- 80-
- The jArkh of Josephus (Ant. 1. 6, 2), the Caesarea Libani of the Roman Emperors.
** Near the Nahr-el-Kebir, "the great river," the ancient Eleutheros (1 Maccabees 12:30),
which partly formed the northern boundary of the Lebanon district.
After an unhappy break of two lines in the inscription, we next come upon the names of
two of the cities which in 2 Kings 15:29 are described as taken by Tiglath-pileser, Gilead
and Abel-beth-Maachah, with express notice of their situation in the land of Beth-Omri
(Samaria), and of their having been added to the territory of Assyria. The inscription
further states that Tiglath-pileser had set his own officials and governors over these
districts. Thence the victorious expedition is traced as far as Gaza, whence no doubt, after
having subjugated all the border-tribes to Northern Arabia, it returned to the land of
"Beth-Omri." It is added that Tiglath-pileser carried away to Assyria all its inhabitants,
with their chattels, and killed Pekah their king, appointing Hoshea in his place (2 Kings
15:30).
We do not fail to perceive in this record boastful exaggerations by the Assyrian monarch,
since, although the revolution which cost Pekah his life (2 Kings 15:30) was no doubt
occasioned by the victories of Tiglath-pileser, yet the Israelitish king fell by the hand of
Hoshea, the leader of the rising. At the same time Hoshea was absolutely dependent on
Assyria, to which he became tributary. On the Assyrian inscription the sum exacted from
him is said to have amounted to ten talents of gold (67,500 pounds) and 1,000 talents of
silver (375,000 pounds).*
- These sums seem enormous. According to Professor Sayce (Fresh Light from the
Ancient Monuments, p. 123), the Babylonian talent was considerably smaller than the
Judaean. The proportion of silver to gold was according to Herzfeld, as 1:13; according to
Schrader, as 1:13&1\2.
The list of the conquered Israelitish cities given in 2 Kings 15:29 enables us to follow the
course of the campaign of Tiglath-pileset straight down from north to south, through
Upper Galilee. The Assyrians took first Ijon, in the tribe of Naphtali (2 Chronicles 16:4),
a place formerly conquered by Ben-hadad (1 Kings 15:20), probably the modern Tell
Dibbin, on a hill in a "well watered" district, on the road from Damascus to Sidon.
Thence the conquerors passed to Abel-beth-Maachah, "the meadow" of Beth-Maacah (a
neighboring small Syrian district), also called Abel Mayim, "meadow of waters" (2
Chronicles 16:4), a considerable town, known to us from the clays of David (2 Samuel
20:18) and of Ben-hadad (1 Kings 15:20), situated about one and a half hours west-north-
west from Dan. The next town occupied, Janoah (not that of Joshua 16:6), probably the
modern Hunin, lay about midway between Abel-beth-Maachah and Kedesh, the place
next captured. It was also in the possession of Naphtali - and indeed, to distinguish it
from other places of the same name, was known as Kedesh-Naphtali, or Kedesh in
Galilee (Joshua 20:7; 21:32; 1 Chronicles 6:76). This was one of the ancient Levitical
(^)