riodically
shaken had not prevented it from developing into the most formidable
engine of war that had ever threatened the peace of Asia. The African
hosts, whether led by ordinary generals or by a king of secondary
rank, formed none the less a compact army well fitted by numbers and
organisation to hold its own against any forces which Tiglath-pileser
might put into the field; and even should the supreme Pharaoh be
unwilling to throw the full weight of his authority into the balance,
yet an alliance with one of the lesser kings, such as the lord of Sais
or of Bubastis, would be of inestimable assistance to any one fortunate
enough to secure it. It is true that, in so far as the ultimate issue
was concerned, there was little to be gained by thus pitting the two
great powers together and persuading one to fight against the other;
the victor must, in the long run, remain master alike of those who had
appealed for help and of those who had fought against him, and if Egypt
emerged triumphant, there would be nothing for it but to accept her
supremacy. In either event, there could be no question of independence;
it was a choice between the hegemony of Egypt or that of Assyria.

From the moment that Tiglath-pileser had made his appearance on the
northern horizon, the nations of Southern Syria had instinctively looked
to Pharaoh for aid. There seems to have been an Egyptian faction in
Samaria, even during the disorders which broke out after the death of
Jeroboam II., and perhaps it was a hope of overcoming it easily which
led Menahem of his own accord to invoke the still remote suzerainty
of Nineveh, after the fall of Unki in 738;* later on, when Pekah had
assassinated Pekahiah and entered into alliance with Eezin, he adopted
the view of those who saw no hope of safety save from the banks of the
Nile, his only reason for doing so being, apparently, because the
kings of the fallen dynasty had received support from the valley of
the Tigris. Hosea continually reproached his countrymen with this
vacillating policy, and pointed out the folly of it: "Ephraim is like
a silly dove without understanding; they call unto Egypt, they go unto
Assyria; when they shall go I will spread My net upon them," said the
Eternal.**

* The existence of an Egyptian faction at this period has
been admitted by Kittel. Winckler has traced to the Arabian
or Idumaean Muzri everything previously referred to Egypt.
His arguments seem to