TWO NOTES ON THE HISTORYOF ASHKELON AND EKRON

IN THE LATE EIGHTH-SEVENTH CENTURIES B.C.E.Nadav Na'aman

THE ASHKELON EPISODE IN THE ANNALS OF TIGLATH-PILESER III

The publication of a new edition of the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III byH. Tadmor (1994) marked a new stage in the study of the Assyrian king andhis time. Tadmor collected all the inscriptions, collated all the extent texts andestablished the texts of other inscriptions that had perished on the basis of theoriginal drafts made by Layard, Rawlinson, Smith and Boutcher. He was thusable to assemble all the evidence in its most original manifestation. Theedition is complemented by a number of excursuses and supplementary studies,many of which are detailed analyses of literary, historiographical andhistorical problems emanating from the corpus of texts.

An edition of texts is no place for tentative reconstructions. Some brokenpassages are therefore published with minimal restorations. However, in somecases it is tempting to try and reconstruct the texts even when the restorationsare not free of doubts (see Na'aman 1995). This is particularly true forepisodes in which Tiglath-pileser's inscriptions are our only source for thehistory of a particular kingdom or tribal group.

Ashkelon is a case in point. The city is mentioned in two badly brokenpassages that are part of the royal annals (Ann. 18 and 24 according toTadmor's system of numbering). Tadmor (1994:178, note on line 19; 181)further attributed to Ashkelon two broken passages that are included inTiglath-pileser's summary inscriptions (Summ. 8 line 19; Summ. 9 rev. line12). Since these passages appear either before the Gaza episode orimmediately after it, and since no other western kingdom is missing from thesesummary inscriptions (Summ. 7+8, 9), their attribution to Ashkelon is quitecertain.

The preserved texts of the two summary inscriptions are identical and run asfollows: "( ..... ] x x 100 talents of silver I removed (assu!}amma) and(carriedlbrought] to Assyria". The use of the verb nasii!}u (see CAD N/2 5a)probably indicates that the broken booty list included people as well as silver(cf. Summ. 8'15-16).

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Layard (1851: PIs. 72b+73a, and also PI. 29b) published the two annalslabs that mention Ashkelon among his drawings of the Nimrud (Calah)reliefs. Rost (1893: PIs. XVIIIa and XVIIIb) drew the slabs separately in hisplates, but treated them as a single text in his edition of the annals (1893:38-41, lines 229-240). Tadmor published the two slabs separately (1994:80-84,220-221; PIs. XV and XXIII), each in its own right, and my transliterationfollows his textual enumeration.

Ann. 24

12. mMi-ti-in-tiKUR As-[qa-lu-na-a-a ina a-de-e DlNGIRmes GALmes ilJ.-ti-ma]13. it-ti-ia it-ta-[bal-kit itti? nakriya? iskuna? pi-i-su? dab-de mRa-.gi-a-ni]14. e-mur-ma u ip-la.g [libbasu ina mi-qie temi? ..... ]15. .ga-at-ti ra-ma-ni-[su imqussu ..... sadasu? emid?]16. mRu-u-kib-tu DUMU-[su? ina gisGU.ZA-su u-sib a-na URuGN .... ]

Ann. 18

8. [.... mMi-ti-in-ti KUR Asl-qa-lu-na-a-a ina a-de-[e DINGIRmes GALmesi.g-ti-ma it-ti-ia it-ta-bal-kit itt( nakriya?]9. [iskuna? pi-i-su? dab-de mRa]-.gi-a-ni e-mur-ma ina mi-qit [temi? ... .ga-at-ti ra-ma-ni-su imqussu ..... ]10. [sadasu? emid? mRu-u-kib-tu DUMU-su?] ina gisGU.ZA-su u-sib a-na[URuGN ]11. [... a-di ma.g-ri-ia] i-dul-ma u-~a-la-ni 500 [GO.UN KU.BABBAR ta-mar-ta-su kabittu ubilanimma unassiqa sepeya]12. [ana asri-su? utir-su?]-ma a-na URU-su TU-ub 15 URU[meS_nisa ina... ]13. [ ina qatISu apqid MI]~di-bi-'i-i-lu KUR A-ru-bu [a-na LUatilti inamu.g.giKUR Mu~ri askun]

Translation of Ann. 18 (combined with Ann. 24)

Mitinti of Ashkelon [broke] the loyalty oath [of the great gods], revoIlted]against me [and joined? with my enemy? The defeat of Re]zin he saw and in anattack of [insanity .... He was stricken] with panic, [.... and died).

Rukibtu, [his?] son, sat on his throne. To [the city of GN .... in front of me]he wandered around and implored me. 500 [talents of silver he brought andkissed my feet. I restored? him to his place?] and he entered his city. Fifteentown[ s located? in the ... I entrusted in his hands).

Idibi)ilu, the Arabian, [I appointed as the 'Gatekeeper' over (the area)facing Egypt].

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Notes on the Text of Ann. 18

The length of the restored lines of Ann. 24 is about the same as that of Ann.23 According to my estimation, one line of Ann. 18 covers about one and ahalf lines of Ann. 24 (see Na'aman 1995:272-273).

For a recent discussion of the Ashkelon episode, see Ehrlich 1996:98-102,176-180

Line 8' For the restoration, see Summ. 7 line 19; cf. Ann. 25, note on line 3Line 10: the restoration sadiisu emid (or illik nammusisu; see Na'aman

1995:274-275), "he died", is ad sensum. The family relation of Mitinti andRukibtu cannot be established with certainty. Smith (1875 :284) suggestedrestoring miir-[su] (cf. Borger 1984:373). Tadmor (1994:83, note on line 10)presented two other restorations: "Rukibtu, the son [of Mitinti]" and "Rukibtu,the son [of his (i.e., Mitinti's) brother]''' All three restorations are possible.On the basis of Summ. 5 line 15 and Summ. 9 line 28, Ehrlich (1996: 179 andn. 56) suggested restoring miir [la mammiina], "son of [a nobody]''' However,it is doubtful whether the Assyrian king would emphasize the illegitimacy of aruler that he set on the throne of Ashkelon. On the contrary, in the case ofHoshea (Ausi'), the king of Israel, which he installed as king and vassal ofAssyria, he deliberately ignored his illegitimacy although he must have knownthat Hoshea was an usurper who took the throne by force. Regardless ofwhether Rukibtu was an usurper or not, the royal scribe would have presentedhim in a way that fit the Assyrian ideological aims rather than the exactfactual accuracy (on this problem, see Na'aman, forthcoming).

Lines 10-11: for the restoration, see Summ. 9 rev. 10-11 (and see below).It solves the problem of the verbal form usib ("sat") in line 10. Rukibtu firstset himself on the throne, but holding the throne of Ashkelon required an act ofsubmission to the Assyrian king and recognition of his status as an Assyrianvassal.

Line 12.:The restoration at the beginning of the line is ad sensum. Anotherpossible restoration is remu arszsu ("I showed mercy upon him").

Line 13: for the restoration, see Summ. 7 rev. 6.

Discussion

The restorations, uncertain as they are, may help us understand theAshkelon episode. Ann. 23 relates the events of the Assyrian campaign of year733 B.C.E. against Damascus (Tadmor 1994:78-80, 235). Ann. 24, whichrelates the struggle with Samsi, the campaign against Israel and the submissionof Ashkelon (Tadmor 1994:220-221), describes some other episodes that tookplace in this year.

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Mitinti of Ashkelon joined the anti-Assyrian coalition headed by Rezin ofDamascus, which included at least Israel, Tyre, Samsi and Gaza. We maysafely assume that Egypt was actively involved in the negotiation and thatRezin had hopes for Egyptian military aid (Begrich 1929:218; AIt 1953157-161).The preparation for rebellion must have already started in ca. 736 (Begrich1929; Na'aman 1991:91-94, with earlier literature). The Assyrian campaignof 734 to the Brook of Egypt (Na~al Mu~ur = Nal;l.alBesor), on the southernborder of Gaza, which was aimed to block the possible approach of anEgyptian task force to Philistia, took the coalition by surprise (Na'aman1991:92-93). lJanunu of Gaza fled to Egypt, only to return and become anAssyrian vassal (Tadmor 1994:222-225; Ehrlich 1996:94-98, with earlierliterature). Mitinti must have paid his tribute to Assyria at that time asindicated by the list of tribute-bearers in Summ 7 rev. 7-13 (for the date, seeTadmor 1994:268).

Shortly afterward, Mitinti fell victim to a coup d'etat initiated by his son?,Rukibtu. In order to justify Tiglath-pileser's recognition of the rebel as alegitimate king in Ashkelon, the author of the annals described the infidelity ofthe former king and how he died stricken by panic and madness. He furtherdescribed how the new king wandered around seeking to be recognized as anAssyrian vassal, and how the Assyrian king finally installed him on the throneof Ashkelon, but not before he paid a heavy tribute of 500 talents of silver(Eph'al 1982:25). Tadmor (1994·171, note to line 16; 276) has demonstratedthat a series of newly installed kings, most of them usurpers, paid Tiglath-pileser huge sums in return for recognition of their rule. Among these rulersare Hoshea of Israel (10 talents of gold and 1000? talents of silver), lJulli ofTabal (10 talents of gold, 1000 talents of silver and 2000 horses) and Metennaof Tyre (50 or 150 talents of gold and 2000 talents of silver). Rukibtu isanother example of a payment of heavy tribute in return for recognition. Thedifferent figures of the tribute of Ashkelon in Tiglath-pileser's annals (500talents) and summary inscriptions (x x 100 talents) illustrate the inconsistencyof the Assyrian scribes in drawing numbers in their inscriptions (cf. the tributeof Metenna of Tyre in Summ. 7 rev. 16 and 9 rev. 26).

The restoration of lines 12-13 is guesswork. The basis for my restoration is theappearance of an Ashkelonite enclave east of Joppa (namely, Joppa, Beth-dagan,Bene-berak and Azor) in the time of Sennacherib's campaign to Palestine(Luckenbill 1924:31 lines 68-72; Oppenheim 1969:287b). No reasonableexplanation was offered for the surprising status of the king of Ashkelon in theJoppa area, far north from the kingdom of Ashkelon. Assuming that Tiglath-pilesertransferred to Rukibtu the coastal territory east of Joppa may explain this territorial

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anomaly, as well as Rukibtu's long-enduring loyalty to Assyria until he wasdeposed by ~idqa shortly before Sennacherib' s campaign of 701 B.C.E.

The nomination of ldibi'ilu to supervise the area that 'faces Egypt', south ofNal;tal Besor (Nal:wl MU:fur), is associatively related to the entrusting of thenorthernmost coast of Philistia in the hands of Rukibtu (for the references toIdibi'ilu in Tiglath -pileser Ill's inscriptions, see recently N a' aman 1997).

What happened to the Ashkelonite enclave after Sennacherib' s campaign is notrelated in any source. Tentatively I would suggest that the area was transferred tothe king of Ekron, who enjoyed a favoured status in the late Assyrian Empire. Theexpansion of Ekron's territory and its possible access to the Mediterranean (via theport of Joppa) may partly explain the remarkable prosperity of the city in theseventh century B.C.E. (Gitin 1997, with earlier literature).

DAN'S INHERITANCE AND THE KINGDOM OF EKRON IN THESEVENTH CENTURY B.C.E.

In order to have a better understanding of the territorial scope of Ekron in theseventh century, we should analyze another source, which has been discussed manytimes in the past, but never in conjunction with Ekron's territory.

The inherItance of Dan is demarcated in the Book of Joshua by a town listand a fragmentary border description (Josh. 19:40-46). Some of Dan's easterntowns are mentioned in the border descriptions and town lists of neighbouringtribes (i.e., Zorah, Eshtaol, Beth-shemesh, Timnah and Baalath). This is notexceptional and I have already noted that there are numerous cases where thesame toponyms appear in border descriptions of neighbouring tribes (Na' aman1986:108-110). I have further suggested that the inheritance of Dan is anintegral part of the boundary system of the Israelite tribes (Josh. 13-19), andthat Dan's allotment was drawn after the delineation of the inheritances ofJudah, Benjamin and Ephraim since its borders presuppose the demarcation ofits three neighbours (Na'aman 1986:102-106).

Many scholars have analyzed in detail the town list of Dan (e.g., Noth1953:118, 121-123; Mazar 1960; Strange 1966; Kallai 1986:361-371;Na'aman 1986:107-114; Fritz 1994:197-200), and there is agreement on theidentification of most of the towns. The list may be divided into six smallgeographical sub-groups, and I will list the names of towns and add a shortnote where either the version or the identification is controversial.

1. Along the western border: Zorah, Eshtaol (see recently Lehmann,Niemann and Zwickel1996:384-386) and cIr-shemesh (= Beth-shemesh).

2. Along the northeastern border: Shaalabin, Aijalon and Yitlah (seeBarthelemy 1982:59-60).

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Tel Qosileh

•h .Tell el-Jerisheh

.Aphek

5km.o-

Beth -horon.

/

//

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.Azekoh

.Jehud

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/y

// .Eshtool

/ .Zoroh Q/

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Timnah.

..••..

Nohal Sorek

Ekron.

Gibbethon?

Tell Melol.o

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~.Eilekeh

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Joppa

Fig. 1. Map of the area of the kingdom of Ekron.

3. Along the southeastern border: E10n (= E10n Beth-hanan? - 1 Kgs. 4:9),Timnah and Ekron.

4. In the mid-west: E1tekeh (Tell esh-Shalla(), Gibbethon (Ras Abu l;Iamid;Schmitt 1980:107-109) and Baa1ath.

5. In the west: Yehud, Bene-berak, Azor (see Barthelemy 1982:60) andGath-rimmon (location unknown).

6. V. 46: "And the water of Yarkon and Rakkon with the coastal line overagainst Joppa." (see Barthelemy 1982:60-61). Rakkon (or should wetranscribe <Ya>rkon and assume that the town was called after the river?)may possibly be identified with either Tell e1-Jerisheh or Tell Qasi1eh.

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There is a close similarity of names between the towns mentioned inSennacherib's Annals (Joppa, Bene-berak, Azor, Eltekeh, Timnah and Ekron)and the western half of the town list of Dan. The town of Gibbethon(Gabbutunu) is mentioned alongside Ekron in Sargon II's reliefs (Tadmor1958:83 n. 243; Franklin 1994:255-263; contra Schmitt 1989). Seven out ofthe ten western towns of Dan's allotment are mentioned in Assyrianinscriptions of the late eighth century B.C.E. The city of Gimtu/Gath (Tell e~-~afi), on the other hand, was included in the territory of Ashdod as indicatedby Sargon II's royal inscriptions (Oppenheim 1969:286a; Fuchs 1994:134 line250; 220 line 104). Hence, the area along Na1;lalElah (Wadi <Ajjur) wasincluded in Ashdod's territory. Assuming that Sennacherib transferred theAshkelonite towns east of Joppa to the king of Ekron, we may suggest thatEkron's territory in the seventh century B.C.E. roughly overlaps theinheritance of Dan in the boundary system of the Israelite tribes. Its southernborder ran south of Na1;lalSorek (Wadi e~-~arar) and its northern border ranalong Na1;lalAijalon (Wadi el-Kabir). Since each town had a territory andsince the capital city of Ekron must have encompassed a vast agricultural land,we suggest that the limits of the southern towns of Dan's allotment (Elon?,Timnah, Ekron, Baalath and Eltekeh) reflect the southern border of thekingdom of Ekron (see map - Fig. 1).

With this reconstruction in mind, we may speculate how the town list ofDan was formed. The author of the tribal system has already delineated thetribal allotments of Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim. He attributed the territorialgap between these three allotments to the tribe of Dan which, according to thebiblical tradition, originally settled in this area. To demarcate this artificialtribal territory, the author first selected some eastern towns located on theborders of neighbouring tribes (i.e., Beth-shemesh, Zorah, Eshtaol, Shaalabinand Aijalon) to demarcate Dan's eastern border. He then added a list ofwestern towns whose scope roughly overlapped the territory of the kingdom ofEkron, thus filling in the gap between the above-mentioned three tribalallotments.

Provided that my reconstruction, admittedly highly conjectural, isacceptable, then the biblical inheritance of Dan may help us configure theterritorial scope of the kingdom of Ekron in its zenith in the seventh centuryB.C.E.

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Alt, A 1953 Tig1athpi1esers III. erster Fe1dzug nach PaHistina. Kleine Schriftenzur Geschichte des Volkes Israel II. Munich: 150-162.

Barthelemy, D 1982. Critique textuelle de I 'Ancien Testament. 1. Josue, Juges,Ruth, Samuel, Rois, Chroniques, Esdras, Nehemie, Esther (Orbis Biblicuset Orientalis 50/1). Fribourg and G6ttingen.

Begrich, 1. 1929. Der Syrisch-Ephraimitische Krieg und seine weltpolitischenZusammenhange. ZDMG 83:213-237.

Borger, R. 1984. Historische Texte in akkadischer Sprache. In: Kaiser, 0 ed.Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments 1/4. Giitersloh: 354-410.

Ehrlich, C.S. 1996. The Philistines in Transition: A History from ca. 1000-730B. c.E. Leiden.

Eph'al, I. 1982. The Ancient Arabs. Nomads on the Borders of the FertileCrescent 9th-5th Centuries B.C. Jerusalem and Leiden.

Franklin, N. 1994. The Room V Reliefs at Dur-Sharrukin and Sargon II's WesternCampaigns. Tel Aviv 21:255-275.

Fritz, V. 1994. Das Buch Josua (Handbuch ZUlli Alten Testament 1/7). Tiibingen.Fuchs, A 1994. Die Inschriften Sargons II. Aus Khorsabad. G6ttingen.Gitin, S. 1997. The Neo-Assyrian Empire and its Western Periphery: The Levant,

with a Focus on Philistine Ekron. In: Parpola, S. and Whiting, R.M. eds.Assyria 1995 Helsinki: 77-103.

Kallai, Z. 1986. Historical Geography of the Bible. The Tribal Territories ofIsrael. Jerusalem and Leiden.

Layard, AH. 1851. Inscriptions in the Cuneiform Character from AssyrianMonuments. London.

Lehmann, G., Niemann, H.M. and Zwickel, W. 1996. Zora und Eschtaol. EinArchaologischer Oberflachensurvey im Gebiet n6rdlich von Bet Schemesch.Ugarit-Forschungen 28:343-442.

Luckenbill, D.D 1924. The Annals ofSennacherib Chicago.Mazar, B. 1960. The Cities of the Territory of Dan. IE! 10:65-77.Na'aman, N. 1986. Borders and Districts in Biblical Historiography. Seven

Studies in Biblical Geographical Lists. Jerusalem.Na'aman, N. 1991. Forced Participation in Alliances in the Course of the Assyrian

Campaigns to the West. In: Cogan, M. and Eph'al, I. eds. Ah, Assyria ...Studies in Assyrian History and Ancient Near Eastern HistoriographyPresented to Hayim Tadmor. Jerusalem: 80-98.

Na'aman, N. 1995. Tiglath-pileser III's Campaign against Tyre and Israel (734-732 B.C.E.). Tel Aviv 22:268-278.

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Studien zur Archaologie und Topographie Altisraels. Wiesbaden: 77-138.Schmitt, G. 1989. GabbutUllu.ZDPVI05:56-69.Smith, G. 1875. Assyrian Discoveries. London.Strange, 1. 1966. The Inheritance of Dan. Studia Theologica 20:120-139Tadmor, H. 1958. The Campaign of Sargon II of Assur: A Chronological-

Historical Study. JCS 12:22-40, 77-100.Tadmor, H. 1994. The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III King of Assyria. Critical

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