a pestilence, or by a direct visitation of the Almighty, as
different writers have explained it--the event is certain. Its truth is
written in the undeniable facts of later history, which show us a sudden
cessation of Assyrian attack in this quarter, the kingdom of Judea saved
from absorption, and the countries on the banks of the Nile left
absolutely unobstructed by Assyria for the third part of a century. As
the destruction happened on their borders, the Egyptians naturally
enough ascribed it to their own gods, and made a boast of it centuries
after. Everything marks, as one of the most noticeable facts in
history, this annihilation of so great a portion of the army of the
greatest of all the kings of Assyria.

[Illustration: HEAD OF TEHRAK (TIRHAKAH).]

The reign of Tirhakah (Tehrak) during this period appears to have been
glorious. He was regarded by Judea as its protector, and exercised a
certain influence over all Syria as far as Taurus, Amanus, and the
Euphrates. In Africa, he brought into subjection the native tribes of
the north coast, carrying his arms, according to some, as far as the
Pillars of Hercules. He is exhibited at Medinet-Abou in the dress of a
warrior, smiting with a mace ten captive foreign princes. He erected
monuments in the Egyptian style at Thebes, Memphis, and Napata. Of all
the Ethiopian sovereigns of Egypt he was undoubtedly the greatest; but
towards the close of his life reverses befell him, which require to be
treated of in another section.

XXI.

THE FIGHT OVER THE CARCASE--ETHIOPIA _v_. ASSYRIA.

The miraculous destruction of his army was accepted by Sennacherib as a
warning to desist from all further attempts against the independence of
Judea, and from all further efforts to extend his dominions towards the
south-west. He survived the destruction during a period of seventeen
years, and was actively engaged in a number of wars towards the east,
the north, and the north-west, but abstained carefully from further
contact with either Palestine or Egypt. His son Esarhaddon succeeded him
on the throne in B.C. 681, and at once, to a certain extent, modified
this policy. He re-established the Assyrian dominion over Upper Syria,
Phoenicia, and even Edom; but during the first nine years of his reign
the memory of his father's disaster caused him to leave Judea and Egypt
unattacked. At last, however, in B.C. 672, encouraged by his many
military successes, by the troubled sta