Cambyses Mad Yet Great
by
Damien F. Mackey
Common factors here may
include ‘divine’ madness; confounding the priests by messing with the
Babylonian rites; and the conquest of Egypt and Ethiopia.
Introduction
Since in
articles such as:
“Nebuchednezzar” of the Book of Daniel
I have
argued that the reason why biblical historians have discerned so much of
Daniel’s “Nebuchednezzar” in the person of the neo-Babylonian king, Nabonidus,
is because the latter was the same king as Nebuchednezzar II, I shall be
including Nabonidus in this consideration of likenesses between Nebuchednezzar
II and Cambyses.
Part One:
King’s Madness
Nebuchednezzar II/Nabonidus
One of
the traits shared by Daniel’s “Nebuchednezzar” and King Nabonidus was madness,
as discussed in the above-mentioned article.
Now, in
my:
Neo-Babylonian
Dynasty Needs 'Hem Taken Up'. Part One (b): Evil-Merodach is Belshazzar
Siegfried H. Horn’s article, “New light on
Nebuchadnezzar’s madness”, helpfully provided some possible evidence for
madness in the case of Nebuchednezzar II. And, further quoting Horn, I argued
for a parallel situation with Evil-Merodach son of Nebuchednezzar II, and
Belshazzar son of Nabonidus, officiating in the place of a temporarily
incapacitated king:
…. Since
Daniel records that Nebuchadnezzar was "driven from men" (Dan. 4:33) but later reinstated as king by
his officials (verse 36), Evilmerodach, Nebuchadnezzar's eldest son, may have
served as regent during his father's incapacity. Official records, however,
show Nebuchadnezzar as king during his lifetime.
Comment: Now
this is the very same situation that we have found with King Nabonidus’ acting
strangely, and defying the prognosticators, whilst the rule at Babylon - though
not the kingship - lay in the hands of his eldest son, Belshazzar.
The inevitable (for me)
conclusion now is that:
Evil-merodach (or Awel-Marduk) is Belshazzar!
Cambyses
Books,
articles and classics have been written about the madness of King Cambyses, he
conventionally considered to have been the second (II) king of that name, a
Persian (c. 529-522 BC), and the son/successor of Cyrus the Great.
The
tradition is thought to have begun with the C5th BC Greek historian, Herodotus,
according to whom (The Histories) http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/herodotus/cambyses.htm
[3.29.1] When the priests led Apis in,
Cambyses--for he was all but mad--drew his dagger and, meaning to stab the calf
in the belly, stuck the thigh; then laughing he said to the priests: [3.29.2] "Simpletons, are these your
gods, creatures of flesh and blood that can feel weapons of iron? That is a god
worthy of the Egyptians. But for you, you shall suffer for making me your laughing-stock."
So saying he bade those, whose business it was, to scourge the priests well,
and to kill any other Egyptian whom they found holiday-making. [3.29.3] So the Egyptian festival ended,
and the priests were punished, and Apis lay in the temple and died of the wound
in the thigh. When he was dead of the wound, the priests buried him without
Cambyses' knowledge.
[3.30.1] But Cambyses, the Egyptians say, owing
to this wrongful act immediately went mad, although even before he had not been
sensible. His first evil act was to destroy his full brother Smerdis, whom he
had sent away from Egypt to Persia out of jealousy, because Smerdis alone could
draw the bow brought from the Ethiopian by the Fish-eaters as far as two
fingerbreadths, but no other Persian could draw it.
[3.30.2] Smerdis having gone to Persia, Cambyses
saw in a dream a vision, in which it seemed to him that a messenger came from
Persia and told him that Smerdis sitting on the royal throne touched heaven
with his head.
[3.30.3] Fearing therefore for himself, lest his
brother might slay him and so be king, he sent Prexaspes, the most trusted of
his Persians, to Persia to kill him. Prexaspes went up to Susa and killed
Smerdis; some say that he took Smerdis out hunting, others that he brought him
to the Red Sea (the Persian Gulf) and there drowned him.
[End
of quote]
And:
Herodotus' Comment on Cambyses' Madness
[3.38] In
view of all this, I have no doubt that Cambyses was
completely out of his mind; it is the only possible explanation of his assault
upon, and mockery of, everything which ancient law and custom have made sacred
in Egypt.
[End
of quote]
Scholarly
articles have been written in an attempt to diagnose the illness of Cambyses,
sometimes referred to - as in the case of Julius Caesar’s epilepsy - as a
‘divine’ or ‘sacred’ disease.
Arch Neurol. 2001
Oct;58(10):1702-4.
The sacred disease of Cambyses II.
Abstract
Herodotus'
account of the mad acts of the Persian king Cambyses II contains one of the two
extant pre-Hippocratic Greek references to epilepsy. This reference helps to
illuminate Greek thinking about epilepsy, and disease more generally, in the
time immediately preceding the publication of the Hippocratic treatise on
epilepsy, On the Sacred Disease. Herodotus attributed Cambyses' erratic
behavior as ruler of Egypt to either the retribution of an aggrieved god or to
the fact that he had the sacred disease. Herodotus considered the possibility
that the sacred disease was a somatic illness, agreeing with later Hippocratic
authors that epilepsy has a natural rather than a divine cause.
[End
of quote]
The character of Cambyses as presented in various ancient traditions is
thoroughly treated in Herb
Storck’s excellent monograph, History and Prophecy: A Study
in the Post-Exilic Period (House of Nabu,
1989).
Part Two:
Messing with the rites
As was the case with King
Nabonidus (= Nebuchednezzar II), so did Cambyses apparently fail properly to
observe established protocol with the Babylonian rites.
Regarding
the rebellious behaviour of King Nabonidus with regard to the rites, I wrote
in:
“Nebuchednezzar” of the Book of Daniel
Confounding the Astrologers
Despite his superstitious nature the “Nebuchednezzar” of the Book of
Daniel - and indeed his alter egos,
Nebuchednezzar II/Nabonidus - did not hesitate at times to dictate terms to his
wise men or astrologers (2:5-6):
The
king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do
not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces
and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But
if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and
rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”
And so, in the Verse Account, we read too of Nabonidus’
interference in matters ritualistic in the presence of sycophantic officials:
Yet he
continues to mix up the rites, he confuses the hepatoscopic oracles. To the
most important ritual observances, he orders an end; as to the sacred
representations in Esagila -representations which Eamumma himself had
fashioned- he looks at the representations and utters blasphemies.
When he saw
the usar-symbol of Esagila, he makes an [insulting?] gesture. He assembled the
priestly scholars, he expounded to them as follows: 'Is not this the sign of
ownership indicating for whom the temple was built? If it belongs really to
Bêl, it would have been marked with the spade. Therefore the Moon himself has
marked already his own temple with the usar-symbol!'
And
Zeriya, the šatammu who used to crouch as his secretary in front of him, and
Rimut, the bookkeeper who used to have his court position near to him, do
confirm the royal dictum, stand by his words, they even bare their heads to
pronounce under oath: 'Now only we understand this situation, after the king
has explained about it!'
[End of quote]
Paul-Alain Beaulieu, in his book, The Reign of Nabonidus, King of Babylon, 556-539 B.C. (1989), gives
another similar instance pertaining to an eclipse (Col. III 2), likening it
also to the action of “Nebuchednezzar” in the Book of Daniel (pp. 128-129):
The scribes brought baskets from Babylon (containing) the
tablets of the series enūma Anu Enlil
to check (it, but since) he did not hearken to (what it said), he did not
understand what it meant.
The passage is difficult, but its general implications
are clear. Whether Nabonidus had already made up his mind as to the meaning of
the eclipse and therefore refused to check the astrological series, or did
check them but disagreed with the scribes on their interpretation, it seems
that the consecration of En-nigaldi-Nanna [daughter of Nabonidus] was felt to
be uncalled for. This alleged stubbornness of the king is perhaps reflected in
the Book of Daniel, in the passage where Nebuchednezzar (i.e. Nabonidus), after
having dismissed the plea of the “Chaldeans”, states that the matter is settled
for him (Daniel II, 3-5) ….
But this does not imply that Nabonidus was necessarily
wrong in his interpretation of the eclipse; on the contrary, all the evidence
suggests that he was right. However, he may have “forced” things slightly ….
[End of quote]
Cambyses
According
to Encyclopaedia Iranica on Cambyses
II:
A badly
damaged passage in the chronicle of Nabonidus contains a report that, in order
to legitimize his appointment, Cambyses participated in the ritual prescribed
for the king at the traditional New Year festival on 27 March 538 B.C.,
accepting the royal scepter from the hands of Marduk in Esagila, the god’s
temple in Babylon (III. 24-28; Grayson, p. 111). A. L. Oppenheim attempted a
reconstruction of the damaged text (Survey of Persian Art XV, p. 3501);
according to his version, Cambyses entered the temple in ordinary Elamite
attire, fully armed. The priests persuaded him to lay down his arms, but he
refused to change his clothes for those prescribed in the ritual. He then
received the royal scepter. In Oppenheim’s view Cambyses thus deliberately
demonstrated “a deep-seated religious conviction” hostile to this alien
religion (Camb. Hist. Iran II, p. 557).
[End of quote]
Herb Storck gives an
interesting discussion of this incident in his excellent monograph, History and Prophecy: A Study
in the Post-Exilic Period (House of Nabu,
1989).
Part Three:
Egypt and Ethiopia
Of Nebuchednezzar II’s
conquest of Egypt, well-attested in the Bible, it is extremely difficult to
find substantial account in the historical records.
Not so with the conquest of
Egypt and Ethiopia by Cambyses.
Introduction
Nebuchednezzar
II was, very early in his reign, militarily involved against Egypt – with
greater or lesser success. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Nebuchadnezzar.aspx
Early in 605 B.C. he met Necho, the king of Egypt, in battle and
defeated him at Carchemish. A few months later Nabopolassar died, and
Nebuchadnezzar hastened home to claim his throne. He soon returned to the west
in order to secure the loyalty of Syria and Palestine and to collect tribute;
among those who submitted were the rulers of Damascus, Tyre, Sidon, and Judah.
Nebuchadnezzar's Conquests
In 601 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar attempted the invasion of Egypt but was
repulsed with heavy losses. Judah rebelled, but Jerusalem fell in March 597
B.C., and the ruler, Jehoiakim, and his court were deported to Babylon. Eight
years later another Jewish rebellion broke out; this time Jerusalem was razed
and the population carried into captivity.
This
article then follows with an intriguing piece of information: “Expeditions against the Arabs in 582 B.C. and another
attempt at invading Egypt in 568 B.C. receive brief mention in Nebuchadnezzar's
later records”.
But sceptics say that Nebuchednezzar II never actually succeeded in
conquering Egypt, hence the Bible is wrong, and that it was Cambyses instead
who conquered Egypt http://www.sanityquestpublishing.com/essays/BabEgypt.html
BABYLON NEVER CONQUERED EGYPT
The Bible
never says Nebuchadnezzar the Second (hereafter Neb-2) conquered Egypt.
The idea Neb-2 conquered Egypt would never have been considered a serious
historical possibility, but for 4 facts:
1.
Jeremiah & Ezekiel both predicted that Neb-2
would conquer Egypt.
2.
Jeremiah & Ezekiel are both considered true
prophets.
3.
According to Deut. 18:22, true prophets are never
wrong about a prediction.
4.
a. Jesus said (Mat 5:18) "One jot
or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law until all be fulfilled."
b. Paul said (2Tim 3:16) "All scripture is given by inspiration of God,"
Both of these verses are erroneously interpreted by many Christians as meaning the entire Bible contains no errors.
b. Paul said (2Tim 3:16) "All scripture is given by inspiration of God,"
Both of these verses are erroneously interpreted by many Christians as meaning the entire Bible contains no errors.
If you disagree with the preceding statement, the
rest of this essay will be irrelevant to you, because you will be judging all
historical evidence by its conformity to the Bible. This makes you
literally not worth talking to outside of the company of others
who do the same. Such Christians to try to muddy historical evidence that
contradicts the Bible. e.g. One proposed that there were two
Nebuchadnezzars, the second being Cambyses: http://www.biblestudyguide.org/comment/calvin/comm_vol24/htm/xiii.ii.htm
(Actually there were two Nebs, but the first ruled Babylon c.1124-1104BC.) This essay is based on the assumption that the historical parts of the Bible should be judged for accuracy by the same rules as any other ancient historical document.
(Actually there were two Nebs, but the first ruled Babylon c.1124-1104BC.) This essay is based on the assumption that the historical parts of the Bible should be judged for accuracy by the same rules as any other ancient historical document.
….
Unlike
any supposed conquest by NEB-2, the conquest of Egypt by CAMBYSES-2 is well
attested.
Cambyses in Egypt
The above
article is correct at least in its final statement quoted here: “… the conquest of Egypt by
CAMBYSES-2 is well attested”.
The
article goes on to tell of the various ancient evidences for this great
conquest:
EGYPTIAN EVIDENCE
We possess
the autobiography of the admiral of the Egyptian fleet, Wedjahor-Resne.
It is written on a small statue now in the Vatican Museums in Rome. After
the conquest of Egypt, Wedjahor-Resne was Cambyses' right-hand man.
"The great king of all foreign countries
Cambyses came to Egypt, taking the foreigners of every foreign country with
him. When he had taken possession of the entire country, they settled
themselves down therein, and he was made great sovereign of Egypt and great
king of all foreign countries. His Majesty appointed me his chief
physician and caused me to stay with him in my quality of companion and
director of the palace, and ordered me to compose his titulary, his name as
king of Upper and Lower Egypt."
In an
inscription on the statue of Udjadhorresnet, a Saite priest and doctor, as well
as a former naval officer, we learn that Cambyses II was prepared to work with
and promote native Egyptians to assist in government, and that he showed at
least some respect for Egyptian religion:
"I let His Majesty know the greatness of Sais,
that it is the seat of Neith-the-Great, mother who bore Re and inaugurated
birth when birth had not yet been...I made a petition to the majesty of the
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Cambyses, about all the foreigners who dwelled
in the temple of Neith, in order to have them expelled from it., so as to let
the temple of Neith be in all its splendor, as it had been before. His
Majesty commanded to expel all the foreigners who dwelled in the temple of
Neith, to demolish all their houses and all their unclean things that were in
the temple.
When they had carried all their personal belongings outside the wall of the temple, His Majesty commanded to cleanse the temple of Neith and to return all its personnel to it...and the hour-priests of the temple. His Majesty commanded to give divine offerings to Neith-the-Great, the mother of god, and to the great gods of Sais, as it had been before. His Majesty knew the greatness of Sais, that it is a city of all the gods, who dwell there on their seats forever."
When they had carried all their personal belongings outside the wall of the temple, His Majesty commanded to cleanse the temple of Neith and to return all its personnel to it...and the hour-priests of the temple. His Majesty commanded to give divine offerings to Neith-the-Great, the mother of god, and to the great gods of Sais, as it had been before. His Majesty knew the greatness of Sais, that it is a city of all the gods, who dwell there on their seats forever."
HERODOTUS
Herodotus
(who, to my knowledge, never mentions Nebuchadnezzar by name) describes his
Hanging Gardens, but never mentions him in relation to Egypt, though Herodotus
does talk about pharaohs Necho, Hophra, Ahmose, & Psamtik. [Necos,
Apries, Amasis, & Psammis] and of course, Cambyses.
Herodotus
notes how the Persians easily entered Egypt across the desert. They were
advised by the defecting mercenary general, Phanes of Halicarnassus, to employ
the Bedouins as guides. However, Phanes had left his two sons in
Egypt. We are told that for his treachery, as the armies of the Persians
and the mercenary army of the Egyptians met, his sons were bought out in front
of the Egyptian army where they could be seen by their father, and there
throats were slit over a large bowl. Afterwards, Herodotus tells us that
water and wine were added to the contents of the bowl and drunk by every man in
the Egyptian force.
"When Cambyses had entered the palace of
Amasis, he gave command to take the corpse of Amasis out of his burial-place.
When this had been done, he ordered [his courtiers] to scourge it and pluck out
the hair and stab it, and to dishonor it in every other possible way.
When they had done this too, they were wearied out, for the corpse was embalmed
and held out against the violence and did not fall to pieces. Cambyses
gave command to consume it with fire, a thing that was not permitted by his own
religion. The Persians hold fire to be a god and to consume corpses with
fire is by no means according to the Persian or Egyptian custom."
[Histories 3.16]
[Histories 3.16]
MANETHO
lists the pharaohs of the 26th dynasty, then cites the Persians as the 27th
dynasty.
"Cambyses reigned over his own kingdom,
Persia, five years, and then over Egypt one year."
PERSIAN
EVIDENCE
According to
king, Darius I's BEHISTUN INSCRIPTION, Cambyses, before going to Egypt, had
secretly killed his brother, Bardiya, whom Herodotus called Smerdis. The
murdered prince was, however, impersonated by Gaumata the Magian, who in March
522 seized the Achaemenid throne. Cambyses, on his return from Egypt,
heard of the revolt in Syria, where he died in the summer of 522, either by his
own hand or as the result of an accident.
(10) King Darius says: The following is what was
done by me after I became king. A son of Cyrus, named Cambyses, one of
our dynasty, was king here before me. That Cambyses had a brother, Smerdis by
name, of the same mother and the same father as Cambyses. Afterwards,
Cambyses slew this Smerdis. When Cambyses slew Smerdis, it was not known
unto the people that Smerdis was slain. Thereupon Cambyses went to
Egypt. When Cambyses had departed into Egypt, the people became hostile,
and the lie multiplied in the land, even in Persia and Media, and in the other
provinces.
OTHER
EVIDENCE
A Jewish
document from 407 BC known as 'The Demotic Chronicle' speaks of Cambyses
destroying all the temples of the Egyptian gods.
Greek
geographer STRABO of Amasia visited Thebes in 24 BC and saw the ruins of
several temples said (by local priests) to have been destroyed by Cambyses.
Part Three: Dreams and Visions
Our
Babylonian king, Nabonidus, true to form, was, as we learned in
“Nebuchednezzar” of the Book of Daniel
a frequent recipient of dreams
and visions. For example, I wrote:
Nabonidus was, like “Nebuchednezzar”,
an excessively pious man, and highly superstitious. The
secret knowledge of which he boasted was what he had acquired through his
dreams. Another characteristic that Nabonidus shared with “Nebuchednezzar”.
Nabonidus announced (loc. cit.): “The
god Ilteri has made me see (dreams), he has made everything kno[wn to me]. I
surpass in all (kinds of) wisdom (even the series) uskar-Anum-Enlilla, which Adap[a] composed”.
….
In Beaulieu’s book … we read further of King Nabonidus:
“I did not stop going to the diviner and the dream
interpreter”.
And of King Nebuchednezzar II - with whom I am also
equating Nabonidus - the prophet Ezekiel writes similarly of that king’s omen
seeking (21:21): “The
king of Babylon now stands at the fork, uncertain whether to attack Jerusalem
or Rabbah. He calls his magicians to look for omens. They cast lots by shaking
arrows from the quiver. They inspect the livers of animal sacrifices”.
[End of quote]
Now, what of Cambyses in this regard?
[3.30.1] But Cambyses, the Egyptians
say, owing to this wrongful act immediately went mad, although even before he
had not been sensible. His first evil act was to destroy his full brother
Smerdis, whom he had sent away from Egypt to Persia out of jealousy, because
Smerdis alone could draw the bow brought from the Ethiopian by the Fish-eaters
as far as two fingerbreadths, but no other Persian could draw it. [3.30.2]
Smerdis having gone to Persia, Cambyses saw in a dream a vision, in which it
seemed to him that a messenger came from Persia and told him that Smerdis
sitting on the royal throne touched heaven with his head. [3.30.3] Fearing
therefore for himself, lest his brother might slay him and so be king, he sent
Prexaspes, the most trusted of his Persians, to Persia to kill him. Prexaspes
went up to Susa and killed Smerdis; some say that he took Smerdis out hunting,
others that he brought him to the Red Sea (the Persian Gulf) and there drowned
him.
[End of quote]
This is actually,
as we shall now find, quite Danielic.
Cambyses has a
“Nebuchednezzar” like dream-vision of a king whose head touched heaven.
Likewise, “Nebuchednezzar” had a dream of a “tree … which grew large and strong, with its
top touching the sky” (Daniel
4:20).
Now, given that
this “tree” symbolised “Nebuchednezzar” himself, who was also according to an
earlier dream a “head of gold (Daniel 2:38), then one might say that, as in the
case of Cambyses dream-vision of a king whose head touched heaven, so did
“Nebuchednezzar” touch the sky (heaven) with his head (of gold).
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