of Assyria was
shaken, she was still stronger than any one of them severally, or even
than all of them together, and to attack her or rebel against her now,
was to court defeat with as much certainty as in past days. The Pharaoh
kept himself behind his rivers; the military science and skill which had
baffled his generals on the field of Altaku did not inspire him with any
desire to reappear on the plains of Palestine. Hezekiah, King of Judah,
had emptied his treasury to furnish his ransom, his strongholds had
capitulated one by one, and his territory, diminished by the loss of
some of the towns of the Shephelah, was little botter than a waste of
smoking ruins. He thought himself fortunate to have preserved his power
under the suzerainty of Assyria, and his sole aim for many years was
to refill his treasury, reconstitute his army, and re-establish his
kingdom. The Philistine and Nabatasan princes, and the chiefs of Moab,
Ammon, and Idumsea, had nothing to gain by war, being too feeble to have
any chance of success without the help of Judah, Tyre, and Egypt. The
Syrians maintained a peaceful attitude, which was certainly their wisest
policy; and during the following quarter of a century they loyally
obeyed their governors, and gave Sennacherib no cause to revisit them.
It was fortunate for him that they did so, for the peoples of the North
and East, the Kalda, and, above all, the Elamites, were the cause of
much trouble, and exclusively occupied his attention during several
years. The inhabitants of Bit-Yakin, urged on either by their natural
restlessness or by the news of the misfortune which had befallen their
enemy, determined once more to try the fortunes of war. Incited by
Marduk-ushezlb,* one of their princes, and by Merodach-baladan, these
people of the marshes intrigued with the courts of Babylon and Susa,
and were emboldened to turn against the Assyrian garrisons stationed
in their midst to preserve order. Sennacherib's vengeance fell first on
Marduk-ushezib, who fled from his stronghold of Bittutu after sustaining
a short siege. Merodach-baladan, deserted by his accomplice, put the
statues of his gods and his royal treasures on board his fleet, and
embarking with his followers, crossed the lagoon, and effected a landing
in the district of Nagitu, in Susian territory, beyond the mouth of
the Ulai.** Sennacherib entered Bit-Yakin without striking a blow, and
completed the destruction of the half-deserted town; he ne