“617. THE BLACK OBELISK—HOSEA 7:11”

The Black Obelisk—Hos_7:11

The prophet Hosea lived and prophesied during the period in which the kingdom of the ten tribes was oppressed and menaced by the Assyrians; and it appears to be chiefly to these circumstances, and to the ultimate destiny of the kingdom of these tribes, to be brought into captivity and extinction by that great nation, that his prophecies bear reference.

Assyria was to Israel what Babylon was to Judah—the appointed destroyer. But the greater part of the prophets living later than Israel’s captivity, and being chiefly concerned with the condition and destiny of the kingdom of Judah, and Assyria being already overthrown, and the Babylonian empire established, it is only in two or three, of the minor prophets, and in the earlier prophecies of Isaiah, that we look for direct information respecting the Assyrians. The three prophets, Hosea, Amos, and Jonah, lived. when the Assyrian empire was in its most flourishing estate; when that power was well, known in Syria and Palestine, and when the kingdom of Israel felt deeply the weight of its imperial arm.

Considering the repeated invasion of this realm by the Assyrians; and the successive deportations of the inhabitants, till the land was at length swept clean as with the besom of destruction—the question naturally arises, whether a people so fond as the Assyrians of commemorating, in sculpture, the military expeditions and triumphs of their kings, have left no memorial of their repeated invasions, and final subjugation of this realm. It cannot be said that it was too unimportant for such record; for the inscriptions state with much particularity the triumphs of the kings over nations so obscure that their very names are forgotten. There is hence no reason to doubt that the Israelites are represented in the sculptures at Nineveh, though it may, until lately, have seemed a matter of question whether they were represented in any of the sculptures that have yet been found, and which are probably few in number compared with those that remain to be disentombed.

A discovery of great interest has, however, been lately made, which points in this direction.

There are perhaps few of the Nineveh antiquities which have attracted more attention than the Nimrud obelisk. This monument, which is six feet six inches high, is of a species of black marble. Each side is charged with four compartments of rude sculpture, underneath which are lines of inscription in the wedge-shaped character, doubtlessly descriptive of the sculptures. These clearly represent the presentation of tribute to the Assyrian king by two different nations. One of these two nations, there is strong ground to suppose, are Israelites of the kingdom of Samaria, from the resemblance of the persons to those of the only figures in the mural sculptures of Nineveh that have been conjectured to be Israelites of Samaria, and from the like resemblance to figures in the sculptures of Egypt. We have caused the compartments which represent this people to be collected from each of the surfaces of the obelisk. The supposed Israelites of the ten tribes are clad in vestures similar in general character to those which the Egyptian sculptures ascribe to the nations inhabiting Syria—the most distinguishing characteristic in this case being a kind of cap or bonnet; looking uncommonly like a night-cap—or, to use a more classical comparison, like a Phrygian bonnet with the peak leaning backward instead of forward. Note: These caps seem to us to form the only stumbling block in the way of this identification. We lately stated the probability that the Hebrews did not ordinarily wear head-coverings. This conclusion was fairly deduced, and we are not disposed to abandon it. If Colonel Rawlinson is eventually found to be right in his interpretation, we might suppose that the subjects of the kingdom of Samaria had, by this time, adopted the cap of their northern neighbors in Lebanon; or it may be that he has applied the inscription to the wrong people, as represented on the obelisk—for that remarkable monument presents also another people—with their heads uncovered, and their hair confined by a simple fillet around their heads. the king stands, closely attended by two eunuchs, one the umbrella-bearer, and the other the cup-bearer with his fly-flap. Prostrate before the king in homage is the king-chief, or ambassador of the subject nation which has sent these tributes. Other eunuchs then introduce the tribute bearers, who, as usual in such cases, make much display of their respective burdens, and are preceded by a man of their nation whose hands are not occupied by any burden, but are lifted up as if in salutation or reverence. This is, we presume, the native officer in immediate charge of the treasure.

Of what these tributes consist, it is not, in some instances, easy to say; but so far as can be ascertained, they are such articles as might have been brought from Palestine—being baskets containing fruits, bars of metal or wood, leathern-bottles, jars, and baskets, containing probably money, oil, honey, etc., and we also seem to perceive robes or rich clothes, folded up, upon the shoulders of some of the bearers.

Now, it will be borne in mind, as an undoubted historical fact, that the Israelites did render tribute to the Assyrians a god while before their final overthrow. It is stated that the last king of Israel, Hoshea, became servant to Shalmaneser king of Assyria, “and gave him presents,” that is, tribute; and that the subsequent withholding of this tribute led to the final invasion and ruin of the land by the Assyrians. The probability is, however, that the kings reigning in Samaria had rendered tribute long before Hosea, and it is mentioned in his case merely from the circumstances to which its withdrawal led.

Procession of Jewish Tribute-bearers, from the Black Obelisk

The Assyrians had invaded and conquered the part of the kingdom beyond the Jordan, as early as the reign of Jehu; and in subsequent reigns they cut the realm short in its northern provinces. Considering the vast power of Assyria, it is little likely that its king allowed this small and reduced state, to retain even the shadow of independence, but on condition of tribute, disguised or not under the name of “presents.”

Conformably to these considerations is the remarkable fact, that Colonel Rawlinson has been enabled to read the name of Jehu in the inscriptions of this obelisk; and he thus discovers that “the tribute in the second compartment of the obelisk [the first of ours] comes from Israel; it is the tribute of Jehu.” On this hint we have taken the second compartment, and connected with it all the other compartments in which the figures are distinguished by the same dress and peculiar cap as the kneeling prince or ambassador, assuming that they form together the complete representation of the subject.

Colonel Rawlinson confesses that he might distrust his own conclusion, were it unsupported. But he has also found the names of Hazael king of Syria, the contemporary of John, and of Ithobaal king of Sidon, who was also a contemporary, being the father of Jezebel the wife of Ahab. He adds: “These three identifications constitute a synchronism on which, I think, we may rely, especially as all the collateral evidence comes out satisfactorily. The tributes noted in the obelisk are all from the remote nations of the west; and what can be more natural than that the tribute from Israel should thus be put nest to the tribute from Egypt. There was no Assyrian campaign at this period against Egypt or Israel; Note: A mistake, as we have just shown. but the kings sent offerings in order to keep on good terms with their eastern neighbors.”

Autor: JOHN KITTO