Of the nearly one hundred pages of the Old Testament Bible, the Book of the Prophet Nahum is given less than two pages. Nevertheless, in a few lines, this Hebrew oracle was able to accurately predict the course of events that led to the fall of one of the largest cities of Ancient Assyria - Nineveh.
Walled city
Assyria - this is the oldest of the states - existed in the Mesopotamia of the Tigris and Euphrates (present-day Iraq) long before the birth of Christ. The kings who ruled this powerful empire waged wars of conquest and were extremely cruel not only to external enemies - the Babylonians, Medes, Chaldeans, but also to their subjects - the Semites-Akkuds. It was considered the norm to impale an architect who made a mistake in urban planning. It is clear that the neighbors did not differ in meekness, trying to harm the Assyrians at every opportunity. In the 600s BC. e. the capital of Ancient Assyria was the largest city of Nineveh, which stood on the banks of the deep Tigris River. To avoid enemy attacks, the inhabitants of Nineveh erected the most powerful fortress walls 30 meters high around their capital. The battle towers that ran along their entire perimeter were twice as high!At the same time, the thickness of the walls ranged from 15 to 20 meters! A road was laid along the upper part of the fortress walls, where from 4 to 6 war chariots could move freely at the same time. In addition to the inner city wall, there was also an outer one 10 kilometers long! And between the walls, the Assyrians dug wide (up to 45 meters) and deep ditches filled with water. Capturing such a fortress was not easy.
At the height of glory
After the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal defeated Babylonia, conquered Tir Arwad, and in 663 BC seized Thebes, the Assyrian state reached its highest power. By this time, two seven-tiered ziggurat temples, several palaces for the nobility and the ruler himself were built in Nineveh. Highly professional craftsmen worked at the court - artists, architects, sculptors, jewelers, cooks, gamekeepers. One thing was required of them - the glorification of the wisdom and power of their patron. The halls and premises of the palaces were painted with blue, red, yellow and black paints. The paintings depicted both the rulers themselves, their commanders, eunuchs, and defeated enemies. The external original did not matter to the artist. The king could be ugly and. stooped, but in all the paintings he was portrayed as mighty, beautifully built and certainly with a beard. Since the favorite pastime of the kings was horse hunting for lions, cheetahs, gazelles and wild horses, images on this topic were often required. The museums of Baghdad and London contain stunning pictures of scenes of hunting predators, where the artist depicted in every detail the battle between the king and the lions. The measure of courage and skill was considered the killing of the strongest of the animals with arrows, when one of them hits the eye, and the other - into the mouth of a predator. Amorous pleasures with many wives and concubines, libation and gluttony were also held in high esteem, but military campaigns and hunting still prevailed. Since the Assyrians were typical pagans, huge winged bulls with human faces usually served as decorations for their temples and palaces. The museums of Baghdad and London contain stunning pictures of scenes of hunting predators, where the artist depicted in every detail the battle between the king and the lions. The measure of courage and skill was considered the killing of the strongest of the animals with arrows, when one of them hits the eye, and the other - into the mouth of a predator. Amorous pleasures with many wives and concubines, libation and gluttony were also held in high esteem, but military campaigns and hunting still prevailed. Since the Assyrians were typical pagans, huge winged bulls with human faces usually served as decorations for their temples and palaces. The museums of Baghdad and London contain stunning pictures of scenes of hunting predators, where the artist depicted in every detail the battle between the king and the lions. The measure of courage and skill was considered the killing of the strongest of the animals with arrows, when one of them hits the eye, and the other - into the mouth of a predator. Amorous pleasures with many wives and concubines, libation and gluttony were also held in high esteem, but military campaigns and hunting still prevailed. Since the Assyrians were typical pagans, huge winged bulls with human faces usually served as decorations for their temples and palaces. Amorous pleasures with many wives and concubines, libation and gluttony were also held in high esteem, but military campaigns and hunting still prevailed. Since the Assyrians were typical pagans, huge winged bulls with human faces usually served as decorations for their temples and palaces. Amorous pleasures with many wives and concubines, libation and gluttony were also held in high esteem, but military campaigns and hunting still prevailed. Since the Assyrians were typical pagans, huge winged bulls with human faces usually served as decorations for their temples and palaces.
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From the Book of Visions of the Oracle
As a biblical predictor, the prophet Naum was named as the highest powers. Already in the first lines of his essay, he says that he is writing "The Book of Visions of Naum the Elkoseite." “The Lord is long-suffering and great in power,” the author emphasizes, “and he leaves no one unpunished. The turn has come for Nineveh, which the Lord will flood with water and destroy to the ground. Darkness will befall his enemies too. The Almighty will complete the destruction, and the calamity will not happen again!"
Nahum the Elkoseite also writes about the merchants, who “have become more than the stars in the sky; but these locusts will scatter and fly away. The princes also got it, who, “when the sun rises, will scatter like a swarm of midges,” At the instigation of the Lord, Nahum, long before the death of Nineveh, warned the inhabitants of the impending danger.
Didn't want to believe
None of the Assyrian kings and military leaders wanted to believe the prophecy about the flooding of the city. In addition, powerful dams and sluices were built on the Tigris! Nineveh seemed so strong that it was impossible to capture it, especially since the enemies were weakened or defeated. However, by 612 BC. e. the former enemy nevertheless managed to join forces to approach Nineveh and besiege it.
Testimony of Diodorus Siculus
By the time the enemy approached, the last Assyrian king Sardanapalus was complacent, indulging in all kinds of excesses. As the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, the author of 40 books of the Historical Library, testifies, having camped outside the city walls, the tsar had no idea about the sharp deterioration of the martial law. Mindful of his past victories over enemies, he lost his guard and joined his warriors, "having fun like animals and indulging in drunkenness." The weakening of the Assyrian defense became known from the defectors to the leader of the Medes and Chaldeans, Arbas. He was quick to seize the opportunity and organized a night attack. The Assyrians with Sardanapalus fled under the protection of the fortress walls. The enemy pursued them and killed many of the fleeing. Nevertheless, part of the army managed to reach the saving Nineveh and lock all 15 city gates. The fortress had a substantial supply of food in case of a long siege, so those who came running did not have to worry about their fate - at least for the near future.
Flood
The attacks of the Medes and Chaldeans were carried out in the spring, when, due to the flood, the Tigris overflowed especially widely. In addition, a downpour poured down. One of the dams could not withstand the pressure and collapsed … The water approached the fortress wall and formed a gap into which the besiegers rushed. At this moment, Sardanapalus, seized by fear, realized that the ancient prophecy had come true, which said that "many Assyrians will perish in the fire." He locked himself up with his treasures and concubines in one of the palace premises, after which he ordered the servants to set fire to the room, preferring to burn than to become a slave to the Medes.
Archaeological excavations
The famous British archaeologist Sir Henry Layard was the first to solve the mystery of Nineveh, long considered a mythical city. Excavations began in the middle of the 19th century and continue to this day in the vicinity of the Iraqi hill of Kuyuljuk, where the Tigris bed once passed. Now this river flows in a different place, but to reveal the cultural layer, which lies at a depth of 15 meters, the settlements built already today and the laid transport communications interfere here.
Yuri METELEV. Magazine "Secrets of the XX century" No. 21 2008