The cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament - The Search For ...

BOOK OF ISAIAH XX. 85
Sargon's life-time belongs to tbose periods of Assyrian 394
history about which we are best informed *. The monarch
himself took care by means of the inscriptions, which he
had recorded by way of adornment (chiefly to his great
palace at DUr-Sarru ktn i. e. Northern Niniveh, the
present KhorsS.bM), that his exploits should not be lost to
the recollection of posterity, and a propitious destiny has
preserved to us these slabs in such a condition, that though
we may wish that they had been more complete in some
places, yet they suffice to give us a conception of the life
and deeds of this powerful ruler. These inscriptions, accom-
panied ofcourse by numerous parallels, fill the whole of
the third and fourth folio volumes of Botta's magnificent
work. Some additions have been communicated by Oppert,
from the MSS. of Victor Place, in his work ^Les in-
scriptions de Dour-Sarkayan', Paris 1870. The chief in-
scriptions are the following :
1. Sargon's annals, which have unfortunately come
down to us only in fragments , and some of these badly
mutilated. They may be found in Botta and Flandin's
Monument de Ninive IV. pi. 70—92 (Hall II) ; 104—120
(Hall V); 158—162 (Hall XIV). Besides these we have
a few scattered remains of inscriptions on columns. A com-
plete version of the fragments of these Annals has been 395
attempted by Oppert in Les inscriptions de Dour-Sarkayan,
Paris 1870, pp. 29—35. This has been revised in
Records of the Past VII, 21—56. I would also refer the
reader to my observations in Studien und Kritiken 1872,
* On this subject compare the articles 'Sargon' in Schenkel's Bihel-
lexicon (1875) and Riehm's Handworterbuch des biblischen Alterthums
H. XV (1881), pp. 1370 foil.