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

NOTES AND ADDENDA. 325
Salmanassar HI marked down in the List of Governors for the year 775
ana m&t irini (to the Cedar-country, Phoenicia) and in 773 ana ir
Dimalka (to Damascus).
(3) Amos prophesied during the reign of Jerohoam II, but never
mentions the name of Assyria. This is easily to he accounted-for by
the fact that during the reigns of A§urdanilu and his successor A§ur-
nirari, pestilence and internal revolt paralyzed for a time the power
of Assyria, so that the empire ceased during that interval to exercise a
potent influence over the politics of the Western kingdoms. On the other
hand, when Hosea's prophecies were being uttered, the Assyrian power
once more began its victorious and destructive career, Tiglath Pileser
"the Struggler" (31^) coming into repeated collision with the Palesti-
nian states. Hence we find frequent references to A§§ur in the oracles
of this prophet
Vol. II p. 178 foil. On the subject of Assyrian as compared with
Hebrew proper names I have no space to do more than indicate a few
parallels. Among other literature the reader may be referred to 01s-
hausen, Lehrbuch der Hebr. Sprache § 277; Nestle, Die Israelitischen
Eigennamen nach ihrer religionsgeschichtlichen Bedeutung, and Fried.
Delitzsch, Prolegomena eines neuen Hebraisch-AramaischenWorterbuchs
p. 188 foil., as well as Prof. Schrader's statements in his Excursus, die
assyrisch-babylonischen Eigennamen, in Assyr.-Babyl.Keilinschrr. (1872)
p. 115— 167. Most of the ancient Semitic names are religious in cha-
racter and this remark ofcourse includes the large number of Phoenician-Canaanite
names which have been preserved on Phoenician monu-
ments and in Assyrian transcription and which exhibit close analogies
to the Old Testament proper names (see Vol. I p. 88 foil.). In both Assy-
rian and Hebrew-Canaanite names we often have a designation conferred
on the infant soon after birth commemorating some pious wish, prayer
or prophecy with reference to the child in which the name of the deity is
invoked. In some cases the child's personality seems hardly present
to the thoughts of the parent, but rather the parent himself as in the
name Abu-ina-ikalli-lilbur (precat. lab^ru 'to be old') 'may the
father grow old in the palace'; comp. the Hebrew JJ'i^^J? 'my father
is darling'; or some national event maybe thought-of, as in the names
given by Hosea (comp. also Isaiah) to his children; comp. Nirgal-
§ar-usur, NabG-sar-usur "Nergal, Nebo , defend the king". Or we
may have only a reverent ejaculation of pious trust Gabbi-ina-katS,-
Samag "all is in the hands of Samas". The following brief list, which
might be indefinitely prolonged, will be found suggestive :
TlK^^ipN
'my father is a wall' Abu-durQ 'the father is a fortress'
"l^i^i^ (^i^) 'my father is a light' Ahu-nuru 'the brother is a light'