From Slave to Pharaoh: The Black Experience of Ancient Egypt

11. The Resistance to Assyrian Expansion

1 1 THE RESISTANCE TO ASSYRIAN EXPANSION 86 nlike his deceased older brother, Sabaco did not retire to Napata after his victory over the north.1 Thebes became a focal point for the new regime, enhanced by the presence of Amenirdis I, Sabaco’s sister, as Divine Adoratress of Amun, but whether Sabaco himself established the city as his residence is uncertain . Though they wore upon occasion the expected crowns of the pharaohs , Sabaco and his successors had a distinct preference for the tight-~tting Nubian cap (see ~gs. 18, 19) with streamers and double uraeus, almost symbolic of the union of Egypt and Kush.2 Drawing upon the remote past for inspiration, but with present intent, Sabaco chose the prenomen of Pepy II, the longest-lived pharaoh of all time (twenty-third century b.c.), Neferkare, and pointed to the dawn of a new day with the choice of “He-who-makes-the-Two-Lands-Glisten” as principal epithet.3 For the ~rst and only time before the nineteenth century of our era the Nile Valley, for a stretch encompassing the last ~fteen hundred miles to the Mediterranean Sea, was united under a single government.4 SABACO AND SARGON The sudden onslaught of Sabaco’s forces and the easy absorption of Lower Egypt into their domain preempted any move the Assyrians may have been contemplating with regard to their southern frontier. For ~fty years beginning in 711 b.c. Egypt presented a strong, if not united,5 front against any threat from the north, and this perceived strength effectually deterred any test of its reality. Egypt, Moab, and Edom remained the accepted southern limes of the “Sargonic” empire. But there is evidence that, although Sabaco initially reserved the right of action, he had within seven years of his conquest effectually relinU quished some of his power in favor of his brother and eventual successor Shebitku (co-regent by 705 b.c.).6 Shebitku had no desire at ~rst to adopt anything but a conciliatory mood toward Sargon II. He refused to extend the right of asylum to Yamani, who had _ed to Kush for protection ; and returned him to Assyria.7 Seals and sealings of Sabaco, clearly the indication of the presence of papyrus documents long since decayed, have been found in Nimrud in Sennacherib’s palace.8 At the very least 87 THE RESISTANCE TO ASSYRIAN EXPANSION Fig. 18. Shabaka (Sabaco). this evidence signals a correspondence between the two superpowers of the day and perhaps justi~es us in postulating a grudging but erstwhile acceptance of each other. Who or what set of circumstances brought about the dramatic change in relations is not known with any certainty at present. Ever since the resurgence of the Assyrian state in 911 b.c. under Ashurnasirpal II, the success of the westward advance had been predicated upon the knocking out of the Syrian power centers and the control (or at least the neutralizing) of the Levantine ports. The reduction of the inland cities of Syria scarcely elicited any response from the Nile,9 but any attack on the Phoenician cities of the coast impinged on a sphere of in_uence Egypt had claimed for two thousand years.10 Both Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II had attempted to neutralize Judah, the last surviving inland state of any power, by directing their attention to reducing the coast and rewarding the communities of the steppe,11 but this strategy ran directly counter to clearly perceived Egyptian interests. And it was the maelstrom that was created through the excitement of con_icting loyalties in Philistia which ~nally brought a hostile Kush into the fray. 88 FROM SLAVE TO PHARAOH Fig. 19. Taharqa, enthroned. Recycled blocks from the temple of Edfu, seventh century b.c. THE COALITION AGAINST ASSYRIA It is arguable that good relations between Kush and Assyria continued until the death of Sargon II in 705 b.c.; thereafter both major powers seemed for the moment to have lost control of the situation.12 Viewed from the vantage point of Judah in the hinterland of the southern Levant, now was the time to assert independence. Sargon had died, unable to defeat Egypt or otherwise to reduce its strength; the new Assyrian king was an unknown quantity; the new regime in Egypt had twice proven itself able to overwhelm all military opponents on the battle ~eld; the Levantine coast remained free and powerful commercially...