ABSTRACT
Times had changed, and the destruction of the Assyrian empire under the aegis of freedom had left its own signature, at least as far as declarations of principle. However, in the practice of warfare, the levels of cruelty remained unchanged; indeed the Chaldeans were able to combine the effectiveness of the battle and siege warfare (similar to the Assyrians) with the mobility of the raider, a feature of their tribal origins. Some, however, tried to resist; and the two sieges of Jerusalem and Tyre have become famous: these two kingdoms had tried to profit from the power vacuum by following policies of autonomous development that could not be fulfilled without at least an attempt at resistance. The siege of Jerusalem was concluded very swiftly. Jehoiakim had been a tributary of Nebuchadrezzar for three years when he decided to try rebellion. However, in the same year (598) he died and his son Jehoiachin, 18 years old, succeeded him. (A seal of Eliakim, an official of Jehoiachin, has been found at Ramat Rahel VA). Jehoiachin, pressed by the Babylonian siege, immediately decided to capitulate. The Babylonians deported him, his family, the ruling class, and the specialized craftsmen. They sacked the temple treasures and the royal palace, included the golden furnishings originally made by Solomon (but how many times they had already been sacked or given for tribute!). They left Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, as their vassal king (the third of Josiah’s sons to reign, after Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim. Tyre, on the other hand, withstood a 13-years siege (598-585, C. Ap. 1.21), thanks to its island status, making the usual siege strategies applied by the Babylonians ineffective. Finally, it capitulated, and the ‘rebel’ Ittobaal III was replaced by the vassal Baal. The fall of Tyre has been celebrated by Ernest Renan as an example of obstinate and very noble resistance in the name of the values of freedom against imperial oppression:
However, it has to be said that at that time the fall of Tyre was greeted with manifest satisfaction in Judean prophetic circles (as we will shortly see) and presumably also by other Syro-Palestinian people who had followed, with envy and concern, the economic and political growth of the Phoenician city – growth probably marked by extortionate credit and mercantile activities.
