of nearly two hundred thousand men, was almost totally destroyed in one
night. "The angel of the Lord went forth," says the contemporary writer,
Isaiah, "and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore
and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold,
they were all dead corpses" (Isa. xxxvii. 36). Whatever the agency
employed in this remarkable destruction--whether it was caused by a
simoon, or a pestilence, or by a direct visitation of the Almighty, as
different writers have explained it--the event is certain. Its truth is
written in the undeniable facts of later history, which show us a sudden
cessation of Assyrian attack in this quarter, the kingdom of Judea saved
from absorption, and the countries on the banks of the Nile left
absolutely unobstructed by Assyria for the third part of a century. As
the destruction happened on their borders, the Egyptians naturally
enough ascribed it to their own gods, and made a boast of it centuries
after. Everything marks, as one of the most noticeable facts in
history, this annihilation of so great a portion of the army of the
greatest of all the kings of Assyria.

[Illustration: HEAD OF TEHRAK (TIRHAKAH).]

The reign of Tirhakah (Tehrak) during this period appears to have been
glorious. He was regarded by Judea as its protector, and exercised a
certain influence over all Syria as far as Taurus, Amanus, and the
Euphrates. In Africa, he brought into subjection the native tribes of
the north coast, carrying his arms, according to some, as far as the
Pillars of Hercules. He is exhibited at Medinet-Abou in the dress of a
warrior, smiting with a mace ten captive foreign princes. He erected
monuments in the Egyptian style at Thebes, Memphis, and Napata. Of all
the Ethiopian sovereigns of Egypt he was undoubtedly the greatest; but
towards the close of his life reverses befell him, which require to be