The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament; - The Search For ...

SECOND BOOK OF KINGS XVll. 265
of plate 70 i. e. Hall II. No. 2. The inscription Hall II.
No. 1 contains in lines 1 — 9 the continuation of a general
review of the king's exploits, which in part exhibits a ver-
bal agreement with the corresponding passage in the
cylinder-inscription I Rawl. 36 lines 6— 16. Then com-
mences the annalistic account line 10 with the words :
I-na riS 11 [Ir Sa-ml-jri-na-ai
i. e. *In the beginning of the Sama-
ritans". There can scarcely be any doubt, especially as
in No. 2 plate 70 line 10 begins the account of the
2"*^ year (in a Sani-i pali-ja), that we have to complete
the words thus : I-na ri[§ §arr6tija] "in the beginning
[of my rule]"; comp. above Botta 145, 1 ad fin. The com-
pletion of ... r] i-na- ai into [Sa-mi-r]i-na-ai is indisputable,
when we compare Layard 50, 12 : Minhimmi
Samirinai "Menahem of the Samaritans". Then it is
evident that it is A u si', i. e. Hoshea of Samaria, who is
spoken-of. We may presume that it was stated about him
that he had been taken prisoner by Sargon's predecessor,
but that Sargon himself had simply carried on the siege
and brought it to an end. The continuation of the nar-
rative is to be found on plate 70. We read ibid, lines 1
foil. : 1 ri§ (?) . . . ir-u§(nit)-ti-ja .... [Ir
Sa-ml-ri-na al-vl, ak-§ud; 27,280 ni§l a-§ib libbi-
su 2. a§j-lu-la; L. narkab§,ti ki-sir sar-ru-ti-ja
i-na [libbi-§u-nu 3. ak-sur*-ma] ... (?) ili §a
pa-na u-si-§ib nisi mi,tati ki-sid-[ti kati-ja
* If we thus read and interpret the •words, the alteration of the
text, formerly proposed by me in Studien u. Kritiken 1871 p. 688,
becomes unnecessary. On the phrase kisir sarrutija comp.
Khorsab. 36.