did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed
not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made
Israel to sin. And Pekah the son of Remaliah, his captain, conspired
against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the castle of the king's
house, with Argob and Arieh; and with him were fifty men of the
Gileadites: and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.

{408}

PEKAH.

(In Pekah's reign those irresistible invasions from the north
continued. The only possible safety lay in a confederacy of all the
southern states. In such a confederacy Israel and Syria and Philistia
joined. Judah would not come in and the northern states tried to force
her to do so. This attempt was successful in so far as the defeat of
Judah was concerned, but the effort instead of uniting only weakened
the two nations. The Assyrians overran the northern country, captured
many important towns and took many captives. At last Pekah fell a
victim to the assassin and Hoshea ruled over a broken and disorganized
state.)

In the two and fiftieth year of Uzziah king of Judah Pekah the son of
Remaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twenty
years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he
departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he
made Israel to sin.

In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of
Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maacah, and Janoah, and Kedesh,
and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali; and he
carried them captive to Assyria. And Hoshea the son of Elah made a
conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew
him, and reigned in his stead.

{409}{410}

[Illustration]
DAMASCUS--THE RIVER ABANA.

From a picture in the possession of the Detroit Photograph Company
and used by kind permission.

Damascus is one of the oldest cities of the world. It is on the edge
of the desert and is made possible by the river Abana, which "bursts
full born from the heart of Lebanon, runs a course of ten miles in a
narrow gorge, and from the mouth flings itself abroad in seven
streams and after watering the greater part of the plain it dies a
way in a large marsh. Damascus was easily conquered by Nineveh,
Babylon, and Memphis--she probably preceded them and she has
outlived them. She has been twice supplanted,--by Antioch, and she
has seen Antioch decay; by Bagdad, and Bagd