at Elephanta, and comprising Brahma, the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Siva the destroyer.
Buddhism adopted the principle in the Triratna, or three jewels, which were at first the Sangha or monastic order, portrayed as a man holding a lotus, the Buddha, and the Dharma, or sacred law.
The Triad Society of China, denoting the union of heaven, earth and man arose in the 18th century and became a powerful anti-dynastic movement. Research Triad
Nebuchadnezzar was King of Babylonia from 604 BC. He was born in 630 BC and died in 562 BC. Shortly before his accession he defeated the Egyptians at Carchemish and brought Palestine and Syria into his empire. Judah revolted, with Egyptian assistance, in 596 and from 587 to 586 BC; on both occasions he captured Jerusalem and took many Hebrews into captivity. He largely rebuilt Babylon and constructed the hanging gardens. Research Nebuchadnezzar
The Sumerians were a people that inhabited the southern part of the alluvial basin formed by the River Tigris and the River Euphrates (in what is now Iraq). Their civilisation started in the fourth millennium BC when the first cities with monumental mud-brick architecture appeared. The economic basis for this civilisation was agriculture, mainly producing grain on irrigated land, as well as livestock. The surplus agriculture was traded for materials lacking in the region. most notably metal, timber and precious stones, which stimulated long-distance trade. The characteristic political unit was the city with its surrounding arable land. In the second half of the third millennium attempts were made to unify the country and impose a centralised political and administrative control. The most successful Sumerian state was that ruled by the Third Dynasty of Ur from around 2113 to 4 BC. In the eighteenth century BC Semitic-speaking groups (known as the Amorites) formed a new state, Babylonia, and Sumerian ceased to be a spoken language, although written Sumerian continued to be used for religious purposes for another thousand years. Research Sumerian
Assyria (the Asshur of the Hebrews, Athurd of the ancient Persians) was an ancient monarchy in Asia, intersected by the upper course of the Tigris, and having the Armenianmountains on the north and Babylonia on the south; area, probably about 100,000 sq. miles; surface partly mountainous, hilly, or undulating, partly a portion of the fertile Mesopotamian plain. The numerous remains of ancient habitations show how thickly this vast flat must have once been peopled; now, for the most part, it is a merewilderness. The chief cities of Assyria in the days of its prosperity were Nineveh, the site of which is marked by mounds opposite Mosul (Nebi Yunus and Koyunjik), Calah or Kalakh (the modern Nimrud), Asshur or Al Asur (Kalah Sherghat), Sargina (Khorsabad), and Arbela (Arbil).
Much light has been thrown on the history of Assyria by the decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions obtained by excavation. The assertion of the Bible that the early inhabitants of Assyria went from Babylon is in conformity with the traditions of later times, and with inscriptions on the disinterred Assyrian monuments. For a long period the country was subject to governors appointed by the kings of Babylon, but about 1500 BC it became independent. About the end of the fourteenth century its king, Shalmaneser, is said to have founded the city of Kalakh or Calah; his son Tiglath-ninip conquered the whole of the valley of the Euphrates. The five following reigns were chiefly occupied by wars with the Babylonians. About 1120 Tiglath-Pileser I, one of the greatest of the sovereigns of the first Assyrian monarchy, ascended the throne, and carried his conquests to the Mediterranean on the one side and to the Caspian and the Persian Gulf on the other. At his death there ensued a period of decline, which lasted over 200 years. Under Assur-nazir-pal, who reigned from 884 to 859 BC, Assyria once more advanced to the position of the leading power in the world, the extent of his kingdom being greater than that of Tiglath-Pileser. The magnificent palaces, temples, and other buildings of his reign prove the advance of the nation in wealth, art, and luxury. In 859 he was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser II, whose career of conquest was equally successful. He reduced Babylon to a state of vassalage, and came into hostile contact with Benhadad and Hazael of Damascus, and with Ahab and Jehu of Israel, from whom he exacted tribute, as also from the king's of Tyre and Sidon. The old dynasty came to an end in the person of Assurnirari II, who was driven from the throne by a usurper, Tiglath-Pileser, in 745, after a struggle of some years. No sooner was this able ruler firmly seated on the throne than he made an expedition into Babylonia, followed by another to the east in
4. A year later he defeated the confederate princes of Armenia, Syria, etc, and advancing against Syria, overthrew the ancient kingdoms of Damascus and Hamath, and placed his vassal Hosea on the throne of Samaria. A protracted campaign in Media from 737 to 735, another in Armenia, and the expedition into Syria mentioned in 2 Kings XVI, are among the most important events of the latter years of his reign. Tiglath-Pileser carried the Assyrian arms from Lake Van on the north to the Persian Gulf on the south, and from the confines of India on the east to the Nile on the west. He was, however, driven from his throne by Shalmaneser IV in 727, who blockaded Tyre for five years, invaded Israel, and besiegedSamaria, but died before the city was reduced. His successor Sargon - who reigned from 722 to 705 - was a usurper who claimed descent from the ancient Assyrian kings. After taking Samaria and leading over 27,000 people captive, he overthrew the combined forces of Elam (Susiana) and Babylon. He defeated the King of Hamath, who along with other princes had revolted, took him prisoner, and flayed him alive, advanced through Philistia and captured Ashdod; then pushing southwards totally defeated the forces of Egypt and Gaza at Raphia in 719. The revolted Armenians had also more than once to be put down. In 710 Merodach-Baladan was driven out of Babylonia by Sargon, after holding it for twelve years as an independent king, and being supported by the rulers of Egypt and Palestine; his allies were also crushed, Judah was overrun, and Ashdod levelled to the ground. Sargon latterly crossed over and took Cyprus, where he left an inscription telling of his expedition. He spent the latter years of his reign in internal reforms, in the midst of which he was murdered, being succeeded by Sennacherib, one of his younger sons, in 705. Sennacherib at once had to take up arms against Merodach-Baladan, who had again obtained possession of Babylon. In 701 fresh outbreaks in Syria led him
n that direction. He captured Zidon and Askelon, and defeated Hezekiah and his Egyptian and Ethiopian allies, and forced him to pay tribute, after which he returned to Assyria to overawe the Babylonians, Elamites, and the northern hill tribes. A second expedition into Syria is briefly recorded in 2 Kings XIX., where we are told, that, as his army lay before Libnah, in one night the angel of Jehovah went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 men (2 Kings XIX 35). In 681 he was murdered by his two sons, Adrammelech and Sharezer, but they were defeated by their brother Esar-haddon, who then mounted the throne. Esar-haddon fixed his residence at Babylon, and made it his capital. The most important event of this reign was the conquest of Egypt, which was reduced to a state of vassalage, the Ethiopian ruler Tirhakah being driven out and the land divided into twenty separate kingdoms, the rulers of which were the vassals of Esar-haddon. He associated his son Assur-bani-pal wi
h him in the government of the kingdom (669), and two years later this prince (the Sardanapalus of the Greeks) became sole ruler. In 652 a general insurrection broke out, headed by Sammughes, governor of Babylonia, Assur-bani-pal's own brother, and including Babylonia, Egypt, Palestine, and Arabia. Egypt was the only power, however, which regained its independence; fire, sword, and famine reduced the rest to submission. In 640 the Medes revolted, and latterly made themselves independent.
Though the king's character was marked by cruelty and sensuality, he was a zealous patron of the arts and learning. He died in 625, and was succeeded by his son Assur-emid-ilin (or Sarakos), under whom Babylon definitely threw off the Assyrian yoke. The country continued rapidly to decline, fighting hard for existence until the capital Nineveh was captured and burned by the allied forces of the Medes and Babylonians, about 607 or 606 BC. The story of Sardanapalus associated with this event is a mere myth or legend. Assyria now fell partly to Media, partly to Babylonia, and afterwards formed with Babylonia one of the satrapies of the Persian empire. In 312 BC it became part of the kingdom of the Seleucidae; later on it came under Parthian rule, and was more than once a Roman possession. Eor a long period it was under the caliphs of Bagdad. In 1638 the Turks wrested it from the Persians, and it long continued under their dominion until the mid 20th century.
The original inhabitants of Assyria and Babylonia are known as Accadians (or Sumerians). They belonged to the Turanian or Ural-Altaic race, and were, therefore, of the same stock as that from which the Finns, Turks, and Magyars have descended. In early times a Semitic race of people spread themselves over the country, and mingled with or supplanted the original inhabitants, while their language took the place of the Accadian, the latter becoming a dead language. These later Assyrians were thus akin to the Hebrews, Phoenicians, and modern Arabians. Their language differed little from the Babylonian, and both retained traces of the influence of the earlier Accadian. Assyrian is closely allied to Hebrew and Phoenician, and changed little throughout the 1500 years during which we can trace it in the inscriptions. It continued to be written with the cuneiform or arrow-headed character down to the third century BC The greater part of the Assyrian literature was stamped in minute characters on baked bricks, the subjects comprising hymns to the gods, mythological and epic poems, and works on history, chronology, astrology, law, etc. The Assyrian religion was almost the same as that of Babylonia, but in addition to the worship of the Babylonian deities the Assyrians adored their national deity Assur, who was called king of all the gods, the god who created himself. He was symbolically represented by a winged circle inclosing the figure of an archer. After Assur came twelve chief deities, including Anu, the father of the gods; Bel, the lord of the world; Hea, the lord of the sea; Sin, the moon-god; Shamas, the sun-god; Istar, a powerful goddess with various attributes; Ninip, god of hunting (the man-bull); Nergal, god of war (the man-lion); etc. A number of spirits, good and evil, presided over the minor operations of nature. There were set forms regulating the worship of all the gods and spirits, and prayers to each were inscribed on clay tablets with blanks for the names
f the persons using them.
The Assyrians were far advanced in art and industry, and in civilization in general. They constructed large buildings, especially palaces, of a most imposing character, the materials being brick, burned or sun-dried, stone, alabaster slabs for lining and adorning the walls internally and externally, and timber for pillars and roofs. These alabaster slabs were elaborately sculptured with designs serving to throw much light on the manners and customs of the people. A most characteristic feature of the palaces were gigantic figures of winged, human-headed bulls, placed at gateways (often arched over) or other important points; figures of lions, etc, were also similarly employed. The palaces were raised on high terraces, and often comprised a great number of apartments; there were no windows, light being obtained by carrying the walls up to a certain height and then raising on them pillars to support the roof and admit light and air. The Assyrian sculptures, as a rule, were in relief, figures in the full round being the exception. In many cases, however, as in those of winged bulls and other monsters, a compromise was attempted between the full round and relief, the heads being worked free and the body in relief, with an additional leg to meet the exigencies of different points of view. More than three-quarters of the reliefs are of warlike scenes; hunting scenes are also favourite subjects; occasionally industrial scenes in connection with palace building are represented, and less frequently religious ceremonials. The artists had no conception of perspective. In some of the hunting scenes an exceedingly high level of art is attained. The vestiges of Assyrian painting consist chiefly of fragments of stucco and glazed tiles, on which are bands of ornament, rows of rosettes and anthemions, woven strap-work, conventionalized mythic animals, and occasionally figures. In these traces of Egyptian influence are to be found, but the Assyrian figure type is for the most part
a more voluptuous and vigorous fulness than the Egyptian. Of the advanced condition of the Assyrians in various other respects we have ample evidence. They understood and applied the arch; constructed tunnels, aqueducts, and drains; used the pulley, the lever, and the roller; engraved gems in a highly artistic way; understood the arts of inlaying, enamelling, and overlaying with metals; manufactured porcelain, transparent and coloured glass, and were acquainted with the lens; and possessed vases, jars, and other dishes, bronze and ivory ornaments, bells, gold ear-rings and bracelets of excellent design and workmanship. Their household furniture also gives a high idea of their skill and taste.
The cities of Nineveh, Assur, and Arbela had each their royal observatories, superintended by astronomers-royal, who had to send in their reports to the king twice a month. At an early date the stars were numbered and named; a calendar was formed, in which the year was divided into twelve months (of thirty days each), called after the zodiacal signs, but as this division was found to be inaccurate an intercalary month was added every six years. The week was divided into seven days, the seventh being a day of rest; the day was divided into twelve periods of two hours each, each of these being subdivided into sixty minutes, and these again into sixty seconds. The Assyrians employed both the dial and the clepsydra. Eclipses were recorded from a very remote epoch, and their recurrence roughly determined. The principal astronomical work, called the Illumination of Bel, was inscribed on seventy tablets, and went through numerous editions, one of the latest being in the British Museum. It treats among other things of comets, the polar star, the conjunction of the sun and moon, and the motions of Venus and Mars.
Assyriology the department of knowledge which deals with Assyrian antiquities and history, is entirely a modern study. Until 1842 the materials for Assyrian history were derived from the Jewish records of the Old Testament and from such comparatively late writers as Herodotus and Gtesias. In 1843-46 M. Botta, the French consul at Mosul, made the first explorations at Ko-yunjik and Khorsabad, and the objects thus obtained were transported to the Louvre. In 1845 and in 1849 valuable researches were conducted by Mr. Layard, and subsequently continued by the British Museum trustees. Later researches were instituted by the proprietors of the Daily Telegraph, and then by government, in which Mr. George Smith met with considerable success. Later Mr. Rassam carried on the work of discovery. In the decipherment and translation of the cuneiform inscriptions among the most distinguished names are those of Sir Henry Rawlinson, Mr. H. FoxTalbot, Mr. George Smith, M. Jules Oppert, Dr. Schrader, Dr. Hincks, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Mr. Le Page Renouf, Prof. Terrien de la Couperie, Mr. Boscawen, and Mr. Pinches.
Babylon was the capital of the ancient Chaldean empire in Asia, and is now a ruined city in Iraq. Babylon was located on both sides of the Euphrates, and formed one of the largest and most splendid cities of the ancient world.
Babylon was a royal city sixteen hundred years before the Christian era; but the old city was almost entirely destroyed in 683 BC. A new city was built by Nebuchadnezzar nearly a century later. This was in the form of a square, each side 15 miles long, with walls of such immense height and thickness as to constitute one of the wonders of the world. It contained splendid edifices, large gardens and pleasure-grounds, especially the 'hanging-gardens,' a sort of lofty terraced structure supporting earth enough for trees to grow, and the celebrated tower of Babel or temple of Belus, rising by stages to the height of 625 feet. After the city was taken by Cyrus in 538 BC, and Babylonia made a Persian province, it began to decline, and had suffered severely by the time of Alexander the Great. He intended to restore it, but was prevented by his death, which took place here in 323 BC, from which time its decay was rapid. Interesting discoveries have been made on its site in comparatively recent times, more especially of numerous and valuable inscriptions in the cuneiform or arrow-head character. The modern town of Hillah is believed to represent the ancient city, and the plain here for milesround is studded with vast mounds of earth and brick and imposing ruins. The greatest mound is Birs Nimrud, about 6 miles from Hillah. It rises nearly 200 feet, is crowned by a ruined tower, and is commonly believed to be the remains of the ancient temple of Belus. Another great ruin-mound, called Mujellibeh, has also been assigned as its site.
Babylonia was an old Asiatic empire occupying the region watered by the lower course of the Euphrates and the Tigris, and by their combined stream. The inhabitants, though usually designated Babylonians, were sometimes called Chaldeans, and it is thought that the latter name represents a superior caste who at a comparatively late period gained influence in the country. At the earliest period of which we have record the whole valley of the Tigris and Euphrates was inhabited by tribes of Turanian or Tatar origin. Along with these, however, there early existed an intrusive Semitic element, which gradually increased in number until at the time the Babylonians and Assyrians (the latter being a kindred people) became known to the western historians they were essentially Semitic peoples. The great city Babylon, or Babel, was the capital of Babylonia, which was called by the Hebrews Shinar. The country was, as it still is, exceedingly fertile, and must have anciently supported a dense population. The chief cities, besides Babylon, were Ur, Calneh, Erech, and Sippara. Babylonia and Assyria were often spoken of together as Assyria.
The discovery and interpretation of the cuneiform inscriptions have enabled the history of Babylonia to be carried back to about 4000 BC, at which period the inhabitants had attained a considerable degree of civilization, and the country was ruled by a number of kings or princes each in his own city. About 2700 BC Babylonia came under the rule of a single monarch. Latterly it had serious wars with neighbouring nations, and for several hundred years previous to 2000 BC Babylonia was subject to the neighbouring Elam. It then regained its independence, and for a thousand years it was the foremost state of Western Asia in power, as well as in science, art, and civilization. The rise of the Assyrian empire brought about the decline of Babylonia, which latterly was under Assyrian domination, though with intervals of independence, Tiglath-Pileser II. of Assyria (745-727) made himself master of Babylonia; but the conquest of the country had to be repeated by his successor, Sargon, who expelled the Babylonian king, Merodach-Baladan, and all but finally subdued the country, the complete subjugation being effected by Sennacherib. After some sixty years the second or later Babylonian empirearose under Nabopolassar, who, joining the Modes against the Assyrians, freed Babylon from the superiority of the latter power, 625 BC The new empire was at its height of power and glory under Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar (604-561), who subjected Jerusalem, Tyre, Phoenicia, and even Egypt, and carried his dominion to the shores of the Mediterranean and northwards to the Armenianmountains. The capital, Babylon, was rebuilt by him, and then formed one of the greatest and most magnificent cities the world has ever seen. He was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach, but the dynasty soon came to an end, the last king being Nabonetus or Nabonadius, who came to the throne in 555 BC, and made his son, Belshazzar, co-ruler with him. Babylon was taken by Cyrus the Persian monarch in 538, and
e second Babylonian empire came to an end, Babylonia being incorporated in the Persian empire. Its subsequent history was similar to that of Assyria.
Babylonian culture was similar to that of Assyria, but with some differences. In Babylonia stone was not to be had, and consequently brick was the almost universal building material. Sculpture was thus less developed in Babylonia than in Assyria, and painting more. Babylonian art had also more of a religious character than that of Assyria, and the chief edifices found in ruins are temples. Weaving and pottery were carried to high perfection. Astronomy was cultivated from the earliest times. The Babylonians had a number of deities, but latterly the chief or national deity was Bel Merodach, originally the Sun-god. Education was well attended to, and there were schools and libraries in connection with the temples. On the inscribed tablets that have been discovered are writings relating to religion, law, magic, poems, etc. Research Babylonia
Elam was a country of western Asia embracing part of the mountainous region of eastern Babylonia. It posessed two important cities - Susa and Anzan.
Elam was merged into the Persian empire upon the fall of Assyria. Research Elam
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Triad
