therefore he reigned over all these nations. Pekah & Rezin kings of Sa-
maria & Damascus invaded Iudæa in the first year of Ahaz, & within 65
years after, that is, in the 21^th year of Manasseh, Anno Nabonass. 69, Samaria
by this captivity ceased to be a people (Isa. VII. 8,) Then Asserhadon invaded
Iudea, took Azot, carried Manasses captive to Babylon, & ^b 1 captivated also
Egypt, Thebais, & Ethiopia above Thebais. And by this war he seems to
have put an end to the reign of the Eth\i/opians over Egypt in the year of
Nabonassar 77 or 78.

In the reign of Sennacherib & Asserhadon, the Assyrian Empire
seems arrived at its greatness, being united under one Monarch, & con-
taining Assyria, Media, Apolloniatis, Susiana, Chaldea, Mesopotamia,
Cilicia, Syria, Phœnicia, Egypt, Ethiopia, & part of Arabia & reaching
eastward into Elymais & Parætacene a Province of the Medes. And if
Chalach & Habor be Colchos & Iberia (as some think, & as may seem
probable from the circumcision used by those nations till the days of
Herodotus) we are also to add these two Provinces with the two Arme-
nias Pontus & Cappadocia as far as to the river Halys. For ^a 2 Herodotus
tells us that the people of Cappadocia as far as to that river were called
Syrians by the Greeks both before & after the days of Cyrus, & that
the Assyrians were also called Syrians by the Greeks.

Yet the Medes revolted from the Assyrians in the latter end
of the reign of Sennacherib, I think upon the slaughter of his army
neare Egypt & his flight to Nineveh. For at that time the estate of
Sennacherib was troubled so that Tobit could not go into Media as
he had done before, Tobit I. 15. And sometime after, Tobit advised his
son to go into Media where he might expect peace while Nineveh ac-
cording to the prophesy of Ionah, should be destroyed. Ctesias wrote that
A\r/baces being a Mede being admitted to see Sardanapalus in his palace
& observing his voluptuous life amongst weomen, revolted with the
Medes, & in conjunction with Belesis a Babylonian overcame him &
caused him to set fire to his palace & burn himself. But he is con-
tradicted by other authors of better credit. For Duris & ^a 3 many others
wrote that Arbaces upon being admitted into the Palace of Sardanapa-
lus & seeing his effeminate life slew himself; & Cleitarchus that Sardana-
palus died of old age after he had lost his dominion over Syria. He lost
it by the revolt of the western nations. And Herodotus ^b 4 tells us, that the Medes
revolted first, & defended their liberty by force of arms against the As-
syrians without conquering them; & and [sic] at their first revolting had
no King, but after some time, set up Dejoces over them, & built Ecba-
tane for his residence; & that Dejoces reigned only over Media, &
had a peaceable reign \of 54 years/, but his son & successor Phraortes made war
upon his neighbours \& conquered Persia/; & that the Syrians also & other western nations
at length revolted from the Assyrians, being encouraged thereunto by
the example of the Medes; & that Phraortes after the revolt of the ~
western nations, Phraortes invaded the Assyrians but was slain by them
in that war after he had reigned twenty & two years. \He was succeeded by/ & Astyages. succeeded him

Now Asserhadon seems to be the Sardanapalus who died of old
age after the revolt of Syria, the name Sardanapalus being derived
from Asserhadon-Pul. Sardanapalus was the ^a 5 son of Anacyndaraxis,
Cyndaraxis or Anabaxaris King of Assyria; & this name seems to have
been corruptly written for Sennacherib the father of Asserhadon. Sardana-
palus built Tarsus & Anchiale in one day, & therefore reigned over
Cilicia before the revolt of the western nations. And if he be the same
king with Asserhadon he was succeeded by Saosduchinus in the year
of Nabonassar 81. And by this revolution Manasseh was set at liberty
to return home & fortify Ierusalem. And the Egyptians also, after the
Assyrians had harrassed Egypt & Ethiopia three years (Isa. XX. 3, 4) were
set at liberty, & continued under twelve contemporary kings of their own